Sonic sped by around the mountains of Earth, looking for things he had never noticed before. On the mountains near Pumpkin Hill, something caught his eye. It was a giant keyhole.
"I'd better tell Tails about this..." Sonic said before he was about to rush off to his friend's workshop. Unfortunately for him, just as he began to leave, a weird black creature appeared from out of the ground. It walked slowly towards him, it's arms poised to strike. "Tails can wait. At least I can have some fun today."
A boy sat at the front of a peculiar looking space ship, watching the stars fly by. His gaze was fixed forwards, looking out for new planets that he and his friends could explore. Suddenly, he spoke.
"Has anyone else noticed how boring today is?"
"Not really..." started the duck who sat in the pilot's chair. "We've got to keep a look out for trouble, remember?"
"I guess you're right," replied the boy. The navigation equipment started to flash violently. "Anyone else noticed this?" He pointed towards the flashing light.
"Doesn't that mean we can use the warp drive?" asked the dog.
"I can't remember," said the duck, "we haven't used it in a while." The boy's face lit up and he slammed his fist down on the warp drive button. "What was that for?"
"I needed some excitement."
"Do you even know where we're going?"
"Nope. But I suppose anywhere is better than here." He smiled widely, even though he knew they were straying far from their mission.
"SORA!" screamed the duck in rage. The dog just laughed.
Knuckles sat down, his back to the Master Emerald. He watched the sky starting to get darker and looked up. Something caught his eye. As it grew nearer and nearer to the ground below, the echidna watched carefully. It disappeared from sight and he lay back, falling all the way to the ground. After about a minute he realised something.
"The Master Emerald... No, not again. WHOEVER TOOK IT IS GONNA PAY!!!"
Sonic's battle was taking a turn for the worst. As he spin dashed one, two more appeared. Soon he was surrounded by them. His ears perked up and he heard a voice from beyond the countless creatures.
"Poor hedgehog." A woman appeared and shook her head in pity. She seemed to have horns growing out of her head and she carried a well carved staff. A raven landed on her shoulder and whispered in her ear. "What? They're here?" Her attention was drawn back to Sonic. "So sorry about this, but we'll have to end this some other time." She disappeared along with the creatures. Sonic stood silent, trying to catch his breath. He collapsed on the ground, exhausted from the battle.
The next morning, Sonic awoke in Tails' workshop. He held his head and felt a bandage wrapped around it.
"It's ok, just a few scratches." Tails saw his friend wake up in the mirror. "So what happened last night, anyway?"
"These weird creatures attacked me. Although... I did attack first." Sonic looked slightly embarrassed. "Anyway, there was this woman who seemed to be commanding them. And, oh yeah, a giant keyhole. Got any ideas?"
"I wish. For all we know, they could be from another planet." Tails rethought his sentence. "Or even another dimension."
"Nothing we can't handle though, right? By the way, how did I get here?"
"You know those crane machines...?"
"Wow, you must be good to pick up someone with one. Too bad I'm terrible with them."
"Yeah... Did you hear about Knuckles?"
"What happened to the knuckle head?"
"The Master Emerald's been taken again. I think it may have something to do with what happened last night."
"How come Knuckles is always there when the Master Emerald gets stolen?"
"I don't know, but he said he saw something flying through the sky too. We'd better check it out." With that, both hedgehog and fox jumped into the Tornado 2 and headed to where Tails had heard that the thing crashed.
Sora stood up in the space ship, his head ringing.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"I don't know," replied the dog. The duck opened the hatch leading outside and looked around before quickly darting back in and locking it.
"I don't think you're going to like this..."
"What are you so scared about?" Sora unlocked the hatch and stepped outside, only to be greeted by hundreds of people, pointing cameras. He looked embarrassed, but tried to put on his biggest grin. Reluctantly, his friends followed him out.
"I told you."
"It's got to be around here somewhere." Sonic and Tails had been looking where Knuckles had told them he saw the object fall. The hedgehog stood on the top wing, looking out. Suddenly, he pointed his index finger towards a sight.
"Over there! There's a huge crowd!"
"Alright Sonic, I'm going in." Tails landed the Tornado 2 just outside of the crowd while Sonic tried pushing through. He succeeded in his effort and came nose to bill with the duck.
"Hey, what's your problem!?" demanded the duck.
"Calm down, I just wanted to see what was going on." He got a good look at all three of them. "Who are you anyway?" The fist to answer was the boy.
"I'm Sora. Who are you?" Sora wore a blue shirt under a small black jacket. From each side, big red pockets rested on either side. His black shorts nearly met the yellow tips of his big black shoes and he wore weird looking black fingerless gloves on both hands. He also had a necklace, in the shape of a crown.
"Name's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."
"Nice to meet you, Sonic," said the dog. He wore a green jumper which was partly covered by a dark grey jacket. His yellow trousers were held up by a black belt and his yellow hat sported a red pair of goggles. "Say hello." He pointed to the duck.
"Ah well... Hello sonic..." The duck wore a blue tunic-like attire and a blue sailor's hat upon his head.
"So what do they call you?"
"Donald, the court magician and right-hand man to the King, His Majesty," proclaimed the duck.
"And Goofy, the royal guard," said the dog.
"So, who's this King you just spoke of?"
"You mean you've never heard of King Mickey?" asked Goofy.
Back at Tails' workshop Goofy, Donald and Sora told Sonic and Tails about their adventures so far. They mentioned Hollow Bastion, Traverse Town, Twilight Town and the many other places they had visited, even their adventures at the end of the world.
"So you lost the King and your friend, Riku, when you had to close the Door to Darkness?" asked Sonic.
"That's right, but we heard that they escaped somewhere and Sora thinks he keeps seeing Riku," Goofy answered.
"So who's this Organisation XIII? And what about the Nobodies and the Heartless?" Even Tails was confused.
"Wish we knew about the Organisation's plan..." started Sora. "All we know is that they're controlling the Nobodies. Heartless are different. Where I come from, when you die, your soul is split into two halves. One half becomes a Heartless and the other becomes a Nobody. The Heartless were under the control of Maleficent and those who let darkness consume them. All they do is try to steal people's hearts."
"That's terrible!" Sonic was still a bit confused, but he was beginning to understand. "How do we stop them?"
"With this," Sora said as he seemed to pull a gigantic key out of nowhere. "The Keyblade."
"You mentioned that earlier. Mind if I try it? I'm pretty handy with a sword, you know."
"Here he goes again, talking about his make believe adventures in the book..." Tails droned. Sora handed Sonic the Keyblade and whispered something in Tails' ear. "So you've been inside a book too?" He sighed. "Well, I guess you and Sonic are going to be good friends soon." Sonic took a swing with the Keyblade and lost his grip, clamping his hand shut quickly. He looked around. No damage. Looking back at Sora, he found his answer. Sora held the Keyblade in his hand once again. The hedgehog couldn't help but smile at the trick.
"So what was your book like?"
When the crowds had died down, Sora and the others took Sonic and Tails to look at their ship.
"Well then, this is our Gummi Ship," announced Donald.
"Gummi? As in sweets?" Tails began to think how a ship of sweets could possibly fly.
"Not really. They're made of things called Gummi blocks. I'm not sure if anyone knows what Gummi blocks are made of." Goofy began to think now. "We could always ask Cid."
"Who's Cid?" asked Sonic.
"Oh yeah, we forgot about the Restoration Committee! Cid's a genius when it comes to Gummi blocks and computers. Then there's Leon, whose real name is actually Squall Leonhart. Yuffie, the committee's ninja. Aerith, but she doesn't do much. Then Tifa, who was looking for this guy named Cloud, who has a gigantic sword! And finally, there's Merlin, who is a magician." Sora tried giving his best answer, but it only confused Sonic even more.
"Right then, forget I asked." Tails was busy examining the ship and Sonic peered over his shoulder. "Think you can fix it?"
"I'm not sure... I've never seen technology like this. Even if I was to try, the outcome could be unpredictable."
"Come on Tails, I know you can do it!" Sonic said as he tried to encourage his friend.
"Yeah, come on Tails!" cheered the others.
"...I'll try." Tails began working on it, even though he knew that he had no idea about how to fix it.
Meanwhile, two humanoid figures stood on top of a building, not far from the crash site. One had spiky red hair, whilst the other had messy, dark blonde hair, which trailed down on both sides. Both of them wore black hooded cloaks. The red haired one looked down at the small group.
"Found them, Demyx. What now?" he asked the blonde haired one, who was carrying a giant emerald.
"Keep an eye on them, Axel. They're bound to run into the Heartless and Nobodies sooner or later."
Sonic led Sora, Donald and Goofy towards Angel Island. Since the Master Emerald had been stolen the island had rested nicely on the surface of the ocean. Knuckles had been ready for this since the last time it had been stolen and had made some makeshift anchors from trees and rocks so that the island wouldn't crash into the mainland. The group came across the echidna in the island's jungle. Knuckles was slightly startled by their sudden appearance and instantly sprung into action, gliding towards Sora. He took him down to the ground and raised his fist.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE MASTER EMERALD?!"
"What are you talking about?" asked Sora, who was shocked.
"Relax, Knuckles. He's with me." Sonic stepped forward.
"So, they don't have anything to do with the Master Emerald?" Knuckles was embarrassed. "Why didn't you say?"
"You shouldn't just jump to conclusions, you big knuckle head." Knuckles growled at Sonic.
"What did you call me?"
"Calm down..." Sonic turned to Goofy. "He can be a bit cranky sometimes."
"I heard that!"
"He's not the only one, right Donald?" said Sora. Both Knuckles and Donald looked at Sonic and Sora while Goofy laughed.
"Well, I suppose that's one thing the same between our worlds..."
A rustling came from the bushes behind them. Goofy went over to see what it was, but it ran out, headed straight for Knuckles. Sonic recognised the creature.
"A Heartless..."
"Donald, Goofy! There's got to be more. Cover me!" Sora instructed. Donald brought out his staff, whilst Goofy brought out a small shield. Sora lunged forward and struck the Heartless, it's hand inches from Knuckles' chest.
"What was that?" asked Knuckles.
"I'll tell you later. Right now, we've got to help them," replied Sonic. All five formed a circle, their backs facing inside. Several Heartless appeared, then vanished as Donald cast a spell.
"Thundaga!" They were struck by bolts of lightning. Two more appeared on either side. Goofy swung his shield like a boomerang and it hit both, landing back in his hand. A small swarm appeared in front of Sonic and Knuckles. Sonic ran forwards and around the Heartless, making a miniature tornado. Knuckles flew into it, crashing through every Heartless he could see.
"Was that all of them?" asked Knuckles.
"Not yet..." A sinister voice came from behind the bush. Sonic recognised it, as did Sora, Donald and Goofy.
"Maleficent!" The woman walked forwards, a Heartless following by her side. "What are you doing here?"
"I was looking for the keyhole. This world has one, doesn't it, hedgehog?" Sonic remembered back to the night before. "Luckily, I found it. I also made extra precautions so you couldn't get anywhere near it."
"We'll see about that!" Maleficent disappeared while laughing, her voice echoing through the jungle.
"I'm getting tired of watching that kid, Demyx."
"Don't worry, Axel. Soon we'll unleash the Nobodies. Not even Roxas could help him now." Axel began to think back.
"Roxas..."
"Quit your daydreaming. Let's rock 'n roll!" Demyx drew a sitar, that seemed to be made of water, from nowhere. Axel drew out his chaka, which blazed with fire when he concentrated on them.
"Alright then. Time to turn the heat up." A few white figures appeared in front of each of them. They were more slender than the Heartless and stronger too.
"So where's the keyhole then, Sonic?" asked Sora.
"Pumpkin Hill. Not too far from here. Grab hold!" Sonic grabbed Sora, Donald and Goofy and Knuckles' hands, dragging them towards their destination. They passed over the water, separating Angel Island from the land, and through Station Square. Eventually they reached Pumpkin Hill. A giant Heartless stood before the keyhole. Its fox-like shape seemed unfamiliar to everyone, but its nine tails let them know its power. One tail lashed at the ground, sending a shock wave towards the group. Everyone managed to dodge it just in time and Sonic launched at the Kyuubi-Heartless with a spin dash. He contacted its eye, but it quickly healed itself. "This might take a while..."
"No kidding. Let me have a go!" Knuckles quickly glided towards one of the beast's tails and attempted to punch through it. He broke through, but the tail regenerated itself. "What...?" The Heartless laughed at Knuckles, a malicious glare in its eye. It scoured the area for its next target... Sora. The Heartless whipped two tails towards the boy. He struck them with his Keyblade and the Kyuubi flinched, giving Sora just enough time to roll out of the way.
"BLIZZAGA!" Donald yelled. A white flash came from the end of his staff. He hoped that the Heartless would be frozen, but instead it had vanished. Several white figures stood where the Heartless once was. Maleficent appeared.
"My Heartless! What happened?!"
"We don't know," replied Sora. "But those Nobodies seem responsible." The Nobodies stared at them, their bodies swaying. One lunged forward and grabbed Knuckles before he could react.
"Looks like your plan worked, Demyx..." Axel and Demyx appeared in front of the Nobodies.
"I told you so, Axel... I can't believe that echidna was stupid enough not to keep his eye on the emerald." Demyx pulled out the Master Emerald and inspected it. "It really is a shame. This is a marvellous jewel."
"GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF MY EMERALD!" Knuckles bit the arm of the Nobody holding him. It dropped him and he ran towards Demyx.
"It really is a shame..." Demyx pulled out his sitar and began playing it. "Dance water, dance!" Two Nobodies that seemed to be made of water appeared and attacked Knuckles, knocking him to the ground.
"Don't mess with us. Got it memorised..." Axel turned his head towards Sora. "...Roxas?"
"For the last time, I'm not Roxas!"
"You know this guy, Sora?" asked Sonic.
"A little."
"What's so important about this keyhole anyway?"
"If I lock it, I can stop the flow of darkness seeping in or out of this world." He turned to Demyx. "What's your plan?"
"We've had our eyes on those two for a while." Demyx pointed towards Sonic and Knuckles. "They seem to have strong hearts, much like your own. We needed a way to bring them together."
"Why would you want their hearts?"
"If we told you that too early, then we'd have to kill you."
"How did you get the Master Emerald?"
"Isn't it obvious? I sent a Nobody through a portal to get it when that oaf was distracted by your ship. So I guess you're partly responsible. Thanks to you, we were able to draw both the hedgehog and the echidna here."
"What?" Sora looked at Knuckles as if it was all his fault. The echidna started to get up weakly, smiling.
"It's... ok. I know you... didn't mean to. Right now... We've got a battle to win."
"So sad..." said Demyx. "You should also know that we have these." He pulled the Chaos Emeralds from his pockets. "From what I hear, your friend over there," he pointed at Sonic, "can't do much without them.
FWOOSH!
Demyx looked down as Knuckles looked up. He had grasped the echidna's fist, the spikes resting neatly between his fingers. Demyx shook his head in pity, but felt the full force of Knuckles when he was punched in the stomach. The spikes were digging in.
"Give us the emeralds and I'll let you live."
"hmm... I do like a challenge. Fine, you can have them... but you'll have to defeat me and Axel if you want to keep your hearts."
Knuckles withdrew his fist and jumped back to his group, getting ready to strike. Sonic caught the emeralds after Demyx threw them and shut his eyes. He let go and they circled him, getting faster and faster. A bright light appeared from the centre and covered Knuckles too. When it faded a golden hedgehog hovered before Sora, Donald and Goofy. By the side of him, in a transparent golden bubble, was Knuckles.
"I remember this thing," he said.
"Our turn," said Sora as Donald and Goofy suddenly disappeared. The colour of parts of Sora's clothes changed to yellow and he wielded two Keyblades instead of one. "You ready?"
"We've been ready since we stepped foot on this pathetic mud ball." Demyx smirked, but Axel looked concentrated. Both focused on their weapons. Demyx had water shoot up from behind his heels and Axel's chaka once again blazed. The water manipulator jetted forwards towards Sora, who jumped high in the air and landed behind Axel. The fire starter looked behind him, ready to strike. Sora blocked one chaka with a Keyblade, the other following suit. They were locked in a battle of strength. Sora began to sweat from the heat of the chaka.
"Ready to give up yet, Roxas?"
"NEVER!" Sora's ears perked up and a sudden burst of strength pushed one of the Keyblades further, allowing him to just dodge an incoming attack by Demyx. Both members of the Organisation clashed. "Ready to give up yet?" Both of them laughed.
"You better be!" yelled Sonic, who sped towards them, his body following his fist. Knuckles trailed slightly behind him, copying the hedgehog's stance. "Ready Knuckles?"
"Ready!"
"CHAOS CONTROL!" Knuckles appeared behind the two, pulling back a punch. It made contact with Axel, who was sent flying towards the other side of the hill. He landed on his feet and wiped a speck of blood off his lip.
"So, you want to do this the hard way, eh?" Axel concentrated harder and fire engulfed the area. He shot a small smile towards Demyx. The other member understood and nodded before making a thin veil of water appear. It floated above the fire and dropped quickly, forming steam. Sora looked around, but was struck by Axel's chaka. "Not so tough now, are you, Roxas?" As he got up he felt a sudden loss in power. Donald and Goofy lay on either side of him and his clothes had reverted back to their original colours. Axel was about to strike again.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Sonic flew through the air, his fist making contact with Axel's chest. Axel was sent flying again, but quickly got back up.
"There I was thinking that only us Nobodies could see through this steam... You're something else, aren't you?"
"Steam..." thought Sora aloud. He smiled and whispered something to Donald, who smiled widely.
"Got it," he replied.
"Sonic, Knuckles, come here!" They both went to Sora, who explained his plan.
"You sure it's gonna work?" asked Sonic. "What about Axel?"
"I can take him."
"Ok then, but we better act fast," said Knuckles.
"Stay close."
"Where are you?" said Demyx as he looked around. He found them quickly before going in for the strike. Axel saw him and tried striking from the other side. Sonic kept watch and alerted Sora.
"NOW!"
"FIRE!"
"BLIZZAGA!" The area around the team froze while the heat from Sora's spell stopped them from freezing.
"Just like water." Sora laughed to himself, but stopped when he saw steam coming from the frozen Axel. He braced for action as the Nobody fell to the ground and stood up.
"Well done..." he said. "But the battle's not over yet..."
"What're you talking about?" asked Sora.
"You've still got bigger battles yet to come. It'd be a shame if I spoiled it for you. By the way, you remind me of an old friend. Maybe you know him?"
"What's his name?"
"Roxas..."
"Who's Roxas?"
"I can't tell you that just yet. You'll have to wait and see. But really... You're so similar that you could almost be the same person." Axel laughed slightly while Sora thought for a while.
"Why didn't you attack me?"
"To be honest, the Organisation needs you. I'll let you stop them here. Go on, seal the keyhole." Sora wasn't sure what to think at the moment. His eyes met those of Axel's before he walked forwards. He pointed the Keyblade towards the keyhole and a beam of light shot out, sealing it.
"What're you up to?" he asked.
"All will be revealed soon." Axel disappeared through a vortex, taking Demyx with him, after thawing him out. Sonic floated by the side of Sora.
"Only one thing now."
Tails had just finished fixing the Gummi Ship. He stared at his work, still unsure how he had managed it without some sort of explosion. Finally, his eyes broke contact and he laughed. When he stopped, he was face to face with the golden hedgehog, who smiled at him.
"Nice work, buddy!" said Sonic.
"Yep, and it's ready to fly too." Tails smiled back before talking to Sora. "So you're gonna leave so soon, huh?" Sora, Donald and Goofy's faces looked sad, but Sonic and Tails could tell that they were trying to smile.
"If we stay here too long, then we could upset the order of the worlds... I'm sorry we didn't get to spend more time together. If it makes you feel better, then I promise we'll come back another time, ok?"
"Sure, pal. You've got more worlds to save." Sonic gave Sora a thumbs up, which was replied by another. "Just remember your promise."
Sonic and Tails both waved as Sora, Donald and Goofy got in the Gummi Ship. As it took off, Sora looked out of the window, sad again. It was already higher than the buildings, but the ship began to lose altitude.
"Sora, smile!" shouted Donald. "Remember, the ship runs on happiness!" Sora couldn't help but frown, at least until a golden figure shot past the window. It came back and waved at him. Sora waved back and began to smile.
"Remember your promise," said Sonic.
"I will," replied Sora, nodding. The hedgehog nodded back, and flew down to Earth.
Knuckles watched the Gummi Ship blink out into space from the Master Emerald's altar and leaned back. It was still there, safe and sound.
"I'll never forget you, Sonic the Hedgehog."