Speaking of Sonic the Hedgehog, he was getting deeper into the depths of the ARK. He could sense that something was wrong regarding Tails, and he had to hurry before something happened to him. Of course, Robotnik just couldn't help but remind him of this fact:

"Sonic, come here! It's your only chance!"

"We'll see about that!"

After destroying a couple of SWATbots, Sonic proceeded further down the hallway he was in, only for his Hedgehog Sense to alert him to one of those strange gelatin creatures:

"What is that?"

Without thinking too much, Sonic aimed a Homing Attack at it and succeeded in stopping it.

"Whatever it was, it was nothin'!"

Moving on, Sonic accidentally stepped on a switch that reversed the gravity in the room and caused him to walk on the ceiling. It was a fortunate move for him thought because there was a pit of toxic goo below him. Thankful that he didn't fall in, he defeated another gelatin creature and kept zipping onwards, hoping to find Tails. After hitting another switch that restored the gravity to normal, he entered another room, where he terminated a couple more SWATbots and Buzz Bombers in addition to another gelatin creature.

Having cleared this area out, Sonic grabbed a handle attached to a cable, which pulled him up to another level. After getting pulled up by another one, he entered a hallway with a capsule on one wall. Entering the capsule, he got sucked into a large tube system reminiscent of what he saw on the Death Egg. Coming out in another hallway, he destroyed a couple of drones hovering over a toxic pit, and when he got to the other side, he destroyed a couple of SWATbots before reversing the gravity again.

"Talk about some ups and downs!"

Despite the up-and-down nature of this sector of the ARK, Sonic vowed not to let it get to him. He navigated the halls as best as he could, grinding a rail to get over a toxic pit and managing not to encounter any enemies before coming to three switches, each pointing in different directions.

"Eeny, meeny, miny…whatever!"

Sonic chose the right switch – that is, the left one from his upside-down perspective – and switched the gravity to that wall. Proceeding a little further, he came upon a long rail, which he grinded upon to get to another hallway. Here, he destroyed another gelatin creature and came upon three drones, so he aimed a Homing Attack at one of them, only for it to generate an electrified shield.

"Bad idea! BAD IDEA!"

Sonic flailed about in mid-air, hoping to avoid getting electrocuted. Unfortunately, he hit the shield and received a nasty shock, causing him to flop to the ground like a rag doll. After groaning in pain for a few seconds, he got up and shook his head.

"Try not to do that again!"

Moving on, Sonic jumped down to a bridge flanked by two toxic goo pits and zipped about various hallways before coming to a large toxic goo pit with a series of drones over it. He was about to jump for it when the drones activated their electro-shields, so he skidded to a halt and nearly fell in the pit, flailing his arms about as he desperately balanced himself on one leg, trying to prevent himself from falling. Having regained his balance, he waited for the drones' shields to shut off, and then destroyed them with a bunch of Homing Attacks before continuing his quest.

In the next room, Sonic came to another capsule, which took him through another series of tubes and into a room where he was in reverse gravity. However, it was a pain that he was used to by now, so he Spin Dashed his way past some gelatin creatures and switched the gravity back to normal. Robotnik had another message for him:

"Sonic, there's no time!"

"There's plenty of time, Robuttnik!"

After reversing the gravity again, Sonic continued his little fight to the finish, destroying a few gelatin creatures and Buzz Bombers on the way. After jumping down a large shaft, the gravity returned to normal, and all was well until he reached what appeared to be a dead end in the vast expanse of space.

"OK, how am I supposed to get past this?"

Sonic looked around, and seeing no apparent way to get across, he was ready to give up when his Hedgehog Sense tingled.

"That's it!"

Sonic ran back and gave himself a huge running start before jumping out. Upon doing so, a strange thing happened: his eyes glowed blue, and he left a huge streak of light as he zoomed to another level on the ARK, and when he hit solid ground, he expressed his wholehearted approval:

"HELL YEAH! I have the power of God!"

Having accomplished this feat, he moved along, only to encounter a variant of the gelatin creatures that was a huge, blobby, ugly thing that spouted hundreds of little creatures. Sonic was undeterred, however, and he destroyed it all the same before continuing onwards. He ended up coming upon a couple of SWATbots with metal riot shields, but no matter how hard he tried, they blocked all of his attacks, much to his frustration:

"Come on, there's gotta be a way around these things!"

Sonic tried running around, but they kept their eyes – and shields – fixed on him. Then, he had an idea:

"Betcha can't keep up forever!"

Sonic kept running circles around the Shield SWATbots, and in the process, created a huge tornado. This not only got rid of their shields, but allowed him to get a couple of shots off at them.

"Oh yeah! Sonic Cyclone rules!"

After pumping his fist, Sonic entered the capsule that the Shield SWATbots were guarding and headed to another room. In one hallway, he encountered more of the gelatin creatures, which were easy enough to destroy, but then he came to a huge beam suspended over a toxic pit, which had a set of swinging maces in the center similar to what he encountered at Rusty Ruin Zone. Playing it quickly but carefully, he timed his jump and managed to make it to the door on the other side without issue.

In the next room, Sonic switched the gravity again, and a little ways down, he activated a rocket that destroyed a force field. After that, he changed the gravity to normal and moved along. After reversing the gravity to normal and destroying a couple of Shield SWATbots, he headed into another hallway where a robot voice chanted "EMERGENCY".

"Well done, Sonic, but you'll never leave this room alive!" said Robotnik.

After switching the gravity again, Sonic found himself on a purple catwalk, which he navigated all the same. At the end, he found another switch, which threw him sideways on a green catwalk. Fortunately, navigating this one proved to be an easy jaunt, and after hitting another switch, the gravity threw him onto a yellow catwalk. When this one hit a dead end, he jumped, destroyed a drone and ended up on a short purple catwalk. Changing the gravity again after reaching the end, he came to a short yellow catwalk with a gelatin creature on it. After defeating it, he switched the gravity yet again and went sideways, and after hopping on a spring, he reached another part of the catwalk, where he hopped on a rail and ended up on a green catwalk. Dodging some drones, he hopped on a spring and ended up on yet another purple catwalk, which he used as a platform to a short blue catwalk, this one taking him to yet another purple catwalk. Changing the gravity again, he landed on a red catwalk, where he stopped another gelatin creature.

Changing the gravity one last time, Sonic ended up on a gray platform, which led into a research lab, and it was here that he got a nasty surprise: Robotnik was holding Tails at gunpoint.

"Robuttnik! Let go of Tails!"

"Let's take care of business first, shall we, you rotten rodent? Hand over the Chaos Emerald slowly, and then we'll talk about your orange pest of a friend…that is…if you actually care about him."

Sonic pulled out the fake Emerald. "Go ahead and take it! I can buy a millon just like this one at my local jewelry store!"

Robotnik pointed his blaster pistol at Sonic. "Then put it down in the center of the floor and back away!"

"Sure thing, Robuttnik!"

Sonic's Hedgehog Sense told him that this was a trap. Nevertheless, he figured that it was as easily avoidable as anything else, so he gladly walked forwards. Unfortunately, he was unable to jump out of the way in time to avoid the glass tube that encased him.

"What the hell!?"

"You thought you could trick me with the fake Emerald, didn't you?"

Tails raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think it's fake?"

"YOU FOOL! I specifically read the portion of The Ultimate Evil Genius Manual that states quite clearly: 'Beware if your foe gives up an object you desire too easily, for it is definitely a fake!' I was always better than you, Sonic and Tails, and I always WILL BE!"

Robotnik let out his usual evil laughter, while Sonic did his best to try to reassure Tails:

"Don't worry, brotha! I'll figure a way outta this…I think!"

"Farewell, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Robotnik pressed a button, launching Sonic's capsule out into space, where it exploded.

"SONIC!" exclaimed Tails.

"Now, hand over the real Emerald, and I'll let you go!" said Robotnik. "You have my word."

Tails looked at Robotnik with his ears drooping. "You wouldn't steal an Emerald from a guy who just lost his best friend…would you?"

"OH, KNOCK OFF THE PITY PARTY! OF COURSE I WOULD, YOU NINNYHEAD!"

Tails' ears perked up, and sadness was replaced with rage:

"Then…YOU WILL DIE!"

Tails used his twin namesakes to knock Robotnik's blaster pistol aside, and then he knocked the Doctor down with a Spin Dash. With Robotnik knocked out, Tails ran away.

(Sonic's dead, but that seems too hard to believe! He must've found a way out!)

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.