Disclaimer: I do not own, neither do I claim to own, the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, or the Dragon Ball Z franchise. Neither do I own any branch, spin-off or anything pertaining to the two series. SEGA owns Sonic, while Akira Toriyama, Toei Animation and FUNimation all own DBZ.
I also do not own the following characters: Zoey Arsaldi the Wolf, Mira 'Ally' Prower, Axel the Bandicoot; Noah Raymond Thompson and Spencer Franklin Ricardo. The former trio belong to Pekiunai, while the latter duo are owned by werewolf99.
Claimer: On the flip side, I am the owner of Luster the Cat, Megan the Wolf, Jack the Cat, Entity, Quill, Unknown and all the original Eggman robots that appeared in Season 1. Contact me if you want to use any of these characters or ideas in your work.
Last time, on Luster the Cat...
After talking to Chris and Sonic about his 'otherworldly power' situation involving his parents, Luster made his way to Eggman's new base, the Final Fortress. There, he met with the doctor and demanded information, but the egghead claimed to not know a thing. Doubting the villain, Luster begins to blast him though he ends up fighting a new Metal Sonic model. One failed battle later, Luster was taken captive and thrown in a 'rejuvenation' chamber, where his energy would be continuously absorbed by the machine. Metal then captures Eggman after copying his data and sends a note out for the Thorndyke Mansion.
At the household, everyone finds the note and Tails decides it would be best to get Knuckles and Sonic's help. Chuck and Chris offer to look after Angel Island in place of the echidnian guardian, leaving Team Sonic to go thwart Eggman's (Metal's) plans and save Luster.
Amy, Cream and Cheese bumped into Big the Cat during their little walk into Station Square. It is discovered that Big's best friend, Froggy, is missing and Cheese's friend Chocola is also missing. Determination of catching Sonic and marrying him in mind, Amy suggests to the group to head out to Seaside Hill - the location in which Team Sonic aim to travel to first. With everyone agreeing, Team Rose heads out.
Rouge and Topaz are informed by the G.U.N Commander about the location of the Final Fortress and the possible harbouring of Shadow the Hedgehog. The bat is then tasked to infiltrate the Final Fortress and retrieve Shadow - she agrees, with the added intent of taking any jewels she finds for herself. Once at the base, Rouge accidentally re-activates the guard robot, E-123 Omega. Shadow and Omega do battle until Rouge realises the two have similar reasons for wanting to find Eggman. With Rouge's government contacts, she finds out that the good doctor's at Seaside Hill. Team Dark then ventured out, on their search for the abominable villain.
The Chaotix, while in their business' headquarters in a dirty, abandoned corner of Station Square, receive a walkie talkie with their new client on the other side. Vector discovers that the entire group needs to do certain tasks in specific locations, starting with collecting several hermit crabs in Seaside Hill. Charmy is excited to go, but Espio has second thoughts. Despite his objections, the chameleon ends up following the crocodile and bee to Mobius, where a brand new adventure would begin.
We now come back to where we left off!
Luster the Cat: Season 2 Opening 2 (Sign, Naruto: English ver.) -
I realise the screaming pain
Hear it loud in my brain
But I'm going right ahead with this scar
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
So am I...
I don't mind if you forget
All the words that we used to share
I won't ever break a sweat
Just please show me that you care
This sign that I've been given
Reading it, doesn't make any sense
I have yet to give in
I'll fight in my defence
I've been led astray, no hope to be found
Today I'll pave the way, there's a future abound
I then heard a voice
Within the blowing of the wind
Don't be afraid of the pain
Your scars will make you obtain
Even if the weight of the world
Crashes on your shoulders
Do you remember the time
When our tears fell down from the sky
That's when I tried to whine
But kept askin' myself why
Because all the sorrow you've seen
Try to become what I've been
Can you hear me?
So am I...
Sonic, Tails and Knuckles planted their feet on the soft sand below them. Mobian birds were chirping, others were talking to friends while the waves continued to crash on the sand and the land masses with a Green Hill-esque pattern on their sides. Palm trees stuck out of smaller pieces of the planet like a blister on a finger, making itself known to all surrounding life forms.
The hedgehog was happy to be here.
"Woo-hoo! Man, gotta love these beaches!" Sonic commented, stretching his legs in preparation for the upcoming course. "Sure haven't been in a zone in a while..."
"I know, right? Feels like it's been forever..." Tails agreed.
The pair took in their surroundings - boy did it feel amazing to be adventuring in Mobius again. Knuckles however, had his priorities straight.
"Hate to break this...whatever you two are sharing, but we haven't got time for sightseeing. There's only three days until Eggman launches that fleet of his," reminded the echidna, folding his arms.
Sonic sighed. He hated to admit to Knuckles but this time, he was right. "Yeah...we gotta save Luster too. No point in standin' around and wastin' time. Here we go!"
The trio blasted past the sand and used a spring to reach a higher ledge. They then used a group of Rainbow Rings to boost themselves to a downwards leading to a straight, ending with a launch over to a three-way shuttle loop. On the other side, Team Sonic reached some new Badniks.
"What are these?" wondered Tails, curious. "Eggman's robots?"
"If they're Egghead's, then they're goin' down!" Sonic chuckled. He used a chained Homing Attack to eradicate all the opposing 'bots; neither of them proved a threat.
When the blue blur returned from doing so, he held a white core (with a hint of blue) in his hand.
"Dunno what this thing is. Maybe it powers some of his 'bots?" he shrugged. "The power comin' offa this is pretty sweet!"
Suddenly, the core flew right into Sonic, allowing itself to be absorbed by the energetic blue spirit. The hedgehog was fairly confused to say the least, but also felt at peace for whatever reason.
"Sonic! What just happened?" Tails asked, feeling concern for his best pal.
Knuckles had an explanation. "That was a Power Core. It increases the specific strengths of the user for a limited amount of time. Sonic's speed must have increased, or perhaps his spinning capabilities have been improved."
"Cool!" remarked Sonic. "Let's get movin', don't want this core's power to go to waste!"
"Got it," the Guardian of the Master Emerald nodded.
He and Tails continued to follow Sonic through the entirety of the zone, punching down giant boulders with the muscle of the group, propelling themselves over large distances with the assistance of the two-tailed fox - their teamwork was being put to the test here.
One Team, Two Team, Three Team, Four Team
Meanwhile, another team had arrived at Seaside Hill. Shadow, Rouge and Omega dropped down from one of the pieces of Mobius and onto the sand, taking their own deep look into their surroundings.
"Are you two ready? This is the first time either of you have seen a Mobian zone," Rouge asked, turning around to face her two comrades.
"It's more...vibrant, and lifely than I had first pictured," commented Shadow. "Shuttle loops? How curious."
"My scanners indicate that these designs are common among Mobius locales. They also have detected a collection of Eggman robots in this vicinity; possibly over a hundred," Omega added.
"A hundred?!" the huge-eared bat wondered doubtfully. She had almost lost her footing from the shock. "The doctor enjoys going all out..."
"All the more to annihilate!" the robotic destroyer remarked, walking forward slightly. "We should really be proceeding. Nothing's going to be blown up if we wait idly, twidling our core processors."
Rouge sighed, then smirked. "Heh, okay. Come on, we have some adventuring to do...maybe we'll even find our friend's past." She smiled as she spoke those last words, causing Shadow to look over in interest.
Before he could get the chance to do so, Team Dark ventured into Seaside Hill, taking a similar route to Team Sonic, but instead the dark'uns travelled around some of the taller mountains to obtain ideal viewing points, although they wielded slightly longer paths. Upon these grassy roads, there were far more Badniks then the team had anticipated.
This didn't mean they had trouble - oh no. In fact, all three of them were delighted to have the chance to take out so many of Eggman's creations. As Team Dark trudged along Seaside Hill, another team had made their appearance.
Faltering courage
Team Rose's members, Big the Cat and Cream the Rabbit, sat down on the grass after slight exhaustion from the trip to Seaside Hill. Finally, they had made it through the Sea Gate and arrived at their destination. Amy however, wasn't tired at all - her vigour just kept going all over the place.
"Come on, everyone! I can just feel that Sonic's here!" ushered Amy, looking out into the seaside locale.
Cream stood up, but then fell on her backside because she was so tired. "I...I can't..."
"Guys...you need to rescue Chocola and Froggy, right? Sitting here's not gonna save 'em!" the hedgehog reminded.
With those encouraging words from their friend, Big and Cream stood right up with determined looks on their faces and restored courage. A smile was shared between the trio, initiating their journey through Seaside Hill. They too followed a pathway that matched Team Sonic and Dark's but instead Team Rose decided to skip their way through caves, hills and old ruins.
Somewhere down the line, Amy's team had come across a Mobian bob-sled, of some kind.
"How do we use it?" Big wondered, poking the invention.
Amy thought for a moment. In the past, she had witnessed Chuck and Tails tinker on a wide variety of random machines - one of them had to have been relevant to help this situation. She hopped into the driver's seat while Cream and Big took two of the passenger seats.
"I think I got it..." the pink heroine mumbled.
Without warning, the bob-sled began to move forward on it's own. Amy could only steer the vehicle - she could not stop it or turn around. The bobsled continued to drive onwards, until it crashed into a wall. Team Rose were unharmed, but they found the experience odd. Nevertheless, they proceeded with their adventure, putting up with the opposing robots that lay ahead.
A need to save the ones you care for
A green crocodile, a purple chameleon and an orange bee entered the sunny zone known as Seaside Hill, but they weren't distracted by the attractive scenery, no - they had a mission they were going to complete, one way or another.
"Time to hunt those hermits!" Vector declared, leading his team in.
The three marched into Seaside Hill with peeled eyes, just waiting to pick out the location of any crabs. Before the first shuttle loop, Espio located a crab that waltzed out from underneath a rock. On the other side of the loop, Charmy picked up the next hermit that was on a flat piece of ruin.
Third hermit crab was IN a ruin that Vector had to bust upon with a punch. Following that, the fourth one was sleeping on another flat tile and the fifth one on a tall block.
"Why are these things on high places, anyway?" Charmy questioned after using his flight to reach the fifth crab. "It makes more work for us..."
"Crabs are peculiar creatures, Charmy," explained Espio, searching under various boulders and what not. "Especially hermits. They prefer to relax in isolated areas such as the ones we've found them in already."
"How do you know so much about wildlife?" the bee asked. He had known Espio for several years by now but he never knew his comrade was interested in the wilds.
"A ninja must be informed," the chameleon simply answered, smiling.
Charmy gave up. Getting information out of this guy was like chatting to a radio - it keeps talking, but never about the thing you want. Carrying on with their mission, the sixth crab was found in between several towers as the seventh one was spotted next to a palm tree on the beach.
Right when the seventh crab was added to the Chaotix's collection, their client spoke through the walkie talkie.
"How's the hermit collecting going?" the voice wondered in concern.
Vector grabbed his communication device and started reporting. "We got seven so far!"
"Good! Glad to hear it's coming along fine. Let me know when you have all ten; I've got another mission for you three," the voice commented, ending the 'call'.
"You hear the man! Keep workin'!" demanded Vector.
Acting on orders, Team Chaotix returned to collecting the ten hermit crabs for their client. The location of the eighth one was next to two Egg Pawns, which were both disposed of rather quickly. Nineth was on an island that the team could use a cannon to reach, while the illusive final crab was just coming back to shore from the sea. Their mission was finally complete.
Vector initiated another call with the team's client, to let him know. "Hey! We got 'em all."
"Good work! I knew I did well trusting you three! Now, I need you to locate a missing chao in the Ocean Palace that's right next to Seaside Hill. You'll know what it looks like when you see it. Ciao!" the voice informed.
Smiling, the entire team carried on being grease-monkies for the mysterious, nameless client of theirs.
Crab collecting, what fun
Team Sonic, after cruising through Seaside Hill, arrived at a wide open area that was filled to the brim with Egg Pawns and Egg Flappers. With their experience, this miniature army was no problem - Sonic soon hatched an idea.
"Knuckles, I'm gonna use the Light Speed Attack. When I'm just about to release it, punch me as hard as you can, okay?" insisted the blue blur.
"Sure," Knuckles nodded. He watched as Sonic got into his spin-ball form and began channelling light blue energy, then he became almost crystallised and began unleashing a lightning-fast chain of Homing Attacks.
All robotic menaces had been completely wiped out by this point. Sonic grinned at his own handiwork, admiring the piles of scrap metal that littered the ruins.
"Awesome job, Sonic!" Tails commented. He then turned to Knuckles, with a curious expression. "Say, about those Power Cores..."
Knuckles smiled as well, but then his face quickly went back to neutral. "You can only have the effect stacked up to three times. I told you before, didn't I?"
"Well...wait, you did? I didn't hear ya," the fox realised. "Sorry."
"Apology accepted," the echidna accepted, looking at the cluster of ruins further ahead. "Seaside Hill's bigger than I thought..."
Tails looked out to the same area his red friend was staring at. "Huh. Something makes me think that isn't Seaside Hill Act 2."
"You don't think so? Oh well, looks like this cannon can take us there," suggested Knuckles. He walked up to the grey, metallic device and hopped right in. "Guys, this way."
Tails followed Knuckles into the cannon, leaving Sonic out on the battlefield. He seemed to be searching for something - his ears and nose were twitching, making the situation more peculiar.
"Sonic! Get in the cannon already!" the guardian demanded, his anger levels increasing.
The blue blur remained outside, scouring the area for what he desired. Without saying anything, he jumped into one of the smaller craters and uncovered a radiant gem of absolute power. He held it up, forgetting that his team-mates were in the cannon.
"Woo! Found a Chaos Emerald, guys!" he called, making his way into the cannon.
"Nice one, Sonic!" Knuckles remarked. "To those ruins!"
The cannon activated, shooting Team Sonic towards the new zone.
New zone, new possibilities
Team Dark had taken the lengthy way around to the ruins, using an extended land bridge to jump off and reach the place effortlessly. Once there, the team pressed on as usual.
"An ancient civilisation of sorts?" Shadow wondered, curious. "Perhaps belonging to the echidnas?"
"Probably. This place sure is beautiful!" Rouge answered after the team went around and shuttle loop and landed in a courtyard with four Egg Pawns.
Omega wasn't having any of this. He was there to eliminate the doctor, not talk about pathetic ruins. "Our main target is Dr. Eggman. Do not forget that!"
Grinning, Shadow easily decimated the group of Egg Pawns with machine guns using a Homing Attack each. He then kicked the door straight open and Omega began tearing down loose pieces of ruin that were blocking their way. Rouge flew her team up a tall wall, then they all followed a speedy path down to a pathway of pawns.
Needless to say, these guys were all done for the moment Team Dark entered their presence. They tore through the ruins, rode the fans for extra height and eliminated more Egg Pawns before reaching another easily breakable door.
Team Dark kept on following their path straight through the ruins, cutting down any obstacles that stood before them.
Heroic endeavours
Next ones to arrive at Ocean Palace were none other then Team Rose. They followed a similar path as Team Dark did to reach the palace, but took a slightly different approach to the clump of ruins; once they had set foot, they did not start moving immediately. Instead, they simply marvelled in the place's beauty.
"This place...it's awe-inspiring!" Amy commented, sitting down and taking a breather. "I think I'll just have a nap right here..."
"Amy!" Cream snapped. "We're not here to have naps! We're here to find our friends!"
This made the pink hedgehog jump to her feet in realisation. Of course! After that lecture she gave her group at the start of Seaside Hill, she had to go and do this?
"Sorry, Cream and Big. Let's go find Sonic, Chocola and Froggy!" Amy declared, leading her team into the zone.
Team Rose took a path that led them through the ruins, past fallen pillars and up fans with the use of Big's umbrella. No robot was safe.
A detailed inspection
Team Sonic had also approached Ocean Palace shortly after Team Rose. When they had landed, they didn't waste much time in taking a good look around the area - with their great speed, nothing was impossible.
"I wonder who these archaic ruins belonged to...doesn't look like anything my ancestors' clan had," wondered Knuckles, inspecting the walls and evidently slowing down his team as a result.
"Uhh...Knuckles?" Tails reminded, hoping the echidna hadn't forgotten why they were at Ocean Palace in the first place.
Sonic wasn't going to wait around. "Come on Knux, we got some Eggman to crack! Hurry it up, will ya?"
"Fine," grunted Knuckles, rejoining the team. To say the least, he wasn't happy to have to leave the relics of what could be his people's past behind. "Let's just go already."
With slight anger being conjured up between Sonic and Knuckles, Tails was always caught in the crossfire and could never get out. He wondered when the two would calm down - he hated it when they were like this. Despite the rivalry and exchange of words, Team Sonic blasted through Ocean Palace, having to climb up a massive tower just to end up dashing away from three oncoming deadly wheels.
Would things ever be the same between the hero and the guardian?
Unending rivalry
"Finding one chao. How hard can that be?" Vector asked his team-mates, as the team appeared at Ocean Palace.
The team sped around a shuttle loop before reaching the first breakable door. After eliminating all the robots on the other side, Espio began to answer.
"Hopefully, not too difficult," he remarked. Before the robots had been destroyed, he noticed something. "Those ones didn't seem to be as alert as the others so far. Perhaps I could sneak past them?"
"No, what's the point? How are we gonna sneak past 'em?" the crocodile questioned in disbelief.
"Touché," Espio conceded, following his group as they tore past pillars and rode the winds blowing from floor fans.
There were some robots with shields - Espio could clear them by sneaking past them and throwing a kunai at their backs, destroying their circuitry and eventually the robots themselves. Charmy flew his friends to another ruin, where they rode the fans up to the peak of a tower where several Egg Pawns were in wait.
In seconds, the robots were dealt with, leaving just the cage with a chao in it as the only object of interest. Vector broke it open, ending the mission. He grabbed the walkie talkie and began to let the client know.
"Hey! We found the chao!" Vector reported.
"Wonderful! Now, somewhere in the ruins, you should see Doctor Eggman in a machine of his. I need you to eliminate his robot, which will force him to retreat. I don't want him captured...just yet," the voice barked. "Understand?"
"Yep! We'll deal with the doctor!" asserted the leader of the team. When he made sure the call had ended, he spoke what he had truly thought. "...wherever he is."
A repeating battle
All teams ventured deeper into the ruins, eventually making their way to different clusters of small sand islands joined together with the use of a ruin-like pathway. The teams could not see the others, so nobody was distracted for the upcoming fight.
Wherever each team were currently positioned, a medium-sized red-bird mech piloted by Dr. Eggman himself appeared to each team...at the exact same time.
"Your attempts to stop my army are futile!" he taunted to each team. "You're only going to make fools out of yourselves!"
Each team had their own response to this so-called 'threat'.
"Heh, that's cute, doc!" Sonic returned. He and Eggman have had an ongoing rivalry for several years now - the blue hedgehog had come to expect this sort of thing.
"Primary target located: Doctor Eggman. Must annihilate!" Omega realised, upon detecting the scientist's presence.
"Dr. Eggman! We won't lose to you!" Amy barked back, showing courage.
"There he is...sorry doctor, we're gonna be dismantling that thing right away!" Vector grinned.
The four Eggman Clones kept speaking in sync of one another, but the four teams could never realise this. "Allow me to show you how powerful I really am!"
Egg Hawk then began blasting backwards - towards the path that each of the teams were looking straight at. Each team followed the mech, dodging the gunfire, collecting Rings and destroying any deployed Egg Pawns that tried to stop them. At the next island, the Eggman Clone would lower the Egg Hawk closer to the ground and initiate a rotary attack.
Ultimately, that didn't work. Every member of each team wailed on their respective Egg Hawks, dealing as much damage as they could. This cycle kept repeating, until the Egg Hawks were brought down through repeated damage.
"I'll get you next time!" the clones asserted. "Looks like I'll have to retreat to Grand Metropolis..."
Every team celebrated their victory as the Eggman Clones fled from the scenes in their cloned Egg Mobiles. Looking at each other, the Chaotix were soon informed of this locale by their client, Team Dark had Rouge's G.U.N intel to rely on to get them to the area, Team Rose had decided to search around for it while Team Sonic had a feeling that Grand Metropolis was close by, considering the blue blur's past adventures.
With this, the teams moved out and towards Grand Metropolis.
Luster the Cat: Season 2 Ending 2 (Let it Out, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, English ver.) -
Let it all out, let it all out
Tomorrow it will fade away
You wonder, is this the right route?
Someday your dreams will come true, maybe today
Despite this painful dream, I'll keep moving on
Until I reach the pinnacle of my power, oh-ho my friend
Will you comfort me, will you pass the baton?
Oh, oh, whoa
Today marks the rest of my days
Sitting and phasing through these painful plays
My dreams torment me, I cannot explain it
But you know I won't quit
I have a dream, I have a hope, I have a life to live
But I can't do this on my own, I need your help
Hopefully your friendly love will never deplete so you can give
I don't care what you've done, but I just need you now
Author Notes: Seaside Hill and Ocean Palace have been conquered. What is this Grand Metropolis all about? Find out next time!
EDIT: Oops. The mention of Japan in this chapter has been removed, because I meant that to be for something else. Sorry!