The next morning, Rainbow woke up from her peaceful sleep. She saw that Sonic had already woken up. She got out of bed and came out of her room. As she was about to go downstairs, she could see the door to Sunset's room was slightly open.

Rainbow took a peek through the door and saw that Shadow had slept with Sunset. She gave a smile, "Heh, I really guess Shadow might work very well for Sunset."

Rainbow then went downstairs and saw Sonic was in the kitchen cooking some breakfast. He was cooking some eggs and bacon. He just finished and put the breakfast on some plates.

"Morning, Sonic," Rainbow said.

Sonic turned to see Rainbow and smiled, "Moring, Dashie."

Rainbow came to Sonic and gave him a kiss on his cheek, "Oh, I just love it when you call me that."

They then heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Shadow and Sunset came down.

"Morning," Rainbow said.

"Morning," Sunset said.

Sonic, Rainbow, Shadow, and Sunset sat down at the table and had their breakfast. They got themselves ready for the day. Later, they arrived at the school with the others. They were all in the music room.

Tails looked at the board as he said to the others, "Okay, so now that we're getting closer to the finals, not only do we know whom the Rainbooms are up against in the competition, but Darkness's group has gotten worse and he may try to complicate things."

"Yeah," Applejack said, "I recon he and his group have some plan on us."

"Wherever they're hatching, this can't be good," Sunset said.

"Darkness did say that he wouldn't make any more interruptions," Manic said, "I don't believe him."

"Neither do we," Rarity said, "It's obvious that he's obviously setting a trap for us this time."

"So, what are we going to do?" Rainbow asked.

Sonic spoke, "Here's what we'll do. Rainbooms, you perform your song when your turn is up. My friends and I will keep on a lookout for anything suspicious."

"Sounds good to me," Knuckles said.

"Me too," Twilight said, "That way, we'll be fine and won't be attacked."

The Rainbooms grabbed their instruments and began to head to the gym. "Good luck, girls," the Mobians said.

The girls nodded as they exited the room. Once they were gone, Sonic said to Shadow, "Shadow, can I talk to you for a second?"

Shadow nodded as he and Sonic stepped out of the music room. "What is it, Sonic?" Shadow asked.

"I heard you and Sunset talking last night," Sonic said.

"Well… yeah," Shadow said, "I felt it was the right time."

"Hey, you were strong enough to help her feel better," Sonic said, "And I've been noticing something else between you and here."

"What do you mean?" Shadow asked.

Sonic had a smirk on his face, "You seem to think that Sunset is pretty cute, aye?"

That made Shadow blush a little, "Have you been spying on me?"

"Oh, no," Sonic said, "You two have been showing it off a few times in front of us. You really seem to like her."

Shadow gave a little smile, "Well, yeah."

"You know, I think you two being together would be perfect," Sonic said, "I mean, look at me and the others. Rainbow and I are together, Tails is with Fluttershy, Knuckles is with Applejack, Manic is with Pinkie, and Silver is with Rarity."

"Yeah," Shadow said, "I've actually been developing feelings… for Sunset."

"Maybe you should tell her," Sonic said, "You don't have to do it right away. Do it when you feel ready."

Shadow nodded, "All right."

Shadow then noticed Sonic seemed to be thing about something, "What is it, Sonic?"

"Something just seems a little off," Sonic said, "I mean I feel like something happened to Strike and Specter."

"What do you mean?" Shadow asked.

"I feel like Darkness got them," Sonic said.

"Hmm, you may be right," Shadow said.

"And I think he's also after the Chaos Emeralds," Sonic said.

Shadow spoke, "Here's what we'll do. If or when the Rainbooms win, I'll do something with the Emeralds."

Sonic nodded, "Sounds good."

Later, just as the round for the Rainbooms ended, the Mobians came in the gym. The Rainbooms came down from the stage.

"Hey, girls. How'd ya do?" Sonic asked.

"We're moving to the finals," Rainbow said.

"Sweet!" Manic said.

"Maybe so," Tails said, "but now there are just two really big problems; Darkness and the Sirens."

"So we better make sure that we're careful," Twilight said, "Really, really careful."

"Indeed," a familiar demonic voice said.

Everyone gasped as they heard the voice. Sonic growled, "Enough games, Darkness! Come out!"

"Oh, come on, Sonic," Darkness echoed, "I promised I wouldn't hurt anyone."

Sonic looked around for Darkness. He growled angrier, "Face me, you COWARD!"

Sonic's anger was making Sonic's friends worried. They began to step back.

"Coward? Me?" Darkness laughed, "Hah, I'm anything but a coward like you were."

Darkness appeared once again. The heroes, Rainbow, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie got in a fighting stance.

Darkness just chuckled, "Do tell me, what exactly makes you believe that you can stop me?"

"We will stop you, no matter what the cost," Sonic said, "With the help of Strike and Specter."

"Oh, are you sure about that?" Darkness asked.

Darkness put his hand in his pocket, pulled out something, and tossed it onto the ground. When Sonic and his friends saw what it was, they gasped in shock.

The strange object was Strike's emblem. It had signs of damage and burns. The tips of the lightning bolt was bent and had a few cracks, a part of the silver inside the circle had shown a little bit of burns and scraps, and the whole emblem was partly split in half.

"No. No," Sonic said, "They can't be gone. They can't be. They can't!"

Rainbow yelled, "What did you do to them, you MONSTER!?"

"Oh, don't worry," Darkness said, "They're alive, and where they are is where you'll soon be too."

Sonic was beginning to lose control over his anger. Darkness smirked as he said, "It's a shame. I honestly though that Strike would stop me, but I guess he's just as weak as you, Sonic."

"Quiet," Sonic growled.

"If you're truly so weak, then how is it that you've come so far?" Darkness asked.

"Shut up," Sonic growled angrier.

Sonic was beginning to be surrounded by dark blue aura as his fists clenched tightly and his teeth gritted hard. The others were stepping back scared.

"Oh, no," Shadow thought, "This is not good."

"What's happening to him?" Rainbow thought worried.

Darkness then decided to taunt Sonic, "Oh, I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I said…" Sonic growled.

Sonic suddenly swung his fists up and then threw them out as he yelled at Darkness so loudly, "SHUT UUUUUPPPPPP!"

Sonic exploded in utter rage anger as his aura grew and spread out and his color began to change. Everyone covered themselves from the burst of energy. When it finally stopped, everyone looked and saw something that made them scared.

Sonic turned into his Dark Sonic form. His hair turned dark admiral blue and pointed upward, his clothes turned dark blue and black, and his skin turned from peach colored to dark cloud grey.

Rainbow spoke terrified, "S-Sonic? Is that you?"

Sonic didn't say anything. He just slowly turned his head around and Rainbow gasped in fear when she saw Sonic's eyes. His irises and pupils had disappeared, and now, he had pure white glowing eyes.

Shadow held his arm in front of Rainbow, "Stay back, Rainbow. He's not him anymore. Not at this rage."

Sonic slowly turned his face back to Darkness with a growl. However, Darkness only chuckled, "There you go, Sonic. Use your rage, your anger."

"It may be true that killing you won't change what happened," Sonic said in a dark evil voice, "But I don't care."

"Then come and get some," Darkness said getting in a fighting stance.

Dark Sonic yelled in rage as he charged at Darkness with his fist raised in the air. He swung it at Darkness's face and managed to land the blow. Darkness was knocked into the wall. Darkness growled and threw a red energy orb at Dark Sonic, but Dark Sonic managed to grab it with his hands and made it disappear.

Darkness charged at Dark Sonic, but Dark Sonic vanished before Darkness reached him. Dark Sonic appeared right behind Darkness and gave him a roundhouse kick to the head. Darkness then quickly turned around and thrust his fist at Dark Sonic's stomach hard. Dark Sonic stepped back gasping in pain.

Dark Sonic then slowly raised his head at Darkness, and then he dashed right at Darkness and raised his fist behind him with dark blue energy surrounding it. He swung his fist at Darkness's face, but as a result, Darkness caught it. Sonic's eyes widen.

"Surprised?" Darkness asked.

Darkness suddenly grabbed Sonic really hard by the neck. Sonic choked, "AGH! LET GO!"

Darkness's eyes began to glow bright as he slowly opened his mouth. Sonic began to yell in pain as his aura began to go into Darkness's mouth. He was absorbing Sonic's Dark powers. Sonic's color began to change back to normal and his irises and pupils were visible again.

Darkness growled in delight as he dropped Sonic on the floor. Sonic struggled to stand up. He looked at Darkness in anger, "Darn you, demon."

"Thank you for giving me your dark powers, Sonic," Darkness said, "I really need to give my energy a boost. However, I only find you dark form as a light snack. What can really give me full power… are the Chaos Emeralds."

Darkness lowered himself towards Sonic as he said, "I will give you thirty minutes to decide. If you give me the Emeralds, I'll spare your friends. If you choose to keep them, then… you're all dead."

Darkness was surrounded by his energy and he disappeared. Everyone sighed in relief, while the Mobians and the Rainbooms ran over to Sonic.

Rainbow helped Sonic up, "Sonic, what were you thinking?"

"I'm so sorry," Sonic said, "I couldn't control myself."

"It's not your fault," Tails said, "You couldn't stop yourself. Come on, let's get you out of here."

The Mobains and the girls walked out of the gym and went outside to get some air. Later, they were outside the front of the school. It took a little while until Sonic was better.

Sonic spoke, "All right, so what's going on?"

"So far, all we know is that they're setting up a stage somewhere outside for the finals," Applejack said.

"And the only bands that are left are the Rainbooms and the Dazzlings," Rarity said.

"Oh, man, something tells me that we just might see it become a real battle of the bands soon," Manic said.

"Remember," Twilight said, "We have to make sure that the counter-spell is right."

"You got it, Twilight," Rainbow said.

Meanwhile, Darkness, the Sirens, Fluttershout, Twivine, Scourge, and Vezon were in a dark room discussing something.

"So, the Rainbooms are coming into the finals?" Darkness asked.

"Yes," Adagio said, "It would seem that they just don't give up."

"Hmm," Vezon said, "I believe that I have an idea."

"And what is that?" Darkness asked.

Vezon whispered into Darkness and Adagio's ears about his plan. They smiled evilly. "Oh, I love that plan."

Out in one of the halls, Trixie was walking furious. Apparently, her band lost, "How could the Great and Powerful Trixie lose? Blast those girls. If they weren't standing in the day, I would've had the greatest band in the school and even have Sonic and his friends at my side."

"Aw, you really wish to famous, do you?" a voice asked behind Trixie.

Trixie turned around and saw the Sirens and Darkness. Trixie yelped in fear when she saw Darkness, "AH! Please don't hurt me!"

"Remain calm, Trixie," Darkness said, "I don't want to hurt you. I'm here to ask you for a favor."

"W-what are you talking about?" Trixie asked.

Adagio stepped up, "We can get you back into the game so you can go to the finals."

Trixie thought about this for a moment, then asked, "What do want me to do so I can get back in?"

"That is simple," Darkness said.

Darkness came towards Trixie and whispered into her ear about what he wanted her to do. This made Trixie smirk sinisterly, "You have my word."

Back to the Mobians and the girls, the girls were moving different band equipment around. While they were looking for their instruments, Sonic and his friends were sitting on the top keeping an eye out for trouble.

Rainbow spoke through a microphone, "Check, 1,2. Testing, testing." She tapped it a few times to test. Sunset noticed this and turned up the sound. But she didn't realize that she accidently made the volume too high.

Rainbow spoke again, "Testing."

The sound was so really loud; it caused a really loud feedback. It hurt everyone's ears. Sonic lost balance and feel off, "WHOA!"

Sonic was about to hit the stage until he was caught by Silver's psychic powers. The other Mobians came off of the stage. Sunset quickly lowered the sound and gave an apologetic smile.

"Try to be careful, Sunset," Shadow said.

"Sorry," Sunset said.

Fluttershy suddenly became alerted and said, "Did anyone hear that?"

"Hear what?" Applejack asked.

"I didn't hear anything," Knuckles said.

"It sounds like… knocking," Fluttershy said as she tried to listen harder, and then heard it again, "There it is again."

"Who's there?" Pinkie asked.

"Boo," a familiar demonic voice said.

This made everyone jump in shock. Pinkie just looked confused and asked, "Boo who?"

"Is it obvious, pink hair?" the voice said.

The Mobians and the girls turned and saw Darkness stepping out from behind one of the curtains.

"Oh, I get it," Pinkie said, "Boo-who."

"For the last time, Darkness," Sonic growled, "What. Do. You. WANT!?"

Darkness chuckled, "Nothing, I'm just checking in on how you're all doing preparing for the finals."

"Where are Strike and Specter?" Silver asked.

"Oh, they are even more closer than you can guess," Darkness said, "I'll tell you exactly where they are, in exchange for one thing; the Chaos Emeralds."

"No," Shadow said.

"I'm not playing games," Darkness said, "Hand them over to me, and I'll show you where Strike and Specter are."

"Over our dead bodies!" Sonic yelled.

"I was hoping that you would say something like that," Darkness said, "Oh, and by the way, I'd watch my back and cover my ears if I were you."

"Huh?" the Mobains asked.

The girls were suddenly all grabbed by Scourge and Vezon. The Mobians turned right around and Fluttershout appeared and used her sonic wail on them. They all yelled in utter pain from the intense volume. When Fluttershout stopped, the Mobians all fell onto their knees. Twivine then used her plants to take their hands and feet and hold them in the air.

Darkness slowly flew up to Sonic, "I honestly thought you were smarter than that."

Sonic growled, "You monster."

"Monster?" Darkness chuckled, before he said, "I'm not a monster… I am GOD!"

Darkness's eyes glowed and had his mouth wide open as the Mobians began to glow brightly and yell in pain. Energy from inside was transferring into Darkness's mouth and he absorbed it. When he finished, Twivine allowed her plants to release the Mobains and let them drop on the stage. They were all unconscious. Vezon and Scourge let the girls go and they ran to the Mobians.

"Sonic!" Rainbow yelled.

"Tails!" Fluttershy yelled.

"Knuckles!" Applejack yelled.

"Manic!" Pinkie yelled.

"Silver!" Rarity yelled.

"Shadow!" Sunset yelled.

"What did you do to them!?" Twilight yelled at Darkness.

"Don't worry, Princess," Darkness said, "I simply drained their powers, but they'll be fine. Now, where are my Emeralds?"

The girls all stared at Darkness angrily as Fluttershy said, "You'll never find them."

"Hmph," Darkness said, "No matter. Oh, Trixie."

The girls looked and saw Trixie smirking. "Trixie?!"

"Sorry, girls," Trixie said, "I'm afraid that I, the Great and Powerful Trixie must go to the finals."

Trixie pulled a lever beside her, and a trap door opened right underneath the Mobians and the girls, which caused them to fall in. But Trixie and the villains didn't see Spike was playing with a rope bone. When he saw what happened, he went wide-eyed in shock.

The Mobains were all unconscious, but the girls were okay while Rainbow was dizzy and Pinkie had her head stuck in a drum.

Trixie, Darkness, and the villains all chuckled evilly while Spike quickly snuck away. Darkness looked down at the girls as the door began to close, "Hope you enjoy your time in here, because it won't last very long. But don't worry, I'm not gonna kill your boyfriends. I will leave them for Adagio and her sisters to play with. Goodbye."

The door was shut. All the girls sighed. But then they heard two voices, "Girls, is that you?"

The girls looked and saw Strike and Specter were already trapped inside the stage.

"Strike! Specter! You're okay!" the girls all said.

"Heh, you all sound like our friends back on our world," Specter said.

Rainbow then just looked at them, "Um, aren't you going to use your powers to get us out of here?"

Strike sighed, "We can't."

Strike and Specter showed the girls the dampener on their arms. "Darkness put these on our arms," Specter said.

"These things are dampeners," Strike said, "With these stuck on us, we have no chance to use our powers."

Everyone sighed in defeat. They all felt there was no hope.

Back outside the stage, Trixie had left while the villains and Sirens were together. "Well done," Darkness said, "Even without the Chaos Emeralds, nothing will stand in our way now."

"My lord," Vezon said, "May I go get some time off?"

"Yes," Darkness said, "Now that you are free."

Vezon chuckled evilly as he ran off with speed that was just like Strike's. His blur was bright crimson red energy and lightning with blackness inside.

"It was all a piece of cake," Scourge said.

"Cake? What cake?" Sonata asked, "I don't see any cake anywhere."

The villains all sighed in annoyance while Adagio face palmed and Aria said, "Ugh, go back to sleep, Sonata."