Chapter Twenty-Eight:

Intel from Shadow and Rouge

"So, where were you and what were you up to?" Sonic asked Shadow in a snarky manner, he and the others had gathered in Tails' Lab and were recovering from the battle while getting to know their newly-arrived allies. When Movie Sonic saw the Ultimate Life Form, he'd been a little perplexed, but Tails told him to act like the dark hedgehog was one of Sonic's alternate variants.

"I was doing what you and the others should be doing..." Shadow told Sonic firmly, "Preparing for the likelihood of the doctor and his counterparts attacking other cities and settlements, while making sure people are safe. You're a little sloppy on that front, Sonic."

"A trio of Eggmen, plus a female Eggman, and their Badniks attacked Westopolis, but we took care of that..." The blue hedgehog chuckled, "...then we ran into some princesses, and Eggman showed up with his past self, their descendent Doctor Nega, and my scarf-wearing counterpart's Eggman to attack us with their forces..."

"And I can see that you're granting refuge to a skinny version of Eggman." The speedster's rival glared at him while gesturing to Jim Robotnik, "Without taking precautions, might I add."

"He's not part of the Egghead Alliance... So, what else from you?"

"Eggman's gotten ahold of a gemstone called the Black Emerald from Tartarus Canyon, and the Babylon Rogues tried to get it for themselves before the doctor, one of his counterparts, and their forces nabbed it with Metal Sonic's help. I found the Rogues at a marketplace, then some Oracle of Delphius talked about the coming of an Eggnikbrid."

Sonic held up a finger. "Hold up, Shadow. Jim mentioned something about that, he said he encountered an oracle, who told him about how the beast would arise. It's some evil multiverse-threatening monster hybrid of all the Eggmen, and the Black Emerald has a role in that."

Jim Robotnik stepped forward with a sheepish chuckle as he overheard the conversation. "That is true, and this scientist here does not want to be part of that monster in the slightest." The rogue scientist remarked.

"You're lucky I'm lenient enough to let you walk free for now." Shadow told Movie Robotnik.

"When did you plan on warning me about the prophecy?" Sonic asked the dark hedgehog.

"As soon as possible, had that black hedgehog not showed up and attacked me not long after the oracle showed me the vision of the Eggnikbrid. It was hard to get my alternate counterpart off my tail, especially when he knows my every move since we're both alike. I thought he was one of the doctor's knockoff replicas of me at first, then he told me about his world."

Boom Sonic, who'd listened to a chunk of the conversation from close by, held up a hand as he stepped forward. "Hold it there, Shadow." The sports tape-wearing hedgehog told the Ultimate Life Form, "Did you just implicate that my world's version of you is out there in this world?"

"To judge by your concerned facial expression, he is." Shadow nodded grimly, "You two have a history, obviously, so what's your concern with him?"

"Well, he's given me trouble in the past, and is not our ally. During one of our last conflicts, he went as far as to try to destroy the universe by holding Eggman and one of his counterparts hostage, which triggered an anomaly as, in our universe, having two of the same person in the same universe can cause a very catastrophic event that will see the destruction of... pretty much everything."

"Luckily for you and everyone else, I would never go that far, especially after the promise I made to Maria all those years ago. I can't begin to imagine what he went through that led to him being the way he was, but it is just sad and pathetic to see him act like that. Guess there isn't a Team Dark in that world."

Rouge flew down from the ceiling above, flapping her wings gently, and she landed gracefully on the ground. "Now that part of the conversation is done, I need to share something with Sonic, all the Sonics, and the others." The bat said firmly.

"Well, you obviously must have learned something if you want to share it with us." Sonic told her.

"This is very important, probably confidential too." Rouge nodded, "The machine that Eggman used to bring in his counterparts from across time and space, the same machine that brought your counterparts... and one of Shadow's counterparts here... was shut down. I overheard the Dark Lord Eggmandorf informing Eggman, and he said you were the culprit."

"Eggman's not too happy, isn't he?" Sonic tapped his foot, "But I didn't even go in there, I was busy. Something fishy is afoot."

"Yes..." Rouge agreed, "It's apparent that one of Eggman's counterparts did it and altered the security footage to make it look like you'd done it, just to distract our Eggman. The alliance isn't as stable as we thought it would, especially if one of his counterparts is deceiving him. It has to be Eggmandorf. Sooner or later, he may hijack the alliance..."

"...and with the Black Emerald in the Eggmen's possession, it'll lead to the Eggnikbrid rising."

Blaze the Cat, who was still with the heroes, stepped forward, clutching her head. "The Sol Emeralds..." She groaned, "...They're speaking of impending devastation, and... I think I can see the Eggmen at the heart of it."

"It won't be long before the Eggmen send their forces after us again." Tails declared as he listened to everything, "They probably started building bigger Badniks while planning out something that may ensure their ultimate victory. I say we better figure out a plan to stop Eggman before the Eggnikbrid prophecy is fulfilled..."

"Shoot!" Sonic exclaimed in a loud voice.

"What?!" The hedgehog's counterparts asked, even Tails and his counterparts were looking at him, Shadow eyed him curiously, and Rouge seemed to be just as wide-eyed as the blue hedgehog.

Sonic couldn't believe it. He hadn't thought about it, he'd forgotten, and it was now occurring to him, especially with the thought of the Black Emerald and Blaze bringing up the Sol Emeralds. How could the fastest thing alive not think about it, how could it never occur to him, and how could he possibly forget about that detail?

"The Chaos Emeralds!" Sonic said urgently, "The seven gemstones! We didn't think about the Chaos Emeralds. Eggman has an evil Chaos Emerald from another world and we don't have the seven Emeralds."

"Yeah, that's really bad..." A voice said in agreement.

All eyes turned towards the ceiling, just as a white-colored hedgehog surrounded by a blue aura came down. Silver the Hedgehog had just arrived...