Dislcaimer: I do not own any Sonic characters or trademarks, they all belong to Sega and Sonic Team. I only own the original characters I made up myself.

Prologue:

For years now, in another dimension, there has been a tournament entitled the Primo Battle Tournament. Once a year, the tournament is hosted by a group of mysterious monsters hiding behind masks, known as the Mystic Four. The strongest, and the leader of the group, runs everything that has to do with the tournament, the others are just his partners in the tournament. He had made sure to invite the strongest of every dimension's world, but for some reason, Earth had always slipped under him. After closely invetisgating this strange planet he noticed certain individuals who would be perfect for the Primo Battle Tournament.

Chapter 1: An Invitation to a Battle

A small young fox is seen sitting at the edge of a white chair place crookedly next to the kitchen table. Holding in his hands is an envelope sealed with a sticky figure of a mask. He looked down at the strange letter with an inquistive expression, and he could feel the envelops terrible demeanor in his hands.

A hedgehog, better known as Sonic to his friends, came walking past the kitchen, and spotted his tiny. Seeing the trouble look on his face, Sonic quickly scuffled to his side. "Hey, Tails, have you seen Chris?"

Tails slowly turned to look at the blue hedgehog before him, "Sonic, look at this letter."

Sonic hadn't realized that Tails was holding an envelop, so he was surprised when he saw the white paper fold being handed to him. "Huh, I wonder what it is?"

Tails shook his head, "Who knows? But it feels rather strange being in my hands."

Sonic looked down at the white paper in his hands. At a quick glance, it seemed like a pretty normal envelop. The one omnious thing about it was the odd seal, and how it was specifically designated for Sonic.

Sonic was skeptic about opening it, and he knew Tails was even more suspicous. He took a quick glance at Tails to let him know he was about to pry it open.

"Sonic, be careful, we don't know who sent that thing."

It was too late, by the time Tails had warned Sonic, he was already reading it. A relief to both Sonic and Tails, it was just a piece of paper giving instructions on where to meet the mystery writer of the letter.

Sonic scowled at the message, because the person who had sent this letter wanted to fight him. "Tails, do you know who sent this?"

"I have no idea," Tails admitted.

Sonic threw the letter down on the ground, "I bet it was that stupid Shadow. Always trying to cause trouble. I guess I'll just have to show up and beat him like always."

"Sonic, I wouldn't count on it being Shadow. I mean, why would he seal it with that strange token?"

(A/N: This story is supposed to take place AFTER Shadow the Hedgehog, and since that game isn't out yet, it probably doesn't follow its ending)

As much as Tails wanted it to be Shadow, something told him it wasn't likely. The entity of the person who sent it seemed to be embedded with the note itself. It was like the feeling you get when you know something is going to happen, but you can't pin point it with your finger, you can only wait to see if your signs were right.

Sonic's anger was triggered, and there was no talking him out of following those instuctions. He didn't care if it was Shadow or someone else sending this invitation to a battle, he just wanted to knock their heads off for sending him such a cowardly note.

"C'mon Tails, we're going to Emerald Coast."

Tails shook his head, "Emerald Coast?"

"Yeah, that's where this 'mystery man' wants to meet us. Let's go so I can beat his head in and get this over with!"

Sonic quickly bashed through Chris' front door and sped toward Emerald Coast, where he was going to meet this mystery man.

Tails had no desire to follow Sonic, but the horrid feeling inside of him obligated him to follow his blue friend.

Sonic came to a stop after spotting Knuckles snoozing on a hill top. The sun was diectly aiming at him, and gave his fur an extra shiny look. The blue sky above him was mixed with different shades of blue and some white from the clouds. It was a beautiful day, indeed.

Knuckles awoke from his nap as soon as he heard Sonic's belting feet come to a sudden stop.

Grass shot on to the resting echinda, alarming him. He quickly jumped up, with his fists in front of him.

"Ah! What is your problem Sonic? Can't you see I was sleeping?"

Sonic ignored his remark, "Knuckles, you want a fight, I'll give you a fight!"

Knuckles raised an eyebrow, and shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

Before he could get his answer, Knuckles was shot on to the ground by a quick jab from Sonic.

Up in the stretching sky, Tails' voice called down, "Sonic! Wait a minute, I don't think it was Knuckles who sent that letter!"

Knuckles was back on his feet, but still confused as to why he was suddenly attacked by his friend Sonic. "Sonic, you're crazy!"

Sonic snickered, "You're the one sending me stupid annoymous letters asking for a fight."

Tails landed next to Sonic, panting because he was flying so fast trying to keep up with him, "Listen Sonic, you have to stop this, you know Knuckles didn't send that enevelope."

"What letter? What in the world are you two talking about?"

Sonic in shame looked away from his friends, "I suppose it was stupid of me to just assume it was you Knuckles. Sorry for hitting you."

"Yeah, no problem, you owe me one," Knuckles grinned.

"Sorry to intrude in your fun guys, but I have a feeling we've never met this person before. Something tells me, he's from another 'world.'"

Knuckles crossed his arms in front of his chest, "Yeah, right. Listen kid, you need to put those comics down and start living in the real world. There is no other 'world.' Just one little world called Earth."

"The little fox may have something going there, you know." A mysterious voice came from behind them.

Sonic narrowed his eyes, tying to figure out if he recognized the voice. He couldn't remember ever hearing it, so he turned to find out who it was.

To his surprise, it was what appeared to be a human. He was wearing a red mask with yellow horns poking out near the mouth area. The mask had a profrane look, with a twisted mouth in the form of vile and wide smile. The eye holes were black, and the actual eyes of the human were not apparent.

"Who the?" Knuckles asked under his breath.

"Heh, I'm sorry, where are my manners? The name is Klade, one of four of the Mystic Four."

Tails backed away from the man slowly, until he was a couple paces behind Sonic. "I think this is the person who sent the letter."

Sonic grinned, "So, you're the guy who sent the letter?"

"The Mystic what?" Knuckles asked, "I swear, I'm so confused right now."

Klade was staring directly at Sonic, inspecting him, for this was the being his master had send him to defeat. First, however, he wanted to explain to Sonic and his friends what was going on. "Yes, it's true, I sent the letter to your friend Chris' house. As for the Mystic Four, you'll know who we are real well, real soon."

Knuckles disregarded being confused, because he now percieved this masked man as danger. His fists shot up in a fighting pose, "Tell us what you want."

Klade nodded, "My master sent me to fight you three. To be honest, he sent me to fight Sonic, but while you're all hear, why not have some fun."

Sonic tilted his head up a beat, and observed Klade, "Why did you send this letter annoymously, and why did you choose Emerald Coast for out fighting spot?"

"I sent the letter annoymously hoping your curiousity would urge you to show up. As for Emerald Coast, I could not care less where we fight. I only wanted you here so you could drag that echidna into the fight."

Knuckles smirked and then tapped his chin with one of his large fists, "Hey, if you wanted me, why didn't you just say so? I'd be honored to punch your lights out!"

Knuckles began to rush toward Klade.

The cry of battle screaming in Klade's ear was beginning to irritate him, but he remained still. The wind was blowing his mid-back length hair behind him, and his long gray trench coat was waving like a flag on a pole.

"Whoa! Knuckles, be careful" Sonic called.

Knuckles was in range of landing a punch, he launched his fist forward. Klade at the last second, dodged the fist, and retaliated with his own strike. The attack sent Knuckles on to the soft dirt, and sent him sliding for a few second.

Klade released a sinister laugh, "I could have dodged that attack several second before then, but I wanted to give you a feeling of comfort."

Both Tails and Knuckles came speeding to their injured friend's side.

A large indention of where Knuckles was hit made Tails yelp. "Knuckles, are you alright?"

Unlike Tails who was frightened, Sonic was burning with rage. He looked over at Klade, with the eyes of a determined fighter.

"This is where you've crossed the line, Klade. I'm going to reduce you to bits!" Sonic was about to rush towards his new found enemy, but Knuckles held him by his arm.

"Wait a minute," Knuckles was back on his feet, but the bruise on his right cheek was still present, "if we work together it'll be easier."

Tails had to dig deep to find the courage to push him to join them, "I'm coming too. This guy is really strong, and I think I could help."

Sonic grimaced, "Don't be ridiculous, you could be killed. Just stay back Tails, this is going to get intense."

"Enough chatter," Knuckles punched the ground, "let's send this guy to hell!"

Both Knuckles and Sonic in unison charged toward Klade. Klade was stiff as stone, and his stance gave off a rather bored vibe.

Knuckles glanced at Sonic, "You get the top, I'll go in with my fists."

Sonic hopped into the air and curled into a ball, "Just becareful!"

"Worry about landing your attacks, not me Sonic."

Klade spotted Sonic from above, and Knuckles charging at him on ground. He had underestimated the two, and didn't realize they would have they had split up.

Knuckles began to launch a series of devastating punches even before he was in range. It was a rather tactical move, because now it would be harder for Klade to physically stop him. Klade also had Sonic to worry about, who in form of a ball, was shooting down toward him.

"Let the fun begin, boys!" Klade pointed his finger toward Knuckles, and manipulated him up into the air.

It took some second until Knuckles realized he was no longer on solid ground, but behind Sonic and about to crash into his attack.

"Sonic! Stop, I'm going to crash into you?"

"What?"

Beofore either one could do anything, Knuckles smacked Sonic on the back, and the velocity of Sonic spinning sent Knuckles soaring.

Sonic hit the ground first, landing only a couple of paces in front of Klade. He could barely move, because the impact of the fall had knocked the wind out of him. Klade quickly dashed at him and kicked him backwards, sending him tumbling.

Knuckles hit the floor second, and again slid for a few second. He slowly staggered to his feet, and frantically searched for his partner.

Sonic was looking over his shoulder, searching for Knuckles, "Hey, you are you alright?"

Knuckled nodded his head, and took a step next to Sonic. He brought his fists in front of his face, back into his favorite battling position. "Looks like we'll have to switch up our battle strategy."

"Yeah, what happened back there? All I remember is you yelling something, and then SMACK!"

"It seems this guy can some how control us."

Tails was behind them, listening to every word. "No, Knuckles, not control you guys, but control gravity itself. He lifted you up in the air with his psychic powers and steered you toward Sonic, who he had stopped from descending."

Knuckles groaned, and looked at Sonic, trying to avoid more of Tails' 'I told-you-so' remarks. "So, what are we going to do now?"

Tails interrupted, "I was studying his attacks, and I noticed he controled you guys by pointing at you. See, his powers are strong, but he had a limited range of control."

"What are you trying to say Tails?" Sonic asked.

Tails grinned, "Well, he only has two hands, and there're three of us."

Knuckles slammed his fist on to the ground, "Fine, you can help, just don't cry if you get hit."

"I won't, I promise."

Sonic nodded and agreed to letting Tails fight, "So what's the plan Mr. Genius?"

"It's quite simple," Tails glared at Klade, "You and Knuckles take the ground, and I'll get the air. Sonic, since you're the quickest, you can sneak past him and get him from behind. He'll be vulnerable to our attacks once you strike him, and then we all three come in and attack."

Klade's patience was diminishing, "Are you guys done chattering?"

Sonic glanced at Knuckles, then Tails, "Alright, Team Sonic, full speed ahead!"

All three, boosted at Klade with earnest intensity. The plan was set, all they needed to do was perform it.

Tails was hovering above them, trying to make himself a deoy.

This time, Knuckles was trying a different approach, and putting more power into his attack. It wasn't a flurry of punches, instead it was one big flaming punch. The fire surrounding his fists made him even squint. One of these, and Klade might be toast.

Sonic was taking advantage of his speed and aiming to get behind Klade, but it was difficult because Klade had his eye on him, and his hands were slowly positioning to shoot psychic powers.

Knuckles was gaining on Klade, with his fist only about four feet from contacting. Klade directed his powers towards Knuckles, and quickly lifted him up and just as quick shot him back down. Knuckles clattered on to the ground, and layed motionless, except for a few twithces spread by thirty seconds.

This gave Sonic enough time to reach behind Klade. He surged up into the air and packed himself into a sphere once again, only this time he wasn't spinning.

Tails came zooming by and snatched Sonic into his hands. Using all his strength he shot him down at Klade.

"What the hell?" Klade was astonished.

The coiled Sonic slammed on to Klade's chest, sending him stumbling backwards. Sonic's abudant body bounced off of him. He released himself from the ball position and landed a kick straight into Klade's face.

Klade collapsed backwards, and Sonic landed on his feet. Tails came to his side a moment later.

Sonic was standing on Klade's chest, staring down at him with the look of a disgraced master. "How does it feel to be on the receiving end, Klade?"

Klade jerked his head around, "You'll pay for this Sonic."

Sonic gave Klade a quick punch in the face, "Are you ready to tell us the real reason you came?"

Klade nodded, "I came to invite you three to the Prime Battle Tournament, located in Dimension 23."

"A tournament, eh? Well, what if we don't feel like going?" Sonic asked.

The same wicked laugh came out of Klade.

"I don't think you're in the position to laugh Klade." Tails fiercly scolded.

"Oh, but I am, because the boy you know as Chris is all the bait we need to get you to agree to join the Primo Battle Tournament?"

Sonic felt like his heart had skipped a beat, "WHAT? Chris? What did you do to him? I swear if you even touched him, I'll kill you!"

"It's not me who did it Sonic, I wouldn't go through all of this trouble just to fight a hedgehog, it was my master. The Great Lord Zealous."

Sonic cocked his head, "Your master?"

"Yes, the one who sent me to invite you to the Primo Battle Tournament. If you do not show up, Zealous said he would murder everyone you know in an instant, so if I were you, I would show up," Klade had began to disinigrate into Dimension 23, while he left his last message.

"Wait a minute, how do we get to Dimension 23?"

Klade's shoulders and head were all that remained at this point, "One of our escorts will lead you to Dimension 23."

Tails was horrified by all of this, "Sonic, are we really going to Dimension 23?"

Sonic was staring down at the ground, with the face of a defeated combatant, even though he was the victor in the fight. "We've got no choice. You heard Klade, Zealous has Chris. Winning that tournament is the only shot we have at saving him. You, me, and Knuckles will have to go to Dimenion 23 and kick some butt."

Next time:

Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails have four days to prepare for the Primo Battle Tournament. But with the warrior from all over the dimensions, will they be enough to win the tournament? Who will lend a hand to Team Sonic, and who is this 'Great Lord Zealous." Find out in the next chapter!