Sonic in Between.
Author's Note: Finally back with this, despite things having gone wrong within the last month, the biggest and most important cause was the grief my family and I have with the passing of my Grandfather earlier this month(rest in peace, Grandpa, we all miss you).
While it may still take a long while for me to update my stories again, as a reward for all of you readers for the long wait, I present you the new chapter and we're onto the final part of the Boom-Verse of the Multiverse Adventure Arc!
Let's continue onward.
Summary of Story 14-Part 8: Reluctantly teaming up with Boom-Shadow to rescue Boom-Sonic, Sonic and his friends infiltrate Boom-Dr. Eggman's base to rescue his counterpart, only for the mysterious figure to have an upper hand with claims to make a clone of Boom-Sonic himself...But the end results creates a brand new counterpart for Sun the Hedgehog instead! What will happen now? Will the heroes win and gain the Paradox Prism shard?
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs such as Sun the Hedgehog(and his Boom Counterpart), Staria "Star" Amantha, ect,.
Alternate-Sonic's Multiverse Adventure-P8: Double Trouble-P3.
*Where the last part left off*
Silence hung heavily in the air within the blindingly white control room, moments after Sun's exclamation of utter disbelief were released. No one, not even the villains, could ever process their thoughts on the newly created figure standing before them. To Boom-Sonic, he had been expecting an exact clone of himself, much like Boom-Knuckles' smarter counterpart that came to this world. But to see his clone having the same colours as Sun the Hedgehog, one of the new friends of Sonic, now the blue-armed hedgehog's mind raced like a formula F1 race car speeding through the scenery, making it appear in a blur.
Why did this new hedgehog clone look similar to Sun? Why was the orange hedgehog from the alternate dimension the most shocked? Brows narrowed, suspicion seeping in, Boom-Sonic took notice on what Sonic's group had also realized, his heart sinking with realization. If this was true and the knew more than they spoken of...would that mean Sun isn't who he really is?
The new Boom-Sun, his expression etching nothing but observation, deepening thoughts slowly processing through his mind, studied his new surroundings like a newborn, shifting his gaze from the horrified Sonic's group, including Sun who stood frozen in place, to his left where the mysterious figure, his creator, held the crystal, then to the miniturized Boom-Sonic who cringed a little, discomfort and unease engulfing him, Boom-Eggman, Boom-Orbot and Boom-Cubot who all gulped simultaneously in fear, afraid of what this new creation would do to them.
"Hmmm..." A hum could be heard in his throat, eye-ridges narrowing when he caught sight of the heroes flinching, unaware at the moment of how he sounded identical to Sun's voice, his gaze shifting to the battered yet still functional form of Boom-Metal Sonic who slowly stood, then finally to Dr. Eggman, Decoe, Bocoe, Bokkun, Orbot, Cubot, and all of the Cubot Prototypes, the fearful gazes of the six from Sonic's world frozen onto him.
"Hey, he looks just like our Sonic, only he's the same colour as Sun!" Boom-Knuckles was the first to finally break the silence of tension, casting his gaze both on Sun and the hedgehog's newly created counterpart. The dimwitted echidna's eyes widened, an incorrect conclusion forming in his mind. "Is he Sonic's new brother or something?"
"What!? How is this possible?" The figure, having expected to see an exact perfect clone of Boom-Sonic, shouted with fury, disbelief and confusion etching in his voice. His hidden gaze, sharp and dangerous like the mightiest evil of the world, swiftly shifted to Dr. Eggman's group. "You impedent fools! You did this!"
"What are you talking about? We all did what we were forced to do!" Eggman snapped back, broken free from his terrified gaze, which was then shot at his five minions. "Did any of you dare to try and have this hooded fool into killing me!?"
"No, Dr. Eggman!" Decoe raised his hands quickly, defensive and fearful.
"We didn't do anything wrong at all!" Bocoe pleaded, hands clasped together, the silent plea for mercy growing.
"We have done everything we were ordered to do, boss!" Orbot added.
"We didn't know this was gonna happen, honest!" Bokkun squeaked, panic overloading his A.I systems.
Cubot shrugged, nervously. "Yeah, I thought he wanted to make another Sonic, but we ran out of most of the blue paint, and had no brown at all, then I remembered there was plently of red and yellow left, so I thought, why not make him look like Sun the Hedgehog by mixing up into orange with purple and green with white instead?"
"YOU WHAAAAAAAT!?" The evil scientist roared, his face leaned so close that his forehead nearly planted itself onto the square-shaped robot's, the latter leaning back in fright, the former's face as red as his coat, fury, horror and dismay ready to erupt like a violent volcano ready to activate. "You simpleton robot! Now you just made things even worse!"
"What? I thought it would be better for the other Sonic to have a fox brother and a hedgehog brother." Cubot shrugged, cluelessly. Behind him, Orbot, Decoe and Bocoe simultaneously facepalmed, exasperation filling their overdrives.
"Seven hedgehogs are bad enough with two foxes, two echidnas with one bigger but more of an idiot, a bat thief, a crazy and scary badger girl, I don't want to see any more rodents to ruin my life!" Eggman snapped.
"Your life's ruined to begin with, buttnik." Sun deadpanned.
"It's your fault that we're in this situation in the first place, Eggman!" Sonic shouted, one hand clutching into a fist, faint squeaks as he tightened them barely audible. "If it weren't for you tryin' to mess with space and time, none of this would've happened!"
"Yeah, you and our Eggman are nothing but greedy, cruel and idiotic trouble-makers!" Sticks agreed, her grip on her Boomerang tightened in a threatening manner.
Boom-Sun in the meantime had his attention finally drifting to his creator, the mysterious hooded figure who held the crystal in his hand.
"...You created me." The new tangerine hedgehog spoke, hints of monotone, disdain, curiosity and uncertainty all combined, softness of a growl crawling up within his throat like a lion's rude awakening from it's peaceful sleep.
The hooded figure, still angered over his creation's imperfect completion, formed a dark smirk, releasing a dark chuckle. "Indeed. You are the clone of Sonic the Hedgehog, and set to replace him as well as Dr. Eggman. As your father, I command you to destroy all of these fools. Together, we will control the world and all who exist!"
Hearing this, a sense of dread, shock, and dismay washing over the heroes and their enemies alike, ending their conversation all together, Sonic and his friends quickly stood to prepare for another ultimate battle, this time against the mysterious figure, Boom-Metal and Boom-Sun, the doppelganger robot, it's joints jolting with sparks of broken wiring flaring out like a broken cable, already leering it's lifeless, cold steel eyes towards the hero of Mobius, it's data and programming fully onto destroying him, being it's only purpose and motivation.
Sun in the meantime gritted his teeth, his gaze cast upon his new counterpart, slightly shifting his sight to his brothers and Boom-Sonic, knowing that if there was anybody who can deal with Boom-Sun, it would be him.
"You'll have to go through me first!" The orange hedgehog snarled, quick steps to stand protectively in front of all of his friends.
"Oh? And who are you?" The Hooded figure questioned, his eyes seemingly scanning at the former Werehog, brows raising in curiosity and suspicion. His lips carved into a wider smirk. "Interesting. You resemble to Alternate Sonic, but your colouring is the same as my new creation. Perhaps Cubot-Prototype-90 of the alternate world based it on you?"
"That's what I did!" Cubot pointed out, to the irritation of his fellow robots and their own creator who released another annoyed grown, the evil scientist slapping his hand to his face in a soft echo.
"My name is Sun the Hedgehog, and I'm Sonic's brother!" Sun answered.
"If that's the case, would that mean I'm Sun the Hedgehog as well?" Boom-Sun questioned, sounding rather bored and uninterested.
"Depends on if you want to be named that," The former Sonic Clone grudgingly admitted. Softening his gaze slightly, an idea forming with memories of his time with Sonic whirling through his mind like a tornado of happy thoughts, he continued. "And it really depends on if you want to follow this creep or not."
"Annnnd, why do you say that?" His counterpart crossed his arms, suspiciously.
"For one thing, you're already thinking for yourself, asking questions and realizing what's going on, you know how you came here, and you don't look that interested to fight us, are you? If not, then you can just walk away, live out your own life freely, not as Sonic or anybody else. But as you."
"Not so fast, hedgehog! True Sonic the Hedgehog, deal with this boy first, if that is what he wishes!" The hooded figure snarled, clutching the crystal.
A thought ran through Boom-Sun's mind, thinking about what Sun, his own counterpart was saying to him.
While it was true that he was a clone of Boom-Sonic, glancing at both of their counterparts, how they were not held back by invisible threads, his heart, his own beating heart within his body, already began to protest on the very thought on obeying the hooded figure who created him for this purpose. But did he really want to go through all of this fight?
"I am the one who decides to name my creation! He is to obey me! True Sonic the Hedgehog, finish this fool off and then kill the rest!" The Hooded figure snarled, swiftly pointing at the heroes who remained still, anticipating what would come next.
Strangely enough, Boom-Sun just raised an eyebrow, seemingly deep in thought before he returned his attention to his creator, a glare of growing hate given how he was born in the first place bubbling through his body. Given what Sun had just said, he realized the meaning of the other tangerine hedgehog's words, the unspoken freedom awaiting for him to reach out.
"You know what? No. If you want to get rid of all of them, then you're on your own," Boom-Sun scoffed, "And for the record, I don't want to be called True Sonic."
"What!?"
"Huh?" Everyone else, even Boom-Shadow, blinked perplexed. Did they all just hear right? Was Boom-Sun...really disobeying the hooded figure.
"You created me just to fight for you? What a joke. If you want to get rid of them so badly, then you're on your own. Look around you: You're surrounded by a bunch of heroes, and villains and robots. What good would that puny little crystal do for you?" Boom-Sun questioned.
"You...You...FINE! I'll destroy you as well! Metal Sonic, kill them!" The hooded figure, furious over the sudden betrayal, held the crystal high as it glowed.
Boom-Metal, heeding it's command with the cold, red, lifeless optic red glowing, thrust forward towards both Sun and Boom-Sun who tensed, the former gasping in shock
"Look out!" Sonic screamed out, immediately etching to save his brother, but was unfortunately caught by Boom-Metal, who used this distraction to it's advantage to take out the blue hedgehog instead, the robot's claws grasping a near-bone crushing grip on his arms, the blue hedgehog hissing and quickly made to try and free himself.
But the robot's power jets ignited on it's back, burst of flames nearly hitting the floor, taking off with it's captive who cries of alarm echoed throughout the room.
"SONIC!" Amy screamed in horror.
"SONIC!" Sun echoed, while his counterpart was stunned by the blue hedgehog's sacrifice to save them both.
"You guys rescue Blue Leader, Tails and I'll save Sonic!" Knuckles, realizing that two of his closest friends were in danger, almost instantly took the leader instructing the rest of the group.
"Not so fast, children," The hooded figure snickered, taking a few steps back, also acknowledging of Boom-Shadow's enraged snarl ready to burst anything into flames. "I have another thing for all of you, a very special treat."
Just as the rest of the heroes and their enemies, including Boom-Sun didn't expect was for their newest foe, a chilling cold laughter, to raise up the crystal that shone brightly, light sparking through the robots that shook and deactivated, levitating like a giant magnetic force-field, swirling in a circle as though a tornado had struck. The heroes, Eggman and his robotic minions, the five creations all screaming, panic-stricken fearing that they could be next.
A collective gasp of shock, fear and awe escaped, Sonic's friends and enemies could only gaze at the newly created gigantic robot merged from Boom-Eggman's pathetic army. Now standing behind the grinning hooded figure, was a monstrous creation done by the man's evil will and the power of the crystal: It resembled to a giant, 50 foot Cyclops, a single red optic-lense shifting to scan it's surroundings, a sharpened horn carved like a Shark's back fin on top of it's head, thick, muscular arms and hands, havesting an aura of powerful strength to seemingly outmatch Knuckles and Boom-Knuckles, strong legs ready to stomp and crash all who would foolishly attempt to stop it, a chest plate wielding a red circular orb, gleaming with chaotic energy. It roared a powerful metallic growl, one fist clutched tightly, pounding the tiled floor causing a tremor-like vibration that nearly knocked some of the occupants over.
"Okay, that's the most ugliest robot I've ever seen...!" Boom-Knuckles remarked, very nervously.
"I won't let that stop me! That man is MINE!" Boom-Shadow roared, sparks of Chaos Energy glowing in his palms, willing his rage to calm as he knew that fighting the mysterious figure was going to be a lot harder than either of them thought, especially with the mysterious crystal in his hand.
"You will never stop me! I am invincible!" The hooded figure bellowed, an evil laughter released, arms spread wide as though to engulf the whole world into his wrath and greed. "It's time to finish you all off once and for all!"
"Not if WE have anything to say about it!" Knuckles hissed, refusing to allow the giant monster or the figure taunt him.
Yet, even with all of them standing by together, each of them knew, much to their dismay, they were about to face the biggest and most difficult challenge of their lives.
Sonic struggled, grunted and strained to escape Boom-Metal's grasp, even as he felt the air and wind currents crash upon him like a giant fan attempting to blow him away the higher they went through Boom-Eggman's fortress. The robot refused to loosen it's grip, so the hedgehog was left to his own devices to try and escape, a quick glance down below where all of his friends were sent a surge of fear and panic through his very soul.
Sun was in danger against his newly created counterpart, the hooded figure still had that evil crystal, and who knew what would Boom-Shadow would do if he defeated both the crazy guy and gained access to the gem. There was something about it that made him fear for his friends' safeties.
'I've gotta get back to the others, fast, or else we're all good as toast!' Sonic thought to himself, desperation taking hold.
"Ugh...Let. Me. GO!" The blue hedgehog tried to exclaim, trapped in the grasp of his doppelganger's counterpart, squirming to break free. A desperate idea formed into his mind, his gaze cast upon the very top of the ceiling, no doubt a hatch leading towards the roof and launchpad.
If this didn't work, then they were all done for.
Emerald eyes once more boring into the lifeless optics, Sonic, with much strength he could muster, swiped a powerful kick at Boom-Metal's face, freeing himself from the robot's grip. Instead of letting himself fall, however, the fifteen year old firmly grasped his opponent's shoulders, performing a back-flip over the robot's head, delivering several more kicks, his feet planted onto the metal skull before making a daring jump skyward, Spin-Jumping to reach his destination, crushing through the ceiling, dust, debris and rock exploding and flying everywhere. Uncurling himself, he Eagle-Sky fell, arms and legs spread out to decrease his descent.
Boom-Metal in the meantime, malfunctioning and almost losing altitude, swiftly gazed upward to where his captive has managed to escape, jets struggling to remain ignited with sparks and blinks that the flames were nearly running out giving him the warning alarm within his A.I that all of his systems were starting to fail. Under the corruption and rewrote data code to obey the hooded figure to destroy both version of Sonic, the robot used this only chance to continue it's pursuit for the hero of Mobius.
The moment it reached the top overseeing the whole small island and distant Bygone Island, Sonic, having landed safely, was waiting near the edge, bravely glaring at the evil robot who landed seconds later.
"Alright, Metal. It's just you and me, and just so you know, you're about to become scrap heap!" Sonic declared, not wanting to take any chances any longer. With a time limit and his friends needing him the most, he knew that he had to make this quick and stop the evil hooded figure once and for all.
Boom-Metal held no response, save for taking a couple steps forward before thrusting to knock the living hedgehog over to his death. Sonic sped towards him as well, side-stepping at the last second the moment the two nearly collided with a narrowed miss from his opponent who reached out it's claws to try and attack him once more. The hero of Mobius twirled of that of an athlete, his left leg extended with a powerful axe-kick at the side of Boom-Metal's head, and while this version of his robotic clone's armor wasn't as strong as the one back at home, it was still a very tough opponent.
Undaunted and lacking emotions for it's own well-being, Boom-Metal flipped with an awkward position, picking up a discarded piece of metal beam that was strangely lying on the ground, the make-shift weapon aimed to eliminate Sonic once and for all. The blue hedgehog in response, his eyes narrowed, quickly scanned the area before picking up a lone pole from a long broken antenna, the two charging with quick reflexes once more, their weapons met in a loud clang in a ching echoing through the open air, swipes and slashes with remarkable speed in streaks of blue dashing about the whole roof.
Though each time Boom-Metal swung hard, the beam aimed to fatally cut his head off, Sonic ducked narrowly just in time, the sense of movement flowing in an heart-stopping moment of slow-motion, or so it seemed, hissing when a couple of strains of hair were brushed in a gentle gust, his heart racing with anxiety and anderaline of the heat of battle. Flipping over forward, over the robot's head with a strong swing to return the favor, a pace of quick and nimb of micro seconds of timing. But his opponent shared his and Boom-Sonic's speed, the split second reflex had Boom-Metal spun around, it's weapon held to protect itself, the loud collision clang like a high-pitched ding filling the air of the mountain's highest altitude.
"Ngh! This is really getting on my nerve!" The hiss through Sonic's teeth spoke in the threat of a snake, struggling to find an opening, his pole against Boom-Metal's beam, the soles of his sneakers scrapping at the graveled ground, crunches overpowered by the clashes of metal.
The fighters' legs soon vanished, becoming a blur once more in the small battle field in their speed, Sonic purposely dipping to his side while Boom-Metal made to cleave him in half only for the organic hedgehog to plant his left foot solely once more onto the robot's chest, sparks and malfunctions creaking through the hard shell as he then heaved the machine over his head. The hero of Mobius quickly stood, his grip tightening even further, while the robot, wires slithering out, struggled to stand, but none the less charged once more, and Sonic instantly defended himself with their strategies repeating.
Unfortunately for Boom-Metal, he lacked the programming of wielding a sword and was not yet capable of using methods of other weapons, only to use the same abilities as Boom-Sonic. It didn't take long before Sonic knocked the beam out of his opponent's claws, the large piece of metal soaring and spinning with loud but low whipping through the air like a lone propeller without a helicopter, using this opportunity to kick him squarely in the chest, sending the killing machine spiraling over towards the edge, the impact almost like a shockwave.
"Just so you know, your Egghead is lamer than the one in my world! Your counterpart was a lot more tougher than you!" Sonic didn't give Boom-Metal a chance to recover, his heart hanging in the realization of what he's about to do.
Given his mistakes, though, and memories of Metal's Overlord Form a year ago, Sonic didn't want to take anymore chances. He feared that the same thing that happened to him and his friends could happen here, especially now that Boom-Sun was created. His legs lost in blurs of red, his red and white shoes slamming against the pavement of the roof, his pole in his grasp with the grip tightening, propelling him at near the speed of sound.
Sonic made a daring leap by the time Boom-Metal made to recover, it's primary functions badly damaged, internal systems malfunction and threatening to shut down at any moment, the latter's flickering unstable eyes cast upon the vision of the blue hedgehog in the air, determination filling his face, deep within his emerald eyes. A loud, battle-scream escaping from his mouth, the blue hedgehog now held the pole, a Homing Attack with his make-shift weapon struck out like a chainsaw buzzing to life, leaving the robot no chance to even hover away to safety.
The pole sawed through the robot's skull, crushing it in half, with the rest of it's body cut cleanly through with the matching speed of Sonic's strength. By the time he was done, the blue hedgehog kicked the now offline robot swiftly in the chest, bashing Boom-Metal soaring away from the two islands like a missile, the loud crushing sound of a splash echoing in the air while scarying off a couple of Seagulls who squawked in alarm, their wings quickly flapping to carry them to safety in the air.
All the while Boom-Metal's remains sunk into the depths of the ocean below, denoting into pieces upon the water soaking it's joints.
Sonic in the meantime landed safely back on the ground, his remorse gaze set silently across the horizon, the weight of guilt hanging onto his heart as his grip on the pole loosened, allowing the piece to drop in a loud clatter on the roof tile. The warmth of the afternoon sun, the orange and pink hue of colours settling upon him, the gentle breeze sweeping on his skin and quills, the beautiful scenery of mother nature doing little to soothe is troubled heart and soul.
"Sorry, Metal. I know that you were programmed to take out the other me, but I just can't take anymore chances." The blue hedgehog whispered, closing his eyes for a moment, a prayer of Boom-Metal's resting even though robots don't have souls. Not like real people or living clones.
A gasp struck through the hedgehog, the sudden remembrance of his friends striking through his mind.
"Guys! I've gotta help them!" Wasting no more time, Sonic swiftly ran back to the hole, not caring of how high he was. He jumped back through, hoping that it wasn't too late to save the others.
While Sonic was busy taking out Boom-Metal, things weren't going so well for the rest of the heroes, Tails and the others trying all they could with their greatest abilities to take down the giant Cyclops Robot that morphed it's right arm into a giant cannon, targeting the Sonic Heroes and Boom-Team Sonic, setting alight giant flames melting the pavement and everything metal across the room, forcing them to avoid such dangerous attacks. Even Boom-Sun, deciding to stick with his counterpart and friends, had trouble with the monstrous machine.
Even the Cubot Prototypes were not safe from the increasing fires threatening to reduce them into nothing more than useless scrap heap, and Eggman and his servants tried to avoid in being cooked to the death. Thankfully, during the rampage, Boom-Tails and his counterpart managed to sneak past enough to grab hold of the jar holding the shrunken Boom-Sonic and their enemies of this world, the two-tailed fox now holding it close to his chest.
"We're never going to stop this thing at this rate!" Boom-Amy screamed, ducking behind a crate alongside her counterpart and their friends.
"Yeah, if we don't stop ghostly-black-scary hood and his robot, we'll be over-cooked like a burnt marshmallow!" Boom-Knuckles gulped, leaning against the crate with panic filling his face.
"Got any bright ideas?" Boom-Sun questioned sarcastically.
"If we can distract that thing, we should take it out," Sun responded, his gritted teeth clenched as he stole a peek from the crate. "Only problem is, that thing is too fast for us.
"I'm more worried about Sonic, we've gotta do something to help them!" Tails shivered, concerns for his brothers fighting against their opponents.
"Ugh! If only I was back to my life-size! I could've taken on my orange copy and save Sun and Speed-Ace!" Boom-Sonic pounded the glass behind him, wincing at the slight sting of the impact. He never felt so frustrated and helpless in all of his life.
A shaky sigh escaping his lips, the blue hedgehog slumped, gaze cast in solemn and guilt, his heart feeling heavy and hollow. "This is all my fault...I should've listened to the other me...and to you guys. Why am I such a heroic idiot?"
"We'll figure things out..." Tails' attempts to reassure Boom-Sonic was for naught, unfortunately and the sounds of Boom-Shadow and the mysterious figure, and Sun and Boom-Sun's fightings certainly didn't make it any better either. 'I hope...'
The two-tailed fox cub also prayed to every entity he could think of that Sonic would be alright as well, even if this reality's version of Metal Sonic wasn't as strong as the one back at home before Eggman discarded him completely once Tails, Sonic and Knuckles had defeated the evil robot once and for all.
When things just couldn't get any worse, Boom-Shadow in the meantime side-stepped to the side, eyes narrowed with anger, hate and disgust. He hissed at the agonizing sting from the near impact of powerful laser-like beam shot from the figure use of the mysterious crystal, the evil hooded villain's manical laughter loud and in the tone of victory, amusement heard as though he was enjoying this every moment. In the evil man's mind, he will see fit in destroying all heroes and villains of the two worlds, conquer not just Bygone Island or even the whole planet, but every existence of the Multiverse if he wanted.
The very thought of ruling all realities sent chilling excitement through his veins, like a cool liquid of juice and cubes of ice raining down upon him.
Boom-Shadow was then again dodge-rolled out of the way as the mysterious figure, the crystal glowing more violently, the illumination of red and yellow now replacing the purple hue, cast another powerful beam like a laser missile, blasting a hole through the wall, debris, rock, metal and smoke filling the room in the thunderous roar of explosions echoing within the room that Eggman and his robots were screaming, each of them covering their heads, crouching low. They were left in the hooded figure, the Cyclops robot, and the rampaging black hedgehog's mercy.
"Oh, how I wish we never entered this crazy reality...!" Eggma wailed, panic washing over him, his brilliant mind unable to think of an idea how to avoid in getting killed.
In hindsight, if it weren't for Sonic and his friends' meddling, they wouldn't be in this situation.
"UGH!" Boom-Shadow was once more thrown off-guard, the blast of the crystal's energy hitting his chest, the burning sensation as though someone had set a flamethrower at him, sent him colliding against the wall once again, dropping to the floor, his energy nearly at it's limit.
At the same time, the Cyclops Bot, it's optic lenses and functional radar scanning the body heat from it's enemies attempting to hide behind the crate, locked in on them. Narrowing it's gaze, it's purpose only to destroy it's master's enemies, stomped towards the Sonic Heroes, Boom-Team Sonic, and Boom-Sun, who felt the vibrations and Rouge, her sensitive hearing clearer than everyone else's, carefully but quickly peeked from the corner, her teal eyes widening with horror and alarm at the approaching robot.
"Look out! Run!" The white bat screamed, pulling Amy and Star to the side away from the crate, Tails and Knuckles, sensing the urgency in her voice, hurried to follow three of their friends when they felt the vibrations of the monster's steps getting worse.
"Incoming!" Sticks screamed hysterically, pulling Boom-Amy, ignoring the latter's cries of alarm, to the side with both versions of Sun, Boom-Tails and Boom-Knuckles quickly following.
They made it out of the way just in time just as the Cyclops Bot delivered a powerful punch that smashed the crate into pieces, machinery and equipment belonging to Boom-Dr. Eggman, laser guns, drills, screw drivers, everything a scientist would need, all clattered into broken pieces, rendered all over the tiled floor.
"Stop smashing up my things! I just got them replaced last week!" Boom-Eggman angrily shook his fist once again. "Do you know how hard it is to keep my doctorate and bank account!?"
"Never known any bad guy to own a bank account." Knuckles deadpanned, an eye-ridge raised.
"What'd you expect? Eggman's an evil villain to use his accounts to brain-wash people. Maybe even sending them over to his overlord relatives to suck our brains out and being stored for building clocks to turn back time and have all the dinosaurs replace us as the permanent dominant species!" Sticks frantically cried out, leaping out of the way along side her friends to avoid the giant robot from whacking them.
Another bewildered glance was all directed towards the badger girl, still shell-shocked over her insane words.
Finally, the teenage Guardian couldn't take it anymore, a frustrated scream bellowing throughout the walls. "WILL YOU FORGET YOUR INSANE CONSPIRACY THEORY THING!?"
"Yeah, no offense Sticks, that theory is scary, disgusting and...it doesn't even make sense at all." Boom-Knuckles, a bit frightened over his shorter-self's major temper, nervously agreed.
"Can we worry about this later!? We have a robot and an even more insane guy with a magic crystal to worry about!" Amy screamed impatiently, causing everyone apart from those who were still fighting to freeze up in fright.
"Uh...Good idea." Boom-Amy timidly agreed.
"Incoming again!" Sticks's warning came too late, as the Cyclops-Bot now towered over the heroes, collective gasps of shock echoing.
Both Knuckles and his counter-part, exchanging a quick glance of determination, charged, the former readying a punch at the robot's legs while the latter aimed for the arms, strength weighing heavily upon the two echidna. Unfortunately strength alone did not provide any use, as the Cyclops-Bot was faster, a single swoop caught the Guardian off his feet in a near-bone crushing grip, and a powerful kick at the dimwitted hero that sent him flying towards the wall.
"UGH!" Knuckles grunted, restrained and held tightly, squirming and wriggling to try and pry his way out, but giant robot only increased the pressure to squeeze the life out of him, the sickening slow crunching of his bones audible in a slow, painful death, his oxygen supply running out.
Boom-Knuckles in the meantime ended up in the same situation as Boom-Shadow, except he ended up twirling upside down and landed right on the head, a high-pitched squeak of pain escaping, before sliding on his back to a stop.
"Oooooh...May I have another Chocolate Banana Split please, Mommy?" Boom-Knuckles was so dazed, his brain was muddled, eyes swirling comically, his vision darkening in passing out.
"Oh, for the love of Mother Robotnik! Can't any of you just stop this lunatic already!?" Eggman shouted impatiently, the results of his enemies and their counterparts' results in this fight grating on his nerves.
"Stay out of this, doctor!" Rouge snapped angrily, her teal eyes blazing over the evil scientist's direction. "Unless you want to take on this robot on your own?"
That instantly made the mad doctor remain silent, a nervous gulp being swallowed as Eggman shrank back fearfully, hands up in surrender.
"We're coming, Knuckles!" Tails exclaimed, while Boom-Tails made sure Boom-Sonic and their foes were safely secured.
"LOOK OUT!" Amy screamed suddenly, frantically pointing at the giant robot's eye illumiting an eerie glow, burning hot of sparks of a powerful laser aimed directly at them.
Forced to once again move out of the way, everyone narrowly managed to avoid in getting hit, but unfortunately they couldn't get far enough. The powerful, large, thick beam of red blasted the wall with another explosion flying everywhere, the impact caused the heroes to fly into every direction, even knocking Boom-Shadow off of his feet. Screams echoing with Eggman's group and the mysterious hooded figure watching on, both in fear and in pure delight. Yet unbeknownst to any of them, the crystal's glow was beginning to illuminate and fade from it's eerie aura into a shade of cobalt blue and white.
To make things worse, Boom-Tails lost his grip on the jar that held his big brother, Boom-Eggman, Boom-Orbot, and Boom-Cubot, the results of the blast also shattering the glass into pieces, freeing the still shrunken prisoners who were sent flying.
"SONIC!" Boom-Tails screamed, wincing as the blast burnt off parts of his fur from his namesakes, desperately reaching out for the shrunken hedgehog.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Boom-Sonic was helpless to make a landing, twirling out of control and squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the impact for either a crash landing, or, his heart plummeting at the horrific thought, captured by the evil figure.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The sudden call and denial from a familiar voice echoing from above, Sonic came sky-eagling downward, his reflex and athletic abilities allowing him to miraculously plant his feet from one side of the spiraling tunnel above to another, knees bent to increase his stamina and strength within his limbs, launching himself in a faster pace, swiftly catching his miniture counterpart in his right hand, while Boom-Eggman, Boom-Orbot and Boom-Cubot were saved in his left, curling up tightly to spin the rest of the way down, landing safely in a crouch, his friend and enemies brought to his chest protectively.
"Sonic!" Amy squealed happily, collective sheer relief washing over her, Tails and the rest of their friends.
"He's okay!" Tails' eyes swelled up with tears to see his big brother safe and sound.
Pants heavy, slow, the fatigue of his fights against Boom-Shadow, the robots including Boom-Metal slowly taking a toll on him, Sonic gently brought his nearly pale-white alternate-self, and the freaking out Boom-Eggman and his robots who looked worse for wear, the bumbling villains profusely pouring in sweat...Well, at least the evil scientist was.
"You okay, Blue Leader?" Sonic asked, uncoiling his fingers from the shurnken hedgehog's lower body, allowing him to sit in his palm.
"Y-Yeah. Thanks for the save," Boom-Sonic shakily responded, panting slightly while feeling the sense of warmth and security of his 'larger' counterpart, the softness of Sonic's gloved hand feeling as though he was sitting on the most comfiest bed on the planet. "Man, you're huge from here!"
Sonic lightly chuckled, carefully shrugging. "Yeah, well, from your point of view, I'm nothing compared to all of the giant monsters I've put up with and believe me, they're twice as terrifying."
"Are you kidding me!?" Boom-Eggman squeaked, gaining the attention of the two hedgehogs who flinched. "You're worse than he is!"
"Uh...Not sure what you're talkin' about, Egghead-2." The hero of Mobius responded.
"You're one of my worst nightmares come true, only I dreamt he was a giant, calling me silly and that rings belong to hedgehogs, right after I found myself in my beloved pjs at the Evil School to get my doctorate!" The shrunken scientist blurted out, only to flinch to late and frantically waved his hands. "Uh, f-forget I said that! Never mind!"
"That explains why he was screamin' that night." Boom-Cubot remarked thoughtfully, earning another facepalm from Boom-Orbot.
Sonic and Boom-Sonic both stared at the latter's enemy, exchanging a dumbfounded glance with a sweat drop.
"I knew my Eggman probably has nightmares of me all the time, but that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard of, and kinda creepy." Sonic half-whispered.
"Personally, I'm surprised my dream-self didn't pick him up and make him change out of his sleepwear." Boom-Sonic grumbled, crossing his arms.
"YOU!"
Startled out their conversation, Sonic and the others swiftly cast their gaze at the mysterious hooded, his glare peering right into the teenage hero's soul, ignited like flames of darkness and pure anger, the crystal in his hand glowing a brighter illumination. Their eyes widened in shock, the cobalt hedgehog, and his friends nearby, taking cautious steps back in fear.
"You dare to survive and interfere with my plans!?" The figure bellowed in fury, holding the crystal up threateningly. "You were a fool to have ever come in this dimension...So now, I will destroy you all and take all of what is MINE, starting with your life, Alternate-Sonic the Hedgehog!"
"I don't think SO!"
"EH-OMPH!" The figure didn't get the chance to even glance over his shoulder, the next thing he knew was agonized pain on his back, the heating sharp hit like a very sharp boulder, two to be precise, set him colliding straight towards the wall close by, whilst Eggman and his robots, screaming their heads off, ducked with the mad doctor's hands on his head.
The two orange blurs then uncurled, revealing that of both versions of Sun the Hedgehog, having recovered from their injuries, landing simultaneously, a double heated glare radiating from the hedgehogs cast upon the hooded figure, who in the process of being hit, lost the crystal which slipped from his fingers. The mysterious gem, it's illuminate glow slightly changing it's hue, soared in the empty air with a single wink of white like a star in the most beautiful, clear night sky. As the heroes and villains gazed in shock, there was another blink that caught Sonic's eye, swiftly casting his gaze to his Boom-counterpart and their enemies.
"Huh?" When Sonic did, his eyes widened, another gasp escaping his lips as both Boom-Sonic, Boom-Eggman, Boom-Orbot and Boom-Cubot suddenly began to glow pale white as well, bewilderment shared upon them all.
Soon the four shrunken inviduals' bodies began to expand and grow, a collective gasp of shock, confusion and alarm echoing, forcing the hero of Mobius to accidentally drop the villains who let out a high-pitched yelp, and in Boom-Eggman's case, one would laugh since he sounded like a goat(Much to Eggman's embarrassment), hitting the floor had in a comical fashion, a loud, drum-cymbal like thud sprung in everyone's ears. Boom-Sonic in the meantime, flipping like the athletic that he was, swiftly landed on his feet softly, his height now back to it's original state, as were for his long-term enemies who all groaned.
Boom-Sonic took a quick glance at himself, doubly checking his arms before a wide, cheerful and relieved grin smeared across his face. "Yeah! Back to my life-size self! Man, do I not wanna be the size of a toy ever again?"
"You 'N me both, Blue Leader. You 'N me both." Sonic responded, his finger rubbing at the base of his nose, his own grin echoed upon his counterpart's. He was very relieved that his friend was finally back to normal.
"Sonic! The crystal!" Both Tails and Boom-Tails exclaimed, regaining everyone's attentions at the falling crystal, almost all of them remembering that it was the very crystal their enemy used for the likes of his own desire.
Knowing that it was far too dangerous to be put into the wrong hands, Sonic, his legs bend for a quick calculation, almost immediately dashed forward, his legs and sneakers vanishing in the mixture of blue and red blur of his increased super-speed, launching himself into the air, his heart and inner will power seeping through his body, the illumate blue glow forming his outer layer.
"Here we...GO!" Sonic focused on his Boost, one hand outstretched towards the crystal that descended close as he made to catch it.
"WHOA!" The Boom-Team Sonic echoed in awe, astonished by the boost power Boom-Sonic's alternate self was displaying, the expression of jealously beginning to creep into the hedgehog's eyes.
"Man, I wish I could do that." Boom-Sonic breathed, his mind streaming with questions of so many possibilities.
"Even I can't do that, and I have super powers myself!" Boom-Knuckles was rendered nearly speechless, his expression blank which earned him a skeptical look from Knuckles, Boom-Tails, and Boom-Amy.
His gloved fingers, a sense of strain and silent plea creeping into his mind to be able to make it, nimbly touched the powerful crystal, it's glass-like surface creating only a spark of a protective shield from the strong magical light from within. Sonic's face split into a victorious grin, flipping into somersault, landing swiftly on the tiled floor.
"Got it!" Sonic declared, standing from his crouched position, all of his friends encirling him happily, including Sun who, chuckling in relief, joined his brothers and friends with Boom-Sun, having recovered, standing there curiously.
"Nice catch, Speed-Ace! Where'd you learn to glow like that?" Boom-Sonic mirrored the grin to his counterpart, thoroughly impressed. "What kind of move was that?"
"Ah, it's just my boost. Pretty cool, huh?" The peach-armed blue hedgehog rubbed his nose casually.
"Just don't let it get into your head." Knuckles cautioned, exasperation hinted in his voice.
"Don't worry, I won't." Sonic reassured, holding up the crystal. "Now that we got this magic rock from Creep-Riding Hood and saved Blue Leader, whaddya say we let Shads take the bad guy out and we get the heck outta here?"
"Um, excuse me?"
Blinking at the source of the voice that called, a tone of awkwardness and annoyance enough to gain everybody else's attentions, all turning to Boom-Sun who jerked a thumb at the still functioning giant Cyclops Bot towering menacingly over them, while Boom-Shadow, his fiery glare cast upon the heroes for a split second, returned to the slowly recovering hooded enemy.
"Ugly, giant Cyclops Robot still moving here?" Boom-Sun deadpanned.
Awkward silence hung so heavily that it would be impossible to cut through like a knife failing to even poke through the thickest rubber known in existence for a moment or two.
"Oh, yeah. The robot pirate with one eye and no eyepatch," Boom-Knuckles remembered, stupidly cheerful with a casual wave. "Sorry, we forgot about ya' for a moment or two. Worried about our friends and frenemies."
The robot's eye gleamed the darkest of red, steam hissing out with a high-pitched sound, it's arm raised in a strong fist for an attack at the heroes who let out a collective gasp of shock and horror.
"Look out!" Boom-Sonic exclaimed, his arms wrapped firmly around Boom-Tails' waist with a free hand grasping at Boom-Amy's wrist, while Sonic did the same with Tails and Amy, while Sun grabbed hold of Star, and both Rouge, Knuckles and Sticks leaped out of the way.
Boom-Knuckles though, raised his arms out, his hands wide and stretched as he caught the giant fist about his size, grunts and hisses of his own, his strength nearly pushed to the limited as he tried to force it firmly in place.
"You guys get to creepy Shadow and that Creep-Riding Hood! I'll hold him off!" The tall echidna demanded, hoping to give his friends enough time to end this conflict.
THUMP!
Except the fist crushed him through the floor a few mere seconds later, rising up just as the Guardian-Counterpart was stuck chest-deep into the tiled pavement, eyes comically swirled.
"...At least it wasn't a robot's foot like the two previous times in the comic books..."(1) Boom-Knuckles slurred a comment, as though he had been intoxiated with some kind of drug and was left sounding half-dizzy and drunk, as well as breaking the fourth-wall unintentionally.
Sonic and the rest of his friends all winced, sympathetically, while Knuckles just facepalmed himself very loudly, frustration very known within his agitated growl over his alternate self's stupidty.
"Man, poor Muscules can't catch a break, can he?" Sonic awkwardly ran his fingers through his quills, only to freeze them he felt something warm, solid, smooth and strangely familiar within them. "Huh?"
Blinking in confusion as why he hadn't even felt it earlier, yet somehow coming to realize the truth of why he was able to recover more quickly than usual, the blue hedgehog scruffled about until he pulled out the shockingly familiar green gem, coated in the illumination glow of Chaos Energy, it's power ever so gently flowing through his arm and deep into his heart.
"A Chaos Emerald? How did-?" Sonic cut himself off, a soft gasp breathed when he recalled the last act Shadow did to him when the latter protected the teenager, Tails and Amy: That brief moment, the Ultimate Lifeform has granted him his Chaos Emerald for safe keeping.
'Shadow...You gave me your Chaos Emerald? Why did you do that?' The hero of Mobius was stunned and confused, yet the powerful, Earth-tremoring foot steps of the giant robot made him cast his gaze sharply upward, the Cyclops-Bot now towering over him and his friends.
A near-instant idea formed into his mind, his eyes narrowing with determination growing within his very heart and soul, Sonic stood up, the Chaos Emerald in hand, hopes and prayers for this to work formatting within his mind and heart, the refusal to allow his friends to get hurt again increasing. The others saw what he was going and gaped in shock to see him take slow steps towards the threatening machine, their warnings to be careful, demands on what he was doing, all fell into deaf ears.
'Here goes nothing...' Focusing his thoughts and wishes into the precious gem, Sonic held up the Emerald forward towards the metallic monster. "Chaos Control!"
The moment the Cyclops-Bot made to thrust it's fist to crush the cobalt teen, a static of light and energy surrounded it's body, like coils of electical ropes in a slow, clock pattern, the burst of the Chaos Control freezing it in time within it's tracks.
"...He just froze that thing in time with a green crystal!? Is he really an alien overlord threatening to overtake us!?" Sticks exclaimed.
"No, Sonic just used Chaos Control to stop that robot!" Tails exclaimed, stunned in awe.
"Chaos Control?" Boom-Tails asked, incredulously.
"It's one of the abilities used whenever Sonic or our world's version of Shadow use a Chaos Emerald, which is what Sonic has right now. Chaos Control can temporarely freeze time, teleport the user to different places, and even have a healing ability." The other twin-tailed kitsune explained.
"Hey, how come he didn't do that for us earlier?" Boom-Knuckles asked, pouting with his arms crossed.
Overhearing the taller echidna's complaint, Sonic looked over his shoulder which he shrugged with both, sheepish. "I didn't even realize I even had it until now. Sorry."
He then quickly turned serious, his glare cast back towards the evil giant robot. "But now's our chance to take out this piece of junk! Before it moves again!"
"You heard the man!" Boom-Sonic declared, cracking his neck with a mischievous grin on his muzzle. "Let's do it!"
"Chaaaaaaaarge!" Amy, Sticks, Boom-Amy and Boom-Knuckles all shouted simultaneously, they, the two versions of Tails, Knuckles, Sun, Star, Rouge, Sonic and Boom Sonic all joined as one, charging straight towards the giant, frozen and now paralyzingly doomed robot.
To their surprise, Boom-Sun soon joined in, smirking at the questionable looks on their muzzles. "Got room for one more?"
While most of the others didn't know what to make of this, Sun, relieved to see his own counterpart joining in, smiled back with a nod.
None of the heroes held back, the two of Amy leaping up high, their Hammers taking the singultar strike, their battle cries of determination and courage, their incredible strengths radiating into one at the left arm. Knuckles and his counterpart, thrusts of punches to shatter boulders like weak fiber glass, pounded at the right leg. Rouge and Sticks, the former carrying the latter, flew up high with the badger thrusting her boomerang at it's face, shattering the optic lenses that shattered with red sparks flying freely. Sun and Star, their grapple hooks doing their job in lifting their owners, collaborated with a spin and with a powerful punch and sharp kick, they tore off the other arm with ease.
Boom-Sun made to reach towards the robot's back, thrusting his fists in a powerful punch through it's metallic shell torso, grasping at the power core's thick, arm-width cable, grunting as he pulled hard, tearing it apart from the energy core itself.
Finally, both Sonic and his counterpart, sharing an agreed nod, crouched low with their legs bending, their muscle strength pushing them high into the air, their hearts pounding wildly. The two blue hedgehogs enterwined their hands, grinning an equal smirk at the almost completely destroyed robot.
"Buh-bye!" The two heroes shouted, curling together into a double Homing Attack, the combined circle of a blue blur spinning in a rapid speed that tour straight through the chest of the robot, emerging through the other side with ease, sparks, flames and smoke near-instantly flaring about as the effects of Chaos Control soon began to wear out.
By the time it did, the heroes of both worlds, their job finally completed, leaped away to safety, watching as the Cyclops Bot was finally able to move again...only to be repeatedly hit by the combined attacks seemingly out of nowhere, nor would it ever acknowledge of the time spell cast by the Chaos Emerald, exploding in a matter of seconds, shattering into a pile of broken, melted and burning metal heap on the floor. The Sonic Heroes and Boom-Team Sonic cheered on happily, the combined high-fives and chest bumps echoing through the air.
"We did it!" Tails celebrated, jumping up and down.
"All in the day's work, thanks to the way past cool double teamwork." Sonic praised, relieved that the fight was finally over.
"No doubt about it," Boom-Sonic chuckled, smiling appreciatively at both his alternate-self as well as all of his friends. "Hey, guys. Thanks for savin' me and..." He paused, lowering his gaze with a gloomed shame creeping along his features, to the concern of the others. "I'm really sorry for being a total jerk of a hero. If I had been more careful, none of this would'a happen. But let's face it, I...I think it's time for me to learn to appreciate things I really care about a lot. Like all of you."
The blue-armed hedgehog smiled warmly, towards them. "The best thing about life for me, is having all of you guys as my friends. I just let my ego get to me more than I can admit."
While his own team, despite Sticks being skeptical and instantly suspicious, were stunned, touched by the emotional confession from their closest friend and leader, smiled with Boom-Knuckles nearly bursting into tears, Sonic and his own friends returned the smile, Sonic especially being utterly relieved to see his counterpart finally learning from his own mistakes, this experience having taught him the true meaning of how precious life can be.
"And Speed-Ace...Thanks for showin' me the ropes." Boom-Sonic affectionately concluded.
"Heh, I didn't do much at all, Blue Leader. Sometimes lessons are learned the hard way. Believe me, I found that out that I didn't expect or want to," Sonic modestly responded, holding out a fist. "Just don't take your friends for granted, okay?"
"That's a promise." The taller blue hedgehog vowed, fist-bumping his alternate-self who chuckled.
"Okay, did that crystal brainwash you, or are YOU the imposter of our Sonic?" Sticks demanded, her arms crossed in her usual paranoid and suspicious manner.
An awkward moment of silence filled once more.
"What's WRONG with that girl?" Knuckles asked, incredulously.
"She's crazy, paranoid and scary." Boom-Knuckles helpfully answered.
"You...!"
Startled out of their moment of bonding and relief, the sneering, voice of hatred and fear echo across the room, the heroes and the villains all turned to see Boom-Shadow loom before the hooded figure, who now had his hood off. What shocked the heroes was that it was a Mobian Hound, greyish fur with suspicious looking sleeze expression. Yet it was the shocked, dismayed and angered expressions on Boom-Team Sonic, Boom-Shadow and Boom-Eggman that caught the attention of the others.
"T Barker?!" Boom-Team Sonic exclaimed, horrified.
"Wait, you know him?" Sonic asked, incredulously, stealing a gaze at his counterpart.
"Yeah, this guy once tried to keep us trapped for his circus one time. It was Tails-Yellow Sky who saved us." Boom-Sonic explained, a clueless shrug on why the guy who kidnapped him and his friends before was the one responsible for this mess.
"Ugh...That guy was a killjoy on national television. I can't believe I've been shrunk and abducted by that sleezy dog!" Boom-Eggman grunted angrily.
Even Eggman couldn't believe it, his face scowling into disbelieved anger. "You have GOT to be kidding me! We've been held prisoner by a circus ring-master?"
"Put a cork in it, Buttnik!" Sun grunted impatiently.
"...Uh...Where am I? How did I get in here?" The figure, now identified as T-Barker, glanced around in apparent confusion, the glint in his eyes now faded into their normal colour. His gaze soon shifted to that of the heroes and other villains, most whom were glaring angrily at him. "Oh, Team Sonic! What a pleasent surprise!"
"Oh yeah, I REAL surprise...not as surprising as what I have in store for you, Barky." Boom-Knuckles snarled, cracking his knuckles loudly.
"You have a lot to answer for, Barker," Boom-Sonic hissed, before turning to a certain evil scientist still clad in his PJs, instantly reminded and cringed in disgust. "And Egghead...Put on some pants."
Confusion and curiosity filling his mind, Sonic and his team took a quick glance at Boom-Eggman, finally seeing what he was wearing. Collective gasps and groans of shock, horror and disgust echoing, with Amy, Star and Rouge covering their eyes, Tails wailing in horror for the 'demise' of his eye-sight, Knuckles' lower eyelid twitched, Sun and Boom-Sun, who also felt the similar thing, exchanged a horrified glance. Even Boom-Shadow hissed, sharply looking away.
"Aw, yuck...I'm not against pink, but that colour and onesie jammies are so not a good look on ya'. Makes you even more uglier than our Egghead." Sonic groaned, nausea threatening to surge up from his stomach and eject his lunch, the burning, sickening feeling nearly unbearable.
"As much as I hate to agree, at least I have a more appropriate pajamas." Eggman grumbled.
"Yeah, his is a darker red with a shirt and pants!" Cubot happily added, earning a collective groan of annoyance from Orbot, Decoe, Bocoe and Bokkun.
"...Thank goodness for small miracles." Boom-Sonic grumbled, exasperated.
No one argued with him.
Yet before anyone could even digest on what really going on, the crystal within Sonic's hand, it's warm, strange and otherworldly presence tingling it's energy through his arm, soon formed it's illuminating glow of a blue hue, causing the heroes to cast their gaze straight towards it as it began to get stronger and stronger. Sonic felt his heart freeze up, a soft gasp escaping, the unison of everyone's eyes widening filling the room when his body, and soon that of his friends, Eggman and his group began to glow of the same colour.
"Hey, what's going on!?" The hero of Mobius shouted, confusion and horror sweeping across his features.
Unfortunately, no one was able to answer nor even think of what was really happening, because the crystal's brightness soon spread like a nuclear weapon's explosion, all of the heroes and villains, including Boom-Shadow who, gasping in shock, screaming until everything turned a pure whiteness of nothing.
"I was told not to touch it."
"Sonic...Just take it."
"Make the Blue Badger run..."
"Home doesn't exist anymore...Because of YOU!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sonic let a terrified, heart-beating scream as he found himself jolting upright, panting far too quickly.
A quick glance at his surroundings, sweat forming on his head, soaking his quills, fear over the familiar voices, one of them being strongly of pure anger and hate that shook him to the very core of his inner being, the sight of purple twilight in the sea of stars, blinking and fading like a soft, slow, melodic symphony, the giant golden Warp Rings hovering silently, illuminate lights reaching into the far depths of other worlds, brought nothing more than confusion.
"What the? I'm back in this place?" Sonic murmured, until realization dawned, another gasp of fear and panic engulfed him. He shifted his gaze swiftly around him. "Tails? Amy? Blue Leader? Anybody?"
"We're over here!"
The sweet, melodic, sing-song like voice of his self-proclaimed girlfriend echoed from his right, urgency, concern, fear and confusion latching within. Sonic swiftly cast into the same direction, seeing Amy, alongside Tails, Knuckles, Sun, Star, and Rouge, all simultaneously regaining consciousness, one by one standing, with Sun and Amy both helping Star and Tails to their feet. Sense of relief filling him, the hero of Mobius, more swift than anybody in existence, reached his friends in a matter of micro seconds.
"Is everybody alright?" Sonic asked, and was further relieved when he received the responses of positivity.
"What was that all about?" Knuckles rubbed his head, wincing at the foggy dull, pain seemingly clouding his inner vision, shaking it to try and recover but failed.
"Don't know," The blue hedgehog shrugged, cluelessly. "I'm just as lost as you are."
The red echidna sighed, realizing that his hat was tilted awkwardly over his eyes. Blinking in surprise, he quickly adjusted it more fitting. "Is this thing on properly?"
"No, we can still see your face." Sonic joked, a teasing, sly grin splitting his muzzle.
Knuckles turned and tried to take a swing at Sonic who swiftly dodged, a devious chuckle bubbling within his throat, much to the older Mobian's frustration.
"That sure wasn't a fun ride." Rouge groaned, the nausea threatening to eject whatever she ate far worse than Boom-Shadow's teleportation.
"At least we're all in the one piece, but why did that crystal bring us back here?" Tails wondered, stealing a glance at the aforementioned gem within the blue hedgehog's hand, after both teenagers ceased their playful squbbling.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say it's somehow connected with Sonic, and that would mean..." Star trailed off, fear, and realization washing over her, and soon the others.
Glancing around once more, a collective gasp was released as everyone turned back to the crystal.
"The crystal that guy was using...It's a Paradox Prism shard!" Sonic exclaimed, recoiling at the crystal, the very shard from Prism-Sonic's shattered reality, was able to not only be a piece of the very reality, but also containing great powers beyond imagination.
Fearful powers held within the wrong hands.
"That is right, Sonic the Hedgehog. You have found one of the missing pieces of Prism-Sonic's Shatterverse."
Startled and frightened by the familiar, eerie, soft and gentle angelic voice echoing like a vibration of a monotone computer program, the heroes of Mobius swiftly whirled around to find Eris materalizing before them.
"And thus you have four more pieces to retrieve," She continued. "However, the control of it, I'm afraid, is altered by the forces of the Shatterverse itself."
No one spoke a word, not even sure what to make of their sudden success, what Eris was talking about this time. It was then that they realized another concerning problem given their mission.
"Hey, where's Eggman?" Sonic voiced, horror and growing frustration creeping through not just him, but soon the rest of his friends as well.
In turn of suddenly gaining the shard and being brought back here without even given a chance to say goodbye to their counterparts, Dr. Eggman and his cohorts were once again absent.
Their mission has suddenly become more complicated than ever before.
To be Continued!
A/N: Yeah, sorry that the ending was kind of rushed. I was running out of space to avoid in making this chapter even longer and I didn't want to be forced into making the Boom-Arc into a nine-parter. With any luck, we may see the Boom-Team Sonic again, but I'll leave that up to debate.
The next part will be either a Shadow-Side Story, to which I've decide to make some in between Team Sonic's adventures, and then we reach the next world with the main heroes, or the next part will mainly focus on what Shadow is doing(finally) with Sonic's group having a few minor appearances this time.
I also want to give a big thanks and shout-out to my friends Assassin's Creed Master and TU4QU0I53T4IAN6L3 for helping me out with this chapter and story arc so far!
What said world will it be, that's a secret between me and a fellow author and friend of mine, thanks to their permission. *Winks*
(1) Referenced to the Sonic Boom Archie Comics.
I most likely won't be able to update this again for a while, but maybe I might be able to sometime next month(as the final update for 2023). Hard to say at this stage. If not, then please look forward to the next update hopefully in early January 2024.
See you later!