Earth 2001
"Gotta send her home right now, or so help me... So help me! So help me!~" As Mike sang frantically to himself, Twilight and the others walked alongside Sulley and Boo, following the little green monster to the Laugh Floor of the factory, where all the multiple doors leading to the human world were located.
The transformed unicorn looked up to the big blue monster as he explained, "So, Monsters, Incorporated used to rely on scream power from human kids for energy, but now we collect their laughter instead. It turns out laughter's ten times more powerful." He stopped in his tracks and looked down at Boo, who giggled at him before rushing to the left to catch up to Mike, who had turned to enter the Laugh Floor to get Boo's door. "And we'd never have figured it out without Boo."
"Cool." Sonic commented as he watched Sulley walk into the room to their left.
They all followed and entered as well, but stopped suddenly at what they saw occurring in the Laugh Floor. Inside the room multiple Soulless Ones were destroying the locks holding the doors in place, causing them to malfunction. Two Soulless Commanders were tearing the place apart, almost as if they were searching for something. Connected to the ceiling were conveyor belts with doors hanging off of them. A Soulless Lieutenant dashed upward and destroyed one of the doors in a fit of rage. A few of the Soulless Ones had managed to open the doors, meaning that they now had access to the human world. The screams of the little children on the other side of their respective doors could be heard as the Soulless Ones entered.
And standing in the middle of the room was someone very familiar to a certain werehog. He had a very stocky build. The majority of his upper body was pure red, as was his serpentine tail. He had five-fingered hands that ended with sharp cyan-colored claws. His body from the waist down was pure black in coloration, ending in two-clawed feet with cyan toes. His head was relatively small compared to the rest of his body, and his black lower jaw stuck out, showing off a row of spiked fangs that jutted upwards. The upper half of his head was black save for the red markings around his eyes, which were purple with yellow sclera. The creature had what appeared to be a relatively thick cyan-colored unibrow that formed a vaguely V-shaped crest. Sticking out from the sides of his head, he had two vicious curved horns that were striped in varying shades of dark gray. He also had a large cyan piece of hair sticking out from the back of his head. The creature had two rows of sharp black spikes sticking out of his shoulders. His only attire seemed to be a pair of black bracelets with gray spikes jutting out on his wrists.
Zavok folded his arms as he glared down at a Soulless One, a frown plastered on his face. "I care not for excuses, I want results!" Said the Zeti before he reached down and grabbed the head of the android and lifted it to his eye level. "I don't care if you have to destroy this entire facility, you will find that Element before the night is done." He then tossed the android behind him, scoffing as it scurried away. Then he noticed some unwanted guest from his peripheral vision, enticing him to turn around to greet his guests. When he saw a familiar looking werehog, he smirked, "Well, isn't this interesting. It has been quite some time since our last encounter, hedgehog. I see you've changed your attire, very interesting indeed."
Sonic snarled before composing himself, "Well if it isn't Zavok. Last time I saw you was when me and my friends beat you and Eggman in Dodon Pa's Grand Prix."
The Zeti gritted his teeth before retorting, "Trust me when I tell you that those past mistakes will not be repeated." He clenched his fist and jutted it forward, continuing, "This time you do not have a chance at stopping me. You will face your inevitable destruction by my hands, and your friends shall soon join you in the afterlife."
It was then that Iron Man took a step forward, "Look, save the bad guy speech for someone who cares." He then aimed his Proton Cannon at the Zeti, "Now either shut up and fight or get lost."
"Bah!" Exclaimed Zavok, waving his hand dismissively, "Your threats are as weak as your comrades. I will find what I seek, and then you shall all face your doom." He turned away and prepared to leap into the air, but not before saying, "But for now, keep yourselves entertained with a little warmup. I want you all at full strength once I defeat you." With that, the Zeti leapt into the air and grabbed hold of one of the doors on the conveyor belt, leaving the Laugh Floor as all of the androids turned to face the group of heroes.
"Here we go..." Mario muttered as he raised his fists.
As everyone got ready to fight, Sulley exclaimed, "This is terrible!"
Suddenly, Mike noticed a white door with pink trim adorned with purple flowers making its way out of the room on the conveyor belt above them. "Look! There's Boo's door!" Sulley rushed into the room to help his new friends fight off the Soulless Ones, but Mike stopped him when he noticed Boo run off. "Go get Boo!"
Looking to his left, he noticed the little girl and rushed over to snatch her up into his arms. He then ran over to a workstation and set her down behind it. "We'll have to play another time, Boo. You stay here." When the little girl nodded, Sulley smiled and ran back over with the others, still staring down the army of Soulless Ones marching towards them.
Twilight looked up to Batman and said, "Ready to clean house?"
Batman simply spread out his wings and began flapping them, lifting himself into the air. Taking as a sign to get started, Twilight let loose a blast of magical energy that disintegrated a Soulless One upon impact. She then galloped forward, lighting up her horn to summon two purple jagged saw blades and sent them spinning forward.
Sonic dashed forward on all fours past the saw blades and bit into one of the Soulless Commanders with his sharp maw, tearing it in half. He let out an animalistic growl before he sent it flying into another Soulless Commander, the sheer impact of the two of them colliding destroyed them both.
Twilight looked at her friend with worry, he was never that brutal before. Her worries amplified as raised his head and let loose a howl at the sky.
Iron Man flew forward, firing his his Proton Cannon at a swarm of Soulless Ones, destroying them as Batman flew by right past him. The Dark Knight unsheathed his talons and slashed into any androids he flew past, tearing their heads from their bodies and destroying them.
Mario dashed forward and charged right through a Soulless One with his enhanced strength before jumping into the air and bouncing off of the top of multiple androids, turning them into red mist upon impact. He flipped through the air a few times before punching the ground as he landed, sending forth a red shockwave that destroyed six incoming Soulless Ones. The monstrous plumber looked at his hands as they glowed before clenching them, disabling the newly acquired ability. "Well that's new."
As four Soulless Ones charged towards Mike and Sulley, the blue monster suddenly scooped up his friend in his hands, much to Mike's chagrin. "Wait wait wait!!! Sulley, what are you doing?!" Ignoring his friend's plight, Sulley charged forward and rolled Mike forward like a bowling ball, knocking down the Soulless Ones and sending them flying through the air before they exploded.
As Mike rolled to a stop behind her, Twilight looked on at Sonic as he fought the Soulless Lieutenant. What worried her was how viscous he was acting, how animalistic he was fighting. He clawed, bit, tried to tear it apart. But with each dodge, Sonic grew angrier, snarling before stretching out his right arm and grabbing the android. As it struggled in his grip, Sonic took the chance to hurl it against the wall, creating a spider web crack where it had impacted.
Sonic was already on the android before it could recover, using his claws to tear into its abdomen, ripping out various mechanical parts and circuitry before planting his maw inside of its chest and chewing out what appeared to be its main operating system.
"Sonic! What are you doing?! Stop!" Twilight shouted, trying to get her friends attention. Everyone had stopped what they were doing and had begun to observe the barbaric way Sonic was tearing into the Soulless Lieutenant, watching with a degree of worry.
When Sonic's head turned to her sharply, Twilight let out a gasp at what she saw. Dripping from Sonic's mouth was a black liquid, oil, or something similar. What scared her most was his eyes, they were dilated, small and sharp. He dropped the operating system from his mouth and snarled, actually snarled at the scared unicorn. He began to advance on her, still snarling, causing her to take a step back in fear, before he stopped and shook his head. His eyes returned to normal as his ears fell flat on his head, his head falling in shame.
"T-Twi... I'm...." He tried apologizing before turning away, whimpering as he walked away.
She looked at the werehog and felt sorry for her friend, "What's happening to him?" She thought to herself before the sounds of footsteps behind her caught her attention.
When she turned around she saw Mike rush over to three of the empty door stations, swiping a card at each terminal. He smiled as three doors came sliding into the room on the rail system. They stopped above each station where three mechanical arms extended from the floor, grabbing the doors and pulling them from the rail. They contracted back into the floor and the machines locked the doors in place.
"Rides here!" Mike exclaimed happily, hoping that this would all be over soon. He turned to Twilight as she approached him with a confused look on her face. Mike then said to everyone, "Grab on to the door when you're ready."
Iron Man raised a finger and said, "If it's all the same to you, I'll fly." With that, his rocket thrusters ignited, levitating him into the air.
"As will I." Batman added before taking to the air as well.
Sulley, now with Boo in his arms, approached the group and said, "Works for me."
Sonic approached the station with the green door and jumped onto it, holding onto the top of the door with his hand. He looked to Twilight and offered a hand to help her. She hesitated for a second before placing her hoof into his hand. He heaved her up onto his shoulder.
Mike pressed a button on the terminal and the door lifted back up into the air. Mario then jumped onto the red door station. Sulley, holding Boo, took hold of the yellow door, with Mike grabbing Sulley's tail just as the door lifted off the ground. Boo giggled once the doors latched onto the rail system.
"Boo? Hold on. Don't want you to get hurt." Sulley said to the little girl as Mike climbed onto Sulley's back.
Unbeknownst to them, an invisible figure was skulking around the Laugh Floor as the doors began sliding towards the Door Vault.
"Boo's door, here we come!" Mike exclaimed as they all left the room
"Oh, I just got a great idea." The unseen figure said as he shed his invisible skin. Standing there was a purple, lizard-like monster with green eyes. He had four arms, four legs, and a blue tail, and his "hair" consisted of three pink protuberances on his head.
Randall took out a Walkie Talkie and pressed the button on the side. "Alright, I got you guys in. Now it's time for you to help me get what I want."
A deep, gruffly voice replied, "You're not in a position to negotiate, Boggs." Randall gulped when he realized that he may have overstepped his boundaries. "The deal was that you get us inside, and once we get what we want, then we would give you exactly what you deserve."
"Well just so you know, those guys you warned me about," He leaned in closer to the Walkie Talkie and said, "They're here."
The voice was silent before he chuckled in amusement. "This changes nothing. You have your assignment, as does Zavok. Let him deal with them, you focus on getting me what I want, then you'll get your reward. Don't contact me unless it's important."
With that, Randall let go of the button and sleeked away, plotting his next move.
Twilight could only watch in awe as she and the others, still clinging to the doors clamped to the railway system, entered a gigantic vault where thousands of doors hung on rails, moving from place to place. This must be the place where all the doors originate from. Twilight deduced that they use the conveyor belts are how the doors leave this gigantic vault.
Once they reached the upper levels of the vault, Twilight yelped as Sonic leapt off of the door and landed on one of the many floors in the vault, with the others following their lead and joining them on the platform. As Iron Man and Batman landed, Mike gasped before bolting toward a beige door leaning against the stone column in the center of the platform.
The little monster hurriedly opened the door... only to find a concrete wall behind it.
"It's offline!" He exclaimed before slamming it shut and turning to face the others, "We have to power it up!"
"You will do no such thing."
At the sound of the deep voice, everyone turned around to the edge of the platform, where Zavok rose from the shadowy depths of the vault, riding a massive wasp Badnik. It had a yellow and black abdomen with a sharp, metal stinger at the bottom. It had jet engines to propel it upward, along with red colored wings to stabilize it. It's six legs connected to its torso twitched as its four, red eyes locked onto its enemies.
Zavok smashed his fists together twice before he roared down at the heroes, eyeing Sonic specifically.
Sonic growled as he and the others readied into their battle stances, "Looks like we've gotta deal with him first!" The werehog stated the obvious.
Sulley placed Boo down, motioning for her to hide behind one of the benches on the platform before joining up with the others.
Zavok scoffed as the Death Queen aimed its legs down at the heroes, laser sights being directed from its tips, trying to lock onto any of them. "I can't wait to see how long you all last against this!"
Sonic barked a laugh as he and the others moved around to avoid the Death Queen's targeting system, "Come down here yourself and we'll mop you up real quick."
"Impudent runt!" Zavok retorted, "I'm going to savor watching you suffer!"
The Death Queen then fired four yellow laser beams from its appendages, tracking Sonic as he moved around the platform. "Now!" Sonic shouted to his friends, "While he's distracted!"
"With pleasure!" Shouted Iron Man as he took to the sky, trying to ram Zavok off of his Super Badnik. Unfortunately he didn't count on ramming into a forcefield barrier that protected the Zeti from any outside forces. The barrier sent the Iron Hero spinning back before he fell right into Sulley, sending them both crashing down onto the ground.
As the lasers ceased fire, Twilight took this chance to fire a magic blast at the Badnik, only for it to fly out of the way, making its way to the other side of the platform. She was about to fire again when suddenly five purple, wasp Badniks appeared around her and her friends.
The Buzz Bombers aimed their blasters at everyone before opening fire. Twilight gasped loudly before lighting up her horn, a purple shield with thorns covering it appeared around everyone as the projectiles flew through the air. Once the laser blasts hit the shield, Twilight expanded the shield until it struck the Buzz Bombers, destroying them upon contact.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief until Sulley exclaimed, "Look out!!!" Pointing in front of him.
There, headed right for them, was Zavok and his Death Queen. It's stinger was spinning around in a drill-like motion as it flew across the platform, tearing apart the concrete floor as it flew. Sulley quickly tackled Mike to the floor, moving the both of them out of the way, while Iron Man grabbed Mario and Batman took hold of Twilight and flew them out of the Super Badnik's path.
Sonic snarled as he stretched his arm, grabbing a light post to swing out of danger.
Once Zavok made it to the other side of the platform, Mike looked up from under Sulley's arm and asked, "Is this guy trying to kill us?!"
"What was your first clue?" Sonic replied sarcastically.
Zavok then piloted the Death Queen to the center of the platform, hovering in the air for a few seconds before the Badnik slammed its stinger into the ground. The resulting shockwave sent everyone flying into the air, which gave Mario and Sonic an idea.
They both looked at one another before nodding, clearly thinking the same thing. The werehog scooped the plumber into his hands before spinning around and throwing him like a baseball. The monstrous plumber's hands glowed red as he soared through the air, headed on a collision course for the shield surrounding the Zeti.
As soon as he was close enough, Mario punched the barrier, shattering it instantly and unlodging the stinger from the ground. Zavok stumbled on his mech as Mario landed on the ground. "You're not making this easy, are you?" The Zeti asked before waving his hand dismissively, "No matter. Crushing you all will be all the more satisfying."
The Death Queen aimed its stinger at the platform, spinning around like a drill, before firing it like a projectile, separating from its abdomen. Sonic stretched his arms out and caught the projectile in his hands. He snarled as he spun around in circles before hurling the stinger directly back at the Super Badnik. The stinger lodged itself into the Death Queen's torso, drilling right into it, before tearing the robot in half.
As the Death Queen fell into the dark abyss below, exploding as it descended, Zavok had already leapt off of the wreckage and landed in front of the group. The Zeti rolled his shoulder a few times before smirking and charging forward, jumping into the air and slamming his fist into the ground.
The platform shook as spider web-like cracks formed on the ground. Mike screamed as the floor beneath him crumbled away. Had it not been for Twilight grabbing him in her magic, the little monster would've fallen into the abyss.
Sonic charged forward on all fours before meeting Zavok in the middle, the Zeti having shoulder charged him to the ground. The villain looked behind him and turned around, blocking a punch from Iron Man with his hand. But before Zavok could do anything, Tony fired his Proton Cannon into his face, stunning him as he rubbed scorched face.
It was then that Batman swept down and kicked him in the back, causing him to stumble. Zavok turned around and backhanded Batman out of the air, only for Twilight to grab his tail with her magic. She tugged on his tail before raising him overhead and slamming him into the ground. She let go, but not before firing a magical blast from her horn that struck him in the back as he tried to get up.
The Zeti staggered, but recovered as Sulley ran towards him. The monster and the Zeti interlocked hands, both of them growled in each others faces as they fought to overpower one another. Zavok was seemingly overpowering Sulley, as he had already brought the monster to one knee.
Zavok chuckled, but let out a surprised grunt as he felt something jump on his shoulders. Little green hands covered his eyes, distracting him long enough for Sulley to gain an advantage. The blue monster looked up and saw that it was Mike on top of the Zeti's shoulders. Sulley smirked before batting away Zavok's hands and delivering a punch to the villain's chest, which sent him sliding backwards.
Mike jumped off his back and landed behind him, making a quick getaway before the villain could recover.
Sonic let out a howl before stretching out his arms and grasping his foe by the shoulders. He then brought Zavok towards him, the momentum causing the villain to turn one hundred and eighty degrees, which turned him to face Sonic. The werehog then clotheslined Zavok with his arm, causing him to flip a few times before he landed on the concrete floor, battered and beaten.
Zavok spat out some concrete from his mouth as rose to one knee. He turned his head around to face his foes, only to see them looming over him. He slammed his fist onto the ground in frustration, "NO! How could I lose to the likes of you again?!"
Sonic chuckled, "That was a blast!" He folded his arms over his chest and said, "Bring some Chilidogs next time!"
The Zeti growled before getting to his feet and jumping away.
Twilight let out a startled gasp as she saw Zavok fly through the air. He grabbed hold of one of the passing doors and rode it out of the vault, making his quick getaway from the heroes.
Sulley snapped his fingers in frustration, "He got away!"
Waving his hand nonchalantly, Sonic simply said, "Leave him, we'll catch him later." He then turned around and smirked, "Besides, we have a little girl to get home, don't we?"
"Kitty!"
Turning around, Sulley saw Boo running towards him with a smile. He chuckled as he reached down to scoop her up in his arms. He rubbed his hand against her cheek before turning to Sonic, "You're right, Sonic. Let's get this little one home."
With that in mind, they all made their way towards the beige door leaning against the column holding up the platform. They all stopped in front of the door, eyeing it curiously, before Batman asked, "You said we need to power up this door. How do we do that?"
Turning to the Dark Knight, Mike replied, "We gotta make Boo laugh to open the door."
"Seriously?" Batman asked, not believing it at all.
Sulley chuckled as he set Boo down and walked over to Mike. "Watch and learn." He said before grabbing Mike in his hands, much to his friend's chagrin. Then, without warning, he began bouncing the round sized monster up and down off of the ground like a basketball, all the while Mike yelped for his friend to quit it.
This of course got Boo giggling up a storm.
Heck even Twilight couldn't help but giggle at the sight, her hoof covering her mouth. She looked to her left and saw Mario and Sonic smirking at the sight.
Batman was not amused.
Typical.
As Boo giggled joyfully, the red light above the door lit up, signifying that it was sufficiently powered. Sulley walked over and opened it, revealing the pathway inside. "Boo's door should be through here. Come on." He said before picking up Boo and running through, with the others following close behind.
Being the last one, Mario closed the door behind him, blissfully unaware that Randall was hanging on the outside of the door. Dropping his camouflage, he raised his head to check and see if the coast was clear. Once he was sure nobody was around, he opened the door and silently followed them into the beige door.
Mike was confused.
Like really confused.
This didn't make any sense, they should've been further into the Door Vault. So what the heck were they doing standing further into the factory? Everyone looked around in confusion, clearly thinking the same as Mike and, presumably, Sulley. "Wait! How'd we take a wrong turn?"
Batman took note that something wasn't right here, they weren't supposed to be here. He then heard something shuffle behind them. They weren't alone.
"Who cares?" A sudden voice sounded out from behind them. They all turned around to face the door, only to see a pair of eyes and a mouth. Randall then revealed himself as he declared, "All that matters is that it's the last turn you losers are ever gonna take."
"Randall?!" Sulley exclaimed as both he and Mike glared disdainfully at him.
"Who's this clown?" Tony asked, gesturing to the monster with his thumb.
"A creep we banished for trying to collect screams by force. He used to be Boo's scarer." Sulley explained as the little girl in his arms glared at the monster, trying out her own cute little roar.
"How did you even get back here? The door we sent you through is sawdust!" Mike said, reminding him of his previous defeat.
Randall waved him off, "Yeah, and I almost got turned into somebody's wallet. Lucky for me, two real nice guys came along and fixed the door. So here I am."
"I'm guessing Zavok was one of them?" Sonic guessed, folding his arms.
"He was one of them. The other guy is around here somewhere, doing his own thing."
Batman then said, "You must've planted that door there prior to our fight. You don't want us finding Boo's door."
"You're not wrong, loser. But that doesn't matter now, no, what does matter, is that starting today, I'm numero uno! Top of the leaderboard, baby." He then got into Mike's face and flashed him a smug grin.
Mike proceeded to laugh in his face, "Ha! You, a top laugh collector? In your dreams Randall. My laugh totals are off the charts."
Randall dropped the grin as he turned away from his foe, "Who said anything about collecting laughs? I'm after negative emotions." He folded his four arms behind his back as he continued, "And my new factory friends have kindly invaded the factory to get 'em for me."
"The Soulless Ones?" Mario guessed.
Randall shivered slightly, "Yeah, creeeeepy name. But I digress." He turned to them and smiled smugly, "All I gotta do is help them get something that they want, and then they'll help me get what I want. Y'see, Laughter's just not sustainable. Once junior chorts his last chortle, you've gotta start over. But negative energy? Especially sadness? Give 'em something that really breaks their little hearts, and they'll stay sad forever. We'll never have to worry about energy again."
At this point, Twilight had had enough of Randall's crap, so she decided to put her hoof down... literally. She stamped her hoof and declared, "We're not gonna let you hurt anypony like that!"
Randall scoffed and crossed his second pair of arms, "Just try and stop me. You'll see soon enough. I am gonna be a legend around this place." He then pointed and Sulley and Mike, "Now, consider your careers officially over."
"What?!" Mike exclaimed in shock.
"And that goes for the rest of you, too." With that, Randall walked away and camouflaged, making his escape.
"Hey!" Twilight shouted, but it was too late. "Where'd he go?" She asked, turning around to face her friends.
Suddenly, the factory intercom screeched to life as Randall's voice sounded off throughout Monster's, Incorporated. "We're in control of this factory now. And I suggested a few improvements--some real doozies I just know you're gonna love. In fact, you're not getting out of here alive."
Mike grinded his teeth together, declaring, "That weasel means business! He'll never quit."
"We have got to get Boo to safety first. Then, we can take care of Randall." Sulley said, reminding them all of their current objective. "Time to find a way out!"
As everyone ascended a flight of stairs, making their way up towards the upper levels of the factory, a certain werehog couldn't help but feel... cold. Stressed. Unnerved. All of the above. The last time he felt anything like this was when he was travelling around the world with Chip, or rather Light Gaia, to literally piece the planet back together.
That was the first time he became the werehog, because of the darkness from Dark Gaia that resided within him thanks to Eggman using the Chaos Emeralds to wake him up from his slumber too early. Whenever he was in this form before, he had to fight off Dark Gaia's influence from taking him over.
And now it seemed that he had to do it again, although it seemed a lot harder this time around. Maybe it was because this was his natural form in this dimension? Maybe Chip helped him last time in some way? Or maybe it was because he had no idea where his friends were taken, and that he was powerless to save them.
Sonic gritted his teeth in frustration, tightening his grip on the hand railing, his enhanced strength crushing the metal beneath his hand. He shook his head after releasing the railing, he had to focus. His friends were fine.
...Right?
He pressed forward with the others as they left the stairwell and entered another room. Inside this room was a massive conveyor belt with all sorts of metals and ironworks planted on it. As the party walked cautiously across the room, two hatches on the ceiling opened up as two mounted machine guns hung down from the ceiling.
Mike, Sulley, and Twilight gasped while everyone else readied themselves.
"A-Are those MACHINE GUNS?!" Mike asked, clearly freaking out.
The lasers on the guns lit up and honed in onto the group, enticing Iron Man to move to the front of the group to protect them. "Get behind me!" Tony ordered, knowing that his armor could withstand the bullets. One everyone had hidden behind him, the machine guns opened fire upon the Invincible Iron Man.
The bullets bounced off his armor, but the guns didn't let up in their assault. Having had enough of this, Tony aimed his Proton Cannon upwards and fired a laser blast at one of the turrets. Once the first gun was destroyed, he aimed at the second and blew it up with ease.
Once the coast was clear, everyone slowly walked out from behind Iron Man as he turned around and gestured to the destroyed guns. "You're welcome." He said smugly as Mike and Sulley both let out a sigh of relief.
"Machine guns! MACHINE GUNS!!!" Mike exclaimed as he turned to Sulley. "Has Randall completely lost it?!"
"Something tells me that he wasn't the one responsible for this." Batman deduced. "Looks like his partners have been busy."
"This must be what Randall meant by 'improvements.'" Sulley guessed.
Iron Man adjusted his Proton Cannon as he said, "Alright, you two and Boo stay behind us." He then turned away from them and faced forward, "Something tells me that that isn't the last of Randall's 'improvements.'"
"Right." Sulley agreed while Mike nodded.
As they traversed the room, Mike, Sulley, and Boo stayed behind Iron Man, seeing as how he was the largest, while the other heroes dealt with any further 'improvements.' Speaking of which, two more turrets shot up from beneath the floor and aimed right in on them.
Twilight quickly lit up her horn and fired a magical blast at one gun while Mario dashed forward and tore the gun from the floor with his bare hands. Two more guns showed themselves on both sides, hanging from the ceiling and ready to fire. Batman took to the air and slashed one off the ceiling with his claws while Sonic stretched his arm upward and tore it from the ceiling.
That was when they made a run for it, they had to get out of there while they still could. It was then that four more guns appeared; two on the ceiling and two more on the floor. Iron Man stood front and center as his Arc Reactor began to charge, with Twilight standing beside him, charging her horn.
Before the guns could open fire, both Twilight and Iron Man fired their respective laser blasts. They combined into one navy blue projectile that destroyed all the turrets once it exploded in the middle of them all.
Once the dust settled, Sulley peeked out from behind Tony's back, seeing that the worst was over. "Coast is clear. Go!" With that, they made their way into the next room, with the shutter door slamming shut behind them.
"Yeah, well, that was just a warm-up. The real fun's just starting!" Said Randall over the intercom, acting as if them escaping was part of the plan.
Once they made it into the next room, they all thought that they were in the clear.
But apparently not as four Soulless Ones fell out of a singular portal that hovered in the center of the room.
"Surprise, losers!" Shouted Randall as the Soulless Ones charged forward.
Mario wasted no time in dashing forward and tackling an android to the ground while Sonic pounced on another, baring his sharp teeth. Batman glided through the air and kicked one android down as Twilight shot one down with the magic from her horn.
The plumber grabbed the android by its left leg and spun it around a few times before letting it go. It smashed against the wall and turned into red mist. Sonic bit one in half with his jaws, his eyes becoming narrow slits again. He quickly snapped out of it once he realized that he had gone feral again. Twilight levitated two Soulless Ones into the air and held them there while Batman tore through them with his claws, turning them into red mist.
Once the battle was over they made their way out of the room and took a left, following the hallway until they came across a yellow elevator at the end of the hall.
Mario approached it, ready to go in, but when the doors didn't open he sighed exasperatedly, "Great. The power's out again." Mike approached his right, observing the elevator with his big, round eye, tapping his chin in thought.
"Okay! We know what to do." Said the green monster before he looked around the room, clearly trying to find something that could help them in their time of need. "Gotta find..." He uttered to himself before smiling as his eye laid upon a room with the words 'Painting Booth' written above the doors. "Bingo!"
Everyone looked on in confusion, wondering how this would help in any way.
"Uh, Mike? How's that supposed to help?" Sulley asked.
Mike ran towards the door and chuckled, shaking his torso/head before waving Sulley towards him with a sly look. Sulley approached and bent down at Mike's command. The green monster whispered his plan into Sulley's ear, and the blue fur ball nodded with artful approval.
"Heh, that's good!"
"Yep, take it away!"
But Sulley shook his head as he walked past Mike and grabbed him by the top of his head, "Nice try, Mikey. I'm not doin' this alone!"
"Hey! You, not me. C'mon... Sulley!" Tried as he might, Mike could not struggle out of Sulley's grasp. "No. Stop! Sul-ley! Not what I had in miiind!" The doors then closed on him and the lights turned on in the booth. Twilight and the others waited outside with Boo while the machine buzzed and whirred. Once it was done, a bell chimed and the doors opened again. Then out strides a miffed Mike covered in blue and pink paint followed by a similarly-painted Sulley. Sulley smirked, nudging Mike. Boo then pointed at them and laughed along with Twilight suppressing a giggle behind her hoof and the lights to the elevator then flickered on.
Sonic turned to the now open elevator and smirked, "It's on! Nice work, guys!"
They all then went inside the elevator before the doors closed. Mike pressed a button on the panel and before they knew it, they were riding up to the second floor of the facility.
Randall stood in the communications room, rubbing his hands together with anticipation. "It's only a matter of time..."
Suddenly the doors behind him opened up, giving him the incentive to turn around and face the music. Standing in the doorway was a shadowed figure, his one eye glaring daggers at the monster. "Report!" He commanded.
Randall gulped, sweat dripping down the side of his head as he nervously approached the figure, "W-Well the good news is that I've managed to stall those losers long enough to have your... pals search for whatever it is that you want."
"And the bad news?"
Boggs looked away nervously, "T-They haven't found it yet." He was then suddenly grasped by the neck and pulled to eye level with the figure, his windpipe being crushed by the figure's hand.
"No more delays." The figure said with an eerily calm tone of voice. "Find the Foundation Element, kill the Batman and his friends, and make sure that this remains quite. We don't want any further attention drawn to us." He then shoved Randall to the floor and began to walk away, but not before turning his head and asking, "Am I clear?"
Randall nodded weakly as the figure walked out of the room, the doors closing behind him. "Of course, Mister Wilson."