mario-sonic-dimensional-shift

[mario-sonic-dimensional-shift]

Mario & Sonic: Dimensional Shift - Chapter 1: The Cause Pt. 2

A giant crane lifts the Master Emerald into position into a large slot on an extremely large machine. It clicks into place and lights up with power as the machine powers on with a low hum.

Eggman strokes his mustache with an evil grin, chuckling with malice. “Excellent… My plan is all coming together! It’s only a matter of time! I only need some more power!”

Orbot and Cubot are both holding opposite ends of a girder and moving across the room. Orbot leans the girder on Cubots head as he turns to Eggman to talk. “But boss, do you think that the Master Emerald will be enough to create a large enough rift to transport everything to another dimension?” Orbot asks.

“Not on its own, it won’t. Which is why I have THIS!” Eggman triumphantly holds up a peculiar fist-sized round blue gem.

“Ooo, I love blue raspberry candy!” Cubot claps as the weight of the girder gets heavier on his head and he sinks closer to the ground.

“No, bonehead, it’s not a blue raspberry candy! This is the Hyperspace Sapphire, and it contains the ability to manipulate space and dimension to my will!”

“Oh my, how did you get your hands on that item?” Orbot inquires.

“I know a guy, don’t worry about it. Just do your job and put that beam in place!” Eggman snaps.

“Right, right, I will, don’t worry. But how will that gem help this machine?” Orbot begins to slouch on his side lazily.

“It is going to have two purposes for this plan. For the first part, I am going to connect it and link it to the Master Emerald!” He rambles. “You see, the Master Emerald shares a connection with the Chaos Emeralds. Like a thread connecting each of them, that thread can be pulled closer to you if you know how to do it!” He places the Sapphire into a slot near the Master Emerald and presses a button.

The machine begins to whirr on, getting louder with each second passing. Eggman types some commands into his computer, and the Master Emerald and the Hyperspace Sapphire glow brighter. All of a sudden, three tiny portals open up in front of the machine’s gate point, and from them spill three Chaos Emeralds, the blue, red, and white colors respectively. As the machine powers down, Eggman rubs his hands together and guffaws loudly.

“Yes! I’m a genius! This is just what I need to fully power my machine!” He stands and places the Chaos Emeralds into a few separate glass chambers. “Now that my innovation is complete, I think I’ll call it… The Dimensional Egg-porter! Perfect!”

“You always had a way with words, boss,” Orbot comments.

“And now, thanks to my magnificent intellect, I will finally be victorious! My grand scheme to conquer the multiverse is at hand! And not even Sonic will be able to stop me! Ohohohoho!”

An alarm goes off and a red light flashes through the base. Eggman is caught off guard and looks at his security camera. “What?! You have to be kidding me!” He glimpses at the footage of his front door being broken down by Sonic, Silver, Knuckles and Tails.

“Grr… How did they find me so quickly?!” He jumps into his Egg Mobile and presses some buttons to start the Egg-porter, which begins to slowly warm up to full power. “Looks like things are going to have to go ahead of schedule! All Eggpawns! Slow down Sonic and his friends as much as you can! Orbot! Cubot!” He hesitates for a moment. “...Wake him up.”

“But sir, the upgrades aren’t complete yet-” Orbot protests.

“I don’t care! We can’t lose this moment! I don’t care what it takes! Just wake him UP!”

---

“Tactful as ever, Knuckles. He knows we’re here now.” Sonic jeers.

“Good. I want him to know.” Knuckles says as he walks forward without heed.

The flashing alarm blares loudly as the sound of many robotic footsteps begin making their way to the scene. Eggpawns fill up the halls as they arrive, some sporting blunt melee weapons and some holding blasters.

Tails analyzes the situation around them. “Okay, I’ve got a plan. We’ll each split up and take out different sections of enemies, and-”

“No need,” Knuckles interrupts. “I can take them all out on my own.”

Sonic arches an eyebrow. “You know that’s crazy, right?”

“Listen, I’m really angry right now, and the best way I can work it off is by punching the bolts out of some bots. I’ll create a path through, you guys go on ahead and find Eggman.”

Sonic shakes his head and sighs. “Well, if you’re sure. I’m smart enough to know not to get in the middle of your rampage. Go get ‘em tiger.” He gives a thumbs up.

“I can stay and help, too!” Silver exclaims, stepping forward next to Knuckles.

“No thanks, I can handle this on my own.” Knuckles says with disdain.

“No, seriously, I-”

“I said no, Silver! I said I can do this myself!” Knuckles yells, causing Silver to step back, intimidated.

“...sorry…” Silver mumbles out, but Knuckles is already stepping forward, steeling himself for battle.

Sonic puts a hand on Silver’s shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry about him. He wasn’t trying to be mean, that’s just how he is. Trust me, don’t take it personally, I promise you’re okay. He’s a tough cookie and can look out for himself. Besides, we have a job to do, right?”

Silver clenches his fist and nods his head. “Right, yeah. I’m ready to go.”

Tails scratches his ear a little bit. “I do wish he wasn’t so willing to put himself in harm's way like this. I would have preferred that we all could make it to the fight with Eggman together.”

“Well, this might be better actually, because we’ll be at full strength, rather than all of us being worn out for the fight,” Sonic says.

“I guess you’re right,” Tails responds. “All we have to do is wait for an opening to slip by and reach Eggman.”

Knuckles stretches his arms as he continues to walk forward towards the horde of Eggpawns lying in wait for him. “Well, if you're not gonna make the first move, then allow me!”

He rips a piece of sheet metal off of the metal walls, and chucks it like a frisbee at the army, already taking out a few rows of robots. Running forward, he begins to plow through the Eggpawns one after another with each fist strike. The bots occasionally try to gang up on Knuckles, but he is quick to throw them off, using the parts of other destroyed bots if he has to. At one point, he grabs a spiked Eggpawn by the feet, and spins around wildly as he moves forward, knocking out any other baddies in his path.

Tails observes for an opening as he surveys the damage. “Okay, Silver, let’s you and I fly over while Knuckles deals with these guys on the ground.”

“Got it, I’ll take Sonic,” Silver says as he begins to use his psychokinesis to lift up Sonic through the air.

“Careful, Silver, these goods are fragile, so handle with care,” Sonic quips.

Sticking close to the wall, the trio manage to fly over the Eggpawns undetected as Knuckles continues his onslaught below, who is currently throwing back bombs that were chucked at him first.

They eventually make their way through a number of halls until they arrive at a large door with the familiar Eggman logo. Silver cracks his fingers and forces the door open with a burst of energy. On the other side of this door is an expecting Eggman, floating in his Egg Mobile with a frown.

“Well, well, well, look who decided to show up for an unexpected house visit,” Eggman says, scowling as he talks. “Sonic, Tails, and… uh… Who are you again?”

“Silver. I fought against you and Infinite in the Resistance, remember?”

“Right, right. Anyways, to what do I owe you all the pleasure of bursting into my base and making a mess of my minions?”

“Don’t play dumb, Eggman! You stole the Master Emerald from Knuckles, and you’ve been making something new with the Hyperspace Sapphire!” Tails says with a point of his finger at Eggman.

Eggman recoils in shock for a moment. “Gah! How did you-?! I mean, I don’t know what you’re talking about! Hyperspace Sapphire? I’ve never heard of such an item!”

Sonic rolls his eyes for a moment. “Whatever, Baldo. Just tell us what you’re planning, and we’ll do you a favor and give you a free beat-and-destroy combo deal! Courtesy of Sonic the Hedgehog and Co.!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! And even if I had an amazing, genius master plan, I wouldn’t tell you anyways!”

“That’s new,” Sonic comments. “Usually you love to drone on about your evil plans. This one must be big, huh?”

“He’s planning to travel to another dimension that he can conquer without interference,” A new, gloomy voice cuts into the conversation, as Shadow the Hedgehog jumps from the pipes on the ceiling onto the ground next to Sonic, followed by Rouge who lands next to him as well.

“Shadow?! Rouge?!” Eggman yells. “What are you doing here?!”

“Hey Doctor, long time no see,” Rouge says, putting her hands behind her back.

“Eggman created a machine that will allow him and his whole army to travel to another dimension where you don’t exist, so he can conquer that universe and create his Eggman Empire to expand his army even further,” Shadow explains, arms crossed as he faces Eggman. “He’s using three Chaos Emeralds along with the Master Emerald and the Sapphire to power the machine.”

“Wow Shadow, that’s impressive,” Sonic says. “How did you figure all that out?”

“Because I got here a while ago. And unlike somebody, I actually managed to be sneaky,” Shadow jeers.

Sonic laughs a little bit. “Alright, you won this one for sure.”

Eggman slams his fists in anger. “Grr! Why do you blasted hedgehogs have to ruin every single thing?! Don’t I deserve to win for once?!”

Rouge points to a door nearby. “The machine is in a chamber in that room, and it’s powering up for a jump as we speak.”

Silver nods his head and raises his fists. “Got it, then all we need to do is push through Eggman and destroy his machine before it starts up.”

“Not so fast, now!” Eggman chimes. “Don’t think you can get through me so easily! Especially when I have backup!”

“Backup…?” Tails repeats. “Oh no, don’t tell me…”

Eggman laughs maniacally as he pulls a switch, which opens a secret door on the other side of the room. A flash of red can be seen, and all of a sudden a metallic form barges out at incredible speed and stops in front of Eggman’s Egg Mobile, facing towards the heroes with a cold, unmoving stare. It was Metal Sonic, standing firm and locking eyes with the real Sonic, his fists clenched in hatred and fury.

“Metal Sonic?” Sonic stands unintimidated, keeping his gaze unbroken with Metal. “This won’t be a problem. I had no problem taking his polished behind to the dumpster last time we fought, what makes you think he’ll stand a chance against all of us?

“Because with his recent upgrades, Metal Sonic is now faster and more cunning than ever before!” Eggman gloats. “He’ll have no problem disposing of you once and for all!”

“I think he’s right, Sonic,” Tails says. “Metal seems different, and faster too. It might be harder this time.”

Sonic gets into a battle-ready pose. “Alright then, let’s split this up, why don’t we? Shadow, Silver, and I will take on Metal Sonic, while Tails and Rouge stop Eggman and shut down that machine.”

“Don’t order me around, Sonic,” Shadow says in a cold tone.

“That works for me!” Tails exclaims, moving with Rouge over to the side of Eggman. “Good luck, guys!”

“Ohoho! Feeling brave, are we fox boy?” Eggman sneers. “Well, lets see how you like this!” He pilots his Eggmobile into a nearby structure, which springs to life as he inserts the vehicle into the cockpit of the machine. Sharp blades start to spin around the machine like a fan, looking to slice anything that gets too close. “Introducing the Egg Copter! I’ll make sure you’re sliced and diced properly while I make Sonic watch!”

Rouge side eyes Tails a bit. “I don’t know how I let you all convince me to play the hero on this one. You better get me that Sapphire for all the trouble I’m going through.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we get it for you. Besides, I’m already seeing a weakness in this design.” Tails says, putting his fists up to get ready to fight.

“I hope you’re right about this, twintails,” Rouge says as she flaps her wings and goes airborne.

Meanwhile, the three hedgehogs are at a standstill as they stare down the unmoving Metal Sonic silently.

“Hey Shadow, wanna make this fun?” Sonic asks. “Let’s see who can get the last hit on Deadbolt over here.”

“This isn’t going to be a competition, Sonic, because I don’t need your help to take him down. I can do this on my own, you two will just slow me down.” Shadow responds.

“Oh, big shot, huh?” Sonic smiles. “Let’s see if you can put your rings where your mouth is.”

“Guys, this isn’t time for games,” Silver chimes in. “We can’t let our guard down for one second!”

Metal Sonic stands with his arms to his side, but ready to receive any attack that might come his way.

Silver clenches his fists and takes a small step back, a bit intimidated. “Alright, we need to think about this strategically and try to come up with a plan…”

“No thanks,” Shadow says coldly. “Plans are for morons who don’t have the strength to face their opponents head on.” He squints his eyes as he jets forwards towards Metal Sonic.

“Sorry, buddy, have to agree with Shadow on this one. Plans just aren’t my thing!” Sonic exclaims as he curls up in a ball and spin dashes at Metal as well.

“W-Wait!” Silver yells in protest, but the other two hedgehogs had already gone ahead.

Shadow is the first to make contact with Metal, attempting to jab with his fist which is parried by Metal’s arm. Metal retaliates with a punch with his other hand, making contact on Shadow’s chest and pushing Shadow back a few feet.

Sonic gets in close and attempts to spin into Metal, but Metal reacts just in time and kicks Sonic away like a kickball into the air. Sonic unfurls from his ball form in the air and attempts to downward kick into Metal Sonic, but Metal grabs a hold of his leg and hurls him at Shadow. Sonic goes flying into Shadow and the both of them fall to the ground.

“Get off me!” Shadow yells as he pushes Sonic off.

Silver flies ahead now, as Metal Sonic’s jets kick in and he flies at Silver as well. Silver puts his hands forward and releases a wave of psychic energy, stopping Metal in his tracks with a green glow around him.

“Ha! Got ya!” Silver gloats. All of a sudden, Metal’s jets boost on again, and he breaks free of the psychic hold at an incredible speed. Silver gets caught off guard by this as he is suddenly headbutted by Metal Sonic.

Metal then grabs him by the face and pushes Silver into the ground head first, skidding him through the ground and onto the wall. He raises his clawed hand up to strike, but is interrupted by Shadow who spin kicks Metal away and rushes ahead with a follow up strike to the chest. Metal counters with a few slams as well, as the two begin trading blows.

Sonic runs over to Silver and extends a hand to help him up. “You okay, Silver?”

Silver rubs his cheek a little bit as he stands. “Yeah, I’m fine… I can’t believe he broke through my psychokinesis. This is going to be more difficult than I thought.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it!” Sonic reassures. “It’ll work out, so don’t give up just yet!” He rushes off to go rejoin the battle.

Meanwhile, Rouge and Tails are frantically flying around the Egg Copter, avoiding it’s sharp blades the best they can, but Eggman is hot on their trail and very persistent.

They manage to gain some distance and reconvene. “So, any updates on that idea you were having, or were you just trying to impress a pretty lady?” Rouge teases, but is panting a little bit trying to catch her breath.

“I’m still looking for an opening to get in close. He’s weak from the top, but I can’t get close enough to attack. Do you think you can distract him at all?” Tails asks.

“Heh, I think I can,” Rouge says, pulling out a few small pink balls. Eggman starts to close the gap now and is charging at them. “Don’t let me down, kid.” She flies up to gain some height on Eggman.

“Hahaha! Get ready to meet your end, Tails!” Eggman laughs. Rogue throws the pink balls at Eggman, which explode in a large puff of pink and purple smoke. Eggman begins coughing as he enters the cloud. “Gah! What is this?!”

As the smoke clears, Eggman looks up as Tails descends upon the Eggcopter, landing on the engine and stabbing a screwdriver into it. The blades of the vehicle begin to slow down a bit, before coming to a stop.

Tails stands proud over Eggman, hands on his hips. “It’s over, Eggman! Your machine is done for! Give up now before I… uh… Kick your… Butt! Yeah! I’ll kick your butt!”

“Oh, no. Whatever will I do now?” Eggman says, a bit of a sarcastic tone in his voice. “It’s too bad my useless Egg Copter doesn’t have any secret backup tricks. OH WAIT!” He pulls on a lever, and a large extendable metallic claw with three prongs emerges from the vehicle behind Tails and grabs him.

“Kid!” Rouge yells, flying at them now to try to help Tails, but Eggman swings the claw with Tails in it at Rouge and spikes her onto the ground. She lets out a small gasp before losing consciousness.

“You know, sometimes the most effective traps are the simplest ones! Hohoho!” Eggman cackles, bringing the claw holding Tails close to him. “You know, you annoying little vermin, you really couldn’t have believed you would stand a chance against me, right? All you are is a… a sidekick! You’re NOTHING without Sonic!” Eggman presses a button and makes the claw squeeze Tails, causing Tails to yell out in pain. “And now, you’ll die into nothingness, just like you lived!”

The claw squeezes again, and Tails screams once more. “S-Sonic!!” He cries out, tears forming in his eyes.

Sonic stops fighting for a moment and looks over at Tails and Eggman, his eyes widening. “Tails! I’m coming, buddy!” He begins to run over to them, but his path is blocked by Metal Sonic, who uses this opening to knee Sonic in the stomach and kick him farther away. He lands on his knees, coughing up a little bit. “N-no, Tails…”

“Metal Sonic!” Shadow yells out, clashing both of his hands with both of Metal’s hands as they wrestle over their ground. “Your battle is with ME! Got that?” He pushes Metal back as he spin dashes towards the robot.

“Sonic! You have to get up!” Silver yells from across the room, sending a psychic knife towards Metal Sonic as he speaks, who jumps over it with ease as he fends off Shadow.

Sonic grasps at his chest and coughs up a bit more. “I can’t... Move… I won’t make it in time…”

Eggman laughs maniacally. “Say goodbye to your little pet, Sonic!”

The doors to the lab burst open with a wide swing, as a flying Eggpawn soars through the air with an erratic pattern, with Knuckles on top of it. He steers the robot in Eggman’s direction, jumping off and gliding over to the top of the Egg Copter. He lands right next to the arm of the claw, and with a heavy grunt he rips the arm off and throws it off. As Tails begins to fall to the ground, Knuckles jumps down and catches Tails in his arms, gently placing him on the ground.

Tails breathes heavily as he slowly opens his eyes. “Knuckles… Thank you…” He forms a small smile.

“No problem, bud. I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner.” Knuckles says. He looks over to Sonic, who gives Knuckles a nod and a thumbs up which Knuckles returns as well. He then turns to Eggman with a furious gaze.

Eggman smiles nervously and sweats a little bit. “Aha… Knuckles! Good to see you! Er…”

“I think you have something of mine, Eggman. I want it back. Now.” Knuckles says, punching his hands together.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about! Now if you will excuse me, I have other places to be.” Eggman says as he begins to drive the Egg Mobile backwards.

“Not until I get my chance to crack an egg!” Knuckles yells, giving chase to Eggman.

Sonic stands up now, taking a few more deep breaths to compose himself. As soon as he can, he starts to make his way over to the injured Tails. Metal Sonic, who is currently engaged in a chase with Silver, turns his head and notices Sonic trying to get away. He kicks on his thrusters and goes to block the path again. As he stops in front of Sonic, he attempts to make a punch, but Sonic just barely jumps out of the way.

“Looks like I’m not going anywhere with you still here, huh?” Sonic stretches his neck. “Alright, I’ll make you into scrap metal then!” Sonic jumps into the air and vaults towards Metal Sonic with a homing attack. Metal Sonic seems to copy his movements, and performs a homing attack at Sonic as well. The two blue blurs bounce off of each other multiple times, spinning all around the room together.

Silver flies over to Shadow, who was cast into a wall recently before Sonic began to fight again. He extends a hand out, but Shadow slaps it away, getting up on his own.

“I’m starting to get really sick of this,” Shadow complains.

“Maybe we should think of a plan real quick while Sonic is keeping Metal busy,” Silver suggests.

“Maybe you should shut it before you get a swift kick to the head, Silver,” Shadow says, as he warps to behind Metal Sonic, where he attempts to jab at Metal but instead hits Sonic accidentally. Shadow shouts out in frustration as he launches another all-out attack.

Knuckles is continuing to give chase to Eggman, who is trying to outrun Knuckles in his Egg Mobile. Eggman attempts to throw down spiked mines, but Knuckles breaks through or dodges them with no problem.

“Now, Knuckles! Can’t we talk about this?” Eggman says, frantically pressing buttons. “You know that I didn’t mean any of the things I did! I’ll change for the better, I promise!”

Suddenly, a blinking light flashes on his dashboard, and an automated voice calls out, “DIMENSIONAL EGG-PORTER STATUS 95%. PLEASE PREPARE FOR DEPARTURE.” Eggman smiles and rubs his hands together, as Knuckles swiftly jumps onto the Egg Mobile, facing towards him.

“It’s over, Doctor Eggman,” Knuckles says, a big grin on his face as he prepares to thrash Eggman real good. “I’m gonna make you pay for making me look like an idiot.”

“Oh, Knuckles…” Eggman sighs, pretending to sound sad. “Perhaps it is for the best you caught me. Maybe it really is time for you to.... NET ME IN!” He quickly pulls out a hidden bazooka looking weapon and shoots Knuckles point blank with it, with a large net coming out and wrapping around him and causing him to fall to the floor as he struggles to escape.

“Sorry, sucker! But I got places to be!” Eggman laughs as he begins to speed towards the chamber with the nearly charged Egg-porter. He presses a button, and the walls of the Egg-porter room open up and expand so Eggman can fit his Egg Mobile through.

“Grah! Sonic! He’s getting away!” Knuckles shouts, desperately struggling to escape the net.

“Shoot!” Sonic yells, looking around for a solution of some sort, then looking at the machine on the other side of the room. “Silver, I have an idea! Can you catch and hold Metal Sonic?”

“Yeah, but he’s able to break out of it, so I can only hold him for a second!” Silver replies.

“A second is all I need. Get his attention and get him as close as you can to the dimension machine!” Sonic commands.

“Right. Hey! Stupid metal faker! You’ll never be anything compared to the real Sonic!” Silver yells out. Metal Sonic finishes uppercutting Shadow and knocking him away, before turning his head at Silver with a hateful look. “Uh oh,” Silver says, turning around and flying in the other direction. Metal turns his thrusters on and quickly follows in pursuit, gaining on Silver with great speed.

Sonic now gets into a ball and starts to spin quickly, preparing for a spin dash when the moment is right.

Silver looks behind to see Metal Sonic nearly caught up to him. He raises his hand up and unleashes his psychic energy to hold Metal in place once again. “Now, Sonic!” He directs.

Sonic unleashes his spin dash and begins to barrel towards Metal Sonic at a high speed. Metal glares at Silver angrily and starts his booster up again to escape the hold, but as soon as his booster begins activating, Sonic immediately rolls into Metal at his high velocity, causing Metal to spin out of control.

Eggman cackles as he approaches the gate of the Egg-porter, looking at the gauge which is now complete. The automated voice begins to read out loud “DIMENSIONAL EGG-PORTER NOW AT 100%. HAVE A GREAT TRIP, DOCTOR EGGEGGEGGEGGEGGEGGEGGEGGEGG BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ-” Metal Sonic has violently crashed himself into the side of the machine, crackling with electricity and malfunctioning. The Egg-porter’s gate had opened for a moment, but then closed once Metal crashed into it and before Eggman could enter in.

Sonic stands triumphantly tall as he begins to gloat. “Too bad, Egghead. Looks like you were unsurprisingly stopped by us again!”

“No… My machine…” Eggman says with a dejected tone. “Do you… Do you realize WHAT YOU’VE JUST DONE?! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!” He turns his Egg Mobile around and attempts to fly off, when all of a sudden the gate opens back up and starts to suck everything inside.

Metal Sonic’s broken body is the first thing to get sucked inside, as well as the three Chaos Emeralds, the Master Emerald, and the Hyperspace Sapphire. As they enter through the gate portal, they are lost into a white void.

Eggman is frantically pulling as many levers as he can to escape the pull of the gate, but he’s not fast enough as the Egg Mobile slowly gets closer to the gate. “NOOOOO-” Is the last thing Eggman yells before falling inside.

Knuckles starts getting closer to the machine’s gate next, as he struggles to escape from the net still. He’s nearly there until he is enveloped by a green glow and begins floating, as he is pulled closer to Silver who is attempting to fly away from the gate with Knuckles in tow.

“Silver! Let me go! You’ll only drag slow yourself down holding me!” Knuckles yells out.

“I won’t! I won’t let you go!” Silver rebuffs.

“That wasn’t an option Silver!” Knuckles barks. “Let go now!”

“But I-” Silver’s sentence is cut short as he is hit by a piece of stray machinery, causing him to lose focus and let himself and Knuckles fall into the portal.

The unconscious body of Rouge and the weakened body of Tails start to drag closer to the portal. Unable to resist the gravitational pull of the gate, Rouge quickly travels like a bullet towards the portal.

“Rouge!” Shadow yells, attempting to jump and grab her hand before she goes. However, he is barely able to grab her fingers and she slips away, falling into the white void. Shadow then attempts to grab onto an object to hold steady, but it breaks off and Shadow loses his balance and careens through the portal.

Tails attempts to fight against the pull of the portal, but his weakened state makes it hard to put up a fight. Sonic grabs onto his hand and links his other hand onto a pipe to hold steady. “I’ve got you, Tails! I won’t let you go!”

“S-Sonic! I’m scared! What do we do?” Tails cries out.

“I don’t know, but I promise I won’t let anything happen to you!”

The pipe begins to loosen in Sonic’s grasp, until it breaks off and Sonic and Tails begin to head for the portal. Sonic takes Tails into his arms and holds him in a protective hug as they go head first into the gate.

“I won’t let go, I promise!”

They pass through the gate, and the only thing around them is white space, and the sensation of falling downward. Sonic holds Tails close to his chest, until he looks down and sees Tails turn into dust made of pure light and disappear.

Sonic looks frantically around and sees nothing but the void. “TAILS! TAILS! WHERE ARE YOU!?” He screams. No response.

Sonic tears up and wipes his eyes. “Wherever you are, I’ll find you! If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll find you!”

Sonic is all alone. The only thing he can feel besides dread is loneliness, which is the last feeling he has as his consciousness fades away into white.

[mario-sonic-dimensional-shift]

Mario & Sonic: Dimensional Shift - Chapter 1: The Cause Pt. 1

Doctor Eggman barges through the doors of his base, the tips of his mustache singed and a grizzly scowl on his face. He stomps over to his supercomputer and begins to type angrily, muttering insults and swears under his breath.

Orbot rolls over to Eggman and moves to his side. “What’s wrong, boss? Did your plans surprisingly fail again?”

Eggman backhands Orbot away with a grunt. “Quiet you! I don’t need attitude from scrap metal like you!”

Cubot quickly moves to Eggman’s other side. “Aw, don’t worry boss! You’ll get it next time, for sure! One hundred and eight times the charm, right?”

“Grr, I said SHUT IT!” Eggman stands up and kicks Cubot, who reverts into his cube form before hitting the wall. Eggman begins to pace about the room. “I could conquer this world anytime I wanted! If it wasn’t for that… that… blue nuisance!” He kicks some equipment over in anger. “It’s unfair! It’s frustrating! I can’t conquer my own planet, I can’t conquer alien planets, what am I supposed to do to get a win for once!?”

“Too bad you can’t live in a universe where there’s no Sonic,” Orbot says as he lazily lies on his side. “Now that would be a perfect universe. But alas, you seem to be doomed to a life of constant failure. How about some tea to calm down? I suggest chamomile.”

Eggman stops pacing. “Wait, say that again.”

“Chamomile tea? It’s known to have calming properties to soothe people.”

“No, the other thing.”

“Oh, you mean how you are stuck being a constant failure?”

Eggman hits Orbot over the head. “No Dumbot!! The part where you mentioned a universe without Sonic!” His glasses glint for a moment as he rushes over to his computer. “That gives me a wonderful idea!”

“What’re you gonna do, boss? Erase Sonic from the universe?” Cubot asks.

“You think I haven’t tried that? What do you think I’ve been doing all these years? I’ve tried bending reality to defeat him, and every single time he’s found a way to overcome it! No, I have to go farther! Farther than ever before! I must reach into another universe!”

“Dimensional travel?” Orbot tilts his head. “Now this sounds familiar. Hasn’t such a feat been accomplished already before?”

“Indeed, by Sonic’s friend, Blaze,” Eggman articulates, “However, from what I’ve observed, she only has the knowledge of transporting herself and a few others between dimensions. I also have experience with dimensional travel, from when I worked with my counterpart from Blaze’s universe. But this time it’s different. I want to bring an entire army through to an entirely different dimension! I’ll conquer their world, expand my army, and create my Eggman Empire, with no Sonic to stop me! And then, when I’ve become unstoppable, I’ll return and destroy Sonic with my vast new army! It’s foolproof! Ohohoho!”

Cubot breaks the Doctor’s laughter. “But boss, how are you gonna do that? That seems like a lot of power you’re gonna need, and to power that you’re gonna need-”

“The Chaos Emeralds,” Eggman interrupts. “By my calculations, I’ll need at least a few of them for this project.” He begins to stroke his mustache as he thinks for a moment. “Or perhaps, a single large Emerald. Yes… And I know just the sucker to trick for it!”

------

A new morning sun overlooks a series of grassy hills, with shadows of several large puffy clouds providing shade over the countryside. The grass sways gently from side to side over the beautiful spring hills. The gentle breeze is cut off by a sudden blue wind, zipping over one hill to the next, before coming to a stop upon a wonderful hill that overlooks the landscape.

Sonic looks over the area with a smile as he sits upon the grass, taking out a packed lunch. He lets out a sigh of relaxation as he lays down and rest his eyes, crossing his legs and putting his hands behind his head. “Man, it’s been a while since I’ve taken some time to myself. It’s nice. It’s good to remind myself that I’m able to slow down and take in the world around me.”

As Sonic sinks into relaxation, his empty mind is broken by the sound of his telecommunicator. He pulls it out and presses the button to talk. “You’ve reached Sonic the Hedgehog, please leave a message after the BA-WONK,” he says with a joking tone.

“Sonic, you need to come over to my lab as soon as you can,” Tails says through the telecommunicator. “Something urgent has come up.”

“How urgent can it be? We just stopped Eggman a few weeks ago, right? I think we’re good for now.”

“Sonic, it’s Silver. He’s come back from the future again.”

Sonic’s eyes snap open as the gravity sets in. Silver coming usually meant something was on its way. “Right, I’m on my way.” He jumps up, pops the chili dog he packed quickly into his mouth, and makes haste to the lab.

-------

The door to Tail’s lab slams open as Sonic rushes in, stopping on a dime right before he would make impact with a table. He straightens up and walks over to the other members of the room, consisting of Tails and Silver.

“Hey guys, came as fast as I could,” Sonic says. “So what world-breaking event are we dealing with this time, huh? Can we make a bet? I wanna bet Tails ten rings it has something to do with big purple worms. Oh, I bet they spit acid from their mouths!”

Silver shrugs a little bit. “I wish it was that simple. At least purple worms could be dealt with. This time it’s kind of just… weird. Usually the bad futures I return to are on fire, or are in some sort of eternal darkness. But when I returned to my time it was… uh… odd. There were tall mushrooms planted everywhere, and the only inhabitants there was these odd robot creatures. They were like robots that looked like brown mushrooms and turtles. Here, I drew a picture of what they kind of look like.” He holds up a crudely drawn picture of a brown mushroom robot with feet attached to its body.

“Dude, you suck at drawing.” Sonic says as he snickered behind his hand.

Silver looks a little dejected by this comment. “Okay, I know it’s not the best, but it’s not far off from what it actually looks like. It was weird, these things just wandered around aimlessly, but when they saw me they got aggressive and slowly charged at me. They didn’t pose much threat, but I couldn’t communicate with them at all. Any civilizations I found were just… ruins. I couldn’t find any living person. I didn’t know what to do, so I came back to the past to find the answer.”

“No problem at all!” Sonic wags his finger confidently. “You said they were robots, right? All signs point to Eggman, obviously! It always does. We just gotta go find him again, and kick his butt like we always do!”

“Hang on Sonic,” Tails interjects. “I don’t think we should necessarily jump to that conclusion just yet. First of all, I don’t think mushrooms are really Eggman’s style of choice for decoration. And look at this robot design, it’s so impractical! It doesn’t even have hands. Unless it was a giant fish robot, I know that Eggman wouldn’t create a robot that couldn’t even hold a blaster or have some sort of bladed appendages.”

Sonic rubs the tip of his nose with his finger. “Hm, I guess you’re right about that, Tails. But on the other hand, we don’t have any other leads on who it could possibly be. Do we know anyone who might know a possible villain with an interest for weird mushroom decoration? Where’s Amy at?”

“She’s off doing reconstruction in Jasmine Town right now,” Tails replies.

“Hm, that’s a few days run at least. How about the Chaotix?”

“Last I heard, off solving a case at Casino Park.”

“Shadow or Rouge?”

“You know we can’t find them unless they want us to find them.”

“Well that’s disheartening. And we know that Knuckles is on Angel Island, so it’s not like he would know anything special.”

Just then, a foot kicks open the door to the lab, and a familiar red echidna barges inside. “Guys, I have bad news! Eggman is planning to steal the Chaos Emeralds! We have to stop him!”

Sonic raises an eyebrow. “Well, speak of Black Doom, we were just talking about you, Knuckles. A hello would have been nice, you know. How do you know Eggman is gonna steal the emeralds?”

“I got this letter, it’s a tip that Eggman plans to steal a Chaos Emerald in Chun-Nan soon! We have to hurry! Come on Tails, fire up the Tornado!” Knuckles exclaims.

Tails strokes his chin. “Chun-Nan? That’s halfway across the world. I feel like he would try to find something a little closer, right? Knuckles, let me see that letter.” He takes the letter from Knuckles and reads it over.

“Who gave you this letter, Knuckles?” Silver asks.

“Not sure, I found it on the ground near the temple. I assume it’s from someone who wanted to warn me about Eggman’s next plan. I had a gut feeling I had to take action, and I always trust my gut.”

“So let me get this straight,” Sonic says as he pinches the bridge of his nose. “You got an anonymous letter from someone that somehow got onto your floating island telling you to go halfway across the world? Is that about right?”

“Yeah, that’s the gist of it.”

Sonic, Tails, and Silver all look at each other with disappointment but not surprise.

Tails grabs his keys and opens his hanger bay. “Okay, let’s get into the Tornado. We’re going to Angel Island, everyone.”

Knuckles looks shocked. “Wait, why?! We need to get to Chun-Nan! Why are we going to Angel Island?”

“Because you just got duped, dude,” Sonic says with a small smirk.

“What?! What do you mean?!”

“Eggman totally hoodwinked you. He’s probably got the Master Emerald as we speak.”

“No way! I put the Master Emerald in a secret place whenever I have to leave the island!” Knuckles says, his face now red with embarrassment.

“Is it under the temple?” Sonic says with a raised eyebrow.

“Wait, how did you-”

“Yeah, everyone knows you put it under the temple.”

Knuckles is now fuming with anger. “That- that two timing son of a lizard! I’m gonna tear him to shreds!” He charges out to the hanger bay and climbs into the Tornado. “Come on! Hurry up!”

Silver shrugs to himself as he follows Sonic and Tails out to the plane. “Wow, and I thought I was manipulated easily.”

----

After a quick trip to the floating Angel Island, Tails lands the Tornado right outside the temple where the Master Emerald resides. Knuckles is quick to jump out and makes a mad dash to the altar. His entrance is followed by a loud “GAH” and a few swears.

The rest of the gang follows inside to find Knuckles on his hands and knees next to an empty alter. Sonic comes next to him and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Sorry, buddy. I know this sucks, but I’m surprised you got manipulated so easily. You’re not as gullible as that usually, what happened?”

“I- I don’t know… I just got a gut feeling and I just had the overwhelming urge to try and stop Eggman. I guess I just wanted to believe that I needed to help for the greater good…”

Silver looks over the scene of the crime. “Well whatever happened, it looks like Eggman was able to grab the Master Emerald thanks to your absence.”

Knuckles stands up all of a sudden and gets real close to Silver’s face. “You think I don’t know that, silver boy?! Don’t think you can talk down to me just because I made a mistake!”

Silver backs up a little bit. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“Don’t think that just because you have fancy mind powers and can time travel that you can act like you’re better than me!” Knuckles pokes Silver in the chest lightly, pushing him back into a wall. “I don’t need powers to pulverize you any day!”

Sonic moves in between Silver and Knuckles, pushing Knuckles back to give some space between them. “Knuckles, calm down! He wasn’t trying to insult you, he was just making an observation. Don’t take out your anger on him because of what Eggman did.”

Knuckles crosses his arms in annoyance. “Whatever. How do we even know it was Eggman, anyway? I could name a few treasure thieves off the top of my head, especially a certain batty burglar.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Tails pipes up. “Come take a look at what I found on the ground.” He holds up a small red card sporting a familiar logo of a smiling mustached head, along with the words “SUCKER!” etched into the back.

“Yup, that’s definitely Eggman’s calling card,” Sonic says, taking the card and observing it. “He’s not the sneakiest thief, that’s for sure.”

Knuckles punches his fists together. “What a smug little-! That’s it! I say we march right over to his base and kick him in his nuts and bolts!”

“I wish we could,” Tails says. “But we have no idea where he’s located right now. He changes bases every few months, so he could be just about anywhere right now.”

A flirtatious voice breaks through the room in response to Tails. “Maybe I could be of assistance with that?”

Everyone looks up to the ceiling to see Rouge the Bat hanging upside down with a grin, as she jumps off and floats down the floor. “Long time no see, boys.”

“Rouge! What are you doing here?” Tails asks with delight. Knuckles looks even  more peeved now.

“I’ve been following Eggman around for a few days. He’s been a pretty busy man lately. Lots of Black Market purchases of illegal materials. I followed him to Angel Island, where big red here fell for a letter that he wrote in 3 minutes. I planted a tracker on his ship as he was stealing the Master Emerald, and when I saw that you all were on your way over, I decided to stick around for a chat.”

“Well that’s convenient,” Sonic remarks.

“Wait, how did you know we were coming?” Tails asks.

“I also might have planted a tracker on the Tornado. Maybe, maybe not.” Rouge winks playfully as Tails furrows his eyebrows.

“So, will you be able to help us at all?” Silver asks. “Please, we’ll need any information you can give!”

“I could, but sadly, my feelings are very hurt because of what the red meanie said about me.” She makes a eyes-crying motion towards Knuckles, who scowls in response. “Don’t you know it’s impolite to talk about a lady behind her back?”

“Tch. Don’t act like you’re so superior. You know you would snatch the Master Emerald without hesitation given the chance. You might be a spy, but at the heart you’re still a petty thief.” Knuckles crosses his arms and turns away from Rouge.

“Oh Knuckles, do you truly think so little of me? I thought we were friends, after everything we’ve been through together. And friends help friends, right?”

Knuckles rolls his eyes. “Ha! I know what that means! You want something from us, right? You would never help us out of the ‘kindness of your heart.’”

“Of course I would! I don’t want anything right now, I just want something the Doctor has acquired as of recently.” Rouge brings up a holographic image from her bracelet, showing an image of a round blue gem with a white star on the center. “We call this beauty the Hyperspace Sapphire. It’s a magical stone that, when harnessed properly, can transport the user across space and dimensions, spanning from continents to distant planets.”

“So you want us to secure this stone when we fight Eggman, and in return you’ll give us the location to his base?” Sonic reiterates.

“Bingo, blue.”

Sonic puts his arm out for a handshake. “Sounds good to me!”

Knuckles stands in front of Sonic before he can shakes Rouge’s hand. “Hold on! Do you really think we can trust her about this? Who knows what she’s planning to do with that gem!”

Sonic pats Knuckles on the shoulder and smiles. “C’mon, Knux, let’s have a little faith here. Where are we without trust, right?” He pushes Knuckles aside gently and he shakes Rouge’s hand.

Rouge smiles. “Thank you Sonic, I’m glad someone trusts me.” She pulls away and brings up an image of a location on a map. “The Doctor is located here, in the middle of a dense jungle. You won’t be able to land your plane anywhere inside, only on a town just outside.” She drops the image and begins to head for the door. “I might meet you there later, who knows?”

Sonic gives a thumbs up to Rouge. “Thanks a lot, Rouge. Glad we can count on you.” He gets an idea before Rouge leaves. “Oh, wait! Would you be able to contact Shadow to meet us there? He could be a big help to us, whatever we’re dealing with.”

“What makes you think he’ll help you guys out here? He’s not much of a team player, you know.”

“I know, I just thought he might want a piece of the action. Plus, I bet I could totally get there faster and take out Eggman before he could have a chance!”

Rouge laughs behind her hand and smiles. “You got it, Blue. I’ll give him a call. Don’t get your hopes up, though.” She says before sauntering out of the room.

Sonic grins as he looks at the other members of his team. “Well guys, are we ready to fry this egg once more?”

“I’m ready!” Tails exclaims with a jump.

Silver clenches his fist in a heroic way. “I’ll make sure that we stop Eggman’s plot and save the future!”

Knuckles crosses his arms and taps his foot. “I need to take some of this anger out on some robots soon, or else I’m gonna go crazy.”

Sonic nods his head with resolve. “All right! I just hope we can quash this issue before it turns into something big. Let’s go, everyone!”