DIMENSION DOMINATE
A Sailor Moon/Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog Story
by cookirini
The Bogus Journey, Part I
Narita International Airport, Tokyo
The Boeing 727 was a magnificent sight for the empty airport to see. Touching down, it skittered slightly on the runway, but nevertheless came to a complete stop near its designated terminal.
"Food convoy 47-r is in terminal." A robotic voice droned on the speaker system. "Humans, report to loading dock."
They came out, marching in rows of three in their work clothing, as a conveyer belt appeared from the plane. Sliding down them were large boxes of food, each labeled according to region and food type. Meats, wines and fruits of the best kind were being loaded off by the men, right into vans with the Robotnik symbol on it. As each one was filled, the cars would drive off.
"Hmm..." Suddenly, one man looked at his watch. "It's 7:30. I should be watching Mabuse right now."
"Not with this work," another replied, as he went to lift a box. "We'll be lucky to get out before tomo...uh...uuuuugh!!!"
Suddenly, the man collapsed on the floor, the box landing on top of him. Shaking violently, he began to foam at the mouth, his eyes rolling into the back of his head.
"Hide...Hideki!!!" His eyes wide, the first man began to shout at the top of his lungs. "Help!! HELP!! My partner!!"
"What is it?" Suddenly, a shadow loomed over the man. "No loitering. Get back to work!"
"My partner!" The man started to frantically point to the writhing worker on the floor. "He's having a seizure! Help him, please!"
"Silence!"
"He's epileptic! Please!..."
The robot was becoming perplexed at the situation before it. On one hand, the humans were there to work, and work until their shift ended, and one man's problems were not worth anything. On the other hand, the man was violently convulsing, and soon everyone was looking on at the scene – thus stopping the work altogether.
"...Get a doctor!" The robot took out a phone from its chest cavity. "SWATBot Unit 4573, we have an emergency."
During the fracas, no one noticed the six figures rerouting the belt, filling the food into an unmarked black van. By the time the robot had finished placing the call, the van was gone, as were the intruders.
"Stand back." As the robot turned towards the other workers, the siezures briefly stopped, and the two men winked at one another. "The rest of you! Back to work!"
----------------------
"Whaaat?!"
The Silver Crystal, the foundations of the Seek-O-Matic underneath it, began to flash as Scratch and Grounder scrambled around Robotnik. Robotnik's eyes, for that matter, were flashing red, and he shook his fists angrily as he turned away from them.
"Got away?! How is that possible?!"
"Uh, well, Your Madness, sir..." Scratch pulled at the scruff of his throat nervously. "It appears several people managed to get through and steal some of your food shipments because...they didn't have a patch and weren't scanned. So...we can't find them now..."
"UNACCEPTABLE!" Robotnik turned to face them again, his teeth grit. "Do whatever it takes to stop this vagabondery! Find out who's behind the stealing of my precious food and throw them in jail! And order the SWATBots to drag anyone they scan without a patch to the nearest station!"
"Uh, Your Supremeness..."
"WHAT IS IT?!?"
"Aaah! Uh, I mean..." Grounder gulped. "We've also had reports of skirmishes with SWATBots and citizens around the planet. Apparently people are trying to take them apart!"
"Well, use tear gas or something!" Robotnik brusquely waved the robots aside. "Show the people of this pathetic world that I will not deal with treachery lightly. Double the police force if you have to, but show them I mean business!"
With that, the egg belly threw the doors open and left the room. Staring as his wiggling behind disappeared into the hallway, Scratch and Grounder looked at each other warily as the glow of the crystal died down.
"I'm scared, Scratch." The little tank began to shake. "This isn't like our wonderful leader at all..."
"...Yeah..." At this, Scratch scratched his head. "Usually he calls us dumbots, or dimbots, or mechanical morons..."
"Or he just calls us idiots." Grounder shifted his drills into hands and also scratched his head. "It's almost like he's a completely different person."
"Hey!" At this, Scratch turned and glared at Grounder. "Didn't I tell you before not to-"
FLAAASH
Suddenly, the Silver Crystal began to flash white. Shouting, the robots jumped back, holding each other as the crystal glimmered once more. Most brilliant was Sailor Moon's figure trapped within, which seemed more alive than dead.
Help... a faint voice echoed. ...me...
"WOOHOHOAH!" Scratch instantly leaped into Grounder's arms. "It's possessed, it's possessed!"
"Help me!!" Grounder's treads were knocking together. "Help me help me! It's gonna get us!!"
Then, as quickly as the flash came, it disappeared. Both Scratch and Grounder held each other as tightly as they could, before the crystal finally became lifeless again. Looking at one another after several moments of fear, Grounder promptly dropped the chicken on the floor.
"D'OH!" Scratch landed tail first on the floor, and he gave a glare at his little brother. "You miserable-"
"Scratch?"
"What is it?!"
"Uh..." Grounder gulped. "...I'm not liking this anymore. I wanna go home!"
"...What?! Drrrr..." Finally, Scratch's shoulder's slumped. "Me too."
Outside, the sun was covered by more dark storm clouds.
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Save...me...
Holding a monkey wrench, Tails gave a sigh as he wiped the sweat off of his brow. It was a long day, followed by another long day. They all ran into one another, day and night, with no end in sight. Not that it mattered to Tails anymore; all that mattered at that moment was the work he was doing on whatever Robotnik told him to work on. Saving what was left of his friends was what was important.
It was all that he had to keep him from thinking of Sonic. All that kept him from crying anymore.
"Tails," A voice interrupted his concentration. "You'll need this screw to finish the base."
Frowning, Tails grabbed the screw from Soichi Tomoe and put it into its proper place without a word. It was hard for him to look at anyone without wanting to jump on them and yell at them. Yes, they were separated from their friends and families. Yes, they were being forced to work for the same madman as he was. But when they were done they could return home to the relieved hugs of those friends and family members, knowing they were safe.
At least, at this, Tails thought of his partner. the Professor has someone to go home to. He's got that daughter he always seems to talk about.
Watching as Tails labored away at his job, Tomoe looked away, staring at the electrical wiring he was to set up. He wasn't an electrician and didn't know the first thing about it. He couldn't help but smile at the fact that the robot sentries had put him in a position where he could sabotage at will, and most likely get away with it.
Just like they had paired up people who didn't speak the same language, or people who couldn't read English. Indeed, they were delayed an hour when it turned out that one Chinese chemist didn't know any English, and thus a special manual had to be made for him so he could work his assembly line properly. The more subtle the sabotage, the better it was usually carried out. And Tomoe planned to sabotage the electric system with panache.
This wiring...is like plugging in a lamp...
The smile came off of his face at the thought, and his mind drifted off again. He could see her in her room, smiling, holding up her favorite teddy bear, asking with wide purple eyes for help on her homework. She had been the light of his life, even more so since his beloved wife had died.
...Hotaru loves lamps.
He began to connect the wires into the wrong outlets, and thought of his missing daughter. There was little else for him to do there.
--------------------
Save...me...
Sonic's ears perked up at the faint echo. He looked back and forth frantically to see who was with him. Seeing only Beryl, and no one else in the entire vicinity, he looked down at the ground in confusion.
Huh...Sonic rubbed his chin. That voice sounds really familiar...like-
"What are you doing?" The soft undulations were replaced by the angry, shrill seething of Beryl, who smashed Sonic in th head and turned him around to face her. "We've got to keep going! There's nothing here of interest, so quit stalling."
"Stalling nothing!" Sonic pushed Beryl's hand away. "I heard someone saying something to us. I just want to make sure no one's following us."
"Then you should clean your ears out," was the curt reply. "Because I heard nothing. No one would dare come through here, it's far too dangerous."
"Just because you heard no-"
"Silence!" Beryl's finger pointed at Sonic's nose. "Let's just get going. You never know what will happen if we stop!"
"...Right."
Sonic grimaced as he picked Beryl up into his arms. The self-appointed queen was nothing but a drag on his plans to save the world. She insisted on being carried around whenever he ran, kept stopping him every several seconds to look around just to look around, and then forced him to go even though he wasn't always done checking to make sure there were no traps.
He couldn't leave her on her own, because he had promised to bring her along, and he had little bearings of where he was. It was also eerily quiet, save for Beryl's berating, which was causing him to have a headache.
"Let's get going." With that, he revved his shoes, his voice echoing in the distant nothing. "Time to glide, Clyde!"
With that, Sonic burst into speed across the silent landscape, his shoes pounding the ground the only thing making a sound. His knees rattled, and the ground shook as he flew through the currently-named HFIL's Periphery Zone, stopping and turning to avoid the occasional sight of a potential threat or mound of remains of a not-so-lucky traveler.
All the while, Beryl smiled slightly, and that didn't make Sonic feel any better. She was, after all, a tyrant, and was no doubt using him for her own ends.
"...WOAH!" Suddenly, Sonic skidded to a halt. "Sub-sonic speed!"
The hedgehog ground to a complete and total halt in less than a second, causing Beryl to fall onto the ground with an angry yelp. In the distance, the very faint sound of the bells could be heard; though it still caused Sonic's ears to ring, it was nowhere near as bad as it had been before.
"...I'm never gonna get used to this." Sonic looked down at his skeletal body disapprovingly as his knees shook from the faint bells. "I've got no knee or back support at all!"
"Why are we stopping?" Beryl wiped her dress disapprovingly. "I hope you have a good reason."
"Actually, I do..."
At this, Sonic pointed to behind Beryl. The queen turned to see what he was pointing at.
"...that!"
Beryl's eyes widened as she saw that she was merely an inch away from the edge of a precipice. Pure fire licked the rocks right underneath, as an entire river of ancient blue and white flames flowed across the rut in the desolate plain. It was more than a mile across, and there was no bridge.
The river of fire... The queen realized as she backed away from the edge. Those who set foot upon it disappear out of existance...it appears we're trapped...
"So, queen," Beryl scowled as she heard Sonic's voice. "Any suggestions, or are you just gonna stand there?"