Sonic and the Freedom Fighters: Parallel Dimensions

Chapter 7: Showstopper

-Emerald Town Music Hall-

Evening had fallen on the town and a massive crowd of people were lining up in front of the music hall in preparation for Mina's concert, unaware of the darker inner workings going on behind the scenes. Luckily for them, however, the Freedom Fighters did, and they were given quick access thanks to their VIP passes, with the exception of Sally, who had 'yet to arrive'. Though they kept up a masquerade of excitement and anticipation, they knew they were entering the lion's den and were prepared for it, especially as Mina noticed them coming in and rushed over to greet them.

"Hey! Nice to see you guys could make it!" She cheered, doing a quick head count before she realized one was missing. "Hmm... Uh, are we missing someone?"

"Oh, yeah, Sal had a few things to finish up. But don't worry, she'll be here the second she's done!" Sonic replied, hoping that the cover would be convincing enough for the mongoose. And so far, that seemed to be the case.

"Oh, okay. I just hope she doesn't miss it." She replied, looking a little worried.

"Nah, she seemed to be looking forward to it. She'll be here." Sonic responded. With Mina preoccupied, Antoine took a moment to speak into his hidden communicator.

"We are in position, Princess." He whispered.

"Okay. I'll need time to identify what kind of trap we're dealing with. In the meantime, keep Mina busy and set up the decoy." Sally's voice answered from the other end into their earpieces. Mina turned to leave, only to be interrupted by Amy walking in front of her.

"So, um, Mina... mind if I ask you a few questions before the show?" She asked.

"Um... I guess I have some time, sure." Mina replied as the two started to converse. With the mongoose distracted, Rotor quickly placed the decoy on Sonic's seat without anyone noticing while the real deal got into position underneath the stage. Meanwhile, Sally walked through the hallways elsewhere in the Music Hall, looking for something that looked like it had been tampered with...

"Hey, you shouldn't be back here." She heard someone say to her, looking to her right to find someone setting up the cables for the lights. He didn't seem to recognize her, so that provided a good opportunity.

"S-Sorry, I got a bit turned around looking for the toilet. Um... Is there something wrong?" She asked, acting the part of a lost concert-goer. The worker sighed before returning his gaze to the cables.

"Just can't get these lights to work. Someone's set this thing up weirdly." He replied. The power distributor in front of him appeared to have a few extra pieces of machinery attached to it.

"May I? I have some experience with this." She offered, sitting down next to him before attaching the cables to the distributor. This gave her the chance to attach a cable from Nicole to the device, making it look like an important step. "There, that should do it." She said after a few seconds. The worker flicked one of the switches on his controller and a red light came on.

"No way... hey, thanks! You're a lifesaver!" He said gratefully before moving on. Sally smiled, unplugging Nicole from the device before slipping through the doors leading to the car park. Once outside, she pulled out a hologram displaying all of the information Nicole obtained. The device was a remote timer, currently at a little less than five minutes remaining, linked to the VIP chairs in the front row, which had been fitted with hidden restraints once the timer hit zero. Additionally, there were several unidentified signals nearby, and a map overlay revealed they were waiting in the corners of the hall.

"Found anything yet?" She heard Sonic whisper into the communicator.

"Yeah. The VIP seats are rigged to trap anyone seated in them. The timer's set to trigger one second before the concert starts." She explained. "I'm also detecting unidentified signals in the corners of the main hall. Likely some of Eggman's robots."

"Okay. So... what do we do?" Rotor asked.

"We stick to the main plan. Nicole will set the lights to go off five seconds before the concert starts. Once they go off, get out of the seats. Sonic will handle any attempted ambushes." She replied, quickly putting Nicole away as she approached and entered the concert hall, walking up to the rest of the group. Mina noticed her and turned to face her.

"Oh! Sally! You made it!" She said cheerfully.

"Yeah, would have been earlier if I didn't have so much to do before we left. Sorry if I made you wait." Sally replied.

"Oh, no problem! Here, we saved you a seat." The mongoose responded, ushering the princess to her seat. "Well, it was nice to see you all again, but I've gotta get ready for the show. Hope you all enjoy!" She continued before leading. Sally slowly lowered herself onto the seat, knowing it was a trap that would eventually spring.

"So how long do we got?" Bunnie asked, prompting Sally to look at the countdown on Nicole's screen.

"Three minutes and counting. Be ready." Sally replied, readying herself...

-Station Square-

Meanwhile, Blaze sighed and held her head in frustration as she sat down on a bench, having scoured the entire area only to find no trace of the person they were looking for. No matter where she looked or who she asked, no one seemed to have spotted anything out of the ordinary. As she wracked her brain to try and think of any leads, Silver came up beside her.

"Found anything yet?" She asked.

"Nope. Doesn't look like she's using this place as a hideout." Silver replied, prompting the cat to sigh again. "Look, I'm sure it we take our time and-"

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME!" Blaze suddenly yelled, startling the psychokinetic hedgehog. Blaze realized this and sighed once more. "I'm sorry for yelling. But the longer we take, the more danger everyone will be in?"

"Why's that?" Silver asked, tilting his head.

"Because the Sol Emeralds are-"

"Excuse me, dear, is everything alright?" The voice of an elderly woman interrupted Blaze's reply as the two turned to look at her. Silver was the first to reply.

"Sorry if we disturbed you, miss. Someone stole something very important to my friend here, and we're trying to get it back." He said to her.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" The lady asked without a moment's hesitation. Silver took a moment before responding.

"...Actually, yeah. The thief escaped in a personal aircraft of sorts. Do you know if anything like that was spotted anywhere?" He asked.

"Oh, of course. The papers have been abuzz with that recent UFO sighting. Maybe that's the person you're looking for?" She replied, pulling out a newspaper from her bag. Blaze quickly took it and read over the front article, with Silver taking a moment to look as well.

"'Unidentified Flying Object Spotted over Emerald Town'... Hey, Blaze, do you think this could be...?" The hedgehog wondered.

"...Where's Emerald Town?" Blaze asked. The woman responded by pulling out a map and circling Emerald Town in a red pen before handing it to them.

"Here you are, dearie. Just keep going southwest, you can't miss it. Oh, and do give that scoundrel a good thrashing." She replied.

"Thank you so much." Blaze responded gratefully before rushing off in the direction of Emerald Town, with Silver following soon after. At long last they had their lead. Now to see if it really was the one responsible...

-Emerald Town, Music Hall-

Only one minute was left on the timer, the Freedom Fighters tensing up a little as they got ready to spring their counter-trap. Sally hoped that her plan would work, but thankfully she still had Sonic waiting in the wings should anything go wrong. Still, every second that passed seemed to go by agonizingly slowly as they did their best to not look apprehensive, especially as a countdown started to appear on the video wall at the back of the stage and the audience started counting down with it.

"Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five-" They chanted, and by the time it reached five, the lights suddenly cut out, much to their confusion and concern.

"Now!" Sally shouted, and the Fighters got out of their seats, hearing a metal clank a few seconds later followed by mechanical whirring from elsewhere. Yellow eye-like lights appeared around the room, only to suddenly disappear as a certain blue streak smashed into each one before landing on the stage. Once the lights came back on, the audience looked around to see several destroyed Egg Pawns scattered about with Sonic standing on the stage, sending them into a confused panic. Meanwhile, Mina came up onto the stage and looked around, confused.

"Wh-What's going on here...?" She asked, looking at Sonic before spotting the trapped chairs, one of which held the Sonic decoy, and immediately after the earring activated again, causing her mind to go blank.

"Bah! Our cover's blown. Switch to Plan B, and eliminate those pests!" She heard Eggman order through her earpiece, and quickly grabbed a microphone stand before approaching the hedgehog from behind.

"Sonic, watch out!" Amy yelled, causing Sonic to look behind him and see the incoming mongoose, allowing him to narrowly dodge the attack. Meanwhile, a much greater group of Egg Pawns dropped down from the ceiling, scaring the audience into a blind panic as they raced to find shelter.

"Secure the perimeter. No-one gets in or out." Mina ordered monotonously before resuming her assault, using the mic stand as a makeshift weapon. Not wanting to hurt her, Sonic nimbly avoided every strike before leaping off the stage to deal with the Egg Pawn reinforcements. Mina took the opportunity to bolt, though this did not go unnoticed by either Sally or Amy as the pair rushed towards the corridors.

"Sonic, you help get everyone out safely! Amy and I will go after Mina!" Sally called out as the pair followed Mina, eventually finding her clutching her head and trembling. Amy prepared to take a step forwards when Mina held out her hand.

"N-No! Stay back...!" She begged before turning towards them and dashing, the pair having barely enough time to move out of the way as she went down another set of corridors. The duo chased her again, witnessing her slip into one of the nearby doors before a hoard of Egg Pawns appeared and charged at them. Sally charged ahead, slashing away at the incoming robots with her Ring-Blades before jumping back to avoid an incoming blow... giving Amy an opportunity to tag in and swat the Pawns away with her hammer, eventually slamming it down onto one of them.

When the remaining robots tried to climb over it, Amy jumped back while Sally leapt up and landed on the handle, sending both the hammer and the robots flying into the air. With one swift kick, she sent the hammer straight into the Pawns, making them land a good distance away before blowing up, sending Amy's hammer back into the pink hedgehog's hands. The two shared a celebratory high-five before entering Mina's dressing room, finding it dark and quiet. Sally immediately turned the lights on and turned down the power of her blades before surveying the room alongside Amy, looking for Mina.

A few seconds later and Sally managed to hear a slight shifting coming from behind, quickly followed by Mina lunging out at the pair, still brandishing the mic stand, only for her attack to be blocked by Sally. Mina kept up her assault, but due to not being a trained fighter, her attacks were easily sluggish and predictable, and Sally was able to deflect each attack before finally disarming the controlled mongoose. Mina retaliated by charging towards Sally at top speed, only to be interrupted by Amy who tackled her, sending them crashing into the wall. Mina tried to get up, dazed from the impact, and Amy managed to pin her in place as she did so.

"Got her!" Amy shouted as Sally quickly approached, attaching a wire to the control device and plugging the other end into Nicole.

"Keep her steady while I disable the device." She replied as she started rapidly pressing buttons on the handheld computer. Mina thrashed in place, trying to shake Amy off until Nicole and Sally managed to short out the device, causing it to deactivate and returning Mina to normal, the mongoose now disoriented.

"Ugh... My head..." She groaned as she regained control of her body, while Amy quickly took off the device from her ear. "Wh-What happened...? Why am I all the way back here?"

"Are you okay, Mina?" Sally asked while Amy crushed the device underfoot.

"I think so... last thing I remember was..." Mina replied before gasping in shock, having recalled what the device made her do.

"It's okay, we took care of it." Amy assured her. "But right now we've got a bunch of robots swarming the main hall."

"Right. Then I'm coming with you." Mina responded, a determined scowl on her face.

Meanwhile, back in the main hall, Sonic was still fighting off the horde of Egg Pawns while the others escorted the panicked civilians outside, stopping any of the robots from approaching them. There seemed to be a near endless supply of them as they were quickly replaced as they fell, and though he could tell their numbers were starting to wane, it was still difficult with everyone else preoccupied...

Thankfully, he wouldn't have to wait much longer for help to arrive, as Sally and Amy returned and flanked the horde, helping Sonic take down the robots while Mina assisted with the evacuations, using her super speed and her mic stand to clear out the incoming robots. With their help, the horde thinned out much faster, until at long last, they were all destroyed.

A while passed while the group made sure everyone was okay, the security team checking for any stragglers or suspicious individuals nearby, and Mina apologizing to the civilians for the disruptions to the show, as well as to the Freedom Fighters for trying to attack them. Once everyone was accounted for and they returned home, Mina returned to the Freedom Fighters once more.

"Phew... Again, I can't thank you guys enough for helping me out. Who knows what would have happened in you hadn't caught on..." Mina said.

"Don't mention it. We're just glad you're doing okay. Oh, and... sorry about ruining your concert..." The hedgehog replied.

"It's okay, we can just reschedule. Though I imagine security will be tighter than ever after today..." Mina assured him. "Still, as my way of saying 'thank you', how about I give you all VIP passes to my next show? It might be a while, but... I think you all have more than earned it after today."

"Thanks, Mina, but that's not really necess-" Sally started to say before she was quickly pushed aside by an extremely enthusiastic Amy.

"What she meant to say was 'Yes please'!" She cheered, eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Great! hope to see you all there!" Mina replied before waving goodbye and heading off to check in with the security team, while Sally got back up after being pushed aside.

"Hopefully we can eventually have a break that ISN'T interrupted by Eggman..." Sally sighed, a tad irritated by the circumstances.

"All the more reason to find out what he's up to and put a stop to it!" Amy replied cheerfully, before suddenly looking ahead, her eyes suddenly burning with raw fury as she gripped her hammer tightly. "Because I swear if he crashes Mina's concert AGAIN, I'm gonna-!" She growled, only interrupted by Bunnie nervously and gently lowering the hammer.

Of course, the team would need to figure out his plan fast, because with the mad doctor constantly raising the stakes, it would only be a matter of time before they found themselves at a severe disadvantage... assuming they weren't already.