A/N: I'm sorry it took me two months to get back to this story, but I decided to write and post one more chapter before I leave for vacation. For those following Hidden Bravery, that story will resume on the 26th or in July. This story will be on hiatus again because I don't have a regular upload schedule. But I'll try to write a chapter for every two weeks or so, just to be consistent. However, that will have to wait until maybe mid-July. Thanks for being patient, and I hope you enjoy this one.

Disclaimer: I don't own Mario or Sonic. Never have, probably never will.

Chapter 5: Interrupted by Chaos

Location: Mystic Ruins

Another week had passed since the memorial. Just a fair walking distance away from the train station, the blue hedgehog stood in the middle of a grassy plain where a lonely tombstone was found. This was the spot where a young, yellow and white fox laid in peace.

Even though the funeral was held in Station Square, Sonic wanted his body to be buried near his home to visit his best friend. He didn't feel like traveling that far, even though he could've ran to the city's cemetery in just a couple of minutes. But his lack of motivation prevented him. And thus, Tails' carcass was buried in the Mystic Ruins.

Sonic, back in his traditional gloves, socks, and red shoes, had his hands clenched on both sides as he stared at the statue of his fox friend. The stone sculpture had Tails in a standing pose with a hand placed on his left hip, an extended right arm showing a thumb-up gesture, and a large grin on the muzzle. An epitaph was shown on the base of the monument:

Here lies Miles 'Tails' Prower,

Honorary Sidekick, Best Friend, and Little Brother of Sonic the Hedgehog,

May his young, caring heart look after Mobius.

R.I.P.

His eyes started to water up, but Sonic refused to cry again. The last time he did was after the funeral. Even though he would do it for Tails' untimely demise, he held himself back from breaking down even more. The poor hedgehog hasn't been himself since the incident. And considering he was on the verge of suicide goes to show that he couldn't think straight. Even he admitted he's having problems despite holding his secrets from his pride. Yet, he seemed to have calmed down with the company of Amy and Cream.

Speaking of the pink hedgehog and the cream-furred rabbit, the two girls visited the Mystic Ruins where they saw their blue friend standing in front of the Tails statue. Cheese floated near Cream as they approached him.

"I don't want to interrupt Mr. Sonic from what he's doing," the rabbit whispered to her friend.

"It's okay, Cream. We can wait until he's finished."

Sonic barely heard them from behind and gave one last prayer before turning to them. He showed off a weak smile. "Hey, Amy. Hi, Cream. Cheese."

"Good morning, Mr. Sonic."

"How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I suppose," Sonic shrugged. "I appreciate you guys coming here every day. I can understand why you're here, Cream."

"Do you mind if I can make another prayer?"

"I won't argue with that, and I'm sure Tails wouldn't either."

Cream smiled innocently and gave Sonic a hug before she stood in front of the tombstone. Sonic walked up to Amy who had an uncertain look on her face.

"Something wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I was checking up on you again." It's true. She visited Sonic every day with Cream and Cheese. Cream would always send her wishes to Tails just like the older brother. Amy would talk to Sonic as an act of consolation.

"I've been better. I've kept away from… you know."

She sighed heavily. "That's something, at least. As long as you're staying strong, Tails will be smiling down on you."

He shifted his head back to the statue, staring at his friend's face. He closed his eyes and thought to himself.

"No matter what happens, I'll stay strong for you, buddy. I bet you're mad at me for nearly cutting myself. I'm actually thankful Amy stopped me from doing so. I was making a dumb decision. That's not the first time I've almost done something stupid. Then again, I've made plenty of bad decisions and look how they ended up. But this time, I'll be smart enough to keep on going. I just don't feel like running or doing anything right now. Maybe I'll wait a day or two to compose myself. And hopefully, just maybe, I'll be running next to you again, Tails."

Amy placed a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it. Cream and Cheese returned to her friends. The young bunny looked at Sonic with a worried face.

"Mr. Sonic? Are you okay?"

Said hedgehog reopened his eyes and looked at Cream. He gave her a small smile. "I'm okay. Just thinking." Cream wasn't so sure as much as she wanted to believe him. "Honest, Cream. I appreciate you for caring. It's… I mean, I was thinking like I said earlier."

Cream took this moment to give him another hug. Sonic accepted the warming embrace. Amy smiled and decided to join, which prompted Cheese to also partake in the group huddle.

It was a heartwarming moment for the Mobian characters. It's too bad it didn't last long…

"HOHOHOHOHO!" came an evil, familiar laugh.

Sonic looked around as he broke the hug. "Alright. I know you're here, Egghead. Come on out, you fat lard!"

Dr. Robotnik appeared from his flying Egg Mobile as he emerged from above. He looked like he recovered from the assault Dark Sonic pulled two weeks ago. "Well, well. If isn't the blue rat and his cuddly girl friends," he taunted while snickering.

Sonic stood in front of his friends protectively, spreading his arms out. He's already ticked off at Eggman for obvious reasons. Plus, he wasn't thrilled for this jerk to be here to interrupt their peace.

"Listen, Eggwad, why don't you just get the hell out of here before I decide to wreck your already messed-up face again like I do all the time?"

"Okay, you got me. But I just wanted to ask you one thing."

"And what's that, dare I ask?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

Eggman returned him with a malicious grin. "How's your dead friend?"

…That was harsh. And it easily triggered Sonic. Amy, Cream, and Cheese huddled behind him with scared looks on their faces.

Sonic scowled furiously and performed a Spin Dash towards the Egg Mobile. The doctor raised his flying vehicle for the hedgehog to miss. He landed on both feet and a hand for support when he hit the ground.

Looking up to him, he growled again. "You wanna put up a fight, you coward? Then show your worst and stop avoiding me!"

He ran up to him again while Robotnik shot lasers and mechanical arms at him. The speedster avoided every laser and jumped on the extended arms to reach the doctor. But before he could land a hit on his notorious archenemy, Eggman had another weapon up his sleeve. The one that killed Tails. He aimed the death ray right at him.

Sonic stopped with wide eyes. Keeping him stationary, Eggman took advantage of him again by grabbing him with a claw.

"AAAHHHH!" he struggled in his grasp.

"Sonic! NO!" Amy cried for her hero.

Eggman sneered and came up with a proposal. "Tell you what, rodent. I'll let you go if you allow me to leave with your pathetic, little buddies."

"And why would you bother with them?" he asked in a tone that sounded like a statement.

"Having one of your friends gone has already ruined your conscience. So I'll be easy on you this time. They won't be harmed, as long as I have their allegiance."

"I swear to Mobius, Eggman. If you try to hurt them like you did to Tails, I will bust up your entire base and end you for good. I should have done it the first time you invaded Green Hill, and I regret everything to let you stay alive."

"I don't know what you're talking about. He's the one who hurt himself. I didn't do anything but try to shoot you. In the end, he's basically nonexistent, just how his life was before you teamed up with him."

Sonic narrowed his eyes to its lowest point.

"But don't worry, Sonic. They probably don't have the courage to sacrifice their lives for you, unlike your dead fox pal."

He flinched and twitched his eye irritably at him for saying the 'd' word again.

"Instead of having them dead, I think they'll look great as my roboticized henchmen. Um, scratch that. Henchwomen."

Cream hugged Amy tight when she listened to Eggman's threat. "Amy, I'm scared."

"I'm not letting you go, Cream. And fat chance that we'll serve you, Eggman!"

"Fine. If you want it that way, I'll shoot you right on the spot instead. I recharged my gun for the same purpose I had two weeks ago, but I'll do it to all of you. Then I can bury you next to that yellow furball."

"Y-you bastard… You wouldn't fucking dare…" he muttered so that Cream didn't hear him.

"Is that a statement?" Eggman taunted.

"DON'T… HURT… THEM."

Sonic shot Eggman with a very cold glare that indicated that he was serious. The problem was that as much as he wanted to hurt him for revenge, he couldn't since he was stuck in Eggman's clutch. He also denied it because if Tails were here, how would he feel if Sonic went belligerent on the doctor with no mercy? Eggman can evil, yet complicated, but the fox would never condone to killing someone for pleasure. And that's how Sonic was ever since he became mortal enemies with the doctor. The worst he's done was just destroy his robots, his chances at building his utopia, and even making him lose half his mustache. But he would never kill Eggman. But would he now?

As these thoughts roamed the hedgehog's mind, with his friends cowering with fear and his enemy threatening him at the same time, he gave Eggman one last chance.

"Put the ray gun down, set me down, leave my friends alone, and get out of here. Or I will personally hand you a death slip."

"Or they join my side, and I won't harm them. Plus, I'll leave you alone for at least another week if it makes you happy."

"The only way you'll make me happy is if you bring back my little brother."

"You really need to get over him. But… there could have been a way to bring him back. It's too bad you don't have the necessary tools to use."

Sonic pondered for a few seconds until the answer came to him. "Are you talking about the Chaos Emeralds?"

"Correct. But even if you did have those precious Emeralds, I'll be there to withdraw them from you. Instead, I'll use them to my advantage."

"Wait… you mean you have all seven Emeralds?!"

Eggman sneered as he revealed the collection to the hedgehog.

"How the hell do you have every single one?!"

"That, my friend, is a secret. But I can manipulate the powers with the help of my gun to end their lives if they don't follow my orders. And if you do anything to stop me, I'll get rid of you without even thinking."

"Sonic…" Amy whispered.

"I'll give you the choice, Sonic. Either they come with me, or they go away from you. You've got 30 seconds, or I'll wipe all of you out."

As the doctor inserted the Chaos Emeralds into his weapon, the Blue Blur looked down at his friends with a mix of worriment and uncertainty. He didn't want to lose Amy or Cream, not even Cheese. They've been there to comfort Sonic since Tails passed away, and if he lost either one… he wouldn't know what to do next. But, he had to find a way to stop his archnemesis. However, being stuck inside a mechanical claw wasn't helping his case. Unable to do anything, Sonic lowered his head and closed his eyes. He was almost in the same situation back at Eggman's lair.

"I'd rather be strapped down to a chair and be plunged into the sea to drown rather than let you roboticize my friends."

"Sonic!"

"Besides, at least I'll get to join my little bro…" he muttered to himself.

"Aww… I'm so moved. Too bad that's not an option, so I'll just go ahead and kill them now."

He shot his head back up. "NO!"

But it was too late. Eggman powered up the ray gun on overdrive again and prepared to shoot.

"AMY! CREAM! RUN!"

They were scared, but Amy and Cream, who was holding on to Cheese tightly, tried to run from the impending laser.

"HOHOHOHOHO! SAY YOUR LAST WORDS, BECAUSE HERE IT COMES!"

Eggman pulled the trigger and the laser fired right toward them. However, Amy and Cream dove away from the landing spot. But the impact it made on the ground was so powerful that it shook the entire area. The three landed near a boulder and peeked at the damage the doctor caused. And to their surprise, alongside Eggman and Sonic, they saw a black hole. It was small at first, but then it rose into the sky. Then, it grew larger by the second.

"What the? That's not supposed to happen at all!"

"W-what's going on, Amy?"

"I don't know, Cream…"

"Eggman, what did you do?"

Sonic didn't get an answer from his enemy as he was still entranced by the sudden formation of the black hole.

Suddenly, its force began to suck up its surroundings, including Sonic and the others. Amy and Cream held each other's hands tightly.

"A-Amy! Please don't… l-let me go!"

"I'm trying… to resist… Cream. Just keep… holding my hand."

Unfortunately, the bunny wasn't strong enough to avoid the black hole's strong suction. And before she knew it, Cream let go of Amy. Cheese, who was in her clutch, started crying as they flew towards the gloomy matter.

"CREAM!" Amy and Sonic both yelled.

"Help me!"

"Chao! Chao!"

The two disappeared into the darkness. Meanwhile, Eggman tried to drive his Egg Mobile away. He even pushed most of his buttons to get his jet packs working. One of those buttons, however, was the one to retract the claw holding Sonic.

"Whoa!" The hedgehog fell, but the dark hole's force pulled him towards the sky. However, he managed to grab a wooden post, holding on for dear life.

"This isn't supposed to happen! What went wrong?" Eggman was unable to escape the dark hole and got sucked in while he was in his Egg Mobile. "YARRRGGGHHH!"

Then, Amy who was now holding on to the large stone, was about to get sucked in. "AAAAHHHH!"

"Amy!" Sonic reached a hand out to barely grasp onto Amy's.

"S-Sonic… What do we do?!"

He gave her an unsure look. "I… I don't know. But what I do know… is that I can't… urgh, hold on much… longer…"

"Sonic… I better throw this out before we get sucked in and possibly… Oh, I don't know if I should say it now!"

"Amy, w-what is it?"

The pink hedgehog looked at the blue one. Green eyes met green. Their grasp started to slip away.

"Sonic, I lo-"

Amy wasn't able to finish her thought. Her hand slipped from Sonic's and she flew towards the hole.

"AAAHHHHH!"

"NO! AMYYYYY!"

"SOOOOOONIIIIIIC!"

Amy was now gone in the darkness, alongside Cream, Cheese, and Eggman.

"No… This can't be happening to me!" Sonic felt like he was going to give up. There was no way he could outstand this fight against the dark hole. He took a deep breath and let it out.

"Well, this is it. Amy, Cream, please be safe… Tails… if you're up there, please help me out… I need you."

Sonic squeezed his eyes shut and let go of the post. His body got thrown into the darkness. And after he entered, the black hole materialized into nothing. The Mystic Ruins remained quiet as there was nothing left except Tails' tombstone. And somehow, it managed to survive the cataclysm. (1)

Location: Peach's Castle

It has been two weeks since the incident at Bowser's Castle, one week since the burial of a fellow green man, and zero days since the man in red visited the grave.

Before the funeral began, Mario and Peach planned and agreed to let Luigi rest in the castle gardens rather than the Mushroom Cemetery. They thought that his presence was more fitting there since he was a key figure to set foot in the castle. It may not make sense to some of the citizens, but to those two they thought it was best.

Ever since they buried his body, there was absolute silence. Not a single attack or invasion was carried out by the antagonistic Koopa King since he was dealing with the injuries he sustained from both brothers. And the Toads who attended the funeral minded their own business to not even think about Luigi. Not in the way where he stayed under Mario's shadow, but to avoid bringing him up whenever Mario walks about in Toad Town. Instances of this occurred wherever he went. The café, the store, the castle, just about anywhere.

Mario would always express a neutral face. Not a smile nor a frown was found under his big nose, but deep down he was torn to the point where he can't take it. He hated showing his emotions in public, for he wasn't one to cry over the littlest things or anything devastating, unlike his younger bro. However, that moment when he saw him lying on the ground in Bowser's throne room made him lose it. And he tried his best to avoid letting tears flow down his face every time he stood in the castle gardens and stared at the tombstone that denoted his brother's resting place.

Mario was standing in front of it once again, this time in his regular plumber outfit. Carved in stone, a statue of Luigi stood tall with his fists planted on his sides and a proud smile under his smooth, bushy mustache. Mario looked at the words inscribed on the plaque:

Here lies Luigi Mario,

Younger Brother of Mario 'Jumpman' Mario,

a Helpful Partner and a Brave, Noble Hero.

May his loving soul look after the Mushroom Kingdom.

R.I.P.

Those words hit Mario deep in his heart. He never wanted to read them out loud or in his head. But the nightmare became a reality, and he was forced to withstand the emotional pain.

As he lowered down onto the ground, he closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and prayed to the Star Spirits and Grambi that Luigi will be okay in the heavens above. But he also prayed to see his face again. That unique face. The one where he always sports out a big smile whenever his friends were happy. It described his personality: selfless, helpful, proud. He may be shy or be a scaredy-cat at times, but that didn't matter to Mario at all. He loved him for the way he was.

Princess Peach walked outside to her garden and glimpsed at the red plumber on his knees. She always saw him in front of the grave every day over the past week. Sometimes, she joined his side to keep him company, or to pray next to him. She did miss Luigi after all. He was her best friend, next to Daisy. She slowly approached from behind, hands held in front of her torso.

"Good morning, Mario."

Mario turned around to see the pink princess. "Oh. Hello, Peach."

"Sorry, did I disturb you again?"

Mario showed a small, sad smile. "No, you're fine."

Peach wrapped her arms around him for a tight hug. "I'm sorry, Mario."

"Don't apologize, Princess. It's not your fault. It's mine," he sighed sadly.

Peach shook her head. "Please don't think like that, Mario."

Mario closed his eyes and lowered his head. "I'm sorry. I just can't believe I let him down. He saved me, after all. I feel guilty that I couldn't save him."

"You two always looked out for each other no matter what the situation was. It's not your responsibility to look after both of you. That's too much for you to put on your shoulders. Luigi did what he could to protect you and I highly respect him for being so brave."

"He is brave, regardless if he's afraid of ghosts, the dark, or almost anything. He's still a courageous person in my heart. And I'll never think otherwise."

Peach sympathetically pecked her lips on Mario's cheek. A red blush appeared on his face. He looked at her with a soft smile. It wasn't much, but it kind of warmed the Princess's heart.

"How's Daisy feeling right now?"

"She's in her room. She visited the grave earlier today." The Sarasaland Princess was staying at Peach's Castle for the week ever since the burial was complete. And just like Mario, she stood in front of his grave to pray. She would talk to no one in particular, yet it felt right to her as if Luigi was sitting right in front of her.

Mario gazed back at the tombstone. "Luigi, if you can hear me, I'll never stop visiting you. I want to see your smile again."

Peach slightly flinched. She knew how rough it was for Mario to cope through this loss. The sad part was that she learned that people have to move on from losing someone close to them. It happened with her royal parents. That's why she's taken care of by her venerable grandfather, Toadsworth. She wondered if Mario will ever come out of this state of depression and move on. There's nothing wrong about him visiting Luigi all the time, likewise with Daisy. It's the fact that if he digs his own hole and can't escape it, there's no telling what could happen to Mario's sanity. That's what Peach was worried about.

She hugged him even tighter than before. Mario raised his right hand and placed it in front of her soft, gloved one. They both stared at the burial site once more in sadness.

"No matter what, Mario, I'll be there for you like you've always been there for me. You're not alone in this."

Mario squeezed her hand tightly. The princess accepted it as she gave him another kiss on his cheek.

Suddenly, their moment was disrupted by some loud noises. Screams coming from the Toad denizens. They turned around to find the source and no later than that, Toadsworth rushed out to find the two people he was looking for.

"Toadsworth, what's going on?"

"Princess! Master Mario! Another attack has been deployed by Bowser!"

Mario narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "The nerve of him. I can't say I'm surprised. Bowser's ruthless and wants revenge of what happened two weeks ago. And of course, at this time, too," he scoffed crossly.

He ran off while the princess was about to follow. But Toadsworth stopped her.

"Princess! You mustn't go out there! You should go to your room where it's safer!"

"Toadsworth! I don't want to stay behind and just stand around while Mario fights Bowser and everyone else. Besides, I've ventured with him on several occasions."

The brown-dotted Toad hated situations where his pride and joy was on the battlefield and in the line of risking her life. It's bad enough for him whenever she got kidnapped, which has happened no less than fifteen times (give or take a few, or even several, good lord). But she did have a point. She teamed up with Mario and Bowser twice. The first time was when they fought Smithy who invaded Bowser's Keep. The second time happened when Count Bleck called the Void to destroy all worlds. Other than that, she always felt protected when she's close to him. Peach wasn't just a caring, selfless princess. Beneath her delicate appearance, she's a spunky, energetic fighter. (2)

"Okay, dear. I'll let you go. But I still want to stay close to you as possible."

"Fine. Let's get Daisy as well."

"No need." As if she was on cue, the tomboy princess appeared behind them. "I heard the destruction going on outside. I take it that Mario already left to face him?"

"Yeah. And we should help him," Peach begged.

"I'm with you on that."

The two ran off towards the front door with Toadsworth following as fast as he could. When they reached the castle bridge, they saw Mario standing determinedly in front of Bowser. The rest of the castle grounds had a couple fallen trees, burnt spots on the grass and dirt, and most annoyingly, a ton of panicking Toads screaming and running away.

"Seriously, can't at least one of them just man up and help me out?" he thought while rolling his eyes.

"BWAHAHAHA! Well, well, well. If isn't Mario!" Bowser roared sinisterly.

"Ugh, haven't we heard enough from you already?"

"It's been two weeks since we last seen each other. And besides I want to destroy you for good." He made a fist with his right claw.

"Gee, I never heard that before. Isn't there anything else you do besides invading the kingdom, trying to take Peach away, or having the urge to kill me?"

"No. It's basically the same thing all the time. I kidnap her, your pudgy little ass beats me for some reason, you take her back, and then I kidnap her again."

"Why can't you just fuck off and leave us alone?"

"Master Mario! Don't use such foul language in front of the princesses! Have some dignity!"

"Now's not the time to scold me, Toadsworth!" he yelled without turning back on the Toad.

"Yes, Mario. Why don't you listen to your little brown mushroom? Oh, I know. He's just as annoying and useless as those other stupid fungi people running like chickens with their heads cut off. It's no wonder it's so easy to take over this kingdom."

"The only thing that's annoying right now is you trespassing." Mario was partially telling the truth. To be honest, he still wasn't keen with the Toads acting so overdramatic about this. In fact, the invasion seemed lackluster to him. Besides, Bowser's by himself, he knocked down some trees and drew out his fire breath a couple of times. But no one's been hurt.

"AAHHHH!"

Okay, scratch that. One Toad has been hurt, but that's because he fell into the moat.

"Well, if you find me annoying, I might as well share what I think is useless. And that's Lil' Greenie, buried up where he belongs!"

Peach and Daisy gasped at Bowser's insensitive words.

"How dare you say that about Luigi?!" said the flower princess distraughtly.

Mario was fuming. "You crossed the line, Bowser." Scrunching up a fist and punching his left hand, he prepared himself to fight. "Do your worst."

The girls ran up to stand on opposite sides of the red plumber. Peach took out her hard-hitting frying pan and summoned her Heart Power. Daisy beckoned her Flower Power from her green brooch while taking out her orange parasol. (3)

The Koopa tyrant breathed his fire once again towards Mario and friends. The plumber leaped in the air while the princesses dodged to the side. Daisy tried using her magic spray flowers in his way. Bowser tried clawing through the daisies in front of him as some of them blinded his vision. It was the perfect time to whack him with her umbrella.

"GRAAHHHH!" Daisy hit him in his stomach.

Peach used her heart magic to stall Bowser and immobilize him. Pink hearts flowed from her brooch and flew towards him. As he fell under her spell, the Mushroom Princess called out to the hero.

"Mario! He's immobile! Hurry!"

Mario nodded and ran up to him. He triple-jumped perfectly to project his landing on top of Bowser's head. He executed a critical hit which caused the Koopa King to grunt in pain.

"URGHH! You pesky plumber!"

Peach made a risky move and ran behind him. Without getting caught (and kidnapped), she slammed the frying pan on the same spot where Mario jumped on.

"OWWWW! Why you…"

Mario didn't let him finish his statement as he side-kicked across his muzzle. Daisy followed with another whip of her parasol. And Peach slammed her frying pan across Bowser's left arm.

"Hrrgh, if that's you wanna play that way, so be it."

He released more fire causing the three to swiftly dodge the attack. He lunged towards Mario who jumped and avoided a punch. Bowser slammed his fast into the parapet, knocking off some of the stone into the moat. He nearly hit Toadsworth and that caused the old Toad to flee back inside the castle. He quickly recovered as he rarely felt any damage and ran towards the plumber again. While Mario continued leaping and evading, Peach and Daisy tried to stay in range of the fight without getting too close to Bowser. They sent out more hearts and flowers to stall him while the red hero was thinking of another tactic.

However, when he tried jumping at him again, a homing Bullet Bill was shot right at him. And Mario didn't know about it until it was too late. Before his feet could land on Bowser, the bullet blasted him.

"Ooof! What the hell?" he shouted when he landed on the ground.

"Hehehehe!" came a young, irritating voice.

Mario looked up to see where that laugh came from. He narrowed his eyes when he found the source.

"Bowser Jr.!"

"How's it going, plumber boy? You're always trying to beat up my dad, you big meanie?" he sneered inside his Koopa Clown Car.

"Like he hasn't been trying to beat me up for years? Do you really have to be here?"

"Jeez, this is why Dad and I can't stand you. You're so annoying!"

"And I loathe both of you because you're always ruining our peace."

"Mario! Help us!"

Mario turned around to see Bowser holding Peach in his right claw and Daisy in his left.

"Mamma Mia! Not again!"

"MWAHAHAHA! You pathetic fool! You were easily sidetracked that I have captured the one I wanted and even the orange princess!"

"Hey! I have a name you know!"

"Well I couldn't care less because it's insignificant, just like Green 'Stache, even before he died, and he's still insignificant to this day!"

Mario, still enraged, shook his fist. "DON'T talk about my brother like that."

"Who? Greenie?" he scoffed with a low chuckle. "Okay, then. I'll give him a compliment. He sure had some fire to help you out in that battle."

That still didn't make Mario happy. And what he was about to say next…

"Even though you guys are tough to get rid of, at least one of you is gone for good. It's not you, but that's one less annoying plumber to deal with."

…made it worse. Big time.

Mario rolled his long sleeves up to his elbows and glared at the large Koopa. He took out a spare Fire Flower from his pocket and transformed into Fire Mario. He pelted fireballs at the Koopa while avoiding the hands in the case of burning the princesses on accident. At the same time, he evaded Junior's attack from his flying vehicle.

The Koopa jumped away from some of the fire as he dealt with a couple hits. They may feel minor, but getting pelted with several of them could be the deciding factor for his defeat. Bowser retaliated by dealing more fire at him and punching his fists at Mario while still holding onto Peach and Daisy. Unfortunately for them, they were beginning to feel dizzy from the sudden thrusts.

"Let them go, Bowser," he warned as he threw more fireballs and dodged another Bullet Bill.

"Not gonna happen, plumber. Until I get rid of you, they will become part of my reign over this stupid kingdom. And no one's gonna stop me, including you."

Mario tried to sneak another jump attack at him, but no one expected what happened next. He, as well as everyone else, heard a faint scream. They all tilted their heads around as it sounded louder and closer to them by the second.

"What the?" Bowser grunted.

Then, a ball sped towards the Koopa Clown and knocked Jr. out of the dirigible.

"Whoa! Aaaah!" he yelled as he fell out and landed hard on the grass.

The same ball, which was where the screaming came from, was also heading towards Bowser from its trajectory. The Koopa looked up and couldn't react in time to dodge.

"BWAAAHHH!"

It hit him in the head with such high velocity and force that it made him tumble and fall. When he hit the ground, he lost his clutch and the princesses were free from Bowser. Peach and Daisy got up and ran towards Mario's side. They noticed how confused he was. His eyes were planted at what serendipitously stopped the Koopas. The girls looked in the same direction and widened their eyes. Peach gasped and had a hand covering her mouth. Mario and Daisy remained quiet but were still surprised at the 'ball'.

Laying just a couple feet away from the fallen Koopa King and Koopa Kid was not a ball, but an unconscious individual. A blue individual. In fact, it was a blue hedgehog.

END OF CHAPTER

Well, there it is. Chapter 5 of New Brotherhood complete after 'abandoning' it for two months. Sorry for the wait, but I got it done before I left for vacation. So, it's obvious that Sonic transported from his home to Mario's dimension, but what will happen next? If you're wondering, both heroes will meet each other for the first time. However, they're not the only ones who will meet someone from the other side. You'll find out what I mean in Ch. 6.

I'll start writing more of this and the next chapter of Hidden Bravery once I return. Please let me know how I did. Review, follow/favorite, and I'll see you in the next one. This is TGN, signing off.

Post-Chapter Notes:

(1): I decided to teleport Sonic and the others to Mario's world. If this sounds familiar, it's sort of like the first chapter of Mario & Sonic: Heroes Unite! by Azurixx, my favorite M&S crossover on FFN, but it's written differently to correlate with my story. Plus, I'm more familiar with Mario's universe than Sonic's world.

Disclaimer: I did not originally come up with this idea or the story mentioned above. That scene is mainly based off that fanfiction.

(2): Honestly, even though Peach gets kidnapped a lot for certain reasons or just because it's Bowser, she can quite helpful in several games she's playable in, referencing Super Mario RPG and Super Paper Mario. As for the kidnappings, she's probably been victim for at least 30 times in the history of Mario games (including the upcoming Odyssey release). It occurred about 10-15 times prior to when Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games came out (assuming that they never met each other beforehand).

(3): One of Peach's weapons in Super Mario RPG was the Metal Plate (a.k.a. the Frying Pan). She also can use a parasol for both offense and defense, but I decided that Daisy should have that kind of tool for the fight.