Chapter 3. Problems and Answers

In the sky above a forest, a hole opened up in it. After about a second, the Chaos Council's flagship came through and hovered over the forest as the occupants took in the view.

The council were not in the best spirits at the moment. Aside from getting beaten by the hedgehog once again, they soon discovered that they had very little reserve prism energy left after Mr Dr Eggman used Operation Big Boy. At first, they saw this as a non-issue as they thought they could just re-capture the prism shards and go back to business like nothing happened. Only to discover that the shards were all missing when they got to the mountain, shortly after finding out that they weren't even in this universe anymore with no idea where they had gone.

Upon returning to the flagship and flying to the void, they debated what to do next. While it was important to crush the rebellion that was going on and find out where the shards are, they decided it was more important to find and deal with that blue hedgehog first. He had become a massive pain for them ever since he showed up and had to be dealt with. In addition, he might know where the shards were.

Tracking the prism energy that radiated from him, they discovered that he wasn't in any of the known universes. Instead, the trail led them to a gray portal, one smaller than the other ones. Knowing they needed to find that hedgehog, they went through it, not knowing what would be on the other side.

Looking at the screen they saw a forest, making them think they had somehow returned to Boscage. But upon closer inspection, they saw what appeared to be a city in the distance. From what they could see, the buildings looked nothing like the ones in New Yolk. They didn't consume the forest or tower over it. From what they saw it was almost like there were elements of New Yolk and Boscage mixed in, but in a way that coexisted.

"What strange universe is this?" Doctor Done-It said as he stared at the view. "Why did they build a city but keep all the forest?"

"I agree." Doctor Deep remarked. "It makes the work feel unfinished."

"Now now." Mr. Dr. Eggman said. "We didn't come here to criticize city building skills, though I do admit it is unfinished. We came here to find that hedgehog to tell us where the shards are and eliminate him."

He looked at the screen. "Still, we are in uncharted territory. We need to figure out the differences of this universe. What its environment and people are like, and any strange myths and legends. As they may end up leading us to a shard to help restore our power."

He turned to Dr. Don't, who was playing on his game console. "Send out robots to scout the nearby area. We need every bit of information about this place we can get."

Don't gave a groan and muttered "Sure." before pressing a few buttons on the console.

From outside, a group of robots deployed from the flagship and began to fly over the forest and towards the city. Recording what they saw through their eyes and transmitting them back to the ship. Allowing the council to see through their eyes.

While the forest shots were nothing they hadn't already seen in Boscage, the ones in the city were of great interest to them. From the streets they saw mobians and people happily going about their day. Not downtrodden under their rule like it was in New Yolk before the rebellion happened.

"Fascinating." Doctor Deep said as they watched. "It appears this world is civilized. Similar to our own world."

"But they're not crushed under our rule." Doctor Done-It said annoyed. "That's not how things should be!"

Babbles made noises of agreement.

"Now now. We all expected this universe to be different from our own." said to the rest of the council before looking back at the screen with a frown. "Though I do admit, this world is like an inferior version of our own."

He looked back at the others. "But we have a mission here. Find the hedgehog and get him to reveal where the shards are. After we accomplish that, we can do whatever we want with this place."

"I suggest we finish building a city in this place." Doctor Done-It suggested. "Finish it up since those who live in this universe can't be bothered to finish it."

"I agree." Doctor Deep said. "One should never leave something unfinished."

Doctor Don't gave off a scoff and continued playing his game.

Suddenly, the view on the screen became distorted with static. Causing the image on it to lose focus.

"What's going on?" Doctor Deep asked.

"Something interfering with this robot's signal." Doctor Don't explained. "Isn't it obvious?"

The screen then seemed to fade between the view they had gotten, and something else. It seemed to be a man telling the camera something, but the sound was too distorted to make out what he was saying.

"Focus on that signal!" Eggman ordered. "I want to know what that man is saying."

Don't groaned and began to focus the signal. Soon the picture of the man became clearer, allowing him to see that he was middle aged, and the sound became less distorted. Soon it was clear that the man was sitting in front of a desk with a map of the world behind him. The man seemed to be finishing the introduction of a story.

"...that may seem like a typical fight between the two, but it was the presence of another that is surprising people."

The council all snapped their focus to the broadcast. This could be the key to finding the hedgehog.

The man was replaced by handheld footage of robots attacking a town. There was some shaking as whoever was holding it tried to keep it steady, but they could clearly see the footage. There was a figure commanding them from a small hovercraft above the ground. When they took a closer look at him, they froze, even Don't had a look of surprise on his face.

In the shuttle was a man in a red coat wearing goggles. He was large and bald, wearing glasses that covered his eyes. With his most prominent feature being his mustache. A very familiar looking mustace.

"Is that…me?" Mr. Dr asked in awe.

"Don't you mean us?" Done-it asked. "We're the same person too."

As the footage played, a voice narrated it. "Eggman attacking is a very common sight, and Metal Sonic, his former robotic creation, fighting him is becoming more common these days."

The footage then changed to a blue robot fighting the other robots, taking them out with efficiency. When they got a good view, they saw he was a bit similar to Chaos Sonic. Except that instead of a screen covering half his face, he had black screens shaped like eyes with red as it's pupils. In addition, he had three shaped quills on his head, his torso was different with a yellow chest, and his fingers ended in claws.

"This universe has its own Chaos Sonic?" Deep asked in surprise.

Babbles tilted his head in curiosity.

The narration on the footage continued as it showed the robot Sonic fighting a silver colored robot that also looked like Sonic. "But for this battle, it was the sight of someone unexpected that is sparking rumors all around."

Then there was footage of a familiar hedgehog fighting the robots, which the council had become all too familiar with. "People have spotted Sonic The Hedgehog fighting the robots with Metal Sonic today."

The entire council's eyes almost bulged out of sockets with the shock of that. "He exists here?!" Done-it exclaimed.

The narration continued. "This is in spite of the fact that he has been dead for over a year. Raising many questions about his sudden reappearance."

The footage changed to a guy in sunglasses. "I think he faked his death and has been hiding for a year. Waiting to see if his robot copy was good. Why else would he pull that stunt?"

The footage focused on a woman with blonde hair as she answered a question. "It's probably someone impersonating him. You see those gloves and shoes, I don't recall him wearing those in his lifetime."

Then there was a young kid. "I think he really is back."

The video then cut back to the man behind the desk. "We will have further details on this as it develops. Up next, G.U.N makes a…."

"That's enough." Mr. Dr Eggman said, raising his hand to signal a stop. "Shut the broadcast down."

The screen went dark and the council processed what they had just seen.

"So, the hedgehog existed in this universe." Deep said in thought. "But he's dead now."

"And a robot version of him has taken his place." Don't said. "I don't see the problem here."

"The problem is that robot is destroying the robots of our counterpart here." Done-it said to Don't. "Which I think is the biggest revelation about this universe."

Babbles slapped the table while making noises. The rest of the council somehow understanding him.

"I agree. What exactly is our plan here?" Done-it asked. "With the existence of a counterpart of ours, people are likely aware of our strategies. They may even have defenses against us ready. That robot Sonic may be their line of defense."

Don't scoffed. "Just capture the bot and I can reprogram him to do our bidding."

"Did you not pay attention to the footage? That robot would beat us before we even had a chance to do that."

All around, the council argued about what to do now that they knew a bit more about this universe. It was finally stopped when Eggman slammed his fist onto the top of the control panel, getting their attention.

"Now now." He said. "This universe is clearly different from the ones we've visited before. It's true that this world has been aware of us in some form for a long time. And they are likely prepared for the likes of us. But that doesn't mean we should leave this be."

He put his hands behind his back. "We need to be cautious and plan carefully. The hedgehog is still a priority, but we must plan for anything that comes our way here."

"An excellent thought." Doctor Deep said. "Slow and steady always wins the race. At least when it comes to planning."

nodded. "First things first, let's find our counterpart here. I have a feeling he might be a useful ally to us."

Tails sat in front of the couch where the body of his unconscious, miraculously resurrected brother lay on.

After he had fainted, he and Metal had quickly checked on him. They found that he was still alive. It was likely the shock of what had happened to him that caused him to faint. They carried him to the couch so he would have somewhere more comfortable to lay on.

After they had done that, the two wondered what to do now. Sonic's sudden reappearance certainly required an investigation and they had to consider all possibilities for how he came back. Deciding to start with the obvious one, his body was dug up and resurrected in a lab, he told Metal to investigate Sonic's grave to see if it was disturbed. With Metal flying there, that left Tails alone with his brother.

He knew that he should also be trying to figure out how his brother is here too, but he was still trying to process the fact that his brother was somehow back from the dead.

He still remembered seeing the explosion that killed him, the frantic call to see if he was alright, the sinking realization that he really was gone, and his own grief consuming him as it did. They may have happened a year ago, but now those memories had reawakened again and felt as if they were fresh.

He wanted Sonic to wake up, to explain how he was here. How he had come back to life. But at the same time, he knew there was a good chance that this wasn't really Sonic, or at least not his Sonic.

Don't get too attached to him. He thought to himself. You don't know much about what's going on yet, so it would hurt less when the disappointment comes.

Deciding to start figuring things out, Tails started to check on Sonic. The biggest item of interest was his gloves and shoes, since he didn't recall Sonic ever wearing those in his lifetime. So they might be a key for why he was here.

Grabbing an arm, he lifted it up to get a closer look at the glove. It was gray and plated with steel, almost similar to Metal. On the top of his hand was a silver disc that had a blue light at the center of it. At first he thought it was part of the glove, but when he touched it, it moved slightly. Curious, he pinched it with his fingertips and lifted it away from the glove. It broke away easily and he watched as the glove he removed the disc from began to glow.

Tails shielded his eyes from the light. When it died down, he saw that the glove had become the glove he usually saw his brother wear. Except there were scorch marks all over them. He frowned, were they scorched because of the blast?

He put the disc back on and with a flash of light, the glove was back to its plated form. Examining the other glove, he found another disc on it and on the backs of his shoes. He removed one of them from the shoe, finding it turned back from the plated ones, to the regular shoes in a similar scorched state as his gloves.

The questions continued to pile up as he examined the disc. If this wasn't because of the blast, what exactly happened to him? What exactly were these discs? And why was he wearing them?

He then heard a hum of electricity coming from somewhere nearby. Looking back at Sonic, he saw that the shoe without the disc was glowing white at the sole, emanating energy from it. Curious about the energy, he ran back into the workshop, reemerging a few seconds later with his Miles Electric. Pointing it at the shoe, he scanned the energy for a few seconds before putting the disc back onto the back of the shoe, turning it back into its steel plated form.

Looking at the screen of the miles electric, he watched as it began to analyze the energy signature. After a few seconds, it flashed an alert, looking at it the screen read.

ERROR: UNKNOWN ENERGY

Tails frowned. Running a scan on Sonic again, this time across his body, he again got the unknown energy error, but also found that the energy was all across his body. He guessed that the discs were regulating this energy, but where did that energy come from and did it have something to do with his reappearance?

It was clear that he would need Sonic to be awake to get answers. Since all he was getting was more questions. But even then, he was certain some of those answers he could get would only lead to more questions.

He watched Sonic's face grimace as he looked like he was dreaming. Tails wondered what was going through his mind right now. The shock of finding out about his death was obvious, but he felt like there was something else, with how he was hesitant to approach him when he saw him. Even though he should have been relieved to see him.

If this wasn't his Sonic, as he claimed, What exactly happened to him?

He watched as Nine walked through the portal with the shards. He was helpless as the portal closed behind him, his only means of restoring his home now taken.

He covered his eyes with his hands in despair, trying his best not to cry.

"Sonic." He heard Shadow say behind him.

He suddenly found himself running past the ghosts of his friends, doomed to endlessly repeat what they were saying because of him. He saw that he was running towards the mountain, likely to return to the void between the shatter-spaces.

He was back in the void, flying towards the void at the fastest speed he could imagine and going towards the grim. He knew where Nine was and maybe he could still get the shards back and restore his home.

Suddenly, something hit him and he began to spin off course.

Sonic snapped awake, letting out a gasp as he sat up.

Taking a few deep breaths, he calmed himself down from the dream he just woke from. He knew it was from after the argument with Nine, that moment was clearly going to be with him for awhile, but he didn't know why it was so fragmented. Did he try to suppress the memory what had happened? He didn't blame himself for it, anyone would want to forget something like that.

Still it may be the key to finding out how he got here. And he was going to have to remember.

Pushing that thought out of his head for now, he looked around. He saw that was back in the living room laying on the couch. Tails and Robo-Him must've taken him here after he fainted. Slowly looking around, he soon saw that Tails was nearby.

Well, almost his Tails.

He was staring at him in surprise. After a few seconds, he calmed down and spoke. "Sorry, I didn't expect you to wake up like that."

Sonic stared at him for a moment, wondering if he should reassure this Tails that he was fine. Instead, he asked. "What happened?"

"You fainted when I showed you the report." Almost-Tails answered. "I admittedly should've prepared you for it a bit more if I knew the shock of what happened was going to be that much for you."

Sonic rubbed the side of his head. "Don't think I would've been ready for it either way." He replied as he turned his body so his legs were close to the floor and looked around. "Where's Robo-Me?"

Almost-Tails blinked for a moment before realizing who he was referring to. "Metal went to… check on a few things after you fainted." He answered, Sonic noticing the pause before he gave his answer. It was clear where Robo-Him went.

Sonic looked away from him and processed what he had previously learned. "So I really am dead here?"

Tails nodded. "If it's any comfort to you, you did go out saving people. I think it's how you would want to go out."

Sonic didn't say anything. What else could he say about his counterpart here being dead without it sounding weird to this counterpart?

Almost-Talis then continued. "Now that you're awake, I do have some questions for you."

Sonic sighed. "More than the ones you asked before?"

Almost-Tails nodded. "From what you said and the tech on your gloves and shoes, I think I have more questions than when I first saw you. Especially with that energy I detected inside you."

Sonic's ears perked up when he heard that. He knew about the prism energy inside him?

Of course he knows, he's probably the version closest to the Tails you know since Nine. He thought to himself. The Tails he knew would examine something closely if he didn't understand it.

"Look, if you think I'm your resurrected brother, I'm not. Regardless of how much you want to believe, I think what you've found on me is more than enough evidence to prove that." Sonic said.

Almost-Tails let out a sad sigh. "It's still a possibility I have to consider. I know whatever explanation you have is probably correct, but there are other alternatives that could be correct."

"So you're saying you probably won't believe my explanation?" Sonic asked with some bitterness in his voice. Just like all the other counterparts.

"I didn't say that." Almost-Tails said.

Sonic was about to say something when the front door opened. Both he and Almost-Tails turned their heads to see who entered.

It was Robo-Him, or should he be calling him Metal since that's what Almost-Tails seems to call him. He stared at Sonic for a few seconds before walking through the door towards Tails.

"What did you find out?" Almost-Tails asked as he approached him.

"There were no unusual disturbances around his grave." The robot stated. "Footprints were detected, but they were not registered as odd upon closer analysis."

"So his body wasn't dug up? No one used it to bring him back to life."

"Negative. It is now unlikely that this is Sonic resurrected."

Almost-Tails looked down at the floor, silent with a small look of sadness and disappointment on his face for a moment. He then let out a sigh. "Guess I should've expected that."

"What about the other possibilities?"

Almost-Tails turned to him. "Well he's awake now, so he should help narrow the possibilities down."

Metal looked at Sonic for a second before looking back at Almost-Tails. "Are you certain he will not faint again?"

Almost-Tails shook his head "I don't think we have to worry about that. I think finding out about his death is probably the biggest shock he'll have to deal with."

Metal stared at Tails for a few seconds.

"But I'll check to make sure if he's alright before we start asking him to explain." He added.

The two then walked over to Sonic, stopping just a foot away from him. The hedgehog stared at the two.

"I guess you want an explanation for how I'm here." Sonic said.

"You definitely aren't my brother back from the dead." Almost-Tails said. "So I think it's best if we hear it from you. But before we start, are you alright?"

Sonic hesitantly nodded. "I think the shock of what happened to me here has worn off."

"You told me you weren't really my brother. Do you mind explaining to me why that is?"

Sonic gave a sigh. "It's a long story."

"And then I woke up here." Sonic said, finishing what felt like the longest explanation he had to do since this whole thing began. He didn't tell them that Nine took the shards, only saying that when he got back to the cave after defeating the giant Eggman, both he and the shards were gone. He couldn't tell anyone, especially this counterpart, that a version of him betrayed him.

Metal and Almost-Tails were standing in front of him, thinking about what they had heard. At times, Tails had gotten lost in his explanation, but he had quickly caught back up. The two had even asked questions to which Sonic answered to the best of his ability. It was certainly a calmer explanation session then the previous ones he had to do. Mainly since his life wasn't in danger at the moment.

"So you don't remember anything in between returning to the cave and waking up here?" Almost-Tails asked.

"Not really. I remember getting hit by something in the void, but I don't know how I ended up here." Sonic replied before blinking in surprise upon realizing something. "Wait, do you actually believe my explanation?"

"After eliminating you being resurrected as a possibility, it was either you being a clone or you being from another universe. And given your explanation and other evidence, I'd say the latter is more likely."

Sonic looked at the two. He had never had to deal with any of the counterparts having the time and patience to listen to his explanation. Much less not attacking, or acting hostile to him on sight. He almost couldn't believe this wasn't his universe. It looked like his own and so far, everyone acted like he knew them.

This is too good to be true. He thought to himself. There has to be something else. Something that comes up as soon as I lower my guard.

"Okay, I gave my explanation. I believe I deserve one too." He said, turning his head to Metal. "Namely, what's his deal? Since it's pretty clear he and Eggman have history. Did Tails build you after I died?"

"Negative." Metal answered. "I was created by Eggman while my Sonic was still alive."

"What?" Sonic blinked in surprise. "Then why are you fighting Eggman now?"

Metal looked down. "My goal since my creation has been to be the one true Sonic. But after he died, I did not know what to do after. I had witnessed Sonic's sacrifice and others' reactions to it, and realized that even with Sonic's friends still around, the world was unprotected. I decided to take his place as protector."

Sonic looked at Almost-Tails. "And you just let him do that?"

Almost-Tails shook his head. "He came to me when he left Eggman. I didn't believe him at first, I thought it was a plan of his, all of us did when we first saw him after. But he eventually proved he was genuine in wanting to fight against Eggman. Stopping a plan of his involving the emeralds."

He looked down, a sad smile on his face. "He even helped me get over Sonic's death. If it weren't for him, it would've taken longer for me to escape my grief over it."

Sonic looked at Metal suspiciously for a moment. This robot, who Eggman had created to fight him and his friends, likely for years, decided to turn on him after his counterpart died? It seemed too suspicious, there had to be something else there, a plan none of them knew about. He couldn't have just turned on Eggman and joined his friends just like that.

This could be the thing. He thought to himself. This could be the rug that's pulled out under me as soon as I get comfortable with them.

"How do you know that he was being genuine?" Sonic asked Almost-Tails.

The fox looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean? I told you he helped me and others."

"How do you know that this isn't some sort of plan of Eggman's? For all I know, he could've pretended to turn on Eggman and this could be some ploy to conquer this world."

"But it's been a year." Almost-Tails defended. "I would've noticed if he were planning something against me and the others during all that time."

"Well maybe he's good at hiding it."

"I also think the events of the last year also speak for themselves. When he first stopped Eggman, he could've ended up giving the emeralds to him, but he didn't. Eggman never would've made another robot, or improved his robots to fight him if there was a plan involving him."

"Maybe this Eggman is good at pretending." Sonic pointed out. "He could be playing a long game. Told his robot to gain your trust while he planned to take over with my death taking me out of the way, made countermeasures against him to make it more convincing. And I have to admit, he did a good job since everyone seems to have fallen for it."

"No one has fallen for anything." Almost-Tails protested.

"Well just wait until he reveals himself to still be working for Eggman."

Almost-Tails stepped forward, about to speak when Metal stopped him. "It is okay, Tails." He said. "He is right to mistrust me. He clearly does not know me."

The fox looked at Metal, a clear look of frustration on his face as it was clear he wanted Sonic to trust him. But soon calmed down and let out a sigh. "Guess I was a bit too optimistic about Sonic trusting you right off the bat." He said.

"Affirmative. I foresaw this happening when I was interacting with him."

Almost-Tails gave a small nod of understanding. It was clear they would try to deal with this later.

He turned back to Sonic. "Now, if I recall from your story, my counterpart and the shards were gone after you defeated the giant Eggman."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah."

"Do you have any idea where they might be?"

He gave a shrug and a shake of his head. "No idea." It was a partial lie. While he did know what universe Nine had taken the shards to, he didn't know where exactly his lab was in The Grim. He could run everywhere and could miss where they were located. Thinking that, he wondered if he even had a plan if he ran into Nine again.

"Well, considering what you've gone through, you seem like you could use some help." Almost-Tails said, stepping forward and extending a hand towards Sonic, offering it. "Anything you need help with, we're happy to assist."

Sonic looked at Almost-Tails's hand. What he had said sounded reassuring, after all the hostility and mistrust of the other counterparts, this was quite refreshing. A counterpart who genuinely wanted to help him after all this time. He wanted to take the fox's hand and agree to have him and his robot help.

But then he remembered all the mistrust and betrayals the counterparts had brought him. How they had treated him like he was a friend before they turned on him.

Right now, he couldn't trust any of his friends' counterparts. Only himself.

He shook his head while he stood up from the couch. "I appreciate it, but I need to figure out what to do next on my own. I don't need your help."

Almost-Tails blinked in surprise. "But, don't you want…."

"I said I don't need you, or your robot's help!" Sonic snapped, coming out harsher then he intended. "I just….need some alone time to figure things out. Then I'll be out of this universe. I really don't want to get involved in anything going on here"

Sonic walked past the two and to the door. Pausing at it, he looked back at the two. He saw Almost-Tails with a sad look on his face. He supposed he couldn't blame him. From his point of view, his brother supposedly came back from the dead and thought he would be happy to see him again. Only to find he was actually from another universe and had to leave soon.

Still, it wasn't his concern. As far as he cared, this wasn't his Tails. He may look and act like him, but he wasn't him. He just had to figure out how to get the shards back, and then he'll be on his way. What happened after wasn't important.

He walked outside, closing the door behind him.

At his base, Eggman sat and watched a news report about his recent loss with a dissatisfied expression on his face.

It had not been the best year for him. After Sonic's death, he had expected to have an easier time conquering the world. Sure Sonic's friends were still around, but he expected to beat them more easily with the hedgehog gone.

But then Metal Sonic had to turn on him. He had to join Sonic's friends and start fighting him. Now it felt like nothing had changed. Sure he had to replace Metal Sonic with Silver Sonic, installing a chip in him to ensure he would never turn on him, but it still didn't chance the fact that it felt like Sonic was still around.

And now that hedgehog had somehow returned. He had no idea how he had done so, but it was just another headache for him to deal with.

He sat back in his chair and let out a groan. "What am I going to do?" He muttered.

Suddenly, an alert came on on the screen, notifying him that someone was in the base. Sitting upright, he quickly started to scan the cameras for any sign of forced entry. If Metal or Sonic had somehow decided to follow him, he had to be prepared for both of them.

From the cameras outside, there were no signs of the walls being breached, no holes leading to inside, or anything that led under the walls. Switching to the doors, he saw that they were somehow open wide. He frowned at that. After Metal had turned, he had changed all the codes to the bases so Metal couldn't easily enter it. The only other person who had those codes was Silver Sonic, and he was here being repaired. So who broke into the base?

He switched to the interior cameras, searching for any sign of the intruder. But he didn't see anyone in the hallways or in any storage or robotics rooms. He switched to the elevator cameras and while the first one didn't show anything, the second one made him freeze at what was on the screen.

It was, himself?

Well, the stranger wasn't an exact mirror image of him. He was wearing a different uniform, a jumpsuit colored red, black, and yellow, wearing different goggles, and he had hair on his head. In the elevator, he kept glancing up in front of the doors, checking what floor the elevator was on. When Eggman checked the elevator's status, he found that it was approaching the floor he was on.

Questions rang through Eggman's mind. Who was this stranger? How did he find his base? Why did he look like him? What did he want? If he easily got into the base and was already on his way up, what did he plan on doing to him? Killing him? Making an offer to him? After considering these questions, he decided to let this stranger in. He wanted to hear why he was here, but he would be cautious if this was a trap.

Pressing a button as the elevator neared the floor, he watched the elevator come to a stop as it reached his floor. Turning to the elevator door, he watched it open and the stranger step forward.

"I see you noticed my arrival." The stranger said as he noticed the doctor staring at him.

"It wasn't hard when you tripped an alarm." Eggman replied as he glared at him. "Now who are you?"

The stranger chuckled. "Oh how I forget my politeness sometimes. Allow me to introduce myself."

He took a bow. "I am Mr. Dr Eggman, leader of the Chaos Council. I suppose you are my counterpart in this universe."

Eggman didn't know what that last part meant, but he nodded. "I am Doctor Eggman, yes. Now why are you here?"

"I've come to make you an offer." The counterpart said, approaching him. "I would like for you to help us in our conquest of the other universes."

Eggman frowned. "You want me to help you?"

Mr. Dr nodded. "Yes. If I know you, which is myself, you would make a vital ally here."

To the counterparts surprise however, the Doctor shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't. As much as I would like to, I have bigger problems to deal with right now. Aside from my former robot servant causing problems for me, that hedgehog has somehow returned back to the dead and I need to figure out how that happened."

Mr. Dr grinned. "I can answer that question for you easily. You see, he's not your Sonic."

It was Eggman's turn to be surprised. "What do you mean by that?"

"You see, that hedgehog is supposedly another universe. He's been traveling around for shards of something known as the Paradox Prism. We intend to use them to assist in our domination, but now we have no idea where they are."

Eggman put his hands to his mouth in contemplation. "And you believe that this Sonic knows where they are?"

Mr. Dr nodded. "That and the trouble he has caused us. Since he showed up, he had disrupted all of our plans and rule over the universe we come from. So much so that we've decided to take him out before going back to business."

He walked towards Eggman, stopping when he was close to him. "This universe is rather new to us, so we could use a guide to help us get to know this better. And I believe that person is you."

Eggman thought about what he heard. He supposed that the Sonic he saw was actually one from another universe explained a lot of things. His confusion over his death, his different shoes and gloves, and the fact that he didn't seem to acknowledge Metal Sonic in any way. Unless he had amnesia, it wouldn't make sense that Sonic had no idea about Metal Sonic. He had no idea what this Paradox Prism was, but from how his counterpart talked about it, it seemed important and powerful.

He smiled thinking about it. It would be interesting to get his hands on it, even if it was just a shard as his counterpart described.

He looked at the other doctor. "I'm interested, but what's in it for me in exchange for helping you."

"We can help you conquer this universe." Mr. Dr answered. "Ensure your total victory over those who resist you. We'll even let you rule this universe as part of our empire."

Hearing this, Eggman gave his counterpart a wide, toothy grin at him. "That seems like an excellent deal. Helping my alternate self conquer other universes while ruling my own is a dream come true."

grinned back. "Quite true. From what little I've seen of your struggles, you clearly need the help. Together with our resources, we can be unstoppable here."

The two Eggmen eagerly shook hands, ready to see how each of them would succeed in their goal.

"Now, take what you need here and we can head to my ship. Then you can tell me everything about this universe."