Sorry for taking a bit long with this chapter, but honestly, the Sonic Adventure adaption might as well be the most complex one to date, since I made it a Free-For-All. This is not just the story where were follow Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Gamma and Big's POV, but I expanded it to include many more characters, including Silver, Team Dark, Team Chaotix, Cream and Cheese, Mephiles, the Babylon Rogues, Rough and Tumble, Dr. Starline and Metal Sonic fighting over the Chaos Emeralds, with all of them getting to play a part in their story. I seriously hope I'm at least doing a good job of properly relying where everyone is and what they're doing.

Hope you'll enjoy the chapter!

Entry 51

An Ancient Ally

''Oh yeah! Act tough, jump on, and become like the wind! Go past the trajectory of the vast sky!''

– Mikakunin Hikousen (Unindentified Airship) by Digimon Adventure: (2020)

xXxXxXx

Big the Cat had a rather simple outlook on life. He liked to fish and he liked to spend time with his friend Froggy. That was all. However, that didn't mean that he wouldn't help people in need. That also included a small pink orb of light that was floating around him, asking him to help her finding ''The Last Guardian'', whom Big knew as Knuckles.

''I'm not completely sure where he is… but I know where his home is,'' Big said, with Froggy, who was sitting on the top of his head, croaking in acknowledgement. ''If you go straight this way, you will find it.''

''Thank you!'' Tikal responded. Suddenly, Froggy reacted to something and leapt off, surprising both Big and Tikal as he left.

''Froggy, wait up!'' Big followed the frog, leaving Tikal behind. Tikal sighed, realizing that she was on her own. She couldn't blame Big for leaving, as the purple cat was clearly worried about his friend leaving so suddenly, especially in a moment of crisis like this. She then went into the direction Big had shown her, hoping that she would be able to find Knuckles. She could sense Chaos presence, and as much as she wanted to go to him to save him, she knew that she needed proper help.

xXx

Lily, Knuckles and Team Chaotix were in Eas, following the signal that would lead them to the Chaos Emerald. Fortunately, it seemed to be close by, with the group racing towards it, Charmy being ahead of everyone. They had entered a residential area, with Lily and Knuckles recognizing it.

''Oh, please don't tell me this is going where I think it goes,'' Lily groaned in disbelief. Charmy flew up, placing his hand over his forehead.

''Hey, I can see your house from here!'' he told Lily and Knuckles. The two exchanged a look, with Knuckles giving her a serious gaze.

''If your mother doesn't hand us the Chaos Emerald over, we will fight her for it,'' he said. Lily had to stifle a chuckle, having to agree that Knuckles was right.

''I don't think that will be necessary,'' Espio said, pointing at a Super Badnik, E-106 Eta and the Egg Keepers that followed him. It appeared that Eta had also detected the presence of the Chaos Emerald, going straight for it. However, the Badnik suddenly turned around when Espio threw a kunai, hitting one of the nearby Egg Keepers and drawing Eta's attention. Vector stepped out, cracking his knuckles.

''We won't let you get that Chaos Emerald! Chaotix, go!'' Vector exclaimed, with him, Espio and Charmy rushing towards the Badniks. Knuckles too went after them, while Lily left the battle, instead using the distraction to get to the Chaos Emerald. Fortunately for her, the Egg Keepers were too busy fighting Knuckles, Vector, Espio and Charmy, and the Chaos Emerald wasn't too far from their current location. In fact, it was in the small woods close to her house, and to her relief, she found it stuck on a tree. She climbed up, relieved to find the purple Chaos Emerald and grabbed it.

''Gotcha! Now to- agh!'' Lily almost fell out of the tree when Eta suddenly appeared and ripped the Chaos Emerald out of her hands. She held onto a thick branch for her life, while Eta scanned the Chaos Emerald to make sure it was the real one, only to get slammed into the tree, the purple Chaos Emerald flying out of his hand. As it turned out, Knuckles broke off from the fight and tailed Eta, attacking him on sight.

''Are you okay?'' he asked when Lily got off the tree. He got a nod in response, and the two turned to Eta, who attempted to get to the Chaos Emerald. Knuckles punched Eta again, trying to keep him away from the Chaos Emerald, while Lily picked it up. Knuckles narrowed his eyes, glaring at Eta. ''Yeah, this one is tougher than the other Badniks.''

''How about using Chaos Surge?'' Lily suggested. ''We destroy the Badnik, he won't get the Chaos Emerald.''

Knuckles nodded, reaching his gloved hand out for Lily. ''Chaos Surge!''

As Eta charged once again at them, claws formed into a closed fist, he was met with a punch from a Chaos Surge-charged Knuckles. Surprisingly, Eta had managed to withstand it, having been upgraded by Dr. Eggman for combat against Team Neos. However, what Eta did not expect was to get punched by Lily square in the face. The moment Chaos Surge was used, they became an unit. Knuckles delivered another energy-charged punch, pushing the Badnik back, and then delivered an upercut, sending Eta flying against a tree. The robot fell over, seemingly defeated.

''That was close,'' Lily said. ''We should go back to the Chaotix.''

Knuckles nodded, but before either of them could even leave, they were surprised by a pink orb of light appearing before them. Knuckles rose an eyebrow as it started to float around him. ''What is that?''

''My name is Tikal. I'm so glad that I had found you, Guardian,'' Tikal told him, with Knuckles giving her a confused look.

''I don't know you…'' Knuckles replied, glancing at Lily for some kind of advice. He felt like he should know what's going on, but at the moment, his mind was blank.

''That is fine. We have never met before, but I know who you are, and I need your help, Guardian,'' Tikal responded, with Knuckles's eyes narrowing.

''What do I have to do?'' he asked.

''The Master Emerald had been shattered, and you're the only one who can find the shards and put it back together. If you do that, you'll be able to seal Chaos back into the Master Emerald,'' Tikal replied.

''That tracks, but wouldn't it be also possible to calm Chaos down without sealing him back into the Master Emerald?'' Lily asked.

''Unfortunately, not this time. Chaos is being controlled by that platypus scientist, so the only option we have is to seal him back into the Master Emerald,'' Tikal replied. Both Knuckles and Lily gave her a stunned look.

''Platypus scientist?!''

''Knuckles, Lily, are you-'' Knuckles and Lily turned to Vector, who had managed to arrive, followed closely by Espio and Charmy. They had destroyed the Egg Keepers and were about to join the battle with Eta, only see them talking to a red orb. Vector scratched his head. ''Uh, what's going on?''

''Starline was the one who unleashed Chaos upon Neos City by shattering the Master Emerald,'' Knuckles explained. ''Lily and I will try to find the shards. You should go to Souto and find the other Chaos Emerald. Here, take this.''

Knuckles took off his AR Visor, giving it to Vector. Lily tossed the Chaos Emerald to Espio. ''I don't know how long it'll take to find the shards, so it would be best if you guys bring the Chaos Emerald to Lucas and Sonic.''

''You can count on us,'' Vector said, placing Knuckles' AR Visor around his neck.

''How do you even plan on finding the Master Emerald shards?'' Charmy asked.

''I will be their guide,'' Tikal said, drawing the attention of the Chaotix, who gave her a confused look.

''Who are you?'' Espio asked.

''My name is Tikal the Echidna, the daughter of Pachacamac, the last chieftain of the Knuckles Clan, which resided in Mystic Ruins 3000 years ago. My father and my tribe had attempted to steal the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald from their guardian, Chaos. In retaliation, Chaos ended up going on a destructive rampage, so I sealed him and myself into the Master Emerald.'' Tikal formally introduced herself.

''You don't look much like an echidna,'' Charmy pointed out.

''Charmy!'' Vector scolded him, but Tikal flew around them.

''This is just a form I took after being released from the Master Emerald,'' she explained, turning to Knuckles. ''We need to hurry up.''

''Right.'' Knuckles nodded, him and Lily following Tikal, while Vector turned to Espio and Charmy.

''Okay, you heard 'em boys. We have a mission to complete,'' he said, only to see Charmy and Espio's eyes widening in surprise. He turned around, only to see Eta suddenly getting up, realizing that the E-100 Series robot still wasn't done with them.

xXx

''What is a Chaos Emerald doing here?'' Rika asked. She, Wave, Arven, Storm and Chase were staring at the green gem Jet was holding in his hand. They had left their airship hovering over Infinity Forest, with Wave being alerted by a sudden energy surge and they decided to investigate, finding the Chaos Emerald.

''Wait, that's a Chaos Emerald? What is it doing here? Are those things even supposed to exist in this reality?'' Wave asked, with the rest of the Babylon Rogues exchanging puzzled looks. Jet shrugged.

''I don't care. If it's a real Chaos Emerald, then it's valuable and we can sell it off to someone.''

''The only person I imagine that would be interested in buying the Chaos Emerald is Eggman,'' Chase said. Admittedly, he knew that Team Neos would also want the Chaos Emerald, but he wasn't going to tell them anything on principle.

''He's only getting it if he pays a nice sum for it. Else, we walk and find a different buyer,'' Jet said, quite satisfied with his little scheme.

However, before the Babylon Rogues could even return to their airship, they were startled by a flash of cyan light, with Shadow, Rouge and Touka stepping out of it. They immediately spotted the green Chaos Emerald in Jet's hand.

''I will say this only one time,'' Shadow said, stepping towards them and extending his hand. ''Give us the Chaos Emerald, and you'll walk free.''

The Babylon Rogues exchanged glances, Chase, Rika and Arven being a bit more nervous than Jet, Wave and Storm were. They knew that Shadow was really dangerous. Of course, Jet didn't care.

''Ha, if you want the Chaos Emerald, you'll have to race me for it first!'' Jet said, quite excited about the idea of showing off.

''Jet!'' Wave shouted indignantly, knowing that if he lost, they'd lose the Chaos Emerald.

''You go, Boss!'' Storm, on the other hand, completely ignored everyone's reaction and gave a thumbs up. Shadow was slightly taken aback by Jet's challenge, but before he could respond, Touka rose her voice.

''If you want a hoverboard race, I'm all for it!'' she said excitedly, her eyes gleaming. Shadow rolled his eyes as he heard this response. He knew Touka well enough to be aware that she wouldn't refuse a hoverboard race, even in such a situation. Surprisingly, Rouge stepped out, walking over to the Babylon Rogues.

''Is that Chaos Emerald really that unimportant to you that you would wager it in a race?'' she asked, stepping in front of Jet.

''As if! I never lose, so I'm not afraid take the risk,'' Jet bragged, with Rouge grabbing his hands, an elated expression on her face.

''Ah, I recognize you! You're that famous racer, Jet the Hawk! I'm so glad to meet you, I'm a big fan of yours! Could I get your autograph?'' Rouge asked, much to Shadow and Touka's confusion.

''Of course you can!'' Jet replied, grinning proudly and turning back to Wave, Storm, Chase, Rika and Arven. ''See, I'm famous enough to have my own fans asking for my autographs! Does anyone have a pen?''

Chase, Rika and Arven remained puzzled by what was going on, Storm was clapping, while Wave just facepalmed in exasperation.

''Don't worry, that's not necessary,'' Rouge suddenly said, letting go off Jet's hands and walking back to Shadow and Touka. ''As a matter of fact, I don't need your autograph when I have this.''

Rouge placed a hand on her hip, lifting the other hand and showing the green Chaos Emerald. Jet immediately looked down at his own hands, realizing that he was holding a rock. It appeared that Rouge had swapped the gem for the rock while sweet-talking him, leaving Jet slack-jawed. Rouge, who was quite amused by this reaction, giggled.

''You can't beat a world-class treasure hunter,'' she said. Jet gritted his teeth, furious that she tricked him so easily, and turned to his team.

''Get the Chaos Emerald!'' he shouted, pointing at Team Dark. As for Team Dark, Rouge flew up, exchanging glances with Shadow and Touka, who just nodded in agreement and quickly left the clearing. While they could fight, they were more interested in getting back to Neos City rather than dealing with the Babylon Rogues. They had more important stuff to worry about.

xXx

Speaking of Team Dark, Omega had a great time taking down Egg Keeper after Egg Keeper, being hot on E-101 Beta's trail. He fired a missile warning, which exploded right in front of Beta, who turned around to face Omega.

''Analyzing – E-123 Omega. You are the traitor among our ranks,'' Beta said, pointing his twin cannons at Omega.

''I have surpassed all of you!'' Omega responded, firing several shots at Beta. Beta used the jet booster to dodge Omega's attack, firing back with his own. Omega managed to retaliate, destroying the missiles in the air and causing fireworks, but when he tried to lock-on on Beta, he realized that the Badnik was much faster than he had thought. Obviously, this Badnik was created for agility, while Omega had both defense and power. So, how would one deal with such issue.

Omega dodged another barrage of missiles, as Beta had stopped to fire at him, and Omega launched a missile of his own, hitting Beta's legs and destroying them. Beta fell over, his arm cannons flailing as he tried to get up. He was met by Omega, who pointed his own arm cannon at Beta. ''I will be your end.''

He fired at Beta, completely destroying the head and deactivating the Badnik, and then looked around. ''One down, seven more to go.''

Having made a decision, he activated his jet booster and went towards Kita, having detected another E-100 Series Badnik there.

xXx

Amy got up, lifting her Piko Piko Hammer. Frankly, she didn't expect that Rough and Tumble would be able to use the grey Chaos Emerald in such way, but maybe it was because she hit the Chaos Emerald directly that it reacted that way. Unfortunately for her, a white aura formed around the skunk brothers, powering them up.

''Hah, now this is much better!'' Tumble said, feeling the energy of the Chaos Emerald coursing through his body.

''With this gem, we'll be able to beat up Pinky easily!'' Rough added, keeping a tight grip on the Chaos Emerald. Amy narrowed her eyes, taking note of Cream and Cheese giving her a worried look. She turned to Minami, who just nodded confidently.

''Cream, Cheese, take cover. Minami and I will take care of these two,'' Amy said, extending her hand to Minami, pink energy already crackling between the two.

''Chaos Surge!''

Amy's light green eyes changed to pink, and her Piko Piko Hammer was also charged up with pink energy. However, the bigger surprise was Minami also gaining a hammer made out of pure pink energy, her own eye colour matching Amy's. Rough and Tumble were caught off guard, despite their initial confidence.

''What's going on?'' Tumble asked.

''No clue, but they won't beat us so long as we have the Chaos Emerald,'' Rough replied, smirking.

The two skunk brothers charged at Amy and Minami, who swung their hammers, blocking both of the skunk brother's punches. White and pink energy clashed, crackling around both of them, but it was much more even. Both sides backed off when they realized that they weren't making a move, but Rough and Tumble charged once again. Their move being quite straightforward, Amy and Minami leapt to their respective sides and the two skunk brothers leaving cracks in the asphalt, their punch being way stronger than expected. The two girls then brought down the hammers, unleashing a blast of pink energy towards the skunk brothers, resulting in a direct hit. Rough held up the Chaos Emerald in an attempt to defend himself, but it was useless. While they looked quite scuffed, they were still able to fight, with Tumble going after Minami, while Rough went after Amy.

Amy swung her hammer, blocking Rough's punch once again, gritting her teeth as she tried to push him back. She knew that if she relied to much on Minami's BioEnergy, they would run out off the Chaos Surge and be back on square one, and with Rough and Tumble still having the Chaos Emerald, they'd be done for.

As for Minami, she took a different approach. After blocking one of Tumble's kicks, she opted to dodge another, being surprisingly swift on her feet. ''Hey, Tumble, don't you think that it's a bit unfair that Rough is the one holding the Chaos Emerald? That way, he gets more power from it than you.''

''W-What?'' Tumble stopped, turning his attention to Rough, who was drawing quite a lot of energy from the Chaos Emerald to defend himself against Amy and then fight back.

''Yeah! He gets most of it and you get the scraps. Honestly, I think that it should be the other way around, since you're the stronger one between you two… Or, am I wrong?'' Minami asked, with Tumble getting pissed off, not even noticing the smirk that crept up on Minami's expression.

''Hey, I also want to get juiced up!'' Tumble yelled, marching towards Rough, who turned around in surprise.

''What are ya talkin' about?'' Rough asked, confused by Tumble's sudden change in demeanor.

''Give me that Chaos Emerald! I want to hold it!'' Tumble demanded.

''Dude, you already got your share!'' Rough protested, only for Tumble trying to grab the Chaos Emerald and the two ending up struggling over it.

''I'm the bigger of us! I deserve more!'' Tumble shouted.

''And I'm the one who found it! Finders keepers, bro!'' Rough replied, not wanting to let go of it. Both of them were suddenly surprised when a blue blur flew past them, knocking the Chaos Emerald out of their hands, only to get caught mid-air by Cream, who was flying via her ears.

''Oh, com'n!'' Tumble grumbled. Meanwhile, Cream held up the Chaos Emerald for Amy and Minami to see, having asked Cheese to distract the skunk brothers so they could get to it.

''I got it! I got it!'' Cream flew towards Amy and Minami, only to suddenly get hit by a blast of energy.

''Cream!'' Minami and Amy cried out in horror as Cream fell, with Minami rushing towards her and catching her. Amy turned towards the attacked, only to find herself staring down an E-100 Series Badnik.

This opponent was a humanoid robot colored in mainly red and white. He possessed no neck, his head and torso coming together in an almost ellipsoid shape. His torso was red with a wide and white vertical stripe down the middle and possessed a head light with a hexagonal gray frame on the right side. He also had gray mufflers surrounding the pelvis area and had the number ''102'' painted in white on the right of his large vertical stripe and the left side of his rear. His head meanwhile was small and platform-like with a yellow shade and green cylindrical eyes. He also had a hexagon-shaped disk hovering behind his neck, and a laser targeting scope on the right side of his head. His shoulders were black vertical cylinders. Attached to each of them were his arms, which were long and designed with two joints; his left arm held a black-gray blaster while his right arm had a tri-digited hand with two points of articulation on each digit. Also, his right upper arm was red with yellow-orange cuffs, while the parts between his upper arms and forearms were gray. He also possessed two long and inverted legs with five points of articulation and large, black feet with two sharp toes and roller wheels on the heels. The upper sections of his legs in particular were red while the rest of them were gray, except from his calves, which were thick and red with gray and yellow-orange cuffs.

''E-102 Gamma,'' Minami muttered, still holding the injured Cream in her arms. If things weren't already bad, they were about to get worse, with Egg Keepers swarming the street. They were surrounded.

xXx

Warren and Tails were in trouble. Not only were they surrounded by Egg Keepers, but E-103 Delta was trying to shoot Tails out of the sky. The robot was quite keen on eliminating Tails, who had reached for his orange backpack and rummaged through it.

''Warren, catch!'' Tails tossed a laser gun to Warren before focusing back on Delta. The laser gun looked more like a toy, but Warren knew that it was strong enough to take down the Egg Keepers. Meanwhile, Tails took out his boomerang and threw it at Delta, hitting the robot straight in the head. Delta stumbled back, attempting to recover from the hit and fired back at Tails. Tails dodged it, his ears flicking when he heard a beeping noise coming from the Miles Electric.

''That has to be the Chaos Emerald,'' he muttered under his breath, only to nearly get hit by Delta. Tails flew behind a building, out of Delta's range, and checked the Miles Electric. The Chaos Emerald was quite close and Tails was certain that he would be able to spot it, but the issue was that he was worried about leading Delta towards it. They needed to take out Delta and the Egg Keepers first, and Tails knew exactly how they'd do it.

He peeked out of his hiding spot, only to realize that Delta was gone from the overpass. Warren was still busy holding the Egg Keepers back, and fortunately for them, most people evacuated Erekiteru due to the attack. If they used Chaos Surge now, they would be able to take down all the Badniks without any issues. Tails quickly flew towards Warren, throwing his boomerang at the closest Badnik and knocking it back.

''Warren, we'll have to use Chaos Surge,'' Tails told him. Warren nodded, well aware that they needed to deal with this issue as soon as possible. Tails flew towards him, extending his hand.

''Chaos Surge!''

Tails' light blue eyes and Warren's green eyes turned amber as they absorbed the orb of energy, with yellow and amber energy sparking around them, like electricity. As the Egg Keepers surrounded them, they were suddenly met by a wave of energy that spread like an EMP, deactivating the Egg Keepers in an instant.

''Where is Delta?'' Warren asked, him and Tails looking around for the Badnik. To their dismay, the Badnik took advantage of the chaos and quickly moved towards where he detected the Chaos Emerald. As it turned out, the yellow Chaos Emerald was inside a gacha machine, which Delta destroyed and took the gem out.

''No!'' Tails took out a couple of round devices and threw them at Delta. It were the same devices he used against Shiro, enhancing his EMP power and surrounding Delta. To his surprise, Delta actually managed to resist it, forcing Tails to drain more of Warren's BioEnergy to make the EMP wave stronger. However, before Delta got deactivated, he opened part of his body, stashing the yellow Chaos Emerald inside it, then fell over.

Both he and Warren ran over to Delta, making sure that the Badnik was down, and started searching for the yellow Chaos Emerald. Tails lifted his head in alarm. ''The Chaos Emerald is gone!''

''How's that possible?'' Warren asked. Tails narrowed his eyes, taking out the Miles Electric, connecting it to Delta's system, giving him a layout of the Badnik.

''There is some residual Chaos Energy inside it,'' he said, with Warren taking a look at it.

''Wait… Don't tell me that Delta somehow induced Chaos Control,'' he said, with Tails giving him a wide-eyed look. He then pointed at a particular part of the robot. ''That's where the residual Chaos Energy is the strongest, and the Chaos Emerald is gone. It has to be Chaos Control. Try searching for it on the city map.''

Tails switched to the map, discovering that there was no Chaos Emerald anymore in Erekiteru, but now there were two Chaos Emeralds at Sentoraru. Tails frowned. ''That has to be Dr. Eggman's doing. He upgraded the E-100 Series.''

xXx

''Boss, E-101 Beta and E-104 Delta have been defeated,'' Orbot said, glancing at Eggman, who was staring at the screen, taking note of the lost signals. His eyes were narrowed, and he appeared to be in deep thought, analyzing the situation and planning his next move.

''What about the Chaos Emeralds?'' he asked.

''The one in Erekiteru had been successfully teleported to Sentoraru,'' Cubot replied. Eggman smirked.

''Excellent. I just hope that Starline knows what to do with it. I gave him all the pieces to succeed, but the question is whether he'll be able to pull it off,'' he said.

''What should we do about the destroyed E-100 Series robots?'' Orbot asked.

''Let the Egg Keepers bring them back to the Egg Base. I know ARMS is not operating anymore, but I don't need anyone else to figure out how to replicate my own robots,'' Eggman replied. He knew that it was a bit unusual for him to recover Badniks that were useless to him, but this was a different playfield and he needed to adapt. Maybe he would find use for them, maybe he wouldn't, but for now, he was going to observe the situation and wait for the right moment to strike. Considering what he knew about Starline, there was a high chance that the platypus would screw up and that's when he would have to step in.

''We have news from E-105 Zeta in Souto and E-107 Theta in Infinity Forest. Both are close to the Chaos Emeralds,'' Orbot added.

''Is that so? At this rate, Chaos will reach his final form soon than expected…'' Eggman muttered in interest.

xXx

''The Chaos Emerald has to be somewhere close,'' Lucas muttered, following the signal on his AR Visor. Sonic was already ahead of him, scouting the nearby streets for the Chaos Emerald at supersonic speed, but he returned empty-handed. As precise as Tails and Warren's tracking system was, Neos City had many places where a Chaos Emerald could be hidden, causing them to completely overlook it.

''It's not here,'' Sonic suddenly appeared before Lucas, pointing at a section of the area. Lucas just nodded in response, and Sonic was about to speed off to search another section, when they suddenly saw Ferra and Metal Sonic passing by. Both exchanged glances and immediately followed the two Enforcers, figuring the two would lead them to the Chaos Emerald and hopefully stop them from taking it. However, as they entered another street, they briefly lost them.

''Where are they?'' Lucas asked. Famous last words, as both managed to turn around just in time to see Metal Sonic firing an energy blast at them. Both leapt to the side, dodging it, with Ferra and Metal Sonic hovering over the two.

''Did you really think that we didn't notice you?'' Ferra asked in a sarcastic tone. Sonic shrugged.

''Weeeeeell, we kinda hoped that you wouldn't… Okay, that was a dumb assumption,'' he admitted. Suddenly, Metal Sonic charged at him, with Sonic leaping back, avoiding the sharp claws and performing a spin attack into Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic caught his attack, but Sonic uncurled, attempting to kick him back. Metal Sonic managed to grab him by the leg, throwing him away, but Sonic curled back into a ball and dropped right on top of Metal Sonic.

While Sonic kept fighting Metal Sonic, Lucas turned to Ferra, knowing that he needed to keep her away from Metal Sonic and from using Chaos Surge. ''Hey, where is the Chaos Emerald?''

''What? I thought you'd know where it is,'' Ferra replied, much to Lucas' surprise. That wasn't a response he had expected.

''Wait, so if none of us knows where the Chaos Emerald is…'' Sonic stepped back, avoiding a swipe from Metal Sonic, ''…where is it then? It has to be somewhere in Sentoraru.''

Metal Sonic paused, tilting his head as he realized that, as much as he wanted to fight Sonic, they all had a point. He and Ferra had to find the Chaos Emerald and get it to Chaos. However, now that they had run into their competition, this was going to turn into a race to find it. Frankly, it wasn't a bad trade-off. Metal Sonic then spin-dashed into Sonic, sending him flying straight into Lucas, with both hitting a nearby building, Lucas crying out in pain.

''Lucas, are you okay?'' Sonic asked, looking alarmed as he glanced at his partner. Lucas reached for his shoulder, rubbing it.

''I don't think anything's broken, but there will be bruises,'' Lucas replied. Before he or Sonic could make a move, he and Sonic got a message from Warren and Tails.

'''We lost the Chaos Emerald. The E-100 Series can teleport them','' Sonic read aloud, with Ferra smirking and Metal Sonic giving them a look of superiority. Both Lucas and Sonic just shot them a glare.

xXx

''Looks like things are proceeding according to plan,'' Dr. Starline smirked when a yellow Chaos Emerald suddenly appeared in his hands. Admittedly, he was surprised to see the gem appear virtually out of nowhere, but had soon realized that the EggMobile was modified to respond to the E-100 Series, which tracked his position. He turned to Chaos, who was awaiting his orders. ''Here! Absorb the negative energy of the Chaos Emerald!''

Starline threw the Chaos Emerald at Chaos, who did as he was told, increasing in size and mass, and he gained a line of bones that traveled down his right arm into his hand, with the yellow Chaos Emerald being embedded inside it. Starline smirked.

''One down, six more to go.''