Outside, the gang arrives at the abandoned base by ring portal.

"Okay, I don't like you and you don't like me. Let's get this over with quickly." Sonic suggested as the two started walking.

Eggman bumps Sonic aside, making the hedgehog yelp.

"Out of my way, Dorkupine."

"Dorkupine? Really clever." Sonic said sarcastically as Knuckles, Tails, and Agent Stone walked out of the ring portal after.

Eggman checks the huge door, touching it.

"This door is 6-inch-thick solid steel and a pressurized latch. I'll need a moment to calculate the molecular density and invert the venting mechanics."

In response, Knuckles punches down the door without a problem.

"I unlocked it."

"Subtle as always, Fist for Brains." Eggman commented.

Shadow notices their presence and sparks up his fists in chaos energy while Gwen is surprised and relieved to see them. The professor raised a hand to stop Shadow from attacking them.

"Easy, Shadow. Those are the other guests I've been expecting. Let's give them a warm welcome."

Hearing that made Gwen quickly activate her rocket roller skate and speed after Sonic and others.

"Stop her!"

Without questioning it, Shadow teleports after Gwen.

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

Back to the gang, they explore the abandoned base with their flashlights.

"Whoa. What is this place?" Agent Stone asked.

"Looks like a military base but nobody's been here for years. I wonder if it's haunted?" Sonic said.

Hearing that made Knuckles tense.

"Haunted? Nobody said about anything being haunted."

"What's the matter? You afraid of g-g-g-ghosts?" Agent Stone teased.

"Nothing scares an echidna warrior." Knuckles denied.

"Uh, yeah, do you remember what happened last movie night?" Sonic brought up.

In Wachowski house, Knuckles is screaming while he and his friends are watching Casper. On TV screen, Casper and Kat Harvey are screaming upon their first meeting. Knuckles scream again and grab onto Sonic and Tails' hand, squeezing them too tight. This caused Sonic and Tails to scream, dropping their bowls of popcorns and trying to get Knuckles to release them.

"Ahh!!! Let go, let go, let go, let go--!!!"

Gwen was there and tried to calm Knuckles down.

"Knuckles! It's okay! Please let go of their hands!"

Back to present day, Knuckles denied that memory.

"There's no such thing as a friendly ghost."

They come across a fork in the road.

"So which way do we go?" Sonic asked.

"I know. We should split up. Everyone with hideous brightly colored fur, take the left and the middle. Stone and I will go right." Eggman suggested.

Sonic is not up for his suggestion and immediately suggest something else.

"No, no, no, no, no. I'm not letting you out of my sight. Tails, you and Stone go left. Knuckles, you take the middle. Eggman, you and me go right."

"By all means. We can use some time together to work on your trust issues." Eggman said sarcastically.

"You know what? You're right. I should be more trusting. I mean, you've only tried to kill me twice!" Sonic sassed back at him.

The team splits up to different tunnels.

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

Knuckles look around on his own, holding a flashlight.

"Just a dark, creepy hallway. Nothing to be afraid of." he said to himself before calling out. "You hear that, ghost?! You don't frighten me!"

Suddenly, a pipe spews out smoke, startling the echidna.

"Get... a... grip!"

He turns around, only to hear something ahead and point his flashlight to see...

"Gwen!!"

Gwen skid her roller skates to a stop as soon as she sees him.

"Knuckles!"

He pulled her into a hug.

"Thank goodness you're alright."

"I'm okay Knuckles, but you need to get out of here."

"What? Why?"

"Because it's a tr..." Gwen started but stopped to see something behind him.

Concerned, Knuckles turns around and comes face-to-face with Shadow, who glares at him before speaking.

"Boo."

Knuckles screams in terror. And before Gwen could try to help Knuckles escape, Shadow threw a handcuff at Gwen as they snapped on her wrists and she looked shocked.

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

Meanwhile, Tails and Stone are exploring the ruins.

"Look, I'm just gonna come right out and say it. You're adorable." Agent Stone said.

"Um, thanks." Tails chuckled, not expecting a compliment from him.

"So, what's it like being Sonic's assistant? Have a daily routine? Playtime off? Benefits?" Agent Stone asked.

"Oh, I'm not Sonic's assistant. We're teammates. He's the leader, Gwen is the rebel skater, Knuckles is the muscle, and I'm the gadget guy. We all have a role to play. That's what makes the team so special. That, and the fact we're best friends."

Agent Stone was surprised.

"You are?"

"Yeah, just like you and Eggman, right?" Tails asked.

Agent Stone nods; unsure of his relationship with Eggman.

"Oh, ye- of course. Yes. Me and the doctor. Best of friends. That's definitely what we are."

They hear something moving. They shine their flashlights to find a rat scurrying around. However, Shadow slowly hovers down ominously behind them. The two turn around, spot him, and scream in terror.

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

Sonic and Eggman search around with their flashlights and Sonic finds Maria's old pillow fort.

"Whoa. Look at all this stuff. This was more than just a military base or a lab. It was a home. People lived here. He had a family."

"Is that what I smell? The stench of domestic harmony?" Eggman asked, looking at the old robot toy as the arm fell off.

"You ever wonder what your life would have been like if you had a family?" Sonic asked, continuing to search.

"Hmm... No." Eggman answered boldly.

"Maybe you wouldn't have gone full super villain." Sonic stated.

"I have no parents. No aunts, no uncles. And something about my attitude renders me..."

Eggman looks at himself in a mirror.

"...undesirable to all possible genders. My future is a cul-de-sac. The Robotnik name ends..." He gets out Sonic's quill. "with a quoi. Yes, I know French."

He licks it, and it zaps him. Sonic then arrives at the same room Shadow was kept in from the flashback.

"Whoa. This is where you grew up, Shadow? No wonder you're so mad. This place could really use a bean bag chair and some comic books. What happened here?"

Suddenly, Shadow appears behind him and shoves him against the broken glass tank.

"I'm tired of giving you warnings!" he said angrily.

He throws Sonic aside and powers up his fist, zooming in to punch him, which Sonic screams. Meanwhile, Eggman looks around for Sonic.

"Where'd you go, hedgehog? I wasn't finished trauma-dumping."

He spots his drones lying in a neat pile and laughs joyfully and hugs them.

"My darlings! My eggie-weggies!"

Suddenly, a door opens nearby, and someone starts singing as he enters the place.

Memories light the corners of my mind. Misty watercolor memories of the way we were..n't!

Eggman is shocked to see Gerald Robotnik, who looked exactly like him.

"I don't believe it."

"Don't you?" Gerald questioned.

"It's impossible." Eggman said.

"Is it?" Gerald questioned again.

"It couldn't be."

"Couldn't it?"

"I'm..."

"Are you?"

Had enough of it, Eggman pointed at Gerald.

"Impostor! You stole my babies!"

He summons his drones as they rise above him.

"They know who their real daddy is, drone-napper!"

Gerald chuckles evilly, gazing up the drones.

"Magnificent creations, my boy. I borrowed them to lure you here and reunite our family. You see, Ivo... I'm your grandfather, Gerald Robotnik."

Eggman is left even more shocked.

"...My Grandfather? How? And why? And who did what with whom?"

"You hail from an ancestry of excellence. Tied directly a moi. Yes, I know French." Gerald said proudly.

"You look like me but fatter and older and there's that funny smell. But the resemblance is uncanny."

Both Eggman and Gerald hold out their hands together while looking at each other.

"It's as if..."

They turned to the readers, breaking the fourth wall.

"We're two characters in a movie being played by the same actor."

"But I need real proof!" Eggman pulled away, not believing this yet.

"Ivo, we have very little time." Gerald said impatiently.

One of Ivo's drones blasts at Gerald's feet.

"But I could field a couple of queries."

"Name the most elegant formula in mathematics." Eggman said.

"Euler's identity. E to the I times pi plus 1 equals zilch."

"European capitals arranged alphabetically by the fourth letter," Eggman asks another.

Gerald fake yawned before answering.

"Riga, Monaco, Sarajevo, Tirana."

"Speed of light divided by the speed of sound divided by the speed of the bus in the movie Speed."

Gerald Robotnik mimics calculations with his fingers as if he's pressing a button.

"Beep, beep, beep, beep! 17,893.33333..."

"Rounding up." Eggman corrected

"17,894 mph."

"And for all the marbles..."

"Good. I lost mine."

"A rare lung disease and the longest word in the English dictionary."

Gerald put a thoughtful look for a moment before answering with Eggman as they both finished the answer in unison.

"Uh... Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis!"

"Papa..." Eggman whispered in recognition and happiness.

"In the saggy flesh. Pretty good for 110." Gerald smiled.

He gets out Shadow's quill and licks it, electrocuting him.

"Oh, grampy-poo!" Eggman said tearful and hugged Gerald. "Where have you been my entire life?" He then realized and pulled away from him. "Wait. Where have you been? MY ENTIRE LIFE?!"

"Locked in a top-secret prison for the last 50 years. Made it kind of hard to send Christmas cards. Now, you're probably wondering why I brought you here." Gerald answered.

"You didn't bring me here. I used my unparalleled intellect to track you down." Eggman explained, pointing at his own head to his great grandfather.

Gerald did the same by pointing at his own head to Eggman, placing his finger against his great grandson's finger.

"For the plan I've concocted with my unparalleled intellect. You'll see. I have the answer to everything. Come on, kiddo."

The two Robotniks walk off while the drones' eyes turn into hearts, loving their reunion. In another room, Sonic and his friends, including Agent Stone, are tied up in another room. Sonic wakes up to see Ivo and Gerald Robotnik approaching and becoming shocked.

"Oh no... Someone told me this was some kind of concussion-induced nightmare. There's two Eggmen now?!" he exclaimed in disbelief and horror.

"Double your villains, double your fun." Eggman checkmate with a grin.

"Two Robotniks are way worse than one." Gerald agreed.

"Chest bump?" Eggman asked, but Gerald does nothing. "No."

He then turns to Stone in dismay.

"Stone, why are you tied up? Do that on your own time. You sicken me."

This confused Agent Stone and a bit hurt.

"You must be the long-lost grandson." Shadow said to Eggman.

Eggman turned to Shadow.

"And you must be another stinking hedgehog." he said before turning to handcuffed Gwen. "Hello again, girl hedgehog."

"It's Gwen. And not happy to see you again, Eggman. You look awful." Gwen commented in a deadpan tone, making Eggman scoff.

"Sis? You alright?" Sonic asked with concern.

"I'm doing fine, thank you very much..." Gwen said sarcastically, making him wince.

"Sorry..."

He then turned to Gerald.

"So you're the one behind all this? The Shadow breakout... and the kidnapping on my sister..."

"...The attack on Walters..." Tails added.

"...That musty old man smell?" Knuckles added with a hint of insult, making Gwen snicker a little.

"How dare you insult me with your insolent exposition!" Gerald glared at Sonic Team before calling out to Shadow. "Shadow, get the key."

Shadow glares at them and holds his hand out.

"Where is it?"

"Ha! Good one, Hot Topic." Sonic laughed cockily. "Do you really think we'd be that stupid to bring the key right to you?"

Shadow easily takes the keycard from Tails' backpack.

"Yep, we're that stupid." Sonic said in defeat.

"Oh, brother..." Gwen facepalmed herself.

"GUN took everything from us, and now we're going to take everything from them." Shadow declared with hatred.

"With this." Gerald said and showed them a hologram of a huge space cannon. "My masterpiece of malevolence. The Eclipse Cannon."

A flashback of Gerald in prison drawing up the weapon on the wall.

"In exchange for my freedom, I gave GUN the most powerful weapon mankind has ever seen."

The Eclipse Cannon powering up in space.

"Capable of delivering a precision strike anywhere on Earth. And our first target: GUN Headquarters!"

It fires a blast down to Earth, where it destroys GUN's London HQ. Fade back to the present day.

"But firing a weapon that powerful could threaten millions of innocent lives." Sonic said, scared.

"Yeah, terabyte me!" Gerald rolled his eyes with a sass as Eggman chuckled. "This is one of two keys required to launch the Eclipse Cannon. The other is locked inside GUN Headquarters. Once we have both, I will take rightful control of my weapon."

"I'm in." Eggman agreed with excitement.

"No! Please, I'm sorry about Maria, but this isn't going to help justify what they did to her! It will only lead to more pain!" Gwen pleaded.

Gerald looked at her with pity.

"Sorry, Gwen. But this is how it's going to be. And you're coming with us."

The Mecha Crab is summoned into the room. The Robotniks, as well as Stone, who's no longer tied up, head to the Crab.

"Holy crab!" Gerald commented in shock.

"Spacious and crustaceous." Eggman pointed out with a smile before looking back to the gang. "Thank you so much for inspiring this little adventure. It really worked out for me."

"And you wonder why I have trust issues!" Sonic said in exasperation.

As the Robotniks and Stone leave, Shadow appears nearby above them with handcuffed Gwen by his side.

"Shadow, wait! Don't do this! I know you're hurting, but don't let that change who you are inside! Like sis said, it will only lead to more pain!" Sonic pleaded.

"I've spent 50 years reliving what they've done to her." Shadow said in hatred and anger, pulling out a small sphere and powering it up with his chaos energy. "This is who I am inside."

He then drops a small sphere as it floats above Sonic Team before grabbing Gwen's arm and disappearing with her. Sonic Team stares up at the sparked small sphere.

"Uh, nice magic marble. Real scary." Sonic said sarcastically.

The small ball then opens up a big black hole that starts to suck everything up.

"Aah! That actually is really scary!" Sonic screamed.

"It's a mini black hole! It's going to suck in all the matter in this base!" Tails explained with a warning.

They started to get dragged towards the black hole. Knuckles sees the flying cable and gets the idea.

"Fear not, friends! Even my teeth are muscles!"

He quickly grabs a hold of the cable with his teeth to hold himself and the team as long as possible away from the black hole.

"Sonic, try to reach one of my rings!" Tails instructed.

Sonic reaches out and gets one of his rings.

"Got one! Check this out. Trickshot!"

He flicks the ring up and kicks it and it ricochets off some debris.

"Come on! Come on! Come on!"

Sonic and Tails watches with hope as it kept bouncing off the debris until it went up in the air.

"Come on!" Sonic and Tails groaned in frustration.

Knuckles loses his grip, and they fly towards the black hole. Luckily, the ring comes back down and forms a portal over the black hole and they fall in, landing far outside the base.

"Ah, yes!!!" the team cheered in unison.

They looked back to what used to be GUN base gets destroyed, leaving nothing but a big hole.

"Yikes. Somebody better call Google Maps." Sonic commented with Knuckles and Tails staring at the destroyed area in shock.

Back to the Robotniks watching the crater that was once the abandoned base from inside the Crab. Gwen watches silently, knowing it will take more than a black hole to destroy Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles and that they're alive.

"I spent years trying to cleanse the cosmos of that spiny blue speedfreak, and you did it in one afternoon." Eggman said, feeling victorious.

"There's nothing we can't destroy together, my boy." Gerald said.

"Charting route to GUN Headquarters in London, sirs. ETA 4 hours as the Crab flies." Agent Stone informed them after typing on the computer with Shadow standing beside him silently.

"By all accounts, we're ahead of schedule. We should take this time to get to know each other better." Gerald suggested.

"Wow. What? You mean... spend some qua-qua-quality time?" Eggman asked in shock.

"You've waited for this your whole life. How would you choose to spend one perfect day with your new grandpal?"

Hearing that made Eggman more excited as he dramatically looked at something ahead with Gerald following along. Agent Stone tried to join in, only for Eggman to elbow him in the gut.

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

While Eggman and Gerald are distracted as they spend quality time through VR headset, Gwen tries to unlock the handcuffs as she struggles. Shadow watches her silently with a hint of a shake in the head.

"Trying to unlock those cuffs is useless, you know. You could hurt yourself."

Gwen rolls her eyes with a scoff.

"Watch me."

She kept trying to unlock the handcuffs but it was impossible to unlock them without a key as Shadow watched her unamused, and Gwen eventually gave up and panted.

"Okay, I guess it was useless to unlock these handcuffs but I won't stop until I am free." she said, tired

"Face it. Even if you could break free, you cannot escape to your pain just like I went through." Shadow said while hiding his sadness.

Shadow started to walk away from Gwen. She quickly started a conversation for wanting to comfort him from the memories she saw.

"Do you ever wonder how things could've been different?"

Shadow stops and turns to her.

"What?" he questioned.

"You know, before all of this." Gwen said, waving her hand as a sign for "before anything could happen".

"What do you mean by that?" Shadow asked curiously.

"I mean, as if Sonic and I met you and Maria if bad things didn't happen, then we all could be a family together and we couldn't suffer the pain of the past."

Gwen's conversation makes Shadow's heart feel warm for a moment.

"I...I could imagine wishing it would be different to have adventures with Maria and you. If she were here, she would love to meet you and your family." Shadow said, smiling a bit.

"Yeah, she would love that." Gwen said happily, imagining the fun she wish to have with Maria.

As they're having a moment of their conversation, and Gwen could've sworn his eyes have shown light for a moment. But Shadow shakes his head to come back to reality and his eyes turns back to hatred as they go dark.

"But... I can't." Shadow backed away. "Maria is gone because of the GUN and they will pay the price for the pain they cost me."

"Shadow, you can't." Gwen frowned, trying to convince him. "Revenge will only lead to more pain down the road that anything that involves hurting other people will never resolve anything."

"Trust me, Gwen. There's nothing to lead me down more pain or bring me back Maria."

Shadow then left Gwen alone and she got down to her knees in sadness as she wanted to open his eyes and his heart. She cries in silent tears, not wanting to lead Shadow on the wrong path. Shadow glances at crying Gwen sadly.

https://youtu.be/9xtG1kRp2ds

They suddenly are in the dream world once again, leaving only the two of them. Shadow starts singing.

Ever since you appeared
I've been running from something deep inside
And it's worse than I feared
'Cause I look in your eyes and I can't hide
I push you away

Gwen glances up and sings along.

Don't push me away

Shadow looks away.

But the feelings come back, just twice as strong
I don't know what to say

Gwen gets up and stands up for herself.

You know just what to say

Shadow sings a bit sad to hide his looks.

But I know that I'm right where I belong

Gwen goes around him and blocks his way to face him

The way you know just where to be

Shadow doubts Gwen as he tries to go around her but she keeps blocking him.

I don't know

Gwen hold his hands to convince him.

The way you move, the way you see

Shadow looks at Gwen.

You see me

Gwen smiled at him.

The way you feel when you're with me

Shadow & Gwen sing in unison as they walk together across the dream.

Beside me

Gwen sang as she began to dance.

Don't hide from me anymore
Tell me it's you, I know it's you

Shadow shys away as it's been a long time since he danced with Maria.

What do I say? Wherе do I go? How do I know you feel the same?

Gwen sings as she grabs his hands to make him dance with her.

Tell mе it's you, I know it's you

Shadow sings as he dances along and smiles.

Quiet and low, letting it go, letting you know what's in me
Everywhere that I roam

Shadow & Gwen continue singing as they dance just like before from another dream.

I remind myself not to overstay

Shadow sings next as he twirl her around.

Every time I find a home

Somethin' happens to take that home away

But you've seen what I've seen

I see you

As they danced to the lake, Shadow looked at his reflection with Gwen by his side.

As you lead with a strength that shines right through

You move like a queen, a true queen

Don't let anything take me away from you

Tell me it's you, I know it's you

Say it again, say it again, tell me I'll always be with you

Shadow and Gwen are having flashbacks about the moments they had in dreams and since they first met.

Tell me it's you, I know it's you

Say it again, say it again, tell me you're always with me

The way you know just where to be

Now I know

The way you move, the way you see

I see you

The love I feel when you're with me

Shadow stares at Gwen's eyes while she stares at Shadow's lips. Gwen stares at Shadow's eyes while he stares at Gwen's lips. Finally, they stare directly at each other.

Beside me, beside me

Say it again, say it again, say it again
Tell me the world won't interfere

As the flashbacks ends, Shadow and Gwen holding hands as they sing their final note and starting to fall in love with each other.

Say it again, say it again
Tell me the words I wanna hear

Say it again, say it again
Open your eyes and here we go

I know it's you
I know it's you

As the song ends, they come back to reality and they smiled as they stare at each other for a while and then sit down and have thoughts about the paths and the choices they make for the right thing to do, even from the wrongdoing can be fixed.