A/N: Hello dear reader, I would like to get a few things stated up front before this starts, this is an entire remake of my old Harmonic Chaos Chronicles series and not just the first story. This will follow mostly the same plot to an extent but I am going to be changing a lot of things and retconning a handful of choices I made. So this story will be different in many ways from the original and much longer. Since it will be encompassing all of the original stories I will be using a chapter system similar to my story 'The Transfer Students' where they will be labeled as "X-X". The first number will indicate which of the original 16 stories it is part of and the second being the chapter of that "book". It will make more sense as this goes on. This is chapter 0 in a sense as it is the prologue and it establishes the basics of the headcannon used and sets up the story.
Mobius, present day. A vibrant world teeming with life and wonders alike. A world with many mystical things. The Chaos Emeralds, magic, and beings with other seemingly supernatural powers. Yet even with all of this the world is mostly peaceful. At least now.
In ages past the world was ripe with conflict. Both between people on the world and even a war that spanned dimensions. The Shadow War was a war that saw most of Mobius puting their differences aside to combat a great evil from another world. Led by a mysterious but powerful group of humans and mobians known as The Chaos Guardians the people of Mobius managed to push back the invaders.
This wasn't without its costs though. The Chaos Guardians, powerful beings with control over the Chaos Emeralds and the life force of Chaos itself sacrificed themselves in order to bring an end to the war. This ended up not only sealing Mobius off from other worldly interference but it came with a prophecy in which The Dark One known only as Vlaugh who set all of those events in motion would return. A prophecy many put no stock into as it was told only to the Echidna who were entrusted with the Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds.
"It is the will of the world that we pass here. However, it shall be that once the last of your race perishes that The Dark One may return. On that day a member of the family twice riven will appear, he will be blessed with Chaosblood and he will be our successor. He will protect Mobius from Darkness for time immortal..."
Years went by, decades, then centuries. Eventually it came to about ten years ago when that very prophecy would begin to unravel. Knuckles the Echidna would fall during a battle against Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik. Shortly after Vlaugh returned to Mobius with the help of the one known as Nazo. However he was defeated. According to the official events it was by the hero Sonic the Hedgehog however rumors hold that he was aided by another. Sonic strictly denies this claim.
This brings us to today and the beginning of a tale that is full of adventure, friendships and loss. The tale begins in the lush hills of the famous Green Hill zone...
The beautiful fields of Green Hill were alive with small animals scurrying around, playing and doing their own things. A gentle breeze blew over the rolling hills and the sun basked the region in a warm heat.
A small rabbit's ears poked up as it jumped out of the way as a blue streak rushed past and over the hill. It was Sonic the Hedgehog, a great Mobian hero. He made it to the edge of a dropoff that looked out over a large lake. He pits his hands on his hips and smiles. "Aww yeah…" he chuckles "This day is perfect!" He cheers.
The fluttering of tails could be heard as a yellow fox catches up to the cobalt blue hedgehog. It was Miles "Tails" Prower, Sonic's best friend. "You sure seem happy Sonic." He chuckles.
"Course I am! A beautiful day and not an Eggman in sight!" Sonic chuckles sitting down.
"Still, you can't be too careful." Tails warns the blue hedgehog "Nobody's heard from Eggman in months. Who knows what he could be planning…"
"Now that you mention it, that is a bit weird. Outside of the one time with the Time Eater he normally tries something after a few weeks. …" Sonic agrees with a nod. "Still, I am sure things will be fine."
Sonic looks over to the other end of the lake where a crimson hedgehog was walking up to the shoreline. "Hey Tails." Sonic says nudging the fox and pointing in the direction of the hedgehog.
The hedgehog had a dark gray jacket on and dark blue pants. He took the jacket off with his hands, covered with dark gray gloves revealing a dark green Tee shirt. Then the dark red shoes with a single black stripe came off along with a normal looking pair of socks. He looked around and sat on the ground putting his feet in the water.
"Hey isn't that..." Tails looked closer. He remembered the red hedgehog. They had fought side by side before during a few incidents. "That's Ragis Chaotic isn't it?"
Ragis Chaotic the Hedgehog, commonly known by his childhood nickname Rage. Rage is the Guardian of the Chaos Emeralds, following a long string of events and Knuckles passing he was a victim of fate. He was only 15 when everything happened, now he's around 24. It would be rare to see him off of Angel Island unless he was pursuing a task.
"I think so, what's he doing off Angel Island?" Sonic asks, rubbing his chin.
"I haven't seen him in a long time. Want to go say hi?" Tails asks Sonic with a cheerful look.
"Sure, I've been wondering what he's been up to." Sonic nods. Both then run around the lake.
The red hedgehog sat looking to the skies as the water would gently kiss his feet. A few minutes went by and his ear twitched. He looks over to see Sonic and Tails in a gentle jog coming up to him. "Sonic, Tails." He greets them standing up as they reach hearing distance.
"How did you-" Sonic starts to question how he knew that they were coming.
"I could have sensed you miles away Sonic." he smirks as he puts his shoes back on.
"Alright you got me." Sonic chuckles "What brings you here though? Shouldn't you be up on Angel Island protecting the Master Emerald or whatever?"
"Sonic, I'm up there all the time. I think a few hours away in Green Hill will be fine. Besides I can't just sit up there my whole life without doing something. I'd go crazy." Rage responded with a chortle.
"You're sounding an awful lot like this knucklehead I used to know..." Sonic says with a sly look. "That's how he-"
"It's how he ended up getting himself killed, yes I know." Rage cuts Sonic off, shaking his head. "I am well aware of Knuckles' story."
"No need to be rude about it." Sonic grumps with a glare.
"So are you going to be here long?" Tails asks.
"Not too terribly long." he answers. "I have to make a run to the Chaos Realm later...something about an ancient celebration day or whatever."
"That's right, today's the day that marks the 5000 year anniversary of The Closure!" Tails exclaims.
"The Closure?" Sonic asks "That's a new one even for me." he says looking to the yellow fox for an explanation.
"It's the event that ended The Shadow War." Tails says "It goes that the ancient Chaos Guardians sacrificed all they had to do it. For a long time the anniversary of that day was treated as a feast day by the cultures of the time."
"Considering a lot of those cultures treated them like deities or divine saviors I'm not too surprised." Rage adds nodding. "Though it's not even so much as remembered by anyone these days."
"A lot of history and cultural events are lost to time, especially as civilizations evolved." Tails speaks with his usual 'as a matter of fact' tone.
"These days most people don't put too much stock in old religious beliefs..." Sonic comments.
"The world's calmed down since then. You don't have as many fantastical things happening these days." Tails would shrug.
"Calmed down?!" Sonic exclaims throwing his arms out dramatically. "We've got Eggman trying to take over the world every other month! The Blak Arms attacked a few years ago, Chaos destroyed an entire city, and Eggman made an entire-"
"Did someone call for me?" Eggman's voice cackles interrupting Sonic. Sonic's arms dropped and the three turned to see Eggman in the Eggmobile coming from over the water. The large scientist flew over them and then came to hover over the opposite side of the lake.
"Eggman!" Sonic snarls in frustration "What do you want?!"
"The Chaos Emeralds...hand them over!" Eggman says in a demanding tone.
"Chaos Emeralds?" Sonic scoffs "Sorry doc, we don't have them!"
"You're not the one I am talking to." Eggman scoffs, brushing Sonic's words off. He chuckles, turning his head to Rage. "Hand them over redhead."
"Sure thing, I'll just hand you the Chaos Emeralds and we'll be on our way." Rage scoffs sarcastically. He then extends his left arm and a green glow surrounds his hand. "Leave." He simply states looking at Eggman with a serious gaze"You're not getting the Emeralds."
"It wasn't a request..." Eggman jeers as a laser comes out of the bottom of his eggmobile.
"So be it!" Rage shouts as he fires a beam at Eggman who fired the last at the same time. The two shots met causing an explosion that the three mobians had to brace for in order to keep on their feet.
"The Chaos Emeralds are mine!" Eggman shouts firing again. The three had to leap to evade the oncoming attack.
"Get real!" Sonic scoffs "You've never done anything of value with them!"
"When I build Eggman Land then we'll see!" Eggman grumbles as he fires more shots at the two..."Wait..." Eggman blurted out looking. Rage was missing. "Where's-"
"Right behind you!" Rage's voice comes from behind Eggman before the crimson hedgehog sliced through the back of the Eggmobile with a sword. The sword was a dark red with an ashen gray handguard and grip. The base of the blade was adorned with a monstrous dark green eye. The top the grips pommel had a pointed green gemstone on it.
Rage lands and holds the sword in his right hand in an idle stance. Eggman shot his head around to see him. His Eggmobile's thruster system was damaged from the attack and it was having trouble staying in the air. In a panic he pressed a button.
The Eggmobile fell to the ground after a few seconds. Nothing had happened. Sonic then burst out laughing. Rage stood there stoically and Tails was looking a bit worried at the dynamic between the two before Sonic managed to get some words out. "You really got your butt kicked this time Eggman!"
"Don't jump to conclusions so soon...Sonic." Eggman retorted with a devious smirk.
"Come on, you're little toy is-" Rage began to interject before the ground rumbled. Eggman began laughing as a large mechanoid came flying from over the horizon. It was a strange bipedal looking mechanoid. Four stories tall or more. One of the hands grabbed the Eggmobile which then vanished into it through a small port before popping out at the top of it. It had claw-like hands, a long serpentine tail, hoof-like legs and looked like an overall mish mash of previous bots.
"Oh boy..." Sonic gulps.
"Oh ho ho ho!" Eggman laughs "I am going to enjoy this! Sonic, Tails, Chaos Guardian, I present to you The Egg Chimera!"
"Chimera?" Sonic asks "Running out of names doc?"
"Laugh while you can Sonic." Eggman sneers "You'll not be laughing once I use this bots ultimate ability!"
"Come on, what are you going to do? I have the Chaos Emeralds AND the Master Emerald." Rage scoffs "Any bot you have that's as massive as that thing has always needed them to power it up."
"This one...is special." Eggman chuckles "I have found a way to break the barrier between this world and the next!"
"So what?" Sonic scoffs "You bring Eggman Nega back? I beat both of you with Blaze. What makes you think Rage and I can't do the same?!"
"I said world..." Eggman chuckles. "I know exactly what I am doing!" Rage's eyes shrunk when Eggman said this. The large scientist took notice and laughed once more. "Oh ho ho! It seems Rage here knows what I am talking about!"
"You're mad!" Rage shouts "The World Barrier exists for a reason! The last time somebody messed with it, all of Mobius nearly fell to Darkness, don't you remember?!"
"Quite astute observation." Eggman smiled as he pressed a button. Rage went to attack but a large vortex opened under him. Sonic was immediately caught off guard and fell in it before he could react. Rage tried to fly to escape its grasp. Once he did though he flew for Eggman who managed to swat him back into the portal.
"SOOOOOOOONIC!" Tails screams as he attempted to go after the two but it closed before he could go in. Tails turns to Eggman who laughs a hearty laugh.
"Oh ho ho ho ho ho!" The laugh echoed "I finally did it!"
"What did you do to Sonic!" Tails shouts fighting to hold back his tears.
"I simply sent him and that red fuzz ball into another world where they're most certain to perish! Unless you think you can do anything about it!" Eggman snickers, the sun caught his glasses which gave them a sinister glint of light.
Tails was afraid. He didn't know what to do so he ran. He ran and didn't look back. Tails didn't know what to do without Sonic. Even when he did things on his own Sonic was close or there to support him. Tails knew what he had to do though, he had to find a way to get Sonic and Rage back.
As for Eggman he laughed before Orbot popped out of his Eggmobile's console clapping "A wonderful display Doctor!" He congratulates Eggman.
"All as I planned it!" Eggman laughs "Though I wasn't expecting that red hedgehog to be here...it all worked it out in the end. Who was he?"
"Standby." Orbot says as his eyes flicker and flash "I have no solid data on the hedgehog." he says.
"WHAT?!" Eggman shouts "How is that possible?! I have data on all of that blue hedgehog's friends!"
"I do have a name." Orbot says. "Ragis 'Rage' Chaotic the Hedgehog is a name that is logged in a GUN Database. It says he has some connection to Chaos."
"Why would they have a file on him..." Eggman wonders.
"Speaking of Chaos..." Orbot says laying out and propping his head up on one hand. "Didn't he say something about having the Chaos Emeralds AND The Master Emerald?"
"What of it?" Eggman scoffed.
"Oh nothing, unless you just sent that same hedgehog into another world with no possible way of following him and retrieving the Chaos Emeralds!" Orbot says in a 'as a matter of fact' like tone.
It took Eggman a minute to process what had been said. Enraged, he slams his hands on the console and shouts in frustration "NO!" he calls out. "Now you tell me! You useless little-" Eggman tried to hit the small round robot but it hopped back into the console and instead Eggman hit his hand against the glass of the cockpit and shook it off. He muttered incoherently as he took off for his base to figure out what to do next.