Sonic The Hedgehog x My Little Pony: The Final Act - Part 1: Back to the Multiverse

by BronySonicFan

5. Back to Green Hills

Dr. Eggman was doing something he hasn't in a long time: Visiting his parents' graves.

In all honesty, Eggman never knew his parents died until at least 3 or 4 years after they did so, and he found out about this because he wanted to check on them, just to see if they hated him as much as the rest of his family now that he is an evil genius... When his uncle told him they died, he immediately hung up the call.

After that, Eggman never bothered to look for their grave in the next years. Heck, he didn't even cried their death: He honestly never cared, because they never cared for him either, so why he had to?

Today, however... Something impulsed him to look after their grave and pay them one last visit before taking over the world. After all, if he was going to make his Eggman Empire, the least he could do was pay the few respect he had left to his parents on their graves.

So, after a quick research online, making sure Sage wouldn't find out, Eggman was now walking through the graveyard where his parents were buried.

He walked through this graveyard for quite a while, because he only researched in which graveyard they were buried, not in which position exactly. Still, after walking around for about 30 minutes, he finally found the place they were buried, as he read the inscription of their graves...

'Bertha Kintobor: Beloved Wife, friend and mother. 1925 - 2014' and 'Ivo Kintobor: Beloved Husband, friend and father. 1923 - 2014'.

They looked like simple graves for anyone else... But for Eggman? They looked like a bunch of garbage, lies printed in a piece of stone.

His mother was horrible. She never had a soft spot for him, and she always believed that his inventions were a waste of time and space in the house, to the point they were the reason why she ended up kicking him off the house, just 2 months before he entered college.

His father was a bit more understandable, at least at first. He didn't found his inventions mind-blowing, but he did recognized that they were impressive.

However, and despite the fact that he supported Eggman with money for a few years until he graduated college, one day he simply stopped talking to him. Of course, Eggman had a huge grudge against his father after that, although a very, very, very small part of him believes that his mom made him cut contact.

Whatever the case was, he can't find out anymore, because they were both dead now, buried in front of him... And he didn't felt anything.

No sadness, no anger, no remorse, not even a single tear fell from his eyes... He simply felt nothing. Probably so many years of hating his parents made him like this: A man that doesn't really cares for his family in general... At least, he didn't cared until Sage came to his life.

Perhaps that's why he came here in the first place... Now that he's a father as well, he wanted to pay one last visit to his parents before never visit them again ever.

"...Mom... Dad..." Eggman muttered. "...I don't even know why I'm here... But I guess a part of me feels sorry for not having visited you before... I never had a reason to, honestly, but... I have Sage now... I guess I wanted to let you know that I'm a father now... I know you always wanted grandchildren, Dad... A part of me wishes you could have met her..."

Of course, there was no vocal reply... But the wind blew by and hit Eggman, like if someone was hugging him or telling him that things were going to be fine.

Eggman never felt something like that before... But it brought him an incredible amount of peace. He still hated his parents, specially his mother, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon... But he still had a soft spot for his dad, and he felt that the wind was actually his father, telling him everything was fine...

"...Thanks, Dad..." Eggman muttered with a little smile. "I know you wouldn't be proud of my actions... I know you weren't... But I also know you'll be happy to know I have someone to love and care for beyond myself... I hope you still feel proud of me because of that."

After saying this, he turned to see his mother's grave with a frown.

"...Mom... We never came to good terms, and you died without previous warning... But I hope you took good care of Dad." Eggman said. "You're dead now, but... I know that you once did loved me, even if you never showed it to me... I hope I can forgive you one day, even if I can't tell you that."

After saying this, Eggman let out a sigh, then slightly rosed the top of his father's gravestone, and then decided to leave, since he felt he had no business in this place anymore.

However, as he walked out of the graveyard and got on his Eggmobile, it started to rain, and Eggman looked up at the sky... Before Sage, he never cried anyone's death, because he really never cared for others... Today, however, and for the first time ever, he felt tears falling down through his cheeks.

He wanted to be cold-hearted and act like if he didn't gave a damn about his parents' death... But every child has to cry their part at some point, no matter the kind of relationship they had with them.

And that's exactly what Eggman was doing right now: For the first time ever, he cried the death of his parents, the two responsible ones to bring him to this world, the two people that either despised his creations or found them impressive... The two people he most hated in the world.

Today, Dr. Eggman became Ivo Robotnik again, and just for this time, he allowed himself to cry, because he really wanted to talk with his dad and apologize for so many things...

Yet, his chance to do so was long over, he won't see him ever again... And that's what hurt him the most...

In the middle of a forest, near Green Hills, a portal suddenly opened.

This portal was white, big, and very stable. And then, from said portal, Tails, Knuckles and Amy stepped out, looking around to make sure that not only the portal worked, but also that it sent them back to Green Hills.

"Flickies flying around, cuckies eating from the ground, and pockies jumping happily..." Tails analyzed their surroundings, before smiling and then turn around to shout at the portal. "The portal worked!"

After saying this, Team Dark stepped outside of the portal as well, although Omega twirled his head around since he felt a bit dizzy. And after them, the Mane 6 sins Sunny and Sparky crossed the portal as well, as they looked amazed around their surroundings.

"So this is Green Hills?" Hitch asked with amusement.

"Nah, this is just a forest." Knuckles said with a bored expression, before he, Amy and Team Dark walked a bit ahead, while Tails looked at the ponies and baby dragon with a smile and moved his hand, indicating them to follow.

So, the ponies did so, and when they approached the border of a cliff, they all gasped with dropped jaws and amazed expression, because they finally understood why this place was called Green Hills:

As far as the eye could see, a gigantic field blessed with greenery and beautiful blue lakes stretched out. This was a mountainous area with massive mountains, steep cliffs, giant peaks, and narrow paths high up in the sky supported by natural pillars. The place is filled with great views of waterfalls, palm trees, and tropical flora of various kinds. The soil is a checkered brown, and most of the local plant life appears to have unfamiliar geometric appearances.

A series of dark brown caves could also be seen below, with small lakes and pools of water, as well as artificial structures made of wood, such as bridges, fences, totem poles, and scaffold-like buildings. And there were also the floating stamina rings, spread all across the environment.

"OMP!" Pipp exclaimed first after the ponies admired the whole placement, before looking over at Tails. "This is where Sonic and you grew up as kids?!"

"Just a part of it!" Tails replied with a smile. "You guys wait until you see the sandy beaches!"

"I can't believe Sonic barely talked about this... Is really beautiful!" Izzy said with a smile.

"I still believe my Island is more impressive... But I honestly can't really complain about Green Hills, either." Knuckles said with a smile and his arms crossed. "This place has its own beauty as well."

"Well, can't say I was expecting something this impressive..." Zipp confessed with a smirk. "I wonder why you guys rarely mentioned it beyond Sonic's first adventure."

"Well, Green Hills is our home, but Equestria is too." Tails said with a sheepish smile, before looking ahead at his home with concern. "I guess we didn't wanted you guys to think we wanted to leave if we ever talked about it..."

Of course, bringing that subject again was delicate, and no one really wanted to talk about that, so they all stood quiet for a few minutes.

Tails was telling the truth. He really didn't wanted to talk about this place because he knew his pony friends and his girlfriend too well: They'll believe the Mobians want to go back home, when that's far from the reality. They all loved Equestria, and wanted to stay there as long as possible.

On the other hand, Zipp, Pipp and Izzy hated this subject, because bringing it up establishes the idea that they have to say goodbye to their boyfriends. Maybe not forever, but they didn't knew for how long, either.

Hitch and Misty didn't wanted them to leave, either, specially because they're all good friends at this point. Knuckles hated the idea as well, because meeting Izzy is one of the best things that ever happened to him... He didn't wanted to give that up. Amy really loved Equestria as well.

As for Team Dark? Omega knew he wouldn't see the Pippsqueaks again, and it really made him feel down, and Rouge was part-neutral, while Shadow was conflicted on the idea.

Meeting Sunny made him open up in areas he never thought he'll ever open again, but he did, and all thanks to the Earth Pony mare. Shadow really disliked the idea of having to say goodbye one day to her, but he also knew that Mobius still needed to be protected, since he promised Maria he'll do so.

Staying in the world with the pony that changed your live forever for the second time, or stay in the world you swore to protect long time ago? It was a very difficult decision.

Still, Shadow shook his head and turned to see the others. "Tails!" He called out, and the young fox turned to face him. "We need to keep moving, but what about the portal?"

"Oh, that? Well, since it's staying stable, and since it is inside the Brighthouse that we closed entirely before leaving, I put the portal to stay open for about 2 weeks." Tails explained. "I know that I probably exaggerated with how long it should stay open, but you never know!"

"Are you sure that the portal is going to stay open and stable?" Rouge questioned. "That's kind of dangerous, you know?"

However, Omega decided to scan the portal by himself to test this theory, and he verified that, indeed, the portal was stable, at least so far.

"My sensors detect that the portal will remain stable the established time." Omega informed. "We have nothing to worry about."

"Let me doubt it..." Shadow muttered with concern and his arms crossed. "Anyway. We should keep moving. Whatever Eggman is up to, it can't be good!"

"Right!" Amy agreed. "We can show you guys around later if you want. First? We gotta look where Eggman is and stop him before he does whatever he has in store this time around!"

"But where do we look?" Misty questioned. "I say this because we literally just arrived and have no idea on where to look first, you know?"

"Eggman has multiple factories across the planet." Tails pointed out, also rubbing his chin. "None of them are hidden, probably because Eggman likes to fight Sonic from time to time, even if he will never admit it. Still, trying to find Eggman in one of his factories would be like looking for a needle in a thousand haystacks..."

"He has that many factories?" Pipp questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Where do you think he got all that machinery?" Knuckles asked with a bored expression.

"Then why don't we limit it?" Zipp suggested. "Eggman may have many factories, but he can't be hiding in all of them, right?"

"Yeah! Why don't limit it to the few factories he frequents whenever he's working on his machines?" Hitch pointed out with a little smile.

"Hmm... That could work..." Tails confessed, as he took out his Miles Electric.

Thankfully, the satellite system he had on Mobius was still working just fine, and he decided to use said system to locate all the factories in Mobius, before limit them to just five factories, the five that Eggman visits the most.

"I have them down: Two here in Green Hills, one near Casino Night, another one near Oil Ocean, these two last in West Side Island, and the last one seems to be 300 miles away from Station Square." Tails instructed.

"Hmm... I think we should all split up and head towards different factories." Knuckles stated.

"We need to make groups of five." Tails stated as well. "Zipp, Misty: You two are with me; we'll head to Ocean Oil in West Side Island. Knuckles and Izzy: You two go to the factory at Green Hills' north."

"Copy that!" Knuckles said, before grabbing Izzy and then boost away towards the north.

"Pipp and Amy, you cover the factory of the south!" Tails kept informing.

"Aye, aye, captain!" Amy said with a smile, as Pipp nodded in agreement, while they both headed towards the south.

"Hitch and Omega, you'll come with us to West Side Island, but you'll take charge of Casino Night!" Tails added.

"Understood!" Hitch said with a salute.

"Let's get us a Dr. Eggman!" Omega stated, before Hitch and Sparky got on Omega's back, as they took fly and headed towards West Side Island in their own.

"Didn't he heard when you said they'll come with us?" Misty questioned, while Zipp looked confused at the sky, and the Mobians deadpanned.

"Nah, that's just Omega being Omega..." Shadow replied, then he looked at Rouge. "Guess that'll leaves the factory near Station Square for us."

"Precisely!" Tails said, before turning on his watch to talk with Knuckles, Amy and Omega. "If any of you find Eggman's location, inform it immediately so we can all head towards said place!"

"Roger that!" Amy informed.

"Understood." Omega replied as well.

"I still don't get it... Who's Roger?" Knuckles asked confused.

"Sonic's voice actor..." Tails replied with a bored expression, before shaking his head. "Now's not the time to 'brake the fourth wall' jokes, Knux! We have work to do!"

After saying this, Shadow and Rouge went on their own towards Station Square, while Tails, Zipp and Misty moved on their own as well.

In Eggman's Fabric, at the North of Green Hills, he was finishing some details.

His new badniks were a combination of the regular ones he's been using for the past 23 years, but they also looked like the ones from Ivo (Dr. Eggman from Universe 081114).

Soon, Eggman was laughing loudly and like a maniac, while Sage at his side looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Uh... Father? Why are you so happy now?"

"Because my army is finally complete!" Eggman said, as he approached on his Eggmobile to one of the many new badniks, specifically to an Egg Pawn. "These new models are reinforced with the magical properties from the Crystals I extracted from Bridlewood, which means that they're almost indestructible!"

Then, he moved over to look at the Buzzers and Buzz Bombers.

"My new flying badniks are fully charged with bullets so fast that can almost brake Sonic and Shadow's realm of speed!" Eggman said happily with a huge grin, before moving towards a small group of Moto Bugs. "And finally, the culmination of my life: Human-shaped robots that can throw lasers from their eyes and be a match on a 1v1 fight with Knuckles!"

After explaining all of this, Eggman started to laugh loudly like a maniac, something that Sage never understood why he always did, and probably will never understand, either.

On the other hand, Orbot and Cubot arrived with her. "Don't mind the boss, little sister. He's always like this." Orbot said with a bored expression.

"But you gotta admit that his laugh has gotten better and more sinister over the years!" Cubot said cheerfully.

"Why, thank you, Cubot!" Eggman said with a huge grin. "That has to be the best compliment you have given me so far!"

"But father, there's still something I don't get..." Sage informed. "I'm still willing to help you fulfill your dream of making your Empire... But I need to ask: Why are you doing it?"

After saying this, Eggman's eyes widened, and he slowly started to smile widely.

"Oh boy..." Cubot muttered with wide eyes and concern.

"Sister, what have you done?!" Orbot exclaimed loudly in panic.

"Uh... What?" Sage asked confused. "Did I... Did I said something wrong?"

However, soon Eggman started to slowly laugh like a maniac again, which only confused Sage even more.

"He's gonna do that, isn't he?" Cubot asked in fear.

"I'm afraid so..." Orbot replied with concern.

"No, seriously: What the heck did I do?!" Sage asked.

As soon as the music started, Sage looked around confused, and when lights illuminated the place they were in, she understood even less.

And then, the badniks behind turned on, but instead of doing their function of being, well, badniks... They all started to dance in sync to the music, which was the final string for Sage to loose the little patience she had left.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Sage shouted loudly this time.

"You wonder why I do this, don't you dear?!" Eggman asked, standing on a platform and wearing a cup hat, as well as holding a walking stick.

"Uh... Yes? But what does any of this has to do with it?" Sage asked, still feeling confused.

"This is everything, my dear!" Eggman replied happily. "Finally, after 10 books, it's my turn to sing!"

Sage's eyes widened after hearing this, and so, she turned to Orbot. "So that's why you're scared..."

Orbot only nodded with concern.

During the whole musical number, the badniks kept dancing around in sync at the music, while Eggman twirled around his stick, and for the final slide, he slid on the floor over his knees, making this way the end of the entire musical number he made.

Of course, he was panting heavily after making the entire number, but Sage, Orbot and Cubot stared confused at him with raised eyebrows.

"Uh... I'm sorry, father, but I'm still lost..." Sage confessed.

After this, Eggman and all the badniks behind him deadpanned at Sage. Even Eggman's mustache flattened after hearing this, so he stood up, threw the hat and stick away and looked down at Sage.

"The world doesn't understands nor appreciates my inventions, so I will make them!" Eggman replied with a frown. "Is simple, dear. Nothing to write home about."

After saying this, he walked away, and all the badniks positioned back on their places and turned off, but Sage looked concerned at Eggman after hearing that last thing.

"He's doing this because of approval..." Sage realized with wide eyes. "But I thought my approval would be enough..."

"Oh, don't blame yourself for this, sister." Orbot told Sage. "The boss just... He tried for years to get people's attention by the legal way, but they never showed him any appreciation."

"That's why he tried to obtain the power of the Chaos Emeralds for so long, but he never managed to use their power." Cubot added with concern. "His anger and hate is just the result of his frustration for approval. He has done horrible things, he has killed critters while trying to make his badniks, and he even annihilated Sonic's whole family... But it wasn't personal until he started to interfere with his plans."

"The boss only wants a world more advanced in technology, but people refuse to give him that." Orbot explained. "That's why he's so obsessed with the Eggman Empire idea."

After learning all of this, Sage looked back to Eggman, who was now near a computer, as he prepared all the commands for the new badniks.

Now she understood why Eggman wanted to defeat Sonic so badly: It was more than just prove to be better, it was to show he had enough power, it was to feel appreciated, to feel he was worth something... His methods were wrong, true, but he crossed so many lines already that he doesn't seem to care anymore.

Still, she promised to help him fulfill his dream, and she was going to... But she was also going to show him the appreciation he always wanted, no matter how much it would cost her.

However, as she floated towards Eggman and prepared to talk, the alarms of the whole factory started to sound loudly, which startled the doctor, his daughter and his minions. So, Sage teleported to Eggman's side, and her eyes turned digital for a second as she checked on something.

Once she finished, she came back to reality with a frown.

"What's the matter, dear?" Eggman asked her with concern.

"We have intruders!" Sage said with anger, before extending her arm to the screen os Eggman's computer and show him the images.

Knuckles was using his super strength and his electrical powers to smash the door that accessed to te fabric, while Izzy behind him used her magic to blast the badniks trying to attack them and stop them of entering to the building.

Of course, Eggman growled in anger, and one of his eyes twitched. "Those stupid fools! After a whole year of peace, they had to show up RIGHT WHEN I'M STARTING MY WORLD DOMINATION?!" He pulled his mustache in anger.

"Not if we can stop them!" Sage stated, then she snapped her fingers, and after a flashlight, the Egg Beater appeared.

"Ohohoho! I like the way you think, dear!" Eggman said with a grin, before turning to Orbot and Cubot on the ground. "Orbot, Cubot. You two stay in here and watch over the badniks while Sage and I deal with those two!"

"Yes, boss!" Orbot and Cubot both said with salutes.

"Sage: Let's go kick some ass!" Eggman stated to his daughter with a confident grin.

Sage nodded with a smile, then Eggman entered with his Eggmobile on the Egg Beater, and then they both headed towards the factory's entrance to face off Knuckles and Izzy.

Meanwhile outside of said factory, Knuckles was punching the entrance like if his life depended on it.

Behind him, Izzy was blasting all the badniks she could with her horn, as she grunted in anger and panted a bit exhausted, but she wasn't planning on stopping any time soon. After all, if they were being attacked by badniks, it only meant that Eggman was in this fabric.

"This is Knuckles. Anyone copy me?!" Knuckles said on his watch, while he charged another punch to the door.

"Tails here!"

"Amy here!"

"Omega here!"

"Shadow here!"

"We found Eggman! He's here, on the Green Hills' North Factory!" Knuckles informed. "Or any of you also got attacked by badniks on the factories you guys arrived?!"

"No!" Tails was the first one to reply. "Misty, Zipp and I just got to Oil Ocean's factory, but this place is empty!"

"Same here with South Green Hills'!" Amy replied.

"Casino Night Zone's Factory is empty as well." Omega informed.

"Same goes to Station Square's!" Shadow said. "You are being attacked, Knuckles?!"

"Almost!" Knuckles replied. "Izzy is blasting them away with her magic, but she won't last long. We need reinforcements!"

"Hang on, Knux! And you too, Izzy!" Amy shouted. "Pipp and I are the closest ones. We're heading there right now, just hold on a bit longer!"

Just then, Izzy finally blasted away the last couple of badniks, before falling on her knees exhausted, something that Knuckles noticed.

However, before he could go with her and help her to stand up, the doors of the factory were exploded, and Knuckles got sent backwards, landing on his back right besides Izzy, who looked at him with concern and wide eyes, before turning around and then feel panicked.

Eggman, on his Egg Beater, and Sage were right in front of them, both ready to kick them away.

"Well, well, well!" Eggman mocked up with a sinister laugh. "Look what we have here, Sage: A pair of idiots that compensate their failures through anger!"

Knuckles slowly sat down and groaned in pain, also rubbing his butt, while Izzy frowned in anger and made her horn sparkle.

When Knuckles noticed Eggman and Sage as well, he frowned too, and slowly stood up. "Guys... You might all wanna come here... Because Eggman and Sage are up for one hell of a fight..." He informed through his watch.

"What?!" Tails and Amy's voice spoke in concern.

"Hang on there, Knucklehead!" Rouge spoke now. "We're on our way!"

"Just kick their asses while we get there!" Hitch spoke next with concern for his friends.

"Oh, don't worry, Sheriff!" Knuckles replied with a grin, also cracking his knuckles. "I was planning on doing that anyways!"

"Oh, so you guys wanna dance?!" Eggman asked with a laugh, before preparing the Egg beater to fight. "Well, too bad I'm gonna wipe the floor with your bodies!"

"You'll regret having come here!" Sage stated with anger, raising her hand that glowed with the energy of the Phantom Ruby her body was made of.

"Wanna dance with me, Knuckie?" Izzy asked Knuckles with a smirk, but also glaring daggers at the two villains in front.

"Oh, you bet I freaking do, honey!" Knuckles replied with joy, also licking his lips.

And so, Knuckles and Izzy moved towards Eggman and Sage, with the pair of villains doing the same against the echidna and the Unicorn mare.

First off, we have Knuckles vs Eggman: The echidna warrior jumped in the air and slid over the Egg Beater's left raised arm, before aiming his punch against the head of the machine and make a critical punch on the robot's visor, because he cracked it, which hardened Eggman's vision when fighting.

"Ah! I can't see!" Eggman cried out, but he still managed to grab Knuckles with an arm of the machine and launch him against some container near by that belonged to the factory.

On the tother hand, Sage was using her power of creation to make several spikes come out of the ground to try and straight up kill Izzy, but the Unicorn mare had some kind of sixth instinct that warned her about these incoming attacks, so she always managed to dodge them.

At the same time, Izzy charged blasts from her horn to hit Sage, but the young girl always managed to dodge every blast... Except for one that finally hit her face and sent her a bit backwards.

Sage groaned in pain shook her head, feeling a bit dizzy and confused, but then, she touched her right cheek and felt a scar over it. Of course, and since her body is artificial, no blood came out of her, but she still looked down at Izzy with a frown and pure rage.

So, she snapped her fingers and made a much smaller version of the Death Egg robot appear, but this one machine was now being controlled by her, because she planned to destroy the unicorn mare with it.

Of course, Izzy panicked and gulped nervously at the sight of the Death Egg Robot coming out of nowhere, but she still lightened her horn up and positioned to fight, since she knew pretty well that if she doesn't fights back, Eggman and Sage will win, and that's no good.

On the other hand, Knuckles and Eggman kept fighting on a 1v1 battle, but somehow, Eggman had the advantage, even if the crystal of the robot's head was broken and his vision was distorted.

Anytime Knuckles dig on the ground and came out to strike a surprise punch against the machine, Eggman always managed to find out and block the attack, although he did failed the counter attacks because of his blurred vision, but Knuckles wanted to punch him and couldn't do it for some reason.

Soon, Eggman brought out the wrecking ball of the machine and tried to hit Knuckles with it. Of course, Knuckles managed to grab the wrecking ball with his bare hands, but that was a mistake.

When the echidna caught the ball, Eggman raised the right arm where the wrecking ball came from and started to twirl it around in the air, which made Knuckles scream in fear, although he never let go the ball for some reason. And in the end, Eggman smashed him with the ball against a wall.

Knuckles groaned in pain after this happened, and he fell on his face over the floor, while Eggman chuckled and approached him with the machine.

On the other hand, Izzy was jumping over the Death Egg Robot's arms whenever Sage extended them against her, and she slightly ran over them, before jumping over the head of the machine, as well as launch a massive blast against it. She kept doing this for 4 or 5 times more, until she damaged it enough.

Of course, Sage growled in anger once more, and so, she gave the Death Egg Robot laser eyes, as she launched them against Izzy, while the unicorn mare protected herself with a magical shield.

However, when she looked for a second to her side and noticed that Knuckles was in the ground, laying on his chest painfully, and the Egg Beater approached while preparing the wrecking ball to smash the echidna, her eyes widened in panic.

"KNUCKIE!" Izzy shouted in fear, before frowning in rage, the deactivate the shield and launch a massive blast against Sage that sent her and the death Egg Robot backwards, as they both crashed with the wall.

After that, she rushed towards Knuckles, and just when the Egg Beater was moving the wrecking ball to kill Knuckles, Izzy stood in front of him and activated her shield with her magic, protecting both herself and her boyfriend as she did so, while Eggman looked both surprised and confused at her action.

"What the hell?!" Eggman exclaimed, before growling in anger and then grab the wrecking ball with his bare hand, then start to smash down the shield to try and kill them both.

Eggman punched and punched the shield, but even if Izzy was starting to struggle to keep the shield up, she still was willing to fight back and protect her boyfriend, no matter what. He has done so much for her in the past, for her home, now it was her turn to return the favor.

Soon, Sage arrived as well, and even if the Death Egg Robot she was piloting was very damaged, she still could use the extended arms and the finger-spikes it had.

So, she extended both arms at the same time towards Knuckles and Izzy, and now, with both Eggman and Sage trying to destroy the shield, Izzy was having even more trouble to keep it active, but she wasn't going to give up, specially because this was about protecting Knuckles.

Soon, Knuckles started to wake up, and he lifted his head up just in time to notice that Izzy was struggling to keep her shield to protect him from both Sage and Eggman's attacks, which made his eyes open widely.

So, with a bit of effort, Knuckles slowly stood up and pressed a button on his watch, which activated the shield of it and it reinforced Izzy's one. Of course, Izzy felt surprised by this, but when Knuckles placed a hand on her back and smiled at her, she knew that everything was going to be fine and smiled back.

Then, they both looked with frowns at Sage and Eggman, with Eggman now grabbing the wrecking ball with the two arms of the Egg beater, while Sage moved the spikes of the Death Egg Robot faster.

It was clear that both heroes and villains were getting desperate at this point, because the heroes needed so badly to turn the tables around on their favor, but so did the villains, who needed to see both the echidna warrior and the unicorn mare dead in order to win.

However, the Egg Beater was suddenly grabbed from the back and carried in the air, which surprised both Eggman and Sage, as the latter stopped hitting Izzy and Knuckles' shield.

Then, whoever grabbed Eggman and his Egg Beater launched him away towards a wall, then they grabbed the wrecking ball ball and used it to start and twirl the Egg Beater around, which made Eggman scream in fear inside of the machine, before being launched against the factory.

The Egg Beater traverse a wall and entered to the factory, while Sage growled in anger and looked over at the responsible: Tails, who was on his Tornado IV with the robot mode activated, as the young fox prepared to go 1v1 against Sage.

"Is just you and me now, Sage!" Tails said confidently inside of the robot.

Sage growled and launched herself against Tails, who protected himself and the robot with an arm, before pushing Sage backwards and then hit the Death Egg Robot right in the face, followed by the chest.

Meanwhile, as this fight happened, Amy, Pipp, Zipp and Misty arrived with Izzy and Knuckles and helped them to stand up, since none of them could keep their shield on for any longer, but they still were proud of having fought until the very end.

"Took you guys long enough!" Knuckles mocked up with a smirk, although he also coughed a bit.

"Sorry for the delay!" Amy apologized. "Are you guys okay?"

"As okay as we can be..." Izzy replied weakly, also coughing a lot.

Meanwhile, Tails was soloing Sage as he ripped the two extendable arms of the Death Egg Robot, then he ripped off the robot's head, and then shoot at the chest with one of his robot's palms, traversing the enemy robot and making it fall backwards.

At this, Sage growled in anger, before snapping her fingers and fade away, while Tails finished destroying the Death Egg Robot with his laser, even after the robot was damaged enough that it didn't worked anymore.

"Uh... Tails, sweetheart?" Zipp called out with a worried expression. "You can stop now!"

At this call out, Tails finally stopped, but he still made one last punch and turned around, facing deadpans from his friends except for Izzy, who was scratching her head as she tried to feel less dizzy.

"What? I was just making sure it wouldn't stand up!" Tails defended himself.

After this, he turned to the entrance of the factory, and so, he boosted inside, while the rest followed along, with Knuckles grabbing Izzy bridal style and following the rest as well.

Once inside, they reached the hangar where all the badniks were stationed, as well as where Eggman's musical number happened. However, they found the place completely empty, except for the Egg Beater all ruined up and without Eggman or his Eggmobile, meaning he escaped.

"Seems like Sage was just holding Tails back to give Eggman the chance to escape..." Pipp pointed out with concern.

"Did we lost him?!" Misty asked worried.

Soon, Tails scanned through the robot's eyes the whole room, but when he stopped on the computer on a platform above, he quickly ejected from the Robot and landed on the computer.

The machine was at 96% on deleting all the data, pretty much Eggman's doing since he wanted to leave no trials behind, but Tails was fast enough to move the mouse to the cancel button and then press the space bar, cancelling the deleting process and sighing in relief.

"Nope!" Tails replied, and soon, Zipp and Pipp landed behind him, while Knuckles and Amy climbed up, and Misty used her magic to levitate both herself and Izzy over the platform as well. "Eggman tried to delete his data... But I got him!"

After saying this, Tails pulled out a USB driver and putted it on the USB displayer, before quickly downloading all the information from the computer, since it wasn't encrypted when Eggman tried to delete it.

On the other hand, Eggman and Sage moved to Station Square's factory.

There, Eggman closed the door of his little office and started to throw things around, while Sage, Orbot and Cubot waited outside, although Sage cringed and sometimes covered her ears at the sounds of Eggman swearing and hitting stuff hard enough when he threw things around.

"Fear not, sister." Orbot told her to try and calm her down. "The boss gets frustrated anytime something goes against the way he planned it out, but I'm positive that he'll eventually calm down."

"He always does!" Cubot added with a little smile.

"Doesn't changes the fact that I don't like to see him mad..." Sage pointed out with concern.

"None of us like that, sis..." Cubot said. "In fact, I barely remember the last time he was this mad before..."

"Because he's been out on another dimension for almost 2 years and 6 months, Cubot..." Orbot deadpanned.

"Oh... Right..." Cubot realized with a few blinks, before shaking his head. "The point is that the boss gets mad constantly when things doesn't go his way, but he's gonna chill down in a few minutes."

"Or a few hours, if his mind manages to plan something out first!" Cubot pointed out.

"I wish I could do something to help him calm down, but I know he's probably only going to get more upset..." Sage said with concern, also playing nervously with her fingers. "I just don't understand how his plans get compromised like this all the time!"

"Well, Sonic and his friends have experience being a pain in the butt for Dr. Eggman, sis." Cubot pointed out. "But one day, he's gonna be ruler of the world! His only stress is gonna be rule over everyone, and his frustrations might never come back!"

"I like to be optimist, but even I know that's just being delusional, Cubot." Orbot deadpanned again.

"Maybe he only needs someone to tell him that everything's gonna be fine, even if he fails..." Sage muttered to herself. "What if that's the key to calm him down? Just tell him that everything will work out in the end, no matter how many times he fails?"

"Because I've tried before, dear..." Eggman's voice spoke suddenly, and the siblings got startled after seeing that Eggman came out of his office. "I know things are gonna be fine in the end... But my mind keeps playing with myself and tells me that I won't succeed... My anger drives me insane most of the time, that's why I react the way I do... But I start to see things clear now!"

Seeing that he was grinning, Sage felt a bit relieved and smiled. "You do?!" She asked in excitement.

"I need to make myself more powerful... And to do that, we must collect the shards of the now destroyed Paradox Prism!" Eggman stated confidently, as he made appear an hologram of the full Paradox Prism.

Sage raised an eyebrow and tilted her head confused, while Orbot and Cubot looked at each other and shrugged.

"What's that?" Cubot decided to ask.

"A Prism that allows me to travel across the multiverse!" Eggman declared confidently with a smile. "Sonic destroyed it after ruining my plans last year, but considering he didn't show up today and instead sent his pitiful friends, we have free passage to follow Opaline and steal the Paradox Prism from her!"

"Opaline?" Sage questioned. "But I thought she disappeared a month before we choose to come back to Mobius."

"Oh, she did... And I know precisely why!"

After saying this, Eggman showed now a holographic screen that showed Opaline getting the first red shard of the Paradox Prism and attaching it to her right foreleg's bracelet, then opening a red portal and disappearing, while the image showed static, meaning the video had no more footage.

"It seems our old pal Opaline has been quite busy the past year traveling across the multiverse!" Eggman stated with a grin. "Doing what? I don't care! What does concern us is that she has a fragment of the Prism, or maybe more at this point. We must obtain one ourselves if we want to travel into other worlds as well!"

"So Opaline is traveling across the multiverse again..." Sage muttered with concern. "But why do you want to do the same, father?"

"There's more magic across the multiverse! Eggman stated with a grin. "That means that we can take some for ourselves, and then create the definitive army of badniks to fight against those stupid, pathetic little rodents and stinky ponies!"