But the Fates Aren't Done With Me Yet
Interlude I
Soleanna, 2006
(Uploaded on May 27, 2021)
Summary: An interlude across dimensions, following a disaster that ceased to be.
Notes: This chapter is set almost immediately after the events of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). Sonic and co. retain their memories of the game itself, and are well-aware of their status as video game characters (as are Mario and co., though this isn't important in the long run).
Spoilers for said game are featured, naturally.
Some bits of dialogue are taken from Child at Heart Forever's amazing '06 trilogy – specifically, from Chapter 17 of We Both Remember.
Console War Veterans
November 13, 2006
FastestThingAlive: almost time to head off to soleanna!
FastestThingAlive: festival of the sun's only a day away
ShroomStasher: Sounds exciting!
ShroomStasher: Though, it's also sounds kind of scary.
ShroomStasher: You know the old cliché about festivals being a hotspot for disaster.
ShroomStasher: …and you did say Eggman's been pretty quiet since the EX World Grand Prix.
FastestThingAlive: point
FastestThingAlive: still, it's probably gonna be a lot of fun
FastestThingAlive: hopefully better than the fire in the sky festival three years ago
FastestThingAlive: that was, uh
FastestThingAlive: that wasn't a good three days, to say the least
ShroomStasher: Have you ever had 'a good three days'?
FastestThingAlive: good question
ShroomStasher: Given that it's the 15th anniversary of your first adventure, I don't think it's out of the question to expect something big to happen.
ShroomStasher: Especially since it's been relatively quiet for you for ten months.
FastestThingAlive: hey, i'll be fine.
FastestThingAlive: i'm the fastest thing alive!
FastestThingAlive: what could there be that i can't take down?
ShroomStasher: …I don't know.
ShroomStasher: That's what worries me.
November 16, 2006 – Evening
Soleanna
Castle Town – Festival Site
Two days had passed since the Festival of the Sun.
Two days since three hedgehogs' paths collided into one.
Two days since the space-time continuum was nearly ruptured.
Two days since Sonic's biggest adventure ever kicked off… and then didn't.
…
…it was a strange feeling.
Remembering a world-ending disaster, where few others could.
Sonic let out a solemn hum.
"So far, so good," he said, sitting with his friends at one of the open tables. "Looks like Eggman's learned his lesson for once. I haven't seen any trace of his Badniks around."
"Good!" Knuckles leaned back in his chair, relief written all over his face. "I've seen enough fire and time travel for a lifetime!"
Of the ten figures drawn into Solaris' nexus, seven had stuck around the City of Water for the week's second go-around.
Team Dark—Shadow, Rouge, and Omega—were acting as backup security for the Festival, alongside a platoon of G.U.N. soldiers.
Amy was here, too, bringing with her the rest of Team Rose—Cream, Big, and Gemerl—under the guise of 'having a fun time'.
Lastly, there was Team Sonic—Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles; the resident heroes.
Here to see the sights… and like everyone else, hopefully prevent Eggman from attempting a repeat invasion.
"Me too," Tails stated. "Thankfully, since Solaris doesn't exist anymore, there's nothing for Eggman to harness."
He shook his head.
"Still, it'd be a good idea to stay on guard. After that last hour, I… I'm not gonna be comfortable leaving Sonic alone again for a long time."
Knuckles grimaced. "Tell me about it."
"Hey, things weren't that bad!" Sonic protested, even as his own voice seemed a little frazzled. "C'mon, you guys… I'm not going anywhere."
Tails and Knuckles both shared a dubious glance.
Much to everyone's horror, Sonic's limbs were laying limp on the ground.
"No… You don't think…" Tails choked, shaking his head in disbelief. "…Sonic?"
Knuckles gasped, suddenly trembling. "Sonic…!"
"You aren't now…" the echidna began slowly. "But…"
"He's… He's not dead…!" the young fox denied, trembling and squeezing his eyes shut. "He promised us he'd come back, Knuckles… and he never breaks his promises!"
"…for a bit, it was… you were just…"
He trailed off, unsure of how to finish his statement.
Luckily, he didn't have to figure out—
"Sonic!"
—because a very convenient diversion popped up shortly afterward.
A portal opened up, right next to the Mobius's signature Power Trio.
It wasn't anything like the Time-Space Rifts induced with a Chaos Control: this one was greenish-white, round and pulsating.
They knew that portal.
It had become a familiar sight, over the past few years.
So it came as no surprise that a just-as-familiar face ended up hopping right out of it:
Sonic's interdimensional ex-rival, Mario.
The plumber panted, clearly exhausted from doing a lot of the frantic running.
"I… I made it…" he heaved. "Everything's still here… Thank the Stars…"
Sonic blinked.
"M-Mario! I… didn't expect to see you here," he said. "What's up?"
The plumber lifted his head, his face a little aggrieved.
"'What's up', you ask…?" he muttered. "Oh, I'll tell you what's up. First, we get readings of a disturbance in space-time; second, we find that it's basically encompassing all of Mobius—and then, as we're trying to figure out what's going on…"
He held up a case, adorned with an seventh-gen console's name and sporting that recognizable hedgehog's smug smile.
"…we get our hands on this, and everything makes sense."
Tails cringed. "Oh. Yeah. I guess you would get that…"
Here's the thing: Mario and Sonic have known each other for a long time.
It all started in November 1992; Mario's seventh year of adventuring, and Sonic's second.
Being the mascot of Nintendo and SEGA, respectively, the two were naturally curious as to who their so-called 'primary rival' was. Circumstances allowed them to run into each other, thanks to a mishap with the Chaos Emeralds – and once they finally met…
…well, it was dislike at first sight.
To most, this is not a very surprising fact. Once upon a time, Mario couldn't stand how cocky and carefree Sonic was, and Sonic couldn't stand how vanilla and variable Mario was.
Now, they were never obsessive about it; certainly not like a good chunk of their respective fanbases – but they could get quite a bit competitive, especially when they were in the same room for too long.
…actually, scratch that. They could get very competitive.
Seriously, it was ridiculous. Almost every meeting they had seemed to involve some kind of small contest. Finishing sodas, target practice, getting high scores… you name it, they fought over it at least once.
Luigi and Tails spent most of their time keeping them in check.
(It was a thankless job.)
For a decade, it seemed like this rivalry would be everlasting.
And then, in what felt like the blink of an eye…
…things changed.
The Dreamcast fell; SEGA declined.
All of a sudden, this petty grudge wasn't as important as it used to be.
And so they settled their differences, one day in December 2001—
—and as a result, they became fast friends.
As part of their new relationship, Mario and Sonic made a commitment to delve into each other's games as they came out. After going through the whole experience, they'd often visit the other and commiserate about their latest adventures – sometimes with friends, sometimes just by themselves.
So it didn't take a genius to figure out what Mario wanted to talk about.
Sonic hummed understandingly.
Alright. I see.
He closed his eyes for a bit, and made a choice.
"Hey, Tails, Knuckles—do you mind leaving us alone for a bit?" he asked. "There's something Mario and I've gotta talk about."
Tails startled. "Are—Are you sure?"
"Alone? I dunno…" Knuckles frowned.
"Don't worry 'bout me," Sonic grinned—"I won't be long. It's a festival, after all—you two should have some fun!"
It was a bit of a hard sell… but for all that it was worth, they could trust Mario to look over Sonic safe while they were away.
"Okay…" the kitsune agreed—"but don't get into any trouble! I don't think I can handle another near miss…!"
"Me neither…" the echidna mumbled.
With that, the other two left to enjoy the festivities, as best they could.
…
…
…
An awkward silence hovered over the two remaining heroes.
"So," Mario began. "You died."
Sonic laid back in his chair, grimacing.
"…yeah. I did."
Mario gripped the table.
"You died. The world ended. First set on fire in the future; then erased from time in the present."
The Blue Blur nodded. "That's… about as accurate a description as you can get," he confirmed.
"This whole adventure was a disaster, from start to finish. It started like usual, and then it just descended into chaos. By all accounts, you all narrowly escaped with your lives – and yet, here you stand, scarcely affected by it all."
Sonic steeled himself.
Here it comes.
"So, I have to ask…"
Mario put his arms on the table, leaning in with a tense expression.
"…how is it that you still look perfectly okay?
"You fell. You didn't make it. Eight years of crises, and none of it seemed to matter. But you're still fine. And…"
He let out a breath.
"I—I don't get it."
Sonic was reminded of a certain statistic:
He's seen two major calamities to my seven.
Station Square, Maginaryworld, the ARK, the Black Comet, Emerl, Exception, Soleanna—
At this point, it had all become routine to the hedgehog, whereas Mario was still 'wet behind the ears', so to speak.
…no wonder why he was so distressed now.
He'd seen some of the hints from Mario last year, whilst they were conversing about the Shroob invasion. Fatigue, confusion, anxiety, horror—
In retrospect, all of that probably should've served as a red flag to Sonic.
Nevertheless…
"That's a hard question to answer," he replied, "but… mostly, it's gotta do with the fact that we're used to this.
"Eggman's always trying to go bigger. Another deity's always over the horizon." He shrugged. "Best we can do at this point is brace ourselves, and do the best we can. 'Cause if we don't…"
He trailed off.
The message was clear.
Either we learn to cope with our situation… or we die without being able to accomplish anything.
Mario clenched his fists.
"…and dying and coming back to life doesn't upset you in any way?"
"It… kind of does, actually—but I made my peace with that a while ago," Sonic said. "'Sides, Shadow went through something similar too, and he's still around."
"That doesn't mean it should be treated as something light!" the plumber argued. "You were literally stabbed in the back, all in service for some douche's nihilist fantasies! That's not right!"
"And no one's saying it is! But isn't the worst thing we've ever been through! It's fine! We're fine!"
The speedster shook his head. "C'mon, Mario, you don't need to panic so much 'cause of me."
He smiled, albeit a little sadly.
"So long as I'm helping my friends and keeping freedom alive, then I won't have any regrets. Sometimes, life just happens, and all we can do is whatever good we can in the time we have. Isn't that enough?"
"Not if it means I lose you in the process!"
Sonic fell silent, mouth pursed open in shock.
It was supposed to be a tame year.
No new calamities, no vile villains…
The most he had to deal with was Bowser Jr. exercising his kidnapping chops, and Donkey Kong getting mad over Mini-Mario toys… again.
And that should've been it; that should've been all he had to see.
But then Sonic died.
"It's only been five years since we reconciled," Mario continued. "That's barely any time at all! There's so much I still want to do together… I'm not ready to suddenly live without a friend, especially when our lifespans are so much longer than everyone else's!
"Do you know how terrifying this was…? The idea that you'd just be gone, and there'd be nothing I could do about it…?" He slouched. "…that's not a good feeling. And it only gets worse with all the nonsense your world goes through."
The type of nonsense I just can't wrap my brain around.
He sniffed. "I know I can't stop you from doing your thing, but… please, don't sell yourself short. You're—You're my friend. That means something to me, y'know?"
…
…
…
It took Sonic a couple seconds to come up with a response.
"…sorry, Mario," he said. "I should've thought about that, first. I'll—try to be a little more careful, from here on out."
"So long as you at least try," the plumber sighed.
He looked into the distance—at the waters flowing through Soleanna; at the city of people celebrating, oblivious to the fates they narrowly avoided.
"…eight years is a long time," he remarked. "A long time to be facing the apocalypse, over and over and over."
He crossed his arms.
"What do you think's in the future for me…? Nothing's happened to the Mushroom Kingdom this year, but—with my last two calamities, and the near-miss you experienced… were they just flukes, or are they emblematic of something worse?"
The hedgehog shook his head. "I don't know," he replied. "There's a lot out there that we can't ever predict. But… there's no point in worrying about all the 'what ifs'. That'll just drive you mad."
He smiled reassuringly.
"So… just smile! Whatever comes, I'm sure you can face it head on!"
Mario looked away, humming.
"…optimistic, aren't you?"
He ruminated on his speech for a few moments, before getting up and scooting his chair in. "Well, I think I've kept you long enough. You're alive, and that's what matters. Have a good time at the festival, Sonic. You've… really earned it."
"If you're okay with that," Sonic said. "See you again soon, Mario."
The plumber got out his phone, made a quick call—and soon enough, another lime-colored portal appeared in front of him.
As he stepped inside, he let his mind wander a little.
I… I hope he's right.
There's no reason why my world should go through the same cycle of apocalypses like Sonic's.
They say that 'once is happenstance, twice is coincidence'—
—and so far, I've only gotten two hits on the calamity roulette.
So maybe, just maybe… next year, I can just sit back and only worry about when Bowser's gonna make his next scheduled kidnapping.
I mean—
What else would my universe needs with an everyman like me, anyway?
But, unfortunately for him…
…the fates weren't done with him yet.
Depressingly, I share a birthday with Sonic '06. 'Tis sucks.
As I promised earlier, Sonic's gonna get to play a role in this fic. Both of them had a similar period of constant calamities, and they're often associated as a duo, so I figured it'd be appropriate. And since Mario didn't have any major catastrophes in 2006 (unless you count the stagnancy induced by New Super Mario Bros.), while Sonic absolutely did…
If I'm being honest, Mobius had it even worse than the Mushroom Kingdom: their conventional 'Apocalyptic Age' lasted twice as long as the latter's (1998-2009), and they had to deal with reality-ending stakes far more frequently.
Despite this, though, they never seem to react any greater than 'oh, that happened' (see also: Sonic Unleashed). Actually, the canon Mushroom Kingdom is a lot like that, too – everyone's notably pretty blasé in Partners in Time, a game wherein E. Gadd quite literally sent Peach into an ongoing alien invasion.
…I suppose that's why I'm setting up this contrast.
If we keep one realm's nonchalance while removing the other's, then we have to ask:
What does a world of chaos look like to a world without it?
(And what does it mean for Mario, who still has so much left to go?)
Well, that's it for Phase 1 of this fic! Next time, we kick off Phase 2 with everybody's favorite Mario game: Super Paper Mario! Hope y'all are ready…