Chapter 32:

After returning to Spagonia at nightfall, I was actually surprised that a certain metallic hedgehog was waiting outside of the university, which made Sonic immediately put his guard up.

"Metal Sonic? What's up?" I asked, him then looking at me with his constantly angry eyes.

"I need to warn you of something involving Eggman, Cheryl the Shapeshifter," he said, me being surprised at that, but listening anyways. "Eggman is using a machine that grows in power with each Chaos Emerald that you restore, which makes his base of operations and robots stronger with every gemstone restored, as it attracts pieces of Dark Gaia," he said, me being surprised at that.

"Huh... that sounds pretty smart for a change," I admitted.

"But even worse, Eggman overheard your conversation about Battlebots," Metal Sonic said, me gasping at that. "And he said that he would build a Battlebots league so bad, no one would ever want to see it again. I'd suggest getting to work on making Battlebots designs before he does," he said, me gawking at that as I got pissed.

"Why that no-good, lousy, bull-headed ASS! Ruining my FAVORITE SHOW?! That tears it!" I shouted as I then called up Maria with seriousness.

"Agent R, do you copy?" I asked, her then responding immediately.

"Cheryl, what's going on? You're lucky I just finished the assignment," she said, me wondering what it was.

"I need you to talk to some people in GUN to make some Battlebots designs effective immediately and then share this knowledge with as many people as possible. Eggman wants to try and make a tournament so bad, no one would ever want to do anything with Battlebots ever again," I said, her then gasping at that. After all, when I'd described and showed her memories of the sport, she was all in with me on that.

"Understood, I will get to work on that immediately! If all goes well, we should get finished up within only a day," she said, me smirking at that.

"And when you finish up, get some adverts going so that we can get a real tourney going. We're going to make Battlebots great again!" I smirked as we then bid farewell and hung up as Sonic was still apprehensive about seeing Metal Sonic in front of him... same with Amy.

"Why isn't he attacking, Cheryl?" Amy asked.

"Because she rewrote his codes with her secret weapon, wink wink," Cream smirked, me petting her head at that.

"And got Super Emerald number 6 out of an upgrade he received from Eggman involving Dark Gaia, which wouldn't have been good for his health. Now we need to get to the next continent to heal the planet, but as I said, I don't know where it might be," I said, our talk being interrupted by Professor Pickle.

"Well, that would be the nation of Shamar, which is where the town of Las Vegas used to be," the professor said, me being surprised at that.

"Whaaaat? You call Las Vegas a town? It was the biggest city of all time, filled with hotels, strip clubs, casinos, and neon lights galore! They called it Sin City for a reason, after all," I explained, which Cream giggled when I said strip club.

"Well, when I come of age, I wouldn't mind being one for you," Cream said, me blushing a bit at that.

"Looks like someone is embarrassed," Tails smirked at me, me frowning at him.

"I'd appreciate a trip to Shamar along with you, as I have to go on a business trip to their university," Pickle explained, me nodding as we then got prepped and went out to the next location... and the whole way on my ride, Cream sat behind me and hugged me, which made me smile and blush, though it was very embarrassing, especially in front of the other girls.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think that Cream wants to pie you," Rouge smirked at me, me smacking my face at the bad double-entendre and then forging a pie with my illusion powers and smacking her face with banana cream pie. "Fine, I deserved that, now get it off," she frowned.

"Not until we get the next temple handled. You need to learn your lesson," I said, her then frowning in defeat. We then moved the whole way to Shamar, Metal Sonic not joining our trek and going someplace else without a single word.

Upon arrival, Professor Pickle showed the area we had to go to, it being the capital of the nation. And once we touched down by the university, we then disembarked the Tornado and I asked the important question.

"Okay, we now know that the next temple is in the outskirts of Las Vegas. The big question is, what are we looking for? Because this place is in the middle of the desert and this place used to be a lot more populated back in the day," I asked with seriousness.

"The location is right here on the map," Professor Pickle said as he showed the location on Tails's Miles Electric, it being in the middle of the desert and about 100 miles due northwest. And he then spoke the next few words that I expected. "It was where an extremely bad place used to be way back in the day, Area 51. It's long-since abandoned, but the temple is underneath the ruins of the place. Be careful, though, because it's still guarded by something... something big and dangerous," Pickle said, me gulping at that.

"Okay... considering the rumors of it housing evil alien life, I expect all of us to stay close by and expect anything at all. We could always fly there in the Tornado, right, Tails?" I asked, him sighing at that.

"Unfortunately, the area in question is pretty much a roast cooker for the Tornado. If we flew there, we'd get engulfed in a fireball in only a few minutes of flight. The closer we are to the ground, the better," he said.

"So we're going to be right in the line of fire from the sun? Great... as if my pits weren't sweaty enough," I frowned.

"Gross," Cream pouted.

"Let's get going, then! Tails, you have any teleportation machines to get us out of there when we reactivate the temple?" Sonic asked.

"Aha! Smartest plan I've heard all day! I have just the thing," Tails smirked as he showed off a strange device that, once again, unfolded from a simple cube and was powered by a very impressive diamond. "This machine can only work for one person at a time, but it can be used by four people who are wearing these special goggles," Tails said as he handed us some very cool orange goggles that would also be perfect for rushing through the sand.

"Those goggles have a button in the center of the rims. But be careful, only one person can be warped at a time and the process takes 30 seconds for each warp attempt. If more than one person warps in that timeframe... well... bad things will happen," Tails sighed.

"Gotcha. So only 4 people are joining this rush. So that means that we need Chip to be given a smaller pair of the goggles, then we need to decide which of us should get going to the temple," I frowned.

"Well, in case the sun goes down in the process, I think that we need to decide among the four that have nighttime powers," Rouge said.

"And that means that one of us will need to stay behind to protect the town, in case Eggman shows up," Cosmo said. "I'll be the one to stay behind," she said as Tails then used a shrink ray on the goggles to give them to Chip, meaning our team was decided.

"Be careful, Cheryl. This Area 51 place sounds really scary," Cream said to me.

"It is, even back in our time," Fiona said with a sigh. "It was only for the government to know about and if anyone tried to bust in, they'd be either apprehended or shot. If something big is out there, I bet you anything that it'll try to stay hidden and it's from all the way back before the war happened. I also expect it to stay hidden under the sand."

"Okay, be careful with the sand, gotcha. Let's go, guys," I smirked as Sonic and Amy nodded and we then rushed off ahead with Chip hitching a ride in my shirt pocket. And with me using the powers of the World Rings and the Emeralds that we'd acquired, I was now running as fast as the two of them were! We ran at nearly 300 miles an hour through blistering hot sands, going through a non-game level for a change until we reached a very large building that was in complete disrepair and there being a staircase that was hidden by the back end of the building... but it was on the inside of the complex.

"Yep, this is Area 51 alright... and boy is it hot! I feel like I'm becoming more liquid than solid at this rate!" I said in response to the heat, Amy bringing out her cell phone and it saying it all for us.

"It's 149 degrees F here... We need to get inside and find that entryway," Amy said with a lot of panting, our group doing so as I saw even Sonic the Hedgehog was getting tired! And when we went inside the complex... somehow, something felt wrong.

"Um... why does it feel like the air got much colder in here?" Amy asked as our sweat literally changed from liquid to then turning into sticky wet, which always happened when you went from super-hot to air-conditioning of 60 degrees or lower!

"This feels dangerous... we need to be on alert," Sonic said as we then moved through the place, going from the front of the building and moving through to the back, me seeing a lot of different things that made me realize what was being researched at Area 51.

"Um... trans-dimensional teleporters... multiversal communication devices... universal simulations... and... oh god... experiments with something called FEV... I uh... I think I know how the nuclear fallout happened, and all from this single bit of chemical waste," I said as I then made sure to make my movements more deliberate and careful, the others doing the same thing as we moved closer to the temple's staircase, us then noticing that there was something that was coating the walls.

"Um... why do the walls look a bit... um... red?" Amy asked, me gulping as I recognized the red walls from a specific game world. One that I was horrified of.

"I think we're going to be finding a certain monster down here... maybe two of them... very dangerous from the world they come fro-" I was about to say before a voice spoke.

"Wait, travelers," said a VERY familiar voice! But this time, for all the wrong reasons! We then turned back and we saw that the one who spoke was... the little talking cat from Specimen 7 of Spooky's Jumpscare Mansion. "Before you go in there, I should let you know that we are not dangerous. But the appearance of one of us will most likely cause stress for some of you," the cat said in the same voice as the game, which made Amy look scared as she hid behind me and Sonic.

"A-A talking house cat?! And it's not a Mobian! W-What have we gotten ourselves into, here?!" Amy asked in fear.

"This place was a horribly atrocious facility, one that did inhumane experiments with creatures from other universes... some unknown to human knowledge, others known through the multiverse via entertainment. This place was almost like my odl residence... one that you know of very well, Cheryl Martinez," the cat said, me jumping in place.

"Y-You know my name?!" I gasped.

"i can see into your thoughts. I know all of your names... regardless, we wish to stay here, away from society. After all, my other side, the yang to my yin, is only able to be seen as your worst nightmares... I'll go ahead and let them know to vacate the area you wish to go to," the cat said as she then tilted its head to the side and then cracked it to the other super-fast. And in that small instance, I saw a giant wall of red rush past me faster than I could blink, it then hiding in another room of the facility. "You'll also be familiar with the others down there... And we all have names we call ourselves. You'll know them when you see them," the cat said.

"So what's your name?" I asked her.

"Yinyang. I'm the yin, they're the yang... you should get going, before your friends get concerned," the cat said, Sonic nodding at that.

"Uh... yeah... let's get going," Sonic said with concern, something he rarely had. We then went down the stiars and saw the walls getting a bit less red and more... ice cold.

"Okay... what is up with this place! Outside it's super hot, almost to the point we were about to melt! And now we're about to freeze into solid ice!" Amy said with concern.

"I-I-I ag-g-g-gree... n-n-not even Hol-l-losk-sk-ska was t-t-this chilly..." Chip said while chattering his teeth. And when we reached the bottom of the staircase and into the temple proper, we saw exactly why it was. Just from seeing the three other 'monsters' that were in the area and looking at us in confusion or annoyance.

One was a girl that was floating in the air with her legs folded underneath her, having silver hair, wearing sheepskin clothes, and despite being human, had a set of deer antlers, hooves, and a wolve's tail and ears on her. It was Unknown Specimen 4, AKA Tirsiak.

The next one was a woman that had blonde, braided hair along with a purple cloak and wearing a blue dress adorned with ice scales. It was definitely Princess Elsa, my least favorite of the Disney Princesses.

And the final was the most shocking, as she towered over the rest at nearly 11 feet tall, had a gigantic scythe adorned on the wall behind her, and she had a body filled with fluffy fur and a few scales on her neck and face along with a very skinny, yet equally furry tail. It was Priscilla the Crossbreed from Dark Souls!

"Who are you?... And why did you come here?" Tirsiak asked when she saw us, me looking at the trio and feeling much more ate ease when I knew they weren't at all deadly aside from Tirsiak, but she looked more aloof than angry when she saw us.

"U-Um... we're on a bit of a hero's journey... w-we need to bring the planet back together... with these emeralds," I said, Elsa then using her ice powers to blow the gray emerald to her and looking at it in confusion.

"I see... you mean that these things can make our home back to normal?" she asked, her sounding much more calm and reserved, which I didn't expect.

"Um... yeah... p-p-pardon me for asking... b-b-but when did you um... g-g-get abducted?" I asked, the trio looking at each other and then at me.

"You mean you know of us being from other universes?" Priscilla asked with her demure voice, but no Olde English speak.

"Yeah... I know where you come from, but not how you got here... I did meet Yinyang already, and I know you aren't dangerous... but I'm a little confused as each of you look the same age as when I first saw you," I admitted, Elsa giving the emerald back to Sonic and for him and Chip to go to the pedestal while I was given my answers by them.

"We were brought to this world around the same time our universes were invented in this one. And when we arrived... we were given some of that horrid FEV stuff... it had a differing effect based on the world we originated from... for me, it was complete unageing and immortality... it's a miserable existence," Elsa sighed.

"I'm the same, but without the immortality... I also ended up having my dragon genes messed with so that they could try to make their own crossbreeds... they never lasted long with their cold blood, as I am of warm blood," Priscilla sighed.

"And as for me, I became corporeal, yet still a spirit... and I lost my connection to the wildlife I used to be intertwined with... I just stay here so I don't have to deal with humans anymore..." she said with a sigh.

"You've been staying here for how long, then? Because this seems like a hollow existence to live, just staying underground this whole time," Amy asked as the emerald regained its powers and the place shook slightly, causing a few icicles to fall from the ceiling and for one of them to impale Elsa, her then reforming her body to break the icicle out of her and her looking to be upset after the fact.

"Ever since the nuclear fallout of the world... almost 10,000 years we've been trapped in this world... and even if we did return home, there would be no point. So much time has passed, all of our friends and family have long-forgotten us..." Elsa sighed as she cried tears of ice. And I knew why. Anna.

"I know how you feel, Elsa," I sighed, her then giving me a death glare.

"How would you know?! I can never see my family ever again! Where do you get off?!" she asked angrily.

"Because she also comes from that long ago," Amy frowned, which made Elsa look at me in annoyance.

"Fine, tell me, who is my sister? Only someone from that long ago would know."

"Anna, almost killed by the prince, you saved her life and got the prince in jail," I said, her gawking before nodding at me.

"All of that was true... I... I apologize... did you have any that you can never see again?"

"Yes, I did... three siblings, a loving mother and father, and so many aunts, uncles, and cousins... friends and family, coworkers... everything was taken away when I was sent forward in time by one of my family's descendants 3000 years after the fallout... I still will never forgive her for that, even if I acted all nice to her, I hate her for yanking me from my old life," I sighed.

"I see... how do you go on with that pain?" Priscilla asked.

"Because I made new friends, and I was given a purpose in life. To help protect this new world from evil... and uh... I'd actually like to ask if you'd like to join me," I smiled, the trio looking at each other and then at me.

"Does this include Yinyang? Because they may not want to join," Tirsiak asked.

"I'll get their opinion when I get yours. I just want to know one thing... is the Yang part able to turn off his scary side, or is that a no?" I asked.

"The answer is no," said Yin as I saw the cat appear behind me and I could hear a gurgling from further up the stairs. "Yang said that he knows of a special power you have. A power called Vectron. He wishes to be given something to cloak his character... or maybe change what he looks like," Yin asked, me nodding at that.

"I think I can try something new, actually..." I smirked as I mixed the green ring, the Phantom Ruby, and the rainbow Super Emerald's powers together and saw that, when doing this, it could change someone's appearance to look like something or someone else, and permanently! I then went up the stairs and used the powers on... none other than the Wall of Flesh from the game. I used the power on the red wall and, upon doing so, the appearance changed to look like a human from my past, it being a male that was about my height and being a long-distance friend that lived in Britain instead of America.

"I... look normal?... And talk normal?" he asked, me nodding at that.

"And best part, permanent until I can change it to something else," I smiled.

"Please keep... feels... nice..." he smiled.

"Okay, so would you like to try coming with me? Back to society?" I asked, him nodding.

"Let's leave as a single unit. Our cold friends can protect us from the sun," he said, me nodding as we then proceeded to use the communicators to speak to Tails.

"Hey, Tails? We happened to gain some more allies in this place, each one having very unique powers... though three of them are mainly ice. But because of that, we're going to run back to base instead of teleport back, okay?" I spoke into it.

"Okay, but just letting you know, it'll become nightfall in about 3 hours. And we can't let Eggman get too strong," Tails said, me nodding at him.

"Gotcha, I'm going to speak with the others, now," I said, him nodding as we cut the connection and I looked at the quintet of otherworldly characters with a smile.

"Let's go find a new home for us. But in the meantime, we could save the world in the process," I smirked.

"I'd like that... to be able to save a world instead of be trapped in one," Priscilla said.

"Just letting you know, we like to run fast. So we'll need to have one of us carry a chilly person each, and then another will need to carry Yinyang and an ice queen," Amy said.

"Ice queen? Seriously?" Tirsiak frowned.

"We hate that term, so please refrain from saying it?" Priscilla asked, me nodding as we then decided that, since I was stronger, I'd carry Priscilla, Yin, and Yang the whole time, as I was able to life their weight and more from my training with Knuckles over the break we'd had. And it'd be worth it to give some new hope to these girls with hearts of ice. I wanted to make them feel as warm as possible.