A/N: So, this chapter in particular takes place during the events of Chapter 19: Arsenal Breakout! This segment shows us a revamped version of the Luminous Forest level from Sonic Forces, but minus the Infinite fight and other things. What changes await? Let's see. Special shout out to those who favorited and followed this story and thanks to those who have reviewed!

Suggested Music:

(1) Luminous Forest - Sonic Forces OST

(2) Steel Plated Faker - Sonic Mania Adventures OST

(3) Aqua Road (Moonlight Battlefield) - Sonic Forces OST

Without further ado, enjoy the show!


Into The Burning Mystic

As Sonic and his team make their way to the Arsenal Pyramid, Commander Knuckles and his own team: the Chaotix, Amy, Silver, Blaze, Team Feral Strike, marched off into battle in the Luminous Forest, a section of the Mystic Jungle. For the most part, the forest was normal, but since it was taken over by the Eggman Empire, it's been rebuilt into its leader's perfect image. In other words, the jungle was decorated in items that resembled casino furniture. There were giant machines that offered gold rings and other prizes (though, if you got three Eggman icons, you'd be rewarded with a punishment), colorful lights that illuminated the night sky, and the place was crawling with Badniks.

But thankfully, the Secret Strikers bypassed them with ease. (1)

The Chaotix shifted to the left and took down an army of Egg Pawns. Vector munched off the arms of several robots, Espio shut down their systems with his daggers, and Charmy gave everyone the first sting. As the bee dealt with his enemies, he couldn't help but sing.

"Whee, whee, whee! Who wants a sting from me!" Charmy chuckled, as bashed through multiple enemies.

Espio volley kicked an Egg Pawn. "Focus, Charmy. Eggman's army is growing in numbers!"

"But they're not growing in strength!" Vector chimed in, punching more Badniks against each other. "If we keep this up, we'll save that echidna girl no problem!"

"Let's hope so!" Espio nodded.

Knuckles and Amy joined Team Feral Strike and other Mobains/humans who volunteered for the resistance shot through the army of robots that stood in their way. For some reason, Badniks that resembled ostriches called Egg Walkers ran away from the resistance. Everyone was confused, but Team Feral Strike boosted ahead and burned them down with their Wispons.

"Hey, why are you guys running away?" Corvin cackled. "What's the matter? Scared of a fellow bird?"

Knuckles and Amy ran beside Gadget and Dakota.

"Tikal should be in a factory that's nearby!" Knuckles said to everyone else. "Let's keep the pace going! Push through, everyone!"

Suddenly, the last member of Knuckles' team: Chaos leaped over the Secret Strikers and landed on the ground. Multiple Mobians that wore the Eggman Empire's clothing aimed their weapons and shot at the water God. But since he was entirely liquid, the bullets did nothing. Chaos, filled with anger, grabbed the soldiers and slammed their heads together. He dove forward and penetrated through the Eggman Empire's army.

"Thank goodness he's on our side," Amy slammed her hammer into an Egg Pawn. "I'd hate to fight Chaos after last time."

Knuckles landed an uppercut against an Egg Walker. "You're right, Amy! I feel bad that Chaos was forced into Eggman's regime! Tikal means the world to him, she's been there since day one! We need to hurry and rescue her fast!"

"We also need those chemical rods for the multiverse portal, don't we?" Silver chimed in. "I'll go ahead and find those!"

"I'm coming with you," Blaze entered the scene, eviscerating Badniks with ease. "You're going to need backup, Silver."

"Thanks, Blaze," Silver nodded and smiled.

"Stay in touch, you two," Knuckles said. "Let me know if you find Tikal."

Saluting their commander, Silver and Blaze took off in the dark of night.

Knuckles and the Secret Strikers held their own against the army.

"Has anyone heard from Sonic?" Amy inquired, squashing robots with her hammer. "Or Tails? Or anyone!?"

Gadget charged his Burst Wispon and eviscerated an army of Egg Walkers. "Tails contacted me and told me the Rookies, Sonic, and the Babylon Rogues are close to the pyramid. He should call you shortly!"

Coincidentally, Amy's communicator received a transmission.

She answered it quickly, "Hello?"

"Yo, Ames," Sonic replied. "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."

Amy hung up the call.

"I don't trust that Clay character," Gadget moaned.

"Oh, for Chaos' sake, here we go again," Dakota grumbled. Chaos turned to him once he said that. "Right, sorry, Chaos."

The water god shrugged and kept fighting.

"Gadget, how many times have I told you to knock it off!?"

"Clay and his friends are idiots! They're going to screw this up!"

"Like you never screwed things up before? The first time we came to the Secret Strikers, you kept disobeying orders and knocking down random stuff! Stop pretending you're the leader around here and do as your commander says!"

"Enough, you two!" Amy exclaimed. "There's no time for arguing! Right now! We have a friend to rescue!"

The wolf brothers exchanged a glare before they joined the Secret Strikers down the pathway.


Elsewhere, Silver and Blaze safely landed towards a factory that sat in the hub of the Mystic Jungle. This was Dr. Eggman's base of operations and it was one of the factories that housed experiments for the Phantom Ruby. The duo landed on the grass and glanced at the factory's massive size. It was bigger than a mountain, yet way smaller than a continent. Blaze folded her arms and walked towards the back door.

"I'll alert Knuckles once we find Tikal," she said. "Do you think we should split up or stick together?"

Silver didn't respond to her query.

The lavender cat turned around. "Silver, did you hear what I asked you?" (1s)

When she looked at him, she realized that he was feeling devastated. Silver had his eyes closed and his head faced the ground. A small tear poured down from the hedgehog's cheek.

Concerned for her friend, Blaze gently approached him. "Silver… is something wrong?"


~Flashback

200 years into the future, Angel Island is known as Onyx Island. A place that was more technologically advanced than its ancestor. In this time, the island is ruled by the Onyx City Council: a shadowy organization whose ambitions make them a force to be reckoned with. Whenever something gets out of hand, they would send their Civil Protection Robots down to secure the area and apprehend those responsible.

Today, Silver the Hedgehog hoped that the Civil Protection Robots wouldn't catch him. Not too long ago, he discovered that something terrible was going to happen in the past, something that would determine the fate of Sonic the Hedgehog and all of Mobius. Silver couldn't let that happen. He sat alone in an abandoned laboratory, watching the drones push those in need like they're nothing. A lone child attempted to make the drones happy by showing them her doll, but the robots ripped the doll to shreds and pushed the little girl to the side.

Silver always had contempt for the robots. Not only were they bullying everyone in his city, but they also had Eggman Empire logos on their shoulders.

But Dr. Eggman wasn't the one who built these…

…it was his descendent: Dr. Eggman Nega.

Silver turned to the TV that was playing behind him, watching a feline news reporter give the daily news.

"Welcome back to another installment of Onyx City News. Today, we're seeing the Onyx City Council join its new partner, Dr. Eggman Nega in a speech regarding the constant rebellions that have been happening as of late. Here's Dr. Nega with a few words."

The white-mustached man with a black and gold jacket stood up on the podium, clearing his throat. "I know there are some people out there who aren't fans of my partnership with the City Council, but I have a little announcement to make for those people. I don't care that you dislike my regime. I don't care about the constant rebellions you pull. If you dare to make another stand against my regime, I'll have no other choice but to send my Civil Protection Drones after you. They're fierce, they're strong, and you don't want to mess with them!"

Silver clenched his fist.

"That is all I have to say for today, folks. The Onyx City Council and I will continue to spread order throughout our city. And if you ever think about rebelling again… we'll spread order… and chaos!"

Silver couldn't take much more of this, so he turned off the TV.

Rubbing his face, he sighed. "Dr. Nega is so full of himself! How dare he come here and act like he's our savior? He's nothing but a ruthless dictator!"

Feeling angry, the white hedgehog took a deep breath. "I just hope the professor can dig up the Time Stone we found in the garden. According to legend, that stone is one of seven artifacts originating on Little Planet. If one finds a stone, all they have to do is shout Chronos Control and they can travel back in time. I've time-traveled before, but they were through portals made by the professor. This time, I have a stone to get me back and forth through time and space. I hope it still works."

Suddenly, a set of three robots came into the room. There was a blue model, a red model, and a yellow model. All of them were no bigger than Silver's fingers and they looked just like Sonic.

These creatures were called Bits.

They motioned to Silver and spoke in binary code. Even though he didn't know what they were saying, Silver recognized their motions and followed them.

Together, they walked into a laboratory where a man was banging a stone fragment with a hammer.

It was a tall, male figure with turquoise skin and orange/light orange hair. For attire, he had round-shaped glasses and a lab coat that was blue, white, and yellow.

"Hello, Professor Von Schlemmer," Silver greeted.

The turquoise-skinned professor and turned to him, greeting him with his slight German accent. "Sei gegrüßt, Silver. How are you?"

"I'm okay at best," the hedgehog rubbed his arm. "How are things going with the Time Stone?"

"Zis thing should be out of here in Drei… Zwei… Un!"

Von Schlemmer slammed his hammer against the rock and a glowing yellow light filled the room. The yellow Time Stone was finally set free. The heroes gathered around it, as Von Schlemmer gently grabbed it and blew the dust off its surface.

"Ha-ha, we have done it!" he cheered. "Zis time stone will get you back to ze past, so you can stop zis disaster from happening!"

"Yeah," Silver gently took the gem from his mentor. "We can… wait a minute, did you say I will go back to the past?"

Von Schlemmer nodded.

"W-w-what!?" the time-traveler gasped. "N-no! I can't leave without you! We're doing this together!"

"Zat was before zis whole situation took a worse for the turn. Or was it turn for the worse?" Von Schlemmer stroked his chin. "I can't remember."

"Professor, I'm not going to do this! I'm not leaving you to the Onyx City Council!" Silver exclaimed. "I… I… I need you!"

The oddly skinned man smiled at the hedgehog's remark, so he leaned down and patted his shoulder. "Listen, Silver. You have time-traveled multiple times on your own. All I did was build ze portals needed for it. Zis is a Time Stone, which can help you travel faster. Besides, the City Council thinks I'm still one of zere own. If I leave, they'll become suspicious. We can't jeopardize zis mission, can we?"

Silver frowned, releasing that his mentor was right once again. "You're right, Professor… I promise I'll come back to you when this is over."

"I know you will."

THUD!

A loud noise was heard on the rooftop. It alarmed the residents.

Suddenly a red light sparked through the ceiling, forming the shape of a giant circle. Suddenly, a circular piece of debris fell from the ceiling. Silver pushed Von Schlemmer out of the way, as the debris crashed into the ground.

Silver and Von Schlemmer jumped off the ground and heard a loud stomp from behind. A shadowy figure stood in the smoke. When the smoke cleared, it revealed a black and yellow figure that both heroes knew too well…

…Dr. Nega's greatest creation: Metal Sonic 3.0.

Before the two can start fighting the robot, they heard a loud cackle come from above. Just then, an army of Civil Protection Drones came down from the ceiling and stood beside Metal Sonic 3.0. Then, a small hovercraft came into the laboratory.

Dr. Eggman Nega entered the scene and he was more than happy to see his "friends".

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Silver," Dr. Nega laughed. "And I see you've partnered yourself with a good friend of mine. I should have known you'd turn on me, Schlemmer!"

"Grab the gem, shout Chronos Control, and go to ze past," Von Schlemmer whispered to his friend. "I have business to take care of!"

Grabbing a screwdriver, Von Schlemmer twirled it and dove straight for the Civil Protection Drones. Metal Sonic 3.0. charged up his energy core and shot a beam of energy at Silver. The psychokinetic hedgehog gasped and used his powers to shield himself. He snapped his fingers and sent a set of boulders crashing into the robot. Silver slammed the rocks on top of the drone before Metal Sonic 3.0. blocked the last shot with his matrix shield. He boosted towards his rival.

Silver evaded to the side, kicking his metallic rival in the process.

As he fought valiantly, Silver glanced and saw his mentor being harassed by an army of robots. He gasped and shoved Metal Sonic 3.0 to the side, kicking him against the wall and burying him in a pile of rubble. Silver gripped the Time Stone in his hands, as he rushed towards the professor.

"Hang on, Professor!" he called.

"Silver, stay back!" Von Schlemmer replied, smacking a Civil Protection Drone across the face. Suddenly, the drones punched the professor's stomach. Silver clapped his hands together and created a psychokinetic bubble, which blasted the robots to smithereens.

"Professor, are you okay?" Silver grabbed Von Schlemmer's hand, pulling him up.

"I've had enough of this nonsense," Dr. Nega rolled his eyes. He pressed a button on his Egg Mobile and a large blaster popped out of the bottom. A red energy ball began to charge inside the core. It didn't take long for a streak of energy to shoot out of the blaster.

"Silver, look out!" Von Schlemmer pushed the psychokinetic hedgehog out of the way, taking the hit in the chest. Letting out a screech of agony, the German professor fell down on his stomach. Smoke came out of the side of his lab coat and his eyes were closed.

Silver gasped. "NO! Professor!"

The white hedgehog leaped forward and held the unconscious professor in his arms, gently shaking him. "Professor, wake up! Professor, please!"

Suddenly, Metal Sonic 3.0 emerged from the debris he was buried under and slowly approached Silver.

Dr. Nega and the Civil Protection Drones surrounded the time-traveler.

"Aww, how sad," Dr. Nega chuckled. "An absent-minded professor sacrificing himself for a lost cause. Such a pity! Hand over the Time Stone, Silver before you meet the same fate!"

Silver placed Von Schlemmer on the ground and gripped the Time Stone. "As long as I still stand, Dr. Nega! You will not rule this future! Chronos Control!"

"No!" Dr. Nega shouted.

The last thing the scientist and his robot army saw was a flash of golden light.


~Present Day

"Silver?... Silver?... Silver!?"

Hearing the sound of Blaze's voice, Silver shook his head and got out of his trance. He realized he zoned out for a while, which caused him and Blaze's mission to be halted. Rubbing his eyes, he let out a small moan.

"Blaze, I'm so sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to distract you from the mission."

"Your health matters just as much to me, Silver," Blaze commented. "What's wrong?"

Silver took a deep breath, taking out the yellow Time Stone he got from the future. "In my future, I had a friend named Professor Von Schlemmer. He found me a Time Stone I used to get back to the past. We were going to go together, but he… he…" the white hedgehog frowned. "He was captured by Dr. Nega and his empire. I couldn't save him."

The lavender cat felt sorry for her close friend. She may not have known Professor Von Schlemmer, but from the way Silver spoke, she assumed that the two of them were close. She placed a hand on Silver's shoulder and let out a soft smile. "Silver, that wasn't your fault. Obviously, Von Schlemmer sacrificed himself just so you can go back in time and prevent this disaster from happening."

"But he'd be disappointed to know that I didn't. I couldn't stop Eggman's bomb."

"None of us could. We all thought that Sonic was dead, but now, Sonic's alive. And we have a plan to travel through the multiverse, find the missing Chaos Emeralds, and awaken the Super Emeralds. That has to mean something to you, right?"

Silver gazed into Blaze's orangish eyes and smiled. "It does. The fact Knuckles formed this resistance means a lot to me. And now that Sonic's alive and we have a plan like you said, I know we're going to save the future!"

"Right… but let's focus on saving Knuckles' friend, Tikal first."

"Of course."

Before the two can enter the facility, they heard something ruffling through the bushes. Stopping, they turned around and looked at the dark forest that sat behind them. One of the bushes was moving. There was no wind where they were, so that couldn't be a reason as to why the bushes were acting up. Suddenly, a pair of red eyes emerged from the darkness, staring at both combatants.

Silver and Blaze took a few steps back, wondering what was lying in the shadows.

Just then, the shadowy figure came out of the bushes and revealed himself to be…

…Metal Sonic. (2)

"Yikes!" Silver exclaimed, as he and Blaze evaded to opposite sides.

Metal Sonic attempted to scratch them with his claws, but he missed. Instead, he skidded across the floor and stopped near the facility's doorstep. Glaring at both Secret Strikers, he leaned upward and chuckled.

"Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat," Metal Sonic spoke. "I'm disappointed that Sonic couldn't be here with you, but I guess you two will do just fine."

As soon as the white hedgehog laid eyes on Metal Sonic, all he could picture was that moment Von Schlemmer was knocked unconscious. Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, Silver's hands began to spark a cyan glow. Blaze cracked her knuckles and her fists ignited with fire.

"You took Von Schlemmer away from me!" Silver roared, as he was the first to charge forward. Without any hesitation, he landed multiple punches and blows across Metal Sonic's face. Blaze joined in the fight and shot a wave of fire at the robot. She spun around, forming a blazing tornado, and knocked Metal Sonic against the wall. Silver clapped his hands and summoned two large trees. He was about to crush Metal Sonic into next week before the robot deflected the attack with his black Matrix Shield.

"Darn it!" Silver grunted.

Metal Sonic deactivated his shield and he snapped his fingers. An aura of yellow and orange electricity formed around his body.

"Maximum Overdrive!" Metal Sonic shouted, as he boosted forward.

Blaze and Silver deflected the blast with their powers and pushed him back.

Metal Sonic skidded across the floor before Blaze landed a fiery uppercut against his chin. "That's for hurting Sonic six months ago!"

"And this for our world!" Silver slammed a boulder on top of the robot's body.

Metal Sonic broke through the boulder and shot waves of energy at Silver and Blaze, knocking them back. "You two fight like you have a chance to win. It's adorable! Soon enough, the Secret Strikers will fall before the might of the Eggman Empire! All that will be left in this world… is metal!"

"BE. QUIET!" Silver shouted, as he bashed himself into Metal Sonic's chest. (2s) (3)


While Team Feral Strike and other soldiers in the resistance engage the Eggman Empire, Knuckles, Amy, Chaos, and the Chaotix were making their way towards Dr. Eggman's Research Facility. Not only did they hope to meet up with Silver and Blaze, but they also hoped they'd rescue Tikal before something terrible happened to her. But the only way to get to the laboratory was through a large water slide.

Knuckles, Amy, and Chaos were in front.

And Team Chaotix was in the back.

"Whooo hooo!" Charmy cheered. "This is so awesome!"

"I think I'm gonna be sick!" Vector cupped his hands over his mouth.

"Chill out, Vector," the bee chuckled. "It's just like those water parks we go to!"

"And there's a reason why we don't go to water parks!"

"How far are we from the factory?" Espio inquired.

"We shouldn't be too far," Amy replied. "Once we get past this section, there should be another slide that will take us to the facility."

"Once we get there, we'll ambush Eggman's army," Knuckles said.

"Let's focus on getting out of this contraption first!" Vector moaned. He felt like losing his lunch.

Suddenly, loud thuds came from behind the Secret Strikers. Espio was the first one to turn around. "Guys, we've got company."

An army of Motobugs was rolling down the slide, heading towards the heroes.

Instead of clobbering them to bits, the Secret Strikers bumped into the Badniks and knocked them over the slide's edge. Chaos grabbed a set of Motobugs, slammed them together, and chucked them into the water below. The Secret Strikers swerved to the right of the slide before they suddenly came across a waterfall; however, on the other side was a platform. Curling their knees, the Secret Strikers waited until they got to the edge and made their leap of faith.

They landed on the platform and ran down a pathway, encountering more enemies in their sight.

"I hope Silver and Blaze are holding their own in the factory," Amy said. "Has anyone heard from them?"

"Blaze contacted me not too long ago," Espio answered, kicking an Egg Pawn in the face. "She and Silver are fighting Metal Sonic as we speak. I offered them backup, but they refused."

"Too bad Metal Sonic's a robot," Charmy folded his arms. "He can't feel pain when I sting him."

"Let's pray that Blaze and Silver will catch up with us soon," Amy replied. "The next waterslide's coming up here!"

Jumping onto the next water slide, the Secret Strikers dealt with the same problem as before; Motobugs that tried to throw them off course. But there was another obstacle in their path. The slide was split into three sections and the edges of each section were covered in thorns.

"Yowch!" Charmy squealed. "Don't wanna bump into those!"

"Split up!" Espio called.

Knuckles and Amy went to the left.

Chaos dove towards the middle.

And Team Chaotix took to the right.

All three groups trailed down the same slide before they came across a pool of water below the end of the slide. But an army of Buzz Bombers was waiting to ambush them. Everyone looked at the army of insects, noticing that they lead to the top of a mountain, which is where Dr. Eggman's facility was located.

Knuckles and Amy pounced onto the Buzz Bombers.

Chaos shot his arms upward and swung from the trees.

And Charmy handed Espio and Vector magic rings called Sling Rings. He fluttered his rings and carried them upward. Espio threw daggers at the Buzz Bombers whereas Vector smacked and chomped the bee robots in half.

Eventually, everyone made it on top of the platform.

Standing in front of them was Dr. Eggman's Research Facility.

"Tikal should be close by," Knuckles said. "Chaos, you ready to rescue our friend?"

The God of Destruction nodded.

"Good. Stick together, Secret Strikers. I'm not sure what's in there."

"Let's hope the Illusionary Legion don't get the jump on us," Espio said.

"I'm hoping to teach that Zavok guy a lesson," Vector clapped his fists.

"Please don't let that jackal be in there," Charmy gulped. "He's scary."

"Don't worry, Charmy," Amy smiled. "If Infinite's in there, I'll protect you."

"Thanks, Amy."

"Come on, guys," Knuckles stretched his arms. "Let's do it to it!"

The Secret Strikers marched inside the facility, unaware of what awaited them from the inside.

END OF CHAPTER 21


Silver and Blaze are stuck in a fight with Metal Sonic while the Secret Strikers make their way towards Tikal? Can they save her without any obstacles in their path? Will Silver and Blaze be able to get inside and help their friends? Find out next time, as the battle for the Mystic Jungle continues in...

"Chapter 22: Saving Private Tikal".


POST-A/N:

I know this chapter wasn't anything special (I'm saving all of the good stuff for Chapter 22), but I thought I would make this one shorter just so the next one can be longer. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed what I wrote for you guys.

Since Infinite had his boss battle in the Arsenal Pyramid through Chapters 19-20, I gave the spotlight to Metal Sonic here. But instead of the Blue Blur being present, I obviously added Silver and Blaze. Speaking of Silver, his future is based off how it is in Archie Sonic Universe Issue 79-82: The Silver Age. In the games, Onyx Island is a future version of Angel Island. It's like that in the Post-SGW Comics, but Onyx City is Archie's own creation to my knowledge. Since it doesn't explain if Onyx City is on top of Onyx Island, I decided to make the two connected.

Speaking of comics (and some AOSTH Fans), you may recognize Professor Von Schlemmer. In the comics, he's attempted to show the Onyx City Council his theories on Genesis Portals and their links to dimensional travel, but they never listened to him because they're jerks. So, Von Schlemmer, Silver, and a character named Gold the Tenrec decided to put a stop to their plans. They awaken a monster in the process, but that's a story for another day.

As always, thank you all so much for taking the time to read. Don't forget to R&R! I'm The Sensational SpiderDom321 and I'll see you next time!

~SD321 (SpiderDom321)