Hello, everyone! This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing back in! Man, this whole period between the last update and this one has been something and a half and I didn't get in anywhere near as much work as I was hoping I would, but at long last, here's a new chapter for this old friend of mine. It's been nice to see that traffic for it has been steady so far despite everything, and I'm really happy that there's an audience that has so readily accepted the updated version. It's time to get the ball rolling again, and I hope you like it!

NOTE:

-All of the characters or universes featured in this fic belong to their respective owners. Umbra the Hedgehog belongs to me.

Multi-Dimensional Melee!

"…This is your world?"

Zero's question left the group immensely shaken.

When Sonic and his friends were brought out of harm's way by Aurora, Dimitri and the Omni-Viewer, everything in their world looked fairly normal… outside of a pack of what Sonic called "Grublins" and Angel Island's impending crash, of course. Now, however…

"I'm gonna guess this isn't how you guys left it a minute ago…?"

This time, Yang's comment didn't manage to get an exasperated response from his sister; Yin was just as visibly surprised as he was.

Last thing they knew, Angel Island was on a collision course with the city. Not as bad as the Space Colony ARK incident, true, but they still wouldn't wish for anyone to be there while the landmass approached them.

Now, however? The tremendous crash and resulting damage were one thing, but the idea of Angel Island, the place where Sonic, Tails and Knuckles had one of their biggest adventures, having essentially crumbled down to nothing, to the degree that so many familiar locations like Mushroom Hill, Red Mountain and the Mystic Ruins were almost completely unrecognizable? That was just too much for them to process.

"We weren't even gone that long!" Knuckles had some serious trouble believing his eyes. "What happened here?!"

Umbra suddenly grunted, and when the group quickly turned their attention to him, they noticed he was holding his head in his hands, like he was nursing a headache or something.

"…Time dilation. It can flow differently from one universe to another." Even his voice came off like he was in pain. "A couple days in this world could be weeks, or years, or centuries on a neighboring world, and they could just as easily be mere seconds on another one." Once the pain seemed to lighten up, he looked at the others. "Either that, or the portal jumped us forward relative to when you last left this place, but it's one of those two."

It was only then that he noticed how most of them were staring at him like he was crazy.

Tails especially couldn't even try to hide his confusion. "How can you tell?"

"It's… complicated." The hedgehog brought his arms down. "I just… kinda know these things."

Amy was the only one who didn't seem lost, instead taking the chance to voice her concern. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine."

Knuckles suddenly realized something. "Jumped us forward? How much?"

"One of you…" He stretched out his arm and offered a hand to the group. "…give me your hand."

Once again, most of the group looked at each other in confusion.

For a moment, Yang looked like he was going to do as the hedgehog had asked, but Yin pulled him back and shook her head at him.

"I think he's talking about the ones who actually come from here."

Before any of them could say anything more, Sonic walked over and did exactly as Umbra had asked.

"What's this supposed to—"

He didn't get to finish that sentence before… something happened. He wasn't sure how it could be put into words, but he felt some sort of jolt in his head. It was almost like a colony of ants decided to start dancing around his brain, except without the pain, which was just confusing.

He could only hold on for a few seconds before letting go and bringing that same hand up to his head. Despite having to close one of his eyes in order to do so, it didn't escape his notice that Umbra had the same reaction after he had released him.

Not just similar; exactly the same.

"Are you alright?" Sonic heard the Guyver's voice clearly in the middle of his discomfort.

He slowly nodded in response. "Yeah, it's cool. Feels like a bunch of Moto Bugs are throwing a party inside my skull, but it's nothing I can't run off." After a heavy sigh, he put his hand down and turned his attention over to Umbra once more. "Got anything from that?"

"Yeah, I'm just trying to place it. Hang on a second…"

After seemingly straining himself for a few moments, Umbra eventually brought his hand back down as well and looked at the others.

"…You've been gone for one day."

Amy, Tails and Knuckles all had the same reaction. "One day?!"

"How does all of this happen in one day?!" Yin frantically asked.

Yang got her attention by tapping her on the shoulder. "Hey, uh, Yin? We've had worse stuff than this in less time. Remember… the Dark Tomorroooooow?"

The overly dramatic way in which he said that confused most of the group, but he was too focused on his sister to notice.

He could see she was about to argue, but then she quickly stopped herself. "…Right. That barely took up a few hours."

"Yeah? Well, cleaning up this mess is gonna take even less than that." Sonic spoke up again, which got their attention. "We just gotta kick butt, save the world, and keep it together. We can do that, right, guys?"

While they, along with Zero and the Guyver, exchanged glances, seemingly confused by his apparent lack of concern for the situation, Sonic's group of friends were quick to answer him.

"Right!" As Amy tightened her grip on her hammer, Tails nodded at Sonic while Knuckles clenched his fists.

Although Zero's expression was unchanged and the Guyver's face couldn't be made out at all, which contrasted with how Yin and Yang were smiling at each other after the display of confidence, all four of them followed suit. "Right."

Umbra was the last one, letting out a sigh before he finally pitched in. "…Right."

Despite his less-than-enthusiastic response, Sonic was unfazed as he turned his attention over to his best friend.

"Cool. Time to let the smart ones plan everything out." He gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "Got any ideas on where we should start, Tails?"

The little fox began to think, but much to Sonic's surprise, his attention was suddenly grabbed by something else, and before anyone could think about asking him what it was, he quickly took off flying in its direction.

"…Alright, you heard the man." Sonic bounced back just as quickly, however. "Follow him!"

No one even got to think about saying anything before he zipped away in Tails' direction. They could only do exactly as he said and follow the two as best as possible.

Naturally, Sonic was the first to catch up with Tails…

"Hey, what's got you in such a— oh."

…and he quickly noticed what it was that got his attention.

"Is that…?"

Tails nodded without even turning to look at him. "The Tornado 2? Yeah… or what's left of it, anyway."

That comment made Sonic wince.

If his little buddy was upset at him right now, he couldn't blame him; while his quick thinking got them out of Angel Island safely, he had completely failed to account for the fact that it was Tails' plane that helped them arrive there quickly… and that they had left it behind when the island began to fall. The wreckage that Tails was looking at barely even resembled a plane anymore after what was always doomed to be nothing short of a disastrous impact.

"Right… um…" Sonic paused for a moment. "Sorry about that. Guess I didn't think things through back there."

He was surprised when Tails shook his head at this.

"Don't worry about it." He then turned around to look at the hedgehog. "You made the right call, Sonic. I don't know if we could've gotten it to start up fast enough to leave the island before the crash."

This got Sonic to relax a little. "Yeah, but I know how much you love your planes, buddy."

"Thanks. I appreciate it, Sonic." Despite everything he had just said, Tails let out a sigh. "But it's fine, really. It's not the first time the Tornado 2 gets wrecked like this. I'll just… I-I'll fix it again."

Sonic wasn't entirely convinced, but he finally decided to let it go after seeing how adamant Tails was about it. And right on time, too, as the rest of their group finally caught up to them.

"Hey, Tails, why'd you take off so—?" Knuckles was quick to ask.

Amy was just as quick to interrupt him when she noticed what was going on. "Oh, no… I'm so sorry, Tails."

"Yeah… me too." The little fox turned his attention to the others. "It's just that I saw it here and thought we could use it to get to my workshop… but it's never going to fly like this."

While his friends were upset at this comment, most of the others were just surprised.

"Is that an airplane?" Zero asked.

Tails sighed once more. "It… used to be."

"How did the four of you just… come across a plane?" The Guyver was the next one.

Sonic couldn't help but be amused by that. "Pfft, 'come across' nothing." He then pointed at Tails. "He made it!"

"You… made your own plane?" Yin asked the fox. "An entire plane? All by yourself?"

Amy was the one who answered, however. "Yeah, more than one! He's got a real gift with inventions and gadgets."

The two rabbits looked at each other incredulously before turning their attention over to Tails again, right as Yang asked a question of his own.

"…How old are you again?"

Tails answered him without skipping a beat. "I'm eight years old."

For a moment, Yin and Yang's eyes widened so much at that assertion that you'd swear their heads were nothing but their eyes.

"Eight years old?!" They even ended up asking the exact same question in unison.

While the Guyver's face still couldn't be made out because of his suit, his voice made it clear that he was similarly impressed. "You built more than one of these before turning ten?"

"Come on, that's nothing." Sonic chipped in once again. "This guy has been right by my side and helping me save the world since he was four, and he's never stopped doing what he does best! Planes, cars, sailboats, hoverboards, space rockets… you name it, he's probably made it." He then gave Tails a light punch on the shoulder. "Looking for the smartest dude around? You got him right here!"

Zero's attention was set on the wrecked plane. "I only know one other person who was that gifted. She'd be impressed by your skills if she was here."

Tails couldn't stop himself from chuckling bashfully at the amount of praise he was getting, to the visible joy of both Sonic and Amy.

However, this left Knuckles as the only one to point out what everyone else seemed to be ignoring. "…Well, even so, I don't think a broken plane's going to do us any good."

"And even if we could somehow get the Tornado 2 back in the air, I'm pretty sure it's not going to be big enough for Cyrax and Blue Beetle over here." Umbra followed suit, pointing at Zero and the Guyver without even looking at them as he finished that sentence. "So, unless one of you guys is hiding Shendu's magic talismans in their pocket, does anyone have a Plan B?"

Much to his shock, Yin's response was both quick and fairly enthusiastic.

"Lucky for us, I have a Plan T!"

Most everyone looked at her in confusion and said the same thing. "Plan… T?"

Yang, meanwhile, had more of an expectant look on his face.

"Yeah, the T stands for…" Right on cue, Yin's hands started to glow, and she aimed them right at the Tornado 2. "…Transfoomate!"

With that, she fired what looked like a light blue beam of energy at the plane. The others could only stare in awe as it started to react to what she was doing.

"Oh yeah, Woo Foo to the rescue!" All except for Yang, that is.

And then, it was almost like someone pressed the rewind button while watching a movie. Not only did the wrecked vehicle's damage suddenly start undoing itself, but even the many bits and pieces that had been broken off began to fly back into their proper place and then stayed there, as if they had never been gone at all.

In mere seconds, the Tornado 2 was back to its former glory.

"You…" Tails immediately approached his creation, trying to find any visible signs of the damage it used to have. "It… it looks just like new!"

While Sonic joined in on his little buddy's endeavor, Amy and Knuckles' attention was set firmly on the two rabbits.

"How did you do that?" Knuckles asked Yin as he walked up to her.

Yin's hands stopped glowing. "Oh, you know, it's just a Level 1 Woo Foo move. No biggie."

"Was that… magic?" Amy, on the other hand, went over to talk with Yang instead.

Yang planted his bamboo sword on the ground before leaning against it. "Yeah, Woo Foo's all about might and magic. You guys have magic here, don't you?"

"How do you figure?" Amy was quick to ask.

Yin's answer came just as quickly. "Well, we're supposed to be hunting for a bunch of emeralds with some kinda special power that should help us out, and we're walking on an island that used to float in the air after leaving behind another version of the exact same island that also had a robot head with tentacles in a glass bubble and a talking computer with a face that can send you to other worlds and landed us here a day late. That all sounds pretty magical to me."

"Yeah, we've had to deal with our own share of weird magic stuff back home. Mindwipe amulets with reset buttons, glasses that make you smart, stupid fairies that bring your toys to life, pizza deliveries…" Yang also made an observation of his own. "Plus, we aren't turning into freaky versions of ourselves like we did when we went to that sucky world full of weird giants, and neither are you."

Yin nodded. "And thank Foo for that, because that was just the worst."

"Uhh… okay…" That was all that Knuckles could muster up as he stared at the two in utter confusion.

By contrast, Amy looked like she had just realized something.

"Actually, that would explain both Little Planet and Maginaryworld perfectly." She blinked a few times, surprised at her own conclusion. "I've always had a bit of a thing for magic myself. I'm surprised I didn't think of it like that!"

However, the conversation came to an abrupt stop when they heard a loud whistle.

"Yeah, um, hello?" It was Umbra, who pointed at Yin as soon as he had everyone's attention. "I know this little chitchat is riveting and all, but you heard Widget here. We're supposed to be looking for something." He then brought his hand down. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm guessing it'd be a lot easier in a universe that hasn't been ripped apart like cheap toilet paper, so can we get moving before time and space start circling the drain?"

Right on cue, Sonic and Tails rejoined the group.

"Well, he may be a buzzkill, but he's got a point." Sonic spoke up first. "The sooner we get the Chaos Emeralds, the better."

Tails nodded. "The good news is, the Tornado 2 is working again, so flying back to Emerald Town should be easy!"

"Emerald Town?" The name caught the Guyver's attention. "Is that where the emeralds are?"

The young fox shook his head. "It's where my lab is. I'm sure we can figure out a way to track them all down from there."

"If we can figure out how to get there…" Zero added.

Yang let out a frustrated sigh. "Yeah, I really hate to agree with what Pointy McSour said before, but how are we all supposed to fit into that plane? FYI, if it has a trunk, I am not gonna ride in there!"

Before Tails could offer an answer, Yin raised her hand.

"Actually, I think I have an idea." She brought it down as soon as she had everyone's attention, and then she looked directly at him. "How many of us can you fit on that plane, Tails?"

He looked at the Tornado 2 for a moment before turning back to her. "I think four would be the most; one on each seat and one on each side of the wings."

"Okay, we just need to carry five more." Yin then turned to the others. "Any of you have a rope? A chain? A snake that won't bite my fingers off?"

This in turn made Sonic realize something. "Hey, Tails, I know you based your planes on mine. Does the Tornado 2 have that thing we used to carry the Master Emerald back when we were dealing with the Death Egg?"

"The tether?" Tails asked, to which his friend nodded. "Well, I did build it with one, but I never really had a chance to test or use it, so… I don't really know if it works."

Sonic nudged him slightly. "Hey, I always say that when you want to do something, you should do it right away." He gestured towards the Tornado 2 with his head. "No time like the present, right, pal?"

Tails couldn't help but look at the plane as soon as he heard that, and while he felt somewhat uncomfortable in front of everyone once he noticed that most of the group's attention was set directly on him, he relaxed as soon as he noticed how his friends were looking at him.

"…Right." He took a deep breath. "It's the only way to live a life without regrets."

And with that, he flew over to the Tornado 2's pilot seat and began to go through the controls.

"You really trust him that much?" Once he was out of earshot, the Guyver asked a question of Sonic and his friends.

Amy raised an eyebrow at him. "What, you thought we weren't being serious before?"

"Too bad, 'cause it's all true." Sonic crossed his arms. "I'd trust that guy with my life."

Knuckles also spoke up. "I don't always understand what he does, but he's never made things worse for us before."

It was right at that moment that the Tornado 2 made some noises, and when the group turned their attention over to it, the tether that Sonic and Tails had talked about came out from the back of the plane.

"Got it!" Tails looked over at the others. "It's ready!"

Sonic smirked before giving him a thumbs-up. "Never doubted ya for a second, Tails."

Meanwhile, Yin walked over to the tether and briefly inspected it before going back to the others.

"Alright, that should work." She turned to Sonic, Amy and Knuckles in particular. "You guys are going with him, right?"

The blue hedgehog nodded. "You got it, Yin."

"Neat!" Just like before, her hands began to glow right as she aimed them at her target. "Who goes where?"

Sonic was very quick to answer. "I call dibs on the wings. It's what I always do."

"And if he's on the wings, then so am I!" Amy immediately added.

Knuckles was the last one. "Guess that leaves the backseat to me again."

"Alright, hang on!"

Suddenly, Amy and Knuckles felt themselves being lifted into the air, enveloped by an aura that matched the glow on Yin's hands. After they were moved over to the exact locations they asked for, Yin brought her arms back down and the two landed on said spots.

"Wow, that was easy." Amy looked down at where Sonic and Yin were standing and waved at them. "Thank you!"

Yin waved right back at her. "You're welcome!" Then she looked at Sonic. "You can get up there by yourself, right?"

"Yeah, no sweat."

That got a big smile out of the rabbit girl.

"Great! Because I'm going to need your help." She switched her focus over to the rest of the group. "Everyone, get over here!"

As they walked in her direction just as she asked, the Guyver took a moment to ask Yang a question.

"What's her plan?"

Much to his surprise, Yang shrugged in response. "Dunno, but hey, as long as it doesn't involve goat dolls, evil chickens or a giant pair of pants, we're good."

Unsure how to respond to that… oddly blasé comment, the Guyver decided to keep quiet and let the subject go.

Before long, all five of them were all gathered at the same spot: right behind the Tornado 2.

"We're here. What's next?" Zero asked Yin.

In response, the glow on her hands suddenly got much brighter.

"Glad you asked." She sat down, crossed her legs, and raised her arms up high. "Foo Field!"

With those words, a force field suddenly appeared around everyone except for Sonic. Once again, while most everyone looked fairly impressed at this display, Yang had a look on his face that showed he knew this was coming.

"A… magic bubble?" Umbra asked as he looked all around himself.

After placing his hand on the field, the Guyver was surprised by the results. "It's not a bubble. It's… solid."

Zero raised a hand, and the others noticed his palm starting to glow.

"Hey, is that a Z on your hand?" Yang asked him as soon as he noticed what the glowing part looked like.

After only a few seconds, Zero used his open hand to hit the field that currently surrounded them. He could feel the impact all around the area, much like the others did, but once he brought his hand back down, it was exactly as he suspected.

"…No damage at all." He turned his attention over to Yin. "It's resilient."

In response, she stood back up and looked at her companions for a moment. "Yep! It's another Level 1 move, but I've been practicing with it for a while. All I have to do is stay focused and we're good." And then she turned over to Sonic, who had been watching the whole display. "Good enough to be attached to the back of a plane, at least."

It was at that point that he understood why she said she needed his help.

"On it!" Rather than dwelling on how long it took for it to hit him, he went straight for the tether and attached it to the force field. "There you go. Ready for takeoff!"

Once again, Yin and Yang ended up saying the same thing. "Neat!"

"Alright, you guys hang back here." Sonic gestured upwards with his head. "I'll give Tails the go-ahead."

Before any of them could respond, he had already jumped towards the force field. Quickly leaping up into the air, he pulled an aerial backflip before landing on the Tornado 2's horizontal stabilizer, only to immediately leap forwards and make it to the right side of the upper supporting plane.

"Oh yeah, nailed it."

He gave Amy and Knuckles a quick glance; both of his friends were in position and were pleased to see him doing the same. Then he turned his attention over to Tails.

"We're ready for takeoff, Captain." It was only after those words that he noticed his friend's eyes were elsewhere. "…But you already knew that, didn't you?"

Indeed, Tails had been watching the whole thing, and he was visibly surprised by what had just happened.

"It's cool. She's got this. C'mon, fire up the engines and let's get rolling!"

The boy forced himself to look away and did as he was asked. Soon enough, the Tornado 2 powered itself up, and it wasn't long before it took to the air just like before. Knuckles straightened himself up on his seat, while Sonic and Amy turned their sights to the front of the plane just as Tails had done.

"Next stop: Emerald Town!" Tails loudly announced.

As the plane began to head for its destination, the rest of the team could only stare at Sonic as he steadied himself for the trip.

"He's faster than any Reploid I've ever faced." Zero's tone remained even, but he seemed interested regardless. "Much more agile, too."

The Guyver nodded. "I thought only Zoanoids and Guyver units could go that fast."

"Guess that's why they call him Sonic." Yin was similarly impressed. "If he can do that and Tails can build planes, I can't wait to see the others in action. I bet Amy's going to be awesome!"

She was ready to say more, but she found herself distracted by the sound of her brother snickering loudly.

"He said 'hang back'! I just got it!" Yang barely managed to get that out there before he burst out laughing. "Oh man, this is gonna be great!"

Yin was confused at first, but when she turned away from him and saw the tether that was attached to her Foo Field again, it finally sank in with her… and she immediately facepalmed.

"Oh, for the love of Foo… that was a pun? He makes puns?"

The others said nothing more as Yang kept on laughing.

Unknown to the heroes, someone was watching them from a distance as they sped away.

"I told ya! I told ya he'd come back in no time! Who'd know Sonic better than me?"

It was none other than Scourge the Hedgehog, who was speaking into a device strapped onto his right wrist. It looked like a gray triangle with rounded edges and corners, a black wrist strap, and a black touchpad with cyan lights on it.

"Maybe your supposed 'insight' is not entirely worthless after all." A voice came out of it, and going by the tone it had, its owner was not amused with him at all.

The green hedgehog rolled his eyes at this. "Is that how you arty types say 'you're a genius' in your language? 'Cuz yeah, I know I am!"

"If you were, you would have dealt with him and everyone on his side as soon as you met them. I'm beginning to suspect that maybe you can't do it."

Scourge scoffed at the accusation. "Oh, yeah? Why don't you do it then, wise guy?"

"You were the one who said Sonic was yours to take down, if I recall correctly. 'Every single one of him', in your own words. Besides, I have much more important work that needs my undivided attention."

This only made him laugh. "And that's why you don't get to critique how I deal with ol' Blue. You need me to keep him and his new band of idiots away from your little workshop of horrors, but I get to do it however the heck I want!"

"Is that so? Was facing him and eight others a part of your plan?"

He shrugged derisively, as if whoever was on the other side of the conversation could actually see him doing so.

"Well, I could use some backup to keep the dead weight out of my way, but you've got my new gang busy dealing with my old gang over at my home turf, and Trout Boy is still busy with that freaky little project of yours, so the same goes for the ghost and Mangy McGee. Not much of a choice there."

In response, he heard a noise behind him, followed by some wind blowing in his direction.

"If that concerns you so much, there are others who'll be happy to assist you."

By the time he turned around, all he could see were two other people standing before him, both of them wearing communicators not too different from his own. One was about his size and close to his own color, and was wearing a communicator that almost looked like a light bulb with pink highlights on his right wrist. The other one was much taller and looked like something that Eggman guy would build if he had lost all sense of good taste and stopped making robot hedgehogs, and his communicator was more like a gray square with red lights and was strapped around his right forearm.

"They're more than familiar with Sonic's new friends, and they also share your… particular brand of motivation." The voice paused briefly. "I trust you will not disappoint me again."

Scourge could hear the transmission being cut off, but he couldn't care less. As soon as he got a good look at the characters standing with him, he grinned maliciously.

"…Oh yeah, you guys definitely look like you're more my speed."

"So many islands…"

As the Tornado 2 made its way to its destination, what was familiar territory for Sonic and his friends caught the attention of their new companions.

"That's where your kind comes from?" Zero asked, his stoic expression unchanged despite his curiosity.

Tails stayed focused on his flight plan as he answered him. "Yeah, the humans live in the bigger countries, but folks like us usually stick to these smaller spots."

"Not always, though." Sonic also chipped in. "Amy's got an apartment down in Central City, and Tails has already set up a bunch of workshops and labs all over the map."

That last part caught the Guyver's notice. "You have more than just the one at Emerald Town?"

"Yeah, but that's the one where most of my tools were before all of this happened." Tails' reply was quick. "It's our best option right now."

Then came his other question. "Is that where you originally came from?"

"Actually, I'm from West Side Island."

Once again, Sonic decided to contribute. "That's where we first met. Heh, good times."

"Are you from there too, Sonic?" Zero asked him.

The hedgehog shook his head. "Nope. Christmas Island." Then he chuckled lightly. "Bit of a weird place. I haven't been there in some time, but it's still cool. Pretty sure you guys would like it."

"What about Knuckles?" Yin wondered aloud.

Umbra replied almost immediately, much to the surprise of the others. "Angel Island."

"Oh, you mean the one from before that was—" Yang began to talk, but as soon as she realized what he was about to say, Yin immediately covered his mouth.

Despite her efforts, Knuckles lowered his head with a sigh. "…Yeah."

Everyone quickly fell silent. Sonic and Amy's faces fell as they turned their attention over to their echidna friend, and despite Tails being too busy with the Tornado 2's flight plan to look at him, he was no happier than they were.

"…Dimitri did say he was counting on Knuckles recognizing the other one." It was Zero who eventually found something to say, if only because it felt like no one else wanted to.

Knuckles said nothing. He could only clench his fists while trying to contain his anger at the whole situation.

"We'll get it back, Knux." Sonic spoke up again, his tone as unexpectedly serious as it was when he was giving his thoughts on the Grublins that he and his friends had spotted before. "As soon as Omni's juiced back up, that'll be the next item on our to-do list, right alongside kicking that Scourge guy's prickly green butt."

Tails nodded. "He caught us by surprise the first time, and then he left as soon as he started to lose his advantage. I don't think he's as tough as he claims."

"The next time we run into him, there won't be enough left to make a handbag." Amy topped it off with a threat that earned her a surprised look from Sonic.

Before she could notice it, though, a scoff escaped him.

"Now there's a side of yours we don't see every day, Amy."

She grinned at him in response. "You're not the only one who's full of surprises, Sonic."

"Bad guys, beware! Don't mess with this hedgehog's friends." And that in turn got Sonic to grin back at her. "That's an attitude I can get behind."

She giggled for a moment. "Yeah, well, there's more where that came from."

Before he could say anything in response, the conversation was interrupted by a loud whistle.

"Hate to break up the banter, lovebirds, but you better be serious about that drive of yours." Much like before, Umbra spoke up as soon as he had their attention. "Something tells me we're going to need it."

Turning their eyes away from him, it was only then that they noticed how surprised Tails seemed to be.

"We've got incoming!"

When Sonic and Amy turned back around, they saw exactly what he meant, and while she was merely surprised, he was alarmed at the sight of their attackers. They were similar to the ones he and the others had managed to avoid before, except smaller and with what looked like giant fly wings.

"Whoa! Grublin Flies!" He immediately looked over to his best friend again. "Tails, better get armed and ready. These guys don't mess around!"

The young fox nodded before engaging the Tornado 2's weapons.

"Hold on, everyone!"

Sonic nodded, and then he kneeled down before holding onto the wing he was on top of with both hands, which quickly prompted Amy to do the same.

Right as the creatures at the front were about to strike with their clubs, the Tornado 2 suddenly slowed down slightly, making them miss their swing by a slim margin. Before they had a chance to recover, they were hit by a barrage of missiles, which chased them even as they tried to avoid the attack. The ones behind them barely had a chance to scatter before they were surprised by the plane's machine gun fire, which took down more than a few of them. The ones that managed to avoid the attack backed away before heading for the plane again, this time from the back.

When he spotted the attempted attack, Umbra spoke up again. "Open a hole on this thing!"

"What?!" Yin asked in shock.

While he didn't look at her, he still answered her. "Do it!"

Despite not appreciating his tone, she did as he asked and opened a hole on the force field big enough for him to jump through, which he quickly did, the hole closing just on time for him to stand atop the force field. Before any of the others could question his course of action, his body suddenly burst into flames, and then he jumped right at the incoming flock of enemies, curling up into a ball before hitting them, with the force of the impact being enough for him to cut right through their numbers. As soon as he made it to the opposite side of where they were flying, the remainder of the flock's attention had shifted entirely over to him.

Once he lost his momentum, he uncurled himself before turning to look at the monsters, floating in the air as if held up by the wind itself.

"You want them? You'll have to deal with me first."

As if in answer, they immediately went on the attack again. Umbra curled up into a ball again before hitting them with a series of what looked like Homing Attacks, the distraction allowing the Tornado 2 to fly ahead uninterrupted.

"How did he do that?" Knuckles asked, having turned around and watched the whole thing.

Yin narrowed her eyes at the sight. "Good question."

"We can worry about it later!" Tails yelled out before resuming the attack on the group right in front of him, firing another barrage of homing missiles.

After the attack, the Grublins in front of them seemed to disperse and fly away, much to the group's relief.

"We're approaching the lab." Tails began to lower the plane. "Almost there, guys."

Much to the surprise of the ones still inside the force field, however, Zero reached for the weapon mounted on his right leg.

"Yes, but it's under attack."

This caught the group off-guard, and after taking a closer look, they noticed the two enormous figures that seemed to be heading for a gray building not too far away from Tails' house.

"Oh, great… Trolls. They're dumb as a sack of rocks, but they hit just as hard." Once again, Sonic provided some insight on the enemy. "We're gonna need some heavy hitters down there. One's bad enough on its own, but two?"

Tails seemed concerned. "The door's reinforced, but I don't know how long it's going to last against monsters that big." He quickly engaged the autopilot before looking behind him, the plane slowly stopping its descent as he did. "Knuckles, could you—"

That was when he noticed that the Tornado 2's back seat was empty. Despite his initial confusion, it only took about a second before he looked down… and indeed, Knuckles had jumped out of the plane and was already on his way down.

This didn't escape the others' notice, with Yang in particular looking more impressed than shocked at the sudden decision.

"Wow…" He quickly looked at his companions. "Okay, anyone else?"

While Yin looked at him while he was crazy, Zero merely tightened his grip on what looked like the handle of his laser sword, while the protrusions on the forearms of the Guyver's suit suddenly extended far enough to double as bladed weapons.

Yang smiled at this. "Oh, you guys speak my language."

Much to their surprise, Yin's expression suddenly shifted into one of concern.

"Ah, pellets…"

When they turned to look at what she was seeing, they noticed the prior flock of Grublins had regrouped and was heading straight for them again.

"Tails! Incoming from behind!" Yin shouted.

This would've rattled the fox enough all by itself, but before he could even think of responding, he heard Sonic's voice again.

"Wyverns closing in!"

And indeed, he could see a pair of flying Grublins, both of which vaguely resembled the mythical creature they were apparently named after, heading in their direction.

"What do we do?!" Amy asked in a panic.

And so, with a deep breath, the boy steeled himself before his next maneuver, gripping the controls tightly.

"Yin, drop the others." He then pushed a button, which caused a robotic arm to come out of the right side of the plane and position itself close to where the others were. "Then grab on."

The rabbit girl was taken aback for a second, but she did as Tails asked and made the Foo Field disappear. While she quickly used a lasso-like beam of energy to hold onto the robotic arm, her brother and her companions immediately fell down as soon as that happened.

"Alright, let's go!" Needless to say, Yang was ecstatic. "Chee! Hoo! Waa!"

Once he confirmed that they had gotten away from the plane safely, Tails looked up at his two friends, who had seen the whole thing.

"Sonic! Amy! I'm switching to high-speed mode!"

Much to his relief, Sonic smirked at him. "Say no more, little bro. I'll keep 'em off your back!"

With that, he jumped off the plane and went straight for the closest Wyvern, hitting it with a Homing Attack before landing on its back and throwing off its flight plan.

"Not without me, you don't!"

In a move that caught both Sonic and Tails by surprise, Amy did the exact same thing when the other Wyvern came close enough, flying in the opposite direction and out of the plane's way.

"Amy!"

Despite his obvious concern for his friend, the fox ultimately forced himself to get back to his controls, and with the push of a button, the robotic arm put Yin down on the back seat before retracting back into the plane.

"So, what's the plan?" Yin asked after fastening her seatbelt.

His response was quick. "We're doing a somersault! Hang on!"

Before she could say anything to that, he pulled up on the controls, and thus the Tornado 2 began to fly upwards. The Grublins apparently elected not to follow suit, choosing instead to continue flying in a straight line.

"Can you make a force field big enough to protect the Tornado 2?" Tails asked as the plane started approaching the halfway point.

Yin was surprised by the request. "This isn't the Woo Foo Battle Cruiser, but… maybe a skin-level one? Does that work?"

"That's… actually better than what I was planning." Impressed, Tails quickly found the button he needed and pushed it. "Okay, transforming now!"

Right on cue, the plane's four wings rearranged themselves into the shape of an X, its tractor screws and wheels retracted fully, and the lower half of its fuselage raised itself, which made room for a rocket booster on the bottom.

"We're ready! Go for it!"

As they began to descend, Yin closed her eyes, raised her hands, and concentrated hard. Right before the somersault was completed, Tails managed to briefly see a force field surrounding them before it turned invisible, and he took that as the cue for the next step of his plan.

"Aileron roll! Hang on!"

The somersault finally ended with the two of them right behind the group of Grublins, and just as Tails said, after a sharp U-turn, the plane began to spin rapidly. Despite taking aim at multiple targets, which was helped by the maneuver, he didn't open fire, choosing instead to keep on spinning as the Tornado 2 headed straight for the enemy group.

"Tails, what are you doing?!" Yin cried out, even as she kept her spell going.

Tails didn't react to this. Instead, he did his best to stay focused as his vehicle directly rammed the monsters while spinning rapidly, the impact of said attack taking out a good chunk of them almost instantly. Putting some distance between them and the Tornado 2 once they started dispersing, he began to stabilize the plane so they were flying straight once more, no longer spinning around.

"And now, U-turn!" He gave Yin a quick look. "Drop the force field!"

Pulling up on the controls again, he stopped halfway through what appeared to be a somersault and spun just enough for the plane to straighten itself back up. Yin took that as her cue and put her hands down, the invisible force field briefly coming back into view before it disappeared completely. Once the Grublins were back on his sights, Tails fired one last barrage of missiles at all the targets he had previously locked onto, before using the machine gun to take down any remaining stragglers.

"Alright, we did it!" Tails exclaimed happily.

Yin looked around, trying to make sure that all their enemies had been taken down, before focusing directly on him. "That… was the plan?"

"Not at first." The boy engaged the autopilot again, disengaged the transformation, and then he turned around so he could look her in the eye. "That probably would've blown us up without your help!"

She gave him a disbelieving look. "Wait, you came up with that… right after I told you about my skin-level invisible Foo Field? Just like that?!"

Instead of providing an answer, Tails' expression suddenly turned giddy, much to her confusion.

"Didn't I say my best friend was the smartest guy around?"

Yin quickly turned her attention to the source of the familiar voice, only to be surprised by the sight of Sonic and Amy riding the Wyverns that they had attacked before.

"Nice job, Tails!" Amy cheerfully addressed her friend. "How did you know that'd work?"

A nervous chuckle escaped him. "It's probably going to sound crazy, but after seeing Yin's magic in action… I don't know, I just trusted that she'd have my back."

"Makes sense to me." Clearly, Sonic didn't find it quite as crazy as he expected.

Yin, for her part, just seemed confused as she looked at the two hedgehogs. "Did you guys know you could ride those things when you jumped off?"

"Oh yeah, I had to pull it off once. It's a long story." Sonic then gestured in Amy's direction with his head. "And I'm guessin' Amy just learned by example."

In response, she turned her attention to him. "Actually, Shadow and I had to do this to some aliens once. They weren't too far off from these guys."

"Sounds like another long story." He soon did the same to her. "You're gonna have to tell me about that one of these days!"

Amy raised an eyebrow, a cheeky grin appearing on her face. "Maybe. We'll see."

This seemingly amused Sonic, which didn't escape Yin's notice.

"Anyway…" However, instead of dwelling on it, she just turned back around and straightened herself up on her seat. "We should catch up with the others."

Tails nodded. "Right!" He also turned back around, disengaging the autopilot once more before taking the controls. "We're going down. Hold on!"

Sonic and Amy watched as the Tornado 2 started to descend, and they exchanged a glance and a nod before following suit.

"You heard him, ugly!"

"Down we go!"

Meanwhile…

As he continued to nosedive, Knuckles clenched his fists.

The Master Emerald had been taken by Scourge, his home had crashed down into a city as a result, and now these "Trolls" that Sonic was talking about were trying to ruin his chance to set things right? Not if he had anything to say about it. He was ready to hit these monsters with everything he had!

After adjusting his trajectory slightly, he landed right in front of the two creatures, striking the ground with a powerful punch as he did. The impact was strong enough to momentarily throw his opponents off balance, and this gave him a chance to really see what he was up against. The two were mostly similar to each other, both of them being tall, hulking brutes with bulky arms that seemed to support their weight and looking like they were made out of rock and dirt and soil. The only major difference between them was the color of their bodies, one being mostly green while the other had an orange-brownish shade to it.

And while Sonic probably would've thrown out a snippy quote, the echidna was in no mood for jokes.

"Take this!"

He went straight for the green Troll, lunging right at it before hitting it with a Spiral Upper. That knocked it further off balance, leaving it open for further strikes. He quickly struck it in the chest area with two strong punches before following that up with a twisting uppercut, putting enough force into them to leave the creature staggering backwards, and he finished his attack with one last punch… one so ridiculously powerful that it produced an explosion upon impact.

While his assault was enough to drop the hulking beast on its back, it was only when he heard a loud roar right behind him that he remembered there were supposed to be two of them. By the time he turned around, the other Troll was ready to pound him with one of its arms…

"Man Smash!"

…only for both of them to be blindsided when the Troll was hit right on the head. By another head. And with enough force that its other arm couldn't support it.

"Man Smash! Man Smash! Man Smash! Man Smash!" As if that wasn't enough, a few more hits ensured that it'd stay down a little longer.

Knuckles could only stare at the scene before him in disbelief before the attacker landed right in front of him.

"Oh man, I haven't done that in forever! Good thing it still works!" It was Yang, who seemed gleefully unaware of what he had just done as he pointed at him. "Did your fist just explode back there?"

Knuckles completely failed to answer his question. "Did you just…?" He couldn't find the words he was looking for, so he just pointed at his own head. "Are you okay?"

"Dude, I'm a cartoon rabbit." Yang knocked on his own head a couple times. "I don't get hurt unless the plot needs me to!"

Before Knuckles could find something to say, he saw Yang gearing up for a fight again. He turned around on instinct, and sure enough, he noticed the green Troll had gotten back up, only barely managing to dodge its attack once he did.

"I bet they can't say the same for themselves."

Right on cue, the orange one got back up after the hits it suffered, with Knuckles assuming a fighting stance in response as he and Yang stood side by side.

"It's two on two now." He clenched his fists once more. "We can take them."

Yang laughed at this. "Obviously! Except it's not just two on two!"

"What?" Knuckles asked him.

Instead of answering, Yang simply yelled something out loud. "Paws of Pain!"

The two Trolls raised their arms and prepared to crush the two, and while Knuckles simply used his strength to stop the green one's attack, he was surprised to find that Yang had done the same to the orange one, except his fists had suddenly grown much, much bigger.

"Just gotta hold 'em in place." He then gestured upwards with his head. "They said they had a plan. I don't normally care about plans because that's more Yin's thing than mine, but I wanna see what they do!"

Knuckles turned away from him, making sure not to give his enemy an inch. "Who is 'they'?"

"Wait for it…" Once again, Yang's answer was less clear than he'd have liked.

Nevertheless, he continued to push back against his Troll, and while he wasn't looking at him, he could only assume Yang was doing the same thing with the orange one.

"Okay, now! Push back, then jump back!"

Once again, he simply did as he was told, and he was surprised to find that he and Yang were almost perfectly in sync, which he wasn't really used to. Even his usual synergy with Sonic, Tails, or even both would run into the occasional hiccup every now and then, but this goofy blue rabbit was keeping up with him and acting as if they were on the exact same wavelength.

Before he could even think about questioning why that was, he was even more surprised by what happened right after.

Just as the Trolls were trying to recover their balance, Zero dropped in right in front of them, holding his saber above his head with both hands before suddenly swinging forward. His attack struck the ground with such power that an explosion of energy seemed to come out of the impacted area, and the two monsters suddenly found themselves paralyzed, as if they had been hit by a lightning bolt.

Almost immediately after that, he jumped backwards, and right on cue, the Guyver made his own entrance, with his arms stretched out to the sides before taking a swing with each of them as he landed. The creatures went completely still, and as he leapt away from them, their heads dropped down to the ground.

The Guyver stood up tall next to Zero, who had grabbed what looked like a gun and loaded the hilt of his saber on it as if it were an ammo cartridge, and as the robot took aim at the remains of the orange Troll, he looked over to the green one. Without so much as a word, Zero pulled the trigger, and a hail of energy bullets went straight for his target, while the Guyver's helmet suddenly began to fire a similar barrage of laser beams.

While Knuckles could only stare in awe as the two headless bodies began to disintegrate, Yang's eyes widened, a huge smile quickly appearing on his face.

"That… was… awesome!" His fists shrank back down to their usual size as he jumped up and down from the excitement, which got their attention.

Zero put his gun away while the Guyver merely looked at their two shorter companions, and much to the surprise of Knuckles, they didn't even react to Yang's enthusiasm before turning to each other.

"You did good." The Guyver offered his hand to the robot.

Zero stared at it for a moment, but ultimately returned the gesture with a nod. "Thanks. So did you."

Before Knuckles could say anything to them, they both turned their attention over to him.

"And you as well." Zero spoke up first.

The Guyver nodded. "We couldn't have done it without the two of you."

Knuckles was slightly taken aback by this, but he did his best to bounce back. "Thanks. And… yourself."

"Aw, yeah! Best team ever!" Yang, on the other hand, was still as giddy as before.

Before any of the others could say anything to that, they heard the Tornado 2 approaching, and were surprised to see it landing and coming to a stop not too far away from them.

"Oh, I don't know about that." As if on cue, Yin jumped out of her seat and landed right next to her brother. "I think Tails and I did pretty good too."

At the mention of his name, Tails also got out of the plane and ran towards the rest of the group.

"Knuckles!" He came to a stop right in front of his friend. "Are you alright?"

The echidna clenched his fists once more. "I will be once we're done with all of this." And then, it was as if he had just realized something. "…Where are Sonic and Amy?"

Right on cue, the group's collective attention was grabbed by a loud screech, and once they turned to the source, they noticed two Wyverns heading in their direction. While the more combat-oriented members of the group got on their guard, Tails and Yin simply watched expectantly.

Sure enough, once they were close enough, they noticed that Sonic and Amy were riding the two beasts. The hedgehogs kept heading towards the ground, and upon impact, as their mounts began to very painfully grind to a halt, they jumped up into the air and landed in front of everyone just as they fully came to a stop.

"Whoo, nailed it!" Sonic quickly stood up straight and celebrated the maneuver.

Amy did so more calmly as she sighed in relief. "That worked out better than I thought it would."

"What, you doubted this would be fun?" Sonic asked her with an accusatory look.

This got an eyeroll out of the pink hedgehog. "It always is with you, isn't it?"

"You know it!" And that in turn only served to amuse him.

It was only then that they noticed how Knuckles and the others hadn't dropped their guard, and before they could even ask about it, Tails and Yin pointed behind the two.

"Um, guys?"

They turned around to look at whatever it was that they were pointing to, and sure enough, they were just as shocked when they noticed what seemed to be some sort of fireball or meteor heading in their direction.

Before anyone could say or do anything more, the object finally landed with a powerful shock and a blast of fire… and even when Yin produced a Foo Field to protect them in just a fraction of a second, it didn't escape anyone's notice that the impact zone was precisely the spot where the Wyverns had crashed.

Once the smoke and dust from the impact cleared out, they were all surprised to find that not only was there no sign of the monsters anywhere, but also that someone else had essentially taken their place.

"…And that's the last of them."

It was Umbra the Hedgehog, the one that the entire group had lost track of earlier.

"Is everyone okay?" He stood up and looked at them, almost as if nothing had happened.

As most of the group finally put away their weapons, Yin dropped the Foo Field, an annoyed look plastered on her face. "Just barely!"

"What was that?!" Knuckles was just as upset as she was.

That made him sigh and drop his head. "…I'm sorry. I didn't think. I just saw the monsters and… reacted."

"Trust me, I know the feeling." Sonic, on the other hand, was more sympathetic to him. "But yeah, next time, give a guy some warning. A good heads-up never killed anyone, is all I'm saying."

As he raised his head, he noticed that Amy and Tails simply nodded in agreement, which made him feel just a little less awful.

"…Alright."

Unknown to the group, however, not too far away from Tails' lab, three figures were listening in on their conversation.

One of them merely watched intently, his gaze focused on the taller members of the group. Another one was only barely holding back the urge to throw up at the whole display. The last one gleefully smiled as he quietly thought something to himself.

Maybe not a heads-up… but I sure know what'll kill ya, Blue.

I can't even begin to tell you how nice it is to be back in the game. I've been doing so much work lately, and I have sorely missed being able to just sit in front of the computer and let the ideas fly. I really hope that I'll have more time and energy to keep things going at a steady pace, and that the extended period of nothing hasn't turned you off. For anyone out there who somehow managed to get through both the chapter and all of this extended babbling, I seriously can't thank you enough for being so inhumanly patient.

Just like before, I really hope you feel like the alterations made on this chapter have been worthwhile. Review, if you please, and let me know what you think. I welcome any and all feedback, good or bad, so long as you keep it civil.

This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing off.