Chapter 1: Events of Yesterday

Over two hundred years had passed since Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends finally put an end to the villainous Dr Eggman's ambitions of global conquest. Although living to a great age, Dr Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik never produced another hostile robot after the day of his true defeat. Apart from the occasional alien invasion or malevolent ancient deity (both promptly dealt with by the furry heroes of the Earth), the years beyond saw peace and prosperity. By the time Silver the Hedgehog was born, human and animaloid culture had advanced to a point where space exploration and colonisation of the other planets of the solar system was a fact. The now seemingly ancient space station called Ark was joined in orbit by dozens more featuring advanced technology that even the prodigy Gerald Robotnik could not have imagined. It was a bright new age.

A few relics of two centuries past still existed and were recognised. Shadow the Hedgehog, the ultimate life-form who would never experience naturally the cellular degeneration commonly referred to as "old age", lived on. He had become a reclusive in recent years, remaining hidden away from civilisation onboard the long-abandoned space station that his adoptive father created. Another relic was the seemingly reincarnated criminal mastermind Dr Eggman, who insisted on the nickname "Nega" to distance himself from his failure of an ancestor. It was an oddity that the Robotnik family had produced to so many benevolent contributors to society since Ivo Robotnik, only eventually produce a great-great-great-grandchild who could've passed as Ivo's twin in both appearance and nature. Although is ambitions were ever as great as his ancestor, Nega never achieved the infamy in the modern age as his predecesor, mainly due to Nega's technology being hardly more sophisticated than that employed by the Guardian Units of Earth (GUE). It wasn't until Nega perfected his time-travel technology that he became a real threat...

But as had been the case two hundred years ago, there were heroes both willing and capable to defend the world from evil. Most prominent were Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat. Already the two had thwarted several of Eggman Nega's attempts to conquer the planet in the past. Currently Nega was keeping a low profile, since his latest time machine had been captured intact by GUE agents. Unlike Sonic, Silver and Blaze did not spend their time between missions just playing around, but rather kept themselves focused on their duty by training. Neither one had much of a social life, which was fine for the shy Blaze and insecure Silver. In combat they were formidable, but socially they were pretty much klutzes.

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Location: A ruin situated at the bottom of Rail Canyon - Former United Federation Continent.

Blaze stood on top of the rocks with her arms crossed over her chest, watching as Silver lifted yet another giant boulder out of the way with his psycho-kinesis.

"You be careful," Blaze warned, not for the first time. "You remember what happened when we excavated the Lava Shelter base."

"I remember, I remember," Silver answered with noticable annoyance. "Eggman's magma vents were still functioning. I should have checked properly before using my power on the control device."

He respected Blaze's superior experience and judgement, but sometimes he really wished she'd ease up a little.

"That's right. Our job here is to make sure the area is safe for the archeologists, so we have to keep watch for traps and dangers at all times."

"I know, I know."

Finally the way inside the complex was clear. Silver didn't object when Blaze went in first. She could conjure a flame in her hand to light their way ahead. It didn't take long for them to realise that there wasn't going to be much machinery in here still functional at all. From the looks of things, this building had originally been built on top of one of the canyon's many mesas. With the amount of dust and rust, it had to have been at least a decade since it fell into the ravine. Of course, even though Eggman's security measures would be ruined, there was still a strong likelihood of cave-ins, leaked hazardous chemicals, or unexploded shells. The two of them had to make a proper survey of the cavernous location before they could report back to the people at the research base.

"Look at these conveyor belts," said Silver. "This must have been one of Eggman's production plants. I wonder what he was making here."

"What else? Robots." Blaze responded.

"I meant what kind of robots."

"Does it really matter?"

Silver shrugged. "I guess not," he said.

Blaze moved her handheld flame around the wreckage, keeping it just close enough to see clearly, but not so close that she inadvertently ignite anything. The cat let out a gasp as the light fell on a familiar sight. She couldn't prevent herself from shivering at the sight of it, before she realised what she was really looking at.

"What is that?" Silver asked, walking closer. Then he jumped, too.

"Calm down," said Blaze, trying to pretend that she hadn't been just as frightened. "It's just a fake."

"But it looks just like him! I mean, not that I've ever seen him in person, but the pictures in the history books and-"

"And if you'd paid a little more attention in history class, you'd remember that Eggman once tried to produce an army of androids based on him. This must be one of them. You know, this is quite a find."

"I guess so, but can we please head back now?" Silver pleaded.

"Not until we're done!"

Silver cast one more sideways glance at the decapitated Shadow android. In the orange light of Blaze's flame, it was all too easy to imagine that the wires sticking out of its neck were arteries and veins. The hedgehog shuddered.

To Silver's relief, Blaze decreed that their work was done shortly afterwards. The rest of the base's interior was blocked off by large boulders and broken wall plating. Because trying to remove the blockage might cause a cave-in, the two were meant to leave such conditions alone. It would be a terrible tragedy to lose an important historical find like this to a thousand of rock. Because they never went further, Blaze and Silver never found that an even greater discovery lay dormant just beyond the barrier. However, it would soon be found, and then the rise of the greatest threat the world of the future had ever seen would begin.

In the next chapter:

- An old enemy awakens

- Some people are killed

- Blaze eats raw chilli peppers