He woke to a blinding white light.

Jason-Mark blinked rapidly, struggling to focus. The cold, sterile air bit at his skin as the scent of disinfectant filled his lungs. His arms and legs were tightly restrained, metal bands locking him down to a vertical slab. He thrashed instinctively, only to feel a sharp jolt of pain radiating from every limb. Broken—still broken.

Then he saw her.

His mother stepped forward from the shadows of the lab, her white coat pristine, her face unreadable.

“Mom?” Jason croaked, voice hoarse.

She didn’t answer at first. She simply looked at him—no smile, no warmth, just eyes filled with quiet regret.

“You need to know the truth,” she said finally. Her voice was calm, clinical, rehearsed.

Jason’s heart raced.

“You’re not... what you think you are.”

He frowned, confused.

She continued, “Years ago, an object fell from the sky—an artifact unlike anything we’d ever seen. Inside it was a suit. Technology... beyond human. We called it the Sonic Armour.”

Behind her, a massive monitor lit up. Images appeared—grainy footage of the armor crashing down in a fireball, recovered by black-clad operatives, dissected by scientists in hidden labs.

“We couldn’t wear it. Not as we were. It rejected every subject. Until X ordered something new. A boy—cloned from a random human template. Designed with superior genetics. Built to bond with the armor. That boy... was you.”

Jason stared in disbelief. “No... you’re lying.”

She walked closer, resting a hand on the side of the metal table. “You were never supposed to know. But now, there’s no choice.”

From the shadows, a tall man in black approached—X himself. His presence was commanding, sharp, as though gravity itself bowed to him.

“You were created for greatness,” X said, his voice low and cold. “Not to waste your life playing student. You are the future soldier of the Sonic Legion.”

Jason strained against the straps, his breathing ragged. “You’re insane. I’m not your soldier!”

But the scientists were already moving. Metal trays rolled beside him. Syringes filled with glowing liquid. Monitors blinking. His mother stepped back.

“Begin the injection.”

“No! Get away from me—!”

The needle pierced his neck.

The serum—thick, viscous, unnaturally warm—surged into his bloodstream. Instantly, Jason-Mark screamed. His bones twisted and cracked as they healed with unnatural speed. Muscles spasmed, stretched, tore, then reformed stronger. His skin burned as heat flushed through his body, veins glowing faint blue beneath the surface.

Every nerve lit up in white-hot agony.

But it didn’t stop there.

Once the serum stabilized, robotic arms descended from the ceiling, carrying pieces of the alien armor. Cold and sleek, etched with unearthly glyphs, they clicked and hissed with quiet power.

The pieces fused themselves to his skin—like liquid metal locking into place. Chest. Back. Shoulders. Arms. Legs. Finally, the helm—its glassy visor lowered with a quiet hiss.

Pain, again. But different. The armor was alive. It was testing him. Syncing.

Then, a robotic voice echoed through the lab, deep and clear:

“Sonic Armour Online.”

Jason gasped. The pain faded, replaced by a strange stillness. He stood—no longer restrained. The armor moved with him like it was part of his body.

He looked at his hands, now encased in shimmering alien steel.

Then he looked at his mother.

Betrayal carved into every line of his face. “You did this to me?”

She looked away. Couldn’t answer.

X only smiled.

“You are exactly what we hoped you’d become.”