Sonic GeneX Generations
Arc 2 - End of an Era
Chapter 13 - Dimension in Crisis
Stage - Crisis City, Flame Core - Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
Additional Stage - Shadow Arcangel - GeneX Series

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.

"Because the pressures of this world, they can take their toll,
And it's tough to get away when they take a hold.
The only way to break free is to break the mold.
You can't stop now, lock and load!
Don't stop now, c'mon, rock n' roll!!" - His World, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)


The story thus far:
Dr. Eggman has revealed his plot! He teamed up with Gunner and his younger self, Dr. Robotnik, launching the Egg Carrier and a GUN Warship over white space. They summoned and controlled the monster, which Eggman called Time Eater, and used the power of a Chaos Emerald to enable it to complete a doorway leading to a new area. With Copter trapped aboard the GUN Warship, Dimentime and a group of others followed Sonic through the door and found themselves at the ruins of Station Square as it was being attacked by Perfect Chaos! While Sonic took on Chaos, the Egg Carrier began firing its superlaser at Dimentime and the others, forcing them to struggle to find cover! Meanwhile, Copter obtained the GUN Warship's Chaos Emerald, only to be attacked by the Diablotron, controlled by Gunner! When things were looking bleak, Razor took the GUN Warship's controls and moved it into the path of the Egg Carrier's superlaser, protecting their friends below and vaporizing the Diablotron in the process! Gunner escaped the warship with Guard, while Copter and his friends jumped into the flooded city below. Perfect Chaos soon knocked out the Egg Carrier with a water geyser, forcing Eggman and Robotnik to flee as well. Sonic then managed to defeat Chaos and fish out the Chaos Emerald, which Copter had dropped upon landing in the water. After returning to white space, Sonic & Tails noticed a frozen Chaos Emerald and moved ahead to check it out, while Copter, Dimentime, and the others received a message from SPOT, written by Bucky, which invited them all to Shadow Arc to discuss their next move in the battle with Dr. Eggman!
Now, on to the next chapter!


Sonic and Classic Sonic had found another city in ruins. This one, however, was not drowned in water, but burning in flames. Unlike every other place they had been to thus far, however, neither of them had any memory of this place. They split up to check out the ruined city, and as they explored, Sonic soon came across a familiar face. It was Silver the Hedgehog, and he was holding the white Chaos Emerald! "Hey, Silver!" Sonic said, waving. At first, Silver hid the emerald behind his back, but realizing this was futile, he glanced at Sonic suspiciously. "Sonic? Is that really you? Or are you some kind of fake, sent for the Chaos Emeralds?" he asked. Sonic raised an eyebrow. "A fake? Can a fake run like THIS??" he said, taking off at incredible speed down the ruined highway ahead of them! Silver immediately followed after him, using his psychic powers to levitate in the air. "I don't know... Eggman Nega's pretty good at building things... How do I know you're not a very convincing fake? I'd better test you a bit more thoroughly..." he said, smirking as he flicked his wrist and used his powers to pick up some cars and hurl them at Sonic, forcing him to both dodge and slow down at the same time, enabling the silver hedgehog to catch up a bit! However, they continued moving, both speeding down the wrecked road as they started their battle...


Meanwhile, almost everyone else who was trapped in white space had gathered in the control room of Shadow Arcangel. Bucky and Zipp were hosting the meeting, and were seated near the ship's controls as the others were arriving. Copter, Dimentime, Knuckles, Rouge, Big, Cream, Amy, Omega, SPOT, Razor, Tommy, Illusi, Punchy, Rainbow, Gator, and even Kosmo had shown up for the meeting. A couple of them had even brought snacks, as per Bucky's request. Knuckles brought grapes from Sky Sanctuary Zone, Gator brought cans of Chaos Soda from City Escape, Big had brought some fish he'd caught in his spare time, and Cream brought cookies and chips she'd bought from a store around Speed Highway. Rouge crossed her arms. "Why are we wasting time with snacks?!" she grumbled. "Excuuuuse me, I haven't eaten since the monster swallowed my ship up!!" Bucky snapped. "Robots do not require such time consuming procedures..." Omega complained. "Hey! All this cola is mine! Hands off!" Gator objected as people reached for something to drink. Copter snatched a can from him and growled. "Some of us have been fighting all... week! Gimme!" he grumbled. Bucky chuckled. "Actually, Copter, according to my and Tails's calculations, there is no actual time here." he said. Knuckles stopped munching his grapes and stared at Bucky. "Huh?? Tails? What are you talking about?" he stammered. Razor nodded. "Tails has been coming here between trips with Sonic, especially after his robot got busted." he explained. "Who do you think fixed Copter's plane? Vortex, wherever he is?" Zipp chuckled. Bucky nodded. "The young Mr. Prower was quite helpful and enthusiastic. He repaired everything, including my ship... although it now requires repairs once again... I was lucky to walk away from the crash. If Kosmo hadn't shown up to catch the ship as it spun out of control, we might not be meeting here now..." he explained. Everyone stared at Kosmo, who had been standing off to the side inconspicuously up to this point. "Hey! Everyone knows Bucky's the big genius around here, aside from Eggman! He's our best chance of getting out of this white prison!" Kosmo pointed out. "How'd you catch a giant ship, Three?" Rainbow asked. "Um... Remember? I can be a huge dragon?" Kosmo sighed. "All right, I guess he's with us... weird as it sounds..." Amy said, "Now what are we all doing here, anyway??" Dimentime cleared his throat. "Listen up! I saw the truth up there on the Egg Carrier. The monster that brought us all here... Eggman calls it Time Eater. He's controlling it! He's behind everything, and it seems like it's all mostly to get to Sonic!" he said. Big stared blankly. "What's a Time Eater...? Oh, I get it! You mean it's time to eat! Where do I fry up the fish I brought?" he asked. Half the group shook their heads in annoyance. "Ever heard of sushi?" Razor muttered. "These fish aren't good for sushi..." Big sighed. "Will ya stop talking about food!!" Punchy shouted, "What do ya mean Eggman's just after Sonic? He came after us!" he pointed out. Cream shrugged. "Well, we were around Sonic..." she said. Bucky shook his head. "It doesn't matter why. What matters is determining his next move, stopping him, and getting us all back home! Preferably fixing the damage done to time and space while we're at it. For all of this, we must work together..." he said. Amy raised her hand. "What about Sonic?" she asked. "Ooooh, Sonic. Some good he is, running off without talking to anyone! All he's good for is target practice!" Zipp teased. Amy growled. "You take that back!!" Illusi grabbed her by the arm and shook his head. "I wouldn't... He's got guns..." he warned. Amy pouted. "I'm so gonna tell Sonic..." she growled. Bucky sighed. "Zipp, behave. We cannot rely on Sonic. He's taking too long, and he's not waiting around to listen to us. Let's instead split up and investigate the areas of interest around this white world. For... sanity's sake, I'll leave it to you to assemble into teams among yourselves. Report to me for your assignments." he said. Everyone seemed hesitant at first, but then Knuckles spoke up. "Beats sitting around doing nothing. If the man has a plan, let's go!" he said. So, everyone began assembling into teams. Copter and Dimentime were quickly joined by Punchy and Rainbow. "I don't wanna work with ol' Red or Kosmo, so it looks like 'Team Copter' is back together..." Punchy said. Bucky walked over to them with SPOT. "...Cute. Well, Two... Seems Tails's robot is fond of you, so I'm putting you in charge of finding the remaining Chaos Emeralds." he said. Copter scratched his head. "Why? Sonic's just gonna take them again..." he grumbled. Bucky rolled his eyes. "Don't you think we might need all seven? Help him along! This robot can detect them! For some reason Tails didn't think to pick it up." he said. Dimentime smirked. "Sonic probably left too fast for him to suggest it." he joked. So, with Punchy, Rainbow, and SPOT in their group, Copter and Dimentime exited the ship and began their search.

They started heading towards the fiery city that the Sonics were exploring: Crisis City. SPOT was picking up a signal in that direction, but before they could reach it, Classic Sonic emerged from the city and found a statue of Blaze the Cat frozen nearby. As he ran up to her, she unfroze, and quickly leapt up to a high point on a nearby structure at the entrance to the city. After looking around briefly, she jumped back down and looked at Classic Sonic. "I wish I hadn't needed your help, Sonic, but thank you. By the way, you seem to look less...spiky." she said, prompting Sonic to look over his spikes again, much like when he met up with Cream. As Team Copter was arriving with SPOT, Modern Sonic was also emerging from Crisis City, and Tails and Classic Tails came from nearby as well. "Hey, everybody. What's up? Why do you have SPOT, Copter?" Tails asked. Blaze looked around awkwardly. "Why... are there two of everyone?" she mumbled. "That's not true! There isn't two of me!" Rainbow pointed out. Tails looked at SPOT's monitor. "Chaos Emerald detected." he read. Sonic held up the white Chaos Emerald. "You mean this? Yeah, five down, two to go!" he smirked. Copter growled. "Stupid Bucky! He gave us busy work! Well, that tears it! You take the robot and find the remaining emeralds yourself!" Copter shouted. Classic Tails covered his ears a little. "No need to yell. We already know where one is. We just need to find the last one." he pointed out. Punchy groaned. "Copter's right... busy work!" he scoffed. Sonic and Classic Sonic waved at them. "Well, we'd like to chat, but that emerald needs us running around in order to get its color back, so..." without another word, the two Sonics took off for the next area, and they left in such a hurry that the two Tails had to run off without SPOT! "D'oh... WAIT!! You forgot your... Geez, you were right, Dimentime!" Copter groaned. Dimentime wasn't paying attention; he was staring at Crisis City, his eyes full of concern and seriousness. "...Dimentime?" Copter muttered. "We have to check this place out..." he said. Blaze glanced from him to Crisis City. "No you don't. But I do." she said. Dimentime glared at her. "NO, I do! YOU don't. Who are you, anyway?" he asked. Blaze cloaked her body in fire briefly in order to startle everyone before speaking. "Don't tell me what to do. Understand?" she said. Everyone nodded except Dimentime. "If you want to come, then by all means, but we're going too, so don't be such a spoiled princess." he grumbled. Blaze gasped and opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it and silently followed the group into Crisis City. A few steps into the city, and Dimentime's heart sank. All around them was fire and destruction, the very nightmarish future that his timeline's Punchy had once described to him. "It can't be... It just... can't be!!" he stammered, falling to his knees. Everyone hurried over to him. "What're you freaking out about?" Punchy asked. Suddenly, the voice of Mephiles caught their attention. "It's very troubling, isn't it? Knowing... just how futile your efforts truly are." The Dark emerged in front of them in his crystalline version of Shadow's form, an eerie look in his eyes, as though he were pleased with himself. "Do what you will. Your failure is inevitable! It always was... Just ask the phoenix!" he gloated. Dimentime immediately rose to his feet, growling in his rage. "Mephiles!! I'll destroy you!!" he snarled, charging towards him! Mephiles rose into the air and waved his hand. "Good luck with that... There's more for you to worry about than me here." Just then, several monsters sprang up from some nearby rubble! They appeared to be made out of lava, though the lava was cooled on some parts of their bodies. "Iblis Biters!" Blaze groaned, glaring at the creatures. Mephiles began to fly away, but Dimentime ignored the Iblis Biters and charged after him in his fury. "You'll pay for what you did to my world, Mephiles!!" he yelled. Blaze sighed and took off after them without a word, leaving the others to contend with the monsters. "Uhhhh... Nice doggies..." Rainbow murmured. Suddenly, a giant laser blasted several of the Iblis Biters! It had come from SPOT! "Oh... I forgot that bot was here..." Copter grumbled. "All right, I'm not gonna be upstaged by a puppy! Chaos Avalanche!" Punchy shouted.

They made short work of the Iblis Biters in the immediate area and quickly hurried in the direction Blaze and Dimentime had gone. "What's the deal with those two!? You'd think this was their hometown or something!" Punchy said, jumping aside as a jet of fire shot up from the ground in front of him. "Whoa!! This place is crazy!" he shouted. Rainbow poked around a wrecked car. "Hmmm... I think we'll have to walk." she mumbled. Suddenly, the ground shook a little. "What's that...?" Copter muttered. They all scrambled as a monstrous worm creature made of lava burst out of the ground, an Iblis Worm! It immediately started spitting fireballs at them, but as Team Copter was busy playing dodgeball with it, SPOT quickly blasted it with several well placed lasers! The worm collapsed in a heap of lava, and Rainbow sighed. "I vote the doggy as the new team captain!" she said. Copter growled. "Stupid city..." Suddenly, they heard more noise coming from nearby! Looking around, they saw a huge pile of cars and rubble blocking a long street. Some objects were flying away from the pile, and soon a hand stuck out of it! Copter flew over and grabbed the hand, soon pulling out Silver the Hedgehog. "Yaaah!! Whew... Thanks... Boy, Sonic must've been in a hurry to leave me like that." Silver said. Copter landed a safe distance away from the pile of rubble and scratched his head. "Sonic? Figures... I always seem to be cleaning up his messes." he groaned. Silver sighed sheepishly. "Well, I did sorta ask for it... Hey, are you guys lost? Do you need some help?" he asked. Rainbow smiled and waved at him. "We sure could use a hand! Nice to have you with us, Shiny!" she said.


Meanwhile, Blaze easily caught up to Dimentime, and then ran past him, chasing after Mephiles herself! She hurled a fireball at him, but it seemed to do little beyond catching his attention. "That flame... feels familiar..." he muttered. Blaze ignored him and covered her hands in flames. "Mephiles! You tricked us! You sent us after the wrong Iblis Trigger! And now I think I get it... You were sided with Iblis all along, weren't you!?" she shouted, a fury hotter than any flame she could conjure burning in her eyes. Dimentime glanced at her in disbelief, but also noticed that the color in the area was largely drained. Looking around, he saw a statue of Vortex off to the side. "Oh, great. Couldn't be Crash, could it?" he sighed. Mephiles glanced around, his gaze finally settling on Blaze. "I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about. Perhaps you're mind is lost in another reality. Here, why don't you work out your issues with my pets?" His eyes suddenly flashed, and out of nowhere, purple versions of the Iblis Biters began to appear! "Oh, Mephiles Biters... How original." Blaze sighed. Dimentime quickly shot some bolts from his staff at the monsters between him and Vortex, but they barely flinched, and started shooting laser beams from their mouths! He jumped out of the way and tried Chaos Whirlwind, blowing them aside, and then hurried to the statue. Blaze covered her body in flames and charged at the laser-spouting monsters while Vortex was regaining his color, hissing angrily. "Yeah, I'm happy to see you, too, Vortex. Care to help out?" Dimentime suggested, turning to assist Blaze in fighting the monsters. Vortex backed away slightly, his body turning red to blend in with his fiery surroundings. "Where in blazessss am I??" he hissed, looking around. Part of the area was still white, and he could see yet another statue nestled among some debris in that area. "Crassssh wasss clossse to me when we were captured... I better get him." he said, sneaking towards the frozen rhino.

As Vortex attempted to reach Crash, however, a stray shot from Dimentime's staff whizzed past him, making him jump backwards and revert to his normal black color. "Watch where you're ssshooting, idiot!!" he snapped. Dimentime kept his focus on the monsters, but shouted back at Vortex. "You could be a little more helpful AND grateful, lizard lips!" he yelled. Vortex growled. "My massster would have gotten me out eventually! I don't owe you anything!" he hissed, resuming his trek towards Crash. "Remind me to leave you next time, then!" Dimentime yelled, flying over a couple lasers fired from the monsters. Mephiles watched the two of them argue thoughtfully. "The enemy of my enemy..." he whispered, raising his hand and summoning more monsters for Dimentime and Blaze to deal with! These monsters were winged beasts, also purple in color. As they flew down to attack, Mephiles vanished into one of his portals! The creatures came after Vortex as well, and he, Dimentime and Blaze were forced to scatter in different directions! Vortex ducked and weaved to avoid the enemy attacks as he finally reached Crash. However, as his ally's color started to return, a fiery whirlwind began to brew over the ocean of lava nearby! It kicked up a fierce wind, and as Crash gained control of his body, the first thing he did was grab hold of his yellow derby to keep it from blowing away! "What a wind!! Is that monster sucking us up again!?" he grunted. Blaze backed away and tried to hold her ground against the fierce wind. "Stay back! If you get sucked into that vortex, it'll scorch you!" she warned. Dimentime teleported himself further away, escaping Mephiles's monsters in the process, but Vortex was both too close and too lightweight to escape the force of the wind! "Crassssh!! Do ssssomething!! Gaaaahhh!!" Unfortunately, it was too late, and the chameleon was lifted up and carried into the air! "Vortex!!" Crash shouted, watching helplessly. However, the whirlwind started to die down as quickly as it had started up, so Vortex was not sucked into it. However, he had instead been flung into the distance! "Serves him right for being a jerk." Dimentime grumbled. "He was helping his friend. Can we blame him for that?" Blaze asked. Dimentime sighed. "Fine, we'll look for him. I need to figure out why this place exists, anyway..." he said. Crash looked around as Dimentime and Blaze started walking off. The monsters had been blown around a bit, but were still alive. "Um... You know we're gonna get ambushed by... things... right? Hey! Wait up!" he shouted, chasing after them.

Meanwhile, Vortex groaned in pain as he climbed off of the roof of a decrepit car. "Couldn't be a convertible, could it...?" he groaned. "You're lucky you survived... Everyone considered." Looking down from the car, Vortex saw Mephiles watching him. "You!? Here to pick me off ssssince I'm alone?" he hissed, clenching his fists. Mephiles chuckled. "I just thought you might wish to know something... That fox, does he seem... different to you?" he asked. Vortex thought about it and it occurred to him. "That sssstupid cloak... That wasssn't Copter, it wasss the double of him from Ssssoleanna..." he realized. Mephiles nodded. "Perceptive of you. He's not of your time... your reality, even! I know something you might want to know about him." he said. Vortex glared at him. "Why sssshould I trusssst you?" he asked. "Why should you trust him? After all, in HIS reality... he destroyed you." Mephiles sneered. Vortex's eyes went wide, staring at Mephiles in disbelief. "What are you talking about? You were created in my massster'ssss lab! How would you know!" he snapped. Mephiles cackled at him. "Can you afford not to trust me? I have had some time on my hands, during which I have learned much. But it's up to you what you believe. I have my own business to attend to..." he said, creating a portal and using it to disappear once again. Vortex stood there for a moment, glancing around. "All thissss dessstruction... I ssssupossse anything issss possssible..." he murmured.


Elsewhere, Copter and the others had found yet another statue frozen in the city. "Hey... What's happened to her?" Silver wondered, having somehow avoided becoming a statue himself. Copter looked at the statue and recognized her immediately. "Hey... It's Heather!" he exclaimed. Heather the Phoenix had only returned recently, and Eggman probably didn't know much about her, but he apparently had the idea to capture her with the Time Eater along with the others after all. "Hmmm, think she should be allowed near Dimentime? Last time they met, she died... Might be traumatizing for her, and it hasn't happened yet for him..." Copter realized. "Geez, Copt, you're makin' my brain hurt!" Punchy groaned. "Let her out, Two! What if she's all itchy, or has to sneeze? That'd be torture!" Rainbow said. Copter nodded and approached the statue, restoring color to the phoenix. Heather yawned and stretched, then covered her mouth as she sneezed. "Aaaahchooo!! Gosh, that smoke gets to ya... Um... Hey, everyone... Where are we and why is it smoky?" she asked, turning around to see the ocean of lava covering much of the city. She shuddered. "Whoa... As a phoenix, I should be comfy in a place like this, but... Those flames are really bothering me more than anything ought to..." she said. Silver tilted his head. "Why do you say that? Seems natural to be bothered by it to me, especially being from your time." he pointed out. Suddenly, a menagerie of Iblis monsters leapt out of the lava and began to advance on them! In addition to Iblis Biters were flying Iblis Takers, similar to the flying creatures Mephiles had summoned earlier, and Iblis Worms began rising up out of the ground near Heather, forcing her and everyone else to move away! Silver grabbed up as much debris as he could with his psychokinesis and blocked the barrage of fireballs that followed. "OK... That was weird..." Rainbow gasped. "Seems to me they came for Heather!" Punchy said suspiciously. Heather looked back at them. "Don't look at me? You think I have any idea what's happening? I've been frozen!" she snapped. Silver hurled the debris at the monsters and pointed in the other direction. "That'll buy some time! Let's hurry ahead and keep looking for those people you were looking for!" he suggested. SPOT ran off ahead, using his "Tails Tracker" to lead the way to Dimentime as the others followed.


"Chaos Emeralds, lend me your power... Eternal Sun! The living flame that has been entrusted to the royal family! Fall into slumber with my soul, Iblis! You cursed flames of disaster!" Silver had attempted to use a pair of Chaos Emeralds to seal the flames of disaster known as Iblis within himself, but those flames merely bounced off of him. "Ah! No! Why won't it accept me as the vessel!?" he shouted. Blaze walked towards him. "Blaze!?" he gasped as she reached for the Chaos Emeralds. Blaze grabbed them from his hands. "I'll take Iblis. Don't worry, my soul is already alit with flames. I will be accepted." she said, holding up the emeralds the way Silver had moments before. The flames changed course and flew into her body! "Come on! Make it quick! Use your Chaos Control to stop time! Then, seal us into a different dimension!" Blaze shouted, feeling that was the only choice. "No!! I can't do that to you!" Silver protested. "Didn't we already go through this? We agreed to save the world at ANY price!" Blaze said firmly. Silver raised his hand to do it, but he held himself back. "I can't! I wouldn't know what to do... without you! You've fought alongside me to save the world! You're my friend... right?" he said, looking at the ground with uncertainty. Blaze turned to Silver. "You're still so naive..." she said, "But I've always liked that about you..." She dropped the Chaos Emeralds and began to rise into the air. "Blaze!!!" she heard Silver cry out. As she rose up into the heavens, she looked down at Silver, smiling. "Good luck, Silver!" she said in parting. "I have no choice...but to go..." she thought, holding back tears as she sent herself off to a different dimension in a flash of light!

But that was some time ago now.

Blaze was thinking about that moment as she, Dimentime and Crash were nearing Flame Core, a large volcanic region located near Crisis City which had apparently been snatched up along with Crisis City by the Time Eater. "What's eating you?" Dimentime asked, noticing her melancholy face. Blaze shook her head and tried to pretend she was fine, but Dimentime wasn't fooled. "You know something. You... know Mephiles. I know you do." he said. Blaze sighed. "So what? So do you. Just drop it, okay?" she said uncomfortably. "I'm from this world. Its past. I saw what Mephiles did. I'm one of the people who tried to defeat him... But looking at this place... It looks like I failed..." Dimentime sighed. Blaze shook her head. "This is a chunk of the original timeline... I don't know how it's here, but the new timeline is better. Don't be discouraged." she said. Crash was looking around and calling to Vortex, ignoring their conversation. "Bah, it's no use... I don't think he was tossed this far..." he grumbled at last. They were now walking down a rocky cliff leading into Flame Core, passing over a sea of lava. Suddenly, Vortex climbed up from the side of the cliff and stood in front of the group, glaring at them! "Hello, sssstranger... If there'sss one thing we don't need, it'ssss another Copter!" he hissed. Crash waved to him. "Vortex! Good to see you made it!" he said. Vortex rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, and suddenly a team of Mephiles's monsters appeared behind him! Mephiles Biters and Mephiles Takers started coming towards Dimentime and Blaze, while Vortex motioned for Crash to join him. "Get over here you idiot! That'sss not the real Copter!" he said. Crash scratched his head, but charged past the monsters to Vortex. "You can fill me in later, 'Tex. I've got your back!" he said. Blaze quickly started fighting back with her flames, while Dimentime groaned to himself. "Yep, he's gotta be a pain in every reality..." he muttered, shooting at the monsters with his staff in an effort to fend them off. However, Vortex soon fired a Chaos Inferno blast at him, forcing him to dive out of the way quickly! Before he could get up, Vortex leapt onto him and grabbed for his staff! "Nice toy you have! Let me ssssee it!" he hissed. "Hey! Get your slimy mitts off!" Dimentime yelled. Vortex pulled it out of his hand and jumped off of him, running away with it. "Let me ssssee if I can figure thisss thing out... If not, I guesss I'll tossss it in the lava! Hehehehe!!" As Vortex started to run off with Crash following, Dimentime charged after him. "Vortex!!! Get your crooked tail back here!!" he shouted. Blaze dodged an attack and looked to see Dimentime chasing the others. "You know he just wants you to focus on him so the monsters will pick you off... Oh, whatever..." she said, sidestepping a Mephiles Biter's laser and joining the chase.


Back in Crisis City, Punchy was staring nervously as a gun was being pointed at his head by, of all people, Gator. He was looking quite stressed, and was freaking out everyone standing around Punchy. "Say it, Punchy!! Say I never shot you!!! ...before." Gator yelled. Copter raised an eyebrow. "Dude... Look at him. He hasn't been shot...yet." he said. "Yeah... Now will you STOP POINTING THAT GUN AT ME!!!" Punchy shouted. Gator glanced at the gun in his hand and yelped, tossing it aside. "How silly of me. We all know that girl over there shot Punchy." he said. Rainbow sighed. "I think you better lie down, Bluehair. The heat's gotten to you." she said. "Where'd you get a gun anyway??" Punchy asked. "Crazy bee's room." Gator replied. Suddenly, Zipp flew over and grabbed up the gun Gator had tossed on the floor, shooting him in the chest angrily. "Steal from me, will you!? Grrr, I gotta get my stuff locked up!!" he growled before flying off. Gator slowly stood up again after being shot. He was left with no wounds, not even a bullet hole in his suit. "Ow... See what I mean? Crazy. I bet HE shot Punchy. Well, I'm outta here. I never liked this city. Byeee!" he said before teleporting away. Copter glanced at Silver. "Hey, why didn't you catch the bullet? How'd you know he was immortal?" he asked. Silver was looking at something in the distance, and was startled by Copter. "Huh?! Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. I thought you were catching up with a strange old friend... Um... I see fire and lasers coming from that volcano." he said, pointing to Flame Core. Heather looked at the volcano and shivered. "Let me guess... You want to go there. Listen, I'm a pyrokinetic. I have a sense about these things. That volcano is not exactly stable..." she warned. "Of course it's not. That would make things too easy." Copter said. "Don't worry. I'll keep us all safe." Silver promised. Punchy chuckled nervously. "As long as there isn't gunfire, I'm not worried..." he said sarcastically. SPOT started heading off in the direction of the volcano at this point, signifying that he'd caught Dimentime's signal again. "Well, that settles it then. Don't worry, guys. If the volcano erupts, Dimentwo will teleport us out!" Rainbow said. "Who...?" Silver asked. "Never mind that, let's go!" Copter said.


Despite being separated from his staff, Dimentime was far from crippled. Using the same skills as Copter, he smacked aside any monsters in his path as he chased after Vortex. Chaos Whirlwind to blow away Takers, tailband powered tail whips to knock out Biters, and some quick flight time to dodge attacks if necessary all helped him keep up with the black chameleon. Blaze was helping out with her own firepower, as well, and they soon cornered Vortex at the base of the volcano, his path blocked by a large, rocky wall. Vortex turned around and smirked as Crash came up behind Dimentime and Blaze. However, Crash stared at him questioningly. "Did... did you call those monsters, Vortex?" he asked. Vortex frowned. "I'm planning to kill a traitor, Crassssh. Don't critisssize my methodsss!" he snapped, "Ssssince you sssseeem to have chasssed me away from the lava, I think I'll tossss thissss thing ssssomewhere... darker. Chaosssss Hole!!" At Vortex's words, a black hole appeared between him and the others, and began to pull everything in the area into its crushing oblivion! Some stray monsters flew in first, but Dimentime, Crash, and Blaze pulled away from it, Crash holding on to his hat as he backed away. However, Dimentime couldn't flee. He needed his staff. The future of Soleanna still depended on it, his timeline had yet to run its course and if it never got the chance, the repercussions could be terrible indeed. Vortex tossed the staff, but Dimentime flew after it, desperately struggling against the pull of the hole as he rounded it! He reached out his hand and managed to grab the staff, then immediately used it to teleport out of range before he could be swallowed by the black hole! "Grrrr!! You sssswine! I won't lossse that easssy! More power! Chaossss Hole!!" Vortex shouted, strengthening the hole, making it larger, causing it to start swallowing up chunks of the nearby volcano! Mephiles watched nearby and cackled as Blaze and Crash started to lose their footing. "You pathetic beings... So easily manipulated... All you need is a little push in the right direction..." Mephiles said. Crash glanced at him and then at Vortex, his eyes narrowing as he realized what was going on. Chunks of the area were being pulled up all around, and lava was flowing out of the volcano through holes left behind, trapping Vortex on a small platform! "Gaaah!! Sssshoot! I've got to get out of here..." he gasped. "Vortex!! Stop the hole!" Crash shouted, running from platform to platform towards him while struggling to resist the pull of the black hole. "You've been tricked, Vortex! Someone wanted you to do this!!" he shouted. Vortex was finding it hard to keep from being pulled into the hole himself, so he knew that whether he believed Crash or not, he had to do something. "Fine! You win!! I'll... Gaaaaahhh!!" It was too late, the hole picked Vortex up and was about to pull him in! However, a hand suddenly grabbed him and started flying him away! "Huh??" Vortex gasped. It was Dimentime! He had come back, and once again, he teleported away, this time taking Vortex with him. They emerged away from the lava, but still close to the hole. "You have to stop it or it'll consume everything!" Dimentime said. Vortex nodded and raised his hands to the hole, focusing his energy. A faint glow covered his body, and then the hole, and soon the black hole dissipated, and Vortex collapsed from exhaustion. Mephiles observed this and shrugged. "Whatever... There's more than one way to skin a fox..." he said before taking his leave. Lava was still spilling out of the holes in the volcano, so the group was forced to head for higher ground. Crash picked up Vortex and carried him as they left. They made it to a cliff overlooking what was now a sea of lava covering the area they had just come from, and as they rested there, their friends caught up to them, led by SPOT. "Silver!?" Blaze gasped upon seeing her old friend. "Hey, Blaze. You got sent here too, huh? This place is weird, isn't it?" Silver replied. It seemed this wasn't, in fact, the same Silver she had fought Iblis with in the original Crisis City, but the one she had met in the new timeline. Copter waved to Dimentime as he arrived. "Hey, me. What's with Vortex?" he asked. "You don't wanna know..." Dimentime replied. "Well, good. We're all reunited. Can we go now? It's too hot around here..." Punchy groaned. As Heather approached, however, she shivered violently upon seeing Blaze. "Oh... NO!! Something about that girl... Something's... really wrong!!" she cried, holding her head and stumbling around! "What's wrong, Seven?!" Rainbow asked in concern. Suddenly, Mephiles appeared again behind Heather. "Be calm, my dear. You and her have so much in common. I think you should get better acquainted!" he sneered, grabbing her! "Mephiles!? N-nooo!!" Heather shouted as Mephiles shoved her towards Blaze! As the two pyrokinetics neared each other, they both started to react to each other's flames, and Blaze doubled over in pain. "Eeerrrrrghh!! W-what's happening!!??" she cried, her flames bursting out everywhere, going out of control as Heather collapsed next to her! Mephiles cackled as he watched. "It seems you've been keeping a secret hidden inside you... I believe it is known as... IBLIS!!!"

In a moment, the sea of lava created by Vortex earlier contained a new occupant. The flames of disaster Blaze had been concealing inside her had reacted to Heather's own version of the same flames, and returned to life! Iblis stood tall, some hardened lava forming a sort of "armor" over parts of his body. Everyone stared with wide eyes, including Vortex, who was now back on his feet. Mephiles laughed victoriously. "I'll leave you all to die now. Have fun!" he said, vanishing into one of his portals. Blaze had now fallen unconscious, so there would be no easy way to reseal the monster even if they had a Chaos Emerald to work with. Heather stood up and stared at the beast. "THAT'S the true form of the flames of disaster?!" she gasped. "What do we do??" Rainbow wondered. "YOU stay back!" Punchy said. Silver stepped forward. He had no memory of Iblis, but he could tell he was about the only one who stood a chance against a beast made of lava. "Leave this to me... You all should stay back!" he said. Most of them backed away as Iblis roared and started spewing fireballs towards the cliff! Silver attempted to catch some of them with his psychokinesis, but he would not likely be able to grab all of them! As the fireballs approached, a wall of energy appeared and blocked those of them that Silver did not catch! Looking around, Silver saw Dimentime standing nearby with his staff at the ready. "You don't have to do this by yourself." he said. Silver nodded and hurled the fireballs at Iblis's head, damaging his armor somewhat! Punchy ran up to help as well. "We need more projectiles! Chaos Avalanche!" he shouted. pulling up chunks of the ground for Silver to use. "I can't throw that far. You better do your psychic thing on these rocks, Silver!" Punchy told him. Dimentime added his magic attacks to their assault, but Iblis started fighting back by emitting walls of flame from his body, which forced everyone to jump over them, including those who were staying back, except for SPOT, who ducked under it. Copter picked up Blaze and jumped her over the flame walls as well, feeling frustrated that he could do little else to help. "How'd she have a monster inside her!? Hey, kitty cat! Wake up!" Copter grumbled. He then glanced at Heather. "Can you wake her?" he asked. "Me? I'm responsible for this... All I ever do is mess things up..." she sighed. "You're like her. A fire...person. Maybe you can get through to her. Maybe you can make things right...like you did with Solenix. You stopped Mephiles then. Maybe you can stop him now." Copter said, setting Blaze down again. Heather looked at her and nodded. "I'll try..." she said. She brought her hand to Blaze's forehead, and started to heat up her body, hoping the heat would stir her inner flames. Meanwhile, Iblis was through playing around. He summoned a massive meteor and hurled it towards the group! Punchy whimpered and covered his face. "WE'RE DEAD!!" he wailed. However, before it could hit them, Silver caught it with his psychokinesis. "It's just one little meteor. Get a grip." Silver said, flinging it back at Iblis! This impact seemed to really do damage, especially considering most of his armor was already smashed. Now, all of Iblis's armor was gone! As Silver, Punchy and Dimentime let loose everything they had on Iblis, Blaze began to open her eyes. "Hnn... W-what...? Iblis!!" she gasped, knowing immediately what was going on. "Whew... I did it..." Heather sighed. Blaze quickly stood up and stared at Iblis as he crumbled into a ball of flame. "Yes! We did it!" Silver cheered. "No, we didn't..." Blaze sighed. "Huh?" Punchy whimpered. Blaze stepped past them and stared at the ball of flame. "Iblis is immortal... The only way to stop him... is to trap him. We can't risk him going free. But normally, a Chaos Emerald is required. I had him before... I'll have to try to make do without an emerald..." she said. Heather stood beside her. "My soul is lit with his flames... I'll try to help you." she said, taking Blaze's hand. She nodded, and they looked up at the flame. "Eternal Sun! The living flame that has been entrusted to the royal family! Fall into slumber with my soul once again, Iblis, flame of disaster!" Blaze said. At those words, both Blaze and Heather's flames reacted, shooting out and grabbing at Iblis, and in a moment, the flames of disaster returned to Blaze's body! She shook for a bit, the flames circling her for a while, but Heather quickly moved away from her, and she was fine. However, Blaze smiled at her. "You helped me seal Iblis. I don't think we'll have a repeat of how he escaped." she said.

The group finally returned to white space, gladly leaving Crisis City and Flame Core behind. Vortex turned to Dimentime and crossed his arms. "It ssseemsss I wasss... misssled..." he said. "Don't let it get you down. It's not that farfetched an idea. You ARE a pain." Dimentime pointed out. Crash sighed. "All right you two, take it easy. Come on, 'Tex. Let's see how the boss is getting on without us." he suggested. Vortex nodded. "He'sss probably a basssket cassse. Punchy sssaysss Zipp got back ahead of ussss." he sighed as they left. Punchy nodded. "I think we'll head back, too, Copter... Shadow Arc is air conditioned!" he panted. Rainbow giggled. "I just wanna see the birdies again!" she grinned. "You mean the Flickies?" Copter asked. Rainbow giggled again. "See, One? Two makes up names, too! Follow me!" she said, leading Punchy off, and SPOT as well. "Circuits overheated. Air conditioning sounds good." SPOT's monitor read. Heather glanced at Shadow Arc and shuddered. "What, THAT'S the best shelter we got out here?" she asked, "Where IS here, anyway?" Silver looked around. "This... is... weird. Nothing in history says anything about this." he said nervously. Dimentime nodded. "That's why I'm here. To right this time-space anomaly." he explained. Blaze pointed to an area a distance away. "I've been there... Water Palace! Look... Sonic's coming out with that little Sonic." she said. Sure enough, Sonic had already finished up in another area while Copter was in Crisis City. "Gee that's swell. Maybe we'll go there later just to look at everything Sonic missed while he was speeding." Copter grumbled, "But for now, let's go AWAY from the annoying hedgehog." he added. "You find Sonic annoying?" Silver asked. Copter and Dimentime both rolled their eyes. Silver then looked up and noticed something. "Hey, that's Onyx Island! It's from the future!" he said. Heather looked where he was looking. "Really? Wow! Wait... A whole place that doesn't appear until the future??" she asked. Silver chuckled. "Well... It's what we call Angel Island in the future... I can tell the difference, though." he explained. Dimentime looked thoughtful. "Let's go there next. I think Eggman chooses these locations. First Crisis City, now Onyx Island... I'm wondering what his game is..." he said. "I think Crisis City was just meant to trap us. That's why so many people were there to rescue." Copter pointed out. "Good point." Dimentime said, "But still..." Blaze shivered. "I'd like to explore... on the ground, thanks... See ya." she stammered, doing a poor job concealing her fear of heights. Silver scratched his head and started to follow her. "I'm gonna stay with her. She's been through a lot. I wanna make sure she's all right..." he said. Copter shrugged. "Guess we're on our own... as usual." he said. "Hold it!" Heather yelped, stopping them, "Let me go with you!" Dimentime glanced at her and then glanced away. "Um... Hello there, Heather... Nice to see you're well and all... Do you, um... know about... um..." he mumbled, appearing a little shy. "This is young Dimentime. Don't tell him how his story ends." Copter said. Heather looked a little confused, but nodded. "Okay... Good to... um... meet you?" she said. Dimentime blushed. "No, we've met... In another time and place... Would you... care to walk with me?" he asked. Heather smiled a little and nodded, taking his hand and walking off with him. Copter stared at them and tilted his head, then growled softly. "HEY, YOU DUMMIES!! We can't WALK to Onyx Island!!" he shouted, pointing upward before pulling out the Hurricane remote. "This is gonna be a long trip-without-time... stupid Bucky and his science..." he groaned.


Chapter 14 - Enemies & Allies
Stage - Onyx Island - Sonic Rivals;  Lost Mine - GeneX- Soleanna Struggle

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.

"In the nightlight, do you see what you dream?
All your triumph, and all you'll ever be.
Look around you, then you may realize,
Happiness lies trapped in misery.
And who knows what of our future?
We can all try to change the past.
Only you know if you'll be together tonight...
'Cause every night I will save your life.
And every night I will be with you.
'Cause every night I still lay awake.
And I dream of an absolution." - Dreams of an Absolution, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)


While everyone else had gone off on missions to work on stopping Dr. Eggman, young Tommy the porcupine had been left behind on Shadow Arc at his brother Razor's insistence. He was the youngest of the group, except for Cream, and was certainly the least experienced at adventuring. Bored out of his mind, he decided to explore the ship a bit, accompanied only by a pair of the Flickies who were apparently also bored. "It's no fair... Tails and Cream get to go fight bad guys... Why does everyone think WE'RE useless?" Tommy sighed, glancing at his feathered companions as he walked down the dark corridors of the spooky ship. He shivered a little as it seemed to get darker. "Say... Where are we? Um... Not that I'm lost... O-or... Scared..." he whimpered. He took a few cautious steps towards a door, carefully pushing it open. "H-hello?" he whispered, starting to worry he'd wandered too far from the control room. The Flickies chirped nervously and peered into the room ahead of him, when suddenly, something appeared at the door and screamed "BOO!!" Tommy and the Flickies yelled in fright as they saw a ghost in front of them! "YAAAAAHHH!!! Heeeeeeeeeelp!!!" Tommy cried, fleeing back the way he came in a panic, followed by the Flickies, who were screeching loudly! The ghost passed through the part of the door that was in his way and laughed as he watched Tommy flee. The ghost had cyan gloves, a greenish muzzle, and blue eyes with green whites. It was Lospecter. "That was the most fun I've had since I got stuck on this ship! But now I'm alone again! Blast it... Should've turned him into a losol so I'd have company... I sure picked a grand time to finally move all our forces off this dump! As soon as I finish, a monster sucks the ship up before I can get off!! Now I'm stuck playin' solitaire till they figure out how to get us all home!" he grumbled, taking out his Chaos Cards and shuffling them. "What if I could help you?" Lospecter glanced around to see Mephiles standing down the hall. "Well, you're a pleasant looking fella... Did you say something?" Lospecter smirked. Mephiles crossed his arms. "I think perhaps we could help each other... Are you bored of playing solitaire?" he asked.


The Hurricane soon landed on Onyx Island, and Heather shakily stumbled out of the cockpit. "W-why did you suggest I drive...??" she stammered. Dimentime hopped off the wing and shrugged. "I was feeling nostalgic." he said. Copter fell off the other wing and groaned. "I'm drivin' back!" he growled. Dimentime glanced nearby and noticed an Egg Mobile sitting a short distance away. "Huh...? Wait, Robotnik wouldn't leave that lying around..." he muttered. Just then, Omega came stomping around from behind the Egg Mobile, having apparently exited from the other side. He had taken the Egg Mobile from Launch Base Zone in order to reach Onyx Island. "Eggman technology detected... Negative, it's just that worthless biplane." he said to himself. "Oh, great, it's that psychotic robot." Copter remarked. "Hey, that's my friend you're talking about!" said Rouge the bat, who was hanging from a nearby tree. "Hey, what are you doing up there?" Heather asked. "Spying on you." Rouge said wryly, "Didn't you have your own mission, Copter?" she asked. Copter shrugged. "Let's just say it's more or less accomplished. What's your job?" he asked. Omega raised his metal fist. "Hunt down Eggman!!" he said. Rouge rolled her eyes. "Bucky couldn't talk over Omega. So, I'm looking for clues." she said. "To find Eggman!!" Omega shouted. "Yeah, yeah, sure..." Rouge muttered. Copter, Heather and Dimentime all glanced at each other. "Well, might as well search the island together. Right?" Heather said. "That's not what I was thinking..." Copter sighed. "Mission commencing!!" Omega shouted, charging ahead. Dimentime started following him and Rouge. "The robot will lead us to Eggman, if he's here. That's something, right?" he said. "Why are you so smart!?" Copter groaned as he and Heather joined them. The section of Onyx Island they landed on was a heavily forested area, not unlike the Mystic Ruins of the present. It was likely close to Forest Falls, an area Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow and Silver had been through before, but none of them would recall any area of Onyx Island. For a while, the island seemed pretty peaceful, but after walking for several minutes, they finally came across resistance. There were Egg Pawns in the forest! "Well, what have we here? Eggman's robots!" Rouge smirked. However, something was different about them. They were black Egg Pawns, and Omega seemed disappointed at finding them. "Cheap knockoffs. These are not Dr. Eggman's robots." he said. Copter scratched his head. "Really? Could they be Robotnik's...?" he asked. Dimentime shook his head. "Robotnik IS Eggman. The question is, who would copy Eggman?" he wondered. The black Egg Pawns soon noticed them and aimed their laser guns at them. "Well, they're not friendly..." Heather sighed. "Very well. They asked for it!" Omega shouted. The five of them scattered as the Egg Pawns started firing at them, but there weren't many of them, and all it took were a few blasts from Omega to take them out! "Worthless consumer models!" he grumbled. "Uh...yeah... and on that note... watch out for more." Copter suggested.

They soon came across a whited out area of the forest. "Oh, joy, just like outside the island..." Rouge muttered. "There's someone frozen here." Copter realized. Heather spotted the statue, surrounded closely by white trees. "There! We gotta get her out!" she said. Rouge groaned upon seeing who it was. "Gemini... can we leave her? We've got enough crybabies running around already..." she said. "Are you one of them?" Dimentime grumbled, heading over to free the fennec. As Gemini's color returned, she looked around at the cage of trees she was trapped in. "Umm... Abra-ka-warpra!" she said, waving her wand so she could warp to the other side in a flash of light. "That's better... Now... What happened? The last thing I remember is a huge monster showing up and... and... this place...is..." she stopped short, taking a few steps and looking around. "It's just a future version of an island... That monster messed up time and space." Heather explained. Gemini sniffled and had a hopeless look on her face. "No!! Of all places, WHY did it send me HERE!?" she whined. Copter raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you?" he asked. Gemini turned away from everyone, hiding her face as she was unable to fight back the tears that were coming. "I... I can't explain!! Just leave me alone!" she shouted, running off into the forest alone! "Hey! Gemini, wait!!" Dimentime yelled, chasing after her. As they went off ahead, Rouge smirked. "See? Crybaby." she said smugly. "Meatbags are all illogically emotional..." Omega remarked. "HEY! Whose side are you on, Omega??" Rouge snapped. Heather stomped her foot. "Stop it! Can't you see she's upset about something? Come on, we gotta make sure she's okay!" she insisted. They reluctantly agreed, and started to follow Heather after her, but they didn't get far before they found themselves ambushed by a large group of black Egg Pawns! "Bah!! See, I knew there'd be more!" Copter groaned. They were accompanied by black Egg Flappers this time, and that wasn't all. Piloting a futuristic Egg Mobile was a futuristic looking Eggman, wearing a black coat with red pants, green shades, and sporting a gray mustache. It was Eggman Nega! "Surprise!! We have you surrounded, my friends!" he smirked. "Eggman Nega??" Copter and Rouge both gasped. "Why, Copter, I haven't seen you since the Winter Olympics! But enough small talk. You must be quite shocked to see me. It just so happens that I'm assisting my ancestor in his endeavor to conquer the world this time..." Nega explained. Omega didn't buy it. "Nonsense. That disguise does not fool me. I will destroy you, Eggman!!" he said. Eggman Nega looked a bit upset. "How can a robot not see that I'm a totally different person? That's my ancestor's handiwork for you... I sure hope I don't regret working with him again... Ah, well. Black Pawns, would you be so kind as to eliminate these pesky meddlers?" he commanded. The black robots began to attack, forcing Copter, Omega, Rouge and Heather to scatter to fight them. As Heather backed away the furthest to get room to aim her fireballs without hitting the others, Lospecter arrived on the scene, hiding in the bushes near her. "Oh, goody... A diversion. This little job for Mephy might just be easier than I thought..." he whispered, chuckling quietly.


The island seemed to grow darker as Dimentime started to catch up to Gemini. She was stopped behind a thicket, and was looking up from it at something, a horrified expression on her face. Dimentime crept up beside her to see what she was looking at. There, concealed in the darkest, most dismal part of the forest, was a large, sinister looking temple. Ghostly blue fire lit a pair of torches by the entrance, and Dimentime knew what kind of fire it was. The Lost Ones' Ghost Fire! Near the temple, backed against the wall, Dimentime was astonished to see a second Gemini! "Huh!? Wait... If that's you, then... You must've been here when this place was taken by the monster... That would mean..." he mumbled, confused. "Yes, yes, I'm from the future..." Gemini groaned anxiously, panting heavily as the event unfolded in front of them. Her past self was cornered by a Lost One resembling a turquoise-skinned vampire, Losipher, as well as a few spider-like lospides. She wasn't alone, either. A young deer, Timothy the fawn, was with her, each of them holding their own wands, but they were hopelessly outmatched. Gemini tried to cast a spell, but she made a mistake and the spell backfired, knocking her backward and causing her to drop her wand! "I was so clumsy..." the present Gemini whimpered, crying softly. The Lost Ones saw an opening to attack, but Timothy threw himself in front of his friend. "You won't hurt Gemini!! I won't let you!!" he shouted. "Tim... No!!" shouted Gemini as the lospides strung him up with slimy webs! He struggled, shouting spells, but was unable to move his wand. Losipher sighed. "You foolish children of light... You should have watched where you were wandering... Now, you pay the price! You will be lost forever!!" he moaned demonically, raising his hand and showing off a set of dagger-like claws! "Slibeam!" Timothy finally said, using a cutting beam from his wand to slice through the slimy webs! "Tim, get out of here, quick!" Gemini shouted as Losipher approached. Timothy ignored her and went for her wand. "I'm not leaving without you!" he said, grabbing the wand. However, Losipher was going for Gemini while she was defenseless! "I'm done for!! Run, Tim!!" she cried as he raised his claws to her. However, Timothy thrust himself in front of her once again! Both Geminis shrieked as Timothy collapsed, and Losipher backed away in surprise. "Fool... He could have escaped... Such a pity..." he smiled slightly as he glanced over the fawn's body, "I can feel your sorrow..." he said. Both Timothy's wand and her own rolled out of Timothy's hand and stopped at her feet, and she picked them both up, pointing them at Losipher angrily. "I'll... NEVER... forgive you!!" she panted. "Fortunately, you won't have to live with it long..." Losipher sneered. "Proplasmar!!" Before Losipher or the lospides could attack, a barrier appeared around Gemini, and another fennec dressed in black appeared in front of her in a flash of light! "Teacher!" Gemini cried. It was Fred Leo, the Divine sorcerer she was apprenticed to. "You're too late, priest. This one is mine!" Losipher snarled, scooping up Timothy in a mass of tentacles coming from his body! Fred backed towards Gemini and took her hand. "But this one is not! Hold on, Gemini! Galaporta!" he said, warping Gemini to safety in a brilliant flash of light! The Gemini of the present was sobbing now, but also growling. "L-losipher... You... you monster!! I'll KILL you!!" she snarled, attempting to claw her way through the thicket to go after him! However, Dimentime pulled her back by the tail. "It's not gonna do any good NOW!" he said. "Ow! My tail!!" Gemini groaned. "Sorry... That was... that was horrible. I couldn't let you face him... He looks like a really powerful Lost One... I don't want to lose you again..." he said. Gemini glanced at him. "Again...?" she asked. "I'm Dimentime. My timeline hasn't played out all the way yet, but... You came back with me in my timeline. A duplicate of you was created the same as me. You... died. And bequeathed this to me." he said, showing his staff to Gemini. "It contains my wand... Doesn't it?" she realized, "Thanks for stopping me... You're right, it won't change anything. That's why I went back in time. To make a REAL change... To save him... But when I return to my own time, I'll be in a lot of trouble... Time travel magic is almost totally forbidden, and I'm still in training..." she said sadly. Dimentime nodded. "You've carried this burden alone for some time, haven't you? We can talk about it on the way back to the others." he said. Gemini wiped some tears and gave him a hug. "Thanks, but I've gotten enough off my chest for now... Dimentime, could we keep this between us? I'd rather not influence the past too much with my presence here. Maybe if people don't know I'm from the future, it'll be... better." she said. Dimentime nodded. "Okay... Come on, let's go before the Lost Ones notice us..." he said.


Eggman Nega's robots might have had a more menacing paint job, but they were certainly no more competent than ordinary Egg Pawns and Egg Flappers. It seemed all time really did was enable Eggman Nega to make them a tad more agile, but even without Omega tearing through dozens of them with his explosive weaponry, Copter, Rouge and Heather could hold their own fine. Nega was starting to worry that he'd underestimated his foes, but Lospecter was humming nonchalantly as he sneakily floated around, taking advantage of the distraction. He snuck up behind Heather and drew a card. "Ho hum... Here, have a drink, little birdie!" From his card, some water splashed over Heather, dousing the fire she was fighting the robots with! "Aaaahhh!! Wh...what...?!" she gasped loudly, falling backwards and passing out! Lospecter caught her, but her loud shouting caught Copter and Rouge's attention. "Huh? Oh, great... What's that ghost doing here?!" Rouge sighed. Copter growled. "Hey! Unhand her, Lospecter!" he shouted. "Aren't you forgetting Mr. Nega? Hey, Nega! Miss me?" Lospecter waved. Eggman Nega frowned. "How'd HE get here...? I don't think my ancestor intended to catch him with the Time Eater..." he said. Lospecter scooped the unconscious Heather into his arms and smirked. "We'll catch up another time, then! Places to go, people to meet! Ciao!" he said, flying off towards the edge of the island! Copter started to chase after him, but several Egg Flappers flew in his way! However, Rouge quickly flew over and kicked them aside! "Go after him, Copter! We'll handle these robots!" she said. Copter nodded. "Thanks... Hopefully I'll be right back!" he said, rushing off. Rouge turned to see Omega thrashing a group of Egg Pawns that had surrounded him by spinning his giant arms violently. "Take your time... I think we'll be fine." she said. Eggman Nega growled and took off after Copter in his Egg Mobile. "Now, hold on there! Don't be so rude! I wasn't finished with you yet!" he shouted, firing lasers at Copter from his vehicle. Copter jumped in surprise and tried to evade the blasts while keeping up with Lospecter, but it wasn't going to be easy. Lospecter was getting further ahead! Eggman Nega took aim at Copter once more. "I won't miss this time..." he snickered. Suddenly, a pair of magic bolts came from the side and struck the Egg Mobile, knocking Eggman Nega away! "Gaaaaaahh!! I'll get you, whoever did thaaaat!!" he yelled as he crashed into some nearby trees! As Copter kept chasing Lospecter, Gemini and Dimentime soon joined him, and quickly understood the situation after looking ahead. "Lospecter?! Hey!! What do you think you're doing!?" Gemini shouted. "Sorry, I can't hear you, I'm too busy ditching you!!" Lospecter yelled, flying off the edge of the island moments later! Copter and the others stopped running, and quickly spotted the Hurricane nearby. "Quick! Let's stay on his trail!" Copter said.

Keeping Lospecter in sight as Copter piloted the plane, Gemini pointed them to where he took Heather: a single building sitting by itself across from the entrances to the other areas in white space. It seemed oddly small for something taken by Time Eater. It was some sort of warehouse, and Lospecter had gone inside, so after landing the plane, Copter chased him inside along with Dimentime and Gemini. It seemed like an ordinary warehouse inside, except that some of the boxes had been moved around, and a hatch on the floor had been opened up! "Lospecter must have gone in there!" Copter realized. Heading down the hatch, they found an extensive series of tunnels; a hidden mine! "Uh huh... So the mine is what Time Eater pulled into here... The warehouse was just a hitchhiker." Dimentime mused. "Abra-ka-shine-ra..." Gemini said, casting a faint light around her wand to make it easier to see. "Doesn't look like anyone's been down here in ages... Might be dangerous..." she said. Copter glanced around at the roof. "Well, you'll warp us out if the place starts to collapse, right?" he asked. Gemini looked nervous. "Ummm... Not a good idea. Getting stuck INSIDE a wall's as deadly as getting buried... maybe more so." she sighed. They began to explore anyway, choosing their paths more or less at random through the maze of tunnels. Some of the paths were already blocked by cave-ins, confirming the instability of the mine, but they had to get Heather before leaving. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be so easy. As they came to a chamber at the end of a tunnel, they were suddenly surrounded by Mephiles Biters! "What!? The monsters from Crisis City!?" Copter growled. "Mephiles's... He's in here somewhere..." Dimentime realized. Gemini glanced around uncertainly. "We can't get in a fight! The whole place could cave in!" she warned. Suddenly, the tunnel shook as several purple worms burst out of the walls! Now there were Mephiles Worms to deal with, too! Dimentime wasted no time blasting one of the worms with a powerful beam of light from his staff. "I don't think the monsters care about the mine! Stop them before they bring it down on us!" he shouted. Copter blew black the Mephiles Biters with Chaos Whirlwind, and Gemini turned her attention to the next worm. "Blastrotall!!" She fired several balls of light from her wand, gradually taking it down so as not to cause any further damage to the mine. "Hurry, let's get outta here before more worms show up!" she suggested, leading them into the next tunnel while the Mephiles Biters were still reeling from Chaos Whirlwind.

Exiting the next tunnel, they found the next section of the mine to have white walls, which stood out in the darkness. There was a statue knocked over in the corner, someone who apparently wasn't on the ground when the Time Eater caught him. "Hey... It's someone on a... board..." Gemini muttered, shining light from her wand at the statue. It was Jet the hawk, frozen atop his Extreme Gear board! "That looks uncomfortable...looks like he crashed." Copter said, "Except he doesn't know it yet." Gemini slowly approached the statue, and it began to regain its color! Jet promptly stumbled onto the ground, since he wasn't exactly airborne to begin with. "Oooof!! Argh! What happened?!" he growled. Copter snickered. "Sorry, that was hilarious..." he said. Jet stood up and grabbed his board, glaring at Copter and Dimentime. "Hmmm... Aw, I don't even wanna know! I'll just find my teammates and get outta this... wherever I am!" he grunted, stomping away and looking around at the tunnels snaking in different directions. "You might as well come with us. Who knows if your friends are even in this mine?" Dimentime pointed out. "Can it!" Jet squawked, "That stupid monster just surprised me... Next time, I'll outrun it!" he murmured. Just then, Lospecter peeked out of one of the tunnels. "I thought I heard a racket! Lookie here. You found me. Too bad, I've already brought your feathered friend to the deepest part of the mine!" he said, sticking his tongue out. Jet glared at him. "Huh? Who do you mean...?" he asked. "Well, thanks for coming back to tell us that Lospecter... Now take us to her!" Gemini said, raising her wand threateningly. Lospecter chuckled. "OK, follow me... If the roof doesn't fall on you! Check out my new cards!" He drew some Chaos Cards from his deck, revealing Mephiles Worms instead of Lost Ones on them! Moments after tossing the cards, they vanished, and the worms started bursting out of the roof, blasting the ceiling in an attempt to bring it down on top of them! "He's working with Mephiles now!?" Copter gasped. "Never mind that, RUN!" Dimentime shouted. They all hurried into the tunnel after Lospecter, who was already getting far ahead of them, but as soon as the path branched off, Jet turned in a different direction! "Where's he going!?" Gemini wondered. "No time to ask him!" Copter grumbled.

Heather found herself in a large chamber at the end of the mine. There were colorful crystals of various shapes and sizes sticking out of the ground, walls and ceiling in the chamber, evidence that the mining operation was abandoned before it was finished. Heather was standing face to face with Mephiles, who had his hand extended to her as it had been once before. "We almost succeeded in ridding the world of all who would oppose us once, my dear... If not for the interference of that hooded fox... But that's in the past. Join with me again, and we can finally fulfill our destiny!" he said. Heather glared at him, smacking his hand away. "Your lust for destruction is disgusting! Get away from me!!" she growled. "One more move and you're history, Mephiles!!" shouted Dimentime as he and the others entered the chamber. Lospecter floated between them and Mephiles, looking around worriedly. "How'd they NOT get buried...?" he muttered. Mephiles scoffed and forcibly grabbed Heather's hand, but she kept pulling away from him. "No!! You won't fuse with me!! Ever again!!" she shouted, punching and kicking Mephiles in her rage. Gemini and Dimentime both fired bolts of magic, which Lospecter dodged and allowed to strike Mephiles in the back! "Gah!! No!! It seems... Solaris is now eternally beyond my reach..." he growled, "Heather, you fool! If you will not join me, then you opt for oblivion!" He released her hand, and then fired a massive beam from his other hand, blasting through her chest! "Heather!! No!!!" Gemini shrieked. As Heather fell to the ground, Mephiles turned to Lospecter. "Leave none alive..." he sighed, vanishing into one of his portals. However, Heather's body had caught fire through her own internal flame, and before their eyes, she was soon reborn from the ashes! Lospecter scoffed. "Typical. Leave me with an impossible task. Leave NONE alive. How am I supposed to kill an unkillable... Eh, I'll turn her into a Lost One... After the rest of you are dead!" he said. Heather sighed and shook her head. "Be with ya in a minute, guys... I'm a bit dazed..." she grumbled. Gemini smirked. "Take your time. Lospecter's alone." she said. Copter smacked his forehead. "Didn't you pay attention in the mine? That guy's never alone!" he groaned. Lospecter chuckled. "How right you are. My usual minions are out of my reach... But I've been saving a little something here... A little pet project of mine. Hope you like it!" he said, going through his deck and grabbing a specific card. Tossing it out, a dragon suddenly appeared! It was greenish in color, dripping with ectoplasm. It had red wings, and glowing red eyes. Gemini gasped in shock upon seeing it. "Th-that's... ME!!" she yelped. Lospecter laughed hysterically. "Priceless! Yep, that time you spent as a Lost One came in quite handy, even if you didn't fully transform! I gathered up the 'data' and made a duplicate of your form at the time! Been keeping the data with me for special occasions..." he grinned. Copter and Dimentime looked truly confused. "Dragon...copy?" Copter asked. Gemini chuckled softly. "Let's just kill it, okay!?" she said.

The dragon, Los Gemini, roared loudly at the trio in front of it, and started blowing fire at them! Copter and Dimentime ran out of the way, but Gemini waved her wand. "Abra-ka-blockra!" she said, surrounding herself with a weak shield of light. "Nuts, I meant to shield all of us..." she muttered. "No problem... Heh, after dealing with Chaos and Iblis, a nice, simple dragon seems like a break!" Copter smirked. Los Gemini snorted and shot blue Ghost Fire from its mouth next, forcing Gemini to move out of the way as well! "Aaaah!! That's not good!" she whimpered. "No kidding..." Copter whined, "Gotta stop it fast! Chaos Whirlwind!!" The chaotic wind ordinarily worked wonders on lesser Lost Ones, but this large dragon simply flapped its broad wings and blew the wind back! The three of them were knocked over, but now Heather was moving around again. "Hey, everyone... I kinda dozed off... What'd I miss?" she said groggily. Lospecter chuckled. "Oh, nothing. Go back to sleep, sweetie." he said. Heather looked up to see Los Gemini glaring at her. "Wha... YIKES!!" she yelled, scrambling over to where the others were holding their ground. Gemini stared at the dragon angrily. "Copy me and terrorize my friends will you... This is a new low for you, Lost Ones! I won't tolerate it!!" she growled. The dragon roared at her, and Lospecter laughed. "The copy's superior to you in every way... Bigger, stronger, and slimier. What're ya gonna do? Turn yourself into a wimpier dragon? Heh heh heh..." he teased. Gemini raised her wand as the dragon prepared another fiery attack. Dimentime stepped forward to join her. "Let's show him!" he said. Copter and Heather stepped forward as well, and the four of them attacked the dragon together! "Solare!!" shouted Gemini, leading the attack with a powerful light beam attack! Dimentime used a similar beam, while Copter added Chaos Whirlwind and Heather added her flames! Together, their attacks overwhelmed the dragon, and it roared one final time before exploding into a puddle of slime! Lospecter frowned. "Aw, come on! That's it?! I guess it needs more fine tuning... Ah, well. I still win. A good cheater always has a card up his sleeve!" he said, tossing a card up to the roof, which exploded on impact! The explosion seemed too much for the mine to take, and now the entire mine was rumbling violently! "Enjoy your tomb! Bye-bye!" Lospecter cackled, flying up and passing through the roof safely! Heather glanced at Gemini in her panic. "You're magic! Teleport us!" she suggested. Gemini rolled her eyes. "I caaaaan't!! Run for it!!" she yelled, leading the way as they all hurried into the tunnels. Unfortunately, the cave-ins had already begun, and many of the paths were already becoming blocked! "What do we do!? Dimentime! Think of something!!" Copter shouted. "What!? You're me, too! You think of something!" Dimentime scoffed, "I'm not THAT much older than you!" As they ran around hopelessly, however, they suddenly heard a new voice. "Outta the way!!" A large, gray bird flew by on an Extreme Gear board, smashing through the collapsed rocks in his path and clearing the way! "...Babylon Rogue?" Copter muttered. Just then, Jet arrived behind the other bird, followed by a purple bird; Wave the swallow. "C'mon!! Umm... We can carry two of you!" Jet offered, reaching a hand toward Gemini. She hopped onto his board, and Heather hopped on Wave's. "Why are we slowing down for these chumps!?" Wave asked impatiently. "Um... Now we're even!" Jet squawked as he took off ahead, followed by Wave. Copter and Dimentime hurried behind them. "Great... Let's hope we're as fast as Tails!" Copter groaned. 

Thanks to the gray albatross, Storm, the path through the mine had been cleared, and they managed to make it out just before the entire thing began to collapse! Back in white space, Copter and Dimentime panted heavily from exhaustion, having barely made it out. "Not bad for not having any gear... I didn't think you'd make it!" Jet smirked. Gemini hopped off his board and smiled at him. "Thanks for your help." she said. "Aw, I don't like owing people... I don't know if I'd ever have gotten out of there if you hadn't unfroze me." he muttered. Heather hopped off Wave's board, too. "Finally! You were throwing off my balance!" she groaned. "Sorry..." Heather sighed. Storm looked around white space nervously. "B-b-boss? Where are we?" he stuttered. Jet shrugged. "Who cares? There's tons of room to fly. That's... something." he said. Wave sighed. "Think there's anything of value around here?" she asked. "Only what's valuable to Eggman." Copter muttered. On hearing that, the gears in Jet's head started turning. "Uh huh... You don't say... OK, Babylon Rogues! Eggman's clearly behind this, and you know what we do to people who mess with us?" he grinned. "Oh! Oh! I know this!!" Storm said, raising his hand. Jet turned around, ignoring him. "We rob 'em blind, that's what!" he chuckled. "H-hey... I was gonna answer..." Storm muttered. Wave smirked. "All right, Jet. Then let's get to it!" she said, hopping on her board and flying off. "Huh? Hey!! I give the orders, Wave!!" Jet snapped, flying off after her. Storm followed them last. "Wa-wait for me!!" he yelled. Copter watched them go and scratched his head. "I wonder what they're scheming...?" he murmured. Heather yawned loudly. "I dunno, don't care... I need a place to catch a nap... Dying and coming back to life really takes it outta ya..." she muttered, walking away, "Later, Dimentime." she winked. Dimentime blushed and waved as she left. Gemini started to leave, as well. "I'd better get my bearings in this crazy place. See ya, Dimentime!" she smiled, waving. Copter glanced at Dimentime, and then at their departing friends. "Hey, what about me!?" he grumbled. Dimentime patted him on the back. "There, there... You'll bond with people someday." he said, walking off in a third direction. "...What's that supposed to mean!?" Copter wondered as he followed him. Rouge and Omega were waiting by the Hurricane. "Hey, boys. Thought you were coming back." she said. "Umm... Sidetracked. Find anything up there?" Copter asked. "Negative." Omega replied. "Island's a big dead end. By the way, you guys owe me one for taking on those robots... Later!" Rouge said before flying off, followed on foot by Omega. Dimentime shrugged. "Figures. Well, better try somewhere else..." he said. As they walked, they saw Classic Sonic and Classic Tails near the entrance to a theme park; Tropical Resort. Their modern counterparts weren't there. Instead, Classic Knuckles and Classic Amy were hanging out there with them! Copter and Dimentime ran over to check it out. "What's going on!? Hey! You were told to stay at Little Planet!" Dimentime said to Amy. "I'll go back. Yeesh, can't a girl spend a little time with her hero?" she said innocently. Tails glanced at the Copters. "Our older selves are still in that theme park, so we're catching up with our friends from our time. Isn't that okay...?" he asked. Copter nodded. "I don't see the harm. I mean, come on, Dimentime. If Sonic and Tails's younger selves can go running around, why can't they?" he asked. Dimentime sighed. "Time's unstable as it is... I don't like it..." he murmured. Knuckles crossed his arms. "Don't be such a whiner. The Sonics will fix everything. And if they don't, my older self will!" he said. Classic Sonic looked at him as if to shout "Hey!!" but still didn't say anything. Suddenly, they all heard something zoom overhead, accompanied by playful chuckling. Looking up, they saw Char and Alpha flying in the sky, and they were heading toward Water Palace. "Heeey... Weren't you there already, Sonic?" Copter asked. Classic Sonic nodded. "That robot must be up to something!" Classic Tails said. "Then let's check it out!" Classic Knuckles decided. "All right! I get to go on an adventure with Sonic!" Classic Amy cheered. Before the Copters could say anything, all the young heroes were on their way! "Now what...?" Copter groaned. "We go after them. I smell a trap. If any one of them falls, all of their timelines are drastically altered." Dimentime warned. "I was afraid of that..." Copter sighed. Thus, they set out after the Classic heroes...


Chapter 15 - Treasure Rush
Stage - Water Palace - Sonic Rush;  Sky Babylon - Sonic Rush Adventure

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.

"I'm falling free in the wind, in the wind.
Free to be me in the wind, in the wind.
What would it take for you to make,
A simple speed transition?
Into the known, from the unknown.
I feel this wild temptation." - Free, Sonic Free Riders


Tommy had fled back to the Arcangel's control room after his scare, and Bucky soon managed to get him to coherently explain his panic. Punchy overheard it all, and groaned. "Sounds like Lospecter! Don't we have enough problems?" he said. Vortex sighed. "Big deal. He'sss alwaysss been ssssneaking around here." he said. Tommy yelped. "And nobody warned me!? What else is creeping around here...?" he whimpered. Rainbow walked over and patted his head. "It's okay... nothing's gonna get you in here." she said sympathetically. "Except maybe Zipp..." Crash grumbled. "Heeey!" Zipp protested, lowering a flamethrower he'd been tinkering with during his spare time. Bucky sighed. "Lospecter... Last I noticed, he was moving his slimy friends OFF the ship for some reason. So I hadn't given the Lost Ones much thought. If he's still here, though... I wonder if this is cause for concern..." he pondered. Everyone glanced around uneasily, when suddenly, drops of water started to fall from the ceiling! "Huh? Has the ship sprung a leak...?" Rainbow wondered. Everyone looked around in confusion as it started to rain inside the ship! Tommy pointed at the entrance to the control room as the Flickies started chirping nervously. "Look! Over there!" he gasped. A hooded figure was entering the control room, with red shoes, large spikes on his back, and glowing golden eyes. Zipp growled and pointed his flamethrower at him. "Oh, this guy!" he said angrily. "The Doomsayer!?" Punchy gasped. Tommy hid behind Rainbow, while Bucky stepped forward to face the intruder. "I don't recall inviting the likes of YOU to my ship!" he growled. The Doomsayer raised a hand, and a strong wind blew the rain into their eyes, making it difficult to see! "Ha! I'm wearing a visor! Eat flamethrower!" Zipp shouted, only to find the rain had soaked his weapon too much to ignite its flames. "What!? Aw, this is bogus!" he grumbled. "Your efforts are meaningless... You are railing against time itself. The past, present, future... What will you do when it all comes against you at once?" the Doomsayer mused. Punchy wiped the rain from his eyes. "Aw, shut up!! Captain bringdown!" he yelled. The Doomsayer crossed his arms. "Afraid to know? Or foolish enough to believe brute force will triumph over all?" he said blankly. From the back of the room, SPOT emerged, and began to approach the Doomsayer. "Hm? What'sss with the robot?" Vortex murmured. "My guess would be his goofy sensors think he recognizes this guy..." Zipp said. The Doomsayer glanced at SPOT's screen, his glowing eyes widening. He then waved his hand towards the robot and struck it with a bolt of lightning! "Hey!!" Rainbow yelled, freaked out. The Doomsayer then vanished amidst a swirl of rain and hail. SPOT's screen flickered back on a moment later, but as Punchy and Rainbow ran over to check it, they found that its recent memory had been wiped clean. "What was THAT about...?" Punchy wondered. Bucky sighed. "We'd better get back to work..." he said.


Copter and Dimentime followed Classic Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy into Water Palace. The palace was located just outside a town, possibly built just offshore. Time Eater had apparently taken the whole nearby town as well! At the entrance to the palace, the heroes caught up with Char and Alpha, who were looking around for something. "Nope, no sign of it here... Aw, this palace looks huge. You sure you don't remember where you stashed it, Alpha?" Char whined. "Error 404 Not Found! Please hang up and try again!" Alpha babbled, turning his head around until he saw everyone behind him. "Minis...? Now I KNOW I'm crazy. Will you fix me, Tails?" the robot whimpered. Classic Tails scratched his head. "Ummm... I don't know if that's a good idea..." he murmured. Char turned around and yelped. "Where'd all you come from!? Well, don't tell 'em anything, Alphie!" he instructed. As Alpha turned his body around to face them as his head already was, he saluted Char. "Yes, sir! I will not mention our search for the treasure map I stashed here earlier, sir!" he said. Char smacked his forehead in frustration while Classic Knuckles's eyes lit up. "Treasure map? Heeey, this just got interesting!" he said. "You said it!" came another voice. Copter glanced to his side and jumped as he noticed Gator had appeared out of nowhere! "Yaaaaah!! C'mon, Gator, get outta here!! We've got enough trouble!" he growled. Gator was wearing a pirate hat over his gator hood, and seemed intent on playing the part. "But I smell plunder! I put my crew together and everything! I still need someone to swab the decks!" he offered. Copter turned him around and booted him away. "No nonsense!!" he growled. While Gator was distracting him, however, Char and Alpha had decided to take off into the palace! "We can't let them get away!" Classic Tails said. Classic Sonic nodded, and the two of them took off at high speed, leaving the others behind! "Hey!! Sonic!! Wait for meeeee!!" Classic Amy cried, attempting in vain to chase after him. Dimentime ran over to restrain her, grabbing her arm. "Do not go off alone! You're not as strong as your older self!" he said. Amy pouted. "No fair..." she said. Suddenly, a shadow passed over them, and they noticed an Egg Mobile in the sky! Knuckles recognized it immediately. "Dr. Robotnik!?" he gasped. Copter stared in surprise as well. "Him again!? Wait a minute..." he said, glancing at Dimentime, who was whistling nonchalantly. "You KNEW!?" he gasped. "Everyone doesn't need to know..." Dimentime muttered. "Grrr... Curse that Alpha! Hiding the map! Seems I can't EVER rely on my robots at any point in time..." Robotnik grumbled. "This map must be valuable..." Everyone's attention was drawn to the voice of Mephiles, who was apparently observing from the nearby shadows the whole time. "You!? Can't you leave me alone!?" Robotnik groaned. Lospecter emerged beside Mephiles. "Maybe we should join the treasure hunt, eh Mephy?" he said. Mephiles nodded. "If only to ruin your plans." As Mephiles and Lospecter went on their way, Robotnik glanced at Knuckles thoughtfully. "Knuckles, help! Those terrible monsters are going to wreak havoc with the treasure if I don't get it first!" he said. Knuckles frowned. "Is it dangerous?" he asked. "Indeed. So I'm trying to obtain it to keep it out of the wrong hands." Robotnik lied. Copter and Dimentime rolled their eyes, while Amy nudged Knuckles. "Isn't HE the wrong hands?" she pointed out. Knuckles stared at him, but Robotnik wasn't finished. "This so-called treasure is much too destructive. I want to rule the world, not destroy it... and you better not let Sonic touch it. That irresponsible twit. There's no telling what he'll do." he said. Knuckles looked thoughtful. "You make a good argument..." he said. Dimentime whacked him over the head with his staff at this point. "OW!!" Knuckles yelped. "Dummy! He's trying to TRICK you into fighting Sonic! He wants the treasure for himself, whatever it is!" he shouted. Amy had her hammer ready, as well. "And don't you EVER imply Sonic is a twit!" she growled. Knuckles nodded quickly. "All right! All right!! I get it!! Sorry, Robotnik, we don't trust you!" he said. Robotnik growled. "Fine! You'll never beat me to it anyway!" he said, flying off. "Need a hand?" said Gator, who was still nearby. They ignored him and started on their way, searching for the map to whatever treasure Robotnik was seeking.

The palace was a massive structure built mostly out of white stone, as far as Copter could tell. It was submerged in water in many areas, but for the time being they attempted to stay dry. Eggman's robots were patrolling the area, including Egg Flappers and some Egg Pawn Knights with armor and lances. The Egg Flappers seemed more or less unarmed, and Dimentime was glad to allow Amy to trash them with her hammer so that she felt like she was helping. "Why does Eggman send unarmed robots out anyway?" Copter wondered. Dimentime looked around. "I'd say surveillance, but it seems like a lot just for that. Then again, they ARE looking for something." he said. Though the Knights appeared to be armored, they were actually no more protected than normal Egg Pawns, and Knuckles was having a good time running ahead to trash the robots with a few fists to their metal frames. Dimentime would occasionally use magic to knock one of the lances away from Knuckles, but otherwise, they had very little trouble. "Sonic's definitely been here already. The ground troops feel pretty thinned out." Dimentime observed. "They look pretty fat to me." said Gator, once again appearing out of nowhere. "Gaaah!! Leave us alone, you!" Copter yelled, pushing him aside. "Tell 'em to lay off the oil cans!" Gator remarked as he walked off. They soon arrived at what appeared to be a large water slide, and it seemed to be the only way forward. "Hey, that looks like fun! Let's try it!" Amy giggled. Knuckles sighed. "Old news. I've seen this sort of thing at Hydrocity Zone." he said. "Would you say it's safe...?" Copter asked. Knuckles smirked. "What are you, scared?" he teased. Copter gulped as they slid down the slide, looping around and around! Copter was screaming and getting queasy as they were deposited in the water below. "Oh, no... This reminds me of Chemical Plant. Except MILDLY more pleasant." Copter thought as he started swimming through the area, looking for the others after the confusion of getting tossed from the slide. Electric jellyfish robots were floating nearby, and Copter was careful to keep his distance. "Shouldn't they be shocking the whole pool? Never mind... Don't question science when it benefits you." he thought. He caught up with the others floating near a wall, looking nervous. There appeared to be no easy way to swim up to the next area before they'd run out of air. Suddenly, the water below them blew out of a spout as a powerful geyser, blasting them all upward quickly! They all screamed in surprise, loosing what air they had in their mouths, but fortunately, the surface was nearby. The poked their heads out and coughed a bit. "That ride was cool, wasn't it!" said Gator, who was wading nearby as well. Knuckles rolled his eyes. "STOP FOLLOWING US!!" he snapped. Amy frowned. "We can't get out of the water here... We'll have to dive again." she whimpered. "The slide looks like FUN you said! Let's try it, you said!" Copter growled. "I didn't hear you come up with any genius ideas!" Amy shouted. Dimentime poked his head underwater and then popped back up. "There's a big waterwheel down there. If we spin it really fast, it might get the water moving and make our swim... easier. Unfortunately, I can't cast spells underwater, so we'll need to get it moving ourselves. Let's, um... wing it." he said. "I sure hope that sea monster from the city doesn't come back." Gator mumbled, diving underwater.


In a section of the palace above the water, Sonic and Tails were gaining on Char and Alpha. Noticing this, Alpha turned in midair to fire a few shots at them. "Bwahahaha! Once I zap you, I'll never be born! That'll give the voices in my head a headache!" he cackled. Tails stopped short. "...Wow..." he said in bewilderment. Char frowned. "I got a headache just thinking about that! Don't talk crazy, Alphie!" he sighed. Sonic zigged and zagged out of the way of Alpha's shots, soon jumping into the robot and knocking it backward! "Owie! My flux cappuccino maker!" Alpha yelped. Not far away, a certain large cat who was napping by the water while holding a fishing rod briefly lifted his head. "Hm? Hear somethin' Froggy...?" he mumbled. The frog sitting beside him was sleeping peacefully. "Musta been the wind..." the cat mumbled sleepily, closing his eyes once more. Sonic landed in front of Alpha and pointed at him challengingly. "You don't talk much, do ya?" Char said, weirded out a bit by his complete silence. Tails caught up and smiled. "Good job, Sonic! So, where's this map?" he asked. Alpha looked around. "Sensors detect clear liquid substance. Ewwww." he said. Tails scratched his head. "I wonder if he even knows..." he realized. Suddenly, a bunch of Mephiles Takers appeared out of nowhere, surrounding them all! "Bwaaaa! Bad guys!!" Alpha shrieked, "Save me Super Sonic!!" Taking a moment only to blast some monsters out of his way, Alpha started to retreat towards the nearest exit from Water Palace! "Hey!! Alpha!! What about the maaaap!?" Char shouted, chasing after him. Sonic and Tails gave chase as well, considering he was their only lead on the whereabouts of the treasure map. The monsters simply allowed them to escape, and Mephiles soon emerged from the shadows to join them, chuckling. "That eliminates some competition. I wonder exactly what this so called treasure is. It may not aid me in any way, but if it's worth THEIR time... Who knows..." he murmured, glancing briefly at the big cat before wandering off.


Back underwater, Copter, Dimentime, Amy and Knuckles were swimming frantically to evade falling debris after a giant Sea Pawn, an Egg Flapper with scuba gear, had started banging into the wall from the other side! They had only caught a glimpse of the massive robot through a hole in the wall, and it was enough to leave them freaked out. "I didn't know Robotnik could build robots this huge!" Amy gargled, her shock making her briefly forget she was underwater and shouldn't speak. Knuckles quickly got frustrated and swam over to the wall. "What's he doing!?" Copter thought. Knuckles wound up his arm and hurled a strong punch at the weak wall, shaking the entire building! Debris started falling all over, making the others have to swim even more quickly to evade it! "Dummy!" Copter blurted, bubbles escaping his mouth. However, they soon heard a loud crash and an explosion from the other side of the wall! The attacks from the Sea Pawn then subsided, and they were able to proceed unhindered. Knuckles had caused debris to fall on top of the Sea Pawn, just as it had been doing to them! They soon found a geyser at the end of the area, which they used to blast them up and out of the water! They landed on a ledge at the exterior of the palace, and as they caught their breath, Knuckles glared at Copter. "I'm a dummy, am I?!" he growled. Before Copter could reply, the cackling of Dr. Robotnik caught their attention! "THERE you all are! Have you found my map yet?" he asked, flying at them with an Egg Mobile with a giant hammer attached to the front of it! They screamed at first, but quickly calmed down. "Whew... you surprised me with that hammer. I thought the other Amy was here." Copter said. "HEY!!" Amy snapped. "Seriously, you're supposed to be a genius, and THIS is what you arrived at? A big hammer?" Dimentime said. Robotnik frowned and then growled. "Look, instead of flinging insults, you could just politely say you aren't giving over the map!" he yelled. "We don't have the map!" Copter pointed out. Robotnik growled again. "Well, I don't care now! I need to teach you some respect!" he shouted, coming at them with his massive hammer! They all scrambled out of the way as the hammer crashed into the ground, the force of the impact even making the ground seem to shake a little! "D-don't get hit! That's one strong hammer!" Copter stammered. Amy pulled out her own hammer. "It doesn't scare me! Hammers are my specialty!" she said. Knuckles joined her in running towards Robotnik, but he wouldn't let himself be double teamed. The metal joint his hammer was attached to pivoted a bit, turning the hammer to its side! "I'll take you all on! I practiced with a game on the Egg Carrier!" he chuckled, swinging the hammer sideways towards both of them! Knuckles jumped aside, but Amy blocked the hammer with her own! "No way you'll beat MY hammer!" she grunted, straining as Robotnik's hammer clashed with hers! "Impossible! Your hammer is so puny!" he shouted. "Hey, Robotnik!" Knuckles called from behind him. Robotnik turned around, only to see Knuckles charge at his Egg Mobile fist first, smacking it hard and knocking him away from Amy! They then both charged at him while he was still reeling from the attack! "Hey!! Time out!!" Robotnik shouted. Copter and Dimentime joined in the attack as well, and their combined blows caused the Egg Mobile to start exploding, resulting in the hammer breaking off! The explosions soon subsided, however, leaving the Egg Mobile intact. "Cheaters! Oh, fine... I'm going to give Alpha a lecture about taking things that don't belong to him. Good bye!" Robotnik grumbled, flying away. As they watched him fly off, they noticed Big the cat fishing nearby. Copter ran over to check it out. "Hey... big fella. You seen any sort of map around here?" he asked. Big perked his head up sleepily. "Huh? Sorry... The fish aren't biting..." he said groggily, "Maybe I'll try another spot..." He started to reel in his line, and as he did, he noticed a paper stuck to his hook! "Hm...? That's strange..." he muttered. As the others caught up to Copter, he stared in disbelief. "I think he just fished up the map!" he said. As Big picked it up and examined it, however, a robotic claw dropped down from above and snatched it from his hands! "Yikes!! What was that!?" Big gasped. "Robotnik!?" Knuckles gasped. Watching the claw return to the Egg Mobile it came from, they saw that it did not come from Robotnik's vehicle. "Thanks ever so much for finding this for me!" came the sinister voice of Eggman Nega! Big backed away nervously, but was quickly backed up by the arrival of Cream, Cheese, and Modern Amy, who were apparently nearby the whole time! "You leave Mr. Big alone!" Cream shouted. "What's going on here, anyway!?" Modern Amy shouted. Eggman Nega chuckled. "Nothing at all. I was just leaving. Farewell!" he said, flying off! "Hold it, right there!" Copter shouted, leading the charge as everyone began chasing after him, including Amy, Cream and Big. "Heeeeey!! Wait for Gator!!!" shouted Gator, who came lagging behind.


Classic Sonic had somehow lost track of Alpha once they arrived at white space, but he soon met up with Modern Sonic, who was finally finished at Tropical Resort. They waved to each other as they approached, and then a flashing red light caught their attention. "Dude, there's the emerald!" Modern Sonic said, pointing up at the light. The frozen Chaos Emerald was now unfreezing! The Sonics had apparently restored enough of the area that the emerald was reacting as well! The Chaos Emerald, now red in color, dropped down low enough for the hedgehogs to reach. Glancing at each other, they quickly decided to race for it! They were neck and neck at first, but then Modern Sonic leapt into the air and boosted at the emerald at incredible speed, causing Classic Sonic to gasp in surprise as his older self snatched the emerald first! "Pretty slick move, huh?" Modern Sonic smiled. Classic Sonic spun around excitedly and gave him a thumbs up, congratulating his older self. Now, they had just one Chaos Emerald left to find.

Meanwhile, Copter, Dimentime, Amy, Cream, Big, Gator, Classic Amy, and Classic Knuckles were chasing Eggman Nega out of Water Palace, following him towards another area. However, as they ran, a loud roar was heard above them, startling Classic Amy and stopping her in her tracks! The Time Eater suddenly burst out of a portal and dove at the group! "Look out!!" Classic Knuckles yelled, hanging back to defend Classic Amy. The others, however, simply ran around it as it dove, not letting it stop them from chasing Eggman Nega. "Nice try, Eggman! I'm not falling for that trick!" Dimentime growled, hurrying after Nega at the front of the pack as the Time Eater disappeared into a portal once more. "Curses... Only lost two of them..." Eggman Nega grumbled as he neared his destination. It was a location somewhat resembling Sky Sanctuary in some ways, but with more jewels and crystals in its construction. "Well, since you've been so persistent to follow me, allow me to welcome you all to Sky Babylon! You still won't find the treasure first!" Eggman Nega shouted back.

As they entered Sky Babylon, Eggman Nega's Egg Mobile suddenly stopped short as a fireball flew down in front of him! "Gyaaaah! Oh, no, what now!?" Nega groaned. As everyone stopped behind Eggman Nega, they saw someone drop down in front of him! It was Blaze the cat, and she was holding another fireball in her hand! "That's far enough, Eggman Nega!" she shouted. Behind her, an orange raccoon dressed in green ran up, smirking up at Eggman Nega. "Oy, there! We got ya cornered now, mate! There's no 'scaping Captain Marine!" the raccoon shouted excitedly. "Captain Marine??" Amy muttered in confusion. "And there's Blaze! Hi, Blaze!" Cream waved. Eggman Nega looked around at how he'd been surrounded, but simply grinned. "All right, your majesty, you've got me..." he said. Blaze stared up in surprise. "You're... surrendering?" she asked. Suddenly, something large dropped down behind Blaze and Marine, smacking them both aside! "Avast, mateys!" shouted the large robot, which resembled Eggman Nega in pirate gear! "Eeeek! The blighter got the jump on us!" Marine shrieked. Copter dashed ahead to defend Blaze and Marine, while Eggman Nega took the distraction as an opportunity to escape. "I didn't actually SAY anything about surrendering, did I? So long!" he snickered. Copter helped up Marine while Blaze was composing herself, rubbing her head. "You OK, kid?" Copter asked. Marine looked at him awkwardly. "Yeah, she'll be apples... Do I know you, mate?" she asked. He frowned. "Um... Maybe Tails..." he said. The pirate robot laughed at them, pleased with himself. "D'arr har har har! Look how you scallywags fall over at the mere sight o' me! It is I, the scourge of the seas, Captain Whisker!" the robotic pirate sneered. Gator stepped forward and shook his fist at him. "HEY! I'm the pirate captain around here! Cut that out, you scurvy dog!" he shouted. Whisker backed away slightly, but then stood up more menacingly. "D'arr! There be room for only one ruler of these seas, and that be yours truly! So... uh... What does that mean, anyway?" he mumbled, appearing a bit confused. "It means you're going to beat him to the treasure and prove you're the real pirate, captain! Sheesh!" Another pirate sped up behind Whisker to set the captain straight. It was another robot, green in color, with a sort of shark-shaped head. "Oh, geez, who're you?!" Copter groaned. "Ha! I'm the sultan of speed, the unrivaled and unbeatable Johnny!" the robot smirked. Marine snickered. "You still can't beat my speed milk-drinkin' time, mate!" she teased. Amy ran up with her hammer. "All right, pirates! I know how to deal with YOU!" she grinned. "Be careful, Amy..." Cream murmured. "D'arr... AHOY THERE!! The mighty Captain Whisker was talkin' to ye, you bilge rats! As I was saying, the treasure belongs to my boss, savvy? So..." Before Whisker could finish speaking, even more visitors arrived on the scene. "Did someone say treasure!?" The whooshing of Extreme Gear could be heard as Jet the hawk led his companions, Wave and Storm, to check out the commotion. Marine glanced up at the birds with wonder. "Now that's keen, 'ay? Hey, up there! How's about letting me have a go at one of those flyin' surf boards, mates?" she asked playfully. Wave glared down at her scornfully. "These aren't toys, kid!" she snapped. Marine frowned. "Don't chuck a wobbly. I won't wreck it." she said. "So, where's this treasure?" Storm asked impatiently. Gator pointed at them frantically. "THIEVES!! Don't let them get the treasure!!" he shouted. Johnny glanced up at the Babylon Rogues. "Thieves? Heh, don't worry, they'll never beat me to the treasure, flying boards or not!" he chuckled. Jet glared at him. "What did you say!? I'm the fastest thing in the universe! How DARE you!!" he snapped. Copter and Dimentime rolled their eyes. "Oh, brother... Where's Sonic when we NEED him?" Dimentime groaned. "He'd enjoy this nonsense..." Copter sighed. Johnny activated a booster on his back and started hovering in the air. "Oh, yeah, wise guy? Think you're so fast? Wanna race, then?" he challenged. Jet smirked at him. "I eat punks like you for breakfast! Wave, Storm, keep an eye out for that treasure! I need to teach this guy some manners!" While they were getting ready for a race, Captain Whisker seemed upset that his crewmate had deserted him. "Yarrr? Hoy! Johnny! Jumping ship is mutiny! Blast ye to the depths, I can't count on you!" he grumbled. While he seemed distracted, Amy grabbed Cream's hand and led her in sneaking past him, snickering quietly. They were quickly followed by Big, and then by Copter, Dimentime, Blaze and Marine. "That pirate bloke sure ain't bright, is he? Well, time for a walkabout, mates! Welcome to my humble crew!" Marine said moments after passing Whisker. Gator soon appeared beside her and began to protest. "Hey! I'm the captain, here! They're joining MY crew!" he argued. Marine glanced at him with a goofy grin. "Lookit this 'ere drongo. 'Orright, we'll put it to a vote! Fair dinkum!" she offered. Big glanced back at them and sighed. "But I don't wanna be a pirate..." he mumbled.

Blaze quickly took the lead as they made their way through Sky Babylon. There was fire burning in several places, and with her pyrokinetic powers, she was able to clear the path. "Be careful, everyone! This place is very dangerous..." she warned. Marine didn't seem at all worried. "No drama, Blaze! We passed 'ere fine last time!" she said as she strolled right past Blaze without looking where she was going. "Ahh! Wait!!" Amy yelped as Marine walked right over a cliff! Everyone gasped and ran over, only to see her bounce right back up, yelling in surprise! "Hooly dooley!!! I'm flying!!" she shouted. Cream glanced down. "She's bouncing on a trampoline!" she realized. Copter sighed. "No running ahead!" he shouted. Suddenly, some robots resembling jellyfish began floating towards Marine as she bounced on the trampoline! They were different from the ones at Water Palace, with a sleeker design and lasers, which they started firing right away! "Strewth! That's no way to treat a sheila!" she shouted. Acting fast, Cream flew over the trampoline and snatched Marine. "Get 'em, Cheese!" she shouted. The Chao quickly flew at the robots and smashed them one by one while Cream brought Marine back to solid ground safely. Blaze chuckled softly. "Um... Thanks, Cream. That was quick thinking." she said. Marine nodded. "That was ace! Thanks, mate!" she said. "Now, let's go AROUND the trampoline, please..." Dimentime grumbled. Before they could get moving, though, they heard something speeding across the sky! Looking up, they saw Jet and Johnny finally racing by! "There they go... I wonder what kept them?" Amy said. "Probably lots of boasting and arguing." Blaze groaned. Wave and Storm followed behind them, stopping briefly to gawk at the group on the ground. "We know you're after the treasure!" Storm shouted. "But you'll never find it first! Give it up!" Wave added before they both flew off. Gator growled at them. "THIEVES!!! We'll show you!!" he yelled. "We'd better hurry. They're getting a big lead on us..." Copter pointed out.

They kept moving, and as they went, they encountered more robots. They were members of Captain Whisker's pirate crew, and had skull shaped heads, metallic bodies of varying sizes, and wielded different weapons. The skinnier pirates were carrying knives, and weren't particularly threatening. There were heavier pirates that almost resembled Egg Pawns, which were carrying small cannons. Cream and Marine kept back while the others handled the robots. Big was throwing his weight around, smashing pirate robots with ease. "Sorry... You're in our way." he mumbled as he trashed some robots. Amy handled the knife carrying robots with her hammer, while Copter, Dimentime and Blaze moved at the front of the group, dealing with the cannon-toting robots using their ranged attacks. Even Gator joined the fighting, since there were plenty of robots. He drew a green sword and pointed it at a knife holding robot. "Ha ha, you brought a knife to a sword fight!" he laughed. The robot then ran behind another robot holding a rather massive cannon, bigger than the normal ones. "Ummm... Parley?" Gator whimpered. However, before the cannon could fire, Cream and Marine simultaneously tackled the robot, knocking it to the floor in pieces! "Ha! We did it!" Cream giggled. "Crikey! This 'ere cannon is beaut!" Marine said, struggling to lift it. Gator stepped out of the line of fire and pointed his sword at the robot that hid from him. "Where were we?" he said. Marine continued examining the huge cannon, and soon ended up setting it off, sending a huge cannon ball through the area, smashing several robots and finally blowing up a wall! "Eeep! Um... Wasn't me, mates!" Marine stammered. Copter pointed to the hole in the wall. "That way! There'll be fewer robots!" he suggested. As they hurried down the new path, Marine smirked. "Right! It was all part of my plan! Wasn't it ripper?" she said.

As they moved on, they found strange crystals that were floating in midair. "These crystals alter the gravity around them. They will carry us upward if we approach." Blaze explained, recalling her last trip through Sky Babylon. There were platforms higher up, and it seemed like the crystals might help them reach them. "Hope none of us are afraid of heights..." Copter said. Blaze jumped a little. "Huh? W-wha?" she asked. "Right! We'll be able to spot the treasure easy from way up there!" Gator grinned. Blaze frowned. "Very...well..." she sighed miserably. Marine patted her on the back. "She'll be apples, Blaze. We'll all be right 'ere with ya! No need to fear!" she said. Blaze gasped. "I-I'm...not...scared!" she protested. "It's okay to be scared, Blaze. We're your friends. We'll help you!" Cream smiled. Blaze sighed, then gave her friends a slight smile. "All right, let's go." The crystals carried them up fast, each crystal bringing them to another higher up until they reached the platform! Even Big was lifted easily, which made him yell in fright! "Waaaah! I don't feel good!" he whined. They soon landed on the high platform and began panting to calm their nerves, but they were soon approached by Lospecter. "Hello, there! Is this a field trip?" he asked. "Eeeeek!! A g-g-ghost!" Marine gasped, hiding behind Blaze. Dimentime raised his staff. "So, you followed us here, eh?" he growled. Lospecter chuckled. "I take it you haven't found the treasure yet then, huh? Here, play with these guys while I go find it!" he said, tossing out some of his cards to summon some of Mephiles's monsters! These monsters resembled large, purple giants, and seemed more powerful than the other monsters. "Mephiles Golems!? How'd he get those!?" Blaze gasped. Lospecter shrugged. "You have fun discussing that. Bye!" he said, flying off. Cream and Marine shivered behind Blaze, frightened of the monsters. "Huh? Where'd these big giants come from?" Big mumbled, scratching his head. Amy pulled out her hammer. "Let's just get past 'em quick so we can catch up to the bad guys!" she suggested. However, before they could start fighting, Captain Whisker came soaring over the levitating crystals and smashed into the monsters! "D'arr!! What be this!? Outta my way, scurvy dogs!" he shouted, grabbing the monsters and whirling them around, easily tossing them far away! Everyone stared at him in disbelief, and when he noticed them, he couldn't help laughing. "D'arr har har! I see you're all awestruck by my power! Now, mateys, I'll be off to collect me booty, so don't be thinkin' of gettin' in me way!" he said, running off. "NOT SO FA--" as Gator started to yell at him, Copter covered his mouth. "Wait, Gator! Let's follow him quietly." he suggested. Blaze smirked. "Right. That pirate isn't very bright. He might lead us straight to the treasure!" she realized. Everyone agreed, so they set out to follow Captain Whisker.

Following Captain Whisker, they soon arrived at a large treasure chest! Johnny and the Babylon Rogues were already there, and were apparently arguing. "Never try to cheat a pirate out of treasure! Give it up already!" Johnny shouted. "WHAT!? I beat you fair and square, you bucket of bolts! This treasure's mine!" Jet squawked. "Keep dreaming, parrot! I beat you by a mile!" Johnny snapped. Wave shook her head. "Oh, brother... Talk about delusional." she sighed. "Let's stomp him!" Storm suggested. Johnny gulped as the three birds came at him, charging him with their boards! They knocked him away easily, and Captain Whisker growled angrily at this. "Arrr, now ye'll have to contend with me!" he growled, stomping towards them. While this was happening, the others noticed that the area was somewhat whited out. Cream quickly pointed out the statue sitting off to the side behind the chest! "Over there!! It... It's m-my... my mom!!" she cried, horrified at seeing her mother in this state. Dimentime scratched his head. "What!? Why would Eggman kidnap Cream's mom?!" he muttered. "Your ma?! Um... Do ya know she's a statue, mate?" Marine asked. Gator ran ahead of the group. "My treasure!! Stay away from it, you thieves!!" he shouted. Captain Whisker stopped to smack him away. "D'arr!! That's MY booty, bilge rat!" he yelled. The Babylon Rogues took the opportunity to open the chest and check out its contents. "Sorry, pirates, but this treasure belongs to the Babylon Rogues!" Jet grinned, "...Hey, wait, what IS this junk!?" he gasped upon getting a look inside the chest. They opened it wide, revealing a collection of odd looking stones and gems, but certainly not silver and gold. Marine's eyes lit up. "Crikey! It's a mother lode of materials! With these I could build a real beaut of a boat, I bet!" she grinned. Everyone but Captain Whisker stared at her. "What're you talking about!?" Amy asked in confusion. Just then, a huge claw dropped down from the sky, closed the chest, and lifted it into the air! The claw was attached to Eggman Nega's Egg Mobile! "You're very perceptive, little girl! Yes, materials are what we've been after all along. We found a map leading to the perfect supply, which will be vital to Dr. Eggman's plans! And now that I have it, all that's left to do is ensure you don't prevent me from leaving with it..." he said, snapping his fingers. At his command, some of the jellyfish robots arrived and dropped a cage over the statue of Cream's mother! "Now, Captain Whisker! Take care of our guests for me, would you?" Nega ordered. Whisker turned to the band of heroes and chuckled. "D'arr har har har har! I'll see you all to Davy Jones' locker!" he said. "They put my mom in a cage!!" Cream cried, "We have to do something!" Jet watched this and started growling. "Argh!! I can't believe this! That Eggman...looking guy! He's gonna regret messin' with us!" he said, flying towards the cage. "Let's bust this thing open!" he shouted, rallying Wave and Storm to him. However, Mephiles suddenly appeared in front of them, and was quickly joined by Lospecter! "What's your hurry? I think this cage creates an element of drama in this conflict..." Mephiles said. "Plus, you're about to have other things to worry about." Lospecter smirked.

As a fight was preparing to break out, Eggman Nega took the opportunity to slip away without a word. He didn't want to ruin his chance by gloating, since Mephiles was around. "Dr. Eggman warned me about that shadow... I'd better not get his attention..." he thought. Johnny stood beside Captain Whisker, ready to aid him in battle. "OK, who dare's challenge us? I'll go circles around all of ya!" he said. "D'arr har har! Think ye can take on both of us, scallywags?" Whisker taunted. Blaze smirked. "Easily." she said. Mephiles let out a low chuckle. "Allow me to provide a challenge, then..." he said, summoning Mephiles Biters and Golems into the area! As the monsters started to surround the group, Mephiles began to fly away. "I've wasted enough time here..." he grumbled. Lospecter looked between Mephiles and the others before he started following Mephiles. "H-hey! Wait up!" he stammered. The Babylon Rogues backed away from the monsters and found themselves caught with the rest of the group. "All right, I guess we're with you..." Jet sighed. Captain Whisker just laughed. "Extra crewmates! D'arr har! Now it�s time for a little payback on her royal highness, methinks! Blow the men down!" he shouted. Amy, Cream and Big banded together, using their team formations to aid them in fighting the monsters as they approached. "Think you can handle this, Big?" Amy asked. Big grunted. "They look tough... But I won't let them hurt you!" he said. Gator drew his sword and joined the fight against the monsters as well, aided by the Babylon Rogues. "Eat this, giant! Hiyaaah!" he yelled, poking his sword into a golem. However, it seemed to have no effect! "Come on, that's against the rules!" he groaned. Storm flew down and pounded the golem away before it could strike Gator, using his incredible strength to do so. "Hey, weird guy, you should really stick to the smaller monsters." he suggested. Gator frowned. "Smarty thieves..." he pouted. This left Copter, Dimentime, Blaze and Marine to face Captain Whisker and Johnny. "'Oy! Fuzzy face! Why don't you save us all this drama and surrender now?" Marine suggested. Dimentime held her back. "Marine, don't antagonize him further! Stay with me, I'll keep you safe." he said. Johnny growled. "You don't have Sonic here to help you now! You're toast!" he said, charging at Copter and Blaze! Blaze dodged him, so he changed direction and tackled Copter into the air! "Gaah! You Metal Sonic-shark thing! Put me down!" he yelled. Blaze came at Whisker, only to have him leap into the air! "Avast, matey! Cannonball!" he shouted, hurtling down towards her! She hurried out of the way, but the force of his landing created a shockwave that knocked her over! Meanwhile, Copter was struggling with Johnny in the air. He had had enough, so he spun his tails in order to gain some control over their flight path. "What!?" Johnny gasped as Copter let go of him, sending him speeding out of control and crashing into the ground! "Ooof!! Typical slowpoke move... Using my speed against me!" he yelled. Copter snickered. "That felt good." he grinned. Whisker turned to him and pointed his arm at him. "D'arr har har! Think you're clever, do ye? Then try this!" he said, firing his arm at Copter like a rocket! "Crikey!!" Copter yelled, dropping out of the sky so hastily that he tumbled to the ground at Dimentime and Marine's feet. "Crikey?" Dimentime mumbled. "Care to tag me in, mate?" Marine offered. Copter pulled himself to his feet while Blaze got up as well. "We got this, kiddo." Copter said. Johnny flew over to Whisker, who grabbed him and started spinning. "Don't know when to quit, do ye? Then I'll have me mate skewer ye!!" he shouted, hurling Johnny at high speed like a homing missile! Johnny seemed to pick up extra speed and power from Captain Whisker, and Blaze was forced to run as fast as she could as he zoomed by! Copter, however, tried a different tactic. "Wise guy. I'll show you power!" he said, tapping into his tailband and whipping his tails at Johnny as he approached! The impact, combined with the tailband's power, resulted in an explosion, hurtling Johnny far away! "Yaaaaaaah!!! Impossiblllllle!!!" he yelled. Whisker tilted his head. "How'd you do that...? N'arr, never mind! I'll be sending ye all to Davy Jones yet! Extra crispy! D'arr har har!" he laughed. He then took a deep breath and blew a long stream of fire from his mouth! "Yipe!" Copter hurriedly dove out of the way, but Dimentime was busy casting magic attacks against monsters and not paying attention! "Ay!! Watch out, mate!" Marine yelped, jumping at him to pull him to the ground, out of the way! As the fire died down, the two of them got back up, and Dimentime looked at her awkwardly. "Um... Thanks, Marine..." he said. "No prob, mate! All in a day's work for the captain!" she grinned. Meanwhile, Blaze had kept close to Captain Whisker while he blew his flames, not concerned with them. "Did you forget about my powers?" she smirked, holding a fireball. Captain Whisker jumped in surprise, and tried to fire his arms at her, but didn't have proper time to aim, and they flew out in random directions. "Yarrrr!! Don't ye come any closer, ye scurvy cheat!" he warned. Blaze charged at him and delivered a flaming kick to his chest, knocking him back a bit, while Copter took advantage of the distraction to run up and get in a tail whip! "Arrrrrr!! Shiver me timbers!! I'll get ye!!" he growled. However, the monsters had finally expired at this point, and the Babylon Rogues were charging his way now. "No, we'll get YOU!! Now you're in for it, pirate!!" Jet yelled. The rogues smacked their boards into Captain Whisker together at high speed, sending him flying off into the distance much like Johnny had been earlier. "D'arrrrr!! Me poor whiskeeeeeers!!" he whined as he went soaring away. "I think he's outta commission!" Amy chuckled. "My treasure's gone..." Gator whined sadly. Big walked up to the cage holding Cream's mother and grabbed at the bars, using all his strength to try to bend them. "Ngggggh.... There! I got it open!" he sighed at last. "Couldn't you have just magicked it open?" Copter asked Dimentime. "Why? He had it covered." Dimentime replied. Cream slowly approached the statue, and soon her mother's color began to return! She slowly climbed out of the cage, and Cream jumped into her arms, hugging her and crying in relief. "It's OK, Cream... I'm here now..." she said soothingly.


They all returned to white space together, some hoping to catch up to Eggman Nega along the way, but finding no sign of him, it seemed the "treasure" was Eggman's to use now. "Darn it! What a waste of time!" Jet growled. "Chill, Jet. We'll come up with something." Wave sighed. Jet nodded. "I guess we'll keep looking around this weird place. So long!" he said, waving to everyone on the ground as he led the Babylon Rogues away. Marine and Cream's mother were busy looking around white space, awestruck. "Strewth! What happened to the rest of the islands!?" Marine gasped. "I'm not sure, but these things have a way of righting themselves. Usually having to do with Sonic." Cream's mother said plainly. Just then, Classic Knuckles and Classic Amy approached them. Marine looked from Classic Amy to Modern Amy and jumped. "Crikey! For a second I thought you were the same person!" she said. "Um... Actually, we are." Modern Amy said. Classic Amy ran over and hi-fived her older self. "Hey! Guess what! I found my Sonic! But I lost him again..." she said. "Awww, I wish I'd gotten a chance to talk to MY Sonic lately..." Modern Amy sighed. Classic Knuckles groaned. "Oh, brother... So, any luck on that treasure?" he asked. Copter shook his head. "Eggman got it. Errr... Robotnik. Looked like junk anyway, though. But I bet he's got a use for it." he said. "Darn! If only we hadn't gotten left behind..." Knuckles groaned. Blaze looked at him. "Um... I'm not sure that would've done much good. There were lots of us there as it was. It was probably one of those things that you just can't really prepare for." she said, "Um... By the way... Didn't you used to be taller? Never mind..." Knuckles sighed. "Maybe you're right. Well, I guess we'll head back where we came from... 'Till we get bored." he said, motioning for Classic Amy to follow him. "Aw, OK... I guess it's safer back there. Bye everyone!" she said, waving as she left. Marine looked around nervously. "Um... I guess I can't get back to Southern Island from here, ay? Maybe I better wait back where Blaze found me until the world comes back..." she muttered. Blaze glanced at her. "I don't know... Be careful there, Marine. I'll be back to check on you periodically." she promised. "I'll just be snoozin' I guess... I'm pretty knackered after all the drama..." Marine said sleepily. Blaze and Marine said their goodbyes to the group, and Blaze walked Marine back to Sky Babylon to rest. "There. Now no more debate! I'm captain!" Gator said, prompting everyone to groan. "Let's go back to Shadow Arc. I could use a rest. Never thought I'd say that..." Amy said. "Okie dokie. Hey, where's Froggy?" Big asked, only to have Froggy leap on to his head. "Oh, there you are! Were you waiting out here for us all this time, buddy?" he wondered. Cream walked toward Shadow Arc while holding her mother's hand. "Shadow Arc's kinda scary, but I'll feel better now that you're with me, mom." she said. Her mother looked concerned. "Isn't that place where... Well, I guess I'll see, won't I?" she murmured. Gator watched them leaving and then ran off after them. "Errr, right! I suggest we all drop anchor at Shadow Arc! Ironic, considering Shadow Arc itself is a ship, but we don't actually have an anchor anyway!" he babbled hurriedly. Copter and Dimentime watched them leave for a moment, and then Dimentime started following them as well. "Hey, where are you goin'?!" Copter asked. "Got any better ideas? Let's give our report to Bucky and see if anything's been going on while we've been gone. What was the point in assembling us all together if we're not going to act as a team?" he pointed out. Copter shrugged and joined him in heading to Shadow Arc. "You get to explain to him why we didn't do the job he asked us to do then!" he grumbled.


Chapter 16 - Searching Shamar
Stage - Rooftop Run, Arid Sands - Sonic Unleashed

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.

"I know life can be tough on you time and time again.
Laughter may be gone away.
I will wipe away my tears tomorrow.
Life must go on, that's the reason that you travel away." - Dear My Friend, Sonic Unleashed


Gator threw open the doors of Shadow Arcangel's control room. "Captain on deck! You swabs better not have swiped my cola while I was gone!" he shouted. Bucky fired a jolt of lightning at him, making him jump in fright! "Silence! I'm busy!" he shouted, turning back to his computer. Gator stepped inside quietly, followed by Amy, Big, Copter, Dimentime and Cream & her mother. Team GeneX was away, but Punchy and Rainbow were still there, along with Tommy. They all seemed a bit on edge. Cream's mother looked around and frowned. "Oh, my... This place could do with a woman's touch, couldn't it?" she muttered. Bucky glanced at her. "Hm? Woman's touch... Oh brother..." he grumbled, turning back to his work. Cream walked over to Tommy and looked at him curiously. "What's wrong?" she asked him. "A m-m-monster came in here a little bit ago..." he shivered. The Flickies chirped nervously as well, and Cream's mother came over. "A monster? Ohhh..." she sighed, leaning down and lifting Tommy into her arms. "Hush now, little one. It will be all right..." she said, comforting him. Cream and Cheese went about petting the Flickies as well, attempting to calm them, too. "Awww, isn't that sweet, One?" Rainbow said. Punchy ignored her and approached Copter. "It was the Doomsayer. That's what the kid's talking about." he said. Copter and Dimentime both jumped a little. "Wha?! The Doomsayer!? What'd he want!?" Copter asked. Punchy shrugged. "How should I know? That guy's nuts!" he said. Big sat down in the corner. "Awww, I'm tired of bad guys... I wanna take a nap..." he sighed. "Uh... Don't worry, the Doomsayer probably won't be back anytime soon..." Dimentime said. Amy yawned. "That's good... I don't even feel like asking who that is right now..." she sighed. Bucky turned around and faced Copter and Dimentime. "He was just going on about how we're fighting the past, present and future all at once..." he said. "Well, duh, that's Robotnik, Eggman and Eggman Nega." Dimentime pointed out. "Eggman...Nega? Oh, great..." Bucky groaned, "And Lospecter to boot. That kid found him on the ship." Tommy started crying as he remembered. "He almost got me!!" he whined. Cream's mother gently stroked his head. "There, there... There's nothing around to hurt you now..." she said. Copter sighed. "Lospecter's working with Mephiles now. So, what do we do, smart guy?" he asked. Bucky scratched his head. "I've been puzzling over how to fix the world. Time Eater's done a number on it. I'm really not that kind of doctor, though..." he groaned. "That's what every doctor says! What a racket!" Gator yelled. Bucky nearly jolted him again, but saw that Cream's mother was finally calming Tommy, and decided not to upset them with a sudden bolt of lightning. "Copter, since you're here... Could you see if you can find someone who might be able to help us? Time Eater put a part of Spagonia in this white world. That's where Professor Pickle lives. He's a wise man, and helped Sonic restore the planet when it was shattered a while back. I'm sure you remember." he said. Copter scratched his head. "Yeah... Figures Sonic was involved in that. He's got his fingerprints on every mess, doesn't he?" he muttered. Dimentime stared blankly. "The planet was shattered???" he said dumbfoundedly. Bucky nodded. "Head to Spagonia. Find Pickle. Ask him if he knows any way to restore the planet. Hopefully he'll think of something. Good luck, Experiment 2!" he said. Copter glanced at Punchy. "You coming?" he asked. Punchy sighed. "I'm gonna stick here until someone gets back to protect this place... The Doomsayer and Lospecter have got me on edge..." he said. "Good luck, Twos!" Rainbow waved. Dimentime waved back. "Did she just refer to us in the plural...?" he mumbled.


After crash landing in a secluded area of Spagonia, Classic Robotnik was busy repairing a blimp that a certain hedgehog had sabotaged on his way out of town. "I put all that work into building something NEW to take care of that pesky rodent, and he just barrels all over the insides like it's his playground! Maybe my older self was right... Recycling's easier..." he grumbled as he reached through a toolbox for a wrench. A silver and black ball rolled over to him and then popped open, revealing itself to be a robot with metal rods for arms. "Young doctor! Internal repairs are proceeding swiftly. Damage appears to be minimal." he reported. Robotnik wiped some sweat from his brow and growled softly. "Did you actually SEE the front of the ship, Orbot!? You call that minimal!?" he shouted. Orbot clasped his arms behind his back and swiveled away from Robotnik. "Perhaps you require a driver's ed program for your pilots." he said mockingly. Robotnik sneered at him. "Why you smart mouthed little kickball! I WAS THE PILOT!!" he shouted. Orbot's face became as apologetic as it would allow, given only his eyes permitted expression. "I'll... return to work..." he said carefully, curling up and rolling away. "Why'd my future self suggest making use of that... thing? Maybe he wanted me to think better of building it in the first place..." Robotnik sighed. The sound of footsteps drew his attention away from his work again. "Hello, Ivo..." said Gunner, who was accompanied by Spy. Robotnik chuckled softly. "If it isn't old man Richard. Have you come to help in the repairs?" he asked. Gunner frowned. "At least I STILL have my hair! When exactly did yours fall out, anyway?" he teased. Spy held back a chuckle, backing away slowly as Robotnik glared at him. "Um... Don't mind me... I'll be waiting out, um... there..." he stammered, scurrying off. Robotnik resumed working on his repairs. "I'm busy. You can take your complaints to my older self." he said. Gunner crossed his arms. "All right, Ivo, I've settled down now. Since I've nothing better to do, I'd like another shot at those furry freaks! So what do you say? Tired of them getting in your way?" he asked. Robotnik glanced at him. "Got a plan?" he wondered. Gunner smirked. "Revenge!" he said.


Meanwhile, the two Sonics were just wrapping up their Rooftop Run. As they made their way out of Spagonia, they came across a frozen statue of Vector, and approached it together to restore his color. Vector moved around a bit as he regained control of his body, and then glanced at the hedgehogs. He seemed unconcerned with the fact that there were two of them. "Thanks, Sonic. You know, I got a hunch someone or something is controlling that monster..." he said, raising his hands ominously to illustrate his point. The Sonics nodded. "If you say so... I'm sure whatever's behind this will show itself sooner or later." Modern Sonic said before both Sonics went on their way. Vector watched them go, and then watched Copter and Dimentime approach. "Wait, those two are different looking... I'm NOT seein' double from that monster!?" Vector yelped, glancing back at the Sonics as they were getting further away. Copter and Dimentime passed by Vector without giving him a thought. They had their destination, and didn't want to waste time getting there. Vector watched them head into Spagonia curiously. "Copter and another Copter wearing a cloak, rushing off in a hurry... Now ya got me curious..." he thought, sneaking along behind them.

Spagonia seemed to be in the midst of a celebration of some sort. There were confetti and balloons all around, and flags from various countries were hung along some of the buildings. "What do you think the party's for?" Dimentime wondered. "How should I know? Maybe Eggman's robots decided to throw a party until Sonic showed up." Copter replied. There were a few robots left in the city that Sonic had neglected to smash, such as some blue Egg Fighters, which were similar in design to Egg Pawns, but a tad more violent. Dimentime blasted a few of them with magic, but then their hands jumped out of their remains and started moving around with minds of their own! "Yeah... They do that..." Copter grumbled. The "Little Fighters" charged at the foxes, but Copter simply blew them away with Chaos Whirlwind. "Let's go find the professor. There aren't enough bots left to worry about, it seems." he said. After wandering around for a bit, they found the professor standing outside Spagonia University, gazing up at the sky. "It seems color and life has returned to this place once more. Astounding! Sonic works with such efficiency, I'd almost swear there were two of him!" the professor mused. Hearing this, Copter and Dimentime glanced at each other. "Efficiency... riiiight..." Dimentime muttered. "He must've been frozen until recently." Copter grumbled. Professor Pickle heard them muttering and glanced at them. "Ah, hello there, boys. My word, I almost mistook you for Tails. Why so grim? You did hear that the planet's shattered pieces have been repaired, haven't you? There's a worldwide celebration going on!" he said. Dimentime looked around and sighed. "You all obviously haven't noticed the current crisis, professor..." he said. Professor Pickle looked thoughtful. "I surmise this has to do with the lack of color in the area a moment ago? Come in. We'll discuss it at length... over a plate of cucumber sandwiches!" As they headed inside, Vector chased them up the steps, only to run smack into the door as it closed! "Ooof!! That...was rude..." he grumbled. However, he opened the door a crack and listened in as Copter and Dimentime explained the situation to Professor Pickle. "I see... Time and space are being torn asunder by a creature known as a 'Time Eater...' Fascinating..." he muttered, munching on a sandwich as he leaned back in his seat. "I'm terribly sorry, young foxes. I'm afraid I've never heard of such a beast." he sighed. Copter groaned. "Wild goose chase...again! That's oh fer two, Bucky!" he grumbled. Pickle stood up and looked around his lab, appearing lost in thought. "I have collected numerous texts in my travels... Hmmm... Ah! I just thought of something!" he said. Dimentime leaned against his staff impatiently. "Yeeees?" he asked. "I have heard of something... Oh, I fear the information is not in my lab here. I suggest you try a trip to Shamar. My other lab is there." Pickle said. Copter was sipping some tea the professor had poured for them, and suddenly spit it out. "This stuff is foul! Errr... Did you say Shamar!? We can't just go wherever we want! The Time Eater has only put select locations into this white space! It was pure luck that we were able to reach you!" he shouted. Pickle covered his ears slightly. "My, my, my... You are much more excitable than Tails, aren't you? Well, I'm sorry. If you cannot reach Shamar, I regret that I am unable to assist you... I cannot remember the data I had collected there... Do feel free to come back anytime, though. I'll help in any other way I can." he offered. Copter and Dimentime sighed. "Well, this isn't good... except for these sandwiches, surprisingly." Copter muttered.

They made their way out of Spagonia and stared out at Shadow Arc in the distance as they arrived back in white space. "Should we go back?" Copter wondered. "I don't know... I'm running out of ideas..." Dimentime sighed. Suddenly, they noticed a purple and red hedgehog with yellow eyes running along, being chased by Razor. "Kosmo!! Wait for me, you!! Slow down!! I can't run at Shadow speed, either!" the porcupine was shouting. Kosmo scoffed. "Too bad, officer. You'll have to give me a speeding ticket later. I'm busy!" he said. Copter and Dimentime hurried over to check it out, still unaware that Vector was following them. "Hey, Kosmo! You in trouble with the law?" Copter asked somewhat sarcastically. Kosmo morphed into his true form and stopped running, turning to Copter and Dimentime. "Are you gonna bust my chops, too?! I'm trying to track down that time muncher or whatever it is, all right!? We gotta stop it, don't we?" he shouted. Razor ran up to them. "How I ended up paired with him, I'll never know..." he panted. "I don't need a partner!!" Kosmo insisted. "He's got a point, officer." Copter smirked. "He needs someone to KEEP AN EYE on him!" Razor grunted. Dimentime nodded. "Also a good argument." he said. Kosmo rolled his eyes. "For some reason, Tails didn't see anything wrong with unfreezing me. Why is that runt the only one who trusts me!?" he grumbled. Copter shrugged. "Must be a nostalgia thing." he joked. While they were busy discussing whether or not Kosmo was trustworthy, Vector was scanning the horizon of white space. "Hmmm... Ah! It's here after all!" he said loudly, startling the other four nearby! "Agh!! Where'd you come from!?" Copter yelped. Kosmo held his ears. "Not so loud! Yeesh... Wait, you didn't know he was there!? You're hopeless..." he grumbled. Vector rubbed his head sheepishly. "Sorry for spyin', Copter... But you gotta find Shamar, don't ya? Well, that desert over there looks like it might be it!" he said, pointing to an area in a far off corner of white space, liable to be neglected by Sonic. It was surrounded by shadows, as though it were somehow trapped in night time. "Well... gee... thanks for SPYING on us, Vector..." Copter muttered. "I guess we've got nothing better to do, so let's check it out..." Dimentime said, heading off with Copter. Vector followed. "I'm on the case, guys! Leave it to me!" he said. Kosmo glanced at Razor, then at the others, and started to follow them. "Anything to get away from this guy! Wait for me!!" he shouted. Razor shook his head and chased after them. "No, you don't! I'm keeping my eye on you, Kosmo!!" he insisted. As they started to head for the Arid Sands of Shamar, Guard the gargoyle flew out of Spagonia and quickly caught sight of them. "Grrrr... There they are..." he muttered, soaring after them while keeping his distance. "Grrrr... Now, where are they going...?"

Unlike the other areas they had visited so far, Shamar appeared to be trapped in a state of perpetual night. "What the heck?! It's dark... And c-c-cold!!" Copter shivered. "Yeah, so? It was dark at the city where Tails found me, too." Kosmo said. "The location must be trapped in whatever state it was in when the Time Eater... took it." Dimentime figured. Razor shivered. "D-deserts are c-cold at night... Do we have to go in here?" he asked. "YOU don't..." Kosmo muttered. The cool air was a shock at first, but as they started into the darkened oasis town, they quickly started to ease into it. "Actually, a little chill's not so bad when you think of the alternative..." Vector muttered. Suddenly, a bunch of creatures appeared out of nowhere! They were dark, lizard-like shadow creatures. "Huh? They don't look like Mephiles's..." Dimentime muttered. Kosmo morphed into a tough looking purple rhinoceros and snorted. "These things, eh? Been a while!" he said. The monsters came at them, swinging their stretchy arms at the group to attack! Kosmo just charged right through them, bashing them with his horn as he went, while Copter and Vector ran in to join the fight as well. "I remember these things, too! They trashed our office one night!" Vector growled, trading blows with one of the creatures Kosmo hadn't trampled outright. They were tough creatures, but together they made quick work of them, and they dissolved into scattered bits of dark energy as they vanished. "Okaaaay... Never seen anything like that..." Dimentime muttered. "Wow! You guys sure gave those Nightmares a thrashing!" came a voice nearby. Looking around, they could see someone small peering out from behind a water barrel. Seeing that the coast was clear, he flew out from hiding, revealing himself to be a small canine with fairy wings! "Hi! I'm Chip! Um, have any of you seen a big... um... monster guy around here? Um... I don't mean those monster guys! I mean a big, blue, hairy... um... toothy... Rrrrraaaaa!! But really he's nice!" the fairy-like creature asked, pantomiming his description of the "monster guy" as best he could. No one seemed to have any idea what he was talking about, but Kosmo tried his best to help. "You mean something like this?" he asked, morphing into his best guess of what the monster looked like. He morphed into a yellow-eyed version of Sonic's Werehog form, startling everyone around him! "Whoa!! Warn us before you're gonna do somethin' crazy like that!!" Razor shouted. Chip gasped. "Whoa!! That's it! That's Mr. Monster Guy! How'd you do that!?" he asked. Kosmo morphed back to normal and shrugged. "I've seen it before..." he muttered. Copter scratched his head. "Wait... You have? Was that... Sonic!?" he wondered. "What is this, twenty questions!?" Kosmo grumbled in annoyance. Chip flew up to him, smiling. "So, um... Where'd ya see him, huh?" he asked. "NOT AROUND HERE!" Kosmo snapped. Chip frowned slightly. "Oh... Well, that's ok! No need to get grumpy. I know, want some chocolate?" he grinned, producing a chocolate bar out of nowhere! Kosmo looked a tad surprised. "Huh...? Wha...?" Vector chuckled a little. "That's cute! He doesn't know how scary you are, Kosmo!" he said. Kosmo frowned and politely took the bar from Chip. "Um... thanks..." he muttered. "Come to think of it, I'm starving! Come on, let's go to the shop and get some food!" Chip suggested. "Do we have time for that?" Razor asked. Dimentime looked thoughtful. "We need to find Professor Pickle's lab. Maybe we'll spot it on the way." he said. Chip cheered. "Yaaaay! Dinner time! I'll find us something to eat! Follow me!" he said. Watching them from the shadows, Guard spoke into a walkie talkie. "Grrr... Reporting in, boss. Grrrr... There are monsters here, but Kosmo is with them, so they won't be deterred." he said. "That morph is the real monster. Keep observing them, Guard." Gunner replied. "Grrr... Roger..." Guard murmured.


They found a shop and tried some of the local cuisine. While they ate, Chip explained that the monsters they had fought were fragments of Dark Gaia, the creature released from the planet's core when Dr. Eggman split it apart during the time period Shamar was apparently in. Everyone (except Dimentime) had encountered the monsters when the planet was split apart, though they didn't necessarily know what they were at the time. After they finished eating, they soon came across a door that not even Kosmo could manage to budge. "Gaah!! What the heck is up with this door!?" Kosmo grumbled. Chip looked around and noticed some small shrines on either side of the door. "Oh, those things... Yeah, this door's magically sealed!" he explained. Dimentime shrugged. "Oh, is that all? All right then..." he said, casting magic at the door, only to have it bounce off uselessly! "Huh... WHAT!?" he shouted. Chip laughed. "No, no! That's not what ya do! You gotta find the gems that go in those shrines over there!" he said. Vector glanced at them. "Oh, yeah... I was just about to suggest looking for a key or somethin..." he said sheepishly. "Suuuure you were." Copter remarked. "We should split up to find these gems." Razor suggested. Kosmo nodded. "Good idea, you're a genius. I call the group that goes away from you!" he said, running off. "Huh, wha...?" Razor mumbled. "I'll keep an eye on him..." Dimentime said, following after him. Chip chuckled and followed them as well, leaving the others to search on their own. As they began to search the immediate area, they started to hear buzzing and whirring. "Oh, good. I hear something familiar." Copter grumbled. "...Robots?" Razor wondered. Egg Fighters jumped down from some nearby rooftops, carrying electrified shields and swords resembling chainsaws! "What is this, a bad horror show?" Copter wondered. Out of the shadows, spiky green ball robots also rolled out, occasionally covering their bodies with electricity, making it easy to see why they were called "Thunder Balls." Vector growled. "All right... Let's trash 'em..." he said, briefly glancing upwards. He caught a glimpse of Robotnik's blimp as it flew by in the distance, smirking to himself. "Quick, before reinforcements show up..." he said. Razor fired a few shots from his gun at the Egg Fighters, but they blocked it with their shields. "Well, that's no good..." he muttered. "Go look for the gem, Razor..." Copter grumbled. "It's over there next to the sparking robots. See?" Razor pointed out. The Thunder Balls were hovering over a big, green gem, protecting it with their electricity. "Looks like we need some wind..." Copter growled as the Egg Fighters began coming at them. "And maybe some gum!" Vector added. "Gum??" Razor wondered. Vector had been chewing some gum, and suddenly blew a huge, purple bubble, spitting it at the Egg Fighters! It gummed them up and caused them to explode! Copter and Razor stared at him in disbelief. "...What?" Vector said.


Dimentime, Kosmo and Chip wandered up some stairs to a balcony, where they found a group of small, balloon-like monsters called Dark Frights circling around Mephiles! "What? What are you doing, Mephiles!?" Dimentime shouted. The Dark Frights seemed to shudder, and then grow in Mephiles's presence, transforming into larger, flying monsters known as Killer Bees! "Whooooa! He transformed the monsters!" Chip gasped, pulling out a camera. Mephiles sighed. "These monsters appear to grow strong in my presence, but I cannot seem to absorb their powers myself... They are of no use to me." he said. Chip hovered forward, positioning himself to snap a picture. "Say cheese, scary guy!" he said. "Keep your light away from me!" Mephiles growled, shifting his form to that of Bucky and hurling bolts of lighting towards Chip! Kosmo ran in the way and intercepted the attack, taking Bucky's form as well to absorb the electricity! "Yikes! Um... What just happened?" Chip gasped, lowering his camera. Mephiles opened a portal and fled, and with him out of the way, they quickly saw that the rest of the balcony behind him was white. A statue of Mia the cat was there, and next to her was a red gem, likely the other key to the door! "Hey, what's up with all that white? And that statue?" Chip wondered. The Killer Bees glared at the group angrily, preparing to charge at them. "I think we'd better swat these bugs. And I think I've got the perfect form in mind..." Kosmo said, howling as he morphed into Sonic's Werehog form once again, this time intending to fight in the intimidating form! "Yeah! Go get 'em!" Chip cheered, imitating karate moves from behind Kosmo and Dimentime to taunt the monsters. The bees started to charge at them, planning to skewer them with their sharp stingers! Kosmo launched his fist at them, his arm stretching as though made of rubber! He punched one of the bees from a distance, while Dimentime started attacking them with magic. Kosmo then reached for another bee with his other arm, grabbing it in his powerful Werehog claws! "RRRrrrr!! Take this!!" he growled, hurling one bee at another! They collapsed to the ground, giving Kosmo an easy target to slash at with his claws! "Yeah! That's it! Just like Sonic!" Chip chuckled, "Except for the creepy glowing eyes..." he muttered. It didn't take long for them to take out the bees, and just like the Nightmares, they dissolved into bits of dark energy. Kosmo returned to his normal form, and Dimentime approached Mia's statue to free her. As her color returned, she stretched and glanced at the gem next to her. "Okay... Who brought me this? Don't be shy." she grinned. Dimentime pointed to Kosmo, who blushed and then ran away. "He's lying!!!" he shouted. "Call me!!" Mia yelled, giggling. Chip flew up to her. "Wow, you must be hungry after being frozen like that. Want some chocolate?" he asked, again pulling a bar out of nowhere. "Now, that's the cutest thing I've ever seen!" she smiled. Dimentime frowned. "Ummm... Who's gonna help me carry that giant gem down the steps!?" he groaned.

The two gems glowed when placed in the shrines, and then the door swung open on its own. They continued beyond it, leaving the town behind and finding themselves in the desert, heading towards some old ruins. "So... where are we going?" Mia asked curiously. Vector looked back with a start. "Hey, yeah, wouldn't the prof's lab be back in the town?" he pointed out. Chip shrugged. "I was actually looking for Sonic... Sorry, guys. I know! I'll take you to the lab when we find him!" he offered. Copter groaned. "What is this sick hold that Sonic has over everyone?!" he muttered. As they approached the ruins, Vector glanced up and pointed to the blimp overhead. "Guys... I think we've been followed." he said. Razor pointed ahead of them. "It's Gunner again!" he yelped. Mia squinted at Robotnik, who was hovering in his Egg Mobile next to Gunner. "Ummm... Hey, Eggman got a face lift! He still looks like an old codger, though." she said. Robotnik groaned while Spy and Orbot snickered from behind him. "Her ignorance is NOT funny!!" Robotnik grumbled. Spy stifled a laugh. "It is a LITTLE funny..." he said. Gunner nodded. "Agreed. Now, get down here, robots!" he shouted. A swarm of GUN Beetles with laser cannons flew down from the blimp, while some rust-colored Egg Fighters called Egg Shooters jumped down from the blimp to join them! Guard flew down as well, swinging his scythe in preparation for combat. "Grrrr! You won't get away this time!" he growled. Chip looked around nervously. "Um... Friends of yours?" he whimpered. Kosmo rolled his eyes and stepped forward. "Leave all this to me! Gunner will be sorry he ever left his cozy office!" he said. Orbot rolled forward and popped up between Robotnik and Gunner. "Excuse me, sirs! Might I recommend employing the secret weapon at this moment?" he said. Robotnik glared at him. "Pipe down! We know what we're doing! ...Take care of him, Richard." he said, glancing at Gunner. He smirked and nodded, holding up a strange sort of cannon with GUN's symbol on it. "I put our science division to work devising a weapon to combat morphs... Time to test it!!" he sneered, firing a strange net pulsing with bluish energy at Kosmo! "Huh!? What's that??" Kosmo muttered, only to get caught under the net! He immediately fell backward, howling in pain! The strange energy was both harming and restraining him, leaving him helpless! "Whaa!! Hey, purple transforming guy, are you OK?" Chip gasped worriedly. While Copter, Dimentime and Vector ran ahead to take on the robots, Chip and Mia rushed over to see if they could help Kosmo. "What is this thing made of...?" Mia wondered. Chip tried to pull it off him, only to burn his fingers. "YEOW!! Hot hot hot hot hot!!!" he yelled, flying around in circles. "No, don't touch it!! Grr... This thing wasn't made just for him... It was made for all animals!" Mia growled. Razor watched from the back, having not moved since this started. Kosmo was struggling, grunting and groaning in pain. He couldn't even transform. "OK... I can't take this anymore... This is cruel and unusual punishment!" he ran over and stepped past Mia and Chip. "Let me see this thing... It's not electrified... Some kinda energy..." he muttered, holding the barrel of his gun through the net and carefully pulling it off! "It has no effect on the metal in my gun!" he said, tossing the net aside! Kosmo gasped and panted, slowly standing up. "W-why... did you save me...?" he asked. "Um... It's my job." Razor replied.

At this moment, a lone Nightmare appeared in the center of the area. Mephiles soon emerged beside it. "How nice of you all to gather together like this! Now, allow me to try a little experiment with this creature... Let's see what happens when I give it more power!" In Mephiles's presence, the Nightmare grew larger and stronger! Its body became covered in tough armor, the horn on its head grew long and jagged, and it produced a massive hammer to fight with! It was a much more powerful creature now: a Dark Guardian! Mephiles Biters and Mephiles Takers appeared to attack the remaining robots in the area, quickly eliminating them before turning on the organic beings in the area. "Um... Booooss...?" Spy whimpered. Gunner snarled angrily. "That meddling freak! But at least he might finish the job for us... Let's go, Ivo!" he suggested. Guard flew away from the fight he was having with Copter and slashed his scythe at some of Mephiles's monsters as he made his way to Gunner. "Grrrr!! I will return you to the blimp, sir!" he said. As Guard started to carry Gunner up, Spy grabbed on to him as well. "Wait, don't leave meeeee!!!" he wailed. Robotnik nodded. "Retreat for now! We'll regroup on the blimp!" he said. As his Egg Mobile started to take off, Orbot hopped up and grabbed on to the side of it. "Why did you not land the blimp instead of making it difficult for us all to get back on board? This is the repercussion of your hasty actions!!" he shouted. Robotnik groaned. "Shut up or I'll drop you!!" he said. Mephiles, pleased with himself, escaped into a portal and left the remaining group to face his monsters. Copter and Kosmo approached the Dark Guardian, while Vector glanced up at the blimp as Robotnik and Gunner boarded it. "They're not leaving... They're waiting to launch a sneak attack when this is over!" he said. Dimentime smacked his staff in his hand. "Then let's not let them!" he said. While they worked on a plan, Razor was busy shooting at Mephiles's monsters, protecting Mia and Chip as best as he could. Kosmo looked around. "There's too many of them... Hey, Copter, hold off the guy with the hammer a minute, will ya?" he asked. "Huh? Where are you goin...?" Copter muttered. Kosmo howled and morphed into his own variant of a feral form, like Sonic's Werehog form. He became a Weremorph! Chip chuckled. "No, way! It's a new monster guy! Well, good luck! Go get 'em!" he cheered. Kosmo growled and took off, attacking Mephiles's monsters ferociously! Meanwhile, Copter flew out of the way as the Dark Guardian swung its giant hammer at him! "Yikes! That coulda took my head off!! Umm... Chaos Whirlwind?" he said, attempting to knock the monster over with his chaotic wind. However, the Guardian stood its ground and flailed its hammer at him again, forcing him to retreat further away! "OK, I'm gonna have to try the direct approach... Aw, but I don't wanna die..." Copter whined. At the same time, Dimentime used teleportation magic on himself and Vector, sending them up to Robotnik's blimp! Some Egg Shooters immediately jumped out of a hatch and began firing at them, but Vector simply charged past them, knocking them over the side of the blimp! "Outta my way! Got a blimp to trash!" he shouted. Dimentime used his magic to zap any robots he missed along the way as they made it to the hatch and hopped inside the blimp! "Now, let's gum up the works!" Vector chuckled spitting gobs of purple gum everywhere, as Dimentime watched with a disgusted look. "Dude... what the heck??" he muttered. Back on the ground, Kosmo and Razor finished off Mephiles's monsters and turned their attention to the Dark Guardian. Copter was holding on to the handle of its hammer as it swung it around, screaming in panic. "I could use some HELP over here!!" he shouted. Kosmo shrugged. "Well... He held it off..." he muttered, running over to help. He gave the Guardian a mighty punch while it was distracted, giving Copter a chance to jump away! "All right... Now I'm mad, monster!" Copter yelled, rushing back to strike the Guardian with a tailband-powered tail whip! The Dark Guardian stumbled back a bit, but came at them once more, swinging its hammer at both of them! Instead of running, Kosmo got in close and grabbed at the handle of the hammer, using his Weremorph strength to fight back! With some effort, he managed to pull away the hammer, and with a mighty swing, he clobbered the Dark Guardian with it! It apparently couldn't take a strike from its own hammer, and quickly dissolved away into bits of dark energy, while Kosmo reverted to his normal form. Copter sighed with relief. "Whew... Good work, Kos-" he started to say, but was interrupted by explosions overhead! The blimp was going down, and Dimentime was flying back to the ground, holding on to Vector's hands, though it looked a bit tiring carrying him. "Curse you!! You'll all pay for thiiiiiis!!!" Robotnik could be heard shouting as the blimp shakily flew off, searching for a safe place for a crash landing.

Someone peeked out from inside the ruins once the commotion was over. "My, but it was loud out here... Is everything all right?" the old man said. "Professor!!" Chip gasped, flying over to greet Professor Pickle, who was apparently inside the ruins all along! Copter stared in disbelief. "H-hey... How'd he get here?" he muttered. "Well, I got bored waiting around at my lab for Sonic to show up again... So I thought I'd go explore the ruins a bit. Say, um... Who are all of you?" Pickle wondered. Dimentime looked thoughtful. "I get it. This place... Shamar. It's here in the 'past.' Spagonia, where we met the professor, is here in white space, too, but it's a later version of Spagonia. So, that Professor Pickle was from the 'future.' He knew we'd find him here. Get it?" he said. Copter scratched his head. "Um... No." he said, looking truly dumbfounded. "That's OK, Copter... I'm lost, too." Mia sighed. Professor Pickle shrugged. "Can't chat right now... I'm immersed in studying this ancient writing I discovered on the wall here... If you like, you can take a look." he said, inviting them inside the ruins. They all followed the professor inside. The ruins were mostly wrecked, and not much appeared to be left, but there was a bit of writing and images on the walls. "Hey... What're these pictures?" Vector wondered. Chip flew around with his camera, taking photos. "Um... Can you read this gibberish?" Kosmo asked the professor. He nodded. "Some of it... 'A time will come when a being of darkest malice will arrive. It will erase all of time and space, leaving nothing but an endless white...'" he read. "The Time Eater..." Razor said, "Does it say anything about how to stop it?" he asked. Professor Pickle looked at the wall with a puzzled expression. "I'm not quite sure what it means, but it seems to say how to restore the world once erased. It says the secret to restoring the world 'lies within.'" he explained. Kosmo groaned. "Well, that was a waste..." he sighed. "...Maybe Bucky can make sense of it..." Copter said. Chip flew around cheerfully. "Yay! Yay! I found the professor! Now finding Sonic should be a breeze! Thanks, everyone!" he cheered. Everyone smiled a little to see him cheerful, and even Kosmo seemed to calm down a bit. "Well... Good." he muttered. Chip held out his camera to Professor Pickle. "Oooh! Oooh! Can you get a shot of me with all my friends before they go?" he asked. The professor smiled. "Ah, all right. Let's head outside where there's more room..." he suggested. "Huh? A picture of all of us...?" Copter muttered, looking around. "Sure! Please? Come on!" Chip smiled. Kosmo and Razor glanced at each other awkwardly, but Vector grabbed them both by the arms and dragged them outside. "Come on, you two! You're not still at each other's throats are ya?" he said. Kosmo chuckled nervously. "Um... I'm fine..." he said, standing next to Copter. Chip hovered in between them, grinning and holding up a peace sign. Everyone else gathered around and got in the picture as well, and Professor Pickle held up the camera. "Say, cheese!" he said before snapping the photo. Copter wondered if Sonic and Tails would see the picture later, and what they'd think, and that made him chuckle. Now that they were finished in Shamar, though, they had to get going. Vector started wandering off on his own. "I'd better get lookin' for Espio and Charmy, I guess... Then maybe we'll help you guys out." he said. "Espio's already looking for you. Keep an eye out." Dimentime said. "Hm... Hope he's not invisible... Well, bye!" Vector said, rushing off. The rest of them headed off in the same direction, leaving Professor Pickle and Chip behind. "Don't worry about Chip! I'll see he gets to Sonic safely!" Pickle said, waving to them as they left. "We'd better tell Bucky what we found out right away..." Dimentime suggested. "So... You're workin' for Bucky?" Mia asked. "Well, it's complicated..." Razor admitted. Kosmo smirked. "I wonder what the police chief will think if he sees that picture, officer..." he joked. Razor stopped in his tracks. "I gotta get that camera!!!" he gasped. Copter grabbed his arm and tugged him along. "Aw, c'mon. It's all in the past, Razor. It can't hurt ya... probably... Heh heh heh." he chuckled.


Chapter 17 - Infiltrating Fortresses
Stage - Despair Castle - GeneX- Knuckles the Echidna
Additional Stage - Final Fortress - Sonic Heroes

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.

"Our castle is a massive force,
A stronghold of power.
My armor stays unbreakable,
In battle every hour." - Knight of the Wind, Sonic and the Black Knight


Copter and Dimentime sighed as they reached Shadow Arcangel's control room. "Do you have to hang out in here, Bucky?! It's a long walk to get in here!" Copter complained. Bucky stared at him blankly. "Why don't you just use the control room entrance?" he asked. Vortex, Zipp and Crash all snickered from the back of the room. "HEY! It's not funny! What control room entrance!?" Copter snapped. Razor and Mia had joined Copter and Dimentime in returning to Shadow Arc, and Razor was looking around frantically. "H-hey!! Where's Tommy!?" he yelled. Bucky glanced at him. "Who? Oh, the kid... I had a... disagreement with the rabbit girl's mother. She took the children to a more 'kid friendly' environment." he said. Razor ran up and seized Bucky's lab coat furiously. "You let someone just wander off with my little brother!!?" he shouted. Suddenly, he felt a gun pressed against his head. "Take your hands off, buddy boy." Zipp growled. Razor slowly backed off, and Bucky motioned for Zipp to stand down. "Why don't you go look for them instead of picking a fight? I'm sure they're fine." Bucky grumbled. Razor nodded slowly and ran off. "Well, that was overly tense. Surprised Zipp didn't shoot..." Crash muttered. "He wasss too clossse to Bucky." Vortex hissed. Copter shook his head. "Oh, brother... Hey, Bucky, we did what you asked us!" he said. "And...?" Bucky asked, sitting down at the Arcangel's controls. Copter scratched his head and glanced at Dimentime. "Professor Pickle said something cryptic about how the secret to restoring the world 'lies within.'" Dimentime said. Bucky looked thoughtful. "Lies within... Yes... Indeed..." he said, "That's it!" he exclaimed. Copter stared at him in confusion. "What are you going on about?" he asked. "You are able to free people from lifeless, colorless states, right?" Bucky said, "But why? Tails popped in for one more visit after Shadow Arcangel crashed, checking on us, and he told me he believed that it was the Sonics restoring color and life to the world by 'accelerating through time.' That is, running really fast. But that doesn't make sense! If that worked, why doesn't running really fast effect time ordinarily?" he wondered. Copter scratched his head. "Accelerate through time!?" he mumbled. "Also, people who are not Sonic don't run when they restore color and life to things. Granted, running may help because Sonic restores larger areas... But I think I've figured it out. The solution indeed lies within! Exposure to GeneX energy is what causes the restoration!" Bucky explained. Copter and Dimentime shook their heads in confusion. "I'm not following you... GeneX is a gene." Dimentime muttered. Bucky sighed. "Well, this is just a hypothesis right now, anyway. I'll be doing what I do best here... Experimenting! You two... um... Go find something useful to do!" he said, getting up and walking over to Team GeneX to start giving them instructions. Copter glanced at Dimentime. "Don't try to keep up with Bucky's GeneX research. Your head will explode." he grumbled. Mia tapped her foot loudly from behind them. "Ahem!! So, uh, guys... Where's Katie, anyway?" she asked. Copter and Dimentime jumped, turning around slowly. "K-katie...?" Copter stammered. "Yeah! Razor told you she was with us when that monster-thing swallowed us up, right!? Don't tell me you haven't rescued her yet!" she said. Copter and Dimentime glanced at each other and then ran out of the control room. "Where the heck is that control room exit, anyway!!!???" Copter shouted.

Having no idea where to look for Katie, Copter and Dimentime explored white space for a bit. In a random corner, they came across an odd looking location the Time Eater had pulled in. It was bright, almost like a hologram, yet seemed real enough. There were large pipes sticking up out of the ground, large enough for someone to go inside, as well as big floating blocks, gold coins instead of the usual rings, and in the distance, an ominous looking castle. Copter and Dimentime peered into this strange place curiously. "Your dimension?" Copter asked. Dimentime shook his head. "Don't try to pin this weirdness on me." he said. Suddenly, someone appeared at the entrance to this odd place. "Welcome to Super Eggman Land!!" said the cat who appeared in front of them! He had red fur, glowing yellow eyes, sharp claws and was saber-toothed. He had a long tail lined with spikes. "I'm Firepaw! I am pleased to welcome you to our exciting wonderland! Meowr." Copter and Dimentime stared at him blankly. "Hey there... Where'd you come from?" Copter muttered. "Super Eggman Land??" Dimentime groaned. Firepaw nodded. "Yep! Meowr! So if you'll just come this way..." he said, motioning for them to enter. However, Copter and Dimentime promptly turned and started to walk away. "We're not dumb..." Copter grumbled. "Talk about stupid." Dimentime groaned. Watching them leave, Firepaw stammered nonsensically in protest and tried to chase them, but smacked against an invisible barrier and fell back into Super Eggman Land! "Nooo!! Come back!! Meowr!! I'm just LONELY dang it!! I... can't... leave this infernal video game!" he yowled in frustration. "You don't say..." said Mephiles, who appeared from inside one of the giant pipes nearby! "Well, I might be able to help you with that... Just hold still..." he said menacingly. Firepaw backed away slowly, raising his claws defensively. "H-hey... What're you doing?! Who are you? MEOWR!! Back off, creepy! I'm a ninja! I think... N-nooooo!!!" he screamed as Mephiles charged at him!

Moments later, Sonic and Classic Sonic arrived at Super Eggman Land. Mephiles was gone, and Firepaw was lying at the entrance unconscious. Classic Sonic poked at him, looking worried. "Eh, he's Eggman's virus. He'll probably be fine..." Modern Sonic said, looking around. "Sweet! This is that virtual reality game Eggman made! How'd it get pulled into the real world?" he wondered. Classic Sonic scratched his head and looked at Super Eggman Land with an annoyed expression. "Aw, don't be that way, dude! It's actually pretty cool! Race ya to the castle!" Modern Sonic challenged him. Classic Sonic frowned at first, seeming to have some sort of problem with the pipe and block filled game world Eggman had created. However, seeing Modern Sonic's enthusiasm, he shrugged and nodded, deciding to take him up on his challenge. In a moment, the two took off into Super Eggman Land, and as they sped by, Firepaw slowly opened his eyes. "Huh? Wha...? What hit me? Meowr...?" he muttered, "Hey... Sensors detect intruders! Yahoo!! It's-a go time!" he chuckled in a mock Italian accent, hopping into one of the giant pipes which would serve as a short cut to catch up with the intruders.


Copter and Dimentime found another place to search. It was a massive black castle, surrounded by a dark forest. "Despair Castle... Oh joy... Well, if Eggman hid Katie somewhere, with my luck it's here." Copter said. Dimentime glanced at him. "You know this place?" he asked. Copter frowned. "Let's just say in this place, we might actually find ANOTHER me wandering around... Geez, I hope not." he grumbled. Figuring Katie might be there, they set out into the forest, heading towards the castle. It wasn't long before they found some familiar faces there. Knuckles the echidna and Illusi the shrew were already exploring the forest! Copter rolled his eyes. "Wait... I remember how things played out at this castle... vaguely. One of these guys might be from the pa- errr... I mean, there's no time travel goin' on here..." he stammered. Illusi shook his head. "You're not fooling anyone, dark fox... The second you would raise a few questions, anyway." he pointed out. Knuckles nodded slowly. "Uh, yeah... I was about to say that..." he muttered. "Sure you were." Dimentime said, "So, what are you two doing here?" he asked. Knuckles clenched his fists. "The Covenant of Despair's castle is over there! Could it get any more suspicious than that? Why would Eggman pull it in here if he's really controlling the monster?" he said. Illusi flinched a little as he glanced at the castle. "I was Knuckles's travel partner for some reason. However... I'm not going into that castle. You can aid Knuckles, can't you, dark fox?" he asked. Dimentime scratched his head. "Why won't you go in? Is this because you can't teleport in white space?" he asked. Copter looked confused. "How come he can't teleport and you can??" he wondered. Illusi turned around and crossed his arms. "That's not why!" he pouted. Knuckles looked thoughtful. "Oh, I get it... must be something that happened while he was in the castle before. He's scared!" he said, only to get smacked in the face with a Wrongo! "Ooof!" he grunted. "Yeah, I'd probably say stubborn..." Copter said, "Darn, and we have to go through EVERY room until we find Katie...?" he groaned, recalling how huge the castle was. Suddenly, a light was cast over the four of them, and they looked up to see a bat wearing a Covenant of Despair uniform shining a flashlight at them! "Intruders!! Sound the alarm!!" the bat shouted, flying off towards the castle in a hurry! "Oh, shoot... why couldn't they all be out on an invasion or something?" Copter groaned. They had to hurry to the castle before the covenant could prepare for their arrival.

As they made their way through the forest, they found some Covenant of Despair guards already waiting for them. They were mainly dogs, all wearing the covenant's uniform featuring a thirteen-pointed star. They were somewhat speedy, and while some tried using physical attacks, others were trained in dark magic! Knuckles and Copter handled the physical attackers, overpowering them with their stronger attacks. Dimentime used magic to knock out some of the dark mages. Illusi tried a more unique tactic, creating illusionary duplicates of himself to confuse the enemies, and then sneak up on them! After they'd knocked out a few of the guards, Illusi decided he'd had enough and summoned a swarm of Wrongos to cover their escape. With the startled guards distracted, they were able to reach the doors to the castle, but as Knuckles tried to pull them open, he found they wouldn't budge. "They locked the door!? Grrr, I don't wanna look for keys!!" he growled. "Need a hand?" came a nearby voice. Looking behind them, they saw Silver the hedgehog arriving. He was accompanied by Gemini the fennec as well. "You guys know you missed some of the guards, right?" she said. "Well, excuuuuse us." Copter grumbled. "Can you get this door open?" Knuckles asked. Silver nodded. "I could probably use my psychokinesis to pry the door open... It might be loud, though. Those Covenant of Despair guys might hear." he said. Gemini sighed. "Abra-ka-unlockra!" she said, waving her wand at the door. With a flash of light, the lock clicked open. "Why didn't YOU think of that, Dimentime?" she asked. Dimentime blushed a little. "I...um...I'm self taught in magic, pretty much..." he mumbled. Knuckles opened the door and smiled. "All right! It worked! You're a lifesaver, Gemini!" he said. Copter nodded. "Yeah... But um... What're you doing here?" he asked. Silver scratched his head. "Well... There's not a lot of places here I recognize... Figured I'd try those places. Gemini just kinda tagged along." he said. Gemini jumped and headed for the door. "Ah, weeeell, who really cares, right? Let's get a move on already!" she said hastily. They shrugged and all started heading into the door except Illusi. "Aren't you coming?" Gemini asked. "I... No." he said. Gemini frowned. "Is this about what happened with Punchy?" she asked. Illusi glanced at her. "I'll be fine. I'll cover the entrance here..." he said. Gemini nodded. "All right... Bye, Illusi..." she said, heading into the castle.

Copter glanced at Dimentime. "Put on your hood." he suggested. "Huh? Why?" he asked, putting it on hastily. "My mere presence here... could screw up the past a bit. Maybe I better try to work the tailband's invisibility..." Copter muttered. As they walked into the entrance hall of the castle, they found a small army of Despair agents waiting for them! They were led by a certain dark grey wolf with her right eye covered by hair. Copter jumped behind Dimentime, trying to activate his tailband's invisibility without success, while Dimentime gasped upon seeing the wolf. "Fera!? You've gotta be kidding me..." he whimpered. Fera glared at them with her good eye, crossing her arms. "All right... You've got five minutes to explain to me what you all are doing trespassing here! Or else... well, use your imagination." she growled. A multi-colored fox, Patch, stepped forward from the crowd of Despair agents and giggled. "I'll get to slice and dice 'em into a salad? Hee hee!!" he asked. Knuckles glanced around curiously. "This must be... before we got into conflict with them." he muttered. "Yeah, how much before? I had an early encounter with them..." Copter muttered, still hiding. Silver shrugged and stepped forward. "Hi, there. We, uh... were wondering if you've seen any strange phenomena around here lately? Like parts of the castle turning white, or strange monsters flying around?" he asked. Another member of the covenant, a black and brown jackal named Anubis, scoffed at Silver's words. "That fool is making things up. A pathetic attempt to deceive us..." he growled. Knuckles raised his fists. "Hey! Who asked for your opinion!" he yelled. Fera glanced at Knuckles. "Aren't you the Master Emerald guardian...?" she muttered. "Smooth move, Knuckles! You're screwing up time!" Copter snapped. Suddenly, Lospecter flew in through a wall. "Hey, fluffy brigade, you know security stinks around here?" he said, drawing a hand of his cards. Gemini suddenly started to panic. "Aw, great... The Covenant of Despair AND Lospecter! There's too many of them!" she cried. Fera glanced at Lospecter. "And what do you want?" she growled. Lospecter chuckled. "I guess I'll start by helping take care of your intruders down there..." he said. "Oh, yeah! I'll take on all of you!!" Knuckles shouted. Gemini, however, didn't like the situation at all. "No, no NO!! Someone's gonna get hurt! I'm not letting this happen! Galaporta!!" she shouted, teleporting her friends away with her somewhere! Fera watched this and snarled in frustration. "They may have teleported into the castle somewhere! Anubis! Take a group to search for them!" she ordered. Anubis nodded. "I shall. All of you on this side, come!" he shouted, gathering a group that included Patch, as well as a female echidna with purple fur, who walked beside Patch. "Hee hee! Race ya, Violet!" Patch giggled. "Want Anubis to set your tail on fire? Stay focused." she warned. As they left, Fera turned to Lospecter. "You're an intruder, too. I'm going to have to escort you off the premises." she said. Lospecter chuckled at her. "You and what army?" he sneered.


Gemini's teleport spell dropped them all off at a random area somewhere inside the castle. Silver looked around in surprise. "Huh...? Where are we!?" he gasped. They were in a hallway dimly lit by candles on the walls. Copter growled. "Gemini... WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA!?" he snapped. She backed away nervously. "I-I'm sorry... I kinda freaked out. Lospecter was about to swarm us with monsters! And with the Covenant of Despair, too, we wouldn't stand a chance!" she shouted. Knuckles sighed. "Well, do you at least have any clue where you warped us to?" he asked. Gemini looked around awkwardly. "Ummm... Nope. I was kinda in a rush." she said. They all groaned except for Silver, who still seemed optimistic. "Hey, the idea was to get in the castle, and we're in the castle. What's the big deal?" he said. Just then, the ground started to shake, and a bunch of Mephiles Worms burst out of the floor! "I guess it's safe to say that Lospecter set some monsters loose." Dimentime said. Making matters worse, some bats wearing the Covenant of Despair's uniform were flying down the hallway in their direction, as well! "Gemini, don't you dare teleport us again! We'll have to fight 'em eventually!" Copter yelled. Gemini glared at him. "I know that! Yeesh, gimme a break..." she groaned. Silver looked around for something to fight back with, and noticed some iron crates lying around. Dimentime noticed them, too. "Hey, are those GUN crates?!" he wondered. Knuckles nodded. "The Covenant of Despair takes what they can... steal." he said, running off to fight! Silver lifted up some of the crates with his powers, hurling them at the worms as they started spitting projectiles at everyone. Dimentime and Gemini joined Silver in shooting at the enemies with their wands, and Knuckles found himself caught in the middle of all the shooting! "Whoa!! Watch it!!" He yelled, jumping to a nearby wall and grabbing on. Suddenly, a bat flew over to him and tried to tackle him to the ground! "Ooof!! Why you little..." Knuckles growled, clinging tightly to the wall. "Get down from there, trespasser! Surrender or die!" the bat shouted. "Oh, I'll get down!" Knuckles growled, jumping at the bat and tackling him to the ground! As the monsters were defeated, Copter ran out to help Knuckles fight the bats. "I'm fed up with hiding behind Dimentime!" he shouted. However, before he could get any attacks in, he heard someone shout "Chaos Splash!" Several balls of water shining with chaos energy flew in from down the hall, striking down each of the bats one by one! A stray ball splashed Copter in the chest as well. "Oooof!! What's the big idea!?" he growled, standing up slowly. An orange coati with blue ears and a blue-striped tail came down the hall, grinning sheepishly at Copter. "Sorry, buddy. Your black fur looks kinda like their uniform." he said. "No it doesn't, Ridley!" Copter snapped. "You can argue later, guys! We're not done yet!" Knuckles said as some of the bats started to get back up.

With Ridley's help, they quickly managed to send the bats on the run. They then started wandering through a dark maze of hallways, with Ridley following them. "So, um... Where are you all off to?" he asked. Knuckles shrugged. "No clue. Looking for... um... Never mind." he said, glancing away from him. "What? Fine, be that way. Any clue what that whiteness outside is all about? Boy, I'm glad Tails came along in that water palace..." Ridley said, casually letting everyone know he was from the present. Copter sighed. "Does Tails have to let every weirdo nobody else trusts out?" he muttered. Dimentime nodded. "I see... That's why we're giving him the cold shoulder..." he said. Silver and Gemini both looked apologetic. "I wasn't..." Gemini said. "I'm just looking around very carefully in this darkness..." Silver muttered. Ridley crossed his arms. "You don't trust ME? I did a background check on you once, Copter, your record's not exactly spotless..." he protested. "Why would you do a background check on Copter...?" Gemini wondered. "I was bored..." he mumbled, "Well, if you guys are lost, which you obviously are, why don't you let me lead the way? I've got a pretty good feel for this place." he offered. Knuckles looked at him suspiciously. "How do we know you won't turn us in to the Covenant of Despair?" he asked. Ridley's eyes darted back and forth. "Say, that could get me out of a bind if they catch us, couldn't it..." he whispered, "Errr, um... I would NEVER sell out my pals!" he chuckled. Suddenly, they all heard some moaning coming from inside the maze. "Ummm... What's that?" Silver whimpered. "Sounds like zombies... Heh heh, but that's silly, isn't it...?" Knuckles laughed, only to whine and point as he spotted something shambling towards them from one of the random halls of the maze! It was a mummy wrapped in black bandages! It wasn't alone, either. There were a couple trailing behind it, and the moans they heard suggested they were all over the maze! "That'd be Anubis's work..." Copter whined, "Let's run..." They all slowly nodded and took off screaming, following Ridley as he ran out ahead of them. "I've been through the maze already!! Follow me!!" he shouted.

Escaping the maze, they followed Ridley to a large room lit with standing torches. The room was white, and a statue resembling Sonic was sitting to the side. Dimentime groaned. "Rats! We found Spiny!" he said. Copter chuckled. "Eggman probably dumped him in here to rot just because he LOOKS like Sonic." he joked. "We've got company, guys..." Knuckles warned. Ahead of them, Anubis, Patch, Violet and some other Despair agents had caught up with them! With a flash of dark energy, Fera teleported next to Anubis as well! "So, here you all are!" she growled. "Umm... Who that?" Patch asked, pointing at Ridley. "Look, we don't have time to fight with you. We'll just, um... take that statue... and be on our way." Silver said. "Oh, yeah, that'll work..." Ridley said, rolling his eyes. Anubis glanced at the statue. "This wasn't here... They must have brought it with them." he said. "And why is the room all white?" Violet wondered. Fera nodded. "We will interrogate them..." she said. "Why would they be honest with you?" said Lospecter as he emerged through a wall. "Oh, no, not again..." Gemini whimpered. Lospecter "sat" on a torch, snuffing out its flame as he passed over it. "Look at 'em. They're clearly up to no good. One of them runs around with a hood. And they beat up some perfectly good bats. Are you gonna let them get away with that?" he chuckled. "Mind your own business, Lospecter!" Dimentime growled, firing a shot from his staff at him! Lospecter flew up, and the torch below him lit up again with blue flames. "That is assault!" he shouted. Patch laughed goofily. "I wanna try! Hee hee! Lemme see that stick!" he giggled. Fera rolled her eye. "That does it. Attack! Subdue them!" she ordered. The dogs and bats behind her immediately charged ahead, ready to fight! Silver reacted quickly, lifting up one of the torches with his powers and tossing it at the bats, knocking a couple of them back with one throw! Ridley started fighting them off with Chaos Splash, aiming for their faces in order to splash their eyes. Knuckles tried to go for Fera, but was blocked by Anubis. "Your doppelganger made a fool of me once... I hold YOU accountable!" he growled, creating fireballs in his hands. "It's not my fault you're stupid! ...Why do I feel like a hypocrite?" he mumbled. Anubis hurled the fireballs at him, but he jumped them and went into a glide, charging into him! "Oooof!! You impudent rodent!" Anubis snarled, pushing him back! "Oh, brother... I had enough of you guys last time..." Knuckles grunted. 

They had to get Spiny and get out of there. They sure didn't want to start a war with the whole covenant, that much was certain. Copter attempted to sneak over to Spiny's statue, only to find his path blocked by Violet. "Oh... Crud. Hello... You don't um... remember me, do you?" he stammered. Violet growled and tossed some balls of dark energy at him! "She remembers me!" Copter yelped, spinning his tails to fly out of the way! "What are YOU doing here!? How did you find our castle!?" Violet yelled. "Ummm... Accident?" Copter lied pathetically, "Doesn't matter. Quit throwing darkness at me! I'm not your enemy! Boy, you echidnas are thick!" he groaned. "HEY!!" Knuckles shouted, still struggling with Anubis. "Sorry..." he muttered. "Yeah, insult me, that'll convince me... YOU JERK!" Violet yelled, hurling more balls of darkness at him! Lospecter laughed at the exchange, goading Gemini into running after him. However, Patch jumped in front of her, swinging around some nunchucks. "Hee hee!! Where do you think you're going? Don't you wanna play with me?" he chuckled. Gemini tried to knock him out of her way with some bolts from her wand, but he nimbly danced around them. "Hee hee! You're funny! I bet you scream good..." he grinned, clicking something on his nunchucks to extend blades on the ends of the handles! Gemini yelped. "Can I teleport us NOW...?" she muttered. Meanwhile, Dimentime was left to handle the rest of the enemies. He approached Lospecter. "Still here? What do you WANT?" he growled. Lospecter chuckled. "Make sure you guys get your butts kicked? I came to check out the castle, but there's not really anything here that wasn't here before... other than him, that is." he said, glancing at Spiny. Dimentime nodded. "Thanks for the heads up." he smirked. Lospecter nodded back. "Yeah... Wait, what!? Aw, you gotta be kidding me! I'm losin' my touch being separated from the other Lost Ones! That's it, you're going down!" he yelled, drawing a card and using it to summon up dozens of balls of fire! "No Lost Ones, so suffer the elements! Have a firestorm!!" he growled. Dimentime tried to erect a shield with his magic, but there were too many fireballs, and they went flying everywhere! The Despair agents scattered along with everyone else as the flames crashed down into the room! However, Ridley quickly went to work fighting back. "Chaos Splash!" He used his water to put out as much of the fire as he could, while Anubis absorbed some of the flames to protect his nearby allies. Not everyone made it out unscathed, though; Patch was running around with his tail on fire as the attack subsided. "Yaaaaah!! Put me out! Put me out!!" he yelled. Ridley shrugged and splashed him, and then Patch promptly passed out. Lospecter looked around and sighed. "That could've resulted better... Lemme pick another card..." he said. "No you don't!!" shouted several people in the room! Gemini, Dimentime and Fera all started shooting at him with their own varieties of magic, and Lospecter hastily flew off through a wall in a panic. "Spoilsports!!" he shouted. During the distraction, Silver made it to Spiny's statue and managed to release him. "I LIIIIIIIVE!!! Vengeance shall be mine!!!" Spiny yelled, prompting the Covenant of Despair members to turn around, stare at him, and start growling. "Right... Vengeance... I think it IS time for vengeance..." Fera growled. "Oh, shoot..." Copter groaned, smacking his forehead. Before the fight could break out again, however, a swarm of GUN Beetles stormed the room, shooting randomly! "What!? Impossible!!" Fera snarled, looking around in surprise. Copter and the others were looking rather shocked, as well. "Could Gunner have followed us here?!" Copter wondered. "Could have, but these robots are an illusion..." said Illusi, who emerged from the hallway Ridley had led them in from earlier, "This way, everyone. Hurry! I'll lead you out of the castle while they're distracted!" he shouted while the Despair members fought in vain with the nonexistent GUN robots. "Finally, some luck!" Knuckles said, running for the exit followed by Spiny, Ridley, Gemini, Silver and Dimentime. "Later, Violet... Sorry about all this... really..." Copter sighed, hurrying after the others. "Come on, dark fox..." Illusi said, briefly glancing into the room as Copter passed him. Illusi shed a tear before he turned to leave. "Farewell..." he whispered to an old friend...


Together, Illusi and Ridley were able to lead them all out of the castle and back to white space. Spiny took a look around and sighed. "Well, thanks for the rescue, fellas... Didn't expect that from you guys... So who do I have to beat up for that?" he asked. Knuckles smirked. "Eggman." he said. Spiny frowned. "Ooooh, you're enjoying this, aren't you!? You little..." he grumbled. Ridley looked around and pointed. "Sonics ahoy! Um... There's... two of 'em..." he muttered. Sonic and Classic Sonic approached the group, along with Tails and Classic Tails. Spiny glanced at them and shuddered. "Ooooooh, no, no, NO! You've gotta be joking... I wanna go back to the castle!!!" he whined. Sonic frowned. "Aw, great, it's Spiny... Copter, what's HE doing here?" he asked. Classic Sonic walked up to Spiny curiously, noting how he looked a lot like him, too. "What do YOU want, squirt!?" Spiny growled. Classic Sonic stuck his tongue out at him, not liking his attitude. "He was frozen, Sonic. What were we supposed to do?" Knuckles asked. Sonic shrugged. "Tails has that attitude, too... Set free Kosmo and... that guy over there..." he said, pointing at Ridley. "What's wrong with me!?" Ridley grumbled. Tails shrugged. "I don't think Sonic would really leave any of you... he's even rescued Eggman sometimes." he pointed out. "Sure, bring that up..." Sonic grumbled. Suddenly, they all heard a rumbling sound coming from somewhere in the distance! "Oh, great... The last time this happened, the Egg Carrier took off!" Knuckles muttered. A huge portal opened up in the sky, similar to the ones the Time Eater would use, but this time it was not the Time Eater that flew out! A massive battleship that dwarfed even the Egg Carrier came out, known as Final Fortress, which was once the flagship of Eggman's fleet of ships! It was covered in missile cannons, and it seemed likely that Eggman's intent was to attack with this battleship and eliminate the opposition. It was flying towards Shadow Arcangel! "This... this is NOT good! That ship's gonna annihilate Bucky! And strangely, I care..." Copter said. "Better call the Hurricane." Dimentime suggested. Classic Tails nodded. "I'll go get the Tornado!" he said. Sonic grinned. "So, did Mr. Monster let Eggman out to play? Ha, bring it on!" he chuckled. "I'm coming, too!" Knuckles insisted. Sonic shrugged. "I guess you better... Just in case Metal Sonic's up there with all our data!" he smirked. Classic Sonic scratched his head at that remark. "Count me in!" Spiny added, "I owe Dr. Eggman a little payback... No one messes with Spiny the porcupine!" he growled. The Tornado and the Hurricane arrived in moments, with Classic Tails in the Tornado's pilot's seat. "All aboard... um... who's going aboard." he said. The Sonics hopped on the Tornado's wing, while Copter hopped in the pilot's seat of the Hurricane. "Ummm... Who's coming?" he muttered. Spiny and Knuckles climbed onto the Hurricane's wings, leaving Dimentime holding on to the back of the plane. "Ummm... I suggest no more hitch-hikers..." he muttered. "Aw, and I so wanted to cling to the back of a plane..." Gemini said sarcastically. "Guess I'll sit this one out..." Silver sighed. "Good luck, everyone." Illusi said. As the planes took off, Ridley watched them disappointedly. "You don't have... your own plane?" he asked Modern Tails. "Not with me, no." he said. Ridley looked around at Gemini and Illusi as they were walking off. "Hmmmm... Heeeey..." he muttered, scheming something.


The planes landed towards the back of the ship, evading cannon fire along the way. Everyone quickly hopped out of the planes and started down a long path looping around a central platform lined with cannons. In front of them, the Egg Emperor flew into their path, a massive robot resembling an Egg Pawn, which carried a large shield and a high tech lance-esque weapon. "Think Eggman's driving it, or a fake?" Knuckles wondered. Sonic stepped forward. "Only one way to find out!" he said. Eggman's voice came from inside the Egg Emperor. "Hmph! Enough of this! Sonics! Tails! Knuckles! Copter! Um... Coptwo! Et cetera! Time to meet your maker!" he shouted, swinging the Egg Emperor's lance! "Bring it on!" Sonic grinned, chasing after him. However, before the others could join the chase, a trap door opened below them, dropping them all to the interior of Final Fortress! "Heeeey!! My name's not Coptwoooooo!!!" Dimentime shouted as they all fell. "I'll show you what real evil is!!" Eggman sneered, ready to take on Sonic one on one. The others fell to a large section of Final Fortress, dominated by a machine resembling Eggman's face. "Okaaaay... This must be the... generator?" Classic Tails muttered. "Well, I'm glad he put in more floors or we'd all be toast falling down here..." Knuckles groaned. "Et cetera... I'm et cetera!" Spiny grumbled angrily, "Can't he even remember my name!?" he growled. "Hee hee hee hee! Welcome, guests! You didn't think you were being dropped down here to enjoy the scenery, did you?" The group turned to see Eggman Nega approaching them, piloting his own robot! It resembled the Egg Emperor a bit, but had a black and red color scheme, and carried a huge laser gun in place of a lance. It also had an external cockpit on the robot's head instead of an internal cockpit. "How do you like my Egg Timer? It's not as flashy as the Egg Emperor, but it's arguably more powerful! It was designed to harness the energy of the Time Eater. IT created the portal you saw this ship emerge from!" he bragged. Spiny rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You don't say..." he muttered, turning and giving Classic Sonic a kick to the stomach while he was distracted with the Egg Timer! Classic Sonic fell over, but Classic Tails rushed to help him up. "HEY! What're you doing!?" he gasped. "I'm not another Sonic clone! I side with whoever is most profitable to side with! What do ya say, Egg Timer guy?" he said, glancing at Eggman Nega. He chuckled. "Smart rodent. Now let's dispose of these pests, shall we?" he said. Knuckles growled. "I should've known better than to trust YOU!" he shouted. As if things weren't bad enough, a blast of flames came from behind Copter and Dimentime, which they barely noticed in time! "Get down!!" Dimentime shouted, pulling Copter to the ground. "My, aren't you alert right now..." said Mephiles, who had taken a new form. He now resembled Firepaw, in his black, crystalline style. His jagged, crystalline tail burst into flames. "Why don't we get this party started, then?" he sneered. Classic Sonic jumped to his feet and started punching, mimicking the way Knuckles used to. "Heh... Right, Sonic. Just like old times...sorta." Knuckles smirked.

Spiny focused his attacks on Sonic, trying to keep him too busy to worry about the Egg Timer. "Chaos Spear!!" he shouted, flinging spear after spear at the young hedgehog! Sonic ran around dodging them, looking for an opening to fight back. Knuckles glanced at Mephiles to see what was going on behind them before taking on Eggman Nega. "Huh...? Don't I... know that thing...?" he muttered, vaguely recognizing Firepaw's form. "YOU deal with it, then, Knuckles!" Copter said, running to take on the Egg Timer, "I've had my fill of Mephiles!" Knuckles glanced back at him. "Huh? Who?" he mumbled. "I will burn your world to ashes!" Mephiles said, launching jets of flames from his hands at Knuckles and Dimentime, who ran off in different directions to dodge. "Pleasant guy. I'd think Copter would get along great with him!" Knuckles grumbled. "I heard that!" Copter yelled as he approached the Egg Timer. "Hmmm... I was wondering if I'd just sit and watch you all fight each other." Eggman Nega mused. Copter opened his mouth to speak, but Eggman Nega quickly started firing dozens of laser blasts his way at lightning speed! Copter blocked them with his tails, his tailband absorbing some of the damage. "Arrrgh!! What the heck!?" he growled. "Kick it into gear, if you want to survive! I control time itself!" Nega laughed, charging ahead and kicking Copter across the room! "WANNA TRADE BACK, KNUUUUUX???" Copter shouted. Mephiles's burning tail suddenly stretched, and he whipped it at Knuckles and Dimentime, forcing them to jump it! "OK, that looks kinda familiar! Have you been to cyberspace, Mephiles...?" Knuckles muttered. The battles weren't going well, but the tides were about to turn. As Sonic was busy dodging Spiny's spears, a bolt of magic suddenly struck him from the shadows! "Yoww!! Who did that!? Who DARES get in my way!?" Spiny yelled. "Chaos Splash!" said a voice behind him. Spiny was struck from behind with chaos-powered water, knocked onto his face! Gemini and Ridley stepped out of the shadows. "I can't believe you talked me into teleporting you up here!" Gemini grumbled. "Complain later..." Ridley said. Spiny started to climb up, and saw a red and white sneaker in his face. "Ulp... Can we talk?" he muttered. Classic Sonic and Tails stood over him, glaring at him. "Ya give up?" Tails asked. 

Meanwhile, as Mephiles was fighting with the others, a swarm of Wrongos surrounded him! "What's this!? Illusions... How amusing..." he muttered. Illusi emerged from the shadows and winked at Knuckles and Dimentime. "Go get Eggman Nega. I'll keep him busy!" he said. So, Knuckles led Copter, Dimentime and Ridley as they went to take on the Egg Timer. With Gemini and Classic Tails babysitting Spiny, Classic Sonic soon joined them. Eggman Nega chuckled at them. "Send all you want! The power of time will overwhelm you!" he chuckled, shooting wildly all over the place, his Egg Timer seeming to possess unreal speed! Classic Sonic dodged the most easily, but seemed surprised by his speed. "It's not speed... It's the power of time." Dimentime said, blocking the lasers with magical shields as much as he could. Suddenly, Mephiles blasted the Wrongos around him with flames, charging away from them and heading straight for the Egg Timer! He abandoned Firepaw's form and reverted to his shadowy form, cackling as he charged directly into the robot, passing into its metal body! "H-hey!! What's... going on!?" Eggman Nega gasped, his controls seeming to go on the fritz! The robot started jumping and wobbling in place, refusing to obey Eggman Nega! "No!! What have you done, you disgusting shadow!? Curse you!!" Nega growled, detaching his Egg Mobile from the Egg Timer and taking off. "I'll get you for this!!" he shouted. Mephiles's shadow emerged where the cockpit used to be, and appeared to be controlling the Egg Timer! "The time energy!! This power!! This DESTRUCTION!!" he cackled, aiming the laser and firing it, using his own power to make it a massive superlaser that obliterated the Eggman-faced generator! Red lights started to flash in alarm, telling them that the generator was incredibly important. "I think we're gonna crash, guys!" Tails shouted. "Noooo, you think so?" Ridley sighed. Mephiles started spinning the Egg Timer around, firing the laser continuously and laughing manically. "AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! The ultimate destructive power!!! The power to DESTROY time and space!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!" he laughed. Everyone jumped away as the blasts started shaking the newly created floor of Final Fortress apart! "Mephiles can't be allowed to walk away with that machine!" Copter shouted. Classic Sonic nodded, and tried to approach, but the floor in front of him collapsed and he nearly fell! "Sonic!!" Classic Tails shouted, grabbing him and flying him back up. "Whew... Ooops... Who's guarding Spiny?" he realized. Gemini gasped and looked behind her, but he was gone. "He escaped... I guess he's abandoning ship now." she figured. Knuckles stared at the Egg Timer, which was across a chasm now, and nodded. "I've got it!" he said, leaping into the air and going into a glide! "Knuckles!! Be careful!!" Classic Tails whimpered. The laser started spinning towards him, but Ridley intervened. "Chaos Splash!" His attack didn't damage the robot, but it knocked the machine off course a little, saving Knuckles's skin. "Whew... Close one..." he muttered. Knuckles managed to get in close, and grabbed on to the spinning robot, hanging on tight and climbing up. "The cockpit... is gone... it's gotta be weak there..." he grunted. Mephiles's shadow flinched as he reached the top of the robot's head. "What are you doing!? Get down!!" he growled. "All right... But your ride's over, too!" Knuckles yelled, punching into the robot's head hard! The area under the cockpit was indeed not armored, and the force of the attack started a chain reaction that shook the whole robot apart! As it started to explode, Knuckles jumped off, gliding back to the others, and Mephiles abandoned the Egg Timer, escaping the ship through one of the holes he'd created! "....Can I throw up now...?" Knuckles whimpered after landing, the excessive spinning having done a number on him.

Up above, Sonic delivered a decisive blow to the Egg Emperor, causing it to collapse in a heap! "All right! That was... oddly easier than last time, considering I had help before. Hey, Eggman, you in there?" Sonic wondered. Suddenly, the ship began to shake, as it was losing altitude. "Whoa!? What's up with that!?" Sonic wondered, looking back towards the planes. The Hurricane started moving on its own, apparently having been called by Copter. As Sonic watched it, Eggman climbed out of a hatch on the robot and tip-toed away, catching up with Eggman Nega nearby. "Seems like we failed..." Nega grumbled. "Bah, I TOLD you, once the Time Eater is perfected, it'll be all we need. Don't worry about Sonic and his friends...yet." Eggman told him, grabbing on to the side of his Egg Mobile and riding away with him. "Ugh... You're weighing me down... Where's yours!?" Nega grumbled. "No time. Just go..." Eggman muttered. In the meantime, Sonic hopped into the Tornado and followed the Hurricane with it. "They might need help. Better hurry..." he said to himself. He soon arrived at the underside of Final Fortress, where Classic Sonic and Classic Tails hopped on to the Tornado. "No sign of Eggman, oddly. I guess that monster really did get him. Well, better rescue him... I guess..." Sonic mumbled, flying off. "If only he paid attention..." Copter grumbled, slipping into the cockpit of the Hurricane. Dimentime and Knuckles joined him. "Ummm... What about you guys?" Knuckles asked. "We'll leave the way we came." Illusi said. "You need more seats." Ridley chuckled. "Take care, everyone!" Gemini waved, "Galaporta!" she said, casting the spell to warp her, Ridley and Illusi to the ground. As the Hurricane flew away from the crashing battleship, Copter noticed that Shadow Arcangel was gone. "Huh?! Hmmm... Guess he had Vortex and Zipp finish the repairs in a hurry when he saw Eggman headed his way..." he muttered. Knuckles pointed out Shadow Arcangel flying in the sky a distance away. "I'd say that's a safe bet." he said. Dimentime nodded. "Well, since we're flying, let's pop in. Maybe someone inside will have some information for us." he reasoned. Copter nodded, turning the plane towards Shadow Arcangel. "Like where to find Katie..." he sighed. He still had one friend left unaccounted for.


Chapter 18 - The Eggmen's Revenge
Stages - Planet Wisp, Terminal Velocity - Sonic Colors
Additional Stage - Eggmanland - Sonic Unleashed

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.

"Wake up, living day by day.
Do what I want, and I'll do it my way.
The world is flying right below my feet.
Got no regrets inside of me.
Not looking back!
Not giving up! 
Not letting go!
I'll keep on running!" - Reach for the Stars, Sonic Colors


Copter, Dimentime and Knuckles arrived at Shadow Arcangel's control room to find Team GeneX busily running to and fro. Zipp was piloting the ship, while Vortex and Crash seemed to be gathering tools and gadgets for a project Bucky was working on in the corner. Punchy and Rouge were arguing about something nearby, and when they saw Knuckles enter, they ran over and started shouting at him! "What's their problem, Rainbow?" Copter asked. "Never put them in the same room together, Two... Just don't do it..." Rainbow sighed. Bucky glanced around and nodded. "Zipp told me you were on the way. Unless you have news, leave me be. I'm busy!" he grumbled. Copter looked around. "And all the shouting doesn't bother you, but I do?" he muttered. Crash held his ears. "No, it bothers us... But we gotta keep moving, so they can't leave." he grunted. "Eggman'sss after usss." Vortex hissed. Dimentime nodded. "We've noticed." he said. "We must be on to something. We'll be able to restore the world to its former state if my calculations are right... But I need more time!" Bucky said. Mia got up from a chair in the corner and approached Copter. "Find Katie yet?" she asked. Copter shook his head. "I was hoping someone here might have heard something..." he said. Mia frowned. "Razor hasn't come back yet... I've got a bad feeling about this..." she sighed. "He can't even get back on board, silly!" Rainbow pointed out. Zipp buzzed loudly. "Hey! If you guys are wondering where to go next, I've got news for ya! There's only one place left!" he shouted. Copter and Dimentime ran up to the front of the control room to look out the windshield. "What do you mean??" Copter asked. Looking out, they quickly got the idea. Every area in white space had started out with large splotches of whited out areas, or were entirely devoid of color. Now, however, color had been restored to each location Time Eater had sucked into the white world, save for one. "You and Sonic obviously went through all those places." Zipp said. "And Sonic's probably already on his way through that last one." Dimentime realized. "Well, unless we missed people in places we've already been to, Katie's gotta be there. We better check it out." Copter said. Dimentime nodded, and they headed off to where they left the Hurricane. "Hey, wait!! Don't leave me with these morons!" Knuckles shouted. "Morons!?" Punchy growled. "That's it!!" Rouge yelled as the three of them started brawling! "We're going to have to let those three off the ship if my project is going to get done..." Bucky grumbled.


The final location Time Eater had taken was Planet Wisp, a small planet Dr. Eggman had attempted to make use of in his most recent scheme. The Sonics decided to race through this final area, but since Modern Sonic had already been through it before, he'd had a bit of an unfair advantage and exited Planet Wisp first. On his way out, he spotted a frozen Charmy Bee, and walked over to free him. As his color returned, Charmy stretched his arms and then did a midair flip before speaking to Sonic. "I was scared because somebody took me..." he said fearfully, "But now I'm FREE!! I'm a free bee! Free bee! Free bee! Wheeee!!" he cheered, leaping into the air and giving Sonic a thumb's up. Sonic scratched his head, looking a tad annoyed. "Hey, have you seen Espio and Vector?" Charmy asked. "Oh, uh... Yeah, they're around, somewhere..." Sonic said, looking around awkwardly. Just then, Classic Sonic emerged from Planet Wisp and waved to them. "Hey, Sonic! Uh... Wait... Sonic??" Charmy gasped, looking back and forth between Classic and Modern Sonic quickly. "Um... Okay!! I feel twice as safe with two of you here!" he grinned. Classic Sonic smiled and nodded, while Modern Sonic shrugged. "All right... Tag along for a bit, I guess... We gotta check out what's ahead!" he said. With Charmy in tow, they hurried forward and found a large door, similar to the doors to the Death Egg and Station Square. Like before, this door was locked. "Well, looks like we gotta go hunt for keys again..." Sonic said. "I bet I can find 'em! I'm a brilliant detective! Just ask Vector!" Charmy smirked. However, while he was talking, Sonic and Classic Sonic had run off without him! "Huh!? Hey!! You... forgot me..." he muttered. Disappointed, he headed back to Planet Wisp, There, he found Espio and Vector waiting for him! "There you are, Charmy!" Vector said. "Guys! How'd you find me?" he said excitedly. "This... was the only place left to check..." Espio said, a little embarrassed, "My training appears insufficient..." he grumbled. "Aw, chill, Espio! Now that the team's back together, we'll have this case wrapped up in no time!" he said. "What case?" Charmy asked. "You kiddin' me? The case of the monster that ate reality, duh!" Vector snapped. While they were talking, Copter and Dimentime walked by and entered Planet Wisp. "Hey, Vector, didja know there are two Sonics and two Copters? Are there two of me, too?" he asked. Vector glanced back at Copter and Dimentime. "Huh...? Um, no, Charmy... One of you's enough... C'mon, boys! I'm bettin' something's up!" he said, leading Espio and Charmy into Planet Wisp after them!

Copter and Dimentime glanced back as they heard Vector calling out to them. "Wait up, you guys! What's the rush?" he shouted. Copter crossed his arms. "This is the last place to check out. Eggman's gonna make his move soon, probably." he said. "Awww, you mean I missed EVERYTHING?" Charmy whined. Vector smiled. "You'll want our help checkin' this place out, then! We've been here before!" he said. Copter and Dimentime looked around the area. The landscape was lush and green, with all sorts of unusual plant life growing all around, most notably trees with oval shaped tops. "Um... Yeah, I guess we could use some help..." Dimentime muttered. Suddenly, a message came from a PA system, drawing their attention to buildings under construction not far away. The voice they heard was that of Dr. Eggman! "Attention guests. If you can hear this message, you are trespassing in an area still under renovation. If you are not a robot, please return to the main park areas and ignore anything evil you might have seen here. Thank you." Eggman said. "Park!?" Dimentime blurted. "Woo hoo! We're back in Eggman's Theme Park! I wanna go on some rides again!" Charmy cheered. Copter sighed. "Oh, yeah... The park was Eggman's last crazy scheme. I didn't see this place, though..." he muttered. Vector grabbed Charmy by the wings. "Settle down! We're here on business!" he said. "Awww!" Charmy groaned. Another PA message played, this one really quick. "Some-displacement-of-indigenous-aliens-and-destruction-of-natural-resources-may-occur. Eggman-Enterprises-not-responsible." Eggman said hurriedly. "HUH?" everyone mumbled, unable to make out what he was saying due to how fast he spoke. Just then, they heard a laser blast, and a pair of robots dashed by, chasing a bunch of strange creatures! "Arrr!! Avast, ye alien scallywags! Stay still!!" shouted a yellow and black robot made up of cubes, which resembled Orbot. In fact, the other robot was Orbot, having received a new, red paint job since the planet had been split apart. "Don't simply yell at them, Cubot! Use your net!" Orbot suggested. The creatures they were chasing were small aliens that had various shapes, colors, and numbers of eyes. They all had exactly three tendrils on their undersides, though those also came in different shapes, depending on the type of alien. "Hey! They're chasing around those alien guys!" Charmy shouted. Dimentime stared in disbelief. "Flying... squids??" he muttered. Copter shrugged. "I think they're... good aliens." he said uncertainly. "Well, this is suspicious enough for me! Let's interrogate those robots, boys!" Vector said, stomping after Orbot and Cubot. Espio nodded. "I'll cover you." he muttered, following after him. Cubot was closing in on an alien with his net at this point. "Yaarrr... Now I got ye, landlubber! Err... Air-lubber?" he muttered in confusion. Before he could swing his net, Espio struck it out of his hand with a ninja star! "Yeow!! Who be keepin' me from me plunder!?" he stammered. "Um... Why are you talking like a pirate...?" Copter asked. "Oh, he's just got the wrong voice chip. Don't pay it any mind." Orbot explained. "Yaaarrr!! Ye best be mindin' yer own business, mateys! We gotta be plunderin' these alien, errr... whips, and get 'em back to our capp'n!" Cubot said. "They're called 'Wisps,' not whips." Orbot sighed. Vector stood there with his arms crossed, looking down at the diminutive robots in front of him. "Did you just threaten me, pipsqueak?" he growled. Cubot grabbed for his net. "En guarde! Eh? Arr... Beggin' yer pardon... I seem to have misplaced me cutlass..." he murmured. Orbot pulled out a small remote. "I'll call for backup, then!" he said. With a push of a button, larger, more dangerous robots came to their aid! Bee robots called Buzzers flew in their direction, accompanied by Egg Pawns! Some of the Egg Pawns were wearing hard hats and carrying pickaxes, apparently having been working on the construction of Eggman's theme park. "Go on, go get them! We have... to go!" Orbot said, scurrying away! "Yarr!! Abandon ship!" Cubot added, following him. The Wisps had already escaped while they were distracted, so all they could do was flee. Charmy stared at the Buzzers. "Hey, copycats! You making fun of bees!? Lemme at em! Lemme at em!" he shouted, punching his fists around. The buzzers shot at him in retaliation, but Espio quickly shoved him out of the way! "Keep on your guard, Charmy." he warned. The Construction Pawns tossed their pickaxes at Copter and Vector, and they ran out of the way as the picks spun around in the air, turned, and then came back to the pawns like boomerangs! "Hey! How dare you defy the laws of physics!! ...on... an alien... planet... OK, I guess they get away with it." Copter grumbled. Dimentime and Espio quickly went to work taking out the robots with magic and throwing stars respectively, and made quick work of the small group of enemies. "Shall we?" Dimentime said, motioning for them to get going. "Awww, I wanted to smash a bee-bot!" Charmy whined. Vector glanced around and caught sight of something in the grass before they started to go. "Hey... what's this over here?" he said, picking up a white glove on the ground. "Hm? That's... weird... Think Sonic dropped it when he went through here?" Copter wondered. Charmy shook his head. "No way, guys! Look! It almost fits me!" he said, comparing it to his small, child's hand. "...Younger Sonic?" Copter suggested. Vector shook his head. "I dunno. I'll hang on to this..." he muttered.

They soon reached the buildings Eggman's robots were constructing. Whatever rides Eggman had in mind for his theme park, one thing was for sure: it wouldn't pass a safety inspection. Buzz saws of varying sizes, missile launchers, and spike traps were laid out amidst the construction signs and various machines the Egg Pawns were using in the construction. "Seems to me the theme of this park is either pointy objects... or 'GET THAT HEDGEHOG!!'" Copter mused, imitating Eggman a bit as he shouted the last bit. Charmy chuckled. "Um... I'd say keep guessing, Copter!" he said. Wisps were floating all around, hiding a little after having escaped Orbot and Cubot, but would peer out of their hiding places as Copter, Dimentime and Team Chaotix passed them. "Those, uh, 'Wisps,' are kinda freaking me out..." Dimentime muttered. Espio looked around. "The Flickies don't seem to mind them..." he said. This comment made everyone stop and look around more carefully. Espio was right. There were Flickies flying around among the Wisps! "Cool! Colorful birds and colorful aliens! It's like... some kinda rainbow... um... zoo?" Charmy said. "I hope the aliens aren't too offended by that..." Copter muttered. Vector held his snout curiously. "There sure weren't Flickies here on our last visit..." he said. The Flickies looked a bit sad; worried, even. "Well, let's keep going. We gotta see if Katie's here..." Copter said. They proceeded through the building, evading buzz saws and the occasional missiles as they went. Copter soon stopped to catch his breath near a blue hatch on the floor. "This place is crazy. I'm sure glad I didn't pay to get in!" he complained. Suddenly, the hatch opened up, and a segmented enemy with a laser in its mouth popped out! It was a Sandworm, but Copter jumped as he saw its impeccable resemblance to another robot he very much hated; the Caterkiller from the Marble Zone. "Y-Y-YOU!!! Get away from me you psychotic kamikaze bot!!!" Copter shrieked, jumping into Vector's arms. "What the!? What's your problem!?" he grunted. Dimentime was about to handle it, but instead, Charmy charged at the robot and smashed it with his stinger! "Ha! Take that!" he taunted. Suddenly, they noticed a couple of Wisps fly away from inside the robot! "Hey! There were aliens inside!" Charmy gasped. Dimentime nodded. "Come to think of it, some Wisps flew out of the robots with the hard hats, too..." he realized. "They must be from this time period..." Copter suggested. Just then, even more blue hatches opened up, revealing more Sandworms guarding the area! Copter jumped out of Vector's arms and growled. "All right! No bot makes a monkey outta me! Come here!!" he shouted, jumping over some laser balls that the robots fired at him and smashing one with a tail whip! The others turned and took out the other Sandworms, freeing Wisps as they did! Some more colorful Wisps nearby watched them fighting, and glanced at each other, talking about what they'd seen in their own language. With the robots in the immediate area destroyed, Copter, Dimentime and Team Chaotix were ready to move on. The happy Wisps flew around them cheerfully, talking in their language. "Ummm... Yeah, you're welcome..." Vector muttered. "They sound like birds, too..." Copter mumbled, at which a spiky pink Wisp seemed to glare at him. "Err, no offense!!" he said. They hurried along to the next area, followed by an assortment of colorful Wisps, and soon they came to a chasm between two areas of the building, separated by a sea of strange, purple water. "Ummm... Fly us, Charmy?" Vector asked. "No way, Vector! You've put on weight since the last time I've carried you!" he said. "I have not!!" Vector protested. Espio glanced over the edge cautiously. "We need a way across..." he muttered. Suddenly, a cyan colored Wisp flew up to him, circling around him cheerfully! "H-hey!! What're you doing!? Cut it out!!" Espio gasped, only to have the alien fly into his body! Suddenly, he transformed into a beam of cyan colored light, and shot across the chasm as a laser! He reappeared on the other side, and the Wisp popped out of him! Copter, Dimentime and Vector's jaws dropped, while Charmy flew across the gap to join Espio. "Whoa! That was cool! Do it again!!" he said. "I... don't feel well..." Espio whispered. More Wisps were floating nearby the group, and Copter shrugged. "OK, you guys wanna help us? Well... What have we got to lose? Except our lunch..." he said. Vector nodded. "OK, who wants to help me?" he asked. A red Wisp flew over to him, and after entering his body, Vector turned into a soaring fireball! "Whoooooa!! How do ya drive this thiiiiing!!?" Vector could be heard shouting from inside. He soared around in seemingly random directions, forcing Copter and Dimentime to duck as he zoomed past them! However, he soon moved in the right direction and landed beside Espio and Charmy, spinning around dizzily as the red Wisp popped out of him. "Well... You next, Dimentime?" Copter asked. "No, thanks..." Dimentime said, waving his staff and teleporting across. "Cheater!" Copter shouted. Next, Copter pointed to a green Wisp. "All right, you! Show me somethin' awesome!" he grinned. The Wisp flew into his body, and he transformed into a green two tailed hovering balloon-creature of some sort! "Ohhh, COME ON!! I'm a BLIMP!?" he whined. The pink Wisp was nearby, and appeared to be snickering at him. Copter slowly flew across the gap, and plopped down with everyone else on the other side as the green Wisp flew out of him. "Well, thanks... I think..." he said. "At least YOU aren't gonna throw up..." Vector grumbled.

As they climbed higher up the towering structure in the next area of the park, they found some Flickies flocking around something on the ground. Copter was ready to walk right past them, but Vector stopped to check it out. "Those birds... They sure look interested in something there..." he muttered. The Flickies glanced at him with concern as he approached, hopping aside to let him pick up the object on the floor. It was a red bow tie! Seeing this, they all gathered around to ponder its meaning. "That's sure not Sonic's!" Charmy said. "I don't think it belongs to the same person who dropped the glove, either..." Espio reasoned. "Oh, goody. We get to actually see the detectives at work." Copter muttered. Vector looked thoughtful. "I'm suspectin' foul play of some kind here..." he said. "Now, whatever would give you that sort of idea?" said Orbot, who had been sneaking up behind them! They spun around and found him and Cubot both holding nets! Orbot hid his net behind his back to feebly hide his intentions. "This... um... is just an innocent amusement park! In which you are trespassing in an area under construction." he said. "I didn't buy that before and I don't buy it now! Where'd you stash the owner of this bow!" Vector snapped. "Naarrr, we got no one in the brig! We don't even got a brig, squire! The mates ye be lookin' fer are with a time travellin' old geezer!" Cubot said. Orbot looked at him unhappily. "You probably shouldn't have said that..." he grumbled. "What'd you say!?" Vector gasped. "Time travel...? Someone from outside!" Dimentime realized. Cubot scratched his head. "Outside where? Arrr, I don't get it..." he said. "You said too much! Let's get out of here before we get in even MORE trouble!" Orbot suggested. The two robots started to flee, but Copter and the others chased after them! "Stop! Where's that old geezer!?" Copter shouted. The pair of robots tried to shake them off their trail, but Copter, Dimentime and Team Chaotix chased them through the park and onto some rail transports the Egg Pawns were using to move around the tower! As Orbot and Cubot boarded one transport, the others hopped on the next one! "Wheeee! It's like a roller coaster!!" Charmy cheered. "Yep... My stomach agrees with you..." Copter groaned. When they got off at the other side, Orbot and Cubot stopped running at a group of people gathered in the center of the large exterior platform they'd arrived at. The "old geezer" Cubot had referred to, turned out to be none other than Gunner! He was accompanied by Spy and Guard, and they were holding Cream, her mother, Cheese and Tommy hostage! "Oh, of all possible geezers, it had to be HIM again..." Copter groaned. The PA system came on again as they approached Gunner. "Please remember, all planets in Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park are, as far as you know, wholly owned properties of Eggman Enterprises and its subsidiaries. All unauthorized photography, video reproduction, or shutting down of generators is strictly prohibited. Thank you." Eggman said. "Oh, yeah?? Well, we don't care if ya think the Time Eater is your property, too, Eggman!" Dimentime growled. "No copyright law's gonna stop me!!" Copter added. Gunner turned upon hearing them speak and sneered at them. "Finally decided to show yourselves? Good. I found some friends of yours skulking around, so I brought them here to wait for you..." he said. "Let 'em go, old man! This is kidnapping!" Vector shouted. Gunner cocked a pistol. "And in a moment... murder. But I have the perfect alibi. I'm on Earth during this time period! However, I'm a reasonable man... I could be persuaded to... let you take their place!" he growled. "Umm... Achoo!! Boss... this planet is making me nauseous..." Spy whined. "Shut up!" Gunner grumbled. "You're a sick old man..." Espio said. "Please... Don't worry about me, but help the children!" Cream's mother pleaded. Gunner smirked at her plea. "Yes... For the children..." he sneered. Orbot and Cubot came back from around the corner carrying a large capsule containing a purple creature with a large mouth and no eyes. "This be what you wanted, squire?" Cubot asked. Gunner nodded. "I think that'll do nicely." he said. "Say, um... What's with the gun?" Orbot wondered. "You're helping someone more psycho than Eggman." Copter said. "Are you sure that's possi... Errr... You don't say." Orbot muttered, possibly censoring his speech in case Eggman was watching over a camera. Gunner sighed. "You freaks are all very... uncooperative. So, we'll do this the hard way. The creature contained in this capsule is a Nega Wisp. It was created from normal aliens by Eggman to power his theme park... so I've been informed. When one of you freaks absorbs it... the results are said to be quite frightening! Fortunately for me, I have Guard..." he said. Guard nodded a couple times until it sunk in what that meant, and his eyes widened suddenly. "Grrr!? You... want ME to absorb the Nega Wisp? Grrrrr... I... don't know about this...." he said. Gunner scoffed. "I assure you, it's perfectly safe... for you." he said. Spy raised his hand nervously. "Um... What about us?" he whimpered. Cream and Tommy hid behind Cream's mother, whimpering nervously, as Orbot and Cubot placed the capsule on the ground and rotated the red top to open it, releasing the Nega Wisp!

The Nega Wisp flew around crazily, but ultimately seemed drawn to Guard's demonic form. It passed into his body, and he transformed into a horrific creature! The frenzied creature was basically a giant purple head with huge jaws, but it retained a pair of wings and a small, spade ended tail, based on Guard's features. It started snarling and jumping around in a rage, and Copter, Dimentime and Team Chaotix backed away nervously. "Wh-what do we do!?" Vector wondered. "Run like heck?" Copter whimpered. Suddenly, several more colored Wisps arrived on the scene, glaring at Gunner and the frenzied Guard! "What is this?! Oh, yeah, planet of the freaks. Guard, sic 'em!!" Gunner yelled. Copter glanced at Team Chaotix, and they nodded back at him. "Let's fight fire with fire, then!" Copter grinned. "Just... no Green Wisps..." Espio sighed. The Green Wisp's eye narrowed, as if questioning why, but didn't do anything beyond that. An Orange Wisp zoomed up to Dimentime excitedly, but he held up his hand to stop it. "I'll try my own magic, thanks..." he said, firing a powerful beam from his staff at Guard! The frenzied gargoyle simply seemed to devour the beam and grow larger! Dimentime gulped. "Well... That was unexpected..." he said. Vector decided to try out a cyan Wisp for himself this time. "Sure hope it doesn't eat this laser..." he muttered. He erupted into a cyan beam upon absorbing the Wisp, and zoomed into Guard, smacking him into the face hard! His beam bounced off and then started ricocheting all around, making Orbot and Cubot duck into their ball and cube modes as he whizzed past their heads! Vector emerged over the edge of the cliff, and almost fell, but managed to grab the side before it was too late! "Whooooa!! That was... crazy..." he yelped. Espio tried a yellow Wisp, and was turned into a drill, but found no place to drill into and crashed against the floor, causing the Wisp to promptly fly away in embarrassment. "...Ouch..." he muttered. Meanwhile, Charmy sneaked around the fight towards the captives Gunner was keeping. "C'mon, they're distracted! Let's get away from that cranky old GUN guy!" he said. "Not so fast!" Gunner growled, pointing his gun at him. "Charmy! Run!" Cream cried. Charmy chuckled. "Like that old guy can hit me!" he taunted. "D-don't mess around, dude..." Tommy whimpered. Spy appeared behind Charmy and quickly grabbed his wings! "Hey!! Lemme go!! No fair!" he shouted. "I got him, boss! What should I do with him?" he asked. "Hold him still and away from yourself..." Gunner sneered, pointing his gun. However, before he could fire, he was suddenly surrounded by the flock of Flickies! "Gah!! What the!? Get out of my face, you wretched birds!!" Gunner shouted. One of the Flickies flew at Spy's face, startling him into letting go of Charmy! "I'm a free bee again! Wheee!!" he cheered. However, Orbot and Cubot approached him with their nets next. "Yaaarrr!! Now ye gotta deal with us, matey!" Cubot growled. Charmy chuckled and buzzed around them in circles really fast, making them dizzy and occasionally kicking them! "Dumb bots! Bye bye!" he chuckled, flying off. Gunner then fired a shot in the air, scaring the Flickies into scattering. It also frightened Orbot and Cubot. "It's a bit chaotic out here, isn't it? Let's head back and see what the boss is up to!" Orbot said, rushing off so quickly that he bumped into Cubot! The impact caused Cubot's body to rotate a bit, and with a click, he suddenly said, "HEY! I'm walkin' 'ere!!" in an entirely new voice and accent. "Oooops... I seem to have jostled your voice chip... No time to worry about that now..." Orbot muttered as Cubot chased after him. "Hey! I'm talkin' ta you, chump! Come back 'ere!!" he shouted. In the meantime, the others were still battling the frenzied Guard. Copter saw the pink Wisp, which was looking a bit grouchy. "Umm... Hey... Wanna clobber that guy?" he asked. The Wisp glanced at him, and seemed agreeable to the idea. It flew into him, and Copter turned into a wheel of spikes, his own spiky tails becoming an additional layer of spinning pink spikes as well! They spun really fast and charged at Guard as he attempted to bite him! Meanwhile, Espio decided to try again with a blue Wisp. This time, however, he turned into a big, blue cube, which retained his curly tail! He crashed to the ground, causing it to shake and knock Gunner and Spy over! "This way!" Charmy shouted, leading Cream and the others to safety in the distraction. Copter's tail spikes smacked against Guard's jaws, knocking him out of his mouth, and Vector came blasting into him with the power of a red Wisp, knocking the frenzied gargoyle over! "I think I got the hang of this thing!" Vector chuckled as the red Wisp flew out of him. The Nega Wisp flew out of Guard at this point as well, reverting him to his normal form. He was looking very exhausted, too. "Grrrrrr... That was awful..." he grumbled. Gunner climbed to his feet and growled. "This isn't over, you freaks!!"

Indeed, it wasn't. As the Wisps finished separating from Copter and Team Chaotix, a huge portal appeared behind Gunner, and the Time Eater emerged from it! Eggman Nega emerged from behind the Time Eater in his Egg Mobile, operating some odd controls that were apparently controlling the Time Eater itself! "Way to go, GUN loser! But at least you kept them busy for a bit! Now for a little payback, foxes! Hee hee hee hee!" Nega laughed. The Time Eater opened a portal above it in a similar fashion to the way it did at Sonic's party, and suddenly started sucking people into it! Dimentime, having never encountered this phenomena before, was first to go! "Gyaaaa!! What's happeniiiiing!?" he yelled. Vector held on to Cream and her mother protectively. "I'm not lettin' that thing get you again!!" he grunted. Espio grabbed on to Tommy as well, standing his ground against the suction. However, Charmy was unable to resist the force! "Whaaaaa!! I don't wanna be taken agaiiiiin!!" he cried. Wisps were being pulled in as well, but the Flickies were nowhere to be seen at this point. Copter tried to hold on, and Guard stood his ground, too, even holding on to Spy, who was near him. Gunner, however, found himself being pulled in as well! "E-eggmaaaan!!!" he screamed as he was pulled into the portal. "Go on, fox boy... Get in!!" Nega growled, firing a shot in front of Copter! The shot startled him, and he, too, was sucked into the portal! Then, the Time Eater returned to the larger portal, while Eggman Nega flew his Egg Mobile into the smaller one behind everyone else, cackling manically. "It... It got the boss..." Spy murmured, "Does this mean I get vacation time?" Vector gazed up at the portals as they closed. "Charmy..." he murmured worriedly.

Copter, Dimentime and Charmy found themselves in what appeared to be the reception area of some sort of resort. Looking closely, Copter realized it was the Tropical Resort that the Sonics had visited from white space earlier. "Oh, well this isn't so bad. We can just walk right back outside, can't we?" Copter figured, "It's a place that Sonic already restored color to." Charmy flew around in circles dizzily. "Best ride ever! Let's go again!" he mumbled. Suddenly, the ground started to shake beneath their feet, and the Wisps around them started flying all over the place in a panic! "Ummm... I think this may be a... less stable time?" Dimentime said nervously. "Hey, Tails?" They all glanced in the direction of Sonic's voice, seeing him and Tails standing in a circular plaza nearby. "How'd Sonic get here?" Charmy wondered. "Must be... The Sonic and Tails of this time period..." Dimentime realized. "I've got a bad feelin' about this." Sonic continued. "Good, so it's not just me." Tails replied. Sonic looked around. "When I feel the ground shaking under my feet and see plumes of dust rising and rubble tumbling and aliens running for their lives, yeah, I get a bad feeling." he said somewhat sarcastically, "So, how about you and me make like Eggman's hairline and recede?" he said, turning to Tails. Copter and Dimentime grimaced. "Ugh, Sonic, you dolt! Eggman never even had any hair as far as we can tell!" Copter grumbled, thinking about Robotnik. Tails also seemed less than amused. "Uh, this isn't joke time. This is running to the space elevator time!" he scolded. "Sorry, couldn't help myself. We're outta here!" Sonic replied. "Yeah! Running now!" Tails added, running off before Sonic in his nervousness. Copter nodded. "Thataway!! Follow those dufuses!" he shouted. "Ha ha! You're cloned from one of 'em aren't ya? You just called yourself a dufus!" Charmy teased. As they chased after Sonic and Tails, they heard an announcement from Eggman over the parks PA system, just like at Planet Wisp. "Critical system failure! Repeat! Critical system failure! All attraction access is temporarily suspended! Please evacuate the park via the emergency exit ahead! THIS...IS...ALL...YOUR...FAULT!!!" Eggman bellowed. "Nuh uh!! I wasn't even here!!" Charmy protested. Dimentime frowned grimly as they ran. "There may not be an exit back to white space... Eggman Nega may have trapped us here at this time deliberately! It's a trap to try to catch us in the destruction of the theme park! To get rid of us once and for all!" he realized.

They arrived at the exit to the amusement park, the shaft of a massive space elevator ominously named Terminal Velocity. Sonic and Tails had gotten there way ahead of them, and they found the elevator already gone, so they had to make a run for it down the shaft! "I sure hope we can find an exit back to white space somewhere..." Copter whimpered, "Can your magic get us outta this?" he asked Dimentime. "Umm... I'm... not actually sure. I'm not entirely sure if we're contained in white space or if we've been tossed out into real time. That would change the spell I'd need to use..." Dimentime said uncertainly. Charmy charged into Terminal Velocity ahead of them, speeding down along the long, white walkway that the elevator used as a track. "Wheee! Race ya to Earth!" he chuckled. "It must be nice to be a kid..." Copter muttered, following after him with Dimentime. As they ran, a trio of yellow robots resembling Egg Pawns with jetpacks flew ahead of them! They were Aero Chasers, and they quickly started charging lasers as they soared in front of Charmy and the foxes! "Shouldn't you robots be evacuating like Eggman said?" Copter stammered. They ignored him and started firing, one after another! The three of them scrambled back and forth to evade them while Dimentime tried to aim his staff at them. However, the robots soon crashed into a large beam hanging overhead! "Ha ha! Should've looked where you were going!" Charmy laughed. Copter chuckled in agreement, but was then smacked from behind by a speeding object! "Whoa! What the...?" He looked back to see a Motobug right on his tails, almost running over him! "Yaah!! Watch it, road hog! You guys sure got a tune up since I saw you last!" he shouted, scrambling to get out of the way as the Motobug tried to run him over! There were more where that came from, as well. Dozens of them were charging after them! "I had my fill of these guys the last time the Time Eater ate me!" Copter growled. As the Motobugs tried to ram them and bump them, Dimentime did his best to shoot them out. However, the bugs were the least of their worries! A giant robot flew their way, and it looked quite familiar. It had a black and red color scheme, an Egg Pawn shaped body, but was designed more like an Egg Flapper with arms, giant wings, and massive laser cannons mounted on its shoulders. Eggman Nega was piloting it! "Where do you think you're going? You haven't even tried any rides! And I salvaged the remains of my robot to create this Egg Timer Mark II especially for you! At least let it stamp your hands so you can get back in!!" Nega growled. "I know you worked really fast on this revenge scheme, but I HATE theme parks!!" Copter yelled. Suddenly, a gunshot whizzed past his head, and Copter glanced back to see Gunner riding on the back of a large, black Motobug! "Too bad, freak! This park will be the last thing you see!" he yelled. Charmy turned around and stuck out his tongue at him. "Meanie!!" he said.

They sped past Dr. Eggman's Egg Mobile as it crashed down from yet another defeat at the hands of Sonic. Sonic watched them speed by as well, scratching his head. "Hmm... That's... probably none of my business... Was that Gunner on a Motobug?" he mumbled. Purple energy was running wild from a damaged section of Eggman's theme park, and it was giving rise to a massive vortex that was sucking everything inside of it! One of Eggman's PA speakers flew by, being pulled into the vortex, but still managed to play one final message. "At Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park you can feel comfortable knowing your safety is our number one priority." said the pre-recorded message. "Oh, shut uuuuuuuuuuuuup!!!" shouted Eggman himself as his Egg Mobile got sucked towards the giant vortex that was rapidly consuming the Tropical Resort and the space elevator! They had no time to fight with Eggman Nega and Gunner, but they had to do something before they all got sucked into the vortex as well! The Egg Timer Mk. II fired massive beams at them, forcing them to back away closer to the ever expanding vortex! "Hee hee hee hee hee! This machine might be overkill... All I have to do is stall until you get swallowed up by my ancestor's little disaster!" Nega cackled. As they dodged Nega's lasers and Gunner's bullets, Charmy pointed around at something. "Look! The aliens followed us!" he said. Wisps were flying around overhead, scrambling in the same direction they were going. "Hey... Could they be the Wisps the Time Eater sucked up with us?" Copter wondered. "Maybe they'll help us!" Dimentime said, shooting bolts of magic at Eggman Nega's cockpit, which he blocked with the Egg Timer's hands. "Do you seriously think a feeble attack like that can scratch my Egg Timer Mark II? Don't insult me." he said. "No, just distracting you!" Dimentime smirked. Copter flew up, and a cyan Wisp came to him! "Ready? Fire!" he grinned. He became a cyan laser and shot down, bouncing from the ground to the Egg Timer's left hand and up to the cockpit! The hand exploded, but the cockpit seemed better shielded! "W-what!? How dare you! I'll barbeque you all!!" Nega shouted, firing several lasers at the group! Charmy flew up and tagged a yellow Wisp. "My turn! My turn!" he chuckled. He became a drill equipped with bee wings, and flew through the air, tackling the Egg Timer's other arm with the spinning drill! It snapped off, but that just made Nega angrier! He fired at the Wisps, causing them to scatter in a panic. "I'll cut my losses here. Enjoy the supernova!" Nega chuckled, pressing some switches in order to create a small time portal to escape through! "Hey! Wait! What about me, you treacherous worm!!" Gunner shouted. "Enjoy the supernova?" Dimentime scoffed. Suddenly, as the purple vortex was getting closer and closer, tearing up the space elevator as it went, a light flashed in front of them! Another time portal started to appear, this one directly in front of them. "No time to question it! Everybody through the portal!" Copter shouted. "Yes, siiiir!!" Charmy yelped, flying through it first. The Copters, time traveling Wisps, and even Gunner followed before the portal closed. As they emerged through the portal, they found themselves in white space again, and saw the Egg Timer Mark II hovering over them! "Escaped, did you? Well, I'll fix tha-" Nega started to say. However, before he could attack, another giant laser blasted his robot from behind! His Egg Mobile tumbled out of the machine and collapsed on the ground a few feet away! Copter, Dimentime, Charmy and Gunner looked up to see Shadow Arcangel, with smoke coming from its weapons! "Everyone make it out OK?" said Bucky over a loudspeaker. Copter nodded slowly. "It took all the time energy my machine could harness to open that portal for you. It's a good thing Vector managed to contact me when he did. I'll have to get busy if my machine is going to be able to restore the entire world, that's for sure..." he announced before Shadow Arcangel started to fly away. Copter turned to see Gunner trying to sneak off. "Ahem..." he growled, prompting the Wisps to block his path angrily. Dimentime and Charmy ran up to Eggman Nega and pulled him out of his damaged Egg Mobile. "Hey, whaaaat!? Um... I'm sorry?" Nega whimpered. Gunner stomped over to him, escorted by Copter and the Wisps. "Sure you are! You're just like Ivo, you slime!" he growled. "Where's Katie." Copter growled. "...Who?" Eggman Nega mumbled. "She's still missing! Between us and Sonic, we've looked everywhere! Where is she!?" he growled. "Yeah, tell us what you know!" Charmy said, trying to act tough. Gunner scoffed. "How should we know? What are we, zookeepers?" he grumbled. Eggman Nega frowned. "At least I have manners. You might try that last door over there." he said, pointing to the door beyond Planet Wisp. "I'll bet you haven't been there yet." he figured. Dimentime nodded. "Thank you for your help... Now, stay!" he said, waving his staff and conjuring a large metal cage over the two of them! "H-hey!! Let us out of here, you freaks!!" Gunner shouted. "I've been wanting to do that all day..." Dimentime said as they walked away.

Along the way to the door, Charmy was reunited with Espio and Vector. "Guys!!" he cheered. "Charmy! I see callin' the doc paid off!" Vector grinned. "It was my idea." Espio said quietly. Copter smiled, noticing Cream's mother with the kids nearby, along with the Flickies. "I see everything worked out OK." he said. "Yup... Ummm..." Vector muttered, looking at all the Wisps floating around. "Yeah... Could you see them safely back home?" Dimentime asked. "Guess so..." Vector said. "Yay! Back to the theme park!!" Charmy giggled. Copter and Dimentime groaned. "Oh, brother... You'd think he'd be sick of it after all that..." Copter sighed. Having no real time to stick around, the foxes set out for the door to the next area as the Wisps waved farewell to them. Sonic, Classic Sonic, Tails and Classic Tails were already there, and were inserting the keys they'd gathered in order to open the door. "How convenient! We need to get in there!" Copter said. "Oh, hey, Copter. What took ya?" Sonic asked, "And how come you're the only ones following us around tryin' to help, anyway?" Copter scratched his head. "Geez, you're oblivious... Everyone's out working on it! ...I think..." he said. Sonic shrugged, unsure how to respond to that. As Tails turned the last of the keys, the large door turned open on its own! "We'd better be careful! There's no telling what's inside!" he said. Classic Tails nodded in agreement. "Right. The other doors had all the scariest traps behind them!" he recalled. Classic Sonic patted his chest confidently and hopped through the door first. "Oh, no ya don't! You're not leavin' me behind like the first time!" Modern Sonic said, speeding after him. Copter, Dimentime, Tails and Classic Tails all looked at each other and nodded, flying through the door together. Inside, they found a long corridor with glass windows along the sides and even sections of the floor, revealing lava below them. There was an exit hatch to their left containing an elevator, but the Sonics seemed to have missed it. "Not sure I've been here before, but the lava down there is giving me a familiar feeling..." Sonic said. Classic Sonic crept to the edge of the metal part of the floor and glanced through the glass at the lava curiously. While he was distracted, an icy blast suddenly flew through the corridor and struck him, freezing him solid! "S-sonic!!" Classic Tails yelped! The laughing of Dr. Eggman could be heard ahead, and he flew up in front of the group piloting a gigantic machine! It was the Egg Dragoon! "Welcome back to Eggmanland, Sonic! And say hello to my Ultra-Hyper Prototype 2!" he cackled. Modern Sonic glared at him. "Hello... And good bye!" he said, speeding down the corridor straight past Eggman, leaving him far behind! "H-hey!! Get back here, hedgehog!!" Eggman shouted, chasing after him with the Egg Dragoon. Tails sighed with relief. "Sonic led him away... Now we can try to get... Sonic... out of this ice!" he said. Classic Tails was already trying to punch his way through the block of ice Classic Sonic was stuck in. "Ow!! I wish I was Knuckles..." he sighed. "You two work on that..." Copter said, heading for the nearby elevator, "We've gotta find Katie!" he said. Dimentime tapped his staff. "Don't get carried away, Copter. We have other matters to worry about. This is the last place to look. It could be Eggman's base. We should look for Robotnik and try to end their schemes!" he suggested. Copter rolled his eyes. "Just get in the elevator!!" he said. "Trying to keep our priorities straight..." Dimentime muttered, joining him in the elevator. It led them to Eggmanland proper, and Copter and Dimentime groaned as they realized that they were once again in a theme park. "Something's wrong with Eggman..." Copter muttered. They hurried past twisted rides and dangerous roller coasters until they reached a building that more resembled one of Eggman's usual bases, complete with laser defenses, conveyor belt traps, and robots galore. The robots were variations of Egg Fighters, which were somewhat tougher than Egg Pawns, but Copter and Dimentime simply used magic and Chaos attacks to smash them from a distance and keep going. As they passed through a corridor filled with laser defenses, they soon heard a familiar voice. "Sooonic?? Sonic?! Where'd you go!? I'm over here, Sonic!" It was Chip! They ran ahead and found him circling near a conveyor belt. "Chip! What the heck are you doing here!?" Copter shouted. "Huh...? Oh, um... It's... y-you! Heh heh..." Chip said, their names escaping him. "It's Copter and Dimentime." Copter replied. "Uh, I knew that!" Chip smirked, "Good news! I got back my memory! Did I tell ya I lost it? My real name is Light Gaia, actually... You can keep calling me Chip, though!" he said. Dimentime stared blankly. "Light... Gaia??" he said. Chip nodded. "Yup! It's actually my responsibility to put the planet back together! But... I lost track of Sonic again! This crazy place is a maze! I need Sonic's help so I can find the last Chaos Emerald temple! Not to mention... he's actually carrying the Chaos Emerald anyway..." he explained. Copter scratched his head. "Umm... Not sure I understand, but maybe you better come with us. We'll look after ya!" he said. Chip flew over to them and cheered. "All right! Thanks guys! Hey! Want some chocolate!" he said, pulling a bar out of nowhere. Copter chuckled. "Well, finding your memory hasn't changed you, I see..." he murmured.

As they fought off some Egg Shooters in the next room, Chip stumbled into the wall while trying to avoid their shots. "Waaaaah!!" he yelped as he crashed into the pink section of the wall, seeming to put a dent into it! "Ouch... But I seem to have hurt the wall more than it hurt me!" he gasped. "Chaos Blast!" Copter shouted, smashing the last couple Egg Shooters near him with a chaotic explosion! Dimentime glanced at the pink wall now that the robots were gone. "I think you've stumbled across something..." he said, zapping it a few times with his magic to reduce the wall to rubble! On the other side, there was a small path leading to an automatic door! "Wow! Wouldn't a lock and key be easier?" Chip said. "Eggman's not logical..." Copter sighed. They walked through the door and found themselves inside what appeared to be a large, white laboratory! There were a couple of floating white chairs hovering beside computer terminals, scattered equipment here and there, and bits of stones and gems scattered about the rather large work area to the right of the entrance door! Chip looked around curiously. "Ooooh, this room's white like that place we saw in the desert!" he said. Dimentime glanced at the work area and saw a familiar chest beside it. "The treasure box... Those gems..." he mumbled. Copter pointed next to the computer terminal. "Look! Katie!!" he gasped. Katie the coyote was frozen beside the terminal! Copter and Chip hurried over to free her, and as her color returned, she hugged Copter and cried. "I was beginning to think I'd be trapped in this awful place forever!!" she sniffled. Copter patted her back somewhat awkwardly. "Aw... Don't be silly... SONIC would save you..." he said, rolling his eyes. "It's OK! Don't cry... Here, want some chocolate?" Chip asked, offering her one of his bars to try to cheer her up. She wiped her eyes and glanced at him. "Heh heh... Copter, did you bring a fairy along?" she giggled. Dimentime looked around grimly. "This is it! This is where Eggman's been working on his scheme! They brought the 'materials' from Sky Babylon here, and this lab's big enough for the Time Eater. He must have kept Katie's statue here to experiment on, since she... wouldn't be able to escape." he said. A clapping was heard from the far side of the room as he finished speaking. "Huh?? Who's there?!" Chip growled. "Brilliantly deduced, robed one." said Dr. Robotnik, who was hovering at the other side of the lab in his Egg Mobile! "All our glorious plans were indeed hatched from here! That would be why this place was hidden behind a locked door! You see, my future self used the Time Eater to set up shop in this time and place, and for easy access to the white world, we built the door you used to get here!" he explained. Copter nodded. "Uh huh... Locked it to keep us out. Well, we see how well that worked." he said. Robotnik crossed his arms and continued. "These doors are our own stroke of genius. The Time Eater can create the portals these doors originate from on its own. But with some tweaking, we can use the doors to amplify the Time Eater's ability to pull things from the past! We first experimented with my Death Egg and the Space Colony ARK where my grandfather once worked, but the ultimate test of our technology was to use a Chaos Emerald's power to charge up the Time Eater even further and summon that sea monster to battle with Sonic! However... It failed! Everything we tried to summon in order to deal with you just ended up defeated..." he sighed. Copter chuckled. "Well, duh! Sonic's beat all that stuff before!" he taunted. Katie tilted her head. "I am so lost..." she said. "So it's not just me..." Chip replied. Robotnik laughed. "It's of little consequence. All this time, we've had the real ultimate power right under our noses... The Time Eater itself! After you defeated the sea monster, we went to work getting it ready for our purposes... Though we needed a bit more 'materials.' To slow you all down, we all started taking turns springing traps on you... But you and Sonic have proven quite persistent!" he growled. Dimentime smirked. "And now here we are! Game's over, doctor!" he said. Robotnik wagged his finger at him. "No, no! I'm afraid you're too late! With just a few minor adjustments, the Time Eater will at last be ready! With its power, we will rewrite history, and make it ALL about... me! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!" he cackled, extending a claw from his Egg Mobile in order to grab Katie! "Eeeek!! Let me go, you fat maniac!!" she shouted. "Tsk. You'd figure with all your time with nothing to do but think, you'd have come up with something better than that!" Robotnik said, "Come and get me, foxes!" he shouted, fleeing through an automatic door at the other end of the lab! "Why that dirty!! Lemme at him!!" Chip growled, punching and kicking in midair. "After him!!" Copter yelled, running ahead. "It's a trap!! Be careful!!" Dimentime shouted, following him along with Chip.

They arrived at a round dead end room. Robotnik was nowhere to be seen, but above them was a long, dark shaft with metal arms and wires hanging from the shadows. "Uuuhh... Those metal things up there are creeping me out..." Chip whimpered. "He must have gone up there... And I get the feeling something was... 'hanging' out up there when he came in." Copter said nervously. Chip looked up carefully and then gasped. "L-look out, Copter!!" he shouted, pushing him aside and stumbling to the ground as a warhead crashed into the floor! It didn't explode right away, though, and as Copter, Dimentime, and Chip backed away from it, Dr. Robotnik soared down from the ceiling piloting a huge, dragon-like machine that was carrying Katie in its talons! "Help!! Someone get me down from heeeeeere!!" she screamed. Robotnik laughed. "I do enjoy my future self's designs... I have to hand it to me! A shame he never put this Egg Wyvern to use!" he said. "Put her down, Eggman!!" Copter shouted. Robotnik stroked his moustache. "You first!" he said, detonating the warhead and dropping Copter, Dimentime and Chip into a large hole in the floor that resulted! "Ah ha ha ha ha ha!!! Wait for meeeeee!!" Robotnik laughed, flying down into the pit after them! They were now plummeting down a long, seemingly endless shaft. They weren't sure how deep it was, but they could feel heat emanating from the bottom! Copter and Dimentime spun their tails to try to control their descent, evading falling rubble as they fell. Chip seemed to be falling uncontrollably, so Dimentime took it upon himself to fly after him. "I got ya, kid... Whoa!!" Before he could reach him, the Egg Wyvern shot some laser blasts between them! "Chaos Whirlwind!" Copter shouted, blowing some falling debris towards the Egg Wyvern in retaliation! The debris shook up the machine just enough to knock Katie from its talons! "Aaaaaaahh!! Nooooo!!!" she screamed, covering her eyes. "Oooops..." Copter yelped, flying after her as fast as he could! Dimentime grabbed Chip in his arms and ducked under the Egg Wyvern as it charged at them, trying to strike back after having recovered from Copter's attack! "You miserable foxes!" Robotnik growled, glancing down to see Copter catch Katie in his arms. "I gotcha!! S-sorry, Katie..." he sighed. Katie held on tight. "I so owe you... Just don't drop me!" she panted. The four of them found a falling platform below, possibly a lower layer of the ground they fell through that had been broken loose by the explosion, and landed on it for some semblance of stable footing as Robotnik swooped the Egg Wyvern down to greet them. "This chasm will be your tombs! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!" Robotnik cackled.

The Egg Wyvern raised its broad wings and fired a barrage of laser beams down at the platform! Dimentime created a magic shield to protect himself and Chip, while Copter, still carrying Katie, ran around the platform in a desperate effort to dodge them. "Argh!! K-katie... I'm gonna put you down now... Stay back!" he said. "You got a deal!" she replied, "But... how are we gonna get outta here?" she whimpered. Before anyone could answer her, Robotnik started shooting fireballs from weapons attached to the Egg Wyvern's head! "Whaaaaa!! Isn't it hot enough down here!?" Chip yelped, flying around frantically to evade them! Copter pushed Katie back and flew around in an attempt to dodge the flames, but the Egg Wyvern raised its tail and fired a missile at him from it! "What in the!?" Copter dropped back to the platform, but the missile followed him and smashed the platform to pieces, sending them plummeting down again! "Ha ha! Now I've got you! Here I come!" Robotnik laughed, charging the Egg Wyvern towards them! However, Dimentime used his magic to shine a bright light in the chasm, blinding him! "Arrrgh!! I can't see!! I'll crash!!" Robotnik yelled, stopping his attack to keep himself from crashing into the wall of the chasm! Luckily, there was another big piece of debris falling below them that they could use as a platform, but as they landed on it, Dimentime glanced up towards the surface with a worried expression. "We'll never all be able to escape this..." he said, "Copter, grab Katie! Keep her safe!" he shouted as the Egg Wyvern started to approach them again. "I'll be fine...ish. You two take care of Eggman!" Katie insisted. Copter stood close to Katie. "Do you have a plan?" he asked Dimentime. "Take her hand!" Dimentime ordered. Copter grabbed her hand tight, looking at Dimentime uncertainly. "You... do have a plan??" he asked. Robotnik laughed as he arrived. "I wonder how much further until we reach the bottom? Well, I guess I'd better hurry if I want to finish you before the lava!!" he taunted. Dimentime raised his staff. "Good luck, Copter!" he said, sending a spell their way! "Huh?! D-dimentime!! Wait!!" Copter shouted, but it was too late. He and Katie were instantly teleported to the surface! "Chip! Fly yourself out of here!!" Dimentime shouted. "Grrr!! Help them escape will you!? Take this!!" Robotnik shouted, firing several laser beams directly at Dimentime while his back was turned! "Look out!!" Chip shouted, tackling him out of the way! Dimentime turned around and grunted. "Run, Chip! It's too dangerous!" he said. "I can't leave you here!" Chip replied. "How touching... Hmm... I wonder if I can fire ALL the weapons at once?" Robotnik muttered. Chip growled and flew up to the Egg Wyvern's cockpit, punching and kicking at the windshield. "You leave my friends alone, you big mustached.... Hey, are you Eggman? You look like him, but you look different." he said, stopping his attack briefly to gawk at Robotnik up close for the first time. "No!! Chip!! I can't let you get hurt!!" Dimentime shouted. "Get out of my way, you little pest! I can't see!!" Robotnik shouted, firing off weapons at random while trying to shake Chip away from the cockpit! Dimentime ran for the edge of the platform he was on, evading lasers, missiles and flames as he approached the Egg Wyvern. "Leave... him... alone!!" Dimentime shouted. He quickly spun his staff around a few times, generating magical energy that formed a large ball in front of him! "Chip!! Get down, quick!!" he shouted. "Huh? Uh, oh! You made him maaaaad!" Chip teased, flying out of the way hastily. "Finally! I can see!! ...hm? What is THAT!?" Robotnik shouted. Dimentime swung his staff like a bat, hitting the ball of magic into the Egg Wyvern! It exploded on impact, knocking the wyvern into the chasm wall and causing rubble to crash down on top of it!! "Cuuuuurse yooooou!!!" Robotnik shouted as the Egg Wyvern started to fall apart, and even his Egg Mobile seemed to be having problems as it detached! "N-noo!! I gotta... get out of heeere!!" he stammered, pressing some buttons frantically. Dimentime watched and scratched his head. "Is he gonna make it...?" he muttered. Suddenly, a portal appeared in the wall of the chasm, and the Time Eater emerged! Robotnik cackled as the Time Eater picked up his Egg Mobile! "Enjoy your fall! I'm off to conquer time itself! Ah ha ha ha ha ha!!" With that, the Time Eater carried him through the portal, and he escaped. Dimentime sighed. "I can't teleport us from here... Chip, you need to fly out..." he said. Chip looked at him with shock. "Go on... hurry up..." Dimentime said as the platform hurtled towards a fiery fate...

At the bottom of another, less fiery shaft, the Egg Dragoon crashed into a massive pile of scrap metal! Sonic landed gracefully next to it a few moments later, the Egg Dragoon's drill shaped weapon barely missing him as it plunged into the ground afterward! As Sonic relaxed after the battle, he heard Tails call his name. Looking up, he saw both Classic and Modern Tails flying down the shaft he'd come from. Classic Tails was carrying the newly thawed Classic Sonic as well. As they all landed near Modern Sonic, they heard Dr. Eggman groan. He had climbed out of the Egg Dragoon, and was sitting next to the rubble, looking highly frustrated. "I can't believe this! I was supposed to beat you this time!" he grumbled, banging his fists on the ground. "Aw, I'm sorry! I didn't get that memo. I beat you every time!" Sonic pointed out. He then glanced at Classic Sonic. "No, seriously, we beat this guy every time. It's like it's our job or something!" he joked, making Classic Sonic chuckle. Modern Tails looked curious. "What's Eggman even doing here? I thought you said he'd been kidnapped by that big weird thing that sent us all to this place!" he recalled. Classic Sonic nodded, recalling what had happened at the Death Egg. Suddenly, the whole room started to rumble as a portal opened above them! The Time Eater swooped down past the Sonics and Tails, grabbed Dr. Eggman, and escaped through the portal once more! Classic Tails pointed up at where the portal had been. "See? He WAS kidnapped. This is getting stranger all the time." he said as the others stood with puzzled expressions. Classic Sonic looked around, and suddenly spotted something sparkle amidst the Egg Dragoon's remains! He dashed over and pulled it out: the cyan Chaos Emerald! "Hey! You found the last emerald, Sonic!" Classic Tails smiled. "Ah... So, that's why he called that robot the... um... Something-or-other 2." Modern Sonic said, "The first one sure wasn't powered by a Chaos Emerald!" With all seven Chaos Emeralds in hand, they were ready to leave Eggmanland behind, so they started looking for a way out of the bottom of the shaft.

Back at the dead end room near the lab, Copter and Katie stared nervously down the hole in the floor. Chip soon started to emerge, but they saw no sign of Dimentime. "Chip!! Good to see you're okay! Where's Dimentime? What happened?" Copter asked. He was looking much less chipper than usual as he flew out of the hole. "Is... everything okay...?" Katie asked. Seeing his sad face, she walked over and gave him a hug. "It'll be all right little guy..." she said. Copter sighed and started to turn around. "Guess I'm... on my own..." he whispered. A faint noise could be heard from inside the chasm at this point. Copter grimaced, at first thinking it was the platform hitting bottom. However, the sound was slowly growing louder. It sounded like an engine of some kind! "What... is that!?" he grumbled, turning around. Chip jumped out of Katie's arms and rushed to the hole, followed by the rest of them. Something orange was fast approaching the top of the chasm! It looked like a small rocket, but its engines resembled Copter's own spiky tails! "Son of a gun... I think that's Dimentime!!" Copter gasped. "Whaaaa?!" Katie and Chip replied. "Look out!!" Copter shouted as the rocket neared the top! They jumped back, and as the rocket exploded out of the hole, it transformed back into Dimentime! He twirled his tails and landed back on solid ground, an Orange Wisp flying out of his body! "Whew... Thanks for tagging along with me anyway, pal!" Dimentime said, saluting the noble alien. The Wisp waved with its tentacle, winking with one of its two vertically positioned eyes. "Woooooow!! That is the most AMAZING thing I've ever seen!!" Chip gasped. Katie crossed her arms and growled at Dimentime. "Don't you do that to us again!! We were worried sick!" she shouted. Dimentime chuckled softly. "Um... Sorry... At least you're ALIVE!" he pointed out. "That looked like a close one. How do you feel?" Copter asked. Dimentime scratched his head. "Maybe it's the Wisp, but... My nose hair is tingling for some reason..." he mumbled. Suddenly, they heard a sound coming from somewhere deep in the base. It was a faint howling sound. "Hm?? That must be Sonic!" Chip gasped. Copter nodded. "Well... If he's a monster like Kosmo turned into at Shamar..." he said. Chip hurried towards the exit. "I better catch up to him!" he shouted, hesitating as he reached the exit. "Oh! Um... I might not see you again. Thank you so much for all your help, guys! I'll never forget any of you, even ages and ages from now! Gotta go!" he said, waving as he hurried away. "Bye, little guy..." Copter said, waving back, "...Did he say ages and ages??"

They had failed to stop Eggman and Robotnik, but they had found Katie, so Copter and Dimentime decided to get her out of Eggmanland safely before doing anything else. As they, the Sonics and the Tails all made their way out of the door leading between Eggmanland and white space, Mephiles was watching them from the shadows surrounding Despair Castle. "Celebrate your petty victories while you can..." he whispered to himself. "You really shouldn't talk to yourself, Mephy. People will think you're crazy." said Lospecter as he floated towards him. Mephiles glared at him. "You have yet to prove useful... Anything to report." he growled. Lospecter crossed his arms. "Touchy. Well, yes, matter of fact. The fat boys are ready to play their hand. There'll be a big-time showdown soon." he said. Mephiles nodded. "Then I, too, am ready... This world will finally be mine to do with as I please... Ha ha ha ha ha..."


Chapter 19 - Generations Unite!
Stages - "White Space", "Center of Time" - Sonic Generations
Additional Stage - "Bleak Future" - GeneX Generations

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.


"You've spread despair, pain and hurt.
Knew just how the system works.
We're takin' it back,
Time to give it up, my friends!
Justice callin'
Tyranny fallin'
We're not gonna take it anymore!
Oh, a hero comin'
Better start runnin'
We're gonna even up the score!" - Justice Callin', Sonic Underground


"I am the enemy, I will succeed!
My mission, yeah, I must complete.
My name is Eggman, don't forget my name!
If you ask me again, I'll tell you the same.
I am the Eggman, that's what I am.
I am the Eggman, I got the master plan.
I am the Eggman, that's what I am.
I am the Eggman, I got the master, master plan!" - e.g.g.m.a.n., Sonic Adventure 2


Copter and Dimentime were on their way back to Shadow Arc with Katie after having exited Eggmanland. The ship had landed not far from the door, but on their way to it, Razor stopped them. "Copters! Oh, good, you FINALLY found Katie! Um... Did you see my brother anywhere by any chance?" he asked, looking quite distraught. Copter nodded. "Yeah, he's fine. He and the rabbits are with those kooky detectives. Or... we left them with them..." he said. Razor took off his cap and scratched his head. "Hmm... Well, I guess that'll have to do... I'm sure he'll catch up with me later." he said. Katie nodded. "You worry too much, Razor. It's not like Dr. Eggman's gonna go after HIM!" she joked. Copter and Dimentime glanced at each other awkwardly, but didn't bother to mention the danger the kids had been in, so as not to freak Razor out. "Come on, we're headed to the 'base.' Maybe Bucky's ready to send us all home." Copter said. They hurried back to Shadow Arc's control room as quick as they could. Once there, they found the room slightly crowded, Team Chaotix having brought Cream's mom, the kids, and the Flickies back with them. Knuckles, Rouge, Amy, Big, Omega, Mia, Silver and Blaze were all hanging around as well. Bucky seemed to have stopped working on his machine in the corner and was busy studying the Flickies now for some reason! He and Vortex were examining them with odd scanners and devices, and one chubby green Flicky was running on a tiny treadmill. Razor ran over to Tommy to check on him. "Hey, bro!! Are you ok?" he asked. "Hey, Razor! Where have you been? You missed everything. The monster tried to eat us again, but it just got Copter and Charmy." he said. Razor glared at Copter. "You failed to mention that..." he growled. "Whaaaaat? It didn't get your brother!!" Copter protested. "What the heck are you doing, Bucky?" Dimentime asked. Bucky looked up from his work awkwardly. "I... um... I'm not yet prepared to restore the world, OK? I'm a medical doctor, a genetic scientist, and apparently a bit of a lunatic... but I'm not REALLY an expert on the science of time. Fortunately, the Time Eater's ability to drain color and life seems to have a connection to GeneX energy, so I'm researching GeneX energy." he said. "Why do you have a birdie running on a treadmill, though?" Katie wondered. Bucky chuckled. "Oh, uh... I thought it could stand to lose some weight. That's all." he said. Hearing this, the green Flicky glared up at him and chirped angrily. Suddenly, much to everyone's surprise, Sonic and Classic Sonic walked into the doorway! "Oh!! Sonic!!!" Amy shouted gleefully. Everyone turned to him, Copter doing so slowly and grouchily. "So NOW he shows up here..." he grumbled. "Tails told me you all were here... And Copter told me you've all been busy. I appreciate it, guys! Thought I'd let you all know I'm headed out to give that monster that sent us here a piece of my mind!" he announced. Classic Sonic raised his fists to emphasize the point. "Are you sure you're ready for that, Sonic?" Knuckles asked. Sonic chuckled. "Well, if I'm not, send someone to unfreeze me, okay?" he joked. Dimentime looked at the Sonics grimly. "I don't think that will be possible this time. They'll be playing for keeps now." he said. Sonic shrugged. "Then I'll just have to win! See ya, guys!" he said, running off with Classic Sonic. "No, wait! You don't know about Eggma-" Copter shouted, though it was too late. "Never mind, Copter. If there's anything Sonic can handle, it's Eggman." Rouge pointed out. Amy jumped up excitedly. "All right! I'm off to cheer Sonic on then! Who's with me?" she said, heading for the exit. Knuckles shrugged. "All right, beats sitting here." he said. He, Rouge, Silver, Blaze, Cream, Cheese and Team Chaotix all headed out the door to cheer on Sonic. "Does he REALLY need a cheering section?" Copter grumbled. Omega started heading for the door as well. "I will find Shadow and inform him of the situation." he said. "Good grief..." Dimentime grumbled. As they all left, Razor started to head for the door as well. "Don't tell me you're cheering for Sonic, too?!" Copter said. Razor shook his head. "I got a feeling we might need all the help we can get soon... Call it cop's intuition. I'm going to try to gather up everyone else. Anyone care to help me out?" he asked. Katie, Mia and Tommy hurried over to him. "I'm bored out of my mind here! I'll go!" Mia said. As they left the room, Cream's mother glanced at Copter and Dimentime. "...What?" Copter asked. "Nothing. I'm just surprised you're still here. Aren't you going to help, too?" she asked. Copter glanced at Dimentime. "Where should we go?" he wondered. Cream's mother smiled. "If you don't know what to do, why not cheer Sonic on? I'm sure it would mean a lot to him." she suggested. Copter and Dimentime nodded to her and started to leave. "Maybe we should check it out... If we can help out in any way, we should try, right?" Dimentime said.

Using the Hurricane, Copter and Dimentime managed to beat the others to the edge of white space, where a massive portal could be spotted. There was a massive platform in front of the portal that resembled a huge stone cog, and more of them were floating in the area around the platform. Broken chunks of some of the stone cogs were floating in midair, and after landing the Hurricane in a safe place a distance away, Copter and Dimentime flew up to one of the floating stone chunks in order to observe what was happening on the platform below. They found Ridley sitting on the stone chunk as well. "What are you doing here!?" Copter wondered. Ridley glanced around. "I was tracking that jerk Spiny. I followed him all the way out this way, but lost him." he explained. "He probably can't cause too much trouble now..." Dimentime said. Copter glanced down at the platform in front of the portal and saw a strange machine. "Heeey... Is... Is that the Time Eater!?" he gasped. The Time Eater had been transformed, given robotic armor, and two additional robotic arms! Sonic, Classic Sonic, Tails and Classic Tails were arriving on the scene to confront the roboticized menace. "Okay, whatever you are. If you want to avoid an embarrassing beat down, you better give up now!" Sonic warned. A spherical hatch on the back of the Time Eater opened up, revealing Dr. Eggman's Egg Mobile! "You're not in a position to demand anything, you nasty little pincushion!" he declared. "Eggman! But, how?" Tails wondered as Sonic smacked his forehead in aggravation, and Copter did the same. A hatch below Eggman's hatch opened up next, revealing a second Egg Mobile! "He had a little help." said the younger Eggman. Classic Tails pointed up at him in surprise. "Dr. Robotnik!" he gasped. Robotnik wagged his finger at him. "Nobody calls me that anymore." he said before glancing up at Modern Eggman, "If you would be so kind as to explain, gentleman genius Dr. Eggman From The Future?" he offered. Dr. Eggman stroked his moustache and smiled. "It will be my pleasure, most excellent and efficacious Dr. Eggman Of The Past!" he replied. Dimentime rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on... Does he have to? We know enough... Eggman just likes to hear himself talk!" he grumbled, only to be shushed by Ridley. "I'm trying to hear!" he said. Eggman started to tell his story. "After my most recent setback, I stumbled upon the primordial form of this unique creation, which I discovered had amazing abilities even I have never been able to master. It could erase time and space! I then had the brilliant idea to use my discovery to undo my previous defeats!" he explained, "In order to perfect it, I needed the help of somebody as smart as I am. The only person that smart... is me!" Copter scoffed. "But they're both morons, so they called in Gunner and Eggman Nega." he joked. Unable to hear Copter, Robotnik smiled up at Eggman. "Oh, you are too kind, my dear future self! And I was happy to help!" he said. Eggman nodded. "I captured your friends, flinging them through time to bait my traps." he finished. "But the more your monster tears through time, the more damage you do to the world!" Tails pointed out. Eggman looked down uncaringly. "The world? I'm going to OWN the world when I'm finished with Sonic! HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO HOO!!!!!!" he laughed, so manically that he started coughing, and even then he continued laughing! Robotnik looked up with concern, scratching his bald head. "Wow. Will I really get that crazy?" he wondered. Dr. Eggman looked down at his younger self. "Heheh! We'll see who's crazy after I destroy both Sonics... forever!" he declared. "You mean after WE destroy them." Robotnik corrected. "Less arguing. More destroying." Eggman grumbled, returning to his seat. Sonic smirked at them. "Destroy me? You and what mustache!? I beat you all the time by myself, and now there's two of me!" he said, pointing his thumb at Classic Sonic, who did an enthusiastic backflip. Eggman rubbed his hands in anticipation. "Then I'll have twice as much fun defeating you!" he shouted, the hatches on the Time Eater closing up over their Egg Mobiles again! The Time Eater's upper two hands came close together and generated a large ball of purple energy, which started firing smaller blasts at the hedgehogs! The Sonics ran forward away from the Tails, and then took off in different directions! "Well, there they go..." Copter whispered nervously. The Time Eater fired the entire contents of the large energy ball at once, the shots chasing both hedgehogs at the same time! "Keep moving!" Sonic shouted to Classic Sonic as they fled the blasts. "Move all you want! I'm still going to stomp you into a blue jelly." Eggman said, pressing a button on his controls. A small portal emerged near one of the Time Eater's arms, and the entire arm flew through the portal while the two Sonics resumed running side by side. They jumped at the Time Eater, but it simply knocked them to the ground with its other arms! They skidded to the floor next to each other, and as they climbed back to their feet, a portal emerged behind them! The arm that flew through a portal earlier now came out, and just as the hedgehogs noticed it was coming, it smashed them against the ground with its giant palm! Copter and Dimentime flinched. "There goes history..." Dimentime whimpered. However, as the giant hand returned to the air, it appeared the Sonics were in fact still alive, just injured. They were lying on the ground, and they weren't moving. Eggman stroked his mustache victoriously. "That was just to soften you up. Now it's time to meet your doom." he sneered. However, as the Time Eater floated in the air, ready to deliver a final blow, a familiar voice came from somewhere nearby. "You can do it, Sonic!" It was Amy! She and Knuckles were on a broken platform similar to the one Copter and Dimentime were on! "Come on, Sonic! Smack him!" Knuckles shouted, punching his fists together. "Ugh, not you!" Eggman groaned. Shadow was on another platform, and Rouge was flying in for a landing next to him. "You've got this, Sonic!" he said. "You can win, Sonic!" Rouge added. Robotnik looked confused and angry. "Who are they!?" he shouted. "THEY are insignificant!" Eggman yelled. Vector was on yet another platform, and Espio and Charmy were catching up to him. "You've got the power, Sonic!" Vector said. "Focus your spirit!" Espio suggested. "We're with you guys!" Charmy cheered. Cream and Cheese were on another broken platform, with Blaze jumping up to join her and Silver flying over as well. "I believe in you, Sonic!" Cream said. "Don't give in, Sonic!" Blaze added. "I know you can do this, Sonic!" Silver chimed in. "You can win, Sonic!" Classic Tails cheered. "You always do!" Tails said. With everyone else cheering, Copter, Dimentime and Ridley tried to think of something to say. Ridley shrugged. "Go team?" he whispered. Copter rolled his eyes. "Get up, Sonic! No sleepin' on the job!" he grumbled. Dimentime sighed. "It's up to you, Sonic... I know you can save us!" he said. Suddenly, almost as though responding to the words of Sonic's friends, the seven Chaos Emeralds appeared around the Sonics, and they rose into the air! As the Chaos Emeralds spun around them, Sonic began to stir, and made a fist! "Time to scramble some Eggmen, SUPER SONIC STYLE!!" he shouted as the emeralds glowed brightly, turning them both into Super Sonics! The Super Sonics flew high into the air, then turned and charged toward the Time Eater!

The Time Eater escaped through the huge portal, and Super Sonic and Classic Super Sonic chased after it. Sonic's friends gathered around Tails, who was tinkering with a transceiver with Classic Tails's help. Copter, Dimentime and Ridley made their way to the large platform in front of the portal as well, and as they did, it seemed everyone else was arriving led by Razor! Tommy, Mia and Katie were with him, along with Omega, and they were leading Big, Punchy, Rainbow, Kosmo, Gemini, Heather, Illusi, Gator and even Marine to the large, cog shaped platform in front of the portal! Classic Amy and Classic Knuckles arrived as well, much to Dimentime's chagrin. "No, no, no!! What is EVERYONE doing here!?" he shouted. Classic Knuckles crossed his arms. "Chill out! I heard some scientist was building a machine that'll put us all back when this is all over!" he said. Dimentime shook his head. "You don't know it'll work like that! He doesn't even know what he's doing!" he protested. Classic Amy stuck her tongue out at him. "There's no way I'd miss this! Now... uh... where'd Sonic go?" she wondered. While everyone was busy asking Sonic's friends questions, Copter stared over at Tails. "I wonder... If he's got his tailband with him, maybe I should get it and go help Sonic out..." he muttered. However, before he could consider this any further, they all fell under attack. "Spear Storm!!" Spiny's voice shouted out from above them! He stood atop the structure surrounding the portal, and fired a massive amount of Chaos Spears from his back, which turned around and flew after everyone below! They all scrambled out of the way except for Blaze, who jumped in front of the transceiver and covered herself in flames to shield it! Spiny laughed and jumped his way down, accompanied by Metal Sonic, Char, Alpha, and even Slash and Sting crawled out from hiding nearby, though they still appeared as busted up as they did at Lost World. "How nice of you all to show up! Unfortunately, Dr. Eggman has no further use for any of you!" Spiny sneered. There was some scattered laughter among the assembled heroes. "What are you gonna do? I can take you all on by myself!" Kosmo chuckled. "It does appear you don't stand a chance." Shadow pointed out. Char chuckled. "Don't you think we know better than that? Come on, guys! We're not dumb!" he said. "I challenge the big kitty to a pie eating contest!" Alpha shouted. "Seconded!" Gator squealed. Slash sighed. "OK, so we ARE dumb..." he muttered. "But we're not alone!" Sting added. Spiny nodded. "You won't be interfering with Dr. Eggman's plans again. That loser Sonic will die, and I will be rewarded handsomely for leading this attack... We're going to overwhelm you pathetic do-gooders! Here they come..." he grinned. Looking around, they started to notice something flying their way. Several things. "Up there! Eggman's robots!" Tails shouted. There were hundreds of them, and they were closing in fast! The flying robots were carrying land based robots to the platform, and they seemed to be robots from every era of Eggman's villainous career! "Prepare yourselves... Whole generations of robots are on their way! Ha ha ha ha!" Spiny laughed.

The flying robots dropped their land based comrades on the platform, and the battles began! The large group of heroes quickly found itself outnumbered by Egg Pawns, Egg Fighters, Eggrobos, Crabmeats, Caterkillers, Kikis, Egg Launchers, and many more types of robots from every area in white space! Copter immediately freaked out upon seeing Caterkillers again. "No, noooo!! Not those things again!!" he yelled, running behind Dimentime. "Oh, for Pete�s sake! Get over it! Fight something else then!" he shouted, smacking Copter across the face with his staff. "Thanks, I needed that..." Copter muttered. Knuckles and Classic Knuckles teamed up to tackle some charging Rhino-Tanks from Emerald Coast first, since their charging could be dangerous to people who were distracted by other robots. "Hiii-ya!! Hey... didn't I see you on Angel Island?" Classic Knuckles muttered as he smashed the robot. Silver grabbed some of the Caterkiller's spiky segments with his psychic powers and hurled them at some Aero Chasers that were flying around, threatening to blast people with their deadly lasers. "Heh... I don't know what Copter's problem is. That robot was handy." he said. While the fighting was getting started, Mephiles and Lospecter emerged atop one of the floating chunks surrounding the platform. "What a nice distraction..." Mephiles said, "Perfect for my plans. I'll join the others beyond that portal now..." Lospecter nodded. "And I'll provide a bit more distraction..." he said, holding up his cards. As Lospecter flew in to add some monsters to the mix of enemies, Mephiles made his way to the portal. However, a blast of magic and a fireball struck him before he could get there! Dimentime and Heather were standing in his way! "I knew you'd show up, Mephiles!" Dimentime shouted. "It's time I paid you back for kidnapping me!" Heather yelled. Mephiles chuckled at them. "As you wish... I will remove you from my path, and then I will find a shadow to absorb the power of the Time Eater itself... Now that I know where to find it." He transformed his body into a crystalline version of Punchy, and raised his fists in preparation to fight. Meanwhile, Copter was lost in the confusion of the battlefield. He stopped to smash a robot pirate that was menacing Cream, but was busy trying to find Dimentime again after they'd gotten separated in this mess. He thought he'd spotted Dimentime's cloak, and headed for it, evading lasers and bullets on the way. However, the air grew cold as he approached, and he felt a slight drizzle pelt his fur. He stopped as the figure turned and stared at him with his glowing golden eyes. It was the Doomsayer!

"Welcome to the doom, Experiment 2..." the Doomsayer whispered ominously. Copter ignored him and growled. "I don't have time for you now, Doomsayer! Big fight. Why don't you make yourself useful and break something." he said, trying to pass the Doomsayer, only to be blocked. "Your efforts are futile. Useless. You can not change the future... You can NEVER change the future!" the Doomsayer hissed. Copter rolled his eyes. "Then there's no point in bothering me. Go away." he grumbled. Suddenly, a powerful wind blew from the Doomsayer, knocking Copter backward! "Whoooooa!!!" he yelled as he blew towards the edge of the platform! Along the way, he crashed into an Egg Pawn Charmy was fighting with. "Hey!! I had him!!" Charmy complained as Copter crashed through the robot! "S-sorry..." Copter groaned as he was hurled over the edge of the platform! He grabbed the edge and looked down. There was some sort of portal below him, about the size of the portals the Time Eater sucked everyone into at Sonic's party. Did the Doomsayer somehow have something to do with this? Or had the Time Eater left it there? Either way, the Doomsayer met Copter at the ledge and held out his hand to him. "Welcome... to the doom!" he shouted, his wind blowing again and knocking Copter down into the portal! "Noooooooo!!!!" Copter yelled, certain that this couldn't be good. He tumbled to the ground on the other side of the portal, slowly rising to his feet. "Blech... Dirt... Where am I...?" he muttered. He found himself on a cliff overlooking a nearby city. "Hmm...? I... know this place... Don't I?" he muttered, looking carefully at the city below. It appeared to be a ghost town, the buildings having sustained varying amounts of damage, and there appeared to be no signs of life at first. However, as lightning crashed in the darkness, Copter thought he saw something flying around the city streets. "What was that? ...Lost Ones...? Lost Ones roaming the streets!? Could this be... The future?" he murmured, starting to look for a way down so he could better explore the city.


Meanwhile, the battle at the portal was raging on. Mephiles was proving to be a very powerful opponent. In Punchy's form, he used a dark version of Chaos Avalanche, generating crystals instead of tearing up the platform in order to use the attack! Heather tried to fight back with her flames while Dimentime dodged the attack, but Mephiles changed his hands into Firepaw's clawed paws and absorbed the flames with them! "Ha ha ha! It's no use. I have my own flames now!" he taunted before shifting his form to that of Omega! He then fired several crystalline bullets at Heather, making her collapse and burst into flames as she started to revive! "You might learn to dodge. Rebirth wastes time." he sighed. Suddenly, he was struck by an explosive! Spinning around, Mephiles saw Omega aiming his weapons at him! "I will not allow you to use my weapon systems as you please any longer!" he shouted. Mephiles scoffed and shifted into Bucky's form. "Let's see how your weapons work shorted out!" he yelled, firing bolts of lightning at Omega! However, numerous Wrongos smacked into Mephiles and made him miss! "What!?" he grumbled, turning to see Illusi heading his way! "That's for clobbering my Wrongos at that ship with the Egg Timer!" he said. Mephiles produced a weapon based on Razor's gun. Using Bucky's electricity, he charged up the crystalline bullets before firing them, making them electrified shots! Illusi hurried out of the way, but a Penguinator behind him was hit, and the electricity caused it to overload, resulting in a massive explosion that knocked Illusi over! Omega took advantage of Mephiles's distraction, however, and started shooting at him! Mephiles took the shots without seeming to feel them, though, laughing. "Keep trying... I'll destroy you all!!" he shouted. Not far away, other battles were going on as well. Alpha was busy shooting at Classic Tails and Rouge. "Get the flying monkeys!! They took my ruby slippers!" Alpha shouted. Rouge rolled her eyes. "Maybe if we stop moving he'll miss us and keep going!" she grumbled. "I don't think we should take that chance!" Classic Tails whimpered. Rouge nodded and flew up, hoping to fight back. "Catch, blue bot!" she said, tossing a bomb at Alpha. "I don't take candy from strangers!" Alpha said, kicking the bomb back! It exploded close to Rouge, knocking her backward! "Aaaaah!!" she yelped. "Oh, no!" Classic Tails cried. He hurried to her, flying into the sky to catch her! "Don't worry... I'll get you to safety!" he said, hurrying away from Alpha as he shot at them! Not far, Orbot and Cubot had joined the battle as well, and were chasing Marine around, firing lasers at her! "Hold still ya little runt! You're bein' a real pain in my transmission!" Cubot yelled, still talking with the voice Orbot had inadvertently jostled his voice chip into generating. "What...? Oh, well. At least you're more... assertive now." Orbot muttered. Cubot glared at him. "You bein' a wise guy?!" he snapped. Marine stopped running and waved her arms at them. "Time out, you buggers! Lemme have a fair go, 'ere..." she said, looking around craftily. Cubot scratched his head. "Come again?" he asked. "Strewth!! What's that behind you!" she gasped, throwing up her arms. Orbot shook his head. "Oh, please. Even we're not dim enough to fall for that trick." he said. Just then, a hammer smacked Orbot across the head, making him swing back and forth like a bobblehead! "Yowwww!!!" he yelped, looking behind him to find Classic Amy! "Tee hee! She tried to warn ya!" she giggled, swinging her hammer towards Cubot only to miss as Orbot pulled him aside! "No! No!! Don't jostle his voice chip!! I don't want to get used to another crazy voice!! Come on, let's get back to Planet Wisp!!" Orbot shouted, dragging Cubot away! "Hey!! What's the big idea!? I had 'em right where I wanted 'em!!" Cubot groaned. Marine and Classic Amy hi fived each other, giggling as they watched the robots run. Elsewhere, Punchy, Rainbow and Blaze were taking on Spiny. "Aww, too bad. I'd hoped I could crush Sonic's little pal, Tails or something." Spiny smirked. Blaze created fireballs in her hands, glaring at him angrily. "How dare you! Don't you know what you're doing, siding with Eggman!?" she growled. Punchy clenched his fists. "Never mind reasoning with him! I'll just knock some sense into him!" he said. "I'll cover you, One!" Rainbow smiled. Spiny scoffed and started firing Chaos Spears at them, using his unique ability to control their flight path so that they had a difficult time avoiding them! "Whoa! Hey!! Cut it out!! Grrrr!! Just wait till I get over there!! Oooof!!" Punchy groaned as he got hit by one of the Chaos Spears! Blaze tried to knock them away with fireballs, but he simply kept shooting more! Rainbow was unable to help, either, as some Kikis came over and started throwing bombs at her! "Hey!! Bad monkeys!!" she yelled. Metal Sonic was nearby, fighting with Espio, Vector and Ridley, but the three of them were proving too much for him alone, so he jumped up to a floating platform to escape and look for a better place to fight. "Hey!! Come back, ya coward!" Vector yelled. "Three against one? I don't know, I think I'd get outta here, too." Ridley commented. "There are plenty more foes. Don't let your guard down." Espio pointed out. As the fights continued, Shadow Arcangel could be spotted flying towards the platform! Lasers from the ship fired down at some of the Egg Flappers and Buzzbombers among the robots, offering some support to the heroes! "Well, well. Bucky's helping! Isn't that swell." said Kosmo, who was fighting off a group of Egg Fighters and Egg Shooters while transformed into a "weremorph." Spiny looked up at Shadow Arcangel and gulped. "Hey! Metal Sonic!! Get up there and bring that ship down!" he shouted, jumping out of the way as Punchy and Blaze tried to take advantage of his distraction to attack him. Metal Sonic nodded and flew off toward Shadow Arcangel, intending to cause the ship to crash once and for all!


As Copter roamed the ruined city, his heart sank by what he found. What few people he could spot appeared to have died from some unknown cause, and judging from the Lost Ones roaming around unchecked, their ultimate fates were to join the ranks of those creatures. Surrounded by puddles of destroyed Lost Ones, Copter spotted Punchy, who was lying motionless. "Oh, no..." he murmured. Rainbow wasn't far away, and she also wasn't moving. He didn't stop to check on them, he simply ran off in search of someone he could tell was still alive! Collapsed near a car was Razor. "Nope... Keep moving..." Copter whimpered, continuing his search. He found an arachnid lospide crawling around Guard, who was lying face down. "Aw, come on... You'll even die to mess with me, huh?!" Copter growled. He looked and looked, but it seemed like there were no survivors. He returned to the cliffs, thunder booming all around as he made his way to the highest plateau. "Where is that portal!? I've seen enough! OK, Doomsayer! This is the 'doomed' future you wanted me to see!? Well, I got news! I'm going to change it!" he shouted. "Your impudence knows no bounds... How can you expect to stop what can't be stopped?" said the Doomsayer. Copter turned around and found the Doomsayer standing at the edge of the cliff. He pointed an accusing finger at the hooded figure. "You knew! You knew of this all along!! And you never once bothered to REALLY do anything about it! You high and mighty 'knows all and sees all' hypocrite! You're nothing but a coward who's too afraid to fight to save the world!" he yelled. The Doomsayer crossed his arms, glaring at Copter fiercely. "The world CAN NOT be saved! The future cannot be changed! Your efforts have not changed the fate of this world! If anything... Doomsday has been pushed ever closer!" he roared, lightning crashing behind him as rain started pouring down on the cliffside! Copter growled, wiping some rain out of his eyes and approaching the Doomsayer. "I've had enough! You sure like to talk about the end of the world, but you never do anything about it! Well, I will! Even if I have to go THROUGH you!!" he shouted. The Doomsayer's eyes narrowed. "You dare threaten me?! You FOOL!!!" he yelled, lightning crashing all around the cliffside! Copter covered his eyes, but proceeded anyway. "You don't scare me!!" he shouted, charging at the Doomsayer in an attempt to attack! The Doomsayer raised his hands, and an icy wind blew at Copter, quickly becoming violent hail! The hail stones pelted Copter and quickly knocked him backward, and when he looked up after it subsided, the Doomsayer had moved! Looking around, he found the Doomsayer behind him now, bolts of lightning striking continuously at the ground beside him! "Very well, Experiment 2... Fight me, if you must!" he scoffed. Copter got up and growled. "I don't care if you control lightning... I'm gonna beat you, and maybe you'll believe I have what it takes to change the fate of the world!" he said. The Doomsayer flicked his fingers, and the lightning started moving across the cliff towards Copter! He hurried out of the way, panting in relief as they missed him. "First I gotta get close to this guy, though..." he muttered.


Dimentime had seen Metal Sonic take off toward Shadow Arcangel, and backed away from Mephiles so he could use his own Hurricane remote, which he hoped would be able to call Copter's plane, since his was not duplicated the way he and his remote were. Fortunately, it worked, and as the Hurricane flew toward the platform, Dimentime shouted out to everyone. "Someone!! Use the plane to catch Metal Sonic! Stop him!! I'm kinda busy here!" he yelled, evading Mephiles as he fired some sort of dark energy attack at him while in Shadow's form! The plane was coming near Classic Knuckles, so he took it upon himself to jump up and climb into the cockpit! "I got it!! I... think..." he said, scratching his head as he looked over the controls. He turned the plane and flew right through Lospecter, who spun around and shook his fist at him. "Why... If I wasn't a ghost that would've killed me!! You'll pay for that!!" he shouted, tossing several cards to summon Mephiles Takers to chase after the plane! As Classic Knuckles started to ascend, Silver flew up and landed on the plane's wing. "Need a hand?" he asked. "Hey! I can hardly see!!" Classic Knuckles protested. Silver hopped to the back of the plane, gulping as he saw Mephiles Takers, Eggrobos, Egg Bishops, and Eggman Nega's black Egg Flappers flying after them! "Umm... Better take evasive action!" Silver warned. "I don't even know how to fly this thing!" Classic Knuckles groaned. The plane started spinning as Knuckles tried to evade the blasts of the enemies, and Silver held on for dear life! While the enemies in the air started to surround the Hurricane, the battles continued on the ground. Slash and Sting were busy sneaking around, trying to avoid getting into any real combat due to the horrible disrepair they were in. "Boo!!" shouted Tommy as he snuck up on them! "Aaaahh!!" Sting shouted, hiding behind Slash. "Oh, come out you coward! It's just a kid! We can take this runt!" Slash buzzed. Tommy chuckled. "Oh, I'm not who you have to worry about..." he said. The robots heard some heavy footsteps behind them, and noticed a large shadow cast over them! They turned around slowly and saw Big the cat looking down at them! "Are you robots picking on that kid?" he asked, taking on a surprisingly menacing expression! Slash and Sting both screamed and started to run away, tripping over each other as they went! "It's a m-moooonster!!!" Sting shrieked. "Don't eat me!! I taste rusty!!" Slash cried. Big frowned. "M-monster...? Where?? Oh, dear... I better go find Froggy and make sure he's OK..." he said worriedly. In another area, Gator was surrounded by various types of similar robot. There were Orbinauts, fiery Golas, icy Star Pointers, and a Unidus! "Now, fellas... Swinging those spiky and fiery balls around could hurt someone, you know..." Gator said nervously, "Maybe you should try replacing them with marshmallows! Hey, what are you doing!?" he yelped as the robots swung their orbs at him! "Ow! Oww!! Hot! Cold! Ouch!!! Heeeelp!!" he yelled. "Pyrower!!" shouted Gemini, using a flame spell to burn through the Star Pointers' spikes and destroy them first! "Ha! Blastrotall!!" Next she shot several bolts at the Unidus and the Orbinauts. "Now, take this!! Solare!!" she smirked, firing a powerful beam of light at the Golas to wipe them out! Gator glanced at her shakily as she waved to him. "Glad you're okay! Hang in there, mister!" she said, rushing off to blast more robots. Gator blinked a couple times and pulled out his green sword. "That does it! No one's gonna push ME around!" he said, only for a Mephiles Worm to burst out of the ground next to him and start growling at him. He whimpered at it and ran off whining. "Start small, Gator! Start small!!!" he said to himself. Near the portal, the battle with Mephiles was still proving difficult. His dark power was holding Omega, Illusi, Heather and Dimentime at bay, but they were successfully keeping him from entering the portal so far. They each tried firing their own attacks at Mephiles at once, but Mephiles turned each of his arms into a different form, one into Bucky's and one into Firepaw's, while his body remained Shadow's, and fought back with fire, lightning, and a massive Chaos Blast attack all at once! The attacks seemed to both shield him and knock his adversaries away all in one swoop, and he cackled as he started towards the portal! "It's been entertaining, but I have something to accomplish..." he said. Before he could go farther, he heard a voice shout something. "Chaos Control!" Shadow the hedgehog appeared in his path and promptly smacked him away from the portal with a strong homing attack! "Arrgh!! You..." Mephiles sneered. "I've got THIS..." Shadow muttered, pointing at Mephiles angrily. "You snuck up on me at Space Colony ARK... You stole my powers... somehow. There's only room for one Ultimate Life Form! You're going down!" he said. Mephiles chuckled. "Is that ALL you remember? Has someone been playing with your memories...?" he said, glancing at Dimentime, who rolled his eyes. "Noooo, someone was playing with history." he snapped. Shadow launched a Chaos Spear at Mephiles, uninterested in whatever he had to say. "I know enough! You can't deceive me, Mephiles! And you're not getting through this portal!" he said. Mephiles transformed fully into his crystalline version of Shadow's form and glared at him. "What a shame... Your form is my favorite, too... I suppose I'll have to kill you with it!" he growled. Above them, Silver was using his psychokinesis to grab the projectiles from the Mephiles Takers and hurl them at any enemies he could manage to hit, managing to take out an Eggrobo and an Egg Bishop here and there, but the enemies were making it impossible to approach Shadow Arcangel, since Classic Knuckles was barely able to avoid them! Fortunately, they wouldn't be on their own for long. As things started to look hopeless, the Babylon Rogues flew onto the scene! Jet the hawk, Wave the swallow, and Storm the albatross had apparently noticed the commotion and decided to check it out! "What's goin' on, guys? Need a hand?" Jet asked, flying after a black Egg Flapper and smashing his board against it to destroy it! "Looks like you guys found yourselves some real trouble... Hope there's a reward for helping out..." Wave said, flying alongside an Eggrobo and clobbering it with a large wrench! "Oh, well... I was bored anyway!" Storm said, flying through the area and clobbering the Mephiles Takers with his fists as he went by! "Thanks, guys! We owe you one!" Silver said, waving to them as Classic Knuckles turned the Hurricane towards Shadow Arcangel. "You know it!" Jet chuckled. As the plane headed to the ship, however, a trio of Aero Chasers appeared ahead of it! "Aaaaah!! Where'd THEY come from!?" Classic Knuckles shouted. They charged up their lasers to shoot, but before they could, they were destroyed by several energy blasts coming from the side! "Huh!?" Silver and Knuckles said at once. Looking nearby, they saw Guard the gargoyle fly past them! "Grrrr!! I'm protecting my creator! Grrrr... That's all!" he said, flying towards Shadow Arcangel, apparently looking to stop Metal Sonic as well. Silver shrugged. "Well... Help is help, I guess." he said. Classic Knuckles nodded. "Um... I guess we... Follow him?" he said, flying the plane after the gargoyle since he had no idea where to land it. "To bring down the ship, that robot will head for the engine room... We better find it, fast!" Silver said.


Copter was trying his best to fight with the Doomsayer, but it was nearly impossible to even land an attack on him! The Doomsayer was swift on his feet, and seemed to be controlling the very elements themselves! Fierce wind continually blew from the Doomsayer's direction, blowing Copter off his balance, and the weather would shift from rain to snow and then to hail seemingly at the Doomsayer's will. Copter tried to blow some of the elements back at him. "Chaos Whirlwind!!" he shouted, kicking up his own wind of chaos. The Doomsayer merely waved his hand, and the storm winds blew even fiercer against it, canceling the Chaos Whirlwind out! "What!? Rrrr... Whatever!!" Copter growled, charging against the wind and throwing a punch at the Doomsayer! The cloaked figure simply caught his fist and knocked him back with his own fist, which seemed to be electrified! Copter stumbled back, blowing towards the ledge, but climbed back to his feet. "Ow... Who are you, Bucky? Nah, guess that'd be too obvious." Copter grunted. Bolts of lightning crashed next to the Doomsayer, and he reached out and grabbed one, holding it like a spear! "Concede defeat! You cannot conquer me, just as you cannot stop the doom!!" he growled. Copter charged ahead, his tailband glowing as he tapped into its power! "I won't give up!! Never!!" he shouted. The Doomsayer swung the lightning bolt at Copter as he came at him, knocking him against the wall of the cliff hard! "Aaaaaarrrgh!!! Yup, that hurts as much as it looked like it would..." Copter groaned. The Doomsayer stared at him as he slowly stood back up, panting heavily. "Why do you fight me with such determination? Are you blind to all I have shown you? This world will end!! I warn you... You will be among the first to die trying to save this world!" the Doomsayer roared. Copter glanced at him. "But you can't predict the future... If there's anything I've learned... Especially here in this white world... It's that the future can NEVER be predicted! You're full of it, Doomsayer!" he yelled. The Doomsayer raised his lightning spear to attack, but a bright light suddenly appeared in front of him, forcing him to shield his eyes! "What is this!?" he growled. Copter gazed at the light in wonder. "T-tikal!?" he gasped. He could see the spirit of Tikal the echidna floating within the light, and she glanced back at him. "I'll keep him busy! Get back to the portal!" she said, pointing to a cliff nearby where the portal was waiting! Copter glanced at her as if wanting to say something, but she turned away from him. "You've learned enough here for now! Go! Your friends need you!" she insisted. Copter nodded and hurried off, narrowly avoiding the lightning spear as the Doomsayer hurled it at him! "Remember, Experiment!! You have been warned for the final time!! The next time you stand in the presence of the Doomsayer, the world will END!!!" the Doomsayer's voice boomed behind him as lightning started tearing the cliffside apart! Copter spun his tails and flew for the portal, hoping to make it out before the lightning could fry him to a crisp.


Classic Tails and Rouge were still flying around, dodging Alpha's lasers! Char watched them from nearby, laughing playfully. "You got 'em on the run, Alphie! Don't let them get away!" he said. Suddenly, a Mephiles Golem crept up behind him, casting its shadow over him! Char gulped and turned around. "By any chance, are you on our side?" he whimpered. As the golem raised its fists to pound Char, Classic Tails flew by and grabbed him, carrying him safely out of the way as the Mephiles Golem slammed its fists against the ground! "You OK?" he asked. Char started crying loudly. "No one said there'd be monsters!!" he whined. Since Classic Tails was carrying Char, Alpha turned his focus on Rouge. "Only 621 targets remaining!! ...Why am I only shooting at you?" he muttered, starting to shoot randomly in Rouge's general direction! "Whoa!! What the...? Cut it out!!" Rouge shouted, throwing a few of her bombs at Alpha, which were struck by his lasers and blown up, creating a lot of smoke between them! Rouge flew through the smoke and came out close to Alpha, giving him a strong kick in the side! Alpha spun around in the air and crashed to the ground, but got up quickly. "Where'd she go?! Where? Where?! That way!! Take that, batty!!" he shouted, flying off in a random direction and shooting at some Bat Brains flying around a distance away! Rouge landed near Classic Tails and watched Alpha go. "Hmm... Well, guess we'd better find some other robots to deal with..." she said before noticing the Mephiles Golem. "...Or monsters..." she muttered. Meanwhile, Spiny used Spear Storm again, sending dozens of Chaos Spears everywhere to pummel Punchy, Rainbow, Blaze and anyone else who happened to be nearby! "Ha ha ha ha ha!! You see!! You fools! I have enough power to wipe out several of you myself! I am far superior to that pathetic waste you call Sonic!" he laughed. Punchy panted in exhaustion, climbing to his feet and punching away a Motobug as it approached him. "Dumb robots! If it weren't for them swarming us... We'd be clobbering this guy..." he grunted. Blaze nodded, tossing a fireball at an Egg Pawn with a pickaxe as it came at her! "Don't worry, though. He's nowhere near as tough as Sonic. We'll beat him!" she said. Spiny growled. "How dare you!" he yelled, firing a Chaos Spear at her, which she blocked by covering herself in flames! "Sonic is a pathetic twit who's probably getting his butt kicked right now! He's an imbecile who left you all high and dry in a trap! Sonic is--" Before Spiny could finish, Amy stepped up behind him, clutching her Piko Piko Hammer. "What are you saying about Sonic...?!" she growled softly. Spiny turned around slowly. "What's that...?" he asked. Amy glared at him with fire in her eyes. "Don't you EVER talk bad about my Soooooonic!!!!!" she screamed, smashing her hammer into Spiny's chest hard and sending him soaring, almost into Punchy, until he crashed into a massive Egg Hammer robot, smashing it to pieces upon impact! "Oooooohhh.... Is... Is there a doctor on the cogwheel...?" Spiny moaned weakly. Amy held her hammer over her shoulder. "Hmph! That'll teach ya!" she said. Punchy stared with an almost frightened expression, while Blaze walked away nonchalantly. "Um... Good job, Amy..." she said. "Way to go, Pinky!" Rainbow cheered. At the transceiver, Modern Tails was tracking the Sonics' progress against the Time Eater. "How's it going, guys?" he asked. "This thing is really tough... It's slowing down time and shooting giant lasers now!" Sonic reported. Tails looked worried. "Hang in there, guys!" he said.

As Classic Knuckles and Silver made their way to Shadow Arcangel's engine room, Crash was already busy struggling with Metal Sonic! While they were having a fist fight, Vortex was fighting with Eggrobos and Mephiles Takers that had gotten on board the ship! "Excellent! More guessstsss!! Think you could give ussss a hand here!?" Vortex hissed, firing Chaos Inferno at some of the enemies surrounding him! Silver hurried over to help him, while Classic Knuckles ran towards Metal Sonic. "I've got this one! N-no... problem!!" Crash said shakily as Metal Sonic plowed into him with his rocket boosters. "Owww!! Grrrr... If I could get a running start at you..." he growled. Suddenly, Metal Sonic discharged electricity from his body, using it to power him up as he curled up into a ball and started bouncing around the engine room wildly! He smacked into Crash, knocking him over, and then bounced into the engines, causing an explosion! As he bounced away and landed in front of Classic Knuckles, the echidna glared at him. "What have you done!? You'll pay for that!" he growled. Just then, the Babylon Rogues flew into the room, chasing some Buzzers, Spinners and Egg Flappers that had gotten away from them! "Don't worry about these guys! We've got 'em!" Storm shouted. Jet gasped upon seeing the damage to the engine. "That can't be good... Wave, do something!" he shouted. Wave looked at it and frowned. "Umm... I'll try, I guess... It's not exactly a board..." she sighed, flying over to the damaged engine. Vortex ran away from the enemies and joined her. "We have to put out thessse flamesss firssst!" he shouted. Wave rolled her eyes. "Well, duh!" she grumbled. As the ship started to fall from the sky, the battle outside was looking grim as well. They were still outnumbered, and Mephiles didn't appear to be weakening at all. Heather charged at him, hurling a flaming fist his way, but he batted her aside with a pair of crystalline tails copied from Classic Tails. Illusi's illusions provided little distraction to him, and were simply blasted into oblivion by Mephiles's own dark powers. Omega and Shadow tried to take him on with their own projectile attacks simultaneously, but a mysterious power Mephiles had copied from Rainbow sent their attacks flying right back! "Ooof!! Stay back, everyone! I'll handle Mephiles myself!" Shadow said, reaching for his restraint rings. "Don't, Shadow... Save your energy. There's a lot more we'll have to deal with after Mephiles." Dimentime said, firing a powerful beam at Mephiles himself. Mephiles flew out of the way with the twin tails he was still wearing. "Missed me." he taunted, shooting back with a laser copied from Omega! Dimentime dove out of the way, barely dodging it. "We'll... have to rush him..." he grunted. Up in the sky, Classic Knuckles was busy gliding after Metal Sonic as he jumped back and launched homing attacks at him! "Oww!! Cut that out! Get over here and fight fair!" he growled. Metal Sonic beeped threateningly at him, but was suddenly struck by an energy blast! Guard had arrived in the engine room! "Grrrr!! We'll take him on together!" he growled, swinging his scythe to fire more energy blasts from it at Metal Sonic! The robot buzzed angrily and jumped back, building up electrical energy to fire back at Guard as a laser! Guard flew out of the way, but Classic Knuckles glided into Metal Sonic once the laser stopped firing, knocking the robot back! "Get off this ship!" he growled, hitting Metal Sonic with a mighty uppercut! Metal Sonic was hurled into the air and fell onto his back, buzzing grouchily. It glanced at the engines, which were no longer flaming, and Vortex and Wave were busy trying to repair. Guard and Classic Knuckles stood between him and the engines. "Grrr... Don't even think about it..." Guard growled. At Shadow Arcangel's control room, Zipp breathed a sigh of relief. "I think we've stopped losing altitude..." he said from the driver's seat. Bucky nodded. "Good. I think my Era Restoration Generator is ready to go!" he said, looking over the strange white machine in the corner of the control room that he'd connected several Flickies to via odd helmets. "Can't we just call it the 'Time Machine?'" Zipp asked. "No." Bucky insisted. As Metal Sonic fled Shadow Arcangel, flying off the ship as his reinforcements were destroyed, he saw a large, dark shockwave surrounding Mephiles below! Dimentime, Illusi, Omega, Heather and Shadow all fell to the ground as Mephiles hovered in the air over them, laughing manically. He changed between all of his forms as he glanced around at them and taunted them. "None of you can hope to defeat me... I hold all of your strengths, with none of your pitiful weaknesses." he said, shifting between forms of Shadow, Firepaw, Classic Tails, and Rainbow. "What weaknesses are those? Compassion? Friendship?" Heather snapped. Mephiles snickered, shifting forms between Razor, Punchy, Omega, and Bucky as he replied. "All that really matters is power... What good is your compassion now? Look at your pathetic friends. They will all die when I am through with them!!" he sneered. Just then, someone jumped up at Mephiles while he was distracted. "Mephiles... Shut...up!!!" It was Copter, and he spun in the air and struck Mephiles with a tailband powered tail whip! Mephiles fell over a little, grunting in pain, but turned to fire bolts of lightning at Copter as he was still in Bucky's form. Copter shielded himself with his tails, and while Mephiles was busy with him, Shadow and Dimentime appeared behind him with their respective warping techniques! "You're finished, Mephiles!!" Dimentime yelled, firing a powerful blast from his staff and striking Mephiles from behind! "Arrrrgh!! I... am far... from finished..." Mephiles grumbled as he fell to the floor! However, Shadow removed his restraint rings and charged at him with all his might! "I'm afraid you are!! Take this, Mephiles!!" he roared. He hit so hard he pierced through Mephiles's body, and the dark started to melt into a shadow, vanishing without a word...

"So please wake me up when I get there.
It feels like I'm lost in a dream.
I know in my heart that it's my time.
And I already see,
The possibilities are never ending!
I see it, I see it, and now it's all within my reach! Endless Possibility!
I see it, I see it now, it's always been inside of me! And now I feel so free!
Endless Possibility!" - Endless Possibility, Sonic Unleashed

At the transceiver, Tails could tell that the battle with Time Eater was nearly over. Beyond the portal, the Eggmen got ready to launch a final attack at the Super Sonics. "We'll end it!! Burn!! Burn to ashes!!!" they shouted, using the Time Eater to somehow create a massive wall of flames to attack the Sonics! "You can do it, Sonic! Combine your powers to finish him off!" Tails shouted over the transceiver. "Now!! Go for it!!" several of Sonic's friends shouted together! The two Super Sonics flew close together, spinning as they flew at the Time Eater to combine their might into one attack! They charged into the Time Eater's core, piercing through the mechanized creature and defeating it at last! Outside, the laser weapons on the exterior of Shadow Arcangel started to glow with strange, blue energy as the ship turned towards the locations Sonic and Copter had explored in white space. "It's time! Activating the Era Restoration Generator!! Prepare to fire the Restoration Beam at all the captive areas, Zipp!" Bucky said urgently. Cream's mother, who had remained on the ship and was observing everything nervously, finally tapped Bucky on the shoulder. "Um, excuse me... Are you sure this is safe for the birds hooked up to that machine?" she asked, noticing how uncomfortable they looked. Silver and Classic Knuckles, who had also found the control room by now, also looked concerned. "This looks like the kinda thing Robotnik might build..." Knuckles growled. Bucky shook his head. "You can compare me to Dr. Robotnik AFTER I've stopped him, all right!?" he growled, "I'm using their GeneX energy to stimulate time. This has never been attempted, there's no telling what could happen. It could influence their aging, it could turn them back into eggs... or worse... but the world must be restored..." he sighed. Zipp nodded. "Firing beam... Keep your fingers crossed, everyone..." he said. The beam fired at the nearest area, Planet Wisp, first. The blue beam covered the location in a dazzling light, and in a moment it disappeared! Shadow Arcangel flew through white space, firing its beam at each area to restore them to their proper places in time. With Time Eater defeated, Super Sonic and Classic Super Sonic emerged from the portal and quickly went to work, using the last of their super form energy to take out the remaining robots swarming around the cog shaped platform! Lospecter saw the Super Sonics and gulped. "Ummm... Oh, Mephilessss?? Where'd ya goooo?? I wanna go hooooome!!" he shouted, flying off towards Shadow Arcangel as quickly as he could. As Shadow Arcangel zapped Green Hill Zone out of white space and headed back towards the cog platform, Jet walked into the control room and looked out the window. "Engine's all fixed... Hey! Where'd everywhere go!? Did everyone go home without us!? How will we get back!?" he squawked in a panic. Bucky glanced at the Flickies. "They look... okay, don't you think? They have an extraordinary power... Well, anyway... I'm going to zap the people standing around outside back home, and then we'll worry about this ship... The Era Restoration Generator is going to have to implode in order to send us back." he said. Jet yelped in alarm. "I'm... gonna go get my team and fly outside so we can get zapped, thanks!!" he said, running off. SPOT, who had lingered on the ship all this time, beeped in alarm at this suggestion. Silver glanced at the robotic puppy's screen. "Factors too unpredictable. Implosion not advised." it read. Silver glanced at Bucky with concern. "This robot seems to think that's a bad idea..." he said. Bucky scoffed. "That's why robots aren't scientists. There are ALWAYS risks in science! Sometimes... you have to take them!" he said. As Sonic and Classic Sonic reverted to their normal forms, Copter pointed over to Shadow Arcangel. "What's Bucky... doing...?" he wondered, his eyes going wide as the ship charged its beam. Zipp cackled manically as he fired at the cog platform, zapping everyone starting with Sonic and Tails and gradually working his way to everyone else! "Nooooooo!!!" Copter screamed as he was zapped, not knowing the true intentions behind the shooting. As the platform was cleared, Bucky messed with some buttons and dials on the Era Restoration Generator. "Thanks for helping out, little birds... Just help me out one more time... Safe journey..." he whispered. Everyone took cover behind something except for Bucky and Cream's mother, who stayed close to the Flickies as the machine began erupting blue energy everywhere! As Shadow Arcangel vanished from the sky of white space, everything was quiet. In the silence and endless whiteness, it wasn't long before a small shadow began to emerge from below the cog platform that was left behind...

As Sonic got his bearings, he quickly caught a partially eaten chili dog that was falling from the sky! It seemed okay, so he took a bite out of it. "Still warm. Heheha! Time travel!" he smiled. He was back at his birthday party, before the Time Eater showed up! However, no one else was there at first. That only lasted a second, as Classic Sonic ran up next to him! Then, everyone who was present at the party originally appeared at the other side of the table, plus Shadow and Silver! Knuckles, Amy, Vector, Espio, Charmy, Rouge, Cream, Cheese and Blaze were all there, and they all gave a cheer now that they were finally back safe and sound! Knuckles was the first to speak up. "I'll admit, you weren't half bad, Sonic." he said grudgingly. "Half bad?! Are you kidding? He was ALL great!!" Amy said giddily, smacking Knuckles aside and knocking him several feet backward into the tree that the table for the party was set up under! Sonic and Classic Sonic looked slightly surprised at how easily he was knocked over, but were then distracted when they heard Tails and Classic Tails coming. "He collects how many? Wow, where does somebody put all those gold rings?" Classic Tails said to Modern Tails. "You know what? I don't know. I keep forgetting to ask." Modern Tails replied. Elsewhere in the park, everyone else appeared after having been zapped by Bucky's Era Restoration Beam. Copter glanced around dizzily as Shadow Arcangel landed with a thud behind him! "Yaaaah!! Ohhh... I'll... I'll... I don't know, but I think I owe you some kinda payback, Bucky..." Copter grumbled. Dimentime came up next to him and shook his head. "Actually, I think we owe him thanks. Seems he sent everyone back." he said. Looking around, they saw the Babylon Rogues soar freely through the sky. They saw Razor and Tommy going for a walk in the park with Katie and Mia. They saw Gator running away from an armadillo that neither of them recognized. "...Huh?" Copter muttered. "What are you chasing me foooor!?" Gator yelled. "Come back here! You stole my invitation to Sonic's birthday party! I found out from Vector!" the armadillo shouted. Gator held out the invitation he'd been carrying. "Nuh uh! It's for the mighty Gator!" he said. Copter rolled his eyes. "You better run, 'mighty Gator.'" he shouted. Mighty growled and charged after Gator. "I'm missing cake because of you!! I'm reporting you for mail fraud!!" he shouted. Copter and Dimentime chuckled, as did Classic Knuckles, who had exited Shadow Arcangel and was now standing next to them. Dimentime stared at him in shock as he waved at them. "Yo, guys!" he said. Dimentime smacked his forehead. "Bucky's machine must have a few bugs... I hope all the places made it to the right times..." he said. Classic Amy tapped him on the shoulder next. "Excuse me... Have you guys seen Sonic?" she asked. Dimentime groaned. "Come on, let's see if we can't find some lingering time portals or something..." he grumbled. On board Shadow Arcangel, Bucky and Team GeneX were looking at the Era Restoration Generator, which was somewhat damaged, but that wasn't what they were concerned with. The Flickies had reverted to eggs with the helmets attached to them! "...I guess the implosion was too much for them..." Bucky sighed. "Oh, dear... Can they be hatched again?" Cream's mother asked. As if responding to her question, the shells of the eggs burst open, and the Flickies flew out full of energy as though nothing had happened to them at all! "Good heavens! What exactly were those shells then?! Some sort of temporal cocoons!?" Bucky gasped, awestruck. Back outside, Copter and Dimentime had found portals leading to Collision Chaos and Ice Cap. "What are these doing here?" Copter wondered. Dimentime looked thoughtful. "The Time Eater may have left temporary portals behind linking every location it accessed to the present. That means you may not have much time to go home." he said. Classic Amy sighed. "I have to go back and get kidnapped..." she whimpered. Copter shrugged. "Maybe... But you've seen how you turn out. Is it worth it?" he asked. Classic Amy nodded. "Sonic will be there... Whatever happens, I know he'll always be there for me!" she said, hopping into the portal as it vanished. Classic Knuckles smirked. "I'm lonely for a while... But it seems Sonic keeps my life interesting in the future. I guess that's good to know." he said, heading into the portal to Ice Cap. Copter and Dimentime waved to them, and were soon joined by Punchy and Rainbow. "Hey, Two! You made it! And the other Two made it, too!" Rainbow smiled. "Stop saying two..." Punchy groaned. "Hey, guys... Wanna crash a party you weren't invited to?" Copter chuckled.

Back at the party, Sonic was having a final chat with Classic Sonic, knowing he would have to go back to his own time soon. "It was great teaming up with you. Hope you learned a few tricks that'll help you out in the future. I mean the past. You know what I mean!" he said. Classic Sonic nodded and pointed at himself slyly, running back and attempting to imitate Modern Sonic's homing attack, but failing and falling on his head! Sonic clapped for his younger self anyway, seeing that he got a tiny bit of distance. "Dude, sweet! And you're only gonna get better!" he said as Classic Sonic ran back to him. Tails and Classic Tails were heading their way at this point, and Classic Tails pointed to a portal nearby. "There's our ride." he said. It was a portal to Green Hill Zone. It would take them back to the beginning of their adventures. Classic Sonic nodded to Classic Tails and hi-fived his future self. Classic Tails flew up and slapped Modern Tails's hands as well, and the two younger heroes headed for the portal together. As everyone waved to them, Sonic called out to his younger self. "Hey Sonic! Enjoy your future! It's gonna be great!" he said, thinking of all the good times and exciting adventures in store for his younger self. Classic Sonic gave Modern Sonic a thumb's up as he passed the portal with Classic Tails, finally arriving home in his time.

While walking towards the party, Copter stared at Dimentime curiously. "I'm surprised you're still here... Are you coming to the party, too? I never really pegged me as a party person." he said. Dimentime glanced at him. "I'm still here because there's still work to be done. Look around out here... OK, there's Big and Froggy... Marine looks a little lost, I hope she doesn't need a time portal... Ridley's keeping an eye on Spiny... And strangely, Guard and Omega seem to be hitting it off. But there's no sign of Mephiles." he muttered. Punchy cleared his throat. "Ahem... Ummm... Time out! Wasn't Mephiles destroyed? I saw. He melted." he pointed out. Dimentime shook his head. "I know, but... I have a bad feeling... Let's get to Sonic, fast!" he said, running ahead. "Speedy? Why? Hey, wait up, Two-two!" Rainbow shouted. "He does NOT wear a tutu!!" Copter growled.

At the giant portal in white space, the Time Eater shakily made its way back to the cog platform, collapsing in a heap! The hatches on its back opened up, and Eggman growled. "Let's grab more materials and get to work on Mark II!! We can't let Sonic get away with this!" he yelled. Robotnik scratched his head. "Seems to me he already did. Where'd he go??" he wondered. Suddenly, a menacing laugh echoed around them! "W-what...? Oh, no..." Robotnik muttered. The black shadow lunged out from under the cog shaped platform and charged at the remains of the Time Eater at high speed! "Aaaaahh!! Bail out!! Bail out!!" Eggman shouted, ditching his Egg Mobile and the Time Eater as Robotnik did the same! The shadow crashed into the Time Eater, tackling it through the portal and vanishing beyond it! Eggman and Robotnik stared at the portal from the ground, their Egg Mobiles and Time Eater having been pilfered all in one swoop. "Well... Let's look for a way out of here, then... Eggman grumbled. Robotnik nodded in agreement. "That could take a while... Say... What time is it?" he wondered.


Chapter 20 - Final Chapter - The Labyrinth of Eras
Stage - Time Collision - GeneX Generations

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.

"Gonna turn up the amp 'til the speakers are blown!
Rock off the roof 'til the cows come home!
Come on, come on, come on,
The thing's ready to blooooow!" - The Mobius Stomp, Sonic Underground


"I can fight the feelin' to resist it all the time.
But when it's just too much to take,
You sneak up from behind.
Is it me,
You say, you're looking for?
Let me show you who I am and what I'm here for... (here for)" - What I'm Made Of, Sonic Heroes


The party continued for a while, and Sonic chuckled at some of the uninvited guests who turned up as a result of the return from white space. Jet, Gemini, Marine, Big... Gradually, most of the people who were sent back seemed to be heading over to check out the party. However, as Copter, Punchy, Rainbow and Dimentime approached, darkness seemed to rapidly shroud the area, and a chilling wind seemed to blow from behind Sonic. "What's happening? Is it a storm?" Rainbow wondered. Sonic felt this strange wind and felt his quills stand on end. "Not again..." he murmured, spinning around and moving out of the way as quick as a flash in order to dodge a massive white beam coming from behind him! The beam was being fired from a hand reaching out of a portal in the sky, and as the beam ceased firing, a massive entity began to emerge from the portal! "Hahaha... HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!" The being resembled Mephiles, but he had taken on elements of the Time Eater's form, including having grown to massive size, smoke seemed to surround the lower portion of his body, he wore cog-shaped crystalline wrist bands, and the Time Eater's terrifying jaw had been added to his formerly mouthless muzzle! He wore a billowing, shimmering red cape and carried a large scepter in one hand, which ended in a clock with a cog encircling it! His eyes were still that of Mephiles, and he still wore crystalline quills similar to Shadow's. "M-mephiles!? What's happened to him!?" Copter gasped. Sonic stared at him defiantly. "Hey! No one invited you to the party!" he shouted. Mephiles chuckled. "Your celebration is now over! I now have complete mastery over the fabric of time! I am the Temporal Emperor!! Your powers and your defeat of the Time Eater have made this possible... Made it so I finally had energy enough to overpower the Time Eater and combine with it! I thank you, Sonic the Hedgehog!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!" he cackled. With a giant creature hovering in the sky, everyone was now rushing over to see what was going on, even if they previously weren't interested in Sonic's party. "Ah... An audience gathers... Then why don't I give them a show? Behold, as I unravel time at its seams and create a world of my very own!!" Mephiles shouted. He waved his scepter and held it up, the hands of the clock inside it spinning out of control as a strange purple energy started to fly all around! The ground began to shake, startling everyone and forcing them to back away from Temporal Emperor Mephiles! "Wh-what's happening now!?" Knuckles yelled. "Here, you can HAVE the invitation!" Gator shouted, handing his stolen invite to Mighty the armadillo, its rightful owner. Suddenly, something started to rise up out of the ground behind Mephiles! Sonic stared, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. "No way!!" he shouted. It was a familiar loop from Green Hill Zone! Mephiles laughed manically as more started to emerge, not just from the ground, but from everywhere! Ships from Eggman's various fleets started flying around overhead, Angel Island appeared in the sky, and was then pierced and shattered into its various zones by a Pumpkin Hill mountain rising under it! Streets and roads from all over time snaked around the massive new world Mephiles was forming, some colliding through walls and smashing ceilings as they passed through Station Square, Central City, Crisis City, Spagonia, Troblusk City and more! No easy entry could be found to this maze of the past, present and future, as a crumbling moat of lava from Crisis City, Lava Reef Zone, Red Mountain, and other locations made entry dangerous. "This is just plain impossible!! I did die when Bucky zapped me, didn't I?" Copter gasped. Bucky came up behind him and smacked him in the back of the head. "What possible help would that be to me!?" he growled. Sonic stared up at the jumbled world and whimpered. "Tails... explain." he said. Tails shrugged. "Sorry, Sonic. I've got nothing. I didn't know all these places were... underground." he stammered. Dimentime got up on the table next to Sonic's birthday cake and held his staff like a microphone, using magic to amplify his voice. "Listen, everyone! Mephiles the Dark has fused with the remains of the Time Eater monster and has complete control over time! He's used that power to bring places from throughout history here and create his own world to hide in, probably to store up power so he can finish us all off at once! This guy's a maniac, and he'll destroy your whole timeline if we don't stop him now!" he explained. Shadow nodded. "What we need are the Chaos Emeralds!" he said. Sonic looked worried. "The... Chaos Emeralds? Umm... I don't have 'em anymore... I have no idea where they could be..." he murmured. Copter ran up to him and shook him angrily. "You're telling me you just THREW THEM AWAY!?" he shouted. "Take it easy, Copter... They might not be far..." Tails said, glancing at the jumbled world in front of them. The Earth shook a bit more, and a bridge emerged to grant them a way to cross the lava, a glittering road of precious stones, shining in a rainbow of colors! It was Radiant Emerald, and Mephiles's voice called out as it was added to his world. "Come and find me, if you dare! I'll be waiting to put you out of your misery! Ha ha ha ha ha!" he laughed.

While everyone was discussing the situation amongst themselves, Lospecter flew over their heads, laughing at them. "Thanks for the lift back home, doc! Lovin' the party!" he said to Bucky as he passed by. He then flew into Mephiles's labyrinth and tossed some of his cards around! "Time to play, kiddos! Daddy's home!" he grinned as his cards summoned up swarms of Lost Ones, apparently being able to do so again now that he was out of white space! The Lost Ones scattered around the maze of colliding landmarks, and other enemies could be seen roaming around inside, too! "Looks like he even brought all the robots that used to patrol each area... Just great!" said Mia as she looked through some binoculars she happened to have with her. Vector turned to Bucky. "Well?! Did you zap the Chaos Emeralds with your machine??" he asked. Bucky looked at the ground nervously. However, SPOT started beeping excitedly, and Tails ran over to check it out! "Hey, SPOT! You made it! What's up?" he asked, looking at the robo-puppy's monitor. Sonic and Copter ran over to check it out, and Tails stood up smiling. "SPOT says the Chaos Emeralds are here!" he announced. Everyone who could hear Tails sighed with relief, and Sonic patted him on the back. "That's great! Where are they?" he asked. Tails pointed to Mephiles's labyrinth as SPOT glanced there as well, and Sonic and Copter frowned. "We're doomed!" Copter groaned. Sonic's frown quickly turned into an excited smile. "Sweet! This is gonna be the ultimate treasure hunt!" he snickered, always up for a challenge. Copter shook his head and turned to Dimentime. "The emeralds are in there!" he shouted. Dimentime used his staff as a mike again and informed everyone of the situation. "The Chaos Emeralds are inside that giant tangle of a... Time Collision! We'll have to work together to find them all before Mephiles destroys our world! Look!" he said, pointing out that the "Time Collision" was still growing. Mephiles was dragging more locations from all throughout time into his massive maze, causing more and more damage to the world! Blaze nodded. "Understood! Looks like we'll have to split up..." she said. "Worst party EVER!!" Gator shouted. "I'm going with Froggy!" Big announced. Dimentime nodded as everyone started splitting up into groups. "No arguments... Looks like this world is a step above mine." he muttered. Bucky ran up to Sonic and Copter, joined by Vortex, Zipp and Crash. "We'll be joining you from the air! I need to attempt repairs to my Era Restoration Generator and fast! It'll need to work overtime if it's going to fix this mess!" he said. "You sure it'll work?" Sonic asked. Bucky scratched his head. "Well... He's using the Time Eater's power... It may be a stretch, but it should work..." he said. As Bucky headed for Shadow Arcangel, Razor glanced at his younger brother. "Tommy, I want you to get on that ship again and stay there until I get you, okay?" he said. Tommy looked at him with frightened eyes. "What if you don't come back?" he whimpered. Cream's mother was nearby and saw this, so she took charge. "Go on. I'll watch over him, officer." she offered. Razor nodded. "He... he's all I've got..." he said sadly. Cream's mom placed a hand on his shoulder. "Believe me, I understand... Just make sure you come back. You're all he's got, too." she told him. As the rabbit lead Tommy to Bucky's ship, the groups started to head for the Radiant Emerald road serving as the gateway to the Time Collision labyrinth. Sonic and Shadow lead the way, while Copter fumbled with his Hurricane remote. "I think an air search is in order..." he murmured. "Can I go for a ride in your plane, Two? Can I, pleeeease?!" Rainbow pleaded. "You do know it's not a sight-seeing tour, don't you?" Copter groaned, rolling his eyes. As Sonic and Shadow stepped onto the shimmering road of Radiant Emerald, Sonic stared out at the maze ahead of him and smirked. "Give it all you've got, Mephiles! We've all come here just to stop you! You might be tough on your own, but now you've got a whole generation of heroes comin' your way!" he said, running off into the maze!

As the heroes hurried into the labyrinth, their groups began to split up and leave the road of Radiant Emerald, finding whatever footing they could to explore and search out the Chaos Emeralds in all directions! Shadow sped his way ahead, going around a rainbow loop and jumping as the road suddenly came to a stop! He found a rail to grind on which appeared to be from one of Eggman's bases, presumably Bullet Station, as the two rails beside him in fact turned out to be forming a track for a spiky black and red train, which began chasing him! "Chaos Control!!" he shouted, warping behind the train as it sped by, crashing as the track abruptly ran out ahead! "Mephiles must have deliberately designed this place to feed his destructive desires... Every corner is a death trap." he said as he hopped off the end of the rail and landed amidst the ruins of a GUN base, toxic green sludge flowing next to the walkway he'd landed on. Shadow sighed to himself. "I've been here... Prison Island." he muttered. Some strange vehicles were hovering over the toxic substance, and Shadow could see that some Black Arms soldiers were riding them! "What!? So, these places really are from across time..." he realized. Before the Black Arms could reach him, some explosive blasts came down on them, blowing them into the green chemicals! Shadow glanced up to see Omega hovering towards him. "Shadow! Stay focused! Sensors detect the Chaos Emerald nearby! More enemies also incoming!" he said. Shadow nodded, and they hurried ahead, finding Mephiles Biters as well as Black Warriors patrolling the area! "GUN forces must have been obliterated. Pathetic inferior robots!" Omega grumbled. Shadow scoffed and jumped at the enemies, using his homing attack to knock them off balance while Omega finished them off! Some Black Oaks stomped towards them to check out the commotion next. "Hmph... I don't have time for this..." Shadow grumbled. Omega opened fire on the aliens as Shadow charged ahead, using Chaos Spears to clear the road of Mephiles Biters as he closed in on the Chaos Emerald. He spotted a light blue twinkle on a ledge above, but while he looked at it, a huge Killer Plant that was mutated by the Black Arms smacked him aside with its powerful stem! It then started to blow fire at him, but a torrent of Chaos Spears suddenly flew in the way, blocking the flames! Shadow stood up quickly and turned around to see Spiny, panting heavily. "Don't look so surprised to see me! If the world goes, so do I! There's nothing to be gained from siding against you anymore..." he grunted. Shadow nodded and Chaos Controlled up to the cyan emerald, glancing down at Spiny. "Will you be all right? I have to get this to Sonic." he said. Spiny rolled his eyes. "Right... Sooooonic... Well, I'll go find mister robot back there... You don't think he'll be mad about the whole me-siding-with-Eggman thing, do you?" he muttered. Shadow turned around and started to leave. "I suggest avoiding HIM for the time being..." he warned. Spiny jumped back as the Killer Plant blew more fire at him. "Suppose I'd better borrow me one of the aliens' little hover vehicles, then! Good luck, goth hedgehog!" he grumbled, running off. Shadow frowned at him. "Goth...? I... don't get it." he muttered before Chaos Controlling away.


Copter flew the Hurricane carefully through the twisted landscapes forming all around, ducking the plane under a falling statue of a soldier from Colosseum Highway, an area of Onyx Island. Rainbow held her head cautiously as she sat on the plane's wing, and glanced back at Copter. "Any idea where the gem is, Two?" she asked. He frowned. "I'm just looking for a good place to land... Hang on!" he said. As they flew through the maze, they saw many sights, but what stood out the most was the ominous presence of the Death Egg floating amidst dozens of varied ledges and roads twisting all around. "Creepiest...place...ever." Rainbow murmured. As they passed the Death Egg, several Eggrobos flew after them! As if that wasn't bad enough, more flying robots were coming at them from a yellow flying fortress ahead, Sky Fortress Zone! There were red jet robots that resembled birds called Balkiries and small turtle robots flying larger turtle shaped ships, called Turtloids collectively. As the Eggrobos started shooting at them and the other robots were coming their way, Copter took evasive maneuvers and growled. "OK, Eggman... Where'd you put the really nasty weapons on this thing? I gotta blast my way past these guys!" he grumbled. Suddenly, someone else flew by and started shooting at the Eggrobos! Rainbow waved cheerfully. "Thanks, Tails!" she said. Copter glanced back to see Tails fly by in his blue Tornado plane, which he was able to call with his remote now that they were out of white space! "Good... Now it's my turn!" Copter said, shooting with the Hurricane's guns as the Balkiries charged at him! The Hurricane passed safely as the robots exploded, and sped by the Turtloids quickly, evading their slow moving shots and heading for the Sky Fortress. Copter could see a faint glimmer on the deck of the ship, and landed the Hurricane near it. "What luck! The Chaos Emerald is right there!" he said as he and Rainbow hopped out of the plane. "Let's grab it, quick!" Rainbow said. "Not so fast, trespassers!" said a scratchy, squawking voice. They glanced around to see a chicken robot manning a gun turret, and next to it was a drill handed Burrowbot. "Thought you could sneak by old Clucker, huh?! Cuff 'em, Burrowbot!" the chicken robot ordered. "I don't have cuffs... And who died and made you boss!?" Burrowbot argued in a deep, goofy voice. "Robo-Robotnik, I guess... And this turret says I'm boss!" Clucker growled, pointing the turret at Burrowbot. While the robots were arguing, Copter snuck out towards the yellow Chaos Emerald sitting nearby, but suddenly yelped as he was hit by a shot from Clucker's turret! "Oww!! Hey, you could hurt someone with that thing!" he growled, suddenly noticing that Burrowbot was threatening Rainbow with his drills. "One false move and..." Burrowbot made a slicing motion across his neck to illustrate his point. "How'd this happen...?" Rainbow muttered. "Easy, boys... Don't make me get mad at you..." Copter said. Clucker laughed like a rooster crowing. "That's rich! Who do you think you are, Sonic?" Just then, a blue ball fell from the sky and bashed Clucker over the head, reducing him to spare parts! "Owww-oww-oww!!!" Clucker groaned. Burrowbot yelped and released Rainbow. "Yaaaah!! Sonic!!" he shouted. Indeed, it was Classic Sonic! Burrowbot spun his drills and ran at him, but Classic Sonic simply jumped over him and then jumped backward onto his head, smashing him apart as well and sending his head rolling away! "Nooo-ooo-ooo I hate when this happeeeens!!" Burrowbot groaned. Copter blinked a couple times before picking up the Chaos Emerald. "Eggman sure isn't a programmer..." he said. Rainbow hi-fived Classic Sonic cheerfully. "Thanks a bunch, Mini-Speedy! Uhhh... How'd you get here?" she wondered. Classic Sonic tapped his foot briefly, thinking about it, and then shrugged sheepishly. Copter shrugged as well. "Come on, then. I'll give you a ride." he said. However, Classic Sonic seemed mesmerized by trails of golden rings he saw leading away, and ran off to gather them! "H-hey!! What're you doing!?" Copter shouted. He watched as Classic Sonic ran along walls, bounced up springs, and then got stuck in a strange cannon device that shot him through a weird tunnel of lights that brought him around the deck and right back to where he started! "Are you quite satisfied??" Copter grumbled. "Oooooh, that looked like fun! I wanna ride that doohicky next!" Rainbow said excitedly. Copter sighed and shook his head. "Why me...?"


Classic Sonic wasn't the only past version of someone to be dragged into Mephiles's labyrinth. Classic Amy found herself lost on the deck of a large GUN aircraft carrier. "Awww... This is a Huge Crisis... Now how will I find Sonic..." she sighed, swatting her hammer at one of GUN's Hunter robots as it dropped down next to her. She was too upset to even worry about the strange atmosphere around the ship. Some of the Hunter robots were busy shooting at Mephiles Biters as she walked by, and she stopped to stare at them. "Where ARE you, Soooonic?!" she groaned. Suddenly, several flame bursts crashed down around the enemies, quickly eliminating the monsters! Heather the phoenix dropped down onto the deck and glanced at Classic Amy. "Hey, what are you doing here by yourself?" she asked. Amy shrugged. "I don't even know where here is." she sighed. "Grrrr!! You are on board a GUN vessel trapped in a dangerous time-related anomaly that threatens to destroy the world." said Guard from behind her, startling the young hedgehog! "Yaaah!! Don't eat me, monster!!" she yelped. Guard frowned. "Grrr... I must learn to approach children more... slowly." he sighed. Several GUN Rhino-tanks started speeding towards them, seeming intent on ramming them. "Grrrr!! Stand down, robots!" Guard ordered. However, the robots ignored him. "Grrr?? Could they... be from before I was made?" he stammered. Classic Amy and Heather attacked the robots as they approached, using hammer and flames to smash them with ease! "Hmph! Too bad, GUN! So, uh, any idea where we might find a Chaos Emerald?" Heather wondered. Suddenly, a purple weasel riding an odd vehicle raced by, seeming to be in a panic. "Run for your lives!! This place is done for!!!" he screamed. Classic Amy squinted at him. "Was that Nack...?" she mumbled. Guard growled in alarm at what the weasel was racing away from. Robotnik's Flying Battery airship seemed to be hurtling out of control towards them! Guard glanced around over the side of the deck and saw the grind rails of Final Rush just past where the ocean the ship was floating on seemed to be ending in a waterfall. Guard pointed them in that direction and Heather shook her head. "Too much water that way... No way!" she whined. Guard grunted and tossed her up to a hook attached to a large crane, which started to swing her around while Guard picked up Classic Amy and flew off! Heather let go of the crane as it swung her towards the rails, just as the Flying Battery crashed into the GUN ship and exploded! "Aaaaaaahhhh!!! No water!! No water!!" Heather cried, flapping her arms in an effort to make sure she'd land on the rails. She made it, and rode the rails in a wobbly fashion until she was dropped on a platform from Final Rush, staring an Artificial Chaos robot in the face! "Just my luck..." she whimpered. Fortunately, Guard arrived and drove his scythe through the robot's head before its tendrils could touch Heather! "Grrrr... Let's move on!" he growled. Classic Amy sighed with relief as she rested behind him. "I REALLY hate time travel..." she grumbled.


Kosmo the morph was flying along Chun-Nan's Dragon Road in his gargoyle form, followed along by Espio, Vector and Charmy. The long, dragon-shaped path was snaking its way through several areas, but right now they were passing by a large, cracked wall with water escaping through some of the cracks. Charmy was shivering as he looked around. "G-guys... I don't like this place... Look! A ghost!" he gasped, pointing out a Lospirit flying in the distance. "It's nowhere near us, Charmy." Espio sighed. Kosmo groaned and landed on the road, turning to the frightened bee. "Look, I'm far scarier than anything we're gonna run into out here, kid!" he said. Suddenly, the wall next to them was smashed open, and out of the hole peered Perfect Chaos! It roared loudly at them while their jaws dropped and they quivered with fright. "Um... I withdraw my statement... Let's all run that way... now." Kosmo muttered, prompting them all to flee along the Dragon Road as fast as they could. "No time for robots!! Outta the way!!" Vector shouted, charging right through an Egg Launcher before it could fire its missiles at them! They soon hopped off the Dragon Road and onto a series of streets zig-zagging past lit up buildings, some of which were being damaged by fragments of other areas crashing through them, such as sections of Stardust Speedway which appeared to be covered in trumpets and similar instruments. Cop Speeders, robots driving hover cars with police sirens, were driving around frantically, and a couple of them came at Kosmo and Team Chaotix. Espio jumped into action, swiftly hopping onto the hood of one of the cars and kicking out the driver, while Kosmo flew up to the other one and morphed himself into a variation of Big, flattening the robot with ease! "...What made me think of THAT?" he mumbled. As they hurried onward, they found other animals smashing the remaining Cop Speeders and also smashing the windows of the buildings! They were all wearing Covenant of Despair uniforms, and were probably lost and disoriented in the labyrinth. "Hey, guys! What're ya doin!? Don't you know it's dangerous out here?" Vector asked. The assorted animals glared at them, some growling. "If he's not with us... Cut him up and make a suitcase out of him! Hee hee!!" shouted Patch the fox from the back of the crowd. Vector gasped indignantly. "Why... I... Those..." he stammered. "Let's GET 'em!!" Charmy shouted. Kosmo shook his head. "We need the Chaos Emerald, guys..." he reminded them. Just then, Espio came charging through riding the Speeder he'd left intact after destroying the robot driving it! "Clear the roads!! I have no idea what I'm doing!" he warned, making the startled Covenant of Despair members scatter! "Me next! Me next!" Charmy giggled. Kosmo sighed and morphed into dragon form, flying ahead and blowing fire at Spinners and Cop Speeders as he hurried to the roof of a building ahead. On top of a helicopter pad, he found the blue Chaos Emerald waiting. "I had a feeling it'd be somewhere high and guarded..." he muttered, noting a swarm of Mephiles Takers flying up to greet him. "I sure hope the others follow me... This could take a while otherwise." he groaned. The others were busy navigating the streets below, bouncing off of flag poles as they made their way up to balconies they could stand on. Charmy stopped to ring a large bell that was hanging inside a building, and a bunch of rings fell out of it! "That's funny, I wonder why that happens?" he asked, hitting the bell again. An Omochao fell out next, rotating its head around nervously. "H-hey!! Find your own hiding place!" it shouted, flying back inside the bell. "Quit playing around, Charmy! Kosmo needs our help! ...I think." Vector said as he caught up to him. Espio appeared out of nowhere and nodded. "Our enemies are many. Even the mightiest warrior needs allies at times." he said. Just then, the Chaos Emerald dropped down onto his head! "Owww!!" he grunted. "One of you hold that and the others GET UP HERE!!!" Kosmo shouted. They glanced up to see that there was quite a large swarm of enemies up there. "See what I mean..." Espio sighed.


Cream, Cheese and Big were searching the maze themselves, trying to keep to safer areas as much as possible. Froggy hopped along next to big as they wandered through strange, cloud shaped platforms surrounded by balloons and bumpers. A PA message similar to what may be heard at Eggman's theme park played in the background. "We welcome you to Cloud Carnival! Remember, Eggman Enterprises is not responsible for sudden drops through real clouds. Watch your step!" Eggman said. Big looked down. "Clouds...? I thought I was standing on a big pillow." he said. Some Egg Pawns carrying trumpets and signs were wandering around, and they looked like precursors to the ones that would appear in Eggman's theme park shortly before his discovery of the Time Eater. "I wonder if this was supposed to be part of Eggman's park, but it didn't get in?" Cream wondered. A batch of Wrongos flew by to illustrate that she was incorrect, and Illusi appeared in a burst of smoke! "Yes... I can do that again!" he smirked. "Do what?" Big mumbled. Illusi hung his head. "Never mind... This so-called carnival was a disguise for Eggman's fleet a while ago. Come on, let's find some safe ground, and maybe a Chaos Emerald." he said. They proceeded on their way, having Cheese team up with some Wrongos to smash the Egg Pawns as they passed a large slot machine on the cloud-shaped ship. As they neared the back of the deck where the engines were, they found that the other ships had crashed into Babylon Garden, which was floating not too far from them. "Think there's a Chaos Emerald there?" Cream wondered. "I don't think you can fly that far, Cream..." Big frowned. Illusi waved his hands and caused a bridge of light to appear, hurrying across it. "I wouldn't dawdle... Illusion bridges aren't very sturdy." he warned. Big picked up Froggy and hobbled across the bridge quickly, following Cream and Illusi. However, robots were observing them. "Intruders located... Attack!" Some E-10000s flew out from Babylon Garden on Extreme Gear boards, raising their fists threateningly! Illusi teleported ahead in a puff of smoke, shouting from on the island. "Hey, glorified pawns! I'm over here!" he yelled. They spun their heads around in confusion as Cream and Big passed them, and soon they were both safe on Babylon Garden. The robots seemed not to take kindly to this, and charged back at them furiously! "Leave us alone!" Cream shouted, flapping her wings to fly after the E-10000s herself! "H-hey, wait!" Illusi gasped. Cream and Cheese quickly flew at the robots together, knocking them off their boards one by one so they plummeted onto random areas below, and once she was done, she looked exhausted. "Whew... That was more than I thought..." she said. Big cast his fishing line and pulled her back safely, letting her rest without having to worry her ears about flying back. "Whew... Cream sure is brave, huh Froggy?" he sighed. Illusi sighed as well. "Let's be a bit more careful and try to keep going... It's not really safe here." he said.


Knuckles, Punchy and Rouge found themselves passing through a section of Eggman's former pyramid base, though they weren't quite sure how they ended up there. They snuck past a few ghosts and slowly climbed a ledge to sneak up on an E-1000 robot, which resembled Omega's predecessors in his line of robots. Rouge flew up ahead when its back was turned and gave it a swift kick, smashing it to pieces and releasing a small rabbit that was trapped inside! "Coast is clear, boys! Hurry up!" Rouge called. Knuckles rolled his eyes. "We're coming! You know, maybe if you weren't in such a hurry, we wouldn't have gotten lost in this pyramid!" he growled, climbing up. Punchy scoffed. "Didn't YOU lead us in here?" he muttered. Before they could start arguing, however, the wall suddenly caved in as something smashed through it! The three of them backed away and stared up in surprise. "Is that a giant... doughnut??" Rouge muttered. It was a massive, chocolate frosted doughnut from Sweet Mountain, one of the attractions from Eggman's theme park! Knuckles peered out through the hole and spotted something within gliding distance. "Hey... Is that what I think it is? Angel Island!!" he shouted, gliding off! "What, you mean what's left of it?" Punchy muttered. Rouge grinned. "Oooh, he found the Master Emerald. I'll just pop in for a peek." she said, flying after him. Punchy's eyes went wide as he realized something. "Hey!! I can't glide!! Come back here!!" he shouted. Knuckles landed at the Master Emerald shrine, which was floating on a small chunk of land by itself now that the island was smashed into pieces. He hurried up the steps of the shrine, but was startled to find another Knuckles there! "...Huh? Oh, it's me. I've got it covered. Scram." the other Knuckles said. Knuckles scratched his head. "Wait a minute... You're not Classic Me..." he mumbled. Just then, another Knuckles climbed the steps and gasped. "TWO of me!? What the heck!?" he yelled. Rouge landed nearby and groaned. "Oh, this is just perfect..." she sighed. "STAY OUT OF THIS, BAT GIRL!!" the three Knuckles shouted at once. To add to the confusion, Classic Knuckles glided over from yet another direction. "Oh... I see the Master Emerald is... definitely being watched..." he said. "Wait a minute!! That's MY emerald!" one of the Knuckles said, prompting them all to begin arguing! Rouge sighed and glanced at Punchy as he walked over, glaring at them. "What's up?" she asked. "I just rode a jelly bean missile in this general direction. I don't know how that makes sense, but... Oh, this makes it worth it!" he smirked, watching the four Knuckles argue. Soon, Classic and Modern Knuckles stepped away, leaving the two others to continue arguing. "Clearly... I have issues..." Knuckles groaned. Punchy nodded. "Well, I spotted the Chaos Emerald. It's over in that cave." he said, pointing to a section of the labyrinth dominated by sections of Mystic Cave. Knuckles, Classic Knuckles, and Rouge glided over to it, leaving Punchy behind again, but this time he was somewhat prepared. "OK, little guy. Help me out!" he said, activating a Wisp color power he'd gotten while near Sweet Mountain and transforming into a cyan laser to zip across the gap! In doing so, he managed to beat the others to Mystic Cave, but stumbled around dizzily as the Wisp flew out of him. "Th-thanks, pal..." he muttered. The others ran right past him into the spooky cavern while he was recovering, but they were quickly stopped by a surprise attack from some Crawlton robots hiding in the walls! They were long, centipede-like robots with spiked bodies, similar to Caterkiller, and they jumped out at them in an attempt to catch them with their pincers! "Chaos Avalanche!!" Punchy shouted, tossing rocks from the cave at them using his chaos powers! He then hurried past the others, only to run into some firefly robots called Flashers which zapped him with a strange electric light! "Yeeeowww!!" he groaned. As the lights from the Flashers flickered off, Knuckles and Classic Knuckles ran by and gave them a quick punch to smash them, racing for the nearby Chaos Emerald! "Oh, no you don't boys! I'm gonna get it first!" Rouge smirked, flying ahead of them and closing in on the prize! "Wait, Rouge! Look out!" Knuckles yelled. Rouge took her eyes off the emerald and noticed a section of the roof falling down ahead of her. "What the!?" she gasped, stopping short and smacking into the falling, moss covered column as it fell, then landing on top of Knuckles as he caught up! "Oooof!! Why me...?!" he groaned. "Thanks for breaking my fall..." Rouge muttered. Classic Knuckles chuckled and went around the collapsed section of the roof, picking up the purple Chaos Emerald! "OK, I've got it! Now, um... Anyone care to explain... Anything to me?" he asked, prompting all the others to sigh loudly. "Can't you GUESS?" Rouge groaned.


Razor, Katie and Mia found themselves lost in a section of graveyard that was either part of Pumpkin Hill or Mystic Haunt. Either way there was a number of jack-o-lanterns decorating the area, but seeing as the area didn't seem very mountainous, it was likely the latter. Bombats were flying around the graveyard, but Razor was sure to shoot them before they got too close. "Shouldn't you save your bullets for more dangerous stuff...?" Katie asked. "Like what? You know... You girls didn't have to come..." Razor muttered. "Ha! And how will you ever find a Chaos Emerald without my binoculars?" Mia said, gazing around with them. She yelped as she spotted something she didn't like. "G-g-ghost!!" she stammered. Katie laughed nervously. "Nice joke, Mia..." she said, grabbing the binoculars for a look. She then handed them back and hid behind Razor. "OK!! I'm ready to go home!!" she shouted. Razor fired a shot at one of the ghosts as they came towards them, but it was useless! They backed away nervously, not sure what to do, when Katie suddenly tripped on something and fell over. "Yeoooow!!!" She landed on a switch on the ground, and some lights came on, causing the ghosts to screech and disappear! They sighed with relief, and Katie dusted her hands as she stood up. "There, you see? Aren't you glad we came along?" she grinned. Suddenly, another zone seemed to crash into the nearby mansion, creating a gaping hole and flooding the graveyard with water! "Whaaaat!? What the heck is...?!" Razor babbled as all three of them took cover behind a headstone, which broke against the force of the rushing water and became a makeshift raft, which carried them towards a cliff at the edge of Mystic Haunt Zone! They gasped and tried to paddle the headstone away, but it wasn't working! Then, they noticed someone else trying to swim against the current. It was Classic Tails! "This... isn't... working!!" he panted, jumping out of the water and spinning his tails to fly! "Tails! Help!!" Mia shouted, catching his attention. Classic Tails yelped and flew over. "Grab my hands, quick!" he said. All three of them jumped up and grabbed on to Classic Tails, making him lose a bit of altitude and groan loudly. "Aaaaugh!! Okay, I... THINK I gotcha!! Gotta... get... up!!" he panted, flying towards the hole in the zone above. He dropped them off on a ledge next to where the water was flowing out, and then collapsed on the ground, panting from exhaustion. They looked around, finding themselves in the Labyrinth Zone. "Good job, Tails... Hey, um... Didn't you used to be... taller?" Mia asked. "Bwahahahaha!! Now you face the wrath of Burrowbot!!" shouted a past version of Burrowbot as it drilled its way out of the ground nearby! Razor promptly shot him to pieces with his gun, sending his head bouncing away. "Awwww, come oooooon!!!" Burrowbot's head moaned.


Silver, Blaze, Gemini and Marine found themselves running along platforms on the side of the large clock tower from Spagonia. It was dark in the area, and some of Dark Gaia's minions were roaming the area. Blaze squinted at some of the Dark Bat Snipers that were flying around, shooting energy blasts at them from their tails. "Umm... Mephiles's monsters are looking a bit... goofier than usual." she murmured. Marine was busy defending herself from some Dark Frights that were nearby. "They sure are pesky 'lil drongos, ain't they? Ow! Bad whatchamacallit!!" she shouted. Silver picked up the Dark Frights with his psychokinesis and tossed them at the Dark Bats to kill two birds with one stone. "There! Now, uh... Anyone know where we can find an emerald?" he wondered. Gemini's wand was glowing, and she appeared to be concentrating. "Working on it... That way!" she said, pointing her wand to a volcanic peak covered in ice. "Wow... Those places really got smashed up bad..." Blaze murmured. Gemini shook her head. "I think it may have been like that." she said. To get to the Lava Glacier, they found a path between the clock tower and their destination made up of the remnants of Star Light Zone. Silver hovered his way over to a see-saw floating in midair, and Blaze jumped after him, blowing some fire under her to gain extra distance and land on the other side of the see-saw, launching Silver into the air! Gemini teleported herself and Marine to the platforms below, but they were startled to find some robotic bombs standing around, which suddenly lit their fuses! "Whoops!! Um... Abra-ka-warpra!!" Gemini shouted, warping herself and Marine to the see-saws and springs overhead as the bombs exploded! They made their way to the glacier, avoiding spiked bombs positioned on the see-saws as they went, and soon leapt through a hole in the icy walls of the glacier to arrive inside! Silver used his psychokinesis to catch them and guide them to solid footing in the volcanic crater. "Whew... Well, according to my search spell, the emerald is in here somewhere..." Gemini said, "Just my luck, the same place I got turned into a dragon and lost my wand before..." she frowned. Shadow Androids were roaming the volcano, but they were being overwhelmed by Losohsts, Loskulls, and Losolanturns! Silver, Blaze and Marine stared in surprise. "Why are there so many Shadows?" Silver wondered. "Hooly dooley! Those clowns are blowing up!" Marine gasped. "I think you mean clones." Blaze corrected. Lospecter chuckled at them as he flew into the glacier. "Hello, hello Gemini... Funny how we're always bumping into each other. Not. How about I bury you in ice as opposed to that mine from before?" he grinned, holding up a bomb robot from Star Light Zone! "Uh, oh... He's not gonna..." Silver muttered, only to watch as Lospecter hurled the bomb at the roof of the glacier! As the glacier started to collapse, Gemini immediately started flinging spells at the Lost Ones. "Find the Chaos Emerald! Quick!!" she shouted. Silver flew up to try to get a better view, but found himself scrambling to avoid falling ice chunks instead. "Whoooa!! Look out!! Yikes!!" he gasped, grabbing a chunk of ice with his psychic powers before it could crush Gemini! Blaze hurried from platform to platform, unconcerned with the lava as she looked for the emerald. She tossed some fire balls at the Losohsts as they came at her with scythes, but was startled when a Shadow Android suddenly fired a missile at her! "Whoa!! Where'd that even come from!?" she gasped, leaping out of the way! As the android came at the startled cat, Marine suddenly jumped in from the side and pushed it into the lava! "You leave Blaze alone, mate! Oh, crikey, it looks hot down there!" she yelped, "Oy, Blaze! Does that emerald look anything like this 'ere?" she asked, holding up a red colored gem! Blaze gasped. "How did you... That's the Chaos Emerald! Come on, let's get out of here!" she shouted. Silver flew down to cover them as they hurried back to Gemini, and she cast a spell to help them escape. "Morphicadabra!!" she shouted, transforming herself into a large, white dragon once again! She glared at them as they stared. "Don't gawk! Hop aboard so I can fly us outta here! This is embarrassing enough..." she blushed. "Cool! You gotta teach me magic, cobber!" Marine grinned. "Oh, please don't..." Blaze groaned.


Dimentime had hitched a ride on the back of Jet's board, and they were flying through a dangerous section of the labyrinth with Wave and Storm following. Crumbled sections of buildings, natural formations, and Eggman's bases were tumbling around like meteors. As they flew through the debris, they passed several fish-like ships from the Egg Fleet, which fired cannons at them as they passed by! "Can't catch me!!" Jet squawked, evading everything by moving as quickly as he could, while Dimentime did his best to hang on. Flying robots and monsters of all kinds soared around the debris, apparently scattered after the destruction of their homes. They all turned to attack the Babylon Rogues as they approached! "Oh, as if missiles from those ships wasn't enough!!" Wave groaned, flying off to lead some Lospirits and shark-esque Jawz away from the others. Storm flew ahead to take on one of GUN's Flying Dog mechs that had somehow gotten mixed in with the enemies. "Hey, big guy!! Over here!!" he grunted, drawing it away from Jet. Dimentime tried to aim his staff at some hawk-like Falco robots that came from the Egg Fleet, but Jet yelped and stopped suddenly when a huge system of gears from Metropolis suddenly fell down in front of them, nearly crushing them! Dimentime slipped, nearly falling off the board, but grabbed on to the edge! "Jet!! Could you possibly look where you're going!?" he yelled. "You try doing that in here!!" Jet growled. Wave flew by, tricking the Jawz into crashing into the Falcos, but they had bigger problems. The Egg Fleet had sent E-2000s after them, which were powerful robots equipped with an impenetrable shield and an impressive energy beam. It started to fire at Jet and Wave while Dimentime struggled to climb back onto the board, chasing them with the massive pink beam! Suddenly, a blast from behind took out the E-2000 with one shot! "Huh??" Dimentime mumbled. Shadow Arcangel was flying through the area in their direction, using its weapon systems to aid them! "The Chaos Emerald is in that general direction! Hurry!" Bucky shouted over the loudspeaker. Dimentime climbed onto Jet's board, and they sped through the meteor field into a new asteroid field. In fact, they arrived at the Asteroid Coaster from Eggman's theme park! "I suggest we split up here..." Jet said, "You're weighing me down." Dimentime looked for solid ground to jump to, but only found a roller coaster. "Are you crazy??" he mumbled, only to be dropped into a seat! "Enjoy the ride!" Jet grinned as the coaster took off! "You'll pay for thiiiiiiiiiiiis!!!" Dimentime shrieked as a PA announcement from Eggman played. "Welcome to the Asteroid Coaster, accident free for 45 minutes!" Mephiles Takers and bat-like Losoars were flying around the track as the spiky roller coaster zoomed uncontrollably, but they seemed unable to catch Dimentime during the ride. He saw the track about to run out ahead, so he got up from his seat and looked for a way out. "Great... Thanks, Jet..." he whined, jumping to another coaster as it took off! He heard the voice of Mephiles laughing at him as he struggled to keep from falling to his death on the dangerous coasters. "You know this is all futile... You've seen it before. Your own world fell once. How does it feel to watch it all happen again?" he taunted. Dimentime growled. "History... will not... repeat itself!" he growled. He jumped to a platform as the coaster passed it, though he found himself swarmed by Mephiles Worms and Egg Pawns carrying odd clubs. "Indeed... I will erase history!!" Mephiles sneered. Dimentime pointed his staff around at the enemies, when suddenly a beam of chaos energy tore through several of the foes to his left, and gunshots took out some of the Egg Pawns to his right! Finally, Crash smashed through the Mephiles worm in front of him! "Hey! You gonna help out or what?" he grunted as Vortex and Zipp ran up alongside him. Dimentime nodded. "Errr, right!" he said, turning to zap the other enemies with magic! Vortex glanced at Zipp. "Umm... Who'ssss flying Sssshadow Arc?" he asked. Zipp scratched his head. "Umm... Rabbit lady?" he guessed. Dimentime sighed. "You better head back. I'll get the emerald." he said, running ahead. There were springs leading into the asteroids, but there also seemed to be a certain Black Comet that didn't belong flying through the middle. "Hoo boy... Springs, don't fail me now..." Dimentime said, bouncing from spring to spring as alien Black Volts flew around, trying to catch him! "In space, nobody can hear you scream. Except for the person sitting next to you, so please be considerate of others, no one likes a screamer." Eggman said over the PA. Dimentime whacked a Black Volt with his staff as it approached him, bouncing off a spring and hurtling towards the Black Comet! He saw something sparkle on top of it. "Yeah... It would be up there." he muttered. However, as he approached, a giant violet monster appeared, resembling a black hole! "Whaaaaat!? No!! Don't eat me!!!" he shouted, feeling himself getting sucked towards the creature's gaping maw! The Chaos Emerald was pulled into the creature's mouth, and Dimentime flew onto the Black Comet, clinging to it desperately to avoid being sucked in! However, the vacuum from the creature suddenly subsided, and Dimentime looked back to see the creature turn into Jet, from whom a violet Wisp with a jagged mouth and no eyes popped out. Jet held his throat and coughed out the white Chaos Emerald, then holding his stomach. "Uggggh... What the heck...? That was the worst experience of my life... Did I eat some ghosts and monsters??" he groaned. Dimentime stood up and sighed, smirking. "Well, the important thing is we got the Chaos Emerald..." he said.


Mighty the armadillo had joined the Chaos Emerald hunt as well, and somehow ended up traveling with Gator and Ridley. "I still can't figure out why I'm wandering lost with you when I could be helping out Sonic or Knuckles or Vector..." he said. "Just lucky I guess!" Gator replied as they trudged through ice and snow on their way into Diamond Dust Zone, an area of Flickey Island. Ridley looked around at the penguin robots hobbling around and chuckled. "It's chilly, but at least it seems safer than the other areas..." he said. He would soon change his tune, as they each felt the ground beneath their feet crack. "What... was that?" Mighty wondered. Suddenly, the ice below them crumbled, and they tumbled down into a long ice slide below! "Wheeeeee-- are all gonna diiiiiiie!!!" Gator screamed as they slid to and fro through Diamond Dust Zone, passing odd snowmen that exploded into icy chunks as they passed by! The ice slide took them straight through the broken wall of an abandoned construction site from Station Square. The slide continued through the building, and they saw some Egg Pawns and laser-equipped bat robots staring in confusion at the ice slide as they passed through a hole on the other side of the wall. The slide continued to twist and loop around the labyrinth, passing Lava Reef Zone, where it began to thin out and crack! "Someone do something!!" Ridley yelled. "Like what!?" Mighty wondered. The ice slide crumbled as they slid, and they were hurled into the air! They tumbled into a street, rolling inside an open doorway nearby! "Uuuugh... I feel airsick, seasick and carsick all at once..." Gator moaned. Ridley glanced over at Mighty, who was rolled up into a bright red ball. "H-hey... Are you alive?" he asked. Mighty uncurled himself and groaned. "Now I remember why I don't visit..." he muttered. They looked around and found themselves in a small base belonging to Eggman, the Gimme Shelter. Guard Robos resembling old E-series robots were sitting around, apparently deactivated. In the corner, a green robot was under construction. "Heeey... Is that Xenegg?" Gator said dizzily. "Let's play! Let's play!" they heard a voice say nearby. They glanced nearby to see a robot that wasn't inactive. "Oh, look. It's a Gizoid. Hey, could that be the robot E-6X was based on?" Ridley said. The Gizoid looked at them curiously. "Hey, I'm Emerl. Who're you supposed to be?" it said. Just then, an alarm went off in the Gimme Shelter, and the Guard Robos started to stir! Emerl jumped excitedly. "Play time! I'll tear those rust-buckets apart!" he shouted, rushing off to fight with the other robots! Mighty stared at him blankly. "He's... weird." he muttered. Gator walked off towards the door. "No time for these pesky robots! There's treasure to find!" he said, only to get blasted by lasers from Mephiles Biters as he stepped outside! "Yooooow!! Know what? It's bad weather today. Let's stay indoors." he mumbled. Ridley sighed. "Okay... Chaos Splash!" he said, shorting out some of the robots with a splash of chaos-charged water. "Chaos Splash!" mimicked Emerl, copying his attack! "H-hey... Don't do that." Ridley grumbled. Mighty started spinning and dashed towards the Mephiles Biters, looking to clear the way out. "Take that!! I'll handle these guys, you handle those guys! ...By the time we're done here, the others will probably have found all the Chaos Emeralds." he reasoned. Gator frowned. "No treasure for me!? Awww... Life stinks, don't it Xenegg?" he grumbled, talking to the unfinished robot in the corner.


Sonic hurried through a strange loop of cards from Casino Street Zone, which led him into a hole in the side of Darkegg Fortress! Amy flew in as well, riding SPOT while it was in hover-scooter mode. "Oh, goody, Darkegg Fortress... You always take me to the nicest places Sonic..." she said sarcastically. Sonic scratched his head. "Well, gee, we passed Twinkle Park on the way. Doesn't that count?" he asked. They spotted another hole at the end of Eggman's control room, and started towards it when a computerized voice shouted at them from a nearby screen. "Hey!! What's all the hubbub?? Meowr?" Amy glanced to see Firepaw scratching at the screen curiously. "Wow. I didn't think we'd get wi-fi in this mess. Who knew?" Amy muttered, following after Sonic as they rushed out of Darkegg Fortress. "Hey!! Wait!! MEOWR!! I'm not on wi-fi!! I'm trapped in this dumb computer!!" Firepaw yelled. "Hey, Firepaw, do you think I should report that security breach?" asked BAS, the Base Alarm System. Firepaw sighed. "Well, at least I'm not alone in this dump..." he grumbled. As Sonic, Amy and SPOT rushed out of Darkegg Fortress, they found themselves on a wood bridge leading to a twisted version of Green Hill Zone, located at the center of Mephiles's maze! They ran down the bridge, evading Choppers and Mephiles Biters as they jumped out at them, and stopped at the first solid ground in the area as the Biters tore the bridge apart, falling into the water below! "Y'know... This isn't at all how I remember this place..." Sonic muttered. The Tornado flew over in a moment, and Tails pulled a lever, causing the plane to transform into its walker form, the Cyclone! It landed with a thud beside them, and he glanced down from the cockpit. "Does SPOT have a reading?" he asked. Amy checked the robot, which had changed back to canine form. "It seems to be... up there!" she said, pointing to a towering mountain with treacherous cliffs leading to the top, guarded by Lost Ones and monsters as well as robots! Mephiles's own eyes were ominously peering out from behind a veil of smoke and debris overhead, and Tails knew that to fly the Tornado up there would likely be suicide. "Sonic... What do you think?" he asked. Sonic nodded. "She's right. It's waaaay up there. Guarded by Mephiles. You two better stick down here and cover me. I've got a big hill to climb!" he said, hurrying towards the twisted version of Green Hill ahead of him! Tails and Amy went to work right away as Mephiles Biters and Motobugs charged at them, so they put Amy's hammer and the Cyclone's lasers to work straight away! Sonic started his run up the mountain, leaping up platforms and bouncing off Loskulls to start his journey. Lospecter flew over to observe him. "Hey! Don't crack my skulls! They just got over losing the rest of their bones! ...Well, actually, they never get over it." he said. Sonic ignored him and bounced up high with a spring, kicking off the wall next to him in order to launch himself into a Buzzbomber, which he grabbed onto and jerked around, causing it to shoot at some Mephiles Takers in its panic! "Thank you! Now try to land on a bad guy!" Sonic snickered, kicking the Buzzbomber down as he jumped off it and ran along the path ahead, speeding past Crabmeats and Mephiles Worms as he sped through a loop in the side of the mountain! As he passed it, he ran into a Mephiles Golem, and heard Mephiles laugh at him. "You'll never make it... All of time is here to stop you... You cannot outrun time itself!" he bellowed as numerous enemies flew from all over to come after Sonic! Egg Flappers, GUN Beetles, Egg Gunners, Balkiries, Eggrobos, Black Volts, Caterkiller Juniors, Artificial Chaos, Falcos, Mephiles Takers, and various Lost Ones were all among the armies that came to finish Sonic off! He looked around nervously, clenching his fists. However, as the Mephiles Golem started lifting a huge spiky ball to throw at him, bullets suddenly rained down on the creature, knocking it off balance! Sonic glanced around to see Copter piloting the Hurricane! "Quit daydreaming, Sonic! Get that Chaos Emerald!" he shouted. Sonic nodded and jumped at the Golem's head, knocking it down and continuing past it! The flying enemies started to attack Sonic as he continued his climb up the mountain, but the Hurricane was joined by Shadow Arcangel, the Babylon Rogues, Guard, Rouge, and Kosmo! With all that support, Tails changed the Cyclone back into the Tornado to join the aerial battle, and Amy was joined below by Shadow, Knuckles, Team Chaotix, Silver, and increasingly more people as all the groups began to arrive! "Go for it, Sonic!" Classic Amy cheered as she arrived on the scene, smashing a Motobug on her way to join Modern Amy. "We're with you, pal!" Classic Knuckles shouted as he joined the fight as well. Sonic nodded as he heard more and more of his friends cheer him on, and made a jump to reach the summit, using the homing attack to bounce from a Spinner to an Egg Flapper to a Buzzbomber and into a Egg Gunner before taking out the Mephiles Worm that was guarding the green Chaos Emerald! "Got it! And I'm betting it's the last one! Say your prayers, Mephiles!" he smirked, "Your little maze was fun, but nothing all of us together couldn't handle!"

Mephiles moved aside the smoke and debris in front of him with a swing of his scepter, glaring down at Sonic from above the green mountaintop. "You have all come so far... just to die! Your time is up!" he sneered, the clock face on his scepter beginning to glow as the hands both pointed straight down to 6. Sonic glanced around, expecting he'd have to make a quick retreat any second. However, Copter flew at Mephiles with the Hurricane, shooting at his face as much as he could. "Let's see how well you fight blind, Emperor Shakespeare!" he shouted. Mephiles roared at him, and fired a burst of dark energy from his scepter! "Curse your crystal eyes!" he growled as the Hurricane was struck hard, its wing snapping off! As the plane started to hurtle towards the ground, Copter jumped out and flew towards the mountaintop, landing next to Sonic. "...WELL?! You got any bright ideas?!" Copter asked. "Got a Chaos Emerald?" Sonic wondered. "Huh? Oh, yeah..." Copter realized, handing the yellow emerald he'd got from Sky Fortress to him. Rapidly, the other Chaos Emeralds made their way to him as well! Kosmo flew over in gargoyle form and tossed Sonic the blue emerald! "Um... Yeah... Go get him." he muttered. Rouge flew up and tossed him the purple emerald next. "Knuckles says to finish the job this time. Heh... Good luck, Sonic." she said, winking. Jet sped over on his Extreme Gear next, tossing Sonic the white emerald. "You owe me a race, Sonic! Don't lose here!" he squawked. Mephiles saw this was happening and tried to stop it. "You think I'm a fool? Ha! Take this!" he yelled, firing dark energy blasts toward the mountaintop in an effort to destroy them quickly! "Proplasmar!!" shouted Gemini, who had just warped to the mountaintop! She created a barrier to defend them, handing Sonic the red emerald. "H-hurry... I can't hold him long..." she said. "Chaos Control!" Fortunately, Shadow had arrived with the cyan emerald, the last one. "End this, Sonic... Hm, looks like I'd better take these two out of here..." Shadow said. Copter crossed his arms. "I can take myself down, thanks!" he said. Shadow shrugged and Chaos Controlled away with Gemini, removing the barrier! Mephiles's attacks started crashing around them, but the Chaos Emeralds surrounded Sonic and instantly started to fill him with energy! The flash of light from the emeralds caught Mephiles's attention, and he began charging an attack while Sonic was transforming. Copter took advantage of the distraction to start looking for the path down, but heard a plane engine approaching. "Huh...?" he muttered, seeing Tails coming their way in the Tornado! "Go back!! You'll be shot down!" Copter shouted. Tails held up something gold and shiny. "Copter! Take this!!" he said, tossing it! Copter caught the object as Tails turned the plane around, getting safely away from Mephiles. "What's this... It's... The other tailband!!" Copter realized. He glanced out at the Tornado and nodded. "You're right... I can't sit this one out..." he said, reaching back and slipping the golden band on his bare tail. "It's time for Super Copter to fly again!" he said, his black fur starting to shine silver as he transformed!

"Do you dare to fight (dare to fight)
Evil's might (evil's might)
I'll be the last one standing,
In a flash of light!
My eyes (my eyes) are filled with curiosity.
You think (you think) that you have power over me?" - With Me, Sonic & the Black Knight

As the two heroes finished their transformations, Mephiles fired a massive energy beam that blew off the top of the mountain! Tails, Knuckles, Dimentime, Amy, Cream, Cheese, SPOT, Punchy, Rainbow, Shadow, Silver, Gemini, Blaze, Marine, Espio, Charmy, Vector, Mighty, Gator, Rouge, Omega, Spiny, Ridley, Big, Froggy, Kosmo, Guard, Heather, Jet, Wave, Storm, Razor, Katie, Mia, Illusi, Classic Sonic, Classic Tails, Classic Knuckles and Classic Amy all watched from below with varying degrees of nervousness. However, when the dust settled, Super Sonic and Super Copter flew up and looked at Temporal Emperor Mephiles smugly. "Nice try, Mephiles. Is it my turn now?" Sonic grinned. Mephiles flourished his cape and roared like the Time Eater, drawing large chunks of the surrounding zones to him with a strange sort of energy. The chunks started to float around like a strange asteroid field, creating obstacles for Sonic and Copter to contend with. "Come, pitiful heroes! I'll take great pleasure in ripping those Chaos Emeralds from your body one by one!" he laughed. Copter shuddered. "Glad I'm not using Chaos Emeralds..." he muttered. "And I'll pull those pathetic tails of yours off by the roots!" Mephiles added. Sonic shrugged and flew at Mephiles, evading broken green buildings from Grand Metropolis and giant slot reels from Casino Night Zone as he charged at the Temporal Emperor's massive head! Mephiles smacked him aside with his scepter, shocking him with a charge of dark energy from it! "Yow! OK, where'd ya go??" Sonic muttered as he tumbled around in the air. Copter flew after Mephiles next, carefully dodging springs and spikes and even a sign post with Robotnik's face on it, all of which had been torn away from wherever they'd come from originally. Mephiles saw him coming and raised his free hand, generating crystal spikes and shooting them at him relentlessly! Copter smacked them aside with his tails, but soon realized that this was a diversion while Mephiles used his staff to manipulate the debris in the area, attempting to crush Copter by flinging several towers from Kingdom Valley at him! Sonic flew into one of the towers at high speed, knocking it off course and creating a gap between them so Copter could dodge them! "Yikes!! Th-thanks, Sonic... That might've hurt..." Copter said, glancing back at where the towers were falling. "Oh, no!!" he yelled. The towers, and some of the other debris, was falling towards their friends below in Green Hill Zone! They all started to scatter in their panic, while Silver attempted to grab some of the falling towers with his psychokinesis. "Arrrgh!! These... are heavy!!" he gasped. "Isn't it all in your head?" Punchy asked him. "That's the PROBLEM!!" Silver groaned. Kosmo morphed into his dragon-like Kosmogon form and tried to destroy some of the objects as they crashed towards the group while Omega tried to blow up some of the smaller debris. However, most of them could only try to take cover. Mephiles cackled at their predicament. "You see now? They are all going to die here, Sonic... You've led them to their death! How does it feel, hero? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!" he laughed. Sonic shook his head. "You won't get away with this! I'm gonna wipe that crooked smirk off your demented face!" he declared.

Hundreds of small, crystal minions surrounded Mephiles, each resembling a twisted facsimile of one of the forms he had taken before! "Finish them!" he ordered, sending the demons out to attack Super Sonic and Super Copter! The creatures were small and weak, but served as distractions while Mephiles prepared other attacks for them. Copter smacked the little creatures with his tails, hesitating as he glanced at one resembling Classic Tails. "Oh, this is a new kind of sick..." he muttered as he shattered it with his tails. Sonic took a moment to collect some rings that were floating around while Mephiles charged energy for an attack. "Copter! Don't forget that your super form needs rings! I know it's been a while for you!" he shouted. "Yeah, yeah..." Copter muttered, only to find Mephiles firing huge blasts of dark energy in his direction! "Aw, quit picking on meeeeee!!!" he yelled, scrambling to get away. The blasts knocked around the debris in the area, sending glittering chunks of Ice Cap and an Eggman statue from one of his recent bases tumbling towards him! "This is all your fault, Eggman!!" Copter yelled, shaking his fist at the statue. Super Sonic charged into Mephiles's face while he was busy attacking Copter, but it seemed to do little other than annoy him into smacking Sonic back! "Pesky insect! I'll swat you next!" he growled, firing a huge, white beam at Sonic from his mouth! Similar to the Time Eater's beam attack, it held Sonic still upon impact, keeping him from fighting back or gathering rings! Copter flew over to Mephiles next and struck his chest with his tails, but Mephiles repelled him with a shockwave of darkness! "Yaaaah!! For crying out loud! We can't hit this guy!" Copter growled. Mephiles stopped firing the beam from his mouth and slapped Copter away, but his attention was suddenly diverted from Sonic and Copter as someone else started shooting at him! "What's that? Who else has a death wish?" he chuckled. Sonic and Copter glanced to see the blue Tornado flying nearby, with Dimentime in the pilot's seat! "I've got your backs, guys! Hey, Mephiles!! Care for some sunlight in this dreary world of yours?" he shouted, pointing his staff and shining a bright light at Mephiles's face! "Arrrgh!! You impudent fool!! You will wish you never left your world!" Mephiles growled. Something else hurtled down from above next, smacking Mephiles on top of the head! It was a blue ball. "Oh, geez..." Copter said, covering his eyes. Classic Sonic had managed to climb up the falling debris and make it to Mephiles, not wanting to be left out of the fight! "You pesky blue nuisance... Now I have you!!" Mephiles growled, trying to grab Classic Sonic in his free hand! Classic Sonic jumped and weaved, dodging the giant hand gracefully while sticking out his tongue and teasing him. "Hold still, you arrogant gnat!!" Mephiles roared. Super Sonic flew over and rammed into Mephiles a few times during the distraction, frustrating him into summoning more minions to keep them busy! Fortunately, Dimentime flew the Tornado in to give Classic Sonic a place to jump to. "Hop on, you idiot!" he grumbled. Classic Sonic ran for the plane, jumping to the wing. However, this was Mephiles's chance! He smacked the plane with his scepter, knocking it into a spin, and snatched Classic Sonic in his free hand, squeezing him in his grip! "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh, how priceless!! You came so far, helped by your past self... you never once imagined he would be your downfall!!" he said, laughing manically as he squeezed Classic Sonic tighter, making him grit his teeth in pain! Super Sonic tumbled backward, clutching his stomach as Mephiles harmed his past self. "W-what's happening...?" he gasped. Copter flew over to him and glanced at Classic Sonic. "It's just like Dimentime said... Your past self is being removed from the picture... and as a result, so are you! He's killing you both at once!" he realized. The Tornado continued to spin out, and Dimentime simply jumped out of it. "There's just one chance... I'll need all the power this staff... this wand can muster!!" he thought, tapping into the staff's power and causing it to glow, turning and touching it to his tailband as he fell in midair. "I hope this works..." he murmured, shutting his eyes tight as the energy transferred to his tailband, and then his tailband enveloped him in a bright light! He stopped falling and emerged with his black fur now glowing a soft gold color, not as bright as Sonic, but he had achieved his own super form with just one tailband! He'd become Super Dimentime!

Classic Sonic struggled in Temporal Emperor Mephiles's grip, while below the others were faced with armies of Mephiles's monsters and the Lost Ones! Debris was still falling as well, although not as much while Mephiles was distracted. Lospecter chuckled to himself while he watched everyone battle with his minions. "Anybody dead yet? Oooh, I got it! I spy with my little eye..." he said, only to have Amy's hammer tossed through him! "You'll want to wash tha-- hey, where'd you get another one so fast!?" he gasped, staring at her. "Shut up, you disgusting ghoul! I hope Sonic comes down when he's done and kicks your...um...tail!" she shouted. Bucky was watching the action from Shadow Arcangel, which was flying low and trying to avoid the debris as much as possible. "We have to do something... But I'm not sure the Flickies can fix all this damage with their energy alone..." he worried. Tommy stared out the window and nodded. "Fine... Hook me up!" he said. Cream's mother and Team GeneX all gasped, but then Cream's mom nodded. "Me as well! I'll do what I can... To protect Cream..." she said. Bucky shook his head. "I'm not sure it'll work..." he sighed, glancing out the window, "But... perhaps if you're willing... we'd better give it a try." he said. Back in the sky, Super Sonic flickered and started fading, but Super Copter and Super Dimentime wouldn't give up! They flew after Mephiles, smashing his crystalline minions as they went, but he started firing dark energy blasts from his staff at them! "You cannot stop me!! It's too late!" he roared. Dimentime snickered and teleported around the shots with his magic while Copter dodged them, staring jealously. "You...do nothing...but cheat!" he growled. "Can't build momentum this way! Get ready to attack, Copter!" Dimentime shouted. He used his magic to shine a light in Mephiles's eyes, blinding him so Copter could move in and strike! He built up speed and slammed his tails into Mephiles's hand, loosening his grip on Classic Sonic! Dimentime then turned and added his own tail whip, loosening the grip further so Classic Sonic could wriggle free! "Noooo!! Get back here!!" Mephiles growled in frustration as he dropped the blue hedgehog! Classic Sonic started trying to run in midair, panicked as he fell, but Copter quickly caught him! "I got ya, chubby!" he said, prompting Classic Sonic to chuckle awkwardly. Unfortunately, Copter suddenly began to fall as well as his fur started turning black again! "Wh-what!? Oh, no!! I didn't grab any rings!!" he gasped, spinning his tails to carry Classic Sonic to the nearest safe place he could get to. Mephiles cackled, his twisted grin widening as they dropped away from him. "Back down to two... But I still possess all the time in the universe!!" he sneered, charging his scepter again! Super Sonic flew over to Dimentime, now back to normal and ready to rejoin the fight. "Not sure how long my ring energy will hold after that... We'd better end this quick!" Sonic said. Dimentime looked around. "His scepter... It seems to be the source of his power!" he noted. He then pointed his staff at Super Sonic. "All right! Let's do this, Sonic!!" he said, casting a powerful spell over the hedgehog! They both started to fly at Mephiles, Sonic leading the way as Dimentime followed, feeding him power from his staff! Sonic began to glow brighter, his fur shining in a rainbow of flashing colors as he ascended to a more powerful form! "Now!! You're ready!! Go for it, Hyper Sonic!!" Dimentime shouted. "Prepare to DIE!!! Your universe is MINE!!!" Temporal Emperor Mephiles roared, firing an intense burst of dark energy from his scepter, which seemed to draw chunks of the nearby zones to it in an effort to smash Hyper Sonic and Super Dimentime! They charged into the blast, caring little as the remains of skyscrapers and mountains closed in on them! A massive explosion of rubble and darkness obscured Sonic and Dimentime from everyone's view, and they gasped, but no one gave up. "You can do it, Sonic!!" "Fight on, Copter!!" "Don't give up!!" It was unclear if they could hear the cheers, but they soon emerged, protected by a force field Dimentime had created with his magic! It had cracked, and soon shattered as they forced their way through the dark energy Mephiles continued to fire at them, but they continued to fly straight for his scepter, and soon, with a mighty crash, Hyper Sonic slammed through the clock face at the end of the scepter!! "NOOOOOO!!!!" Mephiles shrieked as Dimentime whipped his tails across his chest, cracking his crystal body! "St-stooooop!!!" Mephiles roared. Lospecter watched this and frowned. "Ooookay... I'm outta here." he frowned, flying off into the distance. Meanwhile, Shadow Arcangel took off into the sky, charging its restoration beam for one more use! Inside, Cream's mom, Tommy, Vortex and Crash were wearing helmets hooked up to the machine as well as the Flickies, with Zipp flying and Bucky managing the Era Restoration Generator itself. "If it hurts, um... try to... well... don't bite your tongue, that probably won't end well." Bucky warned. "Don't touch my hat if I die!" Crash yelled to Zipp. Cream's mom looked at Tommy worriedly and held his hand. "Don't listen to them, honey... It'll be all right..." she said hopefully. Bucky nodded. "Well, keep your fingers crossed. We're low on ring energy in this ship, so I'll have to improvise..." he said, turning to one of the Arcangel's power generators and firing bolts of electricity from his fingers at it! "Grrrrr!! FIRE, Zipp!!" he shouted. As Hyper Sonic and Super Dimentime made a few more cracks in Mephiles, who created some weak shockwaves to fight back but otherwise seemed to be losing power, Shadow Arcangel fired its restoration beam straight at him first, and he shrieked loudly as he seemed to vanish into thin air! Shadow Arcangel then set to work on the maze, restoring the damage with each blast of its beam. As it struck the Master Emerald shrine, all the pieces of Angel Island seemed to fly over to return to it, restoring the island to normal before returning it to its time, and similar effects occurred when each other location was hit as well! Sonic found Copter and Classic Sonic standing on the broken top of the Green Hill mountain, and once he landed there, he reverted to his normal form. "Whew... I hope I'm done with the emeralds this time." he said. Classic Sonic smiled sheepishly at him. "Hey, no hard feelings. I woulda done the same thing... In fact, I think I remember doing that..." Modern Sonic mumbled thoughtfully, hi-fiving his past self. Super Dimentime hovered over to the ledge, waving to Copter. "Hey! Good job, uh... me! Hey... how come your super form's gold?" Copter asked. Dimentime shrugged. "I have to go now, buddy. Stay outta trouble... well, time-trouble. Farewell, Copter... See you in the past." he said, vanishing in a small burst of light before Copter's eyes. Copter waved a bit sadly. "Yeah... Fancy way of saying never again..." he sighed.

As the world returned to normal, everyone found themselves standing just a few feet away from the setup for Sonic's birthday party, which was miraculously undisturbed! Some of the guests started to head back over there, while many of the others started to head home, being exhausted from the long series of time traveling adventures. Copter wandered over to the party table and grabbed a chili dog, though he quickly grabbed a drink after taking a bite. "Uggh!! How can Sonic eat these things!?" he groaned. "I can eat 50 after all that. There isn't enough food here." Punchy muttered, having walked over to join Copter. "Hey, One? Two? Where are we, anyway? How will we find home??" Rainbow asked worriedly. Copter sighed. "I know the way, Rainbow." he said. Nearby, Sonic was walking back to the party with Tails. "I'm so sorry, Sonic... This was the worst party ever..." he sighed. "That's what I said!" Gator remarked from nearby. Tails sighed even more miserably. "I wanted it to be great, but all those bad guys showed up and made it really crummy..." he said. Sonic chuckled. "Are you kidding!? I loved it! Not only did I get to see all my old pals, but I got to go on a sweet adventure! I mean, come on, it's not really a party until Eggman shows up!" he joked. Tails chuckled. "Next time maybe I'll invite him... It's less messy that way." he chuckled. Nearby, Shadow Arcangel had landed once again, and Bucky was lining up the past selves in front of the ship while Cream's mom and Tommy reunited with their families. "Let's see if Vortex and Zipp can do this themselves... We're going to send you four home, all right?" he said. Classic Tails nodded. "Sorry to trouble you, mister. We're not sure how to get back now." he said. The restoration beam fired once more, creating a time portal to Collision Chaos. "That's one..." Bucky said. Classic Amy hurried to the portal. "See you soon, Sonic!" she winked, making Classic Sonic gag. With an adjustment, the portal became Ice Cap. Classic Knuckles headed through it. "Stay outta trouble, Sonic... As if!" he chuckled. Classic Sonic stuck out his tongue at him as he went through the portal. Lastly, the portal changed to Green Hill Zone. "Let's go!" Classic Tails said. Bucky stopped him. "You, too?" he asked. Classic Tails nodded. "I wandered a bit from there without Sonic when we got to that white world, but yeah. Why?" he asked. Bucky shrugged. "Don't want to mess up time by sending you to the wrong place." Classic Sonic gave him a thumb's up, and the pair disappeared into the portal. Just then, the beam fizzled out, and due to the sparks flying from the ship, Bucky surmised that it wasn't because it was deactivated. "Hmmm... Maybe the Flickies turned into eggs again?" he said, "I think this machine is scrap, either way... They're all right, it skews too... Robotnik..." he muttered.


A dimension away, back at white space, Dr. Eggman and Dr. Robotnik were still trapped. After wandering the endless whiteness for a bit, Eggman rested and growled at Robotnik. "Are you sure you saw a door over here?" he asked. Robotnik hobbled over. "What?!? YOU were the one who said you saw a door over here!" he protested. Eggman stood up. "Well, I know it was one of us. Shut up and keep looking!" he ordered. They argued a bit longer before resuming their search. However, they proved unsuccessful and ended up lying on the ground exhausted before long. Robotnik glanced over at Eggman after a while resting. "What time is it?" he asked. Eggman started to sit up. "It's the exact same time as when you asked earlier, and it will be the exact same time when you ask later. There IS no time here!!" he shouted in annoyance. Robotnik sat up as well. "Let me just say that this was a brilliant plan that YOU came up with." he said smugly. "Don't get too self-righteous. It'll be your plan pretty soon!" Eggman replied, pointing at him angrily. "I'm going to dedicate the rest of my life to forgetting it." Robotnik whispered. "I heard that!!" Eggman shouted back. Robotnik stood up and decided to change the subject. "Do we ever win?" he asked. Eggman climbed up and considered the question. "That depends on your definition of 'win.'" he said. "Beating Sonic." Robotnik replied. Eggman smiled awkwardly. "There are times when we come close! Very, very close indeed!" he answered. Robotnik raised an eyebrow. "So... No?" he said. Eggman frowned and fell silent as Robotnik sighed. "That doesn't give me much hope. Maybe I'll go back and get my teaching degree." he said, stroking his moustache thoughtfully. Eggman's face lit up. "That's not a bad idea! I've always enjoyed telling people what to do." he grinned. Robotnik shook his head hopelessly. "By the way, Dr. Eggman... What time is it?" he asked, making Eggman's smile fade away as he growled in frustration. They weren't the only ones trapped in white space, either. Slash, Sting, Char and Alpha sat nearby watching them argue, and a distance away, someone else had actually found a door. It was Eggman Nega and Gunner, having been broken out of Dimentime's prison by Spy. "Well, there's a door, guys. Think it'll take us home?" Spy asked. Eggman Nega chuckled. "By all means, why don't you open it and check it out?" he suggested. Gunner rolled his eyes. "You fools can't do anything right. I'll check out this door!" he said, stepping over to the doorway and pushing it open with a little help from Spy. They glanced through the doorway and saw the interior of some sort of building. "That place looks familiar somehow... Spy, do you remember this place--" Suddenly, a giant lizard head peeked through the doorway. It was the Biolizard! It screeched loudly at them before drawing its head back through the door, and that was enough to cause both Gunner and Spy to pass out! Eggman Nega looked spooked as well, and hurried to close the door. "NOT home... But perhaps I can recalibrate this door using what's left of my Egg Timer or something... And then we can get out of here..." he said, glancing around. "Well, I can get out of here. Not sure if the rest of you are worth it... Eheh..." he muttered. Far from all of them, the cog-shaped platforms where the confrontation with the Time Eater took place were still there. Out of the portal, a black shadow seeped out. "This isn't over... I'll have my revenge..." Mephiles grunted weakly, his power greatly diminished after narrowly escaping. A pair of blood red shoes stepped in front of the black shadow, the hooded figure of the Doomsayer looming over him! "You... Why are you... here?" Mephiles hissed. The Doomsayer said nothing, but reached his hand towards Mephiles, hail pellets starting to fall as the black shadow tried to recoil from him. "What are you...? No!! Stop! Release me!! Aaaaaah!! Unhand... me!! N-NOOOOOO!!!!" Mephiles shrieked, his own shadowy form being drawn into the Doomsayer's body! "The power of time... will now be mine alone!" he whispered as Mephiles vanished from existence, completely absorbed by him! His golden eyes briefly flashed a dark purple, and the Doomsayer began to vanish into a time portal to leave white space. "Farewell, Mephiles the Dark." he hissed.


As the party began to draw to a close, Copter yawned while sitting under the tree. Tails approached him, and he nodded. "Yeah, here's your tailband. Thanks, Tails." he said, handing the golden band back to him. Tails took it and smiled. "Uh, yeah, but that's not why I'm here. I know it's Sonic's party and all, but I wanted to give YOU something." he said, handing Copter a gift wrapped package. Copter stared in surprise. "Huh??" he muttered. "Well... I don't know when your birthday is. I don't remember the cloning process, hehe..." he said. Copter took the package shyly. "A... present for me?" he murmured, not sure how to react. Tails nodded. "Open it!" he said. Copter glanced at him and slowly tore the paper, his eyes widening as he saw what was inside. It was a picture frame, but it was the picture framed that shocked him. It was himself, Kosmo, Razor, Mia, Vector, Chip and Dimentime in Shamar! A tear came to his eye, and a chuckle to his lips. "Chip, you little genius... Thank you, Tails." he said, giving the yellow fox a hug as he started chuckling even more. "What went through your mind when that picture developed?" he asked. Tails giggled. "Sonic did a spit take!" he recalled. Just then, Sonic ran over. "Spit take? When did I do a...? Hey! It's that... Oooooh, you know what? I STILL don't get that picture!!" he said, holding his head. Copter laughed loudly and glanced at Dimentime in the photo, standing beside him and leaning gently against his staff with a smug expression. "Thanks for everything, Dimentime. We'll be sure to make the future a good one." he said. Sonic yawned loudly. "Well, better get goin'. Gotta rest up for a new year! Thanks for coming, Copter." he said. Copter nodded. "Happy Birthday, Sonic!" he smiled.

"Joined at the hip, yeah your sidekick needs you.
Life is a trip down the road that leads you.
Look all around at all the mountains you haven't climbed.
It's just a matter of time, before we learn how to fly.
Welcome to the rhythm of the night.
There's something in the air you can't deny.
It's been fun but now I've got to go.
Life is way too short to take it slow.
But before I go and hit the road, I gotta know, 'til then, when can we do this again? 
Oh oh oh oh, When can I see you again? Oh oh oh oh, When can we do this again? 
Oh oh oh oh, I gotta know, when can I see you again?" - Owl City, When Can I See You Again?

Sonic the Hedgehog 20th Anniversary - 6/23/2011
Happy Birthday, Sonic!

The End!