Episode 33: Dark Alliance Part 1

One night in Echidnaopolis, all the Mobians who live there are sleeping in their homes for the night. In one of the homes, an echidna couple is fast asleep in their room. Suddenly, the male echidna hears a loud crashing sound that causes him to sit up fast and wake up.

He exclaims, "What in blazes?!"

The male echidna walks down stairs as he ties a wrap around his waist on his robe. He is not pleased with the sudden wake up call.

He opens the door and shouts, "Now see here…"

However, there's no one here.

He walks down the steps and looks around. He finds it confusing that no one is around. He turns one side of the street, but no one is around. He then tries the other side, so far nothing. However, he has no clue that someone is standing behind him. The echidna turns around to see someone, but is hit on the neck by a hand. The next moment, he's knocked out and someone catches him.

Just then, a familiar Dark Legionnaire, Lien-Da, walks over with a smirk in her face, and sees two of the Legionnaire have a hold on him.

Lien-Da chuckles, "Sorry Counselor, but you've been outspoken in your aversion to our technology that we wanted to find out why."

Lien-Da and the Legionnaires walk into the house while the two continue to hold the echidna in their arms. Soon, the Legionnaires begin to trash the house to make it like vandalism.

Lien-Da remarks, "Aha! Wide-screen high definition TV… videophone… closed circuit security monitor system… to say nothing of all the doo-dads and gadgets lying about. Quite a collection such an Avid Technophobe. Why, your average citizen barely has the basics. You think they'll feel sorry for you once they learn the truth?"

Lien-Da then begins to walk out of the building as she says, "Escort the High Councilor back to the centre! Once word of this gets out, we'll soon find out who our true friends and allies are."

He mutters in anger, "This is outrageous! More than likely it's Dingo trash up to no good.

The next day, Sonic, Eve, Tails, and Jazz are walking down the sidewalk with Knuckles and the Chaotix. After their adventure to stop Dr. Eggman, Four of the Freedom Fighters have been spending the night on Angel Island with the Chaotix. Of course, since the plane crashed, they had to stay on the island when it began to float in the area.

"It was nice that your mom let us stay at her place, Knuckles," Eve says.

"Well, you did help me save Angel Island when the Master Emerald lost their powers," Knuckles says.

"I still can't believe there was a strange gem that can mess up the Master Emerald's abilities," Vector says.

"Well, there are so many different gems and stones that have strong ability. Sonia and I have been working on studying some of the stones we have discovered," Eve says.

Sonic says, "Let's forget the rock science stuff and let's go get some lunch."

"It's called Geology. The study of rocks and minerals. In mine and Sonia's case, we're studying the magical rocks, gems, and stones. Like the Chaos Emeralds, the Deep Power Stone, and now the Phantom Ruby," Eve says.

"I see," Sonic says.

"I still don't get how the Phantom Ruby is able to shut down the Master Emerald. I thought it only had to be broken in order for that to happen," Charmy says.

"That's something we haven't figured out," Tails says.

Eve brings out her computer pad and types on it to see the keyboard. On the screen it shows the green Chaos Emerald and the Phantom Ruby.

"Hmm, from what Tails and I understand, the Phantom Ruby and the Chaos Emerald and appears to be as powerful as the Master Emerald. I suspect that when Dr. Eggman activated it, it must have canceled the Master Emerald's power. And yet, somehow, the chaos Emeralds power remains and connects itself to the Phantom Ruby," Eve says.

"That kind of explains a little. I'm glad to know the Phantom Ruby is destroyed," Julie-Su says.

"Yeah. Feeling the energy of the Phantom Ruby is… not normal," Eve says.

Sonic looks around, and says, "Speaking of not normal. Everyone seems to be a little edgy okay."

"Y-yeah. Everyone seems concerned about something," Ray says.

"And the Dingoes appears to be going on strike," Mighty says.

"I know what you mean. The way I hear it, the High Council hasn't lifted a finger to speed along the progress on constructing houses for the Dingoes," Julie-Su says.

"I thought the Dingoes are being aggressive since we got back here," Sonic says.

"But why are they holding a protest now and not before?" Tails asks.

"The elections for the High Council are coming up. Whoever gets voted in could either advance or throw a monkey wrench in the program," Julie-Su says.

"And your average citizen hasn't weighted in an opinion for or against nobody has any clue what the smart course of action is," Knuckles says.

Eve uses her computer pad to bring out a news article that has the picture of an echidna with black hair and blue eyes. He wears a blue outfit.

"I remember seeing a news report that one of the Candidates named Pravda disappeared last night. According to the article, he's known for being Anti-Tech," Eve says.

"Anti-Tech?" Charmy says confused.

"That just means he's against technology. Even though many Mobians have used technology for years and maybe centuries. Some of the echidna like Pradva don't have a strong passion for technology. Those like the Dark Legon use technology as their way of living. Those like us… we're in between," Eve says.

"You can say that again. Even though we lived in a forest, we do have technology like Nicole and Tails inventions," Sonic says.

"Is there a reason for Pravda's disappearance?" Espio asks.

"His wife isn't talking. Apparently, she's still in shock," Julie-Su says.

"How do you know?" Mighty asks.

"Let's just say a little birdie told me," Julie-Su says.

"The Constable told you, didn't he?" Eve asks.

Julie-Su giggles, "He did."

"Are the EST doing anything to find him?" Saffron asks.

"They're doing their best, especially with the elections coming up," Julie-Su says.

"Well, we can only hope nothing else happens. There's already too many things happening to us on this island as it is," Knuckles says.

"Like the protest?" Sonic suggests.

Eve rolls her eyes with an annoyed look on her face, "Oh brother."

"Let's head to the outskirts of the city. Sonia, Cosmo, and Manic will be meeting us there in the X Tornado," Tails says.

Everyone agrees to the idea and heads toward the outskirts of the city.

Meanwhile, in the secret Centre of the Dark Legion, the two Legionnaires continue to carry the echidna from the night before. He's really Pravda the Councilor that has gone missing, and the Dark Legion is the one who abducted him.

The counselor struggles as he shouts, "Wh-where are you taking me? Haven't you done enough? Let me go! Let me go, I say!"

"Ouiet, you pathetic little worm! You'll do what we tell you when we tell you," Lien-Da scolds in anger.

The Legionnaire continues to drag Pravda into a room close by. Lien-Da is the first to step in. Then the Legionnaires dragging the Councilor into the room.

The Counselor screams, "Ow!"

Then panics, "Can't we discuss this?! I'm sure we can make a deal!"

Suddenly, a sinister robotic voice says, "Deal? Did you say you wish to make a deal?"

Standing out that looks like a chamber is an echidna, but most of his body is robotic. It has wires on his head around his red dreadlocks, and some around his body. The dreadlocks and his muscle seems to be the only thing that isn't robotic.

As he walks out, he says, "That really amuse me to hear you say that, you sanctimonious hypocrite!"

He then walks towards the councilor in anger, "Your family hasn't changed a bit… stir up the crowd to oppose what is rightfully theirs while your kind controls all the fruits of others' labor. Your ancestors never offered me any deal when my brother and I sought to restore our homeland to the motherworld. Almost 400 years ago."

He then makes a smirk on his face and says, "Now it's payback time, and you know what they say about that… it's like an itch only, meaner."

At the outskirts of the city, Sonic, Eve, and the others wait to see the X Tornado landing to the ground. The hood of the seats open to reveal, Sonia, Manic, Cosmo, and surprisingly Shadow and Cloud-Ra are there too.

"Shadow? Dad? I didn't know you were here," Eve says, surprised.

"Shadow had a few days off and we heard about what happened with the Tornado, so we decided to come and pick you up," Cloud-Ra says.

"I'm glad to see you again," Eve says.

"Chao Chao," Jazz happily says.

Shadow walks over, "We're mostly here to pick you up. Nothing more."

"Come on faker, we were thinking of letting us relax here another few days. Plus, there seems to be a problem," Sonic says.

"What kind of problem?" Manic asks.

"The conflict between Echidnas and Dingoes," Knuckles says.

"We'll explain as we walk around town," Eve says.

In the roads of Echindaopolis, many of the cars are in a complete halt. In a white car close to the front, Constable Remington is in the car with one of the officers. Lara-Le who is holding baby Kneecaps and Wynmacher are heading back home after a meeting.

Lara-Le asks, "how much further, Constable? We seem to be taking the long way home."

"Seems we have a crowd up ahead, they'll just step aside once we get closer," Remington says.

However, the officer drives closer as he says, "No they won't! Cripes!"

At front, they see the dingoes holding picket signs and are walking around the road. At the same time, there are Echidnas as well who aren't pleased with the protest.

The officer says, annoyed, "D'ya think they have a permit for this sort of thing sir? We can always bust them if they don't!"

"Keep a lid on it, deputy. I don't wanna blow this out of proportion," Remington says.

At the front of the traffic, the Dingoes continue to protest as they hold signs reading, 'Echidnas Unfair' and 'Dingoes Have Needs.'

One of the dingoes noticed, "Geoff get a gander over there! It's the Jackboots!"

"They won't touch us! Not if they don't want other echidna to feel sympathetic to our cause!"

Remington exists the car holding a megaphone, "Here's hoping I can reason with the cooler heads among that crowd."

Remington holds out the megaphone and calls out, "Attention! If you must protest… Please step aside to allow traffic through!"

Suddenly, a bottle of some kind begins to fly over the air, causing everyone to get confused.

Suddenly, someone shouts, "Get back!"

The bottle that is actually full of fire crashes to the ground, causing a powerful flare and a loud bang. Soon, the Dingoes and the Echidnas begin to fight against each other.

"Of all the.." Remington says, annoyed.

Then calls out, "Quick! Patch me in a scrambled hook-up to channel Echo-Delta!"

Meanwhile, in another different part of Echidnaopolis, Sonic, Eve, and the others are walking down the street of the city. Suddenly, they hear a loud bang that cause everyone to come to a halt.

Knuckles asks, "What was that?"

"That sounds like trouble," Vector says.

Espio points front, "It came from down the street."

The group hurries down the street and turns to the right side to see a large fight is breaking out.

"What on Mobius is going on?" Sonia asks.

"Dudes, looks like a major fight is breaking out to me," Manic says.

"I think the Echidnas and the Dingoes' chances of getting along is close to zero," Eve says.

"Think we should do something?" Cosmo asks.

Knuckles hurries over, "I'll handle this."

"I'm coming too," eve says, hurrying after them.

Sonic, Espio, Sonia, Manic, Mighty, and Shadow hurry after them.

Eve says, "Vector, see if you and the others can help any of the injured. We'll deal with the crowd."

"If you say so," Vector says.

"Espio, there's a white car in front. Check to see if anyone in there is okay," Knuckle says.

"Understand," Espio says.

He makes himself invisible and hurries through the crowd without a problem. Knuckles, Sonic, Espio, Mighty, and Shadow hurry to the crowd and stop to see the riot.

"Alright. Sonic, Manic and Mighty will gather the Dingoes in one area while Shadow, Sonia and I deal with the Echidnas," Knuckles says.

"What about me?" Eve asks.

"When we separate them, you use your Chaos Bubble to seal them in," Knuckles says.

Eve nods her head, "Right."

With that, Sonic, Knuckles, and the others device themselves. Sonic uses his speed to knock some of the Dingoes off their feet. Then Mighty along with Manic throw the dingoes into one side of the area. Sonic then spin dashes some of the other Dingoes and cause them to fall in a pile.

On the other side of the crowd, Shadow and Knuckles punch, push, and in Shadow's case, spin dash the echidnas out of the crowd. Sonia then creates a tornado with her body and collides with the echidnas, sending them flying to the other side of the street.

As both groups fight against the protesters and anti-protesters, reappears on top of the car. He walks over to notice Constable Remington holding the megaphone.

"Constable, are you alright?" Espio asks.

"Espio. I didn't know you were here," Remington says.

"We heard the ruckus and decided to see what was happening. Knuckles and the others are dealing with the problem now," Espio says.

Remington looks ahead to see Sonic, Knuckles, and the others separating the Dingoes and Echidnas from each other.

Suddenly a familiar voice asks, "Espio, is that you?"

Espio turns his head to see Lara-Le, holding her baby coming out of the car.

"Lara-Le?" Espio asks, shocked.

Soon enough, they're able to separate the two groups. Sonic and the others quickly move out of the way.

Knuckles shouts, "Eve! Now!"

Eve then uses her Chaos Energy and shouts, "Chaos Bubble!"

Eve then creates bubble barriers around the Echidnas and the Dingoes putting them in different bubbles. The Dingoes and the Echidnas see that they're trapped and are trying to break free. However, Eve's bubbles are too strong to break.

"Good job, Eve. That will keep them from causing trouble," Shadow says.

Eve smiles, "No problem.

"I don't get it. How could things fall apart like this?" Knuckles asks.

Suddenly, someone says, "I was wondering the same thing myself."

Knuckles and the others turn their heads to see a familiar Dingo.

"General Von Stryker? What's he doing here?" Eve says, confused.

Stryker says, "This is pathetic. Have we fallen so far that we are reduced to begging for scraps from Echidna tables?"

"Begging your pardon, general. But I'm not too proud of Echidna behavior either," Knuckles says.

Knuckles walks to the Dingo General, "What you say we have a cooling off period for both sides while we figure out how to resolve the problem.

"So what is the problem?" Shadow sternly asks.

"Too many broken Echidna promises! And I swear, if you and yours don't make good this time, you'll have wished you got rid of us instead," Stryker says, angrily.

Then Stryker walks away as he says, "Make sure hedgehog friends don't keep the Dingoes in that bubble for very long."

Knuckles and the others watch as Stryker leaves the scene.

Cosmo worriedly says, "He's scary."

"Don't worry Cosmo, it's going to be okay," Tails says.

"I don't like his attitude," Julie-Su says.

"I don't think anyone does at this rate," Charmy says.

"Charmy," Vector scolds.

Knuckles groans, "Things can't get any worse."

"Knuckles," A female voice calls out.

Knuckles and the others turn their heads to see Espio with Lara-Le, Wynmacher, and little Kneecaps.

"Hi sweetie," Lara-Le happily says.

"M-mom? What are you doing here?" Knuckles exclaims, shocked.

Meanwhile, in a strange room that looks like a medical room, the abducted Echidna known as Pravda is sleeping on the table and has a strange face mask attached to a tube on his face.

One of the medical echidna says, "The patient is under, doctor. He shouldn't feel a thing."

"He won't even remember being on this table once we're through," The other doctor says, holding a device.

He walks to the patient and says, "Let's make the initial incision into the skull over here."

At the hall, Dimitri and two echidnas are watching the operation being confirmed.

Dimitri thinks, "What a pity it isn't your ancestor lying there in your stead. He is the reason why the project Edmund and I did was shut down. Back then, I wasn't thinking straight and as Enerjak, I was consumed with my own power. My carelessness resulted in my downfall! Not this time, however. This time… vengeance will be mine."

Back at the traffic jam, Eve releases the Dingoes and the Echidna from the bubbles. The Dingoes and the Echidnas decide to leave to avoid any more trouble. After that, Knuckles, and the others move out of the way to clear traffic and allow the cars to come through. Soon, they're talking to Remington, Lara-Le and Wynmacher.

"Are you all alright?" Sonic asks.

"We are. Thanks to you guys," Lara-Le says.

"Glad we can help," Sonia says.

"But mom, what are you doing here?" Knuckles asks.

"We had to attend a meeting and we ran into trouble on our way back home. The Dingo Protesters are starting to get out of hand," Lara-Le says.

Kneecaps reaches his hands to Knuckles, "Na Na. Na Na."

"Looks like he's happy to see his big brother," Lara-Le says.

Knuckles rubs Kneecaps head, "Hey little guy. I'm glad to see you too."

"Na Na. Na Na," Kneecap happily says, holding his hand.

Cosmo walks over, "Aww, he's so cute. He's really your little brother?"

"Yeah. His name is Knecapeon Mace, but we call him Kneecaps for short," Knuckle says.

Comso smiles and says, "Hello Kneecaps/ My name is Cosmo. It's nice to meet you."

Kneecaps smile and reach out to touch the flower buds on Comso's head.

"Awww! That's so cute," Eve says.

"He's adorable," Saffron happily says.

"And a bit playful," Charmy adds.

"Bah bah. Bah bah," Kneecaps happily says.

Soon, everyone begins laughing, all except Shadow. Remington notices Shadow and walks over to him.

He asks, "And who might you be?"

"I'm Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog," Shadow answers.

"Okay. Are you related to Eve? You look like her," Remington replies.

"She's my sister, and Cloud-Ra is my father. That is all you need to know," Shadow says.

Remington is a bit surprised to hear Shadow's statement.

Sonic notices and says, "Yeah. I get you. Shadow may look like Eve, but their personalities are different."

"I noticed. I'm guessing that means that he was created by Cloud-Ra along with this Professor Gerald as well," Remington guesses.

"Yeah. Shadow may be serious and well, different from me, but he can be really sweet once you get to know him," Eve says with a smile.

"If you say so," Remington says.

"So Remington, we heard that Councilor Pravda has disappeared, have you found any leads?" Tails asks.

"Afraid not. We searched his home and asked his wife. So far, the house was wrecked and his wife is very spooked," Remington says.

"So you don't have any leads on who could have taken him?" Shadow asks.

"We have not many clues to look on. Word is starting to go around and many echidna believed that the Dingoes have something to do with it," Remington says.

"Something tells me that this isn't just a normal protest," Sonia says.

"I doubt even the Dingoes can pull something like this off," Manic says.

Eve says in concern, "Do you think… the Dark Legion has something to do with it. They're good at covering their tracks."

Knuckles and the others look at Eve with confused expressions.

"You think the Legion has something to do with it. Why do you think that?" Sonic asks.

"I… I don't know. It's… it's just a hunch. Plus, it's possible they're able to pull this off," Eve says.

"That is possible, but there's no telling if they are or not," Vector says.

"Still, that possibility can't be ruled out. Especially since we met Moritori Rex just yesterday," Knuckles says.

"And gave you these ribbons for your dreadlocks," Sonic says.

"Ribbons? What ribbons?" Sonia asks.

"And who is this Moritori?" Vector asks.

"Well. It's back in Lara's house. Long story short, Moritori is actually a Dark Legionnaire who pretended to be a guardian for a long time," Eve says.

Then turns to Shadow, He's actually our grandfather from our father's side. He must have known about our father, you, me, and the rest of our family. And he gave me the ribbons when we uncovered his identity."

"I see. Have you seen him since then?" Shadow asks.

"No. From what Kragok explained, that was his mission. He was to infiltrate the Guardians and destroy them from within, and was trying to find our father. He had hoped that he's still alive. And he must have seen him when he came here and the Dark Legion told him about us and our siblings and our mother," Eve says.

"Chao Chao," Jazz replies.

"I remember you explaining some of the details to me. You said that the Dark Legion wants us to join them because we're part of Dimitri's bloodline," Shadow replies.

"Yes. And I thought the Black Arms wanting us to join them was bad enough," Eve says.

"Either way, we need to keep an eye on them in case they are planning something," Shadow says.

"I agree. The Legion will never give up that easily. I can't help but think they're planning something," Eve says.

"I have to agree. We should keep an eye on this in case they plan something," Sonic says.

"For now, let's get Lara-Le and her family back home," Eve says.

Everyone agrees to the idea and decides to leave the area and head off to figure out what they need to do now. Eve however is still worried about the situation. She can't help but feel something else is going on.

Meanwhile, in a rundown part of the city. Lien-Da and the Legionnaires arrive and look around to see some of the echidnas who live at the old buildings and walking around the city.

Lien-Da says, "Let's demonstrate to everyone what the penalty is for betraying our own kind."

The Legionnaires nod their heads and begin to kick trash can around, smashing windows with objects they can find, and destroy many properties.

Just then one of the echidnas comes over and angrily says, "Hey! We have no quarrel with you! We just want to be left alone!"

Before the echidna can do anything else, two of the Legionnaires grab hold of him as he tries to fight back.

"It would appear the jellyfish has a spine!" Lien-Da sternly says.

She then smirks on her face and says, "Show this toad what happens to those who don't support our side! Beat this miscreant senselessly!"

Meanwhile, one of the Legionnaires is typing in one the computer and checking the monitors.

The legionnaire turns their head and says, "Message received from Kommissar! The insurrection has begun, Lord Dimitri!"

"Excellent!" Dimitri says, and clutches his fist.

Then says, "We'll finally take back what should have been ours all those long years ago! With terror and intimidation as our weapons of choice…"

He then slams his other hand on a small replica of the city, "We shall crush any and all resistance! And then, when the citizenry looks for a savior… we shall give them one."

Just then, someone begins to step through the entry.

"Let's hear it for the people's choice that paragon of virtue. A staunch supporter of the technology now candidate… Pravda," Dimitri adds.

Stepping into the room, the missing echidna, Pravda steps out wearing a blue outfit and blue boots. However, he has three wiring sticking on his right cheek.

Pravda says in a monotone voice, "Hail Dimitri! Immortal Dimitri! He shall ever endure! Energized by the emerald, his power is limitless! First shall Echdinaoplis fall to him. Then Mobius Prime itself! HAIL DIMITRI!"