A/N: Hello, everyone! I have some good news and I got some bad news. The bad news is, I have a whopping headache at the moment. No, I don't think I have the coronavirus considering I do not have any problems with breathing. I just have a headache. The good news it, we're 20 chapters into Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb (the fourth and final version of my attempted Sonic Forces rewrite). Thanks to everyone who has been here from the start or is just joining us! Last time, Infinite made an interesting remark about the No Zone as well as his origin. Let's see what happens with that, shall we?

Suggested Music:

(1) Infinite First Battle - Sonic Forces OST

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

(3) Egg Dragoon - Sonic Unleashed OST OR Egg Dragoon - Sonic Generations OST

Without further ado, enjoy the show!


We Are The Eggmen

While Sonic, the Rookies, and the Babylon Rogues struggle to fight the Deadly Six and Infinite, Tails and Lil' Blue ran down the luscious green grass of Green Hill Zone. Technically, it should be called Green Hill Zones. Since the multiverse collapsed, Green Hill from the Mania Zone has merged with its counterpart in Mobius Prime. The same Badniks still roamed around aimlessly and robotic fish still lunged out of the water.

But they weren't enough to stop the dynamic duo.

Well, they would be called that if Tails didn't have a hatred for Lil' Blue. The Mania Zone resident didn't make a good first impression and because of his harsh statements towards the Secret Strikers, nearly everyone on the team hated him. The only time they liked him was when he suggested finding the Super Emeralds to defeat Dr. Eggman and the Phantom Ruby. But despite coming up with a good plan, he was still disliked by Tails.

As they ran down the fields and destroyed small hordes of Badniks, Lil' Blue glanced over at Tails, who was more than determined to find the prisoners in the prison camp. Some of the prisoners he knew were Ash Mongoose, Cream the Rabbit, her mother: Vanilla, and Big the Cat. But what Tails suspicious was that Gemerl was nowhere to be seen.

For as long as he could remember, Gemerl and Cream were two peas in a pod; they were extremely close to one another.

As he wondered where the Gizoid could be, Lil' Blue patted Tails on the shoulder.

"Gotta say, Little Bro. Sorry, Big Bro," he smiled. "Green Hill Zone's looking beautiful right now. Sure, it's merged with my zone, which is a bad thing. And the fact that half of it's covered in desert. But hey, it does make for some gorgeous scenery. Am I right?"

The twin-tailed kitsune didn't respond.

Lil' Blue's smile became a frown. "Look, Tails. I'm sorry for snapping at everyone. It wasn't my intention to hurt anyone. I was just sick of everyone blaming me for this whole mess. How was I supposed to know that the Chaos Emeralds and the Phantom Ruby don't mix? It's not my fault this whole mess happened. I was just sticking up for myself. And I don't appreciate being belittled by you guys."

"Then why are you trying so hard to apologize!?" Tails snapped at the blue hedgehog. "None of us were blaming you for anything! So, stop whining about it!"

The fox increased his speed, running ahead of the blue hedgehog.

Shoot, Lil' Blue facepalmed. Way to go, Sonic. Now he's even madder.

"Hold up!" Tails stopped in his tracks.

"What?" Lil' Blue said, accidentally bumping into the fox's back. "What's going on?"

"Shush!"

The fox jumped beside a pile of boulders to the right. The cobalt hedgehog mirrored the fox's motions, as the two of them peeked their heads upward. With their eyes squinted, they saw familiar faces in their path. Faces that made them shocked.

"No way," Tails whispered with surprise.

Dr. Eggman and Dr. Robotnik were talking in the middle of the field. A double-seated Egg Mobile sat beside them. The Mobius Prime version of the doctor paced back and forth with the Phantom Ruby in his hands whereas the villain from the Mania Zone leaned against the Egg Mobile.

Tails and Lil' Blue listened to their conversation.

"So, let me get this straight," Dr. Robotnik said. "You said that you used an atomic bomb created by the Phantom Ruby's energy to destroy Sonic, correct?"

"Correct," said Dr. Eggman.

"So, how can that infernal hedgehog still be alive!?"

"I don't know!" Dr. Eggman snarled. "I was hoping the Phantom Ruby's power would keep him trapped in Virtual Reality, but he found a way to escape! But it doesn't matter now. Once I perfect the Phantom Ruby's power, Sonic the Hedgehog and his band of Secret Strikers will not survive what I have planned."

"Just one quick thing, what are you planning to do about this?"

"Do about what?"

"This! This whole multiverse incident! Clearly, this was caused by your doing!"

"Oh, please. I would know if I caused an incident like this. Besides, this is just a phase of the Phantom Ruby. Meaning that its power has become temporarily unstable. But once I put it through my experiments, I'll make sure to revert this crisis. So, we have nothing to worry about."

"Listen, I found the Phantom Ruby far before you did. If I know anything, it's that it's extremely powerful! So, be careful with it. There might be a possibility we cannot control this multiversal crisis. That jackal who spoke about it gave you a fair warning."

"Who cares what Infinite believes? He's nothing but fodder to me."

"Of course Dr. Ro-butt-nik would be involved in this," Lil' Blue snarled. "He's the one who did this. When I get my hands on him-" Lil' Blue tried climbing over the ledge, but Tails pulled him back against the grass. The sound his impact made alerted the doctors.

"What was that?" Dr. Eggman inquired.

"The wind, maybe?" Dr. Robotnik replied.

"Dude, relax," Tails whispered and snarled. "We can't risk blowing our cover. We're this close to the prison."

"Did you not hear what they're talking about?" Lil' Blue replied. "They're forming a plan."

"I know that. We'll tell the Secret Strikers once we get back. Right now, we need to find the others-"

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over the duo. They stopped talking and gently looked at who was looming in front of them. To their surprise…

…it was Gemerl.

"Gemerl?" Tails inquired. "Is that you-"

SNATCH!

Gemerl grabbed Tails and Lil' Blue and flew upward. He landed to his creator and slammed the heroes onto the ground, pinning them down.

"Dr. Eggman," Gemerl spoke. "I have found intruders."

"Gemerl, what are you doing!?" Tails snarled, struggling to break free. "You on our side!"

"Doesn't feel like it," Lil' Blue coughed.

"Well, well, well," Dr. Eggman cackled. "Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower, I'm so glad you can make it. You're just in time to see the true power of the Phantom Ruby."


Speaking of being pinned down, Wave and Storm were still surrounded by an army of Badniks and they were trapped by Zeena and Zor. The robots aimed their weapons at the birds' chests, charging their weapons. Jet was left in the clutches of Master Zik. His chest felt like it was being crushed by a mountain and he struggled to get back up on his feet. The cane pressed against his neck so much that he felt that he was going to explode. Jet snarled and grunted at the Zeti on his chest.

"Tell me, Legendary Wind Master," Master Zik chuckled. "What do you plan to do now?"

"Jet, grab the generator and get out of here!" Wave called. "We'll be fine!"

"I won't!" Storm gasped.

Jet grunted, trying to get back up.

"You would leave your friends for a silly generator?" Master Zik shook his head. "Such a disappointing display. I thought the Babylon Rogues stuck together like a family. But then again, you seem like the type of person to leave people behind for your own selfish reasons."

"Master, I've had enough of this nonsense," Zeena rolled her eyes. "Can these robots just finish them already?"

"Yeah, seriously," Zor moaned. "Even I'm getting tired of throwing these guys around."

"Quit your whining!" Master Zik snarled at his fellow Zeti. "We're doing this for our own self-benefit! I could care less about what Dr. Eggman wants us to do. Besides, he's got the Phantom Ruby. Once we finish these jokers, we'll steal that gemstone and use it for our own desires."

Jet coughed. "Betraying the Doc, are ya? That's not very nice."

"And what does a thief like you know about being nice?"

Jet smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Welp… I do know how to make a nice comeback. AH-CHOO!"

Sneezing into Master Zik's face, Jet blinded the Zeti's eyes with nothing but spit. Then, he escaped from the tiny master's clutches and kicked him in the chest. Catching Master Zik's staff mid-air, Jet twirled it around and shot balls of cyan energy at the robots that cornered his friends. Not only did he eviscerate all of the robots, but he knocked Zeena and Zor on their rear ends. Jet spun the cane around, approached the two Zeti and smacked them across their faces, knocking them out cold.

Jet then pulled Wave and Storm on their feet.

"Get your lazy butts up," Jet chuckled. "No sleeping on the job."

Wave smacked Jet across the face.

"Ow! Take an easy, Wave. It was a joke!"

"And a very unfunny one at that!" Wave snarled, grabbing her Extreme Gear. "Let's just grab that generator and let's go."

Rubbing his face, Jet hopped on his board.

Storm grabbed the generator and did the same.

"If that will stop your whining," Jet mumbled under his breath. "Let's go, Rogues! Our work here is done!"

As the Babylon Rogues ran out of the room, Master Zik, Zeena, and Zor jumped up and ran after them.


"How do you know Zonic?" Sonic inquired. He was stunned by Infinite's question.

"I know because we have a history together," Infinite replied, clenching his fist. "The Jackal Squad and I are residents of the No Zone. We were Zone Cops alongside Zonic and the others. Zonic treated me like I was his best friend. Think of us as the No Zone versions of you and Tails; we made quite a pair… but that was before he carelessly banished me here! Left me to die here! But I wasn't the only one he banished; the Jackal Squad came here as well!... Since that day, I've struggled to get my revenge."

"But if this Zonic character was the one that angered you," Skylar chimed in. "Then why did you work with Eggman and capture the real Sonic?"

"I figured helping the doctor would help draw Zonic's attention," Infinite answered. "My original plan was to use the Phantom Ruby to travel to other universes, killing other Sonics in the process. That would bait out Zonic and the Zone Cops, which they'll be lead into my trap… but due to the circumstances with the multiverse, my plan isn't going as well as I hoped. Dr. Eggman is ignorant of what consequences he'll face. In other words, he's abusing the Phantom Ruby as if it's a toy! The Zone Cops made it as a way of traveling through dimensions faster!"

Now, everyone, including the Deadly Six, was stunned.

"Wait, wait, wait," Clay shook his head. "This is getting all kinds of whack! You're saying that the Phantom Ruby came from the No Zone, but we were told that it came from the Mania Zone! This doesn't make any sense!"

"That's because Zonic banished the Phantom Ruby to that zone right after he banished me! He carelessly threw all of that power away, causing it to wind up in this dimension! Zonic has no regard for the safety of this world, which is why he's leaving you to deal with me… if Zonic really wanted to atone for his mistakes, he would face me right now!"

Sonic cracked his fingers. "Sadly, Zonic can't come to the chat right now. But you got the next best thing possible, me!"

Infinite landed on his feet. "I've taken you down once, Sonic the Hedgehog. I can take you down again!"

"Let's just see about that, toast lover!"

"What? How did you know I love toast!? Who told you!?"

Sonic shrugged, as he and the Rookies leaped into battle. (1)

"Oh, I want some toast!" Zomom licked his lips.

"You and I can share it later," Infinite snapped his fingers. "Get them!"

Zavok, Zazz, and Zomom charged for the four Rookies whereas Sonic pounced on Infinite's chest, landing jabs and heavy blows across his face. Infinite kicked Sonic off of him and shot a ray of cubes at him. But due to his super-speed, Sonic dodged to the side and ran down the platform of large shifting gears. Infinite followed behind, shooting an aura of cubes.

Soon, Infinite landed on the ground and formed a set of magenta shuriken with the Phantom Ruby. One by one, he chucked them at the blue hedgehog. Sonic dodged six of them before he was hit by the seventh one. But instead of being cut in half, he was suddenly trapped in a field where everything around him started to glitch. The gear platforms moved faster, and they had spikes on all sides. Suddenly, balls of energy cubes shot right for the hedgehog. Struggling to focus, Sonic was hit by a few of the cubes before he kicked another back at Infinite.

The hedgehog and the jackal leaped towards each other with the former kicking the latter up the face. Everything suddenly changed back to normal, and the two combatants duked it out.

Meanwhile, Emma and Skylar fended off the forces of Zavok and Zazz.

And Zomom was chasing after Clay and Buster. The rabbit and the dog were running away from the chubby Zeti, who was spinning around like a helicopter.

"Who can a man that fat move so fast!?" Buster screamed.

"Just keeping running, Buster Beeza!" Clay replied.

Soon, the duo ran up the wall and jumped over the chubby Zeti.

Clay spun his hammer and swung it back. "The Mighty Clay strikes a heavy attack! Hi-ya!"

As soon as Clay slammed his hammer into Zomom's face, the Zeti stood still before he fell down on his stomach. His face was smooshed in the hammer. Buster stopped running and awkwardly stood beside his best friend. The two shared a confused glance.

"Wow, I can't believe that worked," Clay chuckled nervously.

But it turned out that his hammer was inside Zomom's mouth. He gave it a few licks before he mumbled. "Hmm… this is a weird flavor. Needs more salt."

"GAH!" Clay gasped, trying to pull his weapon out of Zomom's mouth. "Get off my hammer, you foul beast!"

Buster leaped up and shot a massive square of projectiles from his Wispon. Once he slammed Zomom's head into the ground, Clay's hammer was set free. The bulky Zeti roared at the top of his lungs and smacked the two Rookies to the side. Hitting, back-first, against the wall, Clay and Buster jumped back up and backed away from the hungry monster.

"I'm gonna chew you two extra before swallowing!" Zomom exclaimed.

Clay and Buster felt sweat pour down their faces.

"Tell me he's saying that as a metaphor," Clay gulped.

"Why bother when he can have my lunch?" Buster folded his arms, chuckling.

Zomom froze. "Huh?"

Buster reached into his backpack and pulled out a box of dog treats. "Hey, boy. You want some treats?"

Zomom barked like a Mobian dog and got down on his knees. Buster opened the box and took out a dog biscuit. He waved it back and forth, almost as if he was a hypnotist trying to place a client in a trance. Zomom's eyes lit up with sparkles, as he followed the biscuit.

"Come on, boy," Buster said. "Sit!"

Zomom sat down.

"Roll over!"

Zomom rolled over.

"Do a flip!"

Zomom performed a standing backflip.

"Okay, fetch!" Buster chucked the treat and the entire box forward. Barking like a dog, Zomom raced towards the box and grabbed it.

Clay and Buster were finally left alone.

The rabbit placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder. "Dude, that was amazing! How did you know what would work?"

"Your movie helped me."

"My what?"

"Remember when you and I made our own films? We did this one where two archeologists were looking for lost treasure when they came across a pair of savage wolves. Your character pulled out a bag of dog-treats and lured the wolves away. You and I loved filming that scene. Don't you remember?"

Clay's smile turned into a sudden frown when he heard that. "Y-yeah… only a little though. I haven't made a cheesy movie in such a long time."

"Why did you stop? I never understood why."

Clay turned to the side, rubbing his arm. He felt sadness in his heart. "Buster, it's because… I-"

WHAM!

Skylar and Emma crashed against the wall and landed on top of each other.

"Emma, Skylar!" Buster cried, as he and Clay rushed over to help them up. "Are you guys okay?"

"We won't be for long!" Emma gulped, pointing at the crazy purple Zeti approaching her like a rabid animal. Clay swung his hammer back and smacked Zazz across the jaw, shooing him away from his friends. But suddenly, the four Rookies were left to deal with Zavok.

"Four powerless runts," Zavok clapped his fists together. "This is going to be so easy that it almost makes me feel guilty!"

Clay slammed his hammer against the ground, causing blue cubes to surround Zavok. Some of them crashed into him, but he managed to smack the others away. Skylar and Buster shot projectiles of asteroid balls and gusts of air at the monstrous creature, as Clay and Emma rushed forward and delivered a powerful glow; an electric shock and a large cube knocked Zavok back a few feet.

"Perhaps I've underestimated you four," Zavok coughed, wiping his lip. "Very well. I'm glad I know not to hold back!"

Zavok resumed his battle with the four Rookies, as Sonic and Infinite continued their brawl.

The blue hedgehog and the black jackal were caught in a fistfight. Fiery fists of rage flew in the air, as both of them unleashed their brute strength. Infinite performed a volley kick, but Sonic ducked underneath it. Sonic then tackled the jackal and thrashed upon him with punches and kicks.

"You're holding back, aren't you, Infinite?" Sonic quipped, dodging a punch from Infinite.

"W-what?" the masked jackal grunted. "I'm not holding back!"

"Sure you are. You were pretty powerful when the bomb went off, but now, you're holding back! Why? Because you know Egghead has a screw loose! In other words, you know this whole multiverse thing is getting out of hand!"

Infinite shot rays of cubes at Sonic, missing every hit. "As I said before, the doctor is arrogant of his consequences! If he keeps this up, our world will be destroyed!"

"Obviously, Zonic and the Zone Cops taught you a thing or two!"

"Before they left me, yes!"

"What exactly happened? You weren't very elaborate on the details. All you did was tell me Zonic banished you here. Surely, he had to have a reason!"

"You won't live to see his reason!"

With a magenta aura forming around his body, Infinite dove down and slammed the ground. He created a shockwave that sent Sonic flying backward. Luckily, the blue hedgehog landed on a nearby ledge. Just as he prepared to charge at Infinite, he glanced over and saw that Zavok was tossing the Rookies around like chew toys.

"No!" Sonic gasped. He ran down to help, but his path was blocked by a tower of cubes.

"Zavok can have your friends," Infinite snarled. "It's you that I want!"

Skylar smacked Zavok's chest with her fist, but she was grabbed and tossed against the wall.

"Hey!" Clay exclaimed. "Leave my friend alone!"

He slammed his hammer on Zavok's head, but all that did was give him the same result as the royal blue bear. Buster and Emma lasted the longest because they fought from a far distance, but Zavok was able to grab them and slam them against the wall. All four Rookies were down, and they were about to be beaten to a pulp.

Zazz woke up from his slumber.

Zomom munched on the dog treats.

"This is the end, Rodents," Zavok chuckled.

"Actually, we're all mammals," Skylar corrected him.

"Who cares? It won't matter when you-"

THUD!

Jet the Hawk, with his Extreme Gear, landed on Zavok's head. "Sheesh, do all of you Zeti drag out your dialogue? It gets annoying real fast!"

"Get off of me!" Zavok wiped his hand around, trying to hit the green hawk. Jet and Wave swarmed around the monster like bees flying around a hungry bear. Zavok was about to grab the latter before he was punched by Storm, who had the power generator in one hand.

"What!?" Infinite grunted.

Sonic jumped up, curled into a ball, and homing attacked Infinite.

The wall of cubes quickly dissolved, giving Sonic the ability to help the Rookies on their feet. "Nice work, guys. Are you okay?"

"We're okay," Clay nodded. "That guy's tough. He's quite a worthy foe for my warriors and I."

Even though Skylar abhorred all of the warrior remarks from Clay, she couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that Clay didn't refer to himself in the third person. She was also happy that Clay called her a warrior, which caused her to blush.

"Are you blushing?" Emma teased.

"What?" Skylar covered her cheeks. "Shut up, Emma!"

"Okay."

Jet, Wave, and Storm approached Sonic.

"Did you get the generator?" the Blue Blur inquired.

"Right here," Jet motioned to Storm holding the generator. "Told ya the Rogues and I could handle the job. But you do remember our end of the bargain, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, you get the Chaos Emeralds. But you gotta steal more stuff first."

Jet chuckled. "Duly noted."

"Hey, guys!" Clay pointed. "We better get out of here! The Deadly Six are coming!"

Master Zik, Zor, and Zeena ran down the factory, charging towards the Secret Strikers.

"Welp, I guess that's our cue," Sonic grabbed Clay and Skylar's hands. Emma and Buster grabbed their friends' hands as well. "Grab on, everyone! We're out of here!"

The Babylon Rogues drove through the path of rotating gears, as Sonic and the Rookies boosted through the factory. They ran past Infinite, who was furious. He jumped up and ran after them alongside the Deadly Six. (1s)


As Tails and Lil' Blue were pinned down by Gemerl, Dr. Eggman paced back and forth. He analyzed the Phantom Ruby's many features before he turned to the two heroes. "Such power exceeds my expectations. Ha! My own genius can scare me sometimes."

"Something tells me you miscalculated, Doc," Tails grunted. "Look around you! Have you seen what's happening? The Phantom Ruby's power is affecting other dimensions!"

"I hate to admit it, but the fox is right," Dr. Robotnik intervened. "I only showed up here yesterday, but I know that this has gotten out of control!"

"Wow, the Doc's on the same page as us?" Lil' Blue snickered. "Color me impressed."

"I may not know much about the Phantom Ruby other than what I've studied," Dr. Robotnik continued. "But I know it's not meant to be abused like this! We need to fix this as soon as possible!"

"And we will," Dr. Eggman scoffed. "Once I use it to finish off the Secret Strikers. Speaking of which, Gemerl, finish these jokers for daddy!"

"Yes, sir," Gemerl slammed Tails and Lil' Blue against each other, knocking them to the ground. He then clapped his hands together, forming a ball of orange energy. Lil' Blue got up, ready to strike. But before he did anything, Gemerl aimed for both doctors instead. "You hurt Cream!"

Shooting the ball of energy forward, he blasted both doctors in their chests. They toppled over the Egg Mobile and fell onto the ground.

The black/yellow Gizoid helped Tails on his feet. "Sorry for the scare, Tails. But I couldn't hurt my own friend."

"Gemerl, you're okay!" Tails cheered happily.

Lil' Blue folded his arms. "Okay, how many more of your friends are playing the whole good guy pretending to be a bad guy game?"

Gemerl scanned the miniature version of Sonic. "Who's this guy?"

"It's a long story," Tails replied. "What happened to you? We were worried about you, Cream, and everyone else."

"Eggman forced me to become lead general of his Badnik army. I've spent a huge chunk of my time away from Cream and Vanilla. Once I heard we were being sent here to do work, I had to come up with a way to escape. Thankfully, I saw you two running down Green Hill, so I figured I'd meet up with you and come up with a plan."

"And you could've just blasted Eggman at the start?" Lil' Blue raised an eyebrow.

"What? I wanted my entrance to have some flare. But I apologize if I frightened you, Tails."

"No worries," the kitsune gave a thumbs up. He then heard Dr. Eggman and Dr. Robotnik getting back up. "Gemerl, I need you to listen to me. Sonic, the Babylon Rogues, and the band of Rookies are here to grab a generator from the Arsenal Pyramid. They should be heading down to the prison camp. Meet up with them and rescue everyone that's there! Lil' Blue and I will deal with these clowns."

"Hey, you acknowledged me," Lil' Blue smiled. "Does that mean you're not mad at me?"

"No."

Lil' Blue frowned.

"Tell them I sent you, okay, Gemerl?"

"Your mission is my command, Tails."

"Sweet! I'll see you soon!"

With that, Gemerl saluted the duo before he took off flying across the sky. Tails and Lil' Blue shared a glance before they glared at both Eggmen. Dr. Eggman snarled and grabbed the Phantom Ruby. "Don't think this is over, you pests! I still got one last trick up my sleeve! Robotnik, saddle up! We're about to show these losers the true power of the Phantom Ruby!"

Holding up the ruby, a pulse of magenta waves covered the area.

Tails and Lil' Blue shielded their eyes, hearing the loud pulse ring through their eardrums. For what felt like an interminable time, the duo realized that the pulsing stopped. Opening their eyes, they looked up and were met with a surprise…

…The Egg Dragoon sat in front of them.

It was piloted by both Eggmen.

"Mwa-hahaha-hahaha hahaha!" they both cackled at the top of their lungs.

"Wow, this is some excellent craftsmanship," Dr. Robotnik chuckled, stroking the control console. "Very nice."

"It's all thanks to this lovely gemstone," Dr. Eggman kissed the Phantom Ruby, which caused him to get an electric shock. "Ouch!... Ahem! Let's crush them!"

The Egg Dragoon extended its wings and spun its drill.

Tails and Lil' Blue took a few steps back. The former wondered how he was going to beat this while the latter was filled with nothing but excitement.

"Yo, that looks so awesome!" Lil' Blue laughed. "This thing may smash us into chili sauce, but this still looks amazing!"

"This isn't something to celebrate!" Tails yelled back.

"Are you kidding me? Look at it!" Lil' Blue pointed, as he and Tails avoiding rocket-sized missiles that shout of the Egg Dragoon's arm. The two of them moved to the side and ran down the luscious green hills. The Egg Dragoon followed close behind, using its tail to shoot terrain debris and black rocks at the duo.

Lil' Blue leaped up, down, and all around, taking off at the speed of light.

Tails spun his twin-namesakes around and took to the air, avoiding more missiles and boulders that came his way. He whipped out his Arm Cannon and shot golden projectiles at the Super Badnik. He managed to land a few good hits, but they didn't do much damage. Instead, the Egg Dragoon shot a massive drill claw at the fox. To which, the fox avoided it and flew closer to Lil' Blue.

"We need a plan!" Tails said.

"I got one!" Lil' Blue replied, as he spin dashed into a black boulder and kicked it towards the Egg Dragoon. Unlike Tails' cannon, the boulder did some damage.

"Ouch!" both Eggman and Robotnik snarled.

Tails flew beside Lil' Blue, amazed by his simple plan. "Hey, that actually worked. Let's try it again!"

"Right on, Big Bro!"

Tails and Lil' Blue shared a nod before both of them took off in separate directions. As the Egg Dragoon caused boulders to land on the ground, the dynamic duo kicked it back at the machine, forcing some of the controls to malfunction. But thanks to the Phantom Ruby's power, both doctors kicked things up a notch; they increased the speed of missiles and slammed the ground with the robots drill claws. They hoped that it would throw the duo off balance, but all it did was shake Lil' Blue off his feet. Thankfully, Tails was there to grab him and pull him back up.

"Thanks, buddy," Lil' Blue winked.

"You're welcome."

"Look, Tails. I'm sorry for-"

"Not that I don't want to hear another failed apology, but now's not the time."

"Right, sorry, my bad."

Lil' Blue and Tails continued fighting against the Egg Dragoon. (2)


Bashing their way out of the Arsenal Pyramid, Sonic and the Secret Strikers rode down the desert road before they landed in Green Hill Zone. They made their way down a mountain and towards the prison camp, hoping to run into Tails and Lil' Blue. But sadly, they found no such luck.

Sonic squinted his eyes. "Anyone see Tails and Lil' Blue?"

"Nothing on my end," Wave replied. "Shorty probably got lost."

"Wait, what's that over there?" Storm pointed.

In the distance, a black/yellow figure was racing through the sky. Sonic knew exactly who that was. "That's not Tails, but it's the next best thing! Let's go free those prisoners! Clay, Skylar, come with me and we'll free Mina's boyfriend! Everyone else, start bashing some bots!"

Everyone, including the Babylon Rogues, cheered once they heard the plan. They ran faster and faster until they boosted through the front gate of the prison. Startling a few inmates, the Secret Strikers ran forward and shoved their way through hordes of robots.

Gemerl landed beside the heroes and grabbed two Egg Fighters, bashing their heads into one another. He then blasted an armada of orange energy at Super Badniks wanting to stop him, as he teleported behind a few enemies and shot them with missiles. He then looked over and saw Cream, Vanilla, and Big. The three of them were being bossed around by a few guards. Before Gemerl could make a move on them, Emma and Buster took care of them in an instant. They turned to Gemerl and gave him a thumbs up. The Gizoid mirrored their motion, as he approached his family.

"Yay! Freedom Fighters!" Big clapped his hands.

"Gemerl!" Cream cried with happiness. Her Chao, Cheese clapped his hands and circled the Gizoid. The rabbit hugged her adoptive brother and shed a small tear. "I missed you. Thank you for saving me! I didn't know you knew Sonic was alive."

"For the record," Gemerl answered. "I didn't."

Speaking of the blue hedgehog, he ran forward and reunited with his friends. "Hey, guys. What's shakin'?"

Cream, Vanilla, and Big hugged Mobius' hero. Gemerl just gave him a fist-bump.

"Sonic, you're okay," Big smiled.

"Thank goodness you're back, Mr. Sonic," Cream smiled. "I missed you!"

"Welcome home, Sonic," Vanilla greeted.

"What took you so long, Big Blue?" Gemerl asked. "It's been six months."

"It takes a long story and a horror movie trailer to explain what happened to me," Sonic answered. "But I'm glad you guys are safe. Have you seen Tails and a little hedgehog that looks just like me? They were supposed to meet us here."

"We haven't seen Mr. Tails or the other hedgehog," Cream answered. "I'm sorry."

"They actually sent me here to find you," Gemerl answered. "They're back in Green Hill fighting against both Eggmen."

"Eggmen?"

"Yesterday, an Eggman from another dimension, I think his name was Dr. Robotnik, came by and now he's working with our Eggman."

"Great!" Sonic snapped his fingers in annoyance. "He must've come here when the multiverse collapsed."

"Multiverse?" Big raised an eyebrow. "I thought there was only one universe."

"I'll explain later, Big," Sonic folded his arms. "Have you guys seen a man named Ash Mongoose? I promised his girlfriend I'd rescue him for her."

"I didn't see Ash Mongoose," Big smiled. "But I did see a mongoose named Ash."

Everyone gave the cat a deadpanned stare.

"Where is he?" Sonic inquired.

"Is that him over there?" Cream pointed.

Sonic turned around and saw a yellow-furred mongoose with black hair and dark blue eyes. For attire, he had a white jacket, black boots, red sunglasses, blue pants, and a black shirt with an emoticon. He was being carried to a shuttle by an army of Egg Pawns. Sonic, Cream, Gemerl, and Big raced forward. They ran alongside Clay and Skylar, as they dashed towards the Egg Pawns. Before they could toss Mina's boyfriend onto the ship, the bulky cat grabbed the robots and bashed them together. Clay and Gemerl punched the robots, as Cream jumped into them with her boots. Skylar shot them away with blasts of air, as Sonic performed a front flip off a set of Egg Pawns, landing in front of the mongoose.

"I assume you're Mina's boyfriend?" he asked.

"Y-yes!" Ash replied excitingly. "Is she okay? Tell me she's okay!"

"Easy there, buddy. She's safe. But I need you to come back with me, okay?"

"Got it! What do we do about the other prisoners? Can I help them escape?"

"Yes, you can," Sonic winked. "We'll steal these ships and set a course for Angel Island. That's where the Secret Strikers' HQ is! Mina's there too!"

"Sweet! Let's to it do it!"

"Um, it's do it to it!"

"Oh, sorry. My bad."

Emma and Buster guided former inmates to the airships, hearing the plan that Sonic discussed with Ash.

Gemerl, Clay, Buster, and Cream assisted them.

"Come on, everyone," Clay called out. "This way, this way, come get a free ticket out of here!"

The prisoners rushed out of the prison and boarded the airships. Luckily, several pilots were among the crowd, so they volunteered to take control of the ships. Sonic ran down the lanes and called out to everyone that boarded the ships.

"Set a course for Angel Island! Commander Knuckles is expecting you!"

The Babylon Rogues watched as the shuttles closed their doors and they levitated off the ground with ease. Wave smiled at the sight of people being free. Even though she had the same feelings as Jet, meaning she had no interest in world-saving, but she was still happy that the Secret Strikers were here to set everyone free. Sadly, Jet and Storm didn't share her feelings. The three bandits landed beside the rest of the resistance. They watched Ash run towards one of the ships.

Sonic ran up and grabbed the mongoose by his arm. "Hold up there, buddy. You're not getting on those ships. You're coming with us."

"Oh, right," Ash chuckled nervously. "Sorry."

Vanilla boarded one of the ships. Cream and Gemerl stayed behind to help the other Secret Strikers combat the Eggman Empire.

"Goodbye, my children," she spoke softly. "I'll see you soon. Be careful."

"We will, Mother," Cream smiled. "See you soon."

As the door to Vanilla's shuttle closed, Gemerl and Cream followed the rest of the resistance towards the front gate of the camp. Avoiding projectiles coming from Egg Pawns and Buzz Bombers, everyone penetrated through the gate and took off down Green Hill's main area. They looked behind them and saw Infinite and the Deadly Six. From where they were running, they looked like tiny insects.

In other words, there was no way they were going to catch up. (2s)

"Take that, Egghead!" Clay shouted, high-fiving his friends.

"One item down, two to go," Jet smirked. "This is costing you, Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Sonic moaned.

Gemerl leaned close to Sonic's ear. "Yo, why are the Babylon Rogues here? Aren't they a bunch of jerks?"

"They are, but I'm gonna explain later. Right now, I want to know if Tails and Lil' Blue are okay." (3)


The twin-tailed kitsune and the cobalt hedgehog were doing mildly well.

They were landing some hits onto the Egg Dragoon, but they were running out of boulders to knock back at it. Once the doctors realized the procedure the duo was doing, they decided to hold off on hitting them with terrain debris. Instead, they solely relied on missiles and other firearms to finish the job. Unfortunately for the heroes, they couldn't find a way to attack the Egg Dragoon without getting hit. Lil' Blue jumped over a drill and ran as fast as he could, but he didn't want to leave Tails behind. The two-tailed fox had a different plan.

"Lil' Blue, grab on!" the fox held out his hands.

"You don't gotta tell me twice!" the hedgehog grabbed his big brother's arms, as the fox spun his namesakes and took to the skies. But the Egg Dragoon was close behind.

Even though some parts of it were malfunctioning, Dr. Eggman managed to keep the machine working with his Mania Zone counterpart's help. Together, they mashed buttons on the console, firing weapons at the heroes.

Tails and Lil' Blue gasped, evading more projectiles.

"I'm getting a little sick of this thing!" Lil' Blue screamed.

"Me too!" Tails grunted. "This is the third time he's used this against us!"

"What?"

"That's not an original creation. It's been used twice in my past!"

"Wow, Egghead's so lazy that he relies on old creations to get his work done. Talk about poor writing."

"We have to do something to take down the Egg Dragoon's defenses. But the core's too strong to breakthrough!"

Lil' Blue stroked his chin. "I may have an idea, but I doubt you'd be up for it!"

"Honestly, I'll take anything at this point. So, what do you got?"

"My Tails and I did this in my world, but we would grab each other's hands, form a Spin Dash, and boost into Ro-butt-nik's machines. I know you're mad at me for my rude comments, and I'm sorry I hurt your feelings, but if we want to win this, I need you to trust me!"

Tails looked down at the hedgehog's black eyes and stared deep into them. He hated him for everything he's said in the past few days, but he knew that if he stayed mad at him further, he'd burn to a crisp. Even though he wasn't planning to forgive him fully, Tails took a deep breath and nodded.

"If that's will it'll take, then let's do it!"

"Great! On my command, ready? One!"

"Two…"

The duo grabbed each other's hands. They both shouted, "THREE!"

Combining their spin dashes together, the dynamic duo circled around the air and shot backward. The Egg Dragoon paused mid-air, only to see a streak of blue and yellow light heading towards. Dr. Robotnik screamed whereas Dr. Eggman grunted. He mashed a few buttons on the console and shot a few weapons, hoping to stop the double boost. But sadly, Lil' Blue and Tails penetrated through the Egg Dragoon's core. Lil' Blue's plan proved to be a good one because both doctors the entire Egg Dragoon fall to bits. The whole thing was about to blow up. Before they could escape through the Egg Mobile, they let out an exasperated message.

"I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!"

The Egg Dragoon exploded by the time they stopped yelling. (3s)


Elsewhere, Sonic and the Secret Strikers witnessed a massive explosion in the distance.

They all stopped for a quick moment, watching a giant glowing light.

"Tails! Lil' Blue!" Sonic shouted, as he ran ahead of the crowd.

"Hey! I'm faster than you!" Jet squawked, as he followed the blue hedgehog in an instant.

Everyone else didn't want to wait for them, so they ran forward.

They've spent a few minutes catching up to Sonic and Jet before they met up with the two and came to a sudden stop. From where they were standing, the Egg Dragoon laid on the ground. Parts of it were on fire and a malfunctioning Egg Mobile sat on the side. With it, both Dr. Eggman and Dr. Robotnik sat inside the cockpit.

Just then, Tails, who carried Lil' Blue, landed on the ground.

The two of them struck a victorious pose before they shared a nod. Lil' Blue offered a fist-bump and Tails looked at him with hesitance. Looking at the hedgehog's gloved fist, Tails was skeptical about this before he finally committed to it; he shared a fist-bump with Lil' Blue.

"I see you two are getting along," Sonic smiled.

"Yeah… you can say that," Tails rubbed his head. "Are you guys okay?"

Cream and Big walked over and gave Tails a hug.

"Never better, Mr. Tails," Cream smiled.

"There was a pretty light back there," Big added.

"Hey, guys," Tails nodded, releasing the two Mobians. "I'm glad you're okay. Did all of the prisoners escape?"

"They should be heading back to HQ," Gemerl nodded.

"Sweet! What about the generator?"

Jet, Wave, and Storm held up said item.

"Awesome!" Tails nodded. "Never thought I'd say this, but nice work, Rogues."

The mumbling of Dr. Eggman stopped the Secret Strikers from celebrating. He opened the cockpit and pushed his vehicle upward. Dr. Robotnik woke up and snarled at his counterpart. Dr. Eggman hopped inside and glared at the Secret Strikers. Normally, he would say something threatening, but instead…

…he started laughing.

"Look at all of you, fighting like you've got a chance to win, it's adorable!" he cackled. "It almost makes me feel bad that we're never going to do this little dance again… in three days, my plan will obliterate the bothersome lot of you and soon, all of you will cease to exist!"

"Wait, three days?" Emma gasped.

"What plan?" Tails snarled.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise," Dr. Eggman shook his head. The Egg Mobile lifted off the ground. "You know what they say, the anticipation in the end is worse than the end itself."

In the blink of an eye, the Egg Mobile took off.

The Secret Strikers were left alone.

"Hey, Boss," Storm gulped. "What do you think Eggman's planning?"

"As long as he's got ahold of that ruby, he can be planning anything!" Wave chimed in.

"Relax, you two!" Jet scoffed. "Knowing the doctor, his plan will just blow up in his face!"

"Normally, I'd agree," Tails spoke. "But after everything that's happened with the multiverse, I'm willing to bet that this will be something bigger. We need to awaken the Super Emeralds as fast as possible. I'm just hoping Knuckles and the others got those chemical rods I need for the portal."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sonic asked with a smile. "Let's head to the Mystic Jungle and see what's up! Secret Strikers, Charge!"

The resistance rushed down Green Hill, praying that everything's going well in the Mystic Jungle.

END OF CHAPTER 20


Tails and Lil' Blue are starting to get along for now, but who knows how long it will be until the cobalt hedgehog from the Mania Zone apologizes for his rude comments from earlier. But on a more important note, Infinite has revealed that he has a connection to Zonic. But it gets worse! Dr. Eggman has a diabolical plan occurring in three days! What can it be? Well, if you played the game, you obviously know what it is, but maybe the plan will be different for the sake of this rewrite? Who knows? Anyways, the Secret Strikers are heading down to find the rest of their team in the Mystic Jungle. We'll see what Knuckles and the others were doing during the events of Chapter 19 in...

"Chapter 21: Into The Burning Mystic".


POST-A/N:

Gemerl, Cream, and Vanilla made a brief appearance in Chapter 7 if I recall correctly. It might have been Chapter 6. I can't think of it off the top of my head at the moment. I figured I'd bring them back for this story. Besides, Gemerl and Cream were the best parts of the most recent IDW Sonic Issue. I had to bring them here. Speaking of which, I'm shocked they weren't in Sonic Forces. I can understand why Cream wasn't there, but where was Gemerl? He could have helped Omega take down Infinite or something, I don't know.

Infinite being from the No Zone is something I thought of a while ago. I figured it would bring more of a reason as to why the Zone Cops showed up in this story in the first place. And now that it's foreshadowed that the Phantom Ruby's from the No Zone, we'll be seeing how this is possible soon enough.

Response to TheLostEternity: First off, I apologize for not responding to your comments in the last chapter. I might have, but I can't remember. Anyways, your brain's gonna have to register the fact Infinite is from the No Zone. You'll see what happens later. Infinite is your favorite Sonic character? Nice! Part of this rewrite was really fixing his personality. His backstory is one thing and his powers are another, but my biggest issue with Infinite was his personality. Like the Deadly Six in Lost World, he was pretty one-dimensional. I wanted to give Infinite the personality and potential he deserves.

That's all I have to say, ladies and gentlemen! I hope you're all doing well out there! Thanks so much for reading! Don't forget to R&R! I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you all next time!

~SD321 (SpiderDom321)