Thankfully, the heroes could let their guard down as soon as the rustling ceased. It almost seemed like some really fast being had sped around the clearing's edges for a while, before finally stopping in place. A small part of Tails assumed it was Shadow returning to intimidate the Mario Bros. again, but his guess was way off. A Yoshi much like the one who'd escorted the team across the island emerged from the brush, only this one looked radically different: his skin was a steel blue, his feet were bare, save for some spiked red anklets, matching the bracelets on his wrists and the collar around his neck. The ridges on the back of his head were pointed, and a pair of angled sunglasses hid his eyes from view. Strutting into the clearing with a slight limp, the result of being overpowered by the Wario Bros. and Team Dark earlier, he folded his arms as he took a moment to take in the sight of the gang before him.
"Oh, it's just you, Mario? Heh, well I guess I can recuperate for at least a little longer," Boshi said, speaking the same language as Yoshi, but in a much deeper voice. "It sure has been a while. I take it this is that brother of yours? Gotta say, he looks like he takes much better care of himself than you do."
Luigi chuckled while his brother shook his head with a groan, before responding in Italian.
"Rad. Well, in case you're wondering why I'm here, turns out that I was missing my old life as a lovable rogue. So I left Yosh'ter Isle and became the protector over here. Just to save you plumbers some time with the world-saving, y'know? Sorry about almost mauling you guys, but I was assuming those weird thugs were still around after they knocked me out."
"Er… I don't know what the heck you're saying, but we're kind of in a hurry," Sonic interjected, hands on his hips as he tapped his foot. "I'm Sonic, and that's Tails. Long story short, we're from another dimension, and our enemy is teaming up with their enemy."
"All these portals have appeared as a result of all this, and we were just about to head out to find another one," Tails added.
"You don't say! I've been seeing those portals everywhere these days! C'mon, I'll show you the nearest one!" Boshi exclaimed.
"…I'm just gonna assume he knows what we're talking about."
"Yes," Luigi nodded.
"Come on!" Mario led the heroes into the jungle, following their guide.
Ostensibly, the "nearest" portal had spawned at the very top of the mountain range in the center of the island. It was a miracle how no one had spotted it when they first landed on the beach nearby, let alone noticed it when they first passed through here, but at least they wouldn't miss it again. During the hike, Boshi demonstrated his impressive skillset, tossing eggs at any mechanized Shy Guys that came into his path, flutter jumping across gaps, and even using his prehensile tongue to grab ledges and ropes. It was all complimented by a very high ground speed, almost rivaling that of Sonic or Shadow. Part of Sonic wanted to challenge him to a race, but Tails was quick to shoot that idea down, always there to keep his ego in check. Still, he could clearly see how capable of a defender Boshi was, and he was impressed by what he saw.
"Have to say, it feels a little too soon to wind up on another snow-capped mountain," Tails commented.
"Eh, I don't mind it. After all, another snow cap means another chance to shred," Sonic grinned as Mario responded in Italian. "Wait, you mean that wasn't the first time you've snowboarded in a crossover before?"
"At any rate, here we are," Boshi panned his hand towards the portal, his other hand holding a few grapefruits, which he popped into his mouth, skin and all. "Unless there's anything more you need, I'd best be off. Inter-dimensional travel's a bit too risky, even for a daredevil like me, haha."
"Okie-dokie," Mario shook hands with his past acquaintance.
"Bye bye!" Luigi waved his cap, this time being brave enough to jump into the portal first.
"See ya' Boshi," Sonic did a two-finger salute as he and Mario leapt into the portal at the same time. Tails silently waved, before flying after them.
"…man, I should've challenged that hedgehog to a race," Boshi grumbled. "First my urge to become the top dog again, and now this? Talk about a midlife crisis…"
The heroes ended up landing in Mobius again, but this place was by far the most unique out of all the locales they'd traveled through on this adventure thus far. Situated next to a jungle, a wooden, seaside stilt village with palm-leaf roofs and a southeast Asian flair acted as the new setting, all capped off with a beautiful sunset reflecting off the calm ocean waters. It didn't appear that any of the residents were outside or even awake as of now, though it might have been because of the portal that had appeared in the middle of the village. All in all, the locale provided a calm, serene, and ambient atmosphere that immediately put Mario and Luigi at ease… until Tails' Miles Electric went off, prompting him to check the screen.
"Well that killed the moment, huh?" he said, turning down the brightness to make it easier to look at in the dim lighting. "Oh, and there are some more emerald shards here, so… yeah, you know the drill."
"Yeah, but uh, try to be careful while you're exploring, okay?" Sonic pleaded.
"Oh, give me a break. This is coming from the guy who punched everything and trashed the place the last time he was here."
"Let's-a go!" Mario said, jogging away.
"Okay!" Luigi followed him.
While their new friends spread out to continue their treasure hunt, Sonic and Tails were free to embark on a casual stroll around town, taking in the sights and minimal sounds of the familiar continent around them. Though the former looked slightly more apprehensive than the latter, gulping a bit as he glanced at the pitch black saltwater surrounding the slightly creaky wooden docks under his sneakered feet.
"Gotta say, it sure is nice to be able to explore Adabat with much lower stakes this time around," Tails commented.
"Yeah, and at a higher and smoother resolution no less. I swear, the last time I was here, I could barely see where I was going sometimes," Sonic chuckled a bit, before switching to a more apprehensive expression that didn't go unnoticed by his pal.
"Say, what's wrong?"
"Oh, not much. It's just that because of how blurry things were last time, only now do I notice just how much water there is around here. Let's just say I'm glad Mario's doing the exploration and not me."
Tails rolled his eyes, but didn't let his friend see. Choosing not to say anything, he just slapped a hand onto his friend's shoulder with a comforting smile, signifying that he wouldn't be far behind should he fall.
Unaware of the heartfelt moment going on, Mario and Luigi were hard at work jumping and jogging around village, searching every nook and cranny for those elusive Master Emerald shards, and not stopping until every last one was found. Some were fairly easy to obtain, resting on top of roofs, behind or inside huts. Others were on the tougher side, found within the edge of the nearby jungle, buried in the sandy coastlines, or even underwater among the surrounding coral reefs and trenches. Why, there was also a lone shard hidden beneath the recently doused bonfire in the center of town.
Once they'd stuffed their findings into their pockets and caps, the Mario Bros. returned to Sonic and Tails, who were waiting for them on a wooden bench.
"Alright! Way to be efficient… and careful!" Tails nodded, taking out his Miles Electric again. "Shall we continue?"
"Wahoo!" Mario cheered.
"Ya-hah!" Luigi added.
Following the plucky young fox along the boardwalks, the gang eventually came to one dock that jutted out from the rest, presumably used for fishing. Sonic could never forget this particular spot, as it had been the setting for a heart-to-heart between himself and one of the best friends he'd ever made over his years of saving the world. Needless to say, it felt a little awkward to revisit the area without that friend, after he'd fulfilled his destiny by disappearing into the planet itself. But he didn't have much time to think about it for now, for something else was eating him: the next portal was directly in front of the quartet… but it was located underwater!
"Y-You've gotta be kidding me!" Sonic shuddered, his demeanor a farcry from his usual confident, optimistic self. Luigi interjected in Italian, asking him what was wrong. "Oh, nothing. Just the fact that we have to go underwater! I can boost across it no problem, but when it comes to swimming?!"
"Hmm?" Mario cocked an eyebrow, but this went unnoticed.
"Come on now, Sonic. Remember what I said," Tails spoke calmly. "You two can go on ahead. We'll be right there."
"Mm-hmm."
With that, Mario got a running start and leapt off the end of the boardwalk, cannonballing into the ocean and effortlessly breaststroking into the purple vortex. Luigi didn't bother running first, but instead flutter jumped off the docks and dove into the water, landing in the portal instantly. Sonic just took a deep breath.
"Alright, just hold your breath and shut your eyes to keep the salt out," Tails requested, prompting his best friend to do just that. "Oh, and you are gonna learn how to swim one of these days. It can only help you on your adventures."
"Like heck I am. You couldn't bribe me with even the best chili dogs in the world."
Tails ignored that retort and grabbed Sonic by the arms, lifting him into the water. Using his twin appendages like a submarine's propeller, he was able to let them glide through the ocean and into the portal.
Immediately afterwards, Silver appeared out of nowhere in a flash of cyan, still clenching the red Chaos Emerald as he frenetically looked around. But once again, he found that he was too late to catch up to the heroes. Halting his levitation, he let himself fall two feet onto the ground and land on his knees, raising his trembling arms to the sky.
"AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" he screamed, venting his frustration, only to receive a series of shushes from the villagers.
Meanwhile, the four heroes had already exited a portal elsewhere, finding themselves trudging through a gloomy, half-dead forest back in the Mushroom World. Luigi seemed quite unnerved by his surroundings, Tails looked a little on edge, but remained calm, so long as there were no storms, and Mario looked as neutral and focused as always. But for Sonic, he just felt glad to be on solid ground and surrounded by oxygen once again, especially since there wasn't a body of water in sight… well, barring those bubbling, toxic lakes that looked like grape soda. Yet the blue blur was somehow more terrified of clear water than he was of this.
"So wait, you mean to tell me you've never dabbled in beat-em-up before?" Sonic asked.
"Mm-mm," Mario shook his head.
"Heh, well I guess that's one thing I finally beat you to."
Another moment of silence passed, before the Miles Electric started to vibrate. Focusing his blue eyes on its screen, Tails immediately jolted in surprise at what he saw.
"Whoa! The signal shows the next Chaos Emerald is actively moving away from us, and fast," he said.
Luigi responded in Italian.
"Nope, I don't see how Metal Sonic could've recovered from what Shadow did to him back there, at least not that quickly. Plus, this time the Emerald's signal is accompanied by another one… strange… it seems this energy reading is of the spectral variety!"
"Waugh!" Luigi started shivering.
"Well whatever it is, we'd better catch it before we lose it!" Sonic declared, prepping himself to sprint.
"Let's-a go!" Mario raised a determined fist.
Seeing how there didn't seem to be any Master Emerald shards in these woods, Sonic took this as an opportunity to take the lead, sprinting along the wide and narrow dirt roads through the dark, foggy forest, running along thick tree trunks, avoiding poisonous swamps, and bouncing off giant cobwebs to reach the rickety branches in the canopy. All the while homing attacking and boosting through any enemy in his way.
These mostly consisted of Scuttlebugs, Swoopers, Crowbers, and Goombas with jack-o-lanterns on their heads, a lot of them having been mechanized thanks to Bowser's team-up with Dr. Eggman. But there were also several ghostly enemies to be found, such as Boos and Peepas, who were immune to every attack (unless a Starman was part of the equation) and would bounce Sonic back upon contact, forcing him to avoid them. Several of these ghosts carried the platforms that he needed to progress, forcing him to think on his feet even more.
By the time Sonic had finished navigating this unfamiliar region, he screeched to a halt in order to let his partners catch up, but quickly realized that he had reached a dead end, having stopped in the middle of a clearing.
"I don't understand!" Tails moaned, once again looking down at his tablet. "I could've sworn the signals led us to this very spot, but now they're all scrambled!"
"So what do we do now?" Sonic asked.
"Well, you could start by dropping dead!" an eerie, scratchy voice sounded from an unknown place.
"Oh no!" Luigi screamed, cowering behind his brother as he immediately recognized the being behind it.
Out of nowhere, a giant spherical ghost with stubby, paddle-like arms appeared in front of the quartet. He had sunken lavender eyes cloaked in shadow, and a golden crown adorned with a massive purple gem rested atop his head. Shooting the heroes a goading grin, baring his dark teal tongue and sharp teeth, he let out an ominous laugh. Luigi continued to shiver in fear as old memories came back to haunt him, while Mario looked surprised and Sonic and Tails looked rather neutral, having seen far creepier ghosts in their own dimension.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't my old nemesis, Luigi!" the ghost taunted. "You know, I'm surprised you were able to make these new friends. You're such a coward, I'm surprised you don't try to run away from them too!"
"Your smack-talk could definitely use a little work there, buddy," Sonic replied.
"Regardless, if you insist on bothering us, then the least you could do is give us some directions," Tails added with a hint of sarcasm.
"If not, we could always beat 'em out of you!"
"Eee hee hee hee! I'd love to indulge your thirst for violence, random talking rat, but right now I'm more concerned with getting my revenge on Luigi!" King Boo growled, glaring at his trembling adversary.
It was then that Mario leapt ahead of his brother and landed in a fighting stance, mouthing off the ghost in Italian.
"Wait, what?! He trapped you in a painting?!" Sonic jumped in alarm. "…yeah, y'know what? I'll leave him to you."
"Good choice, hedgehog," King Boo grinned.
"Alright, you finally got it right!"
"Silence! Now to make sure nobody can get between me and these plumbers, I'd better use some of the tech that fat doctor gave me…"
Before anyone could inquire as to what he meant, King Boo shot a purple beam from his crown jewel, aiming it at the ground. In an instant, a giant half-dead leaf burst up from the dirt, followed by the rest of what looked like a deformed, overgrown Venus fly trap, its entire body appearing to be rotting, but held together with some screws, bolts, and scraps and metal.
"Ah, Petey Piranha! It's good to see you again, old friend!" King Boo said, presenting his longtime partner. "So sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, but it had to be done."
Petey just let our a loud, feral roar that left the heroes covered in spit, which they quickly shook off.
"Now, it's time to battle, but you'll have to catch us first!"
King Boo's crown glowed once again as he magically formed two more paths out of the clearing, quickly floating down the one to the left as the zombified Petey Piranha let out one more screech and ran down the one to the right.
"Quick, you two! Go after the ghost freak!" Sonic ordered. "Tails and I will follow that overgrown salad!"
"Oh yeah! C'mon!" Mario dragged his reluctant brother after King Boo.
Without another word, Sonic sprinted down the rightmost path with his best friend and faithful sidekick close behind.