Hello, everyone! Welcome back! I'm so glad you could come check out my newest chapter of my take at a sequel to Sonic Forces. I gotta admit that I'm having a ball writing this story. Just like how Sonic has a ball whenever he spins into one, get it? ;)

Before we begin, I just wanna say thanks to those who reviewed my first official chapter previously and to those who gave me some faves and follows. You guys are the reason why I'm still doing this. Please keep it up! Also, if any of you happen to know, or if you're apart of any communities that would like to have my story in it, please do add it or let me know about it so I can go talk to the person running it. I'd love to see my story get into some communities, so if you know of one or two, don't hesitate to tell me about them. I'll give you a big thank you in the next chapter if it works out. :D

Now that I've got all that said and out of the way, let's recap real quick. So far Mobius was hit with a strong tremor that went entirely across its surface. Even Angel Island was hit, and it's floating in the air for crying out loud! Not only that, but that noise hurt a lot of Mobian ears, but how come Flare was the only one in the entire world not able to hear it? Strange, am I right? To know the answer to that question, we must press on further into the story! The answer to that, and whatever other questions, will be revealed soon enough! Until then, enjoy the second chapter! XD

WARNING: If you haven't played the Sonic Forces game, I suggest not reading this until you do. It may contain spoilers to the game.

DISCLAIMER: I do not legally own the rights to Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights to the characters and other Sonic related events and items belong to SEGA, but I do own this story and OCs. Please support the original creators and franchise. Thank you and enjoy the story.

Sonic Forces: The Return of Infinite

Episode 2: The Doctor's Back in Town

~Crimson Peak, Day Time~

Somewhere up in the mountains of Mobius, on a known lonely rock called Crimson Peak, known for almost have a crimson colored coating, a familiar black hedgehog with a bit of red was seen, looking out into the distance. He could see the vast land far down below with the clouds not so far above him, but the beautiful sight wasn't why he was there. In fact, the reason why he was there was brought to halt after the recent event with the worldly tremors and screeching noise. He was seen speaking through his communicator, which was connected to his left glove.

"Are you telling me the truth, Rouge?" he asked as the wind blew across his right side.

"There's no mistake about it, Shadow." replied the known bat girl called Rouge through the communicator. "The intelligence division confirmed that whatever just happened all points to Eggman's old lab in Mystic Jungle. You know, the one you destroyed over a year ago."

Thinking back on it, Shadow recalled destroying a lab of Eggman's there about a year ago. It was also where he faced off with Infinite before he became the masked jackal Mobius soon feared. "Yeah... I remember that place." he replied as he gazed back out into the distance. "So the doctor got the place up and running again."

"Exactly." replied Rouge through the communicator again. "And after what just happened, who knows what he's up to. It doesn't feel good."

"After just went down, it certainly isn't." stated Shadow as he looked back at his communicator. "All right... Tell the others that I'll be heading there now. I'll find out what the doctor's up to this time."

"Roger that, Shadow." Rouge replied, but didn't hang up just yet. "By the way, did you find what you were looking for up in Crimson Peak?"

"No." answered Shadow with a shake of his head. "Not even a Chaos Emerald either. So much for the intelligence division's information about a power source type of crystal up here. That's the last time I listen to someone else's info."

"Don't go blaming them, Shadow." said Rouge in response as Shadow turned and started walking along the cliff edge of the mountain. "It was worth a look anyway. Crimson Peak hasn't had that much searching in a long time. Besides, you could've used some fresh mountain air."

"Hmph... Sure..." Shadow replied, hearing a chuckle from Rouge before signing off, then stopped and turned his head to gaze out at the distance again, thinking about the recent events with the war and Eggman. "So you're back to causing trouble again, huh, doctor? You never learn your place, do you? Wonder what you're up to this time." he said before he leaped off the cliff and took a dive down the side of the mountain, using his rocket shoes to gain some speed before taking a ninety degree turn and shot forward into the distance.

~Sandy Desert, Evening Time~

The sun had just begun to set on this strange day. In the cliche named Sandy Desert, Tails was seeing flying in his plane, the Tornado-1, after leaving the excavation site. After the tremors and loud noise event, the site was closed down for now, so the two-tailed fox wasted no time getting into his favorite biplane and took off to get some answers. During that time, he wasted not a second trying to find out what happened using his Miles Electric pad to pinpoint where the strange energy wave originated from. Eventually, he found where it came from, and it surprised him.

"No way!" he exclaimed, reading his Miles Electric closely before pressing some buttons on it, changing it to communication mode. "This is unbelievable. Sonic's gonna wanna know about this."

With a push of a call button, Tails waited for about five seconds until Sonic's face was seen on his pad's monitor. "What's up, Tails?" he asked, seeing the so called Sand Hill in the background. "Did you find something?"

"Without a doubt." the two-tailed fox nodded in reply. "I used my Miles Electric and was able to find out where that weird energy wave we saw earlier came from. Turns out, it came from Mystic Jungle!"

"Mystic Jungle?" Sonic asked, a bit surprised though. "Didn't one of Eggman's labs get destroyed there a year ago by Shadow? Did it come from there? You sure you read that thing right?"

"Positive." Tails replied, convinced by his own readings. "There's no mistake. It had to have come from Eggman's old lab. He must've rebuild over the past three months. Wouldn't be surprising if he did."

"I hear that." replied Sonic when he thought about it before giving a smirk through the monitor. "In that case, I'll head for there now."

"Okay." Tailed nodded in reply. "I'll meet you there, Sonic." he said before signing and turned off his Miles Electric, then he changed the direction he was going and began making way to Mystic Jungle, hoping to meet up with Sonic there as soon as possible.

~Underneath the City, Secret Base, Evening Time~

Back at the city, once Flare and Ash had returned from Sunny Forest, the two were seen taking an elevator down to a hidden floor underneath one of the buildings that was used for apartment living near the top of the cliff side area. As they went down, Flare still couldn't figure out why he couldn't hear whatever Ash heard before the tremors came. Ash was unsure why either, but their train of thinking was brought to a halt after they reached the underground floor.

The elevator opened to reveal a small hallway leading to a more open room that had a few couches, one slightly bigger than the others and green while the other two were tan colored, a circular rug underneath with mixtures of shades of red, a flat screen television set hanging from the ceiling, and a couple lamps with stands on the sides of the room, along with desks with papers and other objects that mostly appeared to have been built by hand. There were windows along one side of the room that showed a view of the ocean that the city was next too, indicating that this place was built inside under the cliff above. In the far end of the room was a large computer monitor and a control panel with a wheel desk chair. The small hallway also had two doors on both sides leading into different rooms. A kitchen and a generator room, and two bigger rooms made for living and sleeping that also had windows in them.

However, upon stepping out of the elevator, Flare and Ash's eyes widen in surprise when they saw a huge mess the main room was in after the tremors hit. Fortunately the computer wasn't damage, but the television was barely hanging up, and the other rooms were just as much of a mess with things either broken or had fallen all over the floors. "Whoa... Look at this mess." said Flare when he noticed the mess everywhere.

"I figured the place was going to be mess after what just happened, but I wasn't expecting this." stated Ash as he and Flare and ventured down the small hallway, but as they did, they stopped when a small figure came out of one of the more bigger rooms.

"I was wondering when you two were coming back!" exclaimed the figure, sounding like a young girl, and didn't sound like a happy one, surprising Flare and Ash as they saw it was a Mobian wolf like Ash, but slightly shorter, younger, and had a lighter color of grey fur compared to Ash. She too had dark green eyes and a tan colored muzzle and inner ears like him, but she wore a black leather jacket similar to Flare's, but hers had smaller sleeves, and was unzipped, revealing she had white fur on her stomach area. She also wore white gloves with black bracelets with small multiple spikes around them, ripped dark blue jeans, and black boots that also had small multiple spikes around the laces.

"Uh... Pyre... We..." said Ash to the other Mobian wolf named Pyre, who only stomped towards him and Flare with anger in her eyes and her teeth grit with a fang showing, frightening them a little.

"Don't you Pyre me, big bro!" she exclaimed, stating Ash as her big brother as she pointed back at the mess everywhere. "Look at this mess!" she stated before putting her hands on her hips. "Do you have any idea how long it's going to take for red head here to clean all this up?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Flare in agreement to Ash, but then he realized that Pyre was referring to him as the red head because of his red fur. "Wait, what...?!"

"Never mind the mess right now, Pyre!" Ash replied, getting serious as he ran pass his little sister, surprising her a little as the bigger Mobian wolf made his way through the mess and to the large computer. "We got more important things to do besides cleaning up the place." he stated as he jumped into the chair and began typing away at the keys on the control panel.

"I hope you weren't being too serious about that." said Pyre as she and Flare made their way to the computer as well, though Pyre still wasn't happy about the mess she had to step in. "Let's not forget who's here most of the time. I'm not gonna clean up this place every time you and Flare here are away, you know? It's gets really annoying. Especially when you two bozos don't help at all."

"Uh, Pyre... As much as I'd like to listen to you complain, this is kinda more important right now." stated Flare with a nervous grin to the young Mobian wolf, who quickly shot a glare up at him.

"What could be more important then keeping our place of living clean?" she asked before crossing her arms and turned away with her eyes closed. "If it weren't for me, you guys would be running around in your own filth. Not that I don't mind it myself from time to time, but this is ridiculous. Earthquake or not."

"But those earthquakes are what's more important right now, Pyre." stated Ash, causing Pyre to open her eyes and gaze toward her older brother as he continued typing away at the control panel. "Besides, Flare and I have a good reason to believe that Doctor Eggman's behind it."

"Doctor Eggman?!" asked Pyre in complete surprise. "You mean that crazy doc is back?!"

"If we're right, then he is." Flare replied with a serious face, while Pyre growled in frustration before going over to one of the moved couches and jumped on it.

"Doesn't that guy ever learn to just quit?" she asked as she threw her arms behind her, her back turned from the computer. "I mean, after countless years of failure, I would eventually. Why can't someone just end him already?"

"He's just one of those guys, Pyre." said Ash, though the thought of finishing off Eggman for good didn't sound like a bad one, and he couldn't understand why nobody, not even Sonic, had done that yet.

"Well, whether the guy get killed or not, it's kinda funny to see his big plans fail in the end." Flare stated with a smile as he thought back on how frustrated Eggman could get whenever something never goes his way, but even more so when his plans ultimately fail.

Thinking about that as well, Pyre couldn't help but chuckle and grin at the thought too. "Heh... Okay, that is kinda funny." she admitted as Ash founded what he was looking for after typing away at the computer.

"Location found." the computer said in a mechanical male voice.

"Got it!" exclaimed Ash as Flare and Pyre turned their heads at the large computer's screen, showing a pinpointed location to them. "Looks like the source behind the earthquakes and that noise we all heard came from somewhere in Mystic Jungle."

"Mystic Jungle?" asked Flare, confused as he scratched the side of his head. "How could it have come from there?"

"Well, didn't you say once that Eggman had a lab somewhere in that area?" Ash asked back, making Flare think back on the events of the war.

"Yeah, but that place was destroyed and shutdown." he stated, but then he thought about it a little more. "Unless he brought it back up after the war."

"Oh wow... Congratulations on figuring that one out." said the computer sarcastically, causing Flare and Ash to look at it with widen eyes, surprised, but Pyre just chuckled at what it said.

"I was just thinking the same thing, Computer." she grinned as Ash looked back at her and pointed his thumb back at the computer.

"Um, Pyre... Why did the computer just started talking like an artificial being and insulted Flare?" he asked as Pyre just waved a hand at her older brother in response with her eyes closed.

"Oh don't worry about that, big bro." she said before turning away and got comfortable again on the couch, putting her arms behind her head again. "I may have tampered with Computer while you were gone and gave him more artificial life settings."

"How did you even do that?!" asked Ash, baffled by the idea. "You're not even that good at working the computer!"

"Who cares?" Flare replied as he smirked towards the computer with his hands on his hips. "Sure it was a bit insulting, but no harm done. Besides, I think it's kinda neat to have a computer with more life to it."

"Well at least someone other than Pyre likes my way of life now." said Computer. "Unlike a certain wolf boy with a darker shade of grey and glasses."

The moment Computer said that, Ash grew an annoyed look on his face as he shot a glare back at the computer before shooting it towards Pyre instead. "I'll deal with this and YOU for tampering with my computer when I get back." he said as she jumped out of his chair and smiled towards Flare. "We going to Mystic Jungle or what?"

"You bet we are." Flare grinned in reply with a thumbs up before he and Ash ran back to the elevator. "Let's go find out what Eggman's up to this time."

"Hey...! Wait a minute!" shouted Pyre as she quickly stood up on the couch and shot another anger expression towards her older brother and Flare. "What about this mess?! You can't expect me to clean this all this by myself!"

"You'll be fine." Flare replied, stopping before getting into the elevator as Ash got on first, but he took out the white Chaos Emerald he found before and tossed it all the way to Pyre. "Here! Hold on to this for me!"

Surprised at first, but Pyre managed to catch the emerald like a baseball, but when she did, she brought it down to her eye level and was in awe by how it gave out a glow. "Whoa...!" she said before looking back towards Flare. "What is this thing?!"

"It's a Chaos Emerald!" Flare shouted back with a smile as he entered the elevator and Ash pushed a button to go up. "We found it earlier today while dealing with some of Eggman's bots in the forest!"

At first, Pyre had no clue what Flare was talking about, but as she gazed back and forward repeatedly between Flare and the Chaos Emerald, she started to realize that this was one of the spoken seven emeralds she's heard so much about. Upon realizing this, her eyes widen in shock as she took one last look at Flare and Ash, just as the elevator was a second away from closing and shouted, "This is a Chaos Emerald?!"

~Mystic Jungle, Jungle Road, Night Time~

Night had fallen upon Mobius, but even at night, the light of the moon shined down on the planet's surface, giving light to even a dark place like the Mystic Jungle. Like most jungles, it was wet, filled with trees that never seem to dry out, and filled with rivers and bayous in certain areas. There were also left over wreckage of Eggman's robots scattered here and there throughout the area, in both on land and in the waters. A sign that this place was also cleaned out of the doctor's machines too, and even some had been covered by moss and vines from over the years even before the war.

(Song Plays: Rival Battle - Shadow (For True Story) - Sonic Generations)

At first, all seemed quiet, but the silence was broken when Sonic was seen dashing through one side of the jungle, making his way to where he remembered Eggman's old lab being. At the same time, on the other side of the jungle, Shadow was seen flying through the air, thanks to his hover shoes before powering them down and grind on some torn down curvy trees, spiraling around before taking a big leap into the air, just as Sonic did the same when he had to jump over a large river ahead. At that moment, the two hedgehogs came right for one another and passed each other in mid-air. The moonlight shining behind them as they did with Shadow, in slow motion, turned his eyes to the passing by blue hedgehog, and Sonic did the same to the black hedgehog, but with a grin.

Afterwards, Shadow was the first to land on the ground and skated his way down the road with Sonic running right behind him after landing on his feet too. It didn't take long for the speedy blue hedgehog to catch up to the ultimate lifeform and kept pace right next to him. "Hey, Shadow! Long time no see!" he grinned towards the black hedgehog. "What brings you all the way out here? Going to the same place as me I'm betting?"

"Appears that way." Shadow replied, not looking away from the path ahead. "Unless it's not the doctor's old lab."

"Yep! Definitely the same place." replied Sonic as he looked back ahead too, but he couldn't help but grin and turn his eyes back towards the black hedgehog. "Care for a little race along the way?"

"Hmph..." said Shadow as a smirk grew on his face, just as he and Sonic increased in speed. "Why not?"

No matter how serious Shadow normally was, over the years, the black hedgehog couldn't seem to resist having a little competition from time to time with Sonic, and Sonic always loved having a bit of competition. At the same time, as they raced down the jungle road, Tails was seen coming up a ways behind them in his Tornado-1, spotting the blue and yellow trails left by the speeding hedgehogs. "There's Sonic!" he exclaimed, happy to see his friend. "I knew he'd come." but then he spotted Shadow skating alongside the blue hedgehog, which surprised the two-tailed fox. "What? Is that...Shadow?! What's he doing here?"

Though it didn't take long for Tails to figure out why Shadow could be in Mystic Jungle too as he looked back ahead. "He must be heading for Eggman's lab too." he said, stating the obvious, but it seemed to make him concern now. "Things must be more serious then I thought if he's involved."

As the two hedgehog raced down the jungle road, the path ahead was about to split with a river ahead to diverge them. Without thinking, the two crossed one another a couple times before taking their own paths. Sonic took the one with loops and fallen trees on the road, which he either jumped or slide under if there was a gap underneath before boosting forward. Shadow's path had more winding roads and also had fallen trees too, but the ultimate lifeform was more than able to make those hard turns and jumped over each tree that got in his way, then also boosted the moment it was all clear and caught up to Sonic. Eventually, the two paths converged and the two hedgehogs were back to racing not far apart from one another.

It wasn't long until the area Eggman's lab was located was spotted ahead, but the only way to get to it is to cross an enormous river that had multiple rocky pillars poking out of it. Seeing them, Sonic and Shadow, at the same time, jumped and begun jumping from one pillar to another on their respective sides. Eventually, the two speedy hedgehogs made their way to the last pillars at the end of the river and took a huge leap in the air and landed at the same time time back on land, arriving at their destination.

(Song Ends: Rival Battle - Shadow (For True Story) - Sonic Generations)

Once their little race was over, Sonic chuckled and shot a grin towards the black hedgehog. "I totally won that." he said as Shadow payed him no attention as he walked on ahead, but even he couldn't help but smirk a little.

"Hmph... So you believe." he said, causing Sonic to lose his grin and give him an annoyed look.

"What's that suppose to mean?" he asked before following after the ultimate lifeform, who couldn't help but noticed that there was no sign of Eggman's robots anywhere around the entrance to the lab.

"Hmm... Something's not right here." he stated, thought remained on guard. "There's no sign of any of the doctor's mechs anywhere."

"I noticed that too." said Sonic, knowing exactly what Shadow as talking about, which confused him. "It's not exactly Eggman's style to leave a place, even a small one, unprotected."

"Yeah. And that's what's troubling." Shadow stated, narrowing his eyes at the thought. "Something's not right here."

But just then, Shadow looked up to see the Tornado-1 coming in for a landing, causing him to turn back to see it land, and so did Sonic, who smiled when he noticed the biplane. "Tails!" exclaimed the blue hedgehog as Tails jumped out of the cockpit and smiled.

"Sonic." he said before running up to his lifelong friend and gave him a high-five. "I'm glad you came all the way out here."

"You know me, Tails... Can't resist not knowing what Egghead's up to sometimes." smirked Sonic before pointing a thumb back towards Shadow. "And look, Shadow came running here too."

"Yeah. I saw you and him while I was flying over the jungle." stated Tails before setting his sight on Shadow with Sonic. "Are you here because of what happened too, Shadow?"

"Of course." the black hedgehog replied with his arms crossed and a serious expression as always. "Whatever happened was too important for me to not come. The doctor was obviously behind it."

"Well then, what are we waiting for?" asked Sonic as he made his way passed Shadow and up to the entrance to Eggman's lab, which was closed. "Let's find out what old Egghead's up to." he smiled as Shadow walked up and stood next to him, while Tails remained behind the two. The two hedgehogs inspected the closed doors closely before Sonic his head towards Shadow with his fists on his hips. "So do you wanna do the honors or should I?"

In response to Sonic's question, Shadow let out an annoyed sigh before uncrossing his arms and jumped up in the air before rolling into his black ball form and launched himself at the closed lab doors, a trail of yellow left behind him as he did so. With one strong hit, the doors came crashing down inside the lab, while Shadow had jumped back and landed on his feet. Afterwards, Sonic grinned before coming up and patted him on the shoulder. "Nice one, Shadow." he said before running inside. "Couldn't have done it better myself."

Again, Shadow let out another sigh of annoyance, knowing Sonic was joking before rushing in after him, but Tails couldn't help but noticed what Shadow noticed earlier, that there were no guards in sight. "That's odd... Where the guards?" he said, taking one more look around before heading into the lab after the two hedgehogs, though now he was beginning to worry a little more.

~Mystic Jungle, Eggman's Secret Lab, Evening Time~

Inside the lab, Sonic, Shadow, and Tails slowly made their way down a long hallway, keeping their guards up for any traps or robots Eggman may have left behind. However, the further they went into the old lab, there was still no sign of resistance or traps of any kind. Though Shadow continued to keep his eyes peeled for something to jump out at them, Sonic yawned loudly out of boredom, while Tails couldn't help but worry even more. Eventually, they came up to a door that opened when they got near it, revealing the main lab with the multiple test tubes and computer Eggman was in earlier today.

"This must be the main room, but still no sign of the doctor." said Shadow, being the first to walk in with Sonic in tow.

"I know." Sonic replied with a bored expression and his arms behind his head. "I was expecting a little more of a fight. Eggman could've at least left us a welcome party or something."

But while Sonic was busy being bored with the situation, Tails spun his two tails and flew over the two hedgehogs all the way to the main computer, landing near the control panel and proceeded to press way at the keys. "Hmm... Let's see..." he said as he opened up files on Eggman's computer, while Sonic and Shadow stopped once they were behind him.

"Did you find anything, Tails?" asked Sonic, putting his arms down and his hands on his hips. "What's Egghead been doing?"

"That's what I'm trying to find, but, there's nothing here." Tails answered with a confused expression when he found that the computer's files were empty.

"Say what now?!" exclaimed Sonic in surprise, while Shadow walked up and moved Tails away from the controls, but not in a forceful way.

"Let me see." he said as Tails stepped back and allowed the black hedgehog to check the computer's files too, noticing that they truly were empty, but that wasn't all. "It looks like the files on this computer were deleted. Not too long ago by the looks of it."

"But why would Eggman go and do that?" asked Tails, confused even more. "I know Eggman and he'd never delete anything off his computers. Believe me. At the Chemical Plant, he saved ten terabytes of selfies."

"Wow... Leave it to Eggman to be an egomaniac." said Sonic with a smirk. "Might as well call him Ego-man in that case."

"This isn't a joking matter, Sonic." Tails stated, giving a serious expression back at the blue hedgehog. "None of this makes any sense. The readings from the tremors and noise led to here, but there's nothing here. No guards, data, or even a sign of Eggman."

At that very moment when Tails said Eggman's name, in a flash, a video footage popped up on the computer's monitor, revealing Eggman's face. "Did I hear someone say my name?" he asked with a grin, causing Sonic, Shadow, and Tails to jump a bit in surprise.

(Song Plays: E.G.G.M.A.N. - Sonic Adventure 2)

"Eggman!" shouted Sonic the moment he saw Eggman, getting serious, along with Shadow.

"That's my name! No need to wear it out." Eggman replied before taking a good look at the room the three Mobians were in. "I see you came uninvited into my lab. I'd let security show you the way out, but I needed all my robots to come with me to my new base, so I apologize if I can't give you a proper welcome."

"New base?" asked Tails, scratching the side of his head before realizing why there were no robots around the lab now. "So that explains the lack of mechs around here."

"And the lack of fun." Sonic added, looking bored again. "No wonder there was no sign of fun when I got here."

But while Sonic was too focused on not being able to break some of Eggman's robots, Shadow stepped forward and leered at the doctor through the monitor. "What are you up to this time, doctor?" he asked as Sonic and Tails set their sights back on Eggman too. "You were behind those tremors and that strange noise across the planet, weren't you?"

"Oh come on... Why does everyone always assume that when weird things happen in the world it's always because me?" Eggman asked, but all he got in response were "Really?" faces from Sonic, Shadow, and Tails, causing him to lose his innocence before getting serious. "Okay, fine, it was me. I admit it. You happy now?!"

"I will be once I knock the hairs off your mustache for that earache you gave me earlier." said Sonic with a not so happy expression before he pointed at the evil doctor. "That was not cool, Egghead. Too bad you're not an ear doctor, because I'm gonna have to crack you open like the rotten egg you are."

"Hey there's no need for name calling, you blue buffoon." Eggman glared in reply before grinning yet again. "Besides, I'm in a good mood. So far my plans have been working out swimmingly. It won't be long now until my newest evil scheme to take over the world is set in motion."

"Wow..." said Sonic as he turned his head towards Tails, finding it unbelievable that Eggman already has a new evil plan for world domination months after his last one was foiled. "He just doesn't know when to give up, does he?"

As Tails nodded in agreement with his friend, Shadow was starting to get annoyed with the evil doctor. "I've heard about enough, doctor." he said as Sonic and Tails turned their heads towards the ultimate lifeform. "Whatever it is you're scheming, it's never going to end the way you think it will."

"Heh...! That's what you think, Shadow." Eggman grinned in response to what Shadow said. "If that's really what you believe, then why don't you come prove it. My new base is established on the southwest side of Trenant Mountain."

"That's one of the largest mountains on the planet." Tails stated, surprised to hear that where Eggman set up, but this didn't sound right with Sonic.

"Why are you telling us this, Egghead?" he asked with a serious expression, but then he smirked. "You so confident that you're just blabbing out where you set up shop this time?"

"Oh I'm very confident, Sonic." replied Eggman, pointing towards Sonic through the monitor. "Confident that you'll get in, as you always do, but you won't be coming back out! And even if you do get in, I doubt you will without a scratch. I've got so much security around the mountain, you're bound to be noticed the moment you come near!" he said as he brushed his hand away into a fist dramatically. "Just try to come stop me. I dare you! Heheh... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

(Song Ends: E.G.G.M.A.N. - Sonic Adventure 2)

Once Eggman finished his maniacal laughter, the video footage was cut off, leaving Sonic, Shadow, and Tails in the now quiet lab with the info on the evil doctor's new base. Knowing where he was now, Sonic couldn't help but grin. "Well, at least now we know where the fun is." he stated before setting his sights towards Shadow. "What do you say, Shadow? Care to come along for the ride?"

"Hmph..." Shadow smirked in reply before turning around and started making his way out of the lab. "As long as you don't get in my way."

"No problem there." Sonic replied before following, but Tails was still baffled by everything that's happened so far, including Eggman's motives and activity.

"Wait a minute, guys!" he shouted, running after the two hedgehogs, who stopped to look back at him. "Doesn't any of this bother you? First Eggman causes the world to shake with noise, then leaves his own lab for us to find with no data on what he's plotting, then just tells us where he's at? None of this sounds like anything Eggman would normally do!"

"You're right, Tails." Sonic agreed with a serious expression. "Nothing about this seems right. Not even for Eggman." he said, but then he got to thinking about what the evil doctor called him earlier, which sort of baffled the blue hedgehog. "Plus, I'm sure I never heard Eggman call me blue buffoon before. I know someone else did, but him calling me that is a fist. I would know."

"Name calling aside, whatever the doctor's up to, there's no question that it needs to be put a stop to." Shadow stated before powering up his rocket shoes and skated forward, making his way out of the lab.

"I'm with Shadow on this one." said Sonic back to Tails. "Whatever Eggman is up to, it's gonna end sooner than he planned. The world can't take another plan of his right now. Not after the last one."

Knowing all too well that it felt too soon for Eggman to be hatching a new plan to take over the world, especially after his last one left Mobius in a state of shock, Sonic kept a serious face as he turned and dashed way back out of the lab. Tails knew that Sonic was right as he nodded before making his way out of the lab too, but at his own fast speed, which was naturally slower than Sonic and Shadow's. However, as the three left the main room, unknown to them, they have been watched the whole time by a hidden security camera that was active, but was sending the feed to a different location.

~Unknown Location, Evening Time~

Though the location the lab's hidden security camera was a mysterious, it appeared that someone was watching the feed being sent. It was a shadowy figure of none other than Eggman, but something seemed different about him. Though he appeared to be wearing the same clothes as he usually wears, despite it and his face being hidden in shadows, his left eye, though normally hidden under his glasses, was glowing red around the sclera, and the iris was glowing yellow.

He was seen sitting in a chair as a smaller shadowy figure was seen floating down not too far behind him. "It appears that Sonic and the others have taken the bait as predicted." Eggman said before turning around in his chair towards the unknown figure, his left eye glowing through his glasses' lens. "It won't be long now until he arrives."

"Excellent, doctor." said the unknown figure with his arms crossed, who came into view and turned out to be...Infinite. "It appears the plan is progressing just as I thought it would."

"Indeed." Eggman nodded in reply. "Though it also appears Shadow is coming as well. Is that going to be a problem?"

"No." Infinite answered, turning away from the doctor to gaze at multiple monitors showing security feeds of the established base near Trenant Mountain. "Even he won't be a problem compared to what I have in store." he chuckled before taking out the red Chaos Emerald Eggman used before to power the energy wave that caused the tremors and screeching noise earlier, admiring his reflection on its red surface. "Oh yes... Very soon, with my new powers, there will be one less blue hedgehog in this world."

With the thought of ending Sonic coursing through his mind, Infinite chuckled even more until he let out a loud evil laughter which echoed throughout the room he and Eggman were in and more. It could be heard even outside, which was the outer area of Eggman's new base, and into the night.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Oh dear... Looks like Sonic and the others are gonna have a major fight on their hands very soon. Though it's Eggman they're seeing, is it really him running the show? Or is it Infinite? I'll let you guys decide on that until the moment of truth is revealed. ;D

Bet you guys noticed the addition of music in this chapter. I decided that I'll be adding some music in some areas of a chapter from now on. I thought it'd give the story a little more kick to it, depending on what's going on and if it's fitting enough. However, I am aware that music can be a bit distracting to some of you, and if it is, feel free to not ignore it if you can. Just please don't go writing in a review about how distracting it is. I already know it can be, so don't go giving me a hard time about it. Like I said, just don't listen to any music if you think it'll be distracting, okay? X(

Anyway, I think I'll stop here for now. Hopefully I got Sonic, Shadow, Tails, and Eggman's characters right in this chapter. Let me know if I did or not. Or at least to a certain degree maybe. Remember to fave and/or follow if you really want to find out what will happen next, and please R&R. I'm also eager to hear your comments about my chapters. If you happen to have any advice or an idea you wish to share with me about my little sequel story, feel free to share it. If it's good, I may just use it, so try to make it good. Until then, I'll be seeing you guys and gals later! :D