So first off, I wanna give a huge shoutout to my good buddy "The Sensational SpiderDom321" he helped me out with some of the dialogue for the Deadly Six in this chapter. You should all give his work a read, he does a Forces rewrite and a lot of cool stuff on his profile as well as some original work on his Fictionpress. This chapter would probably not be what it is without him. I know I've done it a lot in DMs, but still thanks so much man.

Second, I do want to apologize for the delay. This has just not been my year when it comes to fanfiction and I'm doing my best. Hopefully, the next chapter will not take nearly as long to release.

Thirdly, I wanna thank you all for the immense support that this fic has gotten. Last chapter we hit 100 favorites and 300 reviews! Guys, that's insane and I can't begin to thank you enough for your continued interest in this story. You guys really do make it worth writing. Every single reader, every single follower, every single favoriter, every single reviewer, new or old, you all have inspired me to keep on going and I couldn't thank you all enough.
Extra special thank you goes to all the reviewers of the last chapter. I really appreciate all the love you guys gave it after such a long wait.

With that said, welcome to the end of the Intermission arc. After today's chapter, we will begin the next arc which honestly is one of the ones I've been waiting to start since the beginning of this story. But I'll tell you all what that is at the end.
For now, we go into a Classic Sonic chapter that is also one I have been waiting a very long time to write.
This is so exciting and I can't wait to tell you all what comes next so let's get into it!

Trials of War: A Sonic Forces Rewrite
Chapter 25-
Lost and Found

Professor Dillon Pickle stood before a podium in front of Spagonia University. He looked before a crowd of humans and Mobians alike, civilians and military, students and teachers, concerned people of the world. The school behind him was a little worse for wear after the battle a battle that had recently taken place involving the refugees from the Death Egg trying to drop off the innocent university students and teachers back in the town.

It wasn't long after the fighting had cleared that Topaz had approached him to speak to the townspeople to give encouragement and reassurance that everything was fine. Given his position in this community and the world at large as an astute university professor, of course he had to accept. Still, he found it funny that it was his own rebellious tongue that ended them up in that situation and it would be his own words that would hopefully inspire the hope to defend themselves from further attack.

"Good morning everyone, I can imagine that all of you must be quite surprised to see me."

A few laughs ran out of the audience from that.

Pickle simply smiled at that. "Honestly, I am surprised that I am here now. I expected the resistance to actually rescue us much sooner, but I suppose it cannot be helped in these times."

People were a lot more responsive to that one as they laughed even more.

But Professor Pickle stood unwavering. "No, I am serious. When my good friend Sonic returned to this world, he inspired a hope the likes of which the world hadn't seen since his defeat. They had taken back Sunset Heights, bested Metal Sonic and apparently while I was away, they had done so much more for the world as well. With Sonic the Hedgehog's return, The Resistance has been able to make great standing on the world to the point where that rotten old Eggman is quivering in his boots."

From that, he got some looks of disbelief from the crowd, murmurs let out at that, to which the old man laughed.

"No, it's true. While he may not show it, Eggman has been losing his ground ever since. Sunset Heights, The Mystic Jungle and others."

"What about Adabat!" Someone yelled from the crowd.

The Professor was unwavering in his response. "Eggman saw a territory that the resistance controlled and it was wiped off the map, yes. But if he sees fit to destroy a single locale in the world that the resistance has dominion over, what does that tell you?"

"That his power is too strong and we should give up all hope!" The same person responded.

But the professor smirked at him. "If we are to believe in the lies of the Empire, yes. But I urge you to look towards the truth. A single location occupied by the resistance was destroyed out of fear in an attempt to snuff out any hope that may have been left. And yet, hope prevails. The Resistance is still here and continue to fight for the Empire each and every day. Throughout the victories and losses, they continue to fight and as a society should continue support them in all ways that we can."

"We live in a trying time right now… The fate of the world hangs in the balance in a way that quite frankly, we really haven't seen since the Shattered Earth Crisis. But we need to put faith in our heroes that they will prevail. Let the passion and fire of Spagonia give them the strength they need to prevail!"

People began to cheer at that to which the Professor smiled at them.

When the cheering died down, he finally left them with one final word. "I trust that all of you will be able to keep the flame burning as I make my departure."

People began to murmur in confusion at this. The Professor was leaving? Where was he going?

"I have given it some thought and I believe that my place for the time being is not here in our wonderful country. For now, my place is with the resistance so I will be accompanying the kind men and women of GUN as they make they continue their journey to drop off more refugees and eventually return."

The people of Spagonia were upset by this, knowing that a major figure in their community would no longer be present in these trying times.

As Professor Pickle walked off the stage, Agent Topaz met up with him and frowned.

"You never said anything about coming with us."

"Well, then it's quite the surprise for everyone is it not? Do not be alarmed, I promise not to be a burden."

Topaz rolled her eyes at this as she and the professor walked away.

~Trials of War~

For a few moments, all Sonic knew was pain. His body ached; his head felt as if it had split open. Everything just hurt all over. All he wanted to do was just kinda lie there forever.

But he knew he couldn't stay. Slowly, but surely his eyes fluttered open as he started to come to bringing color and life back into his world as he returned to the living.

What he saw when he was finally able to open his eyes immediately sent his senses into overdrive.

The Tornado laid before him, having dug itself into the ground in such a way that left a long trail in the ground before arriving at the point of impact. The plane itself was thankfully mostly intact but the propellers were left in pieces along the ground around him. But what really worried him were his friends who were scattered across the ground, unconscious. Omega was in a heap, on the floor next to him; Blaze was laid out on the ground a little ways away, a scorch mark on the ground surrounding her; Tails was atop the plane, his body sprawled out over the controls.

Despite his weak body, Sonic was quick to his feet and ran towards the plane to check on his little big bro. "Tails! Tails!" Sonic cried out to him as he desperately tried to shake him awake. Tears brimmed in the corner of his eyes, seeing the young kit in this position.

But slowly, the fox had stirred, returning to the land of the living. Still dazed and confused though, he didn't see the face of a chubbier lighter hedgehog but instead that of his older brother. Slender body lined with royal blue fur, green eyes full of worry.

"Sonic!" He cried out and immediately pulled him into a hug, tears streaming down his face. "I thought I'd never see you again! After everything that happened back in Sunset, I thought you were dead and it was all my fault and without you, I couldn't do anything and-"

"Tails!" Sonic cried, his voice nearly cracking in pure desperation to snap his friend out of it. He was clearly delirious.

Sonic's voice came out a lot higher than he was used to.

He blinked in confusion. "Sonic?"

And when he opened his eyes again, standing before him was not his Sonic but instead the younger one from the past that he had come to know for so long. The one who wasn't quite who he needed him to be yet.

The younger Sonic still looked at him with tears brimming in the corner of his eyes.

Tails, saw this and immediately pushed away, mumbling halfhearted apologies to the hedgehog.

But Sonic still looked worriedly at him. "Are you okay, Tails?"

"I- I-" He was stammering now and the hedgehog continued to look at him with intense worry. He sighed, closed his eyes and looked away from him. "I'm fine, or well… I will be when we get back to looking for you."

Sonic was taken aback by this and frowned. "Tails-"

But the fox was quick to cut him off. "Where are we anyway?"

"It appears we are in some sort of volcanic area." Blaze spoke up.

Both turned to the direction of the voice and saw Blaze walking towards them, Omega in tow.

Sonic sighed in relief. "Glad you guys are okay."

"I refuse to be defeated by gravity." Omega declared, fist raised in triumph.

Both Sonic and Tails let out light chuckles at that as the two arrived towards the plane.

It was then that they took in their surroundings and true Blaze's word, they were in some sort of harsh volcanic environment. They stood atop dark patches of rock that rose out of pools of lava. There were all sorts of strange mechanical structures, no doubt created by the doctor, around as well, but they were abandoned as if they hadn't been touched in a long time. Along with all of that, more pieces of volcanic rock floated above them in spheres, tubes and other odd shapes.

Blaze frowned. "We do not have any strange places like this on my world."

Tails sighed. "We're in The Lost Hex."

"The Lost Hex? What's that?" Sonic asked.

Omega cut in. "The Lost Hex is a place once believed to be of legend before it was discovered by Doctor Eggman just last year. Home to a race of mythical beings called the Zeti, who have gone nearly extinct save for the currently active members known as Zavok, Zik, Zazz, Zeena, Zomom and Zor who call themselves the Deadly Six. The Lost Hex consists of six distinct locations, all suspended in the air above the ground in odd shapes and sizes."

"Huh, thanks for the little history lesson." Sonic gave him a thumbs up. "So we're out and alone on this Lost Hex place and our plane is trashed. Perfect."

"I can fix it." Tails said. "Just gimme a little bit of time."

"Lovely." Blaze nodded.

"Omega, can you assist me?"

"Affirmative."

"Great, we'll be back to finding Sonic in no time!"

At this, the younger hedgehog frowned once again. "Tails… Is that all you really care about?"

"Of course. Once we've found him, then everything will be right again. He'll be able to fix all our problems."

"You're telling me that after everything we've been through, putting Omega back online, saving the prisoners, seeing everything that Eggman has done to the world and all you care about is just finding me?"

Tails shook his head. "It's not that I don't care, it's just that we have a bigger priority in finding Sonic. I've told you before, we're not enough to face everything that's going on, but he is."

"Tails, there's so much we can be doing to help…" Sonic insisted.

"You're so much more important than that and I wish you'd understand that!"

Sonic shook his head. "I'm not that important!"

"Yes, you are!" Tails shot back. "You want to help so bad, and I really do understand that. It's you. But what you don't understand is that finding you is going to do so much more for that than we ever could by ourselves. But all you want to do is get into any fight you see with Eggman, saving prisoners, and all without looking at the bigger picture!"

"I am the one who's looking at the bigger picture." Sonic stated. "I see a world that's been burning and that we can take action in order to stop it and what are you doing?"

"Looking for what is obviously our best option." Tails reaffirmed. "But I wouldn't expect some dumb kid who hasn't experienced the world yet to understand that."

Sonic's eyes widened.

Blaze gasped.

Even Omega was slightly taken aback by what he had said.

Sonic just shook his head and turned away from him. "You know what, if that's what you think, then fine. I'm gonna go exploring."

Blaze glared at Tails one last time as he returned to his work before going after the young hedgehog. "I will accompany him."

With that, the two speedsters ran off, leaving Tails and Omega to their work.

~Trials of War~

As Sonic and Blaze left Omega and Tails to their work, Zor was peering out at them from behind some rocks.

He looked down at his rose and couldn't help but smile. "If there's one thing I don't love, then it's watching people be in pain and misery. And the thought of brothers falling out is so tantalizing, it's delicious…"

He looked down at the ground again. "And yet, they will never be able to compare to my own misery, what a bummer."

"Still… The boss is gonna wanna hear about these losers steppin' on our turf." Zor mused before leaping out into the distance without the notice of Tails or Omega.

~Trials of War~

Sonic and Blaze were off in the fields of fire and flame and for some time, they did nothing except for run.

Sonic with his legs, blurring into that of a figure eight and Blaze gliding gracefully along the ground, small flames licking at her feet as she traveled.

Sonic just poured all his focus into exploring a strange new land, admiring the strange blocky geography of The Lost Hex. He was surprised that such a thing could exist on his world, such strange shapes just floating through the air with supposed lizard like beings that lived there. He had seen strange in his time like vast casinos, floating citadels and even miniaturized planets. But this was definitely on the bizarre side. He wondered how his future self had reacted, coming here for the first time.

But the thought of his future made him furrow his brow. Was it really his future? Tails had no memory of the Phantom Ruby, the Hard Boiled Heavies or any of the strange things that he had encountered before getting here. Yet it was clear that everything leading up to the whole thing with the Time Eater a while back was clear in his memory.

Back during that whole ordeal, he had heard a lot about the events that he would face beforehand, and not once did they mention anything to do with the Phantom Ruby, no mention of Mirage Saloon, Press Garden or Studiopolis Zone. Heck, Tails didn't even remember Studiopolis when they had visited it. His older self had talked about bringing gods to their knees, victories across the globe and wiping the floor with Eggman at every turn. But he had never once mentioned or even hinted at his adventure after the Time Eater ordeal.

But the question was… why? Thinking about all of this made his head hurt. Heck, thinking about all of this made him think of Tails more than he wanted to at the moment.

To say that he was disappointed in the fox would be an understatement. Even after all this time, all the adventures they had had since they had started this journey, he was still obsessed with him. The older him- The other him. There was a great big war going on and a world in danger and all he cared about was Sonic. It boiled his blood to see the kid so dense and even now, after everything they'd done, how could he just-

"Sonic!"

Sonic was snapped out of his thoughts and back into the real world. He was shocked to see that in his traveling through Lava Mountain, he was headed straight for a ledge that would've sent him right into a pool of lava had Blaze not grabbed his arm before he could go over.

At that, the hedgehog's eyes had widened like saucers, his heart pounded and he had trouble breathing.

Blaze was quick to wrap the younger hedgehog into a hug at this. "It's okay, you're here. You are alright."

Sonic just shook his head, trying to calm his nerves as Blaze got him to sit down.

The two sat in silence for a few moments while the Hedgehog through his heavy breathing took to himself to process everything. Tears streamed down his face as the child took everything in, the war, the future of his world, the possibility that it may not even be his anymore, but most of all the fact that his younger brother had turned into someone that cared about him so much that he was willing to put all else aside for him and how… how he didn't want that.

Blaze just sat there with the young boy in her arms, rubbing circles in his back in an attempt to soothe him.

After several moments had passed; Sonic, with his shoulders slumped, rose to his feet. With shaky breath, he looked Blaze in the eyes and just asked her, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why would he be like this?" Sonic pleaded. "This isn't the Tails I know. My little bro would be scared in a world like this but would press on even if it was without me! The guy I met back in the whole Time Eater thing stood back, but he wasn't like this! My brother would never be this way, why is he acting like this?!"

Blaze looked down at the ground and shook her head. "It is not easy for him, everything that has occurred in the past six months…"

"Okay, but this?! You saw him, Blaze he wanted to leave those people to stay on the Death Egg! He wanted you to stay on the Death Egg!"

"I know…"

"So what is it then? I know it's hard for him, I couldn't imagine losing him in this way! But going back on literally everything I've ever taught him because of it! That's not the Tails I know! It's like he's somebody else!"

"People grieve in all sorts of different ways, Sonic."

"Well he doesn't have to grieve anymore. I'm here." Sonic crossed his arms and looked away. "The other me, he's around. He should be fighting the war, but he's- he's nothing but a coward."

Blaze pursed her lips. "I wouldn't go that far."

"I would." Sonic scoffed. "It's like after everything we've been through, everything we're supposed to have been through, he's learned nothing."

"Tails hasn't really had the most active role in your adventures as of late, often choosing to be tech support and wait by the sidelines as you go off to battle… Perhaps that could've contributed to this."

Sonic's head whipped at her at that. "He what…?"

She nodded. "At least, from what our friends have told me, Tails' has mostly decided to take a backseat to most adventures these days. You're usually the one that saves the world."

Sonic frowned at this, but then he thought about it. During the whole ordeal with the Time Eater, Tails hadn't really gone into the adventure with them, opting to stay in the White Space for the most part and figure things out. Back then, he hadn't thought much of it, but now… What had happened?

"How could the kid that singlehandedly saved a city from Doctor Eggman get like that?" Sonic asked. "He's a grown up now, he should be able to stand on his own two feet and fight, he's better than all of this!"

Blaze didn't say anything as the hedgehog continued.

"I just can't anyomore, Blaze. I'm tired of being strong for the both of us when someone doesn't even want to try…"

Blaze came over and wrapped him in a hug. "And you shouldn't have to be…"

The hedgehog let the tears fall again as he just let out his sorrows to the cat.

~Trials of War~

"Please pass the screwdriver." Tails told Omega.

The robot complied and ruffled through a toolbox before giving it to Tails.

"Tails…" The robot started, tentatively, his volume at as low of a setting as possible to try and sound more comforting.

But the fox simply ignored him, deeply enveloped in his tinkering.

"Tails?" He tried again, a little louder.

But the fox simply did not respond.

"Tails!" He tried again, this time shouting.

Tails responded this time with a deadpan. "Save it Omega, I know you're gonna try and tell me that I'm wrong, that I don't know what I'm doing or whatever and I don't really wanna hear it."

"It is clear that you have unresolved issues."

"The only unresolved issue I have is that we still haven't found Sonic." Tails stated matter of factly, as he stepped away from the plane to survey his work before moving on to one of the damaged wings. "Once that's done, then all my problems and everybody's problems will be solved."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, absolutely." Tails assured him, completely unwavering. "Now are you going to keep trying to try to evaluate mental health issues that I don't have or are you gonna help me fix my plane?"

Omega looked up at the fox as he looked down at him expectantly.

Omega shook his head and shrugged. "Very well then."

~Trials of War~

Zor arrived in Eggman's former laboratory on the Lost Hex. It was a massive sort of castle made entirely of machinery. Much like most of his bases, all sorts of images depicting Eggman's face were scattered around, but at this point most of them had been destroyed or defaced thanks to the new denizens of the castle.

Zik found his brothers, sister and former master in some sort of a training facility. No one knew why Eggman had it, but the Deadly Six rolled with it and used it to their greatest advantage.

In the center of the room were these poles suspended high up in the air which Zik, Zazz and Zeena were jumping on top of. Zik clearly was giving chase to the other two as they did their best to get away from him.

Zavok was in the corner of the room, working on his abs. But he had cast the weights aside and to Zor's shock he was lifting Zomom who was busy working on a sandwich.

"Seven thousand four-hundred ninety-two…" Zavok grunted. "Seven thousand four-hundred ninety-three…"

In his shock, Zik had taken notice of his former pupil's arrival and hopped down from where he was training.

Zor gasped in shock as Master Zik appeared in front of him and smacked him on the head with his cane. "Do not be too surprised young one, Zavok has clearly been working much harder on his training than the rest of you. His improvement is great while you have much to learn."

Zor nursed the wound on his head and groaned. "Yeah… Yeah… Gramps. I'll work harder."

"It is important that you all keep up for the coming trials. If we are to take our revenge on Eggman then we must be at peak physical strength."

Zazz and Zeena landed next to him as well, looking to him as well.

"That goes for all of you." Zik noted. "I do not expect any of you to dare reach his level, but you can pick up the slack."

The trio nodded at this and at that, Zavok and Zomom came to join them.

"Zor, what brings you back from your investigation? Did you discover the source of the sound?" Zavok asked.

Zor nodded. "Sure did, boss. And I think you're gonna love it."

"Oh?"

"Oh yeah." Zor nodded. Allow me to paint a picture."

"In like the wind and out like the sun,
an annoying nuisance this way comes.
But hark, he may not be alone.
For this one comes in many droves.
A fast footed hero, in a time not his own;
A depressed innovator with sins to atone;
A pile of scrap not all that impressive
And a purple cat whose flames are quite oppressive!"

The Deadly Six looked at one another in confusion as Zor continued to belt out more lines of poetry.

"It's a bird!" Zomom announced to which Zor stopped dead in his tracks and looked dumbfoundedly at his much larger brother.

Zazz and Zeena laughed at this while Zik simply shook his head in disappointment.

Zavok stepped up and cleared his throat, putting a large hand on his younger brother's back. "While we do appreciate your… uh… hobbies, brother, perhaps you could get to the point?"

"None of you people have any taste or class." Zor muttered to which Zavok snickered. But Zor continued. "Sonic is here, but he's turned into a total brat now."

At that, Zavok's eyes widened in shock. "What?!"

"Yeah, he's all young now and it's totally weird. He's what, 12? And he's got Tails, GUN's overcooked calculator and that fire princess with him."

Zik frowned. "So, the hedgehog has dared to trespass onto our land yet again... We'll have to show him our full strength."

Zomom looked confusedly at them. "But I thought we were goin' for Eggman?"

Zavok stepped up. "Eggman is our top priority. But Sonic… If what you are saying is true, Zor then that must mean he won't be at his full strength. Fate has blessed us with a golden opportunity and I refuse to take it for granted."

"As long as I get to pound his sorry blue butt, then I'm in!" Zazz grinned mischievously, licking his lips at the thought of destroying his foe.

Zeena smirked. "It definitely is better than training in here all day, I could use some fresh meat."

Zavok turned to Zor yet again. "Brother, what else must we know before going to face them?"

"They got into this huge blowout and split up. Sonic and Blaze went out into Lava Mountain for a run to blow off steam while Tails and Omega stayed back to fix their plane. That fox is totally depressed right now and it looks like it put a strain in their relationship. His fear, his pain, it was all so delicious. I could feel it all from where I was hiding and ah… If I didn't have to come back to you, I would've fed on it myself."

"I see, then you will get your wish to feast upon him, my brother. Take Zomom and Zeena with you. Master, Zazz and I will go to face Sonic." Zavok announced.

"With pleasure!" Zor gleamed as he ran out of the room, the others quick to follow after him.

Zavok grinned at this. This would be an excellent test of his growing power.

~Trials of War~

After some time, Sonic had finally began to calm down and was now sitting on the corner of a rock with Blaze, watching the lava below. It was such a strange thing, watching it bubble and sputter as if it was ready to spring out at them at any moment and at the same time flow slowly down the way like water in a babbling book. To see something so clam and yet so potentially dangerous intrigued the hedgehog allowing him to take his mind off things.

"My… my isn't this a turn of events?" A deep voice snarled.

Sonic and Blaze jumped at this, turning around to see none other than Zavok, Zazz and Zik standing before them atop a hill.

"The mighty Sonic the Hedgehog reduced to a child in tears?" Zavok groaned. "How unbecoming of someone of your reputation."

Sonic jumped to his feet, getting into a battle stance before dropping his fists in confusion. "Wait, hold up. Who are you? There are so many colorful losers in this future and I don't think I've met you multicolored clowns before."

"Hey! You best not be disrespectin' the boss like that!" Zazz growled.

Zik nodded. "Agreed. Such insolence must be punished, even for a young one such as yourself."

Blaze smirked as she spread her palms apart, flames appearing at her sides. "And I suppose you three are the ones who will be doing the punishing?"

"But of course." Zavok smirked back, crossing his arms and trying to look larger than life. "Children such as yourselves deserve discipline and I will be more than happy to deliver it."

"Listen, man. I've had more than enough for one day. So how about instead of just actually having me kick your butt, we just say I did and save us both the trouble?"

Zavok let out a deathly monster roar at that, flame spewing from his maw that went straight for the hedgehog. Both he and Blaze were quick to dive out of the way at that.

"Alright, fighting it is."

With that, the three Zeti leapt into battle.

~Trials of War~

Tails looked at his handiwork and dusted off the dirt and grime from his hands as he gave a look of satisfaction. "Not too shabby!"

"Objective complete!"

The Tornado was back in working condition and would allow them to fly out of The Lost Hex. Now all that was left for them was for Sonic and Blaze to return and they could get going.

Unfortunately for them, fate had other plans.

"Not a bad toy, but if you're asking me, I'd say that it looks awfully lame." A voice drawled out.

Omega whipped around at that, his arm already formed into a gatling gun and ready to fire while Tails just let out a low sigh and turned around.

Standing atop a hill were Zeena, Zomom and Zor. Zor was the one at the head of the group and had called them out.

"Vacate the premises immediately or be destroyed!" Omega announced.

But Tails just looked at the three of them and sighed. "I was wondering if any of you creeps would rear your ugly heads at some point. Do you guys mind, I got a flight to catch and literally anybody else I would wanna deal with right now."

Zeena smirked. "That's a shame because you were just the brat we were looking for."

"We're gonna gobble you up cuz the boss said so." Zomom announced.

"Yeah, and I called first dibs on decimating you first." Zor licked his lips. "You're radiating so much negative energy, it's beautiful..."

Omega took a step in front of Tails and stood over him protectively. "You will do no such thing!"

Tails raised his arm cannon. "I don't have time for any of this but if you guys want a fight then you'll get it."

And like that, the trio leapt out towards them.

~Trials of War~

Blaze the Cat hadn't expected to get into a one on one battle so quickly. But the Zeti that had called itself Zazz was insistent to engage her in combat.

"I can't wait to tear you to shreds!"

Blaze couldn't help but hold back a laugh. "That is a very bold statement. Tell me, do you honestly believe that you have what it takes when you do not even have the strength to stand up straight?"

Zazz growled. "Pretty words for someone within slashin' distance. But talk ain't gonna do you nothin."

With that, Zazz leapt towards her but the princess was quick to boost out of the way and fire a burst of flame at him that knocked him back.

Zazz growled at this as he stumbled forward. Blaze took the opportunity to race up to him, flames covering her fists as she was ready to deliver an uppercut to his jaw that was sure to knock his teeth in.

But before that, he let out a high whistle that caused his giant moon mech to appear behind her and fire a set of stars to her own back.

Zazz was quick to catch her and grinned down at her, licking his lips and opening his maw to snack on her.

But Blaze was quick to send out a burst of flame from her body, forcing the Zeti to jump away and drop her in the process.

Blaze let out a light yelp as she hit the ground hard but was quick to get back on her feet just in time to see Zazz who was now on top of the moon mech fire stars at her.

She was quick though, hopping over one, twirling around another and finally firing a burst of flame at a last one that caused a small explosion to ring out as they impacted one another.

Zazz was confused at this, trying to see what had happened before the cat came through the fog, flame licking at her feet as she sent a roundhouse directly into his cheek. He fell off the machine and landed against the hard volcanic rock.

Blaze landed from this kick in a crouch and smirked before she zoomed off heading directly towards the Zeti.

Once again though, the star mech was quick to hover in front of him, causing her to run into that instead.

Upon impact it exploded in a fiery explosion, knocking Blaze back and having her land harshly on the ground.

Zazz on the other hand was furious. "My robot!" He cried out.

He glared at the cat who was just now rising to her feet.

"Do you know how long it takes to build one of those things?"

Blaze raised an eyeridge at him. "You built that?"

"No, I stole a bunch from that rotten Eggman before he left!"

Blaze nodded at that. "I see. Well, if you like stealing things how about I deliver something to you for free, just this once?"

"Oh, and what's that?"

Blazes fists ignited with flame as she raced towards him. Zazz didn't have time to react as she immediately delivered a flaming uppercut to his chin, knocking him up into the air and down to the ground.

"A flaming hot knuckle Sandwich." She smirked.

Zazz tried to get up from the ground only to pass out.

She chuckled at this. "Oh! Marine would have loved that one! I should tell her when I return to the Sol Dimension."

~Trials of War~

Like Sonic and Blaze, Tails and Omega had also split off into their own battles.

E123 Omega was standing between Zomom and Zeena who were both all smiles as they glared him down.

Zeena flipped her hair. "Is this even really a fight? You do know how our powers work, don't you?"

"Ha! This bucket of bolts is worse than a bucket of fried chicken. Mmmmmm I could go for that right now."

"Do you ever think about anything other than food, Zomom?"

"Sometimes I think about sleep."

Zeena just groaned.

Omega who at first had his weapons out now just stared between the two. "Attention."

The two turned towards the robot and looked at him. "What?"

"Are we not engaging in battle?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're getting to that." Zeena rolled her eyes. "Just gimme a second to chew out this idiot."

"Chewing is fun. Like on sandwiches or on roast beef or, or, ooooo ooooo bubblegum!"

"See, Zomom that's your problem. You keep-"

But Omega didn't give her a chance to finish, firing off a rocket at each of them.

Zeena was thrown into the air at this and knocked into one of the many rocks around them.

Zomom on the other hand was able to tank it and rushed at him. "Hey, that wasn't very nice!"

Omega was surprised at this, quickly switching his arm to its machine gun form and firing off several rounds at the overweight Zeti. Unfortunately for him, the rounds bounced harmlessly off his stomach, leaving Zomom to ram into him and knock him into a wall.

Zomom gave a triumphant pat to his stomach at this and laughed.

"This aggression will not be taken lightly!" Omega declared as he peeled himself from the wall and went to face the Zeti again.

Omega switched to bursts of energy and this seemed to do the trick as Zomom began to recoil in pain from the blasts.

Omega took to this and poured on the heat, making it where the Zeti couldn't take anymore, and leapt away from the battlefield. Omega was quick to pursue him only to stop when a large rock slammed into him.

Omega turned in the direction of the blow to see none other than a disheveled Zeena standing next to a pile of boulders. "First of all, I really hate explosions. Do you know how much they mess with my hair?"

Omega stared blankly at her, calculating what would be the best response. He'd dealt with similar when it came to Rouge but there was something a lot less genuine about Zeena. "No…?"

"A lot!" She whined. "Now, I'm gonna make you pay for that!"

She thrust another rock at him, but this time Omega could react with another rocket that caused it to explode on impact as he directed her attention towards her.

She rolled rock after rock at him, but to no avail as he just kept firing more and more rockets at them before he was able to close the gap with her.

Zeena hissed at him before preparing another rocket to fire at her, pointblank.

Unfortunately for him, he wasn't expecting Zomom to come in with a spinning whirlwind attack that knocked him far away from her.

Zeena scoffed. "Took you long enough."

"Hey, I was scared!" Zomom groaned.

The female Zeti rolled her eyes at this. "Whatever. Now that he's down let's finally put an end to this."

The two turned to Omega who shakily rose to his feet yet again.

"I will not be defeated!"

"Yeah, you will." Zeena snickered. "You think you're all high and mighty just cuz you're some sort of fancy machine that Eggman built. But that's the thing, buddy. You're just a machine."

She raised her hands towards him, calling upon her abilities to control machines as Zomom did the same.

Omega rose to his feet, staring blankly at them. "Yes, master."

"Good, now that's more like it." Zeena grinned as she and Zomom walked towards him.

Zeena walked around him and ran a clawed hand over his fitting. "Not so high and mighty now, are you?"

Zomom joined her and laughed at Omega as he lightly poked at him a few times.

Suddenly Omega's body opened, causing the two to jump back in surprise. But it was too late as twin rockets fired at them at pointblank range.

The resulting explosion sent both flying back in a heap. Zeena was the first to land roughly on the volcanic ground and dazedly prepared to go after Omega before ultimately being crushed by Zomom.

"Fools! This unit is the world's most powerful robot and a high-ranking instrument of destruction for GUN! Of course, I would be outfitted with preventative measures against any and all attempts at compromise!"

The two simply groaned in response as they passed out on the ground.

~Trials of War~

Miles Tails Prower meant it when he didn't want to deal with the Zeti. Too bad Zor didn't really care about that like he didn't care about most things.

But right now? Zor was having the time of his life as the fox grew more and more frustrated with him.

Currently, Tails was pivoting around trying his hardest to zap the Zeti with his arm cannon as he appeared in and out of existence in puffs of smoke. Zor could only laugh in amusement at all of this.

"Hold still, you little creep!" Tails yelled.

Zor disappeared into another puff of smoke and reappeared a few feet away where he lazily leaned against a rock. Admiring one his pale blue roses, he looked at the fox again. "And why would I do that? Tiring you out is only half the fun."

Tails took the opportunity to fire his laser at him.

Zor laughed as he threw his rose away before leaping up into the air. He soared over the laser and right into the fox, tackling him to the ground.

The Zeti leaned into him and hissed. "I-I- can't wait to gobble you up and soak in all those bad vibes you got going on…"

Tails aimed his cannon up at him and fired again. Zor was sent flying through the air and landed roughly on the ground.

"Hey, not cool, man! I just wanna eat you."

Tails fired another laser at the Zeti but he disappeared in another puff of smoke.

"I mean, I don't mean to be just like Zomom but the thought of you and everything going on is just too great."

Tails spun around and fired again and he disappeared into yet another puff of smoke.

"And that depression, that anguish. It's written all over your face, isn't it?"

Another shot and another puff of smoke.

"You've been a pretty bad boy, haven't you, Tails? Your fear, your pain, it's almost enough not to eat you and just watch in admiration. But ugh… we can't help but fall to our natural urges, can we?"

Tails let out a roar at that one, firing again and he disappeared yet again.

"But of course, that's all you can do at this point. Hurt people so that you can feel better about yourself, right?"

"Shut up!"

Zor laughed and disappeared yet again.

"When you were yelling at the little guy, how good did it feel when you hurt him?"

Tails threw aside his arm cannon and lunged at Zor. The Zeti yelped at this and quickly disappeared into another puff of smoke but Tails was faster, grabbing him by the arms and delivering a nasty headbutt to his skull. Zor let out a cry of pain at this as he fell to the ground below him. Tails was quick to join him on the floor and slugged him across the face.

"Don't talk about me like that!" Tails shouted. "You don't know me!"

Zor, despite the pain looked up at him and laughed. "Maybe not… But I know despair and its spread all over his face. You think that you can get help by pushing people away, stewing in your self-pity. I love it! Even if I don't get to eat you, it won't be long until you're just like me and anybody who gets to live in that misery is someone just… like… me."

Tails let out a cry of pain and anguish and slugged Zor right in the face, knocking him out.

Tails stood over him, heavily panting as he allowed the Zeti's words to sink in.

~Trials of War~

Of all the weirdos in the future that he had fought, he never expected to fight a bunch of multicolored lizards.

But that's what he was doing now as he zipped around the battlefield while this Zavok guy attempted to chase after him, hurling off deadly balls of fire at him from his maw while the old guy hung around on his back.

"Now, now, Zavok. When dealing with a foe with superior speed, it is always best to stand your ground. You are the mighty oak, unmoving despite the tests of time."

Zavok nodded in understanding and stopped firing balls of fire before gesturing the hedgehog to come face him.

"Heh, tired already?" Sonic snarked. "Come on tough guy, we can go another few laps!"

But Zavok stood proud and tall to which the hedgehog obliged and dropdashed right into him.

Zavok held firm and the hedgehog harmlessly bounced off him as if nothing had happened to the Zeti.

"Come now, is that all you have?" Zavok mocked the smaller hedgehog.

Sonic growled in response and crouched into a larger spindash, charging it for a few moments before letting loose and nailing the Zeti once more.

This one was able to cause him to skid backwards a little bit but remain unharmed.

Sonic landed once again and looked shocked. "Oh, come on!"

He jumped into the air and began to home in on him multiple times, but with little to no effect.

Unfortunately for him, during his homing attacks, Zavok snatched him out of the air and chucked him into a nearby rock.

Zavok laughed. "Please. I take it that you are not in your prime, but surely there is more you have to offer."

Sonic looked dazedly at this. "Yeah… Well the other guy said the exact same…"

Zavok and Zik looked at one another at this, smiling in amusement.

"May I?" Zik asked.

Zavok bowed. "But of course, master."

Zik nodded at this and jumped off Zavok's shoulder down to where the blue blur was looking a little confused.

Zik swiped at him with his staff, easily knocking him off his feet before proceeding to swat at him multiple times.

Sonic groaned, but it also allowed him to regain his bearings. With the old man so close, he was quick to grab the cane away from him before proceeding to unleash a spindash on him which he was unable to leap away from in time.

Zik was thrown back into Zavok who gasped. "Master!"

Zavok glared at the Hedgehog to which he got to his feet and smirked at him.

But to his surprise, Zavok responded by producing the red Chaos Emerald and taking in its power, causing his whole body to be surrounded in an angry red glow.

"What?! The Chaos Emerald?!"

Zavok let out a monster roar before charging like a bull towards the hedgehog to which he quickly jumped out of the way.

Unfortunately for him, Zavok wasn't done and just reared back around and charged at him again.

This time, Sonic tried to meet him, calling upon the power of his boost to try to bulldoze him down. It was far too weak though, as he was tossed aside by the Zeti's rampage.

Sonic groaned as he rose to his feet, knowing that his older counterpart probably would've been able to tank that. He had a lot of strength to earn.

But he was ripped out of his thoughts when long streams of fire came at him to which he had to quickly spindash underneath them and find cover behind a rock.

Zavok saw this and quickly took to charging at him again.

Sonic ran away and Zavok charged into the rock that he had been hiding behind. When Zavok impacted the rock, it was able to cause the energy to fluctuate and for him to nearly drop the emerald.

Sonic saw this and a mischievous grin crossed his face as he knew exactly what to do about the Zeti.

Calling upon the power of the Emerald again, Zavok went charging towards Sonic to which the hedgehog ran and directed him towards another rock.

"Hold still, you insolent little-"

Sonic just laughed at him. "You seeing red now big guy, come on, toro! Toro!"

Zavok grinded his teeth together in fury before raising the emerald in the air again, taking on its full power and charging yet again.

This time, Sonic lead him towards a rock near the edge of the arena, where lava awaited him below.

Zavok smacked right into the rock again, this time dazed and confused as he stumbled about.

Sonic was quick to join him even going so far as to pretend to look around confusedly and wave his hand in front of Zavok's face but all the Zeti could see were stars.

"I'll take that!" Sonic announced as he snagged the emerald from Zavok's hand.

"I- what?"

"And you'll be taking a dip!" With a mighty kick, Sonic sent Zavok tumbling off the cliff and down into the lava below.

Sonic let out a sigh of relief at this, knowing that it was finally over and he was free of the Zeti.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he looked to Blaze who had just finished her fight with Zazz and they agreed to return to the Tornado.

~Trials of War~

Tails let out a sigh of relief as he and Omega returned to the Tornado, looking a little battered after their fights but overall fine.

Omega couldn't help but look at the fox as he walked with him. The fox's breath was short and ragged as if he had just gotten finished running a marathon and a scowl was still plastered across his face.

"Tails, I-"

"Save it, Omega. I'm fine."

Omega took a moment to process this and decided to allow it. "Very well then."

The two walked on in silence and arrived at the Tornado, putting on the finishing touches before starting up the engine as it soon came to life. Running his hand along the purring engine, Tails couldn't help but smile.

It was at that moment that Blaze and Sonic had returned.

"Ah, excellent. I see you've gotten our aircraft repaired." Blaze announced.

"Affirmative. All repairs have been complete." Omega confirmed.

Tails nodded. "Yep, everything's up and running again. We can get out of here."

"Glad things are good on your end." Sonic let out a tentative smile at his brother. "We ran into some trouble with those yeti guys you were talking about, Omega."

"That's Zeti, Sonic." Tails pointed at him, to which the hedgehog crossed his arms and looked away. Tails continued though. "I'm not surprised that you beat them, you'll be able to take them on no problem in your future."

Something about that had gotten to Sonic as he stopped looking away from Tails and looked him dead in the eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, they cause a little trouble, but it's nothing you can't handle."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it, Tails. Are you sure that this is my future?"

Tails waved him off dejectedly. "Of course. I'm sure that it's a lot to take in, but you'll see that this is what you'll have to go through one day."

"Right." Sonic nodded. "Just like how you went through the whole thing with the Phantom Ruby, the Hardboiled Heavies and all of the crazy dimensional stuff that Eggman was up to then right?"

Tails' blood ran cold at that as the hedgehog looked at him expectantly.

Omega and Blaze saw this and did their best to stay silent so that the brothers could continue.

"O-of course, I remember! The Hardboiled Heavies, Studiopolis, Emerald Hill and all that crazy stuff. What a weird adventure that was, am I right?" He let out an awkward chuckle at that.

"Emerald Hill? I'm pretty sure that adventure started in Green Hill, Tails. Or if you wanna get technical then back on Angel Island."

Tails let out a curse under his breath but was quick to cover himself. "Same difference."

"No, it's not. Tails, stop lying about this! I know that you don't remember. And if you don't remember then that means it probably didn't happen for you!"

"Yes, it did! We go and have that adventure and then you and I go on all sorts of other adventures together after that. Just like we always have and just like we always will!"

"No, we don't!" Sonic snapped back. "I wasn't sure about it before, but I know for sure now and that probably means that I'm not him either! Or… I don't know, maybe I was before all the crazy stuff happened with the Time Eater but I think that I'm different now somehow! Things have changed, Tails!"

"I- I- we don't have time for this. We have to keep searching for you so that we can really make a difference."

Sonic just let out a almost sad smile as he shook his head. "That's just it, Tails. He can't save you from what you've got going on. I know you think that he will, and I get that you miss him. You've been through a lot, I get that."

"No, you don't you don't understand what I've been through!"

"Yes. I do, Tails. And I'm tired of you treating me like a kid, when you're the one who's acting more like one!"

"Because I'm the grown up here!"

"Then act like it!" Sonic shouted. "You're out here acting like some sort of lost puppy when I know you're stronger than that!"

Tails looked away from him. "No… I'm not."

"Yes, you are!" Sonic insisted. "When we went down to Station Square, people called you a hero! They went and told me about how you had saved them when I couldn't and- Chaos, man! I was so damn proud of you for that! I had hoped that my Tails would become even half as brave as that!"

Tails looked back at him, surprised that he had even mentioned that.

"But y'know what? That Tails isn't the same person I've been seeing while we've been running around this great big crazy world, looking for me, of all people, when we could be fighting this great big war and really sticking it to Eggman. I don't know what's wrong with you, but you're not cut out for this. Go home, Tails. I'm sure when the war is over the other me will come for you and you can find exactly what you're looking for."

Sonic began to walk away from him, to which all three of them looked shocked. "I'm going to go and find some trouble. Blaze, Omega, you two can come too. I could use the company."

Without question the two began to follow him, leaving Tails behind.

The fox was left in his thoughts, taking in the words of his brother. To say that they had cut deep would've been an understatement. His chest felt heavy, as if his heart had been replaced with a bag of bricks, his entire world had been shattered. Ever since he heard that Sonic was alive, finding him had been his only goal in his life. Sonic was here, his brother was here, it would make everything better. And yet, that obsession, that need had only been leading him astray. He wanted so badly for Sonic to be there for him and to help him. But he realized that he needed to fight this battle for himself. But he was afraid, he was damaged, he was scarred and now, he was all alone.

With tears streaming down his face, he got up to his feet and ran after the younger hedgehog, reaching out for him. "Sonic, wait!"

And it was seeing his outstretched hand in Sonic's shadow that he flashed back to a younger child who had been battered and beaten by bullies for being different but was chasing after the one person who had defended him.

He- he wasn't a child. Or at least, he wasn't the same eight-year-old kid who needed to be protected anymore. He had grown.

And in that growth, he had also begun to take a step back to allow Sonic to protect him. He sat on the sidelines, he did nothing. And look at him now? Completely reliant on Sonic only for that to make him end up alone.

Tails didn't want to be alone.

Tails didn't want to be weak.

Tails wanted to be strong.

He wanted be just like his broth-

No. He wanted to be himself.

He wanted to fly higher than all the rest so that he could reach the heavens.

Tails needed to believe in himself.

Sonic stopped and looked at the fox expectantly as he ran up to him and wrapped him into a tight hug.

"S-S-Ssssssonic… Y-yo-you're right… I've been a terrible friend… I- I- I've been so scared to fight and I just didn't know what to do, I- I-"

"It's okay, bud." Sonic returned the hug and smiled. "I'm here for you… But you gotta put your chin up and stand on your own two feet."

Tails nodded, stepping away from him and doing his best to give him a smile to which the hedgehog grinned back.

"And you're right, Sonic… I've had the same theory for a long time but didn't want to admit it. You're not my Sonic anymore."

Sonic was a bit surprised to hear that.

"My guess is that the Time Eater ordeal split the timeline." The fox incurred, through his sniffles. "Had you not gotten involved with that adventure, then it's likely that things would've been the same for you and you would've grown up to be my Sonic. But you're different now… You've already had an adventure I've never even heard of, gone places that I didn't know about."

Tails' lips curled up into a rather pained smile as a bittersweet notion came to mind. "You're already growing up so fast without me."

"I've got my little buddy by my side." Sonic insisted. "And I promise I won't ever leave him behind."

"Good."

The two hugged it out to which Blaze and Omega glanced at one another, happy to see that the brothers had resolved their issues.

After some time, Sonic and Tails broke from their embrace and looked to Blaze and Omega.

Sonic clapped his hands and looked over the group. "It looks like my future really is in my hands now and that's great and all, but before I can think of doing any about that, I gotta see what I can do to save this one. So are you all with me?"

"Without question!"

"Here, here!"

"Alright then." Sonic looked up at the sky.

Tails stepped up with him. "Let's see what kind of trouble we can cause for Eggman!"

Together, the quartet got onto the Tornado and took off to the skies off to see what challenges the world may throw at them.

Tails has been lost and found.
We are officially done with the intermission arc, folks and I am so happy to be done. It's been a long time coming but we're finally moving forward with this story.
This chapter, oh man, this chapter has been my plan for Tails and Classic Sonic from the very start.
For Tails, I really needed to break him down before building him back up. I thought that with everything that has happened and the plot they set up for him in the original game of him having "Just lost it." I thought that was an interesting path for him to have taken. And what better way to show that than with the arc I've set up for him now?
All of that brings me to Classic Sonic and why I kept him. I've been saying from the beginning that pairing Tails up with Classic Sonic was actually an incredibly good idea that they didn't deliver on. From the start, I wanted to show this dynamic of Sonic facing a Tails who was technically older than him but also very lost in his ways. Learning about his exploits over the years like Station Square, which finally came back around in the end here. This scene alone is why I decided to have Classic Sonic here, why I had him talk, why we went through everything that we did. Everything for these characters was building up to this moment and you have no idea how satisfied I am to finally be writing it.
But hey, why am I telling you guys all of this stuff? Wasn't I supposed to talk about what the next arc is?
Well, folks I think it's pretty simple.
Welcome to the Reunion arc.
More on that next time, when we return to the others in a Modern chapter but first let's get to the Review Replies.

TGN:
Thanks for the read man, I definitely know being super busy and I'm glad you can make time for me and my work. Still gotta review yours now that I think about it haha.
As for your review, Amy as a character is super important to me. I feel it's crucial to maintain that yeah, she is still in love with him. But in my universe, time has passed, and she's grown a lot. I wanted to give insight into how that relationship has changed because of that, while also addressing how I feel about her as a character.
I really appreciate the kind words, man.

NexS0me:
The only one who remembers 06 is Silver. Some may have inklings and thoughts towards it but will never make the connection. For example, if Elise were to meet Sonic in person, he'd feel very familiar to her and vice versa.
The movie that came out this year.

TheLostEternity:
Haha, I'm glad you're so excited. Thanks for the support! And I hope you are staying safe as well.

Animation Adventures:
Thanks!
Coming up with magic for the people of Soleanna was an idea that I'm glad a lot of people are enjoying. Like I said, the whole thing of "Wait a minute, the festival of the flame still happens so how can we work with that…?" started the idea.
Gotta find a nice place for that Chris cameo just for you.

Guest 3:
It's funny, because promotional material actually stated that the world had turned to Silver and Espio to take Sonic's place and I thought that was honestly a cool concept that they never did much with. Honestly, there's more I could do with it, but I'm happy to slip it in with moments I can.
Had to make the Knuckles & Chaotix reference. As for Charmy, everybody's gotta hurt sometimes and seeing a member of your surrogate family go down like that will do it for you.
Amy and her development was super important and I'm so glad that most of you like what I did with her. She's not the same twelve year old girl, she's a teen now who's thought a lot about things and is maturing and changing as we speak.
Shadow is a fun case and he's not a double agent. It's gonna be fun seeing where I go with him and we get closer to that reveal every day.

Guest 5:
That was most definitely an ATLA reference and I'm glad you noticed.

The Sensational SpiderDom321:
Espio got his time to shine with this battle and even though he lost, it was fun doing him some justice. Fierce protector and just straight up awesome dude. He deserves more love.
Everybody's asking me about Shadow, haha. In due time.
Infinite is a fun case into what I can and cannot write for him. All of his abilities are specifically chosen and if I want to add something new it's like "Okay, does this work with the lore that I have set up for Infinite and how he works within my canon?" Sometimes, the answer is no and I gotta tweak the things he does to make it work. So that's a big reason why it was tough. But another one was just making it as fun and engaging as possible while still hardcore and going heavy as possible. Everything's a balance and I'm glad that it came off well.
Tangle was a lot of fun and I look forward to more Elise when we eventually get back to her.
I'm always happy to help man, and thanks again for yours too.
Thanks for the continued support!

SonicDash:
You make a good point there. My personal take is that while it's true he doesn't want to lose them there's also a balance in where they don't want to lose him either. She does understand that he's their hero and has gotta do the hard stuff, but a big thing about Forces, Fist Bump, things like that is the idea that "I can't do this alone, even though I am strong…"
As for your Chaos and the Echidna Tribe question, it will be answered in the future. I haven't forgotten.

Guest 6:
My version of Starline is a massive simp for Eggman. Lol.

Guest 7:
Sonic doesn't like Amy, that was the point. We're not doing Sonamy romance, that's not really the point of this fic. I addressed what people were asking me about, and while I do know it's not what shippers wanted it's what I'm going with and standing by.
Sorry, but this isn't the place to look for Sonamy unless you want my wholesome friendship content.

Guest 8:
I've had ideas for Tom and Maddie, but mostly Tom, but nothing concrete.
I actually know what I wanna do with Agent Stone though, but that probably won't be within this story. Make of it what you will.

Guest 9:
Sonic's admiration for Amy in that scene is not romantic.

Guest 10:
I'm so glad people love the Betas. Expect quite a bit of them in the near future.

Guest 11:
Oh, it's very sad. That was the point. Bittersweet stuff in scenes like that are what I live for.

Guest 12 & 17:
In due time.

Guest 13 & 20:
I really do need to go over and scrub that chapter at some point. While one of my stronger ones from a plot perspective, definitely weaker from a writing perspective and that's not fair to you guys.

Guest 14:
Neat idea, but my plan for Shadow is set in stone and I'm not changing it. I know I'm gonna get mixed responses but I'll cross that bridge and explain myself in Episode Shadow.

Mythfiction:
Thank you!
Chaos Emeralds are super important, especially for a story like this.

SilverNova:
Balancing human and machine like characteristics for Omega is one of my favorite parts of the Classic Arc. I'm glad you enjoy him so much.
Longbois gotta be used somehow. And how do you feel about Tails now after this chapter?
Blaze not being in Forces was criminal and I had to correct that.
Lol. Commander Tower is not Chuck. He's Tower from Shadow and the IDW comics.
Actually, Sonic and co. have four emeralds now, the remaining three are with Shadow and two other undisclosed locations I haven't mentioned yet. You'll see later on.

Guest 15:
Elise is definitely a little bit of a snob, but it's more than that as well.
She's someone who had to grow up really fast and lead a kingdom because of that. She's a teenager and has to do a lot of stuff that most of wouldn't dream of. So I can accept her being as apprehensive as she is. But yeah, she is a little bit of a jerk.
My idea with her was to make her antagonistic in a sense but understandable as well.

Guest 18:
Lmfao. Yes, that was in fact a reference to Eggman pissing on the moon. I honestly forgot I wrote that line until you reminded me. Haha. I was like "Wait, what is this dude talking about?" and then looked through and was like "Oh yeah, that line." Haha.

Guest 19:
I really should finish and release Episode Silver, shouldn't I? I have a whole backstory for Silver and I've started writing it just gotta finish and release it.
But yes, Silver has in fact visited other timelines and realities.

Guests 1, 2, 4, 16, 19, tekina fiction:
Thanks!

That's all for this time folks, once again see you next time for the first chapter of the Reunion Arc.