Sonic in Between.
Author's Note: Part five in the works and posted! Let's see how things are for our heroes and villains!
However, I think each world will have more than just two parts like I originally intended, because each idea ended up causing this to become far longer than the Camelot Arc. I deeply apologize in advance.
Summary of Story 14-Part 5: Still in the Sonic Boom Universe, the two teams attempt to locate the Paradox Prism before their enemies get their hands on them, unaware that more troubles are hidden deep in the dark shadows.
I don't own Sonic the Hedgehog. All rights belong to Sega. I only own the OCs.
Alternate-Sonic's Multiverse Adventure-P5: Hidden in the Dark Shadows.
In the middle of Hazard Jungle, close to dark of the night with the full moon being the only light source, a black and red hedgehog wearing a pair of goggles on his head, Boom-Shadow the Hedgehog, was taking an evening stroll with his usual stoic expression he always wore. Normally he would think of his plans to take out his arch-rival Boom-Sonic, as well as that pathetic buffoon Boom-Dr. Eggman and he always wanted to get rid of both of them out of pure spite.
But today, something else has crossed his mind and it somehow made him admittedly uncomfortable.
'What do I care for nightmares? They are nothing more than annoying figments of people's uncontrolled imaginations. I wouldn't be surprised if that idiot Dr. Eggman has continuous ones of Sonic. But still...that image I had last night...' Boom-Shadow narrowed his eyes as he thought about the strange dream that has been on his mind all day.
A peach-armed Sonic, along with a smaller version of Knuckles who wasn't a total pea-brained dolt, Tails and Amy both in simple attire, and a bat girl who was unfamiliar, along with Eggman who had gained weight yet he still kept those useless toy-minions to babysit him...in a cave with a giant crystal, and Shadow himself only without his goggles.
And apparently Boom-Sonic smashing said crystal which resulted a radio-active anomaly.
'How does it make any sense? Why can't I get my mind off of it? It shouldn't even make me feel...uneasy. I shouldn't be this uncomfortable.' The black and red hedgehog grunted, squeezing his eyes shut before shaking his head with a scoff. "Hmph! This is pathetic! It was nothing more than just an odd dream. I don't have time to think like this."
But just as Boom-Shadow was about to move on and head back to his home cave to try and get some sleep since he was starting to feel drowsy, a sudden movement filled his senses as his ears twitched, sharpening his senses and spun around, demanding. "Who's there!? Show yourself!"
"Ah, Shadow the Hedgehog. Just the villain I have been seeking." An unfamiliar voice spoke in the silhouette of the darkness, before the owner emerged to reveal, unbeknownst to the now very suspicious striped hedgehog who glared heatedly with his ruby eyes, the same cloaked figure who had learned of Dr. Eggman's arrival as well as the battle that had him see the alternate counterparts of Boom-Team Sonic.
"Who are you?" Boom-Shadow demanded, in a defense stance. "If you wish for me to join your side, you are mistaken. I learned long ago to fight my enemies at my own term."
"Really, now?" The cloaked figure questioned, chuckling lowly. "And here I thought I could give you a bit of a warning, my friend."
"I am no friend to you. You're nothing more than a waste of my time. I have more important things to do." The black and red hedgehog scoffed, and turned to teleport away, but the next words this stranger spoke made him freeze in his tracks.
"Seeking to destroy Sonic the Hedgehog, yes? What would you say if you had to deal with two of him? Or, more accurately, not just an alternate version of the blue boy, but also doubles of three of his friends, Tails the Fox, Amy Rose, and that simpleton Knuckles the Echidna? As well as another Dr. Eggman whom I noticed earlier." Questioned the figure.
Boom-Shadow narrowed his eyes, looking over his shoulder. "I can hardly stand two of Eggman, especially his edge-lord self, but two of that blue hedgehog? Why isn't the planet being destroyed due to the anomaly if that's the case?"
"Well, if you wish to know, then I have a proposal for you."
"Hmph. Not interested. I'll find out myself then." The black-red hedgehog scoffed, eyes closed before walking off again.
"All I ask is for you to capture Sonic for me, the one of this world." The figure added, which again caused the evil hedgehog to pause.
Now finding himself, to his dismay, becoming increasingly curious over what the stranger wanted, Boom-Shadow turned around suspiciously. "You want me to capture that idiot for you? I would rather destroy him."
The figure chuckled darkly, a grin forming under his hood. "Oh, you will. I just need something from that hero and I am certain he will tell me more of his alternate counterpart as well as those of his friends and Dr. Eggman himself. I also plan on capturing that buffoon as well while you have the dibs onto taking out the one who exists in this world."
"So you believe that Sonic knows more about what is going on?"
"He has more experience in traversing through dimensions, Shadow. If he learns more, it will only make him become more powerful than you and I am certain you don't want that. He is the shame to all hedgehog kind."
"Listen here, cloak-boy. I ally and work for no one! Even though you are giving me liable information, I will learn at my own term and nothing more! If you wish to capture Sonic, you will have to go through me first! Until then, I want no part in whatever scheme you have in mind!" Boom-Shadow hissed darkly, turning with a scowl and wordlessly teleported away.
Left alone in the darkness of the Hazard Jungle, the mysterious figure smiled cruelly as he began to chuckle to himself.
"That went far easier than I thought. That foolish hedgehog is playing right into my game. Now, onward to invite my latest guest."
With that thought in mind, the hooded figure walked off...and the moment the moonlight hit his face, it revealed the face of a Mobian's furry muzzle with sharp teeth.
Phase one down, now it was onward to phase two.
Ordering a Take-Out from the Meh Burger, though from what the Sonic Heroes had discovered, unlike the one back in their reality, the service was even worse and the Dave manager person was quite rude, they and the Boom-Team Sonic headed to Boom-Amy's Shack this time since it had a bit more room and ate while discussing the situation in hand.
They started off on where their previous conversation regards to the Paradox Prism, which Sonic and his friends explained to Boom-Team about the Paradox Prism, what they learned upon entering the strange realm over-viewing other timelines, the existence of Prism-Sonic and his actions, Eris and Nero, and why they were in this reality right now. By the time they were done, the heroes of this world were beyond shocked and horrified.
"Whoa...and people say I'M reckless." Boom-Sonic grimaced, feeling very uneasy. He was certain that, based on Sonic's strange visions of seeing their alternate self who was much like the shorter blue hedgehog, doing something accidental but reckless like that, he was going to have nightmares now.
"And your Dr. Eggman was attempting to use it to reshape your reality, right?" Boom-Tails continued where he was cut off, and his counterpart nodded to confirm. "You actually saw it?"
"It's more of the case of we were trying to protect it from our Dr. Eggman who attempted to use it's power to change the course of history." Tails explained, and while his other self was stunned in awe and understanding, the rest of Boom-Team Sonic was confused, so the two fox cubs explained the strong powers and energy fields the Paradox Prism can do and the risks of it either being damaged or destroyed.
"Hmmm...That explains why we haven't noticed any Space-Time Continuum anomaly destruction or disturbance yet, because unlike with Dr. Eggman's machines in other timelines, the Paradox Prism is protecting all of us on both sides from causing it." Boom-Tails realized scientifically.
Tails nodded, confirming his counterpart's theory. "Right, but it's still in risk because if we don't find the shard that landed somewhere here in this world, the Shatterverse will cause damage to other realities including this one and ours back at home."
"If Egghead and his Clown-Self of this world don't get to it first." The former Werehog added, shaking his head.
"So, using that...whatever you guys call it, can change history completely?" Boom-Knuckles asked, nervously with a gulp. "And I thought Sonic disappearing to another dimension and Lord Eggman coming here were scary enough."
"Not to mention the other Knuckles that came here, no thanks to his dimension's version of Eggman." Sticks folded her arms, shaking her head.
"Worse part is, now that our Egghead's here too, he probably told his dumber twin all about it, and that's a huge risk completely." Sonic sighed, his heart sinking into his stomach with the huge weight of guilt forming.
"Risk? That other stupid Eggman will probably go looking for it and change this world's timeline to where your otherself doesn't even exist!" Knuckles grunted angrily, which made his younger friend wince before looking away in shame.
Yet seeing the blue hedgehog's guilt steadily grow increasingly made the red echidna flinch before sighing, realizing that he had intentionally caused the fifteen year old to once again blame himself for this whole mess. That, combined with Prism-Sonic's twice as impulsive and reckless actions, doubled those negative feelings that Sonic felt fully responsible even though he and Boom-Sonic weren't.
'Whoops.' The seventeen year old thought, lowering his gaze in guilt.
"Nggh...Why did Prism-Eggman have to go and cause all of this in the first place, and made Prism-Sonic to accidentally destroy his world's Paradox Crystal and create the Shatterverse?" Sonic groaned, leaning against the table with his elbows, one hand over his face and the other scratching his head.
"It's not your fault, Sonic," Amy gently reassured, placing a comforting hand on top of her 'boyfriend's' arm, making the blue hedgehog lower his hand and glance at her as she smiled. "Both of Eggmen are to blame for all of this."
"Yeah, but Ames, Prism-Sonic is still me and while both timelines are completely different and separate, I still feel solely responsible for it and I gotta fix up it up somehow." The hero of Mobius pointed out, looking away from her. "Plus, I get the feeling that Prism-Eggman caught him so off-guard that the other me's not taking it seriously and...well, you know."
"Prism-Sonic and Prism-Eggman?" Boom-Sonic raised an eye-ridge.
"It's what the Seer of Timelines named Eris called them in the other reality, most likely to avoid confusion." Star answered, as she and the rest of her group gazed worriedly at their cobalt heroic friend worriedly.
"Wait, so it's like a code name for each of us?" Boom-Knuckles asked, eagerly, which made the others glance at him, admittedly surprised and impressed.
Even Knuckles couldn't deny it, before he looked away, half-sarcastically muttering. "Yeah, well, if I were to give you a nickname while I'm here, I might as well call you Muscles even though I'm just as strong without them."
"Oooh! Muscles! I like that! It matches my super strength!" The taller echidna, now nick-named Muscles, flexed out his bicaps proudly only to make everybody else stare at him with his friends annoyed.
"You sure know how to come up with decent names, Knuckie. I'm impressed." Rouge grinned teasingly, giggling while her rival glared with gritted teeth in irritation.
"Yeah, well, don't give him any ideas, because I will NOT be called Knuckie while we're in this dimension!" Knuckles growled warningly. He then quickly turned to his counterpart who opened his mouth to say something, and added before the latter could talk. "And I won't be called junior, either! I'm seventeen years old, thank you very much!"
Despite feeling guilty for the mess Prism-Sonic has caused and feeling gradually worried for Boom-Sonic's attitude, Sonic couldn't help but snicker in amusement over Knuckles' predicument over the 'code-name' idea.
"Well, you guys don't have to worry about a thing," Boom-Sonic announced to his counterpart's team, smirking confidently as he crossed his arms. "We're gonna out to find that shard thingy before the two Eggheads do."
"Sonic's right...Or um...Our, Sonic, I mean?" Boom-Tails trailed off, making everybody else stare at him before the two-tailed fox cub sighed in defeat. "I think we should go for our Knuckles' idea with the code name thing."
"Yeah, good idea," Sonic shrugged in agreement, a little sheepish for not realizing that part. "At least our Knux' came up in calling your Big Knux 'Muscles'. We just gotta figure out everybody else's code names...Except for Sun, Star, Rouge, and Sticks, since they don't have any counterparts yet. As far as we know, anyway."
"I think I'll do by my birth-name Miles while we're here. I don't mind not using my nickname for a while." Tails suggested kindly, his namesakes swishing a little.
Rouge then smirked as various ideas popped into her head. "I think I can help with that. We can call your other self Big Blue and call you Blue."
Having a quick think about it before the two Sonics shared a glance and remembering how the blue-armed hedgehog was taller than the peach-armed blue hero, and shook their heads, disagreeing with the white bat's suggestion.
"Nah, no offense but that's kind of too boring and predictable." Boom-Sonic shook his head.
"Yeah, sorry Rouge, that'll still make things too complicated," Sonic shrugged, "You would call me Big Blue almost all the time at home anyway. We need something a bit more cool and separate, like uh..."
"How about Speed-Ace and Blue Captain?" The taller hedgehog suggested, surprising his counterpart, and almost everybody else except for his friends who smiled knowingly. "Me and Tails made up a little code name for the both of us, anyway. How about it? You'll be Speed-Ace and I'll be Blue Leader."
"Speed-Ace and Blue Leader, huh?" The hero of Mobius murmured thoughtfully, before smirking with growing excitement. "I like it. Plus, Speed-Ace does kinda suit me, anyway, and I know a friend who called himself the Speed King, even though he just races in racing cars and is more crazy with being fast than I am."
"If that's the case, then I'll call myself Yellow Sky. It's kind of a code name my Sonic and I made up anyway, like with the Blue Leader." Boom-Tails added, smiling brightly.
"Whoa! Those are really cool code names!" Tails remarked excitedly.
"Heh heh, thanks!"
"But what about us? I can't think of a cute or cool code name for me and my counterpart." Boom-Amy asked, sighing in disappointment.
"Yeah, and using my full name kind of doesn't suit me either." Amy folded her arms thoughtfully.
"What about short-me?" Boom-Knuckles asked, gesturing at Knuckles who slumped in defeated, realizing that he wasn't going to get out of this humiliation until they leave this crazy alternate dimension.
Then, thinking hard on what to at least call himself, the Master Emerald Guardian sighed before declaring softly as a memory came to him. "Cecil."
"Huh?" Everybody else stared at the seventeen year old, bewildered.
"Cecil? That's a stupid name." The taller echidna remarked, raising an eye-ridge.
"Ugh, well, what else would you suggest besides junior and Knuckie!? I hold the honor of giving myself a code name, so I'll do what I want with it! And before anybody asks, it's my late father's middle name!" Knuckles grunted in irritation, now knowing that even that was a terrible idea. "Nevermind! I'll myself Warrior, because at least that has a nicer ring to it."
"Ooh! That sounds adventurous and heroic! It goes with your cool hat! I should get myself one of those!"
"Uh...Thanks, I guess." Well, that was unexpected and, now that he thought about it, he did wish he could keep the hat since he really liked it so much. Plus, he didn't want to reveal his father's first name. It was too embarrassing even in his earliest memories and Cecil sounded a whole lot better...
Except in this case with his alternate(and stupid) counterpart.
Sonic whistled over his older friend's choice of a code-name. "Warrior, huh? Cool choice, Knux!"
"I agree, and in the meantime, you can borrow my birth-name until we leave, Amy. No offense, but I've grown so used to my adopted name my father gave me, anyway." Star offered, a little embarrassed.
Amy smiled warmly over her friend's suggestion and nodded in agreement. "Thanks, Star."
"Huh? You mean Staria isn't even your real name?" Sticks asked, confused.
The lavender-pink hedgehog shook her head. "I was adopted when I was a baby, when my real family had to send me away to protect me from evil villains. My real name is Aria, but my adopted father Professor Amantha didn't know that at the time, so he gave me my current name I grew up with. 'Star' is my nickname since, well..." She giggled. "I love to stargaze at the night sky."
"Hmm...Makes sense, sounds beautiful and freely...Yeah, I think Star suits you better." The feral badger nodded in agreement.
"I don't mind burrowing Star's real name, plus it would make sense to tell between the two of us." Amy shared a gaze with Boom-Amy who nodded in agreement, until an idea formed into her mind.
"Well, I think I can use one name I haven't thought of in a while. Back when Knuckles tried to find his own sidekick." Boom-Amy thought deeply, which while it confused Boom-Knuckles since he's, well, pretty dumb, both Boom-Sonic and Boom-Tails both flinched and shared an uneasy glance, and everyone else gazed on in confusion. "My code name will be...*Drum Roll* Knucklina!"
"...Knucklina?" The Sonic Heroes all chorused, sharing a dumbstruck glance.
"...Yeah, no way, Ames. Not happening." The taller blue hedgehog strongly disagreed in distaste. "That's almost as bad as when that Ferret guy used the horrible Justin Beaver singing and soundtracks to mind control you, Sticks and every other girl on the whole island."
"Please don't remind me, Sonic. I still sometimes hear Justin's terrible singing that makes me want to teleport myself into a mirror." Boom-Tails shuddered.
Even Boom-Knuckles groaned in disgust, hugging himself. "Ugh...! His soundtracks still make my nightmares even worse!"
"Yeah, the three of you and your Dude-Itude sounds a million times better." Sticks nodded in agreement, cringing over that memory as well.
"Dude-Itude?" Sun blinked, raising an eye-ridge.
"Long story," Boom-Sonic shrugged, sheepishly.
The Sonic Heroes blinked before sharing an dumbfounded glance, wondering what in the world Boom-Team Sonic were talking about. They then shrugged uncomfortably, deciding that it was best not to ask.
Hours after the humiliating defeat by the hands of the two Sonic Teams, the two evil scientists and their robots reluctantly agreed to rest for the next for enough time to recover and had dinner before deciding to make sleeping arrangements...Yet what Eggman and his minions saw next wasn't even pretty.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Eggman screamed almost girlishly while Decoe, Bocoe, Bokkun and Orbot all recoiled in fright, all of them staring in absolute horror. "What in Mobius' name are you wearing!?"
Right before him was Boom-Eggman...who had showered and changed into his sleeping gear: Which was nothing more than a pink onesie with Boom-Orbot and Boom-Cubot, who were still wearing their hats, hovering a bit away from hime. Needless to say, the sight of this world's evil scientist in something that did not suit him at all was an eyesore and a mind-numbing image enough to send out nightmare fuel.
"It's my pajamas! What, do you have a dress code for sleeping gear?" Boom-Eggman pouted, his hands on his hips.
"I can understand having easy sleeping access, but NOT in a garish colouring that would give me nightmares! I mean, for pete's sake...why go for pink!?" The other evil scientist ranted in disgust.
If Sonic ever saw him in something as blinding as that...he'd literally die in embarrassment.
"I don't see what the problem is. You're acting like my Sonic whenever he has issues in regards of me not wearing pants, when he himself hates that piece of material with a vengeance."
"Well, if that's the only thing you're wearing, I'll happily just sleep in these clothes and get a move on into destroying our enemies tomorrow and finding a way back to my dimension." Eggman scoffed, folding his arms as he refused point blank into wearing something as horrific as...what his alternate self was wearing. 'Not to mention find a way to rule both realities as well as the rest of the multiverse.'
"Nah-uh! In case you have forgotten, Alternate-Me, you're in MY Fortress, and thus you are to follow my rules while you're here! Plus, you can't sleep in those clothes! There's a general rule even villains follow, you know?" Boom-Eggman waved a finger at him, which irritated his alternate-counterpart even further.
"This is not going well at all." Decoe whispered to the other robots who all felt just as uncomfortable as their creator.
"One Dr. Eggman is hard enough, but I am thinking this will drive him into losing his sanity more than usual." Bocoe shook his head.
"Yeah, and our Dr. Eggman at least doesn't wear pink. I thought it was meant for girls only." Bokkun shuddered in agreement.
"That, I can agree with." Orbot sighed, exasperated.
Cubot on the other hand, being the dimwit robot that he was, thought differently over the Boom-Eggman's choice of PJs. "I dunno. I think pink really suits him."
"You forget who you are talking to? I am obviously more evil than you and I can do whatever I want, and I refuse point blank in wearing hideous as that!" Eggman scowled, his arms crossed to his chest.
"Fine, fair enough." Boom-Eggman shrugged.
Unbeknownst to them, sneaking into Boom-Eggman's base and even avoiding the security cameras(even though they are pretty sloppy), the mysterious figure made his way through the blinding and full white hallways before reaching towards an unprotected closest against the wall to his left.
Glancing around carefully to make sure he wouldn't be spotted or caught, the hooded figure cracked the door open and grinned wickedly as he found the first step of what he was looking for.
The control room of the doctor's base. Laughing evilly, and making double check that no robots would sound the alarm, the hooded figure reached out before typing down the cordinence and pushed a button which sounded the alarm all over the base.
"HUH!?" Both of Eggman and their robots glance around in shock with the loud siren blaring, with Boom-Eggman's robots apart from Boom-Orbot and Boom-Cubot who were just as puzzled, began to jolt and short-circuit before many of them emerged from their recharging cables.
"What in the!? What the heck is going on!?" Boom-Eggman demanded.
"You have an intruder, you nincompoop! Don't you have a better security system!?" Eggman shouted, irritated and annoyed.
"Who are you calling a nincompoop!?" His counterpart pouted, his hands placed firmly on his hips. "The only nincompoops around here are Sonic's team and these two clanking oil cans!"
Before the heated argument could continue onward, just then a laser net came falling onto Boom-Eggman and his two minions who cried out in alarm while being forced to the ground, with Eggman and his robots gasping in shock.
"This is now getting even worse..." Decoe shuddered in great worry, feeling his hard drive become cold, fear seeping into his non-existent heart, and from the terrified looks of Bocoe, Bokkun, Orbot and Cubot, they all held their own concerns.
"I bet there's a new big baddie not even Sonic-2 and Big Knuckles know of!" Cubot suggested warily.
"And I think for once you're right...!" Bocoe murmured worriedly as he glanced over his shoulder.
Wondering what had the silver robot greatly concerned, with Boom-Eggman's group still struggling to get out of their own trap, Eggman and the other robots did the same and gasped in horror to see a dark-cloaked figure come charging in with an evil chuckle.
"Hey, who are you!? You don't look like those idiotic Lightning Dolt Society!" Boom-Eggman shouted, glaring heatedly at the intruder. "How dare you break into my secret base! I just had the security cameras fixed up, and I was saving these cages for Sonic and his friends!"
"That explains how he got in so easily." Eggman deadpanned under his breath.
The figure didn't say anything. Instead, he brought out a large purple crystal and held it straight at both humans and the robots, changing in a strange language that sounded more like garbled gibberish.
"What is he saying, Dr. Eggman?" Bokkun whimpered, not liking the look of this.
"How should I know? He's speaking in a language that is completely different besides English." The evil scientist shrugged.
"It sounds more like garbled gibberish to me." Boom-Eggman remarked dryly.
By the time the mysterious figure finished, the group soon quickly found themselves glowing, making all of them scream in terror as they all quickly tried to shield their eyes to avoid in going blind. All the while the hodded figure grinned evilly.
Things were going well splendidly. Now he had a full advantage to his ultimate plans.
Back on the mainland in Boom-Sonic's shack later that night, it was decided that Sonic and Tails would both be staying with Boom-Sonic and Boom-Tails while Amy and Rouge(despite their distaste) would room with Boom-Amy in the latter's shack, Boom-Tails was even kind enough to allow Sun and Star to sleep in his spare home near the hanger, and Knuckles, much to his dismay, would room with Boom-Knuckles in the taller echidna's cave.
That this moment, both blue hedgehogs and two-tailed foxes were sound asleep with two more hammocks set up for the heroes of Mobius, and they had to admit, it was pretty comfy in this environment. But then again, their counterparts lived here like, virtually forever so they would be used to living in this kind of warm weather 24/7.
Except Sonic was shifting and moaning softly, as thoughts of what happened today filled his mind and heart. He just couldn't even relax. Eventually he just woke up with a solmn sigh and laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling in sadness and guilt. The blue hedgehog glanced over his sleeping friends, smiling softly upon seeing two of the cutest fox cubs sleeping soundly, peacefully in dreamland.
'Well, at least this world's version of Tails is pretty much the same. Cute, smart, kind, brave and loyal. And fun too.' The fifteen year old thought to himself fondly, before it faded as he then glanced over to his alternate self who was softly snoring away with a care in the world.
Seeing Boom-Sonic act even more cynical and brash than himself made Sonic feel very uncomfortable. Given how the former's overconfidence nearly killed him had the latter not rushed to the rescue, guilt of all kinds weighed down his chest in the most unexpected ways possible.
"I thought this thing was going to wash us, not poke or flatten us!" Boom-Sonic taunted with a smirk, casually lying on the arm for a moment before quickly leaping off to resume his attack.
'He said that like he wanted to give his world's Egghead ideas how to actually beat him. I can't even remember if I ever did something stupid like that.' Sonic mentally sighed and looked away, shaking his head. 'Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I did, Just don't remember since I keep on beating Eggman so much there's no track record on it. Even though I didn't give him ideas all the time, me keeping on taunting that guy almost got me killed if my friends weren't there to bail me out.'
Saddened and guilt-ridden for not realizing how much trouble he put his own friends and family into, the hero of Mobius stared up at the ceiling. Not only was he admittedly scared of the whole situation with the Multiverse being in grave danger thanks to Prism-Sonic's actions(well, it was mainly both Eggman and Prism-Eggman's fault for the whole mess but still), but now understanding how annoyed and frustrated Shadow and Knuckles felt with his cocky attitude, Sonic also felt a bit homesick.
Sure he'd been far away from home before, being in two alternate realities via portals within books and he would've been trapped if it weren't for Shara, and Merlina, and being in space more times than he could count...But now, the only way for the blue hedgehog and his friends could get home was to solve this problem.
'Ugh...I wish Shadow was here. Then he can finally say it to my face just how awful I've been. In a heroic sort of way.' Sonic closed his eyes for a moment.
He hoped and prayed to every deity he could think of that the Ultimate Lifeform was somewhere more safer and...maybe a bit more normal compared to this crazy reality.
Sonic's thoughts were then cut off upon hearing the soft sounds of a whimper of distress and shuffling.
Blinking in slight alarm, he turned towards where Tails was, and, thankfully being able to tell who is who due to slightly different attires, his little brother's expression matched that with the distressed murmured. The blue hedgehog frowned in concern realizing that the nine year old cub was having a nightmare.
"S-Sonic...Sonic...No...E-Eggman...Please...L-Leave him alone...!" The two-tailed kit was clutching the blanket tightly, sniffling and tears beginning to form in his eyes despite still being fast asleep, trapped within the bad dream.
His heart aching and not one to leave his little bro to his nightmares, Sonic carefully slipped off of the comfy hammock and, making sure not to awaken their counterparts who were having good dreams themselves, he approached Tails with a sad smile, and gently caressed the latter's hair strains, comfortingly rubbing his brother's arm.
"Tails...It's okay. It's alright, li'l bro. I'm here," Sonic whispered comfortingly, continuing to comfort his friend even as Tails' breathing and whimpers quietened down into a relaxed posture, his lips trembling into a watery smile. The cobalt speedster carefully wiped away the tears. "Shhhh...It's okay, buddy. Calm down."
"Sonic...You're...Okay..." Tails murmured before falling into a deeper sleep as his dreams turned for the better, or perhaps his mind shifted into another, more peaceful dream. Those were always unpredictable. "I'm...really...glad..."
Sonic's smile grew slightly, relieved that his best friend/little brother would be alright. Reminded that no matter how hard things were, he and Tails would always be together through thick and thin, brothers for life, and as long as he was careful in not to follow Prism-Sonic's terrible path of accidental disasters, and continue to become more mature while remaining who he is at the same time, cherishing the love he had for all of his family and friends, and for Mobius, everything will be alright.
Switching from caressing Tails' head and upper body, and back, Sonic stayed by his brother's side, even by carefully nuzzling him to ensure the fox cub's nightmares were well and truly gone. Eventually after a few more minutes, the blue hedgehog felt more relaxed to see the two-tailed kit relax far more deeper into a peaceful sleep, the young inventor sleep-thanking Sonic and happy that they were still together.
"I'm always with you, li'l bro. I promise. Love you, buddy." The hero of Mobius gave his friend a gentle kiss on the head with a final, careful ruffle, and tucked him in to make Tails be more comfortable.
Hesitant to leave his friend and tempted to just simply slip into the hammock to join the young fox who would probably make a fuss about it and complain that he wasn't a baby anymore, Sonic silently returned to climb back into his hammock, gazing at Tails' more peaceful sleeping position once more. Even though he was still worried about the whole situation, at least he wasn't alone.
'I'll just have to try harder to protect my friends, and make sure we don't split up and get lost in the multiverse. As long as we're together, even far away, nothing can break our friendship.' Sonic knew that the journey was far from over, and he did feel homesick, the blue hedgehog had his friends by his side.
Because they all had each other. With that knowledge and hoping things will turn out alright tomorrow yet bracing for more unexpected surprises, the fifteen year old finally felt drowsy enough to drift off to sleep himself, his own dreams peaceful.
The next morning, with plans to meet up with their friends at the village to discuss plans on how to locate the Prism Shard, Sonic and Tails followed their counterparts towards Hedgehog Village. Yet given what was going on, the two brothers couldn't help but think of this as a real bad idea.
"Um, excuse me, Blue Leader and Yellow Sky," Tails spoke up awkwardly to Boom-Tails and Boom-Sonic who glanced at him while bringing Sonic, who had once again thought about the whole situation while feeling very uneasy, out of his increasing negative thoughts and he mentally thanked his little bro for the distraction. "Don't think guys think that everybody seeing me, Sonic and our friends with you all of you in the village in broad daylight would be bad idea?"
"Yeah, I mean, there's two of each of us apart from Sun, Star, Rouge and your friend Sticks, and even two of Eggman, Orbot and Cubot!" Sonic shrugged awkwardly, agreeing with his best friend/little brother's logic. "Wouldn't everybody freak out or somethin'?"
At first Boom-Sonic and Boom-Tails blinked, before the former nonchalantly waved. "Nah, not really. I mean, it was a shock to us when the other Knuckles turned up, and even Edge-Lord Eggman turned up. But it wasn't too serious thinking back now."
Boom-Sonic then smirked, "I mean, come on! We've handled things weirder, like giant rock monsters, brain-washing music with a horrible Beaver Singer, and even mutant plants those losers the Lightning Bolt Society used after stealing Eggman's Mutant Gun Ray thingy...and Sticks' crazy conspiracy theories."
"The Lightning Bolt Society?" Sonic and Tails chorused, before sharing a glance in concern that there were other villains in this world that cause more problems. Other than the evil they encountered that were not just their Eggman, of course, but for a wacky and more easier world...
Maybe that wasn't fully the case here after all.
"Yeah, one of them being Dave, and he used to be Egghead's fan but...It didn't turn out so well, and he tried to cause even more problems even without the other losers."
That only made both Sonic and Tails sweat drop dumbfounded. "All around the world!?"
"Nope. All on the same island."
An awkward moment of pause with crickets chirping in the background.
"Okaaay...? No offense, you two, but this world's version of the island is crazier than the one back at home, and we've only been there twice!" Sonic cringed a little.
"Huh? Wait, you mean to tell me you guys don't live on Bygone Island?" That caught Boom-Sonic, and from the silent blank shock on his own little brother's expression, Boom-Tails off-guard by surprise.
Sonic just shrugged. "Nope. I was born and grew up on South Island 'til I was eleven. Started travelin' not long after I beat Egghead's butt for the first time and my first wordly adventure began when I met Tails."
"I was born on Westside Island and spend the first four years of my life there and...well...everybody didn't treat me kindly, and when I first met Sonic who was the first person in the whole world to treat me with kindness and helped him to beat Eggman, he and his parents adopted and raised me since then." Tails added, rubbing the back of his head with a growth of unease of reliving his four years of trauma.
Seeing this made Sonic place a comforting hand on his younger friend's shoulder with a warm, brotherly-loved smile while his heart ached over the memories of that time. The nine year old kit glanced up at his adoptive hedgehog brother's support and smiled gratefully, unaware that he had been comforted by the blue hedgehog that made his dreams turn from bad to good, easing his stress and given the love and comfort he needed.
Because no matter how old Tails got, he would always be Sonic's younger brother.
"And we traveled to a lot of places in our world since then," Sonic continued, smiling as he and his little brother both shared fond memories of all of their adventures. "Angel Island where Knuckles lives-"
"Our Knuckles lived on Angel Island too until he moved here!" Boom-Tails perked up helpfully with Boom-Sonic nodding in agreement.
"Uh...Right, so anyway, we've been up there, been into Space to stop Egghead's Death Egg-Twice in fact, Little Planet, Flicky Island, Station Square, Spagonia, you name it!" The hero of Mobius, after a moment of awkwardness, kept going even though he and Tails both felt uncertain as to why this world's version of Knuckles wasn't guarding the Master Emerald.
Did that and the Chaos Emeralds even exist in this reality?
"Whoa, really!?" His blue-armed counterpart exclaimed, amazed. But then he quickly became skeptical with a raised eye-ridge. "Wait...You're making this more interesting and fiction, aren't you?"
Because little did the two Sonic Heroes know, Boom-Sonic and Boom-Tails, while believing in the Station Square and Spagonia parts since they seem like normal places to be, both thought that like with Boom-Knuckles, the former two were making things up with 'ridiculous' imaginations like actually going into Space(unless their Eggman really did that), another Planet and even an Island full of flickies.
"No...All of that stuff really did happen," Sonic blinked, not certain why Boom-Sonic didn't believe him. Until he figured something and raised his own eye-ridge. "You guys don't believe us, do you?"
"With our Knux, he always makes up stuff that never happened. He always makes me look like a coward and himself pretty smart, claiming to have these 'super powers' which he doesn't have, and while he's cool and all, sometimes he doesn't get things straight. Plus our Egghead never made any of these Death Egg things, and claims for stuff like the Time-Loop is real." The taller Sonic made the air-quote with 'super powers' while sounding exasperated while Boom-Tails glanced at him, unimpressed despite that his brother was right about Boom-Knuckles.
"That's pretty harsh to say about Muscles, coming from you. Sure, our Knux may be a Knucklehead and a sucker, but I always respected his loyalty. And besides, you've seen another version of the one you know arrive here, you went into another dimension, haven't you? And since my little bro, friends and I are here, don't you think that every reality is more than just a little different?" The hero of Mobius narrowed his eyes, folding his arms in disappointment and an irk feeling surging in his stomach.
Yes, Boom-Knuckles might not be as smart as Knuckles, but did Boom-Sonic really have an attitude worse than his own to even criticize his own friends?
This made him think back to what happened yesterday and Sonic couldn't help but feel a twinge of fear and shock...At how even more arrogant and cocky Boom-Sonic was. Maybe even worse than the fifteen year old was before the whole Dark Gaia crisis occurred.
Boom-Sonic scowled a little, grumbling as he looked away pouting. "Great, another Amy, only somehow you and our version have swapped places."
"What!?" Sonic snapped angrily, but was held back when Tails quickly grabbed hold of his arms.
"Sonic, easy...!" The two-tailed fox cub whispered, even though he too was shocked and a little bit disgusted on what Boom-Sonic just said.
"You know, you're starting to sound pretty mean here, Sonic," Boom-Tails pointed out to his Sonic, pretty annoyed with how things are turning out. "We're here to help out our counterparts, not get into an inter-dimensional brawl."
"Right...Sorry. But, c'mon, Tails. Don't you think the way how Speed Ace and Miles' description sound a little bit off?" Boom-Sonic sighed, shrugging even though he did feel a little guilty for making their counterparts suspicious...and angry. Because as far as he could tell, Sonic sounded like a mixture of Boom-Knuckles and Boom-Amy.
"Well, they are from a different reality, so it was bound to happen. It was suggested that all realities would act differently in scientific sense."
"Suggested..." Boom-Sonic was about to continue when he, his friend and their counterparts, with Sonic still glaring at the taller hedgehog but slowly forced himself to calm down, heard rustling in the bushes and turned to see a beaver wearing a red bowtie looking at them, as though ready to speak.
A moment of pause.
"...By whom?" The scarfed teenager finished with an exasperated sigh, rolling his eyes.
"Oh! Actually, I am not certain why I keep coming after these guys to correct their grammar and speech." The Beaver sighed in disappointment, before walking away to...wherever he came from.
Sonic and Tails were both left dumbfounded, the former scratching the top of his head and asked. "Who was that guy? And why was he spying on us like that?"
"He works at the library, has a habit to correct people's grammar and spelling, and hates it when they don't." Boom-Sonic shook his head to his shorter counterpart. "Just ignore him. Anyway, back to the question."
"Well, who else but me?" Boom-Tails smiled proudly, "The leader Knuckles is different and more intelligent than ours, Lord Eggman is more edgy than the one we battle almost 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Now, looking at our other selves including both of Knuckles and Eggman, they are different as well besides the obvious appearances."
"If we enter a world where I'm a bad guy or feral or even a Pirate, I'd rather the pirate part since at least they are more cooler besides being kidnappers and still causing trouble." Sonic whispered warily at his best friend/little brother who gave him a deadpanned expression despite knowing that the older Mobian was right.
The sudden sound of a beeping noise cut the conversation short as the two hedgehogs and foxes quickly turned to the taller hero who quickly answered his communicator. "Hey, guys. What's goin' on?"
"Sonic! You guys have to come quick! The Lightning Bolt Society are breaching the Town Square and using those Mutant Seed Ray thing again!" It was Boom-Amy, and she was busy fighting a mutant plant which she bashed with her Hammer while being frantic, and in the background, Amy, Sticks, Star, Sun, Rouge, and Knuckles could be heard fighting as well, while Boom-Knuckles...was somewhere.
Sonic and Tails gasped hearing that the said evil Society are already causing problems yet again, before they shared a nod with looks of determination crossing their features.
"We're on it!" Boom-Sonic declared, hanging up and gestured the others. "C'mon! Let's uproot those seeds!...Again."
"On it!" Sonic nodded, speeding off into the direction of the Village...and to the shock of his and Tails' counterparts, faster than Boom-Sonic who stood there, shocked for a moment.
He then shrugged before speeding off himself, but to Tails' surprise, not as fast as yesterday. None the less, he and his alternate self shared a glance, shrugging and then flew to follow their adoptive brothers.
All unaware that a certain black and red hedgehog wearing goggles had noticed them and narrowed his ruby eyes, staring at the two hedgehogs and two young fox cubs that were headed towards the village.
'So, that stranger was right. There is another version of that pathetic hedgehog. He's more of a shame to our kind than the other idiot is. I have to destroy him.' Boom-Shadow thought to himself, teleporting to watch over them before his moment to strike.
In Hedgehog Village Center, the Lightning Bolt Society, being that of Dave who works as the manager of the Meh Burger, a Walrus named Willy, a Weasel Bandit, and a chameleon named, well, the Chameleon, were laughing about while enjoying causing trouble while using Boom-Eggman's weapons they stole to wreck buildings, sending out mutant seeds that grew into plant monsters, and bashing things up while the panicked villagers ran for their lives, screaming.
"Ah, nothing like a good old sense of evilness! I could do this for the rest of my life!" Dave grinned in satisfaction, firing a laser ball at another building with a hole blasted through.
"If there's anybody that is the best of the best villains, it's the Lightning Bolt Society, bigger, badder and nastier than ever!" The Chameleon grinned, cackling away while rolling a large giant Pineapple like a bowling ball straight towards an Ice Cream stand with an Ox yelping in fright, running away just in time as the pineapple crushed the stand all together with ice cream flying and splattering all over the ground.
"Maybe that will finally get that Ice Cream guy the idea to never run out of Pineapple flavored Ice Cream, on the behalf of the meanest villains yet!" The Weasel Bandit grinned, heaving up a kazoo over his shoulder and opened fire in the sky where a rain of Strawberry Jam came and poured onto the villagers that attempted to try and escape, some slipping, others getting a bit stuck.
The Weasel chuckled to himself, "Ha ha! That little fox may not be evil, but his idea for belge berry juice works like a charm!"
"Yeah, and even with Team Sonic having brothers and sisters with a bat girl none of us have heard of, Sonic and Tails aren't even here to stop us!" Willy laughed in agreement, before admitting in genuine surprise. "It's strange how Amy and Knuckles even have siblings, though."
"Hmmm...Yeah, there's something fishy going on around here, not including the Fish Sandwich I brought with me." Dave murmured in agreement, pulling out said fish sandwich out of nowhere...which was literally what it was: Two slices of bread with a fish in it.
Nearby, the two teams minus Sonic, Boom-Sonic, Tails and Boom-Tails, were kept at busy with the two Amys smacking away the monsters by the heads, Sun, Knuckles and his counterpart punching at more while ducking to avoid in getting captured by the vines, Sticks throwing her Boomerang at several more, Star flipping and swift-kicking at another with determination, and Rouge using her Drill Kick to knock away her own opponents.
All the while trying to avoid getting juiced on by the raining Strawberry jam which was making things even more messy and difficult...and sticky too.
"Where did those three clowns even get that ray thing from!?" Sun demanded, panting as this was quickly getting out of control. Where was Sonic where they needed him? Or them?
Ugh, the tangerine hedgehog will never get used to there being more than one of the hero of Mobius.
"And who even built it to create these stupid plant monsters?" Knuckles added, frustratingly punching another mutant thorn squarely in the face.
"Two answers: Eggman and Eggman!" Boom-Knuckles happily, and stupidly, supplied while grabbing another flower monster before tossing it towards a tree where it hit the bark and slid off of it.
Just as a hive went crashing onto it's head and the angry Bees went attacking it, both for destroying their home and hard work, and for a free giant sample of pollens to make even a larger amount of honey.
"Ha ha! Those bees will be needing to bee careful with all that honey they're going to make!" The tall-muscled echidna laughed jokingly, which resulted in earning him dumbstruck and skeptical glares from Knuckles and Sun.
While the villagers had no clue why there were other selves of Amy and Knuckles, and possibly maybe even Sonic and Tails, and even Sticks, they were admittedly impressed with how they were helping the heroes of Hedgehog Village to fend off the Lightning Bolt Society's monsters as well as the would-be villains themselves. Yet it seems that the new heroes were not getting along with the team as much from their perspective.
"This is what happens when I had Tails redo my Oriach Patch and those stupid Lightning Bolt Society had their Tree Spy watching over us to conduct an evil plan to release these things with Eggman's invention and now they're doing it again to turn the entire world into an evil Mutant-Plant Garden Farm!" Sticks snarled, rolling out of the way when another plant monster aimed to attack her.
"Your Eggman made a Mutant Plant Weapon and they stole it!?" Star exclaimed in horror, her eyes wide just before she sensed movement behind her and gasped, ducking just in time to avoid in getting slashed or grabbed when another flower monster swished it's hand at her.
Grunting, the lavender hedgehog performed a jump kick right at it's face as she glared at the creature she and her friends were fighting against.
"I originally thought it was alien magic, but yeah, first those losers stole fruit, then they stole Tails thinking he was evil, and they just kept on getting worse," The badger shrugged nonchalantly, tossing her weapon at two more monsters that roared and went down easily. "That, and they and Eggman went to Evil School."
"Haaaa!" Rouge shouted as she Drill Kicked at another monster before hovering above the battle field as she, Amy and Star all gazed at the Jungle Girl incredulously at what they just heard, unable to believe it. "Evil School? That's a new one. And why use food as their main weapons?"
"Our Eggman went there to get his "Doctorate" because apparently he was two credits short before, so he wasn't a real doctor until he passed the final test and graduated." Sticks replied.
"That's true, and we had to wait until he came out just so we could fight him." Boom-Amy shook her head exasperated, unaware that another monster was creeping up behind her.
"Look out!" Amy shouted, noticing before she jumped and with a loud yell she thrust her Piko Piko Hammer right at the Monster's face, bashing it so far that it went flying in a yell of alarm before vanishing into the jungle. She then landed safely and turned to her counterpart, bewildered. "And, what!? You actually wanted your Eggman to attack? Are you crazy!?
"We were bored, and, Eggman's life is pretty lonely and said. I mean, he is a creep and does lie and do a lot of bad things, but even he needs our help sometimes when he can't do things on his own," Her counterpart sighed with her heart aching of all the times she and her friends have fought Eggman. "I wish that sometimes he would just think about not being evil."
Amy just stared at Boom-Amy, dumbstruck with a sweat drop and almost dropping her hammer in mouth-opened shock. The latter spoke as though Boom-Eggman was a friendly rival more than an evil enemy, and even sympathizes with him and what was even more shocking was that the mad doctor not only would ask for Boom-Team Sonic's help occasionally, but also went to an actual School of evil villains to graduate...and get a doctorate?
What's WRONG with this alternate reality!?
Just then, when the Lightning Bolt Society were about to make their attacks again even though they were starting to become increasingly nervous and uncomfortable with the increasing number of heroes, a blue blur came whizzing through in a super sonic speed that didn't even make a noise, and easily knocked down most of the remaining plants and much to the villain-wannabe's shock, their weapons out of their hands as they cried out in alarm. This was followed by another blue blur that slowed down into revealing Boom-Sonic who Spin Attacked into the remaining monsters, while the other blue blur revealed Sonic as he race around the group he beaten and caught them in a small tornado, lifting them before they went crashing down onto the ground.
The remaining monsters were taken out when Tails used a Spin Dash and Boom-Tails used a small Ray Gun to evaporate the rest. The two young cubs laughed while landing, sharing a nod of approval.
"My inventions don't always work, but they sure do work at the right moment and time!" Boom-Tails beamed happily, proudly gazing at his weapon...only for it to suddenly explode a little in a black smoke. He cried out in alarm before it faded, leaving his face slightly charred as he coughed up smoke, before slumping in disappointment.
Tails once again couldn't help but notice and felt very uncomfortable with not only what just happened, while he placed a sympathetic hand onto his friend's shoulder, but also on what the latter just said about his gadgets.
'I'm starting to think that maybe he doesn't give enough time to make sure his machines work properly without breaking down or cause accidents.' The nine year old kit thought in growing discomfort. Because from the looks of things, Boom-Tails seems like the type of person to rush his creations.
"What the!? How did...Who the-!?" Dave spluttered in disbelief, staring at Sonic who, finishing his attack, stood calmly while stomping onto the former's Seed Mutant Ray with his foot. Due to fatigue and boredom last night, the former didn't recognize the hero of Mobius, or even acknowledge his resemblance to Boom-Sonic.
"Now, I'm not so sure if you guys ever even noticed, but didn't anybody tell you not to play with food, or even mistreat flowers?" Sonic questioned tauntingly, smirking at the dumbstruck villains. "Too much flower neutralizer can cause plants and weeds to overgrow, you know. And while a food fight might be fun, it's pretty much unhealthy too."
"Oh, really? Who are you supposed to be, Sonic's cousin?" Dave gazed at Sonic sarcastically. "Maybe I should give you the order of a Liver Sandwich and Strain Beans on Top. Special Limited New Addition Time Only."
Those who were close in range enough to hear this all suddenly became sick to their stomachs, with Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Sun, Star and Rouge all beginning to look green in the faces, their stomachs twisting at the very thought of the...food that this weird intern had just mentioned. Amy, Star, Tails and Rouge had to cover their mouths with their hands.
"Dude...That's just sick and disturbing!" Sonic fought off the urge to throw up, and shook his head quickly to try and rid the queasiness that threatened to make him lose that battle. "And in case you're wondering, they call me Speed-Ace, and I'm one of your worst nightmares!"
"Hey, Lame-O Bolt Squad?" Boom-Sonic casually walked up, a smug smirk firmly on his face, causing Dave and his two allies to whirl around, suddenly becoming very nervous. "Maybe you might wanna consider this a total loss against the top number one hero and his awesome friends who have new guys that already reached the cool team members levels and skipped in being rookies, especially since they're the winners of not just any o'l battle, but also the most awesome Food Fight in the world."
'Rookies? Top number one hero?' Sonic didn't like the sound of that, the uneasiness surging through his chest as he tried not to look shocked at his counterpart. Didn't Boom-Sonic give credit to his friends or even call them heroes as well?
Unaware of the peach-armed blue hedgehog's inner turmoil thoughts, the bumbling trio shared a nervous glance, before Dave pretended to hear something and shakily chuckled. "Uh, y-you know what? My customers are calling at Meh Burger for a triple served Hot Pepper Meat Kabab with Coward-Weeping Topping...I'm calling it a day."
"Yeah, me too." Willy nodded, grinning sheepishly.
"I'm actually getting hungry, and I can't be evil on an empty stomach." The Weasel Bandit shrugged nervously.
"Have a nice day, Team Sonic! See you at the Bowling Alley next month! Or next year! Something like that!" The Chameleon shakily waved, before and his three companions sped off in opposite directions, leaving behind clouds of dust shaped just like them for a moment or two.
"Boy, Dave having two jobs in lousy service in food management and being a bad guy is a pretty sad life for him." Boom-Sonic shook his head, exasperated.
"Man...Those guys are weirder than Decoe and Bocoe." The hero of Mobius scratched the top of his head, incredulously.
"Hey, Mister Sonic-Look-Alike!" An unfamiliar girl's voice called out, causing the two Sonics and their friends, who all approached to find a young little shrew girl approach them.
She was a very cute little kid, her fur being pink with pale peach skin on her arms, having dark blue eyes, a long and sharp muzzle and a black snout, dark eyelids, a short tail, a longer-than-average torso, two round ears, thin limbs and four horizontal quills arranged in a line down the back of her head.
The little shrew was beaming at the shorter blue hedgehog holding out seven small paper slips. "Thank you for helping Team Sonic to save Hedgehog Village! Here, these coupons will give you free Ice Cream, I betcha!"
Startled by the little girl's sudden act of kindness by giving out a gift of free Ice Cream, yet looking quite cute and adorable, Sonic somewhat hesitantly and gently took the coupons from her and soon he quickly found himself smiling warmly. She already began to remind him of Cream back at home.
"Heh, thanks, kid, and you can just call me Speed-Ace," Sonic responded, gently patting her on the head which made the girl giggle. "Seeing you smile is the real gift of appreciation to me."
"Wait, what?" Boom-Sonic wasn't expecting to hear that from his shorter self. The alternate blue hedgehog just got a free gift of Ice Cream coupons for himself and his friends, yet none for him and his team, and on top of that, Sonic cared more about seeing the young shrew smiling than free Ice Cream!?
"Wow! Nobody's ever said that, before! Guess that's why you came here, I betcha!" The young girl beamed, before turning to the taller and, unbeknownst to her, increasing jealous and annoyed hedgehog. Not understanding what the problem was, Beth then handed out five more coupons. "Here, Sonic! Five more coupons for you and your friends! The Ice Cream Man gave me these for free, and I thought I'd share them around."
That's more like it. Boom-Sonic smirked and took the slips. "Thanks, Beth. Definitely made my day a whole lot sweeter! Can't turn down a free Ice Cream!"
'Okay, this is seriously getting on my nerve. He doesn't even appreciate her just for being safe and happy?' Sonic couldn't help but secretly give his alternate self a glare of disapproval. Seriously, he was starting to think that the blue-armed hedgehog was a lot worse than he ever was.
Once Beth the Shrew thanked the two blue hedgehogs again, she ran off which left the two Teams to regroup, with Amy hurrying over to Sonic, who flinched when she cried out her name and as usual, hugged him tightly.
"Whoa! Amy, settle down, will ya? Not too tight!" Sonic winced, carefully trying to pry his self-proclaimed girlfriend who had been worried about him.
"It was about time you got here! Those guys with that mutant seed ray thingy came out of nowhere and made those weird monsters appear and attack the whole village! It was crazy." Amy explained almost too quickly, her heart still racing as she nuzzled her head onto her 'boyfriend's' shoulder lovingly.
"Amy...About the whole fangirl thing...?" The hero of Mobius murmured almost silently, sweat dropping in exasperation. He really did love her as a friend and sister, and she had toned down a little, but times like this she still overly obsesses with him and the pink hedgehog obviously still loved him in wanting to marry him someday.
"Here we go again..." Knuckles sighed, shrugging with a sweat drop over the scene before him. On the other hand, he had to admit that Sonic and Amy were adorable together, and red echidna did like the opportunity to tease the blue hedgehog for this.
Tails just shook his head sympathetically, Sun smirked as he still found it cute to see Sonic and Amy like this despite the cobalt teenager still denying his feelings towards the Piko-Hammer Wielding girl, Star giggled while Rouge held a sly smile.
Boom-Team Sonic on the other hand had different mixed reactions seeing two of their counterparts acting...the way they were. Boom-Sonic looked downright horrified, his heart skipping a beat to see his and Boom-Amy's alternate selves that close. He glanced at the pink hedgehog who was speechless with her mouth hanging open, yet she quickly covered it with her hands as a huge blush formed on her face. She was unable to believe that her counterpart was openingly throwing her love towards Sonic that way like a crazed fangirl and a damsel of distress.
She couldn't even reveal her feelings with Boom-Sonic without looking like an idiot! Yet, Boom-Amy noticed that this was...much more romantic than seen in the movies, as a beaming smile lit up her face moments later.
"Hey, our Amy isn't that crazy with our Sonic," Boom-Knuckles remarked, dumbfounded while scratching the top of his head. He turned to his counterpart who blinked now at him, surprised. "Why does Aria do that with Speed-Ace?"
"She's been like that ever since they first met. What, doesn't your Amy want to marry Blue Leader one day too?" Knuckles questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Marry!?" All of Boom-Team Sonic recoiled in shock, causing Team Sonic, including Amy who finally loosened her grip, and Sonic, to glance up at the former group, startled.
"What!? She wants to like...get mated, breed young litter to bring about more enemies that are made out of Pineapple Pie minions to feed the Alien brethren!?" Sticks snarled, while making up yet another crazy theory that made everyone else sweat drop.
"Wait, wait! It's not like...We're just...uh..." Sonic protested, panicking while holding out a hand.
"Knuckles...!" Amy glared at the Master Emerald Guardian, angered over how he had Boom-Team Sonic react this way.
"What? What'd I say?" The seventeen year old blinked, mentally gulping at the thirteen year old girl's reaction and the way she was glaring at him which made the echidna feel very nervous.
"Hey, I thought you would change your name to 'Warrior'!" Boom-Knuckles, once he slowly realized that Amy was talking to his counterpart who had responded first. Knuckles quickly sent him an irritated glare for his dimwitted mind.
"You had to open your big mouth before you think, as always, Knuckie." Rouge deadpanned at her rival with a skeptical expression.
"Wha-! Hey!" Knuckles growled at the bat thief this time.
"Uh, guys? I think we should help clean up this mess and then have our meeting on how to solve the you-know-what crisis going on." Tails suggested, his hands held up awkwardly. Seeing how Sonic was about to become even more embarrassed, the two-tailed fox knew he had to save his big brother before things got even worse.
"Tails' is right. Those Lightning...Whatever those guys called themselves, sure made a heck of a mess and left it to everybody else to clean up." The hero of Mobius, silently thanking his best friend/little brother for saving him from the embarrassment, nodded in agreement while finally managing to pry his self-proclaimed girlfriend off of him.
But just as they were about to to help the re-emerging citizens tidy up the mess of wasted food, burnt damages, and whatever else that needs to be fixed up, Sonic quickly sensed movement that brought him out of his anger, his quills sticking up with warning bells blaring in his mind and ears, turning quickly just in time to see a familiar red and black ball come speeding straight towards him and his counterpart who blinked, not sensing the incoming danger and looked puzzled while asking what was wrong...
"Look out!" Sonic screamed out, quickly pushing both Amy and Boom-Sonic out of the way...
WHAM!
"UGH!" The sudden cry from Sonic snapped everyone else back to reality, when he was bashed and even grabbed harshly by two hands and forced onto the ground, skidding painfully to a stop in the middle of the road that caught even the other inspectors who were just cleaning up the mess when they heard and saw what happened, gasping in horror on who the attacker was.
"SONIC!" Amy, Tails, Sun, Knuckles and Star exclaimed in shock. But the real disbelief kicked in as the ebony blur uncurled to reveal someone they, and apparently Boom-Team Sonic who gasped in horror and dismay, recognized who it was.
Not to mention both Sticks and Boom-Knuckles screaming in fear before the latter literally leaped behind a bench and peaked behind it nervously. Boom-Tails and Boom-Amy shuddered nervously and Boom-Sonic quickly recovered and stood glaring.
Sonic winced, struggling to try and free himself as he made to glare at his attacker, only to freeze up in shock as his emerald eyes were met with the strikingly familiar ruby ones, black fur with red markings all over his body.
"S-Shadow?" Sonic breathed, his heart racing in what could have been relief, but when he looked more closely at his rival, he found there was something different with him.
Like the hero of Mobius himself, this Shadow donned goggles resting on his head, and his cuffs were red with no trace of the Inhibitor Rings, and judging by the cruel, wicked and sinister look in the older hedgehog's expression, Sonic felt a sense of dread creeping all over him. Meaning that this wasn't the Shadow he and his friends knew, but Boom-Shadow the Hedgehog of this world.
"Shadow!?" Boom-Sonic snarled angrily, glaring heatedly at his evil rival that just had to come and cause even more of a mess.
"Ah! It's Shadow! The creep who at first joined Eggman and a bunch of villains before attempting to cause trouble his own way!" Boom-Amy exclaimed in horror, her Hammer quickly in hand.
"Who is just as bad as our enemies including Eggman!" Boom-Tails added.
"The insane lunatic who eats coffee beans that melts his logical brain into goo!" Sticks hissed in disgust.
"The scary black and red guy who..." Boom-Knuckles trailed off trying to think of how to describe the existence of Boom-Shadow the Hedgehog, eventually going with, "...Is super duper scary that gives people nightmares!"
"You just had to come and cause more trouble again, didn't you, super-power-crazy creep!" The blue-armed hedgehog, ready to save his counterpart, who along his friends all felt their stomachs dropped.
'Wait, what!?' The cobalt teenager thought, the growing sense of horror and quick realization hitting him like a ton of bricks. Based on the description of Boom-Team Sonic's opinion of their reality, he felt his heart sink in fear and dismay. 'Shadow...still causing trouble in this timeline? Oh...Oh no!'
To think that unlike Shadow who is still missing, the black hedgehog's counterpart of this world...is still evil...Sonic felt like this was the time when he first met his rival all over again, only ten times as worse.
Boom-Shadow completely ignored his own rival's accusations as well as blocking out what the blue hedgehog's friends had said about him, believing them all to be nothing but a bunch of pathetic idiots and focused on the peach-armed blue hedgehog who looked horrified at first, before he quickly glared at him.
"What's the big idea!? L-Let me go!" Sonic grunted, attempting to try and pry himself free.
"Sorry, faker. But I can't simply let you be a double of a headache of that pathetic 'hero' by hanging out with him and his friends," Boom-Shadow whispered, tightening his grip on the blue hedgehog who winced and continued in a futile attempt to escape. "Let's take this in a more...private place."
"Shadow! Let him go!" Sun, also knowing that this wasn't the same Ultimate Life-form he was allies with, demanded before he, Boom-Sonic and Knuckles charged to try and save their friend.
But the evil black hedgehog grinned before he teleported himself and Sonic to another location, vanishing from sight much to the horror of everybody else which forced Boom-Sonic, Sun and Knuckles to gasp in dismay as Sonic had been kidnapped right before their very eyes.
"SONIC!" Amy screamed in distraught, her heart aching and threatening to break, tears quickly swelling up in her eyes. "NO!"
Not Sonic! Not her sweet, heroic Sonic!
"Sonic!" Tails cried out, devastated. Just when things couldn't get any worse, now his best friend/big brother has been kidnapped again, this time by the shockingly still-evil alternate version of Shadow, and it was clear that unlike the missing Ultimate Lifeform they knew, Boom-Team Sonic would never be friends with him.
"I can't believe it! Of all the other bad guys to worry about, it had to be Shadow who is still evil in this place!?" Knuckles growled, frustrated and secretly but increasingly growing worried about his younger friend's safety.
"Wait, what!?" Boom-Sonic flinched, dumbstruck as he and his friends glanced at the Master Emerald Guardian. Did they just hear him right?
Not only they had another version of Shadow, but he was actually...Nice to them?
"You're friends with your Shadow the Hedgehog guy?" Boom-Knuckles asked, incredulously.
"Long story, hon. But let's worry about that later," Rouge quickly spoke up, determined to get right at the bottom of this. As much as she didn't want to go through this, Boom-Shadow was different compared to the Shadow she was best friends with. "We have to save our Sonic before your Shadow does anything to him!"
"Let's split up and search the whole island to save Speed-Ace! That creep's not gonna get away with this!" Boom-Sonic declared, his leader and heroic instincts kicking in. Plus, he felt terrible that his counterpart had sacrificed himself to save his life and getting kidnapped by one of his most dangerous enemies.
The blue armed hedgehog blamed himself for his evil rival having captured Sonic and would most likely kill the alternate cobalt hero. They had to save him, and fast!
The rest of the two teams nodded in agreement, determined to find and rescue Sonic before it was too late, and immediately raced out of the Village.
Unaware that in Boom-Eggman's Fortress, the same Hooded Figure, having taken over the base itself, was witnessing the heroes and even the unbeknownst black hedgehog through the surveillance and grinned evilly.
"This couldn't have gone more perfect than I thought," He chuckled darkly from behind a building, clutching his crystal in hand. "Now that Sonic the Hedgehog is split from all of his friends in a futile attempt to rescue his counterpart, that hedgehog will soon belong to me."
The mysterious figure began to cackle madly, his head back while the crystal glowed, even changing from the purple shade into the shade of yellow...And an image of others as well as Prism-Sonic shown within before it changed back to normal.
What Sonic and his friends and their old and new enemies didn't know, was that the mysterious figure, unknowingly himself...had just found one of the Paradox Prism Shards and is using it's mysterious power for his evil deeds.
To be Continued!
A/N: Uh-oh! Boom-Eggman and Eggman's group have been ambushed by mysterious figure who is out to capture Boom-Sonic, and Sonic has been kidnapped by Boom-Shadow! What will become of our heroes in both realities? Only time will tell!
Also, I deeply apologize for failing to have Shadow stuck in the other reality appear. I feel terrible for it. It too me several ideas and coming to the point where this Arc will be much longer than I anticipated.
Edit 22/4/2023: Fixed a few things up with this chapter.
Also to one of my friends Assassin's Creed Master: Thank you for the help on how to continue this chapter, and sorry that I didn't fully use the ideas you suggested for me, but hopefully I may be able to use some of them for the future chapters of this story as well as my other Sonic fanfics. Really much appreciated!
See you later!