A/N: Hello, everyone. So, just a small heads up, I am going on Spring Break next week, so I will be making more chapters of this story, as finishing it is my top priority. But I also have some news. So, a lot of people are having concerns about the coronavirus at my school, even though no one freaks about the flu. The coronavirus spreads like the flu. So, just wash your hands, don't touch your face, and be careful in public places. Anyways, because of this, there is a chance all of my classes will be online. Which will suck because some of my classes only work when I'm physically present in the class. Plus, I don't feel like being trapped in my house just to be homeschooled. But hey, I can only hope for the best. I won't know what they'll do until Spring Break comes for me. I can only hope for the best. For anyone curious, I am far below the risk of being infected, so I'm fine. I'm just gonna keep staying clean. :) And I hope you all to do the same.

Suggested Music:

(1) Assault on the Asphalt - Battle Highway Remix from Sonic Battle (Credit goes to Song Of A Shadow)

(2) Death Egg Robot Phase 1 - Sonic Forces OST

(3) Showdown with King Arthur - Sonic and the Black Knight OST

Without further ado, enjoy the show!


The Gizoid Crisis

"Where is Starline? He's supposed to be helping me with this project?" Dr. Eggman asked himself. Inside the Final Egg, he resumed the Elemental Gizoid experiments, but they all met the same result; they didn't work. The doctor was growing tired of his failures, as he was almost running out of Gizoids to test. But he also wondered where his most loyal lackey could be.

"Maybe he took off again like every other lackey you've had," Orbot replied. "It wouldn't surprise me."

"It seems to be a running gag in the franchise," Cubot added. "Eggman meets someone, they form an alliance, that person turns against Eggman."

"Tis' a vicious cycle, my angled friend," Orbot nodded.

"Vicious? Does that mean it has fangs?"

"Will you two shut up!?" Dr. Eggman scoffed. "I'm trying to work on a project, and nothing is working! I don't know if it's the Gizoids or the Elemental compounds I'm using, but every project is coming out as a bust!" the doctor slammed his head against the control console. He then leaned against it. "Maybe I should take a break from this. It's better to clear my head before-"

Suddenly, the door's shifted open and Dr. Starline came through.

"There you are!" the mad doctor grunted at the platypus. "Where have you been!? I've been working on this thing all night!"

"I apologize for leaving you, Doctor," Dr. Starline bowed. "But I needed to get something important. Something that could help us figure out what's wrong. Bring it in, boys."

Just then, Rough and Tumble entered the lair with the prototype Emerl in their hands. Metal Sonic followed them. Laying his eyes upon his old creation, Dr. Eggman's pupils popped out of their sockets and his heart leaped out of his chest. He was astonished to see his rejected creation live and in person, but he was also puzzled.

A while ago, he remembered seeing that the Gizoid was located at Resistance HQ. Starline suggested that they invade it, thinking it could be useful for their operation. But the doctor said no, as it would be risky to invade Resistance HQ and he wanted to make sure the other Gizoids were tested beforehand. Dr. Eggman laid his eyes on Starline and grunted like a lion. He then grabbed the platypus by the collar and pressed him against the wall. This scared Orbot and Cubot but made Rough and Tumble curious.

"Starline, you traitor!" Dr. Eggman howled. "I ordered you to not invade Resistance HQ! But you go and did it anyway! You could've given away this lair's location! I swear, a Resistance soldier better not have followed you here!"

"D-Doctor, please!" Starline replied with worry. "I didn't mean to turn against you. This was not meant out of disrespect. I simply wanted to help you with this operation. The Gizoids we've tested don't work, so my hypothesis was that something about the prototype could help us determine the problem of our experiments!"

"You turned against me! Give me one good reason why I shouldn't fire you right now!"

Suddenly, the prototype drone woke up from its slumber and hopped out of Rough and Tumble's arms. Both skunks raised their eyebrows, as they watched the robot limp towards the experiment chamber. It grabbed all the elemental compounds from the shelf and walked inside the tube.

"Uh… Boss?" Rough pointed.

"I trusted you and this is how you repay me!?" Dr. Eggman continued yelling at Starline.

"But, Doctor-" Starline gulped.

"Boss?" Rough said again.

"Starline, if I had a garbage compactor with a massive monster in it, I'd throw you down and hope that monster would eat you!" Dr. Eggman snarled.

"Did you get that idea from a movie?" Dr. Starline inquired.

"BOSS!" Rough shouted at the top of his lungs.

"WHAT!?" Both doctors said at the same time, as they looked to the left and saw the Gizoid inside the chamber. It loaded all the compounds into its system. "NO!"

Releasing Dr. Starline, Dr. Eggman approached the console and watched as the Gizoid started to glow various lights; red, blue, white, and green. The Gizoid clenched its fists and got down on its knees. It started to spark with electricity and its eyes were glowing. Dr. Eggman attempted to shut down the process before a miracle suddenly happened…

…the Gizoid started manipulating all four of its elements: fire, water, air, and earth.

But there was a bigger twist, the Gizoid wasn't malfunctioning. It calmly manipulating the elements at once as if it was natural. It created a rock from the ground, controlled water, crafted a ring of fire, and extinguished the fire with a gust of air.

The robot continued putting on a show before it stopped. The Gizoid took a bow before it stood still.

Both doctors, both skunks, and both robotic lackeys were amazed.

Dr. Eggman gently looked at Dr. Starline; a massive grin was painted across his face.

"Perhaps I was wrong about you, Starline," he said, stroking his mustache. "You are very useful. And with your help, I figured out that the way the other Gizoids were crafted is the problem. We shall analyze this one's features and mass-produce clones of it! With these Elemental Gizoids, Sonic and the others don't stand a chance! And with G-merl and Synergy reprogrammed to be on my side, I'll finally fulfill my dream of world domination! Mwa-hahahahahahahahahaha!"

Dr. Starline joined in the evil laugh. "But that's not all, Doctor. Metal Sonic came back to me with great news."

Dr. Eggman stopped cackling. "Oh? And what might that be?"

The platypus smirked and folded his arms. "I know the location of Synergy and G-merl."


The next morning in the Mineral Museum, Sonic was sharing a box of donuts alongside Mighty, Ray, and Silver. G-merl and Cream were talking to Synergy and Big. Team Chaotix chatted with Knuckles. Blaze interacted with Tangle and Whisper. The Hooligans were playing cards. And Amy and Tails were checking on Jewel. They stayed inside their store for three days, which can put a lot of pressure on someone, so they wanted to make sure she was okay. But just before they could ask the beetle how she was, they heard a sudden burp come from Sonic. Tails, Amy, and Jewel turned to the hedgehog, shaking their heads.

"Sheesh, Sonic," Amy moaned. "If you eat any more donuts, we're gonna have to change your name to Donut Lord."

Sonic took a bite of another donut. "I think I know a cop with that name."

Tails, Amy, and Jewel rolled their eyes. Mighty and Ray laughed at Sonic's joke.

But as everyone continued their conversations, Synergy grabbed a stool and stood on top of it. He grabbed an empty glass and a fork, tapping them together. "Excuse me, everyone. I'd like to make an announcement."

"It's not the one about Eggman and the moon, is it?" Vector asked.

"No?"

"Then proceed."

Synergy was silent for one second before he spoke. "I just wanted to say… before you guys took me out on my world adventure, I always saw Mobius as nothing but a battlefield. I always thought this place was just one big field where you had to know your environment to demolish your enemies… I was wrong. After everything I've seen, I realize there is so much more to this world than I thought. There are so many cultures, people, and so many things I've never knew existed. I also learned some lessons the Nocturnus Clan never taught me. I learned you can't always win, I learned how to read books, I even learned how to pickpocket."

Everyone glared at Team Hooligan at that last sentence.

Nack and Bean chuckled.

They continued listening to Synergy's speech.

"Anyways," Synergy resumed. "I realize I made some mistakes in the past. Lying to Big and attacking Soleanna are two of my biggest regrets. Initially, I wanted to use Big as a way of guiding me back to the Nocturnus Clan in the Mystic Ruins, but after spending time with him and all of you guys… I decided I don't want to go back to the Nocturnus Clan anymore. Why? They can't appreciate the world that's around them. All they care about is world conquest… that's something I thought I wanted, but now, I don't want it anymore…

"What's the point of world domination if you can't meet people, have friends, try new things and… find a new lease on life?" Synergy cupped his hands together. "My point is, I want to apologize to all of you for giving you a hard time at first. If I were you guys, I would've kicked me in the rear three days ago."

Everyone chuckled.

"And with that being said, I want to thank you all for giving me a second chance. A chance to be… with a family."

The Resistance exchanged nods with one another, as they all welcomed the new and reformed Synergy to their group of friends. Even Bean felt touched by the speech, as he had tears flowing down his cheek.

"Are you crying?" Nack inquired.

"Shut up, the pollen count's high today," Bean replied with a sniff, blowing his nose into Nack's hat.

"Hey!"

Everyone gathered around Synergy.

"That was beautiful, Synergy," G-merl nodded. "We're glad to see that you changed… unfortunately, there's something we need to tell you."

Synergy scratched his head. "What is it?"

Sonic, Knuckles, and Espio exchanged a glance. Silver was the one who approached the Gizoid.

"Because of your attacks on Soleanna," he spoke. "G.U.N. has you as their number one most wanted criminal. Now, we know that you've changed, but you still have to pay for your crimes. In other words… we're gonna have to take you to jail."

"But when your jail time ends," Sonic smiled. "You can bet we'll be waiting for you."

Synergy was silent before he gave a thumbs up. "Well, it's a little unfortunate I have to go away for a while. But… I understand. I made mistakes and I have to be held responsible for them. So, I understand why you need to do this. But as Sonic said, I know you guys will be waiting for me."

Big wrapped his arm around his new best friend, as everyone else exchanged a nod. They all began discussing a plan about contacting Team Dark, when suddenly…

…Tails' Miles Electric went off.

The fox reached for his communicator. "Huh, I just got a new message."

"Who's it from?" Blaze folded her arms.

"It's from Shadow."

"Huh, speak of the devil," Sonic smiled, rubbing his nose. "I know I should be mad at the Faker for turning us over to G.U.N., but he was doing his job. What did he say?"

"He probably wants to know if we changed Synergy," Espio commented. "He'll be happy once we tell him the good news."

Tails played the message.

Shadow's voice came through, "Tails, whenever you hear this… Rouge and I have something to tell you. Resistance HQ was just invaded by Dr. Starline and Eggman's forces."

Everyone gasped.

"W-what?" Knuckles said in shock.

"G.U.N. and I arrived to see what was going on and your soldiers told us Super Badniks raided the place. I was about to ask them why Starline came, but the G.U.N. soldiers shot them with tranquilizers and arrested them. Since you guys are wanted for housing Synergy, that automatically means the rest of the Resistance are just as guilty as you guys."

Knuckles growled like an angry lion, clapping his fists together.

"I'm sorry that Shadow and I couldn't make it sooner," Rouge's voice came through. "We would've liked to help out. If you're out there, come back so we can get this situation sorted out. Then, we'll go find Eggman and Starline together. But hurry, I don't know what G.U.N.'s planning to do with your soldiers. We'll see you soon."

The message ended.

"Those traitors!" Knuckles snarled. "How could they do this to us!?"

"Relax, Knux," Sonic said. "Shadow and Rouge tried to help."

"But they didn't do enough! Because of them, G.U.N. has our friends arrested! Who knows what kind of interrogation they'll be put through! And to make matters worse, our HQ is destroyed!"

"Wait a second," Espio halted the argument between Sonic and Knuckles. "I'm concerned for our friends in jail, but I'm also worried about something else. Remember that Emerl clone we found in the Mystic Jungle?"

"Emerl clone?" Cream raised an eyebrow, glancing at G-merl.

"Yeah?" Knuckles replied to the chameleon. His eyes suddenly widened; he realized why Starline invaded his headquarters. "Oh, no… everyone, pack up, we gotta head back to-"

"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

A distressed shout came from outside. The Resistance looked at the door with confused faces. The Hooligans stood up and approached the window. They opened up the curtains and felt their eyes leave their sockets.

"Uh, Mates?" Nack gulped. "You might wanna see this!"

Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles lead the Resistance to the front door. They opened it up and looked at what Nack was pointing at. Everyone's jaws dropped and their eyes widened.

"What the!?" Amy gasped, cupping her hands over her mouth.

In the maroon-colored sky was a giant spaceship shaped like Dr. Eggman's face. Surrounding it were thousands of multi-colored objects. They were red, blue, green, and grey. All of them were flying towards the village.

Pedestrians were scared and ran to the closest shelters. Others ran across the streets.

The Resistance walked a few steps forward, beholding the creation they're seeing.

"What… is that?" Charmy gulped.

"Is that the Death Egg?" Tangle questioned. "Didn't you guys blow that up?"

"We did," Tails answered. "But that's not the Death Egg. That's something else!"

The voice of Dr. Eggman suddenly echoed through a large megaphone. "Mwa-hahahahahaha! Sonic the Hedgehog, it's about time we met each other again. I haven't seen you since we were trapped in the Sylvania Castle Zone, it's crazy! I want to thank you for taking care of Synergy and G-merl for me. Don't worry, once I get my hands on them, I won't put them through any harm… well, except a few sessions of reprogramming of course."

The Resistance clenched their fists, getting into battle positions.

"Speaking of which, hand over G-merl and Synergy with ease and I will call off my army… your choice."

"Stay away from my friends, Eggman!" Cream shouted. "I'm not letting a mean man like you touch them!"

"…What!?"

"I said stay away from my friends, Eggman!"

"I'm looking at you from my monitor, it looks like you're talking, but I can't hear you! What are you saying!?"

"I said you're a mean man, Eggman! You're not touching my friends!"

"I can't hear you!... hold on!"

It didn't take long for the Egg Mobile to arrive in front of the heroes. The Egg Mobile had two seats this time. In the main cockpit was Dr. Eggman and on the left was his right-hand man, Dr. Starline.

"I'm so sorry, I couldn't hear you," Dr. Eggman said again. "What were you saying?"

"I… ah, forget it!"

G-merl stepped in front of Cream. "Call off your army, Eggman. You want me, come and get me! I'm right here!"

"G-merl, no!" Cream hugged her best friend. "I can't let you go!"

"She's right," Synergy retorted. "And I'm not going either! Emerl and I are staying right here!"

"If you insist," Dr. Eggman chuckled. "Prepare to meet my Elemental Gizoids!" the doctor mashed a rainbow-colored button on his console.

"Elemental Gizoids?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

Before anyone could make a move, a loud slam caused Amy to jump. Standing beside her, the Chaotix and the Hooligans were an army of red-colored Gizoids with orange-colored flame decals on their bodies. Then, another set of Gizoids arrived. This time, they were navy blue with sky blue water decals. Green Gizoids with brown rock decals and finally, grey Gizoids with white wind decals.

All four armies of Elemental Gizoids surrounded the Resistance.

Everyone readied their weapons, raised their fists, and got down into battle positions.

"Are these…" Synergy asked nervously.

"No, they're not Nocturnus Clan made if that's what you're asking," G-merl replied. "They're E-121 Phis; knock-off Gizoids created by Eggman."

"Makes sense. They look cheaply made."

"What do you think of my new army, Sonic?" Dr. Eggman cackled. "These are my Elemental Gizoids. They were supposed to be used during the War, but because I was so attached to the Phantom Ruby, I decided to scrap the project. But with the help of Starline here, I was thankful enough to get them back online."

"Your new army's pretty impressive, Eggman," Sonic smirked. "But no amount of robots can take us down!"

"Confidence: a fool's substitute for intelligence. I'm done talking, it's time to push buttons! Elemental Gizoids, attack!" (1)

All at once, the Gizoids shot waves of their respective elements at the heroes. But at the last second, the Resistance leaped upward, avoiding the collision of attacks. As soon as everyone landed, the fight finally began.

Charmy grabbed Espio and Vector and chucked them right into a set of Wind Gizoids. The ninja and the detective fought fiercely before they were suddenly blown away by a gust of wind. Charmy came down and kicked the attacker in the face before he too was blown away. Espio wiped his lip, rushed forward, and stabbed the Gizoid in the chest with his kunai. He then curled into a ball and homing attacked the other Gizoids. They all kept blowing him back with balls of wind; one of them smacked him in the chest. Vector cracked his fingers and took out a piece of spicy bubble gum. Putting it in his mouth, he chewed it for a few seconds before he shot a tsunami of fire from his mouth, incinerating the robots.

Amy, Cream, Big, G-merl, and Synergy ran past the Chaotix and found themselves ambushed by Water Gizoids. Three drones kicked a fire hydrant, which caused a geyser to shoot out of the ground. The Gizoids suddenly manipulated the water, forming the shape of a sword. They hacked and slashed at Team Rose.

"Look out!" G-merl pushed Cream and Big to the side, taking the blow.

"Emerl!" Synergy shouted, as he landed on the ground and extended his Chaos Claws. "So, you can control water, huh? That's cute!"

Activating his Chaos Emulation, Synergy jumped upward and landed on top of the Gizoids, ripping them to shred. Amy swung her hammer, making a pink tornado that blew a few robots into the air. She came face-to-face with one of them and started beating it with her hammer. But by the fifth hit, her hammer was blocked by a hydrokinetic shield and she was punched in the chest by a fist made of water.

She landed, back first, against the Chili Dog stand.

There, a dark blue rabbit with a yellow shirt and green gloves watched a tube of mustard fall on Amy's face. His name was Ron.

"That'll be eleven Mobiums, please," he said, offering his hand.

Grunting, Amy wiped the mustard off of her and continued fighting.

G-merl and Cream worked together to take down multiple Gizoids before the former was grabbed by a pool of water.

"G-merl, help me!" Cream shouted, as she and Cheese were stuck together. G-merl shot a missile at the water bending drone and caught the rabbit with his hands. Synergy jumped over his friends and clapped his claws together, crushing a few drones.

Synergy then pushed his friends out of the way, taking the hit of a giant rock.

G-merl and Cream looked to the side, noticing an army of Earth Gizoids.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," G-merl snarled.


"Didn't your momma ever tell you not to play with fire?" Sonic quipped, as he leaped over a pyrokinetic Gizoid and kicked it off its feet. The hedgehog curled into a ball and ran over it faster than light. Sonic uncurled from his ball form and ran down the streets, boosting into different colored Gizoids. But suddenly, he was shot at by a wave of fire, which scorched part of her fur. "Hey! Easy there! I just combed my fur this morning!"

Knuckles slammed the ground and picked up a gigantic boulder. "Sonic, get clear!"

Throwing the boulder forward, he crushed an army of Gizoids.

Then, he was suddenly attacked by a set of Earth Gizoids. Knuckles blocked all of their attacks, as he slammed the ground. A shock wave blasted the robots away from him. Tails, Tangle, and Whisper landed beside him, as the fox and the wolf shot projectiles at their enemies.

Tangle noticed that a set of Wind Gizoids were coming from behind them.

"Oh, no you don't!" she cracked her fingers and grabbed her tail. Swinging it around, she latched it onto a street lamp and yanked herself forward. With her tail forming a giant fist, she mercilessly decimated every single drone in sight.

She landed beside her friends, as Sonic and Knuckles attacked a set of Fire Gizoids.

"Gotta hand it to the Doc, he sure put some thought into these things," Sonic said, flipping over one of the robots.

"This isn't the time for snarky remarks, Sonic," Knuckles grunted. "Tails, is there a way we can shut these things down?"

"I'm not sure," Tails replied, swinging his Arm Cannon around like a wrecking ball. "Let's see!"

Wrapping his wrecking ball around one of the Fire Gizoids, the fox pulled it beside him and slammed it on the ground. When that happened, its back was popped open, revealing its circuits. "From the looks of it, they're connected to some main server called 'Alpha', if we destroy the main server, there is a chance we can shut them down at once!"

"Let's hope so," Sonic nodded, as he was slammed against the ground by four Earth Gizoids.

"Sonic!" Tails shouted, but he was bashed in the back by a large boulder.

A few of the Water Gizoids trapped Whisper in a field of water. The wolf held her breath and struggled to escape.

Tangle, in an attempt to rescue her, was surrounded by a ring of fire.

The Earth Gizoids formed a rocky barrier around the Blue Blur, pinning him down.

"Okay," Sonic coughed. "I'm not in the mood for a tight squeeze!"

Just as the Gizoids prepared to finish things off...

…a set of heart-shaped grenades fell on their shoulders.

"Huh?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow, punching a Fire Gizoid. "Is that?"

KABOOM!

The grenades exploded and all of the Gizoids were destroyed.

The heroes were set free.

Whisper fell on her knees, coughing and gasping for air. Tangle rushed forward and helped her on her feet.

"Thank you," the wolf coughed, fist-bumping the lemur.

Out of the blue, Rouge the Bat flew in and kicked a set of Water Gizoids. She ducked underneath another set of Earth Gizoids, as she tossed more grenades and fought them off with ease. Everyone else helped her fight as more armies cornered them.

"About time we found you again," Rouge snarked at Knuckles.

"We?" the echidna asked.

HONK! HONK!

Speeding down the road like a wild animal, a G.U.N. assault vehicle ran over all the Gizoids in its sight. The truck honked its loud horn again, as it drifted to the right and drove over more and more robots. The truck eventually came to a stop, and the door opened. The driver was none other than Shadow the Hedgehog.

"Well, look who it is," Tangle folded her arms. "The guy who betrayed us."

"I apologize for that," Shadow leaped down. "I was following orders, but I didn't realize that my orders made me do wrong. What's going on here?"

"Eggman came by with an army of Elemental Gizoids," Tails replied. "He's looking for G-merl and Synergy!"

"Probably to recruit them both for his army," Rouge stroked her chin. "It's the Emerl Incident all over again. Minus all the elemental stuff."

"Where are G-merl and Synergy as we speak?" Shadow inquired, folding his arms.

"They're helping Team Rose down the corner," Sonic pointed. "If we hurry, we can catch-"

Suddenly, a loud vroom came interrupted Sonic's sentence. (1s)


Mighty and Ray fought alongside Silver and Blaze when they heard the same noise. They stopped fighting and looked up.

"What is that?" Blaze asked.

Silver squinted his eyes and saw a gold object shoot down like a kamikaze jetplane.

"Look out!" Silver shouted, as he and the others leaped out of the way. The object landed on the ground, which created a puff of smoke. It didn't take long for the smoke to clear away, revealing the object itself.

It was a gold-colored Gizoid with bronze eyes and silver fingers, fins, and knees. Around its body were stickers made to resemble fire, water, wind, and boulders. The Gizoid stood up and stared into the souls of the heroes.

The rest of the Resistance, including Shadow and Rouge, approached.

"What the heck is that thing?" Amy asked.

Dr. Eggman and Dr. Starline hovered down.

"Mwa-hahahahahahahaha! It's about time Alpha got here!" The former laughed. "This is the Gizoid Knuckles and the Chaotix found in the Mystic Jungle. Originally, he was supposed to be a clone of Emerl, but now I modified him into the leader of my elemental army!"

"If we take him out, all the other Gizoids will be destroyed," Tails said to the others.

"Good luck doing that, Tails!" Dr. Eggman sneered. "Alpha's equipped with not only Emerl's abilities but all four elemental abilities at once! Alpha, destroy them all! Bring me G-merl and Synergy!"

Alpha nodded to his master, as he boosted forward. The Resistance charged, but they were suddenly knocked by a wave of fire and water. They were knocked down like a set of bowling pins, as they all landed on their sides. Silver and Blaze shot projectiles at Alpha, but he blocked the attacks and slammed the ground, knocking them back with two boulders. Knuckles and Shadow punched through the rocks and slammed their fists against Alpha's face. They began beating him to a pulp before Alpha clapped his hands together, blowing them back with a gust of wind.

Sonic and Tails grabbed each other's hands and formed a double spin dash. Amy smacked them like a baseball, and they rammed into Alpha's chest… or so they thought.

Alpha caught them at the last second and slammed them against the ground.

Everyone ambushed him all at once, but Alpha snapped his fingers and attacked them all with rocks and pillars.

G-merl and Synergy landed beside Cream and Big.

"This guy's tougher than I thought," G-merl clenched his fist.


Meanwhile in Windmill Village, Shade the Echidna was enjoying her morning with a fresh cup of coffee. Well, she would be enjoying her morning if she wasn't grieving over her past. Four days ago, Knuckles came to her house and convinced her to come back to the team. From there, she told him why she didn't want to come back and why she stayed away from them for so long. It was at that moment where she lashed out at Knuckles. So much that she started to cry. Crying wasn't a word in Shade's dictionary, but due to the circumstances, she had no choice to let out her emotions. Thankfully, she was no longer crying, but she felt guilty for her outburst.

What have I done? She said in her mind, as she took a sip of her coffee. What do you mean what have you done? You told Knuckles the truth. He has to learn to accept that I'm not coming back… but still, that wasn't an excuse for you to lash out like that. You did more harm than good…

So, what if I did more harm? At least he's gone. He won't have to bother you anymore… No, I shouldn't say that. That's not like me to say something like that. Knuckles just wanted to help me, but like an idiot, I pushed him away…

Some friend I turned out to be.

Three knocks at the door interrupted Shade's thoughts.

"It's open," she said.

Opening the door, Elder Scruffy stepped inside.

"Good morning, Shade," the goat greeted, sensing some sadness within his peer. "Are you all right?"

"Of course, I am, Elder," Shade faked a smile. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you haven't been outside since four days ago. The cub scouts have been wondering if you're okay."

"Shoot, I'm so sorry. I'll go notify them right away."

"Wait… before you leave. I want to talk to you."

"Is something wrong?"

"Nope… but I think we need to have a discussion."

"Have a seat."

The goat sat down. "Shade… I apologize for overhearing this, but four days ago, I couldn't help but listen to a conversation you had with that red fella who visited you. You told him how you left him and his team if I recall?"

Shade nearly spat out her coffee. "How much of that did you hear?"

"I apologize once again, but I heard all of it."

The orange echidna let out a low sigh. "Even the part where I was once part of an evil clan?"

The old man nodded.

"I assume you're here to kick me out? If so, I understand. Parents wouldn't feel comfortable if their children's cub scout troop was lead by an evil general. I'll start packing my things," Shade got up from her chair.

"No, no, that's not what I came here for," Elder Scruffy smiled.

The echidna sat back down.

"Shade," the goat sighed. "You can't let your past actions burden you. Not only will it solve anything, but it's also not good for you mentally. The fact that you're running from your past is making you feel worse. It's causing you to push the ones who once held close away from you. You can't live life like that. Hiding away from your past won't help you get over it… that's why I'm going to make a suggestion."

Shade's purple eyes looked up at the goat.

Elder Scruffy pressed his hands together, continuing. "I think you should have a genuine talk with that red fella and his other friends. Voicing your feelings instead of keeping them concealed is not only healthy for you mentally, but it will give you a chance to tell your friends the truth. Now, I can't say what their reactions will be to your story, but I can guarantee, they'll be happy to know the truth… whether you choose to be friends with them again is entirely up to you, but I think if you told them everything… they'll appreciate it."

The orange echidna was silent. She looked to her left and took a deep breath. Then, a smile was painted on her face. It was at that moment where she got up and walked towards her closet, pulling out her old uniform. Taking a good look at it, she turned to the side and opened one of her drawers. Two bottles of purple and pink spray-paint stared back at her.

She took them out and smiled at her uniform. (2)


"Everybody, get back!" Mighty bellowed, as he tapped his elbow and pulled back his fist. After watching Alpha toss Ray and Tangle to the side, the armadillo bawled at the top of his lungs and punched Alpha in the face. The punch was so strong, a massive shockwave was formed.

The golden Gizoid flew a hundred feet backward before he suddenly used his wind powers to fly back. From there, Vector grabbed him and slammed him on the ground, where Big body-slammed on top of him. Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow, and Blaze charged forward and homed in on Alpha; homing attacking him all at once. Alpha protected himself with a watery shield but was too slow to deflect Whisper's rocket blast.

Alpha skidded across the ground, where he came face-to-face with Espio.

The ninja turned invisible and ambushed the Gizoid from all sides.

Unfortunately, Alpha spawned a ray of wind around him, which exposed Espio's location. The overpowered mech grabbed Espio by the neck and held him up in the air. Before he could pummel him, he was tackled by Rouge, G-merl, and Synergy. The two Gizoids spin dashed into Alpha before firing a heavy uppercut.

Rouge slapped a heart-shaped grenade on Alpha's chest. It exploded and covered Alpha's vision with smoke. This gave Tails, Charmy, Ray, Amy, and Tangle a chance to thrash upon him. But sadly, their blows didn't have any effect.

Silver arrived and blocked Alpha's attacks with psychic waves before he clapped his hands together. Two large boulders smacked themselves into Alpha's sides. The white hedgehog then roundhouse kicked the Gizoid.

Even after all that abuse, Alpha stood as if nothing touched him.

The Resistance was getting tired of both Alpha, and Dr. Eggman and Dr. Starline's constant laughing.

"Now might be a good time to end this, don't you think, my lord?" the latter suggested. "We don't want Alpha to damage Synergy, don't we?"

"Hmm… we don't," the former replied. "Why don't you put that Topaz to good use?"

"Gladly,"

Clenching his fist, the platypus admired his gemstone's glow.

From there, a portal formed on the ground and Synergy fell inside.

"Synergy!" Cream, G-merl, and Big shouted in worry. They attempted to grab his hand, but it was too late. Synergy was consumed by the ground. G-merl glared at both doctors.

"Where did you take him!?" the Gizoid shouted.

"Relax, G-merl," Dr. Eggman chuckled. "You'll be joining him soon!"

At that moment, G-merl grabbed Big's hands and they flew upward. Cream and Cheese followed alongside them. They charged right for Dr. Eggman and Dr. Starline.

"That's right, my former creation," Dr. Eggman scoffed to himself. "Come to papa."

Dr. Starline created another portal, but G-merl flew over it and dropped Big onto the Egg Mobile. Both doctors were scared of the giant shadow that surrounded them from above. Screaming at the top of their lungs, they jumped out of the vehicle before Big could slam on top of it.

As they free-fell to the ground, Dr. Starline used the War Topaz to create a portal on the ground. Both he and his master fell inside. G-merl, Cream, and Big landed on the ground, approaching the warp hole.

"Hang on, Synergy! We're coming!" Big shouted.

But the portal was already closed.

"Synergy!" Big exclaimed.

"Don't worry, Mr. Big," Cream patted her large friend on the back. "We'll rescue Mr. Synergy. I know it!"

"Argh!" Mighty shouted, as he tumbled across the ground and landed against a fire hydrant.

The trio turned around, shocked to see that Alpha was annihilating their friends with ease. He grabbed Amy's hammer and smacked her, Whisper, Rouge, and Tangle across their faces. He slammed the ground and trapped Ray, Tails, Silver, and Blaze in a pile of rocks. He blew the Chaotix away with gusts of wind, and he trapped Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow in a large pool of water. The three struggled to escape.

Watching the entire fight, the Hooligans were hiding behind a pile of rubble.

"Okay, boys," Nack gulped. "Guess we better get out of here."

"Yep," Bean nodded in agreement. "Sneaky time."

As the mercenaries snuck off, they found themselves in the same situation as Ray, Tails, Silver, and Blaze; wrapped in a rope of boulders. Alpha pulled the mercenaries towards them and glared into their souls. Bark struggled to escape, but Nack and Bean were screaming at the highest pitch.

"Let them go, you meanie!" Cream rushed towards the attacker.

"Cream, no!" G-merl chased after her. Big followed behind.

Alpha was lured towards the rabbit's remark, as he trapped the Hooligans and took off faster than lightning. His hands ignited with fire, as he assailed to the rabbit and her friends. Cream stopped and bellowed a scream. G-merl and Big stood in front of her, ready to take the hit.

Alpha came closer and closer, firing a punch when all of a sudden…

…a familiar face blocked the blow. (2s)

Alpha's eyes widened when he saw the figure standing in front, astonished that they could block such a punch. Well, the figure was technically a she. A female with mostly purple armor with black and pink stripes up her arms and legs. She had pink knee and elbow pads with black straps as well as purple shoes with black details on them. Around her waist was a black Warp Belt and on her head were a pair of black goggles with purple lenses.

It was Shade the Echidna. (3)

"Miss Shade!" Cream shouted excitingly.

"Leave… my friends… alone!" the orange echidna kicked the Gizoid aside, unleashing her Leech Blades.

Alpha cracked his knuckles and ran towards the echidna. Shade stood alongside the others, as they exchanged a nod and prepared for round two.

Shade slid on her knees and chucked a grenade at Alpha, blinding him with a puff of smoke. As he was blinded, Cream and G-merl landed a good uppercut across the golden Gizoid's chin, as they grabbed him and kicked him into a building. Laying on the ground, Big wrapped his fishing pole around Alpha's legs and slammed him around like a dog's chew toy. Big eventually released the robot, which gave Shade a chance to release her anger. From right to left, she scratched Alpha with her blades and landed a good slash against his eye. She tossed one of her blades like a boomerang, the same with the other one. When she caught them both, she flipped over and landed a kick against Alpha's face.

While the Gizoid was distracted, Silver focused enough of his psychic power and released himself and the others from Alpha's clutches. The Hooligans, Ray, Tails, and Blaze were set free. Amy, Rouge, Whisper, and Tangle quickly recovered. Sonic, Knuckles, and Shadow could finally breathe, and Mighty helped the Chaotix on his feet.

They approached Knuckles and nudged him.

"I take it that's your girlfriend?" Vector teased.

"No!" Knuckles replied with annoyance. "She's not my girlfriend!"

"She totally is," Sonic whispered.

"Whoo-hoo!" Tangle cheered, nudging Amy. "I told you she'd come back! They always do!"

"What are we standing around for?" Rouge smirked. "Let's help her out, shall we?"

Knuckles nodded. "Resistance, charge!"

Every member of the Resistance, even the Hooligans, raced forward.

G-merl, Cream, Big, and Shade punched Alpha in the chest.

Then, every hero in the area exacted their revenge.

Team Chaotix delivered a rocking Chaotix Recital, where they blasted energetic soundwaves at Alpha.

Silver and Blaze combined their powers and bashed themselves into Alpha's chest.

Tangle, Whisper, Shadow, and Rouge attacked from both sides.

Amy formed a pink tornado.

Tails fired yellow projectiles.

Nack shot his popgun. Bean threw his bombs. And Bark landed more punches.

Finally, Sonic and Knuckles finished things off. Joining Shade, the blue hedgehog gave the echidnas a thumbs up before they ran up to their attacker. Throwing a grenade, Shade and Knuckles threw an uppercut, sending the Gizoid into the air. They then placed their hands together and gave Sonic a boost. Launching him upward, the Blue Blur watched as the black/yellow Gizoid grabbed his hand. Rolling into a spin dash, Sonic and G-merl waited a few seconds before…

KRAKOOM!

…they destroyed Alpha. (3s)

When the smoke from the crater cleared, all that was left were broken bits.

Not only that, but all of the other Elemental Gizoids started shutting down. Their eyes went black, as they fell to the ground.

Sonic and G-merl landed in front of Knuckles and Shade, giving them both a solid high five. The rest of the Resistance ran towards them, celebrating the fact that the fight was finally over.

"Miss Shade, you're back!" Cream hugged the female echidna, making her chuckle.

"I knew you'd come back! I had no doubt about it!" Amy joined in the group hug. Her remark made Tangle roll her eyes.

"Ha-ha, nice to see you guys too," Shade chuckled. "Um, Amy. Could you let me go, please? I can't breathe."

"Welcome to my world," Sonic sniggered, as he helped Shade escape from Amy. He offered her his hand. "In all seriousness, it's nice to have you back, Shade. We missed you."

Shade was shocked to hear that. She smiled and shook his hand. "I missed you too, Sonic. I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner. I thought you all hated me."

"Hated you?" Tails inquired. "Why would you think that?"

"Because of what I did. I allowed the Eggman Empire to take over Mobius while we were in the Twilight Cage. If I had just gone in there by myself, you guys would've been here to protect your world… I'm sorry that I ran away for so long. I kept thinking you all didn't want to see me again."

Everyone in the Resistance exchanged the same sorrowful glance. Together, they shared a smile.

"Shade, you did the right thing in asking us for help," Sonic patted her shoulder and winked. "What kind of guy would I be if I didn't help out my friends in need. Besides, you realized your mistake when you helped us defeat Ix. So, that's all that matters. You don't have to worry about Ix anymore."

"And we took care of the whole Eggman thing together," Amy took the echidna's hands. "As a team! You were nice enough to fight alongside us! That's all that matters to us!"

The orange echidna smiled at both hedgehogs' comments. She turned to Knuckles and smiled at him too. The red guardian mirrored her gesture before he was interrupted by Vector clearing his throat. Knuckles turned to Vector, Espio, Charmy, Mighty, and Ray.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Vector winked.

"Oh, right!" Knuckles gasped. "Shade, these are some of my other friends. Vector, Espio, Mighty, Ray, and Charmy."

"Please to meet you," Espio nodded.

"You're pretty," Charmy clapped his hands together.

"It's an honor, Miss Shade," Mighty shook her hand.

"H-hi," Ray waved.

"Hello," Shade greeted.

Nack suddenly pushed both the squirrel and armadillo aside, taking Shade's hand and kissing it. "And I'm Nack the Weasel. I also go by Fang the Sniper. I answer to either one, m'lady. How do you do on this fine evening?"

"Don't mind him," Bean patted the weasel's back. "Nack's just lonely. Why do you think he spends a lot of time on internet dating websites? I'm Bean, by the way. This here's my guy, Bark. We're not actually friends with these jokers. We're just here so we won't go to jail."

"What?" Shade raised an eyebrow.

"It's a long story," Sonic whispered.

"I'm sorry to break up the reunion, guys," G-merl interrupted. "But we have a problem. Eggman and Starline took Synergy."

"I almost forgot about Synergy," Shade gasped. "We have to stop him immediately."

"Whoa, hold on, Shade," Amy said. "We don't have to worry about him anymore. We changed him."

"Change? What do you mean?"

"We took Mr. Synergy around the world in three days, where he met new people and learned new things," Cream smiled. "He's really nice now and he doesn't want to harm anyone."

"He's our new best friend," Big added.

"So, you reverted his destructive programming?" Shade asked.

Everyone was bamboozled.

"Say what now?" Bean rubbed his head.

"You were able to remove Synergy's destructive programming, weren't you?" Shade asked again. "All Gizoids were created with a destructive mode. It's only activated when they're exposed to true power. Since you managed to change Synergy, that means you removed his ability to become destructive, right? Because if he's exposed to a certain memory or a certain amount of power, he'll go back to the way he once was."

Everyone had the same reaction; flabbergasted.

"Um… I don't think that came up," Sonic chuckled, rubbing his head.

"Synergy's a nice person, now, Ms. Shade," Big commented. "But what does destructive programming mean? Does that mean he's going to be mean again?"

"If Eggman does something that sets him off," Shade nodded. "Then yes,"

"Then we better hurry and follow Eggman," Amy suggested. "Knuckles, lead the way!"

"Come on, everyone, let's do it to it!"

The Resistance took off at the speed of sound, chasing after Dr. Eggman's battleship.

Except for the Hooligans, who were walking back towards the Marvelous Queen.

Mighty and Ray noticed them.

"W-w-w-where-?" Ray asked.

"Spit it out, kid," Nack snarled.

"W-where a-a-are y-you guys g-g-going?"

"Far away from here, that's what. We're money-makers, not superheroes. Deal with this Gizoid thing on your own."

"But if you leave now," Mighty grinned evilly. "Who's to say G.U.N. won't catch you?"

"He's got a point, Boss Man," Bean nudged his boss.

"And…" the armadillo sneered at the group. "Who's to say I won't catch you?"

The weasel and duck gulped. Even Bark was intimidated.

They all jumped on the Marvelous Queen.

"C'mon, boys!" Nack shouted, shooting off his popgun. "Let's go find us a damsel in distress. Well, in this case, it's a mister in distress."

With the Marvelous Queen took off, Ray turned to his best friend.

"W-when d-d-did you b-become s-s-so evil?" Ray chuckled.

"I learned from a special someone," Mighty patted Ray's head. The squirrel grabbed the armadillo's wrist with his tail, as the two ascended into the air. "Let's catch up with the others! We don't want to miss the final showdown!"

The heroes were in pursuit of Dr. Eggman's ship.

END OF CHAPTER 31


After many chapters and moments of depression, Shade the Echidna is finally back in the game. But unfortunately, she came with dire news. Dr. Eggman has taken Synergy and plans to reprogram him to his liking. If the mad doctor does something wrong, the Gizoid can revert back to his old self and we certainly don't want that to happen, do we? Will the Resistance hurry in time to rescue their new ally, or will Eggman and Starline's plans come out on top. Find out next time, as we reach closer to the ending in...

"Chapter 32: The Truth Hurts, Doesn't It?"


POST-A/N:

I have been meaning to type a Guest reply for a while now, but I wanted to give a huge shoutout to TheLostEternity, who has taken the time to look at all 30 chapters of Awakened as we speak and they also took a look at my other story, Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb. TLE, thank you so much for your review. I am glad you love Awakened. Yes, the name of Synergy came from Sonic Synergy (to the prototype of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric). I am also glad you're loving G-merl's characterization. G-merl has always been an underrated character in my eye, so I wanted to give characters like him, Big, Mighty, Ray, and Cream the spotlight they deserved. Who doesn't love Dr. Starline? I sure do! He's awesome!

I am also glad you loved the moment where Synergy made Whisper the picture frame. That was one of my favorite scenes to write.

There are some Sonic movie jokes in here. Think you could find them? Don't worry, I didn't go into spoiler territory when making these jokes. Although, I guess we shouldn't have to worry about spoilers since HD clips of the movie are spreading on YouTube.

Little trivia: Alpha is named after an old Sonic fan character I made during the very first version of "Sonic Heroes: The Atom Bomb", in that story, he was the sidekick to Synergy and was the captain of the Gizoid Police Department, an evil organization that ruled over Mobius during Synergy's takeover. Figured I'd bring him back and give him a fresh new look.

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

~SD321 (SpiderDom321)