I'm sorry for taking so long with this chapter. Long story short, real life got in the way and I had absolutely no time to write anything until now.

In any case, the next chapter I'll be focusing on will be for the story Five Nights at Freddy's: Obsolete, given how the movie is coming out soon.

Enjoy!

Entry 36

A Twinkle of Chaos

''I've gotta be so much more than this, and I'm gonna try. I'm cool in a twisted kind of bliss, with saying good-bye.''

– So Much More… by Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing

xXxXxXx

''Hey, Eggman, are you even there?!'' Sonic shouted into the air, then kept silent, waiting for some kind of response. He then turned to Lucas. ''Strange… Wouldn't the old Egghead start gloating by this point?''

''Yeah, you're right…'' Lucas agreed, being as confused as Sonic to why the Doctor didn't appear to talk to them. ''Maybe he's busy with something else, although I couldn't imagine what would be more important…'' He trailed off as, suddenly, a holographic screen appeared before them. ''Oh, there he is!''

''Hey, Doc, you're late to the party!'' Sonic said tauntingly. Dr. Eggman looked a bit irked at first, but then smirked.

''Don't worry, Hedgehog, I have arrived precisely at the right moment,'' he said. Lucas took a deep breath, placing his hands on his hips as he stared at the holographic monitor.

''What do you want from us, Eggman?'' he asked.

''As you had already speculated, I'm here to gloat about my victory over you,'' Eggman responded. Lucas and Sonic arched their eyebrows, exchanging glances and clearly looking confused.

''Uh, but you didn't even win,'' Sonic pointed out. ''Lucas and I are standing here, clearly not defeated.''

''True, but now I'm free to exploit your greatest weakness – boredom,'' Eggman responded. Sonic was confused for a moment, having expected the Doctor to say something else, but then shrugged.

''I suppose that explains the lack of a Final Boss,'' he said. ''Still, it's not like I'll die of boredom.''

''I know,'' Eggman responded, pressing a button. ''That's why I prepared this!''

Another holographic screen opened, and much to Sonic and Lucas' surprise, they saw Amy fighting Metal Sonic, while Minami was fighting the Badniks that Ferra sent after them. Sonic frowned, glaring at Eggman.

''What have you done to them, Egghead?!'' Sonic growled, with Eggman looking pleased with the reaction the blue hedgehog gave him.

''I have managed to capture all of your pathetic friends and put them in AR Fields similar to this one,'' Eggman explained. ''However, unlike your friends, who will all have to fight for their survival, you have the privilege to watch them struggle. I'm sure this is going to be like torture to you.''

Sonic gritted his teeth, clearly furious that Eggman placed his friends in danger, and he was completely powerless, unable to do anything to help them. He glanced at Lucas for some kind of guidance, but Lucas just stared at Eggman with a serious look on his expression. Eggman, in turn, laughed madly, clearly enjoying seeing the two being so helpless and angry that their friends were fighting on their own.

''I will enjoy this… Orbot, get me some popcorn!'' Eggman turned to the robot off-screen, and the holographic screen turned off, but four more appeared, showing Tails and Warren, Knuckles and Lily, Silver and Makoto, and Shadow and Touka in their respective Zones. Sonic saw that Tails and Knuckles were fighting against two more robots that looked similar to Metal Sonic, Silver was dealing with Badniks and Shadow had to fight a mech.

''Lucas, do you have any ideas?'' Sonic asked, turning to his partner for advice. He knew that, if there was anyone who could figure out a way out of this Zone, it would be Lucas. However, Lucas was silent, his eyes narrowed.

''Honestly, I don't know,'' Lucas replied, much to Sonic's dismay. ''I don't know enough about the AR Field, and I sincerely doubt your speed is going to help us here.'' He stepped towards the holographic screens, observing each of them. ''What I do know is that the whole of Team Neos is fighting against Dr. Eggman and trying to find a way out, and I'm certain that they will succeed.''

''So, are you suggesting that we just stand here and do nothing?'' Sonic asked, puzzled.

''I'm not saying to that we won't do anything. We are waiting for the right moment,'' Lucas explained, pointing at one of the screens. ''Minami and Amy are fighting Ferra and Metal Sonic, meaning that if they defeat the two, that means that Ferra and Metal Sonic will try to retreat and they can follow them out.''

''I see… So, we have to trust in their own strength,'' Sonic replied. Lucas nodded.

''Exactly! We both know that all our friends can handle things just fine,'' he replied. ''Once we find a weak spot in the AR Field, we're getting out.''

''I wish that we could get out sooner and help them, but I guess we have no other choice,'' Sonic noted, turning towards the screens. He did fully trust his friends, but nevertheless, he had hoped that he'd also participate in this battle.

xXx

Amy charged at Metal Sonic, holding her Piko Piko Hammer up high, but Metal Sonic was faster, dodging her attack. Instead, she left a crater on the ground. For a brief moment, Amy glanced at Minami to see how she was holding up, but her partner had no issues dealing with the horde of Badniks that was closing in on her, swinging her pink hammer around and destroying them. Amy then turned back to Metal Sonic and Ferra, who didn't appear to be bothered at all by this display of raw power and fighting spirit. In fact, Ferra looked almost bored, which led to Amy being suspicious of her.

However, before she could figure out what bothered her, she was attacked by Metal Sonic. His clawed hands and her hammer clashed, releasing pink sparks, and Metal Sonic was forced to back off as Amy overpowered him thanks to Chaos Surge. Amy then leapt again at Metal Sonic, only for the latter to fly back to Ferra, who just smirked.

''Chaos Surge!''

Minami and Amy stepped up, with Minami breathing heavily as they stared down at the empowered Ferra and Metal Sonic. Ferra replied in a simple tone, ''You shouldn't have wasted your Chaos Surge.''

''I still have plenty of energy for this battle,'' Minami growled, charging towards Ferra with her pink hammer held high, only to see an orb of white and light blue energy appearing between Ferra's hands and her firing it straight at Minami. Minami held up her hammer, swinging it into the blast of energy, but was knocked back by the resulting impact, causing an explosion.

''Minami!'' Amy attempted to run over to check on her partner, but was almost hit by a blast of energy from Metal Sonic.

Minami was lying on the ground, gritting her teeth. She felt her whole body aching, her hammer lying uselessly next to her. Ferra approached her with a smirk.

''I don't think I had really ever shown what powers I get via Chaos Surge. Turns out, it's both super speed and firing energy blasts at people. Quite convenient, isn't it?'' Ferra explained, earning a glare from Minami.

xXx

''Let's see… If we go here, we should be able to get to the Hidden Palace Zone,'' Lily said as they reached a teleporter. She and Knuckles stepped on it, only to find themselves back exactly where they had started. Both were startled, with Knuckles looking around in surprise.

''What happened?'' he asked, turning to Lily.

''It seems like we cannot escape Sky Sanctuary,'' she groaned.

''So, we're stuck here?'' Knuckles asked, with Lily nodding. He then turned on his heel and walked away. ''Fine, then I will find the borders and punch my way out.''

''I like the plan, but how do we- agh!'' Lily was startled when something suddenly jumped right in front of them.

This figure was a robot built in the image of Sonic; thus, he was mostly built out of blue metal, with light blue-colored metal on his belly and muzzle. His head had metal fins designed like Sonic's quills and a pair of triangular ''ears''. The robot's feet were red-colored with a white stripe in the middle, resembling Sonic's shoes. He also had a horizontal optic sensor as eyes.

''Get out of my way!'' Knuckles growled. He was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the robot, but frankly, he didn't care much about what the robot wanted, he just wanted to find a way out of the AR Field. However, the robot refused, taking a battle stance.

''Be careful, Knuckles,'' Lily warned him. ''This is Mecha Sonic, the Boss of Sky Sanctuary.''

''Mecha Sonic, huh?'' Knuckles slammed his fists together, smirking gleefully. ''If I can beat up the real deal without any problems, this robot is nothing.''

''Once again, I like the confidence, but I have a bad feeling about this,'' Lily said in a deadpan tone. It was obvious that this was a trap made by Eggman, because she sincerely doubted that Starline would send Mecha Sonic after them. However, she had to wonder whether the robot was just here to fight them or if there was more to it.

Knuckles, on the other hand, charged at Mecha Sonic, who leapt back, then turned into a ball and went for a spin attack right into Knuckles. Knuckles dodged and went for an uppercut, hitting Mecha Sonic square in the face and sending him flying back. He then punched his fists again with a satisfied smirk, but Mecha Sonic wasn't going down so easily.

''Good thing there is no Master Emerald anywhere in this place,'' Lily muttered to herself as Mecha Sonic and Knuckles charged at each other again.

xXx

''Watch it!'' Warren shouted, him and Tails dodging an attack from the robot that ambushed them. Their opponent was a silver, bulky robot model based on Sonic in terms of appearance. The head structure contained pointy ears, sharp saw-blade quills and a round orange eye on a wide black sclera. The robot also featured a metallic armor with two arms and orange rocket boosters with tires. ''Silver Sonic shouldn't be too hard to take out, but… Yikes!''

Silver Sonic, or rather Mecha Sonic, as the former was just a nickname the fandom gave him to distinguish him from Mecha Sonic Mark II (aka the Mecha Sonic who was currently fighting Knuckles, leapt into the air, curling into a ball and firing spike-like rockets from his quills. Both Tails and Warren leapt behind a steel pillar for safety, with the rockets hitting it and exploding.

''Okay, I admit that I was wrong,'' Warren said, giving Tails an alarmed look. Tails glanced behind them when they heard a thud, as Silver Sonic landed back on the ground.

''Any ideas?'' he asked Warren.

''Unfortunately, nothing's coming to mind,'' Warren shook his head. Sure, he played the video game, but he didn't know how much of that knowledge he could apply to this situation. ''We could use Chaos Surge and short-circuit him.''

''Sounds like a good idea,'' Tails responded, narrowing his eyes. ''I wonder if a Chaos Surge-powered EMP would also work on the AR Field.''

''Probably, but we need to deal with Silver Sonic- agh!'' Both Warren and Tails were startled when Silver Sonic suddenly appeared in front of them, with both diving towards the ground to dodge the attack. Tails then found himself attacked once again by Silver Sonic, only for the robot to stop when Warren threw a piece of rubble at it, distracting it long enough for Tails to rush over and reach out for his partner.

''Chaos Surge!''

Empowered, Tails suddenly flew towards Silver Sonic, who attempted a spin attack, only for Tails to easily fly around the robot and point his hands at it, releasing a pulse that fried Silver Sonic's circuits. The robot fell, hitting the ground, with Warren celebrating.

''Awesome! That was- Ah, com'n!''

''Oh, no!''

Both Warren and Tails saw Silver Sonic suddenly glitching out and getting up. It appeared that the robot was ready for Round 2.

xXx

''Man, one wrong move and we're dead,'' Makoto said as he looked over the edge of the platform at the pit below them, with Silver casually floating next to him.

''Don't worry, I'll catch you if you fall over,'' Silver responded in an encouraging tone.

Makoto nodded in response, only for them to suddenly get surprised by a giant wheel with a grey tire and was decorated with alternating of yellow and brown-colored strips around its circumference. It had three contraptions mounted on it which could revolve around about the wheel's center: a cockpit, a laser cannon and a giant hand. The cockpit and the cannon was blue and orange, and the hand was mostly gray with some blue and orange dots on it. Each of these contraptions were mounted on a metallic stand on the wheel, which was mostly grey with a blue spherical glass on either end, a smaller blue spherical unit on the center, and orange borders with spikes underneath.

Both Makoto and Silver stared at it, clearly confused by the contraption, with Silver asking, ''What's that?''

''Uh, I think that's supposed to be the Boss of Sky Canyon; the Egg Saucer. I think it was piloted by Knuckles in the video game,'' Makoto explained.

''Do you think Knuckles is piloting it now?'' Silver asked. Makoto shook his head.

''I doubt it,'' he responded, only for both of them to get startled when the Egg Saucer suddenly rolled towards them, as if guided by an invisible hand. Silver pointed his hands at it, using his psychokinesis to stop the Egg Saucer and even lift it up. He gritted his teeth, feeling the weight of the contraption, but he managed to swerve it, forcing it to fall over the platform and into the abyss.

Silver then fell on his knees, breathing heavily, while Makoto stared in shock. ''Uh… That was quick.''

Silver smiled at him, quite amused. ''I had figured that I should finish this fight as soon as possible.''

Makoto walked over, helping Silver up as he added, ''Yeah… It's just- This was considered the hardest boss fight in the game.''

''Really?'' Silver was surprised, both him and Makoto glancing over at the abyss, noticing the Egg Saucer glitching out and vanishing. ''I wonder who piloted it.''

''Our main suspect would be Eggman, but this feels kinda sloppy,'' Makoto replied, narrowing his eyes.

xXx

Both Touka and Shadow dodged the snowballs tossed by the Yukigasen Badniks, a bunch of Badniks that looked like snowmen with yellow eyes and a red scarf. Shadow managed to use his super speed to get close to them and fired several Chaos Spears, destroying the Badniks. He turned back to Touka, who was covered in snow, and shook her head, getting it out of her hair.

''I hate this place,'' she said, still feeling cold and shivering. Shadow didn't comment, having made sure that she was fine. He was more worried about the sudden sound of something large and metallic landing before them. It was a huge robot with no legs, mostly gray with red circles, and blue jet propulsors on its shoulders and chest. Someone was sitting in the blue cockpit, controlling the mech, known as the Hyper Eggrobo, the semi-final Boss of Sonic Advance 3.

''Dr. Eggman?'' Shadow stepped up, him and Touka staring at the Hyper Eggrobo. To their surprise, the glass panel opened, revealing a white platypus instead.

''Unfortunately, not. But, don't worry, I'm just as good as the Doctor in using one of these,'' Dr. Starline replied, noting the glare both Touka and Shadow shot him. ''I suppose it would be rude to destroy you without introducing myself, though. My name is Dr. Starline, the one and only, and Dr. Eggman's most trusted ally. Although, I suppose you may have heard of me.''

''Admittedly, we did hear about you from Lucas, Sonic and the others, but, honestly, we still have no clue who you are,'' Touka replied, glaring daggers at the platypus. Starline frowned, being clearly offended by this.

''Such disrespect!'' he huffed.

''Those are the consequences of being in isolation for so long,'' Shadow added in a matter-of-fact tone. ''If you want to be mad at someone, go after the scientists at the Codex Research Facility.''

''I suppose that makes sense…'' Starline muttered. ''In any case, I-''

''You were the one who trapped us here, weren't you?'' Touka suddenly interrupted him, glaring daggers at the platypus. Starline was a bit caught off by the question, mainly because of Touka's interruption, but then scoffed.

''The AR Field is actually a combination of Dr. Eggman and my own ideas-'' Before Starline could even continue, Touka yelled again.

''Why the hell did you send us to this area instead of somewhere, oh, I dunno, tropical?!'' she asked angrily. Starline just stared at her, looking baffled, while Shadow felt exasperated. He was a little amused by Touka's priorities, but they had to focus on the fight against the huge robot. Starline, who snapped back from his stunned silence, rolled his eyes.

''You will have to lodge that complaint with Dr. Eggman,'' Starline responded. ''However, I doubt that will happen after I'm finished here.''

He swung one of the robot's arms towards them, about to crush them, but Shadow managed to grab Touka and warp away safely, with Shadow then warping right in front of the opening in the Hyper Egggrobo's chest. He then summoned a Chaos Spear, throwing it right into it. Starline freaked out as he heard an minor explosion coming from the chest, with the Hyper Eggrobo suddenly shaking, and he looked at a monitor to assess the damage. The chest was obviously compromised, but to his relief, Starline could still control the robot. He fired several red bombs at the two, with Shadow being forced to once again warp Touka away from harm, only for Starline to suddenly launch the arms at them.

''Watch out!'' Touka grabbed Shadow, running with him behind an ice wall, with one of the arms hitting it and causing it to crack. ''Okay, we need a strategy here. I can't just let you protect me all the time.''

While Shadow wanted to respond that that has been always his job and there was no reason to complain, he knew this was no time to start an argument. ''Then, what do you suggest?''

''Let's use Chaos Surge. That way, we can both fight,'' Touka replied. ''We need to find a way to the cockpit and get Starline out of it.''

''If we use Chaos Surge, won't the AR Field collapse due to the excessive Chaos Energy?'' Shadow asked.

''I think that we should take the risk,'' Touka replied. Shadow thought about it for a moment, before nodding in agreement. They could worry about the consequences later. Now, they needed to defeat Starline.

''Chaos Surge!''

Meanwhile, Starline was distracted with downloading the repair data from the AR Field to fix the robot. He then turned to a monitor, which warned him about the other robot he sent to deal with Silver and Makoto had failed. He gritted his teeth, but figured that it was to be expected that it would be defeated without a proper pilot. Starline had chosen to deal with Silver later as he saw Shadow as a greater danger and believed that the dark hedgehog needed to be taken care of immediately. Fortunately, he managed to fix the robot and face the siblings once again, only to be taken off guard when he saw both of their eyes flashing orange, surrounded by a powerful aura. He growled, realizing he forgot to monitor the battle field.

''Never mind, I can take care of this,'' he grumbled, throwing another batch of bombs at the two. However, to his surprise, both just warped away, out of range of the explosion, with Shadow skating towards the robot, preparing another Chaos Spear. Starline focused on him, sending an hand at the hedgehog, only to be startled when Touka suddenly warped on the left shoulder, Chaos Spear in her hand, and rammed it right into the propulsor. Starline cried out in surprise when the robot suddenly tilted to the right, with Touka warping away. He quickly started the repairs, but was disrupted by another Chaos Spear to the back from Shadow, followed by a spin attack to the cockpit. Starline looked up, relieved that there were no cracks on it, as the glass was reinforced, but he felt a chill flow down his spine when he saw Shadow glaring daggers at him. He knew that he had to finish this battle quickly, so he pressed a button. It was something he had added, using up the robot's energy, but if he had a proper target, he could destroy them easily.

His target was Touka.

Shadow noticed the robot suddenly charging up, the chest area glowing, and had a brief second to realize that Starline was targeting Touka, who had frozen when the chest area suddenly flashed, almost blinding her. Shadow realized he only had seconds, his body moving before his mind could process anything as a memory of a strange, yet familiar power appeared.

''Chaos Control!''

Shadow was stunned when everything around him slowed down, as if time had stopped. However, he knew that he had no time to ponder about his newfound aspect of Chaos Control, as he had tapped into all of the power both he and Touka shared, a memory of the time he had fought the Irregular at the Codex Research Facility flashing in his mind. He furrowed a brow.

I refuse to repeat this again.

He charged straight at the robot, his mad dash turning into a spin attack that knocked it back, and he leapt back, snapping his fingers and holding up his hand in the air.

''Chaos Spear!''

The air cracked with energy, and multiple Chaos Spears rained down on the robot, destroying it's armor and limbs, and even cracking the cockpit, with another one shattering it. Then, as Shadow landed on the soft snow, time started to flow again, and he witnessed the robot falling apart, with Starline panicking as he realized that he lost. He was about to press another button to forcefully exit the AR Field, when suddenly, everything around him started to glitch out.

''Wh-What is this?!''

The glitching lasted only for a moment, and Starline quickly pressed the button, fearing that he'd get trapped within the AR Field. Fortunately, it allowed him to leave, with the robot also vanishing. Shadow observed what happened, but then quickly joined Touka, who fell on her knees, completely exhausted. Her energy had depleted and she was shaking, although not because of the cold.

''Touka, are you okay?'' Shadow asked her worriedly. Touka nodded, pressing her hand against the temple.

''Yeah, I guess so, but what had happened? The robot was there a second ago and then it started falling apart,'' she inquired.

''I used Chaos Control, and then time suddenly stopped… or at least, it slowed down,'' Shadow explained.

''I see… Isn't that another aspect of Chaos Control?'' Touka said, remembering the lore of the Sonic the Hedgehog video games. ''By using Chaos Control, one can manipulate space and time, but even then, isn't stopping time a bit overpowered?''

''Well, I managed to deplete almost all of your BioEnergy, didn't I?'' Shadow responded, with Touka noting the snark in his tone. So, she decided to fire back.

''Yeah, and that happened without me fainting,'' she responded. Shadow was startled by that, and instead of bantering back, just looked down at the glittering snow, flustered and without an answer. Touka immediately realized that her younger brother was still upset over what had happened at the Codex Research Facility, mentally cursing out all the people who made him suffer like that. She then smiled, and quickly pulled him into a hug, much to Shadow's surprise. ''Nevertheless, this shows how much you have grown, and I'm really proud of you.''

''Yeah, thanks… Could you stop choking me?'' Shadow gave her a grumpy look when Touka refused to let go of him, simply grinning back in defiance. Fortunately, he was back to his usual self.

Suddenly, their surroundings started to glitch out once again, and both jumped on their feet, realizing that these were the consequences of the earlier Chaos Control, and prepared themselves for the worst outcome. However, when the glitching suddenly stopped, a bright green light appeared before them, revealing itself to be a gem resembling a green diamond, about the size of Touka's fist. It was floating before them, leaving both of them confused.

''Wait, is that…?'' Touka started, blinking.

''It's a Chaos Emerald,'' Shadow finished her thought, and carefully reached for it. To his shock, once he grabbed it, he could feel the overwhelming power of the Chaos Emerald, a wave of energy crashing against him, making it clear that this was the real deal. Admittedly, while he and Touka were unfamiliar with the details of the lore, they were well informed about the Chaos Emeralds, as Minami insisted on the two memorizing everything about those magical gems.

Touka then hummed, only to snap her fingers, ''If this is really a Chaos Emerald, maybe we can use it to escape the AR Field. If a Chaos Control like that caused the AR Field to glitch out, then I can only imagine what a Chaos Emerald can do.''

''We might end up shutting down the AR Field,'' Shadow warned her.

''Once again, we need to take a risk,'' Touka responded. ''After all, it's not like we can use Starline to get out of this place.''

''True...'' Shadow trailed off, a bit surprised when Touka made a miserable face.

''I also just want to get to someplace warmer,'' she said. Shadow just sighed in exasperation.

''Now, this is the response I had expected from you,'' he said, then held up the Chaos Emerald. ''Chaos Control!''

Both of them vanished in a flash of green light.

xXx

''What happened?!'' Sonic cried out in surprise, him and Lucas being both caught off guard by their surroundings suddenly glitching out, the holographic screens in front of them turning into static for a brief moment. Once the glitching stopped, they turned back to the screens, shocked to see Shadow and Touka having found a green Chaos Emerald.

''How's that possible? The Chaos Emeralds shouldn't even exist,'' Lucas stated, completely stunned. Sonic hummed, placing his hand under his chin as he thought about it. Just like Shadow and the rest of his Irregular teammates, he had been informed by Lucas about the Chaos Emeralds and that it was impossible for them to exist in real life.

''Maybe, but I think we just got a lucky break,'' Sonic noted. ''If Shadow and Touka got one, and there are 7 Chaos Emeralds in total, perhaps we could find the rest of them.''

''Right, and if we can use them to their full potential, we could all escape the AR Field,'' Lucas added, nodding in agreement. Sonic gave him a thumbs up.

''Then, let's go!''

xXx

Starline was freaking out. He just realized that he had failed his first big mission, one that had been entrusted by Dr. Eggman to him. How was he supposed to face his idol now?! How could he even lose to that hedgehog?! He had a perfect plan and now everything was ruined! What was he supposed to do now?! Starline was pacing in the room, doing his best to try to ignore the sense of panic rising inside him, wondering what he was supposed to tell Dr. Eggman.

''Dr. Starline?''

Starline almost jumped out of his skin and quickly turned around, seeing Orbot at the door. ''Wh-What do you want?!''

''The Boss wants to see you,'' Orbot told him, then left. Starline gulped nervously, wondering what he was supposed to do now. Obviously, he followed Orbot to the main control room, but he was also trying to think of a good excuse to why he had lost.

It is all their fault that I have lost. If Shadow hadn't come up with that trick, I would've won otherwise! Starline thought angrily, only to return to his initial nervousness when he entered the main control room. Eggman was sitting at one of the screens, observing the data that was being gathered.

''Uh, uhm…''

''Dr. Starline, you're back,'' Eggman said, turning around towards the platypus, who gulped anxiously. He tried to figure out Eggman's mood, fearing that the Doctor was furious, but instead, he was met with cold indifference. ''So, what do you think of your first fight with Team Neos?''

''Well, I… it was quite an interesting experience,'' Starline responded, taken off guard by the question. He then quickly cleared his throat, adding, ''It appears that I lacked a contingency plan for Shadow suddenly developing a new ability. However, I…''

''I'm currently not in mood to listen to your excuses,'' Eggman told him in a dismissive tone, waving his hand, and Starline quickly shut up. Eggman then smirked. ''Instead, perhaps you'd want to take a look at this.''

''Sure… but, what is this?'' Starline asked, noting seven red dots appearing on the screens.

''Those are the Chaos Emeralds,'' Eggman told him. ''It appears that your earlier clash with Shadow and Touka had caused a glitch within the AR Field. Somehow, the Chaos Energy within Shadow caused the Chaos Emeralds to appear.''

''T-The Chaos Emeralds?!'' Starline was genuinely shocked to hear something like that. ''But, that should be impossible!''

''It appears that it is not as impossible as it seems to be. Speaking of which, if you're done resting, you'll be going right back to the AR Field,'' Eggman told him, with Starline returning a stunned look. ''We will gather the Chaos Emeralds before Team Neos does. Consider this your second chance.''

''Of course, Sir,'' Starline responded, quickly walking out. He felt both relieved, yet anxious as he realized he'll be going back to fight Team Neos for the Chaos Emeralds. However, the anxiety then vanished when he realized that Eggman trusted him enough to gather something powerful like the Chaos Emeralds, and a sense of pride swelled inside him. He smirked, already planning how he'd gather the Chaos Emeralds.

Meanwhile, Eggman leaned back in his seat, pressing a button and calling Ferra. She and Metal Sonic had been clearly caught off guard by their surroundings glitching out, along with Minami and Amy, and Eggman decided to take advantage of that.

''Ferra, Metal, change of plans! You'll be going after the Chaos Emeralds.''

Ferra and Metal Sonic were genuinely surprised to hear that, staring back at the holographic screen.

''W-Wait, the Chaos Emeralds?''

''You heard me right. I already sent Starline to find them, but just to make sure, you'll be going after them as well. Have you understood me?''

''Loud and clear, Doctor!''

The holographic screen then closed, and Eggman got up, with Orbot and Cubot quickly approaching him. Orbot asked, ''Are you going anywhere, Boss?''

''Oh, I'm going on a little gem hunt,'' Eggman responded.

''But, haven't you sent Dr. Starline, Metal Sonic and Ferra to do it for you?'' Cubot asked, scratching his head.

''I did, but they'll also prove to be an useful distraction,'' Eggman explain. ''When everyone is too busy fighting each other, I'll be the one to swoop in and take all the Chaos Emeralds for myself, ho, ho, ho!''