"You guys really didn't have to come, even with Shadow forcing you to come. I can handle this," Sonic said with a reassuring smile to the two cadets Shadow had sent to company Sonic in his mission to find the Phantom Ruby. 

"We were kind of forced to. I wanted to sleep in, but Kathy here was too afraid to talk against Shadow," the green bird cadet said with a chuckle. The pink cat cadet blushed in embarrassment as her tail frizzled up.

"H-Hey, that wasn't it! Why do you always want to sleep in, Arrow?!" Kathy blurted out. 

"To take a break from the nonsense," Arrow scoffed out amusingly. Sonic shook his head in embarrassment, chuckling afterwards.

"Alright, fine. If Shadow really insisted, let's head over together. We would probably cover more ground like that anyways," Sonic said as he rubbed his nose with a smile. Arrow and Kathy nodded in agreement as they held up their wispons. They were off to Sunset Hollow, hopefully to find the remains of the Phantom Ruby. 

*SUNSET HOLLOW*

"I'm not picking up any energy traces here," Kathy said through her ear piece as she scanned her area part.

"Yeah, I'm in the same boat," Arrow mumbled through his ear piece.

Sonic was more towards the center of the wreckage. He decided himself that he would take the most dangerous damaged part in the area just to keep the cadets out of harm's way. He could definitely feel the energy of the Phantom Ruby. He decided to keep his mic off not before lying to the cadets and saying he was empty-handed too. 

"Come on...Where are you?" Sonic mumbled as he felt the ground, knowing that where he was standing was were the ruby should have landed. He dusted off some dirt to the side, until a slight, magenta light pierced through the sand. 

The Phantom Ruby.

He picked it up gently, noticing hood it wasn't glowing how it use to. It was probably due to the fact that both Eggman's war machine and himself had drained the majority of its energy during their battle. 

'Finally...We meet again, Sonic...'

"What the?!" Sonic gasped as the Phantom Ruby suddenly glowed brightly, casting a magenta glow over Sonic as he was sucked into the gem. The ruby landed on the ground, glowing gently as a gentle breeze flowed by, and was followed with silence.

*INSIDE THE PHANTOM RUBY*

Sonic opened his eyes slowly, trying to adjust to the sudden darkness. In fact, he seemed to be floating in nothing but darkness. When he rubbed his eyes and opened them once again, he was in his bed, sitting up against a pillow. He rubbed his head, trying to subside the pain from a sudden headache. 

"How I'm I home?" He asked out loud as he got up from the bed. Making his way to the living room, he felt like he was being watched, but decided to ignore it. It was strange, and Sonic knew all too well that wherever he was, he definitely wasn't safe.

Yet, he stayed calm and unresponsive as he noticed a small row of picture frames on top of his fireplace. He walked over to them, looking at the pictures as the images became clearer the closer he got. It was an old picture of Tails, Amy, and himself, smiling brightly.

He smiled softly, but it disappeared when he looked at Amy's side. He sighed sadly as he shook his head slightly. Sonic remembered how Amy treated him after she had found out that he was on Eggman's side and had attacked resistance members. Even now with Eggman gone, she doesn't look like she has forgiven him completely.

"I'm I...The good man?" He asked himself as he raised a hand to touch the picture. Stopping himself for a brief moment, he placed his hand back to his side. "I'm I...A mad man?" He said, avoiding their gazes, thinking the picture could see his soul. His eyes got watery as he used that same hand to rub them away, but it seemed the tears were threatening to fall. Sonic was hurting from the inside, and he knew it clearly, but he never asked anyone for counsel, knowing he would just be a bother to them. 

"It's such a fine line, between a good man and a..." Sonic paused as he heard something shift behind him. He quickly turned around as his eyes had widen. 

"No...It's can't be..."

"Hello, Sonic. Did you really think I would ever let you go?" The shadowy figure spoke as he walked into the light. "Do you think I'd ever set you free?" He looked like an echidna, but at the same time, he didn't look like one. His whole face and body was covered in darkness and his quilts seemed to be floating and swaying gently for some reason. His eyes were full magenta, with no white to be seen while his mouth was a toothy grin. The only way Sonic recognized this person was because he recognized the symbol on top of his forehead, glowing a faint magenta aura. 

"Imperator IX...How are you...How did you escape-" Sonic began to ask before IX spoke again.

"You'll never get away from me. After you ruined my plans to escape the Twilight dimension, I had to go back for my most dangerous weapon, but it was merely a prototype at the time. It became unstable and it merged with me. However, I did not exist in either plane. I was sucked into the Phantom Ruby's dimension. It seems my calls to you finally payed off," IX finished with a chuckle. 

"You're the one I saw, when I asked for power from the ruby. That was you? This was your weapon?" Sonic asked, almost shocked. He knew that IX teleported away during their fight years ago, but he never knew where. Now, Sonic had his answer. 

"Yes, but sadly, the ruby didn't quite see me fit to wield it on my own at the time. It seems to not work properly if the Chaos Emeralds are around. That os why when I picked it up in my super form, it teleported me inside its realm. It has a brilliant mind of its own, just like your puny rock there. Don't think I didn't notice it."

Sonic clenched the Chaos Emerald he was hiding behind his back a little tighter. He wasn't going to let this tyrant try to steal the emerald, not on IX's turf. 

"Oh, please. You think I want to recapture the emeralds again to free my clan from the Twilight dimension? Don't be so naive. Those traitors can rot there. I have something else in mind," IX said with a small smile.

"Let me ask you something. If the Phantom Ruby existed in the Twilight Cage, how did it end up in Classic Sonic's Angel Island?" Sonic demanded. 

"Time passes slower in the Twilight dimension, and the ruby wanted no part of it. It transported itself, along with me, to the nearest dimension with a suitable host to try and do our plan. It wanted to select the Hard-Boiled Heavies, more preferably the Heavy King. It got what it wanted.

"However, the ruby's power grew weak when it had to face that tiny blue rat when he turned super using the emeralds. We were forced to separate from Heavy King and we tried to teleport into a different dimension, but it seemed we dragged him with us." IX finished. 

"You chose Zero afterwards, yes?" Sonic asked. IX laughed, causing Sonic to shiver slightly. 

"Oh, I didn't really and neither did the ruby, but the doctor preformed a procedure where Infinite  was in control of the ruby. I despised the fact, but when Eggman drained its power for his machine, it nearly caused me to fade away, along with the last remaining power of the ruby. That was until...You summoned its power," IX said, looking at Sonic so closely, it seemed he was trying to look into his soul. "I suppose you know the rest?"

Sonic's ears drew back as he watched IX's moves very carefully. IX was very dangerous, having knowledge of how to work with the ruby wasn't going to help Sonic's case. 

"I have plans for you, Sonic."

"What type of plans?"

"Oh, one you might never find attractive," IX chuckled as he stopped in front of Sonic. "I want to change this world into my liking, and I want no one in my way. This is not a dream, my friend. This one is the nightmare that goes on!"

"No! I wont let you escape from here!" Sonic said as he jumped back. "Soon you will die and my memory will hide you. You cannot choose but to loose control."

"You can't control me!" IX quickly shifted behind Sonic. "I live deep inside you! Each day you'll fell me devour your soul!"

"I don't need you to survive, as you need me. I'll become whole as you dance with death!
And I'll rejoice as you breathe your final breath!" Sonic yelled out as he revealed his Chaos Emerald, its shiny light illuminating the area they were in. 

"Oh, I'll live inside you forever!" IX said as his appearance seemed to had grown larger, the darkness now fully around Sonic.

"No!" Sonic cried out as the darkness seemed to grasp him, making his body useless.  

"With the Phantom Ruby by my side!" IX said as he grasped Sonic tightly, slowly raising him off the ground. 

"No!"

"And I know that now and forever, they'll never be able to separate us!" IX yelled as the darkness surrounded them both. When it diminished, Sonic was hanging from chains, struggling against his bonds. IX had returned to his normal size, with Sonic's Chaos Emerald in his grasp. 

Sonic clenched his teeth together, almost spitting out his words in anger. "It's over now? It's time to die!"

"Not I! Only you!" IX said with a sneer. 

"If I die, you'll die too!" Sonic replied, still pulling on his binds. 

"Hahaha, you'll die in me! I'll be you!" IX commented back. 

"Damn you, IX! Leave me be!" Sonic cried out, his eyes tearing up by yet again another loss. 

"Can't you see? You are me!" IX replied, placing the emerald onto a stand, with six more empty stands near it. 

"No! Deep inside-"

"I am you! You are Phantom!" IX cut him off. 

"No, never!" Sonic shook his head.

"Yes, forever!" IX laughed. 

"God damn you, IX! Take all your evil deeds, and rot in hell!" Sonic yelled one last time, before IX shut his mouth with a cloth. 

"I'll see you there, Sonic. When I do, your friends won't even remember you as the hero you are. In fact, you'll barely look like yourself," IX finished with a menacing laugh turning away from Sonic as he continued to struggle his binds. 

*OUTSIDE THE PHANTOM RUBY*

The Phantom Ruby lifted itself from the ground, glowing in response to its creator. Arrow and Kathy rushed over, realizing about a few minutes ago that Sonic was no longer responding through his communicator. 

"Look! The ruby!" Kathy said once she and Arrow got close.

"Careful, Kathy. It looks like something is forming behind the ruby," Arrow commented, a little worried as he wondered where the Blue Blur could have gone. 

A bright light shined from the Phantom Ruby, covering up the surrounding area within its borders. Kathy and Arrow groaned as they shielded their eyes. Once the light cleared, the two blinked their eyes, trying to adjust to see the figure in front of them better.

"Finally, free at last~" the figure stated. Kathy gasped as Arrow was speechless. It was Sonic, but it also wasn't Sonic. 

It took up Sonic's body, but his fur color was more of a grey, blue color rather than its normal royal blue. He had slightly sharp claws seeping from his gloves and his back quills were up rather than down. His tail was slightly longer, being more fluffy as well. His quills were always moving slowly, almost like the wind could pass easily. Dark streaks looking like claw marks started from his back and lead up to his lower torso. His eyes told a different story. His eyes were a bright magenta color, with only one reptilian red iris on his right side, and having a black streak from above his eye to the start of his muzzle. What scared Kathy and Arrow the most was not because of the appearance of this figure, but because he had the Phantom Ruby embedded into his chest, just like Infinite. 

"S-Sonic? Is that you?" Kathy asked, shaking slightly in fear. 

"I'm afraid not," he responded, his voice sounding like a mix between Sonic and IX. 

"Who are you? What do you want?" Arrow grunted. 

IX chuckled as he spoke again.

"You may call me...Phantom...."

For the last brief moments of your life...