Sonic and 9

A/N: Hey, everyone; TC here! Cool nickname, isn't it? Well, I think it is. Anyway, here is my Sonic-and-9 crossover, as promised. This story goes especially to my fellow 9 fans, Frieda Right and Celestial Rainstorm, who are both great writers themselves. God Bless you, my ladies.

Anyway, enjoy the story…

Prologue:

As you know, I and my friends live in the year 3396 NAE (The New Age of Earth); on the Georgian calendar, it is the year 14,006 AD, though we generally use NAE time now and it's easier to say as well.

Ever since the mysterious disaster that shook planet Earth terribly thousands of years ago, two species have dominated our planet: Humans (Homo sapiens) and Mobians (Mobo sapiens). When the two races began to rebuild society from the ruin since the year 10,600 AD, the planet Earth, later renamed Mobius, soon became divided between the two species. Humans (generally Overlander Humans) were xenophobic and distrusted Mobians, believing them weak and stupid; though they never sought war, they didn't want to mix with the Mobians and so formed their societies.

For the last three millennia, the Mobian Kingdom of Hedgehog-Acorn and the Human Empire had shared a very tense relationship. Though they never fought directly until the outbreak of the Human-Mobian War in 3386 NAE, various allies areas of their empires often fought over a lot of things; most particularly, France (dominated by Mobians) and Germany (ruled by Humans). The two countries were really rivals than enemies for years but they were constantly trying to prove themselves better and defending their empires. Though Mobians are generally peaceful beings, the French were competitive and so joined Germany in what was known as the 'Race between the States'. Britain, an ally to France and early member of the Kingdom, opposed this rivalry, but the French told them politely but firmly they could handle it themselves.

In 1939 NAE, the Chancellor of the German-Austrian Empire State at the time, Wilhelm Heifer decided to use machines as a way to provide power to the German State, and so took possession of a Fabrication Machine, also called a 'Brain' (Binary Reactive Artificially Intelligent Neurocircuit) created by a scientist, who had built it primarily for creation and progress; his name has been lost to history. Chancellor Heifer said the Fabrication machine marked the beginning of the 'Age of the Machine'. He had the machine create new machines in its own image, promising they would provide a new era of wealth and prosperity for the State. Not long after that, those machines were put to shocking use when Germany, enthralled by their new technology, declared war on France. What followed was a horrific conflict; the two rivals fought in a terrible war, Germany doing more damage because of their machines. The French were devastated by them. However, after just a year, the machines suddenly went out of control and turned on both France and Germany, destroying every living thing in their path; the Fabrication Machine as their leader. Refusing to accept responsiblity for his own part in the whole thing, Chancellor Heifer blamed the Scientist who had built the BRAIN, declaring him an enemy of the State. Shortly after the revolution of the machines, the Scientist disappeared and was never seen or heard from again.

With the machines as a common enemy, France and Germany put aside their differences and joined forces, with the Chancellor calling people to join him against the 'iron fist of the machine'. The war between man and machine ravaged the mainland of Europe and millions died; whole cities reduced to ruin and beautiful countryside turned to ash. The machines used toxic and deadly gases that killed every living thing. The Mobians and Humans didn't stand much chance. Slowly, both sides fell and the world of Europe became a silent ruin; devastated and practically lifeless.

For years, most of France and Germany remained lifeless. Britain and the other countries unaffected by the war searched the ruins for life, with very little success. Few had survived the war. It would have taken decades for Europe to go to the way it was before. However, to the utter astonishment of everyone, life remained to Europe within a few years and began rebuilding the land devastated by the war. However, to this day, despite constant research, no one knows how or why life returned so soon. Some Humans back then claimed to have seen little ragdolls no bigger than a human hand that could think and move for themselves, but since no such creatures have ever been found, this theory was never proven.

Ever since the 'War of the Machine', both Humans and Mobians have been wary about using technology, especially for war. The Mobians, being devoted eco-warriors with an aversion to violence, became more determined to preserve the environment after the war. The Humans, though being less eco-friendly, could never forget a war like that; though they remained xenophobic towards Mobians, they still wished to avoid war whenever they could. However, even the memory of the 'War of the Machine' did not prevent the outbreak of the Human-Mobian War more than a thousand years later.

To this day, no one knows what had caused the quick return of life to Europe, despite constant research into the matter. Many theories have sprung up, but nothing has been confirmed. The whole thing has long since been classified as a mystery and few people spare it much thought nowadays. However, when I read about it during my history lessons at the orphanage and apart from being shocked and horrified by the devastation the war did to Europe, (I am a pacifist, after all, and generally oppose war, like all Mobians in general) I was also very intrigued by the mysterious return of life. Like my distant relative Sherlock Holmes, I have an interest in mystery and wish to know the answer. However, I doubted that I or anyone else would ever find the answer; it had, after all, been over a thousand years ago. When I came to live in Knothole, I asked Sonic and Sally if they had anything on it, but they had nothing on the mystery either. I soon came to believe that I might never know the answer.

However, when I accompanied Sonic and my friends to Germany to investigate Nazi sightings and came to search a city that had long since been abandoned, I was about to discover the answer to that very question...