Angel Island
Master Emerald Altar

"Make haste, my brothers!" Enerjak ordered the Echidna warriors. "The Rose Fleet will pick us up within the hour. Flame Legion, take the swordfish ships. Frost Legion, take the manta ray ships. The rest of you, come with me to the whale shark flagship."

Regime Knuckles had been in control of the Echidna race for years now, even after they tried to take him in for questioning after bonding himself with Dr. Finitevus's hex on the Master Emerald. However, Knuckles managed to not only kill the Echidna government in response, but the leaders of the Echidna Dark Legion and the Brotherhood of Guardians as well. Now Knuckles, as Enerjak, ruled the Echidnas with an iron fist, and nobody dared question his position of power.

Until today that is.

At that minute, Mainstream Knuckles glided in the air and landed near the altar of the Master Emerald, staring at his Regime counterpart who stood on top of a broken pillar.

"Enerjak!" Mainstream Knuckles shouted. "It's game over! For your plans, and your Regime!"

Enerjak turned to his Mainstream counterpart and floated off the pillar towards the ground, "So, duplicate me, we meet again. If you think you can defeat me for a third time, you're terribly mistaken."

Knuckles asked, "What?"

Enerjak grasped his fists and suddenly released a surge of tremendous Chaos Energy upon himself.

He explained, "The last time I faced you, I only used a small fraction of my powers! The reason why I lost to you twice… My power was almost depleted from years of battle with the Insurgents. I needed to replenish all of my energy, so I took some time to recover with the Master Emerald." His power continued spreading like a violent wind into nearly god-like proportions. "And now that I'm fully charged, it's time we get over to the real fight."

"You mean… You were weak because you wasted amounts of Chaos Energy?" Knuckles asked.

Enerjak chuckled, "Yeah, well… You know, Knuckles, it's been a while since I've had to use my godlike powers." His voice interrupted into triumphant laughter, "You have no idea how happy I am. The thought of using such incredible power…! I must confess, it's GOOD being a god! But don't sweat the details… I'm still going to smash you up!"

Knuckles readied himself, "Not if I smash YOU up first!"

Enerjak's body furiously surged with Chaos Energy. His voice rose to a mighty roar, "Come on! I dare you! I'll sink my fists into your body until you can take no more!"

Without a second thought, Knuckles jumped into the altar and landed straight on top of the Master Emerald.

Enerjak exclaimed, "What are you doing?!"

Knuckles explained, "Something an old friend of mine did for me before. I'll return the favor by doing the same for you. No matter what, I won't give up the life my friends fought to save!" His voice rose with determination, "I'll set this right! It's my duty! My responsibility!"

With a roar, Knuckles channeled the energies of the Master Emerald towards his body, the black hex surrounding it ineffective against him. Mammoth Mogul's words couldn't be true that since Dr. Finitevus died, the hex has indeed grown weaker.

"No… Impossible…!" Enerjak gasped. "He used my own power against me?!"

With a powerful flash of light that's too blind for the Echidna warriors to see, Knuckles rose from the ground, his skin pulsing from red to pink.

"Hyper… KNUCKLES?!"

The transformed Hyper Knuckles eyed Enerjak with a confident smirk, "NOW we're even. And what Sonic used to say, I'm going to beat the evil out of you!"

Enerjak fists pulsed with powerful Chaos Energy, "Prove it, then!"

With that, the two Echidnas collided with their fists, waves of Chaos Energy spreading throughout the skies like wildfire. Hyper Knuckles struck first, shoving Enerjak's body at lightning speed away from Angel Island and into a faraway desert. Hyper Knuckles released his grip on Enerjak afterwards, and the two looked each other in the eye, still floating in the air.

Hyper Knuckles smiled, "Just like old times."

Enerjak argued, "You're insane!"

SUPER STAGE: HYPER KNUCKLES VS. ENERJAK

Hyper Knuckles flew forward and punched Enerjak, then proceeded to go on the offensive by unleashing a series of punches. Enerjak was continuously slugged by the hundred punches, forcing Enerjak to teleport behind him and fire a large beam of Chaos Energy. However, Hyper Knuckles proves invulnerable to it. Hyper Knuckles performed another hundred-punch technique that decimated Enerjak, but below the final blow was dealt, the Chaos demigod countered by punching Hyper Knuckles so hard he flew through multiple giant rocks. Enerjak then flew after him and delivered a fast combo of Chaos Fists at Hyper Knuckles, knocking him to the ground.

"You're outmatched! Give up!" Enerjak demanded.

In response, Hyper Knuckles charged himself with Chaos Energy. In lightning speed, he punched Enerjak into the air, flew after him, kicked him further back, and then fired a powerful Chaos Fireball, which nearly knocked Enerjak to the ground. Hyper Knuckles then lands to the ground and fires a large volley of Chaos Fireballs at Enerjak, but Enerjak counted by firing his Chaos Beams to destroy all of them.

When the smoke cleared from this collision of Chaos Fireballs and Chaos Beams, Enerjak suddenly strikes Hyper Knuckles, stunning him. He then proceeded to deliver a large flurry of blows to the dazed Hyper Knuckles before his final strike sends him into a wall, paralyzed.

"This ends now!" Enerjak declared, and he charged his energy to summon a gigantic Chaos Beam. But before he could fire, however, Hyper Knuckles quickly recovered and punched Enerjak in the chest, causing him to gasp for air. He unleashed a massive combo on Enerjak, eventually kicking him back.

Hyper Knuckles then flew towards Enerjak, whose attack he anticipates, but when Enerjak strikes, Hyper Knuckles suddenly disappears. Realizing that Hyper Knuckles was behind him, Enerjak prepares another punch, but is interrupted by Hyper Knuckles punching him to the chest. He punched Enerjak a few times into the air with much force, and punched him downward, with Enerjak crashing back-first into the top of a small mountain. Hyper Knuckles then zoomed towards the mountain and slammed Enerjak with a powerful fist, blowing half of the mountain up.

Afterwards, Enerjak stood up from the rubble unscathed, his mask broken into pieces and revealing his true face as a result of too many blows. It was the face of Knuckles' Regime counterpart, five years older than him.

Hyper Knuckles floated down and crossed him arms proudly, "There! Now you look more like me? Do you feel more like me?"

Enerjak growled, "If I can't destroy you, I'll simply send you away!" With a wave of his glowing hand, Hyper Knuckles dissipated into a mass of green bubbles. Of course, Hyper Knuckles was transported deep underground. Just then, he re-emerged from the earth and hit Enerjak square in the jaw.

"Thunder Arrow!" Enerjak summoned a wave of Chaos lightning from his hands, but it proves to be ineffective against Knuckles' hyper-coated body. In response, Hyper Knuckles punched Enerjak into the air. Afterwards, Hyper Knuckles and Enerjak are clashing at super-fast speeds across the entire desert. Hyper Knuckles' final strike knocked Enerjak back and then he proceeds to leap forward using two small mountains, knocking Enerjak towards the ground. The two then zip across the mountains, trying to catch each other, until Enerjak sneaks up on Hyper Knuckles, hitting him with a giant boulder.

With a scream, Hyper Knuckles bursts with a surge of Chaos Energy, destroying the boulder. He fired a flurry of Chaos Fireballs at Enerjak, who destroyed them all by using his Chaos Beams. Both fly past each other as Enerjak used another Chaos Beam, managing to hit Hyper Knuckles' back. Enerjak held his hands together to fire a gigantic Chaos Beam that hits Hyper Knuckles, knocking him into the air. Hyper Knuckles countered by spinning himself around, holding up his spiked fists, and firing himself at Enerjak's chest like a torpedo. The attack pierced Enerjak, sending him flying to an opposite mountain.

Enerjak stood up weakly, shouting, "Is that all you…"

He was suddenly struck by a mega-charged Chaos Fist that hits Enerjak to the jaw, which forced him to crash through multiple mountains, screaming, until he collapsed to the ground.

"…got?" Enerjak finished his sentence with a groan.

Hyper Knuckles stated, "The game's not as fun when you're losing, is it?"

Enerjak stood up weakly again, more agitated than ever, "Game? You think this is a GAME?!" He narrowed his eyes, "I haven't even begun to play…"

The Chaos demigod flew into the air and channeled a tremendous amount of Chaos Energy to summon a giant Chaos Orb. Nonchalantly, Hyper Knuckles flew towards where Enerjak floated and punched him to the jaw with an uppercut, halting his channeling.

"You're so predictable," Hyper Knuckles rolled his eyes with a smile. He then delivered another flurry of punches, and finished by grabbing Enerjak's legs. He spins, repeatedly knocking the Chaos demigod into the ground, before throwing him, destroying an entire large rock formation. Enerjak recovered and flew at Hyper Knuckles on the offensive, with Hyper Knuckles blocking a flurry of punches.

When Hyper Knuckles dropped his guard, Enerjak knocked him back and stroke him a few times, knocking him into the air, finishing by knocking Hyper Knuckles to the ground, creating a crater. Hyper Knuckles sees Enerjak about to fly towards him.

"Chaos… BLAST!" Hyper Knuckles is attempting another technique…

The wasteland was illuminated by a bright light, but Enerjak is unfazed, holding Hyper Knuckles by the throat.

"My turn…" Enerjak's eyes glowed green, and he created a huge surge of Chaos Energy, intent on ending the fight right there. When the surge erupted with a flash of green light, a strange deformity begins occurring around Enerjak.

The deformity concluded with Hyper Knuckles appearing unscathed from Enerjak's desperation attack, as lightning strikes from the clouds in the distance.

Enerjak roared in frustration, "How many times do I have to kill that stupid duplicate of me?!"

Hyper Knuckles crossed his arms and said sternly, "It's over, Knuckles. This fight is getting pointless, so do yourself a favor and give up."

Enerjak yelled, "Never! I'll never surrender to an imposter like you! And don't you dare call me by that name. It no longer has any meaning to me."

Hyper Knuckles retorted, "You stain the honor of the Guardians with your rule and violation of heritage. We are to temper this planet's aggression, not enable it."

"This wasn't optional," Enerjak shook his head. "After New Mobotropolis, Sonic showed me the truth; this planet's aggression cannot be tempered, only quelled."

"By slaughtering the innocent?" Hyper Knuckles asked appealed. "Just like when the old me was tricked by Eggman into thinking Sonic stole the Master Emerald, your Sonic plays you like a fool."

Enerjak spat, "Your world's Echidnas must be weak-willed if YOU were their leader!"

With that, Enerjak threw a Chaos-powered fist at Hyper Knuckles, who caught the fist and countered with a knock to the chin.

"The Guardians' duty is to PROTECT Mobius," Hyper Knuckles declared.

Enerjak tried swinging his other fist around, only for Hyper Knuckles to dodge and punch back. However, Enerjak managed to block, but that didn't stop Hyper Knuckles from putting every ounce of power into pushing back.

"We are to give service! Help the innocent!" Hyper Knuckles continued.

Enerjak pushed him away and tried firing blasts at him, but Hyper Knuckles simply punched away the incoming energy blasts and grabbed his counterpart by the wrists.

"Save the lives of both friend AND foe!" Hyper Knuckles concluded. "THAT is the way of the Guardians, and the way our ancestors' legacy should be upheld!"

"You would lecture me?!" Enerjak screamed. "On what it means to be a Guardian?!"

"I don't seek to lecture," Hyper Knuckles explained, pushing his duplicate away. "I seek to depose!"

Both floated upward, and finally flew towards each other. The two clashed at unprecedented speeds before Hyper Knuckles does a double fist, knocking Enerjak down. Enerjak attempted to fire multiple Chaos Beams and Thunder Arrows, but Hyper Knuckles dodged every single attack or is unfazed. The pink-coated echidna broke through and delivered a thousand-punch technique, the last blow firing a massive Chaos Fireball that decimated Enerjak and nearly tore apart his clothing.

It was then that Enerjak realized he reached his limits. Once again, he drained tremendous amounts of Chaos Energy during the battle, leaving him famished.

Enerjak panted exhaustively, "I don't have much left in me. I must return to the Master Emerald for more…"

Enerjak flew off, intending to reach Angel Island to replenish his Chaos Energy.

"Oh no, you don't!" Hyper Knuckles shouted, and he chased after his retreating Regime counterpart.

Enerjak was about to reach Angel Island, but Hyper Knuckles stopped him with a punch to the face.

"The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart."

Hyper Knuckles focused all of his energy into one technique.

"The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos."

His right hand glowed with an illuminating light.

"Only you can do this! Master Emerald! Give me the power…"

Enerjak was shocked to the core.

"…to release Knuckles from this evil!"

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Enerjak screamed at the top of his lungs as Knuckles' glowing hand pierced his chest…

…and the dark hex that engulfed the Master Emerald dissolved into light, restoring the gemstone to its green, beautifully shining state.

Reverting to his normal form, Knuckles lowered the unconscious body of Enerjak, now restored to a normal Knuckles.

"Now to rebuild what you've destroyed," Mainstream Knuckles said.

Despite the defeat of his counterpart, the Echidna warriors surround him at gunpoint, trying to protect Regime Knuckles.

"Hold, my brothers! Hold!" Mainstream Knuckles told them. "While I am not of this world, I am still pure Guardian. And thus, I am still worthy to talk to you! I tell you now, this path you're following is wrong!"

The Echidnas were confused, but they kept on listening.

Mainstream Knuckles pointed at his unconscious duplicate, "This Guardian has enabled one Mobian to inflict his rage on an entire planet. Let him be consumed by his darkest passions, rather than extricate him from despair. I ask you, what is to be gained from following his plans of genocide? Have we really come to revert to our primitive ways as wild animals like it was ages ago? Or do we still remember the teachings our ancestors taught us?"

The Echidnas stood down and looked at the ground, regretting their decision. Knuckles knew he was gaining their trust.

"My brothers!" he continued. "Let us return to the right side of history. Let us enter battle, not as Mobius's destroyers, but its protectors. We are Guardians. We are here to save Mobius. Let us honor our ancestors the way they would have wished to be honored!" He pumped a fist into the air, "Let us fight free once more!"

All of the Echidnas erupted into cheers and applause, heeding the words of the Mainstream version of Knuckles. Just then, a myriad of airships from the Rose Fleet descended from above, catching the attention of every Echidna on the island.

"Hey, guys!" the voice of Amy Rose spoke through a loudspeaker. "Anybody need a lift?"

Unbeknownst to all, Regime Julie-Su silently observed the scene from the jungle, with a face of regret and tears flowing freely from her eyes.

New Mobotropolis…

Meanwhile, things were not faring any better. Regime soldiers were flooding the streets of New Mobotropolis, firing at anything they saw. Tanks, planes, and other machines laid waste to every infrastructure before them.

From out of nowhere, Regime Sonic landed on the side of a nearby building and head-butted it, causing four buildings to collapse like dominos. He floated above and held his hand out, palm facing another group of buildings. A yellow ball of Chaos Energy appeared, and was sent hurling towards the district. Upon impact, every building and living creature within the area was vaporized in a blinding light. Regime Sonic simply looked on, the grin never wavering.

Station Square…

At Station Square, Ixis Naugus was overlooking the carnage happening. A combined force of Insurgents, Mainstream heroes, and Regime defectors were holding their ground against the Regime soldiers, though it was not clear who would win and who would lose.

Bunnie, Tails, and Fiona jumped out of a nearby hole from the ground, and Tails activated his mini-shield, blocking every blast from Regime Bunnie's arm cannon. In the distance, Rouge the Bat was dragging Bean into the sky with her wings, Bark and Monkey Khan were holding off Sergeant Simian and Predator Hawk, and Flying Frog and Lightning Lynx tried to run away, only to be shot down by Epsio and Fang. The two grinned at each other, only to hear something from behind. They saw Naugus standing behind them, laughing with maniacal glee.

"Crud," Fang sweated nervously.

De-Commissioned G.U.N. Headquarters

While the battle rages on, Mainstream Shadow was watching it from one of the monitors in G.U.N.'s secret cave laboratory, while his double was busy working on the inter-dimensional transporter. The two had snuck away to G.U.N. Headquarters during the fight with the Regime forces inside the Insurgency base. Right now, everyone was busy, but both Shadows knew it was only a matter of time.

Mainstream Shadow pointed out, "It's getting worse by the minute. At this rate, they'll never make it. We have to—"

"Once I'm finished repairing this thing, you're all going home," his duplicate interrupted.

Mainstream Shadow wasn't amused with his answer. He did not like his duplicate's way of thinking. Not one bit. Sighing, he went over to his counterpart to address the issue.

"You know, I get it," Mainstream Shadow nodded. "I do. Like you, I've tried to prepare for the day when one of our allies might be on the opposite side of our beliefs. But without help, you'll die. And the Insurgency will die with you."

Insurgency Shadow stood silent. He rose and looked at his Mainstream counterpart in the eye.

"Then maybe that's my fate," Insurgency Shadow replied.

"We don't believe in fate," Mainstream Shadow denied. "We believe in where we fight to the end and never give up."

With that, he went over the controls to the dimensional transporter. However, Insurgency Shadow pushed him away and punched him in the face. Mainstream Shadow responded with his own punch to his Insurgency counterpart's face. Insurgency Shadow kicked Mainstream Shadow away, gave two socks, and attempted another kick, but Mainstream Shadow grabbed the foot and flipped him into the air. Insurgency Shadow tried a roundhouse kick at his duplicate's head, but Mainstream Shadow dodged, yet unable to avoid a kick to the chest. However, he did manage to punch his duplicate back and leap over him. Mainstream Shadow then elbowed his duplicate from behind and kicked him back.

Though both didn't notice, the duplicates' feud was secretly observed by Insurgency Snively and his half-sister Hope Kintobor.

After a couple of rounds and some moves, both Shadows readied themselves.

Mainstream Shadow convinced, "Just send in reinforcements from our world! You can't win this fight alone!"

"No! This is my world!" Insurgency Shadow shouted to his Mainstream counterpart. "My fight!"

"You made it our fight when you brought us here," Mainstream Shadow pointed out.

STAGE: SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG VS. SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG (INSURGENCY)

Mainstream Shadow started with a kick to his counterpart, but was easily blocked. He countered with a hard uppercut, knocking Insurgency Shadow on his back. Insurgency Shadow tried to Spin Dash, but Mainstream Shadow leaped over him. Insurgency Shadow countered with a Chaos Spear that knocked Shadow to the ground. Mainstream Shadow threw a flying kick, knocking down his duplicate, followed by two Homing Attacks. His Insurgency counterpart knocked him back, but Shadow delivered another kick, the next kick sending Insurgency Shadow crashing to a nearby computer. Regime Shadow punched him with a Chaos Fist, but Mainstream Shadow threw a Chaos Fist of his own.

Mainstream Shadow then threw a series of punches and kicks at his Insurgency duplicate, followed by a back-flip kick that sent him into the air. Shadow performed a Homing Attack, followed by a aerial combo, but Insurgency Shadow countered with Chaos Control and knocked his Mainstream counterpart with a Homing Attack and aerial combo of his own. Mainstream Shadow delivered another series of kicks and punches before Insurgency Shadow blocked one blow and pushed him back.

"You're good," Insurgency Shadow stated.

"You expected otherwise," Mainstream Shadow replied.

The two Shadows charged at each other and struck with their Chaos Fists. Mainstream Shadow punched first, sending him back. Mainstream Shadow delivered a series of quick punches and Chaos attacks until finally, his Insurgency counterpart went down on his knees.

"If we're done here… we're wasting time," Mainstream Shadow said.

"This is a mistake," Insurgency Shadow argued.

"You brought us here because you had faith," Mainstream Shadow said calmly. "Faith that we'd uphold the values you've given everything to defend."

"He's right…" Hope's voice echoed and she and Snively emerged out of hiding.

"Hope? Colin?" Insurgency Shadow asked. "What are you doing here?"

Hope continued, "We can't just stand here and do nothing about this. These people from their world are our friends. And a friend never leaves a friend behind." Tears slowly streamed from Hope's eyes, "So please, Shadow. Let them stay. And let them help us. I'm sick and tired of Sonic hurting these people out there."

Snively agreed, "She's right, you know." He held his hand with Hope's, "Their world's Shadow should've been the moral code that drives us Insurgents. They have confidence in us as much as you have, Shadow. So I say, let them stay and fight. If we work together, we can defeat the One-Planet Regime. Give the people of Mobius something to fight for. And we will make the whole world as peaceful as it should be! That is something Dr. Finitevus had wished for!"

Hope tearfully nodded in agreement as she gently leaned on Snively's shoulder, him doing the same. He continued, "By the order of law, authority should be derived from the consent of the governed, not from the threat of force." He scratched his head in confusion, "Does that make sense?"

Shadow added, "Colin was right, and so was Hope. Even if they are living in a different world, their beliefs remain strong to the end. And if anyone can stand up for what they believe in, we can." He turned to Insurgency Shadow and extended a hand, "So trust us. Trust yourself. Trust in others... just as I have learned to trust long ago. And let's end this."

Insurgency Shadow sighed. He thought about all the pain and suffering Sonic the Hedgehog had done over the past five years. But for once, he knew his duplicate was right. He couldn't die unless he had tried every possible option, and this counted as one of them.

Taking his Mainstream counterpart's hand, Insurgency Shadow rose up from the floor and looked at the inter-dimensional transporter.

"You have no idea how to use that thing, do you?" he asked.

"I was hoping you wouldn't figure that out," Mainstream Shadow admitted with a smile.

Just when Insurgency Shadow was about to activate the transporter, electricity crackled over the machine.

"Blast!" Insurgency Shadow cursed.

"What's going on?" Mainstream Shadow asked.

"The dimensional transporter was all out of Chaos Energy," Insurgency Shadow explained. "Unless we restore it to full capacity, we'll never transport anyone from your world into ours."

"Can't you use your Chaos Energy to restore power to the machine?"

"Doing that alone is insufficient. It's too much Chaos Energy for me to transfer, even with you helping me. If only Dr. Finitevus was alive, or if we have the Chaos Emeralds…"

Hope gasped upon hearing those words, "Wait, what did you say?"

Insurgency Shadow repeated, "I said if only we have the Chaos Emeralds, we would restore full power to the dimensional transporter."

Both Hope and Snively nodded to each other. Snively took out a small briefcase behind him, and when he opened it, a bright flash of pure, illuminating light emerged.

Both Shadows couldn't believe their eyes. Could it be…?

A few minutes later, after fixing the dimensional transporter…

"Will it work?" Mainstream Shadow asked his Insurgency double.

"It's worth a try," Insurgency Shadow shrugged.

The two Shadows worked on the controls and suddenly, a blue light appeared from the transporter. It shot forward to slowly form into the outline of a solid figure. As the figure began to come into focus, large quills could be seen pointing downward in the back of its head. It was the symbol of a hedgehog.

Sonic the Hedgehog, the pure good version untouched by this world's Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, had arrived.

And he was ready to help clean up the mess the One-Planet Regime made.