Not long after the end of the last chapter, Sonic is seen kneeling in front of an unconscious Y/n who's head was lying on a rock. The Sun was just rising now as Amy stepped up to Sonic.

"Sonic...? What's going on? What happened to Y/n?" she asks.

"I don't really know, but Y/n's out of it for now," the Blue Blur replies. "And Knothole? The Egg Fleet burned everything, and captured everyone. Zapped them ingobwhat Eggman called his "Egg Grapes"."

"Who cares?! All of Knothole is basically gone, and Y/n is knocked out!" Knuckles says. "We need to figure out our next move!"

Suddenly, a groan is heard and everyone turns to look back at Y/n who's eyes were scrunched up. Then he slowly opens his eyes, looking around as his eyes moved around until they landed on Sonic.

"Sonic...? What happened?" Y/n asked as he slowly sat up, rubbing his head.

"You stopped Eggman from hurting anyone else," Sonic says as he places his hand on Y/n's shoulder, "but, in the end... Eggman still won. He beat us."

Y/n's eyes widen in shock before he looks down, saddened as he remembers everything. Then he looks at his Chaos Gem and panics, hastily grabbing at it and throwing it off of his neck. Knuckles rushes over to the gem and catches it, quickly turning to Y/n.

"What do you think you're doing?!" he asks the human who just stares at the Chaos Gem in fear.

"K-keep that thing away from me!" he orders the echidna.

Everyone just stares at Y/n in confusion as Tails steps forward.

"What's wrong, Y/n?" the twin-tailed fox asks. "Why are you so afraid of it?"

"Th-there's something in it... something I can't explain," Y/n stutters.

"What? What did you see?" Knuckles asks Y/n.

"I-I don't really know... but..." Y/n looks up at the echidna. "I-it looked like a hedgehog... with weird quills. And glowing green eyes..."

Knuckles looks at Y/n before looking down at the Chaos Gem in his hands.

"I'll keep this with me, just in case," Knuckles says and puts the gem away. "I'll talk to Locke about it the next chance I get."

"Th-thank you, Knuckles."

The Guardian nods and turns to Sonic.

"What's the plan?"

"You guys help Y/n get back up on his feetand start fixing up Freedom HQ," Sonic says and walks over to what remains of said HQ. "I'm going to take what I can from the lab and get our families and friends back."

"You can't go after them alone!" Tails tells Sonic. "Give me a minute to build something or--"

"You'll be safer here," Sonic says. "I'll get them back. Don't worry."

Sonic continues forward and make his way into the Freedom HQ lab before a blur of green rushes past him, making the Blue Blur stop when he sees a tired and sparking Y/n standing in front of him.

"What the--?"

"You are not going alone, Sonic," the human tells the hedgehog. "Eggman killed Sally... I need to make him pay."

"Killed Sally"? Y/n, Eggman was lying," Sonic tells his human friend. "Sally and everyone else were sent into prisons to become energy sources. She's alive."

Y/n nearly collapsed to the floor with the news. He was relieved that Sally was relatively okay and still alive. However...

"Not everyone is still alive," he says.

"What are you talking about?" Amy asks Y/n.

"Danny. He..." tears started to form in Y/n's eyes again. "He took a hit for me... and sacrificed himself so that I could live."

Tears rolled down Y/n's cheeks as he clenched his fist, a few energy sparks shooting from his knuckles.

"I can't let him get away with that!"

"Y/n, you're in no shape to fight again," Sonic says. "You need to sit down and--"

"I need to make Eggman pay!" Y/n says as he steps forward. "You have to let me make him pay for killing Danny! For killing--... for killing the closest thing I've ever had to a brother."

Sonic's eyes widen in shock. He knew that Y/n and Danny were close, even though they didn't know each other for that long, but he could never guess they would get that close.

"If I may interrupt..." Everyone turns their attention to a still active computer, NICOLE'S voice coming from it. "I recommend we postpone this until after the rescue mission. If anyone is interested, I have a plan."

Meanwhile...

At Eggman's base, the man himself is seen inside a factory of sorts titled the "Egg Vineyard".

"Ladies, gentlemen, and Mobians of all ages!" Eggman says as he looks upon all the inhabited Egg Grapes. "I want to thank you all for providing me with such an entertaining resistance movement for so long. It's made running my global empire so much more exciting and enjoyable."

The Mobians in the Egg Grapes yell and curse at Eggman, pounding against their prisons and telling Eggman to release them.

"You "Freedom Fighters" have been the most amusing, but also annoying. It all worked out for us, though... You were all ready to give your lives for your cause," Eggman continues. "And I've always been willing to take them! You Chaotix knew that all along. Which is why you're all more stupid for aiding the monarchy."

Eggman laughs as he turns to the captured royal Acorn Family.

"Speaking of which, look at how the mighty House of Acorn has fallen! You look terrible, Maximillian. And you let your inexperienced first born take the crown?" Eggman laughs heartily. "In all my years of warring with your family, I've never come across a king as well as you."

Elias winces and looks away in shame as his wife comforts him with a crying child in her arms.

"Don't listen to him, Elias!" Megan Acorn tells her husband. "I married you for your strength and bravery!"

"HAHAHA! How touching!" Eggman mockingly laughs at the present king and queen. "Now, then... I'm going to demonstrate to you all just what these Egg Grapes can do."

Snively walks up to the control console as his uncle continues.

"The process will be accelerated, but not less potent, just to make sure you're all good and terrified before the end!"

A claw lowers from the ceiling and grabs the Egg Grape Charmy was in, making Saffron panic.

"CHARMY!"

"I-it'll be okay, Saffron," Charmy assures the bee.

Then the claw brings Charmy right in front of Eggman.

"Charmy Bee! Haven't I already ruined your life?" Eggman asks, already knowing the answer. "Destroyed your kingdom and some such, right?"

"Yes, you have," Charmy responds in anger. "Despite all that, I've fought for our world. No matter what you do to me, I will still fight for Mobius. And I am not alone!"

"Brave last words," Eggman turns to his nephew. "Snively!"

"With pleasure, sir," Snively says and presses a red button.

A light surrounds Charmy as he looks around his prison in a panic, but the wall is suddenly busted open down below as Y/n, Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, NICOLE, and Amy crash into the Egg Vineyard with a flying machine.

"Don't start the party without us, Eggman! We--" Sonic looks up at Charmy. "What's that light?"

"Charmy!" Knuckles calls out.

"No! I can't be too late again!" Sonic states.

"I won't let you take another life!" Y/n says as he gets ready to fight.

"NICOLE?" Tails looks down at his miniature computer.

"I'm reading a port access up top," NICOLE says. "Plug me in there. Hurry!"

Sonic speeds up the wall, saying he's got Charmy covered as Tails flies upward.

"Everyone stick to the plan!" Tails orders his friends. "Knuckles! Amy! Y/n! Bust everyone out!"

Knuckles flies up towards some Egg Grapes and smashes them open while Amy jumps up and slams her Piko Piko Hammer into the prisons, releasing the Mobians inside. Y/n leaped upward, no longer able to fly without his Chaos Gem, and starts destroying the Egg Grapes as well. Then he leaps over to where Sally and her family was, landing on the pod Sally was in who smiled at the sight of the human.

"Y/n! Oh, my God, you're okay!" she says, nearly crying. "I thought Eggman had captured you as well... or worse!"

"Ha! Please. As if some Egghead can take me down," Y/n laughs a bit and slams his fist into Sally's prison, breaking it open. "You don't have to worry. I'm here with to the end of the line, Sal."

Sally smiles at Y/n, her Mobian heart skipping a few beats at his words as the human soon breaks her and her family from captivity. After that, Y/n went to help free everyone else until everyone was free from the Egg Grapes. Y/n looked around as he saw everyone embrace each other with warm smiles and cheers. Then someone tackles the human himself into a tight hug, making him laugh as he hugs Sally back.

"I'm so glad you're safe!" Y/n tells the chipmunk.

"You're glad? I'm glad you're safe!" Sally responds and looks Y/n in the eyes. "You've been a shut-in for the last week, and no one could get a hold of you except for Danny."

Y/n looks down at the name of his fallen friend, which Sally takes notice of.

"Are you okay?" she asks, cupping her friend's cheek. "What's wrong?"

"Danny's... gone, Sally," Y/n informs as he looks the princess, making her gasp in shock. "He took a hit for me... and he died because I wasn't strong enough to save myself."

Y/n looks down at the ground again in sorrow, only to for his head to be lifted back up as he sees two bright blue eyes.

"It wasn't your fault, Y/n. Anyone here would've done the same for you, and you would've done the same if it was anyone else," Sally tells her human friend. "And don't say you aren't strong enough, because you are. Danny knew what he was doing, and he wouldn't want you to wallow over his death. He would want you to keep fighting. For him, and for Mobius."

Y/n slowly nods as he wipes away some tears, smiling at Sally's words.

"Y-yeah. You're right," he says. "Thanks, Sally. What would I do without you?"

"Probably crying yourself a river," Sally jokes.

Y/n laughs loudly, leaving Sally a but surprised as she hasn't heard her friend life in some time. However, she only smiles as she lets Y/n finish.

"Hahaha! Oh, that was a good one!" Y/n eventually calms down. "Thanks, Sal. I really needed that."

"Anything for you, Y/n," Sally states, patting the human's cheek before she turns around to face all of the Mobians. "Alright, everyone! We need to go, now!"

Everyone listens and begins to make their way out of the hole Y/n and the others made when the entered, the human, Sonic, and Sally herding everyone outside.

"This way, everybody!" Sonic yells. "Right back the way we came in!"

"There's so many of us! Too crowded! " Sally states. "Maybe if we fit as many people as we can on the hovercraft, then the rest of us can--"

"Nope."

Sally looks at Sonic in confusion.

"Nope"? What do you mean "Nope"?"

"We need to stay together, Sally," Y/n gives the chipmunk a reassuring smile. "That's the plan."

The three make it out of the Egg Vineyard as they join with the rest of the Mobians.

"While "run away as fast as possible" works for you guys, it doesn't for everyone else," Sally states. "It's not a plan!"

"Who said it was our plan?"

Sally looks confused before Tails lands next to her.

"NICOLE says she all done here," he says. "I guess we're ready for the next part of her plan."

"NICOLE made the plan?"

"Hey, give the girl some credit," Y/n winks at Sally. "She's super smart."

"Oh, stop it!" the AI tells the human. "You'd make me blush if I could!"

Y/n laughs a bit as Sally tells everyone to stay together. But then everyone stops and almost all of them scream in fear as they look at their new obstacles.

"Was this part of the plan?" Sally asks Sonic and Y/n.

"Honestly?" Sonic questions.

"Kinda," Y/n finishes as he gains green electrical sparks around him and his eyes turn emerald green.

Everyone gawks at the behemoth in front of them.

"It's seems like you pests didn't seem to get the lesson last time. I'll make sure you learn this time."

"Now, get back in those Grapes!"

"Everyone back!" Sonic orders as Eggman fires a beam at Tails and other Mobians, making them vanish. "Take the first alley to the right! MOVE!"

Everyone listens as they scream in terror, running away as Eggman continues to teleport people back into his prison.

"He's using a larger spread on his teleporter beam!" Sally exclaims. "We'll all be recaptured in now time!"

"Don't worry, Sally," Y/n assures Sally.

"Just wait for it!" Sonic tells the princess.

With Eggman, now manually piloting his new "Egg Destroyer", Eggman is still zapping away at Mobians when Snively contacts him.

"Um... sir?"

"Not now, Snively," Eggman tells his nephew. "I've already recaptured most of them. And the rest of them are trapped at a dead end!"

"But sir!" Snively intersects. "The teleporting beam is--"

"Obviously working! Now shut up and let me savor this moment!"

Eggman laughs as he closes in on his prey, everyone but Sonic and Y/n panicking as they look for a way to escape.

"Sonic, can you Spin Dash through this wall? Or Y/n, can you blast your way through?" Sally asks the two who just wait. "You two can get us a way out!"

"Probably, but not this time," Sonif says, crossing his arms with a smirk.

"HAVE YOU TWO LOST YOUR MINDS?!"

"Not exactly, but we can't really say anything, or Eggman will hear," Y/n says with a reassuring look.

Suddenly, a yellow beam engulfs both Sally and Y/n, making the chipmunk cry out in fear as she grabs a tight hold of Y/n before vanishing into thin air. Then Sonic turns to face the approaching Egg Destroyer, one of its giant club-like hands aimed at him which glew from energy.

"This is a first for you, rodent. Two collasal failures in one day!" Eggman laughs. "Won't you put up a fight for old times sake?"

"And give you the pleasure?" Sonic asks. "Not likely, chubs."

"Fine, then," Eggman fires his laser. "Join your friends in oblivion!"

"See ya on the flip side, loser!" Sonic says with a smirk, vanishing from sight.

Eggman then shot his mech's arms into the air in victory.

"Finally! I won!" Eggman laughs. "Snively, don't start the Egg Grapes until I'm there!"

"But, sir! I've been trying to tell you the entire time!" Snively yells. "The teleportation frequency was tampered with! There's nobody in the reserve Egg Grapes!"

Eggman fell silent as he slowly lowered his mech's arm. Then he growled before he shot into the sky, the entire Egg Fleet with him.

"I'm remote-launching the Egg Fleet now!" he tells Snively. "Track down that frequency and tell me where they are!"

"I've got it, sir!" Snively states. "I'm on my way to my flagship now!"

"Well, where are they?!"

"It looks like... the Nanite City?!"

The Nanite City...

Just after Eggman zapped Y/n and Sally, Sally was tightly holding onto Y/n in fear. However, she felt a pat on her shoulder, making her flinch a bit.

"Hey, everything's fine, Sal," Y/n tells the chipmunk. "You can open your eyes, now."

Slowly, but hesitantly, Sally opens her eyes and looks around to see a wonderful looking city. It looked like the Nanite City, but refurbished and full of life.

"What the...?"

"NICOLE rewired the teleporting beam to send us here," Y/n says. "We're safe and sound from Eggman here."

Sally looked around and then at Y/n before she grows an angry face and punches Y/n right in the face.

"Ah! What was that for?!" he asks as he holds his nose in pain.

"That was for scaring the hell out of me!" Sally yells at Y/n.

"I-I'm sorry," Y/n stutters. "It was just the plan and--"

Cutting him off, Sally pulls Y/n's head down near her and places a kiss on his cheek, making the boy's face light up red.

"And that was for saving everyone," Sally finishes with a smile. "Including me."

Y/n couldn't say anything as he had trouble finding his words, his face red as his mouth hung open. Sally giggles at the sight and looks at Y/n's topless body.

"Ya know... you don't look too bad without a shirt."

Y/n's entire face lit up like a Christmas Tree as he threw his arms over his face to cover his tomato-red face. She and Y/n turn to look at the newly arrived Sonic when he hears his laugh.

"Haha! Man, you two are too much!" he says with clapping hands. "You two just need to get it over with, already."

Y/n smiles as he chuckles nervously, rubbing the back of his neck as he shyly looks away. Sally only laughs aloud thus time before everyone turns when they hear a cough, only for their eyes to go wide.

"This was actually something I've been preparing for quite a while now. Dr. Eggman's efforts have forced me to reveal this before I was finished, but all the same..." NICOLE only smiles as she stands in her "physical" form. "Welcome to New Mobotropolis! I will be your hostess, Nicole."

Sally ran over to Nicole and hugged her.

"Nicole! I didn't think you could maintain that form," Sally says with a smile.

"I could not until I found something robust enough to maintain me," Nicole says. "I built enough holographic matrixes to give me full use of the city."

"Good to have you with us... again," Sonic says with a smile.

"Does the new Lake of Rings really work?" Tails asks.

"How do you have the power to support a physical form?" Rotor asks.

"Is it just like Old Mobotropolis?" Bunnie asks.

"What are our defenses here?" Antoine asks as well.

"I'll answer everything in time, I promise!" Sally laughs.

"You've already done a great deal for us, Nicole," Sally, who was now holding Y/n's arm, tells the AI before looking at the rest of the Freedom Fighters. "And all of you, as well. Without you, none of us would've made it to see Nicole's beautiful new city."

"Do not congratulate all of our achievements just yet, Princess," Nicole tells Sally. "It did not take long for Dr. Eggman to figure out what we did, and he has come to finish what he started."

Everyone looks up into the sky and some ways afar to see the oncoming Egg Fleet approaching.

"Well, that's just wonderful," Y/n says and grabs his Energy Rings, taking them off of his wrists and tossing them to Sally. "Here. Catch."

"Huh? What are you--?"

"We're about to be in one helluva fight," Y/n says and smirks at Sally. "We need all the advantages we can get."

Sally nods and puts the Energy Rings on her wrists before manifesting two swords on either one.

"Then, let's fight."
_________________________________________

Just when everyone thought they could get a happy ending, Eggman goes in for an even heavier attack! What is the figure Y/n saw? Will the Freedom Fighters be able to hold off Eggman's attack this time? Find out, next time on Only Human!