When he and his allies were caught in an electrifying trap, Sonic unleashed his strain upon the Egg Army in the form of Sonic the Werehog.[18] The mutated hero fought off the villains, but it took the efforts of Mighty to keep the madden Sonic at bay until his mind had cleared. With a new personal hurdle to overcome, Sonic remained in Soumerca, as Sally and Amy took the Chaos Emerald back to the Sky Patrol, to learn to control his new feral form under the guidance of Mighty's mentor, Moss the Sloth.[19]

During Sonic's training, Dr. Eggman discovered the Shattered World Crisis had proved advantageous for the Eggman Empire, keeping the authorities spread thin while the Egg Army gained more ground. Upon discovering the potent Dark Gaia Energies,Eggman also sought to harness it for his empire.[8] After finally mastering his newfound power, Sonic returned to the Sky Patrol to find his friends have suffered a defeat during his absence, after a failed mission to retrieve an emerald from the Sand Hill Zone.[8][20]

Knuckles accompanied his friends back to the the Sky Patrol after the tournament, where the Freedom Fighters learned of the echidnas most recent ordeal: the Black Arms creature known as Eclipse the Darkling had come to Master Emerald with the Master Emerald in his sights.[24][25] During a fierce battle involving himself, Eclipse, and Team Dark, Knuckles had no choice but to shatter the Master Emerald once again, its shards scattering, to keep it out of the aliens hands. Leaving Angel Island still able to