Meanwhile, Team Dark arrives to track down Eclipse, and any remaining Black Arms accompanying him. However, with the Master Emerald a likely target, they will need Knuckles' help to find Eclipse or convince him to relocate the Emerald.
With time and options running out as the alien hunts down Shadow once more, Knuckles may be forced into a more unthinkable decision...
Tropes:
- Bittersweet Ending: With all options exhausted, Knuckles makes the difficult choice of destroying the Master Emerald again, scattering the pieces all over the world, so Eclipse doesn't get his hands on it. Luckily, with the current state of the world below, Angel Island remains airborne without the Emerald's power. He decides to take the red Chaos Emerald and Chip with him to find Sonic and the Freedom Fighters and discuss a way to work with them, so he can bring the shards back home before they can fix the world. As for Eclipse, he and his Dark Arms escape from Team Dark, with their own destiny unknown.
- Curb Stomp Cushion:
- Shadow's rematch with Ecipse leaves him bruised and battered, but he drives his alien brother away with Chaos Control via the Master Emerald.
- When Eclipse returns again, Omega and Rouge are beaten down hard when he is powered by his Dark Arms. The only reason they and Relic survive is because they are forced to direct him to a means of escaping Angel Island, buying them time to contact Knuckles and Shadow before the alien can leave.
- After shattering the Master Emerald, Knuckles gives a winded Eclipse a brutal beatdown. Eclipse bearly escapes thanks to his Dark Arms.
- Drama-Preserving Handicap: While Knuckles and Shadow fight it out, Rouge and Omega stand no change against Eclipse when he brings his Dark Arms into the mix.
- Dramatically Missing the Point: Eclipse is made for destruction and a rival to Shadow, so he is unable to comprehend that Shadow refuses to join him in eliminating all of his friends and allies.
- Everyone Has Standards: Rouge has attempted to take the Master Emerald for herself more than once, even though she knows it's needed to keep Angel Island afloat. With the situation becoming more serious thanks to Eclipse, she of all people hopes for a way to avoid moving the Emerald to GUN custody for the echidna's sake, or try to convince him if that's not possible.
- Honor Before Reason: Even though relocating the Master Emerald to a more secure place sounds like a good idea, Knuckles simply refuses to hand it over no matter what they say. Granted, Angel Island has no safe way or place to descend this time if the Emerald is removed, and Shadow and Snively don't seem to care.
- Inevitably Broken Rule: Knuckles tells Shadow not to touch the Master Emerald while he and the rest of Team Dark investigate Eclipse's ship. Eclipse forces his hand during their rematch, allowing the hedgehog to beat him.
- Fighting Your Friend: Knuckles and Shadow aren't exactly "friends", per se, but they end up fighting each other for custody of the Master Emerald.
- Get Out!: The moment he recognizes Snively in-person, Knuckles demands he leave the island immediately, given the human's history working with Eggman.
- Mythology Gag: Knuckles recounts the times when the Master Emerald was stolen, destroyed (by his hand or by others), or both. You can take your pick of any game involving the giant gem.
- No MacGuffin, No Winner: With the Master Emerald shattered by Knuckles, no one can claim or keep it. This includes Snively, who secretly had his own plans for it.
- History Repeats: Knuckles is once more forced to destroy the Master Emerald, this time to prevent a villain like Eclipse from using its power.
- Hypocritical Humor: Rouge orders Omega to pop her arm back into her shoulder after they suffered a beating from Eclipse. Omega is uncharacteristically hesitant, but Rouge says he has no right to be "squeamish" since he was programmed to be a Blood Knight.
- Put on the Bus: This is Eclipse and the Dark Arms' final appearance in the comics thanks to the series' future cancelation.
- Pyrrhic Victory: On both sides. By shattering the Master Emerald, Knuckles has deprived Eclipse from obtaining it, but he has to gather the pieces once again. Because of this, Eclipse and his Dark Arms are forced to escape in Team Dark's ship. Although severely weakened, they barely beat both Shadow and Knuckles; though not kill Shadow as planned.
- The Reveal: The Dark Arms are more than just Wisp lookalikes; Eclipse recommended to Black Death that a small group of Black Arms hybrids be made from Wisp DNA in hopes of giving them an edge. As Rouge and Omega have discovered, they can grant Eclipse the same abilities as someone like Sonic would with regular Wisps.
- Spanner in the Works: Both Knuckles and Shadow end up being this when fighting for how to deal with the Master Emerald, leaving everyone else to be beaten by Eclipse and his Dark Arms before taking the Emerald for himself.
- What the Hell, Hero?: A recovering Rouge tears into both Knuckles and Shadow for unnecessarily fighting one another instead of compromising about the Master Emerald, and leaving the rest of the heroes at the mercy of Eclipse. She demands they finally get their act together if they have any hope of getting it back.
