Cross Collision

A/N: omg two updates in a year. I'd have had the chapter up a little sooner than this but I've been working on my own comic and, naturally, it's been taking up a fair chunk of my time. You can check it out on my DA account :)

Anyway, on with the story. I'll try to get the next part up before new year!

Part 9: Unexpected Assistance

Rain started to fall, increasing in intensity at a surprising pace, as Sonic, Tails, Danny, Sam, and Tucker left the shelter of the forest. To some minor complaining from all parties involved, of course, until Sam produced a few collapsible black umbrellas from her backpack. With a small smile she passed them to the others; Danny and Tucker found themselves sharing one, while Sonic and Tails took the third. The hedgehog especially seemed relieved to be a little drier, and they continued walking, their shoes splashing in puddles as they made their way to a nearby stone paved pathway. Tucker groaned.

"Don't you guys have cars?"

"Yeah, but mine's in the shop, and only really sits me, and Tails' is also one of his planes and wouldn't seat everyone either." Sonic chuckled at their expressions. "What're those faces for?"

"Aren't you like, our age? Why are you allowed to drive already?" Tucker pouted.

"Different rules I guess." was the bored answer. "Besides, we're only looking for a star post we can wreck without too much hassle."

"What do they look like?" Danny asked, curious.

"Like they sound. They're large circles with a star pattern on them, and they sit high on top of a pole." Tails grinned. "Only people like Sonic and me can use them though."

"So why does he care if he damages the wrong one?"

"Some zones only have the one, and as you probably noticed, may or may not be enormous too. It's more practical to leave some in strategic places."

"Blah blah blah it's more like I'm trying to find one that isn't in the middle of a town, I don't want that blast radius to hurt anyone. Wrecking one in a zone that only has one is kinda... not a trouble to me because of these awesome things." the hedgehog pointed at his legs, with a smirk.

Tails chuckled apologetically at Sonic's correction, and the hedgehog laughed brightly, ruffling the fox's hair for a moment. Danny and his friends smiled at their interaction, following them through the heavy rain and the muddy grasslands. Sam seemed to be taking great delight in strolling through the wet grass, kicking her boots high in front of her as she followed Sonic and Tails. Tucker and Danny, on the other hand, were both feeling particularly crowded as they huddled under the same umbrella, taking the rear of the party. They gave a disappointed sigh in unison when the rain was caught by a large gust of wind and blew straight under the umbrella, making them both wet and miserable. Tucker grumbled and stared at Danny.

"Dude, can't you like, dry us off a bit?"

"I could, but don't you think that'd make us a bit suspicious?"

"The guy we're following runs at the speed of sound and his friend is a two tailed fox that flies, I don't think you'd be particularly weird around here!"

"... So I'm weird normally? Is that what you're saying?"

"Naa man, sorry, you know what I mean..."

"Yeah I know. But naa if I can keep it secret as long as possible, it's kinda more helpful if we need it in an emergency."

"Yeah I guess so. But ew, I'm so soggy."

"Heh, well if this works we'll be home soon I guess so we can dry off there." Danny smiled at his friend. "But we gotta pay attention to Sonic and Tails' plan, and help them out."

"Man I hope we get home soon, I'm dying for a huge Nasty meal." Tucker frowned. "And I want my computer."

"I'm dying to punch that idiot Vlad in the face for causing all of this in the first place."

"Oh, yeah, that's a good idea too."

"Well we aren't going to get anywhere if you two keep slacking behind." Sam called from in front of them. "I wanna get back as much as you both too, you know. Aren't you guys worried?"

"Worried? About what?"

"If the ghosts are here, what do you think is going on back home?"

"... Oh. Oh, yeah." Danny sighed. "But there's no way for us to find out, we'll just figure it out when we get back. It works fairly well usually?"

"Ugh, you never think ahead Danny, this is how we get in trouble."

"Why is it my fault?"

"Never mind."

"No, why-"

"I can hear you dudes arguing there, come on, can you at least save it 'til we're out of the rain?"

Sonic's voice was clear even through the downpour, and the humans apologised, both to him and each other. They all knew they didn't really mean it, but with Sam having pointed out the potential problems that could be occurring in their world, they were all getting pretty anxious about it. Not to mention that being soaked through with rain and mud was doing nothing to help their moods. Danny sighed, wondering if anyone back home had noticed they were gone yet. If the Ghost Zone was playing up, as Skulker had said, his parents would probably be focused on that, but Jazz may have noticed. He shook his head; if Jazz had noticed there was no telling what she'd do to find out where he'd gotten to. He glanced at Tucker, who had gone quiet, probably realising a similar thing about his own family. They couldn't see Sam well past the umbrellas but knew she was likely wondering what her parents would do too.

In that moment they all felt a little more homesick.

Jazz Fenton stared at the short creature sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea in between its hands, and briefly wondered why her parents hadn't tried shooting it yet. She'd been walking past the room with a folder full of notes, but had glanced in for a moment upon seeing her parents there. They didn't seem too pleased with their dinner guest; there was the very notable presence of the still extended staff by her mother's side; but they appeared to be talking to it without much trouble. Her curiosity piqued, Jazz stepped into the room and waited by the door until her father looked up and saw her there. He beamed brightly and motioned for her to come over and sit down with them.

"Heyyyyyyy Jazzie! Come here, this guy came through the ghost portal but he's not a ghost!"

"... What?" Well, the creature not being a ghost would explain why the anti ghost weapons weren't present for a change. She walked over, cautiously.

"Jazz, where were you when we came home?"

"Oh, I was at the library, mom. I needed to get some information for-"

"That's great Jazz, but sit down, Shadow here was explaining stuff to us!"

"Jack, I don't think Jazz really wants to, she has work to get done."

"Ahh, nonsense! What could be more important than finding out about Danny?"

"Jack-"

"This guy knows where Danny is?!" Jazz shot a glare at him. "Then he better start talking, my work can wait."

"I assure you, young lady, as I have told your parents, that I do not have any connection to his disappearance. However, it is correct that I know where he is." Shadow's deep voice surprised her, she'd expected something else, maybe something a little younger, given his height.

"Where have you come from, if you're not from the ghost zone?"

"Another dimension, to put it bluntly. Our worlds have connected temporarily through the place you call the 'ghost zone' and our world's equivalent, and as such several people, such as myself, have ended up rather displaced. Your brother and the two friends he's with are another example."

"Danny's in another dimension?!" Jazz shrieked. "Nuh uh, that's not possible!"

"And, according to your mother, neither are 'three foot tall talking hedgehogs' but since you happen to be talking to one right now, it's kind of silly to be saying 'that's impossible'." Shadow chuckled as Jazz buried her face in her notes, muttering to herself.

"How can you be certain about all this... dimensional combination?" she grumbled as she lifted her face from her folder, slowly.

"You are not, seriously, asking the hedgehog sitting at your kitchen table this question."

"Point taken."

"Regardless of the situation, let's just assume that we can't correct it for the time being, as we do not know what caused it." Shadow shook his head, spikes waving side to side as he did so. "I need to find my way back through if I have any chance of locating and returning Danny and his friends to your world; they are likely to be as uncertain about their situation as myself."

"And you think these robot bugs could have shown you the way?" Jack asked, the get a nod in response. "Aww man, I'm sorry we stopped you to ask questions then."

"It's not too much hassle, I can probably track them once I can get into chaotic space." He frowned at the humans. "I must ask, how easily convinced can he be?"

"Depends I guess, he's not a dumb kid, runs in the family." Jack grinned, proudly.

"Hmm."

"Why?" Jazz asked, trying to focus on the important questions instead of her dad's proud puffing.

"Simply because the reason I know of him, and where he is, is my associate was observing a particular person of interest. Said person is quite intelligent, and very good at manipulating people. I am unsure of what his exact interest in Danny and his friends is, but I'm sure that if he finds them without their current escort, he will try and manipulate them too."

"Do you know exactly how he got there?" Maddie asked, a frown plastered on her face.

"I'm afraid not."

"How about exactly how you got here then?"

"Again, I'm not entirely sure. I was already traversing the Special Zone when the chaotic space began merging with what I now know is your Ghost Zone. I became disoriented in the confusion and ended up here. So I assume it was a similar situation for them."

"Why would Danny be in the Ghost Zone?" Maddie shook her head, red hair bouncing around her neck. "I know he doesn't like ghost hunting so I don't see why he'd be anywhere near it."

"I guess it was probably an accident!" Jazz piped up, none too subtly. Shadow raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in the pitch of her voice. "I mean, maybe there's a natural portal nearby or something, or a ghost took him through, or... heck, maybe there was an accident with that stupid portal gun of yours!"

"But it's still fully charged, so couldn't have been one. It only works on ghosts anyway." Jack shrugged. "But yeah maybe there was a nasty spook who did it!"

"I don't think so, a ghost capable of opening portals would have shown up on our scanners, like that werewolf one..."

"Werewolf?" Shadow blinked. "Do you have ghosts or werewolves?"

"Yes." Jack answered.

"Oh."

"Anyway, if you said you could track the robots, we should probably let you get going."

"Good-"

"Jazz, I still don't trust this creature." Maddie sighed. "He could be a powerful spectre and simply doesn't show up on our sensors."

"Well, disregarding whether you trust me or not, you do not have a choice. And besides-" Shadow pushed his cup away from him across the table, and stood up, with a smile. "-you could not catch me if you tried."

"Where do you think you're go-"

"Chaos control!"

In a flash of bright light, Shadow was gone, and Jazz bolted downstairs to the lab to watch the hedgehog stand by the portal. The hedgehog smirked at her. She sighed and grabbed a small handgun that lay on a counter nearby. Shadow glanced at it, then up at her face as she tossed it over to him.

"Anti ghost weapon. If you run into any that cause you trouble it should help."

"Thanks Jazz."

"You better send Danny back in one piece!"

Shadow didn't bother answering her, and simply jumped through the portal, vanishing behind the swirling green entrance as she looked on. With a sigh, she turned and saw her parents standing at the base of the stairs. Jazz smiled reassuringly at them. Danny and his friends would be fine, she knew they would be. But she hoped they could trust Shadow, they knew nothing about him, but they knew even less about what was going on on the other side of that portal, so it was their only option.

Sonic's fur bristled as he sneezed, muttering to himself in irritation. He leaned against the low wall nearby, bundling himself under the umbrella to let as little rain in as possible. Tails had been shoved out from beneath it in the process, and was standing underneath Sam's instead while Sonic sulked. They'd found a star post relatively nearby, but with no shelter near it the hedgehog didn't want to smash it open to get the part they needed from inside it. His excuse had been nothing more than complaining about the potential risk of getting hit by lightning if he charged too much energy up. Tails had offered to fly up and dismantle it, but the distant rumble of thunder had made his tails drop to the floor instead.

"Nope, not doing it."

"Come on Tucker, you're the only other one who could take it apart."

"No I am not. You do it."

"Dude I can't, I don't wanna get hit by lightning either!"

"Well what makes you think I want to?"

"Guys, let's just find shelter for now, we'll take it down when the storm passes." Sam sighed, shaking her head. "It'll be safer for everyone."

"Agreed." The boys all nodded, and they looked at Tails, who'd pulled his computer out and was now tapping at the screen.

"I don't think there's any villages around here. There is a cave system though, if we can find an entrance we could shelter there for the time being."

"Caves?"

"Yeah, a lot of zones have a few caves, this one is mostly artificial, an ancient city or something. It's like, directly below us so we're bound to find an entrance nearby."

"Could we ask someone?"

"Do you see anyone around to ask?" Tails stared at Danny with a deadpan expression.

"No..."

"Well I guess we'd better start looking then." Sonic muttered under the umbrella as he stood up, but his voice cheered up as he continued. "I don't think I've been in the caves round here, so it'll be fun to see what they're like!"

"That's more like it Sonic, let's go!"

Tails dived back under the umbrella his friend held with a grin, happily tagging along with him as the group walked away from the pathway with the wall and back across the muddy fields. They carefully observed the surroundings in an attempt to make sure they didn't miss any hints as to where the entrance to the caves Tails had mentioned were. It was odd, Sam pointed out, that the caverns were listed on Tails' map but not the entry to them, but the fox had answered with the fact that no one really recorded the entrances to caves. When asked why, the answer had only been a shrug. It was just something that their culture never did, it left surprises for people to find regularly.

A loud, squishy thump was heard behind them as they walked, and they turned around to find the large, robot clad ghost standing there once again. Danny groaned as he saw him, but Skulker held his hands up in a peaceful gesture. Or rather, what would have been a peaceful gesture if Danny didn't know how many weapons were hidden in those arms. Sonic grinned beneath his umbrella at seeing the guy again.

"Hey, you fixed your bucket!"

"It was only minor damage. I do have something important to tell you though, whelp." Skulker ignored Sonic for Danny instead.

"Yeah, what?"

"You will not like this."

"I'll decide that, you gotta tell me it first, boltbrain." Danny smirked as Sonic and Tucker chuckled beside him.

"Amusing. Allow me to put this bluntly. The Ghost Zone is collapsing."

"What?!"

"Whoa whoa whoa wait, the Ghost Zone's linked to our Special Zone right? It can't collapse, that'll be a catastrophic event of universal proportions!" Tails yelled at the robot. "You better be joking mister!"

"No joke, cub. It's not a joking matter. Parts of the Ghost Zone have collapsed in on themselves, and I'm pretty sure this ridiculous disorganised mess you call the Special Zone is responsible."

"No way, the Special Zone's chaotic, sure, but it's stable." Sonic chimed in, his voice serious once more. "Your stupid zone must've damaged it."

"That's highly unlikely." Skulker glared down at them, annoyance in his voice.

"Yeah well unless you can prove it's our zone's fault you can shut your metal trap."

"Whoa... whoa, Sonic, we can't prove one way or the other right now." Tails shook his head. "If the zones are collapsing though, you know it won't be long before it comes over to this side of the dimension. And the side of yours you guys live on." the fox looked at Danny, Sam and Tucker, who all wore a serious expression as they contemplated the consequences.

"We have gotta get this fixed, fast."

"Tails... I don't think one stupid star post and chaos drive are gonna fix the two zones colliding like that..." Sonic glanced at the drive they held. "I mean, we can get the kids back to their world but I dunno if we can get all the ghosts back or if it'll fix the damage at all."

"We need time to figure this out."

"I told you dimensions mixing with ours is bad. Every frigging time something bad happens!" Sonic growled under his breath. "Who had the Chaos Emeralds last?"

"You did, but we found some of them again after they scattered."

"Mhmm. I bet Shadow's got one, he always finds one. Does Eggman have any?"

"Yeah... probably."

"What about Knuckles?"

"Knuckles doesn't really hunt for them, they're mostly your problem."

"Excuse me, what the heck are we talking about here?"

"Oh, right, sorry. Forgot you weren't from here for a moment." Sonic grinned sheepishly at the humans. "We're figuring out a plan in case, y'know, we get really close to both our universes imploding on themselves or something. You guys haven't by any random chance found any glowing brilliant cut gemstones since you got here right?"

"No, can't say we have."

"Shame. It'd make things much easier." Sonic sighed, and looked up at the towering ghost that still stood nearby. "Yo, uh, Skulker, was it? You said you were a hunter right? Do you have a scanner or something that can track energy signatures?"

"I do, but you aren't using it."

"Look, if we don't find the emeralds, there's very little chance we can fix the collision event going on in the chaotic realms and we're likely all going to die." Tails looked at Skulker, sternly. "I only have one tracker and there's an entire planet to cover. We need your help."

"Hm."

"Skulker."

Sonic watched as Danny shot a dark glare at the much larger ghost, who returned it with one of his own. The hedgehog bristled lightly as he felt the tension between the two for a moment, and he watched the dark haired boy's face. In a blink and you miss it moment, he could've sworn he saw a familiar chaotic green illuminate the teen's pupils, and his mouth drew out into a tight line. Tucker and Sam saw this, and elbowed Danny, who shrugged and turned his back on the robotic hunter.

"Fine, don't help us. I'll be sure to let everyone know it's your fault we couldn't find some magical rocks and save the universes, no big deal."

"Grrr, fine, whelp. But it's for the Ghost Zone, not you, not these fuzzy critters, and certainly not your worlds. Got that?" Skulker growled, reluctantly.

"That's great! Thanks Skulker!" Danny grinned at him, and a gun was thrust up against his nose.

"Don't push your luck, whelp."

"Got it."

"Okay, mister trigger happy ghost, if you'll just come with me a moment I'll let you know what we need to do." Tails smiled up at Skulker, who shot Danny one more glare before he followed the fox to one side.

Sonic waited until they were a distance away, before he stepped up to Danny and folded his arms, scanning his face carefully. The teen took a step backwards from the accusatory stare.

"What? Do I uh, have something on my face?"

"No." Sonic smirked. "Kay kid, fess up, what the heck are you?"

"I'm a human, kinda obvious..."

"Danny, humans do not fly."

"I- what- when did- I mean, I can't fly what are you on about?"

"Also you're a terrible liar."

"I really don't know what you're on about." Danny folded his arms and glanced away.

"Come on, I'm not an idiot. I can see your kinda human right there in your friends, but what are you?" the hedgehog chuckled as he realised why Danny wasn't willing to answer. "I'm not gonna tell anyone, I hadn't even told you I noticed it ages ago, but if you really don't wanna tell me then that's fine I suppose, sorry for being curious I guess!"

"Danny, it's your call." Tucker looked at him, shrugging. "I don't think Sonic'd cause you any problems with it, not if he already knows."

"Yeah, and if we've gotta do this quest for these 'chaos emeralds', we could always help out."

"Ugh. Well, fine, but you better not tell the ghosts I let you know, kinda paints a big target on your face." Danny sighed and looked away from his friends, back towards the hedgehog in front of them. Sonic raised an eyebrow with curiosity. "Well, I'm kinda a ghost?"

"Kinda?"

"Half ghost."

"Aww, is that it?" Sonic chuckled as he put on a pretend pout. " Aww man, I was hoping I was dealing with a chaos spirit or something."

"Sonic..."

"I'm joking kid, I saw you fly through the roof of the place we were staying a bit back and change back. It's cool, I just didn't wanna, y'know, force you to do anything."

"Yeah well I kinda wanna try not give it away so..."

"No probs Danny, you just keep doing what you're doing, you can be a backup plan!" Sonic laughed as the half ghost smiled. "I dunno if you can sense Chaos energy?"

"... No, I don't think so? What is it?"

"Generally the life of this world and stuff, it's all over the place. If you cant sense it then you can't sense it, no biggie. You guys'll be with me anyway!"

"Aww man if we're going running again you can count me out." Tucker pouted.

"Naa Tucker, we'll head to one of Tails' workshops and use a plane this time."

"Thought you said it only seated one..."

"Not all of them!"

In that moment, as if on cue, Tails bounced over with Skulker hovering in tow. The fox pointed at a display on his screen, which showed an image of a large gemstone and a whole lot of text beside it. Sam frowned as she glanced over it, trying to study the writing as Tails held the display up for them all to see. Tucker whistled at the measurements listed near it and made a quick joke about taking one home, but swiftly apologised as Sonic and Tails shot him sideways glances. Skulker floated nearby, tapping on the computer on his wrist with a frown.

"So, let's run through this plan!"

TBC