A/N: Hey there! Now, first of all, I would like to apologize for disappearing for a long time. I just lost the Sonic hype and moved onto Naruto. But now that I'm back, I'll be working on this fanfiction once again. Right now, I'll be editing all the chapters (most of them at least) to get a good feel and remind myself of what I'm doing. Now, this is the edited version of Chapter 2, hope you'll enjoy it!

Disclaimer: 'Heads over to SEGA and gets down on knees'. Oh mighty creators, may you be willing to share (or better yet, give me) the ownership of your wonderful creations? 'Gets struck down to hell' Maybe not...

Chapter 2 – The First Chaos

The city of Robotropolis. It used to be a beautiful place called Mobotropolis, dedicated to peace and the arts.

Now, it was tainted to the root. Robots swarmed the city. Pollution seeped all the way into the ground and choked the life out of nature. It was a devastating sight, one that brought pain and anger to the blue speedster's heart.

'That madman will fall, one way or another, even if I have to blow up one factory at a time,' Sonic thought as he set up the explosives with a vindictive smirk. The factory he was currently planning to blow up was one that manufactured parts for the robots. Lately, these factories hadn't been as heavily guarded as before, so it was almost too easy sneaking in and getting out.

'If only Sal would let me, I could probably blow dozens of these a day! The security is rather pathetic these days…' Sonic frowned at that thought, finding it extremely suspicious now that he looked at it. 'Why?'

"Sonic? Are you there?"

At the soft voice calling him from his communicator watch, he broke out of his thoughts and brought his wrist up close. "Yeah. I'm here."

"Have you finished your-?"

"I have," Sonic interrupted, his hasty nature showing through. "I'll be out in just a few seconds. Meet you at the rendezvous point." Without even a goodbye, he cut off the connection and set up the final explosive.

'Goodbye factory, hello explosion.'

With that, the blue hedgehog sprinted away.

The explosions were beautiful.

Sonic watched in satisfaction as the factories were gobbled up in hungry flames. Alarms blared loudly and robots were scurrying about, trying to fix the damage. It would be too late though. Judging by the piles of black soot, the robots would be lucky if they even managed to salvage enough.

"We got to go Sonic." A chipmunk with blue eyes and red hair stood next to the blue hedgehog. "The surveillance bots will be here any minute now."

"Yeah, yeah, Sal, I'm on it." Sonic grabbed onto her hand and pulled her up bridal style. Sally sighed and just grabbed on tightly without much convincing, already knowing that Sonic wouldn't stop to warn her.

She did it in time too, as Sonic dashed off for the Great Forest.

"Sugar hog! How did it go?"

"Fine," Sonic grunted before brushing past the half-roboticized rabbit. "Where's Tails? Have you seen him?"

As if those were the magic words, a familiar child-like voice called out. "I'm here!" A two-tailed fox mobian trotted up to the hedgehog, grinning widely. "Sonic! Did you blow it up? Did you? Did you?" he asked with childish excitement.

Sonic's lips twitched slightly in the urge to smile. "The factory is toast! I bet'cha Robuttnik's face is probably so red that he would look as if he was going to explode too." The comparison made Tails shake with giggles.

"Sonic."

At Sally's call, Sonic glanced over his shoulder. His emerald eyes met brilliant blue, and the latter dimmed slightly when they only saw jaded green, devoid of any amusement from before.

"In a week or so, we'll be heading to the Great Canyon to meet the Wolf Pack for another attack-."

"Sure Sal, I'll be there," Sonic cut her off and turned back to Tails, missing the frown sketched on Sally's face. "Hey Tails, whatcha say to a run around the forest?"

Tails nodded so quickly that it was as if his head was a blur, and his grin was so wide it nearly split his face. "Sure thing, Sonic! Can I ride in your backpack?"

Sonic's eyes twinkled in a rare show of light-hearted mischief. "Sure…if you can catch me first!" Sonic sped off out of Knothole at a slower speed than usual.

"Hey, no fair! You got a head-start!"

Sally watched as the young fox dashed off after the speedy blue hedgehog. When they had disappeared from her line of sight, she let out a soft sigh. It was always bittersweet watching Sonic interact with Tails; sweet because of the rare affectionate bond between the two of them and bitter because it should have not just been Tails who received it.

'I wish the old you was here,' she thought. She was usually business-like in most matters, but Sonic was her childhood friend. She remembered his carefree grin and prankster attitude. She remembered how his eyes, lighter in color back then, would dance and sparkle happily, ever so expressive and joyful.

Now…

A warm hand laid on her shoulder, and Sally glanced at its owner, Bunnie. The rabbit mobian was looking at the princess in worry and understanding. "I understand how ya feel, Sally girl, but ya have to understand, that incident changed the old sugar hog into this… He's not gonna open up to us about it soon though, except the little kit."

Sally took a deep breath. She could not afford to lose control over her emotions, not in front of others. She had to be strong, and she had to have faith. "I know Bunnie. I know…" She cleared her throat and changed the topic. "So, about the second attack… I was thinking…"

While these events were taking place in Knothole, trouble was brewing back in Robotropolis.

"That's the fifth factory destroyed this week!" Robotnik growled to himself. Five factories! That was enough to produce nearly a hundred of his robots, and to have them destroyed in a week, it was a painful blow to his black, twisted heart.

'But it will all be worth it…' Robotnik smiled, a sight that was more terrifying than anything ever seen. 'Once I get my hands on 'it', those factories will be nothing more than a footnote. I will crush the Freedom Fighters with the power I will soon wield, and not even that blasted hedgehog will survive this!'

He chuckled evilly as he looked at the monitors before him. The reason why his security was so low currently was because the robots usually guarding the places (and nearly two-quarters of his force) were busy somewhere else. The monitors displayed several locations: Great Canyon, Great Jungle, and more.

'Soon, I will have all of 'them' in my hands, and then…NO ONE WILL STOP ME!'

Mad laughter echoed about in Robotropolis, as its warlord schemed and planned, already seeing the future ahead of him.

Back at Knothole, Sonic was perching on top of the roof of his house, staring up at the night sky. Out here in the Great Forest, the skies were clearer, offering a faint glimpse of the stars. Every night, he would sit out here alone with his thoughts, and remember the dreadful past…

Now, Sonic was not usually the type to linger on regrets and preferred to look forward to the future, but that was not the case here. He was only five back then, and he had seen his entire family dead before his eyes. It was not long after that when Uncle Chuck was taken from him and probably roboticized.

Faces flashed across his eyes, all once so lively and full of health. They slowly turned dull and pale in death, and Sonic closed his eyes with a scowl on his face. An image of Robotnik came to his mind, and rage burned in his heart.

"He will pay for all he had done…" Sonic swore quietly to himself, with only nature as his witness. "Robotnik, the day of your reckoning WILL come…and I will be there to sent you to the underworld."

He took another look at the stars, and clenched his fist. 'Mom, Dad, Sonia, Manic, Uncle Chuck…I swear it. I will avenge you… Just wait a bit longer…'

Inside his mind, in the darkest corners and deepest crevices, an entity stirred…

A week later, in Robotropolis

"Snively, you will hold down the fort while I personally head to the Great Canyon," Robotnik told his nephew as he boarded one of the transports. "IF that hedgehog comes again, do not let him escape. If he does…we'll just have to see about that, won't we?"

"Y-Y-Yes sir!" Snively stuttered, literally shaking in his boots at the glare he received from Robotnik.

Satisfied with the reply, Robotnik turned back towards the transport and got in. His pet chicken Cluck hopped onto his hand. The warlord idly stroked the robotic chicken's head before turning to the SWATbot sitting in the driver's seat. "Get going."

The SWATbot followed the order and the transport rose up, followed by the rest. They then flew off towards their destination; Great Canyon.

And at the same moment, the group in Knothole were getting ready for their own trip.

"Here it comes, Tails," Sonic alerted the two-tailed fox, watching the lake below glow a soft golden color at one spot. Tails nodded eagerly and waited on the edge of the log.

A glowing gold ring slowly came out of the water, floating up into the air. Just as it was about to reach the log's height, Tails reached out and grabbed it. "I got it Sonic!"

"Nice work, big guy," Sonic praised, turning around so that Tails could pack the Power Ring into his red backpack. "You ready for this trip?"

"Sure am! I'm so excited that I can't sit still!" Tails replied, bouncing up and down in place with an excited look in his eyes. While he did know of the dangers that entailed with leaving Knothole, he could not help but look forward to helping his big-brother-figure, despite Sally's unvoiced disapproval.

Besides, like Sonic said, he was a big boy now; he could take care of himself, and Sonic was there to watch out for him even if the blue hedgehog did not say it out-loud.

"Everyone's here?" Sally asked as the Freedom Fighters grouped together, taking a mental roll-call. 'I'm here, so is Antoine and Bunnie, here comes Rotor and there is Tails, along with Sonic. Good, everyone's here now.'

Rotor replied to Sally's slightly rhetorical question, "We're here, Sal, and ready for the mission."

"Great. Let's go."