The wind howls through a lifeless Mobius. The skies are drowned in storm clouds, and the landscape lies in ruin. Not a single animal. Not a single sign of life

You follow a crumbling path until an abandoned facility emerges through the smoke. Its defenses are long dead. When you step inside, a damaged console flickers weakly, automatically loading a corrupted archive file

You press play. A recovered video begins…

📼 ARCHIVE RECORDING — PLAYING

Sonic is running when Furnace suddenly appears behind him with a surprise attack. Sonic barely dodges, and Furnace flies ahead to block his path while Sonic keeps moving

[Sonic] "Woah!! Hey watch it! You might hurt someone!"

[Furnace] "THE DOCTOR HAS ORDERED ME TO ELIMINATE YOU FOR HIS HUNGER AND SATISFACTION, YOU WILL NOT LEAVE MY SIGHT ALIVE."

[Sonic] "Heh, I've been waiting for somebody new to show up, especially from ol' Ro-Butt-nik himself! Bring it on!"

The fight begins: Furnace fires flames and charges in blazing tackles, Sonic dodges and counters each time Furnace stalls. After several hits, Sonic knocks Furnace down

[Sonic] "That was fun! See ya around tin-can!!"

Sonic continues until he steps into a circular room glowing red, realizing it's a trap

[Sonic] "Woah! What is this place...?! What the? You're not Eggman... or are you?"

Starved Eggman appears through a window, controlling the room

[Starved Eggman] "I knew my finest creation would not have been enough to take you down... you're always finding ways to escape your inevitable fate..."

He activates a central turret that spins while breathing fire. Sonic bounces with a spindash to dodge the flames until it shuts down

[Sonic] "You sure do sound like Robotnik, but a lot more raspier and old... What did you do to yourself?"

[Starved Eggman] "You mean what YOU did to me? You left me to rot in an explosion... And now I will have my revenge, satisfying my new-found hunger by having you and everyone you love for DINNER..."

[Sonic] You've lost it Eggman. I'm sorry for leaving you out like that, but I won't let you hurt anybody else...

Eggman releases robots, and Sonic destroys them one by one. When the turret finally fails, a spring appears. Sonic launches himself up toward Eggman—only for Furnace to intercept, slam him downward, and knock both into a lower chamber. Sonic escapes mid-fall and lands facing Furnace

[Furnace] "No more running. Come now. And face your fear..."

[Sonic] "Fear? Don't make me laugh! It's time I put you out of commision ya rust bucket!"

The second fight begins. Furnace fires blasts, charges at high speed, and Sonic evades before striking whenever Furnace is vulnerable. Lava rises, forcing Sonic to swing across hanging hooks while Furnace fires missiles from below. When the lava drops, Sonic hits another spindash

Enraged, Furnace ignites blue flames and attacks relentlessly, but Sonic ultimately defeats him. The exit door opens and Sonic runs out, smirking

[Sonic] "That was fun. But I got a redhead on the loose. See ya."

But before Sonic can look forward, Furnace suddenly blocks his path and grabs him—Starved Eggman’s sinister laughter echoing afterward

The footage ends abruptly, cutting to static. The console whirs, its lights dimming as if something — or someone — forced the feed to stop

⚠️ SYSTEM ALERT: UNAUTHORIZED PRESENCE DETECTED. ⚠️ SECURITY PROTOCOLS ONLINE.

A hologram snaps into existence. Sage materializes. Her projection is tinted deep red, her circuitry pulsing with corrupt, vein-like patterns

SAGE:"Unregistered entity detected. You were not granted access to this facility. Cross-referencing data… Conclusion: Intruder"

A heavy door tears open, spilling smoke and sparks. A silhouette steps forward — tall, metallic, and burning from the inside out

SAGE:"Furnace. Execute containment protocol. Lethal force is authorized"

Furnace’s eyes ignite with molten light as he locks onto you

Furnace:"TARGET ACQUIRED"

He lowers into a charging stance, engines whining and then he rockets forward, flames exploding behind him