Chapter 2

Starring:
Sonic the Hedgehog - Retired Hero
Maria the Tenrec - Wife of a Hero
Commander Brass - Warmongering Mobian Hater
Mysterious Assassins

In Tails' Workshop in Emerald Town, an adult Tails was working on a brand new Tornado biplane, keeping to the same design while giving it some necessary tech for stability and speed. The door opens as Amy walks in with a sandwich on a plate.

Amy: "Tails! Lunch time!"

Tails: "Hm? That time already? Ah jeez…"

Tails turns off his welder before turning to Amy, kissing her on the cheek as a thank you for the sandwich.

Amy: "Still working on the old Tornado, huh?"

Tails: "Old habits, Amy. Eggman may be gone, but every day's an adventure."

Amy: "A quote from Sonic the Hedgehog."

Tails laughs, thinking it was a bit corny in hindsight. As he eats his sandwich, the two hear a knock at the door.

Amy: "Coming! That must be Misty coming for another photo shoot. I get a lot of those these days."

Tails: "If it is, tell her I'd like a family picture with the both of us in front of the Tornado 3. Once its finished that is."

Amy: "I'll let her know~"

Amy pecks Tails on the cheek before heading out of the workshop and into the adjacent house. She ran up to the door, fixing her hair for a moment before opening it.

Amy: "Helloooo?"

As she opened the door, she's met by a couple of figures, both being Mobians wearing masks, concealing their faces. Neither did not speak, but one raised a hand, a glowing light blue aura appearing on the hand.

Tails continued to work on the Tornado 3, a screwdriver in his mouth as he turned a wrench to tighten a bolt. His ear twitches as he hears the sound of a thud. It came from the front door. His fight or flight senses kicked in as he grabbed the wrench and held it as a weapon. He left his workshop and entered the house proper, seeing everything normal, but things were way too quiet.

Tails: "...Amy? Did something fall? If it's the front swing again, I can fix it later…"

No response. That made him worry more. He heads to the front, quickly but quietly, hoping it was nothing. When he gets around the corner, he drops his wrench, putting his hand over his mouth as his eyes go wide. He saw Amy on the floor, unmoving, not even twitching. Her eyes lacked any signs of life. As he failed to hold back tears, he ran back to his workshop. He stopped in front of a garage door and pulled a switch to open it. On the other side was his mech, repaired and upgraded as he looked around for any possible intruder.

Tails: "Come out! I know you're there! Whatever you did to Amy, you won't get away with it on my watch!"

Tails' mech steps out as he climbs in, closing the hatch as his sensors try to detect any sort of movement. But then something breaks the sensors. An unseen force. Tails starts to panic as he turns on his laser to detect any enemies through it. But then when he tried to move forward, he got a rumble. Like something was holding his mech in place. A light blue aura made itself visible as Tails saw the mech starting to crush into itself.

Tails: "Oh no! Oh no!"

Tails tries to open the hatch, but it wouldn't budge. He kicks at the glass, smashing it after a couple of attempts. But as he tried to get out, his other leg gets caught in the crushing mech, keeping himself. He yells out in pain as he tries to free himself. But no amount of tugging or pushing against the force could free his leg as the force pulled him further into the mech, crushing him inside it.

Tails: "S-SONI-"

The mech silences him, becoming a blue metal trash ball. A figure comes from behind the Tornado 3, one of the same duo that confronted Amy earlier. The figure lifts up a device, displaying mugshots of Sonic and his friends, Knuckles, Cream, Vanilla, Rouge, and Topaz each having a red 'X' over their faces. Amy and Tails soon have one as well. The figure turns to their partner, who stood at the doorway, ready to leave.

At the Hedgehog residence, Maria is cutting some vegetables to add to some chili mix for Sonic and family's favorite. While she wasn't the biggest fan of chili dogs, she wasn't afraid to cook them. As Maria cooked, she listens to a news report. Something on the news causes her ears to twitch.

News Report: "Earlier this morning, governor Vanessa "Vanilla" Rabbit was found dead in her kitchen. Neighbors and friends of the Mobian rabbit stated that she did not come to her usual meetings with them and went to check on her. This was when she was found dead. Police investigators found signs of a struggle only in the immediate vicinity, but the body itself showed no marks or visible causes of death."

Maria mutes the TV as she turns off the oven to go and call Cream on her phone. No answer. She then called the Prower residence; no answer. Angel Island was also silent. Panic welled up in her mind as she called Sonic, who was out on his usual runs. He picked up.

Sonic: "Yo, Maria! Everything ok-"

Maria: "Vanilla is dead! I can't call Cream, or Knuckles, or Amy and Tails! I tried, b-but…"

Sonic could tell Maria was in full panic mode as he spoke very softly to her.

Sonic: "Whoa, whoa, easy there, Maria. Deep breaths, deep breaths…"

Maria took a moment to calm her breathing, taking some deep breaths. She was still panicking but she was a bit calmer.

Sonic: "Look, Angel Island has naturally bad reception, and you know how busy Tails gets."

Maria: "B-But Vanilla… They found her…"

Sonic: "I'll look into it. If something has happened, I'll come straight home. No detours. What of the kids?"

Maria: "S-Sonia and Manic are still in school for another hour…"

Sonic: "Cool. Plenty of time for me to look into it, we chat about it, and we see what to do from there. Just stay calm, okay?"

Maria: "O-Okay… Thank you, Sonic… I love you…"

Sonic: "Same. See you when I get back, Maria."

Maria sighed as she flopped onto the couch, ready to just pass out on the spot. The news about Vanilla's death hit like a truck and the idea of not getting in contact with Cream or Amy made her feel ill, but she had to be strong. Sonic was fast; he'd be back soon enough. A knock at the door causes her ear to perk up.

Maria: "Guests? At this time? Ugh… No. Just… Tell them to come back another time… Be polite, Maria…"

She stands up from the couch and approaches the door, opening the door to be greeted by two figures in masks. Her eyes widen as she could immediately sense trouble. Both figures had a slim, Mobian build, very clearly female. The right one was a silver hedgehog, wearing a blue-green sleeveless short skirt that split at the front, light blue highlights trailing along the bottom of the skirt and to the front across the stomach and chest, up to a white furry top part of the skirt around the neck; a pair of dark blue-green skin tight pants that covered the legs completely, with gold rings with light blue highlights separating the pants and platform boots covering the hedgehog's feet, a similar shade of blue-green as the skirt, a white line trailing the front, stopping at the light blue-green toes; the gloves on the silver hedgehog were arm length, light blue highlights trailing down them like some kind of circuit board type thing, the palms of the gloves having notable circles where the fingers were, golden ring bracelets similar to the ones on her knees also glowing light blue. The left girl was a tenrec, like Maria, but golden colored fur with a glowing circle on her head, split at the bottom middle and creating a smaller circle. The tenrec had a wrap type of cloak, a sari if Maria was guessing right, colored brown with light blue highlights, golden lines on those highlights, wrapped around her and some equally tight white pants, though more concealed by the sari than the silver hedgehog's attire; two white gloves with gold rings trailing from the wrist up to her lower arm; brown shoes with light blue straps over them and the same golden rings trailing up her lower leg. Both wore the same kind of mask, a gray mask with basic holes for eyes, concealing their facial features, a number, like a model number, imprinted on the forehead of both masks. The silver hedgehog raised her hand, her hand glowing as Maria started to feel pressure around her neck. She was being choked to death! The tenrec looked on, expressionless, the two acting like puppets in a way. Maria reached for her Inhibitor Rings and took them off quickly. Once they were off, she let out a yell as she lets her Chaos energy explode, sending the duo back from the force of the attack, while destroying the interior of the house.

Maria: "Huff… You… You two are the ones that murdered Vanilla… Aren't you?"

The duo stood back up, seemingly unphased by the eruption of Chaos energy. Maria got into a fighting stance as she glared at the duo, a Chaos aura appearing around her as her hands formed Chaos Spears. The silver hedgehog unleashes her own aura as she starts floating, though the gold tenrec simply observes the fight; either she couldn't fight or they were at least honorable in some way. Either way, Maria wasn't going to back down. She tosses a Chaos Spear at the floating hedgehog, but it gets blocked as the latter levitates a car to act as a shield before then tossing it at Maria. The light blue tenrec jumps back from the impact, jumping onto her house's roof.

Maria: "Psychokinesis? Yeah, can't say I've seen that before…"

Several more cars are tossed in her direction, leading her to dodge the incoming items. She tosses a Chaos Spear at the silver hedgehog again before jumping after it. The attack is blocked again, this time by a piece of the street concrete, but Maria jumps onto the piece and slams a Chaos energy infused axe-kick onto the hedgehog's head, sending them to the ground.

Maria: "Sorry about that, but I'm not one for cheap tricks. Now tell me who you are and why you killed Vanilla!"

She is met with silence as the hedgehog stands back up. There is a pause before the silver hedgehog unleashes more of her energy, a more violent aura appearing before she lunges at Maria, grabbing her and slamming her into the house wall.

Maria: "Gh…! C-Chaos energy!? I wasn't sure about it at first, but… Now I am! What are you!?"

The hedgehog swings Maria around before tossing her into the sky. She then starts magnetizing a bunch of random objects onto Maria, trying to crush the tenrec under the pressure of the objects. But as she was doing then, a blue object rams into her, knocking her forward and face planting into the dirt. The objects are dropped, Maria soon following until she lands in the arms of her husband, Sonic, as he leapt from object to object to catch her.

Maria: "S-Sonic…"

Sonic: "Hey. Sorry I'm late getting home."

Sonic lands on the ground, the objects slamming around them harmlessly. Once things calmed down, Maria is put down as they glare at the silver hedgehog, who gets up as if the last hit did nothing, though it certainly left a mark.

Maria: "These two… They likely are the ones that killed Vanilla… The lack of any struggle outside of the general vicinity… The silver hedgehog used psychokinesis to choke her out…"

Sonic: "Yeah… I went to check on everyone else… And…"

Sonic's trailed voice gave Maria all the confirmation she feared. Their friends were gone… The last ones standing were herself and Sonic now. The silver hedgehog stood in front of them, their mask hiding any semblance of emotion as her hands glowed with her psychokinetic energy. Again, the gold tenrec simply stood to the side, but she did have her hands up towards the silver hedgehog. Maria kept an eye on this as Sonic waited to see what the silver hedgehog would do.

Sonic: "Bring it on, hot shot! Show me what you got!"

Silver pulled in a few objects nearby and tossed them at Sonic and Maria, splitting them up as they leaped in different directions. Sonic though was immediately in the silver hedgehog's face as he delivered a hard kick under her chin. He then grabbed the silver hedgehog by her leg and swung her around before tossing her across the yard. The silver hedgehog skids to a stop as she looked more visibly tired. But as Sonic smirked, Maria saw the silver hedgehog's fatigue vanish. She began to focus and sensed something off… Energy was being transferred into the silver hedgehog… from the gold tenrec.

Maria: "I see now… Sonic! That gold tenrec is healing the silver hedgehog!"

Sonic: "Yeah, I figured something was up. This girl's got the same level of endurance you and Shadow have. And the strange abilities… That can only mean one thing…"

Maria: "Are they… artificial? But… how? I thought only Grandpa had that kind of technology…"

Sonic didn't bother asking though; they weren't going to get answers from their current opponents. Sonic charges a Lightspeed Attack, gathering energy by revving up in place. The silver hedgehog got ready for the attack. Maria focused her mind, steadying her breathing before…

Maria: "Chaos… Control!"

Time froze, enabling her just a few precious seconds to execute their plan. It was simple as it was - take out the support. She immediately ran at the gold tenrec and tapped her chest a few times. If they had the same level of endurance, this would be just enough to knock her out. Once time resumed, the gold tenrec was sent flying from the force of the combined tapping. The impact alerted the silver hedgehog just enough for Sonic to jump her, using a barrage of attacks that inflicted serious damage to the other hedgehog, ending it with a couple of gut punches, then a final swing kick to the face send the hedgehog flying back down to the ground, shattering the mask on her face. Where the gold tenrec landed, her mask had fallen off, showing that she was out for the count too. Maria sighed as the fighting died down, Sonic placing a hand on her shoulder as he handed her her Inhibitor Rings.

Maria: "Thanks… But what do we do about them now?"

Sonic: "...I'm not sure. Part of me wants to hear their side. But I'd be lying that seeing my closest friends dead doesn't upset me too…"

Maria turns to Sonic, putting her rings on her wrists. She hadn't seen Sonic this serious in quite some time. At least not since the Chaos Incident twenty years ago when he fought the Egg Viper. But as Maria concentrated on Sonic, Sonic's ear twitched at a sound.

Sonic: "Look out!"

In a short second, a sound ringed through Maria's ears. A familiar sound that haunted her, even now. She was pushed aside by Sonic, who at the moment, had a bullet go through his chest. Maria's eyes widened as she had a flashback to Shadow and his death on the ARK. She landed on the ground just as Sonic did. She scrambled to sit up, panic overwhelming her as she quickly moved to check on Sonic. He wasn't moving, and the sign of life had been snuffed out of his eyes. Maria's eyes welled up with tears as she began to cry out for Sonic. She then hears a clap as a figure walks out from the shadows. The figure in question startled Maria, her expression morphing from shock to anger as her energy sparked viciously.

Brass: "Maria. It's been too long. I'm glad the blue boy scout was so eager to defend his mate. Made it easy to bait him into biting the bullet."

Maria didn't dignify Brass with a response, her rage already building up as the mere presence of Brass made her blood boil.

Brass: "And I wouldn't worry about your brats either… We decided to… re-educate them in learning who really rules the streets around here. Us. Humans. Not you furry freaks."

Maria: "S-Sonia and M-Manic… WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM, YOU FUCK!?"

Brass: "Vulgarities won't get you anywhere. They are still alive, but like everyone else in this city… No… In this country, we decided to put them in… special camps made to show them how's at the top. You freaks have had it easy for way too long. It's high time that humans rose back to power. Show that we are the dominant species… even if it means enslaving the furries."

Maria: "You… You killed my husband… Took my kids… And made assassins to kill my friends… Just for that!?"

Brass: "Mostly that. I also had it out for you specifically… After you nearly killed me. You fucked up my face… Now, I get to fuck up your life."

Brass raises a palm, forming a gun from it. Maria growls as she reaches for her Inhibitor Rings. At her level of rage, even one ring missing could cause her to violently explode. But at this point, she was willing to do it just to finish what she started all those years ago. But as she was going to, a sudden fissure stops her and Brass. Brass looks around as he lowers his gun a bit. From underground, a sudden tower rises, splitting the ground under Maria, causing her, Sonic's body, the silver hedgehog and gold tenrec to fall into the abyss. Brass jumps back as the tower rises high into the sky, with several more following. Brass's eyes widen as he sees the towers causing him to contact his soldiers.

Brass: "Conspiracy! Come in! What the hell's going on!? I did not order towers to be built!"

Soldier: "We don't… comm… cutting… inter…"

Brass: "What!? I didn't…"

A sudden voice rang out throughout the world. A familiar, bombastic voice that would send chills to everyone who knew and remembered it.

Familiar Voice: "Attention, Mobius! It has been some time since my Empire has seen the light of day! Far too long if you ask me! But I've waited long enough! It is time to show a certain upstart…"

Familiar Voice: "...the full might… of my new Eggman Empire! The Neo Empire!"

A finger lets go of the announcement button as a figure sits back in his chair. A notably bushy white mustache and visor-like sunglasses shown on the figure's face, as well as a sinister grin. A black and red outfit with yellow highlights, and white gloves. Eggman Nega, no… Eggman Neo was awake now, ready to reclaim what he is entitled to - the world.

To be continued…