Omniverse Underground

by GammaTron

He killed them all...she lost to a maniac...both are poor lost souls. Fortunately, the Continuum Shift seems to think them still useful. Given a second chance in a new world, the two will aid in a rebellion against a tyrannical dictator and return the throne to its rightful heirs.

63. The Assault

Note: This opening was done during the 2020 Quarantine.

SZ: Yup. We is finally back to this story guys and gals

GT: Sorry for the wait. Busy with other stories. Hope the quarantine has been beneficial for other fanfic writers.

SZ: Indeed, and hope our stories are providing some good entertainment to you all.

GT: Still, let's resume shall we? Last we left you all? ...Yeah...Not good if you're Imperator Ix. So...let's get back into it, shall we? We own nothing but our OCs.

---

Grimm managed to grab Shade before she could rush to Ix, a manic panic in her eyes. Shockwave's optic looked at Ix for a few moments before he shook his head.

"We were unable to arrive in time to save him," Shockwave informed.

"...No…" Shade whispered, falling to her knees as she stared at the ground once Grimm let her go, "How….why…?"

Roll pulled out a small bag of flour and a paintbrush. She zipped around the staff before stopping beside Sonic, leaving behind a clean staff.

"No fingerprints," Roll noted.

Stitch blinked and his black eyes changed color. He blinked and they changed to a vivid red. To him, the world had turned to nothing but heat.

"Hmm...Hajibah," Stitch noted as he pointed at the staff, "Colder in spots."

"Colder?" Ragna repeated.

"Ih," Stitch nodded, "Metal hand."

"Metal hand?" Sonic repeated.

"...A Dark Legionnaire," Shade growled, glaring at Lien-Da.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I had absolutely nothing to do with this," she argued, hands up in defense.

"She was with us the entire time he was gone," Knix noted, "I don't like it either, but she's clean."

"...Then there's a traitor amongst us…" Shade frowned, glaring at everyone in the room, "One of you is a double agent…"

"?!"

"Oh…" Stitch's ears lowered.

"Unless there's an emergency...no one is allowed to leave this cave...ever," Shade ordered.

"What?!" Sticks exclaimed, "No way, no how! I have shinies at the house and I'm worried that the broom is gonna smash 'em!"

"You break my broom that I spent a week making again and I'll throw you off the island without a parachute," Julie-Su glowered.

"Woah! Easy now," Manic spoke, "We already have one war ahead of us...we don't need one within…"

"Shut it," Shade glowered, "You and your group are just as guilty right now."

"Excuse you?" Ragna frowned, "We were with you when this happened!"

"One of you could've snuck off without any of us knowing," Shade argued.

"While logical in the case of Sonic and Roll due to their speed, the rest of us would be unable to do such a maneuver without notice," Shockwave noted, "And even then, there would still be a small flicker in the moment of them leaving and coming back. Furthermore, Ben Tennyson is capable of becoming a form just as fast as them, yet all would have noticed his transformation since it happens in a flash of green light."

"Also...no blood," Sonic added, motioning to himself and Roll, "Even with how fast we go, not even we can get rid of blood that fast."

"...Then that leaves you three out…" Shade muttered, "Fine...then you're going to help investigate this murder and make sure no one leaves 'till the culprit is found…" she looked at the Echidnas of her clan and the ones from another Zone that weren't Lien-Da, "Remington, Grimm, get the rest back to the main area."

"Yes, ma'am," the two saluted as they walked off.

"I was really liking this guy, too," Sonic noted, looking at the dead form of Ix with a sad expression, "He seemed like a really great leader for all of you."

"He was," Shade replied, "He always did his best to make sure everyone got out of battles alive, always did his all to keep the peace between everyone and helped protect us with his technopathy before the anti-Technopathy runes were carved into the Gizoids."

"Ah mou...I really wish we had a way to turn back time to see who did it," Roll sighed.

"Eh? Ooh~" Stitch smiled as he jumped off Sonic's head and walked a little away from them, "Meega know!"

"What?" the trio asked.

Stitch tapped the Omnitrix's emblem and a flash of green light went off. In his place, Clockwork stood.

"Ah, this form's powers are quite draining on ze Omnitrix," Clockwork noted, "But zey are very good powers for zis."

"What is this form?" Shade asked, "A Gizoid made of gold?"

"Nein. Zis is Clockwork, a Chronosapien," Clockwork replied as the 'key' on his head began to spin and covered the area in a green glow, "Not to be confused with Clockwerk, ze late immortal thief."

"Chronosapien?" Sonic repeated.

"Chronosapien...Chrono...time...It's a being made of time?" Shade asked.

"Nein," Clockwork replied as green-colored constructs of everyone else appeared, walking backwards as green-colored constructs of the four were where they had been when the others had walked off, "I control time. Watch."

The three watched as they saw everyone moving backwards in everything they did in an accelerated rate until no one but the body was left. A green-colored flash appeared before a cloaked echidna appeared from it, running backwards towards Ix's body, a metal hand and a dreadlock being the only visible things underneath the cloak. The echidna grabbed the staff and 'pulled it out.' Now holding the green-colored staff, a green-colored Ix 'got up' and began to grapple with the cloaked echidna. They 'broke away' and the echidna grabbed their cloak's hood. Just as they were about to 'take off' their hood, a red flash went off and everything that Clockwork made vanished. They looked to see a frowning Ben, holding up his Omnitrix to see the green was now red.

"Told you it was draining," Ben stated, an annoyed look on his face as he glowered at the alien device on his wrist.

"...Something doesn't seem right," Roll whispered.

"Hmm?"

"What do you mean, Roll?" Sonic asked.

"That echidna that approached him…" Roll whispered, "...Shade-san, does anyone here have a metal hand and a metal dreadlock?"

"...Are you thinking it was one of them?" Shade asked with a frown.

"Maybe...but I'm thinking they might be a mole," Roll explained.

"But the only echidna with a metal arm and dreadlock we know is Julie-Su," Sonic noted.

"Hai, but the shape of it was different," Roll replied, "It was more of a claw and too bulky to hide in a glove like Julie-Su-san's hand can."

"...Like that of a male echidna's…" Sonic whispered as Shade began to ponder.

"...what if...no. That would be too much of a coincidence," Shade whispered, "There'd be no way he'd have that level of foresight."

"Who?" Ben asked.

"Kragok…" Shade answered, "I think...he may have planted a mole within us before we even arrived here."

"?!"

---

"Okay, just need to add this last line and…" Knix muttered as she tapped away on the middle of Shockwave's back, "There we go. No need to worry about getting put under control of a technopath."

"Have you attempted to perform this on a moving machine before?" Shockwave asked as Knix hopped off him.

"Nope, but I'm always up for a challenge!" Knix grinned.

"You're thinking of getting that rune put on Bruticus?" Lien-Da asked.

"It would need to be applied to each of his components, but yes," Shockwave replied, "If it were possible, it would allow us to regain an advantage."

"Yeah...but Kragok isn't the type to let that slip by easily," Lien-Da frowned.

"It seems regardless of Zone, he's an echidna with too much ambition," Julie-Su shook her head.

"He's worse in this Zone," Remington noted, "I fought him once and he was able to make crystal constructs through his right hand while his left hand could fire off on a chain made of plasma." He rolled up his leg pants leg to show a burn scar resembling chains, "I was wearing my normal uniform until that fight and went with this new getup."

"...Then we're in trouble," Lien-Da frowned further, "He was already dangerous before, but now? ...We can't let him bring back Enerjak...at all costs."

"Agreed," Julie-Su added

"Still at a loss here on who this Enerjak is," Knuckles noted.

"In our previous Zone, Enerjak was the name goven to an Echidna with so much power they could alter reality," Remington explained, "But they were always tyrannical. The first one I can recall is Dmitri, our ancestor that was kept young thanks to the power until it was stripped from him and he ended up as just a partially robotic head."

"And the one after him was the you from our old Zone," Lien-Da stated.

"Wait, what?!" Knuckles gawked.

"There was this one echidna, Dr. Finitevus, who used some sort of hex on the Master Emerald to make you into the next Enerjak," Julie-Su explained, "You were able to mostly keep in control of yourself and even caused the Dark Legion to lose all their robotics and ended up causing them to go to Eggman to get them back."

"Don't remind me," Lien-Da rolled her eyes, "While this Eggman's competent and actually thinking things through, the other was...well...frankly, mentally broken and barely able to keep himself together by focusing on just Sonic."

"Can we go back to me being some freaky power mad guy?" Knuckles asked, "How the heck did…?"

"Locke gave his life to break the hex and snap you out of it," Julie-Su explained, a sad look on her face.

"Locke?" Knuckles repeated.

"The other you's father. Didn't you know your father here?" Remington noted.

"Nope. He died when I was a baby while my mom died giving birth to me," Knuckles explained, "At least...that's what Grandfather Athair told me." he noticed Remington trying not to look at him, "...Okay, what now?"

"Did he ever say your mom's name?"

"Yeah. Athair said her name was Lara-Le and that she was both kind-hearted but very scary when angered. So scary that even my dad wouldn't cross her," Knuckles replied before seeing him trying harder to not look at him, "...Okay, seriously. Stop toeing around things around me. I'm not the Knuckles from your Zone. This is all new to me and I just want you to be blunt with me, okay?" a silence fell, "...Don't tell me she became the next Enerjak after the other me did."

"No, no, no," Remington replied quickly, shaking his head, "It's just...uh...she's here. The one from our Zone and…"

"I get it," Knuckles noted.

"Do you?" Remington asked.

"Of course. There's going to be a lot of awkwardness and trying to figure things out when we meet," Knuckles stated before thumbing at Saffron, peeking out from behind Julie-Su's legs, "That and Saffron is likely wanting to avoid being spotted by her until she cools down from her swiping a cookie."

"This is serious," Remington glowered.

"I'm dealing with Echidnas popping up on my island after Eggman's forces invaded that are in the midst of a Civil War, found out that a lot of 'em came from the same Zone Julie-Su did, and that this one guy's trying to awaken a mad god of sorts but also the fact that I apparently have a mom from another Zone here that will make things awkward for her and me since I'm not her son but also her son at the same time. Trying to crack tiny jokes every now and then is barely keeping me from digging a hole, covering the hole, and then screaming my lungs out."

"...And how do you think I feel?" Julie-Su sighed, making Remington raise a brow, "I thought me and my sister were the only ones that made it out of that hell hole Thrash threw us in...and soon learned that neither of us can return to our original Zone thanks to Eggman's stupid machine that messed with time and space...and that my Knuckles doesn't even remember me! That no one remembers ANYONE that was erased by that...that machine of Eggman's!"

"My suggestion? After this, go talk with this one Echidna here called Cla-Ra," Remington advised, "She's a good psychologist and helped a lot of us deal with that realization."

"...Good idea," Julie-Su sighed, "First we stop Kragok and then I'll go speak with her."

"And rescue those that were captured by Kragok..." Lien-Da added.

"Right...rescue…" Knuckles muttered.

"...You wanna kick them off the island, don't ya?" Saffron asked.

"Kid barely knows me and already she knows my MO," Knuckles smirked, patting her head and getting a big smile in return.

"We were planning on leaving anyways once we got a bit of the Master Emerald's energy anyways," Lien-Da countered, "And before you ask why we needed it, Eggman wanted it to cure Cassia's unknown illness caused by a very deadly weapon."

"Any chance it had a jewel looking like an eye on it?" Manic asked.

"Yes."

"Oh, we know that thing," Manic cringed, "Tsu had one of them and the Oracle cured her real quick. So maybe we c-" he noticed Lien-Da tense a bit, "...Something happened, didn't it?"

"...That's classified...and not important right now."

"Fine," Manic snorted, "Well, Knux, let's go rip that bandage off."

"I don't have any bandages," Knuckles scowled.

"...Does...Does he not…?" Remington whispered, leaning to Julie-Su.

"He's smart, but he doesn't get metaphors," Julie-Su whispered back.

"Ahh…"

---

"Got any seven's?" a Dark Legion echidna with a metal dreadlock asked, sitting around a barrel.

"Go fish," another with a bulky robotic arm replied.

"I was a king...and now I am stuck in a cage...watching echidnas play Go Fish," Hood muttered, "When did my life go oh so wrong?"

"You were born," Conquering Storm replied.

"Quiet you."

"Do ya mind?" another echidna with a robotic eye asked, "We're tryin' ta play Go Fish over here." he tossed a pile of gems into the pile in the middle of the barrel, "Got any eights?" two of them groaned as they tossed him a card each, "Heh-heh. Da pot will be mine soon enough."

"Ahem," Kragok cleared his throat.

"?! Grand Master on grounds!" one yelped as they quickly scurried and lined up to salute, "Heil Kragok!"

"Heil Kragok!" the other three saluted.

"Get our forces ready," Kragok ordered with a smirk, "I found where they're hiding."

"Yes sir!"

"Not that they could hide...You'll have company soon enough," Kragok noted, looking at the caged organic members of Eggman's Dark Legion, "All will soon submit to Enerjak. All I need are two certain Echidnas."

"...?!" Clove's eyes widened at that, "You mean…"

"Yes...Them, of course…"

"...And what will you do once you've accomplished your goal? What if your god turns on you?" Conquering Storm asked with a slight frown.

"Simple...with the Master Emerald's power, Enerjak can travel to another Zone...and take it over before moving to the next," Kragok answered, spreading his arms out as he looked up into the sky, "My master will not rest until all time...space...and reality itself belongs to him!"

"?! You're insane…" Clove gasped.

"I'm more of a...religious revolutionary," Kragok replied, "Now then…" he snorted back a laugh as he walked off, "Sit tight. We'll be back with more for you to have company with." Once he was away from them, he approached a large, almost completely robotic Echidna with only a few brown dreadlocks, a blue eye, and a bit of his muzzle and nose were left untouched, "Xenin."

"Grand Master Kragok, sir," he replied with a salute.

"There is a red echidna by the name of Knuckles always around one of my targets for this," Kragok informed, "Your shock absorption attachments will let you deal with his punches. Break him for me, won't you?"

"I will," Xenon replied.

"Excellent," Kragok smirked.

"Well, this is just great…" Hood grumbled before turning to the meditating lynx, "And why are you not bothered by any of it, Conquering Storm?!"

"Panicking doesn't lead to victory," she replied.

"Do you expect me to believe you have a way to get out of here?" Hood questioned in disbelief.

"No, I do not expect anything from you," Conquering Storm replied.

---

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Remington asked, leading Knuckles, Julie-Su, Sonia, and Manic through the tents that were set up.

"It's better to get it over with now than later," Manic replied.

"Maybe I should've worn a coat that could hide my face..." Knuckles noted, trying to not glare at the echidnas that were looking at him as if he were some sort of religious figure.

"Yeah, I'm gonna agree on the band-aid metaphor Manic went with," Julie-Su noted, Remington nodding.

"Like we said earlier, the other you basically died and came back to life which was part of the religion most of our race followed that foretold of the 'Avatar,'" Remington explained, "It will be easier to get it in their heads that you're not him." he looked at Sonia and Manic, "Though...why you two are coming is a mystery to me."

"Eh, emotional support," Manic replied, "And a way to help tell some stories about the stuff he's done with us."

Remington nodded. They arrived near the end of the tents that were furthest away from any entrance to the cavern. Remington held a hand up to halt everyone before he went on ahead to the tent. He tapped on the 'door' of the tent.

"Lady Lara-Le, Sir Wynmacher," Remington spoke.

"Constable Remington?" a feminine voice asked.

"There are some Mobians here to see you," Remington informed, "But...It...It's a bit complicated."

"Complicated? Constable, we were trapped in a Zone with nothing but breathable air for several days not long after we were occupied by Eggman's forces made of Echidnas that turned to him because they lost their cybernetics after Dr. Finitevus transformed my older son-whom is now lost to us-into the next Enerjak after which they allied with Eggman, causing us untold tragedy in their actions! Then we barely avoided a horrific fate of being disassembled at the subatomic level by a wave of white light by a random anomaly managing to pierce into the Zone we were trapped in, only to end up in an alternate version of the Twilight Cage outside of the Zones we knew of far out of reach of that light only to meet alternate versions of many of our kind that had perished during the years since we were released from our original pocket Zone! And let's not forget that we've become ensnared in an Ancient Walker-forsaken CIVIL WAR!" the voice grew in volume, fully screaming by the end, "How could meeting some Mobians be as complicated as that?!"

"...Because one is this Zone's version of your son," Remington stated.

The 'door' was pulled open and an older, shapely Echidna emerged. She had red fur, brown hair and green eyes. She wore brown boots, a yellow-and-white layered dress/robe and, beneath it, a white and purple striped shirt. Her dreadlocks featured crisscrossing white stripes and she had a single long braid ending in an ornamental orb of sorts. In her free arm was an infant echidna wearing light-blue footy pajamas and a stone-made rattle. The baby yawned, rubbing its eyes before opening them to expose the blue/amethyst coloring to them. They laid eyes on Knuckles before letting out a squeal of delight.

"Na-Na! Na-Na!" the baby cheered, reaching out to him.

"Uh...H-Hi?" Knuckles awkwardly greeted.

"...Constable?"

"Yes?" Remington asked.

"Hold Kneecaps, please," Lara-Le ordered, offering the baby to him...who had paused in his joyful response on seeing Knuckles to pout.

"Okay…?" Remington replied as he took the offered baby, who was reaching out to Knuckles with happy babbling when he realized Remington was closer than his mama.

"Thank you," Lara-Le thanked...before passing out with blank eyes and foam coming out of her mouth.

"...I was expecting a lot worse," Julie-Su admitted as Remington walked over to her.

"Ju-Ju! Ju-Ju, Na-Na!" the baby called as Julie-Su took the baby from him to let Remington quickly look over Lara-Le, "Na-Na, Ju-Ju! Na-Na!"

"Aw~Who's this cute little baby?" Sonia asked.

"This is Knecapeon Mace," Julie-Su explained as she turned to them, the baby echidna shaking his rattle, "I guess you could say that this is...Knuckles' baby brother."

"He's my baby what?!" Knuckles freaked.

"Baby brother," Julie-Su repeated, "His name's Knecapeon Mace, or Kneecaps for short."

"Kneecaps the Echidna!? Julie-Su, that's gotta be the worst name I've ever heard for a kid!" Knuckles gawked as Manic laughed nearby...until he started to whistle innocently and trying to not look at the enraged purple-eyed echidna, "Is something funny?"

"Mmm~! Na-Na~!" Kneecaps whined, reaching out to Knuckles.

"Uh...What?" Knuckles pondered.

"I guess Kneecaps is too young to understand," Julie-Su noted as she walked over to him, "Plus, the last time he saw the other you was a long while ago when the other you was, well, Enerjak."

"Mmm…" Kneecaps whimpered at that name.

"...May as well get it over with," Knuckles sighed before taking the baby from her, "So you're Knecapeon Mace?"

"Don't ya mean 'Kneecaps?'" Manic snickered before hiding behind Sonia as Knuckles glared at him while Kneecaps squeed with delight on his 'big brother' not calling him 'Kneecaps.'

"Something funny, Manic?" Knuckles demanded...before Kneecaps grabbed a dreadlock and began to gum on it, "...You laugh, and I will give Julie-Su Mace and then punch you off the island."

"Na-Na!" Knecapeon cheered before his rattle bonked Knuckles on the head...repeatedly.

"Gah! Oof! Ouch! Yeow! Uncle, uncle!" Knuckles yelped between hits until Julie-Su took Kneecaps, "Ouch...Now I see why he has mace as part of his name…"

"That's his way of saying 'hi,'" Julie-Su noted.

"Su-Su! Na-Na, Su-Su, Na-Na!" Kneecaps laughed happily.

"Is everything okay out there?" a voice asked before an older male Echidna with brown fur and wearing a blue and white robe walked out, "...Avatar Knuckles?"

"Yes and no," Knuckles replied, "And don't call me Avatar! I swear that sounds like this character on this show Julie-Su and Tikal got into after Kevin snuck Julie-Su a receiver to let us get transmissions from his homeworld."

"Wynmacher, this...this isn't the Knuckles from our old Zone," Julie-Su explained as the confused echidna walked over and accepted Kneecaps from her, "This is the Knuckles of this Zone." she looked at Knuckles, "Knuckles, this is Wynmacher, Kneecaps' dad and Lara-Le's husband, but the other Knuckles' step-dad. Wynmacher, these are Knuckles of this Zone, and Manic and Sonia, this Zone's Sonic's siblings."

"I think you told me about him," Knuckles noted, "A good man that is very gentle to everyone, understands the situations of his beloved ones and can wait for them every time until they're ready." he rubbed his chin in thought, "And that he played varsity and has a mean tackle."

"Aw~ You remembered, Julie-Su," the brown echidna noted.

"Papa, Na-Na~!" Kneecaps squeed.

"That's nice, Kneecaps," Wynmacher noted, tickling the baby's stomach before looking at the five, "...So…"

"We have a lot to talk about," Julie-Su explained.

Wynmacher nodded, "Should we wait for Lara-Le to wake up first?"

"That'd be for the best," Sonia noted.

Several minutes passed by and Wynmacher was putting down a tray with stone cups filled with tea at the makeshift table in the tent that everyone was sitting around. Kneecaps was currently sitting in Knuckles' lap, happily babbling in his baby talk to the older echidna. While he was managing to keep a calm exterior for the child...internally, Knuckles was reaching a rage breaking point as he listened to the first-hand account of what happened to them all.

'That bastard better have been erased…' Knuckles thought, 'Because if he ever shows up here...there won't be anything left of him when I get through with him. He nearly starved children to death in that empty Zone he put them in!' he mentally shook off those thoughts as he spoke, "It...It must be awkward for so many of you after ending up in that Twilight Cage thing...Ending up caught in a civil war between Echidnas that you knew in your original Zone, but also completely different in ways."

"It has, yes. But the same can be said for those who knew a version of us as well," Wynmacher admitted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "Apparently, the me here was a horrible cook."

"Probably not as bad as Noel's cooking…" Manic whispered before Sonia elbowed him on the side, "Ow..."

"Yeah, trust me, there are a lot of things different in this Zone compared to our old one," Julie-Su noted, patting Sonia's shoulder while gesturing to Manic, "Like these two. The Sonic here is apparently a prince and the oldest of triplets with Sonia and Manic here. There's also the fact that there isn't an Acorn Republic and that Mobotropolis was ruled by their mom before Eggman took over until recently...speaking of Eggman..." she began with a sigh, "This one is more...competent than the one we knew...and not as obsessed with Sonic."

"Really?" Lara-Le asked, "He's not using...those...is he?"

"Those?" Sonia asked, raising a brow at Julie-Su.

"No, he uses Chaos Drives and he made a robot called Shockwave to keep him from doing something that would be 'illogical' or doing something that would be detrimental to his plans," Julie-Su explained, "There was also what happened up on the ARK in this Zone. There may be more to this Eggman than the ones we knew."

"Ones?" Manic repeated.

"They had two versions of Robotnik. One that dissolved into nothing due to a weapon being used against him and then the other came from another Zone after nuking the entire planet," Knuckles explained before nodding at their horrified looks, "That is the same expression I had when she told me, Tikal, and Sticks."

"...Jeez…" Manic muttered in disbelief.

"Na-Na!" Kneecaps called, shaking his rattle at him.

"I see you, Mace," Knuckles chuckled, patting his head and earning a happy babble from the baby.

"You're quite good at dealing with a baby, Knuckles," Sonia noted.

"Honestly, I'm just using what I've been doing with the Chao in the Chao Garden Chaos and I made on the other side of the island for Tikal," Knuckles shrugged before grunting when the rattle bonked his head, "Minus the developing concussion I'm getting..."

"You and me both," Wynmacher cringed, rubbing his own head, before the ground shook.

"?!" everyone tensed up at that.

"What was that?" Remington asked.

"It's not a sky-quake, is it?" Saffron asked.

"Sky-qu…" Knuckles began to repeat before shaking his head, "No. We don't get those." he handed Kneecaps to Lara-Le, "But I have a feeling it's something bad for us. Manic, how fast can you make a new tunnel?"

"Depending on the length? Between a few seconds to a minute," Manic replied, summoning Carn.

"Make a tunnel on the wall near here and go straight ten kilometers and then go up at a 35 degree angle for two," Knuckles ordered, "You'll come out near the Echidnaopolis ruins."

"I'll start getting the civilians gathered to get out of the tunnel," Remington noted before looking at Manic, "But...How is he going to dig a tunnel that fast? Is he as fast as Sonic?"

"Nah. No one but Sis-In-Law can keep up with him," Manic chuckled, "But when it comes to movin' the land around, you're lookin' at a real ace."

"Ahh...I see," he noted before the ground shook again and a bell began to ring, "Right, enough talking. More action."

"I'll help gather the civilians," Sonia offered, having Rhongo form in its spear mode.

"Mmm…" Kneecaps whimpered before Knuckles patted his head.

"Don't worry. Just stay with them and we'll come back," Knuckles assured, earning a happy babble from Kneecaps.

"Be safe out there," Lara-Le advised.

"I'll try, but it's their fault if they come after me," Knuckles replied before removing his gloves to expose his sports tape-covered hands while running out, "Especially with me taking my gloves off."

"His gloves?" Wynmacher raised a brow as the others ran out.

---

"HOLD THE LINE!" Grimm shouted as several Echidnas were firing blasters at the tunnels where Dark Legion members were attempting to break their defenses to get into.

"How'd they find us?!"

"Jensen, did you forget to cover the entrance again?!"

"I did not!" an orange Echidna argued before he was shot, "GYARGH!"

"JENSEN, NO!"

"ONWARDS!" a Dark Legionnaire shouted until the wind blew by them, "Huh?" the slipstream that followed made him and several others scream as it sucked them up and sent them crashing into more of their fellow members, "GYAH!"

"Why am I not surprised these guys figured out where our new pals were after Ix died?" Sonic asked, sitting on a rock as Roll sat beside him.

"Because they seem to be opportunistic and more than likely their leader was the one who found us first," Roll replied.

"Really?" Sonic asked.

"I have a very good memory," Roll replied, "And that claw and optic were familiar."

"Huh...Good to know," Sonic nodded.

"GLORY TO OUR L-" a Dark Legionnaire began, about to fire at the two before Ragna's fist slammed into its face, "Fugaw!"

"Tch. Really hope these folks have an evac plan," Ragna spoke as he cracked his knuckles.

---

"Keep going!" a Legionnaire ordered as their forces kept marching with shields made of energy held up to block the laser pistols the Nocturnus Clan were using to shoot at them.

"STOP!" Sticks screamed as she ran between the two, waving her arms wildly, "You're gonna set off the pit trap I made!"

"How stupid do you think we are?" a Legionnaire demanded as they took a step forward.

"Hey, you didn't let me finish!" Stick fumed, "You're gonna set off the pit trap I made…" she put her hand on a wall and the panel her hand was on was pushed in, causing said trap to go off under the enemy echidnas that dropped them through with a yelp, "...because I'm setting it off."

"...How long has that been there?" Knix asked with wide eyes.

"Oh, a week now," Sticks replied, "We were considerin' movin' the Master Emerald back in here, so I wanted to make traps to help protect it."

"..."

"Oh and heads up. There's leeches in there."

"LEECHES!?" The Legionnaires in the pit freaked.

"Hey, big guy! Tag," Sticks waved.

Oh goody. Enemies spotted= Omega stated before jumping into the pit...which was filled with renewed screams moments later =I AM HAVING A VERY GOOD TIME!=

"...I'm really glad we're on your side," an echidna noted with a cringe.

"Dang skippy you are," Sticks huffed before rubbing her chin in thought, "Unless you're secretly a mole that trying to stay on our side to feed information only to be a mole for who you're being a mole for which means you're being a mole to the mole to the mole and in that case…" she turned and ran away from the echidna, screaming and waving her arms wildly, "GYAAAAAAAH!"

"...I like her," another echidna noted, "She's hilarious."

"Was there a her from your old Zone, Jen-na?" Knix asked.

"Not to my knowledge," she replied, "Best comparison was this duck I heard about. I think his name was 'Bean' or something."

"We surrender!" one of the Legionnaires in the pit pleaded.

Oh, that is cute. You think I will let you go if you try to surrender? None shall surrender until they are dealt with!= Omega declared.

"AHHH~~~!"

---

"Not to pester, but how will your knife help make a tunnel?" Lara-Le asked.

"Heh. Simple…" Manic smirked as his knife glowed before he donned his armor, "Like this."

With that, he stabbed the wall with Carn. A moment passed before the wall parted and began forming a tunnel as Manic began to run down it, leaving a shocked Lara-Le. Heat and light behind her made her spin around to see Sonia vanishing in a burst of flames and leaving behind many Echidnas.

"...Everyone down this tunnel!" Lara-Le called, motioning to the tunnel.

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Who was that hedgehog?" one asked, "She just appeared in a burst of flames and then we're here in another burst."

"An ally," Lara-Le replied as Remington was leading more of the non-combatants AKA elderly and children towards them.

"Wow! I was doubting that he'd be able to make a tunnel this fast," Remington noted, looking at the new tunnel with wide eyes.

"All he did was walk towards the wall it had once been," Lara-Le replied.

"It's what I do!" Manic's voice laughed from down the tunnel.

---

Knuckles jumped over a barrage of laser shots from some of the robots of the Dark Legion before delivering a karate chop that bisected one down the middle. He landed and did a forward roll to avoid another robot trying to strike him where he had been. He spun around, delivering an uppercut that knocked its head off. One charged at him and he spun around, rolling along the thrown fist to deliver a backblow to the robot. More moved to attack when they stopped and flew away, letting Xenin approach.

"?! What the hell…?" Knuckles pondered, raising a brow.

"..."

"...Oi! Say something!"

"...heh. So you're the echidna Kragok spoke of," Xenin noted as he raised an arm and the Dark Legion forces moved away to focus on continuing the attack and leave Knuckles to him.

"Who are you?"

"Me? I am an engine of destruction of the highest order. A terminator that will not be stopped nor ever conquered by the weak and indigent," Xenin replied, "I am Xenin and I will be the bell whom tolls for thee."

"Okay...pretty good introduction," Knuckles admitted as they began to circle one another.

"Thanks. 'Tis a shame you will no longer draw breath once I am done with you," Xenin countered, "Then again...you may be a possible key for Kragok, so I may just knock you out."

"I'd like to see you try," Knuckles replied.

"Very well. I will give you five hits before I strike," Xenin stated as he stopped moving, "A just five."

"...Just five?" Knuckles cautiously asked.

"Yes...not a tap. Not a tickle...hit me 5 times...as hard. As. You. Can."

"..."

For a few moments, it was simply a hanging tension. Then, it was shattered by Knuckles shooting off at Xenin. He swung and slammed his fist into Xenin's face, causing a small shockwave to go off from the impact.

"Hmm...I actually felt that," Xenin noted, his face not budging from the fist, "Four hits left."

"?!" Knuckles's eyes widened at that before growling as he delivered another blow.

"Three."

*WHAM!*

"Two."

*BLAM!*

"Last one," Xenin informed, still having not budged from where he stood.

"GRAH!" Knuckles roared as he swung his fist and made a final strike to Xenin's chest.

"...Zero," Xenin stated, "Perhaps I should have told you sooner...but my body has the power…" he raised a fist and steam erupted off it, "...of shock absorption."

"!?" Knuckles's eyes widened before Xenin's fist slammed into him.

A shockwave erupted from the impact as Knuckles was now a barely visible red blur shooting across the cavern and slammed into the wall, shattering it and ending up buried beneath the rubble. Xenin huffed as he lowered his fist.

"So much for this Guardian fellow," Xenin noted calmly as he went off to resume the assault.

---

Ben ducked and dodged the various laser shots fired at him by several Legionnaires. As he slid under the legs of a larger Echidna with a metal leg, he glanced at his Omnitrix to see it was still red. One jumped at him only for Ben to move to the side, grab him by his arm, and threw him at another aiming their gun at him.

'Really glad I spent those weekends learning martial arts from Gwen and parkour with Kevin,' Ben thought, quickly flipping another over him at the Echidna with a metal leg before running towards another echidna and used them as a jumping point to leap over three more, letting them run into the one he jumped off of, 'If not for them, I'd just be stuck with running, dodging, and hiding and more than likely get grabbed or knocked out.'

"Stop resisting and sacrifice yourself for Lord Enerjak!"

"Yeah, how about no!" Ben countered as he rolled behind some cover, dodging the incoming laser fire and ending up behind a boulder just as the Omnitrix turned green, "Alright. Time to turn the fight around."

Ben quickly turned on the Omnitrix. Just as he was about to select his alien, the boulder exploded from several laser shots fired at it together. In the confusion, Ben's finger slipped and his fell onto the Omnitrix, pushing down on the core. A green light went off and Ben was replaced with a strange creature. He was covered in purple fur with strong hind legs and a fox-like tail. His hands, feet, muzzle, chest, and tail tip were all covered in white fur with black claws coming from the hands and feet. A pair of tiny black dragon wings fluttered on his back while a red gem shined on his forehead. He opened his green eyes and looked at himself, making note of his Omnitrix emblem on his chest.

"Another new alien?" he pondered before yelping as he was nearly hit with a laser shot, causing him to spin around and snarl at the echidnas, "Grrrrrrr!" he reared his head back before firing a metal ball as big as his head at them, "Metal Cannon!"

"Wha!?" one began before the ball slammed into him, sending him flying across the cavern and smashed into a wall, breaking it apart and collapsing on the echidna.

"...Did I just announce my attack?" he blinked as Sonic and Roll stopped at his sides.

"Wow. Neat alien, Ben," Sonic noted.

"Aw~ Kawaii," Roll cooed.

"I'm not cute," the alien grumbled, his fur managing to hide his blush.

"So what's this one called? Dragonfox?" Sonic asked, "Heavy Metal?"

"No, it's…" he trailed off as his gem glowed for a few moments, "...Dorumon."

"Eh? Dorumon?" Sonic blinked.

"For some reason, it just...fits."

"Sounds cool," Sonic smirked.

"I like it," Roll added before looking at the remaining Dark Legion echidnas, "Well, ready to keep testing Dorumon out, Ben-san?"

"You bet," Dorumon smirked, "Metal Cannon!"

"Oh sweet Enerjak!" one panicked as another metal sphere smashed into him.

"Where does that thing get all that metal from!?" another yelped before Roll and Sonic zipped by them and caused them to cry out while sparks rained from the slices in their visible cybernetics.

"Dunno. You guys gonna stand there and gawk?" Sonic countered with a grin, Caliburn in hand.

"Oh, please...continue to do so," Roll assured, family katana in hand in its Burst Bustersword state, before tapping her head with a finger, "I'm still memorizing your looks to laugh at later."

"Oh you little c-" one began before a metal sphere binged him right upside the head, leaving a dent in the metal part of it, "Candy corn…." he slurred as he collapsed.

"I am enjoying this," Dorumon smirked.

"And I am annoyed by you," a voice spoke before the trio turned to see Xenin approach.

"Whoa! That guy looks like he got into a Roboticizer and only got out near the very end," Sonic gasped.

"Do not compare the Dark Legion's technology to that fat imbecile's failed attempts," Xenin scowled before looking at the trio, "Hmm...Six hits."

"Huh?" Sonic pondered.

"I will do nothing while you each get two hits in. If you make me fall to a knee, I will leave," Xenin stated.

"...Okay. Someone is real cocky," Dorumon whispered.

"Yeah...Normally that's my schtick," Sonic quipped.

"Oh please...as if a trickster like you can topple me," Xenin smirked, "Or perhaps...you inherited the failure of your father?"

*CLANG!*

"Heh...Consider that nerve touched," Xenin smirked, Sonic's blade hitting his shoulder as it did nothing.

"...Yacker," Roll spoke.

"CUBE!" Yacker declared as her Burst Bustersword switched for the Cube Hammer.

"Oh? Bringing the hammer down now? How cute," Xenin taunted as Roll hit him with her Cube Hammer...and yet he didn't budge an inch, "Four left…"

"Metal Cannon!" Dorumon roared, firing a sphere of metal at Xenin, doing nothing but making him give out a grunt.

"Okay...That one I actually felt something," Xenin noted.

"Not so cocky now, huh?"

"Three left to get me to a knee," Xenin stated.

"This is gonna be harder than I thought," Dorumon muttered before tapping his emblem and changing to Lodestar =Maybe my magnetic personality will do better= he held his pincers out and sent out the magnetic waves at Xenin, who simply stood in place =...Okay...Why aren't you floating?=

"The Twilight Cage had several highly magnetized areas. Our adaptations were designed to negate magnetic forces," Xenin explained, "Two attempts left."

"Dang it...What are we gonna do?" Sonic whispered as he and Roll regrouped with Lodestar, "Any ideas?"

I would use one of my bigger ones, but not with how cramped this would end up as=

"Darn...Roll?"

"..." Roll looked at her hammer.

"LIGHTNING!"

"Interesting," Xenin noted as he watched the weapon change once more before blinking his organic eye twice, "...What is that music?"

=1812 Overture= Lodestar replied as Roll pulled the trigger.

The barrel of her chaingun proceeded to spin and open fire. Xenin's organic eye widened at the onslaught of lightning before the explosions went off on impact.

"..Gh…." Xenin grunted out, the smoke clearing to show him sparking while he was on one knee...and the echidna giving the trio a death glare, "That….hurt…"

"Whoo! Nice job, Roll and Yacker!" Sonic beamed before the Wisp popped out and fell into his hands, "And, as always, tuckers the little guy out."

And now that he's down…= Lodestar tapped his emblem and FourArms switched places with him, "...Time to take him out."

"..." Xenin smirked as FourArms approached, "I wasn't expecting the lightning. A good surprise. But that's fine with me…" the Tetramand raised a brow before Xenin reeled his fist back and FourArms quickly caught the punch...before crying out as he was knocked back by the blow with the hand that had caught the fist mangled with several broken bones sticking out before the Omnitrix timed out and left an unconscious Ben on the ground, "...I was made for physical battles."

"What!?" Sonic gasped as Xenin stood up.

"...Your body is a giant shock absorber!" Roll realized.

"Correct," Xenin replied, "I can stockpile physical attacks and release it in either bursts of all at once."

"Uh-oh…" both gulped, realizing that A) both were mainly physical attackers and B) their one ace that could hurt the guy was currently exhausted from using said ace.

---

"Is this everyone?" Sonia asked as Remington looked at the Echidnas going down the tunnel.

"...Yes. That's all of the non-combatants," Remington replied once the last of them were down the tunnel.

Sonia nodded before pulling out a radio, "Manic, that's the last of them."

Gotcha, Sis= Manic replied before the entrance of his cave entrance closed up.

"Now to check on Sonic…" Sonia whispered as she changed frequencies, "Sonic, are you…?"

I'm sorry...the number you have dialed is not awake at the moment…= Xenin's voice came out instead of Sonic's, making Sonia tense up =He will be at a later time, detained with the others I've dealt with=

"...Where?" Sonia demanded with a frown.

Now where would the fun in that be? Besides...you'll be offerings to Lord Enerjak anyway…= Xenin chuckled before a 'crunch' went off on the line and it disconnected.

"..." Sonia and Remington shared concerned looks before Remington took out his own radio.

"All units fall back to the shrine. Pickup will arrive once the majority are gathered," Remington ordered.

Sonia knew why he didn't say 'all.' It was something she had learned well over the years fighting Robotnik. Not all will come back from a battle on a scale like this. Remington gave Sonia a nod and the two teleported to the shrine in a burst of flames.

---

The ground didn't shake nor show any signs of disruption as a slanted hole emerged from it. Manic, still in his armor, walked out followed by Lara-Le and Wynmacher, Kneecaps in his father's arms. Lara-Le gasped as she looked at the ancient ruins around them, several spots sporting what looked to have been statues of Echidna tribesmen.

"Not on the island you knew," Manic noted, hearing her reaction.

"No," Wynmacher replied, "In our old Zone, it was on the land in Soumerca."

"Eh, I think it got stuck to the island when it crashed down near it," Manic shrugged as the other Echidnas began to come out with Tikal and Nestor in the lead.

"Oh!" Nestor gasped, tears welling in his eyes as he looked around, "Our...Our city…"

"It is always sad when I come here," Tikal admitted, sorrow in her eyes, "All this destroyed because of the pride and greed of our Clan."

"Could always ask Ben when this is said and done if he can fix it with Clockwork," Manic noted.

"Everyone, we need to be quick!" Lara-Le called out to the Echidna, "Fortify and settle in this location for now!"

"Manic, do you think your powers could help move this debris?" Tikal asked, "If I remember right, there are a few homes that were dug into the sides over there and there."

"Actually, the other one is over there," Nestor corrected, moving her pointing hand to the right.

"Oh. My apologies for any confusion," Tikal apologized, blushing a little.

"S'all good," Manic assured as he ran over to the rubble and stabbed his knife into the ground, causing the rubble to rise up and reattach to where they had originated, exposing dilapidated homes that, with a twist of his knife in the ground, quickly reformed, "There we g…" he began before his armor shattered and he fell flat on his face, Medallion back into place, "Ugh…"

"Manic?!" Wynmacher gasped, giving Kneecaps to Lara-Le as he ran over and helped him up.

"Haven't had...to use it this long…" Manic mumbled, his entire body exhausted.

"Oh dear...He seems to have overexerted himself," Tikal noted in worry.

"I'm not surprised. The young man must have used a lot of power to make our escape," Wymacher noted.

"Rest easy now, Manic," Lara-Le advised, "We're safe for now thanks to your efforts."

"Heh...That's...cool…" Manic mumbled as he passed out just as he began to feel the warmth of a sudden burst of flames, 'Hope everyone's safe…'

---

The rubble shook before, with a roar, Knuckles threw it off him. The echidna grunted, the various cuts and bruises on his body aching. He took in a deep breath, pausing to cough for a few moments, before his hands began to glow with a soft green aura that quickly covered him and healed up his injuries. He exhaled once the glow faded. He cleared his throat, grimacing as he felt it was still damaged.

"Gotta thank Tikal for that lesson on using Chaos Energy to heal," Knuckles noted to himself, his voice slightly deeper and smooth, as he looked around, seeing the chamber completely empty, "...How long was I out?" he frowned as he clenched a fist, "That metal guy beat me down like I was nothing…" he looked to see a trail that looked as if a group of people had been dragged, "..." he scowled before he ran after the trail, "You better watch yourself, you metal asshole. Here I come for round 2."

---

"Ugh…" Ben groaned, his eyes straining to stay shut only to fall to Ben's will to open them only for him to squint at the bright red lights in his eyes.

"He's awake," the owner of the red lights noted, moving back to reveal herself to be Conquering Storm.

"Oh joy~ Now we have the shapeshifting Overlander awake to join us in our incarceration," Hood huffed.

"Shaddup, ya pompous wallet," Ben heard Sonic grumble as he began to try to get up only to hiss in pain and look at his left hand to see it wrapped up tight in what looked to be shredded lavender straps.

"..." Ben looked between it and then at the lynx, seeing her middle section exposed due to her top being ripped up there, "Thanks."

"Hmph…" Storm scoffed as she looked away, "I had no bandages because Hood used what was left for himself…"

"I am a king...I don't care for plebian commoners such as the Overlander," Hood huffed.

"You are only king because you 'convinced' the previous king to go into an unwinnable battle," Storm countered.

"...I suggest you choose your next words for me very carefully, Raiju wench," Hood scowled as the two glared at one another.

"...If you are threatening me with your hypnosis, Hood...my mind is too strong to bend to your will."

"Who says I'd use it on you?"

"...If you are referring to Tennyson...I'd slice his arm off before he could even reach his device."

'Great...I'm stuck between an egomaniac and a ninja who despises Roll with every fiber of her being,' Ben mentally deadpanned.

"You try that and I'll end you, Raiju!" Roll's voice growled, causing Ben to look over to see Roll on the other side of the cage they were in...her legs handcuffed to it.

"..." Ben looked at the lynx to see her own legs handcuffed to the bars on the other side of the cage he was at, "...Uh…"

"The Dark Legion guys did it because these two kept trying to maul each other to death," Lien-Da deadpanned, sitting beside Shockwave as he was doing small repairs to his blaster arm.

"...Yeah, that makes sense," Ben muttered.

"While it would have been easier to knock them out, by keeping them awake we are meant to be witnesses to something they are planning," Shockwave surmised, closing the panel on his blaster before looking over at the Master Emerald Shrine, "Logic can also conclude that it involves the Master Emerald."

"Lousy runic array in these 'bots so we can't shut 'em up…" a Dark Legionnaire grumbled.

When I get out of here, you will not like existence= Omega warned...frozen to just below his head in several thick layers of ice in his own personal cage beside the bigger one.

"Why is it that when you and the royal family are involved, a simple mission becomes that much larger and complicated?" Clove sighed, earning Ben's attention.

"Hey, hey, hey! Even if we weren't here, wasn't it you guys messing with the Master Emerald the reason these echidnas showed up in the first place?" Sonic argued.

"...We originally came here to use part of the Master Emerald's power to help cure my sister," Clover countered with a frown, "We did not anticipate those invaders to come…"

"Hey, this is our homeland. If anything, you guys are the invaders," another Dark Legionnaire snorted as they walked by the cages.

"Shut up, Rana-La," another grumbled.

"...How long until the Omnitrix recharges, Ben?" Sonic whispered to the Brunette.

"Can't say...and even if it was charged, my arm's too busted to activate it," Ben answered, "If I could turn into Swampfire or Goop, I could heal it up…"

"Is there any other way to get that thing working?" Lien-Da asked.

"Well, there is one and I don't like when it happens," Ben cringed.

"...A failsafe for a fatal wound," Shockwave stated.

"Um...Yeah, but how did you…?"

"Your body posture when you were bringing it up shifted and tensed as if recalling a painful memory," Shockwave explained, "Your heart rate accelerated along with your breathing while you also flinched. More than likely, the last time it went off was you being buried alive beneath heavy rubble."

"..."

"Trust us...It gets scary when he analyzes stuff like this," Lien-Da admitted with a whisper.

Ben nodded slowly as he looked around, "Guess it's just us, huh?"

"Before I got knocked out, I managed to see a burst of flames so I'm guessing that your sister teleported their guys and Julie-Su out," Lien-Da huffed.

"That's my sister," Sonic chuckled with a grin.

"Your sister, eh?" Sonic, Roll, and Ben tensed as they turned to see Xenin approach their cage.

"! Xenin…" Lien-Da whispered with wide eyes.

"A pleasure, Commissar of another Zone," the cyborg chuckled before looking at the blue hedgehog who was glaring at him, "So that magenta hedgehog was your sister. Good to know since it will make things easier for her to come out with the one she took."

"...You better not lay a hand on her," Sonic frowned.

"Oh no...she'll be important later…" Xenin smirked before whistling and two of the Dark Legion's robots landed, "Freeze the blue one's legs and pull him out."

"Hey, hey, whoa! Why my legs?! And why me?!"

"Logically, you are Princess Sonia's eldest sibling. Therefore, you are considered someone she would highly care for and inadvertently expose herself for in an attempt to rescue you," Shockwave noted.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious…" Sonic deadpanned as the robots froze his legs in a block of ice.

"Silence, blue fool," Xenin ordered as the robots began to drag off Sonic.

"Wait!" Roll called out.

"What?" one Legionnaire asked before Roll pulled out a pamphlet from her tail, "...Sonuva…Hey! Xenin!"

"What?" Xenin narrowed his sole organic eye at the Legionnaire.

"This gal's from Hyorinmaru and the blue one's her Bonded!"

"Oh what the everloving hell!" Xenin groaned, facepalming, "Freeze her legs, too, and bring her along as well."

"Just like that?" Ben asked.

"Our leader's great-grandfather messed with a Bonded…Kragok's grandfather wisely chose to honor the Bond Hyorinmaru women form and it's one command Lord Kragok has yet to dissolve," one explained.

"Wha…?" Hood began.

"You don't want to know," all the Dark Legion members there but Xenin replied with haunted expressions under their hoods as the robots repeated the process they did on Sonic on Roll and took her out to join the hedgehog.

---

"Ugh…" Manic groaned as he slowly awoke, a pounding in his skull.

"Drink this. Slowly now," a voice spoke before Manic felt a liquid to his lips that he took in almost immediately, the pounding abetting and things slowly coming into focus, revealing the owner to be Nestor using a bowl made from a leaf, "How are you feeling?"

"Head hurt…" Manic replied.

Nestor nodded, "That makes sense. This was the longest you've used the powers of your armor and not simply used them in small bursts, yes?"

"Y-Yeah…" Manic replied, earning a nod from Nestor.

"Young one…your power seems connected to the land itself," Nestor explained, "Are you aware of the planet's history?"

"Huh? Its…huh?"

Nestor smiled gently, "Before we ended up in the Twilight Cage, when I was but a young boy your age, I heard of a story…of the world itself. Slumbering in its core are two Gods: Light Gaia and Dark Gaia." Manic's hand went up to his Medallion, feeling something go through it upon hearing those names, "Every 10,000 years, the brother Gods awaken and do battle. Should Light Gaia win, all is safe and the world move on. But should Dark Gaia win, the world will fall to darkness and wiped clean to start anew. The last time Dark Gaia won…was when the Mobosaurs walked the lands." he gently poked the Medallion, "I believe your Medallion connects to the Brothers, letting you control their domain."

"Really?" Manic blinked as he looked down at his Medallion, "Woah…I..didn't realize how important our Medallions were."

"Often people will only see what they wish to see. They never try to see what lies beneath, what forms the past so that we may learn from their mistakes," Nestor noted.

"Elder Nestor," Lara-Le spoke, causing the two to look at the doorway where she was poking her head by the curtain.

"He's awake, Lady Lara-Le," Nestor nodded, moving to the side to let her come in and bow to Manic.

"Thank you, Prince Manic," Lara-Le thanked.

"Heh-heh. No need for titles with me, ma'am," Manic rubbed the back of his head, "But, uh…whatcha thankin' me for?"

"For helping save our people from the Dark Legion and the small repairs you did before passing out to Echidnaopolis," Lara-Le explained, "Those of us from the other Zone have been grateful to you and our brethren in this Zone for helping us adapt to this place and your actions."

"Eh, it…It's no sweat, ma'am," Manic sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, earning a giggle.

"You are your brother's sibling," Lara-Le noted.

"Hm?"

"From the little I've spoken with this Sonic and the one I met in my birth Zone, they had a heart that went out towards helping others. You have that same kind of heart," Lara-Le noted.

"...heh. Well…I had a good upbringing," Manic chuckled a bit.

Lara-Le nodded, "Please come along. We intended to have a war meeting once you awoke."

"Really?" Manic asked.

"Of course. Your ability may very well tip the balance to let us claim the Master Emerald shrine and free your friends and brother," Lara-Le replied.

"Uh…" Manic looked at Nestor.

"It will be fine. The medicine I had you drink should help you with your headache," Nestor assured, "Once it fades, you'll be safe to use your armor once more."

"That's good to hear," Manic nodded as he got up out of the cot he was lying in and the three left the hut to see Echidnaoplois thriving with the refugees either running military drills or the civilians were trying to stay safe…yet everything was done to try to avoid any detection from aerial surveillance, "Major bummer."

"Hm?" the two looked at Manic as they kept underneath canopies from some of the larger trees.

"It shouldn't be like this. You should be safe to go out in the open parts and not just in the parts that block the sky," Manic noted.

"Sadly…that may not be possible until this civil war ends," Nestor sighed before looking at a tree by them, "...I do believe this is the tree I wrote mine and my late wife's names on once."

"It is, Uncle Nestor," Tikal confirmed, floating over as a ball of light before reforming, "I showed it to Knuckles, Julie-Su, and Sticks once."

"Ack!" Nestor blushed.

Lara-Le giggled, "It's nice to have these moments of mirth during these troublesome times." they soon came upon a stone hut with voices talking and overlapping at points, "...Excuse me for a moment before you all enter." she walked into it and a loud, sharp whistle erupted from it and the voices went silent until she poked her head out, "Okay~!"

"...Yeah, I'm definitely seeing her as Knux's mom," Manic noted, blinking a few times as they entered to see Remington, Sonia, Ragna, Julie-Su, Sticks, Shade, and a few other Echidnas with modern maps of Angel Island with various red dots on it to signify traps the foursome and one dinosaur had been laying out.

"Okay…we're all here now. So what have we managed to get?" Lara-Le ordered.

"From the intel we've managed to gather, the majority of their forces are at the Master Emerald shrine with all the prisoners they've obtained due to the initial shockwave from the Master Emerald that broke into the Twilight Cage," Remington explained.

"So they have two pieces needed to awaken Enerjak," TIkal frowned.

"Huh? Pieces?" Julie-Su asked.

"Yes. If Kragok is the one who is performing the ritual, then it requires three things: a powerful link to the Chaos Force such as the Master Emerald, a loyal follower to the one performing it, and…two relatives to the ritual performer," Tikal explained.

"What?!" Julie-Su gawked, "He…He's after me?!"

"Yes," Tikal frowned.

"Ugh…Wait…Sonic is near the Master Emerald," Julie-Su recalled, "He can go Super!"

"Huh? But he needs all seven Chaos Emeralds," Manic noted.

"No, he just needs enough Chaos Energy to do it. The Master Emerald is a massive source! We get Sonic on it and we've got a Super Sonic!" Julie-Su explained, "He fought my old Zone's Knuckles when he was Enerjak on equal grounds!"

"Are you sure? You're not just thinking of the other Sonic, right?" Sonia asked.

"Yes. I encountered another version of Sonic who was able to do it. It's not just something the Sonic from my old Zone could do," Julie-Su assured, 'Just need to stay silent on it being Scourge and that Locke was the one who told me about it.'

"Really? Huh…Hopefully, Bro can make it work," Manic noted, "But like Uncle Ferrel would say, 'Don't put all your hopes in one wallet.' We gotta have backup plans."

"That's true. Plans tend to collapse at one point or another during battle," Nestor noted.

"I'll say," Ragna grumbled, phantom pains flaring, "And full improvisation tends to lead to getting a lot more than you bargained for in terms of injuries."

"..."

"Shade, how are you holding?" Remington asked, noticing how silent she was.

"I…" she sighed, "I just wish Master Ix was here. He would've been happy to see this going on, of different races working together for a common goal."

"Really?" Manic asked.

"In the Twilight Cage, we had made friends with other natives there. ..keyword had," Shade explained, "Kragok…he wiped out so many to keep us from getting any advantage."

"We've lost so many comrades to him," Remington sighed.

"The more I heard of this version of him, the more I'm glad my old Zone's Kragok is deader than dead," Julie-Su grimaced.

"And the one here is deadset on bringing back some psychopath god," Manic frowned a bit.

"By Aurora, I hope he doesn't achieve it," Lara-Le grimaced while Sticks looked down one of the windows.

"...GYAAAAAAAH!" everyone jumped and looked at Sticks as she scurried behind Julie-Su, "GIANT GHOSTS!"

"..." Julie-Su adopted a flat look before walking to the window and looked out to see, in the distance, a large hologram of Kragok with Sonic and Roll on wooden stands set up before the shrine, "?! Wow. Haven't seen a hologram that big in ages."

"Bro and SIL?" Manic pondered, looking out with the others.

"...SIL?" Sonia raised a brow at that.

"Sis-in-law. Less of a mouthful."

"..." Sonia sighed, "Never change, Manic."

"...It must be bad if you're saying that to me," Manic grimaced before everyone jumped as all the radios began to crackle while the metal dreadlock on Julie-Su twitched and shifted into a tiny satellite dish, "Whoa?!"

"He's doing it again," Remington scowled, "Hitting every single frequency he can to make sure we hear him."

"He can do that?!" Sonia gawked.

"He used to before Master Ix learned how to use his power to stop it," Shade replied, looking down in pain from the fresh loss.

=To you, my fellow echidnas underneath Ix, I give to you…two hours. If you do not bring to me Julie-Su, I will begin Legionizing prisoners starting with these two=

=Wait, what?!= Sonic yelped before they saw a blue beam shoot at his mouth from 'offscreen' at him, freezing his mouth.

=Make that one hour= Kragok corrected before all the radios went silent.

"...That sonuva…" Julie-Su growled.

"Dishonorable," Nestor scowled.

"Asshole," Ragna frowned.

"What do we do?" Lara-Le pondered in concern.

"..." Sonia looked between the tense Julie-Su and Shade, "...What if we give him what he wants…but not at the same time?"

"Huh?" everyone looked at the magenta hedgehog in confusion.

---

"...You had to say something, didn't you fool?" Hood scowled at Sonic.

"He's a Sonic; of course they don't shut up," Lien-Da grumbled.

"Yeah, well…" Sonic began before one of the Dark Legion guards hit him with a stun stick, "Ow ow! I already can't move! Why?!"

"Stay silent or we start with the female first."

"Mmm…" Sonic grumbled.

"Um…Excuse me?" Roll asked.

"What?" the one with the stun stick demanded.

"Is that coming out of your arm?" Roll asked.

"Of course it is," the echidna huffed, pulling the sleeve back to reveal the entire arm was machinery, "Many of us replaced parts of us with improvements to not only better handle the realm we were trapped in but also to better fight our defectors in the Nocturnus."

"Soka," Roll nodded, "I guess it's different to the original Dark Legion."

"Hah? We are the Dark Legion."

"She is kinda right, Korrin," another spoke, "Those of us from the original Prime Zone got those transplants as a symbol of our embracing of technologies that the other echidnas deemed wicked and tried to destroy."

"That does not make these new ones Dark Legion!" the first argued, "We do not bow to the likes of Robotnik nor Eggman…and yet Lien-Da has done just that!"

"Wh-?! Not by choice!" Lien-Da snapped, "Do you have any idea what I went through back in our original Zone?!"

"We are aware you earned the wrath of our god Enerjak and stripped our fellow believers from your Zone with his actions and, instead of doing the process yourselves, you made our people slaves to a rotund madman," Korrin replied, "Seriously, you had several echidnas who knew the procedure like the back of their hands."

"Ghh…" Lien-Da scowled, "Yeah, but they lost the parts that let them do it as finely-tuned as they used to be capable of. I wanted none of my people to die trying to regain what we lost thanks to that Knuckles."

"Yes…but in the end, you sacrificed your self-esteem by serving that buffoon," Korrin argued with a frown, "You've went from being one of the best of the Dark Legion…to being just another toady."

"?!" Lien-Da tensed at that.

"Why else do you think none of those of the Dark Legion you once led follow you? Lord Kragok found the explosives in their implants and removed them without killing any of them through one going off thanks to his power delivered unto him by our god Enerjak," Korrin went on, making Lien-Da flinch, "Yes, they spoke of how you were aware they existed but kept silent on them, hearing it from your own that still reside within you. Machinery speaks in ways we do not 'hear' and only a Technomancer may listen and commune with…even the likes of the Iron Queen of the Iron Dominion."

"..."

"Ahh, I'm sorry, but you just gonna sit there and berate her the entire time?" Ben questioned with a yawn, making the Echidna glare at him.

"I'd shock you, but with your human physiology being weaker than a Mobian's, it'd likely set off that failsafe in your watch," Korrin stated before the three Dark Legionnaires walked off.

"...Hmph. Even I made my people aware of the consequences of taking on this process before giving them the choice," Conquering Storm stated, "The benefits outweighed the drawback for many of us in the Raiju."

"...You don't get it," Lien-Da whispered, gritting her teeth as she shook, "Do you know how much I wanted to break away from that fatass without him setting off the bombs in us? Do you know how many of his psychotic plans I had to sacrifice my men for…just so he could try and get the upper hand on his Sonic!? You don't think…you don't think I wanted to get away from that psychopath?!"

"That sounds l-" Sonic began.

"No, shut up! Eggman…the one I knew before ending up here was a monster. He wouldn't hesitate in sacrificing any of us…just so he could get a win!" Lien-Da snapped, "And the worst part..he didn't value our lives at all! He just saw us as….as…" electricity cracked off her as she growled, "...as cannon fodder that can be easily replaced!"

"Yet you still didn't try to tell anyone about them," Roll noted with a frown.

"Grrr…" Lien-Da growled.

"Logically, her idea to hide this from them was sound," the captives looked at Shockwave, "Given how they have reacted to this news, they have turned traitorous to her and likely would have in her previous Zone had she told them even from the beginning."

"Must have been a lot of disarray in your forces to easily turn on their leader like that," Ben noted calmly.

"Oh what do ya know, huh?!"

"It sounds a bit like this organization I fought against…they were a divided force, factions within factions and the like," Ben shrugged, "Each one thought they had the right to lead over them all." he narrowed his eyes, "The one that came out top…was what led to their end. All they were was a power-hungry monster, not caring for anything but all falling under their banner. He used his men to systematically murder several aliens and humans living on Earth that were supportive of living alongside them." his gaze looked past them, his eyes growing unfocused as the memories came, "They started with a philanthropic organization called the Flame Keepers' Circle. Took them three days to kill everyone associated with it. Police found they were actually some strange cult of sorts worshiping something. No clue what it was because a few days after that was the body of a friend of mine, Pierce Wheels, was found outside of my grandpa's plumber store that doubled as the cover for his work with the Plumbers, the back of his head blown out." he clenched a fist, "A few days after, Mr. Baumann's house was leveled in the middle of the night. He barely escaped by, ironically, blowing up his own car that he always did his best to prevent from getting destroyed. He was put into hiding soon after he explained what he could, managing to see the emblem of the Forever Knights on them. His store was found leveled and the remains were burning from a modified napalm that had been added to the flames." most of them flinched as they saw blood starting to drip from his clenched fist, "We were working hard to find them, but it was as if they would only appear when they wanted to appear, only doing so to kill off either an alien, a building that housed them, or humans who knew of their existence and were working to try to coexist…and then they appeared and killed my parents."

"Ben-san…" Roll gasped softly.

"For people like my grandpa, my cousin Gwen, and Kevin, it would be several years now. For me, I was in that weird machine for all of those years, so those are still fresh in my mind," Ben continued, "The reason for that being that the Forever Knights kidnapped my girlfriend Julie Yamamoto and I unlocked Shadow. He slaughtered the Forever Knights, but also Julie, then he messed with my memories and made me think I had gone XLR8 and failed to save her before going Rath and just…" he shook his head before looking at Lien-Da, eyes focused and sharp, "I know a hell of a lot more than you can imagine, Lien-Da. The Dark Legion? They're just another organization I'm ending up having to deal with that are bordering on that point of no return to me at the moment."

"..."

Several beeps made him glance at his Omnitrix, seeing it had finally recharged. Sonic quirked a brow at Ben before the brunette shook his head. Conquering Storm narrowed her eyes at the human amongst them, who glanced at her and then to the Dark Legion members that were working about on the small island the Master Emerald and its shrine were on. Conquering Storm nodded. Hood scowled, opened his mouth…and was silenced by Clove's legionized hoof smacking him in the face, leaving him dazed with a blackeye and collapsed on the ground. Several Dark Legionnaires looked at them.

"...He made a comment about my figure, primarily my weight," Clove informed, her face calm and straight.

A few of them in their hoods glared at the snake before they went back to their current activities. Unaware to them all, Kragok was nowhere to be visibly seen.

---

Knuckles grunted as he entered the clearing for the training grounds. For a few moments, Knuckles closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He exhaled slowly…before swiftly moving out of the way of a spray of crystals. His gloves fell and he delivered a backflip kick, knocking away the extending claw of Kragok's mechanical limb. He narrowed his eyes as the claw returned to its master's arm, standing across the other side of the area.

"You look quite like your ancestor," Kragok noted, "The first Guardian of our people."

"You know of my duty, yet it took place long after your people were sealed away, Kragok," Knuckles noted.

"Ah, you know of me. Or, rather, a different version of me. The one that is the late brother of the other Julie-Su and Lien-Da."

"...I do," Knuckles nodded as he crossed his arms, "What else do you know?"

"You are the last of your people, all others having died out from age or sickness from the isolation you placed upon yourselves after the God of Water became the God of Destruction and lifted this island into the skies," Kragok replied, "Technology speaks, and much of it is still alive upon this land despite how ancient it may be. Some far more ancient than even we Echidnas are. They may slumber, yet they still remember what goes on around them."

"Most likely, yeah," Knuckles nodded, "It seems the more I explore Angel Island…the more stuff I find."

"Indeed. A pity you shall not be here to find them all," Kragok sneered.

"Many before you have tried and failed to kill me," Knuckles smirked, assuming an opening stance, "I won't be killed by someone like you."

"Never say 'never,' Guardian," Kragok replied.

Neither moved for a moment. After a small breeze flew by, Kragok swung an arm up, grunting as he barely parried the strike aimed at his neck. Knuckles flipped over the crystal spikes that came out under him and delivered a roundhouse kick, making Kragok stumble. He jumped at Kragok only to gag as his mechanical claw caught him by the neck. The claw's momentum went wild, dragging him back first along the ground, tearing it up, before slamming into the rock structure by the pond. Before he could move, crystals engulfed his body up to his neck.

"Hmph. Should've spent more time recovering before trying to come for us," Kragok smirked, twirling a spike of crystals in his organic hand, "Now to…" a crackle came from a radio on his hip, "Report."

"They've brought the other Julie-Su."

"...Hmph," Kragok smirked as he swung his organic hand, causing the crystals engulfing Knuckles to pull off the rock, entrapping the echidna in them, "Good. I was hoping to capture you for the ritual, Guardian. Enerjak shall return no matter what it takes."

"Gh!" Knuckles grunted, struggling to get out, 'Ugh…He's right…I'm still weak, but…he's bringing me to the Master Emerald. With hope, he'll bring me closer than he should to it…'

---

"Just please be quiet," Sonia pleaded softly as she and Julie-Su stood on the hill overlooking the encampment around the Master Emerald shrine island.

"I will," Julie-Su hissed back.

"Not you," Sonia replied before a few Legionnaires walked up with some of their robots, Xenin in the lead.

"So, you brought her," Xenin smirked.

"Of course," Julie-Su huffed.

"You know you won't win," Sonia stated.

"Oh please, when Master Kragok returns from his walk, we can begin and the great God Enerjak will reign supreme," Xenin smirked.

"Oh go ahead. Keep talking like that…it'll make your eventual loss all the more hurtful," Sonia smiled as two of the robots put advanced looking handcuffs on her wrists behind her back along with Julie-Su.

"Take the hedgehog to where we have the other captives," Xenin ordered, "We'll bring Julie-Su to the shrine while someone else grabs Lien-Da." he narrowed his organic eye at a few of the Legionnaires, "And no roughing her up due to grudges. We need her healthy for this."

"Yes, sir."

"What is this about anyway? This ritual?" Sonia asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Xenin smirked as he snapped his mechanical fingers and two of the robots grabbed Sonia and flew off for the cages.

"..." Julie-Su said nothing as she glared at Xenin.

"Oh come now…you…"

"You have no idea how terrifying Enerjak truly is," she warned him, "If you think he'll spare you...or any of your followers, you're sadly mistaken."

"...Hmph. Big words from a gal who died in this Zone," Xenin sneered, "Let's move to the shrine, troops."

'So far so good…' Julie-Su thought as she was lead off towards the island while Sonia was dropped down into the cage with the others.

"Sonia-chan!" Roll gasped.

"Hey, Ro-Oh, there's Conquering Storm over there. No wonder you two are chained to opposite ends of this cage," Sonia realized.

"...grr…" Conquering's Storm's ears began to lower as she glared at the hedgevixen.

"Rrrr…" Roll growled in return.

"Can we not~?" Sonic groaned.

"It is highly illogical to hold hostilities at this moment," Shockwave shook his head.

"Ah! H-Hey!" Lien-Da snapped, making everyone look to see the two robots grabbing the echidna and flew off to the shrine, "GAH!"

"Sonia, what did you do?" Ben asked.

"Everything's alright," Sonia assured.

"You brought Julie-Su here?" Hood asked, "Are you daft, woman!? They needed both sisters and the Guardian and you just…!" Clove's hoof met his face again, knocking him out, "Goi…"

"I swear, he's the worst one of all of Eggman's troops," Clove sighed.

"I can tell he just screams sexist," Sonia muttered with a light eye twitch.

"He is," both females of the Eggman Empire confirmed.

"Fortunately, one of the first orders Lord Eggman gave to Hood was to prevent the worst of it," Shockwave noted, Maw nodding in agreement.

"And he hasn't changed him for someone else because…?"

"Nobody wants the job near Mercia since they believe in a curse there," Shockwave replied.

"A curse?"

"It's said the spirit of Robin Hood inhabits the forests of Mercia, robbing from corrupt rulers of the kingdom in their sleep," Shockwave explained.

"...That kinda makes sense. I mean, he was a Cooper," Roll noted.

"Grr…" Conquering Storm growled further.

"How does she know that?" Clove asked.

"Her ancestor is Rioichi Cooper, meaning the Sakurai are cousins to the Coopers," Ben replied, watching as the Dark Legion were all starting to make their way to the shrine as the robots all stood on standby, Bruticus standing near them and focusing his optics on them, "Oh right…They took control of your heavy hitter."

"They can be repaired so long as their core systems aren't destroyed," Shockwave stated.

Lien-Da grunted as she was dropped down on her rear atop the shrine, "GAH! Oh, you lousy pieces of junk!"

"Even now you just can't stop fighting with everyone around you to try to prove your superiority, can you?" Lien-Da turned her head to see Julie-Su, her arms restrained by two of the robots.

"Oh great…You," Lien-Da huffed.

"Silence from the offerings," Xenin ordered, "We await Lord Kragok to arrive."

"Ugh…great…" Lien-Da groaned as they restrained her with two more robots.

"Not something I like as well, sister," Julie-Su huffed.

Lien-Da quirked a brow at that. Several tense minutes passed after that, everyone awaiting Kragok to arrive. Silence falling was what first alerted the two sisters.

"Hail, Kragok!"

"Hail, Kragok!"

"Hail, Kragok!"

"Hail, Kragok!"

The Dark Legion parted and saluted as Kragok walked along the path to the shrine, Knuckles floating behind him still trapped in crystal. Knuckles managed to look around, seeing the various Echidna there and frowned.

'Ironic. I thought I'd be the last of the Echidnas after grandfather Athair died, but then I've been running into so many Echidnas,' Knuckles thought, '...I really hope my ancestors aren't all still alive somehow and spying on all this and not doing anything to interfere like the ones the other me had back where Julie-Su came from.'

"Isn't that Knuckles?" a Dark Legionnaire whispered to another.

"If he turns green, I am jumping off the island," they responded.

'Green?' Knuckles raised a brow before glaring at Xenin who was at the base of the steps to the shrine and kneeling down.

"We have Lien-Da and Julie-Su at the top, awaiting yourself, my lord," Xenin informed.

"Wonderful," Kragok smirked, "And I was able to ascertain the Guardian. Turns out he was wandering the island and not with the traitors of the Nocturnus."

"My apologies, my lord."

"It is fine, Xenin. Come, the time is now to bring forth our mighty God Enerjak!" Kragok declared.

"Understood," Xenin replied as they walked up the stairs.

"And just when I thought you'd have fallen off the island," Lien-Da huffed.

"Even down to the snark my sister used to have," Kragok chuckled.

"You're crazier than my Kragok was. Enerjak will destroy you all, too," Lien-Da spat.

Kragok smirked as he leaned in closer and whispered, "That's the point. This universe needs to be cleansed."

"!?" Lien-Da's eyes went wide in shock and horror, 'Crazier?'

He smirked before turning to Julie-Su, "Ahh…The other one. I must say, you…" he trailed off as he 'looked' at her, "...What. is. this?"

"Sir?" Xenin questioned before Kragok's organic hand shot out and grabbed her face and ripped it off, "!?"

Kragok scowled as he dropped the ID Mask, revealing a stunned Shade, 'Wh-What…? The runes didn't work?'

"We've been duped!" Kragok shouted before several explosions went off, caused by missiles and massive boulders…several of them covered in tinfoil oddly enough.

"Excuse me," Roll spoke up, earning the attention of the two Dark Legionnaires still guarding their cage, "I have a question before you scramble to help."

"We're busy!" one snapped, starting to flee.

"But it's really important and might be quite vital to your health," Roll went on.

"Let's just humor her. If nothing else, we can threaten to shoot them if the Nocturnus try to attack us," the other advised.

"Ugh…Fine," the first sighed, "What?"

"Did you know my tail is prehensile from a lemur in my family lineage?" Roll asked.

"...What?"

"Oh yes. I learned how to undo highly advanced technological locking mechanisms with it after a month of being a member of the Underground Freedom Fighters," Roll explained as she held her hands up, showing no handcuffs on them before a green flash made a shadow came over her, "And I really hope your electronics are water-proof and can help you survive a fall from Angel Island to the water below."

"Oh cra…" both began before a Tyrannosaurus Rex Grimlock bellowed as he ripped out of the cage and rammed into Bruticus, his tail whacking the two and sending them right over the shrine and off the island, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

"Wh…what is the meaning of this?!" Kragok snapped.

Shade swung a kick up, making Kragok move back before rolling out of the way of a laser coming out of the tip of the boot, striking and shattering the crystals covering Knuckles. The moment he was freed, Knuckles rushed to the Master Emerald and used his good arm to deliver a sweeping strike at the two Dark Legion troopers at it, sending them flying off.

"I don't care if you're an echidna," Knuckles growled as he put a hand on the Master Emerald, causing its odd glow to settle a little back to its normal brilliance before the glow came over him…and his injuries all vanished, "You do not take my duty with malicious intent."

"You weren't my sister?!" Lien-Da gawked as Shade wiped her shoulder of some dirt that had gotten on her from the rather uncomfortable hold the robots had on her.

"Wasn't expecting him to realize the moment he looked at me that I wasn't her," Shade admitted as she picked up the ID Mask and put it away, "The rune must have been carved incorrectly, I suppose." she pulled Lien-Da up, "But how about venting on these guys and then ponder about it later?"

"..." Lien-Da scowled as electricity roared off her body, "Gladly." she swung a hand out and fired a blast at one of the Dark Legion troopers that tried to tackle her, sending them crashing into a group of them running up the stairs and knocking them all away and letting her jump off and at them all, "GRAH!"

Bruticus roared, slamming a fist into the side of Grimlock's head, only to cause the T-Rex to spin around and slam his tail into Bruticus and knocking him back several meters. He swung a punch, intent on using the propeller buzzsaw, only for Grimlock to lunge and bite down hard on the blades before ripping it off his arm and then smacking it across Bruticus's face. The combiner bellowed in fury as he and Grimlock fired their flames at one another, creating an explosion from their collison. A green blur raced about before Clove skidded to a halt on her cybernetic hooves, scythe deployed. She flicked it and several dozen of the Frost and Flame Legion troops under Kragok's command fell to pieces. One aimed to incinerate her only for Omega to grab it by the head and crush it like tissue paper.

I have been restrained for far too long! Destruction of Dark Legion resumes!= Omega declared as he cleaved a Frost Legion bot in two before his free hand retracted into his body and deployed a gatling gun that fired off a laser barrage that tore into several other robots owned by the Dark Legion.

"You knew this would happen," Conquering Storm realized as Sonia smirked.

"All planned out," Sonia replied, "They stayed outside of range until Shade either revealed herself or was exposed. She had the speaker on in that ID Mask at all times so the Nocturnus would know when to start."

"WHAT?!" Kragok snapped as he overheard that before gagging as a blur sphere and a yellow sphere slammed into him and sent him crashing away from the shrine before they bounced off him and uncurled into Sonic and Roll respectively.

"Hey, Kraggy. I've got a list of complaints. No little chocolates on the pillow or even pillow for that matter? What lousy service you've got!" Sonic huffed.

"Normally, I'm apologetic, but you did threaten to Legionize us against our will," Roll added, Yacker going into her sword and turning it into the Burst Bustersword, "Hope you're ready for a beat down. Our names are Sonic and Roll. Got it memorized?"

"RAH!" Kragok snapped as he tried to strike the two, only for them to become a blur and avoid the crystal spikes that tried impaling them, "You insufferable rats!"

"Hey~! One of my ancestors was a rat, thank you very much," Roll huffed before Kragok avoided a blast of flames only for Sonic's shoe to slam into the back of his head.

"And I'm not a rat! I'm a Hedgehog!" Sonic corrected before racing off and avoiding more crystals.

"Big mistake pulling all yer troops into this part of da island, mon!" Grimm declared, hefting up a missile launcher and fired off several shots.

"That's right! We've got you all cornered for once!" Knix cheered as she moved about, nimbly jumping around and smacking several of their enemies with an electrified bo staff, while Lien-Da shot at them.

"GRAH!" Sticks roared, lunging and tackling into a Frost Legion machine and ripped out several wires, causing it to go nuts and start randomly shooting and freezing its own allies, "EVIL!"

"How did you heal up so fast?" Shade asked as she and Knuckles stood side-by-side on the shrine, punching, kicking, chopping, and shooting (on Shade's end) the Dark Legion's troops that tried to grab them.

"Tikal taught me it," Knuckles replied, "I'll apologize to Chaos later for using it without permission, though." he stopped on seeing Xenin approach, "You."

"Heh. Me," Xenin responded, cracking his mechanical knuckles, "Up for another loss, Guardian?"

"No," Knuckles replied, slamming his namesakes together after putting his gloves back on, "Winning."

Xenin merely smirked before the two rushed at one another, fist reeled back before they clashed with one another, the strike of their attack causing a small shockwave for a moment that knocked everyone off but Shade, who had managed to hold onto a pillar to avoid it. Knuckles roared as he slammed a fist into Xenin's side and earned a blow from him in return…before they both ended up delivering a barrage of punches, sending out shockwaves with each blow.

A few of Kragok's robots attempted to fire at the Echidna, only for their heads to be sliced off from Clove's scythe as the Pronghorn before she kicked their bodies away. She looked out to the two brawlers as a wind began to pick up and strongly blow away from their impacts.

"Did you forget I have shock absorption?!" Xenin demanded.

"Yeah? WHAT ABOUT IT?!" Knuckles responded before, with a roar, he began to punch harder and faster, "Your power is Shock Absorption, not Nullification! That means there's a limit you can take, right?!"

Xenin's eye widened before narrowing and he quickly slammed a fist into Knuckles's side, causing him to cough up blood. A moment passed before Knuckles roared and continued his barrage.

"Your power was made to best heavy hitters, big guy! But if you think you can handle me at my very best, then I'll just have to go even further beyond!" Knuckles declared.

Sonic stabbed Caliburn in the ground alongside Roll and her Burst Bustersword. Nearby, Kragok grit his teeth as a crystal spike was all that was keeping him from being blown back.

"What is this…?" Kragok questioned, only able to see their fists as blurs, "Nobody's been able to handle Xenin's power! He even showed he could overcome the Guardian from what his machinery spoke of it!"

Sonic smirked, "Well…That's where you're wrong about us! You guys were stuck in that place for so long that Mobius has come a long way since you last remembered it."

Roll kept her eyes focused on the fight, watching the punches fly as if they were going at normal speeds to her and Sonic. While Xenin's blows were all flying in a frenzied state, Knuckles were all deliberate, concentrated. Each one targeted on the same spot and each one giving it his very all. A roar erupted from bloodied lips as Knuckles's right fist rammed into Xenin…and sparks and small explosions broke out of the nearly cannibalized Echidna's frame. The ground shattered under him as he was sent off as a bronze blur that was quickly followed by a red one, going right off the smaller island and onto the larger mass.

"I am this island's Guardian!" Knuckles declared, delivering a power blow into Xenin that sent him skidding into the ground, "And as such, I have a duty to protect not only the land we are upon, but save the 'Flower' of this land from evil's deterioration!" Xenin flipped up and went for a hammerblow only for Knuckles to move faster than him and slam his fists in a corkscrew maneuver, becoming a red drill that sent him crashing through several trees, "And that includes YOU!"

All the fighting had halted, none of them able to look away from the battle that had become one-sided on the organic combatant's end. Knuckles delivered an uppercut that sent Xenin high into the air. Knuckles slammed his fist into the ground, sending himself flying up into the air and grabbed the mechanized Echidna by the leg. With a roar, he became a wheel of red and bronze before slamming Xenin down hard the ground, shattering it and sending large chunks into the air. Xenin gagged as he bounced up into the air while Knuckles landed on the ground, his violet eyes bleeding into red as red electricity crackled off his fists. Barely behind him, an intricate white pattern materialized resembling a side-view of his head and the Master Emerald within an intricate ring design made of various runic patterns.

"Now for a lesson…You've never heard these words before, but know that this is a declaration that I have long used to protect Angel Island and all those who are welcomed from threats like you," Knuckles declared as the electricity on his fists crackled before erupting into brilliant crimson flames, "Now I will teach you and all you of the Dark Legion what they are!" he reeled his fist back, "GET!" Xenin's organic eye went wide in fear, "OFF!" pain erupted through his circuitry and what little nerves he had remaining as intense heat erupted, "MY!" Knuckles fully put his back into it, "ISLAND!-!-!-!"

With that declaration, Knuckles finished the punch. Xenin couldn't even scream as his body was torn to shreds from the impact as an electrified, red-tinted shockwave roared out of it and washed over the entire island. The Dark Legionnaires and the captured non-robotic members of Eggman's forces cried out as many of them collapsed, sparks coming off their bodies from where their cybernetics were as they shut down while all the robots of both troops sparked and collapsed. Omega tilted his head as it came over him and didn't even do a thing. A green flash went off before it could hit Grimlock, letting it harmlessly go over FourArms, while Bruticus stumbled back before collapsing into his five offline components. Knuckles panted, stumbling onto a knee, as pieces and scraps of Xenin fell around. The crystal wall before Kragok cracked before shattering, his cybernetics left unharmed as he stared at the sight with wide, disbelieving eyes. Conquering Storm and Clove landed from a jump from the latter avoiding the shockwave as Shockwave rose up from around a pillar, his optic focused on everything and then on Knuckles.

"The Guardian was able to generate an electromagnetic pulse from his blows," Shockwave observed, "This was not in his original files nor in the files Lien-Da created based upon her version of the Guardian."

"...What the hell…?" Lien-Da whispered with wide eyes, unable to get up from her spot on the steps.

"No…no no no!" Kragok exclaimed as he began to bare his fangs, "No! All my hard work!"

Shade sighed in relief, leaning against the Master Emerald as she whispered to herself, "It…It's over? Is it really over?"

"Almost."

"!?" Shade's eyes went wide as she turned her head to see Ix walking up to her, "I-Imperator Ix? Is…Is it really…?"

"Yes. I'm saddened that the ruse I had to do caused an innocent life to be lost," Ix noted as he laid a locked up Julie-Su against the Master Emerald.

"R-Ruse?"

"I did not want to do it, but the young echidna was insistent upon it," Ix shook his head before looking over at the prone Lien-Da and nodded to himself, "I do apologize for tricking you as well, my beloved apprentice."

Shade's eyes watered, "Wh-Why…?"

"To stop Kragok, of course," Ix replied happily, "The same ritual for Enerjak is also for Lady Aurora." he nodded, "A new beginning should be welcomed with the goddess of our people who only needs little and not all like Enerjak. Merely winded and not dead." he offered a hand, "Would you be willing to aid in this, my dear?"

"...I…th…"

"You…you lied…" she turned to see Kragok slowly stand up, glaring at the white Echidna, "I promised you my forces for your cause…so that both Nocturnus and the Dark Legion can lead Mobius to its true self…you promised us Enerjak!"

"?! What?!" Shade gasped.

"I promised nothing to a purveyor of honeyed words and falsehoods," Ix calmly replied.

Shade blinked a few times before narrowing her eyes and glared at Kragok, "A final attempt to turn us against the Imperator and all the good he has done…the one who embraced everyone from the Zone that they had lost even if most of them joined your cause." she turned to Ix, a determined look on her face, "Imperator, I am pleased to help call upon Lady Aurora if only to help our fellow Echidnas repent and be welcomed back as well as punish Kragok and the worst of his people for what they did to not just us but those innocents of the Twilight Cage."

"Splendid!" Ix beamed.

"...?! So that's your plan…" Kragok quietly realized, quickly looking back at Sonic and the others, "STOP HIM!"

"The Servers are the Seven Chaos," Ix intoned as he laid a hand on the Master Emerald.

The Master Emerald flashed as three strings of light came out of it and encircled the two paralyzed echidnas and Shade.

"Why should we believe you?" Sonic asked, quirking a brow, "You tried killing us."

"You don't understand! He used you…all of us! All to get close to the Master Emerald!" Kragok shouted.

"Chaos is power…Power controlled by my will," Ix continued.

The strings tightly grabbed all three, causing Shade to tense up. Her eyes widened as a muted cry escaped her lips, a burning sensation erupting from her body.

"Wh-what's going on?!" Sonia exclaimed as Ix began to float into the air.

"The controller exists…" Ix raised his hands before swinging them out, "TO ENSLAVE THE CHAOS!"

With that, the strings pulsed and turned black alongside the Master Emerald. Before anyone could react, beams of white light shot out of all three girls and slammed into Ix. Ix grunted before tilting his head back, letting loose a loud roar. Bones began to snap and break in his body as his form started to straighten out.

"I was afraid of this…" Kragok whispered as he stood there, a look of horror in his eye as energy began to build up around Ix, "It wasn't Knuckles nor I he wanted to channel Enerjak's power into…it was himself."

Ix raised his staff high as a massive dome of energy came off him, engulfing Kragok and the center of the shrine in the process, as a massive pillar of energy rose up into the sky. For several long moments, all that was seen was a bright light. Slowly, it died down and three shriveled bodies that had once been Julie-Su, Lien-Da, and Shade collapsed like puppets cut from their strings. Floating where Ix had been now hovered an echidna. His body was donned in a pitch black bodysuit, covered in golden armor as a flowing black and red cape blew behind him.. His knuckles were covered in bulkier gold armor resembling curved twin spikes with long gold guards covering his shoulders. His long red dreadlocks flowed, bits of gold covering them at random spots on each one. A loincloth of gold covered his waist with one part stretching down to just past his knees with a thick patch of black silk going down the middle of it. Lastly, his head was engulfed, shrouded by a golden Egyptian-like mask with red circuit designs around the eyes and a ruby gem upon the forehead.

"Ix…Wha…What did he do?" Knix gasped.

"He is no longer Ix," Nestor spoke, standing by Tikal as fear was all on the poor spirit's face, "He…is Enerjak."

---

"Roll's Character Interviews!" A Chibi Omake

A set of curtains rise up, revealing a white room with a large window in the background depicting the night sky. Before the window was a large couch, a few potted plants, a wooden desk, and a comfy chair behind the desk. Sitting at the desk was Roll, dressed up in a black and pink formal women's business suit. On the table was a coffee mug filled with hot cocoa with the word 'I' followed by a heart and then a picture of Sonic's symbol.

"Konnichiwa, minna!" Roll greeted, "And welcome to another episode of 'Character Interviews'! I'm your host, Roll Sakurai." She looked towards the couch, "In this segment, we interview characters in the story thus far and may even revisit some characters later on!" she looked back at the 'audience,' "So, minna, let's give a big round of applause for our next guest; White Rose-Prower!"

"Hello," White greeted, sitting on the couch.

"Thank you for coming today, White-san," Roll greeted, "I was hoping we'd hear more about Hyorinmaru since we've gotten a few...issues...asked about it."

"Issues? ...The Bond?"

"And repercussions, yes."

"Ah...In that case, let's get started. The Bond is a supernatural phenomenon born to those underneath the light of the crystals of the city that only affects females," White explained, a screen showing the city's 'sun/moon' on it, "We don't understand why it doesn't do the same to males, but it has been a great benefit for healthy relationships. When a female born in the city is rescued with pure selflessness in mind, a 'trigger' goes off inside of them, causing them to become flushed, losing their breath, a cold sweat despite a strong warmth going through their bodies, and an increase in hormones. Once this occurs, the woman kisses who saved them and their soul becomes intertwined with their rescuer's."

"I have done that myself. This Bond is symbolized by wings of light materializing during the kiss and appearing on occasion when they have intimate moments with one another," Roll added, showing her own Bonding moment on the screen, "We are unable to leave, at first, two blocks away from our Bonded or the Bond attacks us women of Hyorinmaru, stopping out hearts and preventing us from breathing. Too long away and we'll likely die."

White grimaced, "Truly tragic. Hence why they are so strict on Bonds and their importance."

Roll nodded, "A male that tries to force a Bond through falsehoods will be banished from Hyorinmaru, their minds stripped of the knowledge, and castrated. A woman that helps the male is also banished and their rendered sterile."

"And that's another thing: the Bond only triggers for a male and female. It never appears for a female saving a female," White added, "Most likely? It is meant to assist in the continued existence of our people and ways."

"Soka..." Roll nodded, "So it's not Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male?"

"No. No it is not," White affirmed, "I cannot tell you how many times Miyuki has had to answer that."

"I'd rather not know," Roll grimaced as the curtains fell.

---

SZ:...welp, we're fucked.

GT: Hoo boy…We updated, only to give them a biggie of a cliffhanger. For those who've watched videos of the game or actually played it, not surprised that Ix planned this, did you? And apologies for the long wait. We've had to deal with a lot of stuff the last few years, but do not worry! We have not only improved our writing skills, but we have things planned!

SZ: Indeed. Also…we did not expect our collaboration story with z0, Galactic Shift Extend to get so popular within these past few years.

GT: Correct! We also have a ton of other fics going on along with extremely busy mornings for me since I work the night shift at my job along with some stuff with SZ that's private that it's hard to find time to write. But we promise you that we are still working on this, but…we also have some good news-bad news. The good news is us getting back to this. Bad news? After careful consideration, we're going to be ending things after the next Arc. Do not worry, however, there are things going on in the background for this fic and what comes after that last Arc.

SZ: Yeah do not worry folks. We haven't' given up on this.

GT: Indeed. And you'll see what we have in store at the end of the final Arc, which we've been slowly setting up in earlier chapters from one-off stuff.

SZ: Mmm hmm. Anyways we hope you enjoyed this chapter…so please read and review folks.