Tails was hurrying through the halls of the ARK when he came across Knuckles.

"Knuckles! We thought you got lost!"

"I managed to reassemble the Master Emerald, but more importantly, Sonic's alive."

Tails let out a happy gasp and pumped his fists. "HOORAY!"

Tails did a couple of backflips.

"Did ya give Robotnik the fake Emerald?" asked Knuckles.

Tails smiled awkwardly and tapped his index fingers together. "Heh heh…about that…"

Knuckles thrust his fists downwards. "Don't tell me he got his hands on the REAL EMERALD!"

Tails gave a flat expression. "Aw crap."

Robotnik – who had awoken from being knocked out – headed to the central control room for the ARK's cannon with the real Emerald that he stole from Tails, letting out his usual evil laughter as he did so:

"YES! Finally, I shall be able to take over the world! Soon, the Second Eggman Reich will begin! Not even that pesky hedgehog and his equally pesky fox friend can stop me!"

Robotnik put the green Emerald into its slot, laughing evilly as he did so. Unexpectedly, a red light began flashing, and a klaxon sounded as the word "WARNING" came up on the computer screen, much to the Doctor's confusion:

"What? What's going on!? Why won't the cannon fire!? What's happening here!?"

Robotnik attempted to get the cannon to fire, only for a familiar face to appear on screen:

"It's…it's my grandfather, Gerald Robotnik!"

While Robotnik was wondering why his grandfather Professor Gerald Robotnik had popped up on the computer screen, Sonic managed to rendezvous with Tails and Knuckles, the former being extremely enthused about the Blue Blur's return:

"SONIC!"

Tails pretty much tackled Sonic into a big hug, which he gladly returned, only for a harsh vibration to disrupt their reunion.

"What's that vibration?" said Knuckles.

"Call me crazy, but I think Robuttnik's tryin' to shake things up again!" Sonic's Hedgehog Sense went off. "And somebody else is comin', too!"

Sure enough, somebody else did come: Rouge, who dropped in through an air vent, much to Knuckles' chagrin:

"You…you just don't know when to give up, do ya!?"

Sonic, however, felt as though Vaseline had been smeared on his camera lens when he saw Rouge, and he smiled and gently pushed Knuckles aside:

"Hold on, Knux; let's hear this foxy-lookin' Mama out…"

Rouge sighed. "It's all over for us!"

Knuckles took a step back. "What do ya mean!?"

"I just received a message from my boss: this space colony is currently approaching Aigess at an incredible velocity. It will probably impact the planet at this rate."

Sonic smiled. "Not if we can help it! Say, I don't believe we've been introduced, Mama. I'm Sonic…Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Rouge smiled. "I know. My name is Rouge…Rouge the Bat."

"Charmed to meet ya!"

Sonic and Rouge shook hands.

"There's no time for introductions!" Knuckles pointed at a screen. "Look at what's on the screen!"

Sure enough, the face of Professor Gerald Robotnik had graced the screen.

On the planet below, everyone was treated to the image of Gerald as well.

"This is a death sentence for every human being on Aigess," said Gerald. "If my calculations are correct, the Space Colony ARK will impact your planet in 27 minutes and 53 seconds. All of you will be destroyed, along with the planet!"

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Rouge continued to view the message on the ARK:

"I plan to give you a taste of my revenge once all seven Chaos Emeralds are collected. Once I initiate this program, it cannot be disabled. All of you ungrateful people who took everything away from me will feel my loss and despair!"

"Is there anything else you want to say?" asked a man offscreen.

"No."

"Ready!"

"What's going on here?" said Knuckles. "Who's that?" Another vibration. "Oh, looks like the vibration's getting worse!"

"Professor Gerald Robotnik, one of the greatest scientific minds in the world…and my grandfather."

"WHAT!?" Knuckles pointed his fist at Robotnik "I knew you were behind all this! Stop it right now, or else!"

"I'd have done this a long time ago if I had the chance!"

Sonic nodded. "Knux, I think Robuttnik may actually be tellin' the truth for once. I can sense it."

"What do ya mean 'you can sense it'?"

"Hedgehog Sense, man. It's a sixth sense us hedgehogs have. It can tell us if there's danger ahead or if somethin' interesting is happenin'. It also allows us to tell whether or not someone's jivin' us, and Robuttnik ain't jivin' us!"

Robotnik smiled. "Well, for once, you've actually said something right! And I'm surprised to see you're alive!"

"HA! Lettin' Knux pilot the shuttle on the way over here was more dangerous than anything you could cook up!"

"Just what is this, anyways?" asked Rouge.

"This is my grandfather's diary."

Robotnik handed Rouge an 8-inch floppy disk, which she put in the control console. Sure enough, it brought up Gerald's diary, which she read out loud:

"I don't quite know what happened or what went wrong. Was it a mistake to create the Ultimate Life Form? I thought it would be something that would benefit mankind. But then the G.U.N. troops landed on the colony that day. They were sent to destroy the research project I was working on. My colleagues at the research facility, my granddaughter Maria, I hope you are all safe.

The colony was completely shut down, probably to keep the prototype from falling into the wrong hands. The ARK was shut down under the premise that there had been an accident. I found Maria's name among those who died when the ARK was shut down. She meant everything to me, and I couldn't bear the thought that she died because of my research. I lost everything. I had nothing more to live for…I went insane. All I could think about was to avenge her…somehow, some way. I got scared as I was no longer able to control my thoughts. All I could think about was that I wanted it all to end.

Based on my original projections, I was able to complete my project, Shadow. I designed its mind to be perfect, pure. I will leave everything to him. If you wish, release and awaken it, to the world. If you wish to fill the world with destruction…" Rouge stopped reading. "Oh, so that's why you released Shadow from the base!"

"The core of the Eclipse Cannon is now highly reactive and explosive," said Robotnik. "This is because the energy of the Chaos Emeralds is overpowered. If the colony collides with Aigess, it will shatter into pieces like my grandfather predicted, that mad scientist!"

"We have to stop the space colony now!" said Tails.

"The ARK's position may have shifted due to the amount of energy given off by the Emeralds. We have to cut off the energy!"

Tails stroked his chin. "But how?"

Rouge had an idea: "Hmmm…That's it!" She snapped her fingers. "There is a way to stop the energy! We'll use your Emerald, Knuckie! You're the one that told me that the Master Emerald has the power to stop the Chaos Emeralds!"

Knuckles pulled out the Master Emerald. "That's right! If I use it, I might just be able to stop the Chaos Emeralds!"

Tails took a look at the computer screen. "The reaction of the Chaos Emeralds is moving towards the cannon's core! It may be too late!"

Sonic smiled. "Are ya kiddin'? We're never too late when we have Sonic Speed!"

"Sonic's right," said Robotnik. "There may still be some time left. If we pull together, we might be able to get to the shortcut that leads to the core."

Sonic gave a thumbs up. "Ain't no thang! Just leave it to me! I'm the Fastest Thing Alive!"

"Before we embark on this journey, though, there is one thing I must inform you of…"

"Huh? What it is, Robuttnik?"

"Parts of the core have been submerged in water as a cooling system. We'll need to swim through if we're to reach it."

Sonic gave a thumbs up. "I got that taken care of!"

Sonic reached into his disguise bag and pulled out scuba gear for everybody, which Robotnik commented on:

"Ordinarily, I would frown upon my inventions being seized by you, but in this case, I'll allow it!"

Rouge smiled. "And they look so stylish, too! Seriously, how does that thing work?"

"It was a long, complicated process."

Rouge gave a dismissive hand flap. "Never mind that; I'm just grateful it works!"

"I'll say!" Knuckles put his on.

Rouge, meanwhile, went to leave, much to Sonic's concern:

"Hold up, Rouge! Where are ya goin'?"

"I just wanna check something really quick; I promise I'll be back soon enough!"

"OK."

Using her echolocation ability, Rouge had little trouble finding Shadow, who was looking out the window of Maria's bedroom, arms crossed.

"I thought I'd find you here, Shadow…or shall I call you 'Shaddy'?"

"Leave me alone, you backstabbing thief."

Rouge entered the room and headed for Shadow. "Look, I know you're angry at me right now, but we really need your help! Please, come with me!"

"It's all going according to plan. There's no reason for me to help them. Besides, there's no way to save anyone."

Rouge put a hand on Shadow's shoulder. "How can you be so cold? I realize there are people on that planet who only care about themselves, but really, there are a lot of good, selfless people there, too! Shaddy…please…give them a chance to be happy!"

The last few words struck Shadow like a bolt of lightning. He found himself transported to that forlorn moment, 50 years ago, watching his best friend suffer her mortal wounds all over again.

"Shadow, I beg of you…" said Maria. "Please, do it for me! For all of the people on that planet…give them a chance to be happy! Let them live for their dreams…for a better future!"

Shadow didn't need to hear anything further. If the ARK did crash into the planet, his promise to the one person who really mattered to him would be all for naught, and it would be impossible to cleanse the blood from his hands no matter how much he washed them.

"Please excuse me."

Shadow brushed Rouge's hand away, turned around and ran. Meanwhile, Rouge shrugged.

"Well…that was easier than I thought it would be," said Rouge.

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.