Several hours earlier…

Eggman crouches over the hunk of meteorite at the center of the crater. "You're certain this was the source of the readings? It's just an old rock!"

Orbot answers from next to the parked Eggmobile, "Yes, sir. There was a large spike in Chaos energy readings at this location when the meteorite struck the earth." He and Cubot both join Eggman at the crater.

"Then why is there nothing here?"

Cubot picks up the rock. "Maybe it's just hidden underneath!"

Orbot tries to take it away. "Put that down, you might damage it!"

"Give it back, I saw it first!"

"Actually, the Doctor saw it first!" The two continue to struggle back and forth, until the rock breaks in two, causing them both to drop the pieces.

Cubot looks up to Eggman, and points to his companion. "Orbot did it."

Eggman is too distracted examining the newly exposed sides of the meteor. One of them holds a glowing drop of light. "What's this…?" He reaches out for it. Suddenly, the drop leaps from the rock to Eggman's hand. "Argh! What is this thing!? Get it off me!"

"Oh no, the Doctor's under attack!"

"What do we do!?"

Orbot and Cubot run around in senseless panic as Eggman tries to flick the substance off. After a few tries, he is successful, and the light splatters back onto the ground. Almost instantly, it starts to bubble and increase rapidly in size. It quickly takes on a large humanoid shape, somewhat similar to Eggman himself. But then it starts to thin out into more normal human proportions.

Eggman takes a step back to look at the back of the new person standing in front of him. He wears clothing similar to Eggman's, though colored only yellow, white, and gold. Eggman questions, "And just who are you supposed to be?"

The person turns to face Eggman. He has no mustache, but a full head of blond hair. Despite bearing a vague resemblance to Eggman, he might be described as handsome. He speaks, "Your heart is disgusting."

"What!?"

"Unfortunately, I have need of this…unsightly form."

"I'll have you know, I am Doctor Eggman, world-renowned scientist, and you–"

"I suggest you enjoy your final days in this world, villain. Your kind will soon be obsolete. Now, I really must be on my way. It's vital that I locate the Controller."

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Chaos Project

Season 0, Episode 21

Dawn of Chaos, Part 2: Life and Death

Written by ChaosProjectAuthor

As the light subsides, Tails confirms, "Energy output readings are dropping. Sensors are showing…no way…"

The light disappears entirely, to reveal a hedgehog lying on the floor of the empty, sealed chamber. Momentarily, his fur seems to reflect a rainbow of seven different colors, before reverting to just a silvery white. There are five spikes wrapping around his head, which come out at an upwards angle before angling straight downwards. Someone who has seen into the future would know this creature of the Moonstone as Chaos the Hedgehog.

"There's a person in there!"

The Moonstone hedgehog starts to get up, clutching his head. As he does, it can be seen that the Moonstone is still there, embedded in his chest. Sonic looks at him with wonder. For the first time, the hedgehog looks up to see Sonic and Tails through the window. Suddenly, his fur shifts from white to a sickly green. In a surprising—though not quite Sonic-level—burst of speed, he zips to the opposite wall and starts pounding on it with his hand.

Tails shouts to Sonic with fear, "Sonic, something's wrong! He's in pain!"

Sonic has already started running out of the room. He shouts back, "I'm on it!"

"Sonic, no! Don't–" He runs after him.

The Moonstone hedgehog runs from wall to wall, desperately searching for an escape. Suddenly, a door opens from the outside as Sonic enters. "Calm down, I'm here to–"

"Rargh!" The hedgehog's fur again shifts, this time to a deep red, as he charges at Sonic and shoves him aside. He runs out the door.

Tails finally catches up, and sees Sonic sprawled out on the ground. "Sonic, are you alright?"

Sonic starts to get up. "Yeah…he's pretty strong."

"Why'd you let him out?"

"I thought that… Don't worry, I'm going after him." He stands the rest of the way, then runs out the door after the escaped hedgehog.

Tails sighs. Then he runs back up to the room they had been watching from. He presses a button on a storage container, and a drawer slides out. He takes a box out of the drawer, and opens it. Four unusually dim yellow Chaos Emeralds are arrayed inside.

—–—

Sonic makes it to the outside of the clifftop lab in time to see the other hedgehog make an incredible leap, from the cliff all the way to the elevated train tracks that run above. Sonic is impressed. "Nice jump. But you won't get away that easily!" The hedgehog above takes off running in the direction of a tunnel through a cliff, constructed for the train. Sonic takes off in the same direction along the ground. He continues to run up the new cliff as he reaches it, carried all the way up the wall to level of the train tracks. He hops off, and lands directly in the path of the other hedgehog. "Hold it, I just want to talk to you!"

The Moonstone hedgehog turns and runs the other way.

"Hey, come back here!" Sonic takes off after him.

The other hedgehog looks back, his will to flee redoubled at seeing that he is still being pursued. His fur shifts from red to yellow. As he runs, he raises up a contorted hand, which becomes filled with a yellow energy. "Hah!" He hurls back the energy as a projectile.

Sonic barely sidesteps out of the way of the attack, continuing to run. "That was a Chaos Spear!" He dodges another one. The Moonstone hedgehog starts rapid-firing as many Chaos Spears as he can throw.

Tired of dodging, Sonic goes on the offensive. "I don't want to hurt you, but you're not leaving me any choice!" He leaps up, and goes in for a spin attack.

The other hedgehog throws his hands to either side, and a barrier of yellow energy forms around him. Sonic bounces harmlessly off of it, and gets knocked to the floor, as the other hedgehog continues to run down the tracks.

Sonic quickly gets back up, and takes off at top speed. He quickly catches up. As the Moonstone hedgehog sees that he's still being followed, his fur reverts to its red color, as he grows even more enraged. He starts to take on a sparking red aura. Sonic thinks, "Oh no!" He skids to a stop to avoid what's coming.

"Rargh!" The hedgehog unleashes a fiery red explosion in a powerful Chaos Blast.

Sonic watches as the explosion destroys every inch of train track that it touches not far in front of him. When the explosion clears, the hedgehog is nowhere to be seen. A fair portion of the elevated track has sunken into the sea far below, creating a gap too large to jump over. Sonic taps his communicator. "Tails, you there?"

"I hear you. What's your status?"

"I lost him. He's heading towards Station Square, I'll try to find him there. He took out some of the track, so I need you to make sure that's taken care of before the next train comes by."

"I'm on it."

"He's strong, Tails. Really strong."

"So find him before he hurts someone!"

"Right. Chaos Control!"

—–—

Station Square

The Moonstone hedgehog stomps through the main road of a familiar part of town, returned to his sickly green color. Every passing sound turns his head in an involuntary flinch. A taxi screeches to halt as it nearly runs him over, to the sound of a loud horn. The driver sticks his head out the window. "Get out of the road, ya Sonic wannabe!" The hedgehog's fur turns red again as he seems prepared to attack the automobile with the full force of his strength. But it drives around him before he gets the chance.

Suddenly, the hedgehog shouts a growl out into the air, "Grargh!" He collapses to his knees, clutching his head, as his fur turns dark blue. His shoulders heave as if he were sobbing.

A familiar voice questions, "Hey…are you alright?" The hedgehog looks up, tears in his eyes, to see Amy Rose. "Please, don't be sad. Everything's going to be okay." She offers both of her hands forward. "My name is Amy Rose. Are you another one of Sonic's friends?"

His fur turns white again. "Sssaaahhhh…neek?"

"It sounds like the sun might be getting to you. Please, let me take you inside." She takes his hands this time. For the first time, his fur fades to a soft, rich purple.

"Amy, get away from him!" Amy takes a step back in surprise, and Sonic lands right in front of her. "He's dangerous, stay back!"

The Moonstone hedgehog has stepped back as well, his fur returned to yellow.

"You won't get away this time!" Sonic starts to charge in for an attack, but Amy grabs him by the arm.

"Sonic, stop! Don't hurt him!"

Sonic tries to tear his arm free. "Let go of me, Amy!"

"He's just confused, he doesn't want to hurt anyone!"

As they argue, the Moonstone hedgehog leaps to the top of a tall building in a single bound. From there, he leaps far off into the distance.

Amy finally lets go.

"You let him get away."

"I wasn't going to let you hurt him."

"Amy, he already almost destroyed me."

"Well maybe that's because you're trying to attack him!"

Sonic turns and starts to walk off. "We'll talk about this later."

"And just where do you think you're going?"

"After him."

Amy runs to catch up with him. "Well, then I'm coming too."

"Ha! Only if you can keep up!" Sonic takes off running.

"Oh no you don't! I won't get left out this time!"

—–—

The handsome blond-haired man appears to be tied to a chair. Eggman moves right up to his face. "I'll ask you one more time. Who are you?" They are in an interior room of some sort of base, with no visible windows.

The man sighs. "With every passing moment, you further prove your unworthiness, villain. But, if I must, I will explain to you. You can call me…Lumis. I am a Lord of Chaos, sent to this realm on a very important mission. To help the Controller eradicate the Darkness."

"You expect me to believe that!? What kind of fool do you take me for?"

"A particularly disgusting fool, as a matter of fact. Now, I highly suggest that you allow me to leave."

"Ha! You aren't leaving until I figure out what you really are." Eggman promptly leaves the room.

Lumis closes his eyes and thinks, "I can feel the other one drawing near. The Controller is following him. I must lead them here."

—–—

A colorful butterfly flutters past the afternoon sun. The Moonstone hedgehog watches it with wonder. His fur, like the sky, is a bright cyan-blue. Cautiously, he reaches up towards the insect. It settles down onto the tip of his finger. Slowly, his fur fades again to the same soft purple seen before. He lifts his finger slightly, and the butterfly takes off again. He smiles. Then a bird swoops down from the sky, and snatches the insect from the air.

For just a moment, the hedgehog turns sickly green again as he steps back in fear. But then, like his fur, his expression shifts slowly from fear, to a complete, utter calm. He turns a pure, silvery white to match. He looks up to the sun in the sky, and has to shield his eyes from the light. He doesn't seem to notice the cartoonish creature of solid light seeming to rise up from the grassy, flower-covered ground behind him. Until several more begin to rise.

He slowly turns to face them as he turns an intense, fiery red. He charges with a savage roar, and each one explodes at his strike. More continue to rise as he fights, and he is soon completely surrounded. As he realizes that he has nowhere to turn, his face takes on a look of fear, and his fur turns its sickly green to match. They start to close in. One, shaped like Eggman's Doomsday mech, draws much closer, reaching for the Moonstone embedded in his chest.

"Stay away from him!" A massive hammer comes down on the creature, obliterating it like the others. It's owner, Amy, picks it back up and gives the hedgehog a smile, before turning her attention to the swarm of creatures.

Sonic comes in a moment later, grumbling, "Amy!"

Swinging her hammer ferociously, she answers back, "I'm not going to let them hurt him!"

Sonic speeds through a group of the fragile creatures, destroying them all. He grunts in acknowledgement of what Amy said, but doesn't respond.

The Moonstone hedgehog looks to the other two with confusion as they fight for him. Then he turns a deep yellow as he takes on an expression of resolve. He rejoins the fight with the other two hedgehogs.

Amy yells out as she fights, "What are these things, anyway?"

"I don't know, but they were going after the Master Emerald before."

"What're they doing here?"

"How should I know?" As Sonic momentarily turns to look at Amy, a creature leaps at him from behind. The Moonstone hedgehog takes it out with a Chaos Spear. There doesn't seem to be any more around. Sonic turns towards him awkwardly. "Umm…thanks?"

The moment is interrupted as more creatures begin to rise. Rather than surround them, the rising creatures form a rough line off into the distance. Without hesitation, the Moonstone hedgehog goes on the offensive once more. Sonic looks to Amy. "Uh…follow his lead, I guess. Just…don't let him out of your sight." With that settled, they go in after him.

—–—

Mt. Lux

Amy swipes her hammer at the final creature. The three all look up to see where they've ended up. They seem to have arrived at a giant metal door built into the foot of a tall, yellowish mountain. A large Eggman insignia is emblazoned on the door's front. Sonic comments, "Well, he isn't very subtle, is he? I guess we know who's behind this."

"I'm betting you want to go inside?"

Sonic nods. "If Eggman's up to something…better to stop him before it gets too far."

"Then how do we get in?"

Sonic pulls out the yellow Emerald. "Well that's an easy one. I'll just–"

There is a loud crunch as the Moonstone hedgehog grabs the door, and rips it from its hinges. He tosses it aside as if it weighed no more than a few pounds. Then he turns his attention to Sonic, noticing the Emerald in his hand. He starts to scowl at it. Then he starts to reach a hand out for it.

Sonic snatches it away. "Hey! Hands off!"

The hedgehog looks slowly away from the gem, back to the interior of the Eggman base. Then he begins to walk inside.

Sonic follows, and indicates for Amy to do the same. As he crosses into the darkness of the base, the Emerald once again trembles in his hand. This time, Sonic seems to notice it as he holds it up to his face for a closer look. But the shuddering has stopped and it behaves as normal.

"So, after all of that about this guy being dangerous…" Sonic realizes how far ahead Amy has gotten as she starts to speak, and breaks into a quick jog to catch up. "…now you're just letting him lead the way?"

"If you're gonna say 'I told you so,' then just say it. You were right, okay? I still don't know who this guy is, but he sure seems like he knows what he's doing. Whatever happened before, that must've been a misunderstanding."

"So does 'this guy' have a name?" The question is directed more towards the hedgehog himself. But there is no answer.

Sonic reiterates, "Hey guy, do you have a name?" He continues to walk on ahead, a constant scowl on his yellow face. "Well, if he's going after Eggman, he can't be all bad, right?"

"Maybe this should teach you something about jumping to conclusions about people."

Sonic doesn't seem to notice the deeper meaning behind her words. "I don't need a life lesson right now, Amy. Let's just take care of this."

The Moonstone hedgehog suddenly stops, staring at a door. He lets out an audible grunt.

"Is there something in there?"

In response, he once again crunches a hand around the door, and rips it away.

On the other side, tied to a chair, sits Lumis. "I was beginning to wonder how long–"

"Rargh!" The Moonstone hedgehog leaps at Lumis as his fur turns blood red. Sonic and Amy both hesitate for a moment in surprise.

"Don't just stand there, get this creature off of me!"

The two quickly move in to restrain the hedgehog by each of his arms. They pull him away from Lumis as he struggles to tear himself free, though he doesn't attempt to harm either of them. Finally, as he is forced down to his knees by their combined effort, he stops resisting, as fur settles down to a much softer red.

Sonic looks to Amy. "Can you hold him here?" She nods. He lets go of the hedgehog and moves to free Lumis. "Are you–"

The hedgehog growls and jerks an arm as Sonic begins work on Lumis' ropes, but Amy keeps hold of him.

Sonic clears his throat and continues, "Are you alright?"

As the ropes drop, Lumis stands and starts to dust himself off. "I'll be quite fine."

"Alright. So who are you, and how did you get here?"

"I'll be glad to illuminate you on the situation. After we get out of this…dismal place."

Amy questions, "What about him?" The hedgehog jerks an arm again.

Lumis begins to smooth out the wrinkles in his clothing. "If you're looking for a suggestion, I would advise you leave it here. Trust me, it isn't worth the trouble."

Amy shouts, "No way! We–"

Sonic interrupts, "Don't worry, Amy. We're not leaving anything. This guy is still my problem. I guess…I was right about him after all." This seems to disappoint Amy.

Lumis shifts impatiently. "We really must be going."

Sonic nods. "Right." He leads the way out.

Waiting for them on the other side is a massive mech, Eggman sitting at its head. "Trying to steal my prisoner, are you?" The mech, with a body shaped much like his usual robots, has large bat-like wings, long pointed horns and tail, and rather well-built arms holding a deadly-looking pitchfork. "It will be your last mistake."

Suddenly, the Moonstone hedgehog turns and runs off in the opposite direction. Sonic notices after a moment, but Amy is already running after him. "Don't worry, I've got him!"

Lumis looks to Sonic. "If you wouldn't mind, Controller, I believe this villain must be dealt with."

"You know what I am?"

"I know many things. Now go!"

Eggman shouts, "Enough chatter! Egg Demon, attack!" The mech stabs with its giant weapon, and Sonic barely dives out of the way. Then he dashes towards it.

—–—

The Moonstone hedgehog knocks down the door into what appears to be a research laboratory. In the center is a very large and complicated machine which appears to be running. The purple Chaos Emerald is inserted on one side.

Amy steps in behind him. "What is that thing?"

The hedgehog slowly steps closer to the machine. He appears to be shuddering, as his fur again turns red as fire. The Emerald begins to strobe with a highly unusual pattern of light.

"That doesn't look right…"

The whirring of the machine grows considerably louder as a dismal purple light begins to form on the opposite side of the machine from the Emerald. In the center of the light, a group of glowing particles begin to cluster together, forming into a solid shape. As the light begins to clear, the form of a dim purple Emerald is revealed.

"Is that…a fake Emerald?"

The hedgehog's shuddering grows to uncontrollable levels, as if moments away from exploding. But then, the fake gem crumbles away to dust as quickly as it formed.

"Pretty bad fake, I guess."

The hedgehog's anger subsides slightly. But he still plunges a hand into the machine, and rips out a handful of wires and circuitry.

Amy joins him with a powerful hammer swing. "I agree. Let's smash this thing."

—–—

Sonic lands a solid spin attack on the Egg Demon's cockpit, cracking the glass, and gets launched back to the ground. Eggman shouts, "You'll pay for that, little rat! Void Beam, fire!" The mech unleashes from its chest what appears to be a focused beam of shadowy energy. Sonic quickly realizes that there's no time to avoid it.

"Behind me!" Lumis stands tall in front of Sonic. "Chaos Shield!" He pushes his hands forwards, and generates a large barrier of golden energy in front of them. The Void Beam impacts the Chaos Shield, but cannot break through.

Sonic notes, "Just like that hedgehog did…"

The beam ends, and Lumis dissipates the shield. "Now get back in there!"

Sonic nods, and dashes back into action. The Egg Demon swipes its long tail, but Sonic jumps, lands on top of it, and springs off, launching into attack range. He delivers another strong strike, shattering the cockpit. As he lands, the mech becomes wracked with small explosions.

Lumis doesn't seem particularly impressed by the spectacle. "Well done. Let's go."

"Go? What about Amy? She's still back there!"

Lumis groans. "Fine. We can get the girl first. Lead the way." Sonic starts moving, and Lumis follows behind.

Eggman shouts from his ruined machine, "Oh no you don't! Get back here! I'm not finished with you yet!" His shouts are ignored.

—–—

The Moonstone hedgehog picks up the real Emerald from the rubble of the machine. He stares into it and takes a deep breath, finally relaxing. His fur softens to a clean white as he does. He continues to stare at it. He opens his mouth as if wanting to speak, but no words come out. But after a moment, a word, spoken by a chorus, echoes in his head. "Who…?"

Amy puts a hand on his shoulder. "What is it? What do you want to say?"

Just as last time, the hedgehog struggles to make a sound. He breathes loudly several times, trying to approximate the "H" sound. Finally, he manages to repeat, "Hhhoooo?"

"Who?" She giggles a bit. "I already told you. My name is Amy."

He closes his eyes, and shakes his head. Then he puts a hand on the Moonstone in his chest. "Whooo?"

"You…you're asking who you are? You've lost your memories?"

For a moment, he seems to feel relieved at finally being understood. Then he tenses up and turns his head to the door, as his fur turns a striking yellow.

Amy, realizing what it might mean, puts an arm out in front of him. "Please stay calm. We can't help you if you can't control yourself."

He hears her words, and relaxes slightly, still keeping his eyes firmly locked on the door. A moment later, Sonic and Lumis walk in. "Amy, there you are." He looks at the rubble of the machine. "What's going on here?"

"It looks like Eggman is trying to create fake Emeralds." She adds proudly, "I think we set him back a bit."

Lumis suddenly demands, "Did you say fake Emeralds?" Not waiting for an answer, he kneels down and scoops up a handful of the purple dust that the fake had crumbled into. After a moment, he starts to flick it away as if it were something foul. "No wonder this place feels so repulsive." He looks over, and for the first time notices the Moonstone hedgehog, glaring at him intensely, still holding the real Emerald in one hand. "You're letting it hold the Emerald? I suggest you take it away before it hurts someone. Like me."

Amy looks somewhat offended, but Sonic gives her a look telling her to listen. She sighs, but then gives the hedgehog a smile. "Hey…do you think you could give me that Emerald?" He glances at her a few times, but doesn't want to take his gaze off of Lumis. "Please. We just want to help you." Slowly, hesitantly, he turns over the Emerald, and places it in her hand. "Thank you."

"My my, it's almost like you've trained it." The hedgehog starts to growl, but Amy calms him down with a hand. "Now, can we please get out of here?"

A familiar voice answers, "You aren't going anywhere, this time!" All around them, metal cage bars suddenly shoot out of the ground, trapping them on all sides.

"What's this!?"

A monitor descends out of an opening in the ceiling, showing a display of Eggman. "You should have cut your losses, hedgehog. Now, you're all my prisoners. Oh ho ho!"

Thinking fast, Sonic throws a hand up to one ear. "Tails, this is Sonic! We've been captured, we need help! We're at a base built inside of a mountain outside of Station Square! Bring backup!"

Eggman shouts, "I don't think so!" He can be seen on the monitor slamming his finger on a button.

Tails' voice responds "Soni–" before getting cut off.

"Your communications have been jammed. Now, you all be good little prisoners, and wait for your guards to escort you to your cells." The monitor deactivates and retracts into its place in the ceiling.

Sonic growls. "Good luck, Tails."

To be continued…