Hey! Hope none of you had to wait too long for this next chapter! Enjoy!

"Echidna!?" Ed exclaimed. Well, that might explain why he couldn't pick off this guy's species off the bat; he never even heard of any such thing in his world.

"Get ready!" Knuckles shouted as he charged with his fists poised to do major damage.

Ed narrowly blocked his attacker's punches, and the force was enough to bruise his flesh arm. "Ugh!" Ed countered with a left kick, sending Knuckles to the ground.

However, it didn't seem to do much good; despite his size, this red thing apparently could take quite a beating. "A metal leg?" he asked. "Now I know you're working for Robotnik!" Knuckles ran forward for another punch, again blocked by Ed's metal arm.

However, the impact caused Ed's arm to cry a sickening metallic screech. "That can't be good!"

"A metal arm too, huh!? Why don't you just throw yourself into a roboticizer already and get it over with!" Knuckles pushed Ed's arm out of the way and punched him square in the nose, sending the alchemist back a few feet.

Ed held it as he tried to stop the bleeding. "You little…!" Before Knuckles could attack again, Ed transmuted the ground below him and constructed an iron staff. Before Knuckles could get too close, Ed forced him back with a horizontal strike to the ribs.

"Ow…" Knuckles helped himself back up, and blocked another incoming strike from the staff. "What kind of magic is this!?" he shouted.

Sonic ran through one of the many jungles on the island, grabbing a vine to swing across a ravine. Tails trailed closely behind him in flight. "Sonic, you think Ed and Knuckles…?"

"Well, I'll tell you one thing: a peacemaker ol' knucklehead is not!" Sonic stated. Touching down on the forest floor, he navigated through the twisted roots best he could. Speed wouldn't do him much good if he tripped. "Don't worry about it, though; I'm sure Ed can handle him."

Meanwhile, behind them, Al sprinted, Sally riding on his back. "Amazing!" Al exclaimed as he observed the island's ecosystem. "How is this even possible?" he asked, referring to the island's ability to float.

"Long story." Sally told him. Despite how much she trusted and cared for Al, she chose not to reveal the secrets of the chaos emeralds. They were not hers to tell, especially when the land depended on them. "I just hope Ed isn't having a run-in with the guardian!"

"Guardian?" Al asked.

"For centuries, this island has been protected by a family of echidnas, the task passed down from father to son! And while he's on our side...he's been known to have quite a temper." Sally sighed.

Al would have cringed if he had the muscles for it. "That's not good. Ed needs to work on his temper as well." he groaned.

Ed leg checked Knuckles' kick with his metal leg, prompting the red animal to fly back. "You're good." he huffed, ignoring the searing pain in his thigh. "I'm better."

Knuckles quickly charged again. Ed transmuted the ground in response, forming clasping hands in an effort to restrain him. However, at the last second, Knuckles took off into the air. "WHAT!?" Ed screamed. "How the hell can he do that!?" Ed looked up in the sky, unable to see him anywhere. "Where'd he go?"

Ed's question was answered as Knuckles swooped in from behind and collided into his back. Ed was sent rolling and collided into a tree upside down. "Why you-" Knuckles charged again as Ed righted himself and avoided the blow, making note of the 2 holes in the tree trunk. Quickly, he transmuted a barrier in front of him...and received another punch to the face as Knuckles' fist broke through. "Ohmph!" Ed stumbled back further into the forest.

"Looks like your bag of tricks is running on empty!" Knuckles said as he put up his guard.

"Don't be so sure!" the alchemist replied.

Ed began another transmutation, but it wasn't anything Knuckles was expecting. The trees suddenly wrapped around him, pinning his arms and lifting him off the ground so he couldn't get good footing to use his lower body. "What the-?" Knuckles kicked wildly to get out of the trees' grasp, but the grip held him tight.

"You're going to be there for a while." Ed said as he grinned upon seeing the strange animal struggling like a maniac. He then turned around and waved "Don't worry, I've transmuted them to only last a couple of hours."

"Hey!" Knuckles screamed as he kicked his legs wildly. "Get back here!"

Ed only rolled his eyes at the echidna's stubbornness. "Well, I better find out where Sonic and Al have landed..." Then, he felt someone grab him from behind in a half-nelson. "HEY! WHAT GIVES!" Ed turned to look behind him, but saw nothing. But he was sure something...or someone...was holding him back. Ed tried to shake off his restrainer, but he was wise to move with Ed. "Damn! He's not even letting me bring my hands together!"

Knuckles watched as it all happened. As embarrassed as he was to be seen like this by his friends, what was important was that the intruder wouldn't be getting away. And getting caught by a chameleon was a difficult trap to get out of.

"Knuckles! How the heck did you get yourself tangled up like that!?" Mighty the Armadillo, a mobian with strength even greater than Knuckles' exclaimed as he walked up behind him.

"Wasn't me." Knuckles said to defend his pride in vain. "Our guest here seems to have some rather interesting abilities."

"Is that so?" Mighty asked as he observed Ed finally throw off a still camouflaged Espio.

"Ahem. A little help here?" Knuckles asked impatiently.

"Whoops. Sorry about that." Mighty took hold of the branches and pulled them apart with ease.

Knuckles touched down, and brushed off his shoulder. "Thanks. Now..."

Mighty held him back. "Hold on Knuckles. Charmy and Vector will be here in a second."

"Oh." Knuckles calmed down and watched. If Vector in particular was going to do what he thought he would, it was best to stay clear.

Soon, Espio revealed himself to Ed. "And just what are you!?" Ed yelled. Espio didn't respond; instead, he just leapt into the trees.

Suddenly, a blaring sound exploded out of nowhere, and brought Ed to his knees. Ed covered his ears in an attempt to block out the horrendous sound, but it was too loud. Soon, Ed found himself swept off his feet and into a tree. "That's what you get for messing with my main man!" Some lizard-like creature boasted, pointing a strange headphone-like device at him.

Ed grunted as his back throbbed with pain. "Why you-" Suddenly, something quick moved around him and wrapped a vine to his body, tying him to the tree. "Hey! What gives!"

Soon, a cute bee-like creature flew in his face. "We got him, Knuckles!" he called to the guardian.

"I can see that." Knuckles said as he walked amongst his friends. Then, he got up in Ed's face. "Princess Sally warned me Robotnik was plotting something again. So, what is it?" he questioned him.

"Like I know!" Ed yelled. "I'm just as lost as you!"

Knuckles cracked the the bony spurs protruding from his gloves. "You're a terrible liar. Try again!" he demanded.

"I'm not with that fat-ass! I'm with Princess Sally!" Ed yelled.

Knuckles only twitched his eyebrows, and grabbed Ed's throat. Cocking his fist back, he got ready to pummel him. "Well, their goes your-"

"Knuckles! Stop!" Some kind of bug with a jungle explorer's outfit suddenly appeared on his the red mobian's fist.

"About time you got here, Archy!" Knuckles exclaimed. "Where've you been?"

"That's not important!" the ant said, deflecting the question. "I know for a fact that this overlander is not our enemy!"

Before Knuckles could respond, he was suddenly sent flying into the forest as Sonic rammed him with a fist. "Yo, Ed!" Sonic exclaimed, unconcerned about Knuckles and taking the time to wave to him. "See you met the Chaotix!"

Ed sighed. "Yeah; today has been nothing but chaotic!" Ed pulled slightly on the ropes, figuring out they were a lot tougher than they looked. "Um, now that it's settled I'm one of the good guys, can you all please untie me?"

Before a reply could be made, Knuckles suddenly tackled Sonic and the two animals rolled across the ground while exchanging blows. "They do that often, don't they?" Ed asked exasperated as his own predicament was forgotten.

"Far as I can tell." Archimedes replied, disappointed in what he saw.

"Now, about my-"

"Ah, yes. Sorry about that. Hold still, please; it would be counter-productive if I burned you." Archimedes warned him.

Ed's eyes widened. "Hey, what-" Without warning, a small flame exploded from the insect's mouth. Ed did as he was told and kept still; meanwhile, the fire burned through the thick vine until it came apart with orange, flaming ends. "Uh, thanks." He stood and brushed himself, commenting "I didn't know ants could do that."

"I'm a fire-ant." Archimedes explained.

"Ah. That explains it." Not really, in his view; Ed was swarmed by fire ants before and while it felt like his skin was on fire, no flames were actually produced. Then again, he associated himself with sentient animals that had special abilities none of the ones from his home had, plus a dragon. He supposed he should be getting used to this by now.

"Ed!"

Ed turned to see Alphonse, with Sally riding on his back, run towards him. "Way to go, Al!" Ed exclaimed. "Mission accomplished!"

While the Chaotix took defensive stances at the sight of Alphonse, the living suit of armor stopped and set Sally down. "You made quite a mess up there." Al said, referring to the Flying Battery's explosion.

"Heh. He deserved it." Ed bragged.

Tails then swooped down behind them. "Uh, Aunt Sally?" he asked. "Don't you think we should be stopping them?"

All eyes turned to the brawling hedgehog and echidna. Knuckles landed 3 hay makers right in Sonic's face, causing the insectivore to stumble. Knuckles was about to charge with another, but Sonic spun like a drill and disappeared into the earth, causing the monotreme to fall back. Almost instantly, Sonic followed with a Sonic Spin erupting from the ground and onto Knuckles' chin. Knuckles landed flat on his back, but quickly got up. "Why I outta-!"

Sally sighed as she watched the ensuing brawl. "You're right. I better put a stop to this..."

Robotnik, having finally having touched down on the island floor, stepped out of his pod and brushed himself off. "Wonderful." he muttered sarcastically. "It seems I will have to do this the hard way." Tapping a few buttons on his cybernetic arm, he got a layout of the Floating Island, his location and that of all his robots, though he wouldn't be able to find any of the homunculi. On his first visit here, he made sure to get a schematic diagram of the place and it's various sites. "I'm a few miles west of the 'Launch Base' ruins." He noticed that site had all the makings of a space station. Why it hadn't been used for centuries, he couldn't fathom. But what mattered that there was enough material to build a space shuttle; he had to go into orbit to find the object...or person...of his desire. And, he predicted he wouldn't have much time before Knuckles caught on to his scheme. Though he was confident he could outwit the guardian, the less hassles the better.

He then observed the locations of all swatbots on the island. "Good. It seems I still have a fair number of allies." It looked like Snively and Crocbot had made it as well. He typed in the code to call his only living assistant. "Snively, come in." he said.

"S-S-Snively reporting for duty, sir." an exhausted, squeaky voice spoke from the other side of the com.

"Are the homunculi with you?"

"Y-Yes sir. You wouldn't believe-"

"We will all meet at these coordinates." Robotnik interrupted, specifying the Launch Base Ruins. "And hurry! I fear we haven't much time."

Robotnik switched it off, and headed east. "Somehow, I doubt it will be that simple..." Robotnik then reached behind his back and produced what seemed to be some gold collar. "But once I get this on...I suspect things will become much easier..." Robotnik cackled softly as he imagined the possibilities of what he could do with the collar.

Of course, things of significance to this tale weren't occurring only on Mobius.

Back on Edward's home world, a girl was waiting for someone at a train station. She was tall, pretty, and had her blond hair tied in a pony tail. Underneath her jacket she wore a simple white tank top and black skirt. The only other distinguishing feature was that she wore two sets of earrings; two studs and a pair of more traditional earrings on each ear. They were given to her as presents by the Fullmetal brothers themselves...and she was worried sick about them. "Where in the world are they!?" Winry Rockbell screamed in her mind as she clenched her fists. "Ed is so going to get it...and that's assuming his arm is still in one piece!" Winry didn't know if there was anything she hated more when the two brothers went off on their own without telling her, but ruining her craftsmanship was a close second. And it happened often.

Another train pulled up to the tracks, but Winry wasn't interested in getting on; she was waiting for someone to help her find her two troublemakers. Since several trains were coming in from central, she couldn't even be sure if this one had the person she was hoping to see. But, her prayers were seemingly answered as a tall, dark-haired man in Amestris's military uniform stepped out. "Colonel Mustang!" she shouted.

She ran towards him as he said "Ms. Rockbell." His face was completely neutral when addressing her. "I'm sorry it took me so long to get here; his excellency had a few tasks in the west he wanted me to take care of personally. I got here as soon as I could."

"I understand." Winry nodded.

"So, have there been any changes since we spoke on the phone?" the colonel asked.

Winry nodded no. "They still haven't came back from whatever it was they were doing. I...I know Ed's a state alchemist and is expected to put himself into dangerous situations, but whatever's happening, it wasn't in our plans."

"I see." Mustang said. "And the police? Did they even think to use dogs?"

"Yes." Winry replied. "They had 3 Amestrian Shepherds trail Ed's scent. But they kept stopping at a hill out of town they said."

"Now that's interesting." Mustang mumbled. "In any case, I better have a word with the local sheriff. I'd imagine I'll be told pretty much the same as you..."

"Do whatever you can." Winry pleaded with him. "I know Ed's out there somewhere!"

Truth be told, Roy wasn't so hopeful. If Fullmetal was missing for so long...it didn't sound good. And Mustang refused to lose another comrade, no matter how much of a pain that said person may be. "Why don't you head back to your room, Winry?" Roy asked. "I think it's best you wait for me while I question the police."

"And so, that's the story." Sally had finished giving Knuckles the abridged version of Ed's story once the brawl between him and Sonic was broken up; now the guardian was up to speed on everything, especially the why.

"Is that so?" Knuckles said, rubbing his head where Sonic landed a good one. "Well, judging by what you told me, Sally, whether Robotnik can make it to this other world or not may be the least of our worries."

"Oh? And why is that?" Ed asked.

"According to you, he needs a source of chaos energy to open the 'gate', right?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah." Al replied. "Though I have an idea of what that may mean, I'm still not quite clear on what exactly that is though."

"Chaos energy is essentially all the energies of the universe combined." St. John emerged from the jungle, brushing himself off and walking towards the others. "It is normally stored in two forms. One in power rings, which have a finite supply, and chaos emeralds, such as the one keeping the island afloat, which are said to have limitless power."

"Uh, excuse me, who are you?" Knuckles asked, perturbed by his sudden and nonchalant appearance.

"Geoffery St. John, of his majesty's secret service." St. John quickly replied, extending his hand. "Knuckles, right? A pleasure to meet you, mate."

Knuckles only stared at him irritated for a second. "Uh, yeah. THANKS FOR POTENTIALLY ENDANGERING THE SAFETY OF MY ISLAND TO OUTSIDERS, JERK!"

St. John eyes widened, realizing that the Elrics were new here (and a part of him did not trust them) and he scratched the back of his head. "Oops. Sorry bout that, mate." he chuckled.

"Well, we wouldn't use it anyway." Ed assured him. "I wouldn't know how to harness such energy in the first place; promising as it sounds, if it's even more powerful than a philosopher's stone it could prove too much for even me to control. Besides, since you need it, I'm certainly not taking it."

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Anyway, back in the ancient history of this island; two echidna scientists sought to bring the island back down to the mobian surface by draining the energy of the dozen chaos emeralds used to originally cause this island to fly. Because of the risk it posed, their proposal was denied. While one accepted my people's decision, one was driven mad with rage. He went ahead and drained the energy of the emeralds, and absorbed them into himself, leaving only one emerald standing; the one currently keeping this island afloat. The energy granted him limitless power, transforming him into the demi-god Enerjak. With the aid of the fire-ants, his brother was able to bury him inside his own citadel. The brother was praised as a hero, and became the first guardian, my ancestor. However, after 400 years, Enerjak survived; he escaped his prison and attacked me, taking control of the Chaotix. It was only through the efforts of me and Archy here were we able to buy some time to allow some machines to send him into space."

Sally's eyes widened. "Oh no...if this Enerjak is as insanely powerful as you say he is..."

"Once Robotnik rescues him, there will be nothing to stop him. I only wonder what that eggman is thinking; there is no way he can control Enerjak." Knuckles said.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Robuttnik isn't that stupid." Sonic interrupted. "Surely he had to have some clue about what he's up against. And while he has been known to bite off more than he can chew at times, I'm sure he's taking every precaution against this Enerjak. Which, I may add, sounds like a cheap sports drink. Anyway, don't count him out once he gets what he wants just yet."

"And I bet the Homunculi are probably strong enough to help him with whatever he's planning." Al interrupted. "Even if they can't overpower him directly, their immortality may allow them to pin him down eventually."

"Ah think it's best we don't give him a chance to try. We'll kill two birds with one stone...so to speak." Bunnie chimed in.

"Right you are, Bunnie." Sally agreed. "Although, if chaos energy is the only way back to Ed's world, that may be a problem..."

"Don't sweat it Sal." Sonic interrupted. "I'll just find another zone and bring back an emerald with me for the dudes. There's always another one somewhere in this world."

Overhearing the conversation, Mighty gently elbowed Knuckles to get his attention. "You think we should-?" the armadillo began to ask.

"No; not yet." Knuckles whispered back. "If the Freedom Fighters can help them out, that's where we should leave it. It was too much trouble to get the spare, no thanks to Sonic the Doofus here. I think we should just keep quiet about it for now."

"We'll begin tracking Robotnik immediately then." Sally ordered. "Edward, about the trip back home..."

"If this 'Enerjak' thing is as bad as Knuckles here says it is, I'll take his word for it." Ed answered. "We won't bring ourselves back if it means endangering others."

"As soon as this is over, leave it to me to find a chaos emerald for ya." Sonic smiled, giving Ed a thumbs up. "Trust me; I'm kind of an expert on this."

"Before we do anything else, we need to see where the others are." Sally interrupted.

She then contacted the Freedom Fighters' Jet through Nicole. "Sally to Rotor, come in!" For a brief moment there was silence, filling everyone with dread.

"Rotor to Sally, roger!" Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as Rotor patched himself through.

"Thank goodness. Rotor, where are you?"

"We had some complications, princess." Rotor replied. "First off, Dulcy got hit by a stray round and tore a hole in her wing. She'll make a full recovery if we get her back to Knothole, but today she's officially out of the sky."

Sally sighed. "I'm sorry to hear that. And the plane?"

"Similar situation. We were hoping to get all of you back on board, but like Dulcy, we got too close. Thankfully, the damage is only superficial, and hovercraft mode is able to keep us afloat. I'm afraid with the two of these problems, we won't be able to assist you all the way up on the island."

"Do what you need to do Rotor." she said. "We need to get to Robotnik while we have the chance. We'll wait for you to pick us up when this is all over."

She closed Nicole and asked the team and guests "Any questions?" Nothing. "Good. Then let's be..."

Suddenly, Archimedes twitched. While Knuckles was oblivious to the why, he knew something set off his mentor. "Archy? What's up?" he asked, concerned.

At the moment, Archimedes only heard Locke. "Archimedes! Something's happening in the Chaos Chamber! I can't be sure what, but that is our priority right now. The others will tend to Robotnik!"

As the message ended, Archimedes told everyone "Pursue Robotnik at all costs! Someone's after our chaos emerald!"

"Never a dull moment." Knuckles growled as his day became even more complicated. Placing Archimedes on his shoulder, he said "You guys go on ahead without me! We'll join you as soon as we can!" With that, they poofed away into nothing.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to the idea of animals with super powers." Ed whispered to Al.

"You and me both." his little brother agreed back.

"Alright then." Sally began. "Robotnik will need to enter orbit to find this 'Enerjak'. Any ideas how he might accomplish that from here?" she asked the Chaotix.

Espio stepped forward. "From what Knuckles has told me about the history of his people, they were once able to enter orbit through a base east of here. The Launch Base Zone, I believe he called it."

"It's settled then." Sonic said. "Tails and I will go on ahead. We'll wait for you all to catch up!"

"Go, Sonic!" Sally commanded him. "Whatever happens, make sure he doesn't make it up into space!"

Sonic smirked."Like his fat little butt could get off the ground in the first place. Tails!"

"Ready!" The two took off in the direction Espio indicated, while the rest followed after them.

Robotnik finally emerged from the forest and laid his eyes upon the ruins of the Launch Base Zone. "So much potential, and yet they chose to abandon it." Robotnik hissed with distaste. "Oh well, it just means I'm free to use it." he smiled. Then, he spotted both his minions and partners arriving from various parts of the forest. "Ah, my friends." he said, more warmly than usual as he spread his arms. "THIS, is the penultimate stage of our plan."

"YOUR plan." Envy snarled at him. "I don't see what part of this involves getting us back home."

"Patience, my boy." Robotnik assured him. "I'm getting to that. The temple from which you came can be activated from this side, but your blood will do you no good here. We'll need chaos energy to accomplish that feat. My satellites have detected two chaos emeralds on the island..."

"And you want us to find them." Lust stated plainly.

"Normally." Robotnik agreed. "But we don't have time for that right now; even if we had ample time, the guardian would surely defend his islands' prized jewels. Though I've no doubt the 3 of you can take him, it will be too much trouble when his friends and the freedom fighters arrive. Besides, I've had a lot of bad luck regarding taking the emeralds by force; even with you 3 here with me, I'd rather not tempt fate again."

"So, what do you plan to do instead?" Lust asked, irritated at his lack of faith. Then again, a small hedgehog got the best of them barely an hour ago, so she supposed she couldn't blame him for his assessment.

"Above this island, just within the planet's orbit, is another signature of chaos energy...and it's not coming from an emerald." Typing a few buttons on his arm, he showed them a satellite image of the citadel in the sky. "The energy spike suggests a dozen of chaos emeralds. But from the information I've gathered about recent events on the island, it was a person! Almost...a god..."

Lust furrowed her brow; their part of his plan was worse than she imagined. "And you want us to do the dirty work."

"You'll be the distraction, my dear Lust." Robotnik replied as he switched off the image. "If this being is as powerful as rumors say, I wouldn't even expect you to win. I just want you to grab his attention long enough for me to use this." He pulled out a collar from underneath his cape, wide enough to fit most mobians. "With your immortality, I think this will be a...slam dunk, as the mobians used to say."

"What do you expect to do with that thing? Mind control?" Envy asked skeptically, thinking he was being sarcastic.

"Yes." Robotnik smiled slightly. "Something like that." He looked away towards one of the towers in the ruins. "Over there; that will be our ticket to the stratosphere." He pointed to what looked like a white colored plane, with wings too small to fly within the planet's gravity.

"That's what you plan to use to get us up there?" Lust asked skeptically. "I've seen your flying machines, but that seems to be a bit short of your standards."

"It's primitive, but it will get the job done." Robotnik said confidently. "We just need to validate the fuel source."

Knuckles and Archimedes made it to the Chaos Chamber, the source of the island's flight power, as Knuckles immediately surveyed the emerald. "Good! It's still in place!" For a moment, he wondered what had Archimedes so jumpy in the first place. But then, he saw it: a portal of some sort opening up. "Archy...what's going on?" he hissed. A portal appearing here could only mean trouble.

Archimedes said "I've no idea; be ready for anything."

Knuckles raised his fists as the intruder stepped out... only to lower them in confusion once the intruder got all the way out. "Sonic?"

Physically, this hedgehog resembled Sonic to the tee. But the way he presented himself was completely different. Leather jacket and shades, not to mention if you thought Sonic had an attitude, this guy had a problem to the extreme. Of course what made Knuckles conclude that this wasn't Sonic quickly was the fact that he just SAW him on the surface. "No...just who are you!?"

The imposter just looked at him like he was curious himself. "Knuckles?" He then...and this really pissed off Knuckles...rudely spat on the floor. "I've had enough run-ins with that goody two-shoes twin of mine as it is; I guess you'll be a nice change of course."

"Enough with the games already!" Knuckles yelled. "Just who are you!? Really!"

This Sonic seemed to roll his eyes under his shades as he casually approached him, and glanced at the emerald. "You're totally different from my Knuckles, you know?" he said, as if addressing a friend. "He's got the weirdest freaking accent I've ever heard, and he's a total chicken! I've a feeling...this island of yours...is completely different too..."

Upon hearing that last part, Knuckles got nervous. "Archy." he whispered. "Get the spare. Now. I've got a bad feeling about this character."

Archimedes nodded affirmatively, and vanished. Knuckles then stepped forward to meet this "bad sonic". "I don't understand what's going on here, and quite frankly, I don't care. Just take your blue butt out of here, and that will be the end of it. And the sooner you get off my island, the better for both of us."

Evil Sonic only chuckled in response. "Oh? And what's the brave, noble guardian going to do about it?" Before Knuckles could offer a retort, Evil Sonic suddenly rushed in front of him and pressed against his throat with his arm, pinning him against the wall and forcing him up. "Aw, come on! You both refuse to use those big spikes as what they were in-" He was cut off when Knuckles suddenly twisted his leg around Evil Sonic's arm, brought it down, and punched him across the face. Evil Sonic stumbled, and his shades fell off. He observed a trickle of blood pouring down his mouth, and looked back at Knuckles, who pounded his fists together, daring him to try that again. Evil Sonic smirked, and wiped the blood off his chin. "I take that back. You DO have a pair; I respect that." He stood facing Knuckles. "But I'm not going to let that stop me from taking that jewel!"

He rushed at Knuckles again, but this time he was ready. Like the real Sonic, this guy was fast, but when confined to a tight space, he was easy to catch. Knuckles caught his arm between his fists and backhanded the wanna-be. Evil Sonic countered with a kick to Knuckles's stomach. As soon as he righted himself, he launched a series of rapid-fire punches. Though the guardian stumbled, he stood firm and countered with a side fist to the hog's beige belly. As Evil Sonic hunched over, Knuckles kicked his face, sending him sprawling across the floor. Evil Sonic slammed the crystal floor, and rose. "You're going to pay for that!"

"Knuckles!" The echidna heard his mentor's voice in his mind. "I've got the other emerald!"

"Just hold tight!" Knuckles answered back in his mind. "Do not show up until it's necessary! Understood?"

"I understand, my boy. Be careful!"

Knuckles came out of his conversation too late to catch a hay-maker by Evil Sonic, and his world spun as he reeled from the blow. The hedgehog followed up with a flip kick to the chin and spin-dashed into Knuckles, sending him careening into the wall. "Pay attention! I'm your worst nightmare, punk!"

At that, Knuckles only laughed. "What's so funny, wise guy?" the hedgehog snarled.

"Worst nightmare?" Knuckles laughed incredulously. "Don't make me laugh; well, too late...the point is, I KNOW my worst nightmare, met him myself actually. And if you keep me here any longer...you just might meet him too."

Sir, it seems the ship runs on fossil fuels." Snively reported as he finished his basic analysis of the shuttle.

"Interesting. And the Freedom Fighters give me a hard time for dumping toxins into the planet." the tyrant commented.

"So, can you take us up?" Lust asked as she cranked her neck towards the sky.

"I don't have the fuel this ship requires, and even if I did, I doubt I would have brought nearly enough." Robotnik sighed. "Fortunately, there is an alternative." Robotnik then signaled for a swatbot carrying a case to come forward. When the swatbot set it down, Robotnik kneeled and opened it, smiling with glee Several power rings were stored inside. "Excellent!" Robotnik grinned as he addressed some swatbots. "Modify this antique's engine to harness the rings! It should be just enough to take us up!"As those swatbots went to work, a couple more handed some large cases to the homunculi. Upon opening them, the 3 were quite confused. "Put them on." Robotnik ordered.

Soon, the homunculi were akwardly dressed in the custom-built space suits he made just for them. "Ugh. Are these really necessary?" Lust groaned as she struggled with her outfit, wondering how she could fight in it.

"If you wish to suffocate, freeze to death, and feel what it's like to be in a vacuum, you're more than welcome to try living in space without it." Robotnik warned them. "I've already designed them to suit your abilities; it took me all night to make those. I doubt space would kill you, but I'd imagine being permanently comatose until you burn to nothing in Mobius's atmosphere is worse. Now, KEEP THEM ON."

Robotnik was becoming more confident in working with the homunculi; Envy didn't like that. Nonetheless, he complied and finally got his helmet on.

"How long until we're ready to launch?" the Robotnik asked one of the engineering swatbots.

"ETL, 30 minutes."

Thank goodness his robots weren't alive; otherwise this would take forever. Still... "That's too long; Sonic could be here at any second!" he hissed.

Sonic and Tails came racing out of the jungle and into the clearing, getting a full view of the robots working on the ship. "No time for stealth, little buddy! We hit him hard and fast! Got it!?" Sonic ordered.

"Got it!"

The two leaped onto the platform, where Robotnik found them atop his station. "Stop them! STOP THE HEDGEHOG!" Robotnik knew the swatbots wouldn't help much, but he had to do everything he could for the plan to work! "All of you, triple your pace!" he ordered the maintenance crew. "I don't care how many errors are in your calculations, just make sure this thing will fly!" He then turned to his wheel-bound sub-boss. "Crocbot! Distract them, and join us when we're ready! I need to make sure everything is prepared!"

"Will do." Crocbot answered as he geared his tank body to roll down the platform. "Who died and made you king?" he asked as he lowered the volume of his audio output circuits.

He then raced down the ledge to meet the two unique freedom fighters as they trashed some swatbots. Sonic, taking notice of the tank, quickly grabbed Tails' shoulder and moved out of the way of a blast that would have left their insides all over the zone.

As Tails looked upon the sight, his eyes widened in horror..."Crocbot?"

Crocbot turned around and observed him. "Well, well, well...if it isn't Tails! I owe you one for this new body...it's been a bit of an adjustment, but this new set of wheels does have it's benefits. Like this!"

Crocbot fired another shot, but Sonic pulled his friend out of the line of fire by just a small margin before Tails became the headless fox. "That him? That crocbutt guy you told us about when you ran away?"

Tails nodded. "Yeah. Although...I think I may have made him bigger and badder!" he yelled in astonishment.

"And just like a tree, that will just mean he'll fall harder than before!" Sonic grinned as he charged at Crocbot, who prepared another round.

However, he once again proved too fast and his sonic spin shredded the robot's treads and left him partially imobile."You blue vermin!" he shouted, shaking his fist.

"Tails, I'm going at this part alone! Get the others and back me up!" Sonic yelled as he ran down a few swatbots.

Tails was about to protest, but looking at the army around him, he realized it would be too much for just the two of them. Quickly, he spun his Tails and flew back the way they came, fast as he could.

Sonic rolled past the other swatbots and accelerated up the top of the tower. Robotnik, furious at his minions' incompetence, grabbed a blaster and fired. Though the first shot caught the hedgehog off guard and nearly caused him to stumble, the speedster quickly recovered and resumed his climb. Robotnik fired a couple more times, all complete misses. Realizing this wouldn't go his way, he quickly commanded his robots "Get that piece of junk moving! NOW!"

Within moments, Sonic tackled him through the window, his speed enough to knock the large man down despite their size difference. "I don't suppose a whole 'you don't know what you're dealing with' speech will be enough to stop you?" the hedgehog sarcastically asked as he gripped his neck collar.

"You don't think I know what I'm about to do" Robotnik hissed, unintimidated by his arch-nemesis. "I bet you didn't know that there were beings before this one with such power? Mark my words, hedgehog, I know exactly what I'm doing! And once I have it, you won't be able to stop me!"

Suddenly, the roof above them crumbled and a pair of feet kicked Sonic away from Robotnik. The impact was enough to knock Sonic out cold. "Thank you, Envy. Would you mind breaking his legs for me?"

Envy, already clad in his space suit, cracked his knuckles. "My pleasure."

As he walked towards the stunned mobian, something else suddenly crashed in front of him. "I don't think so!" Edward stood between him and his ally. He immediately transmuted a spear and kept both of them at bay. "Tails is on the way with more help! I suggest you give up while you can!"

Envy sensed Robotnik retreat, but paid him no heed; it just insured private time between him and the alchemist. "Could care less about what happens to him." Envy said, pointing at the hedgehog. "You, on the other hand, are another story."

Evil Sonic continued to attack Knuckles, throwing wild attacks and putting the echidna on the defensive. While Knuckles was pretty used to brawling with the Sonic he knew, this hedgehog was a different animal altogether. Instead of pummeling him into submission like the real Sonic, this one went for all dirty and crippling blows; if he got careless, Knuckles could wind up with a permanent injury. Knuckles moved his head out of the way as Evil Sonic threw what seemed to be an eye gouge. Suddenly, he grabbed the echidna's throat, choking him and pushing Knuckles against the wall of the cavern.

"Knuckles!" Archimedes screamed telepathically.

"Not yet!" Knuckles told him.

Bringing his fists up together against the hedgehog's arms, Knuckles broke the choke hold and slugged him across the face with a superb cross, shattering his shades. He seemed to be out cold now; Knuckles slumped against the wall as he tried to catch his breath. "Dang, he was tough..."

But Evil Sonic wasn't out; he simply played possum. Quickly, he grabbed a loose shard on the floor, ran up to him and slashed Knuckles across the cheek. Knuckles tripped, and was now on his back, at Evil Sonic's mercy. "I'm taking that emerald! And I'm not letting anyone...least of all you!...get in my way!" He picked up a loose rock, pinning Knuckles and bringing it over his head.

"Now Archy!"

Archimedes finally appeared, carrying their spare chaos emerald. "Another one!?" Before Evil Sonic could react, Archimedes spewed his flames across the emerald, giving them a green hue and embedding them with the mystical energies inside. Evil Sonic dropped his rock, stumbling as his face was covered in miinor but excruciating burns. "AHHH!" Knuckles ran up and punched Evil Sonic across the chest, his knuckles carving scars across his body and sending him flying towards the other emerald. Thankfully, it didn't look like he would be waking up and taking it anytime soon. He was down for the count, and the blood leaking across the floor only seemed to strengthen that assumption.

"Wow." Archimedes said as he stared at the corpse-like hedgehog. "I never thought you could be so vicious, my boy."

"Heat of the moment, I guess." Knuckles said, equally in shock of what he just did. He walked over and exmined the hedgehog's unconscious body. But he failed to noticed how the emerald sparkled when it came into contact with the hog's blood, turning it green for a split second. Turning to Archimedes, he said "Just take him someplace where he can't find his way out until I can deal with him..."

Suddenly, Evil Sonic came alive and went into a Sonic Spin. Knuckles gripped his shoulder in pain, and raised a fist defensively, expecting another fight. However, Evil Sonic simply screamed in agony and burrowed through the walls of the chamber.

"Okay, that was odd..."

"We don't have time to worry about him now!" Archimedes exclaimed. "You must stop Robotnik!"

"Right!" Knuckles picked up his mentor, and both disappeared from the chamber, teleporting away.

Envy avoided a debilitating thrust from Ed, making sure the suit would not suffer any cuts. "Not good enough, Fullmetal!" He grabbed the staff, intending to force Ed up and out of the platform. Quickly, keeping his grip with one hand, Ed transmuted the floor to encircle his feet, giving Envy unexpected resistance. "Big deal!" Envy put more power into his pull, and then Ed let go, the spike bouncing into the homonculus's helmet due to the disappearance of the said resistance. It seemed despite the protection, it was still quite enough to cause a sting across the forehead. "OW! YOU SON OF A-"

"Watch the language!" Knuckles suddenly appeared from above, and clobbered Envy across the head, giving the homunculus another headache.

"That won't be enough!" Ed warned him.

"I was afraid you might say that!" Knuckles retorted as he retreated towards Ed before the homunculus could grab him. "Archimedes is getting the others! He'll be here any second!"

"Ten Minutes to Launch." a robotic voice suddenly said.

"Jeez, these guys can work fast!" Sonic commented as he finally got back on his feet.

"You guys go!" Ed shouted as he beckoned them away. "I'll stall Envy!" Sonic, trusting Ed completely now, leapt out of the platform, while Knuckles glided away with him.

"You think you can take me, by yourself!?" Envy scoffed as he sized his opponent up. "I'm ten times stronger than you! And you can't use your alchemy here carelessly, least you fall to your death!" Envy rushed up and began to box Ed in. As Ed blocked the blows, he was pushed to the edge and felt his arm creak so loud it hurt. That's when Ed realized something was seriously wrong, and he couldn't keep this up! Ed was forced down as Envy pummeled him into the console. "Pathetic! Is that all you've got!?"

Ed grunted and said "Not quite!" Clapping his hands, he then hit the console behind him, beginning a transmutation.

Envy raised his arm defensively, expecting a weapon. But instead, the whole platform broke in half, causing them to fall in opposite directions. "YOU IDIOT!" Envy screamed as gravity reacquainted him with the ground below.

Ed flipped him over and tried to reach for the railing before he crashed, but missed the metal posts by a hair. Suddenly, something caught him as he felt his descent slow. "Tails!"

"Glad you're okay!" Tails exclaimed, pulling Ed up by his shirt as they hovered down. Ed looked below to see the other Freedom Fighters engaging the swatbots.

"Just set me down there, and stop them!" Ed ordered.

"Right!" Tails dropped Ed as he rolled across the floor and kicked a swatbot down.

"Yes, yes! Excellent!" Robotnik finished typing in the commands into the primitive central computer. "We're ready to go!"

"Sir, it's too dangerous!" Snively protested. "A number of things could go wrong with these last minute calculations!"

"A lot of things WILL go wrong, Snively!" Robotnik yelled as he grabbed Snively and lifted him to face level. The little imp began to sweat in terror when coming up close to his uncle's fury. "But we will push forward nonetheless. These calculations are precise enough for me to prepare for anything else. And those freedom fighters have interfered with my plans too many times! I will not let whatever inconvenience they have thrown at me stand in the way this time!" Robotnik dropped his nephew and quickly put on his space helmet. "Prepare for suborbital travel, Snively! Where are the homunculi!?"

"Here we are." Lust and her siblings appeared before him in their customized space-suits. "Sorry for the wait; we had to wait for Envy to recover after falling 4 stories."

"No matter. You're ready. And soon, you will all be home." Robotnik then pressed the loud speaker. "Attention all robots. We will begin the launch now. Prepare to board. All units 5298 and lower are to remain behind to stall the freedom fighters until launch." Robotnik shut off the communication, and rubbed his hands together. "Now, it begins. Let us see just what lies above..."

The Freedom Fighters, Chaotix and Elric brothers continued their fight down below. For the most part it seemed to be going well, but the sheer number of swatbots kept the battle to a stalemate. What's more, Ed was starting to favor his left arm over his right. "Can't let them know!" Ed feared if he fought more with his automail arm, one of the bots would immediately target and break it, leaving Ed's alchemy unusable in battle. That, and he did not want to face Winry's wrath; he feared she really would kill him if she found out he broke her work this time around. Despite his fears, Ed transmuted the floor beneath his feet, and sent columns of metal at the swatbots, smashing them to bits.

"Look out!" Knuckles flew over Ed and tackled another swatbot, denting its metal hull. Another snuck up behind him and grabbed him in a headlock. Before Knuckles had a chance to get out of it, Tails pushed it up into the air. Both Knuckles and Tails flew to safety as it fell down below. That was when Tails found himself in the crossfire of several lasers aimed at him. Archimedes appeared and spewed his flames at the robots, and while it did minimal damage, it was enough to soften their metal exoskeletons and render their weapons ineffective. Archimedes was suddenly grabbed by another swatbot, trapped in the palm of its hand. Or so it seemed; Archimedes easily escaped by his teleportation, leaving the robot confused.

Suddenly, without picking up anything on its sensors, the swatbot was suddenly knocked down onto the floor. Others tried to come to its aid, but they too were knocked away by some invisible force. "Fire at will!" The swatbots wisely avoided the immediate area and used their lasers in their hopes of hitting a target.

"Ahhh!" Espio lost his concentration and decamouflaged as he gripped his arm. Luckily , it was only grazed and he would recover at a moment's notice. Unfortunately, it seemed the swatbots were not going to give him the time.

Thankfully, a sonic blast of music blew them away. "Yo! Leave my man Espio alone!" Vector turned down the headphones and placed them back in his ears. He then knocked away the other swatbots coming at him with his tail. One, however, was smart enough to grab it . Suddenly, Mighty came up behind it and supplexed it, the impact crushing it like a tin can. He rushed into the crowd of other swatbots, sending each one flying as they came into contact with his fists. When he saw he was about to be fired upon, Mighty curled up into a ball as his shell deflected the lasers. Charmy then flew by and plugged their blasters with sap.

One leapt to grab him, but St. John kicked it away. "Keep me covered, mate! I'm just about out of bloody arrows!" St. John side-kicked another robot approaching him, but failed to see one rush behind him.

"Heads up!" Sally leap-froged over the skunk's shoulder and fell the robot with a kick to the face. She spun and placed a scrambler on another swatbot, causing it to go rigid and fall over. One swatbot took aim at her, and fired. The blast was blocked by Bunnie's shield, whose robotic arm stretched and punched a hole through the offending robot. She took to the sky and began blasting them with her pulse cannon. A group of swatbots grabbed another and threw him into the air, launching him towards Bunnie. However, a piece of metal hit it and disrupted its flight pattern, causing it to miss her and skid across the floor. Alphonse, his body headless, continued to fight off the robots as the lasers only deflected off his armored body.

As he retrieved his head, another swatbot made a lunge for him. But this one too was foiled by a blue blur. "Look out! Coming through!" Sonic blazed by the other swatbots, kicking up a trail of flame and rolling over them with his Sonic Spin. One jumped in front of him in an attempt to catch and knock him out.

However, a giant fist made of metal emerged and knocked him away, allowing Sonic to roll under. "Keep your eyes peeled, Sonic!" Ed immediately transmuted a javelin, and threw it into a group of approaching swatbots, successfully impaling one.

Suddenly, a robotic voice was broadcast to the group below. "Launch shall begin in T-minus 10 seconds..." The rocket's thrusters ignited, and the heat was felt by all. "...9..." The swatbots suddenly retreated. Sally, taking the opportunity to get some information, pulled out Nicole . "...8..."

"Nicole, what is that thing!?" Sally asked frantically, having a feeling they shouldn't be there.

"Heat rising imminent, Sally. Recommend finding cover or risk being incinerated alive!" Nicole yelled in an uncharacteristically panicked manner.

"...7..."

"Ed!" Sally shouted. "Those flames!"

"I heard!" Ed said as he began another transmutation.

"...6..."

Crocbot also saw that he was about to be left behind. "No! You're not going to throw me away like trash!...That's my job!" Crocbot's torso also came alight with flame, and he turned his tank over on it's side so he was facing the rocket directly.

"...5..." He launched, and grazed Ed's right side. However, the force was enough to dislodge the arm entirely, and all Ed could do was stare in shock. His automail arm rolled unceremoniously across the floor, and near the rocket fire, while Crocbot attached his body to the hull of the ship. "...4..." Everything was happening so fast; Ed collapsed on his knees, not knowing what to do. Al, witnessing the event, pulled out his chalk and rushed over. "...3..."

Al covered his brother, and drew a circle with chalk. "Everyone! Get behind me, and press yourselves to the ground!" he ordered them.

"...2..." Sonic was the first to arrive, and the rest followed. "...1..." At the last possible second, Al began the transmutation, and an iron wall more than 12 feet tall and 8 feet thick separated them and the rocket's fire. "...Launch..."

The fires suddenly intensified, and a deafening roar filled the air. "Brace yourselves!" Al warned everyone. Though they were protected, everyone feared they would be engulfed in flames at any second. But nonetheless, they followed the boy's directions as the rocket took off.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the roar faded, and the air, though still fouled, cooled. Slowly, all rose. "What...what in the world was that thing?" Ed asked as he observed the chem trail in the sky.

"I don't know..." Knuckles said, dumbfounded. "...but whatever that was, if it was of use to Robotnik, it can't be good."

"I'm guessing it's used for sub-orbital travel." Sally said. "Judging by the energy it used just to take off, I'd say that was more than a simple plane."

"A ship to take you into space?" Ed asked as the vessel disappeared from view. "That's..." He then looked around him, and forgot where he was. "...Never mind." Ed than looked at the empty torn sleeve on his jacket. "Crap." Ed scaled the wall to observe his automail arm; it was now fused with the floor, its gears melted into slage.

"What's wrong, dude?" Sonic asked. "I mean, yeah, I'd imagine that would suck. But you've got a metal arm; it can be replaced, right?"

"True." Ed said. "But until then, my alchemy will be handy-capped. I could do things if I have enough time, but in battle I'll be at a disadvantage. Besides, I trust my own mechanic over whatever you guys have...no offense."

"What's more important..." St. John interrupted, "...is what Ivo is going to do with this Enerjak bloke once he finds him? Anything is possible, but he wouldn't go after him unless he had a specific objective in mind."

Sally thought for a moment. "...I have a lot of good guesses...but we need to act on conclusive proof..." She stared at her computer. Finding a swatbot, she tore open its head and grabbed a memory-chip. "I haven't tried this before..." She inserted the chip into an empty slot inside Nicole. "Nicole: Use the memory chip I provided you to hack into Robotnik's system without setting off any firewalls or alarms. Then, search for any recent files related to chaos energy." she ordered it.

"Affirmative, Sally. Beginning search." It took forever for the computer to get it done, but then it said "Signal to Robotnik's mother computer found and connected. Beginning search." All waited for a tense minute, until finally, Nicole reported "Search complete. One file found."

Sally opened it, and gasped. "Oh no..."

"What is it?" Al asked frantically.

"The temple...the one you guys came from...it's activated by chaos energy!" she yelled.

"If he activates it...we could go home!" Ed exclaimed. His jubilant expression quickly gave way to dread. "But if he does, that means he'll come with us!" he realized.

"Incredible!" Lust exclaimed as she felt themselves ascend into the air. "This technology! We must have it! We will be able to create as many philosopher's stones as we want!" Lust then looked out the window, seeing space for the first time. "Incredible..." she repeated, staring in wonder at the sight she always knew existed but never thought would be possible to experience.

Robotnik, however, was not impressed, and wasted no time with his primary mission. "Snively! What is the position of our target!?" Robotnik ordered.

"About 500 km, sir!" Snively answered as he checked his portable computer, showing a holographic projection between the two points.

"500 km?" Envy asked. "That's too far!"

"Not in space it's not." Robotnik said. "Without gravity holding us back, we can move much faster. Brace yourselves" Robotnik keyed in some commands on the console, and brought up what seemed to be a tower in space. "There it is."

"How could someone make that all the way up here?" Lust asked. "The lack of gravity...of air..."

"It wasn't made...it was brought here." Robotnik replied. "By whom is the real question...but that will be for another day I suppose." "Take us in, Snively."

It took some doing; the engines were shot, and they ascended at the wrong angle, causing the ship to burn and lose quite a few vital functions. Nonetheless, Sniveley managed to get one rocket going, too slow for Robotnik's liking but it was all they had. Within a few minutes, they were side by side with the citadel. Robotnik checked his chaos radar; whatever was inside, it was off the charts. It would be more powerful tan anything he ever created. "This is it." One wrong move, and anything could happen. He then turned to the homunculi. "You know what you're supposed to do; better get to it."

Lust nodded, and instructed her brothers to follow her lead. As instructed, they attached safety cords to the backs of their suits, and opened the door. The 3 were at first shocked when they felt the air around them being sucked out. Quickly, they got over it and jumped out of the shuttle. Faster than they thought, they immediately floated over to the citadel until they were pressing against it's walls. Without hesitating, Envy punched it open. The Homunculi stepped inside, and saw the flickering green light inside. Exploring further inside, that's when they saw him: Enerjak.

To the homunculi, he wasn't much larger than the average mobian they had encountered. But his gold head plate and royal-like outfit gave off a look of intimidation that made even them nervous. His red dreadlocks made him look feral, opposing his regal god-like appearance. "WHO ARE YOU!?" the being screamed. The homunculi stepped back, frightened that they actually heard that in their minds. "WHO ARE YOU!?" Enerjak repeated.

"Let's take him!" Lust ordered, their suits connected by radios. The three homunculi rushed him, yet Enerjak did not move.

"In this environment, I may be limited...but mere overlanders are no match form me!" Gluttony grabbed him in a bear hug from behind, but Enerjak easily broke free and battered him into the wall hard enough to crack it. Enerjak immediately began to choke as ice crusted over him, but he quickly regained his senses and pulled all the oxygen molecules towards him and heated his body.

"I see..." Lust thought. "...whatever powers he possess, it's taking all of his concentration just to survive in this environment..." Lust quickly charged at him, but Enerjak quickly countered by summoning a spike from the floor, impaling her. Lust gasped as she felt the air, pressure and temperature inside her suit drop. "You won't get away with that!" she choked.

Lust quickly extended her fingers, the suit contracting around them, and pierced the demi-god's eyes. "Ahhh!" The pain made him lose all focus, and the void of space began to do it's work on the echidna once more. He scrambled to adjust the environment to his needs, but Envy attacked this time. Enerjak was now ready, and countered the shape-shifter's punches with some kind of force field. However, it was weak; he had to take a step back with each punch. Soon, Envy broke through, and uppercutted him off the floor. Enerjak, about to be blown into space, steadied himself and defied gravity, hovering. "Fool! No mortal can defeat me!"

Before Envy could offer a retort, a green energy surrounded and immobilized him. "What the-!?" Suddenly, he was thrown all across the room.

"Be grateful we are in this inhospitable space!" Enerjak yelled telepathically. "For if this battle took place on the mobian surface...this would be over much faster!"

Lust got herself together quickly as she could; the disappearing air and other factors made it difficult for her to concentrate as she felt her senses go dark. She summoned her claws once more and impaled Enerjak's knees. Though he was in enormous pain, he ignored it and concentrated on himself. Quickly, Lust pulled him back in, and Gluttony slammed into him. Pinning the chaos god, Gluttony pummeled him. It seemed the finally had him; but an explosion of chaos energy sent him into the wall, and he immobilized both of them. "How did you get here!?" he yelled. "You must have some sort of ship...yes! I'm finally free!"

Suddenly, a snake, clothed in a seemingly perfect custom-made space suit, coiled around him, and began to squeeze. Lust and Gluttony were released, while Enerjak once more began to suffocate.

"Hold him!" Robotnik finally showed up, flying towards them with rockets on his boots. He held in his hand a gold collar.

"NOOO!" Enerjak began to power up with more chaos energy, but not before Robotnik fastened the collar. "You think a mere choker can contain the All-Powerful Enerjak!?" Robotnik was flung into the wall, the wind knocked out of him. "I have had enough of this! I will simply take your ship, and..." Suddenly, the energy around him disappeared to almost nothing, and he suddenly fell to his knees. "No...my power...it cannot be contained!" Enerjak put more juice into it...only to feel himself getting weaker. It took even more effort to keep the air around him than before. "What...what have you done to me?"

Robotnik only sneered. "I've been studying you for a long time now...Enerjak. I knew it would be impossible to contain you; nothing can contain the power of a chaos emerald...let alone how much you have inside of you. But that power can be redirected. In this case, back to you. My Chaos Control Collar takes your power and uses it against you; and now, your nervous system belongs to me."

Enerjak only looked at him in rage. "You..."

"Now, time's a wasting." Robotnik interrupted him. "And I have a job for you." Enerjak only continued to stare at him in rage. But even he knew he was in no position to resist. "Take us to these coordinates." Robotnik said as he displayed a holographic map. A swatbot came from behind and provided him with some oxygen. "Now that you don't have to focus on breathing, it should be a simple enough task for you."

"So...can you do it?" Sonic asked Archimedes.

The fire-ant explained his teleportation ability to the group when Sally began to panic about getting back to the temple in time. "It's possible...but I've never went someplace so far before." he answered reluctantly.

"I'm guessing there's a reason you didn't when we were stranded in the Sandopolis Zone?" Knuckles asked, eying him suspiciously. "That would have saved us a lot of trouble."

"It takes enormous energy and concentration for me to do it. Last time, I didn't know EXACTLY where we were on the Island. My teleportation doesn't take me where I want to go if I don't know how to get there."

Knuckles looked back up to the sky, and sighed. "Looks like we've no choice." he noted, dropping the subject. "Archy...get the spare emerald."

As Archimedes disappeared, Sonic approached Knuckles. "Spare emerald? Since when did you have two!?"

Knuckles scratched his head and sighed. He supposed he'd have to bring it up sooner or later. "Remember the last time we brawled? As organic lifeforms?" he specified.

"Yeah. Going super and all that? I remember..." Then, something in Sonic's head clicked. "Wait a minute...you mean you took an emerald from the zone!?"

"That's what I came for in the first place." the echidna confirmed.

"But! That emerald-! Why? What!?" Sonic began to shout.

"Sonic." Sally chastised him. "Maybe if you asked him what he was doing in Robotropolis in the first place, the whole ordeal would have gone a lot faster...not to mention spare you a few bruises."

Sonic grumbled. "Why didn't you run it through us first?"

"It was my business, not yours." Knuckles growled back.

Ed was a bit lost on what was going on. But this talk of the emerald interested him. "I wonder...if I wanted to, could I use it?" he thought silently.

"I took it should the worst happen. If our emerald is taken, at least we will have a chance to save our home from a cataclysm." Knuckles explained. "This place was once powered by a dozen emeralds...and the other eleven were absorbed by that guy in the sky Robotnik's coming to visit." he emphasized pointing up.

Archimedes reappeared, this time carrying a brilliant green gem. "Here it is, my boy. Gather around, everyone. I'm about to-"

"Wait." Knuckles stopped him. He then addressed the Chaotix. "Listen, guys. I want to take you with us. But I need you all on the island; anything could go wrong while we're away. Since I know Dimitri best, it only makes sense for me to go. Should some moron have the bright idea of harming our home, I want you all to be there to protect it."

"You can count on us!" Mighty assured him, giving him the thumbs up.

Vector sighed, bummed out he didn't get to go. But, he couldn't argue with Knuckles. "You take care, man." he said as he fist-bumped his friend.

Knuckles then turned to the Freedom Fighters and Elric brothers. "Are we ready?" Everyone nodded affirmatively.

"Alright, everyone." Archimedes announced. "Gather around, and hold onto one another. I can only take you if each one of us is in contact with one another."

Archimedes hopped onto Knuckles' head as he, the Freedom Fighters and the Elric brothers joined together in a circle (Alphonse having to touch Ed's stump). Archimedes began to concentrate...and suddenly a green blur broke the group apart. "What the-!?" Knuckles took a blow to the stomach and was sent flying into the air.

The Chaotix jumped in to help, but they couldn't catch what was attacking their friend.

"What the heck is that!?" Ed yelled, before being tripped up .

"Whatever it is, it's as fast as Sonic!" Al exclaimed. The unknown assailant attacked Al, only to bounce off his armored hide. Ed couldn't be sure, due to how it picked up speed again, but it looked like another hedgehog.

Just when it headed for Sally, Sonic intercepted it. "You just made a very bad call, buddy!" He raced it around his friends and pinned it to a tree. "That's enough, you-" Sonic stopped as he stared wide-eyed at their assailant. He looked just like him! Except...the colors were all wrong. This hedgehog had green fur and quills as opposed to his blue; the eyes seemed to be blue as well. Sonic also took notice of how much sharper his teeth were than his. His identity was a mystery to Sonic, until he took note of the black jacket and boots. "Evil Sonic?" he asked.

"Make it stop..." he hissed. "The pain...MAKE IT STOP!"

Evil Sonic spun around like a tornado and backhanded Sonic to the ground. "What happened to you!?"

"We struggled earlier in the Chaos Chambers." Knuckles answered. "I punched him so hard he bled. His blood touched the chaos emerald...that must have triggered his mutation!"

"Okay then." Sonic said as he watched his double continue to spin around like a lunatic. "Any ideas on how to reverse it?"

"No...but this should put a stop to his nonsense!" Using a transmutation circle they carved out of the dirt, Ed and Al transmuted speed bumps that tripped up the new Evil Sonic, and a giant hand came out of the ground to immediately grab the green hedgehog and stopped him in his tracks.

The hedgehog only continued to scream like a maniac as he thrashed around in the hand. "Stand back!" Sonic warned everyone. "He'll break out at any second!"

"Doubt it." Ed sighed. "We made sure to make that thing out of iron; I don't think he'll be going anywhere anytime soon."

"So long as he doesn't vibrate his molecules so fast that he phases through, it shouldn't be a problem." Sonic concurred.

"Excuse me?"

"It's a joke, Ed. Just something out of my comics." Sonic assured him.

"Oh." Everyone only continued to look at the apparently suffering hedgehog. "So..." Ed began. "Who is this guy exactly?"

"My evil twin." Sonic replied. "Well, was. I'm not sure if he fits that description anymore."

The Elric brothers just looked at one another, both concluding that this was the oddest thing they had seen in this world to date. "You gotta be kidding me." Ed groaned. "You mean there's two of each person in this world?"

"No." Sonic answered. "Just an alternate universe where I just happened to turn out like that...well, not that THAT but bad. You know." he shrugged sheepishly.

Satisfied there would be no more interruptions, Knuckles once more picked up the emerald and handed it to Archimedes. "Now, before anything else happens..."

"ARRRGHHH!" Evil Sonic continued to scream. "MAKE IT STOP!"

Suddenly, the emerald began to rise in the air, and glowed a brighter green. "Archimedes!" Knuckles shouted. "What's happening!?"

"I don't know, my boy!" the fire ant yelled. "Best get out of here, before-!"

Then suddenly, all except the Chaotix were gone in a brilliant flash of green light. "What happened!?" Espio yelled as he looked around. "Where is everybody!?"

"That green hedgehog is gone too!" Charmy pointed to the metal hand.

"I don't know." Archimedes said as he brushed off his tiny hat. "But I'm going to find out; do your duty as Knuckles' friends and protect this island!" With that, Archimedes teleported away.

"Gather around, everyone! Quickly!" Naugus ordered his servants. Kodos, Arachnis and their comrade encircled the strange wizard's back as he began waving his hand and claw. "The time is almost upon us!" he exclaimed with glee.

"How is that?" Kodos asked skeptically.

"The one called Robotnik!" Naugus shouted. "He has discovered the portal to that strange world! He will open it! And when he does..." A green, mist-like energy surrounded his hand. "...we shall make our move..."

Robotnik found himself engulfed in a flash of light, and then, in the middle of a forest. Robotnik momentarily jumped when he heard the shuttle they used earlier landed on it's side 30 feet away from them. Noticing that the homunculi were with him, shedding their space-suits, and the rest of his crew evacuating the rocket, Robotnik turned around and found a small, ancient temple-like building behind him. It was small, covered in moss, but intricately crafted. And the open entrance...quickly, Robotnik ran towards it and searched for markings. There were none; Robotnik decided to look inside. He got to the center, and used his infra-red scopes to scan the area. "Yes!" he said, upon noticing the intricate designs and strange world-map on the ceiling. "This is it!"

Quickly, Robotnik ran outside, ripped apart his space suit and encountered Snively looking for him. "Sir! Where...How did we...!?"

"Shut up, you little twit!" Robotnik shouted. "We're where we need to be." he hissed. He then stared and walked towards his new slave. "You've done well, servant." he said, patting the once unstoppable Enerjak on his shoulder.

"Release me." Enerjak hissed. His arms were twitching, a sign that he was doing everything he could to rid himself of the collar, even pulling it off with his bare hands. Unfortunately for him, the tyrant thought of everything; his own nervous system was no longer under his control.

"Now, why would I go and do something like that?" Robotnik asked, mocking him.

"Pray you've made all of the calibrations you need to...because the first chance I get, I'll crack you like a little egg."

"I look forward to it." Robotnik answered. He then narrowed his eyes. "Now, I've got another job for you. Snively!"

"Y-yes sir!" the little one stuttered.

"Get half a dozen swatbots here on the double! We're about to make another trip..."

"What about Crocbot, sir?" Snively asked.

Robotnik just stared at his assistant, looking for an excuse to smack him upside the head. Before he could reply, he heard "What!? You think you're just going to leave me behind like this!?"

Robotnik looked to see Crocbot still on the hull of the shuttle. He was, however, heavily damaged; it seemed he attached himself to the rocket at the last second as it was taking off. Most of his snout was gone, melted away during the breaking of the atmosphere. Many other parts seemed to have burned and melted away as well, exposing several wires and circuits. It was amazing his central circuitry was intact, let alone what parts of him he managed to hold together. Robotnik sighed. It would be simpler to leave him here, but he figured it was best to make some use of him while he was still functioning. "Get a swatbot to get him off the hull. Don't bother cutting him free; we don't have the time. Just rip the whole panel off if you have to!"

A couple of swatbots got to work on his command. That was when Envy approached him. "So...you got what you came for?"

"Quite." Robotnik replied. "And now, I am able to bring you home."

"And you're coming with us." Envy groaned.

"If you have a problem at this point, take it up with your big sister." Robotnik warned him. "Besides, if you kill me now...you are stuck here. Not even your sister knows how to open the portal." Envy snorted, and turned around to storm off.

Suddenly, a green flash of light nearby caught Robotnik's eyes. "What in the...?" Suddenly, Sonic, Ed and company appeared. "Of all the-!" Robotnik quickly turned around and grabbed Enerjak, carrying him like a rag-doll. "Eliminate them! Quickly!" Robotnik called to his horde as he ran into the temple, taking Enerjak with him. "I've come too far to fail now!"

Little did he know, he may have overreacted; Sonic and company were quite dazed from the experience. "Ohhh...did anyone get the number of the plane that hit me?" Sonic groaned.

"You think...you've...got problems?" Ed groaned as he held his head with one hand. "I need to check if I scheduled a sparring session with Major Armstrong today..."

"Raise your hands, prisoners!" Swatbots surrounded them, aiming their wrist-lasers at them. That brought everyone out of their stupor.

"Um...how 'bout no?" Sonic asked sarcastically. He immediately spin-dashed into action, cutting up the swatbots while the other freedom fighters attacked. Al immediately covered Ed, as the lasers deflected off of him. "Sal!" Sonic yelled as he ran over another bot pointing to the structure that brought their new friends...and enemies to their world. "I think most of them went inside the temple!"

Ed's eyes widened. "Like hell he will!" "I am NOT letting him into my home world!" Ed quickly transmuted a six-shooter from the ground, the barrel sporting what seemed to be a bang of blond hair and teeth around the barrel. It was a piece of junk that not even Hawkeye would consider collecting, but it would get the job done as Al carried him while he shot the visors of the bots. The others were following behind them...and another was running erratically around them.

"What the heck is that guy's deal!?" Knuckles yelled, getting dizzy trying to keep up with the green blur.

"Hell if I know!" Sonic said. "First thing's first! Buttnik, then...him!" Tails looked at him funny. "What?" Sonic asked. "He doesn't look exactly like me anymore, so I can't call him my evil twin!" Tails just shrugged, and the two continued on into the temple with the others.

"Is everyone here!?" Robotnik yelled as he set Enerjak down. Snively and a few swatbots were with him. Crocbot was carried by one. The homunculi were with him, anticipation across their faces. It seemed everyone on the list was accounted for. "Okay then. Enerjak!" he commanded. "Activate your chaos powers! Bring us to the world beyond!"

Enerjak, for some reason, did not respond, nor did his inhibitor device react accordingly. "How do I do that?" he simply asked, though all could tell Enerjak relished the brief moment of inconvenience he caused him.

Robotnik gritted his teeth. "How dare you-!" Robotnik stopped himself as he realized that the only way he wouldn't do something was if he didn't know how. He may have been virtually omnipotent, but even he couldn't perform a task if he didn't know exactly how to use his abilities for it. "I don't know. Just make a burst of energy!" Robotnik yelled.

"Like we'll let you!" Sonic appeared, and rolled under Snively's feet, knocking him off balance. Bunny leapt from the shadows and knocked Lust over with a flying double kick. Tails flew over and grabbed Envy's hair, pulling him into a wall as hard as he could. Sally snuck up behind Gluttony and pressed her taser against his body, bringing him to his knees.

Finally, Al and Ed ran inside from the shadows and knocked Robotnik down with a kick. "It's over!" Ed declared! "Leave! We'll be taking the homunculi with us now!"

Suddenly, another green blur spun into the room, hitting everything like a renegade pinball. "Now's not the time!" Sonic shouted as his face kissed rock.

Suddenly, Evil Sonic ran into Enerjak, and the collision of two chaos energy beings proved...well, chaotic. The room was suddenly awash in green light, and the transmuation circle beneath everyone's feet suddenly came to life.

"This is it!" Robotnik smiled. The light intensified...

"This is it!" Naugus shouted. "Stay close to me!" His minions did as they were told, as Naugus spread his hand and claw faster, chanting the spell of a language long-forgotten. A portal above them suddenly opened, and their essences were sucked into it like planets near a black hole. At last, they were free!

"Worthless." Mustang muttered as he re-entered the police station, several officers with dogs flanking him. "I think your dogs need more training." The colonel had returned from the newest search party, getting the same results as the last.

"Impossible." the chief of police replied. "These are the best in the county! I doubt Central's dogs can do any better!"

Mustang looked towards the waiting room, where Winry once again the bench, worried as ever. "I told her to go back to her room!" Mustang thought irritably. In fact, she looked exhausted. Mustang sighed; he really couldn't leave now. "Listen, do you have any other alchemist related locations here?" Mustang doubted it; he had been quite a studious alchemist himself. He would have known if this town had anything alchemy related. He was surprised enough to learn about that run-down temple.

"No, I'm afraid not. We've never really had any alchemist or alchemy related things in this small town, except for that temple." the chief replied.

"Speaking of which..." Mustang began. "...I never heard of that temple before until today. I'm surprised that it isn't such a huge deal, given how much the state tries to archive the history of alchemy."

"Yeah. Truth be told, no one knows where it came from. The circles inside look like transmutation circles, but all alchemists who have tried to discover their secrets have failed. I'm guessing the state didn't take much interest since because of that, and it really hasn't done us much good as a tourist attraction either. Your boys were definitely there, but I can't figure out why the hounds can't pick up the trail from there."

"They're NOT my boys." Mustang growled. "But I would like to check it out again anyway..."

Suddenly, someone ran into the room. "Sir!" he addressed the chief.

"What is it?"

"The temple, sir! The one on the hill!"

"Yeah? What about it?"

"It's glowing!"

"What do you mean it's glowing!?" the chief barked. "I got real police work to deal with here!"

"Green light has been reported from the hill!" He ran to the door and beckoned him outside. "Come on!"

Mustang sighed, and followed him. As they stepped outside the hall, Mustang noticed all the people on the streets had stopped in their tracks, all looking in the same direction. It was just as the rookie said. The police chief was stunned silent. But Mustang, sensing something amiss, quickly snapped him out of it. "Chief. I need a team, and I need them ready and armed! Pronto!"

"Oh god..." Ed groaned as he used his remaining hand to settle the pounding his brain was taking. "How many more of these headaches do I have to put up with today?"

"Let's just hope that's the last of them." Sonic groaned, feeling similar.

"Brother!" Of course, Alphonse was not effected by the ride. He shook his brother harder. "Look!"

Quickly, Ed, Sonic and the Freedom Fighters forced themselves up and ran out of the cavern. Ed recognized the hillside leading to the town they last visited before they came to Mobius! That meant..."we're home..."

"I must say, I'm disappointed." Robotnik's voice said from above, causing all to freeze in place. "I was already warned your society was rather primitive, but you actually seem to care about the forests around you. If you tore it all down, you could make so much more progress..."

Ed looked up the temple, seeing the tyrant and his goons above them all. "You..."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything...yet. Whatever I come up with, it will take time." Robotnik smiled as he twiddled his fingers. "But when it hits, it will hit you so hard that you will feel helpless, and none of your powers will make a difference..."

"Uh, sir?" Snively squeaked as he came up behind him.

Robotnik only growled and rolled his eyes in response. "I'm in the middle of making a threat Snively! This better be important!"

"Sir, we're getting another reading! I don't know what to make of it...but the energy signatures are similar to radio readings in the Zone of Silence!"

Robotnik's eyes widened. "It can't be! That would mean Naugus..." "Quick! Everyone, get off the roof!"

Suddenly, the temple exploded in a beacon of green light, as Robotnik, his minions and the homunculi leapt to the ground before the light could engulf them. The temple itself was suddenly covered in green crystal, the rocks forming its structure changing it's atomic make-up, and an eiree laughter filled the air. Ed couldn't be sure, but when the light stopped, it seemed like some shadows flew into the sky. "What the hell was that!?" he yelled.

"You better hope it's not what I think it is, Full Metal..." Robotnik warned him as he stood straight again. "...because there are things worse then me." Robotnik then looked down at the town. It seemed whatever meager military force they had was becoming active. "Our mission is accomplished; we no longer need to be here! Let's go!"

Robotnik typed some commands on his cybernetic arm and they seemingly vanished like a mirage. "Get back here, Buttnik!" Sonic yelled as he charged in the general direction. However, he found himself encountering nothing but air, as he desperately tried to play "Pin the Tail on the Whatever" to find him. Within a few seconds, he realized he wouldn't succeed. "A cloaking device. Damn!" Sonic kicked the grass in frustration, and ran back to the others. He then saw the temple, and got a good look of the town below. "Is this...Ed's world?"

While Sonic and Tails were curious about the new world, Sally, however, was preoccupied with other matters. She ran over to the crystallized temple as Knuckles, Bunnie and St. John watched. "Nicole! Analyze!"

"Processing, Sally." The portable computer's lights flashed different colors, as it finally settled on green, the portable reaching a conclusion. "Temple has been completely crystallized. Due to the alteration in construction, the transmutation circles are now gone and using it now would be impossible."

Sally's eyes widened as she fell to her knees. "You mean...we're stuck here!?" It wasn't a pleasant thought for the others either.

Al, not wishing to see her give up, ran over to comfort her. "Something connected our worlds in the past...! We can do it again! I promise you, we'll find a way to send you all home!"

"What he said." Ed added. He then looked back toward the town. Then, back at the mobians. "There's one problem we have to deal with right now before all that though..." "

What is that?" Sonic asked, a bit grumpy thinking the day couldn't get any worse.

"WHAT THE HECK ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH THE LOT OF YOU HERE!?" Ed yelled as he pointed at the mobians.

Now, things are going to be quite different, with whole new "fish out of water" experiences!

Things have been kind of in a rut for me lately. I've dropped out of vet school, as I had to repeat two consecutive years and felt that I really need a break from studying in general. So right now, I'm just looking for work, other things I've wanted to do, etc. But I will say fanfic writing has helped me get through a lot of stressful times, so I don't see myself quitting it anytime soon. Maybe next chapter I'll let you all know if anything's changed. See ya.