Y/N was heading back towards the Resistance HQ as she couldn't stop thinking of what Infinite just did and what he said about his past earlier. She couldn't believe that after telling him that everything he did was wrong and ended up being called interesting and then kissed on the cheek. She shook her head, hoping her words got through to him to snap him to his own senses. The doors slid open and she was surprised to see Shadow as he was talking to Sonic.

"Infinite can create virtual reality projections. They have mass and form, but no heart and soul." Shadow explained.

"Virtual reality? So all those familiar faces that were a part of Eggman's army..." Sonic said.

"Replicas. The problem is, they may not be real, but their powers are as formidable as the originals. According to Rouge, Infinite can create unlimited numbers of them."

"So, fight after fight, he can just keep cranking up counterfeits?"

"Exactly. As it stands, there's no way we can win this."

"Of course we can win this! We always do! We just haven't figured that part out, yet."

Y/N smiled in relief that Shadow is on their side. She headed towards them and greeted them.

"Hey! I'm back!"

"Who's that?" Shadow asked, looking at her.

"That's Y/N! The new recruit." Sonic grinned. "She's very cool and a great fighter I have ever teamed up with. She's like a sister to me already!"

"Nah, stop that. But nice to meet you. Shadow, right?"

Y/N held her hand out to him, pretending she didn't know him as she didn't want to look suspicious or ruin the future.

"Yes. Pleasure to meet you, too."

Shadow shook her hand, making her smile. He blushed at how cute she is.

"Hey, Knuckles. How are things going?" she asked, letting go of his hand.

"Things were going well with Operation Big Wave, but then everything fizzled out when that Phantom Ruby kicked in." Knuckles said.

"Going well? More like a complete disaster. And I told you that we should have think more before doing something stupid." Y/N glared at him, making him wince.

"That fake Shadow was created using the Phantom Ruby's power, right? Even if it's a virtual reality projection, it's as strong as the real Shadow." Silver said.

"Rouge, have you found the intel I was looking for?" Shadow asked Rouge who is also in the HQ.

"No, not yet. But I have reports that Eggman's database is located at the Chemical Plant. If we can check that out, we might find something there."

"That sounds like a promising lead. We have to figure out the secret behind Infinite's power and virtual reality. Tails, can you handle this?" Sonic said.

"Got it. I'll take Sonic--I mean, the other Sonic-- with me and head to the Chemical Plant!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Tails and Classic Sonic are out to look for the information on the Phantom Ruby, Knuckles was growing impatient.

"I don't like sitting on the bench, but there's nothing to do till Tails gets back."

"Way to jinx it! Metal Sonic has been spotted in the city!" Amy informed.

"Metal Sonic..." Y/N said, remembering him in her world as she wondered where he is now and if he's okay.

"Is it another fake?" Shadow asked.

"Why would they bother making a fake out of something that already isn't real? Couldn't they just build more? Either way, it's getting wrecked! Let's go, partner!" Sonic said.

Y/N stood up from the wooden crate and grinned.

"Yeah!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In City Red Gate Bridge

"Watch out. Metal Sonic was spotted near there." Amy warned over the radio.

"Strange. I don't see him anywhere." Sonic said.

As they ran, a giant robot dugged out of the ground. They jumped out of the way and landed on the cliff.

"Phew! That was a close one."

Y/N and Sonic jumped as she aim towards the robot with her grappling hook and made it perfect. They swung over the punch that was heading their way.

"Good work, partner! Keep it up."

Y/N used her grappling hook again, swinging herself and Sonic around the robot as it started shooting laser from it's eye. She made sure they are not hit and are now face to face with the robot and they spin dashed together and spun straight into its red eye, destroying it as it exploded.

"It's lights out for you." Sonic said.

They spun down through the hole that was smash and landed down safely as they are now in the cave.

"We can't let things keep rampaging around the city."

Sonic and Y/N started running as they are now out to see the Red Gate Bridge and found the fake Metal Sonic as he appeared before them with red cubes surrounding him. He flew away from them as they chased after him.

"So this is thanks to the Phantom Ruby, too, huh? Eggman's new invention is a real pain in the neck."

"Yep. I feel you."

They are now coming closer to fake Metal Sonic as he tried to bring out robots to distract them, but they easily ignored them and dodged to the other side. They jumped and spin dashed at him, hitting him a couple times and landed back. Fake Metal Sonic rolled over, crashing onto the road. He flew back up and flees away.

"I'll take it from here!" Y/N said, bringing out the Drill Wispon as she activate it and help them go faster.

Metal Sonic turned to them and created those purple lightning and send them up in the air, creating a wall in the process as he dodged them. Sonic and Y/N quickly dodged them as they are now close to him. Y/N used her drill, destroying the small robots that are protecting fake Metal Sonic with him in the process, pushing him back and making crash into the ground. Y/N had a sense of deja vu as Metal Sonic got back up and did a same thing Infinite did when she was battling against him. She activated her drill and went faster along with Sonic and hit fake Metal Sonic back. He's slowly weakening as he did the same thing to block them, but they avoided them easily. Y/N used her drill again and hit him again as he's now down and crashed over the road.

"When we join forces, the sky's the limit!"

Sonic and Y/N jumped as their powers combined again and fist-bumped each other, started spinning.

"Double Boost!!"

They both ran speedily and charged at fake Metal Sonic. He crashed again and skidded his stop as they noticed he got bigger. But they spun once again and destroyed the replica as red cubes spread out. They stopped running after as the sun is setting. Sonic walks up besides Y/N, who is panting heavily following their fight with the Metal Sonic replica.

"Hey! That was great! We were like a well-oiled machine... fighting a well-oiled machine."

Sonic raises his fist at Y/N. She looks at him with a puzzled look, who gives an approving nod. Y/N smiles and chuckles, and proceeds to fist bump with Sonic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Resistance HQ

"Great job!" Sonic smiled.

"You too!" Y/N chuckled as Sonic went over to Tails.

Shadow looks at her from afar and somehow felt relieved that she's okay. She somehow reminded him of someone he knew for a long time, but he can't seem to remember who.

"I got it, Sonic! I figured out a way to stop Eggman's Phantom Ruby!" Tails said.

"Great work, Tails!"

"Based on these readings, the Phantom Ruby requires an incredible amount of energy, which only the Death Egg can provide. We simply stop the energy transfer, and BOOm! The Phantom Ruby is practically useless."

"Simply? Last I checked the Death Egg is a heavily fortified... well, Death Egg." Knuckles said.

"True. But I came up with a plan. First, we distract Eggman. While he's not paying attention, we use the Chemical Plant computer to hack into the Death Egg's weapons systems and shut it down. With no weapons, destroying the Death Egg will be a piece of cake. No Death Egg, means the Phantom Ruby is nearly useless."

"Well, you know, it's just crazy enough to work. So first we need a distraction. I'm on it!"

Amy cut him off.

"No way, Knuckles. You're too easily distracted. That's not a good trait for a distraction. Plus, you're our commander! We kinda need you here."

"How about Y/N?" Silver spoke up, looking at her. "Eggman would never expect it. It may even throw him off a little."

"Yeah, Silver made a good point. I'm down for it." Y/N smiled.

Silver blushed and chuckled. Knuckles gave him a slight jealousy look and turned to Y/N.

" Good idea! You got your orders, Y/N. We only have one more day before Eggman's plan is executed, so let's hustle!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Green Hill Guardian Rock

"Unidentified heat source detected! Requesting analysis!" Soldier said over the radio.

"Hang on. It's a multi-legged battlemech! The energy readings are off the charts!" Amy informed.

"So Eggman had another weapon up his sleeve." Vector spoke.

Y/N ran through the giant spiky punching hammer and ran down the hill. She looked up the floating platforms and took out her Hover Wispon as she flew up the air higher and higher as she flew pass by without any problem. She eventually made it where she can see a giant robot that looked like a crab as it walked pass by. Y/N ran after it.

"Diversionary tactics are all about the decoy you use. Just go wild and get their attention!" Knuckles spoke.

"Don't push your luck too far, though." Amy spoke.

"Leave the Chemical Plants to us. Make as much noise as you can." Silver spoke.

"On it!" Y/N replied, jumping up to the next platform, destroying all robots with her hover wispon, including the ones on top as she jumped up the next.

She ran and jump through the giant spiky punching hammers before it could smash her like a pancake. She took down a few more robots as she finally found the giant crab robot. She flew up in the air with the hover without taking care of more robots as it started to annoy her. Just as she was about to distract the robot, it jumped away as she landed back to the ground.

"Perfect. Time to head back." Knuckles spoke.

"Hold on! There's a massive energy source approaching!" Amy warned.

Y/N turned to see the robot already here and began running away as it chased after her, smashing through the rocks.

"We can't let this thing get to the Chemical Plant." Knuckles spoke. "Keep it busy there as long as you can, Y/N!"

Y/N dodged and dodged the giant rocks that were being thrown behind her as she could detect it behind her from the shadow without looking back. The crab robot was now close to her, giving her a chance to bring out her wrist-mounted grappling hook and aim at the perfect spot for her to hook on. Once it caught it, she swung herself around the robot, making it trip and crash down to the ground. She got off of it and ran through and zoomed away with her grappling hook before one of its legs hit her. The robot was now down, unmoving.

"Take that!" Y/N smirked as she ran through, getting away as her mission is now accomplished.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Resistance HQ

Y/N headed back inside and jumped to see Tails in front of her.

"Tails? Everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I even started to understand what's happening!"

"Huh? Really?"

"Forgive me if it sound weird, but I have been having some memories like I know you from somewhere. I'm not the only one though. Everyone is, even Sonic."

Y/N grew nervous.

"O-Oh. So... you figured it out. So..."

"It means that you're from another dimension, aren't you?"

"Yeah... You got me. I was sent here through some strange dimensional portal. It looked strange. I don't know why, but now I know."

"Really?"

"I sent here to save the world."

"I was thinking the same thing." Tails smiled. "It's like the world needs you."

"Yeah, I guess you can say that. Do you know the way to help me get back home?"

"Of course! For years, it's been theorized that a mirror dimension exists parallel to our own. I will help you get you home once we take down Eggman and save the world!"

Y/N then hugged Tails, shocking him as his face turned pink.

"Thank you so much, Tails. I knew I can count on you." she said and kissed him on the cheek.

Tails' fur went up along with his tail and his face turned from pink to red. He then fainted with a happy sigh. Y/N giggled and left him here to check on others.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In space, the Death Egg is seen suffering numerous explosions around its hull before it is destroyed in a single large explosion. Everyone in the Resistance HQ cheers as they see the Death Egg is destroyed.

"They did it! The Phantom Ruby's power should be down to almost nothing!" Amy smiled.

Everyone, including Y/N agreed with a cheer.

"Mission accomplished. The Phantom Ruby's signal has gotten much weaker." Rouge said.

"This should effectively put a stop to the doctor's greatest weapon." Shadow said with a smile.

"The Sonics have made an opening for us. We can't just let that go to waste." Vector reminded them.

"This is the moment we've been waiting for. Time to settle the score!" Silver said in joy.

"Now that the Phantom Ruby is out of the way, we can finally smash Eggman into an omlette!" Knuckles said.

"Hey, don't count your chickens before you smash your eggs!" Rouge scolded.

"Rouge is right. The fact that Eggman and Infinite are still around means we can't let our guard down." Sonic said over the radio.

"He's right. We have to deal with them if we're going to save the world." Y/N nodded.

"I just want everyone to get home safely, okay?" Amy said.

"Alright, fine. Everyone get your game face on! The target is Eggman at the Central Tower!"

"Got it!" Y/N said and ran out of the HQ, bringing the Burner Wispon with her.