A letter made its way through the royal channels. Only the fastest, most urgent news arrived through this method. The letter was signaled to the Kingdom of Acorn, the hierarchy of the Mobian and Segan regions toward the south, and wound up in the hands of Queen Acorn herself. Its contents: that the kingdom of the mushroom people was under threat of biological attack and potential invasion, and that their monarch herself was attacked.

Only four people were informed while others were kept in the dark. No one needed a reason to panic, not with two or three similar incidents occurring in the Kingdom of Acorn already and a containment effort already begun in the neighboring Hyrule.

The Queen and her knight, Sir Sonic Hedgehog, were aboard a transport to Christmas Island when the letter arrived. Sonic, the fastest messenger the Acorns could possibly ask for, immediately volunteered to investigate, despite the Queen's insistence that he remain until the situation could be further analyzed. The Acorns, the Mobians, and the Segans were not the favorites of the mushroom people, and vice versa. And it wasn't just there relationship, but a sharp feeling of dread that rose in the Queen's mind when she pondered this "plague" that was popping up simultaneously. Hyrule was in a constant state of peril like many of its neighbors; they had swordsmen, rangers, knights, weapons of sorts.

The Mushroom Kingdom was a neutral region. No weapons, very few magical defenses, and barely any knights or fighters within their government. Princess Toadstool trusted her two knights, the famous Mario Brothers, to protect her domain and herself, and they had done a respectable job at it. If the brothers had failed now, at such a junction... what could that mean for the rest of the world?

Still Sonic went, with the Queen's blessing, and he went on foot, bringing a traveling cloak with him that flapped around his neck as he sped across the sea covered by two white walls of water.

Hyrule, Acorn, Mushroom, and Castlevania, the four kingdoms of Videoland; each with their own customs while holding the four largest populations in the whole world. The Hyrule and Mushroom Kingdoms allied long ago because of their champions, while both kingdoms sat north and south west of each other respectively. They formed the left half of an X, and on the other end of that X were Castlevania and Acorn. Acorn was a bit further east, and with much smaller trade routes than any of the other three kingdoms and even less contact with the outside world. Sonic breezed across this imaginary "X" line to the Mushroom Kingdom, running above the Ocean World toward the Happy Harbor.

The lack of activity and ships diverted Sonic's attention to the west, and across the Ocean World he found Rogueport. The docks were trashed with flaming or sunken ships... survivors straggling from the wrecks of the destroyed craft. People were leaping off the boardwalks, and the few ships that made it out didn't wait for any extra survivors.

Stifling his emotions, Sonic rushed towards the people that weren't beneath the fists of the sea and carried them off in his haste, flinging them onto the docks against their will. He bolted in the direction of Mushroom Castle... but he couldn't tune out what the Rogueport citizens he saved were screaming at him, cursing him for saving their lives. When the blue blur moved further into Rogueport's main plaza, he saw certain buildings in the process of burning, some already blackened or cut down into stalks of ash and smoke. It took every fiber of control for the hedgehog to pass by these sites, to not investigate and help with the relief effort. And then something grabbed his wrist and...

...crunnrcch.

The surprise of this brought the hedgehog to a reactive halt, and his momentum shook the attacker from him. Sonic clutched his hand. He didn't even need to take off his glove because the bite had gone through to bone, the pain was ridiculous and it yelled at him, calling him an idiot for not paying attention. The attacker ricocheted into a street pole, and the attacker looked like a rabid dog. It was a Mushroom Person, a Toad in their language, with eyes as white as snow that trembled on a branch, begging to reach the ground. From afar, he saw that its head was "missing". Someone had ripped a huge chunk out of it, and that chunk revealed some kind of fungal brain matter.

Pain and paranoia got Sonic into a combat stance, and while the momentum would have stunned the average person, this Toad got up, didn't clean itself or apologize, and extended its arms as it started after him. Sonic backed away from it, "Stay away! I don't want to hurt you! Just... just back away!" and the creature continued, ignoring him. Sonic gulped and crouched, converting into his ball form. He spun and dashed forward, bashing straight into the stupefied Toad and knocking it into the air.


Sonic stayed and helped Rogueport's citizens clear out the remainder of the "creatures" that had wandered in from the nearby forests, and then he made sure the last retreating citizens made it onto the escaping barges and boats.

This port town was undoubtedly finished. What had been on its last legs, the Pianta Parlor, was part of a ruin, a graveyard. Toads, mushroom creatures, and anthropomorphic turtles rested at the center of each building and around the town, and that excluded what hadn't already been burned. The citizens claimed that burning the creatures seemed to be the only way to dispose of them. Sonic, sensing the danger, knew the Mushroom capital could be no better off if this invasion or plague had already torn down such an outer-edged place like Rogueport. He was already an hour late for staying to help Rogueport's citizens. And to top things off, he heard something shudder from under the rubble.

The Toads that he had knocked into buildings, buried under ceilings and wood were now pushing each other out, breaking free. The Spin Dash could easily tear through metal or force its way through stone. The creatures took the full force of his quills as he rammed into them, several of them had shredded faces and torsos, some were missing limbs and none of them stayed down.

I have to find the Princess! Sonic took off to Mushroom Castle. His hand felt aflame, still bleeding, and he didn't feel the wind on his face.

All the way, the entire journey to the castle... Sonic realized that it wasn't just Rogueport. The Mushroom Kingdom was covered in forest fires.