We stare at the destroyed buildings and roads of Grand Metropolis. If one could look at it without knowing what had happened here, they would say it's abandoned.

–Sonic? Tails?...Can you hear me? – A company of ships fly around the high sky, as if overseeing it all. –C'mon guys! We need you!

Somewhere in the alleways of the city, Maria, now wearing some kind of leotard dress, looks frustrated at the walkie-talkie in her hands, an unsure looking Amy following suit, glancing at the destroyed city. –Maria, you´ve been messing with this thing for hours. –

Amy puts a hand on Maria's shoulder, looking sympatheticly at the hedgehog. –They're probably just busy dealing what however's doing this. We will find Sonic before we know it. –

–And the others. –

–Yeah, uh, that too. – Maria tries to hold out a giggle at Amy's infatuation. –You're right, let´s just go. I don´t wanna miss out on any survivors. –

–But most of them already evacuated the city as soon as the News broke out! –Shocked to see that the voice didn't belonged to both of them, Amy and Maria turned around to see Cream standing awardkly in the middle of them. While still wearing her samey dress, she´s now wearing a jacket and some jeans to go along. Maria looks more puzzled than anything else.

–Cream, what are you doing here? –

–I wanted to help, so I followed you here! –

–Cream, this is dangerous. More so than usual. – Cream looks a little frustrated, a tear almost failling from her eyes . – I-I can't just stay put, wondering if my friends will die or not. I just...I can't. –

–Cream...

–You know I can fight. You teached me. –

–Were you listening to anything I was saying? –

–Uh, guys? – Amy looks silgithly worried at both of them, yet their mumbling continues on.

–You also teached me to never give up from who I am. –

–That doesn't come t—Suddenly, they both stop bickering as a grunt can be heard from Amy as a large metal hands grabs her. Maria and Cream share a determined look between each other as they stare at the robot, an Omega unit. The number on his head indicates that he's the version E-632. Amy simply looks annoyed at her state.

– Why am I always the damsel in distress? – Cream wastes no time as she rolls up into a ball and runs at Omega. Maria tries to stop her, but it's too late. –Cream! Wait! –

She hits the unmovable Omega, falling to the ground, and rubbing her head in pain. She looks up to see E-632 . Amy looks terrified, there's nothing she can do except stare as the robot draws and aim it´s punch at the fallen Cream. Suddenly, Maria comes at the robot in full force, kicking and making him go trough a window inside one of the buildings. Maria runs up to the building. Inside it we can see the fallen Omega, a hole in his heart, with Amy trying to get out of it's grip, and failing to do so.

Maria appears on the scene, holding the robots hands, opening them as Amy quickly gets out of them. Still close to the robot, Amy gives out a thumbs up. –Thanks. – As Maria's about to respond with a sassy remark, Omega glows a bright blinking light as he takes Amy by the leg, who screams in pain at the force.

Maria grabs the panicked Amy as the robot tries to push her further. As her grip is about to give in, Cream comes in and holds into both, forming a circle between each other. The robot begins to shake rapidly, shaking the buildings collums as pieces of debrees already fall on the ground. Amy sadly glances between her friends, Maria a determined face as she tries to keep her grip, and Cream seemgly scared for he life.

–You have to let me go. This piece of junk wants to take us all with him! –

–We´re not letting you go Amy! –Maria turns to look at the entrance of the building, it closing as more and more rubble falls, yet she keeps looking at the hole in the wall. And as the building is about to completely fall on them, suddenly they just...dissapear in a puff.

They simply appear outside of the knocked building, as if they were moved. All the girls keep their eyes closed, not saying a world for a few seconds. But as Maria feels the wind on her quills. She decides to slowly open her eyes. Her face a mix of shock and happiness. –Amy, Cream, open your eyes! We're alive. –

Cream rapidly opens her eyes, and Amy is the last to open her eyes, looking quite confused.

–We´re alive? – Amy turns ecstatic. She grabs the other two and hugs them with all her strenght. The girls all share their happiness at being alive, giggling at each other. After the adrelaline passes, they get out of each other's grip, Amy back to being confused. – Wait, how are we alive? –

–I'm guessing it has something to do with this. – Taking out from one of the pockets in her dress is a chaos emerald. She shows it to her friends as they look in awe. –Sonic wanted me to keep it just in case something happened. I guess he was right. –

As Maria stares puzzled at the emeralds, as if trying to figure out it's misteries, she feels someone touching her shoulders. She turns to look at Cream, embarassingly rubbing her hands and looking at the ground. –I-I´m sorry, Maria...I was wrong in coming here, I almost got you two killed. –

–Will you believe me when I tell you something is too dangerous for you? –

–Yes! You won't regret it. –

–I trust you Cream. But you need to know that now, there's no turning back. –

–Yeah...

–Anyway...I'm happy you're here with us. – Maria rapidly hugs Cream, making the rabbit a little embarassed at the affection. Suddenly, a huge explosion can be heard from afar. Maria looks thoughtfull at it. –Huh, guess we found them. – Without warning the other two, she runs towards the explosion. Amy and Cream hurriedly follow behind. –Maria! Wait up! –

We stare at one of the destroyed Omega units. 5 or 6 are limp on the ground. Nowhere near being close to functioning. In the middle of the pile, there stays two diferent teams staring at each other. The three members of the chaotix detecive agency, and a pletra of armed bounty hunters, all being lead by a very angry Rouge.

–You're not in Kansas anymore, kids. Go away. NOW. –

–Listen lady, we're not getting ot of here until we paid by whoever hired us. –

–You mean...you don't even know who hired you? That's just great! Fire up, boys! – At this command, the hunters start firing at the detectives. Espio dissapears, Charmy flies out of range, and Vector awakardly tries to dodge the bullets in a panicked state. –Some team you guys are! – Vector exclaims angrily, however, he quickly regains his composure and runs at full force enemies, making them fall down like bowling pins.

Espio appears behind an worried Rouge. As he tries to go for a punch, she smiles and quickly turns around to block him, as they engage in battle, while Charmy simply dodges bullets on the sky. From up one of the buildings, wacthing the whole thing play out, is Team Dark-Rose. Amy and Cream share a puzzled face. Amy sighs, looking worried at Maria. –We aren't going there...are we? –

Maria points at an horde of Omega units coming close to them. –We need to warm them. –

–But—Before Amy can say something else, Maria jumps out of the buildings. Amy looks with annoyance at Cream, who simply shrugs it off with an smile and follows Maria.

On the ground, it's chaos, both sides trying to gain the upper hand. –Guys? – Espio throws one of his ninja bombs on the ground, blinding everyone in sight, the hunters shooting at whatever's moving. –Guys. – Vector and Espio team up to try to take down Rouge, their fighting styles complemanting each other. –Guys! – Suddenly, the chaos stops everyone, EVERYONE, stops to look at Maria in the middle of the battlefield.

–WHAT?! – Maria is slightly embarassed by all the starring, but continues anyway. –Huh, well...I-I just wanted to say that some of those robots guys are coming here, so... –

Rouge looks angrily at Maria, finally recognizing her. – Wait a minute, you´re that girl that sent me all the way back to the pacific! –Maria cringes to herself, not particurlarly wanting to hear that conversation. –I...I did? Strange, isn't? – Maria gives an somewhat awkardly smile, making the bat even more angry. –Why, you! –

–Okay, sorry about this, but you gave me no option! – Maria's body starts to glow blue, and in a flash of light, the blue energy envelops them. The effects are instantenious. Rouge and Espio turn to look at each other.

–You...you're cute. –

–I like your outfit. –

–You do, huh? – From afar, we can also see Vector hugging the other hunters, and Charmy flying uncontrolably in the air. –I'm surprised you don't do this more often. –

Maria looks exasperated at the annoyed Amy. –Trust me, there's a reason for that! And...it drains a lot of my energy. – Cream seems more worried than them, rubbing the back of her neck anxiously, glancing back at the horde.

–What about the robots? They're getting close. –

–Usually the effects of my energy don't last that long, but I don't think we have much time for that, do we? – Amy worriedly glances at the robots below. –What are we going to do then? –

Maria looks thoughtfull of the Chaos Emerald on her hand, before glancing up at the ships in the sky. It seems to be getting closer to them. –Maybe I can use the teleporting thing to get us over there? – Amy doesn't seem to like the ideia. –Great, Out of the frying pan and into the fire.–

–What? No, think about it. If our friends are here, they're probably up there. We've already looked everywhere on the city. –

–Maria, are you sure you can teleport all these people? I mean, you've just discovered this thing.–

–We don't have much time to figure out that right now, do we? – Next thing we know, our team easily manages to put all of them in a circle. Because of the blue energy, it wasn't that easy to have them hold hands togehter. Maria begins to grow yellow, the wind beging to level up, and suddenly, they're no where near to be seen.

We now find ourselves inside the ship. Cold and metallic instruments fill the room. The whole group is there in a flash. Maria slowly open her eyes to the confused glances of the group.

–Where are we? –

–What happened? –It seems the effects of the energy wore off. Amy and Cream seem dizzy from the travel, and Maria seems like the only one who wasn't affected by it. Sounds of destruction can be heard outside the room.

–What the...? Who are you people?! – Sitting on the ground, shocked at the sudden intruders, is an dishevelled Eggman. Maria instantly locks eyes with him. – There you are, doctor. It seems you have some explaining to do. – Eggman laughs sarcastically at her.

–Ah, yes, my ex-niece. Just for curiosity sake, tell me. How is it like to live among such inferior beings? – Maria's anger gets the best of her, and she runs to the doctor, holding him by the neck. – Tell off the attack! You've done enough damage already! –

–Look at me! Do you really think I had anything to do with this? –

–Then who? –

–That traitor copycat! He's imprisoned me here and took control of the Omega units. The fool thought he could control them, but he forgot they were just as ungratefull as he is. – As Maria is about to retort, she is stopped by a huge sound coming from around the ship. The group all stop what they were doing to stare at the door with expectetion. The sounds gets louder and louder until the door breaks and we're revealed to the battle going on outside.

Neo Metal Sonic is seem fighting hordes upon hordes of Omega units. He's doing well, but whener he destroys one unit, another take its place. Getting nowhere, Metal commands his badnicks to attack, while remaining to look for another plan. Maria runs up to the door, glancing at the outside. In the middle of the robots, she finds a dishevelled, tired looking Sonic.

–Sonic! – Maria rushes towards the blue hedgehog, jumping and spindashing through any robots in her way. She crouches down to observe Sonic, checking for any fatal wounds. But Sonic raises his hand in protest. –It's...it's good to see you, Maria. But we don't have much time. You've seen what they did to the city. – Maria nods at him, even though her expression is anything but reassured.

–Sonic I...I don't know how much more I can take. I know I may look tough, but inside...I'm just that frail little girl back at the ARK. – Sonic smiles sympatheticly at her. This was something he knew all too well.

–You're so much more than that now. There's people counting on us. On you. I know this is a lot of responsibility for a first timer, but...you seem to be doing a pretty good job so far. And, although it may look like it, you're not alone. – Maria looks more reassured and determined now. She turns to look at Cream as she's saving one of the hunters from the badnicks. Maria smile brightly and turns her attention to Sonic. –It seems that way. What do you need me to do? –

Neo Metal Sonic sees himself in front of a long screen, wacthing as the badnicks fight off the Omega units, both in the ship and the city. He watches silently, only his eyes giving away his frustration. The sound of something breaking can be heard. So Metal turns his back to see an embarassed Maria standing close to an broken jar.

–H-Hey Metal, sorry about the jar, I...who put this here anyway? –

–Cease your mumbling. Tell me why you're here. – Maria looks amazed at him.

–Wow, you can talk now. Cool. –

–I can do much more than just talk. I can do...anything I want. –

–Why are you still here then? – Metal takes a step back in shock, not expecting such a question. –What? – Is all he can mutter.

–You have free will, your master's no longer here. So why the obssesion with being the best still? You can do whatever you want! – Metal is again taken aback. Holding himself in a more robotic manner.

–While I may have free will...my directives still stand. I'm still an machine with an objective to finish. –

–Liar. – Maria gets closer, angrily locking eyes with him.

–I know how you don't like being in the backstage. How angry you get when you lose, how sad you get when the doctor treates just like another one of his robots. – Maria slowly gets a grip on Metal's hand, holding it tightly. –You never tasted any other emotions. Happiness, joy...love. They are all locked to you, aren't they? –

Metal snatches his hand away from Maria relunctantly, the closennes between them still the same. Metal seems unsure for the first time. –I...No. I can't. –

–I'm really sorry about this Metal, but I don't have much time. – Taking advantage of their closeness and Metal's unsureness, Maria punches him in the middle, taking the three emeralds inside his body and throwing him far away. Maria looks on slightly before running out of the room.

Metal slowly stands up, his eyes and manerisms clearly showing anger. With full energy, he runs after Maria as she runs for her life, Metal getting closer and closer. His body grows bigger as parts of the room fly off and bond with him one by one. Suddenly, something drags Maria out of the monster's path. Maria opens her eyes to find Sonic standing closer to her, looking even more tired. –I wish I had more time to explain this to you, but I don't. Grab a hold of my hand and just...do whatever I do, okay? – Maria quickly nods and grabs his hand.

They stand together as the air begins to move, the four emeralds she and Sonic had and the three she stole from Metal come together, forming a circle around them as they begin to glow. And in flash of light, they are changed. Sonic is in his usual yellow super form, Maria being the same, only now there's a bright red color in place where the yellow stripes should be on her body. She beamly smiles at her transformation as well as the feeling of power that it gives.

–This is awesome! I didn't know it felt this incredible! – Sonic smiles at her excitedness.

–Yeah...but like I said, we don't have much time. –

–Right, lead the way. – She still holds an amused expression as they both take flight. They can see all the fight going around them. Amy and Cream along with the others try to fight off the the badnicks along with some of the Omega units, while Tails and Knuckles aid them.

Suddenly, appearing out of the edge of the ship is Metal, now in his Overlord form, looking lizard\dragon like in his apperance. Sonic looks determined at the monster. – I'm gonna handle Metal, help out our friends with robots, will ya? – Maria nods as both fly into their respective mission.

Just as we see Tails and Knuckles about to engage on one the Omega units, the golden form of Maria comes dashing and going through the robot's body. Roll after roll of Omega units fall as they come in contact with her. Maria smile and waves at an shocked Amy and an excited Cream. –Hi guys! Cream, Amy. – Besides that, she didn't have a lot of time to Interact with her friends. She was just...happy they were safe.

As she fought, the weight of her powers were freeing. She felt she could just do anything. If only she had it earlier, this power...then maybe she would still have her uncle. But at the same time, she had a family here now. She didn't felt ouf of place anymore. In fact, she never felt happier. Her reflection in the shiny robots were not that of her human form, but who she was now. She had embraced her new predictment. And she was not going to let all this go so soon.

Out in the corner of her eye, she sees Sonic alone fighting the Metal Overlord. Seemgly needing help, Maria flungs to his side. Something instantly takes a hold of her, and she grabs Sonic's hands. –Maria, what are y—

–Chaos Control! –

A surge of power enter their bodies, Maria aims their hands at the monster, as a ray of light passes through it, evaporating the monster and leaving only the carcass of Metal Sonic as it falls on the ground. Sonic watches as the sky slowy gets clearler and clearlear, and the sun begins to set. He turns to look at Maria, a smile on his face. –That was awesome! You gotta teach me that sometime...Maria? – His face quickly turns into a frown as he sees a golden blur destroying every ship around her, getting dangerously close to their friends.

Sonic runs towards her, hands up as if in protest. –Oh, uh...hey! Calm down, it's over! –Maria suddenly stops to stare him down. Her eyes are replaced by an red spiral,her stripes are growing even more red. She's clearly not herself as her response comes out more as a snarl than anything.

–No! It's never over! They will keep coming back until there's nothing left! Until I'm alone again! – Maria punches Sonic with all her strenght, making him back up to the other side of the ship. Sonic quickly recomposes himself just in time to catch another of Maria's punches. They wrestle in the sky, one trying to overpower the other. –Maria, please! You're not yourself, it's the emeralds! You're taking their negative energy! –

–Let me go! They will never hurt me again! – Sonic holds her in a hug. Not knowing what to do, he decides to try something out. –Chaos is power...power enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the chaos. Remember who you are, Maria. Please. – Maria seems to calm down. Her super form fades, and tears stream down her face.

She looks up at Sonic with sad eyes. –Sonic, I– As a reponse , Sonic quickly hugs her. –It's okay, it's okay. The power...that wasn't you. –They stay like this for a little while.

Sonic lazily falls on the grass below him, he seems better, but still tired. –Phew! I feel like could sleep for days! – The had regrouped in Tails's lab. Most were alreayd gone, leaving only Tails, Cream, Sonic and Maria, who herself is glancing quietly at Sonic's wounds. He smiles as he notices it.

–Hey, don't worry about it, okay? And besides, this isn't my first rodeo. – Maria nods, and wanting to let him rest, she walks over to Cream, looking thoughtfully at the ground. She smiles awkardly when she sees Maria. –Hey, uh...I was thinking...maybe I should stop adventuring for a while. – Maria smiles sarcastically. –Really, now? –

–Yeah, after all we've gone through...I just want to be with my mom. –Maria closes her eyes as painfull memories come back to her. –I-I know how you fell. Give her a hug for me, okay? – Cream silently nods before bidding farewell to them, slowing dissapearing on the horizon. A hand touches her shoulder, and she turns to smile at the owner of it.

– Hey Tails! Thanks for agreeing to fix Metal. I know you don't like him, but–

–Erm...actually, there's another thing I wanted to show you. –

Standing in the midlle of Tails's workshop, a portal like structutre shines over them. Maria looks over in awe. –You did it? –

–Took me a while to figure it out, but with Eggman's blueprints and the Chaos Emeralds I was able to. –

–You did it! –Maria runs up to Tails and happily hugs him, making the fox in question blush slightly. – It was nothing, really. So, do you want to turn it on now or...? –

Maria looks silently at the portal, it's shiny surface reflecting her hedgehog body. –I...I don't know. After all this time, I– Tails puts a hand on her shoulder. –You don't have to right now. Wait some time to figure things out. –

Maria holds herself in thought, before turning back to Tails. –No. I need to know what happened. I need to move on, but...I can't just forget where I come from either. – Tails nods at her before unsurely pressing a button on his computer. Metallic sounds can be heard from the machine. It slowly begins to create a portal around them.

Maria looks expectantly at it, the edge of her mouth turning into a smile. The portal stops making sounds as it's completely finished. Complete silence overtake the scene.

Maria's hopefull face turns into that of disgust and horror, Tails doesn't know what to say as he looks in awe. In pain, Maria bents down, looking over at the portal one more time. Inside it, destroyed buildings and roads can be seen as two winged gray creatures patrol the blood red skies. In the middle of it all, stands a large black comet, it's tendrills attaching itself to the terrain around it. This is no longer Earth as Maria knew it. This is the world of Black Doom.