"Hello, and welcome back to Our Miraculous World. Not since man first landed on the Moon has the foundation of the world and civilization been changed so drastically, and right here, of all places, in Brooklyn. A week ago, humanity watched transfixed as contact was made with another dimension, one in which the dinosaurs did not go extinct, as they did here on Earth, but instead evolved into sentient lifeforms not so different from us. They came bent on conquest, as the ruthless despot President Koopa intended to merge our two worlds and subjugate all mammalian life. But he was thwarted by the most unlikely heroes of all - two Brooklyn plumbers, Mario Mario and his brother Luigi. Our world was saved, but the scientific community still has many questions about last week's event. Today, I am joined by theoretical physicist Elvin Gadd. Professor Gadd, thank you for coming."

"Of course. Pleasure to be here."

"Professor, you have spent your life studying multiverse theory. Can you tell our viewers what exactly that is?"

"Certainly. Essentially, multiverse theory, or the 'many worlds' hypothesis, states that our reality is simply one of many. Every choice, every action, can go one of many ways, and multiverse theory revolves around the idea that all of those choices happen in another universe. For instance, 65 million years ago, a meteor hit the Earth. Now, in our own universe, it caused a mass extinction, wiping out all the dinosaurs. But as we now know, in what has come to be known as the 'Dinohattan' universe, dinosaurs survived and evolved into humanoid life."

"So, how many universes do you believe that there are out there?"

"Potentially an infinite amount. It's not just one single event that causes something like this to happen. Every day, every second, decisions are made that can have far reaching consequences. All of those consequences are possible in an infinite number of universes. Now, we've already seen that it is possible for those universes to contact our own. And I don't mean to sound alarmist, but it very nearly ended human life as we know it. I think it would be very naïve to assume that the Dinohattan universe is the only one out there. Will we be ready if another universe comes knocking on our door?"

One week earlier, Dinohattan, 1993

"PLUMBER!" Koopa shouted with rage. He fired his flamethrower wildly at the green-clad human flying through the air. Luigi could feel the heat passing by him as Koopa's shots missed, striking neon signs behind him. "YOU PLUMBERS!" Koopa roared again as Luigi landed on the catwalk next to his brother. He took aim and fired another shot.

"Duck!" Mario shouted, pulling Luigi down. The fireball sailed over their heads and struck a campaign poster of Koopa behind them. The two brothers stood up and fired on Koopa with their devolution guns. Koopa's flesh started to shift and change as he was hit by the rays. Scales grew on his skin. His fingernails sharpened into claws. His teeth grew long, sharp, and serrated.

Suddenly, beeping sounded from beneath Koopa. Mario looked down and his eyes went wide as the Bob-omb he had activated earlier hung upside-down on the catwalk beneath Koopa. Its fuse ran out and a massive explosion erupted from it, launching Koopa into the air. The president roared in pain and fury as he fell into a large vat of cement.

The Mario brothers slowly approached, weapons at the ready. Everything was still for a while. The citizens of Dinohattan watched the vat anxiously as it creaked slowly in the air. Suddenly, without warning, Koopa emerged from the vat, now completely regressed into a snarling T. rex. The Mario brothers and the crowd screamed and backed away.

Mario was the first to recover his wits. "See you later, alligator!" he shouted, taking aim with his devo gun. Luigi followed suit. The two plumbers fired their weapons again, Koopa thrashing about as he continued to devolve. Slowly, his body lost cohesion, turning into green primordial slime. He dropped down to the street below, splashing noisily on the pavement. Koopa felt his mind slipping away… and then everything went black.

Green Hills, Montana, 2022

With a thunderous slam, the Earth shook as an immense robot brought its foot down on the tiny blue hedgehog and his human companions. From nearby, a red echidna and a golden fox watched in horror as their new friends were seemingly killed. "NO!" Tails screamed, reaching out helplessly.

Inside the robot's cockpit, the red-clad, wild-mustached scientist piloting the enormous machine laughed in victory. "I GOT HIM!" Doctor Eggman shouted. "I finally got him!" His celebration was short-lived, however, as the cockpit suddenly shook. "What was that?" he muttered, stepping forward.

A bright golden light shined from underneath the giant robot's foot. Tom and Maddie Wachowski opened their eyes. They should have been dead… but they were not. Looking over to the source of the light, they stared in awe as Sonic, his fur turned bright gold, slowly lifted the impossible weight of the robot's foot. Then, in the blink of an eye, he broke through, flying up into the air to get level with the robot's head. He glared at Eggman inside the cockpit.

Sonic soared through the air, flying at incredible speeds around the robot's neck, slicing the head clean off. Eggman was left exposed to the open air. Sonic floated up to him, his red eyes narrowing. "It's over, Eggman," Sonic snarled.

Eggman only laughed in response. "I like the new look. It works for you. What do you say we just let bygones be bygones? I did some things, you did some things. There are good people on both sides." Sonic said nothing in response. Eggman put his hand behind his back and moved his fingers, inputting commands into the robot. "Surely two intelligent beings… can work these things out!"

The robot suddenly swung its mountain-sized fist at the flying hedgehog. Sonic didn't move as the fist approached, only reaching out with one arm. He stopped the fist effortlessly, Eggman straining against him. Suddenly, the robot's entire hand exploded. Eggman swung again with the other hand, only for it to be destroyed, too. Sonic rocketed forward, slamming through the robot's body and out the other side. He delivered a rapid-fire onslaught of blows, finally flying back up to where Eggman was. He tapped the robot gently with one foot, and the machine slowly began to fall back.

Eggman scoffed. "Oh, it's like that? Okay, we're not friends!" Sonic watched as Eggman plummeted to the ground below, his war machine exploding around him. "LATER, HATER!" Eggman shouted as he fell… and then everything went white.

President Koopa groaned in pain. Pain. He was alive. But how? He slowly opened his eyes. He was lying on his face on a pure white floor. He looked himself over. He was back to normal. No slime, no scales. But… where was he?

Another groan from nearby caught Koopa's attention. He looked over to see a human wearing a red and black uniform lying on his back. The human slowly sat up. "Huh. Well… I must admit, this is different."

Koopa slowly stood up. He pointed at the other man. "You. Mammal. Who are you? What is this?"

Eggman looked over at his companion. "Well, hello there. Wasn't expecting company." He looked around at the white void around them. "I would say that we're dead and in the afterlife… but I'm not a religious man. Even if I was, I would expect a lot more fire and brimstone."

Koopa slowly looked around as well. "What did you do to me? Are you with the plumbers?"

Eggman laughed. "Plumbers? Well, I guess that makes sense. After all, my plans did go down the drain, again."

"Answer my question, mammal," Koopa snarled. "Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Absolutely," Eggman smiled. "I see you everywhere I go. You're just another inferior intellect, struggling to comprehend the world around you."

Koopa narrowed his eyes. He snarled again. This time, however, the sound was a lot more… animalistic. His teeth sharpened, scales grew on his body, and muscle mass swelled up in his body. Koopa widened his eyes as he looked down at himself. Slowly, he reverted to his old self. "What… what was that?"

Eggman raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're a humanoid dinosaur, aren't you? Tyrannosaurus rex, I believe. And don't worry about correcting me. I'm never wrong."

Koopa looked at Eggman again. "Yes… yes, I am."

Eggman extended his hand. "Doctor Ivo Robotnik, at your service, my saurian friend."

Koopa didn't move. He looked down at Eggman's hand, his eyes going wide. Eggman followed his gaze, watching with interest as he changed. His glove changed form, turning to steel. He could feel his flesh underneath shifting, turning into metal and wires. Eggman raised his hand to his face.

"Curiouser and curiouser…" he whispered. Eggman concentrated and his hand returned to normal. He looked back at Koopa. "Judging by your reaction, I'd say we both have discovered new things about ourselves."

Koopa nodded. "It seems that way."

"I'd like to propose a joint venture, Mr…"

"President. President Koopa."

"El presidente," Eggman grinned. "You seem to have gotten yourself into quite a pickle. I think we can help each other…"