My Death Battle Attempts

by LittleZbot

In which I take two fictional characters and pit them against each other in a duel to the death. Rules in the first chapter. NEXT EPISODE: Katara (Avatar: The Last Airbender) VS Percy Jackson (Percy Jackson & the Olympians)

11. Mario VS Sonic (OLD)

A/N: Thank you, everyone, for reading this. It's been a lot of fun writing this season. See the end of the episode for discussion of future plans. Thank you especially to Shadowjab17 for his heartfelt reviews. You make my day every time I reread those, dude. Big thanks as well to DB-20 for taking an awesome interest in the series and supplying some great questions. Keep it coming, guys. The more questions I can answer, the more I know my research, and the more careful I am in the future.

Enjoy an episode I've been working on ever since Death Battle released their fight all those years ago. If you're salty…leave a comment. This is all for you guys.

Have fun.

SEASON FINALE: Episode 10: Mario vs. Sonic

Rivals for decades, battlers of everything from characters to music to story to, of course, games and sale numbers. There has never been a more fierce rivalry between two combatants on this show before or since. And yet, neither has there been this much respect. These two are former enemies turned best friends, with only one score left to settle.

These two icons of gaming have fought in a previous episode of Death Battle, but they have continued on their adventures since that day, gaining far more to work with, and besides, that conclusion really wasn't satisfying or well-written. At all. It left us all with many questions, and one beyond all of them: Who would really win?

Mario, the most famous video game figure of all time, and Sonic, the only gaming icon to ever truly contend with him.

We're using every available resource for both combatants and granting them everything they can normally access – except Paper Mario and Archie Sonic. While I've used Paper Kamek and Paper Bowser, and, in the future, may continue to use Paper Mario versions of characters like Paper Peach or Paper Luigi, Paper Mario is so incredibly different from his regular counterpart that, unlike the others, it feels…wrong to include him here. It'd be like including some random guy named Mario that appeared in Marvel Comics, or something. His power set and abilities are entirely different! Archie Sonic has also been discounted for similar reasons – and also because he can run across every universe in less than a day and destroy entire dimensions with one punch. That's stupid. What's Mario supposed to do against that? Sonic's never done anything like that in canon. Regardless, it's time for the season finale.

I'm LittleZbot, and it's my hobby to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find which of these long-feuding icons of heroism would truly win a Death Battle.

Mario:

After fending off several of the Great Balls of Fire, Luigi moans and declares "With that kind of firepower, King Koopa's unstoppable!"

Mario seems surprised by his bleak outlook. "Unstoppable? We're plumbers! If we can unstop a stop, we can stop the unstoppable!"

In the 1980s, companies across the world were just beginning to realize the vast potential that video games held for the future. With this new format of entertainment, the general public need no longer be separated from the stories they heard. They could now become the hero, slay the dragon, and rescue the princess themselves. As arcades grew more and more popular, the games grew more and more varied, and, when Atari released the first well-known home video game console, the potential only seemed to grow. The amount of money to be made could be staggering, creating entirely new companies singularly devoted to this new craze. Was it the future of entertainment and storytelling, or was it just a fad, destined to be forgotten in the next decade? That was the question everyone had on their lips – and, unfortunately, some companies believed the wrong answer.

In an effort to get all that they could out of what would soon be forgotten, most game divisions of companies began shoveling out as many exciting games as fast as possible for as cheap as possible. This ended up oversaturating the market with nothing but disappointment after disappointment. Nothing could last longer than a month on the shelf, the games that did weren't good, and it wasn't long before the public stopped buying video games altogether. They didn't realize it at the time, but these companies had created a self-fulfilling prophecy. After a particularly horrible release of an incredibly overhyped game based on the movie E.T., every magazine let the public know exactly what they thought. In 1983, it was declared: Video Games are dead. And so it might have stayed, if one playing-card company hadn't thrown its hat into the ring. When Nintendo released their home console, the Nintendo Entertainment System, it seemed like a futile attempt to bring life back to a long-forgotten fad. But although fad is only one letter away from fade, Nintendo only proved that day just how many letters away it was…from Super Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros. wasn't the first Mario game ever released, but it was the first one that really mattered. All of the sudden, people were interested. An incredible game with graphics never before seen on a home console? And the game lasted for several hours and the console was surprisingly cheap at the time? Such a thing had never been done before. Customers came in droves to the NES, and that put Mario as the new face of gaming. Having saved the entire industry from disaster with a single title, Mario became more well-known than Mickey Mouse and kept releasing award-winning game after award-winning game. Over thirty years later, and the entire industry around Mario has changed – but Mario games are still being released, are still crazy popular, and are still just as good today as they were three decades ago.

As for Mario himself, in his games, he was always born to be superior to anything that stood in his way. Allegedly born out of the core of a star, Mario is the original of the Star Children, legendary children with access to hidden abilities and destined for greatness. As such, he was sent to his chosen parents in Italy via Stork Express. Apparently they chose the most inadequate Stork in the world, however, as he dropped Baby Mario and Baby Luigi three times AND delivered them to the wrong house. Thankfully, the peaceful, yet powerful, race known as the Yoshis, and future Mario, which was a thing, recognized Baby Mario's importance and helped him whenever he needed it. Yes, Mario commanded an army of killer dinosaurs when he was under a month old. This was but a taste of what his future held.

After safely making it to his parents, Mario grew up knowing Italian and English, and with a great love for food. He became a natural protégé in, well, everything. After learning a few languages and serving in the Vietnam War (no, not kidding), Mario moved to Brooklyn with Luigi to attend the world-famous Plumber's Academy, where he and Luigi ended up saving the life of the President of the United States. Talk about a good first day! After graduating, Mario and Luigi spent all their days in their Plumbing…Shop? Business? Home? Something. They spent all their time there where they unstopped stops and unclogged clogs for the likes of Elvis Presley, Doctor Frankenstein, Inspector Gadget, and Crocodile Dundee. Everything went normally – until one of the drains they unclogged turned out to actually be a Warp Pipe to the Mushroom Kingdom. Mere seconds after arriving, they accidentally thwarted the invading forces of Bowser Koopa, who swore to make them his mortal enemies for the rest of his life. Even though they have found several ways to head back to Brooklyn, Mario and Luigi established roots, friends, and family in the Mushroom Land, and decided to live out their lives there – while dealing with the schemes of Bowser on a daily basis.

Mario is a kind-hearted, but brash hero, with a strong moral center and the ability to make almost any enemy into a friend – even Bowser, given enough time. He knows at least five martial arts, including Karate, which focuses on strong stances and swift strikes to vital areas and fast-moving blocks, Taekwondo, which focuses on extremely fast and dangerous kicks, Jujustu, which focuses on dodging, swift movement, and utilizing your opponent's momentum against them, turning their own bodies into the origin of their pain, and Boxing, which is…well, Boxing. Specifically Slugger-Style Boxing, focusing on delivering the most pain with the fewest punches. He also has some amount of knowledge in Sumo, Wrestling, Kendo, and probably Hapkido, given how fluently he can move his hands in sync with his body. However, his most dangerous martial art he has skill in is Plumb Fu. Yes. Plumb Fu. It's Kung Fu…for plumbers. But don't sell it short – Plumb Fu is well-known as the most powerful martial arts on the Mushroom Planet. It focuses on fast maneuvers and readiness for your opponent's moves, similar to Kung Fu, but specializes in adaptability. Those professionally trained in the art can turn anything they get their hands on into a lethal weapon. Mario was taught this martial art alongside Luigi by Misaki, the greatest martial artist on the planet – and earned a black belt in less than one day. Holy crap.

While Mario is plenty good going fist-to-fist, his main thing is jumps. He can jump over twenty feet into the air with surprising ease, and has learned a variety of other jumps that let him reach far higher. The Triple Jump requires space, but allows Mario to jump three times as high as he normally can. The Backflip is a surprise move meant to spread distance between him and the opponent, the Side Somersault can reach greater heights than nearly all other jumps, but takes time to get right, the Spin Attack gives Mario additional height and control over where he lands and is effective as a combat maneuver as well, the Wall Jump uses the leverage from walls to jump directly off of them and higher up, the Long Jump springs Mario forward, covering dozens of feet at once, and the Ground Pound uses magical means to take all of the impact force applied to Mario and instead give it to the opponent as well. And, after doing a Ground Pound, he can jump immediately after for the Ground Pound Jump, which lets him scale buildings no problem. At his absolute best, Mario is able to out-jump spring-loaded robots and reach up to 20,000 feet into the air! And you thought Plumb Fu was crazy. And it's still nothing to everything else this guy can do!

As a Star Child, Mario is able to use a finite pool of Star Power to perform superhuman feats – and use superpowers that go well beyond your average video game hero. He can store huge amounts of items and weapons in a pocket dimension, resist curses, fight for hours on end, doesn't age, can materialize any item he needs whenever (though only a few times per fight), hold his breath for several minutes, hear through the vacuum of space, shapeshift to look like anything (though he doesn't gain their abilities or properties), and…transform toilet brushes into zippers. Again, not kidding. Apparently, he's one of three chosen heroes by a goddess of…cheese or something, and THAT was his granted superpower. I mean, I guess it's handy if he gets locked into a bathroom stall…but that's about it. Also, after saving the Music Keys, dancing was literally etched into his soul, making him one of the best dancers in the Mushroom Kingdom. Again…not joking. However, his best (and most commonly used) superpower is Firebrand. Taught to him by the Fire God himself, with the Firebrand ability, Mario can conjure and manipulate…well, fire. He can throw dozens of fireballs, set his entire body on fire, light up his strikes and make them more powerful (because, you know, fire is the physical manifestation of energy and all that), and throw a giant fireball of death several times larger than himself. And, because it's made up of his own magic, the fire Mario produces will not hurt him.

And while it's not a superpower per say, his senses are so acute, he can catch and fight on par with invisible foes and has pinpoint accuracy with any conceivable weapon – even when he backhands a 500 lb bomb a mile and a half into the air, he still hits his target right on the nose! He can also harm metaphysical entities (likely due to some magic stuff), communicate with all types of animals, and his capabilities as a plumber go past absurd and into unbelievable. While trapped in a pit with no tools or materials whatsoever, he constructed a waterworking system stretching over two miles long that drained the water of a nearby lake in order to fill the hole, allowing him and his friends to swim out. What the heck. With Luigi, he also reworked the flow of an entire river via another several-mile-long usage of pipe that didn't use to exist, and when Bowser toppled over a 7,000 Ton steel pillar and it was going to fall on them, Mario and Luigi, in less than three seconds, refitted a fire hydrant to propel water outward at a high enough pressure to completely stop the falling pillar in the air. SERIOUSLY. WHAT THE HECK. Oh, and when he discovered the Fountain of Youth (because yes, he did that), Peach was turned into a baby. Of course, the Fountain of Youth makes things younger, so, to turn her back into an adult, he just up and REVERSED THE FLOW OF THE WATERFALL, MAKING IT DFEY THE LAWS OF PHYSICS AND FLOW UPWARDS FROM A POOL WHICH IT STILL SOMEHOW FILLED. That just might be the most ridiculous feat I've ever seen.

With all that and some insanely high strength, speed, and durability, he's done a whole lot. However, it all comes at a horrible price: Mario…is a pizza-tarian. Okay, in all seriousness, though, he's always hungry and loves Italian food beyond all else. He'll chomp down on entire heads of garlic as if they were candy.

After swathing through several bamboo shoots in the Amazon Jungle, Mario stops and shares a brilliant idea with the rest of the group. "Let's take a lunch break!"

"Oh, Mario!" Princess Peach groans. "You just ate three guavas, four breadfruit, and two bananas!"

Mario sets his hands on his hips and informs her "If food isn't pasta, it doesn't count!"

When he's all stuffed up with pasta power, Mario can do some nutty things. One time, after a nice garlic snack, he went up to Bowser while they were fighting in a castle and breathed on him so hard, he went flying back, smashing through a wall, and bringing the entire castle down on top of them! Of course, Mario was fine. He is tough enough to survive a massive explosion that obliterated this Rapunzel-esque stone tower, after all. Given the size of the blast and the wreckage afterward, that could have been up to 84 kilotons of TNT. He even took a 35,000 foot fall after coming out of a warp pipe and was barely dazed, and was once struck in the head with three giant ball and chains and just…grabbed them all and sent them flying back. He's outrun lava flows, avalanches, soundwaves, and even explosions, which can move over 6,000 MPH! He lifted and threw King Bob-Omb, who weighs a minimum of 78 Tons, fought a giant robot mech the size of skyscraper and blew it to smithereens, and, another time, easily blocked a blow from a robot that would weigh almost 31,000 TONS!

I'm even more impressed with the time he fought that dragon. The Lord of Lightning is a powerful mythical beast that measures nearly twelve feet high and over six hundred feet long. Using a density of 55 lb/ft^3, the average density of ground meat, and assuming strength and toughness similar to real-life anacondas, this giant dragon could have easily both exerted and withstood 34,000 Metric Tons of Force! You'd think even Mario would have a tough time putting that thing down, right? Nope! Three Ground Pounds later, and it's down for the count. And that was after surviving a full blast of his lightning breath to the face, which could have reached temperatures of around 53,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That's over five times hotter than the surface of the sun! And not a single hair out of place – that's what you call being tough! Even more impressive is the time he fought Gobblegut, a far larger snake-like creature that could consume planetoids. Given its size and estimating density and strength as we did the Lord of Lightning, this thing could pretty easily take blows of over 46,000 Tons, and Mario reduced that thing to dust! DUST!

And, of course, all of this was without his many, many power-ups.

Mario has dozens of different power-ups he can use and has used over the years, and each one grants him special abilities. Starting with the basics, the Super Mushroom heals his wounds, the Fire Flower enhances his already-great pyrokinetics, the Super Star and Rainbow Star both make him invulnerable to damage and able to kill normal enemies with one touch for about fifteen seconds, the Super Flower lets him shoot bouncy gravity-defying balls of pain, the Carrot grants him ears that he can use to slow his descent, and the Spring Mushroom grants him higher jumps at the expense of mobility and control. He also has a few different Caps that give him special powers. The Wing Cap lets him fly for around a minute, the Vanish Cap turns him invisible and intangible for twenty seconds, and the Metal Cap turns him invulnerable and ten times heavier and stronger for the same amount of time. Also, he has a Luigi Cap and a Wario Cap. These hats give him the bodies and physical traits of Luigi and Wario, respectively. Luigi is faster and lighter than Mario, though not as strong, while Wario is stronger than Mario, but not as fast. Moving off caps, the Boo Mushroom turns him into a ghost. In this form, he can read the languages of the dead, turn invisible, and phase through walls and attacks – though being exposed to sunlight will instantly take away this power-up. The Propeller Mushroom makes his hat a living helicopter, able to fly through the air and achieve slow descents, while the Rock Mushroom turns him into a rock-based wrecking ball. The Bee Mushroom allows him hovering flight and the ability to stick to certain surfaces, the Mini Mushroom makes him super small, and the Mega Mushroom makes him super huge and super invulnerable for a short time.

Finally moving away from mushrooms, the Super Acorn turns him into a flying squirrel, which slows his descent (again) and can be boosted high into the air. Far better, though, is the P-Acorn, which grants the same powers and the ability to boost himself infinitely – essentially acting like a less-good form of flying. Speaking of flying, he can do that with the Red Star for around a minute, and can do it forever with the P-Wing, plus perform a nifty tail-whip. The Tanooki Suit also lets him perform that tail-whip and has more limited flight, but makes up for it by being able to transform into an invincible statue. And the Cape Feather gives Mario a superhero-like cape, which he can use to fly effortlessly through the air better than any other flight power-up he owns and to deflect projectiles. The Power Balloon inflates him like a…um, balloon, the Ice Flower lets him skate on water and lava alike, freezing it solid as he moves, and the Cloud Flower lets him walk on water and on clouds and create up to three cloud barriers to save himself from falling or reach high areas. With the Frog Suit he becomes a far better swimmer, with the Penguin Suit he can swim way better, belly-slide, and throw magical ice balls that freeze his foes solid, and with the Blue Koopa Shell he can swim better again and curl up into the indestructible shell and control its movements, forcefully destroying everything in his path – and somehow being able to see everything around him. The Boomerang Flower gives him long-distance throwing weapons that knock his foes out and return to his hand, the Super Bell turns him into Cat Mario, who is faster, can climb up sheer cliffsides easily, and attacks enemies with its claws, and the Hammer Suit's armor is impenetrable and, with it on, Mario can throw endless amounts of steel-shattering hammers. As if all that wasn't enough, the Double Cherry will clone Mario exactly, with all of his clones following the original's moves.

And yet, none of these are his most powerful power-up. The Lucky Bell grants him all the powers of Cat Mario, like enhanced speed, metal-shredding claws, and awesome climbing powers, and can turn into an invincible statue that heals itself while falling, though the statue can only last twelve seconds at a time. And yet, even that pales in comparison to the Gold Flower, Mario's ultimate power-up weapon. This power-up lets Mario throw Golden Fireballs, which explode. Anything caught in the blast radius, no matter what it is, is instantly transformed into gold coins. Because it works through transformation, it doesn't matter whether his opponent is incredibly strong; one touch and they're history. The only things it has trouble with are the undead and really durable creatures like Bowser. It takes three hits for most tough creatures like that just to knock them out (not transform, knock out). Also, it only lasts eight to ten minutes at most, after which Mario reverts to Fire Mario.

You may not believe it, but even that's not Mario's greatest power-up. Behold the Invincibility Leaf, a power-up that makes Mario literally impossible to defeat. He can fly, tail-whip strong enough to break titanium, glide, run on water, and is completely invincible! He can't be hurt by any physical attack, and pretty much anyone that touches him instantly dies. You might be wondering "How does he not win instantly when wearing this thing?" Well, he usually…does win instantly. However, it's not totally an instant-win move – tougher opponents, like Koopalings, require multiple hits to knock out, and it does clearly have a time limit before reverting to a Tanooki Suit, as he can't keep it for more than one level. We're never given an exact number on what it is, but given Mario's average travel speed and the time limits in the corner of each level, around eight minutes is a good estimate. Also, it doesn't protect from poison or heat. He'll lose this power-up if he touches lava, or anything hotter.

Yeah, that's one of Mario's stranger weaknesses. The dude can't handle the heat – literally. In most cases, just touching a spot of lava will instantly kill him regardless of defense. This weakness is somewhat nullified by his classic hat, which has some sort of magic imbued that not only doubles his durability but also protects him from atmospheric heat. That's why he can take the 53,000 degree lightning breath or fight a battle in the middle of a hollow sun and be fine, but dies as soon as he touches extremely hot metal. However, without his hat, even something as simple as harsh sunlight will slowly kill him. That's one of the reasons Bowser's always filling his castles with lava, and why Mario's gotten so good at dodging heat-based attacks and avoiding lava pits. While he won't die instantly if he touches such things with the Invincibility Leaf activated, it will still rid him of his power.

Actually, that's another of Mario's biggest weaknesses. Almost all of his power-ups instantly vanish after one attack connects – no matter how weak or strong it is. Hence why his best equipment pieces aren't actually power-ups at all. Instead, he wields many weapons while protected by magical armor.

He wears the A-OK Wear, which can first be bought at Level 25 of Bowser's Inside Story. Scaling directly from those stats, this armor is better than anything he's worn in any of his other RPGs. It magically gives him an 18.2% boost in Speed and Strength, an 18.5% boost in his pool of Star Power, and an incredible 183% increase in durability! However, this magical pair of overalls' greatest trait is that it magically makes him immune to any and all status effects. He can't be poisoned, frozen, turned to stone, put to sleep, OHKO'd, cursed, stopped in time, or, well, anything that counts as a status effect. He also wears the DX POW Gloves and the DX POW Boots, both of which increase his strength by 20%.

This all goes great with his many…many weapons. Starting out with the most famous of the bunch, F.L.U.D.D. Created by Professor E. Gadd, this water backpack can shoot out high-pressure water to clean goop and force enemies to drink so much water that their stomachs burst. Huh. Maybe that's not such a kid-friendly thing when I think about it. F.L.U.D.D. has four different nozzles that Mario can use in tandem: the main nozzle squirts out the water ahead of him, the Hover Nozzle turns it into a water jetpack, lifting Mario off of the ground and allowing him to, well, hover, the Rocket Nozzle sends him flying hundreds of feet into the air with no extra boost from his jumps, and the Turbo Nozzle gives him a huge speed boost – basically going turbo in a racecar. Also, F.L.U.D.D. is sentient, and can talk to Mario, offering him advice. However, it requires a steady supply of water to, you know, USE WATER, and must be refilled quite often. Luckily, F.L.U.D.D. is hardly the only weapon in Mario's arsenal.

Mario wields a Cannon Box, which shoots out explosive cannonballs that can destroy entire buildings. The Flannel Phenom is a powerful energy cannon that's ten times more powerful than an energy cannon that can obliterate robots. He also has used the Super Scope, which is a, well, plasma laser cannon! He uses this to destroy giant mechs with the greatest of ease. Yeah, I didn't think Mario would be this comfortable with guns, but he totally is. Stepping outside of guns, he can summon Piranha Plants that eat up his foes, he holds dozens of nearly-unbreakable Koopa Shells, each of which can go through concrete like it's thin air, and the Spin Drill, which can dill through mountain-sized planetoids in just a couple of seconds. He also can wear Karubi's Shoe, a giant impenetrable shoe which he can hop around in and crush everything in his way with. His most common fencing weapons are his trusty plungers. Mario keeps hundreds of these things on him at all times, and even though they're simple plumbing tools with wooden handles, they can stick to even newly-waxed surfaces, support the weight of several people, and be used as swords in combat. Mario has won many a duel with these things. He's also utilized a Lightplunger in battle, an electricity-based non-fatal alternative to lightsabers. In addition, he regularly uses different hammers to crush his enemies, including the Grid Gavel, which can crush incredibly strong metals and hack into electronic software. But his greatest hammer is the Ultra Hammer. This golden gavel of justice is unbreakable, capable of sending small buildings across the horizon, and can break through solid blocks of gold, titanium, and even tungsten, the strongest naturally-occurring metal in the world, like they're nothing! Oh – and it lets him hover for a few seconds and deflects any projectile, even magic.

However, the most powerful weapon Mario has ever wielded comes in the form of Excalibur, a magical Plumber's Snake that's basically the Excalibur of legend, but way better, since it can not only cut, but can grow and shrink in size, fire magic beams, counter some forms of opposing magic, and stiffen for duels and loosen to trap foes or other blades. And, of course, it's unbreakable – and might even be sentient, as it seems to obey Mario's every thought. Excalibur radiates so much unrestrained power, merely touching the thing transformed Mario into Super Mario.

Oh, right. You don't know what that is yet, do you?

Prepare to have your mind blown.

Looking upon a field of Fire Flowers, Mario grumbles "Couldn't we just take a little pasta break?"

"Please, Mario," Peach pleads, "get Super now, eat later."

Mario grabs one of the Fire Flowers. Instantly, he's transformed. His overalls and cap grow white and his shirt becomes red. A golden aura of power surrounds him.

"Faster than a vanishing claw!" He shouts out. "More powerful than an electric drain snake! It's-a Super Mario!"

Super Mario is Mario's most powerful power-up, and by a huge margin. He can only achieve the form by using objects of great power, like Magic Pendants, Super Stars, or Excalibur. Well, he can activate a VERY LIMITED version of the form through use of Fire Flowers, but that form can do almost nothing compared to full-powered Super Mario. And, while it does have a time limit, it can last for over an hour, so he doesn't have to worry too much about it going out in the middle of a fight.

In his fully-powered Super State, Mario gains a massive boost in all physical abilities. He can breathe without oxygen, walk on air, and his fire attacks are upgraded to become white fire, which is 700 degrees hotter than his normal orange fire. He's tough enough to take plasma blasts from an army, fast enough to outrun lightning bolts, and strong enough to slice a massive battleship clean in half with one hand! He's defeated Bowser while only using one finger, destroyed a robot that Bowser claimed could wipe out all life on the planet, and his aura is so powerful that the form incinerated a rope just by being next to it. Doesn't sound too impressive – until you realize that this was a special rope of Bowser's own design, and was so strong, normal Mario couldn't do a thing to it. And remember, normal Mario can break right through steel chains just by flexing his stomach!

But most impressively, Super Mario once grabbed a rampaging dinosaur (that, compared to a T-Rex, would weigh 48,000 lb), spun the beast around so fast, it turned into a living helicopter blade, and sent it flying into outer space! We do get a shot of it leaving the atmosphere, and it ends up next to a satellite seen earlier in the episode, so, assuming the Mushroom Planet is the size of Earth and measuring directly, that dinosaur would have flown around 35,000 miles in just a few seconds! The amount of explosive force that would be required to do anything NEAR that would be well over 4,000 Megatons of TNT.

But it's not like Mario's never done anything impressive in his normal state.

As Mario and Luigi debate whether or not to go into an inn in the middle of the woods, Bowser and his children watch from a screen.

"The jig's up!" one of them shouts. "They know it's a trap!"

Bowser snorts. "Mark my words! They're tired, hungry, and, best of all, lost. This cozy little bungalow is just too tempting for a snoopy pair like the Mario Bros. And it's unlocked, which makes it irresistible!"

Immediately after he says this, through the screen, they hear Mario speak. "Wait, Luigi. We may be tired, lost, and, worst of all, hungry, but we must keep our wits about us. There's something strange about this place…my gut feeling is that it's a trap! C'mon – let's get out of here!"

Bowser stares at the screen, speechless.

He's destroyed spaceships with a single kick, crushed castles by jumping on them too many times, obliterated a building-sized robot with one move, and once just picked up and threw an entire castle. He tossed around a 43-ton boulder without any form of struggle, dug straight through solid stone at a rate of 15 feet per second with plastic spoons, and has sent Bowser flying over three miles away with just a kick! He's dodged seven laser beams (not plasma blasts, actual lasers) at once, moved faster than superhuman eyes can track dozens of times, ran all the way from Giant Land to Water Land (a distance of, looking at the manga's overhead shot, around 1,200 miles) in under one minute, and swam the entirety of the Mediterranean Sea and back in less than an hour! He's survived being frozen into a block of ice, battling a massive space station that was actually alive, jumping into the mouth of a giant eel to clean its teeth, and even atmospheric reentry, all with no problems! I mean, the guy is fast enough to dodge light-speed attacks every darn day, strong enough to shatter meteoroids with a single Ground Pound, and powerful enough to flap his arms so hard, it forcefully pushes him up into the air with enough lift to carry five people, literally flying across a giant gap and coming to a perfectly smooth landing on the other side! What in the-

With just a spin attack, just one, he shattered this monolith ice crystal. Given its shape, color, and temperature of the surrounding area, chances are pretty good of it being Blue Ice, which has a PSI of 57,000. This crystal was several times larger than Mario, and to shatter the whole thing in one go must have taken around 1.3 Megatons of Force! And hey, remember that castle that he picked up and threw? By measuring it directly with Mario from the inside and reshaping it to fit the castle's exterior, that thing could have weighed as much as 280,000 Tons! Jeez! Even more impressive is the time Mouser was lobbing bombs around the place, and one of them exploded with enough force to send a 5,500 ton boulder nearly 20,000 feet high – that would take an explosive force of over 221 kilotons of TNT – and later on, Mario and Luigi just took a point-blank blast from a bomb from the same bag and just kind of…looked surprised. It takes a lot to put this guy down.

With an arsenal bigger than Henry Stickmin's and all that ridiculous power, Mario's done more impressive things than the majority of Comic Book Superheroes. Not only does he defeat incredibly powerful beings like Bowser and Kamek every week, but he's also defeated opponents who are even more powerful, like Culex, Cackeletta, Smithy, and King Boo. Culex was so powerful, by the way, he states that he could destroy the entire world! He's saved both the Mushroom World and the "Real World" hundreds, maybe thousands of times, been crowned King of Cramalot, survived being turned to stone, survived being hit literally across the planet, and even trained the legendary Hercufleas, who, yes, is just Hercules with a slightly altered name because it's a dumb cartoon. He fought a whole battle against Giant Bowser inside a black hole (oh, yeah, Mario isn't even fazed by black holes) – and won, and, during a fight against Koopzilla (a mutated version of Bowser), the two almost destroyed all of Tokyo. Or, well, Sayonara, as it's called in the Mario world, but make no mistake, it's definitely Tokyo. In Super Mario Isshun-boshi, Mario was able to defeat Bowser and send him literally running off crying despite being only a single inch tall. And when Mario did finally kick the bucket, he, for some reason, went to Hell, and once there, he just…killed Satan and escaped! No joke!

His strength of will and stamina is great enough to take being tortured and waterboarded for days on end and act like it didn't even happen. He can even go several hours without blinking if he thinks it's necessary for his survival. He's saved the entire universe from terrible threats over a dozen times, freed no less than seven alien races from galactic tyranny, and once found out that Bowser had built a Death Star and was going to destroy their entire planet in thirty minutes. In an effort to stop the device, Mario was thrown down a garbage disposal, compressed into a garbage pod, launched into an abandoned wasteland, fought an evil cactus and a giant snake, tamed the snake, rode it to the main warbase, warned them, devised a strategy to defeat the Death Star, got in a fighter ship, flew through dozens of opposing ships millions of kilometers in outer space, flew inside the thing, blew the whole place up, and cleared the explosion - all in under thirty minutes.

WHAT THE HOLY MOTHER OF SERIOUSLY IN ALL THE CRAP. WHAT.

So, needless to say, Mario's just a little bit overpowered. Hey. The guy's been in over 200 video games, starred in four TV Shows, a variety of TV Specials, and, like, thirty years of comics and manga. It's not his fault.

But what is his fault is how…surprisingly stupid he is. Once, after Bowser went missing, he and Peach were invited to an empire they'd never heard of to attend an "orphan charity spaghetti dinner," (because that's obviously not a trap) which, when they arrived, happened to have a plumbing problem only Mario and Luigi could fix…in the dungeon. And they bought every word. Even after being outright told they were about to be captured, it still took several seconds for Mario to realize he'd been tricked. Even though he is capable of coming up with strategic plans on the fly, they rarely work, and more often than not, just blow up in his face. Due in part to this, he's become rash, and generally doesn't think things through before a battle. He has a killer superiority complex, been captured multiple times, and doesn't have a perfect winning streak. He's been defeated by many foes, including Bowser and Kamek. He's also lost battles to Peach, Mega Man, Ridley, and Luigi – the latter of which Mario has outright admitted he can't win against. Yeah, I was surprised, too. And powerful enough magic will override any magical protection he'll receive from Star Power. Oh, yeah, and his pool of Star Power is finite and takes forever to charge back up. He only has enough to last him a couple of hours, so after that, he has to rely on his pure skill and physical abilities.

Also, though it's no fault of his, Mario suffers from having a fanbase that overhypes and overscales every single feat possible. No, creating earthquakes is not the same thing as warping reality! And he didn't run around the entire planet in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. Mario does this exactly twice in the game, both times as a form of attack or defense. However, with the game's background (for goodness' sake, the moon is there and doesn't change position!), it's clear they were running around the same areas this whole time – and at the end of both attacks, the screen blacks out and Mario and Luigi just appear where they were at the start. That in no way, shape, or form, says that he can run around the world in seventeen seconds. Oh, and there's a "scaling" thing where people are saying Bowser is MFTL+ (AND THEREFORE EVERYONE IS) because he shot Starship Mario with some fireballs, and that starship can move across galaxies, but that's…just stupid. No other Mario character has ever displayed that level of speed anywhere else, anytime else, and the ship could have, you know…BEEN STANDING STILL?! Also, it doesn't actually move that fast! Play the game sometime! It makes portals to get where it needs to go! And, again, Mario defeating people powered by Power Stars does not make him able to destroy solar systems. Hey, even if those Power Stars did make you that powerful, Mario was powered by Power Stars during that whole game, so why even count any of it?! And that Mario Party 6 Black Hole outracing thing is clearly a case of gameplay over lore. You can't swim in space, the black hole only lasted about a minute, nothing but the players are affected, and I sincerely doubt Toadette can move faster than light. And even though he did survive being hit by one of Kamek's blasts that sent him flying into another galaxy, it's unlikely he did so by himself. Immediately after being blasted, a Luma begins chasing after him, clearly wanting to catch up to him, and seeing as Lumas can protect their hosts from dark magic attacks and Mario has never shown this kind of durability before or after, it's more than likely that this Luma used his powers to stop the blast from killing him. And it's not like he rammed into the planetoid he ended up on – hitting it at those speeds would have destroyed the whole thing, and it doesn't have a scratch on it. And while Mario and Luigi beating the constellation-level Dreamy Bowser is impressive, it's far less so than many make it out to be. Mario and Luigi were specifically protected from the Dream Stone's powers by Peach's Heart Powers, and thus they were basically just fighting a way better Bowser, not a constellation-level Bowser. To top all this off, he didn't survive the destruction of the universe or a supernova at the end of Super Mario Galaxy. The universe was reformed and recreated by the power of the Lumas, and they clearly teleported Mario somewhere else while that was going on. You can't tell me that every freaking Toad on the planet can survive the destruction of the universe.

And finally, for one last actual weakness, it's called "Super Mario Bros." for a reason. While both have had many adventures on their own, Mario is only at his best when Luigi's at his side. Together, the brothers are unstoppable. Alone, they're slightly less unstoppable.

But only slightly. Regardless of any deficiencies in worldly knowledge or strategic planning, Mario is an excellent puzzle-solver, and is able to find ways to take out even the toughest of foes. Mario has fought a greater variety of opponents than any other video game hero in the history of the medium - no matter how powerful or how weak his foe is, he will always rise to the occasion and be the true hero who saved all of gaming all those years ago. No challenge, no foe, no puzzle, no quest, no game, nothing has ever been too much for him.

Mario may be the most important character in video game history.

After listening to a Big Boo spill its feelings out and talk about his tragic childhood, Mario pats the ghost on the shoulder. "There now. I understand why you have pent-up frustrations, but you can't let those bullies control your life."

He stands up and spreads out his arms. "Why, there's a great big world out there! And as big as the Earth seems, it's just a speck of dust in the universe. Beyond our galactic system are more stars…billions and billions of stars! Troubles of humans and ghosts seem trivial compared to the vastness of the universe."

The Big Boo opens its eyes, tears welled up. Mario shakes his ghostly hand. "Now, don't you feel better?"

Mario leaves the ghost house, having not defeated a single foe, but instead having made a hundred friends.

Mario:

Name: Mario Mario

Species: Homo Nintendonus

Height: 5'1/155 cm

Weight: 220 lb/100 kg

Age: 120+

Occupation: Plumber, Doctor, Dancer, Construction Worker, Referee, Psycho-Therapist, SO MANY MORE

Favorite Food: Spaghetti

Dated an alien

Hates eggs

Is actually another version of King Arthur. No, I'm not kidding.

Abilities:

Superhuman Strength

Superhuman Speed

Superhuman Durability

Superhuman Senses

Magical Plumbing

Animal Communication

Star Power

Firebrand

Shapeshifting

The Ability to Transform Toilet Brushes into Zippers

Materialization

Superhuman Stamina

Extensive Breath-Holding

Adaptability

Superhuman Dancing

Superhuman Longevity:

Dimensional Storage

Jumps

~Triple Jump

~Backflip

~Side Somersault

~Spin Jump

~Handstand

~Super Jump Punch

~Wall Jump

~Long Jump

~Ground Pound

~Ground Pound Jump

Super Mario

~White Firebrand

~Air Walking

~Doesn't need oxygen

~Increase in all stats

Armor:

Mario's Hat

A-OK Wear

DX POW Gloves

DX POW Boots

Weapons:

Ultra Hammer

F.L.U.D.D.

Koopa Shells

Super Scope

Plungers

Golden Plumber's Helper

Lightplunger

Spin Drill

Cannon Box

Piranha Plant

Karubi's Shoe

Excalibur

Grid Gavel

Flannel Phenom

Power-Ups:

Super Mushroom

Super Star

Rainbow Star

Cape Feather

Blue Koopa Shell

Mini Mushroom

Mega Mushroom

Boo Mushroom

Spring Mushroom

Red Star

Propeller Mushroom

Frog Suit

Penguin Suit

Cloud Flower

Rock Mushroom

Boomerang Flower

P-Acorn

Super Bell

Double Cherry

Power Balloon

Power Flower

Carrot

Super Flower

Hammer Suit

Tanooki Leaf

Tanooki Suit

Statue Leaf

P-Wing

Fire Flower

Bee Mushroom

Super Acorn

P-Acorn

Wing Cap

Metal Cap

Vanish Cap

Luigi Cap

Wario Cap

Invincibility Leaf

Lucky Bell

Gold Flower

EVEN MORE

Feats:

Destroyed Bowser's entire kingdom in less than fifteen minutes

Defeated all seven Koopalings at once

Defeated the Lord of Lightning

Slapped a 500 lb Bob-Omb about 1.5 miles into the air at speeds of 3,000 MPH

Strong enough to easily bend and break steel bars

Lifted 78 Ton King Bob-Omb

Held back a blow from a 31,137 ton robot with his bare hands

Ground-pounded meteoroids into oblivion

Picked up and threw a 46 ton boulder like it was nothing

Destroyed incredibly powerful robots with just a jump

Destroyed spaceships and even entire castles with just a few jumps and kicks

Easily holds up the 6.4 ton Snack Attack Luigi

Threw Bowser great distances

Kicked Bowser miles into the air

Reduced Gobblegut to dust

Shattered a giant ice crystal with one spin attack

Picked up and threw a 280,000 ton castle

Outran flowing lava

Outran an avalanche

Outran a soundwave unleashed by Bowser

Ran between two kingdoms in around a minute

Outraced several explosions

Also outran an artificial lightning bolt

Dodged blast of pure electricity

Dodged a radio wave attack

Dodged a literal burst of sunlight

Dodged seven lasers at once

Survived being frozen into a block of ice

Survived a blow that sent him to the other side of the planet

Withstood the Lord of Lightning's lightning breath, temperatures of 53,540 Degrees Fahrenheit

Fought a battle inside a black hole, wasn't affected

Fell to the planet's surface from space

Was hit by a Bob-Omb that blew up with 221,079.41 Tons of TNT

Was barely dazed after a 35,000 foot fall via warp pipe

Survived a massive explosion worth 84 kilotons of TNT

Defeated entire armies on several occasions

Flapped his arms hard enough to fly

Met Mark Twain, Frankenstein, Godzilla, Inspector Gadget, Crocodile Dundee, Dracula, Elvis Presley, Shabba-Do, Harry Blackstone Jr.

Reversed the flow of the Fountain of Youth

Can catch and fight invisible foes

Once ate 44 plates of spaghetti in one sitting

Destroyed a robot that could supposedly wipe out all life on the planet

Twirled a dinosaur, sent it into outer space

Defeats Bowser every week or so

Saved an entire alien race seven times

Was waterboarded for several minutes, and acted like it didn't even happen

Breathed on Bowser so hard, he was sent flying backward through a stone wall

Survived being crushed by a castle

Fought a battle in the middle of a star

Fought a battle inside a black hole

Has held more than twenty-four occupations

Plays over a dozen sports

Wielded planetoids as weapons

Survived the Vacuum of Space

Fought and destroyed entire armies single-handedly multiple times

Defeated Culex, earning the title of The World's Strongest Knight

Deemed worthy to use both The Golden Plunger and Excalibur

Crowned King of Cramalot

Trained Hercufleas, The Mushroom Planet equivalent to the Hercules of legend

Killed Demons

Defeated foes both Invincible and All-Powerful – with outside help

Somehow managed to survive being one of the most prominent characters on the CD-I

Jumped 20,000 feet into the air

Saved the President of the United States's life before even graduating from Plumber's Academy

Outplumbered the greatest plumber of all time

Dug straight through stone at 15 feet per second with plastic spoons

Did a bunch of stuff in 30 Minutes

Defeats Kamek all the time, one of the most powerful magicians, just ever

Escaped hell after dying

Defeats Donkey Kong all the time

Easily smashes through brick and metal alike

In a battle against Koopzilla, the two almost destroyed Sayonara

Spat a Goomba with enough force to knock out nine other enemies

Survived being turned to stone

Weaknesses:

Not bright

Plans don't work

Rash, generally doesn't think things through

Superiority Complex

Has been captured multiple times

Heavy weakness to light and heat – without his cap, even harsh sunlight can kill him

Not as good without his bro

Was defeated by Donkey Kong, when Donkey Kong was four

Claims he can't beat Luigi

Defeated by Bowser fourteen times

Defeated in battle by Princess Peach

Knocked out by Mega Man

Star Power has limits

Always hungry

Power-Ups don't last

Super State has a time limit

…

Sonic:

A poster flies in the wind, a picture of Sonic on the front. As a child picks it up and reads it, some words are shown on the poster in Sonic's own handwriting.

"Don't just sit there and waste your precious time. When you want to do something, do it right away. Do it when you can. It's the only way to live a life without regrets."

In 1987, the world of video games had changed. What was once a hip fad was turning into an industry, with one reason at the center: Mario. Rising from the ashes of the industry's previous mistakes, Super Mario Bros. took the world by storm and restored faith in the medium. Some companies didn't realize this and jumped ship when they could. Some companies started to realize this and wanted a piece of the pie. And some companies…just wanted to sell some games.

Sega was a fledgling video game company that had decidedly endured the crash of the industry. They were constantly insistent that if they could just make one big title, the world would rise again and they'd be hailed as heroes. Then a former playing card company entered the picture and did everything they'd been trying to and more. Naturally pretty miffed, Sega realized that it was doomed to be wiped from the market if it didn't do something, and fast. Nintendo had already released many big-name games and has nearly rebuilt the medium all by itself in just two years. Sega couldn't hope to reach something like that. That's when they realized something: there was only one way for an ant to get the attention of a giant. To bite it.

With the Super Nintendo Entertainment System coming soon, Sega launched the Sega Genesis, a high-powered home console capable of things the NES couldn't even dream of. At a cheaper price and with better hardware than even the SNES, they should have taken a large chunk of the market – but they didn't. Nintendo was too well-known, the people were too well-loved, and Mario games were just too good. Sega then launched its primary campaign – insulting Nintendo at every turn, and proving that their system was the superior one. Thus began the console wars. The playground arguments. The families that sided with one or the other. Nintendo had Donkey Kong Country, A Link to the Past, and Chrono Trigger, but Sega had Mortal Kombat, Toejam and Earl, and Gunstar Heroes. Sega did what Nintendon't – advertise religiously, appeal to the teenage and college camps, and not be afraid to stick up for themselves. Nintendo was well-known, but Sega piggybacked on that, draining away at their popularity like a vampire. Nintendo's people were well-loved, so Sega ruined them and displayed how much better their people were. And, for the biggest hurdle of all, they created a mascot who represented freedom, fun, and the ability to get over any hurdle at superhuman speeds.

Sonic the Hedgehog was created for one reason – to kill Mario.

And that's how this whole debate started.

But in the games, themselves, how was Sonic made? Was he a normal hedgehog who was mutated by an evil scientist's experiments? Was he a fictional character who came to life after a test pilot's accident? Was he a member of a royal family who was forced into hiding with his brother and sister as a baby? Was he born from the Chaos Force to stop the villainous Dr. Eggman? The truth is, nobody really knows. And it doesn't really matter. Sonic's purpose is to fight for freedom, his true love his having fun, and he'll risk the world's safety just for some entertainment – and the universe's safety to help a friend. That's what matters, because that's who he is. Sonic has the uncanny ability to make anyone into a friend – a bullied nine-year-old fox who loves machines, a pink-haired stalker who risks her life for anyone, a red echidna who originally just wanted to kill him, a naïve rabbit and her chao best friend, a paranoid badger who lives in a mud hut, and even a darkened hedgehog whose entire personality is based on pain, loss, – and the refusal to make friends. Together, the lot of them are capable of taking on any threat to the planet – or any bowling league.

Sonic is a fun-loving hedgehog with a big ego and a bigger heart.

Percy looks up at the blue hedgehog that had stopped to help her. "Are you-"

Sonic wastes no time in an answer. "Yep. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog, fastest hero in the world, purveyor of justice, righter of wrongs, eater of chili dogs." He spreads his hands out in a not-so-humble manner.

And, being a freedom fighter above almost anything else, he's the one everyone calls to stop Dr. Eggman, a balding scientist who traps animals in robots in order to…somehow help him take over the world. And Sonic is more than capable of defeating him and his armies every time. His thing is speed. Sure, he has incredible levels of strength and is virtually unkillable, but his speed is what he always focuses on and what makes it almost impossible to defeat him. And holy crap, is he fast. His hypersonic speeds have garnered attention and numbers of around 6,700 MPH, but he's proven his worth by going several steps beyond that number. He's run between continents in mere minutes, moved faster than enhanced robotic eyes can see on a casual basis, and outsped a rocket car during a race to such an extent, he moved faster than the eye could track in order to cross the finish line well ahead of the car, danced a while, jumped up to the camera, took several pictures, and then went back in order to make the race seem like a tie. Wow. Just wow. More impressively, while waiting on a chess move from Knuckles, he decided to run around the surface of the spaceship he was in. By following his trail, approximating the size, and dividing by time, Sonic must have been moving a bare minimum of 16,000 MPH. And even that speaks nothing of his full potential, which we'll get to soon enough.

Sonic's fighting style is based off of capoeira (a martial art that uses distraction and surprise strikes to be unpredictable), taekwondo (fast and deadly kicks), and…breakdancing. He's combined all three of these into his own personal martial art that, through pure speed and unpredictability, has proven itself against nearly any opponent. He's also mastered a martial art known as Linshao Kung Fu. This martial art is so difficult to learn that the founder and sole teacher of the fighting style couldn't find anyone on the planet capable of handling it. And Sonic mastered it in two days! What makes it so dangerous is that it's dedicated almost entirely to speedy and precise strikes – making a proper master capable of handling any superior fighter just by dodging their moves and hitting a couple of points on their bodies. With his own fighting style, Sonic has proven himself against technically superior fighters, including the likes of Espio, Rouge, and even Emerl, who had the programmed martial arts of almost every major Sonic character – including Sonic!

Sonic doesn't just use pure martial arts, though. He mixes his own specialty moves into them to make for an even more unpredictable and deadly fighting style. His trademark technique is the Spin Dash, where he curls up into a spiky ball of pain and zooms ahead at breakneck speeds. He can also curl up to use the Spin Attack and Homing Attack, where he zooms ahead and delivers a powerful blow to all foes in the vicinity, one at a time. With the Boost, he becomes a living projectile of pain, with the Light Speed Dash, he can go from 700 MPH to the speed of light in a microsecond, and, by charging the Spin Dash longer, he can perform the Super Spin Dash, which is basically a mix of a Spin Dash and a Boost. It has shorter range but is much more powerful – capable of one-shotting castle-sized robots. While he used to require a ring in order to perform this move, these days he can do it on a whim.

This dude has a lot more that's superhuman about him, though, He can reach outer space with a single jump, utilize windshears as projectiles, and whip up entire tornadoes with just a kick! Also, thanks to the Chaos Force (trust me, we are so going to talk about that later), he can throw out multiple miniature chaos projectiles that explode upon impact. He can also vibrate his molecules to incredible speeds, kick-starting their regenerative properties in order to heal his wounds, or turning invisible. He can even vibrate them fast enough to become intangible and pass through solid objects! His kinetic energy is so powerful, things will sometimes explode just by being nearby him, and he can cause dozens of robots to explode just by running past them – or run around them so fast, the heated kinetic energy in the air forces them to melt into a puddle and sets Sonic completely on fire so hot that it can also melt metal! Heck, he's powered up entire windmill farms just by jumping past them! And his senses are so good, he can fight on par with even invisible enemies or hear a gunshot on the other side of the world. How? HOW? He's also a surprisingly good strategist for someone who always comes in fists swinging. He's proven many times that he can defeat virtually any foe even when there's only one possible way to do so, and has been able to pinpoint even really specific and strange weaknesses in just a couple of minutes.

As he and Metal Sonic literally butt heads, both attempting to shove the other back, Sonic tells his clone exactly what he thinks of his robotic move-predicting clone.

"You might know everything I'm going to do, but that's not going to help you since I know everything YOU'RE going to do! STRANGE, ISN'T IT?!"

With all that skill, Sonic has done many…many crazy things. With a single Spin Dash, he barreled straight through three building-sized robots, destroying them all with one blow. He's killed dozens of mythical creatures, and even robotic mythical creatures! Over his years of battling Eggman and protecting the world, he's destroyed hundreds, no, thousands, of incredibly powerful robots. He's even one-shotted a giant robot that could level skyscrapers by backhanding them! He's survived dozens of explosions capable of destroying buildings, skyscrapers, and even castles, and his skin is so tough, even freaking lightsabers don't hurt him! No, I'm not kidding – Eggman invented lightsabers and used one in a battle against Sonic, and Sonic just took a bunch of hits from it and knocked out Eggman with a single Spin Attack, then blew up Eggman's base and just ran out with no visible damage whatsoever.

He's defeated his fair share of powerful foes, including Sticks, Amy, and Knuckles all at the same time! He constantly defeats his more powerful robot clone, Metal Sonic, and even beat Perfect Chaos, a being powered by pure Chaos Energy who could wipe out a city in one attack. He's taken out a massive robot that literally consumes satellites, destroyed Eggman's entire Egg Armada in less than three minutes, and annihilated half of the United Nation's armed forces in five. He's killed the crap out of a dragon a hundred times bigger than him, held off an entire robotic invasion while also delivering fast food, knocked over a 5,000 ton duck robot by elbowing it, and his Spin Dash is powerful enough to drill through the entire planet in a matter of seconds! For that matter, his Boost can force a giant near-unbreakable robot over five hundred feet backwards, and his Super Spin Dash can drill through a magical alien ice that's directly stated to be harder than diamond. Given the size of the hole and the speed with which it was dug, doing so would have taken around 8,120,000 tons of force! He commonly defeats Shadow, who can knock out the entire rest of Team Sonic at once in less than five minutes, and a single clash between the two of them obliterated an entire city block! Another clash between him and Metal Sonic lopped off a massive chunk of a mountain that (estimated by ScrewAttack and, as always, double-checked by yours truly) would take around 200 kilotons of TNT to do.

And all of this was without any of his specialty equipment or power-ups.

Let's get to power-ups first. With the Fire power, he can throw fireballs, with Ice, he can throw ice balls that freeze foes solid, and with Lightning he zaps his enemies with electricity. He uses the Illusion power-up to magically distort his opponent's vision, the Rocket Shows to fly for a few seconds, the Pogo Spring to reach new heights with his jumps, and the Invincibility power-up to become completely invulnerable for about 20 seconds. Touching a normal foe in this state will instantly kill it. He also has several shields that perform different functions. His normal Blue Shield deflects projectiles and can take one hit before popping. Every other shield he owns has these properties, as well. Such as the Red Shield, which protects from heat, the Bubble Shield, which lets him breathe underwater, the Heart Shield, which damages nearby enemies, and the Yellow Shield, which protects against electricity, gives Sonic a magnetic field, and allows a mid-air double-jump.

He also can utilize Hyper-Go-On, a magical energy source produced by aliens called Wisps, to transform into a variety of forms. With Cyan, he turns into an actual laser beam, moving at the speed of light and bouncing off of reflective surfaces, with Yellow, he turns into a massive drill that can go through mountains in seconds, with Purple, he becomes…Arcade Pac-Man, basically, and with Ivory, he turns into living electricity, able to manipulate other forms of electrical energy and travel through them like they were thin air. Indigo makes him into a miniature planet, Violet makes him a miniature black hole, and Orange makes him a miniature rocket. Finally, with Red, he can manipulate fire and form a variety of fiery attacks and even create massive explosions.

Aside from all those power-ups, he wears several pieces of specialized equipment for the sole purpose of making him even more powerful. He wears the Golden Gloves, which increases his strength by 37.5% and his durability by 14.3%. The Flame Ring makes him even stronger, the Ancient Light allows him to sense all foes in the vicinity, and the Immunity Idol is a charm he holds that grants immunity from any and all status effects. Being poisoned, slowed, frozen, stopped in time, OHKO'd, frozen, cursed, and so on are all impossible.

And while he's worn many different pairs of shoes over the years, his best are undoubtedly the Custom Shoes. Not only are they capable of sustaining his insane speeds without any kind of effect, but they can be equipped with several different gems to grant supernatural abilities to Sonic. He can only have one equipped at a time, but can switch between any of them on a whim, so it doesn't matter all that much. The Sky Gem gives Sonic a gem that he can throw and teleport to instantly, the White Gem allows him to hover in mid-air, and the Blue Gem doubles his already insane speeds. More powerful is the Red Gem, which slows down time for the whole world except for Sonic for however long Sonic wishes. The Purple Gem reduces Sonic to the size of thimble while somehow retaining strength, speed, and durability AND allows him to jump…forever! He can infinitely jump off of absolutely nothing, reaching anywhere, given enough time. But perhaps his best gem is the Yellow Gem. You know those shields we talked about earlier? Well, with this gem, he can get one…whenever he wants. Seriously. Someone hits the shield and breaks it, and Sonic just summons a new one instantly. This makes him virtually invincible in combat – though a fast enough opponent can still get through it and it is a little difficult to land his own blows with it up.

As far as weapons go, he holds several different kinds of bombs, including heat-seeking missiles and landmines. He also wields a duplicate of Amy's Piko Piko Hammer, which he uses to smash meteors out of the sky, some supersticky glue (not kidding), a wristwatch that he can use for wireless communication and to feed off of the gravity of the surrounding area, an Enerbeam (which is basically a grappling hook made out of kinetic energy), and a mech suit developed by an ancient civilization. This suit can nearly match the asteroid-busting Knuckles in strength, has an energy shield that's practically indestructible, has launchable fists, a barrage of missiles, a powerful laser beam, and can even fly!

But his most powerful weapon he's ever wielded is Excalibur. This magical sword that, yes, is supposedly the same Excalibur from long ago (but is actually quite a bit better) cloaks Sonic in golden armor and has its fair share of neat powers. Not only is it sentient, but it's unbreakable, can create forcefields, deflect and counter magic, absorb his foes' powers, slow down time, and is directly stated as being able to cut through anything. With this weapon at his side, Sonic defeated the Dark Queen, who was powerful enough to destroy the entire planet!

But hey, even without equipment, Sonic's proven himself exceptionally well. Particularly with his speed. You've gotten a taste of what he can do already, but this blue hedgehog's limits go far beyond what we've already stated. Now, Sonic's speed is somewhat controversial, so we've decided to exclusively go with the numbers we get from measuring his feats, and, just to be sure our general numbers are accurate, I've calculated no less than SEVENTY-EIGHT different well-known speed feats just for base form Sonic WITHOUT any extra equipment! And the result? Well…um, he's fast, but in patterns. It's strange, but all of his feats seem to land squarely in one of three categories. You'll see what I mean.

Let's show off a few of these feats. You've already seen the slow ones, so let's go to some of the more interesting bits. One day, Eggman was feeling bad about losing to Sonic all the time, so he slowed down time to a near-halt to give himself plenty of time to beat Sonic in something before the end of the year - and even though characters like the supersonic Amy were almost completely frozen, Sonic remained relatively unaffected. Even a laser beam was ridiculously slow in this timeframe! Similar lasers throughout the show moved at around 400 MPH, and this one, judging from our one close-up shot, took a full second to move just two and a half inches! This feat, in particular, indicates a speed decrease of 15,644.4x, and Sonic was still able to move at around 20 MPH while dancing, meaning that in normal speed, he should be able to move at around 313,000 MPH! But this is hardly the only time he's shown speed like that. He's run so fast that time itself seems to stop several times. During one of these instances, he moved about thirteen meters in, judging from the flap of this butterfly's wings, 1/12000th of a second – putting his speed at 350,000 MPH. Another time, he went to go get some berries on the other side of his home island, reached the spot, and ran all the way back with the berries in tow in just half a second! When he was forced to move at normal human speeds, it took him two days to reach that spot, even though he started from a far closer location! Sure, he took several breaks and got lost once, but even if we lowball that distance to be 25 miles away, that still puts Sonic's speed at 360,000 MPH. During a battle against Chaos, he jumped up seriously high into the sky and zoomed around so fast, he looked like a full-on lightning storm. The aerosphere is approximately 2 miles off the ground, so by measuring these bolts of light, their distance from each other and the ground and approximating the path of least resistance, stacking them and dividing by the time it took to move that far, Sonic must have been moving at least 370,800 MPH! And one time, he ran around Mobius in just four seconds flat – since Mobius (Sonic's planet) is just a future/alternate version of Earth (depending on the timeline), it must be the same size as Earth. That puts Sonic's speed at 374,000 MPH.

So, yeah. A pretty big leap from 16,000 MPH – and I didn't even mention like, sixteen feats that all land around 350,000 MPH! But that's just the second category. Do you want to know how fast he goes in the third consistent speed category?

Do you really?

One time, Sonic decided he wanted to play Santa and, in under an hour, delivered millions of presents across the globe. In the process, he ran around the entire globe no less than fifteen times in two seconds! That measures out at 672,327,000 MPH – just barely faster than the speed of light. And that's not all. He outran a literal laser beam from Metal Sonic (which does canonically move at light speed), outran the pull of four different black holes, outran a Cyan Wisp Laser (which, again, moves at light speed), moved so fast that Espio's ninja senses couldn't sense him approaching (and they can literally sense the movements of sunlight) and once outright outran a beam of sunlight and his own shadow. Oh, and to defeat a massive impossibly-powerful robot, he grabbed a wire, jumped up into the clouds, and caught a lightning bolt in the wire, which then harnessed the electricity (which again, moves at the speed of light) and it began travelling through the wire. And Sonic just dropped the wire, ran to the other end of the wire, and wrapped it around the robot, all before electricity had even made it halfway through!

So, yes, Sonic is very definitely faster than light. Seventeen separate feats in unrelated scenarios can't be just discounted off-hand because you don't want to believe it. Oh, yeah, and in case you're still skeptical, the canonical Super Interactive Annual 2014 Book labels him as faster than light in base form. So there's that.

There is somewhat of a legitimate explanation for those three categories, I suppose. See, Sonic is ridiculously cocky and will almost always hold back just to make this more fun for himself. So, what's he capable of when he totally lets loose? Well, some pretty scary things. You remember Metal Sonic, a robot clone of Sonic designed to surpass him in every way? Well, Sonic outmatches that thing anyway all the time, which should be impossible. I mean, you'd think that this guy's own nemesis would know his limitations, right? But apparently Sonic was just holding back that entire time. Oh, and then there was the time he found two of his best friends captured and about to be tortured. And then this happened.

Two sleek Metarex robots, one gold and one silver, stand in front of Sonic and Black Narcissus.

"It is time for the experiment," Black Narcissus declares. "These two Metarex were designed by me especially for this occasion. Gold will test your strength, and Silver, your speed."

Sonic grows angrier by the moment as Black Narcissus drawls on. "I based my Metarex's designs on data that was collected during previous battles against you. I'm eager to see if they're powerful enough to defeat you!"

Head still bent, knees still on the floor, Sonic turns to look at Black Narcissus with maniacal laughter in his eyes. "All right then," he replies, chuckling. "Let's test them out!"

Suddenly he vanishes and the silver robot is sliced straight through the middle, and then blown to pieces by an invisible force. The golden robot recoils in fear, but before it can move, something faster than any of them can see hits him with over a dozen blows. He, too, is turned to scraps. Both robots have been destroyed in less than three seconds.

From the smoke, something speaks.

"Looks like you'll have to go back to the drawing board!"

And no, he didn't use a transformation to do that – he's never shown that infamous "Dark Sonic" form anywhere else, anytime else, many characters from the show assumed similarly dark auras when angry, and his and Eggman's conversation afterwards heavily implies Sonic was just angry. It was just an animation technique. But it does show just how powerful Sonic can get when he lets loose.

And just because that wasn't a transformation doesn't mean Sonic doesn't transform. The guy's had several superpowered forms over the years, but let's stick to the best ones. Sonic the Werehog trades out speed for incredible strength and stretchy limbs – but Sonic kinda lost that form after defeating the mountain-sized deity Dark Gaia. He can, however, become Darkspine Sonic by equipping three of the crazy-powerful World Rings. Darkspine Sonic can fly, has enhanced physical abilities, and pyrokinetic abilities. He can also slow down his perception of time to improve his reactions and activate an additional magical mode that doubles his speed. He used this form to defeat a magical genie that had gained insane powers from fictional worlds – enough power to warp reality at his whim! But Darkspine Sonic was able to grab his most powerful attack and just send it flying back at him form sheer strength alone! Though it should be noted that Darkspine Sonic could also warp that specific reality, and therefore his powers could have countered the genie's.

But that hardly matters, because Darkspine Sonic is nowhere near as powerful as Sonic's true ultimate form.

Only achievable through usage of the Chaos Emeralds (magical emeralds that act as doorways to the all-powerful Chaos Force), Sonic's golden Super State wields power beyond anything he could have previously done. By harnessing his own essence as an embodiment of chaos and using the positive energy of the Chaos Emeralds, he achieves the legendary form of Super Sonic.

Super Sonic can fly, is unbelievably strong, virtually impossible to defeat, and has abilities that put all his others to shame. Hey, you know the Egg Carrier? This massive battleship of destruction marks the pinnacle of Eggman's design capability. Basically impossible to harm and the size of a city, it holds legions of armed forces and enough firepower to cause cataclys-

Super Sonic destroyed the whole thing with a one move.

One move.

Super Sonic is strong enough to move the mountain-sized Dark Gaia nearly 100,000 feet backwards with one attack, fast enough to travel between planets in seconds, and durable enough to take the full force of the falling Space Colony ARK while Shadow was busy having PTSD. According to Eggman, if this moon-sized space station hit Earth/Mobius at the speeds it was going at, it would smash the planet to pieces. This means that Super Sonic was able to take the full brunt of around 53 Quadrillion Megatons of Force – and not only resist it, but push it back! In a battle against Super Shadow, the two's clashes created a massive anomaly similar to a black hole, and when they worked together, they could destroy a planetoid that had absorbed the full power of the Master Emerald and millions of planet eggs (each of which holds the energy of an entire planet). This living planet was so powerful, it was capable of destroying all life in the galaxy! And even it was no match against the combined might of Super Sonic and Super Shadow. Super Sonic alone has defeated insanely powerful beings, some of which were considered deities. This includes the Nega Mother Wisp (which, by scaling through tunnel vision, was a quarter the size of the Earth), a massive robot that had absorbed the power of six chaos emeralds (Sonic destroyed that one within a couple of seconds), Ultimate G-merl (the most powerful robot in the galaxy), the Time Eater (who could warp and destroy the fabric of space-time) and he one-shotted the incredibly powerful Imperiator Ix, even after Ix activated his own Super State via the Master Emerald! Alongside other Super State users, he's killed the Sun God Solaris, and the shapeshifting ability-stealing Metal Overlord.

And his Super Form comes with a boatload of awesome powers! He can unleash a powerful kamehameha-like blast of Chaos Energy, heal others, create energy shields, and with attacks like the Super Sonic Boost and Arrow of Light, he moves so fast, even gods can't see him! Best of all, though, is Chaos Control. Since the Chaos Force is interwoven in space-time, controlling it with the Chaos Force allows Sonic to…well, control space-time. He can teleport vast distances, make himself physically more powerful be enhancing his blows, pull a broken planet back together, and even slow down time – or just stop it entirely for nineteen straight seconds. And while this form used to come with a time limit of less than a minute, he's used it for three days straight with no ill effects. It has been defeated once or twice before to the likes of Dark Oak and Chaosbot, but both eventually fell to its might later anyway.

But even that's not Sonic's most powerful form.

The Master Emerald holds just as much power as the seven Chaos Emeralds combined and controls them all, limiting their power output when necessary. When their power output is no longer limited, they become Super Emeralds, and utilizing them transforms Sonic into Hyper Sonic. Hyper Sonic is immensely powerful, capable of tearing holes in space-time, and is supposedly better than Super Sonic in every category. He's also completely invulnerable and has a move called Hyper Flash, which unleashes a burst of Chaos Energy that strikes everywhere he sees and kills whatever it touches instantly. Obviously, Hyper Sonic is OP as crap – though the time limit returns in this form. Sonic can't even last a full minute in it without a steady supply of rings. Still, when he comes out of either Super or Hyper form, he's completely refreshed and healed up, so even if he runs out of time, he still gets a recharge.

And it's not like he's not impressive when he's not in a Super State. Even in base form, he's fast enough to cross into other dimensions, strong enough to obliterate massive battleships, and tough enough to take the full force of the Egg Carrier's front-loaded cannon (which can, at the very least, wipe out a city block) without a scratch! He survived a beating by the reality-warping Infinite, a point-blank explosion from a giant Eggman-made bomb, and being punched dozens of times and fully beaten up by a robot with the power of six Chaos Emeralds. That bomb one was particularly impressive, since Eggman stated it was more powerful than any bomb he'd ever made, which had to include the missile he launched in Sonic Adventure, which was powerful enough to destroy the entirety of Station Square. Station Square has a population of around 3 Million, and is based off of real-life New York City, so we can assume the two are of similar sizes. The amount of explosive energy require to destroy all of New York City measures out at 628 kilotons of TNT – and that bomb Sonic survived has to be more powerful than that.

Sonic's willpower alone is powerful enough to make him almost totally immune to mind dominance, and his strength is great enough to effortlessly tie knots in the cannons of tanks. He's survived dozens of blows by a meteor-sized monster, being impaled several times, and having a castle collapse on top of him. He even shook off a blow containing the full power of the seven Chaos Emeralds and was struck by six anti-aircraft missiles at once and acted like it didn't even happen. Oh, and let's not forget about the three separate times he's entered into a black hole and wasn't affected in the least. He's tossed cars miles into the air, knocked over a massive sandstone golem with one kick, and matched and surpassed the strength of the E-18 Robot, which was not only a hundred times his size and made of metal, but was also powered by two Chaos Emeralds. So, yeah. He's proven fast enough not just to outrun lasers, but to dodge hundreds of them at once – dozens of times! He's defeated Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, Omega, Silver – aw, heck, just name a random Sonic character and chances are pretty good that Sonic's wrecked them at least once.

But most impressively, he fought Ultimate Emerl. You may remember that regular Emerl had the combined skills and martial arts of every main Sonic character. However, Ultimate Emerl was the fully ascended form of this robot, and not only held the skill of every major Sonic character, but also their strength, speed, durability, and superpowers – plus all seven Chaos Emeralds, the energy from a few supernovas, and over 4,000 years of war data and abilities stacked on top of all of that! Ultimate Emerl effortlessly defeated the majority of Sonic's team and smashed the Master Emerald to pieces with a single blow. And Sonic defeated him in less than thirty seconds.

WHAT. HOW. I DON'T EVEN…HOW?!

So, it sounds like Sonic's unbeatable, right? Well, almost. Sonic has his fair share of issues that can be exploited by smarter opponents, which is how Eggman's still able to stay in the game despite being nowhere near Sonic's level of power. He's ridiculously cocky, easily distracted, fairly impulsive, an enormous show-off, and loves to pick a fight – he literally spends all day just waiting for Eggman to attack, and will bargain the safety of the world just to get some action in his life when cooped up for too long. He's been defeated before, including by Infinite, Shadow, and Knuckles, even though those last two are certainly below his power level – just because he didn't take them seriously. Heck, he was even outright killed by a single attack from Mephiles! Also, his speed is everything to him – and there are ways to counter it. He has his fair share of trouble with slippery surfaces, and without his shoes to contain his movement's energy, his own frictional force will kill him. Also, if you can break his legs, well, he ain't going to be running too fast. But, strangely enough, his biggest weakness is water. Pools, lakes, rivers, oceans, any of those will do the trick. For some weird reason, even though every once in a while he can run over water, the vast majority of the time he sinks like a stone even at full speed, and can't escape no matter what he does. Yeah, he can breathe in space, but not underwater. None of that makes sense, but it's all true. Maybe his connection to the Chaos Force has given him a huge weakness against water or something, but Shadow, who has a way deeper connection to the Chaos Force, can swim, so…there's no real explanation.

Also, though it's no fault of his own, Sonic suffers from having a fanbase that overestimates and overhypes every feat he has. Just because the screen cut to black doesn't mean everything previous happened in less than a second! That makes no sense! Super Sonic isn't omniversal in speed because he can beat up Time Eater, who could POTENTIALLY destroy a universe by SPECIFICALLY destroying space-time. And Solaris isn't omnipotent – the only reason he stood so much of a threat to the multiverse was because he existed outside of time, and was therefore theoretically able to get the timeline to collapse entirely, and since time and space are intertwined, that would destroy the multiverse. It's a specific power, not "destroy the universe with one punch cause he's so strong." And Metal Sonic flying from Little Planet to Mobius doesn't make him hundreds of times faster than light. Little Planet is at least 1/10th the size of our moon, and appears 23x bigger than the moon in the background of Sonic 4 Episode II. Therefore, to cross that distance in 17 seconds, Metal was moving at 220,000 MPH. No more. Sonic didn't run to the edge of the universe in Sonic & the Secret Rings – he ran fast enough break the dimensional barrier and cross over to his dimension. He's done that before, so why not here? And that SPD thing with the Light Speed Dash is clearly a case of gameplay over lore. If Sonic was really consistently moving at 7.6x the speed of light, he'd have crossed the planets hundreds of times in far less time than it takes to complete one level. Hey, even that feat of beating Ultimate Emerl doesn't mean he can destroy stars – it just means he's technically capable of beating someone who can.

And, finally, there's a reason Sonic formed a team. He makes many mistakes, and is often reliant on his friends to help him out of situations he can't work himself out of. Without them, he's always at a slight disadvantage.

But only a slight one. Sonic has lived up to his claim of being the fastest thing alive many times over, and has proven his skill, power, and dedication to freedom and all that deserves it with every chance he's gotten. Sonic will not be held to any predetermined destiny – in fact, even though he was made to topple Mario, the two have become friends on equal footing. Sonic won't let anybody, not even his own creators, stand in the way of freedom. Mario may have created the video game industry, but it was Sonic who made sure it lasted.

Few stand a chance against the hero of everyone who fights for what they believe in.

Sir Percival lands gracefully in front of Sonic and holds her sword out to challenge him. "I am Percival, Knight of the Round Table, Servant of King Arthur." She narrows her eyes. "State your name and your master, sir!"

Sonic holds his blade out to his right. "I'm Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog!" He matches her eyes with his own unyielding gaze. "I have no master, except the wind that blows free!"

Sonic:

Name: Sonic the Hedgehog

Species: Hedgehog (Mutated via Chaos Force)

Height: 3'3"/100 cm

Weight: 77 lb/35 kg

Age: Typically 16

Occupation: Freedom Fighter, Policeman, Knight of the Wind

Favorite Food: Chili Dogs

Dated a human

Master surfer/surfboarder

Formed three bands

Is actually another version of King Arthur. No, I'm not kidding.

Abilities:

Superhuman Strength

Superhuman Speed

Superhuman Durability

Superhuman Senses

Animal Communication

Chaos Force

Chaos Projectiles

Can breathe in space

Superhuman Stamina

Adaptability

Dimensional Storage

Superhuman Jumping

Aerokinesis

Resistance to Mental Manipulation

Darkspine Sonic

~Pyrokinesis

~Boost in stats

~Storybook Reality Warping

~Flight

~Speed Break

~Time Break

Super Sonic

~Flight

~Chaos Blast

~Boost all stats

~Healing Others

~Chaos Control

~Arrow of Light

~Deflect

~Chaos Regeneration

~Turbo Boost

~Super Sonic Spinning

~Super Sonic Boost

~Invisible Eye Blasts

Hyper Sonic

~Everything Super Sonic Has++

~Hyper Flash

Armor:

Golden Gloves

Immunity Idol

Speedy Sneakers

Flame Ring

Magic Gloves

Ancient Light

Custom Shoes

~Green Gem

~Red Gem

~Blue Gem

~Purple Gem

~Sky Gem

~White Gem

~Yellow Gem

~Light Chip

~Antigravity

Weapons:

Blue Ark of the Cosmos

Enerbeam

Landmines

Piko Piko Hammer

Bombs

Supersticky Glue

Self-Propelled Bombs

Ancient Mech Suit

Speed Star

Blue Force One

Excalibur

Power-Ups:

Hyper-Go-On

~Cyan

~Yellow

~Indigo

~Purple

~Violet

~Red

~Ivory

Fire

Ice

Illusion

Lightning

Invincibility

Pogo Spring

Rocket Shoes

Shields

~Blue

~Yellow

~Red

~Heart

~Bubble

Feats:

Destroyed thousands of incredibly powerful robots

Killed a dragon a hundred times his size with absolute ease

Defeated Ultimate Emerl

Won races against Metal Sonic

Defeated Eggman's Egg Armada in less than three minutes

Dodged hundreds of laser blasts at once many times

Melted a robot by running around it

Ran fast enough to cause earthquakes

Defeated Perfect Chaos in base form

Destroyed four castle-sized robots with one spin dash

In a battle with Metal Sonic, chopped off chunk of mountain

Pulverized a space robot that was big enough and powerful enough to literally eat satellites

One-shotted a giant battleship well over 1000x his size

Casually outruns Bullet Trains, Jets, and Rockets

Kicked Eggman's pod beyond the horizon, many many times

Kicked a castle-sized robot beyond the horizon

Cut through four giant trees at once just by spinning his legs around nearby them

Matched and defeated Shadow many times

With Knuckles, blocked an energy ray capable of setting off a world-destroying event

Ran faster than the concept of time

Destroyed half of the United Nation's entire air fleet in under a minute

Defeated Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks at the same time

Held off a robotic invasion while delivering fast food

After being tortured for months, he broke out and was more powerful than ever

Got swallowed by a 2,000 ton snake, killed it from within

Ran around a lake fast enough to separate the water at an atomic level

Drilled through ice harder than diamond

Casually entered and raced around inside a black hole

Had a castle collapse on top of him

Shakes off falls from outer space like they were nothing

Was struck by six anti-aircraft missiles at once and came out unscathed

Frozen into a block of ice and was fine

Survived several blows from a fully-powered Eggsterminator
Survived Eggman N-101 Missile

Survived Eggman's most powerful bomb
With Shadow, defeated Metarex Scarship

Survived 42,000,000 Megaton explosion of Scarship

Survived a beatdown by five of his most powerful foes at once

Matched and surpassed the strength of the E-18 Robot, which was not only a hundred times his size and made of metal, but was also powered by two Chaos Emeralds

Kicked a 2-ton car 23 ft into the air effortlessly

Effortlessly tears apart steel robots

Knocked down a 5000 ton sandstone golem with one kick

Knocked down a massive duck robot with an elbow

Grabbed the barrel of a STS tank and tied a knot in it with zero effort

Effortlessly matched the strength of Super Metal Sonic

Regular running speed is 3000 spd, which is 6711 MPH.

Reached space with one leap

Outran a wisp that literally transformed into a laser beam

Covered almost every square foot of North America in under 12 hours in search for a location on a poster

Outmatched the power of the essence of all evil

Survived bombardment by meteors

Outran a black hole's pull four times

Outran literal beams of sunlight

Outran his own shadow

Moved faster than Espio could track

Took fifteen laps around the planet is two seconds

Outraced a bolt of pure electricity

Outran a literal laser fired by Metal Sonic

Dodged gunfire from an army

Saved everyone who lived on and/or worked on Prison Island in less than a minute

Literally runs fast enough to enter other dimensions and planes of reality

Ran to grab some berries in a distant location, got them, and made it back in about half a second

Ran around his home planet in four seconds

Ran so fast time seemed to stop entirely

Dropped his Chili Dog and destroyed several robots and grabbed it before it hit the floor

Moved fast enough to look like a lightning storm

Feats (Super Sonic):

Defeated Time Eater, who consumes timelines

Defeated several other Super State users

Defeated Metal Overlord alongside Hyper Knuckles and Super Tails

Defeated Final Hazard alongside Super Shadow

Defeated Ultimate G-merl

Defeated Solaris with Super Shadow and Super Silver

Defeated Dark Gaia

Defeated the Nega Mother Wisp

Teleported a moon-sized Space Colony ARK w/ Super Shadow

Knocked Perfect Dark Gaia back 100,000 feet

Obliterated a battleship with one hit

Caught a blow from the Eggsterminator's building-sized arm with one hand and smashed the whole robot to pieces in a nuclear-sized explosion

Destroyed Eggman's entire Egg Fleet in less than a minute

Held back the falling Space Colony ARK

With Super Shadow, destroyed planetoid that could wipe out all life in the galaxy

Weaknesses:

Super cocky

Huge show-off

Impulsive

Easily Distracted

Loves danger

Water is a serious danger

Defeated by Shadow

Defeated by Knuckles

Defeated by Infinite

Killed by Mephiles

Several feats have not been accomplished alone

Requires his shoes to manage the frictional force he creates – without them, he can't go super fast, or his own kinetic energy will destroy him

Doesn't do slippery surfaces

Break his legs, and he can't run

Super State has time limit

Hyper State has far worse time limit

…

All right, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all. It's time…for a Death Battle!

…

On an empty field in the middle of the Mushroom Kingdom, a Warp Pipe sprouted out of the ground. With a mighty leap and a "Yahoo!" Mario burst out from the pipe and landed in the grass as the Warp Pipe descended once more. There were a few seconds of delay before the air began to vibrate rapidly, and with a powerful burst in the dimensional fabric, Sonic raced through to this land, and stopped about ten feet from Mario.

Sonic crossed his arms. "So, we're finally settling this once and for all?"

Mario cracked his knuckles. "Right here, right now." He dug a 1-Up Mushroom out of his dimensional storage space and threw it to Sonic, who caught it mid-air with one hand. "Don't worry about yourself; I've got plenty."

Sonic put the 1-Up Mushroom into his own dimensional space. "Oh, trust me, plumber. You're going to need this one."

Mario entered a boxer's classic fighting stance while Sonic rested his arms behind his head. "We'll see about that."

Mario and Sonic both raced ahead, Mario readying a powerful punch and Sonic readying a powerful kick.

-FIGHT!-

The punch and kick connected, creating a shockwave that shoved both combatants back. Sonic raced ahead again and dove into a homing attack at Mario, who backflipped out of the way and dove down halfway through, setting himself on fire and barreling into Sonic. Sonic took the advantage to grab Mario's overalls and headbutt him backwards, then followed it up with an instant barrage of kicks. Mario was knocked back and unleashed several ultra-fast punches, each of which Sonic countered with ease. Mario jumped backwards and threw out dozens of fireballs, but Sonic was too fast for them. He deftly dodged every single one of them with a smile. Mario threw out dozens more and then dozens of Koopa Shells at Sonic. "Dodge those!"

"Why would I do that?" Sonic called out casually. His shoes suddenly switched colors to yellow and a yellow shield appeared around him. Every projectile hit the shield and bounced off instantly. Sonic dove ahead, but Mario activated the Tanooki Suit and flew into the air before turning into a statue and falling back down to the ground. Sonic Spin Dashed out of the way, but Mario turned back instantly after hitting the floor and tail-whipped the shield away. Before Sonic could reactivate the shield, Mario activated the Super Flower and lobbed several into Sonic's shield as it was going up. The magic balls bounced around constantly inside the shield, striking Sonic several times before he finally switched to the Sky Gem. Mario pulled out the Super Scope and unleashed several blasts of plasma at Sonic, but Sonic thought fast and threw the gem into the air, then teleported to it before any of the blasts could hit him. He activated the powers of the Red Wisp and unleashed an explosion of fire at Mario, knocking him over and ridding him of his power-up, and then hit the Super Scope with several homing attacks until it was warped to the point of uselessness.

Sonic threw out several fireballs at Mario, who countered with his own and then powered up and unleashed a massive fireball attack several times his size. The attack coated Sonic in flames…until he burst through it wearing the Red Shield. Sonic used the Boost attack to ram into Mario several times until Mario used his Penguin Suit to throw out several ice balls. The first ball broke the shield and the second struck Sonic, freezing him solid – for about half a second before the Immunity Idol kicked in and the ice shattered. Sonic shot forward with a Boost as Mario did a belly-slide, and both rammed into each other at breakneck speeds. Both went flying back in pain, with Mario's Penguin Suit vanishing.

"Let's see if you can keep up with this!" Sonic shouted out. He pressed a button on his wristwatch, and a massive mech suit suddenly fell from the sky and landed next to him. Sonic hopped inside instantly, and the mech closed off and launched several missiles at Mario. Mario jumped up a hundred feet into the air and pulled out the Flannel Phenom. As he fell, he closed one eye and fired a bust of energy into the robot – that promptly bounced off of its shield. Mario fell back to the ground and Sonic unleashed a powerful laser beam, moving at the speed of light, and yet Mario saw it coming and long-jumped right over it and towards the mech. He pulled out his Ultra Hammer and began bashing away at the shield, but it just wouldn't break. The mech jumped up and belly-slammed Mario into the dirt. When it got up, Mario was surprised and dazed – but not defeated. He backflipped out of the pit and dodged a blow from the mech. The mech quickly followed it up by launching a fist at Mario, which struck him full force and sent him careening away. Mario leaped high into the air, ready to ground pound the giant machine, but Sonic activated its jets and caught up with him in the air. The giant mech reached heights above Mario and elbowed him into the ground with enough force to create a massive crater. Mario stumbled and tried to get up while stunned. Sonic flew back down to the ground. "Let's finish this!" He slammed one of the robot's fists at Mario, full-force.

Who caught it with one open hand.

Sonic pushed forward on the control stick, but the mech just stopped at Mario's unyielding hand. Mario turned towards Sonic and glared, then grasped the machine's hand in his own and threw it over his shoulder. As the mech went flying backwards, Mario long-jumped over to it in mid-air, summoned his Ultra Hammer, and slammed it down into the mech, sending it down to the ground with a massive burst of energy. Mario pounded away at the thing's forcefield, forcing the whole mech further and further into the ground, until the forcefield finally crackled and fizzled out. Instantly, Sonic activated its jets and flew up out of Mario's reach – only for Mario to take a mighty thousand-foot jump, have the Grid Gavel materialize in his hand, and strike the mech with it. The electronic surge from the Grid Gavel entered into the mech's systems and shut the whole thing down. Sonic leaped out of the mech as it fell, useless, and used the Yellow Wisp power to transform into a massive drill that slammed through the air towards Mario, who countered with his own Spin Drill. The two drills fought for dominance for a bit before Sonic suddenly dropped out of the transformation and spin dashed his way to the ground as the Spin Drill sailed overhead. Mario fell to the floor and went flying forward with the Spin Drill, but Sonic effortlessly dodged the blow, jumping over the drill and grabbing Mario out from behind it. The Spin Drill continued without them and dug itself a pit in the ground.

Sonic released several quick strikes that hit Mario from all sides without him being able to predict where they came from. In desperation, Mario pulled out his lightplunger and held it out to the side. He closed his eyes, endured the next few blows, and focused.

There.

He spun around and caught Sonic in the lightplunger's blade, wracking him with electricity. With a cry of pain, Sonic fell to the ground, and then barely dodged Mario's next swing. He zoomed away and then forward again at speeds faster than light while Mario focused his eyes, keeping perfect track of Sonic's movements. As Sonic rushed at him, he swung the lightplunger, but then Sonic wasn't there. No, wait he, was, but he'd transformed into…oh. Crap.

Sonic burst into a mass of electricity and zoomed ahead. The moment the electricity-based lightplunger connected with him, he used it as a conduit and traveled through it, reaching into Mario's body, shocking him horribly inside and out. He popped out of the other side and transformed back to normal. He grinned and turned around, expecting to see a pile of ashes, but Mario was completely fine. Mario turned around to face Sonic once more.

Sonic shrugged. "Let me guess. Special armor?"

"Next to pasta, there's nothing better for a battle."

"Yeah, well," Sonic dashed ahead at the speed of light and kicked the lightplunger out of Mario's hands, "it doesn't matter."

Sonic curled up and Spin Attacked several times, but each time Mario barely dodged his blows. Mario transformed into Hammer Mario and threw out hundreds of powerful hammers at Sonic, who pulled out his own Piko Piko Hammer and knocked several out of the air, then scattered the rest with a temporary tornado created by a kick. As the tornado dissipated, Mario jumped through the air at Sonic using his Ultra Hammer. The two hammers traded blows several times, but Mario's skill with the weapon was able to keep up with Sonic's speed and he began forcing Sonic backwards.

Sonic dashed to the side and spun his hammer around fast enough to form a massive tornado that came flying at Mario – who simply jumped through the vortex without being affected in the slightest and slammed the Ultra Hammer down into Sonic's skull. Sonic fell to the ground, head pounding, and instantly threw his gem into the air, teleporting out of the way of the next several hammer blows. He switched to Blue and zoomed ahead, moving faster than Mario could react. Mario slammed his hammer around like crazy, trying to catch Sonic off-guard, but Sonic saw his movements in complete slow-motion and easily dodged all of his attempts to hit him. Sonic dashed forward at Mario, ready to tear right through him with his sheer speed. Mario, apparently, predicted he'd try this and used a Rainbow Star, making himself invincible. Sonic slammed into Mario – and was sent flying away, burned. He blinked a few times, surprised – and thankful that the Immunity Idol had protected him from further harm. He went at Mario again, and this time activated his own Invincibility to keep up with Mario's. The two went into another hand-to-hand fight, with Mario's skill and strength being tested against Sonic's unpredictability and speed. The two equaled each other until Mario unleashed a sudden Kung Fu-styled move with the back of a Plunger. Sonic was sent hurtling backwards, some sort of pressure point struck.

Mario pulled out another plunger and prepared for Sonic to zoom back. Both of their invincibility had worn off, not like it had mattered that much. Sonic dashed ahead, and Mario jumped over him, and as he stopped short and went after Mario with a kick, Mario blocked the kick with one plunger and jabbed Sonic in the throat with the other. As Sonic gagged, Mario dove forward and unleashed several Kung-Fu styled moves with his plungers. Sonic dodged several, but was hit by enough to get him reeling in surprise pain. Okay, that was enough of whatever fighting style this was. As soon as another plunger headed towards him, Sonic grabbed it and karate-chopped it into oblivion. Mario and Sonic stood about ten feet apart once more, this time both in classic Kung-Fu fighting positions. As they leapt at each other, Sonic brought up a leg and Mario, an arm. The two hit each other at the same time and battled with Plumb Fu and Linshao Kung Fu, with each blow exactly countering the other.

Mario activated the Cape Feather and flew up high into the air, but Sonic mentally locked onto him and smashed into him with a Spin Attack, knocking him out of the sky and out of the Cape Mario form. Mario activated the Cloud Flower and formed a platform before he hit the ground. He jumped over Sonic and slammed down with a ground pound. Sonic dashed out of the way well ahead of time, but Mario was counting on this. He dove out of the ground pound and pulled out F.L.U.D.D., which he used in Turbo Mode to burst ahead at fast enough speed to land a hit on Sonic with his Ultra Hammer. Sonic went flying into the horizon with a cry. There was silence for a short while and then…

"YOU FOOL! I'LL CRUSH YOU LIKE AN INSECT!"

Sonic burst into view, sporting two white lines on his head and coated in flames. He flew up into the air. Darkspine Sonic was ready to end this.

Darkspine Sonic launched himself at Mario moving at incredible speeds, while Mario jumped at him using the Turbo Nozzle and then launched himself high into the air with the Rocket Nozzle. He dove down at Darkspine Sonic. "Let's put those flames out!"

"Mario," F.L.U.D.D. warned him, "you are running low on water! I recommend a new plan of attack."

"I have a plan!" Mario informed his backpack, miffed.

"Is it to atta-"

"It's to attack!"

F.L.U.D.D. sighed.

Mario slammed towards Darkspine Sonic at hypersonic speeds and unleashed a torrent of water at him right before hitting him. Not to be deterred, Darkspine unleashed his own torrent of flames. The flames and the water hit each other in mid-air, neither overpowering the other, and filled the area with steam.

F.L.U.D.D. sputtered. "Mario! You are almost out of-"

"Scattershot!" Mario shouted.

F.L.U.D.D. obeyed. The scattershot of water used up all that was left, but cleared a spot for a wicked dive-bomb. As Mario fell to the earth, he burst through the wall of steam and, mere feet away from Darkspine Sonic, transformed into Lucky Cat Mario. "Gotcha!" He transformed into an invincible statue and landed squarely – in front of Darkspine Sonic. Sonic hovered in the air and waited for Mario to pop out of the statue.

"Well, that must be embarrassing."

Mario unleashed several fireballs at him and slashed at him with his claws several times, but Darkspine Sonic focused and saw the world far slower than it actually was. He saw every single blow coming and exactly what he had to do to avoid the attack. He dodged every blow with absolute ease. Mario charged up his ultimate fireball of death attack once more and launched it, but Darkspine Sonic just grabbed the fireball and threw it back at Mario. Mario jumped over it and dove at Darkspine Sonic with his deadly claws, but Darkspine Sonic quickly just threw out a stream of fire. The fire struck Mario full force without warning, knocking him out of Lucky Cat form and leaving him singed and surprised. Darkspine threw out some more pillars of flame, and Mario desperately tried to avoid all of them, panicked. Darkspine Sonic thought this was strange, but his mind was too drunk on anger to figure out why. He dove forward at twice the speed of light, but Mario transformed into Metal Mario and caught him without any form of damage. With a solid punch, he knocked Darkspine Sonic away, and then jumped at him once more, ground pounding him into the ground. Darkspine Sonic cried out in shock and pain – and Mario noticed three rings on one of his hands. Three rings that hadn't been there before. Hmm. As the Metal Mario form wore off, he forcefully pulled the rings off, and sure enough, Darkspine Sonic transformed back into normal Sonic, dazed and woozy.

"You transformed! That's cheating," Mario grumbled.

Sonic got up and held his head in his hand. "Cheating?! You transform, like, every ten seconds!"

"Those are power-ups!"

"So are mine!" Sonic shook his head. "Um, can we take a break? My head-"

Mario struck him across the forehead with the Ultra Hammer, knocking him to the ground.

Sonic grit his teeth. "So that's how it is, huh?" He vibrated his molecules, healing his wounds and turning him invisible. "Try hitting me now, plumber!"

"Okey-dokey." Mario ran forward – and gut-punched the invisible Sonic into the air. "Let's make this a fair fight!" He equipped the Vanish Cap, turning invisible and intangible.

Sonic was surprised that Mario was able to sense him so well, but he probably shouldn't have been. Mario's skills had surprised him many times before. They weren't going to save him this time, though – Sonic knew exactly where he was, and how to avoid him until this thing wore off. Mario threw out several attacks, and Sonic dodged every one of them by scooting his body forwards or backwards to the exact point it needed to be. "So, you can see me?"

"More or less. You?"

"Yeah. How about we ditch this whole shtick before it gets even more boring than this already is?"

Mario popped into view again. "Boring? Come on, this is fun!"

"Normally, I love a good fight," Sonic replied coolly, "but a movie's no fun if you know the ending." He set his eyes and stepped forward, ready to continue.

But Mario wasn't so ready. "But haven't you seen Ninja Ski Pirates on Haunted Mountain like, two hundred times?"

"It…what…no…" Sonic shook his head in disbelief. "It's called smack talk! Or quipping. Eh, maybe it's both. Anyway, it's better than 'So long, gay Bowser!'"

"KING!" Mario shouted back. "It's 'So long, KING Bowser!' If I'd known everyone misheard it, I would've stopped saying it years ago!"

"Really? You didn't ever wonder why everyone stopped and looked confused every single time you said it?"

"We're done with this!"

But Sonic wasn't done with this. "I mean, even Luigi heard it wrong. I bet he's held that over you for-"

"This coming from Mr. 'I'm waaaiting!'"

"I was a kid!" Sonic protested. "Do you and Luigi still do that dumb 'Pasta Power Patty Cake' thing?"

"As a matter of fact, we do!" Mario declared. "And it's not dumb! It inspires us and allows us to share our power in order to-"

"No, no," Sonic stopped him, hands spread out. "I think it's cool. At least," he snickered, "as cool as fighting King Goo Goo Ga Ga Koopa."

"He was going through a phase!"

"Was the Masked Masher of Mayhem a phase, too?"

Mario shook his head. "I still think that name sounded good." He grinned maliciously. "Strange, isn't it?"

Sonic laughed. "We've done a lot. Seen a lot. Fought a lot." He got back into fighting position. "Let's put that to good use."

"Gotta go fast to keep up with me," Mario informed Sonic with a wink. He bent his knees and activated the Red Star.

The two rammed ahead once more.

As they were about to clash for the third time, Mario took to the skies, flipping through the air and streaming blue particles from his every movement. Sonic jumped up in the air to Spin Attack him, but Mario dodged to the left quickly. Sonic tried again, and again, and Mario kept dodging, eventually having to refresh his flight with the P-Wing. Sonic activated the Blue Gem and dashed into the air, then activated the White Gem and hovered while charging his Super Spin Attack. Seeing him do this, Mario flew high up into the air and landed on a cloud before switching to the Blue Shell. He tucked up in the shell and began spinning it rapidly. Soon, both had finished. Sonic switched to Blue again, and then the two dashed at each other with the power of several nuclear warheads.

When the two connected, the sheer impact of the force created a massive shockwave that decimated the land and destroyed a mountain in the distance. They were both thrown back with incredible amounts of force and slammed into the freshly-turned earth dizzied and damaged. Mario wasted no time, activating the Boomerang Flower and throwing four boomerangs at Sonic – who caught all four with a simple flip. Mario transformed with the P-Acorn and went soaring into the air. Sonic activated the Purple Gem and shrunk instantly, and right away began infinitely jumping his way up to Mario. The two jumped with near-equal speed, and when he realized he wasn't going to catch Mario, Sonic switched to White and threw out his Enerbeam, grasping Mario's leg and forcefully pulling him down. Mario fell to his level, surprised – and Sonic punched him. Right in the face.

His power-up gone, Mario fell to the ground with enough impact to make a small crater, and then stood up unaffected. "Hey, you know what they say," he shouted out while pulling out a Mega Mushroom. "Go big or go to…Disneyland. Something like that!" He began growing until he was the size of a mountain.

Sonic looked up at him, unfazed. "Eh. Knowing you, you'd end up somewhere like Pastaland."

"DON'T TEASE ME ABOUT PLACES THAT DON'T EXIST!" Mario shouted, launching a blow and catching Sonic by surprise. "IT MAKES ME HUNGRY AND UPSET!"

Sonic was driven even further into the ground and got up bruised. "Wah-what-"

Mario provided an answer in the form of a dozen more punches, knocking Sonic all around the air before finishing it off with a body-slam into the side of a cliff. He picked up the limp Sonic. "You can't race around," he declared, "without legs." With a snap and a gut-wrenching cry into the air, Sonic's legs were broken. "You're finished." He threw the hedgehog into the ground and prepared to stomp on him.

Only for his massive foot to be suddenly stopped.

"What? Pepperoni and Cheeseballs, what's going on?!"

He tumbled over onto the ground with enough force to cause an earthquake, and saw Sonic holding one of his toes. One. Sonic spoke four words.

"Now I'll show you!"

Sonic's eyes shone brightly and the seven Chaos Emeralds appeared in a circle around his waist. Two of them were already glowing – he'd used some of their power to prevent his death and overpower this goliath. They all spun rapidly, faster and faster, until Sonic let go of the now-shrinking Mario and rocketed upwards. The glow of the Emeralds died out as the glow around Sonic grew brighter. With a mighty flash of light, Sonic reappeared, golden and glowing with the power of a hundred suns. He cracked the muscles of one hand with just a stretch, and then flipped his broken legs into their normal positions with no sign of pain. His wounds were healed, his power was massive.

He was Super Sonic.

Super Sonic dove down, grabbed Mario, and threw him into the air, then, as he fell back down, punched him into the air with enough force to scatter the clouds. "This is my world. Where one is all. Where every step you take…" he flew up at speeds exceeding light and grabbed Mario by the collar. "Where every step you take meets the next one. Because in my world, life is strong!" He filled his open hand with powerful chaos energy and launched it at Mario.

Mario lifted a hand and grabbed Super Sonic's, absorbing the energy easily. He opened his blackened eyes. "Don't get ahead of yourself. Not all toasters toast toast." He pushed Sonic off himself and, to Sonic's surprise, stayed put in the air. "Some of us toast bread." He showcased a Super Star in his left hand before it cracked and dissipated. Mario glowed with energy and breathed in the smoke from the star. He was surrounding by a blinding aura, and, for a moment, what looked like holy fire. When the transformation was over, he stood mid-air, overalls white and shirt red – a golden aura surrounding him. He glanced around and looked at his hands. "Well, I haven't used this in a long time. Let's see how this works out." He dashed at Super Sonic, who rushed ahead, fist outstretched.

Super Mario stopped just short of Super Sonic's fist. "Before I say goodbye to you, one more last fist bump." He punched ahead and the two's knuckles touched with a blow that leveled everything around them and separated the atmosphere.

Super Sonic pushed himself back. "Singing my songs, now? So that's what you've come to."

Super Mario outstretched his hands in the classic Plumb Fu style. "You love it, don't you? The fighting, the action, the style, the times you have to use your ultimate power-up to save the world? It always seems like the world's full of endless possibilities. Evil doesn't matter. You defeat it because you're the hero. But it's the action evil brings that matters. The ability to have some fun honing your skills and destroying everyone who stands in your way. That's the real you, isn't it?"

Super Sonic rushed at as an arrow of light before being blocked by Super Mario's outstretched arm. "Okay, well, just tell the world, I guess. Yeah, that's me. It's why I'm always so much more powerful than anyone else can be – and you. Why? You want to tell me that you don't and that makes you a better hero and a more convincing role model?" He shook his head and smirked. "Chaos Control!" Time froze everywhere.

But through the time freeze, Super Mario leapt up and matched Super Sonic in a surprise duel of fisticuffs. "No, Sonic. You don't get it." He unleashed a blast of white fire, enveloping Super Sonic in white fire, though it didn't do a thing. "I told you that…" he threw out an uppercut that caught Super Sonic and sent him backwards, "because I feel the same way."

He grabbed Super Sonic and kneed him in the face. "But I have something you don't. I let my enemies live. I let them try to get an advantage. Because that way…" he elbowed Super Sonic down to the Earth and dove down after him, "they get stronger. And I get stronger with them." He Ground Pounded down and hit Super Sonic full force. The resulting crater was nearly a thousand feet deep.

Sonic laughed from under him and teleported a couple of feet away. "Nice speech, kid. But here's a better one. You're going to lose. Do you know why?"

Super Mario narrowed his eyes and held out his hands in a boxing position. "Why?"

"You just admitted it. The real difference that makes this match," Super Sonic informed him casually. "You make yourself stronger to fight your enemies."

"So?!" Mario shouted back, angered. They matched eyes.

"So," said Super Sonic from behind him, "to fight mine, I make myself weaker." Super Sonic elbowed Super Mario into the atmosphere with ease, and then zoomed up to meet the shocked Mario. "Let's take this a step up!" He grabbed Super Mario and tossed him into outer space, and flew up faster than he was flying.

Super Mario found footing on the emptiness of space and Super Sonic lowered himself to meet him. Mario took a quick moment to hook up a breathing device [that he totally 100% had on him the whole time and not only just now because I realized well after this part was done that Mario can't breathe in space on his own] before the two rushed at each other and traded constant blows, with plenty of Chaos Energy and White Fire traded as well. But it was less than a minute before Super Sonic had the edge again. His speed was just too much – Mario desperately needed something to counter it.

"Looks like your ultimate power-up didn't amount to much!" Super Sonic shouted at Super Mario before throwing another kick.

Super Mario caught the kick with both hands. "I might agree with you there – if this was my ultimate power-up."

He shoved Super Sonic back and pulled out his greatest power. The Invincibility Leaf.

And, in flash of energy, he transformed again, becoming White Tanooki Mario.

Super Sonic unleashed what was intended to be dozens of hits – but his hand was burned and his body was shot far and away after the first one connected. "What?!"

White Tanooki Mario leapt through the air/space and flew through it, using his tail to soar like an eagle. A space eagle. A speagle.

Super Sonic zoomed around in a circle to build up energy and bulleted forward, but was knocked back and burned once more by White Tanooki Mario's suit. "That thing…I can't break through it!"

"It's no use!" White Tanooki Mario shouted at Super Sonic. "Unless you're invulnerable, this thing'll win every time!"

"Unless I'm invulnerable, eh?" Super Sonic teleported away, leaving White Tanooki Mario floating in space.

"Hey!" White Tanooki Mario shouted. "No fair!" There were more moments of silence. White Tanooki Mario scratched his head. "So, uh, was that a forfeit?"

Back in his home dimension, Super Sonic spread the Chaos Emeralds out in front of the Master Emerald. "Yo, Master Emerald. I kind of need your power. Is that cool?"

No response.

"Oh, right. The password. Um…oh, man, what is it Knuckles always says. Hmm…'You're my hero, Sonic!' 'I'm a big dumb brute who isn't anywhere near as cool as Sonic!' 'Hey, Eggman! Want the Master Emerald? While don't you take it after you've tricked me into fighting that cool guy Sonic for the hundred-millionth time?'" Super Sonic sighed. "Making fun of Knuckles is a lot less fun when he's not around."

Super Sonic put a hand on the Master Emerald. He closed his eyes and focused – and the words slowly came to him. "The seven Chaos Emeralds are the servers. Chaos is power, enriched by the heart. The controller serves to unify the Chaos. Master Emerald, lend me your power!"

The Chaos Emeralds began to glow again – and this time, brighter than ever. Super Sonic opened his eyes. "Oh, yeah."

White Tanooki Mario sat down on thin air/space and whistled a bit. Where the heck had- Oh, here he was.

Hyper Sonic appeared in front of White Tanooki Mario, flashing all the colors of the rainbow. "So I'm just going to assume you wanted me to be one of those foes who comes back better than ever. 'Cause why else would you tell me how to beat you?"

White Tanooki Mario flew upwards. "This is the most powerful suit ever magically conceived. I don't care what kind of boost in power you have, nothing can match-" he was left literally choking on his words when Hyper Sonic hit him with a gut punch.

"Let's try that again," Hyper Sonic instructed him. He punched White Tanooki Mario in the gut again, and again, and again. He was no longer hurt by the invincible suit. But it didn't look like Mario was hurt by his attacks, either. The two stuck each other with another blow, and then began their classic blow-trading, matching punches and kicks with ease, Hyper Sonic dodging more blows, but White Tanooki Mario counterattacking more. Hyper Sonic grabbed White Tanooki Mario and threw him at a passing asteroid. White Tanooki Mario landed softly and beckoned Hyper Sonic to join him. Huffing, Hyper Sonic teleported away, landing on top of a fireball comet. Grasping the thing with both hands, he shouted "Chaos Control!" and teleported the whole thing to where he and Mario were fighting. Once there, he raised it over his head and hurled the massive fiery meteor at White Tanooki Mario.

White Tanooki Mario panicked. He had to get out of there, and fast! If that much heat hit him – ergh. He flew out at speeds as fast as he could possibly go. He went up, and up, and up, and ultimate the meteor missed him by barely an inch. He breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Hyper Sonic crossed his eyes. Why had he worked so desperately to dodge that attack? The suit was invincible, wasn't it? His eyes suddenly popped as he remembered Mario dodging those pillars of flame when he was Darkspine Sonic. Of course – Mario couldn't handle the heat. Now that he thought about it, he was sure it'd come up in conversation one day – when he'd asked about all the lava Bowser used or something. And he was willing to bet this transformation didn't hold up against heat, either.

Hyper Sonic popped in right in front of White Tanooki Mario. "Hey. Let's go for a ride." He grabbed White Tanooki Mario and teleported right above the sun. He caught White Tanooki Mario in a Spin Dash and dove into the burning star. When the two invincible rivals emerged from the other side, one of them was decidedly less invincible. Hyper Sonic threw Mario back onto the asteroid. "Time to end this, once and for all!" he shouted. As Mario covered his eyes, Hyper Sonic shouted out "HYPER…FLASH!"

A burst of chaos energy exploded around the entire area, coating absolutely everything, including a wailing Mario. When it all cleared, Mario's body had fallen to the asteroid's surface. It was over – the Hyper Flash had killed him. Hyper Sonic shook his head. "I told you you'd lose. Well, time to use that 1-Up."

Hyper Sonic slowly flew over to the asteroid and hovered above Mario's body for a few moments.

A few moments too long.

The suddenly-not-dead Mario jumped up and lunged for Hyper Sonic. He'd survived the instant-kill Hyper Flash thanks to his A-OK Wear, and had been able to take advantage of that perfectly. He grabbed Hyper Sonic's neck and pulled him down. Instantly, he transformed with a Gold Flower and held out his golden glove to Hyper Sonic's shocked face. "And…game." He launched a golden fireball.

There was an explosion and a mass of gold coins. And no sign of Hyper Sonic.

Mario cracked his neck. "Brains win again!"

"They sure do," came a voice form behind him.

Mario whirled around and was caught with a gut punch by Hyper Sonic, which instantly rid him of his power. "Whew. If I hadn't teleported when I did, that might've actually got me. Now, this is over." He held out both his hands and began charging up a power kamehameha. "CHAOS-"

Hyper Sonic ran out of time.

Normal Sonic blinked once. "Aw, crap." He fell down to the asteroid's surface with a thump.

Mario ate a Super Mushroom, restoring his health. He glanced at Sonic, who was standing at the other end of the asteroid. "I don't know about you, but I'm pooped. I've plunged my last clog today."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, same deal here. I do have one trick left."

"Yeah? Me too. Wanna do that 'strike at the same time with all your power' thing?" He smiled a big, toothy grin. His eyes shone with a spark.

"You know me too well." Sonic grinned and let out a genuine, fun-loving laugh. "Let's do this!"

Sonic pulled out Excalibur and a magical set of golden armor formed itself around him. He held the all-cutting sword out towards Mario.

Mario pulled out Excalibur and transformed into Super Mario once again. He held out the plumber snake to Sonic, and it straightened instantly and reformed itself into an indestructible sword.

The two both took on step forward.

Then two steps.

Then they both raced at each other, at top speed, and, upon reaching the other, poured all of their energy, all of their might, into one decisive, victory-determining blow.

Both dashed right past the other and fell to their knees.

There was a moment of silence.

And then an explosion of blood.

And Mario was cut straight down the middle.

Sonic stood up and sheathed his sword. "Just like I said."

-KO!-

Sonic pulled out his 1-Up Mushroom and threw it onto the two pieces of Mario's lifeless corpse. Instantly, the magic was absorbed and Mario reappeared, good as new in a flash.

"Did…did I lose?"

"Hey, don't sweat it, plumber," Sonic told him. "Like you said, let your enemies grow. We'll fight again sometime."

Mario seemed disappointed. "Yeah…I guess."

"Well," Sonic declared, "I'm starving. Think I'll pick up some Meh Burger Chili Dogs on the way home."

"No, no, no," Mario stopped him. "We agreed. Next time, I'm picking the restaurant. And there's this great new pasta place down in-"

Sonic laughed.

Mario crossed his arms. "What?"

Sonic shook his head. "Nothing. Let's go." He held out a Chaos Emerald. "I think there's a little power left. It'll make the trip faster."

Mario laughed. "Good luck. I'll take a warp pipe. Race you?"

"You know it."

The two went their separate ways, but ended up at the same place later anyway.

…

Agh, crap. How am I going to explain this to all the fanboys – and to myself from six years ago?

Well, I guess the numbers are as good a place to start as any. Let's go Strength, then Speed, and then Durability.

Starting with Strength. While Mario has shown more lifting strength than Sonic (as he's never lifted anything like that 230,000 Ton castle) his advantage ends there. Yeah, I was surprised, too, but Sonic's shown himself to be stronger than Mario at, like, every turn. Mario might have been able to throw that castle a few hundred feet, but Sonic sent a giant robot at least as big as that castle flying into the horizon with just a kick. And since steel is way heavier than concrete and, unlike the castle, that robot wasn't filled with nothing but empty space, it has to be far heavier. Mario could crush another castle that was a little bigger than the first one with two kicks and three jumps, but Sonic barreled through several robots just as big, if not bigger, with one spin dash! Look, his spin dash can barrel through the entire planet – I think he has that piece in the bag. Mario's Spin Attack might hit with 1.3 Megatons of Force, but, given that diamond ice feat, Sonic's Super Spin Dash hits with at least 8 Megatons of Force! And in terms of explosive output, throwing that castle that far would take an explosion worth around 47 Kilotons of TNT at most. Nowhere close to the 200 Kiloton energy output from Sonic and Metal. We can add in all of Mario's strength boosters and even a 30% bonus (because Luigi could do the same thing and Mario is, according to the RPG Games, 30% stronger than Luigi), and that puts Mario's total output possibility at 104 Kilotons of TNT – technically above Sonic's 100 after we divide it in half due to Metal Sonic's involvement, but Sonic moves way past that number the moment we include his extra armor and strength enhancements. The Golden Gloves alone would put his output at over 137 Kilotons. And that's without scaling, which we could totally do, since Sonic's proven himself far stronger than Metal on multiple occasions! You may notice that, for every category, we talked about the castle Mario lifted almost exclusively when it came to his level of strength – which is basically because it's the most impressive strength feat he's ever pulled off in base form. I looked for a better one for days on end, and I just couldn't find one. It's far above what he normally can do, but it still doesn't reach what Sonic can do. And that's bad news for Mario, since strength has always been his biggest advantage in battles against foes who aren't Bowser.

And, of course, Mario never stood a chance in the Speed department. His most impressive feat in base form was running between those two kingdoms, which puts him at around 80,000 MPH. Really fast (nearly ten times faster than he's ever gone at any other point, in fact), but nowhere near Sonic's light speed movements. Do you really need to know just how much faster light is than 80,000 MPH? Over 8000x faster, that's how much. That's more bad news for Mario, since Sonic's fighting style is completely focused on getting in multiple strikes and Mario's is using his strength to knock out his opponents with some well-placed blows. Good luck landing any on a guy who's eight thousand times faster than you. Even Super Mario could only move at 250,000 MPH at absolute most, which is far below even Sonic's second set of speed feats that all land around 350,000 MPH. Mario had a better chance when it came to comparing reaction speed, since he's proven his ability to not only spot, but avoid and even block light speed attacks before. But while he's dodged seven light-speed lasers at once, Sonic has dodged hundreds. Multiple times! Mario has moved super fast and dodged hundreds of bullets mid-flight, but Sonic can do the same with laser-fire that moves way faster. Seriously, Eggman's unleashed dozens of robots with laser-fire gatling guns, and Sonic just runs straight into them, jumping, flipping, and dodging every single laser with pure speed, acrobatics, and by seeing every one of them as if they were in slow-motion. Mario's never done anything like that, and Sonic's performed this feat five separate times in the games alone! Sure, Mario might be able to dodge and block some of Sonic's light-speed attacks, but it's not like he was going to land his own anytime soon. When someone is just that much faster than you, eventually it's going to make a difference. And while some of Mario's powers and equipment give him a mild speed boost, Sonic can always just double his speed with the Blue Gem.

Finally, there's Durability. Now, both can enter into black holes and not be affected, but Mario has that 183% increase as well. So, theoretically, Mario's durability should surpass Sonic's. Theoretically. However, the moment we remove these feats from the equation (which we probably should, since both have been knocked out by things way below black hole-level and their ease of survival could easily be attributed to Star Power negating dark matter and Chaos Force manipulating gravity and reality) Sonic takes this category without much effort. Mario can take a barrage of blows from a 31,000 Ton robot. That's cute. Sonic's endured a similar barrage of hits from a plant monster that would weight almost two million tons! Mario can survive hits from Culex, who was powerful enough to break a planet (no, he's not universal, he crosses dimensions using a special ability, and exists outside of time, which is why he can somewhat exist in all timelines at once), but Sonic took plenty of hits during his battle against Ultimate Emerl, whose power was certainly great enough to destroy stars. The Chaos Emerald's energy alone is supposedly strong enough to destroy stars, and Ultimate Emerl had all that plus a great deal more. When it comes to explosions, Sonic also takes the advantage. The most powerful explosion Mario's ever survived without outside help was that 221 Kiloton Bob-Omb, while Sonic survived a bomb that was at least worth 628 Kilotons of TNT. Even adding in the 183% boost puts Mario's durability at 625 Kilotons, which is still below Sonic's. And that's without taking Sonic's durability boosts from his equipment into account!

Results:

Strength (Lifting/Force/Explosive):

Mario: 280,000 Tons/44 Million Tons/104 Kilotons

Sonic: 64,000 Tons/91 Million Tons/137 Kilotons

Speed (Travel/Reaction/Overscaled):

Mario: 94,040 MPH/7 Lasers/1.25x Speed of Light

Sonic: 1,344,654,000 MPH/ 120+ Lasers/7.6x Speed of Light

Durability (Explosive/Scaled/Overscaled):

Mario: 625 Kilotons/Planet+/Constellation+

Sonic: 718 Kilotons/Star+/Galaxy+

So, yeah, Sonic takes it all pretty darn well. And all of that doesn't count his transformations, all of which massively increase his stats. Not even Super Mario can come close to what Super Sonic is capable of. Sure, he can throw a dinosaur into outer space, which would take 4,127,499 Kilotons of TNT – but that was actually pretty darn overestimated. Even taking the scene at face value (which we probably shouldn't, since the Moon in said scene is four times bigger than the planet and curved and has a weird face), it's extremely doubtful that the Mushroom Planet is nearly as big as the Earth. In fact, according to the Super Mario Odyssey map and by measuring both Isle Delfino and the downscaled moon (which is a little bigger than Donkey Kong Island), it's only about 1/20th the size of our planet – though this figure remains extremely inconsistent across canons. Even if we do say that Super Mario can use over four million kilotons of TNT, though, Super Sonic still surpasses that by a great margin. Super Sonic once shoved back Perfect Dark Gaia nearly 100,000 feet. By comparing Sonic to these pillars, these pillars to this large building, this large building to Light Gaia's head, Light Gaia's head to Light Gaia, and Light Gaia to Perfect Dark Gaia, Perfect Dark Gaia measures in at 1,502,140,000 Cubic Feet in volume. Since a cubic foot of ground meat weighs 55 lb, Dark Gaia, who's a giant snake creature without actual organs (being a god), would weigh in at 41,308,790 Tons. It's this massive size, by the way, that we can use to estimate the 100,000 foot distance. The amount of explosive force required to do that would be around 81,550,000 Kilotons of TNT. That's almost twenty times more than Super Mario! And Super Sonic has dealt with beings far larger and far stronger than Dark Gaia. He even knocked around a giant creature a quarter the size of the Earth, and Ultimate G-merl, who was basically the embodiment of if Ultimate Emerl went Super Saiyan! Super Mario's lightning-fast speed is certainly no match for Super Sonic's faster than light speed, and Super Mario's never shown durability like Super Sonic's 53 Quadrillion Megaton feat. Do you really think Super Mario and Super Luigi could have destroyed a planetoid that could destroy all life in the galaxy? Yeah, I doubt it. And Super Sonic isn't even Sonic's most powerful form!

So, then, Sonic takes Strength, Speed, and likely even Durability. What about other categories? I mean, Mario clearly has the superior arsenal. Does he have any other advantages? Well, yes. Mario has more experience than Sonic and has dealt with a wider variety of foes. And…that's it. I guess he knows more martial arts than Sonic does, but Sonic's unique fighting style has proven to be superior to fighters far better trained and more knowledgeable than Mario. Mario's Plumb Fu may be very dangerous, but it doesn't quite stack up to a robot who, exclusively going by the main Sonic cast, knows at least fourteen martial arts. Fourteen. Mario's Plumb Fu was almost defeated just by a Karate Black Belt. And Sonic is perfectly capable of strategizing mid-fight and figuring out Mario's weaknesses, something Mario couldn't really do. When a weakness isn't shown off as a giant red spot, Mario never really figures them out. And if Sonic can figure out that an invincible robot's sole weakness is friggin' volcanic ash or that another invincible robot that feeds off his energy's sole weakness is Sonic running faster than he ever has (not hitting him at those speeds, actually just running at a specific speed will destroy it), I think he can figure out that Mario has problems with hot stuff fairly easily. And Mario's Hat is a far more exploitable weakness than Sonic's shoes or legs. Even if Sonic wasn't way faster than Mario, everyone knows (at least, I hope) that it's way easier to snatch someone's hat off of their head than try to take off their shoes. And while Mario's only had some general army training, a practice course for Firebrand by the Fire God, and a single day of Plumb Fu training from Misaki, Sonic's had no less than six different masters over the years that taught him his incredible skills and how to apply them in combat.

And for as many powers as Mario has, the only ones that would be actually useful in this scenario would be his extremely limited Materialization and Firebrand. And Sonic has Chaos Projectiles to counter the Firebrand for the most part, and his skin's able to resist the heat of a lightsaber. A few fiery attacks aren't going to break this match. And, surprisingly, Sonic's a better jumper than Mario! Mario at his best can reach 20,000 feet into the air, but Sonic's jumped six miles from a standstill, and sometimes reaches outer space with his leaps! Yeah, Sonic takes the advantage in the one big thing Mario is most famous for. And as OP as the A-OK Wear was (it made sure Super Sonic's time manipulation didn't do a thing and its immunity to OHKOs even allowed Mario to survive the Hyper Flash), it was simply outclassed by the sheer variety of abilities granted by the Custom Shoes. Sure, they might not grant extra durability like the A-OK Wear does, but who cares when you have an infinitely respawning shield, can jump forever, hover, teleport, and double your speed whenever you feel like it?! Plus, the Immunity Idol made sure that none of Mario's invincibility power-ups or OHKO moves would work on him. Even if he didn't have it, though, they struggle to deal with creatures far less durable than Sonic, such as Koopalings.

All that leaves is Mario's giant arsenal of weapons and power-ups, and one large question: could Sonic cope with having a different weapon and power-up in his face every ten seconds? And the answer is…yes. Sonic may not have ever seen that much variety in a one-on-one match, even against Ultimate Emerl, but he's certainly seen that level of variety and had it all go against him at the same time when dealing with entire armies of uniquely-designed robots at once. Disregarding that, Sonic's seen and handled similar items to almost all of Mario's normal weapons – even his Ultra Hammer just doesn't stack up to what Sonic has handled in the past. And there's just nothing in Mario's power-up arsenal that guarantees a win against Sonic. Those that do come somewhat close can only last so long due to existing only for a short time or being taken out by a single blow. And remember that Sonic's entire fighting style is based on dodging blows and getting in multiple super-fast strikes! While many of his power-ups grant flight, giving Mario an aerial advantage, like, half of the robots Sonic destroys can fly with just as much ease as Cape Mario. It's nothing he hasn't dealt with a hundred times before. Maybe Mario could kill Sonic with the Gold Flower, but it's doubtful. I mean, Sonic dodges hundreds of lasers all the time. He's not going to be hit by a couple of bouncing golden fireballs. Even if he is caught by surprise and gets hit, those things struggle to work against tougher foes like Koopalings, who, again, are certainly not as tough as Sonic. And that's if he's caught off-guard with his shield down and somehow doesn't dodge them. Lucky Cat Mario might be powerful as a combination of abilities, but all it can really do is buy Mario time. Sonic's not going to run into a statue out of pure chance, and even if he did, the Immunity Idol would likely protect him from instant death. Mario's best chance was either Excalibur or the Invincibility Leaf. And yet Sonic's dealt with weapons of similar, if not greater, power when it comes to Exaclibur with his own version of the weapon on several occasions. And White Tanooki Mario couldn't last forever, nor did it boost Mario's stats to be able to tag Sonic. Even if it could last forever, that still doesn't mean Sonic would lose. Remember, it vanishes after coming into contact with anything as hot as or hotter than lava, which has a temperature of 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, Sonic's pure speed can produce fire that can melt steel – reaching temperatures of over 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit! Or he could always go Hyper and throw him into the sun. Or grab him and use a spin dash to get to the center of the planet. Or run him to a volcano. Really, the moment he figures out Mario has a weakness to heat (assuming he doesn't already know, remember that they're best friends), the fight's pretty much over.

But ultimately, Sonic's feats just go above Mario's. When you take a look at some of the things Sonic's done, it's just…unfortunate. Let's showcase a couple of the most special events, and see how Sonic just obliterates this match.

Once upon a time, there was a Metarex called the "Scarship." This monstrous battleship was so powerful, it conquered planets with ease and eradicated entire civilizations. Even Eggman stood no chance against it. So Sonic and crew went up against the beast, and ended up damaging it so badly, it was forced to self-destruct. So then this spaceship was going to blow up and take everyone there out with it, so Sonic was loaded up into a cannon for an extra boost in speed, and then pushed the meteor-sized ship miles away in a couple seconds and, when it exploded, just tanked the explosion point-blank. Given its size and makeup and assuming gravity similar to Earth, seeing as Chris walked around it so easily, the amount of explosive energy necessary to blow the whole thing to bits would be over 42,000 Gigatons of TNT. And he was fine! And then there was the time a massive asteroid was falling towards the planet and was going to cause the apocalypse. After Knuckles smashed the thing to bits in outer space, Sonic raced around the entire world and found and blocked every single piece of the asteroid from hitting the ground in less than ten seconds. And that's not all – Knuckles was strong enough to smash that asteroid to pieces, and Sonic's matched his punches with his kicks on multiple occasions! Another time, Eggman built a device capable of outputting so much energy that it would cause every volcano on the planet to erupt, destroying all life in the world. When the thing unleashed its fully-charged blast, Sonic grabbed Knuckles in a spin dash and the two grabbed the energy ball and dispelled it. Yes, the pure energy from that spin dash was powerful enough to dispel an apocalyptic weapon. Another time, the Time Eater was tearing through reality, and Sonic and his past self ended up in a dimension where nothing existed. Not only did they survive, but after entering the essence of the timestream, the Time Eater chased after them while gobbling up the essence of time as it fell behind their pace. That's right, Sonic is literally faster than time. You know, the one thing that determines what speed is? Oh, yeah, and another time, he outraced the concept of death. And let's not forget the time he outmatched the pure power of the essence of all evil, or the time survived bombardment by meteors, or when he ran around a lake fast enough to separate the water at an atomic level. And remember Metal Sonic? The powerful robot that was built to surpass Sonic in every way, but Sonic still wrecks every time? Well, Metal got really tired of being beaten, so he stole all of the Chaos Emeralds and achieved his own Super State, just like Super Sonic. And then he went up against normal Sonic – and Sonic grabbed him and exactly matched his strength without even trying. And by the way, all of this was in base form without any extra equipment or weapons. Oh, the things you have to leave out of an analysis just to make the fight seem a little more fair than it is.

Ultimately, as unfortunate as it seems, Mario is just outclassed in this fight. I didn't think he would be, really, I didn't. But when listing advantages, Mario only takes Arsenal and Experience, while Sonic takes Strength, Speed, Durability, Strategy, Skill, Abilities, Training, and he even has less exploitable weaknesses. Sonic had many ways he could end the fight way faster than Mario – in fact, without a Luma, Mario can't even breathe in space, while Sonic can. So Sonic could always just grab him, leap into outer space, and just…wait for him to die. There isn't much Mario can do to stop that.

As it turns out, this fight came down to a matter of purpose and meaning. Mario is meant to be a true hero, to always be able to reach enough power to deal with evil, to constantly surpass ever-growing danger and evil in the name of good. Bowser's always getting some new incredible ability, and Mario's always still beating him – after failing the first time. Meanwhile, Sonic was meant to be a hero who didn't take anybody seriously because he was always just so much more powerful than all of them. It didn't matter whether they were a forever-balding nemesis, a mountainous pile of dark matter, an ancient deity, or a planet that can destroy the galaxy. He treats everything like it's a game, and every single time, it turns out that there's a level beyond what he's shown before. Anything he's done before, he's always better than that.

So, what happens when you put a man who will rise above any challenge against a creature who will lower himself to make anything a challenge? Well…one has already reached the heights the other is climbing to get to.

I guess Mario just couldn't keep up.

The winner is Sonic the Hedgehog.

…

Whew, guys! It's done! It's finally done!

So, what next?

Well, I want to, first of all, confirm that there will be a Season 2, so to speak, though the upload schedule will be far more lenient. Don't be too surprised if only one or two episodes are uploaded a year. Hey, this is just for fun after, all. When will the first episode premier? You'll see.

But, in the meantime, I want to do a little bit of a retrospective of Season 1. Talk about what it was like to make this fanfic and list off some of the mistakes I made in previous episodes. Because I did, in fact, make quite a few. I still stand by the winners of each matchup, but there are quite a few points out there that no longer stand.

Most importantly, though, I want to do a Q&A. If you have any questions whatsoever, whether they be about a certain character, a calculation, a matchup I did, what it was like to write the story, what I'll be doing in the future, even a rant, all of it is completely and totally welcome. Unlimited questions for everyone! Get others to read this story, and let them ask questions! And if you're reading in the future after the Q&A, don't be afraid! Ask a question, and I'll answer it directly ASAP. I've poured hundreds of hours of my life into this project. I'll feel silly if I can't help you guys understand why Mario isn't faster than light or why Sonic isn't omnipotent.

And please, suggest more matchups! I have a good idea of what I want in Season 2, but more episodes can always be added and old ones can be replaced! If you think you have a good idea, throw it to me!

And once more, questions galore, please! It'd be real disappointing if I couldn't even scrounge up two questions per episode. Definitely share this with anyone you think might like it so they can ask me/threaten me with questions, too!

See you guys soon!

-LittleZbot.