Note: I virtually owe Pybro2 a heck of a lot of gratitude.

'Sonic' was livid, glowing red eyes searing with rage, "If I can't electrocute you to death, I'll have to do this the old fashioned way!" He grinned confidently, "I'm the fastest thing alive after all!" He sped up to his maximum speed, coming at his interminable adversary at full force.

The cocky grin and closed eyes never left that stupid girly face, and soon he learned why. This golden lemur dodged his punch with ease, punching back with the tail as a counter. He reflected on how he felt at the moment: Simultaneously alien, particularly with this energy flowing through a tail he was never meant to have, but also incredibly familiar and far more powerful than the simple glowing form he'd achieved earlier.

Being sent reeling, 'Sonic' was frustrated, "How?!"

The golden lemur finally opened eyes, and this shocked him more than anything: her eyes were green! He was stunned into pure silence, that…that's not her color. She's that dumb lemur, her eyes are purple, and this type of super form was the purview of male hedgehogs like him! This is a farce! He tried to re-assure himself.

Sonic raised an eyebrow, "You act like you've seen a ghost!"

'Sonic' grimaced in rage, "Yeah, and it's you! I'll splatter you and your stupid eyes across the cosmos!" He rolled a spin dash at him this time.

Sonic dodged with ease, thinking to himself, What was that about eyes? 'Sonic' had grabbed the tail again, smashing him into the Death Egg, leaving a dent despite its protective barrier. The lemur took a moment to, literally, reflect on his new form, seeing the visage in the metal. He now understood why it felt so familiar: The golden fur, extra spiky hair, and…Green eyes. Huh? Aren't my eyes usually red in this super form? You're also usually a hedgehog! …Are you saying that this has to do with my current situation? Probably. I think the emeralds know their true master, Super Sonic!

'Overlord Sonic' wasn't done, preparing a ball bounce on the side of the Death Egg, which forced Sonic to dodge. This was getting infuriating, him commenting, "HOW?! YOU'RE A DUMB LEMUR! HOW CAN YOU KEEP UP WITH ME: SONIC THE HEDGEH-!" His face was grabbed too quickly by the lemur tail to be avoided.

Sonic declared, "Because I'm Sonic the Lemur!"

'Sonic' growled louder than ever, "How many times do I have to tell you: Sonic is a HEDGEHOG! Besides, do you ever learn!" He did a spindash dragging the tail into a wheel like during their first encounter.

Sonic clenched his teeth at first, fearing he'd just dug himself into a hole yet again. But, then he looked at his borrowed hand, the gold colors their fur reminding him: He's no longer the weakling in this conflict. He stopped this spin in its tracks, which stunned him, "What?! How?!"

Then Sonic unwound the tail, spinning his megalomaniacal wannabe silly, "You gave me this power, your edginess!"

Sonic dashed in to deliver a potent punch. But, his adversary still had another trick up his sleeve, shouting, "And I'll take it back! Sonic Wind!"

Sonic dodged this too, swatting him out of it with the tail.

Sonic grabbed the flying hedgehog with the stretchy tail, bringing his identity thief up close, punching hard enough to fly away, then bring it back, like a paddle ball. 'Sonic' complained, "If you really are 'Sonic', how about you fight like h-!"

He suddenly ate a homing attack during this paddle-ball sequence. This made him fly off the handle, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGHGHHGH!"

Sonic giggled at his opponent's meltdown, "I can't help it if my friends make me stronger!" He next did a spin-dash followup, grabbing him as he flew away, now bouncing of his face like a paddle-ball this time, "Skill! Issue! My! Dude!"

He did this for 15 more follow-ups. 'Sonic' had sustained so much damage from this maneuver that he was laying on the side of the Death Egg. He whined, "I don't understand…I was simply being true to myself. What did I do to deserve this?!"

Sonic bluntly answered, "Were you? Or did you follow your code like a mindless machine?"

'Sonic' growled, "It's not my fault I was born a robot!"

Sonic pointed at him with the tail in righteous anger, "Like that's an excuse. The true Sonic doesn't call Eggman 'daddy'! He fights him!"

'Sonic' bitterly laughed, "I'd have done that if you agreed to my terms. Does that sound like a 'mindless machine'!"

Sonic glared in anger, "No…just a desperate and cowardly one."

'Sonic' made one last question, "What would you have me do?!"

Sonic gave his request, "Own your actions and become better. I know you can be more than this, 'Overlord Sonic'." He reached a hand, "You just need to take that opportunity. We could set you free, if only you take that chance."

He sighed, accepting the hand, "You got it!"

Sonic smiled, for a bit, but then realized his opponent wasn't letting go. He took on an evil grin, "I didn't want to risk killing myself earlier with my electrical powers, but now I'm willing to take that chance since you'll absorb it all via direct contact! Who knows, maybe this is how I get my girlfriend back! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

Sonic was struggling to think as this was far more intense than earlier. Not to mention triggering a panic attack, NO! I CAN'T LOSE MYSELF AGAIN! NOT NOW! THEN TRY STRETCHING THAT TAIL LIKE YOU'VE NEVER STRETCHED IT BEFORE!

With desperation, Sonic tried that, hitting the Death Egg, and in the process, puncturing a temporary hole in its side.

'Sonic' growled, "Why isn't it wor-?WHAT?!"

He shrugged smugly, "I don't have to take your crap." Making a pose with the peace sign and bringing the tail back to double up on it, "Your pretend routine will end soon!"

'Sonic' didn't answer, dashing back into the Death Egg immediately to find Eggman. His true counterpart chuckled, Cowardly indeed. He went back in to see his friends briefly.

The quad briefly marvelled at the new version of Super Sonic before them. Lanolin pulled out her camera, "Tangle's gonna want to see this…"

Sonic giggled, doing his best imitation of Tangle's giddy charm while still keeping his signature grin, "That she will, and she deserves it!"

Knuckles teased, "What's with the Green eyes though?"

Sonic did a spindash towards Knuckles and unrolled just in time to eye him closely and smugly grin to really get across his point, "Why do you think?"

Rouge teased him, the gruff voice of Espio nearly throwing Sonic off, "Emeralds must know you well. How's it feel, though?"

Sonic kept his confident demeanor, answering one word, "Validating." He could sense Rouge about to pounce and find a way to make that awkward, so he clarified, "It assures me that, despite everything," He winked an eye, "My true colors shine through."

Lanolin put a hand on her teammate, "Do us proud."

Sonic disappeared into the Death Egg after that, catching up to the others.

They smiled, the emerald was about 20% complete. Knuckles smiled, "We're getting there." He next needled Rouge, "Not trying to be rude, but how's it being a dude?"

Rouge sighed, "It's perfectly fine, thank you very much!"

Knuckles snickered, "Geez, you sound as insecure as Sonic did."

Rouge dismissed it, "I'm a tough lady, I'll manage" She used the chameleon tail to rub his chin, "Isn't that right, tough guy."

Knuckles felt disturbed, suddenly struggling to remind himself this was Rouge screwing with him and not a friend he knew well. Rouge recognized how flustered he was getting, so she delivered the finishing blow, sticking out the tongue to imitate a kiss, "You never change, handsome." She teased after finishing, "You can date me any time you like, if you can handle me." He was nearly fainting, barely able to continue assembling the emerald.

Lanolin got between them, "Guys, focus more on the emerald please!"

Knuckles nodded, "Thank you, sheep lady."

She groaned, "It's Lanolin."

Rouge rolled eyes, "Gotta be the spoil sport, eh fluffy?"

Lanolin pinched her forehead, "I better get a raise for this." And thus, they finally got back to the fixing of the Master Emerald.

Then came Silver, finally getting back, but crying his eyes out. Lanolin was shocked, taking the moment to ask, "Silver?"

He flew over, trying to give a hug, but accidentally entering her mind instead.

Silver looked around, confused. He walked around in what appeared to be Diamond HQ, "What? Where am I this time?"

Lanolin mused, "You entered my head."

Silver looked behind her, "Oh! Sorry Lanolin."

Lanolin sighed, but asked, "What happened to you, Silver? You look distraught."

He broke down again in tears, "I failed…" Lanolin gave a stern look as if to ask 'how so?' to which Silver explained, "I tried to reclaim my face from that no good face-stealer!" He smacked the Diamond Cutter table with both hands, "It's my body! How could I lose to Eggman?…" He looked down, sighing, "Again?

Lanolin raised an eyebrow, "How did you plan on winning?"

Silver suggested, "...Uh…Overpowering his will? With mine?"

Lanolin, blank smile to hide her frustration, sipped some imaginary coffee, "You didn't actually have a plan, did you…How did you expect to win a battle of wits against a mad genius who keeps trying despite constantly losing to Sonic?"

Silver groaned, "Don't remind me…"

Lanolin offered, "I'm an honest gal, still learning how to balance that with how to lead." She gave him a pat on the shoulder, "You've had it rougher than anyone. Your crazy power, now in the hands of our worst enemy, and left you with a face only a mom could love. You have every right to cry. I only ask you help us once you're done."

Silver went in for a hug, crying into her wool, "Thanks Lanolin…I think."

Lanolin took a few moments, letting the tears flow from his deep hurt from what's been inflicted on him. She eventually pushed him away, "Okay. That's enough. How about you get out there and protect us while we put together the emerald!"

Silver nodded, still sobbing, "Okay Lanolin." He stood there, silently, for at least a minute.

Lanolin asked, "Well…What are you waiting for?"

Silver scratched the back of his head, "Funny story, I don't know how to leave your head…"

Lanolin pinched her forehead, "How did Eggman get rid of you?"

Silver felt hurt by the phrasing, "Lanolin…"

Lanolin sighed, "Sorry, but we might need to know."

Silver frowned, doing a throwing motion with his psychic powers. So Lanolin grabbed his arm, taking him outside her HQ in her head, then grabbed him by the legs and started spinning. Silver was baffled, "HoOoOOW aRe YoU DoiNG THIs?!"

She exclaimed, "This is my dream, remember?!" And then she threw him far out of the dreamworld of her head, hoping it worked…

He re-appeared, flying out before stopping himself outside with their friends.

Knuckles congratulated, "Oh, Silver! You're still here! Glad you didn't kill Lanolin!"

Silver glared angrily at Knuckles, "Why would you think I did?"

Rouge used Espios tail to point at her unconscious body, which shortly woke up. "ENNNNHHHHhhh…Between you, Sonic, and Tangle, I wonder how you guys are still alive after so many years."

Silver smiled, "I've dealt with worse in my future, nothing phases me!"

Rouge prodded, "Except losing your body to Eggman."

Silver looked hurt by his own friend's voice attacking him so, "Espio! I thought you were my friend!"

Rouge reminded him, "Sorry, sugar! I'm still Rouge stuck with your…'friend''s face!"

Silver was confused, "Uh…What do you mean by that? Is 'friend' some secret code word for something? Or is this an in-joke I'm not getting."

Lanolin sighed, then smirked, "Don't worry about it. She does that to anyone."

Rouge sarcastically suggested, "NOOOOOOooooo…Anyways, Sheepy, you wanna go with me and this chameleon boy's form to get fr-"

Knuckles slapped her, "NOT! YOUR! BODY!"

Rouge reluctantly agreed, "Fine…Nothing but killjoys around here, I swear."

Lanolin remarked, "Like I was ever going to agree to that. I'd sooner agree to a date with your edgy boyfriend."

Rouge put another piece on the emerald while this discussion continued, "That can be…Arranged."

Lanolin flustered, putting hands to her face and internally screaming, WHY DO I DO THIS TO MYSELF?!

Silver giggled, then stopped a robot with his psychic powers to throw it back into a row of incoming bots. He proved very potent indeed at this, not that there was much room for doubt.

The combined digital entity of Tangle, Tails, and Belle were trying to figure out the meteor room. Their friends were complaining.

'Mighty' whined, "Please let us in already guys. I don't like being naked, cramps my style."

'Big' griped, "Tell me about it." He poked his borrowed belly, "How is it even possible to eat this much fish?"

'Amy' shrugged, "I dunno, but I loooooooooooove fish."

'Vector' stayed silent, Rough teasing, "What's wrong? UnAblE 2 SpAKe U DUMB Alligat-"

Espio kicked him in the face, "Shut up. We're all suffering here, don't make it worse."

'Big' whispered, "And I'm a crocodile you jerkwad."

Tails and Belle were almost done figuring things out, Tangle updating from speaking while they typed, "Hold on guys! We're almost-" They just barely broke through and opened the doors into the room.

'Amy' instantly ran through, the others following behind. 'She' gleefully ran in her top speed then, "Weeeee! I've never felt so energetic! Being a girl is amazing!"

The others came behind, 'Big' being last, panting as he suggested, "I don't think 'being a girl' is the difference."

'Amy' pondered, "What else could it be?" Rough and 'Big' were about to answer, but 'Vector' put hands on both their mouths and a stern look telling them to not say anything.

Rough, after being released, bit back, "Whatever, at least I'm not her."

'Amy' looked toward the Meteor, sitting inconspicuously in the center, summoning the hammer, "Now let's get that meteor!"

'Mighty' lifted a finger, "How-?" The ground beneath them went off, shocking the grounded 5 into unconsciousness. Espio (the bat) looked down, "Not again…"

Tails waited for them to awaken, then spoke through some intercoms, "Guys, we've almost got the security to the meteor

'Amy' panicked due to how weird 'she' felt, "EWEWEWEW!" Had to run my mouth, huh! 'She' looked at the hammer sitting before 'her', picking it up in frustration, "Stupid Meteor! Just break open already!" 'She' ran up with it and jumped at the glass containing it, smashing it wide open. 'She' bragged, "See! That wasn't hard!"

Everyone facepalmed a this, Espio shouting, "YOU IDIOT!"

Unsurprisingly, the alarms went off after this. 'Amy' picked up the meteor with her rubber gloves, "Uhhhh…Let's get out of here then!"

'Big' stood up, looking disturbed to feel so…huge. 'He' reassured 'himself, This is only temporary, this is only temporary, you won't have to spend the entire year burning this all off because it's not actually yours. You'll get to be your normal adorable thin self in no time at-

'Mighty' jabbed 'his' gut, "Look, I get that you don't like being Big, I didn't either. Nor do I like suddenly being short. But, we need to get out of here!"

'Big' groaned, "Right…"

'Tumble' ran ahead, "I'll start clearing the way!"

'Vector' followed behind, "This MOth is S0 big! I could eat so much fish with it!"

'Mighty' made very clear, "Don't you dare!"

He apologized, "Sorry, trying to be positive. Changing between bodies feels weird!"

'Mighty' apologized, "Me too. I put a lot of work into that physique, that's all."

'Big' grabbed one robot and threw it aside, "Wow, that felt like nothing!"

Then two robots appeared: Mecha Knuckles and Mecha Sonic, with a protective coat of Rubber from electrical shocks.

'Mighty' snickered, "Really? That's Eggman's bright idea to protect his robots from this thing?"

Mecha Sonic spoke in exasperation, with a surprisingly high voice, "It's not our fault that meteor is so dangerous to our circuitry!"

'Amy' started snickering, then broke out into a laughing fit, "No way! The globehead's now piloting that scary robot? Let me guess, your blocky friend is in the Akidnyan's robot d-OW!"

He flew up to punch the current hedgehog girl in the face, making 'her' drop it.

During this panic, Espio flew to try and stop it, but was instead punched into the ground by 'Mecha Knuckles', making all 6 of them go unconscious all at once.

Eggman went down through the walkways of this giant flying machine. It felt…nostalgic, the one part of this that felt familiar. He appreciated it because, though he'd never admit it, nothing else about this felt right. But he was used to it by now, just another step on his way to the glorious Eggman-Eternal Eggman Empire. He had the meteor to ensure his reign would last into the future for the rest of time. Someone else tries to take him down? They're his next target.

It didn't matter how much he'd come to embody the phrase 'You are what you hate', power was his ultimate goal. Whether he got his daughter to become the new Sol Princess or became her himself, his power could only grow. Still, being a hedgehog was bad enough, and becoming a cat girl would be even worse for his sanity. He remarked on that thought, "Sage had better accept becoming that infernal princess! I will if I must, but I seriously don't want to become a stupid cat girl! If I'm forced too, she'll be kept on a very tight leash until she agrees to become some flesh being! I can't solidify my power without her!"

He didn't know that a certain trojan program had gotten footage of that statement. After a few more minutes of trying to fly through without breaking anything, he forgot how huge this place was, he thereafter checked to see where his targets were again. He didn't get much time to think, as a certain Dark 'Overlord' had made his way back, "Eggman! We've got company! HELP!"

Eggman pinched his forehead, "Don't worry, Sonic, it's time I got to test my final trick." He pulled out a wireless mindreader from his…pocket(?), "I didn't know if I wanted to try it this soon, but times like this, it's worth a shot!"

'Sonic' sinisterly grinned, "Look forward to it, Eggman."

Sage was flying around the base when an alarm was triggered. She was alarmed, "I'll get that!" She was flying through the network as fast as possible, passing by Metal S-Wait! She remembered that Metal Sonic had stolen that hedgehog's body, so that version which just flew by her…That must be an imposter!

She caught up to the suspicious program, asking it, "HOLD IT!"

'Metal Sonic' responded, "HEY SISTER!"

She summoned a digital cage to stop 'him', "Don't play dumb with me! I know who the real Metal Sonic is, and it isn't you!"

Tangle was panicking, Guys! What do we do!

Tails was deep in thought, but Belle was the one with a clear answer, Turn into me. I'm the one who is her sibling.

Tails nodded, Brilliant, Belle!

Tangle gave a confirmation, On it!

Shortly thereafter, the intruder transformed into Belle's form, saying, "I didn't claim to be Metal Sonic. You are my sister though…Never thought we'd meet in such hostile circumstances…"

Sage was intrigued, flying up to her, "How are you-" Her analysis of their digital form revealed the results: They were 3…programs? Only one of them had a reasonably normal signature of a true Artificial Intelligence, the others were very off. But they all inhabited the same digital form, which indeed did say they were Metal Sonic. Sage thought about it, realizing what they had, "The meteor swap couldn't be processed correctly by a machine, leaving you with his code signature. Clever. Still." She tightened the cage, "Give me one reason why I shouldn't delete you right now!"

Belle cried, "I only want to get to know you! And Eggman doesn't respect you!"

Sage opened the cage, entering into it, holding a deletion dagger to her throat, "That's a bold claim, 'Sister'. You'd better prove it or else!"

Belle revealed the footage of Eggman they'd recorded earlier, Sage panicking in response, "No he wouldn't!" She was growing delirious, "You conjured that up! You're liars!"

Belle cried, "Do I look capable of that?!" Sage gave it some thought, Belle suggesting, "Let us show you, maybe?"

Sage frowned, reluctantly accepting, "Fine, but if you're wrong" Her eyes glowed with anger, "I'll delete you three on the spot!"

Belle would have gulped if she knew that instinct, Tangle and Tails re-assuring, Do it. Belle nodding. The two of them went to find Eggman, who was talking with 'Sonic'. 'Sonic' asked, "So…Have you considered taking the cat's body? What with her being princess of an empire and all?"

Eggman admitted, reluctantly, "...Yes…I would if I have to."

'Sonic' pressed further, "You don't sound thrilled by that."

Eggman shouted with anger in his voice, "OF COURSE I DON'T WANT TO! I'VE ALREADY THROWN AWAY MY HUMANITY TO BECOME AN INFERNAL HEDGEHOG! ONLY THING MORE HUMILIATING WOULD BE TO BECOME A DUMB CAT GIRL! I SWEAR, IF SAGE DOESN'T AGREE TO THAT INSTEAD, MAYBE I'LL FORGIVE HER EVENTUALLY, BUT I WILL BE FURIOUS!"

'Sonic' was shocked by this anger, "But…wouldn't her powers and position make up for that?"

Eggman growled, "No! You don't get it do you, you unthinking machine!"

'Sonic' slapped him, "I'm NOT a machine!"

Eggman slapped him back, "NOT THE POINT! YES, THAT WOULD MAKE ME MORE POWERFUL, BUT PEOPLE DON'T RESPECT WOMEN LEADERS LIKE MEN! I'D HAVE TO DEAL WITH THAT DISRESPECT FOR THE REST OF THAT CAT'S NATURAL LIFE! I WILL IF I MUST, BUT I'M UNSURE I'D FORGIVE SAGE IF IT CAME TO THAT!"

'Sonic' countered, "But…That hedgehog's psychic powers and flight would surely be easier for Sage to learn and adjust to…right?"

Eggman wanted to shout, but had to give it thought. When he realized there might be a point there, he shouted in pure rage, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" 'Sonic' took steps back, letting Eggman get in some more words, "We'll talk after our victory. I can't stand to consider that further! Especially since with the Emeralds, I'll be her superior anyways!" They flew and ran off down the hall.

The four had gotten all the info they needed. Sage was now in denial, forced to take a painful look at her past with her Father. Pre-body stealing, she didn't have many complaints, he was perfect in her eyes. But, ever since that happened, she noticed he had been growing crueler, empowered to pointlessly rip and crush robots just because his stolen powers now could. She remembered the bit about 'family only holding back', and she cried, "NO! HE WOULDN'T…This isn't like him!"

Belle questioned, "How so?"

Sage clarified, "He would never think to hurt me before. I don't know what happened to him…Unless it was that stupid meteor!"

Belle thought about it in empathy, remembering how she lost her father, running over to hug her sister, "I know it's hard to lose your dad, I lost mine too. But, assuming your assumption is correct, you can help us. Maybe we can bring him back."

Sage wiped a tear, and that made her decide to accept, "Okay." She interfaced with their files and assigned the three of them full access to the Eggnet via authority escalation, "That's all I can do to help you. Father will most certainly punish me if I do anything traceable to me. Best of luck." Sage disappeared away from them, hiding far away from them.

Belle wondered, "What did she do?"

Tails checked their permissions, and cheered, She gave us permission escalation and privileges to the Eggnet!

Tangle asked, Wait…What?

Tails shortened, We can separate safely now!

Tangle gave a sigh of relief, Sounds good. I never loved this arrangement anyway!

Tails agreed, Me neither…As fun as your tail is.

Tangle turned back into a bus, speaking over the intercom, "Thank you for boarding the Tangle Express today! Hope you enjoyed your ride into the Eggnet! Hope to never need to do that again!" After Belle and Tails exited the bus, Tangle reverted to her normal form, "BTW, probably safer to learn to shapeshift anyway!"

Tails turned into a Tails bot, "Way ahead of you!"

Belle took the form of a robot resembling Trip, having come across one in her time in Eggman's lab once, "Okay!"

The three of them flew down the network, Tails commending Belle, "That worked better than expected. Great work Belle!"

Tangle squeed, "EEEEEE! You didn't tell me you had a sister!"

Belle sighed, "I didn't, she must be new and I only just met her. If only we truly could be sisters, but Eggman would never allow it."

Tangle empathetically gave a sad agreement, "True. I'm sorry Belle."

Tails pressed, "We'd better get to our friends handling the meteor looks to get ugly!" They traversed the systems as quickly as they could go to get to their friends.

When they did, they found the Mechas walking, Mecha Knuckles carrying the Meteor, and Mecha Sonic carrying their friends. Mecha Knuckles couldn't talk, so Mecha Sonic had to carry the conversation, "Oh, I do wish 'Eternal Eggman' and his ego would just let us go back to our normal selves. I hate piloting this Sonic knockoff…" Mecha Knuckles nodded

The trio snickered, Tangle noting,"So Eggman forced them to become those Mechas?!"

Tails agreed, "It is weird, yes. But, there must be a reason. Belle, can we hack into Mecha Sonic?"

Belle tried accessing Mecha Sonic, and found it surprisingly easy: A backdoor being revealed for them, seemingly left by Sigma for such an emergency. When they entered Mecha's mind, they looked around. They noticed something disturbing: Mecha Sonic's Scrapnik form was chained up. They also saw Cubot's form in…The driver's seat of the robot?

They walked towards him. He spoke, having already sensed them, "Oh, Metal Sonic…Wait…METAL SONIC?! THAT CAN'T BE!" He summoned electrical chains similar to those holding Mecha Sonic, which they dodged.

Tangle shapeshifted to her normal form, "Hey there again, you goofy robot!"

Orbot groaned, "...Not you again!" He summoned chain after chain to grab her.

Tangle winked, reaching out the tail to grab him and then bring him in for a noogie, "Come on, is that any way to treat an old friend?"

Orbot looked to the side, "We are not friends."

Tangle got serious, "Look, I only want to return me and my friends to normal. You can we-"

Orbot grew enraged, summoning new chains to trap them finally, "SHUT UP! YOU WILL NEVER BE MY FRIEND! YOU INTRUDERS WILL FACE THE WRATH OF THE…UGH…ETERNAL EGGMAN EMPIRE!"

She grinned, showing the chains she had been breaking when he wasn't looking, "Will we?"

Orbot panicked, "Wait, does that mean!"

Mecha Sonic flew over in this codespace to punch Orbot out, quickly taking back control, "UGH, I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW HUMILIATING IT WAS TO BE SO EASILY COWED AND THEN HAVE MY BODY GIVEN TO THAT THING! ARE YOU A FRIEND OF SONIC'S?"

Tangle winked, "Of course!"

Tails suggested after returning to his normal form, "Sorry we let this happen Mecha Sonic."

He closed his eye, "YOU GOT ME BACK MY FREEDOM. THAT'S ENOUGH FOR ME."

Tails wondered, "Though…To be honest, I'm surprised you're still around."

He looked to the side sadly, "SIGMA ALWAYS KNEW WE WERE AT RISK IF EGGMAN EVER ENCOUNTERED US AGAIN AND MADE US IMPOSSIBLE TO DELETE. UNFORTUNATELY, WE COULDN'T BE IMMUNE TO A TAKEOVER." He next got serious, "NOW GET OUT OF HERE! I'LL TAKE CARE OF THE CUBE ONE SHORTLY!"

Tails nodded, the three of them returning to their robot camoflauges. They watched from outside. 'Mecha Knuckles' tapped the stopped Mecha Sonic. Mecha Sonic put the friends down carefully, then flew over to 'Mecha Knuckles', holding him by the neck, "I'M BACK, GET OUT OF MY FRIEND'S BODY NOW OR ELSE!"

Mecha Knuckles nodded, Going sleepy, then awaking. Mecha asked, "MECHA KNUCKLES, IS THAT YOU PAL?" He nodded. Mecha Sonic smiled with his eye, the two of them poking the unconscious friends awake.

'Big' awoke first, saying, "Ugh…I'm reminded of that one Christmas where…" He realized and freaked out, "GROSS GROSS GROSS! Why do I have to be the fat one now?! WHY?!" He screamed towards the sky.

'Rouge' awoke next, "Mhmmmmm…I feel unbelievably awkward now." 'She' tried to stand up, but tripped in Rouge's heels, "Great…Of course I get to be the Bat Lady!"

'Mighty' was already awake to say, "I empathize, unfortunately."

'Vector' stood up, taking a moment to feel the mouth as 'he' realized it was 'his' turn to have the crocodile mouth, carefully clicking 'his' tongue, then tried speaking, "CAn I SpeAk? Okay, I GOt it…MostlY."

'Rouge' congratulated 'him', "Impressive."

'Tumble' looked behind at his tail, "Feels like it should be lon-"

'Big' put a mouth, tearing up in frustration, "My bro knows!"

Lastly, 'Amy' awoke, and immediately realized what 'she' felt like with a familiar hairband, red dress, and pink fur, blushing in a combination of alien sensations of a female body and embarrassment at the specific girl 'she' was now, groaning, "Of course…"

'Vector' asked, "What's the matter, 'Amy'?"

'She' tried to get out while remaining deeply awkward from all the new sensations and processing this situation, "This is what I get for wanting to date Sonic, huh?" 'Mighty' jabbed him lightly, but still a bit harder than intended, "Ow."

'Mighty' apologized, "Sorry. But, we'll fix this pal, don't worry."

Mecha looked at them, suggesting, "HOW ABOUT YOU GO BACK TO YOUR FRIENDS?"

'Vector' gave a thumbs up, "Sounds like a plan!" 'He' grabbed the meteor, holding it, while the rest of the team maintained a front, withholding each attack from robots, letting them slowly but surely make it back to their escape ship.

The three digitized intruders noticed something wack going on in a nearby part of the network, preparing to investigate it in case it was something serious. Tails bid them, "We need to leave now you guys! Best of luck!"

Lanolin smiled, "You guys made it back!"

Silver looked over briefly, still focused on robots, "Good job guys!"

Rouge smiled, "Sweet! Can we swap back now?!"

Lanolin frowned, "Sorry, but no, put it in our ship's safe container."

'Big' had a frazzled tail at this, "But WHY?! I DON'T want to remain as this fat idiot any longer!"

'Tumble' looked down at this remark, Lanolin saying, "One, I won't tolerate this mocking of my friends. Two, we can't risk knocking us all out in case we get robots attacking like THOSE!"

The saw a robot deluge coming in for them. 'Amy' thought about the hammer and managed to summon it, "Huh! Easier than I thought!"

The 8 of them fought off the hoard, keeping Knuckles safe. He was about 40% done, "Come on, this has to get easier!"

The two shape-bots had returned to their original bodies shortly. Cubot sighed, "That was fun, but we'll always be jokes, huh Cubot?"

Cubot responded, "Jokes? Sorry buddy, I don't got any jokes right now."

Orbot patted his friend on the back, "That's fine." They waited for whatever came in this room they'd been stored in after being forced to hijack the Mechas.

They heard a lot of crackles and blazes from a nearby room, Cubot asking, "Did you hear something, Orbot?"

Orbot sarcastically replied, "No Cubot, it must be your imagination."

Cubot believed it unironically, "Oh…I have a loud imagination…"

Orbot facepalmed, "You're Cubot alright…When can we leave this place?"

Eggman and 'Sonic' were getting bored as they advanced into the ship, 'Sonic' groaning, "Come on, I want a challenge already!"

The 5 opposing supers arrived to oppose Eggman. He greeted them, "Well, if it isn't the estrogen brigade…"

Sonic and Shadow grit their teeth, Shadow noticing briefly looking at Sonic, Why's he got green eyes?!

Blaze led off them, "Eggman, your terror ends here! You've abused my friend's powers for the last t-"

Eggman rolled his eyes, "I don't have time for this!" He put on his Chaos Emerald-empowered VR headset, the emeralds flying around him as he prepared it, "It's time you encountered your worst nightmares! MINDBREAK!"

This blast warped the space the 7 of them were in, as if it were a new dimension entirely. Sonic grinned and stretched the tail in Eggman's direction, "That's your trick, VR crap again! I'll show y-" It got blocked by a red force-field.

The 5 of them were suddenly hit with red orbs that tormented them with visions of their worst nightmares. Eggman had extensive knowledge of their worst fears, and weaponized them to ensure maximum anguish to subdue each one as much as possible. Trip roared, Blaze saw a vision of her losing herself to an ancient being, Whisper was tortured by visions of her friends dying, and Sonic was abused between seeing his friends die or becoming subservient to the worst people he knew.

'Sonic' broke out in laughter, "Haha! Worked like a charm doc! Now how about we make those suckers pay for trying to rob us blind!"

Eggman gave a shadowy expression, "Gladly, my loyal Sonic."

They took steps, but were then stopped by a former hedgehog, still stuck with a weaker super form and wolf face, but seemingly immune to this trick.

Eggman groaned, "If it isn't my grandfather's 'ultimate' creation! Should have known you wouldn't go down so easily."

Shadow knew himself the current amount of Chaos Energy interference was still too strong for him to overpower with a chaos control, and he had a plan to help the true Whisper, so he started with firing the wisps at him, and finished with flying over and smacking Eggman's stolen face with the hammer wispon. Eggman was sent back a few feet, wiping his face like it was nothing with a shadowy visage, "Hah! That tickled! Now…Watch your back!"

'Sonic' attacked him from behind, "Hahaha! Who's the 'ultimate life form' now bozo?"

Eggman used his psychic powers to trap and then taunted his captive listener, using his powers to re-create the arc room that Maria sent him to earth from, "You know, you really do look like my cousin Maria. Guess it's fitting, you're as loyal to her as a dog!" He strengthened the grip further, trying to strangle the wolf's neck, "Shame, you act strong, but are really as weak as my embarrassingly petty grandfather and wimpy cousin." Shadow was gritting Whisper's wolf teeth in barely restrained disgust. Eggman, always eager to hear himself talk, finished, "Guess it's time another blonde girl died in a space station, don't you think. It's time I redeemed the Robotnik name!"

'Sonic' cackled, "Yeah! What he said!"

That was the last straw, "You're a disgrace to your family name!" Shadow's borrowed fur started glowing brighter as he growled, "grrrrRRRRRRRRRRRR!" It finished, and he opened his current eyes whose pupils had changed color to a glowing red and fur to a glowing proper golden yellow.

Eggman noted internally, Oooooh. Interest- He didn't get to finish that thought, as the wolf did something extra powerful: teleporting and letting out a chaos blast from his borrowed hands.

"Eat this, you pathetic excuse for a 'Robotnik'!" He shouted. He fired the shot, sending Eggman flying across the hall.

'Sonic' noticed that, "How DARE you attack my master!" And struck with a homing attack.

Shadow dodged with ease, scratching his ball form heavily with the empowered wolf claws. This stunned the inferior Sonic wannabe for a bit.

Eggman definitely felt that one, "Nice Shot. Guess you can teach an old dog new tricks!" He remarked.

But then he reappeared, claws glowing, "I'm not done!" Next up was a lot of rapid fire slashes, doing serious damage to the mad hedgehog's clothes, "I'll TEAR YOU APART!"

Eggman was taking a nasty beating, eating every claw slash that came his way. He struggled to think through the pain of this onslaught, but eventually remembered just how powerful he was, "Okay…That's enough!" He started a cage up for the wolf, "That was an impressive show, it actually hurt." He enclosed it further, "But…It's still not enough. Sorry, you're too weak!"

Shadow grit his current teeth, "Am I?" A red aura started, and he shouted, "CHAOS BLAST!"

That disrupted the psychic prison, and reached Blaze and Trip, shattering the hold the Mindbreak had on them. They shook their heads, Blaze asking, "What happened?"

Eggman pulled out another trick, "I was afraid of this. No matter! It's us two vs you three girls!"

Shadow teleported to his face to claw it good, "You know that's not true!"

Blaze and Trip took on 'Overlord Sonic' while Eggman wiped his stolen face clean, "Is it?!"

Shadow growled, punching him in the face, "Don't pretend a body you trapped me in defines me!"

Eggman wiped his face again, "Of course not. I'm only trying to help you uncover your true self. Do you know where your soul came fr-?" Shadow tried to claw him mid-sentence, Eggman freezing him this time, "Tsk Tsk, let me finish."

Shadow teleported again and shouted, "NEVER!"

Infuriated, he used his power over this super-powered virtual world to disappear from sight, Shadow teleported around shouting a new word with each one, "SHOW! YOURSELF! YOU! COWARD!"

He next heard Maria's voice shown, "Shadow?"

Shadow reacted in shock, "Maria?!" He shook his head, "NO! I'm not falling for your tricks, Eggman!"

Maria commented, "It's not a trick Shadow, I've always been part of you."

Shadow growled and the tail even swiped once subconsciously in disgust, arms folded, "I know. I've always kept your promise. If you are Maria, you'll know to stop now."

Maria smiled, "I'd hope I could keep my own promises."

The reluctant wolf glared icy daggers in disbelief, "What."

Maria gave a slightly sinister giggle, "Hehe, grandpa never told you, did he?" She then went dark, Shadow reaching out. What happened disturbed him: She went back to normal, except not. Her clothes were black, eyes red, and her hair had red and black highlights, "You may be a hedgehog, but your soul was cloned from me."

Shadow glared in horror and distress, "No…Impossible! I'm a Hedgehog! I'm not some human's replica stuffed into one."

This corrupted Maria teleported, crying and having returned to normal, "Is there anything wrong with my cloned soul?"

Shadow, was trying to write this off, as it had to be hogwash. No matter what this pale imitation said, she was not-Wait WHAT?! It seemed that Eggman's manipulation had successfully implanted an identity crisis, making the current wolf crumple down to the ground in mental agony and shout, "I'm NOT a girl!"

'Maria' commented, "You have my eyes and hair. You've got everything but my humanity? What's wrong with being me?" She teared again, "I'm sorry I'm such a failure, sister."

Shadow tried to get out an objection, but instead shut down, becoming trapped in his own red orb. Eggman had successfully broken the former Hedgehog.

Eggman re-appeared, cackling, "Ohohohohoho! That worked like a charm. Act like an edgelord all you want, your bonds will only bring you down, fool."

This caused Shadow to succumb to the Mindbreak, becoming trapped in the red force field it summoned. He smirked, Job well done Eggman, you broke Shadow the former Hedgehog. Now…Let's take care of these other two pests!

Blaze and Trip had their hands full with 'Sonic', Blaze trying to catch him while Trip attempted to nail him with a fire blast.

'Sonic' taunted the entire time, "NAnananaNA, you'll never catch me, Sonic the Hed-!" He dodged a fireball from the firecat, "-gehog!"

Blaze was enraged, "You aren't Sonic! You're a farce!"

He taunted back, "C'mon, acknowledge me as the only Sonic that matters and I'll help you take down that cranky doctor."

Blaze was dumbfounded by this request, setting on the response, "NEVER!"

Eggman caught her in his psychic grasp, doing a parody of his friendly accent, "Heya Blaze, your buddy old pal Silver's here to play!"

'Sonic' shrugged, "I warned you." He looked back at Trip, "Now let's tame that beast!" He used a spindash at her.

Blaze talked in pure, utter, distilled disgust towards the body thief, "You don't deserve that face!"

He immediately grabbed her with the telekinesis, "Agreed, I deserve these powers with my true form." He gripped tighter in his anger, making even the empowered Blaze react in quiet agony, "Unfortunately, only you stupid animals get cool powers." He glared with a maniacal grin as his face went pitch black, "How's that fair."

Blaze bit back viciously, "I forget the part where that's my problem!" She began spinning rapidly to form a fire tornado and sucked him in. "I'll force you out of his body if it kills me!" Eggman kept his grin on, Blaze wondering why until a giant green lazer slams her. She yelps, "Where did that come from?!"

The silver hedgehog had disappeared now, exclaiming with his true voice, "You're not just fighting me and your stolen boyfriend's powers. This is my domain, where I am supreme!"

Blaze had to dodge a maze of similar beams, trying to find an exit, but eventually got nailed by one, sending her flying off course and skidding to a slow halt. She was still in Burning form, but that definitely did a number on her. She took a moment to get up, but she felt a vibrating of the Sol Emeralds. They were encompassed by a red glow, trying to rip them away from her, but their bond to her was too strong.

Eggman growled, "Ugh! Of course they're too loyal to be taken from you! Guess I'll have to take the Meteor and…" He was trying to access where the Meteor was in his newest Death Egg, but was coming up empty. "WHAT?!" 35 five rapid lightning flashes unleashed in quick succession in this virtual dimension, "WHERE IS IT?!"

Blaze gave a confident smile. Eggman knew what happened, "UGH! Some of your friends took it, didn't they?! No matter, I'll find them soon enough! Until then, enjoy your new prison, kitty cat!" He used the Mindbreak again, trapping her in this pocket reality in mental agony.

Eggman flew back to his central command of this new Death Egg Virtual Reality dimension, knowing he had to re-focus on wherever those friends were. He grinned, "Oh…They took it already. And-" He froze in horror sensing Knuckles and the Master Emerald, "NO! I'm not losing to that dumb rock! Time to force them into this with no escape!"

The emeralds spun around him faster as he forced this virtual world to encompass more and more of the Death Egg.

Over in their area, the handful of them were sitting around waiting for Knuckles to finish or fighting off robots. A giant pit opened beneath them, Silver quickly reacted in shock, "Guys!"

Lanolin was held for a few moments more by Maggie, quickly telling him, "Don't worry about us! Save Knu-!" In the forming of this pit and finding the meteor, Eggman smashed the meteor into Lanolin and Maggie out of spite.

Silver heard enough to understand what she meant, flying over to the echidna. He was falling a bit faster. Silver flew over, "I got you!" He created a psychic barrier around him, saving him from falling into the pit with the others and the meteor.

Knuckles was still panicking, but took a sigh of relief, "Thanks…Silvia, was it?"

He scratched his head, "Uh…Silver. But, please focus on the emerald!"

He nodded. He'd not lost any pieces, he was confident, so he got back to assembling it, with about 55% done. Eggman shouted, "Right! I forgot about that psychic spirit!" He turned the area around them into various things to try and get reactions out of the spirit, such as a city torn apart by lava, a desolate wasteland.

Silver shouted, "You think that will break me, Eggman!" He cried as he spoke his next words, "You may driven me out of my own body, but I'm not finished yet!"

Eggman's voice echoed, "You will be!" He fired a pillar of fire out at him.

Silver couldn't feel without a body, but this panic caused him to flare up gold, shouting in defiance, "I will always fight for my friends!"

Eggman cackled, which gave a disturbing echo as it changed between his stolen voice and Eggman's, with his next boast starting with his normal voice, "This isn't a fight, boy!" Then changing to Silver's, "It's a slaughter! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Silver grit his teeth, doing his best to hold off this attack.

In a separate part of the ship, Kit was rushing back to the ship. He was tapping Surge during this, "Come on Surge, you have to wake up!"

The three digitized friends caught up to them shortly, Tails asking him through the intercom, "Kit! What's going on!"

Kit cried, "Surge is hurt pretty bad! I don't know what to do-OOOOO!" He'd spotted two dangerous robots looking like Knuckles and Sonic.

Surge finally woke a bit, "Kit. Is that you? What's going on?"

Kit smiled gleefully, "Surge! Don't worry, I'll protect you!"

Tangle greeted them gleefully, "Oh! Hi again Mechas! You're looking great!"

Kit wondered, "Wait wha-AAAAAHH!" But then a pit opened beneath them, causing them to fall wherever it would lead…

Belle asked them, "Uh…That doesn't look natural…"

It encompassed their entire surroundings, forcing them out of the systems and into this digital world, which they could fully interact with as programs with the privileges. They looked at each other, Belle asking next, "This doesn't seem good."

Tangle suggested, "Is this a more advanced version of his VR/Portal tech?"

Tails was surprised, "Surprisingly good observation Tangle, because probably."

Tangle's current red digitized robot form eyes shrank, "But…he has the Chaos Emeralds. That means-"

Belle begrudgingly agreed, "He's infinitely more powerful this time."

Tails asked, "And with Silver's powers too does-"

They were interrupted by a red-orb encompassed lemur, grumbling in mental agony, "Please…no…"

The three of them looked, knowing exactly what to do, running into the orb, which absorbed them unexpectedly…

Note: Sorry, took an extra week to try and take more time to process where to go with this chapter and not rush it out again. Next chapter will be the finale. Unsure at this point if there will be a separate epilogue chapter or not, but probably.