Back at the Death Egg, Eggman wondered how his new recruits were doing. He assumed, after checking some personal records, that Wario seemed capable of getting the emeralds by any means possible, especially if he could keep the Master Emerald as part of the deal. Eggman had also sent Scratch with Wario and Waluigi to make sure they wouldn't just run off with all the emeralds after they got them. Still, Eggman felt uneasy about how things were going. Fortunately for him, he had a spybot on Angel Island for the purpose of seeing when Knuckles was off guard. Remembering that, he decided to use it to contact the trio. Pretty soon, he had Wario, Waluigi, and Scratch on his big screen TV.

"So," Eggman began, "How are things going for you three? Do you have the emeralds?"

"Um..." Wario stuttered, still a little surprised about a flying robot suddenly appearing and having Eggman nagging him through it, "We got all the emeralds, even the Master Emerald, but Knucklehead won't let us leave the island until Mario shows up."

"WHAT!? WHY!?"

"Err... It's because..." and Wario explained what had happened between him and Knuckles.

"So, that rotten echidna is not letting himself get duped again, is that it? Well, what we need is 'proof' that Mario is the bad guy!"

"Hey! Wait a second!" Waluigi suddenly exclaimed, "Didn't Mario talk about a time when he got accused of polluting Isle Delfino because the guy who was really doing it pretended to be him?"

"How should I know?" Eggman replied, "I just got here!"

"I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to Wario! Anyway, if you must know, what happened was..."

Suddenly the TV went black. Eggman thought that Knuckles caught them red- handed and turned off the spybot until he realized that his office was considerably darker. Someone had shut the Death Egg's power down! Just as Eggman was about to activate the master alarm, Eggrobo stumbled into his office. He was a pretty sorry sight: he was all covered in ash and he somehow got his side slashed, revealing all the circuitry inside.

"What the heck happened!?" Eggman gasped, "It looks like you got attacked, but Sonic couldn't have done it! He doesn't know I'm here!"

"YOU'VE... GOT... A... VISITOR..." Eggrobo muttered before falling to the ground, revealing the terrifying sight behind him.

The entire hallway behind Eggrobo looked just like him: it was all burned up and there were claw marks all over the walls. Countless other robots, including the E-2000s, were completely slashed to bits and pieces. But the most frightful of all was the giant mutant turtle standing over them, clearly the one responsible for all of the madness. Noticing Eggman, the monster charged through the mess of robot parts and entered Eggman's office. Cowering behind his desk, Eggman held up a piece of paper to represent a surrender flag. He didn't really feel relieved when the monster let out a huge laugh.

"Do you think I want to kill you or something?" the monster bellowed, "You'd be a lot more useful alive, you know. But we'll get to that later. For now, how about you introduce yourself?"

"Uh... I am Doctor Ivo Robotnik, the world's greatest scientist!"

"Yeah, and you're humble, too. Anyway, I am Bowser, King of the Koopas!"

"So then, what's the meaning of charging into my Death Egg!? Or, more importantly, how did you get in? I have top-notch security in here!"

"Well, it was easy because, unlike you apparently, I don't need any fancy gadgets and whatnot to make a wreck of things. I've got all the muscle I need right here," replied Bowser, blowing a fireball into the roof of the office.

"Um... Could you not do that? It looks like I've got a lot of cleaning up to do as it is."

Bowser just laughed, "Cleaning up? Why not just come to my place? It's a lot better than this dump, even before I trashed this place."

Reluctantly agreeing, Eggman found himself getting "escorted" by a group of Hammer Bros. to Bowser's Castle. Once there, Bowser and Eggman had a somewhat enjoyable dinnertime conversation about their lives, their evil plans, and, most importantly, their rivals.

"So..." Eggman began, while trying to enjoy the Mushroom Pasta on his plate, "This Mario guy... He's like Sonic? Always ruining your plans?"

"Yeah..." Bowser replied, with his mouth full of Roasted Cheep-Cheep, "But you seemed to be able to handle him pretty well. I mean, you blasted that annoying green guy off the face of the earth! I figured that, while Mario is off looking for Green Stash, it would be a good time to suggest an alliance."

"An alliance!?"

"Hey come on! It makes perfect sense! My strength, combined with your smarts, would make it impossible for Mario OR Sonic to beat us! Besides, I could use some Robo-Koopas..."

"Say," Eggman interrupted, just remembering something, "Did you have anything to do with some sort of island polluting? That Wario guy said that they accused Mario of doing it even though he didn't."

"Oh, you mean Shadow Mario? Yeah, that was my son's idea. Why you ask?"

"Wait a second. You have a son?"

"Yeah. Hey, Bowser Jr.! Get over here!"

Suddenly the door opened, and, at first, Eggman thought Mario found them, but a closer inspection of the visitor revealed that he wasn't Mario at all. He looked like he was made of water, kind of like Chaos, but he was in the shape of Mario. His eyes were also glowing red, and he seemed to have a ridiculously long tongue. Most noticeable was the giant paintbrush he held in his hand, which seemed to have some sort of rainbow gunk on its tip. As soon as Eggman was done inspecting him, the imposter suddenly transformed into what looked like a young Bowser.

"So, whatcha want, Pop?" the little Bowser asked, "And who is that guy?"

"This is my new ally, Dr. Robotnik. He was asking about your Shadow Mario act so I decided to call you over here so you could show him, and it seems like you did!"

"Yeah, well, I was just doing it to Wendy since it always freaks her out. She can't seem to tell the difference between the real Mario and me. Anyway, why'd the guy ask?"

"Because," Eggman began, more than interested in this new discovery, "I think I know a way to trick a certain 'friend' of mine with your help..."