Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.
BGM: Rhea Island (Sonic Frontiers)
Sonic approached the first tower, looking really tired with Weiss on his back. "That's… a long climb… are we going to make it…?" Weiss asked groggily.
"We'll make it… I'll be damned if we don't…" Sonic mumbled. "Just hang on tight…"
"Right."
"Sir Sonic… Lady Weiss…" Caliburn spoke up. "You are running on fumes at this point."
"It's just about all we need for these towers." Sonic forced a smirk as he ran off, jumping on springs to get him onto a platform as he started the long run up the tower, Weiss holding on as tight as she could.
"Mmm… I could use a nap…" Weiss said.
"Don't close your eyes, milady. You may never wake up. Stay awake as best as you can."
"Caliburn… can you… keep me awake…? I… might need help on that…"
"I will do what I can, milady. I'm not sure how I'll do it, but I will."
Sonic jumped between gaps, and then seeing some enemies approaching them. "Don't have time for this…" He said, quickly getting between them and jumping onto a zipline, using his speed to zip his way up and landed on a few Goombas, bouncing off and landing on a few Paragoombas before landing on a platform.
Sonic boosted his way over, jumping onto a spring that guided him to more springs before landing on the ground, all the while Caliburn was telling Weiss a story about how he had met Sonic.
"So that's where Knave the Hedgehog came from…" Weiss forced out a chuckle before coughing.
"Indeed!" Caliburn smiled as Sonic grabbed a switch as it pulled him up as he started to run again. "Now, perhaps we ought to switch things around. Tell me more about yourself. About your experiences."
"I… I can try…" Weiss said as she looked down, seeing her cyber corruption at her feet and starting to spread. "Nnngh…"
"Focus on me." Caliburn said firmly, yet gently.
"Right…"
Sonic homing attacked several balloons while Weiss started to confide to him, and to an extent, Sonic, all about her life before she became a huntress. By the time she finished, Sonic made it to the top.
"That would explain why you have such disdain with your father."
"I don't consider him a father…"
"I do not blame you." Caliburn said as Sonic pressed his hand on the switch, shutting the tower down.
"Finally, some good news. Hopefully their power will be enough to let us escape."
"A… Chaos Emerald…?" Sonic wondered, shaking it off as he kept running.
"I… I thought the Chaos Emeralds were native to Mobius…" Weiss said.
"To be fair, so did the rest of us." Sonic said. Shadow's gonna get a kick out of this…
The hedgehog forced himself forward, jumping off of springs and landing on a boost pad that shot him forward as he went through several boost rings, which in turn made them plummet to the earth below.
Weiss tightened her grip on Sonic, nearly choking him but he was able to land perfectly but stumbled upon impact. He shook it off and went onto the next tower, proceeding to grind on rails.
"I wanted to be a huntress… I thought if I left Jacques, I can prove myself to be more than just a coddled princess. Unfortunately, I didn't get off on the right foot with Ruby and the others… but I've learned to set my pride to the side, as best as I could… even if Jacques had put his poisonous mindset of Faunus in my head… especially with it making a difficult childhood."
"Mmmm…" Caliburn closed his eyes. "You have grown from this. I can tell."
"I'm… still growing… but… I don't know how much time I have…"
"Look toward the horizon, not at your condition."
"Right…"
Sonic jumped between rails, boosting as much as he could, forcing himself to keep going as he jumped on springs, doing a loop de loop on a rail, jumping between them as he forced himself to keep going… he had to.
"Keep telling the story, Weiss… it's helping." Sonic encouraged, giving her a wink.
Weiss forced a smile. "Right."
Sonic hopped between the rails, noticing a familiar Eggman face on one of the springs in front of him. "Ugh, that…"
"As I grew into who I was as a person, so did my relationship with my team. Sure, we had some ups and downs, but nobody's perfect… especially when I thought I could handle this one tall White Fang member on a train. He pulled a fast one on me… knocking me down pretty quick."
"Ah… the dirty handed ones always get you." Caliburn mused.
"I wondered if I was truly capable at that point… I have a pretty good offense but my defense was horrendous. Either that or he was just built different… he even had a chainsaw."
"Chainsaw vs a rapier? And he was tall? You didn't stand a chance." Sonic teased.
"...If I had the energy, I'd smack you for that." She said, causing the blue blur to chuckle. "Anyway, we saved Vale and… a few days later, Ozpin called us up asking for a favor, and then next thing we know, our lives get turned upside down when we visit the Mushroom Kingdom for the first time."
"Now what is this "Mushroom Kingdom" like?" Caliburn wondered as Sonic made it to the top of the tower where he quickly deactivated it.
They suddenly had a vision of the ancients fleeing their planet before it got destroyed by a powerful laser, all of the Koco hugging each other after they watched the devastation.
Sonic turned around, falling on one knee and grunting as the cyber corruption started to overtake him… yet he forced a defiant smirk. He picked himself up and kept going, making sure Weiss was still on his back.
"Your cyber corruption is accelerating." Sage said as she appeared. "How can you smile when you can barely stand…?"
Sonic turned to her, still smirking as he continued on.
"How can one hang on to someone like him…? How could they still be moving…? I don't know if it's inspiring or just plain stubbornness…" She said, her body turning white once more before disappearing.
"The Mushroom Kingdom… when I first arrived, I-"
Pause BGM
Suddenly, a missile struck the ground in front of them, knocking Sonic back.
"Gragh…!" Sonic grunted.
"Wh-what was that…?!" Weiss wondered, nearly losing her grip.
"My my! This dimension is full of surprises!"
The smoke cleared as Nefarious approached them with Lawrence.
"Who are you?" Sonic demanded.
"Oh, just a mad genius wanting to take over this world and wanting to see this Eggman for myself. I am… Doctor Nefarious!"
Weiss's eyes widened. "Sonic…" She whispered.
"Yeah." Sonic nodded, giving Nefarious a glare.
"Based on what I'm looking at, I'd say you two are this dimension's equivalent of Ratchet and Clank. Now, you will tell me where I can find this Eggman or I will proceed to blow you up."
"Nah. We're good." Sonic said.
"Very well then. Prepare to-"
In a blink of an eye, Sonic and Weiss were already gone.
"Wha?!"
"I'd love to stay and chat, but I'd say you're slower than a Gastrodon!" Sonic mocked as he took off, hopping on a rail and then boosting off of some boost rings after hitting a spring.
"Gastrodon…? I don't even have a gastro intestinal condition! Heck, I don't think I can even HAVE one!"
"I wonder if that is what they call "slugs" in this dimension…" Lawrence mused.
"Bah. Who cares. LAWRENCE! Hand me my heat seeking missile launcher!"
Resume BGM
Sonic landed on the ground and kept running. "I think he'll be chasing us…" Weiss said.
"Heh, then I'll do what I typically do best. Annoy the heck out of him."
Caliburn chuckled. "Indeed. Anyway, Weiss… continue, if you will."
"Right… when I first got to the Mushroom Kingdom, I wondered who'd live in mushroom houses. To my surprise, it was mushroom people. I thought I was hallucinating, but apparently I wasn't. We were tasked to save the princess and the Mushroom Kingdom's heroes because Cinder had kidnapped them with Bowser. And when I said I felt as if our world got turned upside down… I meant it. Nothing made sense to me as we moved along… floating ? blocks, power ups that give you unique powers, flying turtles, fireballs that can stay lit underwater, a fire breathing dragon turtle… it was making my brain hurt. It just didn't make any sense to me."
Sonic jumped between walls, running up them. "Says the girl who came from a floating city."
"I thought they were held up by Gravity Dust, but they weren't. That's what confused me. Everyone else got used to it but I just… I don't know why it took so long for me to come to grips with it. It was like I was in a strange new world that played by its own rules… and it had merged with Remnant due to some Subspace Emissary thing-"
So THAT'S how it happened… Sonic thought.
"It sounded like you were in some fairy tale, but it was actually reality." Caliburn said.
"I wanted to believe what I was in was fictional… heck, after that adventure, we were taken in to some war with gods and angels. One of which fell in love with Ruby and they're still dating to this day. The moment I woke up in a different room… I knew I wasn't dreaming. I thought it was all just a dream and… nothing continued to make sense to me, even if I was coming to grips with it, I just… couldn't."
"I wouldn't blame ya…" Sonic nodded, stepping on a switch for a wall to appear and then jumped off of that and rode a wall to the top before he homing attacked some balloons before landing on a platform. He then turned toward a rail and grinded away.
"To this day, I still don't know why I couldn't come to grips to the Mushroom Kingdom's oddities… or any other world's gimmicks as well. Like Pokemon being stored in tiny balls."
"Hmm… I wonder if it has to do with what you were used to on Remnant, that by experiencing how different worlds operate, it was unbelievable for you but everyone else grew accustomed to it rather quickly."
Weiss sighed. "Maybe it's because I lived a sheltered life back then…? I don't know."
"A mystery indeed."
Sonic glanced over at a Nevermore approaching them. He hopped off a platform and landed on the Grimm, pulling his feathers back to make the Grimm fly at an angle, heading directly toward the tower.
At the last moment, Sonic jumped off and homing attacked a Para Biddybud right as the Nevermore smacked beak first into the tower. Sonic landed on a platform after hitching a ride on a pulley.
"I might have an idea." Sonic spoke up. "You were so used to how Remnant's culture operated, that seeing how a different culture operated outside of Remnant was culture shocking for you and you were having a heck of a time adjusting."
"I suppose that could be the case. I don't know why the others ran with it faster than I could. I mean… we went from fighting Bowser to fighting Gods literally the next day, and, at one point, geometric aliens. How could anyone just roll with it like it's a typical Wednesday?"
"Good question." Sonic shrugged, then noticed something in the corner of his eye. "Oh, heads up. We got missiles incoming!"
"Oh boy…" Weiss whimpered, knowing she did not have the strength to deflect them.
Sonic smirked, homing attacking a missile and then jumped onto the next, riding it for a bit before jumping off toward the next one before casually landing on top of the tower.
"HUUUUUUUH?!" Nefarious jawdropped in disbelief.
"Hmm, that hedgehog is quite athletic…" Lawrence mused.
"THAT SHOULDN'T BE PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE!"
Sonic deactivated the third tower with a smug smirk, knowing full well that this new enemy is more than likely in disbelief.
"What are the Chaos Emeralds reacting to?!"
"Some kind of power source is drawing them in! We've lost control of navigation!"
They would soon see the Master Emerald lying on the ground, glowing brightly while the Koco descended into the planet.
"The Master Emerald was here…" Sonic said to himself. "Alright, let's go."
"Lady Weiss, I'm curious. Did you believe you were in some kind of nightmare when everything didn't make sense to you?"
"Honestly… yes. I felt like I wasn't in reality but a hell I couldn't escape from. No matter how often I tried to deny it, it just wouldn't work. Nothing made sense! But… by the time I saw a big flying whale that was summoned by Luminary, I… finally started to accept it. It took me a long time, but as I gave up and tried to hold on to my reality, I… saw things in a different light."
Sonic chuckled as he was launched toward a wall and ran through it before boosting off toward a platform. "You started to accept the insanity and everything started making sense after that?" He asked as he hopped onto a zipline.
"It did. Remnant was home and here I was in an insane reality I wanted to escape and climb back into bed. But… I'm glad I didn't. Because now I have a new home in Toad Town."
Caliburn chuckled. "I am glad you were able to accept the oddities of this Mushroom Kingdom. But, I'm curious… I do not think you told me about Meryl. What is she like? All I see is that she's your twin sister in a way."
"Well-"
Sonic jumped off the platform and into some boost rings, sending him toward the arena where they first fought the Giganto Titan…
However, a missile struck Sonic from the side.
"Aaagh!" He grunted.
"HA HA! GOT HIM!" Nefarious cackled.
Sonic free fell to the ground below… but then, an Arwing flew by and caught Sonic. Sonic opened his eyes to see Shadow grabbing his wrist while riding on top of Fox's Arwing. "I got you."
"Thanks." Sonic smiled, but Weiss's grip failed her and she fell off of Sonic's back, causing the quad to gasp.
"Weiss!" They exclaimed.
However, Weiss landed on something soft as she looked down to see Meryl's Phoenix. "Wh-what…?"
"I got your back, sis!" Meryl smiled. "Alright, Fawkes, let's make our way to the fourth tower!"
The Phoenix cawed and flew up toward the tower as Fox would join them.
"This is Fox to the Great Fox, we're heading to the fourth tower. We will need to keep our new friends occupied while these two deactivate the towers. Falco! Deliver the package!"
"With pleasure!"
Falco flew directly toward the pursuing Nefarious. "Hmm?" Nefarious turned to him. "My my, you have lots of friends!" He smirked as Falco pulled up and flipped over, opening the cockpit as Ratchet and Clank free fell, before the latter activated his thrusters, where they both met Nefarious at eye level.
"Hey bolt brain. Remember us?"
"Ah, Ratchet and Clank! How was your trip with that faulty machine?"
"Eventful, to say the least!" Ratchet responded. "But now it's time we knock you out once more!"
"Very well! An airborne battle to clobber the other to the ground! I look forward to picking you up with a spatula!"
"You ready, Clank?"
"Ready!"
Both of them charged at Nefarious as he did the same thing, both of them clashing.
A few Guardians tried to attack the heroes, but they were quickly destroyed by lasers courtesy of Penny and SAPR joining them.
They got to the top of the tower where Sonic hopped off the Arwing and Fawkes landing, where Weiss slid off of his wing.
She and Sonic approached the top, both of them nodding as they deactivated the tower together.
"And although our home world was lost, our history was not, thanks to Cyber Space."
The Koco's chest lit up as did a portal. The rest of the Koco cheered, unbeknownst that another Koco approached the Elder.
"All our hopes, our dreams, and memories can be uploaded to Cyber Space and accessed at any time."
"Elder. You are needed."
The Elder walked away with the Koco.
"Why? What's happened?"
"It followed us. The world is in danger."
The Elder's eyes widened, slowly backing away in fear.
Weiss and Sonic turned around and started to walk, but both collapsed as the cyber corruption nearly consumed them.
"Weiss!" Meryl called out as Winter landed on the ground with Valka as she hopped off and ran to her in a flash, immediately putting Weiss's arm over her shoulder.
"Come on, we're almost there…"
"Wi-Winter…" Weiss barely made out, her breathing extremely labored and letting out a drawn out gasp for air.
Nearby, Shadow approached Sonic as Silver teleported over to him, both of them putting their arms over their shoulders.
"Up and at 'em. Let's move." Shadow said.
"How are they holding up?" Peppy asked Fox.
"Not good, it seems like we're about to lose them at any second now." Fox said. "We only have two towers left!"
"Then let's speed things along."
Sage looked at them from above, frowning at the two of them as Sonic and Weiss tried to force themselves to move.
"I believe I have come to understand you two." She said silently. "We will do anything to protect those who are precious to us… but your fates… it is what I calculated."
A tear ran down Sage's cheek.
"Farewell, you two…"
Winter put Weiss on Azure. "Mama!" Manaphy went over to her. "Mama… you okay…?"
"I… I will… be…"
"Save your strength." Winter said softly. "Does it hurt to talk?"
Weiss nodded, a pained tear running down her cheek.
"Then don't speak. We'll be right with you." She said, hopping on Valka. "To the fifth tower!"
Both Rathalos roared as they flew up into the air and flew off once they got Sonic on Saki, Silver flying next to him to make sure he won't fall.
"Ugh… thanks…" Sonic exhaustively said as they flew off to tower five. Several Coral Pukei Pukeis digitzed in front of them, only for a beam of ice to hit them all and freeze them solid. Futaba flew over with her Maiden powers activated.
"You're clear!" Futaba called out as they flew past her as she turned around and flew off with them.
As for Ratchet and Nefarious, the two proceeded to shoot at each other while flanking the other, both of them scowling/smirking.
Once they got to Tower Five, Azure and Saki landed on the ground as the Arwings and Fawkes flew around to make sure nobody would try and hurt Sonic and Weiss. The two of them made way, with both Rathalos giving them a push with Shadow, Winter and Silver keeping them steady. They both deactivated the fifth tower.
A Chaos Emerald was firing a beam of light into the Giganto.
"These Chaos Emeralds empowered Titans will be the keys to victory this time."
"If not… it's been decided a small group will take the Emeralds to the larger one that drew us here."
"Hopefully it won't come to that."
"One more tower…" Sonic winced, fighting the best he could as he looked over at Weiss, who could barely stand, let alone breathe from the cyber corruption. "Guess… it affects everyone differently… heheheh…"
"Nnngh. Dammit… it's fighting against me!" Futaba complained as she desperately tried to get Weiss back up and running with Penny.
"We're losing her fast!" Penny said, her voice nearly breaking.
"One more tower to go. Can you walk?" Silver asked.
"Hahaha… I still got some life left in me…" Sonic said as he tried to walk but stumbled.
"No, no you don't." Silver telekinetically picked the two up. "We're almost there!" He said as he flew off with the two near him as everyone flew after him.
"Mamaaaaa!" Manaphy called out. "Big bro!"
Azure nodded, quickly picking up speed as the others tried to match the Rathalos' speed.
Silver landed on the ground, placing them on the ground as he telekinetically lifted up Weiss's arm, Sonic forcing himself to do it as they both deactivated it.
End BGM
"This isn't working! If we can't beat it, we'll seal it!" A Koco declared as he was in a Titan. "I'll bind it to my Titan. Then you guys seal it in Cyber Space!"
"No! We'll find another way!" A female Koco exclaimed from the Giganto Titan.
The Titan that the Koco piloted turned around and tried to fight the beast, but it was slowly consumed before falling back down to Mobius.
"They're… gone… it killed them!"
"We can't let their sacrifice be in vain! They had a plan! Let's do it!"
All three let out battle cries as they flew off together.
BGM: Midna's Lament (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)
"Nnngh… agh…" Sonic grunted, trying to keep it together as he tried to fight it off. "GRAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
"Sonic…? Sonic! Stay with me… Sonic!"
Silver turned to see Weiss as she could barely hold on, collapsing on her knees.
"Weiss… look at me! Weiss!"
Weiss barely looked at Silver before seeing everyone else approaching.
"I… I'm sorry… hel-... help… me…"
A single tear ran down Weiss's cheek.
"Weiss! Sonic!"
Caliburn hopped off of Sonic's back.
"Sir Sonic! Lady Weiss! Stay with us!" Caliburn requested as the Pokemon that Weiss currently had came out of their Pokeballs and looked at Weiss, all of them crying out and begging her to keep fighting.
…But it was no use.
"Sir Sonic… Lady Weiss…?"
Silver closed his eyes. "No…" He clenched his fists, trembling as he was trying to keep himself together. "Dammit… NO!"
Azure landed on the ground as Manaphy immediately ran over to his mother, desperately shaking her. "Mama! Mama! Mama! Wake up… mama!" Manaphy said, desperately shaking her as Futaba landed, quickly making an icy docking station for the Great Fox to land on as everyone else ran out while the Arwings landed on the ground near the Great Fox.
"Mama…" Manaphy teared up. "Mama…? MAMA!" He yelled, his voice breaking as he started crying. Winter immediately knelt down and gently scooped him up, where he cried into her chest.
Ruby said nothing. Her eyes were just wide as she took a few steps before her legs gave in and collapsed. Tears ran down her cheeks while Yang put her hand over her mouth in shock.
With a growl, Silver tried to pull the cyber corruption out of the two like he did flawlessly with Pyrrha's corruption…
But it didn't work.
"Dammit, come on…!" Silver growled.
"This can't be how it ends for them. It just can't." Shadow mumbled to himself.
Jade approached Weiss, kneeling down. "Weiss…" She said in shock while Oran hugged Ruby tightly with tears rolling down his cheeks.
"Sonic…" Amy whispered, tearing up at the sight of him while Tails and Knuckles said nothing, the latter kneeling down and punching the ground in frustration.
"Weiss… no no no no…" Mine tried to shake her, but to no use. "Come on, stay with me. Come on. Dammit, respond to me!"
Blake was already on her knees, silently crying to herself.
"Is there anything we can do?" Dipper asked.
"Honestly, I don't know…" Nagisa said while his fellow Warriors of Hope, Iris, and Rantaro were speechless.
"Weiss…" Meryl teared up. "Oh gods, I'm so sorry it came to this…" She closed her eyes as Penny and SAPR hugged the both of them, K1-B0 with the Atlas sisters while Byleth, Dorothea and Gonta tried to cheer their siblings up.
Could it be possible to hack them back…? Futaba wondered, hearing the sounds of mourning from the Rathalos.
"There's got to be a way to get them back…" Nero said.
"Do we have any ideas?" Nico wondered.
"I wish I had somethin'..." Slippy admitted.
End BGM
*MGS Codec Call SFX*
"Huh…?" Futaba snapped out of her thoughts as she saw a screen notification pop up, causing her to answer it.
"Okay, I have good news!"
"Mom?" Mine turned her head, approaching them.
"We have just finished up the antidote. It took some testing, but we got it finished. We are sending it to you now!"
"Transferring Cyberspace Antidote"
Another screen opened up and unleashed a powerful pink spray, bringing everyone back to their normal selves.
However, it did not affect Weiss and Sonic.
At that moment, a portal opened up as Eggman came out along with his robots and Sage, but not Kyoko.
"Ah, back to the outside world." Eggman said, then noticed everyone still looking at Sonic and Weiss. He smirked, not noticing Weiss right away.
"Ohohohoho! The only regret I have is that I didn't finish you off, rodent!" He cackled… but then noticed Weiss. "Hahaha-... ooooh…" He grimaced.
Winter growled, immediately giving her crying nephew to Meryl and pointed her sword to Eggman. "YOU!"
Dorothea and Gonta immediately held Byleth back, who was struggling trying to get out so she could personally clobber him.
Sage gasped, turning to Eggman. "We need to get you back into Cyberspace now!"
"What? The whole point was to get us out of that prison!"
Winter immediately landed on Eggman's dashboard, pointing her sword at Eggman's throat, making him raise his arms.
"You have a lot of nerve showing your face. You put my sister through a LOT of hell, especially when you dropped Atlas from the sky! She may not have liked it, but it was still her home! And now you have a lot to answer… she is trapped within Cyberspace because of YOU!"
She raised her sword up high. "And now I have the pleasure to-"
"That's enough, Winter!"
Winter turned her head to see Kyoko riding on the digital Metroids as she calmly hopped off.
"He's not worth it. Believe me, I've done my research in Cyberspace and he's regretted what he's done to Remnant, especially Pyrrha."
"What the hell does he have to regret!" Byleth scoffed. "This man ruined everyone's lives. He even blackmailed me to keep me from saying anything! This man has a lot to answer for!"
Kyoko turned to Eggman, nodding at him. He let out a groan before sighing. "Fine. I will tell you… but only if you get your attack dog to heel."
Winter growled, jumping off and landing on the tower. "You better have a good explanation."
"As you know, I had spent months planning my invasion of Remnant… but it isn't what you think. You see, I had a chance encounter with Salem after I had heard stories from that jester you all hate. To my horror, those stories turned out to be true. So I planned my invasion accordingly. I just needed to get the info out about Salem, and it was just my luck that Futaba was seeking help on hacking Remnant's network. I saw a chance and I offered to help out. Which, by the way, I apologize for throwing you under the bus like that."
"Yeah, well, you just had to-..." The raven haired Phantom Thief paused, then blinked. "...Wait. Did you actually just…?"
"He did. And what he is saying is true." Kyoko added.
"No way… there is no way this is all true!" Knuckles said. "...Could it?"
"You're gonna have to do better than that, doctor." Shadow said.
"My plan was to preserve life by having them be turned into chrome and robotic, thus increasing their chances of survival from Salem. I had used this type of thing once before, but it had dire consequences. Because of this, I thought it would be beat if I could use Pyrrha's semblance, and thus, I recalled she had a scare with the metal cap once and I knew she wouldn't want to be anywhere near it, let alone wanting to help me out. I was this close to having my plan fully finished, so I was a bit desperate. I kidnapped Pyrrha and forcibly turning her into a robot while sending a clone lookalike with no one the wiser."
"And look what you did to Pyrrha… she's a total mess." Mine glared.
"Indeed… I do regret scarring her for life in my haste."
"So you did all of that to preserve life. Then how do you explain that nuke in Argus, or what you did to my wife?" Dorothea glared, still holding on to her.
"The nuke was not my intention. Pyrrha had a mind of her own and built the nuke without my knowledge. By the time I learned about the nuke, it was far too late. Argus was already gone. Had I known about it sooner, I would have sent the nuke into the far depths of space!"
"So you had no idea…" Ruby said.
"As for Byleth's family, I had indeed blackmailed her, but I knew Byleth would be strong enough not to spill the beans. I had also planned to move her family into a different room so they would not get roasted. However, Pyrrha's little project took up a lot of space, so I had to figure out where to put them, but I had faith you would not say a peep. Unfortunately, Samus got too paranoid… and I also had neglected to make a kill switch should the laser turn on."
"OH PEGASUS SHIT! YOU THINK I SHOULD BELIEVE THAT GOBBLEDEGOOK?!" Byleth yelled.
"Easy, easy…!" Dorothea said, thankful that Gonta was strong enough to hold her strong wife.
"So, I am… well… you know how the saying goes." Eggman mumbled.
"And why should we believe you, let alome forgive you? Just because Kyoko can vouch for you-"
Kyoko pulled out some Egg Memos. "I picked up several of these. You ought to listen to 'em. It's really eye opening. It doesn't excuse what he's done, but there's a side to him you haven't really seen."
Futaba walked over to Weiss and Sonic. "Let me ask you something, Eggman. Before you revealed yourself… did you have a genuinely fun time hacking away with me?"
"I actually did enjoy your company, yes."
Futaba closed her eyes, chuckling. "I had fun with you too, Egghead."
She pulled up the screens. "Let's see if I can't hack these two out of there…"
"Oh! Let me join you." Penny smiled as she took Sonic's side while Futaba took Weiss's, both of them going into their hacking modes.
"Hmm…" Tails rubbed his chin. "Ya know, what if we just sacrificed our bodies for the two of them? They did so much, so we could do the same to get them back on their feet."
"It's worth a try." Knuckles nodded.
"I'm up for trying it." Amy said.
"No." Ruby firmly said, catching everyone off guard. "I'm not going to let anyone sacrifice their bodies. You just got them back… what are the chances you won't come back from it?"
She looked directly at Weiss and Sonic. "I'll do it. I'll bring them back."
"What?! Rubes, are you crazy?!" Yang asked.
"I'm not going to sacrifice my body. I'm going to deep dive into them and see if I can't pull them out myself."
"Good luck. This is looking to be quite the puzzle." Futaba warned. "I'm seeing some classic puzzles in here that's blocking entry for me… and I ain't talking about Minesweeper."
"I don't care. I'm going in."
Meryl walked up. "I'm going with you."
"Mana!" Manaphy nodded.
"You got room for another?" Winter offered.
"I'll go in too!" SAPR said.
"That should be plenty. Any more and it'd be hard to try and get you out." Futaba said, opening up a portal with the help of Penny.
Ruby turned to the others. "We'll be back." She said as she hopped in along with the others.
Caliburn watched them go in and with a determined expression, he hopped into the portal with them.
"Good luck Rubes…" Yang whispered.
"While we wait for them, I'd say we ought to listen to his Memos to pass the time." Kyoko said.
"Hey, quick question. Where'd Sage go?" Orbot wondered.
"Hmm? Wasn't she with us?" Eggman wondered.
"AAARGH!"
Nefarious was knocked onto the tower as Ratchet landed on the ground, casually placing his boot on Nefarious' body.
"Looks like I win again." Ratchet smiled, and then looked around. "Oh, hey guys. What'd we miss?"
"Uuuungh…"
Inside…
Ruby landed on the ground, where Meryl, Winter and SAPR landed next to her as Manaphy was cuddled up in Meryl's shoulder.
What they saw was a landscape that was a mixture of Green Hill and Atlas, complete with Mushroom Platforms from the Mushroom Kingdom.
"You're really brave…" A voice said as Sage appeared before them. "You would do what it takes to save your friends?"
"Absolutely." Ruby nodded.
"I wish to help you as well. It is not fair what has happened to them."
"I concur." Caliburn approached them. "We must save Sir Sonic and Lady Weiss."
"Right." Ruby agreed.
"Let's not keep them waiting a second longer." Winter said.
"For Weiss and Sonic." Meryl nodded.
"Lady Ruby. I trust you know how to handle a sword?"
Ruby smiled. "A third of the roster at the Smash Mansion uses a sword. I think I've seen everything I need to know with a sword."
Caliburn chuckled. "Very well. I can sense that you are pure in heart, even if you've been through the thick of it."
BGM: Master Sword Get! (The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)
Ruby slowly nodded, reaching for Caliburn with her rose arm. She slowly gripped the hilt and raised the sword up high before bringing him close to her face.
"Weiss. Sonic…"
End BGM
She flipped the sword, the side of the blade facing her, opening her eyes fiercely.
"I'm coming for you."
BGM: With Me (Sonic and the Black Knight)
The group ran down the hills, picking up the pace while Manaphy latched on to Meryl's shoulders. They continued down the hill until they launched off of a boost panel, sending them straight to Atlas as they landed on the ground, skidding across the ice.
Ruby hopped off and continued to run, but suddenly, Tetris blocks landed on the ground in front of her. "What the…?"
"Hey, can you guys hear me?" Futaba called out.
"What's going on?" Meryl asked.
"Remember when I said classic puzzles? It was more like classic retro games are gonna try to block your path. I don't know how it's even possible, but keep on your toes! Penny and I will try to fight the corruption on the outside."
"Right!" Ruby nodded as she readied Caliburn and swung him down, severing the Tetris blocks that blocked their path as they ran inside the SDC mansion, where they found themselves at Chemical Plant the moment they entered.
Water rose up from below as they hopped on the rails. Buzz Bombers appeared and tried to attack them, but Sage aimed her hand and fired blasts of energy that destroyed them. As they advanced, Galaga enemies appeared in front of them, trying to shoot at them but Winter put up glyphs and fired ice chunks that would destroy them.
Ruby boosted off of a boost panel first, jumping over the water as the area changed around her as she landed on top of a girder. She looked up to see a cage up top, seeing a 2D version of Sonic trapped inside while they saw a pixelated Donkey Kong next to him, though he had an Eggman mustache on him.
The water continued to rise as the others landed near Ruby as they ran up as barrels rolled down the girders. Ruby quickly slashed through the barrels before using her semblance to quickly get to the top, snagging a hammer as she got up top and threw the hammer toward him.
However, Donkey Kong grabbed the hammer and laughed, but Ruby got behind him and slashed through him to destroy the virus. In turn, the cage disappeared as the 2D Sonic turned to Ruby, giving her a nod and seemingly smiling at her as the others caught up to them.
A cannon appeared at the top as they climbed in and shot out one by one, where they would launch out of Chemical Plant and landed on top of several Galaga ships waiting for them just outside of the SDC mansion.
The Galaga ships flew off toward their destination, but several other ships appeared before them and started to shoot at them bullethell style, where they all scrambled to avoid the shots while the Galaga ships returned fire.
Once the ships were shot down, they continued on as more Tetris blocks continued to fall from above, and as they tried to get away from them, a few Z blocks smacked the back of their ships, causing them to explode as they fell into a maze.
"This cyber corruption is not making it easy… what is all of this…?" Sage wondered.
"It's certainly a sight to behold, that's for sure." SAPR said as they ran through the maze, but would find themselves face to face with Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde, all of them cornering them as they got bigger.
Ruby shifted her eyes, spotting a Power Pellet nearby as she used her plant arm to shoot out a vine, grabbing a hold of it and yanking it toward her as she crushed it with her hand, feeling a surge of power go through her as Caliburn glowed blue.
"HAAAAAAAAAAH!" She yelled, unleashing a powerful Soul Surge energy wave that cut through the ghosts and the Pac-Maze, making an opening as they ran off while the Ghosts' eyes shrank back and ran away.
As they continued, the energy wave that Ruby had unleashed cut through several layers of dirt that left several Pookas dazed as they went through the path before going into another cannon and shooting themselves toward another SDC mansion.
Once they landed and went inside, they would find themselves at the classic 1-1 Mario Bros level where they ran through, where Sonic spin dashing into the retro Goombas and Koopas as everyone hit the ? blocks for coins, though Sage found herself holding an Invincibility Star.
"Hmm? …Might keep this for later, just in case." She said, storing it away as they went through the area before wandering into a castle, jumping through the lava pits until they made it to the bridge, where Sonic was fighting the Death Egg Robot.
Meryl immediately jumped ahead and swung her halberd down with pink flames, the explosion was enough to rock the Death Egg Robot as it fell on top of the axe. Sage gasped, quickly using her powers to get everyone toward the other side as the bridge collapsed and took the Death Egg Robot with it, where it sank and melted into the lava.
"Thanks Sage!" Ruby smiled.
"You're welcome…" She said, softly smiling back.
"Mama!"
End BGM
They all turned to see Weiss in a cage above a pit of water.
"Weiss!" Ruby ran over, but suddenly a duck flew overhead and gunshots were heard. The gunshots missed the duck… but the chain that was holding the cage up was hit. The cage broke as Weiss fell into the water, all the while a pixelated Duck Hunt came up and started laughing.
"WEISS!"
Without even thinking, Ruby immediately dove into the water.
BGM: Anguish (RWBY: Ice Queendom)
Ruby swam down as fast as she could, the water getting darker by the second as Weiss sank down into the depths of despair.
Weiss briefly opened her eyes, seeing Ruby desperately swimming toward her.
"Ruby…"
Ruby reached for her hand, kicking her feet as hard as she could as both Ruby and Weiss slowly faded away into the darkness, but Ruby was determined to pull her out.
Am I… not good enough?
I'm not strong enough…
I'm a failure…
I deserved this…
I should have fallen with Atlas…
Adam should have killed me…
RWBY/WARCY/WSSP is better off without me…
I'll just slow them down with my baggage…
What would I even do?
I'm better off like this…
They'd be a lot happier without me…
"WEISS!"
Jacques was right… I'm worthless. I'll forever be a stain… I'll forever be a stain to the family… I'm nothing but a worthless daughter…
Adam was right… I did nothing… I deserved every bit of excruciating agony he gave me…
I'm a fraud… I believed I was strong but I wasn't.
"WEIIIIIIISSSS!"
I'm nothing…
I'm worthless…
I'm useless…
I can't get out…
No matter how hard I try to climb out… I just keep sinking…
Just leave me here to die…
You're better off without me…
I'd rather be forgotten…
I'M WORTHLESS!
END BGM
"NO, YOU'RE NOT! YOU'RE WORTH SOMETHING! YOU'RE WORTH TO EVERYONE WHO LOVES YOU!"
…Ruby…?
BGM: Awake (RWBY: Ice Queendom)
Suddenly, a bright light emerged within the darkness.
Weiss felt a hand grab her as she opened her eyes, meeting Ruby's eyes. She felt a tug as Ruby swam back up to the surface.
She then felt more hands grabbing her wrist.
SAPR.
Meryl.
Winter.
Sage.
Manaphy.
Even Sonic.
They were pulling her out of the depths.
In fact, she could have sworn she saw images of Nayru and the Fierce Deity helping her out.
She could feel all of the friends she's made pulling or pushing her out of the water, including her own family.
She felt another tug as she looked down to see Jacques attempting to pull her back down, including Adam, Demise, Ghirahim, Dark Weiss and the unstable Seryu trying to pull her back.
Manaphy looked down and in annoyance, he swam down and unleashed Water Pulse with Sage backing him up and firing lasers, pushing them away and freeing Weiss… and in turn, Weiss felt a whole lot lighter.
However, Demise and Ghirahim chased after her, the former reaching for her ankle… but before he could snag her, Weiss disappeared into the light.
Back outside…
Ruby emerged from the portal along with the others, where it closed behind them. They turned to see the cyber corruption leaving Sonic and Weiss.
Sonic moved his body, rubbing his shoulder while Weiss let out a gasp of fresh air, both of them slowly moving.
Once Weiss got her bearings, the first thing she saw was Ruby. "Ruby…?"
"Hey bestie… finally got you out of that despair." Ruby smiled.
Tears overwhelmed Weiss as Ruby instinctively hugged her, the former sobbing uncontrollably into her chest. Ruby couldn't help but tear up as well, softly crying into her shoulder.
Weiss felt hugs all around her, ranging from her own team, to Mine, to her own family, to Oran, to the Pokemon, to some nuzzles from Seer… and even the Warriors of Hope hugged her as well.
Once they parted, Weiss stood up as Nero gave her a fist bump, followed by Nico, Star Fox (though Slippy and Krystal opted for a hug), Shadow simply nodded at her, but had a small smile on his face. Knuckles high fived her, Tails fist bumped, Amy hugged her after giving Sonic the biggest bear hug imaginable, to Byleth and Dorothea hugging her, Gonta picking her up and squeezing her tightly yet gently at once.
Once Gonta let go, she turned around and got hugged by Jade, Iris, and Futaba while Rantaro fist bumped her.
She got poked on the shoulder as Weiss turned around, only to get hugged by Kyoko as well.
"It's good to have you back, Weiss." Kyoko smiled.
"Yeah… it feels great not to have something infect me…" She said as she felt something wrap around her legs as she looked down to see Orbot and Cubot hugging her. She giggled and patted them on the heads.
"How about that…" Sage smiled.
"Yes, it's all very mushy…" Eggman said, his lower lip quivering for a few seconds before he steeled himself while Metal Sonic kept rolling his eyes and folding his arms.
Once Ratchet had tied up Nefarious and Lawrence, he went over and fist bumped Weiss.
Sage's eyes widened in realization and turned back to Eggman. "We need to get you back in there!"
"And why is that?"
"I ran millions of simulations. The only way I can keep you alive is if you're not here when "it" gets out!" She said, catching everyone's attention.
"...When what gets out?" Eggman asked.
End BGM
They all suddenly heard a loud voice as they all looked around before turning to a distortion in the sky. Futaba immediately activated her Maiden powers and slowly ascended.
"Since time immemorial I have languished here. The locks are broken. Now I shall tear down the walls between dimensions and consume all."
"No. No, you don't! I'll mobilize the Egg Fleet and blow you out of the sky!" Eggman declared.
Futaba immediately shot ice lasers from her hands directly toward the distortion. However, as she was doing so, her ice started to turn into cyber corruption and was moving toward Futaba. She gasped, immediately ceasing it and backing away.
"Dammit… thought I could give it a try…"
"That's what I was worried about!" Sage said. "The Egg Fleet won't be enough! It triumphed over the Ancients' technology! My simulations show a success rate of zero percent!"
"Have you told anyone about this?" Eggman asked.
"...Just one. And it was when she willingly let herself be captured."
"Kirigiri?" Eggman turned to her in surprise as everyone looked at her.
"I'm still developing a plan for such a monster." Kyoko said.
"Mmmm…" Sage looked directly at Sonic and Weiss, her eyes widening in realization. "Of course…!"
She turned around and planted her hands on the Egg Mobile. "I got an idea! I never simulated a scenario where everyone helped since you never authorized it!"
"Rrrrgh… I still don't want to! Not to mention some people aren't going to be willing to-"
"Please!"
Eggman sighed in defeat. "Alright… everyone, I hereby induct you into the Eggman Empire and order you all to save this world and possibly all the others if it gets too crazy, just like what happened with that Star Rift incident and the Phazon War. This is not an alliance."
"Ugh…" Byleth looked away in disgust.
"I do not know how I feel about this." Winter said.
"With all due respect, I'll keep my alliance with Bowser. I am the big guy's "minion", after all~" Kyoko smiled.
"Oh brother…" Eggman shook his head.
"Did we just get conscripted by Baldy McNosehair?" Ruby whispered to Sonic.
"Eh… maybe?" Sonic shrugged.
Sage smiled. "Thank you." She said happily.
…Suddenly, a laser bolt struck Sage.
"AGH!" She cried as she was knocked to the ground.
"Sage?!" Eggman exclaimed as R3-B7 landed on the tower.
"Hello, "father"..."
Eggman's eyes widened. "You…!"
R3-B7 picked up Sage by the throat, slowly tightening her grip.
"We have unfinished business."
Ibuki: Uh oh... R3-B7 again...
Deadpool: We got a pissed off robot! Not good!
This is about to get wild.