Replies

TheGameNguyener: Well, read on to find out! Thank you for the review!

Silver1612: Yeah, their friendship was pretty fun to write. A shame they have to say goodbye... thank you for the review!

Pamitydesu01: I guess we'll see what happens with Mario! Thank you for the review!

~Chapter Ten: Bittersweet~

"So I'll just need something from your dimension to send you back. Do you have anything you can spare?" E. Gadd asked Sonic with a tilt of his head.

"Would some sports tape work?" Sonic questioned, digging the roll out of his quills and ripping off a piece. E. Gadd nodded.

"Indeed it will, as long as it was brought from your dimension. Did you have it with you when you found your way here?"

"I sure did!" Sonic exclaimed proudly. "I never go anywhere without a little extra on me."

"Perfect, perfect," E. Gadd mumbled, taking the strip of sports tape and placing it below what looked like a mini laser. "Now, all I do is pull this lever here and a beam of light will shoot at the sports tape, analyzing which dimension you came from. Then all I need to do is find something to send you through. I'm assuming something like that exists in your world, considering what the Tails from the other dimension is capable of."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Tails has somethin' in his workshop to that extent. Worse case scenario I end up at Eggman's, an' I mean, it's not like I haven't seen him in his pajamas before."

"Why have you seen Eggman in his pajamas?" Mario curiously asked. Sonic put his hand up.

"Dude, I really don't wanna talk about it." he groaned.

"Here it is!" E. Gadd interrupted. "Hedgehog Village on Bygone Island, correct?"

"If we're mixin' both the game canon and show canon together, I guess so!" Sonic exclaimed. He turned to Mario, an almost bittersweet smile on his face. "So, I guess it's time for me to go."

"Yeah..." Mario murmured. He held his hand out for Sonic to shake. "Take care Sonic. I'm glad I met you."

Sonic snickered, clasping his hand in Mario's. "I'm glad I met ya too. An' hey, even though this was more than likely a one-off thing, at least we'll always have our memories of each other!"

"I guess we will," Mario mused. He opened his mouth to say something else before something soft pressed against his cheek for the briefest of seconds.

It took him a moment to realize Sonic had kissed him. He blinked to find Sonic already next to the machine, his arms folded and a smirk on his muzzle.

"Why...?" Mario questioned in confusion. Sonic shrugged as E. Gadd pulled the lever, the machine whirring to life.

"See ya around, Mario! Thanks for everythin'!" he called as a bright light enveloped him, and he gave one last wave before he was gone, leaving Mario to absentmindedly rub the spot on his cheek where Sonic's lips had made contact.

/~/

"I'm telling you guys, I know that I can bring Sonic back to us! I just... haven't figured out how yet."

"I say we take it as a sign," Sticks grumbled from the corner of the workshop. "This is clearly the start of an alien invasion! They interfered with Tails' machine and took Sonic to their spaceship in the sky, where they'll make him reveal information about us and the village! And then when you least expect it... BOOM! We'll all be next!"

"Even by our standards, that sounds pretty farfetched," Amy pointed out. "I'm sure there's a logical, reasonable explanation for what happened."

"I just hope Sonic makes it back soon," Knuckles sighed. "Team Knuckles just isn't the same without Sonic as it's leader."

"I just don't understand what happened," Tails mumbled. "And before you say anything Sticks, no, aliens isn't the answer!"

"If aliens aren't the answer, why is that machine in the corner sparking like there's some sort of alien interference?" Sticks pointed out in a dry tone. Tails whirled around, his eyes bugging.

"My transporter!" he cried, rushing over and inspecting the machine. "Eggman must've hacked into it."

"Maybe it's Sonic coming from a different dimension?" Knuckles suggested, which earned him a stern look from Amy.

"I'd be more inclined to believe Sticks' alien theory than that. I mean, how could Sonic possibly-"

"Hey guys!" Sonic exclaimed, stepping out of the transporter causing Sticks to shriek and get into a defensive pose, boomerang at ready. "Didja miss me?"

"It's an alien!" Sticks shrieked, while Sonic simply rolled his eyes and ruffled Tails' bangs.

"Hey buddy," Sonic chuckled. "I missed you guys!"

"Sonic!" Knuckles grinned, giving Sonic a high five. "Good to have you back! It's been really dull without you around."

"Of course it's been!" Sonic boasted proudly, before his gaze fell on Sticks who was still crouched in her defensive stance. "Sticks, relax, it's me."

"How do we know you're really Sonic?" she hissed. "You could be an alien overlord. Or a robot. Or an alien robot overlord!"

"An' if I am I give you full permission to tear me limb from limb. In either case, it's still nice to see you." Finally, his gaze fell to Amy who had remained silent throughout the whole ordeal. He gave her a tender smile which didn't go unnoticed by Tails. "Hey Ames."

"Hi Sonic," Amy replied with that same soft smile "I knew you'd make it back safely! So, where did you go? What did you see?"

Sonic motioned for his friends to gather around him, and even after a moment Sticks reluctantly joined the group. "'Kay, so I landed in this place called the Mushroom Kingdom, where I met someone named Mario..."

/~/

"Alright laddie, I can zap you back over to the Mushroom Kingdom in a jiffy!" E. Gadd told Mario as soon as Sonic had disappeared completely. He turned his concerned gaze to Mario. "That is, if you're alright of course."

Mario blinked, pondering on that question. "Yeah actually, I'm fine," he murmured, noticing how it felt as though a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. E. Gadd nodded and wandered over to the Pixelator, flipping the switch and pressing a few buttons.

"So you two had a talk, I assume?"

"We did," Mario confirmed. "And... it really did make me feel a bit better."

"That's good to hear," E. Gadd hummed. "But what was that kiss on the cheek about?"

"I'm not sure," Mario admitted. "But I don't think I'm going to read much into it. After all, he seemed to like someone else in his world, and... I need to move on. It's been three months, I've talked it out, and Weeg was right."

E. Gadd nodded. "Well said, sonny! Please, give the Princess my regards, and tell your brother hi."

Mario smiled and moved closer to the Pixelator. "I will, Professor E. Gadd."

/~/

Even though Mario overall felt less burdened, he still paused as he approached his and his brother's shared house. The last time they'd spoken had been an argument of sorts, and they'd never had a chance to properly patch things up. But Mario knew he needed to face the consequences of his actions, so taking a deep breath he pulled the key out of his pocket and fit it into the lock, turning the knob and stepping into the living room. "Bro! I'm home!"

No answer. Mario frowned. Was Luigi not home, either out shopping or visiting Daisy in Sarasaland? No, there would be a note otherwise. Luigi always left notes. Was he simply ignoring him thanks to how he'd taken off suddenly? "Bro, are you here?"

Mario could feel nervous sweat beginning to form on his forehead as he checked every room in the house until he got to the one he hadn't searched - their shared bedroom. Mario's heartbeat raced as he reached for the doorknob, not sure of what he'd find inside.

The door creaked open and Mario allowed himself to breathe as he spied Luigi sitting at the desk, his back turned to the door. He seemed to be holding something in his hands. "Bro? Are you okay?"

Luigi slowly turned, revealing that the item in his hands was the gold ring from Sonic's world. Luigi looked white as a sheet as he said two words that sent a torrent of conflicting emotions through Mario's mind, leaving him right back where he'd started before he'd found the passed-out hedgehog in the Goomba Woods.

"Sonic's alive."

~End~

AN: I hate leaving you guys on a cliffhanger, but I'd planned for this fic to end like that since the beginning.

Thank you all so much for reading this. What started off as a random idea turned into this, and I'd say that I'm happy with the finished product. I've wanted to write Boom!Sonic for awhile, and I hope I did him justice.

As for a continuation of this particular storyline... I do have something in the works. However, it goes back to this series Super Smash Brothers roots, and since we don't exactly know who's returning as fighters, progress on it is slow and I want to wait until we have more information to start posting anything else regarding this timeline. I'll probably try to work more on Moments in the waiting process.

I guess that's all I have to say for now. Thank you again for reading.

~Steel