Author's Note: Sorry that this chapter was late, with life being busy, writer's block and everything that's been happening. So, without further ado, here's chapter 15!
Sonic245 and I do not own rights to Sailor Moon, Sonic the Hedgehog, Cardcaptor Sakura, Pokemon, Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, Shrek or Ice Age, only the OCs.
Chapter 15: Red Equals Anger.
Just as dawn was beginning to approach in Mazuri and the Guardians of Light, Cosmo and Sonic Prime were close to awakening from their slumber after yesterday's events, Ash and Pikachu were both peacefully snoring with nice dreams to keep them at ease...right before the twelve year old Pokemon Master began to moan and groan in pain, as unbeknownst to him, the power of the Echo gifted to him via the Mothercrystal Hydaelyn, was once again showing him a vision of a past, but what he didn't realize was that this one was different.
Ash's Echo Vision-Sonic Prime's past during the events of "Cardcaptor Sakura and the Blue Blur"...
"RAINBOW BLAST!" Sonic Prime yelled as his body glowed and caused a white and blue blast which made Metallix's body explode repeatedly before it finally began to erase the metallic monster as well as the Phantom Ruby once and for all, causing both to cease to exist.
A group of heroes, most were completely blurry yet some like a younger Sonic, close to Sonic's age, same with Tails, Amy, Cream and Cheese, Knuckles, and surprisingly, Shadow, along with Kairi, Ash and some of his friends including Pikachu, were perfectly clear, and all of them had to shield their eyes at the brightness before looking up and saw Sonic Prime, who was glowing a brilliant light blue in his Ultra Form, stand as he was utterly exhausted before returning to normal and fell, but was gently caught by another blur who then carefully placed him on the ground to recover.
However, what Ash seeing this vision saw was that deep somewhere in the Abyss, a small speck of red and black pulsed like a heart-beat, glowing brighter and brighter until a flash of red light shone so brightly in the black void that it spread until...a menacing voice spoke in an omnious echo.
"NiCe TrY, sOnIc PrImE...bUt YoU wIlL nEvEr DeStOrY mE..."
End of Vision...
"WAH!" Ash yelped as not only he recovered from the vision which he thought was a nightmare, but it also made him jolt upright in fright before he lost his balance and fell off the edge of his bed and landed on the floor with a thud, hitting his head. "Ow!"
"Pi!? Pikachu yelped as the sound of his human best friend's cry startled him awake, before the small Pokemon peered over the bed, exclaiming in worry. "Pika pi!?"
The young Pokemon and Keyblade Master groaned, sitting up while using the side of the bed to support him and rubbed the back of his head, still half-asleep. "Ugh...Man, that was some kind of weird nightmare. I've never had dreams like that before."
"Pika Pika?(Weird nightmare?)" Pikachu tilted his head slightly.
Though the moment Ash said this, he thought about what he saw and frowned in confusion as he realized that it wasn't just any old weird nightmare. He saw Prime in the most unusual glow with a very powerful attack that looked stronger than what Serena described when she transformed into Sailor Cosmos, similar to when she became Ultimate Sailor Moon and Sonic transformed into Super Sonic. The giant metal-dragon-like monster, a strange red and black stone or something...a large group of people with only Ash himself, Pikachu, their closest friends and companions, Kairi back before the Mark of Mastery Exam, and even Sonic's group with Shadow...
'Was it really a dream? Or was it...the Echo?' The young Pokemon Master thought, gazing up at the ceiling in deep thought.
Ten minutes later after everyone finally got up and, deciding to give Brock and Lita a break from cooking this morning, Dawn, Amy Rose, and surprisingly Sonic made breakfast for everybody including themselves before the blue hedgehog and the two girls came into the dining area where everybody else were waiting.
"Hey, breakfast's ready." Sonic called out as he, his self-proclaimed girlfriend and the young Pokemon Coordinator came in with trolleys and trays full of plates that had bacon and eggs and for the vegetarians, nicely cut up fruit salads.
"You guys cooked this morning?" Diego asked, not having expected this.
"What's the matter, Sonic? No Chili Dogs for you?" Knuckles couldn't help but tease.
"'Course we did. Thought it'd be a good idea to give Lita and Brocko a break for once." Sonic responded to Diego's question, then said to Knuckles while fully aware of the joke. "And hey, I love chili dogs like no other guy in the Realm of Light, but I do like other food sources too. Besides, they're not really for breakfast. As my Mom would always say, 'Eating nutrients in the morning makes you healthier'. Or, something like that."
"Here you go. Get it while it's nice and hot." Amy Rose said smiling while handing out the fruit pieces to Manny, Ellie, Sid, Brooke, Buck, Crash and Eddie as Donkey, despite being a vegetarian himself, had grown to have other meals as well. "And here are the nicely freshly cut, sweet and juicy fruit salads."
"So you and Sonic did all of the fruit while Dawn made the rest of it by herself?" Manny asked, skeptically while everyone else thought the food looked delicious.
"Of course not! Sonic and I can cook too, you know!" The pink hedgehog pouted, her hands on her hips.
"Relax, Manny. Ames' been training in cooking and I've learned how to cook from my parents when I was little. The three of us pinched in together this morning." Sonic reassured.
"Sonic and Rose even had more lessons from Brock and Lita with me and Sakura. No need to worry!" Dawn happily added.
"That's fine with me! Let's dig in!" Serena declared happily, already munching down on her food on her plate, enjoying it to her heart's content until she noticed everyone else staring blankly at her, making the Moon Princess puzzled. "What? What? Why are you guys staring like that? I'm hungry and I need the energy so we can find the Chaos Emerald today."
Most of the Sailor Team and Team Sonic sweat dropped with exasperated expressions, with Raye grumbling. "Your mind's always on food first thing in the morning."
As the heroes ate while discussing random things including on locating the third Chaos Emerald, Prime would check on Sakura who smiled softly in gratitude and reassurance despite that, unbeknownst to one another, would be thinking about the latter's dream, which the young Cardcaptor felt was another prophetic dream detailing something horrible happening, to which the former still couldn't understand how or why.
Ash on the other hand, yawned and couldn't stop thinking about his own dream and was unable to figure if it was just that based on the information from Sonic and Sonic Prime, or it was the Echo warning him about something.
"Ash? Hey, Ash." Brock's voice brought the twelve year old out of his thoughts and looked up to see one of his best friends gaze at him in confusion and growing concern. "You haven't said much all morning. Is something wrong?"
"Uh...No, not really." Ash replied sheepishly, then lowered his gaze to stare at his almost empty plate. "At least, I don't think it is."
This got everyone else's attention as Cream asked worriedly. "Did you have a bad dream, Ash?"
"Chao?" Cheese murmured.
"I guess you could say that, Cream. But it was more strange and kind of creepy." The Pokemon Master admitted with a shrug, which shocked and surprised both Sakura and Prime who gazed at him fully with their eyes wide.
"Strange? How do you mean?" Madison asked.
"Not sure, but this morning before I woke up, I saw Prime glowing in a lighter blue, almost like one of the Chaos Emeralds. I think he was fighting a giant metal like monster, and some of us were there. But one of the weird things is that there were other people I couldn't even recognize and they were all blurry like a bad picture or something." Ash explained.
This shocked everyone as Prime exclaimed with his eyes wide. "What!? What kind people did you see in that dream?"
"Well, there was me, Pikachu, Misty, Brock, May, Max, Dawn and Piplup, I think, and there was even Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Cream and Cheese, and even Shadow was there, too." He explained.
"Shadow? Why would Shadow be there and not the rest of us?" Sonic asked with a confused shrug. "Sounds like you were dreaming up the things Prime went through to me."
Ash scratched the top of his head which his hat was set beside him. "Guess so, but the problem is, the other weird and the most creepy part was Prime got rid of the monster and a giant red and black rock kind of thing. But then something within some black void that looks like the Realm of Darkness shone with the same colours, and then I heard this voice."
"A voice?" Serena blinked, suddenly cringing as she felt a chill run down her spine while leaning back nervously. "Why am I getting a bad feeling about this?" She gulped in slight fear.
"I don't like the sound of this either. Based on what you're describing, I can't help but remember that it's the Phantom Ruby like Prime told us." Sonic agreed with his arms folded, before gazing at his older self. "You said that it was very dangerous and can cause illusions that can actually feel and act real, right?"
"Yes. Eggman used that Phantom Ruby to make endless copies of everything and everyone from my past, having it inserted within the Infinite in my old world." Prime confirmed with a serious expression, deep down beginning to feel that both Ash and Sakura's dreams were connected somehow, but he couldn't understand how or why. he then asked the twelve year old boy. "What did the voice say, Ash?"
"Hmmm...Well, it was kind of distorted, almost zombie-like, but the words were kind of clear." Ash thought deeply, and then he remembered what the voice had said, which ran a chill down his spine. "It said, "Nice try, Sonic Prime. But you will never destroy me". That's when I woke up thinking it was just a weird nightmare at first."
"What!?" The blue hedgehog exclaimed, before shaking his head. "No, that's impossible. I destroyed both Metallix and the Phantom Ruby, and erased them from existance."
"I'm just as lost in this as you are, Prime. I'm not sure if it was just a dream or it was...the Echo trying to tell me something." Ash sighed.
"The Echo?" Prime blinked, then remembered. "Wait, isn't that the new power that lets you see into the past that the Mothercrystal granted you? After you sacrificed your Dimensional Scream to help save Kairi and Darien?"
Ash nodded to confirm it, before Sakura frowned in worry. "But if that's the case, would it mean...that my dream last night was also trying to warning of the dark future that could be happening?"
Now that got everyone else's attention as well with Manny asking. "What are you talking about?"
"It's just, well...I had a dream that a strange figure wearing a mask with a glowing red eye defeated all of us and...and was trying to kill Prime. The mask was black, but the figure...I think it was a Mobian, because he was glowing in red particles..." The thirteen year old girl shuddered, with Prime rubbing her back gently to give her comfort.
Now it was Sonic's turn to be horrified as he stood up, his hands on the table as he, and even Knuckles, Amy Rose, Tails, Cream and Cheese all gasped, and the blue hedgehog exclaiming, "What!? You had a nightmare about Infinite!? It can't be!"
"Wait, you mean...that was Infinite that I saw?" Sakura asked, now horrified as the rest of the Sailor Team and Cosmo all began to look shocked and fearful.
Prime narrowed his eyes, before sighing. "I thought of the same thing when you told me last night, but how can that be? Infinite died after the War and like I said, I destroyed the Phantom Ruby."
Sonic nodded in agreement. "Right, and the Infinite I fought had Iblis before they were both absorbed by Mepilies. They all died when I destroyed Solaris and saved Elise's heart."
He then thought of something and softly gasped with his eyes widening. "Unless..."
High above them standing on the roof of a building to the group's right behind them, was a Mobian Jackal with black fur, white long and stiff dreadlocks, a white collar of some kind, and white stripes on his back that resemble a ribcage. One eye was also red, and he was wearing a mask that covered the other, and he was floating, with his arms folded.
The mysterious Mobian scoffed softly before turning around and flew off, out of sight behind the roof and getting away.
"Maybe it was Infinite that I saw the other day back in Soleanna, but he disappeared before I could catch him." The fifteen year old hedgehog muttered. "I thought I was seeing things."
"Hmmm..." Prime thought in concern. "There's something not right about this. It can't be possible."
"But, if Ash and Sakura both had dreams about you, it's gotta be connected, right? Maybe it's the guy who's trapped you here in the first place." Sora remarked with a serious expression.
"Unless it's Apsu's doing." Tails pointed out. "Remember, she brought back the Youmas from the Sailor Team's past and we're still not sure if she was using the same method as Ultimecia or she revived them or even brought them from...the...past..."
"You thinking that Apsu brought Infinite from either our past or Prime's past, Tails?" Sonic asked, sensing some logic into his little brother's theory as he began to think of the same thing.
The two-tailed fox thought before shaking his head. "Then again, how would she know about Prime as well?"
"Maybe she wants more than just destroy the Realm of Light?" Serena thought worriedly, folding her arms on the table. "What if she's super strong and is after the entire Omniverse and we didn't even know it until now?"
"It could be, but for some reason I don't think even she's aware of all of this. If she were, we would've had a clue but Cosmo asked directly for the six of us and Cloud, and there wasn't any mention of Sonic Prime at all." Mickey pointed out.
"So what else could it be?" Maya asked worriedly.
Sonic thought once more as did everyone else, before shrugging as he made a hopeless suggestion. "Somebody else that Prime knows from his world? Like, not within Mobius since that version of our home is gone, but maybe there's somebody out there that's targeting Prime and sent him here, disguising themselves, or maybe it's somebody entirely new that was waiting for the right time to attack. All bad guys we've never heard of but have heard of us always do that sort of stuff."
"This is getting us nowhere." Shrek shook his head. "How about we go look for the Chaos Emeralds and along the way if we find a clue on what's going on, then we'll worry about figuring it out."
"He's right. We can't solve all of this by just coming up with theories that could be wrong." Riku agreed.
Prime lowered his gaze in concern, remembering his final battle against Metallix, during which the evil metallic monster that held two people to destroy them, his words echoing in the blue hedgehog's mind.
"Maybe you don't know that I have the true power of the Phantom Ruby, it can affect someone in another dimesion. The Phantom Ruby then would corrupt their hearts, destroy them completely and kill them."
'Something's not right. I destroyed the Phantom Ruby, Metallix is gone. They don't exist anymore.' The blue hedgehog thought to himself.
'iS tHaT sO? dO yOu ReAlLy CaLl YoUrSeLf A hErO? wHaT iF yOu FaIlEd To DeStRoY tHe PhAnToM rUbY?' The same dark voice that has been haunting him echoed in his mind once more, and Prime had to resist in closing his eyes.
'Shut up!' He snapped in his head, yet at the same time, a horrible thought came into his mind, given what Sakura and Ash had told him and everyone else.
But how was it possible?
Deciding to try and worry about the meaning of both Ash and Sakura's dreams later, after breakfast the Guardians, Prime and Cosmo, knowing that they were close to where the third Chaos Emerald was, decided to get there on foot by having the two Emeralds they already had as scanners as they hiked along the Savannah of Mazuri, Serena, Amy Andreson, Raye, Lita, Mina, Rini, Lusie, Tiffenie, Luna and Maya already transformed into their Sailor Scout forms, and Darien transformed into Tuxedo Mask.
"I think we're getting pretty close. Though I do wish we had a Chaos Emerald Detector or something." Sonic announced and admitted, holding the blue Chaos Emerald while Tails held the green one.
"Maybe we should ask Tails to make one or at least ask Master Yen Sid to create something like how I used to use my Crescent Moon Wand to find the seven Rainbow Crystals." Sailor Moon dryly suggested as she walked, her hands clasped behind her head.
"I can do that, but it could take a while." The aforementioned two-tailed fox replied, fully aware of the dry tone in the sixteen year old girl's voice.
The blue hedgehog sighed, sadly gazing at his Emerald. "If only I could use my power to just call them back and it would save us a lot of trouble in finding them with the little time we have. Problem is, I can only do that after I'm done being Super Sonic."
"Huh? You can do that?" Prime asked, surprised as he gazed at his younger self.
"It's a new neat trick I learned from Cosmos after Sailor Moon prayed with the Chaos Emeralds to save me. With the little energy I still had left after I turn back to normal, I focus hard and pray for them to stay by my side and for some reason, they agreed until the time comes for them to go their separate ways. That's how Tails, Amy, Knuckles and I got back home a week later after Rinsler was beaten. Pretty cool, huh?" Sonic explained with a smirk.
The older Sonic was admittedly impressed that the younger Sonic has an ability even he didn't know of and smiled. "That is a pretty cool trick. But it must've taken a bit of energy outta you."
"Yeah, it can leave me a bit more tired than when I usually turn back to normal, and I still have to had good practice with it even when Eggman didn't take 'til the mess with Apsu started. Kinda like how you've been practicing with your Chaos Force and all of the cool tricks you can do." The hero of Mobius admitted sheepishly.
"Speaking of tricks, how come you're teaching Sonic the same skills you've got, Prime?" May asked, curiously.
"Yeah, I thought Sonic wouldn't have the Chaos Force like you do." Donkey added.
"Actually, that's one of my basic abilities I have used throughout many adventures. Heck I still use it now even I have Chaos Force abilities. Although those abilities are basic, it's actually useful for me when facing a powerful enemy once I detected their weakness point." Prime explained.
Sonic whistled at that. "You've so gotta teach more of your basic abilities, Prime. I wanna learn 'em all!"
"I wish I could do that sort of stuff, but I can't even roll over." Sailor Moon sighed.
"Maybe you should learn the most useful trick in our book, you two." Crash suggested smirking, making the two Sonics gaze at him and his brother as the blue-eyed Possum concluded after a slight dramatic pause. "THIS!"
He and Eddie then collapsed onto the ground and played dead, which only prompted everyone else to sweat drop with deadpanned and/or bewildered expressions.
"That only works for birds who want to eat you guys and other Possums." Sonic grumbled, before adding sarcastically. "Unless you two are training yourselves to be dogs for candy and treats."
"It didn't work for Vultures who tried to get to us a long time ago and that was scary." Sailor Mini Moon shook her head with a shrug.
"I wish those Vultures went for something more substantial like berries, or, er...or even an Acorn." Donkey shrugged, shuddering over the memory of the flock of Vultures that tried to eat him, Puss, Sailor Moon, Shrek, Sailor Mini Moon, Sakura, Manny, Sid, Diego, Ellie, Crash and Eddie back in the Ice Age.
Just then, the two Chaos Emeralds that the group had began to shine a bit brighter which made the group stop and gazed at the gems. Immediately sensing a third Emerald very close by, the Guardians, Cosmo and Prime looked up ahead to see a slight red glow sticking out from the dirt.
"The Emerald!" Sid cried out, and like Donald back at the mysterious place before the confrontation with Ursula, the sloth was about to race over towards it.
But Sonic, remembering the last time as he, his older self, Sailor Mars, Pikachu, Kero and Knuckles once again sensed the negative energy while the rest of the Guardians and Cosmo also remembered and tensed, quickly sped in front of him and grabbed hold of Sid's left arm to hold him back, making the sloth from the Ice Age to run but not going anyway.
"Hold up, Sid! We can't just go pick them up like we want to this time! It could be another trap that'll take us back to that weird Null-Space-Realm of Memories-like place." The blue hedgehog warned quickly, as Sailor Moon, Ash, Sora, Goofy, Mickey, Brock, Riku, Donald, Sakura, Sailor Mini Moon and Sailor Jupiter quickly join in to stop their idiotic friend from doing something stupid once again.
"But it couldn't have been the Chaos Emerald doing that the last time, right?" Sid shrugged after he stopped running and his friends let him go.
"No, but whoever's behind all of this and keeping Prime trapped here in our dimension, I have a feeling that the guy we haven't seen before yet may be trying to destroy us and maybe use the Chaos Emeralds for themselves. It's my fault that this is making it easier for whoever's after us." Sonic pointed out.
"Not only that, knowing you, you could cause another catastrophic accident." Sailor Moon added with her hands on her hips. "The only exception to that rule was when you accidentally broke Geotopia apart which helped us out to stop the Asteroid of Darkness."
Flash-Back: During the events of "Sailor Moon: Collision Course"...
Just as the Guardians of Light sans Sid, Rufus, the Turks, Hayner, Pence, Olette, Alain, Mairin, Buck, Zack and the Black Pearl Pirates were trying to figure out what to do now that Shangri Llama refused to help them to destroy the coming Asteroid, all of the sudden the entire place around them began to crack and before they knew it, within seconds the entire already fallen Asteroid broke apart and was completely destroyed, all of the crystals scattered everywhere and the once beautiful Sanctuary was now in ruins and everyone was outside, including the Geotopians.
"Huh!?" Zack exclaimed in shock and disbelief.
"What in the world...?" Rufus murmured as he, the Turks and Team Rocket couldn't believe what just happened.
Serena and everybody else of the Guardians of Light on the other hand, and the Pirates, all groaned before somed of them ended up facepalming themselves in exasperation and in embarrassment. They knew exactly what caused this to suddenly happen.
"Great. Shangri Llama is going to like us now." Cloud remarked sarcastically.
"What the hell...?" Rude muttered, his eyes widening behind his sunglasses.
"Okay, what the hell just happened?" Reno asked, dumbstruck.
"Sid happened." Serena, Isa, Diego, Pintel, Ragetti, Raye, Lita, and Ash all replied with deadpanned expressions.
The group who had not been there during the Moon and Bhunivelze War stared at the Guardians and even Team Rocket who nodded in agreement in shock, before Elena demanded in disbelief. "Sid? But how did he destroy Geotopia?"
"Uh..." Kero began awkwardly. "Let's just say, he's the biggest accident prone in the Realm of Light's history."
End of Flash-Back:
"She has a point." Ash muttered in agreement.
Sid, remembering that time, and actually thinking through, twiddled his claws sheepishly while chuckling in embarrassment. "Okay, so I'm an accident prone. Heh heh heh...But then, how are we gonna get the Chaos Emerald without going back into that weird place, if it does happen?"
Before any of his friends or his girlfriend could answer, they heard a strangely familiar scampering and looked to see, to the Guardians' surprise was none other than Scrat who was looking for a place to once again bury his Acorn. The little Ice Age Squirrel sniffed the ground and stopped just near the Chaos Emerald.
"Hey, it's that little squirrel guy we've seen back on Earth!" Sonic exclaimed in surprise, pointing at the little furry-tailed rodent.
"Do you know him?" Cosmo asked, confused.
"Who is that little guy?" Prime questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Not sure, but I keep having this weird feeling we've seen him before. We've seen him a lot of times in the Johto Region and even some of the other worlds including back in the Fairy-Tale World." Sailor Moon replied, raising an eyebrow of her own. "What I still don't get is how he managed to travel from world to world, but he seemed to be obsessed with those acorns."
"Too obsessed." Diego dryly added.
"Uh...guys? I think he's gonna try and bury that Acorn where the Chaos Emerald is...!" Sailor Mini Moon worriedly pointed.
To everybody else's horror, they saw that she was right and Scrat, fully unaware of the dangers, dug into the ground once he discovered that the soil was perfect for his Acorn with a perked delight, and began digging only to notice the red Chaos Emerald. Hmph! Well, that was annoying, how did this red rock thingy get in the way?
Glaring at it, the Ice Age squirrel made to dig it out.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Sailor Moon and virtually everyone else screamed in dismay and horror and as Sonic looked up, he caught glimpse of the same strange glitchy red mist coming from the sky and flew straight towards them.
"LOOK OUT!" The blue hedgehog exclaimed, pulling Amy, Tails, Cream and Cheese close to him while everyone else braced themselves. They all screamed as the mist surrounded them and even Scrat who, hearing the screams and looked to see what was going on, he too screamed in horror and fear.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Scrat screeched before he had to shield his eyes as well as hold a tight grip on his Acorn which, along with the Chaos Emerald, both vanished.
When the light faded, the Guardians, Cosmo, Prime and Scrat looked around and saw, to their dismay, they were indeed back in the same place they had been imprisoned in earlier, only this time on a different platform with the same black and white swirling skies with green lights swirling around like a river stream surrounding them.
"Oh, great!" Sonic growled in irritation. "I knew this would happen! Now we'll have to go through the nightmare finding the Chaos Emerald, fighting whoever's waiting for us and figure out how to get outta here all over again!"
Scrat, confused and frightened on his new surroundings while whimpering, realized that his arms felt empty and found to his horror that his precious Acorn was(again) gone. Screaming in despair and horror while pulling at his fur before looking around and while the group were stuck on how to find their way out, the little squirrel decided to scamper up ahead to find the one thing that was always on his mind and ran up the path to resume his search.
"That stupid squirrel...! It's no thanks to that rodent that we're stuck here!" Knuckles growled, his muzzle turning bright red like his fur colouring.
"Calm down, guys! Getting angry isn't going to solve this problem." Max scolded to two teenage Mobians who both felt like losing their temper.
"It's not the little squirrel's fault. I'm sure he didn't mean it." Cream added nervously while she tried to calm both Sonic and Knuckles down with a sweat drop.
"Chao..." Cheese chirped with a nod.
"Yeah, but we were too late and too slow to even stop him. Looks like we're gonna have to go through this all over again." Manny grumbled.
"I don't think it would have been avoidable in the first place." Prime grimly pointed out, before shaking his head. "Either way, getting angry isn't going to solve our problem. We'll just have to do like we did the last time and keep an eye out for the dangers up ahead."
The moment both Manny and Prime had spoken, Sonic softly gasped, his anger cooling off almost in an instant and, hearing only the first part on what the Mammoth had said and hearing the older Sonic's voice, the younger blue hedgehog lowered his gaze to the ground. Too slow...too late...those unfortunately triggered a horrible memory he never wanted to remember again, one from a year ago that still had guilt hold a grip within his heart.
Flash-Back: During the events of "Sonic Fighters"...
Sonic, his friends, Eggman, Decoe, Bocoe and Bokkun could only watch in horror as Heihachi continued to critically bend and snap the helpless Shin who had tried to kill him, but was hit hard and now his back was being snapped to the point of internal bleeding, as Vanilla and Amy both had to shield Cream's eyes and ears to prevent her from seeing and hearing this. Sonic and Knuckles had attempted on stopping the insane elderly but strong man, but were unable to do so.
"STOP IT!" Sonic pleaded helplessly. "Let Shin go, please!"
"You are too late, Sonic the Hedgehog of another world..." Heihachi informed him cruelly, using his mighty strength to continue to bend Shin who grunted and howled in agony. "Too slow!"
With a final snap and Shin's strangled cries, the young man was then tossed to the floor and Sonic and the others were horrified before the blue hedgehog, the red echidna stood up and they all hurried over to the mortally wounded older teenager's side.
"NO!" Sonic, Knuckles, Tails, Amy, and Xiaoyu cried out as they, Cream and Cheese, Vanilla, Alisa who was just as horrified, and even Eggman and his robots knelt and stood surrounding him, as Alisa carefully cradled Shin who was taking his final breath.
"Shin...I'm...I'm so sorry...! I-I promised that I'd come and save you...!" Sonic, feeling helpless, guilt-ridden, murmured while feeling his heart sink while his friends pleaded Shin to stay. "Just-Just hang in there, okay? We can still save you...!"
"N-No...You've...You've already saved me, Sonic...you and Xiaoyu...Alisa...all of you..." Shin smiled weakly, knowing that his time was coming. "This is...what I...wanted..."
"This isn't what WE wanted!" Knuckles growled, devastated and furious as for the first time in his life, he was unable to hold back tears that leaked in his eyes.
"Please don't go, Shin...! We wanted to make you feel better...!" Tails wept, sniffling.
"Sorry, kid...I...never had much left...except our-our friendship..." The dying young man apologetically said.
"Which is why we're going to save you and bring you back home!" Amy sobbed, her tears already falling.
Sonic, in desperation and not wanting to let Shin's life end this way, pleadingly looked up at Eggman and exclaimed. "Eggman, please! Do something! What do we do!? What do I need to get!? I can get them with my speed! Please, tell me what I need to do!"
For once, even Eggman was utterly guilt-ridden with heavy sorrow as he grimly replied while shaking his head. "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do, Sonic. I'm not a surgen, but even I know that there is nothing that can be done with interal bleeding. Even if you could get him to the hospital with your speed, Sonic...it's already too late. Not even a surgery now can save him..."
"No...This is...This is just not right!" The fourteen year old blue hedgehog denied in horror, gazing back at Shin as the reality of the situation unfolded.
Shin had spoken one more time, before he began to fall limp with his final breath, but managed to whisper, only for Sonic to hear. "Sonic...Jin...the rest is...up to you..."
With that, as the young man went limp, Sonic and his friends and even his worst enemy and the robots were utterly dismayed to see that Shin...had died right before their eyes, his own eyes closed and never to open ever again.
"Nooooooooooo!" Xiaoyu screamed in devastation and sorrow before she, Tails, Amy, Cream and Cheese, Vanilla and even Alisa all began to cry. Knuckles punched the floor in frustation and angst. Even Eggman and his robots were devastation.
Sonic, unable to believe this and wishing that this was all just a horrible nightmare, felt like the whole thing was all his fault. He couldn't believe this was happening and he didn't want to believe it. Shin...Shin was gone. Guilt, anger and sorrow flooded his heart, tears forming in his eyes. He failed...for the first time in his life, he failed. He had been too late...too slow...
"No..." The blue hedgehog shook his head, before squeezing his eyes shut as tears fell freely, punching the floor repeatedly as he screamed, letting out all of his guilt and pain of failure. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! SHIN! COME BACK! COME BACK! IT'S NOT FAIR! THIS IS JUST WRONG! IT'S ALL MY FAULT! Why!? Why did you have to die like this!?"
Ceasing in pounding the wooden aged floor, Sonic just wept, feeling like a complete failure, unable to save someone for once in his life.
End of Flash-Back:
'Too slow...too late...I've failed again...Shin...Galaxia...Shadow...now this...' Sonic thought in his mind, his heart feeling like it was being squeezed from within, swallowing the lump that formed in his throat while tears began to sting his eyes which he attempted to will back.
"Sonic, are you okay?"
"Huh?" Hearing his name, the blue hedgehog was brought out of his thoughts and turned to see that his friends, with Fiona being the one who had spoken to him, all gazed at him worriedly and their expressions deepened into great concern when they saw how upset he looked, making him realize that he looked down again and shrugged.
"Why wouldn't I be okay?" The hero of Mobius responded, attempting to try and hide his own dilemma, mentally cringing at how his voice sounded all cracked and choked with tears.
"Sonic, you look really upset. Is something wrong?" Amy pointed out and asked gently, approaching her 'boyfriend' worriedly.
"No, I'm fine. Really. Just annoyed that we have to go through this place again." Sonic lied, only for Prime to place a hand onto his shoulder which startled the younger blue hedgehog and made him gaze at the older blue hedgehog who, to his shock, looked like he was having the similar dilemma as he was yet was hiding it as well.
Then it dawned onto him as Sonic mentally gasped. The words...of being too slow and too late...not only had those very words had made him remember his own failure, but it made him realize now that Prime must be remembering his own failure to stop Mecha Sonic from killing all of his friends and destroying his homeworld. The fifteen year old now felt his guilt increase and began to think that he was selfish, realizing that his lie and attempting to hide his feelings from the people he loved would only push them away...and make him take them for granted. But what would he do? He couldn't just open up when they were in a middle of a crisis.
'Everybody's counting on me...I can't cry. I don't wanna cry. I can't let them down, but I can't take them for granted either...I have to protect them. I can't fail again. And Prime...the family and friends he has left are waiting for him...It's my fault that the Chaos Emeralds were scattered like this...' Sonic thought in his mind.
What was he going to do?
Then he remembered something very important, something that Sora once told him a long time ago, during their adventures in the Galar Region and despite that the blue hedgehog was closer to Sailor Moon out of all of the Sailor Team, that didn't mean he didn't connect himself with the others too.
Flash-Back: During the events of "Sailor Moon and Sonic: Galar Conquest-Season 21"...
Sonic and Sora, the latter having sensed that something was wrong and decided to go find him, had been discussing about homesickness, the sixteen year old Keyblade Master informing the hero of Mobius of what he went through.
"You know, Sonic? You're more luckier than I was when I was first taken away from home." Sora stated as he gazed up at the sky.
"Really? How so?" Sonic asked, his hands behind his back and one leg over the other.
"Well, you found your friends already and you have a clue on how to get back home." Sora shrugged, sighing. "I've looked everywhere for Riku and Kairi, and our reunions were...well...Maleficent got to Riku before he found me, and was tricked into thinking I abandoned him and Kairi for new friends, and he wouldn't let me see her. I didn't even realize that Kairi's heart was inside my own after we've been separated and I had to sacrifice myself to put it back. I transformed into a Heartless for a short while."
"What!?" The blue hedgehog exclaimed in shock, his eyes widening, horrified. "But how did you turn back to normal?"
"Kairi brought me back. Our hearts are connected, and all of us together, we're each other's lights that shines within the darkness. I heard her voice calling out my name and, well, I turned back to normal even with Roxas existing the same way as me. Same thing with Kairi and Namine. Of course, I still had to find Riku and while I don't remember anything about Castle Oblivion, my memories were messed up by Marluxia and Larxene, I had to spend a whole year without my closest friends asleep, and, well...you know the rest." The sixteen year old explained.
The fifteen year old hedgehog lowered his gaze. "Whoa...Now I feel really awful for being homesick, when I managed to find my best buddies way faster than you did with Riku and Kairi. I'm sorry, Sora..."
"Don't be. Ash, Pikachu, Dawn, Piplup and Brock went through the similar thing, when they and Grovyle were taken to Grovyle's homeworld, and it took them days to find each other again too. But eventually they found their way home and so did we." Sora reassured, saying optimistically. "That's why we're going to keep on helping you guys to get back to your world too, just as Serena, Donald, Goofy and the rest of the Sailor Team before discovering the Fairytale World did with me, and King Mickey being there for Riku. We're all there for each other, like you, Tails, Rose and Knuckles are there for each other. Being with friends is better to go through hard times even in spirit than being on your own, and more fun too."
Despite still feeling somewhat guilty, Sonic felt a little bit better knowong that there were other people like him, but more open towards opening up with feelings. Maybe it was time for Sonic the Hedgehog to open up a bit more too towards his friends, like his parents and Uncle once told him even if he was fine in keeping his own feelings hidden for the sake of his friends and while he had to be strong for them, maybe opening up a little wouldn't be so bad.
"Yeah, you're right." Sonic replied, smiling as his own optimism returned to full force. "Thanks for cheering me up, Sora. Not that I enjoyed in feeling down and it takes a whole lot to get me into the dumps. I can see why you've got so many cool friends with ya. Like with Serena."
Sora chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "I'm not the only one that has that kind of gift. You've got it too, and so do Ash, Sakura, and the King. Even Sid has that gift."
"Well, having friends is one of the best parts of being alive." Sonic stated, smiling brightly once more, gazing up at the sky. "That's one of the important and greatest things that Eggman never understood and all he got were his lousy robots."
"Yeah...Xemnas...even if he was Xehanort's Nobody, even he began to realize that his desires pushed away the rest of the Organization who were his companions, and by the time he realized it...it was too late." The young Keyblade Master sighed, which made the blue hedgehog lower his gaze as well.
"That's...really sad." The cobalt teenager muttered.
End of Flash-Back:
Remembering this now, Sonic sighed as he realized that saying that he was fine and not revealing what he was actually feeling was wrong. As much as he felt embarrassed and weak for opening up, at that moment he didn't want to push his friends away, but he was scared of being pushed back just for admitting his feelings when everyone had gone through worse scenarios in not being able to save others either and as Sailor Moon had mentioned to Prime, even she still felt guilt for failing to save the people in some of her previous adventures.
"Okay, I admit it. I'm not that fine. I mean, I'm a little bit better than I have been, but...I..." Sonic began, swallowing the lump in his throat again. "I...I still can't get over it."
"Get over what, lad?" Buck asked, surprisingly gentle for once.
"The failure...of what happened last year, in Xiaoyu and Alisa's dimension." The blue hedgehog admitted, closing his eyes.
The only ones who weren't shocked by this were Knuckles, Amy Rose, Tails, Cream and Cheese who realized what Sonic was thinking and felt sadness form in their hearts as well and quickly approached him.
"Hey, come on, Sonic. How could you have failed when you didn't?" The red echidna pointed out, his anger cooling off as he placed a comforting hand on the younger Mobian's shoulder.
"It wasn't your fault, big bro. Everybody knows that." Tails added, wanting nothing more than to comfort his big brother.
"But I was too late...too slow..." Sonic pointed out, beginning to lose his composure, trying hard not to cry. "If only I was...If only I was fast enough, then he...he wouldn't have died..."
"Who?" Prime asked gently with great worry, sensing that this was linked to what he heard about his younger self's adventures through dimensions since there were a few details that the younger Sonic didn't tell him or even the Sailor Team despite that they had struggled to hold back tears when they revealed the deaths of those they couldn't save or those who had sacrificed themselves.
"Sonic..." Sailor Moon murmured, her heart breaking to see her blue hedgehog friend look so lost, so guilt-ridden, like the time when he told her he had seen Galaxia killed by Xehanort and despite that she told him that it wasn't his fault and that she blamed herself for it, he did the same since Solaris prevented him from helping.
The hero of Mobius struggled a losing battle as Shin's death continued to flash in his mind, whispering. "...Shin..."
Then, unable to take it anymore, he clutched his fists tightly as tears blurred his vision, a single one falling freely, he wailed. "SHIN!"
Sonic then sobbed, shocking all of his friends who rarely saw him cry, yet all of their hearts broke to see their friend heart-broken and consumed by the misplaced guilt, as his voice was muffled when he covered his face in his gloved hands. "Shin...! Galaxia...Shadow...! They're all gone...I couldn't save them...I wasn't...I wasn't fast enough...It's all my fault...! Everything's all my fault...! I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...!"
"Oh, Sonic! It'll be okay!" Sailor Moon, tears in her eyes, throat and heart as guilt formed and washed over her, went over to her close friend and held him in her arms and he didn't push her away. Instead, he hugged her back and cried on her shoulder while they were both quickly joined by Tails, Amy Rose, Cream and Cheese, Sailor Mini Moon, virtually everyone else except for Shrek, Buck, Puss, Diego, Shira, and Prime who all gathered none the less.
All of them doing their best to try and comfort their crying friend who held it in for a year now let it all loose and now the situation with Prime just made the floodgates of Sonic's heart burst open that he couldn't hold it back anymore. For a long time the teenage blue hedgehog had done his best to be most of his friends' support and light of hope of Team Sonic and the Freedom Fighters. Now it was their turn to support him.
"Shhh...It's okay, sweetheart. Just let it all out. We're all here." Ellie murmured soothingly, using her trunk to gently stroke the crying blue hedgehog's head and back.
"It's alright, Sonic. It's alright..." Sailor Moon whispered, allowing Tails and Amy Rose to wrap their arms around the cobalt teenager's body.
"Don't leave me..." Sonic whispered tearfully, unable to hold back his true feelings anymore, wanting to say what he always wanted to say to everyone he loved. "Please...Please don't leave me...! I'm...sorry for not...saying this sooner...I...I didn't...mean to...to take you guys for granted...I thought that I could...always protect you and always be there...but I'm not invincible...If anything happened to all of you, I would never forgive myself...And Prime...he wouldn't be stuck here if I had just listened to him...! I'm so sorry guys...I'm an awful friend..."
Ash, tears in his own eyes, took one of Sonic's hands into both of his own and told him. "That's not true. No one's perfect, not even the gods from above. You're scared in losing us just like we are in losing each other, and none of us would forgive ourselves if anything happened to you either. Being the Sailor Team and Team Sonic and the Guardians of Light means more than just being a team and friends. We're all family, even in spirit. I know it's not easy letting go of the guilt or moving on. Trust me, I still go through the guilt of what happened to Darkrai, even when he was brought back for a little while."
"And I went through twelve years of not being able to help Aqua, Ven, Terra, Jason, or Sceptile." Mickey added, sighing. "Sonic, you're not alone in this. Sure we all have to be strong for the worlds and for each other, but that doesn't mean you should bear that burden or fears alone. I know you're the fastest thing alive, but sometimes even speed isn't the answer in saving others, and neither is power."
"It's our connection that makes us strong." Sailor Moon added, making Sonic, who had gazed at Ash, then at the King, and now gazed at her as she smiled in sadness. "Even in spirit, we are all still there for each other. You knew that better than I ever did. You were able to save people's lives and help others out without fear. I had to rely on help when I first began saving people, and as much as everybody is always there for me, I want to do the same for all of you. Feeling guilt means that you still care, and we're all still here. We'll just have to try harder for each other and never forget. I know it won't be easy, but let us help you, Sonic."
"You've always been there for us. We want to be there for you too." Tails added as well, making the blue hedgehog gaze at the two-tailed fox.
Sonic then gazed at all of his friends who all nodded as well and despite that he wanted with all of his heart to protect them, he realized that there was some things even he couldn't do, and no longer would he be overconfident with his own abilities. He was like them and everyone else in all the worlds. They all had different kinds of strengths and weaknesses, but together they were all strong and no matter how hard it would be, they would do their best to keep going or die trying. He felt his stomach drop when he remembered Prime, who remained silent but looked so sad yet understanding and reassuring through his own nightmare of losses, had let overconfidence and cockiness go over his head.
But he did promise the older hedgehog he would never take his friends for granted, and never be overconfident and cocky, and never, ever taunt enemies who were stronger than him. Still, the fact that all of his friends were there for him, not judging him for crying but were giving him as much comfort as they can offer, because they were all friends; a huge family. He smiled emotionally at all of them and attempted to bring them closer to him.
"Thanks, guys. Having all of you in my life makes me so happy...What more could I want than having you as my friends and family?" Sonic replied, as his eight year old little brother shed his own tears, and the older Mobian gently kissed his adoptive sibling on the head and gently ruffled the fox cub's furry bangs, making Tails giggle. "If only I could offer more to show my gratitude and love to you guys."
"Sonic, you being there for us is the best thing that's happened to us too. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you, and I wanna be there always, even when you need some time to run." Tails pointed out smiling.
"I wouldn't have had more courage if you weren't there either." Amy added, gently kissing Sonic on the cheek, and while the blue hedgehog groaned a little, he couldn't deny that the kiss...felt really nice for once and he secretly enjoyed it.
"Cheese and I wouldn't have had great friends like you and everybody else, Sonic." Cream added.
"Never thought I was say this, but..." Knuckles began, feeling some of his dignity sink a little, but he smiled none the less as he patted Sonic on the back. "I'm really glad that we met, Sonic. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even have a clue about life outside of Angel Island and as much I still have my duties, I'd give up being the Guardian of the Master Emerald for you."
"Aw, Knux..." Sonic smiled even more emotionally, before pulling the older teenage Mobian into a hug which startled the red echidna. "C'mere, ya' Knuckleheaded big bro!"
'Big bro? Did Sonic just call me...?' Knuckles, who had yelped when the blue hedgehog pulled him into the embrace, thought to himself in shock upon hearing what the younger teen had said. In retrospect, like Sonic and Tails, the guardian of the Master Emerald never had siblings in his life, and never thought it would happen. But Sonic, who always treated Tails like a younger brother...did he really see Knuckles himself as an older brother too?
"And who says you're an awful friend, Sonic lad?" Buck spoke up, making the others gaze at the crazy Weasel. "You risk your life to save your buddies, just like everybody else. That is what I call the purest heart in the universe."
Sonic smiled at the Dinosaur Whisper and wiped away his tears. "Thanks a bunch, Buck."
He then gazed at all of his friends who smiled back with emotions swelling up as he admitted, placing his hands behind his head. "Sorry that I've hidden this for so long. I guess my overconfidence, cockiness and coolness factor got in the way."
"It happens to all of us." May reassured, before admitting as she sent a glare to both Ash and Sora. "But at least you admit it. Not like two other certain boys who jump first and think last."
"Hey!" Sonic, Ash and Sora pouted simultaneously, before realizing what they said and blushed before looking away slightly in embarrassment. Everyone else just giggled and chuckled.
Prime sighed, feeling relief as he saw that Sonic had opened up and even as he didn't like seeing anybody cry, it was rare to see himself shed tears, but for his younger self, who was much more open and different than he thought, felt that maybe he didn't need to worry about the younger blue hedgehog going through what he did. Maybe it was because without Metal Sonic and with so many more heroes around, that this dimension had a chance to have a very bright future after all. Still, it was better to be safe than sorry. The older blue hedgehog approached and placed a comforting hand on Sonic's shoulder, making the teenage hero to gaze at him.
"Sonic, you shouldn't blame yourself for the mess that I put myself into, and I'm deeply sorry for hurting your feelings and your confidence. I guess I forgot that you may be another version of me, but you're different compared to what I used to be. I wish I was a lot more like you when I was your age. You're one lucky hedgehog. Never forget that." Prime told him, before whispering. "I'm very proud of you being you, being mature than I ever was, and actually listening to advice before I came along."
Sonic's eyes widened to hear such words, before realizing that the reason why Prime was so overprotective was because he was afraid of losing what he had left and afraid of Sonic losing so much as well, not realizing that the younger blue hedgehog already had that deepening fear. So he smiled emotionally once more and placed hand onto his older self's shoulder as well.
"Thank you, Prime. I wish I could help you out too. More than what we're doing." The younger blue hedgehog replied, as his older counterpart nodded.
Just then, the group's emotional moment was cut short when they heard Scrat's screams echo through out the entire area, startling the group as they gazed up at the road up ahead, all gasping as those who knelt stood up quickly.
"It's that little squirrel guy!" Tails exclaimed in realization.
"Oh no! Here's in trouble!" Sakura cried out worriedly.
Donald though grumbled. "Oh, who cares about that squirrel? He's the one that got us stuck here!"
"Well, whether he was or not, Prime's right. It couldn't have been avoided and right now, that little guy needs our help! We'll just have to be very careful and get to him before it's too late!" Sonic declared, quickly becoming very serious with determination.
"Right! C'mon guys, let's go!" Sailor Moon declared, as she and Sonic prepared to take the lead.
Despite that some of them were still annoyed with Scrat, they all nodded in agreement and hurried to catch up, racing up the path while both Sonic and Prime kept the pace with their friends, running as fast as they could up the rock path and to their surprise, like with Atlantica, images and parts from the Sailor Team's memories formed into this place, only this time was a familiar desert with images of a Oasis like city with fresh water and white buildings, a forest like village, an island with a volcano, a lab in a forest, a huge white tall tower, and an ancient-looking kingdom with familiar rooftops and Palace that stood out the most.
"Agrabah in the Orre Region on Earth!" Ash exclaimed in realization as he and his friends ran.
"I wonder why this place is partially here?" Misty wondered aloud.
"It must be the same way that Atlantica place was from your memories." Knuckles realized.
"Yeah, and like with Ursula, I have a pretty good feeling that we're about to face the bad guy who's connected and from this place too." Sonic agreed, narrowing his eyes.
"Of course! Not only Atlanica was from our memories, but Ursula was too and we had to fight her. When places from our memories are shown here, so are our enemies." Sailor Mercury calculated in realization.
"So if Agrabah's here, then there's only one guy we know of who caused more trouble to us than Kaylie and the Dark Moon Team." Sailor Moon shuddered and everyone else came to same conclusion.
"...Jafar." Ash muttered, narrowing his eyes at the thought of the evil vizer who tried to take over Agrabah and eventually Earth when he became Genie's master to use his three wishes, to make himself Sultan, then the most powerful sorcerer in the world, and then his last wish, which had been his own downfall twice with the second time being his death sentence, a genie himself.
"That's gotta tough." Sonic muttered, now feeling a little bit scared as he realized that this was a fight that was going to be difficult. "Especially since genies are immortal, right?"
"Right. Erazor Djinn was definitely immortal and the only way to stop him and end his terror once and for all was to use up my three wishes to reverse the damage he caused and imprison him within his lamp for the rest of time, like he was in the days of old." Prime nodded in agreement.
"But, Erazor Djinn was outside of his lamp, right?" Donkey pointed out in confusion. "If you sealed him inside his lamp, didn't you dump him in the lava which would've killed him?"
"Yeah, why?" The blue hedgehog muttered in confusion.
"The only way to destroy evil genies is to destroy their lamps as long as they're not wished free as only a master of the lamp can do that." Ash explained. "Our friend Genie wished to be free to see the world and became our friend and one of Al's best friends. Aladdin and I both wanted to use our third wishes to make his own wish come true."
"Look!" Crash cried out, pointing up ahead.
The group looked up to see Scrat who was trying to avoiding in getting zapped by a familiar tall, sinisterly dark aura-like and ugly man in a black robe with a black turban that was shaped a bit horned-like, with a black and red cape, a thin beard-goatee and wielding a cobra-snake like staff, but what got the heroes' attentions was not only the little squirrel carrying his precious Acorn, but also the red Chaos Emerald in his little arms, screaming away in fear.
"Hold still, you little furry rat!" The man snarled.
"JAFAR!" Sailor Moon, Ash, Dawn, Brock and Donkey all exclaimed in unison, they and their friends narrowing their eyes.
"Pika!" Pikachu grunted with his red cheeks sparking as he readied his electrical powers.
"Piplup, Pip!" Piplup added angrily.
"So that's Jafar, huh?" Sonic remarked, narrowing his eyes. "He's not only more powerful than I thought, but he's even uglier than I thought too."
"Watch out." Prime warned, already sensing powerful evil energy coming from the evil sorcerer from the Sailor Team's past. "We have to be careful with his evil magic."
"Right!" The younger blue hedgehog nodded, and this time used his speed to race up ahead. He saw Scrat trip and fall onto the ground dropping both his acorn and the Chaos Emerald which both landed a could inches in front of him.
The little Ice Age Squirrel was about to take them quickly when Jafar made to zap him again. As Scrat screamed in fear with his eyes wide, suddenly he, his prized nut and even the Chaos Emerald disappeared in a blue blur and easily avoiding the red electrical power from the evil transformed-genie.
"What!?" Jafar grunted.
"Stop right there!" Sailor Moon shouted, causing the evil man to glare at not only the Moon Princess, but also all of her friends, both old and new, including Sonic who held Scrat, the Acorn and the Chaos Emerald in his arms, all of them glaring angrily at Jafar. "It's bad enough for you to come back from our memories and hurting others for your evil dominion plot, but hurting innocent little animals is the worst and we'll never let you get away with it!"
"You'd better leave this little guy alone, or you'll regret it!" Sonic added, handing the Chaos Emerald to Madison who placed it into her bag, and both Scrat and his Acorn to Cream who held the stunned and bewildered Ice Age squirrel and his nut in her arms.
"Don't be scared, Mr. Squirrel. My friends and I will keep you safe." Cream sweetly told him.
"Chao, Chao." Cheese squeaked.
"Huh?" Scrat raised an eyebrow, unable to believe that the group whom he thought were going to steal his nut had actually saved his life and his precious Acorn.
"Ash Ketchum, Sailor Moon...I have been looking forward in seeing you brats again, so I could destroy you and all of your friends...!" Jafar greeted sinisterly with a wicked grin at his young enemies.
"We're not exactly thrilled to see you again either, Jafar!" Ash grunted, remembering how he had to fight the illusion of the evil sorcerer which he had hoped was the last time he'd see Jafar again just before the Mark of Mastery Exam. "We're gonna make this short, since we've beaten you before and we can do it again!"
Jafar just scoffed. "Oh, please. What do you all have in defeating me this time? Even without your friend Aladdin, like him, you are all nothing more than a bunch of street rats! Especially the blue filthy rat who had taken a very unusual and powerful red gem that holds tremendous magic to make me more powerful than I already am!"
"Who are you calling rats!?" Sonic grunted angrily. "I know this is our first meeting, but I'll have you know that none of us here are rats! Another thing, I'm a hedgehog!"
"Oh, really? And who are you, blue rodent? Are you Genie in disguise?" The evil sorcerer sneered.
"No, but I've heard of him. They call me Sonic the Hedgehog." The blue hedgehog answered, adding as he gestured at Prime. "And this is my cousin, Prime before you make the same assumption."
Jafar didn't seem to be impressed with Sonic's response. "Hmph. Then you and the rest of the Pokemon Trainer's friends will be suffering the same fate as the boy and that Moon brat, and I will destroy you all!"
"But I thought genies couldn't kill." Crash shrugged, forgetting one little detail he learned.
"You'd be surprised what you can live through." Donkey muttered nervously, knowing that this was going to be painful.
"We will face you, Jafar! You won't win!" Prime declared as he and the Guardians all stood ready as the Keyblade Wielders, Donald, Goofy and Akiho all summoned their weapons as did Amy Rose.
"Bwahahaha! You all amuse me!" Jafar laughed, before frowning once more as he declared as he began to power himself up as well and began to transform. "You will never trouble me again, Sailor Street Rats!"
"Stop calling everyone Street Rats! It's really on my nerves!" Ash snapped angrily, even as Jafar began to change his appearance into that of a giant red genie with his eyes now all yellow, his finger nails sharp and black and his voice deepened.
"Here we go!" Sonic grunted, a little bit afraid but refusing to back down.
'This guy's like a combination of Erazor Djinn and Zavok...We'll have to be extremely careful...' Prime thought to himself as he glared at the newest tough enemy, gritting his teeth and clutching his fists.
"...This is gonna hurt." Sid muttered scaredly, gulping.
Jafar laughed manically as he had transformed fully into his genie form, powering himself up as he glared down at the Guardians, Cosmo and Prime who all stood ready, with Ellie holding Cosmo, Cream and Cheese, and Scrat back just in case with Crash and Eddie clinging onto their adoptive sister's tusks.
The evil Sorcerer-turned-evil-Genie laughed manically while conjoring up spells in his hands while the group stood ready.
"All shall bend to my will! The universe is mine to control!" Jafar declared, before firing huge fire balls at the heroes who jumped and ran out of the way. This angered him, making the giant genie to swoop down attack, only for the heroes to keep on dodging and to his irritation, the hardest targets to hit were the two blue hedgehogs who were incredibly super fast.
"Double Thunder!" Ash chanted as he and Pikachu unleashed their combo attack at their old enemy who was hit but blocked most of it with his own Thunder attack. Sailor Jupiter attempted to do the same, but Jafar then used his magic to create sand tentacles that came out of the sand which began to swipe and swish everywhere the heroes were.
"Watch out!" Brock exclaimed, hurrying over to his wife and shoved her to the ground to save her from getting caught. The others did the same while Sonic, Knuckles, Fiona, Shrek and Prime kicked and punched some of the stand tentacles away, and Sakura summoned the Sword Card while Akiho used the Blade Card which as she grasped the two handles, split it into the double swords and they, Sailor Moon, Sora, Mickey, Riku, Kairi, Ash and Sailor Mini Moon slashed and sliced through as quickly as possible without getting caught.
"Mercury Shaft!" Sailor Mercury chanted, using her elemental powers to soak and dissipate the sand tentacles which vanished by her and Piplup's water attacks as the small Pokemon used Hydro Pump attack as well as putting out the fire balls that Jafar had sent out.
"Take this, Jafar!" Amy Rose shouted, tossing her Piko Piko Hammer right at the evil genie right into the stomach while the enemy was distracted. Jafar grunted in pain which forced him to bend down.
"We gotta try to get to his tail and make him dizzy!" Sailor Moon informed.
"Leave it to me!" Sonic volunteered with a thumbs up, using his speed to jump and grabbed hold of the evil genie's tail and yanked at it before running around and around, using it to both use his Whirl Wind as well as tie up the enemy who grunted.
"What are you doing!?" Jafar demanded as he soon found himself tied up by his own genie-body.
Manny then came over and grabbed it from Sonic, the former pulling hard to cause a larger effect before letting go which made Jafar spin around uncontrollably until he stopped and became very dizzy that the evil sorcerer was seeing stars. The blue hedgehog then used his Homing Attack while Sailor Moon slashed and whacked with her Keyblade after using the Fly Card to fly up to attack until Jafar, grunting in agony due to the attacks from the two young heroes, growled in anger and attempted to smack them away. But Sonic and the Moon Princess managed to dodge yet Jafar wasn't making it easy easier as he was quickly getting more and more angry.
"I will destroy you all!" The evil genie roared deeply.
Prime seeing this, quickly took the chance when Jafar didn't focus, and the blue hedgehog quickly shot Sonic Wind into Jafar's face, causing the evil genie to flinch from the sudden attack.
"You filthy rat!" Jafar roared, attempt to attack the older hedgehog with his arm, Prime using his speed to quickly dodge his attack, then performed his homing attack into Jafar's face then pulling off a combo of kicks to deal extra damage against the evil genie, finishing off with a Back-Kick causing him to get stunned open the chance for the other attack.
"Guys, this is your chance! Attack him! Now!" Prime yelled, and the Guardians all quickly nodded, charging immediately.
"WINDY!" Sakura chanted, using her power to cast a gust of wind to catch Jafar off-guard which sent him forcing back, while Akiho, transforming the Blade back into her Dream Staff, used Gale to combine it with her friend and predecessor of the Clear Cards. The enemy was pushed back even further by the combined power of the two Cardcaptors.
"Tails, help me up!" Sonic instructed as he jumped high into the air, having an idea.
"Right!" Tails nodded, flying up while grabbing hold of Sonic's left hand and flew him up straight to the evil genie's head level while Jafar glared at the duo. The two-tailed fox then tossed the blue hedgehog who curled up tightly and used his Homing Attack right in the head.
"GAAH!" Jafar howled in agony, glaring at the teenager. "Another filthy rat!"
"We're hedgehogs! HEDGE-HOGS!" Sonic snapped as he descended to the ground.
"Moon, Tiara, Magic!" Sailor Moon chanted as Jafar was distracted again, making right at the face, tossing her glowing tiara on the side of it. More attacks by the Sailor Scouts joined with Fiona and Shrek using their double-combo aided by Manny and Ellie tossing them into the air before the male Ogre punched the evil genie right in the stomach, and the former Princess performing several karate-styled kicks and punches.
"Hi-ya!" Fiona shouted, landing a knuckle-punch right between the villain's eyes.
Jafar shouted in pain as he was forced back while the Guardians of Light and Prime quickly landed in a safe distance, but to their horror, the evil Genie recovered before raising his hand to create several giant boulders and even buildings from the memory parts of Agrabah, levitating them into the air and hurling straight towards the heroes, with Sid, Donkey, the Possum Twins, and even Scrat screaming in fear loudly and girlishly.
"WATCH OUT!" Knuckles shouted as he and others quickly leaped and dodged and ran to avoid the attack, with Jafar grinning wickedly before flicking his wrist which suddenly caught the group by surprise-stunning them in some kind of electrical paralysis effect.
"UGH! I-I can't move!" Sora grunted.
"T-that's was a d-dirty trick!" Sonic grunted, eyes squeezed shut.
"You will never escape!" Jafar declared, as everything around them suddenly darkened which forced the heroes to brace themselves.
When light briefly returned, and the paralyzing sensation eased, the Guardians, Cosmo and Prime looked around and saw they were suddenly in another dark dimension with sand storms flying everywhere all around them, they were all standing on another rock platform and Jafar was hovering above them, with broken buildings and debris being thrown directly at them under his command.
"This is the end of you and your friends, Sailor Street Rat!" Jafar declared, as Sailor Moon and her friends gasped.
"SHIELD!" Sailor Moon and Sakura both quickly chanted, using both Moon and Star Cards of the Shield to protect themselves and their friends, blocking most of the attack before everything returned to normal around them, but Jafar wasn't done yet as he cast more spells of Fire and Thunder directly at them, forcing the group to once again dodge and try to find another opening to counterattack.
When Jafar made to attack again, Sonic quickly used this chance to use his Homing Attack right into Jafar's stomach while Knuckles charged quickly with the aid of Riku tossing him upward by the arm, the red echidna using several powerful punches right into the evil genie's face. The blue hedgehog in the meantime used his Axe-Kick and even copied Prime's back-kick technique skill before back-flipping and made to grab Jafar's tail once more to stun him. But this time Jafar saw this even as Knuckles leaped back.
"Not so fast, boy!" The evil genie snarled, which Sailor Moon and the others noticed, even Sonic and Knuckles did as well when Jafar then made to use his magic against the blue hedgehog.
"WHOA!" Sonic yelped with a sweat drop, dashing away while grabbing Knuckles by the arm to pull him out of range, but the magic wasn't done yet as it chased after the duo while the Guardians made to try and help them.
"Sonic! Knuckles!" Sailor Moon, Tails, Ash, Amy Rose and Sakura cried out as they and their friends made to reach them.
"No, wait!" Prime warned them, quickly using his Sonic Wind to try and block Jafar's attack, but to his horror in didn't work as the older blue hedgehog's attack was transformed into a beach ball, making the hero of the Omniverse sweat drop. "Uh-oh..."
"Uh-oh!" Sonic gulped as he and Knuckles saw this as well, sharing a terrified and shocked glance.
"Bwahahahaha! Give it up, Sailor Brats!" Jafar bellowed evilly, focusing on his powers to catch Sonic and Knuckles as the two tried to escape and used more magic to create a wall of fire to block Sailor Moon, Prime and their group from reaching their two Mobian friends.
"Piplup, Whirlpool attack, now!" Dawn commanded quickly.
"Piplup!" Piplup squealed, using his attack to extinguish the flames, which freed the group from the wall of flames.
"Thunderaga!" Sora and Donald both chanted, using their spells to try and force Jafar to lose focus, which zapped him slightly as the evil genie grunted which successfully loosened his ability on his magic which weakened slightly into a still powerful Thunder Spell which was aimed at the fleeing blue hedgehog and red echidna.
"This is getting us nowhere!" Knuckles grunted.
"I know!" Sonic shouted back, frantically trying to think of a solution on how to avoid in getting himself and his friends killed in this fight, before he and the Guardian of the Master Emerald gasped when they nearly ran over the edge of the platform, forcing the fifteen year old to skid to a stop and nearly lost his balance, while his friend was almost thrown off.
"Sonic, Knuckles, look out!" Mickey screamed out, as he, while attempting to use his Pearl of Light to distract Jafar, saw that the latter flared out a powerful laser-like fire straight towards the duo.
The hero of Mobius, gasping as he and his older friend saw this too late, narrowed his eyes as he thought of a desperate idea. Forcing himself to quickly calm down and closed his eyes to focus, thinking about his good memories and his desire to protect the people he deeply loved, Sonic snapped them open while ignoring Knuckles' demands on what he was doing before jumping and just as he had hoped, his Insta-Shield emerged and blocked most of the attack while protecting himself and the stunned red echidna, to which Prime, seeing this, used his chance to attack Jafar once more. Prime thought about an idea about an unique Chaos Force ability that people used it against when the enemies surrounded them.
"Everyone, CLOSE YOUR EYES!" Prime yelled.
"What do you mean "Close our eyes"?" Sailor Moon asked, confused.
"Just do it!" Prime yelled, ready to perform his ability. As Prime said, everyone including Sonic and Knuckles close their eyes. Jafar eyes widened when everyone closed their eyes, Prime perform Flash as his body suddenly shined with bright light completely blind him as the evil genie screamed in pain.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME, YOU FILTHY RAT!?" Jafar roared in pain, place his palm on his eyes.
Prime quickly punched Jafar face directly knock him away. When everyone looked up once the flash ability faded, they saw what happened and were every amazed.
Sonic, whistling in awe, noticed something as Jafar was being knocked back and his eyes widened in shock when he saw a black Lamp that was directly underneath the evil genie. Narrowing his eyes and quickly instructing Knuckles to head back to the others, the blue hedgehog raced over and with the enemy trying to recover, the hero of Mobius snatched it.
"Now's our chance!" Ash declared, as he and Pikachu charged with battle cries and leaped up. "Pikachu, Volt Tackle!"
"PIKKKKAAAA!" Pikachu, using said attack, covered his body with electricity while the young Pokemon Master, using the Spinning skill he learned from Zack and Cloud, thrust his Keyblade directly at Jafar's chest at the exact same time as Pikachu used Volt Tackle, hitting their old enemy back even further, allowing Sailor Moon and the rest of the Guardians to charge with everything they got.
"Moon Light Shine!" Sailor Moon chanted, her attack hitting Jafar right in the chest as well.
"Moon Silver Heart Attack!" Sailor Mini Moon chanted.
"Blue Moon Attack!" Future-Mini Moon chanted, as the rest of the Sailor Scouts used Shine Aqua Illusion, Mega Mars Fire Flash, Jupiter Oak Revolution, Venus Love Beauty Shock, Magic-Dust-Mist, Luna-Moon-Shine and Comet Rainbow Shower, while Kairi used Flower Shoot, Sora, Donald and Goofy used the special Fire Works Spell, Mickey and Riku used their Light and Dark Combo, Namine used her special Wateraga Spell, Sakura used the Thunder Card while Akiho used the Aqua Card, attack attacks surrounding Jafar who yelled in agony while still blinded.
The rest used their combo attacks with Buck using his Whip to tie Jafar's hands together while Manny and Ellie tossed Shrek, Fiona and Puss who attacked with punches, kicks and cat scratches, Tuxedo Mask using his melee skills and cane to hit the evil genie on the head, Diego and Shira clawing and biting the enemy's body, Tails using Spin Dash with his namesakes doing twice amount the damage, Amy tossed at least five Piko Piko Hammers under her command, Knuckles punched with brutal force before heaving a huge debris that Jafar tossed earlier and growled while Cream, Cheese, Cosmo, Madison, and Scrat watched in worry.
"It's payback time, Jafar!" Knuckles declared, howling a battle roar and tossed the piece of stone directly at Jafar's head, hitting him squarely on as the enemy was hit and then fell to the ground. Misty, Brock, May, Max, Dawn and Casey had their Pokemon to use their attacks as well just in case and seemingly knocked out the evil genie.
"Give it to 'im, everyone!" Cream cheered, with Cheese cheering on.
But just as the Guardians and Prime landed safely on the ground while waiting, Jafar, groaning while dazed, suddenly recovered once more even as he was heavily attacked and hovered upward, towering over the heroes who all sweat dropped at this.
"Oh, come on! Even with Prime's whatever attack that was and our combined attacks, Jafar's still floating!?" Sailor Moon exclaimed in fear and irritation.
"Ugh, I forgot how much Jafar didn't know when to quit!" Ash grunted, narrowing his eyes as he clutched his left fist. "There's gotta be a way to beat 'im!"
"You will never defeat me, you fools!" Jafar declared, powering up his magic once more.
"WATCH OUT!" Prime exclaimed as he quickly used his advanced Insta-Shield while Sonic followed suit, using the remaining energy to use his basic Insta-Shield, while Sailor Moon and Sakura both used the Shield Cards once more and Mickey, Sora, Kairi, Riku, and Ash used the Barrier Spells.
But it wasn't enough as Jafar's power forced all of them back and sent them flying, causing everyone to scream as they were flown back. But while Sonic secretly held onto Jafar's lamp, to everyone's horror, the red Chaos Emerald flew out of Madison's bag and right towards the evil genie who grinned and caught it in his hand, laughing manically with an insane look on his face. Sonic was thrown and rolled and over the edge yet managing to hold on with his left hand while his right held onto the black lamp.
"SONIC!" Amy Rose, Tails, Sailor Moon and Prime screamed out in horror, only for them and their friends to find themselves suddenly trapped by a giant Hour-Glass which was elemental and power proof. They all gasped in shock and horror before sand began to pour down from above them.
"No, not this again!" Dawn screamed in horror.
"Piplup!" Piplup squeaked in fear.
"What're we gonna do!?" Donald screamed hysterically.
"Calm down, Donald! We can fight our way outta here!" Mickey attempted to reassure.
"Leave it to me!" Amy Rose declared, charging at the glass as she smacked and hit the glass with her Hammer, but no matter how hard she tried, it wasn't even cracking and eventually she only ended up exhausting herself. "Or, maybe not..."
"I'll take care of it!" Knuckles declared, punching at the glass, but was shocked that he had no effect either. He sweat dropped in disbelief. "I didn't even make a crack!"
He tried again several times, but again no effect and he groaned in disbelief and frustration.
"Let me try!" Prime suggested and focused hard. "Chaos Control!"
But to the blue hedgehog's horror as he tried to teleport himself and the others out, all that happened was the glass reflecting his ability which shocked him as he screamed before it stopped and he was slightly burnt, making the twenty-one year old cough a puff out smoke out of his mouth.
"Okay...that didn't work either." The hero of the Omniverse muttered.
"Prime, are you okay!?" Sakura asked, worriedly as she approached her friend as did the others, and was a little relieved when he nodded, before they all glared up at Jafar who laughed evilly as he held the red Chaos Emerald with two fingers.
"With this power as well as mine, you only have less then five minutes to live before you suffocate within the sands!" Jafar declared, grinning evilly.
"What!?" Everyone else exclaimed, before realizing that the sands were now already at their legs, or in Crash and Eddie's case, their waists.
Sonic, who was pulling himself up back onto the ledge, gasped in horror when he saw all of his friends trapped inside and were unable to get out.
"NO!" The teenage blue hedgehog exclaimed in horror, trying to come up with an idea to free them as he knew, while trying not to panic and actually thinking for once, if he tried to attack, Jafar would attack and see him and then he would lose his grip on the lamp and then he would be left helpless.
Wait...the lamp...
While Jafar, unaware of the fifteen year old while thinking that the hero of Mobius was dead and distracted by his trapped friends, Sonic gazed at the lamp as memories of what both Ash and Prime mentioned earlier came flooding back.
"Erazor Djinn was definitely immortal and the only way to stop him and end his terror once and for all was to use up my three wishes to reverse the damage he caused and imprison him within his lamp for the rest of time, like he was in the days of old."
"The only way to destroy evil genies is to destroy their lamps as long as they're not wished free as only a master of the lamp can do that."
Realizing that as this was a memory and the lamp was now in his possession with Jafar still being bound to it, Sonic narrowed his eyes and stood up before racing up and stood between his friends who called out his name in relief and shock, and Jafar who laughed in seemingly victory.
"Hey, Jafar! You missed one!" Sonic shouted, getting the evil genie's attention and when the giant looked, he glared as the blue hedgehog glared back, hiding the lamp behind his back.
"Sonic, what are you doing!?" Shira exclaimed.
"Don't worry, I'm getting you guys outta there!" The blue hedgehog reassured, looking over his shoulder and nodded. "Trust me!"
While the Guardians were terrified for their friend's safety, Prime then saw what his younger self was holding and blinked in surprise before realizing what Sonic's plan was, as another memory formed in his own mind; back when he ultimately defeated Erazor Djinn. Seeing this, the older Sonic, while worried, nodded as Sonic nodded back before turning his attention to the evil genie who laughed once more.
"So I missed in capturing you, but you can't defeat me on your own, Sonic! You are trapped and if you dodge, I will destroy your friends! Perhaps you should stand still and I will destroy you all at once, so you won't have to suffer, as much as I would love to see the agony in your face, boy." Jafar grinned wickedly.
But Sonic just smirked back confidently, as he replied. "If you do that, then you'll be coming with us!"
With that, he flouishly revealed the black magic lamp and held it with both hands, making Jafar gasp in shock and horror before looking around frantically and found that somehow the blue hedgehog had managed to snatch it. The evil genie gazed down at the hero of Mobius, unable to believe that the tables had already turned.
"It can't be! My lamp!" Jafar exclaimed, as Sonic scoffed.
"We all know what happens when you're not wished free; if your lamp is destroyed, then you will be destroyed too and if you hit me, you hit your prison and end your own life." Sonic warned as his expression turned serious, holding the lamp close and tightly in his grasp.
The Guardians were stunned to hear the blue hedgehog say this, before Ash admitted to Sailor Moon, Dawn and Brock a little awkwardly. "I hate to sound horrible here, but I kinda wish we had that chance when we fought the real Jafar."
"Also, the genie of the lamp is supposed to grant three wishes. Am I right?" The cobalt speedster added.
"Why you...!" The evil genie growled, before he suddenly grunted in pain when his golden bracelet cuffs glowed and held him in place which in turn the lamp glowed in red, which meant to him and Sonic, who flinched a little at this, that he had no choice but to obey, meaning that the blue hedgehog now held the cards.
Using this to his advantage, Sonic knew what his three wishes were going to be.
"My first wish! Let my friends go!" Sonic commanded as he began the countdown.
Left with no other choice, Jafar snapped his fingers to use his power to fufil the blue hedgehog's first wish and the hourglass along with the sand vanished, freeing the Guardians of Light, Cosmo, Prime and Scrat(and his Acorn) who had a short drop onto the ground.
"Ooh!" Donkey grunted as he landed on the ground a bit painfully.
"Ow!" Sid grunted as he had the same slight issue and accidentally landing on top of Scrat who yelped and groaned, his Acorn just an inch or two out of reach, and everyone else sighed in relief.
Sonic, in huge relief that everyone was safe, focused on his two remaining wishes and continued in his best commanding tone. "My second wish! Hand over that Chaos Emerald!"
Again, Jafar was forced to obey as he grunted before magically handing over the Chaos Emerald which disappeared before it reappeared in the blue hedgehog's hand which the teenager gave to Tails who held it in his hands. Now he and everyone else waited as the hero of Mobius made his final wish, while the evil genie growled as his eyes began to glow red as though attempting to hypnotize the teenage Mobian into obeying him, but the fifteen year old wasn't fooled.
"My third wish!" Sonic began, declaring as he glared at the evil villain with anger and hate for everything the red genie, illusion or not, had done to his friends in the past. "Jafar! You are to remain trapped inside your lamp for the rest of time, and never allowed to be set FREE!"
"WHAT!?" Jafar exclaimed, horrified, but the pact was already done and at Sonic's wish and command, the evil genie was beginning to be sucked in as a gust of tornado-like wind appeared while the black lamp began to swallow him and the blue hedgehog held it tightly in his hands just like Ash and Aladdin both did two years ago on Earth.
Everyone watched while Jafar was helpless and being sucked in.
"No! NOOO! Not again! First I was defeated by that boy with the Pikachu, then by the Moon brat, and my traitor! I cannot...be defeated...by a filthy...BLUE RAT! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Jafar screamed as he was sucked and shrunk into the black lamp.
"I told you, I'm NOT A RAT!" Sonic shouted in irritation.
By then, the evil genie was sucked in completely with a bit of smoke trailing out as Jafar was ultimately defeated and trapped inside the lamp.
"I'm a HEDGEHOG!" The blue hedgehog concluded and blew out the smoke, just as the lamp then vanished into particles of light and disappeared completely.
By then, most of the Guardians cheered on happily over their victory, while Amy Rose, unable to help herself, raced over calling out Sonic's name and hugged him, startling her 'boyfriend' a little before he smiled as Tails raced over as well, the three of them laughing in relief and victory.
"You did it, Sonic! Thank you!" Sailor Moon cheered happily as she and everyone else approached.
"Hey, we all did it together. I just did what Prime and Ash both mentioned earlier." Sonic shrugged with a sheepish grin, before asking. "Is everybody alright?"
To his relief, they all were, even as Diego spat out sand that got into his mouth.
"Yeah, except for the nearly suffocating in the giant hour-glass part." The Sabor-Tooth grumbled.
"Been there, done that." Dawn sighed, with Piplup muttering in agreement.
Sonic sighed in relief as he hugged both his self-proclaimed girlfriend and little brother, while Prime approached and placed a gentle hand on the younger blue hedgehog's shoulder with a smile.
"You didn't taunt the enemy until the time was right, and used it to your advantage. I'm really proud of you, Sonic." The older blue hedgehog responded, giving his younger self a wink and a thumbs up, which the younger Sonic returned.
"I learned it from you." The fifteen year old replied.
All of the sudden, like the last time after defeating Ursula, the entire area around them vanished when the same red light that trapped them here shot up into the sky, covering it before the entire area brightened up in light, forcing the Guardians, Cosmo and Prime to shield their eyes once more.
Once it faded, the group opened their eyes and found that they had returned to Mazuri, right where they started. The only one utterly confused was Scrat who, after Sid stood up and the former quickly saw his prized nut before perking up happily and hugged it, caressing it like it was his precious, saw that they were out of that unusual creepy place.
"We're back." Ash remarked.
"This is getting really weird. Why do we end up in those weird places everything we find a Chaos Emerald?" Sora asked, confused as were everyone else.
"Do you think it's really the guy who's keeping Prime trapped in our dimension?" Sailor Moon wondered worriedly aloud.
"If it is, then maybe he's somehow using a combination of our memories and past as well as Prime's to make those weird places." Sonic deduced, turning to his older self who nodded in agreement.
"Whoever's behind this is really dangerous. We need to be more careful for the foreseeable future." Prime declared, and everyone else nodded in agreement.
"Now that we have three Chaos Emeralds, we just need to find four more." Tails added, holding the red Chaos Emerald in his hands.
"Then I say we head back to the Blue Typhoon and get goin'. Our job's done here, so let's go." Sonic declared smirking, glad that now they had more Chaos Emeralds and that Mazuri is safe for a long time to come.
The rest of the group nodded in agreement and after saying their goodbyes to Scrat who just waved in confusion and stood there, they all hurried to head back to the ship, leaving the Ice Age Squirrel to return to his original objective; to bury his Acorn. Sighing in relief as the dangers seem to be over, Scrat began to hop away to find another safer spot...
Only to be unknowingly trampled on by a herd of Zebras who were running along the Savannah and knocked away the nut which vanished into dust. Once the herd left, poor Scrat was comically flattened like a pancake and groaned in dismay, defeat and loss for having more bad luck and losing his prized Acorn yet again.
Why him?
A/N: Three Chaos Emeralds down, four to go! The next chapter will be a bit of another breather while the heroes continue their search for the remaining emeralds, but the dangers are not over yet as the Guardians of Light and Prime will be facing more challenges along the way. Sonic245 and I will do our best to post the next chapter as soon as possible.
See you later!