The Purple Penny's Return!
Chapter 2: Stars, Chaos, and Orbs
Princess Aquaech: So, where are my backstage passes, TTE?
Uh, Princess, you're part of the cast and crew, you're already backstage.
Princess Aquaech: I am? All right! I'm gonna go get Knuckles' autograph! (runs off to get Knuckles)
Platypous: You just had to tell her, didn't you, TTE. (runs off after Princess Aquaech)
Ech: Hey, wait, if we're part of the cast and crew, that means I can control the music! Dramatic fanfare, play your loudest!
(Dramatic fanfare)
Roo: TTE doesn't own Spyro, Sonic, or Mario. And he doesn't own Microsoft either.
Wex: All right, dramatic fanfare, you can cut it out now. We're going on to the fanfic.
(Dramatic fanfare)
Wex: TTE, make it stop!
Sonic's transport landed in the middle of Microsoft's Xbox garden slowly as its steel panels cooled down from the atmospheric entry. Setting down its landing gear as the gull-wing door opened, the steel's grey color returned to the red hot panels.
"I can't believe it, we're in the actual Xbox garden!" Knuckles looked around at the spires rising around him, the nearest one having a greenish color to the windows. That was apparently the Xbox Live control center. Sonic wasn't as enthusiastic about being in the Xbox garden as Knuckles was, however. "Just make sure that there's no Microsoft robots or anything to take us hostage, Knuckles. Microsoft's known to be even more heinous than even Eggman at his worst." Sonic stepped out onto the metal path in the garden named after Microsoft's first console platform, looking around for any kind of traps that Microsoft might have for him, Sega's mascot. Unknown to him, behind his and Knuckles' transport, another was landing.
"We're finally here, Spyro, isn't that awesome?" Hunter was really getting annoying by now, and Spyro hadn't slept any of the way there. Spyro opened the gull-wing door to the outside, catching a glimpse of a green X made out of leaves over a similar steel transport in front of him.. "So, this is the Xbox garden?" Spyro thought it might've been bigger, and the parking was just terrible. How was he supposed to meet whoever the other heroes were if he could barely get out of the transport?
"Sonic, help me get these Emeralds out of the backpack." Spyro looked around the transport in front of him, seeing a red echidna and a blue hedgehog grabbing various colored gems from a backpack. One looked as worthless as a red Gem, but Spyro saw one that would be worth 25 Gems back home and in Avalar. Spyro went closer as the echidna and hedgehog were busy digging in the backpack again, and grabbed the purple jewel. As he held it, he felt a power not unlike what he felt when he held an orb in his claws. "Look out, Sonic; the Master Emerald's still very breakable." The echidna apparently had some sort of responsibility for this Master Emerald, and it had some sort of connection to this purple gem. Spyro looked the other way to see Hunter dancing around, getting the caffeine out of his system and picking up some flowers for Bianca. He started to spin the purple gem on his claw, then letting it roll across the back of his shoulders and arms to the other hand.
The echidna turned to look at the other seven gems, making sure that every one was there. "Let's see, the Master Emerald, the red Chaos Emerald, the blue Chaos Emerald, the yellow Chaos Emerald, the green Chaos Emerald, the light blue Chaos Emerald, the gray Chaos Emerald... Hey, Sonic, is the purple Chaos Emerald in the backpack?"
Sonic was about to answer as Knuckles' eyes met with Spyro's. Knuckles saw the Chaos Emerald that the purple dragon was twirling on his left claw. "What do you think you're doing?! That's a Chaos Emerald you have there, not a toy!"
While Knuckles continued to yell at Spyro as he kept twirling the purple Emerald, Sonic figured out just who he was. "Hey, Knuckles, don't sweat it, this isn't anyone from Microsoft trying to steal the Chaos Emeralds!" Sonic pointed to the transport next to their own. "He's Spyro the Dragon, Sony's chief mascot! I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, Spyro." Sonic extended his hand to the dragon. Spyro shook it with his free hand as Knuckles took his precious Chaos Emerald and put it with the rest. "That still doesn't give him an excuse to take a Chaos Emerald and start playing around with it."
Sonic shook his head at Knuckles. "Are you always gonna do that?" Spyro got Hunter from his caffeine rampage around the garden. The four heroes got acquainted with each other, shaking hands and trading Chaos Emeralds and Orbs. Spyro got the purple Chaos Emerald that he was playing with earlier, while Hunter got the yellow one. While Knuckles wasn't very happy with the idea that someone who was so irresponsible like Spyro had one of the seven Chaos Emeralds, at least now Knuckles could concentrate on the Master Emerald again. And since Sonic had the blue Chaos Emerald, all that needed to be done was to find out who else was coming to take care of the red, green, light blue and gray Chaos Emeralds.
"Mama mia, Luigi, why don't you be more careful with your driving?"
"My-a driving, Mario?" Luigi was obviously very angry. "If it wasn't for my- a driving, we wouldn't be around any more-a!" The plumbers walked around the front of both of the other transports, coming into view of the other four heroes.
"Mama mia, it's-a Sonic and Spyro!" Mario and Luigi walked over to the four and brought out their own super items, the Power Stars, to trade to Spyro for an Orb each and to trade to Sonic for the red and green Chaos Emeralds. The six agreed that since they each had one Chaos Emerald, one Power Star, and one Orb, that the other two that they brought with them each would go to Bill Gates himself for safekeeping. Mario ran ahead of Luigi and the others to enter Microsoft's inner sanctum for a meeting with Bill Gates, leaving his brother behind with the rest. "Why couldn't I have-a stayed in the Mush-a-room Kingdom?" Luigi followed Hunter, Spyro, Sonic and Knuckles into the building after his complaint, and the steel double doors closed behind him.
Inside of the spire nearest to the Xbox Garden, the green windows colored the floor from all directions. Two spiraling staircases rose from the floor to the left and right of the main desk, where there was a large green X, apparently the head of all Xbox Live operations. Mario approached the desk followed by the other five, giving the X quite an alarm. "Sonic the Hedgehog? Spyro the Dragon? Super Mario? Well, as unorthodox as it would look, are you guys here to sign up for a new Xbox game?"
Sonic declined for the group. "No, we're here to see your boss. It's about that Purple Penny." The X pointed them up the spiraling stairs to its left, where above, a golden room held the Master of Microsoft himself, Bill Gates. Sonic ran up the stairs first, causing them to be quite hot as the others walked up, especially the barefoot Hunter.
"See, Knuckles? I told you that Microsoft had robots ready to capture us at their first chance!" Sonic pointed towards Gates' office, where, sure enough, two large guard robots patrolled the area. "Well, you know, since we each have a Chaos Emerald, why don't you just use Chaos Control to get us past?" Sonic took out his blue Emerald, making sure that there was no possible way that this could backfire, like Knuckles having the Master Emerald too close like the time when Tails tested how it would work with the Super Emeralds. "Chaos Control!" The blue light enveloped Sonic and caused him to disappear, now going so fast that no one could see him, except for one...
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THUD! Sonic ran right into a solid object, stopping him from entering Gates' office. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Looks like Sega sent an assassin to wipe Microsoft off them map, eh?" An orange cat grabbed Sonic by his back, the world around them still frozen in time. "Well, I never would've expected it, Sonic the Hedgehog! Who'd think that Sega would send their best and only mascot here to be exterminated, like all the rest?" Sonic saw the cat's green eyes stare into his soul, as if the cat was going to just murder him right then and there. Sure, Sonic had gotten out of situations like this before, but Robotnik wasn't any real problem to deal with, and Sonic wasn't usually in the warped reality of frozen Space-Time. "Talk, hedgehog! I want answers! Why did Sega send you here?"
Sonic recognized this cat. He was Blinx, the Time Sweeper! If he saw the Chaos Emerald... Sonic didn't want to think of what could happen. He had to get out of Blinx's hands and into Bill Gates' office or else the Purple Penny could destroy the whole world! "You're right, I am Sonic the Hedgehog. But I didn't come here to murder Bill Gates. Heck, I only came here to do what I've been doing for years, save the world from evil."
"A likely story." Three more creatures with the same gear as Blinx had appeared behind him, approaching Sonic quickly. "Right on time. I figured that I'd need backup, since I am facing the world famous Sonic the Hedgehog, but I guess I was wrong. Take all of his valuables, as well as those of his friends, and take them all to the dungeon. We'll deal with them there."
Sonic clutched the blue Chaos Emerald closely, keeping it hidden from the Time Sweepers' sight, as his Light Shoes, Bounce Bracelet, and Fire Ring were removed. As long as all seven Emeralds weren't in the possession of anyone with questionable motives, there was still hope. Sonic watched as the Time Sweepers picked up the frozen figures of Knuckles, Spyro, Hunter, Mario, and Luigi, taking each Chaos Emerald, Orb, and Power Star they had, and draging them, along with Sonic, to the subterranean Microsoft Dungeon.
Roo: Ooh! I bet no one expected that to happen! I know I thought that Sonic would just get into the office.
Antiroo: And TTE left us with a 100%, downright evil cliffhanger. What's with the lack of pointing that one out, Roo?
Roo: I got bored. Well, time to vote!
Antiroo: Hey, are we the only ones here?
Wex: No, I am too. Well, for this chapter, you get to vote on which way they get out of the dungeon! Will it be because Bill Gates learns of their capture and releases them, or will they have to get out on their own using teamwork? Oh, and TTE won't tell you which way won at the start, you'll have to wait until the middle of the next chapter to find out! Voting will end on July 16th!
Roo: So review, tell us what you want them to do, lame 'oh, they're all right, release them,' or cool, super special effects intensive action sequence where they escape from Microsoft's dungeon? And now we have to find Ech and Antiech.
(At Elora's dressing room)
Antiech: Hello? Elora? Are you there? Can I have your autograph?
Ech: We promise that we're not over reactive fanboys on a sugar high. Please?
Princess Aquaech: Oh Knuckles...
Knuckles: Argh! Save me, TTE! You're the director! Review, everyone! Maybe then I can get this crazy princess away from me!