The creature known as Chaos, formally a member of the Drakon Empire, stood
in the Command Room staring at what he had become.
In his chest the six Chaos Emeralds, as well as the Master Emerald, pumped limitless power into his new water body.
He paid little attention to the creatures that stood watching him. Compared to what he was now, they were nothing more than insects. Insects he could squash at anytime.
"You are enjoying your power." Came a voice from within him. "The power is incredible."
Yes, and it is mine now! He thought to himself.
"That is how it may seem." The God of Destruction said within the new Chaos' head.
That is how it will stay. Chaos thought.
"As you wish." The God of Destruction said simply. "Now release me as we bargained."
The new Chaos' body begun to solidify. I think I'll keep your powers, Chaos. He thought. Did you really think I would release you only for you to then rob me of the new powers I have gained?
"Heretic!" The God of Destruction shouted from within the Master Emerald. "Release me now or suffer my wrath."
The new Chaos smiled to himself. Goodbye, Chaos. He thought. His body then solidified.
Raising his hands, he smiled to himself. "Power." He said aloud. "I have all the power of the Chaos Emeralds."
He then turned his attention to the Echidna and the Hedgehog that were staring at him.
"I don't believe it." Sonic said. "It's that Chaos creature. The one that killed Johnny."
Tikal came up beside him, staring at the new Chaos creature. This didn't make sense. Her father had already defeated Chaos. So how could there be a second one? Their visions of the future had only ever shown one Chaos. One God of Destruction. Not two!
"You've met this creature before?" Tikal asked. "But how can that be? For you, this is the ancient past!"
"Beats me." Sonic said, growing angry. "All I know is where all in big trouble."
As the new Chaos stood there, Sonic watched as Knuckles came into the Command Room waking up the Echidna. "Come on!" He said, turning to face the Drakon that had survived the blast. "This is our chance to drive these Drakon invaders out the city."
"We're with you, Knuckles." Said an Echidna, as it got up.
Knuckles lead the Echidna against the Drakon, taking them by surprise. Knuckles swung a punch and took off a Drakon's head clean off.
Sonic stared up at the Chaos creature, now surrounded by Echidna, as Tikal came to his side.
"This is how the great war starts, isn't it?" She asked.
Sonic just looks at her, choosing not to answer. He turned and watched Knuckles' party take the last Drakon down and join the other Echidna surrounding the Chaos creature.
"I have glimpsed the future." Tikal begun again. "But you come from it. Tell me, Sonic. What becomes of the Echidna race?"
Sonic just stared at her. How can I tell her that the only Echidnas that still exist in my time are Knuckles and some creep called Zachary. He thought. "History was never my subject, Tikal." Sonic said, spinning into action. "But I'll tell you what I can later."
Sonic runs towards Chaos at top speed. As he did so he saw Knuckles launch himself at the creature, only to be nailed in his position by Chaos' Fear Power.
"I don't understand this." Knuckles said, tying his best to move forwards. "I've never felt fear like this before."
"Take it easy, Knuckles, its not your fault." Sonic said launching himself at Chaos. "It's just some screwy power Chaos has. He generates fear in some way. Got to - fight it-!" Sonic said flying towards Chaos. "In the future you kill one of my best friends. If I kill you now, maybe I can change all that." He then curled into a Super Spin Attack and screamed as he drove himself right into the heart Chaos.
There was a loud splashing sound as Sonic flew into Chaos. The creature grinned to itself. "Fool. You cannot hurt me." It said.
Tikal ran to her fathers side. "Father, we've got to do something." She said as she watched Sonic gasping for air within Chaos' chest.
"Too late." Chaos bellowed. "In another moment, Sonic will be destroyed."
From within Chaos ' body, Sonic the Hedgehog stared out in total terror. His eyes widened as his air slipped away. Looking around the room, his eyes met Tikal's.
Almost instantly the weird feeling she had felt before returned. Once again it made her nauseous, but this time the nausea went almost as quickly as it had come. This time she felt like she had been the subject to Deja Vu, but a lot stronger and the wrong way around.
Instead of getting the feeling that she had seen this all before, she felt as though she was going to see this again. It made her felt really weird as she turned away from Sonic, and momentarily wondered if her powers were playing up.
The Chaos creature laughed deep and loud, and she turned back to Sonic one last time. She couldn't explain it, but something drew her eyes back. There was something about Sonic's eyes. When she stared into them it felt like she was staring at herself.
Pochamac raised his hand as it begun to glow green. Though he was an old Echidna he still had power, though he hated using it.
Raising his hand, he gave Sonic one last glance, then clicked his fingers. There was a flash, and Sonic was gone.
"What? The hedgehog just vanished." Chaos said, perplexed.
Pochamac smiled to himself. "I sent him back to his own time, Chaos." Pochamac watched as Chaos slowly turned to face him, anger filling in his face. "I only hope I wasn't too late."
Chaos reared up over the old Echidna, ready to strike. Suddenly, Chaos keeled over as his power unexpectedly faded. "No! Something's wrong." He said. "I suddenly feel weak."
"I used the power of the Chaos Emeralds to send Sonic back." Pochamac said, smiling up at Chaos. "It drained you of a great deal of their power." Pochamac turned to Knuckles and the other Echidna. "Quickly, Knuckles, this could be our only chance."
Chaos fell to his knee's. He was to weak to even stand. He felt the remaining power from the Chaos Emeralds fade away. He also sensed something within him laughing.
Chaos. He growled inside his head. This is your doing.
"I see your not that stupid then, Drakon." Said the God of Destruction.
Why have you done this? He thought. Why drain me of my powers?
"Because they are my powers, and you double crossed me." The God of Destruction said coldly. "Now you will die by their hand. Goodbye my spawn."
Chaos felt all the remaining power being drawn into the Master Emerald. He put his hands on the ground to support himself. His body begun to fall apart around him, forming a puddle of water. The Chaos Emeralds fell out of him and rolled across the floor.
Almost powerless, Chaos looked up at the Echidna that surrounded him. He then turned to see Knuckles approach him and clench his fist. Chaos closed his eyes as Knuckles raised his fist. Knuckles swung hard and as his fist collided with Chaos' head it exploded into a shower of water.
* * * *
The Echidna Army and the Echidna Guard had attacked the Drakon forces on the Cliffside outside Megopolis City without remorse. Most of them had fallen now, especially after some of their own cannons had been turned on them by the Echidna. They had turned out to be easier to take down if you knew where to hit them. Now most of them lay dead or dying, but some where still able to retreat.
Brightstarr watched as the Drakon ran, stumbled and even crawled away from the battle.
He smiled to himself as he watched the withdrawing Drakon. Looking around at the Echidna, he raised his hand and shouted in victory.
The Drakon where disappearing over the clearing and down the other side. On the other side lay the River Ackid, and beyond that was the desert lands of the Sandopolis Zone.
A sword dug neatly into the ground beside Brightstarr. He turned to see the grey furred Echidna known as Grimskull standing beside him, leaning on his sword's hilt.
"They are in retreat, Prince Brightstarr." He said, watching the last Drakon scuttle out of sight. "Want me to assemble a clean up team to make sure they pass into the next life easily?" Grimskull said smiling.
Brightstarr smiled back. "No." He said simply.
"No?" Grimskull said surprised.
"No." Brightstarr repeated. "Were all going."
Brightstarr then raised a hand. "To victory!" He shouted.
"Victory!" The Echidna cheered.
Brightstarr then ran forwards, closely followed by Grimskull and all the other Echidna that could still fight, which surprisingly enough was a great deal of them. He kept running, all the way to the clearing, carried forwards by the cheering of the Echidna behind him as they went.
He reached the clearing and stopped dead in his tracks as he stared down into the Sandopolis Zone.
Almost as far as the eye could see there were Drakon, and not just that either.
Brightstarr and Grimskull both looked upwards as the Echidna stopped behind them. In the sky, flying around as if they had never left Mobius centuries before, were the ancient Dragon's of Mobius.
Brightstarr gritted his teeth. Half filled with anger towards the Drakon for unleashing the Dragon's upon Mobius again, and half filled with rage towards the Dragon's for the sins of the past, he found himself growling.
Beside him Grimskull, filled with even more anger than Brightstarr, raised his sword. "Dragon's." He spat with menace.
Brightstarr raised his hand into the air. Unseen to anyone around him his eyes begun to glow a blood red.
The Echidna behind him knew that this could probably be their last stand, and as they grew increasingly angry, a part of them told them that if it was, they'd make sure that the Drakon would forever remember the battle waged here today. They would forever remember the Echidna.
Glancing behind him quickly, Brightstarr turned back to face the enemy.
"Charge!" He shouted, and ran down into battle. Behind him, hundreds of Echidna warriors cheered and followed.
* * * *
Pochamac stepped outside the Palace to see fallen Drakon all over the place. His people had fought gallantly against the Drakon Invasion of the city and had emerged triumphant.
Echidna walked to his side from the battles they had faced.
Knuckles walked forwards, making sure that the Echidna were okay. He then turned back to his grandfather, the King. "We did it, Pochamac." He said. "We drove the Drakon invaders out of the city."
Pochamac leaned on his staff, near exhausted. "Only for the time being, Knuckles." He said.
"I hope Sonic's okay." Said Tikal, coming alongside her father. "Sending him back to his own time like that was pretty risky."
Pochamac nodded in agreement. "It was his only chance, Tikal. Another moment and Chaos would have destroyed him."
Pochamac sighed to himself. He would have preferred to have kept Sonic around, as his help would have no doubt been useful, but he was gone now, and that was that.
"It's hard to believe that I also exist in the far future. I wonder how that happened?" Knuckles said, as he remembered what Sonic had told him.
"Everything will become clear in time, Knuckles." Pochamac said reassuringly. "But for now we are at war. A war that will decide the fate of the entire Echidna race."
There was the far off sound of a battle still being waged.
"The war is continuing, Pochamac." Knuckles said simply.
Pochamac just stood there for a while, listening to the sounds of war. Braven and Yin walked over to his side ready to protect him from anything.
Knuckles slowly walked over to the Echidna that had followed them out, Tikal followed behind.
One Echidna held a metal box, covered in Echidna symbols, with the lid open. Inside the container splashed some water that he had gathered.
Knuckles felt the fear affect kick in only slightly as he got closer, making him feel sick. "Perhaps we should seal this, Pochamac. The Chaos creature is gathering his strength."
Before Pochamac could respond, Chaos exploded out of the metal box, causing the Echidna to drop it out of fear. Chaos reached out and thumped Knuckles to the floor. Tikal kneeled by his side.
"Raaghh!" He growled.
"Return to your prison." Pochamac ordered, holding up his hand. It begun to spark green.
Instantly Chaos found himself being sucked backwards into the metal box he had emerged from. He screamed as his arms frailed around in a frantic attempt to grab something to hold onto.
A hand dug into the ground next to Knuckles, as he roared in defiance.
Tikal got to her feet and raised her hands up, in order to help her father out in sealing the creature away. Her hands begun to glow green. Almost instantly Chaos was pulled back a little further, leaving scratch marks in the ground.
Knuckles stood up beside Tikal. "Be careful."
Tikal smiled, and went to open her mouth to respond when Chaos gave out a last roar of defiance. Letting go of the ground, he was abruptly pulled back at an incredible force.
His hands reached out, looking for something to grab a hold of, and clamped around something.
Tikal turned to Knuckles, who stared right back. Both their faces were full of sheer complete terror.
Before Knuckles could even move in response, Tikal was hauled away from him in Chaos' tight grasp.
As the creature disappeared into the box, to be locked away forever, so to did Tikal.
"Nooo!" Knuckles shouted running forwards, but it was to late. The box closed, sealed shut. It was over. "Tikal! Nooo!"
Pochamac just stood there in total silence. He had seen his brother die, he had also lost his only son. And now he had lost his daughter. Utterly consumed by grief, the old Echidna fell to his knees in tears.
Knuckles was crying to. Though Tikal had been his Aunt, he had loved her like a sister. Now she was gone, and she was never going to come back.
The King cried, as he looked at the metal box containing Chaos.
There was then the far off sound of war, and he suddenly filled with a new emotion. Anger.
It had been a Drakon that had become Chaos, thanks to the Chaos Emeralds that had been created by the Drakon. The Drakon had killed his family. It was time that he repaid the favor.
"Another war has been started." Pochamac said, getting back up. "But this time the Drakon will all die. No of them will leave this planet alive."
In his chest the six Chaos Emeralds, as well as the Master Emerald, pumped limitless power into his new water body.
He paid little attention to the creatures that stood watching him. Compared to what he was now, they were nothing more than insects. Insects he could squash at anytime.
"You are enjoying your power." Came a voice from within him. "The power is incredible."
Yes, and it is mine now! He thought to himself.
"That is how it may seem." The God of Destruction said within the new Chaos' head.
That is how it will stay. Chaos thought.
"As you wish." The God of Destruction said simply. "Now release me as we bargained."
The new Chaos' body begun to solidify. I think I'll keep your powers, Chaos. He thought. Did you really think I would release you only for you to then rob me of the new powers I have gained?
"Heretic!" The God of Destruction shouted from within the Master Emerald. "Release me now or suffer my wrath."
The new Chaos smiled to himself. Goodbye, Chaos. He thought. His body then solidified.
Raising his hands, he smiled to himself. "Power." He said aloud. "I have all the power of the Chaos Emeralds."
He then turned his attention to the Echidna and the Hedgehog that were staring at him.
"I don't believe it." Sonic said. "It's that Chaos creature. The one that killed Johnny."
Tikal came up beside him, staring at the new Chaos creature. This didn't make sense. Her father had already defeated Chaos. So how could there be a second one? Their visions of the future had only ever shown one Chaos. One God of Destruction. Not two!
"You've met this creature before?" Tikal asked. "But how can that be? For you, this is the ancient past!"
"Beats me." Sonic said, growing angry. "All I know is where all in big trouble."
As the new Chaos stood there, Sonic watched as Knuckles came into the Command Room waking up the Echidna. "Come on!" He said, turning to face the Drakon that had survived the blast. "This is our chance to drive these Drakon invaders out the city."
"We're with you, Knuckles." Said an Echidna, as it got up.
Knuckles lead the Echidna against the Drakon, taking them by surprise. Knuckles swung a punch and took off a Drakon's head clean off.
Sonic stared up at the Chaos creature, now surrounded by Echidna, as Tikal came to his side.
"This is how the great war starts, isn't it?" She asked.
Sonic just looks at her, choosing not to answer. He turned and watched Knuckles' party take the last Drakon down and join the other Echidna surrounding the Chaos creature.
"I have glimpsed the future." Tikal begun again. "But you come from it. Tell me, Sonic. What becomes of the Echidna race?"
Sonic just stared at her. How can I tell her that the only Echidnas that still exist in my time are Knuckles and some creep called Zachary. He thought. "History was never my subject, Tikal." Sonic said, spinning into action. "But I'll tell you what I can later."
Sonic runs towards Chaos at top speed. As he did so he saw Knuckles launch himself at the creature, only to be nailed in his position by Chaos' Fear Power.
"I don't understand this." Knuckles said, tying his best to move forwards. "I've never felt fear like this before."
"Take it easy, Knuckles, its not your fault." Sonic said launching himself at Chaos. "It's just some screwy power Chaos has. He generates fear in some way. Got to - fight it-!" Sonic said flying towards Chaos. "In the future you kill one of my best friends. If I kill you now, maybe I can change all that." He then curled into a Super Spin Attack and screamed as he drove himself right into the heart Chaos.
There was a loud splashing sound as Sonic flew into Chaos. The creature grinned to itself. "Fool. You cannot hurt me." It said.
Tikal ran to her fathers side. "Father, we've got to do something." She said as she watched Sonic gasping for air within Chaos' chest.
"Too late." Chaos bellowed. "In another moment, Sonic will be destroyed."
From within Chaos ' body, Sonic the Hedgehog stared out in total terror. His eyes widened as his air slipped away. Looking around the room, his eyes met Tikal's.
Almost instantly the weird feeling she had felt before returned. Once again it made her nauseous, but this time the nausea went almost as quickly as it had come. This time she felt like she had been the subject to Deja Vu, but a lot stronger and the wrong way around.
Instead of getting the feeling that she had seen this all before, she felt as though she was going to see this again. It made her felt really weird as she turned away from Sonic, and momentarily wondered if her powers were playing up.
The Chaos creature laughed deep and loud, and she turned back to Sonic one last time. She couldn't explain it, but something drew her eyes back. There was something about Sonic's eyes. When she stared into them it felt like she was staring at herself.
Pochamac raised his hand as it begun to glow green. Though he was an old Echidna he still had power, though he hated using it.
Raising his hand, he gave Sonic one last glance, then clicked his fingers. There was a flash, and Sonic was gone.
"What? The hedgehog just vanished." Chaos said, perplexed.
Pochamac smiled to himself. "I sent him back to his own time, Chaos." Pochamac watched as Chaos slowly turned to face him, anger filling in his face. "I only hope I wasn't too late."
Chaos reared up over the old Echidna, ready to strike. Suddenly, Chaos keeled over as his power unexpectedly faded. "No! Something's wrong." He said. "I suddenly feel weak."
"I used the power of the Chaos Emeralds to send Sonic back." Pochamac said, smiling up at Chaos. "It drained you of a great deal of their power." Pochamac turned to Knuckles and the other Echidna. "Quickly, Knuckles, this could be our only chance."
Chaos fell to his knee's. He was to weak to even stand. He felt the remaining power from the Chaos Emeralds fade away. He also sensed something within him laughing.
Chaos. He growled inside his head. This is your doing.
"I see your not that stupid then, Drakon." Said the God of Destruction.
Why have you done this? He thought. Why drain me of my powers?
"Because they are my powers, and you double crossed me." The God of Destruction said coldly. "Now you will die by their hand. Goodbye my spawn."
Chaos felt all the remaining power being drawn into the Master Emerald. He put his hands on the ground to support himself. His body begun to fall apart around him, forming a puddle of water. The Chaos Emeralds fell out of him and rolled across the floor.
Almost powerless, Chaos looked up at the Echidna that surrounded him. He then turned to see Knuckles approach him and clench his fist. Chaos closed his eyes as Knuckles raised his fist. Knuckles swung hard and as his fist collided with Chaos' head it exploded into a shower of water.
* * * *
The Echidna Army and the Echidna Guard had attacked the Drakon forces on the Cliffside outside Megopolis City without remorse. Most of them had fallen now, especially after some of their own cannons had been turned on them by the Echidna. They had turned out to be easier to take down if you knew where to hit them. Now most of them lay dead or dying, but some where still able to retreat.
Brightstarr watched as the Drakon ran, stumbled and even crawled away from the battle.
He smiled to himself as he watched the withdrawing Drakon. Looking around at the Echidna, he raised his hand and shouted in victory.
The Drakon where disappearing over the clearing and down the other side. On the other side lay the River Ackid, and beyond that was the desert lands of the Sandopolis Zone.
A sword dug neatly into the ground beside Brightstarr. He turned to see the grey furred Echidna known as Grimskull standing beside him, leaning on his sword's hilt.
"They are in retreat, Prince Brightstarr." He said, watching the last Drakon scuttle out of sight. "Want me to assemble a clean up team to make sure they pass into the next life easily?" Grimskull said smiling.
Brightstarr smiled back. "No." He said simply.
"No?" Grimskull said surprised.
"No." Brightstarr repeated. "Were all going."
Brightstarr then raised a hand. "To victory!" He shouted.
"Victory!" The Echidna cheered.
Brightstarr then ran forwards, closely followed by Grimskull and all the other Echidna that could still fight, which surprisingly enough was a great deal of them. He kept running, all the way to the clearing, carried forwards by the cheering of the Echidna behind him as they went.
He reached the clearing and stopped dead in his tracks as he stared down into the Sandopolis Zone.
Almost as far as the eye could see there were Drakon, and not just that either.
Brightstarr and Grimskull both looked upwards as the Echidna stopped behind them. In the sky, flying around as if they had never left Mobius centuries before, were the ancient Dragon's of Mobius.
Brightstarr gritted his teeth. Half filled with anger towards the Drakon for unleashing the Dragon's upon Mobius again, and half filled with rage towards the Dragon's for the sins of the past, he found himself growling.
Beside him Grimskull, filled with even more anger than Brightstarr, raised his sword. "Dragon's." He spat with menace.
Brightstarr raised his hand into the air. Unseen to anyone around him his eyes begun to glow a blood red.
The Echidna behind him knew that this could probably be their last stand, and as they grew increasingly angry, a part of them told them that if it was, they'd make sure that the Drakon would forever remember the battle waged here today. They would forever remember the Echidna.
Glancing behind him quickly, Brightstarr turned back to face the enemy.
"Charge!" He shouted, and ran down into battle. Behind him, hundreds of Echidna warriors cheered and followed.
* * * *
Pochamac stepped outside the Palace to see fallen Drakon all over the place. His people had fought gallantly against the Drakon Invasion of the city and had emerged triumphant.
Echidna walked to his side from the battles they had faced.
Knuckles walked forwards, making sure that the Echidna were okay. He then turned back to his grandfather, the King. "We did it, Pochamac." He said. "We drove the Drakon invaders out of the city."
Pochamac leaned on his staff, near exhausted. "Only for the time being, Knuckles." He said.
"I hope Sonic's okay." Said Tikal, coming alongside her father. "Sending him back to his own time like that was pretty risky."
Pochamac nodded in agreement. "It was his only chance, Tikal. Another moment and Chaos would have destroyed him."
Pochamac sighed to himself. He would have preferred to have kept Sonic around, as his help would have no doubt been useful, but he was gone now, and that was that.
"It's hard to believe that I also exist in the far future. I wonder how that happened?" Knuckles said, as he remembered what Sonic had told him.
"Everything will become clear in time, Knuckles." Pochamac said reassuringly. "But for now we are at war. A war that will decide the fate of the entire Echidna race."
There was the far off sound of a battle still being waged.
"The war is continuing, Pochamac." Knuckles said simply.
Pochamac just stood there for a while, listening to the sounds of war. Braven and Yin walked over to his side ready to protect him from anything.
Knuckles slowly walked over to the Echidna that had followed them out, Tikal followed behind.
One Echidna held a metal box, covered in Echidna symbols, with the lid open. Inside the container splashed some water that he had gathered.
Knuckles felt the fear affect kick in only slightly as he got closer, making him feel sick. "Perhaps we should seal this, Pochamac. The Chaos creature is gathering his strength."
Before Pochamac could respond, Chaos exploded out of the metal box, causing the Echidna to drop it out of fear. Chaos reached out and thumped Knuckles to the floor. Tikal kneeled by his side.
"Raaghh!" He growled.
"Return to your prison." Pochamac ordered, holding up his hand. It begun to spark green.
Instantly Chaos found himself being sucked backwards into the metal box he had emerged from. He screamed as his arms frailed around in a frantic attempt to grab something to hold onto.
A hand dug into the ground next to Knuckles, as he roared in defiance.
Tikal got to her feet and raised her hands up, in order to help her father out in sealing the creature away. Her hands begun to glow green. Almost instantly Chaos was pulled back a little further, leaving scratch marks in the ground.
Knuckles stood up beside Tikal. "Be careful."
Tikal smiled, and went to open her mouth to respond when Chaos gave out a last roar of defiance. Letting go of the ground, he was abruptly pulled back at an incredible force.
His hands reached out, looking for something to grab a hold of, and clamped around something.
Tikal turned to Knuckles, who stared right back. Both their faces were full of sheer complete terror.
Before Knuckles could even move in response, Tikal was hauled away from him in Chaos' tight grasp.
As the creature disappeared into the box, to be locked away forever, so to did Tikal.
"Nooo!" Knuckles shouted running forwards, but it was to late. The box closed, sealed shut. It was over. "Tikal! Nooo!"
Pochamac just stood there in total silence. He had seen his brother die, he had also lost his only son. And now he had lost his daughter. Utterly consumed by grief, the old Echidna fell to his knees in tears.
Knuckles was crying to. Though Tikal had been his Aunt, he had loved her like a sister. Now she was gone, and she was never going to come back.
The King cried, as he looked at the metal box containing Chaos.
There was then the far off sound of war, and he suddenly filled with a new emotion. Anger.
It had been a Drakon that had become Chaos, thanks to the Chaos Emeralds that had been created by the Drakon. The Drakon had killed his family. It was time that he repaid the favor.
"Another war has been started." Pochamac said, getting back up. "But this time the Drakon will all die. No of them will leave this planet alive."