They managed to gather a handful of shards of the Rad Red's Master Emerald, but are nowhere close to finding them all. Then one day, Amy's Mystic Melody has her sense the rest back home: in the Acorn Kingdom, where they are joined by Team Dark on their own personal mission.
But they aren't the only ones trying to reassemble the Master Emerald. Walter Naugus is desperate to regain his lost magick, and is ready to pull off every dirty trick he has to take the jewel for himself and destroy anyone in his way.
The Shattered World Crisis is coming to a close as Angel Island's fate hangs in the balance, but who will be left standing?
Tropes:
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Naugus manages to hijack Omega with magic crystals and force him to attack Team Dark. They, Amy, and Knuckles eventually break off enough of the crystals to free him.
- Call-Back: At the end of "Total Eclipse", Knuckles has Rouge pass along a message to Shadow as they left Angel Island last time: "Tell him... he's a jerk". Crossing paths again, it seems like he has got the message.Shadow: He called me a jerk.
Knuckles: Well, you are. - Crazy-Prepared: To ensure the Master Emerald isn't stolen so easily next time, Knuckles brings one of the green crystals from Westside Island, of similar size, to switch with the real gem and keeps its new location a secret from everyone, including Relic and Fixit.
- Did Not Think This Through: Walter tries to deter Amy's attack by transforming into Sonic, exploiting her crush on him. Unfortunately, Amy states that it wouldn't be enough to save him from her wrath. She chooses not to bash him... then points out that Shadow and Knuckles are two of Sonic's "friends" who won't even hesitate to punch the hedgehog if the need arises, which they do to Naugus.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: With Walter Naugus defeated once again, thanks to Team Dark's help, Knuckles and Amy return the completed Master Emerald back to Angel Island to stay afloat, just as the planet is healed after Sonic and Chip defeated Dark Gaia.
- Grand Finale: This is the last arc of the Shattered World Crisis saga in Sonic Universe.
- Green Rocks: While investigating the caverns of Westside Island, the heroes discover it is laden with green crystals, similar to the purple ones Sally and her team found in "Light on the Dark". According to Naugus, these crystals were a source of power to his troll race, but has since been dormant. This doesn't stop Rouge from getting a chunk for herself after they beat Naugus and declare Eclipse is not here, especially when a few of them resemble the size of the Master Emerald.
- Internal Reveal:
- Team Dark informs King Acorn about the returning Black Arms situation and them trying to hunt down Eclipse and his Dark Arms. However, he's not exactly happy that he has just now heard about it, given the last time they attacked the planet.
- Naugus learns that Wendy has become the latest Egg Boss in the Egg Army. He's clearly not happy.
- Mythology Gag: How the Genesis Wave device was portrayed in the new universe resembles the plot in Sonic Advance 3.
- Near-Villain Victory: Walter manages to complete the Master Emerald by himself and captures all of the heroes. They manage to fight back, allowing Knuckles and Amy to bring it back to Angel Island before it falls, and leaving Team Dark to defeat a weakened Naugus.
- Never Got to Say Goodbye: Amy's regret with helping Knuckles is that she never got to say goodbye to Chip in person (Chip says goodbye to everyone in the main comic, as he returns to slumber after he and Sonic defeated Dark Gaia). Sonic assures her that the Light Gaia will be with them in spirit.
- Noodle Incident: King Acorn warns Rouge that Commander Tower should take care of not "letting GUN slip back to their old ways". Whether it was a brief conflict, or all-out war in the past, something happened that put Nigel's father under a lot of pressure, and made Nigel himself "weary" enough to trust Eggman and Snively during that time. The rest was history and he rather not let repeat itself, for everyone's sake.
- Once More, with Clarity: Nicole informed Sonic and Tails what Walter was up to before they arrived to fight Tails Doll, but it is fully revealed here in the troll's flashback. Walter recalls how he lost his powers when Dr. Eggman first activated the Genesis Wave and Sonic undid the changes after. He swallowed his pride and begged the doctor for help, but was denied. He then resorted to stealing some of his old tech and relied on Wendy to help him use the devices. He switched places with King Nigel Acorn to find something in Mobotropolis but, when Sally sent Nicole to investigate, he forced her to craft a ring as a workaround before Eggman sent Tails Doll to attack the city, with the wizard seeing this as some form of karma against him. He retreats when he is attacked by a surge of memories when be attacked Nicole.
- Put on the Bus: According to Amy, after Walter is defeated, he is currently held in a GUN prison. Without the Master Emerald shards or Dark Gaia Energy to boost his powers, and with his sister Wendy assisting Eggman, he has little to no chance of escaping.
- Race Against Time: There was already enough pressure to fix the Master Emerald and bring it back to Angel Island, as the Freedom Fighters are finishing their mission. Then, Sally tells Amy that Eggman's forces ambushed them. With the team beelining it to Eggmanland to intercept Eggman, Amy and Knuckles now have an even tighter window to wrap their own mission up.
- Red Herring:
- Signs point Team Knuckles and Team Dark to the possibility of Eclipse and the Dark Arms after the Master Emerald shards. Instead, they tangle with Walter Naugus, who wants the Emerald to regain his magicks.
- What appears to be the complete Master Emerald in the cavern turns out to be a giant hunk of regular crystals. Not that Rouge is complaining. Both Knuckles and Naugus have their own share of the real shards.
- Shapeshifting: Naugus changes into another echidna named "Nixis" to trick Knuckles into delivering the remaining Master Emerald shards. Shadow is understandably suspicious that there just happened to be another echidna when Knuckles was the only one, and Amy figures this out while dealing with the hacked Omega. Knuckles discovers this deception all too late when Naugus gets the shards.
- Simultaneous Arcs : Takes place at the same time as "Panic in the Sky" in the main comic.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: As Naugus traps everyone in crystal after managing to assemble the Master Emerald, Knuckles remembers earlier how doubtful he has become from destroying it earlier, to stop Eclipse from claiming its power. Amy told him that he's someone who nevers gives up, and should never stop fighting despite his flaws. This memory allows him to gain a second wind and break himself and the others out before they settle the score with Wally.
