Chapter 11: Who's the Girl Next Door Living In That Haunted Mansion

(Morning at Princess Peach's castle)

Sonic was awakened when the sun shined its light through the window in his room. Sonic sat up and yawned a little.

Sonic- Hope that professor found a way back to my home by now. I don't know if I can get used to this place.

As Sonic got out of his bed, he heard a knock on the door.

Sonic- Come in.

Then Luigi and Yoshi entered the room.

Luigi- Good morning, Sonic. How are you feeling this morning?

Sonic- About average I guess. Any news from Professor E. Gadd?

Yoshi- Yes. He said he wants you in Princess Peach's throne room. He has news to tell you.

(Princess Peach's throne room)

Sonic, Luigi, and Yoshi arrived and saw Princess Peach, Toad, Toadsworth, and Professor E. Gadd waiting for them.

Toadsworth- Master Sonic, glad you could join us. Professor E. Gadd has some good news for you.

Professor E. Gadd- Yes. Sonic, I found it. I finally found a way back to your world.

Sonic- Really?! Where?!

Professor E. Gadd- It took almost all night, but I found a replication of the same anomaly that sucked Mario out of the Mushroom Kingdom and pulled you here. I pinpointed its location on the peak of Shooting Star Summit; the tallest mountain in the Mushroom Kingdom. It must lead back to where you came from.

Sonic- You think so?

Professor E. Gadd- The numbers do not lie.

Princess Peach- I do want Luigi and Yoshi to go with you. You'll need someone to guide you to Shooting Star Summit. Also, if that portal does lead to your world, you need to bring Mario back.

Sonic- Sure thing. Come on guys. Let's blast through with sonic speed!

(Outside the window of the throne room)

Bowser was hiding in the bushes, listening to their conversation.

Bowser- Going to Shooting Star Summit. Sorry, but you won't be making it back to your world ever again!

Bowser pulls out a radio communicator and turns it on.

Bowser- They're on their way to Shooting Star Summit. Set up the trap on the path to that summit close to Toad Town.

(On a path in the forest east of Toad Town)

Sonic, Luigi, and Yoshi were walking down the path. Sonic was moving a little too fast for his companions.

Luigi- Hey Sonic, slow down a bit!

Sonic stops and turns to face Luigi and Yoshi.

Sonic- Sorry, but I'm just excited to return to Mobius.

Yoshi- Sonic! Look out!

Before Sonic knew it, a Koopa Football Player tacked Sonic from behind and knocked Sonic to the ground. As Sonic was knocked over, the Chaos Emeralds he had with him scattered on the ground behind him.

Sonic- Oh no! The Chaos Emeralds!

Sonic got back up, but the Koopa Football Player was blocking his way. Suddenly the Koopa Football Player turned into three Koopa Football Players and all three tried to jump him. Sonic jumped into the air and all three Koopa Football Players tackled each other before Sonic hit them each with a homing shot. After Sonic defeated the Koopa Football Players, he noticed the Chaos Emeralds were gone...

Sonic- The Chaos Emeralds! Where'd they go!

Luigi and Yoshi caught up to Sonic.

Sonic- Yoshi, Luigi, did you see what happened to the Chaos Emeralds?!

Then they heard something like a helicopter propeller coming from above them.

Mysterious voice- Excuse me, but did you lose something?

Sonic, Luigi, and Yoshi looked up and saw Bowser riding his flying clown car while holding the Chaos Emeralds in his claws.

Sonic- The Chaos Emeralds! Give those back!

Bowser- Sorry, but I'll be needing these to conquer the Mushroom Kingdom. Rats like you shouldn't be playing with objects with power only suitable for an evil king like myself.

Sonic- Are you stupid, dumbass?! Only a certain few can actually handle the power from those emeralds without it destroying them! You'll literally kill yourself!

Bowser- Like I haven't heard that claim before when stealing an object of ultimate power. I'll be waiting for you, see if you can stop me rat.

Bowser flew away in his flying clown car.

Sonic- This is bad!

Luigi- How bad are we talking about?

Sonic- Like split the entire planet in two bad! As I said, only a few individuals can use the power from the Chaos Emeralds. Those who try but can't handle the power change into monsters in the metaphorical and/or the literal sense. Sometimes their bodies literally get torn apart. Because the emeralds aren't from your world, no one in the Mushroom Kingdom, especially not Bowser, will be able to handle the Chaos Emeralds' power, and it can do a lot worse damage than you can imagine.

After a few hours of running after Bowser, they lost his trail, but they found a mansion in the middle of the woods.

Sonic- Damn it! We lost him again! Hey, maybe we can ask whoever lives in that place it they saw Bowser.

Luigi- I don't know. I've got a Déjà vu feeling about this place.

Yoshi- Yoshi agrees with Luigi!

Sonic- We can't let Bowser use the Chaos Emeralds!

(Inside the mansion)

Sonic, Luigi, and Yoshi entered the mansion and it looked like a library on the inside. After stepping inside, Luigi saw a painting on the wall. It was of a little girl with long black hair, pigtails, red eyes, and a red dress. Luigi's eyes widened when he saw this painting.

Luigi- We have to leave! I just remembered who lives in this place!

Suddenly, the lights went out and when they came back on, Sonic saw Luigi and Yoshi chained back to back and hanging from the ceiling. Below them was the girl in the painting Luigi saw before.

Sonic- Who are you?

Ashley- You better learn my name, because it's Ashley. And as you can see, I have Yoshi and Luigi prisoner.

Luigi- Sonic, be careful! She might look like a little girl, but she's one of the most dangerous witches in the Mushroom Kingdom!

Ashley- And yet you just walked right into my house.

Sonic took a fighting pose.

Ashley- Now, now. Let's settle this in a less messy way.

Sonic- What do you mean?

Ashley- Before you and Mario replaced each other, Mario fried my poor plant with a fireball. I've tried making a fire proof plant formula, but Bowser screwed that up. Luckily, I found a magic stone in a cave nine miles southwest from here that can bring my plant back to life. The catch is once you grab it, the cave will cave in on itself. Too risky to get unless you have great speed. How about it, blue hedgehog? You bring me this stone and your friends go free.

Sonic- Fine, I'll get you your stupid stone.

(At the cave Ashley told Sonic about)

Sonic had just arrived and it was much deeper and more maze like than he thought.

Sonic- Geez! No wonder she needed someone with a lot of speed if the whole place will collapse when this stone is taken. Better get a move on it.

Sonic dashed around until he found this green stone at the end of the cave. And just as Ashley warned, the entire cave began to collapse as Sonic took it. Sonic dashed as fast as he could through the maze like cave design as the cave quickly fell apart. Sonic got out just in time, but if he was any slower, he might not have gotten out of there alive.

(Back in Ashley's mansion)

Sonic bursts through the doors and sees Ashley still waiting for him. Sonic throws the stone to her.

Sonic- Here's your stone, you witch! Now release me friends!

Ashley revives her monster plant with the stone and it looked vicious.

Ashley- Sorry, but my poor baby needs a snack after being dead for so long. Since Mario is in another world, his brother will have to do.

The plant was about to try and eat Luigi and Yoshi, but Sonic knocked it away with a spin dash attack.

Sonic- That wasn't the deal we made!

Ashley- Change in plans. And you'll pay for hurting my plant. Get rid of that rodent!

The plant tried to attack Sonic, but Sonic avoided it all too easy. Sonic appeared behind Ashley filing his nails.

Sonic- You think the bad guys of this world would've realized by now how hard it is to hit me.

The plant went for Sonic again, but he quickly got out of the way and it crashed into Ashley instead. Sonic then quickly used his spin attack on the chains binding Luigi and Yoshi and cut right through them like a buzz saw. When Ashley got up, she saw Sonic, Luigi, and Yoshi surrounding her.

Ashley- Hold on! I don't want any trouble!

Sonic- A little late for that.

Ashley- Wait! What if I told you where Bowser took your Chaos Emeralds?!

Sonic- And why should I believe you?

Ashley- I overheard Bowser saying where he was going as he went pasted my house. He plans to use the portal at Shooting Star Summit that leads to your world to not only conquer Mobius, but to use the power of the Chaos Emeralds to finally crush Mario. That's the truth and all I know, I swear!

Sonic- You better not be lying or I'll come back and give you a spanking!