Eggman smirked gleefully at his scanner. "Hah hah!" The doctor laughed. "Looks like I hit the jewel jackpot! I've found two Chaos Emeralds!"

"Hmmm," Decoe said thoughtfully. "Let me think. We already have two Emeralds, and Sonic has three more..."

"Plus these two equals seven!" Bocoe said. "All the Chaos Emeralds have been found! You are brilliant, doctor!"

"Yes, I know!" Eggman glared at his robots.

"Don't bet yourself on your hunched back yet," Rouge smirked behind Eggman. Eggman gave a start and turned to the sneaky batgirl. He panicked and covered his scanner screen with both of his hands. "Rouge, what are you doing here?!" The doctor panicked. Rouge smirked as she walked up. "Just having a little look-see around." She cooed as she playfully moved his hands away from the screen so she could see the triumphant find.

"H-hold on!" Eggman stuttered.

"Why, doctor! Have you found some Emeralds?" Rouge cooed again. Below her, Bokkun shook nervously. "I hope she doesn't tell Dr. Eggman my secret..." Bokkun whimpered, shaking a little.

"I-I wasn't attempting to keep my discovery from you!" Eggman said. "I meant to call you up to the bridge! It's just in all the excitement, I forgot that you were interested in the Chaos Emeralds too! You know how absent-minded we geniuses can be!" He told Rouge, chuckling after that last part. Shadow watched nearby looking unamused, his arms crossed.

"So," Rouge smirked at the doctor. "Where are they?"

...

Soon, hiding behind a meteorite, Eggman and his gang thought of how to get the Emeralds.

"There are two Chaos Emeralds inside that space fortress," Eggman explained when they slowly crept near the Metarex Space Fortress. "We've got to seize them!"

"But how?!" Decoe exclaimed, raising his arms.

"That is a Metarex rec space! It will have a heavy-duty security system!" Bocoe said, his eyes wide.

"How do you plan to get in there?" Rouge questioned. "It's not like you can go up and knock on the door! If they spot us, we'll be space toast!"

Eggman was about to think of something when a familiar space shuttle appeared hiding behind a nearby meteorite. "What's the Blue Typhoon doing here?" He asked. "They must've come looking for the Chaos Emeralds!"

Rouge flew up to him with a frown. "You slowpoke! Sonic and Silver are gonna beat you to it!"

"Rouge drives me batty! Especially when she's right! What will I do?!" Eggman pondered.

...

"How do you know you can't break in unless you try?!" Knuckles asked Tails.

Tails glanced down at Knuckles. "You saw what happened to that Meteorite!" Tails shot at him. "It's too dangerous!"

"I would rather just lay it low until we come up with a better plan," Hiro said, looking at Tangle, Whisper, Blaze, and Cloud, who nodded at the red wolf in unison.

"Hey, guys!" Sonic said, trying to break up the argument. "Hiro's right! We need to come up with a plan here!"

"What should we do?" Silver pondered, racking his brain for break-in ideas.

"Don't worry about that, Sonic and Silver!" Eggman's voice suddenly appeared on the message screen. "I've got it all figured out!"

Penny's eyes widened when she saw Eggman starring back at them.

"I have a proposal for you!" Eggman announced.

Sonic frowned. "I've gotta hear this." He said.

"Why don't we join our forces and work together?" Eggman suggested.

"What's that?!" Sonic gasped, startled. He frowned. He got his friends together so they could talk things out. Cream was quick to add her thoughts about this. "We shouldn't work with Eggman! Cream said. "He's trying to trick us!"

"Yeah!" Amy said, turning to Knuckles. "Don't even think about it, Knuckles!"

Knuckles did an anime sweatdrop. "I didn't say anything!" He said, defending himself.

Penny looked at Sonic. "Well, Sonic?" She asked him. He looked at her. "I think we should work with Eggman. Our chances are better that way!"

"I agree!" Tails said. Cheese chaoed in agreement. Everyone nodded in agreement. Sonic smiled at Eggman. "All right! Let's go for it, Eggman!"

"So," Penny said curiously. "How are we going to get in the base?"

"We can sneak in without getting caught by using Chaos Control." Eggman moved his camera towards Shadow. "Here's what we'll do. The first group in will head for the computer that controls the security system. They're responsible for shutting it down. Then the rest of us can sneak into the base and undetected it!"

"Sounds cool!" Sonic smirked. Silver nodded. Knuckles frowned suspiciously at Eggman. "What do we do when we find the Emeralds, though?" He asked. "Will we share them 50-50?"

"Whoever gets to them first can keep them," Eggman suggested, and Sonic shot a thumbs up at that. "It's a deal!"

"To make sure it's a fair contest, both sides will supply members for the entry team. I've selected Shadow and Rouge to represent our side."

And once again, they were discussing who would go with Eggman. Amy frowned. "Count me out." She said. "I refuse to join any team with Shadow and Rouge 'cause I don't like them!"

"It's not like you're going on a picnic with them, Amy." Blaze said, frowning at the pink hedgehog.

"I'm not going either." Knuckles said. "I won't work with that burglaring bat anymore!"

"Maybe we should pick a name out of a hat?" Cream suggested.

Penny stood up. She knew Sonic would possibly say no to this, but she wanted to give it a go. She looked determinedly at Sonic. "I'll do it!"

"Are you sure?" Sonic frowned at her. "You're still banged up from last time."

"Yes. I'll stay close to Shadow, don't worry. Rouge, too." Penny promised to him. Sonic looked at her seriously. "Follow his every order," Sonic said.

Penny looked at him, surprised that he was even allowing her to go in the first place. "You approve?" She asked, surprised.

Sonic nodded.

"Please promise us you'll be very careful and stay close to the others," Cosmo said, looking at Penny with worry.

"I will, Cosmo. Sonic, don't worry. I'll stay with Shadow and Rouge."

"Good." Sonic nodded, still frowning a little. She looked at Shadow, who was staring back at them. "This will be an interesting mission..." She thought.

...

"What are those?" Shadow asked Penny as she handed him two gold rings. She was a little disappointed that she was giving up one of her precious possessions, but Shadow was alive and alright, so she had to return them to him.

"Chris made an extra one of these to go back with the one you had on Space Colony Ark," Penny explained, holding them out.

Shadow's eyes widened at the sight of them. "One of those... was mine..." The hedgehog whispered.

Penny nodded, her memory returning to that day where Shadow sacrificed himself to save the world.

"Take them, please, Shadow," Penny said. "Chris updated them so that if you wear them, you won't lose energy when you're in the middle of a fight anymore."

"I see..." Shadow said. "All right, I will take them." Penny felt a small chill down her spine as Shadow gently took the rings from her hands. She smiled happily as she watched Shadow slip them onto his wrists, securing them in place.

Soon, they stood in a capsule together, and Shadow held a red emerald in front of them. "Ready, team?" He asked.

Penny and Rouge nodded.

"Chaos Control!" Shadow yelled, and a bright glow filled Penny's vision, and soon they were inside the building. The first thing the girl did was call Sonic to let him know that the Chaos Control was successful. "Penny to Blue Typhoon. Chaos Control successful. We're inside the base. We're going to start looking for the security control."

"We copy," Sonic answered her. "Be careful, Penny."

Penny nodded, ending her call and turning back towards the others. They hid behind a wall, waiting for the Metarex guard to leave. Rouge hummed to Penny. "All clear."

Penny nodded and took a run for it, with Rouge next to her. They ran for a while until Shadow popped right in front of them. Penny yelped as she skidded to a stop. "He's got to stop popping out of nowhere..." Penny thought as she straightened herself.

Shadow glared at Penny and Rogue, and Penny gave a nervous chuckle. However, Shadow wasn't chuckling.

Rouge frowned."I have to think of some excuse to ditch these two so I can look for the Chaos Emeralds." Rouge thought. She smiled at Shadow. "Say. Why don't we split up to look for that control room?"

"No." Shadow huffed.

Penny shook her head at Rouge, feeling queasy about the thought of being split up in an unfamiliar base. "Sorry, Rouge, but Sonic strongly suggested for me to stay close to you and Shadow."

Shadow gave Penny a pleasing smile. He turned to Rouge. "The doctor wants us to stick together."

"Oh, really?" Rouge humphed. She frowned. "Looks like Eggman was one step ahead of me! I'll have to change tactics!" Rouge looked at Shadow. "He knows I'm up to something. My only chance is to get him to get his guard down. I'll have to turn on the charm!"

Rouge smiled at Penny. "Remember the last time the three of us used Chaos Control? As I recall, the circumstances were rather explosive."

Penny giggled at Rouge, not knowing what Rouge was trying to do. "You mean Prison Island?" She asked. Rouge nodded.

Penny didn't see Shadow stop. She was too busy with her conversation with Rouge. Rouge smirked at Penny. "I was afraid Shadow would leave me there. And do you remember what happened next?"

Penny smiled thankfully at Shadow. "Of course I do! Shadow transported us to Space Colony Ark!"

"That's right!" Rouge said, pleased to know how gullible Penny was and that the batgirl's plan was working. "Shadow, wasn't that the home of your friend Maria?"

Penny's smile instantly faded when Shadow gasped. "Maria!" And just like that, Shadow seemed to be frozen in time for a little, the shock of that one word shooting him hard in the chest like a gunshot. Shadow held his head in his hands and sank to his knees, shuddering.

"Shadow?!" Penny yelped, panicked for her friend. The girl instantly was at Shadow's side, and she placed her arms comfortingly around Shadow as he shuddered in her grip. Hearing Rouge chuckle, Penny and Shadow looked up to see Rouge flying away. "Come back here!" Shadow yelled angrily at the female bat.

Rouge smirked at them. "Sorry, guys, I have to go find those Chaos Emeralds!" She stopped short when a Metarex got in her way.

"Rouge!" Penny yelped, fear squeezing her heart for her bat friend. Sure, Penny was furious at Rouge, but she still didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

Shadow glanced at Penny. "Stay here until the danger has passed." He ordered. Penny nodded, and she let go of him. Shadow took off after Rouge and freed her from the Metarex. A second later after he freed her, the alarm sounded. Shadow frowned at Rouge. "Don't run off."

"Since you put it that way." Rouge frowned at him. She stood up, and Shadow nodded at Penny. Seeing something up ahead, the human girl looked over at Shadow and Rouge. "Hey, look, we may have found the control room!" She announced and ran towards it.

"Wait up!" Shadow called after her. He and Rouge ran into the control room to find Penny hunching over the computer. She turned at Rouge and Shadow. "We're in luck! This computer runs the security system! Now, what's the code Chris gave me..." Penny thought for a moment before smiling. "Ah hah! That's it!" She started typing, and soon with Rouge and Shadow's help she managed to shut down the system.

"Do you read me?!" She called into her communicator watch. "Computer is shut down!"

"Good work, Pen!" Sonic called to her.

...

Meanwhile...

Sonic, Silver, Amy, and Cosmo soon entered the room holding the two Chaos Emeralds. "So we finally tracked down all the Chaos Emeralds," Sonic said.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Cosmo smiled.

Amy looked up, a nervous expression on her face. "What's that thing, Sonic?" She asked.

Cosmo gasped. "It looks like... a Planet Egg!" Cosmo's eyes widened. "But it's growing out of control!"

"The Metarex have been gathering Planet Eggs from around the galaxy! It looks like they're using the power of the Chaos Emeralds to force the eggs into evolving!" Tails explained his theory through Amy's communicator.

"Really?" Silver asked, frowning. "But why, Tails?"

"That is our secret!" A voice hissed.

Sonic, Silver, Amy, and Cosmo turned around to see the leader of the Metarex standing there, its cape flying in the wind. "So, we face each other again, Sonic and Silver the Hedgehogs."

"No way!" Sonic yelped, his memory going back to that day. "You're the guy who tried to take the Chaos Emeralds from us! I'll never forget that fight! Because of you, Silver and I had to throw the Emeralds away."

"You know him?" Amy asked.

Sonic growled, and Silver readied himself. "Unfortunately, we do." Silver said.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Dark Oak, ruler of the Metarex. And now, Sonic, Silver. you and I are going to have a rematch!"