Five years ago, Dr Ovi Kintobor - the last of a great line of scientists - found himself blessed with a new leash on life. A second chance, you could say.

Though he should have died some 37 years ago, he found a way to survive, and now here he was. Once again the name of Kintobor was stunning the world with wonders and achievements some people only dreamed about.

Everyone knew that within his possession Ovi probably had the most advanced technology on the planet. He was constantly being approached by Government Officials to carry out sometimes very secret tasks, which he loved. It thrilled him.

But it hadn't always been this way.

Five years ago Ovi awoke to find himself the sole survivor of his bloodline. His mother and father had died of a crippling disease. Whereas his sister, Maria Kintobor, had been gunned down by an organisation called G.U.N, which was now believed to be disbanded.

The same organisation had also been responsible for the death of his grandfather, the late Dr Gerald Kintobor.

But G.U.N was no more, and when Ovi re-emerged, he did so without fear or hesitance. And now he was one of the most famous people on the planet. His writings on Quantum Physics still dazzled scientists today.

For five years he had worked hard to achieve his wildest dreams, but in those five years there was one thing from the past that had remained almost untouched by him. But finally, that was about to change.

"Hey, Doctor K." Sonic said, opening the door and walking in. "Why are you always so copped up in all your technology. Get out and have some fun for once."

Sonic the Hedgehog had first came to Dr Ovi Kintobor five years ago as a scared and lost boy, barely nine years old. But over the years he had helped him grow into a confident, maybe sometimes over confident, teenager.

"Ah, Sonic." Ovi said as he turned and picked up a pair of sneakers. "Where have you been, I've been waiting all morning for you to return."

"You know I like to go for a run in the morning, Doctor K." Sonic said, smiling wildly.

"Yes, about your running. These are for you. They're friction reducing trainers." Ovi said, handing Sonic the trainers. "I call them the Power Sneakers." He added before Sonic could ask.

"What are they for?" Sonic said, taking the Power Sneakers. Ovi had been working on them for a while, and smiled with satisfaction with Sonic's enthusiasm. "They're to help you when your running. They can withstand greater speeds than your normal shoes, so they won't fall apart on your feet, and you can really let rip when running, letting us see just how fast you really are."

"Faster than you think, Doc." Sonic said, slipping off his old shoes and putting on the Sneakers.

"Guess you'll have to show me then, spike-ball." Ovi said, smiling to himself. "But not today. I've got a very important meeting I have to go to. I'll just get my coat and I'll be off." Ovi turned back around and headed for the stairs. "I trust you won't trash the place while I'm away this time."

"Who me?" Sonic muttered. "Must have me mistaken for some other cool, brown hedgehog with Power Sneakers."

Ovi smiled as he went up the stairs but stopped as Sonic called him.

"Hey, Doctor K!"

"Yes Sonic." Ovi said, glancing behind him.

"Thanks again for the Power Sneakers, they fit just fine and they look good. They got a great name by the way, Doctor K."" Sonic said.

"A great name, eh?" Ovi said as he smiled to himself. He then continued up the stairs. "I think the word you're searching for, Sonic, is cool."

* * * *

Sometime later Dr Ovi Kintobor stood in the Special Zone with the Omni- Viewer.

In front of them stood all the representatives of the different factions of the Special Zone.

"All I am saying." Ovi was saying. "Is that the Special Zone could benefit from it, that's all. I'm not trying to be a dictator and I'm not trying to tell you what to do, I would never do such a thing. All I'm doing is suggesting something that could benefit all the different factions of the Special Zone, as well as maybe even Planet Mobius should the opportunity ever occur."

"We know what you are suggesting Dr Kintobor, but you have to understand our lack of eagerness to commit to your idea." Said Oreon the Bee, representative of the Hive. "The Special Zone has not had dealings with anyone from your Planet in almost 8000 years, and even then it wasn't good either."

"None of us benefited from the Drakon having access to the Special Zone." Said Pliocene of the Armadillo's. "The Drakon where a plague wherever they went."

"But the Drakon did not come from Planet Mobius." Dr Kintobor said.

"No." Oreon the Bee agreed. "But they gained access to the Special Zone from it."

Ovi sighed loudly as he raised his hand to his forehead. "Look, I have not come here to argue about what happened in the past. I'm here to talk about the future. My plan to start a team of protectors, or guardians, of the Special Zone and Planet Mobius still stands. I am only trying to forge something that can benefit us all equally."

"And I suppose that you are going to run this little team of freedom fighters." Pliocene said sarcastically.

"Oh no, not me." Ovi said, ignoring the sarcasm. "The Omni-Viewer will. He is from the Special Zone. Surely it best suits everyone if he lead the team."

Suddenly everyone begun to talk amongst themselves. Glances were made towards Ovi Kintobor, and more importantly, towards the Omni-Viewer who floated silently behind the good Doctor.

Finally, the talking stopped.

"I think I can speak for everyone here when I accept your idea," Oreon begun. "Ofcourse it will have to be discussed in further detail before anything concrete can be laid down."

"Ofcourse." Ovi said.

"Good." Oreon said. "You may return to Mobius, Dr Ovi Kintobor. We shall call for you when we have reached our final decision."

Ovi smiled and nodded. He then turned around. "Come on Omni."

"Good Doctor." Oreon called.

"Yes."

"It would help if you could send Omni back to us after he has taken you to Mobius. There are things that we have to discuss with him."

Ovi smiled again. "Ofcourse." He then turned back to the Omni-Viewer. "Take me home please."

"Yes, Doctor." Omni said in response as Kintobor stepped inside him. He then vanished.

* * * *

Sonic stood in front of a mirror in Dr Kintobor's laboratory smiling to himself. "Now isn't that the best looking hedgehog to ever exist?" He said to the world in general. He then looked around, as if waiting for a response, then looked back at his reflection. "I don't hear anyone saying any different, so it just has to be true."

Sonic smiled to himself as he turned away from the mirror. "I must say though, brown quills are so last year. Gotta find me a new color." He muttered. "And when I say that why does yellow spring to mind?"

"Maybe in a previous life you were a raging chicken bent on mindless destruction!" Came a voice from behind Sonic. Sonic whipped around on his toes to see the familiar face of Dr Ovi Kintobor. "Hey Doc!" He said suprised. "Didn't hear you come in."

"I believe you." Ovi mused. "A bit vain aren't you, Sonic?"

"So how did the thing go?" Sonic asked, ignoring the question.

"Fine. Fine." Ovi sighed. "I'll hear more about it tomorrow I guess, but lets forget that for now." Ovi said turning to walk over to the other side of the laboratory. "How did the search for the missing Chaos Emerald go then, Sonic?"

Sonic smiled as he followed Ovi. "Found it with time to spare, Doctor K. You gotta find me a greater challenge next time."

"I don't know if I'll be able to do that, Sonic, as that was the last Chaos Emerald you recovered. But I must say your speed at achieving my little tasks is incredible. I think its about time we saw just how fast you can go." Ovi then stopped in front of a machine. "That's why were going to try out this machine I had the Omni-Viewer build for me the other day."

"What's it do?" Sonic said stopping next to the Doctor.

"It's called the Kinetic Gyratoscope."

Sonic looked up at the machine that was, initially, just a big wheel with flashy lights. "It looks silly, Doc."

"Well, so do you, Sonic. But we both know different don't we?" Kintobor mused. "Seriously, jump on. It was made to measure your max speed." Kintobor said before Sonic could say a word. "All you have to do is run."

Ovi then turned and walked over to a console terminal opposite the machine and switched it on. He turned back around to see Sonic still standing in front of it.

"C'mon, Sonic. Lets get started."

"You haven't tested this machine before now, have you Doc?" Sonic said, glancing at Ovi.

"Well, err - No! Now that it comes to it I distinctly remember never getting to test run it." Ovi said more to himself, than to Sonic. "But what harm can it do? Look, the sooner you get on the thing, the sooner its all over."

Sonic just stood there staring at Ovi.

"Look, Sonic, its not dangerous."

Sonic continued to stand there staring at Ovi.

"Don't you trust my judgment?"

Sonic continued to stand there staring at Ovi, and smirked.

"Fine! Stay there. But when no female hedgehog's want to go out with you because your no longer the fastest hedgehog, you can't blame-!"

There was a flash of movement, and Sonic was now standing in the middle of the Kinetic Gyratoscope smiling. "Ready when you are, Doctor K." Sonic said, cutting Ovi off.

Ovi turned back to the computer terminal and grinned. Gets him every time. He thought.

Slowly, at first, the inside of the Kinetic Gyratoscope began to revolve. Sonic begun to sprint as the inside picked up speed. Within a few minutes Sonic was running at a comfortable 25 MPH.

"Hey Doc, these Power Sneakers are real cool!" Sonic shouted above the roaring of the machine, as the machine shifted into a faster speed setting.

Dr Ovi Kintobor stared at the readings the machine was taking. Sonic was now running at close to 95 MPH, and the meter reader was still going up.

This is amazing, Kintobor thought to himself. Sonic's actual speed could well be faster than I had ever imagined. He could well be the fastest creature on the Planet.

Kintobor turned to look at Sonic, to find him smiling happily to himself. The machine had shifted up two gears and was a blur of light as Sonic comfortably ran at 257 MPH.

Sonic's feet became a blur of movement as he got even faster again. Ovi stared at the meter reader. The numbers were still going up. 470. 471. 472. 473. 474 MPH. 475 MPH! How fast could Sonic actually go before even breaking into a sweat?

Dr Ovi Kintobor opened his mouth to say something to Sonic when suddenly the terminal behind him begun to beep loudly. He turned, just barely able to hear the beeping above the somewhat strained roar of the Kinetic Gyratoscope, and read the console's reading.

'Malfunction' was flashing in bright red l.e.d lights. Kintobor's eyes opened widely as he instinctually reached for the off button.

Then suddenly he heard something just on the edge of hearing. Turning around, he looked back at Sonic. "What?" He shouted.

"I-Said." Sonic shouted above the near deafening noise. "Now-I'm-Going-To- See-How-Fast-I-Can-Really-Go!"

Kintobor's mouth opened wide. "SONIC, STOP!" He shouted. "The gyratosphere can't take any more!" But Sonic couldn't hear him above the machines roar as he, yet again, shifted up a gear. His feet blurred so much, Kintobor thought for a second that he could no longer see them as they moved at a speed Kintobor would never have thought possible.

He gave the meter reader a quick glance. It was flashing on 758 MPH. Sonic was going so fast now that the gyratosphere could barely keep up with him.

Kintobor watched as electrical sparks jumped from the machine. It was being pushed beyond its boundaries. It couldn't take the strain.

Dr Kintobor turned his head behind him, to look back as the terminal, as an electrical spark jumped across his glasses, before turning back to the meter reader. Then he realized just how fast Sonic was going. He was approaching the sound barrier! 759MPH. This was impossible!

All of a sudden the room was ignited by a blinding white light as the Kinetic Gyratoscope exploded with one almighty BOOM, consuming Sonic whole.

"SONIC!" Kintobor shouted as he was thrown backwards by the blast. Kintobor rolled backwards, propelled by the explosion, and came to halt on his back. Slowly he got up, rearranging his glasses, and coughed out smoke.

The smoke cleared as Dr Kintobor sat up. His eyes immediately focused on the meter reader, lying on the floor not that far from where he sat. On the readout the numbers had stopped at 761MPH. Sonic had broken the sound barrier.

Slowly a figure stepped through the smoke. As it moved closer, Ovi Kintobor's eyes focused on-

"SONIC?" Ovi Shouted.

Sonic the Hedgehog stood in front of Dr Ovi Kintobor, but he wasn't the Sonic that Ovi had laid eyes upon not that long ago - not in terms of looks anyway.

The explosion, caused by the sonic boom, had not only smashed the Gyratoscope to pieces, but the energy released by the explosion had somehow fused with and changed Sonic.

Where Sonic had been a brown hedgehog before, with single brown quills, something had now changed him. His quills had fused together, taking a sleeker look, and his fur was now blue.

Light gleamed off of Sonic as he smiled down at Ovi. "Take it easy, Doc. I'm Ok! In fact, I've never felt better!"

Things were never going to be the same again.

* * * *

24 hours ago, Sonic the Hedgehog was reborn. It was during an experiment, in which a machine called the Kinetic Gyratoscope exploded after being pushed beyond it boundaries, and exceeded the Sound Barrier and exploded. The explosion changed Sonic.

Somehow his body absorbed the energy generated in the blast, and it fused with him. Improving him. Bettering him. Making him not only feel cool, but look it too.

After countless experiments on Sonic, testing his new power, Dr Kintobor's test's were finally complete.

Kintobor finished taking his last reading, and examined the screen of the portable computer.

"Well now - what do we have here?" He said thoughtfully.

Sonic slipped off the table and got to his feet. "What is it, Doctor K?" Sonic asked.

"What? Oh, nothing Sonic. Nothing to worry about. I'm just concerned by your powers, they seem a little chaotic at best, but they finally seem to be settling down."

"That's great then. I was getting fed up of all the experimenting. I'm starving." Sonic said.

Ovi looked down at his belly as it also growled. "Seems I'm hungry too. Looks like a snacks in high demand." Ovi said, turning and walking towards the fridge.

There was a flash of movement and Sonic was in front of him, and opening the fridge.

"Well isn't that just great." Sonic said reaching into the fridge. "All we have is an egg." As Sonic pulled it out the smell of the egg came with it. "No, I was wrong. A smelly egg!" He then handed it up to Ovi, who turned with it in hand.

"Oh Dear! I must have forgotten to go shopping again." He muttered as he walked in the direction of the bin.

"Euggh!" Sonic blurted out, screwing up his face as the egg's smell lingered at the fridge with him. "That egg stinks! How long has it been in there?"

"I don't know, but I think its about time it was thrown out." Kintobor said turning around. "I'll just put this in the bin, then I'll go into Metropolis for some real eggs."

Sonic followed after Ovi. "I could be there an back before you even reached the bin, Doctor K."

"Bah! You know I don't like my eggs scrambled, Sonic." Ovi mused. "Besides I need to go out if only to waste time until the Omni-Viewer returns from the Special Zone."

The was a flash of movement, and Ovi turned just in time to see it. "Sonic! Did you-?"

"What? Did you see something, Doc?"

Dr Ovi Kintobor stood very still. He had seen something, it had moved so fast that it was like it wasn't there, but he knew differently. But there was only one person who could move like that, and that was Sonic.

"I-I'm not sure what I saw, Sonic." Ovi said stepping forwards, "I think I saw-!" And then it happened. A cable that had been lying on the floor suddenly sprung upwards, as if some unseen person was pulling it.

"DOC, WATCH IT!" Sonic shouted, but it was too late.

Dr Ovi Kintobor's foot got caught on the cable, and before he knew what was going on, he was tumbling forwards, straight into the Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor (R.O.C.C).

This wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't for the fact that the R.O.C.C wasn't full of all the negative and evil compressed Chaos Energy Ovi had taken out of the Chaos Emeralds in an attempt to purify them.

Sonic was the fastest creature on South Island, and probably the entire Planet, but even he was not fast enough to save Ovi. Whatever came over him, as he watched in silenced horror as his only friend fell to an apparent doom, froze him to the spot where he stood. He couldn't move even if he wanted to. It was as if this was meant to happen.

Ovi hit the R.O.C.C, and sparks instantly reached out to him, and whatever else they could touch, and engulfed Ovi completely. Ovi's agonized scream could be heard as the Chaos Energy soared through him, and then the R.O.C.C detonated, and filled the entire lab with flames!

Sonic raised his hands to cover his face, as the flames consumed him. If this had happened to him 24 hours ago, he probably would've been burned alive. But not know. Not ever.

The flames got fires going all over the lab, but Sonic didn't even turn to acknowledge them as he stared at what remained of the Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor, completely engulfed in smoke and ashes, as something slowly began to get up.

Sonic smiled weakly. "Ovi? Is that you? Are you okay?" He asked.

The figure, still shadowed by the smoke, got onto its feet and stood upright. "I'm better than okay, you irritating little rodent." Came the response.

Sonic's smile disappeared, and as the tall dark figure turned to face him, he stepped backwards.

Sonic craned his head back as he looked upwards into a pair of bright red eyes. "Ovi?" He muttered.

"Ovi?" The voice chuckled. "Ha! That name, and the person that it belonged to, no longer lives you eggsasperating little spikeball." The figure said, stepping forwards.

"B-but, then w-who?" And then Sonic fell into silence as the figure emerged out of the smoke.

He was tall, much taller than Ovi had been, and whereas Ovi Kintobor had been thin, this person was enormous and round. His hands, that where nearly as big as Sonic himself, extended their long fingers as he stared down on Sonic with those evil blood red eyes. What was left of Ovi's white lab coat hung in tatters from his body, revealing a black and red uniform underneath.

"Ovi Kintobor is gone. Now and forever more I am Dr Ivo Robotnik!"

Sonic stood there, eyes wide opened, staring at Robotnik, not knowing what to do. Then slowly an anger grew within him. He looked up at Robotnik and saw, for probably the first time, pure evil. His eyes narrowed as his anger grew. Gritting his teeth, Sonic clenched his fists as tight as he could.

Not really knowing what he was doing, Sonic jumped at Robotnik, and curled into a ball. "I'll stop you, Robotnik. I'll stop you for what you've done to Kintobor." Sonic yelled as he begun to spin around Robotnik. "He was my only friend, and you took him away from me. For that I'll never forgive you."

"Forgive me!" Robotnik said, trying to keep his eye on Robotnik. "I don't need your forgiveness, you miserable blue blur. I have been reborn! I'm greater than anything this world has ever seen. Greater even than you, hedgehog."

"My name." Sonic growled, as he flew around Robotnik. "Is Sonic."

Robotnik lashed out, surprisingly fast for someone of his size, and grabbed Sonic around the throat. "Indeed it is, Sonic." He said as he brought Sonic up to his eye level. "My memories of Kintobor's life are already fading, but I will always remember you, Sonic."

"And when the last Mobian on this measurable planet falls to my dominion, I have no doubt that you will still be opposing me. But the day will come when you will zag instead of zig, or zig instead of zag, and that day you will die, Sonic. As I will take your bones in my hands and grind them into dust."

"Hackk-! I'll stop -Gackk- you."

"Perhaps you will." Robotnik grinned. "Perhaps you wont. That's what's going to make it interesting." Robotnik then threw Sonic, with all the force he could muster, at the lab wall. Sonic hit the wall, and fell to the floor in agonizing pain.

As he walked over to Sonic's body, Robotnik tore off what was left of Ovi's lab coat, and threw it on the floor. "We'll meet again, Sonic, I have no doubt of that. But when we do, you better be ready for the fight of your life."

Robotnik reached down and grabbed Sonic's head in his hand. He then lifted him up until his mouth was just next to Sonic's ear. "Embrace the power within you, Sonic, as I will embrace my own darkness. So that one day you can prove to me one thing."

Robotnik then smashes Sonic, face first into the ground. "That I have not just spared your life in vain."

As Sonic lay their he gritted his teeth as his anger swelled within him. But his body was to beaten up to do anything, and the anger quickly subsided as Sonic the hedgehog slipped unconscious.

* * * *

Sometime later Robotnik stood outside the still burning house of a Doctor Ovi Kintobor, who was already nothing but a fading memory.

As it begun to rain, Robotnik continued to stand there , content on watching the house burn to the ground. He looked at a device he held in his left hand, and then smiled as there was a spark behind him.

The spark became a flash of light, which was followed by an implode of sound, and as Dr Ivo Robotnik turned around, he found himself faced with a floating white screen with a face.

The Omni-Viewer instantly floated backwards in surprise as it saw Robotnik. "Who are you?"

Robotnik's face, wet by the rain, suddenly lit up as he grinned. "Dr Ivo Robotnik, future ruler of this world. And you are the Omni-Viewer, are you not?"

"Y-yes." The Omni-Viewer said in response, still a little confused. "Where is Ovi Kintobor?"

"Dead. Killed in that fire. You belong to me now."

"I don't belong to anyo-!"

But before the Omni-Viewer could finish his sentence, Robotnik slapped the device he was carrying onto the side of the Omni-Viewer. It sparked to life and the Omni-Viewer just floated there in silence.

"As I was saying, you belong to me now, Omni-Viewer. As long as you have this device attached to you, your mine. Of course its power over you will eventually fade, but by then you would have helped me build my empire, and there will be nothing that you can do to stop me."

The Omni-Viewer just floated there. He was trying to fight Robotnik's device, but he was loosing.

"Give into it. It'll be easier that way." Robotnik turned and looked at the house of Ovi Kintobor one last time, before turning back to the Omni- Viewer. "Take me to the Special Zone, I have a lot to do!"

The Omni-Viewer flashed as his face faded away, leaving a blank white screen. Dr Ivo Robotnik then stepped inside, and the two of them vanished into the darkness of the night.

~The End~

Hi. I hope you liked the story. I had hoped to really go somewhere with the ending, but realized it may be to much. Last thing I want to do is drag on and on and on.

I must say it was interesting to write. I must thank Thalia Evans for her initial story idea and for allowing me to build on it.

Thanks to all you guys and girls who have read this and enjoyed it. I did it for you.

I feel as though I must say that this idea, no matter how good or bad it was, is completely independent of the actual Sonic the Comic timeline. And since Sonic the Comic Online has spring to life, and has continued from where the comics left off, my story kind of falls into the Alternate Universe category.

A shame really, but I'm sure STC-Online will handle Shadow, and maybe even Sonic's true origin, in its own unique way. Until that day comes, you'll just have to be content with 'A.R.K' and 'Time.'

Again thanks for reading the story. I hope to see you again one day, if I ever get around to writing another Sonic fic. But that may be a long way away, as I have a lot of other projects to do before I can sit down and relax.

Well, one day. Until then. Bye.

Daniel Jones Jr (Dark R).