Sonic and the Freedom Fighters: Parallel Dimensions

Chapter 8: Converging Paths

-Eggman's Lair-

Eggman sat in silence as he concentrated on his work, having made some adjustments to the internal wiring of the Sol Energy extractor and was now welding the metal shell back into place. After a few moments, the extractor was fully reassembled, and the doctor attached another device to it as he began to extract the energy from the Sol Emeralds again. A few seconds later, the device in his hand read '45%', and Eggman sighed in satisfaction, just before Venom entered the room.

"Doctor. How is it coming along?" She asked as she approached the table.

"Well, you'll be happy to hear that I managed to bump the extraction rate from 25% to 45%." He replied.

"Really? It took me weeks just to get it to 25% efficiency, and yet you've nearly doubled that in just two days." She gasped, taking a moment to look at the improvements he made to it.

"Oh, and that's not all I've been working on. Behold!" He announced, opening a compartment in the wall and pulling out yet another device. It resembled the Chaos Core in design, but with an orange-red color and sporting additional vent ports.

"Hmm... a modified Chaos Core?" She asked.

"I altered the design to be compatible with Sol Energy, and added ports to vent extraneous heat. All the benefits of direct Sol Energy infusion with none of the downsides." He explained, prompting the serpent to smile.

"I knew I made the right choice in coming to you for assistance." She replied. "How many of these have you made?"

"So far? I'd say around 5. But they still require testing." He guessed.

"Very well. I'll need to borrow the Sol Energy we've accumulated, and a few robots for experimentation purposes." She said as she turned to leave.

"Okay. Anything else?" Eggman asked.

"Well... if you could create a diversion while I transport my lab into this dimension? It won't exactly be a subtle affair, so I'll need those Freedom Fighters occupied while I work." She replied before the door closed behind her, leaving Eggman alone with his work once again...

-Cream and Vanilla's House-

"I'm going to Amy's house now, Mom!" Cream called out as she made her way down the stairs, carrying a backpack with her as Cheese, her pet Chao, followed close behind. She was finally done with all her homework and chores and was ready to spend the rest of her free time at her friend's house.

"Okay, dear!" The voice of Cream's mother, Vanilla, replied before the motherly rabbit stepped into the lobby and made sure her daughter was prepared for her day out. "You be safe now, okay?"

"I will, Mom. Bye!" Cream replied, giving her mother a hug before leaving the house and using her ears to fly towards the hedgehog's house, Cheese following her. It took her a few minutes to reach the entrance to Amy's apartment, where she hopped up and rang the buzzer for Amy to let her in...

But even after a full minute of waiting, there was no reply. Cream tried again but to no avail. Amy practically never failed to answer, which led the young rabbit to one conclusion.

"She's not home? Hmm... Maybe she's visiting Mr Sonic." She suggested, about to go over to Tails's house and see if her hunch was correct, only for a sudden scream of terror to stop her in her tracks. Startled but curious, she let Cheese slip into her backpack and stealthily approached the source of the noise, finding a decent hiding spot behind the bushes in the park. From there, she saw that a large group of Eggman's Egg Pawns had landed in the park and began looking around for something or threatening the civilians.

Unable to bear watching the scene before her, Cream and Cheese gave a brief nod of affirmation to each other, and after a second of preparation, Cream leapt out of her hiding spot and hurled Cheese at the Egg Pawns, the Chao curling up in an imitation of Sonic's signature Spin Dash as they rammed into one of the Pawn before ricocheting into two more, taking them out almost instantly. The remaining Pawns stood in shock at the surprise attack before they spotted Cream glaring at them, standing defensively in front of two of the civilians.

"You leave them alone, you mean robots!" She warned, with Cheese chirping in agreement even as the Pawns readied for a fight...

Meanwhile, Blaze and Silver finally reached Emerald Town and hopped from rooftop to rooftop until they found a good vantage point, with Blaze stepping forward to survey the area.

"Okay, so the lady said the thief was seen flying over here, right? So, where should we start looking?" Silver asked as he looked around as well, trying to find anything out of the ordinary.

"Hmm... It might be a good idea to ask around, try and find out which direction-" Blaze said, stopping herself when she saw a horde of robots charging towards a certain young rabbit. "Wait a minute. Is that... Cream?!" She exclaimed, racing off to help much to Silver's shock as he tried to keep up with her. Cream, meanwhile, did her best to fight back the wave of robots coming at her, Cheese assisting as she dodged attack after attack while striking back wherever she could. She soon found herself trapped between a wall and the horde of Egg Pawns, but nonetheless stood her ground and prepared to attack as they charged at her... only for them to be suddenly engulfed in a stream of flames. The rabbit shielded Cheese from the sudden burst of flames until they cleared, revealing a familiar purple cat standing protectively in front of her.

"Miss Blaze!" She cheered as the robots tried to attack, only for some of them to get flung away by Silver's psychokinetic force as he caught up, while the rest found themselves torn apart as Blaze engulfed her claws in flames and dashed through them, cleaving through the robots effortlessly. In barely any time at all, the group of robots were completely destroyed as Blaze finally dispelled her flames, with Silver floating down next to Cream.

"Are you okay?" He asked, prompting a nod from the young rabbit and her Chao.

"Mhm! Thanks for the help, Mr Silver. You two, Miss Blaze." She replied. Before either of them could reply, their attention was caught by Sonic rushing and skidding to a stop right beside them.

"Okay, rustbuckets, hope you're ready to..." He announced, before noticing all the metallic rubble that used to be Eggman's robots, as Sally came in riding her Extreme Gear. "Uh... don't tell me we're late to the party." He muttered.

"Mr Sonic! Miss Sally!" Cream exclaimed, running up to greet the two as Sally hopped off and kneeled down to check for any wounds to the rabbit.

"Cream? Oh, thank goodness you're okay. You're not hurt, are you?" She asked. Cream shook her head in response.

"Nope! Miss Blaze and Mr Silver helped us fight those robots." She explained, the former staring at Sally with her arms crossed.

"Sonic... who is this? I don't think we've met." She asked, tilting her head.

"Oh! Uh, Blaze and Silver, this is Sally. Sally, Blaze and Silver." The blue hedgehog replied as he introduced the princess to the two.

"Nice to meet you both. I'm Sally Acorn, leader of the Freedom Fighters." She greeted, extending her hand for a handshake, which Silver accepted.

"It's nice to finally meet you, your Highness. I've read so much about you from the history books." He replied, causing Sally to shoot Sonic a confused glance.

"Time traveller." He answered simply.

"Ah, I see. And are you from the future as well, Blaze?" She asked.

"Sol Dimension, actually. Silver's assisting me on a mission." Blaze responded. "That's... kind of why I'm here."

"Oh? Is something up?" Sonic asked, tilting his head.

"Yes. I need your help." The Sol Guardian answered...

-Freedom Fighter Barracks-

"So, what would you like me to do the reading for? Romance? Future events?" Amy asked as she set a deck of cards on the table in front of her, with Antione seated nervously on the other end. The pink hedgehog wanted to show off her tarot reading skills, and the coyote had decided to indulge her... though he had no idea what he was supposed to expect.

"Uhh... both, I am guessing." He replied nervously while Bunnie approached to see what they were doing.

"Okay! So we'll just flip over a few cards and hopefully, they'll point you in the right direction." Amy replied as she shuffled the deck before flipping the card over, showing an expertly drawn picture of two people, a man and a woman, holding each other in a loving embrace underneath a tree. The image was upside down, yet the words 'The Lovers' were clearly visible at the bottom.

"Aw, that's a cute one!" Bunnie remarked, clearly fascinated by the card.

"Yup! Anyway, the Lovers is a pretty obvious one. It symbolizes love, but also choice and relationships. Although, seeing as it's inverted..." Amy explained to the pair.

"It means somethin' else if it's upside-down?" Antoine asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Yeah. And in this case... well, it could mean any number of things." Amy replied, scratching the side of her head. "Want me to draw another one? That might make it clearer."

Antoine nodded, and Amy drew and flipped over another card, once again drawn in a vibrant and eye-catching style, and once again the image was inverted. This time, the picture was of a cloaked skeletal figure kneeling in front of a gravestone. What caught Antoine's eye, however, was the word at the bottom of the card: 'Death'. Antoine gasped and recoiled as he saw it, causing Amy to try and reassure him.

"Oh, no no no! It's a common misconception. See, the Death card is a representation of change and rebirth." She explained before she looked down at the card. "Although, seeing as it's also inverted... Hmm... I see..."

"See what? See what?!" Antoine asked, still somewhat anxious.

"Well, the Death card being inverted is usually a sign of clinging to the past, preventing one from moving forward. And with the Lovers also inverted... You wouldn't happen to be holding on to one-sided affection, would you?" She asked. Antoine blinked in surprise, unable to believe how accurate she was, and he shifted in his seat nervously.

"Hey, it's okay. I understand. You want closure before you can move on." She reassured him. Antoine sighed a little as he began to explain.

"O-Oui. The woman I have feelings for... s-she has eyes for another..." He replied.

"I see... and do you think it would help if you talked to her, maybe try and see why she doesn't return your feelings? I mean, if nothing else, it could help with self-improvement." Amy suggested... but before Antoine could reply, the door opened to reveal a few familiar faces.

"Oh! Hi, Sonic!" She replied as she stood up from the table. "I didn't know you left. Out for a morning run?"

"Nah, Nicole picked up a bunch of robots at the park, and we went to deal with them." Sonic explained.

"Ah. Well, I bet they didn't give you guys too much trouble." Amy replied.

"Actually, by the time we got there, the robots were already dealt with." Sally clarified.

"Yeah. Thanks to this little hero right here." Sonic said, picking up Cream to show the young rabbit off.

"Cream?! Oh, I'm so sorry, I had no idea you were coming over! Are you okay?" Amy asked as she rushed over to her side.

"It's okay, Amy. And I'm fine. Miss Blaze and Mr Silver helped with the robots." Cream explained.

"Blaze is here too?" The pink hedgehog replied, looking over to see the cat in question and coming over to greet her. "Hi! It's been a while! Nice to see you again!"

"Nice to see you too, Amy..." Blaze replied, the cat having a look around the room she now found herself in.

"Oh, you haven't been here yet, have you? How about I give you the tour?" Amy offered.

"Well... I guess, but-" Blaze replied, interrupted by Amy suddenly pulling her along.

Elsewhere, Tails and Rotor were busy taking notes as they continued to survey the robot, having made a major discovery regarding its construction when Nicole popped back on the monitor behind them.

"My apologies for the temporary absence. Have you made any progress?" She asked, the two turning to look at her.

"Uh... kind of. So, remember that crystal we found in the propulsion system? Watch." Rotor replied as he went over to a clear box housing the aforementioned black crystal, turning on a switch nearby. within a few seconds, a few small items that were also contained within began to float around the crystal until Rotor turned off the switch, and the objects fell to the ground.

"Interesting... it seems to generate an anti-gravitational field whenever stimulated with electricity." She noted.

"Yeah. But we can't find a match for it anywhere. Which begs the question of how Eggman got a hold of one of these, let alone four." Tails wondered before Amy suddenly came into the room dragging Blaze along with her.

"And this here is the lab! This is where we take some robots apart and see what makes them tick. Oh, and over there is Rotor, and that's Nicole on the screen there!" Amy cheerfully explained.

"I see... And what's that over there?" Blaze asked, clearly trying to process a lot at once.

"One of Eggman's robots. Eggman seems to have improved his tech in a short amount of time, so we're taking it apart to figure out how it works. So, what brings you here, Blaze?" Tails replied, admittedly curious about the feline's arrival.

"Well, I need help. Someone from my dimension stole the-" She started, before noticing the black crystal and moving towards it. "Wait a minute... this looks like a Graviton Crystal. Where did you get this?"

"Uh... it was in the robot over there. We took it out of one of its thrusters. Why?" Rotor replied, tilting his head in confusion.

"Because Graviton Crystals are only found in my dimension. So either Eggman made his way into my dimension or..." She said, before the grim realization dawned on her. "Oh no." She muttered, rushing out of the room before bumping into Sonic.

"Whoa! Where's the fire, Blaze?" The hedgehog asked, surprised by the sudden panic.

"Sonic! It's worse than I thought! They're... they're working together!" Blaze nearly shouted, causing Sally and the others to come over to soothe her.

"Blaze, calm down. What's the problem?" Sally replied, prompting Blaze to take a deep breath and clear her throat.

"I... I know how Eggman is making these sudden advancements in his creations. He's not working alone." She explained. "The one who stole the Sol Emeralds... she's allied herself with him."

"He... What?! You're sure?" Sonic asked.

"I'm positive! We have to hurry before-"

"Hold on, darlin'. Y'all are raising a lot of questions here. What're the Sol Emeralds? Who stole 'em? Why?" Bunnie asked, confused by all the new information she was hearing. For a moment, Blaze struggled to find the words to explain.

"Blaze... what happened?" Sonic asked her, causing the cat to let out a sigh.

"Okay... I'll explain it as best I can." She replied, sitting down and preparing to divulge the story to the group...

-Unknown island-

With the Freedom Fighters presently occupied, Venom was able to pull the last few sections of the Research and Development wing of her lab from the Sol Dimension to this one, and once that was accomplished, she entered and got to work, setting up the machinery to help her with her newest project. But as she did, she noticed a few things out of place. Materials shifted about in odd ways, some even outright missing... Too unusual to chalk up to mere aftereffects of interdimensional transport. She was about to dismiss it asher simply forgetting about one of her newer projects when she noticed that one of the hangar doors was wide open. Curious, she stepped inside and spotted her prototype dimensional gateway, having been uncovered and fully set up.

"Hmm... Odd. I don't remember reactivating the prototype." She mused to herself, stepping closer to investigate the device... and as she did, she noticed the charted and molten pile of scrap metal that used to be her security robots. She quickly approached to investigate, crouching as she traced her fingers over the damage, noticing that they were destroyed by a source of intense heat... external heat.

"...She's here." She said as she stood back up and began to contact Eggman, walking out of the hangar. "Looks like I was followed. We may have to start expediting the plan. Send me the Hydra Combat Unit in addition to the Pawns. I'll need all the advantage I can get." She said to him as she made her way to another room in the facility...