Y/N sighed as she's walking down the path of the road still feeling bummed about Espio's betrayal with Kirby sitting on her shoulder. Then, she heard yells and a sound of rocks being dropped. She ran over to see the kids, Rory, Snaggle, and Sasha throwing rocks at Khan.

"What are you still doing around here?"

"Nobody likes you! Leave already!"

Y/N ran over to them and swiftly took the rocks from the kids and threw them away.

"Hey! Knock it off! What's with you kids?!"

Sonic came not too long as he heard a commotion also.

"Yo! What's all this about?"

"There's no need to say such things to our guests, especially throwing rocks at people. That's bad and dangerous! Do you want that to happen to you too?" Y/N scolded them with a glare.

"Pooteetah." Kirby agreed.

"But he came here yelling mean things about Sonic!" Rory said.

"Yeah, well, you've got to let that slide. They're just words, and..." Sonic started, but was cut off by Sasha.

"But he ruined Miss Mina's concert with his lightning!"

"Okay, granted, but you can't just attack him!"

Snaggle cut him off.

"But you did! You spin-dashed at him lots!"

This left Sonic speechless as he had no words to say while looking away.

"...Hmph."

"Still violence never solves a problem! Plus, Sonic just didn't even think about the consequences as always! So you should..."

Khan placed a hand on Y/N's shoulder before she could say more.

"It's okay, Y/N. Really. You and Sonic don't need to defend me."

He kneeled down to the kids.

"I've already apologized to Miss Mongoose and her band. I'm sorry I ruined the concert for you as well."

Then, he stood up and walked away.

"That was... way too calm for him. Something's up."

Y/N turned to see the kids sticking tongue at Khan's leave and gave them the deadliest glare, causing them to flinch in fright.

"I'm telling Rosie about the rock-throwing. She's raised you three better than that. Think about what you have done. And Sonic, I'll talk to him. You'll only make things worse and he does not like you."

"But—"

Y/N gave him the same glare she did to the kids. Sonic sighed in defeat, knowing he can't argue with her.

"Fine..."

Y/N nodded and ran after Khan with Kirby on her shoulder still.

"Hey, Khan? You doing alright?"

"...No. I'm working on the temper right now."

"I understand. So, you're a king, huh? Sounds good."

"I don't think it is... And I'm no king. I wasn't even nobility when Robotnik stole everything from me."

"Khan. Don't say that."

Khan turned to her.

"But it's true! I wake up and find my homeland is being torn apart. The Four Houses Warrings over every stinking hill..."

"You mean the ninja clans?"

"Yes! And then Robotnik comes in and sponsors the blasted Iron Dominion...! Everyone caught in the middle needed some ray of hope. And then they attach that prophecy of the monkey king to me, and then I... I... I failed them. Just like I failed to help you and Sonic yesterday."

Y/N placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Khan... It's not your fault. Things happen. Trust me. I know how it feels to lose everything you love and care for. I sometimes blame myself, but I didn't let it stop me from protecting everyone because I have friends and family that are here with me. It's not over yet."

"How would you know?"

Y/N ushered him to come and sit down on the grassy ground. He was confused at first, but did follow her and sat down facing her. She showed him the meditating position with Kirby doing the same. Khan copied her after placing his staff down.

"Close your eyes."

"Um... okay."

Khan closes his eyes.

"Breathe."

Khan starts breathing deeply as everything fades to darkness.

"Here, in darkness, everything's okay. Listen to the waves, and let them fade away. Here comes a thought."

When Khan opens his eyes, he gasps in surprise to find himself and Y/N and Kirby inside a realm of a blue hue as Y/N begins to sing.

https://youtu.be/gdMFKklFqkg

"Take a moment to think of just

Flexibility, love, and trust

Take a moment to think of just

Flexibility, love, and trust"

Y/N takes up a meditating position, and Khan follows promptly along with Kirby. She then gazes off in a distance, and Khan does too, spotting Sonic and Sally standing next to each other.

"Here comes a thought

That might alarm you

What someone said

And how it harmed you"

Sonic gets irritated by a butterfly and chases after it, leaving Sally alone as she is surrounded by more butterflies.

"Something you did

That failed to be charming

Things that you said

Are suddenly swarming"

A butterfly perches on Khan's finger and he look down sorrowfully. The butterfly flies way, and a swarm of them fly in from from behind Khan to surround Sally in a vortex of them.

"And oh!

You're losing sight

You're losing touch

All these little things seem to matter so much

That they confuse you

That I might lose you"

Sally stares in immerse fear at the collective mass of butterflies surrounding her, while Sonic is still irritated at the one butterfly, causing him to break down crying. Sally tries to reach out to Sonic, but is too overwhelmed by the butterflies to do anything.

"Take a moment

Remind yourself to

Take a moment and find yourself

Take a moment to ask yourself if

This is how we fall apart"

Two butterflies perch in Y/N's hands and she holds them out to Khan, prompting him to wonder whether if it butterflies are the problem for fall apart.

"But it's not. But it's not. But it's not. But it's not. But it's not

It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay

You've got nothing. Got nothing. Got nothing. Got nothing to fear

I'm here. I'm here. I'm here"

Sonic takes a deep breath and calms himself down from assaulting the butterfly he once had an issue with, snapping back to reality to see Sally is in turmoil. He then runs over to comfort Sally with their company, letting the other know they have one another.

"Here comes a thought

That might alarm me

What someone said

And how it harmed me"

Khan starts singing, surprising her and Kirby as he gazes off in the distance, and Y/N spots himself and herself entering the scene too. She was shocked to see that and didn't expect it as Y/N expresses concerns over Khan's remorse until he encounters a butterfly, shining like a mirror and showing Khan's reflection.

"Something I did

That failed to be charming

Things that I said

Are suddenly swarming"

Khan kneels down in guilt, in an attempt to ignore the butterfly. However, a swarm of butterflies suddenly burst out of his staff.

"And oh!

I'm losing sight

I'm losing touch

All these little things seem to matter so much

That they confuse me"

Y/N and Khan began to sing together.

"That I might lose me."

The butterflies swarm forms into a single giant butterfly in the sky. It then begins projecting Khan's troubling memory of him losing his home and family by Robotnik as he tears apart everything as he had told her the story about.

"Take a moment

Remind yourself to

Take a moment and find yourself

Take a moment and ask yourself if this is how we fall apart"

Y/N and Khan began to sing together as they continue to meditate and resolve their troubled mind.

"But it's not. But it's not. But it's not. But it's not. But it's not

It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay

You've got nothing. Got nothing. Got nothing. Got nothing to fear

I'm here. I'm here. I'm here"

The butterflies surrounding Khan get blown away, allowing him a clearer mind. Khan and Y/N breath deeply to calm down until a butterfly lands on Khan's hand. It projects him reflection again, causing him to break down into tears, until Y/N lets him know that she is here for him.

"And it was just a thought. Just a thought. Just a thought. Just a thought. Just a thought

It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay

We can watch. We can watch. We can watch. We can watch them go by

From here. From here. From here"

The butterflies fly away peacefully as Y/N and Khan watch on. Sonic and Sally join them and the four of them lay down on the ground to watch the butterflies flutter away. Khan finishes the singing.

"Take a moment to think of just

Flexibility, love, and trust

Take a moment to think of just

Flexibility, love, and trust"

The last of the butterflies flutter away, as the song concludes.

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

Khan opens his eyes again after closing them and found himself and Y/N and Kirby back to the same place they are sitting on in New Mobotropolis. He turns to her with a smile.

"Thanks. I really needed that."

Y/N smiles back at him.

"You're welcome."

"You know, you have a nice sing."

"So do you. I never knew you could actually sing."

"My mom taught me."

They are having a nice, quiet, friendly moment between them when they heard a loud siren.

"YOUR ATTENTION, PLEASE! WE HAVE HOSTILES AT THE CITY WALL PLEASE FIND COVER IMMEDIATELY!"

"That doesn't sound good." Y/N said, standing up along with Khan and Kirby who hopped onto her shoulder. "Nicole."

Nicole appeared before her.

"Right here, Y/N."

"What's going on?"

"Two units crossed over the wall before I could raise our shield. It's Snively and the Iron Queen. I'm sorry I didn't detect them sooner. Something is distorting my entire network."

"Don't worry. Call Sonic. So that we can have a nice littler reversal of yesterday. You ready to bust some heads...?"

She turned and saw Khan ran off.

"Khan?"

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

Meanwhile, the Freedom Fighters face Snively and the Iron Queen who's an adult with pale Caucasian skin, green hair, and yellow eyes. She wears a gold crown, grey hair ties, crimson and black dress, and technological cuffs and boots. She also holding a staff.

"This is the major seat of power for this region?" Iron Queen asked.

"The recently rechristened Republic of Acorn, yes." Snively replied.

"Hmph. Quant..."

Sally pointed at them as the Freedom Fighters got ready to fight.

"Iron Queen and Snively Robotnik! You are both wanted for crimes against Mobius. Surrender peacefully, or we will use force to bring you to justice."

Iron Queen begins to laugh.

"MREE-HEE-HEE-HEE! Is she truly addressing me like this? Me?"

"Oh, she's quiet impertinent! She fancies herself a princess, my love!"

Seeing as they are beyond reason, Sally ordered her Freedom Fighters.

"Bunnie? Tails? You're up."

"Yes, ma'am." Tails said as he and Bunnie flew up towards them.

"Half-Mobian is...?"

"Bunnie D'Coolette. Recently married, I might add." Snively said with a smirk.

"Well, isn't that special! Too bad it will be such a short-lived union!"

Iron Queen pointed her staff at Bunnie and made her robotic arm suddenly punch Tails in the stomach.

"Wha—?!— NO!!!"

Tails went crashing to the ground.

"Bunnie! What's going on?!" Sally asked in worry.

"Ah'm losin' control of mah limbs again!"

"Didn't your monkey friend tell you? I am a Techno-Mage. My magic allows me to control electronic signals and command all sorts of machinery. Now then, my dear..."

"Don't you do it, you—!" Bunnie demanded.

"—Attack! MRHEE-HEE-HEE-HEE!"

Iron Queen was now controlling Bunnie like a puppet as she made her attack all of her friends. They all dodged and blocked each attacks.

"Everyone get away from me!"

"I'll help stop you!"

Tails tried to subdue her as he fly up to her when he got his face covered in smoke from Bunnie's rocket feet, causing him to cough.

"Tails! Ah'm sorry!"

Suddenly, Bunnie was heading straight for Antoine.

"S'il vous plait, non..."

"NO!"

Just as she was about to hit him, she flew another way.

"SOMEBODY STOP ME, DURN IT!"

Just then, Sonic came and grabbed Bunnie as they zoomed away.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late."

"Please tell me you've got a plan?"

"Yep! I'm going to help steer you to a contraption Nicole rigged out of the city's Nanites and we lock you down until you're safe again!"

Sonic then took her to the cell.

"It's not glamorous, but..."

"It'll do. Thanks, Sugarhog, I— Oh, not! Run! RUN!"

"But you're safe now...?"

"SHE JUST ENGAGED MAH ARM-CANNON!"

Bunnie's arm-cannon started to firing out laser, breaking her out and unintentionally aiming straight towards Snaggle, Rory, and Sasha. Y/N came a little too late to see the kids about to get fired when Khan came right on time and saved them from the blast. Y/N ran over to them.

"Are you guys alright?"

"We're fine."

Snaggle turned to Khan and grabbed his arm.

"Miss Rabbot! I mean—I mean— Missus D'Coolette!"

"You've got to help her! You gotta!" Sasha begged.

"I—I'm sorry. I can't."

All three of them now had tears in their eyes.

"You have to! It's your job!"

"Please! Please! Please!"

"You've got those lightning-powers! Use 'em!"

Khan looked towards the battle nervously and turned to Y/N who gave him a nod and over to the Freedom Fighters. She looked up and gasped to see Bunnie looking beaten and tired as she was lifted up in the air by Iron Queen with her staff.

"What's this? You're looking terrible, dearie! Of course! You're only half-robot, so you have no battery. All your weapons and rockets must run off your life-force!"

"Monstre! Je vais vous tuer!" Antoine shouted in anger.

Y/N noticed Tails is beaten up and hurt and quickly helped him up.

"I can... I can..."

"No. Take it easy. You're hurt."

"I need the Chaotix here now! But not Julie-Su!" Sally called out.

Iron Queen then raised Bunnie's arm cannon towards the sky.

"Well then, dearie! You'll have the honor of serving your new queen 'til the end!"

Suddenly, Khan flew up to them riding on his cloud and batted Iron Queen away with his staff shooting out lightning, knocking Bunnie away from her.

"NO! NO MORE!"

Bunnie began to fall towards the ground, but Antoine caught her in bridal style. The Freedom Fighters gathered around them.

"Bunnie..."

"Sally... Is she...?" Y/N asked in worry.

"She passed out. Sonic, get her to Freedom HQ and away from that mad-woman!"

Sonic picked up Bunnie and zoomed off.

"Got it!"

Y/N looked up to see Khan facing Iron Queen.

"Monkey Khan! You aren't a complete coward!"

"Th-These people are more than you can handle run wh-while you still c-can!"

"EEE-HEE-HEE! Are you still pretending to have authority? The so-called 'King of the Free People?'"

Then, the claws of Snively's hover craft snatched the crown off of Khan's head.

"OW!"

"No much of a king without his power ring crown."

"No, but he makes an excellent pawn."

Y/N turned towards Sally.

"Amy! Get Tails to Dr. Quack!"

Amy helped Tails and guided him away. Vector and Mighty ran towards Sally and Y/N.

"Nicole called us in. What's up?" Vector asked.

"We've got a situation, and..."

"EVERYONE RUN!"

They looked up and to Y/N's horror, Iron Queen used her magic on Khan as he was consumed by it.

"Khan!" Y/N shouted.

"Oh, no... Ken..."

"Oh, stop resisting, fuzzy. The girl had only a few robotic limbs, but your cybernetics run through out your entire body!"

She then turned Khan into something horrible as his eyes turned red and black with blue circuits all over his arms and legs, his sides of his hair turned white and the rest black and red, his cloud had turned black, and his staff turned red. He was now Iron Khan.

"You're mine once again! Now—Burn this city to the ground!"

Khan smirked evilly.

"I am the divine weapon of the Iron Dominion."

"Ken! Listen to me! You have to fight her control!" Sally shouted.

But Iron Khan didn't listen and zoom in towards them and knocked some of them away while the rest dodged it. Y/N quickly catch Mighty who was knocked away by Iron Khan.

"And I am glorious!"

Iron Khan then turned to the kids, making Y/N's eyes widen in fear.

"Mister Khan! Stop! Stop!" Rory pleaded.

Just as Iron Khan was about to hit the kids, Sonic zoomed in and scooped the kids away as Iron Khan slammed the ground instead with his staff.

"Why does it feel like all I'm doing today is snatching people up and carrying them around?"

Sally and Y/N ran over to them.

"Sonic! Is Bunnie...?"

"Resting at Freedom HQ safe and sound." Sonic said, placing the kids down as Y/N check on them.

"You guys alright? Are you hurt?"

"We're fine, big sis Y/N." Sasha said.

"We're you kids throwing rocks at Khan again?" Sonic asked.

"He turned evil!" Rory exclaimed.

"He's not evil!" Sally said. "Snively took his power ring crown and left him prone. The Iron Queen used the same technomagic she used on Bunnie to take control of him."

Iron Khan motioned Sonic to come at him and fight him.

"So he needs to be contained. Got it. This should be fun!"

"Don't... Don't hurt him!"

Sonic zoomed towards Iron Khan.

"'Don't hurt him,' she says."

He slide under Khan's staff, dodging it.

"The Iron Queen's taken control of you like this before, man!"

He backflipped over Iron Khan.

"You said you'd never let anyone control you again. Not Robotnik, and not this psycho! You're too stubborn to let her voodoo work on you! Snap out of it, Khan!"

Iron Khan jump kicked him.

"You're wasting your time, dearie! His cybernetics are too extensive! My control is absolute!" Iron Queen laughed.

"This power ring may have offered some protection as his crown, but now it's gone."

Snively snapped the crown into pieces with his claws.

"Aww, too bad."

"My little monkey pawn will destroy your Freedom Fighters just like he did in the Dragon Kingdom! And then your city will burn! MREE-HEE-HEE-HEE!"

"So that's the game you like to play...! Thanks for giving me a plan, though."

Sonic jumped over Iron Khan's head and zoomed towards Sally and Y/N.

"When we first met Khan, he didn't have a crown, right?"

"Right. He took a power ring that was there, and it transformed." Sally confirmed.

"I remember that." Y/N said.

"Perfect! Stall him while I swing by the Lake of Rings, and—YOW!"

"Look out!"

They turned to see Iron Khan was about to attack them with his staff raised when Antoine came and blocked his staff with his sword.

"I am suggesting you are getting ze move on, then!"

"Wow, 'Twan. I'm on my way."

Sonic zoomed away towards the Great Forest as Antoine fought Iron Khan.

"You tell us nothing useful about ze enemy, or that you are ze liability and if I lose my wife, eet is because of you!"

Iron Khan hit him in the stomach with his staff. Sally jumped in and tried to kick him.

"Blast it, Ken! Fight her, not us!"

Iron Khan swung his staff, making her fall backward.

"All for the glory of the queen!"

Y/N swung her whip and wrapped it around Iron Khan's staff and tried to pull it away.

"Wrong! Iron Queen's the enemy!"

Iron Khan tightened his staff and spin her around rapidly and made her go flying towards the ground as her whip was dropped next to her. Vector and Mighty jumped on Iron Khan and grabbed his arms.

"Ha! Gotcha! I told 'Su the princess was right! We don't need her!"

Suddenly, they were flying up on Iron Khan's black cloud.

"Then again...?" Mighty started.

"RRRGH! Why don't you slow down?! It's a cloud, for cryin' out loud!" Vector exclaimed.

"Sorry, friend, but you're not leaving me a choice."

Mighty lifted his fist to punch to him.

"Tumultuous Thunderclap of the Enraged!"

"Uh-Oh..." Vector and Mighty sweat dropped.

Iron Khan zapped them with red lightning and send them flying. Y/N got up and had to do something fast and began to shout at him.

"Hey, Khan! You think you're better than us?! Come and get me!"

Y/N began to zoom off with her rocket roller skates with Iron Khan following after her. She skated through the Great Forest to the Lake of Rings where Sonic is who's waiting for the power ring to come out of the lake.

"Prepare for judgement, worms!"

"Hurry, bro!!"

"C'mon-C'mon-C'mon! Now-Now-Now!"

Just then, the power ring came out of the water and Sonic caught it.

"Yes!"

Y/N smirked and spun her whip and caught Iron Khan around his body and made him fall off of his dark cloud into the water. Sonic quickly jumped in and placed the power ring on Iron Khan's head. Iron Khan then went back to Khan as smoke was coming out and he just stay there with his head down on fours. Y/N jumped down into the water and checked on Khan.

"...Are you back with us, Khan?"

"...not really..."

"This is why you were so angry when you saw us celebrating. This is why you said there were no Freedom Fighters to contact in the Dragon Kingdom." Sonic said, realizing on Khan's behavior.

"And this is why you got all bent out of shape when I asked you about being king."

Khan looked up to them, looking soaked and wet as they drip.

"Yes. It's all my fault."

Y/N placed a hand on Khan's shoulder to comfort him.

"MREE-HEE-HEE-HEE! That's that, then!" Iron Queen clapped.

"That's it? We're pulling out?" Snively asked in confusion.

Iron Queen tapped his nose.

"They know not to challenge me and all their faith in monkey fuzz is shattered. Now... let's go home."

"Mmm... Yes, dear."

Y/N mentally gagged at that as they fly away. She then helped Khan up as they made it up on the bank of the lake, drying off. Sally and Antoine came.

"I—I thought I could control myself with my power ring crown. I got angry—again—and... lost my focus. She released me after the Freedom Fighters were gone, just to mess with me! I tried fighting on my own, I really did, but I'm weak. I can't do it alone... can't be alone... like that. It's like being back in the vault."

Antoine grabbed Khan by his vest angrily.

"So you choose now to be telling us?! Now zat my wife is nearly lost. Did you not theenk she would use you like that again?!"

"Antoine! Cool it!" Sally scolded.

"No. He's right."

"No, he's not."

They turned to see Rory, Snaggle, and Sasha.

"Well, I mean, not totally." Rory said, looking down.

"We lost our parents to Dr. Robotnik's War. That's how you lost your friends." Snaggle said.

"Sometimes we felt like it was our fault. We're too little and weak to help fight." Sasha added.

"But Rosie says we all help in our own way. Um... So we have to help each other." Rory said.

"And then we're all strong because everyone else is." Sasha said.

"Yeah." Snaggle agreed.

"So we'll be strong for you, and you have to be strong for us. Deal?"

"...Deal."

Rory and Khan shook hands. Y/N smiled in proudness and patted the three on the head. Sally hugged Khan.

"We've all made our mistakes and have missed chances. But we can't lose sight of who the real enemy is, and who our friends are."

"Thank you, Sally."

He then shook hands with Antoine.

"Can 'I'm sorry' be a start?"

"Oui. And I am sorry for my frosting-ness!"

Sonic playfully elbowed Antoine.

"I was about to say, remember your old yellow streak?"

"Oui. I recall it all too well."

"Because I totally could totally bring it up right now."

"I know."

"I've got a list."

"Stop eet."

Sally and the kids started heading back towards New Mobotropolis.

"I'm going to check on Tails. Come on, kids, let's find Rosie."

Antoine then left also.

"And I am heading to ze Freedom HQ to check on Bunnie."

"I'll give you a lift in just a sec, 'Twan." Sonic said before turning to Khan with Y/N beside him. "So... to make sure I've got this straight—We've got the Iron Dominion running the Eggman Empire now. They've got the Dark Egg Legion, plus the Four Houses of Ninja Clans. And they've got two bases—both the Eggdome and their old base back in the Dragon Kingdom. Am I missing anything?"

"No, that's about it."

"Cool. Then we've got our list of butts-to-kick all set up."

Sonic then zoomed off.

"I'm going to go check on everyone. Have fun trying to find your Atom-Bat in the lake!"

"Oh... yeah." Khan muttered, looking at the lake.

He then noticed Y/N didn't move and then showed him his staff. Khan was surprised and took it from her.

"Oh... thank you, Y/N."

"No problem. It's what friends do. Are you going to be okay after what happened?"

"Yeah. I'm going to stay here for a bit to clear my mind."

"Alright. See you."

Y/N then zoomed off in her rocket roller skates back home.