Note: Thank you Pybro2 for this chapter's beta-read as well.

Tails and Amy went back outside to get the rest. Tails announcing, "Good news, I eliminated his trojan. We're safe to head back inside!"

Sonic needled his little brother, "How did that even happen?"

Tails had a very concerned look, "That's the scary thing about 'alicorn', it's near impossible to tell from a standard notification and once clicked, your system is fully compromised."

Sonic smirked, "He really went with that? What interests does he hide?"

Amy piled on, "Could be his new daughter."

Mighty asked, "What is that name from?"

Tails immediately went into geek mode, "Its origin is in reference to the horn of a unicorn. The myth has its origins in tusks grown by narwhals which are sea creatures that-"

Sonic facepalmed, "Alright Tails, we get it, you know more about the subject than we do. Although…" He got a malicious grin, "Why did you ever look that up?"

Tails mischievously countered, "Says the person who owns a Rainbow Dash fig-"

Sonic immediately started dashing towards the door, "That's it young man! You better have hidden your Miles Electric because you're not seeing it for a week!"

Tails made a dash inside to try and stop him, "Not if I can help it!"

Lanolin stepped on Tangle's tail to try and stop him, "Sonic, we kind of need that for our upcoming missions."

Sonic stuck his tongue out at Lanolin, not slowing a bit, "Did you forget how elastic it is?"

Whisper then stepped in front of him, glaring and preparing the cube wispon, "I didn't."

Sonic reluctantly stopped, sighing, "Fine. I was going to let it be used for missions, gosh, I'm not stupid."

Lanolin mused, "Are you though?"

Tangle added, "You need to lighten up."

Mighty proceeded to have fun at the former hedgehog's expense, "You're throwing fits over secretly owning girly things as a girl?"

Sonic narrowed his eyes in annoyance, "I didn't choose this you know…"

Mighty continued needling, "How'd it happen?"

Sonic froze awkwardly, "Not import-"

Tangle scratched the back of her head, "We rushed to grab the meteor together."

Sonic facepalmed, "Tangle, why?!"

Lanolin did an incredibly smug smirk, "You really did blunder into it…"

Tails came back out and said, "Hah, got it! Too late now Son-" He took a moment to process the scene of Lanolin stepping on Tangle's tail with Mighty and Tangle taunting Sonic while Whisper puts away her variable wispon and Amy rolls her eyes.

Ray, who was standing next to the door, deadpanned, "We had to pick the weirdest time to meet up again, didn't we?"

Tails shook his head in embarrassment, "Trust me, this is as weird as it gets."

Sonic counter-snarked, "Nope. That would be the times I was sucked into books with their characters looking like friends." He then pondered, "Is this what Sir Percival as Blaze experienced?"

Amy teased softly, "Sure that wasn't just an excuse to get out of my date?"

Sonic frowned and thought, I would have gone! Still, it's in the past, focus on the present.

Tangle, however, became excited, "What library was that?! Can I go there?!"

Sonic shrugged, "I'll consider it."

Lanolin did not look thrilled by that prospect, "That's a disaster waiting to happen."

Whisper just giggled at the scene. Amy then whispered to Silver, "Could you read Sonic's mind to see if he's lying?"

Silver shook his head, "Why do you all assume I can read minds?"

Tails got a notification from his Miles Electric, an incoming call from Dr. Eggman. "Uh, guys, we probably need to head inside. Eggman's trying to call us."

The group ran inside and Tails reluctantly answered. Eggman began, "I must say, that was a rather rude hang up, Tails. Is that any way to talk to an old friend?"

Sonic glared sternly, "We're not here for your boasts Eggman."

Eggman grinned maniacally, "Well, if it isn't Sonic the Lemur."

Sonic gave his confident grin, "How do you know?"

Eggman continued, "I have drones everywhere. We in the Eggman empire would like to congratulate you on transitioning into a non-threat."

Sonic fake laughed, "Such biting wit." He made a fist with Tangle's tail, "This tail isn't just for show you know."

When Sonic finally ran out of breath, Lanolin berated Eggman, "Just get on with it!"

Eggman frowned, "You're no fun. But I'm sure you'll know what I'm up to any minute now…"

That was the moment they got a distress signal from Jewel. Tangle was horrified, "You kidnapped Jewel, didn't you!"

Eggman laughed, "Oh, if it isn't the fakest hedgehog. I must say, your blunders running into every other tree made for quite the entertainment yesterday."

Tangle was horrified, "You were watching that!"

Eggman grinned wide, "Of course!" He then played many of the clips that were recorded, "How could I not? It's comedy gold! And yes, I did send this out for the world to see!"

Everyone's faces were a mix of horror and anger, Sonic internally noting, Great, I look forward to explaining that to Knuckles or Shadow. Mighty also couldn't resist a laugh, getting a betrayed response from Sonic, "Mighty…How could you?!"

Mighty apologetically answered, "Sorry Sonic, but it is at least a little funny."

Whisper's began to grab for the Wispon, but Lanolin put a hand on her shoulder whispering, "He's trying to get in our heads. Don't let him."

Silver however, had a very different idea, "Yeah, Eggman! I've been summoned to stop you. Just you wait."

Eggman feigned surprise, "Oh, if it isn't the future rodent, here to stop another calamity. Does it end with me on top though? Because if it does, I couldn't care less."

Silver seethed, "My bad futures have been total ruin! You think my new one isn't?"

Eggman gleefully answered, "Yes, because you wouldn't have said that if you knew that wasn't the case."

Silver was dumbstruck, He's got me there.

Then in came Mighty, "Don't forget about us! We've stopped you before, we can do it again."

Eggman groaned, "Ugh, you two again. Where have you been anyways?"

Ray snarked, "The world doesn't revolve around you Eggman!"

Eggman kept a neutral glare, "I'll admit, you could be a bit of a problem. But you alone are powerless to stop me! I've come a long way from relying on a Phantom Ruby for my schemes." Metal Sonic then entered the building with his hostage in tow, "Oh, right on cue! Better come get her before I start my experiments on her!"

Jewel disputed this, "Sonic, Tangle, Tails, and whoever else, I'll be fine. Please don't rush it! He must be baiting you, don't make it easy!"

Eggman smirked gleefully, "Not sure if that's a good idea. There are a lot of…interesting possibilities with this meteor. The choice is yours, hahahahahaha!"

The group was left to process what had been said. Lanolin started, "He went after Jewel. We can't let the leader's kidnapping go unpunished, but he's likely set up a trap. Let's be careful about this."

This idea did not sit well with Tangle, "But he's got Jewel! I'm not about to stand idly by while he's got my bestie!"

Sonic, predictably, was similarly impatient, "And 'wait' is not in my vocabulary."

Tails, Amy, Lanolin, and Whisper collectively facepalmed at the same time, Tails bitingly remarking, "Have you learned nothing from what got you into this mess in the first place?"

Sonic confidently smirked, "What is there to learn? We always win!"

Silver also agreed, "We have a lot of firepower here. I know we can take him!"

Mighty and Ray were also on board, "We saw the misery he caused taking over the world, let's stop him!"

Amy shrugged, "If Sonic goes, I go too."

Whisper nodded in agreement. Tails was infuriated, "We're like lambs going to a slaughterhouse."

Lanolin coughed, "Ahem. Not that I disagree, but…"

Tails sheepishly grinned, "Oh, sorry Lanolin."

Lanolin glared to the side, "...I guess if you're all going, I'll join too…"

Tails then noted, "But…I can't carry 9 people on my Tornado. How will we get there?"

Silver lifted some chairs to demonstrate, "Remember what I can do?"

Tails nodded, "That answers it. *sigh* Let's get going."

They made their way to the Tornado. Tails said, "So, Amy and I will be flying in the seats. Sonic, Mighty, Ray, and Tangle will be sitting on the plane wings."

Tangle requested, "Actually, could I fly with you, Silver? I don't want to do that again."

Silver shrugged, "Sure. I've carried far more in the past."

Tails gave a guilty frown, "Sorry about that Tangle. Any objections from you, Mighty and Ray?"

Both of them shook their heads. With the coordinates and arrangements set, they began to fly out.

As they flew, Ray still had a burning question, "Sonic?"

Sonic replied, "Yes Ray?"

Ray asked, "What's so bad about being a girl?"

Sonic sarcastically answered, "The eyelashes. I love being reminded of this body's gender every time I look in the mirror."

Ray raised an eyebrow, "Is that really the worst part?"

Sonic gave an annoyed blush, "Okay, the clothes are annoying too."

Amy prodded him, "At least it's not a proudly girly dress like me!"

Tangle, who was flying with Silver and her fellow Diamond cutters next to them nearby, joined in, "Or full tacky gear like Whisper or Lanolin."

Lanolin annoyedly corrected, "It's called 'tactical gear' Tangle! We've been over this!"

She apologized, "Sorry!"

Lanolin disputed, "Just wait, you'll see its benefits some day."

Whisper giggled at the interaction. Silver internally mused, What is with this time's obsession with clothes?

Sonic admitted, "Well Tangle, thanks for wearing an athletic outfit. I can almost forget you're a girl…if it weren't such a pain to take off!"

Ray mused, "There's something else, isn't there."

Sonic gave an annoyed grin looking away, "Let's just say there are many differences between genders. I don't want to know them all."

Tails corrected, "'Gender' isn't the right term."

Sonic blushingly grimaced, "Yes, Tails. You don't need to elaborate."

Tails went wide-eyed and embarrassedly apologized, "Sorry."

Ray asked Mighty, "What are they talking about?"

Mighty awkwardly blushed, "You'll know when you're older."

Ray pouted, "I'm older than Tails!"

Amy shrugged, "Tails is also a genius. I don't think Sonic could have stopped him if he tried."

Tails gave a confident chuckle, "Not possible."

Ray sighed, "Fine…"

Sonic smiled. Lanolin asked, "How are you so comfortable flying like that?"

Sonic grinned, "You get used to it. Besides, is Silver's telekinesis much safer?"

Silver looked offended, "You've seen my powers! What are you implying?"

Sonic prodded, "Just saying, he could drop you. At least this can make an emergency landing!"

Silver looked a bit down, Whisper coming to his aid, "I trust you."

Silver smiled, "Thanks Whisper."

Tangle called Sonic out, "That wasn't very nice Sonic."

Sonic admitted, "Sure, but this is my plane! Don't diss it."

Mighty offered, "How about we just relax and take in the breeze. We don't need to argue."

Sonic shrugged, "Sure. I can really feel it with this tail too. It's nice."

Mighty poked him a bit, "So it isn't all bad then?"

Sonic confessed, "Of course not. If it was, I wouldn't be stuck like this."

Amy dreamily smiled, "Always finding the little pleasures, aren't you Sonic."

Sonic looked back to wink, "You know it."

Tangle meanwhile decided to do some flips, roll into a ball, dance, and other stuff, getting on Lanolin's nerves, "Tangle, could you please stop that?"

She bluntly replied, "Why? What else is there to do while we fly?"

Silver giggled, "It's fine. It's fun to watch her do things I know Sonic wouldn't."

Sonic took offense to that, "HEY! Since when was I the stick in the mud?!"

Silver apologized, "You aren't. Sorry if I implied otherwise."

Whisper smiled watching, Even as Sonic, she's still adorable.

They then arrived at his sea cave base. It showed minimal development, suggesting it's a very new one. As Sonic got off, he noted the limited dry ground. "We've got to go underwater, don't we?"

Tails frowned, "I think so."

Sonic groaned, "Look forward to cleaning salt out of this tail later."

Tails glared to the side, "Join the club."

Sonic apologetically replied, "Oh, right."

They entered the water, getting through to dry land further into the cave. Lanolin did a headcount, "Everybody make it safely?"

They eventually all did. Lanolin gave a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness."

Then came a nasty surprise, a trapdoor opened beneath them. Silver quickly responded, stopping the fall, only for Metal Sonic to come in and smack him into a wall at full force, knocking him out.

The others tried to resist the fall in their own ways, but Metal Sonic was quick to knock each one out too except Mighty, whom he knew was a waste of time. Thus, they were left with no choice but to fall into the pit.

In the first group, the first to wake up was Sonic, who found himself with Lanolin and Whisper. He looked around hard and couldn't find any else, "TAILS! AMY! TANGLE! MIGHTY! RAY! SILVER!" No response. Whatever happened left them all separated.

Sonic frowned, focusing on his immediate friends. Both of them were seemingly unconscious, leading to Sonic going to wake them up. First he went to Whisper, waking her up. "Whisper, you need to get up."

After a minute, she finally showed signs of life, "T-Tangle, is that you?"

Sonic sadly replied, "No, still Sonic. Need a lift?"

She nodded. Lanolin was also getting up. "Of course it was a trap, why would it be anything else? You glad you brought us here, Sonic?"

Sonic nodded, "It's not about me. It's about Jewel. Tangle would not wait to save her."

Lanolin argued, "She really should have! You really should have!"

Sonic smirked, "You know I don't wait."

Lanolin was fuming, "And that's the problem!"

Whisper nodded, "She's right."

Sonic felt cornered, "Fine, gang up on me. But we need to find a way out with Jewel."

Lanolin wondered, "You sure it'll even be Jewel we're 'saving'? You're proof of what that meteor can do."

Sonic responded, "Pfffft, there's no way Eggman would take Jewel's small body. He's way too egotistical for that."

Whisper asked, "What about your body?"

Sonic was confused, "Whisper this isn't-" She shook her head, briefly imitating Sonic's run. Sonic noted, "...Ohhhh…That could be a problem. Still doubtful."

Lanolin bluntly stated, "Either way, we need to go stop him if we can."

Sonic smiled, "Now you're speaking my language!" He then began stretching the tail to swing, "Let's go girls!"

Lanolin annoyedly chased after, "You do not get to say that!" Whisper would follow behind.

In the second group, Mighty was never knocked out due to the toughness of his shell. This left him to wake up Tails, Amy, and Ray.

Amy was first to wake up on her own, "What happened?"

Mighty explained, "We fell into a pit and were ambushed by Metal Sonic."

Ray woke up next, having heard the exchange, "That is a nasty trap Eggman set."

Tails finally got up, "Yeah, but it was expected."

Mighty asked, "Where are we?"

Tails looked at his Miles Electric, "We are deep into the cave."

Amy noted, "Where is the water?"

Tails pondered, "Eggman must have pumped it out somehow."

Mighty gave an angry response, "That's Eggman alright, never leave a good natural habitat alone."

Ray asked, "Where is everyone else?"

Tails tried to check, "I'm getting too much electromagnetic interference to tell."

Amy Raised an eyebrow, "What does that mean?"

Tails sighed in frustration, "It means I can't get any signals. We need to find a way out of here, reunite with the others, and find Jewel. I can still track where we've been, so let's head out."

Ray glowed, "It'll be just like old times!...Just without Sonic."

Mighty frowned, "Yeah. But he can take care of himself. As for Tangle and the others though…We can hope."

Tangle had remembered to roll into a ball, allowing for a safe roll along the wall before coming to a stop. After unrolling, she immediately shouted for every friend that they had been with, "WHISPER! SONIC! TAILS! AMY! SILVER! MIGHTY! RAY! LANOLIN!" No response was heard. This unnerved Tangle as she's rarely been alone in her life. Did he split us all up alone, or just me? she wondered.

Left with no other option, Tangle began running into the cave, trying to maintain a balance between speed and avoiding obstacles. The sporadic lighting was the only thing making this possible. Must be very new, Tangle noted. She came to an open area in the cave that even had a sound system, which Eggman was quick to use.

Eggman taunted, "Well, if it isn't Sonic's body snatcher!"

Tangle disputed, "I did no such thing!"

Eggman pressed sarcastically, "Suuuuuure. I'm sure it was a total coincidence you didn't undo this when you had the chance! Face it, you're jealous of Sonic!"

Tangle felt guilty, but countered, "You don't know what you're talking about."

Eggman laughed, "Oh, but I do! Poor little lemur, trapped on an island with her beetle 'bestie'. You just couldn't resist the opportunity to let loose where I met Sonic, could you?"

Tangle was disturbed, "How did you-?"

Eggman continued, "Not important. Congrats! You ensured you trapped yourselves this way. Thank you for giving me my path to conquering the world again!"

Tangle grew serious, "You will be stopped, he can do it again!"

Eggman annoyedly admitted, "...Maybe, but can you stop Metal Sonic?!"

Tangle gulped, Crap, just try your best Tangle. That's all you can do here.

Metal Sonic came at her, she narrowly dodged. She tried to jump at the robot, but missed. Next came an attempt at a spindash, which whiffed, hitting a wall in the process. Metal Sonic realized this would be easiest if he just let her tire herself out. So he just started dodging every tactic she tried. It proved effective.

Tangle, noticing, argued, "Why won't you fight me?! Stop dodging you coward!"

Metal Sonic just kept up his usual glare. In a final desperate move, Tangle tried a dash punch, utilizing speed to try and punch the robot. This too failed. She then fell to the floor, having exhausted her energy. Metal Sonic picked up the exhausted lemur trapped in a hedgehog's body. Unable to fight back, she asked, "Where are you taking me?"

She quickly got her answer as she saw Eggman and Jewel. Jewel was facepalming, "Tangle! I told you not to rush into this!"

Tangle tried to insist, "Don't worry Jewel, I got this!" She tried to escape, but failed. "Or not…"

Eggman laughed at the sad display, "You idiotic lemur. I must thank you. Now, I can steal Sonic's body for my own designs! Oh, what mayhem I could wreak on the world! Before they knew it they'd…"

While Eggman ranted about his brilliance, a thought entered Metal's head:

You are Sonic.

This was disturbing to the robot. He was programmed to serve Eggman and he clearly wanted to be the one to take Sonic's-

You ARE Sonic.

There came the voice again. He didn't know where it was coming from. He was a proud servant of Eggman and no one else. Sonic's body was not his for the-

You are The True Sonic.

Okay, this was getting on his nerves. He was not about to disobey his master. Now was not the time and did he even know if it could work with a robot and flesh? Wouldn't he just get fried up inst-

YOU ARE THE TRUE SONIC! CLAIM YOUR BIRTHRIGHT!

With the now deafening volume of this forceful thought, Metal felt drawn to the meteor. He started taking steps toward it, his desired body still firmly in his grasp. Tangle was panicking, "Uh, Eggman, I think your robot has other plans!"

Eggman, who was still ranting, finally noticed, "-And that's why the world will irrevocably be-Wait, Metal Sonic, what are you doing?! I demand you stop walking toward that at once!" He noticed that his robot wasn't stopping, so he ran to stop him, "It could just fry you both! Think of the consequences!" Shortly thereafter, the Meteor glowed brighter than ever before.

Back on their home island, Rouge got a notification, "Head to GUN base, we have a new mission for you." Rolling her eyes, she went to the secret base. In it was also Shadow, with Omega dialed in.

The meeting began with GUN's islands branch leader, "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Rouge deadpanned, "This better be important, you interrupted my beauty sleep."

Shadow smirked, "Is that what you were doing?"

Rouge gave a wink, "Definitely."

From the other side of Omega's call came the sound of various robots being blown to smithereens.

The leader noted, "Guessing he's busy with ruthless Egg Base destruction. Let's be glad he's on our side…Your current mission is-"

"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!" Came the base's alarm system.

The leader pondered, "What in the world?"

From the halls came the sound of incessant laser fire, guards wearing laser-proof armor. From the halls came the sounds of guards being taken down one by one, coming closer until the intruder made their way to the meeting room.

"I KNEW YOU HAD A BASE HERE!" Came a gleeful scream of a very determined badger who had entered the room.

The leader had a narrow eyed glare, "How did she-?"

Rouge interrupted, "I'll handle this." She walked over to Sticks. "Congratulations on finding us…Sticks was it? You know you broke at least 30 laws to get here right?"

Sticks smugly smiled, "I'm too off the grid for you to track me!"

Rouge grinned, "I admire your foolhardiness. Did you just want to prove a point, or do you have something to say before guards escort you to your cell?"

Sticks answered, "Yes, I would like your help. It involves a…gem of sorts."

Rouge was intrigued, "Go on then."

Sticks replied, "Amy said Eggman stole a meteor. I have the gut instinct Sonic and others went after it, are about to be trapped, and need a rescue."

Rouge was sold at meteor, but Shadow disputed, "Rouge, we can't just go on random gem hunts."

Rouge reluctantly agreed, asking, "Anything special about it?"

Sticks sighed, "This'll sound crazy…But it can swap people's bodies."

Rouge asked the leader in disbelief, "Can you confirm this?"

The leader answered, "Confirmed is a strong word, but we have reports from Restoration insiders of a Cat and Hamster who claim to be swapped after guarding Miles Prower's home. Other crucial intel includes chaos from their leader's kidnapping by Metal Sonic, who's being taken to what appears to be a continental base. Sonic and some friends appear to be approaching it."

Shadow's eyes widened, "We're going. Now."

Sticks asked, "Could I please come?"

Rouge grinned, "Sure, sugar. We owe you this one."

The leader suggested, "That was your mission anyway. You may take our GDTC 2621 Stealth plane to the reported base's closest airport."

Rouge nodded, "Thank you."

Note: I'm not especially satisfied with much of my dialogue writing in past chapters so I will be rewriting much of it, particularly being less wordy where it doesn't make sense to a character. No plot beats will be changed in doing this, it will be strictly dialogue focused. I would like to thank Morlas for pointing out this flaw in my writing.