Station Square…
Dr. Eggman exited a Regime vehicle he stole after Shadow escaped from the surrounding forces earlier. After conducting a few research, he discovered that nearly all of his hidden bases/laboratories didn't exist anymore. The plausible answer is Eggman being teleported to another plane of reality, explaining why the detonator ceased to work. Despite being at the wrong place at the wrong time, Eggman was certain he would find something interesting.
The round scientist observed his surroundings. There was a bar titled "The Colin Cash" where the shadow of a boy with bald hair flexes his muscles. The most interesting part was the egg-shaped smiling face on the window.
"Interesting…" he stated. "I seem to have some form of reputation here…"
Just then, he heard something coming at him from behind. He turned around to see Shadow Homing Attacking from above. However, Eggman anticipated this and kicked Shadow in the chest before he could strike. Shadow fell to the ground in pain as Eggman laughed triumphantly.
"Serves you right for hitting me right in the chest!" Eggman stated proudly. "How about I give you a broken back to go with it?"
With the slight disadvantage Shadow was in, he was slugged by a quick series of Eggman's fists, before a strong punch to the head knocked him unconscious. Eggman laughed, "And now, my formidable adversary's counterpart, let's stick it right through your carcass!" He took out a knife from his pocket and held it to the unconscious Shadow's neck.
Before he could finish the job, Eggman looked up to see two more approaching. As much as he'd like to finish Shadow off, he knew he was no match for two enemies at once, and he had to play it smart. He dropped Shadow and hid behind an alleyway before the two arrived. Upon close inspection, it was Enerjak and Fiona Fox, dressed in different punk clothing colored red and yellow and her normal whip replaced by an energy whip.
"S'up, Shadow?" Enerjak greeted sarcastically, before freezing Shadow's body with a rift of Chaos Energy. "It's been a while. And nice to see your scars healed up."
"You're coming with us now," Fiona stated, grabbing Shadow's frozen body.
"I don't think so, Fiona—" Shadow said, only for Fiona to punch him in the face, making Dr. Eggman chuckle slightly from the sidelines.
"Are you done talking? Good," Fiona smiled sarcastically. "Let's get outta here." They took off, leaving Dr. Eggman alone and unnoticed.
New Mobotropolis
One-Planet Government Headquarters
Amy Rose was in eternal bliss. Sonic the Hedgehog almost felt happy again.
The two of them were in bed together, holding each other's arms and their clothing scattered across the floor.
Right now, Amy was in the middle of a dream where she and Sonic were fully clothed, walking the streets of a magnificent shining city. In her dream, all war and conflict both from inside and out had been eliminated, and there was just the two of them. They were both wearing wedding rings, cuddling next to each other.
"Mommy!" the voices of children echoed. Amy turned to see little hedgehogs the color of their fur, either blue or pink, and inheriting traits from their parents. Sonic and Amy held their children together in happiness.
Suddenly, the dream was interrupted by an incoming message from a speaker nearby. Sonic was the first to answer it. "Yeah? What is it?" he asked.
"Sonic?" Tails spoke through the com-link. "Great news. We've caught Shadow. We're taking him to Prison Island now."
Something was definitely wrong. Tomorrow would mark the five-year anniversary of the day New Mobotropolis was lost, and with it, everything he loved. Each following year, Shadow and the Insurgency were harder to catch. It didn't make any sense that, after all these years of eluding capture, would result in Shadow's apprehension on the most important night ever. Sonic decided he had to check it out and make sure.
"I'm on my way," Sonic answered.
"Roger," Tails replied, before the speaker hung up. Sonic and Amy retrieved themselves from the bed and started putting their costumes back on.
"What's up?" Amy asked.
"I heard they've finally caught Shadow," Sonic replied.
"Really?" Amy exclaimed in amazement. "After all these years?"
"There's only one way to find out," Sonic answered.
Station Square…
Dr. Eggman looked around, trying to find something else to recognize. As he continued to ponder his next move, he suddenly felt a gun being shoved in his back.
And a very familiar voice.
"Don't. Try. Anything."
Eggman turned around to his amazement. It was his nephew, Snively! But he looked… different. For one thing, Snively's individual hairs on the center of his bald head were now replaced with long red hair dyed with orange. Not to mention, Snively wasn't dressed in his traditional green outfit, but rather a cowboy's outfit with an unbuttoned chest, red vest, long spandex pants, and red leather cowboy boots. On his exposed chest was a red tattoo of the Eggman Empire's symbol. However, what surprised Eggman the most was the fact that his nephew, the sniveling little brat whom he had abused since his rise to power and always feared him was holding a shotgun at his own uncle.
"Snively?!" Eggman asked surprisingly.
"Colin," Snively corrected. "The name Snively means nothing to me now. I only answer to my real name." Eggman raised his eyebrow in confusion as he continued, "A little bird told me some creep around here was dressed up like Dr. Eggman, fighting a Shadow the Hedgehog wannabe." He poked Eggman with the shotgun, "You've got the look. And a lot of nerve. What you don't have is the right." He casts an accusing glare, unhappy to see something pretending to be his uncle. He poked Eggman again, this time a multiple.
"Ow!" Eggman exclaimed, unable to bear the pain of the gun's rifle.
"Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik was a hero," Snively frowned. "You have no right to tarnish his legacy!"
Eggman tried to reason with Snively, "Snively, it's me! I'm Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik! The greatest scientific genius in this blasted planet, darn it! I mean, I'm your uncle! Your boss! The same uncle you know and love… or hate! Look, it says so right here on my—"
Before Eggman could prove anything, Snively ignored him and let out a warning shot.
"Not funny!" he shouted. "NO ONE pretends to be my uncle!"
STAGE 1: DR. EGGMAN VS. SNIVELY (PARALLEL)
Dr. Eggman instantly took out his laser pistol, shooting his nephew in the chest. However, much to his surprise, the bullet did not kill him, but Snively did show a sign of pain. Snively responded by slide-kicking his uncle, sending him into the air. As he flew up, he unloaded a barrage of laser bullets from his guns, injuring him. As soon as Eggman hits the ground, Snively went over to inspect, only to have Eggman spin kick him to the ground. Before he could get up, Eggman grabbed his leg and twisted it, causing him to cry out in pain. He kicked Snively aside before sliding and kicking him to the ground again. This time, however, he repeatedly punched Snively to the chest. Interestingly, there was still no sign Snively was in serious pain, but Eggman could tell his nephew was weakening.
Snively got back up and delivered a series of quick karate kicks to his uncle. He took out his laser gun again, but before he could shoot Eggman, he jumped off a nearby car, landing on the other side. Snively turned around, not aware of the bomb Eggman placed on the car. The bomb exploded, sending Snively towards him. Eggman simply laughed as he punched his nephew in the face, sending him into the car's flaming remains and back towards him. Eggman prepared for another punch, but Snively countered, pushing the two back.
"You're not my real uncle!" Snively shouted, taking out his pistol.
"You forget your place, nephew," Eggman scoffed, taking out his machine gun.
The two charged at each other, firing both their weapons before impact. Eggman managed to shoot first, sending his nephew back. Eggman then dashed in, giving his nephew a few more punches. Snively got back up, only to fall to the ground in exhaustion.
"Have we calmed down?" Eggman asked.
"It's…" Snively breathed in amazement. "It's… you… The way you move… The way you…"
Dr. Eggman smiled, "Pummel? With the power of science?"
"Well… yes!" Snively nodded.
"It's the bond of family," Eggman added. "You could still feel our bond, right?"
Eggman held out his hand for Snively to grab and get back up. This was all too easy for him to manipulate his nephew as he did so many times before.
"I…" Snively whispered, touching his chest. "I feel… like my old self again… My uncle was dead, but… you're…"
"This isn't my world," Eggman admitted. "But I am Dr. Eggman. Am I not your Eggman… Snively?"
Unable to resist, Snively looked at him with a fully-grown smile and a stream of tears.
"UNCLE!" Snively cried, suddenly hugging Eggman before he pulled away, taking his hand. "Come with me, there's some people who have to meet you!" He led the way, humming and skipping along happily as they moved.
"This is going to be a lot easier than I thought," Eggman thought to himself, smirking.
Prison Island
Prison Lane Detention Center
High Councilor Sonic and Assistant High Councilor Amy walked past a line of multiple soldiers at attention, bowing in respect to their leaders, as they made their way to the prison cell where the most-recent captured prisoner was being held. Inside, a beaten Shadow the Hedgehog from a torture session by Fiona Fox was chained up the wall from his hands and legs.
"Alright, black hog," Fiona jeered. "Ready for visiting hours? Want a cup of coffee?"
The doors opened to reveal Sonic and Amy. Shadow noticed something strange as each of them who stood before him took a different appearance. Sonic was the most unusual as the blue hedgehog looked over.
"Nice work, Fiona," Amy complimented with a smile. "How did you—"
"It's not him," Sonic said bluntly.
"What?" Fiona raised her eyebrow.
Sonic explained, "I can sense his Chaos Energy matches Shadow's, but his vitals are all wrong. And his scent is different." He walked over to Shadow, seeing his ex-rival eye-to-eye. "You're one of the duplicates, aren't you? Let's talk about why you're here."
The Egg Clan's Secret Hideout, Deep Underground of Station Square…
Dr. Ivo Robotnik could be a very hard man to impress. As far as egos for villains went, he definitely had one of the biggest, so there were a few things that impressed him. Ironically, it was this parallel version of his nephew who came off as the biggest surprise. In this world, Dr. Eggman died, leading Snively to gather a force of Mobians and Overlanders not unlike the Dark Egg Legion, to honor his legacy. True, they were nothing like the Dark Egg Legion, and they had to resort to hiding out in the sewers, but Snively managed to move entire parts of dismantled G.U.N. technology and reconfigure them as their base.
Now, Dr. Eggman stood before his followers and nephew of this world as they all cheered for him.
"Fellow members of the Egg Clan," Eggman grinned. "I must admit that I am honored by your efforts to uphold my name in the time I've been gone. You told me the truth about the New Mobotropolis incident, but I tell you this. Sonic killed those people. Then he tried to kill ME."
There was a collection of 'boos' before they quieted down. Eggman continued, "I admire the work you've done in my name… Disturbances, distractions, minor skirmishes, general pains in Sonic's spines…" Some of the members started to laugh about it, before he added, "But let's. Think. Bigger."
He stepped away from the podium and eyed his nephew, "Snively explained to me that Sonic created a pill for his thugs. It enhances the strength and durability of anyone who takes it." Eggman took out a sample Snively gave him earlier, "Shadow's Insurgents got some. Now we have them too. With a few of these at our disposal, we will become UNSTOPPABLE! Invincibility at its finest!"
Everyone cheered as Eggman ingested the pill. He looked down at the crowd as they silenced, before he finished his speech, "From this moment on, the Egg Clan will be more than a nuisance. The barking dog will become the rampaging bulldozer. The whoopee cushion, a land mine! The egg… A KING! Ho-ho-ho-ho! Sonic won't know what hit him!"
The cheers never died. The whole Egg Clan was in a frenzy, just the way Dr. Eggman liked it.
But the celebration was cut short by an explosion from the stage behind the red-coated scientist. The cheers turned into panic as Regime soldiers poured through. The Egg Clan members gathered and quickly grabbed weapons to fend themselves, while Dr. Eggman punched one Regime soldier across the face.
Another Regime soldier came forward and shot Dr. Eggman repeatedly in the chest. However, much to the soldier's surprise, the bullets didn't even faze him.
"I believe the term you should use is 'ouch.'" Eggman grinned, kneeing the soldier in the gut.
Just then, two Regime operatives appeared from the smoke caused by the explosion. Fiona Fox, and much to Eggman's surprise, E-123 Omega. However, Eggman was quick to notice that while Omega still had the same large armored body, the color of his armor seemed darker than usual. The E-Series Robot fired two massive machine guns from his arms, reigning total destruction on the Egg Clan members.
Before Eggman could do anything else, Fiona swung her energy whip and whipped it tightly on Eggman's neck, swinging him around and slamming him to the ground. She lifted the mad scientist up. Snively tried shooting Fiona, but realized he could hit his uncle. Cursing his only option, he took out a small tablet and pressed the center which lit up an image of a Power Ring.
"Back from the grave, Eggman?" Fiona asked Eggman. "Shoulda kept that suit buried."
"It's not my Sunday's best," Eggman laughed. "But it's comfortable. And functional."
Before Fiona could react, Eggman whipped out a crowbar from his right sleeve and smacked Fiona across the face, causing her to release her whip on Eggman's neck. Eggman laughed amusingly at Fiona, who stared angrily.
"I'm gonna enjoy giving you to Sonic," Fiona said.
"Not tonight, my dear," Eggman replied. "Instead of taking me, you'll have a headache."
STAGE 2: DR. EGGMAN VS. FIONA FOX (REGIME)
Fiona threw a punch to Eggman, but he jumped over her. The mad scientist placed a floor mine down before Fiona dashed towards him, not noticing the explosive on the floor. It went off, sending Fiona into the air before hitting the ground. As she got up, Eggman managed to fire a series of rapid laser shots into her chest, causing her to cry out in pain. The egg-shaped doctor laughed as he dashed and delivered a series of quick punches to Fiona's face, forcing her backwards. Eggman jumped onto a nearby steam pipe and broke it open, pouring a burst of steam into Fiona's face. He took a nearby computer and threw it at Fiona as well.
Now, Eggman looked at the female fox with a sinister grin as he took out his crowbar and proceeded to swat away at Fiona's face, before taking out his laser pistol and shooting her in the face. Before Fiona managed to regain her senses, suddenly Eggman takes out a random rocket launcher (from the Regime vehicle he stole) and put it near her body saying "Wakey! Wakey!" and shoot her. This causes Eggman to fly back, dropping down to the ground unharmed and unscratched. Fiona, on the other hand, was knocked out by the blast, unconscious with her body still intact.
"Lovely girl," Eggman grinned. "I wonder how Sonic or Tails would react if I just rearranged your face."
Putting his knife on his hands, Fiona decided to slice her up. Just then, Omega took notice of this after taking down one of the Egg Clan members.
"Eggman detected!" Omega calculated. Before Eggman could deliver the knife to Fiona, he was knocked away by Omega's rocket launchers.
"Omega! It's been a long while, hasn't it, traitor?" Eggman noted. "First, you turned against your creator and sided with Shadow, now you duped him for Sonic… Tell me something: whose boots are easier to dust off?"
Omega denied, "Shadow the Hedgehog is a threat to the One-Planet Government, just like you."
"NOTHING like me," Eggman was appealed.
"Scanners show that you may be a hero from the world you resonate from," Omega calculated suspiciously.
"Oh, no," Eggman shook his head. "It's just that Sonic corrupts young minds with idealistic motions of freedom, which I don't allow, while I squash freedom where it stands! You were my creation, but you betrayed me as you stand here before me! So I'll squash you, turning you into scrap metal!"
"Eggman!" Omega declared. "I will defeat you once and for all!"
"This is what you get for turning against your master!" Eggman retorted.
STAGE 3: DR. EGGMAN VS. E-123 OMEGA (REGIME)
Omega fired his arm machine guns at Eggman, who took the first shots. He lunged at Eggman, only for him to pull back and punched Omega flying to the other side of the room (because he took the pill, he's strong just like Superman, look it up!).
Discovering a giant stone statue Snively transferred to the Egg Clan Base, Eggman tore it off and threw it at him, crashing Omega down. Eggman dashed in, twisted Omega's arm, and tore it off his mechanical body. Before Omega could stand, his body was repeatedly slugged by Eggman's pill-enhanced punches, damaging it further. "Take that, scrap heap!" Eggman laughed, and he tried to punch his former robot one more time, but Omega blocked him and pushed back.
"Who do you think you are?" Eggman asked sarcastically.
"I am the ultimate E-Series Robot!" Omega declared.
The two rushed with Eggman making the first shot, pushing Omega back. Eggman then delivered a 30-hit pill-enhanced combination attack, breaking Omega's body into pieces and causing it to go down, defeated.
"I'd have to tell Shadow that Team Dark has one casualty," Eggman chuckled.
The egg-shaped doctor was about to finish off Omega, but he was interrupted by Insurgency Shadow, Amy, Espio, Knuckles, and Monkey Khan's arrival. Fiona, who happened to wake up during Eggman's battle, was surprised to see the heroes giving the Egg Clan the boost they need to push back the Regime forces. Unable to see victory in this, Fiona ran next to the heavily damaged Omega.
"We're outnumbered!" Fiona cried. "Let's get out of here!" She takes out a laser gun and shoots above, creating a crack on the ceiling, and retreated with a flying jet pack on her back while carrying the unconscious (but heavy) Omega above. Shortly afterwards, the Regime soldiers were beaten and captured, whilst Insurgency Shadow and the prime heroes meet up with Snively.
"You can turn that off now," Shadow said to Snively, who shuts off his beacon.
"Good timing, Shadow," Snively acknowledged. "Thank you for your assistance."
That's when everyone took notice of the round doctor, much to their complete dismay.
"EGGMAN!" the prime heroes exclaimed.
"What's he doing here?!" Amy demanded, grabbing Eggman's arm and shoving it behind his back.
"I should be asking you the same question, Colin," Shadow said to Snively sternly with his arms crossed.
"I know it's not much, but my uncle can be a big help," Snively suggested, Eggman nodding in agreement. "Together, with our scientific expertise combined with your raw talent, we'll defeat the One-Planet Government and save the world!"
"Oh, I see," Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "You came along with us on our little field trip."
"And I'm guessing he didn't come here alone," Espio pointed out.
"You know where Shadow is, then?" Khan asked.
"There's one over there," Eggman sarcastically pointed at Insurgency Shadow. Amy was not amused with his answer and pulled his arm again, paining him.
Insurgency Shadow, on the other hand, looked over the egg-shaped scientist quite seriously, "Your eyes... Pure evil, just like his."
"Who do you mean? You mean this world's Sonic?" Eggman asked. "His forces took Shadow. Our Shadow."
"Quiet or I'll cuff you and leave you for the police," Insurgency Shadow threatened.
"Then why did you save me from them?" Eggman questioned, before his arm was pulled up again by Amy, "OW!"
"If our Shadow's captured, we've gotta bust him out," Knuckles suggested.
Shadow made his own suggestion, "To free your Shadow, we need to complete our mission first. We must retrieve the Chaos Neutralizer from the decommissioned G.U.N. headquarters."
"Chaos Neutralizer?" Espio asked curiously.
"That's the name of the Master Emerald-powered weapon I mentioned," Shadow explained. "The weapon we need to defeat Sonic."
Snively asked with a smile, "Is there any good mission that requires my attention?"
Shadow shook his head, "Negative. You and your Egg Clan need to lay low for now. You've been targeted." He then took Eggman from Amy, "And YOU'RE too dangerous to run around. More of them will be here soon." He turned to Amy and her friends, "You go on ahead to those coordinates. I'll catch up with you later."
"I hate that black hedgehog," Eggman muttered to himself, while being dragged away by Insurgency Shadow.
Mobius Prime…
Freedom Fighter HQ
The Freedom Fighters' collective minds of Sally Acorn, Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Nicole, Bunnie Rabbot D'Coolette, and Rotor Walrus sighed with relief. They finally located where the missing Freedom Fighters had gone.
"So there we go," Sonic said. "They're in a parallel dimension. Just like Moebius all over again. Now, how do we get there?"
"We don't," Nicole replied. "As it so happens, I have a contingency plan in case of an emergency such as this. Fortunately for us, we have all the necessary materials needed to bring them here, rather than go there ourselves."
"No risk to an away team…" Sally stroked her chin. "Nice thinking."
"But there's still the same problem, though; how do we do it?" Rotor curiously asked.
"With this!" Tails proposed, with Nicole pulling up a hologram of the Special Zone portal generated by two star-marked lampposts, "We're going to modify our Special Zone portal and use it to pull back our missing friends all at once."
"You're a genius, Tails," Sally remarked. "You always were."
"Not bad, huh?" Tails chuckled.
"Looks like we've got some work to do," Bunnie said, with Sonic and the others nodding in agreement.
Alternate Mobius…
New Mobotropolis Skyline
Dr. Finitevus was standing on the rooftop with a glass of wine in hand, looking at the full moon above as he heard footsteps. This was good. He had been expecting this for a while now. Turning around, Finitevus saw Fang approaching. He removed his prisoners' outfit and returned to his original appearance and wearing his Stetson hat, yet his long canine tooth was still gone.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Finitevus admired the sight of the moon, drinking his glass.
"The moon?" Fang questioned. "Or its light shining off your freakish white fur?"
Finitevus chuckled amusingly before turning to face him seriously, "I'm pleased you agreed to meet. You're finally ready to join our little team?"
"Business is bad," Fang admitted. "Being hunted is worse."
"I'm curious, though," Finitevus said intrigued. "After so many refusals, why now?"
Fang the Sniper looked up into the sky, reflecting on the year he spent as a prisoner, and finally answered with four words.
"They made it personal."