I'm back! Here, have a chapter and read it :)

Knuckles was sitting atop the Master Emerald shrine thinking about many things. Mostly about what had recently transpired and most specifically he couldn't stop thinking about Sonic, not his Sonic whom he had his last talk with but the Sonic that helped him through the past days, he couldn't understand his actions despite how simple they appeared and despite how… Sonic they were. Helping others was how he rolled, the carefree nature dialed up to eleven, it was all there, but it was the fact that he was from another dimension that captivated him, he had a different energy to what Knuckles was used to yet at the same time, he felt exactly as one would expect from Sonic.

It was a confusing feeling and now he was starting to regret the way he left. But there was no time for brooding, the Master Emerald began to emit a dim light that he noticed, getting up to attend to it, the light kept glowing and getting more intense which caused uncertainty in the echidna. This wasn't common for the Emerald to do, what exactly was causing it? Was it bad news? Good news? He eventually extended his hand forward touching the gem expecting his connection to it would give some answers… And it sure did, the Emerald was reacting to something, something very specific.

"Knuckles!" Vector called out as they had also seen the green glow "What happened?"

Knuckles took a pause to collect the thoughts.

"It's Sonic," he replied. Maybe he really shouldn't have left.

The brightness of the moon didn't allow anything more than a shadow to be seen, a shadow in the sky looking down at the group of seven blue hedgehogs hovering above the city.

"What's that?" asked Little Sonic squeezing his eyes to see better "Is that-?"

No more time was wasted by menacingly hovering. Super Sonic came from the sky landing with tremendous might leaving a small crack and officially presenting himself to the group. No one was able to say anything.

"Is he Sonic? Another small Sonic?" asked Boom to the group with Prime doing nothing but to engage in an intense stare contest with this yellow counterpart.

"Sonic?" Super cackled "No… I am nothing like him! Like any of you! And you…" he began to approach X with Prime, Main, and Archie tightening their fists, getting ready in case something funny happened. "You should have listened to them!"

He thrust forward for a tackle, being blocked by Prime who dashed in between them. Instincts kicking in, Prime kicked him away which set every hedgehog on guard and Super Sonic angrier, rushing to grab him, flying into the sky, and throwing him back down. Diving fist-first into the lying hedgehog with the others moving out of the way jumping away from the hit as Main moved Prime out of the impact's way... Instantly hurting them both as soon as they came into contact.

Archie looked around him, seeing the lights inside the house light up, reminding him that they were still close to a residential zone. And he wasn't the only one who noticed, X got into action by grabbing Super and sprinting away from the area. Super managed to get rid of his grip, throwing him away in return with X skidding through the ground and coming to a stop. Super was ready to strike again but was spin-dashed directly to the ground from the back by Boom Sonic, who was joined by the rest of the team quickly surrounding Super Sonic in a circle.

"Pretty convincing act back there!" Archie said everyone who saw him before was thinking "How long did it take?" he asked mockingly.

"Where's Tom?" demanded Wachowski. Super, knowing who he was talking about, only replied with a smile quickly turning into rage launching forward towards him, Archie stopping him midway and knocking him back into the middle. Instantly causing a chain reaction of multiple spin dashes, kicks, and punches blasting him from all sides, with no chance to react. One of these kicks threw him out of the circle and into the ground, bouncing a couple of times through the grass before coming to a stop.

The hedgehogs were all going to follow but they instantly stopped, feeling a tingly sensation across their bodies and looking at each other to see if they were also feeling it as well, looking at their hands they realized what was happening: Physical contact. Every hit they landed was a Sonic-on-Sonic touch and they were starting to feel it slowly but surely. Wachowski spotted Super in the distance and didn't think twice before speeding towards him.

Super Sonic was already on his feet by the time he saw the dash of blue approaching him, allowing him to easily stop him by the neck, flying upwards.

"Too bad they didn't hear you," Super began to taunt "But after I kill you, I'll then go for the next Sonic in line and anyone else I please!" He finished the sentence by throwing him hard and back into the ground where the other Sonics were. Quickly swooping in, grabbing X and spinning around before letting go, throwing him away from the scene. He was using his flight to his advantage and now it was Super who was landing hit after hit, knocking them away as they tried to keep track of his movements.

This commotion was not going unheard, Prime, Boom, and Archie Tails along with Antoine and Bunnie caught the noise of what was going on and the situation became fully apparent when X crash-landed in front of them, the three foxes rushing to his help.

"What's happening?" asked Prime Tails, helping him get up.

"He was evil" X replied with a tone that was hiding a sigh.

"The yellow Sonic?" Archie Tails asked.

"Who are you guys talking about?" asked Antoine, curious about the context of their dialogue but no explanation was needed, X's stare into the distance caused them to look in the same direction witnessing the action firsthand.

"He was evil…" Boom Tails concluded now wondering if Tom remembered to use the device he gave him earlier. But there was no time to dwell on that, Prime Tails saw the scenario and it was enough. Sonic needed help and without hesitation, he ran back into the warehouse to prepare for this. X held a smile dashing back into battle leaving the rest to see from the distance as a yellow bolt was flying around.

"What is zat?" Antoine asked, looking in awe.

"Super Sonic, I think," Archie Tails explained "Only that he's evil for some reason".

Antoine and Bunnie looked at each other with an expression that showed confusion and it's not like they didn't understand it but every word that Tails said was crazy enough on its own.

"Sonic!" Boom Tails called once he saw X drop to the ground, using his two tails to rush to his help, X managed to get up on his own but his body was starting to feel off "Are you feeling okay?"

"Hm… we can't touch another Sonic?"

"No you can't-... oooh" the fox realized what was happening, this was a Sonic vs Sonic brawl which meant that the touching rule applied much larger than ever, X chuckled coming to a realization.

"Neither can he," he said, zooming once again.

The Sky Patrol never managed to catch up with Metal Sonic or Super Sonic, but they were definitely on the right path, a path that was leading them to a big dome that none of them was familiar with, well, none of them except for Ray and Tangle which made them certain this was where they had to go… Speaking of Tangle, being so close to New Mobotropolis reminded her of her group that previously asked for her to come back, well, she was coming but not in the secret way the Director Who would have liked. Nevertheless, she figured it would be best if she called back.

Getting away from the group, she turned on her comms.

"Hello? Someone there?"

"Tangle?" that wasn't someone directly from the team, it was Whisper herself who picked up.

"Whisper!" she replied trying to contain her excitement "You're still at the base? Where's the rest of the team?"

"Still here,"

"Spades, where are you?" now that was Elias' voice, it wasn't demanding but it felt urgent.

"I may have gotten delayed a tiny bit, but I promise I'm almost there now..! Buuut… I took a ride so if you see a big red ship with wings then that's probably where I'll be".

A silence from the other side of the comms worried the lemur.

"Just don't get involved in the battle, not yet, do not engage".

"What battle?"

"You talking to someone?" it was Tom with an entrance so sudden that startled Tangle, quickly shutting off the transmission.

"Nothing!" it was definitely something but Tom wasn't gonna pressure her, only cracking a light smile in response to her reaction to the jumpscare she had received.

"Right, sorry… Things just have been pretty confusing".

"Tell me about it" she replied and Tom's mood shifted into a pensive one.

"Do you think that… Super Sonic was genuine?" he asked, still worried, the warnings given to him were still in his head and he was trying to piece what he was told against what he saw.

"What do you mean? If I wanted to trick you I wouldn't tell you I was a villain!"

"Maybe that was part of the trick" Rotor's voice interrupted the two of them as he overheard the conversation.

"He's not tricking anyone!" Chris shouted standing up from a corner he was sitting at "Didn't you see? He wanted us to help! We have to hurry to free him from that robot!"

Tom was going to reply wanting to give some assurance to Chris about the situation, but he was cut off by a little beeper coming from him that caught the attention of everyone; looking through his pants, he grabbed the little device Boom Tails had given to him before the group had left. A small rectangle with a comically large button that Tom naturally pressed to see if that would stop the beeping which it did.

"Hello, is this Tom?" Boom Tails picked up

"Um, yeah, Tails? Did something happen?" as he talked through the communication device, the group got closer to him to peek into the conversation.

"What happened to you guys? Are you okay? Did the yellow Sonic attack you or something?"

"Attack us? No, why would he attack us?"

"Because he's attacking us" a bit of sarcasm coming from that.

The Sky Patrol had reached the destination, or better said, a place that looked like the destination, a city surrounded by a large crystal-like dome and a bolt of yellow illuminating the area surging through the skies that made everyone inside the ship realize what was going on.

"No…" said Chris.

"Are you guys inside a city?" Tom asked not taking his stare off the window.

"Yes! Why do you ask?"

"We're here" that was the end of the transmission and as they got closer to the dome, a small entrance materialized in front of them to go through as the main screen turned on by itself with not one but two Nicole willing to help with the Prime alternate taking a backseat from the conversation. The image was still off-putting but they managed.

"Nicole-s?" Amy answered their call "What's happening?"

"Amy, this Super Sonic you had… who is he?" the lynx asked

The group looked at each other, starting to believe that they did not have an accurate grasp on who he was exactly. Still, there was vital information that needed to be shared.

"We got ambushed by Metal Sonic! I assume the one from this world" Amy looked pissed at this recollection.

"I was able to capture that, did you see where he went?"

"Well, is he in… this city?"

"We haven't spotted him yet".

"Yeah, excuse me, what is this place?" asked Tom trying to get some context which everyone appreciated.

"Right," the other Nicole stepped in "I'm sorry that it had to be under these conditions, but I would like to welcome you to New Mobotropolis!"

In cue, an entrance was made in the dome, big enough for the ship to go through and it should be an amazing welcome yet it was anything but. The lights of the city illuminated just enough to allow a full understanding of the scene but just barely. The focal point was the bolt of yellow light that acted as a beacon shedding its brightness on the area where four to six blue individuals could be spotted. They knew what was happening, but this didn't clear any confusion. Was Tom's theory correct? Where was Metal Sonic?

The Sky Patrol took its landing on a spacious area of the forest that surrounded the city. As soon as the ship touched the ground and the hatch door opened, the team was more than ready to go to assist. Tom being the last of the group stopped once he noticed that Chris had not left either, instead he stayed near the pilot's seat contemplating out the window the brief snippets of the fight that was happening.

"You okay kid?" Tom asked, approaching.

"I don't understand!" he shouted "There has to be a misunderstanding!"

"I don't believe it either… looked too good to be true".

Something inside Chris was lighting up. A feeling, an idea, maybe it wasn't too good to be true, maybe it was the opposite, too bad to be true.

"C'mon!" he called Tom, rushing out of the ship, Tom now getting worried about his mood shift, hoping that it didn't lead to anything else.

Deep in the grounds of the city, the Secret Freedom Fighters were becoming aware of the fight that was taking place above –through a set of limited cameras– but like anyone else, they were very confused by the image they were seeing. Multiple Sonics were becoming expected at this point but it was the yellow one that grabbed their attention, everyone was familiar with Super Sonic to recognize it from afar, but why was he attacking? Where did he even come from?

"Screw this! Why don't we go out there and give him a piece of our game!" Shard commented after a long period of analyzing, his body still thriving off the energy received.

The group looked at him and then at each other considering the option but their expressions indicated nothing but uncertainty.

"To be fair, we haven't really faced against something like Super Sonic," said Leeta "And they look like they're struggling".

She had a point, seven hedgehogs were engaging in battle and one could see they were going all out on the fight but it was clear who had the advantage.

"I'm sure we can do something…" said Larry trying to cheer up the feelings.

"Of course we can do something!" Silver agreed "We have to!"

It was true that the Secret Freedom Fighters had managed to operate in fights occurring in plain view, however, that was only achieved once and with a much more spread out force, not to mention the tiny detail that it was also a weaker one. Keeping their secrecy was Harvey Who's top priority, because that secrecy was made for a reason, and their goal was a different one but that didn't mean that everything else had to be ignored of course.

"We can use the night to our advantage," said Elias who was on board with lending out a hand "But I think the hand-to-hand combat is out of the question".

"You can say that again…" Lyco said with sarcasm.

"Do we stay hidden from the Sonics?" Larry asked with a perfectly good question since they were the ones the focus was on.

"That new wolf girl is with us right?" Shard asked before Larry's question could be answered.

"Yeah, why?" said Silver.

"She already left".

Harvey let out a small sigh but no need to fret over that, especially when Tangle was probably also heading into the battle without permission. They needed to help, they wanted to help, but doing it from the shadows wouldn't accomplish much and it certainly wasn't the best approach, not for this battle.

All Sonic-on-Sonic contact was hurtful but Super Sonic looked as if he wasn't taking any damage and the hedgehogs were rapidly getting frustrated at the lack of progress, seeing the Sky Patrol in the distance landing was such a relief for Archie Sonic knowing that some cavalry had arrived but his focus couldn't deviate far too long from the battle. And the worst part of it was that no one could help the other as it would trigger even further pain among themselves.

Luckily, not every Sonic relied on just punching and kicking.

"Hey, you! Ready for round two?" Little Sonic called Super's attention while activating the necklace he had been carrying through this whole time and from it, a purple electric guitar came out of it with everyone around being a bit surprised at what he was doing.

"Alright!" Boom Sonic said in excitement upon seeing the instrument, the rest of them becoming perplexed by the use of it, Super Sonic also being so confused by it that he simply stopped, looking at him instead. All it took was a swift play of the guitar to explain what it was about, a strong melody came out from it turning the moment from a chaotic fight into an exciting and sudden concert, and that's all it looked like, Little Sonic was jamming it out but the music wasn't his goal, knowing that Super was distracted, he struck a powerful note sending a large laser directly into his chest, knocking him back and away from the group.

"He has a guitar?" Main Sonic asked himself with Prime replying to the question.

"He fights with it," he smirked "Not the weirdest thing I've seen".

The shots didn't stop, now that he had caught him, all Little Sonic did was keep this rapid firing with a huge smile on his face. Now was the time to see if they could do some damage, and keep the 'strategy' for now. Super was down but getting up, still receiving shots, X came in rushing out of nowhere and struck him with tremendous force. The impact of this blow caused X's body to crumble a bit but quick hits were better than nothing.

Prime knew that every Super Sonic had a limit, and all they had to do was hold him off long enough and that was it but this Sonic was different and weird, it didn't look like the usual transformation he had experienced.

Main Sonic used the small advantage to begin to spin circles around Super, closing him in a barrier of wind that did very little as Super Sonic released a blast of anger that sent him flying away. It was becoming clear that they were not doing any damage and Super was getting angrier.

"Enough!" he shouted as he began to rise into the sky once more.

"Bit unfair to just stay in the air, don'tcha think?" Bunnie said from behind him firing a powerful shot that sent him back into the ground but without losing control, he returned back to the air at such a speed that Bunnie had no time to react to. One blow and it was her who was sent flying downwards with no control. An already charging Antoine using the buildings to boost himself launched forward, entering into a spin dash, spinning his sharp blade, and striking Super from behind before landing back on the ground, an attack that accomplished very little except gaining Super's attention. He rushed forward to the coyote who couldn't do anything but block the incoming attack.

But all he got was a tremendous air shockwave in front of him as someone else had blocked it from him. Prime Sonic.

"Nuh-uh" he said with a smirk across his face, Super was about to land yet another blow but he received another powerful shot from Little Sonic that sent him away from the duo "You okay?"

Antoine paused for a second processing the situation.

"Yeah," he replied "Excuse me, are you ze Sonic?"

Just as in command, Archie approached his friend with a relief showing across his face.

"'Twan!" he called out "I think this guy's gonna need something stronger than a sword".

"Not like we can do anything either" Prime added, the three of them now looking as Super Sonic rose up again giving the group of Sonics to make a little re-group and stand up from their struggles. They all saw him begin to curl up expecting some sort of big explosion… That was broken by another powerful beam from the sky that didn't come from Bunnie, his trajectory sent him flying directly into a pair of blue blades from someone else striking a pose upon landing, shocking both Archie and Prime who could only react in one way only.

"Sally?"

Hiyya! So originally I wanted to make one whole chapter for this conclusion but decided to divide it into smaller parts due to work commitments that might slow my writing process so you guys get this in a more consistent schedule (hopefully).

Also, I think it helps with any potential feedback regarding the fights/choreography or anything else that you guys might want to comment on.

See you soon!