A/N: Time for chapter 35 people. As I hinted in the last one, we'll see how the heroes act as they begin to notice their numbers getting low. We'll also see what's been going on with the villains as of late.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Sega and Archie besides my OC.

Nicole couldn't help but feel nervous as she stood in front of the council. She knew very well what they would say as most of the population had been pushing for her removal since the Iron Dominion fiasco. It was still hurtful and ironic in every sense: the very being who made a home for everyone when Eggman destroyed Knothole was about to be exiled from her own abode. But, she wouldn't show them any weakness. Nicole hoped that maybe with her gone, everyone's fears would subside and she might be allowed to return. Might be sooner though for two reasons: Eggman's Death Egg was out there, and there wasn't anyone who could run the city as effective as herself. As Kor pointed out, they might be 'begging' her to come back.

"Nicole the Lynx, Stewardess of New Mobotropolis, you have been called here today so we may decide the fate as to whether you may continue to live amongst us." Penelope stated.

"During the Iron Dominion's occupation, you came under the control of the Iron Queen herself and used to capture most of the city's inhabitants. While we do not blame you personally for that incident, many of the citizens have been scared stiff because of it. They fear that you might lose control again, which would put the city in danger once more. Do you agree?" Rosemary asked.

"Yes." Nicole answered with a straight face.

"And because of that, we feel it would be best if you were not in control of the city's mainframe for an uncertain amount of time. Sorry to say, but everyone thinks you are too dangerous and we believe you are a potential liability." Rosemary explained.

"To put it simply, you shall be exiled from this city. To keep everyone safe, you shall remain in Freedom HQ for an unclosed amount of time." Naugus explained. "All in favor?"

All of the council approved of this notion, except for one person.

"OBJECTION!" Rotor shouted.

"What is your reason Rotor?" Rosemary asked.

"In case you all forget, Nicole built this city when Eggman destroyed Knothole! She's been a freedom fighter ever since we first found her, and despite what happened during the Iron Dominion, everyone should be willing to forgive her!" The walrus explained.

"I'm sorry Rotor, I really am, but it's what the people want..." Charles told him.

"Well if the people want to make decisions based off their overexaggerated fears, then I'm done making decisions for them..." Rotor said as he promptly got out of his seat and started to leave.

"Wait, Rotor! You don't need to-" Nicole started.

"Sorry Nicole, but I just can't believe the nerve of everyone..." The walrus said as he left the room.

"Well, that was rather amusing." Naugus said, earning a few glares from the council, which he ignored. "We'll make auditions for another council member in due time. As for you A.I., you are no longer needed here."

Nicole shot a glare at the wizard as the nanites that made up her hologram dispersed. Soon, she exited the city's mainframe entirely.

-Kor's Hanger-

"Come on Doc, pick up...you couldn't have gotten yerself into that much trouble..." The fox said as he paced around the room. The endless drone of the ring tone was grating on his nerves by now.

"Eh, hello?" A german accent was heard on the line.

"Klaus! What took you so long to answer the damn phone?!" Kor said a little too irritably.

"Sorry sorry, I just got out of a meeting with ze commander. Turns out ze modified mediguns had some...unintended side effects."

"Like what?"

"Well, vhere do I start? Sudden seizures, heart failures, rapid blood loss, and amuzingly someone once had there wounds open up further." Klaus laughed.

"Ok, sorry I asked...look, I'm pretty sure yer boss told ya Eggman resurfaced recently right?" The engineer asked.

"Ah yes, zomething about zome egg-shaped flying fortress?"

"Yeah...look I'll explain it later but I need ya to come to New Mobotropolis quick. Antoine and Bunnie...they got messed up somethin' fierce on our last mission. They're lucky to be alive but their in comas now...think you can work your magic? At least to heal them better...Dr. Quack did all he could and we ain't got nothin' else left, and mah dispenser isn't strong enough to heal 'em..."

"I see...vell I vill see if I can stop by today. Ze commander von't let me out of his sight due to my miscalculations with ze civic mediguns, but ze one I used during our old days should work fine." Klaus explained.

"Alright...here's ta hopin'. See ya later Doc." Kor turned off the phone. "Well, at least that's some good news. Now for a new sentry..."

Kor mulled over some of his previous options when building the damn thing. Those restrictions imposed on him by the council had really screwed his ability to make his sentry as deadly as possible in the past. However, this time, he was going to have to build it without their knowledge. One thing he kept in mind was the use of treads over wheels. Treads make it easier to grip the ground, but then again the sentry probably couldn't move as quick compared to if it had been wheeled, something he didn't have the time to test in the past.

The engineer began to smirk as his brain was putting together an experiment. If wheels turned out to be better, they could be easily modified for several situations. Also if they turned out to be better, he'd be slapping himself over not doing it sooner. Kor grabbed some blueprints and made his way over to a teleporter that went to the HQ. Last thing he wanted to was to be disturbed by some eavesdropping soldiers.

-Freedom HQ: Common Room-

Sonic was lying on the couch, mulling over recent events. Normally the hedgehog wouldn't let a loss get to him, but with everything that happened, especially at how often it was occuring these days, Sonic almost felt like the time Eggman beat him into submission with his Egg Beater. What was there to not be sad about? Naugus had the crown, Antoine and Bunnie were in comas, and Sally...he still beats on himself just thinking about what happened to her. Maybe if he was fast enough he could've stopped her, or perhaps he should've realized the Egg Dome was the Death Egg in disguise. One thing he was certain about, was that it was too late to do much about it now. The Freedom Fighters had too few numbers at this point to be effective, so what was the point now?

Sonic's ears perked when he heard the front door opening. "Sonic? You in here?" It was Tails.

"On the couch..." He replied.

"You ok?" Sonic looked up and saw Amy was here too.

"No...I just don't what else to do guys...as much as I hate to admit it, Eggman and and Naugus have us beat...I don't think there's much else we can do..."

"Sonic, don't say such things! Even when the bad guys managed to score a win, you never gave up!" Amy retorted.

"Plus, you taught everyone here how to fight! It's because of you that everyone became rallied and stepped up to fight people like Eggman. Many people look up to you, including myself of course." Tails added.

"They're right ya know." The trio looked up and saw Kor walking down the stairs with rolled up blueprint paper. "Eggman and Naugus may have won the battle, but this war is far from over Sonic. We still got a chance to win this. Hell, just a day ago we made the fatman retreat when he could've wiped us fer good. Yeah, things seem bad now, but after a little talk I had, I think we just need to change strategies."

"What do you mean Kor?" Sonic asked.

"He means, we'll need more help to tackle these new threats." Rotor said, coming out of a hallway.

"Ok, is everyone coming out of the shadows today?" The blue blur asked.

Rotor chuckled. "No, I was here for awhile, just needed to let off some steam. Anyway, as you may know already, the council exiled Nicole to the HQ...I wasn't going continue working with the council since they were willing to banish someone despite all the good they did for them, so I left. The only way I can do some actual good is by returning to active duty."

"You sure Rotor? What if yer back flares up again?" The engineer asked.

"Don't worry about it, I may still be reeling a little from the attack on Knothole, but I have something planned to compensate." The walrus replied.

"You see Sonic? You always have people you can count on to help you. We'll get through this, all of it. Now will you quit being so melanchaly?" Amy stated.

The hedgehog couldn't help but agree. As many times as he's kicked villianous butt all over the world, why should he let this bring him down? It was one of those 'rare' victories the bad guy gets, before the heroes utterly curbstomp them. Of course, it'll be difficult to defeat them, especially since Eggman and Naugus had the odds in their favor, but with his friends, the hedgehog believed things would turn out all right.

"You guys are right! So what if Robuttnik and Count Ugly won this one? We'll just bounce back at hit 'em hard! Sonic style!" The hedgehog jumped out of his seat, striking a heroic pose.

"Hope we didn't stroke his ego too much." Kor chuckled.

Amy lightly elbowed his chest. "Oh hush."

"So how are we gonna tackle Eggman and Naugus at the same time?" The blue hedgehog questioned.

"It's quite simple. We'll split into two groups: one will hunt down Eggman while the other will protect New Mobotropolis." Rotor stated.

"Well, I know what team I'll be on. I got a score to settle with the good doctor." Sonic smirked.

"I'm with Sonic." Tails said. "Also, T-Pup can handle communications between the two teams."

"I go wherever Sonic goes." Amy said with a flirtatious smirk, causing the blue hedgehog to sweat a little.

"And I'm guessing you'll be defending the city Kor?" Rotor asked.

"Actually, I'm gonna help hunt down that Egghead."

Everyone was a bit surprised. Given that Kor's combat style was more defensive oriented, they expected he'd be at home holding down the fort. However, they couldn't ignore the fact he was becoming more and more on the offense as this conflict dragged on.

"Now Sonic, Tails, Amy...I have faith in y'all prowess, but with so little numbers now, I fear y'all may get outgunned out there. So to level the playing feeling, I'm bringin' more guns to the table." The engineer smirked. "Also it be good to get out and see the world some. However, there's one thing I'm concerned with: I know I spent a great deal buildin' up the city's defenses, but they can't do everything, and neither can you Rotor."

"Don't worry about that. I'll start an audition to see whose willing to stand up and help, and I'm sure there are quite a few willing to become freedom fighters." The walrus explained.

"We still gotta pass through the council right?" Kor asked.

"Unfortunately yes..." The walrus replied.

"Well y'all get started. I got a new project to work on." The engineer said, motioning to his blueprints.

"If I had to guess, it's about a replacement sentry. Should I let the council know?"

"Heck no. No offense to you Rot, but the restrictions imposed on my sentry are part of the reason it was destroyed in combat. This project is gonna be officially off the record, so I don't want the council to be hearin' a peep about it." Kor explained.

Rotor nodded. "Alright. Come on guys, let's go. Hopefully they should agree, well except Naugus."

"Yeah but who cares what he thinks." Sonic said as they walked to the door.

Nicole monitored the whole conversation from within the lab's main computer. While she was happy the everyone else would be able to handle the issues at hand, she was a little sad that she would be unable to do anything. The exile imposed on her had stripped her of any sort of presense in New Mobotropolis, though technically there was no way the people or the council would be able to detect her presence if she was there illegally.

The A.I sighed to herself as she watched everyone go about their business. By now Kor was the only other person there, focusing hard on drawing up his new project. She supposed he could use her help again, at least to get it to come into fruition faster. However, the lynx was unaware that she would get a chance to make things right on a much bigger scale.

-The Death Egg-

It was late in the day. The ship had recently restocked and refueled at one of the many depots Eggman had built around the world, and everything was getting underway to resume normal operations. However, everything was suddenly put on hold as alarms began to blare all over the flying fortress.

"What in blazes is going on now?!" Eggman said as he rolled over to his desk computer.

However, he quickly found that he could not access his Eggnet. How in the world could someone block him out of his own network? Either someone from the outside managed to hack his system, or there was a traitor in his army. The latter wouldn't be too surprising. He pressed a button on the desk and a section of the wall opened up, revealing a yellow and black cube and a red and black sphere. Both shapes opened to reveal they were identically designed robots.

"Orbot! Cubot! Make yourselves useful and hack your way into my system! I need to found out whose trying to do me in this time." The doctor ordered.

"As you wish doctor. However, I wonder how someone as smart as you can't hack your own way in." Orbot stated.

"Did I really program you with that much sass?..." Eggman said, clearly annoyed.

"Actually yes."

"Remind me to remove that function..."

"Arr! Ye system be easy to crack! It will only take but a wee minute to crack." Cubot said in a pirate accent.

"And remind me to fix that idiot's voice chip. I never got around to doing it when I first built him..." The doctor said.

The two robots connected to the network wirelessly and began to remove the restrictions. Upon finding out who hacked the system, Cubot was rather surprised at what they found, but for Orbot, not so much. They disconnected once they made sure the doctor would have basic access. Knowing Eggman, he gets impatient very quickly.

"Sir, you may want to look at the data we found." Orbot said, printing out a piece of paper from his mouth.

Eggman snatched it from him before looking it over. "So, it seems that runt has finally made his move. I was wondering when he would finally grow a spine." He pressed the button for the communication system. "Attention all robots! Find that traitor Snively and bring him to me immediately!"

As for the short man himself, he ran down a corridor while Eggman was still trying to hack his way back in. "Blocking that fool out of the network should give me enough time to make my escape. Knowing him, he'll make some robot do it instead. Once I get out of this nuthouse, I'll find Hope, then work on finding my sweet Regina!" He gloated to himself.

Snively found an elevator and rode it down to a hanger. As he stepped out, he heard Eggman's command over the PA system. "Guess he figured it out quicker than I thought..."

He ran for the nearest aircraft and climbed in. Two Egg Swats approach him, ordering his surrender. Snively responds by blasting them both with a laser pistol he stole from the armory. After a quick startup, he jets out of the fortress. Only reason he wasn't fired at was due to him turning off the radars as well.

Eggman grumbled as he continued to fix the mess Snively left behind. Orbot and Cubot had once again reconnected to the network, but the sphere robot found something interesting. "Sorry to bother you sir, but it appears the rest of the Dark Egg Legion may think you are deceased."

"Wait, what?! What makes you say that foolish statement?!"

"I'm uploading it to you now sir." Orbot stated.

Eggman looked over the message that was sent out to the other DEL chapters. It seems the short man sent a message claiming that Eggman was dead and the Dark Egg Legion was officially disbanded. At that moment, several video feeds appeared on his screen, each of them containing a robot who believes it captured Snively. However, the doctor saw through the trick immediately, especially when the 'Snivelys' self-destructed, killing their captors.

"I'll admit, Snively has gotten quite a head start on our game of chess. But once I have my sources back in order, things will go my way." Eggman grinned evilly.

A few minutes later he had everything restored. Then, a little after that, he summoned the leaders of all the Dark Egg Legion chapters around the globe into a meeting room via teleportation, including Lien-Da who was just down the hall. Just about all of them were upset because not only was Eggman still alive, they were in the middle of their own personal agendas: Bill Platypus was writing a letter for peace in Downunda, Conquering Storm was about to slay a thief, and Beauregard was chatting with Matilda for examples.

"Welcome to the Death Egg my fellow underlings! I'm here to inform you that, despite the false message you received earlier, I am still very much alive!" He grinned. "Also, the reason I called you all here is to make sure you're all on track and not slacking off!"

"I already gave you my arms and my allegience! You ought to show me some respect, especially now that I've got these killer cybernetics!" Drago protested, getting out of his seat.

"You mean the ones that will explode if I give a simple voice command?" Eggman retorted, quite amused.

"Yeah! Those...I...wait, what?" The wolf said after realizing he was literally a walking bomb.

"Sit. Down." Eggman ordered. The wolf complied, grumbling something no one quite caught.

"Now then, as I was saying before being rudely interrupted," the doctor glared at Drago, "your primary objective is to find the blue chaos emerald. It went missing after Sonic once again managed to throw a wrench into my plans. The chapter to find and deliver the gem to me will be greatly rewarded! The quicker it's found, the greater my generosity will be. Try to keep it, and your punishment shall be legendary." He finished with an evil smirk. "You are to also be on the lookout for Snively. The runt decided to jump ship, and he could be anywhere by now. You're all dismissed." With that, all the grandmasters were teleported back to their locations, except Lien-Da. She just walked out the room.

With that settled, Eggman headed to the main hanger with Orbot and Cubot in tow.

"Dr. Eggman, I'd like to inform you that our tracking devices are still operational, and it appears Snively is heading towards Central City." Orbot stated.

"Hmm, I wonder if Snively forgot to disable those or he's baiting me into a trap. Either way, when we catch up to him, the game will becoming interesting." He grinned. The trio then boarded a very large aircraft called the Egg 'Stache Flyer, the ship in question looking just like the doctor's infamous facial hair. The ship exited the fortress, ready to begin the game of cat and mouse.

A/N: Welp, that's 35 for you all. I would make it longer, but decided to use the rest I write in the next chapter. I hope y'all enjoyed reading this one, and Happy New Year.