A/N: Sorry, Guest that's been trash talking this story for quite some time now, but I'm not going anywhere. If you don't like this story, move along. TGN, Infinite's Ruby, other Sonic Forces writers, and I know you're just a hater who wants nothing but attention. But we know better than to play your little game. With that said, everyone. Welcome back to Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb! Sorry, it's been a while. Things have been crazy on my side. But on the plus side, Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb now has 100 reviews! Thank you all so much for the love and support you've shown! Let's not waste much time, shall we?

Last time: Sonic and Tails recruited the Babylon Rogues for their multiverse mission. Now, they head back to Angel Island with the first part of their mission in mind. Let's see how that goes.

Suggested Music:

(1) Arsenal Pyramid (Exterior) - Sonic Forces OST

(2) Double Boost! - Sonic Forces OST

(3) The Deadly Six Orchestral Theme - Sonic Lost World OST

Without further ado, enjoy the show!


Arsenal Breakout!

A few good hours of rest felt great for Sonic and Tails. They returned to Launch Base Zone after recruiting the Babylon Rogues to the Secret Strikers.

At first, everyone was skeptical that three legendary thieves were joining their team, but Sonic promised them that he, Tails, and Knuckles will watch over them. That sort of put everyone at ease, but they listened to the blue blur's words.

It was nighttime on Angel Island, and Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were explaining their plan to activate the Super Emeralds to the Babylon Rogues. Sonic told Jet this story in the Zeppelin, but he didn't go into full detail.

Lil' Blue, Team Chaotix, Silver, Blaze, Clay, Skylar, Emma, and Buster listened to the conversation.

Everyone else was sleeping.

Tails finished explaining and that was when Wave slammed her hands on top of the desk, which spooked Silver.

"Are you insane!?" the swallow shouted at the top of her lungs. She also startled Jet and Storm. "You want to travel across the multiverse!?"

"You make this sound like it's a bad thing," Sonic said in a stern tone, as he raised an eyebrow.

"This is a bad thing!" Wave retorted. "Do you know how reckless you're being!? There's a possibility you could screw up the stability of multiple dimensions! You can't risk this!"

"The multiverse is already a mess as it is, Wave," Tails said. "Believe me, I think this is a dangerous mission too, but it's the only way we can save the world."

"He's right," Lil' Blue nodded. The Rouges pointed their eyes at him. "The Chaos Emeralds aren't powerful enough against the Phantom Ruby, so we believe using the Super Emeralds will boost our chances of winning."

Jet snickered at the short blue hedgehog. "You know, for a second, I thought you were a toddler."

Storm laughed. "I think he needs his diaper changed."

"Call me a toddler again, parrot," Lil' Blue snarled. "I dare you."

Amy motioned to the blue hedgehog, telling him to relax.

Wave continued talking, "If you do this, how do you know it won't end like last time?"

"We're taking our chances," Amy replied.

Jet fell silent for a minute. Pressing his hands together, he thought about his decision. He was not one to go out and save the world nor was he one with the desire to conquer it. Scratching his beak, he turned his eyes to the Secret Strikers; they were glancing at each other before they looked back at him.

Storm rubbed his head, as he didn't understand what was taking his boss so long to decide.

Wave prayed that Jet made the smart decision; reject the idea.

Sonic and Amy exchanged a glance before they aimed their eyes at Tails and Knuckles.

Jet finally asked, "If we steal the supplies you need… what's in it for us?"

Knuckles flew his arms up and growled. "I knew it! It's always something with these guys! Why should we give you something in return?"

"Look, as much as I'd love for this world to not be ruled by that fat jerk wagon," Jet replied. "I still live by my policy: we take no work without pay."

"You get nothing!" Knuckles slammed his fist against the desk. "How about that!?"

"Hold on a second, Knux," Sonic said, pressing a hand against his chin. "It depends… Whatcha want, Jet?"

The hawk was surprised; he didn't think his rival would play along with this. "Um… " he cleared his throat before giving his response. "When this is all over… I want the seven Chaos Emeralds."

"WHAT!?" shouted everyone, except Sonic and Tails.

"You're out your minds, pigeons!?" Charmy said.

"Can we stop with the bird jokes? They're getting old," Storm asked.

"No way we're giving you the emeralds!" Silver pointed at the birds. "You'll just sell them on the open market!"

"Finally," said Jet. "I'm glad somebody's paying attention."

"No! The answer is no! There's no way we're gonna let you-" Knuckles shouted, but Sonic and Tails cut him off in the middle of his sentence.

"Fine," said both brothers.

Knuckles turned to them. "What?"

"You can't be serious," Silver added.

"We'll give you the emeralds once we've saved the world, Jet," said Sonic, as he shot a wink and a grin at Tails; the kit returned the same gesture.

The Babylon Rogues were confused.

"Figured you'd fight it, Sonic," said Jet. "But hey, I won't complain. So, what stuff did you need from Eggman's factories?"

Tails pressed his hands together and pointed out, "There are three key components I need for my dimension machine. There's a nuclear-powered generator in the Arsenal Pyramid, a few chemical capsules from the Mystic Jungle, and a Warp Ring which is located in a science museum at Freedom Heights for some reason."

"Doesn't sound like a challenge the Boss can't handle. Right, Boss?" Storm asked.

"This should be worth getting the Chaos Emeralds," Jet smirked.

Knuckles grunted again and rolled his eyes. "All right, team, listen up. Not only do we need to get Tails' supplies, but we also need to save Tikal, who's being held captive by Eggman. To cover more ground, we're going to split into teams. Tails, Lil' Blue, Amy, Babylon Rogues, you guys are on Team Sonic. The rest of you guys are with me."

Sonic raised his hand. "Hold on a second, Knux. Would you mind if I took Clay with me? I promised him I'd teach him a thing or two."

Clay widened his eyes when he heard what Sonic said. He smiled and started geeking out. "R-really!? You're taking me with you! This is a dream come true!"

And in that same moment, he started monologuing. "The Mighty Clay has been chosen by Sonic the Hedgehog himself to be a true hero. They must go on an epic journey to help Tails build his dimension machine. The Mighty Clay shall summon every ounce of his power to save the da-"

Sonic cringed at the monologue and put a stop to it by placing a hand on the rabbit's shoulder. "Whoa, hold on a second, Clay… what… what are you doing?"

Clay paused. "Oh… this is what I do. You see, since I'm a powerful superhero, I monologue all of my adventures."

Skylar and Emma rolled their eyes; Buster chuckled.

Sonic shook his head as well as his finger. "Clay, listen to me, buddy. Never monologue during a mission unless you're either Knuckles or Shadow."

"HEY!" snarled the echidna.

"It also makes you look like you're full of yourself," Sonic added with a smile. "Believe me, I'm well aware I can be full of myself because of how heroic, fast, and way past cool I am. But you, my friend, take that to a whole new level of weird. So, Hero Lesson #1: Never Monologue."

Skylar waved her hands. "THANK YOU!" she spat.

Clay rubbed his head and turned back to his friends. What was he thinking? He was complaining before that he was treating his friends horribly with his narcissism, and so he monologues again? He shook his head and cringed to himself. Come on, man! What are you doing?

The rabbit rubbed his eyes and said, "Sorry, Sonic. I'll try not to do it again…

"Hey, no sweat, dude."

"C-can I take my friends on the mission too?"

Skylar, Emma, and Buster raised their eyebrows and exchanged surprised glances.

"Sure," Knuckles replied. "I can take Dakota and his team with me tomorrow."

"Sweet!" Clay smiled. He and Sonic fist-bumped before the rabbit high-fived all his friends. Skylar smiled and blushed, as she felt flattered that Clay wanted her to tag along.

"Get some rest, everyone," said Knuckles. "We have a busy day tomorrow."

The Secret Strikers nodded in agreement and rushed off to bed. As Sonic stretched his arms and yawned, he looked to the side and noticed that Lil' Blue was sitting by himself. His back was leaning against a few crates and his arms were folded. He started rubbing his eyes.

Sonic approached his dimensional counterpart and placed his hand on the top box.

"Hey, dude," he said with a grin. Lil' Blue turned to him and made the same gesture. "You and I haven't talked since I came back, huh?"

"Only briefly," Lil' Blue replied with a low sigh. "What's up?"

"You talked to Tails at all?"

"Not really. I wanted to, but after what I said this morning… I don't think he wants to speak to me. Heck, I don't even think he wants to see me."

Sonic folded his arms. "Listen, dude. You can't just keep sitting here feeling sorry that you insulted Tails. He's not gonna warm up to you unless you tell him what's going on. Believe me, as much as I think what you said two days ago was awful, I can understand why you lashed out… you went through a lot these past few days."

"That's exactly what Amy said to me," Lil' Blue replied with a short smile. "You know, I'm normally not this big of a jerk in my universe. All I do is tease my friends, it's what I do. I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings… well, except Eggman of course… I worry about what my world's Tails, Knuckles, and Rosy are up to now… I hope they're okay."

"Have faith, little buddy. I'm sure they're okay and I'm positive they're worried about you too… I'm sure if you told this to my Tails, he would start to warm up to you, don't ya think?"

Lil' Blue turned to the side before he nodded. He aimed his eyes back at the older hedgehog and smiled. "Yeah… I'll start on that tomorrow… I'll try not to act so impulsively around him again."

"Well, you're a younger Sonic, so it makes sense you're so impulsive. Come on, what are you? Like ten? Eleven? Twelve?"

"I'm fifteen."

Sonic stood in an awkward stance. He didn't know how to reply to that. Lil' Blue was around the same size as Charmy, how could be fifteen years old? Sonic didn't know the answer to that.

He yawned. "Wow, look at this, Lil' Blue. It's so late, I gotta catch some Zs. See ya later."

Sonic left the uncomfortable moment in a flash, leaving Lil' Blue to talk in his thoughts. Will I really get this stupid in the future?


The next day, Knuckles and the rest of the Secret Strikers set course for the Mystic Jungle, where they hoped to rescue Tikal from the clutches of the Illusionary Legion. Meanwhile, Sonic and his team assembled and made their way to the Arsenal Pyramid's location: Green Hill Zone.

Thanks to the instability of the multiverse, Green Hill's size not only increased tremendously but there was something that definitely distracted Clay, Skylar, Emma, and Buster.

Half of the zone was covered in sand.

All of the waterfalls have now become sand falls and the area has been replaced with scorching sand. If one looked clearly, they would see giant blue worms normally found on the Lost Hex slithering around in the distance. Chomping their teeth, the worms hoped to catch whoever was dumb enough to step foot in the sand. Buster gulped and felt his tail drop to the ground, whereas Skylar and Emma analyzed the worms with their binoculars.

Clay stood alongside Sonic, Tails, Lil' Blue, and the Babylon Rogues.

"Green Hill's starting to look like Sand Hill," Sonic commented.

"This must be because of the multiverse collapse," Tails added. "Zonic wasn't kidding when he said the fate of the world lies in our hands. We gotta stop Eggman before he destroys everything."

"Wow, who would have thought a small ruby could do all this damage?" Wave rubbed her head.

"I know the world's fate has never concerned me," Jet said. "But even I have to admit, this is jacked up."

"I hope we're not in over our heads, Boss," Storm gulped. "This is more serious than I thought."

"Cool your pits, Storm," Sonic nodded with a smirk. "Once we activate the Super Emeralds again, Eggman's Empire can kiss itself goodbye."

"Speaking of which," Skylar pointed in the distance. "Look what I found over there."

The rest of Sonic's team strolled towards the blue bear and saw what she pointed at.

Not too far from the actual Arsenal Pyramid, which was a massive, silver factory, was a prison camp. Skylar handed Tails the binoculars and he looked through them. The fox was shocked by the number of Mobians and humans forced into slavery; they were building robot parts from scratch as well as machine parts for some of Eggman's sentinels: The Egg Behemoths.

One of those prisoners was Mina's boyfriend, Ash Mongoose.

"There's Mina's boyfriend," Sonic nodded. "I promised her I'd get him back."

"And we will," Tails replied. He continued looking around before he gasped; he recognized three prisoners. "No way… that can't be… are you serious?"

Cream the Rabbit, Vanilla the Rabbit, and Big the Cat were put to work.

Cheese, Chocola, and Froggy did the same thing.

"Cream… Vanilla… Big," Tails said nervously. "They didn't make it."

"That's okay," Sonic cracked his fingers. "We're gonna rescue them."

"Yeah, but… I should have been there to save them. They don't deserve this."

"Tails, you and the Strikers were busy trying to save me. And that's not your fault. Now that I'm back, we can save them and bring them back to Angel Island."

Looking up at his brother, the kitsune smiled and gave a fist bump. "Yeah… right."

"Looking at Cream, it makes me wonder… where's Gemerl? He's usually by her side."

"Knowing Eggman, he either located him somewhere else or he reprogrammed him. I'm hoping it's not the latter."

"Wherever he is, I'm sure he'll turn up soon."

Twirling his hammer, Clay approached the ledge and struck a superhero pose. "Let's go save those guys down there. The Mighty Clay hungers for justice."

Skylar rolled her eyes.

"I'm with Clay," Sonic answered with a thumbs up. "Let's go!"

"Hold on, guys," Tails halted both Freedom Fighters. "We need to stick to the plan. Sonic, I need you and the others to steal the generator I need from the pyramid. I'm gonna go save all the captives."

"You're not doing that alone," Lil' Blue gently punched the fox's arm. To which, Tails gave him a dirty look. "I'm coming with you."

"Why? So you can tell me I'm doing everything wrong?"

"Easy there, Tails," Sonic patted his best friend's back. "He just wants to help."

"I don't need his help. I can do this alone."

Sonic stroked his chin, thinking of his next response. He saw the saddened look on his counterpart's face before he said, "Not that I'm doubting your abilities, buddy. But there are a lot of Badniks down there. That's gonna be too much for you to take down by yourself. Why don't you take Lil' Blue with you just in case things get wild."

The fox looked at the young hedgehog before he turned to his brother. With a low sigh, he replied, "Fine… Lil' Blue can come."

Standing up, Tails whipped out his Arm Cannon and turned to the right. "Lil' Blue and I will sneak off to the right, they won't be able to spot us from there. The rest of you know what you're doing, right?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good luck, guys."

"You too, little bro." Sonic nodded.

In an instant, Tails fluttered his twin tails and took off down the slope. But before Lil' Blue and follow, he turned to his older self and nodded. "I'll make things right with him, dude… I promise."

"I know you will."

Lil' Blue chased after the fox.

Looking at the pyramid, Sonic stood alongside Clay, Emma, Buster, and Skylar.

Putting on his goggles, Jet hopped onto his Extreme Gear. His teammates followed in his footsteps.

"Rogues, you know what to do, right?" Sonic winked.

"Leave em' in the dust," Jet nodded. "Got it."

"This is gonna be so awesome," Buster whispered to Clay. To which, the rabbit nodded.

The blue hedgehog pointed onward. "Let's do it to it, everyone! Charge!" (1)

With that, Sonic and the Rookies of Term Feral Strike leaped over the hill and ran down the mountain. The cool breeze brushed against them and the sun shined down upon them. Clay ran closer to the blue hedgehog, gushing at how fast he can go. Skylar and Emma readied their weapons while Buster made sure not to lose his hat. The Babylon Rogues swerved their hoverboards to the right and ended up in the factory portion of Green Hill Zone.

The area was filled with nothing but machinery. Egg Pawns and Egg Robos escorted crates full of supplies back and forth, unaware of what was about to hit them. Jet whipped out his leaf-like weapons (also called Bashosen) while Wave unleashed a massive wrench. Since Storm preferred to use his brute strength, he clapped his fists together and charged towards an army of robots.

With quick jabs, three uppercuts, and a punch, Storm bypassed through the army of Egg Pawns with ease. A group of Buzz Bombers came down from above and shot massive projectiles at the three birds. Jet and Wave shifted left and right before they effortlessly dealt with their enemies. The Babylon Rogues turned to the side, watching Sonic and the Rookies join them in the fight.

Using his Asteroid Wispon, Buster barked at the Egg Pawns and fired chunks of cubes at them. Next to him, Sonic and Clay marched ahead and worked together. In other words, Clay swung his hammer back and whacked the Blue Blur like a baseball, shooting him into multiple Egg Pawns and Buzz Bombers. Skylar, with her Hover Wispon, shot multiple enemies away and Emma slashed her Lightning whip up and down, decimating enemies with ease.

The hedgehog and the rabbit jumped on top of a platform and ran down the pathway when they came across a narrow bridge. Clay grabbed onto Sonic's hand and shot a wire at a nearby pole, drifting across the bridge.

Skylar, Emma, and Buster simply swung over it.

Clay and Sonic leaped over a pile of sand before they landed on a metal platform.

All of the heroes continued running down the pathway.

"Jet, you know what to do," Sonic winked.

Jet and his teammate turned to the right and made their way towards the pyramid.

As they got closer, Wave pulled up next to her leader, wanting to ask him a question. "Jet, are we really doing this? Multiverse travel isn't possible!"

"Relax, Wave," Jet chuckled. "We're not going with them to the multiverse. We'll sit back and wait for them to collect the Chaos Emeralds for us. Our job is easy."

The swallow rolled her eyes, as the Babylon Rogues entered the pyramid.

Sonic and Rookies blazed through an army of robots, approaching the pyramid's entrance.

"Skylar, Emma, Buster," Sonic called. "You guys swing in through the top. Clay and I will catch up!"

The three Rookies did what they were told and shot their grappling wires forward. Leaping away from the platform, they shot at nearby enemies while swinging towards the pyramid. Sonic and Clay were left alone, giving the blue hedgehog a chance to hold out his hand.

"Hey, Clay. Take my hand and hold on tight. I wanna show you something cool!"

"O-okay," Clay raised an eyebrow, as he took the hedgehog's hand. "So, what can you teach The Mighty Clay, are we gonna do something cool-"

"DOUBLE BOOST!" (1s) (2)

"Wait, what?"

ZOOM!

In the blink of an eye, Sonic the Hedgehog took off at the speed of light with Clay the Rabbit in his hands. The poor rabbit held on for dear life and his legs were moving faster than they're supposed to. He looked in front of him and saw nothing but a grey and blue aura in his line of vision. He couldn't make out where he was. He heard small explosions, but he didn't know what caused them. Sonic knew what was happening since he's done this multiple times. Speaking of which, he was laughing and shouting loud battle cries into the air, making sure the Eggman Empire could hear him.

Along with his outcries, Clay screamed at the top of his lungs. His mask was about to fall off his face and his goggles were close to flying off his head. He gripped his hammer with an iron grasp, praying to the Mobian Gods above that he doesn't fly out of Sonic's hands and die.

The two of them boosted up the pyramid itself, running over enemies like nothing.

Skylar, Emma, and Buster watched as the two got closer to the top.

"That's so awesome!" Buster laughed. "Go, Clay!"

"Better him than me," Skylar chuckled.

"I wish I could hold Sonic's hand," Emma smiled.

Sonic and Clay broke away from their double boost and shot into the air. They met up with the other Rookies, as they free-fell into the pyramid.

The only obstacles that stood in their way were a series of laser beams forming different shapes.

As they dodged the lasers, Sonic tapped his wrist communicator.

"Yo, Ames," he said. "The Rookies, Babylon Rogues, and I are inside the pyramid," he said. "We're getting close to that generator Tails needs."

"Excellent!" Amy smiled. "The Secret Strikers and I are going to rescue Tikal. Let me know how things go. Stay alert!"

"Ha, this should be fun."

Clay felt sick to his stomach. "Fun for you, but not fun for me." (2s)


Deep within the Arsenal Pyramid, Dr. Eggman's right-hand man, Infinite sat alone in front of the security system, looking through the footage to see if any chaos was going on. Originally, he was supposed to be with the troops in Luminous Forest, but he refused, claiming that he wanted to watch over the Arsenal Pyramid instead. But if he were to be honest, he didn't care about watching over the pyramid, he just wanted to think about what was happening.

Not too long ago, another Eggman from the Mania Zone aka Dr. Robotnik was captured by the Deadly Six and Metal Sonic. Infinite said that an Eggman from a parallel dimension could be a problem because of the multiversal crisis that's affecting the world. But of course, Dr. Eggman brushed his lackey's words to the side and suggested a team-up to Dr. Robotnik.

"What was he thinking?" Infinite snarled. "He brings another Robotnik on the team without thinking of the consequences? How could he do such a thing? Does he not know what's going to happen? I thought Dr. Eggman was smarter than this!"

As the masked jackal unleashed his anger, he rubbed his face. With a low sigh, he heard a strange voice speak to him through his mind.

"Gotta say, Zero… you did pretty well on that dimensional test."

"Are you sure? I don't think I did so good."

"Nonsense! You did great! Soon, you'll be one of the best Zone Cops the No Zone has ever seen."

Infinite stopped rubbing his face and stared into the distance, thinking about the conversation that played in his mind.

Looking down at the Phantom Ruby on his chest, he gave it a gentle tap and released a low sigh.

Before he could say anything else, he was approached by Zavok.

"Afternoon, Infinite," the Zeti greeted, folding his arms. "Any word from Dr. Eggman?"

"Nothing yet," Infinite replied. "Tell me something, Zavok. Dr. Eggman attempted to enslave you and your kind years ago, didn't he?"

The red monster nodded.

"Why do you work for Dr. Eggman now?" the jackal inquired. "He's nothing but a clueless madman who wants nothing but power."

"I could care less about this world domination stuff," Zavok replied. "Well, for now at least. Once I end the life of that blue nuisance, Sonic, I'll control Eggman's army and steal the Phantom Ruby from him. That ruby is the only reason I came here in the first place. Once I steal it, I'll show Sonic my full strength."

"You mean after you steal the Phantom Ruby from them."

"Pardon?"

"Dr. Eggman has found a new ally within Dr. Robotnik. He didn't even consult with me. I thought we were working together, but he preferred to hog the spotlight himself. Even after I killed Sonic."

"Technically, it was Eggman that did it. His Atom Bomb demolished the hedgehog."

"Yes, but if he wasn't so addicted to that Phantom Ruby he has, then I could've ended Sonic's life for good!... but to Eggman, I'm nothing but a lackey."

"Join the club, we're all lackeys around here. But we won't be for long."

"Right… right."

The conversation ended once the alarm went off.

Infinite typed on the computer and loaded up images of Sonic and Rookies bypassing through the defenses while the Babylon Rogues make their way towards the generator room. The rest of the Deadly Six joined the other villains.

"It seems that the blue fool has come to die," Master Zik chuckled.

"Finally, I am sick of waiting," Zeena moaned.

"Let's rip that hedgehog up for good!" Zazz cackled.

"After that, can we grab a late lunch?" Zomom rubbed his head.

"Oh, boy," Zor groaned. "Sonic's here. Let's all celebrate with rainbows, flowers, and other things that make me want to die."

"Deadly Six," Zavok said, turning to his team. "I have missions for you. Zeena, Zazz, Zomom, go after the birds. The rest of us will deal with-"

"Wait," Infinite stood on his feet. "I have a better idea."

The Deadly Six sat and listened.

"Zavok, Zazz, Zomon… come with me and we'll deal with Sonic and his band of rookies," Infinite snarled. "The rest of you can have the Babylon Rogues."

Zavok looked at his team before he nodded. "Works for me."

Infinite and the Deadly Six marched out of the room.


Sonic and the Rookies blasted through a horde of enemies before they found themselves on a pathway of large gears. There was a set of platforms that rotated and lead to the other side of the factory. Of course, the Babylon Rogues flew by with ease, but the others had to manually jump from platform to platform, almost as if they were playing a real-life video game level.

In an instant, hordes of enemies came by and attempted to shoot the Secret Strikers, but Sonic and Clay dealt with the enemies effortlessly.

Skylar was tired of dealing with the same repetitive robots, so she casually blasted them away with her Hover Wispon.

To keep everyone entertained, Clay monologued… again.

"The Mighty Clay and his team of fierce warriors enter the Arsenal Pyramid with Sonic the Hedgehog and the Babylon Rogues. The Rogues are looking for a generator needed for Tails' multiverse portal while the rest of us provide a distraction. I swing my hammer like a mighty warrior, blowing armies of faceless bad guys away from the crowd. I turn to my partners and I say-"

"Clay, shut up!" Skylar mumbled.

"Skylar says to me because she never liked the fact I monologue. I say to her," Clay continued. "Skylar, just admit that you can't handle my handsome body!"

"What I can't handle is the sound of your voice!"

"Clay," Sonic spoke up. "What did I teach you about monologuing? It's a distraction for you, making you not pay attention!"

WHACK!

Sonic was suddenly whacked by a giant fist. "Like that!"

Falling on the ground, the blue hedgehog jumped up on his feet and felt the Rookies pull him up. Buster gulped and pointed to what was in front of him…

…Infinite, Zavok, Zazz, and Zomom.

"Well, look who decided to join the party," Sonic smiled, wiping his nose. "You know, Infinite, you've been making quite a mess around here. One that involves the entire multiverse."

"This is not my doing," Infinite clenched his fist. "This was Eggman's doing. He's reckless! He doesn't know what this will do to his empire."

"Wow, I didn't know you and I were on the same page. Let's continue that by having you surrender the source of your power to the Secret Strikers."

"Please, Sonic. We both know that won't happen. I still hold a grudge against you."

"And what exactly did I do?" Sonic teased.

"It's not just you that I have a grudge against, it's all Sonics I have a grudge against."

The blue hedgehog widened his eyes. "Wait, what?"

"Tell me, Sonic… does the name, Zonic the Zone Cop ring a bell?"


Elsewhere, Team Babylon kicked down the door to the generator room and flew around, looking for the exact generator that Tails needs for his portal.

"Let me know if you see the generator, Rogues," Jet called out. "I don't know how much time we have, so make it fast!"

Wave and Storm searched the room until the latter found something behind a large pile of garbage. "I found something, Boss!"

The albatross jumped off of his Extreme Gear and ran towards the junk pile. He dove into it and searched for the part he saw. Wave and Jet leaped off of their hoverboards and watched Storm dig around as if he were a raccoon looking for trash, a sea-creature looking for a formula to a treasured food, or a lion cub looking for his lost father.

"Storm, that's disgusting," Wave snarled. "We better hope Knuckles has showers on that island of his!"

"Why does it matter?" Jet inquired. "Storm doesn't take showers anyway."

"I found it!" Storm came out of the trash pile with scraps on his feathers and a banana peel on his head. In his hand was a regular-sized machine that was black and silver. In the middle was a blue energy core. He handed it to Wave and she carried it in her arms.

"This is the generator Shorty's looking for?" Wave asked. "I thought the kid was supposed to be smart. This looks like junk!"

"Maybe he wants you to help him fix it up," Jet shrugged.

"Or maybe he doesn't know what he's doing at all," Storm chuckled.

"No more time for chit chat, Rogues," Jet said. "Let's get out of here before-"

THWACK! (3)

All three hoverboards smacked the birds across their faces. They landed on the ground, dropping the generator.

"Something bad happens," Jet finished his sentence.

The thieves glanced upward and saw that their Extreme Gears were controlled by Master Zik, Zeena, and Zor.

"Ah, great, I've heard of these guys," Wave hissed. "They can control machinery."

"Hey, who's that cute green girl with them?" Storm smiled. His pupils turned into hearts.

"Hey, grandpa!" Jet snarled at Master Zik, whipping out his Bashosen. "Give me back my Gear!"

"Grandpa?" Master Zik chuckled at the childish remark. "It seems that you need a lesson in respect, young lad. A very painful lesson."

"Oh, someone's gonna get taken to school all right! Rogues, get him!"

The Babylon Rogues, without hesitation, jumped forward with their weapons in hand. They thought that since they were fast, they could land quick shots on the Zeti, but they clearly underestimated their enemies. Zeena, Zor, and Master Zik moved to the side in sync, dodging the Rogues' attacks. Wave swatted her wrench forward as fast as possible, trying to land a shot on Zor. But no matter how fast she was, she missed every shot.

"Hold still, you midget!" Wave snarled.

"Midget? That word almost makes me laugh," Zor kicked Wave's face. "I'll give you some credit for making me smile… just a little bit."

Storm was left with Zeena, but instead of fighting, all he did was flirt with her.

"Hey, babe," he greeted. "How about we head out of here and go see a movie?"

Zeena chuckled before she suddenly summoned a giant wrecking ball. "I got a good movie suggestion. It's called Love HURTS!"

She whacked Storm up the chin with her weapon.

"Ouch!" Storm bellowed. "Never heard of that movie!"

Master Zik simply whacked Jet's chest with his cane and kicked him in the chest, knocking him into the other Rogues. But Jet jumped back up and clapped his twin Bashosen together. A large gust of wind shot out of the green leaves and blew the Zeti a few feet away. From there, Jet grabbed his Extreme Gear and boosted towards the three Zeti. Launching an armada of slashes and kicks, Jet shot the three Zeti into the air and kicked them down with a heavy attack.

Jet landed beside Master Zik, sneering down at him.

The hawk cackled. "Let's you see beat that, old man."

Master Zik struggled to get up. "A worthy opponent is what you are. You may have speed as your advantage…"

Jet heard Wave and Storm gasp from the side. He glanced over and his eyes popped out of his sockets…

…Wave and Storm were held down by Zor and Zeena. And to make matters worse, they were surrounded by an army of Badniks.

Master Zik concluded his sentence. "But I have your friends."

Jet the Hawk watched the army of Badniks surround his friends before he was suddenly whacked by Master Zik. Pinned down, the tiny Zeti stepped on the hawk's chest and held his staff against his throat.

"Tell me, Legendary Wind Master… what do you plan to do now?" (3s)

END OF CHAPTER 19


Uh, oh! Looks like Jet's in a bit of a pickle! Not only is he pinned down by Master Zik, but the rest of the Rogues are trapped as well. This isn't looking good! Speaking of not looking good, Infinite mentioned Zonic the Zone Cop. What could this mean? Could Infinite be from another dimension and not Mobius Prime? And what did he mean by having a grudge against all Sonics in the multiverse? I guess we'll have to find out as the story continues. Find out what happens to our heroes, as we go into...

"Chapter 20: We Are The Eggmen".


POST-A/N:

There is a Spongebob reference and a Lion King reference in there. It's right where Storm goes through the trash pile.

I don't plan to do an Episode: Shadow for this story, nor do I have the intention of putting Infinite in Luminous Forest. You'll see what I plan to do with the Mystic Jungle segment once I get to it.

Jet and the Rogues fighting Master Zik is a reference to how IDW Sonic Issue #26 ended. I am excited to see how Issue #27 handles that ending. I hope Jet works up the courage to save his friends, just like he'll do here.

That's all I have to say, ladies and gentlemen. Sorry this took so long once again. Thank you for reading and don't forget to R&R! I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time!

~SD321 (SpiderDom321)