Truths revealed

(Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic and Co. SEGA, Archie, DIC etc. own them.)


Command Centre, Robotropolis

There have been many infamous leaders and dictators in the history of Mobius, both before and after the mysterious global change. However, there was one man who is said to be more infamous and immoral than any other. This man was infamous that his presence may potentially haunt Mobius from now until the end of time. And that man was Doctor Ivo Gerald Robotnik.

Most humans' feelings towards Mobians generally ranged from distrust to outright dislike, but Ivo Gerald Robotnik loathed Mobians, almost like no other man. He believed that Mobians didn't deserve rights or freedom; he believed they should serve mankind and so, when he took over the Mobian Kingdom, he enslaved them by means of Roboticization. He also opposed democracy in every way, believing that there should only be one ruler; him. He ruled his empire with an iron-fist, believing it was the best way to maintain peace.

Robotnik was probably the most successful dictator known to the world; he had control over more than half the planet and influence in almost every continent; the only exception being Eurish, which had put up strong defences against him and his forces. However, Robotnik had puppet governments set up around them, intending to essentially starve them into submission.

Robotnik was the most feared man alive; he was such an intimidating man that even his officers had expressed fear towards him, though they usually tried everyone in their power to hide this from him; despite his generally calculating demeanour, Robotnik could get real angry and when he got angry, you'd better watch out! So, naturally, Snivley and Grimer were afraid of how angry Robotnik would get over the fact that Sonic had busted their force field.

Robotnik, seated in his throne, was a frightening sight to behold. He was about 6' 5" inches tall, and he had a large belly, which sometimes garnered the insulting nickname 'Eggman' from Sonic. He wore a red, yellow and black dictator uniform; a long yellow cape; tall black boots; and massive shoulder pads. His left arm was roboticized, as an incident with Sonic had knocked it into the roboticizer a few years ago. His skin was abnormally pale; sunken and waxy. His face was like a skull, with shallow cheeks, thin lips over his yellowing teeth and absolutely no hair on his head. However, he did have an orange moustache, underneath his long, prominent nose and there were bionic implants over his ears. But it was his deep-set eyes that were most frightening; the sclera was pitch black and his irises were a blood red, with barely visible pupils. He looked very much like a vampire; a very fat vampire, that is. Robotnik is a monster, inside and out.

"Snively... Grimer..." Robotnik spoke calmly, but his voice was full of rage.

"Yes, sir," the two whimpered. Somehow, Robotnik's calmness was about as terrifying as his rage.

"You said the shield was perfect and could repel that wretched hedgehog!" Robotnik snarled.

"C… c…. clearly, we u… u… underestimated his s… speed, sir," Snivley said, sweating from head to foot. Even the soldiers in the room were sweating with fright.

"We didn't think he could break through, my Lord," Grimer said.

"Just leave my sight!" Robotnik said, his eyes flashing, "Or else!"

Snivley and Grimer and the other guards hurried from the control room so fast, even Sonic would be impressed. They dared not underestimate him.

Robotnik sat on his throne, thinking, while he stroked his pet robotic chicken, Cluck. He'd been having problems with all these Freedom Fighter movements almost since the day he took over 10 years ago but the Knothole Freedom Fighters had been the most bothering, especially because of Sonic. But there was something about Sonic he knew and Sonic himself didn't.

Robotnik knew that Sonic's real name was Ogilvy and he was the nephew of Sir Charles, his predecessor in the Ministry of Science and one of the first to be Roboticized after his takeover. Charles had once been Prince Charles of the Royal Hedgehog family before surrendering his royal duties and title. Charles' younger brother, King Jules and his wife Queen Bernadette, who had been the first two to be Roboticized, had had triplets - Ogilvy, Victoria and Manuel. The latter two had disappeared and were believed dead, while Charles had cared for Ogilvy, renaming him 'Sonic', due to his speed. Robotnik had known who he really was, but hadn't regarded the young hedgehog as a serious threat, which was why he had never bothered to reveal this to the blue hedgehog.

Robotnik knew of two other hedgehogs in his empire; a green hedgehog who stalked the dark alleyways of Robotropolis (Robotnik had managed to get a photo of him on one occasion), and Sonia, the adopted daughter of Lady Windermere. Could they be Manuel and Victoria? Only one way to find out...

"Computer, bring up images of both Manic and Sonia and see if there are any physical similarities between them, as well as with Sonic."

"Affirmative, Lord Robotnik." The computer brought images of all three hedgehogs side by side and began running scans on their faces. Soon, resemblances began to be made; nose, eyes, quill style and faces. Robotnik knew better to dismiss it as coincidence; he didn't believe in that sort of thing, and despite his arrogance, he was capable of knowing when not to get chances, and this case was one of them.

"You hedgehogs may have escaped my notice before," he hissed, "but no more. You're mine now, hedgehogs!"


Tails' hut, Green Hill

The Oracle was cleaning off the chilli Sonic had spat out all over his hand.

"Sorry about that," Sonic said, "It's just… Wow! A brother and a sister! But I've never known; why?"

"It was to protect you from Robotnik," the Oracle replied. "You three had to be split up for your safety."

"But why?"

"All in good time, my young hedgehog."

Sonic groaned. "Why do some people prefer to play for time?"

The Oracle frowned, but continued patiently. "You said, did you not, that you often felt emotions that didn't seem your own?"

"Yes?"

"That's because you have an empathic bond with your siblings. To find them, look deep within yourself and reach out with your heart. They will sense you, Prince Sonic." And with that, he disappeared.

"Hey wait," Sonic said "What do you mean? Why doesn't anyone specify things?"

"He told you to look into your heart and reach with your mind," I said. Sonic started.

"Oh, Tommy, I almost forgot you were there. Right... I'm not one for meditation, you know, Tom."

"Just... give it a try, bro."

"Alright, but I don't see what good it'll do." Nevertheless, Sonic closed his eyes and breathed slowly. For a few moments, nothing happened. An owl hooted, but nothing else happened.

I was about to say something, when suddenly, I lifted right off my feet.

"What the?!" I cried in alarm. I was floating off the floor, along with the table, chairs and the chilli dogs Sonic hadn't wolfed down yet. "Sonic, is this you?"

Sonic didn't answer, but he opened his eyes and they were glowing white.


Windermere Manor

Sonia sat bolt upright in bed. "What was that?" she cried in astonishment.


Ferrell's hideout, Robotropolis

"What was that?" Manic said, looking around him.

"What is it, Manic?" Ferrell said.

"I felt something... something strange..."


Sonic's eyes ceased glowing and he smiled. "They're out there!" he said. At that moment, I fell back to the floor.

"Ow!"

"Tommy, you okay?"

"Aside from my hurting butt, yes. What was that?"

"What was what?"

"You made me float over the ground for a few moments."

"I didn't know I was doing that."

"I think that was obvious. Anyway, we should probably head back to Knothole and inform the others of this new development."

"Yeah, but maybe in the morning," Sonic said. "Not going back without 8 hours of sleep."

"You never change," I chuckled.


Robotropolis

Sleet and his partner Dingo were utterly delighted. They were being enlisted by Ivo Robotnik himself; this was going to be their best and most priceful assignment yet!

Sleet and Dingo were bounty hunters and had been working together for several years. Since Robotnik's takeover, Mobians were essentially outlaws and enemies of the state. Mobians were constantly on the run from Imperial forces and would pay a handsome deal to anyone prepared to help them. Sleet and Dingo had taken up this job gladly, though it was really for money than actually helping their kind. It seemed that their antics had intrigued Robotnik, because he had sent them a request for their assistance. Unfortunately, the two were so greedy that they would help anyone, whether they be Mobian or human, so they accepted

"Oh, sir," said Sleet, as he and Dingo entered the command centre, "Thank you for enlisting us, sir! Your wish is our command; you have only to ask and we'll do it!"

"What I want for you to swear eternal allegiance to my service," Robotnik said.

"How flattering of you, my lord," said Sleet, "What a great offer, but we work free-lance."

"Yeah," said Dingo. He was more brawny than brainy. "We work… err… we… work by ourselves."

"Silence!" Robotnik snapped, "From now on, you serve me, Ivo Gerald Robotnik, and the Imperial Overland."

"But sir…"

Robotnik didn't take no for an answer… ever! He pressed a button and a laser started shooting at the two bounty hunters, causing them to panic.

"Okay! Okay! Okay!" Sleet said quickly, "Perhaps it's time we made a change." Both knelt to Robotnik. "We hereby pledge our allegiance to you, O great one."

"Good!" Robotnik said, "That's more like it. Now…"

He brought up an image of Sonic.

"This is Sonic the Hedgehog. You may have heard of him."

"Ah, yes, the fastest thing alive, I presume."

"He's been a thorn in my side for nearly ten years; he's part of the Knothole Freedom Fighter movement. But he's actually Prince Ogilvy of the Royal Hedgehog family."

"I thought that family disappeared nearly 14 years ago," Dingo said.

"So it was believed," Robotnik said, "but disappeared doesn't always mean gone for good. Plus, there are two others; Victoria and Manuel."

The computer next brought up images of Manic and Sonia.

"Manuel, currently known as Manic, is living with a bunch of sneak thieves who are constantly stealing stuff from my people. Victoria lives with one of my citizens, Lady Windermere, under the name of Sonia. I want both hedgehogs captured and brought to me; I can use them as leverage to lure Sonic into a trap, so I can get all three."

"But sir, how can three measly hedgehogs possibly be dangerous?" Sleet asked.

"Don't judge a book by its cover!" Robotnik snapped, pounding his armrests, "These hedgehogs could destroy everything I've built over the last decade."

"Okay, sir, okay!" Sleet said hastily, "Consider those hedgehogs captured."

"Excellent. I shall assign SWAT bots and storm troopers to accompany you in your capture."

"Yes, sir," Sleet said.

"And do not fail me."

"Yes, sir!" Sleet said, saluting promptly.

Then Sleet noticed that Dingo was admiring Sonia's picture.

"Pretty," he said quietly.

"She's an enemy, idiot!" Sleet snapped, slapping his partner over the head, "She must be captured."

"Oh… right."


Knothole Village, Great Forest

Princess Sally Acorn, leader of the Knothole Freedom Fighters, was in Freedom HQ with her friends Rotor Walrus, Bunnie Rabbot and Antoine D'Coolette. They were planning their next mode of action against Robotnik's forces based on their latest information from Robotropolis.

Sally, a brown squirrel-chipmunk hybrid with auburn hair, sparkling blue eyes and wearing a blue vest and boots, wasn't feeling very confident; despite Sonic managing to destroy Robotnik's latest technique of defence, they still weren't much closer to bringing Robotnik down than before. Normally, this wouldn't be the ideal outlook to adopt, but Sally often found it hard to be optimistic. Being both a leader and a Princess whose family had been ousted from power, as well as whose father can been lost, could be quite stressful.

"You alright, Sally girl?" Bunnie asked her friend. Bunnie Rabbot, 17, a yellowish-brown rabbit with green eyes, a droopy left ear, wearing a purple leotard and speaking in a Southern accent, was a relatively new member of the Freedom Fighters and had only lived with them for about a year. She had been captured by Imperial forces and almost roboticized, but Sonic had managed to save her; well, two thirds of her at most. Her left arm, lower torso and both her legs were robotic. Though she frequently used these to fight the enemy, she also missed having a completely organic body.

"I'm fine, Bunnie," Sally said. "It's just that... after nearly ten years, we don't seem to be making any real progress. Robotnik still controls most of Mobius and his grip doesn't seem to have loosened up, even if we have Eurish on our side. Sometimes, I wonder if my leadership is that effective."

"Don't be like that, Sally," Rotor said. "You're one of the best leaders I know."

Rotor Walrus, 15 was the Freedom Fighters' mechanic; alongside Tails, he was the guy in charge of their equipment, weapons and gadgets. He was a purple-blue walrus with dark green eyes, wearing a yellow cap and a sash across his chest. He originated from Norway and it showed in the way he spoke.

"Oui, my Preen-cess," Antoine said. "I am agreeing with Rotor on zat note."

Antoine D'Coolette, 17, was a coyote from the Eurish country, Francia, who specialised mainly in swordsmanship. Despite his skill, he was also rather skittish and while not the most cowardly, he was by no means the bravest either. He had often blown his friends' cover because he couldn't control his fear.

Sally smiled faintly. "Thanks, guys; I appreciate your compliments. But I was just hoping that after all this time, we might have made at least some progress. But we're not much closer to freeing Mobius now than we were when we began our rebellion; neither are we any closer to finding my father."

"Well, I don't think he'd want you to be giving up, Sal," said a voice. Sonic had appeared in the doorway, leaning on the frame casually. "Sometimes, a little is better than nothing."

"Same old Sonic," Sally said with a chuckle. Just having Sonic around made her feel at least a little better. "Always confident; always optimistic."

"Well, no good comes from being gloomy so much," Sonic said, as he strode in, Tails and myself right behind.

"Hey, sugah fox, Tommy," Bunnie said.

"Hey guys," I said quietly. "How's it going?" I was still not entirely used to their guys yet; I was still learning how to fit in with them all, especially with all the different accents.

"What brings you home early?" Sally asked. "You said you'd be back a few days later than this."

"I have something to tell you guys," Sonic said. "Something I've only just learned."

"What's that?" Rotor asked.

"Last night, I was visited by the Oracle of Delphius," Sonic said. "You've heard of him, right?"

"Certainly," Sally said.

"Yeah, he's that magician guy who lives somewhere in the Northern Mountains," Bunnie said.

"Well," Sonic said, surprisingly rather awkwardly, "he revealed to me two things; firstly - this may be a surprise - but I'm actually... a Prince... Prince of the Royal Hedgehogs, to be precise; and secondly, I have... a brother and a sister..."


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