Welcome to 2022, everyone! I really wanted to post this on the 31st, but well, time waits for no man I suppose. Welcome to the first Their World chapter of the year! Last time, Sonic and Peter faced off against a 'bot in Queens, but now they may have to deal with an alien invasion! No, it's up to our heroes to prepare themselves for the incoming threat, but only time will tell if their efforts are successful.
Another tidbit about this crossover universe: The Guardian Units of Nations (G.U.N.) does exist in this AU. Here it's sort-of like a cross between S.H.I.E.L.D., the military, and the police.
Also, I'm making an anouncemnt that henceforth I'll be responding to non-guest reviews through PMs, rather than in the author's notes. Thanks!
Chapter Eight
"Tony, this really wasn't nece-"
"Ah, ah, ah, don't wanna hear it."
"I seriously didn't-"
"Nope. Zip it. The adult is talking."
The hedgehog's resigned sigh could be heard as he flexed his fingers, which were currently encased in the material of the supersuit he was wearing.
In appearance, the Needlemouse suit was relatively simple; the sleek, form-fitting costume was predominatly a shade of navy blue with neon blue lights interspersed throughout its reinforced hide. The feet of the costume were a hot-rod red color to match Sonic's shoes, and large, black-rimmed eyeholes could be seen where Sonic's eyes would be. A bit of gold was tossed in at a few areas of the suit for an extra pop.
"How does it feel in there?" asked Tony, observing as his spiky roommate did a few experimental stretches.
"Feels like I'm wearing really flexible tights," came the response, "but I'm good. What else does this thing actually do?"
The man smirked lightly. "Thought you'd never ask. The Needlemouse suit is made of a special bulletproof material that's flexible enough to move around comfortably but also tough enough to not get sliced up by your quills and absorb the brunt of hits and collisions you might sustain whilst moving at your speed. It's also got over a hundred different safety protocols-"
Sonic lowly whistled, impressed. "A hundred?"
Tony waved a hand dismisively. "Nothing special, really. You should see what I did with Peter's suit. Kid used to run around wearing PJs."
"PJs? Like, actual pajamas, or...?"
"It was a glorified onesie with goggles sewn into it. After we... met, I gave him a new suit that would protect him a lot better against the kind of guys he fights."
In front of him, the cerulean hedgehog nodded in comprehension. At this point, both heroes knew that the kid regularly dealt with a diverse array of lawbreakers ranging from garden-variety purse-snatchers to maniacs wielding alien weapons. The Vulture fiasco was still fresh in Tony's mind.
"Back to the suit, you should probably give it a field test to get a feel for it- as amazing as my tech is, every self-respecting genius has to test out his stuff first-"
Tony paused, glancing at a nearby hologram. It was a recent news article about the hedgehog's reappearance- he had done the research on his spiky roommate and "The Blue Blur" was something of an urban legend among folks.
"-And the tower has a whole gymnasium just sitting there collecting dust."
"Got it," came the extraterrestrial, pulling up his mask to reveal his grinning features. Green irises stared at Tony, radiating sincere gratitude.
"Yeah, yeah, I know I'm the best, no need to say it out loud," stated Tony, remaining nonchalant. Sonic's grin became a teasing one at that.
"Actually, I was gonna say that those were some wise words coming from Mr. 'Sometimes you've gotta run before you can walk,'" the hedgehog retorted, not missing a beat.
The billionaire put a hand on his chest dramatically, feigning hurt. "Ouch. You wound me, E.T."
"Must be your back."
The human paused for a moment, not showing any comprehension. That is, until the jab finally clicked in his mind.
Tony barely avoided whiplash, with how quickly his gaze whipped towards the Mobian, now currently laughing his head off, letting out a series of mirthful giggles.
"Alright, you little rascal, get outta here," he spoke, sending a glare at the hedgehog that had no heat in it. "You and Pete are both gonna give me gray hairs. Enjoy the suit."
"I'll take you up on that," affirmed Sonic, slipping the mask back on. The laughs had died down to a few bubbling snickers at this point.
"Seriously though, thanks a lot, Tony. For, y'know, everything. There's no way I can ever really repay you."
The hedgehog's voice was filled with unabashed thankfulness and Tony just sniffed in appreciation.
"Not a problem. You can repay me by actually using the suit and not fighting metal monstrosities armed with just shoes and gloves."
The alien smiled under the mask. "No promises, Tones!"
And with a two-fingered salute and a gush of wind, Sonic was gone, leaving Tony Stark to his thoughts once more.
Letting out an exhale, the man offhandedly picked up the recently completed teleporter, examining it critically. The device was about as big as his hand and vaguely diamond-shaped. Small groves outlined the otherwise smooth, light-weight metal.
Stark supposed it was more like a power bank or generator than an actual teleporter, since Sonic was the one uing the energy to do the teleporting, but whatever. They couldn't be picky.
The process of extracting the Chaos energy had been simple enough; it was a matter of isolating the desired energy by looking for the right frequency, for lack of a better word. A few freshly plucked hedgehog quills and a surprisingly successful energy crystallogenesis experiment later they had enough energy for a one-way ticket back to Sonic's planet, wherever that was.
The man had a hunch that the hedgehog might not be able to leave just yet, however. The threat of an Eggman invasion still loomed on the horizon and Tony had been covertly scanning through a list of possible reinforcements against this approaching problem.
Of course, Sonic and himself would be front and center dealing with whatever machines Robotnik threw at them.
Rhodey would be capable of providing assistance if need be, and so could Peter if possible- although Tony would rather not bring the spider-kid into the fray unless absolutely necessary.
Vision could give some crucial help in standing against Robotnik's army, but so far no one could reach the android who apparently was on one of his many trips to who knows where. And the Rogues...
Tony didn't want to think about the Rogues.
The thought of that subject brought an equally uncomfortable scenario into the genius' head.
What about the whole Sokovia Accords predicament?
The remaining Avengers assembling to stave off a robot invasion in the heart of New York wouldn't exactly go unnoticed, and certain government officials (namely, the Secretary of State Thunderbolt Ross) were already breathing down his neck as it was. The last thing anyone needed was for someone like Sonic or even Peter, if it came down to it- to be roped into the mess.
Of course, Sonic by then would've been long gone to his home planet, far away from that legal mush pot. That was one saving grace for the situation.
As it was, though, things were on a crash course and the genius billionaire philanthropist had no choice but to prepare for it. Ross could harp about the legalities later when New York wasn't in danger of being taken over by a mad scientist.
"Boss, it appears that Miss Potts is en route to the lab."
Stark perked up at the sound of FRIDAY's voice, setting down the finished teleporter.
"FRI, delete all pages. Also let me know if Needles decides to come back."
With an affirmative from the AI, the unused holograms promptly dematerialized. Not long after, the lab doors slid open, revealing a woman with fiery red hair, dressed immaculately as always in a dark pencil skirt and blouse.
"Hey, Pep." Tony extended a hand in greeting, to which Pepper responded in kind.
"What's up? Is this about that meeting from yesterday? Did one of the interns accidentally break a window again?"
The redhead raised an eyebrow, "I specifically recall one of your Iron Man suits spring-boarding out the window."
Tony's mouth opened once before closing again, accurately imitating a goldfish.
"Yeah, well, the suit had a malfunction with the thrusters."
His soon-to-be-wife's eyebrow raised higher, sky blue irises glinting in amusement.
"Okay, so I flew out of the window on purpose. In my defense, though, it was for science."
Pepper just gave him a knowing look before continuing. "How's Sonic?"
"Oh, Big Blue? He's in the gym testing out his new suit."
"You made him a suit?"
The inventor paused, remembering that he had not, in fact, informed Pepper of the fact that he'd made a supersuit for the hedgehog.
Tony let out a sigh, steeling himself. This open communication thing was good for relationships, right? Right.
"Something's coming, Pep. Some supervillain from Sonic's world who calls himself Eggman, along with his armada of robots, wants to make an extended house call."
"You mean an invasion."
That was not a question, it was a statement. Stark nodded grimly.
"I've been trying to evaluate my options, maybe rally a team together to deal with the threat."
"You want to.. Reassemble the Avengers?"
"What's left of us, yes. So far, the only ones I'm really sure of are Sonic, Rhodey, and yours truly. Vision's off the grid, and the kid... I don't want him dragged into this mess unless absolutely necessary."
It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which kid he was talking about. Pepper nodded in agreement.
"What do you plan on doing, now?" she asked, her question being oriented towards the goal.
"I've got all existing Iron Man suits up to code and FRIDAY's been instructed to alert me if any suspicious aircraft comes within the perimeter of the city. Besides that, it's all preparing for the worst."
The man's gaze was heavy as he settled his gaze upon a singular silver bracelet resting on top of an engine.
"It's all we can do at this point."