Good morning, or more like very early morning. I deeply apologize for the chapter coming slightly late as the Christmas festivities with family were amazing. Bu8t no matter, the chapter is finished and ready, which should matter more for my beloved fans. Anyways, things take a darker turn with Mecha Sonic now becoming a more stronger form many of you Sonic Heroes fans may be familiar with. Nonetheless, everyone will have to think of the bvest way to deal with him with time running thin. Even villains know that they have a few options if they want to make it out alive and not die from their own ally. Well we will find out as we explore how everyone is doing throughout the Lost Hex.

The other Octotroopers and Octoling Troops made their way out of the doors to seek the source of these sudden problems that plagued their base. This left lone former agent Octoling alone with the prisoners once more to continue her guard duty as always. Something seemed different about her compared to earlier where she's at her breaking pint of wanting to be a slave to her race's evil deeds. Other Octolings that previously chose to partake with Inkopolis's Splatfests and culture were shunned by the ones who still remained loyal to DJ Octavio and the rest of the Octo Valley citizens. Calling them deserters, squid apologists, and fake Octarians just to show how controversial it is among their eight tentacled peers. Nikki and Sheriff could tell something is strange about this specific Octoling compared to the others. They could tell by her internal struggles and body language that she is not as evil as her fellow octopods and more human in a way they've never seen before. Dillon still isn't convinced being the mature one of the group. Jill is still steaming mad about what could happen to Drill Dozer as she did not come all the way back to the Smash Brothers just to see her prized machine stolen and possibly broken. Dr. Wright adjusts his glasses after taking a better look at their struggling captor who doesn't seem to be taking her job serious.

"Excuse me, young one. But would it be rude to ask what seems to be the trouble?" the green haired mayor asks.

The Octoling suddenly turns to see who spoke to her, having mild tears in her eyes over her growing guilt of her actions. His words seemed quite calm for someone who should see her as a monster like the rest of her fellow Octarians.

"You have any idea who you're talking to? I am your enemy, someone you should hate and want reduced to a pile of ink. Just accept that you will rot in this cell," she said in a confused yet aggressive manner.

The mayor knew that wasn't the right way to approach her and clears his throat once more.

"My apologies, this is how I usually address the youth back in Sim City. But I couldn't help but to see that you wanted someone to talk to. Rarely any villain guards would be having some emotional turmoil on the job behind the backs of their own allies. This is how I normally talk to any citizens in my city that have problems. I am a mayor at heart, someone who wants to help others. We are alone, consider this a time for us to talk as equals," he said.

"Dr. Wright, do not forget the this is the enemy. We are not here to play counselor for someone even one of our higher members think is a threat to the world," Dillon warned.

"No need to be rude. We should allow everyone the right to communicate in ways that are positive. This is why my Swapdoodle app is a success. Besides, she doesn't seem so bad if she is crying," Nikki said after adjusting her glasses.

"So what? I have feelings, is it wrong for an Octoling to cry? Do not paint me in the same class as the others that did agree in a plan to kidnap one of Inkopolis's biggest idols! That doesn't mean that I am weak. Just more that I don't want to do this as much as the other Octarians. I was a hero that stopped Commander Tartar for doing things that actively hurt my people,. Seeing them all sanitized into barely alive puppets that I had to ink to death hurt. And despite all I've did, DJ Octavio still see the Inklings as our enemy despite one of them helping in stopping a greater enemy that saw both of our races as ungrateful to live on the surface. He is too blind with his grudge on the squid folks of the city that I just have no choice but to follow what he wants out of us. Just leave me alone!" the Octoling cried.

This left everyone within the cell in silence after all she said, even the Zeti that could relate to what she described to their situation regarding the first Earth invaders and Black Arms of the Lost Hex. Nikki felt even sadder that this "enemy" of theirs had such a big burden on her shoulders to carry. Kururin then started to feel less obligated to hate her anymore after seeing there is more to her than what they initially saw. Dillon however is still on his stance that no matter how sympathetic an enemy seems, they are still not meant to be trusted. He would rather earn the respect of someone before he is inclined to help them. This is how things went in the Wild West when he challenged other rival bounty hunters like Boone and Nomad for recognition. The Octoling still sobs loudly after her words and turned away to avoid humiliating herself any further to the prisoners she is supposed to keep contained. She still feels very embarrassed that she expressed her true feelings to a group of people she barely knew, non-Inklings and Octolings for that matter. Or anyone from around Inkopolis or Octo Valley as far as citizens go. One blue female Zeti would walk up to the bars with her hands on the bars to get a closer look at this sympathetic guard just to see her with her own eyes. She could tell the dark skinned octopod girl is still struggling to hold her feelings as the sobs are still audible for her to hear. The Zeti is nervous herself for saying one wrong thing, but still felt the need to speak.

"I know how you feel. I've always wanted to see what the world is like outside of the Lost Hex. But the stronger Zeti warriors and especially Deadly Six still act like no one outside of our world is to be trusted. They still cite the same incidents like those strange back aliens trying to take us over by force or the hedgehog that undid their extreme plan of killing all life below. But that doesn't stop me from seeing that there is still good people down there. Just like these people in the cell with us, I can tell by the way they look that they come from below.
I've always wanted to travel to new places, but Zavok acts like that the humans and other creatures below would treat us like we are monsters or slaves to be used. You and I are very alike. I just wish that the world would be better for us," she said.

Octoling turns around just to see the blue one horned Zeti that spoke to her. Still filled with tears, she did not know how to react to meeting someone who is quite like her in some ways. But still hesitates say anything back or approach her for that matter. Dr. Wright would smile knowing that someone is trying to do his job at reasoning with the guard in a way that helps them.

"I am not saying all of this because I want to be let out, it's because I finally have someone who relates to me. Most of the Zeti here are so loyal to the Deady Six and other Zeti leaders that they take their views on non-Zeti as absolute without ever interacting with them. One bad apple doesn't spoil the bunch is what my father taught me. But his positive views and inability to adopt the current Zeti mindset is why Zavok refuses to consider him worthy of joining the ranks of a Zeti warrior. Zavok as a whole is far from a respectable Zeti either. He believes that violence and force is always necessary and talking things out with anyone that steps foot on the Lost Hex is only a weakness. I've always looked at the world below with their bright lights and flying vehicles, wondering what it would be like to be down there. Too bad we will never see what it's like when many Zeti prefer to be in their own bubble than giving Earth a chance. The Sonic guy that stopped them from killing the Earth doesn't sound like a bad guy. Just someone who wanted to stop our people from being extreme and killing another world just to protect our own. He did the right thing and honestly this grudge against the Earth all Zeti had is what all got us in this mess. Just hearing that their betrayal of this Legion of Subspace is why we are suffering right now. Any respect I had for the Deadly Six and those that see them as saints are gone. I wish that none of this ever happened and there could be peace between everyone," she said.

A lot of this sounded quite familiar to the Octoling. It reminded her of a past conversion she once had with DJ Octavio privately among being accepted as a higher up in his Octarian army. The CD scratching octopus expressed his clear disgust at the thought of Octoarians and Inklings being united as a race, to the point that refused to let Octolings that dared to come to Inkling territory back in the Octo Valley. He also once threatened if one day she were to ever turn her back on the true Octarians that follow the rules of their past leaders are worth being destroyed if it comes down to that. He only chooses to spare the ones that leave to Inkopolis as it could cause citywide panic and a real Turf War between both races if they were to know it was his doing. This is why he resorted to safer methods like mysteriously kidnapping the Great Zapfish and Callie without any citizens noticing. She will never forget that day as it presented a bigger issue for the small step of Octoling and Inkling alliances and how most of her people felt on the matter. Nikki really wished she had her notepad as this is interesting stuff worth writing about on its own. A few Zeti themselves already felt guilty after hearing the words of the blue Zeti, knowing she may be right that their own world falling apart is the fault of their own for attacking another planet out of hatred for their people. Most notably a red Zeti with a long brown mustache and muscular appearance could see some logic in the words of the younger blue Zeti as the mayor of this part of the Lost Hex.

"You represent the better future of this world, child. For all these years, I would be in full agreement of isolation from interacting with other non-Zeti people just because of the bad that happened to us than the good. I only agreed with Zavok's plan to use that human's machine against his own planet if it meant seeing less of our people enslaved by bad ones like him. Instead of generalizing an innocent race that we almost seemingly killed, we should instead allow negotiations between both groups. We all shared a common enemy, the Black Arms that did want to harvest both of our worlds for their own sadistic reasons. I will not lie either. Without the help of those humans and even that black hedgehog, we would had been nothing but food to them. I almost considered the idea of having our people congratulating them if it weren't for that egg shaped human using the Deadly Six as slaves. It almost made me hate humans as a whole and the other races down there. Only the Wisps were excused as they were a peaceful alien race that seemed like no harm to us when they came to our planet. Your words really moved me and opened my eyes to the bigger issue at hand. As much as I respect the Deadly Six for keeping our Lost Hex safe for so long, they need to realize that we can't live like this forever," he said.

This would come off as shocking to the entrapped Smash members as they did not expect to be sharing the same cell as an important country leader on this planet. As a fellow town leader, Dr. Wright felt obligated to speak to him.

"It's nice to meet you sir. My years of leading a nice city on Earth lead me to believe that we would welcome anyone no matter their origins as long as they contribute to the growth of our diverse city. I will not lie even other countries down below are guilty for sharing views similar to your own, especially when it's between other countries. We humans are a flawed race that are all about war, wealth, and even discrimination at worst. This is why I wanted to make Sim City as welcoming as possible when we want to be different from other cities that are divided in views on each other. I am glad you seem to be learning a lesson here. Even if your whole planet is already united, but unfortunately for reasons that concern people who aren't your own," the green haired mayor said.

"Yes. I would not mind even allowing humans to live with us as long as they are not cruel like that Dr. Eggman fellow that almost soured our view on your race. For a first time talking with a human, I did not expect you to be so understanding and civil. This is a very welcome change, even if we are both trapped together. My name is Zagma. Pleased to meet you, Mr…uh…what is your name again?" the Lava Mountain leader said.

"Wright. Call me Dr. William J Wright. I am the mayor of Sim City. We have a growing diverse population and strong economy value despite recent times in America. It's a pleasure to meet, Mr. Zagma," the green haired mayor said.

"That's great to hear. We at Lava Mountain have the perfect temperatures for all Zeti to sustain great weather compared to Frozen Factory. All the citizens here are great in the mining business if it means finding gems to trade with other Lost Hex countries. We have been finding ways to control the sulfur pollution here for a while with just the right environmental organizations. I would like to go further into the economics of the Lost Hex. Windy Hill specializes in wind energy to power all the homes there, Frozen Factory is all about producing ice in effective ways for frozen food, the Silent Forest is a bit on the primitive side that embrace the cultural past routes of the Zeti as warriors, Tropical Coast is more for the vacation aspect that all Zeti with money travel to, Desert Ruins is a developing country that lives in the sands and perfect for excavation, and Sky Road is where all the richer Zeti live that can afford flying homes that overlook the rest of the planet and specialize in weather reports concerning our world. There you have it, a wonderful global economy for our prosperous people that lived around for centuries. We can possibly live up to one thousand years old if Master Zik is any example. Quite unfortunate that we Zeti can outlive the average human from your planet," Zagma explains.

"Astounding. It seems all of you are a prosperous race. Quite the shame your world is already in danger. That is why we all came here, to sea you all. As part of the Smash Brothers, our goal is to protect all innocents in the world and take out any serious threats that get in the way of that order. Part of the reason I ever signed up as I am all for world peace and stopping anyone who are unruly enough to support global domination. Such brutes do not belong to act like they should have control of a city or even country without being elected naturally. I am all for a world with natural order. This is why the worst of villains get no respect from my or my city," Dr. Wright said.

Then everyone noticed the sound of ink splatting just to see that the Octoling guard is gone. All they could see is a trail of magenta colored in on the ceiling that leads straight out to the door. The blue Zeti smiled as this is a sign that she is on a mission to get them the key to leave this cell.

"And there she goes. I told you that she's on our side. All that's left is acting miserable so the other Octolings that come here are fooled. I can't wait to leave this dump," Kururin exclaimed.

Dillon could only do nothing but sigh as he is still waiting on her to prove if she is fully trustworthy. The Octoling is seen traveling on the ceiling in his Octopus form along the ink trail she created. For every time she runs into a dry ceiling, she falls and grab a pipe that one of her eight tentacles could hold on too. When the coast is very clear, she would silently shoot at the ceiling with her ink to create another trail carefully and Super Jump into it for further traveling. The countless Octotroops below and other allies were too busy investigating what could be going on with the Mountain. There are not many enemies inside as many are too busy trying to tame the rampant Nega Wisps that were free to retaliate on their captors. The same could be said for select guards that were focusing on the Zeti slaves that they did not want sneaking out while everyone had bigger problems to settle. At best, some were knocked out by stronger guards in case they were caught trying to run away while the heavy thuds meant the caves going to collapse. Octoling continued traveling along the inky trails she made in silence to find the room that contains the keys necessary to free everyone. She is now a changed person and more determined than ever to break free from the tyranny of DJ Ocvtavio along with his outdated views on wanting to make all Octarians evil to the neighboring Inklings. Finally doing what she always wanted to do instead of constant fear of being exiled from the Octo Valley by her fellow Octarians. Choosing her own path of justice that she wants to follow like Agent 3 did for her fellow Inklings. She turned to the left to follow the rocky ceiling toward what could be the very room containing they key. The magenta octopus swims with grace along the inky trail without being noticed at all. The ink of any Octoling and Inkling is very thick and stick to any surface. They never drip unless it is condensed like the case of the Ink Shower weapon either race used. The only flaw is if the shot does not go far enough and were to drop onto the ground to alert other enemies.

She manages to see a large door that's completely unguarded. It means that the ones in charge of looking after the treasury room were too busy truing to stop the potential cave ins from happening. She felt the ceiling violently rumbling as signs that things were getting worse in Lava Mountain the longer everyone stayed here. She sped up her ink swimming as the ceiling crumbling would drop her onto the ground if it falls apart. She already started to use a Super Jump before she reached the end of her own ink trail just to land directly in front of the door. OIctoling shifts back into her humanoid form once more with her Octozooka ready just in case she finds any potential enemies inside.

"Found it, now to get inside and gather everyone's stuff," she said.

The Octoling girl would swing the large door open with all strength she had, slowly opening to reveal the room in its glory. The treasury room is already starting to be likely for a possible cave-in. This is due to the magnetized Drill Dozer constantly bashing against the rocky ceiling due to Mecha Sonic's magnetism trying to pull it away. Helirin is doing the same in its standard blue propeller mode as its miraculously not even dented from the severe damage happening tp it. The cracks were big enough of a sign that she needed to quickly grab everything and the cell key while she could. She looks to the right to see all of the Assist's weapons hanged on the rocky wall to be grabbed. This included Nikki's pencil and writing pad, Dr. Wright's stick, Dillon's claw upgrades, and Sheriff's white pistol. She also noticed some exclusive Octo weapons too like the infamous Octobrush that she could take for herself if she wanted to. Things were all easy for her at this rate, though the question remains on where the key is. And that is not getting into finding a safer way of taking Helirin and Drill Dozer without getting caught. She would have no choice but to lead the freed prisoners back here to reclaim their own vehicles. She would hear the sounds of clicking that gotten her attention, what she seen would shock her. Both Color Game-15 paddles were trapped inside of an electric fence that separated each one without any way to interact. This is because one of them have the ability to spawn a ball they could pass to each other and with them being separated means that the ricocheted effects of their ball would not be destructive enough to set them free. The white paddles noticed her staring at them before moving up and down sporadically as if something bad would happen to them. Octoling did not know how to react since this is her first time seeing such a strange digital being.

"What exactly are you? You even manage to out-weird Commander Tartar in the non-Octoling compartment," she said.

She had no idea of how she could easily deactivate the electric fence that contains them in a way that wouldn't destroy them or cause the whole ceiling to fall apart. The clock was ticking fast for her and she had no time to stand around too long when any of her fellow Octolings seeing her trail would easily out her as the traitor. She instantly ran to take down all the weapons off of the wall, half for the prisoners and half for herself when she moves out of this base alive. She would look around for where the key would possibly be, possibly trying to spot potential shelves or chests it would be contained inside. The paddles still moved up and down rapidly as if they were in grave danger, making sure not to touch the electric cage's ceiling or floor at all. Octoling quickly scaled all the walls and floors she could to try finding the key. A few familiar steps would be heard from behind her that would stop her in her tracks. She could recognize them belonging to a member of her race and stopped to seem less suspicious.

"I knew that you would slip up one day, Agent 8. Still the same as always," a masculine voice said.

She would slowly turn her head just to see another Octoling that happens to be male. Like her, he was found underground in a lab that Cap'n Cuttlefish set free on a mission to help all the other underground Octolings escape to the surface and put an end to Commander Tartar's plan to destroy Inkopolis. However, he would prove himself to be more loyal to Octavio by devoting his life to the only true Octolings that wouldn't abandon the very species he is a part of. As a result, he sees himself as indifferent to the idea of ever being friends with Inklings and would go far as harming him if his leader sees fit. For him to call out the female Octoling for possibly going against what Octavio stood for, put the two at greater odds despite how close they were as partners.

"Oh hello, big surprise to see you here too. The others told me to gather the weapons of the prisoners since this room is starting to fall apart. I just need to think of a more appropriate place to put them. You know where?" she said casually.

The male Octoling shakes his head as he is smarter enough not to fall for a clear lie like that. She keeps a straight face if it meant convincing him even further despite his clear suspicions.

"I am telling the truth. No one was brave enough to go down here to risk it. So that is why I came here myself to take care of everything," she said.

"You think I would fall for a load of bullhead like that? Then why are you not bringing any help with you? Clearly they would be happy to oblige as all true Octolings work together instead of being alone. You always seemed like the aloof type that would rather not follow his rules clearly. Tell me," he demanded.

"Is there anything wrong with independence? I am more than capable of taking care of myself than always having some grunts follow me around to help do my work. Just because we worked as a team in the past doesn't mean I should stick to an outdated rule like that. That is why I am taking the good Octo weapons for myself if it means being a one-Octoling army," she argued.

The male Octoiling smirks as he is doing a good shop at backing her in a wall with his expert interrogation methods. He really wanted to laugh at her cute attempts at seeing innocent, but knew it was a time to take this very serious.

"A one-Octoling army eh? In that case, who do you think imprisoned those intruders in the first place? A well trained group that works together. Meanwhile you are negated to guard duty as the black sheep because of your inability to work with others. We know you too well and for you to try using the same excuse doesn't help your case either. Keep making the same mistakes and you would be banished from ever showing your face in the Octo Valley again," he said.

It was at this point the female Octoling knew that he is trying to get under her skin on purpose if it meant ratting her out of her special plan. She knew it would be best to keep her own emotions in check even if she wants to tell him that she is not meant to follow the same rules as every other Octarian like they are just soldiers for a clearly crazy DJ who acts like he is a good leader. Sweat rolled down her face as she is trying to come up with the best counterpoint in her own words without seemingly breaking her cover.

"You know, I've always loved you since the day we were both freed. Your beautiful tentacles and sweet smile. I just do not know what to say because you always made me feel a certain way when looking at you. It really makes my ink boil, in a good way I mean. A bad boy like you would make a nice future mate when we get older," she said in a seemingly convincing tone.

On one hand, this almost reaches him in a way this proposal caught him off guard. On the other hand, he did not want to lose his sense of loyalty to the Octarians at all despite her admitting that she loves him. His face even almost blushed too, which even surprised her at how good it's working.

"You know, now is not the time to say these things. And you know better that we are not at that stage to even think about a weakness. We are just partners and only meant to serve everything that DJ Octavio wants for us. Loving you would be only dragging me down. And only making me less useful to him," he said while looking away.

Then the good feeling she had for him is officially gone since nothing infuriates her more than the fact that he is willing to put duty over his own freedom and possible cooperation with her. This is where she really did not want to blow her own cover, but couldn't bare to hold it in anymore.

"This isn't about Octavio. You are too blind too realize that he's nothing more than a tyrant that's not worth following anymore. This would soon be the downfall of the ignorant Octarians that still choose to follow him instead of making their own decisions. For us to keep living this lie while all the other fortunate Octolings enjoy live in the same city the Inklings enjoy is just infuriating as dealing with C.Q. Cumber's challenges. I can't kelp but to think that you are just some massive tool to be used for the rest of your life. I am wrong, you are not even worthy to be with me!" she cried.

Only silence happens between the two for a good period, even the paddles would stop moving just to look at the drama going on near them. The male Octoling is glad that she finally showed her true self as trying to betray the Octarian lifestyle, but also felt so much hurt that she even dared to say that she hated him. His former cool composure now grows into an intense bloodlust to see her as a traitor that should be destroyed at all costs. The female Octoling then slowly grew cautious as a fight may start brewing between them despite bigger worries. His fist clenched tightly and he pulls out an Octobrush of his own to deal with her. They may shame the same ink color, but that didn't mean that harming each other with their own weaponry isn't out of the question.

"You know what, I am glad you finally shown me for what you really are. A vampire squid from hell that would tear up anything valuable to an octopus. You are not even an Octoling anymore, but an Inkling in Octoling's clothing who thinks that we can all get along when that is not what we were made for. All that's left is for me to take yourheart and reduce it to nothing but splattered ink. I hate you too!" he shouts.

The male Octololing violently swung his Octobrush to fling massive ink swatches at her, she was too unprepared and gotten stuck by the powerful forces that hit her. She is now downed in magenta colored ink that he created as a result before he rushed at her in Octopus Form to pursue her. She instantly kicks the octopus that was inches away from tearing her apart and leans up to fire her Octoblaster at him. He swims around aggressively to dodge each shot before charging at her once more. She turns into her own Octopus form to try escaping him. It would be a game of cat and mouse between the two magenta colored cephalopods that chased around in a puddle of ink in what could be a rare moment of Octolings aggressively trying to kill each other. Both of the octopi jumped at each other and attacked viciously with their small tentacles if it meant scarring each other in a vicious battle. Each tentacle strike from them is like the equivalent of slashing with blades. The male octopus knocks the female out of the ink to leave her wounded and unable to run away. This is when he would leap at her once more before shifting into his Octoling form to attempt crushing her where she stood. She transforms back into her Octoling form and retaliates with a kick to his stomach. He would be splat back into the ink that softens his blow, completely down and coughing up ink. Ink is not only what makes up their weaponry but acts as a bodily fluid for Inklings and Octolings alike. It is possible to die from ink loss and when one splats an Inkling, they die in an explosion of ink to leave their soul floating away. That's why they have have special devices in any Splat Match that helps revive an Inkling from the dead for them to continue fighting another day as the hosts know how violent these fun splat matches can be between Inklings of different colors. With no such revival devices around nearby, an Octoling dying means they are permanently gone from this world.

"You are one mean octopus, you know that? Because I will not show any more mercy after you hurting me this much," the male Octoling said.

"The feeling is mutual, because anyone who puts Octavio over anything else is my enemy. I can't believe that I will be forced to splat once of my own once more. But this time, this will not be a mercy splat because you are choosing to be evil instead of being sanitized against their own will. Just give up, I will leave you be if you can just let me find that key. I am choosing to break all the captives free instead of being a part of Octavio's cruel plans anymore. You choose to see him as the hero, I can choose to treat you the same way I've treated Commander Tartar. Prepare to be splat by my own hands," she responded coldly.

The male Octoling pits the ink from his mouth directly at her face to spite her feeble attempt at sounding like a threat to him. The next thing he would do is stand up on his feet and throw a few Ink Bombs at her. She dodged them gravefully before breaking out a few Ink Drones that chase him. They also left trails of ink that she could use to get closer after they were to explode. The male Octoling's next move is using a Super Jump to leap all the way to the other end of the room to dodge her. The next thing he would do is take out an Octosniper to aim for her with a red light. He fires to shoot a jet of ink directly at her, only for her to dodge it. The shot also left a nice trail of ink for him to swim in if it meant lunging at her. She figures her Octoblaster at him to try gunning down the fast moving cephalopod pod that pursuits her. He jumps to dodge the shouts and continue swimming directly at her. She then breaks out her own Octobrush to smack the pink octopus away like a fly, sending him flying towards the wall. He shifts back into his Octoling for to tough the wall in time with his feet and jump off of it. Then he would activate one of the deadliest super moves, a giant plastic hamster ball which leaves a trail of ink behind when rolled. The ball rolls its way directly at the female Octoiling as he has his intense eyes set on taking her with him. She in return would also active her own super move, the infamous Splashdown. She jumps directly into the air with her Octoiblush read to splat against him below. The two finally collided to cause a massive kink explosion that splats all over the room. Some of the ink even touches the electric fencing of the Color Game -15 's cages to cause them to fix out. The thickness of the ink is cancelling out the electric capabilities This lead to the paddles being confused at what can they do to break free when there is still the problem of the ball not being string enough. What is left would be a massive puddle of ink big enough to allow the two Octolings to have a more even fight. Both of them fully armed and intense enough to want either of them fallen. They breathed heavily with their eyes on each other just to see who would make the first move. The male one would get his Octogatling ready while the female would get her own Octoroller set. Then they charged once more to continue their battle. Sky Road would see all of the freed Zeti now thanking the Smash Brothers that saved them from their enslavement. Neither of them would be aware of all the steel minions being sucked through the clouds as a result of Mecha Sonic's power due to the denseness of everything. One of the mayors of this sky area would shake hands with Sheik as a way of gratitude for being able to walk freely.

"Thank you for releasing me. Those fiends tried everything they could to rob us of our riches and try making bases on our cloud property without our permission. But now that we are free, we are going to reward you handsomely for you hard work, or my name isn't Zhang Long," the rich Zeti said.

"No thanks. We would rather work to save lives than wanting any form of payment. Just you being safe is great enough. We plan to go down there if it means freeing the other regions with this one being clear. You are the leader of Sky Road, then I have a question. Have you seen anything odd happening on the Lost Hex below?" the Sheikah warrior said.

"Well if I were to be honest, I did see some strange fellows lurking around the Silent Forest, the famous Frozen Factory being raided by some mysterious group, a strange pack of ships flying around Desert Ruins, a lot of commotion in Lava Mountain, Tropical Coast being livelier than usual, and lastly a fire caused in Windy Hill. I can say a lot seems to be going on as this is the result of these fiends' allies causing trouble around our world," Zhang Long describes.

"It's worse than we've thought. We might as well split up into different groups if we will effectively take down the enemy fast enough," Lucario said.

"Roaaaar!" Incineroar snarled as the Pokémon who wants to fight more.

Lucas finally regroups with his fellow Smash members after his personal psychic investigation. He looks rather worried as he sees something that's worth the most attention.

"I sense something very powerful in Windy Hill. A violent creature that needs to be stopped immediately. This planet is in more danger than ever unless we do something about it," the blonde boy said.

Duck Hunt growls as his duck friend is startled by his sudden anger, wanting to do something about this possible threat. Lucina would also face the direction that her ally featured to. Seeing a large light that no one would ignore along with the formation of intense dark clouds. Speaking of which, the clouds were slowly making their way toward Sky Road after it affected eighty-percent of the entire floating continent already. With weather this bad, the Zeti here would have to evacuate to their homes to avoid being affected by the incoming lightning.

"Dastard, that thing is causing some storm all over. Is he aiming to destroy the Lost Hex?" Chrom said nervously.

"Hey, you think you can send all your people into their homes? There's nothing much we can do about this storm, but we will break that monster down if it saves everyone," Daisy suggests.

The rich Zeti mayor understood the situation and faced all his fellow Zeti that were waiting on orders of what to do.

"Citizens, this storm is a high level threat that could hurt us all. Report to your homes for safety abs never leave them until it's perfectly safe. Have faith in our heroes as they are not only strong, but will be the ones to help bridge the relationship between Zeti and Earth creatures below. Hurry, there is no time!" Zhang Long announced.

The many multicolored families and people scrambled for their homes on the dense clouds with the little time they had. Just the sounds of the rumbling citizens were comparable to a thunderstorm itself. But not as clear as the storm that's coming in their direction. All the remaining Smash members would finally be regrouped with one another awaiting the orders for their next mission.

"Here are the rules. The first group will be the following: Daisy, Roy, Young Link, Richter, Ice Climbers, and MinMin. Head for the Silent Forest. I have a feeling Elec Man and the other two missing Assists are there," Shiek announced.

The Hylian child used this time to enjoy a cup of fresh LonLon Milk before he could depart on the mission.

"Affirmative. I'll make my ancestor Simon proud by taking on whatever evil lies in the forest. Just you all watch," the blue wearing Belmont said.

"Yahooooo! I'll do the best I can while my Luigi's on his mission. I will not let anyone down, or him for that matter. Anything to prove a rose can have some thorns," the orange princess said.

"Understood. The Sealed Sword is too powerful to fall to any threat. I'll crush all evil that stands in my way," the red haired prince said.

"Next group. Arcade Bunny, Samurai Goroh, Sukapon, Inkling, Ike, and Villager. Investigate what happened in Lava Mountain. I have a bad feeling about the other group as we never heard anything from them in a while," Sheik said.

"If it's an Octoling worth splatting, count me in. Well the bad ones that still follow DJ Octavio's insane schemes," the blue tentacled squid boy said.

"Ha, big deal. There's nothing that I can't beat because I'm the greatest in the galaxy. Falcon better be impressed when he hear about my accomplishment," the muscular bandit said while swinging his katana around.

"You bet my pink tail that I'll save my fellow Assists. Hopefully that means getting a promotion. And I do not mean just my job at the Nintendo Badge Arcade," the bashful bunny employee said.

"Next up. Alex, Terry, Byleth, Wii Fit Trainer, and Grey Fox should head straight for Frozen Factory to deal with these uninvited thrives. I have a feeling they are very familiar," Sheik continued.

Alex made sure to check her blocky inventory to make sure she's well armed for the next fight. Terry cracks his knuckles and rolled both of his shoulders to prepare for the wildest fight.

"It will be a pleasure to fulfill this mission. Takes me back to the day that I've first met Snake. This time, I will not fall and make sure my foes know true pain," the cyborg ninja stated in his chilling metallic voice.

"The feeling's mutual, it's a shame that we will not do this mission together. Hopefully I'm given a great a mission in need of my expertise," Snake replied.

"Speaking of, the next group is very important. You all will be tasked with going to Tropical Coast to see what's happening with the sea down there. Snake, Duck Hunt, Rosalina, and Robin. We are counting on you four, as Dark Pit and Phosphora may need backup there," the Sheikah warrior called.

"May the stars be with us. I'll be sure that my Luma will not be a burden in this task," Rosalina said.

The yellow Luma cooed in joy before fluttering around his blue dress wearing mother. Duck Hunt nervously chuckles at the thought that he has to deal with water, which his duck partner teases him for in humorous quacks.

"You got it. Time to tip the scales! I'll try my best not to electrify the ocean. Too many innocent creatures could be harmed," the Tactician said.

"Moving on, the mission in Desert Ruins will be a tough one. That's where Lucas, Incineroar, Isabelle, and Corrin come into play. Just be wary of the sandstorms there, it could be

too blustery on your end," Shiek said.

Isabelle nervously sighs as she didn't want her her ruined by the sands there.

"Just my luck, I hope we have the time to take a break when this is over. Having brittle hair is not how I want to look," the worried Shihtzu said.

Incineroar victoriously roars before flexing with vigor and passion to train his body.

"Alright. I will not let everyone down. Anything to save enough lives in the sands," the PSI boy promised.

"Then that leaves me, Lucario, Lucina, and Ken to deal with this threat in Windy Hill. It may be a strong beast. When everyone is done with their own missions, report to where we are and you are free to help defeat it," Sheik stated.

"In the name of my future, I'll do what I can to keep it a bright one. You will not fall as long as I'm around," the blue haired woman stated.

"The aura is within me. Even if this is a being I can't sense with my abilities, I can still see them as a threat to be destroyed. For Sir Aaron," the wise jackal Pokémon said.

"I must be important if taking on the big boy needs my help. Ryu's fortunate that he wouldn't have to do this. Or more unfortunate because who's to say that I'll not get stronger after fighting fire with fire," the cocky Street Fighter said.

"That's all great. Then our team is in good hands as we are stronger in a group. Unless anyone have any objections. Rodin is with us after all since he insists that his strength will be needed for our group instead of going with the ambush plan Marth originally wanted him to follow," Sheik continued.

The bald demon is busy enjoying a nice smoke with the small break he had from fighting.

"Trust me. I know this guy is powerful. I can feel it right bow. You four can thank me later when I join you all in battle. It's unfortunate that he's not a living thing as his soul in hell would had been a perfect recipe for new weapons. But you all want to save these Zeti demons, then I'm all you need to take out the biggest threat here," Rodin said.

MinMin raised her yellow ramen-like hand to get the attention of Sheik.

"Yes MinMin, anything you would like to say?" she asked.

"I would want to fight with you too. Anything to prove my worth for the Smash organization in a better way than going through the jungle. Despite my status as a new recruit, I feel like I'm ready to help punch this villain into oblivion. No matter what ARMS I use," she said before bowing in humbleness.

She is not alone as even fellow new recruit Alex taunts a few times and lifts her Diamond Sword as her way of asking to join too. Sheik is still hesitant on allowing that as both members were daily new and not to be trusted with a serious task that could cost their lives too soon. Rodin once again exhales the smoke from mouth before taking another nice puff from his cigar.

"I'd say give the two newcomers a chance. Back when I was a new member, you all instantly trusted me with the serious missions after the Subspace Army was defeated. And this was with my help of infiltrating the Halberd and getting Mr. Game & Watch back to his old self. You all need to have more faith in your allies, no matter their status," Snake said.

"It is true. I used to be quite reckless myself. That was why you all kicked me out of the Smash organization for a while until I matured over time. They deserve a chance as much as me," Roy said.

"Incineroar. Roar roar roar. Incineroar!" the Heel Pokémon argued.

Lucario understood what his fellow Pokémon said, as what he means is that anyone who's got the passion and inspiration to be strong deserves a chance to prove themselves.

"Perhaps you should consider their feelings. Allowing them to grow in their own way by helping you in battle against this terrible being. Take me for example with my precious children. They may be young, but I allow them to protect me in any way possible. Even if they die, they are not forgotten as their stardust will eventually flow back into deep space to be reborn as more Lumas. All the inexperienced deserve their time to shine bright as stars," Rosalina said.

The yellow Luma chirps loudly as he agrees with the wise words of his mama. Even Ken and Lucina is beginning to see the point at hand despite their Sheikah's objections at hand. The last thing on her mind is more hurrying up with the mission as things are more dire than ever. She lets out a nice sigh before brushing the hair that hangs from her mask.

"Fine, the two of you can come with me. Just promise not to die as we will be highly responsible for what happens to them. All newcomers are the future of the Smash organization, which is why I feel the way I do on the matter. But enough talk, let's split up for our desired destinations. These Zeti can't afford to suffer any longer as long as we wait," she said.

All members eventually split their separate ways before the storm gotten any closer to Sky Road. Many jumping down or even flying if it meant a safer way to go to their separate destinations. The true race to the finish of saving the Lost Hex begins. Windy Hill is partially destroyed as a result of the storms tearing down almost every part of the floating terrain. Even the last largest windmill is already sinking below into the sky below. What used to be a white glowing circle is now starting to become more and more clear. Almost all available mechanical beings were fully absorbed. The dramatic sparks flew in all directions from the spot where Mecha Sonic was last at. He's no longer the same and now as a bigger and badder being. The first thing that appears is a large black wing akin to a massive dragon that spreads in one direction. Another wing of a similar size also spreads for an impressive display of

a frightening wingspan. The overall scene is like that of a good being born from an otherworldly egg that contains it. The shadow of wings cover the clouds below along with one of the few of the terrain that's left before it. A massive clawed hand appears from the glowing circle. It's a terrifying hand that could crush even the biggest earth if given the chance. More of these similar clawed hands would appear from the center, looking like that of an unearthly fallen angel looking for vengeance. A low pitched mechanical growl would be heard from the massive beast that remains obscured in the light. The next thing that happens is a flash of red illuminating the white light, gazing into the grisly scene before it. Then a massive blue tail sprouts from the light that towers directly into the skies like a serpent. The entire tail is segmented abs lines with all sorts of cannons specifically made to fire in every direction possible. It finally swings down to split a large mass of land in half with tremendous force. What remains after the split would now be sinking back into the ground to the point of never being seen again. The air is ominous as it was when Neo Metal Sonic first became the dreaded Metal Overlord. This being even appears to share some frightening similarities with the being in question despite the vast amount of differences.

"All will soon fall, only one being will remain. The one and only true powerful being, Mecha Monarch!" the distorted mechanical voice said.

The light finally clears up to reveal the rest of this being's body. It's terrifying to the boot to match just how far Mecha Sonic's lust for vengeance will go if it meant completing the mission. A massive snake like neck extends to reveal a fanged mechanical face similar to Mecha Sonic's, but it's now more draconian like when Metal Sonic transformed from absorbing the entire Egg Fleet. His entire body is also more dragon-like in physique to match six clawed limbs that he has as a result. What could be where the legs are were nothing but massive blue turbines where his legs to should be if it meant floating. He's no longer the same robot that struggles to contain the power of a Chaos Emerald, but now a being that grew stronger without the need from it by taking all tech on a global range in this dying Lost Hex. If anyone were hear to witness this truly terrified if they were to face this titanic monstrosity that dwarfs even the largest part of Windy Hill. Or more what's left of Windy Hill when almost all homes are destroyed thanks to the deadly storms created by him. One could imagine how much damage he could do to the other regions of the Lost Hex if he were there. Although it shouldn't be a real worry as enough of his deadly storm managed to spread throughout the entire floating continent itself, putting everyone in the worst imaginable danger unless anyone were brave enough to square off against the massive being. Mecha Monarch looks around with his chilling red eye, scanning the area just to see where the very heroes that pushed him to this point were. Bloodlusted and angry, the being lets out another powerful roar that travels throughout the entirety of the Lost Hex. The many Zeti that were either enslaved or hiding in their homes are absolutely frightened at the unearthly sound that they heard with their own ears. The flying Star Wolf and other heroes who succeeded in avoiding the white hole heard this sound as it only reminds them that the worst is about to come.

"What the hell was that? We got another monster to deal with?" Alberto asks.

"It could be a very powerful one. It's a good thing back up should be in their way here to assist us," Hardy said in caution before reloading his gun. Even the Star Wolf are growing nervous at this terrifying sound as it puts Andross' own laugh to shame.

"Uuuuh, guys? Are we sure there isn't some big space monster on this hideous planet that we have to shoot down?" Pigma said nervously.

"Without a doubt the source of the magnetic forces that pulled at our Wolfens. We need to pay that balding beast a visit if it means payback," Leon said coldly.

As if the increased sandstorms that blew against their vehicles weren't an issue, whatever made that roar is possibly out to get them. Dark Pit and Phosphora also hear this roar as they wait for the robots' end of the deal. Seeing the waters vibrate from the powerful roar gave the two Forces of Nature officer a bad feeling about what's to occur.

"It's too late. He transformed. We are not going to get out of this once easily without all seven emeralds," the black angel said.

"Maybe I should get the Lightning Chariot from the Thundercloud Temple. It's something that pierce through Hades once. It should be more than capable of taking down that monster," the lightning goddess suggests.

"Don't even think about it. The Chariot Master shouldn't have his death in vain. That chariot and its horse are hard to come by. Having it destroyed or the horses killed would disrespect his legacy. I forbid it. But only if we are sure that our allies don't have anything as strong," Viridi's voice spoke.

Dark Pit is beginning to lose patience and hopes that Gravity Man returns with the prisoners. The Silent Forest rumbles violently with the power of the roar traveling through the thicket of trees and startling more owls that haven't fled yet. Seeing this much overactivity in the jungle would stop the three Assists and the partnership of two dangerous Mario foes from continuing their fight. Dr. Kawashima used this time to nervously adjust his glasses with his hand while still shocked. Barbara even double checked her own guitar to see if it wasn't an error on her part. Elec Man had a bad feeling about this as he no longer had any intention to fight Fawful and Dimentio anymore. Even the usually calm Dimentio is not liking the sound of that deadly roar.

"Finkrats, is this monster friend of yours?" the skeptical bean scientist asked.

"Well no, we don't work with any creatures that are harder to control than a malfunctioning machine. Perhaps this beast could be a trump card that you dastardly fiends brought to this once peaceful domain," the electric Robot Master accused.

"This wasn't part of the script, the only monster I know of was that dragon that somehow escaped my precious Floro Sprout control. All my hard work, put to waste. Yet here you silly fools are accusing moi of having a part in this," the jester responded.

Eventually Atolm once again flies back with Azel on top after they did their part of attacking the base with all they had. However, she seems more focused on investigating what made that roar.

"That base was toast, my work here is done. That roar doesn't give me a good feeling about Shadow's group still being there. I will fly back there and help. Mecha Sonic likely became that thing and wants to wipe out the Lost Hex with all the new powers he's gotten from whatever he absorbed back there," Azel urgently announced.

Fawful would not like the sound of that and angrily steams under his swirly glasses.

"Well that wasn't part of deal either. That fool realize that would hurt his allies when we don't have chance to retreat yet. Is he mad?" he shouts.

"Looks like the tables have completely turned. And here I thought Bowser is even worth trusting. Going solo would had been a better plan after all," Dimentio laments in annoyance.

"I would follow too, but I have a word with certain Robot Masters regarding what plans they had for Wily and perhaps electrify their circuits to persuade their unfaithful hearts to turn the right gears. Kawashima and Barbara, follow our gigantic dragon friend to the right destination. The other Smash Brothers may be waiting for you two there," Elec Man ordered.

The two nodded before their ally disappears in a flash of light to teleport toward Tropical Coast. Britney and Derrick were already completely surrounded by enemy Rocket Grunts that were already informed of their possible escape if it meant completely trapping them. The roar that traveled to their direction rumbled the factory slightly with its unearthly voice. This caused some Grunts to tremble in fear along with some of their summoned Pokemon growing alert from this tremendous roar. Golbats fluttered around erratically and Machamps tightened their fists as if this is a bigger threat they should focus on than the intruders. The Weezing and Arbok of Jessie and James were also looking around to see what this monster may be as Meowth new nervous himself.

"What the heck is that? I do not remember hearing this planet housed such a terrifying monster," the cat Pokemon said.

"Perhaps that was the source of our top secret machines going haywire. It could be some sentient mechanical monster that happened to try pulling them all in," Jessie said.

James would connect the dots and realized it all sounded familiar.

"I hope this is not the work of that blue slime ball we agreed to work with. If so, that fat scientist fool can't keep his own machines in check," he said in alarm.

Derrick would be receiving a call from what appears to be Vector trying to contact him. Britney wonders if now is an appropriate time to even answer it when both of them are completely cornered with all eyes on them.

"Do not answer it, can't you see we are already busted as it is? You are horrible at this spy stuff!" she shouts.

Being the investigational type, Jesse agrees that they should answer the message if it benefits what's going on with the Lost Hex.

"Just answer the message. We will be willing to spare you brats if you let us know your true motives and what that thing may be out there," she said.

"But what about fulfilling what the boss wan..."

James steps on Meowth's tail to silence him, causing him to scream loudly in pain.

"Will you can it? We get information out of them and we don't tell them our plans. Things are more in favor that way!" the blue haired man shouts.

Derrick instantly answers the message as told despite still not trusting any possible plans the Pokémon criminals had for them. Britney gulps as she keeps her eye on the many Pokémon and criminals that still surrounded them and their damaged jet.

"Hello, this is Derrick. What is it, Vector?" he spoke on the device.

"First off, refer me as Chief Vector! As my rookie, you should address me formally instead of informally as a member of Team Chaotix. Secondly, try and see if you can fly back to the ship. Everyone is already there to recover from the last fight. Mecha Sonic, he's not even a little robot anymore and he's strong enough to blow away all of the Lost Hex if he wants to. If you don't act fast and fly away, you two would wind up being vaporized or falling back down to the ground below," he shouts.

All Team Rocket members begun to gasp or even grow visually disturbed knowing that their plans are in more danger than before with one of their own allies planning something this drastic. Meowth stops blowing his sore tail after hearing the "blow up" part and his two human

partners aren't thrilled either to hear this happening. Even the Pokémon who understood that message well wondered if it's worth a risk fighting now when all of their own allies are at stake.

"I'm sorry, but what? I don't know if this jet can fly when we barely survived a hard crash in this frozen wasteland. You can't be seriously expecting us to escape ourselves when you were the one that allowed us to fly without any real flying experience. You are the worst, Chief Vector!" Derrick comically cried.

"You better be lucky that I'm not in a mood to make a gator push when I'm probably going to die young. I wanted to get stronger and save the world, but not die before we even do everything we want! So you better tells us a way we can fix that machine or we will..."

Jesse snatched the device out of Derrick's hand just to be the one to speak herself.

"Hey, what are you..."

She snatched his head and puts him into a tight headlock to hold him in place. Britney would immediately pull out her gun only for James to point one at her in return.

"Shoot one single bullet and you will be the one that's fainting from this super effective shot," he threatened.

"The feeling's mutual, pretty boy. We are spies and crime solvers. Don't underestimate us," she said.

"You better be lucky my tail is too sore for me to move. Because your face is asking for some Fury Swipes!" Meowth shouts.

Derrick is suffocating slowly with the force of the stronger Jessie breaking his neck and her bosom almost blocking his only ways of breathing.

"Can't breathe, I may die at this rate..." he said in a muffled manner.

"So much for spies, laughable. You two kids would had died right here. We have been members of Team Rocket for many years with the right training. Experience matters. Be lucky we are going easy on you and not letting our Pokémon be the ones to do the KO's," the red haired woman replied.

"Hello? Who is this I'm speaking with. Let my rookies go or we'll come down here ourselves to kick you..."

"Enough of your empty threats, talking Krookodile. We have a some questions to ask of you and we will let your pathetic trainees go. We run the show, they chose to come out territory to fail miserably as spies. Speak quickly when we have little time to be on this floating rock," she demands.

Lava Mountain is already in even more chaos now that the allied enemy forces in the mountain were immediately evacuating just to see what creature could be heading their way. Waves of Space Pirates, Darknuts, Octolings, Underworld Army forces, Dracula's monsters, Shadaloo goons, South Town criminals, and other forces were already starting their mission to abandon the rumbling mountain. Both the weakened Octolings were no longer in a mood to fight with the entire room close to coated with their own ink and no willing to fight anymore. The male one would be the first to drop onto the ink as he's taken the most hits from his female nemesis during their fight. This left her as the last one standing and confused at what's causing Lava Mountain to become this violent in volcanic activity.

"What's going on? I don't like this sound of this rumbling at all," she said in a tired voice.

She straddled her way toward the other wall once she saw a row of shelves that should contain the key to letting everyone out. Drill Dozer is too dazed to pay any mind to his possible savior after all the damage Mecha Sonic's magnetic pulls did to him. The Helirin is still downed and generating sparks from all the damage it endured. The Color TV-15 paddles were still erratically moving as they practically beg to be freed from their sticky cell. The male Octoling could do nothing but cry at his failure to fulfill his one mission to prevent any traitor from leaving DJ Octavio's plans as a deserter. Tears poured from his eyes into the very ink that cushioned his fall, mixing into a strange mixture of his own sorrowful feelings. He could feel nothing but the pain from his wounds and the taste of defeat that lingered over his own head. Fighting a partner that once worked with him to escape the underground was already too much for him when he just wanted her to stand down and follow orders like she should had done. The Octoling girl finally received the key that at she really needed, sticking it into her back pocket for safety.

"Got it. Now to get back there with everything in my possession," she said in a weak manner.

Then she realized that leaving her own fellow Octoling alone to get crushed would be a bad idea with how sure things were getting, just watching him cry in the large inky puddle. One of the paddles would try shooting a ball again and bangs it all around the cage if it meant getting the attention of everyone. Drill Dozer would begin hearing the sound during his daze abs turned to the source of the sound. The drill handed machine knew exactly what to do now that there was no nullification shocks to weaken him anymore, the main reason he couldn't escape this room easily. The female Octarian helps her male counterpart up despite his enemies tears, hauling him near her shoulder to keep him from falling over. He would open his eyes to see the girl holding him in a comfortable position and watched as she breathed heavily.

"Why, why are you helping me after what I've said? We are enemies, it's best that I should just be splat at this point. There's no coming back to Octavio when I failed," he said sadly.

"No Octoling gets left behind. Why would I splat you when we aren't truly enemies. My only true enemy is that stupid wasabi scratching DJ who's honestly overstated his welcome as the "leader" of us for too long. It's time for us to choose our own path as free Octolings who can coexist with the Inklings in Inkopolis for as long as we want," she said.

The confused Octoling boy still had no way to react to this at all. The fact that he's spared because she pitied him, but more she wants to prove a point that she was never his event from the start.

"You really are a funny octopus. You know that? Never changed since the time we first left the test tubes underground. It was scary back then, but we grew to trust each other as we were all we've got when other Octolings were used as brainless husks for that dumb phone guy," he said after a weak chuckle. The female Octoling gave him a warm smile as she's glad he remembered that time very well.

"Yeah, we had each other. Other than that old Inkling guy that gave us orders, C.Q. Cumber's challenges, and the wisdom from Off the Hook. If there's one thing those last two had taught us, Inklings and Octolings can coexist in a society together instead of us having these turf wars forever. This is why I wanted no part of anything DJ Octavio's got anymore. The first thing I need to do is free those prisoners. I don't know much about these Smash guys, but they could be the key for me having a new purpose. Helping further build that bridge between the two races, just like the few Inklings that were chosen for that group. I want to be just like them. Or maybe gather a good group of Octolings to join with us. There's so much potential that we are sleeping on. But we can do it together if we can put our minds to it," she declares in excitement.

The make Inkling couldn't understand half of what she said, but still knew that she had the right mindset regarding their future now that both were deserters that their rebellious kind wouldn't condone.

"I like you. We should start by going out of this dump. Maybe follow where these Smash guys plan to go before this whole planet fall apart. I wonder if we will make it when there are no Ink Tubes for us to travel through or special Super Jump pit to help us jump to an entirely new location unharmed. There's got to be a way," he said.

Heavy splatter footsteps would be heard behind the two tired Octo teens before they would catch wind of who their possible friend may be. Neither Octoling were in a mood to fight anymore after exhausting so much of their own energy nor they had it in them to splat away with their weapons. This mysterious being would eventually scoop both of them with large hands as the two would possibly fear the worst.

"This is it, all we have to do is just find some way to trick them," the female Octoling said.

"I will act as the bait. You can swim away in this ink while you can. Your life is more valuable than mines," the male Octoling said.

It weren't until both of them realize that it was only Drill Dozer simply letting the two into his cockpit before giving them that ride they need back to the cell his master Jill resides in. The dumbfounded Octolings would only be speechless at realizing they were about to ride a drilling machine with enough personality to dance a jig. That is also not even including the free Color TV-15 paddles that were now free and celebrating by playing ball with each other briefly. The female Octoling laughs at this strange living pixel beings that happily introduce themselves.

"It reminds me of one of those old games you play while waiting for a Splatfest to begin. I really missed playing those," she said.

The male Octoling would be too busy staring at the many controls before him due to trying to contain all excitement he had about learning how to control a mech.

"Now we are like DJ Octavio, but better while riding this thing. I wonder what this button do," he said.

Drill Dozer tapped his face with his drill hands as a way of warning the curious Octarian boy not to tough a single thing up there. The female Octoling laughs once more at the machine's clear personality while the paddles continued playing their game.

"Well, if I can't touch the controls. Then how else will we get to your pink haired friend with the key?" the male Octoling barked.

To answer this, Drill Dozer had a special clean in one of his mechanical eyes before kneeling down. Both Octolings had a bad feeling of what's about to happen with the machine getting this excited.

"What did you say to it? I hope you didn't make him mad," the female Octoling said.

"Do not look at me, I've said nothing of the sort but asked him how we would get there," he replied.

Soon, the drilling machine dashes off at blinding speeds like a fast moving vehicle all with his hands combined into the largest drill for plowing down anything in the way. Like the massive red stone walls to act as a safer shortcut without being spotted by any possible enemies. Both Octolings screamed at the top of their lungs with the G-Forces forcing their lips and eyelids to flap at the high speed velocity they were were in. This would leave the slower moving paddles to follow every gigantic hole their mechanical ally mad if it meant not getting lost at all. Meanwhile, everyone would be back aboard the World Destruction Committee ship once more for safety. All except Heather and Phantom R as responsible guards of the quarantined forces that were still fenced off until a cure is made. Unfortunately, Centurion is yet to be healed as Athena is too busy crying over the response she received from the God that rejects her offer. The rest of his allies were still feeling down about not only his state staying the same, but their failure to fend off Mecha Sonic down below. The morale is low enough that even the usually holy Ecco just solemnly floats with a sad face instead of swimming around energetically in the tank like he used to. Captain Morte and Kyrie were greeted with a crying Taupy, who is quite rare when usually he acts so tough no matter how scary things would get. Even seeing his Feral ally this sad almost made the latter feel quite sorry for the fact he almost could had died there.

"It was terrible, kuma. Those punks were originally weak until that blue virus came along and ow they wanted to rip me apart while giving me that same virus. Had I been infected, my precious Muffy would never see her yellow sweetheart alive again. Could had been a goner if it weren't for Shogun saving my butt, kumaaaaaaaaa!" he cried once more in a sorrowful fashion.

Kyrie strokes the head of the his traumatized friend if it meant calming him down. Morte however had more questions on what was this blue stuff their enemies were harvesting in the first place.

"Shadow, you have any idea what Taupy is talking about? I am quite knowledgeable of all diseases in the world, but not this one. And how deadly is it?" she asks.

The hedgehog just finished communicating with Phantom R just before hanging up to respond to her question.

"Phazon is a highly dangerous virus originating from the deep ends of the solar system. A fellow Smash Brothers member of mines is more knowledgeable about oil than me, but I can say it is something you wouldn't want to catch. It corrupts you while drastically affecting your DNA with a crackling blue biochemical substance. One of our fellow members that marooned the organization just happens to be one of the biggest hosts of this disease. More like she is the byproduct of what happens when a once mutated Metroid's bodies gave lift to the Phazon Suit that it snatched from Samus. She is an unpredictable being, there would be no surprise if those mutated Space Pirates happen to serve her will of spreading Phazon through the galaxy once more," he explained.

Morte hardly knew who this Samus person was, but knew that everything that describes Phazon is not that good at all. This fully justified the fears that her long time ally is currently having.

"Well, what are the symptoms of this corruption? And is there an easy way to counter that disease?" she asked.

"The symptoms include becoming more and more violent as a result or drastic altercation to the body. Some become even borderline animalistic while others are completely sane but still slaves to the will of Dark Samus. There is a known cure for Phazon, but it is only a digital vaccine at best only for programs. I sent Mega Man to get data from Samus and bring a scientist here to help Doctor Light convert this cure into a physical one that organic victims could have. As much as we do not want to help the enemy, but a lot of their allies are suffering horribly from that corruption. G.U.N. would lose our respect if we do not save any lives no matter how evil they were. This is only proof for how unstable their entire alliance is," the hedgehog said.

"And if I were not mistaken, Vyse did tell me that this isn't too far off from how the Legion treats their own lackeys for failure. They slaughter them, toss them overboard, threaten them to do better the next time, or feed them to that Vortex Queen beast. One could really say they come off as terrorists more than mere villains. Or even a gathering of dictators wanting to claim the universe as there's. These are all more good reasons for us to stop them," she said.

"If I am not mistaken, there is also the issue of their magic planetary storm that disturbed the balance of life and death. Bringing back many possible threats back from the dead. Maybe ghosts of our past that we would rather not see again. Things would be more than bad if we somehow have to deal with the Black Arms once more," Shadow said.

Maria is once again not too happy knowing the truth behind Gerald even associating with such monstrous creatures and making a deal to sell out all of humanity as mere cattle for them. She really wanted to see her own grandfather as a good person, but simply can't after hearing the truth. Tears rolled down her cheeks once more as she tries her best not to sob in the presence of her long time friend. Shadow noticed this while observing her ability to try keeping a brave face around him.

"It's alright Maria, you can cry all you want. You are human, everyone is allowed to express themselves freely here. We will find Gerald and hopefully stop him from even possibly joining the Legion," he said in a hopeful but serious tone.

She would only wipe her tears and calmed down upon hearing his words.

"But Shadow, my family is a mess. Gerald isn't helping humanity and did horrible things even before I died. While my cousin is a monster who is only tarnishing the Robotnik name with his constant threats over this world instead of letting humanity have a peaceful life. Why can't we all just use our talents for good or the benefit of humanity instead of growing mad with power and using it as a reason to rule others? It makes me shamed to be who I am at all because of our bloodline," she cried slightly.

"You are looking at someone who was made with the blood of a terrible alien race that threatened humanity. It almost made me hate the fact that I was this Ultimate Lifeform. Gerald altered my own memories to make me hate humanity and fulfill his plans of destroying Earth because he loved you. If it were not for the Chaotix, I wouldn't know that he actually had good intentions. He made me with the purpose of saving humanity originally and the Eclipse Cannon was meant to be a weapon that destroyed the Black Comet. The man was smart and knew that he could find a way to stop the Black Arms despite their partnership. It was only when the G.U.N. wrongfully accused him of wanting humanity be fed by these aliens or making weapons of destruction like myself and the Artificial Chaoses. Humans are complex as they are easily confused in their own morality. Gerald was still a good man and the G.U.N. should had handled the situation better. There is a reason I still joined them with Rouge despite that, because I followed your promise of loving and protecting humanity no matter the cost. I still hold no ill will for them, even treating my comrades as family for how long we worked together in missions. The Gun Commander respects me very much despite our initial conflict, even saying he wished he would had seen you once more. Never hate yourself for the wrongdoings of your bloodlines, you can only do good and be better than them," Shadow said sincerely to her.

Maria could barely respond with so much tears to clean from her heavy sorrows.

"You mean my childhood friend who played with me despite my NIDS still miss me? Upon hearing that he long left the ARK to sign up for the G.U.N. as a soldier, I've thought I would never have the chance to see him again. If possible, I would like you all to take me to him. Just so we can talk again like our simpler times. I don't care if he wants to take his role serious, but I deserve to hear his voice once more," she begged.

"Then it's a promise. I'm sure the serious guy would like to hear from you. Even if it's been years since your death. I'll explain it all to him, he can be shocked and not believe his own eyes," Rouge said.

"My partner is right, we will make sure it happens once we reach G.U.N HQ as originally intended. We just need to make a few stops down the line when the Blue Rogues have some business to handle with Valua," he said.

Maria is left confused as she never once had a chance to explore Earth in its entirety due to being contained in the notorious space colony for so long. "What's Valua? Gerald never told me such a place exists," she wondered.

"That's because Gerald only do extensive research on things that concerns him and what he wants to do for humanity. Like years of research he put into Chaos Emeralds to make me using the energy of the emeralds. The Lost World and Mystic Ruins were as far as he went. But that's not to say it isn't a big world out there with many places to go," he replied.

"That's right, I am born in the center of another galaxy. My travels lead me to find this planet, meeting many cool friends like Sonic," Ristar said with a smile.

Maria drew her eyes to the young star alien, finding him quite adorable in appearance.

"You are so cute. Would it be too much trouble to hold you?" she asks.

Instead, the Freonian child knocks him out of the way and jumped on the woman's lap to hold her. He instantly hugs and nuzzles into her arm bosom like a child would normally do to their mother at a young age. Maria smiles as she never expected to be seen as someone's mother before. Ristar wouldn't be amused at his friend's clinging as or how he knocked him out of the way to be held in the first place.

"You are very adorable. I want to adopt you, but you should be with your real mother. Where are you from, little guy?" she asked.

"He's from the planet Freon. He originally threw snowballs at me aggressively because he thought I was a foreign threat like Greedy's forces that attacked his home. But he grew to see me as a friend, even helping me take on Itamor by feeding him the spiciest soup his family ever made," Ristar said in a slightly annoyed manner.

Just watching his friend being babies by Maria only made him feel less and less amused. Vector is still talking in the background with Team Rocket privately to avoid any suspicions. Espio, Charmy, and Mighty were there to help hear out what they may do with them. "So what you want us to do is join forces and allow you to keep the rookies for training? Do we really have a choice. Because by all means, it would be awkward for a detective agency to be working with a bunch of criminals. The G.U.N. or Smash Brothers wouldn't like it either for that matter either," the crocodile replied.

"Just take it or leave it, we know that we are wanted by everyone. But hearing that our own are being mutated by our own allies and our goals to put an end to Mewtwo's tyranny, you don't have a choice. We know that Smash group has two Pokémon working twerps working with them. They better behave themselves since we want your...would you quit acting like you are dying? You are weak if a simple chokehold is too much for you?" Jesse beamed. "But...you are too strong...and they are too big for my face...to take them.." Derrick said in strain.

"Are you implying that I am fat because I'm blessed with this chest? You little...nevermind. Detective Krookodile, are you in this deal or not? We are admins with much control over our fellow Rocket Members. All that matters is whether the boss would agree with this plan. He wouldn't be thrilled to know what's happening to his men," she replied from her device.

Charmy scratches his head while Espio shakes his head and Mighty facepalms.

"Let me think about it. Or more I can ask the others what they think before calling the shots. This will be a mixed back, so let me ask the others," Vector replied.

"Very well. But hurry, that monster back there is already starting his rampage. You all pushed him to that point and should be responsible to destroy him," Jessie beamed.

"Speaking of monster, mines had grown for too long. Can you let me go?" Derrick asked.

The next thing that's heart is a loud slap in the background, causing all Chaotix members to cringe in pain from hearing it. Even Charmy would quickly snicker from the sound that occurred. This is when all people in the room minus the weakened Centurion would have their eyes on the Chaotix. Vector would stare nervously with everyone watching him after that embarrassingly loud slap from his head device.

"Who the hell are you even talking to, your ex girlfriend?" Kreese asks.

"I hope she's not like like my ex wife, because she is a lean mean sucking machine," Howard.

"Say one more vulgar thing and I will stick my blade in the deepest parts of your nether regions," Princess Sora threatened.

"Says the pissy Princess saying vulgar things yourself. You should sign up for the same job as us with such a filthy joke like that," Kreese said.

"My word, chap. You better watch it, or she will throw another one of her upper class rage quits on us bollocks commoners," Howard said in a mockingly exaggerated upper class English accent.

Both Deathwatch commentators laughing would cause the Princess to blush from her accidentally vulgar threat being seen as a complete joke.

"Enough, let's focus on the real question. Vector, who is this person you are speaking to? Hiding anything from us will make us trust you and your agency much less if you do that more often," Shadow demands.

"Uuuuh...some lady that works for Team Rocket is proposing for an alliance. Mostly thanking you all for wanting to cure their infected members. They really want revenge on Mecha Sonic and anyone that supports his actions for what they did. We knew this partnership would fall apart and needed this just to see a good reason to leave then. I know how well they love their mob mentality methods for anyone that leaves on them. So siding up with their competition, you people, would be the only way we can save our own hides. What do you say?" she said.

Shadow is really skeptical of the follow proposition he head out of her, following through his thoughts to find the right answer. Of course he figured they all want to side with them out of cowardly reasons due to their smaller numbers against a larger organization that they want to leave. Rouge however thinks they could be of use, ignoring their large criminal history and how the G.U.N. normally don't want to he went associating with active criminal organizations as it went against their code. Morte drew closer as she wants some input on the proposed deal of partnering with Team Rocket at a fire time involving the destruction of the Lost Hex.

"As someone who was once a part of an organization that advocated for the destruction of this world, we are more than welcome to have you ally with us," she said.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Why did you tell them that?" her fiancé screamed.

Everyone else would be just as shocked that she's quite open about this partnership at all. Both Sir Pepper and Sir Ginger's helmet flaps dropped on their shocked faces to momentarily blind them. Rouge honestly chuckled at the blunt nature of her ally, Shadow on the other hand remains deadpan silent as if he expected her to let that detail slip. Even Jessie us at a complete loss of words on the other side of the communication line.

"You got to be joking, right? You being part of an organization that wants to destroy the world. Are you even worse than the Legion of Subspace?" the nervous Rocket admin asked.

Even Taupy chuckles as this is the same blunt abs straightforward Morte he knew for a while. Kyrie is still dropping his jaw in shock at his love being so nonchalant about the name of their group.

"Yes. Or at least we used to. I originally felt the world needed to be erased for a better world when our continents were nothing but hell. Humans were mistreated by Ferals and Ferals were at the top of the food chain in society. When I heard that Kyrie had this power in him, I really needed his help as he was the key to destroying everything and making a new world. Which he did. Only we have the memories of what the kid world was like, so this may sound like a dream to you. But that was the reason our group was naked that. We only keep it as a reminder of our success at stopping the Feral rule, making a better world for humankind," Morte explains.

Jessie found all of this hard to believe when her original world was hardly affected or experienced this slight reboot in the universe at all. Being from one that the World Destruction Committee had never explored before while in return Jessie and her troupe are mere visitors in this universe.

"This may be hard to explain. But we happen to be from another universe as well. That is how the Boss found us. He saw our potential abs knew we had it in him to he of help to the Team Rocket of another universes, abandoning our own Team Rocket as a result. We traveled using Ultra Wormholes. That's probably why we never heard of this even, but I can believe you for now," Jessie replied.

Morte herself smiles knowing that there is actually more than one universe out there after all than the one she always been a part of and Kyrie fixed with his power.

"I never thought I would see that more than one dimension actually exists. As if that other Sonic that helped Sonic and that Resistance rookie in the past defeat Eggman weren't any indication. It almost seemed strange to see another smaller Sonic walking around when the real one is in our presence. He however went back to the very dimension he belonged in. But then again, The Phantom Ruby was able to affect time and space despite being merely a virtual reality projector Eggman happened to discover. What's worse is that Infinite freak somehow managed to get his own Ruby healed after I kicked his sorry…ugh. We have something more important to focus like Mecha Sonic's new transformation. I've gotten a sense of deja vu when he could do the same thing as Metal Sonic's Metal Overlord state in the past. Even down to the mechanical dragon beast aspect after absorbing enough metal,"Shadow said.

"So that monster back there is that Mecha Sonic jerk we allied with? Now we will do everything we can to scrap him apart if given the chance. Perhaps we can ask the boss to let our secret weapon deal with him for his treachery. Backstabbing lump of steel!" Jessie shouts through the device.

The secret weapon part really interested Rouge being the curious bat she is.

"What secret weapon?" she asked.

Jessie hesitates as she personally did not want to tell too much about the boss's trump card that they especially had saved for Mewtwo. Even Morte wanted to know more about this possible weapon they have that could be strong enough to fend off the mechanical beast below. "Do not be shy, we are going to be allies after all. We told you what we know now we need to know more about your group to be even. All bets will not be off," the red haired captain said.

"I still can't believe you've told more people about me having that power. Now they will want to kidnap me just to use me the wrong way," Kyrie said.

"Just save your breath, they would care less about you," Ramirez sternly said.

"Why do you have to be so cruel?" Kyrie said with comical tears pouring down his face.

Jessie clears her throat once more before she would finally spill the beans for her potential allies.

"You all know of the Legendary Pokemon Mewtwo , right? There is another Legendary we have in our possession that just happens to be his weakness. It was originally created by another organization called Team Plasma that wants to use Pokemon as weapons of mass destruction despite acting as anti Pokemon violence extremists on the outside. This Pokemon was originally a fossilized bug that would be changed into the greatest weapon ever with all the technology their lead scientist Colress had. Now it is a highly powerful Pokemon that could overpower even the strongest military force on this planet. That is what we are saving for Mewtwo once we see that traitorous feline freak again. But we can use that weapon for a test drive on that hedgehog copycat for being the destructive maniac he is. But that would take us asking our boss Giovanni for permission first," she explains.

"Funny you say that, we know Mewtwo as fellow members of the Smash Brothers organization. He is a traitor along with a few other members. But I am sure you already know that as you were working for him," Shadow replied.

"More like we were forced by him. He somehow found the Team Rocket base and attacked their minds directly under the threat that they should serve him on this world conquest or else he would had killed him like he did to our top scientists in the past. The boss explained this to us in private, but also stated we should act loyal while we could as we had a way to break free from that mind mending psycho's threats. Defeating him with another Legendary that has the very Bug Typing that should put him to rest. We are only biding our time until we can get close enough for our revenge," Jessie said in scorn.

"Typical, I've never trusted that Pokemon since the day I've laid my eyes on him. Something always felt quite off about him the longer I served the Smash Brothers. He knew just how suspicious I was of him and often speak inside of my mind with a threat. Saying he knew who I was and could erase my memory if I dare were to get in his way. Something I had no choice but to play along with since my mind had been warped too many times, especially by the Robotnik bloodline. There is no way I would ever want everything I ever done for my friends or this planet to be forgotten," the hedgehog said in anger.

Maria heard Shadow say this loud and clear, smiling that he really does want his best memories to be kept instead of messed with. But at the same time, feeling bad that her grandfather that she always loved was responsible for messing with Shadow's memory to go against what her last words should mean to him. Rouge felt the same way, being glad that her attempts to help Shadow get his memories back weren't in vain or ever doubting that the Shadow she first found is not one of the many mass produced androids that Eggman created in his image. Then the entire ship started to shake violently to shake everyone within the room, even almost disrupting the signal between Jessie and Shadow. Ramirez caught Selvaria in time before she hit the ground, catching the later off guard for his reflexes. The Freonian child almost fell off Maria before Ristar saved him with his stretchy arms just in time. Vector almost fell on top of Mighty before Espio and Charmy caught their own boss in time. Cream made sure to grab Jack by the collar of his coat if it meant keeping him from falling over. The man however is glad that his cigarette is completely safe from falling out of his mouth.

"What the hell just happened? Is that thing trying to attack our ship?" he asked.

Morte looked to see a crew member standing before the monitor of her prized ship.

"You there! Turn on the screen. Show us what is happening on the outside!" he ordered.

The man hastily starts to press coordinates on the keyboard before him under his captain's orders. Taupy had a bad feeling that something is about to go down. Kyrie is cowering behind his fiancé's back for dear lift, which she is ignoring that his face is directly under her own skirt to stay out of sight. Orta is not amused by what she seen, even Prince Ali shakes his head at the strange composition the captain and her lover were in.

"No offense Knave, but I can still see your body. And you are aware that your head just happens to be hiding under the madam's bl…."

Princess Chelsea slaps Sir Ginger hard enough to make his head spin before he could finish that sentence. Athena prays for protection despite the state her own hero is in as Marie comforts her as a friend.

"I heard something happening out there, did that metal freak hit you all? We will act fast enough to ask our boss if that is fine with you," Jessie asks.

"We do not know, but feel free to do everything you can. Our partnership is official and this is your chance to prove that this alliance will not slow us down. We're counting on you," Shadow responds.

"Affirmative. Expect us there in less than an hour. And like we've said, these brats are staying under our care for the time being. We will train them into serious fighters under our watch. Tell the Krookodile that they should be just fine," she responds.

The black hedgehog tossed the headset back to Vector as she scrambles to put it directly back on his head.

"But wait! Before you go, promise me this, do not hurt those rookies. Because if you do, these jaws will be used for something I never wanted to do. Got that, broad?" he warned.

Charmy laughs at the fact his own boss is threatening someone, but Espio knew to take this serious when Vector's jaws are strong enough to chomp through the toughest of steel. Mighty in the end shrugs at the fact Vector is so attached to these rookies that he is willing to hurt someone if anything ever happened to them. Jessie is left in utter silence at the thought that she could be bitten at all if things were to go wrong.

But then replied, "Yes. We promise. We trained others before, you have nothing to worry about."

Vector seriously nods before shutting off the signal in his headset. The screen finally turns on to reveal an unusual sight for everyone. Mecha Sonic's transformed state is being relentlessly attacked by the few Smash Brothers members that arrived to fend him off down below. Alex managed to build enough land around him with her building skills to support her allies thanks to being a good terraformer. MinMin used a few Rush Attacks to annoy the beast below to keep him busy. It would be Mega Lucario's max aura Aurastorm, Ken's Shinku Hadouken, and Sheik's Light Arrows that would be dealing the most damage to his head and other sensitive parts. This caused the beast to roar violently before retaliating with his massive mechanical claws. Each one destroying the blocks Alex ever constructed and hurling massive chunks of land at his annoying targets. Rodin would smash his head from above with a good Wicked Weave punch to the temple to temporarily stun him. The bald demon then continues to pummel him from above with the same demonic fists that appeared from various Inferno portals to dent the beast many times. However, no visible damage seems to be cracking his steel skin as he is three times more powerful than his standard super form. The storms would be raging twice as hard above the beast with many strikes destroying the land around him. This would give them a reminder that they were all running out of time to save the Lost Hex when one Smash member had to rebuild large patches of land with her own block building abilities from the start.

"Damn it, we need to act fast soon. But at the same time, the Deadly Six should already be in Lava Mountain working on the machine. He has no Chaos energy, which makes their plan a bust. Someone would have to go over there and tell them to change its settings," Shadow said urgently.

"Perhaps the settings could be changed to absorbing machinery instead. But we need a piece of Robotnik tech to make sure the settings are accurate. That is our only option," Rouge said.

"There is also the fact that Gamma and Omega are still in there and this plan could possibly disassemble them if not careful enough. There's got to be another way," he replied.

As someone that deeply cares for his friend Omega, he would rather not think about the idea of killing him if it meant saving him from a machine that absorbed him.

"Also, Agent Seven is still inside of him. She is probably not conscious and trapped in the machinery. We would also wind up possibly tearing her apart literally if we went with that plan," Princess Sora said.

"Let her be I'd say. She deserves to be trapped as her obsession with hacking as her biggest flaw. She is no different from the selfish materialistic fools that I've killed. Like that Leon brat who started the Deathwatch show and spreading an incurable disease that lead to senseless violence all because he wanted to make money off it. She is not very…"

Suddenly he is slapped hard in the face by Sora as she had just about enough of Jack's lack of empathy for someone she considers one of her closest allies. Shadow and Morte keeps their eye on the scene as trying to test someone as violent as him is a less than good idea. But she did not care as she felt nothing but hatred for him even comparing her to someone who is clearly more horrible than her at all. He could do nothing but glare at her without a care as that slap felt as weak as the punches he taken from the weakest Deathwatch fighters.

"Uh, Dame Sora. Don't you think you are making a big mistake by angering someone as dangerous as Sir Jack. He is someone that will not hesitate to hurt a woman," Sir Pepper warned.

"I do not care, what he said was unacceptable and I consider him a monster for turning his back on a valuable ally like her. Sure she is often short tracked by her obsession with wanting to hack every machine she is interest in, but she does not deserve that at all. If she dies, then I can't even show my face to the rest of the team at home. She is too important to me as a friend and an ally. So if you say that we should just kill her or leave her for dead, then you are no better than the very dragons that almost wiped out our population in the past," she cried in anger with her tears flying everywhere.

Jack still stared at her coldly without shred of sympathy, which the rest of everyone would fear for him possibly losing his temper and breaking his no killing rule they agreed upon. But instead, he just takes his cigarette out to bath out all the smoke his mouth inhaled.

"You think I do not care for anyone I love? Think again, lady. I have a daughter who I care for very much. And if it weren't for forcing that brat's father to make a cure for every Deathwatch victim, including myself, then she would be a bastard. Left without a reasonable father figure to protect her and keep her away from any danger. What made me kill Leon instead of sparing him is his sheer selfish attitude reflecting all the bastards in America that out themselves at the top only to neglect those at the bottom. I saved him as a victim even though I told him that killing the bastards that threatened him were only a part of my job. To hear that he lied to me and turned out to be the reason many lives were forced to kill each other in Varrigan City because of him, he got what was coming with the slowest and most painful death ever. What I want is for Agent Seven to be less selfish and care more about others than herself. I may be an assassin, but only choose to kill those that deserve it for agreeing with the senseless violence that affect many innocents. I kept myself distant from RinRin and her sisters for good reasons, refusing to believe that they are sorry despite all they did. Nevermind the fact that I still don't know how that AsianTown bitch is still alive. This is why the Baron is at the top of my list of bastards that deserve to be put down after cheating death once more, somehow repeating what Leon did in the past. Come back to me when you truly experienced the most irredeemable people," the monochromatic assassin warned.

Sora did not care about his words and only stared him down with hateful tear filled eyes for what he said too begin with. Shadow did not like there atmosphere here and felt the need to step in.

"Unless anyone wants to be sent back home crying to their families, I will not tolerate any in-fighting when we have serious things to focus on. Agent Seven is an asset, even if she is naiive and disobedient. We will think of a way of saving her unharmed whether you all like it or not. This is why I had my doubts about trusting those two college kids in the hands of Team Rocket. They will pay dearly if they do not follow Vector's end of the deal, which he did have a huge point. I know what it is like to have someone precious to you Jack, but you are better off not being negligent of those you harshly judge as not worth saving. You will just have to learn to cooperate with everyone no matter what. We are a team, it should stay that way," he announced.

Jack listened well to his superiors words, only choosing not to acknowledge the subject any further to continue focusing on his smoking. Rouge still felt that Sora is in the wrong and decided to add her two cents on the matter.

"As for you, you know better than to lay a hand on your ally. I know how close the two of you are, but you are best saving your strength for those that deserve it. Like the metal monster that absorbed her in the first place. We will get her back and you have to bear with us. You honestly owe Jack an apology as much as he owes one to you. This is how we treat all of our G.U.N. operatives if they were to put their own conflicts over standing by the organization's strict policy on cooperation," she said with authority.

The screen still depicts what appears to be Mecha Sonic's monster form smacking MinMin away with tremendous force before Alex saved her in time with her glider. Then Lucario retaliates with his full power Aura Sphere to know the beast's face away followed up by Sheik shooting a Light Arrow directly inside of Mecha Sonic's mouth, ripping through his head successfully through the weaker parts of his body. Ken also adds to the damage with his Shinky Shoryureppa under his chin.

"See this? This is true teamwork. We should learn a thing or two from the Smash Brothers organization and how well they cooperate with each other without a single complaints. It's no wonder they are still standing as a group, as much as the G.U.N. stands above the rest as the United Federation's biggest line of information and defense forces. For once, we all should learn stop this internal discord or we will be just as the Legion wants us to be, a weak disunited force that stands no chance at stopping their plan of universal conquering. Any objections?" the bat continued.

Everyone stood in silence at the words of their superior after listening clearly to her demand. Some were even impressed by how well only five Smash members were doing as a team compared to how everyone fell apart even trying to take down Mecha Sonic at his weakest and slight strongest compared to them. Shadow nods immediately as his long time partner had just the right mindset as someone who been with G.U.N. longer than him. Even Morte is pretty impressed by her favorite ally for such an arousing speech, even ignoring her would-be husband still hiding under her skirt in fear than seeing a good example of what he should inspire everyone else to do. Sir Pepper is the first to clap as he certainly agrees with the mindset his bat superior had in mind. Then Athena would be the one to clap as she hops this level of teamwork is what they need to prevent less accidents like what happened to her barely alive Centurion. Even he would raise is bony thin hands to clap along with them slowly in a way that isn't too taxing for his damaged body. Then Ristar and the Freonion child would clap together as loudly as they can to be heard. Followed by Doctor Light with Marie to show their support despite being non-combatants. The entire Chaotix claps after them as they do agree good teamwork is needed if their alliance with the World Destruction Committee, Team Rocket, and G.U.N. will last. Sackboy also happily claps with the biggest smile on his itched face as he jumps with so much happiness in his system. Orta and Prince Ali soon clapped together as a united couple to show their support for a vow of a better partnership between everyone. Princess Chelsea and a still dizzy Sir Ginger also claps along with them. General Winter also claps as he do agree that good leadership means inspiring your own allies to do better with no mistakes to prevent any good standing group to fall. Welkin and Alicia claps in unison as well with big hopes that they would find their daughter soon enough if everyone becomes more serious. Ramirez and Selvaria then joins in with their own claps as their leadership alone would be better as long as others were to follow them directly the right way. Ecco also cackles loudly while clapping his fins rapidly within the large tank to show his support. Taupy claps his tiny gloved hands as Shogun nobly bows his head in gratitude at these wise choice of words. Then that leaves only Jack and Princess Sora to look each other in the eye as they were both specifically called out for their own disruptive behavior. The cold smoking assassin did not know what to say as he's far from the sentimental type when dealing with people are aren't his daughter Maya. Sora is also too shy to say a word now that she need to gather the right words for her next sayings as a princess.

Jack then makes the first move by saying," I am sorry. I shouldn't let my past experiences allow me to judge someone who is nowhere near as bad as the baddest of the bunch. She means alot to you as a partner, which is something I can understand with my own that always contact me for important missions. She's like family at least, which I should see you all as the save when we partnered as a duo for a reason," he said in his gruff tone.

Just knowing that the big bad assassin has people he cares about already made her even more guilty for wrongfully calling him something heartless as a monster. She bits her lower lip while hold back any more tears to be that humble princess she is supposed to be.

"Well, I'm very sorry for calling you a monster. I shouldn't have stepped on your boots like that. Just that I want to get my friend back safely. She is a valuable ally or even a friend as we fought the dragon menace together for a long time. You know, you aren't that bad of a guy if you care about getting your daughter back safely through this journey. Then consider this a promise, I will help you have her back in your arms as a teammate. I promise," she bluntly said with all the emotion she had.

She shyly reaches her hand out to add an offering for a proper handshake with the larger man. He without any hesitation grabs it with his cyborg arm and shakes it in gratitude. She is surprised at how easily he accepted the apology, and shakes it back as much as he did. This would be an oath both parties swore to better cooperate with one another as partners with the same goal in mind. Which is stopping the Legion before they finally achieve their goals of universal tyranny.

"Hubba hubba, do I smell love in the art between these two love birds? Or shall I say blood birds," Kreese said.

"All I know is that she will not be ready for that fist of Jack's. It would do more than just pound her powder puff into submission, if you know what I mean?" Howard said.

"Will you two shut up?" both of them shout at the annoying commentators.

Then everyone would notice something strange about the recording on the screen. One of their own allies would arrive in time just to fire their drones and other All Stars Racing weaponry at the beast from behind at full force. It would be none other than Alberto and his group that chose to ride his Ferrari for the Desert Ruins mission. That is not even covering the strange alliance of Team Star Wolf joining in on the shooting frenzy with their powerful Wolfen planes.

"Team, let's destroy this mechanical monstrosity that no one gets away with backstabbing our team. When this is over, we will report everything to Wolf as planned," Leon announced.

"Right," the remaining members of the team said in unison.

Pigma would start things off by laughing a few Smart Bombs directly at the steel underbelly of Mecha Sonic before Andrew and Panther double teamed with a Barrel Roll to the same blasted weakness. The reinforcements that the Virtua Cops called for finally arrived with enough armed apache helicopters ready to fire their guns at the beast.

"Alright Virtua City Police, let's show this freak that he messed with wrong authority. Fire at will!" James announced with a megaphone.

The helicopters fired their machine guns and rockets at the beast all over if it meant damaging him. These bullets were specifically made to shred through the even the most armored of vehicles to deal with the most dangerous criminals near Virtua City. The mechanical monster in response reached out his six clawed hands to try clawing the flying foes down with tremendous force. They barely dodged these hands only with the forces nearly pushing them out of their flight.

"You foolish ants, I will show you what it means to be the strongest being in the world. My Master Robotnik will take this world and make it a perfect one that everyone should accept!" he beamed.

Then several Warp beams hit him in the back followed by a massive roar on its own. It would be Atolm as he carries Azel, Barbara and Dr. Kawashima. Even the two former enemies Dimentio and Fawful appeared to get revenge for the possible treason this beast did against them.

"What do we have here? A naughty mechanical beast that know his place? Well I have the most explosive gift that anyone would love," the sinister jester announced. He raises his hands to create the largest box he could.

"Unless you finkrats want same result, fly away from box while he creates it!" Fawful announced on a megaphone he created.

The VCP, Star Wolf, and Ferrari made sure to immediately fly for the air as they saw the black lines forming around Mecha Sonic's massive body. Sheik's group made sure to back up on the farthest blocky terrain Alex made if it meant keeping their distance. Phantom R and Heather continue their job of defending the fenced off Phazon victims while they were a good distance away from the destruction. They were amazed at just how well everyone, even their former enemies, we cooperating with each other to defeat a threat that would had single handedly killed all of them and many innocent Zeti. That is far from all when a storm of Wisps would be flying as this massive multicolored swarm for all the enslavement that happened to their kind. The Cyan Wisps flew through him as light speed lasers that tore through his body, the Yellow Wisps drilled into him as massive yellow drills that pierced with ease, Blue Wisps slammed on his head as massive blue blocks with a single eye, Red Wisps charged at him to slowly engulf parts of his body into flames, Ivory Wisps struck his body repeatedly as massive lightning strikes, Indigo Wisps used their celestial bodies to slowly pull apart parts of Mecha Sonic's formerly untouchable body using their gravitational pull, Pink Wisps scrapped around his massive arms with their sharp spiky bodies, Orange Wisps blaster through his weakened body at high speeds in the form of orange rockets, Magenta Wisps bounced around his body in a erratic musical matter to slowly weaken him, and Crimson Wisps slowly claws at his wings with talons as they dived at their victim. And that's not counting the Nega Wisps aggressively attacking him with their bomb, black hole, and chomping forms either as payback for removing the positive Hyper-go-on energy that made them whole. Yacker would be the mastermind behind this as he taken the time to free all of his fellow Wisps with the Rookie's help while everyone handled their business.

"Hey, it's the Rookie that helped the Resistance! Man it's good to see him again!" Vector called.

The red wolf had been helping signal the Wisps with his special Wispon Guns that used certain types of the same Hyper-go-on energy that they had used. Shadow smirks knowing that an old face is back to help everyone once more. Then all the Wisps immediately fly out of the massive boss that Dimentio creates if it meant saving themselves from the incoming explosion. The damaged Mecha Sonic is left heavily breathing and weakened from the forces that overwhelmed him.

"You fools, this isn't how it's supposed to go! I am Eggman's greatest creation, you all are nothing to me!" he bellowed loudly.

Now the real battle begins with everyone beginning to engage Mecha Sonic's demonic dragon foirm. As the Deadly Six are working with the machine, the World Destruction Committee and G.U.N. concocts a plan that would safely save their robot allies and the entrapped Agent Seven who are now a part of Mecha Sonic's new mecha dragon body. Team Rocket also proposes a possible partnership while wanting to personally train Britney and Derrick for their own reasons. The Rookie and his Wisp companion Yacker finally makes a move now that they sene how well tgheir allies fared against the mechanical beast the first time. The ties with the other characters like Gravity Man and the Octolings should be wrapped up while everyone will focus on the final showdown. As promised, the next chapter will be on Saturday on-time without a single holiday in the way. That being said, see you all next time.