I Can't Believe There's Two Of Me

Team Sonic dashed hundreds of miles away from the evening desert and into the tropical Seaside Hill, where it was just barely sunrise. The ancient ocean palace was home to the sounds of crashing waves, sights of huge wooden sculptures depicting exotic deep-sea creatures, and remnants of a long-lost civilization who had lived and died by the tides. Egg Pawns dotted the salty shores, their Sonic Sensors going off as the team approached from miles away. The cold wind roared as Sonic coasted right through the seemingly impenetrable wall the Egg Pawns had set up. As the Egg Pawns spun, they still managed to fire their laser guns Sonic's way. Tails weaved between the lasers while flying and dropped an EMP chip made of a compressed Cyclone onto the parade of Badniks. Knuckles punched one stunned Egg Pawn with enough force to blow up the entire army. The Cyclone boomeranged back into Tails' hand.

"Where are you… um… SENSING Eggman?" Tails asked, surprised by Sonic's sudden new power. Tails landed in the Cyclone, which was now back in its mech form.

"At the whale island over there!" Sonic exclaimed, pointing to a small island in the distance that very much resembled a whale.

"I'm not sure about this…" Tails mumbled to Knuckles, sweating under the scorching sun. "How does he know Eggman's there?"

"Sonic seems like he knows what he's doing," Knuckles replied, as the two tried to keep up with the hedgehog. "I'd say we should trust him. His instincts have never led us astray."

"I suppose that's true," Tails sighed, as Knuckles pulverized a bulky stone door so they could all pass through. They entered the seaweed-covered temple. "It's just hard to trust him when it feels like he doesn't really trust me anymore."

"Relax, you knew as much as we did about all this 'Light Gaia' stuff," Knuckles replied, climbing up the wall slowly on his way to take out a bunch of Flapper Badniks giving Sonic a hard time. "Besides, there must be some kind of mistake. There's no way a pipsqueak like you could actually be the sacred god of our planet's light." Knuckles laughed. Tails gunned down the entire squad. "Hmph… showoff!" Knuckles teased.

"C'mon, guys. We don't have time to bicker," Sonic told them both, going around a loop that split into three winding paths, each one eventually conjoining back together and sending them flying off a ramp. A deep rumbling sound came from behind them. Team Sonic all looked back, and saw a huge stone wheel heading straight for them! Knuckles skidded to a stop and caught the wheel. His might instantly stopped it in place, and he threw it into the distance. Sonic and Tails watched as the wheel meteored down in front of them in a blast of flame, smashing the bridge to pieces.

"Jump, jump, jump!" Sonic panicked, jumping across the gap hundreds of feet over the ocean and reaching for the other side. He fell, and just as he thought it was over, he felt Tails grab his hand and lift him into the air. They landed on the other side of the gap. Knuckles glided over, landing right next to them. "What was the plan there, Knux?" Sonic turned around as another wheel came rolling down… only to plummet right through the gap the first one had made. A huge splash from the ocean. "Oh. You could've at least warned us."

"Warnings turn your reflexes to mush. I cannot spoonfeed you," Knuckles spoke, crossing his arms and watching as more wheels splashed into the sea. "Let us continue." The three rushed towards the nearby Whale Island. "So now that you know you're Light Gaia, what's next for you?" Knuckles whispered to Tails. His whispering voice was still pretty loud.

"I don't know. I suppose I just have to keep finding these instruments," Tails mumbled. "If we fix the world, Dark Gaia will be put to rest again and my job will be complete." Tails coughed. Knuckles glared at him.

"Your job will never be complete, you know," Knuckles muttered. Tails' heart sunk. "The struggle between light and dark is an endless cycle. For as long as this planet exists, the two forces will awaken every few millennia and battle over the fate of the world. You can't stay here."

"What do you mean?" Tails asked.

"Yo, guys! Check this out!" Sonic called. Tails and Knuckles looked forward, they hadn't even realized that they were now standing right at the foot of Whale Island. They both gasped, it was even more beautiful up close. Seagulls soared right above the water, which was so clean that it looked like thin, subtly reflective air underneath the slippery stepping stones the team carefully used to cross the coral reef separating them from the island.

"I wonder what Eggman's doing at the Whale Island," Tails said. "Are you sure this is the right way?"

"If it's not Eggman, it's some kind of Boss Badnik," Sonic sighed. "Doesn't matter! Let's get 'em!" He ran ahead, hopping from rock to rock. Tails and Knuckles took off in his lead, rapidly approaching the island. When Sonic inevitably sped too far ahead to notice, Knuckles glared at Tails with an intense look in his eye.

"For the world to go on existing, Light Gaia must be sealed in Erius' core with Dark Gaia," Knuckles whispered to Tails. "Otherwise… the world will remain shattered forever." Tails felt a chill go down his spine. He hadn't even considered that it was now part of HIS destiny to be sealed in Erius' core with Dark Gaia. "I didn't want to be the one to remind you of this. I'm sorry." Tails took a deep breath, holding the salty air in for a few seconds before exhaling. He and Knuckles followed Sonic, being swallowed into the mouth of Whale Island.

Sonic Spin Dashed through the strands of rice covering the entrance to the cave. They were reminiscent of a whale's baleen plates. Once he had cut through to the other side, he was swept away by a natural water slide and found himself on the rocky shore of an underground lagoon. The only sunlight came from the small holes in the ceiling, but for the most part he was in the dark. He walked forward, feeling the signal in his head growing stronger. This was the place. He looked all around for his target. A sudden series of sharp flapping sounds. A cave bat? No… Sonic caught sight of a little critter heading towards him. It did indeed have bat wings, but it couldn't have been an ordinary animal. Connecting the two bat wings together… was a miniature version of Sonic's own head. Sonic jolted back in shock as his doppelganger disappeared into Dark Fog. The doppelganger emerged as a taller version of himself with a golden mask, a dark red cloak, and sharp fangs. They both stared each other down, speechless and not knowing exactly what to think about the other's presence.

"What is this supposed to be? Who are you?!" The vampire Sonic asked, pointing at Sonic.

"I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sonic replied, a little confused. "Lemme guess. You're one of those Dark Gaia Monsters, huh? You guys don't usually talk. So, mind telling me why you look just like me? I appreciate it, but I dropped that look a while ago." The vampire glared at Sonic.

"That can't be… I'M Sonic," the doppelganger replied. Tails and Knuckles caught up, slowing down by Sonic's side as they took notice of the vampire. "Tails! Knuckles! You're here too? Who is this guy?!"

"Sonic… what's going on—?" Tails asked Sonic. Before Sonic lunged forward and clawed at the vampire Sonic. "Whoa! Can you PLEASE explain what's going on here?" Sonic shoved his doppelganger into the wall. "Sonic!"

"Tall dark and gruesome here is definitely our target, he's the one letting off that signal I've been following. He must be an Eggman robot corrupted by Dark Gaia!" Sonic called, punching Midnight Sonic into the cavern wall ruthlessly. Midnight Sonic then grabbed Sonic's arm.

"I'm not an Eggman robot… what's your game?!" Midnight Sonic shouted, kneeing Sonic in the stomach and then throwing him to the floor. Tails and Knuckles rushed in to help, Tails using the Cyclone to kick Midnight Sonic and knock him over. Knuckles lunged forward and swung at Midnight Sonic, only for Midnight Sonic to disappear into a swarm of bats and fly over Knuckles. "Guys, listen to me! He's tricking you! That's not… well, me!" Midnight Sonic exclaimed as he emerged from the swarm, jumping off Knuckles' head and Homing Attacking into Sonic. Sonic grabbed him by the neck and electrocuted him. Sonic stared into Midnight Sonic's eyes as he held him in place.

"I'm not a fake! You are," Sonic growled, squeezing tighter on Midnight Sonic's throat. Tails and Knuckles weren't sure what to do. "So stop masquerading around as me when you can't even bring HALF the power or speed!"

Midnight Sonic kicked Sonic in the face, forcing the hedgehog to release him. Midnight shot a series of purple lightning bolts at Sonic while Sonic did the same, the small sparks of violet electricity meeting and fizzling out upon impact with each other. Tails and Knuckles charged in to end the stalemate. Knuckles punched Midnight all the way across the cavern. "Sit back and try not to get hurt, Sonic. We can take him from here," Knuckles teased. "Right, Tails?"

"O-of course!" Tails exclaimed. He charged up a shot as Midnight tried to get up, and when Midnight saw this, he froze.

"Tails… you're gonna believe him over me?" Midnight asked, breathing heavily and holding his neck. Tails looked at Midnight, looked into his eyes. He then turned and fired the charged-up blast at the wall.

"Hey! You missed!" Knuckles exclaimed, as the cave started to crumble around them. Everybody watched as rocks fell from the ceiling. "Sonic, Tails. It's time to get out of here!" Midnight Sonic got up and ran as everyone else fled, but was pinned under a falling rock. He fell to the ground, unable to move. Midnight watched as Sonic, Tails and Knuckles all escaped the cave-in, exiting out the maw of Whale Island. The exit was blocked off by falling rocks.

Team Sonic skidded to a stop outside, and turned around. The island overall was largely unharmed. "What WAS that thing? You said it was an Eggman robot corrupted by Dark Gaia?" Tails asked, terrified.

"Yeah, looks like it," Sonic panted, completely exhausted.

"Since when could Eggman make robots that… authentic?" Knuckles asked, in disbelief as he looked back to the cave. "Mecha Sonic didn't look half as real."

"Metal Sonic's AI was far more complex than Mecha's, and even that robot lacked a lot of vital behaviors," Tails sighed, perplexed. Sonic side-eyed Tails while catching his breath. "Shadow was even more realistic, pretty much indistinguishable from a real person. Do you think Eggman could have taken notes from Gerald's development of the Ultimate Lifeform after his last attack and applied it to a fake Sonic?"

"So what if he did?" Sonic asked, initiating a Team Sonic huddle, catching the other two members off-guard. "I beat that copy back then, and we just took out the newest edition together! Whatever Eggman throws at us, we can overcome it if we have each other's backs."

"Yeah! That sounds nice…" Tails mumbled. He was just relieved Sonic didn't seem too mad at him anymore.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt for me to have backup," Knuckles sighed, smiling a little as they took off into the distance. "And people to use as throwing weapons."