The next day, Sonic and Amy's teams made their way across the desert. Keith, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy were flying in the X-Tornado, while the others were riding with Kat in her truck, Big sitting in the bed as he worked on his fishing rod.
"So, why are we heading out to Sand Blast City?" Knuckles asked.
"With time running out, I'm hoping that our friends in town have any leads for us," Sonic reasoned. "Bunnie and Antoine always kept their ear to the ground back on Mobius, and I'd bet my sneakers that hasn't changed since they came here."
"Here's hoping," Tails let out. "We're running out of time until Eggman unveils his big plan."
"Whatever that might be," Keith commented. "We still have no clue as to what he's up to."
"Or why he needs a Mobini frog and a Chao for it," Amy added. "That's what makes the least amount of sense to me."
"Gotta admit, it's pretty odd," Sonic conceded.
"Whatever his reason, we'll figure it out," Knuckles insisted. "And we'll put the kibosh on his plans like we have every time before."
"You said it, Knuckles. You said it."
…
Meanwhile, Team Dark and Team Chaotix had boarded a train in transit to Sand Blast City. The passengers were all giving them a wide berth, eying them nervously, especially Omega and Shadow.
"Maybe we should have walked," Shadow commented.
"All the way into the desert?" Rouge responded. "Tell me you're joking."
"She's right," Chessie agreed. "You're strong, but even you wouldn't last long hiking in the desert, and we sure as heck wouldn't. Besides, this train is the fastest way to the city."
"Fine," Shadow relented before turning to Vector. "Your client better be right about Eggman being in the city."
"He's been right so far," Vector said confidently. "Besides, I think it would do you and your little cat friend some good to interact with other mobians that aren't wanted jewel thieves."
"Hey, I'm not wanted anymore," Rouge said defensively, crossing her arms. "I'm a GUN agent, thank you very much."
"I see you didn't try to dispute the jewel thief claim," Espio pointed out.
"Why deny my nature? If you've got it, flaunt it."
"Rouge!" Chessie exclaimed in almost mock indignation. "There's a child present!"
"Yeah," Charmy chimed in, crossing his arms mockingly.
"All of you, enough!" the voice on Vector's radio called out, getting their attention. "I suggest you take this very seriously. Robotnik is heading to Sand Blast City to plunder the city's Lake of Rings. It's the only supply of power rings on the entire planet."
"Power Rings?" Shadow questioned, turning to Chessie on instinct.
"Sadly, this one's out of my wheelhouse," she said with a small shrug. "I was made here, and there's no record of any 'Lake of Rings' in Eggman's database."
"I know plenty about those," Vector chimed in. "it's a lake that's practically brimming with Chaos energy. There's so much power in the water that it has special properties, like purification and stuff. However, the reason it's called a Lake of Rings is because every 12 hours, the power of the lake manifests into glowing, golden rings that gather at the bottom of the lake. Just one of those things could boost the power of any machine for a good long while."
"So imagine what would happen if Eggman got a hold of one of those," Rouge remarked.
"Oh he won't stop at one," Charmy insisted. "He'll drain the lake and take every single ring for himself! Just you wait!"
"All the more reason we need to get there and stop him," Espio spoke up, placing a calming hand on Charmy's head.
"Now if only this train would hurry up," Shadow lamented.
…
Meanwhile, Team Sonic and Team Rose finally arrived in the city, climbing out of their respective vehicles and heading inside. As they made their way inside, Keith, Kat, and Helen instantly felt the uncomfortable amount of stares from the locals. Helen was especially put off by it, clinging to Big, who was carrying her in his arms.
"Why are they staring at us?" she questioned nervously.
"Mobians still aren't used to humans," Amy admitted. "They're afraid you'll turn out to be like Eggman."
"But we wouldn't do anything like that."
"Somehow, I don't think they're ready to believe that," Knuckles muttered.
"Hey, cut them some slack," Sonic insisted. "You have to remember that the only human we've ever encountered back home was Eggman, and the guy literally tries to take over/destroy the world on a weekly basis. We were pretty put off when we first got here too."
"Well… yeah..."
"It's cool, Knux," Kat assured the irate echidna. "We'll prove ourselves eventually."
"In the meantime, we still have a few trustworthy friends here," Sonic reminded.
…
At a small outdoor cafe in the city, Bunnie and Antoine were enjoying a nice breakfast.
"The city seems to be quiet today," Antoine noted. "Perhaps everyone is finally settling into this new world."
"I hope so, sugah," Bunnie replied, stirring some sugar into her tea. "I mean, I get their hesitancy, but the humans ain't done nothin' but be nice to us since we got here."
"Some people just take longer to convince, I'm afraid."
"Glad that's not true for everyone," Sonic remarked as he and the others approached.
The two warriors looked up, smiling at the sight of the hedgehog and his friends.
"Well hey Sonic," Bunnie greeted, giving him a small wave. "I see you brought the whole gang this time." Her eyes then fell on Big and Helen. "As well as some new faces."
"Yeah, it's a bit of a long story. Short version, you know who is up to his old tricks."
The rabbit and the coyote both went stone faced.
"So," Antoine snarled, "the rotten egg is back. What do you know so far?"
"He's got some kind of 'ultimate weapon' in the works," Tails informed. "And he plans to unleash it today at sunset."
"And he's taken Big's pet frog and a Chao as part of it," Amy added on. "Though we have no idea why."
"Honestly, we're all a bit stumped on what to do next, so we thought you guys would have some ideas," Sonic explained. "Besides, it never hurts to have a fresh set of eyes"
"Well, we can meet up with the city watch, see if the scouts have detected any unusual activity," Bunnie suggested.
"Sounds great to me."
…
On the other side of town, Team Dark and Team Chaotix got off the train, making their way towards the caves along the outskirts.
"So the lake is in there?" Shadow asked.
"Affirmative," Omega confirmed. "Chaos energy levels at critical mass."
"He's right," Chessie concurred, looking at her own scanner. "I've never seen levels like these."
At that moment, some loud noises rang out from inside the cave. It was distinctively machine sounds, putting the two groups on edge.
"Three guesses who's down there," Espio remarked.
Silently, both groups made their way into the cave.
…
Back with Team Sonic and Team Rose, they made their way to the city watch, who were informing them on everything going on in the city.
"I wish I could tell you more, Sonic, but I'm afraid things have been rather peaceful since being sent here," the wolf head of the watch reported. "The most we've had to deal with is a few human 'tourists' trying to pierce the dome."
"And nothing else strange or out of the ordinary?" Sonic inquired.
"Honestly, we're still trying to figure out what strange and out of the ordinary is in this world. After all, everything is a lot different than it is back on Mobius."
"Believe me I know."
Before the group could leave, another wolf guard entered the room, a concerned look gracing his snout.
"Sir, I have-" he cut himself off at the sight of the group. "Oh. I did not realize you had company."
"It is quite alright," the head of the watch reassured. "You of course know Sonic The Hedgehog and his companions."
"Hey," Sonic greeted.
"It's an honor. In fact, it's probably a good thing you're here."
"Really?"
"We've lost contact with the team standing guard at the Lake of Rings. We fear something might have happened." He happened to glance up at the humans of the group. "I don't suppose 'they' know anything about this."
"Why would they?" Knuckles practically snarled.
"Don't you find it a little coincidental that we lost contact with the team just as these humans come into our city?"
"No, I don't," Sonic stepped in. "They're our friends, and have been helping us deal with Eggman since we got here."
"Yeah, well, Eggman started out acting as a friend," the guard reminded Sonic. "And as I recall, that didn't end well for anyone. Especially Sir Charles."
"Hey!" Amy called out, aiming her hammer in his face. "That was a low blow!"
Sonic's eyes narrowed, but he remained silent, hands clenching and unclenching. Tails put a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down.
"Let's go and check on the Lake of Rings," he insisted, already ushering Sonic towards the door.
"Yeah…" Sonic growled, his voice low and barely audible. "Let's."
…
Back with Team Dark and Team Chaotix, they made their way deeper and deeper into the caves. As they ventured further in, they came out to the entrance to the lake, seeing the place was overrun by Swatbots, mining the water for power rings.
"Whoa…" Charmy let out. "They've probably got dozens of rings by now. Maybe even hundreds."
"Well they're not leaving with a single one," Chessie declared.
She then shot out a cable and swung forward, prompting the others to follow. As Chessie flew through the air, she whipped a cable at a nearby Swatbot, slicing it in half. Shadow rushed forward and rolled into a spin dash, destroying two in rapid succession. The Swatbots opened fire as Rouge took off into the air. She noticed a nearby stalactite and gave it a hard kick. This knocked it loose and caused it to crash to the ground, smashing two more Swatbots. Espio quickly leapt out of the way of the blasts before firing numerous shurikens at the Swatbots, nailing them in the heads. Charmy meanwhile buzzed around the Swatbot fire, sticking his tongue out in a taunting manner while doing so. He darted towards one Swatbott and used his stinger to stab one of the Swatbots, destroying it. Vector meanwhile brought his fists down on one bot, crushing it as Omega opened fire on numerous more. As he walked about the room shooting down Swatbots, he grabbed hold of one Swatbots head, crushing it instantly.
As the fight progressed, several Swatbots made off with a few cases of Power Rings in hand. As they did, one of the Swatbots shot at the ceiling just above the entrance, causing massive rocks to come crashing down. Shadow noticed this and instinctively pulled out the Chaos Emerald Chessie gave him. As he glanced down at it, two words kept ringing in his ears.
"Chaos Control!"
…
Outside the cave, a bright flash of light appeared, and from it emerged Shadow. He looked surprised for a moment, then his eyes locked onto the caved-in entrance. He ran right at it and began spin dashing at the rocks, hoping to break through.
"Shadow!" Chessie called through the rocks. "Shadow stop! You're making it worse!"
Shadow stopped, growing more concerned.
"Then what do I do?!" he called back.
"The Chaos Emerald. Use it to pop back in here and get us out!"
"Alright! Stay back! Chaos Control!"
Shadow suddenly popped back inside, appearing in front of the group. Chessie was grinning widely, rushing forward and hugging him.
"Everyone, gather around!" Shadow called out.
"You sure you two don't need a moment, first?" Rouge jeered.
Chessie's cable snapped out, catching Rouge around the waist and pulling her in. Omega just walked over, placing a hand on Shadow's head. Vector put a hand on Shadow's shoulder as Charmy hugged the back of his head. Espio just grabbed hold of Vector's tail as Shadow took a breath, closing his eyes.
"Let's hope this works… Chaos Control!"
The bright light encompassed the group, transporting the group out of the cave. Almost immediately, Shadow collapsed to the ground, sweating profusely.
"Shadow!" Chessie let out, kneeling over him.
"Transporting… so many people…" he let out. "It… took a lot out of me…"
"I've got you." She carefully helped him to his feet. "I've got you."
"Aww, you guys are so cute together," Charmy commented. "When's the wedding?"
"Who'd want to marry a lightweight like this guy?" Vector jeered. "We sure this is the same guy who blew up the moon?"
"He's just a little out of practice," Rouge told them. "Trust me, you don't wanna see him at full power."
"And for the record, Eggman blew up the moon, not Shadow," Chessie snapped.
"Still helped," Charmy retorted.
"What are you talking about?" Shadow asked.
"Nothing," Chessie insisted. "Just ignore them."
"Reminder: numerous Swatbots escaped with unknown quantities of Power Rings," Omega spoke. "Recommended action, pursue and terminate with extreme prejudice."
"The Goodnik's right," Rouge agreed. "Chessie, you take care of Shadow and make sure to keep up. Omega, get a lock on those rings. We need to find them before Eggman gets his hands on them."
"Affirmative," Omega responded, taking off towards the rings.
Rouge flew after, with Charmy and Espio following after. Vector stayed behind as Chessie helped Shadow.
"You sure you're gonna be ok?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Shadow reassured. "Come on, let's get going.
She picked him up on her back, beginning to carry him off. Vector watched them go, then he caught sight of something glinting in the rubble. He went over and cleared some rocks away, finding the red Chaos Emerald sticking out of the ground.
"Well, what do you know," Vector remarked, scooping it up. "If that hedgehog gets to keep one, then why not us?
Vector then pocketed the Emerald and ran to catch up with the others.
…
A bit later, Sonic and the others arrived at the entrance to the Lake of Rings, only to find the guards had been knocked unconscious and tied to a rock. Keith went over and checked their pulses.
"They're alive," he confirmed. "Just out cold."
"Guys! The cave's collapsed!" Kat shouted from the entrance of the cave.
"Meaning we can't follow after them," Sonic lamented.
"So what do we do now?" Cream asked.
"We follow the tracks," Knuckles declared, pointing down at the ground.
The others looked and saw tracks leading away from the cave, heading towards the train tracks.
"Train tracks," Tails realized. "That's how they're getting the rings out of the city."
"I'll swing and grab my truck," Kat offered.
"No time," Sonic declared. "If they get away, we can kiss those rings goodbye. Come on!"
Sonic instantly took off towards the tracks. Tails and Knuckles quickly followed after him, with Knuckles' endurance and Tails' tails allowing them to keep up with Sonic. As the three reached the tracks, they all leapt on, grinding along the rails in hopes of catching up with the badniks.
"You heard him," Amy motioned. "We gotta get going.
Cream quickly started flapping her ears before grabbing Amy by the hand. The two took off after Sonic and the others with Cheese following nearby. Looking around, Keith saw a hand car resting on the tracks.
"Down there," he pointed out. "Come on!"
The remaining group members rushed over to the cart, quickly getting on.
"Big, think you can handle the pumping?" Keith asked.
"I can do it," Big reassured, gripping the handle.
He quickly began pumping, shooting them forward as Kat held onto Helen tight.
"Hang on," she told her. "This is gonna be intense!"
…
Meanwhile, the Swatbots from the cave were loading the crates of Power Rings into a massive Albatross. As they finished loading up, Team Dark and Team Chaotix came running towards the Albatross as fast as they could.
"There they are!" Espio called out.
"Eliminate Eggman Robots!" Omega declared, already powering up his weapons.
Omega opened fire on the robots as they tried to load up the rest of the rings. Onboard the Albatross, Robotnik climbed up onto the deck and watched with malicious intent.
"Nice try, fools!" Robotnik called out as the Albatross began taking off. "With these rings, I'll be able to power my latest master plan indefinitely!"
"Not if we have anything to say about it!" Shadow declared, running after him.
Instantly, the Albatross opened fire on him, causing him to speed in between the blasts. Rouge quickly darted upwards, hoping to get at the air machine directly. However, a stray shot managed to clip her on the wing, causing her to wince in pain as she fell to the ground. Reacting fast, Espio darted forward before leaping into the air, catching her before hitting the ground. Omega laid down some cover fire as Charmy flew forward, using his stinger to take out some of the cannons.
"Woohoo!" he let out. "We're nailing em!"
"It's not over yet, Charmy!" Vector called out.
Omega then launched several missiles at the Albatross, much to Robotnik's dismay. He quickly disconnected the bottom half of the ship, causing the missiles to hit it as he flew off.
"He's getting away!" Chessie cried out, firing a cable at the ship.
It connected, allowing her to be pulled along with the ship. As they entered the canyon, she swerved towards the canyon wall, skidding along it before pulling on the cable, jetting towards the ship. On the ground, the others worked to catch up with the ship.
"We've got to get up there!" Shadow declared.
He pulled out his Chaos Emerald and clenched it hard.
"Chaos Control!"
He vanished into a flash of light as Rouge rolled her eyes.
"Hope you have rockets, Omega," she declared as she spread her wings and took off.
"Affirmative," Omega confirmed, activating his jet rockets and grabbing Espio and Vector by the scruff of their necks.
"Hey!" Vector let out. "Take it easy."
On board the ship, Chessie slowly made her way up onto the ship. Just as she got up there though, every gun on board turned in her direction.
"Crud," she let out.
Just as they all opened fire, Shadow instantly appeared and tackled her out of the way. They quickly ducked behind an exhaust port as the laser fire went rampant.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Am now. But that is a lot of robots."
"I know. Stay here, I'll clear a path."
Chessie nodded as Shadow leapt out.
"Chaos Spear!" he declared, raining down energy bolts at the bots. He rushed forward as they began exploding, prompting Chessie to leap out and follow. As Shadow tore through another Swatbot, a second leveled its weapon ready to fire. Before it could, Rouge swooped down and gave it a sturdy kick, knocking it off the airship. Shadow turned to see her floating in the air, giving him a two fingered salute. Shadow smirked, nodding in response before returning to the fight. Omega quickly caught as well, depositing Espio and Vector on the ship before opening fire.
"Man," Vector let out, rubbing his neck, "someone needs to teach that bot some manners."
"Let's worry about these bots for now," Espio suggested, tossing several shurikens at the oncoming hordes.
…
Meanwhile, Team Sonic and Team rose continued riding and flying down the tracks, hoping to catch up with Robotnik's forces. Suddenly, Cheese started chirping excitedly.
"What's with him?" Amy asked.
"Cheese says Chocola is close!" Cream shared.
"If that's true, then that means we must be closing in on wherever Eggman stashed his big plan," Sonic declared. "Tails, how much time do we have left?"
"Only a few hours until sunset!" Tails informed.
"Sonic, up ahead!" Knuckles pointed out.
Sonic looked up to see a massive metal train with Robotnik's face on the front and back rocketing forward.
"If that's not Eggman's, then I don't know what is," Sonic remarked. "Come on, guys, let's open it up!"
Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles sped up their grinding as Big kept pumping harder on the hand car. As they got closer, panels on the side of the train opened up, allowing turrets to pop out and open fire on the group. Sonic and Knuckles leapt between tracks to avoid the blasts as Tails flew upwards. Sonic quickly grabbed onto Tails' ankles as Knuckles did the same with Sonics. Sonic quickly started swinging his legs, allowing him to launch Knuckles forward so he could glide onto the train. He dug his fists in hard, sticking to the side with all his might. That's when he spotted one of the shots going wide, heading straight for the hand cart.
"Kat! Keith! Look out!" he called out.
The teens looked up to see the shots coming their way. When Big saw this, he wrapped his arms around them and Helen, leaping off just as the blast hit. They ended up rolling down the cliff, hitting the tail end of the blast. In the end, they landed hard, Big's Mobian endurance ensuring he was okay as he took the brunt of the damage. Keith and Kat got a bit scuffed up, but Helen was miraculously untouched.
"Is everyone ok?" Big asked.
"Yeah," Keith confirmed. "We're ok. But we need to catch up with the train!"
"If you have any suggestions, I'd be open to them," Kat remarked.
"Guys!" Amy called out as she and Cream ran up. "Are you all ok?"
Big nodded, slowly standing up. "I kept them safe."
"We're a bit scuffed, but nothing broken," Kat assured her.
"But now we need a way to catch up with the train," Keith added.
"Why not just go to where it's going to be," Helen suggested. Everyone looked at her, seeing her sitting in Big's arms as she pointed at the track. "It has to go somewhere, right?"
"That's… not a bad idea," Keith commended. "Come on, let's see if we can cut them off.
As the group began to move, Cream saw something poking out of a small pile of rocks. She and Cheese went over and pulled it out, revealing it to be a yellow Chaos Emerald.
"Wow," she let out. "We should hold onto this for Mr. Sonic."
Cream and Cheese quickly flew to catch up with the others.
…
Back on the train, Knuckles began smashing turrets as he climbed along.
"Any sign of Kat and the others?!" he called out.
"I can't see them!" Sonic shouted back, coming out of a spin dash. "There's no way the handcart survived that!"
"They're alright, Sonic!" Tails reassured them. "Big took hold of them before it crashed!"
"Even he's not big enough to shield three humans!" Knuckles argued.
"Big's got them, and both Keith and Kat are tough! They'll be okay, and Amy's with them!"
"In that case," Sonic spoke up, leaping onto the roof of the train. "Let's finish this!"
Just then, a platform full of Swatbots rose up onto the roof, their weapons primed at Sonic. He just smirked as he darted forward, swerving between the blasts. Knuckles meanwhile punched through the side of the train, leaping inside and seeing a crate full of Power Rings. He pried it open and pulled out a ring, tossing it to Tails.
"Get it to Sonic!" he called out. "I'll see if I can stop this thing from here!"
Tails nodded as he flew upwards, seeing Sonic weave between the blasts.
"Sonic!" Tails called out, tossing him the ring. "Catch!"
Sonic quickly caught hold of the ring, causing it to glow in his hand.
"Always wanted to try this," Sonic remarked.
He rolled into a spin dash, this one glowing with energy as he plowed through the numerous robots. Tails quickly followed behind, launching some of his dummy bombs as some stray robots tried to attack.
…
Inside the train, Knuckles plowed his way through until he reached the front, punching the door down as Robotnik turned to face him.
"You could have just knocked," Robotnik remarked.
"That was me knocking. It's over, Eggman."
"It's hardly begun, my dear knucklehead."
Robotnik then pressed a button on the console, encasing him in a massive dome before the roof of the train opened up. Both he and Knuckles were lifted up onto the roof of the train, much to Sonic and Tails' surprise. Suddenly, the dome sprouted several turrets, each one of them primed to fire at the trio.
"Get off my train," Robotnik remarked before opening fire.
The three of them quickly dove out of the way of the blasts, not even getting a moment's break in between shots.
"Whoa!" Tails let out, weaving between blasts. "That thing is intense!"
"Nothing we haven't seen before!" Sonic declared.
"Just need to figure out how to get close to that thing!" Knuckles added.
As the three continued dodging and evading the blasts, a ball sailed in from the front and nailed one of the turrets. It instantly exploded on impact, cracking the glass of the dome.
"Oh no!" Robotnik let out.
Sonic looked ahead, seeing Kat and the others down the road, with Amy gripping her hammer as she stared it down. Sonic smirked before running to the front of the train and leaping off. Just as he rolled into a spin dash, Amy spun her hammer around before tossing it. Both it and Sonic hit the front of the train at the same time, causing it to buckle and derail. Knuckles and Tails quickly leapt off and took to the air as Sonic tore through the train and landed on the ground, skidding to a stop.
"Sorry we're late," Amy quipped as she reclaimed her hammer. "Wanted to give you boys a chance to actually get some work done."
"Thanks for the assist," Sonic quipped. "Now, let's go check on the doc."
The group looked around and saw Robotnik lying unconscious on the ground. Instantly, the group ran over and looked the downed doctor over.
"Is he…?" Kat began to ask.
"I don't know," Keith admitted. "I-"
Just then, a metal robotic Robotnik head popped out of his stomach, a recording of his laugh playing as it did.
"Once again, you fools have been tricked," the recording taunted.
"It's a fake!" Tails let out.
"Why are we even surprised at this point?" Kat remarked.
"Come on out and face us, Eggman!" Sonic snapped.
"Sorry Sonic, but right now, I'm launching my ultimate weapon: a massive airfleet that will crush anyone who stands in my way!"
Sonic and the others looked up to see numerous airships flying through the air, causing him to clench his fist in anger.
"Drat," he let out. "This whole attack was to keep us distracted and buy time to launch those things."
"And we still don't know why he took Chocola," Cream lamented.
"Or Froggy," Big added.
"Maybe not," Tails admitted, taking a look at the Eggrobo. "But if I can find out where Eggman is broadcasting from, we may find the launch site for those airships."
"Meaning we can hitch a ride to the rest of the fleet," Sonic reasoned. "Smart."
Tails managed to find the comm device Robotnik was using and quickly got to work.
"Alright…" Tails let out before getting a ping. "Got the signal! Let's go!"
The group started taking off, Kat coming to a stop when she saw Keith looking at the Eggrobo.
"These scans…" he let out, adjusting his goggles. "Somethings off about this..."
"Keith!" Kat grabbed his arm. "Move it, nerd! Time's running out!"
As the two took off to catch up with the others, the Eggrobo suddenly started melting into liquid metal. It then rose up into a new, frightening shape.
"All life form data has been copied…"
…
Back on the remains of the Albatross, Team Dark and Team Chaotix continued battling valiantly against the hordes of robots being sent their way. Shadow continued spin dashing as Chessie whipped her cables and Rouge unleashed one kick after the other. Omega kept firing heavy ordinance as Espio tossed out one shuriken after another. Vector popped some more fire gum in so he kept spewing it out as Charmy stung down one robot after another.
"We gotta stop this thing!" Vector exclaimed.
"I'm open to suggestions, lizard lips," Rouge remarked, kicking another bot off the ship.
"Get me on that thing's back!" Chessie shouted. "I might be able to take it down from there!"
"Hold on tight."
Rouge took hold of her and flew her to the back of the Albatross, Chessie then shot a cable to latch onto the neck of the albatross, landing and prying at the paneling. Robotnik took notice of this and prepared to fire.
"Time to take out this pain in my neck once and for all."
Just then, Shadow dashed in and took out the turret with a spin dash, allowing Chessie to tear at the wiring at the back of the Albatross. This caused the entire thing to buck wildly, roaring as sparks erupted from its body. Chessie tore out more and more wires, pulling out small bits of machinery with them. Finally, the engines began to blow up, causing Rouge to veer upward with Chessie in hand.
"We're going down!" Shadow realized.
Omega grabbed hold of Vector and Espio again before taking off, with Charmy following close behind. Shadow just leapt off the ship, leaping from one piece of broken metal after another until he landed on the ground. The others quickly joined him as they watched the airship crash to the ground.
"You think he survived?" Espio wondered.
"No idea," Shadow admitted.
"We'd better make sure," Vector suggested.
The two groups made their way towards the wreckage, checking for any sign of the mad doctor.
"Anything?!" Rouge called out.
"Negative!" Omega responded.
"Hey!" Charmy cried out. "Over here!"
The others rushed over to Charmy, who was hovering over Robotnik as he lay unconscious on the ground.
"Is he dead?" Chessie wondered.
"Sensors are unable to confirm," Omega voiced.
Just then, a robotic Robotnik head popped out of his stomach, laughing in response. Omega clenched his robotic fist in response.
"Guess he was a fake after all," Vector realized.
"Of course it was," their client remarked, much to Vector's confusion. "Now listen, Robotnik has a staging ground for his new fleet. Get there and destroy it as soon as possible."
As Vector continued talking with his client, Chessie and Rouge saw Shadow off to the side, standing over something. Curious, and a little concerned, they approached him.
"Shadow?" Chessie called out. "Shadow, are you okay?"
Shadow just looked down at the ground, prompting the two ladies to look down and see what he saw. Half of a broken robot that looked like, of all people, Shadow. Both of them stepped back in shock as Chessie turned towards Shadow.
"Shadow…" she let out.
"Is this what the Doctor meant…?" he wondered. "Am I… just a machine?"
Chessie grabbed him by the shoulders, turning him so he could face her.
"No," she insisted. "No, you're not. You're Shadow the Hedgehog. The real Shadow the hedgehog." She looked around for a moment, seeing a sharp piece of metal on the ground. She picked it up, then turned back to Shadow. "Do you trust me?"
"... I do."
She rolled back one of his gloves, exposing his hand underneath. She took the metal piece and carefully cut him across the palm. Blood welled on the cut as he hissed in pain.
"See? Machines don't bleed. You're not an android."
Shadow looked down at the cut, then back up at her. He was still unsure himself, but he squeezed his hand in reassurance, confident in her judgement.
"Ok," he finally spoke.
Chessie smiled back, taking hold of his hand as Vector rejoined the group.
"Good news, we got a lead on where Eggman's launching some kind of fleet. We find the launch site, we find Eggman."
"And answers," Chessie realized.
"Then let's go," Shadow prompted.
As they went off, Rouge fell back to talk with Team Chaotix.
"Gotta say, your client seems to know a lot about Eggman," she noted. "Any idea who he is?"
"None," Espio admitted. "Though with the amount of intel we've been given, definitely an agent. Or maybe a relative. We now know he has family in this world."
"Maybe," Rouge admitted. "Or maybe one of his dumb bots decided enough is enough."
"Not sure myself," Vector conceded. "But I've been having my own suspicious about our clients real identity. It could be…."
"Could be what?" Charmy asked.
"Not sure yet. Need more clues."
With that the two teams went off. Just like before, the eggrobo melted away, and reformed into a frightening shape with steely red eyes.
"Ultimate lifeform data successfully copied."