This fanfic is based off a nutbar idea I got for an Archie Sonic plot. As reference, this takes place in an AU that veers towards a different path after the first Genesis Wave, after #230. The second wave will not have happened, so it's safe to say that this story will not follow the events and aftermath of Worlds Collide, but will continue around the time shortly before it; it resumes at the point of Antoine's hospitalization and Elias joining the Secret Freedom Fighters. Bunnie will not have left yet.

Certain events like 'Endangered Species' and its aftermath didn't happen here as previously known, and I guarantee a universe in this fic where the whole Hershey thing will be resolved.

Chapter 1: Calm Before the Storm

The world of Mobius has experienced war for quite some time. Mobian and overlander alike have toiled in the trail by fire known as 'war' well over a century now. In the past 20 years or so, however, the power struggle between one Dr. Eggman and the free world has left many scars on the world and its people.

But some brave souls still stand firm in the face of adversity and despair, and drag the weight of the world on their shoulders to end the evil reign of the madman and his recently rechristened Dark Egg Legion, after his Eggman Empire assimilated the Dark Legion and various sects around the world into its being – combating the regional Freedom Fighters of those lands and other do-gooders that yearn for a world without the tyrant's iron rule.

In an unknown location, a group of tall figures, all veiled in various colored cloaks, view the mélange of events that came in a body of water illuminated by white light source floating in the air.

The fights and daily lives of the Freedom Fighters of New Mobotropolis, Chaotix, various Freedom Fighter sects across the globe and GUN play endless on the clear water's surface.

The tallest of the figures – a rather broad creature standing about 7 feet tall veiled by a lavish scarlet cloak with brown accents along the fabric broke the silence. "So.", he began in a gruff, grisly voice. "When do we start, fearless leader? I'm itching to crack some skulls."

Another, shorter figure, standing 5 feet tall in a sickly green robe with gold lines hissed gleefully. "Yes. I look forward to the events to come… ssssss…" Each word was like a sizzling flame, caressing his 's' sounds as he did a large ebon cobra roughly his size on its head, its tongue darting in and out of its maw, golden eyes leering dangerously at the pool.

"Boys; can't live with em, can't live without them.", came a cheery, almost snide female voice, coming from a bright pink cloak-wearing figure, the fabric laced with blue rings intersecting like bubbles. "Still, I could use a workout, and these guys look like fun."

A tall, slender figure wearing a dark-blue cloak with light green broken lines merely stood there, silently observing. "…"

A figure wearing shades of bright and dark orange in a checkerboard fashion chuckled, his figure being slightly stouter that the one in red, and as tall as the green cloaked one. "They don't look so tough. Look at 'em! They're mostly skin and bones!"

"Regardless…", came a new voice. All present turned to face a new figure standing six feet tall covered in a black cloak with white pentacle decal, slowly waling to the rest of the group, his voice smooth like silk, yet commanded authority. "These are the facts as they lay bare. It's a struggle of good against evil; classic, if not passé. But these guys going at it for so long without a victor gets boring, and the world isn't faring any better from their standstill."

"So we're jumping in. That's what you're saying.", the silent blue-cloaked figure replied, a female tone that sounded rather somber.

Of what was revealed of his face, the black cloaked man's face sported a smirk, a thin, long scar shooting up diagonally from his left cheek. "Time to tip the scales. It's about time this world knew how lukewarm the hell they thought they lived in really is."

With a wave of his hand, a swirl of black and purple light conjured into being, forming a vortex of brighter blues, purples, whites and blacks.

"To arms, my comrades. We have comrades to meet."

Dr. Eggman was not happy. The mad doctor was found sitting in his chair in an empty meeting room, complete with enlarged water tank and chairs. Cubot and Orbot stood on either side of him, and cowered at his ominous silence.

The events of the past few weeks replayed in his head, each time irking him more so than not. When his got to how the Genesis Wave was thwarted, the man could only express his distaste with a rolling sigh, deep and rumbling.

Pinching his nose, he did concede that there was evidence of his own arrogance at fault. He had let Sonic and his friends and his people through his fingertips more times than not, the failure to secure victory after the Egg Grape fiasco and Knothole being grazed to the ground leaving a very bitter taste in his mouth.

Then again, the recent events did reap some reward for his troubles. To prevent his World Roboticizer from wreaking vengeance on the world, Princess Sally inverted the beam to roboticize herself, taking the full brunt of the hit, and becoming a new robot slave he personally added his 'touch' to.

Turning Sonic's love interest and close friend into a killing machine that serves Eggman directly gave the doctor a certain tingly feeling in the pit of his round belly, a dark grin on his face.

Still, the various failures of his Grandmasters to snatch victory over the tenacious Freedom Fighters and other 'heroes' wedged a thorn in his side like the plague they were.

Perhaps it was about time he held a meeting with his Sub-Bosses, the Grandmasters of the Dark Egg Legion. Sure, some of them hated his guts, but running an empire was always a cutthroat business that required a few loose cannons to keep things interesting.

The mad doctor snapped his fingers, and with a flash of light, his long arm of power plucked the Grandmasters from their places around the globe and warped them into their seats.

Lien-Da. Duck "Bill" Platypus. Drago Wolf and Razorklaw. Beauregard Rabbot. The Bride of the Conquering Storm. Mordred Hood. The Foreman. The recently broken-out Iron Queen, Regina Ferrum and her co-worker, the brainwashed Hugo Brass. Diesel. And finally, Ahklut within the large tank of water.

"Sweet Walkers above…", Bill whined, as the warp left him disoriented, like so many of his 'comrades-in-arms', despite being a double-agent from the Downunda Freedom Fighters. Only Hugo showed no signs of fatigue.

'Quite a trip. I see why they whined of it before.', Regina grimaced, resisting the feeling like she was going to hurl.

"Oh, what now? I was busy!", Lien-Da exasperated, clearly not pleased with the sudden summons. Neither was Mordred, who hissed.

"This better be good, Eggman! We were in the middle of some business!", Drago barked, in which Razorklaw merely grunted.

Unfazed, Eggman merely slammed his palm unto the table, earning attention. "Gentlemen, there's a perfectly good reason why I called you here. I'm not so foolhardy as to point fingers if I pull you from the work you're being paid for."

"You don't pay us-", Regina quipped solemnly before Eggman cut her off. "Allow you to live for. That aside, I certainly hope you're all hard at work bulldozing all who stand in my way… even with reasonable difficulty."

"You wouldn't know the half of it…", Diesel murmured. "OH, but I do!", Eggman chortled, which caused several pairs of eyes to widen.

"The Freedom Fighters of the Arctic, Downunda, Mercia, the Sand-Blasters, the Wolf Nation and Cat Country, GUN, even the Mazuri resistance forces are giving you trouble. What I came here to tell you was it's time to step up our game!"

"Ugh, are you serious?! Those guys aren't letting up!", Lien-Da barked, bashing her fist on the table. "You'd think those guys would take a hint, but they rise up to block all our advances. Even with most of Albion under siege my forces have to exert every resource to keep resistance fighters from overturning the situation!"

"Not to mention that bitch Lupe and the queen of those mangy cats have staved off our advances and even confined us to the Echidnaoplois ruins! That place gets cramped after a while!", Drago howled. Razorklaw grunted.

"No to mention those followers of King Rob outflank our endeavors to locate Hideaway!", hissed Hood. "They've struck from the shadows three times this week, each time being able to escape without a trace!"

"Maybe if you bumbling dunderheads knew how to efficiently run your chapters, there would be no squabbles to deal with!", Conquering Storm seethed, her cybernetic eyes leering at her peers. "In my territory, all who so much as bat an eyelash at my clan the wrong way are crushed, without fail! No one foolish enough to go against the Raiju dares to defy us!"

A brief pause. "… Save for that damn 'King of the Free People'."

Regina hummed a bit. "I know that feeling. He's such a pest." "Coming from you, that's almost funny.", Storm sneered, earning Regina's angry snarl.

Bill and Beauregard, both of which did not share the same defunct views as the rest of their rank, stayed quiet; Beauregard pulled the bill of his hat down a tad with his flesh arm.

"It's that stupid hedgehog's fault if you ask me!", Lien-Da blurted out suddenly. "He's always running about, sticking his nose where it doesn't belong, and brings morale and cheer wherever he goes! Why the hell haven't you ever decided to just off the sonnuvabitch already?!", she yealled in frustration, aiming the last part squarely at Eggman.

"Don't you take that tone with me. You forget that nasty little trick I can do to all of you with a simple magic word.", Eggman scowled. Lien-Da sported a panicked look and simmered down. Evidently she had not forgotten the bombs placed in her – and all DEL members – cybernetics, installed personally by the doctor himself.

"As for why I haven't ended Sonic, well… I suppose I can concede there is a reason. I had several attempts to crush the boy beneath my heel, but…"

This got everyone interested. The doctor sneered vilely. "It would be more rewarding in the end to make him suffer for all the indignity and strife. Simply killing him would not be as sweet as tearing down everything he stood for and making him break. Oh, how sweet it would be to make that punk beg."

"It's that arrogance that cost me my control over the walruses in the Arctic! As much as I enjoy seeing those worms squirm, your pride does more damage than good!", the killer whale bellowed from behind the glass tank containing him.

Some of the Grandmasters winced at the ballsy comment, even though the feeling was, in secret, mutual. Eggman's brow furrowed.

At that precise moment, a slow clap could be heard. Clap. Clap. Clap. Everyone's eyes darted around the room, even Eggman, to find the source of the noise.

"And there it is. The people have spoken, Eggman.", came a new voice, young and mezzo-alto in pitch.

"Who's there?!", Eggman shouted. Turning around, his eyes locked with the covered face of a young man cloaked in black, his eyes veiled by pale brown hair. Eggman screamed a bit and stammered back into the table, whereas Conquering Storm, Lord Hood and Drago stood up and entered fighting stances while Hugo stood up with an imposing slam on the table. The man was somehow standing upside-down from the ceiling, his cloak that reached to his ankles not fluttering down from the gravity.

The figure grinned cheekily, kicked off the ceiling, backflipped once and spun in a half circle, landing on one knee. His cloak bloomed out like a flower. "Perhaps you should seek counseling.", he said with a chuckle.

"How did you get in here?!", Storm bellowed. Eggman grit his teeth and pressed a hidden panel on the table, alerting for several Egg Pawns to enter the room from a compartment in the wall.

As they charged, the figure grinned. Immediately as the first two charged in, his threw his right arm out, unleashing a thin, but noticeable air slice to carve through them, and traveled through the other Egg Pawns, effectively bifurcating them into a junk heap and carving an arc out of the white wall.

The Grandmasters were speechless. The figure slowly got up from his position, still sporting his stagnant grin. "You'll have to do better than that."

"Who the hell are you? Explain yourself!", Eggman shouted. The figure walked over to the rotund man, who winced, and held his hand out. "Need help?"

Confused by the gesture, Eggman got himself up hastily, his brow furrowed, his mind on high alert. "Who the hell are you? And how did you get onboard the Death Egg?" His tone was menacing, despite his current fear of the unknown.

"You'd probably wouldn't believe me if I told you." "What's that supposed to mean?", Drago grit, his claws out.

The figure merely pointed to the dispatched Pawns. Seconds later the heap burst into short patches of black flame that, after a few seconds, vanished, the scrap along with it.

Eggman's jaw gaped, as did the rest. "You're… you're a magician!"

"Sorcerer, if you please.", the figure grinned. "And I came here for a very good reason. I've heard about your plight. I've heard about the 'heroes' that plague your conquest and how you desperately need them out of the way. What if I told you I could lend a hand?"

"You are out of you mi-", Storm started to yell before Eggman signaled for her silence. "…Go on."

"These groups of do-gooders are like a disease. They keep jumping from one state of being to another, constantly avoiding eradication and spreading their influence like an infection. What if there was a way to completely remove these 'Freedom Fighters' and whatnot from the equation?"

"We tried things like invasions in the past. How do you expect to get rid of the Republic of Acorn and GUN?", Lien-Da asked, not buying it.

At that moment, a thick black tome was conjured, landing in the figure's left hand. "The best part of being a sorcerer is having a lot of tricks at your disposal. And what better a trick than the element of surprise?"

"What are you saying?", asked Hugo. It came a slight surprise, as the man wasn't one to talk.

"Your empire has tried many outlets to expand your rule over Mobius; some have succeeded, some have failed. Mostly, this is due to the fact that warfare, from a more astute perspective, is basically the same song and dance in many tongues. And more attempts have backfired because the enemy is getting smarter. They're catching onto the slack, that you're running out of surprises and becoming easier to predict. That's when you should throw a wrench into their ability, and strike the iron is hot."

Eggman placed a hand on his chin. "Hm." It almost sounded like he was intrigued by this man's sudden, yet fairly profound, wisdom. "Am I to assume you seek a partnership of sorts?"

"More or less. I can offer your group the edge necessary to wipe your enemies off the map and secure your seat of power on this world. Just say the word."

"I never caught your name.", Eggman replied. The figure stepped back and proceeded to open his cloak from the inside, the cloak falling limply to the ground and dispersing into a fine dust.

The intruder was a young man, about six feet tall with fair beige skin and a full head of pale brown hair that licked into many split ends, draped down to his neck in the back and trailed three long licks of hair over the left side of his face. His eyes were the same shade of brown, and sported a long, thin red scar from the corner of his left cheek up to under his eye.

His attire consisted of a black tank top with six silver bead necklaces of varying length around his neck and had an ornate armband cuffing his upper right arm. He had long entwining thorn vine tattoos spiraling down his left arm, ending a few inches from the wrist, which was clothed by a white sweatband. He wore long baggy jeans with worn shins and white three white belts – two crossing in an X over the third in the belt loops – and white sneakers. Strapping on his back was a slender sword with an ornate ebony hilt with azure decal without a guard. He had five fingers on each hand, making him a human.

"Not what you expected, I'm sure. My name's Shakhor. I'm a sorcerer into dark magic. My group and I have been interested in your organization for some time now."

"Have you now?", Eggman mused, hand on chin. Shakhor rose his arms at shoulder height. "Of course, we've been watching from the shadows; we didn't want to give ourselves away."

"Not to be overbearing, but this is an airborne ship; how did you get onto my Death Egg?", Eggman pressed. "I mean, I'm no expert of magic, but the only sorcerers I know couldn't get onboard undetected the way you did. Not even Ixix Naugus."

Shakhor's grin did not falter. "A trained sorcerer never reveals his secrets. But this isn't about me. It's about your empire. How it's struggling to secure its grip on the world. And now that your enemies have their attention on every move you all do, you need an edge, an advantage they can't see coming."

Eggman eyed the man from beneath his glasses. "And I suppose that's where you and your 'group' come in." "If you're interested.", Shakhor said smoothly.

"Just what are you after here? You know that this isn't a paying job, right?", Lien-Da asked warily, the feeling evident on her face. A good number of the Grandmasters felt the same more or less, albeit silent.

"What reason do we have to trust you?", Ahklut bellowed. The sorcerer smiled. "That's true. There is little 'reason'. But there is incentive."

"Oh?", Hood hummed. "Such as?" Shakhor shrugged and shook his hand playfully. "And here I thought you'd catch on by now. I mean that I possess an edge you could use to overturn this stalemate of yours. For starters…"

The brunette snapped his fingers and a manila file appeared before each Grandmaster, the front baring a scribble in English and a strange language, all in miniscule white poofs of smoke, their contents spilling slightly. Lien-Da noticed hers said 'Albion', and Drago, who was next to her, had his corresponding file had 'Soumerca' stenciled out.

In fact each file had the name of the territory the Grandmaster. Conquering Storm opened hers and gasped. There was a photo of Monkey Khan with tidbits of information written neatly on a sheet of paper. Drago gaped, seeing the same on Lupe and the Wolf Pack Freedom Fighters, along with that of Queen Hathor and the Felidae.

"Where did you get this?!", Drago gasped, shocked to see such things. Shakhor smiled again. "Consider them a gift, a token of my services. As for how, well, one of my associates has a rather special 'gift'. She can lift information from a person's mind by touch. She's also got a mastery of wind magic, allowing her to turn herself into air; perfect for sneaking up on a target undetected. If she is inhaled, even in part, she can infiltrate their memories and copy anything of interest."

"So that they never see them coming…", Conquering Storm whispered before grinning slightly. "What an amusing trick."

"It took her 2 weeks to gather all this dirt. Sadly, there are limits to her power. She can only retrieve information pertaining to themselves or something recent, so anything too deep was inaccessible; she can only have a small window of time before she is completely expelled, and re-entry too soon could give her away to the target, which to us is an unspoken taboo."

"Someone has their ducks in a row.", Hood quipped slyly, the back of his hand on his scaly chin, elbow on the large table.

"What can I say? I'm a bit obsessive over this stuff. Is it wrong to be safe than sorry?", The newcomer asked aloud, arms behind his head. "How else would we have been able to stay hidden all this time?"

The Grandmasters exchanged looks. Eggman seemed to show interest, but his expression held doubts. "Truthfully, magic isn't my cup of tea. If you have watched us as you said, you would have known that."

"Yes, true, but I'm not like Naugus or Mogul, and certainly not Merlin Prower. Unlike those stuffed shirts, I'm more open to new ideas. There's nothing wrong with improving oneself. But of course, you all…", the newcomer gestured to the Grandmasters. "…Should be no strangers to that."

Bill and Beauregard felt nervous. They couldn't place what, but something about this human was off-putting, and not like Eggman. They couldn't place it at the moment, but something about his aura made them seem as different as day and night; and not be use of science and… magic.

"One last question before I come to a decision: what exactly have you to gain by joining me?", the mustached rotund man pressed. "Even my Grandmasters have their reasons for being under my flag. Power, status… What is your angle?"

For a split second, the air seemed to have gone stale. Shakhor grinned again, but this time, it was a noticeably darker grin. "There are some who cannot be bought with money or power. There are some who are not swayed by material possessions or massaging of ego. Some people… want to see the world burn."

This raised a level of alarm of varying degrees to the room's occupants, but mostly to Bill and Beauregard. Eggman, who remained stoic, began to grin and after stifling a chuckle began to burst into laughter; laughter so loud it even took Shakhor by a hint of surprise.

"You, my boy, you're something else! I suppose we'll have to work out the terms for our partnership in due time. My dear Grandmasters, I apologize for the abrupt change of plans, but I will dismiss you for now. We have some… matters to attend to. Now back to work!"

With a snap of his fingers, the cybernetics in the Grandmasters warped them back to their stations across the globe.

"So… you said there were others with you?", Eggman sneered.

Meanwhile, at Downunda D.E.L. Base, many legionized platypus Mobians were hard at work maintaining operations when Bill suddenly warped into the main hall with a ZOOP and narrowly dodged being clipped by a support beam being hoisted by a duo of workers.

"Oh, sorry, sir! How did the meeting go?", asked a Legionnaire. Bill snapped to reality and quickly responded with "F-fine. It was… fine."

A brief pause. "E-Excuse me for a minute." Bill rushed off to his personal quarters, earning glances from passer-bys. Slamming the door behind him, he pressed his back to the door and sunk to his bottom, trying to process what happened.

After a long minute of his brain going a mile a minute, he took a deep breath. "I gotta warn the others. If that man is the real deal, the other Freedom Fighter groups need to know."

He briskly walked to his communicator device that Walt Wallaby gave him and frantically began to type a text SOS.

"I hope I won't be too late…"

Meanwhile, in the city of New Mobotropolis, Sonic stood by Antoine's bedside, head hung and deep in thought.

In the past few days things have gone topsy-tuvy in ways the hedgehog couldn't being to fathom and process.

Sally was roboticized and became enslaved to Eggman. Naugus usurped Elias as king and Geoffrey St. John was at his beck and call, revealed to have been in cahoots since he was a kid. His wife was revealed to have been dead. Antoine was in the hospital from an explosion getting Elias's family to safety. Bunnie was flesh and blood wholly again, but lost her ability to be a Freedom Fighter. Rotor was no longer on the Council, which tightened Naugus's vice grip on the city. Nicole was banished from fears running high because of the whole Iron Dominion fiasco.

Sonic rubbed his temples. "What's a guy to do…?" At that moment, as if to spite him, Silver appeared, walking in softly. Sonic eyed a small bouquet of flowers in his hands. "Oh. Hi, Sonic."

"…Hey, Silver. I'm… I'm sorry about earlier. I just… I don't know, things are going so fast, even for me."

Silver shook his head. "No, it's not your fault. No one could've predicted all of this. And while I still think there may be a traitor in the Freedom Fighters, I feel for you guys, I really do. Sally's sacrifice saved countless lives. And Antoine's service saved Elias and his family. It really makes me wonder what to make of the whole thing.", the white hedgehog from the future sighed, the flowers rustling in his hand.

He walked over to Antoine's bedside and gently placed the flowers on the table next to the unconscious coyote.

"How's… Bunnie handling it?", Silver asked weakly. Sonic could tell he was trying very hard to not step on Sonic's toes, which the blue hedgehog genuinely could tell. "She taking it fairly hard, but Ant's thankfully just in a coma. He's a bit battered but the worst is over now."

"Well at least that's going for us.", came a new voice. There was Geoffrey, leaning of the frame of the door, arms crossed. Sonic scowled. "Oh. You. What do you want?"

"I wanted to check up on D'Coolette. I know we're not on good terms, Sonic, but even you know that I genuinely respect him. He's a real hero, one who is true to his loved ones, and whose loyalty to king and country are undeniable."

"Says the backstabber.", Sonic mumbled, looking to the side. Geoffrey sighed. "I heard that, and I do deserve that. But that's not the only reason why I'm here."

"Why, your master have you on paperboy duty?" The skunk frowned. "Not just me. The council summoned us for a meeting. It stems all the way to the United Federation."

This got Sonic interested. "What do you mean? What happened?" Geoffrey shrugged. "I honestly haven't the foggiest, mate. I just found out and was asked to find you. Your guess is as good as mine."

Silver could tell the silent tension in the air was still pretty thick. "I guess I should leave you to it then."

Just as he prepared to leave, Geoffrey called after him. "Hold up, ace. I was told to also find you. You have just as much reason to be in on this conference, too."

Sonic could've sworn he saw Silver tense a bit when Geoffrey said 'ace'. It could have been his imagination, though. He then noted the sly look in Geoff's eye.

"Um… you sure?", Silver asked sheepishly. "I mean, I'm flattered, but-" "No buts. Come with us. It's not like you got other plans, right?"

Silver tensed again. Sonic was starting to become curious. 'Note to self; keep an eye on future boy.'

As the three passed Dr. Quack in the hall, they headed out the doors of the Tommy Turtle Memorial Hospital and veered towards the Royal Army HQ, where the Council of Acorn laid waiting.

On the way there, they ran into Cream the Rabbit, who was being escorted by her mother Vanilla and Big the Cat. A brief meet-up hello and stone's throw later, the group found themselves outside the room where the council met. Geoffrey opened the doors, their entry met with the current incarnation of the council:

In the center sat the current usurping king, Ixis Naugus, who sat with a sourpuss face, fingers tapping on his desk area. To his sides were Dylan Porcupine, Hamlin Pig, Penelope Platypus, Rosemary Prower – Tails' mom, Uncle Chuck and the famed singer Mina Mongoose's mother, Isabella. This latest change happened after Rotor stepped down, all due to Naugus' presence.

In fact, Rotor, Tails and Amy, along with Knuckles and the Chaotix were there before Sonic's group arrived. Bunnie was absent, but there was good reason, between recovering from Naugus' 'miracle' and her husband being hospitalized.

The room held a foreboding air. It was enough to keep Naugus silent, so it must've been big.

"Glad you could make it, sonny.", Chuck welcomed. Sonic walked forward a bit. "So what's the big news this time around? You're not up to anything are you, Naugy?"

The mutant Ixis wizard scoffed a bit. "For your information, quickster, this is an affair that requires my full concern. As should it yours." Sonic's brow rose. "Why?"

"It's Eggman again, isn't it?", Knuckles grunted, arms crossed.

Naugus eyed for Chuck to explain. The older Mobian sighed. "About an hour ago, we received a transmission from the Downunda Freedom Fighter Walt Wallaby that was sent to all other Freedom Fighter sects worldwide. Apparently a double agent in their ranks has found out that Eggman has struck a new alliance with a third party that boasts great power."

This alarmed the room's standing occupants a bit, even Geoffrey. "You serious?", Julie-Su asked. "Because there's not that many groups out there we don't know about."

"Was it the Battle Bird Armada? Or Mogul?", Tails asked. Dylan gulped and Hamlin pinched his nose ridge. "According to our sources, this party is fundamentally different from them. It would seem he's struck an alliance with a human sorcerer."

Some of the group began to whisper to each other. "But Eggman hates magic. Why would he agree to this?", Espio inquired.

"Our sources tell us that he somehow sneaked onto the Death Egg while in flight and dispatched a good number of security bots with ease using magic. This was witnessed by all the Grandmasters of the Dark Egg Legion, which the double-agent is."

"It's Bill Platypus.", Knuckles informed. "It's a long story, but he's on our side."

"He couldn't get a real picture of the man, but he appears to be very young, according to eyewitness testimony. And there have been hints that he has associates who employ similar skills.", Isabella continued.

"So Eggy has a wizard in his corner. Big whoop. We beat plenty of wizards before, one of which is…", Sonic trailed on purpose. Naugus grunted.

"The fundamental difference here, Sonic…", Rosemary protested. "Is that this wizard was able to get onto the airborne Death Egg without detection. With Eggman's security measures and the fact it's a floating fortress with major firepower, no one should be able to sneak up on him without detection. That's what worries us; whoever this man is, he's quite skilled to get the drop on Eggman, and even luckier to come out alive."

Sonic placed a hand on his chin. Who in their right mind would seek partnership with Eggman? And why? The mystery deepened.

"You're thinking this guy's gonna attack the city?", Rotor questioned. Rosemary remained silent. Hamlin stood. "That's not the worst of it; according to our sources, this man has dirt on everyone from all the Freedom Fighter sects and various affiliates to us, including members of GUN. You have no idea how serious this is."

"They got dirt on us? How bad?", Amy asked, genuinely worried. Vector grit his teeth. "How did he get all this 'dirt', anyhow? It's not like they got a spy eyeballing everyone at once."

"According to the report…", Penelope butted in. "This man claims to have an associate with the ability to become air; anyone who breathes this air is invaded by this person's ability to, as Bill claims, 'lift memories'. There is no true proof to this, but with the information he had access to, he fears it's credible. And so do we."

"…What are you saying?", Silver asked meekly. "You're not suggesting…?"

"While that boy was in charge and that AI was running the show, there was a high chance this person may have visited this city before.", Naugus girt his teeth, his glare glowering.

"As much as it pains me to think of it…they may have already probed your lot; that makes this a liable threat. Who knows if they got any dangerous secrets from you?", Chuck announced solemnly.

"Isn't there a way to check? Can't you screen us or something with your magic?", Sonic asked Naugus, though the thought of him 'helping' left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Sadly, I have no experience with this technique. I've never heard of a wind magic that probed thoughts.", the mutated Mobian seethed.

Geoffrey nodded. "Me either. And I use wind magic." Tails placed a hand to his chin. "Maybe Uncle Merlin knows. The only problem is I don't know how we can get a hold of him."

Knuckles heaved a sigh. "Right. He's a Neo Walker now; it's gonna be very hard to get a hold of him."

Rosemary blinked. "That reminds me. I think I may know a way to get to him, but…"

"What, Mom?", Tails asked. "You know a way to get to him?" "Well, before he left, he gave your father a special stone. I forget what it's called, but it should be able to get a hold of him. He said it was only for emergencies, though."

"Hate to break it to ya, Mrs. Prower, but if someone was able to probe Freedom Fighters for information without us knowing and is working with Eggman, that's a serious threat. What if this info helps Eggman win?", Sonic asked, foot tapping.

"…I see your point. Sweetie, your father knows where it is.", Rosemary said to Tails. The two-tailed fox nodded and took this as incentive to leave the chamber in search of Amadeus, his father.

"So assuming they can hook up with Merlin, what's the game plan?", Julie asked. The councilmen exchanged looks, causing the echidna's expression to facefault. "You don't have one."

"Truthfully, while there is strong suspicion that there's foul play at work, we don't have any actual evidence that we had an… 'unwanted visit'. With all said and done, we can't just go all-out on a whim.", Chuck addressed the group. He looked at the security camera behind them from the corner of his eye, careful to not draw attention. "There are protocols we must follow. We can't be rash here, lest we raise unwanted attention."

The camera focused, connecting the feed to a separate location. In a monitor room, Director Harvey Who sat in his chair, with Elias, Larry Lynx, Lyco and Leeta Wolf, along with the rechristened Metal Sonic 2.5, also named Shard.

"Well, this is a problem…", Who hummed. "For those in the light, anyway."

Elias hung his head. "The council is powerless to authorize anything, and Naugus's selfishness can easily make things worse."

Shard shrugged. "Well that's why we're around, right? To work in the shadows and fix problems that they can't."

"But… technically that's working outside the law. We could get in a lot of trouble if we're caught.", Larry fretted. Shard snorted.

"Yeah. If we're caught." Larry huffed at his comrade's cocky 'tude.

"But if there's anything to the story, that means the Wolf Nation's been compromised, too.", Leeta grit her teeth saying. "You think we should check with Lupe?"

"Hold on, ladies. Let's not be hasty.", Elias warned. "For all we know, we could attract unwanted attention." "From who?", Leeta asked forcefully, leaning in on the true king of the land.

"Well, anyone with a connection to Naugus, for one. You never know with that guy." "Like Geoffrey?", Shard sneered. "Please."

Elias paused and put a hand to his chin. "Actually…" Everyone turned to him. "I've been wondering about it. Geoffrey figured out my identity and could have told his master after thwarting his plan underground. I wonder why he hasn't yet?"

"Well… when we went with with Silver's plan for a direct talk, he seemed like he was losing faith in Naugus. Especially when his wife was mentioned."

Elias and Who's eyes perked at that. Come to think of it, Hershey's been MIA for a while before Geoffrey became a turncoat. He was manic during the trial when Antoine went off the deep end on the subject and nearly attacked the Freedom Fighter in front of the court. Maybe there was more to that then they thought.

Elias eyed Geoffrey from a different camera view they had, noticing Geoffrey was eying Silver from the corner of his eye. What he didn't count on was that Sonic was doing the same thing. When someone else wasn't talking, the Hero of Mobius was casually glancing between Silver and Geoffrey, a slight expression on his brow, almost as if…

"You don't think…", Elias mumbled before dismissing the thought entirely for the moment. Then again, Chuck and Sonic were blood relatives under the same roof, so if anything, there would be more suspicion on Chuck about the Secret Freedom Fighters than Silver. Then again, Sonic was known to have his moments of brilliant deduction from time to time.

Elias turned his undivided attention back to the audio, intent to learn the verdict on this case, which personally worried him as well.

Back in the actual council hall, Naugus sighed, seeing that there was little choice for him. "I suppose having a thorough check of the city is in order. If this information is credible, this enemy to the city could strike again."

"What if you and Merlin used magic to search for a lead, and we could bring Nicole back in secret to search the mainframes and security systems? By keeping it secret, the citizens won't have to be alarmed, and neither will any unwanted attention."

"But…", Hamin interjected. "Wouldn't keeping her a secret be the same as lying to the public? As members of the council for the people, we can't just do something like that…"

Chuck furrowed his brow. "And I suppose we should also tell the city of an unseen force capable of entering people's minds and stealing valuable information by breathing?" Hamiln paused before he sat down. "Point noted."

"So how's this. I'll go fetch Nicole. I go in and out of the city while people would just think I'm on a run, be back and hand Nicole to someone else without raising suspicion. Unless you got better ideas."

Shard grinned at his 'double'. "Gotta admit, he's got style."

"In that case, I will allow it." Naugus sighed. "But only if my apprentice escorts you there." Sonic made a expression, feigning being hurt. "Oh? You don't trust me?"

"In a matter of speaking.", Naugus growled. "Call it 'protocol', if you must."

"Try to keep up.", Sonic sneered at the skunk. Geoffrey smirked back. "I'm no slowpoke." Silver eyed the two carefully, trying to observe without much attention to him. He was still worried why he was brought here, trying to not arouse attention of Naugus, who he was confident remembered his face after the underground fiasco a few nights back. Naugus looked at him with an unreadable expression, his features unchanging; Silver felt a slight chill of fear crawl up his spine. 'Stay calm , Silver… don't make a scene…' Sonic noticed the white hedgehog's slight spasm, but kept silent. He did, however noted he was averting his gaze from Naugus. Sonic was starting to get interested.

Back at the Secret Freedom Fighter HQ, Elias gulped slightly. Naugus knew, and he was pretty sure Sonic was catching on; this didn't bode well…

A minute passed as the meeting finally came to a close, the issue on pause while waiting to see if Merlin could be contacted. The standing occupants flooded out, with Sonic hanging in the back, grabbing Silver's wrist for a second, and causing him to gasp. "You alright, Silver? You were whiter than a sheet in there."

Silver merely nodded once. "I'm fine, Sonic; it's nothing." "It was Naugus, wasn't it? I'll be frank, I could never stomach his ugly mug either." Silver chuckled. "Yeah."

Sonic's brow twitched. Something about that didn't click right. At that moment, Chuck passed through the door. "Oh, Sonic. Didn't see you there."

"Oh, hey unc." "Ah, you must be Silver. I've heard a lot about you.", Chuck said, extending his hand. Silver spaced for a moment's duration before smiling and return the gesture. "Y-yeah. And you must be Sonic's uncle. The resemblance is uncanny."

Chuck laughed heartily. "Well, he really takes after his father. Say, Sonic, weren't you and Geoffrey going to fetch Nicole?"

Sonic's ears perked. "Oh! Almost forgot. I'll see you around." As Sonic turned around and walked off.

Just as Sonic turned the corner, Sonic could've almost sworn he heard sighs of relief. His eyes darted back to the two other hedgehogs, but they were already turning the corner in the other direction of the hallway. Sonic clasped his head in his hand. "I'm starting to get paranoid…"

He departed from the hallway, heading out with Geoffrey in search of Nicole, who was housed at the old Freedom HQ outside the city.

Checking to see if the coast was clear, Chuck stopped looking over the corner of the hall and exhaled. "That was close." "You sure it's okay to lie to Sonic about this? I mean, yeah, we do need to keep a low profile, but Sonic? He might…"

"Silver, I've known Sonic since he was a tyke first learning how to run. And while he might get mad at us for lying, he never really holds a grudge. Think about it; he got over that fight with you today, didn't he?"

Silver's ears drooped. "Yeah, but to me, it still leaves a terrible taste in my mouth. I mean, Sally's a robot, Antoine's in a coma, the city is upside down with Naugus, and we're lying to him about the Secret Freedom Fighters. And after Elias said Tails would keep mum on our secret, his hands were dirtied, too. And we both know how Sonic handles secrets."

Chuck's mustache furrowed a bit. "I guess we'll have to cross that bridge when we get there."

The run to the old Freedom HQ would've taken Sonic five minutes there and back if Geoffrey weren't in tow. Part of him wanted to bop him one for stabbing him in the back, but he knew he'd regret it later, so the trip there was silent. But even the lack of words exchanged betrayed the tension between them; it was thick enough to be cut with a knife.

When they got there, the lights to the hideout hummed to life. Nicole's terminal awaited them in the computer room.

"Hello, Sonic. Hello, Commander.", her hologram said in an even tone. "I was just forwarded that you'd pick me up."

"Yeah. Apparently there's a new bad guy working with Eggman who's got a buddy able to probe minds, so we were in the neighborhood for some help."

Nicole was silent for a moment. "I… I don't know if I'll be of any use. After all, I've been banished from the city thanks to the council."

Geoffrey sighed. "I… I have a confession to make. I was never on board with having you removed from the system."

"This ain't about you, stinky.", Sonic grunted. However, Geoffrey continued. "It's true! This was all part of my master's plan. I… just can't live with the guilt that I did that." Sonic perked for moment. "Did what?"

"…You didn't here this from me, but my master used magic at Mina's concert; he amplified everyone's fear and directed it at Nicole. Nicole, I'm so sorry. I wanted to help my master make things right, but not by making an ally into a scapegoat."

"If your 'master' was so in the wrong, why do you serve him?", Sonic asked, foot tapping. Geoffrey remained silent, a sad look on his face. "It's complicated, Sonic. I'd imagine you wouldn't care less."

Sonic felt a bit hurt for a second, but decided to let it go. Suddenly, Nicole's expression shifted to alarm. "We have a visitor. The proximity alarm went off."

Sonic and Geoffrey were surprised. They darted outside and looked around, but there was no sign of any life around. "You sure, Nicole? It's pretty empty out here.", Sonic called out to the handheld he held.

"I… I'm sure it went off, but… Hm, that's really strange. And I just ran a debug scan this morning.", Nicole pondered. Geoffrey stiffened. His eyes darted left, but slowly leaned to Sonic at his right.

"I don't think we're alone.", the skunk whispered. "It's faint, but I sense someone nearby in the trees." "You sure?", Sonic whispered back, hoping to not alarm this presence.

"7'o clock, about 100 feet, I'd measure.", Geoffrey whispered. The duo slowly walked in that direction. By the time they made it halfway, a large shadow darted into the forest at top speed, causing Sonic to give chase in the woody area.

For a couple of seconds Sonic was having trouble keeping up. As he got closer the figure opened his palm directly at the hedgehog and caused hundreds of leaves to shower the hero, blinding him.

"Okay, so you got a few tricks. You're not the only one!", Sonic cried out as he entered a spin-dash, grinding through the leaves and colliding with the runaway, knocking him to the earth. With a bounce the figure was still, groaning.

Sonic walked over to the figure and pulled the hood off the dark green cloak it was wearing and gasped at the sight.

The person he chased was a young human male with fairly long hair drooping over the left side of his face, while his left eye, check and forehead bandaged in white cloth. His skin was a fair peach and wore a cravat-like cloth around his neck under the cloak's collar. Around that was a necklace with gems that looked like purple gems and teeth alternating.

"Who are you?", Sonic questioned. "What are you doing here?"

The figure groaned. "…In danger…" Sonic's eyes widened. "What did you say?"

"Your city… not the only target… they must be stopped…", the young man struggled to say.

"Who must be stopped?", Sonic urged. But by then the figure passed out. "Great. Hey, St. John! Get over here!"

As St. John ran over, he gasped. "An overlander?" Sonic shook his head. "Naw. Checked his hands; five fingers on each hand; he's human. Geoffrey still tensed, regardless.

"That's a nasty injury he's got.", Geoffrey noted. "Wonder what happened?"

"I say we take him to the city." "You mad? We can't just bring outsiders in like that. And besides, what if he's an enemy?"

"I'm not so sure." Sonic paused. Geoffrey cocked a brow. "Alright, I'll bite. Why do you say that?"

Sonic looked at the unconscious youth. "Before he passed out, he said the city was not the only target. He said 'they must be stopped.'" Geoffrey crossed his arms. "Could be a ruse, for all we know."

"And back there, I could have sworn he conjured those leaves up like magic. I think this guy and the guys Bill mentioned are related."

"So you think they're in cahoots?", Geoffrey asked. Sonic shook his head. "Sally would say it's too early for accusations. We can't just leave 'im here, though. I think I roughed him pretty bad with that last one."

"…Fine. But as soon as he's in the city, he's under watch. Something about this kid is off to me; I just can't tell what."

"Says the double-crosser.", Sonic scoffed. Geoffrey growled. "I get it, okay? It's… it's not easy being me right now. I assume you're not in a better boat after the Death Egg showed up, either.", he said, looking away.

Sonic said silent as he slung the unconscious man over his back. "Yeah; I guess we're both having an off day."

Nicole, who heard the whole thing from here handheld that Sonic was holding, spoke up. "There's a stretcher and some first aid inside. I called for someone to help bring him over. I wonder why he was here to begin with?"

"I guess we're cross that bridge when we get there.", Sonic sighed. "I could use a hand here."

"Oh. Right.", Geoffrey replied as the two Mobians heaved the out-cold body to Freedom HQ. As they headed there, Nicole sent a private message to Director Who, who was notified of the incident without Sonic or Geoffrey knowing.

'Surely Who and Charles will know what to do.'

A lone figure stood from atop on of the giant tree branches near the top of one of the giant redwoods to the east of New Mobotropolis, surrounded by foliage. The trees were, at their highest, three-fourths the height of the dome's apex, so with the right gear, whoever camped at that location would have a nice aerial view of the city.

Binoculars in hand, the onlooker, who wore the giant red and brown cloak looked on, watching what he could with them.

"Cripes. I can barely see. I can't make out anything with this damn bubble in the way."

The cloaked entity sighed. "Guess I have no choice; 'Paras Kippah.'"

At the precise moment, two rings of white light formed on the rims of the lenses. "Having to use magic for something like this; it's kinda pathetic when you think about it."

This time, as the observer looked through his binoculars, the image was far more magnified, as he was able to see the citizens walking on the streets, to and from their homes. He kept moving the image until something caught his eye.

"What have we here?", he said, grinning underneath his cloak.

In his sights were a few members of the Royal Guard. What are they doing out and about, he wondered?

A small number of the taller Mobians in green uniforms – four in total – were running from the Royal Army HQ and towards the southern entrance to the city – the direction where Freedom HQ was.

Its eyes trailed to the entrance, where another two Royal Guards were on a small car… accompanied by Sonic and Geoffrey. To its surprise, he noticed the young man they came across on a stretcher as the car wheeled to the Tommy Turtle Hospital and the stretcher was brought inside, where he can no longer see them.

"That was…!", the figure gaped. He pulled down his hood, revealing spiky orange hair with a tuft of hair erecting fro the hairline in the center of a dark brown, olive skin and pale green eyes. He wore silver metal cuff earrings on his upper ears and hanging studs on the lobes, connected by a small chain on both ears. There was a long thin series of four black lines across his nose ridge and under his eyes, where the lines squiggled slightly.

"This changes everything. Shahkhor'll want to hear about this." At that, the man jumped off the high tree branch and landed with a thud, knees bent and sped off away from the city with haste.

Back in the hospital, Dr. Horatio Quack was tending to the new arrival Sonic and Geoffrey brought in. In fact, he just got started; it took them a while to find a bed that could support a human's length and weight. After 10 minutes he was laid down gently, his cloak unfastened and hung over a chair. Sonic sent word to Council and remnants of the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix of their 'catch', while the Council was informed by Geoffrey. No doubt this would be of interest very soon.

After stripping him of his black shirt and the cloak, the doctor noticed he was fairly well-built with a slim six pack, pecks and an overall even tone. What drew Quack, however, was a large insignia-like mark on the left side of his back and hip, which looked like a unfurling rose in a circle broken into eight segments with fire-like stencil marks, all in black. Beneath that was beige pants with a brown belt and black knee-high military boots.

"Wonder where this came from…?", Quack mumbled to himself. He noticed the faded burn-like marks around it. Was this a branding…?

There was a knock at the door. It was Sonic. "How is he doc?" The eye patch-wearing duck sighed. "You know better than to just barge in, Sonic."

"Yeah, yeah. So, how does he look?" "I've only started. I've just uncovered this mark here, and it looks like he may have been branded at some point."

"What about his face? That's a lot of bandages.", Sonic noted. Quack nodded. "I was just about to check it."

As Quack reached for the bandages, the man's right eye flung open being a brilliant lime green, the man grabbing the duck's hand as if it were by instinct and gripped tightly. "Don't even think about it."

Quack shrieked for a second and Sonic ran over to try and pry this bedridden man's grip off the good doctor, but he was strong. "Yo, man! Let go!"

It just so happened that Knuckles came around the corner, and gaping at the scene, ran over to help pry off the human's grip. "What the hell's going on, Blue?!"

"I dunno! Quack tried to remove those bandages and suddenly he springs to life and grabs the doc."

The young man looked for a moment and released his grip on Quack, who shook his wrist furiously. "I-I'm sorry. It's just that I don't like people touching this.", the man said, placing a hand over the bandages.

"You certainly proved that.", Quack said, wincing as he flexed his hand. "You've got an iron grip, even when injured."

"So. What's your name, and why are you in this neck of the woods?", Sonic inquired. The man blinked. "My name's Lavi."

"I'm Sonic the Hedgehog. You may have heard of me.", Sonic said cheekily. Knuckles facepalmed. "Dammit, Blue, this isn't the time. I'm Knuckles by the way; Knuckles the Echidna. Why were you skulking at Freedom HQ?"

Lavi blinked before his face became serious. "I came to stop something terrible from happening." This caused the three others to become attentive. "There's a group of people who aligned themselves with the one named 'Eggman'; they plan to tip the war he's waged in his favor."

"What?!", Sonic yelled out. So the message Bill Platypus left was true! He had to know more. "Tell us everything you know!"

"Now, hold on, Sonic; you got him really bad in the back when you subdued him. It's gonna be a bit before he could walk off the bruises you gave him." Sonic scratched at his scalp furiously.

"Dammit Doc there's no time!" Sonic immediately got in front of Lavi's face, who was surprised to say the least. "What do you know about them?"

Lavi'e eye trailed leftward. "It's… a long story. What I can tell you off the bat is that they plan to attack here first."

Sonic was alarmed. "Oh great." Then something caught his ears. "Wait. 'First'? Where else are they attacking?!"

Lavi winced from the scream. Dr Quack pulled Sonic away from him. "Anywhere where there are allies to the Crown of Acorn."

Lavi began grabbing his head, which was pounding, the brunette starting to groan. "My head's splitting…"

Sonic looked like he was about to dart out of the room, before Lavi mustered "Wait…!" Sonic stopped and turned to the human who said:

"Beware Shakhor; he's dangerous." After that, he moaned and laid back into the bed, slipping into unconsciousness.

"Shakhor…", Sonic said, repeating the name. He'd remember the name for now.

In an undisclosed cavern-like location, Shakhor was meditating, eyes closed. At the sound of a water droplet hitting the surface of a puddle his eyes , his right hand making a swinging motion, causing several dummies placed around the room to bifurcate.

He grinned devilishly. "The fun's just around the corner. Just have to wait for the word."

Well, that's Chapter 1 for you. Very long; this is a whopping 24 pages – I don't usually write this long, but I wanted to make a strong first chapter.

Some of the terms I made so far are in Hebrew.

For example, Shakhor means 'black', Lavi means 'lion', and Paras Kippah means 'reaching branch'.

Hopefully you guys like this work so far; I got plenty in store.