A pair of eyes awoke in darkness.

Where am I? thought the bearer of the eyes.

He outstretched his arms until they pressed against some glass. He was inside some sort of stasis pod. He kicked the pod open and jumped out. He turned back and walked towards the pod. He reached inside of it and pulled out two swords. He slammed the two sword hilts together to form a mighty double sided blade. He tucked the blade into a pouch on his back and walked off, into the woods.

He was a black hedgehog, with red eyes and red spiky hair who wore a gray sweatshirt with red stripes on the sleeves. He wore red shorts with a race track flag pattern on the sides of the legs.

He also wore black spiked boots.

"Who am I?" he said out loud to himself. He put his hand on his head, straining his brain to give him images of his past. Zant. He thought to himself.

"My name is Zant the Hedgehog." He said to himself, agonizingly.

"Why… does it hurt so much…to think?" He continued his self-monologue of his memories.

"I can teleport, my sword can absorb Chaos Energy and…" Zant stopped. He saw the image of someone strange. A face he doesn't recall. It was the face of a black and red hedgehog.

Who is he? Zant thought to himself.

Zant walked on.

Dante Nantal ran through the forest of the dragon kingdom.

She was searching for the source of a local explosion she had recently heard.

'It better be what I think it is.' She thought to herself. 'I spent the last month searching for clues to the location of these guys.'

She was a black hedgehog with blue eyes who wore a white shirt and white pants with flames towards the end of the legs. She also wore red and white boots.

As she ran, she noticed Zant walking up ahead.

'That must be one of them!' she thought to herself. 'A member of the Order of the Phoenix…! Looks like its my lucky day!'

She charged towards him, leaped into the air and raised her left leg for a drop kick.

Zant turned around, pulled out his duel sword and blocked the kick with his sword hilt.

"What the heck?" he cried. "Who are you?"

Dante back flipped and landed on her feet. "My name is Dante Nantal. Now tell me where my friends are!"

Zant raised his eye brow.

"What the heck are you talking about?" he asked.

Dante growled. "Don't act like you don't know!"

Her hands glowed red and she uprooted a tree. Then she swung it at Zant.

Zant leaped into the air and did a front flip over the tree. He sliced it in half and landed in front of Dante.

He grabbed the collar of her shirt and looked at her dead in the eye.

"I don't know who you are, I don't know what you're talking about, and I don't even know where I am!" he said.

"Liar!" cried Dante. "You're after me! You've kidnapped the rest of my friends, and your after me!"

"I…am…NOT!" cried Zant.

"We are." Said a voice behind them.

A hand attached to some threads shot seeming from no where at Zant and grabbed his throat.

Zant cried out in pain as the hand recoiled back to where it was shot from, and dragged Zant across the ground.

The hand belonged to Ragdoll the Fox, who lifted Zant into the air. Detonator the Weasel was standing next to him.

"After that fantastic display, we can't let you two go." Said Detonator. "So we're bringing you in. Un."

Detonator grabbed some clay from his pouch, and it molded into a small bird. He sent it flying at Dante.

She threw up her arms and a shield of yellow energy formed in front of her.

The bird exploded on the outside of the shield.

When the smoke faded away, Dante was shown to be unharmed.

Zant was being choked.

Ragdoll laughed as the breath was being squeezed out of Zant.

Suddenly, Zant disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Ragdoll looked around. "A teleporter, eh?" he said to himself.

He looked around. Suddenly, he felt something stab him in the back.

It was Zant's sword. He had teleported behind him and stabbed him in the back.

"Don't take me lightly." He whispered in Ragdoll's ear.

"I didn't stab you in a vital area. But I will if you don't tell me what the hell is going on."

Ragdoll laughed. "Who's taking who lightly?" he asked.

More threads grew out of Ragdoll's back, and wrapped themselves around Zant's limbs.

The threads slammed him against a tree. A few of the threads wrapped around Zant's neck and began to choke him.

"The sooner I make you pass out the sooner I can get you back to the leader." Said Ragdoll. "So shut up and pass out already!"

The threads squeezed Zant's neck harder. Then Zant teleported out of the threads' grasp.

"Hmm…" said Ragdoll. "The constant teleporting could get a bit out of hand…"

Zant teleported in front of Ragdoll and kicked him in the face.

Ragdoll grunted and swung his fist at him, but Zant had already teleported behind him and sliced his back with his sword.

Ragdoll tried swinging his fist behind him, but Zant had teleported in front of him and tripped him up

Ragdoll fell to the ground on his back.

Zant teleported in front of him and stabbed him in the chest.

Ragdoll cried out in pain.

Zant smiled as he pulled the blade out of Ragdoll's chest.

Suddenly, something inside of Ragdoll's chest began to bounce around wildly.

Zant felt sick as he watched a heart launch out from Ragdoll's body.

The heart was sliced in half however, and Ragdoll's blood was everywhere.

"W-what are you…?" asked Zant.

Ragdoll laughed as he stood up and said "I have the power to steal hearts from my opponents. I can store up to five hearts at once in my own body, and if one of those hearts fails…"

Ragdoll glanced over to the sliced heart. "Then my body will automatically eject it and move on to the next one."

Ragdoll smiled. "You've killed me once. Let's see you do it four more times."

Ragdoll leaped up into the air and brought his fists down upon the ground where Zant was standing.

Zant leaped out of the way of the attack, as it left a crater on the ground.

'I'm outmatched, and I was taken by surprised.' Thought Zant. 'I need to get out of here. But should I really leave Dante behind?'

Ragdoll commenced his assault by uprooting a tree and attempting to bash Zant with it.

Zant back flipped over the tree.

"Geez!" he cried. "He's as strong as Dante!"

Zant teleported away.

Ragdoll looked around. "Where did you go?" he cried.

Meanwhile, Dante was having a hard time putting up with her opponent. She figured out that her opponent uses explosive clay that molds and shapes itself into different creatures. Now the next thing she needed to figure out was how to get the jump on this guy.

She was behind a shield of her N-RGY. Detonator was constantly bombarding the shield with his explosives. Any moment now her shield would give out and she would be vulnerable to a deadly attack. Which is what Detonator wants.

'I can't stand here like a sitting duck forever.' She thought. 'I need to get out of his range of attack.'

"Need a hand?" said a voice behind her.

She turned around and saw Zant.

Zant was smiling at her. He put his hand on her shoulder and the two of them disappeared in a puff of smoke.

When the smoke from Detonator's bombs disappeared, Dante and Zant were gone.

Detonator cursed. Ragdoll came up behind him.

"One of them is a teleporter." Said Ragdoll. "Did they already escape?"

Detonator turned to him with a scowl on his face. "Yes." He said.

Now Ragdoll cursed. Enraged, he cried out "Its because you are so weak that you let them escape!".

"ME?" cried Detonator. "YOU let him escape too! And judging from the fact that you're covered in blood, I'll bet that he took out one of your hearts, am I right?"

"I…! He…! …you!..." stammered Ragdoll.

"Enough!" said a voice behind them.

Detonator and Ragdoll turned to see Doppelganger.

"I don't know the range that the teleporter can move within," said Doppelganger. "So Detonator and I should take to the skies and search the nearby area for them. We also need to keep an eye out for Sonic, or anyone else from the Dragon Kingdom that might want to come to the monkey king's rescue."

Ragdoll and Detonator nodded.

"Fine then." Said Detonator.

Detonator took out some clay, and molded it into a giant bird. He jumped upon it and it took off.

Doppelganger transformed into a small bird and took off in a different direction.

Ragdoll went to search for the enemy on foot.

Sonic met with Sally, Tails, and Amy at Freedom HQ.

"Well guys…" said Sally. "Tails has the Tornado prepped and ready to go. We'll be taking off shortly to go on our recruiting mission…"

A hologram of the computer A.I. NICOLE appeared on in front of the three. "Sally," she said. "I'm receiving a distress call from the Dragon Kingdom. They're saying that Monkey Khan has been kidnapped."

Sally looked at her with a surprised look on her face.

"No…!" she whispered to herself.

Sonic gave Sally a concerned look.

"Well… what are we going to do Sally?" asked Amy, who was worried about Sally as well.

"Its obvious what we'll do!" said Sonic. "We go out and rescue him! Who's kidnapped him?"

"Unknown." Said NICOLE. "It is known that he uses explosives. He was sighted with two other companions, but it is unknown if they have any special abilities or weapons."

Sally nodded.

Tails walked into the room and asked "Is everyone ready to go?"

"Plot a new course Tails." Said Sally. "We're going to go and rescue Ken."

"Monkey Khan's been kidnapped?" asked Tails.

Sally nodded.

"Well, let's leave now." Said Sonic.

"Bunnie and Antoine should be able to protect the city themselves while we're gone, and the Chaotix are on Angel Island incase the city is attacked." Said Sally. "We should be fine."

Sonic pounded his fist into his palm with excitement. "Well, let's not keep Banana Brains waiting." He said. "Let's go."

Sonic, Amy, Sally, and Tails took off in the Tornado on their way to the Dragon Kingdom.

From the control room of the Freedom Fighter space station, Rotor Walrus checked the status of the city of New Megaopolis. There were no problems regarding the city, all of the defense measures were running smoothly and NICOLE was operating with 120% efficiency.

Seemed like now was a good time for Rotor to take his leave.

Suddenly, the wireless radio on the space station that was used to communicate with the Freedom Fighters down on the planet began to beep.

Rotor walked up to the monitor to see who it was.

The monitor said it was Princess Sally, sending an urgent message.

Rotor activated it and spoke into the microphone.

"Sally?" he asked. "Are you alright?"

"This isn't the princess, walrus." Said the voice on the other end.

"I must admit, that the creation of a space station was a clever idea. However, its development did not go unnoticed."

"Who is this?" asked Rotor.

"You've forgotten my voice?" asked the person on the other end. "I guess all of your years as a Freedom Fighter were in vain, eh?"

"…Eggman." Said Rotor.

"Correct." Said the voice on the other end.

"Before the final stages of the station went into place, I was able to hack the system, download all the files onto my personal database, and upload a virus, all simultaneously. Your space station is now under my control Walrus."

The image of the Eggman Empire symbol appeared on the monitor.

"And you are my first prisoner of war."

Zant and Dante ran until Dante couldn't run anymore.

Dante sat down on the ground and panted.

"I can't go anymore." She said. "I need to catch my breath."

Zant turned towards her and noticed her leg.

It was badly burned.

Zant extended his hand to touch it. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Dante grabbed his and in one swift motion. "Let's get one thing straight." She said. "Just because we were both attacked by members of the Order of the Phoenix doesn't mean we're friends."

"Who are those guys?" asked Zant. "And what's going on?"

"Have you been sleeping under a rock for the past few years?" asked Dante.

"Actually… something like that…" said Zant.

Dante gave him a strange look.

Zant shook his head. "Nevermind." He said. "Tell me what's going on."

Dante sighed. Then she gave him a stern look and said "Those guys that attacked us were part of the Order of the Phoenix. They're a group of Mobian Terrorists that are kidnapping other Mobians with super powers. Why they are, no one knows."

Then Dante looked away from him sadly. "They… they kidnapped some close friends of mine. They're after me too."

Zant gave Dante a concerned look. "I'm sorry to hear that." He said.

Zant sat down next to her and said "I'm trying to find someone too. Maybe we could help each other out?"

Dante gave him a surprised look. "A partnership? With you?" she asked.

"Well duh." Said Zant. "Anyone else here you could be partners with?"

Dante pondered the offer for a moment.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of an air plane above them, and glanced up.

Zant looked up too.

"Who is that…?" asked Zant.

Dante smiled. "If I'm right, it's the one person that might actually be able to help us."

Zant raised his eyebrow. "Who?" he asked.

"Sonic the Hedgehog." Said Dante.

Outside the dome of New Megaopolis was one of Dr. Eggman's personal favorite machines, standing in front of an army of robots. The robot doppelganger of the world's hero Sonic the Hedgehog: Metal Sonic.

Metal Sonic's task was to invade the city once Dr. Eggman disabled the dome around the city, and shut NICOLE down.

Unlike the past models of Metal Sonic created by Dr. Eggman, this one was capable of feeling emotions similar to those of a real Mobian.

Right now, Metal Sonic was feeling intense excitement. He couldn't wait to destroy the home and kidnapping the friends and family of the one he was built to kill.

His army consisted of a new generation of E-Series robots. They were about the same height as Mobians, however unlike the Mobians, their heads resembled old S.W.A.T. bots. Several of the robots' limbs were outfitted with different weapons, such as guns and missile launchers. It was a fine army indeed. One that would strike fear into the hearts of the Mobians.

The dome around the city dispersed.

That was Metal Sonic's cue to invade the city.

"CHARGE!" cried Metal Sonic as he and the army of robot sentries invaded New Megaopolis.

The army's attack was swift, precise, and deadly.

With most of the city's defense measures shut down by Eggman, it wasn't hard for the robots to make prisoners of the citizens there. With only Bunnie and Antoine D'Coolette left to defend the city, they were easily captured as well.

The city was taken in the name of the Eggman Empire.

Meanwhile, Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Sally were almost at the Dragon Kingdom.

"We're almost there!" said Tails as the Tornado flew through the air.

Sonic was scanning the horizon, when he saw what he though was a giant bird. "Woah!" he cried. "Look at that bird! It's huge!" He pointed at it.

Sally, Tails, and Amy looked at the bird Sonic was pointing to.

Amy raised an eyebrow. "I may be going crazy but…" she said. "Is that a person standing on top of the bird?"

Sally nodded. "Yeah, I see the person too."

Smaller birds began flying from the larger bird towards the Tornado.

"Smaller birds are flying towards the Tornado…" said Sonic.

The birds grew closer and closer towards the Tornado. When they were right next to the plane, they exploded.

"We're hit!" cried Tails.

The Tornado began to spin out of control and fall towards the ground. Everyone on the plane screamed as it fell.

Zant and Dante watched the plane fall with horror.

"No!" cried Dante. "He's the only one that can help me!"

Zant turned to Dante and said "I'll teleport over and see if they're okay…"

"You're not going anywhere." Said a voice behind them.

The two turned behind them to see Ragdoll and another Mobian with him.

It was a male blue hawk with a green Mohawk and ponytail, wearing a kung-fu robe and black kung-fu pants. He also wore red and white boots, a black head band, a blue scarf, and white wrappings around his hands.

"You two are coming with us." Said the hawk.