Note: Another chapter, another beta read by the one and only Pybro2.

The (Neo) Diamond Cutters were advancing down the Cave. Sonic was taking full advantage of the Tail to maneuver, leaving Lanolin and Whisper frequently rushing to keep up. Lanolin eventually got tired of this and shouted, "Could you please slow down?"

Sonic snarked, "Slow?! I told you I don't do 'slow'! That's not how I swing."

Lanolin snarked back, "Sounds like someone's suffering an identity crisis."

Sonic smirked, "I'm Sonic. Need I say more."

Lanolin noted, "Sonic the Lemur?"

Sonic gave a depressed sigh, "I guess."

Whisper asked, "What's it like dating Tangle?"

Sonic immediately landed dramatically to emphasize getting serious, "Who told you we were?"

Lanolin requested, "Please keep moving while we talk."

Sonic nodded. Whisper was still taken aback at the reaction, "...Jewel texted me."

Sonic sighed, "She's mistaken. I like Tangle a lot, but as a friend. Nothing more."

Lanolin jumped in to add, "Jewel may have made a typo. She's a busy beetle, mistakes happen."

Whisper had another question, "What did Tangle say?"

Sonic raised an eyebrow, "About what?"

Whisper clarified, "About the date last night?"

Sonic explained, "She didn't know it was a date. How? I don't know."

Whisper laughed, "That's Tangle alright."

Sonic winked, "I won't let her miss your next date."

Whisper, however, wasn't sure, "Still thinking about that."

Sonic was flabbergasted, "But-"

Whisper continued, "Why? Just thinking of another."

Sonic gave an interested look, "Who's the lucky one?"

Whisper sheepishly replied, "...Silver"

Lanolin and Sonic were surprised, Sonic thinking, Didn't see that coming. He asked, "Why?"

Whisper elaborated, "He's earnestly sweet too."

Sonic was puzzled, "Dating a time traveler seems…challenging. Besides," Sonic proceeds to do his best impression of Tangle's expressions, "how could you resist this pretty face?"

Lanolin taunted, "Ask yourself that question."

Sonic's expression immediately soured, "I'm very tired of hearing that. Don't suggest it again."

Lanolin nodded with a smirk, "Understood."

That was when they heard footsteps. They got to a meeting point and quickly ran into Sonic's body.

The hedgehog spoke, "There you guys are. It's nice to see familiar faces again. We need to find Jewel, let's go this way!"

Sonic shrugged, "Good as any other." As They walked, Sonic asked, "What happened to you?"

The response? "Eggman trapped me alone. He must have known I'd get stressed out."

Whisper looked concerned, "That sounds like Eggman."

Lanolin asked, "You do like company."

Sonic tried to reassure, "Could be worse."

Tangle(?) smirked, "Yeah, it could."

As they reached an open area in the cave, shortly after one step, a trapdoor opened under Whisper. Tangle(?) ran over, "Whisper!"

Lanolin, however, wasn't buying it, "I saw that happen with your step. You did that intentionally! Who are you?!"

'Tangle' did a spin dash to Lanolin's face, sending her into a wall. She feigned being knocked out, knowing that anything else might provoke another attack.

Sonic was on high alert, "What was that for?!"

'Tangle' gave a stern answer, "Establishing the true power here!"

Sonic asked, "Eggman? Heh." Sonic took a fighting stance with tail ready to punch, "You made this too easy."

'Tangle' laughed maniacally, "You think that old fool knows how to spin dash?"

Sonic thought about, "Who are you?"

'Tangle' finally stopped beating around the bush, "Who else…but the One True Sonic?!"

Sonic's eyes widened before narrowing in rage, "...Metal."

Metal 'Sonic' gave a shrug shaking his head, "Tsk Tsk, we're all flesh and blood around here. No need to use such demeaning language."

Sonic was concerned, "What did you do with Tangle?"

'Sonic' Smirked, "Odd question coming from her."

Sonic kept up the anger, "No, because I'm Sonic. Answer the question!"

'Sonic' dismissed it, "Sorry, I don't care about nobodies. Sonic is the only name that matters!"

Sonic insisted, "She's stuck in your body, isn't she?!

'Sonic' exploded in anger, "THIS IS MY BODY! DON'T forget it!" He launched at his body's unrightful previous owner.

Sonic dodged and countered, "This shtick is getting old. I am Sonic!"

'Sonic' started charging another spindash, "Nope, that name belongs to Sonic the Hedgehog." He launched and Sonic tried to dodge, but got grabbed by the tail, and was thrown into the wall. "Last I checked, hedgehogs don't have tails!"

Sonic was fuming, wiping his face as he got off the wall and gave a calm response, "Yes we do!"

'Sonic' was confused, "What do you mean?" Sonic pointed, 'Sonic' confused until he saw behind his back and remembered, "...Oh."

Sonic took the opportunity to launch a slingshot punch while he was distracted, sending him into a wall and bragging, "That's my body." He wrapped his body in the tail before he could recover, "Now GIVE! IT! BACK!"

'Sonic' confidently smirked, "Like you can hold me…" He then did a spin dash, rapidly wrapping the tail around himself and trapping Sonic in a very tight wheel around his own body. "Hey, this seems like fun, how about we take it for a spin."

Sonic was concerned, I don't like the sound of that… 'Sonic' began spinning his lemur adversary around the cave. Being trapped in a wheel made with Tangle's tail, he felt each taste of the dirt that made up the cave. Eventually, 'Sonic' made him taste the wall directly.

Sonic got up, "I'll admit, that hurt." He then got back into a fighting stance, "But I'm not done yet!"

'Sonic' flippantly dismissed, "You will be! Tell me, did you ever learn to fight?"

Sonic raised an eyebrow as he launched the tail in his body's direction, "I've fought you and Eggman how many times?"

'Sonic' dodged it, "Not my question."

Sonic tried swiping and 'Sonic' did a flip to avoid it. Sonic realized he had a point, and then stopped the tail right in front of his opponent to launch another slingshot punch. 'Sonic' launched a spindash riding on it to ensure maximum damage as the lemur's body was thrown into a wall by the force of the attack.

He then fell to the ground, struggling to get up. 'Sonic' mocked his opponent, "Now you see my point, don't you?!" As his counterpart struggled to get up, he launched another attack, "Oh, my loathsome copy, that's why you'll never be anything more than the cheap knock-off." The lemur on the ground still struggled to get up, "All speed, no thought. Fate corrected this cosmic mistake to finally put you in your place." He attacked again, "Stay down, your continued resistance is embarrassing."

Sonic used all the strength he had left in Tangle's body and Tail, finally standing up again, "You should know, I don't know when to quit!"

'Sonic' bragged, "Then let me teach you!" He began winding up a spin dash, seeking to end his enemy once and for all. As he let loose, a hammer smacked him off course, preventing it from happening.

Amy declared, "Leave him alone…Whoever you are!"

'Sonic' flirted, "Don't you want to sleep with the true Sonic? Cause now's your chaaance…"

Amy confidently countered, "Jumping all the steps, are you? The real Sonic is right here. You're just a creep."

Mighty then put his fists together as he ran to assist, "Now get lost before we pound you!"

'Sonic' shrugged, "Tough crowd. No matter, we'll meet again." As he darted down the cave.

Ray asked, "Sonic, are you okay?"

Sonic replied, "That fight hurt, but I'll be fine. Thanks for the save you guys."

Lanolin got up from her pretend faint, "Good thing you've got friends, huh?"

Mighty patted Sonic on the back, "You bet!"

Tails asked, "But, where's Whisper?"

Lanolin sadly sighed, "She fell down a trapdoor. Seems we were led to a trap."

Amy raised an eyebrow, "What does Eggman want with Whisper?"

Tails sadly sighed, "Who knows? For now, we need to figure out how to escape this cave and find her and Silver!"

Before the flight over, Omega had arrived to join on this raid. Omega was excited to have a new base to reign havoc on, while Shadow was focused on the mission and Rouge had some nice rubber gloves ready for the steal.

Sticks asked Rouge, "How did you get hired for a human organization?"

Rouge ignored the question. She looked at Shadow, no response. She looked at Omega, also no response. Sticks glared sideways, "Guess you aren't much for talking."

They arrived at the airport and made their way towards the cliffside. Shadow noted, "Here we are."

Omega was disappointed, "I WAS TOLD THERE WAS EGGMAN. WHERE IS EGGMAN?"

Rouge mused, "We'll probably have to get into the ocean to find-"

Sticks had found a secret switch and triggered it, giving them access to the base, "Or we could go this way!"

Rouge smiled, "How did you…Not complaining, let's go!"

The three of them walked for a distance and found Eggman's control room in the base. He was there along with Jewel. "How did you…" He saw Sticks and changed his tune, "...Nevermind. Glad you could make it too, Shadow. Oh, this day just keeps getting better."

Shadow gave a furious grin, "You should choose your last words more carefully."

Eggman shrugged as he triggered a tube, "I'm not dying today. Best of luck! Ohohoho." As Eggman disappeared into a tube.

Rouge, during that lecture, had hacked into his security to free Jewel. Unfortunately, there was no meteor to be found. "Guess we found one Jewel."

Jewel rolled her eyes, "At least you're not stealing from me for once."

Rouge smirked, "Holding a grudge? But, what did Eggman do with that meteor?"

Jewel frowned, "It had its own transportation tube."

While that was being discussed, Sticks noticed a limp Metal Sonic on the ground, "What happened to him?"

Jewel gave a horrified expression, "Tangle got trapped in his grasp and he touched the meteor with her. I hope she's okay."

Rouge asked a clarifying question, "Wait, why would Metal Sonic want the lemur's body?"

Jewel quickly elaborated, "That's because she and Sonic got their bodies swapped."

Rouge tried not to burst into laughter, "Not sure what's funnier, Sonic dealing with being a woman or Sonic's face with that lemur's expressions?"

Shadow had a similar amused look, "Excellent question, Rouge."

Omega added, "GENDER IS MEANINGLESS TO A ROBOT. LESS TALKING MORE RANSACKING."

Sticks grabbed Metal Sonic's body, "I'll take this and Jewel. You go find Sonic and the others."

Rouge smiled, "Trusting me? Smart move. Let's go!"

Shadow smirked, "Don't tell me twice."

Omega replied, "INITIATE WRECKING PROTOCOLS."

Rouge went wide-eyed, "Not yet! We need to escort them out alive."

As they ran into the base, they found Sonic and friends in a relatively short amount of time. Most had mixed feelings to be found by Team Dark, but Sonic looked like he was about to have a heart attack, Murphy's law is here, isn't it.

Tails greeted them, "Hey there Rouge, Shadow, and Omega. What brings you here?"

Rouge answered, "A mission and your Badger friend found us a secret entrance. What's the situation?"

Amy nodded, "That sounds like Sticks alright. We're looking for Jewel and Whisper."

Rouge smiled, "We found your lady bug."

'Tangle' Corrected, "Beetle!"

Rouge smirked, "My bad."

Shadow walked over to the lemur, smirking, "And who might you be, young lady?"

'She' gulped, "Tangle the Lemur. You must be Shadow. I've heard you're real fast." 'She' gave a familiar sarcastic grin, "Almost as fast as Sonic."

Shadow revealed what he already knew, "You would say that, wouldn't you…Sonic."

Sonic's heart sank to the deepest depths it could manage, HOW DOES HE ALREADY KNOW?!!! He now had a look of deep dread as he gave the most dread-filled sigh, "Go on then…"

Shadow gave a malicious smirk. Sonic added, "You must want to taunt me about being stuck as a girl, so do it."

He answered, "Congratulations, you finally have chest hair."

Mighty raised an eyebrow, "What?" But Shadow just gave a smug look of satisfaction.

The insult clicked with Sonic as he blushed up a storm of embarrassment, the tail became frazzled, and he screamed in incoherent rage. Mighty begged, "Sonic, not so loud."

Rouge tried hard not to laugh, Insecure, are you Sonic?

Shadow, satisfied, then went back to scowling. "Now let's complete our mission."

Omega nodded, "EGGMAN HERE I COME!" As he ran down another way.

Lanolin then took the moment to ask, "Who here needs to head outside and who wants to continue searching?"

Tails volunteers, "I'll stick around! My Miles Electric will keep us from getting lost."

Amy agrees, "We need to leave with our friends!"

Sonic did too, "I'll keep searching t-" As he was interrupted by a cough.

Mighty disagreed, "Sonic, you're in no shape to stay."

Ray nodded, "We'll help you get out together."

Rouge nodded, "I'll lead the way. Best of luck to you all!"

The group of Sonic, Mighty, Ray, and Rouge walked out of the cave. Rouge immediately started needling the former hedgehog, "How did you end up with the Lemur's body Blue? Curiosity about the opposite sex get the better of you?"

Sonic replied with annoyance, "No, it was an accident."

Rouge smiled mischievously, "You sure it wasn't anything more? Could be the red strings of fate."

Sonic gave a blunt answer, "Yes. If I wanted to date her, I'd have done it already."

Rouge went for what she knew would get a reaction, putting an arm over his shoulder, "Come on Blue, you've already accomplished with her what many could only dream of! You're already in-"

Sonic exploded screaming again in rage at this implication. After he was confident Rouge had stopped, who had reacted with a shocked expression, "Rouge, you are gross! I don't like her that way! Leave me alone!"

Rouge didn't stop, "Your attitude suggests otherwise." Sonic gave a deathly angry 'tired of this' glare, "Can't you take a joke? It's just interesting how much more we now have in common."

Sonic was still a blushing wreck as he answered with a chagrined expression, "Don't remind me."

Rouge teased, "You're cute when you're flustered."

Sonic closed his eyes with a clear frown, "Rouge, you're unbelievable."

Rouge then flirted with the deeply flustered current lemur, "Then I've done my job. If you need to see the joys of your new body, you just need to ask. Here is my card."

Sonic glared daggers at Rouge, "You don't know when to quit, do you?"

Rouge then bluntly answered, "Like you know any better. Tell me, how confident are you in regaining your body, Blue, or should I start calling you Gray?"

Sonic put on a confident grin, "I've beaten Eggman before, I'll do it again."

Rouge continued, "And what if you don't? What if you really are stuck with your lemur friend's body for the rest of your life?"

The thought briefly filled Sonic with a genuine sense of deep dread, but he quickly gave an uncomfortable dismissal, "Cross that bridge if we reach it, but I will never give up."

Rouge smiled, "I'm just trying to prepare you for the worst."

Sonic answered with some venom behind his voice, "Sure you are."

Mighty came to the defense of his emasculated friend, "Rouge, leave him alone."

She shrugged, "Fine, you spoil sports."

Mighty whispered to Sonic, "Is she really one of your new friends?"

Sonic whispered bluntly, "Depends on the day."

Ray groaned, "You have some interesting friends, Sonic."

Rouge gave a fake smooch, "You know it. If you ever want to date Sonic, I can find time."

Sonic glared elsewhere, "Now is not the time Rouge."

Rouge winked, "Why not?"

Sonic gave an annoyed sigh, "You've said enough."

They now found the cave exit, taking Sonic to the airport and stealth plane, the pilot welcomed them, "Thank goodness, I couldn't stand another question from this girl."

Sticks smugly asserted, "He has to know some secret. It comes with the position."

Jewel glared to the side, "Not every government agent knows a deep secret, uh…"

She asserted her name, "Sticks."

Jewel continued, "Sticks. How much did Amy learn from you?"

Sticks giggled and winked, "Enough."

Having made it to the plane, Sonic then fainted to the ground. Mighty and Ray were alarmed while Rouge facepalmed.

Mighty confirmed, "We were lucky we stopped his body thief."

Rouge's eyes went wide, "If I still had any doubts that's Sonic, they're gone now. Metal Sonic has his body right?"

Ray glared in annoyance, "Maybe? He mentioned being the 'True Sonic'."

Rouge immediately began notifying GUN intelligence about this development. "That's alarming. But, with Sonic escorted here safely, we could head back into the cave."

Mighty and Ray nodded, "Sounds like a plan." They left Tangle's unconscious body on a laid-back seat as they re-entered the cave.

The team of Tails, Amy, and Lanolin were continuing down into the cave. Lanolin asked Tails, "What's their deal?"

Tails tilted his head, "Shadow and his team?"

Amy frowned, "Keep to themselves except for Rouge, who likes flirting with Sonic."

Lanolin wondered, "Whisper would fit right in."

Tails pondered it too, "Maybe. They operate differently from us."

Lanolin got back on mission, "Any guesses on the size of this base?"

Tails checked his current tracking, "We've seen maybe a 10th of the cave."

Lanolin was apoplectic but kept a neutral expression, "This is going to take forever."

After another hour of cave-searching, they ran into Rouge, Ray, and Mighty. Tails was surprised, "You came back in?"

Rouge smiled, "Like I could resist a gem to collect."

Mighty gave a different response, "We wanted to make sure you're safe." Ray agreed.

Rouge jokingly rolled her eyes, "That too."

Omega found them now, "I'M GOING IN CIRCLES! HOW! I WAS TOLD THERE WOULD BE AN EGGMAN BASE TO DESTROY BUT THERE'S NO BASE HERE! LIARS, ALL OF YOU!"

Rouge went to calm down the robot, "We found Eggman. Maybe we haven't found the main base yet."

Omega let his fans vent, nodding.

Then entered another familiar face, "Finally, I found you guys!" Said Silver. Behind him was an unconscious Whisper lifted by his telekinesis.

Lanolin was happy to see, "Silver, it's great to see you."

Tails agreed, "We've been looking all over for you two!"

Silver smiled, "Aww shucks, guys."

Mighty asked, "What happened to you?!"

Silver frowned, "Eggman trapped me alone."

Tails replied, "Must have wanted to isolate you."

Silver nodded, "Of course he did."

Lanolin further queried him, "How did you find Whisper?"

Silver gave an angry expression, "I found her knocked out in a cell and got her out. I won't let Eggman get away with that!"

Rouge provided the next question, "Have you seen Shadow?"

Silver gave a concerned grin, "I saw him captured in a cell being taken into his Egg Fleet submarine. There was nothing I could do, I'm sorry."

Lanolin nodded, "What is with hedgehogs and running in without a plan?"

Silver gave an awkward chuckle, "Yeah, what kind of hedgehog would do that?"

Amy was offended, "Like we all do that."

Rouge sighed, "Guess we better head out. We'll get you out, Shadow, I promise."

As they headed out of the cave Sticks was waiting, "There you guys are. Made it out safely?"

They all looked varying from sad to frustrated, "We made it out with all but Shadow." Tails answered.

Sticks was concerned, "That's not good. That just leaves Silver to stop Eggman."

Silver was suddenly sweating, "Not a comforting thought…"

Sticks gave a pat on the back, "Maybe that's why you came back to the past. Hey Tails, Mind if I fly with you on the Tornado?"

Amy smiled, "Sounds fun Sticks!"

Tails agreed, "Sounds good. Everyone else flies back with Rouge. We'll see you around."

Mighty and Ray ran with them, "Don't forget us!"

Tails admitted, "Sorry, it's been a while. Come along!"

Eggman was preparing his Egg-fleet Submarine to leave his current continental base to head to a new location. Cubot asked, "Boss, we just barely got here!"

Orbot answered his fellow henchman, "I'm sure the boss has a reason."

Eggman gave a frustrated explanation, "It's too compromised. That confounded Badger already found my secret entrance. I need to go to a safer location to restart. At least…'Sonic' will have access to the mainland. Saying that name with 'him' serving me is weird."

Orbot earnestly queried, "Is it a bad thing?"

Eggman laughed, "Of course not! My biggest threat serves me now and my others are neutralized."

Cubot gave an odd response, "But what about that weird leaf-head?"

Orbot did not compute it, "Leaf-head?"

Eggman laughed, "A surprisingly poignant observation Cubot. Don't worry we have…plans for him!"

Orbot and Cubot smiled, Orbot adding, "Master, you really are the smartest."

Cubot did a non-sequitur, "Now let's do our Eggman Empire cheer!"

Eggman was befuddled, "What cheer?"

Cubot was giddy to explain, "Don't tell me you forgot! It goes, 'Eggman Empire, hip hip hooray!'"

Orbot remarked, "You have such a way with words Cubot."

Cubot missed the implicit insult, "Thank you, Orbot!"

Eggman sighed, "Fine, just once."

The three did the Cheer, "Eggman Empire, hip hip hooray!"