"Don't you fail me, now... I can't lose this much progress..."

A gentle hand flipped up a single mauve card from its deck.

The pink-haired hedgehog gasped in shock.

"'Nine... Twenty-three... Ninety-one.

He will... arrive.' It worked... It worked! It finally worked after all this time!"

She stared at the cards in her hand.

Her gaze shifted to the letters in the corners of each one.

"C... O... S... I... N. Coh... Sin..?" she tried to pronounce. "Cousin?! No... Wait."

The girl quickly shuffled the cards.

The letters spelt out a name.

1991.

Enter Zenus, The "Little Miracle" planet.

A hefty crash of steel banged across the hard ground.

"Get back here, rodent!" demanded the mad dictator.

Enter Dr. Ivo Robotnik, evil scientist.

"You'll have to catch me first!" the rushing blue blur snapped.

Enter Sonic the Hedgehog, fastest animal alive.

Sonic accelerated sharply, a low hum filling the night sky.

Robotnik grunted in anger, his 'Egg-Shell' mech retracting its solid metal fists.

"You're testing my patience..."

The mech's arm lunged forward toward the valiant speedster with a loud clank.

Sonic groaned as the titanic hand crushed him in its grip. He smirked. "This planet's never gonna be yours." Robotnik's brow furrowed. Sonic curled quickly into a ball and destroyed the robotic hand with a charge of energy.

Robotnik yelled out in anger, blindly smashing the surface of the planet with his mighty fist. Sonic was swift and agile, darting and dodging every blow.

"You'll have to try harder than that, Robotnik!" quipped the young hero.

The sinister schemer made a grab at the hedgehog.

"I have you now, you sick little fiend!" he declared.

"Not even in your dreams, Egg-man!"

Sonic jumped up the mechanical arm of the mech and punched the glass canopy, cracking it.

"Gragh! My beautiful machine! You insolent fool... You'll pay for that!"

cried the enraged engineer.

Sonic struggled to hang onto the arm of the mech as it spun violently at the waist, flinging Sonic off into the dirt. "Whew... anybody get the truck of that num-"

Sonic's face made friends with Robotnik's heavy metal knuckles.

He tumbled across the rocky terrain as he was knocked into a distant forest by the deadly hook.

Sonic recovered and sprang up, dusting himself off. "Jeez, you sure can pack a punch, Egg-maaaaan~!" he called out to his nemesis. Just about to take off after Robotnik, he turned to see a young female hedgehog near him, looking at him in a trace. "Huh? Who are you? You shouldn't be out here alone, it's dangerous-"

"I-Is it you? Is it really you?" She was almost hyperventilating. "You-You're Sonic the Hedgehog! Omigosh-I-I knew you'd be here!"

"Um... Nice to meet... you...? Uh, my name's Sonic- but I guess you already knew that."

A huge earth-shaking thud made them both jump.

"Uh, okay, listen, something really bad is coming this way right now, and if you wanna stay safe, I suggest you run. Fast." Sonic zoomed into action.

"S-Sonic, wait!" The girl protested.

Robotnik made his entrance known barraging through the forest, crushing trees to mulch, the grass and wildlife seemingly withering away and dying in his wake.

Sonic leaped into the chest of the Egg-Shell to dent it, hitting his head in the process. "Yeeow!" Sonic held his forehead in pain. "What is that, new armor? You've upped your game."

Robotnik grumbled. He opened up the laser-display inside his mech and quickly made a note. "Durabylium ineffective. Invest in stronger alloys." Robotnik slid the screen to the side. "Alright, time for a change of pace!" A massive array of machine guns and missiles deployed from the mech.

"You know what they say, the more the merrier!"

All guns fired at Sonic, who was dashing to evade the bullets.

An immense explosion blasted Sonic into the remaining trees.

"Now you're just being unfair..." Sonic remarked as he got up.

He saw the pink-haired girl cowering with a concerned expression.

"Hey you!" Sonic exclaimed. "I thought I told you to get away!"

"S-sorry, I was... watching-"

Robotnik set his sights on the cerulean crusader. "Aha!"

"Alright, new plan:"

Sonic ran to the girl and swept her up as he bolted through the forest.

"Hang on!"

An onslaught of lead and explosives cut through the air in close proximity as Sonic ran with the young lady in his arms.

Robotnik cackled.

"Oh, you can run all you want, fine by me! But I know someone faster than even you, hedgehog! OS! Launch files SCD1A and SADX03! Boot up MS01!

You're in for a surprise, you little rat!"

Enter the floating Angel Island.

A vast ancient city in ruins.

"Chaos, why me?" asked a brawny brute of a marsupial.

Enter Knuckles, the last surviving member of the Echidna Tribes.

"Why do you trust me? How do you know I won't betray you?"

A soothing whisper wafted past his ears. "Your father did not. Neither shall you. Your heart is whole and pure."

Knuckles crossed his arms and sighed.

"You've given me responsibility of 8 emeralds of yours, don't you think that's a little too much power to give someone?"

"Indeed it is. Should you swindle me, I end up being the fool, it seems. What you do not know, however, is that those emeralds you have are worthless."

Knuckles sneered. "Say what now?"

"You heard me. Worthless. Worthless in their current state. I still have dominion over the Chaos Emeralds, you have the Super Emeralds. The power within the Super Emeralds cannot be accessed without the Chaos Emeralds. Think of it as this...

'I have the key, and you have the lock.' The one I choose will have to pass through my trials to obtain my emeralds, and prove their worth to you to obtain the Super Emeralds. Then, and only then, may the power they seek be truly achieved."

Knuckles adjusted his stance.

"I see. That's... actually fairly smart. But what about this giant thing?"

Knuckles gestured to the enormous jewel behind him.

Chaos scoffed. "This is the Master Emerald! Not only does it grant godlike power, but this sacred sanctuary cannot remain suspended in the air without it! Only a member of the Echidna race possesses the proper instinct to protect and monitor its balance correctly. Seeing as you're the last one living, I... was left without a choice."

Knuckles nodded. "But uh, why exactly does the island need to stay in the air...?"

Chaos paused.

"Can you not simply respect the duty that has been placed on you, noble?"

Enter R-Base 4, one out of many of Robotnik's factories.

Deep past the assembly lines, wires and panels, a lock chamber sat in a corridor on the left wing.

There, a deep blue figure could be seen, standing in a solid, stoic position.

A glint of red light shone from the screen on its face.

The command display on the door read,

"MS01 now online."

END OF CHAPTER 1.