Eggman couldn't be more frustrated.
This past week has been a hell for him: First, Sonic once again destroys his plans by loosing the Chaos Emeralds through some kind of magic mirror. Then, Sonic himself leaves to find the Emeralds, which left Tails and Knuckles as the ones in charge. "That should made things easier," He said. "They'll never know what hit them," He said. He was so convinced that he could beat them now that Sonic was gone for a while.
And yet, he was absolutely wrong.
In just one week: Eggman tried to enter the Brighthouse to access to the mirror and caught the Emeralds himself... 4 times, and he was always defeated. The first two times where just Tails and Knuckles, but the next two, the Mane 6, Misty included, literally swept the ground with his machines. They already had demonstrated before that, if they want, they can also be a threat to his plans, but this was the first time he actually felt like they were as annoying as Sonic, and for him, that's saying a lot.
"This was the worst week of my entire life!" Eggman complained. "For once... Just for once I will like something to go as planned... One thing will be good enough..."
He walked back and forth on his hidden lab, trying to calm himself down and think carefully on his next move. However, the second thing made the first one more difficult: He was running out of ideas. He needed the Chaos Emeralds, true, but for what? The truth was that he didn't thought on anything further than that, because every plan so far was just another failure added to his never ending list.
Stealing the magic didn't worked; reactivate the ancient tech of the Starfall islands didn't worked either, and controlling all of Equestria as Zombots could have worked if Opaline haven't outsmarted him. So after getting the Emeralds, what was he going to do? Again, he had nothing, because he was running out of ideas.
The worst part of all of this? He was so desperate that he was considering joining forces with Opaline again... but after he stabbed her in the back, and after she took his plan away from him, it wasn't an option either.
"There has to be something... ANYTHING!" Eggman yelled in frustration. "There's no way I'm running out of ideas... When it comes to rule the world, no one can make schemes like me! So why?! Why can't I think on a stupid way of get rid of that pity hedgehog and his damn friends?!"
For the last 22 years of his life, Sonic has ruined all of his schemes. Not only he stopped him whenever he captured critters to power his machines, but he also destroyed his Death Egg at least 4 times; defeated Chaos at his perfect form, even though he betrayed him; prevented the destruction of the planet by destroying the A.R.K.; restored the power of the Chaos Emeralds after he stole it to awake Dark Gaia; saved the Wisps from his amusement park; defeated both him and his past self after they tried to erase Sonic from existence; defeated him on the Lost Hex; and even took the control of the planet back after 6 months of ruling over the world with Infinite and the Phantom Ruby.
"The universe has its favorites for sure..." Eggman muttered in anger and concern. "All of my efforts are reduced to ashes everytime it seems I can finally won. Perhaps I should try to trick destiny and pull out something no one could ever see coming? But how? How can you trick the thing that's been messing with your plans for years?!"
And then, his black and red eyes widened in realization at the last thing he said: Trick the thing that's been messing with his plans. He realized that the problem wasn't the universe, because the universe didn't destroyed his armies, the universe didn't just appeared one day and started to mess with him everytime it could, and most certainly the universe wasn't the one always humiliating him. In fact, the universe wasn't the real problem, it was Sonic the Hedgehog. Always has been.
Sonic has done all of those things and more. His life would be a lot easier with Sonic out of the map, he knew that, but he's been chasing the hedgehog around and trying to kill him for 22 years now, and always have failed. Not even Metal Sonic could defeat him, because it didn't matter if Metal was as fast or strong as the original, he wasn't the original.
And then, he realized another thing: The reason Metal couldn't defeat the original Sonic is exactly because of that; because he wasn't Sonic. The same question popped out again: How could he trick the thing that's been messing with his plans for years? Or better said: How could he trick the guy that's been messing with his plans for years?
"By joining him..." Eggman muttered to himself in realization. "If you can't beat him, then join him... Sonic and I are way too different, but we're both stronger. Everytime we seemed like we had to join forces, we got really far..." He realized once again, but then frowned on an important aspect. "But Sonic won't trust me... not after he did it in the Lost Hex, and then I tried to kill him for the millionth time."
But just when he was loosing hope already, something important popped in his mind, and he gasped in both realization and surprise.
"Who says I need to join forces with him? In fact, who says I need to conquer this universe?!" Eggman declared, now with a big smile forming on his face. "I've been trying to conquer two dimensions with nothing but my intellect; a wonderful AI I call my daughter; a pony that not only lacks any kind of evil skills, but that also betrayed me; and an Alicorn with nothing but a long list of failures. Maybe is time to try and conquer another universe. One where Sonic and company cannot follow me!"
Tapping a bit on his computer, Eggman managed to reopen Sage and download her code. Once that was done, he moved forward to a capsule and placed the key with Sage's code on it. After a few minutes, the capsule opened to reveal some kind of life form... a pale child with white hear and black clothes.
Once Sage's code was uploaded to said body, the capsule removed the green liquid inside and opened, with the child almost falling to the ground... if it wasn't because of Eggman, who managed to catch her just in time.
Slowly, the girl opened her blue eyes and stared at the ground for a second, before gasping as she realized that she was looking at all. She slowly looked at her hand, not glitching like it used to in the Starfall Islands, and then she looked up to face up Eggman... her dad.
"F-Father?" Sage called out in surprise.
"Is good to see you again... dear daughter," Eggman replied with a warm smile. "We have a lot to talk about..."
The last week has been wild for everyone in the Brighthouse.
Sunny barely could concentrate on working at her Smoothie Stand, because she was worried that the portal to the other world will close, leaving Sonic trapped with the Chaos Emeralds for 30 moons, or 2 years and a half as Sonic has stated before. There was also the fact that she defended the Brighthouse from being infiltrated by Eggman again, and she was scared that he eventually may fool Tails' new defense system to enter the place, and she won't be there to stop him.
Tails hasn't opened Electronic Tails ever since Sonic left. After Eggman tried to enter the Brighthouse to access to the other world as well, he stood inside to create a defense system that only activates when the hidden camera on the entrance detects Eggman or his machines approaching. He was still eating and sleeping normally, thank Chaos, unlike the last time Sonic went to another world.
Zipp was worried about Tails, and so she decided to stay by his side. She was his girlfriend after all, so her job was to be there for him and to comfort him. But that wasn't all; many of the ideas Tails implemented on the defensive system against Eggman where from her, so she was also helping Tails a lot. But of course, she was also worried about Sonic. After all, he was her friend, too.
Misty seemed to be more worried about the fact that Eggman keeps trying to take over Equestria. She was sure that, after three failed attempts, he would have gave up, but... It wasn't the case. He was persistent, and that had the unicorn concerned, because even if she was part of the Mane 6 now, she still saw Eggman as a friend, a friend that just needed a new direction to turn his life around... Maybe one day, she could actually help him to turn down the villainy way.
Izzy was a bit neutral on this. She knew how serious the situation with Eggman was, she really did, but since she was pretty optimistic even when the world was at the edge of ending, she was sure that the matter with Sonic and the Emeralds will turn out well at the end. However, she was worried about Knuckles, because he was a bit stressed lately, specially after Eggman's failed attempts to get inside the Brighthouse. She tried to distract him a bit, but nothing has lasted that long.
Hitch was more concerned about Eggman frequently coming back to infiltrate his friends home than about the thing with Sonic. He was worried about his friend, yes, but since Eggman was constantly coming back, he was afraid that he could try to attack Maretime Bay again. After all, he already did it 8 months ago with a giant robot with his face, so it could pretty much happen again. And as the Sheriff, he couldn't allow that, so he was very alert these days.
Amy also got the message. She was still in Bridlewood, and she was worried too. Not to the point where she could make a whole drama about the situation and act like if she was just stabbed, but still, she was worried about Sonic. Team Dark also knew about the situation, but since their priority was finding Eggman, now more that he tried to enter the Brighthouse, they couldn't do nor say much about the situation.
And finally, there was Pipp. How was she doing? Well, surprisingly for everyone, specially for Zipp, she wasn't doing a whole drama about this. She was attending Mane Melody as usual, and she kept streaming normally. However, she was just acting like this in public, because at night, she sneaked to the basement and just sat in the floor, staring at the window with concern for a few hours. And since nothing happened, she made her way back to her bed and rested until the next day.
She kept repeating this process the entire week, and her worry for Sonic only increased when Eggman tried to sneak inside to go after him and the Emeralds. She was sure Sonic had things under control, but he was taking a bit longer than she anticipated. Can you blame her, though? It's her boyfriend, after all, and she only wanted him to be okay, and most importantly, alive. She wouldn't mind if he returned all beaten up, she just wanted to see him again.
It was currently nighttime, around 7 p.m., and they were all on the couch at the living room, trying to enjoy a movie that Sunny just putted to distract everyone from the situation, specially since the portal will close that night, and... well...
Knuckles felt asleep an hour ago, and Izzy felt asleep on his legs; Tails and Zipp were covered in blankets and watching something on their own with headphones; Sunny was resting her head on Hitch's shoulder, trying so hard not to fall asleep, while Hitch looked a bit worried at her; Misty fell asleep with Sparky on her hooves; and Pipp was just staring sometimes at her phone, then at the TV, and then at the basement entrance, in that same order for the past hour.
To say she felt anxious was just soften her actual status. She wanted to scream, to cry, to beg for a sign that Sonic was okay, that he'll return soon, that he will return before the portal finally closed. She learned to be patient a long time ago, but when it came to those who mattered to her, that skill simply faded away to give space to a lot of worry, and her imagination didn't helped in that aspect either.
She liked to be positive whenever she could, but sometimes, her worry increased so much to a point where she cannot think in anything but worst-case scenarios. And right now, her mind was being cruel as she imagined horrible things happening to Sonic on that other dimension.
Tails, who looked at her just for a short moment, noticed her worried attitude, and so, he decided to try and calm her down. "Hey, Pipp," He whispered to her, as the young pegasus turned her head to face at him, while Tails removed his headphones from his ears.
"Hmm?" Pipp muttered at him.
"It's okay if you're worried about him," Tails told her with a smile. "You don't have to act strong if you're not feeling... well, strong, you get me?"
Pipp smiled weakly at him, as she side hugged the young fox. "Thanks for worrying, Tails. I guess... I can't just help but worry that he won't come back before the portal closes..."
"I know the feeling..." Tails confessed. "To tell the truth, I've only had stay here not only to work, or upgrade the Brighthouse's security, but also to wait for him. He's my brother, after all..."
"Its the same for me with Mane Melody," Pipp confessed as well. "I kept working and streaming to keep my mind off, but... it isn't working... and the portal closes tonight! I don't want to wait 30 moons to see him again..."
"Me neither..." Tails said with a low tone.
And then, a loud crash was heard coming from the basement, which woke up Knuckles, Izzy, Misty and Sunny, while Zipp took her headphones off since she also herd the sound and the rest where startled by it.
But before anyone could say anything, a loud groan of pain and concern was heard by everyone.
"Ugh! Why do we have so many boxes down here, anyways?!" A male voice spoke, and both Pipp and Tails immediately ran towards the basement, recognizing instantly that voice.
The others just looked at each other for a moment before following Pipp and Tails to the basement.
Once they arrived there, the saw the portal mirror to the other world shining bright, as it closed the door between the two worlds. But before anyone could even worry about the fact that the portal close, they saw a few boxes moving and a hand coming out of it. Then, Sonic got out of the boxes, falling in the ground with a thud and an other groan.
Once he got up slowly he started to clean some dust out of his body with a frown. "It's official: I absolutely hate dimensional travel!" Sonic stated with annoyance. Once his sight go upwards, he found the shocked faces of everyone but Pipp, who was trying so hard not to cry of happiness. "Oh, hey guys!"
"Sonic!" Pipp yelled with joy, as she launched herself towards her boyfriend and nocked him on the ground.
She nuzzled excited on his chest, while Sonic felt a bit dizzy at the sudden action, but he got out of his dizziness when Pipp gave him a kiss. Gosh, he forgot how much he loved her lips, and he was glad to be greeted back in this way.
"Well, someone missed me a lot!" Sonic said with a flirting tone, after Pipp finally separated and gave him space to stand up.
"Sonic!" Tails spoke, as he gave his brother a hug as well.
"Hi there, buddy!" Sonic greeted with a smile, returning the hug to his brother.
"I knew you would come back!" Tails said with a smile, as he separated from Sonic.
"Of course I did!" Sonic stated confidently. "This is my home, and I cannot just leave you all to your own luck!"
"I hate to say it, but I was worried you forgot about the portal closing tonight," Sunny confessed with a smile.
"Me? Forgetting something? Nah, that's not my style," Sonic said with a smirk. "I just had some little complications, but..." He then took off the red backpack and opened it, putting it on the ground afterwards. Then, he closed his eyes concentrating, and the 7 Chaos Emeralds came out of the backpack, floating around Sonic, who smirked and opened his eyes to see his friends surprised. "I did what I promised: The Chaos Emeralds are right here!"
"Neat!" Tails said.
"You mentioned complications on the other world, right?" Knuckles questioned. "Can we know what happened?"
"It was quite an adventure," Sonic confessed with a smirk, directing the Emeralds back to the backpack and grabbing it, then walking to the exit and turning to see his friends. "Come on, guys. I think it would be better if I tell you everything upstairs."
The others nodded with smiles, and decided to follow him upstairs, with Tails closing the door of the basement.
For the next 2 or 3 hours, Sonic told the others everything he lived on the alternate world.
He told them about how he got the first 4 Chaos Emeralds, and how it seemed that the cities of Equestria also existed in that world, just with different names. He told them about the human versions of the Mane 5 and how he accidentally involved the humans Zipp and Pipp on a big mess that made them travel around half of the country. He also told them about the other Robotnik, who almost killed all of them at least 3 times in a row.
He also mentioned the things that happened on the bar, the highway, the concert, how he met Sunset Shimmer and also the human Sonic and the story that he had with the human Pipp. He felt like he shouldn't had mentioned that, but since he wasn't sure if he will ever see the human Mane 5 ever again, he didn't find anything bad on telling it to his friends. Besides, it was part of the story, so he also had to mention it at some point.
After he finished his story, the rest just stared at him both surprised, confused and conflicted.
"...Wow," Zipp was the first one to finally brake the silence.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Sonic said with a smirk.
"This is... wow... this is a lot to process..." Sunny added with wide eyes and shock.
"Well, what can I say? My life is a lot wilder than I give it credit for!" Sonic said casually.
"You... you pushed our human counterparts - that have NO magic at all - from a tall building to save them from the other Eggman..." Hitch said with shock. "Um... are you... are you insane or something?"
"After almost 2 years of knowing me, you're realizing right now?" Sonic remarked on a mocking tone. "Jokes aside, it was either me pushing them or Robotnik blowing them up. I just did what I was sure was the right thing at the moment. That, of course, doesn't mean I would do it again with anyone," He added, after Pipp glared daggers at him.
"I can't believe not only we had to deal with Eggman trying to infiltrate the Brighthouse, but also it seems like he exists on the other world and it's probably even crazier than the one we know," Tails said with a bored expression.
"Yeah, don't mention it..." Sonic said with a bored expression as well, but then his eyes widened as he realized something Tails mentioned. "Wait! Did you just said that Eggman tried to infiltrate while I was out?!"
"Dough!" Tails cried out as he facepalmed. "Me and my stupid mouth..."
"I mean, we were going to tell him anyways, so I don't see why are you so upset," Knuckles told Tails with a neutral expression.
"Well, while you were out trying to not get caught, Eggman here tried to sneak inside the Brighthouse to travel to this other universe too," Zipp explained to him.
"Four times," Misty added.
"We managed to get rid of him, but just to be sure, Tails and Zipp installed a new security system exclusive for Eggman if he ever tries to sneak here again," Knuckles said with a smile.
"...Why am I not surprised that Eggman's still a pain in the ass?" Sonic deadpanned. "Well, I'm glad you are all okay, but... we still have to deal with Egghead, it doesn't matter if we like it or not."
"Right!" Zipp agreed. "He wanted the Emeralds for something for sure, if he was trying so desperately to get them and even travel to an unknown world for him."
"Yeah, but what was he planning?" Sunny questioned.
"Let me correct you: What is he planning?" Hitch said with concern.
"I don't know, and I don't care," Knuckles said honestly with a frown. "Whatever he has on that messed up mind of his, is not good."
"Well, now that I'm back with all the Emeralds, perhaps we can focus on track Baldy McNosehair before he pulls out a... a multiversal weapon or something. At this point, I'm really open minded on what the heck he may create."
Suddenly, Izzy snorted a bit and giggled. "Sorry, but the 'Baldy McNosehair' caught me off guard!"
"Meh, I don't blame you, Izz," Sonic said with a smile. "I reacted like that too."
"Getting back on track..." Misty said with a confused expression. "While you were gone, I looked back to an old diary I used to fill whenever I felt down when I used to work for Opaline and Eggman... I didn't found anything about a possible future plan, but... I do recall hearing him muttering things about wishing to work with someone as smart as him, and he used to say it almost always after speaking with Opaline... Maybe that can help on something?"
"Work with someone as smart as him?" Tails said with concern, also rubbing his chin. "That... sounds familiar..."
"Isn't that what he said when he and his past self got control over Time Eater?" Knuckles asked. "He said that no one is as smart as him, you know..."
"Wait, so... Eggman wants to work with himself? Literally?" Zipp asked confused.
"It's... an hypothesis..." Tails replied with a sheepish smile.
"I said it once, and I'll say it again: This guy takes 'love yourself' to a whole new level..." Hitch said with a frown and bored expression.
Sonic, however, yawned a little bit and stretched. "Look, guys. While I do think we should research more about Eggman's plans, can we please leave it for tomorrow? After filling you up with all that happened, and after that adventure itself, I want to call it a day and take a very deserved nap, okay?"
"Sure thing," Tails said, yawning tiredly as well. "We'll just... talk about it... tomorrow..." He tried to say, but then almost fell to the ground, if it wasn't because Zipp caught him on her back and looked at him with a smile.
"I'll take him to bed. And I'll suggest we should all go to sleep as well," Zipp said.
"Nap time? Sweet!" Knuckles said, now walking towards the bedroom, with Izzy, Misty, Sunny and Zipp, who carried Tails, following behind.
"Sparky already fall asleep here," Hitch said, looking at the baby dragon asleep in one of the couches. "I'm sleeping on the couch tonight," He stated, trotting towards the couch to get himself comfortable.
The only ones left were Sonic and Pipp, with Sonic staring at the window with a smile, while Pipp decided to gave him a kiss, to his surprise. Not that he complained, though, because he really missed her lips, so he returned the short kiss to her and softly caressed her cheek.
"I've missed you a lot, my Blue Star," Pipp told him with a smile and a slight blush.
"I've missed you too, Little Pipp," Sonic confessed, looking at her girlfriend with a sparkle on her eyes. "I... I know that I just got back recently from my 'little' adventure, but––"
Pipp cut him off with another kiss. The truth is that she missed kissing him as well, so she wanted to do it as much as she could. "You want to sleep together, right?" Pipp guessed, while Sonic just nodded with a smile. "Then let's do it."
Sonic decided to carry her in bridal style and boosted towards the bedroom. Once there, they quietly got in Pipp's bed as Sonic took off his shoes and they both made themselves comfortable, with Sonic wrapping Pipp with his arms as his girlfriend nuzzled happily on his chest.
"Little Pipp?" Sonic called out.
"Hmm~?" Pipp said with her eyes closed.
"I love you," Sonic said with a smile.
Pipp opened her eyes and looked at Sonic, smiling back and kissing him once again. "I love you too, Blue Star. It's good that you are back..." She finished, falling asleep.
"Heh... It's good to be back..." Sonic replied smiling, falling in the realm of dreams as well, still hugging his girlfriend.
To be continued...