This one-shot was requested by Boss Teal, hope you enjoy!

Chapter 21: Multiversal Madness

Tails narrowed his eyes in concentration as he carefully examined the ring sitting on the table, a couple wires connected to it and a container holding the Master Emerald.

"Hey, bud! What'cha working on?" Sonic asked as he and Knuckles entered the shed.

Tails smiled at his brothers as they approached him. "I've just been experimenting with the rings and combining it with some of the Master Emerald's energy."

"Interesting, for what purpose?" Knuckles asked curiously.

"I've been thinking that I might be able to extend the rings' range to beyond our own galaxy." Tails explained. "Maybe even beyond our own universe!"

Sonic gasped, eyes wide and sparkling. "Like Spider-Verse?!"

Tails nodded with a smile. "Yeah! Just like Spider-Verse!" He hopped down from his stool, grabbing the ring. "Want to help me test it out?"

Sonic grinned excitedly. "Oh, absolutely! I want to know if there's another version of me out there! That'd be awesome!"

Knuckles looked reluctant, but eventually nodded. "I too am curious to see what is in these other universes."

Tails smiled at his older brothers' approval before he tossed the ring.

The ring itself seemed to operate like normal, expanding into a bright golden portal. But unlike the other times they had used the rings, all they could see through the portal was a white void.

"So… who wants to go first?" Tails asked, gesturing to the portal.

Tails immediately got his answer as Sonic zoomed past him in a blue blur and leapt through the portal.

"Whoa! Guys, you gotta check this out!" Sonic exclaimed, peering through the other side of the portal.

Tails and Knuckles glanced at each other before leaping through the portal as well.

Landing on the other side, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles found themselves in the middle of a large forest with trees and bushes scattered around them.

Sonic briefly paled slightly. "Hey, Tails, we can get back home, right?"

Tails gave his brother a reassuring smile, pulling out some more rings from his backpack. "Not to worry. I've got plenty of rings left to get us home."

Sonic let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, good. I was actually worried there for a second."

Just then, a loud explosion could be heard in the distance, startling the three and forcing them to turn their heads to see a large explosion in the distance.

"What was that?" Tails questioned in surprise.

"I don't know, but we should probably check it out." Sonic stated, already zipping off in the direction of the explosion with Tails and Knuckles close behind.

Following the explosion, the three found themselves entering a large settlement that wasn't quite big enough to be a town like Green Hills but also not small enough to be considered a village.

Immediately, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were met with probably the most bizarre sight they had ever seen.

Several villagers were fleeing in terror from small robots that looked like ladybugs with one wheel, all while a large man in a red suit with a strangely familiar mustache stood in a hover mobile above.

Sonic narrowed his eyes at the man in the hover mobile as they looked strangely familiar.

Glancing at Tails and Knuckles, Sonic noticed they were staring at the man too, indicating they were also thinking the same thing.

"Yes! Tremble in fear of my motobugs!" The man declared, cackling evilly as the small robots continued to terrorize the villagers.

"We've gotta do something!" Tails exclaimed in worry for the villagers.

"Got that right, little bro." Sonic said, scowling up at the man in the hover mobile. "Time for Team Sonic to bring in the boom!"

"Indeed. Attacking innocents? Dishonor!" Knuckles declared.

Sonic rushed forward and curled himself into a ball, easily destroying three of the motobugs.

Tails was next, pulling out his laser pistol and firing on four other motobugs.

Knuckles capped it off as he leapt into the fray, smashing the remaining two motobugs with his bare fists.

The man in the hover mobile blinked in surprise before he looked down at the three of them and scowled. "Oh, come on! I was actually having a good thing going on here!"

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all took up fighting stances, glaring at the man in the hover mobile.

"Hate to bust your terrorizing bubble, bud, but your little robo protection racket ends now!" Sonic declared.

Instead of retorting, the man groaned in annoyance. "Come on, Sonic. That line is so cliche!"

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all looked confused.

"Uh… I'm sorry, do we know you?" Sonic asked. "Because I don't think we've ever met."

Now it was the man's turn to look confused. "W-What do you mean, Sonic? We've fought loads of times!" He then leaned over his hover mobile. "Although I'm surprised to see you without your bandana." He then looked over at Tails. "And what happened to those straps and goggles you wore?" He then finally looked at Knuckles. "And your certainty shorter than when I last saw you…"

This only served to confuse Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles even further.

"What are you babbling about, fiend?" Knuckles questioned.

"Yeah, who are you exactly?" Tails added, keeping his pistol trained on the hover mobile.

The man raised his hands, almost looking desperate. "Seriously, it's me! Your arch nemesis…"

"EGGMAN!"

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles whipped around and looked in shock to see a tall blue hedgehog, a yellow two-tailed fox, a red stocky echidna, a pink female hedgehog carrying a large hammer, and an orange badger with tattered clothes and a boomerang in hand.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles could only stare at the group, the blue hedgehog, yellow fox, and red echidna, with mouths agape and wide eyes.

"Whoa…" Tails gasped.

"It's like looking in a mirror, the fun house kind." Sonic said in awe.

"Are… are they…?" Knuckles stammered.

"… Us?" Tails finished. "Yeah… I think so."

"We've been Spider-Versed!" Sonic exclaimed.

It was just then that the Boom crew noticed the three young mobians.

"Okay… whose kids are these?" Boom Sonic questioned.

Boom Knuckles eyed Knuckles with surprise and suspicion. "Okay, someone's gonna have to change and it's not going to be me!"

Boom Tails, however, observed his own counterpart carefully. "Wait, I think they might be us!"

"Oh, is this going to be another alternate Knuckles situation?" The man in the hover mobile asked.

"But out, Eggman." The pink hedgehog grumbled.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles' eyes all collectively widened upon hearing the name.

"Eggman?!" Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles exclaimed.

Sonic's eyes narrowed as he scowled at Boom Eggman, his quills charging with blue chaos energy. Without a word, he curled into a ball and launched himself at the egg mobile, slamming into it.

"AGH! What was that for?!" Boom Eggman exclaimed in a slight panic as the egg mobile sputtered at the damage caused to it.

Sonic didn't answer as he landed on the ground, quills still sparking as he scowled up at Boom Eggman.

Knuckles went next, his dreadlocks crackling with red chaos energy as he lunged at Boom Eggman, letting out a yell as he punched the egg mobile.

Tails finally went last, his tails sparking with yellow chaos energy as he took to the air, firing his laser pistol at the egg mobile three times.

Now critically damaged, Boom Eggman could do nothing but brace as the egg mobile crashed to the ground, all while the Boom crew watched in shock and even slight fear.

As Boom Eggman attempted to crawl out of the wreckage of the egg mobile, he felt himself be grabbed by the collar and lifted up by Knuckles.

Knuckles glared at Boom Eggman., his fist reared back and crackling with red chaos energy as he got ready to land the finishing blow on Boom Eggman.

Sonic and Tails stood by their eldest brother's side, both of them glaring hatefully at Boom Eggman.

"Say goodbye… Robotnik." Knuckles growled.

Boom Eggman sweatdropped. "Wait, wait, wait, let's talk this through, alright? Let's talk this through!"

Sonic scoffed. "Yeah, right. Like we've got anything to say to you, Eggman."

Tails glared at Boom Eggman. "You're not talking your way out of this one."

Before Knuckles could deliver the finishing blow, the Boom crew quickly intervened.

"Woah, woah, woah! Let's pump the brakes here!" Boom Sonic said, grabbing Knuckles by the arm.

"Yeah, Eggman's a bad guy, but you don't need to… kill him!" Boom Amy exclaimed.

"Unless he's secretly a government agent plotting a takeover of the world via alien eggs." Boom Sticks piped up.

Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Boom Sonic, Boom Tails, Boom Knuckles, Boom Amy, and even Boom Eggman all stared at Boom Sticks with incredulous looks.

"That… kinda sums up our Eggman." Sonic pointed out before glaring at Boom Eggman.

"Wait… so you killed your Eggman?!" Boom Tails exclaimed, turning to the Movie crew with a horrified look.

Tails winced a bit. "Well… yes and no. I mean, Sonic did destroy his big robot but we never found a body."

"Yeah, but even then, he fell from like a dozen feet high, so we're pretty sure he's dead." Sonic added in a morbidly humorous fashion.

Everyone was silent for a long moment as they let that sink in.

"… oookay… well, since you guys are here, why don't we help you guys get home?" Boom Tails suggested, breaking the silence. "And on the way, you can tell us how you got here."

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all glanced at each other in silence, contemplating what to do before Knuckles reluctantly released Boom Eggman.

"Very well, let us go." Knuckles stated, with Sonic and Tails giving Boom Eggman one last final glare before they headed off with the Boom crew.

"What just happened…?" Boom Eggman questioned, still sitting there in the glass.


"Okay, so, remind us again how exactly you guys arrived in our dimension?" Boom Tails said once they had all arrived at his workshop.

Tails smiled cheerfully, pulling out one of the rings. "I infused some of our rings with the Master Emerald's energy to extend its range beyond our own universe." He explained. "Can I also just say that your workshop is amazing!"

Tails looked around the workshop, bouncing excitedly on his feet. "This place is way bigger than my workshop!" He turned to Boom Tails with a wide adorable smile.

Boom Tails smiled bashfully, scratching the back of his neck. "Aw, thanks! I try."

"You said those rings are what got you into our universe." Boom Amy stated, looking a little skeptical. "How does that work?"

"In our universe, rings are how you travel across the galaxy." Sonic explained, pulling out a ring.

Sticks snatched the ring from him, inspecting it closely. "Is it some kind of device meant to alert the mud people to our presence?" She questioned.

Sonic and Tails both looked at her oddly while Knuckles remained stoic.

"Uh… no." Tails slowly answered, taking the ring back and putting it away. "Basically, you imagine where you want to go, you throw the ring, and it creates a portal to take you there."

"Hey, since we're here and we're meeting our counterparts, want to have a race?" Sonic asked, changing the subject as he lightly nudged his counterpart.

Boom Sonic scoffed playfully. "Like you're faster than me, little blue."

Sonic smirked challengingly. "Want to put that to the test?" He crouched down into a starting position.

Boom Sonic smirked back, crouching down as well. "I'll take that bet."

Within seconds, the two Sonics sped off in a blue blur, racing out of the workshop and leaving the others behind.

"Soooo…" Boom Tails spoke up after a short silence. "Why don't you tell us more about your dimension while we wait for them?"

Tails nodded, sitting comfortably on the table. "Well, I was born on Mobius and was left in a village on Westside Island." He winced, painful memories coming up. "Growing up, I didn't have any friends. Everyone in my village thought my two tails were weird." He looked back at his flickering appendages.

Knuckles placed a comforting hand on Tails' shoulder while Boom Tails, Boom Knuckles, Boom Amy, and even Sticks all gazed at the youngest Wachowski with sympathetic looks.

"That's awful!" Boom Amy exclaimed. "So what happened?"

Tails instantly smiled brightly, looking back at them. "I saw Sonic for the first time! He had let out this burst of chaos energy that reached all the way to my home planet, allowing me to monitor him." His smile then softened. "It was honestly amazing seeing someone who was different like me, no one could run as fast as him. It was because of him that I began to think that maybe being weird wasn't so bad."

Tails then frowned. "When I heard Robotnik and Knuckles teamed up to destroy Sonic, I knew I couldn't just stand by. So I originally planned on warning Sonic about them, but instead I ended up saving him and helping him find the Master Emerald." He smiled happily. "After we Robotnik betrayed Knuckles, we ended up teaming up with him to take down our Eggman. After that, we moved in with Sonic and we've basically been trying to be a family."

Boom Tails and Boom Amy both smiled. "That's nice." Boom Tails said. "My Sonic found and raised me when I was a toddler."

"Hey, what am I like in your dimension?" Boom Amy asked.

Tails and Knuckles both glanced at the pink hedgehog in confusion. "We would not know as we have never met you before." Knuckles responded.

"Oh…" Boom Amy slumped down sadly. "Well, that's disappointing."

"Well, who knows! Maybe there is a version of you back in our dimension." Tails piped up. "We just haven't met her yet."

Boom Amy smiled at that.

"Do you too protect the Master Emerald?" Knuckles asked.

"The master what?" Boom Knuckles questioned while Boom Tails, Boom, Amy, and Boom Sticks all looked confused.

Tails and Knuckles, meanwhile, looked shocked.

"You… you don't know what the Master Emerald is…?" Tails questioned, his mouth hanging open.

"How can you not know it?! It is the legacy of the echidna tribe, our people!" Knuckles exclaimed desperately.

Boom Tails let out a hum, cupping his chin. "It seems there's more differences between our dimensions than I initially thought." He said. "Just going off differences in our meetings alone, I was found and raised by Sonic when I was two years old."

Tails raised a brow. "Wait, so would that technically make Sonic… your dad?"

Boom Tails' eyes widened. "What?! Oh, no, no, no! I still see him as my big brother, it's just we don't have parents so Sonic was the only one who would take care of me."

"Speaking of Sonic, when are those two going to get back here?" Boom Amy questioned.


Sonic and Boom Sonic raced through the village, blowing by several citizens in parallel streaks of blue.

"Let's see how fast you are, other me!" Sonic smirked as zoomed out of the village and into the forest.

"First one around the island and back to the workshop wins?" Boom Sonic suggested with a grin.

"You're on!" Sonic accepted, already accelerating, his quills crackling with blue chaos energy.

As they ran, Boom Sonic took a glance over at Sonic, noticing his blue lightning. "So… what's with the lightning?" He eventually asked.

"Oh, that's just part of the whole super speed thing." Sonic answered evenly as they came out of the forest and rushed through the desert canyons. "Kinda like the Flash, ya know?"

"The who?" Boom Sonic questioned.

Sonic let out a gasp. "You don't know who the Flash is?!" He exclaimed. "He's literally the greatest comic book hero ever!"

"Never heard of him." Boom Sonic stated. "But even if I had, he couldn't be that great!"

"Why's that?" Sonic asked curiously.

Boom Sonic smirked. "Because he could never be as fast as me!" He zoomed forward in a burst of speed.

"Oh, yeah? We'll see about that!" Sonic grinned, kicking it up a notch as he raced after his counterpart.


They raced around the island in a matter of seconds, even passing by Boom Eggman's island lair before coming back to the workshop where they were greeted by their friends.

"Sonic! And… Sonic. You're back!" Boom Tails exclaimed as the rest of the group approached them.

"So who won?" Tails asked excitedly.

"I did." Both Sonics said at the same time before turning and glaring at each other. "No way! I got here first!"

Boom Tails sighed and Boom Amy facepalmed while Boom Knuckles and Sticks looked confused.

Knuckles simply remained stoic while Tails giggled in amusement.

"Only Sonic the Hedgehog could tie himself in a race!" Tails said mirthfully.

"Fine, you know what? Let's just agree to disagree, alright?" Sonic suggested.

"Fair enough." Boom Sonic agreed before muttering. "Still faster than you."

"Whatever you say, faker." Sonic muttered back before turning back to the others. "Anyways! Should we get going? I feel like Mom and Dad are probably gonna start worrying about us."

Tails winced. "Oh, yeah. Sorry, guys, but we gotta go."

"Aww! But I was gonna get you guys paper hats and everything!" Boom Knuckles cried.

"Weep not, counterpart. Perhaps we shall see each other again." Knuckles stated as Tails tossed the ring, creating another open portal.

"And hey, if we do meet again, let's have another race!" Sonic said to his counterpart.

"Oh you bet we're gonna race again!" Boom Sonic grinned.

After saying their goodbyes, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles leapt through the ring portal.


Coming out of the portal, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles found themselves landing on rocky ground.

Looking around, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles could easily tell this was not Green Hills.

"Uh, Tails, I'm pretty sure this is not our house." Sonic remarked, looking around their surrounding area..

"I can see that, Sonic." Tails said sarcastically.

The three young mobians found themselves standing on what seemed to be a large mass of rocky land, with a large volcano in the distance and several crumbled ruins.

Knuckles gazed around at the ruins curiously. "This place… it almost reminds me of my tribe."

Tails walked up to one of the ruins, scanning it with his miles electric. "Hmm, there's no record of these ruins in my galactic database, but it's uncannily similar to echidna architecture.

Sonic softly placed his hand on the old stone wall of one of the ruins. "This place… almost looks like a town." He murmured. "But… it's been abandoned for a long time." He then turned to his brothers as they looked around at some of the toppled buildings. "What could have done this?"

Before either Tails and Knuckles could answer, they suddenly found themselves before approaching a blue blur at a rapid pace.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all tensed, not knowing what to expect as the blur slowed down to a halt.

To their surprise, it was another Sonic! Although he looked much different than Sonic himself and the previous Sonic they met.

This Sonic had tan arms as opposed to Sonic's own blue, his eyes together instead of being separated by a bridge, his red sneakers each having a golden buckle on the side.

As the other Sonic came to a stop, he noticed the three Wachowski brothers standing before him, his eyes briefly widening slightly before they lowered.

"So… I'm gonna take a gander and say you're from here, are you?" He spoke, sounding similar to the last Sonic they had encountered, only now his voice sounded… deeper, older, more mature.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles visibly relaxed, though were taken aback by the bluntness of the other blue hedgehog.

"Y-Yeah, pretty much." Sonic replied hesitantly.

The other Sonic sighed. "Figures. I've seen giant titans, been to Cyberspace and back, and have been trying to save my friends. So of course other dimensions are involved."

"You've met other versions of us?" Tails asked in surprise.

The other Sonic grinned slightly. "You could say that." He then placed his hands on his hips. "And from the looks of it, you guys seem pretty lost."

Knuckles nodded. "Indeed. We have been attempting to return to our home, but so far have been unsuccessful."

"Yeah, could you tell us where exactly we are?" Sonic piped up. "Because I don't think we've ever seen a place like this."

"Welcome to the Starfall Islands, then. That sentence can basically sum this place up to a tee." The other Sonic remarked. "I've been navigating these islands for a while now, trying to help my friends. I just recently talked with Tails, well my Tails, not too long ago."

Suddenly, the other Sonic winced in pain as he knelt to the ground, much to Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles' surprise and alarm, as a mysterious red and black energy coursed along his body like a cancer.

"Are you okay, Mister?" Tails asked worriedly as he and his brothers quickly tended to him.

The other Sonic grunted in pain as he seemingly tried to force the energy down. "Y-Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

Knuckles frowned. "Pardon me for not believing you, hedgehog. For you seem very ill."

"What was that?" Sonic questioned. "That stuff was, like, all over your body."

The other Sonic let out a hollow chuckle. "Little price for saving my friends from Cyberspace. Had to take in this energy in order to free them."

"Do they know what's happening to you?" Tails asked, inspecting the other Sonic's arm for the energy.

The other Sonic nodded, wincing as he lightly pulled his arm back.

Before Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles could ask anymore questions, they noticed several red circles spawn around them, much to their surprise.

From out of the holes came a series of gray robots with hunched shoulders and arms that looked like blades.

"What the heck…?" Sonic exclaimed in shock.

"Where'd these guys come from?" Tails questioned, already reaching for his laser pistol.

"Be on guard, brothers." Knuckles warned them, taking a fighting stance.

"No. You guys get out of here. Find a way to get back to your dimension. I'll hold these guys off." The other Sonic told them as he tried to stand back up, only for his knees to buckle as the red energy returned.

"Are you serious? We're not leaving you like this!" Sonic said stubbornly. "We can take these guys!"

With that, Sonic launched himself at one of the robots, his quills sparking with blue chaos energy as he slammed his foot into the robot's head, utterly crushing it. Landing on the ground, he curled into a ball and spin-dashed into another robot, knocking it into three others and causing them to fall like bowling pins.

Tails took to the skies, his namesakes whirling as he fired his laser pistol at the robots, the beams of light utterly obliterating several of them. One of the robots jumped up and attempted to slash at him in mid-air, however, thanks to Knuckles' training sessions, Tails was able to avoid the slash and slam the robot to the ground with his tails.

Knuckles ducked under a swing from one of the robots, throwing a jab at its abdomen and completely punching it in half. One of the robots attempted to shield itself by creating a barrier around its body, but this did not deter the echidna warrior as he lunged forward and punched through the barrier, destroying the robot as well.

With all the robots gone, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles took the moment to catch their breath.

"Man, those guys were a lot tougher than the usual badnik." Sonic remarked, wiping some sweat off his brow.

"Still, they were no match for us!" Knuckles stated pridefully.

Tails knelt down to one of the destroyed robots, carefully inspecting it. "I wonder who could have made these robots. They're just as advanced, if not more so, than our Robotnik's."

"Uh… guys?" Sonic spoke up, getting his brother's attention.

Following their brother's gaze, Tails and Knuckles both noticed the other Sonic gazing up at the sky with a grim face, the red energy coursing over his body.

Looking up, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were surprised at what they saw.

Floating above them was what appeared to be a young human girl, her hair white as snow and her dress a dark black. Her body was surrounded by the same red energy affecting the other Sonic.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles stared up at the girl, utterly astonished by what they were seeing.

"You three do not belong here." The girl said emotionlessly. "Return to where you came from at once."

She then raised her arm, her hand glowing with a ball of red light.

Suddenly, the world around Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles seemed to distort itself, their vision becoming red and static.

Sonic grunted as he clutched his head, feeling a surge of pain rushing through his head as he fell to his knees. He could feel his blue chaos energy involuntarily surging through his quills. He struggled to open his eyes as he looked desperately at his brothers.

Tails was curled up on the ground, clutching his stomach as he whined painfully, tears of agony welling up in his tightly shut eyes while yellow chaos energy crackled along his fur.

Knuckles struggled to stay on his feet as he clutched his ribs, groaning in pain. Red chaos energy surging through his dreadlocks.

Sonic looked back up at the girl, who's cold gaze still remained on him.

He felt the pain in his body overwhelming him, feeling his consciousness fading from him.

"Forget..."


Sonic gasped, waking up in a cold sweat. He was back in his room, sitting on his race car bed.

Across from him, he saw Tails wake up with a gasp on his airplane bed, looking just as startled.

"Sonic, what's going on?" Tails exclaimed. "Did something happen?"

Sonic opened his mouth, but his words died in his throat as he tried to recall what happened, only to find himself drawing a blank.

"I… I don't remember." He murmured in befuddlement. He remembered something happening, feeling excruciating pain and seeing a young girl, but beyond that… nothing. "W-What about you?"

Tails looked down, his brow furrowing in confusion. "I… can't remember either. All I remember is showing you and Knuckles those special rings I made, and then suddenly I'm back here."

"Do you think Knuckles remembers anything?" Sonic asked.

"If he woke up like us, I doubt it." Tails said with uncertainty.

There was a brief silence in the attic as the young hedgehog and fox attempted to recall what had happened, but for some reason found that they couldn't.

"You, uh… wanna get some chili dogs?" Sonic asked awkwardly. "Maybe it could help us cool off."

Tails gave him a small smile. "That sounds nice. Maybe we could watch a movie too."

"Cool, let's go." Sonic smiled back as he and Tails got up from their beds and headed downstairs.

As he was about to go down, Sonic briefly glanced out the skylight window, feeling a strange sense of deja vu.

Deciding to ignore it, the blue hedgehog went down the steps with Tails as they headed into the living room.

They had had enough craziness for one day.

So, that third act took quite the dramatic turn. Anyway, who else is excited about update 3 for Sonic Frontiers?!