Note: Pybro2, thanks again for reading the beta of this chapter

On the flight over, Ray sat in the back seat while Mighty and Silver stood on the wing. Ray poked fun at the irony, "You know Mighty, it'll be hard to catch you if you fall. At least Tails and I can fly."

Mighty shrugged, "Nah. It's fun experiencing the breeze. And I want to be ready if we're met with a hostile reception."

Tails insisted, "Mighty, I told you, the Scrapniks are nice. Eggman abandoned them and they built their own civilization in his absence. It's incredible. We helped free Mecha Sonic and Mecha Knuckles from Eggman's programming."

Silver had a gleeful smile, "The more you tell me about this place, the more excited I am to see it with my own eyes!"

Tails gleefully smiled, "Agreed. I'm excited to see how far they've come since the last time we visited."

Silver then asked, "But, what was that about the 'Egg Noggin'?"

Tails took a moment to remember, "According to Sonic, Mecha Sonic tried to 'Suck his brains out' with it. Almost worked too, it established a psychic link that made Sonic shed tears on his behalf."

Silver pondered it, "So it can swap the bodies of a robot and a flesh being?! That sounds…terrifying."

Ray put the pieces together, "You're gonna use it to return Metal Sonic to his original body. Is that the plan?"

Tails winked back, "Bingo."

Mighty cupped his fist, "Then we know the plan. I trust you Tails. This should go smoothly!"

Silver nodded. Then he pondered further, "What else is stashed away in this place?"

Tails, being the tech wiz he is, couldn't help himself, "Many restored badniks, remains of the Death Egg, and the 'Scrambled Egg Carrier'."

Silver chuckled, "Whoever named that has a sense of humor. Must have gotten it from their creator."

Tails shrugged, "It's easy when they're all themed around Eggman."

Then Silver noticed what appeared to be a vicious storm as they approached, "Uh…Is that normal?"

Tails nodded, "We crash landed on our first visit because of getting struck by lightning. The island has an unstable climate disruptor. Brace yourselves, this could get hairy!"

Silver grimaced in horror, "Oh boy…"

As they flew towards the storm, they tried to stay above the waves, but no higher. Mighty was frustrated, "You didn't think to warn us about this?!"

Tails gave a guilty frown, "I was too excited to return. This place is incredible."

Silver gave a concerned look, "Which direction is it? I'll see if they can get this under control!"

Tails shook his head, "Sigma said they've tried, but can't."

Silver insisted, "There must be a way. This is important to saving the future, I know it must be! Just give me a chance and you'll be flying freely to a better world!"

Tails sighed, "You got it Silver. It's that way! Let us know when we're safe."

Silver nodded, "You got it, Tails!"

Mighty smiled as he flew off, "I barely met this guy, and I already admire his bravery. You and Sonic have amassed so many more great friends. I'm happy to meet them."

Tails nodded, "Happy to hear."

Ray scratched his head, "Uh…Sure. I've never seen someone besides you so fascinated by Egg-tech than him, Tails."

Tails was confused by that comment, "Eggman may be evil, but his machines are capable of great things when not forced to be loyal. Just look at Omega, Gemerl, or Belle."

Ray tilted his head, "Who?"

Tails smiled awkwardly, "Oh, you must have not met them yet. Gemerl is a long story, but Belle was built by an amnesiac Eggman who called himself 'Mr. Tinker'."

Mighty laughed and as he regained composure he noted, "Oh, I wish I'd seen it. That would have been a riot."

Ray frowned and somberly noted, "If only he'd stayed that way…"

Tails then pondered, "Wonder how the repairs to Metal Sonic's body are going…"

They landed on a nearby island to relax for a bit as the climate disruptor was dealt with. Mighty took the chance to stretch before asking, "As nice as new friends are, I get the feeling Sonic's also made new enemies."

Ray depressedly agreed, "Are there Tails?"

Tails didn't look to happy to think about that. He candidly answered, "Yes. There's Mimic, a shapeshifting octopus with a history with Whisper only a select few are privy to. Clutch, a mafia boss currently in Restoration custody. Rough and Tumble, a duo of skunks who rarely go down with much of a fight. And most terrifying aside from Eggman, Surge and Kit, Starline's twisted ripoff of Sonic and I."

Mighty took a ponderous pose, "Who's Starline?"

Tails quickly explained briefly, "Dead, but was a crazed Eggman fanboy. Similar to how Amy was for Sonic. Created them to be our rivals, and they nearly killed us."

They both recoiled in horror, Ray starting, "Oh dear. Hope they don't find Sonic right now…"

Mighty nodded, "Yeah, that can only end poorly."


The three pairs made their way through the screening process for cute couples. In a new feature, each couple gets their photo taken and a title to call their own, available to purchase. First went Knuckles and Rouge. Rouge asked, "Come on now, smile for the camera."

Knuckles was still a bit flustered to be here, so he tried, but it came out forced. But, Rouge was a master of the flirty pose. When the photo came out, their title was "Beauty and the Beast". Knuckles was offended, "Hey! Why am I the beast?! Was it my mitten gloves?!"

Rouge shrugged, "I've been called worse. You'll get used to it."

Next up was Sticks and Trip. Sticks suggested, "Hey, let's do a silly face." Trip instead put on her helmet. Sticks shrugged, "Ah well, your loss." She struck an excited pose.

The photo came out, and their title was "Sun & Moon." Sticks shrugged, "Huh, cute. Kind of like you."

Trip insisted, "Can we just leave now? I'm getting nervous."

Sticks winked, "Sure! I've heard this place is loads of fun! Let's go!" And the duo went on.

And then it was Amy and Sonic's turn. Amy smiled, "Never thought we'd be doing this again."

Sonic nodded, "Agreed. Last time, we split apart so how about this time." He winked, "We make this date count?"

Amy winked back, "Don't need to tell me twice."

As they approached the camera, Sonic did the Wink, thumbs up, and tail thumbs up while Amy did a silly wink on the opposite eye to Sonic will doing a silly stick-out of the tongue. Their title, "The Straightest Lesbians".

Sonic chuckled, "A little on the nose, don't ya think?"

As the three groups walked out, they got a moment to take each-others' photos in. Sonic immediately teasingly complimented Knuckles, "Knuckles, you're an absolute beast alright. And I mean that as a compliment, you're tough!"

Knuckles blushed as Rouge asked back to Amy ponderously, "Just how gay is it to date your male crush when he's a girl?"

Sonic shrugged, "Beats me."

Tangle poked fun at him, "That'd make you a Trans Lesbian."

That made Sonic glare sideways in annoyance, "Pretty sure 'Trans' identification comes from choosing your gender. I certainly didn't 'choose'...this."

Knuckles nodded. Sticks winked, "And we'll choose to make it right after this!"

Trip, having taken off the mask, shyly whispered, "I've only heard secondhand, but…Aren't there things girls can do to become men?"

That comment made Sonic recoil in horror, "NO!...I mean, yes. But, it's not my decision to make!"

Trip was recoiling herself, "Sorry…"

Sticks put a hand on her shoulder, "It's fine, I struggle with that stuff too."

Tangle spoke from the phone again, "As much fun as being Sonic was, I'm not sure I want to take that plunge."

Sonic nodded, "Then that's that. I'll suffer through Tangle's hormones and…everything else. She deserves her body the way it was."

Tangle was offput by the…Choice of words, but gave a digital nod, "Thanks Sonic. Feel free to eat as many chili dogs as you need." Sonic nodded.

Rouge needled him further, "You could try to self-identify. They recognized how masculine you are. Maybe you could get away with no clothes too!"

Sonic dismissed the idea in horror, "I'll choose 'being a girl' over being a prisoner, thank you very much! Trying to prove my identity in court, that's a laugh."

Knuckles looked at Rouge, "Are you insane?!"

Sticks shook her head with closed eyes, "What lawyer would take that case?"

Rouge winked, "It was a joke. I know the law better than any of you."

Tangle then interjected, "…Maybe I shouldn't have said that."

Amy then winked at Sonic, "What's important is that I will love Sonic through anything."

Sonic agreed, "And that, I respect. That's enough heavy discussion. Let's go race on the circuit! Last to the finish is a rotten Eggman!"

Amy smiled, "You're on!"

Sticks grabbed Trip to bring her along. Knuckles and Rouge weren't far behind. As they got to the starting line. Tangle noted to Sonic through the earpiece, "I'm so jealous I can't do this myself."

Sonic pulled out his phone to answer, "Maybe you could take Whisper here. Or failing that, we could come here."

Trip was, offput by this attraction, "This…Doesn't seem safe."

Sticks mused herself, "I don't know how they afford to run this."

Rouge smugly answered, "Improved safety technology and a little bit of corruption, I suspect."

Knuckles dismissed this discussion, "Whatever, I'm gonna win this!"

Amy however, wasn't feeling competitive, "The only thing I race at is the 'Speed of Love'."

Sonic had his signature grin as he spoke, "Please Knuckles, we all know who'll win this race." He then had the tail point a 'finger' at himself along with both thumbs, "Me."

Tangle asked him privately, "You sure about that?"

Sonic whispered, "On foot, not a chance. Fortunately…This is no foot race!"

The starting bell was rung on the race and the 6 went on their way. Trip quickly opted out of winning the race and took the track at her own pace. Rouge and Amy tried, but fell behind a bit. This led to a race between Sticks, Knuckles, and Sonic. Knuckles declared, "I got you this time, Sonic!"

Sonic teased back, "In your dreams Knuckles."

Sticks then passed them, "You two and your egos forgot about me! Bye!"

Amy was approaching, saying, "Catching up you guys!"

Sonic then remembered to focus on the race again, making one last declaration, "Sorry, too fast for that!" He took a deep breath and focused on the race track, entering a zen-like state that reminded him of the hedgehog he used to be. He hit every speed booster, nailed every turn, and by the end of the race, he'd taken first place! Shortly behind was Sticks, Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, and distantly last was Trip.

After the finish line, he jumped out cheering gleefully as he high-fived the tail in several different ways before doing a signature breakdance that ended with him tied up in knots with the tail. Sticks giggled and Knuckles giggled as Rouge teased, "Getting knotty out here are you Sonic?"

Tangle teased, "Guess my tail and breakdancing don't mix."

Sonic groaned, "This is embarassing."

Amy then offered comfort, "Nah, you're having fun."

Sonic sighed as he cheered up, "If you say so." Amy then helped unwind the mess of tail.

That was when Trip came along. She was still wearing her helmet, "That was fun! Can we do that again?!"

The others shook their heads, Amy commenting "Nah." The 6 went on to the rollercoaster, having a blast. As they got off the ride, the 3 duos split up. As they walked through the park, Amy noticed a sad look on Sonic's face and asked, "You don't look too great Sonic. What's wrong?"

Sonic somberly dismissed it with a fake grin, "Uh, nothing Amy. Just having fun, that's all." Then, Sonic noticed an alarming presence: Surge and Kit.


Earlier in the day

Surge and Kit had read about Sonic going to Station Square and Twinkle Park. They'd heard he was adventuring on the continent alone and sought the chance to fight him.

Surge and Kit went there, only to find an obscenely long line. Kit asked, "Are we gonna wait through this line?"

Surge laughed, "As if!" She then ran up to the front.

This caused the current front of the line to complain, "Hey! You can't just-!"

Surge shocked him with a jolt of lightning, Surge threatening, "Anyone else have a problem with that?!" The horrified line-goers shook their heads. And so they went in. Security tried to stop them, but were met by shocks or water tentacles. They didn't even bother with a picture, probably for the best. As they made it to the start of the race, they didn't bother with it. Instead, they went looking around the park for Sonic. But, try as they might, he was nowhere to be seen.

Surge was frustrated, "Where is he?!"

Kit pondered, "Maybe he-"

Before he could finish, they heard two familiar voices: Amy and Tangle. Surge immediately dashed over to give a tail-shock to Tangle as she did when they were on a team together, "Heya girls, didn't expect to see you two here!"

'Tangle' commented from the ground as 'she' thought, Crap, the last people I want to see right now, "What do you want, Surge?"

Surge grinned, "I'm just looking for Sonic. Care to help? With the way you two are on a date here, it's like that's Sonic I just shocked."

Amy commented, "That's beca-" But she found herself shushed by the tail.

'Tangle' explained, "We were looking for him too, but he left town. A free pass here was too good to ignore."

Surge shrugged, "Fine. Guess you have a type Amy." She winked at the pink hedgehog, "I can be that type too you know!"

Amy narrowed her eyes, "Stop trying to kill my friends then."

Surge chuckled, "Trust me, the world will be better off without either of those madmen. Catch you gals later!" And so Surge and Kit left to continue their search for Sonic.

After they left, Amy commented, "You know, you're gonna make someone sick by silencing them with that tail."

Sonic explained, "Couldn't risk you telling her."

Amy was a bit offended at the idea, "Did you seriously think I would? Would have just said what you did."

Sonic let the tail droop as he apologized, "Sorry."

Amy noticed the tail droop, but chose not to comment on it. Then he got a text notification from Tangle, pulling out the phone she was stuck in.

But, Surge hadn't actually left and hid somewhere to listen to them talk. She'd done that because what time she'd spent with Amy had confirmed a sickening truth: She loved Sonic. So her being on a date with that lemur was…odd. But, now she had that truth and plotted, Now's my chance for revenge! She whispered her plan to Kit, "You go to the pool to suck up the water and distract his friends. Sonic's as good as mine."

Surge then dashed in to shock Amy and to pick Sonic up, making him drop his phone. Sonic tried to escape her grasp, but she shocked the lemur into unconsciousness.

Knuckles noticed, and was about to give chase, but that's when Kit successfully got to the pool and trapped each of Sonic's other friends in his water-tentacles. This allowed Surge to make her escape, having her own plans for her hated enemy.


Shadow, Lanolin, and Omega were taking a separate plane to Eggman's new base. Omega was excited, "I DO NOT KNOW WHY I HAVE BEEN SENT WITH YOU TWO FEMALES, BUT AT LEAST I HAVE A NEW EGG BASE TO DESTROY!"

Lanolin just stared at him in annoyance, "Is the destruction of Eggman the only thing on your mind?"

Shadow was folding his arms, "Not sure. I've never checked. Nor do I intend to." Then he corrected his robot comrade, "And I know I'm literally not myself, but it's me, Shadow. The one you helped free from Eggman!"

Omega looked at the wolf and did a scan, "SCANNING, SCANNING, SCANNING…SCANNING COMPLETE. SUBJECT IDENTIFIED AS 'WHISPER THE WOLF', MEMBER OF THE DIAMOND CUTTERS. SPECIALIZES IN COMBAT WITH HER VARIABLE WISPON. YOU ARE PRECISELY 0% SHADOW."

This got on Shadow's nerves, "Look at my stare. Is that enough proof for you?"

Omega announced, "STARE IRRELEVANT. YOU ARE 100% FEMALE WOLF. SHADOW IS 100% MALE HEDGEHOG. NO CORRELATION TO SHADOW HAS BEEN FOUND."

Lanolin pinched her forehead, "Your analysis is only skin deep, isn't it?"

Omega challenged, "I ALSO HAVE X-RAY VISION. COMMENCING…SUBJECTS CONFIRMED FEMALE."

Lanolin was offended and horrified, "Who gave you permission to-?!"

Shadow interrupted, "Whatever. So long as you help us on our mission, my identity is irrelevant."

Lanolin was dumbfounded, "How do you put up with this…THING?!"

Shadow stated, "He hates Eggman, we hate Eggman, it's something we can work with."

They landed on the island. The new base was situated near an active volcano. Lanolin asked Shadow, "Do you have a way to scan the inside of this base?"

Omega announced, "SCANNING…" This went for about a minute before he returned results, sending it to Shadow. "SCAN COMPLETE."

Lanolin asked, "Can I see it?" Shadow nodded, "Here's the plan, we will-" But right before she could make plans, Omega was already at the door pounding at it. Lanolin was infuriated, "Stupid robot! What makes you think that will-?" The door then broke down. She pinched her forehead again as she looked around, "I'm sure that alerted security, but I guess we're in. Let's be caref-And he already dashed in didn't he?"

She looked around and Omega was nowhere to be seen. But, the security wasn't blaring. Lanolin was surprised, "Well then. Let's find Eggman!"

Lanolin and Shadow went in carefully. Looking around for any security, they noticed a girl in a black dress with white hair flying around. Lanolin whispered, "Who was that?"

Shadow explained in a whisper, "Eggman's new 'daughter' Sage."

Lanolin did a double take, "His what?"

Sage looked behind, but couldn't spot them from behind the wall. She then went back to what she was doing, continuing down the hall. Lanolin nodded as she added still with a whispering tone, "Good. Let's keep moving."

It was a little more time before they found Eggman and his two underlings. To their surprise, they were packing up. Shadow took the moment to Chaos Control with the wispon ready. He teleported into position, ready to fire if needed. This caught the robots spooked enough to retreat into their shells, Eggman replying, "Oh, if it isn't Shadow the Wolf. What brings-?"

Shadow was viciously angry as he pointed the gun at him, asking, "Where! Is! She?!"

Eggman pushed up his glasses, "You'll need to be a little more specific." He prepared his capture device to try and trap his intruder, "Who are you looking for precisely?"

He noticed, and right as they nearly trapped him, he teleported again, "Nice trick doctor, but that won't work on me. Now don't play dumb, you gave me her face!"

Doctor Eggman looked concerned, "How can you…right, Chaos Control. Frustrating you can still do that. No matter, it's too late. She was escorted to our boats. We've finally found the perfect place for a new base. She's long gone!"

Shadow was not amused, "Moving bases constantly? What's the occasion?"

Eggman took on a shadowy appearance, "None of your business!"

Lanolin was watching from behind, So they're moving already. She didn't have long to ponder as Omega came running down the hall, barging into the room.

Omega declared, " EGGMAN ROBOT SPOTTED!"

Orbot mumbled from his sphere, "Oh dear, goodbye Eggman."

Cubot mumbled, "I'm too young to die. Or am I, I'm like, what, even I can't remember."

Omega then took a shot…at neither of them. Eggman went into the wall, but it only revealed circuitry. Lanolin was stunned, "What's this about?!"

'Eggman' let out an evil laugh, "Hahahahahahahahahaha." That was all that came out as Omega shot the imposter Eggman until he ceased functioning.

This made Lanolin run in front of Omega, "Hey, hot shot, we were about to find where Whisper went!"

Omega responded, "DOES NOT COMPUTE, WHISPER IS IN THIS-"

Shadow, in annoyance, Chaos controlled in front of Omega, "You think Whisper can do that?"

Omega replied, "'WHISPER THE WOLF' PROFILE UPDATED: CAPABLE OF CHAOS CONTROL."

Lanolin, if she weren't so disciplined, would be banging her head against the wall, "How is he so dense?!"

Omega gave yet another response, "E-123 OMEGA IS MADE OF STEEL, IRON, GOLD, ALUMINUM, AND-"

Lanolin put both palms to her face, "Not what I meant!"

Shadow then sighed and kicked Cubot, "Hey, dumb bot. Wake up."

Cubot was startled and spoke, "Wha, did you kill Egg-?" He looked at the wrecked robot duplicate on the floor, "Eggman was a robot all along?!"

Orbot opened back up, "Cubot, no, Eggman is absolutely human. This must be a decoy."

Cubot wondered, "A robot taking Eggman's place? That could never happen!"

Shadow was done with their speaking and pointed the wispon at Orbot, "Were you two in on this?!"

Orbot insisted, "Most certainly not, ma'am. We're as surprised as you!"

Shadow would have corrected him, but he was already getting misgendered by his longtime comrade, what was this by comparison? He continued to Cubot, "Is this true? How could you be this ignorant?"

Cubot shrugged, "I can barely remember my name. I'm too dumb to know these things."

Orbot and Cubot got a message from Eggman, Orbot stating, "Sorry, we're out of time. See you later!" The two robots scampered off to the docks.

Omega prepared to take aim, taking shots at them, except that they proved to be immune to bullets. Lanolin was surprised, "He made those two, of all things, bulletproof?!" She gave one last sigh as she declared, "Guess we aren't finding Whisper then. Let's head back to the plane." Shortly thereafter, the lights went out to the base, "Oh, what now?"

Omega announced, "POWER TO THE BASE HAS BEEN CUT. INITIATING NIGHT MODE." Shadow and Lanolin activated flashlights. Shadow followed his gear's tracking of their route to get back out. As they got there, Shadow found a very familiar face, which made sense since it was his, but with an eyes closed expression Lanolin knew well.

Lanolin was genuinely smiling as she ran to give a pat on the shoulder, "Whisper, I'm so happy to see you."

Omega asked, "SHADOW, IT IS GREAT TO FINALLY SEE YOU AGAIN. APOLOGIES, ROUGE WENT WITH A DIFFERENT GROUP."

Whisper then whispered her response, "Thanks guys."

Lanolin wondered, "How'd you escape?"

Whisper frowned, "It wasn't easy…"


Previous day

Whisper had been constantly tortured by visions of her former friends. Whether they were disappointed in her, getting killed by androids, or worse, she was left a crying wreck.

After several hours of this, she heard something different from a familiar voice, "Shadow? Why is Shadow, of all people, a crying wreck?"

Whisper looked up, seeing a familiar green monkey. This caused her eyes to go wide in horror as she began backing into the corner, "Claire?! Please no, stay back!" Whisper backed further, crying even harder, "I'm so sorry I failed you! I miss you, Slinger, and Smithy every day! I'd wish you all back, but you're gone, and it's my fault!"

Claire was gobsmacked at this declaration. We never met Shadow. Who could this be?! She used her psychic powers to read the mind of the hedgehog before her, and she quickly saw everything. Whisper's loss, her friends, her moments of happiness, and also her deep anguish at whatever sick joke Eggman was playing by turning her into the likeness that killed her and the other cutters. Claire began to sob, walking toward the reluctant hedgehog.

This caused her to panic, "Please, Claire, end me. I don't deserve to live, you all did. I'm nothing but a cow-"

Claire had hugged her fellow teammate, "Shhhhh…It'll be alright. You need to stop blaming yourself."

Whisper went silent for a bit, "...You're not mad? You don't want revenge?"

Claire backed up to show a confused expression, "Why would you assume that?"

Whisper continued to be sad, "But, all I've ever done is ruin my friends lives. I've failed everyone. What use am I?!"

Claire spoke softly, "Hardly. Fighting Eggman was risky. It breaks my heart Mimic betrayed us, but you didn't. You've stayed loyal and formed a new group in our name. I speak for Smithy and Slinger to say we're proud of you."

Whisper cried for a moment more to return the hug, "*sniff* Thank you."

Claire patted her back, "Now, go out and save your friends."

Whisper wondered, "But, how?"

Claire sighed, "Unfortunately I can't help you there. But, if Eggman's so confident your trauma will control you, train while pretending it does. Goodbye Whisper!"

Whisper closed her eyes one last time to compose herself, "Thank you Claire, now where-" But as fast as she appeared, she was gone. Whisper sighed.

She would spend the next day training, meditating to try and feel the unfamiliar powers she now had access to. She slowly learned them. Chaos Snap, Chaos Spear, activating the air shoes, etc. She kept up the appearance of being immobilized by trauma as much as possible until finally another sudden move gave her the opening she needed to escape the captivity.


Whisper finished, "Then, it was a waiting game."

Shadow bluntly stated, "Given what your wisps showed me, I'm pleasantly surprised you're not a crying wreck."

That caused her to open her new eyes as she teleported to borrow the mask, "Wisps, I'm not angry, I just want to know why…"

Blue was the most apologetic and cried, "Sorry Whisper, we were unsure how to win him over to help us…"

She gave the mask back, "You probably still need this."

Shadow bluntly stated, "I'll be happier when I don't."

Lanolin then suggested, "I wouldn't mind chatting more, but I get the feeling we're missing something. Do any of you have a way to check the base for a secret elevator?"

Omega punched a rock to run a ground-penetrating radar test, "SCANNING…SECRET BUNKER FOUND!"

Lanolin smirked, "I knew it!"

Whisper was confused, "What's that about?"

Shadow shrugged, "We're about to find out."

The trio made their way to this secret bunker, which was accessed by an elevator or stairs. The 4 followed it down, and in there they found a face they weren't expecting. It was none other than Dr. Eggman himself.