Sonic Returns

Prologue: A self-made monster

Mushroom Hill zone, Mushroom planet. five months after Robotnik and Sonic's battle in Green Hills;

"Rockconnasance, Agent Stone!" Dr. Ivo Robotnik laughed manically, tossing the carved stone head onto the path in front of him. "Rockconnasance!"

As he wandered among the large toadstools and fungi, the now half-crazed scientist laughed and muttered to himself and his small rock carving. The tattered red flight suit, bald head, and overgrown mustache served as examples of the slow erosion of what little sanity he had to begin with. Once the greatest Roboticist under the employ of the United States government, his battle with the spiky blue creature had left him stranded in this mushroom wasteland for several months. While the mushrooms and small pools of clean water had severed as a decent source of nourishment and hydration, the doctor had grown somewhat obese from his new dietary habits. Setting down the pack he now carried a large pack full of metal scraps and components from his destroyed ship, the mad scientist picked up the small stone head he had carved, in order to yell at it again.

"I am trapped here because of that dreadful little 'Sonic' creature, and his foolish antics." Robotnik growled, barely containing his rage. "I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!"

In a burst of blind fury, the doctor threw the stone head against a large boulder on the ground, shattering it into several tiny pieces. But as Robotnik turned to continue his endless wandering, he spotted something glittering on the ground where the stone head had shattered.

"Hello, what's this?" The mad scientist exclaimed, reaching down to pick up the mysterious object. "It seems, Agent Stone, there was a beautiful gem underneath your rocky exterior."

Scraping the dirt off of his new find, Robotnik found himself holding a mysterious green gemstone. This bauble was cut in the shape of a diamond, with an eerie glow lighting up its translucent interior. The doctor felt almost electrified holding the gem, his fatigue and weariness fading away as his gazed at his new treasure.

"This gemstone, it almost looks like..." he muttered aloud in amazement. "Could it be?"

Putting the green bauble in his flight suit pocket, Robotnik reached into his pack, and pulled out a tattered and torn old journal. It was the personal diary of his grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, a scientist who had worked for the government more than 50 years ago. It had been the one thing the people who ran the orphanage had allowed him to keep from his birth family, besides his last name. The book had seemed filled with mad ramblings to anyone else who read it, but the technical details and descriptions inside has inspired Ivo to become a scientist, just like his grandfather.

"I always thought grandfather was mad, rambling about working on a space colony and meeting strange aliens." The doctor muttered, as he flipped through the yellowing pages, but if this is what I think it is- ah! I was right!"

Stopping on a page in the middle, Robotnik gazed upon a colored sketch of seven bright gemstones, each one a different hue. His grandfather had drawn them in a circle, with a large green gem in the very center. Realizing what he had stumbled across, an insane grin spread across Ivo Robotnik's face.

"I've done it! I have discovered one of the Chaos Emeralds!" The doctor laughed maniacally. "At last, I'll get back at the little blue devil for stranding me here!"

...

Now filled with hope, the doctor took the components of his smashed ship he had in his backpack, and built a small worker robot. As soon as he plugged the Chaos emerald into the drone, it immediately set about it's work, and built another worker robot in under a half hour. Robotnik then built a charging station to power each robot at from the emerald, and set them about on more rapid construction projects, taking the raw material they needed from the ground. Before the day was over, the doctor had an army of a hundred worker robots- powerful machines, ready to build or repair anything at his command. Looking proudly over his children, the mad scientist smiled.

"All right, my lovelies, it's time to build daddy a new home." He ordered, drawing up a set of plans on a blank page of the journal. "And time to build an army of brothers and sisters to help get revenge on that accursed sonic!"

Over the next few weeks, the work robots constructed the massive walls and buildings for Robotnik's new citadel -the metropolis zone. The massive complex quickly spread out over Mushroom Hill, expanding to nearly the size of Manhattan in less than a month. As soon as the citadel's robot factories were operational, Robotnik programmed them to churn out thousands of his 'badniks'- colorful cartoonish robot designs he had sketched as a child. Bee-like buzz bombers that flew through the air, and motobugs that resembled metal lady bugs with one wheel. caterkillers that bored deep into the ground, And even a very goofy looking series of crustacean bots, called crabmeats. All these buffoonish designs came out of the shattered mind of the now insane doctor. But though these robots looks harmless they were all armed with lasers and weapons that could be downright lethal.

Standing in the Metropolis zone's central control, Ivo Robotnik was standing over a computer monitor, looking at a data readout. Now dressed in a red and yellow version of his destroyed flight suit, the doctor pulled his goggles up onto his forehead, and slipped on a pair of sunglasses. Studying his computers carefully, the mad scientist began to plot his next move.

"When that accursed hedgehog knocked me through the warp ring, my damaged ship's sensor managed to analyze the portal." He said aloud, to nobody in particular. "Soon, I should be able to use the emerald's energies to open a portal back home. Then, I will get my revenge on that blasted hedgehog, and-" He paused, thinking for a moment. "You know, humanity is far too flawed and chaotic, not perfect and orderly like my robots. I would be doing them all a favor by taking over their miserable planet, and ruling the earth, myself!"

The mad scientist had given up on what little concern he had for his fellow humans- Even Agent Stone, who had worshiped the ground the doctor walked on. Stone had probably forgotten about him by now, and was probably fanboying over some other recluse genius. No matter, he thought to himself, he would simply build a new group of robot friends; perhaps a few badniks with goofy personalities he could order around.

"I think I'll start by sending over a few badniks to Green Hills, to greet the hedgehog warmly." The doctor smiled. Reaching into his flight suit pocket, he pulled out the blue quill he had gotten from Sonic. "This little quill may have lost its infinite charge of energy, but I can still use it to create the ultimate badnik!" The doctor clenched the quill in his fist. "Very soon, Sonic will face his worst enemy... his own dark refection!"

Robotink's laughter- along with his cheesy and clichéd dialogue- echoed throughout the halls of his citadel.