Authors Note: This chapter and all of the other chapters going forward will be pretty lengthy for the first one. also every Monday a new chapter will come out. With that out of the way, on with the story
Sonic burst into Tails' workshop, his blue eyes wide with excitement and confusion. "Tails, you won't believe what just happened!" Sonic yells. Tails looked up from his workbench, his bushy tails wagging behind him. "What's up, Sonic? Did you encounter more trouble?" Sonic paced back and forth, his mind still reeling from the encounter. "I was running through Green Hill Zone, right? And then suddenly, I ran through a waterfall, and the chaos emerald I was holding stopped glowing. Next thing I know, it flies out of my hand and into the hands of another hedgehog!" Tails raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Another hedgehog? What did they look like?" Sonic explains what the hedgehog looked like. Tails scratched his head, deep in thought. "That sounds strange, Sonic. Maybe it's some sort of clone or alternate version of you?" Sonic nodded, his expression serious. "Could be, but I've never encountered anything like that before. And they seemed scared and confused when I approached them." Tails glanced at the chaos emerald still in Sonic's hand. "Do you think they took the chaos emerald intentionally?" Sonic shrugged. "I'm not sure, Tails. But whatever the case, we need to find out who they are and what they want. And we'll need to keep an eye on the chaos emeralds too. Something doesn't feel right about all of this." Tails nodded in agreement. "Agreed, Sonic. Let's start by doing some research and asking around. Maybe we'll find some clues about this mysterious hedgehog and why they took the Chaos emerald." Sonic grinned, his determination renewed. "Sounds like a plan, Tails! No matter what, we'll always be one step ahead!" With that, Sonic and Tails set out on their new mission. but before they can even get out the door, tails gets a message on his device, "huh, that's strange, I haven't given anyone my email address" Tails said, confused "Heh, today is just full of surprises'' Sonic says, shrugging. Tails reads the message out loud "If you're reading this, that means you've been invited to join the tournament of chaos where you can compete in a gauntlet of fights to where you can obtain six of the seven chaos emeralds, the tournament will be held in Empire City's baseball arena, of which has been transformed into an arena for this event. We hope to see you there - From, Anonymous User" "Huh, maybe whoever that guy was brought the chaos emerald to the arena" Sonic said with his hand on his chin "I doubt it" Tails said "The message says six of the seven chaos emeralds, meaning they probably haven't gotten the one we had" "well we should go check it out anyway" Sonic says reading over the message "whoever took my emerald probably is looking for the rest of the" "Alright, let's head to Empire City and see what this tournament of chaos is all about," Tails declared, his eyes sparkling with anticipation. "But we need to stay cautious, Sonic. We don't know who's behind this tournament or what their intentions are." Sonic grinned, his trademark cockiness shining through. "Don't worry, Tails. We've faced plenty of challenges and always come out on top. Plus, I'm itching for a good fight!" With a shared nod, Sonic and Tails dashed out of the workshop, their thoughts focused on the mysterious tournament and the Chaos Emeralds that lay at its center. As they sped through Green Hill Zone towards Empire City, the wind whipping through their fur, they couldn't shake the feeling that they were about to embark on their most thrilling adventure yet. Near them, a pink hedgehog known as Amy Rose listens in on their conversation, she begins to think "So, they're going to a tournament, are they? Well now I have an actual reason to go" Amy takes out a letter and looks at it "If I win it, maybe Sonic will notice me. But I should try not to get seen, I don't want them to think I'm stalking them" Amy cases after Sonic and Tails, hoping not to get seen while doing so. Meanwhile in Sand Oasis Zone, a purple weasel known as Fang sleeps in his room. The sound of footsteps then wakes him up, he grabs his pistol slowly exits his room, and goes into the base. He rounds the corner and spots nothing "Hm, must have been my mind playing tricks on me" Fang said before turning around where he was then met by the face of a green woodpecker named Bean "Hey Fang!" Bean said. Fang falls over startled before regaining his senses and standing back up "Bean, what the heck are you doing?!" Fang asks "It's like 3 in the morning" "is it?" Bean asks "It looks pretty dark out still" Fang facepalms "But that doesn't answer my question you sodding bird!" Fang yells "Oh, I found an armadillo," Bean says "Well obviously," Fang says, clearly annoyed "We're in the desert, you're bound to find one, now sod off" Fang turns to walk away before Bean drags a bag around the corner "Fang, tell your friend to get me out of this bag!" shouts someone from inside of the bag "oh, that armadillo" Fang said. Fang unties the bag and lets the red armadillo known as Mighty out "Why are you here?" Fang asks "And if it has something to do with your little chaotics group, then bugger off" "No actually, well yes but not really," Mighty said "The Chaotixs got two postcards in the mail and I was told to send this one too you" Mighty hands Fang an envelope. It contains the same message as the one Tails got "Hm, a tournament for some emeralds ay?" Fang says, grinning "Those little things can make us stinkin' rich, Bean, go wake Bark up and tell him what's going on." "Oh, Bark's already up," Bean says "What? Well, where is-'' Fang said while turning around to see Bark the polar bear standing silently down the hallway "I've had enough of you bloody bogans sneaking up on me!" Fang yells. Bark stays quiet since he doesn't speak much "whatevs' hey mighty, where's your friend?" Bean asks "actually, he was with me until you put me in that bag so he should be far from-'' Mighty says before being cut off when Ray the flying squirrel comes out a vent by vent and tackles Bean "let go of my friend you pyromaniac!" Ray yells before realizing Might is fine "Oh, sorry about that" Ray said while helping Bean up "No need to apologize, I've had worse" Bean said, "So, guess that's it then?" Fang asks "Yep, pretty much." Mighty said "Well from the looks of it you're early," Fang said "This little tourney happens tomorrow afternoon and since I've been scared by you two" Fang pointed at Bean and Bark "I'm gonna stay up 'till tomorrow" "alright then, see you all tomorrow, we've gotta run," Might says as he leaves the building with Ray in tow. As Mighty and Ray departed, Fang turned to Bean and Bark with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Well, looks like we've got ourselves a little adventure ahead of us, mates." Fang said. Bean nodded. "I love a good tournament! And imagine the treasures we could find with those chaos emeralds!" said Bean. Bark grunted in agreement, his massive polar bear frame dwarfing the others. Though he rarely spoke, his actions speak volumes. Fang smirked. "Alright, let's gear up and get ready for tomorrow," Fang said "We'll show those other contestants what Team Hooligan is made of!" With a newfound sense of purpose, Fang, Bean, and Bark set to work preparing for the tournament of chaos. As dawn broke over the Sand Oasis Zone, they knew that whatever challenges awaited them, they would face them head-on and emerge victorious, ready to claim the chaos emeralds and any other treasures that came their way. Meanwhile, on Angel Island, the red echidna Knuckles stands on an altar, and a giant green chaos emerald stands behind him. Knuckles stood crossed-armed, guarding the emerald when suddenly he heard a sound from the bushes. Knuckles slowly approached the bushes when suddenly, someone jumped out of the bushes. Knuckles swung at the person causing the person to duck under his punch "Calm down, it's me" the stranger said. Knuckles looked down and saw that it was a purple chameleon "Espio?" Knuckles said, "What are you doing here, how did you get here?" Espio dusts himself off "Me and the rest of the Chaotix were invited to this tournament where we can obtain these things known as "Chaos Emeralds" if we win" Knuckles remembers back when he fought Sonic and how he used them to defeat Dr. Robotnik, along with the use of a different kind of Emeralds. "Is that so?" Knuckles asked "But that doesn't answer my question, why are you here?" Suddenly, a yellow and black honey bee called Charmy Bee flew out of the bushes. "Well according to this letter," Charmy said "you were also invited" Charmy hands Knuckles a letter. Knuckles reads the letter "Hmm, who else is going to be there?" knuckles asks. Just then, a green crocodile known as Vector finally found his way over to Knuckles and the rest of the Chaotix "Hey, sorry I'm late" Vector said, "did you tell Knux about what's going on?" "yep," Charmy said, enthusiastically "We were about to tell him who we think will be at the tournament" Vector walked up to Knuckles "Well if we had to take a guess," Vector said "since this is gonna involve the Chaos Emeralds, we think sonic and his sidekick Tails are going to be there" Knuckles didn't care much about Tails, but he knew if he wanted to earn back his pride, he would go to the tournament and beat sonic "alright," Knuckles said "I'll consider it" "Alright then," Espio said "we'll see you then" "wait, do you think Knuckles knows a shortcut to-" Vector said as he turned around to see Charmy flying away and Espio disappear in a cloud of smoke, Vector sighs "alright, back to running" Vector runs off into the forest. As the Chaotix team dispersed, Knuckles stood by the altar, the invitation to the tournament of chaos clutched in his hand. He couldn't shake the feeling that this tournament was more than just a chance to win chaos emeralds—it was an opportunity to prove himself, to show that he was more than just a guardian of Angel Island. "Looks like I've got some training to do," Knuckles mutters. Knuckles spent the rest of the day honing his skills, practicing his punches with a renewed focus. Meanwhile in a place known as Geno City, a dark yellow cat known to many as Honey is spending her time thinking up new outfit designs for the company she owns, just then her assistant walks in "Miss Honey" The assistant said "You have some mail" "It's probably nothing important" Honey said "probably just my taxes, ill do them once im doing with this" "the letter was actually to you using your email" the assistant said, putting the letter on her desk "something about a tournament" the mention of a tournament makes Honey's ear perk up, she remembers being in another tournament so while this isn't new to her, it's still pretty interesting "let me see that" Honey said as she took the letter from her desk and reads it over "hm, this can be a good way to promote my business and I do deserve a break from my designing, alright i'll go" Honey says while going into the elevator "and make sure to take calls for me" the elevator doors close "i'm pretty sure I still have my fighting uniform at my house" Honey said, exiting the elevator. She gets into her car and drives home, once she gets home she goes upstairs and changes "Alright, it still fits" she said. Her outfit is a red and black colored dress made of a tough rubber that allows any blow dealt to her to be somewhat nullified. "Alright, let's do this," she said, talking to no one in particular. Honey, clad in her sleek fighting uniform, felt excitement as she prepared to embark on a new adventure. The prospect of competing in a tournament stirred memories of past battles and victories, igniting a fire within her that she hadn't felt in quite some time. Meanwhile, in an alleyway in Geno City, the green hedgehog is sitting next to a dumpster looking at the chaos emerald in his hand "What am I?'' the hedgehog said in a shaky voice. Suddenly, a cyan rabbit with a red bowtie points a knife at him "Hey, green bean" the rabbit says "Hand that gem over" The rabbit approaches the hedgehog, but the hedgehog doesn't say anything "Hey, are you deaf or something?" the rabbit said "hand over then gem" "stand back…" the hedgehog mutters "please leave me alone" "not until I get that-" the rabbit said before noticing the shape of the gem "wait a minute, it that-" the rabbit is cut off when the hedgehog shouts "GET BACK!" The chaos emerald lets out a burst of energy, causing the rabbit to get flung into a dumpster. Suddenly, what looked like a white parakeet came out of the shadows and helped the rabbit out of the dumpster "Yo Feels" The parakeet said, "You alright?" "Yeah," said the rabbit known as Feels "I'm fine" The hedgehog tried to sneak away when Feels called out "Hey wait" The hedgehog turned around and met eyes with Feels "Is that a Chaos emerald?" Feels points his knife at the Chaos Emerald in the hedgehog's hands "If we have you on our team, maybe we might be able to win that tournament" Feels said while taking a step toward the hedgehog, the hedgehog backs up "Uh, Feels" the parakeet says "maybe you should put the knife away" Feels puts the knife behind his bowtie "sorry about the whole attacking you thing, it's not very easy for us around here" Feels said to the hedgehog "you came to the wrong side of Geno City to be carrying that big of jewelry, the names Feels, the parakeet behind me is Sharps" Feels said, pointing to the parakeet known as Sharps "you got a name, kid?" Sharps asks. The hedgehog thinks for a while before shaking his head "Hm, in that case, I'll call you Ash if that's alright, you look like an Ash" Feels said, Ash's stomach growls "If I'm able to hear the sound of your stomach growling from here, then I'm pretty sure that means you're starving, either way, let me introduce you to our base" Feels gets pulled aside by Sharps "what are you crazy, are you about to just bring any guy you find on the street to our base?" Sharps asks "You've barely begun your first mugging and you're making leaps of faith like this?" "hey, that's what you did with me" Feels whispered "And like what you told me, I have a good feeling about this guy" Sharps and Feels looked over at Ash, who was admiring a normal butterfly "Alright fine," Sharps said "but if something happens because of this guy, you and your sister are getting the boot" Sharps and Feels turn over to Ash "alright kid, welcome to the group," Sharps says "Follow us and try not to get seen" Ash follows Sharps and Feels. After a while, they come up to an abandoned building. They enter the building, and Ash sees a yellow and blue jester lying down in a piano and a pink rabbit standing next to the piano, Ash looks apprehensive about coming any closer "Don't worry" Feels said "They're friendly"