"Ready, Sonic?"

"Ready."

Sonic pressed a small button on his right glove, which seemed to double as a communicator. A couple seconds later a small hologram of an orange fox was projected out of it, much to the surprise of Mario, Luigi, and Peach. It appeared to be a hologram of one of Sonic's friends, as he waved excitedly once they spotted him.

"Tails, are you there?"

"Yeah! Did you find the new recruits?"

Mario and Luigi exchanged confused glances as Sonic nodded. Recruits..? For what? Was this supposed to be some kind of cult?

"We have them right here. They seem rather.. inexperienced." Shadow said to the Tails hologram matter-of-factly.

"Inexperienced..? Wha-" Luigi stepped back, surprised and slightly hurt from what the hedgehog said. Amy, noticing this, scolded Shadow, who ignored her.

"..So as I was saying.." Tails said with a smirk, "The Great Fox spaceship is on their way to Bowser's castle as we speak. I heard the crew is very excited to meet them!"

Crew.. What crew? What else are they not telling us..? Mario thought to himself. He turned to Luigi and Peach, who all had the same confused thought.

"Oh, hey! It looks like they just reached you guys!" The Tails hologram exclaimed happily. "Well, I'd better get back to work. See ya, Sonic!"

As soon as Sonic clicked off of the call, a massive airship crashed into the castle wall, creating a giant hole and absolute pandemonium for Bowser, who sprung awake, as well as several of his minions who were asleep. Bowser, of course, wasn't having any of it.

"RRRROAR! THIS IS MY CASTLE! YOU CAN'T JUST DESTROY IT!! YOU WILL PAY!" He sprinted past everyone else and repeatedly slashed the hull of the ship with his claws, which did almost nothing as the ship appeared to be made of solid titanium. Enraged even more, Bowser exhaled fire, which also didn't work as the metals used were heat-resistant. Mario was trying hard not to bust down laughing as he watched the Koopa struggle.

"GRRRR! WHY CAN'T I JUST DESTROY IT?! STUPID SPACESHIP!!"

Suddenly, the drawbridge to the airship opened and two unfamiliar people walked out and waved. They were both around the same height, but still looked almost nothing alike other than their clothing. One had the appearance of a red fox, but he stood upright like Sonic and the others. His eyes were green, and his fur had a distinct crew cut pattern. He had a short bushy tail that appeared to have been cut at a certain point. He wore a modern looking space suit, and he carried a small handgun.

The other wore the same uniform as the Fox, but he appeared to be some kind of falcon. His feathers were a striking blue color, with distinct red markings along his eyes and beak. He also carried a nearly identical handgun.

Bowser, despite how angry he was, stood in complete silence. These weirdos couldn't be good..

Sonic ran up to the two spacemen excitedly, who both looked equally happy to see him as they patted his head.

"Hey guys! I'm so glad to hear you were able to find us! I was honestly kind of worried if you two would end up lost again.."

"Of course we were able to make it, we're the best pilots in the multiverse! There's no way a world famous pilot like Falco Lombardi- yours truly- would ever let that happen!" Sonic chuckled at the Falcon, (Falco, apparently) and called over Amy and Shadow, who were surprisingly both friendly towards the pilots. They called over Mario, Luigi and Peach to meet them as well, who nervously shook their hands.

"Hi, my name is Fox McCloud, but you can just call me Fox. I don't mind. Me and my buddy Falco are here to take you guys back to our home base. Come on in!" .

Fox and Falco stepped aside, letting everyone through. Right before Fox was going to close the drawbridge behind him, Bowser stormed over with a furious look on his face.

"I DEMAND that you two fix my castle! Do you KNOW how much time and money I spent making this castle perfect?! You losers just DESTROYED half of it!!" He raged. Fox attempted to calm Bowser down, but that only made him angrier.

"We're sorry about your castle, really. I promise we'll fix it when we can.. We're kind of in a hurry."

"WHY YOU.. I TOLD YOU TO FIX IT NOW! YOU HAVE NO CLUE WHO YOU'RE MESSING WITH!" Bowser was fuming now, steam practically coming out of his nose.

"We know exactly who you are. King Bowser, ruler of the Koopa Kingdom." Falco stated boredly.

Bowser stepped back in shock. How did these guys know him?! He had never once met or spoken to them in his life!

"Shocked? We have a database that tells us everything we need to know before coming to an unknown universe." Falco laughed. Bowser stared at the two pilots, mouth agape. He looked like his brain exploded.

"Wha- You- How- Why?!"

"It's best not to explain for now. Why don't you come along with us? We might be able to find someone to help fix your castle..." Fox offered. Bowser thought for a moment, weighing his options.

"Hmm.. it would be EXTREMELY stupid, but if I come with these weirdos.. They'll find someone to fix my castle.. Ugh, of all the days.. "

"Okay, FINE! I'll come with you. But ONLY because you guys owe me." He huffed grumpily. Fox and Falco both exchanged triumphant expressions as they stepped aside and let a gruff-looking Bowser through.

As Bowser walked in he immediately noticed Mario, who was talking to Sonic in the passenger area as if they had been friends for years.

"Ugh, leave it to Mario to be so good at making friends.."

At this point everyone turned to stare in his direction, rather annoyed or confused about his presence on the ship. Fox and Falco both appeared from behind him, explaining why he was there.

"Bowser is coming with us because he wants to find someone to help fix his castle. He might not be a permanent member of our group, but please treat him with respect." Fox said, smiling. Bowser had to wonder why they were being so kind to him after his fit of rage, but thought nothing of it.

He awkwardly sat down in the passenger area as far away as he could from both Mario and Sonic as everyone else sat down in their seats as well. Amy and Peach seemed to be getting along really well, which prompted them to sit next to each other. Luigi and Shadow ended up next to each other, which didn't improve the latter's mood. And, of course, the two pilots sat in the front with the control panels.

"Now before we take off, everyone please make sure to buckle your seatbelts because this is going to be a rough ride. I know most of you aren't used to this kind of thing, but it won't last too long." Fox said over the intercom. Luigi was even more nervous and concerned than ever once Fox finished talking.

"Umm.. where is this 'home base' exactly?" Luigi muttered nervously as he noticed how large and high-tech this airship was. Surely they wouldn't be going.. too far away, right?

He was wrong. They were going to space.