Chapter 6: Clash of the Titans

Amy watched as both Tails and his younger self struggled to get their equipment up and running again.

Whatever had caused that EMP earlier had started up again, not in a short burst this time but in a continuous buzz this time, making everyone's fur stand on end and all their electronics go crazy before promptly dying all at once.

"At least it's over," Lil'Tails said, smoothing his fur down now that the constant feeling of static electricity was no longer filling the air.

"But will it stay that way?" asked Amy, who had stuck by the two of them to watch their backs (and trusting the Chaotix to do the same for Cream and Cheese). She was struggling to style her quills back into their headband from where they started sticking up. "I don't think my quills can take another treatment like that."

"It doesn't look bad," Lil'Tails said. "It makes you look like you do in our time."

Amy sent Lil'Tails a smile. "That's sweet, but I prefer my quills this way now. It's cute, right?"

Lil'Tails nodded innocently as only a kid could be. "Yeah, you look pretty."

Amy smiled, pleased. "Aww, thank you." She sent her Tails a look to silently ask 'Why aren't you this sweet anymore?'

Tails, meanwhile, didn't see her look and sighed in frustration when he couldn't get his Miles Electric to turn on again. "It's like the battery has been completely drained," he said. "I'll need to find something to charge it up again."

"Maybe Sonic could do it with the Chaos Emeralds he's already collected," suggested Amy.

"That might be our best bet," Tails agreed. "Everything else electronic just shorts out whenever that whatever-that-was happens."

"So the emeralds might be the only source of power around that doesn't tap out," Lil'Tails said, seeing where he was going.

"Yeah, and if it does, then we have even bigger problems," Tails agreed, no doubt remembering the last time the emeralds had lost their luster. Things were weird enough without adding a werehog to the mix (though it would be nice to see Chip again).

"Then leave it to me," said Amy proudly. "If anyone knows how to always find Sonic, it's yours truly."

"That explains a lot," Tails and Lil'Tails said in unison.

Amy turned in a slow circle, examining the White Space in each direction, before jabbing her finger in one.

"That way!" she said.

With the Miles Electric down, they didn't have any other options but to follow Amy's intuition.

And yet, defying all logic, soon enough, they saw a blue hedgehog in the distance standing under the trees of a portion of Seaside Hill.

Amy squealed in delight and then ran and threw her arms around him. "I found you, Sonic!" she said.

Her joy was short-lived, as the hedgehog in her arms went stiff as a board, and a small cough off to the side caught her attention.

"Uh, Amy," said Sonic's voice, but not from the 'Sonic' in her arms.

Amy froze with a blue hedgehog still in her arms and turned to look, praying she at least had gotten Mini-Sonic. A Sonic is a Sonic, right?

No such luck, as she turned to see both Sonic and Mini-Sonic standing there, next to what looked like Knuckles, Shadow, and… Tails? But she thought both Tails were behind her?

She had an audience… great…

Amy went beet-red under her fur and shoved the hedgehog she was hugging away with a cry of, "Oh, not again!"

And now Mini-Sonic was laughing at her. Her poor younger self was going to have to deal with him teasing her over something she hadn't even done yet once time was set right.

… Then again, her younger self would probably just be glad for the attention, if she was being honest.

"On the bright side, Amy, you at least got a Sonic this time," her time's Sonic said, though it was clear from his voice he was laughing at her too.

Still, it took Amy a second to register what he said and take a closer look at the hedgehog she'd hugged.

It was… Sonic! But Sonic if he was fluffy and absolutely-

"CUTE!" Amy couldn't help but squeal, reaching over to cup the new Sonic's face in her hands and take a closer look.

The new Sonic, who had been giving her a deer-in-the-headlights stare, blushed and turned absolutely flustered under her attention. "Uh… meow!" he was able to say.

"I love what you do with your fur," Amy said, still examining him. "What conditioner do you use? It's so soft."

"L-L'Oréal, because I'm worth it," the new Sonic quipped before immediately smacking himself in the forehead and looking embarrassed.

Behind him, Knuckles and Tails(?) were laughing at him. Meanwhile, Shadow was staring at her like he'd never seen another hedgehog before. Come to think of it, New Sonic was looking at her like that, too.

"Uh, Amy," said the voice of Lil'Tails behind her (she knew he was behind her! What was going on?). "Maybe you should let him go."

Amy, realizing what she'd been doing, quickly stepped out of his space. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!"

"I- uh- it's alright," New Sonic said, still flustered. "Hugs are nice."

"Ah, yes, she hugged you," said Knuckles (New Knuckles? Not the one she knew at least. Too fuzzy.) with a wicked smirk on his face as he slung his arm around New Sonic's shoulder. "By ancient hedgehog customs, that means you now must marry her."

Both New Sonic and Shadow's heads snapped around to look at the echidna in shock. "WHAT!?" they both cried.

New Knuckles immediately burst into guffaws, clueing them in that he was pulling their legs. New Sonic had a deadpan expression as he stepped out from under the echidna's arm, and he fell to the ground still laughing.

('If only it was that easy to marry Sonic,' Amy mused to herself. Then again, that meant she'd also be married to both Shadow and Silver at this point.)

New Tails also fought down a snicker but tried to scold the echidna. "Come on, Knuckles, they can't help they were raised by humans."

"Yeah, give me a break, I haven't seen another hedgehog like me since I was, like, a baby, and now suddenly we're all over the place," New Sonic said, miffed.

"I didn't even think there was anything else like me," said Shadow, who was… actually agreeing with Sonic for once… This was definitely not the Shadow she knew.

As Amy took in that information, the Tails she knew spoke up. "Uh, Sonic, what's going on?" he asked, eyeing the new fluffy version of himself curiously. All three versions of Tails stepped over to face each other with identical curious expressions like they were some fascinating new thing to study and holding out a hand like they wanted to poke each other to see if they were real.

(New Sonic snorted into his fist. "They're doing the Spider-Man meme!" he giggled.)

As if to answer that question, the time monster appeared through a portal, swooped in over their heads, making them all duck and try to shield their youngests, before it opened another portal and vanished.

Watching it go with a frown, Sonic explained, "Turns out that monster can punch holes through dimensions along with time and space. Shadow found these four while poking around, and they followed him back here."

He then waved at them and said, "Guys, these are Blue, Miles, Red, and Stripes. Turns out they're the ones who did that energy pulse."

"To be clear, those are just nicknames forced on us to prevent confusion," said New Sonic, who was obviously Blue.

Despite that, Shadow-Stripes still looked confused. "When did this get decided? And whose bright idea was it to name me Stripes?"

Blue avoided his gaze. "No idea. I would have called you something cooler."

"Like what?" asked Stripes, curious.

"I dunno, like Neo? Or Wick? Your voice reminds me of Keanu Reeves," said Blue.

"Who's Keanu Reeves?" Stripes asked, bewildered.

Blue gasped, then looked very excited. "Oh, there are so many more movies you've just got to see!"

"Maybe not Neo. Metal Sonic has dibs on that name," Tails pointed out.

"Uh… who?" asked Blue, and from the bewildered looks on the newcomers' faces, none of them had any clue who or what Metal Sonic was.

Rather than explain, Sonic just snickered and then gestured to his friends, "Fuzzy Brigade, I'd like you to meet my friends. You of course know Tails and Lil'Tails, but this is my friend Amy."

"Amy Rose," Amy said with a little curtsy. "It's nice to meet you."

With introductions out of the way, Tails had questions. "So wait, you guys were responsible for that weird energy?"

"Yes, it is a simple feat with our awesome power, of which mine is most impressive," said Red, pumping his fist into the air.

"Then you did do it?" asked Lil'Tails. "How? Did you use a Chaos Emerald?"

"Uh, nope, no way, those things are for emergency use only. Like, armageddon end-of-the-world scenarios," said Blue, crossing his arms in a big X.

"They are sealed away behind the greatest defense we can muster back in our world," agreed Red solemnly.

"What's a… Chaos Emerald?" asked Stripes, looking confused.

There was a brief pause as Amy and her friends all stared at him for that question.

Shadow? Any version of him? Not knowing what a Chaos Emerald was? But he was one of the best Chaos users among them and knew tricks with the emeralds none of them had even seen before he used them!

To answer his question, Mini-Sonic reached into his quills and pulled out the emerald he'd already collected from fighting Metal Sonic and held it up for Stripes to see.

"Whoa!" said all the dimensional travelers, not just Stripes.

"That's what Chaos Emeralds look like for you?" asked Blue in surprise.

"It's huge!" Miles said in awe. "It's almost the size of the Master Emerald!"

("What's the Master Emerald?" Stripes asked quietly behind them.

"The lost artifact my people sought to find, and I succeeded in locating, as I told you during our conversation in the caves," Red explained to him, making Stripes nod in thanks.)

Amy stared at Miles at that description. "Wait, how big are they in your dimension?" she asked.

Miles just looked at Blue for the answer, and the hedgehog held up his fingers decently far apart, but still showing a small size. "About yay big, like the size of a ping-pong ball."

That's… small.

"And what's the size of the Master Emerald?" asked Amy.

"It is this size," Red said, holding up his hands to about the size of his own head, if a little smaller. "Why, how big is your Master Emerald?"

Amy and her friends all exchanged a look at that.

Then Tails pointed over to the chunk of City Escape just past Seaside Hill. "You see those cars over there?" he asked.

The dimension jumpers looked over and nodded.

"Bigger than that," Tails said.

"I see," said Red thoughtfully. "It must be a wondrous sight."

"Yeah, but it also sounds a lot harder to hide," Blue said. "We'd have to have Tails renovate our garage with tons of boobytraps to protect something that size."

"I mean… we could still do that," said Miles, looking interested and pulling out his Miles Electric to take notes.

Seeing Red also warming up to the idea, Blue quickly interjected, "Oooh no, remember what happened last time you tried to renovate. I'm shocked you're not still grounded."

Really, 'grounded'? Who could ground Knuckles?

"Back to my previous question," Tails interjected before Red could argue. "How did you cause that power surge if you don't have an emerald?"

"And do you know how to fix it?" asked Lil'Tails.

"I mean, you have to, right?" agreed Tails, gesturing at Miles's computer. "I haven't been able to get my Miles Electric to turn on since the last one, but yours seems to run fine."

"Oh, that's easy," said Miles. He then glanced over at Blue and Red and asked, "Do you mind?"

Blue just smiled and reached up to his head, plucked a quill free, and handed it to Miles.

Miles took the quill and pulled a pair of wire cutters out of his backpack, and clipped it into smaller pieces. "Can I see your Miles Electric?" he then asked Tails.

Completely lost on what he was doing, Tails handed his device over, and they all watched as Miles popped open the back and switched the batteries with the clipped-to-fit quill pieces.

Then, with just a little more fiddling, Miles handed the computer back to the other two Tails. "There, that should do it."

Tails looked dubious. "But there're no batteries. And why did you put Blue's quill in there?"

But Lil'Tails attempted to turn it on regardless, and to both foxes' shock, the Miles Electric started up right away.

"What?" Tails asked. "How? Did you switch out the quill with real batteries when we weren't looking? Is this some kind of secret trick of yours?"

"No, the quill is the battery," Miles said. "That energy you were talking about before. It comes from them."

"He's right," Sonic agreed. "I saw it myself. They can use Chaos Energy without needing an emerald. It just comes naturally to them."

"Like what Shadow can do?" asked Amy curiously.

"Like Shadow minus his inhibitor rings if they really get going," Sonic described. "Except that's still them with the rings on."

Amy turned to stare and saw Red puff up proudly, Blue look sheepish but also proud, and Stripes fiddled with his own inhibitor rings, which were still firmly on his wrists.

Tails looked down at some readings on his repaired Miles Electric and had to nod. "Okay, that would explain the crazy energy."

Lil'Tails looked up at the dimension traveler and asked, "So… you guys are like living Chaos Emeralds?" he asked curiously.

"That is an apt description," said Red thoughtfully. "Though the power of the emeralds still far surpasses our own."

"Speaking of emeralds," Tails piped up. "The others have found some, but they can't reach them.

"And Knuckles is keeping watch on one of them for u-" Amy started to say, but before she could finish, Red was in her face looking eager.

"Where? Where is my Counterpart?" he asked, gripping her shoulders in excitement.

"B-By the big gold gears," Amy said, startled but pointing in the right direction.

Red turned to see the gears she was talking about. "My battle with destiny awaits!" he shouted and raced off, leaving red lightning in his wake.

"Should… we be worried about that?" asked Amy.

"Um… depends on how eager your Knuckles is to fight him back," said Miles.

"He hasn't shut up about fighting him since we got here and found out it was a possibility," added Stripes.

"He also wants to fight you, by the way," Blue added to Stripes.

"Really, I couldn't tell with how he attacked me when we first met," said Stripes sarcastically.

"Yeah… he does that. Did that to me when we met, too," said Blue while scratching the back of his head.

"Same with ours," said Sonic. "I was even Super when it happened. He knocked the emeralds right out of me and everything."

Mini-Sonic nodded and rubbed his stomach where Knuckles had socked him on their first meeting.

"Did he attack you, too?" Lil'Tails asked Miles.

Miles scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "Eh-he-he, uh, no. We met when I, um… I hit him with a car."

Everyone turned to stare at the fluffy fox.

"He was okay," Miles quickly said.

"In his defense, Knuckles was strangling me at the time because it was just after he and I had just met. That's how all three of us met, really," said Blue.

"Brutal," said Stripes, but it was clear from his tone that he approved. Though, if he approved of Red strangling Blue or Miles hitting Red with a car, or both was unclear.

"Don't worry about it," Sonic assured him with a grin. "Most of my friends have tried to kill me at least once. It's a bonding experience."

Both Mini-Me and Blue did double-takes and exchanged a dubious glance upon hearing that.

"So what you're saying is, the chances of those two attacking each other on sight is high, right?" said Amy.

Mini-Sonic sent her a look, making it clear he was wondering why she was even bothering to ask something so obvious.

"Great," said Amy as she looked where Red had run off, and had a sinking feeling Knuckles would not appreciate the greeting that awaited him, but maybe it'd be good for both of them to have a taste of their own medicine.

"So, wanna see who wins?" asked Sonic.

"Uh, yeah," said Blue, like that was obvious.

"Then let's go," said Sonic as he took off, and everyone followed after him at their own speeds.

If nothing else, this was sure to be interesting.

Knuckles glared up at the lifeless Chaos Emerald just out of reach amongst the giant formation of gears floating in the middle of the White Space.

In the middle of the gears was a portal that had at one point led to a fight with Perfect Chaos. But the fight itself had been interrupted by the Shockwave, leaving Perfect Chaos unable to continue, and it retreated beneath the ocean depths.

This was a problem because, as near as he could tell, in order for the Chaos Emerald to be retrieved, there had to be a battle fought within the portal, and the emerald would go to the winner. Without one, the emerald would remain locked in place and frozen in time.

So unless Perfect Chaos got a second wind, someone else would have to fight in the flooded remains of Station Square to fulfill the terms of release.

Now, Knuckles was always willing to throw down, but it needed to be against a strong enough opponent to qualify. The Sonics were always an option, but because of their friendship, he doubted the blue hedgehogs would take the fight against him seriously, nor would they be eager to have a flooded wasteland as their battleground.

If they succeeded in finding Shadow, then that was also an option, but Knuckles was well aware that there was still a slight chance that the Ultimate Lifeform would win that fight, and then who knows what he'd do with the emerald. Sonic may trust him, but Knuckles still had his doubts.

Silver and Blaze were also options and more trustworthy in Knuckles' opinion, but so far, no one had been able to track them down, though the Chaotix had reported they were getting close. The two of them were the most ideal out of his current options, but until they were found, it couldn't be helped.

Knuckles sighed and wished not for the first time that his own younger self had appeared in the void like Sonic and Tails' had. A fight against himself would be just what he needed to free the emerald.

Just as he was considering moving on to try and find someone, his fur stood on end, and he had to dodge to the side to avoid a fire-covered fist striking the ground where he'd just been standing.

He brought up his fists, ready to fight his attacker, and was shocked to see another echidna crouched where he had been, grinning up at him in anticipation.

"Counterpart," said the echidna, who looked like a slightly younger and fuzzier version of himself. "I seek trial by combat to see which of us is the stronger warrior, as our ancestors have done for generations."

Knuckles just blinked at him for a second as what he was seeing registered. This wasn't his younger self, but he was also not not a version of himself. This was another Knuckles for sure, but it was for sure not him.

Thankfully, Sonic appeared a second later."Hey, Knux, have you met your dimensional counterpart already? We're calling him Red," he said as Mini-Sonic, another Sonic, and a version of Shadow appeared as well, with three sets of Tails and (thankfully) one Amy closing in too.

Oh, that made sense.

Finally understanding what happened, Knuckles felt a grin of anticipation spread across his face. "I accept your challenge," he said as the others finally reached them. "Get ready, kid, I won't hold back."

"You would dishonor yourself if you dared," said Red, cracking his knuckles excitedly.

Knuckles laughed. "Oh, I like you kid. Just one thing, we fight in there," he said, pointing toward the clockwork portal.

Red peered past him and into the portal. "Why? Is there a proper arena beyond?"

"Not really. It's a mess in there, but-" Knuckles jerked his thumb up at the frozen emerald. "-the emerald won't get free without a battle taking place inside. And since Sonic screwed up the fight that was already in there-"

"Hey!" squawked Sonic.

"-Then we'll have to be the replacement," said Knuckles. He then smirked at Red and added, "Think you can be enough of a challenge?"

Red was literally glowing in anticipation. "I will be the greatest challenge you have ever faced, Counterpart," he said. His head then snapped to the side, and he barked, "Fox!"

One of the versions of Tails stood at attention.

"Play my jam!" Red demanded with a fierce grin.

'Fox' rolled his eyes but pulled out his Miles Electric. "Playing The Warrior by Scandal, featuring Patty Smyth," the computer said in an automated voice, and the opening notes of guitars, drums, and a woman's crooning wail began playing over its speakers.

Hearing this, Red charged through the portal, and Knuckles hurried behind.

So his counterpart liked to fight to music? Not Knuckles' first choice, but he could see the appeal. Also, he could already tell this was a good song.

This was going to be fun.

From atop one of the less destroyed buildings, the recently dubbed Lil'Tails watched in awe as both versions of Knuckles clashed all across the ruined city. He knew Knuckles was strong. The version in his time had been able to beat Super Sonic in one punch, after all. But seeing it in action was something else.

"So cool," Tails said to his Sonic as they watched.

Sonic looked between him and the fight before rolling his eyes and thumping his chest.

"You're cool too, Sonic," Tails assured him. "But you don't fight like this."

Sonic looked over to where Red was using his lightning power to supercharge a massive steel beam and throw it like a javelin towards Knuckles, who blocked it with an entire chunk of a building. Red then tried smashing straight through the building, only to be hit by an uppercut by Knuckles that sent him flying, but Red still managed to kick Knuckles in the head on his way up. The two took only a second to nurse their respective head injuries before going after each other again.

Sonic slumped and pouted, making Tails laugh. "I know you could do all that if you were Super. But they're not super right now. That's what makes it cool."

Sonic pouted even harder.

"Don't worry, Mini-Me," said Big Sonic, having seen their conversation. "You'll get a shot to be the strong one out of super mode someday. Until then, just enjoy the show and the music."

Sonic looked curious but did as he said and watched as the echidnas got tired of throwing buildings at each other and were on a sturdier section of wreckage, duking it out with martial arts filled with awesome flying fists and kicks. His eyes narrowed, and he crossed his arms in resignation.

Tails snickered, knowing his Sonic had been forced to admit both Knuckles were cool. But he would never in a million years admit it to any version of the echidna.

"Whooo! Go Knuckles!" Blue was cheering loudly off to the right. "Wachowski family for the win!"

"You Go! Bro!" Miles cheered alongside him, holding up his Miles Electric at top volume to play Red's song.

The battle honestly seemed endless until the both of them swung the strongest haymaker they could at each other (Red's fists were even on fire during it) and managed to knock each other clean out.

"So wait, it's a tie?" asked Big Tails. "Will that even count?"

It seems it did, as both Knuckles stirred after a moment to see the Chaos Emerald floating in the middle of them, having been granted to them both.

Seeing the fight was over, everyone hurried down from where they were spectating to congratulate them.

"Nice job, Knuckles," said Big Sonic when he reached him. "That was a heck of a fight."

"I'll say," Knuckles agreed, rubbing his new set of bruises but looking thrilled. "That kid packs a punch. And that lightning, if I wasn't so used to the energy the Master Emerald gives off, that would sting a lot more."

His counterpart, however, did not seem so happy. "Leave me to my shame, Brothers," Red said when Blue and Miles helped him to his feet.

"Shame?" Miles asked, bewildered and pulling Red upright. "What do you mean 'shame'? That was awesome! You were incredible!"

"I failed to secure victory," Red said, looking despondent. "And that brings great shame upon myself and our tribe."

"Knuckles, you may not have won, but you sure didn't lose. I mean, you were fighting yourself," Blue said, gesturing at Knuckles and making it clear he thought Red's moping was ridiculous. "If anything, it proves that no one can beat you. Not even you!"

That perked Red up immediately, and he laughed. "That is true! No one is stronger than the greatest warrior in the galaxy. Today, I have proven my might across all universes! Come, brothers, we must celebrate!"

"Wachowski family power bump?" said Miles, holding out his fist.

"Wachowski family power bump!" cheered Blue, meeting his fist with his own.

"Power bump!" Red agreed, adding his own fist to the mix.

"One, two, three, WACHOWSKI!" the three cheered, throwing their hands into the air.

However, their words caught Knuckles' attention. "Wait, Brothers? Tribe? Wachowski?" he asked, staring at the three of them.

Red looked over at him. "Yes, they are my brothers. We were all adopted by the Lord of Donuts and the Lady of Pretzels, and our tribe lives together in House Wachowski of the Hills of Green."

"Knuckles decided to keep his last name to honor his people, but all of us are the proudly adopted Wachowski brothers," said Blue with finger guns.

"So that's the better last name you mentioned," Big Sonic said to Miles, and the fox nodded.

Knuckles, however, looked scandalized. "You live with them? What about the Master Emerald? What about Angel Island?" he asked, his good mood from the fight having seemingly evaporated.

Tails was wondering that too, as was everyone else. The Knuckles of his time cared so much about the Master Emerald and Angel Island that the idea of him ever living anywhere else was blasphemy. Even if his future version seemed to have loosened up to leave the island for short periods, there was no doubt that he would always return.

But at the question, Blue looked confused, Stripes looked grumpy and lost as to what they were even talking about, and Miles just looked curious. "What's Angel Island?" the latter asked, voicing a question it was clear all of them had.

Knuckles looked like someone had just hit him harder than Red had. "WHAT'S ANGEL ISLAND?! What do you mean 'What's Angel Island?' How can you not know Angel Island?!"

It was Red who answered the question. "Angel Island was the ancestral home of my people. A floating paradise of untold wonder, but it was lost along with the Master Emerald," he explained to his brothers.

Knuckles was aghast. "What? You lost Angel Island?" he accused furiously. "Bad enough you lost the Master Emerald, how do you lose an entire island? Did you at least get the Master Emerald back?"

Red looked indignant. "I did not lose it. Angel Island was lost long before I was born. When the Owl Tribes stole the Master Emerald from my ancestors, the island was claimed by the ocean, never to be seen again. My people were nomadic ever since, seeking to reclaim the Master Emerald, even if they could never again reclaim their homeland."

Miles' eyes lit up as he seemed to realize something. "And that's why you used to say Echidna Warriors don't have homes!" he said.

Knuckles looked just plain horrified to hear this.

Blue, meanwhile, looked guilty. "Oh, boy, should I, like, apologize for that? You know, for Longclaw and her people? Do something to make up for it?"

"Longclaw?" asked Amy.

"His mother. She died protecting him," Stripes answered bluntly, but quietly enough that Blue didn't hear him.

Amy looked sorry she asked.

Red, meanwhile, looked over at Blue and shook his head. "It had nothing to do with you," he replied. "It had nothing even to do with Longclaw, as it was long before even her time. As her apprentice, you have already paid recompense by joining me in my duty to reclaim and guard the Master Emerald and by giving me something no Echidna Warrior has had in centuries. A home."

Blue scuffed his foot and looked down. "Still, I'm sorry Longclaw's people pulled an Atlantis on yours."

Knuckles, however, still had questions. "But wait, but if you're all here, then who's guarding the Emerald?"

"Oh, good thing Rouge isn't here to hear that," said Big Tails quietly.

But Red had an answer for him. "In my absence, it is in the care of my apprentice, who is true of heart and will stop at nothing to see it defended. He vowed to me he would protect the emerald with his life."

Knuckles was about to say something to that, but paused, then in a considering tone, said, "Huh… an apprentice… Why didn't I ever think of that?"

Red shrugged. "Fret not, it was not my idea, either. I was sent a vision of Chief Pachacamac encouraging me to take him on. My chosen apprentice does not appear to be much, but his loyalty is unmatched. If you take one on, choose one who will never betray you."

Knuckles nodded. "It's something to think about. Don't think I'm ready for a step like that, but maybe someday in the future."

Big Sonic, meanwhile, looked dubious. "Isn't Chief Pachacamac the guy who made Chaos go on a rampage in the past?" he whispered to Big Tails. "Should Knuckles really trust that guy's advice?"

Big Tails shrugged. "I don't know, you're the one Tikal gave those visions to. Maybe he was wiser in their world," he whispered back.

"Or at least with the Master Emerald stolen, he couldn't make Chaos angry," added Amy softly.

Tails shared a look with Sonic, wondering who all these people were. Guess they would find out in their future.

Seeing the discussion whittle down, Sonic took charge and went over to collect the emerald the echidnas had won.

"One more emerald down," said Big Sonic when he saw him do so. "Just a few more, and we can take down that monster."

"How many more do we need?" asked Amy.

Sonic held up two fingers for her to see.

"Three if we count the one Shadow is borrowing for now," Big Sonic added. "Pretty sure Silver has one, and I think I saw the last one is stuck behind another of these clockwork portals."

"Well, let's just hope whatever's behind that portal didn't get shut down by the shockwave, too," said Knuckles, focusing on the present. "If not, some of us will have to fight each other, and I don't think it can be the same two people again, as fun as that would be."

"Our bad," said Blue sheepishly.

"It is a shame," agreed Red, but something seemed to occur to him, and he turned to Stripes. "Although, perhaps if it is, I can finally do battle with the More Impressive Hedgehog?" he asked, sounding eager.

"Dude!" Blue squawked.

"I'll think about it," said Stripes with a smirk.

"Wouldn't you two clashing just make another shockwave?" Miles asked.

"Oh, that is likely correct," said Red, disappointed. "Another time, Impressive Hedgehog."

"I'll be waiting," agreed Stripes.

"I am still right here!" Blue protested but sounded resigned at this point.

Big Sonic laughed and put an arm around Blue. "Sorry, kid, it's big brother's prerogative to mess with the younger ones. Get used to it."

Sonic grinned and wrapped his arm around Tails in agreement.

Blue scoffed and glanced at Miles.

"Don't even think about it," the fuzzy fox said warningly.

"Yeah, mess with us at your own risk," said Big Tails.

"Got that right," Tails agreed, giving his Sonic a look.

Sonic just grinned back.

Knuckles, however, frowned at the four dimension travelers and asked, "So wait, does that mean he's your brother too?" he asked, pointing at Stripes.

Stripes looked startled at the question, and the other three shrugged.

"I mean, if he wants to be?" said Blue.

Stripes looked even more startled hearing that, and his head snapped around to stare at them.

Seeing he wasn't about to answer any time soon, Miles shrugged. "Just think about it."

"The offer shall remain open," added Red.

Stripes just continued staring like he didn't know what to think. "You just met me!" he said.

"So?" asked the Wachowski brothers, not seeing a problem.

"Yeah, I adopted Tails in, like, the first five minutes of knowing him," agreed Big Sonic, not seeing any problems.

Sonic nodded in agreement while pointing at Tails.

Truthfully, Tails didn't see the problem either. That's just how families found each other, right? They saw someone and thought, 'That's my brother now' and became a family. Stripes was just weird.

At that moment, the ground under Tails' feet started to crumble away, and he had to catch himself in the air with his tails before he could fall in the water.

Sonic quickly hurried over and dragged him towards more stable ground, but the whole event just reminded them all that they were still in the remains of a flooded city.

"Come on," Big Sonic said, waving for them to follow him. "Those emeralds won't find themselves. And the sooner we get out of this place, the better."

With a nod, the rest of them hurried back to the portal to the White Space.

Time to get out of here.

A/N So, this fic has art now. I drew it myself. I'm posting it all on my Tumblr as soon as this chapter is up, so check me out. My username is the same, Sunnylighter. I also have a picture for my Parents of Sonic Support Group fic. I'm slowly working on a second chapter for that. I need to watch more Sonic Boom first.

Anywho, as for this chapter. We finally have some more Game characters meeting the Movie ones, and Movie Shadow is aware of it. I couldn't resist adding the part where Amy hugs the wrong hedgehog. I so hope they somehow incorporate that running joke into the movies. I really like it. And Movie Knuckles FINALLY gets to have that fight with his counterpart. As we see, picking a fight is just how he says hello. The stuff about Angel Island sinking into the sea is just my headcanon for it. Since the Master Emerald was stolen, and it had to have been long enough ago that the Owl tribes were able to build those anicent-looking, booby-trap-ridden temples to hide the, it had to have been gone a good long while. Plus, it ties in nicely to Knuckles' whole 'Echidna Warriors have no home,' thing from his TV series.

Check out my art on Sunnylighter at Tumblr

SSSSSS

Amy: I can't believe I mistook someone else for Sonic again!

Modern: Tails: Maybe you need to see an eye doctor.

SSSSSS

Game Knuckles: Huh, where am I going to find a decent fight around here?

Movie Knuckles *crashes into frame*: You called, Counterpart?

Game Knuckles: Oh, heck yeah!

SSSSSS

Game Knuckles *points at Movie Shadow: So is he with you?

Movie Team Sonic: Oh yeah, we're ride or die for him.

Movie Shadow: We just met?

SSSSSS

POVS: Amy, then Game Knuckles, then Classic Tails

Nicknames:

Movie Sonic: Blue, New Sonic

Modern Sonic: Big Sonic

Classic Sonic: Mini-Sonic, Tails' Sonic

Movie Tails: New Tails, Miles

Modern Tails: Big Tails

Classic Tails: Lil'Tails

Movie Knuckles: New Knuckles, Red

Game Knuckles: Big Knuckles

Movie Shadow: New Shadow, Stripes