Egg Base Beta, 2 Days Later

Eggman was working on a recently drafted up list, writing down names using a physical pen. Sage was watching him over his shoulder.

After the Eggman Empire was able to safely mobilize, they quickly abandoned Egg Base T, quickly scurrying to another uninhabited base. Sage was starting to realize that her father created quite a few bases that he didn't seem he was ever going to use. She decided to chalk it up to caution and not whimsy.

Sage looked at her father curiously. "What are you writing, Father?" She asked. Eggman glanced at her, before a thoughtful expression entered his face.

He sighed, before a resigned look appeared on his face. "To be truthful Daughter, I'm drafting up a list of targets to never hit with the Morality Cube." he said, sounding like he was admitting a great failure.

Sage looked at him in slight surprise. "Why?" She asked. Eggman spun around, before writing again. "To be entirely truthful, the transformation of that princess was unexpected. It made me think of what other possibilities could occur if the wrong target was switched." He said.

Eggman was trying to be nonchalant about it, just like he was when he told Tangle and Alcurine the reason for the move, but he truly was shocked by the outcome of that blast. He had no idea just how much rage the cat was holding inside. If he had been outside in a mech, he would've been lucky to survive, let alone attempt to convert her to his side. That put things into perspective for the doctor, and he decided to reexamine what targets would be more trouble than they were worth to convert.

"What names have you written down so far, Father?" Sage asked, curious.

Eggman's thoughtful look appeared on his face once again. "Several people, and I'll explain my motives why." He started, before clearing his throat.

"For starters, Sonic. This is one of the few that I have no fear about getting shot however, as he was one of the two people I specifically programmed the Cube to not affect. The other being me, of course. As to why, the pest would be a threat to the world if he went dark, and most definitely to me. I don't want to deal with that." He muttered. "On the newly created list however, the next down is Silver the hedgehog. I must admit it was an oversight on my part to not program the Cube away from affecting him as well. I truly shudder to think what an evil time traveller would do. If Silver had no more morality on what he did, the timeline could very well crumble, and that wouldn't be good for anyone." Eggman said, a dark look coming over his face.

Sage tilted her head. "If you realize this now, why don't you simply reprogram the Cube?" She asked, also wary of what an evil Silver could do. Eggman shook his head brazenly. "No, I can't do that. Once again, another foolish oversight. I specifically designed the Cube to be impossible to rewrite, so that someone like that foolish Prower wouldn't rewrite it to affect me or just turn people good if they ever did manage to get their hands on the Cube. The only way to possibly do that was to make an ever changing code so advanced that not even I could possibly break it. One of my better accomplishments, and one I certainly plan on installing in you at some point. However, because of my reasonable paranoia, I can no longer rewrite the Cube on who it can and can't affect." He said, both proud and glum. "So instead, I just have to make sure my subordinates take care in who they shoot, hence the list." He said, gesturing back to the paper.

Sage looked at him thoughtfully. On one level, it did make sense to find a way to keep the Cube from being hacked. On another, it was truly shortsighted to create the Cube with the ever changing code before he even properly tested it. Sage just shook her head. As smart as Father was, no one was perfect. At least Father could admit that it was an easily avoidable oversight.

Eggman seemed to shake the glumness away. "Anyway, where was I? Ah yes! The third down would have probably been that princess, but since she was already affected, the spot moves on to Shadow." He said, an apprehensive look appearing in his face. Sage just looked at him.

"Why Shadow, Father? Wasn't he on your side at some point? Wouldn't he be beneficial to our cause, and far less likely to be against you?" She asked, previous data on Shadow the hedgehog appearing in her mind.

"While Shadow could most definitely be an asset if turned, I don't truly know if he can be. While creating the Cube, I used DNA of islanders and humans so the Cube could affect those two species, and to keep it from affecting something like plant life, for instance. However, Shadow's DNA is neither of those things. He has parts of both islander DNA and human DNA. However, the thing that truly concerns me is his Black Arms DNA. I didn't have any of that on hand, so the Cube wouldn't properly recognize nor affect it. Either it just wouldn't work, partially work, or a completely unintended effect would happen. I don't know. So, to be on the safe side, he'll be on the do not shoot list." Eggman said gruffly.

Sage just nodded. She could see the wisdom in that.

"Finally, the last person on the do not shoot list is Trip the Sungazer." he said, not explaining.

Sage just looked confused. Trip? That was one of Eggman's old enemies from when Father was still called Robotnik, correct? She wasn't even a part of the Restoration, nor has she been in contact with anyone as far as the Eggman Empire was aware. What an oddly specific target to not shoot.

For some reason, Eggman decided to not elaborate on why Trip the Sungazer was on the do not turn list, and he just went back to writing. Sage looked on for a moment, before realizing that just four names wouldn't constitute this much writing. "Father, what else are you writing?" She asked, confused.

For the first time, Eggman gave his malicious grin. "Why, I'm writing the shoot on sight list, of course!" He said, laughing. "If I'm going to make a don't shoot list, I should better make a do shoot list, just to cover all my bases."

Sage let him laugh. After Eggman finished, he realized that Sage would probably want to see who was on this list as well. He smiled. "Right right, sorry. Ahem. The top two targets that I want turned are either Tails or Amy. I think you can understand the reasons as to why." He said, to which Sage just nodded.

"Secondly, Rouge the Bat would be a wonderful addition to my army. Right now, she is working for GUN because of a flimsy set of morals and the jewels they pay her. Get rid of those morals and she would doubtless work for the highest bidder, and that would be me. In fact, she has worked with me in the past, during the ARK incident. If she didn't grow a set of morals after that mistake, she would doubtless still be on my side. She will be easy to convert. Third is probably Whisper the Wolf. there's no doubt in my mind that she would not join me, but the ruthlessness she would no doubt gain could result in some fracturing in the Restoration, and even better! I have a feeling she would turn her ire to the Restoration just as much as to me." Eggman said, cackling.

Sage thought that creating a ruthless soldier who would no doubt kill Eggman if given the chance wasn't exactly a smart move, but before she could mention it, Father continued.

"Next on the list would be Knuckles the Echidna. As I'm sure you have gleaned, we have worked together in the past. However, I'm fairly certain he wouldn't work for me again. But, if his morals were switched, I have a feeling he would abandon the Restoration, probably to stand guard of the Master Emerald against not just me but everyone. This would effectively take him off the field. So, best case scenario, he joins me again. Worst case? He simply disappears, which would leave me with one less pest to deal with." Eggman stated, looking smug.

"After those pests, I don't care who gets hit. They are too inconsequential to matter. As long as they might be able to join my side, I have no reason to look out for them specifically." He said dismissively, before turning back to the paper.

Sage had a feeling that things were about to get out of hand.

Restoration HQ, cellblock.

Sonic once again came down to the recently renovated cellblock, to visit Blaze. Once he arrived at Blaze's cell, he took a look into her cell, only to immediately be set with panic when he saw that she was staring intently at a Sol Emerald that Sonic knew no one put in there.

Sonic immediately started mobilizing to stop her at a moment's notice, before she noticed him and just scoffed. "How little you think of me after I was changed. If I wanted to escape this pathetic cell with the Sol Emeralds, I would have done so already." She sniffed, before once again turning back to the emerald.

Sonic didn't relax. If anything, he just grew more wary. "Then why haven't you? In case you don't remember Princess, you are pretty insistent on getting out every time I check on ya." He said, to which Blaze just smiled.

"My, and here I thought my pleas were falling on deaf ears." She uttered with a grin, in which Sonic just rolled his eyes. "But yes, I certainly want to get out of here and turn Eggman to ash." She muttered.

"But there's not enough room in this cage for me to do the ritual to go back to my own dimension. And using Burning Blaze for something as trivial as a jailbreak is beneath even me. I'm a Princess, I don't do desperate. Or at least, not that desperate." She said, an imperious tone creeping into her voice.

Sonic didn't relax, but most of the tenseness in his frame dissipated. Instead he just looked at her curiously. "Well then, what are you doing with that Sol Emerald there, Princess?" He asked apprehensively.

Blaze turned back to the emerald in her hand. For the very first time, Sonic saw a morose look on 'Crazy' Blaze's face. "I was trying to sense the Sol Emerald's power. I was trying to communicate with it. I have neither felt any power nor have I been able to communicate with the emerald. It seems I am no longer the Sol Emeralds' guardian." She said quietly, to which Sonic froze in shock.

What?

Blaze just sighed. "My old version suspected that If I was 'changed', something like this would happen. Guess she was correct. I can still summon the Sol Emeralds, and I can still turn into Burning Blaze if need be, but everything else about the Sol Emeralds have been cut off from me. I'm now no longer different then you or Silver in regards to the Chaos Emeralds. Ironic, isn't it?" She said despondently. "I get the ability to be just like you, and yet I get none of your benefits while I get shafted with all the negatives." She muttered, a bit of the anger flaring up again.

The anger didn't even last a moment before Blaze went back to being melancholy. Apparently, the blow to her psyche about losing her duty was greater than even her rage.

Sonic genuinely couldn't believe it. Yeah, this Blaze certainly had her problems, but whenever he had the chance to talk to Blaze when she wasn't going crazy with rage, she seemed like she would still be a guardian to the Sol Emeralds regardless of what she felt now. Apparently, Eggman's laser couldn't erase years of duty ingrained into somebody, even if it could make you think differently about that duty.

But now, Blaze's guardianship of the emeralds was just… gone? Just like that? That…

That wasn't fair. Nobody should lose something because of circumstances beyond their control. Sonic thought, his fist clenching involuntarily. I promise, I'll get back your guardianship with the emeralds. You don't deserve this fate.

Suddenly, the Sol Emerald in Blaze's hand started to glow. Blaze immediately perked up, looking hopeful. It wasn't long before the hopeful look was immediately replaced with shock.

"WHAT!?" She shouted loudly.

Suddenly, the Sol Emerald teleported out of Blaze's hands, before it, along with the other six Sol Emeralds, appeared around Sonic, surrounding him in a cyclone of fire. Sonic should have been worried, but something about the fire felt strangely nice. Warmth seemed to spread from his chest to his entire body, before everything just flickered out.

While Sonic was reeling from that experience, he noticed another sense he was fairly certain he never had before. He looked at the seven Sol Emeralds, which had fallen down at his feet, and realized that the feeling was stronger when he looked at them.

Was he… sensing them?

He turned back to Blaze, who was looking at him in pure disbelief. "Wha- but- No that can't be… that…" She muttered listlessly. "That…" She said, before she fell to her knees.

A crazed grin broke out on her face. "So, that's how it's going to be? Heh. Why am I even surprised? He was the most obvious second choice here." She muttered to herself, before giggling.

Sonic was starting to feel both worried and weirded out. "Blaze…? What's going on?" He asked reluctantly. Blaze just stood back up, a mirthful grin still on her face.

"Don't you get it Sonic? I'm no longer the Sol Emeralds' guardian. That means that, even if temporarily, the mantle has to pass on to somebody." She said, her smile growing.

Sonic just shrugged, the answer escaping him. "So?" he asked. Blaze once again just smirked.

"Congratulations Sonic the hedgehog. The Sol Emeralds have chosen you, as their new guardian. May you carry out your grave duty with honor and integrity." She said stoically, before breaking out in crazed laughter.

Sonic just looked back at the Sol Emeralds in disbelief.

"WHAT!?"