A/N: After two months, I'm officially back (again)! I didn't want to update while the email notifications were down again because if I did, then you guys wouldn't get notified, and that would leave you having to check for updates manually. I first found out about it when I posted my new story Chaos on Earth Oneshots in early April, but I didn't get my own email notification that I had posted it. Anyway, feel free to check it out! I had been teasing this project since at least 2020, and now, it's finally here! I will eventually upload more chapters; I have a bunch of ideas but a lot of them are outside my usual style of stories, but I'll do my best with them.

Also, the other night, I had another Sonic dream, and I think it may be good enough to turn into a fanfic so stay tuned for that ;)

Also, I just wanna say there's a reason why I decided to bring Shadow into this final arc in season 2, but I'll explain why when we get to the end.

I would like to thank Mothlinen, crimsonking123579, JoshieBoy2023, pacmanboy10, ZeldaRWBY, YaboiNewbie, and supasaiyajin64 for favoriting and following since my last chapter!

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


17 Reviews

Monster King

Impeccable timing as always! Here is the next chapter!

blazenight01

Even though there was no way Eggman could have anticipated that the real Shadow would eventually arrive on Earth, the fallout from his Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation plan automatically makes Shadow not a big deal for him, at least for now.

Super duper waffles (first review)

Thank you! And it's true, the Society are proving themselves to be a huge threat under the watchful eye of the Organizer. Even though the Society is based on S.O.N.I.C.X. from the comics, they almost feel like an original idea, but maybe it's because I have up with so many new ideas for them and gave their overall role a facelift. If I can improve them, I would work on their individual personalities (besides Watcher, Browning, and Dragg). But I'm glad you enjoyed them!

1. Since I haven't seen any of the Spider-Man movies myself, this might be a tricky question for me to answer, although I have seen countless edits of the Tobey Maguire trilogy. But anyway, Sonic's seen both the Tobey Maguire and Tom Holland trilogies, and his favorite is the Tom Holland trilogy, the Tobey Maguire one is a close second!

2. I haven't really thought about that too much, but I'm thinking that his paternal grandmother has passed away soon after he was born, and his maternal grandparents live in another state. Although they haven't appeared in this story, Chris and his family still stay in touch with them between chapters, and he and his friends even visited them during the six-month peacetime.

3. I headcanon Modern Sonic in all his appearances as sounding like 80% Jason Griffith and 20% Ryan Drummond, and that's what he sounds like in this story too. For the record, my Classic Sonic headcanon voice is 70% Jaleel White and 30% Ryan Drummond.

4. Sonic has done all kinds of meet and greets all over the world! He's been to nearly all the major cities in the United States, as well as Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, the UK, France, Spain, Italy, and South Africa. His friends have tagged along for meet and greets as well, and since they took the X-Tornado to traven to the places Sonic couldn't run to, they've also gone to Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand as well. He's been pretty much everywhere the Sonic Symphony's been.

Eldergi

Yup, Omega has finally arrived! :D And Shadow too!

Thank you for your review! Here is the next chapter!

danielman21

I knew you would love this chapter! :) I really enjoyed writing all of Chris and Cream's interactions, since I hadn't written many scenes in this story with just those two (plus Cheese and Chocola).

soberan 123

I really wish SEGA would include more humans in Sonic media! Even when TailsTube confirmed that humans and Mobians live on the same planet (which has been my headcanon all along), they still haven't been featured in any of the newer games or the comics.

More recently than that, they also had a picture of a younger Elise with Silver, as well as Amy with Professor Pickle, so humans are still around on Mobius.

The humans should have been there in Forces since they live on Mobius! Same with GUN, but they were never mentioned for some reason. I imagine they put up a decent fight but they were gradually overcome by Eggman.

Eggman's Burner

I think Five-Chosen brought up Silver and Blaze a few chapters ago, but it's probably more likely for Silver to show up than Blaze, but if they do appear, then neither of them will show up until sometime during the Metarex Saga.

I hope you enjoy reading the rest of the story! :D

Guest

I like that idea! I think I can make that work if I incorporate the suit into the story! Chris snapping at his friends if he uses the suit for too long can make the story intense, especially in a tight spot, and his friends wouldn't realize until after a while that the shut is causing it.

Bloodrick

Thanks for your review! Here is the next chapter!

thor94

Yup, Chris got to be a hero sooner than he thought! As for him being a hero some more as well as using Chaos powers, who knows?

Five-Chosen (first review)

Although I like the idea of humans harnessing the power of the Chaos Emeralds, it's certainly not the norm. In fact, there are repercussions and drawbacks to them using the Emeralds, which will be shown in a future chapter. I'll leave it at that ;)

Jenaku

I enjoyed writing that scene as well! Since Sam is always chasing bad guys, I wanted to show what it was like for him to be chased, even if it did result in a bit of plot armor on Metal's part XD

When danger keeps happening to Chris, it can be easy for him to lose his confidence, which is why he has his friends with him to help him out. And just when things are getting wholesome, the Society has to step in and ruin things!

The Mobians' comments to the Society was a fun scene for me to write XD

Even though battling robots is not for the faint of heart and Chris doesn't have Mobian agility, it didn't stop him from trying!

I had to make a fourth wall joke there XD The scene was basically begging for me to do it when I revealed the Society's full name and intentions!

Chris is definitely not accustomed to experiencing the full force of the Chaos Emeralds, and at least twice, he saw firsthand how exhausting it was for Sonic to use them at least twice, but he used it anyway because he saw that it was the only way to save his friends.

There's still a lot I need to learn about Metal Sonic, but I did the best with what I knew about him.

It was actually pretty difficult for me to arrange a scene where Sonic could encounter the Society, and even though they didn't take him prisoner like they did in the comics, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Plus it allowed me a fluid way to connect two scenes in this arc.

Thank you for your review! Here is the next chapter!

Five-Chosen (second review)

Believe it or not, I'm the one who added the transcripts onto the Sonic X wiki! :D My FANDOM username is NexoByte, but I can't change it to Stardown because I already changed it once before. I wrote them all from scratch back in 2018-2019 on the old Transcripts Wiki, but when it went down, I managed to archive the transcripts and reformat them into a LibreOffice spreadsheet in 2021-2022. I didn't want them to stay private forever, so I eventually uploaded them onto the Sonic X wiki for everyone to see.

You're welcome! :D

Five-Chosen (third review)

Yeah, that was a big missed opportunity in that episode. E-51 should have at least put up a fight against Eggman, or at least get the kids to safety, rather than immediately switch back to serving Eggman because he felt threatened. He promised several times to defend everyone and then walked it back the moment Eggman showed up.

CreativeKitty975

I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! Here is the next chapter!

Five-Chosen (fourth review)

I'm surprised I've never heard of Richard Sherman before, but I've definitely seen the Winnie-the-Pooh films and Mary Poppins. I may not have known him, but he will be dearly missed. RIP

Super duper waffles (second review)

It's okay, I always love when you ask me questions about my story and headcanon! In fact, I look forward to it every time it's time for me to reply to everyone's reviews! It really gets me thinking and it helps to make my headcanon even better and more life-like!

1. I'm not too familiar with the details of each of the games, but I imagine they both like to play Three Houses, but this is subject to change in case I do get into Fire Emblem.

2. Most animals that exist on Earth also exist on Mobius, although they are usually native to the human parts of the planet.

3. Even though the Next Show apparently exists on both planets if we include Sonic X in the greater scope of Sonic media, each planet's media is exclusive to that planet. For example, Mobius doesn't have shows like Star Trek, Yellowstone, or Gravity Falls or anything like that, but they do have their own shows, movies, games, and music that is similar to that on Earth. On Mobius, human media resembles American / Western media, and Mobian media resembles Japanese media to an extent. On the flip side, Earth doesn't have Egg TV, Chao In Space, The Next Show, or anything like that, but they do have Star Wars, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, etc.

4. According to the Sonic X comics, CLIP is an affiliate of GUN that supplies weapons and covers certain incidents from the public. Even though they didn't make any major appearances in the comic, their role in this story is similar to their role in the comic. GUN had been doing similar things for decades, but they realized they needed a division to hide incidents from the public, and sometime in the early 1990s, they handpicked several people to become the new CLIP division. Since then, they have been stretched thin trying to keep certain incidents involving Eggman hidden from the public, as well as supplying the GUN robots to GUN. I also discovered that CLIP was briefly mentioned in Sonic Super Digest #12, which hints that CLIP exists on Mobius as well. In my headcanon, CLIP on Mobius has the same role that they do on Earth.


Chapter 50
Original Episode
The Search, Part 2


Somewhere – Tue March 21 – Sonic's POV

I slowly opened my eyes, wondering what kind of GUN truck hit me to give me the kind of headache I was now dealing with. But when I looked around and slowly got accustomed to my surroundings, I wished I hadn't.

I rubbed my eyes, but the scenery around me didn't change. The prison I was in didn't go away no matter how much I wanted it to.

I was still confused, because just moments ago, or so it felt, I was in the middle of the desert fighting the Society, and then suddenly one of their new robots – or rather, a heavily-modified Eggman robot – ambushed me, took me down way faster than I had anticipated, and threw me off the Egg Carrier. I landed hard on the ground, which would explain why my head was sore.

And then it all hit me like a second GUN truck.

This prison was familiar. Too familiar.

It was the exact same kind of prison cell I was forced to call home for the first six months of the Phantom War!

I felt my emotions spiking like never before. I tried to take deep breaths to calm myself down, but they were gradually getting faster and shakier.

No, no, no… This can't be happening again! Not again!

My PTSD, as Earth humans tended to call it, was kicking into overdrive, and before I knew it, I found myself pacing my cell. I always tended to think better on my feet, but there was hardly any room to pace in my cell. It was barely smaller than the bathroom back at my house on Mobius. It wasn't nearly enough room for me to think. I was going crazy.

The more my stress overcame me, the faster I ran, and I ended up running tight circles in my cell at supersonic speeds. The radius wasn't wide enough to create a tornado because there wasn't any room for me to do that, not that I was trying.

I ran like that for about a minute before I finally stopped, panting. My heart was still racing. I knew deep down I was on the Death Egg, or at least something similar to it. After I finally calmed down, I looked around for any way to get out of my cell. The door didn't have bars, which meant it had to be opened electronically.

I spun in a ball in place before throwing myself at the door. Somehow it didn't do any damage whatsoever. Even bouncing back and forth at an extremely fast rate between the door and the back wall didn't do anything, and it took a bigger toll on my body than I thought. This was not working.

I felt myself getting even more desperate than before, and there was no worse feeling for me than claustrophobia. It was my second biggest fear behind hydrophobia. I felt extremely claustrophobic during my six-month stay on the Death Egg, and my fear was only being exacerbated now.

Looking up, I could see a vent on the ceiling above me. While it looked like it was a good thirteen feet up, it was a stroke of luck and definitely better than nothing. Of course, I couldn't reach it from where I was standing, since I was only just over three feet tall. It didn't stop me from trying though.

In the same way as before, I rebounded myself up the wall and tried to shove it open, but it wouldn't move. Even bouncing myself between the ceiling and floor couldn't make it move. Destroying it didn't seem to work either.

I landed on the floor, feeling even more helpless than ever. I really was lightning in a bottle.

"Sonic!"

My ears perked up, and I raced to the door of my cell. That voice was familiar.

"Tails…?" I called. "Tails!"

A feeling of hope rose in my chest as I heard footsteps running my way. My eyes scanned the hall for any sign of my friend, but I didn't have to look for long because he came into view seconds later.

"Sonic!" Tails said as he came to a stop in front of my cell. "Sonic, are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

"I just woke up, so not that I know of," I said, moving my arms and legs in directions to see if anything hurt. "Nope, I'm good to go. Thanks for showing up, little buddy."

"It was tough getting here, though," Tails admitted, still looking a bit worried, and glancing up the hall before returning his focus to me. "Everyone's outside holding off the robots. We don't have much time."

As Tails worked to get the cell door open, I started to realize that something felt slightly off about how he replied to me. It seemed somewhat… automatic. But maybe I was looking into it too much.

"Hey Tails?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh, just in case… Tell me something only the real Tails would know."

Only then did I realize I should have asked him what the code word was instead. After I was rescued during the Phantom War, Tails and I had come up with a code word in case we ran into more illusions of each other.

Tails blinked at me for a moment. "Uh, oh yeah. My second favorite ice cream flavor is cookies n creme, and I have exactly 134 apps on the Miles Electric."

I nodded.

"Okay, c'mon Sonic, everyone's waiting for you!" he urged as he finally got the door open. I apprehensively stepped out of my cell before following Tails down the hall.

"Please tell me this isn't a trap…" I said.

"It'll okay, Sonic," Tails said. "We'll get you the help you need."

However, I still wasn't sure about all this. While I knew Tails liked cookies n creme ice cream, I didn't recall it being one of his absolute favorite flavors. And while I didn't know exactly how many apps he had, I had a feeling it was more than 134.

Suddenly a Caterkiller fell out of one of the overhead vents toward me, and I yelped and scrambled back. But just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone.

"That's been happening around here lately," Tails told me. "Eggman found a way to pull a mist-like substance from the Phantom Ruby, so you may see some hallucinations until we get out of here. Don't worry, none of them are real."

That sounded like it could be an issue…

"Speaking of gettin' out of here," I said, before shooting forward at just under the speed of sound.

"Sonic, wait…!" Tails called, reaching out to me, but it was too late. I ran straight into a wall, which turned out to be a dead end. I ran back and tried another way, but there happened to be a wall there too.

I tried running in several different directions to escape the prison block, but walls kept appearing in places I didn't remember there being walls before.

Now that I was out of luck, I was forced to return to Tails.

"Eggman has gotten a lot smarter this time," he told me. "Follow me, I know the way out."

I was hesitant to follow him, but I did. Tails ran through the hall before spinning his namesakes to gain even more speed. I was easily able to keep up with him. Tails flew faster than I remembered him flying.

Suddenly there was a flash of light from up ahead, and Tails screamed as he was vaporized before my eyes.

"TAILS!" I screamed as I ran up to the spot where I had last seen my best friend. There was a small puddle of blood on the floor where he had just been. I was horrified, and my stomach instantly sank.

"Tails…"

I was in such a deep state of grief over the loss of my friend that I almost didn't feel the three lasers hit me from the side. I collapsed onto the floor, glancing up at the dozen robots that approached me from the adjacent hall, before my eyes fell back to the blood on the floor.

I couldn't believe Eggman would do this to Tails. I was so mad. But I was too upset to fight back. I was more than upset. Tails meant everything to me. Without him, I wouldn't be the hedgehog I was today.

"It takes a great fool to be this trusting in your best friend," a familiar gravelly voice spoke.

"Eggman…" I spoke in a low voice without looking up.

I felt two pairs of metal hands grab me and lift me to my feet, but I would not go that easily. I could feel the negative Chaos energy boil inside me like a cauldron about to bubble over. My fur started to deepen in color, and I knew it was only a matter of time until I fully transformed into Dark Sonic.

I hurtled through the fourteen robots like a black comet, obliterating them on the spot. There was almost no metal left remaining of them by the time I was done with them. But right as I was about to make a grab for Eggman, I was hit with a sudden rib-shattering punch, and I was sent sprawling to the floor. When I looked at my fur again, it was back to its usual cobalt-blue form. Looking up again, I saw Neo Metal Sonic standing over me.

"I took several precautions since the last time you used that form," Eggman said with a sinister grin as Metal grabbed me by the arms and hauled me back toward the prison block. "Since Knuckles is mysteriously able to neutralize your super form with a single punch, I did extensive research and incorporated a similar trait into Metal here. So you can imagine I'm quite pleased he can knock you out of your dark form too! I was unsure about that in the field test."

"Y-You're sick… Eggman…" I rasped.

"Does this feel familiar?" the doctor asked as he walked alongside us.

"It doesn't hit the same as it used to if I have to be honest with you," I said, even if it was an empty bluff. "Although... T-Tails dying looked pretty real."

"Who said it wasn't real?" Eggman asked.

"I didn't see his body," I told him, my rationality returning now that I was no longer in my dark form.

"I have ways of changing that," Eggman darkly told me. "There's always an alternative to roboticization, although I prefer to do things on my own terms."

We finally rounded the corner and returned to the prison block.

"Time and time again, I let you escape, let you think you have free range of the Death Egg. But in reality, I have you on a very tight leash. You will never be able to truly distinguish fact from fiction."

"I know you sent Bokkun to tell my friends I'm here," I told Eggman, looking directly at him. "That's a pretty big blunder."

"I did that on purpose," Eggman told me, feeling him glare daggers at me through his glasses. "Like I said, I prefer to do things on my own terms. It's not just to lower your morale, but it's so they can properly fear my ultimate creation. This is the Death Egg III, and onboard is the centerpiece of my Operation Endgame."

"So basically the Doomsday Project and the Ultimate Annihilator had one ugly baby, huh? You're not being original, Eggman."

"Funny you should mention that," Eggman said as we stopped in front of my cell. "Because I recently rediscovered some of my old notes for the Doomsday Project. Nostalgic times…"

Metal pushed me into my cell, and I could hear the door reactivating behind me.

"Some principles from said project still hold up to this day," Eggman continued, "but this time around, I prefer to do things a little more… remotely."

I got up and faced Eggman, staring directly into his eyes.

"My friends will find me and get me out of here," I told him. "You're not doing yourself any favors keeping me here again."

"Oh, that would be a suicide mission for them," Eggman said. "They can't possibly fathom how impenetrable my new Death Egg is! In mere moments, it will rise out of the Great Salt Lake, and the entire nation– no, the world, will recognize me as their new emperor!"

He let out a cackle, but I stood rooted to my spot staring defiantly at him, even though Metal stood threateningly close to my cell.

"Now sit tight and watch a professional rule the world," Eggman told me as he turned to leave.

"You never told me what your plan was," I told him.

"I don't have to," Eggman replied. "The less you know about my motives this time around, the better. I don't always have to telegraph my every move, you know."

"But you just did with Bokkun–"

"Yes, and I will tell you again that was on my terms. Stop making me repeat myself. This time around, though, I want to see the pure desperation in their eyes when they find they can't do anything to stop me this time, just as much as I want to see your desperation."

With those words, Eggman walked away, and Metal followed, leaving me alone in my cell. I gritted my teeth. This was exactly like the war. And this time, I didn't know any of the doctor's motives, which somehow made this worse, even without Infinite.

"You could have at least left Metal here to guard me!" I shouted.

"Your own company will do just fine," Eggman told me from the end of the hall. "And I have a wide array of security measures that will prevent you from leaving. Besides, I have plans with Metal."

"What kind of plans?" I asked, dreading being left all alone in my cell again.

"Well now, that would be telling, wouldn't it?" Eggman said as he approached my cell again until he was standing right in front of me, his toothy grin sending shivers down my spine. "Let's just say you're now considered dead to the world."


Thorndyke Mansion – Tue March 21 – Third-person POV

With a gasp, Tails shot up in bed in a cold sweat. His heart was pounding, and his tails instinctively wrapped themselves around him. They were puffed out to almost twice their size.

The worst nightmare he had in a long time was now lingering in his memory. He dreamed that he was rescuing Sonic from the Death Egg just like he did during the Phantom War, except he was viewing everything from Sonic's body and going through all the mental trauma Sonic went through. It was horrifying, and since he was well aware of what Sonic went through, even though he wished he wasn't, that made the nightmare feel even worse in hindsight.

Even though he was only eight years old, he had to be a trooper in a war to take back the planet from Eggman's rule. Not only that, but he was part of the backbone of the entire resistance force he was involved with. Even though he had gone back to a normal life after the war, he never liked talking about it too much, and his dream made him even more worried for his brother.

He tried to lie back down and go back to sleep, but he felt tense. Any time he tried to imagine himself tinkering with his inventions or flying in the Tornado like he loved to do, his imagination took control and steered the plane into the Death Egg, where he ran through the dark metal corridors to Sonic's cell, and his consciousness was transferred to Sonic, where he felt six months' worth of unimaginable mental trauma, ranging from seeing Sonic's friends die over and over to drowning in an impossibly deep ocean, to seeing the full extent of Eggman's rule over the planet. Infinite was long gone, but his legacy still remained to this day.

"Sonic…" he felt himself involuntarily whispering into the darkness.

He couldn't go back to sleep. He would feel guilty if Sonic was up there in the Death Egg all alone in prison, and Tails just went back to sleep. Even if he couldn't find Sonic at all yesterday, he had to try. In the words of Rerun from Peanuts, if the puzzle piece wouldn't fit, he would make it fit.

He slipped out of bed and tiptoed down the stairs, doing his best to be quiet so that no one would hear him. Once he was near the top of the stairs, he spun his tails and flew down into the foyer. His flying wasn't as strong as it usually was since he just woke up. He was running on only two hours of sleep, since he had refused to go to bed until he finished repairing the X-Tornado, which he finally finished doing at just past three in the morning.

But first, he was feeling thirsty, so he crept into the kitchen to get himself some water. After he filled his cup, making sure to be as quiet as possible even though the house was huge, he sat down at the dining room table with his cup of water. Bokkun had left his signature yellow TV there, but fortunately, the messenger robot cared enough to not make it explode this time.

Straining against the blue light the screen emitted in the darkness, Tails played the message over and over in disbelief, trying to see if there was a clue in it somewhere, any clue as to what Eggman's real plan was, or any slip-ups that could possibly give him and his friends the advantage. But after five minutes, he was on the verge of giving up. Tears pricked his eyes, and he rested his head on his arms on the table in depression. He was not just frustrated at Eggman for daring to kidnap Sonic just like he did at the beginning of the Phantom War, but he was frustrated at himself for not being able to find Sonic yesterday.

I'm better than this… he thought. Sonic is counting on me, and I failed! I let him down… I'm sorry, Sonic–

"Tails?"

Tails was startled out of his self-pity by a gentle voice from behind him. He wiped his tears away and looked up, trying to look brave.

"Amy…?" he whispered. "What are you doing up…?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Amy said. "I heard you going downstairs and I wanted to see if you were okay."

Tails took a deep breath before letting it out, and it sounded shaky.

"I don't know…" he admitted. "I'm trying so hard to be brave…"

Amy could tell that Tails was shaking slightly, so she pulled up a chair and sat next to him before giving her friend a gentle hug. The warmth of their embrace was enough to gradually release the floodgates, and tears formed in Tails' eyes again.

"I… had a nightmare…" he whispered.

"I'm sorry…" Amy said in empathy. "I'm right here if you want to talk about it."

Taking a deep breath, Tails began to tell her the nightmare, pausing every now and then so he wouldn't overwhelm himself describing what he saw and felt in the dream.

"I remember you took it the hardest out of all of us during the war…" Amy recalled. "Even more than me."

"Amy… I don't wanna l-live through this again…" Tails said, his voice getting shaky now.

"I don't either…" Amy said as she tightened the hug and rubbed her friend's back gently. Tails started to cry a little more now. He had to keep himself from sobbing because everyone else was asleep, and he knew he would feel weak if he completely broke down in front of any of his friends.

The worst thing about this situation was that both of them knew that the Death Egg wasn't just another illusion created by the Phantom Ruby. This time, it was 100% real without a doubt.

For the next two minutes, Amy comforted Tails, who tried his hardest to take deep breaths. Even though Amy was not known for being the most patient person, she was incredibly patient with Tails, because she was in the same boat herself.

"I don't think I can go back to sleep…" Tails admitted once he had calmed down a little. "M-My big bro is out there… in the Death Egg again… a-and the Phantom Ruby–"

"I know..." Amy said. "I couldn't get any sleep last night either. Because I promised to never let this happen ever again… but now…"

"Everything okay?"

Both of them looked over to see a newly-arrived Knuckles standing on the other side of the room. His voice was unusually hushed.

"Hey, Knuckles…" Amy said. She looked like she hadn't slept at all. However, Tails looked away and grasped the tip of one of his tails. He didn't want too much attention on himself.

"You guys thinking about Sonic too?" Knuckles asked as he approached them.

Amy nodded. "I couldn't sleep…"

"Me neither," Knuckles said. "But it's also because Eggman said he's launching a death machine in the morning, and we couldn't find him before then. I just don't want us to be taken off guard when it does launch."

"I agree," Amy said.

"I know it's still the wee hours, but can we look for him again?" Knuckles asked.

"Eggman did say he was going to launch the Death Egg before morning, and it's like…" Tails looked up at the clock. "…5am… so if we're lucky, he probably already launched it by now."

With a sudden burst of determination, Tails suddenly pushed his chair back, sprung out of his seat, and ran for the living room door.

"Wait!" Amy called, not expecting Tails to pull out of her hug that fast.

"Let him go, you know you can't stop him," Knuckles told her. "This is his big brother after all."

"Then I'm coming too!" Amy said as she got up and followed Tails toward the door. "If things get bad, he's gonna need all the help he can get."

"Then count me in," Knuckles said, running after his friends.

"You were the one who asked if we can look for Sonic again," Amy pointed out as she ran out the door which was left open.

"Then count me in even more!" Knuckles said with a chuckle, which he tried not to make it sound forced.

By the time he caught up to Amy, Tails was already at the garage getting the door open. He tried to make sure he was as quiet as possible.

"Tails, wait!" Amy called. "You're gonna wake up Chuck!"

"I know, but we gotta find the Death Egg as fast as we can!" Tails called back as he got the canopies open.

"Plus the engines are gonna wake him up anyway," Knuckles guessed. "Also, just in case, we should bring the Corundum with us. We may need it."

Tails blinked. "Why?"

However, Knuckles was grinning.

"In case all seven Emeralds come together and Sonic goes super, 'cuz I'm pretty sure Eggman's ultimate plan is gonna build up to that. Imagine what the Corundum is gonna do to Sonic!" he exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, good idea!" Tails said as he disappeared into the garage's elevator. Now it was quiet outside once again.

"I hope you don't mind, but I did listen in a little bit," Knuckles told Amy as he looked up at the X-Tornado's cockpit. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"We're gonna make it okay," Amy said, voicing her solemn determination. "We have to."

Climbing up toward the cockpit, she checked the slot in front of Tails' seat, and found a Chaos Emerald there. She checked the side compartment, and the other Emerald that she and her friends found in the desert was still there as well.

"I would get the remote, but I don't wanna accidentally break it because sometimes I don't realize my own strength," Knuckles said.

"It's fine," Amy said, closing the side door. "I think Tails has it with him anyway."

Sure enough, Tails returned ten seconds later with the remote and the Corona Corundum, and used it to open both canopies. He climbed into the front, and Amy got in behind him. Knuckles sat down in the third seat, and he set the Corundum in the back seat before Tails sealed the canopies.

"This is for Sonic," Tails said in determination as he fired up the plane's engines and immediately accelerated down the runway. His repairs were expertly done, and it was like it had never gotten involved in a crash yesterday. After taxiing down the driveway, the fox pulled back on the yoke, and the plane took off into the sky.


Station Square – Tue March 21 – Third-person POV

"We have arrived in Station Square," Omega reported as he and Shadow finally arrived at what must have been the fifth metropolis they passed through. Both of them had been running or flying all night, but at the crack of dawn, they had finally arrived at their destination. Since Shadow was not familiar with Earth, he thought Portland and San Francisco were Station Square, but he didn't have built-in access to the Internet like Omega did.

"Well, at least we're in the right city this time," Shadow said, looking around at his surroundings as he ran. "Now we have to identify which house the Faker is staying at. What did you say the name of the house was again?"

"Thorndyke Mansion," came the mechanical reply. "I am unable to establish internet connection at this time. Recalibrating…"

Shadow let out an annoyed sigh.

"This means I'll have to rely on more humans…" he said as he took off down the highway.

For the next ten minutes, he skated around the city, looking for any sign of a mansion, while Omega flew alongside him. He tried to avoid any human contact as much as he could. It wasn't a risk he was going to take. And it didn't help that he didn't see a single Mobian since he arrived. As far as everyone else was concerned, he and Omega were aliens. Seeing only humans on this planet was enough to put him on edge.

Not only did GUN somehow exist on Earth, but they knew he was here; and for whatever reason, they were antagonizing him. He somehow became their enemy just by existing, and he was left wondering what went down on this planet before he arrived.

Shadow shrugged; he was used to this. GUN's recent actions were yet another reason why his trust in humanity was practically nonexistent. But he made a promise to Maria, and he intended to keep it. It didn't matter that he was on another planet. Humans were humans all the same.

After another ten minutes, there was still no sign of the mansion, or any sign of rich neighborhoods for that matter. He decided not to use Chaos Control to travel faster in case he needed all his strength if GUN cornered him.

Which was exactly what happened next.

"We have you surrounded!" he heard yet another helicopter pilot tell him over the bullhorn. "Surrender immediately and calmly!"

"Nope, I'm not doing this," Shadow said under his breath as he took off down the road once again. He wanted to destroy the approaching helicopters and jeeps so bad, but that would be a bad first impression for him on this planet, and besides, he had to make it to Sonic's place of residence as fast as he could.

"Don't shoot at them," Shadow told Omega. "Just keep running and look for the mansion, and if they catch up with us there, we'll deal with them then."

"Acknowledged," Omega said as they picked up the pace.


The Egg Carrier – Tue March 21 – Third-person POV

The six members of the Society were gradually getting comfortable with the Egg Carrier since they had confiscated it the previous day. Even though they had to deal with CLIP troops who engaged with them in combat, they held them off better than they thought they would, considering this was their first time on the ship and they were still figuring out the controls.

"Seriously, I was not expecting that yesterday," Dragg said, sounding strangely ecstatic as he leaned against the wall of the bridge.

"Not expecting what?" Narasu asked from the controls of the flying fortress.

"You guys saw the fight with Sonic, right? I mean, if you can even call it a 'fight'. Beta was already showing off when it mowed down over half the GUN troops the other day, but not even Sonic was a match against it?"

"It passed the field test with flying colors," Browning observed. "I wasn't expecting us to fight Sonic so soon, I honestly wasn't, but I'm feeling good about this, not gonna lie."

"Same," Dragg said.

"I know I already figured out how to remove the Loyalty Code from Beta, but watching him recently, I think I need a new kind of restraint," Browning thought. "This is– was Eggman's robot after all."

"So were the GUN robots, but they were already programmed with restraints," Passer said from the other seat at the controls. "You saw to that, right?"

"I did," Browning said. "I took a look at several of them myself, and none of them had the Loyalty Code to begin with."

"Okay, that's good," Passer said.

"Can we confirm the doctor's base has already taken off?" Dragg asked.

"It has," Narasu responded. "The Organizer told us this morning. We should be seeing it any time now."

"But we're not detecting any Chaos Emeralds," Dragg noted. "Because I'm pretty sure Eggman would have some on board."

"They probably have a Faraday cage in there, but even so, Beta can still detect signals coming from Eggman technology," Passer pointed out. "Which means we can track him down even if he doesn't have a Chaos Emerald."

"I just wanna make sure first, are we cloaked?" Dragg asked.

"Oh, absolutely," Passer said. "I made sure of that first thing this morning. Because if we underestimate Eggman, it's all over for us," Passer told everyone as he accelerated the ship toward the battle station. "Because I get the impression this battle station is what he's been up to since he went into hiding."

"So are you saying he built it in like… less than a month?" Narasu asked.

"Perhaps longer, we don't know what all he did in his spare time," Passer shrugged. "All without the public knowing. He is a mastermind. But hey, at the very least, we can be sure Sonic won't be a threat to us any longer."

"I see there's an Egg Cannon control panel," Browning said, noticing one of the sections of the console as he explored the bridge. "But I'm not sure what it does yet. This is probably a dumb question, but anyone know if there's an owner's manual or instructions anywhere?"

"I'm looking," Narasu said as he tapped a few options on the nearby touchscreen.

"I highly doubt it," Passer said, "especially since he always builds his robots to his exact specifications. He doesn't need an owner's manual, physical or otherwise."

"Hey, I found Jerome's notes," Dragg said from one of the consoles.

"Oh?" Browning said in intrigue.

"Nothing too noteworthy though," Dragg said as he rapidly scrolled through the many entries his former colleague left. "I'm honestly kinda disappointed."

"Anything from Eggman?" Narasu asked.

But before Dragg could answer, the elevator door slid open and Watcher stepped onto the bridge, a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Man, I could get used to this Mean Bean espresso machine, it makes killer coffee," he said. "Anyway, where are we heading?"

"You didn't get the Organizer's report this morning?" Passer asked incredulously, and Watcher shrugged. "Whatever, he told us to make a beeline for Eggman's new battle station and wait for further orders."

"And if he wants us to use our robot army on that thing– No, we're not doing that, that's suicide," Watcher scoffed. "We need 'em here for defense."

"Coward…" Dragg muttered under his breath.

"Well, you don't have to do anything, 'cuz I already have a plan," Passer said without looking up. "We'll remain cloaked while we charge the Egg Cannon, but then we'll have to uncloak in order to fire it."

"Are you out of your mind?" Watcher asked. "Knowing Eggman, he probably has thousands of Badniks swarming that thing like mosquitoes and they will come after you if you step out of line, and I'm speaking from experience."

"So am I," Passer said in an even tone. "Because there's only so much he can do with the limits of physics."

"Well, I have first-hand experience with Eggman, and I say you're greatly underestimating him," Watcher argued.

"We have a powerful cannon," Passer said. "And just at a cursory glance of its schematics, it will wipe them out in a heartbeat."

"No it won't," Watcher said matter-of-factly. "Look, I hate Eggman too and I wanna see him eradicated, but if you want something done, you gotta play it safe, and this is coming from a former prison warden. Eggman is one prisoner I am not willing to take. Because if a federal prison can't hold him, then good luck getting me to hold him."

"You're contradicting yourself, Howard," Passer said. "You want him gone, yet you refuse to do anything about it yourself. Nothing gets done unless you actually do something. And what I'm going to do is remain cloaked while I ponder further options."

"That's assuming Eggman can't detect us even when we're cloaked," Watcher said. "Unlike you, he's not stupid."

"Well, I didn't spend the last hour wandering around and wasting my time," Passer shot back. "I was up here getting us where we need to be."

"I was exploring our enemies' territory, there's a difference," Watcher snapped. "I would do the same if I were in your position."

"You two should stop arguing if you hope to get anything done," Browning interjected without looking up from his post.

"Especially since I need concentration while I fly the ship," Passer said.

The bridge was finally quiet after that, much to Li Yan, Browning, Narasu, and Dragg's relief.


Thorndyke Mansion – Tue March 21 – Chris' POV

It didn't strike me until I was about halfway through my morning routine that the house was a lot quieter than usual. The house was normally hustling and bustling with activity at nearly all times, since there were nine of us living at home, plus Cheese, Chocola, and Lily the Flicky. Ella was usually up cooking breakfast for everyone, and there would be happy chatter about the day's plans and what we wanted to do and where we wanted to go. There would be laughter and playful banter between us. So unless my friends were unusually quiet this morning, I wondered if I stayed up late.

But I saw that it was almost eight in the morning, and my friends were usually up by then. I didn't know what happened. I knew it wasn't my birthday, so they weren't going to surprise me or anything as far as I knew.

I felt my body aching as I rinsed the toothpaste out of my mouth and prepared to leave the bathroom. Nothing could have prepared me for how brutal using a Chaos Emerald really was. This must have been how Sonic felt after he was super the night he rescued me. I didn't think I wanted to use a Chaos Emerald again after that if I knew I would get intense body aches like this. I told myself to take it easy today.

On my way down the hall, I saw Cream about to go down the stairs. Knowing that I wasn't home alone, immediately relief washed through me as I approached her and her two Chao.

"Well, good morning, Mr. Chris!" she greeted, her smile just as bright as ever.

"Chao-chao!" Cheese and Chocola echoed.

"Hi," I said as I caught up to them. I was about to say something when she beat me to it.

"Are you okay after yesterday?" she asked me, her smile fading and replaced by a look of concern.

"After using the Chaos Emerald?" I clarified, and she nodded. "Y-Yeah, I think so, I still feel pretty weak though."

"It's okay, please try and get plenty of rest so you can feel all better again!" Cream said with a smile.

"Okay, I said, smiling back at her. "Um, is everyone else here?"

"Hm?" Cream looked around. "I didn't see anyone else, if that's what you're asking." She flapped her ears and flew down the stairs, and I followed her down. She was already landing by the time I was halfway down. "I think they're all looking for Mr. Sonic."

I blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Ohhh…" Cream realized. "You were sleeping the whole time." Cream paused for a moment, as if she was debating whether to say what was on her mind.

"What did I miss?" I asked as I got to the bottom of the stairs.

"Mr. Sonic has been kidnapped by Dr. Eggman in his Death Egg…" Cream said sadly.

I gasped. "Wait, what?!"

Cream nodded sadly. "Yeah… I think they're out there looking for him. I hope he's okay…"

"But…" I was instantly hit with flashbacks of when my friends told me stories of the Phantom War, and how Sonic was trapped inside the Death Egg for six months. He endured things I couldn't imagine. The Phantom Ruby was being used at its fullest potential, just to break Sonic.

I felt flustered, and my face heated up with fresh stress. This should not be happening to Sonic! Not again! Not after what happened to him during the–

Before I realized it, I was running toward the living room's side door. There had to be something I could do! I felt helpless staying at home while Sonic was kidnapped, and even though my other friends were out looking for him, or so I assumed, where would that leave me?!

"Wait!" Cream called, and I stopped to let her catch up to me. "Where are you going?"

"I-I…" I finally willed myself to relax. "I don't know, I just… I just wanna do something to help."

"Me too…" Cream said.

"Chao…" Cheese added.

"Everything will be all right," Ella said as she entered the living room from the dining room. "If Tails, Amy, and Knuckles are not here now, then I know they're out there looking for Sonic. Don't you worry your pretty little heads about him."

Ella had a fair point. Maybe it was okay if there was nothing we could do, as long as my friends were looking for Sonic. I didn't know if I was overreacting, but Ella's words did help with the stress just a little.

"Okay…" I said.

"Breakfast is ready whenever you are, so eat up! I made French toast, ham, and eggs this morning," Ella said as she left the room.

"Ooh!" Cream exclaimed as she ran into the dining room, with her Chao right behind her. I followed to see that Vanilla was there too.

We both enjoyed breakfast, and neither of us said much except for chatting with Ella and Vanilla a bit. It didn't exactly take my worried mind off of Sonic though. And it was especially weird that none of my other friends were there at the table either, not to mention I was the only boy at the table.

Right around the time we were finished and Ella was clearing up our plates, Grandpa came into the room.

"Good morning, Grandpa," Cream and I said to him at the same time.

Looking at his eyes, I could tell that he was tired. Cream looked tired too from yesterday's stress, but not as much as Grandpa, who was already holding back a yawn as he went to prepare his morning coffee.

"Morning," he said. "You doing okay after using the Chaos Emerald yesterday?"

"Yeah," I said, even if that was only half-true. "Do you know if everyone's out right now?" I asked him, even though I was sure I knew the answer to that already.

"They are," he said through a yawn as he prepared the coffee pot. "The X-Tornado woke me up early this morning. Did anyone else hear it?"

I shook my head, and Ella did the same.

"We were all sound asleep," Vanilla said. "At least I was."

"I see," Grandpa said. "Tails left a message for me on my phone. He said he's out looking for Sonic, and he can't sit still. He said he couldn't bring Chris or Cream again because he's 100% sure it's gonna be dangerous this time, and he hopes you two understand."

"I understand, Grandpa," Cream said, and I nodded.

"I feel for him, I really do," Chuck said as the coffee machine got to work on his brew. "He said he wanted to work for so long to be a hero in his own right and not always have to depend on Sonic to do all the rescuing. But I'm looking at him, and I think otherwise. He's already his own hero. He defused a bomb in Station Square– Mobius Station Square all those years back, he played a huge part in the Phantom War… and right now, he's taking the initiative, he's going out there all by himself to find Sonic. He's his best friend after all, his brother. He couldn't sit still and watch Eggman rule the world with Sonic as his captive. He… He reminds me of Gohan in Dragon Ball Z. He just cannot sit still when he sees something bad happening."

I could hear a hint of emotional strain in his voice before he paused to let his words sink in.

"He grew up before my eyes…" he admitted.

"Tails has always been mature beyond his years, while still acting his age at the same time," Vanilla remarked after sipping her tea.

"Mhmm," Cream agreed.

Just as Grandpa was about to say something else, there was a sudden heavy knocking sound coming from the foyer, making us jump. It sounded like someone was desperate to get in. I scrambled out of my chair and ran to the living room, where I could see the foyer. I stayed out of the way as Mr. Tanaka went to open the door.

"Surveillance didn't catch whoever this is, huh?" I could hear Grandpa say.

The moment I saw who was standing behind the door that Tanaka now opened, I almost paled and staggered backward.

Shadow the Hedgehog was standing there.

And so was another robot I had never seen before, one that looked ominously like the ones that fed me and Big to Chaos, but it was somehow bulkier and scarier. But my eyes were locked on Shadow, and to make matters worse, I was hit with a fresh memory of when he nearly impaled me with a Chaos Spear. He may have been fake, but the pain I felt was very real.

"M-Mr. Shadow…?" Cream said, sounding just as surprised as the rest of us were.

"Where's the faker?" the black hedgehog demanded, wasting no time as he stepped into the house and looked around, followed by the robot. "Tell me he's in here somewhere."

Grandpa blink. "…Faker…?" he asked.

"Sonic!" Shadow exclaimed in exasperation. "Where's Sonic?!"

"Oh, he's… not here right now," Grandpa said, quickly recovering from Shadow's sudden outburst. I could tell Grandpa hesitated for a moment before he continued, and I took another step back. "He's… captured in the Death Egg, so his friends are out looking for him."

"So this proves the doctor was sent here too…" Shadow mused, crossing his arms.

"I… have a question," Grandpa said. "How exactly did you come back?"

Shadow blinked. "What do you mean, 'back?'" he asked.

"You disappeared on Christmas Eve. Aren't you a Phantom Ruby illusion?"

Something snapped within the hedgehog, I could tell in the look in his eyes.

"Wha–" His tone dripped with anger and possibly vengeance. "I'll have you know I am the Ultimate Lifeform, so don't even think about comparing me to a cheap copy of–" He paused mid-rant as I watched the gears turn in his mind. "Wait… Are you saying the Phantom Ruby is here? I was led to believe it was destroyed. So it shouldn't be back here, let alone back in the hands of Eggman once again."

"Explain the existence of the anomalous Shadow," the robot spoke in a strong voice, startling me a bit.

"We don't have that kind of time, Omega," Shadow said. "GUN is literally at our heels, and we need to know what's going on as soon as possible."

"GUN has some kind of connection with the Phantom Ruby version of you," Grandpa explained, choosing his words carefully. "Eggman used him to frame Sonic for a crime he didn't commit, but he changed the illusion to make the fake you actually look like Sonic."

"Hmph… The doctor will rue the day he ever laid eyes on that rock," Shadow said. "It gave us nothing but hell for eighteen months."

And then his eyes wandered in my direction, and I stood still, not knowing what to do next in case this really was the Phantom Ruby Shadow who had come back.

"…Why is the boy cowering in the corner…?" he asked, mostly out of curiosity.

Cream stood near me to make sure nothing would happen to me, as did Cheese and Chocola.

"It's okay, I know Mr. Shadow," she whispered, taking my hand as Grandpa explained the situation. I shuddered when he got to the part where I was struck with Shadow's Chaos Spear.

"I don't even know him," Shadow remarked in confusion. "Why would I have a vendetta with someone like him?"

"Juvenile threat level: negligible," Omega stated. At least neither of them thought I was dangerous, but I was still a bit nervous around them since I just met them.

"He's helped to thwart Eggman's plans in surprising ways," Grandpa told Shadow. "In fact… Eggman made him one of his enemies right from the very beginning."

"We're wasting time…" Shadow said, warily glancing at the front door.

"I can hide you both, I know a good place," Grandpa told them, taking a step further into the house. However, neither of them moved.

"That's not necessary, I can hold my own," Shadow responded. "If the Faker's not here, then where's Rouge? Is she here?"

"On Earth? Yes," Grandpa said. "But if you're asking if he's here here, then no, she's with GUN most likely. I know she has a fancy apartment downtown, I've never been there though."

"I'm not surprised," Shadow said. "It's just like her to make herself at home here."

"Um…" I said, taking a nervous step forward. "C-Can you… p-prove you're real…?"

Shadow glanced in my direction, before there was a sudden flash of light and he was suddenly standing a few feet from me. I flinched took a startled step back, nearly falling over.

"Could the fake me do that?" Shadow asked.

"Y-Yeah…" I said, feeling my heart racing in my chest from that jumpscare.

"I have an idea," Cream told me, before letting go of my hand and turning to face Shadow. "Mr. Shadow, do you remember the last time you came over to my house and had a tea party with me?"

As Shadow paused in thought, I had to suppress a smile. Cream was so pure and innocent, because I otherwise couldn't imagine someone as tough and to-the-point like Shadow having a tea party with Cream. But I guessed anything was possible on Mobius.

"About two weeks before you guys vanished," he responded. "Why?"

"The bad Mr. Shadow didn't say anything about tea parties," Cream said matter-of-factly, her hands behind her back.

Nor was it ever brought up to him, I thought.

"I don't think the doctor would ever pay attention to things like that," Shadow commented.

"Oh, and the bad Mr. Shadow didn't care about Maria's wish, even though Mr. Chris tried to tell him about it," she added, before looking down. "That's when he attacked him…"

"That is absolutely not true…" Shadow said, and I could see a faraway look in his crimson red eyes. "Maria's wish is the reason I still walk this planet today– and… this other planet too, I would imagine."

"Hooray! You're the real Mr. Shadow!" Cream cheered, before she hugged him, and she was immediately joined by Cheese and Chocola. To my surprise, Shadow didn't try to resist or pull away from the hug. Maybe he had a soft spot for her, but I didn't know.

"I'm glad we got that taken care of," Grandpa said with a satisfied smile. I too felt relieved, but I was still on edge because the real Shadow was acting very similar to the Phantom Ruby illusion I remembered, but he gave off more antihero energy to me than villain energy.

"Want me to call Rouge?" Grandpa asked Shadow. The black hedgehog nodded.

"Yes, that would be appreciated," he said as he walked past Grandpa and returned to Omega.

Grandpa pulled out his phone from his labcoat pocket and dialed Rouge's number, and I sat down on the couch. I knew from what Sonic told me what kind of person Shadow was. Even though he wasn't a bad guy, I knew he could be violent at times, and I definitely didn't want to accidentally do anything to provoke him. He was a lot colder than most of the other Mobians I knew.


Area 99 – Tue March 21 – Third-person POV

"Mr. Perez!" one of the engineers called, running up to Nate Perez as he was working with three other men to fuel the massive ship. Perez looked up at the engineer as he slowed to a stop next to him. "Mr. Bainbridge gave us the go-ahead to prepare the GUN Fort for immediate launch."

"Now?" Perez asked, blinking in surprise.

"Now," the engineer said. "But don't actually take off yet. We're just waiting to see the outcome between Eggman's craft and the Egg Carrier."

"You heard him, guys," Perez called to everyone within earshot. "Prepare the ship for takeoff!"

"Yes sir!" the nearest engineers responded.

Thirty of the engineers on the job filed up the ramp into the ship to begin takeoff procedures. Perez joined them, but not before putting on heavy-duty headphones to protect his ears from the sound of the ship's engines.

"What all needs to be finished here?" he asked as he joined four of the engineers on the bridge.

"We're just waiting on the upgrades to the engines and the energy shield," one of them said. "Shouldn't take long, but it's a huge upgrade from what Eggman used."

"Awesome, can't wait to see it in combat," he said with a smile. "Of course, I won't be leaving Area 99 because they need me here, but if we can finish all the prep ASAP, that would be great."

"Oh yeah, expect the crew to board any minute now," one of the engineers said.

Perez nodded. "Gotcha."

Deep down, however, he was having a hard time keeping his stress levels down to a minimum. He had not been this overburdened with work since he was promoted to head of Area 99's R&D department. He had to rely on his predecessor Ray Browning's notes from when he created and patented the Valkyrie, and even then he felt wrong doing so because he was allegedly part of the same group that killed two-thirds of a GUN troop and created a house appliance apocalypse in Station Square.

Oh well, sometimes it didn't hurt to fight fire with fire, he thought.


The Death Egg – Tue March 21 – Third-person POV

"Dear diary," Eggman spoke. One of his screens changed to a digital journal, and the words he spoke gradually appeared on the screen. "The third Chaos Emerald has been delivered by Metal Sonic last night. In case I look back at my journal and don't look at the earlier entries, here's a little refresher for myself.

"This time not all of them appeared in the United States, so I sent robots all over the world to find them. It took a lot of work, but now three of them are resting in the reactor. Two months ago, during the eclipse, I found the white Emerald at a retail market in Barcelona, Spain. It was in broad daylight, and I risked my neck getting that one, since it was about to be sold for an outrageous price. I swear, Earth humans don't understand the Chaos Emeralds at all…

"And then there's the one I got last month from He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named… My former accomplice, who was sent to retrieve the Corona Corundum, brought back everything but the Corona Corundum. However, without him, I wouldn't have the Phantom Ruby on my hands. Speaking of the Phantom Ruby, although it's not directly integral to Operation Endgame, it'll work nicely to disorient any would-be rescuers. And then there's the blue Emerald that Metal Sonic delivered to me last night.

"Back on the main topic, I only need four more Emeralds before my newest weapon is fully operational. I have waited far too long for this moment."

He paused mid-entry before switching off his speech-to-text function.

"Robots," he ordered, "direct the Death Egg toward Angel Island. I'm not taking any chances if I can't find the other Emeralds, so I'll just open up the option to hook my weapon to an alternate power source!"

He chuckled before resuming his diary entry.

"As I write this, I just gave the order to direct the Death Egg toward Angel Island, which is currently hovering over the Atlantic Ocean and approaching western Africa. I can always use the Master Emerald as an alternate power source, but I don't think that will be necessary since Tails is approaching me with two Chaos Emeralds, and there is only one more left to find. I have complete confidence that Operation Endgame will be the end of all Mobian resistance on this planet!"

He chuckled as he finished his diary entry, right as he got an incoming call. Eggman tapped the button, and Decoe and Bocoe appeared on the screen from the cockpit.

"Doctor, the Egg Carrier is approaching us from the south," Decoe reported.

"What?" Eggman said as he sat back down in his command chair. "There's no way it should be operational. I hid it away in the desert away from human eyes. And yet it approaches without any regard to what my plan is… Anyway, it doesn't matter who's flying it. Activate the Egg Lasers and shoot it down!"

"But Doctor, what about the information you have stored on the Egg Carrier?" Bocoe asked.

"There is no information I don't keep a backup of," Eggman stated. "If that reassures you, then let there be no more delays."

"Yes, Doctor," Bocoe said.


The Egg Carrier – Tue March 21 – Third-person POV

"Oh man…" Dragg breathed in awe at the sight of the massive battle station that was now coming into view. He wasn't prepared for it. None of them were. It seemed to dwarf the Egg Carrier several times over.

They were all at a loss for words for a few moments, before Watcher spoke.

"All right, enough gawking. Get the Egg Cannon ready and shoot down that bootleg Death Star wannabe!"

"It's already charged as we speak," Narasu reported. "I made sure of that ahead of time, just in case. However, it's consuming too many resources to keep it fully charged, and our speed has decreased.

"Guys, it's charging its own attack from its 'eyes'," Dragg reported. Sure enough, they could see green energy floating toward the two concave spots on the Deat Egg above its "mustache". They gradually formed into laser beams that connected together and formed one large green beam in each "eye".

"So that's how it's gonna be, huh?" Watcher said. "That's fine! We'll bring down Eggman with his own technology! Fire the Egg Cannon!"

The Egg Lasers fired seconds before the Egg Cannon did. Both energy attacks met each other in midair halfway between the Egg Carrier and the Death Egg, pushing against each other Dragon Ball style in an attempt to overcome the other.

"Divert all power to the Egg Cannon!" Watcher shouted across the bridge.

"I already did!" Passer called. "We're still losing momentum!"

Watcher pounded the console in frustration as the Egg Lasers started to overcome the Egg Cannon at an even faster rate. The only thing faster was his heart rate as he realized that he and the Society were on the brink of being completely destroyed.


A/N: That concludes part four of the Operation Endgame Saga! This is one of the first chapters I planned out for this arc, particularly the Tails comfort scene and the scene where Shadow arrives at the mansion.

Huge shoutout to OliviaGames1208 for helping out with the Tails scene!

I originally didn't have Cream appear in the scene where Shadow arrives at the mansion. I was going to have Chris be the first person that Shadow saw, but I thought it would make more sense if it was Chuck. Also, please let me know if Shadow and Omega are in character! Like I said before, I know Shadow is a huge fan favorite in the Sonic fanbase. I don't know if he is acting a little too apprehensive of GUN's presence, but I want to know what you think.

I had been reading a lot of Forces angst stories lately, and I kinda channeled that energy into this chapter. I kinda added some new features to Metal Sonic and the Phantom Ruby, and I thought it would be cool to see if the Phantom Ruby can have a mist-like substance extracted from it to cause abstract yet realistic illusions.

As always, thank you for reading and let me know what you think!

Next time is part five of the Operation Endgame Saga! Don't miss it!