An alarm suddenly blared through the night, a pale moon shining down over the land. A facility was being overrun by a shadowy figure, moving at insane speeds. This figure blazed through as several robotic guards emerged to fend it off, but they were too late, being blown apart as the red streaks blazed off of the figure.
"Tch... he sets cybernetic guards out, yet he doesn't account for the fact that I'd be here... he only accounts for the peons..." The figure said, dusting himself off. As spotlights shown on him, it revealed his figure. A hedgehog, pitch black in color with red streaks along his spines. He had white fur on his chest with red and silver shoes and white gloves.
"Shadow, did you get caught already?" A woman spoke through a communicator.
"Yeah... I just made the mistake of letting them think they have a chance... don't worry, it'll be done quickly..."
"Good, we need you to continue on, the Chaos Emerald shouldn't be too far ahead. Hopefully, we'll find Omega as well..."
"Right. I've got to get to work now Rouge, out." He said, finishing their communications, looking around as several robotic guards became released, some being bigger than the previous ones. As they encircled him, he began to focus, concentrating with every fiber of his very being, letting out a roar of fury, a red wave of energy overflowing the area, ripping the machines apart.
Afterwards, he scoffed, running ahead into a darkened tunnel, a large passageway with red lights beginning to flash.
"What's the deal Rouge? Do you have any idea why Eggman would make things so... easy? It seems so uncharacteristic for someone like him, especially since he knows that I could do something like this anytime I wanted..." Shadow spoke into the communicator, seeing a blockade, rolling into a ball and building up speed, breaking through the middle of it with tremendous force.
He made a skid into another room, looking around as she spoke once more,
"No idea, maybe he's gotten worn out because of Sonic and everyone else. There's gotta be some sort of reason for it all."
"Exactly... I'm thinking that maybe the big brain himself isn't the one setting this place up anymore..."
"What are you implying Shadow? That someone's taken his place?"
"Something like that... I'll talk to you again when I get more information. I'm expecting to find out soon enough..." He said, ending the communications, continuing forward, now walking just in case.
But then, he saw the room up ahead, the one holding the shining Chaos Emerald, green in color. Slowly, a black door began to seal it off, a gigantic cyborg emerging from the floor through a hatch, aiming a minigun arm straight at the hedgehog.
"Typical." He said, zipping forward, dodging all of the bullets as it began to rapidly fire. When he was close enough, it tried swinging at him with it's other arm, but he zipped to the side, running along the arm with the gun, using his strength to damage the robot as he ran up to the top of it, damaging the head before performing a flip off of it, landing in front of the door, behind the giant machine.
The robot fell forward, slowly beginning to develop static before exploding from the damage that had been delivered.
"Now... let's see what's behind..."
Suddenly, the door exploded, a metal being crashing into Shadow, slamming him into a wall. It was blue colored, having a pointed nose, crimson eyes, and a shiny exterior.
"Metal... Sonic..." Shadow said, grunting as he punched the cyborg, who then spun through the air, landing on his feet away, rubbing his nose, making a few sounds.
"Either Eggman's place has been taken... or he's just been saving his defense for this... it would make sense either way..." Shadow muttered to himself, running forward, him and Metal colliding heads with each other, blue and red lights flowing off of them, though, the blue lights emanating from Metal Sonic slowly became more of a magenta color, his regular energy color, as the entire room was lit up by their power clash.
Shadow reeled his right arm back, punching Metal into the room with the emerald before unleashing his own energy in a burst, sending the cybernetic mimic through the roof, but he wasn't done for. This was all in a plan given to him from... someone.
As Shadow entered the room, he reached for the emerald, holding his palm out to it, but suddenly, victory was snatched away as it faded into darkness.
"What?!" Shadow grunted, confused.
"Shadow The Hedgehog... hello there... I assume you're wondering who I am, correct?" An echoing voice had began to speak, Shadow looking around.
"Not Eggman, that's for sure... Speaking of... where is he?! Who are you?!" Shadow shouted out, keeping his guard up.
"We're not playing twenty questions here Shadow... but I will answer. Eggman was never here, this place, all of it, is a fabrication. To lure you in." He said, the ENTIRE base slowly falling apart. Every single thing vanished from reality, Shadow now sitting within a dark wasteland, the moon still shining over him.
"As for who I am... I... AM... INFINITE." The voice said, a purple light blazing out of the sky as a figure appeared. A jackal, wearing a silver mask with only one visible eye, a red and purple jewel being within his chest.
"Infinite... but... why would you want to draw me in..?" Shadow questioned, grunting.
"Because you've wronged me Shadow, along with so many others. My true name is Jaks. Once, I was known as the ultimate mercenary, but as time went on, people shamed me, they looked down on me, called me weak! And then I met you... when that insufferable egghead hired me to work for him, I met you! And yet again, you insulted me... insulted my pride by defeating me in a battle! Eggman sent me away with dishonor... but soon enough, I would become the strongest being alive... I came across an item within a desert, one that I knew Eggman was searching for, having learned of it when I was working for him..."
"Let me guess... that jewel within your chest?"
"Exactly. The Phantom Ruby. When it fused with my body, it took time to adapt to it, but soon, I gained incredible power, beyond the beliefs of anyone. I discarded my unsightly face, placing upon this mask and soon evolved... my power is incomprehensible and I became... Infinite. And for mocking me in the past, I'll be taking you out of the picture."
"Tch! I still have more questions, more firmly, where's Omega!? My ally!" Shadow said, tossing himself at Infinite with amazing speed, trying to strike him down. But he simply phased through his body!?
A massive block slammed down on Shadow, knocking him into the dirt.
"Dismantled. Your friend came searching for one of the Chaos Emeralds, one that I possess. So, I personally took him apart. As for your fate."
A cube of red and purple energy began to manifest itself around Shadow's body, slowly absorbing him and containing him completely.
"You and I shall become allies."
Although Infinite's power allowed him to create illusions, Metal Sonic came down. He was no illusion, so what really did happen to Eggman if Infinite somehow had possession of one of his creations?
The next morning... "Speed it up!" A voice shouted, running along a plain of green hills by the oceanside, the person zooming around with a blue coloring on their body.
Sonic The Hedgehog. He had blue fur all over his figure, having vibrant green eyes with a confident smile spread out along his face, racing his friends.
"Hehe. They aren't gonna be able to catch up!" He said to himself.
"Wanna bet!?" A voice said, sounding strong.
Sonic was surprised, turning his head to see one of his closest friends, Knuckles the Echidna, barely managing to keep up. He had red fur with purple eyes, grinning.
"W-What!?"
"Using my strategy to help me keep up! You're fast Sonic, but there's still more to this race!" He said, slamming his fist into the ground as he ran, essentially blasting himself ahead of Sonic.
"T-That's cheating!"
Then, another friend of his, named Miles Tails Prower, a golden fox with blue eyes, was using his twin tails to fly, speeding up alongside them.
"All's fair in a race like this Sonic! Hehe!" He chuckled, the ocean breeze flowing over them.
Some of their other friends were watching the speedy showdown, a chipmunk with red, curled hair. She had a blue vest, blue shoes, white gloves and blue shorts, named Sally Acorn. Beside her was a pink hedgehog with green eyes, wearing a red dress and a hammer behind her, Amy Rose. And then behind the two of them, a large purple cat with beady, yellow eyes and a frog on his head named Big.
"They're always like this, aren't they?" Sally said, joking around as she watched Sonic try his hardest to outspeed the other two.
"Well, not always. Hehe, this is actually the first race they've had together in a while. They're just really enjoying it today I guess, it is a beautiful day after all!" Amy said, giggling.
"Who do you think will win Froggy?" Big asked the frog sitting on his head, but he was barely able to really keep track of everything going on with how fast they were all moving.
Sonic leapt forward, suddenly dashing forward, a blue light flashing off of him as he sped up, boosting past both Tails and Knuckles.
"Seeya on the flip side guys!" He said, chortling before zipping ahead at high speeds, his green eyes shining in the sunlight, a killer whale leaping out of the water behind him in the scenery.
Eventually, Sonic reached an endpoint, finishing the race.
"And like always, I finish firs-"
Suddenly, both Knuckles and Tails came in so fast that they crashed into him, knocking him into the sea.
"Whoops... I'll get him!" Tails said, flying down to pull Sonic out of the water.
Two people were wandering a forest full of blue fairies and shiny flowers. A hedgehog, being as grey as the moon and a cat with a lavender coloring to her appearance.
"Something seems off... doesn't it Silver?" The cat said.
"You're right Blaze. It feels like there's some sort of anomaly, some sort of darkness growing... but I can't exactly tell where it is or what it is." Silver The Hedgehog said, being the hedgehog referred to. He had black lining around his eyes, large spines, and had golden cuffs around his wrists with a tuft of white hair on his chest.
Then, they began to hear someone running towards them, both of them getting on guard as Blaze summoned a small portion of flames from her palms, looking towards the source of these footsteps.
"Get ready Silver, someone is coming!"
He was readying his psychokinetic energy, but then realized something, a feeling overflowing his mind and soul, something about this energy source.
"Wait! Blaze! We don't have to attack! Quite the opposite in fact!" He said as her fires dissipated, looking towards him with confusion.
The figure running in was a bat with a curvy figure, having blue eyeliner with purple wings and a heart on her shirt.
"It's just Rouge, one of Shadow's friends!" He said, waving to her.
But she was panting, having been flying as well, her wings looking worn out.
"Is something the matter?" Blaze asked of her.
Rouge was tired, falling to one of her knees, but she forced herself to stand up, looking them in the eyes.
"Please... I need you... to help me find Sonic..." She said to them, both of them now being worried. What had happened? Why did she need to find Sonic so urgently? Did something go wrong? Whatever it was...
"We'll help you." Silver said, walking over, helping her. Blaze agreed, and they all left together to find Sonic...