Chapter 1
Fifty One Years Ago…
Location: Space Colony Ark
Professor Gerald Robotnik stood in a lab with several scientists wearing white coats.
Each of them were working on consoles and computers, entering data into each of them.
In the middle of the room laid a table. Upon the table laid a body underneath a white sheet.
It was unmoving. By all means of the word's definition… it was dead.
The Professor stood next to a next to a lever and placed his hand on it. He glanced one final time at the body, and pulled the lever.
There was a bright light, and electricity flowed from tubes. The body lying on the table shook violently.
After a few minutes, Gerald pushed the lever back up and the body stopped shaking.
Gerald took off the goggles on his eyes and removed the sheet that covered the body.
It was the body of a three foot Mobian hedgehog. Its fur was pale white, almost like snow, and it remained unmoving,
Gerald sighed. "This is our fifth attempt, and still the body won't come to life."
One of the scientists came up to him and said "Last time, we had the blood of the leader of the Black Arms race, Black Doom, to give Shadow life. Why aren't we using his blood instead of the dead body of a Mobian?"
"Because I want to create other ways of being able to create life. Also…"
Gerald looked away from the scientist sadly.
"I do not fully trust Black Doom. I don't know how Shadow will end up turning out. Black Doom might have done something to the experiment that I was not aware of. So this will be my back up plan…"
"Professor Gerald!" cried a man who was running into the lab.
"I've got something from below! A failed experiment from Soleanna!"
Gerald was angry.
"I'm in the middle of something important. Why did you bring this to my attention during my experiment?" he asked.
"Because I believe it's a solution to your problem!" said the man.
"The experiment was to create a substance that could provide life force and energy. With your research, perhaps we could perfect it and use it to give life to your second Ultimate Lifeform!"
Gerald looked interested.
"Let me see the data on the substance." Said Gerald.
The scientist handed him a clip board.
Gerald took it and looked over it. Then he smiled.
"This just might work!" he cried. "And I've already identified the flaw in their design!"
Gerald glanced at the scientist and said "Let's get to work."
For the next few days Gerald and the other scientists were working in the lab.
Gerald's granddaughter Maria Robotnik peered in through the window on the door to the lab where Gerald and the scientists were working.
"What are you doing here, Maria?" asked a voice behind him.
Maria turned around and saw Professor Gerald's ultimate creation. The Ultimate Lifeform: Shadow the Hedgehog.
"You know your Grandfather doesn't like it when you spy on his experiments." He said.
Maria smiled and nodded. "I know. But I heard Grandfather say he was on the verge of a new discovery." She said.
"I know how much you appreciate your Grandfather's work Maria…" said Shadow. "But in case something goes wrong with the experiment, I don't want anything to happen to you."
Maria closed her eyes and smiled. Then she hugged Shadow.
Shadow had a surprised look on his face.
Then Maria let go of him and smiled.
"Thanks for worrying about me, Shadow." Said Maria.
Shadow smiled.
Maria got up and held his hand. The two walked away from the lab.
Meanwhile, inside the lab, Gerald and the other scientists were making preparations for the final stage of the experiment.
They had bonded the substance to the dead body, which had changed its fur color from white to black.
Gerald pulled down on the lever and started the experiment again.
As before, electricity and lights flashed everywhere, and the body was shaking violently.
Then Gerald pushed up on the lever, and everything stopped.
Gerald glanced at the body and… nothing happened.
Gerald and the other scientists sighed.
"How unfortunate." He said.
"Let's take a break everyone. We'll try again later."
Everyone sighed and nodded. Then they all walked out with an aggravated look on their face.
It was silent.
Then the body opened its eyes. A purple energy began to swirl around the body. The body looked around. Then it looked down at its body.
Its eyes grew wide.
Then it said in a quiet voice "…What?".
The body felt rage. Then it growled. "…WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?" it screamed.
Its power caused an explosion in the lab.
The fires began to spread everywhere.
As Shadow ran to the lab to investigate, he was surprised to see the body in the fire, growling. It was angry. Furious. It howled.
"W-what is that thing?" asked Shadow.
It began to charge at Shadow…
Five Years Ago…
Central City
There was said to be an explosion of some sort at the Central City Middle School.
Firefighters and other authorities rushed to the scene.
A fire truck pulled up to the front of the school.
As Mobian fire fighters exited the truck, they were shocked to see what had happened.
Several formations of giant crystals had grown through the roof out the building.
There were fires and rubble everywhere.
A female fox firefighter walked over to a teacher. "What happened here?" she asked. "I've never seen anything like it."
The teacher was a female purple mongoose.
"Two of the students were bullying another student. Suddenly, the student that was getting bullied screamed, then glowed pink and…"
The teacher glanced at the crystals and said "This happened."
The firefighter glanced at the crystals too. "Incredible..." She said.
The fire fighters went to work on putting out the fires.
Three Years Ago…
On an island located in the middle of the Mobian Ocean…
Jewel walked through the halls of the Celestine Palace alongside her master, Wendu.
Wendu was a tall, gray furred wolf.
Jewel had been training with Wendu in order to obtain a bigger grasp on her powers, so that she might use them as an eventual member of the Celestites.
"Jewel…" said Wendu. "Have you ever heard the tale of the original Order of the Celestites and the Order of the Phoenix?"
Jewel shyly shook her head.
"Thousands of years ago…
There was a secret war, a war for the control of the entire world. The ancient Order of the Phoenix consisted of members that had incredible powers that were feared by many. Following their leader, the mad war-lord Jonji the Bat, the Order of the Phoenix captured all of the Chaos and Master Emeralds in order to keep others from using them to counter their efforts. Then, he created a powerful technique with which he would use to destroy the world. The original Order of the Celestites used a forbidden attack to ensnare Jonji inside of a prison made entirely out of Chaos Energy that constantly through Jonji off balance. He was never heard of or seen again."
Jewel listened to her master with great interest.
"Lately however…" said Wendu. "The Great Elders have been greatly troubled."
Jewel was curious. "Why?" she asked.
"They think that the trap is breaking. It… worries me."
Wendu glanced at Jewel and said "Because the person who placed the seal on him was your ancestor."
Jewel's eyes grew wide with surprise.
"My… ancestor?" she asked. "How do you know that it is my ancestor?"
"Because the original person who set the trap created crystal formations that would drain Jonji of his energy." Said Wendu.
"History has a tendency to repeat itself. I have a feeling that you will take on the role of the one who sealed Jonji long ago."
Jewel listened to her master in awe.
"So… I'm destined to re-seal Jonji incase the seal would break?" she asked.
Wendu nodded.
"That is why we must make you as strong as possible, so that we can set you on the path to defeating Jonji, if the seal should break."
Jewel was silent for a while.
"… I'm not sure if I can do this." She said.
Wendu knelt down next to her and said "I know that it seems impossible, but if the Crystal Sage can do it, then so can you. That's why I vow to make you incredibly strong so that you can face him. Have confidence."
Jewel looked up at Wendu and smiled. "Okay, master." she said.
Wendu smiled and put her arm on her shoulder.
"Let's go do some training." He said.
Jewel smiled and nodded. "Okay!" she said happily.
One week ago…
Location: The Dragon Kingdom
Two figures walked down a path in the Dragon Kingdom.
One was a male purple chameleon. He wore a green jacket, red and white pants, a skull belt buckle, and black boots.
The other was a yellowish orange weasel. He wore a black leather jacket with flames on the front, as well as black jeans and boots.
As the two walked, they came upon a lake. It was said that Monkey Kahn, the king of the Free People meditated there whenever he was worried or bothered.
"Do you remember the plan, Doppelganger?" asked the weasel.
The Chameleon nodded. "I heard its not very difficult tricking this monkey." He said.
"Let's hope that." Said the weasel. "I'm not going to waste my art on those that aren't worthy of it, so if he's easy to trick then you can handle it."
"Hmph." Said the Chameleon. "And they say I'm egotistical."
"Shut up and get him already." Said the weasel.
The Chameleon growled. "What makes you think you can give me orders?" asked the Chameleon.
The weasel glared at him angrily.
Doppelganger's body shifted and churned as his body began to change shape.
Suddenly Doppelganger's body was transformed into the body of a Female Squirrel wearing a blue vest and blue boots, with blue eyes and long red hair.
"Disguising myself as Princess Sally Acorn should fool the great monkey king entirely." He said.
"Y'know, it might actually work." Said a voice behind them.
Doppelganger and the yellow-orange weasel turned around and saw Monkey Khan floating on a cloud, wielding his staff.
He had blue eyes, and wore two shoulder pads with the yin yang symbols on them.
"What do you two want with me?" he asked.
Doppelganger transformed back into his original self.
"Well then, I'll let you and your precious 'art' take care of the rest." Said Doppelganger. "I'm outta here."
Doppelganger transformed into a small bird and flew away.
"Doppelganger!" cried the weasel. "Where are you going?"
"Nice comrade you've got there." Said Monkey Khan.
The weasel gritted his teeth.
"You'll just have to experience my art firsthand then!" said the Weasel.
The weasel reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out clumps of clay.
The clay glowed for a while, and transformed into something that resembled shuriken.
The weasel tossed them.
Monkey Khan extended his rod towards him, and lightning flashed from it.
It zapped the shuriken and they exploded.
Once the dust from the explosion cleared, Monkey Khan looked around.
His opponent was no where in sight.
"He uses explosives?" Monkey Khan said to himself. He looked around. Suddenly, he felt rumbling in the ground beneath him.
He leaped into the air, as a storm cloud formed beneath him. He landed on it.
When he looked below, he saw that two spiders made from clay had burrowed up from the ground.
"I should be safe if I'm in the air out of its range."
"You're never safe from my art." Said the voice of the weasel.
The spiders began to changer shape. They molded into giant birds and flew in the air towards Monkey Khan.
They flew to fast for Monkey Khan to do anything, and they exploded near him.
The force from the explosion knocked Monkey Khan off of his cloud.
Monkey Khan fell to the ground.
His opponent was flying on a giant clay bird.
"They call me the Detonator." Said the Weasel. "And they've got a good reason to do so."
Monkey Khan got on his feet. "I've heard of you!" he said. "You're the bomb terrorist that's on the Guardian Unit of Nation's most wanted list!"
Detonator smiled. "That's me." He said.
"I heard you died by suicide bombing!" said Monkey Khan.
"That was a clay clone of mine." He said. "It was used to fool people into thinking that I had killed myself."
"Why did you do it?" asked Monkey Khan.
"Why do you want to know so much about me?" he asked. "Are you this social with all of your opponents?"
"For me, it makes fights more interesting." Said Monkey Khan.
Detonator scoffed.
"Take this!" he cried.
Two more birds attacked Monkey Khan. He leaped over to the left, and dodged the attack.
The birds exploded in the area where Monkey Khan was standing.
Monkey Khan launched another lightning blast at Detonator. The strike was incredibly fast and struck the bird Detonator was standing on.
Detonator leaped off of the bird before it exploded. He landed on the ground.
"EAT THIS!" cried Detonator.
Two caterpillars sprang from the ground and wrapped themselves around Monkey Khan.
"HA!" cried Detonator as he clapped his hands and the caterpillars exploded.
Monkey Khan cried out in pain as the explosion engulfed him.
Detonator smiled.
Monkey Khan fell to the ground, unconscious.
"In the end, he didn't put up much of a fight." Said Detonator.
"The next time I see Doppelganger, I'll give him a taste of my art for deserting me."
"Is it over?" said a voice behind him.
Doppelganger and a large, brown fox with green eyes, brown hair, and grey jeans were standing behind him. The fox wasn't wearing a shirt, and had strange stitches all over his body and arms.
"You take too long, Detonator." Said the large fox.
Detonator gave him an irritated look.
"Ragdoll, you insult my art." He said.
"You always have to go and turn everything into a circus. This was a mission, Detonator." Said the fox.
Detonator gritted his teeth. "I won't stand here and let my art be judged by insolence like you!" he cried.
Detonator took some more explosive clay out of his pouch. In his hands, they molded into small birds, and they flew towards Ragdoll.
Doppelganger got out of the way, while Ragdoll stood there as the birds flew towards him.
The birds exploded, and engulfed Ragdoll in the explosion. But, he did not scream or cry out.
Once the smoke cleared, Ragdoll's fur was darker in color.
"Detonator, you are a fool." He said.
Ragdoll's fur soon returned to its original shade of brown.
"You and I fighting is so unproductive. Let's just take the so called 'King of the Free People' and get out of here."
Ragdoll picked up Monkey Khan and threw him over his shoulder.
Detonator growled, as he and Doppelganger followed behind him.
One day ago…
Location: New Mobotropolis
Sonic the Hedgehog stood over a ledge overlooking the ruins of the old city of Knothole.
Princess Sally Acorn, leader of the Freedom Fighters, walked up behind him and said "I thought I'd find you here."
Sonic turned toward Sally and smiled. Then he glanced back at the ashes of Knothole.
"The Iron Queen is imprisoned." He said. "But Eggman's escaped. We haven't heard anything from Mammoth Mogul, or any bounty hunter scum in a while. Scourge is still trapped in the No Zone, and the Suppression Squad is still on Moebius."
Sally smiled and said "You sound worried."
Sonic nodded. "Yeah, your right." He said. "That's because we have so many threats waiting to attack us, and probably new threats that we haven't even come across yet. It makes me worried and antsy."
Sally smiled and said "Come to Freedom HQ. I've got something to show you…"
Sonic followed Sally into Freedom HQ. He looked around and saw his friends Miles "Tails" Prower and Rotor Walrus waiting for them. "What are you trying to show me, Sal?" asked Sonic.
Sally smiled and said "It's a surprise."
She and Sonic stepped up onto a stage with the others.
Rotor spoke into a microphone on a console and spoke "Nicole?" into it.
"Yes?" said the voice of Nicole, the name of the A.I. computer program that kept Mobius running.
"Beam us up onto the station." He said. "Understood." Said Nicole.
"What does that mean?" asked Sonic.
"You'll see!" said Sally.
Suddenly, there was a bright light and the Freedom Fighters disappeared.
When the bright light stopped, and Sonic got his sight back, he couldn't believe his eyes. "Woah!" he cried. "Incredible!"
What Sonic saw, was a massive space station! There were computers, hallways, monitors…it made Sonic want to run.
And so he did. He ran around the entire place and looked around.
"This…place…is…huge!" he said.
He ran back in front of Sally and the other Freedom Fighters.
"When did you guys make this?" Sally crossed her arms and said "Its been in development for a while now." Said Sally.
"We used the designs from the old Robotnik Orbital Platform, and we kept it a secret to surprise you." Said Tails.
Sonic ran over to Tails and gave him a noogy. "Pretty cool surprise, bud!" said Sonic.
Tails laughed and said "Thanks! Now let go!"
Rotor tapped Sonic on his shoulder to get his attention.
"That's not the only thing!" he said. "Come with me!"
Rotor led Sonic into a room with a giant monitor.
Sally followed.
Rotor got on the console and brought up a list of people whom Sonic recognized.
"What's this?" he asked.
"This is a detailed list of all of our allies on Mobius." Said Sally. "GUN, the Chaotix, other Freedom Fighter teams, every ally we know is on this list."
"But that's not we wanted to show you." Said Rotor. "This is." Rotor brought up a new list.
The list was full of people Sonic didn't recognize.
"Who are they?" he asked.
"These are some possible new additions to the Freedom Fighters. They each have interesting powers and skills that would make them great assets to any Freedom Fighter team."
"Cool!" said Sonic.
"You, me, and Tails are going to travel the world and meet them, so we can create more Freedom Fighter teams. That way, our list of allies can expand and grow, and we can better ensure safety and security over the entire planet." Said Sally.
Sonic pounded his fist into his palm with excitement. "Great!" he said. "When do we leave?"
"Tomarrow." Said Sally. "So pack your bags."
Sonic nodded. "Okay!" he said. "This should be fun!"
Meanwhile…
In the skies above Mobius, a fleet of war ships were flying through the sky at incredible speeds.
It was a fleet consisting of several copies of one of Dr. Eggman's most fearsome creation: The Egg Phoenix. A war ship that is incredibly fast, and its weapons consist of several widespread flame throwers, and made it the perfect fleet for a frontal assault on the city of New Mobotropolis.
On the lead ship of the fleet stood the diabolical genius, Dr. Eggman and his henchman, Snively.
"We'll be approaching New Mobotropolis in about a day, sir." He said.
"Excellent." Said Dr. Eggman. "Wait for the scouting party's signal before we attack." He said.
"Understood sir." Said Snively.
"This time, I will ensure the end of that Hedgehog once and for all. For beating me… for humiliating me…"
Dr. Eggman clenched his fists.
"For breaking my mind… you will pay Hedgehog. This time I'm not taking any prisoners. I will slowly destroy everything that Sonic and the Freedom Fighters stood for. I WILL have my final vengeance."
"Very good sir." Said Snively.
'Perhaps now, that fat fool will take things more seriously then before.' He thought. '…let's hope so.'
Dr. Eggman was silent as the fleet grew closer and closer to New Mobotropolis.
