Chapter 1: You Knew From the Start!

"Today is the day," said Epsilon Theta. He was pacing back and forth in front of Black Doom, Mephile the Dark, and Neo Metal Sonic. They were all in a fortress that was once owned by Professor Beta. The reason he no longer owned it was...well let us just say that it is difficult to own anything from the depths of hell. Epsilon Theta, the pure embodiment of evil, continued. "Today will be the day that all of those accursed heroes who have defeated us so many times will be defeated-Sonic, Shadow, Silver, and Zenith Theta-" he spat out the last name as if it were poison. "-will be sent to spend eternity with Death and Satan himself."

Neo Metal, Mephiles, and Black Doom stared straight ahead as Epsilon continued with his scheme. "In order for this to be executed properly and efficiently, we must all be swift and decisive." He pointed to each of them as he spoke. "Metal Sonic, you will take Sonic and kill him. Mephiles, you will go to-".

Mephiles finally spoke. "'Take Sonic and kill him'? That's a pretty simple instruction for a difficult task. How do expect him to pull it off so easily?"

The metallic clone glared at Mephiles with daggers of hatred. He said nothing however, as he was wondering this as well.

Epsilon showed no anger at their lack of faith in his plans. "Because this time, Metal Sonic will be fueled by the power of pure Dark Energy, instead of some stupid animals." Epsilon approached Metal Sonic, arm outstrected. Metal Sonic backed away slowly, not to sure about this plan of Epsilon's. In fact, he was beginning to wonder why he was even listening to Epsilon. Suddenly, Epsilon was upon him, claws boring into his artificial skull. A dark mass poured down in veins from Epsilon's claws to Metal Sonic's head, down to the rest of his body. Black Doom and Mephiles merely watched, as if in a trance.

Once he was satisfied, Epsilon removed his claws. Metal Sonic collpased. Epsilon grinned. He raised his arms at his sides and stared down at Neo Metal's body. "By the powers of the one and only true Lord of Darkness, rise my minion and join my army!"

Slowly, Neo Metal Sonic's body lost it's blue-white scheme. The blue was replaced by black and white by crimson red. He rose from the ground and stared at Epsilon, as if waiting for orders.

Epsilon approached him, arms behind his back. "Do you serve me-Dark Metal Sonic?"

The newly renamed Dark Metal Sonic got down on one knee, as if he were being knighted. "I serve only you, my lord!"

Epsilon grinned, though any casual observer would not have noticed, due to the fact that Epsilon does not even have a visible mouth. "Good. Now, I want you to find Sonic the Hedgehog and once you do, terminate him."

The newly renamed Dark Metal Sonic rose, keeping his head bowed. "So be it, my lord!" He vansihed in a black void.

Black Doom and Mephiles began backing away. Epsilon turned toward them, immediately hopping upon Black Doom. He grabbed him by the horns and stared him in the eyes. Black Doom's green eyes turned crimson red and his skin turned scarlet red. "You serve me, and only me. You will not question my decisions and you will do as I command. Is that clear, Red Doom?"

Epsilon dropped from his horns, still staring in "Red Doom's" eyes. He bowed. "I serve only you, my lord!"

Mephiles shook his head, as if coming out of a trance. "Huh? Dammit-it happened again!"

Epsilon turned to Mephiles, a truly evil gleam in his eye. "I see you've awoken, Mephilestopheles. Welcome back."

Mephiles stayed his ground. "I should have expected this. You were planning this from the very beginning weren't you-from the moment Professor Beta tookus prisoner, you were formulating a plan!"

Epsilon casually examined his "figernails". "What can I say? You're smarter than you look, Mephiles." Epsilon suddenly extended his arm and grabbed Mephiles around his torso. "You might even be useful to me." He chuckled, but quickly stopped.

Mephiles broke free Epsilon's grip, shredding his arm. "Don't even try it. I wouldn't dare become a slave to you, Epsilon Theta." He rose into the air as he crossed his arms. "I am a God all my own!"

Epsilon recreated his arm, staring hard at Mephiles. "Really, Mephiles? It seems you and I are going to have a little argument then."

Mephiles answered as he launched himself at Epsilon. "So be it!"

ENOUGHISENOUGHISENOUGHISENOUGHISENOUGHISENOUGH

Zenith threw a punch in where he thought Iota was standing. Did not move from her position; she merely moved her head an inch to avoid the wild punch. "Nope. Keep trying."

"How am I supposed to hit you if I can't see1?" Zenith complained. He was wearing a blindfold, currently training. He tried a leg sweep in 360 degrees.

"That's just it," Iota said, hopping a bit to avoid the uncoordinated attack. "You 'sightful' people rely too much on sight. You need to use your other senses. You'd be surprised at what would happen if you-"

Iota suddenly stopped speaking. Zenith had brought his hand under her chin and had slammed her down hard on the padded floor. He loosed the blindfold, smiling triumphantly, this being the first time that he had beaten her in one of these training sessions. "Other senses," he secretly gloated. "Like hearing?"

Iota smiled in a way that said "I'll get you back for this", rubbing the back of her head. "I gave you that one," she said, extending her arm.

Zenith pulled her up. "Please, that was all me. You know, you can really chatter away if no one stops you."

As soon as she was up, Iota kicked Zenith in his back with her heel. "Hey, what's-?" Zenith began.

Iota fired blasts of her Erneigio at someone behind Zenith. "It's the Sentrixes!"

Zenith rose. "Sentrixes? Didn't we take down Beta a few weeks back?" He grabbed a Sentrix by the throat that was trying to sneak behind him. He dealt it a heavy shock of electricity. "And how did they find this place anyway?"

Iota shrugged, rolling to avoid gunfire. "Your guess is as good as mine." She gasped. "It doesn't matter anyway."

"What makes you say that?" Zenith asked as he fired a forked bolt of electricity at two Sentrixes.

"They have the place surrounded!" Iota cried.

"What? How many?"

"Enough to detain you here for eternity!" A Sentrix had a machine gun pointed directly at Zenith's forehead. "Do not move at all. The slightest flinch will result in the death of you and your girlfriend."

Several Sentrixes pointed their guns at both Zenith and Iota, preventing them from making any move without a serious risk to their health.

"What do you want?" Iota asked. "How did you get here?"

A raspy voice answered, taking a deep breath every so often. "I...do believe...that one...question...would answer...the other..."

"That voice..," Zenith breathed. "It sounds like...!"

An atrocious, skeletal figure approached them. It looked as if it had stepped through a fire and had had half of its flesh burned off, exposing its skeleton. It was even more disturbing to see its half-exposed mouth move as it spoke. "Yes...Zenith Theta...it is...I...Professor Beta..."