Gnat1: I'm back, guys! I hope your all ready for another chapter! This
one will be shorter than the others, as it is kinda preparing for the
next one. I decided that I'm going to do chapters like these in
between each mission the OCs do. It's kinda going to be a "Let's just
hang out around the base" type of chapter, so bear with me!

Hey, Thunder, come answer the reviews!

Thunder: Oh, okay! *rushes over to type*

HOLY CROW! That's a lot of reviews!

Gnat1: Just do your job...

Thunder: Yeah yeah, I know.

gamer097, Glad you liked it! If you'd like to see some solo music, we
might be able to work sumthin' out (although I can't guarantee it will
happen right away). Hmm... I've been thinking if maybe Gnat could
throw in some music by good ol' Rise Against (hint hint wink wink
nudge nudge).

TatlTails, Sweet! I think we'll be able to get Bangs' music powers in
the mix. We just may not be able to do it all the time though, but
most definitely will for battle scenes :)

Also, that intro-ish bit in the last chapter was just a joke, paying
homage to the Sonic comics (if you look at the beginning of a random
one of those comics, you should find a little intro thing similar to
the one Gnat made).

Anywayz, glad you enjoyed it!

Duskzilla, Wait, there's a cyborg Nazo? Huh, I never knew that. Also,
I can confirm that Nazo will be in it! Yayz! Oh, and thanks for
sendin' in songs!

Jac Bandit, Hey, you changed your username! No worries, you're still epic XD

Yeah, making this fanfic feel like the comics was kinda Gnat's goal
when he first came up with it, so he was glad to see you noticed!

Werehog20, Yeah, Bedwyr! What were you thinking? Eh, that crazy
turtle... Welp, he'll get some rest, along with the others, and as
always, thanks for enjoying the chapter!

Nick, ATTA BOY, WHIRL! SHOW 'EM WHO'S BOSS! Heheh, I can assure that
there's going to be some dramatic transformation and inhibitor ring
removal scenes for a few of the characters, so we'll be seeing Dark
Whirl! And thanks for sending songs!

TatlTails, Hello again! I probably won't change the werehog scene
from Monster, seeing as how that's the one Duskzilla asked for it. We
may use it for the dark forms as well, but we'll squeeze Animal I Have
Become in somewhere! After all, there's probably going to be a few
dramatic scenes, so why not?

Kaitlyn Thorne, That's no problemo! It always stinks when the
internet is down, so I feel your pain. Glad to see you enjoyed the
chapters!

Mk, Imma done now.

Gnat1: Oh, okay.

Disclaimer: Own nothing, HOORAY! (not). Now that this long A/N is done
with, let's rev up the chapter!

Time: 2:48 PM

Location: Somewhere outside of Mystic Ruins.

"Snooping as usual, I see."

[Music Playing: Theme of , from Sonic Adventure]

Both Sonic and Tails whirled around to face Robotnick.

"Oh, hey Eggy. It's been awhile, huh?" Sonic asked calmly.

"Silence!" Robotnick shouted at the hedgehog. "I am Dr. Robotnick, the
greatest genius in ALL of the world!"

"Yeah yeah yeah, we've heard that like a million times now, Eggman."
Tails replied, rolling his eyes.

"THEN WHY DO YOU KEEP CALLING ME THAT?" Robotnick was furious now,
and was angrily shouting at them, louder than before.

"Well, would you prefer something else?" Sonic asked, a smirk
appearing on his face. "How 'bout Baldy McNosehair?"

"THAT'S EVEN WORSE!"

"Big Buns?"

"NO!"

"Bushy-Face?"

By now, Robotnick's face was becoming red with anger.

"Why... are you two here... Sonic and Tails?" he questioned through
clenched teeth.

Tails sighed. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you just built ANOTHER
large base, and that we heard you were working on something?"

"Look, Doc, just tell us what you've got in there, okay?" Sonic added.

Robotnick grinned. "And why should I tell you that?"

Sonic laughed. "Cause that's what you always do! You're always
gloating about it, Doc. Face the fire."

The rotund madman growled in frustration. "If you really want to know,
that is one of our three projects we're working on."

"WE'RE working on? You made some friends, Doc?" Sonic smirked and
crossed his arms.

"BAH! You never understand! Forget it. You can deal with it late-"

He was interrupted when a heavy layer of mist took over the small
jungle area. Robotnick smiled.

"Why, it looks like one of my new recruits has arrived..."

[Music Stops]

Sonic squinted his eyes, trying to peer through the mist.

"Oh, so you're hiding it now, Doc?" the cobalt hedgehog asked.

"I AM NOT HIDING." a voice growled.

Robotnick grinned at the new arrival. A white figure had appeared
floating a few feet above Sonic and Tails. An unnatural blue aura was
emmiting from it.

Sonic looked at it curiously. "...You found me ANOTHER doppelganger,
Doc? Really?"

The doctor smiled. "Oh, Sonic, this isn't another cheap replica of
you..." His smile changed to a cold glare.

"...This is Nazo."

VvVvVvV

Time: 3:19 PM

Location: Alternate HQ

Bedwyr had just woken up on the small couch, resting in the main room of the A.F.F. HQ. A report of what the team had ran into was given in to Sally Acorn, and she was busily trying to find where
the Destructix were heading. Bangs, Thunder, and KT happened to be
near the couch at the time of his awakening.

"You feeling better?" Thunder asked, not sure what had happened to the turtle.

Bedwyr nodded and sat up. "...How long was I out?" he wondered aloud.

"A couple of hours. That Soul-Surge you performed must've taken quite
a piece off of you." Bangs answered.

"I'm glad you did it though, it was getting pretty dicey." Thunder
added with a grin.

Bedwyr smiled weakly. "Yeah, well that's usually what I do at a last resort."

KT spoke up next. "What about those Egg-Pawns, though? How did the
Destructix and that Metal guy get their hands on them?"

Bangs waved it off. "The Destructix take a lot of stuff that isn't
theirs. It wouldn't suprise me if they stole those robots."

Thunder nodded. "And that can be serious. After all, a few badniks may
be only ONE of the things they're commanding now."

KT sighed. "I have a feeling we have a lot of work ahead of us..."

VvVvVvV

Meanwhile, in the gymnasium behind Freedom HQ, Scorch, Devlin, Lexi,
and Unova had been practicing on the punching bags.

Scorch growled as he furiously beat his flaming fists into the large,
overstuffed bag in front of him. He tried to bite back the memories
that flew into his head, and the fact that his hands were on fire only
reminded him of it more. He punched harder, the heat on his hands
increasing, until a final blow caused the bag to disintegrate.

"Are you always this aggresive?" Devlin asked calmly, as he had just
watched the hedgehog.

Scorch sighed and shook his head. "...Only when I'm reminded of a
few... things I don't want to remember." He gazed at the flames
emmitting from his fist, part of him angry, part of him saddened.

Devlin was silent for a few moments. He could detect that Scorch most
likely had a rough past, and wasn't sure how to handle the situation.

"...Do you want to talk about it?" he asked finally.

"No..." came the reply.

"Don't worry about it, Scorch." Unova called to them from a few feet
away. She had been landing blows on several stuffed bags, with Lexi
taking care of the one's she was missing. "We all have some dark
things in life, so don't beat yourself up about it."

Lexi smirked. "Yeah, like the fact that Scourge and the Destructix are
on a rampage?"

"I didn't mean stuff like that..." Unova replied with a sigh. "But
yes, that is a matter that is a concern..."

"Well, yeah, I know. That's why I brought it up." Lexi said with a
somewhat bored expression.

Scorch turned away from where the punching bag once was. "We should
probably check up on the others, to see if any news came around."

VvVvVvV

Back in the computer room, Sally jumped up from a small desk to speak
with Darkness, Eclipse, and Whirl, who had been waiting nearby.

"I think I found the Destructix!" she exclaimed excitedly.

Darkness and Eclpse jumped up. "You did? How?" Eclipse asked.

"That same Chaos radiation is coming from a different location, but it
left a slight trail from the Water Palace." Sally informed him.

"Well, we never DID find that Chaos Emerald..." Darkness said,
scratching the back of his neck. "Where is it now?"

"It's moved into the jungles nearby Mushroom Hill."

Whirl stood up. "Then we should move out soon." he said grimly. "I
don't want to waste more time than I have to."

Darkness looked over at Sally. "Could we do that?" he asked.

"It's fine by me." the squirrel answered with a shrug. "You guys
should have plenty of light, too. There's supposed to be a full moon
tonight."

A strange feeling passed over Eclipse, and he looked up with an almost
frightened face.

"A full moon?" he asked to be sure. Sally nodded.

"Oh boy..." Eclipse mumbled under his breath. Darkness didn't hear, and smiled.

"Then it's settled. We'll head out in an hour."

Gnat1: Alrighty, the short chapters done now, and a new story arc will
be starting next chapter! I hope you enjoyed this filler-type chapter
(although it wasn't really that long).

School's really getting in the way, so updating won't be so quick
unfortunately, but I'll write more as soon as I can.

R&R, Everyone!