CHAPTER 1 - The Vision

ANGEL ISLAND - PLANET MOBIUS

Knuckles entered the sacred Emerald Temple located on Angel Island, a giant island floating in the sky above planet Mobius. He approached the altar and observed the Chaos Emeralds-seven colored gems that held immense power-which were safely placed inside seven stone pillars in the center of the room. Knuckles was known as the Guardian of the Emeralds, and it was his job to keep the temple safe from any calamity. Kneeling down to pray, he appealed to his inner strength, asking for peace:

Emerald power, great and true,
Guide me as I pray to you,
Grant me eyes so I may see,
The visions that you give to me.

A faint, shimmering, multicolored light emitted from the seven Chaos Emeralds, and Knuckles could feel a warmth wash over his body. As he closed his eyes to meditate, he immediately saw foreboding images flash through his mind of a menacing spiked creature, along with a black stone castle surrounded by lava. Suddenly, he heard a faint explosion in the distance, along with screaming. Knuckles quickly opened his eyes and looked outside the window to see a giant robotic creature terrorizing the villagers of the temple.

"Robotnik!" he scowled.

Knuckles raced outside to confront his nemesis, who was piloting what looked like a giant metallic mole with long silver claws and a huge drill for a nose. Robotnik immediately noticed Knuckles and piloted the robot towards him.

"Ah, so good to see you, Knuckles," Robotnik taunted the red echidna. "You have something that I need."

Knuckles glared at his nemesis in disdain, punching his fists together in anticipation.

"You're here for the emeralds," Knuckles demanded, "and I won't let you get them."

Knuckles jumped high into the air and dove towards the ground with his large fists pointed downward. When he landed, a huge crack erupted from the impact and spread towards the robotic creature. The attack missed, and the robot immediately dove underground and tunneled towards him. Knuckles jumped away just as the creature emerged, causing a mountain of rocks to burst upwards like a geyser. After a few moments of strenuous fighting, Knuckles noticed his best friend Sonic racing towards them.

"Hey Knux, need a hand?" Sonic asked as he approached the battle.

Knuckles frowned at the nickname, but decided not to rebuke him.

"Yes, gladly," Knuckles responded, "I'll let you fight while I go back to the temple to guard the emeralds."

As Knuckles left towards the temple, Sonic sped up and began racing around the robotic creature while emitting blue sparks in his wake. The robot tried in vain to swipe back, but Sonic's speed was too much.

"Hey Eggman, you're too slow!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Stop calling me that, hedgehog!" Robotnik exclaimed frustratedly as he pounded his fists on the cockpit console. "You think you're fast? Well get a load of this!"

Robotnik pressed a button and the machine then folded up its arms and shot after Sonic like a jet engine with plasma flames erupting from its tail.

"Time to go fast!" Sonic said as he sped away from the temple, with Robotnik following close behind.

The chase continued for a few minutes, with Robotnik growing ever more frustrated. He tried various attacks: laser bolts, flaming claw swipes, burrowing underground to ambush Sonic, but each attack was easily avoided.

"I'm getting tired of you, blue menace!" Robotnik grimaced.

He pressed another button and one of the robot's claws then shot out and pinned Sonic to the ground, catching him by surprise. Sonic grasped the clawed bars and shouted.

"No fair Eggman! We were just having fun!"

Robotnik sneered at Sonic and turned towards the temple.

"What you think is fun, I find annoying. Now that you're out of my way, I have more important matters to attend to."

After returning to the temple, the robotic creature then shot a gigantic laser blast from its mouth, which shattered the stone wall that covered the interior altar. Robotnik grinned menacingly as he used the robot's free claw to scoop up the emeralds from their stone pillars, placing them in a compartment on the robot's back. He then pressed a button and the claw that was embedded in the ground suddenly grasped Sonic and shot back to the robot's arms, fastening in place with a metallic clank.

"No… the emeralds! What are you doing?!" Knuckles shouted as he watched helplessly. "Sonic, are you okay?!"

Before he could retaliate, a huge portal opened in the sky, and Knuckles saw Robotnik piloting the machine into it with the Chaos Emeralds and Sonic in tow. He then heard Robotnik's menacing voice calling out like an echo:

"If you want your precious emeralds back, come to Bowser's castle. I'll be waiting…"

Not understanding the meaning of what he was seeing, Knuckles dove into the portal-

-and then he awoke. Knuckles gasped and quickly glanced at his surroundings. He was inside a small cell in a dark damp dungeon. Brown bricks covered the walls and the floor of the cell was dirt. Knuckles grabbed the metal bars of his cell and squeezed as hard as he could, but the bars wouldn't budge. He stood back, trying to remember what had brought him here. In his head he saw glimpses of the temple, the emeralds, and Robotnik, but everything was a blur.

"'Was it just a dream?'"

He then called out to anyone who may be listening.

"Where am I? Someone answer!"

Silence.

Knuckles then squinted his eyes to make out a flicker of candlelight in the hallway, and he noticed a shelled creature approaching.

"Hello Knuckles!" a low voice called to him.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Knuckles demanded.

The figure stepped closer to his cell and Knuckles could see he was a large tortoise-like creature wearing dark sunglasses. Black spiked bracelets adorned his wrists and he had a pink spiked shell. The tortoise grinned menacingly, revealing a set of pointed teeth in the middle of his mouth.

"The name's Roy Koopa, welcome to Bowser's castle!"

Knuckles stared at Roy for a moment, bewildered, while still struggling to move the bars.

"It's useless to keep struggling, those bars are unbreakable."

Roy held up a golden scepter with a purple gem embedded in the tip. A faint purple mist was spiraling out of the gem. Was this some sort of magic?

"What do you want with me?" Knuckles asked as he stepped back.

"King Dad has some big plans for you and the blue rodent. Big plans. You'll find out soon enough."

"Blue rodent?" Knuckles thought to himself. "Was Sonic here too?"

Roy Koopa chuckled and turned away abruptly, leaving Knuckles alone with his thoughts.

"Where had Eggman taken me, and who was this strange creature?"

Knuckles felt too exhausted to continue pondering these things, and soon enough, he fell asleep on the floor of his cell.


CHAPTER 2 - The Meeting

BOWSER'S CASTLE

Sonic awoke in a bright white room, hearing the drip drip of water falling from a leaky pipe. Looking around, he noticed a strange spherical machine in the center of the room. He tried to move forward, but realized his arms and legs were chained to the wall. Realizing he was all alone, Sonic sighed and rested his hands at his sides, the chains rattling slightly. A few minutes passed, and he then heard the faint sound of a door creaking open, along with a deep and growling voice:

"I'll take care of the blue porcupine, get the device ready."

Sonic chuckled to himself at the insult. "Blue porcupine? How droll."

The door opened wider and a huge tortoise with a green spiked shell and fiery-red hair stepped into the room while carrying a box filled with brightly-colored tortoise approached Sonic and held the box out for him to view, and he knew instantly what they were, the Chaos Emeralds!

"Greetings! My name is Bowser," the creature growled with a menacing smile, "and you—Sonic the hedgehog—are my prisoner. Welcome to my castle."

"How do you know my name?" Sonic demanded as he turned to glance at the emeralds. "And how did you get those?!"

"Let's just say I'm very acquainted with your world," Bowser replied as he held up a Sega Genesis controller.

Suddenly, the image froze, and Sonic's voice interrupted the scene.

"Yes I know, fourth wall jokes. What can I say, it's my specialty! Blame the writer."

The image unfroze and Bowser continued his speech.

"And as for these," he said while pointing to the box of emeralds, "I have a use for them-and for you."

Bowser snapped his fingers and two turtles wielding hammers—Hammer Bros, as he called them—entered the room and began placing the emeralds in the grooved compartment in the center of the room. After they finished, they left the room silently.

"You don't know the power of those things," Sonic said quietly.

"Oh yes I do!" Bowser retorted. "And I had some assistance from someone you know very well. Come on out, Doctor Eggman!"

Soon after, a mustached figure dressed in a white labcoat entered the room. He turned to Bowser and cleared his throat before speaking.

"Doctor Robotnik," he said nonchalantly, "never Eggman."

Sonic's eyes widened.

"Eggman! What are you doing here?!"

"You don't remember?" Robotnik asked in a mocking tone.

Sonic strained his thoughts, but he could only remember glimpses:

A robotic machine, a portal, the emeralds

Robotnik continued, "I used my robotic machine to capture the emeralds from the temple on Angel Island (honestly you need much better security than a bunch of monks and a magical forcefield), you and Knuckles tried to intervene (and quickly failed), Bowser had a magic portal appear, and I traveled through to this world with the emeralds, and now here we all are."

"That still doesn't explain what you want with the emeralds," Sonic said coldly. "What are you planning, Eggman?!"

"All in due time, my friend," Robotnik sneered and then turned to Bowser. "Is the other prisoner ready?"

"Roy is bringing him in as we speak."

The door opened and Sonic could see Knuckles being forcefully led int0 the room by a large tortoise in a pink spiked shell, who chained him to the wall a few feet away.

"Ah, son, there you are," Bowser said as he nodded at Roy Koopa. "Chain him up over there."

Roy grunted in response as he chained Knuckles to the wall next to Sonic. After he finished, he stepped aside and Robotnik began to speak.

"Now then," Robotnik began, twirling his bushy mustache, "now that everyone is present, allow me to explain the situation. Ever since Bowser and I had been humiliated countless times by our nemesis-that is you and the Mario brothers-we finally decided to do what any good villains would do: Merge our worlds together so we could rule a single, unified empire. I knew of the Chaos Emeralds' immense power that could rupture the fabric of time and space, but I needed something that could activate them, and that's where you and Knuckles come in."

"This is madness Robotnik!" Knuckles protested. "You have the audacity to think you can control the power of the Chaos Emeralds!"

"Haven't you figured it out by now?" Robotnik explained. "I won't be controlling them, you will! The Chaos Emeralds won't activate without their guardian present, therefore they will only respond to your thoughts. As for Sonic, he has the ability to absorb the emeralds' power, so I need him to amplify their energy. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to prepare this energy transfer machine, and then we'll be good to go!"

As Robotnik headed over to the spherical machine, a purple-robed turtle wearing thick glasses suddenly flew into the room on a broomstick.

"Ah, hello Kamek," Bowser exclaimed as his faithful sorcerer bowed, "what news do you bring?"

"Sire, King Bowser!" Kamek exclaimed as he floated to the ground. "The brothers Mario are away on their-ahem-vacation as you commanded."

Bowser chuckled to himself. "I'm surprised they fell for the fake letter I sent them. Good, perfect. And is Bowser Jr. on the island as well?"

"Yes, my Lord," Kamek replied, "the brothers Mario will be occupied so your plans won't be interrupted."

As if right on cue, Kamek's crystal ball suddenly quivered, and he saw an image of Bowser Jr. being pummeled with fireballs tossed by Mario.

"Poor Jr. could use some help," he said as he raised his wand and purple mist began to flow into the crystal ball. "A little magical assistance should be just what he needs…"


CHAPTER 3 - The Island

ISLE DELFINO

Dear Mario and Luigi,

You're invited to enjoy an all-expense paid vacation* to Isle Delfino, a little slice of paradise for everyone! Wash away all your worries with a relaxing swim in our crystal clear waters. Enjoy a fruity tropical drink while lounging on our white sandy beaches, admiring the ocean view that stretches beyond the horizon. Have some fun with some casual games of tennis, volleyball, or beach soccer. Take a relaxing stroll through our pineapple grove, and pick some fruit for an afternoon snack. For those who enjoy the nightlife, get ready to dance your tail off with our world-famous DJ, KK Slider! Whatever you plan to do during your stay on Isle Delfino, do it with a smile! Have fun, and stay safe!

Sincerely,

K.B.

*For an undisclosed amount of time

"So glad we got to take a vacation, eh Luigi," Mario said as he enjoyed a sip of pineapple juice while sitting in the shade of a coconut tree.

"Yeah, but those initials at the bottom of the letter seemed suspicious," Luigi replied as he tilted his sunglasses down.

Suddenly, a tiny squeaky voice could be heard, and Bowser Jr. appeared in his floating Koopa Clown Copter-a round barrel-shaped machine with a smiling clown face that hovered in the air-while holding a magic paintbrush in his hand. The favorite son of Bowser's eight children, Bowser Jr. was a spitting image of his father (just look at the baby pictures), with a bulbous round nose, beady eyes, and small tuft of orange hair.

"Papa Bowser told me you'd be here," Bowser Jr. said while holding his paintbrush defiantly, "and this time I won't lose!"

"I knew it was a Koopa trap!" Luigi exclaimed as he jumped up.

Mario placed his drink down and sighed as he got up from his chair.

"Look, little Junior," Mario said, "we just wanted to take a nice vacation and you had to ruin our fun! What's a no-good little punk brat doing here anyways?"

"Graaaah! This is my island, you can't have it Mario!" Bowser Jr. squealed as he splattered a glob of paint towards Mario.

Mario jumped out of the way and flipped to the side as the paint flew past him and splashed Luigi on his pants.

"Hey, watch it!" Luigi exclaimed. "This isn't a game of Splatoon, you know!"

Another glob of paint hit Luigi in the face, now his entire face was bright red.

"Are you trying to turn me into a tomato?" joked Luigi as Bowser Jr. laughed.

Bowser Jr. kept laughing uncontrollably. A visibly frustrated Luigi wiped his face and grabbed a plunger from his toolkit, attached it to his plunger gun, and aimed at Bowser Jr.

"Time for you to settle down!" he huffed as he fired the plunger.

The plunger flew smack into Bowser Jr.'s bulbous nose, who shrieked and fell out of his copter, toppling to the ground in a daze. As Bowser Jr. strained to pull the plunger off, Mario had pulled out a Fire Flower from his pocket ("I always carry one in case of an emergency"), giving him the ability to throw fireballs, which he did as Bowser Jr. ran around in a panic. As Bowser Jr. fled from Mario's assault, Luigi looked up to see a small portal appear in the sky, with the purple magic Kamek had summoned surrounding Bowser Jr. Mario immediately stopped tossing fireballs and watched as Jr.'s body grew larger. The two brothers gasped in amazement.

"Oooh, I don't know what's happening, but I like this new me!" Jr. cackled while admiring his new size. "Must be some of Kammy's magic, thanks Kammy!"

An image of a smirking Kamek popped into view like a comic book panel.

"You're quite welcome, Prince Bowser Jr. Now play nice!"

The image vanished and a now gigantic Bowser Jr. turned his attention back to Mario and Luigi, who glanced at each other nervously. Bowser Jr. stomped forward and a wave of energy pulsed from beneath his feet, rippling towards them.

"Mario, I don't think plungers are gonna work on this guy!" Luigi gulped nervously as he and Mario quickly jumped backwards.

"We gotta think of something, we never quit this easily!" Mario retorted. "Remember the plumber's oath."

"Bring me pasta power as fast as you can," Luigi said, "but Mario, that creed is so old, no one follows it anymore."

"We aren't no one," Mario replied.

With that, Mario jumped high into the air, stomping on Bowser Jr.'s humungous foot. Bowser Jr. cackled as he brushed Mario off his foot like an annoying bug, flinging him backwards. Mario landed on his butt and Luigi quickly rushed to his side to make sure he wasn't hurt.

"Pasta power don't work on him, bro," Luigi said meekly.

Bowser Jr. continued his assault, waving his paintbrush around aimlessly, sending huge globs of paint in every direction. Multicolored paint flew into random buildings, trees, and even Piantas, who shook their heads in disgust. Mario and Luigi stepped backwards as Bowser Jr. inched closer.

"Keep going you two," Bowser Jr. taunted, "just a bit further."

"Just what is this little creep planning?" Mario asked.

Both brothers were backed into a corner, and Luigi saw a large button with a smiling face appear on a wall nearby. Thinking it was a way to escape, he pressed it; suddenly a giant cage sprang up from beneath them, trapping them inside!

"Now you can't interfere with King Dad's plans!" Bowser Jr. exclaimed. "And just to be sure you can't escape, I can finally use the secret power Kammy lended me!"

Mario and Luigi shivered in fear as Bowser Jr. pressed a button on his paintbrush, turning it into a large magic wand. He waved the wand towards the ground and a portal appeared beneath the cage. The brothers yelled as they disappeared into the swirling vortex which quickly closed behind them.


CHAPTER 4 - The Machine

BOWSER'S CASTLE

Sonic and Knuckles looked on helplessly as Robotnik continued to tinker with the machine. After about fifteen minutes had passed, he looked up from his work.

"The device is finally ready," he said with a malevolent grin.

Suddenly, Sonic and Knuckles found themselves being unshackled and dragged over to the machine in the center of the room, as the seven Chaos Emeralds were being placed in a grooved compartment next to them. The duo were forcefully restrained in their seats as Robotnik closed the sphere around them and turned the machine on.

"This might feel a bit uncomfortable," Robotic said.

The sphere began rotating rapidly as sparks of energy suddenly appeared and began to flow around the sphere. The Chaos Emeralds glowed brightly in response to this energy field, and their colors seemed more amplified. After a few moments, the energy particles grew larger and a loud hum could be heard, muffling Sonic and Knuckles' screams. Sonic could feel his quills tingling as waves of energy absorbed into his body, and Knuckles could feel his thoughts being pulled from his mind. He tried to focus, but the force of the energy wave caused him to telepathically call out to the emeralds:

Emerald power, great and true,
Do as I command of you,
All of space and all of time,
Show me visions of worlds combined.

The Chaos Emeralds now appeared to shimmer as they emitted a bright white glow, and to Sonic they appeared to be melting. Suddenly, a long streak of energy slammed into Sonic, who felt like his quills were going to explode. His color rapidly changed from blue to golden-yellow and another streak of energy rebounded back into the emeralds, which caused a small ripple to appear in the air above the machine.

Robotnik laughed maniacally and turned to Bowser, who nodded at Kamek.

"Use your magic, sorcerer, open the portal!" Bowser commanded.

Kamek raised his wand high in the air and a purple bolt of magic shot into the portal, causing it to expand across the wall on the other side of the room. A cascade of images began to form in the portal-Bowser saw the loops and twisty ramps of Green Hills, while Robotnik saw the large mushrooms and floating blocks of the Mushroom Kingdom. A line of static then appeared in the portal and they could now see their worlds slowly merging together.

"Finally!" Bowser and Robotnik declared in unison. "These worlds will finally be ours to rule!"


GREEN HILL ZONE - PLANET MOBIUS

It was a beautiful blue day in Green Hill Zone. Crystal clear waters cascaded down tall cliffs, and a scattering of loops and twisty ramps dotted the landscape. Tails thought it was the perfect weather to get some work done on his plane The Tornado. After eating a quick snack-peanut butter and jelly on wheat toast-he grabbed his tools and skipped merrily outside towards his plane that was parked in a large garage next to the house. About a half hour passed, with Tails twisting some screws and adjusting the wings, and he finally stood up from his work to examine his progress.

"Alright, a few more screws to tighten and she'll be ready to fly again!" Tails said to himself as he sipped on a bottle of water.

Just then, he heard a loud crackle of thunder as ripples of energy flashed across the sky. Tossing his tools aside, Tails ran outside and his jaw dropped at what he saw. He couldn't believe his eyes: Directly in front of him was a portal bigger than the entire sky, filled with images of things he couldn't comprehend. After a few moments, he finally saw two figures he instantly recognized: Sonic and Knuckles were inside some sort of machine, and Robotnik was standing next to them.

Suddenly he felt a strong tug and noticed the ground behind him was being sucked into the portal! Trees, rings, and even Badniks all flew inside the portal as Tails tried to hurry back to the entrance to his underground shelter (a room he had built in case of Eggman emergencies). But before he could reach the door, he felt his body floating and being sucked inside the portal! His entire world was vanishing, and soon he would as well.


CHAPTER 5 - The New World

Mario and Luigi, still inside the cage, found themselves floating in a white space that seemed to stretch infinitely in all directions. To Mario, it felt like he was suspended in a thick liquid. The cage tumbled slowly as the brothers observed their surroundings, or lack thereof.

"What is this?" Mario asked.

"Are we in heaven?" Luigi replied. "Are we dead?"

"Must be some sort of world between worlds."

"I wonder if God lives here," Luigi mused.

"Which god?"

Luigi immediately got annoyed at Mario's sarcastic remark, but he didn't want to get into a spiritual debate with his brother. Mario believed that all the gods of human history were once real, but the pursuit of knowledge and changes in religious belief had caused them to be forgotten. After a long awkward silence, Luigi and Mario suddenly saw a huge portal appear in front of them. They could see images of Bowser, his castle, Goombas and Koopa Troopas, and the Mushroom Kingdom, along with glimpses of things they didn't recognize-Green Hill Zone, golden rings, Doctor Robotnik, and his Death Egg (a planet-destroying space station). The images then began to slowly converge onto each other…

…a gigantic flash of rainbow-colored light suddenly erupted around them…

…and then the entire void went black.

Blackness, that's all Sonic and Knuckles could see.

Slowly, very slowly, color began to enter their eyes.

"Ugh, what a horrible dream," Sonic said as he blinked rapidly and his vision finally returned to normal.

"Where are we?" Knuckles asked before noticing his surroundings.

He saw mushrooms, hills, loops, twisty ramps, blocks, rings, coins, lava, a castle, a robotic citadel, all scattered about. He scratched his head in utter confusion.

"No… This cannot be."

Knuckles sat up and began to walk forward, but was bumped into by a small mushroom creature that had been running down a hill. The Goomba quickly trotted to the side and ran off, with a Motobug quickly following behind. He looked into the distance and saw Tails, who was pacing back and forth. His plane, The Tornado, was nowhere to be seen.

Turning to Sonic, who was tapping his foot in irritation, Knuckles exclaimed with excitement.

"Look over there, I think I see Tails!"

Sonic and Knuckles waved their hands wildly and Tails hovered over to them. After a lengthy hug, the trio stood dumbfounded by everything that was surrounding them.

"What happened here?" Tails asked.

"The merger…" Knuckles replied sternly.

"What merger?" Tails replied with a dumbfounded look on his face.

Sonic placed his hand on Tails' shoulder and sat him down on a mushroom nearby.

"It's gonna be a long story, little buddy…"

Mario and Luigi felt themselves falling. The ground was growing larger beneath them, and soon enough, the cage they were in crashed open and the brothers tumbled out onto the grass. Mario rubbed his head.

"Mama mia, that fall hit me harder than I expected!"

Luigi looked at the sky as he sat up and saw strange robotic insects flying around. One of them hovered close and emitted a *buzz buzz* tone before flying off. A few feet away were some large red mushrooms, along with a scattering of rings and coins perched atop ?-Blocks. Far off in the distance, surrounded by pillars of fire shooting from the ground, he saw Bowser's castle, but it looked strangely mechanical.

"This place doesn't make any sense," said Luigi. "What is going on here?"

Wondering if there were any Toad Shops in the area, Luigi and Mario walked over to a collection of rings and coins nearby-Luigi picked up a ring, Mario picked up a coin-and placed them in their pockets for later use. A path could be seen in the distance that led to a few warp pipes, so the brothers headed in that direction. The pipes were home to Piranha Plants, while one had a Motobug crawl out of it. Luigi jumped back at the sight of the Motobug, while Mario dealt with the Piranha Plants, plucking them out of their pipes and tossing them aside.

"Alright, Luigi," Mario said after the mess of plants was cleared away, "let's see where these things lead. I'll pick the blue one."

"Ok, I'll use the yellow one," Luigi replied as he crawled into a shiny yellow pipe.

The brothers emerged on opposite sides of a huge waterfall, with Mario on the upper half, and Luigi on the bottom. The water cascaded down a tall cliff, and the sound was so loud they could barely hear themselves shout.

"See anything up there, bro?" Luigi tried to shout over the roar of the water, but Mario could not hear him. "Guess I'm coming up then."

Luigi found a few rocks jutting out the side of the cliff and began clambering up. About halfway to the top, he noticed a strange item box with the symbol of a grinning man wearing a bushy mustache. Luigi touched it, and the box sprang up, nearly knocking him off the cliff! Luckily, he grabbed onto the rocks just in time, narrowly saving himself from a long fall. After he finally made it to the top of the cliff, he saw his brother staring at the view from the top of the waterfall.

"Beautiful view, isn't it?" Mario asked.

"Yeah," Luigi responded, "too bad I almost fell while trying to get up here!"

Just then, Mario and Luigi noticed their old friend Toad in the distance. He was sitting on a rock while talking to Tails, Sonic, and Knuckles. Toad looked up from his conversation and saw Mario and Luigi quickly approaching. He leapt off the rock he was sitting on to give the duo a big hug.

"Mario! Luigi!" Toad exclaimed. "I'm so glad to see you guys!"

"Wait a minute," Luigi pondered, "are you the Toad, or just a Toad?"

"Don't worry, Luigi, I'm the genuine one," Toad chuckled in response.

"There are more like you?" Sonic asked Toad.

"Yes, we are collectively a species called Toad, yet I myself am named Toad. It's pretty confusing actually."

After everyone was acquainted, Mario, Luigi, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Toad began to explain their situation, how they got there, and why their worlds looked different. As if right on cue, they suddenly noticed another large portal looming in the distance, with Bowser and Robotnik's flying ships traveling through it. A loud booming voice called out to them as the ships flew overhead:

"Greetings citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom and planet Mobius. You may have noticed a few… changes …around here, some things you may not recognize. Rest assured your worlds have successfully been merged together and are now under the control of Doctor Robotnik-"

A loud growl could be heard in the background interrupting the speech.

"-and King Bowser Koopa, ahem. We will be your malevolent rulers, and will require you to submit to us or risk destruction."

A cackling of voices could also be heard, presumably those of Bowser's seven children (Bowser Jr., Iggy, Larry, Lemmy, Ludwig, Morton, Roy, Wendy). Each Koopa Kid tried to speak into the microphone, but were sternly rebuked by their father. The portal soon vanished and the ships descended to the ground, with each villain emerging with their minions in tow: Bowser with his eight Koopa Kids and the wizard Kamek (along with an assortment of Koopa Troopas), while Robotnik had various robotic creatures by his side.

Robotnik looked around at the chaos.

"Ah, lovely," he said as he smelled the air, "the merger worked just as I planned!"

"Very good planning, sire!" Kamek proclaimed to Bowser as he bowed and tipped his wand.

"Where are the Chaos Emeralds?!" Knuckles demanded, stepping in front of his friends to confront Robotnik.

"Oh, you won't be needing them anytime soon," Robotnik said. "After the merger, they suddenly vanished, never to be seen again!"

"A likely story, Robotnik," Knuckles said bitterly, "but I know your lies. You can never keep a straight face."

Bowser chuckled at the sight of Robotnik's smirk; Knuckles was right, he couldn't lie well. Bowser's oldest son, Ludwig, interrupted the discussion and approached Knuckles.

"King Dad," he said. "May I deal with this red guy?"

Bowser nodded in response and Ludwig held out his wand, gesturing for the other Koopa kids to follow. All eight of them held out their wands in unison and a large bolt of energy blasted towards Knuckles, who dodged out of the way just in time. The energy bolt struck a nearby boulder and caused it to shatter.

"Allow me to retort," Knuckles said.

He raised his fists high and slammed the ground, causing a large crack to ripple towards the Koopa kids. Larry Koopa raised his wand and a blue shield formed around them, protecting them from the approaching fissure.

"Nice try, red guy," Ludwig chuckled. "Our magic blocks your brute strength. You can't beat us."

Knuckles frowned as he thought of his next maneuver. Turning to Sonic, he gestured for him to approach.

"I need you to distract them," Knuckles said sternly.

"Got ya," Sonic replied as he stretched his legs. "Gotta go fast."

With that, Sonic raced around the Koopa Kids, causing blue shocks of energy to surround them. Knuckles ran forward with his arm outstretched and slammed into the energy shield, causing it to rupture. The Koopa Kids all stood still, completely startled.

"How did you do that?" Larry asked in astonishment.

"No fair, our magic is impenetrable!" Wendy sneered while adjusting one of her large hoop earrings.

"You guys are too fast for us!" Roy said, looking dumbfounded.

"You're strong bro!" Morton exclaimed in mock praise.

"Ah man," Iggy sighed, "we were just getting started!"

"Too bad I couldn't use my bouncy balls to flatten you!" Lemmy said while balancing on his large yellow ball.

"Guys, guys, relax," Sonic said confidently. "turns out strength and speed can stop magic."

Bowser stomped his feet and roared in frustration, spewing hot flames from his mouth into the air.

"Enough!" he growled. "All of you are incompetent, time for me to finish this!"

Bowser grabbed Kamek's wand and pointed it at himself, absorbing the gem's purple mist that spiraled around him. His body began to glow, his spikes grew in length, and his fiery hair turned a darkened amethyst. His claws became jagged and his teeth jutted out from his jaw, while large bat-like wings protruded from his sides. Bowser suddenly looked like a dragon. Robotnik stared at the transformation in amazement, while the Koopa Kids retreated into the airship in fear of their father's new power. Bowser glared at Robotnik and the mad doctor quickly rushed into his Egg Carrier and emerged piloting a huge robotic suit that towered over Sonic, Mario, and their friends. Knuckles looked at the machine and noticed the Chaos Emeralds were being held within its cockpit, surrounding Robotnik with a radiant glow.

"Hold on a second, Bowser and Eggman!" Sonic protested. "Don't you think this is going too fast? I mean we haven't even begun the chase sequence yet."

"No need for that, pesky rodent," Robotnik chortled from within his mech suit. "Get ready for the final boss battle!"

"This is just going to be a repeat of our battle at the Emerald Temple," Sonic began, but was quickly interrupted by a huge fire blast that seared the trees surrounding him.

Knuckles' steely glare didn't falter as he gathered his strength, while Mario, Luigi, and Tails readied themselves as well. Mario and Luigi punched a nearby ?-Block and grabbed two Super Stars that gave them invincibility, and Tails hovered over to an Item Chest and grabbed the Fire Shield from within.

"Ready guys?" Tails asked the group, who all nodded in response.

"We have to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds from Robotnik so we can gain the power to defeat him and Bowser." Knuckles said.