Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW)

## History

### Past

Sonic hails from parts unknown. What is known is that he has always been on the move, looking for his next adventure.

Sonic has spent years of his life battling his arch-nemesis, Dr. Eggman and his forces for the fate of the world, with Sonic always prevailing in the end. Along the way, he has made numerous friends, rivals, and other enemies. Noticeably, he practically raised his best friend and closest ally, Tails. Some of Eggman's plots that Sonic has foiled include Eggman's countless attempts to procure the Chaos Emeralds, and the deployment of the Death Egg,

Perhaps the earliest known conflict between Sonic and Eggman included a battle between the two where Eggman was in his Egg Viper mech, which ended in Sonic's victory.

Another encounter involved the Space Colony ARK, in which Eggman used its Eclipse Cannon to blow up a part of the moon in order to show the world the power that he wielded. These events lead to Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow and even Eggman to eventually team up and stop a bigger threat.

Later, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles formed a team. Soon after, a battle happened between Team Sonic and Neo Metal Sonic - the powered up form of Metal Sonic - who was impersonating Eggman. This time, the fake Eggman was piloting the Egg Emperor mech, but Sonic and his friends defeated the mech. After learning that Neo Metal Sonic had taken over the Eggman Empire however, Sonic and his team defeated the robot, causing him to revert back to normal. At some point after that, Sonic fought Gemerl, a robot serving Eggman, at the Altar Emerald. However, Sonic did not destroy Gemerl. Instead, Tails reprogrammed Gemerl into a kind-hearted robot who became Sonic's friend.

After that, Sonic took part in war against the Black Arms when the vicious aliens invaded; with the aid of Eggman's forces, Sonic and his allies were able to repel the Black Arms.

During another adventure of his, Sonic was hit by a curse. However, he managed overcome this threat in the end.

Some time later, Sonic foiled Eggman's plans again when the doctor shattered the planet with the Chaos Energy Cannon. During this incident, Sonic got an infection that turned him into a Werehog, but he eventually got over it.

At one point, Sonic saved Planet Wisp when Dr. Eggman tried to conquer it. Along the way, he befriended the Wisps, the alien inhabitants of Planet Wisp. During this adventure, Sonic befriended a White Wisp named Yacker.

Soon after, Eggman tried using the power of a monster known as the Time Eater to tamper with time until he was defeated by Sonic. During this incident, Sonic also fought and defeated the Egg Dragoon.

Not long after, Sonic and Eggman would clash on the Lost Hex but also found opposition in the Deadly Six, a group of Zeti that Eggman tried to control. Sonic managed to stop the Deadly Six, forcing to relinquish their control of Eggman's Badniks. While there, the Wisps assisted Sonic.

### The Eggman War

Sonic got caught off-guard at some point and was imprisoned by Dr. Eggman in a cell in space, allowing the latter to conquer the majority of Sonic's world. After six months of imprisonment, though, Sonic was freed by the Resistance, a freedom fighting group formed by Sonic's friends and allies commanded by Knuckles the Echidna, whom he joined up with.

Participating in the Resistance's war efforts, Sonic fought a Metal Sonic phantom at one point during the war. He supposedly also encountered the Jackal Squad's members, but was able to defeat them.

After many battles, Sonic and the Resistance were able to break the Eggman Empire's control over the world. At the climax of their war, Sonic fought Eggman, who was armed with his Death Egg Robot. After Sonic beat Eggman however, the doctor simply vanished. In aftermath, Sonic left the Resistance, who began focusing on cleaning up after the Eggman Empire.

### Fallout

About a month later, Sonic noticed a local town under attack from a Badnik force. He quickly rushed to their aid, helping trash many of the robots. He soon came across some Egg Hammers though, who were able to put the pressure on the hedgehog. Fortunately, Sonic's best friend Tails was able to step in and help him destroy the Badniks. Afterward, Tails confided in Sonic that the Badniks had been undergoing much more coordinated attacks following Eggman's absence. Realizing there could be something controlling them, Sonic thought it might be Eggman, but Tails did not believe so, as Eggman was known for making sure they knew he had returned before attacking. Regardless, Sonic remained determined to take care of the rest of the Badniks like he always had, but Tails expressed his worry over the thought of Sonic losing again. Sonic thus promised Tails to be careful and even offered him to tag along with him. However, Tails decided it was more important to help the town that they had just saved rebuild and recover. Commending Tails for his decision, Sonic set off on his new quest alone.

At the neighboring town, Sonic brought down the Death Crab down before it could cause any major damage. Amy Rose then arrived and helped finish the Death Crab off. She explained that she heard about Sonic and Tails' latest actions and came by to find Sonic to present him with a request: rejoin the Resistance. The Resistance had their hands full as there were many leftover Badniks from the last major battle against Eggman who randomly attacked citizens. However, much to Amy's dismay, Sonic declined her offer as he wanted to find out who was controlling the Badniks on his own.

Sonic and Amy soon discovered that the Death Crab was just a decoy so that more Badniks could invade from the west. While Sonic thinned them out, Amy rallied Wispon-wielding villagers to help destroy the Badniks that reached the town square. Sonic and Amy then continued to destroy more Badniks and find their source. During this time, Amy kept asking Sonic to join the Resistance. Soon, Sonic and Amy discovered a Blowfish Transporter unloading many more Badniks at the edge of the town. With her Croquette Bomber technique, the duo took out the Blowfish Transporter. Afterwards, Amy came to terms with Sonic's decision and let him be on his own. Regardless, she requested for him to check on Knuckles the Echidna in a nearby town as she had not heard from him since. Accepting the mission, Sonic set off to find Knuckles.

As he arrived at Barricade Town, which was a hub for Wispon distribution, Sonic found that Knuckles had already dealt with the Badniks that had been attacking the town. Knuckles explained that the town's Wispon shipments had dwindled and he had come to find out why. The two entered the town and found its citizens in a panic. They were told that all the town's Wispons had been stolen by a duo of mercenaries that had, before the Eggman War ended, driven Eggman's forces away and saved the town, only to then conquer the town and keep its arsenal to themselves. With this in mind, Sonic and Knuckles continued to the town's supply depot-turned-fortress to defeat the mercenaries. There, they encountered a group of captive Wisps being horded. Soon, Sonic and Knuckles confronted the mercenaries, who introduced themselves as Rough the Skunk and Tumble the Skunk. A battle ensued between the four, which seemed to be evenly matched until Sonic called upon the help of the Wisps that were trapped within the Wispons Rough and Tumble had stolen. They broke out of the Wispons and allowed Sonic and Knuckles to easily defeat Rough and Tumble, who were promptly arrested and hauled off to jail. With the town now free, Sonic and Knuckles began partying with the townspeople.

Continuing his journey, Sonic arrived at Spiral Hill Village, where a Buzz Bomber battleship was deploying by a stream of Badniks to attack the village. As he entered the village, he reconsidered Amy's invitation to rejoin the Resistance, but pushed that aside. He soon after noticed a ring-tailed lemur fighting the Badniks as well, who introduced herself to him as Tangle the Lemur. Together, they fought the Badniks until they got cornered by a large group of them. Fortunately, Blaze the Cat appeared, and helped them tear through the rest of the Badniks' ranks, including the giant Buzz Bomber. Once the attack had ended, Sonic introduced Blaze and Tangle to each other, and asked Blaze what brought her to his world. She explained she had come to prevent a "terrible event" on his world, as per the Sol Emeralds' directions. Sonic thought she referred to Eggman's global takeover until Tangle brought up the possibility that the organized Badniks could a sign of something worse coming their way, which made Blaze stay until she understood why she was here. After bidding farewell to Blaze and Tangle, who went to calm the fires in village, Sonic continued his search for the Badniks' ringleader.

### The Fate of Dr. Eggman

Soon, Sonic got contacted by the Chaotix, who needed his help. Meeting up with his escort Espio, the two heroes were forced to clear out some Badniks attacking them. After that, Sonic was filled in on the Chaotix Detective Agency's activities by Espio, who told him that they had found Eggman, and that he was taking him to him. Arriving in Windmill Village, Sonic was introduced to a friendly Dr. Eggman, now going by the name "Mr. Tinker", but scoffed the doctor's greeting. Learning from the Chaotix that Eggman suffered from amnesia, and had become a productive member of the village, Sonic began talking with the Chaotix and the village's head about what to do with Eggman since it did not seem right to penalize him now that he was a good man with no recollection of his evil deeds. However, a horde of Badniks soon approached the village. Suspecting Eggman to be behind them, Sonic confronted him while the Chaotix faced the Badniks, only to find a scared Eggman protecting the local children. Convinced now that Eggman was a new man, Sonic helped the Chaotix beat the Badniks. Telling the Chaotix about Eggman, the group decided to leave him to his new life. After properly greeting Eggman, Sonic prepared to leave, but then noticed Eggman mention Eggman Land. Immediately after, Shadow and Rouge showed up, with the former seeking to destroy Eggman.

Although Sonic tried telling Shadow that Eggman's amnesia was legit and that he was now a good man that did not deserve the punishment Shadow had planned, Shadow did not care. Eventually, their disagreement came to blows. While they raced around and fought however, Sonic convinced Shadow that Eggman was not beyond forgiveness, just like Shadow was in spite of his past attempt to destroy the world. However, when Shadow realized that Sonic had been leading him away from Eggman, the back hedgehog went back to Windmill Village, forcing Sonic to hurry back. Fortunately, by the time Sonic arrived, Eggman had convinced Shadow that he was not the person he used to be by showing him that the "Eggman Land" he mentioned earlier was but an amusement part for children which he had named after a word that "came to him". After Shadow and Rouge took their leave, Sonic promised Eggman that he would come back to visit, if only to check if the doctor's memories were returning.

Eventually, Sonic joined up with Tails again, whom he began raiding bases with in search of clues to whom was commandeering the Badniks. While flying through the sky in the Tornado however, the duo encountered an Egg Fleet battlecruiser. Seeing this as an chance to get a noteworthy clue, Tails had Sonic board the battlecruiser with his MIles Electric so he could get some computer data from a computer. On the cruiser, Sonic met someone who looked like Eggman. Since Sonic had seen Eggman however, he did not buy the bluff, and the faker revealed himself to be Neo Metal Sonic. Neo Metal Sonic revealed that he was supposed to be the doctor's greatest weapon in the final battle during the Eggman War, but he was completed too late. Since he had been given his creator's genius, vision, and drive however, Neo decided to take over the Eggman Empire and conquer the world for Eggman as him (making him the ringleader behind the Badnik attacks) and then find the real Eggman so he could hand his empire back to him. Sonic realized that this was the reason that he had to fight a phantom of Metal Sonic during the Eggman War instead of the real thing. Sonic tried to defeat Neo Metal Sonic and his army of Egg Pawns, but was forced to flee after Neo Metal Sonic copied his bio-data. Destroying the ship's Badnik staff and artillery along the way, Sonic ultimately escaped Neo Metal Sonic with Tails and the Tornado's aid. Rendezvousing at Resistance HQ, Sonic told Tails, Amy and Knuckles of what he had learned. In an effort to undermine Neo Metal Sonic's scheme, Sonic and co. decided to search for any old plans that could tell them what Neo Metal Sonic was up to.

Soon after, Sonic infiltrated one of Eggman's bases. There, he encountered Silver when the psychic hedgehog destroyed a Spina for him. The two of them then noticed that the "Guardian Angel" was in the area when she sniped a Spina sneaking up on them. With Sonic oblivious to who that was, Silver told him about her and her efforts during the Eggman War. Silver then explained that he had come back from his time to help Sonic and co. stop an event which would lead to the extinction of all life in his time. The duo soon after found the Guardian Angel. Although Silver scared her into the shadows, Sonic convinced her to trust them when her Wisps playfully greeted him. With the Guardian Angel, who introduced herself as Whisper, on their side, Sonic and co. broke into the base's computer room. There, they overcame E-107 Theta and a horde of Spinas. After keeping Whisper from destroying the computer, Sonic had Silver access the Eggnet. On it, they discovered Neo Metal Sonic's horrific plans, which prompted Sonic and Silver to contact Knuckles and Amy at Resistance HQ and have them call everyone in.

### Battle For Angel Island

Returning to Resistance HQ, Sonic and the Resistance's allies were informed of what he and Silver had discovered: that Neo Metal Sonic had conquered Angel Island, which he had turned into a flying fortress, and secured the Master Emerald for himself on the island. As Amy laid out a plan on how they could liberate Angel Island, Blaze offered to confront Neo Metal Sonic as Burning Blaze, which Sonic was all about. However, Tails shot down that plan, having deemed it too risky if Blaze had to face Neo Metal Sonic's powers. In the end, Sonic and Knuckles were chosen to confront Neo Metal Sonic instead and secure the Master Emerald while the others focused on breaking the Egg Fleet's control over the island.

On their way to Angel Island in one of the Resistance's battleships, Sonic thanked Whisper for joining them on this mission before paying Tails a visit in the captain's nest. As the two friends were having a moment however, the Egg Fleet began bombarding the ship. Using their Extreme Gears, Sonic and Knuckles left the crashing ship and flew to the Master Emerald's shrine, which had been turned into a fortification. Inside it, the two heroes found Neo Metal Sonic on top of the Master Emerald. When they tried to confront him however, Neo Metal Sonic used the Master Emerald to turn into Super Neo Metal Sonic. While Sonic was undeterred, Super Neo Metal Sonic went on the offensive. Sonic subsequently tried to distract Super Neo Metal Sonic while Knuckles went for the Master Emerald, but both him and Knuckles were foiled and outfought at every turn by the robot. When Sonic and Knuckles ended up lying in defeat before Super Neo Metal Sonic however, Shadow showed up and succeeded in making Super Neo Metal Sonic revert back to normal before laying the smackdown on him. Sonic brought the fight to a halt though, concerned that Neo Metal Sonic would copy Shadow's powers. However, Neo Metal Sonic revealed that he had just finished copying Shadow's bio-data, which, combined with Sonic's bio-data and the Master Emerald's power, would let him assume his final form. While Knuckles and Shadow tried in vain to stop Neo Metal Sonic, Sonic convinced them to evacuate the stronghold once the structure started to fold into Neo Metal Sonic. The ground soon after began to rumble and Knuckles noted that the Master Emerald had been cut off from Angel Island―without its power, the island would fall. Meanwhile, Neo Metal Sonic grew into a form more monstrous than the last―dubbing it Master Overlord―and demanded that Sonic bowed to him.

Getting attacked by Master Overlord, Sonic heard from Knuckles that Burning Blaze could not help them. He, Knuckles and Shadow were then grabbed and flown away by Master Overlord, who wanted them to see him destroy their allies, who were onboard an Egg Fleet battleship. It was then that Sonic came up with a plan: if they could drive Master Overlord closer to Angel Island and rip the Master Emerald out of him, they could deprive the robot of his power source and save the island. When the trio escaped Master Overlord's grasp, Sonic and Shadow focused on attacking Master Overlord's wings while Knuckles went for the Master Emerald. Sonic also taunted Master Overlord, which distracted the robot long enough for Sonic's allies, whom Knuckles had relayed Sonic's plan to, to swarm Master Overlord and help drive him towards Angel Island. During the battle, Sonic got shaken off Master Overlord, but was rescued by Silver with his psychokinesis. Knuckles subsequently got the Master Emerald away from Master Overlord after Tails rammed he robot with his battleship, and brought it back to Angel Island, returning the island to the sky while Master Overlord powered down to normal. Down on Angel Island, Sonic sought out Tails, who was safe and sound. With Angel Island now back to normal and Metal Sonic offline, Sonic and Tails celebrated their victory.

Sonic later had Tails partially repair Metal Sonic so he could talk with the robot. Upon waking up, Metal Sonic threw himself at Sonic, only to collapse in his arms, unable to fight. Sonic explained everything and proposed a truce and the chance for a new life since Eggman was out of the picture. The robot, however, rejected Sonic's offer and flew away. Although disappointed, Sonic decided not to follow him out of respect for his choice. Later, Sonic made several rounds around the Angel Island and informed Knuckles that the island seemed intact. He offered Knuckles to join the others on the trip back to Resistance HQ in the Egg Fleet battleship Tails was repairing, but Knuckles refused, having decided to remain and guard the Master Emerald. When Sonic then asked him about the future of Resistance, Knuckles decided to dissolve the organization. Sonic then went to the battleship, where he met Amy. He informed her about the Resistance's disbandment, and then ran to Tangle and Whisper when the Chaotix demanded payment. Tangle expressed her excitement about her new life to Sonic, but Whisper decided to remain silent. Sonic decided to give the latter some space. He then met Silver and Blaze, who were both holding off their trips home for the time being. This made Sonic note that this was a chance to have more adventures together. Sonic later met Rouge, whom he asked for her next plans and asked to thank Shadow for him. Sonic then visited Tails on the captain's bridge and congratulated him on the record-breaking repair of the ship and another well-finished adventure as the battleship took off Angel Island.

### Jet Set Tornado and Sonic Fan Club

Sonic would later pilot the Tornado for Tails to test the biplane's new engine. During the flight however, the heroes stumbled upon a Stealth Balkiry who had stolen supplies from a Resistance warehouse. Sonic and Tails subsequently chased the Badnik to a volcanic island. There, they directed the robot so that it was hit by lava fired from a geyser. As it then dropped the stolen supplies, Sonic destroyed it in midair, and was caught by Tails on the Tornado's wing. Sonic proceeded to thank his friend and let him take the helm, stating that landing the plane is too slow for him.

Later, Sonic dropped by the Sonic Fan Club's first meeting and destroyed the Egg Pawn bothering them before taking off again.

### Infection

While Sonic was relaxing with a Flicky, Tails came with a letter he had received which foreshadowed Eggman's return to his evil ways in Windmill Village. Deciding to check this out, Sonic and Tails went to Windmill Village. There, they found no one, except for Elder Scruffy, who had been beaten up and hung up in a tree. While helping him, Elder Scruffy revealed that Eggman had been kidnapped a week ago by two thugs, who had since returned and locked up the villagers in the community center. Immediately after, the thugs appeared, who turned out to be Rough and Tumble, now wielding new weapons. Sonic subsequently faced the skunks to distract them while Tails and Elder Scruffy freed the villagers. Knowing that Rough and Tumble were not smart enough to make their weapons or leave cryptic letters, Sonic guessed they were working with someone and demanded that they told him where Eggman was. However, the brothers were not interested in that. Eventually though, Tails joined the fight. Splitting Rough and Tumble up, Sonic took on Tumble, who became a blubbering mess after Sonic smashed his new prosthetic tail. Bringing Tumble together with Rough, who had been defeated by Tails, Sonic almost got Rough to tattle, only for the brothers to vanish through a portal. Although Sonic was reluctant to admit that the old Eggman was back and helping Rough and Tumble, Sonic figured that someone must have freed Rough and Tumble and told them where to find Eggman. With Tails staying behind to fix Windmill Village, Sonic left to find Silver to see if he had found something.

Following a lead from an informant Silver had met, Sonic and Silver went to Frozen Peak where they found an Eggman base teeming with activity. Before they could attack though, Metal Sonic ambushed them. During the subsequent fight, Metal Sonic got saved by Dr. Starline, whom Silver recognized as his informant. Introducing himself, Starline revealed he was behind their concerns and that he had staged this encounter to test himself against Sonic. Realizing that it was Starline who worked with Rough and Tumble, Sonic asked him about Eggman, and Starline revealed he had restored Eggman's memories. Sonic and Silver thus engaged Starline and Metal Sonic. Although Silver took care of Metal Sonic, Sonic got sent through a portal and over a cliff, prompting Silver to follow Sonic through the portal. After Siver saved Sonic, he and Sonic hurried back to Starline, whom Sonic pinned down and demanded info on Eggman from. In response, Starline gave them a code to a vault in the base, which Silver went to check out. When Starline then revealed that Eggman was up to something and that he had given Silver the activation code for a bomb, Sonic hurried into the base to stop Silver. Although Sonic was too late, Silver managed to protect them from the bomb's blast with his psychokinesis. Sonic then took the injured Silver to Restoration HQ to recuperate. After bringing Amy up to speed, she and Sonic tried figuring out their next move, as they knew nothing about what Eggman was up to. In an effort to locate Eggman and figure out his plan, Amy figured they could tap into his network from an unguarded Eggman base in Echo Mine. With a new mission target, Sonic got Amy to come along since its was her plan.

Eventually, Sonic and Amy reached the base in Echo Mine where they found an old Eggman computer. Amy soon managed to hack it and find plans for a ARK-like space station and talk about a "payload distribution". However, before the heroes could learn more, Rough and Tumble appeared in a large tank with a massive drill and guns. Sonic, however, again mocked the skunks' attempt at an rhymey introduction. He then took Amy and escaped with her through the mines until they reached a refuse pit, and they decided to use the narrow floor in the cave to defeat Rough and Tumble. When Rough and Tumble arrived, Sonic brought Amy in from to the rear of the tank. He then threw Amy up to the tank's cockpit, which she destroyed while Sonic hit the tank's treads. The tank subsequently fell into the refuse pit, but Rough and Tumble escaped and activated their backup backpacks. This made a metallic liquid gush over them and turn them into Zombots. Sonic proceeded to engage Tumble, only for the Zombot to instantly regenerate from any damage he got. As Sonic then wiped his mouth, he discovered he had been infected with the same liquid that turned Rough and Tumble into Zombots. After warning Amy not to touch them and fighting with Tumble some more, Sonic disposed of both Zombots by knocking them into the refuse pit. He then showed Amy the infection and asked if she had any good ideas.

Taking Amy's advice, Sonic hurried to Tails's Workshop to get Tails to look at him. While Sonic had Tails run some tests on him, Tangle came by for a visit. After discovering the extend of how contagious Sonic was, Tails conclude that Sonic had forced this Metal Virus into remission with his speed. Seeing that Tangle had questions, Sonic brought her up to speed. After Tails then realized that they had to warn people about the Zombots, Sonic and Tails heard what Tangle had been up to. Afterward, the group tried to figure out their next course of action. Since Amy had found plans for a battleship that Eggman was planning to spread his virus with, they concluded that they should find it. When Sonic tried to high-five Tangle however, he saw his infection had returned and withdrew himself. Seeing that Sonic's speed could only burn off the virus and keep in check, Tails wanted to conduct more tests. Not wanting to risk his friends' well-being, Sonic left to find Eggman's battleship. On the way, Sonic reflected on how different things were this time with this new threat Eggman was posing. Nevertheless, he assured himself that they would get through this.

### Crisis City

Sonic later came to Seaside City after he learned that Eggman had attacked it with the Metal Virus. Upon arriving, Sonic saved Vector from some Zombots and learned that the Chaotix were evacuating the inhabitants to the docks. Following Vector's plan, Sonic decided to distract the Zombots in order to facilitate the rescue operation. Along the way, Sonic blew past some Zombots blocking the way down from a roof in order to rescue two residents. Soon after, he saw a Rescue Shuttle arrive to take the survivors to safety. Knowing this would draw the attention of the Zombots, Sonic wanted to save everybody. However, noticing how much his infection had spread, Sonic decided to take a quick run in order to burn it off. When Sonic later arrived at the port, he learned that Charmy Bee had flown back into the city. After ordering Vector and Espio to escape with the evacuees, he went to look for Charmy.

Having failed to find Charmy, Sonic went to Floral Forest Village to evacuate Cream, her family, and the villagers before Eggman's Metal Virus hit them. By the time Sonic arrived however, Eggman had already created a Zombot outbreak. While fighting the Zombots, Sonic began thinking about how he failed to save Charmy and how he did not want history to repeat itself. Soon after, Sonic noticed that the Zombots were beginning to ignore Eggman's orders. Later, as Sonic helped villagers evacuate to the north glade where the Rescue Shuttle would be, Sonic noticed his infection was getting worse. As he thought about whether he should leave the villagers and go for a run to burn off the infection or stay and help the village, he was attacked by Gemerl, who had deemed him a threat to Cream and her family due to his infection. Sonic explained that he could keep his infection in check, but Gemerl refused to consider Sonic less of a threat. Sonic suggested to Gemerl that he could remove the Metal Virus by interfacing with it, but Gemerl noted that he and the Metal Virus were incompatible. Nonetheless, Gemerl gave Sonic an ultimatum: either run away and burn off his infection, or stay and be eliminated. In the end, Sonic chose the former, since he could not fight Gemerl and the Zombots at the same time and because his infection was reaching its apogee anyway. During his run, Sonic kept two villagers from starting a forest fire to keep the Metal Virus from spreading. Hurrying to Cream's house afterward, Sonic blew away a Zombot trying to get Vanilla and Cream. Seeing that Cheese and Chocola had become Zombots too, Sonic encouraged a grief-stricken Cream to be brave and promised her that they could find a way to cure the Zombots. After seeing Cream fly her mother towards the north glade, Sonic was saved from some Zombots by Gemerl, who apologized for his behavior. Forgiving him, Sonic told where Cream and Vanilla went and instructed him to ensure the Rescue Shuttle took off safely. Sonic then trapped Cheese and Chocola in glass jars to keep them from flying away. As he engaged more Zombots, Sonic was contacted by Rouge, who needed aid evacuating Sunset City, which was Eggman's next target. Agreeing to help her and Team Dark with the interception, Sonic swore not to let any more of his friends fall victim to the virus.

When Sonic came to Sunset City, a massive Zombot outbreak had already begun. While fighting through the Zombots, Sonic looked for civilians to save while noticing that his infection was getting worse. After a while, he heard cries for help. Seeing some civilians being kept in a building by Zombots, Sonic rushed in to clear the Zombots out, only to pull back when Omega beat him to it by shooting at the Zombots. Sonic tried to persuade Omega to hold back against the Zombots as they did not choose to be Eggman robots, but Omega remained determined to destroy any Eggman-related robot. Nevertheless, Sonic noticed that the Zombots were too hardy for Omega to really damage. Sonic then saw Rouge, who told him to escort the survivors to the Grand Gold Flicky Hotel where they were organizing survivors. With Omega's help, Sonic managed to evacuate the civilians from the building. After then clearing out a path to the hotel for the survivors, Sonic met Rouge there and told her about his infection and that Eggman could no longer control the Zombots. Immediately after, Sonic heard some civilians call for help, as the Zombots were coming. At first, he wanted to reach out to a civilian, but then he remembered that he was infected. Sonic proceeded to create a whirlwind that blew the nearby Zombots away. Sonic then went to help Omega, who was slowly getting surrounded by Zombots. However, the Zombots were knocked away by Shadow when he arrived in a truck to take the survivors away in. Upon seeing Shadow though, Shadow blamed Sonic for this crisis; if he had not stopped him from destroying Eggman in Windmill Village, none of this would be happening. Although Sonic tried to defend himself by noting that Starline was the one who brought Eggman back, he had to cut his argument with Shadow short, as he needed to go on a run to burn off his infection. He thus left the evacuation of the civilians to Team Dark, although not before informing Shadow that if the Zombots infected him, he could run around to control his infection. As his run took him outside the city, Sonic began to feel his fatigue catching up to him. Seeing the city chaos also made Sonic worried about his friends. However, he shoved those thoughts aside in order to focus on the task ahead. By the time Sonic returned to Team Dark's site however, Rouge told him to "handle" Shadow. As Sonic wondered about what she meant by that, he got pinned against the truck by Shadow, who had become a Zombot.

Sonic began to fight his Zombot rival while also realizing he would get the chance to say "I told you so" to him later. He found discomfort in having to fight not only Shadow but an entire city of Zombots. Nonetheless, Sonic kept the pressure up on the Zombots and confirmed with Rouge that all the uninfected citizens were secure. When Rouge took off with the truck, Omega stayed behind to continue fighting the Zombots though Sonic teased him to say that he stayed to help him exclusively. Sonic soon spotted Shadow running after the truck. As the Zombot Shadow did not know how to properly use his rocket skates, Sonic was able to catch up to him only for Shadow to throw him back. Omega suggested to Sonic that he should retreat before his infection took over completely but he refused as he did not believe the truck was far enough away and he did not want to leave another friend behind. Omega protested, saying that they were not friends. Sonic instead suggested that they both retreat since Omega could not actually destroy the Zombots but the latter refused. When Omega began to violently fight Shadow, Sonic tried to remind him who he was but Omega did not care as he saw his former partner as another Eggman robot. Sonic continued to fight the Zombots until Shadow ripped Omega's chest open and his two arms were torn off by two other Zombots. Sonic used a Spin Attack on Shadow and tried to reason with him but to no avail. He tried to suggest a retreat one more time to Omega but he still refused. Just when Sonic thought it was all over, the recently healed Silver arrived on the scene and used his psychokinesis on all of the Zombots to clear a path for him. Tails told him to go to the Tornado which was waiting just outside the city to the east. With this, Sonic fled the scene.

Later at Restoration HQ, Sonic was let inside by Cream. He was told that though it was past her bedtime, she was permitted by her mother to help around. Cream goes on to tell him that she has been trying to keep the refugees happy by handing out snackes and sweets to them, which left Sonic to call her the bravest hero there. Sonic was told that Amy was asking for him. Before he could enter her office, Gemerl stopped him due to his hazardous infection. Cream told Gemerl off, saying that Amy had requested to see him personally. With this, Gemerl moved out of the way and Sonic joked that he was a "mechahazard" due to the Metal Virus. Inside, Sonic found Rouge and confirmed to her that Shadow was lost to the Metal Virus. This angered Rouge and she stated that he should have run when she said so. Sonic began to talk to Amy who wished to see how he was doing. However, she quickly turned her attention back to the search and rescue missions she was coordinating. Sonic next found Vector and Espio who have been taking shifts in finding survivors and supplies while also looking for Charmy, the latter part of which Sonic did not think was a good idea. Espio then considers Sonic's health and the hedgehog told the duo that he could only afford small naps before the virus caught up to him. After the trio said their goodbyes, Sonic met up with Silver and Tails and thanked them for their help. He confirms with Silver that the Metal Virus was the cause of his metallic future, though he did not see any Zombots (or anyone) there. Sonic checked up on Omega whose body was left behind in Sunset City. Tails explained that he would give the robot a temporary body in the future once he had the supplies and the time. Tails went on to explain that since the data he got from Sonic before was too robust to create a cure from, he created a sensor for him that would read his biometrics to give insight as to how his speed combated the Metal Virus. However, he also stated that the computers in the HQ would not be able to read that kind of data and planned to go to his lab in Central City instead but was wary that he may get attacked by Zombots. Silver proposed to cover him, despite the risk that he may be called elsewhere but Sonic took Silver up on his optimism.

### The Last Minute

Sonic took off with Tails' bio-scanner and started to burn off more of the growing Metal Virus infection. He soon called Tails, who had gone to Central City, when he was running at the outskirts of Barricade Town. After explaining how well he got the data from his bio-scanner and the situation at Central City, Tails suggested that Sonic kept running so he can find a cure for the virus. Sonic understood and wished Tails luck. When Sonic reached Barricade Town, he found that it had attacked and wondered if he would be able to help any survivors there. Once he sees Dr. Eggman present in the village, he goes to interrogate him on why he decided to go back to his evil ways after Dr. Starline restored his memories instead of being more like "Mr. Tinker". Eggman told Sonic that he was "bringing peace and unity to the world through his brilliant guidance", which he considered to be better than his deeds as Mr. Tinker. Sonic disagreed with Eggman's vision and after having had his patience spent, he demanded that he reverse the effects of the Metal Virus. Eggman refused, saying that he could not stop it if he wanted to and after he managed to control the Zombots he would be able to take over the world. This proved to be the last straw for Sonic and prompted the hedgehog to engage in battle with Eggman. After being taunted by the doctor, Sonic jumped onto Eggman's Egg Mobile in an attempt to infect him. Eggman instead dodged this by flipping over in the Egg Mobile, which forced him and Sonic to fall to the ground. As the duo get surrounded by Zombots, Sonic jokingly taunts Eggman on how he could not do anything about it. However, after Starline managed to find a working frequency with the Egg Mobile that could control Zombots, the infected instead attacked Sonic solely.

When Eggman demanded that Starline upload the frequency to the Faceship, Sonic burst out from the pile of Zombots and destroyed the Egg Mobile. After Starline rescued Eggman from Sonic and the Zombots, Eggman berated Sonic for destroying the only means of controlling the infected. Sonic sarcastically voiced his concern and told Eggman to work on a cure instead. Eggman refused again and then retreated with Starline back to the Faceship. Sonic looked to his arm to realize that the bio-scanner had been destroyed after he destroyed the Egg Mobile. Feeling hopeless, Sonic upsettingly reflected on how his little faith in Eggman has made several people pay for it in the end. Soon, as Sonic is almost fully infected, the hedgehog is nearly attacked by several Zombots that climbed up onto the rooftop. Sonic quickly ran out of Barricade Town and refused to give up as he still believed he had time to make things right. As the hedgehog took a brief break from full-speed running, he received a call from Amy. She told him that Restoration HQ and Tails' lab were overrun by Zombots, stating that they were now on the way to Spiral Hill Village to help evacuate it. Despite his fatigue, Sonic readily pledged his assistance, clinging to the hope that things cannot get any worse.

Soon enough, Sonic arrived at Spiral Hill Village ready to help. As he saw that the Restoration was helping out with evacuation, he believed that he should check in with Amy to see what he could do; out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Espio and decided to help him out first. After beating some Zombots back before they could attack the chameleon, Espio explained the current situation in the village; Amy and Gemerl were watching the Rescue Shuttle, while the latter scanned survivors for infections; Tails and Cream were helping evacuate any uninfected villagers they could find; he was last told that Silver went to Ice Paradise to help out there; and he, Tangle and Whisper were distracting the Zombots until it all survivors had been found. When Sonic asked where Vector was, the chameleon told him that they had found Charmy and had him contained. Espio felt that the situation was his fault as he believed he should not have let Vector bring Charmy back to Restoration HQ. However, Espio also angrily pointed out that he should not have let Sonic convince him to leave Eggman alone in Windmill Village. While Sonic argued that it was not Eggman and they did not know that Starline would turn him back into his evil self, Espio told him that they would not have had to worry should they have dealt with him earlier. Sonic went on to ask if they should then never give second chances to anyone, leaving him and Espio to have an intense stare at each other. Not wanting to prolong the events, Espio wished to continue the mission, which Sonic agreed with. The hedgehog tried to barricade a few Zombots within a building and was helped by Whisper after she used her Variable Wispon to cut down a street light to block the entrance.

Sonic soon arrived to the Restoration's choke point, where Amy jokingly noted his fashionably late arrival. She informed him that while Espio, Tangle and Whisper kept the Zombots in the village distracted, Tails and Cream helped rescue uninfected citizens. She also noted that if they attempted to retreat, the Zombots would swarm them, which led Sonic to want to find a way to cover the escape. When Sonic met Tails and Cream and the latter gave him the cold shoulder, Amy quietly told the hedgehog how Vanilla had stayed behind in Restoration HQ to hold back some Zombots. After Sonic told Tails that he lost the bio-scanner after a fight with Eggman and Tails stated that they could not find any more survivors, Amy called for a retreat. Sonic ran off to find Tangle and coordinate with her. He came across her fighting in the Mineral Museum and told her of Amy's call for a retreat. Unable to quickly flee without drawing attention from the Zombots, Tangle suggested Sonic carry her around while she wrapped her tail around nearby lampposts to create a trip wire to block the Zombots. When Sonic initially refused for fear of infecting her, she revealed her own infection. Sonic was horrified and apologized to her, but she urged him not to give up, stating there were still survivors to protect and that he could still set things right. With that, they enacted their plan, blocking off several Zombots. Having resolved to stay behind, Tangle asked Sonic to apologize to the others for her, knowing Whisper would be devastated when she heard the news. Sonic said he would, and the two friends embraced before parting ways. Sonic was last to arrive at the shuttle and stated that he would ride on the outside. He informed the Restoration that Tangle had gotten infected and chose to stay behind so that they could escape easily. Though the team were quite upset over this, Whisper became frantic and attempted to run back in the village to save her friend; Amy quickly held Whisper back from going and asked Sonic for help, though the latter knew that he could not do it as he would infect them. Instead, Whisper's Wisps sprung out and pulled her back into the shuttle. Amy then called for a take-off. Sonic jumped onto the top of the Rescue Shuttle and solemnly watched Spiral Hill Village as they flew away.

### All or Nothing

The Rescue Shuttle arrived at Angel Island, a last resort for a safe haven. Sonic jumped off of the ship next to Knuckles on the pavement in order to prevent the grass from being infected, as his infection had spread so much to the point where only one of his eyes remained its natural color. As Knuckles expressed concern and wondered why Sonic looked like Metal Sonic, the hedgehog did not have time to stop and instead told him that Amy and Tails would be able to explain what was going on to him. With this Sonic ran off around the island. After his run, Sonic returned to find Knuckles confirming that he was now fully up to speed on the situation and expressed annoyance over trouble being brought to his island again. Suddenly, a portal opened of which Eggman, Starline and Metal Sonic dropped out of. As Amy prepared to attack them for everything that they have done, Sonic prevented her act and questioned why Eggman appeared out of nowhere all of a sudden unarmed since he had the advantage. Eggman responded to this by saying Starline brought the Deadly Six onboard the Faceship, which they swiftly took control over. Espio then appeared to inform everyone that they had just gotten word from Rouge. On the shuttle, Rouge reported that Eggman had been powering the Faceship with the Chaos Emeralds, which Zavok had now distributed to the rest of his team and then sent them out into the world; she went on to say that she was coordinating with Orbot to spy on their deployments and coordinate their counterattack. An argument soon arose between Tails and Eggman about a cure for the Metal Virus, to which the doctor clarified that he did not need to have one as his research found that as the Metal Virus mutated, it became unsustainable; soon, every Zombot would disintegrate approximately two hundred years into the future. An injured Silver came onboard and confirmed this claim as it described his current future well.

Later outside, while running on a makeshift treadmill, Sonic and the others tried to come up with ideas on how to counteract the virus. Amy suggested that Sonic could fix the situation if he went Super Sonic but he felt that though the Chaos Emeralds could give him unlimited power, they could not let him just ***do anything***. Eggman instead came up with the idea to use the Warp Topaz, as if they had Super Sonic charge it with his power, they would be able to warp the virus away with one swoop. Starline protested against it due to its instability and decided to leave and create a solution on his own; instead, Eggman, with Metal Sonic's help, removed Starline's glove that had the Warp Topaz attached to it, fired him and had him thrown out via a Warp Portal. Recalling how Starline was the one to bring back Eggman and try to blow him and Silver up, Sonic was okay with Eggman's decision. Following this, Eggman surmised that Rouge would be able to steal the two Emeralds that were on the Faceship from Zavok; Espio noted that it left five Zeti left to deal with but Silver felt confident that they would be able to overwhelm them so long as they had each other. The group realized that they would have to split up and ambush the Deadly Six all at once since there was a risk that one could contact the others should they get a sense of their plan. While Eggman thought to work on a "Multi-Portal Generator" to help the others reach their destinations, Tails thought it would be best if everyone had a backup in case someone turned into a Zombot; Sonic also noted how he did not know how much fight he left in him. This prompted Amy to call in the Babylon Rogues to increase their numbers. Sonic was unsure of Amy's decision but she was confident in it as they were perfect for stealing Chaos Emeralds and would have avoided the plague due to staying in their blimp most of the time. Upon their arrival to the island, Jet wasted no time in insulting Sonic's appearance and stated that he may help if the reward was big enough. Sonic turned to his rival and told him that he needed his help, and the world needed the "Legendary Wind Master". Upon hearing this, Jet accepted Sonic's offer to save the world. Amy claimed that she will not tell Knuckles about Sonic boosting Jet's ego, though the hedgehog was accepting his own ego's hits; from this, Sonic set out for another run but promised to be back before deployment so that they could hopefully end things before they got worse.

After returning from his run, Sonic told the others that he had come up with a plan for who will be going with who and what Zeti will they go after. Before he could, his infection had resurfaced, nearly covering up all of his quills in metal, and he felt a sharp jolt of pain. As Amy showed concern for him, Sonic shook it off and continued to devise the plan. As Tails pulled up a hologram of Zomom, Sonic requested that he and Amy take him on as they would be able to outsmart him easily, seeing how the Zeti has very low intelligence. Once Sonic stated that it would be best for Knuckles and Espio to take on Zazz, Knuckles rejected his idea in assisting anyone as it would leave Eggman, Metal Sonic, and Sonic alone with the Master Emerald; since everyone was going to have the fight of their lives and Sonic was weakened and exhausted, no one would be able to keep Eggman from stealing it. Sonic questioned Knuckles' paranoia at first but went with it after remembering their history of working together with the latter and being stabbed in the back in the end; Espio made it clear that he was okay with the change, stating that he had a tactic in mind. Sonic moved on and assigned Silver and Whisper to Zor, stating that he was weird and they best handle him at a distance. Even though it was a huge gamble, he assigned Gemerl to Zeena, telling him to use her high and mighty persona to his advantage. Lastly, he assigned the Babylon Rogues to go after Master Zik, telling them that even though he was old, he was also smart and crafty. Following this, Eggman reminded everyone that Rouge had two retrieve the final two Emeralds on the Faceship which Sonic would use to become Super Sonic to undo the effects of the Metal Virus. He then joked that Sonic may succumb to the virus beforehand, until Sonic reminded him that he life rested on this as well. This caused Eggman to change his approach; he then called on Tails to assist him in building a treadmill for Sonic as his speed was not combating the virus as well anymore.

Soon, when Sonic was running on his new custom treadmill, he turned to Metal Sonic and talked about how Eggman did not get a chance to stay reformed due to Starline. However, Metal Sonic had a choice and chose to go back to Eggman, unlike fellow robots Gemerl and Omega. Eggman stepped into the conversation, asking if Sonic actually thought neutralizing the robot would make him less of a threat. When the hedgehog made it clear that he did, Eggman explained that he only neutralized his hardware but not his software, which demanded battle and conquest; his sole desire from that point on would be to become dangerous again. Sonic pointed out that they did not think anyone could restore him, to which Eggman found him to be right on; however, he did not know about Starline or his return, which had things take a turn for the worse for the hedgehog. Sonic then brought up how Eggman was living happily and peacefully as Mr. Tinker, bringing joy to others and slyly remarked on how it must have been a waste. When Eggman asked when Sonic is going to let that go, the hedgehog responded that it was to be done until he got a clue. Eggman told Sonic not to get too high-and-mighty on him, noting that he helped spread the Metal Virus. Though Sonic noted that he was not dumping gallons of it on people, Eggman clarified that Sonic did fight back the infection for a while and wondered how much it mutated after the failed attempts to remove it; Eggman continued asking how much he spread it fighting Zombots and many miles of infected grass he crossed, or rather caused. Sonic passed Eggman's comments as trying to get into his head and told him it will not work. The doctor did not believe this and told his enemy that he had infected him with a little germ of doubt, noting that even when it was all over he would not be able to shake it; Eggman dubbed this as his passing gift to the hedgehog. Sonic told Eggman that they would go back to being enemies when it was all over, which the doctor responds saying that they never stopped being enemies and that helping him was just a convenience. Later, as everyone took off on their missions, Sonic wished them luck.

Later while taking a break from running, Sonic's attention gets caught by something in the distance. Beside him, Sonic asked Eggman if he saw what he was seeing. Once Eggman turned his attention to what was bugging his enemy, he realized what was coming, the Faceship; Zavok had found them.