I started this literally directly after I finished the last one. I was so bored of no internet!

Chapter 8

It was a quick run to where the Tornado 2 was sitting on the pier. Or, it would have been, if not for a slight delay caused by killer robots coming out of nowhere. Sonic claimed this was normal, but it still took a few minutes to take them all down. Once they reached the pier, they found that Luigi and Tails were talking to Knuckles, rather than fixing the plane.

"Sonic!" Tails exclaimed in greeting. "… Um, we heard about Elise…"

"How?" Sonic asked. There wasn't really any way the news could have spread that fast, was there? He'd been with her not twenty minutes ago.

"Eggman dropped this on my head as he was flying over in his ship," Knuckles said, giving Sonic a red card. A hologram of the Doctor appeared out of the card, and spoke to Sonic.

"Sonic The Hedgehog. If you want me to return the Princess, you must give me your Chaos Emerald. Meet me at my base in White Acropolis."

"Short and to the point," Sonic said. "An obvious trap, though… But we don't have a Chaos Emerald."

"What IS a Chaos Emerald, anyway?" Luigi asked. "Tails and Knuckles were about to explain it to me, but… Well, you guys showed up. Great to see you again, Yoshi."

"(Heh, hi Luigi. Or should I call you Ma-)"

"Yoshi, we agreed not to talk about that," Luigi said. "Anyway. Chaos Emeralds. What are they?"

"Oh, just seven stones with unimaginable power. They're all different colors, and have got this weird shape-"

"Brilliant cut," Tails supplied.

"Yeah, that. They glow, and…" Sonic trailed off, staring at the blue gem Luigi had just pulled from under his hat.

"… I found it on the beach last night," Luigi explained. "Got this weird feeling I should keep it."

"… Well, that's one mystery solved," Knuckles said. "Now, what to do about this… As Sonic said, it's an obvious trap."

"No doubt," Tails agreed. "Eggman's probably going to try and take both."

"Well then," Sonic grinned. "We just have to… Not let him do that, right?"

"Right," Mario agreed. "I say we split into two teams – One to go into Eggman's base first, and another as backup in case the first team is captured. We'll go first," He gestured to Luigi and Yoshi. "You guys have a better chance… And Luigi's got the emerald."

"… Okay, I don't like just walking into a trap," Luigi said. "But…"

"It sounds like a good enough plan," Tails agreed. "Knuckles?"

"Meh, I guess."

"Well then, let's head to White Acropolis!" Sonic yelled. "Does anyone know where that is?"

"… When all else fails, go right!" Mario said, running to the gate of the warehouse district and jumping over it effortlessly. Luigi shrugged, and he and Yoshi followed his brother.

Sonic grinned, and dashed off after them.

"That doesn't seem all that…" Knuckles stopped as Tails grabbed his hands, and took to the skies after his brother.

As it turned out, Mario WAS right. Taking two right turns after leaving the warehouse district, they made it to a cave fenced off by lasers that Sonic said was "totally Egghead's style". After trashing a few robots, the cave became accessible, and they went through to find themselves on a snowy peak.

"Snow world, level three!" Mario said. "Typical, eh, Luigi?"

Luigi nodded. "I assume Eggman's base is that metal building all the way down there?"

"Yep. And it's time to snowboard!" Sonic yelled, grinning and pulling out a snowboard from nowhere. Knuckles and Tails did the same.

"… Not even going to ask WHY you have snowboards," Luigi said. "Mario, Yoshi, and I can find our own way, right guys?"

Mario and Yoshi agreed with Luigi, and the three Mushroom Kingdom heroes ran off, jumping down the mountain. Sonic ran to the edge to make sure they were alright, and saw them jumping down the cliff, one ledge at a time.

"That's pretty cool," Sonic admitted, as he ran back to Knuckles and Tails. "Anyway, ready to race to the bottom?" He hopped on his snowboard, Knuckles and Tails following suit, and took off down the mountain.

As it turned out, the Mario Brothers and Yoshi reached the bottom quite a while before Team Sonic did, thanks to their shorter route. At the bottom, they immediately ran towards the base, destroying robots and knocking down searchlights on the way. Mario was in the lead, using his fire to clear a path through the snow, while Luigi shot any searchlights in their path with electricity, and Yoshi took out robots with eggs and ground pounds.

Each of the three would have been able to do it just on their own, but just as Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles together were an unstoppable team, so were Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi. They reached Dr. Eggman's base without any real trouble, though the doors were locked. A couple of well-aimed kicks from the Mario Brothers later, and the doors ceased to be a problem.

Running through the base, the Mario Brothers found it strangely calm. "Isn't this usually the part where there's even more enemies?" Luigi asked.

"Maybe this Egg fellow does things different than Bowser," Mario suggested.

"(Or maybe he's an idiot,)" Yoshi added, earning a chuckle from the Mario Brothers. Using their tired and true method of always going right, the Mario Brothers were able to find a giant circular room, with a window in the top revealing Eggman glaring down at them, and behind him, held captive, was Princess Elise… Along with a much more familiar blonde-haired princess, and a pair of yellow and blue mushroom people.

"Peach!" Mario yelled. "How'd he get you?"

Peach seemed to be saying something, but she couldn't be heard through the glass. Dr. Eggman picked up a microphone, and spoke into it. "My new associate helped me with that one. Said her power may be of use. Now, who are you and how do you know her?"

"I'm Mario, and these are my brother Luigi and my best friend, Yoshi!" Mario yelled. "We've got something you want!" Luigi took out the blue Chaos Emerald. "Now, give us the princesses, and you won't get hurt."

"Hmph. Me? Hurt by you?" Eggman asked. "I highly doubt that. Now, you see the pedestal in front of you?" He indicated a small raised part of the room that had just risen out of the floor, with a small indentation in it. "Place the Chaos Emerald there, and you will receive."

Mario glared at the man, but motioned for Luigi to do what he said. Luigi placed the Emerald, and jumped back to Mario.

Eggman grinned evilly. "Now, allow me to introduce you to my latest creation! A purple cylinder of force surrounded the Mario Brothers. "I call this the Solaris prototype. With it, I can control the very fabric of time and space!"

Mario and Luigi stood their ground, Mario trying to hold on to Yoshi.

"It's no use, you know. It's impossible to resist its pull." With that, Yoshi slipped out of Mario's grip, screaming as he was pulled to the ceiling and disappeared in a flash of light.

Mario shot a death glare at Eggman, but still held his ground. Luigi tried to use his thunderhand to get them out, but it did nothing but make Eggman look intrigued.

"Electricty, hmm? Now I'm even more curious… What exactly are you…" He pressed a button on his control panel, to collect all data he could about the two men who were somehow resisting his machine. After a minute or so of collecting data (and the men STILL not being pulled up), he doubled the power to send them packing.

"Au revoir, Mario and Luigi!" Eggman said, sending them off. "I won't be seeing you!"

The doubled power was too strong for even the Mario Brothers to resist, and they were pulled into the air, disappearing in a flash of light. Just as Eggman powered down the machine, three familiar faces ran in and stood at the same spot.

"Hello, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles. And goodbye. I have what I want." He powered it right back on, and the three tried to resist, but, unlike the Mario Brothers, were no match for its pull.

"What… what did you do to them?" Peach yelled.

"It doesn't matter, really. They're lost in time. They could be in the far future, or the distant past. Frankly, I don't care," he looked over the data he'd collected on the Mario Brothers. "But I highly doubt we'll ever be seeing those two again. I have everything I need." He pointed to the blue Chaos Emerald. "The Emerald, to unlock the flames of disaster." He turned to Elise. "The living seal of the flames herself," and finally to Princess Peach. "And you, of course. A Star Child, to control it."

"Mario and Luigi will be back," Peach growled. "Nothing's ever stopped them before."

"Well, nothing's ever tried to stand against me and your friend before," Eggman said, pointing to the now-opening door at the back of the room. In walked a giant turtle-like creature, his shell covered in spikes, flaming red hair on top of his head.

"That's right," Bowser laughed in his growly voice. "Apart, we may have failed. But together… We WILL conquer!"

"We WILL rule the universe!" Eggman yelled, joining in with Bowser's gloating.

From his place in the shadows, a stout man decided he had heard enough. This truly was getting concerning. He pulled out his red Chaos Emerald, and softly said to himself, "Chaos Control."

If the Mario Brothers were gone, then they'd need all the help they could get. If this being he'd sensed before were to become whole… He didn't think having a Star Child would matter. It'd destroy the world.

He needed to pay a visit to one of the only people to ever match his strength… A certain ape, living on an island named for himself. And, maybe, find a bit more backup. The speedy princess his best friend pined after… She may be of help, too. If he could get that silver hedgehog he'd seen on his side...

The beginning of a plan was starting to hatch in Wario's mind.