Chapter 1: It begins

(A/N: It gets better, don't worry. I suck at intros :( Oh well...)

Sonic's eyes flashed open the instant the second hand on his magnetically synchronized wristwatch struck 06:21:34. He leaped up from his not-particularly-comfortable cot, snatched up his gloves from his plain, wooden bedside table, slipped on his titanium, uber-padded, friction-resistant Power Shoes, hastily slung his watch, and glanced at the calendar in about five seconds.

"November 19," Sonic read aloud. "'K then. Might as well start my run." The 15-year-old hedgehog blasted out the door and into the cool air of Star Light Zone.

Sonic really enjoyed having been born with a more powerful variation of the mutagen his grandfather had initiated-that being the ability to break the sound barrier-and so, he also really enjoyed being able to show said mutagen off.

That's why he bought a home in the fastest zone he had yet visited, Star Light.

He always dashed through the zone at top speed if he woke up before 6:30, when his sister Sonia would awaken and insist that all return for a meal. Sonic didn't object, as he knew he needed a ton of energy in order to move quickly, his favored hobby, and the table was always chaotic. So come 6:30, Sonic shot back inside at 681 miles per hour, to find his siblings at the table. Sonia, his brother Manic, and his honorary brother Tails all waited in their camouflage outfits.

"What's go... oh... oh no... oh no, oh no, oh no..."

Tails calculated Sonic's horrified expression. "You forgot," he stated bluntly, "didn't you."

"Yeah..." Sonic whimpered. He had just remembered a terrible consequence of November 19. "Amy's birthday..."

Sonia spoke up. "Don't worry too much. All we'll be doing is stargazing in the main field. There's supposed to be a solar eclipse today."

"Well, I'm still worried about her glomping me." Sonic grumbled. "When're we leaving?"

"As soon as the eclipse gets into full blast," Tails stated, holding up a set of four handwritten invitations.

At 07:03:35, the total solar eclipse came into full effect. At Sonic's small Star Light abode, Sonia directed the other three to begin their
departure.

"Manic, board. Sonic and Tails, I want you over there at 7:15. DIG?"

"Y-Yes..." Sonic gulped. Amy would be all over him if he did go, true, but he'd have the combined wrath of Amy AND Sonia if he didn't… Just go. Your spleen will thank you.

"Alright then, and NO FUNNY BUSINESS SONIC!" Sonia boarded her lavender motorcycle and shot off, Manic and his Thermoboard Extreme Gear close behind.

Sonic and Tails arrived in the very center of the main field by 07:11:18. Sonia and Manic were waiting for them, as were Amy and her friend Cream.

"SOOONNNIIIC!!!" Amy screamed the moment the blue blur screeched to a halt.

"YoufinallygothereIwasafraidyouwouldn'tgetherebutyoudidsothatmustmeanyoulovemewithallyourheartandsoulandwecanfinallygetmarriedandhavelikeseventytwokidsorsomethingandbeacoupleandmakeallthesonamyfansswoonandallsortsofcoolromanticstuffand--"

"SHUT UP!" Sonic yelled, clutching his head and on his knees as he desperately tried to drive his imaginings of what Amy was describing out of his head.

"You sure took your sweet time getting here," Sonia remarked. "Not that I blame you."

"She doesn't usually glomp like that," Manic muttered bluntly as Amy did a dramatic sigh/swoon. "Must be the whole birthday thing."

A gold streak appeared on the horizon. "That must be Team Dark," Tails said.

Shadow the Hedgehog, Ultimate Life Form, had tried not attending one of Amy's parties before, saying that he wasn't the social type. The next day, he had been crushed four times by Amy's flippin' huge hammer. He had dragged Rouge the Bat, a thief and seductress, and E-123 Omega, the final and most powerful destructive robot in Dr. Eggman's E-series, along ever since, saying that it was good
for their spleens and/or internal auxiliary generators. Which it was.

Shadow, Rouge, and Omega--together they were Team Dark--skidded to a halt in front of a cowering Sonic.

"You've learned, eh?" Shadow's dark voice chiselled through the air between him and his blue look-alike.

Sonic smirked teasingly at Shadow. "Hard lesson to forget."

"I'll ignore that one. Good for my spleen." Shadow glanced over at Amy, who had woken up again and was now chatting with Cream
a few feet away. "So where's the Praetorian Guard?"

The blue blur's emerald eyes flashed towards the gargantuan forested rock floating over their heads. "He'll be down any second now."

Sure enough, a speck of red and white floated around the flying island for a few moments, and then began approaching the ground at
an alarming rate. Closer inspection revealed the speck to be a scarlet anthropomorphic echidna, with a streak of white across his chest and wearing white gloves over his large fists. Also prominent were two long, spiked knuckles on each fist--where the echidna had earned his name.

Knuckles burrowed into the ground on one side of Sonic and popped out the other. "What'd I miss?" the Master Emerald guardian
inquired.

Sonic glanced over at Amy. "Nothing much," he replied. But for some reason, Knuckles was chuckling tauntingly. "What?" Sonic asked, genuinely confused. Then he turned around...

...and saw the last thing he wanted to see at that moment. Amy took a deep breath:

"OMIGODyouactuallylookedatmeintheeyesandthatmustmeanyoulovemywithallyourheartandsoullikeIloveyouwithallmyheartandsouldandnowwecangetmarriedandstuffandbutIcantthinkofseventytwonamessoyouregonnahaftahelpmewithemandbutIdontcaresowecanbelikeacoupleandstuffandmakeallthesonamyfansswoonandbeawesomelyromanticandmakeoutforlikeanhouradayand--"

"STOP!!!" Sonic screamed, now rolling around in a ball on the ground.

"Uh... maybe we had better start actually stargazing now..." Tails "I mean, that's what we're here for, right?"

Amy didn't answer.

"Well, then... wanna do presents--"

"YAYPRESENTS!" Amy answered now.

It was somewhat uneventful--Sonic actually didn't bring a present, but Amy said she didn't care because "Just your presence here is a present enough," which creeped Sonic out to no end--until they arrived at Tails' present, which was a large, powerful, technologically stable handmade telescope. Which, of course, was eerily appropriate for the occasion.

"I made it myself a while back, but I didn't have any use for it. I thought you might like it," Tails explained.

"Whoa..." Amy gazed at it in awe. Without hesitating, she raised it to her eye and gasped.

The pink hedgehog could now spectacle the Space Colony ARK in astounding detail. By that, I mean she could literally see through the windows. She scoped around for a while until she happened upon a larger screen. It was quite thick, but by playing around with the focus enough, she could see inside the giant porthole. She could barely make out what it was: a white room, large and circular, with an all-too-familiar beast within.

"I can see the Biolizard from down here!" Amy gasped, amazed. Shadow's ears perked at the mention of his beastly brother, but otherwise didn't interrupt, so Amy continued. "Thanks tons, Tails, but I think I should let Sonic se through it now. He WOULD like a try, wouldn't you, Sonikku?" She looked at him seductively.

"Uh... sure, I guess, but DON'T TOUCH ME!" Sonic warned as he gingerly lifted the telescope from Amy's hands. The moment he lifted it to his eyes, though...


FLASH!

Sonic's jaw hit the ground the moment he laid eyes on what Amy's scope allowed him to behold. The next instant, he began barking orders.

"Tails! Load up the Blue Typhoon. I'm calling Eggman. All others, prepare for battle. It seems we have a war at hand."

It was a bit odd, really. Dr. Ivo Robotnik, who preferred to be called Dr. Eggman, had been Sonic's nemesis for three years. He wanted to unite his homeworld of Earth into a lone Utopia, but no one would listen to him. Furious, he built an army of robots and summoned the Chao god, Chaos. Sonic had ended the doctor's plots, but Eggman was persistent.

Apparently, however, two years ago, when Sonic had met the enigmatic black–and–red experiment who now beheld him in confused awe, Eggman had began revising his methods of gaining Utopia. When he did turn to using peace, Eggman Nega returned, trapping the positive doctor inside of a card. Now, he was attempting to make up for his years of evil--but his unfinished return gift was on Space Colony ARK.

Tails didn't question Sonic's bizarre motives, and Amy gladly handed over her cell phone for Sonic to ring the doctor. All the others tore off, headed for Dr. Eggman's laboratory.

"Hey Eggman!" Sonic didn't bother to remove the urgency from his voice.

"Sonic? What do you want?" the doctor's voice inquired.

"Two words." The blue blur's tone was still panicked, but it seemed edgier now. "Eggman Nega."

"What the--?" Now the positive Eggman was panicking.

"The others are headed your way. Get the Egg Fleet ready. This is big."

"Affirmed. Eggman out."

"Sonic out." Sonic put the cell behind his heel and took off towards Tails' flagship.