"Alright, that's one, two, three...FOUR! Now let's see, Shadow still has one, so we have...TWO more to go!" Jewel said, as the Chaos Emeralds gathered by those who had succeeded in the Emerald Quest were all placed into the Restoration's most secure vault at HQ. Amy was the only one here to view the announcement, as all of the other emerald gatherers were either on break, had gone home, or were seeking the last two emeralds.

"And we've got anotha' one for the stash, Miss Director!" The eager voice of Vector the Crocodile yelled out as he approached, holding the Cyan Emerald in his hand. "AND, a VERY special delivery courtesy of TEAM CHAOTIX!" As he spoke, Charmy and Espio dumped a figure in a black cloak, all tied up with ropes in front of Amy and Jewel.

"INFINITE!?"

Back in the caves, the Infinite in front of Cyber, Spike, and Edge had his robes dissolve before their eyes, revealing his true nature to them. "It's just some guy!?"

"Right species, at least." Edge commented, picking a small white and red mask off of the figure's face. "What do you think THIS does?"

Cyber ignored that part, however, instead turning her attention to the ruby she had cut off of his chest. The emerald in her blade reacted to it like normal until it turned to dust in her hand, its power used up. "-Guys...I've got a bad feeling about this...-"

"So basically, the big bad himself came strollin' into town, lookin' for the emerald, when BAM! I smashed down on him with my full weight, Espio got 3 shuriken in him, and Charmy put in a few stings for good measure! Easy peasy!"

"TOO easy." Espio muttered. "Surely, a threat of this magnitude would require more effort and manpower."

"Hey! Sometimes, three is all ya need!" Vector defended. "Isn't that right, Charmy?"

But Charmy wasn't listening, instead focusing on Infinite lying on the floor, the robes disappearing to reveal a regular jackal with some kind of red and white mask over her face. Amy grabbed the mask and examined it. "A fake Infinite?"

"And it might not be the only one." Lanolin said as she entered the room. "We're getting a ton of reports of Infinite actively attacking all over the place. We're dispatching as many soldiers and volunteers as we can, but we're gonna be stretched thin."

"Just do what you can. I'll help coordinate efforts!" Jewel said, buzzing off with Lanolin toward the main office. Amy just scratched her chin. "Something's not right...I can feel it." She gave a quick check to her fortune cards, and the results were not promising.

She just hoped Sonic and Tails would be back soon...

"...And that's the long and short of it." Knuckles said, completing his explanation to Sonic and Tails. the fox nodded. "Well, I don't know about YOU guys, but a lot of dots are coming together for me...And I think I know what we need to do now!"

Sonic nodded. "Knuckles, would you do the honors?"

Knuckles nodded back and placed his hands over the Master Emerald. The weird energy inside of it began to pulsate stronger and stronger, eventually opening up a portal similar to the ones Infinite and Shadow had opened earlier, but much more focused. Tails took a deep breath, and reached his hand in, reaching for the one person he knew could help him.

The hand of another gripped around his, and, with Sonic's help, the fox managed to pull them out of the portal and into the real world. The small figure looked up and around at his surroundings, then noticed Sonic and Tails standing before him.

"WHOA! This...Just got weird!"

Who have Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles pulled out of that portal? And where is the REAL Infinite?

The answer may shock you...Next time!