Chapter 9: The Magician Returns

(At the Deadly Six's hideout)

Zavok and the other Zeti were watching the chaos happening through a computer monitor.

Zazz- Hehehe! Tabuu was right. Their energy is helping us kill their world faster.

Master Zik- And with Tabuu's forces attacking them, they're forced to ether fight back and let themselves get drain or let Tabuu crush them. Very cruel indeed. I guess even someone as old as me could learn a thing from Tabuu.

Zavok- And to think it will be their own desire to protect their world that will be their undoing.

Then an alarm goes off and the computer monitor shows Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Sonic, Ty, Bowser, and Eggman approaching their hideout.

Zomom- They found us?! How'd they figure where we were hiding so quickly?

Zeena- Maybe it's because we in the same base we used the last time we faced Sonic.

Zor- Then why bother moving back in here?

Zavok- Don't worry, I'm sure Dimentio can keep our guests entertained until we've finished our little job for Tabuu.

(Just outside the Deadly Six's hideout)

Sonic led Mario and the others to this factory looking building that looked a little run down, but it also looked like it was surrounded by lava caverns.

Bowser- You sure those bastards who kidnapped Jr. would be hiding in a rusty dump like this, rat?

Sonic- This was where they were hiding out last time, but if you call me a rat again, I'll twist your ***** off like I did with one of Boss Cass' blue tongue's!

Eggman- Besides, I'm the one who built this robot factory…before the Zeti kicked me out. But yes, my old robot factory would be the perfect place to use a machine like that. If it's going to constantly drain all life energy the way it's doing, it will require a lot of power to keep it on. The robot factory I built on the Lost Hex is the only place to here to find enough power to generate such a machine. But I will admit, it was in better condition last time I saw it.

Mario- I don't know, guys…this seems too easy…

Donkey Kong- Now that you mention it, Mario, other than Meowth crashing into the ground like a meteor earlier, we haven't seen any real activity. No one has tried to get in our way yet.

Sonic- Maybe Zavok thought we would get scared off after showing us what he did to Meowth and…

Before Sonic could finish, he bumped into some kind of invisible wall.

Yoshi- Sonic ok?

Sonic- I'm fine, but what is this?

Orbot and Cubot tried to move towards Doctor Eggman, but another invisible wall blocked them. Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Sonic, Ty, Bowser, and Eggman realized there were trapped inside some kind of illusion box while Orbot and Cubot were outside of it.

Ty- What's going on?!

Eggman- It appears that they set a trap for us. However, this isn't made by any form of technology. This is something else.

Mario- I don't know why, but this seems familiar to me…

Luigi- Me too.

Sonic- How? You've never been to the Lost Hex.

Mario- Not that. I mean…

Suddenly, the box they were trapped in flipped like a spinning panel, and everyone inside of it was now gone.

Orbot- Hello…? Doctor…

Cubot- Where'd everybody go?

(In an unknown area)

The box reappeared in this area that looked like a green limbo with no end in sight in all directions. It flipped again and Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Sonic, Ty, Bowser, and Eggman found themselves in strange place.

Yoshi- Where are we?!

Mario- I'm not sure, but I feel like I've been here before.

Mysterious voice- Greetings everyone. I'm so happy you all came to visit me! I could just explode with joy!

Mario- Is that who I think it is?!

Luigi- Please! Please tell me I'm wrong about who I just thought it was who said that!

Then another box appeared in front of them and when it flipped, Dimentio appeared.

Dimentio- Aww. You're gonna hurt my feelings, Mr. L. And I was so looking forward to see the two of you again.

Mario- Dimentio!

Luigi- Don't call me that! You know how much I hate that nickname!

Donkey Kong- Mario, you know this creep?

Mario- His name is Dimentio. He's a magician who can warp dimensional structures to his advantage.

Bowser- But if I remember correctly, the Chaos Heart erased his very existence completely after he was defeated. How is he back now?

Mario- I don't think it's that hard, Bowser. He's one of Tabuu's puppets.

Dimentio- I would say I'm better than a mere puppet, but you sort of ruined the surprise. I had a whole suspenseful act all planned out, but now there's no point since you already know I'm working for Tabuu.

Sonic- Screw this! I'll just run you over and finish this quick!

Sonic charged his spin dash and charged for Dimentio. But Sonic was suddenly halted in his tracks, because the ground he was running on began to move backwards like a treadmill.

Sonic- What the…?!

Then Dimentio pointed to the left and the ground Sonic was standing on shifted to the left, like a kaleidoscope. Dimentio kept twisting the dimension around where Sonic was standing until he fell to the ground.

Dimentio- Foolish hedgehog. Your speed is useless if I tamper with the very ground you tread on.

Sonic got up, jumped into the air, and tried a homing shot. But Sonic went right through Dimentio like he was an illusion. In fact, it was a fake Dimentio. Two magic blasts were shot at Sonic from above and Sonic was barely able to dodge them.

Ty- Mario mate, I think I need to need to know more about this Dimentio before I jump in blindly, like Sonic did.

Mario- He's a magician like I said earlier. He likes to mess with your head like Fawful does. However, unlike Fawful, he can mess with your mind literally.

Luigi- Don't remind me, Mario! That bastard messed with my mind…twice!

Mario- But most of the things he throws your way are only illusions. Problem is, he does such a convincing job, it's hard to tell which tricks are real or not.

Dimentio- That's only part of the truth. Master Tabuu has showed me many more tricks, my friends. But here, let me show you just how fruitless this struggle is.

Dimentio snaps his fingers and the green limbo changed to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Mario- We're back in Toad Town?

Dimentio- Not really. This is what's happening right now with your friends below fighting Master Tabuu's army. Live footage.

Chunky Kong and Lord Fredrick were in arms lock and Chunky was struggling to hold him.

Chunky Kong- Hurry it up you guy! I don't know how much longer I can do this!

Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, and Phosphora threw a large amount of orange grenades and lighting blasts at Fredrick from behind. But when they hit him, it looked like Fredrick wasn't hurt that much. Then the pushed through Chunky and threw him to the ground. Then he blew on his war horn and hit Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, and Phosphora with an ice blast before tackling them to the ground.

Donkey Kong- Fredrick and the Snowmeds?!

Kirby and Robobot jumped up to try and punch Zero in his eye, but Zero slapped Robobot with his wing and knocked Kirby out of Robobot and to the ground. Kirby crashed into Jessie, James, and Meowth as he landed and knocked them to the ground. Then Zero shot another beam from his eye, but Robobot shielded them by jumping in front of the attack.

Kirby- ROBOBOT!

When the smoke cleared, Robobot's right arm was blown off, parts of Robobot's frame was damaged and falling apart, and there were several sparks coming from Robobot's body. Then Robobot fell to the ground.

Kirby- Robobot! Are you alright?!

Kirby rushed to Robobot and tried to get it to stand, but Robobot just laid there with part of its body parting from the exposed parts.

Kirby- You're going to ****ing pay, Zero!

Mario and the others were horrified as they watched their friends fight what seemed like a losing battle.

Dimentio- Ok, that's enough of that. Say ciao to this.

Dimentio snapped his fingers again and they were all back in that green limbo.

Dimentio- As you can see, you've left your friends to die.

Sonic- Wait a minute, how were Silver and Shadow in their super forms if I have the Chaos Emeralds?

Dimentio- Who cares. They won't last long against Black Doom anyway. If Tabuu's followers don't do your friends in, the life draining machine will. But enough talk. I say it's time we get started. Prepare for a magic show you'll never forget.