Chapter 18: Preparations for the End

(Mario's house)

Mario, Sonic, Luigi, and Silver were sitting on the couch covered in bandages. The rest of their friends were also in the room, making sure they were ok.

Shadow- Sonic, you idiot! I can't believe you tried to take on Nazo!

Amy- Don't be so hard on him, Shadow! My poor Sonic has already been through enough.

Amy starts petting the top of Sonic's head.

Shadow- (Grunt) It's his fault for thinking he could stop Nazo by himself. Hyper Shadic is the only one who was strong enough to face Nazo and Sonic can't summon him unless he fuses with me.

Sonic- You were still resting, so Silver took your place.

Professor E. Gadd- I think you should tell us more about this Nazo character.

Tails- We already told you that he was born from negative Chaos Energy that got build up in the Chaos Emeralds over the years and his only goals is total destruction.

Mario- But the real question is, who is Nazo working for?

Everyone in the room except for Sonic, Luigi, and Silver were shocked to hear what Mario just said.

Knuckles- That can't be right! Nazo is far too powerful for any villain I can think of to control. Besides, Nazo acts like he prefers to be a lone wolf than work with another.

Sonic- I'm afraid Mario is right. Nazo is just a puppet this time and there is a puppet master pulling Nazo's strings from the shadows.

(Flashback to the previous chapter)

Nazo- I can see why he wants you dead! You're just as annoying and hard to kill as Sonic is! You're just lucky I was ordered to keep the two of you alive at all cost!

(End of flashback and scene changes back to Mario's house)

Sonic- But it wasn't just what he said there. There was a strange marking on his left palm. When I touched it, I had strange visions. It was almost if they were Nazo's memories. I saw someone bring Nazo back from the dead and he wanted Nazo to retrieve the Master Emerald and the Star Rod.

Knuckles- So Nazo stole the Master Emerald! I have to get it back!

Tails- And end up like Mario and Sonic? We can't just rush in against Nazo.

Mario- There was one more thing Nazo told us before he left.

Sonic- He said the answers to our world merging mess can be found in Grand Metropolis. He told us to come at midnight three days from now.

Tails- You know, three days from now will make it one full week since our worlds merged together. Think that is a coincidence?

Mario- Either way, we need to prepare ourselves.

Over the next three days, Mario, Sonic, and the rest of their friends began doing whatever they could to get ready for whatever danger awaited them in Grand Metropolis when the time comes. Knuckles and Wario spent most of the day punches at a punching back. Toad wondered around the Mushroom Kingdom, gathering as many power up items he could find, and storing them in a treasure chest for the Mario Brothers to use. Sometimes, Knuckles and Rouge went along and used their treasure hunting skills to help Toad find more. Tails and Professor E. Gadd finished the repairs on E-123 Omega's body and Omega was ready to help. Mario, Sonic, Luigi, and Silver recovered from that fight with Nazo and were back to 100% just in time for Nazo's deadline.

(Grand Metropolis)

A huge machine, as tall as a skyscraper, had now appeared in the middle of Grand Metropolis. Standing at the top were Nazo, Bowser, Doctor Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot. Bowser was doing all the heavy lifting, literally, while Eggman was pulling tools out of a storage compartment in Orbot and Cubot's bodies and working on getting this machine operational. Nazo was standing on the edge and doing something very unusual. From the strange mark on his left palm, Nazo was creating a sonic frequency that was causing all the people in Grand Metropolis who heard it to turn into mindless zombies.

Nazo- Are you almost done? I need this to be up and running by midnight!

Eggman- Hold your horses! We're almost there!

Then a timer counting backwards from five hours appeared at the top of the machine.

Eggman- There you go. At the stroke of midnight in five hours, this portal machine should be fully charge.

Nazo- Perfect. And just in time too.

Bowser- Sure is overly sized for a portal machine.

Nazo- It's harnessing the power from two objects of great and unlimited power. It has to be big.

Eggman- But where is it you want to go that requires so much power?

Nazo- Oh Eggman, you misunderstand. This portal is not for me to go anywhere. It's for bringing something here.

Bowser- That's it! I've had enough of these riddles! I demand to know what's going on right now!

Eggman- I agree with Bowser. You've been keeping us in the dark about what it is you're trying to accomplish. We deserve an explanation.

Nazo- Fine. I'll give you that much. I met someone recently with unbelievable power. A god actually. And to my surprise, his power is even greater than my own. Even if I were to become Perfect Nazo again, I wouldn't stand a chance against him. But despite his great power, a group of mortal fighters banded together and defeated him about 1,000 years ago. He's been locked up in another dimension ever since and freeing himself is probably just about the only thing he can't do…or at least not on his own. So he came to me for help. There is something I need. Something that I lost eight years ago when I lost that fight with Hyper Shadic. He has promised to give it back. And besides…(looks at the mark on his palm) I couldn't say no even if I wanted to.

Eggman- And does this god have a name?

Nazo got a slightly irritated look on his face as he points his left palm at Bowser and Eggman and created that sonic frequency again.

(At the entrance of Grand Metropolis)

Mario, Sonic, and the rest of their friends (including Princess Peach) had arrived. The sky was black, raining thunder and lightning, and no one walking around Grand Metropolis in sight. But the thing that mostly caught their attention was this huge machine in the center of the city with a countdown timer ticking away.

Sonic- Looks like Nazo has already started the party.

Luigi- Something's fishy. Where is everyone? When you and I were here looking for Ludwig's castle, this city was crawling with people.

Tails- Maybe it has something to do with that large thing in counting down until midnight.

Mario- We better get there before that countdown reaches zero!

Just as everyone was rushing into Grand Metropolis, Shadow sensed something and turned around. No one was behind him when he turned around. Shadow closed his eyes and acted like he was concentrating on something.

Shadow- (Thinks) One…two…three…four…five…six…seven… There are seven others following us. Who are they and are they friend or foe?

Shadow quickly snapped out of it and rushed to catch up with the others. As he left, the shadows of seven other lifeforms appeared and continued to follow them.