The Chaos Emeralds.

What are they? Where did they come from? Who created them? Were they created? Or have they always been around? What power do they contain? What purpose do they serve? Do they have a purpose?

All we know is that at one time, they were together as a set. Until someone decided to scatter them across the world so that they could never be reunited. No one knows what would happen if they were ever brought back together. The results could be either wondrous, or chaotic.

I'll take that chance.

ORIGINS - CHAPTER I

South Island was a thriving paradise, filled with Mobians of all species that lived like anyone else anywhere else. They went about their lives, did their jobs and had their fun. Nothing could be considered out of the ordinary. No one could complain.

No one except one young blue hedgehog.

"Another summer with nothing to do."

This was Nicky Maurice Parlouzer, an ordinary 10 year old hedgehog Mobian. Or at least that's how everyone else who knew him saw him as. If you were to ask anyone, his friends, his classmates, his teachers, his neighbors, they'd all say the same thing. Nicky was ordinary. The kind of person you wouldn't notice unless you were actually trying to notice him. Which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, adults typically didn't notice children unless they had to, and children typically didn't notice other children unless they were friends or bullies.

At the moment Nicky was at a shopping center, helping himself to some chili dogs at his favorite place to grab lunch. And he was helping himself to the provided wifi to have an online chat with distant friends he had never met in person before.

MRNEEDLEMOUSE: Anything interesting happening?

X FACTOR: Nothing new, everyone's just glad school is over.

ORACLE: I just built my first working engine.

F5MPH: For what vehicle?

ORACLE: Motorbike but I might be able to put it in something else if I try.

MRNEEDLEMOUSE: Could it work in a plane? If so my dad might hire you.

ORACLE: Sorry MRNEEDLEMOUSE, I don't think I can do the commute, but thanks for the offer.

DONUTLORD: My wife and I just made it to Mobodise, thinking of doing some house hunting.

X FACTOR: Where's that?"

DONUTLORD: Mobodise is the capital city of Acorn.

X FACTOR: Sorry, geography isn't exactly my best subject.

DONUTLORD: Hey MRNEEDLEMOUSE, aren't you supposed to go to Robotropolis this week?

F5MPH: Yeah you were talking about a class trip or something this summer.

X FACTOR: I'll be going.

MRNEEDLEMOUSE: I thought I could, but my parents didn't let me in the program. So no I won't be going.

F5MPH: Really? Why?

MRNEEDLEMOUSE: Long story short, we went to a park years ago and they say that I nearly died and they don't want that to happen again.

DONUTLORD: Really? You okay?

F5MPH: Wait, they say you nearly died? You mean you don't actually remember?

MRNEEDLEMOUSE: Not really. I barely remember anything about it. So I thought this time I could go somewhere and remember it. But they're afraid it'll happen again.

X FACTOR: Bummer, I would have tried to see you if we were in the same place.

ORACLE: Well it is just a theme park. It's not like missing it is that bad.

MRNEEDLEMOUSE: Not that bad? Robotropolis is so big that legally it counts as its own country. You could spend a week there without doing the same thing twice and still not run out of things to do.

F5MPH: I suppose I could understand your parents not wanting you to go without them, but what do they want? To stick you in a plastic bubble?

MRNEEDLEMOUSE: No because I'd pop it. I do have quills.

F5MPH: Lol

ORACLE: I could maybe make an unpobbable plastic bubble.

F5MPH: Wanna bet which of us can make that sooner?

MRNEEDLEMOUSE: Hey! I don't want to be trapped in a bubble!

DONUTLORD: What if it were some kind of flame shield that protected you from being burned?

ORACLE: I like it.

F5MPH: How about one that protects you from lightning? That would be more my style.

X FACTOR: You expecting to be struck by lightning?

F5MPH: Not if I can help it.

"Hey look who it is."

Nicky groaned and despite not wanting to, he turned to see who was trying to get his attention, adjusting his glasses in the process. It was two kids that were a year older than him and in no way friends. The first was a lizard mobian named Anton Veruca. He looked like he was trying to be a tough guy, wearing a leather vest and spiked bracelets, and he acted the part too. The second was a turtle mobian named Tommy Chacon. He copied Anton by wearing the same attire, but he had a harder time acting like a tough guy. If anything he was more like a goofy sidekick.

"What now?" Nicky asked, closing the window after telling his online friends he would have to be away for a bit.

"Oh don't be like that. We just thought we'd give you something since you can't go to Robotropolis with us." Anton said, edging closer.

"Yeah, we get to go and you don't." Tommy repeated with a bit of a laugh.

"And what makes you think I want anything you have to offer?" Nicky asked.

"Because you wouldn't want to get something worse now would you?" Anton asked back with a threatening smirk.

Nicky stood up and tried to look imposing. "I'm not putting up with your bullying today Anton."

"And what are you going to do about it, slowpoke?" Anton asked.

"Yeah, what are you going to do about it?" Tommy added. "You're the slowest person in school. You're a hedgehog and you can't run at all."

"Neither can you." Nicky pointed out.

"Yeah, but he's a turtle, he's got an excuse. Everyone knows hedgehogs are supposed to be one of the fastest mobians and you're pathetically slow." Anton insulted.

Tommy laughed. "Yeah, pathetically slow."

Nicky grit his teeth. In school he had a reputation and not a good one. He was 'disabled', in that no one knew exactly how but he was excused from any activity that required high activity or quick reflexes, such as running or most sports. As a result he had to spend most of gym class on the bench, and him being a hedgehog meant he was a prime target for bullying.

"Look around you idiots." Nicky gestured to their surroundings. "We're in a public place with witnesses. What can you do to me that you can get away with?"

Anton and Tommy looked around, seeing that there were numerous adults and kids around too. No one was paying attention to them at the moment, but that could change if there was a big commotion to start.

"Fine, we'll leave you alone. It's funny enough to know that soon we'll be at the biggest theme park in the world and you'll be stuck here with nothing to do and nowhere to go. All summer long." Anton claimed, then turned to leave followed by Tommy.

With them gone, Nicky sighed and sat down. At that moment, even returning to his online chat didn't feel that enticing right now.

"I wish I could go somewhere. Anywhere."

"Hey Nicky, is that you?"

Nicky slowly looked behind himself, seeing someone that unlike Anton and Tommy made him smile. The was Mina Bollers, a yellow mongoose Mobian with long purple hair. She was his best friend and possibly the most popular girl of their class.

"Hi Mina." Nicky greeted, adjusting his glasses again as he did.

"Did your parents change their minds?" Mina asked, taking a seat by him but not right next to him.

He shook his head. "No, they're still saying no."

"That sucks. Going to the biggest amusement park on the planet won't be as much fun if my bestie isn't going with me."

"You'll still have fun. I mean, how can you not?" He replied.

"You'll still be at my birthday party tomorrow right?" She asked.

He nodded. "Absolutely."

Mina smiled. "Maybe if you get me something good I'll bring you back a souvenir."

Nicky smiled. "I think you'll like what I have in mind."

"Hey, I got a little something early." Mina said while reaching into her pockets. She pulled out a small bag and pulled out several rings. "They're all depowered, so I've got over thirty dollars in here just to play around with."

Nicky was impressed. One of the mysteries of their world were these items called power rings. These things had no clear origin and attempts to recreate them never truly worked, but they contained an unusual energy much like the many chaos emeralds out there. An energy that could be tapped into and used, making them like all purpose batteries. Best of all, after they ran out of power, they would soon enough recharge themselves and be used all over again. But during that time they were just mere rings, they often served as a form of currency. Most places actually accepted rings no differently than if they were dollar bills or something similar.

"Awesome! So birthday girl, what are you going to spoil yourself with?" Nicky asked.

"Nicky!"

The hedgehog and the mongoose turned and saw a young pink hedgehog Mobian coming towards them. Nicky immediately recognized her.

"Amy? You okay?" He asked, seeing tears in her eyes.

"You know her?" Mina asked as the 8 year old came to them.

"Yeah she's my neighbor. She moved to South Island last year."

"Nicky, I lost Lily. She's flown away." Amy exclaimed, shedding more tears.

"Your pet bird?" Nicky asked, having seen her turquoise feathered pet before.

Amy nodded. "She got out of her cage and flew off that way." She pointed towards the mountains in the distance. "Why would she do that? How do I get her back?"

"You might not be able to." Mina said, trying to sound gentle despite her words being harsh.

Nicky stood up. "Relax Amy, I'll get Lily back."

"You will?" Amy asked, then smiled. "Of course you will Nicky. Thank you."

After hugging the blue hedgehog, who looked a little uncomfortable to be on the receiving end, Amy walked off back to her parents.

"That was nice of you Nicky, but you do know that bird's probably long gone by now, right?" Mina whispered just to be sure the younger girl didn't hear her.

"Don't worry, I've got an idea." Nicky assured.

Mina looked confused then annoyed. "Don't tell me you're planning on getting a replacement bird. You can't afford to do that. And it would be wrong to do even if you could."

Nicky just smirked. "My idea's even better."

The mongoose mobian just tilted her head in confusion. "What is it?"

Nicky hesitated, then sighed. "You want to see?"

She paused for a bit, then nodded. "Now I have to."

Nicky got up and led her around the shopping center, cautiously looking around to make sure that no one was trying to follow him. When the distance was enough and he was certain none of the other people in the area were paying attention, he disappeared behind a building and crept into an alley. He double-checked, making sure that no one could see them at all. Once he was certain, he grinned.

"Hold on tight."

Before Mina could ask what he meant, he picked her up bridal style and ran. He ran so fast that he became invisible, at best a blue blur that zoomed out of the city and into the wild.

Mina gasped then practically held her breath, holding onto her friend tightly, afraid she'd fall. After the initial shock faded a new one took its place and she looked at the blue hedgehog.

'Nicky… he's not slow or disabled at all. He can run.'

Hedgehog mobians were known to be rather fast, arguably the fastest of all the mobians, at least in terms of land speed. But Nicky, he was much faster than any hedgehog. He didn't know how fast he truly was, but he was fast. As for why, who cared? He sure didn't.

Nicky ran past the grassy hills and into the forested mountains of South Island. He passed the ancient marble ruins of a dead civilization that used to live that and the aqueducts that had been repurposed to give his hometown water. He ran past a play area named Spring Yard where many of the island's denizens went to have fun. He ran up the mountain and paused for a moment, setting his friend down while looking over a cliff where he could see his home in the distance.

"What do you think?" He asked.

Frazzled, Mina took several deep breaths as she tried to get her heart to stop. Her hair was a mess from the acceleration, but that was minor compared to everything else. She stared at him wide-eyed.

Nicky panicked, worried that he had scared her. "Mina, I… I didn't mean to frighten you."

"Frighten?" She repeated. "That… was… AWESOME!"

Nicky jumped back as she got in closer.

"Since when could you run like that? That was so fast! No, that's beyond fast! That's turbo fast! That's mach speed fast! Nicky you're not slow at all! You're the fastest thing alive! Why didn't you tell me you could run like that?"

"My parents made me. They said some bad guy found out about my speed when I was really little and they kidnapped me to take it. Mom and Dad got me back so now they make me act slow so that creep can't find me again."

Mina lost some of her zest after hearing that. "Oh, that's bad. Wait, is that why they won't let you go to Robotropolis?"

He nodded and took off his glasses. "Yeah, they're afraid he might find me there. They even make me wear fake glasses in case he comes here."

"Those have been fake this whole time?" Mina asked and he nodded. Then she huffed. "That sucks. You've got a gift, you could do so much with it. You could be as famous as I'm going to be when we grow up."

Nicky laughed, knowing his friend dreamed of being a world famous singer. Her dream wasn't silly, but him being famous was. "Sure, that'll be the day. World famous Nicky Parlouzer, the super sonic hedgehog."

Mina thought it over and shook her head. "No, not like that. That's a terrible stage name. You've got to keep it simple. Hmm… Sonic Nicky? Sonicky?"

Nicky grimaced at that. "No way. How about… Sonic the Hedgehog?"

Mina snapped her fingers. "That's it! Perfect. Sonic the Hedgehog, opening act for the world's best musician Mina Songoose!" She then took a pose like she was receiving a lot of applause.

Nicky laughed. "Yeah, someday we'll get off South Island, see the world, and be real bigshots."

The two bumped fists, sealing the deal.

'As long as some other girl doesn't take you away from me.' Mina thought. "Well, I'm guessing your plan for that girl was to actually find her bird right? So where would a bird go around here?"

Nicky laughed while he stretched his legs, adjusted his shoes, and put his glasses back on. "C'mon, where wouldn't a bird go?"

Looking around, the mongoose had to admit that the blue hedgehog had a point. "So you're doing this the hard-?"

She was cut off by the sound of a blast from near the base of the mountain, followed by a lot of scared birds flying away. Curious, Nicky ran towards where he thought the birds had fled from, with Mina following. Fortunately mongoose mobians were naturally fast too, so while not as fast as the hedgehog she could catch up to him.

'I hear something, it sounds like drilling.'

When he got close, Nicky stopped and hid behind some trees, his friend doing the same. What they saw, they couldn't explain.

"Easy there moron! Don't bring the whole mountain down on us!" Something that looked like a chicken mobian made out of metal chided out to a monkey mobian who was also made out of metal. Oddly the monkey had a lightbulb on his head, like he had a good idea.

"If you want to do it all then go ahead, you couldn't find the treasure without me." The monkey mocked, pulling a bomb out from somewhere. Thankfully it wasn't lit.

"Hey! I'm the one doing the real work here!" Some kind of machine that looked like a tank with a head and drill arms argued, digging into the side of the mountain. Apparently a bomb had been used to blast through the rock and now the tank was digging in for a more specific goal.

'What the heck is going on?' Both kids asked themselves.

Several birds and animals from the forest, such as squirrels and rabbits, came out trying to fight off the metal strangers. The monkey and chicken robots, if that's what they really were, fought them off.

"Don't throw that!" The chicken warned the monkey who lit the bomb and ignored his order, throwing it towards the animals. They ran off and the bomb went off, probably killing a few squirrels unlucky enough to not get away fast enough. Nicky took cover behind a tree and still felt a bit of the blast.

"There, problem solved." The monkey said proudly.

The chicken went up to him and punched the top of his head, breaking the lightbulb. "You moron! You want to attract attention! We're supposed to be unseen! Besides, the doctor said to capture any small animals that were drawn to the energy! Not kill them!"

"Oh boohoo! So the big guy doesn't get two more rats to experiment on. There's plenty of vermin out there." The monkey replied unsympathetically.

"Guys? I think I've got it!" The tank robot called.

The chicken and monkey stopped arguing and went towards the tank, trying to push each other out of the way. A lot of yelling ensued and Nicky and Mina couldn't help but glance. They saw what amounted to the real life equivalent of a group fighting in an obscuring cloud of dust. After the dust settled the chicken stood tall holding a shining green stone in his upheld hands.

"Ahaha! We've got it! One of the real Chaos Emeralds!"

"A chaos emerald?" Nicky whispered.

"But that thing is huge. I've never seen a chaos emerald bigger than an egg before, that one's as big as a baseball. That thing could probably power my house for an entire year." Mina whispered back.

The monkey tapped something on his wrist. "Doctor Robotnik, we've got the emerald." There was a staticy sound that Nicky and Mina couldn't hear clearly. "Roger, we'll wait and stay unseen." He tapped his wrist again. "He's happy and will be here as fast as he can."

"How long will that be?" The tank asked.

The monkey just shrugged.

"What?" The chicken and tank said together. "We;ve got to hide in this dump until then?"

"If you want to swim back to base, be my guest." The monkey waved off.

"Nuts to that. I'm going to cause trouble in the town. No way I'm going to be bored that long." The tank declared, revving up the drills on its arms.

"I agree." The chicken added, flexing nonexistent muscles.

'They're going to attack our home just for fun?' Nicky thought, getting angry. Mina looked worried. 'Not if I can do something about it.'

Acting on instinct, Nicky crouched down and revved up, in doing so his legs created an optic illusion of creating a figure eight, then he took off. Moving fast enough to create a blue streak behind him. Seeing the monkey robot has the bigger threat, he jumped at that one and in midair curled into a spiked ball, rolling in the air and slamming into it with significant force. The monkey went down and Nicky ran off back for cover.

"What was that?" The chicken asked, seeing the monkey on the ground with a big dent in its torso.

Nicky immediately continued with another attack, doing the same but this time hitting the tank robot from behind. The head came off and the body went limp, with Nicky disappearing back into the woods.

'We're under attack.' The chicken robot realized, taking a defensive stance while still holding the chaos emerald.

Nicky this time ran up a tree and jumped off it, whirling in the air and aiming for the chicken from above. This time however he missed and bounced off the ground, crashing into a tree upside-down.

"A kid?" The chicken noted, now getting a good look at the assailant. Feeling confident, he stepped towards the young hedgehog. "How did you do that?"

Nicky righted himself and looked unafraid. "Stay away from my home!"

The chicken smirked. "Or you'll what?"

Nicky ran and did a sweep kick to the chicken's legs, making him fall forward. The chicken had to twist his body to protect the chaos emerald from the impact, though doing so made the fall more uncomfortable.

"I'll take this." Nicky commented, snatching the gemstone from the robot's hands and sticking his tongue out. "You guys aren't so tough." Then he ran off, grabbing Mina and taking her with him.

"The boss is not going to like this." The tank's head remarked while the monkey slowly sat up.

"We've got to get the emerald back."

"We will. Fortunately we know where that kid's going." The chicken noted, getting back on his feet. "And I'm only dinged, not damaged. I'll have you two fixed up in no time. Then we go all out on the locals and get the emerald back."


Off somewhere in the woods, Nicky came to a stop to catch his breath. "Man, that was more running than I'm used to doing. I need more practice."

"Oh wow! You were so cool back there!" Mina praised, checking him over.

Resting his legs, Nicky sat down leaning against a tree. While he did so, he looked over the green gemstone in his hands.

"Is this really a chaos emerald? I mean, it looks like one, but it's so big." The mongoose asked.

He heard squeaking sounds, and saw a pair of rabbits curiously approach him, seemingly interested in the jewel as well. A few chirps were heard just before a blue bird landed on his shoe, also looking at the jewel.

Nicky smiled. "Ah, is that you Lily?" He held out his finger like he had seen Amy do, and the bird moved to perch there. "Not how I expected to find you, but Amy will like it. Time to go home."

He gently took hold of the bird, being sure not to hurt it, while handing the emerald to his friend.

"Here Mina, consider this an extra birthday present."

She took it with a smile and put it in her pocket. "Thank you Nicky. Or should I say Sonic?"

He smirked. "Call me whatever you want, Songoose."

With the bird in hand, he couldn't run as fast as he preferred, but it was still faster than walking.

It was still fun because while doing so, he and Mina found themselves doing a playful race. The first time they had ever been able to do so. They did this until they came to her house, and she won their little race. When they came to a stop she hugged him.

"Thanks for telling me your secret. My lips are sealed." She whispered before they parted and she went inside.

Feeling good about himself, Nicky headed him, having to go slow since others could see him now. By the time he got to his neighborhood the sun was low in the sky but still up. Nicky came up to Amy's house, a simple house in the suburbs, and knocked.

After a moment, Amy's mother opened the door. "Oh hi Nicky. Are you here for Amy?"

He nodded and held out the bird. "Yeah, she lost this little guy."

Amy's mom gasped then smiled and took the bird. "You found Lily? Oh thank you Nicky. Amy will be so happy when she gets home."

"I try to help." Nicky said simply with a shrug.

Amy's mom nodded as she put Lily back in her cage. "Keep that up. The world could always use more people willing to make others happier."

Feeling good, Nicky said goodbye and walked into his house next door.

"Hi son, how are you?"

There in the house were his parents, Jules and Bernadette Parlouzer. Hedgehogs like himself, though taller, who were loving caring parents. But that didn't mean their son didn't have problems with them like most kids do.

"Nicky!" Three young hedgehogs greeted happily, running up to the blue one. These were Sonia, Manny, and Tania, Sonic's younger triplet siblings. Sonia was fuschia and kept her fur and quills tidy, Manny was green and liked to get dirty, and Tania was yellow and very much a tomboy.

"Mom, Dad, Sonia, Manny, Tania, you won't believe what I saw." He started, excited. "I went for a run and-"

"You ran?" Jules and Bernadette repeated together. "Son we've warned you about-"

"Listen to me! Up in the mountain I saw three robots and they found a chaos emerald the size of a grapefruit! I fought them off and took the emerald from them!"

"Let me see it!" Sonia shouted, holding out her hands.

"No me!" Manny argued, trying to get in front of her.

"I wanna see!" Tania added.

"Enough!" Bernadette stated, making her children stop fighting by taking it herself. "Did you say robots?"

Nicky just nodded. "I saw three of them."

"Son, robots are just fantasy. In real life we just have animatronics, like the kind they have in theme parks."

Nicky frowned slightly. "Like Robotropolis?"

The mother hedgehog sighed. "Nicky we've been over this. I know, Robotropolis is where every little kid wants to go for vacation. I know it seems fair that your whole class gets to go and we're not letting you go too. But we have a reason."

Nicky crossed his arms. "Yeah yeah I've heard the story. The last time we went off South Island I was kidnapped so now going anywhere else is forbidden to all Parlouzers except Uncle Chuck. But that was years ago, what are the odds of it happening again?"

"Once was too many, we're not risking it happening twice." Bernadette firmly proclaimed.

"But my speed-"

"The answer is no Nicky and that's final." Jules stated. "Maybe next year we can all go somewhere together, but there's no way we're letting you go off on your own."

Nicky frowned and went up to his room, slamming his door.

"Why is Nicky so upset?" Sonia asked, not entirely understanding the situation.

"It's complicated sweetheart. But he'll be fine soon enough." The father hedgehog assured his daughter.