Dull, steel-gray skyscrapers clawed their way into a sky washed in artificial light, drowning out the stars that might once have hung above. You could almost taste the neon and fluorescent chemicals in the air, so free of pollution, yet so sterile and dirty at the same time. The city below would have made him drop his jaw in awe 50 years ago, but instead it nearly made him vomit in disgust, Spread out like a machine stripped of its purpose, there wasn't a hint of warmth or kindness to be found. Even the filthiest human cities back home had some hint of humanity, according to the books he and Maria read, that is, but this was just..empty, like most of its citizens.

Shadow the Hedgehog stood on the edge of a building's rooftop, his red eyes once again taking in the twisted display of human desperation,nothing more than a stale lie for them in their tiny little terrarium. Honestly he'd prefer Gerald's grandson's idea of a 'utopia' over this. At least there the people would have felt more alive. Shadow's lip curled in disappointment. What a waste.' This wasn't just the result of a cruel corporate overlord taking advantage of the weak and desperate, this was the result of a people forced into a new paradigm without having the full time necessary to adjust to it.

"Brooding again, I see." From somewhere behind, the sound of footsteps echoed softly over the metal. Rouge emerged from the shadow of a ventilation unit, a sly smile on her face as she surveyed the cityscape with casual indifference and a hint of disgust. "Can't say I blame you. This place is too bright even for me." And it didn't even look that different from a human metropolis back in their old world! There was just a bunch more holograms and J-pop! The sense of decay and misery just below the surface was so palpable that it nearly made her retch for the first few days! Sometimes she wished she was human because her animal instincts sensing all this palpable misery was not good for her health!

Shadow didn't respond, his eyes fixed on the dull glow of the horizon. The skyline was layered with signs that blared advertisements for faceless corporations, hollow promises in flickering neon meant to distract from the fact that their peace could be shattered with just the right push. He'd applaud the distraction if it wasn't being used by something like the Sumeragi Corporation. "A part of me wonders if Eggman would be a better fit for this place." Especially given what they've learned and experienced here.

"Given how bad I heard it is outside this country?"Rouge said. "They'd probably welcome it if that barrier went down. Eggy's already made himself a household name in Japan with his little toys, so he's probably just waiting for the right moment when Sumeragi screws everything up."

Shadow shuddered. "Let's hope we're ready when that happens." And it will happen. Those idiots running the show still haven't found the bugs Rouge planted in their homes, and Eggman probably had his bugs planted there too. It'd be either the six of them, Q.U.I.L.L, or whoever it was that was sending coded transmissions outside the barrier. He'd give it until the end of the year before Sumeragi was revealed as the pathetic, hollow husk it actually was.

At that moment, a glint of silver cut through the air like a blade, and a circular portal opened up, spilling out two small figures onto the rooftop. "And now our little group is complete," Rouge remarked, watching as the Warp Ring vanished, its faint shimmer dissolving into the bright city lights.

The two newcomers looked almost out of place against the harsh skyline—one slightly armored figure clad in sleek, high-tech gear that was made for agility rather than brute force. Given she was 12, she wasn't going to be doing any fighting. She was a human, around 4 feet tall, around the same size as her alien cohorts. Her cat-like visor was tinted a soft blue, her breath forming a small cloud in the cold night air thanks to the front vent on her helmet . Her armor glowed faintly in shades of dark pink and light purple along its softened edges, casting an almost playful light over the dark rooftop. Just looking at it made Rouge's heart swell with pride; she wasn't as good an engineer as Tails, but she did pretty good on this!

Though compact and carefully designed to fit her smaller frames, the armor was still made for function, the kid was still human after all, with reinforced plates along the chest and shoulders and fingerless gloves The girl's chest plate bore Rouge's emblem, which caught the light for a brief second as she adjusted her utility belt, slim pouches along her waist stocked with compact tools instead of heavy ammunition. Unlike the armor those brutes wore, this armor was meant for movement and dexterity, and unlike those pieces of paper that Sumeragi called armor, this beauty did it's job flawlessly. Two of the Chaos Emeralds were nice and snuggly in their warm loving embrace thanks to Joule's Nyanarmor, and she didn't care what Shadow said, that was an absolutely adorable name!

…Also she had Cubot. duller in color, rusty, and somewhat smarter than the one Shadow and Rouge knew, and lacking his smarter, spherical companion. How this human got ahold of Cubot, and why he was so old, was a mystery neither alien could crack. Whatever security Eggman installed into that idiot in his timeline was far beyond anything either of the two could decipher. "Superb Greetings my good friends!" And his voice changing was still a thing. She missed the days when she thought Eggman didn't put that in him on purpose.

"Hello…" The girl, Joule, said to them, her voice filtered to be nearly unrecognizable thanks to her helmet. A slot on the helmet opened up to reveal a mouth, where she began to ravenously devour those disgusting rations once again.

Rouge raised an eyebrow as she watched the girl dig into a portion of the supplies with a kind of ravenous efficiency. "Hungry huh? Your little boyfriend's food didn't whet your appetite huh?"

"It's not good for me." Then again nothing was good for her anymore, not even a carrot…damn you Eggman. "It's disgusting, it's revolting, and I threw up six times trying to eat it…" But at least she could taste it! "Are we alone?"

"Well, now that you're here." Rouge snapped her fingers, and a small thud in the distance caused everyone's attention to turn to the right, near the port, where a large plume of smoke and Rouge's laughter could be heard. "Now; now we're alone." And given the facility she just blew up, they were going to have the run of the place for a while!

Cubot whistled as he, to the misfortune of everyone around him, reminded everyone of his existence. "Ohhhh golly gee, Miss Rouge! Ya blew that thing up real good! Real subtle, too." He glanced over at Shadow with a look that was way too intense for someone like him, lowering his voice to a stage whisper that somehow managed to echo across the rooftop. "So we're all by our lonesome ain't we, best buddy?" He raised an imaginary eyebrow, somehow cluelessly missing the annoyed look Shadow threw his way and forgetting that it wasn't just the two of them. "Oh I know what you're thinkin', but ol Cubot'll be here to do what he does best!"

"Unfortunately." Shadow grumbled as Joule finished was a very good reason Orbot and Cubot lasted as long as they did under the doctor's tenure. He just wished why that man made their personalities so obnoxious. "So that leaves me, you, Cubot-" The robot didn't notice the disdain and waved cheerfully at Shadow. "And you Cyan." Joule nodded as she finished eating. "That just leaves Michiru."

In the quiet sanctuary that was her room, Michiru, Mytyl Kamizono, lay in bed, her golden/violet eyes half-lidded, giving the impression she was sleeping to anyone who might check in on Special Stage was going to be the hardest of them all, and they'd need her help keeping Jota, Sumeragi's Shining Sentinel away from it. Thankfully Eggman hadn't done anything to the Glaive Transformation System, so that pompous blowhard wouldn't be able to use his powers as effectively as he thought he was.

Though the tablet was in sleep mode, on its charging dock on her dresser, it still sent out data by her mental command, as if some invisible finger moved across the screen in smooth, calculated motions. It took a lot of pouting and crying to get Nori and Lola to leave it with her, but in the end she got her way. Using the tablet, a message appeared in Shadow, Rouge's, her other half's heads. Cubot probably already intercepted it, which she, unfortunately for what little ego she had, had to learn to live with.

No problem sweetie! So, where's ? And stop grumbling Shadow, it doesn't look good on you!

Jota had left alongside his troops. All patrols are heading down to the bottom floor and patrolling the streets. Skeleton crew left. You have the run of the place. Mytyl took a second look at the information her mind was flooded with. ...How many facilities did you detonate?

Oh just one or two..or six. All at the same time too! It's amazing how many concentration camps they had hiding in plain sight.

Cubot decided to add in his 2 cents. Tell me about it! He interjected, his voice switching to a pirate accent halfway through.

Wait a minute… Shadow said. You mean to tell me that Camp Concentration wasn't something Eggman had the Sumeragi executives use for one of their facilities? Oh god that had the exact amount of stupid needed to be an Eggman name!

Mytyl interjected. And unless you have something important to say actually important, you are to keep silent

Roger albino lady!

…As much as she hated these powers, she really wished she could hack him, but somehow, Hack the Planet didn't work on him! 'And I'm not an albino, I'm just pale!' Her and her brother were practically fair-skinned!

Letting out a soft sigh, her eyes shifted to the side, glancing at the photograph on her bedside table. It was almost enough to make her tear up even if it wasn't her real brother, where she didn't have to pretend to be happy, where she had the power to make her big brother, her hero's, dreams a reality, but she couldn't . The innocence captured in that image felt almost alien to her now, both the smile on her face and on her fake brotherCopen's. Mytyl looked away with a slight, uncharacteristic sneer before returning to her tablet, suppressing an unsettling feeling bubbling within her. It was so..lovely.

Shadow nodded. "Alright, let's go." Few, if any guards, no robots, and no Swordsman. This was going to be the easiest- "Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked Rouge, who was staring at him with a flat expression. Cubot was also staring at him with 22% more intelligence. "What?"

"Ya jinxed us." Cubot grumbled in his normal voice. "I don't know whatcha thinkin' but ya jinxed us."

"What are you talking about?"

"You just thought 'This is going to be easy', or something along those lines, right?" Rouge asked, causing Shadow to nod curiously. "Yep, jinxed."

"Uh-huh." Joule said with a nod.

Shadow scoffed as he headed towards the door. "Yeah right."

23 miles away from Japan

Sumeragi Assassins, the best of the best of the Sumeragi Zaibatsu's military. Few in number, trained in secret, these armored ninjas were Sumeragi's go to for eliminating any sort of nuisance to their bottom line or rule. 30 of them were stationed here, decked out in their black armor and face covering helmet, wielding special katanas that could vibrate at a high enough frequency to cut even steal, and a regular human couldn't even hope to catch up to them, who had been trained to be at the peak of human conditioning, and their armors helped boost those abilities to superhuman levels, allowing them to run on water for a full 20 seconds thanks to their sheer speed, jump 10 meters, and throw a car!

None of that mattered to Metal Sonic, and even if it did, they were all dead, or mostly dead, so who cares? {Excellent work Metal!} The three foot tall blue robot nodded in response to his master's voice as the thick ocean waves and heavy rainfall drowned out the groaning and cries of the few remaining survivors. {Now, head into the facility.}

Metal hovered over from the port to the main cargo area, where a large massive door blocked the way. {Hmmm, I see…} On the other end, his master was using the scanners in his optics to analyze the door's structure. It was something Metal could do himself, in fact he was completely autonomous and could do all this himself, but his master had nothing to do tonight, so might as well let him do the work. Maybe what he was about to do would shake his creator out of this malaise he'd been in. The years the doctor spent in this world had not done wonders for his sanity and already fragile ego {Well, there's barely any security on this door. No lasers, no alarm triggers, and it's only a few feet of Hirokane metal. Smash it up!}

The half second from that order to when the door was removed as an obstacle showed just how deadly his master made him with the technology this world had at its disposal. There was no door anymore. There weren't even any pieces of it left. The entire thing was reduced to hot, shredded slices with the super heated claws that were his hands. {Still nothing…} Metal proceeded into the facility. {I thought these guys were supposed to be Sumeragi's dark side, you think they'd have something other than a stupid door guarding something this important.} Metal pondered this too, and suggested an alternative. {Yeah you may be right. I don't like this. I'm going to be sending a probe unit your way, keep your position. If your disguise fails, upload and detonate, take as many of them with you as you can! And make sure you make that brat smashing up all this property look as photogenic as possible.}

Metal Sonic nodded, feeling strange under his temporary chassis. Though he was now five feet tall wrapped in cold, dark metal, that's not what anyone was going to see, or feel. In fact, what they were going to see was a young native human. He looked to suffer some form of albinism, though records show it must not be as extreme as other cases if he could operate in sunlight for as long as he did. This strange armor/power suit the human wore was replicated perfectly by his master, though as if anything on this world could match the technological might of . The shield on his back however, wasn't a replica. Master was just petty and spiteful enough to have him beat the human child up and take it as though he were a schoolyard bully. In fact, this is partly why this raid was happening in the first place.

There were few things that made his master forgo his usual blunt force tactics and opt for the worst possible option when facing someone like him: subterfuge, and it was made worse given his current state. The first and most important thing was to kill his hated foe, who Metal himself was based off of and was designed and improved over multiple versions to kill. The second was to show him up in his own field of robotics, and when his probes showed off that autonomous, sentient weapons pod….let's just say that the snake Adept had a workout that day. That alone would be bad enough, but the human then had the gall to…to….!

{Hey, HEY! Focus!}

Metal cleared his head. and that incident, as the humans say, was the straw that broke the camel's back. With this act of aggression against the organization known as Shadow Yakumo, Copen Kamizono will pay a thousandfold for his crimes against the Eggman Empire. And once they found out where he lived for them, his secrets would be laid bare for the doctor to see.

And hopefully the slaughter he was about to perpetrate would finally knock some sense into him. Reincarnation had not done his master's mental state any favors.

Amateratsu Media Tower
30th Floor, Heliport Cargo Bay

Takahata Muratsu let out a low sigh. Just twenty more minutes until shift change, and he'd be on his way back to his nice, warm cot. For a first day, this had been blissfully uneventful—no surprises, no emergencies, no superpowered intruders tearing up the place. Just silence and solitude. Exactly how he liked it.

The past few months had been brutal across the company. Three Sumeragi facilities hit in five months, every guard on duty left dead. The first attack had been at the bioengineering gardens, then a storehouse that somehow got overrun by purple, zombie-like creatures, and most recently, one of Sumeragi's largest data storage facilities had been taken out, all of which was perpetrated by one Adept!

Muratsu cast a glance back at the freight elevator. He'd volunteered for this post the second he learned about Commander Jota's Septima ability. Who'd be dumb enough to try an aerial insertion at a facility guarded by someone who could fly and move at lightspeed? Sounded like easy street to him. Muratsu counted himself lucky to be stationed so far from the action; if trouble broke out, he'd be gone before he even had to lift a finger thanks to Commander Jota.

DING!

The helipad elevator doors slid open, and Muratsu jumped, railgun raised and heart racing. Before he could even blink, a dark figure loomed before him, and piercing red eyes locked onto his.

"Hello, soldier." And that was the last thing he heard before Shadow knocked him out cold, his railgun clattering to the floor.

"Efficient as ever," Rouge said approvingly as she strolled forward, her gaze darting over the unconscious guard and landing on the soldier's helmet. "And you kept the helmet intact this time. Color me impressed." Cubot was about to say something but Rouge hit him on the head.

Shadow rolled his eyes as he scanned the cargo bay for any additional guards. "I can show restraint when it's useful," he remarked grumpily. "Something's wrong."

"You're telling me." Rouge said as Joule walked between them and knelt down towards the unconscious man's helmet. "That explosion should have put everyone on alert while diverting some personnel to that factory. Unless the guy's got a stick up his ass-"

"-It's Jota." Joule interrupted as she took off the man's helmet, using the software in her suit to force it to disengage from the rest of his armor. "It's so deep up his ass he's choking on it." It made sense for that arrogant idiot not to station anyone this high up. He probably was the defense system against aerial threats. 'no wonder Gibril nearly got him'"Ok, I'm about to interface with his helmet, give me a bit."

With the sensors in her suit's gloves, she connected her software to the guard's helmet, an MZ-4800R model. 'Let's see, the biometric sensors should be…here!' Her visor's HUD activated, , illuminating the edges of her vision in a blue glow as Sumeragi's network synced with her own systems. Her connection felt stronger than usual, and it took her second to figure out why. 'Oh that feels so good.' These days and weeks apart weren't that great for her psyche,even with Lumen and GV around, so to have her other half in her head, miles away in her bed as she was, gave her a feeling of completeness she sorely missed.

Mytyl, a lot more animated compared to her text replies, exclaimed.

This..this was almost perfect, this was almost right.

Stupid as Cubot acted, Eggman made sure that his idiocy never got in the way of his functions as an assistant. Any mistake made as a result of the robot's incompetence was so minor even a child without any knowledge in technology, like most of her schoolmates whenever she was healthy enough to leave the compound, could fix them, and it was how she was able to maintain contact with the team despite her brother's security measures and her maid, Nori's….disturbingly accurate intuition. She said, with the same tone one would have upon finding shit on their shoe.

"Yepperoni pepperoni!" Cubot launched out of Rouge's hand and landed/hovered right next to the armored human. "Ole Cubot here's gonna give Sumeragi the ole Eggnet looksie!"
He immediately went ramrod still as he began transferring data from Joule's armor to his own CPU.

"Annoying little twit." Joule whispered, Rouge's ears twitching in concern. "Well, all we can do is wait."

Shadow and Rouge shared a look and nodded. It didn't help when they brought up this problem with the twins then, and it wasn't going to help now. As long as neither of them started acting like a flamboyant gay man with a giant crystal codpiece, they'd leave it to them to work it out. "So…" Rouge began, flapping her wings lightly to lift herself a foot off the air. "Halfway done."

"Yeah." Three Emeralds were in their possession, 1 was in Q.U.I.L.L's , the other was with Mytyl's brother, and the final two were unaccounted for. Four of Sumeragi's top enforcers were dead, of one of the enforcers was with his group, and the Special Zones that opened up in their territories that connected their homeworld to this one were closed. "I'm not used to taking things this slow."

Rouge let out a shrug. "Some can handle it, some can't. The waiting's all part of the job. And speaking of waiting…" Her pupils darted to Joule. "Any ideas? Because if she loses it…"

Shadow shook his head. "Not a one."

Joule felt a smirk tug at her lips as she hacked the armor's systems, interfacing with Sumeragi's main network. Green gridlike sheets of energy flowed from her armor, and the urge to speak in Leetspeak, or whatever that net obsessed freak's lingo was, had to be heavily repressed. She muted her helmet's audio and with few ocular commands, opened up a private line to the yellow chatterbox next to her, making sure he was muted as well. "Cubot, just keep monitoring. I'll handle the actual extraction," she said, her tone sharper than usual.

Cubot gave a reluctant beep. "Oh, alright J-hizzle. But if we get trazzizzed, it's on you, sucka!"

She had no idea what he just said and she didn't want to know. With the guard's ID hash spoofed, Joule was granted command access, and the interface on her HUD transformed. Data streamed in, granting her access to the mission logs, comms history, and thermal readouts stored on the armor. Her eyes narrowed , turning a vibrant purple and losing said vibrancy and light that they once had. She smirked in a way that would be unfathomable to anyone who knew her as she analyzed the security logs, Sumeragi's old, clunky EX-Secure 9.3 system was practically begging to be exploited. my other half.

Mytyl's voice returned to their shared mindscape, filling them both with a lovely flood of euphoria.

"Shadow-" Rouge winced. They probably should've forced Joule to bring her little fairy with them.

"-Ready to knock her out if it comes to it." Did she seriously not think a pair of talking animals, prey species at that, couldn't sense that level of malevolence? "Give her a second. Her interests align with our own after all."

Mytyl interrupted reluctantly, both girls sighing regretfully. Oh if her brothers saw her now. The fake primitive would be so proud of her, as would her real one, her 2nd in com- There we go. Mytyl blinked, and Shadow and Rouge relaxed.

Joule answered before realizing her suit's audio was muted. 'Damn it!' She turned on her helmet's audio. "Cubot, I'm about to send you the interface protocol for the main network's core node," she said with a slight edge. Her eyeballs scanned the HUD, each movement analogous to fingers on a keyboard as she uploaded the decrypted files and bypass codes she'd just secured to Eggman's robot.

Cubot's eyes flashed with a dim blue as he processed the new data. "Oh, J-dizzle! Or is it Jizzle?" He paused, as though considering what he just said. "Whatever. Send it on over!"

"...I just did." And he already completed his part before he even finished his sentence. Joule bit back a sigh. With Mytyl's assistance, who had a voice just as lovely as her own, she was able to tune him out and focus on the final bypass, overriding the redundant checkpoints with ease. She watched as security permissions flashed green across her HUD.

Mytyl murmured with satisfaction. Just send these codes to Rouge's and Shadow's gloves and they'll be completely invisible to Sumeragi's robots and surveillance systems.

"And you couldn't have done it without your bestest pal in the world, Cubot!" No one said anything in response but he took it as a win.

Mytyl suddenly said, causing Joule to let out an audible whine.

Joule let out a sigh as the light returned to her eyes, the dark, malevolent violet pupils lightening to a bright cherry red. "Alright, I got the data we needed. Let's go get that CE."

Kamizono Estate

Living Quarters

While Mytyl was guiding her team to their destination, her brother was trudging through their home, pride in shatters and clothes in tatters, as well as having more than a few injuries he should probably sit down and take a look at.

The Kamizono Compound was a fortress of sterile perfection. Every corner, every inch of the place gleamed with an unsettling, blinding cleanliness, a single speck of dust a declaration of failure. The walls were a pristine white, bordering on clinical, the kind of antiseptic cleanliness you'd expect from a high-tech medical facility rather than expansive manor the public knew it as. But this was no ordinary family home; it was a sanctuary, no, a cage, a prison and a fortress designed to shield one fragile life from every potential threat that the outside world could throw at it. Mytyl Kamizono's illness demanded nothing less.

Even the air was overly purified. Sanitizing fields hummed quietly in the walls, constantly filtering and sterilizing the air to an almost absurd degree, ensuring that each breath taken within these walls was as pure as possible. The floors gleamed, reflecting the cold white lights overhead, which cast a stark, clinical shadow as Copen Kamizono walked through the halls, bordering on stomping from how furious he was.

His face was striking but worn, his sharp red eyes simmering with fury and anyone else, the anger brewing behind his eyes might have seemed overdramatic, cute even given his age, but to him, it was a righteous flame, kindled by a specific humiliation that cut deeper than any wound. So yeah, cute, in the same way you'd look at a moody LN protagonist and find his attempts to be deep cute, but unlike them, Copen Kamizono could actually pull it off. He had been spared, spared, by an Adept, after suffering a crushing defeat, and that act of mercy stung more than the loss itself, and this was after a humiliating defeat from those creatures and their armored compatriot.

Those ridiculous "Kigurumi"—Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat—those absurd aliases gnawed at him, their power and their sarcastic, mocking commentary as they beat him to a pulp was alcohol on an open wound. . The combination of these strange mascots treating him like a toy, and the Azure Striker himself who barely had to put any effort in to defeat him, had done wonders for his mood, as you can plainly see. As much as he hated to admit it, fighting the Azure Striker might have been manageable if he was in top form, especially since he had the data for two of the Adepts he killed, but his equipment was already damaged by those two creatures, he was ambushed by Sumeragi's illusionary Adept, Zonda while he narrowly claimed victory in said fight, he had the misfortune of running into Japan's biggest -public- criminal! It was a miracle that he escaped with his life! . Those four would pay for this offense, he'd make sure of it….after a week or two, maybe three, of staying off his feet. "Tch!" Probably four if that pain in his hip was as serious as he thought it was.

"YO BOSS!" Copen's ears rang as a small white sphere, the source of the yell, floated into view.. "Yo!Boss!" Lola shouted not as loudly s before as she zipped up to him, pausing, and backed away. " Jeez, you look like crap, what happened?!"

He ignored her cheerful bluntness, walking past her with a barely restrained grumble. "I lost." He grumbled. "Again." He refused to elaborate as he made his way down the hall, Lola buzzing along beside him and unbothered by his terse response. "How's Mytyl?" he asked, his voice softening slightly. His little sister's well-being was the only sliver of solace in his life right now, and just talking to her would be the break he needed from his crusade.

"Sleeping like a baby!" Lola replied enthusiastically. " Heart Rate, blood flow, all green and she hasn't even coughed once! I've got her monitored 24/7, and she hasn't moved an inch!" Copen almost smiled. Lola's constant monitoring of Mytyl wasn't just for medical purposes, but as her condition miraculously improved, the surveillance on his little sister had increased dramatically. "At least something good came out of this awful week," he muttered, his tension leaving his body like air from a busted balloon. Mytyl's condition had improved recently, a development that had initially filled him with cautious hope that he hadn't had in years.

But as he'd come to realize, this miracle had come at a cost, a sinister monkey's paw that he had no way of understanding. He didn't know what was wrong with Mytyl now, but whatever it was, it wasn't human. Her episodes had once been nothing but manic, back aching coughing where Kamizono trained doctors spent hours over her unconscious body trying to stabilize her condition.. Now the doctors were terrified of getting near her. If he didn't know any better, he could've sworn he was looking at mini-him, complete with the light leaving her eyes just as it did his so many years ago.. But she was getting healthier, even though no one could explain the pink tips she had at the ends of her bangs, and that had to count for something….right? "And Nori?" he asked, pulling himself back to the present as he banished those thoughts from his mind. He never wanted his sister to stare at him like that ever again.

"Don't know," Lola replied, her tone shifting to a slightly more serious pitch. "She saw something on TV and ran like hell." The family maid was a very serious woman, so to see her acting like that terrified Lola to her logic circuits. She paused for a moment, then added, "And man, I just interfaced with your armor, those Kigurumi did a number on the EX-Gear!" Lola's sensors hummed as she wirelessly inspected his armor, or what was left of it. "It doesn't even look like a shield anymore! Most of it's melted metal. It's a miracle the CPU's still intact. You seriously fought the Azure Striker with all your stuff in that condition?!" …Hey wait a minute was that the backup shield she was detecting? What happened to the first one?!

Copen merely grunted as he entered his private study, gesturing for Lola to follow. Inside, the minimalist decor was interrupted by the large workbench where his disassembled EX-Gear backuprested, every piece meticulously organized and cataloged for repair, courtesy of Nori before she took her leave. To it's side was that useless blue gem the kigurumi were so obsessive over, a 'Chaos Emerald' as they called it.. He didn't know what it was that they wanted with that gem, but he'd figure it out later. He moved to his laptop, pressing his finger to the touchpad on the side to bypass the security locks and log in. The monitor lit up, and he set to work immediately, checking for any updates on Sumeragi's activities. The recent battle had left him shaken, but he couldn't afford to be unprepared. Not again. Keep up with their propaganda, then go spend time with Mytyl, then analyze their propaganda, a perfect combination to help him unwind, no matter what Lola or Nori said.

As he scanned through the news feed, his eyes widened, the blood draining from his face. He leaned forward, fingers frozen over the keyboard as he read the headline and watched the video feed. "No… this can't be…"

"Hm?" Lola floated closer, peering at the screen. "What's wrong, bohoLY CRAP!" She nearly shrieked, hovering backward as if she could barely process what she was seeing. "WHAT?! WHAT?!"

?

Q.U.I.L.L safehouse

It was the middle of the night. Late night anime, adult TV shows, this was the domain of the debauched and depraved, as well as where they showed plenty of pre Adept era television shows. If one wanted to shock the nation with a horrifying broadcast of a hundred or mor Sumragi employees being mutilated by an albino teen in a hi-tech suit, doing it when everyone was asleep would be incredibly stupid. Unless you were the Sumeragi Corporation, then in that case when you bark, the sheep followed, and almost every single member of their flock was tuned in to Sumeragi News Network(SNN) and many of them were vomiting, screaming, or calling and Emailing the news stations asking what the absolute fuck they were thinking airing this.

For Asimov, who was watching his favorite old movies using a pirated broadcast so he wouldn't have to pay Sumeragi's fees,like he expects many members of Q.U.I.L.L to have done, he already knew the answer. They already had to replace three news anchors because they couldn't stomach the visceral killings being shown to millions across Japan. The new newswoman was doing a much better job than the last one. She was still deeply unsettled, the severity of what she just watched shown all over her face, a faint tremor in her voice betrayed the controlled composure she struggled to maintain, but finally, after what felt like an eternity, she worked up the courage to speak.

{Once again, the Sumeragi Public Trust and Security Division has stepped up to ensure our continued safety,} she began, her heart beating a mile a minute. {Tonight's revelations have not only unsettled Sumeragi Corporation but have also cast a stark light on one of Japan's most influential families. The Kamizono family, celebrated for its contributions to scientific research, political influence, and healthcare advancements, now finds itself under intense scrutiny,} she announced slowly, each word measured and deliberate, clearly trying to keep herself controlled.

The screen transitioned to a sweeping view of the Kamizono estate, a grand, flawlessly maintained mansion nestled amid sprawling, impeccably groomed grounds. Gleaming white walls stood in sharp contrast against rows of perfectly symmetrical trees, exuding a sense of sterile opulence—a meticulously preserved symbol of the family's stature. For decades, the Kamizonos had seemed untouchable, their influence unquestioned, now, all of Japan's gaze was fixed on their pristine façade, searching for cracks in the polished veneer. What would be ravenous greedy sharks eager to tear the once unassailable family to shreds were now aligned with the public in tearing down the Kamizono family. A bunch of gruesome imagery, live feeds of a mass slaughter, and a nationalistic, fearful populace, all getting ready to swarm the estate? It was going to be a bloodbath.

The broadcast shifted back to the anchorwoman, her expression taut and voice carefully controlled as she continued, {"The Kamizono family's reputation has been built on a foundation of medical breakthroughs and technological advancements,} she stated, attempting to maintain her composure. {But as evidenced by the footage you're seeing…} Her skin visibly paled, her words momentarily faltering. {T-that reputation…no longer holds meaning."} She shuddered, battling the nausea brought on by the horrifying images. {"We've all seen the footage…of the horrific massacre perpetrated by one of the only two surviving members of the main Kamizono family. Over 320 Sumeragi employees…}

The broadcast cut for nearly a minute, and when it resumed, a more seasoned and much older anchor had taken her place. Calm and composed, she resumed where her colleague had left off, her voice unyielding. "In a calculated assault, this individual took the lives of over 320 Sumeragi employees, including 200 military personnel and 120 scientists. The culprit? Copen Kamizono—a once-celebrated child genius and heir to the Kamizono name.}

The screen cut to shaky, hidden-camera footage captured from dimly lit alleys, rooftops, and shadowed corners across Tokyo, each clip revealing Kamizono's depravity in all it's 360p glory. At times, the camera captured only brief glimpses of a figure identified as Copen Kamizono, his movements swift and nimble despite the giant shield he had strapped to his arm, but thanks to the cleaner footage, there was no doubt as to who he was. Other scenes showed his victims on the run, some limping, some bloodstained, their faces twisted in fear or pain.

{"Additionally,"} the anchor resumed gravely, {"this undisclosed security footage, reportedly leaked by an anonymous source who chose to go under the alias Julian Gerald, appears to document Mr. Kamizono engaging in hostile confrontations with his victims, all of whom suffered a 100% fatality rate. As of this moment, Sumeragi has not been able to identify his weaponry nor its source} She let the gravity of her words hang before continuing. {Sumeragi PTSD estimates his slaughter, combined with his recent mass murder tonight, to be in the thousands, eclipsing the deaths perpetrated by Q.U.I.L.L and their Azure Striker.}

The footage transitioned between various clips, each more unsettling than the last. One clip showed an injured Adept slumped against a wall, using his Septima to try to breathe life into his dying body despite the hole in his stomach, fear etched across his face as his murderer approached, gun in hand, . Another clip revealed a close-up of a phrase scrawled in a shaky, almost manic hand on a nearby wall: "God has chosen me to wipe you from the face of the earth." The camera cut away quickly from blood-spattered scenes, professionally censoring the most grotesque images with an almost clinical efficiency that showed Sumeragi's expertise in video manipulation. Decades of public manipulation and all that.

Asimov leaned back in his dimly lit quarters, eyes fixed on the monitor in front of him, the blue light casting a cold hue across his face. There was an unspoken rule among QUILL's higher ranks: Do not mention the word Kamizono in Asimov's presence, for the love of Christ don't do it. But tonight, that rule wasn't exactly holding up. How could it? They're now the most hated family in all of Japan.

And a massacre, they say? 320 was a lot, even for an Adept of Gunvolt's caliber. Even if that human targeted only Adepts that were undocumented immigrants, someone would have noticed. Sumeragi probably counted the expensive robots 'Kamizono' destroyed as people. It's not like the populace would care though, this footage was expertly edited despite its awful video quality.

The footage continued to loop, with shaky, edited clips of Copen's supposed rampages, blood splatters expertly blurred to add a 'tasteful' touch, all set to a chilling instrumental track that screamed propaganda. 'Sumeragi's finest work yet.' They'd even managed to frame the entire Kamizono family with the story, and that just made him oh so happy, especially given that this was all staged. First Gunvolt beats Kamizono's brat, he'd have to work on the mercy the boy had, then Kamizono loses everything he ever cared for! Now if only he could find those kigurumi and learn about their Septima, then this night would be perfect!

Sumeragi's ego was bruised, the Cyber Diva project was KIA, their ace in the hole, the Adept with the Resurrection Septima, was MIA, and their illusion of benevolence was going to be stronger than ever before! Those stupid humans, or Minos as he liked to call them, their hatred would be rerouted to misplaced pity! He should be celebrating!

Unfortunately though, he had to be realistic: this was going to make things way harder for Q.U.I.L.L. Once they stopped this broadcast, they were going to raise hell. Heightened security at their key facilities, tighter restrictions on day to day life, and hell, they'd probably let Kamizono escape! Oh the evil Adept Slayer escaped our -probably untrained and unprepared- best of the best! Quick everyone, round up every Adept you can and bring them to us! We'll 'protect' them, just like how we protected them from themselves! They'd all pay the price for this farce, and Sumeragi, being the 'benevolent' force of good that they pretended to be,would probably, and successfully, rebrand their concentration camps into something more amiable to the public, and these sheep had no problems with them being called Rehab Centers! Hell, they already got away with 'Camp Concentration!' Ugh, it sounded like something that idiot with the red and yellow support droids would come up with!

And then there were the two kigurumi, their human partner, and her stupid robot that for some reason looked like Robotnik's yellow support droid, the final pieces to this puzzle and the third faction in this underground war. Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat, and the robot the two called Metal Sonic. Each able to go toe to toe with Sumeragi's best with just their physical strength, speed that was only rivaled by Sumeragi's Shining Sentinel Jota, and knowledge that they realistically shouldn't have. Specifically that girl…

'His vision of peace is a lie! Don't trust him!'

The eyes were a window to one's soul, and their thoughts, and both were hidden thanks to the very visor he wore. She didn't say anything incriminating, but he could tell from her words, the passion in her voice. She knew. Asimov clenched his hand in anger and looked towards his one ace in the hole against those aliens, that useless gem that group called the Chaos Emerald. If worse comes to worse, he had his own bargaining chip.

?Shadow and Rouge's Hideout

They had the first Emerald when they came to this world.

The second was taken from a Special Zone right under Q.U.I.L.L.'s noses.

The third was wrested from that child in the guise of an adult.

The fourth was now guarded fiercely by Kamizono's brother, and the fifth was currently in the possession of Q.U.I.L.L. 's enigmatic leader.

All three of the Emeralds they'd acquired so far lay safely locked in a specially-designed briefcase, meticulously crafted to mask the energy signatures that would otherwise give them away. As long as they held onto it, the world around them was none the wiser. And if all went well, they'd soon secure their fourth, giving them the lead in this underground arms race. Every Emerald pulled them closer to the balance of power they needed to escape this strange, fractured reality and return home to their original world.

And where she could finally see her father again. Her real father.

Sage hovered in the shadows of the hideout, her gaze piercing the gloom as she mentally retraced their journey here, cataloging every twist and every risk they'd taken out of boredom. She'd followed Shadow and Rouge here to this desolate space out of a shared interest, and for now this was their home, a strange semblance of a hideout cobbled together from the forgotten infrastructure buried beneath the towering, gleaming city. The walls were cold, metallic, and dimly lit, a maze of narrow corridors with clunky, exposed pipes that forced Shadow and Rouge to awkwardly contort themselves to pass through.

The hideout's cramped, almost oppressive spaces made navigating it a near-daily trial for the Mobians, even with their unexplained height increase, so one could imagine how difficult it would be for a 5 foot tall human, though in the case of the latter, physical matter wasn't a hindrance for the two non aliens. Both Shadow and Rouge had to constantly duck under pipes, weave between makeshift partitions, and shuffle around barely contained piles of old tech and salvaged parts they acquired when they came back to base. It was far from the sleek laboratories and engineered spaces Sage was used to, and far from the expansive fortresses her allies destroyed time and time again.

Sage allowed herself a sigh, the faintest show of exasperation flaring in her digital being as she effortlessly phased through the obstacles. How low they'd fallen, she thought, for all the brilliance and meticulous plans that had brought them to this world. And perhaps worst of all, her father was here, but not her father, not the Eggman she'd known and served, but a broken, hollow reflection of him whose reason for existence here was as trite as any media depicting someone from the modern times being sent to another world would be. That clinically depressed shell with a hatred of trucks was not the man she'd fought so hard to protect on the Starfall Islands, and the Orbot and Cubot he had with him had no choice but to serve him until their real father came for them.

A sudden crash jarred her from her thoughts, a small, sharp sound of porcelain shattering on the cold metal floor. Her brow furrowed, and she drifted toward the noise, bracing herself for the inevitable source. In a corner room, dimly illuminated by a faintly glowing screen, she found the figure of a white haired, purple eyed girl, her ghostly form bending awkwardly over the remnants of a delicate plate she'd dropped. 'Why do we have those?' Oh right, Rouge thought they looked 'neat', as she put it.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry!" Elise stammered, her voice a barely audible whisper. Her pale, spectral hands trembled slightly as she looked at Sage with wide, apologetic eyes. "I just… I didn't mean to…"

Sage's eyes narrowed, her expression slipping into a look of restrained annoyance as she looked at the broken shards and then at Elise. "You're a guest not a servant. I know that's a hard thing for you to grasp, but sit down and enjoy your freedom."

Elise stiffened, her initial shock turning into a faint attempt at assertiveness. "I-I'm only trying to help," she managed to say, her voice wavering as she tried to stand a little taller, despite her spectral form's inability to fully ground her. But then her confidence faltered, her eyes darting away in a flicker of unease. "The voices..they're all gone, I can't just sit by and do nothing-"

"You can and you will." Sage stared at the shards, noting the pointless mess Elise had just created. "Try 'helping' by staying out of the way," she added, though her voice softened slightly, more out of weariness than sympathy. "And stay near your Glaive. Your existence is a fleeting one, just like mine. You have the petabytes of data from another dimension at your fingertips. Learn, explore, and forget about everything you experienced under Sumeragi's thumb. You have a second life now, and you're free…ish. Learn to use what you have."

Elise, unsure whether to retreat or stand her ground, looked down at the fragments. A mix of shame and determination crossed her face, though she couldn't meet Sage's gaze. "I'm… I'm sorry," she whispered, clutching her hands together as she backed away.

As Elise's form flickered and disappeared into the shadows, Sage watched her go with an unreadable expression. "Such a pitiable soul." And yet this might be the most at peace the human spirit had been at in what had to be years. And given what she went through -and if they got back home, her father would gladly raze this city to the ground after she shows him what happened to this human- it was no wonder Shadow fought off Mytyl's brother for her. "Shadow…Rouge…" The future of this world, and given their track records in their last adventures with Sonic, their home world, rested on their shoulders. "Come back soon…please."

A stalemate holds this unseen war in its ruthless grip.

The hunt for the Chaos Emeralds now hurtles toward an inevitable climax. Three Emeralds rest with our heroes, another claimed by those who fight for the oppressed, and one more—stained by the blood of a genius, a youth wasting his life and incredible talents in the name of his twisted justice. Two remain unaccounted for, and the mad doctor, driven by his unchecked ambition, has entered the fray, poised to tip the balance.

But how did two seemingly ordinary girls come to stand alongside these two aliens?

How did Joule and Mytyl Kamizono acquire powers that put them beyond mortal men, steering them down the same dark path their brothers followed ?

What was it that they knew that pushed them to act behind their brother's back, and what of Mephiles and Zonda?

The answers lie with Mytyl Kamizono, now stepping into her college years at the ripe age of 24, living her life in a fractured world where Eggman has already claimed victory—ten years into the future.