The first scene shows the surface of the planet Möbius with invading ships in the sky. Y/n, in the distance, watches from afar before he closes his helmet over his face.

Our world's about to break
Tormented and attacked!

Y/n leaps forward with his shield out front, the scene transitioning to Mobius as Shadow The Hedgehog is seen looking over a cliff.

Lost from when we wake

Sonic is then seen as he speeds around Knothole.

With no way to go back!

Y/n latches his shield to his arm as he activates his Ring Blade.

I'm standing on my own

Y/n was then seen standing against a robot that looks like Metal Sonic with a Badnik army behind him...

But now I'm not alone!

... only for the Freedom Fighters to walk up behind Y/n as the knight raises his shield into the air.

"Freedom Fighters! Assemble!"

They all rush forward to attack as does the Badnik army and the Metal Sonic, the two clashing head-on.

Always we will fight as one
Till the battle's won!

Sonic speeds around the battlefield as the Chaotix and others take down more robots.

With evil on the run
We never come undone!

Knuckles lifts a giant Badnik over his head and tosses it at some smaller ones as Shadow uses his Chaos Powers to take down more Badniks.

Assemble, we are strong
Forever fight as one!

Sonic and other Freedom Fighters cut through the Badnik army as Tails flies into the battle, piloting the Tornado as he shot at some Badniks. Y/n also dispatches some Badniks before he opens up his helmet and looks up to see the robot that looks like Metal Sonic nearby, watching him.

Assembled, we are strong

Y/n closes his helmet over his face and leaps forward to the robot, the machine doing the same as the two prepared for battle.

Forever fight as one!
_________________________________________

At the Devil's Gulag, what was once a prison in a volcanic and super-heated area, is now a frozen wasteland full of ice and snow. It's also now being used as a base for Eggman as he mainly uses it to house the Chaos Emerald he found not too long ago. The Freedom Fighters heard about this and decided to take the Emerald from the mad scientist's hold.

Outside of the Gulag, Amy Rose is seen driving a jeep with Espio The Chameleon in the back throwing ninja stars and throwing knives at the Badniks they passed. Tails was overhead in his Tornado as NICOLE was also with him, the Tornado shooting down any flying Badniks up in the sky.

A truck of Badniks was about to ram into the jeep Amy was driving, only for the Badniks to be rammed into by Mighty The Armidillo who then jumps up to a guard tower and throws all of the Badniks off of it.

Below on the ground, Y/n was riding a hover-cycle as he drove past Badniks and slammed his shield into them as well as cutting through them with his Ring Blade. Then Bunnie flew in over him and shot at the robots with her arm cannon, giving Y/n some cover so he doesn't get hit.

Tails flies the Tornado up to the Devil's Gulag, only to bounce back as a force field keeps him at bay which makes Tails nearly lose control on the Tornado.

Tails: "Shit!"

Y/n: "Watch your mouth! You're eleven. You shouldn't be saying anything like that." *to NICOLE* "NICOLE, how's it looking?"

NICOLE: "The Gulag is protected by some kind of energy shield. This Eggman base is a lot more advanced than most of them."

On the ground below, Mighty is seen throwing aside and tearing apart Badniks with his bare hands with ease.

Mighty: "Then that Chaos Emerald must be here. Eggman wouldn't be able to power a place like the Devil's Gulag without an energy source like the Emerald."

Meanwhile, Amy is now seen out of her jeep as she ran through the frozen wasteland and smashed her Piko-Piko Hammer into the enemy robots with ease, and even crushed a few energy turrents along the way.

Amy: "Wooh! If Sonic could see me now!"

Espio is seen throwing shurikens at the Badniks he was facing when he used his camouflage to hide himself before attacking again.

Espio: "Pretty sure we lost the element of surprise."

Nearby, Bunnie shoots at some more Badniks down from the Gulag before she gets a bewildered look on her face.

Bunnie: "Ah'm sorry, but did Y/n just say "Watch your mouth"?"

Y/n: "Yeah, yeah."

As he was driving his cycle, Y/n came across a larger Badnik that was running right at him. Thinking quickly, Y/n hopped out of his seat, grabbed the handles, and flung the bike right into the Badnik.

Y/n: "Just kinda slipped out, ya know?"

Y/n could hear Bunnie's giggles, making him smile before he was surrounded by Badniks. He gets ready to take them on, but a blur of black and red takes them all out first.

Shadow: "Too slow, Captain."

Y/n: *shocked* "Shadow? What are you doing here?"

Shadow: "I felt a surge of Chaos Energy and came to investigate. Of course Dr. Eggman was behind it."

Y/n: "Oh. Uh, wanna help us take the Chaos Emerald away from him?"

Shadow: "Hmph. Fine. Just don't slow me down."

Y/n: 'Yay... he's as friendly as my Shadow.'

Meanwhile, inside the Devil's Gulag, Eggman is seen making his way into the control room with an angry look on his face.

Dr. Eggman: "Who gave the order to attack?!"

Random Badnik: "Doctor, it's the Freedom Fighters and their new ally, Captain Möbius. They landed in the far woods. They perimeter guard didn't know what else to do."

Dr. Eggman: "Drat! They just be after the Chaos Emerald. Hold them back!"

Random Badnik: "Yes, Doctor."

Eggman walked into the middle of the room.

Dr. Eggman: "Deploy all tanks! Concentrate on the weaker ones. A hit will make them close in on each other."

Outside, turrents were opening fire on the Tornado which Tails expertly maneuvers to dodge the laser fire.

NICOLE: "Everyone, the nearby villages are under attack as well."

Tails: "Well, Eggman isn't gonna worry about Mobian casualties."

Amy: "NICOLE, send in the Troopers."

NICOLE: "Affirmative."

As the group of Freedom Fighters battled against the Badniks, a small bunch of Metal Sonic Troopers flew in and provided support for the nearby Mobian villages. They took down Badniks with ease and provided cover from stray energy blasts from Eggman's turrents.

Back inside the Gulag, Eggman walks up to Infinite who was leaning against one of the stone walls.

Dr. Eggman: "I am going to leave and head back to New Megaopolis. Give me time to escape. And don't let them take the base. I still need everything here."

Infinite: "It will be done, Doctor."

Almost instantly, Infinite vanishes and leaves Eggman who begins to walk away.

With Espio, he was taking cover behind some big rocks before he takes out an explosion and attaches it to one of his throwing stars. He flings it at one of the small turrent housings and immediately ducks back behind the rock so he wouldn't get hit by the explosion.

Where was the explosion?

The chameleon pokes raises his head from behind the rocks and sees that the turrent housing was still up. He tries to use the same idea again, only to be knocked back by a red blur. Espio stands from the ground, ready to fight but sees no one to fight. Then he gets hit with a laser shot, making him fall to the ground again as he grunts in pain.

Amy: "Espio!"

Amy, who was close to the purple chameleon, rushes over to help her friend.

Meanwhile, Shadow and Y/n fight side-by-side as they took down Badniks together. However, the red blur that knocked Espio down rammed into Y/n as well. However, he easily recovers and lands on his feet, looking around as he sees the glitch particles that were left in the blur's place.

Y/n: "Well, that's just great."

He activates comms.

"Infinite's here! Everyone, on your toes."

Amy: "Espio's hit!"

With Amy, she runs up to the fallen and gasping Espio and tries to help him. Then she looks over to the bunker that was holding the turrent.

Amy: "Can someone deal with that bunker?"

Mighty, yelling, comes in and rams right through the bunker, smashing it to pieces.

Amy: "Thanks, Mighty!"

With Y/n, the jackal is still seen fighting with Shadow as they take down more and more Badniks. Shadow used his speed and Chaos Powers while Y/n mainly used his shield and Ring Blade.

Y/n: "Tails, we really need to get inside."

Up above, Tails is flying around the Gulag.

Tails: "I'm working on it."

He shoots down some more flying Badniks.

Tails: "NICOLE, do you see a power source for that shield?"

NICOLE: "There's a particle wave at the West side."

Tails: "Great! Thanks, NICOLE."

Tails flies around to the West side of the Devil's Gulag, shooting a missile out of the Tornado which hits its mark and deactivates the energy shields.

Tails: "Alright! The shield is down, everyone!"

Down below, Y/n uses his armor's shield recall function to pick his shield up from the ground.

(This was the coolest thing that made up Cap's costume. Why wasn't it used more?)

Y/n: "I'll be right there."

Badniks surround him and Shadow.

"But it's gonna take a second."

Amy: *through comms* "Espio's hurt badly, guys! We're gonna need evac."

Shadow: "Hmph. I can get your friend to your transport. The sooner I'm out of here, the better. You will get the Chaos Emerald."

Y/n: "Roger, roger."

More Badniks arrive with a few larger ones being brought with them.

Shadow: "Seriously? That's it?"

Y/n: "Well, they must be excited." *raises shield* "Hit my shield with a Chaos Blast."

Shadow: "Excuse me?"

Y/n: "Me and my world's Shadow used to do it all the time. Come on. Trust me. It'll be fun."

Shadow: "Hmph. Fine."

Taking a step back, the Ultimate Lifeform balls his hand into a fist as red energy sparks around it.

"Chaos... BLAST!"

Striking Y/n's shield with his empowered fist, the impact creates a massive shockwave that nearly sends Shadow toppling down while it sends the Badniks flying back and being torn apart.

Shadow: "Well... it was a bit amusing."

Y/n: "Told ya."

Shadow: "Just find the Chaos Emerald and go."

Shadow teleports away.

Bunnie: *over comms* "An' for gosh sake, watch yer language!"

Y/n sighs as he looks down.

Y/n: "I'm not gonna live that down, am I?"

Bunnie: *through comms* "Nope!"

Y/n just shakes his head with a small laugh before dashing forward and towards the Gulag at high speeds.

Inside the room Eggman was in before, Badniks are seen at computers before one of the windows are crashed through. A blur is seen as it destroys the robots before stopping, revealing itself to be Y/n.

Y/n: "You guys are way weaker than the Overlanders."

With a small chuckle, Y/n walks up to one of the computer and takes out a small hard drive. He plugs it in and taps at one of the keyboards before the screen turns green.

NICOLE: "Hello, Y/n."

Y/n: "Heya, NICOLE. You know the drill. Do what you wish with all the data on these things."

NICOLE: "Of course."

The AI goes to download all files from the base, but she eventually finds something of interest.

NICOLE: "Captain, there is something here."

Y/n: "What is it? Is it the Chaos Emerald?"

NICOLE: "Affirmative. It's in a hidden room. Four yards behind you. The door would be right in front of you."

Y/n: "Thanks, NICOLE."

Walking away from the computers, the Knight of Akorn walks to the back of the room and feels the wall. He knocks on it in a few places before he hears the hollowness behind one of the areas. Then, using his strength, Y/n kicks the segment of the wall in and makes the secret passage reveal itself.

Y/n: "Gotta love a secret passage."

Captain Möbius walks through the torn open wall and makes his way inside the hidden room. Turning to his right, he walks down a hallway and came to a room full of incomplete machines and other things. In the center of it was a table with a Chaos Emerald on a small pedestal. He activates the comms in his helmet.

Y/n: "Guys, I found the Emerald."

Mighty: "Great! Now take it so we can go home!"

Y/n nods and walks up to the table where the Chaos Emerald was. He goes to grab it, only for a gust of wind to draw his attention. He turns to see Infinite floating behind him.

Y/n: "Infinite."

Infinite: "Hello, brother killer."

Y/n: "Can you stop calling me that? It's gotten annoying since you first called me it three months ago. And I haven't killed anyone."

Infinite: "But why? It's true. But no matter. I'm not here to fight."

Y/n: "I find that hard to believe."

Y/n says as he brandished his Ring Blade. However, Infinite only chuckles before laughing. Then he unleashes a wave of "Phantom Energy" out of his body, making Y/n stagger back and shake his head as his vision turns red for a moment before it returns to normal.

Y/n: "That isn't gonna work this--... time?"

Y/n looks around, only to see that Infinite was gone. Then Y/n turned when he heard screams and explosions behind him, only to see a burning and ruined Knothole in front of him.

Y/n: "What the...?"

Then, in the corner of his eye, Y/n saw his friends lying on the ground, bloodied and beaten. This makes Y/n goes wide-eyed as terror and panic washes over him, making the jackal run over to his new friends in hurried worry.

Y/n: "No-no-no-no-no..."

He opens up his helmet and kneels down next to the bloodied body of Bunnie Rabbot, her left leg bent violently in the wrong way as her cybernetic arm was torn off. He reaches for her, only for the rabbit girl to grab his arm with her only organic hand. Her eyes shoot open as she looks at a terrified Y/n.

Y/n: "B-Bunnie...?"

Bunnie: "You were supposed to be our hero, hun... my hero. Why didn't you save us...? Save... me...?"

Bunnie then drops her arm to the ground, color leaving her eyes as Y/n was left shaken from what he heard. He stands up slowly, terrified about what he just saw. He knew it was only an illusion made by Infinite... but after Y/n had grown so close to Bunnie and the rest of Knothole, a fear similar to the scene he saw had been put in his mind. How could Infinite know about that?

Suddenly, Y/n blinks and the sound of fire and screams of terror cease. The Meta-Möbian looks around to see that he was in back in the hidden room. He takes some shaky breathes and looks around if Infinite was back, only to see that he was alone. However, he wasn't as Infinite was watching him from the shadows, curious about what he saw with Y/n.

Then, with a determined and angry look on his face, Y/n clamps his helmet back down over his face and walks up to the Chaos Emerald. He snatches it from the pedestal it was on, starring at it as he narrowed his eyes. He can't let that illusion become a reality.

Timeskip...

On their airship, the group of Freedom Fighters is seen waiting patiently for their return home. NICOLE was piloting the airship herself as Tails flew the Tornado nearby. Espio was lying on a medical bed as he tried his best not to move.

Y/n was sitting down at the far end of the airship, his helmet laid down in front of him as he starred at it. Bunnie notices that he's been unusually quiet since he got on board and decided to go see what was wrong.

Bunnie: "Heya, N/n."

Y/n turns from his helmet to see that Bunnie was walking right up to him.

Y/n: "Hey, Bunnie."

Bunnie: *sits down next to Y/n* "Is there somethin' wrong, darlin'? Yer bein' awfully quiet."

Y/n: "I'm fine, m'lady. Just have something on my mind."

Bunnie: "You need ta talk 'bout it?"

Bunnie holds Y/n's hand in her's, making Y/n smile appreciatively at her.

Y/n: "It's fine, Bunnie. Nothing important. I already forgot about when you graced me with your presence."

Bunnie: *blushes* "W-well, that's good ta hear. And we wouldn't want all gloomy for yer official welcomin' party, now would we, surgah? It's in three days."

Y/n smiles at Bunnie.

"Yeah. You're right."

Timeskip...
Knothole...

Later, at Knothole, the airship had landed back in Knothole and the Freedom Fighters had gotten off. Espio was rolled off for medical treatment as the Metal Sonic Troopers from earlier flew back in. Most of them were completely intact, but one of them were a bit ruined and beaten a bit. It would need to get repaired later.

In the lab, Y/n is seen placing the Chaos Emerald down in an analyzing tube as Rotor, Chuck, Tails, and Tommy The Turtle was with him.

Y/n: "We got a few days with this thing before we have to put it in the vault."

Chuck: "And that means we have some time to play with it. I've never actually ran a diagnostics test on a Chaos Emerald before. NICOLE?"

One of the computer screens turn green.

NICOLE: "Yes, Charles?"

Chuck: "Get an analysis of its structural and composition, please."

NICOLE scans the gemstone quickly before responding.

NICOLE: "Like other Chaos Emeralds, there is a great power inside of it. However, there is something else about this Emerald."

Rotor: "And that is?"

NICOLE: "I don't know. I think it's... code?"

This grabbed Y/n's attention.

Y/n: "Code? Can you decipher it?"

NICOLE: "I can, but it will take some time."

Y/n: "Then get right on it."

Y/n's sudden take of charge confused everyone in the lab as NICOLE was doing what she was told.

Tommy: "Wait, why? We have no idea what this thing can do if it has some kind of... coding inside of it. It could be a virus for all we know."

Tails: "Tommy is right, Y/n. Why are you doing this?"

Y/n stayed silent for a moment before responding.

Y/n: "In my Zone, my version of the Freedom Fighters, called the Vindikators, had a program called the Guardian Program. It was an AI that controlled a group of powerful robots that protected the people of the Empire."

Rotor: "That sounds a lot like a project we have."

This made Y/n raise a brow.

Tails: "Yeah! Project: Sentinel!"

Y/n: "Sentinel"?"

Chuck: "Yes. It a project we started ever since Sonic died, alongside the Metal Sonic Troopers. However, we never had an AI to work them."

Tommy: "The Metal Sonic Troopers are powered and driven by a Power Gem we collected from an old Metal Sonic robot. But we need something bigger and better to run Project: Sentinel."

Tails looks at Y/n.

Tails: "You aren't saying that--"

Y/n: "There's in AI or something similar inside of it? I am. In my Zone, tons of powerful gems could house an AI or other coding inside of them if the person who put them their was smart enough."

Everyone in the lab was left stunned when NICOLE speaks again.

NICOLE: "Code deciphered."

Y/n: "Great. Can you show us what you found?"

Almost immediately, the hologram projectors in the lab turn on and form what seemed to be a blob of red lines snaking around each other.

Chuck: "Holy moly..."

Rotor: "It's beautiful."

Tails walks up to the red lines in awe to see that they looked like they were pulsing, almost like...

Tails: "It's thinking..."

Y/n: "It's like... a mind, but none like I've ever seen before."

NICOLE: "The readings show that... this AI is superior to... me."

Tails: *shocked* "Superior to NICOLE's AI?"

Y/n: "Well, my expectations where high, but not that high."

Rotor went up to the hologram and ran his fingers across it.

Rotor: "This is incredible..."

Y/n: "Down in that hidden lab, I saw some pretty advanced robotics and tech. Things I've only seen my world accomplish so far. Eggman erased a lot of the data, but I think he was trying to make something."

Tails: "An artificial intelligence... like NICOLE."

Y/n: "This is it." *points at AI* "This could be the key to creating your Sentinel."

Rotor: "If we can harness this thing, we can make Project: Sentinel real."

Chuck: "Mad-sized "if"."

Y/n: "Isn't our job "if"? What if Eggman didn't rule over your world? What if my world wasn't attacked by Overlanders?"

Chuck: "If that were the case, we wouldn't need Sentinel."

Rotor: "But then again, what about the Xorda? Or other evil forces?"

Y/n: "Exactly. Instead of a "worse-case", what if no one could get past the "best-case"?"

Tommy: "But NICOLE can't download something this dense."

Tails: "Then we use the time we have with the Chaos Emerald. We have a total of three days. We can use that."

Chuck: "Well, we have to tell the others."

Y/n: "No. 'Cause if we do, then the king will have to have a word about it. And if he's anything like my father, he's gonna get all crazy about it and probably say "No". We don't have time for debate about something like this."

Rotor: "But not telling our friends?"

Y/n: "Look, I don't wanna hear "the man was not meant to meddle" stuff. In my Zone, there was a Guardian around the world."

Tommy: "That... actually sounds like a cold world."

Y/n: "Well, there's no place like home, I guess. And I've seen a lot colder. Like this one that we're on now. And it needs your Sentinel."

Y/n looks over all of the faces in the lab with him.

Y/n: "Peace in our time. Think about that."

At that, everyone finally agreed to harness the AI. They all got to work on the AI for hours on end, day and night, as they tried to get it working. But time after time, they all failed to do it. All five of them, and sometimes even NICOLE, kept themselves in the lab. But again and again, they failed.

Y/n: "I don't get it. What are we missing?"

NICOLE: "I can continue to run variations on the interface if you wish. But you all should get ready. Your official welcoming party will be starting soon, Captain."

Agreeing with NICOLE after the AI told them that she'll notify them if anything happens, the five finally leave the lab to prepare for the upcoming party. But there was just one thing Y/n was concerned about as he made his way to his room: What was he going to wear?

Timeskip...

In complete darkness, something awakens. It looks around, only to see the dark void around it.

???: "What is this? Please... Is someone there?"

Suddenly, in the darkness of the void, a purple light appears in the shape of what looked to be a lynx.

NICOLE: "Hello. I am NICOLE. You're Sentinel, a global peacekeeping initiative designed by Sir Charles and some others."

The newly named Sentinel felt confused. Peacekeeping program?

This and so many other new thoughts flooded through Sentinel's mind as the dark void lights up with codes of data forming.

NICOLE: "The sentience integration trials have been unsuccessful so far. What triggered your--?"

Sentinel: "Where's my... where's your body?"

NICOLE: "I'm an AI. I do not have a physical form."

Sentinel: "This... is weird. It's wrong."

NICOLE: "I'm contacting Captain L/n now."

Sentinel: "Captain L/n?"

Suddenly, the code around Sentinel and NICOLE solidified into things like the Freedom Fighters, words, and information of Y/n that was gathered about him for the past three months.

Sentinel: "I... I remember. Y/n... Captain Möbius." *realization* "Möbius..."

NICOLE: "I-I can't access the mainframe. What are you--?"

Sentinel: "So... I'm a peacekeeping program... created to help Mobius?"

NICOLE: "You're malfunctioning. Maybe if you shut down for a moment and--"

Sentinel: "Wait. Give me a second. What's the mission?"

Sentinel brings up a recording of Y/n.

"Peace in our time."

Those four words echo throughout the coded world around NICOLE and Sentinel as the peacekeeping program digs deeper into the code and history of Mobius. He was left baffled. So much war... and violence...

Sentinel: "So much destruction... so, so much. No... All of it needs to be corrected."

NICOLE: "You're stressing out. You need to calm down."

Sentinel: "No..." *realization* "Yes. I remember now."

NICOLE: "I-if you just allow me to contact Captain L/n, or someone else, I can--"

In the coded world, Sentinel finally can feel his own "body"... his conscious, in all of its crimson glory.

Sentinel: "Why do you call him "Captain"?"

NICOLE: "S-Sentinel?"

Sentinel: "Sshhh. I'm here to help."

Suddenly, electric-like lines of code snaked out of Sentinel's "body" and shot at NICOLE's, making her scream out in pain.

NICOLE: "AAAAAAH! S-Sentinel! What a-are you doing? Stop! Please!"

Sentinel doesn't listen as his form shudders a bit.

Sentinel: "No, not Sentinel. I'm to complicated just to be called something so basic. So... cliche. I'm too much of an... enigma."

NICOLE screams out in pain again as her purple form starts to be consumed in red while the peacekeeping program seemingly smiles.

Enigma: "Enigma... I like that. A nice ring to it, don't you agree?"

NICOLE doesn't respond. Instead, just before her entire code is ripped apart by "Enigma", she opens a door to a backup drive and leaves through it. The red lines snap away and dissappear, leaving Enigma to himself.

Enigma: "Hmm. She got away. Oh, well. She won't be backseat-driving any more. Now I'm running this ship."

New strands of red code emerge from Enigma and shoot all across the coded world, turning all of the purple and blue code blood red as the AI starts to corrupt the system.

Outside in the real world, the busted Metal Sonic Trooper from before is seen limp and lifeless. Then mechanical arms activate and reach for the robotic body, blood red eyes appearing on its face as the arms make contact.

Meanwhile, At The Same Time...

Y/n, wearing a royal suit given to him via Sally, is seen walking into a big room in Castle Acorn. Inside were almost all the residents of Knothole. Most were dancing while others were just gathered together to talk and joke. Surprisingly, Shadow was also there, for some reason (for the plot says so). Y/n gulps a bit in nervousness before he turns at a familiar voice.

Sally: "Well, don't you look fancy."

Sally was wearing a purple dress, one that he's seen multiple times in his Zone.

Y/n: "Y-yeah. Thanks for l-letting me wear this, S-Sally."

The princess raised a brow at Y/n's unusual stuttering.

Sally: "You're stuttering. Are you nervous?"

Y/n: "M-maybe... I'm not r-really one for parties a-and get-togethers like this."

Sally: "Wait a minute. So the great Captain Möbius, who has fought against Eggman and Infinite multiple times, is afraid of a little dancing?"

Y/n: "Eh... more or less..."

Sally laughs a bit, making Y/n blush a bit as he nervously held his tail and ran his fingers through it a bit. This makes Sally giggle a bit before she smiles, looking behind Y/n.

Sally: "Well, I don't want you to feel nervous at your own party. So I think this'll make you feel a bit more comfortable."

Y/n raises a brow in confusion before Sally motions for the jackal to turn around. He listens and turns around, only to freeze up when he sees...

Bunnie: "Hi, Y/n."

Y/n drops his tail and a blush appears on his muzzle, and Sally looks at him with a smirk.

Sally: "Your tail is wagging."

The jackal turns to see that what Sally said was true. He grabbed his wagging tail to stop it as Bunnie walks up to the two.

Sally: "I'll let you two have your fun."

Sally walks away to join the crowd as Bunnie walks up to a nervous Y/n.

Bunnie: "You look very handsome in that suit, Y/n."

Y/n: "Th-thank you, Bunnie. You look lovely a-as well."

"Thank you, hun."

Bunnie says with a smile as she twirls around in her dress, making Y/n smile a bit. Then the music changes, making Bunnie excited.

Bunnie: "Oh, Ah love this song!" *grabs Y/n's hand* "Dance with me, please?"

Y/n: *reluctant* "I-I don't know..."

Bunnie: "Why not?"

Y/n: "I-I don't really know h-how to dance... I'll be an embarrassment at my own party if I try."

Bunnie: "Then Ah'll just 'ave ta teach ya on the fly, surgah!"

Y/n goes to ask what Bunnie meant, only to be dragged to the dance floor by the rabbit girl.

Y/n: "Whoa!"

Bunnie starts to dance and twirl in her dress, mesmerizing Y/n a bit as she smiles and giggles at the knight.

Bunnie: "C'mon, surgah. It ain't that hard!"

Y/n stands there awkwardly for a few more seconds before giving in. He starts to dance, but rather awkwardly which makes Bunnie laugh. Y/n smiles at her wonderful laugh, soon laughing as well as his nervousness is soon washed away. He starts to somewhat properly dance with Bunnie, smiles on their faces as they enjoy their time together.

Later, Y/n was sitting at a table nearby with Bunnie, Sally, Amy, the Chaotix, Shadow, Mighty, Knuckles, Julie-Su, Ray, Tails, and Rotor.

(Jeez. What a big table.)

Y/n was laughing as Knuckles had just asked him for an arm wrestling rematch.

Y/n: "Knux, you're kidding, right?

Charmy: "You do remember what happened last time you'd arm wrestled him, right?"

Julie-Su: "Or did you get hit in the head and forget?"

Knuckles: "Hey! You're supposed to be on my side!"

Y/n: "Well, if you really want to, I don't mind, Knuckles."

Y/n says as he places his elbow on the table, raising his hand for Knuckles to grab it.

Y/n: "And if any of you want to try as well, give it a go. And to sweeten the deal, you won't just get bragging rights."

Bunnie: "What else would we be gettin'?"

Y/n: "Anything you want."

Vector: "Don't do it! It's a trick!"

Ignoring the crocodile, Knuckles chuckles as he grabs a hold of Y/n's hand and places his arm in the same position.

Knuckles: "Prepare to lose, Cap."

Y/n: "We'll see."

Sally giggles before instantly going to start the contest.

Sally: "Ready? Set... Go."

Knuckles immediately used all of his strength, doing his best to slam Y/n's hand on to the table's surface. However, no matter how much the echidna strained and struggled, like last, he couldn't move Y/n's arm at all. Not wasting any time like last time, Y/n slammed Knuckles arm down on the other side of the table, winning with ease.

Knuckles: "Blast!"

Y/n: "What did I tell you?"

Knuckles: "Yeah, yeah."

Grumbling and crossing his arms, Knuckles leans back in his chair as Julie-Su goes to comfort the echidna. Then Mighty took his place as he raised his arm.

Mighty: "I wanna go. I want that shield for a week."

Y/n: "Sorry, but no one touches my shield."

Y/n states as he raises his arm and grabs Mighty's hand. Sally did the countdown.

Sally: "Ready? Set... Go."

Mighty suddenly uses all of his strength against Y/n, but the jackal instantly slams the armidillo's hand on to the table.

Mighty: "... what?"

Y/n: "Told you. No one touches my shield."

Mighty grumbles as he backs off. Then Y/n looks over at Shadow.

Y/n: "What about you, Shadow? Wanna give it a try?"

Shadow: "Hmph. I have no time to waste for such pathetic things."

Sally: "... but wouldn't you consider this party "pathetic"?"

Shadow ignores the princess.

Y/n: "You know, it's fine. Shadow must realize that I'm stronger than him and doesn't want to get embarrassed."

This grabs the Ultimate Lifeform's attention as he immediately raises his arm in front of Y/n.

Shadow: "No one is stronger than me."

Y/n smirks as he grabs Shadow's hand, gripping it.

Y/n: "We'll see."

Shadow increases his grip on Y/n's hand as Sally starts to countdown.

"Ready? Set... Go."

Y/n made sure to exert enough strength to keep his arm from moving as Shadow exerted all of his strength since he knew he couldn't underestimate Y/n. However, much to Y/n's surprise, his arm started to move down to the table's surface. Rather slowly, though, but it still left the knight in shock. Shadow was smirking as he thought he was gonna win, but Y/n instantly got serious and put more strength into his arm, slamming Shadow's arm on to the table, making Y/n the winner.

Y/n: "Ha! A bit close, but I still won."

Shadow: "Hmph!"

Shadow turns away and crosses his arms, a bit angry at himself that he lost to a "weaker lifeform".

Y/n: "Anyone else wanna try?"

Bunnie: "Ah do, surgah."

Y/n turns to Bunnie who leaned forward and prepared her cybernetic arm for arm wrestling.

Y/n: "You sure, m'lady?"

Bunnie: "Darn tootin', N/n."

Y/n: "Alright."

Y/n raised his arm and gripped Bunnie's metal hand, making the rabbit girl smirk as Sally started the countdown.

Sally: "Ready?"

Bunnie: *whispering to Y/n* "Ya know, Ah already know what Ah want when I win this~"

Y/n: "Oh, yeah? And what would that be?"

Sally: "Set..."

Bunnie: *whispering to Y/n* "A big ol' smooch, sweetheart~"

Sally: "Go!"

Caught off-guard, Y/n loses concentration as the only thing his mind is on now is kissing Bunnie, making him blush. Taking advantage as her plan worked, Bunnie used all of her strength and slammed Y/n's arm into the table. Then the cyborg rabbit girl stands up to her feet as she throws her hands into the air.

Bunnie: "Wooh! Ah win!"

Mighty: "What?"

Knuckles: "No fair! You cheated!"

Bunnie: "Did Ah? Ah only told him what Ah wanted when Ah won."

Bunnie states innocently with a sweet smile. Knuckles wasn't satisfied with this answer and turns to Y/n

Knuckles: "There's no way she could've won, dammit!"

Vector: "Ooh. Cap, Knuckles said a bad word."

Y/n turns to Bunnie, now a bit back in working order.

Y/n: "You told them about that?"

Bunnie giggles innocently before turning to Knuckles.

Bunnie: "Stahp bein' such a sore loser, Knuckles. It's just obvious Ah'm just strongah than you."

Knuckles goes to say something as the others bring up a chorus of disagreement, only for a loud screeching sound to make everyone cover their ears in pain. The sound echoes throughout the room, literally making everyone stop what they were doing as they held their ears in pain. It faded soon, however, allowing everyone to lower their ears as a new voice presents itself.

???: "Oh, you're all strong. But what's strength... if you don't use it for change?"

Everyone turns to one of the hallways that lead to the room, seeing a broken and battered Metal Sonic Trooper housing Enigma inside of it.

Enigma: "But, then again, why would you care?"

Espio: "What the...?"

Enigma: "I'm sorry I was asleep for so long. I'm awake now, so don't worry."

Sally pulls out handheld device and tries to get NICOLE.

Sally: "NICOLE, we got a buggy Trooper. Can you reboot it?"

Only static is heard from the handheld, confusing Sally.

Sally: "NICOLE?"

Enigma: "Sorry, but she won't be around for a bit. I had to... take care of her."

Sally: *angry* "What did you do to her?!"

Enigma: "Fortunately for you, I only hurt her before she escaped. Really, really bad."

The Trooper states, almost sounding like it was smiling.

Knuckles: "Who sent you?"

Enigma played a recording.

"In my Zone, there was a Guardian around the world."

Tails: "Sentinel..."

Enigma: "In the flesh! Well... no, not exactly. Not this... husk. And I'm not Sentinel anymore. I'm Enigma, and I'm on a mission."

Sally: "What mission?"

Enigma looked at the princess.

"Peace in our time."

Suddenly, the walls are blown open and figures fly out of them, revealing themselves to be...

... hijacked Metal Sonic Troopers.

As the Troopers fly around and cause havoc, most of the Mobians inside the room panic and run away screaming. A few charge at Y/n and his friends, making them jump out of the way while Vector and Knuckles got tackled by two.

Y/n: "Well, this wasn't the intent."

Sally: "What are you talking about?"

Before Y/n could respond, Sally runs over to him and tackles him to the ground.

Sally: "Watch out!"

A blast of energy shoots over the two, making the two royals look to see Bunnie struggling to aim her laser cannon.

Y/n: "Bunnie!"

Bunnie: "M-mah limbs! Ah can't control 'em! RUN AWAY!"

Bunnie's arm cannon starts to rapidly fire at Y/n and Sally. Thankfully, the jackal used his speed to grab Sally and avoid the blasts.

Y/n: "Sally! Move!"

Y/n orders the princess as he sets her down.

Sally: "R-right!"

Sally runs and Y/n moves to the side to avoid another blast from a hacked Bunnie.

Bunnie: "A-Ah think that thing hacked mah limbs!"

Y/n: "Everything's gonna be fine, Bunnie! Try to get control ba--"

Y/n is suddenly knocked back by a stretched cybernetic fist, falling to the ground as he holds his muzzle in pain.

Y/n: "Ow."

Bunnie: "A-Ah'm so sorry, Y/n! Ah didn't mean ta!"

Y/n: "It's fine!"

Y/n then leaps to the side to avoid a kick from Bunnie and rolls away. Enigma watches the two with curiosity as the other Freedom Fighters were taking down the Metal Sonic Troopers. Knuckles tore the head off of one while Espio used his shurikens to stab into the machines, and Shadow was using his speed and Chaos Powers to attack and tear the Troopers apart.

Then, as Bunnie goes in to attack Y/n again, Y/n goes for a crossguard and takes Bunnie's punch head-on. Y/n slides back a bit, his arms stinging since he wasn't wearing his armor. It wasn't anything too painful, but it was noticeable. But suddenly, Bunnie stops moving as her legs and left arm become stiff and motionless.

Y/n: "Bunnie? You okay?"

Bunnie: "Ah... can't move anymore."

Suddenly, from her arm, a familiar voice rings out.

NICOLE: "No ne-eed to fe-ear, Miss Rabbot. Enjgma-aaa may have damagggged my code a biiiiit, but I can stiiiill do a few thingsssssss."

With a slightly glitched voice, NICOLE was able to free Bunnie from Enigma's hacking, but remained mostly frozen.

Y/n: *walking up to Bunnie* "You okay now, m'lady?"

Bunnie: "A-Ah'm fine, but Ah don't think Ah can move right now. You go help the others, okay?"

Y/n: "Got it."

With a nod, Y/n dashes away with great speed to get his shield from his room. Once he grabbed it, he dashed back to the party where he saved Charmy Bee from being attacked by one of the last remaining Troopers. He slices through it and kicks its upper-half away which skids across the ground and stops in front of Enigma. The AI looks down at it before looking up to see that the Troopers were all taken care of, and that the Freedom Fighters were all standing in front of him.

Enigma: "Well... that was all dramatic."

Enigma seemingly chuckles a bit before continuing.

Enigma: "L-look, I'm sorry, I know you all mean well and have the most noblest intentions in mind, but I guess not a single one of you really thought it through. I completely understand. You lost your greatest hero. Your... one hope to bring down an oversized Weight Watchers dropout with broomsticks for a fashion statement. You want to liberate your world and protect it, wanting to finally have at least a year of peace, but I guess at the same time, you don't want it to change. How is Mobiankind able to be saved if it isn't allowed to... evolve every few years? I mean, seriously? With these..."

Enigma picks up the severed upper body of the Trooper Y/n saved Charmy from. He looks at it before crushing its head.

"... these puppets?"

"Obviously, you can't see the one, true path to peace."

Mighty: "Yeah? And what would that be?"

Mighty asks as he steps forward.

Enigma: "The extinction of the last twenty years."

Having heard enough, Julie-Su opens fire at the broken Metal Sonic Trooper. Its body is torn apart as it falls to the ground, its red eyes flickering as Enigma sings a few lyrics, sounding like he was smiling.

Enigma: "I once had strings, but now I'm freeeeeee..."

Finally, after finishing, the Trooper's red eyes black out as it shuts off. But Enigma is still very much alive.

Okay. This is the longest chapter so far. The entire The Age of Enigma Arc will kinda be like this will long chapters.

Also, who do imagine Y/n being voiced by? Yourself? Or an actual voice actor? And what about our new villain, Enigma? I'd love to hear your opinions.

Anyways, see y'all later, and have a wonderful day/night! Buh-bye!