A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long! But if you're following this chapter and you got the notification in your inbox, you can probably see one of the reasons why. This chapter is over 34,000 words long! Move over chapter 22, this is the new longest chapter I have ever written, period!

I've finally gotten back into reading fanfics lately, and I now have a new favorite fanfiction! I reread A Prelude to Chaos Control by AndTails because I really wanted to read A Bridge Between Worlds, and I'm so glad I did. It is a fantastic story, especially because Tails is one of my favorite Sonic characters. I highly recommend it if you're looking for a reimagining of Sonic X with a focus on Tails and Helen! (Fun fact: I wrote the scene with Tails and Helen in the last chapter before I read Bridge; in fact, I hadn't even thought of that story until after I finished writing it.)

Also, I'm gonna move the anime titles to the end of the chapter to reduce the risk of spoilers. I still like doing them though!

Speaking of names, this chapter was originally going to be called "Lights Out", then I changed it to "The Night That Lasted Three Months", before I got the brilliant idea to name it to "Can You Feel The Sunshine?".

I would like to thank Worldnotesongs88, dragonuniverse05, OliviaGames1208's new account, b-v-g-e, BritishG00se, Jayden890, MR-C710, snowywolf89, RST Studio, and TdHouseCat for favoriting and following since my last chapter!

Without further ado, let's move on to the reviews and what matters most: the story!


18 Reviews

dbehi1

The reason the people banded together to go find Sonic at the mansion is because they're under the influence of Eggman's mind control. Also, if Sonic told everyone his intentions, it would probably take away from the mysterious aspect of his character, plus I wouldn't be able to use a moment of character development for Chris that was in the original episode.

blazenight01

That's an awesome idea! I may end up using it!

B4ttwell

That would be awesome if I had Metal appear! I wouldn't rule anything out, especially since I have an all-new original arc after the tournament arc!

Super duper waffles

Thank you for your review, and I love when you and everyone else ask me questions about my headcanon! Eventually I'll be writing a new fanfic that will adapt as much of my headcanon as I can write, so keep an eye out for that :D

For your first question, Japan doesn't exist on Mobius in my headcanon, and as far as I could tell, the reference to Japan in Shadow the Hedgehog seems to be a passing reference. But it's cool that they had a reference to a real-world country on Mobius! I mean, Sonic was born on Christmas Island, which is a real-world island, so I guess anything goes?

I actually haven't thought if the other real-universe planets appear in Sonic's universe! But if it's confirmed in Sonic X that the moon and stars are the same from both Mobius and Earth, then I think it would probably make the most sense if they do exist in Sonic's dimension.

Joel Lil K. Fennell

Thank you! :D

iron maker2

It's okay, I kinda felt the same way myself. By the way, I really like your headcanon! :D

soberan 123

That's okay! I may keep Cosmo mostly the same, but she'll be more of a Cosmo 1.5 than a Cosmo 2.0 for the most part.

I can already see a few parts where I could add Eggman's armada if I do choose to include it, particularly episodes 64 and 70. I'm excited to get to those episodes! And yeah, he will probably need it in the long run, especially in large battles.

toantakeri

Thank you! I like when people have headcanons about Mobian animals sharing certain traits with their Earth counterparts, and sometimes I can find ways to incorporate that in my stories.

As for Silver and Blaze, you'll just have to wait and see ;)

Guest

I don't really consider Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog canon in my headcanon, which rules out Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts appearing. However, I will say the Post-SGW comics did a good job with a new portrayal of Professor Von Schlemmer and Breezie the Hedgehog, so I might not rule those two out. I did mention Omega and Gemerl before in this story, but I don't know if they'll show up yet, and if they do, it might be a cameo; same goes with Tangle and Sticks. This story is kind of canon divergent, which means it goes on a different path from IDW/Frontiers, which means Sage probably won't appear either.

OliviaGames1208

Thanks for your review Olivia! And yeah, I had a lot of fun writing the Tails and Helen scene! Even if it's filler, I wanted to include it anyway :)

Five-Chosen (review 1)

Thanks for your advice! I'll definitely keep that in mind when writing Charmy.

Five-Chosen (review 2)

I really like that idea! I can definitely picture the Typhoon having a greenhouse, especially since everyone is traveling in space for so long, so the air can stay fresh and be naturally replenished. Plus, having natural fruit and vegetables is always a good thing.

BenjaminAnderson

I sure did! See my opening notes in the last chapter for my thoughts! (No detailed thoughts yet because spoilers, just to be safe.)

Five-Chosen (review 3)

Okay, this idea is really intriguing! While I do have an idea about how Silver can join the story, having Silver himself fading out of existence is brilliant. I think I'll have to include that!

Five-Chosen (review 4)

While the storybook games are not canon in my headcanon, that's still a very good idea!

Five-Chosen (review 5)

If I have Silver appear, he may show up around halfway through the Metarex Saga on Mobius, and I might have a chapter dedicated to Silver and how he becomes part of the story.

And yeah, I'm still calling it the Sonic Driver, mostly because Sonic Power Cannon was 4Kids' renaming of it and I like sticking to stuff from the sub as best as I can, except for certain stuff that the dub somehow made clearer than the sub. For example, when Chris cheated in his tournament match with Danny and Sonic said it was okay that Chris did that just because he was still a kid (even though he insisted at least twice that season that he's not a kid despite being 12). In the dub, Sonic simply told him to not do it again.

But anyway, I was thinking the same thing about Silver going super along with Sonic and Shadow. But if he's gradually fading out of existence, it would be incredibly difficult to maintain his form.

I'm not sure if I'll have Marine or Dr. Eggman Nega appear, but I really love your ideas you have with them! I still have time to plan in case I do include them, though.

CreativeKitty975

I agree, it's gonna take some time for Orbot and Cubot to get along with Decoe and Bocoe!

Five-Chosen (review 6)

I'm… not sure what you're talking about there…? :/ Sorry about that.


Chapter 39
Episode 41

Can You Feel the Sunshine?


Thorndyke Mansion - Sun February 13, 2:02 PM – Chris' POV

When Tails told me there was a first time for everything, I didn't know that it could include bad things as well.

This was the first time I had ever seen a mob in person, much less rioters outside my own house. As they all stormed toward the front door, I could see the look on their faces. It was anger and negativity, like they were all out for blood. I feared if they couldn't get to Sonic, then they would set their sights on us, and that would be much worse for all of us.

I felt trapped inside my own home, and Tanaka had just said it was too late to get down to the sublab. There was nowhere else to run. This was all wrong!

There was a sudden heavy slam coming from the foyer, and my heart leaped in my chest. Tails and Cream were equally scared, and I felt my muscles involuntarily tensing. But I relaxed a little when I saw that it was just Grandpa who had slammed and locked the door behind him.

"There, that should hold them for a while," he said, glancing back at the door.

"But for how long?" Ella asked in worry, eyeing the window.

As if it was an answer, there were several heavy bangs coming from the foyer, except I knew it wasn't any of us because we were all gathered in the living room.

"They're trying to break in…!" Amy realized, taking a step back. I saw her instinctively reaching behind her, about to pull her hammer from Hammerspace.

Cream yelped and hugged her mom tightly as the protesters became even louder and more violent. If they were able to break the electronic gate and Solar Ball outside so easily, then I knew it would only be a matter of time before they made it inside.

"Kids, get upstairs and lock yourselves in one of the rooms," Grandpa ordered.

"O-Okay!" Tails said as he and Amy started running for the stairs. The two Chao were not far behind them.

"Don't have to tell us twice!" Amy called behind her, her voice shaking.

"What about you?" I asked Grandpa as I too started to move toward the stairs.

"We'll be fine, just GO!" Grandpa said, pointing toward the stairs.

Spurred on by his urgent tone, I immediately bolted for the stairs. To my surprise, I found Tails and Amy waiting for me and Cream at the bottom of the stairs rather than running up ahead of us themselves. It took me a split second to realize that this was part of their heroic nature, that no one gets left behind no matter what.

I ran up the stairs two at a time, and even though my friends were smaller than me, they were somehow faster than me when their adrenalin went up. Tails reached the top first thanks to his flight, and waited there for the rest of us.

"C'mon, hurry!" he urged.

We had barely made it up the stairs when there was a sickening sound of splintering wood behind us, followed by the deafening bang of what I imagined was the doors landing flat on the floor. There were so many angry voices downstairs. As much as part of me wanted to go back and see what was going on, I knew we had to keep moving, so I ran as quickly and quietly as I could away from the stairs and down the hall. If they heard us, I knew they would come after us in a heartbeat.

"Where are you hiding Sonic?!" one of them shouted above the rest. Somehow they must have not known that Sonic was out destroying the towers.

As we ran, I could barely make out Grandpa calling, "I told you, he's not here!"

"You're bluffing!" the protester shouted.

I thought fast and threw open the door to my room. I was the first to get inside, and the others hurried in after me. Tails closed and locked the door as quietly as he could, using one hand against the door to try and muffle the sound.

My heart was pounding, and I was panting from that close call. Looking around, I saw that everyone else was panting too. This was scary. I was a prisoner in my own home, thanks to the actions of Sonic that I still didn't know if they were heroic or just plain foolhardy.

"Wh-Why are they chasing us?" Cream asked. She walked further into the room away from the door, but took a few nervous glances behind her.

"I don't know," I responded as I sat down on my bed. I didn't know my voice was shaking. "They think we're hiding Sonic, though…"

I already knew they were upset at Sonic for destroying the towers. Who could blame them? It was their only source of light ever since Eggman started the eclipse. If we couldn't tell the protesters the truth before, we definitely couldn't do it now.

Sonic was the reason they weren't happy. But maybe, somehow, there was a chance that something could be done to stop him and–

Wait.

What am I doing? Am I… not trusting Sonic?

These aren't my thoughts!

Are… are the Solar Balls gonna try and take over my mind too?

"Guys…" Amy said, nervously looking back at the door. "I don't think we're gonna be safe in here either."

"Wait, what…?" Tails said, looking back at her.

"Do you hear them?" Amy asked.

Tails shook his head, and I did too; I couldn't hear anything either.

"I think they're coming up the stairs!" Amy whispered urgently.

"I don't hear them, Miss Amy," Cream said, approaching the door.

"Chao chao," Cheese affirmed.

"Maybe it's just me," Amy shrugged, her voice shaking a bit. "Come away from the door Cream, just in case," she added, trying to sound gentle.

"Okay, sorry Amy!" Cream said.

"It's okay," Amy said.

All of us were on edge, and even I found myself getting off the bed and pacing anxiously like everyone else. This didn't feel right at all. We couldn't stop them, and neither could Sonic since he was out and about.

I shouldn't have to be hiding from anyone inside my own house! I thought. It's like hide and seek, except really bad things are gonna happen if they find me!

It was like the time when I had to hide in my stateroom from Eggman and his robots when I went on that Alaska cruise, except this time, we were hiding from Station Square's own citizens. It was weird how we tended to go from heroes to enemies in the blink of an eye lately. This was Eggman's doing, I was sure of it. But maybe if Sonic stopped smashing the towers, the people could–

Snap out of it, Chris!

"Um, this may be risky, but we could try hiding out on the roof," Tails suggested, glancing at the balcony door.

"That's… not gonna work, Tails," Amy said.

Tails blinked in surprise. "Why not?"

"Me and Chris can't fly, and I don't think it's safe for us to try and climb up there," Amy pointed out.

"I can carry you guys," Tails shrugged as he walked over to the balcony door and opened it.

"Oh yeah," Amy said, suddenly realizing that fact. I assumed panic overtook her for a moment because of how tense the situation was, and I couldn't blame her.

"They're down there too…" Cream quietly pointed out, before looking up at us. I could see the alarm in her eyes.

Following her gaze back down to the ground, I saw that there were protesters swarming the entire pool and patio area! They were surrounding the whole house!

"That's impossible…" I breathed.

"Whoever organized this really thought it through," Tails said as we watched them. Some of the rioters were standing still, while others were on the move, searching for any sign of Sonic… or us, for that matter. They were swarming around our whole property like they were Pokemon GO players.

"M-Maybe we should go back inside…" Cream said, slowly retreating back into my room.

Just then one of the protesters looked up in our general direction. Even worse, Cheese was still outside in plain view of everyone.

I felt dread in the pit of my stomach as I too took a step back.

"Spotted his friends on the balcony, over," the protester spoke into a walkie-talkie.

We were busted.

"Okay, yup, we're going on the roof," Amy decided for all of us.

"Okay, but do we try and fight back if they…?" I started to ask, but my voice trailed off at how ridiculous that sounded in my head. We were sorely outnumbered, fighting them would never work!

"We can't," Tails told me. "Those are human beings, not Eggman's robots. We don't wanna hurt 'em… especially since they're brainwashed."

"Yeah," Amy agreed.

"Oh, okay, sorry about that…" I realized.

"Are you ready, Amy?" Cream asked. Amy nodded, and Cream carefully took her hands and flew her out the door and up toward the roof.

"Hold on tight, Chris," Tails told me as he flew into the air and reached his hands out to me. I took them, and I was once again amazed at how strong he was, especially at the somewhat awkward angle he was holding my arms in as he flew me up onto the roof as well. Thanks to their wings, Cheese and Chocola easily made it up onto the roof as well.

As Tails gently set me down, it took a second for me to get my footing. I wasn't used to how sloped the roof was, and I had questions about how Sonic was able to sleep up there. It looked like it would be too firm for me to do it if I tried, let alone get comfortable up there somehow.

"I didn't see, are any of them armed?" Amy asked, taking a step away from the roof's edge.

Tails carefully peered down at the ground where many of the protesters were rapidly converging on the patio.

"No… fortunately," he said before joining the rest of us several feet away from the edge.

It felt too weird for me to be standing on the sloped roof so I opted to sit down. I couldn't see the mob anymore from my angle, but it was okay because the others could. I needed to sit down anyway because I had to rest a bit after the chase we just had.

But then I heard sounds coming from down below us.

They're in my room.

And we forgot to close the balcony door.

Cream whimpered as she took a few steps further up the roof. I got up and did the same, just in case they saw us. I didn't want to take any chances. But I realized it didn't matter because the ones on the ground could see us. Tails and Amy, however, stood their ground. They were very brave, especially since I figured they were the protesters' secondary targets.

Amy let out a startled gasp.

"What is it?" I asked.

"That's Jerome…" she whispered.

"One of them's Jerome!" Tails repeated at the same time.

"And he's holding… is that a Solar Ball…?" she asked uncertainly.

I got up to take a look. I had to see it for myself. Sure enough, Jerome was there on the balcony, and he was holding what looked like a fully-installed Solar Ball, but on a smaller scale. It kind of looked like a staff.

"Well, I think we got the impression that Sonic's not here right now," he stated.

"Of course not!" Amy stated, raising a finger. "He's out wrecking Eggman's Solar Balls!"

"Which is why we're here!" Jerome said. "Though I will say, we almost didn't make it here 'cuz the news caught wind of this whole shebang. I had to improvise a name on the spot. Take that, Scarlet."

"So that explains that…" Tails said quietly.

"So anyway, are you gonna surrender?" Jerome asked, raising the staff toward us. "'Cuz we can camp here all night, y'know. And the way things are going, this night's not gonna end anytime soon."

"I hope they don't come up here…" Cream realized.

"Chao…" Chocola agreed.

"I don't think they can," I said. "I mean, they can probably stack some furniture, but that'll take a really long time."

"We don't have a really long time…" Tails said, sounding a bit tense. "Also, what's that staff he's holding?"

"Glad you asked," Jerome said, and Tails had a double take because he didn't think Jerome could hear him. "It's pretty much a portable Solar Ball, but I can use it to bring you guys into submission if I have to, or at least Chris."

I gulped.

Is he gonna use that thing to brainwash me? Am I gonna be like those guys…? Maybe… Maybe they have a point… After all, Sonic is the reason that– Stop it, Christopher!

"Not gonna happen, Wise guy!" Amy retorted.

"I get enough of that on the ship…" Jerome mumbled. "But let's not talk about me. Listen, real talk." He shifted his weight onto one leg. "I don't think you realize the kind of situation Sonic put you in. You're few, we're many. We can take hostages! In fact… I'll have you know we already have."

Now I paled.

"Grandpa…" I whispered. And Ella and Mr. Tanaka and Vanilla too…

Tails must have been thinking the same thing as me, because he looked like he was panicking a bit on the inside.

"They can't get up here, they can't get up here…" I heard him whisper to himself.

"We gotta go back and help them!" Amy said, before she paused, looking a bit dejected. "But…"

"Hey Cream, can you see if they're still trying to come up here?" I quietly asked Cream while Jerome ranted below us.

"Okay," Cream said. She flapped her ears and flew high above us, surveying the crowd on the ground below us.

"Careful…" Amy winced, worried that her little sister was potentially putting herself in danger.

"Hey Miles, I think you might wanna know," Jerome called. "You're a criminal. We know what you did to the Solar Balls. Admit it."

"Wh-What?" Tails said, getting flustered all of a sudden. "N-No, I did that to save my friends! I'm not gonna let them–"

"So you admit it!" Jerome crowed. "They're federal property, you of all people should know that! Let me put this in a language you can understand. If you can't tamper with mailboxes, then you can't tamper with Solar Balls. Period."

"And you're the Chief of Staff and you're acting like this?!" Amy exclaimed incredulously.

"Not anymore, thanks to Sonic!" Jerome said. "I know the law, your fox friend is looking at a good couple decades in prison for his crimes. And furthermore, you think you have the audacity to have light while the rest of us are suffering in darkness because of your– your hedgehog friend?! Think again. This is why we're here, to punish you and make sure you know your place in society."

"H-He's crazy…" Tails said. He sounded like he was shaken by Jerome's words, and I found that I was too.

"They're trying to come up here, but I think they're having trouble," Cream reported as she landed back on the roof. She seemed like she was oblivious to what had Jerome just said, which was probably a good thing.

"This is ridiculous," Amy said, holding back an incredulous laugh. "Humans don't normally act like this!"

"I think it's the staff he's holding!" Tails realized. "That's the reason everyone's acting like this!"

"Are the police coming?" I asked. "To arrest Sonic?" I immediately blurted without realizing it.

"Mr. Chris…?" Cream asked in surprise and worry.

"Yes, they are," Jerome said, sounding like he was getting carried away. "And we're here to make sure you don't pull any stunts while you wait for them to come and arrest Tails. Believe me, we already told them everything."

"You're bluffing!" Amy shouted.

"Oh, am I?" Jerome said, flashing his phone at us. I walked over and squinted at it, and I could see that 911 was on his recently called list.

"Oh no…" I whimpered.

"Yeah, they already know, even before I told them. Believe me, there were witnesses," Jerome claimed.

"Then how come they didn't say anything up until now, huh?" Amy fired back. Jerome was hesitant for a second.

"Uh… Um, does anyone have their phone?" Tails asked us. Amy and I shook our heads.

"I think I left mine in my room," I admitted.

"Same," Amy said.

"Oh, okay," Tails said, sounding a bit dejected. "I didn't think we'd need them, or even our comlinks, but… Hold on, I think I still have mine…"

He felt around in Hammerspace for a moment before pulling out his phone.

"Here it is, I forgot I had it with me," he said quietly as he dialed a number.

"Might wanna get back," Amy cautioned us. "They're still trying to get up here."

"O-Okay," I said as I crept further up the roof. Everyone else did the same, but we made sure we could still see the protesters.

Tails let out a soft gasp. "H-He picked up…" he whispered. "Grandpa, a-are you okay?"

"We're hostages," I could hear Grandpa say. "Th-They want you and everyone to come downstairs, and– and they said there would be trouble if you try and fight back."

"What do we do?" Tails asked. "Do we–"

"No, get out of here," Grandpa requested. "That way you can get help and–"

I heard what sounded like an impact on the other end of the phone, and Tails slowly pulled his phone away from his ear and put it away. He looked visibly shaken, and he was trying not to tear up.

"What happened?" Amy asked as she and Cream approached.

"I think… something happened to him…" he admitted. "He said he and the others are hostages, and he told us to get out of here and get help."

"So does that mean we're not safe up here?" Cream asked in surprise.

"The worst thing that can happen is if they somehow make a human chain or something," I speculated, "but at this rate, they might actually do that. But I'm thinking, maybe we should surrender, that way we can get to Sonic easier."

"Chris…?" Tails spoke in mild shock.

"No Chris, that's what they want, is for us to surrender," Amy said. "Also, I noticed you've been acting strange lately, so–"

"X-Tornado!" Cream exclaimed. Tails looked at her, and she explained, "We can fly away from everyone in the X-Tornado!"

"Great idea," Tails said. "You guys ready?"

"Mm-hmm," I said nervously. Tails took my hands once again and flew off the roof toward the garage. Behind me, Cream, Cheese, and Chocola did the same with Amy.

I wasn't used to being flown around this much, and I kinda felt bad that I was unintentionally making Tails do this. I knew he couldn't fly for long, let alone carry people for a long time. But Tails had told me it was okay because I weighed about the same as Sonic, whom he carried often when the situation called for it.

I glanced down at the mob as we flew over them, and I was finally able to get a real perspective of how many of them there were. There were so many of them, and those were just the ones who were outside. Who knew how many were inside the house? I could only hope they weren't armed.

But I panicked the moment I looked down and grabbed Tails' hands tighter.

"Don't look down!" he cautioned me.

"Sorry!" I apologized as I looked straight ahead again.

Tails dropped me off in front of the garage door and landed next to me. A few seconds later, Amy, Cream, and the two Chao arrived. Tails was already running for the garage door. I looked behind us to check up on the protesters.

"They're chasing us…" I reported as Tails got the door open. "I don't know if we run from them forever, there are so many–"

"Chris! Snap out of it!" Amy shouted at me, startling me. I took a step back; I was very rarely on the receiving end of Amy's wrath.

"S-Sorry, I… can't control it," I admitted, trying to recover.

"I know how to fix it," Tails said. "Let's just get inside first."

As soon as all six of us were safe in the garage, Tails shut and locked the doors before turning on the lights. Amy looked at me with a look of what I assumed was confusion and worry with a hint of annoyance.

"Chris, you have to control what you're saying," she told me. She sounded firm, but also worried. "You're making it sound like Sonic's the bad guy."

"That's because Eggman's trying to take over his mind," Tails told her as he rummaged through one of the drawers. "That staff Jerome was holding, I think he was trying to use it to turn Chris into one of them."

I shuddered.

"Though, I don't know if he ever tried to use it on Chuck and the others… But I will say it doesn't work as much on us Mobians… even though we can hear the mind control frequencies better, it seems to only affect humans for some reason. I don't know why… C'mon, where is it…?" He started searching faster.

"Do you have something that can block it out, like… tinfoil or… or maybe a helmet?" Amy asked, sounding a bit desperate.

Tails let out a dry laugh. "Funny you should ask, 'cuz that's what I'm looking for… I didn't think we'd need it this soon though… Finally, here it is!"

He pulled a cap out of the drawer and held it up proudly before handing it to me.

"Here, put this on and get in the X-Tornado, Chris," he told me before flying up to the X-Tornado's cockpit.

But I glanced at the cap in confusion.

"It's a device I made that neutralizes the radio waves transmitted by the Solar Balls," Tails explained. "It was actually Chuck's idea to make them look like ballcaps," he added with a proud smile.

"Oh, okay," I realized before putting it on. It was really clever now that I thought about it.

Less than a minute later, we were all in the X-Tornado. I was sitting in the back with Cream while Tails and Amy were up front. But before Tails was about to close the canopies, he let out a small gasp.

"Forgot the remote!" he blurted before he scrambled out of the plane to get it.

Suddenly we heard tremendous banging on the garage door, scaring us. Cream yelped from her seat in front of me, and we both looked ahead at the garage door. It was actually being shaken by the rioters outside. It was scary how violent they were. I had never been around humans who acted remotely like that.

"Got it!" Tails called as he returned to the plane and strapped himself in. He closed the canopies around us, and I could hear him take a deep breath before opening the garage door.

"Oh my gosh, they're all like zombies…" Amy quietly said, covering her mouth in shock as everyone meandered inside. Some of them seemed to keep their distance, especially when Tails started to move the plane forward.

"Yeah… That's a good way to put it," Tails said tensely.

The protesters stopped trying to climb onto the plane the moment we started taxiing down the driveway. I watched as they all gave us room, some of them escaping by the skin of their teeth. But the important thing was that none of them were hurt.

In seconds we were airborne, and we all breathed sighs of relief.

"That was too close…" Amy said.

"Yeah…" Tails agreed. "But we're still not safe yet…" His breathing sounded shaky, and I could sense that the adrenalin was leaving him at last.

"Are you okay, Mr. Tails?" Cream asked. "That man said some really mean things to you…"

"Yeah… I think so…" Tails said. "But… I think we're all fugitives now…"

"What?" Cream asked in worry.

"But you're the one they want!" I exclaimed.

"True, but now you guys are all accomplices," Tails admitted. "If I had any idea this was gonna happen, I wouldn't have dragged you guys into this… I'm sorry…"

"N-No no, it's okay!" I said. "Besides, I think those guys were after all of us to begin with because of Sonic."

"You made the right call taking us with you, Tails," Amy said. "And Cream, thanks for telling us about the X-Tornado!"

"You're welcome!" Cream said.

I looked down at the ground below us. The only lights were coming from houses and street lights. It looked like any ordinary night had it not been going on for over a month.

But another light started to pierce through the darkness. I recognized the flashing red and blue lights of police cars as they made their way to our house. Action was being taken at last. I assumed someone else must have called the police, because I knew Grandpa wouldn't have been able to. And even if the police were after us, we were safe from them, for now at least.

Even though we were safe inside the X-Tornado where the rioters couldn't reach us, I still felt afraid. This had to be my strangest adventure yet.

"Hey Chris?" Amy spoke up. "I'm sorry I thought you were agreeing with the protesters, it's just that… this whole thing has been really stressful."

"It's okay, I understand," I said. "I'm kinda stressed too."

"We all are…" Amy said. "I just want this to end…"

"Me too," Cream added.

"And Chris, um… Please don't take your hat off no matter what until it's safe, okay?" Tails requested.

"Okay," I said. I was just about to adjust my hat, but somehow he knew. "So what do we do now?"

There was a pause. The grim tone in what Tails said next sent chills through my spine.

"We keep moving. Just like Sonic."


The Egg Carrier - Sun February 13, 2:16 PM – Third-person POV

"Are you slacking off again?!" Bokkun snapped at Orbot and Cubot. "Seriously?!"

"I am not slacking off, Bokkun," Orbot said, turning around from his post at the console in the command center. "I'm simply monitoring the situation at the Thorndykes' house."

"Oh yeah, that," Bokkun said with a deadpan look. "So what's going on? Does it look fun?"

"The mob has been present at the house for ten minutes now, but I'm afraid the police are starting to show up," Orbot continued. "It's such a shame. It's so rare that Eggman sets up riots like this."

"Yeah…" Bokkun shrugged. "Except the police are working for Eggman, forgot about that?"

"The doctor certainly thought everything through," Orbot remarked.

"Oh hey, our boy Jerome is leaving!" Cubot pointed out.

"He seems to take after the boss," Orbot noted. "He knows exactly when to escape."

"Yeah, 'cuz he's a coward," Bokkun said in a sing-song voice. "Eggman should have given him a whole bunch of cool weapons to fight Sonic's friends with! Oh well, at least he got this cool Solar Ball staff. And some of the guys with him got some Eggman stickers too!"

"Who are you talking to…?" Cubot asked, looking confused.

"Oh yeah, speaking of brainwashing, it's time for the next part of Eggman's plan!" Bokkun announced. "I got doctor's orders to increase the amplitude of the Solar Balls. More power!" He gleefully pulled a lever next to him.

"But that's Decoe and Bocoe's job," Cubot pointed out.

Bokkun sighed. "No, their job is to make sure all the Solar Balls get delivered. You guys get to take care of all the other nitty-gritty details of this operation," he explained.

He flew over and looked at the live camera feed that was brought to them by one of Eggman's hidden spy robots.

"Aww, you guys made it boring now…" he muttered to himself as he switched to another camera angle. Now he could see various GUN robots on the move.

"Heheh, Sonic really did it this time," Bokkun said as he watched the many vans, armored cars, and robots traveling up the freeway. "He got GUN against him not once, but twice! And this isn't even a fake Sonic like last time. This is the real deal!"

"He doesn't seem to be very bright," Orbot pointed out.

"Yeah, he's almost as dumb as me!" Cubot added.

"I know, right?" Bokkun said. "Also, this isn't even Eggman beating him like usual."

He tried to suppress a laugh.

"No, it's all the humans this time!"


Station Square - Sun February 13, 2:17 PM – Third-person POV

As Jerome pulled off the road leading to the Thorndykes' house and drove away, he was fuming.

Everything had been going according to plan… perfectly, in fact. Of course, he already knew that Sonic wasn't there, although some of the rioters with him didn't seem to get the memo. But that wasn't the real reason why he and his acquired team was there at the Thorndykes' house. They were there to take hostages and bring Sonic straight to them to deal with him. In fact, he had managed to maroon Sonic's closest friends on the roof.

But he wasn't angry because Sonic's friends escaped. No, he was angry because he had just gotten a conflicting order from the Organizer himself. He had told him that the time had come to break Colonel Passer out of prison, and to immediately return to the Society's headquarters in Cantonville and stand by for further instructions. Even though Jerome tried to tell him about his instructions from Eggman, no amount of protesting would sway the Organizer.

Left with little choice, Jerome passed the Solar Ball staff to a random protester and fled the scene. To the best of his ability, none of Sonic's friends noticed his departure because they were too busy escaping themselves.

Cantonville was more than a grueling hour's drive away from Station Square, and Jerome was impatient. After ten minutes, he pulled over on a side street and called headquarters.

"Look, can't this wait?" Jerome demanded. "'Cuz I'm an hour outside of Cantonville and I practically had Sonic on the ropes until now!"

"It's a full-team effort, the Organizer said so himself," Dr. Narasu told him. "If we don't pull this off now, we won't get another chance."

"No, you don't understand! Eggman's gonna have my neck if I give up this mission!"

"Well, that's your problem, not mine," Dr. Narasu said. "I'm not the one making the rules here."

Jerome couldn't reply back. He was tired of arguing to a brick wall.

"Okay, fine," he relented as he kept driving. "How am I supposed to do this?"

"The rest of us already got briefed on this, but the Organizer wants me to tell you on the way over. Oh yeah, this call is encrypted so no one can trace us. Pretty brilliant. Anyway, me, Li Yan, and Watcher are going to break into Bigley Prison. That's a federal prison where Passer's being held. Hector Dragg's gonna be the distraction as well as our getaway driver. And you are going up to the Egg Carrier to send down some robots to cover us."

Jerome gritted his teeth. "I– That's crazy, I– I can't just use Eggman's tech like that, he'll know. He has his ways."

"Trust me, the Organizer says this will be a big win for us in the long run," Narasu explained.

Jerome hummed in interest. "Fine, I'll see what I can do from there. How do you guys plan to get in there? It's a federal prison, it's swarming with security."

"That's no big deal," Narasu said. "With Mr. Browning's help, I was able to replicate Eggman's technology and create our own laser blasters."

"Oh?" Jerome said with interest.

"And before you ask, yes, they work just like Star Wars."

"Huh, that's cool," Jerome said.

However, he was not fully convinced this would work, and even if it did work, he could only hope that Eggman wouldn't find out or otherwise do anything to stop him.


Station Square - Sun February 13, 2:13 PM – Third-person POV

Eggman stepped out onto the balcony outside of the mayor's office, where he was met with a crowd of thousands of people. They all cheered and chanted his name when they saw him, and Eggman grinned.

Eggman was "granted" access to Mayor Pinsky's office. Even the mayor himself was under the influence of the Solar Balls and their mind control properties, so he welcomed Eggman with open arms when he requested to come in. The doctor had brought his own robot security force with him into the building just in case anyone came to their senses, but since he had increased the amplitude of the mind control, that wouldn't be a problem for him. Besides, everyone was busy either praising him or trying to stop Sonic, who was presumably still destroying the ASB towers.

"Citizens of Station Square, thank you for your extended support in these times," Eggman spoke. "I know it's difficult to deal with Sonic breaking the law on a federal level, but I assure you I'm actively troubleshooting and fixing the issue, and in the meantime, my robots are assisting GUN in tracking down the hedgehog."

"Thank you, Doctor Eggman!" several people up front cheered.

"I'll bring you further updates as I receive them," Eggman said.

He glanced down at the robots that were stationed outside to prevent the crowd from making their way close to him. Then he stepped back inside the mayor's office.

Eggman chuckled to himself. It was funny how the roles were reversed this time, where Eggman was receiving praise and Sonic was on the run from the law. In fact, this was the way it should have been during the Phantom War.

"Everything is under control, Mayor Pinsky," Eggman told the mayor, who was seated at his desk.

"Sonic is only half the battle," Pinsky said. "We also have to deal with the Solar Balls. Most of the Station Square metro is once again in darkness, and they don't have an alternate power source."

"Not to worry, I won't let anything happen to them," Eggman said. "Do you know how quickly I assembled those towers? I can have at least two new ones built this week."

"Excellent," the mayor said.

"In the meantime, I'm tackling the weed at the root," Eggman explained. "My best robots are pursuing that hedgehog, and soon he'll be brought to justice."

"Will this affect new people getting their Solar Balls?" Pinsky asked.

"Not at all, and that's the brilliant part," Eggman said. "I can multitask. The old towers will be replaced without slowing down the distribution of new Solar Balls."

"That's good to know," the mayor said, glancing outside. "Also, my staff has been telling me that some people want to refund their Solar Balls. I wanted to bring that to your attention."

"I'm already aware, but I'm afraid that's not possible," Eggman said as he leaned against the wall. "They are government property the same way mailboxes are. If you can't request a refund for your mailbox, then you can't get rid of your Solar Ball."

"That's true," the mayor said. "However, knowing Sonic, he may try to find a way to defeat you… but I know he can't do that because if he does, he will be the nation's number one enemy. Actually… he already is."

"You're catching on," Eggman said with a grin.

Since the mayor and his staff, as well as most of the GUN forces in the area were all under the control of the Solar Balls, he could make them do whatever he wanted. Furthermore, Sonic was on the run, and his friends were held back by Jerome's mob. Everything was going according to plan…


Station Square - Sun February 13, 2:32 PM – Third-person POV

For the most part, Rouge had opted to stay out of the whole Solar Ball business. There was too much drama going on for her blood to handle.

While a lot of people were really happy to receive their Solar Balls, some refused to get them just because they had Eggman's face on them. However, they were all but forced to receive Solar Balls anyway because of the new mandate, and the price was dropped slightly as a result in order to entice people.

She experienced this drama firsthand when a Solar Ball was installed at her apartment complex on the west side of town. Some people on the lower floors complained about the glare, even though Eggman advertised it as glare-resistant. She knew it was probably just a ploy they came up with to get rid of it, even though that was now all but impossible.

But Rouge didn't care one way or another. Sure, it was bright, but it was nothing blackout curtains couldn't fix.

However, things abruptly changed weeks later when the Solar Ball went out without warning. This had gotten Rouge's attention, especially since everyone suddenly started blaming Sonic for this incident. It sounded way too outrageous to be true considering how spontaneous everyone acted, so she had to check the news to be sure. The images and videos didn't lie, and there was nothing to indicate that it was fabricated by AI.

It was real.

Before she knew it, she was already on the move, gliding through the air, searching for any sign of Sonic. They seemed to cross paths every so often, but now that Rouge actually needed to find Sonic, he was proving to be irritatingly elusive.

She was glad that not only was she off-duty for the day, but she was not given specific orders to stop Sonic. As much fun as it was for her to work with GUN, she didn't like the thought of Sonic being in their custody, especially after what happened just a month and a half ago.

Regardless, she was in contact with Topaz, who was on duty, about the situation. Fortunately, Topaz's platoon was not sent to stop Sonic either. Now, Rouge was flying not far away from Topaz' helicopter.

The subtle, high-pitched ringing in her ears that she had grown somewhat accustomed to over the last few weeks suddenly got louder, and she let out a yelp as the radio waves overwhelmed her brain. Furthermore, her earpiece let out a squeal, adding to her discomfort. It was so unexpected and disorienting that she lost control of herself, momentarily forgetting how to fly, and she started to plummet out of the sky.

"Rouge! What's wrong?" Topaz asked.

After a moment, Rouge managed to regain control of her flight. She straightened her earpiece.

"Are you hearing this, Topaz?" she asked.

"If you mean that static squeal just now, how could I not?" Topaz asked.

"No, This… ringing sound. Seriously, you don't hear it? 'Cuz it's about all I can hear right now, and it's driving me absolutely–"

"Hold on…" Topaz said, before there was a pause. "We're picking up a high frequency. Is that what you're hearing?"

"I think?" Rouge said, not sounding completely sure. "Sure hope it goes away soon. I like my quiet nights."

"Can you pinpoint exactly where it's coming from?" Topaz asked.

Rouge came to a stop in the middle of the air, looking all around her to see if she could figure out if the sound was coming from any general direction. Finally she shook her head.

"It seems to be coming from all around," she reported.

"Huh…" Topaz said. "Hundreds, thousands of Solar Balls… This could complicate things."

"Lemme try something," Rouge said.

She went into a nosedive toward the ground to get a better sense of where the signal was coming from. She found that it gradually got stronger the closer she came to the ground. She then glided in a wide circle just above the treetops to sense its direction.

"Just as I thought…" she mumbled.

"What'd you find?" Topaz asked. Rouge pointed in one direction.

"Seems to me like it's coming from that way," she reported.

"Where's 'that way?'" Topaz asked.

"Oh, uh…" Rouge flew back up toward the helicopter and pointed toward the right side of the helicopter. "It's coming from your 2 o'clock."

"Copy that," Topaz said, and the helicopter turned and steered in that direction. Rouge took off, leading the way and staying just ahead enough of the chopper so that she wouldn't get buffeted by the current that its rotors generated.

She knew she was heading in the right direction because the ringing sound in her ears continued to get louder the closer she got to the source. It was strong, but thankfully, it wasn't as strong as E-70 Siren's sonic weapon when she went on her first mission with Earth's GUN.

Rouge flew parallel to the ground for the next ten minutes. She hummed in interest as the forest gave way to a clearing. And right in the middle of that clearing was a giant dome, where the signal was at its strongest.

"Well, lookie here…" she thought aloud. "Bet he doesn't want us seeing this."

"The man behind the curtain," Topaz commented.

"You know it," Rouge replied.

She flew around the dome, inspecting it to see if she could find a way in.

"Seamless…" she said, squinting at the dark surface of the dome. "I don't see an entrance anywhere."

She flew around it one more time just to make sure it was truly inaccessible to her.

"Yup, this is definitely an Egg Dome," she stated as she landed next to it.

"Need me to come take a crack at it?" Topaz asked.

"I know the pun was not intended, hon, but… Better not," Rouge said after a moment. "In case it's booby-trapped. These things usually are."

"So you have experience with these things, I take it?"

"Once or twice, yeah."

"Hope this doesn't jeopardize anything, but did you try Screw Kicking it?" Topaz asked next.

"Hm… Haven't tried that yet, but if Eggman can set something up in there, then I'm pretty sure we can make a way in somehow," Rouge said.

Twisting her body into a corkscrew, she spun straight toward the dome, slamming her heels into its steel surface. Rouge shouldn't have been surprised given her prior experiences with Egg Domes, but she was slightly disappointed to find that her forceful impact left only a small dent in its side.

She tried her signature move again at least three more times, and one of those times didn't even leave a dent. Rouge landed on the ground, panting.

"Well, I tried," she said. "At least we know where the signal's coming from."

"You're not gonna quit that easy, are you, Rouge?" Topaz said. "I know you better than that. For all you know, there are probably some precious jewels in there."

"Come to think of it, Knuckles did say he was missing the Master Emerald…" Rouge thought. She looked back at the dome with new determination. "You know what, I think I'll give it another go."

"Hold on, before you do that, I'm gonna need you to get out of the way for a sec," Topaz said. "I wanna try something first."

"Time for the big guns, I see," Rouge said, before flapping her wings and flying backwards away from the Egg Dome. "Okay, it's all yours, Topaz!"

After a few seconds, loud popping sounds rang out in the air as the helicopter's guns opened fire. Dozens of bullets impacted the side of the Egg Dome, but the dents they left were barely smaller than Rouge's Screw Kicks.

"Requesting missile launch, sir," Rouge could hear Topaz say in her earpiece. After a moment, she added, "Clear out, Rouge. Launching missile in ten."

Rouge flew back, lifting off into the air so she could still see the dome. A few seconds later, the helicopter launched a missile at the dome, and it landed a direct hit. When the smoke cleared, Rouge squinted at the dome, and was dismayed to see that there was only a large dent despite the tremendous explosion.

"Can't tell if that did anything… I expected nothing less from these things. Can't get in unless Eggman lets you in."

"So what are you going to do?" Topaz asked. "Because this is obviously not working."

"I'm not gonna do anything," Rouge said smugly. "However, I do know a certain handsome echidna, and this sort of thing would be right up his alley~"

She started to take off, but she looked back at the dome behind her. The ground around the missile impact was scorched, but from the air, she couldn't see any sign of damage to the dome itself.

"Hey Topaz, do me a favor and save the coordinates of this place," Rouge requested.

"Way ahead of you," Topaz responded.

"Okay, good," Rouge said. "Just a bookmark for later. Also, I'm real glad I told you to wear that tin foil hat. You're gonna want to keep it on for a bit longer, hon, 'cuz if you take it off, well… You're gonna turn into another one of those Eggman supporters, and frankly, I don't think that's a good look on you. 'Cuz if I'm hearing this ringing sound without an earpiece, imagine what you'll probably go through."

"Okay…?" Topaz said, "but why aren't you affected? You're the one who heard the signal stronger than the rest of us."

"I know we bats have like, super good hearing, but it doesn't seem to affect Mobians the same way. It's probably how our bodies work, I don't know. I'm just speculating," Rouge said. "Though, I don't know how you managed to last so long without getting brainwashed… especially since you guys have a Solar Ball at GUN HQ. It's probably the headset."

"I knew I felt weird being around that thing," Topaz said. "I mean, I didn't spend a whole lot of time right near it, but still. And from the intel that we gathered, they seem to only work at short range anyway, so Eggman compensated by littering them all over the city. The worst part is, it's all legal."

"However, they do have a couple flaws," Rouge pointed out.

"Oh?"

"A little birdie told me that Tails was able to reprogram a couple of them," Rouge explained. "They can't mind control people anymore. I dropped by the Thorndykes' place for a visit a couple days ago, just checking up on them 'cuz it's been a while. That's how I found out."

"He reprogrammed them? Isn't that illegal?"

Rouge winced, hoping Tails wouldn't eventually get in trouble for that.

"Well yes, technically, but I don't think anyone will ever know because they still glow like any other Solar Ball."

"Hm," Topaz thought. "As long as he doesn't get caught, I guess it's okay…? So where to next? Find Knuckles?"

"You got it," Rouge said.

"You go ahead, we'll catch up," Topaz told her.

Rouge nodded before taking off through the air, feeling relieved that the signal was lessening the farther she got away from it. She didn't know how much more she could take of it. Hopefully with Knuckles' help, they could deactivate the signal, and therefore the Solar Balls.


Station Square - Sun February 13, 2:30 PM – Third-person POV

Knuckles glided from rooftop to rooftop as he made his way back into the Station Square city limits from yet another unsuccessful hunt for the Master Emerald. Each time he came back empty-handed made him more and more confused, not to mention desperate.

He had traveled literally all across southern California in his search, and well over a month later, he still couldn't find it. There was a good chance Eggman chose to hide it in another state. But that didn't make sense to him, unless there was another major plan that Eggman was concealing from everyone.

Knuckles felt the overpowering sensation of wanting to give up. But the Master Emerald was his property, and he kept telling himself to keep going until he found it. His life's destiny was to guard it at all costs. Yet it had been in Eggman's hands for a month and a half. Who knew what Eggman was planning to use it for?

He made his way downtown, which looked exactly the same as it did every day before the Solar Balls were introduced to the city. It was dark, except for the street lights, stoplights, windows, and digital billboards. There also happened to be a lot of people there where Knuckles landed.

"Knuckles! Yo, Knuckles!" several people shouted as they approached him. Knuckles took a step away, but when he turned to them, they looked like they really wanted his attention. Besides, with his bad luck with the Master Emerald, he didn't have anything better to do.

"Hey, you know what's going on with all the Solar Balls today?" one person asked.

"Yeah, some of them turned off for some reason," Knuckles said. "Don't know why, I haven't been paying close attention though."

"Oh, you didn't hear," he said. "Sonic's the one destroying all the towers. We saw it on the news."

"Wouldn't surprise me if he did," Knuckles commented. "But why are you telling me about it?"

"'Cause you're his friend," the person said.

"We're not friends, we're just… friendly rivals…" Knuckles sighed. "Okay, maybe we are friends, but it's still not my business what he does. Besides, even when he got convicted last time, they proved it wasn't him."

"It's different this time!" another person argued. "It's legit Sonic this time, and he's– Look at it this way. It's like we invent cars, and he goes and destroys all the cars because they're polluting the atmosphere."

"That's nonsense," Knuckles said, crossing his arms. "And you're wasting my time."

He turned to leave, but then he stopped.

"So what if he did do it?" he thought aloud. "The city going dark is proof enough…"

"Exactly!" the first person said. "Please, you gotta stop him. This can't go on any longer."

"Fine, I'll stop him," Knuckles said. "If he's gonna be a menace to the entire city, then he's gonna have to answer to me. Thanks for the heads up."

He sprinted away from the crowd before breaking into a glide.


Silky Heights - Sun February 13, 2:33 PM – Chris' POV

"Okay… I think this might be far enough for now," Tails said, breaking the silence.

I felt the plane slowly descending toward the ground, and I looked down at the streets and grassy hills below us. The entire landscape was brightly illuminated by the light of the few Solar Balls that were still active, and now that I thought about it, it looked quite intense. It was just like the commercials I saw for those extremely bright flashlights.

"Are you sure, Tails?" Amy responded. "Cuz I see a few Solar Balls down there, and you told me they can still brainwash people even when they're off."

"Good point," Tails commented. "I can take us out a little farther, but… we gotta keep moving 'cuz the police will be looking for us. And we have to wait until everyone clears out at home."

"I'll keep an eye out for anywhere safe we can land," Amy volunteered.

"Okay, thanks Amy," Tails replied.

I felt bad for Tails. Judging from his low tone of voice, I could tell he was going through a lot. Everyone found out he was tampering with Solar Balls, which was illegal. I couldn't blame him for that, since he was doing it to save us and prevent us from turning out just like all those people who came to our house. And since he was taking us with him to protect us, I knew that made us partners in crime as well.

Is this what everyone went through when they all got framed? I thought.

"All the lights are so beautiful," Cream said, looking down at the ground below us.

"I know," Amy said. I could hear the smile in her voice. "Oh wait wait, I see a big field down there!"

"Uh, that's a baseball park," I said, looking down to our right. "I don't think we can land there."

"Not that, the hill next to it," Amy said. "On our left."

"Oh, the left!" I realized as I looked down the other side of the plane. Sure enough, there was a spacious field with lots of grass and small gentle hills everywhere.

Tails banked to the left and converted the craft into X-Cyclone mode, and within one minute, we had touched down in Silky Heights. As we all got out of the plane, I looked up at the sky, which seemed to completely surround us. It was so weird seeing stars out at almost five in the afternoon. It would have been an amazing sight if it didn't feel so strange and wrong. Not to mention I was feeling worried…

It felt a little bit strange to wear a cap at this time of night, and I reached up to take it off.

"Keep it on, Chris," Tails told me. "Remember, it's supposed to protect you from the mind control."

"Oh yeah, sorry," I realized.

"This place is so big!" Cream said happily, looking all around. Her Chao flew high above us, getting a feel for their surroundings. "We can have lots of fun and– Maybe we can go to a playground!"

"Yeah!" Tails started to say, before he realized, "Except the police are after us, and if we stay in one place for too long…"

"It's okay, we can still have fun!" Amy told him. "And besides, you know we're faster than them anyway."

"Now that you put it that way…" Tails said.

"I see one!" Cream said, pointing to a playground that happened to be nearby. I noticed that no one was there, which meant we would have it all to ourselves. "C'mon, let's go!" she called as she ran toward it. Cheese and Chocola were not far behind her, and the rest of us ran after them.

The situation was tense, but I figured I could savor all the downtime we could get while we were on the run for the foreseeable future. And even though I was already thirteen years old, I knew I was never truly too old for playgrounds.

As Cream played on the slides and the monkey bars, the rest of us were playing on the swings for a bit. The air was noticeably quiet around us, and the birds weren't chirping as much as they usually were this time of day. Nature seemed to be a bit off lately, to say nothing of all of our sleep routines, and it was Eggman's fault. Even Sonic seemed off. To think that–

"Mr. Chris? Are you okay?"

Cream's voice woke me from my daydreaming, and I looked down to see her looking up at me in concern. I could sense that Tails and Amy's attention were gotten as well.

"I… don't know…" I admitted quietly.

"Is it about Sonic?" Amy asked. I slowly nodded. "Yeah, I don't get it either, but if there's one thing I know about him, it's that he has a very strong sense of justice."

"Yeah, but there are a bunch of innocent people out there too, and by attacking Eggman, he's hurting them too," I explained.

"Uh-oh…" Tails said quietly. He looked a bit unsure about what I said.

Oh no… Did I do it again? It's… it's even affecting me with my cap on!

"At this point, he's doing all this on purpose," I continued. "I don't know if he means it… but still…" I let out a quiet sigh.

"I know exactly what you're talking about," Amy told me, and I looked at her as she slowly stopped swinging on the swings. "I have known Sonic for way, way longer than you, and sometimes I still can't wrap my head around why he does certain things."

Tails nodded.

"Yeah… Sometimes he can do some pretty dumb things, like he doesn't look before he leaps a lot of the time. I used to think he was selfish too… when I asked him out on a date a couple of times and he stood me up… But looking back, I think that was just me not understanding him, and who he truly is. I was only focused on one thing back then. He's not ready for that, and I'm okay with it now. I still love him for how brave and free-minded he is." Amy looked me in the eyes. "But Chris, even if he does anything you think is dumb or selfish, you will never, ever see him do anything dishonest. That's not him."

Amy was being so gentle handling my mind control, and deep down, I was grateful for that.

Again Tails nodded. "Sometimes he makes mistakes 'cuz we're only Mobian, but 99% of the time he knows what he's doing. Like right now, we know what he's up to, but even though everyone else doesn't, they're all gonna be grateful when the mind control is gone and we stop Eggman."

"Mm-hmm!" Amy nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay," I said, "but is everyone else gonna be okay until then?"

"I don't know," Cream admitted.

"None of this is gonna matter when we get to the bottom of this," Tails pointed out. "Sure, they're angry at us and Sonic now, but just watch, everything's gonna change as soon as we beat Eggman."

"Okay," I replied. "Am I… maybe thinking about it too much?"

"Maybe, but it's probably the mind control," Amy shrugged.

"How are you not affected?" I asked. "Or more importantly, how am I still affected?!"

"It's probably because our brains are different from yours, and we can withstand a lot more," Tails speculated, starting to swing slowly on the swings once again. "As for your second question… I think… the mind control got even stronger than I was planning. But you should still keep your hat on until the mind control is turned off because otherwise, it could be a lot worse."

"Yeah…" I agreed.

"I haven't seen any police yet," Amy noted.

"I forgot all about that already…" I said. "So do we get moving again?"

"Since no bad things are happening, maybe we can stay longer," Cream suggested as she hopped on the last unoccupied swing.

"I don't know, does that sound good to the rest of you guys?" Tails asked.

But before any of us could answer, Tails' phone rang.

"Oh, forgot I had it with me," Tails said to himself as he pulled it out of Hammerspace and held it to his ear. "Hey Knuckles!"

"Hey," Knuckles said. "I tried to call your comm, but you didn't pick up." I hoped Knuckles wasn't having a hard time using a cell phone with his large hands.

"Yeah, I kinda forgot to bring it with me, sorry about that," Tails said. "So did you find the Master Emerald?"

"I wish," I heard Knuckles say with a sigh. "I did find Sonic though. You heard what's going on with him, right?"

"Yeah, we did," Tails responded.

"He's destroying another tower right now as we speak," Knuckles said. "And all the people are revolting, I saw the crowds. I gotta stop him before the whole city goes down, and I'd appreciate it if you could come out here and help me."

"Okay, where are you right now?"

"Up in Farnsworth. It's crazy, not even GUN can stop him. I'm just keeping an eye on him until you guys get here."

"Okay, we're on our way, Knuckles!" Tails said as he hung up.

Amy got off the swing. "Did he seriously get tricked again?" she asked in annoyance.

"I wouldn't doubt it, especially with all the brainwashing going around. This is Knuckles after all." He hopped down from his swing. "C'mon, let's get back to the X-Tornado."

Tails led the way, flying across the massive field, and the rest of us ran after him.

I was feeling worried that Eggman was getting through to my mind anyway, even with Tails' specially designed cap. I was scared that I was going to suddenly resist my friends and join Eggman. It was just like the time when Eggman brainwashed me at school. Yet Sonic said I was brave because I fought it off deep down. This time felt a lot scarier.

Apparently Cream was thinking the same thing, because she looked up at Tails and Amy in concern.

"What happens if Mr. Chris becomes brainwashed again?" she asked.

"We're not gonna let that happen," Tails said. Turning to me, he said, "Hey Chris, think about what Eggman really wants to use the Solar Balls for. He's turning everyone into his army, and we're not gonna let you become one of his soldiers." He paused to emphasize his point. Speaking more firmly, he said. "Think about your freedom, okay? You're not an Eggman soldier."

I was taken aback by how serious he sounded for a moment, before I nodded.

"O-Okay… I'm not an Eggman soldier."

Tails blinked before averting his gaze. "Sorry about that…" he apologized. "I just… didn't wanna lose you to Eggman."

"I-It's okay," I said. Even though I didn't normally see him acting this firmly, it was justifiable in this case.

We made our way back to the X-Tornado and got in. Tails started the engines and took off, kicking off our search for Sonic and Knuckles.


Farnsworth - Sun February 13, 2:44 PM – Sonic's POV

It was getting harder and harder for me to find more towers I didn't destroy. Twice I came across towers I had already been to, but I knew there were still some up because there were still Solar Balls that were projecting their light across the various neighborhoods in the greater Station Square area.

At last I found what I thought was the seventh tower up ahead on a hill next to US-101. I was hoping it was the last one, even though I knew it really wasn't, because my task was time-consuming. But I knew I had to do this to expose Eggman for the con artist that he was.

But something was different about this tower. Not only were there Eggman robots patrolling it like I saw at the other six towers, but now there were also several GUN vehicles and robots there too. I never thought I would see the day where Eggman and GUN would be on the same side, even if it was only for a little while. However, this only meant it would be just a little harder for me to get to the tower this time.

I broke my cover and ran straight for the robots. Before they could fully process I was there, I was already slicing my way through the nearest Laser Hunters and Egg Pawns. The other robots all fired at me, but just like how it went down at the other towers, the fight ended too soon as I was able to finish off the remaining robots, reducing them to scrap metal.

Even GUN went down like that? Man, you guys really gotta step it up.

Now that there was nothing between me and the tower, I made a beeline for the 200-foot tall structure. I was so laser focused that I didn't see the gigantic fist come out of nowhere until it sucker-punched me several yards away. As I landed on my back on the ground, I heard the sound of footsteps on the grass approaching me.

"I'm gonna have to stop you right there, Sonic," I heard Knuckles say as he came to a stop in front of me.

"Knuckles…?" I groaned as I sat up.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing right now?!" Knuckles demanded.

"You know Eggman's behind all this, right?" I said. "The sooner I knock these things down, the sooner I can break his control over–"

"You don't get it!" Knuckles exclaimed. "This is exactly why everyone hates you right now. There's still no sun, and you're stealing what little light and warmth they have left. And you think this is what's best for the people? Is this what you want?! Huh?!"

"I'm getting hate?" I asked in mock surprise. "Wouldn't be new."

I knew Knuckles could be aggressive sometimes, but he lowkey hunted me down to tell me this. However, I wasn't totally surprised when he suddenly followed up by lunging at me. I could read his attack patterns like a book most of the time, so a simple sidestep was all it took for me to dodge his punch.

"Huh, is that your way of showing gratitude these days?" I asked.

"I wouldn't have to do this if you didn't take matters into your own hands like you always do," Knuckles retorted.

"Y'know, Eggman probably tricked you again," I pointed out. His gullibility was a trend that never seemed to go away.

I had to leap back as Knuckles threw another flurry of punches in my direction.

"That's a lie!" he yelled as he gained ground. "I haven't seen him since I got back here. In fact, I haven't even seen him since– since the whole fake Shadow thing!"

"Then who told you about– Whoa!"

Knuckles lunged toward me again, fist extended, and I was caught off guard for a moment. Right as he got near me, I pushed myself into the air using his hand as leverage. Then I curled up into a tight ball and spun straight toward him. Even though he caught me, my momentum was gradually pushing him back with some difficulty.

"I'm doing this for the people," Knuckles declared.

"So am I!" I responded as I uncurled and landed in front of him. I jumped back before he could strike, and ran further up the hill.

"Get back here!" Knuckles shouted as he ran after me.

About ten seconds later, Knuckles finally caught up to me, and I wagged my index finger at him.

"What took ya so long, Knux?" I taunted.

But he suddenly leaped to the side and rebounded off a large rock on the ground that I didn't see, using it as leverage to his advantage, and kicked me to the ground from behind.

"You owe the world an apology, Sonic," Knuckles demanded. "This time you've gone too far."

"Heh… Easy there, Knuckles, I know what I'm doing," I assured him as I stood up. "And I'm pretty sure the Solar Balls can't get to your mind that easily. So what happened?"

Knuckles crossed his arms. "What happened is the people told me to help them," he explained. "I was in town, and a bunch of people told me what was going on and asked me to stop you, and, well… here we are." He took a step closer to me. "You know I hate injustice as much as you do, and I'm here to put an end to that."

I started to hear an engine sound somewhere above us, and for a moment I thought it was more GUN reinforcements approaching, so I scanned the skies.

"I'm over here," Knuckles reminded me.

"Yeah, I know…" I said after a moment. "…So's Tails…"

"Yeah, I called him here," Knuckles said matter-of-factly as the X-Tornado came into view over the hill.

"Huh?" I looked back at him. "You did?"

Knuckles nodded, his gaze shifting to the X-Tornado as well as it gradually converted into X-Cyclone mode and landed not far from us.

"Good call, Knux," I said. "I'm pretty sure Tails knows something about all this that we don't."

"I was thinking the same thing," Knuckles said. "Which is why I called him here in the first place. And to stop you."

I could tell that while Knuckles was trying his best to hold back, he was itching to fight me again. Likewise, I was trying to hold myself back from running around him and smashing the tower. Was Knuckles right? Could there be another way to expose Eggman?

"Guys! This is not worth fighting over!" Tails called as he opened the X-Tornado's canopy. Everyone else was gradually getting out as well. "I know you both want all this to end, but fighting is not helping anything."

"Hey, I'm all for peace, but if you wanna be real, he's the one who started it," I said, thumb-pointing behind me at Knuckles.

"Look at the big picture," Knuckles told me. "If you didn't go and destroy these towers and start all this… chaos… I wouldn't have to come all the way out here to stop you. This is all your fault."

"Not really," I shrugged. "Eggman's the rotten egg around here, not me."

"Hey! Break it up!" Amy demanded as the others approached.

"Guys… they found us…" Tails said worriedly, scanning the skies as the sound of propellers filled the air. I squinted as several spotlights shone directly onto me and my friends. I looked over to see several newly-arrived GUN jeeps and robots. The helicopters I was hearing came over the trees into view.

"This is the Guardians of the United Nations!" a voice blared from one of the helicopters. "We demand that Sonic the Hedgehog and all allies stand down and calmly surrender immediately!"

The others were nervously looking around at all the GUN forces that suddenly showed up. I, however, stood my ground.

"Hey, hey, let's not get so worked up!" I called. "Give me a chance and I'll tell you guys everything."

"Well, it better be good or we are going to detain you immediately," the helicopter pilot stated. I was surprised he could hear me from all the way up there.

"Yeah, I know," I replied with a confident smirk, before my expression relaxed. "You see the moon up there? It's a mondo eyesore, and I can't even take my afternoon naps or go on my morning runs without that thing taking up the whole sky. Sure, the Solar Balls give you guys heat and light, but wouldn't it be better if it was all natural instead? 'Cuz I don't know how you guys can handle the whole 'eternal night' thing… well, 'cept for Rouge, that is."

"We all know that, Sonic," Knuckles said. "We just have to deal with it for now until Eggman fixes it."

"That's the thing, you can't fix what ain't broke," I told him. "Think about it. The Earth rotates, 24 hours a day. And the moon spins around the Earth once a month, for as long as they've been around. So why would a big eclipse like this happen now all of a sudden?"

"And don't forget, the Earth is revolving around the sun too," Tails added.

"Right on," I nodded.

"Okay, so basically," Chris started, and the rest of us looked at him, "the way I see it, the moon is blocking the sun all day, and then after it's sunset here, it goes all the way to the other side of the planet to block the sun the next day, and…" He frowned. "But… that doesn't explain how anyone else is getting an eclipse because I heard it's completely dark over just Station Square and nowhere else, and…" He let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know… it's too hard for me to think about…"

I chuckled. "Hey, it's nothing that hard, bud," I told him. "Sure, it's Eggman, but not in the way you think." I winked at him.

Chris gasped in realization. "Oh yeah, the Phantom Ruby! I forgot!"

Knuckles blinked. "Are you serious?" he asked in disbelief.

"You forgot too, Knux?" I asked him.

"Yeah, kinda…" the echidna admitted, looking down. "The Solar Balls might have done it, maybe it was the people back there, I don't know."

"Well, that's the only way I can explain it," I said. "Its power is being combined with the Phantom Ruby and the Corona Corundum to do whatever Eggman wants, just like with Space Colony ARK. Remember now? All of this is just an illusion. It's not even real!"

"If you're all done with your conspiracy theories, can we please get on with the arrest?" the helicopter pilot called.

I wasn't sure how to respond to him. However, I didn't have to, because another helicopter showed up on the scene and began to land. Flying next to it was Rouge. I had not been expecting her to show up.

"Rouge…?" Knuckles voiced his own surprise.

"Hey there handsome," Rouge said to Knuckles, smirking as she landed next to him.

"Rouge, I know you're not here to flirt, so just spill it," the echidna responded.

"Okay, two things," Rouge said, and the rest of us turned to her. "One, don't know if you guys know, but GUN here's got a warrant for Tails' arrest for sabotage, and Amy, Cream, and Chris are wanted too for being accomplices."

"What?!" I exclaimed. This was news. "I… Listen, I already know about the sabotage, it's cool, and even if it is illegal, I won't let them lay a finger on my friends."

"Did you hear that?" the helicopter pilot spoke over the bullhorn. "Sonic the Hedgehog supports vandalism!"

Rouge rolled her eyes. "Has he been doing this the whole time?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Pretty much."

"Yeah, don't mind him, that's just Captain Miller," Rouge said. "He goes a bit overboard like this when he's in his element. But yeah, that was pretty gutsy of you, fox boy. Willing to break the law just so you and your friends don't end up like everyone else."

"Th-Thank you," Tails said nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Um, I kinda had to keep looking around to make sure no one saw me while I was doing it. But somehow the protesters found out anyway."

I blinked in confusion. "Protesters?"

"Y-Yeah, a whole bunch of protesters came to our house and tried to hold us hostage," Chris explained. "…And Jerome was one of them…" Amy and Tails nodded to confirm this.

"That's… a new one," Rouge admitted.

I gritted my teeth, before letting out a quiet sigh. I was so caught up in trying to expose Eggman by destroying the ASB towers that I didn't even think of the possibility that my friends could have been in danger. I let them down again.

On the other hand, Tails had just told me that Jerome was leading the protesters. He was dangerous, especially since he was one of Eggman's accomplices. And if he was leading the protesters, then that told me Eggman probably arranged it.

"I'm really sorry, guys," I apologized to them. "I didn't know you were gonna be invaded, and if I did… I wouldn't have left without saying anything." I apologized to them. "But on the bright side, I'm glad you're all okay."

"It's all good, Sonic!" Tails said, and I felt relieved that they had no hard feelings with me over my simple mistake.

"Yeah, you didn't know," Amy added. "You saw a problem, and nothing was gonna stop you from getting out there and dealing with it head-on."

Rouge nodded. "Anyway, the second thing is, we just found out where the Solar Ball signal is coming from," she said.

Knuckles was alert. "Where? Tell me!"

"There's an Egg Dome a couple miles that way," Rouge said, pointing back in the direction she had come from. "You can't get in there easily. Believe me, I tried."

"An Egg Dome, huh?" I quipped. "Haven't seen one of those in a while."

"It's pretty small compared to the ones we saw before," Rouge shrugged.

"Cool. Maybe the Master Emerald's inside there," Knuckles said. He looked like he wanted to run there ahead of the rest of us.

"Only one way to find out," Rouge said. "Maybe you and I can take a crack at that thing together," she added in a flirting way, causing Knuckles to blush. I smirked before turning to the others.

"I meant to ask, where'd you get that hat, Chris?" I asked. "'Cuz it looks cool!"

"Oh! Tails made it for me," Chris explained, adjusting his red and yellow cap. "It's supposed to keep me from getting brainwashed, except for some reason it's starting to not work…"

"Yeah, so just warning you if he starts to act… not normal, that's why," Tails told me. Chris nodded.

"Gotcha," I said. I realized this was not the first time Chris was subject to mind control.

"Yeah, s-sorry…" Chris said.

"Hey, it's all good, I know you're fighting it deep down, keep at it, buddy!" I told him.

"Are you guys ignoring me?!" the helicopter pilot shouted. "I've given you enough chances to surrender. I really mean it, I'll–"

"Stand down," came a female voice. "I repeat, all troops, stand down." I looked up to see Topaz approaching us, speaking into the radio on her shoulder.

"Hey Topaz," I waved.

"Sonic, we have reports of you destroying multiple ASB towers in this region," she told me. "I know you well enough to know that you'd eventually do something like this to thwart Eggman, but this is a serious crime. I want to hear your side of the story, the whole story, from the top."

One quick explanation later from me and Tails, Topaz was brought up to speed on everything that happened on both our ends.

"Right, we have reports that Dr. Eggman is located at the mayor's office," Topaz told us, "and there's a huge crowd gathered there. Which reminds me, I have to be there to witness the birth of the Eggman Emp–" She let out a small gasp. "I-I'm sorry, it's… it's starting to happen to me now. Forgive me, it's hard to keep these feelings under control."

"No sweat, we'll just head down to the mayor's place and take on the ol' Egghead for you," I told her.

"I'll leave it to you then," Topaz responded.

"Hey, you mind dropping the charges on Sonic and Tails?" Knuckles asked as he approached her.

"Uh, I'll see what I can do on my end," Topaz said.

Knuckles nodded. "Good. We're gonna stop Eggman's whole plan at the root, and we don't need any arbitrary laws slowing us down."

"Yeah, what he said," I agreed. I was glad that Knuckles and I had finally come to an agreement on something since I started executing my plan.

"So you guys are gonna try again with the Egg Dome?" Knuckles asked Rouge and Topaz.

"That's the plan," Topaz responded.

"I'm coming with you," Knuckles stated. "I have experience with those things, you can't break into them easily."

"Knuckie, I thought you'd never ask," Rouge said in a flirting way, leaning closer to him.

"Besides," Knuckles said, completely blowing off Rouge and taking a few steps away, "I'm pretty sure the source of this signal is what I think it is."

"Cool," I said, "and in the meantime, the rest of us are gonna crash Eggman's party."

"Have fun with that," Knuckles said with a smirk as he walked toward Topaz' helicopter.

"Call us if you find anything!" Tails said, waving back at the echidna.

Knuckles nodded. "Will do."

As we parted ways, I ran over to the X-Tornado to see Chris trying to climb in.

"I gotcha, Chris," I said as I gently scooped him up into my arms. I hopped up to where the seats were before setting him down behind Tails.

"Thanks," Chris said.

Amy and Cream had no trouble getting into the back of the X-Tornado on their own, and I perched myself on the wing, awaiting liftoff.

"So I guess this really is the Phantom Ruby doing all this, it's not just speculation anymore," Tails noted.

"That kinda doesn't surprise me," Amy admitted. "I'm just happy this is all gonna finally end soon. This is a really weird plan, even for Eggman… and yet it's working."

"So when we defeat Dr. Eggman, does that mean we can all see the sun again?" Cream asked, looking up.

Tails nodded. "If everything works out, definitely," he said with a smile.

"Yeah, it's gonna be great to see the sun come back after all this time!" Amy said. "Because when it's dark in the middle of the day, I feel like I should be sleeping.

"Yeah," Chris agreed. "I really miss the sun too."

Tails closed both the plane's canopies and took off. Keeping my balance, I looked behind us to see Rouge and Knuckles gliding in the opposite direction, and Topaz's helicopter was following them. I mentally wished them good luck before I faced forward again.

Today's gonna be the day you guys see the sun again. I'll make sure of it.


The mayor's office - Sun February 13, 2:46 PM – Third-person POV

Having just gotten off the phone with one of his officials, the mayor let out a dejected sigh.

"Hm?" Eggman turned his head to look at the mayor, hands clasped behind his back.

"I was just told that Sonic destroyed another tower, and GUN couldn't stop him," the mayor said. He looked up at Eggman, passion burning in his eyes. "Can nothing stop him?"

"I wouldn't be so worried, Mr. Mayor," Eggman said. "I have given my robots specific orders to assist GUN in stopping him. Yes, there is an outrage. The people have revolted, I hear them. In fact, I discovered there was a storm of violent protesters at the Thorndyke household not terribly long ago."

"I heard…" the mayor admitted. "That wouldn't have happened if Sonic didn't go and destroy the ASB towers. However, I've been told that the police has been sent there."

Eggman grinned.

"I know why they were there," Eggman said, slowly pacing the room with his hands clasped behind his back. "They were there for Sonic, but since he wasn't home, they were going to vent their frustration on his friends. They–"

"Of course he wasn't there, he was out destroying your towers, Doctor," the mayor said.

"If you'll let me finish," Eggman said. "As I was saying, they were fed up with losing the light and heat they cherished so dearly. In spite of the press briefing I held a few hours ago, I understand their decision. However, at the rate Sonic is going, it will likely take a few weeks to fully repair the damage he has caused."

The mayor stood up; he too was upset.

"There has to be another way," he said. "A few weeks is too long for them to wait for a basic human need."

"I know, I know," Eggman said, glancing down at the time on his all-purpose wrist communicator. "I assure you I am working something out."

"Hold on," the mayor said as he looked at his laptop. "Just got a notification from GUN. Knuckles is out there intercepting Sonic."

Eggman raised a brow.

"Hmm… That should be interesting," he noted. "He is wise to see the plea of the populace. Though whenever Knuckles decides to intercept Sonic, they usually fight it out until they come to a consensus."

"I… don't think I should allow this," Mayor Pinsky said. "Violence is not the answer."

"It may not be the answer, my pacifist friend, but it makes more than a suitable solution," Eggman grinned. "Besides, they've been tussling for as long as I can remember."

Before the mayor could speak, a large group of Egg Pawns, Egg Knights, Motobugs, and various other assorted robots swarmed into the office and detained the mayor, holding him still in his seat. Eggman pretended to be taken aback by the sudden rogue invasion.

"Wh-What's going on?" the mayor stammered. The look of hurt in his face was palpable. "Did… you betray me?"

"Ohohohohoho!" Eggman laughed heartily. He pressed a button on his communicator. "Gonna disable the Solar Ball access to your brain… That way you can fully understand the weight of the situation. No, Mr. Mayor, I never betrayed anyone. You and your entire city have played directly into my hands."

He gleefully twirled his mustache as the mayor fearfully watched him from his seat.

"My one and only goal is to establish the Eggman Empire, by any means necessary," Eggman explained. "Yes, I can just as easily conquer any other part of the world, but my agenda is to take Station Square first, just to prove I can, then from there the rest of the United States…" He leaned toward the mayor. "And then how easy do you think it will be for the rest of the world to fall into submission to me?"

By now the mayor was secured to his chair with the aid of a ziptie that the robots had brought along. He could hear everyone cheering for Eggman outside. The doctor chuckled.

"They have no idea," Eggman said, trying to suppress another laugh. "They support the foundation of the Eggman Empire without a second thought!"

"Sonic will find a way to stop you," the mayor said. "So will GUN. Your reign will be short-lived, trust me."

"Ah, but that's the thing," Eggman said, looking back at him. "Your precious Sonic couldn't stop me from conquering all of Mobius. Twice. As for GUN, they are my willing servants now. They weren't sent to stop the protesters. They were sent to assist them in finding Sonic and Tails."

"Tails…? What did he do?" the mayor asked. He was filled with more concern and anxiety than before.

"Well, heheh… You know how it's illegal to tamper with the Solar Balls? Let's just say not everyone got the memo."

The doctor raised his arm and tapped his wrist communicator.

"It's time for the final phase," Eggman spoke with a malicious grin. "Position the Egg Carrier directly above the government buildings. It's time to roboticize the first humans of Earth, starting with the mayor's own security detail."

"You do realize that Tails is on to you now, right?" the mayor said. "And Sonic obviously knows about this by now as well. He will stop you."

Eggman blinked.

"Did you not just hear me? I already told you he can't stop me," he responded incredulously. "And even if he does, I have already ensured that my legacy will continue. I'm converting this world's humans into robots because there is no way to change them back without me. And even without me, they already know to detain anyone who defies my order." He leaned across the desk toward the mayor. "You see? I planned everything out!"

Just then the mayor's cell phone rang. He nervously looked at it before glancing back at Eggman.

"Answer it," Eggman demanded.

"M-My hands are tied," the mayor stated, as if it wasn't obvious before.

Eggman nodded to one of the nearby Egg Knights, who approached the mayor and used its lance to sever the ziptie binding his hands behind him. With trembling hands, the mayor reached for it and answered it while the other Egg Knights pointed their weapons at him.

"Th-This is Mayor Pinsky speaking… Okay… Oh… Well, send all available men to the scene on the double. He cannot be allowed to escape."

After another moment on the phone, he hung up. Eggman looked at him expectantly.

"What happened?" Eggman asked him pointedly. "Was he referring to Sonic?"

"No, it's worse," the mayor told him, and Eggman took a step closer to him. "There's been a break-in at the Bigley Federal Correction Center–"

"That does not concern me."

"If you'll let me finish, sir."

"Call me Dr. Eggman."

"Fine. Dr. Eggman." The mayor was hesitant. "And, uh… It does concern you, if I can explain."

Eggman put his hands on his hips. "How?"

"Um… Some of y-your robot have been spotted there… at Bigley Prison."

Eggman let out a soft growl.

"This concerns me," he spoke. "This concerns me greatly. I did not authorize this. Mr. Mayor, continue taking calls and act like I'm not here, at least until the Egg Carrier arrives. I need to deal with this isolated patch of incompetence."


Bigley Federal Correction Center - Sun February 13, 2:43 PM – Third-person POV

The break-in at Bigley Prison was already in progress.

Lasers flew everywhere as Watcher, Narasu, Browning, and Li Yan bridged the gap between them and the prison. The guards stationed there were doing their best to stand their ground, but they were ultimately no match for the Society's new laser blasters. The guards couldn't even approach within ten feet of them.

The four members of the Society had arrived in a van that they hid in the undergrowth near the prison. They waited for Jerome to send down a force of robots to cover them and act as a diversion before they made their move. Thanks to them, the Society was having a relatively easy time so far. The robots were holding off the prison guards and rapidly-arriving police officers, and the sound of laser and gunfire filled the air. Even Hector Dragg was fending for himself with two laser pistols from the safety of his getaway car.

Inside the prison, alarms were ringing out, not that it mattered to the four Society members as they finally reached the main prison block inside. The hoods they wore concealed their identities from the cameras and other surveillance technology the prison has to offer. Underneath their hoods were tinfoil hats to protect them from the Solar Balls' mind control properties.

They peered inside cell after cell as everyone in solitary confinement, trying to find the man who matched the image supplied to them by the Organizer. It was surprisingly difficult, especially since they had to move fast. Watcher was leading the group, and Li Yan was covering their backs.

"We better not get shot here," Narasu cautioned everyone. "You know we can't afford a trip to the hospital, or prison."

"Freeze!" came a voice ahead of them. A group of five guards ambushed them from up ahead, pointing their guns at them.

"Fire!" Watcher ordered his teammates.

The Society members retaliated with lasers, easily taking out most of the guards. However, the guards quickly returned fire. One of them was able to score a hit on Browning's left arm, and he cried out in pain.

"I gotcha!" Watcher said as he blasted the last guard. Now there were no more obstacles between them and the rest of the second floor prison cells.

As he ran ahead of the others, Browning looked down at his beige sleeve, which was slowly starting to be stained red with blood.

"Just a flesh wound," he analyzed.

"We'll get you treated when we're back at base," Narasu said. "Can you hold out 'til then?"

"Yeah, I think so," Browning said with a nod.

"Think I found him!" Watcher quietly called from up ahead, motioning for the others to join him.

Seconds later, the others were gathering around Watcher as he peered into Passer's cell, where the colonel was looking at them in confusion.

"What are you doing here?" he asked them.

"What else? We're here to get you out," Watcher said. "Doctor, find the main computer and see if you can unlock the cell from here."

"Can't we just blast the lock open?" Li Yan asked as Narasu left.

"No," Watcher told him. "No, that's not gonna work. "These days, most max-security prisons like this one prefer electronic locks over normal locks. If we break this lock, he'll be trapped in there, and we don't have anything more than these laser blasters to get him out otherwise. We're not looking to do permanent damage."

Passer looked into Watcher's eyes.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" he asked knowingly.

"Yes," Howard said without missing a beat. "We wouldn't be here if we didn't. We– We'll explain when we're back at HQ. These walls have ears."

"Watcher, are you there?" came Hector Dragg's voice over Watcher's walkie-talkie. Watcher picked it up.

"This is Watcher. What do you have to report?" he spoke.

"GUN is moving in, I repeat, GUN is moving in. Jerome says he's sending reinforcements. Get Passer and get out of there now!"

"Copy that," Watcher responded.

Passer blinked. "Now hold up, did you say Jerome– Whoa. What are you getting me into? Who are you people?"

"You know all the codes, we need you!" Watcher insisted.

"What codes?" Passer asked. Watcher knew he was obviously bluffing, and his gaze proved that he saw through it.

Passer crossed his arms. "What do you of all people need them for?" he asked. "And what is your connection to Mr. Wise anyway?"

"Like I said, I'll tell you on the way out," Watcher told him. "But I will say that your goal and ours seem to align somewhat."

There was an electronic click as the door slid open, freeing Passer. The colonel hesitantly stepped out of his cell, and Li Yan handed him a spare gun.

"You'll need this," he told him firmly. "It's murder out there."

"All right, so we're gonna meet up with Narasu and Dragg and hightail it outta here," Watcher told everyone as he proceeded back down the corridor. "Just hope they don't bring in the bots…"

"You shouldn't be here!" one inmate called to them from his cell.

"Yeah, you're asking to get arrested at this point," another added.

"Watch us," Watcher confidently responded.

"But… Look, you shouldn't be acting this cocky–"

"Hey, I ran Superior for the better part of twelve years, I know a thing or two about prisons. Just watch me."

His voice echoed through the hall, getting quieter as he and his teammates proceeded back toward the stairwell. They made their way downstairs, blasting at any officers that dared to approach them. Passer was hesitant, but he did eventually get a few shots in himself.

"Are these things set to stun?" Passer asked, examining it.

"They should be," Watcher shrugged. "I'm not the one who made them."

A minute later, they met back up with Dr. Kai downstairs, who was holding his own against several more officers and prison guards.

"I almost didn't make it," Narasu admitted, blasting another guard. "I got lucky. The computer was already unlocked for me, so someone must have been on the clock."

"We can't afford 'lucky' anymore," Watcher urged him. "We can't afford any chances from here on out."

"It's hurting…" Browning said, wincing a bit from the pain in his arm. "But I'll be all right until we get to HQ."

"What's it like out there?" Watcher asked Narasu.

"Robots everywhere, both GUN and Eggman," Narasu responded. "Dragg would know more than me."

Watcher nodded. "All right, on my signal, we run like Sonic."

"We're really just winging it, aren't we?" Passer marveled as he looked around the lobby for more guards.

Browning shrugged, but then regretted it because his arm pain instantly flared up as he did that.

"It's not like we have a choice, Colonel," he said, trying not to clutch his arm.

Howard was once again on his radio, straining to hear as Li Yan and Narasu blasted a few more approaching guards.

"That should be the last of them," Li Yan reported.

"Or at the very least, they're slowing up," Narasu responded. "At least GUN's not in here yet."

"Hey Dragg, are you still outside the right wing?" Watcher asked.

"No, I'm out back now 'cuz it's a bit safer," Dragg said.

Watcher sighed. Safe was a relative term. And he and the rest of his group were near the front of the building, which meant it would take longer than he wanted for them all to clear out.

"Did you get him?" Dragg followed up.

"Yeah, we got him," Watcher responded.

"Good, hurry up and get out of there! GUN's sending reinforcements," Dragg urged.

Browning let out a sigh. "Anyone know where a map of this place is?" he asked.

Narasu shrugged. "Nope. We'll just have to wing it."

"Prisons like this usually have a back door in case of an emergency," Watcher said as he started moving. He motioned for his comrades to follow him. "Li Yan, if anyone follows us, get 'em off our backs. And Colonel, you keep your guard up too. You're the reason we're here, you know."

Passer nodded. He was surrounded on all sides by the members of the Society as they moved their way to the back of the compound.

"Sure hope there's no last-minute ambush before we leave," Narasu said, looking around.

"Hey, don't jinx it!" Browning warned.

"Don't see anyone," Li Yan reported after a minute.

"Good, let's hope it stays that way," Watcher responded as they gradually picked up the pace.

"This breakout better be worth it," Passer said skeptically. "My future, my freedom's on the line."

"Oh, it's worth it," Watcher confidently told him. "You'll see. Just stick with us and we'll make sure you never come back here."

"Seriously, who are you?" Passer asked. "I know who Jerome is, but not any of you guys."

"Like I said, we'll talk outside," Watcher said. "Surveillance is everywhere."

"Actually," Narasu interjected, "I managed to hack into the system and shut the whole thing down from the inside. And that was right before I unlocked Passer's cell. Just his cell, the others are staying right here."

"Hm," Watcher said. "The Organizer wasn't kidding when he said you knew your way around computers. So that means they can't hear us, right?"

"Right," Watcher said.

At last, they reached the back door. There was a window next to the heavy door, and Watcher and Narasu glanced through it to view outside. Several newly-arrived Eggman robots were gradually driving the GUN robots back.

"This is our lucky day," Browning said, peering between them. "Most of the GUN robots are busy with Sonic, so I'm sure they'll never suspect us."

"Don't jinx it," Narasu warned him, and Browning responded with a nod.

"All right, Colonel," Watcher said, turning to him. "You got questions, we got answers. Gotta make this fast though." He glanced around to make sure there were no more guards anywhere before dropping his voice. "We're organized together to reset the state of the world to what it was before Sonic and Eggman arrived."

Passer frowned. "Hmm… Okay."

"We feel that they both disrupted our livelihoods and way of doing things around here," Watcher continued.

"They're both a menace to society, and I don't say that lightly," Narasu agreed.

Passer went to look outside, squeezing next to Narasu, but he gently pushed him away.

"You don't want 'em seeing us," Narasu warned.

"I know," Passer said. "And yes, it's been rough for me too. In fact, it's–"

"GUN's out of the way for now," Li Yan reported, looking through another window.

Howard nodded. "Okay, go!"

He pushed the door open as fast as he could and sprinted across the parking lot toward Hector's racecar, which was flanked by several Crabmeats, Buzzbombers, and Hoverbys to protect it from GUN's forces. The others followed him, doing their best to match his pace.

"Colonel, get in with Hector," Watcher told him. "The rest of us are taking the van."

Passer was still visibly disoriented at being suddenly broken out of a federal prison by people he didn't know, but he complied anyway and made his way toward the racecar. Something about Watcher's explanation for his motives seemed unorthodox, but somehow both believable and relatable.

Passer got into Hector's car, and they promptly sped off. Meanwhile, the other four were using the cover of the bushes and building to make their way back toward the van they had come in. It was Narasu's idea to use two separate vehicles in case something went wrong.

Howard let out a frustrated sigh as three Beetles flew past where they were hiding. They were too close for comfort.

"Shouldn't have parked out front…" he said. Besides being caught, the worst case scenario would be if GUN found their getaway van.

"It is what is is," Browning said, wincing as he shifted his position. "Oww, this is bad for my arm…"

"Watch the skies," Li Yan cautioned.

The sound of engines gradually got louder all around them.

"Who's that? GUN? Eggman?" Watcher asked, cautiously scanning the skies.

"Eggman," Browning responded. "Their engine sounds are different and… unearthly, if you will." Watcher nodded.

"We have the advantage," Li Yan encouraged. "GUN is outnumbered, and they are busy handling Sonic anyway."

"Still, we absolutely can't afford to be reckless," Watcher said, before looking at Browning. "And when we get back to HQ, we're gonna get your wounds treated first thing."

"Good," Browning said. "I think I'll be okay until we get there. But does Jerome know we're here? In the bushes, I mean."

"I… don't know," Watcher said, straining to look at the nearby robots. The laser fire was heavy, and it was hard to talk because of the noise they were making. "I don't know how we haven't been spotted yet, but don't push your luck."

The others nodded as they carefully crept toward the van. What would have only taken one minute seemed to take as many as twenty.

"Eggman's robots are approaching us," Li Yan reported, looking over.

Watcher looked tense. He didn't know if they were there to protect them, and if they were, they could possibly give away the Society's location.

However, the robots appeared to stand guard next to them. Among them were several green robots that formed a pink barrier around them, gently lifting them toward the van.

"Wait, what are you– You're gonna blow our cover!" Narasu complained.

"Relax," Watcher told him. "They're gonna cover our escape."

As they were set down next to the van, the pink field around them vanished. Suddenly two Laser Hunters showed up and destroyed the Buball units that had transported the Society members, before they turned on the four men.

Gritting his teeth, Watcher pulled out his blaster pistol and fired it at the nearest GUN robots. The others followed his example and did the same.

"Hold 'em off while I get this thing started!" Watcher ordered as he threw open the van door and got in.

The other Society members were able to damage one of the Laser Hunters, but it pounded the ground all around the group with laserfire. One of the laser beams almost hit Narasu, but he leaped back just in time. Some of the newly-arrived Eggman robots blasted the Laser Hunters from behind, destroying them.

"All right, let's go before they bring in reinforcements!" Watcher barked.

Everyone scrambled through the side door into the van. There was no time for them to put on seat belts. Narasu couldn't help one last look back. He could see the GUN robots being annihilated by Eggman's Jerome-sent robot forces.

"I can't believe we're actually doing this," he remarked.

"We're not out of it yet!" Watcher called as he floored the gas and took off.

As he proceeded down the road, several GUN robots started chasing after the van. However, the Eggman robots also took note of this and pursued them, picking them off one by one so the Society members could escape. Now there was no one following them back to Cantonville.

"That was so… close…" Browning panted. He was already starting to feel worn out from his adrenalin rush.

"I know… my heart is pounding so hard right now," Narasu added, leaning back in his seat. "Let's be real, I'm surprised they didn't try to jam Eggman's robots. I guess they couldn't risk jamming their own robots."

"We just scored huge for the Society," Watcher called from behind the wheel. "And you know what this means? We may not have to rely on Eggman as much anymore."


Station Square Government Building - Sun February 13, 2:47 PM – Third-person POV

Roughly ten minutes after takeoff, Station Square's government buildings came into sight below the occupants of the X-Tornado. Sonic recognized it after a moment, since that was where he and his friends received awards for their bravery after defeating Eggman for the first time on Earth.

But now the pristine lawn below them was filled with brainwashed humans. There were too many heads below them to count. And closer to the offices were countless robots. There were hundreds, possibly thousands of them, including Super Badniks.

"Wow… Look at all those robots…" Tails marveled, glancing down at them. There was no end to how many there were surrounding the offices. To say the least, he wasn't prepared for this.

"Imagine how many are inside too…" Amy replied, sounding tense.

"Yeah…" Tails agreed.

"How are we going to land?" Cream nervously asked, her little hands plastered against the canopy as she peered down at the ground. Cheese and Chocola were looking over her shoulder as well.

"Yeah… that's gonna be a problem," Chris responded.

"There's gotta be another way," Tails thought aloud as he flew the plane above the sea of robots below them. "Maybe I can take us down farther away and then we can work our way toward– Whoa!"

The plane rocked as several lasers struck its hull. The robots were simultaneously attacking it in an attempt to shoot it down. Luckily, their attempts weren't enough to destroy it.

Chris yelped as a red bolt of pure energy embedded itself through the craft directly under his seat. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the robots below him.

"I-I don't know what to do…" Tails admitted. The ambush was so unexpected that he was getting flustered. He couldn't get close enough to the offices like this, especially because Chris was on board and he was a civilian. What would Sonic do in a situation like this? Probably something reckless…

"Eject…" Amy mused.

Tails blinked. "What?"

"That's the only thing I can think of," Amy explained. "We can eject and fight our way in."

Tails blinked in surprise as he banked to the right to avoid a stream of incoming missiles.

"Wha– Are you sure? What about Chris? And Cream?" he asked.

"You have an autopilot feature, remember?" Amy said. "You can land somewhere safe while the rest of us fight Eggman!"

"Oh yeah!" he gasped in realization. He pressed a button on the dash, and the front canopy opened up. Tails was tempted to cover his pointy ears due to how deafening the engine and rushing wind was outside, even though he was used to it from flying in the Tornado. He then unbuckled his seat belt.

"Cream, Chris, no time to explain, but you're gonna be safe," he said. "O-Okay, here goes… Three… Two… One…"

He was very nervous, but he pressed the button to eject both him and Amy out of their seats. They flew through the air while the X-Tornado kept flying straight forward on its own. Tails spun his namesakes to gain control of his flight, and Amy pulled her hammer out of Hammerspace with one hand and took Tails' outstretched hand with the other.

"New plan, let's just fly straight to the entrance!" Tails calculated.

"Yeah, good idea," Amy agreed, cautiously glancing down at all the robots as they flew over them.

Of course, the robots started firing their weapons at them the first chance they got, but Tails and Amy were too fast for them. As they swooped low, Amy knocked the head off an Egg Pawn, keeping her hammer pointed down to the ground to destroy several other robots as well. Behind them, Sonic had leaped into the fray himself, dealing with the robots at the back of the pack as he made his way toward the mayor's office. Because of this, many of the robots focused their attention on Sonic, allowing Tails and Amy to get to the buildings with relative ease.

However, their luck could only hold out for so long.

"It's not gona work…" Tails panted. "R-Running out of… energy…"

"Sonic! We need a path!" Amy called.

"Little busy with the Buzz Bombers!" the hedgehog called back as leaped out of the way of the bee robots' proton lasers. "But I'll have ya covered in a sec!"

Tails let out a gasp as his strength gave out, and he drastically dropped in altitude. He set Amy down and landed next to her. Even though he couldn't fly anymore, he still had plenty of fight left in him as he and Amy bashed the nearest robots aside, freeing up their personal spaces.

This is harder than I thought… Tails pondered. I'm already regretting leaving the power rings in the X-Tornado…

After about a minute, Sonic was finally able to make their way back over to them.

"Sorry 'bout that, didn't think there'd be so many bots around here," Sonic said. He ran in circles at near mach speed, sucking in all the nearby robots and throwing them all over the place. Tails and Amy were forced to cling to a nearby pole to avoid being sucked in themselves.

Once Sonic's makeshift tornado dissipated, his friends let go of the pole.

"Next time, give us a heads-up, Sonic!" Amy scowled, trying to brush down her now-unkempt quills.

"We got our path though!" Tails said optimistically, waving at Sonic. "Thanks, Sonic!"

Sonic gave him a wink and thumbs-up.

"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up!" he said.

Tails nodded and ran toward the front doors, Amy following right behind him. She glanced back and held her hammer up, ready to keep the robots away from her and Tails as he got the door open.

Even though he knew there would be robots inside, nothing could have prepared him for the over two hundred Egg Pawns that met him as soon as he got the doors open.

"Oh boy…" he thought aloud as he flew into the air. Fortunately, the ceiling was high enough for him to be able to fly without any issues. He looked around, trying to get a feel for his surroundings as Amy smashed robots left and right with her hammer.

But as the robots tried to pull him back down, he realized he may have dug himself into a hole. Even worse, there was nowhere safe for him to land.

Bad idea…! He thought. Can I go back outside? …Probably not…?

"I'm coming, Tails!" Amy called. She didn't seem to be making much headway, because the more robots she destroyed, the more that showed up to replace them.

Tails was barely able to stay above the robots, and he was already losing energy from his flight to get to the government building. However, Sonic raced inside in the nick of time.

"One supersonic tornado, coming right up!" he called to Tails. "Get back so you don't get hurt!"

"Okay!" Tails said as he flew back toward the doorway and landed next to Amy. Most of the robots inside were focused on Sonic, but Tails eyed the robots nearest to him to make sure they didn't catch him off guard and attack him or Amy from behind.

Once again, Sonic ran in circles, drawing all the nearby robots into the tornado he was creating. Amy winced as the robots were thrown into the ceiling, walls, and floor.

"That is so reckless…" Tails heard Amy say. Fortunately, none of the robots were thrown in their direction.

Once Sonic was finished, he ran back to his friends.

"Sorry 'bout that, was probably a bit reckless, but we needed a clear path to the mayor's office," he said.

"Just hope we don't get in too much trouble for that, Sonic…" Amy said, looking around at all the destroyed robots. "This is government property after all."

"Hey, it's all good," Sonic said as Tails pulled out his Miles Electric. "I did my best to be gentle. But truth be told, it was the only way I could get rid of 'em fast."

Tails, on the other hand, didn't seem too bothered by that. He was focusing on opening the X-Tornado's remote control program so he could land his plane safely. Tails had installed a camera system into the X-Tornado, so he could visually see exactly where the plane was, as well as a radar.

"Hey Ames, cover Tails while he gets the plane landed, and when you're both finished, come and join the party!"

Tails responded with a thumbs-up, and Sonic disappeared down the hall and ran up the stairs. As to be expected, there were a bunch of robots on the second floor.

"Common Eggman fanfare, I see," he remarked as he kicked and spin-dashed the nearest Crabmeats and Caterkillers. "If you were tryin' to make this place Sonic-proof, you gotta step it up! This is still easier than your actual bases, y'know!"

However, he froze when he saw five RhinoBots approaching him. In seconds, they had him surrounded.

"…Huh, haven't seen you guys in a minute," Sonic said. It was true, he had not seen them at all since arriving on Earth.

Then he realized, he was acting too cocky about all of this. With the sheer amount of robots outside and inside, they were most likely guarding Eggman. This was not common Eggman fanfare at all, especially since Eggman was setting up shop inside the office of the mayor of Station Sqaure.

Eggman was serious this time.

Tightening his fists with new resolve, he attempted to kick them aside, but he had forgotten just how durable their spiked armor was. Fighting them like that wasn't going to work, especially when they were rapidly closing in on him, trying to ram him.

Sonic got an idea. Right as they reached him, he leaped out of the way, almost tripping over a Caterkiller. Then he curled into a ball and ricocheted off the wall and smashed into one of the RhinoBots, using the added momentum to take out two others. Even though there were still robots everywhere, destroying most of the RhinoBots seemed to free up the immediate path, since they were the biggest threat.

Even if there were still a lot of robots ahead of him, Sonic didn't seem to have too much trouble fighting his way through them. While he punched Motobugs and spin-dashed Crabmeats, he kept a careful eye out for anything that looked like the mayor's office.

However, all the doors looked the same, and he wasn't able to get a good look at the name plaques next to them because the robots were a constant threat and were actively trying to attack him.

"You guys wanna go round two with the blue, huh?" Sonic taunted. He braced himself before bouncing his body from wall to wall, being careful not to damage the surfaces he touched, and smashed into nearly every robot surrounding him. Now he had some breathing room at least, and he cockily rubbed under his nose.

"Time to crack that Egghead wide open!" he said.

But right as he was about to get moving again, he heard footsteps behind him. He tensed up, until he realized that they didn't sound metallic. He relaxed when he saw that it was just Tails and Amy catching up to him.

"Hey Sonic!" Tails greeted with a wave.

"We're not gonna let you have all the fun without us!" Amy called.

"Hey, the more the merrier!" Sonic smiled before looking at Tails. "You landed the X-Tornado safe, Tails?" he asked.

"Yup!" Tails said with a nod. "I made sure to take them outside of where all the humans are, just in case."

"Good call," Sonic said before turning to face the door ahead of them.

"So what are we supposed to do when we corner Eggman?" Amy asked, getting her hammer ready.

"Simple," Sonic said, stretching his arms a bit. "All we gotta do is stall for time until the others shut down the Solar Balls. And then we let the cops come in and finish the job."

"Okay, but what about the robots?" Amy asked.

Sonic glanced around, making sure they weren't about to be attacked by Eggman's army.

"We made it this far, so I don't think we have anything to worry about anymore," he replied with confidence. "You guys ready?"

Tails and Amy nodded, and Sonic promptly broke into a spin-dash and cut through the door to the mayor's office like it was made of butter. Once inside, he saw several robots guarding Eggman and the mayor, who was seated in his chair with several robots guarding him.

As the heroes smashed the robots to pieces, Eggman looked on with a big grin, hands clasped behind his back. It seemed he wasn't fazed by the heroes' arrival. He chuckled over the noise of the battle around him.

"If only this office wasn't so heavily fortified, you might have had a chance at slipping in unnoticed," Eggman said. "Just a tip for next time!"

"It's over, Eggman!" Sonic declared, landing on top of the mayor's desk. "I busted all your towers!"

However, Eggman grinned.

"As if that would make any difference," he said. "If you thought that would be enough to stop me, then you're very much mistaken, hedgehog. What did you think you were accomplishing these last few hours? Wasting your energy, I imagine… I expected nothing less."

He looked directly at Sonic, who looked uncertain about everything now.

"While you were out there demolishing all my facades, the Solar Balls continue to serve their true purpose. Now all the humans serve me and me alone, and under my orders, they are out there searching for you to bring you to justice. Does that sound familiar?"

Sonic smirked.

"You sure this ain't part of your history repeating thing?" he said. "'Cuz this– I gotta hand it to ya Doc, this is kinda original, even for you."

"I can assure you this is not a part of Operation Second Chance," Eggman stated. "Not directly, at least. I'm saving the rest of my operation in case this plan fails. And I assure you I am quite confident in my victory this time." He spread his hands wide. "No, the towers were just for show! All you ever managed to do was rob everyone of their precious light and heat and bring hatred and backlash upon you. That was the cherry on top. Humans are so fun to manipulate sometimes!"

He took a step toward Sonic, dropping his gravely voice to a dangerous tone.

"So if you ever try to be a hero in the future, they will remember this day, and they'll remember what you did to them."

"I already figured out they could brainwash people," Tails said. "That's why I decided to take care of it first thing."

"Oh, I already knew about that when I noticed several gaps in the Solar Ball coverage," Eggman said, stifling another laugh. "That's exactly why I arranged the mob at your house. Humans are surprisingly irritable, so it wasn't hard for me to play them like a marionette. And as you probably guessed, I did indeed give them their own portable Solar Ball to keep them firmly under my control no matter where they went, and so they could potentially brainwash anyone else they came across, including the Thorndykes. And to have Tails branded as a criminal… I couldn't ask for anything better!"

"Hey, watch the door for more bots, Ames," Sonic said, not taking his gaze off Eggman.

"Okay," Amy said as she held her hammer ready, glancing at the door they came in through.

The mayor shakily rose from his seat. He seemed to be sore from sitting for so long.

"I didn't give you permission to stand, Mayor," Eggman told him. "Sit back down."

He looked from Eggman to Sonic and back again, before reluctantly sitting down again.

"I already told you Sonic is going to win," Pinsky told him boldly.

"Do you have any idea how many robots I have waiting outside?" Eggman asked, gesturing to the window. "The rodents will be overwhelmed if they try to fight in here."

"And yet they couldn't stop me from getting in here," Sonic stated, holding a finger up.

"You got lucky this time…" Eggman muttered. "At this moment, I'm waiting for the Egg Carrier to arrive, and then I have some business to deal with."

"What kind of business?" Amy asked, sideglancing Eggman, who crossed his arms.

"Except for me and the mayor here, you may have noticed a distinct lack of humans in this building," he said with a grin. "Care to know why?"

He chuckled before giving way to full-on laughter. Tails and Amy looked at each other, each of them confused, not to mention feeling shivers running down their spines from Eggman's ominous laughter.

Sonic, however, was not amused. "Where are they?" he demanded.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Eggman chuckled. "Get down from the mayor's desk and I'll tell you."

Sonic promptly got down from the desk, picking up a few loose papers and putting them back.

"Now… What if I told you you're all wasting your time on me? What if I told you all the staff and bodyguards are subject to mind control, just like the millions of citizens out there still chanting my name? And…" He dropped his voice once more. "What if I told you they're on their way to the Roboticizer? That's why I'm waiting for the Egg Carrier to get here, to shorten their path to their destiny."

Sonic looked outright mad.

"Watch him," was all he said before he spin-dashed through the window and ran through the robot hordes out of sight. The office was relatively quiet after that.

Finally Eggman glanced at the mayor and broke the silence.

"He just broke your window, and you're not going to say anything?"

"That's the least of my concerns," the mayor responded. "You don't see me complaining about the door either. I have faith that Sonic will overcome your scheme."

"Think what you want, it's a free country," Eggman said. "At least, until my conquest is complete. And I commend you for not trying to contact anyone for help while I'm here. It wouldn't help in the slightest."

"You better not try anything funny, Eggman," Amy said as she approached him, hammer pointed toward him. Tails glanced back at the door, a post that Amy had seemingly abandoned. "Just because Sonic's not here right now doesn't mean we're helpless."

"Oh, there's nothing funny about what I'm going to do when the Egg Carrier arrives," Eggman said, clasping his hands behind his back again. "The humans don't realize the situation they're in. In minutes, you will all watch as my army grows exponentially. And the best part… They won't even realize what's happening until it's too late."


The Egg Dome - Sun February 13, 2:52 PM – Third-person POV

"Begin descent," Topaz instructed her pilot as the GUN helicopter she was in reached the vicinity of the dome.

"Yes, ma'am," came the response from the cockpit. "Will you need additional troops?"

"No, Rouge and Knuckles are adept enough," Topaz said. "They're going to clear a path into the dome, and then I'm going in with them to see what info I can find on our end."

"Fair enough," the pilot said as he started dropping the helicopter toward the clearing. But they only managed to descend a few yards before stopping. "Negative on landing. Insufficient room in the clearing."

"Thought it was a little small…" Topaz mused as she opened the chopper's side door, adjusting her ears to the loud propellers and engine. "Rouge, you're gonna have to fly me down."

But as her gaze returned to the Egg Dome below them, she saw that Knuckles was already gliding toward it well ahead of her.

"Couldn't you have just waited for five seconds…?" she voiced her annoyance.

Rouge shrugged. "Well, this is Knuckles, so… yeah."

Topaz looked at Rouge. "I thought barging in guns ablazing was more of Sonic's thing," she said.

"Hey, when you hang around Knuckie for as long as me, you get used to a few things. Now let's go see what Eggie's hiding in there. Hold on to your free will while you're at it."

She took Topaz's hands and glided her down toward the dome. It took Topaz a moment to get used to not being on the ground, before she relaxed. She could still see where the bullets, missile, and Rouge's Screw Kicks made their marks in the side of the dome. Even with the added weight, Rouge was still able to effortlessly maneuver her way downward.

"Y'know, Eggman was never an environmentalist," Rouge commented. "This dome is super ugly in the middle of the forest."

"Mm," Topaz said. "How are you holding up?"

"Ears are still ringing," she commented as if her discomfort was nothing. "I'm all right, don't you worry about little old me."

"If you say so," Topaz said as Rouge set her down next to Knuckles. The echidna was thoroughly inspecting the outside of the dome.

"Looks pretty tough, as I would expect from one of these things," he said. "Nothing I can't handle… I do see a couple dents in this thing though, like someone else tried to break in."

"Oh, that was us," Topaz clarified. "And this thing is as hard as a rock. I don't know how Eggman was able to put things in there. Should be a door somewhere."

"Anyone else hit with nostalgia now?" Rouge asked. Topaz and Knuckles looked at her in confusion. "It was just the three of us at Eggman's base, and we were all trying to break out of the generator room together. And now here we are, all three of us, trying to break into one of his bases."

"Good times," Knuckles said with a grin. "I wouldn't mind punching a few more holes in Eggman's plan."

He braced himself and reared his fist back, before letting it fly at the dome in the same spot the missile hit earlier. The crunching sound it made as it made contact with the dome's metal surface was satisfying, but it only left a large dent.

"I can see why you guys had so much trouble getting in here," Knuckles commented. "We just need to put a little more elbow grease into it."

"The missile probably weakened it, so keep at it in that one spot," Topaz said.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Knuckles said. "The sooner we shut down this little party, the sooner we can all be free from Eggman."

He stepped back as Rouge Screw Kicked the wall. The dent got even bigger, which was a sure sign that the wall was gradually weakening. Knuckles grinned before he joined in, and both fists and feet flew against the wall, and cracks gradually began forming.

Unlike the last time they combined their efforts against a heavy wall, there didn't seem to be a big time crunch where their lives were at stake. However, there was still a time crunch, since everyone was under Eggman's control, and his reign was imminent.

"I don't like this…" Topaz said, looking around. "No robots anywhere. The whole place is unguarded."

"He's a fool to put all his confidence in this dome," Rouge stated.

"Just a little more to go," Knuckles spoke up. His latest punch opened a small hole in the side of the dome, just enough to see inside. Topaz wanted to approach and take a peek inside for herself, but her gut told her to wait for Rouge and Knuckles to finish the job first.

At last, about two minutes later, the walls finally caved in, and the hole was now big enough for them to walk through. Topaz, however, would have to duck her head to get inside, but it was only a small inconvenience.

"The doctor was so close to making this place… us-proof," Rouge said.

Knuckles nodded as he stepped through the hole. "He has a lot of practice under his belt, but I guess he needs a little more, huh?" he said.

"I'll say," Rouge agreed as she followed him. Topaz crawled inside as well, making sure not to cut herself on the torn metal. She nervous gripped her rifle as she looked around the dome's interior.

There were more of the same metal walls everywhere, as well as various panels, doorways, and machinery. There was even a control room with a few seats and many monitors, and some of the screens looked like touchscreens. All of that was just within Topaz's line of sight from the makeshift entrance. There were probably a lot of other features the dome had to offer as well.

Even though it was lit enough for everyone to see where they were going, it still felt dark inside, with the dark gray walls with red trim. Of course, they could see Eggman's emblem every now and then.

"I keep saying this, but there's no way Eggman would leave this place unguarded," Topaz said.

Rouge suddenly stopped in her tracks, and Topaz almost bumped into her.

"I… suddenly got a bad feeling about all of this," Rouge said.

"Like it's a trap?" Topaz asked. Rouge nodded. "Okay, we're going back outside. I'll call for reinforcements."

"Do you really think we have that kind of time?" Knuckles tersely called from ahead of them. "Eggman's in the mayor's office right now, and who knows what he's up to. So the sooner we can tear up his plan at the root, the better."

"Fair enough," Topaz said.

"Good talk," Rouge said. "Sure is roomy in here. Nice and dark, too."

"And hastily built," Knuckles added. "That wall gave in faster than I thought back there."

"So what are we looking for again?" Topaz asked.

This time, it was Knuckles' turn to freeze in his tracks.

"It's here…" he whispered in awe.

"What's here?" Topaz asked, looking at him quizically.

"The Master Emerald…" Knuckles said. "It was here the whole time… Whatever material the dome is made of, it was blocking off the Master Emerald's signal. That's why I haven't been able to find it this whole time."

"Like a Faraday cage…" Topaz said.

"So if it weren't for the high frequency this place is emitting, he could have gotten away with keeping this place a secret, and not even I would know," Rouge said. "So yeah, worth the ringing ears for this little discovery."

Everyone was alert in case there were traps as they proceeded forward, searching for the Master Emerald. Rouge had already told Topaz about what the Master Emerald looked like, so she had an idea of what she was keeping her eyes out for.

Suddenly the sound of an engine came to life in the distance.

"What was that?" Topaz asked, becoming more alert.

"Engine?" Rouge guessed, before she took a step back. "Get back, it's getting closer."

Topaz and Knuckles did the same as a black robot flew into the room. Topaz didn't recognize it, but it appeared Knuckles did.

"The one that got away…" he mused. "And of course, it got upgraded."

"It's an E-100 robot," Rouge said. "Though, it looks… familiar. Beta?"

"Beta Mk II," Knuckles responded.

"You say it got upgraded, how tough are we talking?" Rouge asked.

Knuckles looked tense. "I don't know, I didn't fight this guy back then. But I did fight him over a month ago, but he was nothing like– WHOA!"

He was forced to leap out of the way as Beta fired two missiles at them. The echidna was able to punch one of them out of the way before he could make its final impact, and Rouge pulled Topaz out of the way. Miraculously, no one was hurt after the missiles exploded.

"You might wanna get back, Topaz," Rouge warned her comrade. "See if you can find the Master Emerald."

"Right," Topaz said as she backed out of the room, leaving Knuckles and Rouge alone with Beta.

"Seems like Eggman's desperate about keeping his plans in order," Knuckles said.

"Wanna find out how desperate?" Rouge asked with a smirk.

"As in 'let's smash this robot to pieces and find out what Eggman's hiding from us?'" Knuckles asked. "Sure, I'm game."

Knuckles didn't say it out loud, but deep down, he appreciated that Rouge didn't flirt with him once since they left for the dome. Whenever the situation was serious, Rouge was focused. However, Knuckles knew that she wasn't afraid to lighten the mood a little once in a while.

Knuckles lunged straight for Beta, but it teleported behind him, and the echidna ended up punching the wall instead. In the same instance, it began to charge an energy bomb. Right as it threw it at Rouge, Knuckles ran toward her and pushed her out of the way just in time, even though she was already in the process of dodging.

"I felt the heat from that one!" Rouge remarked, patting her left arm. Fortunately for her, it wasn't singed.

"All intruders will be purged," Beta droned as it loaded several more missiles.

"Huh, so you can talk," Knuckles noted, taking a step back as the missiles were launched in his direction. Gritting his teeth, he dove out of the way as the missiles impacted the wall behind him, each one making a small explosion. Sparks flew from the nearly console as it took minimal damage.

"We're not making any progress," Knuckles said. Even though he and Rouge outnumbered Beta, the fight was proving to be harder than he anticipated. Beta was too fast for Knuckes to get a hit in edgewise. Plus, they were in close quarters.

"Looks like we're gonna have to double-team it," Rouge said. "Or better yet, distract it somehow."

"My audio sensors have been upgraded," Beta announced. "I detect low-decibel communication. You are formulating a strategy."

A chill ran through Knuckles spine. "That's not gonna help you in the long run!" he said. Even though he sounded brave on the outside, he actually felt a bit nervous on the inside.

Like a bolt of lightning, Rouge rebounded off the wall to get behind Beta, but right as she was going in for the kill, it immediately teleported behind Knuckles and punched him across the room. He hit the wall and landed on the floor, winded.

Rouge was now starting to feel a bit desperate. She attempted to Screw Kick Beta, but the upgraded robot charged an energy bomb and held it up in front of itself. Before Rouge could react, she flew right into it, electrocuting herself as it dissolved within her body.

"There's not enough room in here…" Knuckles muttered as he got up. "Rouge! Get down!"

Rouge saw Beta flying straight at her, but she was momentarily weakened by the energy ball. Knuckles ran in and pulled her out of the way just in time. Then he dropped her and charged at Beta, bashing it with his fists and finally getting his first hits in. They would have been effective if it weren't for the force field surrounding the robot.

"It has a force field?" Knuckles voiced his surprise.

"Affirmative," Beta said as it launched more missiles at the two Mobians. They were barely able to dodge them this time because the area they were in was barely larger than a two-car garage.

"We're gonna have to take this thing outside," Rouge said.

"I don't think we have a choice," Knuckles agreed as he backed toward the hole where they came in.

But right as the echidna was reaching the hole, several bullets rang out, striking the robot's force field. The speed of the bullets was faster than the robot could process, and the force field was shut down, much to Rouge and Knuckles' surprise. Knuckles looked over, grinning when he saw Topaz standing in the opposite doorway.

"Nice one, Topaz," Rouge said with a smile.

"Surprised that worked," she shrugged.

"Finish it off!" Knuckles ordered as he charged toward Beta.

Even without its force field, Beta was not defenseless. It immediately began to charge another energy bomb, but Knuckles ran toward the wall next to it and rebounded off of it to get behind Beta. The robot was focused on Knuckles, so Rouge took this opportunity to Screw Kick the robot, causing it to drop its bomb early. Topaz ran back a few steps as it exploded right where she had been standing.

Without any other means of attack, Beta was quickly overwhelmed by the combined efforts of Knuckles and Rouge as they pounded it into pieces and damaged it enough to put it out of commission.

Knuckles took a few deep breaths now that the immediate damage was over, and he looked over to see Rouge glancing around in case there were any more robot threats around.

"Nice work, Topaz," Knuckles grinned.

"Hey, I saw an opening and went for it is all," the GUN sergeant said. "Also, I was able to shut down the security protocols, so we better get the Master Emerald out of here quick before Eggman finds out we're here."

"I'm gonna miss the dark," Rouge said as she rejoined the others. "But oh well."

"Wouldn't be surprised if this place is disposable," Knuckles said as he and Rouge followed Topaz into the other room. "This place is bare bones as far as defenses go."

"Yeah, other Eggman outposts are way more fortified than this," Rouge added. "The outside wall was the hardest part of getting in here."

"In other words, crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside," Knuckles remarked.

"You know it," Rouge nodded.

"I'll show you what I found in the other room," Topaz said, before glancing back at them. "It's not pretty."

"Oh, but it is pretty…" Rouge said, her eyes sparking as they entered the room. Before the three of them lay the Master Emerald inside a generator. And not only that, but the Phantom Ruby and the Corona Corundum were there too! They were in separate

"I knew it!" Knuckles exclaimed.

However, Rouge's eyes were fixated on the large white gem inside the generator.

"I… I suddenly remember everything now," she said, and the others turned to her. "I think Shadow – fake Shadow – knocked me out on the ARK, and these three gems together was the last thing I saw. So yeah, this is definitely big. And it would make a big addition to my little collection–"

"Rouge."

Rouge turned to Knuckles, snapped out her fantasies by the echidna's stern tone.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous this combination of gems are?" he asked.

"They're dangerous now, but trust me, these babies will be harmless once they're all mine." She winked at him. "And if you ask nicely, I might let you have a peek at them~"

"Rouge…"

"Guys." Topaz' stern voice broke up their banter. They turned to see her annoyed expression as she leaned against the wall. "Is any of this necessary?"

"No!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"You're cute when you're flustered," Rouge said with a playful smile, glancing at him.

"Hey, that was all you, bat girl," Knuckles muttered.

"You can have your little lover's quarrel later," Topaz told them. "Right now we have to find a way to somehow remove these gems safely. Even with the main systems deactivated, this section could still be booby-trapped for all I know."

"Good point," Knuckles said as he looked around where the gems were resting. "Better look around for a backup then."

"I don't think we're gonna have time for that," Topaz said, drawing expressions of surprise. "Normally I'd say yes, but Eggman is literally at the mayor's doorstep. We have to take the risk and remove the gems now. And if we get caught… well, if you broke us in here, I know you're both strong enough to get us out."

"Kinda irresponsible, but okay," Knuckles muttered under his breath.

Topaz looked at the three various-sized gemstones in front of them.

"All right, which one's directly responsible for pulling the wool over our eyes?" Topaz asked. Rouge pointed to the smallest gemstone, the red Phantom Ruby. Topaz nodded. "Then that's the one we extract first."

But as Rouge glided toward it to retrieve it, the metal plates surrounding it closed around it, forming a metal box, and pulled it under the floor. A metal door closed over the hole, effectively sealing the Phantom Ruby away.

Knuckles and Topaz blinked in surprise, and Rouge landed between them.

"…That happened…" she said, feeling a hint of regret. "I thought you said you shut off all the security systems."

"I did," Topaz said. "I guess there did end up being a backup power source." She looked like she was upset with herself. "Can't believe I made that mistake… I thought I was thorough."

"Hey, it's fine," Knuckles said. "We'll get another shot at it next time. But we're gonna have to be fast about getting these other two out of here."

"They seem to be individually protected," Rouge noted as she studied how the gems were connected to the machine. "Otherwise, all three of them would have been sealed away together. Another mistake in the books, Eggy."

"Good point," Topaz said. "With you two here, this is gonna be a piece of cake."

Taking a deep breath, Knuckles suddenly surged forward, leaping onto the generator, and wrapped his arms around the Master Emerald, yanking it out of its socket right as a giant metal box closed around where it had just been resting.

"Yes!" Knuckles exclaimed as he landed back on the ground with the others.

"And now, that just leaves the Corundum," Rouge said, glancing at the white gem still resting in the generator. "That's the one I'm most interested in."

Since Topaz was the closest one to the Corona Corundum, she climbed onto the generator and tried to pull the medium-sized dodecahedronic gem loose from its slot.

"Uh, Knuckles!" she called as a metal box started forming around it.

Knuckles instantly rushed over and attempted to pry the box back open before it could fully close.

"Hurry…!" he grunted.

Topaz struggled for a moment, but the metal box was strong. However, before she pulled the Corundum free. It was easier than she thought, since she had disengaged the main security protocol.

"Got it!" she said, examining the gem. It was bigger than the Chaos Emeralds, but much smaller than the Master Emerald. Holding it up, she saw that it was roughly the size of Rouge's head.

"Rouge?" Knuckles said, turning to her, but she wasn't paying attention to them. She was looking at a monitor.

"What are you looking at, Rouge?" Topaz asked her as she approached.

"A breakthrough…" she breathed in awe, not taking her eyes off the screen.

"What do you mean…?" Topaz asked her.

"It's– It's a detailed breakdown of the dome's inner workings," Rouge explained. "Not only that, but it has Eggman's plan here, and even details about the Corona Corundum that we barely knew anything about until now.

"Eggman's plan? For real?" Topaz asked in surprise.

"Not his whole plan," Rouge mused. "But enough to see what his endgame is, at least."

"Hold that thought," Knuckles said. He placed one of his hands against the Master Emerald, tapping into its power. "Good… It's just as powerful as ever." Up until now, he had been a bit worried that the Master Emerald had lost a substantial amount of power due to being hooked up with the Phantom Ruby and Corona Corundum for so long.

Out of curiousity, he bent down and picked up the Corundum to see if he could get a feel for how powerful it was. But to his shock, he felt nothing.

"That explains it…" he mused.

"Explains what?" Rouge asked.

"There's no power left in this thing," Knuckles said, examining the Corundum's smooth surface. "It must have been siphoned into the Master Emerald, which probably amplified its power enough to power the Phantom Ruby beyond anything we could possibly imagine."

"That's a scary thought…" Rouge said.

"Hey, do either of you have a phone I can borrow?" Knuckles asked.

"Uh, yeah, I have my work phone," Topaz said. "Why?"

"I need to call Sonic," Knuckles explained. "He and his friends weren't wearing their comlinks, so I'm hoping at least one of them has their phone with them."

"Okay, sure. Here you go. Just be careful." Topaz handed her phone to Knuckles, who precariously dialed Sonic's number.

"It was easier when Tails put his number on speed dial," Knuckles said. "I hate using phones… They're always too small."

There was no response after a few rings. Knuckles let out a sigh and tried Tails' number. Fortunately, he picked up.

"Hello?" Tails spoke over the phone.

"Hey, this is Knuckles," the echidna said. "Tell Eggman he lost!"

"So you guys did it?" Tails said, his voice sounding hopeful.

"You know it!" Knuckles said. "How's it going on your end?"

"I'm looking outside now, and it looks like everyone's getting their free will back," Tails reported. "So, um… You might wanna put on your sunglasses when you leave the dome," he added with a laugh.

"So that means we did it," Topaz realized. Knuckles nodded.

"I'm gonna miss the dark," Rouge lamented. "But oh well."

"Well, if you wanna hang around here instead of flying around in all that big open air outside, be my guest," Topaz said.

"I… think I'll pass," Rouge said, looking around. "This place reeks of Eggman, after all."

"That's what I thought," Topaz said with a nod.

"Oh yeah, we also found what looks like Eggman's database in here," Knuckles was saying. "Or at least part of it. Don't know why he left it out in the open, though…"

"Well, see what you can find out," Tails responded. "Meanwhile, we're gonna finish taking care of Eggman, and then we'll meet up at Chris' house."

"Sounds good," Knuckles said.

After he hung up, he turned back to the others, a grin on his face as he approached the computer they were look at.

"All right, let's go through his internet history, see what he's been hiding from us," he said.


Station Square - Sun February 13, 3:03 PM – Sonic's POV

I couldn't help but throw another glance up at the blue sky above me as I finished off the robots nearest to me. It almost felt strange to have the normal sky back, even though Station Square had only been in darkness for a month and a half.

Eggman didn't have any intentions to troubleshoot the "problems" the moon was having. This was his endgame, to gain the trust of the country before taking it over from the inside. I had to admit, it was a clever plan. However, all of it was about to come to an end.

Beyond the robots were all the humans, who were acting much different than how they were when we got to the mayor's office. Instead of mindlessly praising Eggman, they were all cheering, celebrating, and surprisingly, fighting back Eggman's robot forces with whatever they were able to get their hands on. And the moment they saw me, they cheered for me and called out to me, and their morale to fight back against Eggman's control was boosted.

They had gotten their free will back.

However, my presence caused some of them to get distracted, allowing the nearby Crabmeats and Egg Pawns to start pushing them back.

"Hey, don't look at me, keep fightin'!" I urged them. "You got your freedom back, and now it's time to keep it! Fight like you mean it!"

With that, I ran past them on my way to the X-Tornado. I didn't know where it was parked; all I knew is that Tails landed it safely outside of where all the people and robots were.

Scaling the nearest government building, I was able to give myself a vantage point. I was only four floors up, but I was now able to see over the whole crowd. And then I spotted Tails' plane directly on the other side of the people.

Now that I knew where I needed to go, I leaped from rooftop to treetop to rooftop to get to the X-Tornado. There were too many people and robots for me to run on the ground, which did end up slowing me down a bit. All the robots were busy fighting the humans, which kept them away from me.

When I got to the plane, I landed back on the ground, only to find the back door already unlocked. Chris was pushing the canopy up as he stood up.

"Is it safe?" he asked.

"Almost," I said with a smile. "You guys wanna come with me? You're gonna get to see what it's like to get our freedom back!"

"Yes please!" Cream exclaimed as she quickly unbuckled her seat belt. Making sure Cheese and Chocola were safe with her, she flapped her ears and rose above us. Meanwhile, I hopped onto the wing and scooped Chris into my arms.

As we took off toward the mayor's office once more, I glanced at all the people as I ran past them. They were getting the upper hand. Even though Eggman's robots were fighting ferociously, it seemed like they lacked the morale they once had.

"H-How are they all winning?" I could hear Chris struggling to speak due to how fast I was running. I slowed down a bit so I could understand him better.

"It's the power of resistance," I told him. "Eggman's plan is falling apart. Plus, Tails and Amy are making sure he doesn't go anywhere."

In reality, I wasn't entire sure how they were winning, especially since many of the robots were more powerful than the humans. But it could have had something to do with the heavy police and military presence at the government block of the city. They weren't holding back the crowds this time, something that surprised me a little about Earth's humans.

But the direct path back to the mayor's front door was blocked off with humans and robots, so I had to take the high path to get there once again. I cradled Chris close to my chest, trying to reduce my motion as best as I could so he wouldn't get motion sickness.

When we made it to the front doors, I was mildly surprised that Cream made it there before me, even with her ability to fly. I could see all the government agents and aides who were captured earlier in the lobby, fighting off the robots and preventing them from entering the building. Shots rang out as they immobilized the robots.

We made our way through the building, and this time I found it much easier to find the mayor's office since this wasn't my first time there. But when I arrived, I found something that surprised me.

Tails and Amy were fighting Decoe and Bocoe in the mayor's office, while Eggman was looking on, a confident grin on his face. The mayor was ducking for cover under his desk, trying not to let anything hit him. Cream stood behind me, looking a bit worried.

"Whoa, what'd I miss…?" I said as I set Chris down. "Didn't think those two clowns had this kind of fight in 'em."

"Or course," Eggman told me. "They are combat robots, designed just just to serve me, but protect me. In other words, they're my bodyguards!"

"Well, congratulations," I said sarcastically as I entered the office. "We still outnumber you."

"That's your problem, you're thinking in terms of numbers. Though, if you want to play that game, I outnumber you hundreds of times over. Regardless, even without control over the human society, my victory is still assured, and I don't even have to leave this office!"

Before I realized it, I saw Decoe and Bocoe restraining Tails and Amy to the wall with a surprising amount of force.

"You let my friends go, Dr. Eggman!" Cream demanded as she slowly approached him.

"You're talking to the wrong person here, Cream," Eggman said, holding his hands out.

"We do not take orders from anyone other than Dr. Eggman, especially not children," Bocoe told her while securing his iron grip on Tails against the wall. Tails and Amy didn't look particularly nervous; they knew they were going to win in the end.

Decoe looked out the window. "The police are entering the premises, Doctor," he reported.

"Like that even matters," Eggman scoffed. "The Egg Carrier is still on its way here with reinforcements. Decoe, Bocoe, release them. It's not like they're going anywhere anytime soon."

Raising his wrist communicator up, he said, "Robots, converge upon my office and protect it. We are under siege."

"Does this mean we have to fight…?" Cream asked, taking a step back.

"Not if the police get here first," I told her. "I wanna try and avoid fighting too, 'specially since we're inside a government building and all."

"I'm not an expert on the laws of Earth, but I'm pretty sure you can't just waltz onto government property on a whim, can we now, Mr. Mayor?" Eggman said.

"This is an exception to the rule, Doctor," Mayor Pinsky told him.

"But you're doing it!" Chris interjected Eggman's statement.

"Yeah, what he said," Sonic added.

"Yes, and you're forgetting who's about to run this world," Eggman said, crossing his arms. "With the government under my thumb, I can have you all arrested for trespassing on federal property! And this on top of what you've done already."

"Don't get distracted," Amy told Sonic. "He's just stalling for time until the Egg Carrier gets here." Sonic nodded.

Eggman heard her, but before he could respond, several police units flooded into the room and surrounded him. Sonic and his friends made sure to stand out of the way. Eggman realized that he had not done anything about his own safety. He was so sure about his plan that he didn't realize this oversight.

"Decoe! Bocoe! Abort the plan! Abort! Abort!" Eggman screamed at his hench-bots as he was restrained on the floor.

Decoe, who was also wearing a wrist communicator, activated it and raised his arm up. The officers nearest to him awaited what he would say.

"Decoe to Egg Carrier. Abort Operation Second Chance Diversion by order of Robotnik. Withdraw the Egg Carrier and all units."

As some of the officers examined the office to see if Eggman made any changes with it, a few others approached the mayor, who stood up from his spot under the desk.

"You okay?" one of them asked.

"Just shaken," the mayor said, even though he was feeling much more than shaken. "This man was a heartbeat away from running the whole city, and this was not his first time."

"And it won't be my last," Eggman declared, now on his feet and handcuffed. "Believe me, my robots have strict instructions on what to do in case something like this happens."

"Please remain silent, Doctor," one of the officers told him. "On second thought, you're going to tell us how to deactivate your robot assistants. Right now."

"And why would I tell you?" Eggman scoffed.

"We have the building completely surrounded, and there is a heavy military presence. So do you want to do this the easy way or the hard way?"

There was a pause for a moment. "Fine," Eggman said at last.

The officers spent the next three minutes unscrewing Decoe and Bocoe's panels to figure out a way to shut them down. The office was mostly quiet during that time, with only a few words between the officers, as well as Sonic and his friends. Decoe and Bocoe were standing perfectly still, not resisting whatsoever. However, the officers' efforts appeared to be fruitless.

"Where's the switch?" one of the officers asked Eggman.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have forgotten to tell you that they respond to me and me alone," he responded with a short laugh.

That response got several police firearms pointed at him. Everyone else watched in amazement. Knowing he couldn't resist, Eggman let out a sigh and carefully deactivated the two robots, which took some effort since he was handcuffed with his hands behind his back.

"The next time you're reactivated, justice will once again be in our favor," Eggman quietly told them.

"Don't count on it," one of the officers said.

First Decoe, then Bocoe were shut down, and all three of them were gradually ushered out of the room.

"Mark my words, Sonic, you haven't seen the last of me!" Eggman called as he was taken out of sight.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Doc!" Sonic replied back.

Everyone was able to breathe a little easier now. For Chris and Cream, the situation was strange and a little unnerving, but not outright scary.

"Well, that was a nightmare," Pinsky said, shakily taking a deep breath.

"Hey, it's all cool now," Sonic assured him. "Egghead's gone, and he's got a whole revolution against him. And now that he's on his way to the slammer, we can all kick back and take it easy for a bit."

"There goes the Egg Carrier," Tails reported from the panoramic window. Sure enough, the Egg Carrier, which was still quite a ways off, was turning around and leaving.

"So if Dr. Eggman's going to jail, who's flying the Egg Carrier?" Cream asked as she joined Tails at the window.

"Ah, that would be his number one man Jerome Wise," Sonic responded as he watched Eggman's ship disappearing in the distance.

"We're very well aware of him and his actions," the mayor spoke up. "We're just waiting for the right moment to strike."

"I didn't know you knew about him," Amy said in surprise.

"The FBI and GUN have been working together to trace his calls, although it has been difficult in some cases," Pinsky said. "Especially these past several months. It's like he's dropped off the radar, but we are positive he's still with Eggman."

Sonic frowned as he glanced out the window, where the citizens of Station Square were destroying the last of Eggman's remaining deserted robots. Only now did the police step in and start controlling the crowds.

"You doing okay, Sonic?" Amy asked, approaching him.

"Huh?" Sonic looked up, taking his gaze off the Egg Carrier. "Oh yeah, I'm good," he said, running a hand through his quills. "But things are gonna be a bit, uh… interesting from here on out."

Amy blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Y'know… the times when Eggman's not around for me to play with, and, well… I don't like being bored…"

"Ohh, okay," Amy said, nodding in understanding. She knew Sonic long enough to know that he got unusually restless whenever Eggman wasn't around.

"It's okay Mr. Sonic, we can have lots of fun together!" Cream volunteered. "We can play games and go to the movies and the carnival, and have a really fun time now that Eggman's not going to scare us anymore!"

"Chao-chao!" Cheese agreed from his spot on top of Cream's head between her long ears.

"Yeah," Sonic said, smiling at Cream's encouragement and looking around at his friends. "'Specially since we just got the sun back. Anyone else missed it? I know I did!"

"You know who we're not gonna miss?" Chris spoke up. "Eggman."

"True," Tails agreed, glancing out the window in thought. "But now we have Jerome… And to be honest, he kind of reminds me of Snively."

"Yeah, I can see that," Sonic agreed with a nod. "But looking back, Jerome was kind of scared about everything."

"Yeah…" Tails said.

"Everyone," the mayor spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream, Christopher. I personally want to thank you all for helping to bring Dr. Eggman to justice. And not just me; the whole city thanks you for your service."

"It was nothin', really," Sonic said. "I just kicked Eggman's butt like usual."

"This time was different," Pinsky said. "He brainwashed the entire region of southern California to support his ideology… myself included. You have no idea how close he was to world domination. Even with his control over my free will, I held on to hope that we would pull through and you would help us. And help us you did."

"It's what we do," Sonic said, smiling at his friends. "Though I couldn't have done it without all my friends. And don't forget Knux and Rouge. They helped too."

"They certainly did," Pinsky responded. "And thanks to everyone, we can finally enjoy proper sunlight again. Though, after a month of near-total darkness, it is a bit strange seeing it again."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me!" Amy said, turning to the doorway. "We gotta go meet up with the others."

"Yeah, and see what they found out from Eggman," Sonic added.

"Before we do that," Tails said, turning to the mayor, "what's gonna happen to all the Solar Balls and towers?"

"That's a process that will take some time, but off the top of my head, I plan on working with the city council to get them collected and destroyed, and everyone who ever purchased one will be refunded."

"Okay, that's good," Tails said.

"And furthermore, I'm going to arrange for you and Sonic to both be pardoned for your crimes, and any and all laws and ordinaces that were issued regarding the Solar Balls will be immediately repealed."

Tails felt a wave of relief wash through him. Even though he didn't think he was going to jail after Eggman was arrested, hearing the mayor say that cave him some well-needed closure on the matter. It had been something that loomed over his head for the past few hours.

"It's finally over," Chris said, both out loud and to himself. "But it's weird that we can't even take the sun for granted anymore."

"This is one of his weirder plans," Sonic admitted. "Kinda ingenious too. He'll probably get a bit more time to plan things out from the other side of the bars. And if he decides to come back for revenge… we'll be ready for him. Just like always."


Cantonville - Sun February 13, 4:04 PM – Third-person POV

Having finally shaken off the last of the police vehicles and GUN robots, Hector Dragg switched off the the "milk tank" that housed forbidden atomic fuel. On his way under an overpass, he covered his tracks by activating another switch that converted his racecar into what looked like an ordinary Subaru sports sedan. He was positive no one saw the transformation.

While his adrenalin was still high, Hector was able to relax somewhat. He looked into his rearview mirror and took note of the Eggman robots giving up the chase. Watcher ordered Jerome to pretend to have the robots chase him until he got to the Cantonville city limits to make it look like they weren't the criminals. But now that Dragg thought about it, it sounded somewhat silly because it would only add to the confusion of GUN and especially Eggman if he were to find out about it.

On their way back, the sun finally came out, and the darkness in the sky rolled away like a scroll. The Society members knew that Sonic had undone Dr. Eggman's plan. They had to admit, they missed the natural sun too.

Fifteen minutes later, Dragg and Watcher pulled into the driveway of their designated house. Then, under Watcher's orders, they all put on face masks so that no one would recognize them. Except there was still one problem.

"I'm still in my prison uniform," Passer pointed out, glancing down at his orange uniform. "They're going to see me."

"Oh yeah, true," Dragg realized. "Hold on, lemme check something. I should probably have a hoodie in here somewhere."

"Will that be enough though?" Passer asked.

"Not sure," Dragg said, leaning over as he rummaged around in the seats behind him. "Aw, I thought I had it in here. You're gonna have to make do and wing it."

"Fine," Passer said. "Just make sure no one sees me."

Dragg nodded, put on his face mask, and opened the door next to him, making sure to stand in front of Passer as he got out of the car.

By now, the others had gotten out of the van, and they made sure to shield Passer from the view of the road as they all made their way inside the house.

"There's a change of clothes in here, you'll need it," Watcher said.

"I haven't felt that kind of adrenalin rush in a very long time," Passer admitted. "In fact, I feel a bit sick."

"Well, get some rest," Watcher told him. "And Dr. Kai, get some treatment for Browning."

Narasu nodded and walked into the other room, and Browning followed him. Everyone else made their way downstairs into the basement.

"I'm still not entirely convinced you guys are real," Passer stated bluntly.

"You'll see, the Organizer knows what he's doing," Dragg told him. "And we didn't get you out of jail for nothing. You're here because you know the GUN codes, and they are extremely important to our cause."

"But why would you people of everyone need to know them?" Passer said, crossing his arms. "Look, this better be worth it. Do you realize the risk you took getting me out of there?"

"Absolutely," Watcher said, looking him in the eyes. "I was a prison warden at Superior, the head warden. Bigley was nothing compared to Superior. Sure, it was tough to breach, but we all have our specialties, plus the Organizer… well, organized things, so it was pretty much a cakewalk."

"Wait here while we report to the Organizer," Dragg told the CLIP colonel as he opened the laptop on the table and navigated a few settings. After logging into the private network, a shadowy figure appeared, the light of his screen reflecting off the glasses he wore.

"Can I assume you were successful?" he spoke.

As an answer, Watcher turned the screen around to face Passer, who was still standing in the doorway. The Organizer stifled a laugh.

"Excellent work," the Organizer said. "I knew you were more than capable of–"

"I know you!" Passer suddenly exclaimed, stepping forward. "You're–"

"Don't," the Organizer said, shutting him down. "This network may be encrypted, but I'm not about to take any risks. The less you all know about me, the better. This is a precaution I have to take for your sake, in case you find yourselves in police custody. Now, Colonel, listen closely."

Passer was about to speak, but part of him was interested to hear what the Organizer was about to say, so he chose to remain silent.

"You have questions, and I have answers," the Organizer said. "We are the Society… or as Mr. Wise prefers to call it, the Society for Observing and Neutralizing Interdimensional Creatures… and Xenomorphs. We are a top-secret organization sworn to maintaining the status quo when it comes to those who came from Planet Mobius. In other words, we are working to restore the planet to the way it was before they showed up. Make it look like they were never here, short of destroying all evidence of their existence. Frankly, they are all a menace to society, and they have imposed many complications on our society as we know it. Ask your new colleagues, they all have their own… experiences with Sonic and his friends."

"Yeah, Sonic's the whole reason the S-Team's out of business!" Dragg said. "I'm unemployed now, plus I have a bunch of speeding tickets against me." He sighed. "And even though they're talking about bringing back the S-Team, I don't know if I even wanna join anymore… Too many bad memories…"

"Like so," the Organizer said with a nod as he brought the subject back on course. "Colonel Passer, you have been an excellent asset for both GUN and CLIP, and as your colleagues have probably told you, you have the codes to GUN's entire robot force. So when the time is right, we'll use those codes, and if everything works out as I have planned, you will have an entire robot army at your disposal."

This was the first time the Society members had heard about the details of why the Organizer wanted Passer free. Everyone was surprised, not to mention excited for the most part. However, Li Yan was confused.

"That's your plan?" he asked. "What's wrong with Eggman's robots?"

"Well, as much as Jerome working for Eggman can be used to our advantage, we can't rely on Eggman forever," the Organizer explained. "If he were to find out that Jerome is possibly betraying him by working for us, then we will lose access to his robots, not to mention potentially lose Jerome himself. He's wanted by the government after all. And the way I see, it's all but certain that Eggman will find out about this."

"I have a question," Passer said.

The Organizer nodded. "Go ahead."

"Who's to say the codes haven't been changed since my arrest?" Passer asked. "After all, I'm the one who distributed the robots to GUN, and since GUN traced them through me to Eggman, they would be fools not to."

"They think they changed the codes," the Organizer said. "The original codes are still intact, they just don't realize it yet. Of course, they're able to operate their robots with the new codes, but I was able to do a little bit of sabotage work on my end, and after a few beta tests, I can confirm the old codes can still control them even though they're been 'changed'. Furthermore, I breached their database and programmed the old codes to override the new ones at my command. In other words, when those robots are ours, GUN is not getting them back. And trying to take them by force would be foolhardy."

Passer blinked in surprise.

"Seems like you have all your bases covered," he said after a moment.

"Not quite," the Organizer said. "We will need a diversion first. I still have to think of one, but as soon as it is finalized and executed, then we strike."

"Understood," Passer said, now starting to feel a little more comfortable with the Society. "So will the robots be used to capture Sonic and his friends?"

"Essentially, yes," the Organizer said with a nod. "However, since Sonic is able to destroy Dr. Eggman's own robots so easily, you will need to make modifications to each individual robot."

"That sounds like a pain…" Dragg said. "And besides, where are we gonna keep 'em all?"

"That takes us into the other half of this briefing," the Organizer said. "But first, how was the break-in?"

"Browning was shot in the arm," Passer explained, "and we nearly got stopped a few times by police and GUN robots, but Jerome and Eggman's robots saved us. And so did our laser guns. Looking back, it was a walk in the park."

"I think the rest of GUN was busy trying to intercept Sonic," Li Yan said.

"So we couldn't have done it at a better time," Watcher continued. "Never let a good crisis go to waste, am I right?"

"The GUN robots are the whole reason I got arrested to begin with," Passer said. "Multiple counts of conspiracy and federal treason. Look, Mr. Wise gave them to me to give to GUN, but who do you think built them?"

"That would be Eggman," Watcher shrugged.

"Correct, and it's all to advance his stupid redux plan!"

"Honestly, that redux plan has been nothing but failure after failure," Dragg said, leaning against the couch. "If he's relying on the past, then he is really scraping the bottom of the barrel, and this is coming from someone who's never been to Mobius."

"And yet he's a genius. He claims to have 300 IQ," Watcher said. "I claim it's hyperbole."

"And yet it wasn't enough to keep him from going to prison," the Organizer said.

Watcher blinked. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I just saw on the news that Dr. Eggman has been arrested," the Organizer stated. "It's trending everywhere on Twitter, you can check for yourselves."

Everyone was shocked.

"For real?!" Dragg exclaimed.

"How did he let that happen to him?" Li Yan asked.

"His resolve weakened when the people's resolve strengthened. They all banded together and started a revolution the moment the sun came back. But we're getting off topic here."

The Organizer cleared his throat, and he glanced at everyone around the room. At that moment, Narasu and Browning entered the room again.

"Surprisingly, the wounds were only superficial," Narasu reported. "Anyway, what did we miss?"

"I don't like repeating myself too much, so the rest of you can fill them in when we're done," the Organizer said.

"Long story short, we're gonna use the codes to steal GUN's whole robot army, and also Eggman's been arrested," Watcher summarized. "Sorry, didn't want to keep them in suspense for too long."

"That works too," the Organizer shrugged.

"That's… something," Browning reacted.

"I'm surprised Eggman allowed himself to be arrested this easily," Narasu added. "In fact, I don't recall him ever being in prison before."

"Same," Dragg shrugged.

"The Bigley prison break-out may have been a success," the Organizer spoke, "but it has officially put you on the map as a criminal organization. So this means you can't stay at the house you're in anymore. As soon as possible, you are to relocate to the dome where Eggman once broadcast his signal to the Solar Balls. By now, it should be clear of any GUN and Mobian presence, so you should be able to settle in without any problems. That's also where you'll be keeping your robot army."

"But why not use Eggman's robots while he's in prison?" Narasu asked.

"It's tempting, but ultimately not a risk we can take," the Organizer responded. "Like I said to your colleagues, we can't rely on his robots forever, hence why we will be using GUN's army instead. We were lucky we were even able to use Eggman's robots at all today. Now that Eggman is heading to prison, I estimate that their mission will be to break him back out, so we need to strike while the iron's hot."


Thorndyke Mansion - Sun February 13, 3:21 PM – Third-person POV

Roughly an hour after Dr. Eggman was escorted out of the mayor's office, Sonic, Tails, Chris, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Chocola arrived back at Thorndyke Mansion. They were already told that Rouge and Knuckles got their first. Sonic was the first one to walk into the living room, where he found the echidna and bat lounging on opposite couches.

"Welcome back!" Vanilla greeted warmly.

"Hey, sorry to keep you guys waiting," Sonic said as the others joined him.

"Where have you been, Big Blue?" Rouge teased. "Me and Knuckie have been waiting here for ages. Maybe it's time we're the new fastest things alive, hmm?"

Sonic noticed that Knuckles was trying to suppress a blush by taking a sip of tea that he and Rouge had been offered.

"Ha, nice try, but that name's mine to keep," Sonic said, leaning against the wall. "Besides, we kinda had to wrap things up with Eggman, so that took some time."

"So I take it he's gonna be nice and cozy in that little prison cell of his for a good long time," Rouge said, setting down her own cup of tea.

"I sure hope so," Amy said. "I will say, it's gonna be weird not having him around though."

"Good riddance to him," Knuckles said. "Now I can finally have some peace and quiet with the Master Emerald."

"Miss Ella and I made tea and cookies for everyone," Vanilla said as she carefully poured cups of tea for everyone.

"My mama makes the bestest tea in the whole wide world!" Cream complimented as she helped her mom distribute the cups to everyone.

"Chao chao!" Cheese and Chocola agreed.

"I do my very best," Vanilla said with a smile.

"Thank you!" Chris said politely as Cream carefully handed him his cup of tea, and he sat down on the couch next to Knuckles.

"You're welcome, Mr. Chris!" Cream replied.

"So did you get your name cleared, Sonic?" Knuckles asked.

"Yup!" Sonic said. "I'm a free hedgehog once again. So are you, Tails. You're in the clear too, lil bro!"

"It's good to be free," Tails agreed with a smile.

"So where did Topaz go?" he asked. "Is she back with GUN now?"

"Yes," Rouge nodded. "She had urgent business, but I promised her I would fill her in on all the details later."

"About what you found out at Eggman's base?" Tails asked.

"Well, you tell me," Rouge said knowingly. She reached over the side of the couch where no one could see, and pulled out a white dodecahedronic crystal and held it up for everyone. Knuckles was the only one in the room who didn't have a reaction since he was already in on it, but everyone else was shocked.

"Is that…"

"Mhmm," Rouge nodded, answering Amy's question. "The Corona Corundum."

"And you found it just sitting there in Eggman's base?"

"Just waiting for me to come pick it up," Rouge said with a nod as she ran a gloved hand obver the gem's silky-smooth surface.

"That thing's the size of a basketball…!" Sonic remarked as he and the others crowded around Rouge, all of them inspecting her latest find.

"This has been Eggman's crown jewel lately," Rouge remarked. "I've been seeing it pop up here and there. Shame I never got the chance to investigate further until today."

"Yeah, and remember when we saw this thing with the Master Emerald and the Phantom Ruby?" Knuckles asked everyone. "Well, they were all together again."

"Like one big evil family," Sonic remarked.

"So did you find out what it does?" Tails asked as he too felt the gem's surface. His eyes narrowed. "That's weird… I don't feel any power coming from it…"

"Neither did I earlier," Knuckles said. "And that is strange. I mean, even after the Chaos Emeralds are used, they're still giving off some power… But this one's not."

"Oh yeah, I remember seeing this before!" Chris realized. "It was back when I was captured in his giant robot."

"The day I first went super here?" Sonic asked, and Chris nodded. "Yeah, good times," he added sarcastically. "I'm not 100% on the details, but I may have heard Eggman say something about it when I was blowing up his fortress that one time. I didn't think too mich about it, but I guess it stuck with me anyway for some reason."

Tails looked like was deep in thought.

"When it does have power… did you find out on the computer what it's able to do?"

"I couldn't find anything that specific, believe me, I tried. And I was thinking of you too…" Rouge sighed. "But my earlier hunch turned out to be correct. Eggman was using this Corundum, the Master Emerald, and the Phantom Ruby all together to create a field around the entire earth."

"Whoa…" Chris breathed.

"Yeah, so that's how he was able to keep all of us under his thumb and make it look like the moon blew up," Rouge continued.

"So in other words, we've all been living a lie for the past two months, literally," Knuckles summarized as he sat back down. "Can't wait to see how that goes over with everyone, especially since they don't know about the Phantom Ruby."

"If I had to guess," Rouge thought aloud, "They'll probably think Eggman brought the sun back, and– no, wait, that wouldn't work…"

"It would if the Solar Balls were still working, but now that everyone has their free will back… Eggman's the bad guy again," Tails said.

"I don't know about you guys, but him being a hero makes him even more of a rotten egg than he normally is," Sonic said.

"Yeah, true!" Chris said with a laugh.

Tails was now looking at the Corona Corundum in thought.

"Not even the Phantom Ruby on its own was ever this powerful…" he mused.

"I know," Rouge said. "The Eclipse Cannon, the ARK, the eclipse we just had – all of it was fake. Not an ounce of truth whatsoever. And the moon never moved at all, there's nothing wrong with it." She glanced down at the large gem in her lap. "I still can't wrap my head around how these three gems gave Space Colony ARK physical properties. Even down to a full air filter system. I mean… the fake ARK protected us from the dangers of space. The Phantom Ruby was powerful, but never this powerful. But now that they're all apart again, the three gems… Eggman should be a lot weaker now."

"Where did he get something like this?" Chris asked as he walked over and slowly lifted it up. "Oh, it's heavy…"

"Your guess is as good as ours," Knuckles said. Setting down his empty cup, he stood up and turned to the doorway. "All right, now that you guys are brought up to speed, I gotta get the Master Emerald back to Angel Island where it belongs."

"You sure you don't wanna chill here for a bit longer, Knux?" Sonic added.

"Mama made cookies for everyone!" Cream added.

"Nah, I'm all right," Knuckles replied with a smile. "The Master Emerald hasn't been home since before Christmas."

"Oh yeah, good point," Sonic realized as Knuckles left the room and disappeared up the stairs.

"So yeah," Rouge said, breaking the momentary silence as she picked up the Corundum once again. "As much as I hate to let go of this glamorous prize, I think you should have it, fox-boy."

She handed it to him, who hesitantly accepted it with a confused look. He was slightly overwhelmed because the gem was a little bigger than his own head.

"See what you can make out of it," Rouge said. "And don't forget to call me when you find out! 'Cuz you know how I am with glamorous jewels, especially ones with power."

Tails chuckled nervously, adjusting his grip on the Corundum; he needed both hands to hold it.

"I will," he promised with a firm nod.

"Alrighty then, I gotta fly," Rouge said as she got up. "Paperwork isn't gonna file itself, you know."

She approached the door and opened it. She was just about to step outside when she noticed Knuckles reaching the bottom of the stairs with the Master Emerald. He gave her a nod of thanks as he walked past her out the front door.

"That was for saving me back in the Egg Dome earlier," she told him with a wink. "Now we're even."

"There's nothing to get 'even' about," Knuckles shrugged. "I just so happened to be in the right place at the right time, that's all."

"You're so modest, Knuckles," Rouge said with a smirk. "That's one of the things I like about you."

"Rouge…" Knuckles said under his breath, trying to suppress a blush as Mr. Tanaka showed up and closed the door behind them.

"I'm gonna get started with the Corundum!" Tails said as he carefully picked up the Corundum. "Can one of you guys get the door for me?"

"Here you go, Tails," Vanilla said, holding the door open for the small fox.

"Thanks, Miss Vanilla!" Tails said as he carried the gemstone out the door.

"You're very welcome," Vanilla said with a smile as she closed the door behind him.

Amy giggled as she watched Knuckles and Rouge disappear out of sight. "I don't know about you guys, but those two are super cute together," she said.

"Heh, that's what Knux gets for teasing me all those times," Sonic said with a smirk.

"About you and Amy?" Chris asked.

"Chris…!" Sonic glanced back at him, a disapproving glint in his eye. Chris realized what this meant.

"Oops, sorry…!" the human boy apologized.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me, it has been a while since we had a date," Amy said. "In fact, I don't think I remember us going on one together since we came here."

"Yeah, no, we haven't," Sonic realized, averting his gaze.

Amy's expression relaxed. "You don't have to if you don't want. I know you're like the wind, and I don't wanna ever change that."

"The wind can change too, who knows?" Sonic found himself saying. That was enough for Amy to get excited all over again.

"So is that a yes?" she exclaimed in delight, clasping her hands in front of her. Sonic immediately started blushing and looking away.

"I-I… Well, y-yeah, I might be able to, m-maybe, but…"

"What'd I miss?" came Tails' voice as he made his way back through the side door into the living room. He stopped, looking a bit confused. "What are you guys doing to Sonic…?"

"It's okay, Tails," Amy said. "Sonic just needs to rest for a bit after today, and we're talking about maybe going on a date tomorrow," she said with a smile.

"That's been a while," Tails realized.

"Yeah, I know," Amy agreed with a nod, before looking back at Sonic in the eye. "If you're okay with it, Sonic. You don't have to if you don't want. Seriously."

"Actually, y'know, it has been a while," Sonic admitted. "So… Maybe tomorrow…?"

"Okay," Amy said, smiling gently at him. "Is 11am good for you?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, we can do that."

"Sorry to interrupt," Tails said, holding up his cell phone, "but there's something I need to show you. It's kinda important."

Sonic heard the concerned tone in his little brother's voice and squinted at Tails' phone. "What is it? Wait… Are those Eggman's robots?"

"Huh?" Amy joined Sonic and looked intently at the screen, followed by Chris and Cream.

"Yeah… This says a few guys broke someone in the military out of prison," he summarized. "No one was able to find out who these people are… but for some reason, Eggman's robots were helping them."

"Huh, that is weird," Sonic said, scanning the news article. "He doesn't care about helping humans… Cramps his style, unless it benefits him somehow. So unless this military guy is important to his plans, it's probably something else."

"Could it be Jerome?" Amy realized.

"I was thinking the same thing," Tails said as he put his phone back in Hammerspace. "But why…?"

"Don't know, little buddy, but I'm pretty sure we'll find out sooner or later," Sonic said, his familiar confident smirk returning. "For now, we gotta find out what this Corundum is, and maybe even find a way to use it against Eggman."

"Actually," Tails said, rubbing the back of his head, "Chuck kinda talked me out of looking at it today. It's already almost dinnertime, and besides, I'm feeling kinda tired."

"Yeah, we're all gonna get some good rest tonight," Sonic said, gently patting Tails' back. "And then tomorrow, it's our first full day of sunlight!"

Tails nodded, smiling once again.

"Can't wait to see what you get out of that Corundum!" Sonic told him.

"Yeah, same here!" Tails agreed.

Chris was leaning over the back of the couch, looking longingly out the window at the setting sun.

"It's been a minute since we saw the sun, hasn't it?" Sonic said, noticing him.

"Yeah… I really missed it," Chris said. "Even if it was all fake, it kinda did feel like it was gonna be dark forever."

"These past two months have really been something," Sonic said. "I gotta hand it to Eggman, though… That was a pretty clever plan of his to try to take over the city from the inside. But in the end, he's still Eggman, and we'll always be there to scramble his plans, right guys?"

"Yeah!" everyone agreed.

"But hey, it's not all bad! The doc's finally in jail now, we got two of his three gems back…" He smiled at Cream. "And your mom and Chocola are here now!"

Cream smiled. "I missed them so much, I'm so happy!" she said, giving her mom a gentle hug, and Cheese and Chocola joined in as everyone looked on with smiles on their faces.

"All's well that ends well!" Tails said with a small chuckle.


A/N: And that concludes "Eggman For President!" I know I took several creative liberties for this chapter, but I seriously did not expect it to get this long! I think I can attribute that to the Society scenes I added.

I was originally going to have the people who convinced Knuckles to stop Sonic be arranged by Eggman to do this, and they would have pinned an Eggman sticker on him that would have brainwashed him. But then I realized that was a cheesy idea that didn't seem very consistent with the rest of the plot. Eggman stickers are still used for the rioters at the mansion to mark their affiliation with Eggman though.

While writing this chapter, I realized that I never explained before why Passer was in prison to begin with, and what the Society needed him for. Hopefully I didn't cause any confusion with that.

I also called Card Passer a general instead of a colonel in my notes, except I realized he was addressed as "Colonel" in his one and only anime appearance in the dub of episode 50, so I had to change that. And I know the Society (aka S.O.N.I.C.X.) have only been background characters going through some setup plot-wise, I want to try and make them even more interesting if possible.

I was also originally going to have the Solar Balls feed into the power grid, causing a citywide blackout, but I couldn't think of anything interesting to do with that story plot afterward, and that was before I got the idea to have Chris and his friends evacuate the mansion. I could still use that idea for a Chaos on Earth AU oneshot though!

Let me know what you think of the Society!

Also, thank you guys for your feedback on Cosmo last chapter! I have another question I want to ask everyone: Since Cosmo doesn't have a canon age according to the wiki, how old do you think Cosmo is? For me, I want to say she is either 7 or 8, but I wanna hear your thoughts.

Next time on Chaos on Earth! "An All-New Original Chapter", where [REDACTED, NO SPOILERS!] Don't miss it!

Anime title: We Can See The Light! Eggman's Reign Of Darkness Is Finally Over!