> Sonic The Hedgehog x My Little Pony: Make Your Mark - Season 4 > by BronySonicFan > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "The Multiverse. A coarse layer of space and time, aligned in different realities with their own norms and qualities." A bright light shone over before revealing a strange place: a background with the combination of red, black and blue colors could've be seen, as well as thousands of white curves and lines moving like a river's stream. "Every universe works on it's own. Every reality is different within each other. However... Realities often collide, putting the fate of every other dimension at stake." One of the lines suddenly began to bend, until it crashed against one of the curves. Several of other lines and curves began to crash within each other, and some of them even merged to form part of the same existential plane. "Fortunately, this crashes happen to be a temporary thing, since the universes return to their original state after the purpose of this clash was fulfilled." Some of the lines and curves began to divide, until they separated completely and became independent from each other. "But, what happens when two worlds interact way too long? What happens when their realities are separated, but their inhabitants aren't? What happens... when someone seeks for more power, and is willing to tear apart the walls between realities to fulfill their desire? Well..." Suddenly, from one of the white lines, Sonic began to fall towards another one as he screamed in fear and panic. However, something was different with him. Physically, he was the same, not so much can be done about that, but his clothes were different: His gloves were fingerless and black, and they had some circular artifacts on the back of the hands; while his shoes looked like black boots with some spikes in front and the same circular artifact on the back of the ankle. "Why does traveling across the multiverse has to be such a horrible experience?!" Sonic shouted in panic as he traversed the line he was falling towards. "This story covers that. Is a story about how a man's desire for greatness, caused a hero living in a different world than his to travel across the entire multiverse by mistake. A mistake, that could destroy reality as we know it..." Universe 101010 Twilight was organizing all the books on the Castle of Friendship as usual. There wasn't a lot happening in Equestria, lately. In fact, nothing has been that interesting for a while: Applejack was doing her chores with her family as usual; Rarity was on her boutique, probably selling or making dresses; Pinkie Pie was... well, Pinkie is always doing something crazy and wacky that defies any logical explanation, so is hard to tell what exactly could she be doing; Rainbow Dash was probably with the Wonderbolts; and Fluttershy was attending her sanctuary with Discord. Again, nothing that interesting. Yet, she wouldn't change it for anything. Defeating villains to save Equestria already became a common thing for the past few years, so having a little period of time to relax and not worry about an enemy suddenly attacking Equestria was nice. But if everything was so quiet and peaceful, and she actually liked that, then... why she had the feeling something was utterly wrong? She shook her head to put those thoughts aside. It was probably nothing. Everything was working well so far, right? That wouldn't change. "It's okay, Twilight..." She told herself, taking a few deep breaths and smiling as she levitated another book to the shelf. "Nothing is going to happen. Everything is just fine!" BOOM ...Alright, maybe she spoke too soon. "Me and my big mouth..." Twilight deadpanned, before moving towards an open window and look around to search the origin of the noise. She looked down on Ponyville and saw nothing out of the normal, but when she lifted her head, she saw a blue strike falling from the sky towards the Castle. Soon enough, the blue strike began to scream, and the screams became more and more louder as it approached... but thankfully, the strike kept falling and crashed in the floor, just in the front door of the castle. Twilight raised an eyebrow confused, then she made her horn light up to teleport right to the entrance of the castle, with Spike and Starlight coming out from the door. "Did anypony else heard that?!" Starlight asked. "Twilight, what's going on?" Spike asked with worry. Twilight extended her wings as a reply, and both Spike and Starlight decided to stay quiet for now. Then, the three of them heard somepony groaning in pain, and they all saw a blue creature standing up, grabbing their head and shaking it. The blue creature seemed to have large quills on their head, green eyes, arms and legs like a human being, brown gloves with a circular artifact on the back of their hands, and brown explorer boots with the same circular artifacts in the back of their ankle. The creature shook their head once again and looked around for a while, before stopping their sight on Twilight, who looked at him confused and shocked, as well as Spike and Starlight. "What the––" The creature muttered, and then his eyes widened. "Twilight Sparkle?!" Twilight gulped at hearing her name came out of the creature's voice. "I-I'm sorry... Do I know you?" She asked. "How do you know my name?" "Oh man..." The creature said. "If Sunny was here, she could explain everything better than I–– Who am I kidding? She'll be fangirling over her hero instead of focusing." Oh, yeah, he sounds like a male, so it's sure to say he's a man. "You haven't answered my questions––" Twilight pointed out with a little frown, but the creature raised a hand and made her stop talking. "You want the short version, or the incredibly long and detailed one?" the creature asked. "I think the short version will be enough," Twilight replied with a raised eyebrow. "Alright: I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog," The creature, Sonic, presented himself. "I come from a different universe where a crazy maniac I like to call Eggman has found something to brake the multiverse apart, and I accidentally ended up being the guinea pig. Now, I'm stuck traveling all across the multiverse while I try to go back home, but instead, I always end up on a different dimension... like this one..." Twilight, Spike and Starlight were speechless after hearing all of that, specially Twilight. "D-Different universes?" Twilight asked in shock. "Multiverse?!" Starlight shouted in disbelief. "You're a hedgehog?" Spike asked confused. "Really? The entire multiverse could be collapsing right now, and you're shocked because I'm a hedgehog?" Sonic deadpanned to the dragon. "I'm sorry, the multiverse is WHAT NOW?!" Twilight shouted desperate. "But you might be wondering: How? How did this began in the first place? How is that this guy named Sonic ended up traveling all across the multiverse by mistake? What is going on, in the first place? Well, to answer all of this, we must go back to the very beginning..." Universe 220822 On his lab, Eggman was walking back and forth as he held a book. Not so far, Sage had her eyes closed, touching one side of Eggman's computer that glitched to her touch. "To understand how everything went downhill... We must start here, on Dr. Eggman's hidden laboratory in Equestria, were his daughter's discovery started the fall of the multiverse..." Eggman has been searching the past few months for a power source that can literally tear apart the wall that separates this reality from any other one, a power that can afford him the ability to travel across universes. With the Chaos Emeralds on Team Sonic's power, Eggman had no choice but look after a different power source if he wanted to gain access to other realities. Thankfully, he created a new body for Sage, and now she's twice as useful and helpful as she was when Cyberspace transformed her program into a living being. "I'm so glad to have you here, Sage," Eggman confessed with a smile, but still looking at the book he was holding. "To tell the truth, getting a new body for you was pretty difficult, but... it was worth it. You are my greatest creation, and I couldn't stand the idea of loosing you, so... having you here, by my side... feels surreal to me." Sage opened her eyes and looked at Eggman for a second, before smiling warmly at him. "I'm glad to hear that, father," She said. "I just wish I could have been here before, physically, to help you out better." "No need to apologize, dear," Eggman assured. "If anything, my recent failures have opened my mind a bit: If I wanna defeat that hedgehog, first I'll have to conquer any world to prove him how superior I really am." "Father... I know you answered this on Cyberspace, but... Why do you keep respecting Sonic the same way you hate him?" Sage asked confused, as she retired her hand from the computer, that shut down after she did that. "I get you are enemies and it's a common thing, but... why not just finish him off directly?" Eggman put the book aside and rubbed his chin with a raised eyebrow. "Hmm... perhaps I could explain to you why this is so important. Alright, kid. Listen closely: Sonic is a formidable foe. He's a pest that loves to make stupid and unfunny jokes, true: But he's a great fighter. He doesn't use his speed to run away, no: He turns it into a weapon! He's smart, he has courage, and he's willing to stop me even if could cost his own life!" "Just like how he handled the Cyber Corruption... even if it was killing him..." Sage remarked. "Perfect example, Sage!" Eggman said with pride. "He's that formidable! If only he didn't messed up with my plans, perhaps we could actually hang around the same way he hangs with Shadow. But since we are enemies, I need to prove myself to be just as formidable! The Death Egg Titan was, probably, the nearest I've ever been to fulfill my dream, but he still ruined everything." "So... you wanna be at his level?" Sage asked. "That's one way to see it," Eggman replied. "I don't want him death, even though I've been close to murder him a few times. I want to prove him that I'm superior, that I'm better than him! Conquering everything he knows and loves and crush it before his eyes! And after all of that... I don't know. Maybe I will kill him, or just turn him into a robot, only time will tell!" Sage placed a hand on her chin, thinking about everything she heard, and comparing the new data with all the one she just downloaded from Eggman's computer. After processing all the data for a couple of seconds, she opened her eyes with a determinate look and a smile towards Eggman. "I think I have something that might help you with you wish, father." Eggman raised an eyebrow again at her. "Proceed." Sage made her hand glow, and one of the many books spread on the ground floated, opened in a page, and then it moved towards Eggman, who grabbed the book and took a closer look at the object he was looking at: Some kind of weird looking prism of four different colors, these ones being red, green, yellow and blue. "This is the Paradox Prism," Sage began to explain. "According to all the data I gathered, it's a legendary prism with the ability to tear apart the invisible wall that separates this reality from any other one." Eggman's eyes widened and he looked between the image of the prism and Sage. "I'm sorry, what?!" He shouted in surprise, but also in disbelief. "The Prism has powerful abilities that go beyond imagination," Sage began to explain. "It is powerful enough to destroy every wall between this world and any other one. If you had this in your power, you could travel to any world you wanted with no problem! You could conquer many worlds were Sonic does not exist, or even join forces with your counterparts across the entire multiverse!" Eggman saw the image in awe, and an evil grin was drawn over his face. "Dear, could you please do that thing of yours?" Sage grinned back, and with just moving one hand, she made an hologram of the Paradox Prism be projected, which made Eggman's grin grow bigger, if that's even possible. "With this Prism... I could not only conquer my world and Equestria... every single reality in existence could be at the palm of my hand..." Eggman said with joy, then he turned to see Sage and he caressed softly her head. "Good job, my girl. Now, prepare searching units! We must find this Prism and explode all it's capabilities!" "Yes, father!" Sage replied. > 1. Into the Multiverse > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Universe 220822 Critters all cross Equestria were just hopping around or eating peacefully. Suddenly, a blue blur passed by at top speed and startled the poor critters. Said blur was running around in circles and collecting some golden floating rings that started to appear around Equestria a few months ago. The blue blur became clear, and it revealed himself as Sonic, who smirked and kept running all across Equestria. "Hello, beloved audience from the internet! I'm pretty sure many of you already know this, but to those who don't, let's make a quick recap... My name is Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog! You might heard about me: Big blue hedgehog, red shoes, white gloves, green eyes, a smirk that never ceases, the fastest thing alive in an extremely handsome package... Ring a bell? For the past two years of my life, I've been living in this world named Equestria, a magical land full of any kind of creatures, but mostly talking and colorful ponies. How did I end up here? Well, we should introduce someone else first: Dr. Eggman, or as he's actually called, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, is a mad man that's obsessed with creating an Empire that looks like him... that is an entire place full of egg-shaped head people, or that's what I tell myself to keep my nerves under control. He created a machine to travel across dimensions and sent me here by mistake. Eventually, my two best friends, Tails and Knuckles, arrived as well, and we all been living here to stop Eggman from any twisted plan he has against the inhabitants of this magical land. And now that I mentioned them, let's introduce them properly: Miles Prower, or as everyone calls him, Tails, is a young fox with the smartest brain I ever met. He has two tails that he spins around at fast paste to lift himself off the ground and lots of useful gadgets he uses to fight against Eggman. Also, he's my little brother and my best friend! On the other hand, we have Knuckles. He's a tough guy, although he has a soft side once you know him better. He loves to kick Eggman's ass the most. Heck, even more than me! Getting on his nerves is pretty easy, but most of the time he knows is not with bad intentions... most of the time. Oh yeah, we also have some ponies to introduce, or as we like to call them: the Mane 6. This little group is formed by Sunny, and earth pony mare that can transform into an Alicorn whenever she wants; Izzy, a way too optimistic Unicorn mare that loves to create stuff with anything she can find, not to mention she's the only one who could get through Knuckles' heart and conquer him; Hitch, an Earth Pony stallion that attracts animals just by existing, sheriff of Maretime Bay, father of a little dragon named Sparky, and is also in love with Sunny; Zipp, heiress princess of the Zephyr Heights throne, loves to solve mysteries, fly around and is Tails' girlfriend... marefriend... how is is pronounced, anyways? Ugh, whatever. She's his lover, okay? Misty is also part of our group, too. She used to work with Eggman before, as well with an evil Fire Alicorn named Opaline. And even if she reformed, up to this very day, she's not only still trying to make up for all the times she was spying on us, but she also still believes that Eggman can change and be a good guy... It may be a silly dream at this point, but... I gotta admit that I myself believe the same as her... And finally, my favorite pony and my lover: Pipp Petals, princess of Zephyr Heights, Zipp's younger sister, singer, dancer, runs her own salon, beautiful, gorgeous... did I mentioned she's my favorite? Pretty sure I did. We also have Amy, a pink hedgehog with an insanely heavy hammer; Shadow, an experiment of Eggman's grandfather that was freeze'd for 50 years until Eggman set him free; Rouge, a bat thief that says to be good, but I'm pretty sure at this point that she has stolen some stuff from us, even if she denies it; and E-123 Omega, or as we simply call him, Omega, a robot that Eggman created but abandoned for reasons, and now he hates Eggman... like, a lot... These four people also come from the same world than Tails, Knuckles and I. Together, we tear apart Eggman's plans to take over Mobius and Equestria! Like that time we stopped him from stealing the Wishing Star, or the time I transformed into Super Sonic to destroy a titanic version of the Death Egg Robot! It was awesome! Yeah, there's also that time he activated ancient tech and made me fight 3 Titans to free'd my friends from a digital world, and in return, I ended up being controlled by the same living being that made my ancestors and my mentor's ancestors to move to a different world, that being Mobius, along the Chaos Emeralds, since their originated from this dimension, apparently. Long story short: Eggman screw it, I found out things about my real family and I blowed up a snake that hatched from a purple moon... along with Eggman's digital daughter... yeah, everything but the last part was cool. You should go see that story one day if you want. The latest things Eggman has done? Well, he tried to infect all the world with a plague he named Metal Virus, and an evil Alicorn named Queen Opaline Arcana stoled his plan. But, thanks to Tails' and Zipp's efforts, we cured everyone and defeated her. After that, he tried to steal the Chaos Emeralds, but he sent them to a parallel world were the Mane 6 but Misty (along other ponies from all across Equestria) were actually humans... and some of them were assholes. Still, I managed to get the Emeralds back after a little adventure along the human counterparts of Zipp and Pipp. Now days? We mostly tear apart any plan Eggman has on store for us! That's just how we work: Eggman tries to conquer the world, and we always kick his ass and save the day! Because when you have amazing friends like mine, there's nothing that can stop you!" After running all around Equestria, Sonic decided to return to his home in the Crystal Brighthouse, located on Maretime Bay. Unfortunately, he didn't noticed that, from a mountain in the distance, a figure was looking at him. "Father..." Sage called out. "He's going towards Maretime Bay." "Go back with the excavation team in that case, Sage," Eggman instructed. "I need to sent some units to mess up with that hedgehog and his friends." "As you command," Sage replied, and then she disappeared from there. NOW it was her who didn't noticed a pair of white ears and black wings coming out from a bush behind her, then the figure boosted out and towards the air. The Chaos Emeralds rested on a pedestal, protected by a magical shield. After Eggman tried to steal them from Team Sonic, causing them to travel to the parallel human world of Equestria, Tails and Zipp designed this magical protected pedestal where the Emeralds could rest and not being touched until they were actually required. It meant that Shadow was forced to use Chaos Control with no Emeralds, and that Sonic couldn't use them either even if he wanted. However, they all agreed that it was the best for everyone that the Emeralds remained not only in one safe place, but also locked down so Eggman couldn't take them. That way, even if he tries to take the Emeralds again, he'll be forced to find a way to take the shield down, which both Tails and Zipp made sure won't be an easy task. But despite this being a good thing, Sonic still felt unsure. He was looking at them with his arms crossed and a worried frown, also tapping his arm with his right index finger. Since the shield around the emeralds could reflect, he saw the figure of a pink pegasus with a purple mane joining him soon enough. "Blue Star?" Pipp called out with a worried tone and expression. Sonic sighed heavily and closed his eyes, before sitting down in the floor with his legs crossed. "Hey, Little Pipp..." Pipp sat down at his side and covered his back with a wing, laying her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. Soon enough, Sonic rested his head over hers, and whatever's been bothering him seemed to left, because he allowed himself to smile and relax at the simple touch of his girlfriend. After a few seconds of silence, Pipp opened her eyes and kissed Sonic's cheek before speaking. "I know you well enough, Blue Star. And I can tell that's something's bugging you." Sonic scratched his cheek and looked around, smirking playfully as he felt Pipp deadpanning at him. "Nah, I think you're seeing things," He replied in a mocking tone. Pipp smirked back and began to nuzzle on his chest. "Sonic~" "P-Pipp, I-I'm serious when I say––" Sonic tried to say as he chuckled, but Pipp kept nuzzling on him. "Can you tell me what's bugging you~? Pwease~?" Pipp said in a childish and flirty tone. "Gosh, I thought you were a lot more mature than I, Miss Petals~" Sonic replied with another chuckle, and then he sighed in defeat. "Alright... you win... something is bothering me." Pipp stopped and she lifted her head to face Sonic. She felt a bit heartbroken when she saw sadness and worry on his green emerald eyes. "Sonic... can you tell me what's wrong?" Pipp asked with worry. Sonic sighed again, placed his hands on her cheeks, caressed them softly and smiled weakly. "...I... I guess I've been overthinking again..." He confessed, before looking back at the Chaos Emeralds. "Those things... my people said I was chosen to defeat The End, but... Sage did that... and my mother believed I was destined to so much more... I guess... I'm just wondering why me of all people. I always considered myself as a random guy who just happened to be there when Eggman kidnapped all those creatures... I never guessed it could take me where I am right now..." "So... You're worried that something worse than The End could happen?" Pipp asked. "Among other things, yeah..." Sonic admitted, before looking back at her and kiss her forehead with a smile. "But... everything I lived made me arrive here and meet you, Princess Petals, so it was totally worth it~" He said in a flirty tone, and Pipp unconsciously blushed after hearing that. "And you know what? I'll do it all over again if that means I can fall in love with you just like the first time~" Pipp's wings opened, and her heart began to bump at fast paste. She didn't hesitated and gave Sonic a proper kiss, while Sonic wrapped his arms around her and got carried away with the feeling. Sometimes, Pipp herself wondered if she could love Sonic more than she already does, but whenever he said things like this one is where she realized that she not only loved him more and more everyday, but she also felt like she was falling for him just like the very first time. Unfortunately for them, someone cleared their throat, and they had to separate from their kiss and turn to see Tails looking at them with a sheepish smile. "S-Sorry to interrupt you, guys..." Tails apologized with shame. "B-But we have a situation... An 'Eggman' situation..." Sonic sighed with frustration, and Pipp rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I was thinking this was too good to last forever..." Sonic complained, before standing up and helping Pipp to stand up as well. "Alright, little bro. Lead the way!" Sage was supervising the excavation team on a mountain, far away from any city in Equestria. Two giant machines were drilling a part of the mountain apart, while other two, variants of Big Arms on auto pilot mode, were trying to tear apart the wholes to open a path in the mountain. "The Paradox Prism is hidden behind these caves," Sage said. "We must find the way to get through this rocks to get the Prism for father." She then snapped her fingers, which made the machines start to work at a faster paste, with the drillers digging through the mountain faster and with the Big Arms putting on more strength to open up the mountain. From a bush that was a few meters away, Rouge popped her head and took out some binoculars to check on Sage and spy what was she doing... or who she was in general, and why was she working with Eggman. Soon enough, Eggman arrived as well in his Eggmobile, which he turned off and got down to stand at Sage's side. "Any progress so far?" Eggman asked. "Slow, unfortunately, but the cracks are growing up," Sage reported. "If my calculations are correct, the entrance should be open in at least two weeks." Eggman frowned, and he was about to scold Sage, but she raised her hand, and he immediately shut up, which surprised Rouge. "However, I'm totally aware that we don't dispose that much time before the plan gets discovered," Sage stated. "That's why I'm considering other alternatives, but... I still have nothing so far." "Whoever this girl is... she can keep the doctor quiet... Impressive..." Rouge muttered. "It's okay, dear daughter," Eggman said, and now Rouge's jaw dropped to the floor after hearing that. "We'll find our way to get through this mountain..." Rouge ducked behind the bush again and covered her mouth. 'The doctor has a daughter?!' She questioned on her mind in disbelief. "Hmm... actually... I might have an idea now," Eggman said suddenly. "Can you create a power amplifier with those powers of yours, dear?" Sage simply lifted her hand, and soon enough, the requested artifact was on the floor. "Splendid!" Eggman stated with a grin. "Now, sent it to the Egg Beater I sent on pilot mode to defeat that pesky hedgehog and company." Sage nodded and did so, and once the artifact disappeared, Rouge decided to leave by flight to try and warn everyone else, since she was instructed to do this mission with no communication device in case Eggman noticed. Unfortunately, he did noticed her, because once Rouge left, he grinned even more. Sage, however, gasped on she saw Rouge flying away. "S-She's been here the whole time?!" Sage asked on disbelief, and lifted her hand to attack. However, Eggman carefully placed his hand on her arm and denied with his head. "Let her go, sweetheart. Her warning the rest is exactly what we need," He stated, but Sage looked at him confused. "You'll understand soon enough." The doctor then brought out a disc with his face and walked towards the crack on the mountain, where he placed the disc and pressed his face, that turned on in yellow. Sage looked on the direction where Rouge escaped with concern, but decided to nod anyways, since she trusted Eggman with her life. The Egg Beater was back. This time, it was fighting off against Sonic, Shadow, Sunny and Amy alone on a hill near a mountain, while everybody else was dealing with the badniks. "Come on, Egghead! Show us what you got!" Sonic mocked up with a confident smirk, as he destroyed some missiles the machine launched with his Spindash. "That's the spirit, rodent... the spirit of a loser!" Eggman shouted, as he moved on one of the arms of the machine. Sonic dodged the attack easily and used a Homing Attack with the robot, followed by multiple Chaos Spears from Shadow and several clones created by Sunny's Alicorn magic. "Well, it takes one to know one!" Amy commented, before making a quick spin in the air with her hammer, which ended up smashing one of the Egg Beater's sides. Then, both Sonic and Shadow curled into balls and ran around the robot, with Sunny standing just in front of it with a mocking smile. The machine moved the left arm towards the Alicorn, who quickly moved aside while the arm crashed against the mountain and got stuck in there. Soon enough, Shadow stood over the arm and looked at the Egg Beater with both a frown. "One scrambled egg, coming up." Next, he charged up a Spin Dash and pushed the machine backwards, but before it could fell, the Egg Beater used the rockets from its back to recover its balance and stay on line with the rest. "Quacking in your tiny shoes at the might of my Egg Beater?" Eggman asked, while the robot positioned in a fighting pose and closed the hands into fists. "It's understandable. I'm rather astounding!" "In your dreams!" Sonic mocked up back, before charging up a Spin Dash and crashing against the machine. Sunny began to spin around the Egg Beater, before making a loop and passing down the robot's crotch, which caused the machine to trip and fall to the ground. "Bring it up, we brake it up! That's how the game works, Eggman!" Sunny mocked up as well. Amy charged up her Piko Piko Hammer and smashed the Egg Beater on one side again, sending it to the air, where Shadow teleported and charged another Chaos Spear, sending the machine back to the ground. "And we're still on the top of the victory trope as the undefeated numero uno!" Amy added as well with a smile. However, Eggman just laughed up, and the Egg Beater stood up to face the others. "Keep believing you guys have the upper hand, while I enjoy my sweetest victory!" Shadow teleported back with Amy and Sonic, while Sunny landed at Sonic's side, and they all looked at the Egg Beater with frowns. "Say, Shadow," Sonic called out. "Don't you have the weird feeling that something's... wrong with Eggman?" "Indeed," Shadow agreed. "He's moving too slow, calculating our moves but not attacking back..." "He's careful sometimes, but this feels like something else..." Amy agreed with the other two hedgehogs. "It's almost like... like he's not here..." Sunny said with concern. Meanwhile, Hitch and Knuckles were really busy punching and kicking badniks to get rid of them, with Hitch even using his Earth Pony magic as well; Izzy, Misty and Omega used their horns and arm guns to shoot at the flying badniks, and the sisters were flying over along Tails to get rid of the most annoying badniks in the air. However, Tails couldn't help but stop when he noticed that both the Egg Beater and everyone else stopped moving. "Huh... that's suspicious..." He muttered. Once everyone else was done with the badniks, they stopped and noticed the sudden stop of the Egg Beater as well. "Why did it suddenly stopped?" Knuckles questioned. "What is everyone else waiting for?!" Zipp asked in anger and concern. "It's the perfect time to strike a final punch!" "Exactly," Tails said with worry, landing and pressing a button on his watch that made a small holographic map of the zone appear. "Eggman is way too smart to not notice how his current position affects him for the worse." "Yeah, that's a pretty bad fall if he misses his shots..." Misty pointed out with concern. "Wait... doesn't that means that this is––" Pipp tried to ask in panic. Back with the rest, the Egg Beater simply stopped moving, with the arms falling and the lights around the body shooting down completely. "What? It... it simply stopped..." Sonic said confused. "This smells like a trick..." Shadow pointed out. "Sunny, you think you can light up your horn to blow this thing off already?" "I guess so," Sunny replied, and then stepped forward to charge up energy on her horn. "We should go back with the rest to discuss this," Amy suggested. "I don't like where this is going..." Sonic and Shadow nodded, and Shadow grabbed Amy from her hips to teleport out of there, while Sonic ran away at top speed, leaving Sunny alone as she charged energy on her horn. Rouge, on the other hand, managed to finally reach the rest. Her wings were hurting a lot because of how fast she had to fly over here, but it was worth it if it meant she could stop Eggman's plans as usual. The only bad thing? It seemed like she was already too late, because Sunny was charging up her (probably) most powerful attack yet to launch it against the Egg Beater. "Oh no..." Rouge muttered in panic, now flapping her wings faster as she approached to the rest. Meanwhile, Tails was trying to study what was Eggman's plan exactly. "This makes absolutely no sense... Eggman attacked us for no reason this time. Is it a trap? I can't tell, because his actions have no sense. Is like if he just woke up this morning, uploaded the first instructions he had on his desktop to his machines and sent them towards us!" "Partially sounds like something he'll do on purpose to distract us," Knuckles pointed out. "But distract us from what?" Zipp asked. "This smells like something else... something bigger!" "Wouldn't be the first time... and I know for sure it won't be the last, either..." Pipp complained with a bored expression. "Well, even if he tents to make questionable decisions, rarely is for nor reason," Misty pointed out with concern. "Eggman's up to something for sure, but that's not what concerns me right now," Sonic confessed, crossing his arms. "The Egg Beater didn't even tried to attack like the last time. Yeah, Eggman wasn't there either, but it was attacking more like if he was actually there. This time, however, even if it sounded like Eggman was here, the robot wasn't attacking... at all! Zipp's right, something bigger is definitely happening..." "IT'S A TRAP!" Rouge's voice shouted. Everyone else sins Sunny turned to see Rouge approaching to them. She seemed tired, but she didn't seemed like she wanted to stop flying either. "A trap?" Shadow questioned. "What is a trap?!" "The Egg Beater has a Power Amplifier!" Rouge shouted, and then she gasped when she noticed that Sunny was charging an attack to destroy the robot. "STOP HER! NOW!" "Sunny!" Hitch was the first one to shout by instinct. "Stop charging up!" He pled, but Sunny didn't seemed to listen. "Sunny! It's a trap, don't blow the attack!" Sonic shouted as well. However, Sunny seemed to be so focused on charging the attack that she couldn't listen the others. And so, she shoot the biggest laser ever towards the robot, who got traversed by the laser. "Dang it!" Sonic said with a frown. "Shadow, teleport her out of there! Everyone else, time to get the hell out of here!" Thankfully, Shadow moved without hesitation, while the others moved away, with Sonic carrying Amy in bridal style to not left her behind, while Knuckles grabbed both Izzy and Hitch as he moved just as fast as Sonic, Tails carried Misty by flight in bridal style as well, and Rouge had to make a final effort to fly at the same paste than the others once she reached them. Soon enough, Shadow joined them with Sunny on his arms, who fell unconscious after using all of her energy for that attack, while the Egg Beater behind exploded in a massive explosion that made all of Equestria shake on an earthquake, but for some reason, part of Sunny's attack was redirected to another place. Right in front of the mountain, Eggman and Sage were waiting. Sage had no idea what they were waiting for, exactly. Eggman however, noticed a yellow light coming right towards them. "There it is!" Eggman cheered, before grabbing Sage and moving aside, launching himself and Sage to his Eggmobile and closing the capsule. Right then, Sunny's laser attack crashed against the disc Eggman placed earlier on the crack that the drillers and the Big Arms already created, and then it began to glow brightly until it exploded, causing the crack on the mountain to expand and directly create an entrance. Once all the dust left by the explosion dissipated, Eggman opened the capsule of his Eggmobile and got out of it, with Sage following close behind. "Now you see why I let her go?" Eggman told Sage with a smile. "That flying rat's warnings wouldn't have change anything. This could've happened anyways!" "The crack has been completely opened by an absurd amount of power discharge!" Sage analyzed in awe. "This actually saved a lot of time. Even if Sonic and company arrive here, I calculate we can take the Prism off the ground by sundown if we start right away." "Excellent!" Eggman cheered with a grin. "Sage, take the drillers and Big Arms inside. We must find and take the Paradox Prism off the floor before sundown!" "Yes, father," Sage nodded, before snapping her fingers. This made the drillers to get inside the cave, as well as the Big Arms. Eggman got on his Eggmobile again, and entered the cave as well, being followed by Sage. Once inside, they saw nothing but darkness, so Eggman had to turn on the lights of his Eggmobile, while Sage made her own body glow as well to illuminate the cave. "Gosh, it's pretty dark in here... I can't see anything!" Eggman groaned as they kept descending. However, something called Sage's attention, and she stopped. "Wait..." She said, and Eggman also stopped moving. He looked confused at her before looking on the same direction, noticing that there was a small crack with a light that changed between red, green, blue and yellow... the same colors that form the Paradox Prism. "Sage, take that wall down!" Eggman instructed. Sage nodded, and by moving her hand, the driller robots began to create the crack on the wall bigger, and then one of the Big Arms approached and destroyed it with a single hit. After the wall was down, Eggman grinned sinisterly while Sage gasped in amazement: The Paradox Prism not only looked just like the picture of that book, but it was also brighter and bigger. It was stuck to the ground, but knowing Eggman, he'll find a way to get the Prism out of there. "Sage... We hit the jackpot!" Eggman cheered with a maniac laugh that echoed around loudly. Sunny began to wake up slowly. Once everyone got back to the Brighthouse, Shadow placed Sunny on a couch to let her rest and recover, while Hitch stood at her side the entire time. They all agreed to wait for Sunny to wake up so Rouge could explain the situation with Eggman, and thankfully, it just took here 20 minutes to wake up. "H-Hitch?" Sunny asked, since the stallion was the first thing she saw once she opened her eyes. Everyone else, who seemed to be either desperate to know if she would wake up, waiting for her to do so or minding their own business, turned to her direction, and some sighed in relief when she spoke and seemed to be fine, despite the massive attack she launched against the Egg Beater earlier. Hitch himself smile and nuzzled his head with Sunny's. "I'm glad you're okay, Sunny." "W-What happened to me?" Sunny asked confused. "We were fighting Eggman and his badniks, but... it was all a trap," Tails explained with worry. "He placed something inside the Egg Beater that amplifies power, and you charged up a laser against it... which apparently was what he wanted you to do," Amy added with concern. "After that, you fell unconscious because of how much energy you had to use..." Misty finished with worry. "Long story short: Egghead tricked us, and we fell for his trap like a bunch of fools," Sonic said with a frown and his arms crossed. "What I really wanna know, though... Is why he was distracting us?" "I guess it is time we hear your side of this story... Rouge," Shadow said, as he looked at the ceiling, where Rouge was sitting with her legs crossed and a worried frown. Rouge extended her wings and flew down, landing right between Shadow and Omega. "I was spying over the doctor and whatever he could be planning as usual... when a strange floating girl with white hair caught my attention..." However, everyone but Misty, Amy and Team Dark gasped after hearing that, since that description sounded way too familiar. "A-A floating girl?!" Zipp asked in disbelief. "With white hair?" Knuckles questioned as well. "Uh, yeah?" Rouge replied uncertain. "She didn't happen to have dark clothes, did she?" Sonic asked in concern. "Actually, yes," Rouge replied. "I also heard the doctor referring to her as... his daughter." "...Eggman has a daughter?" Misty questioned, more out of confusion than shock. "Oh my gosh..." Pipp muttered in disbelief. "Eggman brought her back..." Knuckles said in shock. "What are you guys talking about?" Amy asked confused. "Sage..." Sonic muttered with an anxious look... Supreme grabbed Sonic with the remaining hand, and then the Titan launched him at super sonic speed against The End's open mouth. Sonic literally passed from The End's face to destroy his tail as he came out if that zone... but when Sonic turned around, he felt terrified when he saw that The End was about to explode, probably planning to launch itself against Equis and destroy it along with this form. Sage also saw that, and she also felt terrified. "NO!" After that, she boosted with Supreme's damaged body towards The End, which's body was about to explode. "Sage!" Sonic shouted, moving towards her and trying to stop her. "What are you doing?!" But Sage didn't replied anything. Instead, she gave him an mp3 player, whispered something to him and then she grabbed him again, launched him towards Equis and boosted back to The End. Inside of the Titan, she seemed to feel bad for what she was going to do, but she still did it with a smile. Soon enough, Supreme crashed against The End, and once the creature exploded, he and Sage where completely gone. "Please... look after... father..." Is what Sage whispered to Sonic before he was launched towards Equis... Once Sonic stopped narrating, he frowned. "I guess Eggman found a way to bring her back..." Sonic said with concern. "And she's helping Eggman, if everything Rouge told us so far is correct," Tails pointed out. "Rouge, what did you heard?" "I was getting into that, and you might wanna sit down, cause this is really interesting," Rouge stated with a smirk. "Sage mentioned that the doctor was looking after a crystal called the Paradox Prism." "Paradox Prism?" Knuckles questioned confused. Sunny gasped in awe, and she stood up from the couch. "Did I heard that correctly? You said Paradox Prism?" She asked, and Rouge nodded her head. "I thought it was just a legend..." "I'm kinda lost... what is a Paradox Prism?" Izzy asked. "I investigated a bit while the gal here awakened from her beauty sleep," Rouge said, placing a hand on her hip and checking her other one's nails. "Legend says that it has the ability to travel across universes. You wanna go to another reality in just a snap? The Paradox Prism will take you there in no time." "A Prism that can take you to any universe you want..." Tails muttered. "My money's on Eggman wanting to leave Mobius and Equestria for now to try on another reality." "I should have expected this," Knuckles said with anger. "Remember when I say Eggman's ambition always goes higher?" Sonic asked to the Mane 6 with a frown. "Well, here's the proof: Mobius and Equestria aren't enough for him, and without the Emeralds' power, he's looking for an alternative to make his Empire become a reality." "Not if we can stop him first!" Amy stated confidently. "Rouge, where did all of this happened exactly?" "I can guide you to the mountain where Dr. Eggman and Sage where making their excavation to find the Prism," Rouge replied with a confident smirk. "Then it's settled!" Sonic stated with a smirk. "All right, team. Time to head out. Let's stop Egghead before he can put his hands on that Prism!" The entire group was heading towards the mountain Rouge mentioned, with Rouge herself guiding everyone else. Tails was piloting the Tornado IV, with Knuckles and Amy riding on the wings, Izzy and Misty shared a seat and Hitch hold Sparky on his knees in the passenger seats, while Omega, Sunny, Zipp and Pipp followed by flight. Sonic and Shadow were following from the ground, and thankfully, they were both focused on stopping Eggman, so this was no race, they were simply running at top speed to reach said cave and stop Eggman. "So what's the game plan, exactly?" Knuckles decided to ask after the entire trip was silent. "Top priority: Avoid that Eggman gets the Paradox Prism at any cost," Sonic instructed from the watch. "As for what we'll do once we're there: Shadow, Zipp and Sunny. You three and I will look after the Paradox Prism and make sure Egghead won't get it. Tails, Knuckles and Amy; you'll provide a distraction to Eggman and keep him as far as possible from the Prism. If you have to attack his ego, go ahead." "We'll aim for the crotch!" Knuckles stated with a smirk. "Everyone else, you take charge of Sage and the badniks," Sonic kept instructing. "Be careful specially with Sage. She might not have her Cyberspace power anymore, but if Rouge saw her floating, I'm sure she can still teleport around, and maybe she can control Eggman's machines as well." "So she's a child with superpowers..." Rouge said in annoyance. "Noted." "I'm still confused on this whole deal of Eggman having a daughter..." Misty confessed. "Why did he never mentioned her before?" "I'm still kind of lost myself, but I think Sage wasn't created until Eggman went to the Starfall Islands..." Izzy explained. "Sage was Eggman's AI on his computer. When he uploaded her to Cyberspace, she was 'updated' with a physical form, which also grant her the ability to feel like any other living being," Tails explained. "Eggman looks at her like if she was his own daughter, and now that she's back... We'll have to deal with father and daughter alike..." "How lovely..." Shadow said sarcastically. Finally, the gang arrived to the mountain. Sonic and Shadow ran at top speed over it until they reached the entrance, with Rouge, Omega, Sunny, Zipp and Pipp landing behind them, while Tails landed the Tornado IV a few meters away. Once everyone was reunited, Sonic and Shadow popped their heads over the entrance, just to find a massive and dark cliff instead of the Paradox Prism itself. However, they both noticed another hole opened on a wall, really deep down on the cave, and a light changing between red, green, yellow and blue came out of same hole. "Paradox Prism?" Sonic asked, still looking at the hole. "Seems like it," Shadow agreed, nodding his head, and then turning to see everyone else. "I'll usually say we use a warp ring, but we don't have so many anymore, so I think the flying members should carry some of us to get down there." Soon enough, Tails was carrying Sonic and Knuckles, Rouge carried Shadow, Omega carried Izzy and Amy, and Sunny used her magic to carry Hitch, Sparky and Misty, while Zipp and Pipp flew on their own. Once they entered the other cave, they hid behind a rock, and they felt amazed by the sight: A bright and big prism of red, blue, green and yellow, shining on the floor, could've be seen in the middle of this new cave they just entered. It was the Paradox Prism, no doubt. Unfortunately, two robots with drillers by hands were trying to take the Prism off the ground, and there were two Big Arms behind, shut down for the time being, but Eggman was definitely gonna use them if necessary. "How's the progress so far, Sage?" Eggman asked, as he approached her by walk and with his hands on his back. "The Prism seems to be stuck entirely to the ground. It can be removed, but we might need a stronger and external power source if we want to remove it," Sage informed. Eggman frowned and placed a hand on his chin, rubbing it as he tried to come up with some idea of how to get the Prism off the ground. Meanwhile, Team Sonic, Team Dark and the Mane 6 were looking everything, with Knuckles cracking his knuckles; Tails charging up some laser guns; both Izzy, Misty and Sunny lighting up her horns; and Sonic deep breathing before opening his eyes, now in blue because of his powers. "Showtime!" Sonic announced with a smirk. "Maybe I should use the backup power I still have from Sonic's quill..." Eggman suggested. "I know I lost the actual quill long ago, but what remains from it on my database might be enough..." "Sorry, Egghead, but I'm afraid that's not happening anytime soon!" Sonic decided to spoke with a confident tone. Eggman growled and frowned even more, if that was even possible. "Sonic!" He said with anger, turning around to find Team Sonic, Team Dark and the Mane 5, standing in battle poses. "Eggman!" Sonic replied with a challenging smirk. "They arrived sooner than I calculated," Sage stated with a frown. "Yeah, getting involved in Eggman's business is kinda our thing!" Tails replied with a mocking smile. "Well, for once, I'm glad you made it this early!" Eggman said with an evil grin. "You're just in time to watch me claim the Paradox Prism!" He stated with joy, walking over so his reflection could pass through the Prism. "To transform this disgusting world into something more... me, I must make sure other worlds kneel before me as well!" Eggman laughed like a maniac, while Sonic stretched up and cracked his knuckles before positioning to run with a smirk. "Whatever you say, Egghead. Let's wrap this one quickly, shall we?" Eggman smirked back sinisterly. "If you insist, rodent!" Next, Eggman snapped his fingers, not only making his Eggmobile approach to get in it, but also one of the Big Arms came by and opened up, with Eggman getting inside of it and punching the two fists of the machine with a laugh. "Everyone, stick to the plan!" Sonic instructed, before he and Shadow boosted towards the Paradox Prism. "Sage, take that Prism off the–– Whoa!" Eggman exclaimed when he was punched by Knuckles and Amy's hammer at the same time. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Eggman, but you're traveling to no universe today!" Knuckles said with a smirk. Before Eggman could reply, he got hit by Tails' Spin Dash, and the young fox even ripped one of the fingers of the Big Arms with one of his laser guns. Then, Knuckles jumped in the air and charged a fist with electricity, before hitting the Big Arms hard enough and sent it backwards as Eggman screamed in fright, while Amy waited for his arrival with a smirk and holding her Piko Piko Hammer like a bat, then swinging it to launch Eggman and the Big Arms towards a rock. As Tails, Knuckles and Amy kept Eggman busy; Sonic, Shadow, Sunny and Zipp were getting Sage and the badniks away from the Paradox Prism. "You know... if we weren't fighting robots and a girl we all though she was dead..." Zipp said as she kept kicking some badniks away. "This Prism could be a great study subject!" She stated with a smirk, before smashing down a Moto Bug. "I agree!" Sunny said, as she destroyed some Buzz Bomber with a magic blast. "Focus, ladies!" Shadow said, as he used several moves to destroy badniks, like Chaos Blast, Chaos Spear and Spin Dashes. "We must keep this thing away from the doctor and his daughter!" "Speaking of her!" Sonic said cheerfully, as he used a Wild Rush to destroy several flying badniks before landing in front of Sage and smirking. "Yo, Sage! Long time no see! Gotta say, I'm really impressed to see you again after we were on good terms last time. How did you came back, if I may ask?" "You defeated The End while he piloted Supreme," Sage said with a neutral tone, but frowning. "After Cyber Space shut down, my body disappeared, and I returned to be a simple AI. Father created a new body to bring me back." Sonic, however, felt confused at what he just heard. "I'm sorry, what? But... That's not what happened..." He tried to point out, but he barely dodged a Buzz Bomber by making a backflip, and then charging a Homing Attack against it. Meanwhile, everyone else seemed to make great progress: Amy destroyed one of the Arms entirely of the Big Arms Eggman was controlling; Tails shut down the remaining one and Knuckles was smashing the entire machine against a wall by using his super strength. As for the rest, they seemed to be making a good progress on destroying the badniks and keeping Sage away from the Paradox Prism. Sage herself was about to make a move, but then she noticed Eggman being crushed inside the Big Arms by Knuckles, and she gasped in worry. So, she teleported right inside the Big Arms, grabbed Eggman and teleported out, hiding behind a rock as she popped her head to watch with a frown at the rest smashing her father's machines. "I can't believe this is the same guy that claims to be a hero," Sage said with disappointment and anger. "He is a hero, Sage," Eggman confessed. "He saves every living being even if they don't deserve it. Unlike you, those machines are lifeless, so they have no problem crushing them down, tearing them apart and stomping over them like if they were cockroaches. That's why they didn't attacked you... because you are alive." "Still, this isn't what we have calculated... but is not over yet," Sage stated with a determinate look. Eggman looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" "I calculated every possibility, even a scenario like the current one," Sage pointed out. "I might have an idea on what to do to get rid of Sonic for a while... but I need you to trust me." Eggman rubbed his chin as he thought for a few seconds, before smirking and standing up. "Go ahead, my girl!" He instructed, and Sage nodded before disappearing. Back with the gang, everyone was now fighting against the amounts of badniks that, somehow, kept coming at them. Knuckles, Amy and Tails joined the rest after they realized Eggman wasn't in the Big Arms anymore, but they didn't considered this a victory yet. "Stay focused, everyone!" Sonic instructed. "Whatever Eggman has at stake, we must be really careful!" "We still don't know the capacities of the Paradox Prism, so we must stay alert!" Tails stated. "Smash anything Eggman related and keep it away from the Prism!" Knuckles added, sending a Buzzer flying away and exploding on a wall. Sonic noticed from the corner of his eye that a Buzz Bomber was charging up an attack in the air. He smirked and charged up his Spin Dash to launch it against said enemy. However, Shadow also noticed said Buzz Bomber, but his eyes widened in shock, since he could felt that it wasn't a badnik. "Sonic, wait!" Shadow shouted. Unfortunately, Sonic already launched himself against the 'Buzz Bomber', but just a second before smashing it down, the badnik transformed into Sage, who was smirking and had her left hand raised, and just when Sonic was about to hit her, she sent him flying backwards... straight towards the Paradox Prism. Sonic uncurled from his ball state in pain, but before anyone could react or do anything at all, Sonic crashed against the Paradox Prism, and the Prism itself split into four pieces, each one from a different color. Everything from here seemed to go in slow motion: Everyone covering from the explosion of the Prism, both Eggman and Sage grinning over Sonic's crash against it, and Shadow looking in genuine panic at Sonic traversing some kind of portal with the shape of an 'X' that opened once the Prism shattered. At the end, Sonic ended up traversing the portal, and it soon enough closed, while everyone but Sage flew backwards because of the impact of the explosion. Sonic opened his eyes to realize he was in some kind of black void. "What the heck?!" Sonic exclaimed in panic. "Where am I supposed to––" He tried to ask, but then a white light shone bright... just to reveal some kind of background with the combination of red, black and blue colors, as well as thousands of white curves and lines moving like a river's stream. Too bad Sonic crashed against some kind of purple crystal as he began to fall and scream in fear. He actually crashed against several more of those purple crystals, breaking them in the process and grunting in pain. He also accidentally rosed against one of the white lines before falling and rosing another one. And after so many grunts and crashes, Sonic fell at super speed towards one and crashing against it. He began to scream in fear and narrowed his eyes, while his entire body was glitching as he was falling to a new and unknown place for him. Universe 180993 Somehow, Sonic broke the sky for a tiny, little moment before it went back to normal. As for Sonic himself, he fell into some kind of metallic ground, where he rolled for a while and grunted in pain before he finally stopped moving. He laid on the floor with his eyes closed. His gloves got dirty after the fall, and the sole of his shoes were glowing in a neon white light, as well as releasing a few electrical sparks. It didn't took him long to finally open his eyes, just to be welcomed by a dark and blue sky, as well as lot of industrial buildings surrounding him. "Ugh..." Sonic groaned in pain. "W-What?" He said, as he slowly sat down and looked around confused. Everywhere he looked, there where either big metallic structures that he wasn't so sure if he could call buildings, or actual industrial buildings, releasing smoke to the sky. There were also a lot of robots around, all looking like anthropomorphic animals, walking slowly and looking... lifeless, even for robots. "What the heck is this place?" Sonic questioned confused, before standing up and look around in search of something that could look familiar. "Tails? Pipp? Knux! Geez, I'll even take Shadow if that means I can see a familiar face around here," He said with concern, as he started to walk on this new place. The more he walked around this new place, the more he hated what he watched: More robots that looked like animals, more industrial buildings, and even a giant base that had the shape of an egg in the distance. "Seriously: What IS this place?!" Sonic complained with a frown. "It's giving big Eggman vibes... and I don't like that." And then, one glance to his hand made him squeal in panic, since they were more... flat, and his body even looked more cartoonish than usual. Yes, he has a very wacky design, which added sense to why he was often confused as a porcupine, but he's never been this wacky and cartoonish before, specially since his quills were only three in row. Suddenly, a light appeared on his back, and when he noticed that because of his shadow, he turned to see some kind of green-floating vehicle moving towards him at top speed. He frowned again and jumped just in time before being hit by the vehicle, but then he noticed a bunch of other ones coming as well, so he dodged all of them by run. Yeah, it wasn't a good idea. Apparently, the new light on his shoes affected his super speed, because he couldn't control it anymore. "What the––" Sonic exclaimed, before being carried around by his feet instead of being the one in control. "Hey! What comes?! Ow!" He said in pain, as he crashed against several walls, before crashing entirely against a last one that finally made him stop. He groaned in pain again, before slowly standing up and stretch his body to make sure he didn't broke anything. "Geez... that was weird..." Sonic said with concern, before looking down to his shoes and finally notice that weird glow with sparkles around. "Huh? My shoes? Why are they glowing?" After a few seconds, however, they stopped glowing, and the sole was just as dirty as his gloves, another thing that he was realizing just now. "I'm gonna have a talk with Tails about his polymer once I got back, because these are looking terrible today..." Sonic muttered in annoyance. "That is, if I even discover where am I in the first place, how do I got here, how to go back home and maybe eat some Chilidogs, because I skipped lunch today." Since he was on a strange alley, where he accidentally got himself into because of his shoes, he decided to run over one of the walls and climb to the very top until he could get a better sight or where he was. He noticed his shoes were glowing again, and he even had a struggle to keep them under control, but he still managed to do so. And once he reached the top, he stopped, thankfully not being dragged to another unknown place by his feet this time, but he gasped in shock and fear at the sight: A big industrial city, full of not only robots looking like animals, but also regular robots that looked like humans... except for the head. The central building, the one with a shape of an egg, was bigger than he thought, and it was very intimidating. "Sweet Chaos... this place is like my worse nightmare turned into a reality," Sonic said with concern, and then he saw a letter with neon lights, that seemed like a 'Welcome' sign, but he didn't felt welcomed at all. "Huh... 'Welcome to Robotropolis'... Never heard of this place before," He said with a frown, before looking back at the egg-shaped building. "I'm clearly not in Equestria, but... this isn't Mobius, either... Right?" Just when he thought this place was only full of metal and machines, he saw that, in the distance, there was some kind of cliff, and on top of that cliff, there were trees. "So this isn't just a junkyard of robots after all, huh?" Sonic stated with a smirk. "Seems like I have my next destination defined!" However, just when he thought this place was only full of metal and machines, he saw that, in the distance, there was some kind of cliff, and on top of that cliff, there were trees. "So this isn't just a junkyard of robots after all, huh?" Sonic stated with a smirk. "Seems like I have my next destination defined!" However, just when he launched himself to the ground and landed on his feet, a bunch of lights illuminated over him, blinding him for a while before he placed a hand over his forehead to see a bunch of robots, as well as some of those weird flying vehicles, pointing their lights and guns at him. "I don't know what brings you here today, Hedgehog," A male voice said, a voice that sounded familiar but different at the same time to Sonic. "But if you were asking for a quick death, then this is your lucky day!" "The what now?" Sonic said confused. "What's the matter, Sonic? You're usually more talky and annoying," The mysterious man pointed out. "Um, excuse me, mysterious man from the speakers I cannot see..." Sonic called out with a sheepish smile. "I'm afraid I'm not aware of what are you talking about. Who are you? How do you know me? What did I ever did to you? And what the heck is going on?!" "This kind of foolish game is new to me, I must say," The voice said. "But it doesn't matter to me! I have you just where I want you! Now, KILL HIM!" "In name of Doctor Robotnik, you must surrender to be roboticized," One of the robots instructed, now charging up one of its guns against Sonic. "Excuse me, Robotnik? EGGMAN DID ALL OF THIS?!" Sonic shouted in shock. Before getting any form of response, his shoes began to glow again, dragging him away from the machines and robots, who began to shot as Sonic screamed because of the sudden moves of his feet. As his feet dragged him away, the robots got over the flying vehicles and chased him around the city, with Sonic struggling as he tried to take control over his own feet once again. However, it seemed like his feet worked alone, because they were moving him in a way he could always dodge the attacks... but that's not what Sonic wanted. "What the heck is happening today?!" Sonic groaned. "Look, I have no idea of what's controlling my feet, but I don't want to run away! If anything, I should be kicking all these robots asses if Eggman's really behind this! So please let me go!" It seemed to work, because his shoes stopped glowing and he finally felt like he was controlling his feet again. "Neat!" Sonic cheered, before curling into a ball and charging up his Spin Dash against the robots and flying vehicles. As the machines feel to the ground, more started to arrive towards him, but that just made Sonic smirk confidently. He charged his Spin Dash again and used it against some enemies, then he stopped right in front of one of them and used a Homing Shot, followed by a Stomp Attack that turned the robot into pieces. Then, he used Wild Rush in several enemies that exploded, before using Loop Kick on another one at the end. Then, he used a Homing Attack against one robot before grabbing it and spin it to use it as some kind of hammer that smashed all the other robots, before throwing the one he grabbed and launch it towards a wall, where the robot destroyed itself. Finally, and seeing that this wouldn't stop anytime soon, Sonic charged up his electrical powers and charged up his Spindash, before booting over thousands of robots at super sonic speed, destroying all of them in the process. Sonic finally stopped and stood over a pile of all the robots he destroyed with a smirk. "Now that's what I call another job well done in my life!" He said with a confident smirk, but then frowned once he remembered what that robot said about surrounding in Robotnik's name... In a room, right in the top of the egg-shaped building, a figure was looking at several monitors showing Sonic's image. "Eggman! I don't know where are you hiding, you coward, but once I find you, I'll kick your butt harder than ever if you really are behind this nightmare-ish city!" Sonic stated, before it moved away from the camera's vision rang. "Hmm... this is really interesting. Don't you think, Snively?" the man that threat Sonic asked to a skinny man with green clothes at his side. "It is indeed, sir," Snively replied. The man stood up and revealed himself to be some kind of half man and half robot, since it had black sclera with red iris, and his arms and legs were replaced with robotic prosthesis. He wore a black and yellow cape, a red suit with a black circle in the middle with yellow stripes around and black pants. His name was Julien, but everyone referred to him as Robotnik. "I highly doubt this is the same Sonic that messes up with us," Robotnik said with a sinister grin. "He's faster, stronger, powerful! Didn't you saw all what he can do? It was simply amazing! Whoever this guy is, he also answers to the name 'Sonic', but he is different. More... special... We must take this power for us! He must. Be. ROBOTIZED!" He shouted, followed up by a maniac laugh. "Snively! Sent all the units to look after that mysterious hedgehog!" "Y-Yes sir! R-Right away!" Snively replied nervously, moving towards a panel control and pressing several buttons to move all units to look after Sonic. Completely oblivious to this situation, another Sonic was riding one of the floating vehicles... upside down. This Sonic had red shoes with no white sole, fully black eyes, he was wearing a red backpack, and he was holding a Chilidog on his left arm. But how could he be riding the vehicle upside down without falling? Well, his shoes had an anti-gravity update, so that settles it. "Be cool, stomach! Here it comes!" Sonic said with a smirk, before swallowing the Chilidog in just one chomp. That's probably a bad idea, but that's not our problem. "Time to blow this chili stand!" Sonic said, turning the anti-gravity thing off and landing on the ground with a thud once the vehicle arrived to some dark place. "Thanks for the ride, bud. Gotta run!" He boosted away from where he landed, and after running for a while, he reached some kind of 'trap door' and boosted through it, entering to a room with several computers and even a visor to the external world. Right beside said visor, there was a hedgehog turned into a robot. He was a turquoise hedgehog with black sclera and red iris, with a grey mustache, arms and legs. "Sonic!" The man said with joy. "This is a nice surprise!" "Double nice, Unc! Moi, and a Chilidog!" Sonic said with a smirk, before extending a hand towards his backpack and take out a Chilidog, extending it to the robot. He was named Uncle Chuck, and he was turned into a robot a while ago because of a heartless and cold variant of Robotnik in this universe. Uncle Chuck smiled at the sight of the meal and grabbed it. "Why, thank you, Sonic!" He said, before eating up the Chili Dog and cough a bit. "Delicious!" "Cool!" Sonic replied with a smile. "Anything up with the fuel tankers?" "Yes! I just got the schematics," Uncle Chuck replied, opening his chest and taking out a square disc that he extended to Sonic. "Way past, Unc!" Sonic replied with a smile. "Sal's been waiting for this. Any word on the schedule?" "Not yet," Uncle Chuck replied, also denying with his head. "It might take a while, Snively almost caught me today." "You gotta bale, Unc," Sonic told him with a worried frown. "Come back to Knothole." "No way, Sonic. My job here is still vital," Uncle Chuck pointed out, as he walked towards the visor. "Yeah, but it's getting monto nasty" Sonic pointed out as well. "It's the chance we have to take," Uncle Chuck replied, before turning to him after checking outside of the hideout. "It's clear. Better take that disc to Sally, I'll let you know when I get the tanker schedule." Sonic had no choice but smile and give a hug to his uncle, who hugged him back. "Be careful, Unc," Sonic told him with a smile. "I will," Uncle Chuck replied, before taking out a controller and pressing a button that opened a door, where Sonic boosted through as the door closed soon afterwards. With Sonic gone, Uncle Chuck sat down on a chair and putted on some headphones, before turning on some radio device and trying to adjust the signal. After a few minutes, he finally got some signal and heard part of the conversation between Snively and Robotnik. "How much of a tad, Snively?" Robotnik asked. "U-Um... T-Three minutes, sir..." Snively replied nervously. "Three whole minutes..." Robotnik repeated with pleasure. "Well, whatever I will do without you" He stated sarcastically. "When does the fuel depart?" "Done tomorrow, sir," Snively replied firmly. "Excellent," Robotnik replied with joy, while Uncle Chuck gasped in worry. "Business aside... have we any signs of the new Sonic?" "Huh?" Uncle Chuck exclaimed confused. "Unfortunately not, sir," Snively replied. "But we are getting several signs of all the common points he's been visiting. It seems he's unfamiliar with the city, sir. We could track him down and capture him." "Then proceed," Robotnik ordered. "We must take the power of this new Sonic and explode it to the max!" He stated with a maniac laugh. "Right away, sir," Snively replied. Uncle Chuck turned the radio stuff off and removed his headphones. "Another Sonic..." He muttered, both intrigued and concerned. "I thought there was no one as fast as Sonic... but if Robotnik wants to capture this 'new Sonic', then it's clear to me that he must be someone powerful," He stated, before pulling out a paper and a pen. "I must tell Sally about this. They better be careful with this 'other Sonic' Robotnik wants to capture." In Knothole, Sonic managed to return with Sally, who was with Bunnie Rabbot and Antoine Depardieu. Sally, a squirrel with blue eyes, red hair, blue jacket and boots, was using an AI program called Nicole, attached to a rectangular device, to show an hologram of the fuel tankers and explaining how to stop them, while Sonic was walking back and forth desperate and Bunnie and Antoine were sitting over a bed. Bunnie was a brown female rabbit with a robotic left arm and robotic legs, with green eyes and a pink dress, while Antoine was a vanilla coyote with blonde hair and a blue with red uniform. "So, once we're attached, we inject water into the pipes marked 'fuel test'," Sally explained, before turning to face everyone else. "Any questions?" "Oui, oui! I am having the question," Antoine spoke before clearing his throat. "You are being so too beautiful today, my princess." "That's not even a question, Antoine," Bunnie pointed out in annoyance, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. "Oh, get a grip, Ant!" Sonic added in annoyance as well, while Antoine crossed his arms and glared at Bunnie and Sonic. Suddenly, the four of them heard something coming from the outside, and a green parrot entered from the window, having a letter attached to his chest. The parrot flew right above Antoine and messed up with his hair, which startled the coyote a lot. "My hair!" He cried out, as he tried to fix it. "Come here, little Dove," Sally told the parrot with a smile, taking the letter and opening it to read it while the parrot flew away. "What's up, Sal?" Sonic asked as he approached to her. "This is it, guys," Sally said with a smile. "The tanker convoy leaves at dawn... tomorrow," She explained, but then she gasped in disbelief and her eyes widened as she kept reading the letter. "What? What's the matter?" Bunnie asked in concern. "Please, princess, tell us! Don't leave us hanging!" Antoine begged dramatically. "I-I-I don't know how to say this without sounding crazy!" Sally managed to reply, as she kept reading the exact same line to make sure she wasn't misunderstanding any word. "Then say it!" Sonic told her with concern. "Like Ant said, don't leave us hanging!" Sally gulped and finally spoke. "Uncle Chuck says... that Robotnik is looking after... another Sonic, and that we must be careful if we cross paths with him." "The what now?!" Sonic exclaimed in shock. "Let me see!" He said with a frown, and Sally extended the letter to Sonic. "Excuse moi, but I'm afraid I didn't heard you correctly... did you just said 'another Sonic'?" Antoine questioned confused. "Yeah, I think we miss-heard you, girl," Bunnie added as well. "You didn't heard anything wrong, per see," Sonic said with a frown. "Uncle Chuck has never been wrong about Robotnik's plans so far. If there really is someone pretending to be me out there, he's gonna have a really bad time if we cross paths!" He stated, punching his fist against his own hand. "But what do we do, then?" Sally asked. "If there really is another Sonic, then we're talking about someone that could be as fast as you!" "We'll stick to the original plan," Sonic stated. "If we cross paths with this other Sonic, we'll take him here and we'll ask a few questions." Sonic already lost track of time, but he could feel like it's been a whole day. He didn't eat, he didn't slept, and he didn't found a way to leave Robotropolis yet. He still found more robots that he beat up easily, and there was no sign of Eggman either. Everything looked the exact same to him, and despite how tired he felt right now, he wasn't going to sleep until he left this place. Sonic stopped suddenly and stared to a mark on a building that felt very familiar to him at this point. "Hang on, didn't I passed this alley, like, 3 times already?" He questioned, now looking everything around him, and then groaning once he realized he, indeed, passed over here already. "How am I supposed to find something coherent here?! Everything looks EXACTLY the same! I'm not going home anytime soon WHEN I KEEP WALKING IN CIRCLES!" After a long and awkward moment of silence, Sonic sighed in defeat and decided to lay on the ground, looking at the blue and dull sky that already made him sick since it wasn't any beautiful to see... nor smell. "Maybe I should just give up... Wherever I am, it seems like Eggman already has the high ground..." Sonic complained. Suddenly, he heard a bunch of sirens, and he lifted his head a bit before raising and eyebrow. Soon enough, he stood up and boosted to the direction where the sirens sounded a lot louder, and within seconds, he reached a place where he saw a bunch of red flying police-like humanoid robots, riding floating bikes that were chasing after something he could not see, and right now? He didn't cared either. He also spotted one of those green-floating vehicles guiding some kind of large blue-floating convoy to someplace. However, before he could make a sarcastic comment about anything, he saw a manhole cover opening, and out of it came out a bunny girl with robotic prosthetics, a coyote with a weird uniform... and a familiar face he never expected to see ever again. "...S-Sally?" Sonic muttered in shock. In fact, it was Sally Acorn, an old... acquaintance of his. The truth is, Sally and Sonic do not have the best of relationships. Let's just say that Sonic screw it at some point in his life, and now Sally hated him. So, seeing her down there, along two guys he never saw before, made him feel... strange? Weird? Maybe even happy? That last thing was probably only because of his current situation, since Sally is the first familiar face he has seen ever since he arrived here. "...Should I go down there?" Sonic wondered. "I mean, I now we're not in the best of terms, but... maybe she can help me find a way to return to Equestria." However, the convoy passed right above Sally and company, and once it was gone... they were gone too. "Huh?" Sonic said confused. "Okay... that's... really odd, but... Hang on a second!" He exclaimed, as he noticed that the convoy was moving towards some kind of big door at the limits of the city. "This thing is exiting this nightmare-ish city! Maybe that's what Sally and those guys are trying to do... Better follow up from here and make sure that I'm right!" He stated, moving above the buildings to follow the convoy, and also to avoid more unexpected encounters with robots. He was really starting to get tired of them. Meanwhile, the other Sonic was running away from some police-robots that tried to get him. However, those robots soon enough stopped following Sonic and began to move back with the convoy, and therefore, with Sally, Bunnie and Antoine. Sonic stopped moving and turned to see confused how the machines were flying away. "Hey! What's up?! Am I the priority Hedgehog or what?" He asked rhetorically, before realizing with a gasp why the machines turned around. "Sal!" Luckily, he got his backpack on him, and he also had a Power Ring inside, which he grabbed with a smirk before being surrounded by a golden aura and then boosting faster than usual towards a manhole cover and then entering on it. Back with Sally and company, they were attached to the lower part of the convoy. They had some magnetic devices on their chests that allowed them to stay stick to any metal surface, and Sally had something else on her device that allowed to take the gasoline from the convoy. They were reaching a place with tons of manhole covers, and Sally was reaching the last spot where she placed the 'gasoline stealer'. However, the convoy stopped suddenly, and police sirens were heard by the three of them. "Oh-oh..." Sally exclaimed with worry. And soon enough, they were surrounded by several green-flying vehicles, as well as some of the red flying police-like humanoid robots that were riding floating bikes. "We are doomed!" Antoine exclaimed in panic. "Oh no, I am too very young and handsome to-–" "Shut it, Antoine!" Bunnie scold him, although she was worried as well. On the other hand, Sonic stopped running over buildings once he noticed that the convoy stopped, and that several police vehicles surrounded it. "Aw, great..." Sonic complained. "Sally must be in trouble if those things stopped right beside the convoy she's conveniently on..." He pointed out, before cracking his hands with a stretch and smirk. "It's time for an intervention! Heck, this might be a really good entrance!" After that, he jumped from the building curled into a ball, and as he was falling, he charged up a Spin Sash with his electrical powers included. "We're giving up!" Antoine suggested in panic. "We're not giving up without a fight, Antoine!" Bunnie stated with a frown. "Get used to it!" She instructed, before the three of them got down from the convoy and stood ready to fight. Well, Antoine was actually scared as hell, but he was still willing to fight if necessary... However, soon enough, one of the red police robots was traversed by a blue ball, that also destroyed some more at super speed, and just when one of the green-flying vehicles was about to shot at the others, it was stomped by Sonic in a flash. Sally smiled at the sight of Sonic saving the day as usual, but then she noticed three things: First, he didn't had the backpack. Second, he had green eyes instead of being fully black. And third, his shoes had a white sole instead of being fully red. Sonic, on the other hand, looked around at all the mess he just caused with a smile. "Heh, I may say otherwise, but I can never have enough of trashing up Eggman's toys. It's just so renewer!" He stretched his arms. "Wow!" Bunnie exclaimed with a smirk. "I don't remember you sounding so manly before, sugar hog!" Sonic, however, looked at her blankly, then looked around confused before looking back at her and smile nervously. "Um... hi, I guess? Sorry, I wasn't expecting to see you guys down there... or at all..." He confessed, before getting down of the destroyed green vehicle. "You weren't expecting it? But the princess has been talking abut the plan for weeks!" Antoine pointed out. "You even payed attention the whole time! Like all of us!" "Princess–– Oh, right, Sally is a princess... I keep forgetting that sometimes..." Sonic said with a bored expression. "Y-You keep forgetting?!" Sally said in shock. "Yeah, well, maybe the fact that it's been, like, 10 or 12 years since we last saw each other is affecting my memory," Sonic said sarcastically. "I don't know, Sal. I didn't expected our first encounter in years to be like this: You, surrounded by Eggman's trash he dares to call robots and needing help." "Eggman? First time in years?!" Bunnie exclaimed in concern before frowning. "What's gotten into you, Sonic?!" Sally, however, gasped once she putted two and two together. "It's you! You are that other Sonic Uncle Chuck warned us about!" Sonic stared blankly at them before speaking again. "I'm sorry, who's Uncle Chuck?" Both Bunnie and Antoine gasped as well after hearing that. "It is really him!" Antoine said in shock. "You guys are really confusing me, and I found out you exist like 10 minutes ago," Sonic said with a mocking tone and smirk. "Sal, could you please illuminate me and tell me what the heck is going on here? Because so far, you're the only familiar face for me. Heck, Eggman doesn't even sound like Eggman... At all!" "C-Could you please stop confusing me over and tell me who the hell is Eggman already?!" Sally shouted in anger. Sonic blinked a few times, and then he frowned. "Oh, great! Now you are acting weird as well! I've been in this nightmare-ish city for just a day, and I already hate it!" Suddenly, all the manhole covers began to open out of nowhere, and once the one right in front of them opened up, the other Sonic, the one Sally, Bunnie and Antoine know, got out of it and landed in front of them with a smirk. "The escape route's ready––" The other Sonic wanted to say, but then he gasped in shock and his eyes widened when he saw Sonic. Sonic's eyes also went wide by looking at another familiar... but he had a feeling that he just looked like that other Sonic he decided to call 'Classic Sonic', yet he wasn't that very same Sonic. Sally, Bunnie and Antoine's jaws dropped as they looked back and forth between the two Sonics. Even one of Robotnik's machines stopped right in front of them and looked back and forth as well, with its systems failing and making the robot to explode. After a long time of silence, Sonic finally spoke. "Yeah... Yeah, I stand my position. I hate this place." Suddenly, more police sirens were heard by everyone, and the other Sonic shook his head to focus back. "Everyone, let's get out of here!" The other Sonic instructed, moving aside the manhole cover, while Sally, Bunnie and Antoine entered, while Sonic looked at his other self with a raised eyebrow. "That includes you too, faker." "We're solving up how to call each other later, I refuse to be called like that by myself," Sonic said with a bored expression, before curling in a ball and also entering the manhole. The other Sonic entered up, and the manhole cover got over in no time. Once the five of them were down on the sewer, they all sighed in relief. The place was muddier, it literally stink, and some rats could be heard while others could be seen as they moved around the place. Suddenly, the other Sonic frowned once he saw at his counterpart again. "Alright, fella! If you're another one of Ro-butt-nik's inventions, then I must crush you!" He shouted, before charging up against Sonic. "Sonic, wait!" Sally said with concern. However, the other Sonic kept frowning and running... but he was going nowhere, because Sonic stopped him by placing a hand over his head. Sonic looked at him with a bored expression, grabbing the other Sonic's head and lifting him up entirely, which startled him. "Hey! Put me down so I can kick your butt, man!" He said, as he moved his hands and tried to hit Sonic, with no success. Sonic began to tap his foot on the floor, then looked at his wrist like if he had a clock there and tried to wait for his other self to calm down, but then he looked back at him and shook his head in disbelief. "Man, I get you're scared because you're literally seeing yourself... kinda... but you do know it is disrespectful to attack someone that has done literally nothing to you, right?" Sonic told his other self with a raised eyebrow. "Also, please tell me that 'Ro-butt-nik' isn't the best mocking name you can come up with..." "Scared? Me?" the other Sonic replied with a smirk. "In your dreams!" "Your quills are trembling, your eyes are watering, your pulse is going a mile per hour despite not going anywhere, and even if it's hard to tell, I can feel your body shaking on my hand," Sonic pointed out with a bored expression. The other Sonic's eyes went wide after hearing all of that... mainly because his other self was right. "Oh man... you really are me," He said in shock, while Sonic smirked and put him down. "But I don't understand... How's that we are the same dude, yet not at the same time?" "I wish I got a proper answer for that, but the truth is that I've been trying to find my way out of this junkyard for hours... Or that's what I think, at least," Sonic explained. "I lost track of time after a while." "You two look alike, but... you are taller, and your eyes have color," Bunnie pointed out as she pointed at Sonic. "You also seem to know who I am..." Sally pointed out as well. "Yeah, I have a complicated story with a girl that also looks like you, but I rather not talk about that," Sonic confessed. "Look, everything I wanna know is how I got here, and how to go home! I was fighting Eggman as usual, but then... something hit me, I crashed against something and... I don't know, I guess I got sent here? Geez, I just want some answers! Is it so hard to start with something as simple as get out of here?!" His shoes began to glow again after he shouted that, and he was moved around out of control. "Oh, come on!" Sonic groaned, but he was able to stop after a while. "Why does that keeps happening?!" He complained again, as he looked at his shoes with a frown. "What's the matter?" Sally asked confused. "Again, I wish I could answer that, but I can't," Sonic replied. "My shoes have been doing that ever since I arrived here." "Man, seems like you could use some help," the other Sonic said with a smirk. "By the way, who's this 'Eggman' guy you keep mentioning, and why does the name sound so freaking funny?" "...You have... no idea... of who Eggman is..." Sonic said with a blank expression. "Nu-uh!" The other Sonic replied, while denying with his head. "Me neither," Sally added. "Never heard of that guy!" Bunnie said. "Nope!" Antoine added as well. Sonic put on a bored expression and sat down on the ground while crossing his arms. "Great... what else can go wrong today?!" A day and several hours ago, Sonic was falling through a strange place with white and shining lines that moved like a stream. He rosed two of those lines, and then everything zooms towards the first white line that Sonic rosed by mistake... Universe 081114 Sonic stretched a bit before yawning. The last interesting thing he did was defeating an Emo Eggman from another dimension, and that literally just happened last week. After that, Shadow tried to erase the entire universe by having two Eggmans in the same one at the same time, but thanks to Tails fixing Metal Sonic to track down the Emo Eggman, Sonic managed to save the universe by sending him back to his own universe. Now... he was bored as hell. Nothing interesting has happened ever since that. Eggman was busy building his lab back; Tails and Amy were repairing Tails' workshop; Knuckles and Sticks were helping cleaning and fixing up the town, and Shadow hasn't showed up at all. As for him... well, he was trying to find something interesting to do on his house, but since he got bored pretty quick, he gave up and moved to his hammock, and lay there until something exciting happened. "Man... this has been the most bored week of my life..." Sonic muttered, stretching again and scratching a bit under his scarf. "I could ask Tails or Amy to hang out or something, but they're both busy fixing the workshop. Guess is just me and my bored house until something actually interesting happens..." And just like if someone heard his prays, Sonic's hand watch made a bip sound as it shone in blue. "Thank goodness!" Sonic cheered, as he sat on his hammock and pressed the button on the watch. "Sonic!" Tails voice called out. "Look, sorry to call all of a sudden, you're probably busy or something..." "No, no, no, no, no! Don't you dare to end the call, young man!" Sonic said quickly with excitement. "You couldn't have called in a better time! What's the matter?!" "Amy and I recently finished cleaning up, and as I went to startup my equipment again, I got some weird signals coming from Eggman's island," Tails explained with worry. "I doubt he finished up restoring his lab, but something tells me that he's up to something again. Mind to go and take a look?" "Little buddy, I've been waiting the whole week to hear something like that!" Sonic replied happily. "I'm on my way!" He added, ending the call and running straight to Eggman's lab. "Finally, something exciting happening!" After running for a while, Sonic arrived to Eggman's lab. However, he got a bit surprised when he found that the place was still destroyed, and it barely seemed that it was going somewhere, because right now it seemed like it had at least two moths more before being totally finished. "Strange..." Sonic muttered to himself. "I know Eggman can be a bit messy sometimes, but in general he's very organized. Why would he plan out something new when his lab isn't even near to be finished?" As he sneaked near the place where the reconstruction began, he only found Orbot and Cubot doing the constructions process, while Eggman scratched his head as he stared at the blueprints of his lab with a confused look. As Sonic approached slowly to the doctor, he couldn't help but stare at the lab and at Eggman with disbelief. Either Eggman knew Sonic was coming and was playing dumb, or he had no plan at all, and Tails either played a prank on him... or something else was going on. "Uh... Eggman?" Sonic called out, still staring at him confused. The doctor finally noticed Sonic's arrival and raised and eyebrow. "Oh great, the rodent is here..." Eggman groaned in annoyance. "I didn't expected you so soon, Sonic. My lab isn't going to be ready until at least––" "Until at two other months, yeah, yeah, I know, Egghead," Sonic said with a bored expression. "Look, sorry to bother you, but Tails said something about weird signals coming from here. Are you up to something even before having your lab finished up?" "What kind of a fool do you take me for, Hedgehog?" Eggman said with a frown. "I'm an evil genius! Even I know my limits. And I have absolutely no idea of what are you talking about! What weird signals could my lab be making?" Now Sonic started to grow worried. If Eggman wasn't up to something, and he knew nothing about the signals Tails was talking about, something else was happening. "Um... Boss?" Orbot called out. "What Sonic's saying is true, though... There are some weird signals coming from here." "What?" Both Sonic and Eggman asked confused. Before any of them could say or do something else, a green portal opened suddenly behind them, startling both the hedgehog and the doctor. "Eggman?!" Sonic said with a panicked expression. "Don't look at me! Not even I know what's going on!" Eggman complained, just as worried as Sonic was. And then, the portal started to drag both Sonic and Eggman. As Sonic started to use his super speed to run in the opposite direction, he also grabbed Eggman's hand to save both the doctor and himself. However, the weight of the doctor ended up backing Sonic up, and the two were sucked by the green portal, as they screamed and got lost on it, with the portal finally closing. "...What the heck just happened?" Questioned Cubot. "I have no idea..." Orbot replied, just as confused as his robotic friend. A day and several hours ago, Sonic was falling through a strange place with white and shining lines that moved like a stream. He rosed two of those lines, and then everything zooms towards the second white line that Sonic rosed by mistake... Universe 140220 Two months ago, he transformed into a golden god that defeated a giant robot with Robotnik's face and saved the world, if not the entire universe. Now, he was cleaning up Tom's new truck with Tails and Knuckles, mumbling with a frown as he tried so hard not to groan in annoyance from Tom's father attitude. "I can't believe I'm reduced to this..." Sonic groaned. "Come on, Sonic. This isn't so bad!" Tails said with a little smile. "Easy for you to say it, mama's boy," Sonic said with a bored expression. "The last time something interesting happened was a month ago when we defeated that Robotnik's drone in the junkyard! How's that we became car cleaners after that?!" "Stop being so dramatic over it, Hedgehog," Knuckles said with a frown as he rolled his eyes. "Unless you want to end on the garage for the night as a punishment like last time." Sonic felt goosebumps all over his body by just remembering that, shacking his head and making a disgusted expression. "Okay, okay. Good point," Sonic admitted. "Still, this feels like I have been reduced from a hero to a maid." "Didn't you said that you're still too young to be a hero or something?" Tails asked with a raised eyebrow. "Just because I don't want to be a hero yet, doesn't mean I don't want to have a little adventure now and then!" Sonic explained. "Adventure it's part of me now! Is so frustrating that I used the 7 chaotic crystals––" "Chaos Emeralds," Knuckles corrected with a bored expression. Sonic rolled his eyes before continue. "–– to turn into some kind of Super Saiyan, and two months later, I'm being sent by my father to clean the car with my best friend and Knuckles!" "Hey!" Knuckles said with an offended look. "I guess I'll just wait for something interesting to happen..." Sonic said, finally resuming cleaning the truck. "I hope it doesn't takes too long." Suddenly, Tails device started to make a beep sound from his backpack. The young fox quickly moved towards his backpack by flight and took out the device to see what was going on. His eyes widened in both surprise and shock after seeing the results. "What the heck?" Tails muttered. "Guys... there's a strong Chaos Energy sign coming from near Seattle!" "What?!" Knuckles cried out in panic. "I'm sorry; what's 'Chaos Energy'?" Sonic asked confused. "It's the same kind of energy that comes from the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald," Tails explained. "And whatever is causing this one, i-it has a bigger signal than the Master Emerald!" "Well, Hedgehog, you wanted something interesting to happen," Knuckles told him with a bored expression. "Are you happy now?" "Are you kidding me? This is perfect timing!" Sonic said with a smile. "Let's head to Seattle!" He declared, immediately running towards said place. "Ugh, sometimes I just want to smash him in the ground again..." Knuckles groaned, following Sonic. "H-Hey! Guys! What about the car?!" Tails asked, grabbing his backpack and following his friends. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles arrived to Seattle 20 minutes later. They reached the top of a building, with Tails trying to track the exact spot where the Chaos Energy sign comes from. "It should be... right... there!" Tails said, pointing at some kind of building with a round top. "Of course it had to be on the hardest place to reach by feet..." Sonic complained with a bored expression. "Maybe for you," Knuckles said with a smirk. "But it's a piece of cake for me!" He made a big jump, and then glided towards said building. "Sometimes I wonder: How's that he can glide if he's an echidna?" Sonic asked confused. Tails looked at him with a bored expression before speak. "You're a blue hedgehog with super speed that doesn't know how to swim; I'm a yellow fox with two tails that can fly; Knuckles is a red echidna with giant hands and super strength, and we have an unlimited power source as a night lamp back on the house. Did anything that I said makes sense to you?" Sonic just stared at Tails blankly before replying. "Um... 50/50?" Tails rolled his eyes and started to fly, grabbing Sonic from his hands and moving towards the building. Once there, they found Knuckles walking in circles, founding absolutely nothing in there. "Are you sure the sign came from here, fox?" Knuckles asked with a frown. "It didn't came from here, Knuckles. It comes from here," Tails replied, checking his device. "Maybe you need to fix it, because there's nothing here!" Knuckles cried out loudly. "Knucklehead does have a point, Tails," Sonic said, also looking around. "This place looks pretty empty." "No, guys, you don't get it, it comes from here," Tails said with worry. "In fact, is becoming bigger... and stronger..." Before either Sonic or Knuckles could say anything, a yellow portal opened up behind Knuckles, which startled the echidna, who stepped backwards and now stood at Sonic and Tails' side. "Tails? I need the context..." Sonic pled. "The thing is... not even I have any for this!" Tails cried out. And then, the portal started to drag the three creatures. However, Sonic wasn't going to allow that, so he managed to push Tails and Knuckles from the building, before being sucked by the yellow portal, that closed after Sonic got trough it. Universe 180993 Sally, Bunnie, Antoine and the other Sonic ended up guiding Sonic out of Robotropolis and towards Knothole. Yet, Sonic couldn't still explain his situation because it was still hard for him to understand how he got there. Right now, he was with the other Sonic and Antoine near a lake with waterfalls, and they both explained everything they have lived so far to Sonic so he could get a better context of this place's situation... and he didn't like it a single bit. "So this is Mobius, just not my Mobius..." Sonic said with concern, rubbing his chin and then frowning. "I cannot believe Eggman–– I mean, Robotnik, turned such a wonderful place into his junkyard playground." "Yeah, Ro-butt-nik is really a menace here," The other Sonic said as he walked back and forth. "I wish I could do half the cool stuff Sal and the others said you did with those robots! Seeing that Egghead's face would be hilarious!" "You finally called him something 'egg' related! We're making quick progress here" Sonic stated with a smirk, but then his stomach roared in hunger. "Hey, you don't happen to have Chilidogs around here, do you? Because I'm starving, I haven't eaten anything in what feels like ages, and I could really use some fuel right now..." The other Sonic smirked, boosted away, and returned with two plates, each one having 6 Chilidogs, and that caused Sonic's eyes to sparkle at the sight of food - specially his favorite one - for the first time in an entire day. "Suit yourself, Sonic-buddy!" The other Sonic said, as he extended one of the plates to Sonic. Sonic grabbed the plate and ate one of the Chilidogs in just one champ, feeling his eyes going wide and sparkling at the taste. "You have no idea of how much I needed that!" He said, drying a tear from his eye with a smile, before grabbing the plate and ate the 5 remaining Chilidogs... in one chomp again. The other Sonic did the same and smirked. "Yep!" He said, before launching the plate away. "Nothing like a good Chilidog to fill the tank!" "I completely agree on that!" Sonic said, also with a smirk. "You two are like lost twins or something..." Antoine said with annoyance, before he turned to Sonic. "Although it seemed like you really needed that snack." "I was, like an, entire day trapped on Robotropolis trying to find an exit," Sonic pointed out. "Knowing myself, I would've eat literally anything I found in order to survive." "Well, don't feel desperate anymore, 'cause you're in good hands with your fellow Freedom Fighters fellas!" The other Sonic said confidently. "Freedom Fighters... That's pretty catchy, to tell the truth," Sonic said with a little smile. At that moment, Sally arrived with them. "Hey there, Sal!" The other Sonic greeted. "Hi!" Sally greeted, before turning to see Sonic. "So, now that you have cleared your mind: Is there anything you can tell us on how you ended up here?" Sonic scratched his head a bit before replying. "Well... maybe if I tell the last thing that I lived on my home, I could tell how I ended up here." "Well then, go on!" The other Sonic said with a smirk. Sonic smirked and rubbed his chin as he thought on how to tell this properly. "Hmm... let's see... How did I ended up on a different Mobius than mine?" The entire group was heading towards the mountain Rouge mentioned, with Rouge herself guiding everyone else. Tails was piloting the Tornado IV, with Knuckles and Amy riding on the wings while Izzy and Hitch were sitting on the passenger seats and Omega, Sunny, Zipp and Pipp followed by flight. Sonic and Shadow were following from the ground, and thankfully, they were both focused on stopping Eggman, so this was no race, they were simply running at top speed to reach said cave and stop Eggman. "I was heading with my friends - and some co-workers - towards a mountain to stop Eggman as usual," Sonic narrated, since this was a flashback sequence. The image changes to Eggman and Sage standing right in front of the Paradox Prism. "He wanted to steal a powerful artifact named 'Paradox Prism', a gem that can allow its user to travel across universes" Sonic kept narrating. Then, it's seen part of the fight for the Prism, until we reach the point where Sonic charged up his Spin Dash against a 'badnik' and Sage tricked him. "I remember I saw a badnik pointing at the prism, so I charged against it," Sonic narrated with a concerned tone. "But then... that something sent me backwards, and I crashed against––" His flashback sequence ended and he gasped in shock and worry. "Against the Paradox Prism..." Sonic realized, sitting down over a rock with an anxious expression. "I... I fell right into the lion's den... Again!" "Again? Are you implying that your world's big bad guy has tricked you before?" The other Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow and his arms crossed, also tapping his foot on the floor. "Yeah..." Sonic replied, still trying to process what was happening. Two years ago, Eggman settled a trap to sent him right to Equestria, and then his life changed forever. Now? He ended up traveling to a different universe because of one of Eggman's plans to conquer the world... again. "Hmm..." Sally muttered, placing a hand on her chin. "A prism that allows anyone to travel through universes... It seems like the crash sent you to another world. Our world." "Hang on a sec!" The other Sonic said. "You're saying that all those wacky theories about a multiverse Rotor's been talking about could be real?!" "Those 'theories' stopped being such a thing a while ago," Sonic said, looking at the floor with concern. "I've actually been dealing with other realities different than mine for a very long time, although they've been 'dimensions', not straight up 'universes'." "No way!" The other Sonic said in excitement. "So, you have met other Sonics like us? More Egghead's? Have you eaten Chilidogs from every universe?!" "Yes, I wish I never did, and no," Sonic replied with a smirk. "I do remember meeting someone that looks exactly like you, though... but he cannot talk. At all." "Well, now that we know you aren't an evil copy made by Robotnik––" Sally tried to say, but Sonic cut her off. "How crazy do you think I am to even join forces with my own enemy?" Sonic asked rhetorically. "...Now that we know you're from a different universe than ours, I think we should help you find your way back home," Sally stated. "I mean, is the least we can do for your accidental help." "Yeah, it wasn't 'accidental' at all," Sonic confessed. "While I didn't knew the Eggman from this world is the one behind all that mess he calls city, I would've still destroyed those robots anyways, simply because I enjoy to do so," He added, as he moved on his place at fast paste while moving his arms like if he was boxing, something the others noticed. "Yeah, kicking Eggman's butt is always a blast!" The other Sonic said with a smirk. "And you're right: 'Eggman' is the ultimate mocking nickname!" "Told ya!" Sonic replied with a smirk, fist bumping with his other self. "By the way, Sonic from another universe," Antoine called out. "I'm afraid your shoes are glowing again." Sonic looked at his shoes again and frowned. "Of course they are..." He complained, quickly standing only with a hand to prevent being dragged by his feet again if it ever happens. The other Sonic whistled, impressed at that. "Nice trick, man!" "This is nothing compared to everything else I can do!" Sonic stated with a smirk. "If we have the proper time, I can teach you a few tricks that can help you fight better against Eggman's trash he still calls robots." "Too bad your glowing shoes could make the job hard, though..." Sally pointed out with concern. "Yeah..." Sonic replied with a bored expression. "I mean, they look cool and all, but can someone please tell me how to stop it already? Is annoying me, and I don't wanna get myself into another alley surrounded by metal because of my feet having their own mind." "Unfortunately, I cannot do anything to stop the glow," Sally said with shame. "Yeah, I cannot provide help on that either," Antoine confessed. "I can't do anything either, pal," The other Sonic said before smirking. "But I know of a certain seal that can provide the help you are seeking!" "Really? Who?" Sonic asked. The other Sonic and Sally and guided Sonic towards a house in Knothole. This house was so incredibly modified that it looked more like some kind of laboratory than a house, or that's what Sonic could tell by how it looked outside. However, he could actually confirm it was a house once he entered the place, that had many tools, machines, robots that could be used as 'guinea pigs', and a long etc. Sally explained the whole situation to a blue seal with orange eyes and a red hat, shoes and belt named Rotor, who was the inventor of the town, which surprised Sonic a lot, since he was really used to Tails being the brain and inventor around. Rotor was completely amazed by the news about the multiverse actually being a thing, but the very fact that Sonic only wanted to go home to save his friends seemed to be enough to make him focus again and accept to help out on control Sonic's speed that now seems to have a mind of its own. "Alright, buddy. Stay still!" Rotor told Sonic, as he extended a scanner and used to scan Sonic's shoes, that kept glowing at this point. "Guys, sorry to ask this all of a sudden, but you don't happen to have a Tails on your universe, do you?" Sonic asked, while Rotor finished scanning Sonic's shoes and moved to a crafting table. "Oh, yeah we do!" The other Sonic replied with a smirk. "He's probably out there having fun. Why you ask?" "Well, no offense to the Rotor fella here, but back home, Tails is the one who makes all kind of cool gadgets and stuff to fight against Eggman," Sonic explained with a sad smile. "He has come a long way ever since we first met..." "No offense taken," Rotor said from the table with a smile. "If anything, I'm glad we have a Sonic from a different universe around. You two definitely seem to be the same, yet different at the same time." "Yeah... you are more mature and handsome~" Bunnie said as well, since she was also there. "Hey!" The other Sonic complained. "Thanks for the compliment, Bunnie, but this hedgehog's already taken," Sonic replied in a mocking smirk. "Besides, we don't need another Ken Penders situation here... we definitely don't need that." "You know, I've been thinking if there's any other way we could call you," Sally confessed. "I mean, you're also called Sonic, but we cannot cause confusions." "Sal does have a point" The other Sonic replied. "How do we call each other to avoid confusion?" "Well, this other Sonic I talked about before also caused some confusion at first," Sonic confessed. "So, a knucklehead named Knuckles suggested to call him 'Classic Sonic' and refer to me as 'Modern Sonic' to avoid confusion. Could that work for you?" "Hmm... 'Classic Sonic'..." The other Sonic muttered. "You know what? I like it!" He stated with his thumbs up. "Then it's settled!" Sally said with a smile. "Our Sonic will be 'Classic Sonic', and the visitor one will be 'Modern Sonic'." "Alright, Modern buddy!" Rotor called out. "I'm finally done." He extended four discs on his hand, all of them looking the exact same, and having a weird light in the middle. "What are those things?" Modern Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow. "I call them 'energy deflectors'," Rotor replied. "If you attach these to your body, they might be able to regulate the excess energy coming from your gear so they don't explode." "Might?" Modern Sonic questioned with a bored expression. "I assure you, Modern fella!" Classic Sonic said with a smirk. "Rotor here never failed us before with his inventions. You'll be perfectly fine!" "If you say so..." Modern Sonic replied blankly. Rotor grabbed Modern Sonic's left arm and placed one of the discs over his glove, then he placed one on each of his ankle zone on his snickers, and finally placed the remaining one on his right glove. However, the energy of his shoes seemed to be reacting at the strange artifacts over his body, since not only his shoes were glowing brighter now, but also his gloves and his entire body in general. "Rotor?" Modern Sonic called out. "Please tell me this is normal!" Soon enough, the glow disappeared, but something else happened: His regular shoes were replaced with red shoes with white stripes on both sides and two black lines in the middle, while his gloves got a grey color on the fingers and looked more similar to goalkeeper gloves. "Wohoho!" Modern Sonic exclaimed amazed. "What are these?!" He added, as he then began to move around the lab in excitement. "No more energy overflow, and the look! I mean, come on!" He added with joy, before blowing a kiss in the air. "Way past cool!" Classic Sonic exclaimed with excitement, as he approached Modern Sonic and looked at his new footwear. "Man, these look amazing! Do me next, Rotor!" "Curious..." Rotor said as he rubbed his chin. "They're still your gloves and shoes, only now they seem to have a tune with the energy in your body instead of resisting it... I wonder why that is." However, Modern Sonic arrived at his side with a big smirk. "Ho, ho! These are killer! No more slipping and sliding, no smoke either! Thanks for the boost, Rotor!" He thanked with an honest smile. "Time for a test run!" He stated, before boosting away at top speed. "Hey! Wait for me!" Classic Sonic said with a smirk before boosting away as well. "They definitely are the same guy despite being two different people, huh?" Rotor said with a smile. "Oh, you have no idea, sugar," Bunnie stated with a smile, while Sally at her side chuckled along. The two Sonics were running across a forest at max speed, with Modern being just in front of Classic with a big smile. "Man, these shoes are a blast! I can finally run around without feeling like I'm about to crash against something!" Modern Sonic said confidently. Right then, Classic Sonic reached his side. "Hey, Sonic-fella! You think it could be a proper time to teach me some tricks?" "I don't see why not!" Modern Sonic replied. "First lesson: Put your hands behind instead of attach them to your body!" "The what now?" Classic Sonic questioned confused, before looking at his arms attached at his body, and then feel a sudden hyper-mega boost once he put them behind. "Sweet Chilidogs!" He exclaimed in amazement and excitement. "This is way past cool, other me!" "Glad to see you're a quick learner, Classic me!" Modern Sonic replied with a proud smile and his thumbs up. "Now, for the next lesson: Spin Dash!" Modern Sonic suddenly stopped, while Classic Sonic stopped as well and approached him. "What's that?" "Sally told me you can do something similar when you use something called a 'Power Ring'," Modern Sonic replied. "But what would you say if I told you that you can do that move without a Power Ring?" "I actually call it 'Spin Attack', but if you can teach me how to make such a thing with no Power Ring, then I'm completely fine with that!" Classic Sonic replied with a smile. "Alright, then! Follow my every move," Modern Sonic stated, while Classic decided to stand right beside him. "First, stand like if you're about to run away..." He said, and Classic repeated his action. "Then, curl into a ball and spin at top speed on your place..." He said next, and while Classic looked confused, he still managed to replicate the action. "After charging up for long enough... DASH!" Classic repeated the action, but he ended up uncurling and rolling up until he crashed against a tree, then he fell to the floor completely dizzy. Modern Sonic ran at his side and cringed at his look. "Geez, man... A-Are you okay?" "Y-Yeah..." Classic Sonic replied with a weird smile. "H-How did I did it...?" Modern Sonic scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. "Seems like I have to teach you a lot before the Spin Dash, buddy..." He replied with honesty and concern. Back at Rotor's lab, Rotor himself was fixing up something behind a blanket, while Bunnie and Sally waited as they sat over Rotor's bed. "Rotor, how much longer do we have to wait?!" Bunnie asked desperate. "Almost ready!" Rotor replied, finishing up some details on whatever he was doing and the stopping. "That'll do it! You ready, girls?" He asked from behind the blanket. "Sugar, we've been ready for a month of Sundays!" Bunnie replied with a smile. Rotor removed the blanket, and revealed one of the green-flying vehicles Robotnik has on Robotropolis, but it was highly modified since it had a tank. "This is it!" "Oh my stars!" Bunnie exclaimed in surprise. "Rotor, where did you get that?!" Sally asked curiously and excited. "In the Great Swamp!" Rotor replied. "I modified the engine, so it really moves! And, I got another surprise," He added, extending a robotic bird to Sally. "Rotor, you finished it!" Sally said excited, as she grabbed the robotic bird. "Does it work?" "I haven't tested it yet!" Rotor confessed with shame. "I thought maybe you could help. Oh, got something else here you'll like!" He added, while Sally gave the robotic bird to Bunnie, and Rotor extended some kind of metallic box that looked like a radio. "Isn't that one of Robotnik's security transponders?" Sally asked, as she pointed at the 'box'. "Right!" Rotor replied with a smile. "Which means..." "We can go anywhere!" Sally finished with a big smile. Outside one of Eggman's basements, two convoys passed through a closed door, being guarded by two human-like robots. Then, the green-flying vehicle modified by Rotor, being piloted By Sally and Bunnie, arrived right at that moment and stopped in front of the door. "Here we go, Sally girl!" Bunnie said with confidence. "The transponder's getting a signal!" "Come on, come on!" Sally said, crossing her fingers and hoping that the transponder will work. Fortunately, a red light shone on the transponder, meaning they were granted access to the basement. "We're in!" Sally cheered with a smile. The door opened, and the vehicle entered to the basement. "Oh my heavens to buddy!" Bunnie exclaimed in amazement and concern as she saw the basement right in front of them. "Would you look at that ugly old thing?" "Only Robotnik could create something that horrible..." Sally pointed out with concern. Meanwhile, the two Sonics decided to leave the 'training session' for another time, since Classic couldn't learn the Spin Dash yet. Instead, he lead Modern Sonic back to Robotropolis and into his Uncle Chuck's hideout. At first, Modern felt surprised that Uncle Chuck was a robot, but then he remembered that the Freedom Fighters told him that Robotnik roboticed all the citizens of what used to be Mobotropolis. He was glad that he was conscious again, though, because that meant they could track Robotnik's moves directly from the city. "Is a pleasure to meet you, young fella from another universe," Uncle Chuck said, as he shook hands with Modern Sonic. "It's good to see that you are one of the good heart people." "The pleasure is mine, sir," Modern Sonic said with a smirk. "And of course I'm one of the good guys! I enjoy kicking Eggman's butt as everyone else around here!" "Well, we love to do that as well... but I'm afraid I cannot help you too much right now," Uncle Chuck said with shame. "What?!" Classic Sonic exclaimed, while his eyes widened. "What do you mean, Unc?" Instead of replying with words, Uncle Chuck took two headphones and gave them to the Sonics, before taking another ones and put them on. The Sonics imitated his action, and they all heard nothing but static. "Um... Are we supposed to be hearing anything?" Modern Sonic asked confused, removing the headphones from his ears. "We should be hearing Eggman's plans!" Classic Sonic replied with concern. "What's up with this headphones, Unc?" He asked to Uncle Chuck with a raised eyebrow, also removing the headphones. "Bug malfunction," Uncle Chuck replied. "We'll have to replace it." "Cool! I was itching for some action!" Classic Sonic stated with a smirk. Modern Sonic, however, rubbed his chin with doubt. "I don't know... This smells like a trap to me," He said with a frown, before looking at Uncle Chuck. "Where did you hide this bug you mentioned?" "Robotnik's Warehouse," Uncle Chuck replied with a smile. "I like the idea of using one of his own bugs to spy on him." "Yeah, it's definitely a trap," Modern Sonic stated, punching his fist against his hand. "What do you mean, other me?" Classic Sonic asked confused, while he crossed his arms, raised an eyebrow and tapped his foot on the ground. "The bug is right on Eggman's Warehouse, and it so happened to malfunction now... Don't you think that's suspicious?" Modern Sonic pointed out. "Hmm... that's a very good point," Uncle Chuck confessed. "But what do we do now, then?" Classic Sonic asked desperate. "We still need to fix that bug if we want to know Robotnik's next moves!" "Hmm..." Modern Sonic said, as he rubbed his chin and tried to come up with something. "I bet Eggman is waiting for a spy to go in, or even you, Classic. Maybe... If I go in and repair the bug, and then leave without being noticed, we'll frustrate his plans!" "But wouldn't that put you on a dangerous situation?" Classic Sonic asked in concern. "I know you said that you've been dealing with Robotnik for quite a while, but if it is a trap, that could put you in danger!" "Eggman's expecting the spy or the Sonic he's already used to deal with. He may know about my presence at this point, but he doesn't know I'm coming!" Modern Sonic pointed out with a smirk. "Besides, neither you nor him have seen everything I'm capable of!" He assured, while cracking his knuckles. "That could do the trick," Uncle Chuck said with a smile. "But you must be careful! I highly doubt the Robotnik you're used to deal with compares to the cold heart of this monster." "I'll try my best, although I don't promise to not have any sort of fun!" Modern Sonic stated with a smirk. "Ah, shoot..." Classic Sonic complained. "I was expecting to have some action, too..." "Don't worry, pal!" Modern Sonic told him with a smile and his thumbs up. "If I repair the bug, and you detect that something's wrong, boost toward Egghead's Warehouse to give me a hand!" "Then you better get yourself in trouble, buddy!" Classic Sonic said in a mocking tone. Modern chuckled and fist bumped with Classic, before boosting away through the exit that Uncle Chuck opened for him, and that closed after Modern left. Sally and Bunnie approached to the basement with the green-flying vehicle. Once the vehicle stopped right in front of what looked like a giant metallic satellite dish, it extended a cable and connected the vehicle and the satellite dish together. "Nicole, download plans," Sally instructed to the AI. "Downloading, Sally," Nicole informed. After a few seconds of downloading data, Nicole got everything Sally needed. "Okay, we got the plans," Sally said with a smile. "Then let's get the hoo-ha out of here", Bunnie stated with concern. "This place gives me the heebie-jeebies." "In a second," Sally said, as she pressed a button on the vehicle's panel control and something appeared in the monitor. "Interesting... These are Robotnik's daily operations files. Nicole, can you break the code on the one marked 'top secret'?" Nicole made some sounds as it tried to brake the code. "Transcribing..." After a few seconds, it stopped, and Sally gasped at what she saw. "Oh my gosh! He's onto Uncle Chuck's bug!" Back with Uncle Chuck and Classic Sonic, the latter was walking back and forth nervously, having a really bad feeling about Modern Sonic going alone against Robotnik. While they were training to learn the Spin Dash, Modern told him lots of stories about some of his adventures he had back home, and even if he did felt a bit jealous, he felt more inspired and amazed by all the stuff he had gone through. It kinda gave him more confidence on him, but he still couldn't help but feel like something could go utterly wrong at any second at this point. "Oh man... I don't like this a single bit, Unc," Classic Sonic said with concern. "You gotta trust your other self, Sonic," Uncle Chuck told him with a smile. "It seems like he has lots of experience with Robotnik's stuff. I'm pretty sure everything will work out just fine." "Still, I have a bad feeling about this..." Classic Sonic confessed with his arms crossed. Suddenly, the hideouts door opened, and Antoine came in, stopping as he tried to catch his breath before watching Uncle Chuck and Classic Sonic with worry. "Uncle Chuck, Sonic!" Antoine called out with worry. "Sally... she sent a note... Robotnik... he knows about the bug!" "Huh?!" both Uncle Chuck and Classic Sonic said in worry. "Ugh, I knew this was a bad idea!" Classic Sonic said with a frown. "My other self could be in danger! Robotnik definitely has something in store for him!" "Then go!" Uncle Chuck told him. "The other Sonic is going to need help from himself if he wants to get out of there alive!" "Thanks for the thumbs up, Unc!" Classic Sonic told him with a smile, before turning to Antoine and shake his hand with a smirk. "And thanks to you too, Antoine. Your warning is gonna save the day today!" He stated, before boosting away to help Modern Sonic. "Oh, it is my pleasure to help!" Antoine said with a proud smile on himself. Right in front of Robotnik's Warehouse, two human-like robots were guarding the entrance. Suddenly, one of them was destroyed by Modern Sonic's Spin Dash, and the other one didn't even got time to say or do anything because Modern used a Stomp Attack to crush it entirely. "Man, this things are even easier to defeat than my Egghead's machines!" Modern Sonic said with a mocking tone and smirk. "Who build these, anyways? A five year old?" He chuckled. Then, he looked around for an entrance where he could sneak inside the Warehouse, and thankfully, he saw a ventilation entrance where he could get in. So, he retired the cover and entered the ventilation system. Soon enough, Classic Sonic arrived to the place, and he was amazed to find the robots already trashed out. "Aw, man!" Classic Sonic exclaimed with a smirk. "My other self definitely knows how to strike a punch!" Then, he noticed the open ventilation system, and he entered it as well, also placing the cover back once he heard the red-police robots approaching. Once inside, he crawled around the ventilation system, and he stopped once he spotted Snively on a rack, while Robotnik's sidekick seemed to be busy as he worked on something and hummed happily to himself. However, he made the mistake of lay right on the rack, opening it and almost falling through it with a yelp, if it wasn't because someone grabbed his hand and the rack at the same time, closing it at fast paste, but making a lot of noise. Snively noticed that and frowned, so he removed the rack and looked around the ventilation system with suspicion. But since nothing seemed to be wrong, he placed the rack back on place, fortunately not noticing that Modern Sonic was hiding on a corner, covering Classic's mouth so he made no noise. Once Snively was gone, Modern Sonic removed his hand from Classic's mouth. "Man, what are you doing here?!" He muttered concerned. "I though we came to a deal when I told you to arrive only if things got out of hand!" "I know, I know, but Antoine received a note from Sally saying that Robotnik knows about the bug, just like you said!" Classic Sonic explained with concern. "I came here to warn you so we can leave and form another plan!" "But what about the bug? Without it, we have no access to Eggman's plans!" Modern Sonic pointed out. "Sal downloaded his plans! That's how she found out about Robotnik knowing about the bug!" Classic Sonic explained. "Well, if that's the case, then let's head back to your Uncle's hideout!" Modern Sonic stated with a smirk. After that, they both boosted away from there. Unfortunately, arriving to Uncle Chuck's hideout wasn't a good idea. The place was destroyed, the monitors were a mess and Antoine was lying unconscious on the ground. "Antoine!" Classic Sonic said with worry, as he moved towards the coyote and shake him to wake him up. Antoine blinked a few times before finally waking up entirely, and he panicked a lot. "Wah!" He shouted in fear, but then he sighed in relief when he saw both Sonics at his side. "Oh, thank goodness!" "Man, what happened?" Modern Sonic asked him, extending a hand to help him to stand up. Antoine accepted, then he cleaned some dust of his body and frowned with worry. "Uncle Chuck was trying to get some signals from the bug in case you already repair it, but then we were attacked by Robotnik's machines!" "Antoine, where's my Unc?!" Classic Sonic asked desperate and worried. "I'm sorry, Sonic... I fell unconscious by something hitting me on my head," Antoine confessed with shame. "It's okay, Ant," Modern Sonic said with a smile. "But now I think we have to rescue Uncle Chuck. Something tells me he was kidnapped!" "Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go save my Unc!" Classic Sonic stated, before boosting away from the cave. Modern Sonic smirked as well, grabbed Antoine by the hand and boosted away too, while Antoine screamed in fair because of the high speed the Sonics were running. Near what it seemed to be an actual junkyard, the green-flying vehicle piloted by Sally and Bunnie landed on the ground. Behind one pile of junk, a blue dragon girl with a black passenger seat on her back and with yellow scales was hiding, but then she smiled when she saw Bunnie coming out of the vehicle. "Oh, Bunnie!" The dragon girl exclaimed with a smile, as she came out of her hideout and approached Bunnie. Sally came out as well, and soon enough, the three girls heard someone crying, and right then, both Sonics arrived as well, with Modern Sonic letting go Antoine, who was the one crying. Modern Sonic saw the dragon girl and whistled in amazement. "Wow, I didn't expected to met an adult dragon today!" "Well, I didn't expected to met another Sonic!" The dragon girl replied with a smile. "I'm Dulcy." "Call me 'Modern' Sonic, to avoid confusion with this guy!" Modern Sonic presented himself with a smirk, also pointing at Classic Sonic at his side. "Guys, what happened?" Sally asked to the Sonics and Antoine with concern. "Uncle Chuck has been kidnapped!" Classic Sonic said with worry. "We have to save him!" "We intercepted Robotnik's message about the bug," Sally pointed out. "I hope he's okay." "He was, but with Classic going after me to give me your message, and with Antoine left unconscious, I'm afraid Uncle Chuck has been captured," He said with a worried frown and his arms crossed. "Well, I want him out of there right away!" Classic Sonic stated, moving his feet at fast paste to make the shape of an eight, but then being stopped by Modern Sonic. "Not so fast, other me!" Modern Sonic said. "I know he's your family and how much he means to you, but we have to think before acting away. First things first: Dulcy, take Antoine back to Knothole." "What?! No, no! I can–– Ah!" Antoine tried to protest, but then he screamed when Dulcy grabbed him and putted him on her 'kangaroo' bag. "Oh, please! I can help!" "No offense, man, but you were shitting on your pants when we first met," Modern Sonic pointed out with a mocking smirk. "Oh, come on––" Antoine tried to protest again, but then Dulcy pushed him on her bag again. "Uh-uh, no talking during takeoff, Tony!" Dulcy said with a smirk, before taking flight towards Knothole. "Later!" Classic Sonic waved his hand with a smirk. "Alright, what's next?" "Now, we intercept Eggman's base to rescue your Uncle!" Modern Sonic stated, cracking his knuckles and smirking, while his electrical powers showed up for a moment. "I love the way you think, other me!" Classic stated with a smirk, and then the two Sonics boosted towards Robotnik's base. In Robotnik's base, Uncle Chuck was plugged into a red chair, tied up and frowning, while Robotnik was right in front of him with a sinister grin. "Sir Charles," Robotnik greeted. "I gotta say, I'm surprised you managed to stay as a spy for so long." "I don't care if you captured me, Robotnik," Uncle Chuck stated with a frown. "I'll never talk!" "Oh, but you will, Sir Charles," Robotnik assured with a sinister grin. "You are plugged in now, my old friend." "I am no friend, scum!" Uncle Chuck replied with anger. "You call me scum?!" Robotnik asked in anger. "Perhaps you need an attitude adjustment!" He said with an evil smirk, then he pressed a button on a panel control in front of Uncle Chuck. Then, some kind of red ring scanned Uncle Chuck, and his red eyes shone bright, returning Uncle Chuck to his 'default settings' as a mindless robot. "Robotnik is supreme ruler. Supreme ruler. Supreme ruler..." Uncle Chuck said on loop. "Better. Much better," Robotnik said with joy, and then the red ring came back to return him some control. "Now, Sir Charles. Where. Is. KNOTHOLE?!" However, since Uncle Chuck got control of his own body back, he frowned and closed his mouth, refusing to answer. "Sir Charles..." Robotnik called out, pulling down two switches and then pressing a button on the panel control. The red ring appeared around Uncle Chuck again, but just as it was about to make him talk, it stopped functioning. "What?!" Robotnik asked in concern, pulsing several buttons to try and make the machine work again, but it didn't work. "What is happening?!" Then, the ceiling broke, and Modern Sonic entered with a smirk, with Classic Sonic landing behind him and freeing Uncle Chuck. "Sorry, Eggman! But the train to get info about Knothole passed at 10:30!" Modern Sonic mocked up, before charging a Spin Dash against Robotnik. "You already missed that train!" Robotnik crashed against the wall, but then he groaned at Modern Sonic, who was running away along Classic Sonic and Uncle Chuck, who smirked now that he was free. "Get those Hedgehogs!" Robotnik shouted in anger. "Man, your Eggman has serious anger issues," Modern Sonic pointed out with a frown. "You have no idea..." Classic Sonic replied with a bored expression. Suddenly, the two Sonics stopped, and Classic put Uncle Chuck down while the three hedgehogs frowned at the robots surrounding him. "Other me..." Modern Sonic called out with a smirk. "Let me show you some cool stuff!" "Usually, I don't like the idea of not fighting back, but... suit yourself, Sonic-buddy!" Classic Sonic replied with a smirk. Modern Sonic cracked his knuckles and turned on his electrical powers, not only surprising Classic and Uncle Chuck, but also Robotnik. Then, he charged up his Spin Dash and destroyed three robots with it, before changing to a Wild Rush to destroy several of them and then a Spin Slash. After that, he used Homing Shot on a few robots, then a Homing Attack on another one and finished up the last machine with a Stomp Attack. "Wow!" Classic Sonic exclaimed. "Other me! That was way past cool!" He stated with sparkling eyes and excitement. "I told you I had some cool tricks in store!" Modern Sonic replied with a proud smile. "Impressive... really impressive..." Robotnik said with a smirk. "I tend to leave a very good first impression," Modern Sonic stated with a smirk. "But I'm also good at kicking big bad guy's butts like yours, Eggman!" "Yo, other me!" Classic Sonic called out, and Modern turned to face him. "Let's get out of here!" He stated, while opening a door and jumping out of it along Uncle Chuck. Modern Sonic nodded before looking back at Robotnik. "You might not be the same Eggman I'm used to deal with, but I'm stopping you for sure!" He stated, before boosting out of the window as well. "I'll be waiting for that moment, rodent," Robotnik smirked. Modern Sonic entered to the green-flying vehicle, were Sally, Classic and Uncle Chuck were already waiting for him. Then, the doors of the vehicle closed, and they moved back to Uncle Chuck's old hideout. Once they arrived there, Uncle Chuck walked towards his hideout, being followed by the Sonics, Sally and Bunnie. "Uncle Chuck, you gotta come back to Knothole," Classic Sonic stated with a worried frown. "Your cover's blown!" "Not to mention that you don't seem to know how to protect yourself," Modern Sonic added with concern as well. "I anticipated that possibility," Uncle Chuck replied with a smile, while approaching to some junk and pressing a button, that opened a secret door to another hideout. "Welcome to my new home!" The five of them entered the place, finding new stuff that could help Uncle Chuck discover Robotnik's plans to warn Sonic and the Freedom Fighters. "I think it just needs a little redecorating," Modern Sonic pointed out. "Totally!" Uncle Chuck agreed with a smirk. "Cool, Unc, but... Robotnik knows your face!" Classic Sonic pointed out with concern. "Yes, yes, I know," Uncle Chuck replied, as he opened another door that closed after he got through it. "Excuse me a moment." "He's stubborn on a 10 like a mule!" Bunnie pointed out with concern. "No way he's staying here!" Sally stated with a frown. "Is he always this stubborn?" Modern Sonic asked Classic. "Oh, you have no idea!" Classic Sonic replied with his arms crossed. "Well: Like uncle, like nephew, they say!" Modern Sonic mocked up, pushing Classic in a playful way, causing Sally and Bunnie to laugh quietly. "Oh, yeah, yeah. Laugh it off," Classic Sonic said madly, crossing his arms again and stomping his foot on the ground. Suddenly, the four of them heard something approaching, and the same door that Uncle Chuck opened before opened again, but instead of Uncle Chuck, a robot came out making beep sounds. Everyone stood on defensive poses, but then Modern Sonic noticed something about this robot and stood normally, also smirking in a playful way. "Intruders! Priority number one hedgehog!" 'The robot' said, followed by a maniac laugh. However, the maniac laugh turned into a more normal one, and the head of the robot opened... just so Uncle Chuck could come out and laugh at the others sins Modern Sonic, who seemed to get way earlier that Uncle Chuck was the one behind the robot. "You should have seen your faces!" Uncle Chuck said with a loud laugh. Modern Sonic laughed along him and approached him. "That was a good one, Unc!" He said with a smirk, fist bumping with Uncle Chuck. The others, however, seemed a bit ashamed that they fell for Uncle Chuck's joke. "Sugar Chuck, you scared your growth off me!" Bunnie exclaimed with a little smile. "Gotta hand it to you, Unc!" Classic Sonic said with a little smile as well. "You nailed us big time. But I still want you back in Knothole." "There's plenty for you to do there," Sally added with a smile. However, Uncle Chuck shook his head in negation. "When Robotnik is defeated, we'll be together. Until then, I stay here!" Modern Sonic could understand Uncle Chuck's need of staying around and feel helpful, but he also knew how Classic Sonic could feel if his cover was blown again and he got either captured or killed. That could probably lead to Classic blaming himself for his death for not being fast enough, just like Modern blamed himself for Longclaw's... That's why he put on a determined expression and looked at Uncle Chuck. "Uncle Chuck, don't do that," Modern Sonic said... in a sad tone. It was the first time that these people saw him sad, and it gave Classic a bad feeling for some reason. "Don't do what?" Uncle Chuck asked confused. "Don't tell your own nephew to leave you here and wait for this war to be over so you can be together," Modern Sonic replied, now frowning a bit. "What if... what if one of you doesn't make it? What then?" Both Sally and Bunnie gasped in shock, while Classic Sonic panicked and Uncle Chuck felt regret. "Spending time with your nephew, even if its during times like these, is something you might never be able to experience ever again if you stay here," Modern Sonic explained. "I tell you this by experience... I... I lost my mother figure years ago... on a village that was set on fire," He confessed, and everyone else gasped in shock by that. "I was too late... I wasn't fast enough to save her... and now, there isn't a day I don't wish to go back in time and tell her everything I didn't because of my fight with Robotnik," He pointed out with concern, remembering when Longclaw died and he found out a day after she was gone. "The battle against Eggman is important, true... but your family matters more. Appreciate your loved ones while you have them. You never know when could life take them away from you," He finished, before getting out of the hideout, while drying the few tears he let fall. Once outside, he let out a heavy sigh and then deep breathed to calm himself down. He didn't liked to remember when Longclaw died, but... he wouldn't let anyone else live what he lived either. If he could make a family reunite just to avoid a similar tragedy than his, then he gladly will. Soon enough, the door of the hideout opened again, and Sonic turned to see Sally, Bunnie and Classic Sonic getting out of the new hideout... along with Uncle Chuck. Uncle Chuck approached Modern Sonic with a soft smile. "You're right, son. Staying here may give us an advantage over Robotnik, but my family matters a lot more. I'm going back to Knothole. We'll find another way to spy on Robotnik. Right now?" He said, before turning to face Classic Sonic. "I want to spent time with my family," He stated, now hugging Classic Sonic with joy, while Classic hugged him back. Modern Sonic smiled at the sight, glad that Uncle Chuck made the right choice. Robotnik was looking replays of Modern Sonic's fighting style on his monitor. He was fascinated, not only with how faster the other Sonic moved, but also on how more skilled he seemed to be. He could be a perfect addition to Robotnik's army, or that's what the doctor himself was thinking with a sinister grin. "This Hedgehog... I don't know where he comes from, but I know for sure that I can use his power to my convenience," Robotnik stated with an evil smile. "A few modifications should be enough to make sure that rodent gets under my control permanently!" "Excuse me, sir," Snively called out. "But how is this new Sonic vital for your victory against the other Hedgehog, if I may ask?" "You'll see, Snively, the best way you can fight fire is with fire," Robotnik explained. "Creating a robotic Sonic with his speed could be a genius idea for sure, but with how experienced this new Sonic seems to be, I wouldn't be surprised if he already faced something similar. That's why we must carefully plan how to make him fall for our trap." "May I suggest using the..." Snively started, before looking around and approaching to Robotnik's ear with an evil smirk. "Silver Decoy Hedgehog?" Robotnik smirked sinisterly after hearing that. "Snively, you truly are an evil genius when you put some effort," He said just a little, little, very, very little proud of Snively. "Prepare the Silver Decoy Hedgehog. We must make sure that this new Sonic gets under my control!" "Right away, Sir!" Snively replied, before moving away to work. Robotnik looked back at the monitor with the images of Modern Sonic destroying his machines, and smirked sinisterly by just imagining everything he could do with his powers. "Soon you'll be mine, little hedgehog," He stated, before laughing maniacally. Back in Knothole, Modern Sonic was sitting on the edge of a ceiling, looking at the night sky with a nostalgic look. Thinking about it, he was so focused on finding out more about this place and even give a hand to his other self and company, that he almost forgot about his friends back home. How were they? Did the Prism affected them as well? Did Eggman stole the Prism? Were Tails or Pipp hurt? Thousands of questions invaded his mind, and now he was panicking a bit. However, thinking about Pipp also helped him realize that, so he took several deep breaths to calm his nerves down, and it worked out, because any sign of a sudden panic attack disappeared. He was worried about his friends, specially Tails and Pipp... but he knew them. If anything, they probably discovered already that the Prism is broken, and that they need to bring him back. With some luck, Tails will control himself this time and find a solution with a cold mind. Soon enough, a shadow appeared behind him, but he didn't had to turn around to know who they were because he smirked. "If you just wanted to make me company, you should have told me before, Sal," Sonic said, while he turned to see Sally, looking at him with a sheepish smile. "Sorry... but your other self told me you'll be here," Sally replied, approaching and sitting at his side. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything." "Eh, it's fine," Sonic replied with a shrug. "I'm just worried about my friends back home... and my girlfriend, too..." "Oh... I see..." Sally said, before smiling a little at him. "Well, if you wanna go back, we could find the way right away so you don't have to stay anymore." "I will love to... but this world's Eggman could follow me up if we don't find a way to stop him," Sonic pointed out with a frown. "As much as I want to go back, we need to stop Eggman first. Just then, I can leave knowing that there's at least one world free of him." "You seem to be willing to help anyone in need," Sally pointed out with a smile. Sonic's smirk grew, and he decided to stand up. "It's what I do. Just keep moving, doing good, saving folks, and living as free as the wind. Living by my way, my own way." Sally sighed at the sight of this new Sonic. She could tell he was handsome, and the fact that he seemed a lot more mature than her Sonic was also a great detail. However, she shook her head to pull those thoughts away and remembered than she already had her Sonic, and that this other one already had a girlfriend as well. If anything, having those thoughts was very, very wrong in the first place. "Does that... includes helping people you're not in good terms with?" Sally asked to change the subject. Sonic looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" "Will you help someone who's not in very good terms with you? Someone... like the me of your reality?" Sally asked a bit concerned. Sonic cringed at the sound of that and scratched his head nervously, also chuckling awkwardly and then sitting down again. "Yeah... even people that states they don't need my help specifically." Sally smiled a bit, but her smile faded away once she thought on her next question. "If I may ask... what happened between you and I on your universe?" Sally asked. "I guess it's something you don't like to talk about, but... maybe saying it out loud could make you feel better." Sonic growled a bit, but then sighed in defeat. "No, I don't like to talk about this at all, but... I have to give you reason on it helping me to take it out of my system. We met when Eggman attacked her kingdom once, like 12 years ago, more or less. After that, we kept contact for a while, we hang out, we fell in love like a pair of teenagers... and then my mother figure died..." Sally gasped after hearing that, even covering her mouth in worry. "I was so mad, so desperate, so... lost... I stopped being myself for a while," Sonic kept explaining. "I punched Eggman a few times, harder than I would like to admit; Tails and I stopped talking for at least 4 months; I ignored everyone who offered help... and then you approached to me. You were only trying to help, like everyone... but I had no common sense at the moment and... I snapped at you." "I'm gonna guess everything after that just went down hill..." Sally said with a sad tone. "Nah... it was even worse..." Sonic remarked. "We just shouted at each other with no reason, and... we split our ways. I tried to look after her after I got proper therapy to help control my depression... but she always snapped at me like if I killed her best friend or something," He said with a little smile, and Sally did chuckled at the joke, but Sonic's smile disappeared. "She never gave me a chance to amend my mistake, so... We never saw each other again." "So that's why you mentioned that you never expected our first encounter to be the way it turned out to be..." Sally said, rubbing her chin. "Yeah... I never got the chance to tell her I liked her, either... That feeling disappeared, but my regret just grows every day..." Sonic confessed with shame. "I just wish I could go back in time and fix that stupid mistake with her." "You might not be able to go back, but... maybe, if you ever have the chance to talk with her again, you could try to amend things for good," Sally told him with a smile. "I know I'm not her, and that we didn't lived the same lives, but... If I were on her place, I would totally accept you apology, no matter how badly you screwed things." Sonic unconsciously smiled and looked at her. "I kinda forgot that you are a great listener, even if you don't understand the situation sometimes." "Well, my 'listener' abilities can only compare to you super speed, Hedgehog!" Sally stated with a mocking smirk. Sonic couldn't help but burst laughing at that joke, and soon enough, Sally joined him. Yeah, she wasn't the same Sally he screwed things with, but if this Sally, from a total different universe with a total different life, was willing to forgive him on something he never did to her in the first place, then maybe there was a chance that the Sally from his universe could do the same. If he ever gets the chance to fix things up, he would gladly take it. And this time, he'll make sure to not screw things up again. > 2. New Visitors in Equestria > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Universe 220822 - Before the Prism shattering... "Stay focused, everyone!" Sonic instructed. "Whatever Eggman has at stake, we must be really careful!" "We still don't know the capacities of the Paradox Prism, so we must stay alert!" Tails stated. "Smash anything Eggman related and keep it away from the Prism!" Knuckles added, sending a Buzzer flying away and exploding on a wall. Sonic noticed from the corner of his eye that a Buzz Bomber was charging up an attack in the air. He smirked and charged up his Spin Dash to launch it against said enemy. However, Shadow also noticed said Buzz Bomber, but his eyes widened in shock, since he could felt that it wasn't a badnik. "Sonic, wait!" Shadow shouted. Unfortunately, Sonic already launched himself against the 'Buzz Bomber', but just a second before smashing it down, the badnik transformed into Sage, who was smirking and had her left hand raised, and just when Sonic was about to hit her, she sent him flying backwards... straight towards the Paradox Prism. Sonic uncurled from his ball state in pain, but before anyone could react or do anything at all, Sonic crashed against the Paradox Prism, and the Prism itself split into four pieces, each one from a different color. Everything from here seemed to go in slow motion: Everyone covering from the explosion of the Prism, both Eggman and Sage grinning over Sonic's crash against it, and Shadow looking in genuine panic at Sonic traversing some kind of portal with the shape of an 'X' that opened once the Prism shattered. At the end, Sonic ended up traversing the portal, and it soon enough closed, while everyone but Sage flew backwards because of the impact of the explosion. Tails crashed against a wall, and the blue fragment landed near him, while the red one fall near Shadow. Unlike the rest, who groaned and tried to recover their senses, both Shadow and Tails grabbed the fragments that felt near them, while the remaining two fragments, the green one and the yellow one, fell right in front of the remaining Big Arms. Eggman saw this and smirked, so he jumped from his position and landed right in front of the Big Arms, before opening up the panel control cabin and turn on the machine, grabbing with one arm the two fragments in front of the machine, while everyone else finally stood up and looked at him in concern. "Seems like the Hedgehog finally said Goodbye!" Eggman stated with a smirk. "Now: Faker, young Prower, hand over the remaining fragments of the Paradox Prism, or else––" However, Shadow pulled out the Green Chaos Emerald and shouted "Chaos Control", causing Eggman and Sage to stop temporally. "Sunny, use that Alicorn magic of yours and get us out of here!" Sunny simply nodded, made her Alicorn form appear, and then lightened up her horn to teleport everyone out of there, which she did. With them gone, the Chaos Control effect left, returning Eggman and Sage to their regular speed. The doctor smashed the panel control of the Big Arms with rage, and then he exited the machine to let out a loud yell of frustration, also kicking away the head of one of his badniks. "Ugh! I-I-I can't believe those pests escaped! WITH TWO FRAGMENTS OF THE PRISM!!!" Eggman shouted in rage, before turning to see Sage with a frown. "And you, young lady! What did you did? I mean, yes, the hedgehog's gone, but where? Where did you sent him? And why destroy the Paradox Prism in the process?! WHY ARE YOU SO CALMED?!" "This is exactly what I predicted that would happen. It had to happen this way to work," Sage replied with a smirk. "What are you talking about?!" Eggman shouted in anger and confusion. "THIS MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SE––" He tried to shout again, but Sage placed a finger on his mouth and looked at him with a bored expression. "Can I finally explain myself before you yell again, father?" Sage asked with a sarcastic tone, and Eggman deadpanned before slowly nodding, so Sage retired her finger from his mouth. "Listen: Sonic has been sent to a different universe after the crash with the Paradox Prism. That means he'll be back eventually? Yes, but it's gonna take a while for him to do that. Now, why did the Prism needed to be shattered? I read every available piece of information on the Prism, and it still works, even broken." Eggman's eyes widened after hearing that. "What?!" He asked on disbelief. "The Prism was built to work even if it's shattered," Sage explained. "That means that all the four fragments work individually with the same amount of power than when their together," She added, and Eggman was about to protest on something else, but Sage raised her hand, and Eggman closed his mouth with a raised eyebrow. "You might think that Sonic's friends can use the fragments they took with them, but they do not have all the codes and specific instructions to make the Prisms work properly. I do," She pointed out with a smirk. Eggman's eyes widened, and soon enough, he was grinning with joy. "Ohohoho! I see where are you going with this!" He said with happiness. "So, if you have all the codes and instructions to properly use the Prism, we could travel to any universe we want without even trying it! It's perfect!" He stated with a grin. "Actually, I recalculated our chances, and changing plans could bring out a more satisfying result," Sage replied. "What do you mean?" Eggman asked with a raised eyebrow. "I sent Sonic to an unknown universe. Even if the chances of crashing in the exact same universe he fell are very low, it still exists," Sage explained. "I suggest we stay in this universe, and instead, we bring more Doctor Eggmans from other realities to ours," She suggested. "What?" Eggman said, now frowning a bit. "But that wasn't the plan!" "Father, think about it: Three minds as smart as yours, working together to take over the entire multiverse!" Sage stated. "Once every single universe is yours, you could ditch your variants and control them as well. You could rule every reality out there, you could be superior than Sonic, and all that it took was sending him to another universe." "Even with the rodent out, his friends are still a problem!" Eggman pointed out. "They do not have the codes and instructions to use the Prism yet! Once they find out, they could bring Sonic back, and everything I've been working over for the past three months will be worth nothing!" He added with worry and concern. "It took me seconds to learn everything about the Prism," Sage pointed out with a smirk. "To them? It could take months to even know half of what I already know. Sonic's out of your way, father. His friends have no knowledge over the Prism, and the power of travel through the multiverse and bring anyone from it is in your hands now." Eggman couldn't believe everything he was hearing, and yet, he grinned sinisterly after Sage finished explaining. "Look at you, little girl. You learn fast! You fill me with pride, Sage!" He stated with a smile. "Alright, then. Let's go back to the lab. I must test out the fragments of the Prism in order to bring myself to the universe!" He instructed. Sage nodded, made her hands glow, and in no time, they were both out of there with their fragments of the Prism. Floppy and Hitch's animal crew were running playfully around the Brighthouse, being careful to not brake anything. Yes, Floppy's alive, he's still here, I haven't forgotten about him. You still remember him, right? The little bunny Sonic adopted back in Season 1? Yeah, he's still around. However, the critters and Floppy stopped once a light appeared above the living room, and then, the Mane 6, Sparky, Team Dark, Tails, Knuckles and Amy landed suddenly in the floor with a loud thud, as well as the red and blue fragments of the Paradox Prism. Everyone groaned in pain as they all stood up slowly, some shacking their heads, and some grabbing them in pain. However, as Tails seemed to finally recover his senses, he counted everyone in the room... and noticed the pretty obvious absence of Sonic. Mostly because he always asked if everyone was okay after something like that escape happened... but now, nobody has done it yet. "Ugh... everyone okay there?" Knuckles asked, as he scratched his head and helped Izzy to stand up. Yeah, I spoke too soon, apparently. "As good as I can be, I guess..." Zipp replied, shacking her head and helping out Pipp to get back on her four hooves. "Nopony's hurt?" Hitch asked in concern, also helping Sunny to stand up, and his animal crew ran to the Sheriff immediately, which Hitch gladly greeted with a smile. "Physically, emotionally, or rhetorically?" Amy asked with sarcasm, cracking her back and stretching her arms in pain. "Because I feel like I broke all of them..." She added with a painful expression, then she went and helped Misty to get up as well. Rouge and Omega simply nodded, but Tails and Shadow... they stayed too quiet. "Guys... W-Where's Sonic?" Tails asked, a bit panicked. It wasn't until Tails mentioned it that everyone else but Shadow finally realized the absence of the blue hedgehog. "S-Sonic?" Pipp began to call out, and her heart suddenly started to bump like if she was running a marathon. "Uh... Hedgehog?" Knuckles called out as well, looking around for him, not only not getting a response, but also not seeing him anywhere. "W-Where did he go?!" Pipp asked in panic, now moving in circles and looking desperate for him. "If it helps to calm you all down, Sonic is alive," Shadow spoke suddenly, and everyone else turned to see him, facing the two fragments of the Paradox prism with a frown. "I can still feel his energy, coming from there," He explained, now pointing at the fragments of the Prism. Both Pipp and Tails, the latter also panicking a bit when he didn't saw Sonic around, sighed in relief, and Pipp felt like 75% of her worries disappeared after hearing Shadow saying he's fine. "Wait a second..." Knuckles said suddenly. "How do you know that he's fine?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow. "The real question here is: Where did he go, exactly?" Zipp interfered. "And how do you know where he is, Shadow?" She asked to the Ultimate Life Form with a glare. Shadow looked back at Zipp and frowned more, if that was even possible. "Oh, he's getting serious, This might be good," Rouge muttered to Amy at her side, who chuckled a bit. "Sage tricked him. He though she was a badnik before transforming back and launching Sonic against the Paradox Prism," Shadow explained with a frown. "After that, the Prism split apart and opened a portal with the shape of an X. Sonic crossed that portal by accident. Am I really the only one who noticed it?" He asked a bit mad. "Well, if you didn't noticed, Mr. 'Ultimate Life Form', we were trying to protect that stupid Prism!" Knuckles pointed out in anger, while Shadow frowned and approached the echidna, fire covering his eyes. "Alright, boys! Calm down!" Hitch said, as he stepped between Knuckles and Shadow before things got out of control. "B-But... If Sonic crossed a portal... W-Where did he go?!" Pipp asked in panic. "This... this is bad..." Sunny muttered in worry, and everyone else turned to see her with concern. "Sunny?" Pipp called out first. "What did you said?" Sunny slowly lifted her head and looked at Pipp with an anxious look. "The Paradox Prism can tear apart the walls that separate universes. If a portal was open when they split apart, a-and Sonic traversed the portal, then..." She tried to explain, but she had the feeling that the rest would understand. "Oh no... not this crap again!" Knuckles complained. "Big Blue... he's on the loose... again..." Rouge finished with concern. Everybody else felt either concerned, mad or worried that Sonic was sent by Eggman to a different and unknown place again. One one hand, we had Pipp, who began to hyperventilate in panic, and both Amy and Zipp had to move with her and try to calm her down in any possible way. Was this how Tails felt when Sonic disappeared the first time? This desperate? This hopeless? She didn't knew, but she was sure this was even worse... Tails, on the other hand, also felt panicked. For the very second time, Sonic was sent to an unknown location, one he knew nothing about once again. However, unlike the last time, he didn't even noticed when it happened, and it made him feel really bad... but not guilty. "...If something like this happens again, let's hope not of course, you two work together and DON'T FIGHT!" Sonic's voice echoed on his mind. He promised to Sonic, vaguely but promised anyways, that he'll work things out if he ever disappeared again... and right now, it happened. Unlike the first time, he wouldn't let negativity get through his head. Shadow wasn't guilty for not being able to do anything even if he saw what happened to Sonic, and he wasn't guilty either for not noticing. With a determinate look, Tails walked forward and took the fragments of the Paradox Prism from the ground. "I won't let my emotions blind me a second time. I may not know how to bring him back yet, nor how to reach him either, but I know I can find the solution," He stated. "Tails?" Misty called out confused. "Sonic might be lost in a different universe... but that doesn't mean we lost him!" Tails replied with confidence. "Again, I need to study the prism and learn how it works before properly planning out how to bring him back, or even how to reach him," He explained. "Wait... You're planning on using the Prism itself?!" Sunny asked in shock. "I know Shadow's the only one who technically saw it working, but isn't that a bit dangerous?" Hitch pointed out in concern. "With everything we have done so far? This being dangerous shouldn't surprise you, Sheriff," Knuckles pointed out with a bored expression. "Think you could get some help?" Zipp asked, as she approached Tails with a smile. Tails smiled back, and he gave her a quick kiss on her lips. "I could never say no to you, my princess," He told her with a smile, and Zipp blushed slightly at the compliment. "I wanna help too, in that case," Sunny stated next, approaching Tails as well. "Maybe everything I know about the Prism isn't enough, but... everything I can do to help works for me!" "Any form of help is welcome to me!" Tails told her with a smile. "Shadow, could you, Rouge and Omega go out there and try to track down this sign of energy?" He asked, as he took out a device that he used to scan the energy from the blue prism, and then he threw the device to Shadow, who caught it and looked at it with a critical look. "If we can track down the other two Prism fragments––" "Perhaps we could find the doctor and the fragments before he can use them," Shadow finished. "If he haven't already, that is," Rouge pointed out with a slight frown. "And since the Prism works even shattered, you guys should keep moving now," Sunny pointed out in concern. "We should get going, then," Rouge stated, while Shadow nodded in agreement. And so, Team Dark left the Brighthouse to track down Eggman. "What about us?" Izzy asked. "Sunny, how did you find out about the Prism?" Tails asked her. "My father researched his entire life after all kind of artifacts, magical or not," Sunny explained. "His diary has no entries on the Prism, but I remember that there's several books on the basement he used to read a lot. Maybe one of them has information that can help us." "In that case, we should go down there and research on our own while Tails, Sunny and Zipp stay here and study the Paradox Prism," Knuckles stated. "That's pretty much what I was going to request," Tails confessed with a smirk. "Well then..." Hitch said, as he opened the door to the basement. "Let's get started. The sooner we find a way to bring Sonic back, the better." While Amy, Knuckles, Izzy and Misty followed, Pipp approached Tails, a bit more relaxed now. "Tails... if you can really bring him back... please tell me immediately when you do so." "Don't worry sis," Zipp told her with a smile. "We'll bring him back safe and sound!" "I never failed Sonic before, or so he says," Tails said. "I'm not starting now!" He stated with a determinate look. Eggman and Sage were on their hidden lab. Sage created a machine holding the power of the two fragments they have from the Paradox Prism inside. This machine could be described as the responsible for opening a portal that will bring Eggmans from other universes to this one. It was a huge machine with a tank in the middle and two capsules at each side. Eggman was fascinated but how effective Sage was when working out. In fact, saying that he was proud couldn't even make justice of all the emotions he felt whenever Sage did something that made him smile with joy. If this is what it feels like to be a father, then he was surely not regretting creating her anytime soon. "The machine is ready, father," Sage informed, as she floated back with him, since Eggman was near the panel control that made the machine work. "However, I suggest we test out that it actually works before doing something reckless," She added, before looking at Eggman with a slight frown. "I don't wanna sound... harsh, but you have a really bad record of taking reckless decisions that make your plans fail, father." ".. And you didn't wanted to sound harsh, huh?" Eggman questioned with a bored expression. "I'm just being careful enough," Sage pointed out. "Now, let's try out to bring out Doctor Eggmans from two different dimensions," She suggested. "Sounds good to me, I guess," Eggman replied, before entering up the coordinates of his universe. "Which world is this one, again?" "Universe 220822," Sage replied. "Interesting..." Eggman muttered, writing down the coordinates on the machine, then moving to enter the coordinates of which universes they would bring Eggmans from. "Now, which world, my girl?" Sage close her eyes, entering on some kind of sub-space plane were her mind travelled across the multiverse as she looked for which ones they should go after. 10 Seconds later, Sage opened her eyes and looked back at the machine. "First universe: 081114," She instructed, and Eggman placed the coordinates to sent them towards the machine. "Second universe: 140220," She instructed again, and Eggman typed the coordinates. Eggman kept typing over the keyboard before pressing enter, which made the Prism fragments to glow. Once the machine seemed to be ready, Sage created some protective goggles with her hands and put them over. "For protection," Sage said. "Right," Eggman replied blankly, before put over his own goggles from his forehead. Then, Eggman pulled a lever on the panel control, which made the machine start to work. The green and yellow fragments shone bright as they reacted to the sudden orders they were given by the machine... Sonic was falling through a strange place with white and shining lines that moved like a stream. He rosed two of those lines, and then, said lines seemed to react in some way, as the rosed part by Sonic created new lines that moved towards the universe he just came out of... The machine created two portals on the capsules at its sides. Then, two figures fell from them, one on each capsule. After the machine did its job, the fragments kept shining, just not as much as before. Eggman and Sage retired their googles, and they seemed amazed by what was on the capsules: On the one from Universe 081114, there was another Doctor Eggman, but this one seemed more... skinny. He had a larger mustache, different googles over his head, a circular blue artifact on his right arm and very different clothes... he was unconscious. On the capsule from Universe 140220, there was an even more skinnier Doctor Eggman. He had a larger mustache too, no glasses, black gloves with buttons and even screens on the wrists, and the suit was a combination of black and red. Unfortunately, he was also unconscious like the other Eggman, probably because of the trip to this universe. "...Sage... it worked..." Eggman said with happiness. "IT ACTUALLY WORKED! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" He shouted in joy, also grabbing Sage and pulling her into a hug. Sage giggled at her father's action, and she was also happy that everything worked out so fine. "I'm glad you're satisfied, father!" "I'm BEYOND that at this point, my girl!" Eggman stated with happiness. "Now, let's take our guests out from their capsules and put them comfortable. Once they wake up, we have SO much to talk about!" In the middle of a forest, a green portal opened up suddenly. From it, Sonic suddenly appeared, rolling up on the ground and stopping with his face smashed in the ground. He slowly got up as he groaned and stretched, trying to understand what the heck was going on. "Eggman?" Sonic called out, but got no response at all. "Eggman! Where are you?!" Getting no response, he choose to get a little glance at his surroundings, seeing that he was in a forest, pretty much at nighttime as well. "This doesn't make any sense..." Sonic said with worry. "If not even Eggman knows what Tails detected, then what the heck was that green portal? I have to find Eggman, but first, I should find out where am I..." Not so long after that, he could heard something, which he recognize almost immediately as kids laughs. "I guess I'm near a town or something," Sonic told himself. "Better go and check up for myself." As he walked down a small road in the forest, he couldn't help but whistle at his surrounds: There were giant and glowing crystals everywhere. But when he finally reached the place where the laughs came from, his eyes widened: It was a town, yes... full of colorful and talking horses. And if that wasn't weird enough: They had horns. Sonic stepped back in panic, and thanked God that nobody noticed him for now. "A-Am I in a dream? Did I got dragged into Amy's imagination?! Because there's no logical explanation for this!" Sonic cried out lowly, running towards the forest again to get as far as he could. Once he was far enough, he stopped and lay on a tree, before sliding down and take several deep breaths. "Okay, Sonic: think!" Sonic told himself. "Tails detected weird energy coming from Eggman's destroyed lab. I went there, and the lab remained destroyed, while Eggman himself knew nothing about that the energy Tails mentioned. Even Orbot said that there was a strange energy coming from somewhere... Then, a portal appeared, we were dragged into it... and then I appeared here, in a nightmare-ish forest with a hidden town of colorful unicorns that can talk..." After staying quiet for a few seconds, he started to laugh hysterically at himself. He couldn't believe that he was actually on some weird world full of colorful unicorns that can talk, he simply couldn't. "Oh god, I went insane!" Sonic said with tears... and they were definitely not out of joy. "This is probably another trick from Eggman... and I fell straight into it!" He shouted, still laughing like a maniac. It took him a while to finally calm himself down and stand up, clean some dust off his body and close his eyes. He also crossed his arms, placed a hand on his chin and tapped the floor with a foot, trying to put his thoughts in order and find a logical explanation on how he ended up here. "...Thinking about it, Eggman didn't planned this out," Sonic pointed out to himself. "Yeah, he can be a very good actor sometimes, but... he genuinely didn't seemed to get what I was talking about when I mentioned the energy lectures Tails detected... This place might not be my cup of tea, but... it's clear that this is new world. Maybe a new dimension? Universe? heck, it could be even both!" He said with concern, before shaking his head again and smirk. "But I must stay calm so as not to fall into madness. This isn't the first time I'm in a new world, after all." He looked around, and he got to the conclusion that he was a bit lost, so he boosted away on a straight line and managed to get out of the forest, being welcomed by the sun and a vast grass field with some flowers around. He could spot several things now that he was out of that forest: A city on some mountains in the distance; a town some miles away that seemed to be near an ocean; a beautiful and gigantic tree that, for some reason, gave him a strange headache, and a vast world in general that was begging him to explore. "You know what? All of this looks... wonderful... and so peaceful," Sonic said with a smile. "Also, I still got my speed!" He added with joy. "Perhaps this world isn't so bad... Who am I kidding? I hate all of this," He deadpanned. "I must find Eggman and get out of here before running into myself - if there's another Sonic here, that is. Also, I should definitely get Eggman out of here before he finds himself too! But only if there is another Eggman around here... I really hope that isn't the case." And so, with a determinate look, this new Sonic boosted towards the town near the ocean to look after his Doctor Eggman. Another Sonic screamed loudly as he crossed a yellow portal in fright. This one was a blue hedgehog with green eyes as well, but his arms were also blue, and his eyes were separated, too. He also got Puma shoes instead of the snickers that the regular Sonic has. Suddenly, he stopped seeing the everything around him yellow... and instead saw a grass field where he ended up crashing into, with his face buried on the ground. He groaned in annoyance, and slowly got his face out of the ground. He spitted some dirt that entered to his mouth, then stood up and cleaned up some dirt from his body. "Ugh... what the hell was that thing?" Sonic complained. "It wasn't a ring portal... what was it, then?" As he tried to recognize where he was, he searched around for anything that could be helpful, or anything that could tell him where he this is... and then, he looked at the distance at some kind of City. "Huh... I have never seen a city like that before," Sonic said with a curious look. The interesting thing about this city, was that it was up in the mountains. He wouldn't say it was on the clouds, but it almost seemed like that was the case. "I should take a closer look to this place," Sonic said with a determinate expression. And thanks to his super speed, Sonic arrived to the top of the mountain and the entrance of said city in no time. However, his jaw dropped soon enough: This city was advanced, had a lot of giant screens around... and it had colorful talking horses with wings. Pegasi, to be precise. "For the love of chilidogs... what is this place?" Sonic said in awe. He seemed to feel completely amazed more by the fact of talking pegasi than all the screens around him. Why was he so surprised with talking horses? Who knows, but I think anyone would feel surprised, although some would definitely freak out. However, this Sonic seemed so... innocent, so childish, so... happy to see all of this. His eyes were sparkling, and his tail was moving a bit like if he was a happy little dog. "I have no idea of what is this place, but I love it!" Sonic said with joy, and then he started to boost all around the city. As he moved around the city, being just a happy kid that awed at every single little thing, some ponies looked at him weirdly. Some felt confused that it was Sonic, and wondered why he was acting like a little kid, while others wondered if this was a different Sonic because he had blue arms and separated eyes. Sonic, however, didn't seemed to notice the strange looks he was getting for literally just being himself. That, or he did notice it, but he didn't cared, because he was having a blast. This place seemed just so fun and entertaining, and he felt like he wasn't exploring half of the place at all. "This place is incredible!" Sonic shouted, before boosting away to have more fun. The sun was setting on the horizon, and Sonic sit down over the ceiling of one of the buildings of this city. He had a hat and a shirt that said 'I love ZH' over a red heart, and Sonic wasn't so sure of what the ZH thing meant, but he was really glad that he could make the most fun he could on this place. "Ah... What a day..." Sonic said with a smile. "I kinda wish Tails and Knuckles were here with me if I wasn't dragged by that weird port––" However, his eyes widened in realization, and he started to panic again. "THE PORTAL!" Sonic shouted in panic, ripping the shirt off and throwing the hat away. "My friends, my home! I-I didn't even had time to process that–– WHERE THE HECK AM I?!" He shouted again in fear. Sonic started to hyperventilate, to walk back and forth and to have horrible flashbacks of the times when he used to be alone on his cave... for 10 entire years... Now that he realized how serious his current situation was, he didn't wanted to go back to those days. He didn't wanted to go back to those times were he barely had anything to eat, where he only had himself to talk to, where he slept shivering since he never had a bed before moving with Tom and Maddie... his parents. Gosh, they were going to be so worried. Tom and Maddie turned into his parents the moment they decided to let him live with them, and now he was on an unknown place that, despite being so fun and being full of charming ponies that weirdly enough didn't panicked when they saw him, could be also dangerous if he let his guard down. And Tails... he was probably devastated. Knuckles, he was kinda neutral, but he'll lie if he says that he wouldn't miss him... that he doesn't miss him. He missed them all: Tom, Maddie, Tails, Knuckles, Ozzy... it was really horrible how he had to find out about his current state. He finally reminded some tricks that Maddie taught him on desperate situations. He closed his eyes, and then, he began to breath in and breath out. He repeated this process a few times, until he finally could breath normally again. Once he was calmed, he crossed his arms, placed a hand on his chin and tapped the floor with a foot, trying to put his thoughts in order and find a logical explanation on how he ended up here. "Alright, Sonic... think..." Sonic told himself. "Tails detected... how did he call it again? Chaos Energy, right? Near Seattle. We all went there, and found nothing... but then a portal literally came out of nowhere and tried to drag the three of us. I pushed Tails and Knuckles off so they wouldn't get dragged... but I did.. So... this portal brought me to a world full of colorful little horses with wings that remind so much of a series Jojo made me watch with her for some reason... What was that thing called again? 'My Little Horsy' or something?" That made him shiver as he shook his head and deadpanned with annoyance. "Geez... just remembering it makes me shiver... although that rainbow-hair pegasus was kinda cool–– What am I talking about?! I need to focus!" Sonic stated to himself with a frown, then slapped his own cheeks to stop wasting time on weird thoughts and focus on what's important. "This place isn't home, and I highly doubt there's an entire planet full of horses out there, so... could this be another universe? Kinda like that Spider-Man movie with Miles Morales? Because if so, it's so cool and terrifying at the same time!" He said with a little smile. After that, he boosted away from that city in the mountains, and soon enough, he was running across a grass field with some flowers. "Perhaps I should literally find myself, if he exists here. Maybe he can help me!" Sonic said with a smirk. And so, he boosted away once again, ready to literally look after himself. Back at the Crystal Brighthouse, Tails placed the two fragments of the Paradox Prism on the dinner table. Analyzing the energy of this thing was complicated for both Tails and Zipp. None of them could understand how much energy the fragments had, nor how exactly did they worked out. Usually, when Tails scanned energy lectures with his Miles Electric, he got numbers and percentages to calculate the power level, but with these lectures, he got weird symbols that neither he nor Zipp installed on his device. In other words: They had no progression so far, which means they can't bring Sonic back... At least not yet. "This is incredibly confusing..." Tails muttered with concern. "I was able to scan the energy levels of the Unity Crystals, and they're from this world like the Paradox Prism!" "Yeah... It is weird that we cannot get any information about the Prism out of a scan," Zipp said with worry. "That's because there's not a lot of information of the Prism online," Sunny pointed out, as she was looking for information about the Prism on her dad's journal. "You'll only find basic info and that it's just a legend. My dad, however, wrote some other things, like the fact that it can work even shattered, just like I told you before; or the fact that the Prism cannot work on its full potential without some specific instructions." "What kind of instructions?" Tails asked. "Sorry guys, but that's everything my dad found, apparently" Sunny replied with a sheepish smile. "It's fine, Sunny," Zipp told her with a smile. "However, it doesn't help to the fact that we're still stuck in square one..." She pointed out with concern, as she turned to face the fragments of the Prism. "Maybe the rest had luck down there in the basement," Tails said with a little smile. "Sorry to disappoint you then, Tails, but... we had no luck," Knuckles confessed with shame, as he approached along Hitch, Izzy, Misty, Amy and Pipp. "We looked over every single book in there, but... there's no information about the Prism, either," Amy explained. "My father probably got rid of some books and I never noticed it..." Sunny guessed with an ashamed expression. "That, or they were lost as well when the lighthouse was destroyed. Sorry, guys... seems like we truly are stuck on square one." "No..." Pipp muttered in panic. "D-Don't tell me it means––" "That we'll go to Plan B!" Tails stated, now suddenly using protective gloves and a welding mask, while Zipp at his side was also using a welding mask. "Uh... what's 'Plan B', exactly?" Misty questioned with a raised eyebrow. "We'll test this Prism until we have unleashed something. Anything!" Zipp stated, and even if her face couldn't be seen, it was pretty obvious that she had a determinate look. "Isn't that something that could tear apart our reality? Even if it's by mistake?" Knuckles questioned confused. Tails was about to replicate, but then he realized that Knuckles was right. "...I never though I would ever say this, but... Knuckles has a very good point..." He confessed, lifting up his welding mask and showing a shocked expression. "What part of 'I'm not a meat head at all' do you not understand, Miles?" Knuckles asked with a bored expression. "Call me like that again, and I'll brake your bones!" Tails warned with a glare. "Anyway. We will test this thing, just not with the same intensity as I expected to." "Dang it..." Zipp complained, also removing her welding mask with a frown. Universe 180993 Sonic was just chilling near that lake with small waterfalls, but then he opened his eyes widely. He stood up and sat down over the rock he was laying over, looking around, and then scratching his head as he had a very weird though. Or rather... a very weird feeling. "Huh... I swear I feel like there's a disturbance in the force..." Sonic told himself. "I mean, the chance of Knuckles saying something smart is really low... yet not impossible... could it be...?" After a few seconds of overanalyzing this sudden thought, he ended up bursting out laughing. "Nah! There's no way that Knucklehead could say something that smart, anyways!" Sonic said with a confident smirk. After that, he sighed in relief, and then, he decided to return to Knothole and see what else were Classic Sonic and company up to. Universe 220822 One of the new Eggmans felt a massive headache. He decided to slowly stand up, until he managed to sit down over a very comfy couch, were he was lying apparently. "What the––" The other Eggman muttered. "Where... What the hell is this place?" He questioned, as he looked around confused. He seemed to be in some kind of living room, just not his living room. It was a bit tight place with a black table on the middle, two red couches, a black chair that seemed to spin, vending machines of food and drinks, and walls painted in black with his head marked on red. Or at least, it looked like his logo, just a bit different. "Huh... weird..." The other Eggman said. "This place feels kinda familiar... yet, I know I'm not in my lab. It isn't even finished!" "That's a shame" Eggman's voice spoke again... but it wasn't the other Eggman who talked. "It sounds like your lab gets destroyed every now and then, my mustached equal!" "W-Who said that?!" The other Eggman asked in panic. "Show yourself instantly, or I will––" He tried to add as he pressed a button on the device over his right arm. "Egg Net not available," The device replied with a female voice. "H-Huh?!" The other Eggman said confused. "What do you mean this isn't available?! My network still worked this morning!" He pointed out in anger and concern. "Ugh! Could you shut up?! I'm trying to sleep!" A third voice complained, and thankfully, this one didn't sound like him. "Wait a second! I live alone!" From another couch, the other other Doctor Eggman woke up and screamed like a little girl when he saw his counterpart, and he only frowned and cringed from the sudden outburst of the other other Eggman. I'm still trying to figure out how to name them, okay? Leave me alone. "Geez, and I thought my screams were childish..." The other Eggman complained. "Also, why do you remind me so much to that guy that made a movie with a green suit? How was it called... The Grinch? The Mask? Maybe even both?" "W-W-Who are you?! How do you got in my house?! You have no idea who you messed up with!" The other other Eggman stated, as he pressed buttons on his glove and pointed at his counterpart. "Network not currently available," A female voice spoke from one of the screens on his gloves. "Excuse moi?!" The other other Eggman exclaimed confused, pressing buttons again, but still getting the exact same message. "My network is the most advanced piece of technology on that scum planet I have to call Earth, so DON'T YOU DARE TO BETRAY ME AND––" "Threatening your own technology won't make it work any better, Ivo," Eggman's voice spoke again, but like last time, it wasn't the other Eggman who spoke. "Did you said something?" The other other Eggman asked with a twitchy eye to his counterpart. "Believe or not, that wasn't me," The other Eggman replied with a bored expression. "He's right, he's not the reason we're gathered here today," Eggman spoke, and then, the spinning chair spin to reveal Eggman with his left leg crossed, his hands together and a big grin. "I am!" "HOLY MOLY MACCARONI!" The other Eggman exclaimed. "What in the name of science is going on here..." The other other Eggman said confused. "Kon'nichiwa, my fellow partners in crime!" Eggman greeted. "You probably already know it, but I'll introduce myself regardless: My name is Doctor Ivo Robotnik!" Yeah, it wasn't a good idea. "What?! No way! I am Doctor Ivo Robotnik!" The other Eggman shouted in anger, as he stood up from the couch. "You wished, fat man! I am the real genius known as Doctor Ivo Robotnik!" The other other Eggman stated with a proud smirk. "Fat man?! Well, have you seen yourself in a mirror, Baldy McNosehair?!" The other Eggman replied to his counterpart. "Oh, you think you're so smart that you can stand against me? I was spitting formulas at 3!" The other other Eggman replied, now standing up as well and glaring at his counterpart. "Well, I spit them at 2!" The other Eggman stated. Suddenly, Eggman smashed the table in front, startling his counterparts as they turned to face him. "I was writing schemes when I was just 6 months old, and you don't hear me bragging about it!" Eggman said in anger. "Now, gentleman, could you please sit down and allow me to explain what's happening? Or do I have to use extreme measures for you to finally pay me attention?!" He asked with a frown, also removing his glasses for a second to show his red pupils and black sclera. The two other Eggmans gulped and decided to sit down back on their couches. "No need to tell me twice!" The other Eggman said with a sheepish smile. "Yeah, we're sitting down. Just continue, sir," The other other Eggman said, although he tried to sound a bit more sure of himself. "Good," Eggman stated, placing his glasses back on place. "Now, as I was saying: My name is Doctor Ivo Robotnik, and I know you two have the same name. That's because we are the same person but not at the same time." "What kind of nonsense is that?" The other Eggman said. "For once, I agree with this guy," The other other Eggman agreed. "This is bullshit." "I know it sounds hard to believe for you, Mr. Robotnik. However, Dr. Eggman... You have worked with yourself in the past, if I recall correctly," Eggman told to his counterpart. "Uh... yes? I mean, he looked exactly like me but wearing black," The other Eggman pointed out. "He didn't looked more fat... although you do dress a lot better than me, I recognize that." "While I also agree with the fact that your clothes are divine, how is it that we are the same person, exactly?" Robotnik decided to ask with a frown. "Ever heard about the multiverse?" Eggman asked with a grin. "That's what gathered us here today! Now, while we do not share the same thoughts nor events in life, we do have certain points in time that we share in common." "I mean, you literally just said that I worked with myself before, so I know you're not lying at all," The other Eggman said. "I think our friend here, however, thinks otherwise..." He pointed out, since Robotnik was frowning. "Indeed. While I have researched about the possibility of a multiverse, I concluded that it was just a bunch of bullshit and nonsense turned into a 'theory'," Robotnik stated. "If anything, I should have discovered the multiverse already," He added with a confident smirk. "Technically, you already did," Eggman stated. "You also invented a very effective vaccine that managed to stop the acceleration of your cousin Maria's cancer when you were 12," He told to his two counterparts with a smirk. Both of his counterparts stared at him in awe after hearing that. "W-What?! H-How do you know that?!" The other Eggman asked in disbelief. "Because I did it too!" Eggman replied with a smirk. "But that's not all: I also know perfectly how little you felt when everyone payed attention to her death and forgot about us. How that single, little action was the bomb that exploded. Whoever Ivo Robotnik used to be before that day died, and here we are today: The result of our family's ignorance turned into something greater. An evil mastermind!" He stated with a sinister grin. The other two Eggmans, for the first time since they woke up, grinned back at Eggman. "Look at that... looks like the multiverse exists after all," Robotnik said with a joyful grin. "Though, I always considered myself a unique mind, because––" "Because you're a genius, you're IQ is superior, everyone else is stupid, blah, blah, blah..." Eggman finished with a smirk. "The three of us have been there. Isn't that right, Doctor?" He asked to the other Eggman. "Oh, definitely!" The other Eggman replied. "However, I'm still curious about a few things..." "Like how I brought you here? Why are you here? Where is here? And maybe why we're not in a fancy lab to show off my tech?" Eggman questioned with a grin. "Among other stuff, but yeah, that covers the basic questions" Robotnik said while placing his hands together. "Let me tell you all of that and more!" Eggman stated happily. "We have so much to talk, anyways~" He added with a grin. Universe 081114 Tails was walking back and forth around his lab with a frown. It's been an hour since Sonic left to look after that energy sign, and he hasn't returned yet. He was getting really worried, and while he didn't felt like Sonic was in trouble (they were used to deal with Eggman's stuff every week at this point), he did felt a bit anxious since he wasn't answering his calls. Amy was also with him, and she was also a bit worried about Sonic, but she decided to try and stay a bit calm. After all, one of them had to be calm and have a cold mind before jumping to conclusions. "Tails, maybe you're worrying too much," Amy said with a forced smile. "I mean, Sonic tends to enjoy himself while beating Eggman a little bit too much sometimes." "That still doesn't explains why it's been an hour since I told Sonic about that strange signal, and he still hasn't said anything!" Tails pointed out with a worried frown. "Besides, he's literally the fastest thing alive. How long can it take for him to defeat Eggman? Last time I checked, he didn't even lasted 5 minutes!" Amy was now panicking a bit, but she still took a deep breath before smiling again. "Tails, Sonic has to be fine. I even sent Knuckles and Sticks to look after them!" Tails stopped walking, and he turned to see Amy with a panicked expression. "YOU DID WHAT?!" "Don't worry, Tails!" Amy said with a smile. "I'm pretty sure they're all fine! We're a team! And we can take down Eggman without trouble! Any second now, those two are going to enter through that door and say––" "SONIC AND EGGMAN HAVE DISAPPEARED!" Knuckles shouted, as he kicked the door to the lab and entered along Sticks, Orbot and Cubot. "You see?" Amy said, before opening her eyes widely and realize what Knuckles said, panic now running through her whole being. "Wait, what?!" "Allow us to explain, miss Amy," Orbot said with a calmed voice. "You see, Sonic did arrived to the island. He asked Doctor Eggman about a weird energy sign that Tails detected, and the doctor seemed very confused at that." "However, when we told Eggman about that sign, a weird green portal opened suddenly, and it swallowed both Sonic and Eggman!" Cubot added. "We actually saw kind of that when we arrived," Sticks confessed. "I still think these two did something!" She added, glaring and growling at the two robots. "No... No, I know they don't," Tails said, crossing his arms and frowning. "If Eggman didn't knew about that energy, then something else is going on... both Sonic and Eggman were dragged away. This smells like something bigger... some kind of threat that doesn't compares to Eggman. Or it could be Eggman, just not the one that we know..." "But what kind of threat could need getting rid of both Sonic and Eggman?" Amy asked confused. "I don't know... But we'll find out our answer! One way or another!" Tails stated with a determinate look. Universe 140220 After Sonic pushed Tails and Knuckles off the Space Needle, Tails managed to grab Knuckles and fly with effort back to the top of the building. However, once they returned there and Tails let go Knuckles because of how heavy he felt, Sonic was nowhere to be seen. "Sonic?" Tails called out, before starting to panic a bit. "S-Sonic?! SONIC!" "Hedgehog?" Knuckles called out as well, looking around, and also feeling a bit panicked since he didn't replied... at all. "He... He didn't fall, did he? He still had some warp rings, so even if he did––" He tried to add, but then Tails grabbed him and started to shake him in panic. "What if he didn't?!" Tails asked. "What if he fell with no rings?! What is he's already gone?! What do we––" He shouted, but then he stopped when Knuckles slapped him hard enough to make him recover his senses... just a bit. "Calm down, fox!" Knuckles told him with a frown, while Tails rubbed his cheek in pain. "Also, sorry for slapping you so hard. But listen: Sonic cannot be dead. Not that we know of, anyway." "W-Well... There was a portal that came out of nowhere..." Tails pointed out, still rubbing his cheek in pain. "M-Maybe the portal dragged him?" And then, reality hit them like a bullet train. "He was dragged by the portal!" They both shouted in shock and panic. "Oh no! OH NO, OH NO, OH NO!!!" Tails said in panic. "This is bad... this is so, so bad! What do we do now? How can we know if he's fine? WHAT DO WE TELL TO TOM AND MADDIE?! WE CAN'T JUST GO IN AND TELL THEM SONIC'S GONE!" "Tails!" Knuckles screamed, not slapping him this time. "Let's try to think without panicking, alright?" He requested, and Tails nodded slowly. "Good. Now: Sonic went into some weird portal. We don't know what happened after that, but we do know that we can reach him." "Reach him?" Tails questioned confused, before widening his eyes in realization. "Y-You mean you want to use the Master Emerald to look after Sonic?!" "Is the biggest shot we have to take him back from... wherever he's supposed to be now," Knuckles pointed out with concern. Universe 220822 Eggman informed his counterparts on almost everything he has done so far in Equestria. At first, both of his counterparts laughed like maniacs when he said that this was a world full of colorful talking ponies, but Eggman's serious expression made them realize how serious he was being. Of course, Eggman also told them about all the crazy stuff he ever lived fighting against Sonic... that unfortunately included telling them about his looses, but he didn't mind. After all, he preferred to embrace his mistakes and learn from them rather than let them consume him all over again. Right now, the three doctors were at the main lab, where the machine that brought the two Eggmans of another dimension was located, and with Eggman showing off several videos that demonstrated how powerful Sonic and company really were, despite his Sonic not being on that universe at the moment. "So... Project Shadow was a complete disaster in your worlds..." Robotnik said with a frown. "That complicates everything for me back home..." "Eh, I wouldn't call it a disaster," Eggman replied. "Yeah, his purpose of destroying humanity as my grandfather Gerald wanted because of Maria's death was changed, but that doesn't means he's an angel now. He has killed people, but of course, the public eye has never found out. That's what makes him an anti-hero." "At least you got lucky. In my world, he's obsessed with destroying all reality once and for all," The other Eggman said with a frown. "In fact, last time I saw him, he almost succeeded! I don't want to destroy the world, I wanna rule it! Yet Shadow's an obstacle rather than an ally! He's nothing but trouble in my world, so you better make sure he's under control if you ever release him from his capsule!" He warned to Robotnik. "I got plenty of excuses to make sure Shadow follows my every order," Robotnik stated with a smirk. "Perhaps that'll show you that I'm not such of a looser as you two." "Says the guy who lost on a 1 to 1 battle against a human with a lower IQ," Eggman said, typing something on his keyboard and then turning to see his counterparts. "And don't make me remind you how many times Sonic escaped alive from you, Grinch!" He added with a frown. Robotnik growled after hearing that, and he pressed buttons on his glove by instinct, but then the message of his network not working came out again, and he frowned in annoyance. "Anyways... Perhaps it is time you explain us the exact reason why we're here, right?" The other Eggman requested. "Also, tell us why a world of ponies of all places..." He added with a bored expression. "You know? It feels that you kind of read my mind, because I was getting into that..." Eggman replied with a grin. "Sage!" "Yes father?" Sage asked as he appeared out of nowhere. Robotnik screamed like a girl again, but this time, the other Eggman joined him as well, after they both saw Sage coming out of nowhere. "By your reactions, I'm gonna guess you don't know who's Sage yet, do you?" Eggman asked with a raised eyebrow. "You never mentioned there was a ghost girl here!" The other Eggman said in fright. "Ghost girl? She's my daughter!" Eggman said with a frown. "This is Sage Robotnik, and she is the reason to why and how you were dragged to this universe." "Okay, first: You have a daughter?! And second: Didn't you said a powerful artifact called the Paradox Prism is the reason we are here?" Robotnik questioned. "Yes, I have a daughter. No, I'm not married, and no, I'm not divorced either," Eggman explained. "She used to be an AI, but I happened to be so smart that I created her a body, and now she's a real girl! Of course, being a father doesn't makes me less of a master mind! If anything, it gives me a bigger reason to take over the entire multiverse!" He stated with a smile. "As for your other question, she made the Paradox Prism work." "So... you turned an AI into your daughter..." The other Eggman said. "Well, that's pretty impressive, to tell the truth." "Still... how's that she's floating? And how did she just... came out of nowhere?" Robotnik questioned confused. "I'll love to answer that, but we're going to loose focus, you know? Evils business first!" Eggman stated. "True! I seriously want to know what we're doing here already!" The other Eggman stated with a frown. "Sage, dear. Please be a sweetheart and show this two why they're here," Eggman told Sage with a smirk. Sage nodded, and with a snap, several digital screens appeared. "You're ambition to conquer your worlds is big... but what if you could take over every single world at once?" She asked the other two Eggmans with a smirk. "Oh, that would be amazing!" The other Eggman said with a grin. "Agreed," Robotnik added with a nod. "Well, that's exactly why you're here, mes!" Eggman stated with a huge grin. "You were gathered today to become the best of the best! The entire universe is in our hands, and all thanks to the Paradox Prism fragments we have!" He added, presenting the machine with the green and yellow fragments of the Paradox Prism. The two other Eggmans approached the fragments and felt amazed by how much they were glowing, as well as how big they seemed to be, specially to Robotnik, considering he had his hands over the Master Emerald. "Fascinating..." Robotnik said. "Not even the Master Emerald of my universe seemed to have this much energy." "I barely have things this impressive in my world..." The other Eggman confessed. "You say we can travel through the entire multiverse with this?" "We can do so much more than that! Just imagine it: Taking over our universes, and then conquering every single one until none is free from our wit!" Eggman stated with joy. "What do you say? Should we take over the entire multiverse and defeat our Sonics once and for all... together?" The other Eggmans looked at each other, before grinning and then look back at Eggman. "Let's get started!" They said in unison. And so, the three Eggmans laughed like maniacs, ready to conquer the entire Multiverse. Tails and Zipp experimented the entire day with their fragments of the Paradox Prism. Unfortunately, they were still at square one: They tried to open up a portal with the machine that Tails built for the Chaos Emeralds, the machine exploded; they connected the Prisms to a quill from Sonic, another one from Knuckles and a yellow hair from Tails, the quills and hair turned into dust. Tails even tried to use Chaos Control over the Prism, but it did nothing. Thankfully, neither Tails nor the Emeralds ended up affected by this experiment, but still... they were going nowhere yet. "I'm running out of options here, Zippy..." Tails said with shame, as he lay on Zipp's shoulder with a down expression, while Zipp wrapped him with her wing and nuzzled her head over his. "We already tried out half of what I wrote down, and we're still going nowhere..." Zipp kissed his head and nuzzled a bit there again. "Hey, we'll find a way to bring Sonic back, little guy. We just... haven't found the right note to do so. At least not yet, but we'll eventually open our way to Sonic." "I hope we can..." Tails replied with worry. Soon enough, Sunny arrived in her alicorn form, which she made disappear after she landed in front of Tails and Zipp. "Hey guys. Still nothing?" Sunny asked with concern. "No..." Tails confessed with shame. "We tried everything we can, but... whatever those fragments require to work properly... it seems like we're still some steps away to figure them out," Zipp added with a worried frown. "Well, I decided to take a second look at the basement, and I found this," Sunny said, as she took out a paper from her bag and extended it to Tails. He grabbed the paper and examined it. At first it looked like just an old paper that had a draw of the Paradox Prism... but then, he noticed something in the corner of his eye. "Zippy... could you handle me the ultraviolet light, please?" Tails requested. Zipp raised an eyebrow, but she still gave him the ultraviolet light anyways. Tails turned it on... and then both him and Zipp smiled like never before when Tails putted the light over the paper, because it was giving the exact instructions on how to properly built a device that could make the entire Prism, or even just a fragment, work out properly without destroying the multiverse in the process and by mistake. "Sunny... have you any idea of how good this is?!" Zipp asked her with joy. "This thing can help us to built a machine that could bring Sonic back!" She cheered, before launching to give her a big hug. "Sunny, you're a hero!" "I-I am?!" Sunny asked on disbelief, but still hugging back Zipp. "So much more than you imagine, Sunny," Tails replied with a bright smile. "We... we can bring Sonic back..." > 3. The Doomsday Project > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Universe 180993 Robotnik watched a massive machine from his lab along Snively. His machine, code name 'Doomsday Project', was ready, and he couldn't be more excited to make his mark over the world and finally conquer everything with his machines. "An object of beauty," Robotnik stated with a confident smirk. "Don't you agree, Snively?" "Very lovely, sir," Snively agreed with a smile and a nod. "Within 24 hours, I will control every inch of this planet!" Robotnik stated, smashing his keyboard and startling Snively behind him. "Every. Inch." He added with a grin, taking out a control and pressing a button. "The dream begins!" After pressing the button, the Doomsday Project machine began to work and made the ground rumble a lot. "Ah! Now that is beautiful music, Snively," Robotnik stated with a joyful smile. "B-Beautiful, Siiiiiiiiiiir!" Snively said with a trembling voice, since he could barely stand on his feet because of the rumbling ground. "By the way, is the Silver Decoy Hedgehog ready?" Robotnik asked. "The final details are being adjusted, sir, but it will be ready by the time the two Sonics show up," Snively assured with a smile. "Perfect. We must gain control over that new Sonic. His power will be mine!" Robotnik stated, before starting to laugh like a maniac again. In Knothole, Rotor wanted to show something to both Sonics. However, he was taking his time to finish it up. Modern Sonic could wait, because he was used to Tails taking his time when he was building something, but Classic was kind of a kid still, so he could barely stay on one site while Rotor finished. "How much longer, Rote?!" Classic Sonic asked desperate, as he walked back and forth on Rotor's lab. "Nearly done, Sonic," Rotor replied. "Ever heard about 'you can't rush perfection'? That's pretty much our situation right now, other me," Modern Sonic told his other self with a smirk. "Done!" Rotor said. Modern Sonic blinked a few times and raised an eyebrow. "...Or it can be rushed, apparently..." Rotor gave Classic Sonic a plastic bag full of a weird green substance. "What's the target?" Classic Sonic asked. "That pile of scrap metal," Rotor said, as he pointed at a pile of scrap metal behind them. "I'll give it the old fast ball!" Classic Sonic stated. Then, he moved his right arm with the bag on his hand at top speed on circles, before throw it towards the pile, making it disappear entirely. "Whoa!" Rotor exclaimed in awe. "Huh, would you just look at that!" Modern Sonic said with a smirk. "Man! Way cool, Rote!" Classic Sonic said with a smirk as well. "Say, how many of these balloons could you make to tear down Eggman's Empire?" Modern Sonic asked him. "How about 25?" Rotor asked. "Good enough!" Modern Sonic said with a smile. "Rote, I guarantee they're gonna do some serious damage to Eggman's Doomsday machine!" Classic Sonic stated with a smirk. "It could also mean that his days of terror would finally be over!" Modern Sonic added with a confident smile. Then, Classic Sonic looked at the watch hidden on his left glove. "Ooh! I'm gonna check the lookouts! Later, Rote! Other me!" He stated, before boosting away at top speed. However, Modern Sonic stuck behind and frowned a bit. "Rotor... The Doomsday Project begins in a week according to Uncle Chuck and Sally, right?" "Yeah. The reports said it begins next week," Rotor replied. "Well, I don't buy it," Sonic stated with a frown. "Your Eggman may be more soulless than I would like him to be, but he's still Eggman at the end of the day. And if I know something about him? Is that he's tricky. You think you have it right where you want and then––" He tried to add, but then someone screamed from outside, and by 'someone' I mean 'Antoine'. "And then that happens... Rotor, you think you could prepare all those balloons now? Seems like my prediction was right and Eggman did tricked us!" "I can try, but you should make sure that whatever Antoine screamed about is related to Robotnik," Rotor replied with concern. "Most of the time is a false alarm." "Consider it done, buddy!" Sonic replied with a nod, before boosting away from the lab himself. Soon enough, Modern Sonic stopped running and saw both Classic Sonic and Antoine hiding behind a bush, while he decided to reach them as well, but not without noticing some kind of UFO coming out from a weird metallic pipe from the ground. The UFO flew away, and the two Sonics and Antoine popped their heads out of the bush. "What is this terrible thing?!" Antoine asked in panic. "A Doomsday Pod!" Classic Sonic replied with a frown. "Which means, again, that my theory on Eggman tricking us is right!" Modern Sonic stated with a frown as well. The UFO shoot multiple lasers in the air that destroyed all the organic life around, that being all the plants, and then kept moving forward. While the bush were the trio was hiding also got destroyed, Modern Sonic managed to drag both Classic and Antoine away. "Set the alarm, Ant!" Classic Sonic ordered. "Oui, oui!" Antoine replied, before approaching to a bell near a bridge, and then shaking it like a maniac to give the alert to everyone in Knothole. Of course, Rotor was the first one to find out , since he was the first one to come out from his lab. "Rotor!" Classic Sonic said with worry, as he approached him along Modern Sonic with a frown. "Doomsday Pods in the middle, wasting the whole place!" "But the report said next week!" Rotor pointed out with worry. "Is what I told you, Rotor!" Modern Sonic pointed out with concern. "Rote, I need a metal eating ballon! Mondo pronto!" Classic Sonic requested, while the Doomsday Pod approached with its laser. "No," Modern Sonic said. "Save the balloons for the actual fight against Eggman and his Doomsday Machine. I'll take that thing down. Been looking for some action for the past few days, anyways." "Mind if I help?" Classic Sonic asked with a smirk. "Two Sonics are better than one, other me!" Modern Sonic replied confidently. "Gotta move!" He stated, before the two Sonics boosted towards the Doomsday Pod. Once they both approached the machine, which was closer and closer to the hidden village, Modern took out a Power Ring and extended it to Classic. "Use your Spin attack against that thing!" Modern Sonic stated. "It'll be my pleasure!" Classic replied with a smirk, before being surrounded by a golden aura thanks to the ring and then boosting towards the Doomsday Pod. Modern didn't stood behind, as he charged up his Spin Dash and boosted against the Pod as well. Classic hit a punch first, then Modern did the same, then Classic boot on a tree and punched the Pod again, with modern repeating the same action. They kept doing this exact same thing for quite a while, until they both managed to strike the killer punch that destroyed the Doomsday Pod, as it fell completely useless to the floor. Both Sonics uncurled and landed right in front of the destroyed machine. "Man! That was way past cool!" Classic Sonic said with a smirk. However, Modern Sonic frowned as he saw the destroyed machine in front of him. "What's your plan this time, Egghead? Why attack so soon and so suddenly?" Classic stared at Modern confused, but also worried for him. In another facility, Sally and the Sonics were discussing about Eggman starting his Doomsday Project so soon. "The other Freedom Fighter groups have been alert for weeks," Sally stated, as she sent several robotic birds with letters to those Freedom Fighters. "It won't take long for them to get here." "Won't take long for those Pods to wipe everything out, either!" Classic Sonic pointed out with a frown. "Not to mention they're hard to destroy," Modern Sonic pointed out as well. "It doesn't takes me so long to trash Eggman's toys, but... those pods are something else," He added with a worried frown. "Any idea how many pods Robotnik can launch, Sal?" Classic Sonic asked her. Sally smiled and took out from her jacket the rectangular device were Nicole was installed. "Nicole, show us the Doomsday Machine." "Accessing, Sally," Nicole replied, showing up an hologram of the Doomsday Machine. "Internal schematic: Pod Launch Area, please Nicole," Sally requested, while Nicole showed up some kind of crater with an orange substance, where a mechanical straw entered before pulling out a Doomsday Pod. "Capabilities, please Nicole," Sally requested again, and the image changed to several pots going through a metal door before being launched to the world. "I checked the schematics we took from Robotnik, and the best I can calculate: The Doomsday Machine can release hundreds of pods," She explained with worry. "I'm sorry, did I heard that well?" Modern Sonic asked confused. "Hundreds?!" Classic Sonic asked in shock and disbelief. "Every hour..." Sally pointed out with concern. "The tunnels reach all over the planet." "Of course... I'm the fastest thing alive, yet somehow Eggman manages to be 5 steps ahead of me..." Modern Sonic complained with a worried frown. "Oh man..." Classic Sonic muttered with concern. "So there's already hundreds out there?" "At least," Sally replied with concern. "We gotta move, and fast!" Classic Sonic stated with a determinate look. "Just the way I like it!" Modern stated with a smirk. Later on, Sally, the Sonics and other Freedom Fighters were tracing down a strategy to infiltrate Robotropolis in order to turn off the Doomsday Project machine. "If most of our forces strike here––" Sally tried to explain, but then she noticed two new presences. "Oh, they're here!" She said with joy, approaching at them along the Sonics. "Sonics, this is Paulo and Dirk, leaders of the southern and eastern Freedom Fighters," She presented them, while Antoine approached the entire group. Paulo was a rhino with grey gloves, a brown belt and blue shoulder pads; while Kirt was a brown bear with a belt held by suspenders. "What's up, guys?" Classic Sonic greeted with a smirk. "Yo!" Modern Sonic greeted with a smile and a wave of his hand. Suddenly, Dulcy arrived with the group while holding a paper. "Sally, we got the photos!" She said, giving the paper to Sally with a worried expression. "It looks pretty bad." "Thanks, Dulcy," Sally said with a smile, before looking back at the paper, while both Sonics approached on her sides. "Definitely not cool," Classic Sonic stated with a frown. "I doubt a straight assault works with that thing, Sal," Modern Sonic pointed out. "The security is not the problem, is the fact that this thing seems... inaccessible if we can't get pass Robotnik's lab." "You're right, Modern..." Sally confessed, before frowning and putting the paper aside. "Let's switch to Plan B!" She stated with a determinate look. "If that means we're finally kicking Egghead's butt, then count me in!" Modern Sonic stated with a smirk. "Are you sure?" Classic Sonic asked with concern. "I mean, I get that you wanna help us fighting against Eggman, but you still haven't found your way home..." "Eh, no biggie. My friends are more than capable to survive without me around, and while I'll love to be back with them, I can't go knowing I can help around here to make the world a better place," Modern Sonic replied with confidence. "Besides, I have the feeling that time works differently in every universe, anyways." The Freedom Fighters decided to put their plan in action. Dulcy was carrying two leaders of the Freedom Fighters on her back, while Paulo and Kirt were riding the green-flying vehicle that Rotor modified. "Are we close, Dulcy?" One of the leaders asked. "We should be!" Dulcy replied. Soon enough, they were approaching the Doomsday Machine, that seemed to be smoking because of all the Doomsday Pods it already created and sent across the world. "There it is!" Dulcy said, as she began to fly down towards the machine. "Going down!" Meanwhile, Sally, Antoine, Bunnie and the Sonics exited one of Robotnik's convoys, where they sneaked in so they could access Robotropolis completely unnoticed. "15 seconds..." Sally began to count down for the arrival of the other Freedom Fighters. "14, 13, 12 seconds..." She kept counting down, now looking to the sky. From there, the Freedom Fighters released a bunch of teddy bears in parachutes as a distraction for Robotnik and his machines. The group in the ground saw all the teddy bears landing in the floor, getting that as a sign to sneak inside Robotnik's lab. "Let's do it to it!" Classic Sonic stated with a smirk. Meanwhile, from his lab, Robotnik turned on a monitor and laughed sinisterly. "I see our guests have arrived," He said with a sinister grin before scoffing. "How very appropriate: A dummy diversion. We'll let them get in," He stated, before approaching Snively and making his nose vibrate a bit, which made Snively scream a bit. "We can't make it to easy, Snively. Alert the ground forces!" And so, Robotnik's machines began to inspect the area to look after Sonic and company, while they saw the machines moving. Sally took out Nicole to check the hologram of the Doomsday Machine again. "That's the spot, Classic," She told him with a smile, also pointing at a specific place in the lab. "Okay! Get ready to jam!" Classic Sonic stated, before grabbing one of the green balloons from his backpack and then launch it towards said spot. A whole was created thanks to the balloon, and so, the group decided to go in. Once inside, they looked everywhere, both amazed and concerned about what Robotnik created, not aware that Robotnik himself was watching them from his main lab along Snively. "Sir, sir! They're inside the machine!" Snively pointed out with concern. "Shall I alert the forces?" "Oh no, no, no, Snively," Robotnik replied with a smirk. "Let them explore. Perhaps they'll find my... little surprise," He stated with a sinister grin. "Your stupidity will ruin everything, you ugly boy," Snively muttered with anger. "WHAT was that, Snively?!" Robotnik asked him, startling Snively and making him sweat a lot. Snively laughed nervously before replying. "I-I said the Doomsday Machine's going to need more oil, sir!" Outside the Doomsday Machine, two of the leaders from the Freedom Fighters descended on parachutes as well. However, once they removed their parachutes and approached a part of the machine, one of Robotnik's ground forces spotted them and illuminated them. "Freeze, intruders! Hands behind your hands!" One of the robots ordered, while the two leaders did so with worried expressions. Back with the Sonics and company, Classic boosted away from some robots. Said robots were checking a panel control for the Doomsday Machine, but one of them felt something passing by because of the wind, so it went to inspect the area, but since it found nothing, it returned to its place. Too bad Modern snicked behind them and used his electrical powers to turn them off. The two Sonics managed to reach the rest of the group, that already sneaked before them. "Anything?" Sally asked. "A couple of bots. No prob!" Classic Sonic replied. "They're turned off already, so they won't bother us!" Modern Sonic stated with a smirk. "At least until Egghead realizes two of his machines aren't working anymore..." The group proceed to move forward, climbing up some stairs, but then being stopped by Classic Sonic when they reached a tunnel. "Wait! I'll check it out," He stated, before walking forward across the tunnel. Classic entered the tunnel and look around in search for anything dangerous set by Robotnik, but for the moment, everything seemed in order... "No prob! Let's––" Classic Sonic tried to say, but then lights started to turn on and off constantly in the room, while Robotnik's laugh could be heard as well, making Classic frown. Suddenly, two floating robots with the shape of Robotnik's head appeared, glowing in red and surrounded by electrical shields. "What's with the bots?" Classic Sonic questioned confused. As Robotnik kept laughing, the robots approached Classic Sonic, who stepped a bit back, before frowning with a determinate look, positioning to run and then curling into a ball as he tried to charge up a Spin Dash. However, not only did he failed and ended up doing a flip between the electrical shields, but he also yelled in pain while his tail ended up a bit roasted. "Man!" Classic Sonic complained, turning around and frowning at the robots. "Now you're kicking me off!" However, Robotnik just laughed more, and the robots began to chase Classic Sonic across the tunnel. "They're sensing your motion!" Sally shouted in concern. "Leave this one to me, Sal!" Modern Sonic said, before boosting behind the two robots, and then using his speed to run on the ceiling, reaching Classic Sonic. "Hey other me!" He called out, and Classic Sonic lifted his head to face him. "I'll distract those things, and you smash them with a Spin Dash!" "What?! But I can barely do that without feeling that I'll loose control over my body!" Classic Sonic pointed out with a slight frown. "Dude, I was like you before controlling the Spin Dash, I really was," Modern Sonic confessed as he ran backwards. "But you know how I managed to control it? Just picture it like this: Focus a mental target for your enemies, and spin! I know you can do it, Sonic. Just try it out!" He added with his thumbs up. Classic Sonic still felt unsure, but he nodded with a determinate look, jumping and making a high five with Modern before switching places, with Modern being the one running away from the robots now. Meanwhile, Classic Sonic was running upside down, and then he took a deep breath. "Alright, Sonic... You can do this!" He said with a determinate look. "Just picture a target..." He told himself, as he pictured a red imaginary target over the two robots chasing Modern Sonic. "And... SPIN!" And so, Classic finally managed to make a Spin Dash, crushing the two robots chasing Modern, and then landing on the bridge a little dizzy, while Modern stopped and turned to whistle in awe, before smirking and running towards him. "Aw man..." Classic Sonic complained a bit, before shacking his head and scratching it. "What happened?" "You just did a double Spin Dash, my friend!" Modern Sonic replied with a smirk, also patting his back. "I... I did?!" Classic Sonic asked on disbelief. "You sure did!" Modern Sonic replied, raising up his fist to him. Classic Sonic smirked and fist bumped with Modern, while Sally, Antoine and Bunnie approached both Sonics. "Are you guys okay?" Sally asked in concern. "We're just fine, Sal!" Classic Sonic replied with his thumbs up. "Now let's roll! Egghead could be watching our every move, if he isn't already..." Modern Sonic stated with a determinate look. Outside the Doomsday Machine, Paulo and Kirt landed right on top of the device. However, just like the other two leaders, they were unfortunately spotted by Robotnik's units, and so, a light illuminated over them. "Freeze, intruders! You are surrounded!" One of the robots said as several units approached the leaders. Inside the machine, the group finally reached their destination. There, both Sally and Bunnie gasped in fright at the sight: A mechanical claw placed some UFO shaped thing inside the crater with an orange substance, and then it took it out, now transformed into a Doomsday Pod. "We gotta stop this!" Classic Sonic said with a frown. "And the faster, the better!" Modern Sonic stated, punching his fist against his palm. "Switch to Call Mode, Nicole," Sally said to her AI. "Call Mode activate," Nicole instructed. "Scramble Channel Open." "Squad two, report," Sally instructed, but she got no response. "Squad three, report!" She called out this time, but still, no response at all. "No response, Sally," Nicole reported. "This sure doesn't sound good..." Bunnie pointed out with worry. "Perhaps they been captivated!" Antoine suggested with concern. "Oh, I think you're right, Antoine..." Sally confessed with a worried expression. "We're on our own..." Modern Sonic looked at the mechanical claw taking out Doomsday Pods every few seconds and frowned. "No, Sal... you guys aren't... We are on our own," He stated, looking at Classic Sonic with a determinate look. Classic Sonic looked back at him with the same expression and a smirk, nodding in agreement. "Guys, you're not––" Sally tried to scold, but Classic cut her off. "Come on, Sal! The Plan's blown!" Classic Sonic pointed out with a frown... From Robotnik's lab, Robotnik himself and Snively were hearing at the conversation. "You gotta get out of here!" Classic Sonic told Sally. "Uh-huh..." Snively muttered with a frown, as he increased the volume of the conversation. "And what would you guys do?" Sally asked in concern. "What we do best: Giving old Eggman a really humiliating loose!" Modern Sonic stated with a confident smirk, also punching his fist against his hand. "You guys ride a pod out," Classic Sonic instructed. "Sir, shall I seal the launch tunnel door?" Snively asked Robotnik. "No, Snively. Let them go," Robotnik replied, before giving a short but maniac laugh. "I only want those hedgehogs." "B-B-But sir! I don't understand! The hedgehogs––" Snively tried to day, but Robotnik grabbed him from his shoulder and raised him in the air with anger. "WHAT?!" Robotnik shouted in anger. "Are you implying the hedgehogs are a match for me, Snively?!" "N-No... I do not, sir..." Snively replied nervously and sweating. "There are many things you know nothing about!" Robotnik said with anger, letting Snively go as he fell to the floor with a very girlish scream, while Robotnik pressed a button on his suit. "Now open the skylights, Snively!" "Y-Yes sir!" Snively replied, immediately moving towards the panel control. Then, Robotnik's boots turned into rockets and elevated him from the floor, while Snively opened the skylights just like he was instructed to do so. "I really hate those hedgehogs..." Robotnik said, as he flew away through the skylights. "I have a bad feeling about this..." Snively muttered to himself with worry. Back on the room where the Doomsday Pods were sent to the world, Bunnie and Antoine were already riding one, while the Sonics were running at the side of the pod with Classic helping Sally get over the Doomsday Pod as well. "Sonic, I want to help," Sally told Classic with a worried expression. "This is power time, Sal," Classic Sonic replied. "You'll slow us down–– OW!" He exclaimed in pain after Modern smacked him in the head. "What my other self is trying to say, Sally, is that we need to blow this thing fast. We don't want to worry if you get kidnapped or something," Modern Sonic pointed out. "Yeah... yeah, that as well," Classic Sonic confessed with a frown towards Modern. "He's right Sally, girl. Come on!" Bunnie pointed out, while Antoine got inside the Doomsday Pod with a girlish scream. Sally nodded, but first, she took out Nicole from her jacket. "Here. You'll need Nicole!" She pointed out, giving the AI computer to Classic Sonic. "Good luck, Sonics!" Both Sonics gave their thumbs up to Sally, and then, the pod exited the place, with the door closing up, while both Sonics stopped right in front of it. "Alright, what's the game plan now?" Classic Sonic asked his other self. "Now we find the Doomsday Machine's control room and we blew it!" Modern Sonic stated with a determinate look. Classic Sonic nodded with a smirk. "Alright, babe. Show me some pictures!" He requested to Nicole. "No prob, blue streak, my man," Nicole replied, showing the hologram of the Doomsday Machine. Classic Sonic scratched his head confused. "Man... that's no help..." "Nicole, could you tell us where we are?" Modern Sonic requested. "You are here, my main hedgehogs," Nicole replied, while a red sign pointed at the lower part of the Doomsday Machine. "Cool! Now, show us the main control room," Classic Sonic requested. "You've got it," Nicole replied. Several minutes later, both Sonics arrived to the Control Room of the Doomsday Machine. Besides the computers, keyboards and monitors around, there was a big device in the middle, protected by a spherical crystal. Classic Sonic looked around and frowned. "Man, this isn't cool. Round guy's messing with me again!" "Let me guess: Eggman's being a pain the ass with all this stuff?" Modern Sonic asked with a bored expression. "Yup, pretty much," Classic replied, before taking off his backpack and pull out three devices, that seemed to be bombs. "Gotta go for it. Light up time!" He stated with a smirk, before giving some bombs to Modern while he took out more from his backpack. Then, both Sonics smirked at each other and ran at super sonic speed around the crystal, placing all the bombs around, and then running away from the control room. Once they were safe, Classic Sonic sighed in relief, and then, he took out two weird devices with red lenses, putting one over his eyes, while extending the other one to Modern. "Uh... what is this?" Modern Sonic asked confused. "Just put them on if you wanna keep your sight intact, man," Classic Sonic replied. "Do it to it, Nicole!" He instructed, referring to the bombs over the crystal. And so, Nicole activated the bombs, each of them glowing in red, and then exploding as they caused a massive red explosion. "Yeah!" Classic Sonic said with a smirk. "Hot stuff!" He added with his thumbs up. "Your jokes are getting better, other me!" Modern Sonic said with a smirk as well. "Thanks!" Classic Sonic said, and then, the light of the explosion dissipated. "Adiós, Doomsday Machine!" Both Sonics entered the Control Room again... but then they gasped when they saw the crystal intact, and not only that, but now the machine was working even faster. "Not cool..." Classic Sonic muttered with concern. "And there's no sign of Eggman, either..." Modern Sonic pointed out with a frown. "I don't like this..." "Yeah, me neither," Classic Sonic agreed. And then, a circular platform opened in the ground, while Robotnik entered the place with a huge grin. "So, hedgehogs," He called out sinisterly. "How do you like my new diamond glass dome?" "It stinks, Egghead!" Classic Sonic replied with a mocking smirk. "I've seen better domes in countless of worlds before this one," Modern Sonic added, also with a mocking smirk. "Oh! Is that so?" Robotnik asked with a sinister grin. "Well, then. Perhaps we need... Some actual action!" He stated, before pulling out a remote and then pressing a button. Both Sonic stood ready to fight, but then, the ceiling opened a secret door, and a silver-metallic robot landed... however, this robot looked similar to Sonic, with the difference that a yellow screen replaced his eyes, but the rest of the body... it looked just like Classic. "Say hello to my Silver Decoy Hedgehog!" Robotnik presented. "Aw, great. No world is safe from Metal Sonic and his low budget copies, I guess," Modern Sonic complained with a deadpan. "You familiar with this?" Classic asked. Soon enough, the Decoy charged up a Spin Dash and tried to hit both Sonics, so they managed to dodge the attack in time. However, the Decoy booted on a wall and jumped back, punching Modern Sonic one time. The decoy kept booting, and while Modern could easily dodge the attacks at first, eventually, he couldn't do it anymore, and so, he was now lying on the ground in pain. Classic saw this and growled, charging up a Spin Dash himself, and then boosting against the Decoy. After he was sent backwards, he also booted on a wall, and charged against the Decoy again. Now it was Classic Sonic the one booting around the room multiple times and damaging the robot. However, it wasn't Classic the one that made the killer punch, but it was Sonic instead, who charged up his fist in electricity, and then he traversed the Decoy's body entirely, leaving a whole on its chest. "No, no, NO!" Robotnik shouted in anger. "This wasn't supposed to happen!" "Yeah, you claim yourself to be a genius, yet you not only get humiliated by a hedgehog, but also by his variant from another universe!" Modern Sonic mocked up with a confident smirk. "Now handle the remote, Eggman!" Classic Sonic said with a frown. "Your Doomsday Machine won't harm anyone else as long as we keep fighting!" "Wrong!" Robotnik said with a confident smirk, before sending in more of his robots. "Alright, no more games!" Modern Sonic stated. "Classic, you surround them, and I smash them!" "Let's do it, other me!" Classic Sonic replied with a smirk. And so, Classic ran at super sonic speed around the robots, gathering them together inside a tornado, making Robotnik shout in frustration and anger. Then, Modern Sonic smirked, charged up his Spin Dash, and then he entered the tornado, where he destroyed the robots one by one as they all flew away. "Time to head out! Later, Egghead!" Modern Sonic said, as he and Classic stopped what they were doing and ran away. "Just to be clear, we need another plan. This isn't over yet!" He told Classic with a determinate look. "Roger that!" Classic replied with a smirk and his thumbs up. Robotnik, on the other hand, screamed in anger, and then he returned exactly from where he arrived in the first place. Meanwhile, Snively saw all of this with a frown. "Fool!" Snively said with anger, turning off the monitor he was watching. "Should have listened to me, but nooooo!" Far away from Robotropolis and Knothole, Sally, Dulcy, Antoine, Tails and Uncle Chuck were waiting for the Sonics to return. Both Tails and Uncle Chuck walked back and forth in worry and concern, while Antoine was splashing his feet on some water in a crater, and both Sally and Dulcy used binoculars to watch the Sonics arrival. "Here they come!" Sally said with a smile, noticing two blue blurs coming right to them. "Hey guys!" Modern Sonic greeted with a smirk. "Yeah!" Classic Sonic greeted as well. "Sonic! Sonic, did you do it?!" Tails asked in excitement to both of them. Modern Sonic couldn't help but smile at this version of Tails. Despite not being as smart as his, he could tell he was trying his best to be as helpful as he could, and that just made him happy. Sometimes, he wished he could go back in time to simpler times, like when he and his Tails just fought against Eggman for fun, even if they knew they were doing the right thing. "You are making the big boom boom?" Antoine asked as he approached, pulling Modern out of his thoughts. "Did ya, Sonic, did ya?!" Tails asked again, still in excitement. Both Sonics looked at each other with worried expressions, and they both denied with their heads, making Sally gasp in worry. "Sorry guys... Didn't happen..." Classic Sonic stated with a frown. "Egghead didn't defeated us, but... we couldn't pass through his Diamond glass," Modern Sonic added with a frown as well. "Oh no! We are doomed!" Antoine said dramatically shacking his head before fainting. "Drama King..." Modern Sonic said, rolling his eyes annoyed. Sally decided to approach Classic Sonic and hug him tightly. "You did your best Sonic," She told him with a smile, before turning to see Modern looking away with a hurtful expression, so she smiled and placed a hand over his shoulder. "Both of you," She said, and Modern looked at her before smiling sightly. "Now what do we do?" Tails asked in concern. "Don't know, T2... I'm clueless..." Classic Sonic confessed. "Hmm... You guys don't happen to know what are the Chaos Emeralds, do you?" Modern Sonic asked. Classic Sonic looked at him and blinked for a few seconds before raising an eyebrow. "Chaos what now?" "That's a big no, then... Well, I don't have a plan either, if that's the case. I thought defeating Egghead will be a piece of cake... but now I see I was very wrong..." Modern Sonic pointed out with a worried frown. "One thing's for sure: We can't give up," Uncle Chuck pointed out as he scratched his head. "There must be a way..." He stated, while Tails helped Antoine to sit down as he grabbed his head, feeling a little dizzy. "Don't know about that, either," Classic Sonic said with concern. "Control Room's covered with something called Diamond glass, just like other me said," He explained, making Sally gasp again. "Yeah... tough stuff," Modern Sonic pointed out. "All those bombs didn't worked. Heck, even our Spin Dashes as we booted on that thing were useless. Where did this guy found all this stuff, anyways?" "No clue," Sally confessed with worry. "Well, there's still one possibility!" Uncle Chuck stated with a huge smile. "What, Uncle Chuck?" Tails asked curiously. "The deep power stones!" Uncle Chuck said confidently. "Power what now?" Modern Sonic asked confused. "They are two stones with powerful capabilities that are capable of either producing incredible power or causing utter destruction" Sally explained with concern. "...That's... That's what the Chaos Emeralds are in my world... only that they're seven instead of two, AND emeralds, but still... pretty much the same thing..." Modern Sonic said with a confused expression. "That's no go, Unc," Classic Sonic said to Uncle Chuck with a frown. "We only have one! Robotnik's got the other!" "Not after you take it from him!" Uncle Chuck pointed out with a confident smile. The two Sonics returned to Robotropolis. They stopped near a building, and then they looked in all directions, noticing that there was no robots around. "Cool! They're all like doomsday!" Classic Sonic said with a smirk. "No robots around, huh? Now this will be a piece of cake!" Modern Sonic stated with a smile. "You said it, Modern me!" Classic Sonic replied confidently, fist bumping with his other self and then running towards Robotnik's lab. Once inside the lab, both Sonics were at what seemed to be Robotnik's 'office'. "Huh... I never expected Eggman of all people to have a regular office..." Modern Sonic said with a mocking smirk. "That's because this office is from Egghead's henchman, Snively," Classic Sonic pointed out. "Oh... Yeah, that explains why it's so organized," Modern Sonic said with a bored expression. "Can we pick up the pace, Nicole?" Classic Sonic requested, while Nicole scanned a code on a Safe Box on Snively's desk. "Just chill, Sonic," Nicole requested. "We're stealing an artifact that can tear apart the entire world, Nicole," Modern Sonic pointed out, before getting a bit sarcastic. "So we're sorry for feeling eager on wanting to save the world or something." "You're stressing me," Nicole replied, before finally granting access to the Safe Box. "Open Sesame!" "Way past cool, Nicole!" Classic Sonic said with a smile. "I never thought an AI could have as much personality as Sage, but here I am!" Modern Sonic said with a shrug. Classic Sonic looked inside the box, making a mess as he tossed papers outside with a frown, before getting out with anger. "Nothing?" Modern Sonic asked in concern. "Nothing," Classic Sonic replied with a frown. "We keep looking, right?" Nicole asked. "Right!" Both Sonics replied in unison, before boosting away... Or trying at least. "Sonics, stop!" Nicole requested. "Say what?!" Classic Sonic asked on disbelief. "Gomen?!" Modern Sonic said, exclaiming 'Excuse me?' in Japanese. "Back it up," Nicole said. Both Sonics decided to listen and ran back, finding a strange orange stone over a pedestal. Well, strange for Modern Sonic, but pretty familiar for Classic Sonic and Nicole. "Way cool, Nicole!" Classic Sonic said with a smirk, before grabbing the stone and putting it on his backpack. "I'm gonna guess that thing was the Power Stone we were looking for, right?" Modern Sonic questioned. "Right!" Classic replied with joy. And so, the two Sonic boosted back with the others. Uncle Chuck and Sally were looking at some diagrams of the Doomsday Machine. "The pod took a steep drop at first..." Sally pointed out. "Maybe 300 meters?" "Oh... That could be a problem!" Uncle Chuck pointed out with concern. Suddenly, the Sonics arrived with smirks, while Classic Sonic held the Power Stone. "We got it!" Sally gasped with a smile, and then she grabbed the stone. "Sonics... we have a plan!" She stated with a hopeful expression. Both Sonics ran near Robotropolis, with Classic Sonic carrying Sally in bridal style while she had Nicole in her hands. "Chill here, Sonics," Nicole instructed to the blue blurs, who decided to stop. "You're right above it." "Huh?" Classic Sonic said confused. "Supply check," Sally said, as she got down from Classic Sonic's arms. "Metal eating balloon?" "Last one!" Classic Sonic replied with a smirk, as he extended the balloon to Sally with a smile. "Deep Power Stones?" Sally asked again. "Here they are!" Modern Sonic replied with a smirk, as he extended them separated on his hands. "Check!" Both Classic Sonic and Sally said with smiles. "Okay," Sally said, as she gave Classic Sonic the balloon back while Modern Sonic gave her the Power Stones. "Now remember: Once we connect the Power Stones, we have––" "Whoa, Sal!" Classic Sonic stopped her with a mocking smirk. "What's this 'we' stuff?" "Man, you cannot be that oblivious..." Modern Sonic said with a bored expression and a facepalm. "Although I was worse before Pipp and I did became a thing, so I shouldn't talk..." "Because I'm going with you!" Sally stated with a confident smile. "No way, Sal! You––" Classic Sonic tried to say, but Sally covered his mouth with her hand. "We are in this together, Sonic Hedgehog," Sally stated with a smile. "However it ends." Modern Sonic smirked at that... and then he remembered Pipp for some reason. Thinking about it, he was having so much fun in this world, that he never stopped to consider Pipp was probably scared. He literally disappeared so suddenly, and probably only Shadow noticed it since he could swear he heard his voice before he was sent by that badnik against the Paradox Prism. If that's the case, then he could calm her down a bit by letting her know that he's fine, that he's alive, just stuck on another universe... Still, he was worried about her. What if Eggman or Sage hurt her? Or worse, what if they already did? What if all of his friends were in trouble? What if... What if it was already too late? What if Eggman won? What if this nightmare-ish place this world's Robotnik turned into Robotropolis becomes a reality back home?! He couldn't allow that... he needed to go back now... but first, he would finish his business in this world, and then, he will return home. "You know what, guys? I think I'm gonna skip this one," Modern Sonic told them with a smile. "Huh?!" Classic Sonic exclaimed in shock, while Sally gasped in disbelief. "What are you talking about other me?!" "This is your battle, not mine. I choose to stay a while longer to help you both make this universe, your universe, a better world, but here's where I draw the line. You must win this, Classic me," Modern Sonic explained. "Your friends count on you to end this once and for all, not me. I'm not even from this universe, you know. Besides, Robotnik expects me to arrive as well. Let him be disappointed that I won't give him a final battle like he wants!" He smirked and winked. Classic Sonic smiled sadly after hearing that. "I guess you have a point, but still... it's kind of a shame that you won't tag along on this one." "Hey, I'm not leaving yet! I'm just giving you and your girlfriend some time alone!" Modern Sonic said with another wink and a smocking smirk. "I'm sorry what?!" Classic Sonic said in shock, blushing a bit. "O-Oh dear..." Sally said, blushing as well. "W-We're not... I-I mean, sure, but... W-Well..." Classic Sonic said nervously. "I-I think you misunderstood something here, Modern..." Sally said with a sheepish smile, also scratching her left arm. "Uh-huh, and I have biological siblings," Modern Sonic mocked up with a smirk. "Seriously, though. Just be careful out there. Try not to have so much fun while saving the world!" He added, before boosting away at top speed. "See ya later, guys!" "...Well... I guess it's time we save the world, isn't it?" Classic Sonic asked Sally with a smirk. Sally looked at him and smiled. "Yes... yes it is." Classic Sonic smiled, kissed her hand and then carried her on bridal style once again. "Now hold on! We're going down!" He stated, before twirling around at sonic speed in just one feet, and then, traversing the surface they were over. Modern Sonic returned to Knothole, where he found Uncle Chuck, Tails, Antoine and Bunnie waiting for him. "Sonic! Sonic, how did it go?!" Tails asked in excitement. "No idea," Sonic confessed. "I left Classic and Sally on their own. Now, before you all launch over me, they're the heroes you guys need. My name might also be Sonic... but I'm not the one that's always looking after you all. It is fair and square that the other me and Sally are the heroes of this story." "Well, that's really brave and kind from you, Sonic," Uncle Chuck told him with a smile. "In fact, I think you did the right thing!" "I... I did?" Sonic asked confused. "Why, of course!" Uncle Chuck said. "Even if you told them that you wouldn't directly help, you still thought on those who need help first. That makes as much of a hero as them. And I'm proud of you because of that, kiddo." Sonic was taken aback after hearing that last thing. "But... but I'm not your nephew... the other me is!" "Nonsense!" Uncle Chuck said confidently. "You might be from another universe... but you're still my nephew, Sonic. I'm proud of you in this and in every universe." Sonic felt his heart melt after hearing that, and he unconsciously smiled. He never met anyone from his family, and he isn't so sure if Uncle Chuck did existed in his world before Eggman killed everyone in his race, but if he did... he hoped that he was just as nice as this one. Sonic decided to hug Uncle Chuck, and he hugged him back with a smile. "Thanks... Unc... I... I guess I needed to hear that..." "Never forget, Sonic. You can always count with me, in this and every universe you go from here, understood?" Uncle Chuck said with a smile, as he broke the hug. Sonic nodded with a determinate look and a smirk. Suddenly, Rotor arrived with the group. "Guys, guys! They did it! They defeated Robotnik!" "Excuse me, what?!" Sonic shouted in disbelief. "Quelle chose?!" Antoine exclaimed with a smile. "Sugar! Tell us what happened!" Bunnie requested, smiling as well. "The entire city was destroyed, and Robotnik couldn't escape!" Rotor explained. "Classic Sonic and Sally used the Power Stones, and now, it's over! Robotnik's gone!" Casually, the entire town happened to be there, and so, everyone in Knothole celebrated that Robotnik was finally defeated. Not only that, but Antoine and Bunnie hugged each other, while Sonic smirked and fist bumped with Tails with a smile. He felt relieved that at least one world of the infinite ones out there was free from Robotnik. Maybe, if he fought long enough, he could also defeat Eggman in his world. But only time will tell. Right now? It was time to celebrate... ...No... No, it wasn't. Sonic felt that something was wrong, and so, he boosted away with a frown. From the remains of Robotropolis, a capsule came from the ruble. Then, Snively came out of it, smiling and laughing like a maniac. He was now wearing a grey shirt, black gloves and a purpled cape. All this time, his plan was for Sonic to get rid of Robotnik... so he could take his place as 'the new ruler'. "The big round guy finally let Sonic defeat him," Snively said with a mischievous grin. "Well, don't celebrate too soon, Hedgehogs! Now, is MY turn!" He stated, before laughing like a maniac for a second time. "And I'm not alo––" However, before he could finish his sentence, he was soon hit in the head by a metal tube, falling to the ground very dizzy. That's because Modern Sonic hit him in the head with a mocking smirk. "Sorry, man. But your Season 3 got cancelled, and we cannot foreshadow things, nor give fake hopes to the fans," Sonic said with a mocking smirk. Suddenly, Sonic heard steps, and from the same capsule Snively got out from, a blue, looking robot got out, and Sonic deadpanned when he saw who it was. "Hey there... Metal..." Sonic greeted with boredom. "I am the one and true Sonic," Metal Sonic replied. "I will destroy you. I will be remembered! I WILL BE––" But then, Sonic traverse Metal's face with a punch charged in electricity, and the robot fell to the ground with its face destroyed. Sonic sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "All Metal Sonics are the same. They claim to be superior, and they end on the trash bin... where they belong." Later on, Modern Sonic returned to Rotor's lab with Snively, now unconscious. Rotor encaged Robotnik's henchman in a cell, now wearing orange clothes, with the two Sonics and Sally smirking at the villain now behind the bars. "It seems like you still became a hero in the end, other me!" Classic Sonic told Modern with a smirk. "Eh, it's no big deal. I just made sure there was no other maniac ready to get over the world or something like that," Modern Sonic said with a little smile. "Oh, but you did more than that!" Sally said with a smile. "This little action saved us from another possible problem! Thank you, Sonic. You don't know how much this means to us... to me." "Yeah, thanks man!" Classic Sonic said as well. "You definitely saved us from a big mean one!" Modern Sonic smirked, winked at them and raised his thumbs up. Back in Knothole, the entire town gathered to cheer for Classic Sonic and Sally's victory against Robotnik. Everyone else in town cheered for them in the crows, while over a stage, Tails, Uncle Chuck and Modern Sonic clapped their hands from Sally's side, while Bunnie and Antoine did the same from Classic Sonic's side. Meanwhile, both Sally and Classic Sonic themselves waved their hands while everyone in the crowd cheered for them. "No more Robotnik... Too bad!" Classic Sonic said with a smirk. "What? 'Too bad'?!" Sally asked in disbelief, although she smiled, since she felt she already knew his reasons to say that. "Hey, without a villain, what a hero's gonna do?" Classic Sonic questioned with a mocking smirk. "You'll always be my hero, Sonic Hedgehog," Sally told her with a seductive look and smile. Classic Sonic smiled with warm and decided to embrace Sally in a hug, as she hugged him back. Once they brake it, they decided to kiss each other, being surrounded by a weird purple aura all of a sudden. It was probably the Power Stones, and then, fireworks appeared from the purple aura, which made the cheers of the Knothole habitants become louder. Once they separated from their kiss, they felt like someone was looking right at them, and so, they turned to find Modern Sonic smirking playfully at them. "So~ Are you two sure you're not something?~ Am I just misunderstanding things here?~" Modern Sonic asked with a mocking tone. "Oh, shut it already!" Classic Sonic said with a frown and an embarrassed blush, while Sally behind him giggled. "Hey, Sonic!" Tails called out to Modern. "Shouldn't you go to your home now?" "Yeah... yeah, I should," Modern Sonic said. "I just don't know how, though. I mean, I really, really, really wanna go home and see my friends, make sure they're fine and, if possible, go and kick my Eggman's butt for what he did to me!" He stated with a determinate look, not noticing that the circular artifacts of his new shoes and gloves were starting to shine. "I wanna see my Tails and assure him that this isn't his fault, that he didn't did anything... that this was my fault for not being careful around Eggman as usual... I want to see all my friends, and tell them that I'm fine, that the fight against Eggman has to keep going, even if I'm not there... but most importantly... I wanna see my Little Pipp... and tell her that no more surprises will happen. That we'll stay together, even If I have to move earth and skies for that to happen!" And so, his shoes began to react weirdly, just not as weird as before. They made a strange trial in the stages ground, and then, the trial moved from the stage, to the stairs, and then to the regular ground, before moving far enough and stopping. After that, some electrical sparks appeared suddenly, and then, a strange portal with the shape of an X opened up, showing that weird looking place with the red, black and blue background, as well as the white lines. Modern Sonic and the Freedom Fighters approached the portal, confused for its sudden appearance, yet also surprised for this same thing. Modern eventually smiled, though. "Hey... I've been there before! I actually kind o 'travelled' through that place before falling here!" Modern Sonic explained. "Huh... I guess the devices that Rotor give you can allow you to travel across different universes," Sally pointed out with a smile. "But... if that's the case..." Classic Sonic started with a sad look. "It means I gotta go now..." Modern Sonic finished with a sad smile, before looking back at Classic Sonic and rubbing his head a little. "Cheer up, other me. Maybe we'll see each other again!" "Yeah... maybe," Classic Sonic replied. "Oh, and... thanks for teaching me that new move, the Spin Dash. I wish you could have shown me some other cools tricks, though..." "Hey, you might learn them in the future without my help. Heck, you may even learn cooler moves than mine!" Modern Sonic replied with a confident smile. "You just wait and see, little guy. And, if another threat does appear, I know you guys can handle it. I just wish I could have done more than just caught Snively before he planned out something..." "Don't be so modest. You actually helped us a lot," Sally said with a smile. "And I hope that you can fix things up with the Sally of your world, Sonic. I know it's worth a shot, at least." Modern Sonic smiled at her. "I'll keep it in mind, Sal. Thanks! And make sure my other self doesn't get in trouble," He added with a mocking smirk. "Oh, come on! Leave me alone!" Classic Sonic complained, while Sally chuckled. "Tails, little guy, keep working hard, and you'll be as good of a hero is Classic me one day," Modern Sonic told Tails with a smile. "You really think so?!" Tails asked in excitement. "Mine's already a better hero than me, so you'll get there too," Modern Sonic replied with a proud smile. "And Uncle Chuck... thanks for the confidence boost from earlier. I really needed it..." "Oh, don't thank me! I'm just doing what a father does for their children!" Uncle Chuck replied with a smile. Modern Sonic smiled back, and he decided to pull the four of them in a group hug. "Even if my time here was short... I'm gonna miss you all, guys." "Yeah, yeah... we'll miss you too, other me," Classic Sonic said while rolling his eyes. "Good luck out there, Sonic," Sally told him with a smile. "Take care, son!" Uncle Chuck said with a smile. "Bye bye, big Sonic!" Tails said with a little smile. Modern Sonic broke the hug, smirked and raised his thumbs for them. After that, he turned to the portal with the shape of an X and boosted towards it, which made him and the portal disappear on thin air after he crossed it. And so, his adventure on Universe 180993 was over... Sonic fell at super speed from the line of the universe he recently visited. Now, he was screaming in fright again as he fell through this strange place with the multicolor background and the multiple lines, which he already felt that were the different universe across the multiverse. "Alright, could these awesome and super scary new discs attached to my clothes do something that saves me from dying? PLEASE?!" Sonic shouted, while he crashed against more strange purple crystals that kept floating around for some reason. And after so many grunts and crashes, Sonic fell at super speed towards one of the lines, a.k.a. to another universe, and crashed against it. However, he only narrowed his eyes and didn't screamed, while his entire body glitched again as he was falling to a new and unknown place for him. Well, actually, it isn't new at all... Universe 201123 Once again, Sonic broke the sky, but now he could perfectly see where he was falling towards: A big building that seemed... very familiar. "Huh... I kind of feel familiar with that p–– OH MY GOD!" Sonic shouted in shock as he saw his gloves, now fully painted in rainbow colors, and when he saw his shoes, it was worse, because it was a variant of his regular shoes... just in rainbow colors as well. "I have nothing against these guys, but why is their freaking flag in my clothes–– OOF!" He exclaimed, once he crashed in the roof and rolled around for a while before finally stopping. Once he was just lying on the floor, he felt a big headache, and so, he decided to stand up and clean the dust of his body. Surprisingly enough, his shoes and gloves were intact, completely clean. He raised an eyebrow, but decided not to question it. It didn't matter right now, anyways. Sonic looked around, and... his jaw dropped: He was back at Canterlot City. He was right above Canterlot High's roof, and all around, he could see the city's buildings and people around, walking normally to do whatever they had to. "...I didn't expected to came back here... at all..." Sonic muttered concerned. He checked his hands and got surprised to see that he wasn't flat anymore, meaning that his body adapts to every universe he visits, which had sense for him, actually. Suddenly, an idea popped on his mind: If he was back... perhaps he could visit some old friends he hasn't seen in the last 6 months. "But would they like to see me? It's been a while, and... I don't wanna interrupt anything they're doing, either..." Sonic said to himself with a worried frown. Last time he was here, he caused a lot of trouble. The human counterparts of Zipp and Pipp were chased by Robotnik because of him; police looked everywhere for the blue blur, and they pretty much hated him since they couldn't arrest him because of his... situation... Now, he was only dealing with Eggman and the big possibility of the entire multiverse falling to his Empire... Alright, that sounds worse than he wanted it to, but it was the truth. He trusted his friends, and he believed they could defeat and stop Eggman without him, or at least delay his plans for a bit, yet he had the feeling that he should go back ASAP, because he felt like Eggman was up to something... bigger than ever. And yet, he didn't knew how. Well, he did, but he couldn't control it yet. The weird discs on his shoes and gloves seemed to act on their own, and at random times as well. At least he wasn't being dragged around anymore, but he still needed to control this new gadgets so he could go back home. But he was already here... was leaving again without even saying a quick hello a good idea? "...Maybe... I should just check out how they are," Sonic told himself with a little smile. "I mean, a quick hello won't kill them, right?" He declared with a more confident and content expression. And so, he stretched a bit on the roof, before cracking his fingers and then boosting away from Canterlot High. Pipp couldn't help but giggle at the sight. She and her friends were out for a camp day, since their vacations already started at this point. Sonic - the human one - gave the suggestion on going outside for a while. It seemed like he was regretting it now, though, because he was along Hitch and the human Knuckles playing volleyball against Sunny, Izzy and Zipp... and the boys were loosing. Pipp was sitting near by, just cheering up, and she just giggled at Sonic's tantrums. She was also blushing since he was not wearing a shirt, and she had to say, he was quite the package... Can you believe that, despite clearly being in love, these two are remaining friends? Yeah, I think being oblivious and stupid is a multiversal thing or something. Speaking of that, Pipp still had the homemade necklace with hedgehog Sonic's quill and ring. Even if it's only been two months, she still missed him. She couldn't thank him enough for helping her reunite with her Sonic, and for also helping her stay away from her Pop-Star life for a while. As the group decided to take a brake from their game, Zipp decided to sit at Pipp's side, panting a bit from the exhaustion. "You sure you don't wanna join in, sis?" Zipp asked with a smirk. "Your boyfriend might need some help~" She added with a mocking tone. Pipp blushed and rolled her eyes. "For the millionth time, Zipp, he's not my boyfriend..." "Yet," Knuckles said suddenly as he walked behind the sisters. Zipp snorted, and Pipp's blush only increased after hearing that. "You two are doing a show by not confessing already, you know that?" Zipp told her with a smile. "Just go for it already!" "I wish it was that easy, Zipp..." Pipp said with a little smile. "But we're still meeting each other again. Even if we like each other... we wanna take things slowly." Zipp smiled, then placed her arm around Pipp's neck and patted her head with the other one. "If you put it like that, it does sounds like a good idea." Pipp smiled after hearing that. Soon enough, Zipp decided to stand up and get back to the game. However, as soon as she left, Pipp felt some weird static on her chest. Confused, she took out the homemade necklace she made with hedgehog Sonic's ring and quill... And she noticed that the quill was glowing brightly. She gasped surprised, and also raised an eyebrow confused on why it was glowing. It never glowed before, or not since hedgehog Sonic left at least. And somehow, she could felt he was the reason why the quill was glowing. Suddenly, she felt something hitting her back. It wasn't painful, but it did bothered her. She turned around to see what hit her, or who, but she only saw a forest and a bunch of bushes. However, as soon as she looked back at her friends' game, she felt something hitting her again. She turned one more time, now frowning a little, but when she thought that she saw nothing, someone popped their head from a bush. Soon enough, that someone popped their head again... and Pipp's eyes grew wide when she noticed that it was Sonic, the hedgehog Sonic. She smiled once she noticed him, but Sonic himself shushed her from the distance, even though he was smiling as well, and then he made signs with his hands to her so she followed him to the forest. Before getting an answer, Sonic ran towards the forest. Pipp looked back at the game, and seeing that everyone else was really focused on that, she decided to sneak away and ran towards the forest. No one noticed, apparently, so she decided to run a little slower. After a while, she reached the heart of the forest and stopped, panting as she caught her breath again. Then, she looked around in search for Sonic... and before even being warned, Sonic himself appeared in front of her with a smile. She noticed that he was wearing new shoes and gloves with rainbow colors, as well as some weird discs on them, and she resisted the urge of making fun of him and his new clothes. "Hi... Pipp," Sonic greeted with a smile... and teary eyes as well, apparently. "Sonic!" Pipp greeted as well with a warm smile, ducking to stay at his high. "Is nice to see you––" She tried to add, but she was suddenly embraced in a tight hug by the hedgehog. It took her off guard, but she still smiled and wrapped an arm around him, careful to not touch his quills. "My! Seems like you missed me, huh?" She asked in a mocking tone and giggled. However, the fact that Sonic tightened the hug a bit more and trembled as well made her realize that this surprise and sudden visit wasn't something casual. Or at least, she felt like it wasn't. "S-Sonic?" Pipp asked, still not braking the hug. "J-Just... give me a second, okay?" Sonic requested with a cracked voice, and he even buried his face on her shoulder. "I... I really need this..." Pipp felt worried after hearing him speaking in that way, and so, she embraced the hedgehog on a tight hug entirely, not caring about his quills anymore. She kind of forgot how soft and comfy his fur was. It felt like hugging some big teddy bear, but alive... and not as dangerous as an actual bear. Putting those thoughts aside, she was concerned about Sonic's sudden arrival, and the fact that he needed this, that he needed a hug, make her felt really worried. "Why do I feel like you're not just here to say a quick hello?" Pipp asked, still in a mocking tone to see if that could cheer him up a bit. Thankfully, Sonic chuckled a bit, and Pipp smiled after hearing his laugh. "Maybe because I'm not..." He replied. 10 minutes later, Sonic summarized everything he lived so far to Pipp. They were both sitting on a tree trunk, with Sonic resting his head over Pipp's legs while she softly caressed his head with a hand. It was already hard for her to believe that there existed an alternate universe full of of anthropomorphic animals, as well as a parallel world where she, her family, friends and acquaintances where ponies. Now, an entire multiverse of similar worlds was even harder to believe. But that wasn't her biggest concern: Sonic being here at all was it. He also told her about how he was tricked again and had the power to go back home... yet, he knew nothing about how to control it. It broke her heart knowing that someone as cheerful and helpful as Sonic felt... so hopeless and defeated right now. "Have you... tried with the portal in front of the school?" Pipp asked him after some minutes in silence. "The portal is closed, Pipp..." Sonic pointed out. "And even if it wasn't, there's no guarantee that these things attached to my clothes won't affect it somehow and sent me to another universe..." "Then why not remove them?" Pipp asked. "Because the weird energy that got in my body after I abandoned my world is gonna get in the way... Don't you see? I'm stuck in a thin line between madness and despair... if not both..." Sonic said with worry. "I wanna go home, but the only thing that can help me is out of my control... and I hate it, Pipp. I really, really hate it..." Pipp grabbed Sonic after that, and hugged him like a little kid. Usually, Sonic would blush and puff his cheeks by feeling so vulnerable, but he already was in that state, so he didn't mind this. In fact, he needed this. He needed to be hugged. He needed to feel some comfort, and even if this was the human Pipp, she was probably the only one that could give Sonic that kind of comfort. "I wish I could do more for you than just... hugging you to help you feel better," Pipp confessed with a sad look and tone. "You're already doing a lot by talking with me, Pipp... and hugging me as well..." Sonic said with a little smile. "I guess I just needed to feel something close to home... and you really managed to do that for me, Pipp." Pipp smiled, and she kissed his forehead, which made Sonic to blush a lot and laugh nervously at her action. "Too far?" Pipp asked with a little blush too. "No... I was going to say it's awkward..." Sonic confessed with a smile, still blushing. "But... thanks. I guess I needed that, too..." Pipp giggled, and she decided to brake the hug. Sonic also decided to step back, and then, he started to walk back and forth as he tried to come up with and idea on how to go back home, or how to control the discs on his clothes so he could choose which universe visit. "There has to be a way for me to control my clothes' powers, though..." Sonic said out loud, although he was talking more with himself than with Pipp. "Maybe I'll find out eventually... For now, I think it's fair you tell me what you've been up to ever since I left!" He told Pipp directly with a smile. "That's... such a weird change of attitude," Pipp pointed. "But, the human you is also like that sometimes, so... I guess it's a multiversal thing." "Why do I feel like that phrase is gonna be a recurrent thing across every universe I go?" Sonic said with a bored expression. "Anyways, life update! Give it to me!" Pipp rolled her eyes and sighed. "It hasn't been any exciting, to be honest," She confessed, placing her hand over her cheeks and her elbows on her knees. "After you left, I only had to deal with two unexpected interviews on why I wanted to stop being a Pop-Star for a while. Sonic and I are getting along pretty well, actually, but everyone is pushing us into a relationship we don't want... yet." "What do you mean you don't want it yet?" Sonic asked her with a mischievous grin and a raised eyebrow. Pipp blushed a lot at that, but she still smirked and rolled her eyes. "We do like each other, alright? But we're still meeting up again. We... we want to take things slow for now..." "Hmm..." Sonic said, as he rubbed his chin and glared at Pipp for a moment, making her feel a bit uncomfortable, but then he chuckled playfully. "Im just messing with you, Pipp. I'm glad you two are making bonds again, and also love that you wanna go at your own rhythm." Pipp sighed in relieve and smiled warmly at him. "I'm... glad to hear that from you, Sonic. I thought you'll push me like the others are constantly doing..." "Hey, I understand that the rest wants you two to be together and all of that, but pressuring on a relationship neither of you want is no cool" Sonic said. "Besides, I never mentioned it earlier, but I'm on a relationship back home as well. We were like you two! We took things slow, even if it was obvious that we liked each other... for everyone else, at least... But... we eventually decided that it was time for the big step," He explained with a sad smile. "...I hope she's okay..." He added with concern, while his ears lowered. Pipp smiled sadly and approached him to embrace him on another hug. "I'm pretty sure she's fine, Sonic. Maybe she's scared, but... if that Shadow guy you mentioned really saw you, then he might try to give her some comfort." Sonic chuckled at her attitude, and he returned the hug. "That'll be very out of character for Shadow, but... maybe you're right, Pipp." Soon enough, they both heard steps and voices calling out for Pipp's name. Sonic smiles sadly, and Pipp frowns with worry. "It seems like out time together's over, Pipp..." He told her with sadness, but still smiling. "But once I figure how to control which universe visit, I promise you that I'll come back!" He assured with a determinate look. Pipp smiled sadly as well, and so, she embraced Sonic into another hug before letting him go. "Good luck, Sonic." Sonic nodded at her, and then, he boosted away. Once he was far enough, he stared at the discs on his gloves and frowned. "Alright: how do you work? I need to go back home ASAP! Eggman could do something worse than just casually waking up a god or something!" He pointed out, but he got no response nor reaction. "Oh, come on! I just want to go home already! I need to see Pipp, I need to make sure Tails is fine, I need to kick Eggman's but, I NEED TO SAVE THE MULTIVERSE!!! AM I ASKING FOR TOO MUCH?!" And so, his clothes started to glitch a bit, while the discs began to glow again. Then, a trail formed in the ground and moved away before stopping, creating another sudden portal with the shape of an X. "I really need to learn how to do that on my own–– WHOA!" Sonic exclaimed, as he accidentally traversed the portal without being able to stop. Once again, Sonic was falling at super speed from the line of the universe he was in recently. Luckily, he wasn't screaming in fright again, but he still grunted in pain as he fell through this strange place with the multicolor background and the multiple lines. "Traveling through the multiverse is messy! Why do I always get myself dragged into situations like this?!" Sonic shouted, while he crashed against more strange purple crystals that kept floating around for some reason. And after so many grunts and crashes, Sonic fell at super speed towards another universe, and crashed against it. Once again, he only narrowed his eyes and didn't screamed, while his entire body glitched a bit as he was falling to a new and unknown place for him... Universe 060199 Near the coast, on some kind of beach, the sky seemed to broke with the shape of an X. A blue blur fell from said X, and then, the sky was back to be normal. Said blur wasn't other than Sonic, who fell at sonic speed against some trees and rolled in the ground while feeling lots of pain. He crashed against a palm tree, though, and his roll and pain finally stopped. He shook his head, stood up and cleaned the dust - or sand in this case - from his body, while also noticing his new clothes: His gloves were fingerless and black, while his shoes looked like black boots with some spikes in front. Sonic whistled at the sight of his new clothes, and honestly, he liked them a lot. "Now look at these! These are rocking! Literally! Is like I became some kind of popular rockstar or something!" After he finally stopped admiring his new clothes, he came to notice that his body in general was flat again, and it gave huge 90's cartoons vibes. Then, he placed his fists on his hips and looked around with a small frown. He couldn't tell what kind of world he was in now, but he could say for sure that this specific area was a beach, so he was either on a tropical island or on a resort place. "I wonder what kind of universe this is..." Sonic said. "Well, well, well. Just look what Robotnik decided to sent us! A fake version of myself!" a voice spoke. Sonic turned and looked on with a bored expression: Right in front of him, another Classic Sonic was standing with a frown and his arms crossed. He was wearing a guitar medallion, and he was along two other hedgehogs. The first one was a green hedgehog boy that looked exactly like Classic Sonic, with a red shirt, shoes similar to Tails', white gloves with spike-bracelets and a drum medallion, also frowning at him. The other one was a purple hedgehog girl with pink hair, long purple gloves and boots, a red dress and a key-tar medallion. Yup, she was also frowning with anger at Sonic. "Great, it seems like I have to deal with low budget versions of myself..." Sonic said annoyed. > 4. The Big Melt > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Universe 220822 After 3 hours of build up, Tails and Zipp managed to finish a prototype machine that could held the power of the Paradox Prism fragments they had, all thanks to the paper that Sunny gave them. Now, everything they needed to do was to test it out and hope it worked, because despite the paper being on a good to descent condition, the language seemed to be from times Twilight Sparkle was still here, so they had a very harsh time deciphering the text. In fact, they already ran a few tests... and every single one was worse than the previous one. Thankfully, they were testing the machine outside the Brighthouse. It was destroyed twice before, thanks to Sprout when it was Sunny's lighthouse, and thanks to Eggman with his Death Egg Titan, they didn't needed a third time, that could devastate Sunny entirely. "Alright, Zippy," Tails said with a smile, while he and Zipp were wearing safe suits. "You ready for Test 28 and hope it works this time?" "Go for it, hun'!" Zipp told him with a smirk. They both grinned, put their safety googles on, and then, Tails pressed a red button. This made the machine to shine bright and start to make sounds, while the Paradox Prism's fragments also began to glow bright. It seemed like it was working for a while, because they actually kind of created a small X portal, showing up a red, blue and black background with several white lines around. Unfortunately, the portal ended up closing almost the instant it opened, and the machine exploded... again. Tails immediately created a shield with his powers to cover himself and to protect Zipp from getting hurt, while Zipp herself attached her body to Tails', also placing a wing behind his back. Once the explosion was over, and no more parts of the machine were flying around, or falling from the sky, Tails made the shield go, and both him and Zipp stared with bored expressions at the now destroyed machine. "Well... at least it kind of worked this time..." Zipp pointed out, removing her googles with a bored expression. "Yeah... but we still need to find out what we're doing wrong," Tails pointed out with a worried frown, also removing his safety googles. They both gathered all the pieces from the machine and placed them over a red little cart, before moving towards a table with several blueprints and then removing the safety suits as well. "It seems like we nailed the power capacity, so that remains the same," Tails started to explain as he brought the blueprint of the machine and started to take notes and remove others on it. "However, it seems like the machine is still very unstable..." "Maybe we can change our materials. Like, we could use Bridlewood's crystals, or materials made out of Chaos Energy," Zipp pointed out with a smile. "Yeah, that could work..." Tails said with a little smile. "Thanks for helping me out, Zippy... I don't know what I could've done without you." Zipp blushed after hearing that, but she also smiled. "Anytime, little handsome guy," She told him on a flirty tone, before pulling him into a kiss. After they broke the kiss, they decided to split up so they could get the materials for the machine: Zipp would go to get some crystals from Bridlewood, and Tails would use both his powers and the Chaos Emeralds to create materials with Chaos Energy. However, as soon as Zipp left, Tails looked back at the machine with a worried frown, and then he looked at the new blueprints as well. "...We might not be as close to bring you back as I would like, Sonic... but we'll bring you back! Whatever it takes!" Universe 060199 A variant of Classic Sonic was just relaxing on a green chair over some big vehicle, while wearing sunglasses, no shoes, a red swimsuit with yellow lightning bolts while playing an electric guitar. He recently had a massive musical number on his mind about this little vacation he and his siblings were looking forward, and then, he place his guitar on the floor before stretch his arms and cross his feet with a smile. "Is this cool, or is this cool?" Classic Sonic questioned with a smirk. "Yo, Sonic! Check this out!" A voice called out. Classic Sonic lowered his sunglasses with a smirk, and then, he saw his brother, Manic, surfing over some giant waves. Manic is a green hedgehog that looks physically exactly like Classic Sonic, but his hair is longer, and he had spike-bracelets around his wrists and a drum medallion. Usually, he wears a red shirt and shoes similar to Tails', but since he was on vacation, now he only wore a purple swim suit. Manic did some sick moves with his surfing table, and Classic Sonic simply raised his thumbs up, before stretching again and go back to relax. "Nope! Doesn't get much better than this!" Too bad he was too wrong. Soon enough, Classic Sonic's and Manic's sister, Sonia, came running at top speed on her motorcycle. Sonia is a purple hedgehog with pink hair and a key-tar medallion, and while she usually wears long purple gloves and boots, as well as a red dress, now she's only wearing a yellow swimsuit. As she kept riding her motorcycle, she pulled out a green remote control and pressed a yellow button, that made a ramp come out from the vehicle where Classic Sonic was relaxing. She passed over the ramp and stopped right in front of Classic Sonic, who simply relaxed over his chair with a smile. "We got trouble! Let's get Manic up!" Sonia said with worry, before turning around on Manic's direction. "Yo, sis! Slow down!" Classic Sonic told her with a relaxed tone. "All that movement is disturbing my cosmic––" He tried to add confidently, but then, Sonia used a whistle to call out for Manic, disturbing Classic Sonic a lot and making him frown. "Wow! That could shatter a coconut!" "Manic!" Sonia called out as she waved her hand to call Manic's attention, which seemed to work, because he was soon approaching on his floating surfing table. "Let me guess... our vacation is history, right?" Classic Sonic asked her with a bored expression, and Sonia simply nodded with concern. Soon enough, Manic arrived and smirked at his brother and sister. "¡Qué pasa, sis!" "Robotnik is snooping around the Polar Ice Cap!" Sonia began to explain. "Some Freedom Fighters spotted Sleet and Dingo above a submarine yesterday, and––" "Nope! Don't tell me!" Classic Sonic begged, covering his ears. "We have to check it out!" Sonia finished. "Ugh!" Classic Sonic groaned, removing his sunglasses and throwing them away in anger. "I knew this was too good to last! I knew it, knew it, knew it, knew it, knew it!" "Yeah, we just started our vacation this morning!" Manic pointed out. "I don't even have a tan yet!" Classic Sonic complained again, before walking towards Manic with a smile. Sonia looked at her brothers in disbelief and anger. "Oh, what are you guys?! Freedom Fighters or whips?!" "Whips," both Classic Sonic and Manic replied seriously. Sonia stared at them even more mad, and she waited for them to give the real answer. After a few seconds, both Classic Sonic and Manic put on bored expressions before groaning. "...Freedom Fighters," both Classic Sonic and Manic finally replied. However, as the siblings prepared to change up into their regular clothes and then head out towards the Polar Ice Cap, the sky seemed to broke with the shape of an X, and the three brothers gasped in surprise once they noticed that. Then, a blue blur fell from said X, and then, the sky was back to be normal. The brothers noticed said blur falling towards some of the palm trees on the island they were on. Classic Sonic frowned and rubbed his chin confused at why there was a big X on the sky, and what fell from it. "Did you guys saw that?!" Manic asked. "Of course we did!" Sonia pointed out. "But what was it?" "No idea..." Classic Sonic confessed. "But we should make sure that it isn't anything Robotnik sent to us. Besides, we're Freedom Fighters! Is what we do, right?" He asked Sonia with a smirk. Manic rolled his eyes, but Sonia smiled with pride and nodded. The Sonic Underground, how the siblings call themselves, moved and followed the trial of the blue blur's crash. After walking for a while, they gasped in shock and terror at what they saw, specially Classic Sonic: Another Sonic, standing up and cleaning the sand from his body. This Sonic had larger quills, green eyes, fingerless-black gloves with some discs on the top of the hand, and black boots with some spikes in front and the same discs behind. This other Sonic whistled at the sight of his clothes, for some reason. "Now look at these! These are rocking! Literally! Is like I became some kind of popular rockstar or something!" After he finally stopped admiring his clothes, he placed his fists on his hips and looked around with a small frown. He couldn't tell what kind of world he was in now, but he could say for sure that this specific area was a beach, so he was either on a tropical island or on a resort place. "I wonder what kind of universe this is..." Sonic said. The Sonic Underground had no clue on who they were looking at, but they all frowned, looked at each other and nodded, before moving forward and stopping a few meters away from this new Sonic. "Well, well, well. Just look what Robotnik decided to sent us! A fake version of myself!" Classic Sonic said with anger. Sonic turned and looked on with a bored expression at the Sonic Underground, as they all frowned to him. "Great, it seems like I have to deal with low budget versions of myself..." Sonic said annoyed. "Low budget versions? Man, have you seen yourself in a mirror or something?" Manic mocked up with a smirk, while Classic Sonic snorted and fist bumped with him, while Sonia rolled her eyes annoyed. "You look exactly like Sonic! How?! Who are you, and who sent you?!" Sonia questioned Sonic with a frown. "Does it really matter? If I lie or I tell the truth, either way, you won't believe me," Sonic pointed out with a bored expression. "Besides, I literally just got here and did nothing wrong but look like him. What's your excuse to that?" He asked, crossing his arms, raising an eyebrow and tapping his foot on the floor. The siblings opened their mouths to respond, but they all realized that he was right: He literally just arrived, and even if he looks like Classic Sonic, he didn't did anything wrong, not yet at least. "Okay... fair enough," Classic Sonic confessed. "Even so, that doesn't explains why you look so much like me... like us!" Sonic sighed and looked at him with a tired expression. "Do you really want to know what am I doing here?" He asked to the Sonic Underground, and they all nodded in agreement. "Alright, then... But hold into your horses, because this is going to be a looooong story..." He warned with a bored expression. Universe 220822 Pipp was at the Brighthouse bedroom, laying on her bed as she stared at multiple pictures she had on her phone with Sonic. Just saying that she missed him was being pretty obvious. She was completely heart broken that her boyfriend travelled to another universe because Sage tricked him. She wanted so badly to see him again, or at least to be sure that he's fine... yet, the simple idea of loosing him and not only finding out too late, but also not being there to at least say goodbye... it was simply heart broking for her, so much that she even let some tears fell from her eyes, ruining her make up in the process. Suddenly, she heard the door of the bedroom opening, and soon, Tails entered while holding a box. Once she noticed that, she sat normally on her bed and covered her face with her mane, trying to hide her tears. "H-Hi Tails!" Pipp greeted, trying to sound happy so Tails doesn't suspects anything. "H-How's it going with the machine?" "Oh, Hi Pipp!" Tails greeted with a smile, still focusing on charging up the box before walking towards his side of the bedroom and placing the box near his desk. "Well, so far, we did opened a little portal. We just need to find more resistant materials and then we can keep t––" He tried to add, but as soon as he turned, he saw Pipp's makeup, even if she tried to hid her face with her mane. He immediately felt bad, but he smiled warmly and walked towards her. Then, he climbed up on her bed and sat right bedside her. He moved her mane aside, and his ears fell flat as he saw that she was crying a lot. Tails still smiled at her, and pulled Pipp into a hug, startling her a bit. "Pipp... I miss him too. Even if he's not gone physically talking... I also wish I could talk with him right now, or just know if he's fine... And if you need to cry, do it. Sonic would want us to be strong, but that doesn't mean we cannot cry," He told her, braking the hug for a moment and just smiling at her. Pipp feels like tears start to run down her cheeks again, ruining her make up even more... but she doesn't cares anymore, as she leans and hugs Tails and starts to cry on his shoulder. Tails himself hugs her back and let out some tears himself. He really misses Sonic, and he knows he's okay, but still... that doesn't stops him from feeling a bit sad that he's not here. They both just stand there, crying that Sonic isn't there with them right now, but also feeling a lot better now that they know this isn't something they have to go through alone. This was really therapeutic, for both of them, since they really needed to take it out of their systems. Soon enough, they separate from their hug and dry their tears. "T-Thanks for that, Tails... I really needed it..." Pipp said with a smile. "No problem. I... I actually really needed that too," Tails confessed. "I just wanna make sure that he comes back safe, but... not knowing if he's safe at all is making me really uncomfortable..." "Yeah, me too..." Pipp said with shame, before smiling and slightly pushing him on his elbow. "But as you say, he would want you to stay strong. Just keep going Tails. Fail as many times as necessary until you achieve the perfect machine!" Tails chuckled after hearing that and winked at her. "No problem!" Soon enough, Amy and Knuckles entered the room, panting heavily as they searched around, before stopping their gaze right in front of Tails and Pipp, who were sitting on the latter's bed. "Here you are, young man!" Knuckles said, as both him and Amy approached Tails. "We need your help!" "What's the matter?" Tails asked, frowning a bit. "Eggman's the matter!" Amy replied. "Some of his forces are moving towards Maretime Bay!" "Hitch, Sunny and Izzy are going to stay on town so nopony finds out and cause chaos around with panic," Knuckles explained. "Team Dark is heading to the Brighthouse to keep and eye around." "We want to know if you want to come with us to stop Eggman's forces, Tails," Amy said, then she turned to Pipp. "And Sunny said something about needing you and your sister." "Then it seems like the machine to bring Sonic back has to wait!" Tails said with a determinate look. "Lead me on!" "I will call Zipp to tell her Sunny needs us," Pipp said, also with a determinate look. "Cool, so it's settled!" Knuckles stated. "Let's roll!" The last echidna warrior boosted away, and soon enough, Tails and Amy followed him, while Pipp marked Zipp's phone number and also exited the room. The Eggman Trio and Sage were observing the units they sent marching towards Maretime Bay. Thanks to Sage's powers, they managed to fuse their ideas into new badniks that had the best of each of their universes: Their equipment was provided by Robotnik, while the designs where a mix of both Eggman and the other Eggman's old designs. However, the only problem was that Robotnik couldn't understand why the robots were heading to attack Maretime Bay. It was a place full of regular horses, and even if they had plant magic or something, that wasn't a match to their machines. So, why attack this little town of silly ponies? "I still don't understand the point of this attack," Robotnik finally said. "Yeah, me neither. There's no point on attacking these silly little ponies!" The other Eggman pointed out. "Perhaps you're not seeing the full picture, or you already forgot everything I explained?" Eggman asked in annoyance. "Yes," Robotnik confessed with a bored expression. "We didn't appeared last episode. If you explained anything, of course we don't know about it!" The other Eggman pointed out with a frown. "Also, can we please call me another way? I hate looking at the script and see I'm acknowledged as 'the other Eggman' here," He begged, now pulling out a book saying 'Season 4: Script'. Skipping the last comment, Eggman and Sage looked at his counterparts with bored expressions, and Eggman even raised an eyebrow. "Father, can I question if these are really your counterparts from different universes?" Sage asked. "I'm doing that myself, dear," Eggman confessed, before frowning at his counterparts. "Listen: The Paradox Prism, the thing that brought you here, was shattered into 4 fragments. I have two of them, but that blue rat's friends got the other two!" He shouted in anger. "That's why, this attack is just a distraction! Those idiots are going to be so busy taking care of our badniks, while one of you two will retract the remaining ones from the Brighthouse... Using this!" Then, Sage snapped her fingers, and the Egg Emperor machine used by Neo Metal Sonic years ago appeared. "Oooooh!" The other Eggman said with a huge grin. "Now you got my attention!" "Impressive... very impressive, I must say," Robotnik admitted as well. "This baby will fly to the Crystal Brighthouse in Maretime Bay. Then, one of you will sneak in and take the fragments. If they notice it... give them a little surprise~" Eggman instructed with a sinister grin. "As for you, Ivo, that's the way we'll call you so you stop complaining about your nickname!" He told the other Eggman with annoyance. "Eh, fair enough," Ivo, a.k.a. the other Eggman, replied with a bored expression. "So, who's pulling out the heist?" "You," Eggman replied. "Really?!" both Ivo and Robotnik asked, the former with excitement and the latter in disbelief. "Now, now, Robotnik. Don't get mad with me," Eggman instructed. "While Ivo pulls the heist to recover the Paradox prism, you will take some pony hostage." "Great, I'm gonna be kidnapping a horse," Robotnik complained with a frown. "Correction: You'll kidnap a Queen horse! Who also so happens to be this universe's Sonic's mother in law!" Eggman said with an even bigger grin. Robotnik's jaw dropped, and Ivo, who was sipping a glass of water, spilled it out and started to cough after hearing that. "Sonic has a girlfriend in this world?!" Ivo asked in shock. "Indeed! However, I already tried to kidnap her... She's insufferable, which is why I won't bother on kidnap her... Yes, that happened one time. It wasn't never shown, though," Eggman said with a bored expression, before grinning again. "However, Sonic has a very healthy and overall good relationship with his mother in law, Queen Haven. That's why kidnapping her is gonna be a crucial point in our mission. If we play our cards carefully, by the time Sonic returns... Equestria will've fallen to our might already!" Both Ivo and Robotnik smirked sinisterly after hearing that. "Seems like we have a heist and a kidnapping to pull out!" Ivo said with a smile, while rubbing his hands in excitement. "Eggcellent!" Eggman said with a huge grin. Soon enough the room was filled with the sinister and maniac laughs of the three doctors, while Sage rolled her eyes and looked away. "I take back what I said. They're too similar for my liking..." Sage muttered to herself tiredly with a bored expression. Universe 060199 The Sonic Underground decided to take Sonic with them after he explained his entire story so far. Of course, Classic Sonic and Manic laughed a lot when he mentioned the world with ponies and how he fell in love with one, but thanks to Sonia and her smack on their heads, they shut up pretty quickly. Classic Sonic was driving their big vehicle as they moved towards the Polar Ice Cap zone, while Sonic finally finished to tell his story. They all were wearing winter clothes, too. Even Sonic, who got them because of the artifacts on his gloves and shoes, and he even thanked Rotor in silence for making these wonders for him. "So: You come from a universe were you got stuck on a world of talking colorful ponies..." Classic Sonic started to explain, amazingly, holding his laugh this time. "Then Robotnik, or as you call him, 'Eggman', tricked you and you destroyed a powerful crystal that accidentally sent you to another universe..." Manic kept going. "And now, you're stuck in ours," Sonia finished. "Yup. That's pretty much the full story," Sonic said with a bored expression. "Really crazy stuff, right?" "Man, if it wasn't because you're here to prove you're right, I'll be laughing on the floor again," Classic Sonic confessed with a smile. "Same here. Like, multiple realities? Different universes?! Titans and gods?! Your life sounds crazy, other bro," Manic told him with a smirk. "Did I mentioned I turned into a golden god, too? Multiple times, even," Sonic said with a more confident smirk now. "Okay: I'm officially jealous of you!" Classic Sonic confessed, still smirking, though. "You sound like you've been through a lot," Sonia pointed out. "Oh, and I have, indeed," Sonic said, still very relaxed. "In fact, I didn't told you half of the crazy stuff I have lived so far, but I don't think I have to. I mean, so far, the only thing I never confronted face to face is an evil version of myself, and I hope it remains like that." "Well, not to be cruel or anything here, but why don't you return now? I mean, if you know how to leave, then you could do it, right?" Manic asked him. "Manic!" Both Sonia and Classic Sonic scolded him. "It's fine, guys. Really. He does have a point, though," Sonic said with a sad smile. "I should leave... the problem is, I can't control which world I visit, yet. It's just... so random... Besides, I want to have the most fun of every adventure I have, too! That's what I live for, after all!" He added, now with a more confident smirk. "Well, embrace yourself, because we arrived to the m-most c-coldest place in M-Mobius..." Manic warned, as he and Sonia hugged themselves and shivered. Classic Sonic himself shivered as well as he kept driving. "It's so cold my goosebumps' goosebumps have goosebumps!" "Well, tell your goosebumps to brace themselves," Sonia warned him, while Classic Sonic rolled his eyes annoyed. "It's gonna get a lot colder than this!" "Oh, I can't wait!" Classic Sonic replied with sarcasm and annoyance. "Chill out, man. We're going to the Pole, not to a funeral," Sonic pointed out with a bored expression. "How are you so calmed when we're shivering here?!" Manic asked in disbelief. "I lived on an extremely cold for a couple of years, so I'm used to these kind of temperatures," Sonic replied. "Again, I'm jealous of you man," Classic Sonic repeated. "Yeah, just for that, same here," Manic added as well. "Mmm-hmm," Sonia agreed this time with her brothers. After driving for a couple of hours, the Sonic Underground and Sonic finally stopped. Near an edge, Classic Sonic used some kind of super advanced binoculars in search for the submarine sent by Robotnik, while Sonic just looks around in search of any signs of this submarine as well. According to the description they gave from this world's Robotnik, he's exactly like the one from the previous Mobius world he visited, so maybe his machines were also similar, which is what he's looking for. "S-See anything, bros?" Manic asked to the two Sonics, as he shivered in cold. "Yeah: A whole lot of goosebumps looking for a home," Classic Sonic complained. "Stop being such a kiddy, tiny me," Sonic told him, still annoyed. "Actually, I just checked the temperature, and it's about 15 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year!" Sonia pointed out, as she checked the temperature on a green tablet, but then, Classic Sonic came by and snatched the tablet from her hands. "So what does that make it? Only 50 below?" Classic Sonic asked in a mocking tone. "20 Degrees Celsius," Both Sonia and Sonic replied, the former with a frown and the latter with a bored expression. The Sonic underground all turned to see Sonic in disbelief, while he just crossed his arms and tapped the floor with his foot. "What? Just because I'm Sonic from another universe doesn't means I'm an ignorant," Sonic replied, still with a bored expression. "Hey!" Classic Sonic complained, while Manic snorted a bit. "Please stay here and sent this guy to replace you!" Sonia said in a mocking tone, and Classic Sonic growled in anger. "Yeah, sorry. Not happening," Sonic replied, now smirking. "Well, I liked 80 degrees Fahrenheit better!" Classic Sonic said with a mocking smirk to Sonia. "Sonic, stop whining! I am really sick of it!" Sonia scolded him with anger, snatching her tablet from him while Classic Sonic frowned back at her. "We have a job to do, so let's do it!" "I know we have a job to do, but I think this is a wild goose chase!" Classic Sonic confessed in annoyance. "What would Robotnik be doing in this freezer?! Doesn't make sense!" "Well, maybe he wants, like, to melt the ice caps, or something," Manic said with a smile, as he hold two snowballs on his hands. "Melt the Ice Caps..." Classic Sonic repeated with a snort. "So sue me!" Manic replied, before combining the two snowballs into a bigger one, and then throw it away. "...You actually could have a point, Manic..." Sonic said with concern, rubbing his chin. "Otherwise, temperature wouldn't melt this much..." Sonia checked out her tablet for a minute before replying something. "According to the Freedom Fighters, the submarine surfaced out near the end of that big ice flow," She said, pointing at a massive piece of ice in the water that was totally melted for some reason. "Yeah, this seems pretty much like something ol' Egghead would do..." Sonic said with a bored expression. "Let's split up and check it out," Sonia stated. The siblings and Sonic split up as they started to look after the submarine. So far, none of them found anything, but as Manic walked forward, he was surprised when a steam suddenly popped from the ground, and he fall backwards in the snow. Once he stood up, however, he got startled that the steam came so suddenly. "Yo, Sonic! Check this out!" Manic called out to his brother. Soon enough, both Sonics arrived, since it wasn't decided yet how to call them to difference them. "What's up?" Classic Sonic asked. "Yo!" Sonic greeted as well. "Steam!" Manic pointed out, and then the three of them leaned to look on the hole where the water was coming out from. "Boiling water?!" "Guys, this feels completely odd... is almost like..." Sonic tried to say. However, he couldn't finish when they all heard and saw the ground cracking and then tearing apart as it feel on the boiling water of the ocean. "Yikes!" The three hedgehogs exclaimed. The ground kept tearing apart and falling to the ocean, now worrying and startling the three hedgehogs. Not only that, but also the portion of ice where they were standing separated and started to move away from the regular land. "This is bad..." Manic pointed out with concern. "Where's Sonia?!" Classic Sonic asked in panic. Soon enough, they saw Sonia standing at the edge of some ice that started to crack and tear apart, as she tried to stand there and keep her balance. However, she couldn't do it for much longer, and so, and still standing over a small portion of ice, she fell towards the water... but instead of actually falling there, she fell over another portion of ice instead, while she tried to keep her balance and not fall to the boiling water. Meanwhile, Manic and the Sonics kept moving away on their big portion of ice. "Sonia!" Manic called out in concern. "Sonia!" Classic Sonic called out as well. "Sonia!" Sonic called out to in worry. Soon enough, however, Manic turned around and noticed that they were about to crash against a giant iceberg. "Oh man... Titanic time!" "Oh boy..." Sonic said in concern. "Great, we're gonna die just like Jack and Rose did!" Classic Sonic complained. However, both him and Manic were suddenly grabbed as bags by Sonic, who looked on to the boiling sea with a determinate look. "Man! What are you doing?!" Classic Sonic asked in panic. "No one ever died while traveling with me, and you two won't be the first ones!" Sonic said with a determinate look. After saying that, he started to run on his place until his feet created the shape of an eight, before boosting away from the massive iceberg as he ran over the boiling water, while the iceberg behind them crashed and destroyed. "Whoa! You can run over water? Man, the more I know about you, the more jealous I feel!" Classic Sonic said with a smirk. "Big news: You can do it as well!" Sonic replied with a smirk, before throwing him in the air. Classic Sonic shouted scared, but then he also moved his feet until they made the shape of an eight, and once he landed on the water, he boosted and managed to reach Sonic, who still held Manic as a bag. "This is amazing! I didn't knew I could do this!" Classic Sonic said with excitement. "Yeah, yeah. I know. Now catch!" Sonic replied, before throwing Manic to him and then boosting away. Classic Sonic managed to catch his brother, and they both looked on the direction where Sonic boosted away. "Uh... where is he going?" Manic asked confused. "No clue, bro," Classic Sonic replied with a raised eyebrow. Meanwhile, Sonia herself was moving over her part of the broken ice, as she moved across the boiling sea while shouting Sonic and Manic's names. However, she didn't noticed a big piece of ice melting and falling into the water causing a massive wave that started to move towards her. When Sonia did, though, it was too late to avoid it and she panicked. "Oh no!" However, before the wave could get to her, Sonic arrived just in time and grabbed her in bridal style, before boosting away and returning with Sonic and Manic. "Sup, guys!" Sonic greeted again with a smirk. "Oh, so that's why you left! You were rescuing Sonia!" Manic pointed out with a smile, while Sonic winked at him and nodded. "Oh wow! I didn't knew you could run in water!" Sonia told Classic Sonic with a smirk. "Yeah, me neither!" Classic Sonic confessed, smirking back. "What other surprises await us?" However, before anyone could reply anything, the four of them were suddenly lifted by something emerging from the sea: A giant metallic submarine. From inside, Robotnik came out, along two weird looking creatures named Sleet and Dingo. Sleet was a grey wolf with purple hair using a soldier uniform with a red cape, while Dingo was an orange beast with blonde hair and just some pants. Once the group knew where they were over, they hid behind the trio of villains so they wouldn't notice them. "Eta three minutes, sir," Sleet informed to Robotnik. Robotnik nodded, and then grinned sinisterly as he admired all the melted ice so far. "How high has the water risen?" "Another nine meters, sir," Sleet replied. "Excellent!" Robotnik declared with a huge grin. "It won't be long now!" Then, the submarine entered to a hidden place on an iceberg, mostly one of Robotnik's hideouts. However, Manic accidentally sneezed, way too loud for the group's liking. "Bless you, sir," Dingo told to Robotnik. "I didn't sneezed," Robotnik pointed out confused. Dingo felt extremely confused after hearing that, so he turned and faced Sleet. "Don't look at me!" "Well, someone sneezed!" Robotnik pointed out with anger. Then, Sleet pulled out some kind of laser gun and pointed into certain direction. "Come out, whoever you are!" The Sonic Underground came out clean with sheepish smiles, while Sonic used his sonic speed to sneak away without anyone noticing, not even the siblings. "Surprise!" Classic Sonic called out sheepishly. Meanwhile, Sonic was hanging from one side of the submarine with a frown. "Must be careful from here. If I wanna help these guys, this universe's Robotnik can't find out about me. I already have enough with one Eggman trying to conquer the entire multiverse..." Universe 220822 After running for what felt like an eternity, Sonic decided to stop and rest near a forest, sitting over a trunk and taking a brake. "Okay... running around to see where the heck I am is not working..." Sonic told himself. "Ugh, if Tails was here, he could use one of his fancy little gadgets to localize that other me, if he even exists in here, that is..." He then looked around the forest, and instead of panicking while having flashbacks of those times when he was all alone and hiding on a cave, he actually liked the quiet and peace this time. It allowed him to relax and think carefully instead of doing something stupid. Tom always said he was reckless... perhaps it was time to prove he could be careful, even if Tom wasn't there to witness it. "Let's see... if I cannot find my other me... maybe I could find... another Tails!" Sonic said with a bis smile. "Of course! Tails is a genius, no matter the universe. He could built something that sends me back home! If he's willing to help, that is..." He pointed out, rubbing his chin in doubt. "Eh, I'll worry about those details later!" Once he had his plan settled, he decided to boost away. However, as soon as he saw a bunch of robots marching like soldiers towards what looked like a beach town, he immediately stopped and stared confused at the machines. They all seemed to be big robots with the shapes of bugs, like ladybugs, bees, crabs... okay, those weren't bugs, but you get the idea, right? "Okay... robots that look like small animals... with different colors, even..." Sonic said with a raised eyebrow. However, he narrowed his eyes a bit and noticed some symbol on their side... a round face with glasses, a sinister smile and a mustache, a figure he recognized anywhere, because he gasped in awe. "Robotnik!" Sonic said in concern. "Is he alive?! He came here too?!" hH questioned with worry and panic, but then he realized something. "Oh, right... this is another universe. So, if there is another Eggman... there must be another me! And another Tails and Knuckles, too! Alright, now that I know this, I'm gonna change my plans..." He added, before boosting towards the army of robots. "First, I'll deal with these machines and make sure they don't reach that town. Then, I'll look after my friends from this world and myself. Then, I'll––" However, he had to suddenly stop his listing as a yellow laser passed right in front of him. Soon enough, a yellow blur passed by and he couldn't understand who it was... until it stopped in mid air: It was Tails! Well, a variant of Tails, but it was him! For the first time since he arrived here, he felt so relieved of watching a familiar face. However, he looked incredibly different. His shoes were blue, his gloves were perfectly adjusted to him, he had a belt and used pilot goggles. Only his two tails and seemed to be normal, but... he looked less furry. Instead, he seemed a bit more... plastic? He couldn't tell what, but he didn't looked like the Tails he knows. This Tails used a laser gun and moved in mid air to destroy many of the robots marching towards the town. Then, he charged up a Spin Dash, with his tails still showing, and then he began to move around the army, booting and traversing the robots like if it was some kind of pinball machine. Soon enough, another Knuckles joined Tails and started to fight as well against the machines, using his bare fists charged up in electricity. That hit like home, but the fact that this Knuckles looked shorter and less muscular also reminded him that this wasn't the Knuckles he knew. Still, he actually felt happy of seeing another familiar face around. This Knuckles was not only smashing robots, however: He also grabbed several of them, smashed them together, and then he used the already smashed robots to launch them at the other and destroy them as well. Soon enough, however, he charged his fists with electricity and made a massive clap that destroyed thousands of robots because of how massive and effective the attack was. Sonic's eyes sparkled in awe, but then he heard someone else arriving: A pink hedgehog girl with red boots, diadem and dress, holding a very big hammer and smashing some robots around as well, even using the heads of some to pretend she's playing either golf or baseball with them. He smirks at that, and then, he decides to join into the fun, even if he arrives at a very unexpected time for them. He starts to move at super sonic speed as he Spin Dashes and destroys several robots as well. Soon enough, the army goes smaller and smaller, until it finally stops existing entirely. Strangely, Tails, Knuckles and the hedgehog girl haven't noticed Sonic yet, but before he can reveal himself, the ground suddenly rumbled after something landed right in front of the trio, and Sonic decided to stay quiet for the time being. What arrived was a machine very well known for the trio of heroes: the Egg Emperor. "Ah, great. The pain in the ass itself joins the party!" Knuckles complained. "Why does he sound so different?" Sonic muttered to himself. "Hohohohoho! I never expected you to be so shorty in this universe, knucklehead!" Eggman spoke. "But I shouldn't be surprised. I was warned that you do have braincells around here!" He added, before laughing like a maniac. "What?" Tails said confused. "Shorty?" Knuckles questioned, more out of confusion than anger. "This universe?" The hedgehog girl, named Amy, asked too in anger. "What's the matter now, Eggman?! First, your daughter sends Sonic to another universe, and now you come here to spill nonsense?!" "Why does Robotnik sounds so different, too?" Sonic muttered to himself again, even more confused now. "Oh! You think I'm your Dr. Eggman, Ms. Rose?" Eggman spoke again, before the Egg Emperor opened the pilot's capsule and showed who was inside: Ivo, a.k.a. the other Eggman, as he smirked mischievously to the trio. "Well, guess again!" They all gasped, even Sonic behind did it, since it wasn't the Robotnik he knew, either. "So Eggman used his fragments and brought another Eggman along... now we have to deal with two?!" Tails asked in panic. "Why are you looking less fat, by the way? That feels illegal..." Knuckles pointed out with confusion. "Why none of you are using sport bandages? Now that feels illegal to me!" Ivo replied with annoyance. "And by the way, you're not dealing with two Eggmans. You're dealing with three!" "That's a lot worse..." Amy pointed out with a tired expression. "But it makes kicking his butt even funnier!" Sonic spoke finally. The trio and Ivo heard him, and when they turned, they felt all surprised. The trio for seeing Sonic, or someone identical like him at least, while Ivo did it in surprise, thinking there was no variant of Sonic around. "Sonic?!" They all asked in shock. "Cool, glad to know I do exist here!" Sonic replied with a smirk. "That aside: Get the heck lost, Eggman! Tell me how to go home, or else...!" He warned, although he kind of looked adorable while trying to be intimidating. "Or else what?!" Ivo asked with a grin. "And why do you sound like Dewey Duck from that terrible DuckTales reboot? I hated that thing with every inch of my body!" Sonic smirked, charged up his Spin Dash and launched against the Egg Emperor. Ivo screamed in panic and closed the pilot's capsule, but the robot was hit by the attack anyways. Still, Ivo managed to make the robot stop and look back at this new Sonic, who landed in the floor as it charged up his electrical powers, since he had them too. After that, Sonic charged up again and started to run around the Egg Emperor, as he started to hit several crucial spots on the machine. "Hey! Get off!" Ivo shouted, as he tried to activate the robot to move again... but everything started to shine in a red light as it made a sound that gave him a headache. "W-What? What's happening?! I CAN'T CONTROL THIS THING!!!" Soon enough, Sonic moves away as he's done running around the machine... that fell to the ground as it teared apart and showed Ivo, just sitting over his Eggmobile completely confused. Sonic, on the other hand, smirked and showed up a wrench, that he made spin before showing it up to Ivo. "I may not be a genius mechanic like Tails, but I do have some tricks under my sleeve! Also, you look incredibly old and fat, what kind of Eggman are you supposed to be?" He asked with a genuine confused expression. "You won't be saying such stuff once we annihilate you, blue pest!" Ivo said with anger, before turning on his Eggmobile and calling Eggman. "Change of plans. It seems like the recovery of the fragments will have to wait!" He instructed, before turning around and boosting away. Sonic raised an eyebrow and scratched his head confused. "That's... not the answer I expected. To be honest, I didn't expected anything at all." "Uh... Sonic?" Tails' voice spoke. Sonic's eyes widened, and he turned around to face Tails, Knuckles and Amy, staring confused at him. "...Uh... yeah?" Sonic said with a sheepish smile. "Is that you, hedgehog? You look... oddly different," Knuckles pointed out confused. "Um... you just saw an Eggman from a different universe, and... um..." Sonic replied nervously, and all of a sudden, he was feeling incredibly shy and nervous. "You okay there?" Knuckles asked. "Are we sure that this is the same Sonic we lost?" He muttered to Tails at his side. "No clue..." Tails muttered back with honesty. "Ugh, you guys are incredible!" Amy said with annoyance, before smiling and walking over with Sonic, who stepped a bit back nervously. "Hey, don't worry! I won't hurt you!" She said with a warm smile, while Sonic scratched his left arm even more nervously. "So, your name is Sonic, right?" She asked him, as she kneeled to be at his height. Sonic only nodded, looking at her nervously. "Did you, um... happened to pop out of a portal and notice you're on an unfamiliar place?" Amy asked him. Sonic seemed to gasp, and he suddenly felt both impressed and scared when she said something so accurate. "H-How did you knew?!" "I'm a fortune teller! I know this kind of stuff" Amy replied with a warm smile and a wink. Sonic's eyes sparkled after he heard that, and just like that, his excitement returned in a flash. "A fortune teller?! No way! So, you can read the future? Can you read my mind?! Oh, oh, oh! You can tell which sign I am just by looking at me, right?!" He started to ask in excitement, as he quickly moved around Amy, while she giggled at his attitude. Tails and Knuckles, however, still felt hesitant and doubted the veracity of this new Sonic. "It's clear that he's not our Sonic. He was confused on this other Eggman, too, so they're not from the same universe. How?" Knuckles asked with concern. "...There's a small chance that, whatever Eggman did to bring other two Eggmans from other worlds, somehow also affected their Sonics, or at least this one..." Tails explained. "I can't tell exactly why, though..." "Well, then, what do we do with this new Sonic? We cannot leave him here, right?" Knuckles pointed out. "NO! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Sonic suddenly said, as he kneeled and hugged Knuckles' leg. "Please don't leave me here! I'll do anything you ask me to, but don't leave me alone!" Knuckles felt both concerned for his attitude and uncomfortable with how strong this Sonic's grip was on his leg, while Tails felt confused on why he was very childish and seemed to be more energetic and innocent as well. "How should we call you, by the way?" Amy said, as she grabbed Sonic and patted his head in a motherly way. "W-Well... you guys can call me Sonic–– No, wait... That can cause confusions with the 'me' of this universe, right?" Sonic said, as he rubbed his chin and tapped his foot on the floor. Tails also rubbed his chin, fascinated with this variant of his best friend. "A different attitude... A different look... but still Sonic... interesting..." He muttered to himself, since this Sonic was pretty much the same, except he looked more furry, he had blue arms, his shoes were pretty different (also sponsored by PUMA), and his eyes were separated. "Can you please experiment or study him later and say what do we do already?!" Knuckles asked desperate. "How about we call him... Young Sonic!" Amy suggested. "He's more energetic than ours, and even if he's not around here right now, at least there won't be any sort of confusion over who's who!" "Not the nickname I had in mind... but it works!" Young Sonic said with a smile. "Thanks... uh... Miss...?" "Oh, just call me Amy!" She replied with a smile. "Oh, alright..." Young Sonic stated. "Also: What do you mean my other me isn't around here right now?" "It's a long story," Tails said. "Come with us! We'll explain everything once we return to the Crystal Brighthouse," He said, before he started to walk away, with Knuckles following up. "I don't know what's a Crystal Brighthouse, but okay!" Young Sonic said, before he ran off, while Amy giggled and decided to follow up as well. "I was planning on finding you and ask for your help, anyways!" "You'll have to explain further on that," Tails instructed. "Oh well... it all started on my little island when I was a kid..." Young Sonic began to narrate. "Dear Chaos, you're going to narrate us your life?!" Knuckles asked in panic. "Yup!" Young Sonic replied, and then he started to narrate his whole story, while Knuckles groaned in annoyance as he walked with a frown towards the Crystal Brighthouse. Universe 060199 The Sonic Underground was surrounded by Robotnik, his machines, Sleet and Dingo. Meanwhile, Sonic was still hiding behind the submarine, waiting for the proper moment to attack. "Nice of you to drop by, hedgehog," Robotnik said sarcastically with anger and his arms crossed. "But I didn't think you liked cold wet places." "I don't!" Classic Sonic replied with a smirk. "But sometimes, you just gotta do what you gotta do!" He pointed out confidently, while Manic and Sonia nodded in agreement. "And what might that be?" Robotnik questioned annoyed. Then, Sleet stepped in front of him with the same confidence than his boss. "Yeah! Tell us!" "I'd rather show than tell!" Classic Sonic replied, still feeling very confident. Dingo snorted and started to walk towards the Sonic Underground along some robots. "Yeah, right!" The siblings smirked, before holding hands together and start to spin around like tornados, then joining to make a bigger tornado and now moving around to mess with Robotnik and his allies. First off, they sent Dingo flying away, then they destroyed all the robots, even making one spin away. Finally, they moved towards Sleet and Robotnik, also sending them flying away. After taking them down, Classic Sonic grabbed his brother and sister from their hands before boosting away. Sonic saw all of this, still hiding, and he whistled at that sick trick made by the Sonic Underground. "Not bad, kids. Not bad," He said with a smirk. Seeing that the situation was handled pretty well, he nodded and boosted away as well. "And this world's Robotnik still knows nothing about me! Better keep it that way!" Now that the Sonic Underground and Sonic were gone, Robotnik stood up and shouted in anger, before turning to face Sleet and Dingo with pure rage. "I knew I should never have trusted you two idiots to handle this job!" "B-But sir!" Both Sleet and Dingo said nervously. "QUIET!" Robotnik shouted again, still completely mad. "I want those rodents caught and hang out and dry! IS THAT CLEAR?!" "Yes, sir!" Both Sleet and Dingo replied with determinate looks. "If you fail... You will rule the miserable day you were born!" Robotnik threatened, while Sleet and Dingo gulped nervously. Soon enough, Classic Sonic stopped moving in the middle of nowhere, noticing that Sonic wasn't with them. "Where's the other Sonic?" Sonia was the first one to ask. Before Classic Sonic or Manic could reply, Sonic soon enough arrived and smiled at them. "Sup!" "Hey, other bro! Where did you go?" Manic asked. "Sorry for hiding and leave you on your own, guys. But I already have enough with one Eggman trying to conquer the entire multiverse," Sonic replied with a worried frown. "I don't want to imagine what horrors might happen if there's 2 Eggmans trying to conquer every existent universe." "So your solution is to hide and miss all the action despite knowing you want to fight too?" Classic Sonic asked with a frown. "Pretty much," Sonic replied with a bored expression. "....Fair enough" Classic Sonic said, now with a bored expression as well, before frowning in worry and concern. "But now we know that Robotnik is trying to flood the whole world! We gotta move fast!" "Thankfully, 'Fast' is my middle name!" Sonic stated confidently, before boosting away. "I thought your middle name was 'The'..." Manic told to Classic Sonic, while he looked at him with a bored expression. "No, it's actually Maurice," Sonia said with a playful smile, and while Manic bursts out laughing, Classic Sonic groans in annoyance. The Sonic Underground and Sonic eventually reached a hidden cave between the icebergs. They were looking after Robotnik's heating plant, the same place they were looking after at the very beginning, and where they had to escape from because of Robotnik discovering them. Classic Sonic tapped a specific place on a wall and smiled. "That heating plant is right on the other side of this wall!" "You sure, Sonic?" Manic asked him. "I thought it was a little farther." "My sense of direction is perfect! This is it!" Classic Sonic replied confidently. Then, he started to spin and formed a tornado before traversing the ice. However, he was soon sent backwards after hitting water. He fell on his back and spilled the water that entered his mouth. "Ugh! I hate water..." Classic Sonic said in annoyance. "Oh, now that's what I call a 'perfect sense of direction'!" Sonia mocked up with a smirk, and Classic Sonic rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Dude, if you're gonna brag, do it properly," Sonic said with a bored expression. Then, he started to walk really far away from the hole Classic Sonic already made. The Sonic Underground felt confused, but they all shrugged and decided to follow him up. After a while, Sonic stopped and placed his ear right in front of a specific place in the same wall, then he smirked and stepped back. "Did you found it?" Sonia asked. "Yup! But the ice is really deep, so I have to use some old methods!" Sonic replied. Then, he charged up his electrical powers, surprising the Sonic Underground a lot, specially Classic Sonic. After that, Sonic charged up his Spin Dash and traversed the wall as twice as fast than Classic Sonic, and that made the triplets jaws drop in awe. However, once Sonic was at the other side, he saw that the factory was fully covered by laser guns all around. "Okay.... that might be a problem," Sonic said, before going back through the same hole. However, once he returned, he felt confused when he saw the triplets' jaws dropped. "Uh... you guys okay?" "Man... I'm more and more jealous of you now..." Classic Sonic spoke. "I didn't even though that'll be possible!" "You'll learn that someday. Trust me!" Sonic replied with a wink. "Now, I have good news and bad news. The good news is, this is it!" The Sonic Underground cheered, and they high fived between each other. "Great! But what are the bad news?" Sonia asked a bit concerned. "The whole factory is lined with laser guns," Sonic replied with concern. "So, what's the plan?" Manic questioned in worry. Classic Sonic rubbed his chin and tapped a foot, before smirking confidently. "Say, other me... how fast can you go?" "How fast you want me to go?" Sonic teased back with a knowing smirk. Sonic entered the factory again. Then, he started to run in circles, activating the laser guns in the process. However, since they were always failing their objective, they shoot to the ice walls instead, and so, pieces of ice fell right over the lasers, destroying them instantly. After being done, Sonic returned with the triplets. "Explosives!" Manic exclaimed excited. "You gotta love it!" Classic Sonic stated with a confident smirk. "You know? This is actually a pretty good idea!" Sonic said with a smile, before patting hid other self's back. "Nice thinking, tiny me!" "Thanks!" Classic Sonic said with a proud smile. He soon left, while Manic, Sonia and Sonic stay to place the explosives over Robotnik's machine. And after a couple of minutes, they were done. "That's the last one!" Sonia said with a smile. "Great, let's signal Sonic and bail!" Manic stated. Sonia nodded and turned her medallion into an actual piano, which she played to create a melody loud enough to alert Classic Sonic. Sonic, however, whistled when Sonia turned her medallion into an instrument. "You guys also keep impressing me!" Somewhere in the factory, Sleet and Dingus also heard Sonia's sign for Sonic as they ride a floating vehicle. "Some free advice, knuckleheads!" Classic Sonic called out, and both Sleet and Dingus turned to look at him both confused and mad. "Go back to your submarine and go home, 'cause this dump is gonna blow sky high in..." He warned, before looking at a watch on his hand and smirking. "Five minutes and change!" After that, he boosted away from them, while Sleet and Dingus looked at each other, before screaming in panic like little school girls. "Let's get out of here!" Sleet shouted in fright. Soon enough, the Sonic Underground and Sonic left the hideout, while Sleet and Dingus left the factory on the submarine as well. "He said WHAT?!" Robotnik asked, both confused and angry. "The whole plan was going to blow sky high!" Sleet replied in worry. "That's impossible!" Robotnik replied with anger again. However, he soon enough was proven wrong as the factory blew up entirely, with the Sonic Underground messing up his plans again, this time with another Sonic's help, despite it happening without him ever finding out. "HEDGEHOGS!!!" Robotnik shouted in rage and frustration. Universe 220822 Back at the Crystal Brighthouse, Young Sonic was happily eating Chilidogs from a massive plate. He just finished explaining his entire life to Tails, Knuckles and Amy: How Longclaw raised him, how his universe's Knuckles' ancestors basically made him move to Earth, how he spent 10 years completely alone, how he meet Tom and Maddie, how he defeated Robotnik, how he met his world's Tails and Knuckles and how he turned into a golden god that defeated Robotnik's massive robot, as well as the little incident with that Robotnik's drone on the junkyard. "...And that's how we end up here today, with me telling you all this story!" Young Sonic finished narrating with a bright smile, eating another Chilidog happily. Too bad Tails, Amy and Knuckles were too stunned with his story. They were very impressed that he managed to remain this strong despite everything, and now they all felt sympathy for him, understanding better why he's more childish despite still being Sonic deep inside. "...I judged you bad... How's that you're not traumatized with all the shit you lived so far?!" Knuckles asked a bit panicked. "Oh, I was for a while, but I'm fine now!" Young Sonic replied. "I would appreciate if you guys could help me go back home, though..." He confessed, chomping another Chilidog. "Yeah, about that..." Tails said nervously with a sheepish smile. However, he couldn't explain himself, because the Mane 6 and Team Dark all entered the place. "Why didn't you told us that another Eggman has invaded our universe earlier?!" Shadow asked in anger, staring daggers at Tails. "Guys, the robots are all over the green field near town!" Sunny pointed out with concern. "What happened?!" "Are you guys hurt?!" Zipp asked in worry. "Is everypony safe?!" Hitch asked with concern. Except for Rouge, Pipp, Misty and Omega, everyone invaded the trio with questions, until... "STOP!" Amy, Tails and Knuckles all said in unison, immediately startling the others, but also shutting them up. The three of them sighed in relief after the questions where over. "Look, we know how serious the thing with Eggman is and all of that, but... we had a situation," Tails said with concern. "What kind of situation?" Pipp asked confused. Before anyone could reply, soon enough, Young Sonic got in front and whistled with excitement. First, he got in front of Sunny and Hitch. "Oh, you two look like a great couple!" He said innocently, making the two Earth Ponies confused, but also blush and look away from each other. Then, Young Sonic moved towards Zipp and Pipp. "Great, more flying horses!" He said excited, before staring at Pipp for a second. "You're pretty!" He added, and Pipp blushed with a sheepish smile. Then, Young Sonic moved over Izzy and Misty. "Nice! I always wanted to met a unicorn! And now I'm meeting two of them!" "Aww!" Izzy and Misty said in unison with warm smiles. After that, Young Sonic moved and looked at Omega and Rouge. "You two... seem pretty cool to me, that's everything I can say..." He said, before moving away and looking at Sparky on Hitch's back. "IS THAT A FREAKING DRAGON?!" He asked with sparkling eyes, before moving to be right besides Shadow, who had his arms crossed and was looking at Young Sonic with annoyance. "Who the heck are you and why do you look so cool?" That somehow kind of broke Shadow's 'cold' attitude, as he flinched after he saw Young Sonic calling him 'cool', something not even the Sonic he knew was willing to admit, not aloud at least. "Hey, Sonic... come here, alright?" Amy called out with a nervous smile. Young Sonic immediately obeyed and ran at Amy's side. "Everyone... this is Young Sonic, and... well... he's from another universe..." "Howdy!" Young Sonic greeted them. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Zipp said. "Hold onto your horses! Did you just said that he's Sonic... from another universe?!" "B-But how?!" Pipp asked, both concerned and confused. "No idea..." Tails confessed. "According to him, he just popped out from a portal near Zephyr Heights..." "Oh, so that place is called Zephyr Heights? I thought it was just a funky attractive name for tourists or something," Young Sonic said innocently. "He's also a kid. Literally," Knuckles pointed out with a bored expression. "He's still Sonic, just... too childish for my liking..." "So, whatever Eggman did to bring out two versions of himself, also affected Sonic..." Zipp theorized. "Maybe this Sonic is the key to make our fragments of the Paradox Prism work..." "Hang on!" Izzy said suddenly. "If we have to deal with three Eggmans, doesn't that mean we'll need three Sonics, counting ours?" "...She's got a good point," Rouge pointed out. "One Sonic for each Eggman sounds like the perfect match." "Oooh! Does that mean I can meet myself? Literally?" Young Sonic asked excited with sparkling eyes, even wagging his tail a bit. "Well, you said the Eggman that attacked us isn't from your universe, so... maybe we'll ran into the Sonic from his," Tails said with a little smile. "Great... we'll eventually have to deal with 3 Sonics around... Can I kill myself, please?" Shadow said with an annoyed expression. "Wow, you really are an emo guy... that somehow makes you even more cooler," Young Sonic told to Shadow, before looking at something that called his attention. However, as Young Sonic boosted away, Shadow was caught off guard again, as he actually smiled at a slow pace. "...We must protect that kid... at all coasts necessary..." He muttered in a happy tone. Universe 060199 Now that the factory was completely destroyed, a little space formed some kind of jacuzzi, since the water was still boiling a bit. The triplets were back with their swim suits, and now even Sonic joined as he rested at the edge of the jacuzzi, while Sonia was floating and enjoying the hot water. "Sonic, come on in!" Sonia said to Classic Sonic, who was sitting on a chair as he relaxed himself. "The water is wonderful!" "Not a chance!" Classic Sonic replied with a smirk. "I had all the water I need on this trip!" He pointed out, laying on the chair. "Yeah, I wouldn't be too sure about that, other me," Sonic pointed out with a mocking tone and smirk. "What do you mean?" Classic Sonic asked confused. However, he got his answer when Manic suddenly dived onto the jacuzzi, wetting Classic Sonic entirely. "Oh, come on!" Classic Sonic complained, while his brothers laughed and Sonic chuckled. "So, aren't you moving forward?" Manic asked to Sonic. "Nah, I think I'll stay here for a while. Besides, relaxing is exactly just what I need, at least for now~" Sonic replied with a very relaxed smile. > 5. Legends of Harmony > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Universe 060199 Sonic stood with the Sonic Underground for a few more days. He had lots of fun with them, and even if their adventure wasn't a big deal, he couldn't care less. He had fun, he enjoyed his stay here, he made new friends and he managed to still fulfill his favorite hobby: Messing up with whatever nonsense plan Eggman comes with to conquer the world. It was the ideal plan for him, but now? It was time to go. He had to return to his universe ASAP, before whatever his Eggman has in store for the entire multiverse becomes a reality. Right now? Sonic was preparing to leave this universe. "Do you really have to go?" Classic Sonic asked. "You can still stay and help us blown Robotnik's power plant!" "That does sounds like fun, but I'm afraid I gotta leave now," Sonic replied with a smile. "My universe needs me. And, if I don't go back, my Eggman could tear apart every world, this one included. I must prevent that." "But you'll come back... right?" Manic asked, a bit sad. "I don't know. I cannot make a promise I'm not sure I'll fulfill," Sonic confessed, before smirking. "But know this: My short time in this world was amazing. I admit I'll miss you, guys. And if we see each other again? I hope you are the ones visiting me!" "Now that, is a promise I hope to fulfill," Sonia stated with a little smile. Sonic nodded and turned around, ready to head off. However, he turned back at them and looked with a sheepish smile. "Um... is it too much if I ask for––" He tried to say, while opening his arms, but he couldn't finish since the triplets embraced him in a big tight hug. At first, he felt a little awkward, even if he was the one that wanted to ask for it, but then he smiled more relaxed and embraced the hug with the triplets. "Yeah, yeah. I'll miss you too, guys," Sonic said with a chuckle. "I'm still jealous of your life, though," Classic Sonic confessed, but still embracing Sonic with a smile. "You'll get to be even cooler than me one day. The three of you," Sonic told the triplets, as they brake the hug. "Just you wait and see..." The triplets embraced him one last time, and this time, Sonic hugged them back with no hesitation. Then, they all stepped back and waved at each other. After that, Sonic smiled one last time to the triplets before boosting away once again. As Sonic ran through what looked like a field, he looked back at the discs on his gloves and boots. "Alright, babies! I think is time you teach me how to control you, or else we'll have big problems!" However, unlike other times, the discs didn't reacted. "Oh, come on! I'm running really quick right now! What else should I need just so you set me HOME?!" Sonic shouted desperate, and now, really, really mad. That, however, seemed to work, because the discs started to glow again, created the line in the floor and opened and X portal, once again. "Thank you!" Sonic shouted in annoyance, before boosting through the portal, that closed after he traversed it. And so, his adventure on Universe 060199 was over... Once again, Sonic fell from the recent universe he was just in. Screaming in fair and panic as usual, he was now falling to a specific line, since his discs were moving him in purpose to not fall on any of the other lines. "Why does traveling across the multiverse has to be such a horrible experience?!" Sonic shouted in panic as he traversed the line he was falling towards, glitching like when he entered to the other universes so far... Universe 101010 Twilight was organizing all the books on the Castle of Friendship as usual. There wasn't a lot happening in Equestria, lately. In fact, nothing has been that interesting for a while: Applejack was doing her chores with her family as usual; Rarity was on her boutique, probably selling or making dresses; Pinkie Pie was... well, Pinkie is always doing something crazy and wacky that defies any logical explanation, so is hard to tell what exactly could she be doing; Rainbow Dash was probably with the Wonderbolts; and Fluttershy was attending her sanctuary with Discord. Again, nothing that interesting. Yet, she wouldn't change it for anything. Defeating villains to save Equestria already became a common thing for the past few years, so having a little period of time to relax and not worry about an enemy suddenly attacking Equestria was nice. But if everything was so quiet and peaceful, and she actually liked that, then... why she had the feeling something was utterly wrong? She shook her head to put those thoughts aside. It was probably nothing. Everything was working well so far, right? That wouldn't change. "It's okay, Twilight..." She told herself, taking a few deep breaths and smiling as she levitated another book to the shelf. "Nothing is going to happen. Everything is just fine!" BOOM ...Alright, maybe she spoke too soon. "Me and my big mouth..." Twilight deadpanned, before moving towards an open window and look around to search the origin of the noise. She looked down on Ponyville and saw nothing out of the normal, but when she lifted her head, she saw a blue strike falling from the sky towards the Castle. Soon enough, the blue strike began to scream, and the screams became more and more louder as it approached... but thankfully, the strike kept falling and crashed in the floor, just in the front door of the castle. Twilight raised an eyebrow confused, then she made her horn light up to teleport right to the entrance of the castle, with Spike and Starlight coming out from the door. "Did anypony else heard that?!" Starlight asked. "Twilight, what's going on?" Spike asked with worry. Twilight extended her wings as a reply, and both Spike and Starlight decided to stay quiet for now. Then, the three of them heard somepony groaning in pain, and they all saw a blue creature standing up, grabbing their head and shaking it. This blue creature, of course, was no other one than Sonic. Now, he had brown gloves and brown explorer boots, since his clothes were adapting to this world once again. Sonic shook his head once again and looked around for a while, before stopping his sight on Twilight, who looked at him confused and shocked, as well as Spike and Starlight. "What the––" Sonic muttered, and then his eyes widened. "Twilight Sparkle?!" Twilight gulped at hearing her name came out of the creature's voice. "I-I'm sorry... Do I know you?" She asked. "How do you know my name?" "Oh man..." Sonic said. "If Sunny was here, she could explain everything better than I–– Who am I kidding? She'll be fangirling over her hero instead of focusing." Twilight, Starlight and Spike stared confused at Sonic, not knowing what he was talking about. "You haven't answered my questions––" Twilight pointed out with a little frown, but Sonic raised a hand and made her stop talking. "You wan't the short version, or the incredibly long and detailed one?" Sonic asked. "I think the short version will be enough," Twilight replied with a raised eyebrow. "Alright: I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog," Sonic presented himself. "I come from a different universe where a crazy maniac I like to call Eggman has found something to brake the multiverse apart, and I accidentally ended up being the guinea pig. Now, I'm stuck traveling all across the multiverse while I try to go back home, but instead, I always end up on a different dimension... like this one..." Twilight, Spike and Starlight were speechless after hearing all of that, specially Twilight. "D-Different universes?" Twilight asked in shock. "Multiverse?!" Starlight shouted in disbelief. "You're a hedgehog?" Spike asked confused. "Really? The entire multiverse could be collapsing right now, and you're shocked because I'm a hedgehog?" Sonic deadpanned to the dragon. "I'm sorry, the multiverse is WHAT NOW?!" Twilight shouted desperate. "I'm just exaggerating. As far as I know, the multiverse isn't collapsing," Sonic replied with a bored expression, then he smirked. "Ever heard about 'sarcasm'? You should try it sometime." "That still doesn't explains how you know who's Twilight, though..." Starlight pointed out. Sonic was about to reply... however, he soon realized that he was in Equestria, just in a different period of time. Twilight Sparkle is alive, so that meant that he was in the very, very, very far past of the Equestria he knows. Now, there are several things to consider here: First of all; this isn't his universe. Otherwise, he would show up in Maretime Bay, Zephyr Heights or any known place for him, not in Ponyville. Second; if this universe's future also leads to the Equestria he knows, he can't say a thing about anything. That is, he cannot mention Opaline, the Unity Crystals, nor any other thing related to how Equestria gets separated for thousands of years. He really didn't liked the idea, but in order for his friends to even exist, he must stay quiet on those aspects. Third; he cannot mention his friends, or at least, not in a way that blows his cover. She already knows he's from another universe... so maybe, he had to use that for his advantage, and also maybe that's everything about him she should know. "I've been in a universe where she also exists. Multiple, actually," Sonic... lied? Is hard to tell, he's lying, but not at the same time. "Wait... so that thing about other universes is actually true?" Spike asked confused. "Is hard to believe..." "Well, I don't know if this also applies for you guys in this universe, but you confront all kind of crazy monsters that want to conquer the world on a daily basis, right?" Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow. "The possibility of an infinite amount of universes out there shouldn't be so crazy for any you." "...Fair enough..." Spike said, scratching his neck sheepishly. "But... why are you here, then?" Twilight asked, once Sonic's answers managed to calm her down a little bit. "Good question, wish I had the answer," Sonic replied with a frown. "These things attached to my gloves and boots are the key to take me home, but guess what?! They do whatever they want! All the time, it seems like I finally have control, but then these things just throw me out of one universe and sent me to the next one with no warning!" He shouted frustrated, before falling backwards and lay on the ground. "I... I just want to go home. But these discs aren't helping a lot. They just... they're the key, and yet, they're not taking me anywhere I want..." Twilight felt her ears falling flat after hearing that, and now she was feeling both curious for him and the other universe he visited, just as well as bad for his current situation. She bit her lips and looked at Spike and Starlight, who simply shrugged at her. Twilight looked back at Sonic, though for a few seconds on what to do, and then sighed, slowly walking to him. "Alright, alright... I'll help you out," Twilight told him. "...I'm sorry, what now?" Sonic asked, now sitting on his place and looking confused at the purple Alicorn. "I... I feel really curious about you, y'know? And I honestly have a billion of questions for you about all the things you have seen so far, but... I also feel sympathy for you," Twilight explained. "I cannot imagine how it must feel, to be so close to your home, but so far at the same time... which is why I want to help. I have the power to do it, and... I think it's fair if I use that power." Sonic smiled a bit after hearing that and decided to stand up. "Tell you what..." He started, also cleaning some dust off his body. "I'll tell you everything I lived so far before arriving here, and in exchange, you'll help me to find a way to communicate with my friends back home." Twilight smirked at him and extended her hoof. "Sounds like we have a deal, Sonic the Hedgehog!" "Oh, we sure have, Twilight Sparkle!" Sonic replied, shaking his hand with her hoof and closing their deal. Universe 220822 Eggman was beyond furious. The fact that not only one, but two Sonics have been dragged from Ivo and Robotnik's universes was a massive problem to all his plans, and Robotnik's Sonic already sabotaged the heist for the Paradox Prism Fragments in the Brighthouse, so going back there wasn't an option at all, specially since Young Sonic was there. And the fact that Ivo confessed that Sonic was also dragged when the portal opened in his universe just complicated stuff even more. Not to mention, Robotnik was also incredibly furious knowing that the Sonic from his world was around, and since he already gave him several looses so far, he was afraid he was here to give another one. However, Eggman wasn't mad with the Eggmans, nor with Sage, even if she was the one that made the machine with the Paradox Prism fragments work. Eggman was mad with himself, for not anticipating this possibility, or in other words, for ignoring it, thinking everything was going to work out flawlessly. "Look, for the millionth time, I'm sorry, alright?! But Sonic dragged himself into this, not me!" Ivo said desperate. "And for the millionth time, Ivo, I'm not mad with you. Nor with my daughter. This is my mistake," Eggman said with a frown. "How is our Sonics coming to this universe your mistake if your 'daughter' brought us here?" Robotnik questioned. "Sage might be brilliant, but I'm the man behind the assaults," Eggman started to explain. "I'm the one who calculates all the possibilities, all the pros and cons. Yet, I decided to ignore the high chance of any other Sonic arriving here as well. Sage brought you here thanks to the machine that she made work, true, but I was the one that choose to ignore this possibility..." "Well, then what do we do now? With two Sonics on the loose, our chances of winning have reduced significantly!" Ivo pointed out with anger and concern. "We'll solve the matter with the Paradox Prism fragments later," Eggman stated. "For now, we'll stick to the remaining part of our original plan: Robotnik, I think it's time that you pay a little visit to royalty!" He said with a sinister grin, before pressing a button and showing another machine: The Egg Dragoon. Robotnik saw the robot and grinned sinisterly as well. "It seems like this 'Queen Haven' gal is in for quite a ride!" In the Crystal Brighthouse, Young Sonic decided to tell his story again to the Mane 6, while he finished eating up his Chilidogs. Team Dark went out again, this time to watch over Maretime Bay and watch over for any other sudden move by Eggman. Tails, on the other hand, was still trying to theorize how Eggman brought not only the other two Eggmans he allied with, but also Young Sonic as well, with Knuckles and Amy making him some company. "...And then Tails detected some weird energy on Seattle," Young Sonic said, as he passed a finger over his plate, before licking a bit of chili on it. "We went there, found nothing, then a white portal opened, it dragged me... and here I am!" The Mane 6 were also touched by his story now, not expecting it to be so touching and tragic, specially when they heard that he lived 10 years completely alone. Izzy and Misty were the ones that connected the most with him, since Izzy also spent many years of her life completely alone before meeting Sonic, and even if Misty had Opaline and Eggman, she still felt alone while living with them. Hitch loved all animals, and the fact that this Sonic not only was a kid, but also more adorable in every single way, knowing his story broke his heart. Pipp was very heart broken as well, since this variant of her boyfriend suffered a lot on his life, but he still smiled and kept going like if nothing bad ever happened. As for Sunny and Zipp? They also felt bad for the young hedgehog. They all saw each other before looking back at Young Sonic. "So... how you doing? Now that you're far from home, I mean," Zipp decided to ask. "Well... I do admit that I felt scared and sad since I wasn't home at first," Young Sonic confessed, putting the plate back on the table since he was licking it. "I thought I'll never see my friends again... or even worse: That I'll had to go back to those days were I was alone, eating whatever I found on the garbage, or stealing food from the market whenever I could... Then I remembered everything Maddie taught me to keep my cool under certain situations, and now I feel a lot better!" Pipp, Misty and Izzy covered their mouths after he mentioned how he used to get food, while Zipp and Sunny cringed and Hitch and Pipp were very close to broke in tears. "...How's that you're still... so happy?!" Sunny asked directly. "What's the point of crying nonstop about your darkest moments?" Young Sonic asked confused. "We all have them, true, and sometimes they're really bad and all of that, but that's no excuse to always be sad. I think you can either embrace the darkest moments in your life, or learn to live with them and keep going. I had terrible experiences alone, I know, but... if I never had them, I would never met everyone I did. I rather thank the worse moments of my life for turning me into the hedgehog I am today, than hate them for the bad experience I had." "...Okay, he actually has a really good point," Pipp pointed out. "But still... it's really worrying that you went through all of that, Sonic..." "Eh, trauma is just a part of life, I guess," Young Sonic replied. "But enough about me!" He said, before moving from his couch and now be over the one were Sunny, Izzy and Pipp were sitting on. "I think you guys should tell me a bit about you! What kind of crazy stuff do you live in this world full of magic?" He asked in excitement, his tail wagging a bit. "Oh, well... ever heard about a critter rampage?" Hitch asked. "Nope! What's that?" Young Sonic asked. "Also, you sound incredibly familiar to me for some reason..." He confessed, staring at Hitch with his head tilted. "Anyways! What is a critter rampage?" As Hitch and the girls started to tell some of their adventures to Young Sonic, Tails seemed to struggle on theorizing how Young Sonic and the Eggmans ended up here. "I'm loosing it..." Tails confessed. "I can't figure out how Eggman dragged two Eggmans and probably two Sonics from other universes, while I cannot even make our fragments work!" He complained, smashing his head on the dinner table. "Aw, come on, Tails. Don't give up so easily," Amy told him, placing a hand over his shoulder. "Just because Eggman found a way to make the Paradox Prism work doesn't mean he has won yet," Knuckles pointed out. "As long as we still frustrate his plans and we make sure he doesn't wins, we're going for quite a very good way." "Still, it's frustrating! I'm supposed to be as intelligent as him, but I still cannot find a way to even bring back our Sonic!" Tails said with concern. "What if I can't bring him back at all?! WHAT THEN?!" "Tails, control yourself for a second, please," Amy said with worry. "Look, Eggman has two allies that so happen to be just variants of himself, and what? We dealt with something similar before––" "Actually, Sonic did," Knuckles pointed out with a bored expression. "We were too busy being useless because SEGA does not appreciate our help." Amy glared daggers at him, and Tails deadpanned as well. "Whoa, thanks for helping, Knucklehead..." "Look, what I'm trying to say is: Eggman is something we are used to deal with. Three Eggmans sound like a lot of trouble, but as far as we know, one of them seems more incompetent than ours! And we don't know how bad the other one really is, either," Amy explained with a smile. "Eggman is brilliant, true, but you are a genius as well, Tails! We know you'll find a way to fix things up, and bring Sonic back as well!" "Besides, if there's another Sonic out there, then he could share his experience, too," Knuckles assured with a smile as well. "So cheer up, little guy! We know you'll solve this out." Tails smiled back at them, and nodded with a determinate look. "You guys are right... I can!" Back with the rest, they kept telling some of their stories to Young Sonic, when suddenly Pipp's phone started to ring. She took it out and saw that her mother was calling, so she immediately answered the call, also moving aside. "Hi, mom!" Pipp greeted with joy... Too bad said joy wouldn't last forever. "Pipp! Thank goodness that you answered!" Haven replied from the other side with a heavy and shaky voice, also breathing heavily. "Mom? Are you okay? You sound... nervous," Pipp pointed out with concern. In Zephyr Heights, the throne room was a massive chaos, while many pegasi guards were trying to fight against the Egg Dragoon, being controlled by Robotnik, who had a huge grin as he used such a huge machine to sent flying away the guards with just a single punch. If this story was rated M for Mature, I assure you that this would've been a terrifying slaughter. Robotnik arrived to Zephyr Heights and immediately entered to the Throne Room by creating a massive hole in the wall with the robot. So, Haven hid behind a column and called Pipp immediately for help. "That's because I am!" Haven whispered to the phone in panic. "That 'Eggman' guy is here, in the Throne Room!" "WHAT?!" Pipp shouted in panic. "Come on, little horsy!" Robotnik called out with a sinister laugh. "I'm not gonna kill you, I'm just gonna hurt you really, really bad!" "Mom!" Zipp's voice shouted in panic. "Are you okay?! Are you hurt?! WHERE ARE YOU?!" "Zipp, Pipp, listen carefully..." Haven said with a more calmed voice. "This guy claims that he's looking for me, to keep me hostage," Haven whispered to her phone. "HE WHAT?!" Everyone shouted, since Pipp put the speakers on so everyone could hear the call. "B-But Eggman never crosses those limits unless he's desperate!" Tails pointed out, but then he gasped when an idea crossed his mind. "Haven, is this the same Eggman we deal with on a daily basis?" "Uh... kinda..." Haven whispered uncertainly. "I mean, he's still bald and has the long mustache, but... he's also skinny, his clothes are different and he's only wearing googles, but there's no glasses." "Oh no..." Young Sonic muttered in panic. "That sounds like the Eggman from my universe! Robotnik is the one who's trying to kidnap her! I though he died months ago... but he didn't..." "Mom, can you tell us where are you hiding?" Pipp asked in concern. "Behind a column in the Throne Room," Haven replied. "Why?" "Can you sneak to your room?" Zipp asked with worry. "I don't care if I have to burn this castle down, 'your majesty', but I will find you, and you'll come with me!" Robotnik's voice spoke in anger. "I'll try to sneak to my room," Haven whispered. "How long would it take for you to come here?" "Only 5 to 10 minutes if we leave right now!" Sunny replied, as she, Misty and Hitch immediately left, although Hitch stopped in the front door. "Stay strong, Mom," Pipp said. "We'll be there soon!" She added, before hanging up the phone and run towards the exit along with Zipp, but she stopped for a moment to kiss Tails' cheek before heading out, and Izzy kissed Knuckles' lips before leaving along her friends as well. Once they were out, Hitch stood in the entrance and looked at Team Sonic, or what remained of it, and to Young Sonic as well. "Mind if we take care of this one for ourselves?" "Um... sure," Amy said, although feeling concerned. "Just stay in contact and call if anything goes wrong!" "Count with that!" Hitch replied with a smirk, before heading off entirely. "Are they going to fight with Eggman?!" Young Sonic asked suddenly, before trying to go after them, but being stopped by Knuckles, who grabbed him by his hips and raised him in the air like a cat. "Hey! What comes?!" Young Sonic asked, trying to get free from Knuckles' grip. "Look, we appreciate your enthusiasm, but I think they can handle it alone," Knuckles replied. "But it's Robotnik we're talking about! You have no idea how––" Young Sonic tried to point out, before being shushed by Amy as she placed a finger on his lips. "First of all, and unlike you, we deal with Eggman on a daily basis to a point we're starting to get tired of it," Amy pointed out with a little frown, removing her finger from Young Sonic's lips and placing her hands on her hips. "Second, if this is some kind of trap so the Eggmans can capture you, then we should not risk your life," Tails added with a bored expression. "And third: We saw how good you dealt with that other Eggman, but you're a kid, and since this story won't kill anyone, we're not risking parents complaining about a kid fighting off deadly robots!" Knuckles finished, now putting him down. "Oh, come on! You guys cannot do this to me!" Young Sonic complained. "I already learned the lesson to be careful and to look after others! What else do I have to learn?!" "If you leave, I won't give you any more Chilidogs until we can sent you home," Amy added with a frown, now crossing her arms as well. Young Sonic tried to reply something, anything that could help him to defend himself... but he came up with nothing and crossed his arms in annoyance, puffing his cheeks madly. For some reason, he loved Amy's Chilidogs more than any other kind he ever ate before, and he didn't wanted to miss them, so he decided to stay, all for the love of Chilidogs. "...Fine..." Young Sonic said, sighing in defeat and accessing to stay. "But I'll complain whenever I can!" "Don't do it, and I'll start up a racing game upstairs," Tails said with a smirk. "You had me at racing!" Young Sonic replied, now smiling widely. Universe 101010 Sonic was now looking around Twilight's library. He whistled amazed at the amount of books she had on this library. Is not like he would read 85% of them, but still, he was very impressed. "Does she really has time to read all this stuff?" Sonic asked to Spike at his side. "Oh, you have no idea..." Spike replied with a smirk. "If she isn't saving Equestria from the current villain, she's here, buried among a lot books she loves like if they were her own children." "I knew she liked to read, but... this seems to be a little too much, don't you think?" Sonic asked, a bit concerned. "Yeah, it is... But don't even try to convince her on stopping," Starlight said with a smile, as she arrived with them. "Is like telling Rainbow Dash to stop flying for just 5 minutes." "This 'Rainbow Dash' gal sounds like a fast contender just by her name!" Sonic said with a little smile. "You have no idea!" Twilight said, smiling as she arrived with a purple book that she levitated with her magic. "Starlight, did you called my friends as I asked you to do so?" "Yup!" Starlight replied with a proud smile. "They said they'll wait for you when you're done here!" "Great! Thanks, Starlight," Twilight thanked her with a smile, before looking back at Sonic. "So, Sonic, what kind of universes have you visited?" She asked, as she started to check on the book, while she levitated a paper and a feather to Spike. He looked confused at the paper and the feather, but after Twilight glared at him, he sighed in defeat and prepared to take notes on everything Sonic was about to tell, since that's what Twilight wants Spike to do so. Also, it's right now when he realizes that he was in another universe where his body was completely flat, but at least he looked nice with this style. In fact, he believed he looked better than in Tell Your Tale. "Oh, I've seen everything," Sonic confessed with a smirk. "Several worlds that look like mine, true, but the really great ones are those that are completely unknown for me!" And so, Sonic explained every universe he has visited so far. He also talked about places like the 'Smash World', where he always attended the Smash Bros tournaments; he talked about the Mushroom kingdom and all the crazy stuff that happens there, specially about the princess that can perfectly sent her kidnapper flying with just a wave of her hand, yet decides to get kidnapped anyways just to wait for Mario and friend-zone him after all the crap he went through... He talked about his own home, Mobius, and about all the wonderful things it has, as well as he talked about all the wacky adventures he had there and about all the amazing friends he made there as well. He also kind of lied as he retold some adventures he had on the Equestria he comes from, but as if they happened on Mobius. All in order to keep his friends' existence a secret. Well, he did mentioned he has a girlfriend, but he never said her name. Again, all in order to protect her. And, of course, he told them his entire adventure across the multiverse, not skipping details this time since he only told them a short and lazy version of the events last time. "...And after we hugged and said our goodbyes, I ran away and managed to make these things work again, although I do admit it took me a while, because they didn't wanted to work at first," Sonic finished narrating. Spike had to bring over at least 5 or 6 extra papers, because everything Sonic told didn't fit in the first one, and his hand hurt a lot after writing down all of that. "Wow... sounds like you had quite a ride!" Starlight said with a little smile. "Oh, you have no idea..." Sonic said with a bored expression. "I still enjoyed it so far, but I seriously would like to go home. However, it could be amazing as well if you could help me to sent a little message to my friends. Pretty please?" He told directly to Twilight. "Yeah, sure, I can do it... However, I have two little problems: The first one, this is a really complicated spell, and I need a little something from you that I'll ask for later," Twilight explained with a sheepish smile. "What kind of thing? And why does it has to be later?" Sonic questioned, frowning a bit and crossing his arms. "That's where the second thing comes in: I requested my friends' help for some little experiments, and I wanna know if you wouldn't mind to help?" Twilight asked, again, smiling sheepishly. Sonic raised an eyebrow and started to stomp his foot on the floor. "Say... are you saying this so I can still get some help from you, or it is also for a greater good?" Twilight gulped nervously and looked around before stopping his gaze over him. "Um... both?" Sonic glared daggers at her for quite a while, before chuckling slightly and smiling regularly. "Oh, you definitely should had seen the look in your face!" Spike and Starlight chuckled lowly as well, while Twilight seemed pretty confused at Sonic's sudden change of attitude. "I'm always up to help anyone!" Sonic decided to add so Twilight could understand that he accepted the deal. "So, who are we helping first?" "Well, you mentioned that you are the fastest thing alive... multiple times. Maybe we should start with a little request from Rainbow Dash?" Starlight suggested with a smile. That seemed to be enough to make Twilight snap back to reality, as she shook her head and blushed embarrassed. "Y-Yeah! Sounds fine!" "I'm a bit lost over here..." Sonic confessed. "What kind of request that Rainbow Dash girl you keep mentioning has that requires my speed?" Near what seemed to be a very well installed obstacle course, Rainbow Dash was laying over a tree with her front hooves crossed and a big smirk. Sonic, Starlight, Twilight and Spike, however, seemed to be completely amazed at the obstacle course, with their jaws wide open, although Sonic immediately closed it and smiled in excitement. "So, you're this 'Sonic' guy I heard about, huh?" Rainbow Dash said with a mocking smirk. "And you're the 'Rainbow Dash' gal I heard about nonstop," Sonic replied with the same tone and smirk. "Ooh! Someone's getting cocky. I like that!" Rainbow Dash replied with a confident smirk. "So, think you can clear this up, partner?" "Depends on what you need me to do," Sonic replied, still feeling very confident. "Well, then. Watch and get amazed, buddy!" Rainbow Dash replied confidently, before opening her wings and boost away. Throughout the obstacle course, there were about 12 red pennants. Rainbow Dash flew at full speed around the race while collecting 6 of the flags, Rainbow performing various flips and tricks both on the ground and in the air, while also showing off her aerial tricks a bit to make an impression on her 'opponent'. That is, Sonic. After Rainbow Dash was done collecting the 6 red pennants, she returned to the start line with a huge grin and putted the 6 pennants on the floor. "And that's exactly what you gotta do!" Rainbow Dash stated with a grin, before placing down the pennants. Starlight rolled her eyes at Rainbow's attitude, Spike facepalmed and Twilight deadpanned. Sonic, however, slowly clapped his hands on a mocking way, even smirking a little as he looked at her with a relaxed expression. "Not bad... for a rookie," Sonic said confidently. Twilight, Starlight and Spike's jaws dropped after he say that, and Rainbow's face got all red in anger. "Excuse me?! Who are you calling a rookie?!" Rainbow asked in rage. "I did that in 10 seconds flawlessly! You wished you could do that!" "How about 2 seconds?" Sonic asked, with his arms crossed and raising an eyebrow. "Just 2 seconds? Now that sounds really hard, but if you insist..." Rainbow teased with a very confident smirk. "Can't say you didn't asked for it!" Sonic replied with a smirk. Before anyone could say anything, Sonic boosted away, and exactly two seconds later, he returned with the 6 remaining pennants, putting them on the floor as well. "There. 2 seconds like I said. Anything else?" Sonic asked with his smirk growing bigger. Rainbow Dash and everyone else stared at him in pure shock and awe after he cleared the exact same obstacle course in such a short amount of time. Rainbow herself tried to say something, anything, but the words simply never came out of her mouth. "I'm gonna take that as a yes, then~" Sonic said with a smirk, before slowly walking away with his hand over his neck while he whistled a little melody to himself. "...Okay... he's definitely the fastest thing alive..." Twilight finally spoke after not saying a single thing this whole time, while Rainbow Dash finally fainted on the ground in shock. Later on, they all moved towards Fluttershy's cottage. There, Sonic saw her cottage and had a strange wave of nostalgia. This wasn't the first time he saw the cottage, since he was there once when Discord stoled the Pegasus Crystal. Now, seeing it like how it used to look so many years ago made him smile, and he even felt bad that it wouldn't look this pretty anymore. Once he stopped admiring her cottage, he moved along the rest towards Fluttershy's animal sanctuary, where she was feeding some of her animals, when she noticed the arrival of her friends and... well, she also noticed Sonic. "Oh my!" Fluttershy exclaimed, as she put down her nest with some food and flew over to her friends, but she actually approached Sonic first. "I've never seen a hedgehog like you before!" Sonic's eyes went wide after he heard her saying that. "Y-You know I'm a hedgehog?!" "The quills are pretty obvious, aren't they?" Fluttershy replied with a warm smile. "...You have no idea how happy it makes me that someone recognizes me as a hedgehog without having to explain myself..." Sonic confessed with a smile. "Now, Twilight here says you need help with something. What can I do for you?" "Oh, right! Follow me!" Fluttershy said, as she moved a way, while Sonic and the rest followed up. They entered to a specific area of the sanctuary full of hedgehogs, or regular ones at least, and Sonic raised an eyebrow curiously. "You see, these poor creatures haven't eaten in days, and I've already tried to resonate with them in all the possible ways! But they still don't wanna eat," Fluttershy explained with concern. "Let me guess: You wan't this hedgehog to see why these hedgehogs aren't eating, right?" Sonic asked her with a smile. Fluttershy blushed embarrassed and nodded her head, while Sonic chuckled and adjusted his gloves. "Leave it to me!" He stated, before walking over to approach the little hedgehogs. They all seemed to be comfy over some little holes made by them. Some of them were running on wheels, other seemed to be playing among themselves, and he even saw a few hedgehogs being lovely within each other. However, their plates were full of food, and he saw how they saw the plates, but then kept moving. Sonic scratched his head, then crossed his arms and tapped his foot on the floor. He analyzed the situation with these hedgehogs for quite a while, before finally coming to a conclusion and smiling. What he did was remove one of his quills and used it to make a draw some kind of race track on the ground, around the hedgehogs habitat. After doing that, he drew a line over the race track and removed another of his quills. Then, he grabbed a leaf and tied it to his quills, before placing this over the line on the race track, like if it was some kind of 'start line'. The hedgehogs looked at him with their heads tilted once he was done with this racetrack, and he smiled at them before making a move with his head, indicating them to go and have so fun around it. The hedgehogs looked at each other, before smiling, and then, some of these hedgehogs, at least 6 or 7, started to run around the racetracks as fast as they could, curled into balls so they could move faster. Sonic smirked and chuckled at the sight of the hedgehogs running around and having fun, although the rest seemed confused, even Fluttershy. "Uh.. what are they––" She tried to ask, but Sonic raised a hand, and she stopped talking. After 10 minutes, when all the hedgehogs had their fun with the race track, they all moved towards the plates with food and started to eat normally. "There it is!" Sonic cheered with a smile, while Fluttershy's jaw dropped, as well as Twilight, Starlight and Spike's jaws. "...H-How?!" Fluttershy asked in disbelief. "We hedgehogs have lots of energy," Sonic explained. "If we don't eat, is because we're still full of energy on our bodies. I knew these little guys just needed to have fun and make sure to use that energy before having a snack." "But they're always moving around the forest freely!" Fluttershy pointed out. "How's this little and adorable racetrack the thing that made them snap?!" "Sometimes, you just gotta live life to the max!" Sonic said with a smirk. "For this little fellas, just the ability to move as free as the wind and have fun on a racetrack is a massive bless. I always feel like that, at least, so I thought they might like to feel the same!" Twilight looked at Sonic, who was still smiling at the sight of the hedgehogs having fun, and she smiled a bit as well, finding amazing the fact that Sonic helped these hedgehogs out of his heart. The next stop was with Applejack. Here, she needed help with her apple harvest, and she even explained that she made a bet with Big Mac of having this harvest done by dinner. "So, you want me to help harvest all your apples in order for your brother to loose a bet and use a dress for an entire week... right?" Sonic asked Applejack with a bored expression. "Ya get it, sugar hog," Applejack replied with a smirk. Sonic's bored expression slowly turned into a mischievous grin, as he rubbed his hands with excitement. "Then you better warn him and tell him to get his best dress ready!" Sonic warned with a laugh, before boosting away. Despite wanting to help Applejack to finish this chore as fast as he could so Big Mac could use a dress for an entire week, he also was careful and made sure that the apples did fell into the nests, before moving towards the next one. He repeated this process for ten long minutes, and just like that, he harvest all the apples, returning now with the rest as he smiled with pride. Applejack had her jaw completely dropped after seeing how fast Sonic could move, as well as how he took care of not messing up anything despite moving so freaking fast. The others, now used to him being so fast, still seemed impressed anyways. "Y-Ya not only took good care of ma' harvest... Y-Ya also made sure to do it right..." Applejack said amazed, before turning to Sonic and smile at him. "Man, if ya weren't leavin' home, I'll will use your help around!" She confessed, extending her hoof to Sonic. Sonic smiled back and stretched her hoof. "No need to thank me, AJ. I just like to help!" Now they moved with Rarity on her boutique in Canterlot. Sonic felt amazed by seeing this city on all of his old glory, with elegant ponies moving around and with the city being alive in general. He also noticed them staring at him confused and some even scared or disgusted, but he didn't cared. However, Sonic could definitely say that he wasn't very happy with what he needed to do this time: He was just standing still as a mannequin while Rarity worked on some clothes for stallions. Was he upset? Yes. Did he hated this? Absolutely. Would he have rejected helping out? No. He was still willing to stand there and be a mannequin just to help Rarity out. He could feel he wasn't absolutely required for this, but he wanted to help out anyways. As long as he could be useful around, he didn't minded. "How can you be so still?" Spike decided to ask, while Rarity went to look for some sewing thread. "I can barely stand whenever I'm the mannequin!" "I can't, but I also think 'the still I stand, the sooner this will be over', so I just try to relax here," Sonic explained, although he did had a very bored expression because of this task. "Besides, Rarity needs help with this, and since certain dragon decided to quit for reasons I honestly don't care about, I'm gonna just stay here." "Aww! That's so sweet of you, darling!" Rarity said with a smile, as she returned with the sewing thread and used her magic to neat the clothes over Sonic. "I promise, I'll find the way to repay you for your services here." "No need to do that, Rarity," Sonic assured with a genuine smile. "I just like to help." Twilight felt a bit confused on why Sonic kept repeating that, so she also approached while Rarity kept working. "Sonic, what are you looking for with this?" "What do you mean?" Sonic asked back. "With helping us this much! We are just strangers to you, or kind of at least, and yet, you're so invested to help without asking for anything back. Why?" Twilight questioned confused. "Do I need a reason? I just help because it feels nice. Seeing all the people - or ponies - I help out so happy afterwards fills me with joy," Sonic replied. "I do this because my heart says is the right thing, that's all. Sometimes I may not be a big fan... like right now... but I'm still willing to help! Is what I live for, after all." Twilight felt surprised after hearing such an answer, but she smiled back at him anyways. Finally they went back to Ponyville and entered Sugar Cube Corner. Sonic felt in haven once he started to smell the air and felt the delicious smell of a cake. It was clear to him now that this was a bakery, and that whatever he had to do here, would be related to cooking or something. "Hi!" Pinkie Pie spoke suddenly, appearing from the ceiling and startling Twilight, Starlight and Spike, who could never get used to her doing that. Sonic, however, didn't even flinched and smiled back at her. "Hello!" "Ooh! Are you new in town? What's your name? What's your favorite color? What are you doing here? Do you like parties?" Pinkie Pie asked quickly with a huge smile. "Pinkie..." Twilight scolded with a bored expression, but... "Yes; name's Sonic the Hedgehog; blue, obviously; I'm stuck in this dimension for who knows how long; and I don't like parties, I love them!" Sonic replied with the same big smile. Twilight, once again, felt surprised that Sonic could even understand all the questions Pinkie made, and started to wonder what else could he do. "You must be the energetic friend of the group, aren't ya?" Sonic asked, before chuckling a bit. "Twilight said that all her friends need a hand with something, so I'm here to give you two!" "Actually, I do!" Pinkie said cheerfully. "How good of a party organizer are you?" "Just tell me what to do, where to go, and It'll be done in a flash!" Sonic replied with a huge grin. "Then follow me!" Pinkie said, now landing on earth and jumping towards the kitchen. "Because you are in for quite a ride!" Sonic chuckled and followed up, while Twilight, Starlight and Spike looked at each other with smiles before following them as well. Universe 220822 The Mane 6 arrived to Zephyr Heights after 10 minutes, just like Sunny predicted. They entered into the Castle, but none of them were prepared for what they were about to witness: Robotnik was piloting the Egg Dragoon, and in one giant crystal capsule, he just recently captured Queen Haven, since he saw her trying to sneak away from the Throne Room and escape from him. "Mom!" both Zipp and Pipp cried in worry. "I'm sorry, my girls! He... he saw me..." Haven apologized in shame. "Well, well, well..." Robotnik said with a huge grin, while he placed the capsule with Haven inside on the back of the machine, then looking back at the ponies. "Seems like we have pitiful pests running around." "Let her go, you Baldy McNosehair!" Zipp yelled in anger. "No, no, no, Zephyrina. You are in no right to demand me anything at all," Robotnik replied with a smirk. "In fact, you arrived late! I have what I came looking for, and I could leave right now... but first, I gotta make sure none of you, bunch of little talking ponies, get in my way!" He stated, before making the drill arm of the Egg Dragoon move fast. Sunny frowned and activated her Alicorn form, while she and the rest of her friends prepared to fight back with Robotnik. "You'll be surprised that these 'little ponies' are actually an average high!" Robotnik laughed maniacally, and the moved the other arm in a sign that said 'get over here'. "Well, then: Show me what you got!" He stated confidently, before flying backwards across the corridor. The Mane 6 all ran towards the Egg Dragoon, all ready to fight and rescue Queen Haven. Sunny, who was the one right in front, dodged several drills launched by the machine, and she then launched a laser back, that Robotnik blocked without sweating. Then, he started to launch a bunch of missiles at her, but then, both Zipp and Pipp stepped in and became the new objectives of the missiles. Once they were away, they made a quick loop in the air and crossed their paths, which caused the missiles following them to crash against each other and explode in mid air. Then, Izzy and Misty levitated themselves with their magic and curled into balls, charging up some kind of copy to Team Sonic's Spin Dash and then launching themselves towards the Egg Dragoon, hitting the exact spot where Robotnik was protected on his capsule. Robotnik growled, and then, he started to launch some kind of energy ball from the bottom of the Egg Dragoon towards the Mane 6. To make sure they didn't did anything, Hitch told Sparky to climb to his head and use his fire. The Baby dragon did so, and he started to launch several fire balls towards the energy balls, turning them into all kind of stuff, like food or toys. After that, Zipp was the one that curled into some kind of ball in the air, and then launched herself towards Robotnik's capsule, hitting the Egg Dragoon and damaging it. Once this was done, Robotnik moved backwards and started to launch more energy balls to the ground, and of course, Sparky kept transforming them with his dragon fire. However, Robotnik pressed a button on the machine that split it up, with the arms now surrounding Hitch while the rest of the body shoot more energy balls to him and Sparky. "Hitch!" The girls screamed in panic, specially Sunny. However, Hitch smirked and used his Earth Pony magic to make a plant grow below him and impulse him upwards, while Sparky kept transforming the energy balls with his fire to keep them safe. Once at the top, Hitch stopped using his magic, and smirked at Robotnik, before using his hind legs to kick the capsule he was hiding on really hard. This caused the Egg Dragoon to return to its original form, as Robotnik growled in anger and started to fly backwards again. Hitch, on the other hand, got down the plant he made grow, and was embraced on a hug by Sunny. "A-Are you okay?! He didn't hurt you, did he?!" Sunny asked in panic. "No, no. I'm fine, Sunny," Hitch assured with a smile. Sunny blushed a bit, but she also sighed in relief and smiled back at him. While these two were having their moment, Zipp, Pipp, Izzy and Misty decided to move forward. Robotnik kept launching those energy balls, but now, the four mares were dodging all the balls like if they were nothing, specially Zipp and Pipp. Then, Robotnik separated the machine again, but this time, he surrounded Pipp, who got startled after she realized she was trapped. "Pipp!" Zipp shouted in panic, now quickly flying towards her. However, Pipp also smirked, opened her wings and flew upwards, dodging the energy balls Robotnik launched at her before, and then she kicked Robotnik's capsule as well, sending the Egg Dragoon back to it's original form, as it started to fly backwards again. Once Pipp was safe, Zipp hugged her in mid air with a smile, and Pipp hugged back. However, they soon focused back and began to chase the Egg Dragoon once again. Soon, Hitch and Sunny caught up, and now the Mane 6 were all together again, chasing down the Egg Dragoon, that started to show signs of collapse destroyed at any second now. However, Robotnik wasn't going to give up so easily, so he started to shoot several drillers towards the Mane 6, but they all dodged the drillers easily. Then, Sunny charged up a laser with her horn and launched it towards the Egg Dragoon, traversing it's chest and the capsule where Haven was trapped as well. She wasn't hurt, thankfully, but she was definitely shocked when she saw the laser traversing her prison. "NO!" Robotnik shouted in anger, as the Egg Dragoon fell piece by piece to the floor, disassembling the machine and even letting go the capsule where Haven was trapped, as she rolled a bit in the floor, still in the capsule, while the Egg Dragoon entered the already damaged Throne Room and stopped moving. The Mane 6 stopped besides Queen Haven's capsule, with Hitch and Misty opening it entirely, while Haven came out totally dizzy, but thanks to her daughters, she managed to keep her balance for the time she felt dizzy. However, once Haven shook her head, she looked at her daughters with a smile and embraced them in a hug. "Oh, my dears... thank you for saving me..." She said, before looking at the rest of the Mane 6 as well. "And thank you too. I don't want to know what could happened to me if you never arrived." "We're just glad to see you are fine, your majesty," Sunny replied with a smile, also making a little reverence. "That guy didn't hurt you, did he?" Zipp asked in concern. "Oh, no. He didn't touched me, dear. Do not worry," Haven assured with a smile. "I'm so glad that you arrived in time, my dears! And I'm proud of you, too. I can't believe you can fight that well!" "Well, I can!" Robotnik's voice shouted. Soon enough, from what remained of the Egg Dragoon, a big arm came out, before pulling the entire body and reveal a new model of the Big Arms, now with more spikes than usual all around the machine's body. Robotnik moved the Big Arms right in front of the group and frowned, while his right eye started to twitch desperate. Sunny positioned right in front of the group, lighting up her horn, also opening her golden wings, while the rest positioned as well to fight against Robotnik and the Big Arms. "This kidnap mission has suddenly transformed into a pony eradication!" Robotnik stated as he laughed maniacally. "I have enough living with the constant reminder that a blue hedgehog with less IQ than half of Earth's brilliants minds defeated me twice. I refuse to live with the same reminder... WITH STUPID PONIES LIKE YOU!!!" "This guy really needs to go see a doctor..." Zipp muttered, although she was still frowning at him. "I do recognize: You ponies are more than meets the eye," Robotnik confessed, before raising the left arm of the Big Arms. Sunny made her horn light up even more, but just when she was about to do something, an electrical blue lasso got around the arm and pulled back. Robotnik felt startled after that happened, and the machine was sent backwards. Then, a blue ball charged a Homing Attack and launched itself against the main capsule. The ball uncurled and landed in the ground, revealing itself to be another Sonic, the one that comes from the same world than Ivo. This Sonic was a lot taller, he had blue arms, different shoes, a brown scarf, and both his shoes and gloves were all covered in sport bandages. "I couldn't agree more... because I don't want to," Sonic said with a smirk. Robotnik growled in anger, while the Mane 6 and Haven gasped in awe at the sudden arrival of this new Sonic... Five minutes ago... Sonic was running across the field, now heading towards the beach town he saw before. However, he saw at the corner of his eyes that the castle on the mountain suddenly exploded, and parts of one of the walls fell to the floor. Sonic stopped suddenly and turned his head to see the explosion. However, he also gasped when he saw a massive red machine with wings and a driller arm entering that place. "Eggman?!" Sonic asked confused. He decided to boost towards that city. He ran all across, and not only noticed that it was a place full of colorful pegasi, for his eternal annoyance, but they were all very worried at something. He saw a giant TV on one building, talking about how their Queen, named Haven, was attacked on her Throne Room by Eggman... but when he saw the image of Eggman, he saw that it wasn't his Eggman. Still, he was dangerous, and he seemed to be after this pegasus queen for some reason. Sonic looked around, and noticed that some pegasi were approaching him and begging him to help. He was hesitant at first, specially since he wasn't used to talking ponies yet. However, he sighed in defeat and nodded his head, before boosting towards the castle, although he managed to hear some 'thank you' and the ponies cheering him up. That seemed to make him smile, and with a confident look, he entered the castle. After running across the long hallways of the palace, he managed to hear some grunts, pretty much from the Eggman of this world, so he boosted into said direction. Yet, he saw himself feeling amazed when he saw 6 ponies fighting against Eggman... and actually winning. Two pegasi, two unicorns, an earth pony, what seemed to be a baby dragon... and a pony with wings and horn made of golden light... an Alicorn. When the Alicorn attacked Eggman's machine and sent it backwards, Sonic stopped and whistled, actually very impressed that these little ponies were able to strike quite a punch against Eggman. He moved on towards the Throne Room, somehow going unnoticed by the ponies... but then, he ducked when he saw that Eggman came out of the remains of his destroyed machine, now on a more smaller one with two giant arms around his Eggmobile. "This kidnap mission has suddenly transformed into a pony eradication!" Robotnik stated as he laughed maniacally. "I have enough living with the constant reminder that a blue hedgehog with less IQ than half of Earth's brilliants minds defeated me twice. I refuse to live with the same reminder... WITH STUPID PONIES LIKE YOU!!! I do recognize: You ponies are more than meets the eye," He confessed, before raising the left arm of the Big Arms. Sonic heard that and frowned, so he used his watch to create an electrical blue lasso and tied it around the arm, before pulling it back. Robotnik felt startled after that happened, and the machine was sent backwards. Then, Sonic charged a Homing Attack and launched against the main capsule. Sonic uncurled and landed in between the Mane 6, Haven and the Big Arms, now looking at Robotnik with a determinate look. "I couldn't agree more... because I don't want to." Robotnik growled in anger, while the Mane 6 and Haven gasped in awe at the sudden arrival of this new Sonic, and Pipp even blushed slightly at his sight. "From what kind of 'Jak and Daxter' rip-off you came from?!" Robotnik asked in rage at the arrival of this new Sonic. "Does it matter?" Sonic asked, crossing his arms. "What I wonder is why you look like that Grinch guy so much." "The Grinch? Hah! You do have a better sense of humor. I recognize that, but it won't stop me from destroying you!" Robotnik warned, before moving one of the arms towards Sonic. However, Sonic smirked and moved away, as the arm landed in the ground by mistake. Then, Sonic charged up another Homing Attack and started to attack the capsule were Robotnik was safe. He hit one time, then another one, then another one, the another one, and then a last time before sending the Big Arms backwards. After that, Sonic created another lasso with his watch and launched it towards the left arm, before ripping it off after pulling strong enough. Once the arm was coming towards him, Sonic smirked, then he started to make a break dance move where he spin his head over the floor at fast paste, and once the arm approached, he stopped break dancing, just to jump in the air and kick the arm back to the machine. It crashed against the other arm and sent Robotnik backwards, while he shouted in anger as he landed backwards. He even started to grab his mustache and groan in frustration. "What's the thing, Egghead? Is that all that you got?" Sonic asked in a mocking tone. Robotnik shouted in anger again, and he pressed the eject button before disassembling the Big Arms, while he got out of it on his Eggmobile. "This isn't over, hedgehog! You'll hear of me again, you hear me?!" Robotnik assured, putting on his googles and flying away as he laughed like a maniac. Sonic snorted after hearing that and shook his head on disbelief with a smirk. "Yeah, whatever you say, Eggman." "Sonic?" Sunny's voice spoke. Sonic felt startled and jumped a bit backwards, but once he saw it was just the ponies he helped out, he let out a long sigh, relieved that it wasn't anything to worry about. Then, Sonic cleared his throat and looked back at Sunny, while crossing his arms. "Yeah?" "Um... thanks for the help," Sunny said at first with a smile. "You are from another universe too, right?" "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. I don't have to––" Sonic tried to reply in an annoyed tone. However, he felt confused once he analyzed her words. "I'm sorry, did you just said 'too'?" "Yeah. You're actually the second Sonic––" Sunny started to explain. "Technically third..." Zipp muttered to herself. "––That arrives here in Equestria," Sunny explained with a little smile. "The other one is with this universe's Tails, Knuckles and Amy back on the Crystal Brighthouse, and––" "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sonic said, as he kneeled in front of Sunny because of how tall he is. "Hold on just a second: Did you just said that Tails, Knuckles and Amy are here too?!" He asked her, placing his hands on her shoulders and shacking her a bit. Sunny felt a bit dizzy after Sonic did that, and Hitch approached just to hit one of Sonic's hands, which made him step backwards and rub his hand a bit. "From this universe, yes they are," Hitch replied with a frown. "Heck... never I thought I would be scolded by a pony..." Sonic said with concern. "So... you guys are up to let me go with you so I can have a talk with them? Pretty please?" "Depends," Pipp replied, as she flew over to him and placed her hoof around her neck. "Are you up to have one of the craziest days in your entire life, handsome?~" "Pipp! He's not your––" Haven tried to scold her daughter, but Zipp stopped her. "Let her do her thing, Mom. I think I know where this is going," Zipp said with a smirk. "...My life as a whole is crazy already, what kind of crazy stuff do you offer me? Uh...." Sonic tried to name here, but of course, he still doesn't knows her name. "Princess Pipp Petals, but you can call me Pipp!" She presented herself with a wink. "As for your question, well~ What kind of fun do you expect to have? We have some of everything: Crazy robot fights, a trio of mad scientists that want to rule the world, a super villain that wants to steal magical crystals; another and much younger version of yourself, and a comfy place you can stay over until we can sent you back home!" "Hmm... sounds good... but I'm not so sure..." Sonic said, rubbing his chin. "We also have Chilidogs," Zipp added suddenly with a smirk. "Fuck it, I'm in!" Sonic replied immediately. "Great! So, should we go?" Sunny asked. "Actually, we still have to solve two things," Izzy pointed out. "One, how are we cleaning all of this mess..." She said, pointing at all the disaster left by Robotnik and the battle between him and the Mane 6. "Oh, don't worry about that," Haven said with a smile. "One text to Alphabittle, a cup of tea, and he'll help along another unicorns in no time!" "What's the other thing, Izzy?" Misty asked her. "Two, how are we calling you?" Izzy asked to Sonic. "What do you–– Oh, right. There's your Sonic, and that other one you guys already are helping..." Sonic realized, once again rubbing his chin as he though on a nickname for himself. "Hmm... how about... I don't know... there was that time people called me 'Boom Sonic' because of a pop song I'm not in good terms with, but if you guys can distinguish me and the other two Sonics calling me like that, then I can tolerate it." "So... Boom Sonic it is, right?" Zipp asked, just to make sure. "Again, just to make sure you can distinguish me. I don't actually like it, but I can tolerate it," Boom Sonic repeated with a bored expression. "Well, if that's all settled, I think is time to move!" Sunny stated with a smile, before heading off. Hitch followed afterwards, as well as Izzy and Misty, and Boom Sonic simply rolled his eyes before slowly following up. Zipp and Pipp, however, stood behind and hugged their mother, while Haven hugged them back. "Take care, my darlings," Haven told them with a smile. "You too, Mom," Zipp said, smiling as well. "If anything else happens, just call us, okay?" Pipp said, also smiling. They all broke the hug, and Haven nodded to Pipp, before they went on their separate ways. Universe 101010 Sonic, Twilight, Starlight and Spike returned to the Castle of Friendship. Sonic's task helping out Pinkie Pie went better than he expected: Organizing the party was Pinkie's thing, but decorating, making the cake and other desserts, as well as had the place clean for the party, all of that was Sonic's doing, and he did it great. Of course, because he was a hedgehog, he had to stay hidden, but he was glad that he could help Pinkie Pie to set the party. Once they all returned to the library in the Castle of Friendship, Sonic sighed with a big smile and looked around in excitement. "Well... that was fun!" Sonic said with a smirk. "Man, I never saw all those ponies happier before! Pinkie Pie definitely knows how to make a party!" Spike said with a smile. "Well, we cannot give all the credit to her this time: Sonic also helped a lot on that!" Starlight pointed out with a smile. "What are you talking about? Pinkie is the one that made the party work out," Sonic said with a confused expression and a raised eyebrow, while laying on a wall. "Actually, Starlight's right," Twilight said with a smile. "The party was ready hours earlier than usual, and everypony enjoyed everything in general! You really helped out, Sonic... and you didn't even asked for anything back, not even a slice of cake," She pointed out, although her tone was full of admiration towards Sonic. "Yeah, Twilight has a point," Spike confessed. "You really have a kind heart." "Well, what else would I've done? Helping is my thing!" Sonic said with a smile as well. "I judged you really bad, Sonic... and I apologize," Twilight said, now seeming a bit ashamed. "What do you mean?" Sonic asked her, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow again. "I thought you were... I thought you just wanted to rule over Equestria or something..." Twilight confessed. "We are so used to villains wanting to get all the power in the world to conquer this land... I wanted to test if you really were up to help so I could help you communicate with your friends back home, or if you were just doing it to pretend you were friendly before backstabbing us... I'm sorry..." Sonic did felt kind of hurt when Twilight confessed that, but his smile remained intact as he walked towards her and kneeled, before placing a hand on her shoulder, which startled her a bit as she looked at him straight in the eyes. "I don't blame you, Twilight," Sonic told her with a smile. "Were I come from, we're also in constant danger, and I think I would be scared too if I met someone as kind as me. But even if you didn't accessed to help me, I would still help your friends out anyways." Twilight's eyes widened a bit, and she even gasped in surprise. "Y-You would?" Sonic nodded, and stood up, before walking over a window. "It's my thing. I'm a free spirit. I live down my own rules, and I answer to nobody. I'm a guy who runs as free as the wind and loves to make the must fun he can of every adventure. I love to help folks around, see them smile and be grateful that they can live another day. But most importantly, I love to do what I know is the right thing to do. It fills me with joy and pleasure. The only thing I ask in exchange is to see people safe and sound. I don't mind if they do not thank me, as long as they're still alive, I don't care." Once he turned around, however, he felt a bit surprised when he found Starlight and Spike hugging each other while they cried a river. Twilight, on the other hand, was blushing with sparkling eyes, and her wings opened suddenly after she heard Sonic's speech about his point of view in life. "...You're such a good guy, Sonic... I-I'm speechless after hearing you saying all of that!" Twilight confessed, closing her wings and now smiling, although still blushing a bit. "M-Man... what an inspiration you are!" Spike cried dramatically, burying his face on Starlight's neck. "Why did you had to say such beautiful stuff?!" Starlight asked, as she also cried dramatically while hugging Spike. Sonic sweated and smiled sheepishly, also scratching his head a bit ashamed. "Well... It's just the way I live. Is my philosophy, and I've been doing this for 22 years now. I just do what I know is the right thing and that's it." "You help others and ask nothing in return... You really are a very interesting hedgehog, Sonic," Twilight confessed with a smile, as her blush disappeared. "Eh, I just do what I want, as long as it's funny and doesn't affects others, that is!" Sonic confessed with a smirk. "Yeah... that sounds really good," Twilight admitted. "Well, I guess it is time to prepare for the spell that will help you to communicate with your friends," She stated, as she levitated the purple book from before. "Thanks, Twilight," Sonic said, smiling honestly at her. "I really appreciate it." Universe 220822 In the Crystal Brighthouse, Young Sonic and Tails were playing Team Sonic Racing against each other in the bedroom. Thankfully, Young Sonic didn't questioned why there was a game with this universe's Sonic's face on it, so long as he could play against Tails and win. So far they were having a blast, being tied up on how many races they won so far, but now, Young Sonic wanted to untie as he was playing the best he could against Tails, but this one wasn't getting behind, either. It was a very fair competition, so far. "Come on, Tails! Are you afraid of loosing against your friend from another universe?" Young Sonic mocked up. "Oh, you wished!" Tails mocked up back. In the screen, Tails is playing with Team Dark, while Young Sonic uses Team Sonic. Soon enough, Tails gets hit by an item that Shadow launched, while Young Sonic, controlling Omega, passes him and wins the race. "Hahaha! Victory is mine!" Young Sonic cheered happily. "Oh, come on!" Tails complained. Suddenly, they both heard the Brighthouse door's opening, and so, they boosted downstairs, just to find that the Mane 6 returned... but they were not alone. "Hey guys!" Izzy greeted with a wave of her hoof, while the remaining members of Team Sonic and Young Sonic approached them. "Hi!" Tails greeted. "So, how did things went with Young Sonic's Eggman?" "Thankfully, everything worked out well," Zipp replied with a smile. "However, we did had an unexpected encounter with... somebody..." "What kind of 'somebody' are you talking about–– HOLY FUCKING SHIT!" Knuckles exclaimed in panic once he saw upwards just to face Boom Sonic, who smiled sheepishly and waved his hand at him. Amy and Tails gasped in shock as well, but Young Sonic's eyes sparkled and his tail started to wag again. "Uh... hi there?" Boom Sonic greeted nervously. "I, um... I'm just trapped here too, I guess, and I'm... Boom Sonic..." He added, saying the last thing with a bored expression. And just as Young Sonic noticed his presence, he felt surprised and came closer, although he was still a few meters away, yet the two Sonics were looking at each other with confused, surprised and - in Young Sonic's case, anyways - excited looks. "Whoa..." Both Sonics said, before pointing at each other. "You're like me! Kinda... But like me all the same!" However, and despite the funny situation the two Sonics were on, Amy had to abruptly cut it off as she looked at Boom Sonic kind of disgusted. "Sonic... what the heck are you wearing?!" Amy asked in utter shock. "Come on, the scarf isn't so bad!" Boom Sonic complained. "The scarf isn't the problem... THIS IS!" Knuckles shouted, as he grabbed his arm and showed him the sport bandages. "What is this thing?!" he questioned. "What are you now, some cheap copy of Jak and Daxter?!" "Why is everyone comparing me to those two?!" Boom Sonic complained. "Also: Blue arms? It looks good on him, but you? Shave them, man," Tails added, also pointing at Young Sonic at his side. "Talk for you, buddy!" Young Sonic said, as he ran right to Boom Sonic's head. "I think this guy looks way past cool! Is like and older and more experimented version of myself!" "More experimented? Pretty much. Older.... actually, I probably am," Boom Sonic confessed, now with an anxious look. "Where did you got this guy?" Amy muttered to Pipp. "He came out of nowhere, actually," Misty replied. "But, just like with Young Sonic, he came out of a portal, so it's safe to say that they are almost on the same situation right now." "Still... this guy has a weird vibe. I feel like he's way too self focused to be Sonic," Tails said as he approached. "To be fair... Sonic is self-centered. He simply does it now and then," Zipp pointed out. "If you guys are done talking about my flaws right in my face, can you explain me what's happening right now?" Boom Sonic asked with a bored expression. "He does have a point," Young Sonic said, before landing on the floor and clean some dust from his body. "Why are we here, and what are our Eggmans doing here as well?!" "Wait, that Eggman was from your universe?" Boom Sonic asked confused, while Young Sonic nodded. "And my Eggman's here too?!" "Look, let us explain, alright?" Tails said, as he prepared to explain the situation. However, the Mane 6's Cutie Marks suddenly started to shine bright, calling everyone's attention. Soon enough, the Cutie Marks let out trials of magic that moved towards the middle of the Brighthouse. "What is happening with your butts?" Young Sonic asked confused. "Our magic... It seems to be combining again," Sunny explained, looking at the trial of Cutie Mark magic. "But why?" Zipp questioned confused. Soon enough, the trial stopped and started to circle around, before combining entirely and starting to show a glitching figure. However, as time passed, the figure started to show a bit clearer... it was Sonic, the one from this universe. "Sonic!" Both Pipp and Tails rushed to where the figure appeared and smiled, but stopped right in front of it. "Hello? Can you guys hear me?" Sonic asked as he saw ahead... but to no one in particular. "Just to be clear... I cannot hear nor see you, so I hope you can hear me." "Wow! Is this us but from this universe? I take back what I said earlier: He does look cool!" Young Sonic said with a smile. "Okay, I do admit he's fine, but you just complained about my clothes: Look at him!" Boom Sonic pointed out, since Sonic was wearing something different from his usual clothes. "That look is a crime to fashion!" "Ssh!" Pipp shushed the two Sonics, returning her attention to Sonic's hologram, while everyone else approached as well. "Listen, I am currently in another universe," Sonic started to explain. "Whatever happened after I crashed against the Paradox Prism sent me to a different place. I... I wake up in a world where Eggman won," He explained, and now everyone in the room gasped in shock after hearing that. "Man, I got shivers down my spin at the idea..." Young Sonic said, now hugging himself. "I think I'm gonna have nightmares for a while..." Amy said with an anxious look. "Thankfully, I ran into some members of a resistance against Eggman, and they helped me out until we defeated him!" Sonic kept explaining. "And yes, I stood there a few more days before leaving. Now, how did I left? Well, a guy named Rotor created these regulators on my shoes and gloves," He added, showing the discs on his clothes. "Thanks to these babies, I have been able to control some weird energy that got over my body after I woke up there, as well as they helped me to travel across the multiverse... out of control, but travel anyways. In fact. these discs are the reason my clothes have changed." "Oh, thank God!" Boom Sonic said with relief. "I thought for a second his taste in fashion was worse than mine..." "I called out so you guys can know I'm fine and safe, but most importantly, that I'm alive," Sonic said as he smiled. "I just hope Eggman isn't causing a lot of trouble while I'm out, and I promise this: I won't rest until I return home. Once I have the hang over these, I'll be back. And I also promise: No more surprises. This time, we are defeating Eggman for good, and hopefully, Opaline would be the last threat we'll have to deal with. I'll see you guys soon, but if I don't make it, which I hope doesn't happens..." He said suddenly, before looking back forwards and smirking. "You better kick Eggman's butt really hard in my honor! Or I'll feel really upset in the afterlife!" He stated, before the image started to glitch again. "See you soon!" He finished with a wave of his hand, before the hologram vanished completely. The room stood completely quiet for a while after Sonic's message was over. However, before anyone could say anything at all, the Crystal Brighthouse doors opened all of a sudden, and Team Dark entered the place. "Status report: No current Eggman attacks predicted," Omega said. "In other words, no Eggman is going to attack for quite a––" Rouge tried to add... However, both her and Shadow's jaws dropped when they saw Boom Sonic, simply standing there without doing anything to anyone. Boom Sonic stared back, but only at Shadow, and felt surprised that he only realized until now how tall he is compared to everyone else in the room... Knuckles included. "You guys also have a Shadow?! AND YOU DIDN'T TOLD ME?!" Boom Sonic shouted in panic. "Oh great... there's two of them now..." Shadow complained as he rolled his eyes in annoyance. Universe 101010 Back in the Castle of Friendship, both Twilight and Starlight panted heavily. The spell they found required some of Sonic's energy to work, which he gladly give them. However, it seems that their magic and the power of the Paradox Prism combined drained more energy from the two unicorns than they expected, which concerned Sonic. "Uh... are you girls sure you'll be okay? I'm still concerned that the spell might have been a bit too much for you..." Sonic said. "Don't worry, Sonic," Spike told him with a relaxed smile. "This isn't the first time they do a spell this powerful, and I can assure you it won't be the last!" "Still, whatever they did to sent the message took a lot of their energies," Sonic pointed out with concern. "I hope it did sent, by the way..." "It... did..." Twilight assured, still panting, but also smiling at him. "Don't... worry... Sonic... Your friends... got the message..." "Also... Spike is right... we'll be fine... we just need to catch our breath..." Starlight assured as well, also smiling at him. "...Alright..." Sonic said, now sighing sadly, but still smiling at them. "I trust you on whatever you did, girls. And thanks, for doing this for me." "No problem, Sonic..." Twilight said with a smile, now breathing normally again. Sonic smiled back, and then looked at the ground a bit concerned. "...I think I should keep going. I know I still have no full control over these things, but... I need to try and learn. My friends could need me... and I have the feeling they actually do." "Well, then... if that's the case, then I wish you good luck, Sonic," Twilight said, extending her hoof to stretch it with Sonic's hand. However, Sonic smiled and directly hugged Twilight, which cause her to blush again. "Thanks for everything, again. And I'm sorry I cannot stay any longer." Twilight shook her head and scratched her neck. "N-No need to say that! You have things to do, so it's understandable that you have to go." "Right," Sonic said, before turning to Starlight and Spike and embrace them on a hug as well. "Thanks to you two as well! It was very nice to meet you, guys." "The pleasure was ours!" Starlight assured with a smile. "Take care, Sonic," Spike said with a little smile. "Roger that!" Sonic said with a wink and his thumbs up. After that, he started to run over his place until his feet created the shape of an eight. Then, the discs on his clothes caused that another X portal appeared, and he smirked a bit. "Seems like I finally have something under my control!" Sonic cheered, before boosting away through the portal at top speed. Once the portal closed, Twilight sighed and placed a hoof over her cheek. "What an interesting guy..." She said with a smile and a slight blush. And so, Sonic's adventure on Universe 101010 was over... Sonic was once again back to the place where he could travel to other realities... but something changed. This time, he wasn't falling as usual: He was still running. This confused him a lot, so he looked down at his feet... and felt amazed when he saw that, under his shoes, there was some kind of crystal path where he was running over. It seemed like he was gaining some control over his new powers thanks to the discs on his clothes. "Rotor, I said it once and I'll say it again: I'll kiss you next time I see you, I don't care if I don't like men!" Sonic said with a chuckle, before boosting around this new place, taking a better look at it now that he had control. Sonic saw thousands of white lines and curves, extending all across the vast and infinite multiverse. He saw one of the lines suddenly bending, until it crashed against one of the curves. Soon enough, several of other lines and curves began to crash within each other, and some of them even merged to form part of the same existential plane. He also saw that some of the lines and curves began to divide, until they separated completely and became independent from each other. "Oh man... the multiverse is pretty big, isn't it?" Sonic said with concern, as he looked around with worry. "I may have control over the power of these discs, but it seems like it's gonna take a while until I reach my home." However, he shook his head and looked on with a determinate look: He never gave up on the previous universes, and he wasn't going to start now. "No. I can go home! I just need to be patient," Sonic stated to himself, before boosting straight to a random universe, in hopes of being either on his Mobius or on his Equestria... Universe 060403 The sky opened to show a portal with the shape of an X, and then, Sonic fell straight from it. However, unlike last times, he was looking on with confidence, and he curled into a ball before landing on the ground. Now he had fingerless white gloves and his Soap Shoes too. Once he was safe, he cleaned the dust from his body and looked around. Once again, he seemed to be on a forest, and it kind of upset him a bit. "Really? Another forest? I cannot escape these places, can I?" Sonic said annoyed. Then, he looked over at himself and... He recognized the animation on his body this time around... it was anime. "And now I'm an anime, too?!" Sonic shouted in shock. "Hey! What comes?!" another voice spoke... a very, very familiar voice. Sonic cringed, and slowly turned around to literally face himself, with the only difference being the clothes, of course. "...This is gonna be one hell of an adventure, huh?" Sonic said with a sheepish and nervous smile. > 6. Skirmish in the Sky > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Universe 060403 Ever heard about 'worlds colliding'? That's the best way to describe this universe's Sonic situation. You see, in this universe's Mobius, Sonic, Tails and Amy tried to rescue their friend Cream and her pet Chao from Eggman, who already retrieved the seven Chaos Emeralds. While attempting to destroy his base, one of Eggman's robots inadvertently shoot a machine containing the Emeralds, which activated the 'Chaos Control' technique. This teleported Sonic, Eggman (and his robots), Tails, Amy, Cream, and Cheese, as well as Knuckles, Rouge, Big, Froggy and the Chaotix to Earth, the parallel-universe version of their world with humans. Sonic was chased by the police until he landed in a mansion's swimming pool. There, he was rescued by a twelve-year-old boy named Christopher 'Chris' Thorndyke, who lives there with his movie-star mother Lindsey, corporate executive father Nelson, scientist grandfather Chuck, maid and chef Ella, and butler Mr. Tanaka. Chris tried to hide his new anthropomorphic friends from his family until Cream accidentally reveals them, but they all build up a good rapport with Chris' family and friends Danny, Frances, and Helen. Doctor Eggman, however, made himself known by bringing his robot Missile Wrist to attack the city of Station Square in his first stop in taking over Earth which led to his first fight with Sonic there. Sonic and his friends still want to return home, so they repeatedly scuffle for the Chaos Emeralds with Doctor Eggman, his robot assistants and his larger, armed robots. Now that you got the picture on this universe's situation, let's move on. In Chris' mansion, Sonic was resting peacefully over a couch, when Chris arrived with him, holding a cellphone. "Hey Sonic! I got you a cellphone!" Chris called out with a smile, as he extended it to Sonic. "This is gonna make things a lot easier!" "Oh, really?" Sonic asked sarcastically with a bored expression, as he grabbed the phone like if he was grabbing a towel or something. "Yeah, don't you see?" Chris asked him. "Now we'll be able to reach each other right away, even when you're out on a run! We can talk anywhere now! No sweat!" Sonic only replied with an annoyed growl. "Now make sure you leave it on!" Chris added with a wink. However, Sonic still felt annoyed at Chris' attitude and suggestion. Soon enough, Tails and Amy entered the mansion and approached Chris and Sonic. "Hey, Chris! It's time to get going!" Tails called out. "Huh?" Sonic said confused as he saw Amy and Tails approaching. "We've been waiting outside for you," Amy said with a frown and her arms crossed. "Oops! I forgot..." Chris confessed with a sheepish smile, as he scratched his neck ashamed. "Where are you guys going?" Sonic asked, since he wasn't informed about any plans today. That, or he didn't pay attention. "Now that we can go out in public, we're heading to Station Square to go shopping!" Amy declared with a smile. "We've spent weeks hunting down Chaos Emeralds, but now it's time to do some bargain hunting, so I'm gonna shop 'til I drop!" She stated confidently, before frowning at Sonic and crossing her arms again. "There's no point waiting for you to take me because I don't even know where you are most of the time." However, her eyes opened wide and she gasped when she saw that Sonic was holding a cellphone. "Oh!" Amy screamed excited, now zooming right in front of Sonic. "We can stay connected all the time!" The simple idea of being bothered by Amy as she constantly calls him made Sonic panic, so he launched the phone to her arms. "No thanks!" He declared in panic, before turning around and boost away. "Huh?" Amy said confused. "Wait, Sonic!" Chris called out confused as well. "What about your cellphone?" Sonic returned and smirked at him. "Leave a message for me!" He declared with a mocking tone, before boosting away once again. "I guess he wants to be left alone," Tails said with a sheepish smile as he also shrugged. "But why can't he be left alone with me?!" Amy cried out, both in sadness and anger. As Sonic boosted away, he suddenly stopped in front of a bunch of trees, so he sighed in relief. Is not that he hates Amy, but he doesn't likes her either. While he does considers her a friend and worries for her, he's overwhelmed on her amount of affection for him. If it was just a kiss or a hug every now and then, he wouldn't care at all since it's just a way to show her gratitude, but all the damn time?! "Man... Amy is a great girl and all, but I'm a free spirit!" Sonic pointed out to the air. "She cannot expect me to stand still and let her do whatever she wants with me!" He told to himself, before sighing again and lay over a tree. "Guess is the downside of being so incredibly attractive, but still... Sometimes I wished someone could understand me..." Boy, do I have news for you! Suddenly, the sky opened to show a portal with the shape of an X, and then, another Sonic fell straight from it. Sonic noticed the big X in the sky and felt alarmed, thinking it could be another trick from Eggman. However, he also noticed a very familiar figure... his figure. "What the heck?!" Sonic exclaimed. He followed up this new Sonic and saw him landing in the floor, while standing up and cleaning some dust from his body. He noticed that he looked exactly like himself, with the only difference being that he had fingerless white gloves and Soap Shoes too, as well as some strange discs over his clothes. This new Sonic looked around and made an annoyed expression. "Really? Another forest? I cannot escape these places, can I?" He said annoyed, before looking at himself and gasp in shock. "And now I'm an anime, too?!" Sonic frowned after hearing this and stepped close to him. "Hey! What comes?!" The other Sonic cringed, and slowly turned around to literally face himself, with the only difference being the clothes, of course. "...This is gonna be one hell of an adventure, huh?" The other Sonic said with a sheepish and nervous smile. Sonic stared at what seemed to be his doppelgänger with both shock, fear and anger. Who is he? And why he looks exactly like him? "Man, if you wanna panic or try to attack me, just do it already," The other Sonic spoke with a bored expression. That seemed to be enough to help Sonic snap back to reality, as he growled in anger and closed his fist, leaning to strike a punch against his doppelgänger. However, the other Sonic dodged the punch like nothing, although he didn't tried to punch back. Sonic felt both surprised and confused, and while he tried to punch him again, he also started to panic a bit. "Who are you?! And why do you look exactly like me?!" He asked, while he still tried to attack his doppelgänger. "I'm you, just not you exactly," The other Sonic replied, still dodging Sonic's attacks easily. "Ever heard about the multiverse?" "The multiverse?!" Sonic asked, before snorting on disbelief. "Isn't that a nonsense theory of alternate universes where more versions of myself, my friends and enemies exist?" He asked, now trying to kick his doppelgänger. However, the other Sonic frowned after hearing that and grabbed Sonic's leg, before moving his body and smash it against a tree, which made Sonic groan in pain. "That 'nonsense theory' is very real, man," The other Sonic said, after Sonic fell to the floor on his knees. "Also, sorry for attacking you like that, but I need you to listen––" He tried to add, but then, Sonic started to chuckle, as he slowly stood up in pain. "T-The multiverse doesn't exists..." Sonic said with a mocking smirk. "Y-You were created by Eggman, r-right? Y-You're just a cheap copy made to get rid of me..." "...You just described Metal Sonic, man," The other Sonic pointed out with a bored expression. "Also, don't you think if I was sent by Eggman, I would have been the first one to attack?" Sonic stopped chuckling, but he growled and launched to try and attack him again. The other Sonic rolled his eyes, grabbed his body, and then, he smashed him against the ground, with his back now lying on the floor as he growled in pain again. "Big shot of an advice, Sonic: do not fight back," The other Sonic warned. "Listen, if I can explain myself, you'll see that I'm no enemy here." "I have no prove that I should trust you!" Sonic pointed out, as he stood up and cracked his back, before standing to fight again. "Is that so?" The other Sonic said, now smirking and raising an eyebrow. "Then how about we settled this the only way a Sonic can?" Sonic felt intrigued after hearing that, and he let down his guard a bit. "What do you mean?" "I mean, that is time to race!" The other Sonic declared. Now, Sonic smirked back and crossed his arms confidently. "Oh! I see where are you going with this! So, what's the price?" "If I win, you'll stop being such an idiot and will listen to what I have to say," The other Sonic declared. "If you win, I'll leave you alone and we'll act like if this encounter never happened." "Sounds good to me!" Sonic declared with a smile, also cracking his knuckles. "How about we race from here to Station Square?" "Sounds good to me," The other Sonic replied, still smirking. "Where is it, though? I mean, I literally just arrived here. Can't expect me to know where it's located." Sonic rolled his eyes annoyed after hearing this. "We go south. Straight line." "Yeah, that'll work!" The other Sonic stated, cracking his fists with a confident smirk. "On your marks..." Sonic said. "Get set..." The other Sonic continued. "GO!" Both Sonics shouted, before boosting away and towards Station Square. At Eggman's destroyed lab, some government workers where clearing up the place. As they were doing the job, the main chief, to call him in some fancy way, was checking over the blueprints of what used to be his laboratory. "The power room was there," The chief instructed to one of the workers, as he nodded and left to a certain direction. However, as the chief looked on, he noticed something off: Some kind of closed platform among the debris of Eggman's lab. "That doesn't appear on the plans..." The chief pointed out confused. He and other worker approached to said area and inspected it, but found absolutely nothing wrong... at least not until the ground started to rumble violently. After that, the ground cracked and opened on a massive hole, while the lab started to fall from said work as the workers ran away and screamed in fear. Then, a gigantic purple ship with a yellow driller came out of the remains of Eggman's laboratory. "T-That thing... Is huge!" The chief said in fear, while everyone else around him felt all afraid of this ship. Soon enough, the wings of the ship extended and prepared to head off. "When will you half-wits realize that it's useless to try and trip me up because I'm always 10 steps ahed of you?!" Eggman declared with a huge grin inside the ship. "I was expecting your president to order an attack, and so I build this flying fortress! Now I can escape any further attacks, and then make a counterattack anytime and anywhere!" "Dr. Eggman certainly is a strategic genius," Decoe, one of Eggman's assistants, said to Bocoe, the other assistant. "I only wish that some of his strategies work occasionally," Bocoe confessed. "That's enough from you two!" Eggman declared with a frown. "Cut the chatter and get the ship ready! We've got work to do." "He certainly is skinned," Decoe said for some reason. "That is the only place where he is thin," Bocoe pointed out. "LET'S GET MOVING!" Eggman shouted in anger now. "Set the ship's course for Station Square!" And so, Decoe and Bocoe turned the ship on and boosted away towards Station Square, while the wind caused by the ship's engines cause the chief and his workers to cover themselves from all the dust. Once the ship and Eggman were gone, the chief looked on with a concerned expression. "He's more dangerous than ever now..." In Station Square, the mayor got a call that warned him about Eggman. "Are you sure? Headed in this direction?!" The mayor asked in panic, as he gulped and started to sweat nervously. "Well. can't you send the Air Force to intercept this?!" "Sir, look!" The mayor's assistant called out, while he looked outside the window in pure fear and panic. The mayor hang up his call and ran to look through the window as well, and gasped in panic when he saw Eggman's ship approaching at top speed. Sonic and his doppelgänger where racing around a field and towards Station Square. There was some kind of silent agreement between them of keep the race be fair and square, with their super speed being the only thing that they could increase or decrease at will. Sonic had to admit it: He was impressed that this doppelgänger of his was as fast as him, and he actually started to doubt that Eggman created him. "You truly are a box full of surprises!" Sonic confessed with a smirk. "What kind of rockets did Eggman gave you that you are as fast as I am, huh?" "Cut the act with the Eggman nonsense, other me," the other Sonic replied with the same mocking smirk and tone. "If I was created by him, I would have wiped the floor with you already, don't you think? Why else would he create a copy of yourself?" Sonic actually felt surprised when he heard that, and suddenly stopped running. The other Sonic noticed as well, and he also stopped. "Okay: Let's suppose you're not crated by Eggman and that you really are from 'another universe'..." Sonic called out. "If you really are from another world, what is my favorite food?" "Chilidogs, specially if they have extra chili," The other Sonic replied. "What's my favorite activity?" Sonic asked now. "Running around to be as free as the wind, with kicking Eggman's butt and save the day for everyone being a close second one," The other Sonic answered with a smile, crossing his arms. Sonic's eyes widened after hearing that, but he wasn't done with his questions yet. "And what is your philosophy?" "I do whatever I want as long as it's the right thing for me. Run around and let the wind guide me to the next adventure, help folks around and enjoy life to the max! At the end of the day, spending time with my friends and ruin Eggman's plans to take over the world is what fills me with joy," The other Sonic replied with a huge grin. Now Sonic was speechless: His doppelgänger was definitely another Sonic from a different universe. Sure, he wore different clothes, but was that really something suspicious at all? If anything, it's pretty normal. "Man... I feel... so stupid for not believing you before..." Sonic said with a sheepish smile, also scratching his head ashamed. "I'm sorry, other me... You really are me from a different universe, aren't you?" "Eh, it's fine. Previous Sonics doubted it too, and honestly? I probably would doubt it too if I were on your place," The other Sonic confessed with a smile. "I do still wonder why you're here, though..." Sonic pointed out. "And how should I call you, by the way? Is not like I'm calling you Sonic and leave everyone confused... myself included." "You can call me 'Modern Sonic'. Previous Sonics called me like that, anyways," Modern Sonic replied with a smile. "As for why I'm here... I just ended up here by mistake, to tell the truth..." He confessed with a sheepish smile. "You see, I'm trying to go home before the Eggman of my world tries to conquer the multiverse with a powerful artifact that could allow him to travel to any universe he wants. I must stop him before that happens, but as you can see, I'm still trying to get a hand on this thing about traveling across the multiverse..." "So, Eggman's the reason you ended up traveling through different universes, huh?" Sonic asked with a smirk. "Classic ol' Egghead!" Both Sonics said with smirks, before looking at each other, smirking more. "Hah! Jinx!" They said again at the same time, before bursting out laughing and fist bump each other. "I judged you really, really bad!" Sonic said. "Is nice to have someone around that understands me entirely!" "Yeah, is good to not be the only one that does what he wants with no one else saying if it's wrong or good," Modern Sonic replied with a smirk. However, they both heard screams and explosions out of nowhere, and they turned to see Station Square... being attacked by robots coming out of a giant purple ship that sent them towards the city. "What the hell?!" Sonic exclaimed. "Seems like your Eggman is having some fun..." Modern Sonic pointed out with a frown. "Oh no!" Sonic exclaimed suddenly. "My friends went there to shop! I gotta help them out!" He declared, before boosting away towards Station Square. However, Modern Sonic joined him soon enough. "Hey, what are you doing here?!" "This might not be my universe, but helping is what I do, no matter what!" Modern Sonic replied. "If you're gonna save the city and those people from Eggman, then you won't do it alone!" He declared, raising his thumbs up. Sonic smirked back and raised his thumbs up as well, before both Sonics boosted at top speed towards Station Square. Amy, Chris, Cream, Cheese, Tails and Ella where on some kind of hotel room. They're shopping was terrible, because people couldn't leave them alone because of how 'adorable' they were. They didn't even let them eat in peace, and so, they head to this place so they could have at least one moment of relaxation. "What a waste!" Amy complained. "Our shopping spree was a flop..." "I'm sure things'll get a lot easier once people get used to seeing you around," Chris tried to assure with a positive smile, but then he saw through the window of the room and felt startled. "What's wrong, Chris?" Tails asked, a bit confused. Chris stood up and pointed outside the window. "Look!" He said, while everyone else looked outside as well. They all saw Eggman's purple ship arriving and covering the city, while people around Station Square panicked in fear at the sudden arrival of the ship. "It's Eggman, isn't it?" Chris asked with concern. "That's him," Tails replied with a frown. Eggman, on the other hand, started to laugh maniacally. "You losers are about to learn that you can never defeat me! I'm like a rubber ball: Every time you try to slap me down, I just keep bouncing back!" Inside the ship, Eggman was grinning hugely while Decoe clapped his hands cheerfully and Bocoe threw confetti in the air, happy for his boss as well. "Since your government attacked me, and destroyed my base, I'm going to destroy your city. And rebuild my headquarters right here!" Eggman declared once again with a huge smile. Then, several purple robots with wrecking balls fell from the sky and landed in the middle of the city. People screamed in panic, as they started to run away from the robots that used the wrecking balls to destroy the streets, the roads and the buildings. Chris, Tails, Amy and Ella were running away as well, with Ella carrying Cheese and Cream. "There's nowhere to go!" Tails cried out with worry. "The whole city'll be wrecked if this demolition derby keeps up!" "I sure wished Sonic had kept that cellphone..." Chris said with concern as well However, Tails saw something and smiled. "Hey! Maybe we can get out of here!" He pointed out, as he pointed to a yellow vehicle where they could escape. Unfortunately, a wrecking ball destroyed the vehicle, making the whole group gasp, as they realized that them and other people were surrounded by those machines, approaching and getting ready to smash them. However, as one of the machines raised the wrecking ball, it was suddenly traversed by a blue blur, and it started to malfunction. "Let's move it! Hurry!" Tails declared with a determinate look, before he and the others, as well as the rest of people surrounded, began to run away. The traversed machine fell over one of the other ones, and then, the same blue blur started to destroy more of them. However, there was other blue blur destroying robots at the other side of the city, which caused Eggman to growl in anger. Once both blurs where done, they both ran over a yellow building with thousands of windows, and they both stopped on the top, now staring with smirks at Eggman's ship. People gasped in excitement and amazement when they saw not one, but two Sonics standing at the top of the building. Tails smiled once he saw Sonic, not noticing the other yet somehow. "See? Didn't I tell you he showed up just in time?" He told Chris with a smile, while Chris nodded, smiling as well. However, Amy noticed something off... and she gasped in shock when she saw Sonic's silhouette twice. "Um... guys? A-Am I seeing double, or there is another Sonic at the top of that roof?" Both Chris and Tails looked at the sky, and realized that Amy was right: There wasn't one, but two Sonics. "This is a nightmare!" Eggman exclaimed. "Now I have to deal not with one, but two Sonics?! WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL IS HAPPENING?!" "Seems like Eggman cannot handle the power of two blurs!" Modern Sonic said with a smirk. "Well, then let's give him a hell of a time!" Sonic declared confidently. Eggman suddenly smirked sinisterly after hearing the two Sonics. "Well, then... Let's play, Sonics! For keeps!" "Fine with us, Eggman!" Sonic stated with a confident smirk. "Come on! Give it your best shot!" Modern Sonic declared with the same smirk. And so, the two Sonics positioned ready to fight against Eggman. Universe 220822 Eggman was trying so hard to not explode in anger at Robotnik. Loosing the fragments of the Paradox Prism wasn't a problem at all. So far, Tails hasn't shown any signs of being able to control the fragments he and Shadow managed to take with them, so the chance of this universe's Sonic returning were not high at all... At least he hoped so. Now, not being able to capture Queen Haven to have a bait for her daughters and Sonic himself because of Ivo's universe's Sonic? That seemed to irritate Eggman a lot. Sage gave him some coffee to calm him down, and Eggman took the mug with coffee gladly. He usually preferred some tea over this, but it was calming him down before exploding over his allies. Not that he worried for them the same way he worried about Sage, but Opaline was a terrible ally specifically because he didn't seemed to trust her, so he couldn't make the same mistake two times, specially with two variants of himself. Once he calmed down, he turned his chair around and stood up, walking over while Ivo zipped some coffee as well, and Robotnik was trying so hard to calm himself down because he was beyond furious. Being defeated not only by Sonic on his own universe, but in this one too? This was starting to destroying his mind, if it wasn't already distorted already. "Are you done complaining over your defeat?" Eggman asked Robotnik. "No, I'm not. But I'm trying, at least," Robotnik replied, while his left eye twitched a lot. "I just don't understand how a mind the size of a grape can outsmart my genius... It simply has no sense!" "Oh great, there he goes again..." Ivo complained, grabbing a cookie with a plate that had some and chomping it. "Our minds are better! Our brains are bigger! Our intellect is beyond this planet, but we still. Keep. LOOSING! HOW?!" Robotnik shouted in pure rage, while some smoke came out of his ears. That seemed to be enough to make the other two Eggmans snap, as they both slapped Robotnik to calm him down. Robotnik himself stared both confused and shocked, as he rubbed his cheeks in pain and let out a low 'ow'. "It seems like you haven't learned anything yet, Robotnik," Eggman pointed out with a frown. "What doesn't kills me..." "...Makes me stronger!" Ivo finished. "That hedgehog defeated you. So what? Just because that stupid hedgehog woke up and decided to mess with your life doesn't mean you are inferior. People trembles when they hear your name, they ran away when they see your machines approaching down the street..." "They warn their kids about you before they go to sleep," Eggman kept going. "They shout your name when they see you approaching, they hide when your machines cause a rampage in the city. They recognize your greatness, but they're too scared to see the bigger picture behind your purpose. They know your name, they recognize you, and they fear you. They fear you so much that they need a tiny, little and stinky blue hedgehog to defeat you and feel safe from you." "Your name is bigger than you give yourself credit for, and here you are: Complaining because a blue rat kicked your butt!" Ivo said with anger. "You have two options, Robotnik: You either embrace your mistakes and see yourself as the biggest failure of your life; or you clean the dust and keep walking forward, hoping that you'll defeat that blue pest the next time, with more preparation, and a master plan!" "So, what would it be, Robotnik?" Eggman asked. "Are you going to embrace the Doctor Eggman deep inside you, or will you let that hedgehog get over your life and let him win over your greatness?" As both Eggmans stepped back, Robotnik's eyes widened as he started to calculate all his possibilities. His mind was working like one of the machines he loved so much, and it was analyzing all possible scenarios here. Giving up could mean never sleep again, with the eternal reminder of two different Sonics defeating him three times repeating on his mind for the rest of the eternity. Keep fighting could trap him on an eternal cycle where he always returned, and Sonic kept defeating him. This last option sounded terrible... but at least he would always be chasing Sonic, and maybe, just maybe, he would defeat him permanently one day and prove he's superior. Robotnik grinned after analyzing his options, and he looked back at his counterparts. "Gentleman..." Robotnik called out, as he stood up. "I think I have come to a term with myself: It is time that we show every universe who we are! If we keep loosing, well... We'll just rise again, stronger than ever! Because what doesn't kill us..." "Only makes us stronger!" The three Eggmans declared with the same sinister grin, before laughing maniacally aloud. Once the three Eggmans were done laughing, Sage arrived suddenly with them. "The two hedgehogs are with Team Sonic, Team Dark and the ponies on the Crystal Brighthouse in Maretime Bay. Omega has stated that you might not attack soon..." She explained, then smirked sinisterly, even for a kid. "I suggest that you prove him wrong." "Ooh! Sounds like a party in a new universe!" Ivo declared. "Should we bring over some... gifts for the special guests?" "Well, if we're gonna give them one hell of a party, we must be polite hosts!" Robotnik stated with a huge grin. "As much as I hate to be a killjoy... I thing you two already did enough for one day full of failures," Eggman said suddenly, while his counterparts looked at him in disbelief and were ready to protest. "Before you two start to complain: You already did something that isn't stay here and watch all the fun happening. I think it is time for me to... make a quick visit to our neighbors~" He added with a smirk, while he also rubbed his mustache. "...You know what? Fair enough," Ivo replied. "But you better get much farther than us and actually achieve something!" He warned with a frown, also pointing at him. "True. All this talkery better not be just that, mister," Robotnik warned as well. "Do not worry. It won't be just talkery. In fact..." Eggman said, as he turned and glared at a machine being prepared by Sage. "I think I might get a souvenir... or two!" He declared with a maniac laugh. In the Crystal Brighthouse, Tails and Zipp seemed to finally come to a conclusion about the new visitors in Equestria. They spent an hour or two, but they finally managed to place all the pieces together and come to a conclusion on how Boom Sonic and Young Sonic, as well as the Eggmans from their universes, arrived to Equestria, and how both this universe's Eggman and Sage are behind all of this. "Mmm-hmm..." Tails muttered as he read his notes one last time, before looking up at the Sonics with a smile. "Seems like we finally get how you two got dragged here." "About time!" Boom Sonic said dramatically. "I thought we already knew that: A portal appeared, dragged us in, and here we are now!" Young Sonic pointed out confused. "That's just how you two arrived, little guy," Zipp pointed out with a smile. "We're talking about how Eggman brought you here. And maybe also how our Sonic had something to do with it unconsciously." "Huh?" Young Sonic exclaimed, even more confused now. "The what now?" Boom Sonic said, now also confused. "You see: The Paradox Prism seems to work perfectly fine, even split in fragments," Tails started to explain. "Its power can create portals to access any universe its holder wants!" "Now: One fragment can grant access to just one universe; two fragments, like the ones we have..." Zipp continued, pointing at the blue and red fragments in the table. "...Can grant access to two different universes. The entire Prism, however, has enough power to tear apart all the walls that divide every universe from each other." "Okay, so these two things, if attached to the ones the Egg-trio has, are powerful enough two blow up the barrier that keeps every universe separated, got it," Boom Sonic said with a bored expression and a sarcastic tone. "That still doesn't explains how we got here, though." "Well, Sunny found an ancient note that mentions a special machine that can support the power of the Prism, no matter if it's just a fragment or the entire Paradox Prism," Tails explained. "Our guess is that Eggman and his daughter, Sage, managed to recreate the machine too and used their fragments of the Prism to access to your universes and bring your Eggmans here to Equestria." "So this universe's Egghead brought my Egghead and his to this universe thanks to his fragments of the Paradox Prism..." Young Sonic summarized, also pointing at him and Boom Sonic at the first few words he said. "It has a lot of sense considering the walking pain in the ass Eggman is..." He added, crossing his arms with a bored expression. "But how did we got here? And how did the Sonic of this universe affected in that?" "I'm sorry, did you just said that Eggman has a daughter?" Boom Sonic asked with an anxious look. "She's half ghost, half AI and half girl. Don't think too much about it," Zipp replied with a bored expression, while Boom Sonic raised a finger to say something and opened his mouth, but he regret it after Zipp told him to not think a lot on it. "As for how Sonic is the reason why you two are here: Sage launched him against the Prism, which caused it to split apart..." "Therefore, when Eggman used the Fragments, by default, they also ended up bringing up you two here," Tails explained. "There's a small chance that he probably affected your universes somehow once he was sent across the multiverse, but we cannot say for sure. I also think that the Prism itself has a conscience and, when it detected that there was a missing Sonic in the very same universe it currently is, it dragged you two in an attempt to fill that void... But again, is just a theory." "He never explained anything on his message except that some 'Rotor' guy gave him his key back here, so... maybe once he's back, we can explain the full and precise picture," Zipp pointed out, smiling a bit now. "So our current situation is?" Young Sonic asked. "You two are trapped here, and unless Sonic decides to get you back home himself, or if we manage to finally make our replica of the machine that can control the power of the Paradox Prism... I'm afraid you cannot leave just yet," Tails explained with a sheepish smile. Boom Sonic gulped nervously and felt completely terrified at the idea of having to bond with talking colorful ponies. Young Sonic, on the other hand, just shrugged and smiled innocently. "Oh well! I guess I shouldn't be complaining. Before getting dragged here, I was seeking some adventure, anyways!" Young Sonic said happily. "Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the fact that my universe's Eggman is still alive when I thought he died months ago, but I guess it doesn't matter! As long as I can have fun, I don't care!" He added, before boosting away towards the bedroom. "Well, at least someone will enjoy their stay here..." Boom Sonic muttered with concern. Later on, the new Sonics were trying to adapt to their new environment. Well, Young Sonic actually was blending in pretty well so far. He was someone that everyone around could hang out with in general. Heck, even Shadow liked him. Shadow liked him, and we all know he barely stands his universe's Sonic. Boom Sonic, on the other hand, was having a really hard time adapting to this world. He kind of admitted already that these ponies might not be what they seem to be, and yet, he couldn't simply understand how his multiversal variants could hang out so well around them. He could barely believe that Pipp was Sonic's girlfriend, and if he wasn't trying to be a polite guest, he would either poke right there or faint dramatically. No one seemed to notice that... no one, except for Team Sonic. Or what remained of it right now, at least, since this world's Sonic was currently absent. "It is clear that this guy is not very comfortable here..." Knuckles pointed out. "Well, what can we do? Is not like he would like company, anyways," Tails said with a concerned frown. "Still, he's not very happy. At least, not around the Mane 6 and Shadow," Amy pointed out. "Maybe we should try to cheer him up?" "We're not moving out the Mane 6 out of their own home, Amy," Knuckles said, crossing his arms and frowning. "Yeah, that sounds kind of rude, even if it could help Boom Sonic," Tails agreed. "Ugh... boys..." Amy said, rolling her eyes. "I'm not saying we should make them go! I suggest we bring Boom Sonic out, you idiots!" "Ooooooh!!" Both Tails and Knuckles exclaimed, before smiling and chuckle sheepishly after they realized they misunderstood Amy. Amy herself facepalmed, and then she walked over towards Boom Sonic with a smile, with Tails and Knuckles following her close behind. "Hey, Sonic!" Boom Sonic, who seemed a bit busy minding his own business and trapped on his own thoughts, felt a bit startled when Amy called him out, but then he sighed relaxed and smiled a bit at her. "Its just you, Amy... sorry. I was, uh... thinking in some stuff, I guess." "Uh-huh..." Amy said with a raised eyebrow. "Anyways. Tails, Knuckles and I are going to the top of the Brighthouse to get some fresh air!" "We were wondering if you wanted to tag alone so you can have a break of all the chattery down here!" Tails added, winking at him. It seemed like Boom Sonic understood the intention behind their action and smiled warmly at them. "Uh... yeah! That... Thats sounds like a good idea... Thanks..." Once at the top of the Brighthouse, Boom Sonic immediately approached to the balcony and inhaled the fresh air, glad that he could have some 'pony-free' time after what felt like an eternity. Just to be clear, it's been only 3 hours since he arrived to the Brighthouse, he's just exaggerating. "Man... I don't want to insinuate anything here, but... are you racist towards ponies or something?" Knuckles asked confused. "Do you have any idea what being racist is, Knucklehead?" Boom Sonic asked sarcastically with a chuckle. "Being mean to others because they're a different animal?" Knuckles replied with a bored expression. "Huh... so you do have braincells in this world..." Boom Sonic said, genuinely surprised. That made Knuckles react defensively, as he grabbed Boom Sonic's scarf and dragged him to the floor so he could stare daggers straight into his eyes. "What. Did you. JUST SAID?!" He asked in rage, as his eyes turned red and he penetrated Boom Sonic's soul, who gulped after seeing this Knuckles being actually menacing. "Listen clear, pretty boy. I have no idea on what kind of reputation you have back home, nor what kind of Knuckles you deal with, but I am not stupid. So, if you try to outsmart me again, or if you try to insult me, I'll reduce every inch of your body to atoms with my bare fists. Understood?" Boom Sonic gulped again and nodded, while Knuckles nodded back and let go off his scarf, which caused him to fall into the floor and groan in pain. "You know? Usually I'll say you crossed the line, but I think he deserves it," Amy confessed with her arms crossed. "Yeah, same here," Tails added with a bored expression and his fists on his hips. Boom Sonic stood up and cleaned the dust off his body before staring back at his friends' counterparts and sigh in defeat. "You know what? You guys are right... I think I'm doing everything wrong because... I'm scared, alright?! There! I said it! Go on, laugh if you want!" He confessed, now sitting down as he hugged his legs and buried his face on his knees. However, his friends' counterparts remained silent the whole time, and they even blinked confused at him. "Why would we laugh at you? Because you're scared?" Amy asked. "Uh... yeah?" Boom Sonic replied, feeling a bit confused as he lifted his head to face his friends' counterparts. "You have a really low self-esteem, don't you?" Tails asked. "You pretend to be very confident, cocky and way too arrogant to be Sonic, but deep down... you're afraid..." "I confess that I would laugh in other circumstances, but I'm willing to let you explain yourself," Knuckled admitted, crossing his arms and still frowning, although his eyes returned to normal. Boom Sonic sighed and looked at the floor, while his ears fell flat. "...In my universe, Knuckles is literally a knucklehead. He's the 'husky guy with a brain the size of a raisin' cliche. I'm so used to him acting and even talking like an idiot, that I guess I though you were the same. I mean, I did met a Knuckles that was smart, but he was from another dimension, leaving me with the meathead Knuckles." "How cute..." Knuckles said as he rolled his eyes. "You two are pretty much the same, just... smaller. No offense, though," Boom Sonic told Tails and Amy. "Uh... none taken?" They both replied uncertain. Boom Sonic sighed again and looked at Tails. "And you're right, little buddy. I do have a low self-esteem. It's so low that I constantly treat everyone around harshly just to feel better over myself... even my own friends... Heck, I always try to convince myself that I am better than everyone else around me, but... It only convinces everyone else. Me? Hah! I only feel worse..." Tails, Knuckles and Amy felt surprised after hearing all of that, and they even looked at each other in concern when Boom Sonic admitted that he has a very low self-esteem. "I... guess that's understandable..." Knuckles confessed. "But it doesn't explains why you act the way you act towards our pony friends!" Boom Sonic snorted and shook his head. "My world's Knuckles is a cliche, but so am I. I'm the leader that worries for nobody but himself, that never thinks twice before acting, that always has to do everything on his way or else he thinks it'll never work... that has not time to deal with colors, and rainbows and girl-ish stuff... like talking ponies," He pointed out with a bored expression. "Alright, that's it!" Knuckles declared in anger, before charging up his electrical powers. "I'm about to destroy this man's whole career!" However, Tails rolled his eyes and created a shield with his powers that crashed against Knuckles' face, while Knuckles groaned in pain and covered his face. Boom Sonic, on the other hand felt startled and shocked when he saw Tails and Knuckles using his electrical powers, because they couldn't do that in his world. "H-H-H-How d-d-did they d-d-d-d-do that?!" He asked confused and shocked, but also amazed. "Get used to it. They do this all the time ever since I arrived," Amy replied with a bored expression, also checking over her nails despite being covered by her gloves. "Look, Sonic..." Tails started, as he rubbed his eyes with his fingers. "We get it. You consider yourself 'too cool' to be around talking colorful ponies. I think you almost fainted when Pipp said she's our Sonic's girlfriend." "I still kind of want to just imagining it..." Boom Sonic confessed with a sheepish smile. Tails put a bored expression, Knuckles growled while his eyes turned red again and Amy rolled her eyes annoyed. "However, you did admitted that you thought how they fought against Young Sonic's Eggman on his Egg Dragoon was cool, remember?" Tails pointed out again, now smirking. Boom Sonic blushed and started to sweat, as he looked away in an attempt to play it cool... but of course, he failed. "...Okay, yeah. I did admitted that, but they didn't hear it! So it doesn't count!" "Still, you're just judging them by their appearances and attitudes," Amy pointed out. "Maybe you should try and give them a chance to know them better instead of being such a jerk because they are ponies!" She scolded, frowning and crossing his arms. Boom Sonic still felt conflicted on what to do, but he also kind of knew that he was surrounded. So, it was either leaving and find another way back home by himself, or stay and try to interact with the talking ponies. Boom Sonic ended up sighing, standing up again, crossing his arms and looking at them with a bored expression. "...Fine... I don't promise that I'm gonna enjoy it, but... I can try, at least." Tails, Knuckles and Amy all looked at each other and smiled. "Sounds good to us!" Tails declared to him. Boom Sonic smiled back at them, and so, they all went downstairs to return with the rest, while the sun started to set in the horizon. Universe 060403 Back in Station Square, the two Sonics were ready to fight against Eggman, as they smirked at him and positioned to fight. Eggman frowned and prepared to attack the two Sonics. "Steady... Ready... FIRE!" He shouted, before smashing a red button that launched a bunch of missiles towards the Sonics. They both smirked and started to run away, while the missiles followed them. Sonic passed right below another one of the robots with a wrecking ball, and got destroyed after two missiles crashed against it. Modern Sonic, on the other hand, ran in zig zag over another of the robots and lay on it, even making a bit of mockery as he pretended to yawn in boredom, while he then boosted away as the rest of the missiles crashed against the robots and made it explode. "I have heard about a sonic boom, but this is ridiculous..." Bocoe said with concern. The two Sonics kept destroying robots, even though no more missiles were following them. However, that didn't stopped them from smashing Eggman's robots and have fun in the process. Sonic kept traversing robots at top speed, while Modern Sonic used his arsenal of attacks: Spin Dash, Stomp Attack, Homing Shot, Spin Slash, Wild Rush, Air Kick, and the long etcetera. Once Sonic seemed to be done, he started to run at top speed over the same yellow building from before, and then jumped to try and reach Eggman's ship fortress. However, he stopped moving in mid air, and he realized that he wasn't going to reach it in time. He tried to run in mid air, but then panted heavily. Then looked at you and shrugged, before starting to fall down. "Oh no! He can't reach Eggman's ship!" Amy said with concern. "We need the X Tornado to help him, but it's back home!" Tails pointed out with concern. "We'll never get it in time..." However, a silver car stopped at their side and beeped, which cause everyone to turn to it and smile. "You need a lift?" A man with a purple shirt and red hair like Chris asked them with a wink. "Uncle Sam!" Chris called out with a smile. Soon enough, everyone got inside Sam's car, as he ran at top speed towards Chris' mansion. "I'll get you guys home in a flash!" He assured with a smirk. "Buckle up for safety!" He warned, before boosting away in the car. Meanwhile, Modern Sonic finished up with a last robot as he used a Stomp Attack, but then he saw that Sonic was falling from the sky and frowned, before boosting twice as fast than before towards the Yellow Building. Once he was running over the building, he smashed his brakes a bit, slowly turning around... and the boosting again, but now running backwards. Then, he saw Sonic still falling from the ship, and smirked, before curling into a ball and charge his Homing Attack towards Sonic. Once he was about to hit him, he uncurled and grabbed Sonic into a hug. "Huh?!" Sonic exclaimed confused. "Where did you came from?!" "Does it matter? I'm about to rescue you from dying, other me!" Modern Sonic replied with a smirk. "Say! Ever heard about a Spin Dash?" "No! What the heck is that?!" Sonic asked in panic, as they fell towards the floor. "It's pretty simple!" Modern Sonic replied with a smirk, before raising Sonic in the air. "Just spin... and dash!" He declared, before launching Sonic towards the ground while he curled into a ball on a Spin Dash. Sonic saw this, and still screaming in the air, he also curled into a ball and dashed. Before he could even realize, he was safe and sound on the floor, but still curled into a ball, while Modern Sonic landed at his side flawlessly, with no need on staying curled into a ball. Sonic uncurled and fell on his back in the floor, feeling completely dizzy as he slowly sat down and shook his head in order to feel better. "...D-Didn't knew I could do that..." He said, still feeling a bit dizzy. "It seems like you still have to learn many of your skills yet, huh?" Modern Sonic replied with a smirk. However, soon enough, they saw five small orange drones shooting at them, and so, they started to run away again. Once they reached the corners of a street, the split up, with three of the drones following up Sonic while the remaining two followed Modern Sonic. With Sonic, he ran at super sonic speed around an entire square before hiding on an alley, while the drones passed by. He sneaky popped his head and smirked confidently, but then, the drones appeared behind him and started to shoot him again, which startled him as he dodged the bullets and ran away. "Ohohohoho!" Eggman laughed in the ship with a huge grin, as he saw Sonic having trouble with the drones. "My Falcon robots all come with special speed-seeking detectors! The Sonics are running to their doom!" Modern Sonic, after hearing that, smirked even more, as he suddenly stopped right in front of the robots, that also stopped suddenly, not because they wanted to or something, but because Modern Sonic stopped time and entered on his realm of super speed. Smirking again, Modern Sonic moved the Falcon robots so they could all crash against each other. Once he moved away and time returned to its normal state, the robots exploded once they crashed to each other. Soon enough, Modern Sonic returned with Sonic, with the two of them being chased by the remaining Falcon robots. "Yo, Sonic!" Sonic called out to his other self. "Wanna give Eggman some taste of his own medicine?" He asked with a smirk, pointing at the Falcon robots. Modern Sonic looked at the machines, then at Eggman's ship and smirked as well. "Other me? You know I want to!" And so, both Sonics jumped over one of the Falcon robots and Sonic moved it towards the ship. Once Eggman noticed that, he growled in anger. "Grr, they can't be!" "You can blow Sonic out of the sky if you order those Falcon robots to self-destruct," Bocoe pointed out with a frown. "Excellent idea!" Eggman admitted with a smile. After that, he pressed a button on his panel control, and soon enough, the Falcon robots made a beep sound. Modern Sonic noticed that, and so, he grabbed his other self and jumped off the robot before it exploded along with the others. Then, the two Sonics landed over the roof of a building and looked back at the ship with frowns. "Finish them off!" Eggman ordered, pressing another button. Then, a bunch of green robots with eyes, that looked so much like Robotnik's drones from the human parallel world to Equestria, came down of the ship and surrounded the Sonics. They looked around and prepared for everything, then moved away when they charged and launched lasers to them after making a beep sound, before chasing after them. Meanwhile, Sam was still running fast as he tried to take Chris and company to the mansion. "Hey, do you think you could slow down a bit?" Chris asked to his uncle a bit concerned. "Are you kidding?" Sam replied with a smirk. However, they all noticed a bunch of the same green robots chasing the Sonics approaching them, and one hit one of the wheels of the car, which obligated Sam to smash the brakes. Once the car stopped, they were all surrounded by the green robots, that prepared to shoot at them. Modern Sonic felt his ear twitching when he heard Tails and Amy crying out in fear, and his frown grew bigger. "Be back in a sec!" He instructed to Sonic, before boosting away towards the place where Tails and Amy needed help. Sonic simply nodded, and kept running away from the robots. Meanwhile, Modern Sonic reached the car surrounded by the robots, as they prepared to launch their lasers towards the car. Modern Sonic ran even faster, and then, he curled into a ball in the air, charging up a Homing Shot, and them letting go the spheres towards all they drones, that exploded in the air afterwards. Modern Sonic landed near the car, then made sure that the drones were destroyed, then he turned and saw his friends counterparts along some humans. "Hey Sonic, thanks!" Chris told him with a smile. He smiled at all of them and raised his thumbs up. Then, he made eye contact with Amy for a second and winked at her, before boosting away to help his counterpart. After Sonic left, Sam turning the car on and boosted towards the mansion once again, while Amy felt like a blushing mess after Modern Sonic winked at her and fainted, leaving Tails smiling sheepishly as he tried to wake her up. After a while, the Sonics were running over the roof tops, while still running away from the green robots. "Serious question: Does Eggman ever gives up on destroying us?" Sonic asked. "If he ever did, I'll be concerned rather than relieved!" Modern Sonic replied with a frown. Then, they soon heard an engine and turned to a certain direction, seeing a flying plane with the wings forming the shape of an X. "The X Tornado!" Sonic cheered with a smile. "X Tornado? That's the best you could–– You know what? Our current situation makes me realize I shouldn't be complaining about how you call the Tornado in this universe..." Modern Sonic said with a bored expression. Then, both Sonics jumped, and from the X Tornado, a golden ring was launched, which caused Sonic to catch it with a smile and then spin in the air at super speed as he destroyed some of the robots. Meanwhile, Sonic did something similar with another Homing Shot, before both him and Sonic landed over the the X Tornado and flew towards Eggman's ship. "Get them now! Blast away!" Eggman ordered in anger. After that, the tanks attached to the sides of the ship started to shoot against the X Tornado. Tails piloted it like a professional, dodging all the shots easily, but of course, he couldn't do it forever. "We can't fight Eggman here! Those buildings will get wrecked!" Chris pointed out with concern, now wearing a football helmet to stay protected. "Chris is right!" Tails said with worry. "We have to get Eggman away from the city somehow!" "Hmm..." Modern Sonic said, rubbing his chin before realizing something as he smirked. "Say, other me... What is Eggman's biggest motivation?" Sonic looked at him confused at first, but then, he realized what his other self really meant and smirked back. Then, Tails moved the X Tornado near the ship's pilot capsule, and Sonic took out his tongue while smashing his butt in a mocking way, while Modern Sonic made the L letter with his finger and positioned over his forehead while pointing at Eggman in a mocking way as well. Then, the X Tornado moved away, leaving Eggman in pure rage. "Grr! That's the last time they'll diss me. Move it!" Eggman ordered with a scream. "Turn this ship around and go after those Sonics!" "What chance does he have against two Sonics?" Decoe asked, while Bocoe facepalmed. "I estimate his chance of defeating the Sonics at zero," Bocoe replied. After boosting away far enough from Station Square, the Sonics turned around over the X Tornado and smirked. "It worked!" Sonic said. "Yeah, Eggman stands anything but being mocked up," Modern Sonic added with a grin. "It's been what, 15 years? How's he still falling for such an old trick is beyond me, but hey! As long as it works, it's fine for me!" The ship kept shooting against the X Tornado, but of course, it wasn't hitting it a single time. "Charge up the Blaster Cannon!" Eggman ordered with anger, and after said cannon was charged up and ready, Eggman grinned. "FIRE!" The cannon shoot against the X Tornado, and everyone gasped in fear, except for Modern Sonic, who activated his watch and then punched the plane. The blaster cannon reached them, and even created a massive splash of water in the ocean, since they were flying above it. Eggman chuckled and smirked. "Victory!" However, that confidence faded away once he saw the X Tornado flying away intact... and protected by a blue shield. "Whoa!" Sonic said, once he saw that Modern Sonic was surrounded with electricity on his quills and eyes. "What's the matter with you?!" "A little upgrade I never knew I had since birth," Modern Sonic replied with a smirk. "Although it's all thanks to the little guy from my universe and the little watch he gave me!" He added, now pointing at Tails. "What? Another universe?" Tails asked confused, while Modern Sonic deactivated the shield. "Let's talky-talk later! We still have an Egghead to deal with!" Sonic stated with a determinate expression. Meanwhile, Eggman was beyond furious after seeing the blast didn't affected them. "I won't miss Sonic this time. Get ready for another blast!" On the other hand, we have the Sonics and company. "So, this 'power ring' you mentioned basically works like a Spin Dash that goes ten times faster..." Modern Sonic asked, rubbing his chin. "Pretty much! Why?" Sonic asked. "Eggman is used to deal with one Sonic with one power ring," Modern Sonic pointed out, before looking at his other self and smirking. "Maybe we should give him a taste of two Sonics and four power rings!" Sonic's eyes widened, before he smirked. "Man, where have you been my whole life?" "Is the Blaster Cannon powered up yet?" Eggman asked to his assistants. "Almost, doctor," Decoe replied. "Uh, it appears that we have company..." Bocoe pointed out with wide eyes. "Oh?" Eggman said confused, while the X Tornado stopped moving right in front of the ship, with the two Sonics frowning at him. "What is this?" Then, both Sonics extended their hands, while 4 power rings came out of the plane. Sonic grabbed two and Modern Sonic caught the other two as well. Then, they crossed their arms to form and X and where surrounded by a blue aura as they charged the power of the rings on their bodies. Modern Sonic's electrical powers even activated as his eyes turned blue. "Hang on! Here we go!" Tails instructed confidently. After that, the X Tornado boosted towards the ship at top speed, while Eggman growled for the millionth time today. "Blow them away!" "The cannon is still recharging!" Bocoe said with worry, while Eggman screamed in panic. Then, both Sonics jumped from the X Tornado and stood in the air for a while, before staring to spin at super sonic speed. and then, they started to traverse the entire ship thanks to the power of their rings. "Oh no!" Eggman exclaimed in panic, while the floor started to shine as it indicated that the ship was going to explode. "We have lost all our controls, doctor!" Decoe said with a worried expression. "We must abandon ship at once!" Bocoe added as well with concern. "Course you, hedgehogs!" Eggman shouted in pure rage and anger. "I'll get you!" And then, both Sonics landed on the X Tornado, while Eggman's ships exploded entirely and fell to the ocean. Then, the X Tornado landed over a military ship in the water, now turned into some weird plane with legs, but that doesn't matter, does it? The pilot's capsule opened and Chris stood up from his seat with a big smile. "Great job, Sonic!" "You mean: Great job, Sonics!" Tails said with a smile as well, while he and Chris chuckled at the joke. While both Sonics smirked and fist bumped each other, Amy suddenly embraced both Sonics in a big hug. Of course, Sonic felt annoyed immediately, but Modern Sonic didn't seemed to mind that much. "Two Sonics in one place?! I'm in heaven!" Amy exclaimed with a huge smile and sparkling eyes. "Oh dear..." Sonic said with annoyance. "You still haven't got used to this, huh?" Modern Sonic asked with a mocking smirk. "You're my heroes!" Amy said as she made the hug tighter. "N-No... And I don't think I ever will..." Sonic replied in pain. "Well, we stopped Eggman again, but I'll bet he'll be back!" Tails stated with a frown. "Looks like we're gonna be fighting against Eggman for a long time..." Chris pointed out with concern. "He'll never surrender." "You're right," Tails said, still frowning. "Eggman's got plenty of tricks up his sleeve. This battle is only beginning." Sonic frowned as he looked on, while Amy looked concerned as she hugged his arm. Modern Sonic, however, felt even more worried about how things could be going on his universe now that he could finally stop and think about it. Dealing with this Eggman was fun and everything, but he's as dangerous as any other Eggman, probably even more than his considering he had robots with wrecking balls, all ready to destroy the city and kill a bunch of people with no shame. He only hoped things were going well back there, and that Eggman wasn't being such a pain in the ass... Universe 220822 Boom Sonic decided to fulfill his promise and tried to enjoy the talk with the ponies. He was on a talk along Knuckles, Amy, Sunny, Izzy, Misty and Pipp. So far he wasn't hating it, and he wasn't bored either. He was just not too comfortable yet, but at least he was trying to blend in with the rest better than before. Young Sonic, on the other hand, was having a nice chat with Hitch and Shadow, and thanks to the walking miracle that he seems to be, Shadow was smiling more often and even talking more than usual. Rouge and Omega were outside in Maretime Bay, making guard and looking out for any other attack by the Eggmans, while Zipp and Tails returned outside to keep trying to replicate the machine that could control the power of the Paradox Prism. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! So, you can literally stop time just by holding one those gems I still cannot learn their name, say two words... and then stop time entirely?! Even things that are moving?!" Young Sonic asked to Shadow, as he was over Hitch's back while his tails wagged. "Yeah, that's pretty much how it works," Shadow replied with a proud smirk. "Though, you can do that without an emerald, if everything you told us about your life is true. Why does this surprises you?" "Dude, you can do a lot of cool stuff just by existing, weird would it be if I wasn't surprised!" Young Sonic pointed out. "Now, what's that Chaos Spear and other cool stuff you mentioned that start with the word 'Chaos'?" "Well, all the 'Chaos' techniques require Chaos Energy," Shadow explained. "Your body is full of it, little man, so if you want, I could show and teach you some of those techniques. You'll be quite powerful once this is over and you go back to your home." "Oh, I'll definitely look forward to that!" Young Sonic replied with a smile, while his tail wagged happily. Suddenly, however, he noticed that Hitch was sighing happily as his tail wagged happily as well. Young Sonic raised an eyebrow, and looked on the same direction than him, just to see that Hitch was staring at Sunny, who was talking happily and laughing along Izzy, Pipp, Amy, Knuckles and Boom Sonic. Young Sonic grinned mischievously and got down of Hitch, just to lay on him and clear his throat, which caused Hitch to feel startled as he screamed lowly while he turned to see Young Sonic. "So... are you seeing something special that you like, Donut Lord?~ Maybe a girl in specific that's making your tail wag happily~?" Hitch blushed a lot after hearing that, and he looked away while trying to hide his blush. "N-No! O-Of course not! I-I'm not looking at Sunny!" "Sheriff, he never said who you're looking at," Shadow pointed out with a smirk, while Hitch's blush grew bigger and his ears fell flat. "You just exposed yourself." "...Dang it..." Hitch complained lowly. "So, the orange girl with the lavender hair and the rainbow streak, huh?" Young Sonic asked, still mocking him and now even pushing his shoulder a bit. "When are you getting after her, sheriff?~" "N-Not happening yet..." Hitch confessed. "I'm–– We are waiting for the right moment to take such a step and responsibility." "The right moment?" Young Sonic asked confused. "What do you mean?" "Not even him knows what he's baffling about," Shadow pointed out, rolling his eyes annoyed. "He says he's waiting for the right moment everytime someone brings this subject up, but he's just wasting his time." "Hey! I'm just waiting for her to be ready, alright?" Hitch said, now frowning at Shadow. "Hitch, you've been in love with her since childhood, and you still haven't say a single thing about it," Shadow pointed out, frowning back. "And what are you guys waiting for? The entire multiverse about to collapse or something so we can all die and you two finally confess your painfully obvious reciprocal love for each other?" "We don't want to rush things, that isn't something bad!" Hitch pointed out in concern. However, Young Sonic's jaw dropped after Shadow said that Hitch has been in love with Sunny since they were kids, that their feelings are reciprocal and that they still haven't confessed to each other. His right eye even began to twitch, and then, he grabbed a bunch of pillows, launched them in the air to cover both Hitch and him, and slapped Hitch in the face. Shadow was the only one that witnessed that, so he spilled some water he was drinking and bursted out laughing, covering his mouth so it wasn't to loud. Nobody noticed any of this happening, because they kept talking between each other normally. "What the heck is wrong with you?!" Young Sonic asked Hitch in anger, after some seconds of silence, where Hitch rubbed his cheek in pain. "What?! You're the one who sla––" Hitch tried to point out with a frown, but Young Sonic shushed him. "Man, Shadow has a point!" Young Sonic said with a frown. "At any second now, the entire multiverse could collapse in front of us, and you are wasting so much time right here and now! You two like each other and absolutely nobody is trying to stop that... but you two, pair of idiots! Good piece of advice: If you can still tell her that you love her and that you wanna be with her, JUST DO IT, FOR GOD'S SAKE! There's nothing and nobody that can stop you! And if you keep using the lame excuse of 'we want time' or 'we wanna be ready for it to happen', then consider this: If the Eggmen succeed, there won't be anymore time for you two to go for it already." Hitch's eyes went wide after hearing all of that, and then, he looked back at Sunny, who was still smiling and laughing with the rest, and he saw himself smiling as well. He could feel that Young Sonic was right, and that maybe it is time that Sunny and him take the next step on their relationship. Hitch looked back at Young Sonic and sighed before smiling. "I... I appreciate the words, Sonic... I'll think about it..." Young Sonic looked at him on disbelief, before looking back at Shadow and making a gesture that said 'You seeing this?!', while Shadow shrugged with a bored expression, and Young Sonic groaned in annoyance and facepalmed. Universe 060403 Modern Sonic was dragged by everyone back to Chris' mansion. Of course, he had no option but explain everything he lived so far: Eggman discovering the Paradox Prism; a 'badnik' launching him towards the Prism, which made him travel to other universes; all the worlds he visited so far, and how he eventually ended up here because he was just trying to reach his home. "Whoa... So you come from an entire different universe from ours!" Tails exclaimed happily and excited. "I never thought the theory of the multiverse could be real!" "Well, hang onto your horses, little guy, because it's very real!" Modern Sonic replied with a smirk. "Still, I can barely stand fighting one Eggman around here!" Sonic pointed out. "Now imagine dealing with many of them! It gives me shivers just thinking about it..." "Yeah, well, if there's a multiverse, it's only logical to think that there are other Eggmans out there as well," Modern Sonic pointed out with a frown. "Still, Eggman is not my biggest concern over here... You guys say you never interacted with humans before, right? Well, that's weird, because I do that most of the time where I come from. They just live in another part of the planet, but my friends and I still visit them from time to time. Why did you never heard of Earth until Eggman activated Chaos Control by mistake?" "No clue!" Sonic replied with a relaxed smile. "But I wouldn't worry too much about it," He added, as he stretched over the couch he was lying over and prepared to take a nap. Modern Sonic raised an eyebrow and leaned to Chris and Tails, who were sitting over another couch. "Is he always like this?" "Pretty much..." Tails replied with a sheepish smile, while Chris only nodded in agreement. Suddenly, Amy zoomed by with a huge smile and side-hugged Modern Sonic from his arm. "Well, I'm just glad that there's a Sonic that doesn't runs away from me!" "Yeah! I was wondering why you don't care that much myself," Chris confessed with a smile. "Well, I did used to run away, but after she stopped chasing me back in my world, I kind of stopped caring whenever she did," Modern Sonic replied with a bored expression. Suddenly, everyone else's eyes widened, Sonic's included, as they slowly turned to him and Amy stepped back nervously. "I... I stopped?!" Amy asked in panic. "Don't worry, you still feel the same towards me," Modern Sonic replied, and that made Amy sigh in relief. "But... why did she stopped?" Tails asked. Before Modern Sonic could reply, he realized that he would have to mention Pipp, and therefore, cause some trouble between this universe's Sonic and Amy. Yeah, they were two different Sonics, but this Amy seemed to be stubborn too, so it was better to avoid his counterpart any problems. So, he shut his mouth and quickly thought on how to excuse himself from answering that. Modern Sonic smirked once he knew how to answer without mentioning Pipp, soon enough. "She stopped because I kind of do the same back with her, so she just tries to do it now and then to surprise me," He lied, although his smirk made it sound really convincing. "Oh... Ooooh~" Amy said, now blushing a bit at the idea of Sonic flirting back with her. Sonic himself, however, gulped nervously and tried to excuse himself before boosting away... just to be stopped by Modern Sonic, that grabbed him from his quills. "Your attitude tells me you're still 15 years old..." Modern Sonic said with a bored expression. "Man, grow up and confront your problems the same way you confront Eggman! It isn't so difficult!" "Dude, you sound a bit boring now..." Sonic said with a little frown. "And why do you mention my age, anyways? What are you? 20 years old or something?" "I'm 27," Modern Sonic replied with a neutral expression. Everyone gasped in the room, and Amy ran upstairs immediately. "I'M STILL A MINOR! I CANNOT BE WITH SOMEONE 15 YEARS OLDER THAN ME!" She screamed, before a door was smashed upstairs as it closed. "...27... Years old?!" Sonic said, surprised and scared. "B-But you look as good as me! What kind of weird energy are you using to stay so young at 27?!" "S-Sonic is right!" Tails said, also amazed. "You look too young to be so old!" "I said I'm 27, not 45 or something like that," Modern Sonic replied with a bored expression. "Geez, if this is how you guys act over a 27 year old Sonic, I don't wanna see your reactions over an actual 45 year old me..." "Well... what are you going to do now?" Chris asked him. "I mean, you said your Eggman wants to conquer the multiverse! Shouldn't you go now before that happens?!" "Hey, Chris is right!" Tails pointed out. "You should go!" "Eh, I might stay around in this universe for a while," Modern Sonic replied with a smirk. "I know I should worry about Eggman and all, but time goes different in every universe, as far as I know. So, I'll just stick around and have some fun!" However, none of them noticed that some kind of brown eye was looking at them, before it simply disappeared on thin air. > 7. The Other Blue Devil > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Universe 060403 After staying in Chris' mansion for a few more days, Modern Sonic wrote down a note and left it over Chris' nightstand. Then, he boosted away from his mansion and returned to the forest where he originally appeared in this universe. However, before he could start to run on his place so he could create a portal that could take him away of this universe, his ear twitched when he heard a zoom behind him. Modern Sonic chuckled and shook his head with his eyes closed. "I should've known that you would come here after me... Sonic," He said with a sad smile, before turning around and find Sonic, glaring daggers at him with his arms crossed as he tapped his foot on the floor. "Mind to explain why you were planning to leave without even saying goodbye, partner?" Sonic asked in anger, showing him the letter he left on Chris' nightstand. Modern Sonic sighed and looked at him with shame. "I... I'm sorry... I'm not good at saying goodbye, and... I honestly don't have the guts to say it on their faces. I mean, I did it before, but still... it didn't felt right..." Sonic, however, smirked and sighed as well. "Eh, no biggie. Just... try not to do this to the next universe, alright? Also, thanks. It really felt nice having someone else around that understands me more than I could ever imagine." Modern Sonic ended up smirking back. "No problem!" He said with a wink. "Also, try to understand Amy a bit better, okay? I know she can be overwhelming, but... she's still your friend at the end of the day." Sonic rolled his eyes, but still smirked at him. "Alright, alright... I don't promise I will like it, but... I'll try at least," He replied. "I just... I feel like she's trying to drag me into something I don't want, you know? But again, I... I'll try to understand her a bit better." "Sounds enough to me!" Modern Sonic replied with a chuckle. "Take care, Sonic" He told his counterpart with his thumbs up. "You too, 'Modern' Sonic," Sonic replied with a mocking smirk, but also raising his thumbs up and winking at him. Modern Sonic nodded with a determinate look. Then, he turned around and looked on with a smile, before positioning to run. After that, he started to run over his place until his feet created the shape of an eight, followed by a line shining bright and moved a bit forward, before stopping and creating a portal with the shape of an X. Modern Sonic smirked and boosted through the portal, that closed immediately after he passed through it. Sonic just waved his hand, and once Modern Sonic was gone, he sighed in sadness, but smiled afterwards. "Good luck, other me... I feel like you're actually gonna need it." After that, he turned around and then boosted back to Chris' mansion. Sonic was once again on the realm where he could access any universe he wanted. Like last time, he was running over some kind of crystal path that he could totally control, because he could freely move around this place now. "Okay that clearly wasn't my universe... No problem!" Sonic said with a smile. "I can still reach my home! I just need to know how..." Despite feeling frustrated, he was willing to keep looking forward for his universe, no matter how much it could take. So, he leaned towards another line and charged up his Spin Dash, before boosting through a new unknown universe... Universe 140220 Three days, and nothing. Tails and Knuckles tried everything they knew to make the Master Emerald work and help them out to reach Sonic from wherever he ended up in. Yet, the Master Emerald wasn't reacting at all, and they were both starting to run out of ideas. "I never though I could feel more frustrated than when I thought I would never get my hands over this thing..." Knuckles said with a bored expression. "Yet, here we are! Trying to make this piece of garbage work, AND FAILING!!!" "Knux..." Tails called out with a tired expression. Soon enough, Knuckles realized that he raised his voice and his hand, charged up with red electricity, so he took a deep breath that calmed him down and sat back on the couch of the living room. "Sorry... sorry..." He apologized, letting out a long and defeated sigh. "I guess I just feel kind of useless right now..." "Same here..." Tails said with worry. "I have a very brilliant mind! I should be able to solve this, but I can't! Now I doubt we'll ever see Sonic again..." However, they both heard screams coming from the town, so they looked at each other confused and went out of the house. Once outside, they looked around confused, finding nothing weird at all, but then, their eyes widened and they turned around to see the sky, just to witness how it was braking in the shape of an X while showing a strange place with a red, blue and black background, as well as many white lines and curves moving. "Huh... the end of the world came sooner than I expected..." Knuckles muttered to himself. "Excuse me, what?" Tails said, looking confused at the echidna. Suddenly, they both witnessed a blue ball charged up in a blue aura falling from the X on the sky, that closed immediately after the ball fell from it, and both Tails and Knuckles stared at the ball very confused. "A... blue ball..." Tails started. "Falling from the sky..." Knuckles kept going. Soon enough, however, they both gasped and realized something. "That must be Sonic!" They both said, before boosting towards the town to meet up with their friend... or that's what they thought. Sonic fell through the sky and landed in the floor perfectly. He stood normally know and cleaned the dust from his body. Looking at his gloves, they seemed to be his normal ones, just clean now since his regular ones were actually pretty muddy. His shoes, however, where replaced with a variant made by PUMA, since it didn't had the gold buckle and they even felt more comfy than his own. Yet, Sonic still frowned a bit once he saw which company made the shoes. "Alright, as much as I love how good-looking and comfy they are, I wished they were Jordans instead of Puma." Then, he noticed that his body was more... fluffy, and his textures felt different as well. When he looked around, he noticed how realistic everything seemed... And then he understood: This was a live action universe. "Huh... That explains why I look so puffy and huggable..." Sonic realized with amusement. Sighing and shrugging afterwards, he saw in the distance what seemed to be a small town, so he boosted towards it to check around. Once he was near by, he looked that this seemed to be a small town in some place on Earth, pretty much USA since there's not other original places for writers to sent him, apparently. However, what both surprised and concerned him was that this was a place full of humans... and none of them seemed to mind him walking around like one of them. Some humans even greeted him, waved their hands at him or directly fist bumped with him. While Sonic didn't felt awkward, he did felt like there was something else going on here. "Okay... So I'm in some kind of world where humans know who I am and don't mind my existence. It's clear to say that this is a place with no talking ponies, but it does have a Sonic. Therefore, there must be an Eggman, a Knuckles and, of course, a––" "SONIC!" Tails' voice started to shout. "...A Tails..." Sonic finished talking. "SONIC, ARE YOU HERE?!" Tails asked again, as he moved around the town in search for his best friend. "Tails, try to be a bit quiet, alright?" Knuckles told him. "I know finding Sonic is important and all, but these people still want to live in piece! They have enough dealing with a giant robot destroying their town and three aliens walking around most of the time." "Sonic could be around here! He must know were looking after him!" Tails pointed out, frowning a bit at Knuckles. "Son–– Ugh!" He exclaimed suddenly, as he bumped against someone and fell to the ground. "You see?! I told you to be careful!" Knuckles said a bit mad, but still helping Tails to stand up. "Ugh... Sorry, sir. He's just a kid, and––" However, both him and Tails gasped when they saw who Tails bumped with: Someone looking very similar to Sonic, with the same properties, same shoes, even the same gloves an eye color. However, there were three things that made this Sonic different from the other ones: The first one, his arms were not blue; the second one, he had some kind of discs behind his shoes and over his gloves; and the third one, they couldn't tell if he had two eyes, or just one eye with two pupils. "Uh... S-Sonic?" Tails asked, both confused and scared on this new aspect. "Um... yes... and no?" Sonic replied, chuckling nervously. Another bad sign: His voice was different, too. He usually sounded cocky, sure, but he was still very innocent and childish. Yet, this Sonic sounded cocky still, true, but... he also sounded more mature. Whoever this guy was, it wasn't Sonic, or not the Sonic they knew at least. "What in the name of the Master Emerald is going on here... Who the heck are you?!" Knuckles asked, charging up electricity to once fist and pointing it at this new Sonic. However, Sonic didn't even flinched and even put a bored expression before sighing. "Alright, alright... I'll explain myself... But first, please put your first down, Knucklehead." "Why? So you can escape and leave us hanging with no answers on why you look like Sonic without being him?" Knuckles asked rhetorically before snorting. "I don't think so..." Sonic, however, rolled his eyes, and decided to charge up his electrical powers too, but not to attack Knuckles or Tails, just to prove that he didn't came with bad intentions. Both Tails and Knuckles felt amazed, and so, Tails stepped in between Sonic and Knuckles, with the former putting his electrical powers to sleep. "O-Okay, guys! L-Let's not make a scene here, alright?" Tails pled with sad puppy eyes to Knuckles. Knuckles himself was about to protest, but after Tails did the sad puppy eyes, he realized he couldn't say no to him, so he crossed his arms and put his powers to sleep as well. "Fine! But he better have a good excuse on why he looks so much like Sonic!" "Well, it depends on how open minded are you," Sonic replied, now smirking a bit and crossing his arms. "Ever heard about the multiverse? Pretty thought stuff." "The multiverse?" Tails questioned with a raised eyebrow, while Sonic simply nodded at him. "What kind of nonsense is a multiverse?" Knuckles asked confused. "Oh, you know... Thousands of parallel worlds where more Knuckles, Master Emeralds, Chaos Emeralds, Sonics, Tails, even more Eggmans exist... that kind of stuff!" Sonic replied, still smirking at them. "...You lost me after 'more Knuckles'... even though I did hear Master Emerald and Chaos Emeralds..." Knuckles confessed with a confused expression. Sonic facepalmed and looked at Tails with a begging look, hopping he did understood. "Um... I'm not as lost as Knuckles, but... A multiverse? Really?" He replied, still not convinced at all at Sonic's response. Sonic facepalmed again, but now also groaning frustrating. "Why explaining the mere concept of the multiverse is so frustrating on its own?! Look: I am Sonic, just not the one you know. I come from an alternate universe, and If I don't go home soon, every single world will stop existing, this one included!" Now Tails opened a bit wide, while Knuckles raised an eyebrow, still confused, but getting a better picture on what was going on here. "What do you mean?" Tails asked. "I could give you all the details later if you want, but what you have to know is that the Doctor Eggman from my universe found something powerful called the Paradox Prism," Sonic started to explain. "It has the power to tear apart time and space, and therefore, it can grant the power to travel across the multiverse. Eggman tricked me and sent me accidentally to a new universe were I got these discs," He said, showing the discs on his gloves and shoes. "They are my key back home, but so far? I always fell in the wrong universe..." "Wait, so you just moved from one universe to another randomly... and that's it?" Knuckles asked confused. "Yeah, because even if I have better control over these things now, I still can't reach my own universe," Sonic explained with a bored expression. "...The multiverse... it is real..." Tails muttered in disbelief, looking at Sonic. "I... I can't believe it... all this time I thought it was just some crazy theory, but... you're saying it's actually a thing?!" "For the millionth time, yes!" Sonic shouted with concern. "And... why are you guys looking like extremely huggable and giant plushies? All that fur both amazes and scares me!" He confessed, and both Tails and Knuckles cringed at him. "Ugh... where is your Sonic, anyways?" That last comment, however, caused a weird reaction on both Tails and Knuckles, since the former's ears fell flat while the latter downed his guard a bit, and Sonic panicked at their reaction's, already imagining the worse. "Oh no... don't tell me he––" Sonic tried to ask, but Knuckles cut him off. "No, he's not dead!" Knuckles said with a frown. "Well... at least, not as far as we know..." "Oh... okay... then what happened?" Sonic asked again. "He... He disappeared..." Tails replied with sadness. "He's been out for three days, and we already did everything we could to find him! But... we cannot open a portal like the one that dragged him away..." Sonic felt bad and looked down himself after hearing all of that... but then his eyes widened when Tails mentioned a portal. "I'm sorry, did you just said he was dragged by a portal?" "Uh... yeah?" Tails replied, while his ears lifted up again. "It was big, yellow, it seemed to be made out of Chaos Energy..." "And it could have swallowed us if our Sonic didn't saved us," Knuckles added with a neutral expression, but also crossing his arms. "Why do you ask?" Sonic, however, felt anxious again: If this world's Sonic wasn't here, and he was dragged by a yellow portal... then it could only mean one thing, and it wasn't good. "Um... I might have an idea of where your Sonic could be..." Sonic replied with a chuckle, while his left eye twitched in panic. Universe 220822 Young Sonic was sleeping peacefully over the big couch in the Brighthouse, while Boom Sonic slept with loud snores over the small couch. It was settled that the two Sonics were going to stay in the Brighthouse for the time being, while Tails and Zipp kept trying to find the way to sent the two Sonics back to their universe, as well as their Eggmans once the three of them were defeated. Soon enough, however, Young Sonic woke up and stretched a bit on his place, also scratching his belly before standing up and realize he was still in another universe. A part of him hoped that it was all a dream that he'll definitely would never forget if he woke up, but now he knew this was very real. He sighed a bit sad, but decided to smile all the same, and then, he stood up from the couch. He walked towards the kitchen, where he saw that Tails felt asleep over the dinner table, with Zipp nuzzling against him as they cuddled together and slept peacefully. He smiled a bit after seeing that, and decided to slowly walk away as he approached something that called his attention. Near Izzy's crafting corner, there seemed to be some kind of altar with candles, flowers and... a picture of a familiar yet strange figure to him. Getting closer, he saw that the picture was from an owl lady. Again, he could swear he saw her somewhere else before, or at least, he feels she's really familiar. The picture just showed the owl lady smiling warmly, while the scarf she was using on the picture was lying over the altar, right in front of the picture itself. Young Sonic also saw some kind of metallic plate over the scarf, and so, he decided to take a look at it as well. The plate said 'In Memory of Longclaw the Owl, beloved mentor, mother and friend'. He immediately regret having read that and slowly stepped back, now staring in pure and utter shock at the picture, as he also started to have flashbacks of the last time he saw his Longclaw ever before she killed Knuckles' clan... and died in the process. His breath was heavy, he fell to the floor and started to feel anxious, while he grabbed his chest and tried to think on anything that could made him feel better, but the memory of Longclaw saying goodbye kept coming over and over again. Soon enough, however, he was wrapped by a hoof, he felt his back resting over something cozy, and his breath started to calm down as he heard a voice humming a melody, as well as he felt someone resting their head over his. He closed his eyes and focused on the music, while his breath started to calm down and return to normal, while the flashbacks about Longclaw stopped coming, and he sighed relaxed, now that his moment of anxiety was over. Whoever helped him to relax did wonders, because he was feeling so much better now. "...Feeling better?" Pipp's voice asked. Young Sonic slowly opened his eyes, and realized that Pipp was the one that helped him to relax from his sudden panic attack, but he still smiled back at her since she was smiling. "Yeah... Thanks..." Young Sonic replied. "I... I got a bit carried away with a bad memory, that's all..." Pipp noticed that he was in front of Longclaw's picture, so she supposed that Young Sonic probably also had a Longclaw in his life, but something probably happened to her, which is why he had this reaction. "...Wanna talk about it? I'm a good listener, and I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to," Pipp assured with a warm smile. Young Sonic felt a bit conflicted after hearing such an offer. Usually, he'll tell this kind of stuff to someone he trusted, like Tom, Maddie or Tails. Heck, even to Knuckles, even if he showed little to no interest on helping out. And as much as he enjoyed spending time in this world with this ponies, they were still strangers at the end of the day... Yet, a part of him felt that he needed to take this out of his system, one way or another, so he sighed and looked back at Pipp, smiling a bit nervously. "I... I would like to... I-It's just..." Young Sonic tried to explain. "Let me guess: You still feel weird with being in a different universe than yours and you don't trust us at all yet," Pipp guessed, although she was still smiling. Young Sonic felt amazed at the so accurate description, and he simply nodded at her question. "Hey, it's fine if you still feel weird and can't trust anyone from this world," Pipp told him with honesty, while placing a hoof over his shoulder. "But know this: No one's gonna treat you horribly, and no one here will let this out if they find out, alright?" She assured to him with a smile, and Young Sonic finally smiled back at her. "Now, follow me," She instructed, as she started to walk away. "Where are we going?" Young Sonic asked a bit confused. "If you really wanna talk to me about this, I know just the place to do so!" Pipp replied with a smile. Pipp guided Young Sonic to Mane Melody. There, the young hedgehog sat over one of the salon's chair while Pipp went and did something. He looked around and whistled in amazement at the structure of the place. Despite it all being pink, fancy and 'girl-ish', he could say Pipp put all her heart and effort with this place. He even thought it looked thousands of times better than whatever is supposed to be that salon Maddie took him and Tails once. Soon enough, Pipp came out of some kind of basement with a service cart and two non alcoholic drinks. Why do I specify that detail? Guys, this Sonic is a minor, for God's sake. Pipp extended one of the drinks to Young Sonic, who hesitantly grabbed it and sipped a bit of its content, before his eyes sparkled as he kept drinking a bit more from it. "So, Sonic..." Pipp started, sitting over another chair and sipping some of her own drink as well. "What's exactly that thing that panicked you so much back in the Brighthouse?" "Well... that lady on the picture over that altar... who is she?" Young Sonic asked back. He already knew the answer, but he still wanted to make sure that he wasn't wrong. "Oh? That's Longclaw, this universe's Sonic's mother figure," Pipp replied, sipping from her drink again. "I mean, she's obviously not his biological mother because she's an owl and he's a hedgehog, but you get the point." "...So it was her..." Young Sonic said, now feeling sad as his ears fell flat. Pipp worried after she saw that. "Sonic? A-Are you okay?" Young Sonic soon enough felt his tears falling from his eyes, but he quickly tried to dry them off before replying. "...Remember when I told my story and I mentioned that my mentor died saving me from my universe's Knuckles' clan?" "Yeah... I do..." Pipp replied. "I... I can't imagine all the though stuff you had to went through for ten years..." She added with concern, while her own ears fell flat as well. "And I really hope you never have to, Pipp," Young Sonic replied. "...My mentor was named Longclaw, too... A-And after I read the plate over the scarf in the altar, I... I got terrible flashbacks of the last time I saw her forever..." He explained, with his tears falling faster now, although he didn't even tried to hide them. "I... I guess something similar happened to your Sonic, right?" Pipp sighed and put her drink aside, also nodding at Young Sonic's question. "She raised him entirely. She was with him his whole life, and she loved him like her own son..." She explained with a sad smile. "Sonic's parents where killed when he was just a baby, and so, Longclaw took care of him. For 16 years, she was his mother, and he loved her as one," She added, now letting out some tears herself. She might not been there when all of that happened, but the way Sonic always talked about her really showed how much she meant for him before passing away. However, Young Sonic smiled, both warmly and sadly: Warmly because he was glad that at least one Sonic out there in the multiverse could live and grow up along Longclaw, just like he always wished, even if he was grateful with Tom and Maddie for 'adopting' him. Yet, he also felt sad because he had an idea on what happened to this world's Longclaw. "...She died on a fire while trying to save the lives of some people on a town burning down..." Pipp revealed, and Young Sonic gasped in shock after hearing that. "Sonic felt devastated for quite a while, but he eventually decided that he had to keep moving, keep her memory alive in some way." "So... he stopped mourning her?" Young Sonic asked confused. "No... he still cries her death sometimes," Pipp replied, before smiling again. "But he remembers her more out of joy than out of sadness. All the time he spent with her was worth it for him, and he wants to remember her with a smile, even if her death still affects him to this very day." "Oh... yeah, that... that has a lot more of sense..." Young Sonic confessed, before he smiled. "I guess that altar in the living room is just his way to pay his respects for her, huh?" "Yeah, it is," Pipp replied. "Look... I told you this because I feel like those panic attacks could keep happening," She confessed, standing up from her chair with her wings and flying over to Young Sonic's side. "So, if that ever happens, promise me something: Instead of remembering her death, try to fool your mind and go even deeper on your memories. Remember all the things you did with her while she was alive. All the time you two spent together, all the amazing stuff you lived as a mother and her son... remember her with a smile, and not the same way you've been keeping her alive ever since you got separated from her... I'm pretty sure that she'll want you to be happy that you had her in your life, Sonic." Young Sonic, however, frowned a little bit at that last comment. It didn't bothered him, but... it wasn't a really happy thought, either. "Y-You didn't know her to know that––" He tried to point out, but Pipp covered his mouth with her hoof. "Sonic, I know I didn't know her to see if I'm right or wrong, which is why I must ask: Where you happy with her?" Pipp asked him. "Do you have good memories with the woman that loved you like her own son? Was she happy with you?" She asked again, now retiring her hoof from his mouth. "Of course we were happy!" Young Sonic replied. "She... she was everything to me before those echidnas tried to capture me... W-We were so happy together, a-and... and they took that happiness from me... she pushed me away just to save me and died in the process..." He added, now feeling very sad as he let his tears fall even more. "Then why don't honor her memory by being happy for her?" Pipp asked him with a smile. "I'm not saying that you should forget her. But Sonic, you have friends, a new family back home, and that destiny of protecting that Master Emerald? You're fulfilling it! Cry her death if you still need to, but smile once you are done, and remember that you do what you do because of her." Young Sonic's eyes widened, and he immediately hugged Pipp while his tears kept falling down, but now he smiled as well, and soon enough, Pipp returned the hug. "T-Thanks, Pipp... thank you so much for telling me this..." "Your welcome, Sonic..." Pipp replied, smiling warmly as she kept hugging him. Universe 140220 Tails and Knuckles dragged Sonic back to Tom and Maddie's house, for Knuckles' eternal annoyance. He had some kind of weird feeling about this new Sonic, and the fact that he believes their Sonic was probably brought to his universe just made him suspect him even more. Tails didn't believed him at all, either, but he felt very intrigued on how he could justify the existence of other worlds and what kind he already visited. Once there, they all sat down on the living room, and Sonic began to explain his entire adventure for the millionth time. At this point, he already memorized so well everything he has lived in every universe so far, that the words formed in his mouth and came out by default. Once he was done telling the whole thing, Tails took down some notes and analyzed them, while Knuckles looked at Sonic with a bored expression and his arms crossed. "What's the matter, knucklehead?" Sonic asked him with a mocking smirk. "Did something bite you up?" "I cannot trust you," Knuckles replied. "It's hard to believe a single thing that you have told us so far. Why should we trust you? Why shouldn't we kill you immediately if we wanted?" This time, it was Sonic the one who put on a bored expression at Knuckles. "Man, I understand why you cannot believe half of everything I said so far, but don't you think threatening me is a bit too much?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, as far as I know, the only crime I committed so far is to exist and call you 'knucklehead'. Other than that, I haven't done anything to none of you." "He's actually right, Knuckles," Tails pointed out, still reading his notes. "He arrived here out of nowhere, true, but so far, he hasn't done anything to us." "Yet," Knuckles insisted, now frowning at Sonic with his eyes turning red. "The hype and intimidation isn't on me, Knuckles," Sonic replied with a smirk. "The Knuckles from my world can do that too, so your 'intimidation' trick won't work on me." "Oh, we'll see about that, hedgehog!" Knuckles replied in anger. "We'll see about that..." "...Yeah, this has little to no sense at all..." Tails said, scratching his head confused as he stared at the notes he took from everything Sonic said so far. "While a part of me wants to believe that you're saying the truth, I'm afraid you're gonna have to prove us you're not making all this up, Sonic." That made Sonic smirk in a mischievous way, as he stood up and approached Tails and Knuckles. "Oh? Is that so? You want me to prove that I'm not just saying a lot of bullshit, huh?" "What the heck are you planning, hedgehog?" Knuckles asked in anger, standing up and glaring more than him, although he kind of felt surprised that this Sonic was the same heigh than him. Instead of using words, Sonic's smirk grew bigger, and then, he grabbed Tails and Knuckles whists, before boosting away from the house at top speed, while the fox and the echidna screamed confused. "Hedgehog!" Knuckles shouted confused and concerned. "What are you doing?!" "You want me to prove that the multiverse exists, so I'm gonna show you that I'm not lying!" Sonic replied with a confident smirk. "I'm sorry, you're gonna WHAT NOW?!" Tails asked in panic. Before they knew, Sonic's feet formed an eight, and then, the discs over his clothes shone bright. After that, a line formed in the floor and moved forward, before stopping and create and X portal, that Sonic traversed, this time along the Tails and Knuckles from this universe. Once again, Sonic was back at the point that connected every reality. However, this time he had a Tails and a Knuckles from a different universe with him, that stared both amazed and scared at this place, as they saw the infinite white lines and curves extending across the entire multiverse. "W-Where the heck are we?!" Knuckles asked in panic. "Welcome to the multiverse, knucklehead!" Sonic replied with a smirk. "W-Wait! THIS IS THE MULTIVERSE?!" Tails shouted in amazement. "Yup!" Sonic replied with a grin. "This is the place I keep coming back everytime I try to go back home. Pretty neat, right?" Before anyone could say anything else, Sonic entered a random line, as he, Tails and Knuckles all glitched out while accessing this new world. Universe 081203 The sky opened with the shape of an X as usual, and now, three figures fell from the sky, with Sonic, Tails and Knuckles all landing on some grass field with flowers around. Well, Sonic landed; Tails and Knuckles crashed in the floor. Sonic noticed that his shoes and gloves changed colors again, now showing a rainbow variant of his Soap Shoes, as well as showing rainbow gloves again. "Lame..." Sonic complained, while Tails stood up feeling dizzy, while Knuckles cracked his back after that rough landing. "I officially hate this place, and I've been here for just 1 minute..." Knuckles said with anger. Tails, however, felt his eyes going wide when he saw a bunch of talking colorful ponies celebrating some kind of birthday to a pink pony with purple mane. Once Sonic and Knuckles noticed that, their eyes also widened, but for different reasons: Sonic though she had a very similar look to Pipp, while Knuckles started to feel anxious. "Oh God... from having to survive Jojo watching this kind of stuff... to actually be on it?!" Knuckles shouted in panic. "I think i'm gonna throw up..." Tails said, resisting the urge to vomit right there. "Oh, come on! This isn't so bad," Sonic said with a smile. "Is just a nice and innocent world of colorful ponies that want to learn about friendship! How bad could that be?" "Your description makes me despise this place even more," Knuckles said with anger. "Also, is very easy for you to say this place isn't bad when your clothes have woke colors!" "Knux, readers are going to cancel you!" Tails said with worry. "Do not brake the fourth wall to me, young man!" Knuckles scolded him, before looking back at Sonic. "And you! Get us out of here! NOW!" Sonic rolled his eyes and grabbed Tails and Knuckles wrists again. "You guys are very closed minded," Sonic said with a bored expression, before boosting away, creating another X portal and passing through it. Once the trio was back to the point that connected every universe, Sonic saw another white line and smirked, before boosting towards it at top speed and traverse it. Universe 220921 Sonic, Tails and Knuckles fell from the sky, that opened with the shape of an X as usual. This time, they all landed in what seemed to be the roof top of a building. The trio stood up and cleaned their dust, just to hear voices screaming in panic, as well as the sounds of galloping. They all popped their heads from the roof, and then their eyes widened when they saw a bunch of ponies running and screaming around in pure fear and panic. While Tails fainted dramatically as he fell backwards and Knuckles frowned with his jaw dropped as his left eye twitched, Sonic recognized each and every one of these ponies. Then, he saw the town in general, and then his gaze stopped over two figures: Izzy and Sunny, with the latter not having her rainbow streak on her mane. This was the very day Izzy and him arrived to Maretime Bay for the first time, just that Izzy seemed to be alone, so in this universe things probably are going to play a lot different since Sonic never arrived here. "Oh, for the love of God!" Knuckles complained, and that made Sonic snap back to their current situation. "Don't just stand there like an idiot! Get us out of here! AND PLEASE, STOP DRAGGING US INTO PONY WORLDS!" Sonic rolled his eyes again and grabbed Knuckles' and Tails' wrists again, although Tails was still unconscious. Once again, Sonic ran over his place as he formed the shape of an eight with his feet. Then, the discs on his clothes shone bright and created lines in the floor, that soon create an X portal, where he boosted through along Tails and Knuckles. As usual, the portal closed once they all traversed it. Returning to this existential plane made Sonic smirk once again, as Tails slowly woke up while Sonic moved to another line. Universe 230691 The sky opened in the shape of an X, and Sonic fell from it along Tails and Knuckles. This time around, they landed over some metallic platform or ceiling, and once they all stood up properly, they saw down ways to feel surprised and shocked when they saw themselves - or kind of - staring at a bunch of giant flying ships with the form of fishes exploding in the air. While Tails and Knuckles felt amazed at what they were seeing, Sonic felt a massive deja vu... maybe because he already lived this before. This was the day 'Eggman' sent a letter stating that he'll take over the world in three days with his ultimate weapon, and that he started to call his team up with Tails and Knuckles 'Sonic Heroes', before eventually changing the name to 'Team Sonic'. However, this seemed to be an entire different reality, because he was also there. Suddenly, he started to wonder if these Tails and Knuckles he dragged along also had a Team name with their Sonic, but he would ask that later. "Now you see that I told you the truth, right?" Sonic asked to both Tails and Knuckles with a smirk. "The multiverse is real!" "...Yeah... You were right..." Tails confessed. "Still, this feels... really, really surreal..." "So there are more Master Emeralds, Chaos Emeralds... and I don't want to think on how many other things I though were unique also exist across the multiverse!" Knuckles shouted in panic. "Yeah... I better get you two out of here before your brains explode or something..." Sonic pointed out with a sheepish smile, before grabbing their wrists and boosting away again. Universe 140220 After popping up on 3 wrong universes, Sonic eventually reached the home universe of the Tails and Knuckles he dragged. They were now right in front of Tom and Maddie's house, and both Tails and Knuckles fell into the ground, with their faces crashing against the grass. Sonic laughed loudly and cleaned some tears of joy. "Man! You two really hated that, huh?" "Yes..." Knuckles replied in annoyance, still laying on the ground. "The transporting method? Absolutely," Tails replied, as he stood up and cleaned some dirt from his fur. "The trip? Not at all! I mean, not everyday you meet a Sonic from another universe that takes you to visit other universes!" He pointed out with an excited smile. "Would you mind if I study one of the discs on your body?" "Actually, I do," Sonic replied with a sheepish smile. "Don't get me wrong, little buddy. I trust you with my soul, no matter the universe! But... if I remove just one of these discs, my feet will get a mind on their own and I won't be able to control myself, and––" However, they soon saw a car stopping, and when the window went down, they saw a man with brown hair staring at Sonic with wide eyes and his jaw dropped. Sonic put a bored expression, however. "Let me guess: this guy is Tom, the police you mentioned earlier?" He asked Tails. "Yeah..." Tails replied with a sheepish smile, while Sonic facepalmed and shook his head in disbelief. Universe 220822 Later on that day, Young Sonic decided to return with Tails, as he was still working on the machine to control the Paradox Prism's fragments. Zipp went out with Pipp, Izzy, Misty, Amy, Knuckles and Boom Sonic to do some shopping, for both Boom Sonic and Zipp's eternal disgrace, while Sunny and Hitch were doing their respective jobs, and Rouge kept guarding up the town along with Omega, with Shadow joining them now. Pipp told Young Sonic that, if he wanted to know more about this universe's Longclaw, he should talk with Tails, since he was also raised by her after he met Sonic so many years ago. So, he decided that asking Tails about the subject could be a good idea. "Hey there, buddy!" Young Sonic greeted to Tails, as he approached him while sitting over some metallic piece. Tails was welding some pieces together, when he heard Young Sonic's voice, so he removed his welding mask and smiled. "Hi, Sonic!" He greeted, quickly standing up. "I though you were going shopping with Zippy and the rest or something." "Ugh, no!" Young Sonic replied, as he cringed at the idea. "I can barely stand Maddie and her sister shopping, I couldn't survive someone like Pipp doing it! Massive respect for this universe's Sonic being willing to go through all of that stuff..." "Yeah, well, that's what loves does to you," Tails pointed out. "Even the smartest of the mans fells into his knees when he saws their one, true love," He added, and then Young Sonic made a 'Yuck' sound and pull out his tongue, which caused Tails to chuckle. "So, what are you doing here? I doubt you just came for a chit-chat." "Actually... I am," Young Sonic confessed with a sheepish smile. "What I do doubt is that you'll like to hear what I wanna talk about..." "Is it about how babies are born? Because I'll be surprised if those Tom and Maddie you keep mentioning haven't talked about that to you yet..." Tails said nervously. "What?! No!" Young Sonic replied, blushing a bit in embarrassment. "I already know that, and it was a very awkward conversation, but it's not that! I want to talk about this universe's Longclaw!" "Oh..." Tails said, before his eyes widened and his ears fell flat. "Oooooh!" He said again, now chuckling and blushing embarrassed himself. "Okay... I get why you said I probably wouldn't like it, yet I feel ashamed for thinking other stuff... Hang on! Did you just said... 'this universe's Longclaw'?" "Um... yeah..." Young Sonic replied, while his ears fell flat again. "I... I guess I kind of want to know if she was like the one from my universe... that's all..." Tails understood better now, and so, he smiled at him. "Well... Longclaw was a very loving and caring mother for both Sonic and me," He started to explain. "You could say she was the average mother with two sons that were not hers, but she loved them like if they were," He added with a nostalgic look and a sad smile. "She also taught both Sonic and I some self defense skills, but most importantly, she took care of us like no one else did before... When she died... Sonic stopped being himself for a while." "In what context?" Young Sonic asked curiously. "He stopped eating Chilidogs for a very long time; he was always grumpy instead of being chill and cocky as usual; he always went against Eggman a bit more harsh than usual... he almost killed him one time!" He confessed, and Young Sonic gasped in surprise. "I think that is what made him snap back to reality. He simply isolated for a while... and one day, he returned, being the same happy, confident and cocky Sonic that we all know and love." "Whoa..." Young Sonic muttered in amazement. "I guess that he took some kind of therapy or something? Because I doubt he just woke up one day and decided to stop isolating himself out of nowhere, or just 'cause he felt like it." "Kind of," Tails replied. "Nobody knows the actual answer but him. He always changes the story! One day, he can say he did took therapy; then another day, he could say he simply decided to move on on his own after being isolated for so long. Is hard to tell which is the true version." "Probably a self defense mechanism..." Young Sonic muttered to himself. "Anyways, thanks for telling me this, Tails. It means a lot to me," He added with a smile, before looking down in concern. "My Longclaw wasn't too different, actually... the only thing she never did, thought, was show me any self defense skills..." "Really?" Tails asked curiously. "She was overprotective. Too overprotective for my liking," Young Sonic replied with a little sad smile. "She always wanted the best for me, but at the same time, she never wanted me to use my powers. She said that it could cause trouble, but I still didn't listened, and..." He added with sadness, sighing and looking at the floor with shame. "Those echidnas haunted me because I wasn't careful like she told me to be... a-and so, I-I accidentally lead her to her death, a-and––" He said suddenly, now crying in pain at the memory. Soon enough, however, Tails wrapped him into a hug, and Young Sonic didn't hesitated to hug back. To Tails it felt weird to kneel so he could hug Sonic, but still, he knew it was necessary. "Sonic... that wasn't your fault," Tails told him with a smile. "You couldn't knew, and even if you did, running away wasn't going to change anything. She loved you, and she died protecting you. I know she's proud of you, wherever she is..." Young Sonic cried more and tightened his hug with Tails, but his words also made him smile, feeling better and at peace with himself now. "T-Thanks, Tails... it means a lot to me..." Young Sonic said, smiling and still crying. "Anytime, Sonic," Tails replied with a smile. Young Sonic talked with Tails about their Longclaw's a bit more, and then, he decided to go visit Hitch. He remembers that Sunny mentioned something about Hitch having some kind of weird effect in all kind of critters and animals where his simple presence already made them love him with no specific reason. He couldn't tell if that was why he always felt some weird urge of being close to Hitch. It could be that, or the fact that he sounded almost exactly like Tom. There was also a very strange coincidence: They were both Sheriffs of a small town and they both had the weird habit of attract all kind of animals and critters. They also were parents of creatures that were not even biological nor from the same species, so maybe Young Sonic liked to be near Hitch because he reminds him a lot to Tom. And so, Young Sonic entered the Sheriff Station with a smile, finding Hitch running around the place as he chases Sparky, who had his Sheriff badge on his claws and refused to give it back. "Sparky!" Hitch scolded, while Sparky giggled as he kept running away from his 'father'. "For the last time, stop taking my badge! It isn't a toy!" However, the baby dragon's giggles stopped when he was suddenly grabbed by Young Sonic, who took the badge and launched it to Hitch, who could barely react, but managed to catch his badge anyways, and he even put it over his belt again. "Phew! Thanks, Sonic," Hitch said with a smile. "Sparky is way too hyperactive for me sometimes." "I'm ten times worse when I eat more than I can chew 10 a.m. in the morning!" Young Sonic confessed, while Sparky tried to get free of his grip, but then the hedgehog smirked and pulled out a fake badge, giving it to the baby dragon, who giggled again as he was putted back on the floor and ran away with his new toy. "Where did you got that?" Hitch asked confused. "It isn't mine nor Knuckles, is it?" "No, it isn't real," Young Sonic replied with a smirk, before his eyes widened. "Wait, did you said Knuckles–– Ugh, anyways. Back home, my friends and I baby sit a baby from one of Tom's friends from time to time. Just like Sparky here, that baby loved to grab Tom's Sheriff badge, so Tails created a bunch of fake ones to give them to the baby. Now, the three of us have fake badges with us just in case. Never I thought it could be useful around here." "You mention this 'Tom' guy a lot," Hitch pointed out with a smile. "He must be really important for you, huh?" "He was my very first friend in life," Young Sonic explained with a nostalgic smile. "He decided to help me despite knowing he didn't had to. He just... he helped me out because he only felt it was his duty as a Sheriff. Later on, we started to grow into each other a bit more, and eventually... he adopted me as his legal son... I'm really glad I broke into his garage when I tried to escape..." "I'm sorry, you did what?!" Hitch asked, both panicked and confused. "Long story short: Robotnik wanted to capture me, I tried to hide and escape by braking into his garage, then he arrived with a tranquilizer gun, he shoot me, I feel unconscious, woke up on his home, and I asked for his help," Young Sonic replied with a bored expression. "And then he became a criminal when he hit Robotnik in the face since he was working with the government back then." Hitch just stared with wide eyes and a confused expression at him. "...Whoa... And to think he adopted you later on!" He said chuckling, before bursting out laughing entirely, and Young Sonic ended up joining him. "Man, you really are a nice guy, Sonic! I don't remember having this much fun by just talking with someone!" "Uh-huh" Young Sonic said, now suddenly smirking in a mocking way at him. "And what about Sunny, huh?" That immediately made Hitch blush entirely, as he frowned and looked away. "Oh, come on! Was it necessary to bring her up?!" "Very much. I still wanna know if you'll stop being a chicken and finally tell her about how you feel," Young Sonic replied, still smirking in a mocking way. Hitch groaned in annoyance and rolled his eyes. "Look, once our Sonic returns and things cool down a bit, I'll tell her how I feel. Until then, could you stop teasing me with this subject and leave me alone? Please?!" Young Sonic's eyes widened after Hitch said that he will tell Sunny how he feels, but he still smiled. "Consider it a deal, Donut Lord!" "Thanks," Hitch thanked with a smile, and also a slight blush, which caused Young Sonic to chuckle at Hitch's reaction. Universe 140220 Sonic, Tails and Knuckles entered to the house along Tom, and now, they all explained the whole situation. Of course, Sonic was the first one to explain his entire situation again: Eggman discovering the Paradox Prism; a 'badnik' launching him towards the Prism, which made him travel to another universes; all the worlds he visited so far, and how he eventually ended up here because he was just trying to reach his home. However, in this occasion, Tails and Knuckles joined him to the explanation, since they wanted to tell about the worlds they shortly visited when Sonic decided to drag them away so he could prove he was from another universe and not some impostor to their Sonic. Yeah they also mentioned that this universe's Sonic was probably on Sonic's universe, but they explained it so vaguely that either Tom didn't understood that, or he did, but he was still trying to process all the information the trio of anthropomorphic animals just shared with him. Can you really blame him, though? Like, I doubt a real person can process the fact that the multiverse exists and not feel like their brain's gonna explode or something. "...So... you come from a different universe..." Tom asked Sonic. "A universe... with... talking ponies... like that My Little Pony series on Netflix..." "I know it sounds lame and stupid, but yeah, that's pretty much it," Sonic replied. "Also, did they seriously named a series 'My Little Pony' when they actually have the size of real-life ponies? I would like to have a talk with the producer, because that's the dumbest thing I'd ever heard, and my universe's Knuckles once said that 'Grape Shampoo' actually tastes like grapes!" "Why do your voice sounds so off?" Tom asked him. "Isn't Sonic supposed to be innocent and cheerful? No offense, but you sound way too mature and serious to be the Sonic I know." "Exactly... the Sonic you know," Sonic remarked with a raised eyebrow, then he smirked. "Now, would you believe me if I say that you sound exactly like a friend of mine that also happens to be a pony? He's also a Sheriff, and he's a critter magnet as well." "...That sounds painfully accurate, but how do you know I'm a Sheriff?" Tom asked. "...Tom, you arrived on the police officer car," Tails pointed out with a bored expression. Tom leaned his head and then nodded to himself. "Okay, fair enough... Man... Is hard to believe there's a world where you are... mature... and your arms aren't blue... also, do you have just one eye with two pupils or...?" "The division of my eyes is too small, alright? I have two separate eyes," Sonic replied with a bored expression. "Uh-huh..." Tails said, still not convinced. "So, can I study one of your discs, now?" "Tails, if I remove one of these, I could literally blow this place, and it wouldn't be in purpose!" Sonic replied with panic. "Look, I just wanna know if there's a way to difference which universe is which," Tails explained. "Maybe I can find the way to make your discs indicate which universe is which so you can go home safely and, you know, stop dragging yourself to unknown worlds." "Well, that actually sounds really good and helpful, but I still don't wanna blow up the living room by accident," Sonic said with concern. "I mean, it wouldn't be the first time it's blown up, but..." Knuckles tried to say, but a warning glare from Tom was enough to make him stop talking, and he even smiled sheepishly. "Just let me check it for a moment!" Tails insisted. "I promise I won't take long!" He added, now with sad puppy eyes. It seemed like that look caused Sonic to finally give up, because he sighed heavily and groaned in annoyance, before looking back at Tails, who was still making the sad puppy eyes. "Fine! But you better be quick! I don't know how much I can hold back the weird energy in my feet." Tails nodded with a smile, and so, Sonic slowly retired the disc from his right hand, which caused his gloves and shoes to go back to their true form, with both of them looking all dusty and messy again, just like when he was in that Mobius where Eggman created 'Robotropolis'. After Sonic gave the disc to Tails and he boosted away with it, Knuckles screamed in panic once he saw Sonic's clothes being all dirty and messy. "Holy grapes! When was the last time that you washed those?!" "The last time I was in my universe," Sonic replied with a bored expression. "Yeah, I can clearly see that!" Knuckles said with concern. "Hey, um... about what happened to this universe's Sonic..." Tom called out with worry and anxiety. "If everything Tails and Knuckled told me is true, he's probably on my universe," Sonic replied with a worried frown. "Don't ask me how, but is the only logical explanation for me. I mean, a yellow portal coming out of nowhere and taking him away? While that sounds like every other Sunday where I come from, I'm pretty sure that's something odd around here, right?" "Pretty much," Knuckles replied with a bored expression and a nod. Then, the main door opened up, and a girl with dark skin entered the place. "Hey Tom!" she greeted, now entering the living room. "I got message about coming here because of an emergency––" However, she stopped in mid-sentence and her eyes widened when she saw a completely different Sonic sitting on her living room. "Hey..." Tom greeted nervously. "Greetings, Maddie!" Knuckles said with a huge smile to her. Sonic, on the other hand, smiled at her and even whistled. "Kon'nichiwa, ojōsama!" He said cheerfully to her. Maddie felt conflicted and only waved her hand nervously, before slowly walking towards the kitchen with a panicked expression. "...I'm gonna talk with her and explain things as gentle as I can," Tom said with a sheepish smile. "Sonic, please don't move, and don't blow up anything either, alright?" "Dude, I literally just greeted her in Japanese..." Sonic pointed out with a bored expression, but Tom ignored him and walked to the kitchen. "She panicked almost the same way when she met this universe's Sonic... Or so he says," Knuckles pointed out with a confused expression. "You also mentioned something earlier about the living room blowing before, right?" Sonic asked him with a smile. Knuckles gulped nervously and looked away, as he scratched his head embarrassed. "Yeah, well... let's just say I was tricked, and... I punched Sonic through the entire living room... destroying it in the process..." Sonic blinked a few times, before bursting out laughing, which confused Knuckles a lot. "Man! If you worry about what I might think, don't worry! My universe's Knuckles punched me really hard as well when we first met!" "...Really?" Knuckles asked curiously. "Yup!" Sonic replied with a smirk. "The funny thing is that I was using the power of the Chaos Emeralds, so you have quite strength if you were able to take me out of my 'god mode', as the other me calls it!" "Huh... that actually sounds really impressive!" Knuckles confessed with a smirk. "I should apologize, Sonic. I got a very bad impression of you back in the town..." "Eh, no biggie," Sonic replied with a smirk. "If anything, I think I would act the same way in your place... But only if I hadn't travelled as many universes as I already have, though." "Still... I've always been a guy that acts without thinking... I tend to mistake things way too usually for my liking..." Knuckles said with a sheepish smile. "I once tried to defeat a massive titan bot that ended up throwing me towards some old pillars and almost broke my back!" Sonic confessed, remembering what Giganto did on the Starfall Islands a year ago. "I know very well about acting without thinking!" He added, and both him and Knuckles bursted out laughing. Soon enough, Tails returned with the disc and gave it back to Sonic, but his expression didn't really said he went anywhere with whatever he did to the disc. "I tried everything I could... but the only thing I managed to do was to calibrate it a bit. It means that now you don't need to wait a certain amount of time to jump between universes." "Wait... these things had a recharge cycle this whole time?!" Sonic asked confused. "I guess you never noticed it because you spent enough time in the other universes, and so, the recharge cycle completed before you even knew it," Tails guessed. "Huh... You're right, man, I never noticed that..." Sonic confessed. "But wait, shouldn't you do the same to the other discs?" "Not manually: Once you put that disc back to its place, the others will sync and calibrate as well!" Tails explained with a smile. Sonic smirked after hearing that, and so, he placed the disc back over his right hand. His gloves cleaned up, and his shoes returned to be the Puma ones. However, the other three discs made beep sounds, followed by a last one from the one he just put on his glove, meaning all of them were calibrated, and Sonic's smirk grew bigger. "You really thought of everything, huh?" Sonic stated with a big smile. "Thanks, Tails. I really appreciate your help. And don't worry: Once I go back home, I'll make sure your Sonic returns safe and sound!" "You better make sure that happens, hedgehog," Knuckles warned with a mocking smirk. "I'm a hedgehog of word!" Sonic assured. "Again, thanks for your help Tails. And I assure you: Your Sonic will return, no matter how!" He stated with a confident look, before extending his fist at them. Both Tails and Knuckles fist bumped at him with smiles afterwards. Then, Sonic winked at them and waved his hand before boosting away, repeating the already memorized process for him: Run until his feet created the shape of an eight, then wait for the line to move forward and create the X portal that would take him out of this universe, as the portal closed once he traversed it as usual. Suddenly, however, the pair of brown eyes appeared again, and stared at the place where Sonic was a moment ago. Sonic was once again running across the point that connected every universe. "Alright, Sonic. Now that I know there's another me back home, and possibly another Eggman too, I need to go back ASAP!" Sonic told himself with a determinate look. He saw the universes around for quite a while before boosting towards one of the white curves, hoping again that this one was gonna take him home... Universe 081114 Over an island, the sky opened with the shape of an X, and so, Sonic fell from the sky in a nosedive. After that, he curled into a ball and rolled a bit in the air before landing on the floor like a superhero. He then stood normally and looked around, realizing that he seemed to be over some kind of destroyed lab. But not anyone's lab: an Eggman lab, because his trademark logo was around the place. "Geez... whatever happened here sure was a bad thing," Sonic pointed out with a concerned expression. However, he suddenly felt... weird, and once he looked at his clothes, he screamed and understood why: He was wearing regular gloves, but they were surrounded by sport bandages, and while his shoes seemed to be his regular ones, now clean, they also had sport bandages around. "S-So many sport bandages..." Sonic muttered in panic. "Why do I have so many sport bandages around?! Who even needs this many sport bandages, anyway?!" Then, he noticed that his body was 3D once more, and that actually calmed him a little bit for now. "Freeze!" A robotic voice instructed suddenly. And soon enough, Sonic was surrounded by thousands of badniks, as they all pointed to him and prepared to shoot. Some of these badniks seemed quite familiar, despite some aspects being really different. However, other badniks were totally new to him. Still, he frowned, and positioned to fight back. "Seems like the welcoming committee is already here!" Sonic said with a frown, but still smirking anyways, as he charged up his electrical powers and prepared to have a good fight. > 8. Welcome to Seaside Island > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Universe 081114 Tails tried to investigate more about the weird energy that appeared near Eggman's destroyed lab. He sent all of his best inventions towards Eggman's island fortress, he spent day and night trying to get anything out of the already registered signals he got back when he informed Sonic about the energy the first time. And yet, so far, he still got nothing at all. Just a few times in his life has Tails feel like he's not doing enough, and right now? It was one of those times. He was very concerned about Sonic, and deep down, he was also concerned about Eggman. Whatever happened to them was weird, and he still got no information about them. He didn't wanted to imagine what kind of horrors both of them could be witnessing on whatever was at the other side of the portal that dragged them away. The simple though of that sent shivers down his spine. Suddenly, someone knocked the door of his lab, and he went and opened, just to be find Amy, Knuckles and Sticks outside. Tails smiled a bit, and moved aside to let his friends in, before closing the door and moving back to his workshop desk. "I didn't expected you guys to arrive today, but it's a nice surprise," He said with a little smile, as he rolled up some blueprints. "I know, Tails," Amy replied. "We just wanted to do how you're doing." "Honestly? I could be better," Tails confessed with concern. "I've been investigating everything I can for weeks! But I still got nothing... I have no idea of where Sonic and Eggman went, and... I'm starting to run out of ideas..." He added with a heavy sigh. "I never knew ideas could run away," Knuckles said with a confused expression. Usually, Tails would feel annoyed or mad at Knuckles saying stuff like that, but this time, it make him chuckle a bit. He really needed to laugh a bit more, since Sonic isn't around to make his jokes, no mater how bad they could be sometimes. He never thought a day would come where he'll miss Sonic's terrible jokes, yet here he is... "Well, they can," Tails replied, just to follow Knuckles' game despite being sure he was talking serious. "And right now? They are running away from me," He added with concern, now sitting over his desk. "Oh, come, Tails. I'm pretty sure those two are fine!" Sticks said with a smirk. "I mean, it wouldn't be the first time those two disappear and only have each other, right?" "That still is worrying, Sticks. We know nothing about where they are or how to bring them back"! Amy pointed out with concern. "Not to mention, Orbot and Cubot are watching over Eggman's lab in case more of that weird energy appears out of nowhere." Suddenly, Tails' watch started to beep, and he checked it over, just for his eyes to open wide when he saw the same energy lectures they've been talking about for the past couple of minutes, or weeks if we count Tails' research as well. "No way! I-It's back!" Tails said with concern. "What, what is back?!" Knuckles asked, both curious and worried, also not saying something stupid for once. "The energy that suddenly appeared on Eggman's lab! It returned!" Tails exclaimed with worry. "What?!" Amy asked confused. "Wouldn't that mean that Sonic is back, too?!" "No idea... but we should definitely find out!" Tails stated with a determinate look, while the others nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, over Eggman's destroyed lab, the sky opened with the shape of an X, and so, Sonic fell from the sky in a nosedive. After that, he curled into a ball and rolled a bit in the air before landing on the floor like a superhero. He then stood normally and looked around, realizing that he seemed to be over some kind of destroyed lab. But not anyone's lab: an Eggman lab, because his trademark logo was around the place. "Geez... whatever happened here sure was a bad thing," Sonic pointed out with a concerned expression. However, he suddenly felt... weird, and once he looked at his clothes, he screamed and understood why: He was wearing regular gloves, but they were surrounded by sport bandages, and while his shoes seemed to be his regular ones, now clean, they also had sport bandages around. "S-So many sport bandages..." Sonic muttered in panic. "Why do I have so many sport bandages around?! Who even needs this many sport bandages, anyway?!" Then, he noticed that his body was 3D once more, and that actually calmed him a little bit for now. "Freeze!" A robotic voice instructed suddenly. And soon enough, Sonic was surrounded by thousands of badniks, as they all pointed to him and prepared to shoot. Some of these badniks seemed quite familiar, despite some aspects being really different. However, other badniks were totally new to him. Still, he frowned, and positioned to fight back. "Seems like the welcoming committee is already here!" Sonic said with a frown, but still smirking anyways, as he charged up his electrical powers and prepared to have a good fight. The badniks started to shoot lasers against Sonic, while he easily dodged them, before charging up his Spin Dash and then launch himself against one of the badniks. Then, he saw a bigger one that looked more like a robot, and Sonic smirked before dodging a punch from it and then charge a Homing Shot that sent the robots backwards. When the robot fell on his back in the floor, Sonic jumped in the air, before using a Stomp Attack that traversed the robot's chest and shut it down entirely. That seemed to be enough to scare the rest of the badniks, because they slowly stepped back, before they tried to run away. They were totally terrified because of this new Sonic, since his abilities were something they never dealt with before. "Aww, leaving the party so soon?" Sonic asked with a smirk. "But I'm just getting started!" Then, he charged up his Spin Dash and destroyed a bunch of badniks in one hit, and then, he charged against more of those big robots with Wild Rush, Sonic Boom, Loop Kick, Spin Slash and even Cyclone Kick, with this last move being the one that destroyed the most robots. After a few minutes, Sonic was now standing at the top of a pile of destroyed badniks and robots with a huge smirk. "I have no idea on what happened to this universe's Eggman, but kicking up the robo butts of his machines was definitely fun!" Sonic stated with a huge grin. "Uh... Sonic?" A robotic voice talked, but this one was very familiar to him. Sonic turned around and saw Orbot and Cubot on the floor, staring at him and at the pile of destroyed machines confused, but specially at him. "Orbot? Cubot!" Sonic said, strangely, with a smile, before moving towards the flor and wrap the two robots in a hug. "Man! Is nice to see you two again after so long! Even if you're from another universe, I'm glad to see you again!" "Huh... This feels... strange..." Orbot said, a bit confused on why Sonic was hugging him. "True, but I'm not complaining!" Cubot said with a cheerful tone, as he wrapped his arms around Sonic as well. "Yeah, this feels nice..." Orbot confessed, also wrapping his arms around the hedgehog as well. Soon, Sonic broke the hug and looked at them. "Sorry for that. Now, uh... this might be difficult to believe... but I'm not the Sonic you know," He said with a sheepish smile, also scratching his neck. "Oh, we know that," Orbot said. "Is pretty obvious just by looking at you." ".. I'm sorry, what?" Sonic asked confused, since this is the first time since he left his universe that someone in other universe says that they already dealt with the multiverse before. "Yeah, you're smaller, and your arms aren't blue," Cubot pointed out. "Also, we kind of heard you complaining about the bandages, too," Orbot added as well. "Blue arms?" Sonic questioned confused. "What kind of freak wouldn't depilate their arms every now and–– The me of this universe never depilates, does he?" He asked suddenly with a bored expression, while both Orbot and Cubot just denied their heads, which caused Sonic to roll his eyes and groan annoyed. "Of course... Speaking of other Sonics, could I talk with him? I really want to make sure that whatever he has done with the multiverse before isn't really bad." "Well... that might be a problem," Orbot replied. "You see, this universe's Sonic and Dr. Eggman were dragged by a mysterious green portal, and we have known nothing about them ever since." Sonic's eyes widened, and he facepalmed, before groaning annoyed and frustrated for the millionth time. "Eggman! Not only he took one other Eggman and one other Sonic, but two of both?! What the heck is he up to now?!" "What are you talking about?" Cubot asked confused. Sonic opened his mouth and raised a finger, ready to reply. However, the sound of a plane approaching made his ears twitch a bit, and so, both him and the robots turned to see a blue plane with only two seats, one on each side, approaching to the island. Sonic managed to recognize only three figures: Tails, Amy and Knuckles, despite all of them looking pretty different. However, there was a fourth person with them, and he had absolutely no idea who it was. "Uh... who's the badger girl?" Sonic asked confused. "You mean Sticks?" Orbot questioned. "She's one of this universe's Sonic's friends." "She's also very energetic and... she has a very weird concept of the most normal things," Cubot added. "Eh, I'm used to weird stuff happening all the time," Sonic confessed with a bored expression. Soon enough, the plane landed near the now destroyed base, and the four passengers got down of it, now running towards Orbot and Cubot... as well as to Sonic, who crossed his arms and tapped a foot on the floor, before raising an eyebrow at the approaching group. "Orbot, Cubot!" Tails called out. "We detected more energy signs coming from here again!" "Yeah, we already know about that," Orbot replied. "Did anything happened? Has Sonic or Eggman return?" Amy asked with concern. "You know, that's funny!" Cubot said suddenly. "You see, our Sonic didn't returned, but––" "Holy Chilidogs!" Sonic's voice spoke suddenly, and everyone turned to see Sonic right besides Knuckles, who looked down at Sonic really confused. "What kind of steroids have you been swallowing, man?! Because, boy oh boy, you are huge! But the gloves with separate fingers is way too much, though." "What the hell?!" Tails exclaimed confused, staring at a much shorter Sonic with no blue arms and with some weird discs over his clothes. "Sonic?" "Uh, yes and no," Sonic replied, now smirking a bit. "Thanks to these two guys here, I know I don't have to explain myself so much. Just know that I'm from another universe." "Huh... that makes a lot of sense, considering how short you are compared to our Sonic," Amy pointed out with her arms crossed. "Never I thought I would have to look upwards to talk with my friends... except you, Tails. We're the same heigh right now," Sonic pointed out. "Orbot and Cubot here said that your Sonic and your Eggman disappeared a while ago. Mind if I ask what happened? And who is she?" He pointed confused at Sticks. "Hey!" Sticks complained with a frown. "I'm one of your best friends! No, I'm one of Sonic's... but you are Sonic... UGH! ALL THIS THINKING IS GONNA MELT MY BRAIN!" "Okay, alright, I won't ask any other thing to you..." Sonic replied with a cringed expression. "So, Tails? Mind to explain what I asked first?" "Well... I detected a weird energy sign coming from this place," Tails started to explain. "I told Sonic if he wanted to investigate if Eggman was up to something because the rest of us were busy, so he accessed and came straight here. However, Eggman had no idea of what energy he was talking about, and then––" "Let me guess: A portal appeared, they were dragged, and then the portal closed without leaving any sign of them," Sonic finished for him. "Whoa! How did you knew?" Knuckles asked, both surprised and confused. "I can read minds!" Sonic replied with a smirk. "Nah, just kidding. These two told me what happened to them," He explained, pointing at Orbot and Cubot. "But this doesn't makes sense..." Tails said, rubbing his chin confused. "I detected that energy sign again, and then you appeared! If that energy brought you here... wouldn't that mean that Eggman and our Sonic are in your universe?" "Funny story: They actually are there, and there's a big chance that if they don't come back, the entire multiverse will collapse!" Sonic replied with a smile. "I missed the 'funny' part," Amy said with a frown and her arms crossed. "Alright, alright... sit down, guys, because I'm about to tell you the craziest of the stories!" Sonic instructed with a smirk. Universe 220822 Young Sonic and Boom Sonic were staring at a clock in the wall, feeling incredibly bored. They've been in this universe for about a week now, but since the Eggmans seemed to be pretty busy planning absolutely nothing for the time being, they couldn't help it but feel bored. "How long it's been since we arrived here, again?" Boom Sonic asked, as he slowly blinked and still stared at the clock. Young Sonic pulled out his phone from his quills and stared at the screen, before yawning and put the phone back into his quills. "About a week or so..." "Then why do I feel like it's been ages since I last saw my friends?!" Boom Sonic asked in a very dramatic way. "Never I thought I could met a guy more annoying than Sonic... yet, this is still Sonic," Knuckles said with a frown and his arms crossed. "We just need to give them some time, Knux," Sunny said with a little smile. "I mean, they've been around for a week now, and they still need to adapt." "The question is: For how long?" Shadow asked with a frown. "Boom Sonic is a walking ego, and Young Sonic is being terribly influenced by him." "I can hear you talking about my flaws again, you know?" Boom Sonic said with an annoyed tone. "That's the point!" Knuckles said in anger. "Knuckie!" Izzy scolded him with a frown. "I actually have to give it to Sunny on this one," Pipp said with a little smile as well. "It may take a while, but I'm sure they will find the way to blend in just fine! I mean, it can't take them forever, and they've been doing great so far. Just because they're bored now doesn't mean they're not adapting to their environment anymore." "Except for the fact that I usually adapt to my surroundings really fast," Young Sonic replied with a bored expression. "It's been a week, and I cannot take the crushing boredom anymore! I need to kick some butts! Destroy robots! Or just learn how to swim!" He started to list with a twitchy eye and a desperate tone. "Whatever it takes to stop feeling so bored!" "I simply don't like it here," Boom Sonic confessed. "You guys are not the problem, don't worry, but I still feel too cool for this place, and I hate feeling out of place, alright?" "I swear I'm gonna brake his bones if we don't find a way to shut his cockiness down!" Knuckles stated with anger, holding a mug on his hand and accidentally braking it because of the anger. "Oh, come on!" "This is gonna sound weird, but for once, I'm with Shadow and Knuckles on this one," Amy confessed with her arms crossed and a frown. "We don't know for how long they'll stay here, and I cannot stand Boom Sonic and his stupid comments anymore, either." "Why being me is such a crime here?!" Boom Sonic asked in concern. "Because you are a jerk!" Everyone else shouted with frowns. "And the guy that still was a huge jerk a few years ago is telling you!" Shadow added, still frowning in anger. Boom Sonic looked at the rest confused, before sighing in defeat and rolling his eyes. "Fair enough." Suddenly, the doors of the Brighthouse were opened, and everyone, the other Sonics included, turned their heads to see at Tails and Zipp, who were smiling victorious. "We did it!" They both shouted in unison. "...Uh... what did you did, exactly?" Knuckles asked confused. Later on, Tails and Zipp guided everyone else outside and showed the Paradox Prism fragments working. They were inside of their most recent model of their machine, although they already lost count and cannot say which model this one is anymore, but they don't care about that right now. They just were so, so happy that their efforts were finally paying off. After an entire week of failures and days of barely sleeping, they finally managed to successfully open a portal. Oh, yeah, the machine opened a portal with the shape of an X with no trouble at all. "Oh... that's what you did..." Knuckles said with an amused expression. "As you can see, the good news is that we finally opened a portal, and now we can finally travel across any universe we want!" Zipp said with a happy smile, before squealing in excitement. "Wait, does that mean that we can go home now after we defeat the Eggman trio?!" Young Sonic asked with a hopeful smile and sparkling eyes. "Yeah... that's were the bad news enter in the picture," Tails said with a sheepish smile, also scratching his neck in embarrassment. "You see, we might gain access to the multiverse, but... we still need to find out how to travel through it, as well as which universe is your home so we can avoid sending you all to the wrong universe..." "In a little bit of a slump?!" Boom Sonic asked a bit panicked, as his left eye twitched a bit. "The portal is ready, we just need to discover which universe is your home so we can sent you back," Zipp summarized with a sheepish smile. "Which means that you'll stay here for a bit longer than we anticipated..." Tails replied with a nervous tone and chuckle. Young Sonic's enthusiasm faded away entirely as his ears fell flat in sadness, while Boom Sonic seemed to be about to explode in rage. However, he sighed and took a deep breath to calm himself down, before turning around and look at the rest... with an ashamed expression. "Well... I cannot change that, so... I guess I'll just stick around until that thing is ready," Boom Sonic said, now with a determinate look. "I know you did nothing wrong, and that my attitude isn't justified. Eggman, however, really messed up this time. Your universe or not, he's still Eggman at the end of the day, and I'm still Sonic. So, I'll do what us Sonics do best: Kick his butt and make him pay for dragging me away from my universe and mess up with innocents!" "Finally, you talk like a coherent guy," Knuckles said with his arms crossed and a big mocking smirk. "Big Sonic here is right," Young Sonic added suddenly. "I wanted a bit of adventure after 4 months of nothing but pure boredom... However, thinking about how serious this situation is, I realize is time to take this thing seriously!" He also stated with a determinate look, while his eyes turned blue for a second. "The entire multiverse is not only at the palm of our hands and hooves, but also at the palm of the Eggmen's dirty hands. So, as long as we stay here, we'll make sure they won't mess up any other universe in the process!" "Then you two better embrace yourselves and stay true to your word, Sonics!" Rouge's voice spoke, and everyone turned to see her and Omega approaching by flight, as they landed in front of them. Soon enough, Hitch also arrived with Sparky on his back. "Let me guess: Eggman," Shadow said with a frown. "Affirmative," Omega replied. "An entire army of badniks combining three different styles are approaching the town, as well as the original Death Egg Robot controlled by this universe's Eggman," He added, moving his hands slowly as he explained all of this. "The original Death Egg Robot?" Tails questioned confused. "But Eggman hasn't used that ever since he captured Sonic and the Mane 5 last year! Something's not right..." "Serious question: Do your Eggmans name everything starting with the word 'Egg'? Because mine barely tolerates that I call him Eggman," Young Sonic asked confused. "Yeah, he didn't liked the nickname at first, but somehow, he'll eventually learn to love it. Don't think too much about it, man," Boom Sonic replied with a bored expression. "If we are done chit-chatting here..." Sunny called out, now making her Alicorn form appear. "I think we have an invasion to stop!" She stated, before flying away. The others, Boom Sonic included, immediately followed up, but Young Sonic stood behind for a few seconds with his jaw dropped. "Why didn't you guys told me she could do that?! That was so cool!" Young Sonic complained, now following them as well. Eggman was approaching with Sage and a big army of robots. The reason why Eggman waited a whole week instead of attacking when he said he would is to make absolutely sure that he wouldn't fail like his counterparts. This time, instead of combining them, the Eggman trio decided to sent an army of mixed robots: That is, a big amount of each Eggman design. To calculate a bit: there were 300 badniks from Eggman, 300 from Ivo and 300 from Robotnik. "How's or rate of success in this battle, dear?" Eggman asked Sage. "Winning the battle has a chance of 34% from winning in our favor," Sage replied. "However, if we play our cards properly, we might not need to win this fight, and just steal the fragments of the Paradox Prism that we're still missing." "As long as those fragments are ours, I don't mind loosing... Not this time, at least," Eggman stated with a frown. "Well, you better return victorious, then!" Ivo stated from the other side of his call with Eggman. "We already have enough looses accumulating. We don't need more!" "Besides, you keep bragging about having things under control," Robotnik pointed out as well, before scoffing in a mocking way. "I expect you're not only bragging, doctor." "Then you'll be very pleased, Robotnik, because I never disappoint," Eggman stated. "I have archives that prove otherwise..." Sage muttered to herself. "Well, well, well!" A voice spoke. Eggman stopped moving on his Death Egg Robot, just to stare with anger at Young Sonic, Boom Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Team Dark, since the Mane 6 decided to stay in town to evacuate everyone and wait for the badniks in case they reach Maretime Bay. "Look what the Egg just brought! A doctor about to get his butt kicked, and..." Boom Sonic tried to say as he smirked, but as soon as he saw Sage, his eyes widened in confusion. "Uh... is that a ghost girl?" Young Sonic asked confused. "Is every Sonic such an idiot the first time they met me?" Sage asked with a little frown. "Oh, that's it!" Young Sonic said with anger, but as he tried to boost away, he was stopped by Boom Sonic. "Hey!" "Try to be patient, little guy," Boom Sonic said with a serious expression, before looking back at Eggman with a frown. "Let him have some fun first." "Ohohoho! So you wanna be a gentleman now, huh?" Eggman mocked up, before closing the capsule of his Eggmobile, that also caused the Death Egg Robot to close itself. "Well, lucky you! Because I was waiting to have a good battle myself!" He stated, before using the rockets of the machine to boost against the Sonics. "We take Eggman, you take the badniks!" Young Sonic instructed, before both him and Boom Sonic boosted towards Eggman. Tails and Knuckles, on the other hand, looked at each other and nodded in agreement, before jumping in the air and charge up their Spin Dashes, that somehow combined before boosting towards Ivo's badniks. Meanwhile, Amy started to spin her Piko Piko hammer around as she destroyed some of Robotnik's badniks, as well as she left the hammer over one and spin to kick the robots with her own feet, before jumping in the air as well and charging up a Spin Dash herself, as she launched against more badniks. Shadow, on the other hand was teleporting around as he punched and kicked badniks, as well as he used his Chaos Spear and Chaos Control to allow Rouge and Omega to shine in the battlefield as well, with the former kicking up some badniks with her feet, although she also decided to Spin Dash a bit; while Omega used all of his weapons against the robots. After a while, Tails and Knuckles separated, with Tails using his powers to create a giant robot with his shape, as he stomped the floor and started to kick, punch and destroy robots with his laser, and he also started to run towards the Death Egg Robot. Knuckles, on the other hand, charged up his fists and let out his rage over any badnik he saw, no matter from which Eggman it was. He also used his super clap and his boxing experience to strike several punches. Finally, we have the Sonics, that were Spin Dashing and Homing Attacking every badnik that got in their way, while they finally reached the Death Egg Robot. Then, they both jumped in the air and charged another Spin Dash against it, but they were sent backwards by Sage, who used some kind of shield to reflect the attack. Both Sonics landed in the ground and frowned at Sage, who smirked victoriously at them... except when she was suddenly punched by Tails' machine and sent flying away. "Sage!" Eggman shouted with worry and concern, before growling in anger as he charged one of the arms of the Death Egg Robot and punched Tails' robot, that got sent backwards as it felt to the ground. "Whoa!" Tails exclaimed as he fell, while the Death Egg Robot approached even more. Then, the robot charged up the spikes of the left arm and charged with all its might against Tails' robot. Inside, Tails tried to get free from the machine, but he was stuck inside, and he was struggling to get free before Eggman could kill him. "Tails!" Both Sonics shouted in worry, having terrible flashbacks about how Tails got in danger in their worlds: Boom Sonic was when they both fought Ivo, and Tails had an accident where he crashed with the Tornado; and Young Sonic was when they fought Robotnik and Knuckles in the Siberian mountains, before Tails fell unconscious because of missiles explosions sent by Robotnik's Eggmobile. The two Sonics frowned, and Boom Sonic activated the electrical lasso of his watch, while Young Sonic's eyes changed to blue as he grabbed the other side of the lasso. Then, Boom Sonic started to spin the lasso around, with Young Sonic still holding in tight, before Boom Sonic launched his counterpart against the Death Egg Robot, as Young Sonic charged up his Spin Dash in the air, combined with his electrical powers, and then hit Eggman's machine, moving it a bit away from Tails, while Young Sonic landed right besides Boom Sonic. Tails still couldn't get free, but then he remembered that the robot was made out of his powers, so he activated them to dissolve the robot, then fly right behind Eggman and create the robot again, grabbing the Death Egg Robot from its arms and its head. "Time to go, Sonics!" Tails instructed with a confident tone and smirk. Suddenly, both Sonics were lifted by Knuckles, who smirked at them before throwing them in the air, with Young Sonic cheering and Boom Sonic screaming in fear. After that, Knuckles launched Amy as well, and once she reached both Sonics, they turned and saw her Piko Piko hammer, and smirked as well. Then, they both charged up their Spin Dashes, with Young Sonic combining his electrical powers again, and then Amy used her hammer to launch both Sonics against the Death Egg Robot. With both Spin Dashes all charged up, plus Young Sonic's electrical powers, Eggman gulped and closed his eyes, awaiting for the impact. Soon, Tails dissolved the robot again and boosted away, while the Death Egg Robot was hit by the two Sonic's Spin Dashes. The Death Egg Robot was sent really backwards, and Eggman had to move the arms with spikes to finally make it stop, while he growled inside the robot and glared daggers at the Sonics, that landed in the ground and grinned victoriously at him. However, Sage suddenly appeared again, and just with a snap, the already destroyed badniks raised from the ground and pointed their weapons at Team Dark, Team Sonic and the Sonics, who stood back to back to protect each other and fight against the reborn badniks. "This has no sense... I don't remember Sage being able to do that!" Knuckles pointed out. "You're right... if anything, that seems more like––" Tails tried to point out, but then, his eyes widened in realization, and he gasped in horror. "The Phantom Ruby's abilities... Sage can float like Infinite could... She can create things literally out of nowhere... and she restored the badniks we destroyed with just a snap..." Except for the Sonics, the rest also gasped in realization. "Oh God..." Amy said with concern. "H-He didn't... d-did he?!" Rouge asked with concern. "That son of a bitch!" Knuckles exclaimed with anger. "Doctor!" Shadow decided to call out with anger, but also a slight glimpse of panic. "You didn't created Sage's new body out of the Phantom Ruby, did you?!" Eggman, instead of using of words, started to laugh sinisterly, loosing al control over himself as he laughed loudly, just confirming everyone's worse thoughts, while Sage, still in the air, grinned sinisterly as well. "So it's true..." Amy muttered with worry. "E-Eggman brought her back using the Phantom Ruby..." "No... it's even worse..." Tails said with concern. "Tails, that kid has the power to tear reality apart with just a snap if Eggman orders her to do so," Shadow pointed out with a frown. "How can it be any worse?!" "The Phantom Ruby was unstable and dying when Sonic, his past self and Rookie defeated Eggman," Tails explained. "But... it seems like he kept the gem and... and then..." "And then what?!" Rouge asked in panic and desperation. Tails looked at Sage, who glared daggers at him, and he gulped again. "S-She is the Phantom Ruby now..." Universe 081114 The group decided to take Sonic, Orbot and Cubot back to Tails' lab in a place called Seaside Island. Apparently, this place is filled with jungles, mountains, undersea civilizations, cloud cities and all kinds of other environments, or that's what Tails said at least. They also seemed to live near a place called 'Hedgehog Village', but he's pretty sure that he saw many anthropomorphic animals there that aren't even hedgehogs. That aside, he explained his entire adventure again, but now a bit annoyed and with a bored expression since he was pretty tired of explaining the exact same thing in every single universe he went. That's why he mentally promised to himself that if he lands in another world by mistake instead of his home universe, he won't explain anything further and will just run away. After he was done with his story for what felt like the millionth time, he sighed frustrated and lay on the couch he was sitting over, while Knuckles looked at him a bit confused, Amy looked at him with sparkling eyes, Sticks fell asleep and Tails looked at him with an analytical look. "So... you come from a world of talking ponies?" Knuckles asked confused. "Seriously? I tell all this crazy wacky stuff about other universes, and your biggest concern is the world with ponies?" Sonic asked him with a bored expression. "I don't know about your Knuckles, but ours is a meathead, don't think too much about it," Tails replied, while taking down some notes. "Well, I think that sounds really nice!" Amy said with a smile and sparkling eyes. "How's that I never heard about it before?!" "This universe feels pretty generic for my liking..." Sonic muttered to himself. "Anyways... What kind of multiversal experience do you guys have? I mean, you have some if what Orbot and Cubot told me is true, right?" "Eh, is not a big deal," Tails said, still checking over his notes. "At least for us. Our Sonic was sent to a parallel universe where he never existed, and so, he confronted an Emo Eggman that recently tried to take over our world." "And our last encounter with that guy was when Shadow tried to erase both realities by keeping both him and our Eggman in the same plane of existence," Amy added. "...You say is not a big deal, yet your universe almost stopped existing..." Sonic pointed out with an anxious look. "Compared to what is happening to you right now? It isn't a big deal," Tails pointed out with a bored expression. "Say, could you give me one of your discs?" "Let me guess: You need it for research purposes, don't you?" Sonic asked with a bored expression as well. "...How did you know?" Tails asked surprised. "The previous world I was also had a Tails, and he also tried to get information from my discs," Sonic explained. "He got nothing. Also, removing only one of my discs implies that a weird energy in my body could get out of control, and I don't know how long I could take it back before it blows up something." "Then why don't we go out and distract yourself a bit while Tails does that?" Amy suggested. "Yeah! Maybe you won't blow anything in the process," Knuckles added with a smile. "Emphasis on maybe," Sonic said with a bored expression, before sighing in defeat and walking over to Tails. "Fine... but you better not damage it! I still need it to go home and make sure your Sonic and Eggman come back before my Eggman decides to mess up the multiverse even more than he already has." "Don't worry, Sonic. Is not like I'm gonna blow it up, I just wanna test a little theory I have," Tails replied with a smile. Sonic raised an eyebrow, then rolled his eyes and removed the left disc from his glove, before giving it with hesitation to Tails, while the young fox grabbed the disc and moved away. Soon enough, Sonic's appearance returned to normal, with the sport bandages leaving, as well as the brown scarf, and his gloves and shoes returned to normal, but they were all messy yet again. However, Knuckles suddenly grabbed Sonic in a side hug that cut his breath a bit. "Well, guess it's time to head out!" He stated with a smile, before walking out of the lab, still with Sonic on his arm. "Sticks!" Amy called out with a smile, while Sticks woke up all of a sudden in a very defensive way as she took out a boomerang and pointed it to all her surroundings. "Calm down, girl! We're just heading out! Wanna come?" Sticks sighed in relief and put her boomerang aside. "About time! That other Sonic really bored me a lot." Amy chuckled after Sticks said that, and as the two girls left the lab, Tails stared confused at the disc that Sonic gave to him. "Hmm... I can see why that other me could tell little to nothing about this disc," Tails said with a concerned expression. "Yet, it won't stop me from trying! If it means I can help to stop this new Sonic's Eggman from conquering our universe, and bring back both our Sonic and Eggman, then I'll better start working!" Sonic was dragged towards the beach, outside of this universe's Sonic home, that weirdly had no door for some reason. However, he decided not to question that and followed Amy, Knuckles and Sticks' flow. They settled up a volleyball court and decided to play a few rounds, with Sonic teaming up with Amy, while Knuckles and Sticks were the opposite Team. Of course, they rotated teammates from time to time, but overall, they seemed to have fun. Sonic actually felt relieved playing this. It was like he could at least forget his worries for a second and enjoy having a little break after visiting many universes in what he felt was just a couple of days, but it could perfectly already have passed weeks or months in his universe. Yet, he decided not to think on that and only focus on the game currently going. Also, the weird energy of his body thankfully didn't show up, so he was safe for the time being. Meanwhile, Tails placed the disc over a scanner. After scanning it, he moved to his computer and started to analyze what properties was it made of, and how it allowed Sonic to travel across the multiverse, as well as change his clothes whenever he entered to a new universe. Tails rubbed his chin, trying to come up with how this was possible, before put his googles over his eyes and taking the disc again. Later on, Sonic and Knuckles were having a strength contest because Knuckles wanted so. Knuckles launched a very heavy rock away, and it landed 500 yards away from their original position. He cleaned his hands and smirked, while Sonic clapped at him with a smile. Then, Sonic grabbed a rock a bit less heavier and threw it with all the strength he could. Knuckles felt surprised, however, when the rock landed 370 yards away from their original position, since that meant Sonic was very strong, even if he loosed. "Oh... well... strength isn't my thing, anyways..." Sonic pointed out with a smile, before turning to Knuckles and extend his hand to him. "Well played, Knux." Knuckles raised an eyebrow and scratched his neck confused, before stretching his hand with Sonic's. "Um... thanks... You know? Our Sonic usually can't get pass the 30 yards. I'm very impressed that you managed to get even further!" "I work out with the you of my universe from time to time," Sonic said with a smile. "Again, strength is not my thing, but if I'm able to go further than the me of this universe, then I take that as an absolute win!" Tails placed some kind of chip over the disc, and then he placed the disc in a useless prototype of an unfinished robot. Then, he stepped back several steps and pressed a button over a panel control, that seemed to activate the chip over the disc, and therefore, it kind of activated the disc itself. However, the prototype ended up exploding, and Tails ducked for cover, while pieces of the robot flew away, as Tails stared at the now destroyed prototype, but the disc remained intact, and so did the chip on it. Tails approached the disc and grabbed it, before looking at it with a confused expression. "Whoever is this 'Rotor' guy that Sonic mentioned, he must be an amazing genius if he managed to built something so impressive and resistant, even if it was by complete accident." Sonic was now sitting at a table along Sticks, while two plates of burgers where placed right in front of them. Yup, this was an eating food competition, and Sonic actually seemed pretty exited about this one, specially because he was hungry, and he hasn't eaten anything ever since he left the first universe he fell on after the Paradox Prism shattered. "The rules are pretty simple: whoever leaves the plate totally empty first, wins!" Amy announced with a smile. "So, are you guys ready?" "Oh, I'm about to destroy this guy's ego entirely!" Sticks stated with a confident smirk. "Here's the thing, Sticks: I haven't eaten anything for 6 episodes, and I'm starving!" Sonic announced with a determinate look, also licking his lips a bit. "On your marks..." Amy said, while both Sonic and Sticks returned their gazes at the plates of food: 100 burgers that they'll had to eat entirely if they wanted to win. "Set..." Amy said again, and now Sticks licked her lips as well. "GO!" Knuckles announced, using a megaphone. And so, Sonic and Sticks started to eat their burgers like a pair of maniacs. At first, Sonic found the taste of the burgers a bit weird, but eventually, he seemed to be enjoying the taste, and so, he started to eat the burgers even faster. However, Sticks wasn't staying behind, although Sonic already was 2 or 3 burgers ahead of her. They kept eating burgers for 3 minutes straight, but while Sticks was just 16 burgers ahead and already seemed done, Sonic finished his last burger, even licking his fingers a bit before smashing the empty plate on the table with a victorious smile. "Done!" Sonic announced. Everyone that was watching, besides Amy and Knuckles of course, started to cheer fro Sonic, while he only rubbed his nose and smirked. "W-Well... played... Sonic..." Sticks said, rubbing her stomach as she felt it hurt a lot. Sonic smiled, and he stretched hands with her. "Same thing, Sticks... by the way, there's a garbage can over there in case you need to get rid of your... mixed substances inside of you." "Thanks!" Sticks said, before immediately moving to the garbage can and throw up everything in there. Sonic cringed at the sound, and turned around before his stomach felt like that as well. Tails placed the disc over the floor, and once again, he stepped back to be at a safe distance. After that, he pressed a button over a remote control and waited a few seconds, while the disc seemed to react a little bit and almost opened a portal in the floor, which made Tails smile. However, the portal not only closed, but it also caused a little explosion that made Tails use the remote as a cover, while the disc landed right beside him, still entirely intact and with the chip over it. Tails grabbed the disc, and now he frowned with both concern and frustration. "Apparently, the disc only responds flawlessly when Sonic uses it, but it cannot respond to me yet... Maybe Rotor did invented something revolutionary by mistake, because there's no logical explanation for this thing not working with me so far..." Now, Sonic was in over some kind of rock in the mountains, and about 1000 yards away, there was a giant target shooting in the ground. At his side, Amy was holding both her hammer and a yellow, metallic bat. Of course, she gave the bat to Sonic, while he caught it in time and looked at it very confused. Soon enough, however, Knuckles arrived with two giant rocks, and he stopped moving them to catch a brake as he sat over one of them. "Um... Amy?" Sonic called out with a raised eyebrow. "What are we gonna do here, exactly?" "Ever heard about 'world record home run'?" Amy asked him with a smirk. "Nope," Sonic replied with a bored expression. "Knuckles will launch a rock in the air, and everything we gotta do is try to launch it against the center of that target shooting!" Amy explained. "Okay... but wouldn't it be better if I used a hammer as well?" Sonic questioned to her. "I mean, the bat is going to brake in half the moment it crashes against the rock." "Why would Dwayne Johnson crash against your bat?" Knuckles asked. Sonic felt so surprised when he heard that, and he started to laugh like a maniac after hearing the joke, despite being pretty sure that Knuckles was talking seriously with that one. "O-Oh gosh, Knucklehead!" He said with a huge smile, while Knuckles stared at him confused since he didn't understood what was he laughing about. Amy, on the other hand, only shook her head on disbelief for Knuckles' 'joke', but she smiled anyways as Sonic started to calm down. "You would have a point, if it wasn't because that bat is made with the same materials than my hammer, so you should be able to hit the rock just fine!" Sonic sighed in relief after he stopped laughing at Knuckles' joke, and then he looked at the bat with a smirk. "Well, if that's the case... launch them, Knuckles!" He stated with confidence, now positioning the bat tow swing it.' Amy smirked as well, and she also positioned to swing the bat. Knuckles seemed confused at first on why they were doing that, but then, his eyes widened, and he immediately launched to giant rocks at Sonic and Amy. The moment the rocks were in front of them, their smirks grew more, and then, they swing their weapons, that hit the rocks hard enough as they traveled towards the target shooting. However, both hedgehogs, and the echidna, were all surprised when the rocks crashed right in the center of the target, and then got completely destroyed. Their jaws dropped entirely, and they looked at each other for a few seconds before looking back at the now destroyed rocks in the ground. "...You guys saw that... Right?!" Sonic asked to Amy and Knuckles. "W-We have the very same strength..." Amy said in shock. "Man, you both impress me and scare me..." Knuckles confessed with a little smile. "I guess I left a... crushing impression, huh?" Sonic asked with a mocking smirk. That seemed to be enough to make both Amy and Knuckles burst out laughing, and Sonic joined them soon enough. "Oh, even your jokes are better worked!" Amy said with a big smile. "How's that you are so cocky and confident, but so selfless and kind all the same?" "Eh, I do admit I like to have the attention now and then, but to me? Saving lives is more than enough," Sonic replied with a smirk. "While sometimes I do tent to get more cocky than usual, I still remember why I do this in the first place: Because I love to! Seeing people safe and sound, smiling as they are grateful that they live another day... that fills my heart with joy. I don't need recognition, I don't need to be praised, I just like to help because it feels good! At the end of the day, what matters to me is that people can live to see another day arrive." However, he soon started to hear sobs, and he turned to see both Amy and Knuckles crying a lot after he finished, as well as they hugged each other. "M-Man... I'm a knucklehead... but even I know that was beautiful!" Knuckles shouted dramatically, as he buried his face on Amy's shoulder, despite him being taller. "Why can't our Sonic be like you?!" Amy cried out as well. "Huh... whoever this universe's Sonic is, he sounds like a pain in the ass..." Sonic said with concern. "I really hope my friends are doing well back then, wether if they're dealing with him or not..." Universe 220822 Yeah, Boom Sonic's cockiness is the last of their concerns, because in Maretime Bay, things were not going any better. Eggman sent many units of his army towards the town, and while everypony was safe and sound in Canterlove Studios, the Mane 6 were really busy trashing down the badniks. "I cannot believe this guy just keeps getting worse and worse everytime!" Sunny said with concern and a frown, while also flying around as she used her horn to launch several lasers against the badniks. "He created a robot to destroy the town and the Brighthouse, he awakened ancient technology of a forgotten civilization, he created a virus that Opaline stoled, he tried to stole the Chaos Emeralds from Tails, and now he literally brought himself as backup!" Hitch pointed out with a frown, while using his Earth Pony magic to make grow some vines that grabbed some badniks and destroyed them, while Sparky on his back used his dragon fire to turn the badniks into food. "How's that you still cannot believe what this guy does?! You literally beat the crap out of him not so long ago!" "Focus, you two lovebirds!" Zipp said with a frown, while she made a kick spin in the air before kicking some flying badniks that chased after her. "Lovebirds..." Hitch said with wide eyes, suddenly kicking a badnik that approached him with his hind hoof, while Izzy used her horn to wipe out some of the robots with lasers. Then, Hitch looked back at Sunny, who suddenly landed over a Moto Bug, while she also launched a laser against one of Robotnik's white drones. Hitch still felt conflicted about if he should just take that next step with Sunny, or stay behind and wait a bit more. Yet, ever since Young Sonic told him, he's been feeling like waiting more for any of them to make the first step was stupid already, and considering how dangerous Eggman was right now, waiting was pretty much not an option. So, Hitch nodded to himself with a determinate look and used his Earth Pony magic to create more vines that grabbed more badniks and made them explode, while Sparky launched his fire and transformed more robots into food. "Sunny!" Hitch called out. "There's something important I really need to tell you!" He stated, kicking another Moto Bug with his hind leg. "Can it wait a little?" Sunny asked with concern, trapping some flying badniks with her magic and making them crash to explode. "I don't know if you have noticed, but we have very important business going on here!" "I wish it could, but it can't," Hitch replied with concern, while he grabbed Sunny's hoof, which startled her for some reason as she blushed entirely. "H-Hitch? W-What are you––" Sunny tried to ask nervously. "Sunny... I-I think we both been waiting for making our next step in our relationship for way too long, a-and––" Hitch started to say, and Sunny's blush only increased more after hearing that. "L-Look, what I'm trying to say is that––" However, they were suddenly interrupted when Knuckles and Tails landed right in front of the street, all beaten up and hurt as they weakly lay on the floor. Zipp and Izzy immediately left everything they were doing and moved towards them to check out if they were okay. Sunny and Hitch looked at each other with worry and nodded, deciding to leave this conversation for later. Soon enough, the two Sonics, Amy and Team Dark also landed with a grunt in the floor, and then, the ground rumbled when the Death Egg Robot arrived as well. "That thing's back?!" Pipp asked in panic. "Unfortunately..." Knuckles replied in pain, as Izzy helped him to stand up. "I'm pretty impressed that you managed to discover the secret behind Sage's new body, Tails!" Eggman said after laughing like a maniac. "I sure hope you understand, though: Her powers are limited, so she won't tear down anything even if I wanted to. I lost her once in the Starfall Islands, I won't loose her again!" "B-But she saved us all!" Tails pointed out, as he painfully got up with Zipp's help. "Why use her power to keep destroying everything when we already proved that it doesn't work?!" "Oh, Young Prower..." Eggman said, while the Death Egg Robot shook its head in negation, and the Sonics started to slowly stand up to look at the Death Egg Robot with a frown. "You are brilliant, sure, but you still see the wrong side of the picture. She doesn't remember anything! And I want it to stay in that way!" He stated, before making the ground rumble again as the robot hit the floor. "Wait... you... you erased her sacrifice from her memory?" Tails asked confused. "Duh!" Eggman replied, feeling that it was something very obvious. "Why would I let her keep such awful memories, anyways?" "I'm really getting tired of all of these stupid monologues!" Boom Sonic stated, before charging up his Spin Dash and trying to charge against the Death Egg Robot. "Oh, but you'll be surprised, Sonic," Eggman stated with a smirk. "Because I called some back up!" Suddenly, Boom Sonic was sent backwards when the Egg Emperor, once again controlled by Ivo, appeared suddenly, and used its shield to parry the Spin Dash. Boom Sonic landed in the ground with a grunt, while Young Sonic's frown grew bigger after he saw the Egg Emperor. "What?! You again?!" Then, he also charged up his Spin Dash, combining his electrical powers and then boosting against the Egg Emperor, but he also got sent backwards when the Egg Dragoon, controlled by Robotnik, arrived and used the drill arm to punch Young Sonic. The hedgehog landed at Boom's Sonic side, and then he sat up while he felt completely dizzy because of the punch. "Hahaha! That felt SO satisfying!" Robotnik said with happiness. "Oh, definitely!" Ivo stated with joy as well. "I always wanted to crush that hedgehog down, and now I can!" "Glad to see you joined the party, fellow Eggmans!" Eggman said with a smirk. "Now, how are we gonna kill these little pests?" He asked, pointing an arm of the Death Egg Robot at the Mane 6, Team Sonic, Team Dark and the two Sonics. "How about we simply crush them all at once?" Ivo suggested, also pointing the sword of the Egg Emperor at them. "I like the way you guys think!" Robotnik stated. "Also, is nice to see you again, hedgehog! Too bad this is gonna be the last time we meet each other," He added, laughing maniacally at Young Sonic, who frowned furiously at him. "Wish I could say I missed you, Eggman," Young Sonic replied with anger. "I should've made sure you were dead when I got that power up!" "Yes, you should've, and know you'll pay the price for your reckless actions!" Robotnik replied with a grin. "I know this is gonna sound like a stupid question, but... what do we do now?" Misty asked with concern. "What we always do: Keep fighting," Boom Sonic stated with a frown, taking Eggman seriously for the very first time in his entire life. "Sounds like a plan to me!" Sunny stated with a smirk. Soon enough, the two Sonics and Sunny boosted towards the Eggman trio, while the villains laughed and decided to move towards them. Outside the Brighthouse, Sage appeared right in front of the machine that Tails and Zipp built. She stared in disbelief at it, and she could sense that it perfectly worked. She also saw the two fragments of the Paradox Prism that Tails and Shadow took with them after Sonic shattered the Prism, and she grinned. "Seems like father is gonna be very pleased today," Sage stated with a confident grin. "Miles Prower, Zephyrina Storm. Thank you very much for being dumb enough to leave the fragments out in the wild." Sunny was fighting in a one vs one against the Death Egg Robot, throwing her laser horn at it, as well as flying around the machine to confuse Eggman as much as she could. Eggman tried to fight back, moving the arms of the Death Egg Robot around in the air, while also launching various missiles and bombs with the shape of mini Death Egg Robots, but Sunny either destroyed them with her horn, dodged them or launched them back at him. However, Eggman was stubborn, and he wasn't planning on loosing this battle. On the other hand, we have Boom Sonic, who is confronting the Egg Emperor with Ivo inside, as Boom just kept Spin Dashing, Homing Attacking and using the electrical lasso against Ivo. Yet, this didn't seemed to be enough, because Ivo himself was striking quite a punch, despite Boom Sonic dodging most of the attacks coming at him. Again, most of them. Finally, we have Young Sonic, who is just Homing Attacking the Egg Dragoon, while Robotnik inside of it simply smirked and laughed against him. "You really are such a cutie, Sonic!" Robotnik said with an evil grin. "You cannot use your stupid ball moves to get through this beautiful piece of technology!" He stated, before pushing Young Sonic away, as he screamed in fright. "You cannot defeat me alone, hedgehog!" He stated, before launching a bunch of missiles towards him. However, Amy jumped in the air and used her Piko Piko Hammer to sent all the missiles away, while Knuckles also jumped with Young Sonic curled into a ball and charging up again. "That's the thing, Egghead: He isn't alone!" Knuckles stated, before launching Young Sonic against Robotnik's pilot cabin, causing damage to the Egg Dragoon and startling Robotnik himself. Then, Zipp, Pipp, Rouge and Omega all charged against the Death Egg Robot to help Sunny out, as they all managed to kick, hit and damage the big machine, while Sunny launched another massive laser that sent the Death Egg Robot backwards, until it finally fell to the floor on its back. Finally; Tails, Shadow, Izzy, Misty and Hitch all charged up along Boom Sonic against the Egg Emperor as well, with Boom Sonic, Tails and Shadow Spin Dashing; while Izzy and Misty launched massive blasts from their horns, and Hitch used his Earth Pony magic to make some vines with spikes and cause damage to the Egg Emperor's structure. Then, all the anthropomorphic critters started to charge up their Spin Dashes, while Sunny lightened up her horn, that fused with her friends' Cutie Mark magic, and Omega charged up his own lasers. "...Well, shit..." Eggman said with a bored expression, preparing himself for the upcoming pain. And then, Team Dark and Young Sonic charged up against the Egg Dragoon, while Sunny blasted the united magic against the Death Egg Robot and Team Sonic, along with Boom Sonic, boosted their Spindashes against the Egg Emperor. The three machines tried to fight back, but eventually, the Eggman trio was sent backwards as they all landed in the ground with loud thuds. The Mane 6, Team Sonic, Team Dark and the Sonics regrouped, standing in fighting positions just in case. "You know what? I'll say it already: You ponies are way cooler than I imagined!" Boom Sonic finally confessed with a smirk. "About time!" Zipp said, also smirking. "What took you so long?" Young Sonic asked with a mocking tone and smirk, also playfully pushing his shoulder, while Boom Sonic chuckled. Unfortunately, everyone got serious again when they saw the three machines slowly standing up, and now looking back at them. "I can't believe I keep underestimating you, little ponies," Eggman said with anger. "Yeah, this is a total boomer," Ivo said with a frown. "I can't believe a group made out of stupid colorful horses and abominations with powers are defeating three variants of the most intelligent mind in the entire multiverse!" Robotnik added with rage. "But it is about time to pull out all of our cards!" Eggman stated with a chuckle. "We are three, after all. And even if Sonic arrived, we are still a bigger match than you'll ever be!" "Eggmans: I think it's time to show these pests why messing up with us is a big mistake!" Ivo stated, also chuckling in a sinister way. "Oh, I couldn't agree more!" Robotnik said with a smirk. "Let's rip off these idiots already!" Knuckles cracked his knuckles and punched his fists together, charging up his powers while his eyes turned red; Izzy and Misty lightened up their horns and frowned with genuine anger towards the Eggmans, while their Cutie Mark started to shine; Tails elevated in the air while spinning his tails, and then, he used his powers to create two plasma guns, with his eyes turning yellow in the process... Zipp and Pipp also flew in the air and frowned at the machines, while their Cutie Marks started to shine as well; Shadow removed his inhibitor rings from his wrists and prepared to charge his Chaos Blast against the Eggmans; Rouge only flew in the air with a frown; Omega charged up his rockets and his weapons; Amy raised her Piko Piko hammer; Hitch took a deep breath before looking back at the Eggmans, also frowning while his Cutie Mark also started to shine... Sunny frowned at the three doctors and elevated in the air with her Alicorn form and lightened up her horn, while her Cutie Mark also shined. And finally, the two Sonics fist bumped each other before Boom Sonic stretched a little, still frowning at the Eggmans, while Young Sonic charged up his electrical powers, ready to strike. And so, the three machines charged up against the group of heroes, while they also ran towards them as they all were ready for the second round in their fight. Universe 081114 Tails was still trying to experiment with the disc to open a single portal. He already had several machines that didn't worked at all destroyed because of the disc not wanting to work with him. Old prototypes, machines he didn't cared for anymore, pieces of metal, even destroyed badniks... yet nothing seemed to work, and the disc still remained intact despite the amount of little explosions that it already caused. Of course, Tails was so frustrated and wanted to understand why the disc wasn't working with him, but his patience was reaching its limit. If it wasn't because the disc is incredibly resistant and because of the fact that Sonic needs that disc to go home, he probably would already crushed it down to pieces out of frustration, which thankfully didn't happened because he was trying to control himself. Suddenly, the doors of his lab opened, and Sonic, Knuckles, Amy and Sticks entered, with the last three grabbing their bellies as they laughed loudly, while Sonic in the front chuckled, although he was just smirking at them. "You wanna know the funny thing? 'Eggman' may not be the nickname he hates the most anymore... BUT, he absolutely despise another nickname I have for him... Baldy McNosehair!" Sonic narrated to the others. Once again, they started to burst out laughing, with Sticks falling to the floor as she laughed crazily, while Amy lay on a wall and Knuckles fell into his knees, smashing the ground with one of his fists as he laughed crazily as well. Tails, however, seemed confused, and decided to approach them. "Uh, what's going on here? I thought you were out having fun." "Oh, and we already had it!" Knuckles said with a smile. "This Sonic is a lot smaller, but he's way cooler than ours!" "That doesn't mean I'm staying, though, but still!" Sonic said, also smiling now. "I got to admit that this place it's pretty nice and fun! If I didn't need to go, I could stay and take a little vacation. Anyways! How's it going with your investigation over the disc, Tails?" Tails sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "I got nothing so far..." He confessed with a sad and concerned look. "It seems like they only respond to you, and while it did tried to open up a portal for me... it still closed again, anyways..." "So, just like the previous Tails, you found nothing useful..." Sonic guessed with a concerned look as well. "Yeah... that's pretty much what's happening right now..." Tails replied, still with a sad look. "Aww, don't worry, Tails," Amy said with a smile, as she placed a hand over his shoulder. "You tried your best, and I think that's what matters the most at the end of the day." "Besides, the way these discs work is pretty strange all the time," Sonic pointed out also smiling. "In fact, they somehow use the weird energy of my body and––" However, he soon felt his feet tickling a bit, and once he looked down, his eyes widened when he saw his shoes letting out electricity again, and he perfectly knew what that meant... "Oh, man..." Sonic said with concern and a bored expression. "Uh, Sonic?" Tails called out with a raised eyebrow and a confused expression. "What is happening to your––" However, before he could even finish, Sonic's feet moved him towards the wall, which he crashed against, and then they started to move out of control around the lab, while Sonic struggled and tried to grab anything to stop himself, but nothing was working. "Sonic?! Stop! You're gonna mess my lab!" Tails called out with concern. "I'm not moving! My feet are out of control again!" Sonic replied with concern. "Again?!" Amy asked confused. "Are you implying that this isn't the first time it happens?!" Soon enough, Knuckles managed to grab Sonic from his hips and raise him in the air, while his feet kept moving fast enough despite being on the air, even smoking a bit now. "Phew! Thanks, Knux!" Sonic said with a smile. "Answering your question, Ames: Yes. That's why I need all the discs! Together, they keep the energy under control, and for some reason, they also help me travel across the multiverse... I don't know why they always change my clothes, though..." "Hmm... that's interesting..." Tails said, rubbing his chin as he thought deeply on what Sonic just told him. After that, he moved to his desk and grabbed the disc, before moving back with Sonic, grab his hand, and then placed the disc back on his left hand. That made his appearance to change again, once again wearing regular gloves surrounded by sport bandages, his regular ones with the same sport bandages, and the brown scarf on his neck. Also, his feet stopped moving, and Sonic sighed in relief, as Knuckles placed him back on the ground. "Ah... much better!" Sonic stated with a smile. "Say, Sonic... when did this weird energy appeared on your body for the first time?" Tails asked. "I think I know how's that you got it, but I still wanna hear how it happened." "Uh... Okay..." Sonic said with doubt, but he still decided to elaborate. "Well, I remember feeling ticklish after I crashed against the Paradox Prism once that badnik launched me against it. Then, I started to fall around this strange place with so many white lines and curves. After that, I crashed into some weird floating purple crystals, and then, I fell into one of the white lines, with my entire body glitching and feeling more ticklish than ever before I finally stopped in another universe. However, I didn't entirely knew about the electricity until some minutes later." "Hmm... You shattered the Prism, then you fell through the multiverse with no control on the gravity around you, then you glitched once you entered a universe..." Tails summarized. "You said that you felt ticklish after the Prism shattered when you crashed with it, right?" "Yeah, that's what happened," Sonic replied. "Then I think I finally understand what happened to you: Sonic, you have part of the energy of the Paradox Prism inside you!" Tails stated with a serious expression. Suddenly, a pair of brown eyes appeared in a wall after Tails said that, and the eyes looked straight at Sonic, who gasped after Tails said what he said. "What?" Sonic asked confused. "What do you mean?" "This is more a theory than a confirmation, but there's a lot of solid information that can back me up," Tails replied with a little smile. "For example: The regulators on your clothes were designed to control the energy in your body, and that's exactly what they do! They control the energy, and now, you can travel through the multiverse at will! You said before that the Paradox Prism in your universe has that same power, right?" Sonic's eyes widened and he gasped again, realizing how right Tails was about this. "Since I crashed with the Paradox Prism and shattered the wall between my universe and any other... the energy got inside of me... That's why the discs have been doing so much weird stuff... they're making sure I don't blow up and grant me access to any universe so I can go back to mine!" "So... the discs did helped a lot after all," Amy asked, and Sonic nodded with a smile. "That's why I always get new clothes... is to blend in with the universe I fell over!" Sonic realized as well. "And once I finally could run by free will... the discs just made sure the energy inside me was properly used to open the portals!" "And I'm guessing that, once you return to your universe, the energy inside of you is gonna stop causing you trouble," Tails kind of assured. "After all, since the original power source will be there, there's no reason for the energy to get out of control since you'll be home." "So I can truly go back, after all..." Sonic muttered with a little smile, before his eyes widened and he frowned confused. "Wait... you deduced all of that just by hearing what I said?" "That's how I work!" Tails replied with a smirk. "You shouldn't be too surprised, either. I mean, I'm one of the greatest minds around here, although I don't brag about it." "Uh-huh..." Sonic said with a bored expression, before rolling his eyes, shook his head, and then smile at Tails. "Anyways. Thanks for your help, Tails! I think I'll stay here for quite a few mores hours before keep going." "Oh, if that's the case, I have an idea of what we might do!" Amy stated with excitement. "Tails, wanna join?!" "Eh, why not?" Tails replied, now walking over the rest. However, as the others headed to exit the lab, Sonic felt a weird presence around, and he looked around pretty confused, before noticing how the discs on his clothes started to vibrate out of nowhere. "What the heck...?" Sonic muttered confused, staring with a frown at the discs on his gloves. And suddenly, an X portal opened below Sonic's feet, and while he noticed that, he tried to say anything, but he ended up falling through it anyways as he screamed in fright. The others turned around and saw Sonic falling through the portal, but they couldn't react in time, because the portal closed soon afterwards. Sonic was falling once again on the point that connects all the universes, still screaming, when he suddenly stopped falling. He felt that his back landed into something solid, and so, he turned around to touch the floor, very confused on where he landed, before the floor started to shine and now showed a grey surface. Soon enough, it was revealed that Sonic landed over some kind of vehicle. It was a generally golden boat floating in the middle of nowhere, with a grey surface like stated before, as well as the captain's cabin, that was being piloted by no one, apparently. "What the––" Sonic said confused, as he stared at the boat, before looking around and stare at all the universes still moving, and then he moved to the edge of the boat to stare at even more universes right below the boat. "Whoa... I don't know what the heck this is, but... is very cool! Wish I discovered it way earlier, though..." "But then the fun would've been lost!" A voice spoke behind Sonic. Once he turned around, he screamed in panic and stepped a bit backwards, staring at some kind of red anthropomorphic chihuahua with green wings and a green collar, brown eyes and white hair. Sonic immediately recognized that figure, and his eyes opened wide. "...Chip?" Sonic asked in disbelief. "Who, me?" 'Chip' replied. "Well, if you wanna call me like that, then go on!" He added with a smile, before 'relaxing' on the air as he crossed his feet. "Just so you know: I have no actual form nor name. I'm just the guardian of every single reality! However, your mind creates a form you can feel familiar with, and so, here I am!" "...Wait... so, you just look and sound like Chip because my mind says so?" Sonic asked him confused, and also a bit disappointed. "Pretty much!" Chip replied. "Oh..." Sonic said, feeling pretty sad now as his ears fell flat, since this meant Chip was still sleeping under Earth back home. However, his ears perked up again, as he felt both confused and curious at something that Chip, or whoever this thing was that looked exactly like Chip, said earlier. "Hang on... you said you guard over every reality?" Sonic asked again. "Does that means that you've been watching me falling from one universe to another this whole time?" "Yeah, that sums it up!" Chip replied with a smile. "And you decided to appear just now?" Sonic asked with a bored expression. "I've been stranded in like 5 universes the past few days, you couldn't possibly had choose a worse moment to show up." "I'm a busy man, you know?" Chip pointed out with a slight frown. "Watching over every single reality isn't an easy job, specially when unusual activity made by you and your Eggman seems to be affecting some realities." Sonic blinked a few times before smiling sheepishly and scratch his neck embarrassed after Chip pointed that out. "...Okay... fair enough..." "Now, if you don't mind me asking: What are you doing navigating across the multiverse? Aren't you supposed to be in Equestria for a temporary amount of time before returning to your dimension?" Chip asked him with a raised eyebrow. "You know that interacting with so many universes at once could cause a catastrophe, right?" "Well... It's really hard to explain..." Sonic replied. "You better make yourself comfortable, Chip... Or whoever you are, because this is gonna be a very long story..." > 9. Across the Multiverse > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once again, Sonic had to explain himself, although he did it with concern this time around. During the entire story, Chip only navigated the ship they were over across the multiverse, but not entering to a single one of them, he just navigated above, below and around the white lines and curves. He was also hearing Sonic during the entire time, and he felt really bad that he had to go through all that stuff. He was mad with Sonic at first since he traveled through the multiverse, but now that he understood why and how he ended up here, he felt really bad that he even thought Sonic had bad intentions in the first place, when everything he wanted to do was go back home. Once Sonic finished, he sighed concerned and sat over one of the passengers couches in the ship. "...And after that, a portal with the shape of an X suddenly opened below my feet, and I ended up here." "Yeah, that last thing's my fault," Chip said with a sheepish smile, before he decided to stop moving the ship, as it stood still in the middle of several universes, while the creature frowned with worry and approached Sonic. "So, you were tricked by Eggman, and you ended up traveling through all those universes just to go home... Man... I judged you really bad, Sonic. I wish I knew earlier so I could take you home, but... with my current power, I have no idea which is your universe. I mean, I only detected that someone was jumping between universes and decided to investigate, and eventually, I got to you and brought you here." "Eh, is fine" Sonic said with a sad smile. "Is not like I can go back home right now, anyways... And I doubt that keep jumping between worlds is a good idea, either..." "No, it isn't wise," Chip agree with a nod. Sonic sighed again and rubbed his face with a hand, as he tried to come up with something that could help him go back home without messing up with the multiverse a whole lot more. "I just want to go home and... stop Eggman before he messes things up even more..." Sonic said with concern. "That is, if he didn't already..." "Hmm... You know? Ever since existence itself started, I've been guarding up the entire multiverse," Chip explained. "Yet, in all my years, centuries, millenniums watching over every reality, I never saw a situation like the one from your world and Equestria." "Huh?" Sonic exclaimed confused. "What do you mean?" "You see: The multiverse is unpredictable," Chip started to explain again. "I may be it's guardian, but there are things that even escape my current powers, like the Nexus events." "Nexus events?" Sonic asked confused, although with a smirk. "You better explain yourself, Chip. I'm still new to this whole multiversal travel thing, you know?" "Yeah, right, sorry," Chip apologized with a sheepish smile. "You see: Nexus events are basically, and ironically, events were two universes collide for reasons that, again, are beyond my current powers. There's three possible options for said event to come to an end: Either the two universes combine to form a single universe; they both separate and return to their original state; or they both stop existing forever, but new universes with the same habitants and similar rules born in their places." "...So they basically are what makes the multiverse what it is, huh?" Sonic asked, and Chip nodded. "Then, what does that makes my situation?" "That's the thing: What you just told me about both Mobius and Equestria is something that never happened before!" Chip revealed with a surprised smile. "Sonic, I never in a million years thought that what happened to your world and the pony one was even possible! We're probably witnessing the birth of a new kind of Nexus Event!" "How?" Sonic asked. "Both my dimension and Equestria's one have been interacting for the past two years, and we never dealt with any kind of 'universe collapse' or something. And is not like Mobius as a whole is in Equestria, y'know? Is just me and my friends living in another universe." "The only logical explanation I can find... is that your worlds aren't actually colliding," Chip said, as he rubbed his chin. "But my friends, Eggman and I've been there for 2 whole years! Heck, maybe even more at this point!" Sonic pointed out again. "How's that our worlds aren't colliding in that case?" "Better show you than just tell!" Chip stated with a smile, before moving over to the wheel that controls the ship and move it, as the vehicle started to move across the multiverse once again. Chip navigated all across the multiverse, and this time, Sonic approached a border of the boat to take a better look at all the white lines and curves that formed th infinite multiverse he's been traveling through for the past few days. That is, if it's been days, of course. No matter how many times he entered to this plane of existence, he couldn't help but smile at how beautiful everything looked around. "Is hard to believe that I've been living in one of those worlds, despite knowing the existence of other universes my whole life..." Sonic said with a little sigh and a smile. "That's how the multiverse works!" Chip pointed out with a smile. "So, besides variants of Equestria and your own world, what kind of other wacky worlds have you seen?" "All kinds of wacky stuff: One full of mushrooms with a plumber guy; a kingdom with a magic sword and elves; a world with a guy that goes 'Wacka, wacka, wacka, wacka!' all the time as he eats some weird spheres that allow him to eat ghosts; a world with the shape of a star... literally; a world where nothing seems to be connected or even the same way every time I got back to it..." Sonic listed. "And whatever is that realm where the Smash Brothers' Tournaments happen every now and then." "Huh... That sounds more like 'dimensional travel' rather than 'multiversal', but you do you!" Chip said with a smile, before suddenly stopping the ship right above a white curve. "Alright, here we are!" Sonic approached the edge of the boat again and saw the white curve below, before turning to Chip and raise an eyebrow. "Uh... what are we doing here, exactly?" "Before answering that, let me make you a question that might seem useless considering everything you lived the past few days, but still..." Chip replied. "What do you know about the Multiverse? And be honest with me!" "...Yeah, it is kinda useless..." Sonic replied with a bored expression. "Well, I know pretty much the basics! Stuff like different worlds that might seem similar to ours, and very different at the same time; that every world has its own rules; that some worlds might have variants of myself, and in some others I don't even exist... You know, what I think everyone knows about the multiverse in general. Why do you ask?" "Because there's things that you might not understand yet," Chip pointed out, now pointing as well at the white curve. Suddenly, a line that was right above that universe started to move towards it. Soon enough, both universes crashed, and they slowly but surely started to combine until they formed a single universe. "Whoa!" Sonic exclaimed after those two worlds combined. "Impressive, right?" Chip asked with a smile. "That, my friend, is what I call a Nexus event. Two universes collided, and now, they have united forever, forming part of one same universe," He explained, before moving to the other side of the boat. "Get over here, Sonic!" Sonic immediately moved along Chip and saw him pointing at two lines/universes, that slowly started to curve as they rosed each other, before they separated and become independent again. "Huh... that's something you don't see everyday..." Sonic said, still smiling a bit. "Maybe for you, but Nexus events are a very common thing around here," Chip pointed out. Then, Chip moved towards the back of the ship, and Sonic followed, but he gasped in shock when he saw two lines of different universes slowly erasing, and after some minutes, none of the two universes existed anymore. Sonic's ears fell flat, and now, he was feeling very sad after watching that happening, something that Chip noticed, as he approached him and patted his back. "I know how you feel, Sonic... I have to watch some universe die like this everyday, unfortunately. Not every universe manages to survive the Nexus, so... they collapse, and then they die." "...Why does this Nexus events happen?" Sonic decided to ask. "And why does some of them involve destroying the universes?" "Like you said, Nexus events are what makes the multiverse what it is," Chip explained. "Sometimes, someone in one of the colliding realities discovers this place, and in their desire to know more, to conquer it... they create a Nexus event. Other times, Nexus events happen out of anyone's control, even mine. They just... happen. As for why some erase... I honestly don't know. But so many new worlds are always born when that happens," He added with a little smile, now pointing upwards. Sonic looked in the direction Chip was pointing, and his eyes sparkled a bit in amazement, as he saw several new universes being born, even after seeing two of them disappearing entirely. He ended up smiling as well, and he also sighed in relief after watching that. "Wow..." Sonic muttered with a smile. "That was... amazing!" "Yeah, I know," Chip replied with a smirk. "The beauty of the multiverse is that no matter how many times I watch it happen, I still can't help but smile. Even in the darkest of times, there's always a light of hope... Don't you think?" "Yeah..." Sonic replied with a smile. "One question, though. Is it just me, or these Nexus events you keep mentioning happen incredibly fast? I mean, they literally just separated or collided together and that's it!" "Time doesn't exists here, silly. Why do you think I found you so fast?" Chip asked with a smirk. However, Sonic raised an eyebrow and blinked at Chip a few times. "Uh... I've been jumping from one universe to the other for several days, if I recall correctly..." Now it was Chip the one that blinked a few times, before he chuckled and started to sweat nervously. "Oh! Right, right... sorry, Sonic... When you spend your whole life isolated and with no one to talk to but yourself, you take for granted that everyone knows what you do when they don't. There's a little something I have to tell you..." "And what is that 'something', exactly?" Sonic asked. "You see, in this plane of existence, time doesn't exists," Chip started to explain. "That means that every universe moves on their own time lapse, but in this place... it's been just a few seconds." "...That makes absolutely no sense..." Sonic pointed out. "If time doesn't exists here, then how have you been guarding this place for so long?" "That is a great question. Wish I had a convincing and consistent answer, but... I don't have it!" Chip replied with a sheepish smile. "Just know that what you feel it's been days, or even weeks, to me it's only... What? A few minutes? Maybe even seconds?" "Seconds?!" Sonic shouted/asked on disbelief. "B-But that doesn't makes any sense!" "If I recall correctly, your life history says that you have fought several gods and other kind of monsters before," Chip pointed out. "Time not existing in someplace should be the most normal thing for you." "...Okay, fair enough..." Sonic confessed. "But still: I kind of feel stupid now... I feel like I've been moving from one world to another for days now! And then you come here and say that it's been just what? 10 minutes?!" "Actually, I did lasted 10 minutes finding you," Chip replied with a little smile. "...It was a rhetorical–– Eh, whatever," Sonic said, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. "Is there anything else that I should know?" "...Yes... but you might not like to hear it," Chip confessed, as his ears fell flat. "Aw, come on! I'm pretty sure I can handle it," Sonic assured with a confident smirk. Chip looked at him, now with a bored expression, and then sighed heavily. "...Sonic... once you solve all of this... you must return to your universe. In other words: You have to leave Equestria... Probably forever." Sonic's eyes widened in shock, his smirk immediately left, and slowly, he frowned back. "What?" "Listen: Your interaction with Equestria has been long, and whatever is the interaction between your worlds, it isn't a Nexus event: Is something else entirely," Chip explained with concern. "I've never seen anything like what is happening to your world, and I don't know if it is a good or bad thing. Usually, I could just let it slip... but considering what your Eggman's planning, I think you know very well what you have to do." "And if I don't want to?" Sonic asked with rage, while his eyes turned blue. "Sonic––" Chip tried to call out. "I've been doing everything for everyone my entire life!" Sonic pointed out. "Why staying in Equestria, the only selfish thing I wanna do so far, has to be also the very same thing that I cannot do?!" "Sonic, listen––" Chip wanted to resonate, although he was frowning now, but Sonic didn't allowed him to explain anything. "My ancestors lived in that dimension before!" Sonic pointed out again, and his electrical powers were growing as much as his anger. "Why do I have to leave when I basically returned to where I belong? WHY DO YOU WANT TO TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME?!" Chip was beyond furious now, and with just one slap, he managed to calm Sonic down. "If you stay, there's a big chance that a Nexus event happens! And you know which one will it be? The one were both worlds get erased!" Chip said with anger. "That's why you must return to your universe once all of this is done." Sonic's eyes widened, and his ears fell flat in sadness, while he felt his heart racing many miles per hour now. Chip sighed, and looked at Sonic again with sadness. "If you really know what's the best for both universes, Sonic... if you really care for Equestria... if you really love Pipp... then I know you'll make the right choice. As you always did before... don't act with your mind. Act with your heart." Sonic felt incredibly conflicted, and his mind was racing crazily. He stepped back and turned around to prepare so he could boost away, something that Chip noticed. "Hey! Where are you going?!" Chip asked with concern. "...I need some time alone... I want to clear my thoughts..." Sonic replied, before boosting away, running over the crystal path again, and then entering into a random universe. "...These are gonna be the 10 longest and most awkward seconds of my life..." Chip muttered with concern. Universe 181021 The sky opened with the shape of an X, and Sonic fell straight to what seemed to be Zephyr Heights' abandoned station. Once he noticed that, he groaned frustrated, and then, he stood up to clean the dust out of his body. His shoes and gloves changed and seemed to looks like a purple variant of his fingerless gloves and his soap shoes as well. Yet, Sonic couldn't care less, because he was beyond furious with what 'Chip' told him. Is not that he wasn't planning to never return to his dimension, but... he didn't wanted to leave Equestria, either. He never felt at home on Mobius the same way he felt in Equestria. He didn't knew if the fact that his ancestors are from that universe had something to do with it, or maybe the fact that he had a girlfriend there that he loved and refused to leave, but he simply refused to accept the fact that he needed to go... that he didn't belonged in Equestria despite his ancestors being from that place. He felt his cheeks wet suddenly, and he passed a hand over one of them, just to realize that he was crying in silence. He tried to wipe out his tears, but the painful thoughts of leaving Equestria forever just keep coming and coming, and the tears fell even more now. Seeing that his efforts were hopeless, he gave up, and decided to let his tears fell, as he sat against a wall and buried his face between his knees, crying like he never did for the first time since Longclaw died so long ago. In the middle of his cries, however, he didn't noticed a figure approaching him. And then, his shoulder was touched by a hoof, and he got startled as he tried to step back, just to look at Zipp eye to eye. Or, well, a variant of Zipp, since this was clearly another universe. "...W-Who are you, hedgehog?!" Zipp asked confused. "H-How did you––" She tried to add, but then she noticed that Sonic was crying a lot, and so, he shut her mouth. "D-Don't mind me..." Sonic said, chuckling both nervously and embarrassed, as he tried to hide his tears, failing in the process. "I-I'm just... having an existential crisis, I guess... Sorry for getting in here without warning..." "Oh..." Was everything Zipp replied, before strangely sitting at his side. "...Wanna, um... Wanna talk about it?" Sonic didn't looked at her, but he kind of knew she was looking at him, so he simply sighed heavily. "...I... I've been living in this really nice place for two years, and... they want me to leave before I cause trouble... They say that... that I don't belong in there... I'm sad because I don't wanna leave... but a part of me knows that I must..." "I see..." Zipp replied. "And what does the rest of you says?" "Huh?" Sonic questioned, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "You say only a part of you is convinced that you should leave," Zipp pointed out. "What says the other one?" "...That is a lot of bullshit... and that I should stay... be selfish for once and think about me before thinking on others..." Sonic replied. "Something I've never done before... and I don't know If I ever could..." "Well... there's always a first time," Zipp pointed out, now smiling. "Others might say and think what's best for you, but... I shouldn't be the one saying this, but I think you should think on what you think is the best for you." Sonic snorted, and finally looked at her, as he could finally dry his tears properly. "But what if what I think isn't really the best for me? Nor for others?" "Then sent it all to hell!" Zipp replied with a mocking tone, and Sonic bursted out laughing after that, with Zipp joining him soon afterwards. Sonic sighed in relief, and once again looked at Zipp, now smiling. "Thanks... I guess I really needed to hear that... I'm Sonic, by the way," He presented himself, even though he already knew who Zipp was. "And I'm Zipp," She presented herself as well, smiling back at Sonic. "Zipp?" Came a familiar voice, and a pegasus swept into the room via the vent entrance. Both Zipp and Sonic panicked immediately, but Sonic thought on something fast, and he quickly hide behind a corner, while Zipp was surprised on how fast he moved, but she sighed in relief regardless since he hid. Soon enough, Queen Haven spotted her daughter and flew over to her. "Oh, there you are, my darling, I was looking for you! I've got a meeting with Alphabittle and Phyllis Cloverleaf in a little bit, and I was wondering if you could find your sister for me? I haven't seen her all day, so I'm a bit worried…" She trailed off as she spotted something in the corner of the room, peeking out from under a large sheet. Trotting over there, she pulled the sheet off to reveal a group of large fans, all facing upwards. "Zipp, what is this?" Zipp first turned to the corner where Sonic was hiding, and she saw him shaking his head with a worried expression, clearly telling her that he didn't wanted to be exposed. Zipp nodded and looked back at her mother. "Oh, um… that was my own little project. It's powerful enough to lift a pony into the air, so I used it when… You know. We couldn't fly. I just… really wanted to know what it would be like, to really fly, not be held up by some wires or something." She stopped when she saw the hurt look on her mom's face. "Oh, Zipp, my darling," She whispered. She came over to the princess and put her wing around her, pulling her into a hug. "I am so, so sorry," Haven said, her quiet voice thick. Zipp looked over at her mother and was startled to see tears in her eyes and running down her cheeks. "I am so sorry I made you go along with all that. You were right, we should have been honest, but I didn’t listen, and it just ended up causing more trouble for you girls-" She broke off as Zipp leaned into her mother, something she never did. "It's okay, Mom," She said. "It really is." Haven smiled and lay her head on top of Zipp’s. The two pegasi stared at the window for a while in comfortable silence, and Zipp turned a bit to see Sonic, who was smiling at her, before raising his thumbs up and winking at her, as he decided to boost away. Zipp smiled, and looked forward again once he left. "I love you, you know that, right?" Haven finally said, turning to look at her daughter, who smiled. "I know. And I love you, too, Mom." Zipp replied... After Sonic boosted away, he opened another X portal and returned to the existential plane that connected every universe. He frowned a bit, since he wasn't ready to talk with Chip yet, and while his talk with Zipp calmed him a bit, he still felt furious about the idea of leaving Equestria. So, to keep his mind distracted and his rage under control, he boosted towards another random line, entering to a new universe in the process. Universe 030722 Remember that stupid plot about Twilight opening a school to teach friendship? Welcome back to that nonsense place! Because right now, Starlight is scolding Twilight and telling her what she did wrong "You gave up too easily." Starlight said, pointing her hoof at the Alicorn while she felt offended with the face she made, but Starlight just shrugged it off. "Hey, you made me a guidance counselor. That means tough love." Starlight pointed out placing her hoof onto Twilight's chest. But the latter placed her hoof onto the former's pushing it down. "Neighsay was right. I failed. The school was a disaster." She said, starting to walk away again only for Starlight to run in front of her. "So was I when you met me. But you showed me that when you know in your heart something is right, you stand up for it. You did that for me. Why not for this?" Starlight questioned, gesturing to the whole school. Twilight seemed flabbergasted. "I can't go against the EEA! They're in charge of all the schools in Equestria!" But Starlight was quick with her rebuttal. "And you're in charge of all the friendship in Equestria. Why should you let somepony else stop you from doing your job?" Twilight then pulled out the rulebook with her magic. "But the EEA rulebook––" She tried to explain, but she was cut off when Starlight smacked it into the water, shocking Twilight further as she looked into said water, seeing her reflection. "Doesn't matter! You can write your own rules! Because you are doing something new. Something important!" Starlight declared, making Twilight ponder over what she had just been told. The Alicorn for the first time since the school closed smiled at her friend. "You're right! Why we're doing this is way more important than how we're doing this! And we are doing this!" She exclaimed, making Starlight satisfied. "Now, that's the Twilight I know. How can I help?" Starlight asked, only for the Alicorn to walk up to her with a smile. "You already have." Twilight declared, as she hugged her friend, while the latter did the same, both feeling happy about the situation. But as you might expect, the sky opened with the shape of an X again, and so, Sonic fell from it, landing perfectly right behind Twilight and Starlight. Sonic slowly stood up and looked around, just to notice that his clothes changed again: This time, he had a black variant of those adventurer shoes and gloves he got on the universe were he met Twilight and the Guardians of Harmony. However, when he lifted his head, he noticed that Twilight and Starlight, or new variants of them, were staring at him, both shocked and confused. Sonic blinked a few times before smiling sheepishly. "Um... hi? Uh... I won't know if you know who I am, or if I should––" "Sonic?!" Twilight asked, both confused and shocked. "...So you do know who I am..." Sonic said with a confused look. "Uh... didn't you told me his arms were blue? And why does it look like he has just one eye?" Starlight asked to Twilight, although Sonic managed to hear her. "...And not at the same time..." Sonic finished with a bored expression. "Uh, are you a changeling that also came to the school?" Twilight asked. "Because if you wanted to prank us by looking like Sonic, you clearly failed." "I'm not a changeling," Sonic replied, still with a bored expression. "I'm also not the Sonic you know. I'm from another universe, and I fell here because I just wanted to distract my mind, alright?" "...I'm sorry, another universe?" Starlight asked confused. "Multiverse stuff, I'm not the same Sonic you know, portals, fatigue, and a big desire to go home and send it all to hell!" Sonic shouted in anger. "Ugh... I won't even bother you with my shit. You don't deserve it," He pointed out, before turning around and starting to run on his place, as his feet created the shape of an eight. "W-Wait!" Twilight tried to stop him, feeling confused and concerned. "What do you mean with that?!" "Just know this: The entire multiverse could collapse if I don't leave right now!" Sonic stated, before boosting away as he traversed the already created X portal that closed afterwards. Once he was gone, all Twilight and Starlight could do was look at each other with concern. Sonic was once again back to the realm that accessed every universe. Feeling like his last visit to a random universe only made him feel worse because of his own words, he decided to boost towards another random universe... Universe 101020 Both Rainbow Dash and another Sonic were running down the street of Manehatten and dodged a few vehicles along the way as fast as they can to get the doctor off of their backs. Unfortunately, Robotnik was quickly on their tails and had his laser cannon pointing at them again. Worry and determined to get rid of him, both the other Sonic and Rainbow Dash kicked it into high gear and dashed further, just as Robotnik shoot his first laser. They managed to dodge Robotnik’s laser, only for the laser to hit one of the cars on the road. "Dude! He just destroyed that car!" Rainbow Dash shouted in shock as she and Sonic kept running. "I knew Eggman is crazy but not that crazy!" the other Sonic remarked while focusing on dodging the cars. Before Rainbow Dash could respond, she yelped as she dodged another laser that was meant for her and hit another car. And then, an X portal opened in the sky, while Sonic landed right in the middle of the streets. He then noticed he had regular gloves again, but he also had his PUMA shoes as well. "I insist: They should be Jordans!" Sonic exclaimed annoyed. "Hey, get out of the way!" Someone shouted, and once Sonic turned around, he saw a girl with rainbow hair, pony ears and pegasus wings flying at top speed towards him... along another Sonic with blue arms and separated eyes, that also had PUMA shoes. "Ah crap..." Sonic muttered with annoyance and concern, before boosting away, while Rainbow Dash and the other Sonic soon catch him up, but Robotnik was still on their tails. "What the heck?!" The other Sonic exclaimed, as his eyes widened at this new version of himself. "Dude, who the hell are you?!" Rainbow Dash asked in panic and concern. "Um... Long story short? I'm a Sonic that's traveling across the multiverse..." Sonic replied. "Multiverse? Like in that Spider-Man movie?!" The other Sonic asked excited. "More or less!" Sonic replied with a smirk. "Also, why are you guys running?" They all quickly turned right on the road where there were fewer cars, but Robotnik was still behind them as he continued to shoot his lasers. Getting a little desperate, the two then pulled a last-minute sharp left turn into another street in an attempt to fake him out. However, Robotnik saw through their tricks as he also made a sharp left turn with a grunt. "That was an illegal left by the way!" Robotnik remarked loudly. Rainbow growled in frustration as she ran around the cars. "That is what we're running from! And he's gaining on us!" "Keep running!" The other Sonic shouted as he lept from one car to another to avoid the lasers. "Huh... I actually lived something like this a while ago..." Sonic confessed, and that's when he got an idea. "Wait! That's it! Listen, I know I'm still a stranger, but I think I know how to slow him down for a bit!" Both Rainbow Dash and the other Sonic looked at each other, but nodded with smiles afterwards, and then looked back at Sonic. "You better know what are you doing, pal!" Rainbow Dash warned. "Yeah, it could be really bad if something happened to a guy with my face... or that looks like me at least!" The other Sonic added with a smile. "Leave him to me!" Sonic stated, before looking at his counterpart of this universe with a smirk. "Also, you might wanna pay attention. You might even learn a trick or two!" And so, Rainbow Dash and the other Sonic continued to run down the Manehatten streets, avoiding one laser after another, while Sonic slowed down and got off Robotnik's vision. Meanwhile, Rainbow and the other Sonic tried to zigzag along the road to make Robotnik’s aim a lot harder, but no matter what they do, the lasers followed their every move. They temporarily split up with the other Sonic jumping on the lower edge of the building and running across from it. Before Robotnik fired his laser, the other Sonic quickly jumped across another building, striking a quick pose in the process, and then slide down along the second building. Rainbow meanwhile, ran underneath the patio of an empty outdoor restaurant to get some cover. Unfortunately, it didn’t work as Robotnik’s lasers shot through the patio roof easily, destroying some parts of the restaurant in the process. Rainbow dodged all of the lasers before she jumped herself back onto the road to join the other Sonic. That's exactly when Sonic decided to strike, as he got right in front of Robotnik and jumped in the air, before charging a Homing Attack against Robotnik's ship, taking him completely by surprise. As the ship shook a bit because of the impact, Robotnik tried to stabilize it, but then, it was hit again suddenly when Sonic made a Wild Rush and charged his kick against the ship once again. Then, Sonic charged up a Spin Slash, before switching to a Spin Dash and finish up his combo by using a Stomp Attack. Robotnik was now struggling to control the ship, and Sonic smirked, before boosting away entirely. "Wish I could at least have said goodbye to them... but my friends need me..." Sonic said to himself with concern. "And I still unfortunately have a pending chat with Chip..." And so, Sonic boosted away through another X portal created by the discs on his clothes, not noticing that Robotnik managed to regain control, as he decided to still chase down both Rainbow Dash and the other Sonic. As Sonic returned to the realm that grant him access to any universe, he accidentally tripped with one of the floating purple crystals, and so, he fell right into a new universe by mistake. Universe 040222 Autumn Blaze and her friends sat down together at the meeting table in Discord's cottage. They were discussing a potential course of action in getting Izzy back. The draconequus had given them only 24 hours to prep for the Riddle of Chaos and they needed some way to reach out to the purple unicorn. So far, looking through the entirety of the bookshelves had not amounted to anything. The books did not contain any information useful to their cause and they had spent four hours searching. Finally, they had no choice but to sit down and brainstorm together. This was the table where they had all first met each other a year ago, so it held an incredibly special meaning to all of them. However, now it was just a symbol of stress and worry. Silverstream threw her claws up in the air in frustration. "Ugh! This is like studying for a test, only if you don't pass, you die! How do we reach out to Izzy when she's hundreds of years into the future?! This is hopeless!" "Aw, don't give up, Silverstream!" Pinkie Pie encouraged her, "You know what I always say in class: When the going gets tough, the tough gets going! That's the party pony motto, meaning there's nothing we can't do if we do it together!" "I like the sound of that," Autumn Blaze stated, "But this isn't just any ordinary task. If we don't get Izzy back here, we're all toast. Come on, there's gotta be something!" "Okay okay," Skystar piped up, "What if, we go to Discord, ask him reeeeeeeeeaaaaalllly nicely not to sacrifice Autumn Blaze, offer him some shells as compensation, and then boom! Problem solved! He can probably give those to his Chaos Buddies later." Gabby shook her head. "I'm all for the 'ask nicely' thing, but you heard Discord. The rules are the rules. We must do better than this. Think realistically!" Silverstream gasped. "Gabby, what was that you said?" "Uh, the rules are the rules?" Gabby replied confused. "No no! After that!" Silverstream corrected herself. "Think realistically. Why?" Gabby asked, still confused. "That's it!!" Silverstream realized. "Professor Pinkie, you can rip a hole in the very fabric of existence! Can you hop over to Hasbro headquarters and ask them to send you to G5? You can contact Izzy that way!" "That's just ridicu-" Autumn Blaze was cut off by the sound of a fabric tear. "Of course. Never question Pinkie Pie." Sure enough, Pinkie Pie had broken open the fourth wall, which manifested itself as a portal to a large grey building with the Hasbro logo on it. She beamed proudly. "Okie dokie lokie! See you guys in a second!" She hopped through the portal and landed on the other side, where she saw that doors to the headquarters were open. However, before she could even make a step further, the sky was suddenly shattered until it formed the shape of an X, and as it's been happening for the past 8 episodes, Sonic fell straight into the floor, because his trip from before was so sudden, that he couldn't even realize he was falling to the floor. Once he stood up and shook his head in pain, he cleaned the dust from his body, and then he noticed that his clothes were changed again: Now he was using some weird nike red shoes and white gloves with black palms. "Okay... this is new..." Sonic said confused, before he noticed Pinkie Pie, who only tilted her head confused at his sudden appearance. "Uh... You shouldn't be in this story..." Pinkie pointed out. "Unless I wasn't informed of a sudden cameo, of course." "...Let me guess: You already know about the multiverse, don't you?" Sonic asked with a bored expression and a tired tone. "Yup!" Pinkie replied cheerfully. "...Gosh, I have come to a point were I cannot care anymore..." Sonic confessed a bit annoyed, stretching his arms and looking back at Pinkie. "Also, why are we in a city in the middle of nowhere instead of Equestria or something?" "Wait, you know about––" Pinkie tried to ask, but then she realized what kind of story this was about now, and so she smiled widely. "Oh, I get it now! You're traveling from one universe to another so you can go back home, while at the same time, you're just trying to deny the crushing reality that you might have to leave the Equestria you know forever and ever! Specially somepony in specific." Sonic's left eye twitched, and he screamed in anger. "Why can't I escape from those stupid words for five seconds?!" He shouted in rage, also grabbing his quills desperate. "Because this story needs some drama!" Pinkie replied, still smiling. "And also because maybe you want to stay a bit longer to enjoy your final moments with your new friends, even if you know that you might have to say goodbye." Sonic looked at her impressed, and all the anger and little hate he felt towards her vanished entirely. "...How's that everything you just said is incredibly accurate, and yet I still don't wanna hear it?" "Eh, that's just how I work!" Pinkie replied with a cheery smile. "Anyways... I think you should go now, right? The multiverse you belong to could be in danger, and you're still here listening to me." "Right! Right..." Sonic said, but he looked at Pinkie one last time with a smile. "Thanks for the confidence boost, Pinkie. I... I really needed it," He confessed, before boosting away, as his discs created an X portal and he traversed it, with the portal closing soon afterwards. "Bye!" Pinkie waved her hoof, now humming something to herself as she entered Hasbro's headquarters. Now that Sonic was back on track, and back on the 'multiverse realm', he boosted through the multiverse once again, before entering to another random universe. Universe 131212 Another variant of Sonic was running nearby a clifftop. He seemed like he was looking after someone, but then, a rainbow blur passed right beside him, and he seemed to smirk, stopping running and waving his hand at what seemed to be an anthropomorphic version of Rainbow Dash, with clothes and everything. "Hey Dash!" Sonic's variant said happily. "I was looking for you." "You were?" Rainbow asked happily. A little too happily. "I mean, you were?" She managed to keep her voice under control this time. Sonic's variant chuckled. "Yeah. I saw this in the Shamar bazaar and thought of you, so I got it for you." He held out a bracelet. Dash smiled. "Well, I'm not really much of a one for jewelry..." As she saw the gem, her statement was cut off with a gasp. The gem itself flickered with all the colors of the rainbow, seeming to glow from within. It was a simple diamond cut set in a simple gold bracelet, but the glow from the gem seemed almost hypnotic. Sonic's variant smiled. "It's a Rainbow Stone. They crop up in veins of other gemstones every now and then. No one's quite sure what causes them to form. I got it cause it's all the colors of the rainbow..." He flicked a bit of her hair with his other hand. "Just like you." "Sonic..." Dash slipped it onto her wrist happily. "It's wonderful. Thank you." On an impulse, she threw her arms around him and kissed him lightly on the cheek. After a moment, they both pulled back, a bit embarrassed. Sonic's variant suddenly spun, defensively. "There's someone there!" He said, getting ready to run. "They're heading away." Dash paled. "Horse apples... Amy." Sonic's variant looked stricken. "You think Amy saw us?" He didn't sound like this was something he wanted hidden, more like he wished this situation could have been handled differently. Dash nodded. "I'll take care of this, okay Sonic?" At Sonic's nod, she took wing and headed off. It wasn't hard to find Amy, and she came in for landing near where she was leaning against a tree, crying. "Horse apples," Dash thought. "How do I handle this?" However, before she could even approach, the sky suddenly opened with the shape of an X, startling Dash as she looked upwards, both shocked and confused. Then, a very well known blue blur was falling from the sky, as he looked on with a very neutral expression despite being falling and not being able to fly, either. "What the heck?!" Dash exclaimed confused at the appearance of Sonic, or someone that looked like him. Meanwhile, Sonic himself saw that he was heading towards what seemed to be a green field... a very familiar one, that is. "Green Hills?!" Sonic said on disbelief and with a little smile. "Oh, it's so good to be home! Even if this is another universe, though!" He added, before curling into a ball in the air, and then, he landed over a hill, uncurling and placing his hand on the ground to stop sliding. He cleaned some dust of his body, then noticed that his gloves were now pink with golden stripes, and his shoes followed the same match, but they also had Pipp's Cutie Mark for some reason. He smiled, anyways, and he wished he could just make this clothes into actual ones if they didn't changed whenever he entered into another universe. Once he turned around, his smile grew bigger at the sight of Green Hills: The loop-de-loops, the waterfalls, the flickies flying around... it was just like he remembered. He took a deep breath to smell the air, and then he sighed in relaxation. Up until this moment, he didn't realized how much he missed his home... and that's what made his eyes widened when he remembered what Chip told him. For the very first time in 2 years, he was conflicted... he missed his old home, he realized that, but... he still didn't wanted to leave Equestria... he didn't wanted to leave Pipp... he simply couldn't do it... And yet, Chip's words still invaded his mind... If he really loved her, if he really wanted to keep both Mobius and Equestria safe... shouldn't he do what's best for both worlds, as always, and not what's best for him? "Dang it..." Sonic muttered, as he looked to the ground with worry. "Why does life has to be so complicated?" He asked with concern, before looking back at Green Hills and smile sadly. "At least nothing could go any more complicated..." "Hey, you!" Rainbow Dash's voice spoke, behind him with anger, making his ears twitch. Yup, he jinxed himself. Sonic groaned annoyed, then turned around to find another version of himself and Rainbow Dash. Although, with all the stuff he has done and seen so far, he isn't impressed anymore "Alright, partner!" Sonic's variant said with a frown. "Start explaining yourself and give me one good reason to not brake your teeth right about now!" "No," Sonic replied with a frown and a tired tone. Both Rainbow and Sonic's variant felt surprised and confused after hearing such a response, and they looked at each other startled. "Um... no?" Rainbow asked confused. "You don't need to deal with my shit, that's everything I'm gonna say," Sonic replied, before boosting away. "Whoa!" Sonic's variant exclaimed, both impressed and startled, before he decided to chase after him. "Hey, wait for me!" Rainbow exclaimed, now chasing behind the Sonics. Sonic's variant managed to catch Sonic, and soon, Rainbow Dash joined them. "Why do you look like me?! Why aren't you fighting or explaining yourself?!" "And why do you look so... tired and sad?" Dash asked as well, kind of concerned for him, despite being a stranger. "Dude, have you deal with another version of yourself?" Sonic asked his counterpart with a bored tone and expression. "Um... kinda?" Sonic's variant replied confused. "Why do you ask? And why are you avoiding our questions?!" "Let me make myself even more clear: My shit. Is none. OF YOUR BUSINESS!" Sonic shouted in anger, before running even faster, accidentally opening an X portal so fast that none of them, not even Sonic himself, saw coming. Both Rainbow Dash and Sonic's variant stopped and looked around, really confused on where did he go. They looked at each other after a while with really shocked and confused expressions. "...I think the best for both of us is that we act like this never happened..." Sonic's variant said with an anxious look. "For our sanity's sake, agreed," Rainbow replied with the same anxious look. Sonic was running so incredibly fast after coming out from that universe, that he didn't had time to think about anything when he fell straight to a white curve, and therefore, to a new universe... Universe 160521 Right above the kingdom of Soleanna, a huge shadow appeared outside, and the people started panicking. In this universe, apparently Equestria is part of planet Earth, and now, every critter that used to be just colorful talking animals have turned into anthropomorphic animals. As usual girls aren't allowed to go naked, despite the fact that boys already demonstrated that they have nothing to hide, but eh, plot convenience, I guess. After that shadow appeared, the Freedom Fighters of this universe (including another Sonic's variant, Tails, Amy, an anthropomorphic hedgehog version of Maria, and a guy named MC), the Mane 6 (now with anthropomorphic bodies after Equestria combined with the Earth), Sunny and her friends (also with anthropomorphic bodies) ran outside to see Eggman's Egg Carrier flying over the city. "Princess Elise, ruler of Soleanna..." Eggman's voice came from a speaker. "By refusing to negotiate with me, you have forced me to take drastic actions. Meet me at the specified point alone at 4 o'clock today. Failure to do so on time, will result in my leveling of this city so that nothing but ashes remain!" "We have to stop him now!" Twilight said. "No," MC said. "If we do that, he'll level the city anyway." "And if we let Eggman get Princess Elise, the Egg Carrier will crash, Elise will die, and Iblis will burn the world," Tails said. "What are we gonna do?" "We'll wait," MC said. "Where's the bear boy? Truemen?" Just then, Truemen ran towards the group, saying, "I'm here. Sorry. Had to deal with some weird human pretending to be Sonic." "That guy again?" Tails asked. "He's really gotta stop taking credit for things Sonic did." "MC, what do you think we should do?" Twilight asked. "We're gonna have to wait until the Princess of Soleanna agrees to meet with Eggman at that location," MC said. "We're gonna have to wait until the right time comes to go out to save the world." "Well, how are we gonna do that?" Sonic asked. "If you might not recall, I'm not that well at patience." "I don't know," MC said. "We're just gonna have to wait." He then started to walk away. However, as he was moving, and Twilight seemed to be about to ask him something, MC stopped all of a sudden, and he felt his eyes growing wide, as well as his ears moving around in an alert state. The rest of the group seemed to notice that, and Twilight approached him, placing a hand over his shoulder. "MC? A-Are you okay?" MC seemed to be a bit anxious, nervous and confused, as his eyes moved around while his ears kept standing an alert position. He also either ignored Twilight, or he actually heard her, but he's too stunned and confused to even react. "Um... dude?" Sonic's variant called out as well, now standing in front of him and waving his hand on his face. "You doing good?" That last move seemed to be what took him out of his shocked moment, but then he looked straight at Sonic, still with an anxious look. "...I... I feel something strange..." MC finally spoke. "Strange?" Tails asked confused. "What do you mean?" "It's hard to explain..." MC replied with concern. "My mind is kind of... shouting... It tries to warm me about something... about someone..." "MC, what else but Eggman should we be aware of?" Twilight asked, also kind of confused. "Twilight has a point, man," Sonic's variant said with a smirk. "Besides Eggman, I doubt we should be aware of someone else! Like, what's the worse that could show up? Another me?" And just like you could expect, the sky broke apart with the shape of an X, and so, Sonic fell from the sky, curling into a ball before landing in the floor with a, let's say, 'superhero pose.' Everyone else stared in pure shock and confusion at the arrival of this new Sonic, specially MC, who felt his jaw almost touching the floor as his left eye twitched in pure confusion. "...Okay... maybe we do have to worry..." Sonic's variant said with an anxious expression. "I was just joking with the 'other me' crap!" Sonic, on the other hand, stood up slowly and cleaned the dust from his body, before looking back at his clothes and smile when he saw his red shoes with white stripes on both sides and two black lines in the middle, as well as his gloves with grey colors on the fingers were back. "Neat!" Sonic said with a smile. However, as he lifted up his head and looked around, his smile kind of got erased, and his expression showed nothing but panic. "...Oh no... not Soleanna... Anywhere but this damn place! I can only have enough nightmares with The End taking control over my body, I don't need to remember a human girl kissed my dead body again!" "Who the heck are you?!" MC asked in anger, and Sonic turned around. His eyes widened when some claws appeared straight on his face, while he saw behind MC variants of Tails, Amy, the Mane 6 and the Mane 5... but these last two groups were now anthropomorphic ponies, and they gave him a huge deja vu when he remembered that time Hitch, Izzy and Pipp turned into Mobians in his own universe. "Huh... I don't know if I like what I'm seeing, or if I should go seek therapy once I leave..." Sonic said with a curious look. "Also, I forgot how awful I used to look with long quills..." To this, Sonic's variant blinked and looked at his quills, before looking back at Sonic and frown. "Hey!" He complained, before boosting to his face. "And who are you supposed to be? A copycat? A clone of mine? A new Metal Sonic that Eggman managed to finally look exactly like me?!" "Bold of you tu assume Eggman can replicate this gorgeous face," Sonic mocked up with a smirk, also pointing at his face. Sonic raised an eyebrow confused, while MC lowered his claws just a bit, because that statement confused them both. "As for your question, Fox McCloud, I'm this guy, but from another universe!" Sonic replied to MC, pointing at Sonic's variant with a smirk. "...You're from another what now?" Sonic's variant asked confused. "Multiverse stuff, different worlds, other Sonics, Eggman's gonna blow this place if I don't leave, blah, blah, blah..." Sonic replied with a bored expression. At this, MC frowned for a second and sniffed Sonic for a moment, but then, he smiled, and put his claws away. "Yeah, that'll settles it." Both Sonic looked at MC with raised eyebrows. "Wait, so he's saying the truth?" He asked, and MC nodded with a smile. "...That's it? You just sniffed which perfume I'm using today and decided that I'm not lying?" Sonic asked confused. "I can literally smell if someone lies!" MC replied with a confident smirk. "So, how can I help you?" Sonic just deadpanned after hearing that. "Okay... What I'm supposed to do now? Is this the part where I just run away and refuse to give you an answer? 'Cause that's what I've been doing for the past 5 universes..." "Listen, man. I can literally do a lot of crazy stuff––" MC tried to explain. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't care," Sonic said with a frown, shushing MC by placing a finger on his mouth before sighing. "Alright... You wanna help? Just keep an eye on this universe, and whatever you do: Don't. Interact. With more. Variants! Nor from me, nor from yourself, nor from anyone else!" MC raised an eyebrow, but still shrug it off and nodded. "I can do that." "Good," Sonic said with a smirk. "Wish I could stay, but the whole multiverse could collapse if I don't leave right now!" After saying this, Sonic ran on his place, with his feet making the shape of an eight, while his discs opened another portal. With this, he boosted away, disappearing through another X portal. With him gone, Sonic's variant huffed. "My quills look cooler being long!" He stated with a frown and his arms crossed. MC deadpanned after he said that and rolled his eyes annoyed. Sonic got out of that universe with a bored look. "That was... weird, but also interesting," Sonic said with a little smile, before entering to another random line, in hopes of reaching his home this time. Universe 010921 You might get a sense of deja vu with this one. This universe is also settled in Modern Equestria, and right outside of Mane Melody, the Mane 5, Jazz and Rocky were gathered together around Sunny's Smoothie stand. However, besides them, there was also another pony... an Alicorn version of Sunset Shimmer. She, along with the Mane 5 sins Pipp, cringed after she, Jazz and Rocky made some weird dance to not get sick. "Okay, that's like the jinxy dance thing the unicorns did, which is not surprising at all." Sunset said strangely as she got out of the smoothie stand and came next to Pipp. "Pipp, don't you think you are taking this too seriously?" She asked. "I'm just doing this until I get a hundred million followers, Sunset. And besides, I've been doing this my whole life." Pipp pointed out, having no worries about this. "You do know that just filming the whole day is just overdoing it, right?" Sunset asked. "Nothing special can just pop up out of nowhere at this moment." She added. And then, suddenly, a portal with the shape of an X appeared out of nowhere above them, as Sonic came falling out of it and landed in front of the others in the smoothie stand, looking around while the Mane 6, along with Sparky, Jazz and Rocky, looked at him in shock and surprise. Sonic looked at his shoes and gloves, noticing that they were once again normal, although cleaned up, and he gave off a smile. "My shoes and gloves... they're normal again..." He said as he looked at his surroundings while giving a smile of happiness. "D-Did I do it?! Did I finally make it back––" He wanted to ask excitedly, but as soon as he saw Sunset's confused and shocked expression, he looked at her with boredom. "No, no I didn't. You're definitely a total stranger to me, and that shop over there should be Tails' workshop." He said with a tired tone in a tired tone while pointing to an abandoned building that was for sale. "How's that I'm so close from home and so far at the same damn time?!" He groaned frustrated. "Who in the sweet pony feathers are you?!" Sunset cried out in shock. Sonic smirked as usual and shook his head with a chuckle, also crossing his arms, having figured that they would ask him that. "Well, hello! I’m Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog, and... the best way I can explain this is that I'm from another universe!" He explained with a sheepish smile. "That makes no sense..." Sunset said confused. "How are you a hedgehog? And what are... Wait! Did you just say 'another universe'?" She asked in surprise. "What are you, some multiversal traveler or something?" She asked. However, the moment Sunset started to talk, Sonic's gaze lost on a certain direction as his ears twitched and he frowned a bit, because he was hearing some kind of voice that was guiding him out of there. "Uh-huh, yeah, sure. Whatever you say, bacon head." He told Sunset, now with a mocking smirk, before starting to run on his place, until his feet formed the shape of an eight. "Gotta go home now! The Multiverse isn’t gonna save itself, you know! Mō aitakunai ne!" He said, waving his hand and saying 'goodbye' in Japanese. Then, he boosted away before literally disappearing through another X portal, created by himself. The Mane 6, Sparky, Jazz and Rocky just looked in shock at what they just saw. "We're just gonna pretend like that never happened. Agreed?" Sunset told to the others, while still in shock. "Mmm-hmm," The others nodded in agreement. After getting out of that universe, Sonic looked around, and then, he boosted towards a white curve, once again hoping he'll get home this time around. Universe 121222 A guy named Anon (no, I won't explain further on this) looked around the room. All of the ponies with him; Sunny, Hitch, Izzy and Zipp, were still glaring at him, but no glare was more intense than Sunny Starscout's. He could have almost believed she was Twilight Sparkle if not for how badly his plan had failed. He'd spent years trying to figure out how to get to Equestria. But when he'd finally built a dimensional travel device out of a DeLorean he'd paid too much for on Ebay, he was very disappointed. There was no Celestia, no Luna, no Cadance, no Twilight Sparkle. None of the ponies he'd expected to find were here. And like an idiot, he'd underestimated how much plutonium he would need to open a dimensional wormhole, and now he didn't have enough to get back home. Of course, plutonium was not something one could easily come by in Equestria. Oh yes, there were ponies here, but he didn't recognize any of them. The only alicorn was Sunny Starscout, who now sat across the table from him casting a sinister glare at him. "You haven't been paying attention to a single thing I've said, have you?" Sunny said, her eyes narrowing even further as she plastered her ears to her head, Anon looked around at the four glaring ponies and bowed his head. "I think it's time you tell us what's on your mind, Anon," She said with a commanding and accusing glare. The more Anon looked around at the glaring ponies, the more he felt his resolve cracking. "Nothing! Nothing is on my mind! I'm just tired is all!" "Uh huh," Izzy said, staring at him with an unnerving unicorn stare. "We have ways of making you talk." "Izzy!" At least Sunny's glare was focused on the stoned unicorn now instead of him. Still, Anon found himself starting to shiver. She's a unicorn! She can probably read my mind! Or fry my brain with her horn laser! For that matter, Sunny probably can too! With the pressure too much to take, he finally opened his mouth and... The words never came, because everyone in the room heard a sudden scream, and they started to look around to find the source of that sudden scream. However, their doubts were answered when Sonic traversed a window, braking it in the process, and then he rolled on the floor before finally stopping, lying on the floor with his face smashed on the ground, while he groaned in pain and annoyance. Everyone in the room felt surprised at that, but Anon's eyes were so wide that you could feel like if they would come out of their place at any second now. While Sunny, Izzy, Hitch and Zipp were both shocked and confused at who the heck, and what the heck, was this creature, Anon knew perfectly that he wasn't looking at any kind of creature: He was looking at Sonic the Hedgehog himself. Sonic the fucking Hedgehog was laying on the floor, right in front of his eyes. The only thing that Anon didn't understood about this, besides probably how he even ended up on this dimension, is why his gloves were black, nor why his shoes looked like a black variant of his regular ones. Outside of that, thought, he could barely believe that Sonic the Hedgehog was right there in front of him. Sonic, however, groaned again, before slowly standing up as he trembled around a little, and grabbing his head since he felt extremely dizzy, because he arrived to this universe while spinning in the air out of control, before crashing against the window. "Gosh... I hate multiversal traveling..." Sonic muttered with annoyance, shaking his head and looking at the Mane 5 sins Pipp and Anon. "...Ironically, this is the most normal universe I have visited so far..." He commented, although he groaned again, as he grabbed his head again as well. "SONIC THE HEDGEHOG?!" Anon shouted in shock. The ponies and Sonic had to cover their ears, and Sonic even scratched one in pain and annoyance. "Dude, whoever you are, please calm down for a sec––" He tried to beg, but Anon suddenly grabbed him and shook him like a maniac. "NO FREAKING WAY THAT YOU'RE ALSO HERE!" Anon shouted in excitement. "Oh God, I need to take a picture of this!" He stated, pulling out his phone and taking a selfie with him, before letting him go as Sonic fell to the floor, feeling dizzy again. Sonic stood up and cleaned his fur, then looked at Anon with a frown as he started to say a lot of nonsense. Sonic crossed his arms and tapped a foot on the floor, before pulling out a quill from his head, charge it with electricity, and then prepare to give an electric shot to Anon. "Maybe my only complain is that you are being voiced by Roger Craig Smith, but other than that––" Anon managed to say, before receiving the electric shock. Anon fell to the floor, and Sonic looked at him with a frown of anger. "That'll show you a lesson, pretty boy," He stated, before throwing the quill away, and then create another X portal before boost through it. Meanwhile, the ponies only looked at each other, extremely confused on what happened, and not even knowing how to react. Sonic got out of that universe with a frown, still annoyed on what that weird guy did. Suddenly, the golden ship piloted by Chip seemed to approach, and he frowned even more now. "Hey, Sonic!" Chip called out with a smile. "I got something to tell you!" "Not now!" Sonic replied with anger, before boosting towards another universe, just to stay away from chip. "Oh, come on!" Chip complained with a frown. "I didn't said anything wrong! No, wait... Oh... I damaged him emotionally without wanting to... right..." He remembered with a cringed expression. "Well, he can't run forever from me. I hope he knows that." Universe 161121 The Mane 5 and a new Sonic's variant were outside Posey's garden, while Posey herself was extremely furious at them, but most importantly, she was extremely mad with Sonic. Why, you wonder? Reasons I refuse to explain because if you didn't read that story, I refuse to give you spoilers, alright? "I hate you." Posey declared to Sonic's variant, snd the, she walked in and slammed the door behind her. The group were left in confusion and shock, but Sonic was the one who felt it the most. She hates him still, and it didn't seem like it was going to go away. "I really did mess up..." With that said he began walking away back to the town of Maretime Bay, in silence. The group noticed his change of attitude, it was almost guilt driven. But they couldn’t speak to him as he had already made significant distance. "Okay, wow! She was really nice, right guys?" Izzy asked, Zipp and Pipp felt uncomfortable and followed Sonic back to the town, Hitch followed soon afterwards. Izzy quickly fixed up the flowers and the mailbox before taking off after the others. "Oh! Come on, Sunny! Let's go home!" Izzy called to her friend. Sunny watched as her Unicorn darted down the path, she looked through one of the windows of Posey's house and saw her staring. She closed the curtains angrily, showing she wasn't going to get involved. "Don't worry, Posey. I'm gonna find a way to show you and everypony else just how awesome magic can be." She began walking back to Maretime Bay with a thought lingering at her mind. 'I wonder why she hates Sonic, I know it was because of something he did… but just what was it exactly?' She shook her head and decided to ignore it for now. They still had a celebration to prepare for, and nothing was going to ruin it… hopefully. However, as they all walked back to the Crystal Brighthouse, the sky suddenly shattered to form a giant X, while the Mane 5 and Sonic's variant all felt startled and confused. "What the buck is that?!" Zipp asked confused. "Uh... Sonic?" Hitch called out. "Is this something that happens on your home?" "No, but even if it's not the craziest thing that I've seen, it's still weird," Sonic's variant replied. And so, from the sky, Sonic fell and landed right in front of his variant and the Mane 5, who stared at him in pure shock, since he looked exactly like their Sonic, with the only difference being some weird discs over his gloves and shoes. Aside from that, there were two Sonics looking exactly the same. Sonic cleaned some dust from his body, and then, he noticed his clothes were normal... except that they were clean again, too. "Uff... okay... my shoes are normal again. Hopefully, this time I'm ho–– Oh, you've gotta be kidding me..." He deadpanned, since he turned and saw his variant and the Mane 5, looking back at him with a shocked expression. "...WHO ARE YOU?!" Sonic's variant shouted in panic, and Sonic rolled his eyes, crossed his arms and tapped the floor with his foot. "WHY DO YOU LOOK LIKE ME?! WHERE DID YOU CAME FROM?! WHY DO YOU TALK LIKE A 40 YEAR OLD?!" He kept asking, but then, Sonic shut him up by placing a hand over his mouth. "Look, I would love to give you some context, I really do, but I'm against time right now, and I really need to go back before my Eggman conquers all the realities, yours included," Sonic replied with a bored expression. "By the way, your voice sounds really familiar..." He pointed out, as he got close to his counterpart, who stepped back and looked around nervously. "Seriously, though, who are you?" Zipp decided to step in, as she approached Sonic with a suspicious look. "Why do you two look exactly the same?" Pipp asked confused, also approaching Sonic. "Are you two brothers or something?" Izzy asked to both of them. "No!" Both Sonics shouted in panic. "Are you a changeling?!" Sunny asked, getting right into his face. Sonic felt very uncomfortable, and in a flash, he was already away from them, which startled his variant and the Mane 5, since it meant he could run as fast as their Sonic. "No... I'm not a shapeshifter of any kind..." Sonic replied with a bored expression. "Anyways, I gotta go now," He stated, now with a smirk, running on his place and making the shape of an eight with his feet. "I stood long enough on this universe. Besides, is not like you'll understand the concept of the multiverse, anyways. Peace out!" He finished, winking to the group and then boosting away, immediately disappearing in another X portal. The Mane 5 and Sonic's variant just remained silent and confused at what just happened. "...So... are you sure he's not your twin brother or something?" Izzy insisted with a smile. Sonic's variant only facepalmed and groaned annoyed. Sonic got out of that universe, now with a smile... "Sonic!" Chip called out again, as he started to chase down Sonic with a frown. "I need you to listen to me, this is important!" "Oh, come on!" Sonic complained with a frown as well. "Leave me alone, Chip! I don't wanna hear it!" He stated, before boosting towards another universe. As Sonic traversed another line, Chip stopped the ship and growled, also frowning with anger. "Oh, but you will hear me, Sonic. Just you wait..." Universe 041122 The sky opened with the shape of an X once again, and so, Sonic fell from the sky and landed right into some bushes. His clothes changed to a green variant of his regular ones, although his gloves also had some weird red stripes that he decided to ignore. He looked around, and noticed that he landed in a universe with a variant of Maretime Bay, but of course, he already suspected that this universe didn't had any knowledge on him. Since he already was going too fast, he decided to simply walk towards the town, even if it was night time, while his mind started to swim through random thoughts. After some minutes of walking, he still didn't arrived to Maretime Bay. Instead, he saw something... strange. "Operation: Candy Bucket is a go. All ponies are in place. The night seems generally clear, with no interference with drone systems so far, all drones are in position, and lights should be turning on in three... two... one..." Zipp instructed. "Heya, heya, Zipp!" Izzy said cheerfully, making the pegasus scream and leap about a foot in the air, flapping her wings so that she didn't fall. Sonic hide behind a tree once he saw this universes variants of Zipp and Izzy, and judging by Izzy's costume, this night was clearly Nightmare Night, at least in this universe. "Izzy! How many times do I have to tell you not to scare me like that?" the pegasus demanded. Her costume was doubling as her detective gear, and she frowned at Izzy, who was wearing the same costume again. In Zephyr Heights, Nightmare Night was one of the most important nights of the year, and anypony who reused a costume from a previous year was instantly frowned upon. "Sorry, Zipp! But I'm just so excited!" Izzy gave her a massive grin as the pegasus landed in front of Izzy, pushing up her visor so that she could see the unicorn better. "I just wanted to thank you for doing this for me. I really appreciate that you're doing so much for me." "Of course, Izzy," Zipp said, slightly uncomfortably. She didn't like talking about feelings that much. "You're my friend." She squealed. "This is so exciting!" Zipp rolled her eyes and sighed, before gasping and leaping into the air, pulling her visor over her eyes again. "Porch lights are on! Trick-or-treating officially begins now! Operation: Candy Bucket is a go! Everypony, move, move, move!" Izzy, Sunny, Hitch, Pipp, and Sparky all nodded and dashed off to the first house. Sonic, on the other hand, managed to sneak a bit closer, just so he could also see whatever Zipp was watching. "Izzy!" Zipp called through her communication system with the other ponies. She could speak to the others through the earpieces that they wore. "Don't bother walking to each house - teleport to each house." The unicorn nodded, and as soon as the four ponies got their candy, she lit up her horn and teleported them directly to the porch of the next house. "Trick-or-treat!" "Thank you!" "Hitch!" Zipp called as the ponies finished hitting every single house once and ducked into a hidden alleyway. "Get Sparky ready for Operation: Costume Change!" The sheriff grabbed his baby dragon and whispered into his ear, "Okay, Sparkeroni. We've practiced for this, and now you've got to change all my friends' costumes into something else without roasting them. You think you can do that?" Sparky nodded confidently and belched a purple-pink flame at each pony, which transformed their costumes into something new and unique - Izzy was now a fairy with wings made of open books, Sunny a massive strawberry, Pipp a spooky ghost, and Hitch an artist with a tilted barret on his head and a curly black mustache. "Get all the houses again!" Zipp ordered through all of their earpieces. "Go, go, go! We've only got an hour left!" Every time they managed to fill their candy buckets, Sunny would lead them to her smoothie cart, and the ponies would dump their candy inside, where nopony would find it. And every time there were too many foals in front of them that slowed down their progress, Pipp would do her 'influencer stuff' that would distract the Pippsqueaks long enough for Sunny, Izzy, and Hitch to get ahead again. They managed to get through two more costume changes before they had to start seeking out the homes that still had candy, and that was when Zipp's drones came into play. She scanned the city from the air, marking out the houses that still had their porch lights on, and called out the address to her friends. Izzy would teleport them there, and they would grab their candy and be off. Sonic tilted his head a bit confused after watching all of this, not understanding why the Mane 5 were doing that, nor why Zipp wasn't participating at all. This could count as cheating, true, but... was there any rules on 'Trick or Treat'? He didn't thought so, and even if they were, he has never been the kind of guy that follows rules, anyways. So, he decided that whatever this Mane 5 were doing was none of his business, so he slowly stepped back and boosted away. Zipp did noticed the wind blowing by all of a sudden, but since Sonic already left and she never realized that he was even there in the first place, she shrugged and returned her focus to her friends. As for Sonic, he was trying to create another X portal, but then, one opened below his feet, and he fell through it without even noticing it coming. Sonic fell on Chip's ship once again, and without noticing it yet, some kind of purple-invisible barrier covered the ship. Sonic stood up and groaned in pain as he cracked his neck, but once he saw that Chip was in front of him, looking at him with a frown, Sonic frowned as well. "For the last time, Chip. Whatever you want to tell me, I don't wanna hear it!" Sonic remarked once again with anger. After that, he tried to boost away from there so he could enter to another universe, but as he got to the edge of the ship, he crashed with the barrier, and so, he was sent backwards, landing on the ship with a thud and a groan. "Yeah, I supposed you'll said that, so I decided to take some desperate measures to have a chat with you," Chip replied with a bored expression. Sonic immediately stood up and shook his head, frowned more and started to run like a maniac around the ship, trying to escape and avoid to listen to whatever Chip wanted to say. Yet, all he managed to do was booting backwards again, and again, and again. Eventually, Sonic ended up on the ground, panting exhausted and trying to catch his breath again after a very failed attempt to escape from the ship. "So, now that you're on the ground again, are you going to listen to me?" Chip asked with a mocking smirk, his arms crossed and a raised eyebrow. Sonic growled again frustrated, still mad with Chip for everything he said earlier about leaving Equestria forever in order for both that world and his to survive. And yet, Sonic sighed in defeat as he slowly stood up. "If I listen to you... would you let me go already?" Sonic asked with anger, crossing his arms. "That's pretty much what I've been planing to do since the beginning, but someone refused to listen..." Chip pointed out with a frown. "Until now that is." Then, Chip moved to the ship's wheel and spin it, making the ship move again as it started to travel across the multiverse once again. After several minutes, Chip stopped right above one universe, and then he moved towards Sonic, who was sitting on the passengers couch again, still frowning and with his arms crossed. "Now: I wanted to talk with you for three reasons, actually," Chip confessed. "First: I wanna apologize for what I said earlier with no delicate touch..." "You literally told me to leave a place I love just so it could survive, how else did you expected me to react?" Sonic asked with a frown, although he wasn't as mad as before now. "But Sonic, the way I said it was still wrong––" Chip pointed out. "Maybe, but you didn't lied at all, either," Sonic confessed, sighing in defeat. "I guess that's why I got so mad before... I knew you were right... And I still refused to accept it..." "No, Sonic, what I mean is that I didn't explained myself as I wanted," Chip revealed with a little smile. "That's the second thing I wanted to tell you: Maybe, just maybe, you don't need to leave Equestria. At all!" Now that, that made Sonic return his full attention to Chip, as his eyes opened wide and his lips started to tremble a little bit. "...W-What? A-Are you serious?!" Chip nodded with a smile. "That's why I need you to listen to me without exploding in anger again!" "You better know what you're talking about!" Sonic warned, although a little part of him, very, very, very deep inside, believed that Chip was telling the truth. "While the chance of both worlds experimenting an 'Elimination Nexus event' is still there, there's also a chance that both worlds could combine," Chip explained with a smile, and Sonic seemed to be smiling as well. "However, in order for that to happen, I need you to bring me the same thing that your Eggman used to move those other Eggmans and Sonics to your universe." "The same thing that my Eggman used? You mean the Paradox Prism?" Sonic asked confused, while Chip nodded. "Why?" "The power of the Prism might have what I need in order for certain Nexus events to happen the way I want," Chip explained. "And does it work?" Sonic asked once again. "No idea, it's been eons since I had that much power," Chip confessed, then he smiled. "But I still can try!" "...I'm not convinced with that, but if it means I can stay in Equestria and Mobius at the same time, then I don't give a shit!" Sonic stated, at first with a bored expression, but then with a smile. "The only problem is... I still have no idea where my home universe is..." "That's where the third thing enters the picture: While you explored some universes to 'think properly', I took those 20 minutes to investigate about your universe," Chip confessed. "Or better said: I looked through the multiverse for a world with three Eggmans and two Sonics." "20 minutes? How–– Oh, right... Time doesn't exist here..." Sonic remembered. "Wait! Are you saying that you are looking for my universe to sent me home?" "I'm not looking for your universe, Sonic. I found it!" Chip revealed with a huge grin. Sonic felt his heart racing a mile per hour after hearing that, and he smiled unconsciously. "Y-You did?! Where is it?!" "We're right above it!" Chip confessed. Sonic immediately rushed to the edge and saw the universe below the ship, with a huge smile as his entire body was filled with happiness. "A-Are you sure this is the one? Is not some kind of cruel joke for left you hanging, is it?!" Sonic asked once again. "You'll never know if you don't go down there and find out for yourself!" Chip replied confidently. Sonic hugged Chip with a big smile. "Thank you, Chip! I forgive you, and I'm sorry for running the way I did before." "No biggie!" Chip assured with a smile. "Now go out there and save the multiverse before it's doomed!" Sonic raised his thumbs up, then took a deep breath, and then, he throw himself from the ship, falling at top speed as he traversed the white line. Universe 220822 The sky opened in the shape of an X again, and Sonic landed in the floor, once again, on some kind of superhero pose... again. Sonic looked around, and he saw the pegasus city, a.k.a. Zephyr Heights. The sun was setting on the horizon, but for some reason, everypony seemed to be busy and worried about something, which kind of confused Sonic. However, before he could even ask, he passed by some stand and saw a magazine that called his attention. Quickly, he grabbed the magazine and saw the cover... and that was enough to make him smile widely: The cover showed both him and Pipp, with their eyes closed and smiling widely, as their foreheads were together and they seemed to hug each other. The tittle said something about their relationship being fake, stupid, toxic, not ideal... you know, all that stuff people comes up with when they want to ruin famous people's relationship because frustration. Yet, Sonic couldn't care less about those details, because he was so incredibly happy to be back on his universe. This was it... this had to be it. So far, no other universe where he interacted with the Mane 5 and himself at the same time seemed to have him and Pipp together on a relationship. So, if this universe said he was with Pipp, it had to be his universe, so at least Chip, or whoever the guardian of the multiverse is, really did something good for him in the end. The fact that his shoes and gloves were all muddy again, and his discs were not glowing anymore, only made him feel even happier, since it was proof that he returned to his home universe. "Seems like that Tails was right..." Sonic muttered to himself with a huge smile. "This is my home universe, so... the energy of the Paradox Prism in my body has no reason to guide me here... because I belong here..." However, all that happiness faded almost instantly when he noticed some pegasi lifting something heavy, as well as unicorn magic floating some bricks towards the castle... because there was a massive hole in the castle, specifically where the throne room is usually located. Sonic immediately got worried, and so, he boosted towards the throne room at top speed, hoping that Haven, or whoever was there right now, were doing okay. Sonic entered the throne room, ironically, through the same hole he saw before. Then, he saw both Queen Haven and Alphabittle not so far from where the throne used to be, talking to a pegasus with a construction helmet, that immediately walked away once he was done talking with the two adults ponies. However, Alphabittle spotted Sonic from the corner of his eye and gasped. "Sonic?!" Haven also turned into his direction, and gasped while covering her mouth with a hoof, while Sonic himself smiled and ran towards the two of them. "Sonic?" Haven said as well. "Is that––" She tried to ask, but Sonic cut her off. "Please, let me make some questions first, alright?" Sonic begged. "Haven, if I recall correctly, I told you that Sunny, Izzy and I were just doing some tourism around Zephyr Heights when we first met. Is that correct?" "Uh... Yes! That's exactly what happened!" Haven replied with a smile. "And I said you were a ponyfied Gandalf, caused a big disaster on your tea shop, I may have said some forbidden words... I'm still not proud of that..." Sonic told to Alphabittle with a sheepish smile. Alphabittle laughed loudly, before he grabbed Sonic in a side hug with one hoof, while using the other to mess his quills a bit. "That's right! It is really you, Sonic!" Sonic usually would feel annoyed by actions like that one, but he was smiling and chuckling the whole time. "Oh, yes!" He cheered, now wrapping both Haven and Alphabittle in a big and warm hug. "It's you! It is really you! I'm finally home!" He added with happiness, as a few tears fell from his eyes. He managed to dry them off quickly, thought, but he was still smiling. "It's so good to be back..." Sonic said with a smile, that quickly turned into a frown. "But judging by massive the hole behind me, I guess I missed a few things while I was out..." "Yeah, some crazy stuff's been happening ever since you disappeared," Alphabittle confessed. "Some weirdos that look like that Eggman guy came to Equestria!" Haven explained with a worried frown. "And two guys that look like you as well," Alphabittle added. "Huh... so those missing Eggmans and Sonics from those universes were actually dragged here..." Sonic muttered with concern. "Oh! And what about my friends? Tails? Sunny? Pipp?! Are they okay?!" "They are on Maretime Bay right now," Haven replied. "As far as we know, they are fine..." She added, but she didn't sound so sure. "However, with three Eggmans on the loose... I don't wanna know what kind of horrors they have witnessed..." Alphabittle added with concern and worry. "Then I should go there myself and let them know I'm back and safe," Sonic stated to himself, now smirking again. "They also might need some help dealing with those Eggmans! And I'm feeling curious on meeting these new Sonics, too!" "The take care, Sonic" Haven said with a warm smile. "And please, look after my daughters." "And make sure neither Izzy or Misty get in so much trouble, too!" Alphabittle added with a smirk and a wink. "I'll make sure they're all safe and sound!" Sonic assured, before hugging Haven and Alphabittle again, and then pull away. "It's nice to see you again!" He stated with a smirk, before boosting away. "Wooohooo! I'm back, baby!" "Despite being gone for a week, he's still the same," Haven pointed out with a smile, then she looked at Alphabittle. "I guess some things never change, huh?" "Yeah... some things remain the same..." Alphabittle agreed with a snort and a smile as well. > 10. Beyond the Multiverse > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Universe 220822 Maretime Bay was a disaster. The ground was all cracked; several windows in shops, homes and even the Sheriff Station were broken; some plants were destroyed and even burned down, there was fire in some corners of the city; the signs from Electronic Tails and Mane Melody were now on the floor; and the streets seemed to be abandoned, probably because Hitch sent everyone to safety on the Canterlove Studios building. Soon enough, however, explosions, grunts, punches, metal hitting something and maniac laughs were heard, just to be followed by Zipp, Young Sonic, Knuckles and Rouge to be sent backwards and fall to the ground with grunts of pain. Young Sonic managed to sat down and pant exhausted, as he looked at the battle unfolding ahead: Tails, Pipp and Shadow were fighting against Robotnik and the Egg Dragoon; Sunny was fighting against Eggman and the Death Egg Robot; Omega and Amy were fighting against Sage; and Boom Sonic, Izzy, Misty, Hitch and Sparky were fighting against Ivo and the Egg Emperor. However, the battle was very tight, because no matter what one side did, the other one managed to recover and keep fighting back. And worst is that the Eggmans are in machines that can be replaced at any time, while the others were feeling exhausted and didn't knew how much longer they could keep going. Still, that didn't meant they were going to give up, so Young Sonic groaned in pain, but managed to stand up anyways. After that, he walked over to Knuckles and extended his hand to the Echidna, who was lying on his knees as he panted exhausted as well. "Come on, Knucklehead... Is not over yet..." Young Sonic told him with a weak smirk. Knuckles looked at him confused, but eventually smirked back and accepted his hand, taking it and standing up with a grunt. Then, Young Sonic moved over to Rouge and helped her to stand up as well, not minding if she liked it or not. "...T-Thanks, kid..." Rouge said with a little smile, while Young Sonic smiled back. Once Rouge was able to move on her own, Young Sonic quickly moved to Zipp and helped her to stand up as well, and Zipp smiled at him in a thankful way, before looking forward again and frowning. "I guess we'll just keep fighting until they give up, huh?" Zipp said with a snort. "I doubt it'll happen... but we won't give up, either!" Young Sonic stated with a determinate look. Wanna get another Deja Vu? Critters all across Equestria were just hopping around or eating peacefully. Suddenly, a blue blur passed by at top speed and startled the poor critters. Said blur was running around in circles and collecting some golden floating rings that started to appear around Equestria a few months ago. The blue blur became clear, and it revealed himself as Sonic. However, he wasn't happy anymore. Yes, he was back in Equestria, but two other Eggmans and Sonics arrived while he was out, and judging by the massive amount of destroyed robots in the ground, he guessed he arrived just in time. So, he was pushing himself harder than ever with a frown, as he tried to run at top speed and reach Maretime Bay, were the trial of destroyed robots was guiding him towards to. Sunny was flying at top speed across the sky, leaving a golden trial that was combined with her mane color as she frowned and dodged the Death Egg Robots shots at her. Tired of playing more games, the Death Egg Robot extended one of its arms and tried to hit Sunny, but she dodged the attack and started to plummet towards the machine. Noticing that, the robot extended the other arm right towards her, but once again, Sunny dodged, then lightened her horn and launched a massive laser towards the Death Egg Robot. However, despite this being the original model of the Death Egg Robot, Eggman upgraded it a bit, and he added laser eyes to the machine, which he activated and shoot to fight Sunny's laser back. The two of them were fighting against each other, until Sunny saw that the Death Egg Robot's laser was about to hit her, so she teleported away, while the laser flew towards the sky. Eggman got confused at Sunny's disappearance, looking around as he tried to find her again, just to get hit in the back by Sunny herself, who charged another laser and launched it to him, literally surprising him by the back and sending him flying further, as he landed in the ground with a loud thud and a frustrated groan. Sonic was running across more and more robots. He was surprised to find that some of them looked more menacing, and some others looked like really advanced technology pieces, which also worried him since it meant that Eggman's multiversal variants were incredibly smart. That only worried him more, and so, he started to run even faster to help his friends, since he felt they needed him. Tails, Pipp and Zipp flew into the air, dodging multiple drills launched by the Egg Dragoon. Then, Tails used his powers to create a gun that shoot an electrical net towards the drill arm of the machine, trapping it and shooting it down for a second. "Hey!" Robotnik complained, as he glared daggers at Tails. Tails himself glared back, and then, he charged up a Spin Dash before launching himself towards the pilot's cabin on the Egg Dragoon, startling Robotnik as he grunted in effort. Soon enough, Shadow appeared from the back and launched multiple Chaos Spears, damaging the machine even more as Robotnik grunted again. Soon enough, both Pipp and Zipp were plummeting towards the Pilot's cabin, and they both gave two massive kicks to that zone, startling Robotnik as he growled loudly in anger. "You little pests are ending with my patience!" Robotnik shouted in anger. After that, he extended the other arm of the Egg Dragoon, that transformed into some hook-hand as it extended and tried to catch both sisters. They both panicked and immediately started to fly around in multiple circles and tricks to dodge the arm, getting horrible flashbacks of when Discord did the same thing when he stole the Pegasus Crystal. However, Robotnik didn't count with Young Sonic, who Spin Dashed and cut the arm from the machine, as the hook fell in the ground with a loud 'clank' sound. Then, Young Sonic Spin Dashed against the Egg Dragoon, sending it backwards in the process. Knuckles, Rouge, Amy and Omega were simply launching random attacks at Sage, who simply stood still with a frown as she protected herself on a shield. Finally, Hitch, Izzy, Misty, Boom Sonic and Sparky were hitting the Egg Emperor with everything they had: Izzy and Misty with laser shots from their horns; Hitch used his Earth Pony magic; Sparky used his Dragon Fire and Boom Sonic used Homing Attacks, Spin Dashes and even the electrical lasso on his watch. "Ugh, this has gone for long enough! SAGE!" Eggman shouted in anger. With a nod, Sage charged up some kind of replica of Shadow's Chaos Blast, and with a massive wave of power, she sent everyone but the Eggmans backwards, with Knuckles grabbing Izzy and Misty in the air to protect them, while Tails did the same with Zipp and Pipp, Omega did it with Amy, Shadow with Rouge, and Hitch with Sparky. Sunny and the Sonics were the only ones that fell to the ground on their own, but everyone in the group of heroes groaned in pain as they fell in the ground. Sage moved backwards and simply floated right besides Eggman with a grin. "Thanks for the upper hand, dear!" He said with a bigger grin inside the Death Egg Robot. "They're all yours, Doctors," Sage stated, flying a bit more backwards. The three Eggmans nodded, and they slowly started to walk towards the weakened heroes in the ground with maniac laughs, while the heroes tried to stand up with effort. Sunny's Alicorn powers vanished because of how weak she felt, something that Hitch noticed, so he quickly moved over and nuzzled his face with Sunny's to cheer her up and help her to keep fighting. The moment Sunny felt Hitch's touch, she blushed a bit, but still got his message, and so, she tried to stand up to still fight, even thought her body begged her to stop. "Aww, look at you!" Eggman mocked up to the heroes, as they all frowned to him, no matter if they were still in the floor or barely standing up. "You know this battle is lost, but you still wanna try. How cute!" He added with a maniac laugh. "Oh, I almost feel bad... Just kidding!" Ivo said with another maniac laugh. "Getting rid of two Hedgehogs and a bunch of stupid ponies? Nothing could make me happier!" "I never thought the day I'll finally kill this Hedgehog would come, but here we are!" Robotnik cheered with a sinister grin. "I-It doesn't matter..." Sunny said weakly. "W-We'll always fight back... As many times as necessary!" "Well, then..." Eggman stated, raising one arm of the Death Egg Robot and pointing it to the two Earth ponies, while Ivo and Robotnik did the same with the Egg Emperor and the Egg Dragoon respectively to everyone else. "If that's the case, I guess you'll die in the battlefield! Don't worry, though. We'll make it quick and painless!" Hitch stood in front of Sunny, as she tried to make her Alicorn form appear, but she was so weak that she was struggling, and everyone else tried to stand up and fight back as well, but again, nobody was feeling strong enough to do so. The Eggmans grinned and prepared to launch the final blow against the group of heroes, while some of them either just accepted their fate or still tried to stand up and fight back. And just when the Eggmans were about to shot at them... A blue ball charged up a Homing Shot against the Death Egg Robot, followed up by a Wild Rush against the Egg Emperor, and finished by Loop Kick against the Egg Dragoon. Everyone else felt startled by that sudden attack, specially the three Eggmans, which attacks were totally interrupted as they lowered their arms on their robots. However, the three machines and Sage were surrounded in a circle by the same blue blur, and then, that ball charged up a Spin Slash that sent the three Eggmans backwards, as they all fell to the ground on their backs. The ball uncurled and landed in yet another 'superhero pose', but they soon stood right in front of the three fallen machines with their fists closed and a frown that the rest couldn't see because they were seeing his back only. "W-Who is that?" Young Sonic, both amazed and confused. However, Knuckles walked forward, and once the dust caused by the mystery creature's landing vanished, he snorted and shook his head on disbelief with a smirk. "About time you show up, Sonic!" Yup, Sonic arrived just in time by attacking the three Eggmans by surprise. "You know how I am, Knucklehead," Sonic replied, still giving them his back, but then just turning sideways with a smirk. "I like dramatic entrances!" He added confidently, before turning his sight back to the Eggmans and frown again, as he started to walk towards the trio of villains. The Mane 6 were glad that he finally returned, specially Pipp, who had to resist her urge to launch at him in a hug just for the sake of letting him do his thing; Team Sonic was incredibly happy that he was back as well, although Knuckles was trying to hide it; and Team Dark was kinda careless, although Rouge was smirking as she held her right arm in pain, Shadow huffed and rolled his eyes in annoyance, since he had to deal with three Sonics now, and Omega never realized he left in the first place. The three Eggmans and Sage, on the other hand, first stood up quickly and shook their heads and stood up on the machines, while Sage floated and sat down over the shoulder of the Death Egg Robot. Then, Eggman groaned in pain, just to return his sight forward and feel his eyes widening, while the feeling of rage started to fill his entire body, as he frowned and growled in anger at the the smirk and face he hasn't seen in a week, and he hopped he'll never see again. "...You..." Eggman muttered with anger. "Hey there, Eggy! Long time no see!" Sonic greeted with a mocking smirk. "You know, the little trick that your badnik pulled by sending me towards the Paradox Prism was pretty smart, I gotta say. You give me the chance to have free vacations across the entire multiverse!" He confessed, before frowning all of a sudden. "Then I finally come back just to find three broken man and an AI program that should've have stayed dead after sacrificing herself for this planet messing up with my home and the people I care for!" That touched a nerve on both Eggman and Sage, because Eggman erased that fragment of her life from Sage's memory, while Sage herself didn't understood what was he talking about. "Fortunately, I might have the key to fix this messed up multiverse. But first, I must make you pay for doing the one thing I won't ever stand: Mess with my friends!" Sonic stated. "Too bad you won't live to tell it, rodent!" Robotnik announced with rage. "Aww, four vs one? That's not so fair... for you!" Sonic mocked up with a smirk, cracking his knuckles before launching himself towards the Eggmans and Sage. Robotnik growled and immediately launched the drill arm towards the Hedgehog, who created a sword with his electrical powers by using the watch. However, something really weird happened, because the disc over Sonic's hand that created the sword started to glow, and soon, the electrical sword was turned into an actual sword. Sonic didn't noticed it that yet, however, as he ducked and used the sword to split in half the driller in slow motion, before launching himself towards the Egg Dragoon and ran at super sonic speed around the robot, still holding the sword. After a few seconds, the Egg Dragoon fell split in pieces, since Sonic used his sword to split the entire thing apart, and Robotnik grunted as the pilot cabin fell to the ground, before falling unconscious. Sonic landed and smirked, although it was at this point when he noticed the sword on his hand, that turned real instead of still being electrical. He got a bit confused at first, but when he felt something about to hit his back, he slowed time down and moved aside, just to see how he was almost stabbed by the Egg Emperor, controlled by Ivo. Sonic frowned and threw the sword away, as it vanished in thin air, while he launched himself against the Egg Emperor, returning everything to normal speed. Soon enough, he curled into a ball and charged a Spin Dash against the head of the Egg Emperor, but right after he uncurled in the air, he did a Cyclone Kick, followed by another Homing Shot, then by a Stomp Attack, and finished it with a Grand Slam. The Egg Emperor fell backwards, and Sonic spin in the air, before uncurling, creating another electrical sword that also turned real thanks to the disc on his hand, and then stabbing the Egg Emperor's chest, shutting down the machine entirely, while Ivo also fell unconscious inside the robot. With that, Sonic placed the sword on his arm like if it was a baseball bat, and stared daggers at Eggman, who was still inside the Death Egg Robot. "Go on, Egghead. I think is time we settle a pending debt!" Sonic said with anger. "You're still mad that Sage sent you towards the Prism and gave you 'free vacations'?" Eggman asked with a snort. "Because if that's the case, I'm actually impressed that it still bothers you, Hedgehog." "Yeah, well, you made me struggle into finding my way back––" Sonic tried to reply with a bored expression, but then his eyes widened when he realized something about what Eggman just said. "Wait... What do you mean Sage did this?" "What, you didn't knew? Sage tricked you, Sonic!" Eggman revealed with a grin. "She's the one that sent you to the Paradox Prism!" Sonic finally understood what went wrong, and why Shadow was trying to warn him. That badnik was an illusion, and Sage was the real one to blame for his multiversal travel. He looked at her, floating at the side of the Death Egg Robot with a frown, and Sonic glared at her, as he buried his sword in the ground, that vanished soon afterwards, and his electrical powers started to show up. "So this is how low you fell, huh?" Sonic asked her in anger. "First you sacrifice yourself to save the entire planet from being destroyed by The End, and now you only obey Eggman and his manners because he's your dad?! All this time I mourned you, and turns out you're as bad as he is. I'm really disappointed, Sage." "What are you talking about?" Sage asked confused. Eggman, on the other hand, gulped nervously and looked at Sage. "D-Do not listen to him! He's trying to put you against me! Now, do you got what I asked yo to get?" Hesitant at first, Sage nodded, and with a snap, she made appear the blue and red fragments of the Prism, the ones that Tails and Shadow managed to get before escaping the Big Arms. "What?!" Tails and Zipp shouted in unison and confusion. "She has our fragments!" Pipp pointed out with worry. "But how?!" Hitch questioned. "Dang it!" Shadow shouted with a frown and anger. "The battle was a distraction! Eggman's objective was always to steal the fragments!" "Ugh! We should've put the fragments back on the Brighthouse before leaving!" Tails pointed out with concern. Sonic heard all of that, as well as the collective gasps of his friends, and he frowned back at Sage and Eggman. "I can't believe you still help your father when he's a liar, Sage. He erased your sacrifice against The End from your mind for reasons I refuse to understand." "Again, what are you talking about?!" Sage asked again, as she gave the fragments of the Paradox Prism to Eggman, who opened the head of the Death Egg Robot, while sage made her hand glow and surrounded Sonic, bringing him close to her and grabbing his neck, although she wasn't cutting his air. "Sonic!" Pipp shouted afraid, as she tried to fly and help him, but Knuckles stopped her by placing a hand in front of her. "Speak now, Sonic. I won't repeat myself," Sage warned with anger. "You said that I defeated The End when he piloted Supreme, but that's not what happened!" Sonic revealed to her. "After I defeated him, he escaped to space and recovered his true form. You decided to pilot Supreme and destroy him along me! But once it seemed like we won, he was about to destroy Equis, so you launched yourself on Supreme and sacrificed yourself!" As Sonic narrated all of this, the memory started to unlock slowly on Sage's mind, as she struggled a bit at first when she had those memories. Her body glitched and changed to blue at times again, and some tears fell from her eyes as well, while the song she made for Eggman to say goodbye after sacrificing played during her flashbacks as well. "You saved us all from our doom, and now you want to destroy us?!" Sonic asked with sadness. "Sage, he's lying, don't listen to him!" Eggman shouted desperate. However, as Sage looked at the floor with doubt over Eggman and his words, Sonic decided to take this opportunity, and so, he kicked Sage's stomach, sending her backwards, while he launched himself towards Eggman and punched his face, as he grabbed the blue fragment of the Paradox Prism, and then jumped high enough to spin in the air, before landing right in front of Sunny and Hitch, now holding the fragment of the Prism in his hand. Sage managed to recover quickly and frown... but she wasn't mad with Sonic... Not at all this time. Her anger was for her own father. "S-Sage, sweaty, please, listen to me––" Eggman tried to beg from his Eggmobile, still over the Death Egg Robot and with the red fragment of the Paradox Prism. "NO!" Sage shouted, turning and glaring daggers at Eggman, while a tear fell from her left eye. "You will listen to me!" She declared, before snapping her fingers. After that, she and the three Eggmans disappeared, along with their respective Eggmobiles, as well as with the red fragment, while the three machines were left behind, until... "The Death Egg Robot/Egg Emperor/Egg Dragoon will self destruct in 10, 9, 7, 8..." The computer on each robot announced, starting the countdown to destroy the machines. Sonic felt startled at that, and so, he quickly brought out a warp ring from his quills, twirling it around his finger as it started to grow bigger and bigger, while he moved to one side of the machines. Then, he threw the ring, that grew incredibly big and dragged the three robots, throwing them on the ocean and then closing afterwards. The Mane 6, Team Sonic and Team Dark were all used to Sonic doing this kind of stuff. The Sonics? They were beyond flabbergasted. They were impressed by everything about this Sonic: His skills in battle, how fast he was, the way he simply fought against three Eggmans without struggling. They were jealous, of course, but more than that... they were impressed at him. You could say they even admire him now! "3, 2, 1..." The computers finished the countdown underwater. After that, far away in the ocean, a massive explosion unfolds as several pieces fly in the air, although they fell back in the ocean. One of them, however, fell near Sonic, the head of the Death Egg Robot, with one of the eyes destroyed and the other one cracked, while the mustache was all ruined up. Sonic walked towards it and shook his head in disbelief, as well as he saw the fragment of the Prism on his hand. "And to think that my whole problem started because of this..." Sonic said with a snort, then twirled the Prism a bit. "Oh well! Is not like I can say 'no' to an adventure, anyways!" However, as he was about to turn around and say something to the rest, he was suddenly wrapped on a big hug by Pipp, and while he was taking a bit aback, as he also dropped the fragment of the Prism by mistake, he also allowed himself to smile, and he hugged her back, enjoying the embrace of his girlfriend after an entire week of not seeing each other. Pipp felt some tears of happiness running down her cheeks, ruining her makeup, yeah, but she couldn't care less right now. She felt a bit ticklish when Sonic rubbed her wings a bit, but she only chuckled lowly, placing a little kiss on his cheek, and now nuzzling a bit on his soft chest, something she missed on doing very much. Soon, they broke their hug, and Sonic caressed her cheek with a hand, while Pipp smiled warmly at him. However, before they could even lean to kiss each other, Sonic was suddenly pulled to a group hug by the rest of Team Sonic, as Knuckles even rubbed his head a bit, which made Sonic chuckle, while Tails and him Fist bumped, and Amy simply hugged Sonic with a smile. After that, the Mane 6 sins Pipp were the next ones to embrace their friend into a hug, as Sonic simply chuckled again at all the affection he was getting from his friends. He couldn't care less about keeping his cool this time around, thought, because he missed all of them. Of course, he only made a little salute sign to Team Dark, while Shadow rolled his eyes and looked away, and Rouge chuckled, waving her hand at Sonic and winking at him. Omega did saluted back, thought. Once the Mane 6 broke the hug, Sonic chuckled and shook himself a little, fixing his quills and smiling back at everyone. "I'm very glad to see you all, guys. I really am," He assured, before turning his head to his counterparts and smirk at them, while Boom Sonic crossed his arms and smirked back, and Young Sonic waved his hand with a smile. "And I see there's some new-not-so-new faces around as well!" "So, you are the infamous Sonic of this universe we've been hearing about nonstop, huh?" Boom Sonic asked with a mocking tone as well. "Gotta admit, I didn't expected you to be that impressive in battle!" "Yeah!" Young Sonic added with sparkling eyes, as his tail wagged happily while he stared to move at super sonic speed around Sonic. "Like, you make incredible moves all around the Eggmans, and the you used that ring, and you even used a sword! You're more amazing that I gave you credit for!" "Um... He's 10 times more hyperactive than me..." Sonic pointed out with a confused expression. "Should I be worried about that?" "Eh, he's been that way ever since we met him. You'll get used to it," Knuckles assured with a smirk. "Probably..." He added, now with an anxious look. "...Okay?" Sonic said confused, before smiling again. "Seriously, though... I'm glad to be back after struggling all around the multiverse to finally made it home!" "We're glad too!" Tails assured with a smile. "I do wonder, though... What are these things on your gloves and shoes?" "And why are they so muddy?" Pipp pointed out confused. "Didn't Tails invented something to avoid this kind of stuff to happen?" "Yeah, but I guess it lost its effect after I left this universe..." Sonic guessed. "As for these things, I'll explain it later. First..." He started, as he grabbed the blue fragment of the Paradox Prism and looked at it with a frown. "I think you guys have something to tell me, don't you? After all, and judging by all those badniks I saw in a field not so far from the town... I'm gonna guess that I wasn't the only one busy with multiversal stuff, was I?" "Ugh... you have no idea, buddy..." Zipp complained with a bored expression. Eggman's hidden lab was totally empty. Soon enough, however, there was a bright flashlight in the middle of the lab, and so, the three Eggmans, still on their Eggmobiles, and Sage appeared, with Eggman dropping the red fragment of the Paradox Prism as it fell in the ground. Ivo and Robotnik were still unconscious, while Eggman rolled in the ground after he got out of his Eggmobile, and he groaned in pain and annoyance. However, he remembered something important, and immediately stood up, looking around with a worried expression, until he saw Sage standing right in front of a wall, giving her back to him. Eggman gulped nervously and cursed Sonic lowly, since he revealed exactly what he didn't wanted Sage to remember. And yet, here he was, struggling to face his own daughter that probably felt heartbroken after finding out that her own father hide something so important from her. "S-Sage, dear..." Eggman started with a soft tone, something weird on him, but he hoped that it could keep Sage calm so they could talk thing without her shouting. Yet, he hoped way too much. "W-Where you ever going to tell me?" Sage asked with a cracked voice, something that surprised Eggman. She usually used a tone similar to his whenever she talked about anything, world-domination related or not. However, this time she sounded both sad and angry, and that made him gulp nervously again. "S-Sage... I-I didn't wanted you to find out like this––" Eggman tried to say. "Don't you dare to come at me with that bullshit!" Sage raised her voice in anger, turning around to face him and floating again. Eggman was both even more heartbroken and scared at what he was seeing: Sage was frowning with pure anger and sadness, tears fell like waterfalls from her eyes, she was glitching again, with her red spots changing to blue, and her black clothes turning white. However, her sight was penetrating. Eggman could swear she was looking right into his soul, and that impressed him, made him proud and scared him, all these feelings at the same time, in that order. "Answer my question, dad. Did you planned to ever tell me that you erased memories from my brain? Or you planned to stay quiet for as long as you could before I could even remember it for myself?!" Sage shouted in rage, glitching even more as more tears fell from her eyes, and her voice was cracking even more as well. Eggman felt completely destroyed at this point. Such a little detail he wanted to erase from her memories, and yet, here he was, listening to his daughter crying and shacking while she waited for an answer, an answer that he knew would destroy her entirely. "...No..." Eggman finally replied, not daring to look at Sage at her eyes. "I never planned to. You weren't supposed to remember that. If I could've erase it entirely from your program, I would've done it no doubt..." Sage's frown disappeared, just to be replaced by a broken expression. More tears started to fell from her eyes, and she slowly approached Eggman, but she was now descending slowly, standing over the ground again, and now stopping right in front of Eggman. "...W-Why?" Sage asked, frustrated and concerned at the same time. "Why did you decided to hide this from me?" "...I didn't wanted you to remember that you died, Sage... I didn't wanted you to feel like you would do it again... And I still don't want you to," Eggman replied. Sage felt angry again, but she only lifted her head and glared at Eggman even more, while tears kept falling from her eyes. "Why?! I'm not even mad that I died! I wouldn't have cared if you only conserved that! But why did you hide it from me?!" she shouted in anger, as she floated again and hugged herself as she shacked. "Why did you lied?! Why didn't you told me that I saved you and the entire planet?! WHY DID YOU HIDE THE FACT THAT I SACRIFICED MYSELF FOR YOU?!" Eggman growled, removed his glasses and grabbed her from her arms. "BECAUSE I DON'T WANT YOU TO EVER THINK ON DOING IT AGAIN!!!" He yelled back, shacking her a bit as he frowned, and some tears formed on his own eyes. Sage was taken aback by her father's sudden movement, but she was also concerned now, since she didn't saw it coming at all. Eggman let her go and fell into his knees, quickly drying his tears away, but it was useless, because more came down from his eyes. "Hearing that song you made for me... watching that star rain in the sky... knowing that your physical form was destroyed when you launched yourself towards The End..." Eggman listed all of his reasons with pure pain and agony on his voice. "Sage, I know you're devoted to protect me because you live for that... but I also want you to have a life that doesn't involves me... I... I love you, Sage... And if I ever loose you again... I know I couldn't handle it... Madness would take over me and... And I know I wouldn't even take care of this pitiful world anymore... I would straight up destroy it." After Eggman was done, his tears kept falling, and Sage was now ashamed of how she snapped at him. While she was still mad at why he lied to her, she also understood better his motives. He simply wanted her to stay close, and to not ever think about giving her life again to save him or anyone else... because he couldn't handle loosing her again. It was selfish, true... but Eggman was very selfish all the time. His desire to create an Empire is selfish, and yet, she's still willing to help him out... because she loves him too. And honestly? She would be the same. If Eggman ever wanted to sacrifice himself, and succeed... she knew she couldn't take it, either. Finally realizing that, Sage slowly floated towards Eggman and used her hand to dry his tears. She was still glitching as her skin colors changed, but she didn't cared anymore. All she wanted right now is to make sure Eggman stops crying. Eggman himself felt surprised when Sage started to do that, and once they locked eyes, Sage smiled warmly at him. "Dad..." Sage called out with a little smile. "I-I'm not mad anymore... I'm still hurt and sad that you lied, but... If you ever did the same for me... I know I'll be reacting just like you... and I'll also would want to avoid that you ever tried to do it again... J-Just... don't cry anymore, okay? I forgive you..." Eggman was tearing up again, although it was more tears of happiness, so he grabbed Sage and pulled her into a hug. He couldn't care less about the multiverse at this point, nor Sonic, not his counterparts, nor anything else. Right there and right now, it was only him and his daughter, who hugged him back after hesitating a bit. Eggman was so glad that Sage forgive him, and he was smiling once again. Sage herself felt some happy tears forming on her eyes as well, and she buried her face on Eggman's shoulder, like trying to hide the fact that she was crying. She couldn't care about anything else, either, because she was simply happy to know that Eggman loved her so much. She only hoped he never did something like this ever again in case she died again, but if he did... maybe she'll find the way to forgive him, just not as easy as right now. "I love you, father..." Sage said with a little smile. "Just... please don't hide anything else from me... I'll be more mad knowing you did than forgetting something you consider is bad..." Eggman chuckled at her attitude and petition, braking the hug and drying his remaining tears before nodding firmly at her. "Don't worry, daughter of mine... No more secrets from here on. Judging by everything that stupid Hedgehog told you, I think you already remembered everything, so... there's nothing else I must tell you." Once all of this was said and done, Sage hugged him a last time, before finally pulling away. Then, Eggman grabbed his glasses and put them back, before turning to the red fragment of the Paradox Prism and grab it with a frown. Sage noticed that, and realized that she didn't grabbed the blue fragment back after Sonic steal it. "O-Oh no... I-It was my fault! I-I was so mad and so blurred by anger that I––" "Don't worry about it, dear," Eggman interrupted her turning to face her with a smile. "If anything, it was my fault. Sonic took both of us by surprise with his not desired return, and he stole the fragment from my hand... I knew the return of that blue pest would only bring trouble. Not like it ever brought anything good to me, anyways." "Definitely..." Ivo's voice spoke, as both Sage and Eggman turned to the other two Eggmobiles on the floor. They saw that both Ivo and Robotnik already woke up, as they struggled to stand still since they still felt hurt for the hit in the head they got before falling unconscious. "If you warned us before about the literal headache your Sonic is, none of that would have happened!" Ivo stated with anger. "I never dealt with such precise attacks and coordination with my Sonic! I'm not used to that kind of stuff!" "If it wasn't because it's still a variant of the same stupid rodent that ruined my life, I would run over a hundred experiments over him to explode his abilities to the max instead of killing him!" Robotnik added in anger as well. "You better have a plan to strike against the three Sonics now!" Ivo warned. "Because we're dealing with triple trouble here! Goodbye to the entire deal of being three Eggmans against just two Sonics!" "Not to mention, it seems like he and his pathetic friends still have a fragment of the stupid Prism that will help us take over the Multiverse," Robotnik pointed out with a frown. "Gentleman, you are absolutely right," Eggman stated with a grin. "We got our butts kicked really hard, the Sonic from my universe is back, we're still missing a fragment of the Paradox Prism... and yet, here we are! Living, breathing, and getting ready to smash those Hedgehogs and their friends for good this time!" "Eggman..." Both Ivo and Robotnik deadpanned. "No, no, no, listen!" Eggman interrupted them before they could complain or point out their loss again. "I realize now that we've been doing everything wrong! We attacked them by holding back all the capacities of my machines because I wanted to keep them prisoners to destroy that Hedgehog's self-steam!" "I'm sorry, what?" Ivo questioned confused. "What? What did I did or say?" Eggman asked, a bit confused. "You... You never mentioned that..." Robotnik pointed out confused. "Yeah... I think you didn't, father..." Sage pointed out as well. "Huh... Oh well, it doesn't matter anymore. That plan went to hell anyways," Eggman pointed out. "What does matter, is that we're not holding back this time. No more games, no more foreplay, and no. More. Sonics! We'll do exactly what we should've done the moment the rodents from your universes arrived! And now that mine is here..." He started, as he gave a maniac laugh. "We'll take down three little Hedgehogs... in one shot! Is time we kill them for good! And then... the multiverse will be ours to conquer! So, are you in? Or should I return you both to your homes and finish the job myself?" Robotnik grinned back immediately, since he was beyond excited to kill Sonic. Ivo, however, took some time to analyze if killing Sonic was the way to go... but he eventually grinned back as well. "Well, then. When are we getting started?" Ivo asked with excitement. Hitch decided to go and tell everyone in Canterlove Studios that the danger was over, and that they could all head back home. Of course, Tails, Knuckles and the Sonics used their super speed to fix everything that was broke after the battle so ponies in Maretime Bay wouldn't panic when they returned to town and saw the fire, the streets cracked and the windows broken. While Hitch was out supervising that everyone returned home safe and sound, everyone else returned to the Crystal Brighthouse. Once there, everyone explained to Sonic what happened after he shattered the Paradox Prism: Their escape with the blue and red fragments; the unexpected arrival of Ivo and Robotnik, as well as the rescue from Young Sonic and Boom Sonic; their fights against the Eggmans; and how Tails and Zipp managed to make their machine to travel trough the multiverse work. Tails also revealed that Sage's new body was created by using the remains of the Phantom Ruby, which explains why she can still do everything she did back on the starfall islands. Of course, Sonic was shocked at that revelation, but he decided to ask questions about it later, because he still had something to tell as well. After they were done with their story, Sonic was the one that explained himself next: How he arrived to a world dominated by Robotnik, how he literally met himself multiple times, how he got the discs on his clothes that allowed him to travel all across the multiverse, how much he struggled with their weird abilities until he finally controlled them, how he was on Young Sonic's and Boom Sonic's worlds and found out that they were on another universe, how he met the guardian of the entire multiverse that adopted Chip's form so his mind wouldn't explode or something, and how he ended up getting back to this universe. His universe. He did decided to not tell about how he met Twilight Sparkle because he knew Sunny would bomb him with multiple questions, and he needed her focused on the now. He simply told that two unicorns in another universe of ponies accessed to help him sent the message from their universe to this one. He also decided to not tell about Nexus events and how their world could be delated if he didn't gave Chip the Paradox Prism to fuse Mobius and Equestria together. After that, Tails dragged him away towards his area of the bedroom to study the discs on his clothes, and Pipp tagged along because she was planning on spending most of her time at Sonic's side from now on, since he promised no more surprises after defeating the Eggmans on his message. Even if Sonic knew that this was his home universe, and therefore, that the energy on his body that comes from the Paradox Prism has no effect anymore, he still felt hesitant to give the discs to Tails at first. However, after removing the four of them and realizing that there was no more energy coming out, he sighed in relief. After that, he used his super speed to change his gloves for cleaner ones and clean his shoes as well, returning with all his clothes shining bright. Meanwhile, Tails compared the energy of the discs with the energy coming from the Paradox Prism, and he was amazed at not only how the discs attached themselves to the blue fragment, but also at how they seemed to be containing some of it's power, returning it an causing small waves that were not dangerous, but did were a bit powerful. "This is... very impressive!" Tails pointed out with an amazed expression and a smile. "These discs use the power of the Prism and sent it to create portals that allowed you to travel across the multiverse... They also can turn fake objects into real ones! Just like they did with that sword you created with the watch! How's that this 'Rotor' guy didn't realized he made one of the biggest inventions ever?!" "No idea," Sonic replied confused. "I thought they only were containing the energy of my body, but... it seems like they embraced it, and they modify it. They evolved into something else entirely, and I never realized until... until I finally got control over them." "These discs also have lots of energy lectures that match the Prism's," Tails confessed with a smile. "I compared their lectures, and they both have the same properties, same abilities, same amount of power... Just in four discs, you have the power to go through every single universe you want! And you don't need the Prism at all to make them work!" "So, the very same thing that's our problem is also our solution?" Pipp asked confused. "Pretty much!" Tails replied with a smirk, before removing the discs from the Paradox Prism and give them back to Sonic. "Is up to you what to do with them, though. As revolutionary as these things are, they're also very dangerous. We already have enough dealing with three Eggmans wanting to conquer the whole multiverse, and if something or someone else discovers these things... Maybe is for the best that they stop existing. Besides, they contain a lot of power from the Paradox Prism, and if you focused enough, they could even surpass it! Yet again, is your choice what you wanna do with them." After saying that, Tails retired from the room, leaving both Sonic and Pipp alone. Sonic glanced at the discs with concern, thinking about what should he do with them and about what is the best choice to make. Conserving them granted him the power to travel across the multiverse anytime he want, but... he wasn't sure if he wanted that power at all. However, he didn't had time to think about it, because he was suddenly tackled to the floor by Pipp, which caused him to drop the discs on the floor and feel startled at his girlfriend's sudden move. She also pulled him for a kiss on the lips, a lovely and soft kiss where everything she wanted was to feel the lovely lips of her boyfriend, something she hasn't done in an entire week, although it felt like it's been ages since they shared one. Sonic's desire to kiss her finally hit over, and so, he wrapped his arms around her back, softly caressing her wings, and kissing her back with the same amount of love and affection that she was giving to him. He didn't realized how much he missed her lips until this very moment, and now, he wanted to keep Pipp close forever to never let her go. Once both of them were running out of breath, however, they separated, both immediately locked eyes and smiled with warm at each other. "I missed you, Blue Star. I missed you so, so much..." Pipp was the first to speak. "And I missed you too, Little Pipp..." Sonic replied, kissing her lips again for a second or two. "I was really scared that I wouldn't make it back... But I'm here now. And I'm not planning on going anywhere." Pipp smiled even more and rested her head on his chest, while Sonic decided to sit down so he could embrace her soft skin a little bit. He really missed her too, and he seriously didn't wanted to let her go, because he wrapped his arms around her back again and kissed her forehead tenderly. However, even if Pipp was smiling and purring at the embrace, she also had something on her mind. "Blue Star... Do you... Do you mean it?" Sonic looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. "Do I mean... What, exactly?" "When our Cutie Marks combined to show us that message you sent... You said that... That after Eggman was defeated, there wouldn't be more surprises..." Pipp reminded with a concerned look. "Do you meant that, or was it something you said only to make us feel calm because you were gone? Did you only said it so we wouldn't be so worried for you?" Sonic felt a bit surprised to be asked that, and he scratched his neck a bit unsure. "Maybe both? I honestly don't know, Pipp... Deep down, I do wish no more unexpected surprises happen that drags me away from you, or from the rest of our friends... But I can't say for sure that it won't happen again..." Pipp made a little whimper sad and squealed madly in such an adorable way that Sonic couldn't take seriously the fact that she was mad for what he said. So, he leaned and kissed her nose playfully, which made her squeal adorably again, and Sonic felt his heart melting at her attitude. "But since you asked me something, let me ask you something as well: Pipp, would you like it that our worlds combined together?" Sonic asked her suddenly. Pipp lifted her head and looked at him wide wide eyes, but also with a confused expression. "W-What do you mean?" "Would you like that both Mobius and Equestria combined in one single universe?" Sonic asked again, being more clear this time. "If that happened... We'll never had to be apart from each other. I wouldn't had to go from Equestria... we could live together, Pipp. Have our own lives... And nobody could say no to us because there'll be nothing in our way." Pipp felt her heart melting and her eyes sparkling, while she looked at Sonic completely surprised by everything he just said. "W-What?! D-Do you mean that? You would make our worlds be one so we could stay together?! B-Because if that's was possible... Then yes. Yes, and a thousand times yes!" She exclaimed with a smile, as she got free from his grip for a second and flew happily around him. "Nothing would make me happier than have you here in Equestria forever, Sonic!" She added, as she got back to his arms and looked into his eyes with love. Sonic snorted at her attitude and kissed her again. "Then I promise you: If I ever find a way to make our worlds be one just so we can be together, then you'll be the first one to find out. And not only that, but I'll also make sure that it happens. Nothing and no one will pull me away from you, okay? I'll move all the necessary universes just so nobody can stand in our way and tries to keep me far from you, okay my love?" Pipp felt her heart melting again, and so, she leaned to kiss his lips again, while Sonic kissed her back. Yeah, we all know this motherfucker is lying, because he does know about a way to fuse their worlds, since Chip promised to try it once he gave the Paradox Prism to him after recovering the remaining fragments. Yet, he was still unsure about telling her, mostly because he didn't trusted Chip's word at a 100%, yet he was still willing to give him a shot if that meant he could stay here in Equestria with his girlfriend. It wasn't a selfish desire at all. After all, Tails also wanted to stay because of Zipp. He even could see the tittle of 'King Tails' working. Knuckles was the same. He could go back to Angel Island and still watch over the Master Emerald, but now, having Izzy as his company, so yeah, the three friends kind of needed this selfish desire to come true if it meant they could stay with the mares they loved. "Aishiteruyo, burūsutā," Pipp said with a smile, saying 'I love you, Blue Star' in Japanese. "Watashi mo anata o aishiteimasu, ritoru Pippu," Sonic replied with a smile as well, saying 'And I love you too, Little Pipp' in Japanese. Meanwhile, as Sonic and Pipp were 'reconnecting', Sunny decided to leave the Brighthouse and check how Hitch was doing. He was on Mane Street, supervising the slight details that couldn't be hidden from the battle against the Eggmans, but thankfully, everything seemed to be in order, so he smiled with satisfaction, and turned around, just so his nose could accidentally bump with Sunny's. "S-Sunny?!" Hitch called out startled. Both Earth Ponies blushed a lot and turned away from each other, with Hitch scratching his neck nervously and Sunny rubbing her right hoof with embarrassment. "What, um... H-How can I help you?" Hitch asked after a while, looking at her again, with his blush still there. Sunny looked at him for a second, before looking away embarrassed again, and then looking at his eyes, while her face heated up a bit more. "I... um... Y-You had to tell me something important earlier, remember?" She reminded with a sheepish smile. Hitch felt his entire face heating up as well, now remembering that detail. In the moment, he was determinate to tell her because of the situation, and he didn't knew if they were going to live another day... Now that they did lived another day, he wasn't so sure about if telling her what he wanted or not. Yet, he also knew that backing up now was a terrible idea. He had something to tell her, and even if it was very scary... he must do it. He had to tell her now or never. So, with a nod to himself and a heavy sigh, he looked at Sunny again, still blushing, but not as ashamed as before. "Yes. I do have to tell you something, but... not here," Hitch replied, before looking at her with a smile. "Look, wait for me just 5 minutes, okay? I have some things to supervise still, but once I'm done... I'll tell you exactly what I want to." Sunny's blush was still noticeable, but she smiled back at Hitch with warm. "Sure thing, Hitch. I'll be waiting for you in the beach, okay?" Hitch chuckled nervously and nodded, then he resumed his job, although his blush remained. All the nervousness left to give space to excitement... and now, he couldn't wait for the moment he'll tell Sunny how much she actually meant to him. 20 Minutes later, Sunny and Hitch were now sitting on Maretime Bay's beach, watching the sun setting on the horizon. Their battle against the Eggmans was long, and it lasted almost the whole afternoon, but now that it was over, at least for now, this sight was beautiful. However, Hitch couldn't care less about the view of the sun setting. It was pretty, sure thing, but to him, there was another sunny image that made him smile even more, and it was the mare right at his side. Sunny was smiling happily at the sight, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, while letting the breeze of the wind caress her fur and her mane. Hitch felt his heart skipping a beat at the sight of such a beautiful mare like Sunny. He's been in love with her ever since childhood, and after magic came back, he was planning on telling her... but he decided to wait a bit longer, because a part of him convinced him that it wasn't time yet... Now, waiting two whole ass years is extreme, but eh, you do you, Hitch. He eventually decided to imitate her action and closed his eyes as well, letting the breeze touch his fur and his mane, while his smile grew bigger. Hitch suddenly started to remember everything they've been through for the past couple of years, at how strong they have both grown to be, at how gorgeous and beautiful he found Sunny with every passing day, at how much he wanted to keep her safe... Suddenly, Hitch felt something resting and nuzzling over his shoulder, and he turned to said direction just to blush intensely at the sight of Sunny resting her head over him with a huge smile. Of course, it didn't bothered him, so he smiled too and rested his head over hers, while Sunny sighed happily, as her tail started to wag a bit in happiness. Hitch felt his tail wagging a bit as well, and soon enough, he also sighed with happiness. "...Hitch?" Sunny called out after a while. "Yeah?" Hitch replied in curiosity. "When we were fighting against the badniks before... you said that maybe it was time to take the next step in our relationship..." Sunny reminded, blushing a little bit while she said it. Hitch felt his face blushing as well, but he never moved away from her. "Y-Yeah... I... I did... A-And that's the thing I wanted to talk about earlier..." "Y-You do?" Sunny asked, as she looked at him in the eyes, still blushing, but with little sparkles in her eyes. "Sunny... what I meant when I said that is... Maybe... Maybe I want to be something more than your best friend..." Hitch confessed, as his heart started to race crazily like if he was running a marathon. Sunny herself gasped a bit and covered her mouth with a hoof, surprised that Hitch was so direct with her about what he wanted. "M-More? Y-You mean, like... going on dates, and kiss each other, and say many corny things, and maybe even sleep together if it doesn't feels to embarrassing for any of us, and––" She started to list, both excited and panicked. Hitch chuckled at her attitude and nuzzled his cheek with hers. Sunny felt her heart melting at the sound of Hitch's laugh, but it also made her smile, as she also chuckled at her own attitude while she nuzzled his cheek as well. "Yeah... I guess we could do all of that if you want to..." Hitch replied with a blush, looking at her again, but not daring to look away this time. Sunny locked eyes with him and smiled too, feeling like she could just cry in happiness. However, she resisted that urge because she didn't wanted to ruin this with tears, of happiness or not. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that... Sunny... I love you. Not as your friend... but as something else entirely," Hitch finally spoke, and Sunny's heart definitely skipped a beat after hearing that from her childhood crush, while her eyes sparkled again and her smile grew bigger, as well as her blush. "Call it your lover, your couple, your sheriff, your special pony or––" "My coltfriend... Right?" Sunny asked with a blush and a big smile. Now Hitch's face blushed even more, but his smile grew wide as well. "Yeah... Your coltfriend... So, Sunny Starscout... What do you say? Would you like to take our relationship further?" He asked, both excited and nervous for the answer. Sunny smiled even more, if that was possible, and she immediately pulled him into a big and tight hug. "I don't know what took you so long to finally ask that, Hitchy... Nor why it took me so long to even try and ask you out instead..." Hitch felt his heart skipping a beat again, but he still smiled and hugged her back, keeping her close to his chest and not wanting to ever let her go anywhere. The two Earth Ponies simply stood like that for as long as they wanted, embracing each other's warmth as their tails wagged in happiness. And yet, there was still something they both wanted to do, something they needed to for their friendship to turn into a romance the proper way. So, they broke their hug, locked eyes, and with a smile and a nod, they leaned in, just for their lips to finally meet in the most waited kiss of this saga, probably right behind Sonic and Pipp's. Yeah, even I, the one writing this thing down, have been waiting for these two to finally realize they love each other. It was a soft and long, but also lovely kiss that none of them wanted to brake. They both waited so long for something like this to happen, and now here they are, kissing each other and finally making their relationship a thing. Sunny soon moved her hooves to his cheeks and caressed them, while Hitch wrapped his hooves around her back to keep her close to him. Sunny's Alicorn form also awakened by mistake, but either none of them noticed, or they did, but couldn't care less since they were too busy feeling each others' warmth. However, they lack of air made them finally separate from their kiss, as they both panted heavily to catch their breath, but as soon as they locked their sights again, they smiled at each other, and so, leaned over for another kiss... A kiss that never happened because they were interrupted by a loud gasp. Both Earth Ponies' eyes widened, and their faces blushed in complete embarrassment. Then, they both slowly turned to certain direction, just to find Izzy, Knuckles, Misty, Tails, Zipp, Shadow, Sparky and Young Sonic looking at them. Izzy had sparkling eyes at the sight of those two being so close; Knuckles', Misty's, Tails' and Zipp's jaws were on the floor; Shadow was resisting the urge to cry because he was so proud of Sunny; Young Sonic was wagging his tail in excitement, since Hitch did followed his advice and went for it; and Sparky was clapping happily now that his parents finally were together as a couple. The gasp apparently became from Izzy, who zoomed right in front of the Earth Ponies and embraced them in a hug, while Young Sonic ended up joining her with a huge smile. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Izzy exclaimed in excitement, embracing both of his friends into a big hug. "I can't believe it, you two! Is this real?! We're not being recorded for a TV show or something, right?!" She asked rhetorically, while Hitch and Sunny separated from her confused. "I knew you two would came together!" Young Sonic cheered with a huge smile. "Did I told you or did I told you, huh?" He mocked up Hitch, as he playfully hit his shoulder. "About damn time!" Knuckles said with a huge grin, as she grabbed Hitch and messed his hair a bit, making the Earth Pony laugh. Zipp approached and also hit his shoulder playfully while snorting with a smirk. "And here I thought you'll never pull it out, man." "Uh, what?" Hitch questioned. "You took too long to confess, man. Everyone around you happily, and you were waiting like an idiot!" Knuckles pointed out with a frown, before placing his arm around his neck with a playful smirk. "It was about time you finally told her how you feel!" "Yeah, it was painfully obvious how much you liked each other," Misty added with a smile. "I'm happy to see you two finally went for it!" "Okay? Well, thanks!" Hitch simply replied a bit nervous. Meanwhile, Tails and Shadow were hugging Sunny, with both of them crying a river like two older brothers would with their sister, although Shadow's cool wasn't showing anymore, but he couldn't care less. He was just so happy for Sunny and her new relationship, as Sunny giggled in an adorable way because of the embrace of both Tails and Shadow. "Why do you have to grow so fast?!" Tails cried dramatically. "Tails! I'm older than you, remember?" Sunny pointed out with a giggle. "You are too pure for this shitty world, Sunny! Now you are a grown mare!" Shadow cried out as well, something weird on him. However, as both Shadow and Tails let her go for Misty to hug her as well, both Shadow and Tails got right on Hitch's face, with Tails pointing a plasma gun right on his face, while Shadow created a Chaos Spear, and they both glared daggers at the earth pony, who gulped nervously, since he never felt so menaced before, specially from Tails. "Brake her heart, bastard, and you're history!" Shadow warned with anger, while Tails nodded in agreement. But then, both of them were smacked in the head and then pulled away from their ears by Knuckles and Zipp, who frowned at them as they cried out because of their ears. "Behave yourselves!" Both Knuckles and Zipp scolded them. "Sorry..." Both Tails and Shadow apologized, although the latter did it while rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. Finally, Sparky jumped right with his parents and hugged them as tightly as he could. Just loving Sunny as a mother was good for him, but now having his parental figures together? That was the best thing that ever happened to him! And Sunny and Hitch couldn't help but chuckle and hug their son, each one kissing him on a cheek. In the Crystal Brighthouse, Boom Sonic, Amy and Rouge were waiting on the living room for everyone else. Omega, on the other hand, shut down to stand on some kind of resting mode to keep his energies for the final battle against the Eggman trio, even if he wasn't a 100% aware that there were three Eggmans yet. Suddenly, the TV turned on alone, but it simply showed static at first... before Eggman's logo appeared on it. "Ah, great... Eggman hacked the TV again..." Boom Sonic complained. "Again?" Amy questioned confused. "I mean, it did happened before here, but you lived it too?" "Yeah... It's a long story..." Boom Sonic replied with a bored expression, before boosting away. In the bedroom, Sonic stood up and adjusted his gloves, while Pipp seemed to be caressing her wings and adjusting her tiara. However, as Sonic ducked and grabbed the discs that allow him to travel across the multiverse, Boom Sonic appeared all of a sudden. "Sorry to interrupt you two, since I sense you are done... reconnecting... but Eggman is literally invading the TV downstairs," Boom Sonic said. And so, without explaining himself any further, he boosted back downstairs, leaving both Sonic and Pipp confused. They shrugged, Sonic put the discs away and then decided to go downstairs with Pipp as well. In the beach, Sunny and Hitch were still a bit ashamed for their friends' reaction because of the next step in their relationship, but they allowed themselves to smile anyways. However, Boom Sonic arrived all of a sudden, startling the group except for Shadow and Young Sonic. "Eggman is invading TV, so if you wanna seem him humiliating himself, then hurry up!" Boom Sonic said suddenly. Again, he didn't explained himself and boosted away towards the Brighthouse, leaving everybody else confused. In Maretime Bay, multiple ponies were walking on the streets, watching the TVs on a shop confused. They recognized Eggman's logo, but they didn't understood what did he wanted, or what was going on at all. Soon enough, however, more static showed up, and Eggman's face finally appeared. The doctor was sitting over a chair, with a huge grin and his hands together. "Greetings, inhabitants of Equestria!" Eggman greeted with a sinister smile. "As you all may know already, my name is Dr. Eggman..." In Zephyr Heights, the pegasi, Queen Haven and Alphabittle were all watching the big screens of the city, watching Eggman's message as well. "My attempts to conquer this dimension, and universe in general, have been all in vain because of those six ponies and their furry friends from my universe you all dare to call 'heroes'..." Eggman kept going with a frown, while Haven and Alphabittle were frowning at his message as well. "Yet, time and time again, I always came back stronger, smarter, better..." He also started to show up some images that showed previous events, but mostly the time he created the Death Egg Titan and almost managed to control all the magic of Equestria, if it wasn't because of Sonic going Super Sonic. The other event he was also showing was the time Opaline spread the Metal Virus that he created... In Bridlewood, the unicorns gasped in shock at the images of thousands of ponies being mind controlled by Opaline. Everyone in Equestria still hated those events, specially because of what the evil Alicorn Queen made them do, but remembering them only brought old injuries everyone thought they already got over with... "Yet I still cannot conquer this stupid world of talking little horses..." Eggman spitted with anger. "But maybe I don't have to do it. Not yet, at least!" Back in the Brighthouse, everyone was reunited and watching the TV as Eggman made his announcement, while the Sonics all frowned in anger towards the doctor. "I have gained the power to travel across every single reality that conforms an infinite multiverse of possibilities!" Eggman started to explain with a grin, but then he frowned. "Yet, I'm still missing one important fragment. A fragment that your so beloved hero Sonic has with him." Soon enough, a countdown of 24 hours appeared onscreen, and it started to count down, making everyone in the group gasp, except for Team Dark and the Sonics, who frowned even more at the message. "Sonic, I have a deal for you: Give me back the remaining fragment of the Paradox Prism, or every single person, critter, pony and friend that you know on this trash of universe will be wiped out once we get the Prism from you ourselves, and after that... We'll delate Equestria's universe permanently!" Eggman announced with a maniac laugh. Excepting Shadow and Omega, now everyone gasped at what Eggman just announced, and Sonic panicked at the idea of Eggman taking over the entire Prism and destroying Equestria. The fact that everypony across the land listened didn't helped either, because he could already hear everyone panicking at what the doctor just announced. "Tic tac, Hedgehog! 24 Hours can pass in the blink of an eye if you don't choose wisely!" Eggman stated with another maniac laugh. "And I know you're both wise and a sentimental stupid. You'll do everything you can to avoid that this land gets wiped out!" He added with a sinister grin, waving his hand on a girlish way before the TV got static again and turned off. The room was only filled by silence, but Sonic's frown never left his face. He was beyond furious on what Eggman just said, which is why he'll give him exactly what he wanted, but not in a way he expected. "Sonic?" Tails called out. "...Eggman wants to play..." Sonic started, before grinning as his eyes turned blue for a second. "Let's follow up his little game. But! We're gonna play... our way!" Soon after that, Sunny, Hitch and Knuckles went out to calm down the Earth Ponies in case they panicked, while Sonic stood with everyone else inside the Crystal Brighthouse to mark down a plan against the Eggmans. "Eggman wants the remaining fragment of the Paradox Prism to conquer all universes at once..." Sonic started to explain, as he rolled down a map that showed Maretime Bay, Bridlewood, Zephyr Heights, Opaline's Castle, Fluttershy's Cottage and Canterlot. "However, we gotta make sure everypony and critter in Equestria remains calm and does not panic at everything Eggman said." Outside, Hitch and Knuckles were patrolling the streets to reunite everypony in town, while Sunny explained the whole situation. She simply said that Sonic would do exactly what Eggman asked him to do, but in order to prevent anyone getting hurt or worse, everypony had to stay home so nothing bad could happen to them. With no hesitation, everypony immediately either ran towards their homes and decided to stay there, or they made thousands of questions to Sunny, Hitch and Knuckles, and they tried to answer as much as they could. "Maretime Bay's already covered, so we must move to Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood to calm things down as well," Sonic kept explaining back on the Brighthouse. "Why not the other two towns?" Young Sonic asked confused, raising his hand and pointing at Fluttershy's cottage and Canterlot on the map. "They're abandoned places, we'll get to that later," Sonic replied. "Zipp, Pipp, Tails. You three will go to Zephyr Heights to help Queen Haven keep things calmed in case panic's already spreading around," He instructed to them, as they nodded in agreement. "Rouge, Omega, you'll go as body guards for the entire city. If anything Eggman-related approaches there, blew it up!" "Count with it, honey!" Rouge stated with a smirk. "No badnik will survive!" Omega declared, closing his hand into a fist. "Tails, once things seem calmed in there, move to Bridlewood with Izzy and Misty. You three will calm things down as well, and keep the forest protected in case anything Eggman related approaches," Sonic instructed once again. "I'll also sent Knuckles in case he's already done here with Maretime Bay." "Aye, aye, captain!" Izzy stated with a cheery smile and a salute, while Tails and Misty nodded in agreement, before Tails launched two warp rings. The first one opened a portal towards Zephyr Heights, which was crossed by Zipp, Pipp, Tails Rouge and Omega, as the portal closed. The second one opened a direct access to Bridlewood, and both Izzy and Misty hopped through it before it closed. "Shadow, Amy. You'll be bodyguards here on Maretime Bay," Sonic instructed. "Have fun trashing whatever Eggman throws at here to keep you busy!" "On our way, boss!" Amy stated with a wink and a smirk, as she held her hammer like a bat over her shoulder. "Just for the record: I'm doing this because I like this place, too," Shadow stated with a frown. "I still hate to take orders from you." "If you're done complaining about me being the leader, could you go before Eggman dares to hurt Sunny or something?" Sonic requested with a bored expression. Just by hearing that, Shadow grabbed Amy and teleported away, while Sonic chuckled and rolled his eyes. "And finally: The Sonic trio!" Sonic stated with a confident smile, as he looked at Boom Sonic and Young Sonic. "Finally! Some Sonic bonding time!" Young Sonic stated with an excited smile. "So, what are we gonna do? Are we gonna trash down the Eggmen? We're gonna save the day and kick some butt?!" "Chill, man!" Boom Sonic said with a little smirk. "There's still a lot at stake here, remember? This isn't some sort of vacation!" "And yet, he's actually right about what we'll do!" Sonic said with a confident smirk. "He is?!" Boom Sonic asked with wide eyes and surprise. "I AM?!" Young Sonic asked as well, but with more excitement and with his tail wagging happily. Sonic chuckled at Young Sonic's attitude. "Yes, you are. Also, love the excitement, but try tone it down a bit, alright? We still have to stay serious and focus on stop the Eggmen". Boom Sonic immediately nodded, crossing his arms and putting on a serious expression as well. Young Sonic noticed that, and tried to look serious too, also crossing his arms and frowning, something Boom Sonic noticed as he snorted and rolled his eyes, since Young Sonic was clearly just being what he is: A kid. Sonic, however, put on a bored expression on Young Sonic. "We'll work on your mannerisms later, buddy... Anyways! The reason why I left Canterlot for the last is because it's an abandoned city. Nobody lives there, and therefore, the Eggmans could never hurt anyone but us." "That's... pretty impressive, actually. The entire country protected by the others, while this Canterlot City becomes the perfect place to get down the Eggmans since no one lives there... is perfect!" Boom Sonic recognized with a smile. "And so, we defeat the Eggmans, get the Prism back together, we save the Multiverse and become heroes!" Young Sonic stated, still excited. "And you go home with your Eggmans before something else unexpected happens!" Sonic finished with a smirk, closing the map. "Now, in case all of this isn't enough, we have a secret weapon as our last line of defense..." He added, pressing a button on his watch. "Or rather... seven!" Soon enough, some kind of pedestal emerged from the ground, showing up the 7 Chaos Emeralds, still capsuled. "Whoa! You got these too?!" Young Sonic asked with amazement. "Huh... I've never seen these before..." Boom Sonic confessed with a confused expression. "So you don't have Chaos Emeralds in your universe?" Sonic asked him with a raised eyebrow and a mocking smirk, also crossing his arms. "Chaos what now?" Boom Sonic questioned, still confused. "We'll explain later," Young Sonic stated with a smirk. "Now, let's kick some Egg-butts!" Eggman was walking back and forth on his lab, awaiting for whatever Sonic was going to reply. Ivo, however, was bored as hell as he lay on a couch in the lab, while Robotnik seemed to be amazed by the three new models of robots, completely different than the ones they used a few hours ago. "Ugh! Why do we have to wait for that hedgehog to reply?!" Ivo complained for what felt like the third time today. "We should be out there, attacking those idiots!" "If you wanna go blind in a fight against three blue rats with super speed, then that's your problem!" Eggman replied with a frown. "Waiting for him to reply is the only way we can make sure that he's willing to give the fragment we're missing!" "And if your Sonic loves this pathetic land of ponies as much as you say, then he'll definitely be on his way to give the Prism!" Robotnik stated as well with a sinister grin. "You see?!" Eggman told Ivo with a frown. "Even Robotnik gets it!" Ivo groaned annoyed, and he was going to say something else, but then, the TV on the lab turned on suddenly and showed some static. "Uh, Sage?" Eggman called out with a raised eyebrow, as the Eggman trio turned to face the TV. "It wasn't me this time," Sage clarified, also turning to see the TV. Soon enough, the static started to clear up just to show Sonic's face who was smirking in a mocking way at the camera. In Maretime Bay, the TVs got static again as well, also showing up Sonic's face. Sunny and Hitch approached, as well as some other ponies in Maretime Bay, wondering why Sonic was the one that hacked the TV this time. "Hello? Is this thing working?" Sonic asked confused. "Is recording!" Young Sonic muttered out of the camera. "Oh, okay!" Sonic said with a smile, before turning back to the camera and clear his throat. "Eggman, if you're hearing this, I think you already know my answer pretty well!" In Bridlewood, unicorns were watching Sonic's message on their phones. Tails, Izzy and Misty, along with Knuckles that traveled to Bridlewood to help out, were watching the same thing on Tails' Miles Electric. "For the past two years, I've grown to love this land for what is, and not for what it used to be," Sonic kept going. "When I discovered that my ancestors used to live in this dimension, I couldn't believe that my stay here wasn't a coincidence... it was destiny. My love for this land existed since I arrived, but discovering that part of me always belonged here? That's what make me realize how much this place actually means to me." In Zephyr Heights, everyone was watching the message on the big screens around the City, Pipp and Zipp included. "But is not only the land that I love. It's inhabitants are also the reason why I'm deciding go stay," Sonic kept explaining with a determinate look. "I may or not may have a favorite, true... But I'll give my life for everypony in Equestria if necessary." Pipp smiled with warmth after hearing that. Back at the lab, the three Eggmans and Sage were all frowning at Sonic and his message. "Which is why I won't allow you, nor your daughter, nor your Eggman partners to conquer the multiverse!" Sonic stated with a frown, before he pulled out the blue fragment of the Paradox Prism and showed it to the camera. "You only need to take this way from me and my Sonic partners, right? Then why don't you come here and get it from me?" "Please don't be an idiot and tell me where the heck you are, stupid rodent!" Eggman shouted in anger, even if he knew Sonic couldn't hear him. Over a rusty and purple balcony, Sonic was standing with his phone held in a horizontal position. He was also holding the blue Prism on his hand, although he wasn't showing it on camera anymore. "You wonder where I might be, right?" Sonic asked to the camera with a mocking smirk, before he boosted away from the balcony and showed to the camera exactly where he was. "Well, I'm a place forgotten by time, but not by those who still believe in a peaceful world for everypony." What he was showing was Canterlot's Castle, meaning that he was there, waiting for the Eggmans to come and get the blue fragment. "You want the fragment, Egghead?" Sonic asked with a snort to the camera. "Then come and get it, bitch!" Sonic challenged once again. In the lab, Eggman had enough, grabbed a chair and launched it against the TV, destroying it immediately as he frowned in anger. "That's it!" Eggman stated. "Sage, get the Egg Crushers ready! We're gonna take those Hedgehogs down! And when we're done with them, we'll show live in every TV of this stupid land the decapitated head of their heroes!" He added with one of the most sinister smiles he has ever gave. "Let's roast some Hedgehogs!" Ivo stated. "Uh, I feel our victory incoming!" Robotnik said with a sinister grin. The three Eggmans started to walk out of the lab, and Sage turned a last time to the TV with a sinister grin. "That's what happened when you mess with the wrong guy, Sonic." Back in Canterlot, Sonic sighed before looking one last time at the camera. "To everypony out there watching this... Please wish me luck. Your favorite blue blur might needed it to win this battle..." Sonic finished the message with a sad smile, before turning off his phone and sigh again. After that, Sonic boosted towards the top of Canterlot Castle, where Boom Sonic and Young Sonic were already waiting, both of them looking at the horizon as they all waited for the Eggmans arrival. "Alright, guys, all we have to do now is wait until the Eggmans arrive and decide to kill us," Sonic stated, once he arrived and put down the fragment of the Paradox Prism. Young Sonic was hanging on the edge of the balcony, as he moved his legs in a childish way before he decided to turn around and sit over the balcony. "You know? It'll sound weird, but Eggman used to be a good guy, or sort of, that helped out the government to help people out. Yeah, he still was a brat and only wanted to show off his machines, but... I think he did had good intentions back then... just help around with his tech, you know?" "It's kind of hard to imagine Eggman doing something good after all the struggle he makes me go through over the years..." Sonic confessed with concern. "Mine can be an idiot sometimes instead of a genius, but... yeah, he's also a pain in the butt sometimes..." Boom Sonic added as well. "Yeah, well, mine didn't remained like a good guy, as you already saw," Young Sonic pointed out with a sad expression. "Because he... Well, I arrived, he tried to capture me, then to kill me, then I escaped alive from him multiple times, then I sent him straight to another planet for 8 months... and now he only wants to get rid of me..." "I guess hurting their ego and making them hate us because of how awesome we are is a multiversal thing," Boom Sonic said with a mocking smirk. "To tell the truth, mine used to be my best friend way before I met Tails..." "Wait, what?!" Young Sonic asked him on disbelief. "Did you just said that Eggman was your best friend?" Sonic asked confused. "Yeah, he used to be," Boom Sonic remarked again. "He always felt curious about the world like me, and he wanted to make it better with his machines... However, he got so obsessed with gaining power that... I don't recognize him anymore... One day, he just... changed. He wasn't the same guy I was best friends with. He wanted to defeat me simply because I was more skilled than him in many aspects, so he decided that he wanted to destroy me and prove he was superior... and the rest is history." "At least yours showed some sign of being good at some point," Sonic said with a bored expression. "Mine killed my parents and every blood related familiar I ever had before I could even met them." Boom Sonic's and Young Sonic's jaws dropped to the floor after Sonic said that in such a casual and careless way. "EGGMAN KILLED YOUR PARENTS?!" Boom Sonic shouted in disbelief and with a twitchy eye. "YOU NEVER MET ANY RELATIVES?!" Young Sonic shouted as well with shock and panic. "I know it sounds bad and that I shouldn't say it in such a careless way, but... I guess since I did had a mother figure on Longclaw... I never cared..." Sonic confessed. "But sometimes... I dream about all the things I wish that could've been done differently..." "...To have a second chance..." Young Sonic added with sadness as well. "To change the past and amend mistakes..." Boom Sonic finished. "...Yeah..." Young Sonic replied, now with a sad smile. Suddenly, in the middle of what seemed to be a sad moment, Sonic started to complain as he moved around and tried to crack his own back. "Aw, great... here it comes..." Sonic complained with grunts. "Uh... You okay, partner?" Boom Sonic asked, both concerned and confused. "No, it's... my back..." Sonic complained. "I have crashed it against walls, metal and rocks so many times... It's finally showing the consequences, I guess..." "You have many of those, too?" Young Sonic asked, both surprised and concerned. "Yeah... I guess is another thing all Sonics have in common..." Sonic said with a chuckle, before grunt in pain again. "Okay, I have an idea. Turn around," Boom Sonic said, as he approached Sonic. "What kind of idea?" Sonic questioned, looking up at Boom Sonic a bit nervous. "Just turn around, man. I might know how to fix your back problems because I also have them," Boom Sonic pointed out. Still hesitant, Sonic turned around and showed his back to his counterpart of another universe. Soon enough, boom sonic closed his arm into a fist and started to move it at super Sonic speed, before carefully massage Sonic's back in a slightly rude way, as Sonic himself seemed to both hate and like this. Soon enough, however, there was a 'crack' sound, and so, Boom Sonic stopped. "So, how's that?" Boom Sonic asked with a smirk. Sonic stretched around and felt incredibly better. "Oh, wow..." He exclaimed surprised, turning around and looking at Boom Sonic a bit impressed. "I didn't expected that, but... it... it feels so much better!" "Wow, that was so impressive and so awkward at the same time!" Young Sonic pointed out with a smile. Boom Sonic chuckled and lied on the balcony with a huge smile. "Geez, this is so cool. Before meeting Tails, I always wanted brothers. I know we're just the same guy with different lives, but still... This is the closest I ever felt to have actual siblings." "Same here! It feels nice to know that there are many others like me out there," Young Sonic added with joy. "Well, there's this universe I mentioned earlier where we do have siblings!" Sonic pointed out. "The one with the band? Yeah, it actually sounds pretty cool," Boom Sonic confessed with a smirk. "You know? Maybe when all of this is over, we could hang out and just have some fun!" Young Sonic suggested with a smile. "No more Eggman problems, no multiverse collapsing, no day to save... just three variants of the same guy hanging out together!" "It'll be nice and all, but I think we should focus..." Sonic stated with a smile. "Yeah... not getting killed should be our priority right now," Boom Sonic pointed out as well. "Oh, yeah, I know, I was just... You know, suggesting we should do something none-work related," Young Sonic pointed out. "No, no, it actually sounds good," Sonic confessed. "Okay, so, how's that electrical powers of you two work, huh? Because I can barely believe that's even a thing..." Boom Sonic asked all of a sudden. "Oh, um... it's complicated..." Sonic confessed, scratching his neck nervously. "Yeah, I actually rather not talk that much about it..." Young Sonic added as well. "Why? Are you teasing us?" "No, no, no! Is not like that!" Boom Sonic defended himself. "Is just... I cannot do that like you two, and I'm curious. That's all." "Wait, hold on!" Sonic interrupted, before he looked at Young Sonic with a raised eyebrow. "You can do that, too?" "Yeah?" Young Sonic replied unsure, before realizing something. "Oh, right! You weren't here to watch the battle!" He remembered, before turning on his own electrical powers, with his eyes turning blue. "Huh... That's pretty cool, actually!" Sonic confessed with a smile. "Yeah, I know!" Boom Sonic pointed out. "Which is why I don't understand how can you guys do it! If anything, why can't I do it?!" "Well, I wish I could tell how it works, but is not that we do it..." Sonic started to explain. "Yeah, is pretty much like breathing," Young Sonic added as well. "We don't breath by choice, it just... happens. It's the same with our powers, I guess..." "Yeah, is like... we breath because we breath! Same with the electric powers thing," Sonic added. "We only use them because we can... there's not a very complex science behind it." "Okay... So it's like, when you think it, it just happens..." Boom Sonic guessed. "Yeah! That's the best way to put it," Young Sonic pointed out with a smile. "It simply releases in a natural way." "Is like riding a bike, or like walking," Sonic explained again. "Once you have the handle of it, you just... do it because your brain already has the information." "Again, is the best way to put it!" Young Sonic remarked. "And does it came out of your hands only, or... is there anywhere else?" Boom Sonic asked with a sheepish smile. "...As far as I know, only the hands..." Sonic replied with a concerned look. "And I honestly hope it only comes from there." "Yeah... I don't know what kind of struggles I could get by going to the bathroom, and suddenly a lighting comes out of my butt..." Young Sonic said with the same anxious look. "And does it ever blocks or something?" Boom Sonic asked. "Because my watch is suppose to have a lot of energy, but it runs out, and with you two having natural electric powers... I guess I'm curious on how they work." "Um, I don't know," Young Sonic confessed. "I mean, unless not knowing I even had them for 10 years counts as having them 'blocked', I don't really think they can." "Yeah, I second that. They were kind of blocked before I realized I had them," Sonic replied with a sheepish smile. "I mean... I didn't knew I had them until one time I got really mad 'cause some guys were fighting over nonsensical stuff, and then... Well, they awakened, and that's pretty much it." "...You two are basically walking batteries..." Boom Sonic pointed out as he pointed to his counterparts. "Yeah, that's a way to put it," Sonic said with a smirk, also crossing his arms. "Hey, guys, guys, guys, guys, guys!" Young Sonic called out suddenly with excitement. "What are, like, the craziest things you have done in your lives? Because, well, not to brag or anything, but I also have those Emerald things back home, and I used them one time to turn into some Super Golden God to destroy a giant robot with Robotnik's face!" "Excuse me, what?! A giant robot with Eggman's face?! A GOLDEN GOD?!" Boom Sonic asked with surprise and disbelief. "Actually, I have done that as well. Multiple times. On Earth and space," Sonic confessed with a smirk, getting some kind of glare from Boom Sonic and an amazed look from Young Sonic, who's tail wagged and eyes sparkled. "WHAT?!" Boom Sonic shouted in shock. "You've been to space?!" Young Sonic asked in excitement, as he zoomed to be right besides Sonic. "You are kidding!" "Nope!" Sonic replied confidently. "No way!" Young Sonic stated again. "Yes way!" Sonic remarked, still very confidently. "This is so cool!" Young Sonic stated in excitement, before he zoomed right into Boom Sonic's face. "Have you been in space?" "No, I haven't," Boom Sonic replied with annoyance and a frown. "Knuckles did, to avoid that an asteroid destroyed the entire planet. But man, you've been to space more than once? How often something incredibly dangerous happens that requires you to go to space?" "That time Space Colony ARK tried to blow up the Earth after blowing up the Moon; when Eggman had his entire Egg Fleet in space to wake a god of darkness dormant in the core of the planet; to destroy his space station called the Death Egg, and yes, it is a copy of Star Wars' Death Star; to blow up his Amusement Park in space where he captured little aliens which's energy he wanted to steal... and recently, I defeated an entity that likes to blow up planets." Both Boom Sonic and Young Sonic stared at Sonic with their jaws dropped again, as they blinked and looked at each other for a second in disbelief. "...Dude, I am so jealous of you right now..." Young Sonic confessed, although he still smiled anyways. "Like, how often do you get a chance to go to space and turn into a Golden God everytime you want to?!" "Pretty much every weekend," Sonic replied with a smirk. "Well, not really, but it has happened so many times already that I lost count already." "I wanna go to space..." Boom Sonic commented with puffed cheeks, a frown and his arms crossed. "Me too!" Young Sonic said, although he was more with excitement. "You know? It's gonna sound weird, but despite all the crazy stuff I've done in my life, I never cease to be amazed by all the crazy tuff surrounding me all the time," Sonic confessed. "Yeah, I get what you mean," Young Sonic said with a smile. "Never in a million years I thought I would go from a little scared hedgehog that was hiding from the world on a cave, to some kind of local hero in the little town of Green Hills after defeating Eggman... twice!" "It's simply amazing how one day you're just saving some animals from being turned into robots because is the right thing... and the next one you're taking down a giant space station with your enemy's face," Sonic said with a smile, followed by a chuckle. "Is simply... It's crazy and incredible." "Well... now I feel lame compared to you two..." Boom Sonic said with a concerned look, while his counterparts gasped, with both of them glaring daggers at him like if he said the biggest amount of bullshit in his life. "Like, outside of saving my world to collapse by having two Eggmans in the same dimension, I fought a giant snake... with mechanical arms... and some kind of weird diving suit..." "That's actually pretty cool," Sonic said with a little smile. "Yeah! I mean, a giant snake with arms? How often do you see that?" Young Sonic pointed out with a cheerful smile. "Nah, it isn't as cool as fighting a giant robot with Eggman's face every now and then, or turn into a Golden God with seven magic Emeralds," Boom Sonic pointed out. "I must be the most pitiful Sonic in the multiverse..." "Hey!" Young Sonic scolded him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop right there, Boom buddy!" Sonic said with a frown. "Can we rewind back at the 'you are lame part' for a sec? Because you're definitely not." "Yeah, no, thanks..." Boom Sonic said with a nervous smile. "What I mean is that, well, I kind of feel lame compared to you two? Not saying I am lame, but––" "Just because you had made stuff that aren't as impressive doesn't makes you any less Sonic than us!" Sonic declared. "So what if you don't have Chaos Emeralds nor fight a robot with Eggman's face? You're still a really cool Sonic!" "Maybe you should give some kind of auto-motivation that reminds you how awesome you are!" Young Sonic pointed out with a smirk. "Something like... 'You are amazing'!, or 'You can do this'!, or even 'Good job, myself'!" He suggested, also patting his own back for some reason. "Or let's just stick with 'You are amazing', alright?" Sonic suggested with a smile. "Now say it, man!" "No, no, it's not necessary––" Boom Sonic said a bit nervous now. "Come on, it isn't so difficult!" Young Sonic pointed out. "I know, but––" Boom Sonic tried to reply. "Come on, man. Just say that you are amazing," Sonic said a last time. "No, no. Thanks for the confidence boost, though..." Boom Sonic said with a little smile. "I feel like I really needed that." "Don't be so humble and say it," Young Sonic deadpanned. Boom Sonic rolled his eyes and shook his head. "...I am amazing... There. You two happy now?" "A lot!/Kinda..." Young Sonic and Sonic replied, with the former smiling at Boom Sonic while the latter just rolled his eyes. Soon enough, however, the sky started to announced thunders. Yet, these thunders were red, yellow and green, so it wasn't a storm... it was something else. "Alright, guys. Time to focus!" Sonic announced with a frown, as he stood over the balcony and looked forward. "You know they're coming, right?" "Yeah... this is gonna get ugly..." Boom Sonic said with a frown too. "How ugly, exactly?" Young Sonic asked, as he also stood over the balcony at Sonic's side, although Boom Sonic decided to stay on his place since he was taller. "Knuckles level ugly," Sonic replied with a mocking smirk. "So we're gonna die..." Young Sonic deadpanned. "Pretty much," Boom Sonic replied. Suddenly, the thunders in the sky became louder and brighter, until a yellow lightning fell right in front of the Sonic trio, and they all frowned at the sight of Robotnik, who was now piloting a redesigned version of the Egg Crusher. It was now a combination between the Egg Beater and the Death Egg Titan. It was as big as the Egg Beater, but the body was clearly resembling Robotnik himself, except that it was a yellow robot, and right in the back, it had some kind of backpack containing the yellow fragment of the Paradox Prism. "Hello, Hedgehogs!" Robotnik greeted with a smirk. "Like the new style? I finally have something that represents how big I really am!" "Yeah, how a big pain in the ass you are..." Young Sonic said with a frown. "Hohoho! Mock me all that you want, Sonic! It won't change your destiny" Robotnik stated with anger. "Now, the Prism. Give it to me, and I'll consider not killing the three of you!" "Spoiler alert: He will anyways," Young Sonic said with a bored expression, while Sonic made a backflip and grabbed the blue fragment of the Paradox Prism. "Aw! You finally recognize our little relationship! How adorable!" Robotnik mocked up with a huge smirk. With that, Sonic jumped forward and made a flip in the air before doing a nosedive towards the ground, still holding the fragment of the Prism on his hand. "Okay, guys! It's go time!" Robotnik growled, and the entire machine used the power of the yellow fragment of the Prism to turn into pure electricity, while it started to follow Sonic, who was now running away from the castle. Boom Sonic and Young Sonic looked at each other for a moment, before nodding their heads in agreement, and then, they jumped from the balcony as well before they started to run in opposite directions. Meanwhile, Sonic was still running away from the yellow lightning, that materialized again into Robotnik's Egg Crusher, and once he noticed he was right on his tail, he simply boosted away with no hesitation and no previous warning. Robotnik growled at that, and so, he tried to catch him again, but got hit by a sudden Spin Dash. "Hah, you seem pretty rusty, Eggman!" Young Sonic mocked up with a smirk. "You stay out of this, rodent! I only want the fragment of the Prism!" Robotnik stated with anger. "Oh! You mean... this fragment?" Young Sonic asked with a mocking smirk, showing up the fragment of the prism on his hand. "Then come and get it, Egghead!" He stated, before boosting away. "What?! H-How did––" Robotnik tried to question, but then he growled again and stopped moving, before turning into a yellow lightning again and start to chase Young Sonic. Meanwhile, several shops, buildings and homes were totally destroyed by something approaching, and then, a green lightning traversed a last shop, just to materialize again and show to be Ivo, in a green variant of the Egg Crusher that had his shape, and another backpack in the back with the green fragment of the Paradox Prism. "It's showtime!" Ivo stated, before he witnessed Boom Sonic running away, and so, he turned into a green lightning again before starting to chase his universe's Sonic. Meanwhile, Young Sonic reached the top of a ceiling and looked at Robotnik, who materialized again and stopped right in front of him with a frown. "Eggy! Eggy, Eggy, Eggy, Eggy, Eggy!" Young Sonic said with a nervous smile, putting the blue fragment of the Paradox Prism on his back before extending the other hand in a 'stop' mannerism. "Look, can we please sort this out as rational beings instead of just shoot at each other for a second here?" "Oh, how hypocrite!" Robotnik said with a frown. "First you steal my precious Master Emerald from me, then you destroy my marvelous Giant Robot, and now you want to talk with me?!" "Now you see how stupid and dumb it feels, right?" Young Sonic pointed out with a smile, then he frowned, and his eyes turned blue. "I know we cannot talk this out, but I do know this: Once I defeat you, I'll take you back home, and I'll give you to G.U.N. so you can be locked down... and forgotten. That's what you deserve, Robotnik. To be forgotten!" Robotnik growled and then shouted before moving on of the arms of his Egg Crusher and shoot from the knuckles a yellow laser towards him. However, Young Sonic smirked again, and he turned off his electrical powers before throwing the blue prism towards the laser, as it got completely destroyed by a hit from it. "W-What?!" Robotnik shouted in shock and panic. "H-How?!" "Decoy, you idiot!" Young Sonic announced with a laugh, before he boosted away again. Realizing that he's been tricked by such an old and common trick, Robotnik groaned in anger and started to shot multiple lasers from both arms of his Egg Crusher, and while Young Sonic managed to dodge the attacks, he knew pretty well that he was screwed. "Guys, I have his full attention now! What's next?!" Young Sonic asked in panic as he dodged the lasers from Robotnik's Egg Crusher. "Okay, great!" Boom Sonic shouted in panic as well, because Ivo was trying to catch him with some kind of hook-hand that extended from one of his Egg Crusher's arms. "Um, just so you guys know: My Egghead's here too!" He exclaimed, dodging the hook and then several shoots from green lasers that came from the robot's knuckles. "Guys, can you copy me? Hello?" Meanwhile, Sonic entered to Discord's hidden place to put the blue fragment of the Paradox Prism there, and then, he boosted back to the City, not noticing that Sage suddenly appeared as he left. She turned on the direction he left, and then looked at the blue fragment, before grinning sinisterly with satisfaction. On the other hand, Sonic returned to the city, but once there, he was surprised to see that Young Sonic was running away from Robotnik, while Boom Sonic seemed to be going in a 1v1 against Ivo. "I need to get him away from me!" Young Sonic stated in panic, as he started to run away again, while Robotnik turned into yellow electricity and chased him around again. "Yeah, I'm on it!" Sonic shouted to Young Sonic. "Sonic, I need to get Robotnik off from me!" Boom Sonic announced as well, as he got rid from Ivo's grip and started to run away. "Oh no, you won't, rodent!" Ivo stated, turning into green electricity and chasing down Boom Sonic. "Ah!" Sonic shouted in panic, grabbing his quills as he tried to think on something, not noticing that some red electricity appeared right behind him. "Okay! Right! I'm going to–– AAH!" The electricity behind him materialized into another Egg Crusher, a red one with a backpack containing the red fragment of the Paradox Prism. It also had Eggman's shape, because Eggman was piloting it. Sonic screamed because he was grabbed by the right hand of his Egg Crusher, and Eggman was literally crushing his bones right now. "Hello, Sonic!" Eggman greeted with a grin. "I am so glad that you made it! The fragment. Give it to me, and I'll let you and your little friends to live!" "E-Eggman!" Sonic groaned in anger and pain. "I won't give it to you without a fight!" He stated with a mocking smirk, even if he was still in pain. "Then crushing you might teach you a lesson!" Eggman stated with a maniac laugh, before making tighter the grip of the Egg Crusher. As Eggman started to crush Sonic even more, Young Sonic literally used his Egg Crusher to jump in the air and dodge Robotnik's yellow lightning, since he was still following him and was almost on his tail. At the same time, Boom Sonic was jumping from one roof to another over several buildings, while said buildings started to fall one by one as they were teared down by Ivo's Egg Crusher. Sonic managed to pull a hand free from Eggman's machine grip, but as he created an electrical lasso with his watch, Young Sonic accidentally crashed against it as he tried to make a jump, and therefore, he landed on the floor. Young Sonic groaned in pain and annoyance, and then, he started to run away again, while Robotnik kept shooting at him as he tired to kill him. Young Sonic jumped from a roof to a wall and stopped time for a second before boosting towards the ceiling again as he ran over the wall and even accidentally returned time to its normal speed . Boom Sonic, on the other hand, was now running across the city, dodging all the lasers, missiles and even the stomps launched by Ivo's Egg Crusher. He started to run over a wall as well, still being chased by Ivo, and then he jumped over him, creating an electrical lasso with his watch. The problem is that he didn't calculated well where to launch the lasso, and so, he ended up launching straight to Young Sonic's face, who literally came out of nowhere and ended up being dragged downwards, as he landed right over the capsule of Robotnik's Egg Crusher, who got both startled and scared, because he let out a very girl-ish scream. "Sorry!" Boom Sonic apologized with a shout, before curling into a ball and make a Drop Dash in the ground, once again running away from Ivo and his Egg Crusher. Young Sonic removed the electrical lasso from his face and deadpanned. "Ugh... gross..." However, he realized that he was right over Robotnik's Egg Crusher, so he immediately jumped away and started to run again. Meanwhile, Sonic was suffering in pain as his body was being crushed by Eggman, but soon enough, he created another lasso, one that he wrapped around the same arm that was crushing him, before moving his other arm out of Eggman's Egg Crusher grip and press a button over the watch, that activated a mechanism that electrified Eggman's robot. Eggman groaned in pain, since he could feel every shock from the attack, and the Egg Crusher finally let Sonic go, as he landed in the ground with a groan and a huge gasp, since his breath was also getting cut off, but now he finally could breath again. He also boosted away to avoid Eggman's attacks, or at least try to. Meanwhile, Young Sonic used a wall to impulse himself on a Spin Dash and launch himself against Robotnik's Egg Crusher. Unfortunately, Robotnik shoot a shockwave against him, and so, he sent him backwards and far away, crashing and traversing one of the windows of the Castle. Boom Sonic, on the other hand, was fighting once again on a 1v1 battle with Ivo, but his Egg Crusher suddenly grabbed him and smashed his body against multiple buildings, before twirl him in the air multiple times, and then, launch him against another window of the Castle, that he also traversed. Finally, Eggman managed to shoot multiple missiles in the air that got ahead of Sonic without him noticing it. Then, the missiles exploded right in front of him and sent him in the air, making him twirl around out of control before being punched in the stomach by Eggman and sent backwards. Then, Ivo was the next one to hit him, sending Sonic to Robotnik, who punched him multiple times in the air before launching him towards the air, were a red lightning moved before it materialized into Eggman, who suddenly punch him in the face again, and therefore, he sent him straight to another window of the Castle. "Alright! It's showtime!" Eggman stated with a huge grin, before he stated to laugh maniacally. Soon enough, the other two Eggmans joined him, and the three of them turned into red, green and yellow lightnings, as they started to create a thunderstorm around Canterlot's Castle, causing many buildings to fall apart and get dragged by the tornado forming on the Ancient Capital City of Equestria. Things calmed down a bit in Zephyr Heights and Bridlewood, which is why the rest returned to Maretime Bay. There? Things were out of control, because the citizens couldn't stop but ask one question after another of how they were in imminent danger, and that they had o get out of there, or that they had to do something to help out. While the citizens were arguing and trying to figure out what to do, and Team Dark kept watching Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Zipp, Pipp and Izzy were worried that this wasn't going anywhere. "Is it just me, or are they more panicked than when Hitch told them about three Eggmans coming to attack us?" Tails pointed out with concern. "They at least had protection. Now we don't know for sure if the Sonics can win," Knuckles pointed out. "And don't even glare to me! I know I should be optimistic and all, but we also must consider the possibility of loosing." "Oh, come on!" Pipp complained. "That's not gonna happen!" "Um..." Amy said unsure, as her eyes widened and she gulped nervously. "I'll usually agreed with Pipp, but... you might wanna sit to watch this one..." She stated, pointing at certain direction. When everyone turned to where Amy was pointing, they all gasped when they saw a massive tornado raising, with red, green and yellow lightnings around. "I'm gonna guess we'll need more than faith and a lifetime of data to win this battle..." Zipp pointed out with a gulp. Inside Canterlot Castle, what used to be Twilight's throne was now destroyed. The glasses in the walls that hold generations of history were destroyed as well, and there were three blue hedgehogs laying on the floor in pain, although Young Sonic managed to stand up and hurry to move with Sonic and Boom Sonic. As Sonic groaned and sat down, he moved his neck around, feeling incredibly in pain, while Boom Sonic stood up entirely with effort, as he cracked his back and groaned in pain as well. Young Sonic joined them, being dirty and scratched around, but still managing to move normally. "What the hell is going on out there?!" He asked with panic and confusion, while he helped Sonic to stand up by putting an arm around his neck and also glaring daggers at Boom Sonic. "I've been yelling at you 'Sonic 2, Sonic 2, Sonic 2!" "I-I-I-I-I-I Know, but I thought that you were Sonic 2!" Boom Sonic confessed with a confused expression. "What?! No! I'm not Sonic 2!" Young Sonic complained, before his eyes widened in panic. "Wait, am I?!" Sonic, who managed to stand by himself now, frowned at both of his counterparts. "Stop arguing the both of you and listen to Sonic 1!" He called out, while both Sonics turned to pay him attention. "Look, I don't know if you noticed it or something, but we're clearly not very good at this!" "I know, I know! We totally suck!" Young Sonic pointed out with concern as well. "Look, I can perfectly work as a team, but I never worked along myself before!" "Yeah, me neither!" Boom Sonic said with concern as well. "I think we only managed to work so well before because Eggman attacked Tails, and nobody attacks Tails and lives to tell it!" "True dat!" Young Sonic declared. "Hang on, hang on, hang on! Those three son of their mustache mothers hurt Tails while I was out?!" Sonic asked, both in panic and anger. "No, but they almost killed him!" Boom Sonic replied. "Oh, now those big ass motherfuckers are gonna hear me!" Sonic stated incredibly mad, with his electrical powers awakening for a moment, and his eyes turning blue, but they faded away. "As for you two, don't worry, because I do have worked with myself, several times before you two, so I know exactly what to do!" "Then what's the game plan here?!" Young Sonic asked desperate. "Listen, forget everything you think you know about those three, because we're not gonna be faster than them: We're gonna be smarter!" Sonic declared with a confident smirk. "What we have to do is focus, trust our instincts and coordinate our attacks, okay?" "Yes... okay..." Boom Sonic replied, licking his lips for a second as he thought on a strategy to defeat the Eggmans. "Let's pick one target..." "Right!" Sonic said with a smile, nodding crazily at Boom Sonic's suggestion. "And we take them off the board one at a time!" Young Sonic kept going, pointing at his counterparts in excitement. "Now you've got it!" Sonic stated with a huge smile. "And with the three Eggmans out, we take their fragments..." "Then we capture the Eggmans to avoid they escape to plan something else..." Boom Sonic kept going. "And finally, we get them back home before any other surprises happen!" Young Sonic finished with a huge grin. "That's what I call a plan!" Sonic stated with a confident smile. "Alright? Sonic 1..." He said, pointing at himself. "Sonic 2..." He continued, now pointing at Boom Sonic. "Sonic 2..." Boom Sonic repeated to himself so he could remember which Sonic he is. "And Sonic 3!" Sonic finished, pointing at Young Sonic. "Sonic 3! Got it!" Young Sonic stated with a confident smirk and his thumbs up. "Alright, let's do this!" Sonic stated with a determinate look. "Let's roll!" Boom Sonic said with the same determinate look. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" Young Sonic said suddenly, and before his counterparts could turn to him, he embraced both of them in a big hug with a smile, making Boom Sonic uncomfortable and Sonic just confused. "I love you, guys!" Boom Sonic still felt uncomfortable, but he tried to ease it away. "Um... thank you?" Sonic glared daggers at him, before looking back at Young Sonic with a warm smile. "We love you too, little buddy... But seriously, though, we got to defeat the Eggmans now." "Oh, right!" Young Sonic realized, letting both Sonics go from the hug. "Alright, now let's go!" Sonic stated, before boosting towards one of the broken windows. Soon enough, Boom Sonic and Young Sonic joined him, and after running over the wall to get towards the window, the three of them curled into balls as they started to parkour in-between some objects, walls and pieces of concrete that were flying in the air because of the tornado created by the Eggmans. At one point, Sonic created two electrical lassos with his watch and launched them towards Boom Sonic and Young Sonic, who grabbed the lassos as they were pulled on Sonic's direction by himself, before they kept doing parkour and jumping over several objects to reach the top of the storm. Finally, the Sonic trio managed to reach the rooftop of Canterlot's castle, and they all jumped high enough to land in the top of the ceiling: First Sonic, then Boom Sonic on his right, and finally Young Sonic on his left. Soon enough, the storm started to stop, but the three lightnings presented right in front of them and materialized one by one: First the red one, Eggman; then the green one, Ivo; and finally the yellow one, Robotnik. With the heroes and the villains already face to face, the three Sonic jumped again to start fighting against their three enemies: Sonic made a Homing Attack against Eggman; Boom Sonic created an electrical lasso with his watch and wrapped Ivo, just to drag him closer and strike a punch in the chest of the robot; and finally Young Sonic, who Spin Dashed with his electrical powers against Robotnik, hitting him on the chest as well. With the three Eggmans having a bit of damage, the three Sonics curled into balls and began to fall back to the ground, while the three Eggmans turned their Egg Crushers into lightnings again. As they landed in the floor and ran all in the same direction, the three Eggmans started to chase them around Canterlot, with Eggman leading the other two, something that Sonic noticed, as he smirked and looked back at his counterparts. "Alright, Sonics!" Sonic declared. "The red Eggman first!" He stated, curling into a ball, turning around and Homing Attacking his Eggman with his electrical powers included. The Red Egg Crusher was sent backwards, and the other two noticed it, as well, as the other two Sonics boosting towards them. The other two Eggmans looked at each other, before deciding to follow up the Sonic trio. As Sonic kept smashing the Red Egg Crusher's chest, he moved away, but then the robot was wrapped around by Boom Sonic's electrical lasso, as he managed to move the machine around and make it crash against several walls in the way. Then, Boom Sonic let him go, just to be followed up by Young Sonic charging up a Spin Dash with his electrical powers, before boosting against the Egg Crusher and traverse its chest, making the machine fall to the ground and crash. Eggman inside groaned in pain and annoyance, but weirdly enough, he gave up immediately after the Egg Crusher shut down. "Alright, one out two left!" Boom Sonic said with a smirk, dodging just in time a laser launched by Ivo and his Green Egg Crusher. "Let's take down the Green one now!" He stated, creating another electrical lasso and wrapping it around Ivo's robot. Both Sonic and Young Sonic nodded in agreement, and then, they curled into balls before they started to bump all around Canterlot like pinballs machines, making a lot of damage to the Green Egg Crusher, while Ivo groaned in annoyance and pain inside the machine. Soon enough, Boom Sonic stopped, and then twirled his lasso around, still wrapped on the green Egg Crusher, as Ivo screamed in panic. Soon, Boom Sonic let him go towards the place where Eggman crashed, and then Sonic and Young Sonic arrived to Spin Dash at the same time against the Green Egg Crusher, that also landed in the ground, and worse for both Eggman and Ivo, right above the former's Egg Crusher, making both villains groan in annoyance. "Two out, and one remains!" Young Sonic stated with a smirk. "I suggest we take it down big time!" Sonic said. "Sonics, come over here!" Boom Sonic and Young Sonic looked at each other confused, but they still choose to follow Sonic's game and approached him. Then, Sonic closed his eyes, which made the 7 Chaos Emeralds surround the three Sonics and make them float in the air, for Boom Sonic's surprise, but Young Sonic's excitement. "Oh my gosh! Are we gonna all turn into Golden Gods?!" Young Sonic asked, his tail wagging in excitement. "Wait, for real?!" Boom Sonic asked with wide eyes. "Oh, you bet we will!" Sonic declared with a smirk. Robotnik arrived to see that the three hedgehogs were floating, surround by seven gems that kept glowing and radiating a strange energy for him. "What in the name of science is going on?!" Robotnik asked with wide eyes and panic. The three Sonics, however, only smirked at Robotnik, with Boom Sonic crossing his arms, Young Sonic putting his fists on his hips, and Sonic looking ahead with the usual pose he makes when he's going Super. "Time to scramble some Eggman, Super Sonic style!" Sonic declared, which made the Chaos Emeralds twirl faster around them, and then, the Emeralds fused with the three hedgehogs. Before Robotnik was an amazing yet also terrifying sight: The three Sonics' furs had become golden, their eyes red, and their quills lifted up like Shadow's. The remaining doctor gulped, since he knows how powerful Young Sonic was when he turned into this, but he wasn't going to give up that easily. "Whoa! So this is how it feels to transform into a Golden God!" Boom Sonic said impressed with a smirk. "Did you called this transformation 'Super Sonic'?" Young Sonic asked. "Because if so, man, you hit the jackpot with the name! I definitely feel super!" "And now, we're gonna take this Egghead down!" Sonic declared with a grin, pointing at Robotnik with a thumb up, before turning the thumb down. Robotnik only growled in anger, however. "You'll need more than a fancy power up to finish me up!" He declared, then boosted towards the now golden hedgehogs. Soon enough, however, the three Super Sonics looked at each other and nodded, before they all boosted towards different directions. That confused Robotnik a lot, as he looked all around in search for the three Sonics. However, he couldn't think a lot on it, because he started to be hit suddenly by three golden blurs, several times, in different directions, and at a speed that gave him terrible flashbacks. This is exactly what happened the day Young Sonic defeated him for the very first time, when he sent him to another planet for 8 months, were he had no food, no resources, and no way home that he knew of back then... And now? Now it wasn't only Young Sonic attacking him, but also Sonic and Boom Sonic, all of them turned into Super Sonic. The three golden blurs were flying at what many could describe as an impossible speed, since they were running all around Canterlot, charging energy and Spin Dashing against Robotnik's Egg Crusher, and they were doing all of this in a matter of seconds. Finally, after making sure that the Yellow Egg Crusher was all trashed up, the three Super Sonics reunited meters away from Robotnik, and then, they all charged up their Spin Dashes to strike the final punch. "There's nothing you can do now to stop the inevitable!" Sonic stated with confidence. "Victory is ours for the taking!" And so, with the three Super Sonics having charged their Spin Dashes, the three of them boosted towards Robotnik's Egg Crusher at the exact same time in perfect synchrony. "TRIPLE BOOST!" The Super Sonic trio shouted in unison, before they literally traversed the Yellow Egg Crusher's chest with their Spin Dashes. "NOOOOOOO!" Robotnik shouted in anger, while his Egg Crusher got sent backwards and crashed against the other two, making the three Eggmans groan in annoyance and pain since, once again, they lost. The three Sonics, on the other hand, landed not so far from the crushed Egg Crushers, still in their super forms, and they all smiled at the sight of the three Eggmans defeated in the ground. Before cheering, Sonic quickly flew around the three destroyed robots, before returning with the yellow, green and red fragments of the Paradox Prism, giving the yellow one to Young Sonic and the green one to Boom Sonic. "Gentleman, we won!" Sonic cheered. And so, the three Super Sonics cheered, whistled, and celebrated in general their victory over the Eggman trio. However, they were so busy celebrating that they didn't noticed something off... And that something was that Sage didn't showed up in the entire battle. Well, seems like I Jinxed them... Suddenly, Sage appeared right behind the Super Sonic trio, holding the blue fragment of the Paradox Prism. After that, she snapped her fingers, and so, the other three fragments teleported from the Sonics hands and appeared floating behind Sage. "What the––" Boom Sonic exclaimed confused. "W-Where did they go?!" Young Sonic asked in panic. And then, Sage charged up a massive attack with her hand, but before launching it... "Sonic!" Sage called out with a frown, and the three Sonics turned around to see that she had the four fragments of the Prism with her. "This is for trying to put me against my father!" The three Super Sonics' eyes widened when they saw what she was about to do and panicked. "Sage, no––" Sonic tried to persuade her. However, it was worth nothing, because she launched the attack towards the Sonics, and so, even if they had the power of the Chaos Emeralds running through their bodies, she sent them backwards, as they all flew miles and miles away from Canterlot, screaming in panic, while Sage smiled with satisfaction. After that, she snapped her fingers, and so, she disappeared with the fragments of the prism, as well as with the three Egg Crushers, despite they were still all destroyed. In Maretime Bay, Sunny and Hitch finally managed to calm everypony down, as they all simply returned home. Now the town was empty once again, and only the Mane 6, Team Sonic sins Sonic and Team Dark, who decided to return, were all reunited near Mane melody. They also noticed that the tornado and the electricity that could've be seen from Canterlot stopped minutes ago. "Well, that should mean something good, right?" Misty asked with a little smile. "I guess so?" Knuckles shrugged uncertain. Tails, on the other hand, was checking the energy of the Paradox Prism on his Miles Electric. This entire time, the energy signs remained the same, but now? They started to grow at an incredibly worrying speed. "Um... guys?" Tails called out with worry. "The energy of the Prism... is... increasing..." "The what now?" Zipp asked confused. "The energy was at a moderate speed, or I guess it was moderate, but... now it's increasing in levels that worry me a lot..." Tails explained with concern. However, before anyone could say anything, they all heard screams coming from the sky, and so, the three Super Sonics landed in the ground with grunts of pain, loosing their transformations as the Emeralds rolled in the ground, while they rolled as well and were left all muddy and beaten up, all because of that single attack that Sage launched at them. "Sonic!" Pipp cried out with worry, immediately rushing to help him. Everyone else followed up, with Pipp and Tails helping Sonic to stand up, Shadow and Hitch making sure that Young Sonic was fine, and Amy, Sunny and Knuckles helping out Boom Sonic. The three Sonics stood up with grunts of effort and pain, and while Boom Sonic and Young Sonic were stubborn and decided to stand on their own, Sonic gladly accepted Pipp and Tails' help to stand still. "Blue Star, what happened?!" Pipp asked in panic. "We defeated them... but Sage caught us off guard..." Sonic replied in pain. "She has the 4 fragments now..." Boom Sonic added with a frown, groaning in pain as he grabbed his left arm. "A-And I think it's just gonna get worse..." Young Sonic finished with concern. Suddenly, Sage appeared again, now with the four fragments of the Paradox Prism floating around her. Right behind her and the Prism, the destroyed Egg Crushers landed as well, but the Eggmans were teleported out of them, because they were all standing right outside their machines. "Holy crap!" Ivo exclaimed, catching his balance. "A little warning next time? Please?!" "I... was not expecting that... No, seriously, I wasn't expecting it. What the fuck?!" Robotnik said, as he cleaned his clothes and adjusted them as well. "Sage, dear? Start up the lights show!" Eggman instructed with a grin. Sage nodded with a smile to her father, before turning back to the group of heroes and frown at them. "Sage... you don't have to do this..." Sonic tried to resonate with her. "All the opposite: My father is gonna get what he wants. No matter the coast!" Sage stated with a determinate look. And so, Sage made the fragments twirl around her, before they all reached the sky and joined together, once again forming the full Paradox Prism, and so, restoring the infinite power to travel across the multiverse. As the Prism finally united, blue, red, green and yellow lightnings came out of it, and they started to move wildly around Equestria. Then, a red lightning fell right into Eggman and turned him into several red lightnings; a green one touched Robotnik and turned him into green lightnings; a yellow one reached Robotnik and turned him into yellow lightnings. Finally, Sage was reached by a blue lightning and turned into several ones. The four villains, now turned into lightnings, soon started to create another tornado, but this one was exclusively around the destroyed Egg Crushers. Everyone was worried about what was happening, but then, Sonic felt a strange energy coming from his quills. He took out from them one of the discs that allows him to travel across the multiverse, and he stared at it confused when he saw that it was glowing in the same colors than the Paradox Prism. Soon enough, the tornado stopped right above the Paradox Prism, and then, some kind of weird mechanism grabbed the lower part of the Prism and attached it, before the Prism entered the mechanism and was replaced with a giant mechanical hand. The tornado dissipated, and now, the three Egg Crushers combined into one single machine: The arms were red, the legs were green, the body was yellow, and the head was blue, having the exact same shape and form of the original Death Egg Robot. However, this machine wasn't a new variant of that robot, despite having some similarities to it. A maniac laugh that combined the voices of the three Eggmans and Sage was heard, and it came right from the robot. "Well, well, well, well! It seems like I finally reached my ultimate form!" The robot spoke, with the voices of all the villains combined as well. "Uh... did the robot just talked?" Sunny questioned confused. "Where did the Eggmans and Sage go?!" Knuckles asked in anger and confusion. "I-I don't think they left... I think the robot is the Eggmans and Sage..." Young Sonic pointed out with concern. "Hohohoho! Seems like at least one of the three rodents has more neurons than the others!" The robot stated. "That's right! Our minds and bodies have combined in one: This body! Now, four brilliant minds have united to create the definite Eggman: The Egg Conqueror!" "So they all form part of the same robotic body... does that means that you're gonna invade every reality now?!" Izzy asked with panic and fear. "Yes! That's exactly what I'm going to do!" The Egg Conqueror stated with a maniac laugh. "But first and, just like I declared before, I will destroy this reality until nothing remains! HAHAHAHAHA!" Before anyone could do or say something, the Egg Conqueror's rockets from both his feet and his back roared, as the villain was elevated in the air before he boosted towards the sky. Once he was high enough, he pointed the right arm, and then, the hand was replaced with the Paradox Prism, which the robot used to shot a massive laser to the sky. Then, the sky literally created a massive hole with the shape of an X. The realm where all the universes connected could be seen, with the red, black and blue background, as well as all the white lines that conformed every universe on their own. "Yes! The multiverse is now mine!" The Egg Conqueror said with happiness, before boosting through the X portal... that didn't closed after he passed through it. As the Egg Conqueror disappeared, everyone else was left concerned, but Sonic noticed something... off. "Something's wrong..." Sonic said with concern. "Besides the fact that this guy is pretty much going to kill us all?!" Hitch asked in panic. "What else could be wrong?!" "The portals always close after something, or someone, pass through them..." Sonic explained. "But that one's still open..." "Wait, so that thing shouldn't be showing up anymore?!" Zipp asked in panic, while Sonic only nodded with worry and concern. "Then... Then what do we do?" Misty asked with worry and panic. "Well, we can't stay here with our arms crossed!" Knuckles pointed out with a frown. "That thing is gonna erase our universe if we don't hurry up to stop him!" "We cannot reach that place!" Amy pointed out with a frown. "Is too far, and we don't even know if we could even survive being out there!" "But if we don't act, the Egg whatever is called is gonna kill us all!" Shadow pointed out with a frown as well. While the others were discussing, Sonic stared at the disc on his hand and looked back at the sky, where he could see the entire Multiverse, and then, a yellow light, probably from the fire that the Egg Conqueror released from his rockets. Sonic frowned with concern and worry as well, before looking back at the disc on his hand and nod to himself. Then, he put that disc over his right hand, before taking out other two and put them behind his shoes. Finally, he took out the final disc and placed it over his left hand. The four discs glowed bright, meaning that they were ready to go, while his friends noticed the glow from his discs. Once the glow dissipated, Sonic turned to his friends and looked at them with a determinate look. "You can't reach the multiverse to stop the Egg Conqueror. I can!" Sonic announced. "Oh, no!" Knuckles said with anger, zooming straight to Sonic's face. "You are not doing this for the sake of––" "I'm not doing this for the sake of fame, glory nor all that bullshit," Sonic said with a frown. "This isn't about me. It never was, and it never will. This is about us, about all of them, about the entire multiverse! If I stay here and hope for a miracle to happen, this universe and every single one will be delated from existence. I can't allow that to happen." "But Sonic––" Pipp tried to say as well, very worried since she suspected where Sonic was going with this. "If I die while trying to avoid every single reality in existence of being conquered by Eggman, then so I'll die," Sonic stated, now looking at Pipp, but still frowning. "This battle is beyond me. I'm not doing it for me... I'm doing it for every world out there that is in danger of being destroyed. My entire life I've been saving Mobius from Eggman whenever he had the guts to attack. Then he came here to Equestria, and I made sure he still failed. Now his ambition is reaching worlds beyond imagination. Worlds that have nothing to do with him. Worlds that live in peace, a peace that's gonna be destroyed because of Eggman. I won't allow that. I can't allow that. Never happened before, and I won't start today." "Sonic... you might be getting yourself into a suicide mission... I know you have before, but... don't you think this is a bit extreme?" Tails asked with concern and worry for his brother. "I know that, little bro... But I have the power to follow him and save the whole multiverse," Sonic pointed out. "I won't stay with my arms crossed while Eggman sicks to conquer the multiverse. I couldn't live with myself if I ever let that happen..." "...Because that's what heroes do, right?" Young Sonic asked with a smirk. "They sacrifice everything in exchange of the grater good." "And at the end of the day... fame and glory do not matter if there's no universe to share your achievements with..." Boom Sonic added as well. "Alright, this got cozy and very cheesy, but... I think you're right. We came here because Eggman wanted to ally with himself to assure victory over you, guys," He pointed out with a smile, now standing right beside Sonic. Young Sonic zoomed at Sonic's other side as well and smiled. "And we'll make sure to return you the favor of helping us find a place to stay. You helped us feel comfortable in an unknown place for us..." "Now is our turn to return the favor... by saving your universe from the Egg Conqueror!" Boom Sonic stated with a smirk. "I know nothing that we say is gonna make you like the idea of us going against three Eggmans, and Sage, combined in one metallic body with the power to travel across the multiverse," Sonic said with a sad smile. "But please... understand that this is not for us. Is for you, and for every reality out there that is in danger." Everyone else was conflicted about what they should do, even Team Dark, who would usually be neutral about live or death situations... but this included them. Their lives were literally at stake as well... and none of them knew how to react at the Sonics decision on going to stop the Eggmans, despite loosing their battle just a few minutes ago. "...There's no way to get you out of this, right?" Tails asked with a sad smile, while the three Sonics denied with their heads. "...Then I wish you good luck. You probably won't need it, but still... You can never be so sure." "...Ugh... Fine... You better return, though. I refuse to accept that three variants of my friend have died fighting for the safety of every being in the multiverse..." Knuckles said, crossing his arms and giving his back to the Sonics to hide his tears. "You three be careful out there," Amy pled with worry. "I know none of you like that, but still... Just try to stay safe..." Shadow huffed and approached to Sonic with a frown. "You better return alive, hedgehog. I am the only one allowed to die since I have android copies." "You know perfectly that I cannot promise anything... Faker..." Sonic mocked up with a smirk. Shadow smirked back and teleported away, appearing at Rouge and Omega's side. "Please go safe, guys..." Sunny pled. "Kick that guy right where it hurts him for us, okay?" Hitch said with a sad smile, while Sparky on his back waved his hand sadly to the Sonics. "You better not get yourselves in more trouble, alright?" Izzy said between sobs, even though she was trying to sound mad. "Take care, guys..." Zipp said with a sad smile as well. "Be careful with them," Misty begged. "I... I don't want anyone to get hurt anymore, okay?" The three Sonics nodded at everything their friends told them, before they all turned to see Pipp, who was simply giving them her back. Sonic already felt nervous at that, but a pat on his back from Boom Sonic and a sign with his head, indicating him to go, seemed to calm him down a bit. Sonic then looked at Young Sonic, who gave him and encouragement smile and his thumbs up. So, Sonic smiled back at his counterparts, and he slowly approached to his girlfriend. "Pipp?" Sonic called out with concern. "I know I said no more surprises, but... If the other mes and I don't stop the Egg Conqueror now, maybe there won't even be a universe were we can––" However, he was immediately cut of when Pipp wrapped him into a very tight hug. It wasn't hurting him nor cutting his breath, but the fact that Pipp was holding her grip tightly enough already told him that she was beyond the idea of letting him go. "...J-Just don't you dare to die..." Pipp said, burying her face on his shoulder and letting out some tears. "P-Please, Sonic... Juts come back to me... that's everything I beg for..." "P-Pipp?" Sonic called out, both confused and worried for his girlfriend. "I don't care if you don't return complete or hurt... I-I just want you to be alive, okay?" Pipp said between sobs. "J-Just... take care, and come back to me, Blue Star..." Sonic felt his heart crushing in million pieces by hearing Pipp so scared for him. He knew he just said that he couldn't promise to not die, because that was completely out of his control... and yet, he also knew he had to calm her down, so he caressed her mane with love and smiled sadly. "...I won't die, Pipp..." Sonic said, before braking the hug, but lock eyes with his girlfriend, as he used his thumbs to dry her tears, that already ruined her makeup again. "I'm not going to die. And once this is over... I'll make sure our worlds stick together so nothing could get between us, okay?" Pipp smiled sadly, before locking lips with Sonic, while he kissed her back, caressing her cheek as well. "Ugh... this is wholesome, sad and gross all the same..." Young Sonic said with a bored expression. "Are you saying that because of the kiss?" Boom Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow. "Duh!" Young Sonic exclaimed, like if it was pretty obvious. "Then grow up, man. You'll do it as well one day, like it or not," Boom Sonic said with a mocking smirk, and Young Sonic pulled his tongue out in disgust and cringe at the idea. Once Sonic and Pipp broke their kiss, Pipp slowly stepped back from him, while Sonic winked at her to reassure that he'll come back once the fight is over. Then, he grabbed Boom Sonic and Young Sonic by their hands, before running on his place until his feet made the shape of an 8, and then, he boosted away, while the discs on his clothes created an X portal that the three Sonic traversed... Now, the three Sonics appeared in the realm of all the universes. They literally came out of another point in the universe, despite the massive hole with the shape of an X on the white line that showed up Maretime Bay in the distance. "Holy chilidogs!" Young Sonic exclaimed in excitement. "Is this the multiverse?!" "Yup!" Sonic replied with a smirk. "Welcome to the place I've been accessing to go home. And the same place we'll be using to fight against the Egg Conqueror!" Soon enough, the three Sonics noticed that said robot was standing in the middle of nowhere, watching all the universes around. They all frowned, and so, Sonic boosted faster to get closer to the Egg Conqueror. "So many worlds... So many possibilities!" The Egg Conqueror said with a huge grin. "Now, which universe take first?" "How about the one were you never win?!" Sonic's voice asked suddenly. The Egg Conqueror's eyes widened, and soon, the robot frowned. "You gotta be kidding me!" It exclaimed with anger, before turning around and get hit by Young Sonic, who Spin Dashed against him. "How you like that, Eggheads?!" Young Sonic mocked up with a grin. "Oh, you little––" The Egg Conqueror tried to say, but then it got hit by Boom Sonic, and finally by Sonic, who instead of jump away, stood right on the chest of the machine. "Game's over, Eggman!" Sonic stated with a frown. "We'll settle this right away! The definitive battle for the multiverse is here and now!" "That's a battle you already lost, rodent!" The Egg Conqueror stated with confidence. "I won this one! The multiverse is mine!" "Oh, is that so?" Sonic asked with a grin, before turning on his electrical powers and let go a massive shock over the machine, as the Eggmans and Sage's voices shouted in pain as Sonic electrified them. "Then recover from this and go get us, you bastard!" He challenged with a frown, before boosting away from him. Grabbing Boom Sonic and Young Sonic, who stood floating punching the Egg Conqueror, Sonic boosted through a white line and entered a universe, while the Egg Conqueror finally recovered from Sonic's sudden shock. It frowned and shouted in anger, before turning on its rockets and boost towards the same line that the Sonics got through, also traversing said line... Universe 201123 The sky broke in the shape of an X again, and so, the three Sonics were falling. However, thanks to a quick thinking from Boom Sonic, he managed to wrap Sonic under his left arm, while Sonic wrapped Young Sonic in a hug, and then, Boom Sonic used his watch to create a lasso that he wrapped around the balcony of a random building, before he managed to make the three of them land in the ground. Sonic's clothes changed again, of course, showing again the rainbow variant of his regular shoes and gloves, something that didn't concerned him anymore, apparently. But just when they thought they could have a moment to catch their breath, the sky broke in the shape of an X again, and the Egg Conqueror literally came down to try and smash the hedgehogs. "Oh crap!" Boom Sonic shouted in panic. "Guys! There's people here!" Young Sonic pointed out, since people around were looking at them and at the Egg Conqueror in pure shock and panic. Noticing that as well, Sonic frowned and looked at the Egg Conqueror with anger, before looking back at his counterparts. "Sonic 2 and Sonic 3, you two go ahead and get absolutely everyone you find in our way out!" Sonic instructed. "I'll be the guinea pig that distracts the Egg Conqueror!" "Roger that!" Boom Sonic stated, before boosting away. "Leave it to us!" Young Sonic said with a smirk and his thumbs up, before boosting away as well. With the two other Sonics now getting people out of danger, Sonic looked at the Egg Conqueror and smirked. "Hey, Egghead! I think it's time that you and I solve some pending business!" He stated confidently, before he boosted away from there as well. The Egg Conqueror frowned and growled in anger once again, and so, he started to chase Sonic around this new city... Canterlot City... again... However, with two other Sonics taking charge of people and getting them away from danger, Sonic had free road to run around all that he wanted, knowing very well that the only loss will be infrastructure and maybe some material stuff, but no lives beyond his, Boom Sonic's and Young Sonic's were at stake, and that's everything he could care about right now. After a while, Sonic ran over several walls, buildings, over the rooftops, even under a bus, now empty thanks to Young Sonic, but the Egg Conqueror was persistent and refused to let him win this battle. He even started to run over a building with several windows, and time stopped for a minute as Boom Sonic took everyone out of that building, because the Egg Conqueror traversed the entire place and destroyed it. Sonic, who clearly noticed that, frowned in anger, and so, he started to run over the street again, were time stopped again as Young Sonic took everyone from vehicles, streets and even the shops away, as time returned to normal while several cars, as well as the street, got destroyed by the Egg Conqueror's laser eyes. After seeing that they were about to crash against a wall, Sonic whistled, and so, Boom Sonic and Young Sonic appeared right besides him. Then, Sonic grabbed their hands again and boosted towards the wall, with his clothes creating another X portal that they all traversed, escaping from the Egg Conqueror. However, they didn't count on the fact that the Egg Conqueror could literally do the same with the Paradox Prism, which the machine took out and pointed at the X portal before it closed, making it even bigger so he could also pass through it. And once the Sonic and the Egg Conqueror were gone, the X portal closed, while miles away, in a hill, all the people saved by Boom Sonic and Young Sonic were confused on how the hell they got there. The Sonic trio was back in the multiverse realm. However, they all heard the Egg Conqueror coming right out of the same universe. "Shit!" Boom Sonic exclaimed again with a frown. "Is right behind us!" Young Sonic exclaimed in panic. "Then we'll have to loose that son of a bitch in another universe!" Sonic stated, now boosting towards another white line. The Egg Conqueror noticed that, and so, he growled in anger again, before passing through the same line as the Sonics. Universe 181021 The sky opened with the shape of an X once again. Sonic's clothes changed again, of course: His shoes and gloves were a purple variant of his fingerless gloves and his soap shoes. Then, landing over a forest, the three Sonics were all running on their own now, while the sky opened again so the Egg Conqueror could come down and chase up the Sonics. Sonic literally started to run away on a straight line, while Boom Sonic zig-zagged and Young Sonic made random circles all over the place. The Egg conqueror stopped, and not knowing who was Sonic 1 since they were all blue blurs, he started to shoot against the blue blur making random zig-zags on the floor. Boom Sonic panicked, and so, he started to move even faster now, while the Egg Conqueror simply kept shooting at him. Then, Young Sonic charged up a Spin Dash with his electricity once he noticed that Boom Sonic was in trouble, and then, he boosted straight towards the Egg Conqueror's chest. The robot got sent backwards and rolled a bit on the ground, before it stopped right in front of a strange cave: It had the shave of a ram, in every aspect; the little horns, the nose, even the mouth. It also had some kind of orange light coming from the inside... but it was alternating between other colors, included golden, because some kind of battle seemed to be unfolding inside. However, the Egg Conqueror couldn't care less, and so, he turned on his rockets before boost towards the sky. There, he looked around, before noticing that the Sonics already escaped through a X portal by themselves. Feeling incredibly furious, the Egg Conqueror roared in anger, and then, he created a X portal with the Paradox Prism, traversing it to keep following the Sonics. As the Sonics got away from that universe, the Egg Conqueror came out as well. Noticing that, Sonic boosted towards a white curve and traversed it, while the Egg Conqueror immediately followed up, also traversing the same curve. Universe 060403 The sky broke again with the shape of an X, and the moment the Sonic touched the ground, they simply boosted away. Sonic's clothes changed to fingerless white gloves and the Soap Shoes, but that doesn't matter right now. They were all running away from the Egg Conqueror, that soon joined the party as well. "Does this guys ever gives up?!" Young Sonic asked in panic. "We're talking about Eggman, so no!" Boom Sonic replied with a frown. "And keep in mind that this is a combined version of three Eggmans and a ghost girl!" He pointed out, before barely dodging a massive laser eye from the Egg Conqueror. "I heard that, you stupid blue pest!" The Egg Conqueror said with anger, while the Sonics simply kept running. "I have an idea!" Sonic said, before he stopped for a minute and turned around to run backwards at super sonic speed. "You two, charge up your Spin Dashes and give that son of his mustache mother some of his own medicine!" Boom Sonic and Young Sonic were surprised by that trick that he just pulled off, but they both grinned back and curled into balls, jumping into Sonic's hands After that, both Sonics started to charge up their Spin Dashes over Sonic's hands, with Young Sonic even charging up his electrical powers, and then, Sonic started to move his arms at super sonic speed as well, like if they were catapults. Soon enough, Sonic began to launch the other two Sonics against the Egg Conqueror. The machine was trying to dodge the attacks, but everytime it seemed like he was going to dodge it, Sonic moved so he could still hit it. They were on this game for quite a while, until the Egg Conqueror got tired and launched its laser eyes into the ground, making it rumble, and therefore, making Sonic loose his balance. He tripped eventually, and so, the three Sonics began to roll in the ground with grunts of effort and pain. However, Sonic managed to get back on his senses just in time, and once he saw that the Eggmans were right behind them, he grabbed Boom Sonic and Young Sonic's hands, before boosting away in another X portal created by the discs on his clothes. The Egg Conqueror used the Paradox Prism to expand said portal, before following up the Sonics again. Back in the realm of all the multiverses, the Sonics were far away from the last universe they entered. But then again, with the Paradox Prism on his power, the Egg Conqueror could travel to any reality he wanted as well, which meant he could follow them up as much as he wanted. So, Sonic boosted to another universe, hoping this time he'll have better luck. Universe 040222 The three Sonics landed right in front of Maretime Bay, immediately gaining weird stares from the ponies around. Sonic had some weird nike red shoes and white gloves with black palms, but he didn't cared about that again. Once the three Sonics noticed the looks on them, Sonic only facepalmed in annoyance, while Boom Sonic looked on with a bored expression and Young Sonic raised an eyebrow confused. "Uh... why are they looking at us like that?" Young Sonic asked. "This is another universe, Sonic 3..." Sonic replied with a tried tone. "Is normal that they see us like that." However, they immediately heard the sky cracking again into the Shape of an X, and so, they all boosted away from Maretime Bay before making a mess around. Meanwhile, the Egg Conqueror came out of the X portal and started to chase the three Sonics once again, now over a grass field that was very far away from the Earth Pony town, and from any other town from Equestria. "Okay! So what do we do now?!" Boom Sonic asked in panic. "We just let him shoot at us and blow us?!" He added, dodging right in time a massive laser eye launched by the Egg Conqueror. "We just had to keep moving!" Sonic stated with a determinate look. "He wants to conquer the entire multiverse! We just gotta make sure he uses the Prism enough times until he cannot travel to any more universes!" "So we have to run out his power source?!" Young Sonic asked confused. "Pretty much!" Sonic replied. "But that could take us ages! That thing has limitless power!" Boom Sonic pointed out. "Part of its energy is my body, so it's actually limited right now... It just has a really long stamina..." Sonic deadpanned. "That just makes things worse!" Young Sonic exclaimed in panic. "Well, Im sorry, but is the only way!" Sonic said with a frown. "We just gotta keep doing this until the Prism has no power left!" "Then get us out of here and to the next universe!" Boom Sonic instructed. With a nod, a smirk and his thumbs up, Sonic grabbed Boom Sonic and Young Sonic by the hands again, before creating another X portal and get out of there. As usual, the Egg Conqueror used the Paradox Prism to expand the portal and follow up his enemies. After getting out of that universe, Sonic forced his feet to run as fast as he could to get away from the Egg Conqueror. Said robot came out of the universe as well, and pointed the other arm to shot multiple lasers, bullets and missiles to try and shot the Sonics. When Sonic noticed that, he zigzagged for a few second, as the attacks from the Egg Conqueror crashed against floating glasses, before he entered to another white curve, still being followed by the Egg Conqueror. Universe 060199 The Sonics were falling from the sky. Sonic now had fingerless-black gloves and black boots with some spikes in front, and still grabbing Boom Sonic and Young Sonic from their hands, he managed to put a foot on a rock, which give him the impulse he needed to boost away, letting his counterparts go as they all started to run in their own again. Soon, the Egg Conqueror entered this universe as well, and started to shot both laser eyes and lasers from the palm of his hands towards the Sonics. "Aw, great! Now it turned into a cheap copy of Iron Man!" Young Sonic complained with a frown. "At least Iron Man makes it have style!" Boom Sonic pointed out with a snort, but he couldn't chuckle, giggle nor laugh in general, because he barely could dodge a laser from the Egg Conqueror's left arm. "And it seems like he hates to be compared, too!" Sonic pointed out with a frown. "You two keep moving! This one's mine!" Young Sonic stated with a smirk, before curling into a ball and charge a Spin Dash with his electrical powers, then he boost towards the Egg Conqueror's face. Young Sonic punched it once, then again, and again, and again. But before the fifth Spin Dash could reach, the Egg Conqueror raised its right fist, then it punched Young Sonic in the stomach and sent him backwards, as he rolled in the floor and grunted in pain, before stopping and fall unconscious. Once Boom Sonic noticed that, he frowned, and so, he immediately went to grab Young Sonic, just in time as well, because the Egg Conqueror was about to crush him. Boom Sonic ran back with Sonic, who grabbed his hand and the boosted through another X portal, with the Egg Conqueror following right behind. Once out of there, Sonic boosted towards another white line. However, he noticed that the Egg Conqueror was following up so close, so he pushed Boom Sonic and Young Sonic away, while the Egg Conqueror grabbed him and then boosted through one of the lines. "Sonic!" Boom Sonic shouted in panic. Young Sonic groaned in annoyance and yawned. "Five minutes more, Maddie..." Boom Sonic frowned and shook him like a maniac, which caused Young Sonic to finally woke up, as he looked around and then panicked as well, now hugging Boom Sonic tightly and not daring to separate from him. "AH! WHAT HAPPENED?! WHERE'S SONIC?!" Young Sonic asked in panic. "No idea, but I hope he returns soon..." Boom Sonic replied with concern. Universe 010921 The sky broke into the shape of an X again, and so, Sonic and the Egg Conqueror fell right from the sky. Sonic had his regular gloves and shoes again, but now he was also being grabbed from his neck by the Egg Conqueror, who was planing on smashing him against the ground. It was another grass field, which was about good and bad: Good because nobody else would get hurt, and bad because nobody could help him out in case he needed help. "I had enough of this silly games, hedgehog!" The Egg Conqueror said with anger. "For years, I've been getting defeated by you again, and again, and again!" He stated, before turning the free hand into a massive sword. "But now? Now, I'm gonna make sure you won't escape alive!" And so, the Egg Conqueror was about to traverse Sonic's chest with its sword, but then, a golden blast sent the robot backwards, which also set Sonic free as he managed to catch his breath again. Soon, Sonic stood up and rubbed his neck in pain, before the Alicorn Sunset Shimmer landed right besides him. "...Sunset?" Sonic asked confused. "Didn't expected you to get back here, Sonic," Sunset replied with a smirk. "At all..." She added with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah... Yeah, I know..." Sonic said. "Wish I could explain everything, but... I think you're gonna be better if you don't find out why I'm fighting against that thing," He pointed out with a smirk. "By the way, how did you knew I was here?" "I didn't," Sunset confessed. "I just sensed that something was wrong, and now... here I am!" "Well... thanks for the help!" Sonic said with his thumbs up. "But I'm gonna take charge of that thing from here!" He stated confidently, cracking his fingers and then boost away. "...Okay... I think I actually don't wanna ask this time..." Sunset muttered to herself, before smiling a bit, and then, she teleported out of there. Sonic, on the other hand, Spin Dashed against the Egg Conqueror, that was standing up slowly, but then fell backwards once Sonic hit its chest. "Come on, Egghead!" Sonic mocked up. "We're not done yet!" He stated, before boosting away in another X portal. The Egg Conqueror growled again, then pointed the arm with the Paradox Prism to the Portal, making it grow bigger, and the, using its rockets to boost through the portal as well. Boom Sonic and Young Sonic just kept floating in the middle of every reality. "Huh... Is it just me, or this place feels more alive when Sonic is carrying us around?" Young Sonic asked. "Actually, it does. Is like this place isn't interesting at all until he starts to run around..." Boom Sonic pointed out with a mix of a concerned tone and a bored expression. Suddenly, Sonic came boosting out of one universe and grabbed both Young Sonic and Boom Sonic from their hands, while he started to move towards another universe. "Wow... you returned a lot faster than I expected..." Boom Sonic confessed. "Also, yeah, Sonic 3, you're right... this place only feels alive when we're moving..." "See?!" Young Sonic exclaimed with a huge smile. "Also, Sonic, how's that it only took you, like, a minute or so to come back?" "Time doesn't exist in this plane of existence!" Sonic explained. "You feel I was out for a minute, I feel like I left for at least 5 or 6!" "Wait... time doesn't exist here?!" Boom Sonic asked confused and panicked. Before Sonic could even reply, the Egg Conqueror came out of the universe he just left, and with a collective groan from the three Sonics, they all entered a new universe, with the Egg Conqueror boosting at top speed to catch them. Universe 160521 The three Sonics landed in Planet Wisp, although it seemed to be half conquered by Eggman. Sonic's clothes looked once again like the red shoes with white stripes on both sides and two black lines in the middle, and his gloves changed again to the his gloves goalkeeper gloves with grey fingers. "The planet of the wisps?" Sonic asked confused. "But it looks like Eggman... Oh! This must be a universe where I haven't save it yet from him..." "Wait, you've been here before?" Boom Sonic asked confused. "Yeah... I free'd this place from Eggman's Amusement Park in space!" Sonic replied with a smirk. "Hang on, hang on, hang on!" Young Sonic exclaimed for a second. "Are you telling me... that we are near an Amusement Park... AND in space?!" However, before anyone could reply, the ground rumbled again, because the Egg Conqueror landed right behind the Sonics. "Never mind! Run, run, run, run, run!" Young Sonic shouted in panic, and so, the three Sonic started to run away. The Egg Conqueror growled and turned on his engines, before chasing down the Sonics again. However, since they were in Planet Wisp, Sonic got an idea, and without further notice, he moved backwards and made a sudden high five with a blue wisp with three eyes and the shape of a cube. After that, the wisp entered on his body and allowed him to become a cube, ability that he used right above the Egg Conqueror to smash it and cause a lot of damage over him. Once he did that, Sonic let the wisp go, and returned with Boom Sonic and Young Sonic, while the Egg Conqueror stood behind. "Whoa!" Young Sonic exclaimed with sparkling eyes. "How did you do that?!" "The wisps are creatures that let you use their power after a high five!" Sonic explained with a smirk. "Come on, guys! Give it a shot!" Young Sonic saw a turquoise wisp and smiled. Then, he made a high five with him, and his entire body started to spin around, before boosting at max speed towards the Egg Conqueror. The wisp made Young Sonic boot in zigzags all over the planet, but he always managed to punch the machine multiple times, before the wisp let him go, and so, Young Sonic returned with his counterparts. "That was so much fun! I gotta ask Tails if we have wisps back home!" Young Sonic stated happily with his tail wagging. The Egg Conqueror, however, growled in anger, and then boosted back to chase the three Sonics with rage. "I think we made it a bit mad!" Boom Sonic pointed out with concern. "Wanna get him more mad?" Sonic asked with a smirk. "You're kidding, right?" Boom Sonic asked with a bored expression. "Of course I do!" And then, he made a backflip in the air, while a yellow wisp approached him, and so, Boom Sonic made a high five with him, before turning into some kind of yellow driller with the shape of his head. After that, Boom Sonic started to dig on the earth, before popping out of there and attack the Egg Conqueror by the chest, while moving towards the sky and then moving back to the floor, before attacking he Egg Conqueror again, but in its back this time around. After that, the Egg Conqueror fell to the ground and rolled there for quite a while, before stopping right in front of the three Sonics, since Boom Sonic let go his wisp. "Is it over?!" Young Sonic asked. "No. Not yet, at least," Sonic stated with a frown. "Let's get out of here before it wakes up!" His counterparts nodded, and then, Sonic grabbed them by their hands, running in his place until his feet made the shape of an eight. Then, his clothes shone bright again, before they created another portal with the shape of an X, as the three Sonic traversed it. The Egg Conqueror, however, managed to stand up quickly enough, and then, he changed his right hand with the Paradox Prism, before shooting towards the portal and make it bigger, as he boosted with his rockets through it as well. Once out of that universe, Sonic immediately entered to another universe with his counterparts again. When the Egg Conqueror came out of the last universe, he growled in anger for the millionth time, and looked around with a frown, realizing that the Sonics escaped before he could even see in which universe they entered. Universe 180993 The sky opened once again with the shape of an X, and the three Sonics landed on what seemed to be a dessert cannon. Sonic's clothes still looked like they did on the previous universe, which actually made him smile. "Cool! We're in the first universe I landed after I accidentally shattered the Paradox Prism!" Sonic said with a smile. "This is the universe you landed first?" Boom Sonic asked confused. "Is kinda lame..." "I'll usually try to find a way of make this look better, but... I can't this time..." Young Sonic said as well. "At least it seems like we're gonna be in peace for–– OH, COME ON!" Sonic shouted in annoyance, since the Egg Conqueror entered and landed right in front of them, making the entire ground rumble. "NO. MORE. GAMES!!!" The Egg Conqueror shouted in anger, before it grabbed both Boom Sonic and Young Sonic. After that, the Egg Conqueror smashed both Sonics against a wall, and then started to fly upwards, basically destroying the rock wall with the two Sonics as they screamed in pain. Then, the Egg Conqueror launched both of them in the air and shoot a portal with the Paradox Prism behind them, while the two Sonics traversed the portal. The robot then quickly moved and grabbed Sonic as well, before smashing him in the ground, then in the walls, and finally launch him in the air as a ball, before punching him on his stomach and sent him straight towards the portal as well. Sonic traversed the portal, and then, crashed against several purple crystals floating around. However, he was soon wrapped by an electrical blue lasso, and then, he was dragged downwards, landing over Chip's ship, were Boom Sonic and Young Sonic were lying in a couch, feeling absolutely in pain, while Boom Sonic turned his watch off, and the lasso wrapping Sonic dissipated. They seemed to be near Sonic's universe, because the X portal with the shape of an X was somehow still open and showing Maretime Bay. Sonic gasped in worry at that, but before he could even point it out, Chip gasped dramatically. "Sonic!" Chip called out smiling, before zooming right to Sonic's face and look at him with worry. "Finally I find you! And it seems like you're not alone this time... Look, I think we have a situation, because––" "There is a situation, Chip..." Sonic pointed out with worry, before pointing with a finger at an X portal opening from the same universe where the three Sonics came from. "THAT is the situation!" He said with concern, as the Egg Conqueror came out and stopped right on front of the ship. "That was a fun, little chase, Hedgehogs," The Egg Conqueror said with a maniac laugh, before frowning with anger. "But play time is over! Now, I shall make sure the entire multiverse is mine!" And then, the Egg Conqueror raised its right arm, while its hand got replaced with the Paradox Prism, that started to shine bright and release lightnings in a crazy way. "Hang on a second... is that...?" Chip tried to ask. "The Paradox Prism? Yes... Yes it is..." Sonic replied with concern. Soon enough, the lightnings of the Prism started to act in a crazy manner, and then, they all shoot to different directions, but all of the lightnings hit a universe, opening a massive hole with the shape of an X on them, meaning that he was literally opening multiple portals across the entire multiverse to conquer several worlds at a time. "This is bad... this is really, really bad!" Chip stated with a frown. "If that many portals remain open... maybe all those worlds will get erased from existence! And if that happens out of Nexus events... all the other realities will collapse... and disappear one by one..." "We gotta stop that thing!" Young Sonic stated, although he groaned immediately as he grabbed his stomach, that still hurt because of the Egg Conqueror's earlier punch. "...No... You already did enough. This is something I have to do on my own now..." Sonic said with a determinate look. "And before you protest against me, I have four discs attached to my body that allow me to move freely through the multiverse as well. You two are still vulnerable, and like it or not, you cannot fight back... I must do this alone, guys, and I'm not even kidding this time. Besides, if you two die here, two universes will remain without Sonics... and I cannot allow that to happen." "B-But we still can help, right?!" Young Sonic asked desperate, to both Sonic and Boom Sonic. However, Boom Sonic actually understood and denied to Young Sonic with his head. "No, little guy... Sonic 1 is right. This battle isn't ours anymore," He said with sadness, before looking back at Sonic. "However, you still have to return alive, alright?!" "No promises," Sonic replied with a sad smirk. "With the multiverse at stake? Maybe a sacrifice must be done... And it'll be better if I do this alone, you know? I mean, the Egg Conqueror hurt you really bad..." "He hurt you too!" Young Sonic pointed out with a sad frown. "Yeah, but again, I can travel through the multiverse and stand a fight without floating around..." Sonic pointed out again. "You two can't... which is why I want you out of this battle." "...There's no way to change your mind out of this, is it?" Boom Sonic asked with sadness. "No," Sonic replied, also denying with his head. "I won't allow you to die in here. Not if I can avoid it." After that, Young Sonic immediately wrapped Sonic into a hug, something that startled him, but he didn't tried to move Young Sonic aside, so he hugged him back. Soon, Boom Sonic joined as well, and considering he didn't liked hugs that much? It only showed how much these two meant for him, despite knowing them for such a short amount of time. "...I do love you guys, too..." Boom Sonic finally confessed with a sad smile. Sonic chuckled. "And we love you too, Sonic 2." "I... I really hope this isn't a goodbye..." Young Sonic added with sadness. "It isn't," Sonic assured, as the three Sonics broke their hug. "I'll be back with all of you before you even have a chance to miss me!" He stated with a confident smirk, before looking at Chip with a serious expression. "Chip, please take them back to Equestria. I don't wanna risk any lives as I fight the Egg Conqueror." Chip nodded a bit hesitant, but then he frowned with worry. "Sonic, I have no idea of what you are planning, or how you expect to recover the Prism from that thing... But you better be careful out there." However, Sonic snorted after hearing that. "Careful?" He asked with a smirk, before turning around and slowly walk towards the edge of the ship. "Where's the fun in that?" And so, Sonic boosted towards the Egg Conqueror and Spin Dashed against it, which caused the Paradox Prism to stop working, as all the lightnings dissipated, making all the portals it opened to immediately close, although the Paradox Prism kept shining bright. The Egg Conqueror growled in anger, and then glared daggers at Sonic, who was now standing over a floating purple crystal, as he frowned back at the robot. The Egg Conqueror decided to pull the Paradox Prism away for the moment and bring back its hand, since it felt like this was going to be the definitive battle with its long sworn enemy. "I won't allow you to win, Egghead!" Sonic stated with confidence. "Let's settle this, right here, right now!" "You never give up, do you?!" The Egg Conqueror asked with anger. "Well, it doesn't matter! It's time that we settle this like grown mans! BRING IT UP, HEDGEHOG!" It shouted, before boosting towards Sonic with its rockets. Sonic charged up his Spin Dash after seeing that, and then, he also boosted towards the Egg Conqueror, getting ready for what finally seemed to be the final battle for the sake of the multiverse. The Egg Conqueror raised a punch and tried to strike it against Sonic's Spin Dash, but since Sonic was coming from a very long distance, and he even used his electrical powers as well, the Egg Conqueror's punch and Sonic's Spin Dash crashed and sent them both backwards, since they both had the same strength, apparently. However, Sonic landed over another purple crystal, which he used to impulse himself back towards the Egg Conqueror, as he strike a punch on its face. Then, landing over another crystal, he impulsed himself back and curled into a ball, before making a Homing Shot and launch the attack to the robot's back. The Egg Conqueror felt that and growled, then it turned around and started to blast lasers from its palms, which Sonic dodged as he kept jumping in-between crystals, that got destroyed because of the lasers. Then, Sonic jumped and made a Wild Rush, sending the kick into the Egg Conqueror's chest. However, the robot grabbed his leg after he did that, and then, he smashed Sonic against several crystals, something that made Sonic feel a bit dizzy for a few seconds, and he also got a small cut on his left arm. No blood came out, thankfully, but still, it did hurt. However, nothing could ever prepare him for what came next: A massive laser from the Egg Conqueror's left palm that aimed for his head. Sonic barely dodged, but it did hit something else, something that made Sonic immediately scream in pain, as he grabbed his left ear. He then felt something cold and gross over his skin, and once he moved his hand to watch it, he saw his glove, and part of his arm, covered in lots of blood. The feeling of the gross and cold substance was now going down the left side of his head, and while he did panicked a bit, he soon understood what happened. So, he moved his right hand and touched his right ear, feeling it intact. Then, he moved his left hand to his left ear... and felt how it was traversed and damaged... He understood now: The Egg Conqueror traversed his ear when he dodged the laser. He tried to kill him, and Sonic barely saved himself from getting a free pass to the other life... With a frown, he charged up another Wild Rush and hit the Egg Conqueror's head, before moving on with a Spin Slash, then a Stomp Attack, and stroke a final attack with a Loop Kick. After that, Sonic let out a warrior cry and charged up a Spin Dash with his electrical powers, hitting the Egg Conqueror again, and again, and again, and again. Yet, the Egg Conqueror wasn't going to give up so easily, and so, it started to shoot more lasers to Sonic, who dodged all of them like nothing, and then did another Stomp Attack over the Egg Emperor. After that, however, the Egg Conqueror grabbed Sonic's leg and smashed his body against a crystal, then another, then another, and then launched him. Sonic crashed over a purple crystal, were he stood floating in pain as the Egg Conqueror let out a maniac laugh. "It was a very nice battle, rodent. I must admit it," The Egg Conqueror confessed. "But play time is over! As you can see, I can conquer every reality I want with just a single snap! And since the Paradox Prism is in my power, I can travel to any universe I want! And neither you nor any Sonic in the multiverse can stop me!" It finished, before switching its hand with the Paradox Prism and prepare to crack portals across every universe again. However, Sonic noticed that the Prism wasn't very well attached to the Egg Conqueror's arm, and that seemed to be what he needed to get the upper hand again. So, with a grunt of pain and effort, Sonic jumped from the crystal, and Spin Dashed against the Paradox Prism, that separated from the Egg Conqueror's arm. "What?! NO!" The Egg Conqueror shouted with panic. After that, Sonic grabbed the entire Prism, that seemed to react at the energy of his discs. Sonic felt confused at first, but he decided to use that as an advantage, and so, he shoot a massive lightning that combined the four colors of the Paradox Prism, and then, the lightning hit the Egg Conqueror, which started to shout in pain at the energy of the Prism. However, there was one problem: Sonic was also suffering in pain because of the energy of the Prism, since it was reacting to his discs, and it was also burning his gloves and shoes, and therefore, his hands and his feet. So, he moved the prism and swing the Egg Conqueror, that got free from the Prism's grip and started to fell at full speed towards the X hole still open over Maretime Bay. Once the Egg Conqueror traversed the portal, it immediately transformed back into the three Eggmans and Sage on their own, as they all fell and rolled right into the streets of Maretime Bay, growling in anger and pain because of their impact. However, none of them managed to stand up, because once they all sat down to recover, and Sage even approached Eggman, they were all wrapped around and trapped by electrical lassos: Eggman and Sage were trapped on a yellow one, Ivo was trapped into a blue one and Robotnik in a red one. They all turned and saw Boom Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, frowning at them with mocking smirks as the trio of heroes made sure that the villains were tied up. "No escaping route this time, Egghead!" Boom Sonic said with confidence. Soon enough, the villains were also wrapped by a golden aura, coming out from Sunny's horn, something that made all of them growl in anger and annoyance. "Just making sure the little pests don't dare to escape!" Sunny mocked up with a giggle. Then, Pipp approached Eggman, and grabbed him from his neck, glaring daggers at the doctor as Eggman himself gulped nervously, since Pipp was looking very intimidating right now. "Where is Sonic, Ivo?" Pipp asked in anger, and her tone sent chills on the spines of the villains, Sage, Ivo and Robotnik included, as they gulped nervously as well. "U-Um... H-He's... still up there?" Eggman replied with a sheepish smile, referring to the hole that showed the entire multiverse. Pipp frowned, now with worry, as she let go Eggman, but not without using her left hind leg to kick the doctor's stomach, which made Eggman feel in pure pain and agony. "Gosh... Sonic did won the lottery with her..." Eggman admitted, even though he was saying it with both fear, pain and annoyance. Back in the realm of every multiverse, Sonic was screaming in pain at the energy of the Paradox Prism. Soon enough, there was a massive explosion, and the full Paradox Prism got a crack as it stood floating around, while Sonic got sent backwards and landed on his chest over Chip's ship, since he was passing by and decided to provide help to Sonic. However, he got startled and gasped in shock when he saw that Sonic's shoes were all burned and dark, once again being the normal ones and without the discs, while his gloves, normal as well, also seemed burned and damaged. Worst of all, his left glove had no disc, and his right ear was perforated. Then, Chip saw the three missing discs floating away, but the discs were completely destroyed. Gasping with worry, Chip looked back at Sonic, and noticed that there was only one disc left; the one on his right hand, but it was cracked, and it also seemed to be damaged and useless. "Sonic!" Chip called out, while Sonic groaned in pain and raised his head. He felt startled and worried when he saw his right glove burned, as well as the disc all damaged. Once he stood up, he noticed his burned shoes, and the other glove burned as well, which made him frown with worry. "W-Where's the other discs?" Sonic asked confused. Chip simply pointed at the other three discs, floating around and being completely destroyed, which made Sonic feel worried and concerned. Then, he turned and saw the Paradox Prism, that started to release random lightnings around the multiverse. "We gotta stop that thing!" Chip pointed out. "If it keeps reacting in that way, the entire multiverse is gonna get destroyed! I can feel it!" Sonic frowned at that statement and started to think on a solution. Since the Prism was reacting wildly, and the discs on his clothes were now destroyed, touching it and bring it to Chip wasn't an option... Suddenly, he saw the remaining disc over his right glove, and he gasped when he remembered something Tails said earlier... "They contain a lot of power from the Prism, and if you focused enough, they could even surpass it!" Tails voice echoed on his mind. And then, after remembering this, the solution hit him like a bullet train: Touching the Paradox Prism wasn't the solution to save the multiverse... destroying it was. "...Chip..." Sonic called out with a determinate look. "We don't have to recover the Prism... We have to destroy it..." "The what now?!" Chip asked in disbelief. "Sonic, no! Destroying the Prism might save the multiverse, true... But then you'll have to leave Equestria forever! Don't you want to stay with your new friends? Don't you want to be with Pipp forever?!" Sonic slowly nodded with a sad expression. "Of course I do. More than anything..." He confessed, before looking at Chip and smile sadly at him. "But I must do what's better for both dimensions in my universe... and for the entire multiverse... right?" Chip realized that those were his words when he told Sonic about the possibility of a Nexus event erasing both worlds if Sonic and his friends from Mobius didn't returned there... and his ears fell flat with sadness. "Sonic... You're sacrificing you're own happiness for the greater good..." Chip pointed out with sadness. "You said you wanted to be selfish for once, and I even decided to help you out so you could stay in Equestria... what changed?" "The entire multiverse wasn't in much danger as it is right now..." Sonic pointed out. "Now I realize what I have to do," He stated with a determinate look. "And Chip?" "Yeah?" Chip asked. "...Thank you. You really helped me realize how much I love the entire multiverse... and how far I'm willing to go to save anyone in danger..." Sonic replied with a sad smile. Chip felt his heart shattering, and so, he hugged Sonic, as Sonic hugged him back. "Try not to die out there, Sonic," Chip said with a sad smile, while a little traitor tear fell from his left cheek. Sonic broke the hug and simply nodded at him, before turning to the Paradox Prism with a frown. He stared at the object with a frown, before visualizing a red target above the gem. Then, Sonic joined the cracked disc of his right arm and adjusted it to his glove, before charging up a Spin Dash and launching himself towards the Paradox Prism. Since it was 300 meters away, Sonic uncurled, but still was heading towards the Prism, and then, he charged up his right fist with electricity, which also seemed to affect the disc over his hand, that started to glow and react at the energy of Sonic, as well as at the energy of the Paradox Prism, since some lightnings from it were heading towards the disc. Sonic groaned in pain and the contact of the energy with his hand, and it trembled a bit, but Sonic managed to make it firm, and then, he shout out a warrior cry before punching his right fist, with everything and disc, straight into the crack on the Paradox Prism. The Prism started to crack even more, since it was swallowing the energy from the disc over Sonic's hand, and it was too much for the object to handle it. However, at the exact same time, Sonic was shouting both a warrior cry and a scream of pain, because the energy of the Prism was burning Sonic's entire right arm, until it also reached his neck. Finally, after so long, the Prism shattered into the four fragments again, but said fragments also shattered into 5 pieces, and they spread all across the multiverse, with one blue fragment and a red one falling right towards Equestria, but another red fragment also entered this universe, although it fell in another zone. However, the destruction of the Paradox Prism also caused Sonic's arm to end up entirely burned, and the disc was absolutely destroyed as well, while Sonic himself fell unconscious because of the explosion and started to fall towards the X portal over Maretime Bay. In Maretime Bay, the heroes and villains all watched a massive explosion at the hole of the multiverse. "Ah, dang it!" Eggman growled in anger. "What happened?" Knuckles asked with a frown. "Well, I'm not a fortune reader, but I guess the Hedgehog destroyed the Prism... which means that we lost... again..." Ivo said with a bored expression. "Wait, so that's it? We won?!" Young Sonic asked with an excited smile, while his tail wagged happily. "Seems like it!" Tails said with a smile. The heroes, except Team Dark and Pipp, all cheered at their victory. Pipp was still concerned, because the portal in the sky began to close, although something blue and bright fell into the ocean, while something red and bright as well fell somewhere in Equestria, although she couldn't care less right now. "W-Where is him?!" Pipp asked in panic, looking at the sky and praying that Sonic would arrive soon. The others looked up at the sky and noticed the portal closing... However, right before it did, something else came from it, and started to fall at fast paste. Zipp brought out her Z-Googles and scanned the object, just to gasp and smile when she saw that it was Sonic. "It's him!" Zipp said with a smile, and the group cheered again, and Pipp joined them this time, but Zipp's gasp and worried expression made the cheers stop. "H-He's not slowing down! He's not even reacting at all!" Soon enough, Sonic fell right into the ocean, something that made the entire group gasp in panic. Tails, however, looked on with a determinate look, and immediately boost towards the sea, spinning his tails faster than ever, and the diving into the ocean. The group of heroes all approached to the balcony looking at the sea, while Sage started to moved her hands over the blue lasso to try and get free from it. Meanwhile, Tails came out of the sea, holding Sonic with both of his arms and grabbing a blue glowing object on one hand. Then, he approached to everyone else and placed Sonic on the floor, making him lay in there, while Tails stood at his left side. Pipp immediately approached and gasped in horror: Sonic's clothes were very burned, his entire right arm and part of the right side of his neck was burned as well, showing it entirely black and damaged, while his left ear was perforated. The fact that he was unconscious didn't helped her too much to stay calmed, either. Everyone else gasped as well at the sigh of Sonic being so... bad and hurt, and Pipp immediately sat on the floor to place Sonic's head over her hinds legs, while she caressed his head and started to cry and fear at the idea of loosing him forever. But then, they all heard a maniac laugh coming from behind them. "You traitor!" Robotnik shouted, and that's what made the heroes turn around. They all saw that Eggman and Sage were already gone, and they apparently left behind Ivo and Robotnik, which made all of them frown except Pipp, since she was only focused on seeing if Sonic would wake up. "Honestly? I'm not surprised. We probably would've done the same thing," Ivo pointed out with a bored expression, while Robotnik growled in anger. However, before the rest could even scold them or bomb at them with questions, they all heard someone coughing, and so, they turned again to see that Sonic was waking up, as he coughed and slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Pipp's face, and that made him automatically smile. "...H-Hey... Little Pipp..." Sonic greeted weakly. Pipp sobbed again, although she was smiling sadly now. "H-Hey, Blue Star..." Soon, Sonic noticed all the looks over him, and while all of them were smiling in relief that he woke up, he could feel there was something else... With effort, Sonic decided to sat down, and Pipp even helped him by putting his left arm around her neck. Once he was in a more comfortable position, he noticed that just making a slight and minor move with his right arm hurt as hell, so he turned... and felt terrified when he saw that his entire right arm was burned, which explained why it hurt to move it. He also felt how his left ear hurt, and remembered that his ear was perforated by the Egg Conqueror. Remembering the villains, Sonic stood up with Pipp's help, and he walked towards them with a frown, noticing that Eggman and Sage were gone, so he could already tell that they escaped. "You know? I should definitely rip your heads off after you two, along with Eggman and his daughter, perforated my fucking ear while trying to kill me," Sonic stated with a frown. "But, that's not my policy. Your business with me and my universe are over. Theirs, however..." He added, pointing at his counterparts. Young Sonic approached Robotnik and smirked sinisterly. "G.U.N. is gonna be very happy with their new prisoner!" He stated, while Robotnik growled in anger at him. "You know, Eggman? I heard jail's food tastes better than hospital food," Boom Sonic told Ivo with a mocking smirk. "Ugh... I hate you..." Ivo said with annoyance, still with a bored expression. Meanwhile, Sonic was helped by Knuckles to stand still, since his body still hurt, and he literally felt his right arm was sent to hell, because he could barely move it properly anymore. "Oh, Sonic..." Amy said with concern at the sigh of his arm. "H-How did it happened?!" Sunny asked, shocked and worried for Sonic. "The Prism... I destroyed it..." Sonic replied. "Now it divided again... but the fragments also shattered, so... there's more than just 4 fragments out there..." "Not to mention, Eggman and Sage escaped," Shadow pointed out with a frown and his arms crossed. "So... What now?" Izzy asked confused. "Well... I found one piece of the Paradox Prism when I went to get Sonic out of water..." Tails confessed, as he opened his right hand and showed a small, blue piece of the blue fragment of the Paradox Prism. "It's energy should be enough to sent the Sonics and Eggmans back home." "But after that, we still have work to do... right?" Zipp asked with concern. "Eh... We'll deal with all of that later..." Sonic said with a smile. "Right now? I just wanna enjoy it's finally over..." > Epilogue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Universe 220822 It's been a week ever since the multiverse was saved from the Eggman trio. Hitch and Sunny finally came out on their relationship, since the entire thing with the multiverse at stake made them stay quiet with those that didn't knew it. Of course, everyone that didn't knew couldn't be anymore happier for them, since they all thoughts Hitch and Sunny were taking way too long to be together as a couple, but thankfully, it finally happened, and both Sunny and Hitch couldn't be happier that their friends approved their relationship, although Shadow and Tails were still being a bit rude around Hitch. On the other hand, and just as they all signed up for in Canterlot, the Sonics decided to simply hang out. Not because the multiverse were at stake, not to save lives, not to be heroes... They were just three friends hanging out to have fun and act, at least for a week, like nothing mattered in the world. They stood two days on Maretime Bay, then 2 Days on Bridlewood, then three days on Zephyr Heights, and even a few hours in Canterlot so Boom Sonic and Young Sonic could meet Discord, the Lord of Chaos himself. Of course, Discord was hesitant on meeting two new Sonics at first, specially since he could tolerate one Sonic and many Mobians in Equestria... but Boom Sonic's sarcasm and tired attitude, as well as Young Sonic's extreme energy and innocence, got over him pretty quick and easily, so of course, he simply let the presence slip. However, Sonic decided to make some questions to the Lord of Chaos, like why he didn't showed up during the battle against the Eggmans in general. He replied with two reasons: Plot convenience, and because he couldn't mess with the multiverse because of an incident he refused to talk about. Sonic wanted to ask further on that last bit Discord mentioned, but he felt like it was for the best if he didn't. Speaking of Sonic, he had to use an arm cast during the entire hang out with Boom Sonic and Young Sonic, since his right arm was entirely damaged. It wasn't a lost cause because Sonic could still move it, but it didn't worked as it used to anymore, and there was no guarantee that it was going to work as it used to, so he had to stuck like this for quite a while. Still, he managed to enjoy his hang out with his multiverse counterparts. It was very nice to get and know what kind of crazy stuff the other Sonics do on their universes, and of course, he could tell that despite being pretty much the same guy, they were three different persons, and he couldn't like it anymore than he already did. But of course, every journey has and end... and the new Sonics journey on Equestria was coming over. Since the piece of the blue fragment of the Paradox Prism was incredibly small, Tails and Zipp spent that entire week the three Sonics hang out to adjust the machine again and make sure the piece was stable to open a portal long enough to take the Sonics and their Eggmans back home. And at the end of that week, they managed to create the portal that would take them back home, which was both good news, since it meant the entire trouble was over, and bad news, because it meant it was time to say goodbye. Boom Sonic was saying goodbye to Team Sonic sins Sonic, Zipp and Izzy, since he did made a bigger bond with all of them, despite how hesitant he was at the beginning to even talk with them. "You know? I should apologize," Boom Sonic confessed. "I know I said I was too cool to be around ponies... But you showed me you are way cooler to be around me. I actually learned a lot from you, guys... and I think once I go home, the first thing I'll do is to make sure my friends understand how much they actually mean to me." "So, you finally recognize that, huh?" Zipp asked with a mocking smirk and a raised eyebrow. "I'm glad that you managed to have fun here, Sonic!" Amy said with a warm smile. "Just try not to be so selfish and self-centered when you get home, okay?" She warned with a little frown, also crossing her arms. "No promises!" Boom Sonic replied with a snort. "But I'll try my best!" "Make sure to shave those arms now and then," Knuckles mocked up with a smirk, while Boom Sonic snorted again and rolled his eyes. "No, seriously, shave them, man. You look weird with long blue arms. It only looks cool on the kid over there." "Tell to the Tails in your world that he's pretty lucky to have you as a brother, even if he doesn't realizes yet!" Tails told him with a smile and a wink. "I'm the one who's lucky on having him as a brother! I realize that now..." Boom Sonic pointed out with a grin. "Still, I'll give him the message!" He winked back at Tails. "Try not to get in anymore trouble!" Izzy said with a cheery smile. "Although, knowing you, that's probably asking for too much..." Misty pointed out with a mocking smirk. Boom Sonic snorted again and rolled his eyes. "I'll try my best!" On the other hand, we have Pipp, Sunny, Hitch and Team Dark saying goodbye to Young Sonic, although Shadow seemed to be trying to keep his cool and not burst into tears, since he really made a strong bond with Young Sonic. "I really enjoyed my stay here!" Young Sonic confessed with a big smile of happiness. "I really wished I could stay a bit longer, though... But I really hope we see each other again in the future!" "And we hope to see you again, too!" Pipp said, as she immediately embraced Young Sonic in a hug, while he hugged her back with a smile. "Hey, thanks for the confidence boost from before," Hitch thanked him. "You were right... it was totally worth it..." He added, now looking at Sunny, who was looking back at him with a smile. "That's what friends are for!" Young Sonic told them with a smile. "Besides, you two really needed to stop being so stupid around each other." Hitch rolled his eyes with a smile, and Sunny shook her head on disbelief, before they both embraced Young Sonic into a hug as well. Suddenly, however, Shadow wrapped Young Sonic into a big hug, making everyone else's jaws drop to the floor, even Boom Sonic, although Young Sonic simply chuckled and hugged him back. However, Shadow soon carefully put him on the floor and turned around as he gave his back to him, trying to keep his cool again, but failing in the process, since Young Sonic chuckled again and shook his head on disbelief. "Good luck on your journey back home, tiny Sonic," Omega simply stated, as he made a salute with his right hand, while Young Sonic decided to play along and saluted as well. Rouge simply messed up his quills a bit with a smirk, which made Young Sonic giggle. With that, the two Sonics approached Sonic, the last one they had to say goodbye to. "Well... I guess this is it..." Sonic said with a sad smirk and his left hand on his hip. "Despite the week we spent together... I seriously wish you two could stay a bit longer..." "Yeah, well... the story is over, and even if your arm is burned up, your character development isn't over, so... Better get out of here before it reaches us," Boom Sonic pointed out with a bored expression. At that, Young Sonic frowned and grabbed his hand, before letting go a small amount of electricity, which startled Boom Sonic, as he pulled his hand away in pain. "What Sonic 2 is trying to say, is that we would like to stay too, but... the adventure is over," Young Sonic pointed out with a sad smile. "Also, if we don't leave, I'm pretty sure either that Discord man is gonna sent us back home in a snap just for the sake of not having us here anymore..." "It actually sounds like something he'll do..." Sonic pointed out with a smirk. "Jokes aside... I'm seriously gonna miss you two. It was nice having myself around, you know?" "Well, the only bad thing of all of this is that you got a burned arm..." Boom Sonic pointed out with concern and a cringed expression. "It doesn't looks as cool as many movies make it look..." "Yeah... it only looks cool on movies because it's makeup... this is painful to watch..." Young Sonic pointed out, as he gulped nervously and unconsciously grabbed his own right arm. "Eh, I'm pretty sure it'll be fine eventually," Sonic said with a smirk. "Besides, if we see each other again, either I'll have a robotic arm, or it'll be half-healed. Either way, I know for sure this isn't permanent, so this hopefully isn't the last thing you'll see from me!" "Yeah... Hopefully..." Boom Sonic said with sadness. Sonic snorted after seeing his counterparts so sad, so he rolled his eyes and approached them. "Oh, come here, you two goofballs!" Immediately, Boom Sonic and Young Sonic smiled and wrapped Sonic into a hug, with Boom Sonic grabbing the other two and raising them in the air since he was taller. The three Sonics simply hugged each other as they chuckled, although Sonic was being careful to not hurt his right arm anymore, but still, he enjoyed the embrace with his multiversal counterparts. Then, Tails and Zipp turned on their machine, now with the piece of the Paradox Prism in there, and then, they opened another X portal, than slowly turned into a blue portal that travelled straight to another universe, instead of heading to that realm with every other universe. The three Sonics broke their hug, and then, Boom Sonic and Young Sonic walked over to the portals, dragging their Eggmans on the floor and by the lassos still around them, as both villains growled in anger. "Boom, you're up first!" Tails said with a sad smile. Boom Sonic nodded, before grabbing Ivo and launching him through the portal, as the doctor shouted in fear. "Thanks for everything, sorry for nothing! I hope to see you again one day!" Boom Sonic shouted, as he also traversed the portal. Then, Zipp changed all the set up of the machine, and the portal closed, before another X portal opened up suddenly and switched up to another blue portal. "Gotta go now, pal!" Zipp told Young Sonic, also with a sad smile. Robotnik growled in anger after hearing that, and he was about to say something, but then, he was pushed through the portal By Young Sonic, as Robotnik screamed like a little girl as he traversed it. "He was probably going to say a big villain monologue, so I made you all a favor," Young Sonic pointed out with a bored expression, before giving up a big smile. "See you later, guys!" He waved his hand, before jumping through the portal as well. As the portal closed up, the place was filled in silence... maybe because they all got so used to Boom Sonic and Young Sonic's presences, that the group felt incomplete now. Still, Sonic smiled a bit, and looked up at the sky, since he knew deep down that somewhere, someplace, they were still out there, now back home to have more wacky adventures on their own... Meanwhile, in Universe 250954 "You're a bit late..." A female voice spoke, while a digital girl appeared suddenly and gave a bored expression. This was an anthropomorphic beige lynx with green eyes, black hair and ear tops, black gloves with white palms, a pink dress with a somewhat white cape, black pants and black with white shoes. "I cannot be everywhere at once," A male and raspy voice spoke with a tired tone. "Oh, but you can: You are the fastest thing alive, dumbass," The lynx replied, while crossing her arms and walking backwards. "At least a text could've been nice." "I was gone for at least two hours, Nicole. What the hell happened?" The male voice asked with annoyance. Well, that, or it could be the fact that the lynx, a.k.a. Nicole, was showing footage of Sonic 1's journey through the multiverse, as well as bits of Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 helping him out against the Eggmans and Sage. "Okay, okay, okay, I know what it looks like..." Nicole spoke a bit nervous. "But! Here's the good news!" "Oh, here we go..." the male voice complained. "The multiverse didn't collapsed!" Nicole revealed with excitement. "Oh, cool!" The male voice said with sarcastic happiness. "It took a while, but it worked out!" Nicole added, as she looked at the mysterious male with a mocking smirk. "Great story..." The male voice replied, not interested on what Nicole was telling him. "Hey, did you finished the goober?" "Is not a goober, is a gizmo!" Nicole replied with a frown, also crossing her arms. In front of both Nicole and the mysterious male, a strange device appeared. It looked like a silver watch with three round screens, the one on top being bigger than the other two. Well, the watch was actually building up, because it was just a projection right now, not the full thing. "You always have to call me out?" The male voice asked Nicole with annoyance. "It's just really frustrating and bugs me out..." "Don't get too excited, Sonic. Is just a prototype," Nicole pointed out. "I'm not excited..." The male, Sonic replied, extending his left arm as the watch finally builded up and attached to his wrist. "Ow!" "But you could be the first person to make an autonomous multiverse jump at the first try... Or the last," Nicole pointed out to him with a smirk. "Okay, so we're just gonna roll the dice on this?" Sonic asked, as he started to adjust the watch on his wrist. This Sonic had a bit more messier quills, golden bands adjusting his gloves, white boots with golden stripes, a scar over his left eye, an eyepatch covering his left eye, and a trench coat. "So what do you say, pal?" Nicole retorted with a mocking smirk, as she appeared right on Sonic's side. "Where do you wanna go first?" "Let's go back to the very beginning: Universe 140484," Sonic replied with a confident smirk. Universe 140484 A multi-colored portal opened in the middle of nowhere, as Sonic came out of it and landed in the grass. Far behind could be seen a big light pink castle with several towers (each containing a blue cone shaped roof), lots of windows and a drawbridge. Sonic looked at said castle with narrowed eyes, before hearing a gasp behind him, so he turned around and found a pink pegasus mare with a purplish blue mane, purple eyes, and two purplish blue lightning bolts as her Cutie Mark. "Whoa! Where did you came from? Who are you?!" the pegasus asked with a surprised tone. "My name's Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog..." Sonic presented himself with a frown. "And I need to talk with you and your friends..." THE STORY WILL CONCLUDE IN SONIC THE HEDGEHOG X MY LITTLE PONY: THE FINAL ACT