Hello, good people of the Internet, and welcome to Ultimate Mobius Universe, a long-running story combined with a collaboration of four people! Well, four people at the moment, but I suspect as this story goes on there'll be many more authors writing for this story and others too! This first chapter is by me, epicn00b, the holder of this account, but later chapters will involve all of the four-man (or -woman) squad that is Falcons Rising Productions! Enjoy this (admittedly short) introduction to the series and try not to poop your pants in excitement!

The Introduction

Just a few seconds ago, in a galaxy not far from ours, a living creature not morally unlike us was stripped of its freedom, converted into a robot, replacing flesh and bone with hydraulics and steel. This creature had a name, before it was 'roboticised', as the process is known there. Its name was Miranda, and it appears to us to be a hare. It was a kind creature, going out of its way to help others of its kind. It was a lively creature too, always hyperactive and never slumping. But livelihood and kindness gets you nowhere in the jungle that is survival, apart from as good as dead. This is a fact of life. Take notes, if you will.

The routine has just happened again. This time, the roboticisee was a squirrel, or at least something uncannily resembling a squirrel, by the name of Imran. Imran was a grumpy creature: it spent all day working and all night moaning in its sleep. Granted, it was a lot older than Miranda had been, likely due to the fact that it knew how to be the bigger and the better creature in a fight. But nobody is invincible from anything, and too much of anything can be a curse. It simply lacked the skill required to avoid the grasp of the Supreme Overlord, and by extension, to not have its brain ripped out and replaced with a CPU. These are also facts of life. Let us move away from this, though, as a pattern has already emerged here and we need not study it further.

Instead, let us observe a war. This war is not one of right or wrong, good or evil. That kind of war is left to the better-known 'heroes' and 'villains' of this planet. This is a war of materialism, a war to determine which of two evils is the more powerful. One is a team of professional thieves, who take anything they can lift, and more importantly make money on. The other is a gang of no-gooders, whose simple goal it is to make life miserable for everyone around them. Constantly, they steal, fight and trade insults with the others, and are seen as petty thieves, although they wouldn't want to be told as such. It is a small war now, but nobody knows for certain how it will end, or even if it will end. This is another fact of life.

However, not all life is on a slippery downslope. Far away, a young, gold-furred kitsune walks through a shell-shocked city. Most who lived here have abandoned it for a more remote town long ago, yet it seems that someone always stays behind in these situations. In this case, it's a hedgehog, or so we would think. The kitsune recognises the hedgehog immediately; this is the planet's most famed hero. Males envy him, and females swoon over him. The kitsune definitely envies him. He could be just like that! He could travel around the planet, saving the day from evil and getting the ladies! But what is he stuck with being? Oh yeah, he gets to be a nerd in a small workshop inventing devices the public dismiss as stupid. Yet through all of this, this fox thinks to himself, it still remains that at the end of the day, life is just a game, right?

...right?

"Whatcha doin' here, kid?" The hedgehog is suddenly by the kid's side. The kitsune isn't shocked, though. He knows the hedgehog's speed is unbeatable. A moment ticks by.

"I'm looking for my parents." From the way the hedgehog steps back quite suddenly, he can tell a straight-up answer wasn't expected of him. A cold, sharp wind cuts through the air quite suddenly. "It's fine if I don't find them though. They've been gone a long time." He turns round to look at the hedgehog's face, and it looks like the horror, the screaming, the destruction that this city has endured has just sank well and truly into his brain. Seconds become minutes for the length of the silence between them. And then something explodes behind him.

A giant rock of rubble, launched from a collapsed building, hurtles straight towards the kitsune. Oh no, this is it, his life ends right here. The rubble rolls closer and closer, but he's frozen in fear. Tiny rocks can be seen breaking off from the main bringer of doom. Oh, it's really close now, he certainly has to do something. The hedgehog finally notices what the kitsune is staring at and doesn't stop to think. With the instinct only the truest of hearts can hold, his feet whirr like motors as he jumps out to grab the kitsune. But it's too late. The rubble whirls past. The kitsune is gone. He's... gone. Forever. If it hadn't sunk in already how painful this place can be, it has now. He hangs his head in shame. His eyes sting as he walks back, out of the city, to where he's safe. He doesn't run.

But high above the ground, the kitsune flies away, whirring his twin tails like a helicopter's rotors. He has no idea how important this day has been to both of their lives.

(A/N) Thanks for reading! If this seems like a series you'd be interested in writing a little (or large) story arc for, check out the profile page for this account to learn more about who we are and what we do. Otherwise, just enjoy reading!

P.S. Yes, you may send in OCs if you really deem it necessary to your survival, although we don't really need them right now. This story is based on the Archie canon, it's complex enough as it is.

Stay feathery, Falcons. epicn00b out.