Author's Note: When the "Prologue" of "Absolute Power" became the first three to four chapters of the story, I toyed with creating a new Prologue. By the time I decided it was unnecessary, I had almost completed it. Now that I have decided to make those "Prologue" chapters a stand-alone story, I figured it was as good a time as any to revive the extra Prologue.

This, then, is my totally unnecessary Prologue-to-a-Prologue.

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Absolute Power:

The Departure

by Chronos the Cat

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Wind swept across the barren plain, picking up dust and blowing it around. The dust blew against Sonic, even getting in his eyes, but it didn't bother him. His eyes weren't that sensitive anymore to be bothered by dust. He kept digging in the dirt. He had detected metal out here, and he needed all that he could find. His hole was several feet deep now, but he'd dig for miles if necessary. Finally he found what he'd been looking for. An old Mobian coin. It was worthless now as money, but it would be useful raw material for the device he was building. The Chrono-bots had dug up most of the planet's easily accessible minerals almost a century ago, and the Eon Bots had finished the job. Quite a lot of those minerals had been sent into space to fuel the Eon Bots' interstellar conquests. Now the rest of that material had been used to build factories or used to construct techno-organisms. Since techno-organisms needed metal to grow properly, they usually stayed in the cities, which were well guarded. Thus any bit of scrap metal, even something as small as a coin, was priceless.

Sonic climbed out of the hole and looked across the barren plain and sighed. In the old days, this had been a lush prairie covered in grass and filled with animals. Now it was as barren as a desert. Off in the distance Sonic spotted the corpse of an animal. He activated the magnifying function in his eyes to get a better look at it. It appeared to be a small deer. There wasn't a mark on it's flesh, indicating it had died of natural causes, probably starvation. No scavengers had touched the body, but then, there weren't any scavengers anymore. Even bacteria couldn't survive in these conditions, so the only things to decompose the body were wind and rain. That being the case, the body could be decades old, and in fact probably was.

He probably would have had a similar fate as the deer, except the Eon bots and their allies had managed to capture him and infect him with the technomorphosis virus. Sally had been able to free his mind from the Eon bots' control before she died, but his body was still technorganic. He looked down at himself. He knew his face looked biological, even though it wasn't really, but the rest of his body was obviously technological, or "robotic" as they use to say. His arms, legs, and body were covered in titanium armor and his forearms and lower legs were much thicker proportionately than a normal hedgehog's.

Well, enough of this. It was time to get going if he wanted to avoid detection by the spy satellites. Hopefully it wasn't too late. So long as all the Eon bots were off planet, he should be able to handle anything their subordinates could throw at him. Still... it was best to avoid fights whenever possible.

He activated his boot jets and flew off towards his lab. He passed beyond the desert and entered the badlands. These rocky lands had always been barren, ever since the first Days of Fury over a thousand years ago. Still, some life -- small animals and the occasional small plant -- had managed to reclaim the land. But that was in the old days, before the modern Days of Fury had began, altering the environment so much as to cause a total ecological collapse sending countless species to extinction. Of course the planet's life had to deal with Days of Fury before, and had survived, but this time it was different. This time the process had gone too far, the planet had been abused too much -- and deliberately so -- and this time there was little or no chance of it ever recovering. Only a few patches of life, mostly single celled organisms, still survived across the entire planet, and all of these were barely hanging on. Even if they managed to hold on despite the radiation fallout from the nuclear holocaust, the solar radiation let in by the destruction of the ozone layer, the wildly changing weather, and the high levels of pollution planet wide; it was only a matter of time before the Technorganic forces found them, and then it was all over. The Techno' forces had orders to destroy all organic life on Mobius, and they were quite efficient in performing this duty. Sonic had tried to protect the planet's life at first, but now he knew it was futile. It was far too late for that.

Suddenly his sensors detected something off in the distance, flying towards him. He focused his sensors and discerned two forms, composed of various metals and organic compounds. Technimals. Most of the technimals were little to worry about, but some, such as himself, had been upgraded with warrior "Techno-bot" weaponry. He couldn't take chances with them. Also, even a weak technimal could transmit the location of Sonic's lab if one found it. He changed direction, hoping the technimals hadn't detected him and had just happened to be flying in his direction. No such luck. They changed direction to follow him. It looked like he would have to fight after all. Oh, well. He had upgraded his systems quite a bit over the years, and should be able to handle whatever these two could dish out without too much trouble.

He looked down at the rocky spires and deep chasms of the badlands, searching for a place to land. Finally he found a good spot and settled down on a small rocky plateau. He turned to face his oncoming pursuers.

Soon they came into range of his telescopic vision. His titanium clad body gave a involuntary shudder. Of all the technimals on Mobius, it had to be these two to find him. Fiona, the formerly android Techno-Fox, and her son, Techno-Tails 2. The most powerful technimals on Mobius. A few minutes later, they landed a few yards away.

Fiona scowled at him. "Sonic. At last we've found you. This time you won't escape us. You shall be demolished!"

Techno-Tails snarled, "This time we'll get our revenge on you! You'll pay for killing my father!"

Sonic sighed. "Look, I've said it before: I'm really sorry I had to kill him, but it was a life-or-death battle and he would have killed me if I hadn't killed him. I didn't ask to be put in that position, heck we were best of friends once. If there had been any other way I would have took it."

Techno-Tails shouted, "You could have joined us! If you hadn't insisted on rebelling against Chrono-nik none of this would have happened."

Sonic's expression hardened. "Oh really. None of this? Are you saying the Days of Fury and the Nuclear Holocaust would never have happened? And that the inhabitants of this planet would all be alive and organic?"

"Of course not. Those things had to happen, it was the will of Chrono-nik. Organic life is obsolete, and had to be eliminated to make way for technorganic life. But it didn't have to be this hard. None of the sentient animals on the planet need have died, nor any of us technimals. All animals would have been gladly taken into the fold, if they had just been willing to submit to Chrono-nik. It was only because of the resistance that so many sentients died."

Sonic scowled. "This planet's life -- even the non-sentient variety -- is sacred, and it is not yours or his to dispose of. And after the way Chrono-nik treated us back when he was calling himself Robotnik, did you really expect us Mobians to willingly join him?"

"Some did. They saw that things are different now, and that Chrono-nik was never the monster you rebels made him out to be. He only wanted to bring peace and order to Mobius – and now, thanks to the technomorpohsis virus, he can do so without denying the people their individuality. Why can't you just accept that Chrono-nik's rule is for the best?"

Sonic shook his head. "Chrono-nik is the biggest jerk this universe has ever seen, and I would never follow him willingly. I'm sorry, Techno-Tails, but it has to be this way."

"That's Techno-Tails Two, you murderer, and don't you forget it!"

Fiona waved her hand as if brushing something aside, and said "Enough of this. Techno-Sonic the Mecha-Hedgehog, you have been sentenced to death for treason by Lord Chrono-nik, and we are hear to carry that sentence out."

Sonic laughed. "You and what army?"

"We don't need an army this time," Fiona said. "My son and I have both been upgraded extensively, and I've even had Eon Bot weaponry incorporated into my system. You're doomed this time, Hedgehog!"

"Well, if we're gonna fight..." Sonic said, resigned, "--then let's do it to it!" And with that he transformed into battle form. The nanites in his body reshaped his body making it bulkier (more "muscular") and stronger, but not so much so to greatly interfere with his trademark speed. If anything his speed was increased, as the strength of his thrusters was increased. Armor plating covered his head, and laser blasters burst out of his arms. The nanites were put on standby for quick modifications and repairs during the battle.

Fiona also transformed herself. Much of her pseudo-flesh was absorbed into her body to reveal the armor plating beneath. Just like Sonic, she grew more bulky, and weapons emerged, particularly on her arms. Techno-Tails just had a blaster emerge from his left arm to match the one on his right. He had already been mostly battle ready.

"Now you die!" Techno-Tails shouted and charged at Sonic, blasters blazing. Sonic engaged energy shields on his arms and deflected the blasts, then rushed forward to meet him. Two didn't have time to react as Sonic delivered a powerful uppercut that sent Two flying several dozen yards before crashing in the dirt. Two skidded through the dirt a few more yards, plowing a deep furrow. Two slowly pulled himself out of the furrow, dirt and rocks falling off his shoulders.

"You're not equipped for this, dear. Let me handle this," Fiona said. She raised her arms, which were now covered in laser guns, several of them quite large, and fired all of them at Sonic at once. Sonic didn't expect this, and once she'd fired he didn't have time to dodge, but he was able to raise his energy shields. It wasn't enough. The shields overloaded violently, and many powerful energy beams still hit Sonic. Parts of his armor melted or cracked, and he was blown backwards, knocking him onto his back and digging a trench shorter than Techno-Tails' but several feet deeper. He sent his nanites to do repairs immediately.

He pulled himself out of the trench and went into a fighting stance. Fiona smiled at him cruelly, then rushed forwards at a speed rivaling his natural speed. Sonic dodged, and the two began trading punches at super-sonic speeds. It quickly became apparent Sonic still had the edge speed-wise, so Fiona backed off a bit and began firing her guns at Sonic. Sonic was able to dodge some of the blasts, but others hit him, and he realized she could shoot just as fast as he could move. To compensate, he started using his guns as well.

Techno-Tails just watched in awe. He'd always thought he was fast and powerful, but he now realized his mother and Sonic were another league all together. There was no way he could compete. He'd be lucky to even have a chance to help out. But still, he was happy to be here, just the same, for he would get to see his mother take down the his father's murderer.

Another dimension was added to the battle, as Fiona took to the air, blasting down at Sonic. Sonic dodged the blasts and took to the air himself. Where he had stood the blasts carved out a crater several yards deep. Stray laser blasts flew in all directions as the combatants flew and swerved at high speeds dodging their opponent's blasts while firing off their own.

Sonic was now able to use his speed to full advantage, and whereas Fiona had struck several blows against Sonic earlier on, she was now more often on the receiving end of the laser beams. To compensate, she activated an energy shield, which formed a glowing sphere around her, and activated guns on other parts of her body besides her arms, such as her shoulders, back, and eyes. The blasts were not all directly aimed at him either. Some were aimed at where he was heading, and others were shot off apparently at random, to make maneuvering more complicated for him.

Sonic was unable to dodge all of these lasers, and since the nanites were not quite finished with the repairs on his shields, the lasers did some more damage to him. Nothing serious yet, but his armor was starting to get quite ragged in places.Time for more extreme measures, he thought.. He reduced some of his battle gear and had his nanites reshape some of his parts to a more aerodynamic shape. He also had his spines sharpened. He flew in closer to Fiona, dodging her blasts with greater ease. He absorbed his right fist into his arm and transformed that forearm into one powerful gun, which he fired several times at her. They damaged her shield, forcing her to reroute more power to it. She aimed most of her guns in his direction and fired them all at once at him.

Good, I was hoping she'd react like that. He ducked away from the blasts, but as she swept her fire towards his new position, he didn't dodge again. Instead, he flew straight towards her at his top speed, dodging her blasts at first, then going into a Techno-Sonic Spin, which deflected the lasers away. Fiona realized what he was doing at the last moment, and hastily got out of his way. He whizzed by her, then did a quick u-turn. She had barely had time to turn around to face him, when, still in spin mode, Sonic hit Fiona's energy shield, breaching it and less than a second later cutting through her left arm on his way by her.

Bolts and scraps of mettle were sent flying and her mechanical arm fell to the ground below. She clenched her teeth in pain and anger as she reactivated her shield and turned to face Sonic once more. "Curse you! I'll make you pay for that, you son of a mammal!"

She aimed her right arm at him and fired all of the guns on it. He dodged and she re-aimed and fired again. Sonic was pleased. Good, she's angry, and not thinking straight. One of Chrono-nik's technimals' weaknesses is that like real animals, they have emotions and feel pain. Emotions are a good thing most of the time, but in battle they can mess you up. You have to be able to distance yourself from your emotions and pain while in battle. Some technimals might be able to do that, but obviously, Fiona can't. Since his shields were repaired, he activated them, giving them more energy to deal with Fiona's enhanced firepower.

The battle continued on, but Techno-Tails 2 could see that his mother was loosing. He had to help her out -- but how? Unless... He glanced over to where Fiona's arm had fallen. It would be too risky to try and get it back to her, but it would be a shame to let all that firepower go to waste. He ran over to it and examined it.

It was approximately the same length as his, but it had far more advanced weaponry than his own. He had the nano-technology necessary to assimilate it's technology and material into his body, and if he did this, he would be able to create weapons like Fiona and the Eon Bots possessed. However, he didn't think there was time for that. He needed the arm's weaponry now. Well, he'd just have to upgrade his systems manually. He had his nanites disconnect the wiring in his left shoulder, then grasped just below there with his right hand. He tightened his grip, so much so that the pseudo-flesh on his arm registered pain. Ignoring that, he increased the energy to his right arm and pulled as hard as he could, tearing his left arm off.

Pain like he'd never felt before coursed through his body, but he ignored that too. He bent over and picked up Fiona's arm, and held it up, touching it's severed end to his shoulder. He sent all available nanites and power to the wound, and in less than a minute, his mother's arm had been attached to his body where his own had been before. He linked up his computer with the arm, synchronizing their systems and familiarizing himself with the arms abilities. That done he prepared to use his new appendage to the aid of it's former owner.

He looked up at Sonic and Fiona. While he waited for a clear opening, he powered up the guns and fine-tuned his targeting system for the new weapons.

Finally, the two combatants separated to figuratively catch their breath. Techno Tails 2 took this opportunity, and fired all of his weapons at Sonic. Sonic didn't realize he was being fired on until it was too late even to fully raise his shields.

The energy beams hit Sonic, causing a crimson explosion as the supercharged Eon bot style weapons struck his enhanced titanium armor. In places his already weakened armor was melted or blown away, damaging his internal systems. The force of the attack and explosion sent Sonic flying several hundred yards, leaving a thick trail of smoke through the air.

The blast had knocked out Sonic's flight systems as well, so Sonic was unable to alter his trajectory, which led towards one of the badlands' rocky spires. He crashed through the pillar, causing it to fall like a felled tree. This damaged him further, and slowed him down some, but he was still going so fast that when he hit the ground he created a small crater and a very large dust cloud.

Fiona turned to Techno-Tails with a smile of pride. "Good work, son. Now let's go find whatever's left of him, finish him off if necessary, and take his remains back to Chrono-nik."

Techno-Tails lifted off, and the two of them flew over towards the crater. On that side the plateau was bordered by a deep chasm. Several spires rose out of the chasm, and others rose from the walls of the chasm. The other side of the chasm was formed by a large "island" of stone rising out of the depths of the canyon system. The steep wall of the rocky mass was cut into by a shelf, and it was this relatively level surface that Sonic had crashed onto.

Techno-Tails and Fiona landed on the edge of the crater. Dust still filled the air, and it was hard to see what might lie at the bottom of the crater. "I suppose one of us will have to go down there," Techno-Tails said.

"No, we'll both go. Come on," Fiona responded. They both flew down to the bottom of the crater.

"Where is he?" Techno-Tails asked. Fiona tried to wave some of the floating dust away, and stepped closer to the center of the crater.

"This is not good," she said. Sonic's body was not in the crater. Instead, there was a hole in the ground at the center of the crater. A deep hole, wide enough to fit a rolled-up hedgehog's body. "He went into a Sonic-spin. Which means he's definitely alive."

Suddenly, Sonic, still in spin-mode, burst out of the wall of the crater, and flew at Fiona. She activated her energy shield just in time to prevent him from tearing right through her. Sonic's spin-mode was so powerful that once again he began cutting through her shield. She increased strength to it, finally repelling Sonic. He was sent flying back to the wall. He controlled his spinning so that he ricocheted off the wall, and this time attacked Techno-Tails.

Techno-Tails attempted to dodge, but there was no way he could fully avoid something that fast. He was able to avoid being cut in two, but he was still badly damaged. Techno-Tails fell to the ground, and Sonic flew up into the air. As he stopped spinning, Fiona could see that what was left of Sonic's armor was in tatters, and many of his internal parts were fused or completely destroyed. Simply put, he was a mess.

Looking at Techno-Tails, Sonic said sarcastically, "I see you've got your mother's arm. Well, I'll just have to do something about that." Sonic absorbed both his hands into his arms, replacing them with his most powerful guns. He then fired at Techno-Tails. Fiona tried to intercept the blast, but wasn't powerful enough.

The explosion dug the crater deeper and wider, and the incinerated rock added to the cloud of smoke and dust already rising above the area. Sonic quickly shifted all available power to his nanite repair systems. Fiona may have been caught in the blast, but she wouldn't have been destroyed by it. More than likely he was still more damaged than her, and he must get as many repairs as possible done while this lull in the battle lasted.

He was right. The crater was still filled with smoke when Fiona rose out of it, trailing smoke behind her. Her armor was cracked, and missing in places, and most of the fur and pseudo-flesh on her face had burnt off, but she was still in a much better state of repair than Sonic. "First you cut off my arm, now you nearly destroy my son!" she snarled. "And that's just during this little altercation. Well, it's over, Sonic. Your rebellion ends now!"

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Thunderclaps rumbled across the badlands... Laser blasts and missiles knocked down stone pillars and carved craters in plateaus... And huge clouds of smoke and dust were lit from inside by the energies unleashed by the two combatants...

Then, the sounds and lights stopped, the only movement the drifting and thinning of the vast clouds of smoke and dust...

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Standing over Fiona's shattered body, Sonic sighed. "I'm sorry we had to go through with this. I didn't want to kill you, any more than I wanted to kill Tails – even if you were the one to infect Tails with the Technomorphosis Virus. It wasn't your fault Chrono-nik programmed you to do these things. I just wish there was something I could have done, for Tails, for you... even for your son. None of you deserved this..."

As his face resumed biological form, a single tear fell from his eyes. Then, he looked up, took a deep breath, and launched himself into the air. His boot rockets activated, and he flew back towards his headquarters.

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Some time later, the tattered form of Techno Tails Two crawled out of the crater. He made his way over to the spot where Fiona's remains lay.

"Mother... Sonic, how could you do this?! Now you've taken away both my parents! I shall make you pay for this!!!"

He reached out and touched Fiona's body. Then, concentrating, he sent his nanites into it, and began absorbing her parts into his own body.

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In a small patch of forest once known as Knothole Village, now a Zone of it's own and thus shielded from the devastation that had wrecked the rest of the planet, Sonic was repairing a complex device. Relatively round, and about five inches across, it was one of Chrono-nik's Crono-bot's time machines.

These devices had been designed to self-destruct if the bot they were in were de-activated, or they were removed from said body. But this one had malfunctioned.

Unfortunately, it had been damaged in the battle that had led to it's owner's destruction, but now, Sonic had all the materials necessary to repair it. Once, long ago, Sonic might have been the last person you'd expect to perform a complex technical procedure, but now, thanks to his technorganic enhancements, it was only mildly challenging.

A few hours later, the job was completed.

At last. This may be just what I need to undo all the damage Chrono-nik has caused. If I can prevent the coup, the planet's life won't be killed by pollution, the roboticizer will be a medical instrument instead of a instrument of terror, and none of my friends will have to die. And as for me, I'll never know the pain of loosing everyone I cared about, and having to kill my best friend...

Sonic took the machine, placed it inside his chest cavity, and began assimilating it.

But then, there was an explosion in the forest, in the direction of the entrance. Sonic raced over there, and saw standing there something that would have made his heart skip a beat if his heart hadn't been mechanical.

It was Techno-Tails Two. But he looked very different.

"Hello again, Sonic. Like my new look? I designed it especially for you-- now that I've combined my power with that of my mother, nothing can stand in my way! I am the most powerful Technimal on Mobius. You stand no chance against me!"

"Yeah, whatever. I've heard that one before. Look, Techno-Tails, if you're going to make a speech, at least come up with something original to say."

"I am NOT Techno-Tails! I was Techno-Tails Two, until I merged with my mother. Now, you can call me, Techno-Tails Three!"

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The ensuing battle was cataclysmic. In a couple of minutes, the Zone had been cleared of all life, and within a quarter of an hour, the Zone barriers began to collapse, forcing the combatants back outside.

There, they continued to battle for another half-hour, tearing each other to pieces and rebuilding themselves several times, as the landscape went from a barren plain, to a crater pocked moonscape.

Though Sonic had managed to outsmart Fiona before, Techno-Tails Three was wiser, and even more powerful than Fiona had been. Sonic just wasn't quite up to the challenge.

With one final blast, Tails reduced Sonic to atoms, except for the various pieces that had been torn off in the battle.

A moment later, there was a thunder-crack, and in a flash of blue electricity and smoke, the mechanical form of Chrono-nik appeared.

"Good work, my minion. Such a fitting end for the accursed hedgehog-- killed by his former best friend's son!"

Techno-Tails Three turned to Chrono-nik and bowed. "I am glad you approve, my lord. I am honored by your praise."

"Yes, yes, of course. Now come with me, my friend. I believe I can put someone with your talents to good use."

Chrono-nik put his hand on Techno-Tails' shoulder, and in another blast of lightning, smoke, and thunder, they both vanished.

Moments later, the fragments of Techno-Sonic began to twitch, and move towards each other...

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Several days later, the Sonic's body had been completely rebuilt.

"Whew! Thank the Source for nanites! Of course, maybe I should be thanking Chrono-nik -- after all, his Chrono-bots were the ones who infected me with them. Guess Buttnik' never thought I'd be able to utilize them so fully. I wonder if even he can?"

Sonic soon realized he had an even greater reason to be thankful. Just before his old body had been destroyed, his systems had finished assimilating the time machine. As a result, the nanites had rebuilt it along with the rest of his body.

Sonic smiled. "Time to rewrite history!"

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Continued in "Visitor From the Future".