"The silence is coming... and I will be its precursor."

"No! No!" The young girl trashed around in her sleep. "Let me alone! You're not me!"

"You know you will turn into me... there's no escape..."

"It's not true! Go away!"

"Hey!" A harsh voice snapped Hotaru Robotnik out of her dream.

She looked around. Next to the door of her room, the form of Metal Sonic was standing. "Stop that," he snapped. "It's bad enough that I have to guard your room."

Hotaru swung her legs over the edge of her bed. "I had a terrible nightmare," she murmured.

"What of it?" the robotic hedgehog muttered. "I just know your screaming was bugging me..."

She looked at him. "Don't you care about anything? I know you're just a robot, but you were once a living being, right? So don't you remember anyone that's important to you?"

"Feelings are overrated," Metal Sonic huffed. "They're just trouble. The only things that count are power and strength."

Hotaru pitied the robot. She knew what kind of person he had been before her father transformed him... and she also knew that he wasn't totally convinced of the correctness of his transformation.

Hotaru sighed. She loved her father, that was true, but she couldn't understand his thirst for power. At least she knew that he normally didn't kill living beings, only turned them into emotionless machines…

----

"So, I help you find the Chaos Emeralds so you can turn back into your true form... and you repay me by destroying Station Square! That's a good offer, isn't it?"

The silent form of Chaos seemed to think about it. Then, with a wet sounding growl, he nodded.

Dr. Eggman grinned. "Perfect! I knew I could count on you. I already know where your missing tail is... one of the Chaos Emeralds is there as well. As for the other ones..." He pressed several buttons, and on the monitor appeared several emeralds.

He pointed to the purple, light blue and white emeralds. "Those three were being held by GUN, but I heard they were stolen some time ago. I heard that sneaky thief Rouge is after them, as well. We have to be extra careful when gathering these, as the thief has to be pretty strong if he managed to break through GUN's defense forces.

Now, for the rest..." He pointed to the red one. "This one is in the possession of that blue hedgehog you fought at City Hall. He's my favorite enemy, in a manner of speaking. I'd advise going after him first. The blue one is in the possession of some girl. I sent one of my robots to take care of her. So that leaves only the yellow emerald. And I have to admit, I have no idea where this one could be. We still have to look for it."

Chaos just looked at the monitors. Nothing on his emotionless face revealed any of his thoughts.

"Well, let's start," Eggman shouted in an excited voice. "I believe we should look for Sonic at the workshop of that little fox, who is his friend. That is the perfect chance to test one of my newest creations: The Egg Hornet!"

----

"So why are we searching here again?" whined Usagi while following Makoto towards the small workshop on top of the hill.

Makoto sighed. "Because this is where Angel Island came crashing down, so it's very probable that many shards of the Master Emerald came falling down here. Maybe Ami's brother has seen some."

"All right," the hedgehog of the moon grumbled. "But I wish we at least knew into how many pieces that thing broke."

Then, they heard something. Usagi perked up her ears. "Aha, I know that sound." It sounded like something fast was approaching their location. Something very fast.

And when a blue blur zoomed past them, turned around and came to a stop in front of them, Usagi nodded. "I was right! I hear that sound every time I get carried to school. Hey there Sonic!"

Sonic grinned. "Hey there, girls. What's up?"

"Well, you know, we're helping Rei and Knuckles searching for the pieces of the Master Emerald. Somehow it broke apart last night, and therefore, the whole island came crashing down," Makoto explained.

Sonic looked up at the rocky side of the fallen island that was rising above them. "I thought this place looked kinda different. It's supposed to float a little more up there, right?" He gestured towards the clouds.

"Right," Usagi nodded. "Did you see, by any chance, some of the shards?"

Sonic shook his head. "Sorry. Can't say I have. Then again, I mostly speed past everything so fast, I barely have time to look at the ground."

"Okay, I see," Makoto said. "Thanks anyway. We were just going to ask Tails the same."

While they were talking, two two-tailed foxes came running down the hill. "Hey Sonic," Tails shouted. "Usagi, nice to see you again. And, um, what was your name again?"

The tall rabbit smiled. "Makoto! Hi there Tails! Hey Ames, what's up?"

"Not much," her blue-furred friend answered. "I just finished installing the necessary software on the navigation system I built in Sonic's plane."

"Hey, that's sweet," the blue hedgehog grinned. "Can't wait to try it out. Hey, Tails! You might have noticed that something happened to Angel Island..."

Tails glanced up the enormous island resting right next to the hill. "Um, yeah, could be..."

"Means the Master Emerald broke into pieces," Makoto explained. "So we help Rei and Knuckles finding them. Both of them are searching in town right now. We wanted to ask Minako for help too, but you know... Every time we need her, she has left with her thieving bat-friend."

"You're helping them too, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"Um, no," Sonic replied. "I just heard about it from them. I was actually going to have a look at your little project. How's it working?"

Tails shook his head. "Not as good as I thought it would. I have still a few bugs to iron out... the Chaos Emerald's powers are unpredictable."

"You use a Chaos Emerald as a power supply?" Makoto asked in amazement. "Pretty bold, I gotta say."

Ami grinned at her brother. "Yeah, that's my bro: Always trying to test out his theories, no matter what."

"Well then," a new voice said. "You wouldn't mind giving me that emerald now, would you?"

And then he descended in his floating Eggmobile: The rotund scientist Sonic and his friends knew and detested: Dr. 'Eggman' Robotnik.

"Hey look," Sonic shouted. "It's a giant, talking egg!"

"Silence!" the scientist thundered. "I'm Dr. Robotnik, the greatest scientific genius in the world!"

Usagi smirked. "Whatever you say, Eggman!"

"Enough," he shouted. "Give me that Chaos Emeralds, or else..."

"Or else what?" Makoto said. "You're gonna throw your little flying pod at us?"

Eggman growled. "Know that this Eggmobile is one of the most cunning, ingenious inventions I ever created. I can combine it with almost every weapon I built... like my newest, greatest invention: The Egg Hornet!"

And from the sky, a hovering aircraft came flying down, provided with two big drills on it's front, three enormous engines and a rocket launcher. The round Eggmobile hovered up and lowered itself into the Hornet to serve as the cockpit.

"So you like to do it the hard way, Doc?" Sonic grinned. "C'mon, Tails! Let's party!"

And while the two friends charged at Eggman, Usagi turned to her two friends. "We have to help them. We should transform somewhere!"

"Let's hide behind those trees," Ami suggested.

But when they turned around and started moving, something cut through the air in front of them and got stuck in the ground.

Usagi gasped. Could it be?

"T... Tuxedo Kamen...?"

But it was no rose.

It was a blue, metallic spike.

Metal Sonic jumped down from the tree he was hiding in. "So, we meet again, my old 'friends'." His eyes glowed as he approached them.

Makoto growled. "Mamoru... you betrayed us!"

"That's Metal Sonic!" the robot snapped. "And I didn't betray you... the doctor jut showed me the true purpose of my existence. Becoming the prince of the Earth... how absurd! Dr. Robotnik will be the Earth's greatest ruler, and robots will reign supreme! And I... I will be his right hand."

Usagi looked at her roboticised ex-boyfriend. "Mamo-chan... that can't be true. The robotication process brainwashed your mind. That's not you talking... Let me turn you back into your old self, and everything will turn out fine."

Metal Sonic looked at her, and for an instant, Usagi thought she had convinced him.

But then he smacked her with a massive punch of his metal fist. "Wake up, Usagi," he snarled. "Your so-called 'Crystal Tokyo' is anything but an Utopia! It's a dictatorship... where you and your Senshi will be the ones that decide over life or death! And by protecting this country from the Great Freeze, you'll doom the other people of the Earth. There will be no eternal peace, Usagi. It's only a matter of survival." He made a fist. "And only the strongest will survive! Think about it... an empire of robots, where everything is perfect. The Great Freeze won't affect robots, so we'll be safe from it's effects. I once offered you to join me in that paradise..." Again, his eyes glowed in a dark red. "But you had your chance... and you rejected me! And that means: You're my enemy!"

He curled his body into a ball and rolled towards Usagi like a living buzz saw.

Usagi saw the deadly ball of sharp spikes and spines rolling her way and almost saw herself dying an ugly death...

...when suddenly, Ami came flying towards her, picking her up and carrying her to safety.

Metal Sonic bounced into the air, uncurled his body and landed a short distance away from them. "A bold move, Ami," he said. "Does that mean you want to die before your princess?"

"No one is going to die today," Ami said in a determined voice and raised her transformation pen.

"Ami, no!" Makoto shouted. "Sonic, Tails and Eggman would see it."

"I know... but it's the only way. Mamoru probably told the doctor our true identities a long time ago... so it's only fair my brother and his friend, one of the greatest local heroes, know our secret as well. Mercury Star Power, Make Up!"

Makoto nodded and raised her pen as well. "Jupiter Star Power, Make Up!"

And finally, Usagi transformed as well. "Moon Cosmic Power, Make Up!"

And they all transformed into their Senshi forms.

"Heh," Metal Sonic said. "Even if your friends were here as well, you wouldn't stand a chance against me." He crouched down and activated his back jet. He sped along the ground and forced the girls to jump out of the way.

He smirked. That was too easy. First scatter them, then take them out one by one. Again, he curled up into a ball and spun around rapidly while firing his metal spikes at a high rate.

This time it was Mercury that became his target, but Jupiter threw herself in the way of the incoming projectiles.

She screamed as they got stuck in her back. "Jupiter!" Sailor Moon cried out in terror.

----

Sonic zipped around the battlefield, all the time avoiding Eggman's rockets. In the meantime, Tails tried flying towards the cockpit, but always had to dodge the launched rockets.

"Now you made me really mad," the scientist yelled. "Get a load of this!" He extended the two drills on the front of the Hornet and dove towards the ground. Sonic skillfully jumped aside, and the whole machine got stuck. "Grrraaaaah," Eggman yelled angrily. "I hate that hedgehog!"

Sonic just smiled, jumped up and smacked his body into the cockpit. "Looks like your little toy is pretty soon ready for the junk pile, doctor!"

Then he saw something flashing from the corner of his eye. "What the...?"

Tails, who was flying over him, gasped. "Ami... Usagi... and Makoto... they're the Sailor Senshi!"

Eggman smirked. "So, are they now? Well, well, it looks like Metal Sonic didn't tell me everything he knew."

Tails put his hands on his mouth. "Oh no!" he cried. "I just gave away their secret identities."

"Can't be helped now," Sonic sighed. "But it looks like they're in trouble. Go to them, I'll handle the egg-head."

Tails nodded and flew over to where the Senshi were battling Metal Sonic.

----

Metal Sonic chuckled. "Hey, looks like all of you want to die badly. But I really can only kill one of you at a time, you understand? Let's just begin with you, Jupiter..." As a ball, he rolled towards the fallen Jupiter, shredding everything in his path.

Only to be hit with an electrically charged ball.

The electricity flowed through his system and made him cry out in pain. He couldn't maintain his ball form and crashed down to the floor.

Ami got up from where her cousin had shot her curled up form. Using the powers of the Chaos Emerald, he had launched her body at Metal Sonic. And while the electric field had shocked the robot, it had protected her from the spikes.

Tails landed next to her. "That's what I call a Thunder Shoot! Never mess around with the Prower siblings!"

Metal Sonic watched him closely. "So, you are Ami's brother, huh? She never told you about being a Senshi, did she?"

Ami looked down, but Tails got pretty annoyed. "So what? That only means she tried to protect her family from evil guys like you!"

"Tails, I'm sorry..." Ami began, but her brother shook his head. "It's okay, I understand. But you know, I can fight, too. And using the emerald, I even have similar powers like you and the other Senshi."

"So you have the emerald," Metal Sonic realized. "That makes my job easier..." He once again activated his back jets and rushed them, hovering over the ground. He also extended his spiky finders.

"Ami, watch out," Tails shouted and pushed his sister out of the way. The robot grinned and tackled the young fox to the ground. Afterwards, he just took the Chaos Emerald. "Thanks! Now if you two excuse me..."

He zoomed up the hill using his Spin Dash and held up the emerald. "I got it, Doctor," he yelled.

Eggman's Hornet just got smashed by Sonic the Hedgehog, but his Eggmobile survived the crash. He hovered over to his metal minion and took the jewel from him. "How very nice," he chuckled. "Now, come out, Chaos!"

"Chaos?" Ami asked in surprise.

Usagi was kneeling next to Jupiter. "Makoto, are you all right?"

The rabbit of lightning sat up with a wince. "It's okay, but I think I have to sleep on my stomach for the following nights."

They all watched as the liquid monster came rising out of the ground.

"Hey, isn't that the monster I fought the other day?" Sonic shouted.

Eggman threw the Chaos Emerald towards Chaos, and the water monster caught it and absorbed it into his body. Instantly, his body grew and now towered even over Metal Sonic.

"Oh yes, it's really happening," the doctor shouted in excitement. "Every time I feed him a Chaos Emerald, he becomes stronger. He will destroy Station Square for me, where I will build the ultimate city, Robotnikland!"

"And that's from where he and his robots will rule over all," Metal Sonic added.

"Now, let's leave to find the other emeralds, shall we, Chaos?"

The big water creature nodded and raised its arms. In a flash of light, the three villains were gone.

----

Pluto the Hedgehog was standing on a building and looked over the city.

She cursed her bad luck. Some hours earlier, she got attacked by GUN troops and had to drop one of the Chaos Emeralds. The soldiers didn't find it, because they had followed her, but she couldn't just let it lie on the ground.

But when she returned to that place some time later, it had disappeared. Now she had only two left.

"Doesn't matter," she murmured to herself. "As long as I find my brother sometime... I wonder where his escape pod has landed. For all these years, I still wasn't able to find him..."

She jumped down the building and continued her search.

----

Knuckles and Rei were strolling down the road. Smiling, Rei held up one of the emerald shards they managed to find earlier. "This is easier than I thought it would be."

"I told you," Knuckles said. "Our race is sensitive to the energy the emerald is emitting. We can use that to find the pieces."

"Yes, you told me. Multiple times by now. You don't have to say it again."

He sighed. "Look, I'm sorry... but guarding the Master Emerald has always been the most important part of my life. Somehow... I just can't bear the thoughts of someone like Eggman having control over its powers... And he even got it for a little while, thanks to my stubbornness..."

"Hey, everyone makes a mistake now and then," Rei comforted him. "And don't worry about yelling at me earlier. I already forgot it."

"Hey!" Knuckles suddenly said. "Isn't that that thief over there?"

And indeed, the easily recognizable form of Rouge the Bat was walking on the other side of the street, holding something shiny.

"That's... gotta be one of the Master Emerald shards," Knuckles shouted. "We have to get it!" And he ran across the streets, ignoring the cars that had to brake because of him.

Rei shook her head. "That guy... he always has to dive into everything head first. I don't even feel the power of the Master Emerald from that bat..."

She jumped up and glided over the street anyway. It looks like she had to make sure the male echidna didn't get into trouble.

----

Rouge smiled. This really was her lucky day. She had been flying over the city, looking for a hint that could lead her to the thief of the Chaos Emeralds, when suddenly, she found the purple jewel lying right next to the pavement. She wondered how it got there.

When suddenly, a red figure dashed towards her. "Hey, give me back that emerald," he shouted.

Rouge blinked and stretched out her boot. That stopped the echidna. "Hey, cool down there, okay? This doesn't belong to you."

"Yes, it does," Knuckles shouted. "That's a piece of the Master Emerald, and you stole it!"

Rouge held up the purple gem. "If you mean that green stone on your island, I have to disappoint you, sugar! This doesn't look too green in my eyes."

Knuckles' eyes widened as he realized the bat was right. "Dang! Just my luck..." he muttered.

Then, Rei came landing next to them. "Sorry about my partner," she said to the bat. "But he tends to act before thinking first."

"I can imagine," Rouge grinned. "You're those two echidnas from that floating island, right?"

"Yes!" Rei's face darkened. "And you are that bat that told one of my best friends to steal the Master Emerald."

Rouge laughed nervously. "Well, what should I say? The girl chose this path for herself. But I can assure you: She never plans to take that thing ever again, she told me."

"Okay, but what about you?" Rei asked. "Wouldn't you happen to know something about small, green, shining shards like this?" She held up one of the pieces she found.

Rouge raised an eyebrow. "No, can't say I have. It looks like that big, green gem. How did you manage to break it anyway?"

"That's none of your concern," Knuckles snapped. "You wouldn't tell us if you knew anyway, right?"

The white-furred bat smirked. "You're smarter than you look." Knuckles grumbled angrily.

"Why do you have a Chaos Emerald anyway?" Rei wanted to know.

Rouge just smiled. "I don't see any reason why I should tell you. But let's just say I have a good use for them."

Suddenly, a huge shape descended upon them. "Look out!" Rei shouted.

They jumped away just in time as Dr. Eggman came flying down in his Eggmobile. "Well, well, well," he said. "This is a lucky day indeed. First I get an emerald from Sonic and Tails, now from you three guys. I suppose you hand it over..."

Rouge pocketed the emerald and flew off. "Only if you can catch me!"

Eggman yawned. "Is that all? You make it too easy!" And he released a purple gas from his vessel that surrounded the three humanoid animals.

"Wha... what's this?" Rei mumbled. "Sleep... gas?" Rouge muttered. And both of them fell asleep.

Knuckles managed to roll away in time. "Nice trick, Eggman," he shouted. "But you have to do better than that!"

"Oh, do I?" the doctor asked. "Well, if you think so... Come out, Chaos!"

And once again, the water demon emerged from the ground. "What's this?" Knuckles asked. "A new pet of yours?"

"You fool," Eggman shouted. "It's Chaos! The god of destruction!"

Knuckles looked at his opponent. "Doesn't look too impressive to me."

"Don't mind that fool, Chaos!" the doctor said. "Just grab that Chaos Emerald!"

"Oh no, you don't," the echidna shouted and dove for the emerald himself.

But then, Chaos stretched out his arm and snatched it away. As Knuckles got up from the ground, the water creature absorbed it into his body and transformed again. He got a little bit bigger, his arms grew longer and the extensions on his head grew in opposite directions.

"Hm, changing shape won't scare me," Knuckles grumbled. "Okay, give me your best shot!"

"I'm afraid we don't have the time for that," Eggman told him. "Come on Chaos, let's head back to the base!"

"Stop!" the red echidna yelled.

Eggman floated away, leaving a furious echidna behind.

"This was all too easy," he said to himself. "At this rate, I'll have all of the emeralds collected by tomorrow. I really hoped Sonic and his pals would be worthy opponents..."

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave like this," another voice called. "You see, we need those emeralds more then you do with your pitiful schemes of destroying a single town..."

"Who's there?" Eggman shouted. "Show yourself!"

A pale woman in a red dress appeared on a rooftop. "My name is Kaolinite. I represent the Death-Busters. We need the emeralds as a power source to enable our master to reach Earth."

"Bah," Eggman said. "You're nothing but big talk, woman! What do you plan to do against a superior mastermind like me and his unbeatable machines?"

Kaolinite smirked. "Why, by using your machines against you, of course. As we spoke, one of our daimons has possessed your vessel. And you have no chance of escaping."

"What are you talking about?" Eggman demanded to know.

That was when, to his surprise, his vessel changed its shape. It turned into another female daimon. It just looked like the previous Eggmobile, but with arms, legs and a head sticking out.

"BULKY!" it screamed.

"What is this treachery?" Eggman yelled. "My own vessel, turning against me? What a dirty trick..." Then he smiled. "I like your style. But sadly, I don't plan to let you have the emerald, even if that means I have to fight my own Eggmobile. Chaos, emerge!"

When Chaos appeared, Kaolinite raised an eyebrow. "What an interesting creature. And here I thought you would rely only on robots or other weapons. Well, this should be interesting! Bulky, destroy that thing and after that, bring me the Chaos Emerald and his heart!"

The daimon blinked. Then, she looked up at her mistress and asked: "Uh... how am I going to do this?"

Kaolinite twitched in irritation. "By attacking him with your powers, of course!"

"Uh, right..." Bulky turned around to face Chaos. Then, she turned around again and said: "Um, Mistress... I don't seem to have any actual powers!"

"WHAT?" Tomoe's assistant yelled. "How can this be?"

Eggman snickered. "Normally, my Eggmobile isn't provided with any weapons. It just carries me wherever I want to go. And I use it as a basis for my other inventions. But sadly, no one of those are here, so she simply can't merge with them. Too bad."

Chaos turned into a massive ball of water and hurled himself at the daimon. Then, he imprisoned her within his watery body. The daimon simply couldn't stand that pressure and screamed.

Afterwards, she turned back into Eggman's normal Eggmobile, which Chaos released.

"Do you have a last wish?" Eggman chuckled.

Kaolinite snarled. "Don't think this is over, you fool!"

"Oh, on the contrary: This ends right now... Chaos!"

Chaos nodded and lashed at Kaolinite with his arms. Before she could teleport away, he grabbed her and pulled her towards him. And as he did before with the daimon, he absorbed her into his body.

Kaolinite's face was a grimace of terror, as she flailed wildly around within the liquid. She tried to teleport, but the powers Chaos had absorbed from the emeralds prevented it. Then, slowly, she started to choke.

When it was over, Chaos released her body. "Normally, I don't like to kill," Eggman grumbled. "But you left me no choice: I don't like any competition!"

And when he and his partner left the scene, they left behind the lifeless body of the Death-Buster.

----

Professor Tomoe looked up from his work. "It looks like Kaolinite has failed... too bad. Well, I really had no trust in her abilities. The witches will do much better, I'm sure."

He turned around to go to the witches' office. "I wonder..." he murmured. "I really wonder what Kaolinite's last thoughts were...

Maybe... 'I'm not thirsty anymore, thank you'?"

And he laughed his insane laughter: "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"