Origins of Malice - Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Bitter Beginnings

Before the Great Peace that was brought about by King Jules the Hedgehog, there were catastrophic battles. Fighting among all, except the Echidnas, who lived peacefully in the Sunken Island in the city of Atlantinopolis. However, this came great while before, high above Moebius or the anti-Mobius, on what was known as the Floating Island, which was what the island was called before it sunk to the ocean below.  A child was born into the island's family of Guardians, whom were in charge of caring for the Master Anarchy Store. A treasure trove, containing gem shards of unimaginable power, easily misused if not guarded carefully and fallen into the wrong hands. He was born as the first son of Lara-Le and Wynmacher with Knuckles as his half brother. Wynmacher was now a proud father of a healthy son who he and his wife Lara-Le named Mace. He grew up in peace with his loving family, and was always cheerful, that is until his next birthday.

That day a there was a raid from his tribe's sworn enemies, the Dingoes who had ruled out any hope of diplomacy, decimated his home. In the chaos of the tragedy and to the grief of his family he was lost during the event, as homes were burned to the ground and was later pronounced dead. The infant Mace was found after the raid by a group of malicious Dingoes from the raid, frightened and vunerable, they captured him without a thought. Before the event, he was given a stone rattle for his birthday, and a locket was placed around his neck. As well as his home, these objects were also ruthlessly taken from him.

They took him to a sinister lab, in a secluded location within their territory. Without the permission of their superiors, a group of Dingo scientists had set in motion, a secret project and a healthy and energetic Echidnian infant was exactly was they were looking for. They paid handsomely to take him off the hands of the raiders. They planed torturous experiments on his body, using forbidden technology they stole from the Echidnas themselves. Their endeavor was to find the means to create an invincible warrior that would be used to eliminate any of the Dingo's enemies. They began by using stabilizers to ensure he'd survive the tests.  This included numbing the baby's entire body and putting him in a coma, in preparation for the first tests, something they were willing to risk for one so young. This process allowed them to begin their first experiment, for a few weeks the scientists performed open surgery his right eye, using growth hormones on his developing eyes to increase his sight. Part two of the experimentation began, after they decided to research his DNA. Since they stole many forbidden object from a secret Echidnian temple, they chose one object in particular to insert into his DNA, a drop of evil essence.  They had direct intent to combine it on their unwilling subject, and the only penalty worthy of such a crime, was a fate worse than death.

The following week they discovered he was part of the bloodline of guardians, by virtue of the locket they took from his neck. Excited at their discovery, they voted to try inserting Anarchy Beryl into his blood and attempt to mix it with Chaos energy, a substance a polar opposite to Anarchy Beryl, rumored to have been extracted from "Mobius Prime". The vile and over confident members were greatly pleased with their success, until the child's slumber was broken by the miscalculated dosage and the additional pain brought about by the surgeries, drove him in to massive and painful seizures. Frightened at where he found himself and angered, he violently struggled to free himself from the status chamber he was kept in. At his emotional peak, he began to unconsciously tap into the deadly power source flowing through his blood. In a fit of rage, the adolescent broke from the containment chamber and tore through the lab without a moment's thought after being trapped for months. As the members of the group fled the lab they had left behind one thing, there unfinished and failed project. A device able to send others to another dimension at will. With the increase power coming from the child the device came to life due to the excessive amounts of radiated energy, creating an unstable gate to another dementia. He became calm when he found his locket and his rattle, but the damage he had caused, had started an immense fire. The gate sucked the extra Anarchy energy from the room as power, hurling the child through the dimensional vortex, followed by a great explosion which destroyed all traces of the hideous experiments. The infant had unknowingly transported himself by his sheer lack of control, which activated the device. The energy from his fit and the blast had opened a path and had placed him in to a different dimension known as, Mobius Prime...sixteen years into the past.

Not too long after arriving he was found, by a female mountain wolf. The female's name was Emmalou Li (but known to some as Emma or Lu-Li), who was a member of the Wolf Pack. She was also a member of the Crimson Jaws, an elite and secret society within the Wolf Pack and daughter of a shaman by the name of Adas. She took the battered and starving child home and adopted him in secret. She had taken him to the tribe's home which was a group of villages that dwelled in a cave within the mountain side, fondly called by its inhabitants "Den Village". Den village was and outlying section of the Wolf Pack's secret cave base, connected only by a long and slender stone ridge. She soon named her adopted son Sano and hid him from her father for the first few weeks. Unknown to her was the past that this poor child had gone through, even more that the baby's body had grown by one year due to the Anarchy Beryl present in his body (which increased his normal growth rate). She later told her father Adas how she found him and requested his approval to adopt the 3-year-old Echidnian boy. Swayed by her daughter's love for the child, he convinced the council to accept him as an honorary member. She taught her beloved son how to speak, how to recognize scents, as well as that, her father taught him how to hunt, track, and find anything that moved in their lands, just like they would any wolf cub from their tribe. However, because of the cruel experiments on his body, his DNA had become mutated. This mutation which gave him keen connection with his eyes also caused him to take on traits from his surroundings. In an a few weeks time, he had begun to grow small, wolf-like ears on the top of his head.

Having a strong history of adopting orphans of differing species, the infant boy was warmly welcomed by most into the Pack by most of the clan's council. However his reception into the tribe wasn't as pleasant a welcome from those given by his new family. The members of the council of those who didn't approve of the boy's incorporation into the tribe, as well as their families were determined to despise the council's decision and the boy as well. It was clear this prejudice had spread to their children.  Despite his mother's best efforts to hide his true species, such as dying his fur from orange to  gray, straightening out his tail, puffing it out, and combing out his locks, they'd eventually found out he was not a wolf.

After a year with his new family, the young Sano's body had begun to be in constant turmoil during the night. He was racked by painful and uncontrollable seizures, as well as other things they couldn't explain, like when his fur gradually changed in color, from a light orange to a dark red. They noticed that if he had been teased by someone during the day, he was much more likely to have problems during the night, so his grandfather concluded that his condition was somehow connected to his anger or stress levels. Sometimes he'd even have uncontrollable mood swings or raging and mindless tantrums. It once became so severe to the point where he yelled and swung his fists madly, seemingly in a fit of rage, and like the other occasions, he couldn't seem to hear them. At this point Adas was forced to gag him and tie him to the wall. Horrified by the spectacle, after several tearful nights his mother demanded her father find a cure to his ailment and warned him to be wary of who he told about this. Shortly afterward, Adas desperately searched the Pack's archives, but to no avail, for he found nothing that would help. Even after a week of searching, he reassured his daughter that he wouldn't give up. Once he got her permission, Adas consulted his most trusted friend, whom held the most valuable parts of the archives for safe keeping. After hours of page flipping, Sano's grandfather discovered something as he was about to fall asleep. He was about to give up searching for the day, when he found something that matched the boy's symptoms. Troubled by his conclusion, Adas was reluctant to inform his daughter of his discovery. Despite his obvious anxiety, he went to confirm his speculation, hoping he was wrong. When he reached his daughter and grandson's hut, he was surprised to find his family in a peaceful slumber. Adas was at a loss, perplexed as to how this was possible after so many nights of chaos. His questions were answered when he examined his sleeping grandson. Being a shaman, Adas immediately recognized that the object around his neck was a charm necklace, designed to repel and abate evil. He chuckled as a smile spread on his face,

"Ah Emma" Her father said as he gazed at her in deep sleep. "As clever and resourceful as ever…just like her mother." As he took another glance, his smile faded when he remember that he had to inform her of his upsetting discovery. "Perhaps it's best if I wait until the sun rises, after all I think we've all earned ourselves a good night's sleep", He thought to himself as he lightly stroked his daughter's hair.

In the morning he woke Emma early, to avoid the chance that Sano might wake up before his mother. After she had gotten to eat, he had already begun a chant to confirm his theory. After an hour or more of chanting, with grief written deeply on his face, he told her that her son had been tainted by an evil nearly unabateable by medicines or enchantments alike. Hearing this Emma stood firm, as tears rolled down her cheeks, seeing this her father quickly assured her that he had found a temporary fix, a much stronger charm in the form of a sacred amulet, that would keep him safe from his inner evil should the other charm fail. He wiped her tears with a smile and said, "I hope this will be enough, because the council will have my head if they find out I forged this using crystal from the shrine". She was still on the verge of tears, but she smiled and kept herself from crying as she hugged him and told him to let no one know about this, except those he had the utmost trust in. Worried for her sake, he readily agreed, and then swore an oath on his honor, that he'd keep his promise.