Hello, everyone! This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing back in! I've had some trouble preparing the chapter, due to the fact that I've been busy with school work. However, after getting some free time, I got a good amount of time to write, and now I'm finally done with this one. But enough about that. Now, I give you... CHAPTER 4!
NOTE:
-I do not own any of the characters or universes featured in this fic. Only Umbra the Hedgehog belongs to me (should I stop putting this note up?).
Multi-Dimensional Melee!
Chapter 4: A tough objective... waiting.
"Just so you know, you will have to split up for this one. Choose your partner, sit somewhere, and get to know each other. You will need to cooperate if you are to succeed. I will call you when the portal is ready."
And so they did.
They huddled up and began to think who would be their partner. However, before anyone could ask anything, Sonic just walked away without saying anything. Everyone stared at him in confusion and, in Umbra's case, disbelief, as he knew very well that this wasn't like Sonic at all.
The Guyver finally broke the silence. "I'll go talk to him. You guys keep on thinking who you'll go with." And, with this said, he walked towards the hedgehog.
Yang spoke soon after. "Well, sis, guess that just leaves us with the red robot and the black hedgehog. Who are you taking?"
"Well, I don't know. I guess..."
Yang ran to Zero's side faster than a sugar rush. "Dibs on the robot!"
Zero just looked at him.
"...Suit yourself." After saying that, he headed for one of the corners, with Yang following closely.
Yin and Umbra were now alone in the center, with a stupefied look in their faces. "Well, I guess that leaves me with you, Yin. Where do you want to start?"
Over with Sonic and the Guyver...
"Mind if I sit here, Sonic?" Sonic said nothing, and the Guyver just sat down beside him.
"What do you want?"
"I came here to see what's wrong with you. You just walked out of the group without saying a word, and, judging by what Umbra said about his past self... you, Sonic... that's not something you would do. Before your arrival, he described you as 'upbeat and fun, always cracking jokes and being with friends', but you just acted as the opposite. You didn't speak, you're distancing yourself, and you look depressed. What's wrong?"
"It's nothing."
"If you don't acknowledge your problem, I can't help you get over it."
"Why do you care so much, anyway?"
"Just tell me what's wrong. I'm not gonna leave until you tell me."
Sonic let out a sigh. "Fine... here it goes. I was happy back home in Station Square. I had everything a guy could want. A good reputation, a nice home, cool places to go to, and many friends... friends who would be there for me, just as I've always been there for them. I thought we would only have to deal with Eggman and anything that suddenly popped up for the rest of our lives, and I could deal with that. But... this whole thing just happened, and now... I have nothing. My friends are gone, my home is in ruins... I've lost everything I held dear. I've got nothing left."
The Guyver wasn't fully convinced. "There's more, isn't there?"
"...Yeah. Shortly before this happened, I had a revelation..."
Now with Zero and Yang...
Zero finally asked his big question. "Why did you choose me so... easily?"
"I admire you, Zero. I've played your games long before I was trained in Woo Foo."
"Games?"
"Yeah, all your battles against Neo Arcadia, and the ones before that, were made into videogames. And they were really cool. Your fighting style with the sword is what made me go swingin' and whackin' as a Woo Foo Warrior." Yang took out his bamboo sword. "Even though this sword isn't as cool as yours..."
"So, you know everything..."
"Yep, except for one thing: how did you survive the fall of Ragnarok?"
"Did they let you use the Cyber-elf?"
"Yeah."
"Did you use it?"
"Not that much. I wanted to scrap them all myself."
"Well, it decided to assist in the final battle against Weil. I never would have imagined that it would create a force field to protect me from the fall." The red robot closed his eyes. "I woke up in the midst of Ragnarok's wreckage, alone and without my helmet. I managed to find it, and I began to try and find Area Zero."
"Cool!"
Without so much as a reaction, he continued. "I was lost... I wandered around the desert, trying to find something... anything... any sign of the people I left behind."
For once, the blue rabbit fell silent.
"But I had no such luck." The story was finally coming to a close. "After a few days, I just couldn't go on, and I collapsed in the middle of nowhere. When I woke up, I was here."
"Wow... rough." With these words, Yang looked over at the corner where Sonic and the Guyver were talking. "Hey, dude. Sonic doesn't look so good. Maybe we should go cheer him up."
"No. He has to get over this whole situation. He can deal with it."
"You sure?"
Zero didn't respond.
"OK, if you say so..." He turned away to look at something else. "Hey, look at that!"
"Looks like your sister and Umbra are getting along well."
Now with Yin and Umbra...
Indeed, they were getting along very well. "I never thought something so beautiful could be so deadly. You surprise me, Yin."
"Oh, come on! I bet you say that to all the women you meet."
"No, I'm being serious. Not even I have such a wide array of abilities. And you seem to master them all. You're full of surprises."
"All of them except Transfoomate. It requires a lot of focus."
"I can assure you that you'll master it when the time is right. I mean, you pulled it off with all the others, right?"
"Oh, please, stop! It's not just me. I owe some of my achievements to Yang as well."
"If you say so..."
"You're so nice, Umbra. You keep saying so many nice things."
"Hey, can't blame me for blurting out the truth, Yin."
"Oh, stop it! You're a really nice hedgehog. The last hedgehog I met back home was way too sharp...both literally and metaphorically."
"Well, glad to make your day, my lady." Umbra's expression changed after this comment.
"Something wrong?"
"Oh, sorry. It's about Sonic. I hope Sean can pull him back together."
"Don't worry, he'll get through it. I mean, you were him, and you're a great person. I'm sure he'll be OK."
"Oh, man... thanks, Yin."
"Glad to make your day."
After this exchange, Umbra diverted his attention towards the two who were looking at them just moments ago. "Hey, look! Looks like your brother's getting through Zero."
Back with Sonic and the Guyver...
Sonic's story was about to end. "...and now, I'm here. I couldn't save her."
"I hope you realize that I'm here for the same thing."
"I loved her... I still do... But now, she'll never know it. She's gone...she was my everything... and now she's gone..."
"Come to your senses!" Upon hearing this, Sonic was very surprised. "She's gone, it's true. But you have the chance to save her now, Sonic. You have an opportunity to save Amy and all your other friends, and you can't let go of it. You can't just beat yourself up over something you can't control. We need you with us. We need the true Sonic in this mission. Are you with us, or not?"
Sonic started to do some serious thinking. Despite his efforts, there was no way around it. His partner was right.
"Don't you dare give up!" Knuckles' words of encouragement, originally directed to Shadow, were now echoing through his mind, as if they were intended only for him instead of his rival.
"Sonic... please be careful. Come back to us safely." Amy's request, the last thing he heard from her before being flung into this, was also echoing through his mind.
"OK... you're right. I'm ready." The hedgehog got up, his sadness apparently subsiding. "Thanks for knocking some sense into my head. Let's do this."
And, as luck would have it, the voice began to speak again.
"The portal is ready." With these words, a portal appeared in a wall. "Your first destination will be the place where the Mushroom Kingdom used to be. Now, it has been fused with Timberdale and Corneria, and it has become an erratic and unpredictable battlefield ever since. You will see the coordinates assigned to each of you while you are inside, and you will be sent there soon after. Your target is the place where the castle used to stand."
After this explanation ended, the team jumped into the portal, which disappeared once the last of them was inside.
What is awaiting our team at the castle's former resting place? Will they make it through the ravaged war zone? Will Sonic regain his confidence and humor? Are Yin and Umbra falling for each other? Why is this chapter so long? Why am I asking so many weird questions? I guess the answers will appear in Chapter 5.
This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing off.
