Enerjak Reborn Saga Episode 4: The Echidnas' Past Sins

Flashback:

Hours ago, Scourge is in the Master Emerald and is holding a Warp Ring in his hand. He then taps the ring on the Master Emerald making it glow like it's being charged.

Suddenly, he hears a voice asking, "What are you doing with the Master Emerald, Scourge?"

"Whoa!" Scourge yelps and nearly drops his ring.

He quickly turns around to see the white scientist.

"Dr. Finitevus! No worries. I'm just charging up this Warp Ring as a 'just-in-case'. Y'know… if your Enerjak plan goes south."

"I see," Finitevus says.

"Not like I get your plan, or what it's all about, or whatever," Scourge replies.

"What it's 'about' dates back to hundreds of years ago," Finitevus says, adjusting his glasses.

Then explains, "Back when Angel Island and land-locked and facing decimation, the great minds at the time used the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald to raise their homeland out of harm's way. Decades later, a pair of brothers sought to return the island to Mobius. When their leaders refused, one backed down, the other's actions would give rise to Enerjak… and later set their sons against one man's arrogance gave rise to the first Guardian of the Brotherhood, and the first Grandmaster of the Dark Legion. Countless Echidna would have their lives affected by this blood feud. The squabbling has crossed time and space, growing more convoluted with each generation."

Then says, "However, only two never joined with that cycle. Knuckles the Current Guardian. And Eve, a hedgehog who's barely familiar with the bloodline of her father. And yet, seventeen generations of Guardians and five grandmasters have resulted in nothing."

"I thought you were with the Dark Legion?" Sourge asks.

"My time with the Dark Legion was a ruse to get me close to what I needed. There, I could study how the Bloodline could channel Chaos energies. Moritori-Rex was of particular interest due to his time hiding as a Guardian. I disassembled Dimitir's robot body to learn what I could, while the battle-ragged Brotherhood… proved invaluable. However, Athair, the only Guardian I have no knowledge of his whereabouts, was able to rescue Moritori before I could examine further. Once I'd learned all I could, I tossed what left of the old men into the Twilight zone. I thought it a fitting place, since the Dark Legion had been jailed there for so many occasions. I planned on using one of Dimitri's descendants for Enerjak/ Lien-Da had the drive, but was hard to control. So I rescued Remington from Dr. Eggman and began to mold him."

"But… you're using Knuckles?" Scourge asks, confused.

"I'd found that Knuckles had the strongest to the Chaos Force. He just needed… convincing," Finitevus says.

He then says, "I do also have another one in the bloodline that might fit to become Enerjak, and that someone is Eve?"

"Eve? Why her? Case you haven't noticed, she's a Hedgehog and an experiment as the Ultimate Lifeform? How could she become Enerjak if she's a hedgehog?" Scourge asks.

"Because her connection to the Chaos Force is equal to Knuckles. She also possessed the Master Emerald Sword that made it all possible since the moment she first wielded it. Since I found out about her history and her family history, I've been keeping a close eye on her. I planned to have her captured so that I can use a special spell just for her, so she will be bent to my ideal. However, she saved me the trouble by trying to save Knuckles, only for herself to have the hex casted on her in the process."

"So then, why go through the trouble of bringing back Enerjak at all?" Scourge asks.

"It all began with that entity, and so it shall be ended by him. With my help, he will finish this corrupt little family," Finitevus says.

He then places his hands on the Emerald, "And then the world. From the filth of Dr. Eggman and the humans' technology to the hopelessly lost Mobians. All will be cleansed in the wave of Emerald Fire."

Scourge simply leaves without a second through. Deep down, he can tell that Finitevus is not a being anyone might handle, and to jerk around with.

Flashback Ends:

Still at the cave where the group of Freedom Fighters, and remaining Guardians. Julie-Su is laying on another bed close to Eve as they both sleep. Shadow is anything but pleased by Locke's concern. Shadoe grabs Locke by his shirt in full rage.

"What do you mean EVE'S LIFE WILL BE SACRIFICED!" Shadow demands in furry.

Locke sighs, "Shortly after Enerjak's last appearance, the Brotherhood of Guardians created a weapon that would destroy him if he ever returned. And you've seen what Enerjak is capable of. You know nothing that powerful should be allowed to exist."

"If you think I'm going to allow you to kill my sister, you're about ready to regret the day you've ever met me! I already lost her once, and I don't plan on losing her again! What's more, why do you plan on destroying your own son with that device you were telling us about!" Shadow says in full rage.

"I don't want to come to this, but I fear that we might not have a choice. As much as I hate to come to that idea," Locke says, a bit scared of Shadow's furry.

Sally quickly steps forward, "Stop it Shadow, let go of him!"

"I know you're upset by all this, but shaking Locke isn't going to help," Sonic says.

"Calm yourself, Shadow!" Fiona says.

Maria then worriedly says, "Careful, he's fragile! You'll hurt him!"

"We have more things to worry about, really!" Nic says.

Jazz flies over, "Chao Chao! Chao Chao!"

"Come on, let's pull them apart," Sonic says.

Sonic, Sally, and Nic grab Shadow while Maria, Fiona, and Jazz grab Locke. They bool as heard as they can until they separate them and crash on different sides of the room.

Shadow stands up still furious, "Why you…"

Sonic grabs Shadow, "Shadow, you need to calm down! Doing all of this isn't going to help Eve! I'm upset by the idea, but we're going to find a better solution to cure her and save Knuckles."

Maria walks to Shadow in concern, "Please Shadow, you need to remain calm. I want to help Eve and Knuckles and I don't like the idea of losing them. Which is um, why we need to remain calm."

"You're right. I'm… I'm sorry you had to see that," Shadow says, feeling a little more for his behavior.

Fiona turns to Eve and says, "We're all worried. I just wish there's something we can do to help her."

"And save Knuckles from that maniac Finitevus, just who he thinks he is," Nic says, still angry with him for the trouble he caused.

"Yeah. Who is this guy anyway? He obviously wasn't with the Dark Legion, given that Lien-Da called him a traitor," Fiona adds.

"A traitor?" Sally asks.

Locke says, "I'm afraid that Finitevus has played us all for fools. Using us for his destructive plan to destroy the world."

"Why would this, um, Finitevus do something so mean?" Maria asks.

"I have an idea about it. I've received this from Remington in Albion," Locke says, and holds a small device.

"You mean the Echidnas Enerjak teleported are alright?" Sonic asks.

"That's good to hear. I was afraid something happened to them," Sally says.

"Yes. They decided to refuge in Albion that was once a great Echidna settlement," Locke says.

"What happened?" Fiona asks.

Locke presses the button, "Watch the recording and find out."

Just then, a holographic image of a purple female echidna wearing a purple dress comes up. Everyone, including the two Guardians gather together.

The echidna says, "Hello to whoever has found this recording. I beg you to listen for I do not have much time. My name is Gala-Na, and I was once Head of the Executive Council of Albion. I once helped maintain the first and greatest Echidna settlement on all of Mobius. We were the cradle of science and technology. Now all of that is lost. One can say it began many years ago, a young boy named Knuckles lost control of the Chaos Power that had been engineered into him before birth. It was decided Knuckles had to be contained. Part of the operations were headed by the promising young Chaos Energy Scientist, DR. Finitevus, and his Chaos Siphon suit."

The group becomes shocked to see and hear what the woman projection is saying.

She continues, "Dr. Finitevus bravely attempted to release much of Knuckles' power. Instead he was bathed in intense Chaos Energy. The energies… changed him. At first, we thought it was for the best. All of his physical and mental traits seem enhanced. But he soon began violently condemning the state of our world and society. Some theorized that Finitevus had become a 'photonegative' of Knuckles. They cited Ancient lore of an 'Guardian' , a projector, in contrast to Finitevus' radical, destructive plans. I scoffed then… but Finitevus quickly learned to channel the Chaos force and used its ambient energies in his new, dangerous inventions. I was the deciding vote that called for his Euthansia."

"Uh Euthansia?" Maria says, confused.

Athair says, "It means… They were planning on killing Finitevus to free him from suffering his condition. In other worlds, Mercy Killing."

"Doesn't sound mercy to me," Nic says.

Then the projection continues, "However, Dr. Finitevus managed to escape. All our efforts to find him failed. We were completely unprepared for his return. He sabotaged all our defenses before leading an invasion force from Eggman's empire right into the heart of the city. In a matter of hours, Dr. Eggman has leveled our city and begun to capture us all."

Suddenly, there is a thud and Gala-Na panics, "I have been discovered, please, if you can, dins and stop Dr. Finitevus. He will not stop until the world has been reduced to cinders. Save yourself from our mistakes! I'm sorry…"

Then the message ends. The Freedom Fighters are stunned, disguised, and speechless to hear what the message says.

"Did, did he really…" Fiona asks.

"It… it can't be…" Sonic replies, shocked.

"I know. As disturbing as it is, everything is true," Moritori says.

"What a horrible thing to do," Sally replies.

"The Albions didn't stand a chance against Eggman's weapons thanks to Finitevus sabotaging them," Shadow says.

"What did she mean? Knuckles lost control of his power, and was engineered before his birth?" Maria asks.

"I… It's a rather long story," Locke says.

"It will help if you can give us an idea of what's going on and how Finitevus was involved," Sally says.

"Sally is right," Moritori says.

Then turns to Locke, "I know this will be hard for you."

Locke sighs, "It is time they learn the truth."

Athair then says, "Well, this all happened before Knuckles was born. Locke received a dream from the Ancient Walers about a threat that will one day come to Mobius. As a result, Locke experimented on himself, and the rest of the Guardians along with Locke did the same on Knuckles's egg. They hoped to create the Ultimate Guardian."

"When he was born and when he got older, we trained him at a high level. Once Knuckles grow a little older, they move to where the Master Emerald so Knuckles can gain more experience and become the next Guardian of the bloodline," Moritori says.

Stunned, Sally asks, "Are you telling me that you all experimented Knuckles so that he'll become a powerful Guardian?"

"I felt that it needed to be done at the time," Locke says.

"And I have to suspect something happened," Shadow says.

Locke lowers his head and says, "Yes. And I hate to say it, it's when this whole mess with Finitevus started. Knuckles was only around ten years old when it happened."

"What happened?" Maria asks.

"Well. Back when Knuckles was still a child and still training to be the next Guardian, we were… attacked by a group of Echidnas calling themselves the Nocturnus Clan," Locke says.

"Who are they?" Fiona asks.

"They're another clan that were also in war with the Knuckles clan a long time ago. They suddenly disappeared, but came to realize that they ended up in the Twilight Cage Zone. The same one the Dark Legion were trapped in," Locke says.

He then sighs, "During that I'm I was the Current Guardian and Knuckles was to be next in line. When they attacked, I asked Athair to take Knuckles somewhere where he would be safe, but somehow sneaked away to see me being brutally beaten. Knuckles tried to help, but was beaten rather hard. Before they could finish me off, Knuckles was able to use the Master Emerald's power to send them back to the zone, but… because of Knuckles' age and inexperience, he absorbed too much and gained more than a normal guardian supposed to contain. The power gave Knuckles terrible pain and caused the Chaos energy to be released from him at random times. He was… very scared of what happened to him."

"Oh man, I never knew Knuckles went through something like that," Sonic says.

"I'm surprised Knuckles never mentioned it," Nic says.

"It's because he lost his memory during the syphon the Albions tried to use on him," Locke says.

"Syphon?" Sonic says, confused.

"In short, it didn't take long for the Albions to learn about what happened to Knuckles. They feared that in the state he is in, he can cause harm on Mobius. In my thoughts, I fear he'll end up hurting himself from pain, fear, and sadness. And the Albions made it worse on him by abducting him and restrained him so it will be easy for them to take away that energy. And you know the rest from the recording message," Locke explains.

"The Albions tried to syphon the Chaos Energy, and Finitevus volunteered to wear the Syphon Suit to take Knuckles' power, but ended up being bathed by the energy that was feared to cause problems. It's like that energy corrupted him or something," Shadow says.

"Yeah. But still, why does he want to cleanse the world like that. I know there have been problems with Dr. Eggman and other bad guys, but come on, it's not like everything has to be perfect and all that," Sonic says.

"Still. I can't believe that the Echidnas will try to do things that are too far and end up with consequences that ended up being their destruction," Fiona says.

"You're right. It's an incident I wasn't fond of and the Albion Echidnas soon regret," Locke says.

"Knuckles lost his memory of the incident from the shock of what happened to him. It was only recently that we discovered Finitevus' true identity," Locke says.

"That explains a lot. But we can't worry about it. Knuckles is still endangered and Eve is still unconscious," Sonic says.

"You're right. The truth is, I did everything I could to protect him from a future terror. I never wanted to turn him into that terror. I only wanted to keep him safe," Locke says.

"There's no use worrying about something that has already been done. All we need to worry about is now. And… I don't know how much time we have before Eve ends up turning into a dangerous god," Shadow says.

Locke then holds the Warp Ring, "Yes. We need to get the device and we also need to find Finitevus."

"Right. Sonic, Shadow, Fiona, and I will go with Locke and Moritori to find this device and see if we can find Finitevus. Athair, Maria, Nic, and Jazz, will remain here to keep an eye on Julie-Su and Eve," Sally says.

"Yes. But Scourge and the Destructix will be there as they guard the device. Best to stay on your toes," Locke says.

Then tosses the Warp Ring and it enlarges in size.

Shadow turns to Eve and thinks, "Don't worry, Eve. I promise to cure you and make Finitevus pay for what he did."

Shadow and the others walk through the Warp Ring until Locke is the only one left. Locke then walks through the Warp Ring as well and it disappears as soon as he walks through.

Eve continues to sleep in the bed and soon mutters, "Sonic… Shadow… Knuckles… Knuckles… I-I have to save Knuckles…."

Soon, Eve begins to slowly open her eyes, and the sword continues to show a dim green glow.