It's here! It's Friday and you know what that means! Update Day!

We last left off with Cyrus taking Sonic hostage while the rest of the group go to search for them! But danger lurks around every corner, and with the group getting split up, who knows how much longer everyone may be able to stay alive! However, it seems not only is everyone not actually in the distant future like they thought, but Sonic's own siblings may be more involved than previously thought. Just what in the name of Chaos is going on?!

Find out now! On Thorn Chaos!


A memory of a younger Sonic sitting up in a hospital bed was then shown.

Sonic – Bro, Sis! You came to visit me again, huh?

A younger Sonia and Manic were shown coming into the room until they stopped by Sonic's bed.

Sonia – How are you feeling, Sonic?

Manic – You sure seem energetic for someone who's been stuck in bed all week, Bro.

Sonic then leaned back against his pillow in exasperation.

Sonic – Honestly, it's been killing me being cooped up in here! I'm going stir crazy I tell you!

Sonia – Well, maybe this will teach you to think before you try being such a showoff again.

A tall, adult female hedgehog with violet fur and long curly purple hair then came into the room as well.

Aleena – You should listen to your sister, Sonic.

Sonic – Mom!

The violet hedgehog, revealed to be the triplets' mother then came over to Sonic's side as well and looked at him worryingly.

Aleena – I know how much you enjoy running, Honey. But you have a bad habit of jumping into things headfirst without thinking it through. If you keep being so reckless, one day you might end up hurt worse than this time.

Sonic – I know. I'm sorry, Mom.

Sonic, Manic, and Sonia's mother then sighed.

Aleena – I won't discourage you from doing what you love, but please think about how your actions will affect the people around you. You had me and your siblings really worried about you, Sonic.

Sonic took in his mother's expression along with Sonia and Manic's nods of agreement and took her words to heart.

Sonic – I will, Mom. Promise.


Another memory was then shown of Sonic at his current age, sprinting across a running track swiftly and crossing the finish line before the other runners, resulting in him victoriously raising his fist into the air.

Sonic – All right! And The Blue Wonder does it again!

Soon enough, Sonic's fellow competitors began surrounding him, amazed by his speed.

Runner 1 – Wow, Sonic! You really left us all in the dust!

Runner 2 – Man! I thought I had you that time!

Runner 3 – Are you kidding? He's the fastest kid in school. No way anyone could ever be faster than Sonic!

The scar on Sonic's ankle, the result of his injury as a child was shown. He then looked down at a watch on his wrist and seemed taken aback by the time.

Sonic – Uh oh. Sorry, guys! I gotta sprint!

Runner 2 – Aw man! Again?

Sonic – Sonia won't let me hear the end of it if I'm late for practice.

Runner 3 – I'm still surprised how you and your siblings are actually a band, Sonic. I mean, I know you guys are triplets and all, but you each are so different.

Sonic – Yeah, I get it. I'm a wild card, Manic is a little scruffy and Sonia can be a snob, but that doesn't mean we can't work through our differences. Besides, the one thing we've always shared was a passion for music. That's what makes us Sonic Underground! Anyway, hate to leave the party, but I gotta run!

Sonic then sprinted off. Soon he ran into a rehearsal room, where Sonia and Manic were waiting, the former behind a keyboard and the latter seated at a set of drums.

Sonic – Am I late?

Sonia – Just barely. You may be fast Sonic, but you shouldn't make this a habit.

Sonic – Oh come on, Sis. Lighten up. Who knows? At the rate I'm making on the field, maybe I'll even get fast enough to run at the speed of sound by the next track meet.

Sonia rolled her eyes playfully at her brother's joke.

Sonia – Oh, just what we need… A reason for your ego to get even more inflated.

Sonic playfully nudged his sister's arm in response to her quip. Manic then twirled one of his drumsticks in his hand.

Manic – Come on, less talking, more playing.

Sonic picked up a guitar and stood in front of his siblings.

Sonic – Let's juice and jam!

Manic – Are you ever gonna grow out of that old catchphrase, Bro?

Sonic – Hey, if it works, it sticks.

Before the triplets could begin playing however, the door to the rehearsal room opened and a human woman stepped in.

Human Woman – Excuse me… Are you the Hedgehog triplets?

Sonic – Yeah? Who wants to know?

The woman gestured for the hedgehogs to follow her, all with a sad expression on her face.

Human Woman – I need you to come with me. It's about your mother.

The three siblings all looked surprised and anxious, if the expression on the woman's face along with her sensitive tone of voice was anything to go by. What had happened to their mother?


In a third memory, Sonia was shown backing up into a vase and knocking it off its perch, causing it to shatter on the floor.

Sonia – No! Why?! It's not fair! It's not fair! It's not fair!

Sonic was then shown grabbing his sister's shoulders as he tried to steady her.

Sonic – Sonia! Calm down!

Sonia – No! Why did we also have to catch that stupid disease?! The same disease that killed Mother!

A picture was then shown hanging on the wall of Sonic, Sonia, and Manic with their mother, who was wearing a beautiful white gown and a gold crown, revealing that she was the queen of Mobius, and Sonic and his siblings were therefor royalty.

Sonic – Sis…

Manic – This is really happening, isn't it? We're all gonna die…!

Sonic turned his head around to look at Manic, who was curled up on the floor, clenching his head with his hands as he shook in fear.

Manic – Who knows how long we've got left… Heh… Isn't that the scariest part? Not knowing?

Sonic – Manic…!

Sonia grabbed her own head with her hands as well as she continued to wail. Sonic looked back and forth between his siblings, watching them spiral in their fear before a determined expression formed on his face and he used each of his hands to grab one of Sonia and Manic's arms.

Sonic – Alright, that's enough!

Both siblings looked at their brother in shock. Sonic then pulled Manic up to his feet and moved his hands up to rest each on his and Sonia's shoulder as he gazed at them with a look of confident reassurance.

Sonic – Listen, we're all we have left of each other now. But we've always been able to get through anything as long as we stuck together. And that's exactly what we're gonna do now.

Sonic then let go of his siblings and backed up a little before holding his right hand out to them.

Sonic – Let's make a vow on it. No matter what happens, we'll face it together. Sonic Underground forever.

Sonia wiped her eyes before she and Manic also formed determined expressions and placed each of their own hand on top of Sonic's, sealing their vow.

Sonia – Forever.

Manic – Forever.

Sonic smiled. However, his smile faded once he saw that Manic and Sonia's eyes seemed to lose all life in them and then their bodies promptly crumbled apart into ash before his very eyes, much to his horror.


Sonic's eyes then instantly opened, having woken up from his nightmare; to his surprise he was no longer in the elevator, but was now sitting against the wall inside some kind of floor tank. He stood up and peered over the edge to see that he was in what looked to be some kind of storage room, except there were strange creatures that seemed to be frozen inside a bunch of storage tanks; there was also an open door at the other end of the room. Sonic finally climbed out of the compartment he was left in and began jogging down the room towards the door, taking a look around at all the preserved specimens in curiosity. He then stopped by one tank, checking for any signs of anyone else nearby, until his eye caught sight of what exactly was in the tank in front of him, causing him to stumble back in surprise. Unlike the other tanks, this one contained two specimens, one of them being a normal orangish red female echidna mobian dressed as though she were an ancient princess of something. Next to her, was a creature that seemed to have the figure of a mobian, but not like any Sonic had ever seen before: Firstly, its body was slightly transparent and wavey, as though it were made entirely out of some kind of some kind of water-like substance, and it had long arms and legs that exceeded the length of its torso, thick forearms with hands that had three long fingers each, similarly long feet with two large toes each, sharp flaps on each side of its face, two long fin-like protrusions that hung from the back of its head, and a tall bulge on the top of its head with a pink brain and brain stem visible inside it. What really caught Sonic's attention though, were the two plates on the bottom of the tank, the one aligned under the female echidna reading: Tikal, while the other aligned under the bizarre creature reading: 13 March 2008, SAMPLE T-01-00J, Chaos Prime. "Chaos?" Like the disease? And what did it mean by "Prime?" Just what exactly was going on here?

Sonic – What is all this?

Cyrus – Oh, it's you.

Sonic's attention snapped back to the door at the end of the room the minute he faintly heard the voice of the lion mobian coming from it. He quietly made his way to the edge of the door and snuck a peak while trying to stay as hidden as possible.

Cyrus – Sorry. I-I never imagined something like this would happen…!

Shadow – Calm down.

Cyrus – It's impossible to wake a single patient without M.A.R.I.A noticing. So I faked a power outage caused by temporary-crossed lines. But that caused something to go awry.

Shadow – What happened?!

To Sonic's shock not only was the lion mobian in the other room, but so was the black hedgehog! Not only that, but it seemed they were actually familiar with each other! The lion mobian was also on another computer, seeming to be accessing files on the entire facility itself.

Cyrus – Thinking quickly, I put on a corpse's clothes and pretended to be a patient.

Shadow – Seriously?!

Cyrus – I lost the memory card with the info on it then, but look, I'm almost finished re-copying it! I set it up so I could access the backup files anywhere just in case something happened! Oh! Also…!

The lion mobian then got up and went towards what looked to be some type of vault, which he unlocked by typing in a keycode and opened. Sonic tried leaning a just a little closer to get a better view of what the lion mobian was taking out of the vault. The latter turned back around and handed the black hedgehog a pair of shoes that looked identical to the ones that said hedgehog was wearing when they all first arrived at the facility.

Cyrus – Just like you said, there was a spare pair kept in storage here.

The black hedgehog took the pair of shoes and proceeded to put them on.

Cyrus – Though I must admit, I am quite curious to know exactly how you were so familiar with this lab…

The black hedgehog only glared at the lion mobian, prompting him to nervously clam up. Suddenly, all three mobians heard the roar of one of the dinosaur-like monsters, prompting the black hedgehog to head out another door to investigate.

Shadow – You keep working. I'll go check it out.

As the black hedgehog left the room, Sonic could only stand still against the wall next to the door in shock of everything he just heard.

Sonic – (No way… Why?)

Cyrus – You're wondering, "Why?" aren't you?

Sonic was startled by the lion mobian's voice, and instantly twisted around to see him standing in the middle of the doorway with a dead look on his face. Suddenly, a memory of entering the cold sleep capsule room and seeing the lion mobian dressed in his scientist attire turn around towards him with a shocked expression momentarily entered Sonic's mind, surprising him.

Cyrus – My name is Cyrus the Lion. I developed the cold sleep capsules.

Sonic looked surprised again.

Cyrus – My father, Lionel spent his life working on cold sleep theory. But he succumbed to Chaos before he could complete it. I wanted to carry on his work and prove that his theory was correct. And I thought it would be wonderful if it could help save both man and mobiankind. So when I was given the opportunity by Venus Gate, naturally I took it. And the devil took advantage of that.

Cyrus returned to his seat at the computer, with Sonic following behind.

Sonic – The devil?

Cyrus – The one acting like a king at the top of this castle's tower.

Unknown to Cyrus and Sonic, a door all the way back on the other side of the storage room had opened, revealing a dinosaur-like monster on the other side.

Cyrus – It's terrifying. I didn't realize the line I was crossing until it was too late!

Cyrus clenched his pendant tightly. Meanwhile, the monster was slowly making its way across the storage room towards the office Cyrus and Sonic were in. Finally, the files on the computer had finished copying, and Cyrus took out the memory card before handing it to Sonic.

Cyrus – This is a revelation. Expose the truth behind Venus Gate to the world.

Sonic however, only gazed at Cyrus with narrowed eyes, surprising him.

Sonic – Really? That's all you have to say for yourself?

Cyrus' eyes widened further once he saw the monster enter the room and creep behind Sonic.

Sonic – That's nothing but self-serving logic!

Cyrus – That's not…

Sonic – You tore apart families, giving them half-hearted hope only for it to mean nothing and added to their despair! If you hadn't invented those stupid things, I could've kept my promise to Sonia and Manic!

The monster had now noticed Sonic and opened its jaws wide, preparing to chomp down on him, while Cyrus gave the blue hedgehog a remorseful smile.

Cyrus – I'll pay the price for that…!

Cyrus kicked a rolling chair beside him towards Sonic, tripping the hedgehog and causing him to fall forward, allowing him to narrowly escape the monster's lunge. Sonic's eyes then widened in shock as he saw blood pouring down right by his face. He rolled over and looked up in horror to see that the monster had instead gotten hold of Cyrus' own head.

Cyrus – Please…! Take it…!

The Cyrus managed to move his right arm back enough to drop the key card closer to Sonic.

Sonic – Cyrus!

Cyrus – Whoever nears the "Knowledge Hidden in Chaos" will be victorious!

Cyrus grasped his pendant one last time as the monster wrapped its tongue around his head.

Cyrus – Don't forget that!

Sonic watched in horror as the monster chomped down and devoured Cyrus' head while the rest of his body fell to the ground in front of him. The monster then creeped closer towards Sonic and opened its jaws wide again, ready to devour him next, only the blue hedgehog couldn't tear his eyes away from what remained of the lion mobian that had saved his life at the last second.

Shadow – You idiot!

The black hedgehog's voice snapped Sonic out of his trance while the former began shooting at the monster, grabbing its attention.

Shadow – Don't just sit there! Move!

Seeing his chance, Sonic quickly grabbed the memory card by Cyrus' body and crawled underneath the desk before sprinting out the other door to the office, the black hedgehog soon following behind after shooting at the monster some more. The two hedgehogs ran through the hallway together until the black one stopped and turned around to continue shooting at the monster that was still pursuing them along with another one right behind.

Shadow – Go, go, go!

Sonic momentarily glanced back at the black hedgehog holding off the monsters before he picked up the pace and ran faster, all while his thought and feelings seemed to spiral within him like a raging storm.

Sonic – (Liar…! You liar!)

A small voice inside his head he knew to be his own then seemed to whisper back at him.

Inner Sonic – (Just like you, then.)

Sonic's eyes snapped open at that thought, and he began running even faster.

Sonic – (I know! Back then, I was afraid too! Of course I was!)

Sonic's emotions seemed to be on overdrive, but he didn't try to reign them in this time. Simultaneously, his body began sparking with blue energy, which seemed to be causing him to speed up more and more, enough that he was certainly no longer running at normal mobian level speeds.

Sonic – (I wanted to be strong for them! Even when they only chose one of us, I wanted to believe we wouldn't be torn apart forever!)

The energy generating from Sonic's body grew stronger and stronger, increasing his speed even further. The memory of the last time he saw Manic and Sonia, standing on that cliffside momentarily flashed through his mind, prompting him to shut his eyes tightly as he drove himself to go even faster.

Sonic – (The truth is…! I really didn't want to leave them either!)

With a burst of emotion, Sonic's body completely lit up with powerful blue energy, followed by him instantly shooting off faster than the speed of sound; the intense burst of energy spread throughout the hallway, all the way past the black hedgehog even, causing his eyes to widen in disbelief and turn around only to barely catch a glimpse of what was now a speeding blue streak rapidly getting further away.

Shadow – That's…!

Sonic continued to speed like a bullet down the hallway. He then looked up and saw the end of the hall finally coming up, however where there was once assumed to be a tunnel that lead across a 50 feet wide pit to an entranceway to an older stone hallway on the other side, there was now nothing that would enable any human or mobian who could not fly to make it across. However, Sonic didn't slow down at the sight of the massive distance and continued speeding all the way to the end of the hallway, fast enough that the moment he leapt from the edge, he actually cleared the 50 feet jump.

Sonic – Manic! Sonia!

Sonic successfully landed on the other side, stumbling forward a little and falling to his knees. He then stared at the floor for a moment as it began to dawn on him what just happened.

Sonic – What just…? How did I…?

Suddenly, a shadow appeared over Sonic, prompting him to look up. To his shock, he saw the black hedgehog land in front of him, while the shoes he was wearing were revealed to have small rocket and air thrusters underneath the soles, indicating he had used them to help clear the massive jump as well. Before Sonic could even blink however, the debris beneath him gave way, prompting him to nearly fall down the chasm beneath him, that is until a black arm with a red stripe reached down and caught his wrist just in time. Sonic looked up in shock to see that the black hedgehog had caught him, and then gritted his teeth as he pulled the blue hedgehog back up to safety, but didn't let go of his arm.

Shadow – Now we're even.

Sonic looked at the black hedgehog in confusion before the latter pushed him back over the ledge, continuing to hold him by his wrist, essentially being the only thing keeping Sonic from falling.

Shadow – Lets make a deal. Hand it over.

Sonic looked to his clenched fist, holding the memory card, realizing it was what the black hedgehog wanted.

Sonic – No way!

Shadow – Are you really willing to risk your life over this, Faker?

Sonic only narrowed his eyes at the black hedgehog bravely, unwilling to submit.

Sonic – You call me the Faker?! Who are you, really?!

The black hedgehog was silent for a moment as his eyes narrowed even further.

Shadow – Knowing won't change anything.

Sonic – Then just drop me.

The black hedgehog and Sonic continued to stare each other down, until Sonic caught sight of something on the golden ring around the former's wrist; it was an inscription of a name, but what surprised Sonic was that it was the same name as the AI that was supposed to monitor all the patients at this facility!

Sonic – "Maria…?"

The black hedgehog's eyes widened and suddenly a memory flashed through his own mind; it was the same memory of when Cyrus supposedly saw Sonic for the first time, indicating that the black hedgehog was also there when it happened.

Shadow – You're so annoying!

The black hedgehog glared at Sonic again before pulling him back into the hallway behind him. Once he regained his balance, Sonic turned around to confront the black hedgehog but then saw that the latter's attention was focused ahead; two more monsters were charging down the previous hallway right towards them; one of them however, was missing it's right horn, indicating it was the very same monster the black hedgehog shot the horn off of from before. The black hedgehog then did another thing that surprised Sonic greatly: he appeared to summon multiple small spears made out of pure energy and began firing them at the monsters. They managed to hit and stop the first monster, however, the one with a missing horn managed to dodge them and leap all the way across the 50 foot wide gap as well, landing right in front of the black hedgehog and causing the rubble beneath them to begin crumbling. Sonic instantly began sprinting away again, while the black hedgehog tried firing more spears at the monster in front of him, but the collapsing floor convinced him to try to get away as well. Unfortunately, the ground was crumpling faster than the black hedgehog anticipated, causing him to stumble and allowing the monster to grab hold of the machine gun that was still strapped to his back, pulling him down with the monster that was slowly losing its grip on the ledge. The black hedgehog struggled to try to remove the strap of the gun from around his chest while keeping himself from being pulled over completely, while the monster managed to get its foot on a stable piece of debris, allowing it to climb up again and prepare to chomp down on the black hedgehog's head. Suddenly, a speeding blue ball streaked right above the black hedgehog and smacked right into the monster's face, forcing it backwards and making it lose its grip again and forcing it nearly back over the ledge if not for the grip it still had on the black hedgehog's gun. The blue ball then unfurled revealing Sonic, indicating he had curled up into a ball while using his newfound speed to create a sort of spin-ball attack. Sonic then grabbed the strap of the gun as well and pulled on it, keeping the black hedgehog from being pulled over the ledge and freeing the latter's hands for him to reach back and unclasp the gun from the strap, allowing him and Sonic to lift it over his head and free him from the monster's grasp. With nothing left to hold onto, the monster finally fell from the ledge into the pit, giving the black hedgehog and Sonic a chance to catch their breath. The former then looked back at Sonic, seeing that the blue hedgehog was holding the memory card in his mouth, most likely so he was able to use both his hands effectively. Sonic took the memory card back into his hand and gave the black hedgehog a knowing grin before he turned around and began running down the hall again.

Sonic – You owe me one, Faker!

The black hedgehog looked bewildered for a moment, having unexpected someone to address him right back with his own jab with such astound confidence as though he were the one who first used it. Yet somehow instead of feeling annoyance as he normally expected, he found himself unable to hold back a sudden burst of laughter. However, his amusement was cut short, as the monster had somehow managed to climb back up onto the ledge.

Shadow – No way…!

The black hedgehog activated his shoes again and, using them like a pair of skates, began skating down the hallway at similar supersonic speed much like how Sonic was now able to run. The monster, despite not being as fast as them, still proceeded to chase after the two hedgehogs; all three beings unaware of one of M.A.R.I.A's cameras emerging from the ceiling of the previous hallway.

Shadow – Just how persistent is this one?!

The black hedgehog soon caught up with Sonic, who for some reason had stopped running.

Sonic – We got a problem!

The black hedgehog looked ahead and saw that the path ahead of them had caved in, and multiple thick vines of thorns were hanging through the crumbled roof onto the debris, nearly completely blocking the two hedgehogs' only exit.

Shadow – It wasn't like this before…!

Sonic – I think if I try that spin-dash thing I did before, I can break through the thorns!

Before either hedgehog could do anything however, they heard the monster beginning to catch up to them, prompting them to turn around back towards the charging creature. The black hedgehog then stepped up, preparing for a fight.

Shadow – You get on with it, then. I'll finish this thing off for good.

The black hedgehog began forming more spears of energy in his hand and took a stance but was surprised once he felt Sonic put a hand on his shoulder. He looked over at the other hedgehog to see him smirking.

Sonic – Hey, hold on now. You've been having all the fun taking out these guys since they first showed up. Now that I've got an edge of my own, why don't you let me have a go at them for once?

The black hedgehog looked at Sonic with a perplexed expression.

Shadow – You're telling me you want to fight a monster?!

Sonic – Hey, if this thing's stubborn enough that even you can't beat it yourself, maybe two of us will be more effective.

The monster finally caught up to the two hedgehogs, and the black one hmphed before he got into a fighting stance once again.

Shadow – Do as you wish.

Sonic just grinned and readied his own stance before the monster let out a roar and lunged at the black hedgehog, who managed to dodge before attempting to fire his energy spears into the monster's chest. However, despite the close range, it seemed even that attack was not enough to bring the creature down, as it continued to attack. The black hedgehog proceeded to shoot more energy spears at the monster while also attempting to land a hit on it using a bunch of expert-style moves. Sonic meanwhile, speed past the monster and began bouncing off the walls, striking the monster every time he shot off, so fast the beast was unable to dodge in time or even keep track of the speeding blur. Between the two of them, the hedgehogs actually seemed to be doing some decent damage and wearing the monster down, until it roared in frustration and swung its tail around, the timing being lucky as it managed to strike into Sonic and fling him against the rubble blocking the path ahead. The black hedgehog took his eyes off the monster for one moment as he worriedly looked back at Sonic, giving the beast a chance to smack him with its tail and throw him against the rubble as well. Sonic managed to regain his bearings enough to look over at the black hedgehog and the two grimaced, though nervously, as they watched the monster prepare to finish them off. However, just as it reared back to do so, the beast suddenly burst into flames, shocking both hedgehogs! They watched confusedly as the monster swayed while roaring in pain from the flames burning its body.

Knuckles – Special cocktail!

Sonic and the black hedgehog looked up to see that above them, the thorns blocking the hole in the roof had been cut through, and Miles, Amy, and the echidna were standing by the edge, the former carrying a bag full of glass liquor bottles with paper stuffed into the mouths while the other two were each holding one that was lit on fire, indicating they had used one as a makeshift weapon to set the monster on fire.

Knuckles – Either of you up for a glass?

Sonic smiled once he saw the three other mobians, glad to see them, and they all grinned back at him in return as if to say they had his and the black hedgehog's backs. The echidna then threw another bottle at the monster while Amy lit up an unlit bottle with the one she was holding before passing it to him, which he threw as well. Sonic and the black hedgehog stood up as they watched the monster continue to burn, until Sonic saw that he had dropped the memory card and it was burning in the fire as well. He tried to run over to save it, only for the black hedgehog to grab his arm and stop him.

Shadow – This way you won't have to worry about being chased after.

The monster proceeded to slam its body against the walls in a desperate attempt to put out the fire on its body, causing the hallway to begin to crumble. Miles, Amy, and the echidna lowered one of the thorn vines they had cut away as a makeshift rope into the hallway for Sonic and the black hedgehog to grab.

Amy – Hurry, you two!

Both hedgehogs grabbed onto the vine and held one tight as the echidna and Amy pulled them up. Once they reached the top, all five mobians began running down the way Miles, Amy, and the echidna apparently came from, just before more rubble caved in onto the burning monster.


WHOA! THINGS JUST GOT INTERESTING!

What? You honestly thought I was gonna write a Sonic story and NOT include his trademark speed? Who do you take me for? Of course not!

Basically, in the past, since Sonic is Sonic, he was and still is of course reckless and acts without thinking things through, and one time his leg got injured when he was a child because of that, hence the scar on his ankle is from that childhood injury. He's always been a fast runner, just not at superspeed levels. So where did that sudden speed come from? Not to mention what Shadow can do? You'll have to wait and find out!

Also, were any of you able to find the clues I put in the earlier chapters foreshadowing Sonic being the prince of Mobius? I didn't plan on it at first, but since I could make it work within the timeline, I thought if I was adding Sonia and Manic already, why not include their royal status in some way too?