SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: SUPER SONIC Z
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE: A NEW WAR BEGINS, PART I

From their lairs, two great evils were about to strike, ready to destroy the tranquility in the world that only recently had been rebuilt. Both of them had set the pieces into place.

The Dark Being loomed over Orbot, Cubot and Elise. "Very soon, I'll show those Freedom Fighters, the true face of evil, the true face of fear. And what better moment to show them then the day they should remember most fondly…only to have their hopes and dreams crushed instead." He growled in an excited tone.

"Not to be disrespectful, my Lord, but in case the invasion fails and they manage to fend us off, do you know what we should do? Do we have a backup plan?" Orbot asked.

"I have multiple fleets ready, ready to attack multiple targets in the world, that's why I have send Elise to do the past few months: reactivating some old hidden undiscovered factories to establish new forces. Even if we fail to acquire one target, we'll be able to conquer other territories, and use the resources there to rebuild ourselves stronger than ever and return. In any case…we can't lose this in the grand scheme of things." The Dark Being replied.

"Yee-haw, now that's a man with a plan. But what about dem rumors about this Hooded fella?" Orbot asked, still stuck in his cowboy accent.

"He'll be dealt with eventually. But first I'll need to build up my forces to I can crush him and his pathetic army like an elephant crushes an ant under its foot." The Dark Being noted.

Meanwhile with the Hooded One, he sat on his throne as the rebuild Eggman Generals, now sporting the symbol of the Hooded One himself, reported to him. "Master, our sleeper agents are activated now, and they await instructions for the invasion." Shellcracker reported.

"Perfect. The buffoons in the outside worlds don't even notice that I've replaced some important key persons with my own programmed clones. Once they take down everything from the inside, or their manipulations put everything in place, I'll be there to claim control of those areas. With the newly acquired territory and its resources, I can expand my own forces to the point I'll be able to dominate the world."

"What about the rumors about this other guy, the 'Dark Being' as he's called?" Dragonfly asked.

"He'll be dealt with in time. Once my forces are strengthened by the resources of the conquered regions, I'll be able to crush his forces like a worm under a steamroller. Nothing will stand in my way." The Hooded One replied.

"But what if they're sitting down? Or if they're dancing instead? Shall I put on some music?" Violet said insanely and illogically as she is.

"Maybe later. Now, prepare my main fleet for the invasion of the Emerald Islands. While the remaining forces are at work, I want to personally oversee how my armies decimate the Freedom Fighter who destroyed Eggman. What prestige that'll bring me." The Hooded One said.

Both villains had stood up at the same time, and at the same time had given the same order to their minions: "With that said, unleash the fleets!" and around the world, several regions would simultaneously be under attack.

Around the world, several Freedom Fighters groups had been busy helping rebuild their homes as our heroes had on the Emerald Island Group. But would they be surprised when they found several large airships emerge from out of nowhere and unleash a whole army of Swatbots on them…while at the same time, undercover agents of the Hooded One would reveal themselves and put everything in motion. Anyways, no one had seen it coming.

In Downunda, Bill, Barby, Trash, Guru, Walt and Stu had been attacked by Swatbots and a new improved model of Wing Dingoes, fighting them off as best as they could. But it soon became clear they were outnumbered and they had to retreat. "Trash, Walt, help me hold off these forces. Barby, you take the others and evacuate the city." Bill ordered. The Freedom Fighters did as told by their leader.

Walt tossed his explosive boomerangs as they embedded themselves in the Swatbots and exploded. Several Wing Dingoes swarmed upon him, but he uses his boomerangs as makeshift blades to cut them in half. Meanwhile, Trash was using his brute strength as he tosses around the Swatbots as ragdolls. Though a dozen Swats pinned him down to the ground rugby style he tossed them off him. Bill had pulled out two guns and started shooting the heads off the Swatbots. "Help me!" a voice said as they saw how a platypus girl was brought towards a portable roboticizer.

"She needs our help!" Bill said as he wanted to make his way towards them, but several more Swatbots got in their way. "Dang it!" he said as she shot at them. But the Downunda Freedom Fighters were so occupied they couldn't do anything as the platypus girl was roboticized form head to toe.

"Did I just see that happen?" Trash asked surprised. They haven't seen anything like it, and it was a horrible thing to see.

They found themselves outnumbered, Bill being swarmed by Swatbots, who pulled his guns out of his hands and grabbed onto him. "Run! Save yourselves and the citizens. We can't win this!" Bill stated.

"We're not leaving you behind!" Walt said as he had no more boomerangs and instead was kicking the swatbots with his wallaby legs.

"That's an order! Tell Barby she's in charge now…" Bill said as he was dragged away. There was nothing Trash and Walt could do, there were too many Swatbots in their way, and if they tried to save Bill, they'd get captured too. They hung their heads and fought back their tears as they escaped. "You want a piece of me metalheads, you want a piece of me?" Bill growled as he was tossed in the Roboticizer and the Swatbots pushed the button…

In Mercia, Rob's Freedom Fighters were defending the castle from a group of Fox Fighters. Several citizens were already being evacuated through underground tunnels. Rob fired arrows from on top of the castle walls, as Shortfuse tossed bombs, Tekno fired her blasters, Ebony her spells, and Porker and John engaged the Fox Fighters that got in up close. "Don't let them get these castle walls! We won't let them take Mercia again!" Rob said.

But then someone on the inside lowered the drawbridge. It was oddly enough Friar Buck, a good friend and colleague of Porker. "Buck, what are you doing, you're letting them in!" Rob said as he turned to the Friar.

"That's the thing, you dolt!" a hissing voice sounded. Lord Hood, a familiar face, now sporting a black armor with limbs came in, leading the Fox Fighters. "This good Friar is actually one of my master's cloned sleeper agents. Now we take Mercia in the name of the Hooded One, and he'll have me rule in his stead."

"You monster…first you're after my cousin and now you unite yourself with another great evil. You're a slimy bastard!" Rob growled.

"I'm a snake, what the heck did you expect? I'm doing what's natural to me! Fox Fighters, get them!" he said as another group of Fox Fighters came in and swarmed upon them.

"We have no other choice but to retreat, we are outnumbered. Stay close to me, I'll cast a spell!" Ebony said as she concentrated and said: "Ytefas ot su tropelet." A bright light engulfed the group, but Hood has managed to grab a distracted John Lightfoot by his tail and pulled him away from the spell as the others teleported out without him.

The Fox Fighters bound down and gagged by the Fox Fighters. "Now, I'll be taking place on my throne, while you convert this specimen in a cyborg warrior for my master's goals. He'll be a nice addition to the Legion." Lord Hood said smirking.

"What are you posers waiting for, get them!" Commander Brass of the GUN's assault forces said as his soldiers ran into battle with the army of Swatbots that started invading. They had some great artillery, but so did the Swatbots. There were some casualties on both sides, several soldiers being shot down, as well as several Swatbots.

The both sides were equal, with the exception the Swatbots had a fleet on their side. The flagships fired on the ground, blasting their way through the city and the army. Several people were evacuated into GUN Trucks, and would be transported to a safe haven, an underground city in Soumerca. "Commander, we can't hold them off much longer, we have to retreat, we're suffering too much losses!" Colonel Topaz said to her superior.

"Well, I'm not handing these robots our city on a silver platter. Brass said as he rushed forward and kept shooting at the Swatbots, being the stubborn commander he is. He ran out of ammo, but instead smacked the heads of a Swatbot with his weapon. Though he was hit by a Swatbot's electric staff from behind, as he was knocked out and dragged off.

Topaz wanted to go out and help her commander, but it would only result in her own capture if she did so, so she had to make the hard choice of helping her commander or the city, and she had to choose the latter. "I'm sorry…Retreat! Bring those civilians to safety." She said as she retreated with her forces and directed her attention to evacuating the civilians.

The Swatbots carried the unconscious Hugo Brass and the surviving GUN soldiers they managed to capture towards the Roboticizers, ready to add another few Overlanders to the collection of robotic slaves.

Soumerca, where the Wolf Pack and their adopted Felidae brethren Elektra, Big, Honey and Mirror aided fending off the invading Fox Fighters, who were aided by some cybernetically enhanced Felidae. "And I was hoping to never see their ugly cat faces again…no offense guys!" Reynard said as he skewered some Fox Fighters on his spear and then tossed it in a Felidae.

"None taken. We have more immediate matters to worry about." Elektra said as she double kicked a couple of Felidae warriors. Though the Wolf Pack were the more skillful fighters, and despite their traditional ways occasionally used tech provided by the Freedom Fighters in times of need, the Felidae had enhancements, brute force and a group of robotic minions to help.

Diablo received a hard blow to the face as he was sent flying, courtesy of the now cyborg Razorklaw, sporting two robotic arms. "I've been waiting so long for this…now if I take this land in the name of the Hooded One, I'll rule it in his name, and I didn't even need to marry that treacherous wench." Razorklaw said gleefully. He raised his claws: "My master rather have as many specimens brought alive for conversion, but how could I resist a chance at revenge?"

However, Elektra came to the aid of her husband as she kicked Razorklaw in the back of his head, before Big grabbed his fishing rod, used it to tie up Razorklaw, before swinging him around in circles and toss him away. Elektra helped her husband get up as they rejoined the pack.

"We can't win this. We have to retreat. To the Great Unknown!" Lupe said as she and the wolves and the handful of cats amongst her tribes retreated.

"Wait, where's my sister?" Honey asked, as she then saw how two Fox Fighters dragged off her twin sisters away. "Mirror!" she said as she wanted to go after her, but Big picked her up and dragged her along, though he didn't want to give up on Mirror, they knew they couldn't save her now. "No, I need to go back, I need to save her! Mirror…" Honey said, crying all the way.

In the Dragon Kingdom, all six known tribes were under attack, but at two different fronts. On one front, the Swatbots fought the Gossamer, Ushi and Yagyu clans were attacked by a herd of samurai-esque Swatbots and robotic dragons. Normally the three tribes were enemies but they fought the common enemy for now, but that didn't mean they worked together. "Lord Jun Kun, we are outnumbered. We can't make it alone. Maybe we should ask…" a Mobian ox of the Ushi clan asked their leader.

"No! We are the strongest, we are the most powerful, we don't need any help. Let them fight to protect their clans, but they don't need to get in our way." Jun Kun said as he smacked his mace into the ground, creating a shockwave that knocked several Swatbots away. However, a robot dragon flew by and snatched his mace. "Hey, that's mine!" he growled, only for several other robot dragons to fly at him and coil around him like pythons, holding him in place.

Meanwhile, the Yagyu Clan, the clan of bats, under the leadership of their Lord, Yami, weren't doing great either. "We're not winning this. Let's move back to the shadows for a tactical retreat." The cowardly leader said.

"You mean running away because we're getting our butts handed?" a Yagyu asked, only for his Lord to shoot dirty looks at him. "But…your name for it sounds better." The Yagyu said scared as the bat ninja's tried to retreat, only to be cut off by a group of Swatbots, who tossed nets at them, before they carried the helpless Yagyu along.

The Gossamers lamented how the other two clans didn't want to help them against the invaders and hung their heads in defeat. They foresaw great danger in the future, but never knew how bad it was. "Lady Uma. We need to retreat. It's better for the future to fight another day, when the time is right!" a spider ninja said to their silent leader, Uma Arachnis. She nodded as she ordered her forces to retreat. They tossed smoke bombs to cover their escape.

At the other side of Chun-Nan, three other clans had been fighting against a group of Fox Fighters. Or to be exact, two of the clans, the monkey clan of the Saru and the chameleon Clan of the Shinobi fought against the Fox Fighters, the Raiju fought alongside them.

Unlike with Lord Hood and Razorklaw, the Bride of Conquering Storm hasn't joined the Hooded One by her free will, since she had her pride and honor. But this wasn't the real one, but another one of the Hooded One's sleeper clone agents. The real one has met her demise in an unfortunate way. But the other Raiju didn't know that and followed this one blindly in the arms of the Hooded one and being converted into Cyborgs.

Though the Raiju and the Fox Fighters did a number on the two other clans, the chameleons and the Saru stood strong, using their camouflage, agility and smarter tactics to stand her ground, as well as working much better together. Their leaders Ken Khan, Lord of the Saru and the Bride of Constant Vigil were on good terms. Ken Khan raised his weapon, a mystical rod that controls lightning as it rained down on the Fox Fighters, but didn't harm his subjects. Ken picked up a few wounded Saru and flew them away to the infirmary of his palace on his cloud Nimbus. As he arrived, several monkey nurses came in. "Take care of them, they're badly hurt." He said. The nurses did as told as they carried them off to tend to their wounds.

Ken sat down, and caught his breath. He has been fighting for hours and needed a few minutes rest before rejoining the fight. "A drink my lord?" a Saru nurse asked as she offered a class of water.

"Er…yeah, thank you." he said as he drank it. He didn't notice the dull look in the eyes of the nurse. It was then that he was surprised that several Raiju came barging in, led by Conquering Storm herself. "You! How did you get here?" he said as he grabbed his staff and aimed it at her.

"My master, the Hooded One has put a few sleeper agents in your clan…one of them having spiked your drink." She noted. Ken Khan then suddenly felt dizzy as the drink began to work. "It's a love potion. You'll be head over heels for me…you'll willingly surrender yourself and your clan to me, and to the Hooded One. We'll have an arranged marriage that unites the Saru and the Raiju under the Hooded One's reign." She explained.

Ken tried fighting the effects of the potion, which was created by the Hooded One himself, to specifically affect him…so Ken couldn't fight it as he soon was forgetting what he was doing and looked lovingly at Conquering Storm with a pink glow in his eyes. "Whatever you say, my dear…"

A single female Shinobi reported to the Bride of Constant Vigil. "Milady, reports have stated that not only the Saru retreat from the fight, but Ken Khan has announced his alliance to the Raiju…he's even going to marry their Bride, straight out of nowhere!" she reported.

"Do my ears deceive me, Liza? What has this world gone to? What threat or pressure could have made Ken turn from the light like that? There is no other choice but to retreat and bide our time before we have our answers, and can strike back. Anything else?" the Bride reacted.

"Some of our elite, like Valdez and Yuri have been captured. And several more have been injured. Retreat is indeed the best plan we can think off." The shinobi ninja named Liza replied.

"How I wish my son were here right now." the Bride of Constant Vigil said.

"So am I, milady." Liza said as she pulled out a picture of her and Espio, holding hands and looking like a loving couple.

Fleabyte and the Wild West Freedom Fighters were fighting hard against the Gunslinger-esque Swatbots that invaded the town. And like the other Freedom Fighters they were forced to retreat with the evacuated citizens. "Those yellow-bellied skunks. Just wait until we get back, then we'll show them what we're made off." The old gruff cat growled.

The Swatbots had blown up parts of the town, including the prison, and Jack Rabbit and his gang tried to escape in the confusion. "Okay guys, this comes at a good time, but we're still targets for these chrome domes, so whatever you do, stay out of sight and don't…" Jack said before they ran into some Swatbots. "PANIC!" He said as he and his gang tried to run, only for some Robians to cut them off, amongst them Shift E. Wolf… "Oh crud!" Jack said before he and his gang were captured.

In Efrika, where the Freedom Fighter academy was located, Ari Ram and his forces were fighting off the invading Fox Fighters. "Darn it. First Egg Pawns, now these robot fox thingies…what's next? Cryus report!" Ari said as he pulled out a communicator and a Mobian lion appeared on screen.

"We can't hold them off, their arsenal surpasses ours. We can't win a direct fight against them, and none of the inventions I had planned can be finished in time. We have to retreat and regroup." Cyrus stated.

"I understand…Ari out!" Ari said as he put down his communicator. He was joined by his second in command, the Mobian Bear known as Diesel. "Tell me Diesel how it could have come to this?" he wondered.

"Simple…the Hooded One is just that good…" Diesel stated as he pulled out his gun and aimed it at Ari. "And you'll surrender to him!" Diesel said, his eyes dull…showing Diesel was a sleeper clone as well. Ari raised his hands as he was at gunpoint. And while Cyrus and a lot of the trainees had escaped, Ari wouldn't have today.

In Eurish, Freedom Fighter veteran Harvey Who the Owl and several other Freedom Fighter trainees, Kato and Mina Mongoose at the front, Kato cutting through Swatbots with his Megatal-like armored plates, while Mina opened her throat and decimated the machines with her sonic scream. But Kato and Mina became tired as they started to pant. "Mr. Who, I'm tired…I wish Manic and Sonia were here, but they're with their parents now." Mina said.

"We have no other choice but to retreat." Mr. Who said. Kato signed that he wanted to continue fighting, but Harvey replied to him: "Those who fight and run away, live to fight another day. The time to fight comes later, young one." Harvey said as Mina and Kato were forced to comply and retreat with Mr. Who.

A Robian looking like Dulcy (the Dulcy look-a-like that was being roboticized in an earlier chapter) was amongst the Robians aiding the Swatbots in the invasion of Eurish. She noticed something trying to sneak away from the fight, and she followed it. She found the victim cowering in the corner of a dead end street of the city they were invading. It was Sally's father Max… "No, please, don't hurt me!" he said.

"Capturing victim, priority one. Preparing for roboticizing." She said as she grabbed him by the throat and dragged him to the closest roboticizer she could find.

Finally, the Northern Tundra was invaded by some Fox Fighters adapted to the icy climate. They were being aided by Mobian Orca's (unlike the Archie comics they are humanoid and a lot smaller and can move on land, though they're still fairly large and strong) who like Razorklaw and Lord Hood were modified with cybernetics. They could use their cybernetic to amplify their sonars to the point of using psionic pulses to knock back their opponents. "Lord Ahklut, we have them on the ropes, they retreat." One of the Orca's said to their leader.

"Excellent! We'll show them why we Orca's are the supreme and rightful rulers of the Tundra, our blood will run colder then the ice above as we claim this place as our own, under the name of the Hooded One!" Ahklut said as he and his forces pressed on.

The Arctic Freedom Fighters had to follow the same strategy as the other Freedom Fighters taken by surprise and outclassed by the evil forces: evacuate civilians and retreat. Only Erma the ermine had stayed behind as he saw how a walrus boy got his foot stuck in a crack in the ice. "I'll save you!" she said as she got the boy loose. However, they were confronted by a legionized Orca. "Go, save yourself, I'll hold him off, and if you see my friends, tell them that they can save me later on! Go!" she said, the walrus boy nodded as Erma tried to fight the much larger and stronger foe…but it would end with her the same way it would end for Lil' John, for Ken, for Mirror and for Ari…

But it wouldn't end here, with all these battles, sacrifices and unfortunate casualties. No, it was only the beginning, and for the Emerald Island Freedom Fighters, it wouldn't be any different…

TO BE CONTINUED…