Green Hills, South Island

Evening

Soon, the last remnants of Lindsey's invasion force would be dealt with including destruction of the last remaining Dark Legion Gunner before work on helping the civilians began shortly after the fighting had died down.

Jason and the remaining survivors of Lindsey's gang immediately surrendered upon seeing the way things were going for them. The ship that had brought the gunships and robots to South Island would be seized by the Restoration.

With his speed, Sonic was able to assist in the efforts and help out the people of Green Hills. Having spent a while being the subject of public scorn thanks to a disingenuous news organisation, the genuine appreciation and gratitude of these people had him taken aback.

He just did it because that's what he does but they told him they're happy to see him show up to stop the Dark Legion from laying waste to them all. Some even call him a hero for taking out that vile monster masquerading as him and giving him a bad name, seemingly under the mistaken notion that the negative PR towards him is all caused by this robot.

The blue hedgehog looked around for any sign of Longclaw around Green Hills with Johnny tagging along to aid in his search for the owl. Occasionally help out a civilian or two they would encounter along the way.

"...It's a good thing we found you before they did but why did you run from us mate? I thought we were all supposed to be a team." Johnny popped the question to the blue hedgehog while they searched for a giant owl. "More importantly, who is this owl that was with you in Labyrinth Zone? Gads said she's a Knight of Sophocles but I thought they all died out centuries ago?"

"They lived on but numbers simply dwindled from the cost of that war with the Knuckles Clan and the order became more secretive as the years went on. Longclaw became the last knight thanks to the Great War taking out the rest of her clan." Sonic gave him a quick history lesson. "An army of Overlanders were trying to seize control of the island because of its' strategic value to the war efforts and given the order's commitment to guarding secrets to knowledge that would only spiral the war into a much longer one as well as the fact you have settlements like this, Longclaw's people including her son weren't taking any chances in letting them set up shop here."

"And they had a hardfought war that took out both parties. No one knows what really went down that night other than the mess left in the aftermath." Johnny remembered hearing about that event years ago as one of those unsolved Great War mysteries. "General Colin must have thought the island had some supernatural forces who didn't want his troops anywhere on it or didn't think it was worth expending more resources just to capture it and abandoned it."

"More or less the gist of it. She can tell you the rest herself."

"And her name's Longclaw. Unless you had made mention of her in passing, I don't recall you ever talking about her even once." The rabbit looks at Sonic. "You told us a bit about the Wachoskis but not her. What's the deal with that?"

"You know those missing years I had after I fled to this island? Well, those three years were spent with her and she was my mentor as well as the closest I had to a mother for little me. Taught me how to control my powers and a few things here or there about the history of the Chaos Emeralds." The hedgehog told him. "Patient, loving and wise as one can be. She's lovely once you get to know her."

"If she was that important to you, how come we never heard of her until now?"

"It's…" Sonic sighed, remembering that old memory. "It's complicated."

"You two had a real falling out, didn't you?"

"Something like that… No, it's more like we had a real bad argument and I said something I should never have said to someone who was good enough to take an orphan like me into her home when I had nowhere to go. Something I really regretted for years because she didn't deserve it." The usually charismatic speedster was more subdued when he told his childhood friend about the matter. "At the time, I felt too ashamed to even look her in the eye and it seems I carried that guilt with me for years."

"Is that part of why you had such an attitude when we met up again after the Robotniks had taken over and why you're not being one for getting hung up with the past by any chance?" Johnny wondered. He had always assumed Sonic learned to adopt his carefree attitude towards life largely because of him being uprooted from his domestic life at such a young age and letting that nomadic part of him blossom into the adventurous side he has now.

"Me being a dick in the past? I think young me didn't want to go through another episode like that and figured it's easier to keep other people at arm's length… Even if it did led to me being such an asshole at times."

"As you say, we live and learn. Plus, you still treated Tails with more respect than his village ever did even as a raging egotistical arsehole."

"Oh wow, thanks pal. Really supportive of you."

"A real friend tells you how it is..." Johnny smirked. "And a lover would warm the coldness of your snowy heart into a furnace of loooove~"

"Sure. Whatever you say Joe Lightweight." Sonic shook his head with an amused smile. "As for the other part of your question? Maybe? It might have played some part in that but there could have been other factors at play. I wouldn't know because I never really gave it much thought until recently when I stopped and took the time to think about my own life from then to now. Finding myself."

"And you coming back home to her?"

The smile on Sonic's mouth flattens to a straight line and closes his eyes, breathing through his nose. "...When your entire world comes crashing down, how does one come back from that? For me, I go back to the last person I ever wanted to see again after what had happened last time because I thought that's where salvation lies… Go back to where it all began."

"And did you find your salvation?"

"One half of it. You guys helped me locate the other half."

"What happened with Tails and those soldiers wasn't your fault." Johnny felt compelled to assure the hedgehog. "Tails doesn't blame you for what you did to him nor are his parents holding that against you."

"Still, I did play a part in all of that mess when I lost my cool and allowed that knockoff to use me like a puppet." Sonic nodded with understanding and clarity. "What happened on Big Kahuna Island was a real wake up call for me. Who knows how I would be faring now if not for that. Perhaps for the better… Perhaps for the worse…"

Looking at his friend with a determined gaze. "But that's in the past now and we have more important matters to tend to like stopping some bad guys' schemes."

"It's good to have you back Sonic. Things have bee—"

"Sonic? Sonic!"

They'd see a giant owl fly over to them. Looking a little cut up from getting sent through a window but no worse for wear like the rest of their friends.

Johnny sees Sonic's face light up and rushes to hug the owl who was just as quick to return the gesture. "Longclaw! I've done it!"

"I knew you would…" Longclaw replied back with a happy sigh. "How are you now?"

"Never felt better. I can think a lot more clearly now and I'll be able to rest well now after this." Sonic broke off from the embrace and gestured over to the grey rabbit. "Longclaw, this is Johnny Lightfoot; a friend of mine. Johnny, this is Longclaw; a family of mine."

Johnny crossed his arms and gave the owl a courteous nod of the head. "So, you must be that owl woman I heard so much about."

"And you must be one of the friends that he speaks of."

"Aye."

"Nice to meet you." Longclaw nodded with a smile. "I'm sure you have many questions to ask of me…"

Similarly, Gadget and the others received the same positive response from the civilians.

Though they happened to be on the island when it happened and weren't fully prepared for an attack of that kind, the fact they were among the first to bravely respond to said attack is more than enough to earn the admiration of the locals in Green Hills. All except a particularly vocal civilian in a varsity jacket.

"...That Blue Spaz and his Freedumb Fridgers brought trouble to our town!" Anton Veruca said to anyone who would listen to him. "The Blue Fake had this all staged to make his big comeback and save the day! He's just doing this fo—"

"You!"

Amy Rose was pointing at him and recognising the reptile as she came over to confront the mouthy punk. "You're that jerk going around trash talking about Sonic!"

The reptile quickly feigned ignorance upon seeing her. "I don't have any clue who yo—"

"As NumberOneHooligan, you were calling people supporting Sonic as 'mentally challenged morons' as you put it, had told someone to go kill themselves because you didn't like their opinion and you called me a skank." Amy reminded him what he had posted online and let the less social media-savvy folks nearby know what their unofficial preacher has done on the internet. "And those are just the mild examples of the stuff you've said. Care to repeat what you said about me and my friends for everyone else here, tough guy?"

Suddenly, the green lizard shrank under the glare of the hammer-wielding pink hedgehog and had nothing to say when pressed on it. Enough for everyone else present who were almost brought in by his rhetoric to see what kind of man he truly is when confronted.

"Amy!" Gadget came over to Amy after locating her and going up beside her. "What are you doing?"

"Just pressing the real NumberOneHooligan here on if he's really got a backbone like he proclaims on his profile page." Amy snapped her gaze away from the lizard who immediately bails from the scene to respond to the wolf. "How's things on your end?"

"Think I've just about helped rescue everyone in that street including a real eccentric one."

"Oh, you mean Crazy Carl?"

"Crazy Carl?"

"He's the one who came up with the Blue Devil nickname according to Sonic and not a bad guy once you get to know him."

"Blue Devil?"

"We'll explain it later when we get the time." Amy did a lazy wave. "Say, why didn't you pick up earlier when we were calling you?"

"I, uhh… Dropped my communicator…" Gadget scratches the back of his neck after admitting his reason for the lack of a response earlier. "Strap came undone at that house and didn't notice..."

"You could have asked me for help and I'd tighten it for you."

"I had tightened it up a few times but it kept coming undone from the littlest jolt. I think it's defective."

"Let me have a look." Amy grabbed his arm and pulled him in close to have a look at his communicator. The wolf's cheeks grew a little warm from the closeness while she helped to fix up his device's strap.

Looking at his strap, she continued talking. "You must have gotten through to Sonic and got him to come back. I thank you for that."

"Well, I didn't exactly convince him to come around when I spoke with him alone. I just told him how I felt about what he's been doing and left him to sort out the rest himself." Gadget told her what went on on his end. "While he was doing his soul-searching, I was busy trying to survive Lindsey Yardley's ship and only narrowly avoided kicking the bucket thanks to Juile saving my skin. You wouldn't believe how hellbent she was on trying to kill me with a rifle the whole time."

"Where is she now? I wondered where she was during the whole assault."

"...In the gorge… With the rest of her ship… You can guess how that happened…"

"Oh, I see… Least you and Julie-Su make it out okay." Amy then pulls out a spare hairpin and uses it to secure the temperamental strap into place, giving it a good tug to test out its sturdiness. "Here you go. That should keep it in place until we get back to HQ."

"Thank you."

"No problem!" Amy beamed her beautiful smile at him. "It's the least I could do for you!"

"Y-Yeah…" Gadget smiled back with closed eyes, trying to not be anymore red around her radiance. "That's our Amy Rose."

The pair would be approached by one of the civilians. "We're glad to have you guys here to save us from these invaders."

"All in a day's work." Amy said to the civilian with a nod, putting her leadership skills to good use. "Though, we couldn't have it without the help of the Restoration, your militia and your local law enforcement to deal with these ones. They deserve just as much of the credit."

"And to think we had actually listened to those stupid jackasses at IGN…"

Another civilian came up to the two Freedom Fighters with an apologetic look. "You risked your lives for us and that's good enough for me to think those guys are a pack of liars. We should have known better than to trust the words of some tabloid rag."

Gadget and Amy looked at each other. Whatever it is they were doing, it's doing some wonders against that smear campaign from I.G.N. Tides must either be turning for them.

"...That all of them?"

"Should be unless a few had managed to slip away from us." Knuckles dumps the last of the Dark Legion Gunners onto a pile of deactivated Dark Legion robots collected by the rest of Freedom Fighters and everyone else aiding in the cleanup around Green Hills. "No sign of Mecha Sonic anywhere though."

"Then that means the bad dude has bitten the big one." Manic tossed a half-busted Dark Legion Buster onto the pile. "No more dealing with his ugly mug."

"I doubt that explosion alone is enough to finish him off and we can't find any of his remains at the site either." Knuckles voices his thoughts on the matter. Having witnessed Mecha Sonic in the past tank through a lot more than the destruction of a gunship.

"Maybe but if he had survived that, he'd be softened up." Julie-Su interjects. "Just needs to be dealt a good hit."

Manic smirked at that. "With bro back in the fold to kick tail and takin' names, he's as good as finished as Jasper's reign of domination."

The green hedgehog received a ping on his earpiece and answered it. "Yo Lightfoot, what's cookin'? Alright, we'll be on over. Peace."

"What's up?" Knuckles raised a brow.

"Johnny says to meet him and Sonic at that town hall. Says there's someone for us to meet."

Deducing who that could be, the red echidna nodded and the trio left the robotic corpse pile behind them for the cleanup crew to collect to salvage or be hauled off to the junkyard.

?, ?

Evening

"...Where have those stupid hires gone off to?" Lien-Da tutted to herself, rather peeved at having a ship in the bay absent. "And where have they gone off to with some of my equipment!?"

"Heh, it appears that you're cursed with a fly in the ointment." Sally smirks at the echidna in black while her, Chuck, Cream and Cheese are being escorted through the halls by Lien-D's guards. "Even when you're successful, something always has to go wrong for you somehow."

"Hmph, lap it up while you still can. You won't be laughing anymore when the day's over." The Grandmaster glanced back to sneer at the chipmunk before smirking. "A folly like this means little in the grand scheme of things."

"Not if we stop you first."

"Oh, you're free to try. You gave us the key on a silver platter to help make my plan come true." The head echidna taunts her over that fact. "Maybe if you still had Sonic around, he could have bailed you out of this."

"He'll be back."

"What, because he's the hero and heroes always come in to save the day?"

"Nah. It's because he's stubborn like that." The chipmunk quipped. "He just happens to be heroic doing so."

"Even if he crawls out from whatever hole he's hiding in and comes looking, he'll be too late to stop us now."

"He'll find a way. Just you wait."

"Let the dreamers dream…" Tarek interjects, glancing at Lien-Da while holding the Shard of Creation in his hand. "Before reality knocks on their door."

Gae-Na reaches up to her earpiece and receives some news. "Our intelligence has just reported that our missing ship has been sighted over on South Island."

"What!?" Lien-Da growled. "How!?"

"Presumably Lindsey and her crew were using it for whatever reason." Tarek surmised. "Kommissar, what else have they picked up on?"

"Only that it had attacked a settlement, Green Hills and likely been seized if it's not destroyed. It's also on the news as we speak."

"If they seized it and it still has the flight logs leading back to here, then we must depart sooner than planned." Lien-Da snaps her fingers. "Make it so!"

"As you command." Gae-Na nodded and quickly issued new orders to the entire base.

Slimy was in his robotics lab in the middle of packing up when the intercoms buzzed and Gae-Na's voice rang through. "Attention all personnel: All essential equipment and personnel are to be cleared from the base in one hour and five minutes. Prepare all of the ships including the Jurika for departure..."

The reptile thought that's his cue to go to the Sternbach Class vessel until the Kommissar suddenly added; "Slimy Wormtongue. Your presence is required by Doctor Mengele and the Grandmaster at once. A security escort has been assigned to bring you to see them."

As if to punctuate her point, a few heavy footsteps belonging to a Dark Legion Guardian and some Dark Legion Troopers could suddenly be heard just outside of the robotics lab. "The Kommissar has ordered your protection and to bring you to our Grandmaster."

As innocuous as that sounded on the surface of things, Slimy nervously gulps to himself. The lesser known cousin of Grimer felt deeply afraid for his own life. What if they had just found out about Lindsey's deception and they're ready to make heads roll over it?

"J-Just a moment and I'll be right out!"

Slimy grabs a device bracelet from a drawer and puts it on. He passes a glance at seven silver capsules in his lab before heading out to greet his intimidating-looking escorts to be led away by them. A simple two-fingered tap on the device is all he needs to do to summon his own save.

Over at the front of Green Hills' town hall, the heroes would gather together where they'd be properly introduced to Longclaw. Someone whose existence and relationship to Sonic was previously unknown to them.

"...So, you're the last of the Sophocle Knights." Johnny crossed his arms as he quizzed Longclaw. One of several questions put forth to the giant owl warrior.

"Correct." Longclaw nods with the patience and calmness one expects of someone that mentored a younger, energetic Sonic. "I am the last of the clan that came to this island long ago. The temple in Labyrinth Zone before it became flooded would have been where we congregate for meetings, meditations and muses."

"I thought you were all a myth?" Manic stood with hands on his hips. "An old bedtime story our parents would tell us?"

"We are very much real." The owl told him. "What the history books will tell you about us are merely based on second-hand accounts recovered by historians and assumptions made by archaeologists."

"Sounds about right." Julie-Su remarked. "So, how come you didn't step in to stop Eggman when he came to the island for the six Chaos Emeralds?"

"Helping the local militia defend this settlement from his machines and making sure he doesn't get his hands on secrets that he would only abuse in his greed." The owl simply explained. "Secrets that in the aggressive hands that is the Dark Legion. G.U.N and other superpowers would only misuse them to disaster no matter the intention. What happened to the Knuckles Clan is one we are adamant on not having happen again in this age of the atom bomb, bullets and automated war machines."

"And Sonic was more than capable of taking care of Eggman on his own." Gadget surmised based on his own knowledge of that adventure. "The doctor wouldn't have any reason to come looking for something that's outside of the summit of his knowledge when he knows where the Chaos Emeralds are and that's what he came here for."

"Given how things usually pan out when he gets his hands on something mythical or ancient, I think your concern is more than warranted." Knuckles knows that fact all too well to even knock the owl's reasoning. If a publicly known legend like Chaos can cause so much disaster because some egomaniac thought he could control them, there's no telling what would happen if they got their hands on something no one else should be able to know about.

"Still, it's an honour to finally meet you." Amy said to Longclaw with a smile.

"Now that we're all acquainted, we have a situation here." Sonic looked over at Gadget. "You said Cream and Cheese were abducted, yes?"

"That they are. Last we heard, Sally and Charles have gone off to exchange the Shard we have for their lives." Gadget reported just as the approaching engines of Freedom Fighter Special Mark III could be heard. "That was before all of this kicked off… And before we lost the Freedom Stormer II. So, we're more or less cut off from HQ until we can reestablish communications with them."

After saying that, the aircraft FFS Mk. III would land nearby on a piece of ground just wide enough for it to touchdown. A ramp lowers as Bunnie steps out along with her team as they sighted the blue hedgehog.

Bunnie gained a big smile as did her husband Antoine. "Sugahog!"

"Hey guys…" Sonic greeted Bunnie's group with a smile. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"A while? It's been a week since you ran off!" Sonia exclaimed as she rushed to hug her half-brother. "We've been looking all over for you!"

"Well, I'm here now." He assured the fuschia hedgehog. "No need to look anymore."

As the others on Bunnie's team were about to share their joy at the reunion, Shortfuse received a call from Nicole and answered it. When the holo-lynx told him what happened, the squirrel in the armour snapped his head to his peers.

"Everyone!" He yelled out to everyone present and immediately got their attention including Sonic's. "Nicole says Sally and Chuck's been nabbed by the Dark Legion!"

"What happened?" Gadget asked, quick to recognise the severity of the situation at hand. "Why are we only getting this news now?"

"She says they only just located the destroyed ship they took to get to Golden Hive Ruins and a bunch of dead R.A.A Commandos that had accompanied them to the exchange." Shortfuse reported with a tut at the end. "Those good for nothing wankers have snaked us and taken our Shard as well!"

"Damn it!" Knuckle cursed out loud. "They could be anywhere right now!"

"Actually, they're at one of Robotnik's old abandoned underground bases where the Jurika is at."

In came a voice belonging to Agent Butch as he approached the group with Gadget quickly recognising him. "Skoal Island to be exact."

"Relax, Butch's on our side." Gadget said to some of the more defensive members of the gathering that are wary of the man. "He's helped us out in the past and gave us directions on where to look."

"Then what's this all about Agent Slick?" Sonic looked at the agent with an arched brow. "Your "buddies" certainly didn't come here to say hello."

"Attacking Green Hills wasn't part of the plan but when Mecha Sonic was woken up by and promised Lindsey the life of the red wolf over here, this happened." The undercover agent put his hands up. "You and him were the main targets. The attack here was just a diversion to keep most of your team busy while they went after you two. My sincere apologies."

"If Sally and Charles are being zaken zo Skoal Island, we'll fly over and stop ze Dark Legion's plans zhere." Antoine was ready to rush back up the ramp when Butch broke the bad news to the whole group.

"Even at top speeds, you'll never make it before the Jurika launches and go on a rampage with the Legionizer. The firepower and shielding it has is more than what your ship can do to it before it claims a target." Butch looks at Sonic. "If there's any hope of stopping their plans, we need to get aboard that ship before it takes off but with all this and them likely catching wind of all this by now; it's next to hopeless. We'll never make it in time."

"Actually…" Longclaw stepped forwards with a Warp Ring in her hand. "There is still hope yet."

Sonic sees the ring as the owl hands it to Butch as he knows the way. "Think of a location and it'll take you there. We still have a chance."

"Here." The Knight of Sophocles would hand her child four Warp Rings. "You may need these just in case."

"Thank you…" Sonic thanked his guardian and adopted mother with a grateful smile and immediately shifted into the confident super warrior that can lead armies to victory when he looked to all of his gathered friends. "Okay, let's go kick some ass, take names and show these people what real teamwork looks like!"

"Yeah!" They all cheered. Feeling their own morale become supercharged by his words and like they could take on the whole world.

Remembering something, Butch pulls out a pendrive and tosses it to Gadget who catches it. "Here. This is Lindsey's "insurance policy" against her employers that Jason "generously" helped me acquire."

"What's in it?" Manic asked, taking the item from Gadget. The wolf quickly brainstorming an idea in his head.

"Some proof of your innocence. A lot of proof to put away Tarek and Slimy for life if you can take them in alive."

"Before you throw that ring and we go charging in, I just had an idea..." Gadget suddenly spoke up with Butch and the others looking at him. "I'll make it quick…"

Initialising System Reboot…

Damage Report: 55%

System Functions Report: Nominal…

Status Report: Repair Required…

Internal Memory Banks: Stable...

Accessing Internal Memory Banks...

"...I gave you that power and now, I'm taking it all back."

"...For something supposedly coming straight from me, you sure are pretty two-dimensional in your strategies against me but I suppose that's to be expected with someone that thinks his creator would even acknowledge him."

"...It's gotta suck being you when people see you and think you're Metal Sonic!"

"...You oughta go into a museum… Or a scrapyard ya old hunk of junk!"

Mecha Sonic's optics glowed red when he came back online. Finding himself buried among some rubble belonging to a demolished building and getting back up after angrily blasting his way out of the pile.

The armour-platings on the left side of his face, right thigh, left elbow and part of his midsection busted-up to show the metal mobian hedgehog endoskeleton underneath like that of a half-rotted zombie plus a dent on the right side of his temple. His left arm-blaster all but missing,

The now-dusty and battered metal hedgehog let off a metallic hiss. Nobody including that smug-faced hedgehog makes a jabroni out of him.

He quickly slinked off to go find Sonic and soon found his twin as well as his friends at the town square. Catching a glimpse of the Freedom Fighter Special disappearing through the portal on the big Warp Ring.

Once the F.F.S disappears, Gadget and his team would be led by Butch through a Warp Ring leading to Skaol Island. Everyone is ready for their upcoming mission.

Sonic was about to follow the others through the portal when he had his danger sense sneeze and said something to his friends just as the portal closed. Snapping his gaze towards the cause of his sneeze and dodging laser blasts from a fast-approaching, mean-looking Mecha Sonic. Not long after, the two Sonics were at it again and exchanging strikes.

"Heh!" Sonic smirked at the blue machine, ducking a laser shot. "Couldn't get enough of my handsome mug, ey!?"

"I will destroy you Sonic!" Mecha Sonic's voice box had sustained damage from his earlier collision, leaving his metallic voice sounding wonky with some hints of staticky crackles that can be heard. "Your end is assured!"

"You got an easier chance catching snipes than you are trying to end me!"

The both of them fought around Green Hills while Sonic tried to minimise the destructive impact of Mecha Sonic from the civilians and others the doppelgänger would harm if allowed to. Even though Mecha Sonic was more aggressive and unrelenting, Sonic acted smarter by doing the opposite while using the machine's own temper against it.

Eventually, Sonic throws out a Warp Ring to make a portal and goes to shove Mecha Sonic through it. The latter quickly grabbed onto his twin to pull him into the portal with him, taking their battle to a different location on Mobius.

News or What? Production Office, Mobius Network News Headquarters

Evening

A black-haired tan cat known by the general populace as Collie Chang is in the production office where she's reviewing some scripts for her news program. Things were slow going for the show since the first week of December and most of the big stories were already covered by other news organisations including that tabloid rag I.G.N.

She's looking for that one big story in December that she could cover before everyone else does. Maybe one to win her an award this year.

The black-haired cat heard her desk phone ringing and set down her paper to go answer it. "This is Collie Chang of News or What, how may I help you and who do I owe the pleasure of speaking to?"

"Yo, this is Manic the Hedgehog talkin'." A familiar valley-boy accent greets her. The cat smiles upon recognition at his voice.

"Ah, it's been a while. How's things?"

"Eh, things have been tough but that's not important right now." Manic says to her. "I know this gonna sound nutty to you but we're kind of in the middle of a mission right now and thought I'd give ya a call because a friend of mine has this crazy plan of his' going on. Say, what do you think of how we've been depicted on the news recently?"

"You want my own personal opinion? I think those jokers at I.G.N are giving actual journalists like me a bad name with the bogus reporting they've been doing. If what they're doing equates to journalism, then I must be a fairy queen." Collie gave Manic her response, breaking out a notepad and taking notes. "So, what's the scoop on this one?"

"Well, it's a long story."

"I got time." Collie checks the clock on her computer. "You said you're on a mission, correct?"

"I'll make it quick." Manic lists off the key points. "Stuff happened on South Island, we stopped the troublemakers and we're now headin' to Skoal Island where said troublemakers had come from to rescue some of our friends. Now that you're caught up to speed, let me tell ya about this crazy thing we're going to do soon but it might also win you that reporter of the year award and show up those squares at I.G.N."

Collie's ears perked up at that. "If it means knocking them down a peg or two, you have my undivided attention. Lay it all on me and I'll see what I can do for you…"

Abandoned Eggman Base, Skoal Island

Evening

Gadget and his team sneaked through the enemy base of the Dark Legion. With Butch's instructions and acquiring some disguises, they make their way towards where the Jurika launch site is located.

They could see the personnel around the base hurriedly moving equipment and tech around, likely bringing them over to the ships including the warship Jurika. The group sneaked past the Dark Legion Troopers that are none the wiser to the presence of Gadget's team since most of their attention is focused on getting ready for departure.

Ready for the big plan that this whole cold fusion theft saga has revolved around and they're no closer to figuring out who or what their prime target is other than that the existence of the Legionizer as a weapon is bad news for all of the Dark Legion's enemies. This could be the triumph of the Dark Legion should they fail this.

They are going to stop Lien-Da and Tarek's plan whatever it takes. Whatever tomorrow may look like, it's all down to them to make it a bright one.

"...Do you know why you've been summoned here?" Lien-Da asks. Her bodyguards and Gae-Na were present with her.

Slimy can feel the jackal's cold gaze piercing through him as he slowly walks around him with hands behind his back like a shark. Lien-Da may be dressed in black and commands a whole army at her fingertips yet this scientist seems more of a danger to his life than she is.

He put on a smile and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I'm afraid I do not know other than that your worthiness calls for my presence."

The reptile tensed up; almost skipping a breath when he heard Tarek speak. "Then I shall explain it in brisk terms…"

"GAH!" Slimy felt a firm backhand from the jackal with the calloused tone of said hand knocking out a tooth from his gums and causing him to fall to the floors. Then, he'd feel the sole of his boot pressed against the now-bruised side of his face.

"Lindsey and her crew made off with one of the ships from the bay. A little robin tells us that they were seen leaving your lab with a rather curious looking crate..." Tarek continued in a calm yet threatening voice. "What exactly did they take from your lab?"

"I-I'm not su—"

"Mister Wormtongue. The Grandmaster may not have much patience for your company but I have less patience for your own dereliction to report the theft to us." Tarek applied some pressure onto Slimy's head and made him wince. "Even less so towards your own pitiful attempt at feigning ignorance in front of me. I ask again; what exactly did they take from your lab?"

"T-T-They took the capsule Mecha Sonic's in with them!" Slimy screamed out. "They took him while I was down in Bios Labs and I didn't know until after they were long gone! That's the honest truth!"

"And your assistant at the time?"

"H-He thought the orders came from the Grandmaster a-and I had no idea about until afterwards!"

"Can you track down Mecha Sonic's current whereabouts?" Lien-Da demanded. "I really hope you thought to put a tracker on that thing."

"I-I'm afraid not! One of them must have deleted it or he somehow deleted it himself!"

"Somehow? Somehow?"

"I-I d-didn't create Mecha Sonic; only revived him from a backup drive created by Doctor J. Robotnik a-and I had to put in some failsafes in place j-just to keep him under control..." The green-skinned scientist stutters. "I-It is n-not like a-any A.I I've ever come across! He could be anywhere right now!"

"And you stupidly decided to grant him his own body knowing full well he may become a problem." Tarek looked back over at Lien-Da. "We'll have to deal with the machine later."

Looking back at Slimy. "As for you, we had someone confirm your alibi as well as letting us know who truly was at fault and it's not you. Therefore, you'll live to see another day."

He took his foot off Slimy's head with the reptile sighing in relief and lifting himself off the floor. He isn't going to die today.

The jackal picked up a box big enough to fit a bowling ball inside from a nearby table as Lien-Da eyed it. "What's in that box?"

"A gift for Wormtongue from me and something to motivate him with. It is the season to be jolly after all." Tarek said plainly to the head echidna. Tossing the box over to the lab coat-wearing reptile who caught it and opened it up to see what's inside.

The moment Slimy had opened the box to be greeted by a pair of lifeless and familiar eyes, he dropped the "gift" with a girly shriek and pukes on the floor. Lien-Da took a peek at what's inside the box and her eyes widened in shock before quickly averting her gaze from a gruesome sight.

"This someone had also tried to throw you under the bus to save his own skin and cover up his part in the theft..." Tarek calmly explains to Slimy. "You are very fortunate that he has taken your place in the box today and our spirits are high with the retrieval of the other Shard."

Pointing to the box on the floor. "Let the gift in that box be an example of the fate that will await you should you displease us as much as your late assistant had done or get any ideas about double-crossing us like Yardley had done."

"O-Okay, I-I gotcha…" Slimy let off a nervous laugh, tugging at his own collar. "L-Loud and clear Doctor…"

Gae-Na reaches up to her earpiece before reporting to her Grandmaster. "Security has just captured a group of intruders trying to get onto the Jurika… And they've all been identified as Knothole Freedom Fighters."

"What? Impossible!" Lien-Da exclaimed. "How could they get inside without tripping the hidden alarms? I thought your men had this base locked down!"

"They must have somehow found another way inside."

"Or one of Lindsey's goons has shown them the way in and Butch is the mole we've been looking for the whole time." Tarek's eyes narrowed. "But how they manage to get here that quickly soon after we learned of what's going on in South Island is rather peculiar... Something is amiss here."

"Whether something's amiss or not, they're here and they're our prisoners." Lien-Da brushes her dreadlocks aside. "Kommissar, have them—"

"They want to speak with us." Gae-Na suddenly said, one finger on her earpiece as she received an update just now. "They're most insistent on speaking to Tarek and Slimy."

Lien-Da says to Tarek with wry amusement. "Well Doctor, it appears they're interested in you it seems."

"If they must see us, then I'll grant them that request before we set sail." The jackal glanced over at Slimy, a half-shadow cast over his eyes. "Come along Wormtongue, I insist..."

"Spare them some extra security for both of them..." Lien-Da ordered her right-hand woman as the two scientists were heading out of the room and Slimy caught the last part of her order on the way out; "If something happens over there and the green one tries to escape in the confusion, he is to be shot on sight. Doctor Mengele is to be brought to the Jurika and his survival is top priority."

The Kommissar nodded. "Affirmative."

Good thing he thought to have a contingency plan Slimy thought to himself. The self-proclaimed genius would never come unprepared like his dear cousin when they're stuck between a rock and a hard place. He's seriously regretting leaving behind his G.U.N handlers for that short-lived freedom with these people and really wants to get the hell away from them.

He has no intention of losing his head either to an angry echidna and her hatchet-woman or a peeved jackal and will even grovel to those Freedom Fighters' good graces if they're his only salvation from all this. Least they would never entertain the thought of harming him for his mistakes.

The Great Jungle, South of Northamer

Evening

Trading punches, kicks and homing dashes, the two Sonic were zipping and zig-zagging all around the jungle since they ended up here. The blue hedgehogs are trying to take each other out yet neither could get the upper hand on the other.

To any onlooking creature watching, they can only see two moving blue streaks repeatedly colliding into and repelling each other. Occasionally broken up by Mecha Sonic trying lasers at his own progenitor.

Sonic used a drop dash to send him barrelling into a tree after psyching him out with a fake homing dash. Rushing over to try to get him with his buzzsaw attack when the robot moves out of the way and the blue blur cutting through the trunk of the tree facing him, said tree falling to the ground with a thud.

The robot hedgehog quickly headbutts Sonic in the back and rushes him towards a rock to try pinning him like a semi-truck. Sonic wrangles himself free as the rock nears and flips over Mecha's head to get behind him before proceeding to ram headfirst into that rock, putting a face-shaped indentation on it while denting up his face a little with the needle-shaped nose now crumpled up to add to the swelling boxer face he's got going on.

"Geez, even Metal Sonic wouldn't ram that quickly into a wall." Sonic taunted the blue robot and when he saw his messed-up face, he cracked a quip about it in a dramatic voice. "I am not a freak! I am… A robotic being!"

"I'm going to shut that mouth of yours!"

Mecha Sonic cannot stand being on the receiving end of this hedgehog's insults and he knows it which only prompts Sonic to keep at it. "You gotta catch me first to shut it sloth boy!"

Like a ticked-off bull, Mecha wildly lets off a torrent of his arm laser, eye beams and his seldom-used electric beams in all directions. Angrily lashing out at Sonic who wisely kept his distance and evading his ranged attacks til he got a good opening to attack him with a quick spin dash.

Sonic pulls out a Warp Ring but Mecha would intercept the big golden ring and toss it aside to produce a portal next to them, then proceed to tackle his twin straight on through the portal with both of them disappearing into it. Said portal closing moments later.

Gadget and his group eyed the Dark Legion Troopers that surrounded them. His team is made up of himself, Johnny, Amy and Bunnie.

The captured party were brought down to a hallway further away from the Jurika. The wolf would rub his medal on the belt sash as if it was a subconscious tic of his'.

When they were caught by security, they didn't try to fight them and allowed themselves to be taken in while the red wolf had asked for an audience with Tarek and Slimy. A request that's been granted as the pair in question made their way over to meet the caught intruders and came with their own security escorts.

"You have requested an audience with us." Tarek greets the captured Knothole Freedom and addresses Gadget as he's the one at the front of the pack. "What is it that you want? I don't have all day."

"Why all of this?" Gadget popped his question to the jackal and the reptile. "Why the Dark Legion over the Eggman Empire? We know what your Project Lazarus is about but the finer details elude us."

"That's seriously what you want to know?" Slimy shook his head at the wolf. "The whys of it? I am not sure if you are that curious or stupid!"

"At least I didn't give an unstable AI a whole body and enough weapons to make it a threat when it goes rogue!" Gadget retorted the reptile's remark. "Even Dingo would call you a right moron for that and he ain't exactly sharp in the toolshed himself!"

"Why you!"

Tarek put out a hand to stop Slimy from lunging at the mouthy wolf. "Ivo is no Gerald Robotnik and all he would see is a toy to conquer the world with, not a major leap forward. I have seen his past track record of using ancient artifacts and mythical beings to do his bidding with all ending in disaster. Handing him Project Lazarus with the mentality that he has, I expect nothing short of catastrophe in his hands."

"Yet somehow you're more qualified to use it?" Gadget remarks. Crossing his arms.

"I do not let petty desires overwhelm my better judgement. Having the world is a fleeting moment that takes years to acquire and minutes to lose." The anubian jackal dusts himself. "Conquest is for kings, emperors and warmongers. I am a scientist, not a dictator. Being one only invites so much hassle."

"Yet you, a man of science, have caused just as many deaths as the dictators from history." Gadget points an accusing finger at Tarek. "Frankly, I fail to see what makes you any different from a serial killer like I fail to see what makes Slimer here be anything more than a second rate version of his much more famous and successful cousin."

Being insecure about being compared to his cousin and getting belittled by some nobody in front of the others, Slimy glares at the red wolf. "I am far more brilliant and gifted than that boot-licking sycophantic hack! I have helped Doctor Mengele make his Project Lazarus and the Legionizer come true with my talents! W—"

Tarek side-eyes the reptile and makes him quickly back down from his rant before addressing Gadget. "You would never understand what progress demands unless you know the costs. How much it asks of yourself."

Gadget furrowed his brow. "The Reactive Factory Disaster, those lives lost in that underground lab of yours and those you have mutilated in your experiments, are all those part of the costs of your progress or something you do because you can? How many more have you killed that we don't know about?"

"In my line of work, you must expect fatalities to occur in order to obtain results and you must also be willing to eliminate any that may threaten your progress by any means necessary. Witnesses included." Tarek replied calmly to Gadget. "Progress demands sacrifices. There is nothing more to be said here. Farewell."

Tarek snaps his fingers to the guards as he starts to walk away. "Execute every one of them."

"Wait!"

Gadget called out to him. The jackal stops in his paces and looks over shoulder at the wolf. Seeing a fearful expression on him.

"Before you kill us, can you at least tell us why you did what you did on Resort Island? We've tried to uncover the motives but we're not smart enough to figure it out ourselves. If we're going to die, the least you gentlemen could do is enlighten us before we kick the bucket once you're done."

Unable to help himself not flex his own ego, Slimy spoke up. "We had that lab self-destruct merely to remove any and all incriminating evidence against Doctor Mengele and his associates in the R.I.D.I including witnesses. The chain reaction leading to Reactive Factory blowing up and burying the entire crime scene along with one of your own assaults that corrupt fool Speechley on camera were all a happy little accident..."

Smirking smugly at the wolf as Slimy continued his monologuing. "Then add in the likes of I.G.N sowing discourse on our behalf and Mengele's masterful manipulation of that moron Boris, we would have gotten away with the perfect crime thanks to m—our brilliance if you meddling kids pests hadn't survived somehow."

Tarek eyed the medal on Gadget's person. The medal seems familiar as if he has seen it somewhere before and rather recently but where though?

Gadget would ask a rather innocuous question. "So to put it in layman's terms and making sure that I heard you right; you and Mengele were running illegal experiments right under Boris Speechley's nose on Resort Island, used Paine like a pawn to make it seem like Boris was behind the shady business and us Freedom Fighters who were on said island just happened to be perfect scapegoats to pin the blame on when it came time to checkout? Correct?"

Tarek does recall seeing that medal on the wolf in their last meeting and didn't think much of it then. A nagging suspicion is telling him that the medal is more than it seems to appear.

"Yes!" Slimy answered in a very smug tone. "And you can take that knowledge to your graves!"

Tarek realised what that medal could actually be and why it seemed very suspect to him. No one runs around with a medal like that except for one reason only.

"Aye, we may be going to our own graves but it sure ain't dying with us." Gadget taps on his camera disguised as a medal with a smirk. "Smile, you're both on camera pal."

Slimy's smug expression melts into a panicking one once he realizes what he had just done and can feel Tarek's murderous glare staring at the back of his head. If looks could actually kill, he'd be a deadman right now.

"...Smile, you're on camera pal."

Collie Chang was watching the live feed to her side as it was being streamed through means she'll disclose to her boss later. Right now, she's busy hosting her News or What? show and no doubt attracting major numbers in the ratings to overshadow anything I.G.N has going on today.

The cat commented on the action and spoke to the camera while the production crew watched on mesmerised. "What you have just seen is an example of the Columbo Gambit in action…"

Mayor City Hall, Radical City. Resort Island

Evening

Boris Speechley was watching News or What? on a TV in his mayoral office and seeing the thought-to-be dead Tarek Mengele on the screen. There he is alive and well much to his shock after having what seemed like a very fatal end.

At first he was ecstatic at seeing him again but that joy quickly died in the womb once he saw Tarek's true colours and putting the pieces together that adds up to him being the primary source of all the grief he's received since he came into office. Witnessing who the scientist really is like behind that mask he had worn around him.

Seeing him with what he thought is Grimer Wormtongue aka one of Doctor Robotnik's faithfuls is enough to make him wrongfully assume he unknowingly harboured one of Robotnik's agents under his administration and allowing himself to be played like a puppet. Anger bubbles in his chest as realisation sets in that he's the main culprit behind his grief, feeding Paine plenty of dirt behind his back and undermining him.

Sonic was right all along. He's the fool for not hearing out either him or his friends when they told him the truth and instead condemning all of them out of anger over the sunk costs of Reactive Factory.

Seeing as he owes them all an apology and because he's smart enough to know the direction the winds are blowing, he grabbed his phone to go ring them up. Hopefully they're still willing to take his calls...

Seeing as he had just fallen for a trap, Tarek made the throat cut gesture to the Dark Legion Troopers present. "Kill them all."

"Not happening today!"

Shortfuse, Knuckles, Butch and the now-freed Royal Acorn Army Commandos showed up like ninjas as they surrounded the two scientists and the would-be executioners of their friends. The surviving commandos and Butch were armed with Dark Legion-issued rifles. All weapons pointed at their foes.

"Drop your weapons. Put your hands up." Butch ordered the Dark Legion Troopers with the masked soldiers reluctantly drop their guns. Surrendering to the intruders.

He then points his gun at the two scientists. "Same for the both of you."

Seeing as he wasn't in any position to try anything shy of getting shot at, Doctor Mengele put his hands up.

Slimy doing the same after secretly tapping on his bracelet. The reptile glaring both at Butch and Gadget. The latter's getting really annoying for him with how persistent he is.

Tarek looked back at the red wolf. "Well played I must admit. What is your name?"

The wolf looked up at the jackal with a stern gaze. "They call me Gadget... Gadget the Wolf."

"I'll try to remember that name well..."

"Behind bars, sure." Bunnie quipped, picking up a dropped rifle from the floor and disarming it. "You ain't slippin' away this time, partner."

Gadget taps on his communicator. "Manic, you got all of that?"

"Yep. Your plan worked man."

"It was a gamble but it paid off." The wolf felt relieved at that. "We're heading to the ship."

He was about to switch off the camera on his medal when a rumble rang from another part of the base followed by the sounds of alarms and the sound of battle going on outside. The Freedom Fighter Special must have been sighted and being fired on by the base's defence turrets.

The appearance of seven silver egg-shaped mono-optic drones would appear soon after the alarms went off. Showing up to attack the group including the Dark Legion Troopers present. The masked soldiers get quickly cut down by the unexpected arrivals due to their A.I being set to attack mode on anyone that isn't Slimy.

Both Tarek and Slimy took advantage of the opportunity to escape in the chaos with Bunnie catching the sight of them slipping away from the scene and yelling out to the others while fighting off the drones with her nanite-generated armcannon. "Those no-good creeps are gettin' away!"

The R.A.A Commandos found themselves engaged in a shootout with both Slimy's plagiarised silver pod bots and the Dark Legion Troopers. With a three way battle set in a more claustrophobic space between the K.F.F and their R.A.A allies, the soldiers of the Dark Legion and the silver drones, it made for a very chaotic and noisy scene.

Gadget nodded and immediately gave chase to the two scientists with Shortfuse and Knuckles accompanying him. Pursuing the fleeing pair as they were rushing to get to the Jurika and the pressure is piling for them to get aboard the ship before it takes off. Their last chance of stopping the Dark Legion's plot.

The clock is ticking for them and the outcome of today determines what tomorrow will look like from here on. For the good of the free world, Sonic, Gadget and their friends can not afford to fail this one.

Author's Notes: Not much to say other than that things are escalating here, the tides are turning and the action is ramping up as we are nearing the climax. Pepper in some character interactions and you have this chapter.

Leave your thoughts in the reviews and I'll see you all another time. Stay tuned.