Ladies and gentlemen, Freedom Planet and Sonic fans of all calibers! It is time for things to start ramping up! YOu may not have asked for it, but I still deliver it anyways! The familiar worlds with familiar faces and new foes! Ancient history will be uncovered, worlds will need saving, a race will be threatened, and bloodlines will be severed. It's time for...

Sonic and Sash: Tides of Chaos 2
Bad Bloodlines
Act 1

Prologue: Times Have Changed...

Avalice. A planet shaped by the history of the dragons. A planet flourishing with life... and had been wracked with events that shook the planet to the core. Originally pulled out of its original solar system by a mad scientist to take over, the planet now rested next to her now brother planet, Mobius, another world that had teemed with life.

It had been three years since the advent of Avalice's pulling into the solar system that Mobius rested by the mad Doctor Eggman, who had pulled the planet out of its original galaxy, and things on Avalice were finally settling down for once. The three kingdoms had evolved significantly during their three year growth period, and for a certain group of five, things had been coming very nicely...

A small sigh emerged from the basset hound's mouth as she sat in the middle of the small grotto underneath the large tree that had housed it. She was quiet, her jade eyes closed as she sat cross-legged on the ground in the center, a small orange sphere floating in front of her, seemingly shifting around a bit like it was reacting to the environment around it. After another sigh, the sphere dissipated into a dust that had soon completely vanished after that. The basset sighed, opening up her eyes before she stood up, getting ready to head out of the grotto. It was clear from her figure she was still young, just starting to blossom into maturity at age 14. Her messy orange hair had been somewhat tied back into a small fraying ponytail at the back of her head, and a black mark under each of her jade green eyes. Her ears had gotten longer and a bit furrier in the three years that had passed, as well as her developed and toned body and ample bust, showing she had developed quite a bit when she had reached maturity. Wrapped around her bust were compressive chest wraps, keeping her breasts close to her body, and overtop of that was a plain beige tanktop. She also wore a pair of black compression shorts with orange trim and had a green sweatshirt wrapped and tied around her waist. Cuffed around her wrists and ankles were a new pair of inhibitor rings like the ones that had shattered three years ago.

"Well, another peaceful meditation session down..." The basset spoke to herself, starting her way out of the grotto. "I'm at least glad I was able to dig this out and find it. It makes such a good meditation spot..." Soon enough she hit the outside, where a sunset was seen off in the distance past the valley. The basset smiled to herself; no matter how old she got, that sunset would always be calming to her. Relaxed, she climbed up the ladder into the massive treehouse, having gotten its fair share of renovations and upgrades since the group's last adventure. After all, becoming paid mercenaries for the three kingdoms has its benefits...

Soon enough the basset had opened the door to the treehouse and had walked inside to the main living room. A large flatscreen TV was on the left wall, underneath it a large cabinet containing various old-school and modern consoles, as well as several controllers. Opposite of the TV and cabinet was a red couch with a bookcase to one side and a small table next to it with a lamp on top, with a glass with ice sitting on it. A bit further away as a large kitchen table for seven, and right near that a kitchen with an island in the middle of it, the kitchen complete with fridge, oven, microwave and sink, with a hallway near the fridge heading backwards towards the bathroom and the shared bedroom.

Sitting on the couch were two figures, each of them holding a controller, both focusing on the game they were playing on the TV while talking to eachother. One of them was a green wildcat, with darker green patterns and black-tipped ears, and a white-furred stomach, her black-tipped furry tail was whipping a bit from her excitement. Her figure alone was shown of some built muscles that had developed over the years, as well as her bust. She was wearing a black tight-fitting tanktop and short green cargo shorts, with a rope tied as a belt. Her normal combat boots were off and she had her bare feet on the coffee table in front of the couch. The other figure was an orange two-tailed kitsune with a white muzzle and white furred stomach. He was wearing red cargo pants with a belt and a specified blaster on it. He wore red and white shoes on his feet which he had rested on the ground as he was holding his controller. A coatrack was nearby the couch, holding a worn long red scarf and a worn brown flight jacket.

"Oh come on!" The wildcat complained, slamming her controller into her lap. "You know I suck at sniper class!"

The kitsune grinned. "Well, you just need a bit more practice. Besides, Sonic and Sash are the ones doing most of the contracts we get after all, so we usually have free time."

"Yeah but most of the time we're usually working on our projects in the workshop!" Carol countered, before blushing. "That or our... 'fun'..." That phrase had also caused the kitsune to blush a bit before the two started getting closer...

"I'm sorry, I'm not ruining something intimate here am I?" The basset said, breaking the silence and causing the wildcat and kitsune to become immediately embarrassed.

"M-Milla!" The wildcat yelled. "Next time knock before you come in!"

The basset merely giggled a bit. "Oh please. You both know I usually end my meditation sessions at this time." She said, untying the sleezes of the sweatshirt around her waist and hanging it up on the coatrack with the jacket, before walking over and sitting on the floor next to the couch, cross-legged. "So, how's your projects in the new workshop coming?"

"Well, they're coming along just fine." Tails said. "The upgrades to the Tornado and Carol's bike have been coming along fine."

Carol looked over at Tails. "My bike has a name you know Tailsy. Cyclone, remember?"

Tails had soon sweatdropped. "Oh yeah, forgot you had named it that..." He said, blushing a bit.

"Wait, both of you had named your vehicles named after wind storms?" Milla said. "Wow, you two really are starting to become eachother."

Both Tails and Carol had blushed from the statement, looking away from eachother in embarrassment from Milla's comment. The basset couldn't help but giggle a bit from her own comment on how she basically made her two friends act so shy around eachother. "Well what can I say? A hound's intuition is always correct..."

"Riiiiight..." Carol said. "So! Any idea when Sonic and Sash are gonna be back? I mean, that contract's been taking them all day."

"No clue." Tails said. "With how late they're taking though, they might be coming back with dinner." Not a second after Tails had finished that statement had soon two more figures appeared at the entrance to the treehouse, coming inside. One of the two was dressed in a red and white jacket with black fingerless gloves, red high-ankle shoes with black tips and a pair of yellow-tinted sunglasses, well complementing his blue fur and quills and emerald-green eyes. A red bag was slung over his shoulder and he was carrying two large flat boxes and two chip bags on top. The other was clearly a lavender-skinned eastern water dragon, wearing a tight-fitting blue vest that cut off at the midriff, blue shorts with a red sash around her waist and a yellow string with a five-point flower knot. Her horns were curved back a bit partially covered darker lavender hair a chunk of it being her bangs hanging over her left eye, both eyes being a crimson color. Her blue boots extended up to her knees and had gold soles with what looked like small golden wings on the side. Wrapped around her neck and covering a bit of her lower face was a large crimson scarf, slightly worn from old age, the tail end as long as her twin tendrils reaching down to her ankles. Attached to the sides of her head and compressing where her ears would be a pair of headphone-styled crystal energy chargers; the titanium frame styled in a swooping spiral, with the blue containment picket for the crystals on top of that. The dragon was carrying what looked to be two six-packs of glass bottles.

"Guess who's home with dinner!" The hedgehog said, walking in with the two boxes and the chip bags and setting them on the coffee table, as the dragon set the the two cases on the table next to the boxes.

Carol's eyes lit up. "Oooooh right! Tonight's pizza night! I completely forgot it was tonight when I was working on Cyclone today!" She said, a smile lighting up her face. "So what kinds did you get tonight Sonic?"

"Two large pizzas. One half veggie lovers half meat lovers, and the other triple pepperoni and extra cheese." The hedgehog, Sonic, said, taking a seat on the couch with the dragon. "Regular flavored chips of course."

"And two cases of root beer to boot!" The dragon, Sash, said. PizZao Hut really had a good deal on out eats tonight!"

Sonic smirked. "Yeah, and even with our pays, it wasn't that much to begin with!"

"Well you guys know what that means..."

"CHOW TIME!" The five said, digging into the pizza for a good night together.

About a half hour into the movie the five were watching while having their dinner, Tails had finally asked the question on his mind about why Sonic and Sash took so long.

"Hey, Sonic?" Tails asked. "I'm curious. What were you and Sash taking so long out in the field for?"

Sash looked over at Tails. "Another contract for the Magister. We're still trying to track down that rogue that's wiping small villages of the Outer Kingdoms off the map."

"Right..." Carol said, her ears drooping a bit. "That unknown attacker that's been destroying small villages all across Avalice the past couple of months... looting them for crystals and raw materials..."

Sash nodded heavily. "Not to mention every time Sonic and I are sent to investigate... if there's ever any dragons living in the villages... it doesn't matter on age, element, gender... all of them are disturbingly killed, their tendrils hacked off by some kind of blade..."

Carol's ears drooped down further. "It doesn't make sense though. Sash, your species is considered the most holy on Avalice in entirety. Why... would someone be going around and destroying villages, wiping out every dragon in existence while at it?"

Sonic shook his head. "We're trying to find that out. That's why Sash and I have been out of the treehouse often these days; we've been trying to track down exactly who's been doing this."

"I can only hope we're closing in on who it actually is." Sash said. "All three of the Kingdoms have gone on high alert on protecting the citizens in case an attack of this assailant is launched. Even the Scarves are on caution."

"Damn, even Natalya's not taking any chances, is she?" Carol asked.

Sash shook her head. "Everyone's on high alert right now. Heck, Zao's even offering a massive bounty for taking this assailant out; over two million crystals for the capture of this criminal."

Carol nearly did a spit-take with her root beer. "Two MILLION?!" She exclaimed. I know Zao makes a lot of profits off his own Kingdom, but seriously! Two million crystals?!"

Milla's tail had started wagging after what Sash had said. "Ooooooh! That's a LOT of shinys for us!"

Sash nodded. "Either way... we're working as best as we can. The sooner we can put down this criminal down, the sooner all of us can rest easily."

"That reminds me..." Sonic said. "The Magister is having a meeting for us and the Kingdom leaders in Shang Mu tomorrow night, right?"

Sash nodded. "He wants all five of us to attend since we got involved in tracking whoever this is down."

Tails nodded. "Then let's get some rest tonight. We're probably gonna need all our energy for tomorrow night if its gonna be working out a plan for catching that criminal."

Sonic nodded, getting up and stretching a bit. "Yeah, we should hit the rack." He said, starting to walk back, before Sash got up and zipped to his side.

"Well, before we get some sleep... how about a little 'fun'?" The dragon asked, giggling as she finished her question. Sonic smirked, grabbing his dragon love and zipping into the bedroom. Milla giggled at the action and Tails and Carol couldn't help but roll their eyes.

"Ho boy..." Carol said, putting some of the leftover pizza from one box into the other. "They're gonna be up for part of the night for a while going at eachother..."

Milla couldn't help but giggle a bit. "Says the two who normally spend all their time in the workshop together..."

Carol's eyes widened and her ears drooped, her entire face turning a blush of cherry red. "Sh-SHUT UP MILLA!" Carol sputtered out, clearly flustered by what Milla had said. The basset couldn't help but let out a little giggle at the wildcat's expense while she took the pizza box over to the fridge and put it in.

"Either way... Carol, we should probably get back to working on the Tornado's attachments since Sonic and Sash are gonna be, eh, 'busy', right?" Tails asked, putting the leftover unopened bottles of root beer in the fridge. "I mean, we're almost done on the project. We might as well finish it up while those two enjoy themselves."

Carol sweatdropped. "Might as well... one those two lovebirds get a sessions started, they go at it for a while..." She said, heading out of the door to the treehouse, Tails soon walking out after her, leaving the basset alone to herself.

"Well then..." Milla said to herself, walking towards the bathroom. "Might as well get myself cleaned up for a good night's rest..." She said, walking into the bathroom and locking the door. Unbeknownst to the five though, they were being watched...

Carol sighed as she sat on the deck of the treehouse after she and Tails had finished up the work on the Tornado. Her ears drooped and her tail was wrapped around her waist as she looked up at the sky. Small tears started forming in her eyes as she looked up at the stars above, her emotions coming out and she put her hands in her face, sobbing quietly to herself... until someone else heard her.

"Hey... Carol?" A voice said. The wildcat turned her head around to see Tails walking out of the treehouse and sit down next to her. "Are you alright? You seemed kinda... down when we were working on the Tornado."

"I-it...it's nothing..." Carol said, looking down. "Just... it's getting close to that time of year..."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Tails asked, lightly grabbing Carol's arm. "Carol... it's okay. Trust me..."

Carol sighed. "Okay..." She spoke, her voice cracking. "I-I normally get like this during this time of year. M-mainly because... the day Coral had died is coming up soon..."

Tails' ears had drooped a bit. "Right... your sister you had told me about..." He said, hugging the wildcat. "Hey, Carol, we're here for you. Just to let you know that, okay? All of us here at the treehouse really care for you, myself included..."

The wildcat said nothing, just hugging the kitsune she loved tightly. "Th-thanks Tailsy..." She sputtered out.

"Hey, no problem..." Tails spoke. "Now, how about we catch some sleep? I've got a feeling we're gonna need our energy for tomorrow."

Carol nodded. "I'm fine with that..." She said, getting up. She was about to turn and head inside when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. "Huh?" She asked, turning in the direction of what caught her eye; it appeared to be a large dark spot moving across the sky...

"Hey, something wrong Carol?" Tails asked, noticing the wildcat was getting her phone out of her pocket.

"Something doesn't look right..." She said, opening the camera app and snapping a picture of the black spot that was moving across the sky. "I'll have to brighten this up later. It looks odd... and I feel like something might be there."

Tails nodded. "Mind if I investigate that with you?"

Carol smiled. "Not at all." She said."Now then, let's head inside." She said, pocketing her phone and stepping inside the treehouse with Tails...

The moon had risen high over the sapphire pagodas of the Kingdom of wisdom, Shang Tu as the families living there were getting ready to retire for the night. At the perch of the Royal Palace balcony stood a familiar figure, his face shrouded in darkness aside from his glowing eyes. He stood out, looking over the kingdom, thinking about the recent events that had happened within the past four years; The Brevon Crisis, Eggman's invasion, the slew of dragon murders... Things didn't seem to add up. How was it that these events were only now befalling their worlds? His thought process was interrupted though as footsteps came from behind him. His eyes looked behind him to see two figures approach him. One was a large white panda, male, wearing his typical shogun armor with spiked shoulder pads, a large gong-like shield strapped to the back of his large bulking frame. The other was a large half-dragon half-mongrel, brown-furred and taller than the panda a bit. He was dressed in his usual attire of his silver uniform jacket and black slacks and combat boots.

"Hmph. Gong, Askal, why are you two still up this hour?" The Magister spoke. "Forces retirement was nearly a half hour ago."

The panda, Gong, kneeled. "We still wanted to make sure you were safe sir..." He spoke. "With those recent strings of dragon murders and destruction of small villages, we fear the leaders of the Kingdoms might be next ones on this assailant's target list."

The Magister merely nodded. "Are there any findings from the mercenary's investigation so far?"

"None so far, your majesty." The half-mongrel, Askal, said, now kneeling. "We haven't found a trace of the culprit's DNA all across the crime scenes. They must be using a DNA eliminator to wipe their traces off of the attacks."

"Hmmm, this is most troubling..." The Magister said, looking out onto Shang Tu. "I am at least hoping this meeting tomorrow will bring some new evidence to light."

Askal nodded. "Zao has already said he's bringing Kalaw in to help with the situation, an-"

"Let's just hope that tengu doesn't let his ego overshadow the mission." Gong spoke. "He may be part cybernetic, but most of the time his ego gets in the way of the mission itself."

"I can be sure that he's not going to act like that." Askal countered. "Zao's expecting things to go smoothly tomorrow."

"Good." The Magister spoke. "The Scarves have also expressed their concern over the issue and will be joining for tomorrow. I've also taken the liberty in inviting the hedgehog and the dragoness to this meeting, since their group has had the most involvement in these cases."

Gong nodded. "Understood." He said, standing up.

"You two are dismissed." The Magister said. Both Gong and Askal nodded before the two left the room. There was a long period of silence before the Magister closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh, before speaking to presumably no one. "...you're not being very stealthy Neera-Li."

A small gasp was let out from behind him before the panda priestess stepped forward out of the shadows, trying to fix her black hair that was in a bit of a mess. Her outfit consisted of her usual lavender priestess dress form-fitting from the waist up and accentuating her mid-sized bust. A black sash was wrapped around her waist and small silver armor pads rested on her shoulders, and long black boots adorned her legs. "...S-sorry your Majesty..." She said, kneeling before him.

"Now, have the negotiations with Dail gone well for him to join us for the meeting tomorrow?" The Magister asked.

"Yes sir..." Neera spoke, trying to hide the blush on her face.

"Now then, your negotiations should have ended and you should have returned nearly three hours ago. Did... something come up?" The Magister spoke.

"I..." Neera started. "...guess you could say that." She finished, blushing.

The Magister sighed. "Neera..."

The priestess's face fell. "My apologies Magister. It won't happen again, I swear on my heart."

The Magister merely sighed. "Either way, are the preparations ready for tomorrow's meeting?"

Neera nodded. "Yes sir."

"Thank you." He spoke. "You are dismissed." The priestess nodded before leaving the room. The Magister turned to look back out at the outside...

From the main cabin of the massive floating airship high above the skies of Avalice, a feline figure sat in her luxurious pilot's chair, watching the surveillance footage of her drone watching the main five for most of their evening. She smirked a bit, knowing that they didn't even know about her and her affiliates being behind the attacks on the villages. The less they knew of her schedule the better.

She giggled sinisterly to herself while watching the footage. "Perfect..." She said to herself, looking over the footage. "The dragon and her friends don't suspect a thing. With part one of my plan found, all we need is to locate part two..."

"H-h-hey, boss!" A twitchy voice said, a small monkey rushing into the room from the back.

The feline smiled at the monkey entering into the room. "Ah, greasemonkey, there you are. What's the status update on finding our weapon?"

"W-w-we got a massive signal coming out from under the eastern ocean!" The monkey said, his eye twitching a bit. "It's r-registering as the tech that we're looking for!"

The feline smirked widely. "Excellent work greasemonkey!" She said, pleased. "Now then, are the attack drones ready?"

The small monkey gave a salute. "E-every drone is ready! A-and the bots you needed me to make for assaults are all completed!"

The feline smirked. "Perfect..." She purred. "Now, what's the status of that little 'heroes meeting' that the mongrel informed us about?"

"T-taking place tom-morrow!" The monkey said. "There's gonna be a big one! Th-they even invited the five we're watching!"

The feline merely smirked. "Hmph... is that so?" She said, starting to laugh maliciously to herself. "Well then, I think it's time we give them a rather warm 'welcome'... get the drones warmed up."

The monkey saluted. "Y-you got it boss!" He said, scampering out of the room as the wildcat turned her attention back to the monitor.

"Three years..." She growled. "Three years it's taken to track down this weapon. Many years the Tea bloodline has been overshadowed by those wretched lizards when they first came here." A small smirk started to appear on her face. "That legacy of those scale-hided meatbags ends soon. The day of my sister's death will soon be upon us, and on that day, she will be avenged. The dragon legacy will fall... and the Tea bloodline will rise again as the true shapers of Avalice. And by the time this is done, I will personally make sure I have your head on a silver platter... Sash Lilac!" With that, the massive airship turned off and started moving in the direction of Shang Mu...

So things have have been finally set into motion. The meeting in Shang Mu tomorrow will discuss about trying to track down the elusive dragon murderer. But who is this mysterious feline watching the main five? What is she meaning by a 'warm welcome'? Questions will be revealed next chapter...

Big props for Alex a.k.a. Slayer-The-Fox on deviantArt for the cover for the story. I suggest you check out his account if you wanna see some good art!

Either way, it has begun. See you next chapter...