Note: This story acts as a prelude for Sonic Heroes of Mobius

Green Universe ARC 10: Return of the Mechanix!

Part 1: The reformed Badniks

Badnik, the word was invented by Warlord Julian Kintobor after he renamed himself Dr. Ivo Robotnik. He used the word to name the collective legions of robots he created, these legions were known as the Badnik Horde. Over the years the Badniks have had various models, some like the SWATbots were stolen designs. The truth about the word Badnik though has its roots much deeper than Julian's creations. It was one of the various insults that Oliver Robotnik was called in his youth, he was called this to address his old Badnik designs that used small animals and Mobini as living batteries. Before Dr. Oliver renamed himself Dr. Eggman, the old Badnik insult resurfaced when he used it to address how his step-brother Julian was behaving during the Great War and the beginning of the First Robotnik War. The Badniks had but one primary goal apart from acting as the backbone of the Robotnik Empire, Eggman Empire and Neo Eggman Empire. And that goal is to overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers. The Badniks initial designs were meant to mimic animals and Mobini, virtually all of them had some kind of weapon or combat feature for defense. But these initial designs would prove to be powerless against powerful Mobian fighters such as Sonic the Hedgehog.

The threat of these powerful Mobians became so great, that Julian Robotnik and Oliver Eggman created what they called Super Badniks. The earliest known Super Badniks were the Elite Coconuts, the Elite Grounder and Scratch the Robot-Chicken. These three were known as the Super Special Sonic Search and Smash Squad, or S6 Squad for short. Though the trio could've taken down Sonic, they suffered from big egos that were a result of the development of their A.I systems and as a result ended up in many comical defeats at the hands of Sonic and Freedom Fighters. After these initial Super Badniks failed, Julian Robotnik created the original Metal Sonic, this Metal Sonic (sometimes called Mecha Sonic) would be damaged, salvaged, rebuilt and upgraded many times over the course of his existence. The second time Julian's Metal Sonic saw action, two other Super Badniks with very advanced A.I systems would turn against the doctor. This special duo was called the Mechanix because of the fact they specialized in repairs for Julian's forces in record time, but they ultimately were able to develop their own personalities and a sense of free will in order to become forces of good.

Over the years Super Badniks have had many designs and abilities, from the versatile Metal Series of Super Badniks, to the elite E-100 Series. As the years have rolled by some of these Super Badniks have developed free wills and helped save Mobius from the terror of the various Dr. Eggman forces. And right now in Mobotropolis on Westside Island, a group of these Super Badniks turned good is training. The training was under supervision from Sir Charles Hedgehog and Nicole the Holo-Lynx.

Out in the training fields Heavy & Bomb were working on their new rapid attack powers. Heavy as his name suggests is a very heavy silver Badnik with spring like legs. Heavy is well known for his kind nature and never giving up on his friends and allies, he was also amazingly strong for an early model of Super Badnik. But his most unique ability was the ability to create small mobile bombs. These bombs were actually a Badnik called Bomb, Bomb was perhaps the one creation of Dr. Robotnik's that had more close calls and knew what it was like blowing up. Contrary to what some people think, whenever one of the bombs Heavy creates blows up, it isn't the end of good old Bomb. He has the ability to send his programming into the next Bomb body that Heavy creates. Bomb has gotten use to making one of his replica bodies blow up multiple times while on the job, he sees Heavy as a brother figure in many ways. Bomb was very similar to some of the old bomb like Badniks created by Dr. Eggman, except he had his own unique and advanced A.I system that gave him quite a mouthy and sarcastic personality. Thankfully he prefers to speak in his own unique robotic language that sounds just like a simple "ping" sound whenever he speaks. Heavy & Bomb on two occasions were captured by Neo Dr. Eggman and reprogrammed for evil, but thanks to Rotor the Walrus and Tails, the duo was restored to normal and became members of the original Team Freedom.

The rapid attack involved Heavy tossing Bomb into objects rapidly, the process was at this point on pare with the skills of Bean the Duck. Another former Super Badnik busy training was Shard the Metal Sonic, Shard is actually the very original Metal Sonic robot that was created by Julian Robotnik many years ago. Shard was initially like any other Badnik, having evil programming bent on the destruction of Sonic the Hedgehog. In an artificial Stardust Speedway Zone, the two raced for the freedom of Tails and Amy Rose. However Shard's engines overheated and melted his legs, the Super Badnik crashed. Later on Shard was salvaged, repaired and upgraded into a Super Badnik that was the first to use a Power Gem, one of the rarest and most powerful materials on Mobius next to the Chaos Emeralds. Shard was able to tap into the energy of the Power Gem in order to turn into Titan Metal Sonic, or Metal Sonic Kai. After this defeat, Shard would spend years evolving until he gained some new abilities and due to the old programming made by Julian Robotnik. Shard had a very evil personality, however after he witnessed Tails and Sonic's loyalty to each other he had a change in his programming, he was becoming more and more lifelike, unfortunately he developed this when his final death trap plan which involved a volcano was going off. Shard then used all of his skills to make sure Sonic and Tails escaped, his body was melted by lava but his Power Gem survived. Shard would later be rescued by the Secret Service of the Kingdom of Acorn. His data would then be used to help in the creation of the Metal Sonic Troopers that were commissioned in the half year of Sonic's absence. Shard was later rebuilt from parts of a Metal Sonic and the Metal Scourge robot, in order to act as a member of the Secret Freedom Fighters. Shard's last secret mission involved him taking on Metal Sonic v3.7 which was powered by Neo Dr. Eggman's last Power Gem. This battle severely damaged Shard, and if not for the Time of Miracles he could've been lost.

Shard has many combat powers like that of Sonic, but he also possesses flight and minor polymorphic abilities with his arms. The other robotic being training with the former Super Badniks, could hardly be considered a true Badnik. The name of the robotic being is Gemerl the Gizoid, he was created by Dr. Eggman from the remains of Emerl the Gizoid, he also had most of the programming of Emerl which allowed Gemerl to remember his past life before being rebuilt and reprogrammed by Dr. Eggman. The Gizoid has amazing strength, agility and flight, he can potentially copy any combat abilities he encounters, but because of his past experience he makes sure to delete information after each and every mission. He keeps his base powers which are an even level of Team Sonic's powers.

The four machines were beings in their own right, each of them had that Spark of Life similar to Nicole and Nicolas. Or Ghosts in the Machine, these unique phenomenon were beyond the explanations of science, but some believe it could be connected to Cyber Space. "Keep it up." Chuck said to the group.

"You got moxie kid!" Shard joked with Gemerl as they flew alongside each other.

Gemerl decided to joke. "Technically I'm a fossil by your standards Grandpa. But thanks for the compliment."

Shard rolled his eyes. "Oh boy."

Heavy & Bomb were enjoying the training session. "This is surely a glorious test of our skills Bomb."

"Ping!" Translated Bomb said. "Yeah! Bring it on Heavy! We can take these test dummies!"

Nicole chuckled a little as she watched the boys work. "Looks like Shard is as much of a smart Alek as my nephews." Sir Charles thought aloud as he watched the Metal Sonic working.

"It seems like the revival initiative for these former Badniks has gone well. If I say so myself." Nicole stated as she scanned the progress of the former Badniks.

Shortly after the training session was done the four Badniks gave each other a high five. "Looks like you newer machines are good." Gemerl stated as he approved of the trio he worked with.

"Thanks Gemerl." Shard said.

The group walked around the city after they went in for repair work. They enjoyed feeling the breeze on their metal bodies as they saw citizens free of fear. "Say guys, have you ever wondered if we should call the team, Team Freedom?"

"Can't say I have Gemerl. I thought that Princess Sally saved that name for her new Freedom Fighters." Heavy said as he scratched his head. His red boxing gloves felt nice.

Gemerl was thinking for a moment, he then thought of the old name that Heavy & Bomb use to go by back in their days as a team. "Say Heavy. What was that designation that Julian gave you and Bomb?"

"Mechanix. He named us that to reflect our skills in repairing things. Come to think of it, Bomb and I hardly do that much fixing these days." Heavy carried Bomb on his back as they walked through a park.

"Hmm… That's it! From now on! We're going to be called!" Before Gemerl could finish his sentence, Nicole interrupted the group, she was running in her hologram form alongside Rotor and Antoine.

They whistled at first to get the group's attention. They then yelled out, "guys!"

Gemerl turned. (Right as the good part was happening…) He then looked at Nicole. "What's up boss lady?"

"A massive Badnik force has moved in on what was once the Chemical Plant Zone." Rotor said after catching his breath.

Gemerl wasn't really familiar with much of the world, he didn't recall the Chemical Plant Zone at all. "What's the Chemical Plant Zone?"

Nicole then used her handheld form to project a hologram. "Long ago Dr. Oliver Eggman, created the Chemical Plant Zone as a means of stockpiling chemical fuel for the original Death Egg. We've off and on dealt with Badnik scouts in the area, but he seems to have quite a Badnik squad dispatched."

Shard scratched his chin. "I guess he got sick of us beating him across the globe, so now he's come back to our home for his old base."

"Given how many Egg Bases the doctor has made. And how many he had on our island alone. It's hard to understand why he's trying to reclaim the old place." Rotor stated.

Heavy nodded. "Aye! We didn't even know of his base on the island where he made the Genesis Wave. He must have plans to use it to fuel something big again."

"Ping." Translated Bomb said. "Yeah, which means big explosive trouble."

Shard scratched his nose for a moment. "No doubt he sent these guys from Metropolis Zone. Considering that old city is locked down, it doesn't surprise me that a secret Badnik attack would happen."

Gemerl then began to float into the air using the engines on his back. "Enough talking. I say we go and scare the Badniks away."

Gemerl took off ahead of everyone else. "Scare the Badniks? Right…" Shard said with a hint of sarcasm as he and the others took off.

Rotor then said, "I'll get Bunnie and Antoine and rendezvous with you guys at Act 2 of the Zone!"

Later on at the Chemical Plant Zone. The A.I and robots were scanning the former Egg Base and observing the activity of the Badniks. They looked at a group of Egg Pawns which were E-1001 units, though inferior next to Super Badniks, they made up the majority of the military model Badniks of the Eggman Empire. "Looks like Eggman has made this an official military operation."

"No kidding fossil." Shard joked with Gemerl.

Gemerl looked at the Badniks and ignored the comment of Shard. "Hmm… Looks like their mostly just guarding… This is off…"

Shard then morphed one of his hands into a laser cannon. "I say we just start blowing them up."

"Actually I don't think that's a good idea Shard. Using lasers could trigger a massive explosion with all of this fossil fuel." Nicole said as she lowered Shard's cannon.

Heavy rubbed what passed off for his chin. "Looks like you'll have to set this one out old chap. Can't risk blowing everyone up."

"Ping, Ping." Translated Bomb said. "Oh sure, of course. I'll gladly just set this one out after running out here. Maybe we should've thought of that back in Mobotropolis where I'd be practically safe right."

Gemerl looked at the Badniks. "Seems like their just using shields and lances. I guess Eggman was thinking when he sent in Badniks after all."

Shard got bored and decided to lead the charge. Nicole used her shielding abilities provided by her Power Ring to keep Bomb safe while the other three smashed up the Badniks. "Can't say I'm used to seeing this, the Badniks just vanish in black smoke after we trash them."

"Seems like the old type of Badnik design of Eggman's making. It's preventing these ones from making fiery or electrical explosions. Good thinking on his end." Heavy said as he smashed the head of an Egg Pawn, the Badnik then puffed into black smoke.

"Yeah, Dr. Eggman had some odd ways of making his machines. But when I was working with him he seemed to have two major design types. This is clearly the classic design that makes sure no parts go flying out when we destroy them." Gemerl said as he Spin Dashed into a group of Egg Pawns.

Later on Rotor arrived with Antoine, Bunnie and Tails. Tails flew the Tornado over the second Act of the Chemical Plant Zone. "Looks like we made it in time." Rotor said as he and the others helped smash up the remaining Egg Pawns.

Later on the heroes reunited after all of the Egg Pawns were destroyed. After they exchanged information with each other, Shard noticed Tails had some kind of bracers underneath his gloves. Nicole and Rotor then begun to go into details on what exactly Tails had.

Mobotropolis Science Center a few Weeks ago.

Nicole and Rotor were busy working on a revolutionary device to help out their friends and allies. "Looks like the last batch is almost ready." Rotor said as he worked hard, his goggles were on to protect his eyes from all of the sparks.

Nicole was carefully placing a series of bracers into neat cases. She grinned and hummed happily as she helped with the finishing touches. "I think these will be one of our best creations to date."

"I don't doubt that. If everything works out we'll have something valuable not even Eggman can use." Rotor grinned as he finished the last set of special bracers he and Nicole had been working on.

Eventually over a dozen heroes and anti-heroes arrived at the Science Center. And of course with Team Hooligans in the mix there were some initial tensions. "Since when did you three jokers count as our friends or allies?" Sonic asked Fang the (Wolf) Sniper with an irritated look on his face.

"That's no way to talk to your adopted uncles, mate. Did you forget I'm really The Fang the Sniper, and how Bark, Bean and I became Green's adopted uncles?" Fang spoke in an Australian accent

Sonic didn't like Team Hooligans because in the past Fang aka Nack had been hired to attack Sonic and the Freedom Fighters. And the first time Sonic met Bark and Bean, they were hired to ruin his birthday and possibly terminate him. Of course the trio claimed they were only acting in order to test the new heroes, and of course it was proven that they are in fact the original Team Hooligans who were war heroes in the Great War. But Sonic could hardly forgive them for what they did in the past, even Knuckles was suspicious of the trio. Rouge the Bat didn't care much for them either after the battle to claim the Cyan Sol Emerald, along with her own past with the group. But thanks to Green, Rouge was able to find some form of forgiveness for Team Hooligans, Fang did adopt her after all. It happened when she was only a baby, he found her in the burning ruins of a village of Mobian Bats living somewhere in Soumerca.

Green the Hedgehog arrived alongside Mighty the Armadillo, Ray the Flying-Squirrel, Team Sonic which was made up of Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower and Knuckles the Echidna. Vector the Crocodile's Team Chaotix which included Espio the Chameleon and Charmy Bee was also present, Mighty was silent to Knuckles because they parted on bad terms. Team Rose which was made up of Amy Rose, Big the Cat, Cream the Rabbit & Cheese the Chao were there as well, of course people know Team Rose officially had Blaze the Cat as a member of the team, Big takes the place of Blaze when she isn't present. Rouge was the only member of Team Dark present, after Shadow gave his life saving Green and the world from the Gizoid the team started to fall apart, Hope Kintobor left G.U.N during the Time of Miracles and E-123 Omega has been missing for several weeks now. Rouge was sad that she lost the rest of her team, and was looking for Omega deep in Dr. Eggman's holdings. The only other team there was Team Sandopolis, which was made up of a trio of ancient Mobians who were discovered by Green the Hedgehog and Max the Echidna. The team members are Ra-Zor the Crow, Cutter the Black Ant and Mia the Salamander, they became good friends with Green and Max over the years since their revival in some Sandopolis ruins where they were in cryo-pods for a thousand years.

"Welcome everyone! You have all been gathered here for a very special occasion." Nicole the Holo-Lynx said as she held her hands behind her back. "We know that some of you are good friends." As Nicole said that, Green hugged Fang and Rouge, Cream hugged Amy. "And some of you don't see eye to eye all the time." As Nicole said that, Bean made faces at Sonic for the fun of it, and Mighty and Knuckles refused to look at each other.

"But we all have always had one thing in common. Our struggles against the forces of the Eggman Empire." Rotor came out while carrying a remote in his right hand. "So, Nicole and I have collaborated on a brand new device that'll give us an edge, one that embraces the power of friendship and teamwork." Rotor pressed the button, robotic stage doors opened up on the stage behind Rotor and Nicole. Then robotic arms holding seven briefcases came out of the ground, the gloved robotic hands then opened up the cases and revealed bracers that matched the colors of the heroes and anti-heroes. Rouge's special bracers had a violet color to them to go with one of her alternate spy suits.

Nicole and Rotor then gestured at their creations with big smiles on their faces. "May we proudly present, The Team Formation Bracers!" The bracers glimmered in the stage light.

"Or T.F.B for short. These unique bracers are meant to be used in sets of three, by teams with three members. They work by allowing the wearer to share powers with his or her teammates while they're in a formation. For example, if say Sonic was in Speed Formation, then Tails & Knuckles would gain Sonic's speed and Homing Attack powers. If Knuckles was in Power Formation, than he could safely use Sonic & Tails like projectiles thrown with his level of strength and they'd teleport back to his side unharmed. The same would be true if Tails used Fly Formation to Thunder-Shoot Sonic & Knuckles as projectiles." Rotor explained as he handed Team Sonic their Team Formation Bracers.

Nicole then scratched her head. "Due to issues with Fly Formation, rather than having the other teammates fly. They'll just grab ahold of their team member's feet, and the flier of the team can hover forever. But flying is limited due to the weight of carrying other people." Nicole then began to take scans as Team Sonic tried out the Team Formation Bracers.

"This is some sweet stuff guys. I think you made something that'll finally help us all juice fast." Sonic smirked.

Green noticed that his bracer was able to lock in with vertically anyone's, but right now it was set for formations alongside Mighty and Ray. Green then helped to settle things with his friends and allies in regards to the differences they had with each other. He was sorry that Shadow and Omega weren't here.

Rouge took the two Team Formation Bracers meant for her two old members. She decided to hold on to them in case they ever returned. "I'll see you around."

Chemical Plant Zone, Present Day

"Sounds like a lot of stuff." Shard said.

Antoine nodded. "Oui, but we never expected what was happening next." The coyote decided to tell more of the story.