Hello again. At this point, I've started to get more used to writing longer chapters. Not drastically so, but enough to get the important details out of every chapter. With that out of the way, enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 9: No More Silver Lining

Eggman's Base-one year ago

Dr. Eggman was lounging about in his surveillance room. He was wired to his personal advanced VR system which was hooked up to his own computer. He was having a blast whatever he was playing, as it was displayed on the forty-inch monitor located above the control panel. Eggman had taken control of a giant mech in his videogame and was simulating beating Sonic to a blue smudge on the ground. At least, that was what he was trying to do. Turns out his own game was too much for him, and the fake hedgehog was still kicking Eggmans butt. "Hold still!" Eggman was so invested in his game, that he failed to notice Metal Sonic, accompanied by Orbot and Cubot entering the room.

"We're back boss!" Cubot energetically blurts out. Eggman's first response is a high-pitched shriek, followed shortly by a routine berating.

"I thought I told all of you that this room was off-limits from two to four!" Eggman snaps his head toward the three bot's direction, losing focus on his game. "This is a strict protocol that you all must follow."

*Here I come!* The speakers of Eggman's game played into the doctor's ears. Eggman quickly shifts his head to see that game Sonic is winding up a spindash right into the doctor's face. With no time to react, the blue blur wallops right through the mech, giving Eggman a 'Game Over' screen in his headset. Eggman removes his headset and stares down the three bots with a furious demeanor. Steam practically fumes out of his ears and nose.

"You better have a good reason for the sudden interruption." Metal Sonic wastes no time pulling out a thumb drive from the back of his head. Metal extends his arm, offering the chip to Eggman. Eggman seems mostly pleased as he snatches the chip away. He plugs it into his computer and downloads the data onto his monitor. In a few seconds, a broadcast pops up, showing a playback of two planets orbiting around each other. "I thought this satellite's feed lost signal. How did you get it back?"

"Metal went there himself to retrieve the data."

"Huh, Didn't think I'd see Planet Wisp anytime soon."

"Don't look at Planet Wisp." Orbot chimed in. "Planet Hymn is the one to focus on." Eggman feasts his eyes upon the planet. It is lush with life, with small pockets of city lights to see beyond its atmosphere. However, after enhancing and zooming into the broadcast, Eggman spots a deep and large crater on the surface of the planet, leaking out a purplish ooze onto the crust. Eggman's mood flips, and now he is in a much more devious frame of mind.

"Interesting. Could that aura of energy be from the core? No, that can't be the core." Eggman further analyzed. "Some sort of kindling. I must find out more."

"There is also some bad news." Cubot once again blurted.

"What do you mean, 'bad news'?" Orbot hovers to the control panel and presses the fast-forward button. The feed zooms past multiple hours until stopping. Eggman spots a small spec between planets, and upon further inspection and enhancing, Eggman makes out some sort of ship. "What is that?" Before Eggman could fully process the ship, a laser bolt is shot from the main cannons and penetrates the satellite, killing the feed. All that is left on play was static.

"Metal made the trip in a day to recover what was left. There were barely any remnants of the satellite, but he came back with the thumb drive that was installed." Eggman looked at Orbot more confused than satisfied.

"He found the thumb drive in the satellite?"

"What was left of it."

"That doesn't seem right. I don't put those kinds of chips in my satellites-" Eggman froze for a moment. It wasn't possible for Metal to find that kind of hard drive on there. There was no practical use for it in any of his designs. And he sure didn't give Metal the capability of holding onto a thumb drive itself. With all of that in mind, Eggman had only one conclusion. "Oh no." Eggman cricks his head back to his computer and looks at the USB ports and sees the thumb drive placed in.

"Boss? What is it?" As Cubot finishes speaking, the power shuts off to the whole room, and the monitor flickers and glitches out of control. Sparks fly from the ports and plugs, causing Eggman to take cover beneath his chair. Below his desk, Eggman flips a switch labeled, 'emergency power'. The lights come back on, but with a red tint and dimmer glare. Eggman gets back on his feet. Just then, the monitor flickers back to another feed, but not one out of familiarity to Eggman. Appearing in front of the doctor was a hooded individual. His face was covered by their cloak, which was a royal purple with golden seams.

*So, it seems you've discovered us, Dr. Eggman.* The hooded figure said. *I am the Highest Oracle of the Abyss Voyagers. I must personally thank you for exposing your planet to us.*

"If you think you're going to take this planet that I rightfully deserve to conquer, then you have a war headed your way." Eggman responded.

*Heh, I doubt it'll last long.* Suddenly, Metal Sonic seizes both Cubot's and Orbot's necks. Eggman turns around, shocked. *We had fun dissecting your little pet. I bet it'll have fun dissecting you.* Metal's eyes fade away, soon rebooting back up, revealing a brand new pair of eyes. The irises have been replaced by a circle pattern of kitsune tails. Metal squeezes his hands and crushes Orbot and Cubot to pieces. Eggman slams his fist down on a button located on the control panel, which opens an escape hatch below him. Metal lunges forward, his claws ready to grasp Eggman's thick neck. Fortunately for Eggman, his fall into the chute causes him to narrowly avoid Metal's clutches. Eggman slides down the chute. He then raises his arm to his face and activates his wristwatch. With the press of a button, an alarm signals throughout the base. Outside, egg pawns resume their battle stations, arming turrets and manning their posts.

"Seems the word has got out." A voice whispers in the woods nearby the base. The thick trees block any sight of a person from being spotted, making this environment perfect for an ambush.

"About time. I'm dying for some action."

"Stick to the plan. No point in overdoing it." Emerging from the thick bushes and woods are a trio of three fox heads, with the shadows casted by the leaves above silhouetting their form. Back at the tall walls of the base, one of the egg pawns spots something rustling through the woods. But it is too late. Suddenly, a hardened tip of a blackened crystal pierces through the head of the egg pawn, eviscerating through the bolts inside the head. As the rest of the egg pawns ready to retaliate, more tipped crystals bombard them. Around the walls, the turrets begin to blindly fire at whatever is hiding within the forest. From the base of the walls, an outbreak of fire scales up and with extreme heat, starts to melt the turrets rapidly. Panic ensues over the egg pawns as they scramble to regain their footing. However, their problems only worsen, as the trio of foxes, silhouetted by the sun above, jump high above the wall and land at the heart of the base's courtyard.

The trio, Vulnter, Harrow, and Arsonal are positioned in the middle of the egg pawn forces. They are all wearing matching combat uniforms, which are decorated with a small nine tails patch on their right arm. Although they are surrounded, they aren't the ones trapped. They explode with energy and ferocity as they blaze through countless egg pawns in seconds. Vulnter, using her graceful acrobatics and pristine bo staff, becomes a deadly dancer which none of the egg pawns could ever hope to even touch. Arsonal is the opposite of Vulnter. He is slower and more methodical, but that is what makes him just as dangerous. The flames that he produces from his arm cannons prompt devastating attacks. Finally, there was Harrow. Out of the three, she was having the most fun in this fight. She allows the egg pawns to get close and give their best shot. Like she is enjoying the onslaught. Her dark crimson haze forms crystalline weapons to drill through the hoards of badniks. "This is nothing! Give us a challenge!" She yelled.

"With pleasure." The trio turns to face the voice. Being lifted from underneath the ground was Dr. Eggman, piloting his Egg Emperor. This time, the Emperor was heavily modified since its first debut. Attached to its chest was a brand new core containing a chaos emerald. The core had a batch of wires strung to the lance. The lance had been changed slightly, now it had the capability to use chaos energy. "Now you three sit tight and let me pulverize you." Eggman launches his attack. So far, the battle remains even. The fox trio are a good team, and their coordination gives them the edge in outlasting Eggman. But, Eggman was no fool either. He wouldn't allow runts like them to catch him off guard. Vulnter avoids a slam from the lance and she climbs up the arm of the Emperor. She tries to pry an opening at the base of the mech's head, but the seam is too sturdy for her to get any leverage. Eggman then flicks Vulnter off the Emperor and sends her hurling to the ground. Arsonal goes out of his way to catch Vulnter before she splats on the ground, while Harrow doesn't seem to care and focuses on fighting Eggman.

"Are you ok?" Arsonal asked Vulnter.

"Yes, thanks for the save." As Arsonal and Vulnter recover, Harrow continues to brawl with Eggman. Eggman tries his best to distance the Emperor as far away from Harrow as possible, but her relentless persistence closes the gap almost immediately. Now going on the offensive, Eggman slams the Emperor's shield into the ground and lifts it back up to throw chunks of earth at Harrow. She is pelted continuously without time to take a breather. In a fit of rage, Harrow conjures the crimson haze around her, causing Eggman to cautiously step back. The mist continues to build up inside of her until it finally implodes into large foggy orbs that home in on Eggman. The Emperor's hull decays and deteriorates when in contact with the orbs. Inside the Emperor's cockpit, Eggman is getting dozens of pop-ups and alerts over the hud. As a last resort, Eggman presses a big red button in the middle of the cockpit's control panel. The Emperor's core containing the chaos emerald starts to glow. The emerald itself even emits a bright gleam—the energy building up transfers through the wires and into the lance. Eggman aims the lance at Harrow and fires. A dark violet-colored beam is shot from the lance and it hits Harrow dead-center of her chest. She is sent flying back and tumbles into the ground. Luckily for her, the crimson aura absorbed a portion of the blast, so she was only knocked unconscious with bruises all over her body. Her uniform was torn heavily as well, with the patch on her arm ripping out and getting lost in the battleground.

"Harrow!" Arsonal rushes to her aid, kneeling beside her and trying to wake her up. Vulnter notices that Eggman is charging another blast with the Emperor.

"Arsonal! Get out of there!"

"You're finished!" Eggman's lance is fully powered again, but before he could take the shot, something fast spiraled in and sliced off the legs of the Emperor. Eggman turns to see that Metal has found him. Metal starts tearing through the Emperor, but Eggman quickly retaliates. Despite losing both legs, the rest of the defense on the Emperor was formidable in a fight. Eggman gets a lucky hit and pins Metal to the ground with a forceful grab. Seeing that the battle has gotten out of control, Vulnter whips out her radio.

"High Colossus, I need a strike on the base." In the sky, a glimpse of the massive ship floats into view. At the bow of the ship, it was equipped with an enormous railgun. The railgun dips down below to aim, and it starts filling with power. "Arsonal! Grab Harrow and take cover!" Arsonal looks up into the sky and sees the ship charging its main gun. Arsonal picks up Harrow and books it behind a sheet of metal stuck in the ground. Eggman raises the lance and points it down toward Metal, who was fighting to escape the mech's clutches.

"I'm sorry for what they did to you, Metal. I'll make it quick." Eggman readies the lance to plunge into Metal. However, he was too slow to finish the job. The railgun from the ship fires and devastates the base. The blast knocks Eggman and Metal away, leaving them trapped under large debris from the base. The fox trio brace for the shockwave behind cover, and the force of the blast nearly knocks them to the ground. Fortunately for them, their cover had narrowly saved their hide, but the sound of the explosion leaves a ringing in everyone's ears. After the dust settles, Eggman realizes that he is now trapped in his mech, which was covered in debris. All he could do was slightly budge the lance and look straight into the sky. There, he had a clear sight of the ship above. "If you want to play like that, then I'll join in too." With all the strength left in the Emperor, Eggman manages to tilt the lance and aim up at the ship. Using full power, the core overloads and transmits even more energy than before into the lance. The sheer power generated in the lance causes the armor to crack and fall off, but that didn't matter now. With a powerful boom, the lance releases a laser and it travels quickly to the ship. It was a direct hit, nailing the railgun straight on. Although the damage to the ship was cataclysmic, it stayed in the air and remained functional.

"No!" Vulnter looks up in horror as the ship had received the shot. She wastes no time sprinting to the Emperor and pries the cockpit open, revealing Eggman laughing like a total maniac. Arsonal joins in and rips Eggman out from the cockpit, throwing him to the ground nearby. "High Colossus, what is the damage?" Vulnter says into her radio.

*Ship engines are functional. Railgun inoperable.* A computerized voice relayed back. Harrow, now fully awake, stomps over to Eggman. She manifests a spear in her hand and aims the tip at his throat.

"You just signed your one-way ticket to the afterlife."

"At least I'll know that my gun was better than yours." As Harrow eases in the tip of her spear, she is stopped by Vulnter.

"Wait." Vulnter approaches Eggman, taking a better look at him. "You know, I must agree. Whatever you made was much more destructive than what we had to offer."

"You should've seen my old work. I put every invention to shame."

"I'm glad you do." With those last words, Eggman's confident expression swiftly changes. He started to look more worried at this point. "I think there is a change of plans. See, we can't just let you go with the knowledge that we have arrived on your planet. But I think we can find better uses for you rather than killing you."

"We don't have time for him. We have a mission to uphold-" Arsonal spoke out but was quickly shut down by Vulnter.

"You two carry out the mission. I will take care of our new scientist here." Vulnter kneels down to Eggman, who now had a terrified look enveloping over him. "Say goodbye to your old life, doctor. You're now with us."

Space Station: Secret Lab-present day

Eggman was staring at the reflection of himself casted on the glass of the core. To him, this was the first contraption he's made without the supervision of Vulnter. Finally, his genius could shine without being diluted by others. 'With this new weapon, I'll finally be free.' Eggman eagerly thought. Just then, a portal opens behind him. Exiting the portal, was Starline. "I thought I was clear when I said I had the situation covered."

"You had a lot more covered than that." Those were words Eggman wasn't expecting. He turned to face Starline, seeing fury in his eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"Tell me, is it true that you were the one who took Planet Wisp?" Starline questioned him, but Eggman remained silent. "Is it?!"

"So what if it is?" Starline recoiled in shock. There was something offputting and unnerving about how nonchalantly Eggman responded. "Should it even mean anything to you if it was?" Eggman stepped closer menacingly, making Starline back up with each step Eggman took. "If anything, you should thank me for doing so. What was working for you before you found me? No one ever took you seriously. They always preferred someone else over you. You never amounted to anything in their eyes, but to me you're something." Starline was backed into a corner, and Eggman soon hovered over him. Starline's jaw and eyes were shivering, he was frozen in place. "Let me reiterate." Without a second to react, Eggman grabs Starline by the throat and pins him to the wall. His feet were off the ground and he was staring straight into the dark eyes of Eggman. "Without me… You're nothing." Eggman lets go of Starline, and he falls to the floor. Starline gasps for air and coughs while Eggman returns to his computer in the lab. A progress bar shows up on the screen, displaying 100% completion. "Finally, it's ready."

G.U.N. HQ: Outside the base

Shadow, Silver, Omega, and James stood outside, looking up at the night sky. The moon had been turned into an unnatural red color. Not just that, there was some kind of fog looming from its surface. "Was this something you saw in the future?" Shadow directed his attention to Silver.

"No, it was completely normal when I left." Many G.U.N. vehicles and soldiers race away from the base and head toward the city. There was no doubt that the citizens of Station Square were terrified of what was happening and someone need to help stabilize the panic. With most of the soldiers out, there were only a few left stationed at the base to guard it. Shadow didn't have much concern that the soldiers headed to the city would be competent to do their job and maintain peace, but currently, his mind was on something else. He recalled that James had told him that the soldier they were interrogating gave up names.

"James, what were the names that guy gave you?"

"I'm telling you that you aren't going to believe it."

"Try me." Shadow faced James, awaiting an answer. James lets out a soft sigh. In an unexpected turn of events, James looks behind Shadow and sees a G.U.N. soldier lifting their rifle to aim at Shadow.

"Look out!" James pushes Shadow out of the way. Just in time for the hedgehog to avoid the bullet. But the bullet finds another mark right into James' shoulder. James hits the ground, with his shoulder violently convulsing. The attacking soldier readjusts his aim back at Shadow, but his element of surprise had been blown. Before he could even fire, Silver locks him in place with his psychokinesis before Shadow rushes in and knocks the soldier out.

"Shadow! More of them!" Silver yelled out to Shadow. Shadow realizes that the soldiers left at the base to guard it were actually waiting for everyone else to leave. They were there to kill them. They were outmanned, but not outgunned. Shadow, Silver and Omega launch an offensive, dodging or absorbing the bombardment from the bullet spray. In the end, the soldiers were no match for all three of them at once. With all of the soldiers down, Shadow races to James and picks him up. Shadow then runs back inside the base.

G.U.N. HQ: Medcenter

Dr. Solace continues to monitor Rouge's vitals. She is pleased to see that Rouge has improved remarkably, despite her injuries. "Solace!" The doctor heard bellow out from the hall. She presses her finger along her forehead out of stress and disappointment.

"What do you want Shadow? I'm busy." Solace looks at the doorway and sees Shadow carrying an unconscious James into the room. Solace instantly changes her expression into a more urgent one. "What happened?" Solace helps Shadow place James down on a bed next to Rouge.

"He was shot."

"Shot? Shot by who?"

"By one of us." Solace's face stirs in fear. She couldn't frankly believe what she had been told. There was a shock in knowing that the traitors were escalating their plans and that they were taking more drastic measures against them. "They were trying to kill me, but he stepped in the way."

"Why do they want you dead?"

"I don't know. But I think I'm getting closer to uncovering this all. That's got them panicked enough to try and silence us."

"If that's the case then send Omega here. If they want your team dead then they're gonna need more protection."

"Will do." Shadow begins to leave, but Solace grabs his hand last second.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to see Tower. He has to know what's going on." Solace lets go and Shadow exits the room. Solace is now left to take care of both Rouge and James. Nevertheless, she continues to resume her job and she carefully tends to James.

G.U.N. HQ: Tower's Office

Tower was scrambling through piles of files across his desk. His answering machine was going nuts and his computer was filled with notifications. He was hating every second of today. Since the chaos emeralds lost their power, he hasn't had a second of peace. Now he couldn't even have a millisecond. Mistakes were rolling through his mind. Mistakes that could've been avoided if he had been honest from the start. But now he had to experience the byproducts of them, and he wondered if there was a better way he could've approached this. All of his stress amplified once Shadow entered his office. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be in the city helping out?"

"I was going to. That is until a squad of your soldiers opened fire on me. I'm fine but James was shot."

"My soldiers? Why are you pinning this on me?" Tower said as he continued to glue himself back into his work.

"If you won't take this seriously, then I need to be at my best." Shadow raises his wrist and taps his inhibitor rings. Specifically, the locks around them. "The code, I need it."

"Out of the question. You'll only accelerate your death."

"If I can use the last of my life to fix this mess that you let loose, then I'll take the chance."

"No, you will not!" Tower erupts from his chair, furiously standing above Shadow. "You don't understand. This isn't something we can just magically fix. If we want to win, we can't play this game like they want us to."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"This base isn't safe anymore. Gather your friends and Dr. Solace from the med center. You're moving out to a safehouse for now."

"You're kidding." Shadow is frustrated and he begins to walk out of Tower's office. That is before Tower calls him one more time.

"Shadow?" Shadow stops and listens. "One more thing."

Space Station: Streets

It was only one. Only one that stood in their way. Yet for Tails, Knuckles, and the rest of the rebels aiding them, this individual proved the be leagues ahead of just that. She was a one-man army. Vulnter hadn't been hit or touched since the battle began. She was too elusive for everything that they threw at her, and yet she barely looked tired. Every time Knuckles tried to close the gap and smack her to the ground, she was quick to dodge and quicker to briefly retreat. In total contrast, Tails was the farthest away from the action, not because he wanted it to be that way, but because a few moments ago, Knuckles ordered the rebels to keep him from harm's way of Vulnter. The only thing to help out fight Vulnter was to toss whatever little gadgets he had left at her. As the fight battered on, Tails was given more time to think and analyze this scenario. He tried piecing together all the possibilities of why Vulnter wanted to take him. He originally thought that because both Eggman and Starline were affiliated with her in some way, she might have been enlisting individuals that could help invent new machines or robotics for the Abyss Voyagers. But Tails wondered more about why she would even need him if she already had two highly competent scientists at her side. A part of him wanted to learn more about her, about the Abyss Voyagers. He pondered whether he should make an attempt to reason, to find out more.

As Tails recollected his thoughts, Vulnter continued to play around with Knuckles. "Are you enjoying this game of tag as much as I am, echidna?" Knuckles could sense that she was trying to get into his head. However, it was working. Knuckles started putting more force into his punches, causing the ground below to crack and shatter upward every time he missed a swing on Vulnter. Knuckles digs his hand into the ground and lifts up a chunk of concrete from the road. He then hurls it at blazing speeds toward Vulnter. She narrowly dodges the chunk, but as the concrete smashes into the ground, the ground below Vulnter shakes from the sheer force of the throw. Vulnter loses her balance, leaving her open to Knuckles rushing in. Vulnter can't recover in time and is pummeled in the gut by Knuckles, sending her skidding across the pavement. Vulnter catches herself and brushes off dust and rubble from her shoulder. She was becoming fascinated by Knuckles's tenacity. "Well played." Vulnter reaches into her cloak and pulls out a gas mask. She equips it to her head before pressing a hidden button located in the middle of her bo staff. A green gas starts to leak from her staff, enveloping a large area around her. Knuckles and the rebels step out of range of the gas. "Now it's my turn to be it." Without warning, Vulnter sprints through the streets in a mad dash toward Knuckles, with a trail of gas following behind.

Knuckles was now afraid to get close. He didn't want to risk one small gasp for air being his last due to that gas. "Everyone scatter!" Knuckles yelled to the rebels. They all flee to separate areas. Knuckles tries avoiding the gas by gliding over to a building wall and climbing up the side. Vulnter gives chase by sticking her sharp claws in the building, scaling up it as well. Knuckles is horrified to see her gaining on him, staring at him through the lifeless lens of her mask. Again, Vulnter reaches into her cloak and pulls out a couple of small pin needles with some oily green fluid trapped inside. She throws the needles at Knuckles, and it pierces into both of his arms. Knuckles is shocked when mere seconds later, his arm goes limp. Like it fell asleep on him. With that loss of traction, Knuckles plummets into the ground, where he is met by a cloud of that gas. Knuckles gags and chokes, but his efforts to avoid the toxins fail as his vision becomes blurry and he passes out on the road. Vulnter lands back on the ground and approaches the unconscious Knuckles. But before she could reach him, a continuous gust of wind blows away all the gas. Vulnter shields herself from the wind as it pushes her back a bit.

Coming from above, Tails flies in, using his tails as a propeller to blast wind across the ground. "Remarkable." Vulnter mutters to herself as the rest of the gas blows away. Tails lands back on the ground and puts himself in front of Knuckles, protecting him.

"Get away from him!" Tails defiantly stands his ground.

"Truly magnificent, how you use those pair of tails you were blessed with. How bright you must be to be as resourceful with only two."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Mind letting me in on what's really going on?"

"I could. If you were to come with me." Tails' face remained vigilant, but he was conflicted about what he should really do. He knew that he couldn't best her in combat, not with all those gimmicks she can pull out on the fly. "If you do, I promise I won't hurt your friends." Tails was still conflicted, and it was starting to show on his face. Vulnter, sensing that he was hearing her out, removes her gas mask to look at Tails in a non-threatening way. "They'll be safe. You'll be safe. We mean no harm to you."

"Will I be able to see them again?"

"I'm sorry, but your grand purpose demands you to let go of your old life. But that isn't so bad, is it? Starting anew, redefining who you are with a clean and bountiful slate. Leave everything behind, as I have, and join us." Vulnter calmly lays her hand on Tails' shoulder, looking deeply into his eyes, and trying any means to convince him to accept the deal. Tails frantically blinks and tilts his head to face the ground, spacing out. If Tails were to join her, would it only be out of desperation to protect his friend, or did his curiosity try to get the better of him again? For a year, he had been putting in his best effort to relieve the stress his friends had. But he had seemingly only made everyone else worry about him instead. He felt like his use was slowly fading, even now, he couldn't help out to his full extent because of the stakes of him being caught. However, he wondered if he cut himself out of his friends' lives, would that alleviate anything at all? Would his friends continue to worry about him even if he set out to become something grander? How much would he have to kill his old self for this? Then it all started to hit Tails. It was obvious that those who worried about him, cared deeply for him to succeed, as he was who he was. A mechanic, a boy genius, a friend, a brother. He would not leave this life behind.

Tails perks his head back up to face Vulnter, now with a smirk across his face. "No, I still got those in my life who count on me." Tails springs his tails to the ground and uses them as leverage to kick himself up and smack Vulnter in the chin with both of his feet. Tails lands back down and is ready to fight. "I won't leave it all behind to become something I'm not!" Vulnter's mood shifts to a more disgruntled one. She cracks her neck and slowly approaches Tails. However, the fox boy doesn't falter. He is no longer afraid. As Vulnter is about to retaliate, she is hit in the back by a blue streak, sending her flying into a building. She is lost in the debris, with no sign of her coming back. Sonic has returned and he immediately tends to Tails. "Sonic!" Tails runs into Sonic's arms, hugging him to the hedgehog's own surprise. "I'm sorry if I worried you. I'm just trying to do my best."

"It's ok, buddy." Sonic stops hugging Tails and lifts him back upright. "Besides, there's nothing left to worry about. Look what I got." Sonic reveals all seven chaos emeralds. The sparkling gems glistened in both their eyes. "We never would've been here without your help."

"Bet-I could've done it faster and without you two!" A faint muffled noise cries out. Sonic and Tails look to see that Knuckles is still faceplanted on the ground, his body still limp from Vulnter's venom. "But at the moment, can I have some help." Sonic and Tails struggle to lift Knuckles back up on his feet and on their shoulders.

"You've sure had a rough day." Sonic comments, to which Knuckles scoffs at the remark.

"Rough? Nah, that was exhilarating." Suddenly, the station starts to rumble and shift. Sonic and Tails lose balance, eventually losing grip on Knuckles, which causes him to fall right back down on the ground.

Space Station: Overview/Outside

At the bottom of the station, a door covering a hundred feet swings open. Barreling through his a robotic monster. A sleek body design, resembling a snake, with no arms or legs, just one massive tail scaling two thousand feet. The head is narrowly shaped, with two eyes on each side and gnarly teeth filling the inside of the gaping jaw. Around the base of the head is a large flexible frill. The robot wraps around the station and views down through the dome above the city.

Space Station: Streets

The giant eyes of the robot stare directly at Team Sonic, to which they all look up in horror at the utter size of that thing. Around them, disk-shaped vents open up and speakers rise from the ground. Upon further examination, Sonic sees a circular object embedded in the forehead of the robot. The top of the object is layered with tinted glass. Just then, the tint fades away, exposing that Eggman is the one piloting the mech. "Hohoho!" His vile laugh played through the speakers. "I see you down there, little pests."

"New toy, Eggman? Let me guess, Egg Snake? Egg Eel? Egg Caterpillar?" Sonic casually taunts. Eggman lets out a low growl of disgruntlement.

"For the sake of your ignorance, behold the Egg Wyrm! My most promising mech to date. With it, I will seize freedom, and conquer not just the world, but the whole galaxy! Hohoho!" Sonic remains unphased, as he eases in another hopeful grin. Sonic takes a step forward, going toward the middle of the street.

"Not to step on your toes, but aren't you being a little formulaic? The mysterious evil plan, new lackeys, a sudden reveal of your newest and baddest invention. It all starts the same, and yet it all ends the same." Sonic manifests the chaos emeralds around him. He's ready to go. The emeralds spin around the hedgehog and gradually rotate faster, becoming shrouded in the speed. Sparks and bolts emit from the emerald's power, igniting the ground below with brief flashes and disturbances. A transformation Sonic has gotten used to, and one that Eggman fears. Although, something wasn't quite right. Eggman wasn't frightened… He was smiling. Tails noticed that something was wrong too, but he couldn't put it together. Almost immediately, Tails spotted the problem. It was the chaos emeralds. In their rotation, Tails notices that the sparks and energy emitting from the emeralds are linking to each other, causing the rotation to shake and spin in erratic ways. It was becoming unstable, and Sonic wasn't realizing it.

"Sonic! Stop!" It was too late. Before Sonic could acknowledge Tails, the emeralds overload and explode. Sonic is shortly engulfed in flames and he tumbles to the ground, bruised and covered in soot. Eggman can't help but deviously laugh once more.

"Does it end all the same? Could you see that one coming? Hohoho!" Eggman mocked Sonic. "I knew as soon as I saw your face you were here for the chaos emeralds. As they were too important for my plans, I established a contingency to set your tracks away from them." Eggman presses a button located in his cockpit. Around the spine of the Egg Wyrm, a cylinder container emerges from the glossy armor. In it is a pool of hazy energy, with seven varied colors resembling those of the chaos emeralds. "To not only mix all of you up, and speed up my plans, I diverted all the chaos energy I siphoned to the core of the Egg Wyrm, and I mean all of the chaos energy. Not one drop is left behind in our world. To throw you off even more, I can only thank the fox boy for the inspiration. Fake chaos emeralds that can fool a computer and replicate chaos control? A fantastic concept, with a little explosive twist to add once all of them were collected." Sonic crawls back onto his feet, still terribly hurt. He watches as the chaos emeralds he collected dissolve into black dust on the ground. "Now, witness the full power of my masterpiece!" The Egg Wyrm zooms away from the station and has its eyes set on the desolate planet Hymn. The Egg Wyrm slithers through space at blinding speeds and it reaches a closer distance in no time.

With the flick of multiple switches and button presses, the tail end of the Egg Wyrm sticks out and aims at the purplish crater on the surface of Planet Hymn. The tail builds up energy and eventually shoots out a grayish beam toward the crater. The beam enters through the surface and soon enough it begins to collect the ghoulish power plaguing the planet. The energy fills another tank inside the Egg Wyrm. Eggman doesn't stop until the core of the planet is completely dry. Satisfied, the Egg Wyrm retreats back to the station. In the streets, Vulnter emerges from the debris and looks beyond the dome. She is horrified to watch as the planet's surface begins to supercharge and rapidly combust. Within a bright white flash from the planet, it violently explodes. Team Sonic, the rebels, the citizens, and Vulnter, cannot believe their eyes. Cannot believe what Eggman had achieved.

The Egg Wyrm coils underneath the Station and seeks asylum back into the door it arrived from.

G.U.N. HQ: Medcenter

Silver was sitting on a bench next to Rouge's bed, while Dr. Solace periodically checked up on her. In the bed next to Rouge was James, who was still unconscious. Silver twiddled his thumbs as he patiently waited. Outside the door, guarding the only entrance was Omega. The sizable bot shifts to the side, letting Shadow enter the room. Silver and Solace shift to stare at Shadow, waiting for him to say anything. "Commander is giving us the order to move out. There is a remote base where we'll be safe from any targeted assassinations."

"Are you kidding!" Both Silver and Solace blurted, catching Shadow off guard. "We can't just dip out now. What if today is the day the world plunges into darkness?" Silver said.

"Not just that, but do you know how much prep time I'll need to transfer both these two safely? It's not a quick job." Solace added.

"Trust me, I wish I had more of a say in this but I don't. All of what is happening is beyond our understanding to act out of retaliation." Shadow then glares at Silver. "So for the time being, we have to wait." Solace's eye twitches out of frustration, but she soon begins packing up equipment. Silver, without having anything to do, leans back on the bench. Shadow soon joins Silver.

"I don't get it, how can we just run away? How can you let that choice be made for you?" Silver curtly chastised Shadow.

"I've tried making my own choices. But I learned that it wasn't enough. It is never enough. I try to get stronger, I'm not there for the ones I care about when they get hurt. I try to handle it all by myself, I start dying. I'll be honest, you're the only one I actually envy, Silver. You have true control over fate."

"It isn't that simple. Yes, I can go back and give the world a second chance to live, but I've lost everything that made me, well me. From the first time I went back, I erased my history, my heritage, everything. I'm a living paradox. I don't belong anywhere anymore. The future I go back to, I have no place left. I have control to save everything, but I lost my chance to be anything other than that." Shadow had been listening to Silver's words intently. His head leaned forward to pick up every word. As Silver relaxes, James starts to stir awake. Shadow and Solace immediately head over to him and watch him arise from his slumber.

"How are you feeling?" Solace asks James.

"I'm alright. Shoulder feels a bit heavy, but I'm doing fine."

"James, you have my thanks." Shadow graciously tells James.

"Hey, don't mention it. Besides, I bet you're curious."

"Ok, who is the traitor?"

"It's Tower, Shadow. The Commander is the traitor."

To be continued…