1- New Surroundings

"Ho ho ho! I's been a while, hasn't it Sonic?"

Sonic and Eggman stood face-to-face, as if about to have a show down.

"What have you done with Amy and Tails?!" Sonic demanded.

"Not to worry," Eggman began, walking towards the left. "They're both sound asleep in these cards!" he drew two playing cards, one with a pink hedgehog and the other with a small orange fox.

Sonic clenched his teeth and fists as he snarled, "You… Change them back Eggman!"

The evil scientist chuckled. "No can do Sonic. You see-"

"Eggman!" a sudden gruff voice called out Eggman's name, belonging to a red echidna who was standing in front of the two with his arms crossed and a heated glare.

"The Master Emerald is gone." he continued. "What did you do this time?"

Eggman laughed evilly as took out a camera. "You see this camera here? This lets me turn anything into a card. And with this camera; I'll use it to create the Ultimate Card Collection!" He took out the two cards he held earlier, and waved them about in the other hand. "If either of you want these cards, you'll need to catch me first!" Eggman began sprinting towards the forest.

"Wait! Get back here!" Knuckles called. Before chasing after the round scientist, he turned to Sonic with a confident smirk. "No hard feelings Sonic, but there's no way you're gonna beat me!" he sounded really confident.

Sonic's own cocky grin formed on his muzzle. "Okay Knuckles, then let's race for it! "First one to catch up with Eggman takes it all!" Within minutes, the two took off deep into Forest Falls Zone side by side.

...

Bzzzzz…Zzzzzz…

The device buzzed a couple of times before he answered it.

"Can you hear me Shadow?" It sounded like Eggman's voice speaking through the device. "There's someone after me!" Although with the horrible connection, Shadow was able to detect the graveness in Eggman's tone. "He's…Ah! It's all so confusing! I'm not sure how to explain this! Anyway, follow this signal and come find me! I'm counting on you Shadow!"

Click.

After that last transmission, the doctor disappeared… Shadow mused. And that was six hours ago…What happened to him? Suddenly, he spotted a silver hedgehog running by him. Shadow studied him for a minute.

What's this…a silver hedgehog? Shadow's eyes widened. Wait… Is he the one… chasing the doctor?! The black hedgehog ran after him and called out, "Hey you! What do you want with the doctor?!"

"Who's there?!" the silver hedgehog demanded. "You better not get in my way!"

Shadow slowly approached the hedgehog, keeping a safe distance from him. He crossed his arms. "My name is Shadow… and I won't let you harm the doctor!"

Eggman suddenly appeared, running past both hedgehogs. "Shadow, take care of him for me!" he continued running further into the falls.

"Wait Eggman!" the silver hedgehog called before chasing after him.

Shadow followed him. "Hey, wait!"


"Oh… Bowser!" Peach exclaimed. She had woken up a while ago, and found herself in Bowser's clutches. She was unsure how it was possible for her to end up outside and alive after Bowser tied her to that rope and hung her over that dreadful pot of lava…

Bowser woke up not too long ago himself. He was actually lucky to find Princess Peach, who was still unconscious on the ground a stone's throw away from him. He snatched her and took off. Peach had only awakened a few minutes earlier when he boarded the jet. They were on the roof though. Bowser was surprised that Luigi and Yoshi were able to catch up with him already, but what really surprised him was that Mario wasn't with them. He could only guess that he was transported to a completely different location.

Bowser continued to walk until he couldn't go any further. No one was steering the ship, which was why the ship only flew in one direction. He came close to the prowl of the flying ship before turning around, Yoshi and Luigi were still right there. They were getting closer and closer. Peach was kicking and trying to free herself from Bowser's grasp. Finally when Luigi and Yoshi were close enough, Bowser placed Peach over the edge and forcefully tilted her backwards. Peach began to scream while Yoshi and Luigi froze from where they were.

"If you get any closer, I will throw your precious princess overboard! And it'll be too late for you annoying pests! Surrender or your princess will hit rock bottom!"

Luigi glared at the Koopa King. "You wouldn't…"

"I WOULD!" Bowser spewed fire, causing Peach to scream again. Luigi and Yoshi slid backwards. Yoshi felt like he was going to lose balance, flailing his arms about as he wobbled on one foot, trying to regain his balance. But it was too late. Yoshi fell off the plane, screaming while falling towards a forest down below.

Luigi's eyes widened in horror. "Oh no!" He turned around just in time to greet Bowser, who was now right in front of him. Before Luigi could react, Bowser sent an uppercut, sending the plumber upwards before falling towards the forest below. Bowser whipped around, facing the Princess whose face was filled with horror. Bowser went over to her and grabbed her again.

"Now… where were we?" an evil smirk formed onto the Koopa King's face.

Finally, Peach had it. Her horror was replaced with anger. "Oh that's it!"

Peach slapped Bowser across the face as hard as she could. A heartbeat of silence before Bowser roared in fury and shoved Peach so hard, she tripped over the edge and fell down into the forest below. Bowser took a deep breath, before his anger suddenly dissolved into worry, what has he done with Peach? He has to go after her, catch her before she does hit the ground and…

Oh no… I can't let that happen.

But she's dead already…

No! She isn't!

Either way it's not like Mario can save her. No one can have her now…

Wait… What?

It was as if he was at a conflict with himself. His thoughts flip-flopped, neither decisions felt completely settling. He had also developed a strange sensation from inside, a weird tingling feeling he could not even describe. He couldn't help but feel that something was wrong… with him.

Lately he had been feeling strangely out of character, something else even he couldn't put his finger on. He was still torn between the idea of killing Princess Peach, just so no one else would be able to have her if he could not. Saving her was the other option, so that she may show him her gratitude…

…and affection.

Quickly he tried to shake off the idea, his face heating in mild embarrassment.

But… just think of how torn Mario would be… when she sees how worthless he is compared to me

His sheepish grin turned into an evil smile.

That would surely destroy him… and make Princess Peach finally mine.

His crooked smile released all of his laughter. Louder and harsher than the next, before harmonizing into a long and wicked laugh.

But just when Bowser had looked up, the expression he wore immediately turned into one of horror. Before he could react in time, the ship crashed into a tree. The impact caused Bowser to fall off the ship and towards the forest below.

...

Mario flailed his arms about as he fell further into the land below him. He was helpless, it would already be the end of him unless there was something he could grab on to save his life. He couldn't reach any of the trees and there were no vines to grab onto. All he could do was scream.

Suddenly he fell into a tree, hitting each branch as he descended towards the ground. However he landed into a couple of vines, tangled in each of them. Now he was safe, and stuck. Facing downward at the ground Mario hung a few feet from the ground, taking deep breaths and pulling himself together. He began to push some of the vines aside and untangle himself free, before some of the vines suddenly began to snap. Mario fell and landed in a bush with a thud.

He laid there for a minute in a daze before rolling out of the bush. He began pulling the vines and leaves off of him while still lying on the ground, until a shadow loomed over him. At first he thought it was going to rain, until he realized it wasn't a cloud. Mario looked above him to see a blue hedgehog leaning over him, starring right back at him with its large emerald eyes. It was a strange creature unbeknownst to him. Mario couldn't help but ask himself…

Where the heck was he?