Chaos energy floods the Emerald Chamber. Art by Mike Corker.
Chaos energy is an extremely powerful and dangerous form of energy. It exists in minute quantities within just about everything on Mobius, but the most concentrated source of this power is the Chaos Emeralds. Chaos power has been known to have many radical effects, such as causing machinery to malfunction or causing transformations in living beings. The Drakon Empire discovered Chaos energy and use Mobius' Chaos Emeralds to store it, as the energy is highly unstable on its own.
History
Creation of the Chaos Energy
Prior to the Great War of Mobius over 8,000 years ago, the Drakon Empire developed an unstable energy source, but the "Chaos" energy was too unsafe to use. In order to find a capsule for the energy, the Drakons supposedly began spying on a number of planets, Mobius one of them. They observed the native echidnas for some time until they knew exactly what they wanted. A military squadron subsequently invaded Mobius and took control of the echidnas' sacred Emerald mines. By digging up and using these precious gems, the Drakons utilised their technology to transfer the Chaos energy into the Emeralds. This not only stablised the energy, but gave them the means to control and use it.
Fearing that the Drakons could transfer their Chaos energy into a thousand Emeralds and conquer the galaxy, Pochacamac stole the seven "Chaos Emeralds" and kept them within his Megopolis City home. The Drakons were furious and chased the echidnas down, meaning to retrieve their Chaos energy. An initial battle arose, beginning the Great War. A number of Prosecutors and Sentinels attempted to steal back the Emeralds but inadvertantly ended up creating the Chaos monster, the product of the unstable Chaos energy merging with a captured Prosecutor fish. Eventually, the Drakons were defeated and the Chaos Emeralds remained on the Floating Island, protected by Knuckles the Echidna.
Chaos Emeralds
For some reason, some of the seven Chaos Emeralds began taking on different properties, warped by the unstable energy. The Master Emerald became the largest and most powerful of them all, containing enough Chaos energy to transform both Sonic the Hedgehog and a Metallix into super-powered forms. The Grey Emerald has the status of being the "Control Emerald" and has the power to absorb more Chaos energy. This has become vital on three occasions, allowing Knuckles to remove excess Chaos energy from Doctor Ivo Robotnik's body.
Robotnik was one of the first people to learn of Chaos energy's limitless power and attempted to steal the Chaos Emeralds for himself. He befriended (and tricked) Knuckles and helped him retrieve a second set of Chaos Emeralds, at some point separated from the original seven. Knuckles was able to recombine them but wasn't aware that Robotnik would then absorb the Chaos energy into himself. This newfound power allowed him to grow to an enormous size and even turn Tails into glass. Fortunately, Knuckles revealed that the Grey Emerald, thought to be missing, was in his possession and removed the Chaos energy before teleporting him back down to Mobius. Robotnik's second instance of gaining Chaos powers was much more successful; with the powers of a God bestowed upon him, Robotnik completed changed reality and the timeline, plunging Mobius into misery. Sonic was able to convince Knuckles to use the Grey Emerald on him once more. As Robotnik had become so used to the Chaos energy in his body, he seemingly shrunk to nothing when it was removed, although he had actually been sent to the microscopic world of Shanazar.
Super Sonic
Sonic first learned of Chaos energy when he stumbled upon Doctor Kintobor's laboratory. The scientist was using them as part of the Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor, a machine designed to transfer all evil on the planet into the Chaos Emeralds. Unfortunately, a terrible accident (later revealed to be the machinations of a future Sonic) sent Kintobor tumbling into the ROCC. The collision unleashed a tremendous amount of Chaos energy, transforming Kintobor into Robotnik forever.
Keen to stop this madman from taking over the planet, Sonic defeated Robotnik and collected six of the Chaos Emeralds along the way. He then brought them back to Kintobor's laboratory and showed them to Johnny Lightfoot and Porker Lewis, hoping to find out what to do with them. Due to the Emeralds not being in a cold, stable location, the Emeralds warped back to the Special Zone. The resultant burst of Chaos energy released from the action hit Sonic full in the face, turning him into Super Sonic for the first time. From then on, Sonic turned into this demon when stressed or given too much Chaos energy. This came to a head when he fell into the main shaft of the Emerald Chamber, directly absorbing power from all of the Chaos Emeralds. The resulting Super Sonic was more powerful and maniacal then ever but, more importantly, he was full of Chaos energy and was able to maintain this form for even longer. The Freedom Fighters managed to separate Sonic and Super Sonic, but the Chaos energy remained intact in the dimension. Unable to defeat his nemesis, Sonic and the Omni-Viewer plotted to trap him, eventually keeping him in a time-lock.
Super eventually escaped and created an electromagnetic pulse that shut down all machinery on Mobius. However, this exertion almost completely depleted him of his power and he soon lost all memory of who he was. Dazed and confused, Super Sonic made friends with Madge before moving in with Ebony and Pyjamas. With Pyjamas' help, Super gained his memory but continued to be a pacifist, refusing to tap into his powers in fear of turning evil again. Unfortunately, his Chaos energy well was beginning to run dry, meaning that he would soon die. He was able to track an energy source, realising too late that it belonged to the ancient Chaos creature. Nevertheless, Super leapt inside of Chaos and easily absorbed his Chaos energy, turning him into a demon once more. Ebony was able to recombine him with Sonic and would once again only be unleashed in times of great need.
Believing that her kind friend still remained inside of Sonic, Ebony was cheered up when Sonic stated that he felt a peaceful prescence when "The Power" almost turned him into Super Sonic. When he next did, Ebony siphoned off some of the essence and later forced Sonic to turn into Super Sonic. This dangerous act earned her the wrath of The Order of Magick and she was locked away.
Known Sources of Chaos Energy
- The Chaos Emeralds
- The Power