"HHHAHAHA! So much power! And it's mine! All mine!"

Naugus placed a hand on the Master Emerald and his eyes and a horn glowed green.

"The only thing more sweet than total victory is gloating about it! Oh, Wendy? Dear sister, can you hear me?"

The image of his sister Wendy that looks like Naugus, but a female revealed herself from his horn.

"Wally? I didn't know you were nearby."

"I'm not! I've secured the Master Emerald and finally restored my magical prowess--no thanks to you!"

"Well, good for you! I've joined the Eggman Empire!"

"WHAT?!"

"So while you've got your mojo flowing, I've got a worldwide empire supporting me."

"Y-You... unbelievable traitor!"

"Wah-Wah--! Cry me a river, Sally. Then go drown in it. Or tell me where you are so I can deliver that precious gem to--"

Naugus had enough and blocked her out by placing his hat back on. He turned to the frozen Knuckles.

"No... I won't let her spoil this for me. I've won. After a well-deserved rest, I'll decide what to do with all of you. It's not like you're going anywhere! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

What Naugus didn't know is that the frozen Y/N heard what he said and was angry as the sky above them began to turn dark as the sun is setting. Her form began to change through the crystal as purple smoke is coming out. Naugus noticed it and was confused.

"What the--?"

Suddenly, Y/N broke free from the crystals without any problem as she's now in her Werehog form, letting out a howl.

"ARRRROOOOOOO!!!"

"GYAH!! W-What are you?" Naugus shrieked, backing away.

Werehog Y/N snapped her head towards him and growled, slowly approaching him with her fangs bared and her claws out.

"YOU'RE GOING TO REGRET THAT! THIS IS THE ONLY FACE YOU WILL SURELY REMEMBER WHEN YOU SLEEP!"

She outstretched her fist towards Naugus, making him scream and dodging the attack as her fist hit the wall. This left a huge crack as he thought he peed his pants already. Y/N outstretched her other fist as she chased after him.

"No! No! No! Stay away!!"

"GRRR!!!"

Naugus suddenly got cornered and slowly turned to see Werehog Y/N walking close to him, dragging her claws against the ground. With one last step, she jumped at Naugus as she was about to bring out her blow.

"GAAAAAHH!!"

Naugus out of instinct activate his magic  and fired it at her and everything is silent. He looked over and sighed in relief to see Werehog Y/N stuck in the crystals once more as she struggled to get out and only her face was not trapped.

"Phew! You sure an interesting one. I'm taking you with me." he said with an evil grin and began to drag her towards somewhere along with the Master Emerald, leaving everyone still frozen.

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

Meanwhile, after Y/N had transformed into a Werehog, Knuckles, who's still trapped in the crystal started to remember those words Y/N spoke to him.

~ FLASHBACK ~

In the cloud sky, Knuckles and Y/N are riding on a magical Pegasus Unicorn she summoned from her ruby as she's riding in front while he sits in the back, holding onto her waist while Kneecaps is riding on his hoverboard.

"This feels like yesterday since the last time I went on a solo mission with you when we're searching for Hawk and the Chaos Emerald back in Chris' Earth world. I wonder how he's been doing?"

"Mmm." Knuckles hummed.

"Something wrong? If it's about the Master Emerald, don't worry. We caught a lucky break with all the shards winding up in roughly the same place. We'll have the Master Emerald restored in no time."

"It's not that. It's just... never mind."

"It's okay. It's just the two of us. Plus, Kneecaps is too occupied to control his hoverboard and I'm pretty sure he's distracted with all the clouds. You can tell me anything."

"Pfft! What's to tell? I'm just the Guardian of the Master Emerald who isn't cut out for his job! Kneecaps would be more responsible than me."

Y/N looked back at him over her shoulder.

"What?"

"How many times has it been stolen now? Or shattered? Is Shadow right, and it'd be better off in a vault somewhere?"

"Forget what Shadow said. I'll have you know that I know you better than anyone else. You're a great guy. You always take responsibilities. Sure, you've been tricked and robbed everytime, which is really uncool, but you've been on your own most of your life. Now you got Kneecaps you can rely on since you're now not the only echidna anymore. You've been brave enough to live in the wild, doing a thankless job, and fully committing to it no matter the odds. You're a special kind of person. A hero, even! And I like you for that."

This left Knuckles speechless as he let those words get into his mind before he looks up at her and lightly tightened his grip on her waist, hugging her.

"Thanks, Y/N. You always know when to cheer me up."

"Anytime. That's what friends do."

He kinda winced at that, but he didn't let that bother him.

"Don't tell Sonic about any of this."

"You know me. I won't tell him anything. Sonic may be my brother, but sometimes a girl gotta keep her secrets."

"Heh. I know. I don't want to deal with him teasing me."

"He only teases his friends. It shows he cares."

"I don't care if he cares... and he teases Eggman."

"No, he mocks Eggman. There's a difference. And he never gives up. That's what I find so inspiring about people like you two. No matter what, you keep fighting. Believe yourself."

He let those words repeat and repat, knowing she's right.

~ FLASHBACK END ~

Knuckles' glove began to glow a familiar green and the crystals that trapped him began to increasingly crack as he began to move his body and with a loud yell, he was free.

"HHRAUGH!"

He panted from the immense breakout he had endured.

"...He's gone... and so is the Master Emerald... and Y/N..."

Knuckles glared and began to break everyone out of the crystals with his spiked fists as he broke Kneecaps first, then Shadow, Rouge, and Omega.

"Ugh... How long were we in there?" Rouge groaned, rubbing her head.

"Too long. Walter's escaped with the Master Emerald and kidnapped Y/N too... I think." Knuckles explained.

"Then, we gotta be there quick as possible." Kneecaps said, stretching his arm.

"Can you tell if they're still in these caverns?" Shadow asked, rubbing his head while feeling concerned for Y/N.

Knuckles closed his eyes and felt a familiar energy of the Master Emerald.

"Yeah... I can sense the Master Emerald, three hundred feet below us."

Omega activate his armed gun from his right arm and aimed it towards the ground.

"I WILL CREATE A SHORTCUT."

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

Werehog Y/N kept growling at Naugus with a snap of her jaws, attempting to bite him off as he dragged her throughout the cave towards the center of the strange purple orb.

"HRK! GRPH! MMPH! Whew! Once I have you all in my lair, I'll bend your wills to my own. The six of you will make! Sonic won't dare challenge me with you in his way, you little monst--"

He looked up to hear a rumble and the ceiling above him began to turn red.

"...What is...?"

Werehog Y/N saw this and smirked as the big blast crashed through the ceiling, nearly hitting them. Naugus ran over to the Master Emerald.

"No! I will not lose! Not when I'm this close to--!"

Shadow zoomed in and kicked him square in the face.

"You've already lost."

He went into spin dash mode and zooms towards Naugus, who immediately blocked his attack with his crystal summoning. Omega, Rouge, Kneecaps, and Knuckles jumped down behind them.

"ABOUT TIME!" Werehog Y/N grinned, surprising Omega and Rouge to see her form.

"Whoa! Y/N? Is that you? You look... a little different." Rouge said.

"SHE'S MORE POWERFUL AS SHE LOOKS FROM MY SENSOR AND IT'S HIGH." Omega stated.

"IT'S A LONG STORY." Werehog Y/N said.

"You almost blasted her and the Master Emerald, you hunk of junk!" Knuckles scolded as Kneecaps checked on Werehog Y/N.

"WHOOPS. SORRY. BUT YOU DID NOT SPECIFY AN ANGLE FOR THE SHOT."

"There's no way I could've known that!"

"THAT SOUNDS LIKE YOUR SHORTCOMING, NOT MINE."

Werehog Y/N cleared her throat.

"A LITTLE HELP HERE?"

"Oh, sorry."

Knuckles punched out the crystals, freeing her as she stretched herself and stood tall. Rouge couldn't help but blush in madness at how hot looking Werehog Y/N is.

"THANKS, KNUCKLES."

"No. Thank you."

Werehog Y/N looked at him in confusion for a second and then smiled, realizing what he meant. Meanwhile, Naugus was still being attacked by Shadow's spin dash and activate his green magic.

"Metal golem! Serve me again!"

"I DON'T THINK SO!"

Werehog Y/N jumped in front of Omega with her clawed hands out as it hit them. She looked down at her hands and was in awe.

"OOH! THAT'S NEW!"

Her hands turned into a crystal gauntlet with a nice sharp ends of her fingers as they sparkle.

"Well, isn't that nice? Wally upgraded your gloves for you." Rouge commented.

"THANKS, ROUGE."

Werehog Y/N turned to the down Naugus after he managed to get out of Shadow's attack, who cowered in fear. Shadow noticed her and was surprised at her form, slightly blushing at the new look.

"TRYING TO KIDNAP ME, HUH? I'LL CLAW YOU WHOLE!!"

Werehog Y/N charged at Naugus on all four before jumping to tackle him with her crystal gauntlet out.

"Ahh! No! You... You...!"

Naugus suddenly changed his form into someone she didn't expect. Her brother Sonic.

"Y-You wouldn't hit your dear brother, would you?"

This made Werehog Y/N pure angry and didn't hesitate to punch the fake Sonic right in the stomach with her crystal gauntlet, causing him to throw up, literally.

"THAT'S SO LOW OF YOU! EVEN I WOULDN'T HESITATE TO HIT MY BROTHER IF I WANT TO!"

She outstretched her arms and punched fake Sonic both in the cheeks with her crystal gauntlet at the same time, breaking his teeth. Werehog Y/N held him still and charged in and kicked him off towards the wall. Fake Sonic groaned, feeling dizzy. He then looked up and screamed to see Werehog Y/N in front of him with her fangs opened with drool coming out, letting out a loud growl. He wait for her sharp teeth to pierce his skin, but instead he felt nothing. She pulled herself away, snapping her jaws shut.

"GO BACK TO YOUR BLOODY HOLE TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM!"

Werehog Y/N punched the wall beside his head, leaving a crack. Her form unexpectedly started to change and the purple smoke comes out. She was back to normal as she looked at her hands that had crystal gauntlets on her, but not anymore.

"Huh... Looks like my brother found a cure for the both of us. I don't feel any dark energy in me anymore. Man, and I started to like my werehog form."

Y/N looked back at the frozen fake Sonic and turned her back with her arms crossed.

"You're wasting my time. Boys?"

Not a second later, Shadow and Knuckles barged in and punched fake Sonic both on the cheeks.

"Dang..." Kneecaps said, wincing at every blow.

"LOGIC ERROR. ENEMY TARGET PREVIOUSLY IMMOBOLIZED US ALL WITH ONE SHOT. WHY IS HE NOT DOING SO NOW?" Omega asked.

"We're keeping him away from the Master Emerald. He's got some power on his own, but we've taken away his trump card. With that in mind... Knuckles! Tag out!" Rouge shouted.

"I'm in the middle of something!" Knuckles said, who's about to punch fake Sonic as he was being held in the neck by Shadow.

"I saved you all! I should get dibs!"

Rouge placed a hand on the Master Emerald.

"Oh, so I can have the Master Emerald for myself then? Or are you three going to take it back to Angel Island? Since-- y'know-- it'll keep Wally from overwhelming us again."

"She's got a point. We're wasting time and we don't know how long the Angel Island would hold." Y/N said.

"Okay! But... how are we going to get it out of here?" Kneecaps asked.

Knuckles looked over and noticed the purple sphere.

"Uh... Hey! With this! It's a teleporter, just like the ones on Angel Island."

"Down here? How does that make any sense?" Y/N questioned.

"Right now I don't care. Let's get moving!"

Knuckles, Kneecaps, and Y/N quickly carried the Master Emerald to the teleporter that lightens up to the ceiling.

"Sure, but how does it wooork--?!"

The teleporter began to make their body and the Master Emerald disappear.

"Whoa! What's happening?!"

"Careful!"

Before they knew it, they were already in the sky filled with floating buildings.

"Where are we?" Y/N asked.

"This is... This is the Sky Sanctuary!" Knuckles and Kneecaps exclaimed.

Y/N looked down to see the cracked area slowly coming close to each other, closing in the hole.

"The world is setting back together! We need to go now!! We're falling!"

"Follow me!" Knuckles shouted.

They carried the Master Emerald again and went up the stairs of the floating building, to the flying floor, to the teleporter, to the rocky path where they met the female Mobian pika and the small robot, and across the log bridge near the waterfall. In the meantime, Team Dark are fighting off Naugus as they managed to take him down. Time is running out as the floating island is edging close to the lava as Knuckles, Kneecaps, and Y/N made it up to the shrine as they sprint up the stairs and finally, they placed the Master Emerald to its original place of the shrine, brightening up the entire Angel Island. It stopped a few feet from the lava and it began to fly up to the sky. The island is now saved at last. Knuckles, Kneecaps, and Y/N collapsed near the Master Emerald, laughing. The same female Mobian pika whose a teal-fured Mobian pika of average height, roughly equal to Knuckles', with brown eyes and a small black nose. She has light blue fur on her muzzle and tip of a lock that sticks out from her forehead. For attire, she wears a shoulderless greenish black bodysuit with a white trim, a long and sleevless ochre jacket with a white trim, and matching gloves, as well as ochre boots with white and purple ankle knots and light gray soles. She also wears a backpack matching her jacket, a pair of purple spectacles, and a white necklace with a purple bead. She also has two buns of hair that are held together with purple ties at the back of her head.

Next to her is a robot that's similar to Emerl, in terms of his orange and yellow armor and the triangular pattern of circles on his chest. However, he has a head fixture resembling a hat more than a fin, and his eyes are green orbs while Emerl's were blue ovoids. He has dark orange upper arms and shoulders that are much thinner than his cone-like forearms, which are a shade of yellow except for orange rings at his elbows and wrists. He has yellowish hands with two fingers and a thumb, and in place of legs he has a cone-like aperture of matching color. His chest is also more box-like than Emerl's, and he sports a large square container on his back that is dark orange marked with an alternating yellow and black strip. This container has a large curved bar on top of it, and serves to carry various tools.

"We... we're laughing right now? Is that cathartic 'Oh, what a relief, we're all safe laughter or 'Dash it all, we're doomed, so why not?' laughter?" Mobian Pika asked, panting from all the running.

"Y/N-- this is Relic. She likes ruins and stuff, so I let her stick around." Knuckles introduced.

"She's kinda cute..." Kneecaps muttered, blushing a little.

"Hello, Relic. I'm Y/N the Hedgehog." Y/N smiled.

"Cheers. Proper job of saving the island and all your lines, even if you cut it a bit close." Relic saluted.

"Hello! I am Fixit. I am also here to help." Fixit greeted.

Y/N's watch began to beep again.

"Sorry, hold on a second. Hello?"

"We were trying to get in touch with you, but I can't get that beastly contraption to work..." Relic explained.

"Uh... How you'd expect me or Kneecaps to answer?"

"Sorry, we don't know how."

Y/N's screen from her watch revealed Rouge.

"Rouge! Angel Island is safe! You guys okay?"

"Great! And we're fine, by the way. Although keeping that link in charge up there isn't what I'd call 'safe.' Wally's down for the count. I think King Acorn will be happy to hear we'll be happy to hear we'll be taking him off his hands."

"Great! Mission accomplished! See you later!"

"Later, cutie. Oh, and if you're free, wanna come hang out with us sometime? We could use your help in finding Eclipse and maybe know about your... new form."

"Sure. Over and out."

Y/N shut down her watch and turned to the group, leaning back against the Master Emerald.

"Hey. Thanks." Knuckles smiled.

"I'm happy I could help."

"No, I mean for... everything. For believing in me..."

Y/N smiled and hugged him, catching him off-guard. He then later hug her back. Relic sat down next to Kneecaps.

"I'm glad you had such a productive holiday. Welcome home."

"Thanks, Relic. It's good to be back up here--where we belong." Knuckles said.

"Yeah..." Kneecaps agreed.

They looked ahead to see the ocean is pieced back together as the dark clouds faded away, leaving everything look peaceful. Just then, a familiar voice of Chip echoed the world.

"Y/N! Knuckles! Kneecaps! Thank you for inspiring me with your passion!"

To those that were called immediately stood up in shock as they recognized that voice. They weren't the only one as Relic looked over to them.

"...Y-You three did hear that, y-yes?"

Y/N started to feel sad all of the suddent and summoned her ruby for her to see and saw something that made her tear up as she only got to see some sort of colossal with a voice of Chip who's inside as he was slowly sinking into the lava of the volcano that's closing in.

"And I'll never forget you. I'll be here with you always. A part of the earth you tread."

She sure will never forget Chip, even if she barely get to spend time with him, he's a hero.

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

And so, at Castle Acorn, Westside Island, after the world was restored, Y/N was having a tea party with Kirby, Sally, Maximillian, Cream, Cheese, and Sonic as she explained her adventures with Knuckles, Kneecaps, and Team Dark as well as Mighty and Ray.

"...From up there, watching the world come together was amazing and beautiful."

"Did you happen to see that dastard, Naugus, on your way home?" Maximillian asked.

"As your official royal liaison, I asked to see him for myself. He's not going anywhere. Not on my watch." Y/N said, smirking deviously at how terrified Naugus was when he saw her and cowered before her.

"My only regret is that I didn't get to say goodbye to Chip. I was really looking forward to spend some time with him."

Cream looked down.

"I'm sure he'd understand, Y/N. But still... I miss him."

"Pooteetah." Kirby added, frowning.

"He's the Light Gaia--Spirit of the World. He'll always be with us in... well, spirit. So no moping, okay?" Sonic said, holding his cup.

"What's going to happen to those hidden caverns now?" Y/N asked.

"They'll need to be properly surveyed, but until then they're under constant watch by the royal guard." Sally explained.

"I had offered to reward Team Dark handsomely for their services to the realm, but Rouge seemed content with the one souvenir. Shadow and Omega seemed...ess materialistically inclined, shall we say?" Maximillian added. "I also offered to induct Angel Island into the Kingdom of Acorn, or at least supply Knuckles and Kneecaps with a garrison of royal guards, but they flatly declined."

"That's Knux for you. Stubborn as a rock and about as hard-headed. I'm not surprised Kneecaps would take his side." Sonic smirked, twirling his cup.

"You make fun of him too much." Sally said, raising her eyebrow teasingly.

"No, I tease."

"There's a difference!" Sonic and Y/N said at the same time before they began to laugh.

This confused Maximillian while Sally blushed, smiling at Sonic before he cleared his throat.

"Indeed. By the way, Rouge wasn't the only one to take one of those massive gems from the mines..."

Y/N know what he mean by that and looked at the bright sky, feeling happy and in peace once more. She knows Eggman and his goons are still out there, plotting for more evil deed and will be ready to stop them at any cost. What she didn't know is the evil is hiding among the darkness with those glowing amber-like gold eyes.