Chapter 33: On the brink
Link, Sonic, and The Chaotix Crew were speeding through the dimensions like there was a hungry Dragonoid behind them. However, the reason they were at such speed was just as good. If they didn't arrive in time, there would be NO universe left for them to live in.
When they arrived, the sky seemed to be raining fire as Dragonoids of every size and shape flew around like a flock of bats or thundered across the ground like a herd of wildebeests. Link and Sonic's jaws dropped and so did the Chaotix's. Then, just when one was flying low to the ground and coming right at them, something shot it right out of the sky. Link looked behind the attacking reptile to see Fox with a smoking blaster out.
"Fox, where's Zelda?" Link asked over the sound of roaring flames and Dragonoids.
"Don't worry, she's at the castle and well-protected. However, with all these Dragonoids flying around, who knows how long she and Krystal will be safe?" Fox said as he shot another one down.
Link thought for a while and then got an idea. Thanks to the shoes on his feet, he sped off to the forest and through the door of his house. There, he saw the orb that once belonged to his old enemy Concolor. He concentrated with all his mind as the orb began to glow like a firefly. When he focused, a kind of portal opened up and several people arrived.
In the air, Falco had just taken an Arwing and was in a dogfight with a Dragonoid. He shot it down like a hunter with a duck, but there was another surprise waiting for him. Falco looked behind him and swerved to his right just in time to avoid a blast of fire from three very large Dragonoids.
"Man! This can't be happening!" Falco cursed as he continued to try and outmaneuver the monsters.
However, before he could meet a flaming death, something shot down all three enemies. Falco turned around to see three Wolfens flying right behind him.
"Don't get too cocky, Lombardi." The voice of Wolf O'Donnell said.
"Hey, it's nice to know you guys are workin' for us again." Falco thanked.
"Don't get too comfortable, bird." Leon hissed.
"Yes. We're only doing this for the universe. And no universe means no partners in life for Panther Caroso." The suave Panther said.
"Great. Why'd you bring THAT guy?" Falco asked.
"Enough talking. Let's take care of these things!" Wolf said, dispersing the flight group in an attack pattern to take out many Dragonoids.
Link sped back to Sonic and Fox as fast as his new shoes would carry him. However, Fox and Sonic were NOT alone. Shadow had arrived as well as Slippy Toad. That wasn't all. Pikachu, Mewtwo, Donkey Kong, Mario, Samus, and everyone else who visited Hyrule was there; even Ridley, who had recovered from his battle with the Dragonoid Generals.
"Hey, everyone. It's good to see you all made it." Link greeted, shaking everyone's hand, except Ridley's.
"What is the point of dragging us back here, organic slime?" Ridley asked, impatiently as he flexed his mechanical fingers.
"I need your help to protect Hyrule." Link answered.
"Protect? If the invasion is at this rate, your land will be nothing more than a smoldering pile of rock." Mewtwo told him.
"You will. I'm going to find Ryu alone." Link said as he prepared to speed off.
"No, Link. You're going to need my help. There's no way I'm going to allow you to face that demon alone." Sonic told him.
"You can count me in, too." Fox said, stepping up to Link.
"Fox…Sonic…" Link said, but that wasn't all.
"Hey, I'm going in too. I can't let you three hog all the glory, can I?" Mario asked with a shrug.
"Alright, Link. You go with Sonic, Fox and Mario. We'll take care of things here." Shadow told him.
"What about the other worlds?" Link asked.
Sonic smirked and answered, "Don't worry. From what I've seen. They can take care of themselves."
"But we better hurry. That dot in the sky is now the size of a thumbtack and I think it's still growing." Fox pointed out.
Link looked up and saw that black dot WAS bigger now. It now looked no bigger than his thumbnail and, as usual, it was slowly getting bigger.
Link nodded and then looked ahead. He then seized Fox's arm and Sonic held onto Mario's.
"You may want to hold on for this, guys." Sonic said before speeding off faster than the speed of sound and disappeared.