Sonic, Y/N, and Knuckles are standing in front of the Council of Acorn for a meeting.

"What's up for debate?! We've rested up, so let's go kick some inter-dimensional butt!" Sonic said.

"Scourge may have conquered the Anti-Mobius..." Rosemary started.

"Moebius." Y/N corrected her.

"...but our world is different. He won't make his gains so easily."

"Besides, considering the gains we've made in Robotnik's City, we should focus our attacks on him. We cam get Freedom HQ back later." Hamlin said.

"The vote to leave Freedom HQ for now?" Elias asked.

"Yea?" Dylan raised his hand questionably.

"Yea." Hamlin said.

"Nay." Chuck disagreed.

"Yea." Rosemary said.

"Nay!" Rotor pound his fist on the table in disagreement as well.

"Yea." Penelope said.

"I'm sorry, but the council votes..." Elias said.

Sonic, Y/N, and Knuckles left in disappointment and anger.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll see about that." Sonic said.

"Some help you guys are." Y/N scoffed for everyone to hear.

They went outside and stood on the stairs.

"C'mon, guys. We can take the place back ourselves."

Y/N nodded with a hum, but Knuckles had something else to say.

"I don't know. Maybe they have a point."

She turned to him in shock along with Sonic.

"What?!"

"Dude, I know you don't agree with them! You need to do what you think is right."

Knuckles turned to him in anger with his fist raised.

"I did! And now my dad is--!"

Y/N immediately went between them.

"Knuckles... Look..."

Knuckles just walks away with a tear in his eye.

"Do whatever you want."

Soon he left as Sonic turned to her if she's coming with, but by the looks of it she's going to talk to him. He nods in understanding and took off as Y/N goes after Knuckles. She looks around for any sign of him and found him sitting on the bench by the lake in front of him, holding a warp ring. She stops and stands beside him as they stay there in silence. The only sound they could hear is a roar of a river.

"Hey." Y/N said.

"Hey." Knuckles greeted back. "Why aren't you with Sonic?"

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay. We're supposed to be working together on this."

"I guess. At least he can trust his gut."

Y/N turned to him with her raised eyebrow.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I make too many mistakes on my own. Maybe if I follow everyone else..."

"You did that, too, you know."

Knuckles turned her and shouted.

"So waht do you want me to do? I listen to my dad, and I'm alone forever! I listen to everyone else, and I let Angel Island get torn apart! I listen to myself, and I make everything worse!"

"Knuckles..."

"Don't try to tell me that everything will work out! My dad is gone! My people were almost wiped out! I can't face my mother!"

He turned his back and clutched his head in frustration.

"I don't know what to do, and it's driving me crazy!"

"Knuckles!"

She grabbed his arm to make him look back at her as she shouted at him in anger.

"Don't you dare think this affects only you! They were Julie-Su's people, her home, and her family, too! And what's let of her family is working for Robotnik!"

"And it's all my fault!"

"It's not all your fault! You don't think you're the only who also lost the people you care for! I lost Sir Connery, Tommy, and my best friend Cosmo! And shouting that all the time isn't dealing with the matter, it's running away from it!"

Knuckles angrily enlarged the warp ring to create a portal.

"You're not helping anything! I'm out of here!"

"Fine! Run back to the island, for all I care!"

Y/N turned around with her arms crossed as Knuckles disappeared into the warp ring. She sniffed and covered her face to stop her crying.

"I'm sorry, Knuckles... I didn't mean to fight with you. I just wanted to help and I messed it up."

She wiped her tears away and decided to go and check on Sonic to see if he's made any success as she took off. Once she made it to the Freedom HQ, she hid behind the tree and was shocked to see Metal Sonic as the robot and Scourge battle against Sonic who dodged the spin dash from both of them.

"This was not the fight I came for today!"

Scourge kicked Sonic in the face.

"You're just whining because I'm kicking your... AUGH!"

Scourge was knocked away by Metal Sonic who was then not a second later was spin dashed from Sonic. Y/N could hear the voice of Eggman coming from the robot.

"Hang in there, Metal Sonic! I'm putting the finishing touches on your reinforcements."

Sonic dodged another punch from Scourge by moving his head to the left.

"Y'know, when I said it wouldn't take much for you to find your full potential, I meant that morally. You're me for pitty's sake!"

He blocked the kick from Scourge using his arm.

"Not anymore!"

"You could be a hero!"

"And what does heroism get you?"

Scourge punched Sonic in the stomach, causing him to groan.

"I'm king of a whole planet! I got that my way, not yours!"

He then kicked Sonic in the face, making him spit out his saliva.

"Folks smile and wave to you? Ha! Everyone bows to me! Your road goes both ways, y'know. You're full of untapped potential."

He extended his hand to Sonic.

"Conquer this stupid little planet. Then we can rock the entire multiverse. Twin, unstoppable kings. What do you say?"

"I-- I..."

Having heard enough, Y/N performed her spin dash and hit in the stomach away, pushing him away from Sonic.

"Hey! We're conducting business here!"

His eyes widen to see Y/N standing in front of Sonic.

"Does it look like I care?"

She turned to him and helped him up.

"You alright, bro?"

"Never been better."

Y/N's ears twitches and she immediately activated her ruby pendant.

"Sit tight!"

Sonic raised his eyebrow in confusion and Y/N was spin dashed by Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic was suddenly sent flying in the air and hit the ground with a loud thud as it revealed a pink shield Y/N was holding. The next thing the siblings know, they were wrestling with Scourge and Metal Sonic as they struggled to fight them off.

"This is starting to get out of hand..."

"No kidding, Sherlock!"

Metal Sonic shot out laser from his stomach and they dodged it as it hit Scourge instead.

"Thanks for that! Now..."

Sonic threw Metal Sonic over his shoulder as the robot hit the ground again.

"Have a seat!"

 Metal Sonic struggles to get up when a green metal boot stand in front of him.

"Not so fast, rodent! We've just gotten started!"

Sonic, Y/N, and Scourge looked on in shock.

"You've got to be kidding me..."

Standing in front of them is a robotic version of Scourge. Metal Scourge.

"Oh, this is just a little something I threw together. Do you like it?"

"This doesn't look good..." Y/N stated.

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

Sonic and Scourge were currently locked in a battle of their own robot doubles while Y/N tried to fight them off as she wrapped her whip around Metal Sonic's clawed hand and pulled it as hard as she can. She was suddenly pulled in towards Scourge and Sonic as the trio crash into each other. They landed on the ground, dragging the dirt a little.

"Not quite the stellar start I was aiming for. Think you can reconsider a truce?" Sonic suggested as they got up and went back to attacking the robots.

"You still haven't answered my question about conquering this planet and dominating the multiverse." Scourge said.

"I'm kind of preoccupied with the present right now."

"I'll take that as a 'yes.'"

"I'm pretty sure that was a no, you idiot!"

"Oh, like I've forgotten you, N/N. Would you accept mine?"

"Hey! Leave my sis out of this! And besides..."

Sonic dodged the incoming laser from Metal Sonic as it hit the wall of Freedom HQ. Y/N flipped over Metal Sonic and managed to give the robot a cut to the eye with her katana.

"Neither of us wants Freedom HQ destroyed! We need to move this out into the great wastes!"

"No way! I'm not giving these things an inch!" Scourge retorted.

Just then, Fiona stuck her head out of the door of Freedom HQ with a concern look.

"Scourge? Hon? Do you want us to step in?"

"You sayin' I can't handle this?"

Sonic kicked Metal Scourge away who's about to attack Scourge from behind.

"She's saying these things are tough, and you could use a hand!"

"He's right, you know. I may not trust Fiona, but she does believe you need their help." Y/N said.

"Honestly, it's like you're completely new at this."

"Get off my back, Blue. There aren't any 'metals' on my world. Yeah, so thanks for the save back there."

Suddenly, Metal Sonic grabbed Sonic from behin in an arm lock, causing him to yell in pain as Scourge smirked in amusement.

"Don't expect me to return the favor."

Y/N growled and stomped over to Scourge's face whose smirk never wavered.

"You're impossible!"

"Maybe."

She then raised her fist and punched Metal Scourge right in the face right past Scourge's head without looking back as the robot was knocked away.

"Not bad. I might return you the favor instead."

"Whatever."

Scourge tackled Metal Sonic that attend to attack Y/N to her side. She was surprised that he actually saved her. Things were getting hard as Sonic, Y/N, and Scourge are back-to-back.

"We're getting whooped, and I dont like that. You're the big hero. Think of something!"

"Last time I got matched blow-for-blow like this, the only things to do was bring in someone the 'bot wasn't designed to handle." Sonic explained.

Scourge realized what he was saying and groaned.

"Oh, come on! You can't mean..."

Y/N finished the sentence for Sonic.

"Yes. They're your team. You make the call."

Scourge sighed and called out for them.

"Suppression Squad! Attack!"

Suppression Squad came running out of the Freedom HQ in full charge. Sonic and Y/N trapped Metal Sonic while Miles and Fiona cut off the robot's head.

"Bring back memories, Y/N?" Fiona asked with a smirk.

"In your dreams." Y/N rolled her eyes, making Fiona sigh in defeat.

Alicia and Patch trapped Metal Scourge while Scourge spin dashed its head off.

"Kneel to the king!"

Boomer then destroye the robots with his sonic boom as they crumbled into pieces. Sonic kicked the head of Metal Sonic off with a victorious smile.

"Now that's more like it! Thanks for the hand!"

"We seem to work surprisingly well together." Miles remarked.

"I guess you could say that." Y/N said.

Scourge turned to Sonic as Fiona comes over to her boyfriend.

"Now back to my offer. You never said 'no.'"

"That's because I was too disgusted for words. You're sick if you think I'd even consider that." Sonic glared.

"Your loss. How about you, N/N. You interested?"

"No. I'll never join you." Y/N glared.

"Well, can't blame a guy for trying. You two still want to try your luck kicking us out of Freedom HQ?"

Y/N glared harder as Fiona wrapped her arms around Scourge, giving them a smirk. Sonic runs off first.

"Not after that work-out. Consider this an extension on your lease!"

Y/N stuck her tongue at them before following after her brother.

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

Y/N had decided to head back into her treehouse when she saw Knuckles standing in front of the door, looking down. She stopped and gave him a glare with her arms crossed as he walks over to her in silence. Once he's close to her, he stares back.

"I'm messed up right now. Can I say 'I'm sorry' now and work on it later?"

Y/N keeps glaring at him for a moment and then spoke.

"Sure. I'm sorry for yelling. I'm just as frustrated as you are."

"Okay."

Knuckles and Y/N then smiled at each other.

"How's your brother? Any success of getting the HQ back?"

"No, plan failed. But we'll find another way. Wanna head inside for a moment?"

Knuckles nodded.

"Yeah."

They then head inside her treehouse with Kirby greeting them in happiness.

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

That night, Y/N couldn't stop shaking the feeling that something wasn't right as she got off of her bed, put on her shoes, and ran off. Her instinct kicked in as she headed towards her parents' house where Sonic was also sleeping in. That's when she saw a shadow figuring looming over the window as they slowly open it. She quickly brought out her katana and silently ran over to them with her katana raised. Just as she was about to attack them, she stopped to see it was Scourge who's barging in. What is he doing?

"Top-notch security you've got here, Sonic. Ha!"

Y/N was about to stop him when she heard her father's voice.

"Good evening. Scourge, isn't it?"

The lamp turned on to reveal Jules sitting on a couch with a calm expression and a hint of intimidation.

"Oh, great. Another Metal Sonic."

"Actually, I'm Sonic's and Y/N's father."

Y/N hide herself behind the wall of the house as she listened to their confrontation.

"Ah, so that would make you Jules. Hey there, 'dad'."

"Given how late it is, I'm guessing this isn't a cordal visit."

"Just some late-night surprise-pummeling."

"I almost died saving my son once."

"You want a medal?" Scourge asked in sarcasm.

"No. I want you to understand I will do what it takes to keep my son and my daughter safe."

Y/N could see Scourge looks a little ticked about it as he tried to look intimidating.

"Cute. Trying to prove you're not afraid of me?"

"What's to be afraid of? This world is full of heroic beings that fight a single great evil. That tells me your world is full of cowards, each doing their part to ruin their world. That's why you don't scare me-- because I know at your core, you're a coward too."

That's true. When Y/N saw the evil twins of her friends, they're nothing but coward as Jules said and finds them such a waste of time.

"Coward? I conquered a planet on my own!" Scourge growled.

"You brought a different brand of ruination."

"Try again, pops. On my world, we had a time called 'The Great Peace.' My dad was part of that. Brought everyone together in one big group hug. Ten years later, everything had stagnated and fallen apart. I didn't ruin the world. I woke it up!"

"That's your answer to it all? Violent takeover and anarchy?" Jules asked.

"Not really anarchy since everyone bows to me. Since you seem so hung up on the correlations, how do you like this one: Sonic's dad isn't really a Mobian anymore. My dad simply isn't."

"Are you trying to shock me? Intimidate?"

Jules scoffed, waving him off.

"That falls short when the mighty world-conquering 'king' has to sneak in durin the middle of the night to get a leg up on my boy."

Scourge placed both hands besides Jules' head on the seat of the couch.

"Sonic's good at smashing bots as well as Y/N. Want to see what I can do? You don't mind if I take your precious daughter with me?"

Jules immediately stood up as his protective dad mode activated, shocking Scourge.

"I am not your father. I was on the front lines of the great war. I won't go quietly. And while you may not care about the loss of your Jules, I'm certain my son and my daughter will be very upset. And I suggest you stay away from Y/N. She's no one's price to be taken for granted. Do you want that on your head too?"

Scourge's back was hit against the window stand as he looks shaken up with a cold sweat. Y/N had never seen him like this before and it's rather pity. But then she saw something that shocks her. Scourge is crying as he angrily got out of the house through the window.

"Just a bunch of empty words. You're no differnt from my old man after all." he said in a broken tone.

Y/N looks at Scourge with sympathy and some questions she wants to ask him until he was gone. She looked back to see Jules looking to where Scourge has gone and was surprised he hadn't seen her yet.

"Jules?"

Y/N could hear hear mom called.

"I thought I heard voices. You look nervous. Who were you talking to?"

"Nobody."

Y/N decided it was time to go back and sleep as she had a big day coming tomorrow.