SEGA Heroes
Episode 4
Gathering Heroes!
VS. FEMALE MILITIA SCOUT (Theme: Battle (From Valkyria Chronicles))
Sonic, Chuih, Kingpin and Joker fought tooth and nail against the charging clones, which included Egg Pawns, Yakuza-Styled Thugs, Banana Thieves, Barbarian-Styled Warriors, Military Soldiers wearing an apparel like the one worn by the female militia scout clone and lastly, Zombies. The Scout girl stood back as she observed the fight going from behind a barrier made from sandbags, as she loaded her rifle and aimed at the four heroes.
Sonic dodged attacks using his speed and then landed a supersonic combo on a couple of Egg Pawns and Military Soldiers, ending the combo with a Spin Dash.
Chuih used his small size to his advantage to lure the enemy into attacking one another, as he tricked some Yakuza Thugs and Barbarian Warriors into attacking each other, then rushed in and jump stomped them on the head.
Kingpin used his katana to slice through some Zombies, followed by Joker who sliced through the Banana Thieves with his dagger.
While they were fighting however, the female scout aimed her rifle at Joker's head. Chuih was the first to notice this and squeaked out loud, "Chuih! Chuih!" Chuih rushed in and kicked him in the back, causing him to fall over, but also saving his life as the female scout fired her rifle, but missed her target thanks to the little space mouse spotting her.
"What's the big idea?" Joker glared at Chuih.
Chuih pointed at where the female militia scout was hiding, as she reloaded her rifle, this time aiming at Sonic's head.
"Oh shoot! Sonic! Head's up!" Joker shouted.
"Huh?" Sonic looked and saw the scout firing her rifle right at him.
Normally, this is the part where one would have their head pierced through by a bullet, but this is Sonic the Hedgehog, so dodging bullets after being fired from a gun isn't impossible for him. With that said, just as the bullet was about to hit Sonic's forehead, suddenly the whole world around him just froze in place, except for Sonic himself.
"Whoa, that was a close call." Sonic said as he caught the bullet in mid-air with his bare hand.
Then Sonic casually walked past the enemies and allies frozen in time, while catching all the bullets in mid-air. Once he got close to the female scout, time returned to normal, and the scout gasped in surprise to see the blue hedgehog standing right in front of her with all the bullets she fired in his hand.
"I believe you dropped these." Sonic said as he dropped the bullets right in front of her.
The female scout ran away as she called more clones to her side and stall him. Sonic fought against the clones, as Chuih went after the scout.
Joker and Kingpin took down the clones in their way by slicing through them with their weapons as they chased after the scout along with Chuih.
The female scout took cover behind another barrier of sandbags set up by her clone henchmen and she started firing her rifle at Chuih, who used his small size to jump around and dodge the bullets. The scout threw a grenade at him, but Joker managed to save Chuih using a grappling hook to pull him out of the way, as the grenade exploded where the little space mouse once stood but missed its target completely.
"This makes us even!" Joker told Chuih with a smile as he carried him.
"Chuih!" Chuih thanked Joker.
"Coming through!" Kingpin rushed in slicing through his foes as he dodged the female scout's shots and came at her with a mighty slash, slicing the sandbag barrier out of the way, but the scout dodged as she continued to run from them while sending more clones to stall them.
"Running away? Not gonna help!" Sonic shouted as he boosted through the enemy ranks, knocking them all back like bowling pins.
The scout threw more grenades at Sonic while running towards her next cover, but the blue blur dodged every one of them as he ran right past the scout and Spin Dashed through the last barrier, destroying it. He then turned to face her, as Chuih, Joker and Kingpin caught to them, as the four heroes surrounded the scout.
"No where to run or hide Miss!" Kingpin said as he pointed his katana at her.
"Just give it up!" Joker said while pointing his dagger at her.
"We might go easy on you if you tell us how to get to Dremagen." Sonic said.
"Chuih!" Chuih squeaked.
The female scout closed her eyes as she dropped her rifle, seemingly surrendering to them, but then, suddenly, a blue aura bursts from her body, the shockwave knocking the heroes back. When they got up, they saw that the female scout's body was surrounded by a blue aura, her brown hair turned silver, and her eyes were now bright red. She was also carrying a massive drill-like spear and a shield.
VS. AWAKENED FEMALE MILITIA SCOUT (Theme: Valkyria's Awakening (From Valkyria Chronicles))
Suddenly, the scout rushed towards and attacked our heroes one by one with her spear and shield. None, not even Sonic, were able to dodge her fierce attacks, as they screamed in pain. She rushed and performed a combo by stabbing, slashing and bashing each one relentlessly, leaving all four of them covered in stab and slash wounds from her spear and black spots from her shield.
Soon, Sonic, Chuih, Joker and Kingpin fell on the sand, heavily wounded from the powered-up scout.
"Shoot…guess she did have a trick up her sleeve…" Sonic cursed under his breath.
"Chu…ih…" Chuih squeaked in pain, as he had visible cracks on his space helmet.
The female scout reared back her spear as the drill-like part started spinning faster and faster as it gathered up this blue aura around it, as she was preparing one final attack to finish them off in one go.
"No…we can't let it end…like this…" Kingpin groaned in pain.
"Must…get back…up…" Joker moaned in pain.
"You guys…" Sonic said as he watched both young men get back up and stand up against the female scout.
"Chuih…" Chuih watched as well.
"If you hurt our friends…"
"…you won't live to brag about it."
Suddenly, both young men were also surrounded by a blue aura as a card, showing a picture of a man walking with his dog while carrying a stick with a bag hanging behind and the number zero at the bottom, suddenly appeared before Kingpin, floating down towards his right hand. Meanwhile Joker reached his right hand for his mask.
"What are they doing?" Sonic wondered, while Chuih watched in wonder as well.
"Sonic-san, you came to our aid." Kingpin said.
"Now its our turn to return the favor." Joker said.
The awakened scout finished charging her attack as she pointed her spear towards the two young men and fired a massive energy beam at them. Just as the beam was about to hit them, the two young men shouted a single word:
"PERSONA!"
Kingpin crushed the card with his bare hand, while Joker ripped his mask off, just as the beam was about to hit them. Then came a massive explosion of light, as Sonic and Chuih shielded their eyes.
When the brightness died down, Sonic looked at where the two young men were and shouted, "JOKER! KINGPIN!"
"CHUIH!" Chuih squeaked.
Sonic and Chuih gasped in surprise when they saw the two young men still standing, but their injuries were suddenly gone, but the clothes remained torn, but what caught their attention was the sudden appearance of two new beings floating next them.
(Theme: Awakening (from Persona 5))
"I am thou, thou art I…thou have summoned me from the sea of thy soul…" The two mysterious newcomers spoke in a ghost-like tone.
Standing next to Kingpin, was a tall humanoid wearing a long, black trench coat with belts instead of button, over his grey shirt, white collar, black pants with a grey zipper over the crotch area, grey bladed boots, black gloves with razor-sharp claws on its fingers, a white helmet with golden yellow eyes shining through its visor and a white head band. He was also carrying a large, bladed spear wrapped in white tape around the handle.
"The time has come! I am the Father of Japan, Izanagi!"
Next to Joker, was another tell humanoid who, from top to bottom, wore a very tall top hat, a long-horned mask for its face (as it appeared to not have a head), a cropped red eighteenth century-esque suit worn open with the collar popped, stitched heart designs on the shoulders, a white ruffle tie, a black, tailed corset running down its torso; large, black, feathery wings starting at around the small of its back; claws; red coverings on its legs resembling pants and boots with blade-like heels.
"I am the Pillager of Twilight, Arsène!"
The female scout looked just as surprised as Sonic and Chuih, but nevertheless she charged at them full speed, but before her attack could land, the being known as "Izanagi" blocked it with his bladed spear, then swung his weapon hard, knocking her back.
The being known as "Arsène" followed this up by firing a series of needle-like energy projectiles from his hand at the female scout, damaging her.
Izanagi pointed his free hand at the scout and summoned a giant lightning bolt from the sky, dealing heavy electric damage to her, as she screamed in pain.
"Whoa!" Sonic exclaimed while Chuih did the same in squeaks.
The female scout got up, bruised from the projectiles and smoking from getting electrocuted, but still capable of fighting as she raised her spear and shield. She summoned a blue aura around her body, healing her from the damage she sustained.
"She's a stubborn one, isn't she?" Kingpin asked.
"But so are we." Joker said, "Let's do this!"
Seeing the two young men so determined, Sonic chuckled as he got back up to his feet despite his injuries, "Can't let you hog all the fun can we, Chuih?" he asked.
"Chuih!" Chuih squeaked in agreement as he got back up too.
"Time for the Final Round!" Sonic shouted as he joined Kingpin and Joker's side with a fighting stance, along with Chuih.
(Theme: Willpower (From Persona 5))
The female militia scout powered herself up even further as she had a blue aura bursting out of her body, before dashing at the heroes at blinding speeds and swung her spear at them. But this time, the heroes were ready for her as they dodged her attacks. Kingpin and Joker commanded their mysterious partners, who responded by striking her with their respective weapons, but she blocked them with her shield. While she was shielding herself, Sonic and Chuih charged at her from behind. The scout tried swinging her spear at them, but Sonic and Chuih slid right under it, dodging the attack, then double whammed her with a backflip kick, breaking her guard while also damaging her. The two spiritual beings then proceeded in stabbing her in the gut as purple particles bleed out of her wound as she cried in pain.
Despite this, the scout wasn't ready to call it a quits as she fired energy beams from her spear at them, knocking them back, also causing the young men to flinch in pain when their partners took damage.
The scout got back up as the stab wounds on her gut closed and healed up.
Sonic then rushed in while avoiding her spear attack and proceeded to land a Phantom Rush combo as he landed a deadly combo of punches and kicks all around her while moving at blinding speeds, finishing the combo with a Homing Attack to the head.
Chuih followed it up with a Jump Stomp on her head, landing a series of kicks before jumping off and joining Sonic's side.
The female scout recovered as she fired more energy beams from her spear at Sonic and Chuih who dodged them while closing the gap between them. They both came for another rush combo, by the scout managed to block their attack with her shield.
While she was distracted by them however, the young men and their partners recovered as they prepared their attacks. Kingpin raised his katana high up as Izanagi summoned another lighting bolt, striking his katana and charging it up with electricity. Meanwhile, Joker and Arzène surrounded themselves in a dark, black and red aura.
Kingpin rushed in first as he shouted, "CROSS SLASH!" as he sliced the female scout horizontally with his electrified katana, followed up by Izanagi slicing her vertically with his electrified bladed spear, dealing massive damage to her as she screamed in pain.
Joker went next as he fired his grappling hook at the scout and pulled himself towards her landing a series of slashes with his dagger, followed by Arsène landing the finishing blow by summoning a wave of dark magic energy from his hands, dealing heavy damage as she screamed in pain even more.
Sonic and Chuih then followed it up with a double sweep kick across the face, knocking her back as she dropped her spear and shield, as she was sent flying across the beach.
The female scout got back up, but she took such a beating that she can barely stand anymore. She tried summoning her aura but failed.
"Looks like she's all out of gas!" Sonic said, "Shall we end this?"
"Yes, let's!" Joker said.
"Time for an All-Out Attack!" Kingpin shouted.
Cut ins of Sonic, Chuih, Kingpin and Joker showing off their confident expressions appear on screen
The four heroes rushed in and attacked the weakened scout from all directions with punches, kicks, slicing and dicing, as she screamed in pain.
When it was over, the four heroes struck a pose together, while the female scout exploded into a fountain of purple particles, as she was finally defeated.
THE SHOW'S OVER!
The battle was finally over as the female militia scout fell to the ground, her hair and eyes turned back to brown, purple particles flying out of her wounds. The four heroes watched as her body vanished into thin air as purple particles flew into the sky where she once laid. The rifle she used before also vanished into purple particles. Izanagi and Arsène both vanished as well as the blue auras around Kingpin and Joker died down. Also, with a burst of blue energy, Joker's clothes changed from that strange, but stylish outfit to something more normal, consisting of a short-sleeved black polo shirt with a white collar, gray jeans, a brown belt and gray and white converse sneakers with black laces. He also wore a brown-banded watch on his left arm. His mask was also replaced with a pair of glasses.
"Whew…she was tough…" Kingpin said.
"Yeah, we almost bought the farm because of her." Joker said.
"But we still won, because we all worked together." Sonic said, "But I have to admit, you two are the MVPs of that fight."
"Chuih! Chuih! Chuih!" Chuih squeaked.
"Yeah, especially when you summoned those beings all dramatic like. What were those?" Sonic asked.
"Oh, you're talking about our Personas?" Kingpin asked.
"Personas?" Sonic asked.
"Chuih?" Chuih squeaked in confusion.
"Its kind of hard to explain but…basically, they are our "other selves" who reside in the sea of our souls." Joker said, "I understand it sounds too complicated, but that's the best we can describe them."
"Well, your "other selves" really saved our butts back there so, thanks a bunch!" Sonic said.
"Chuih!" Chuih said.
"And by the way, "Joker", your clothes." Sonic pointed out.
"I…guess you could say my outfit was a bonus that came with my Persona." Joker explained.
"Okay." Sonic raised an eyebrow, but decided not to question it further.
"We should also thank you Sonic-san and Chuih-san." Kingpin said, "By the way, I'm…"
"Hold it!" Sonic said, "I don't think we're done just yet."
"Huh?" The young men were confused along with Chuih as they looked in the direction where Sonic was looking and indeed, they saw someone hiding behind a beach hut.
The person gasped as they tried to stay hidden, but it was useless as Sonic shouted, "Whoever you are, come on out. We promise we won't hurt you, assuming you aren't an enemy that is."
The person sighed as they reluctantly came out of hiding, with their hands in the air as way of showing they come in peace, revealing themselves to be the same Female Militia Scout from before. The only difference was that her expression looked corned and human-like, unlike the artificial look on the fake scout. Plus, Chuih noticed and recognized a small creature on her shoulder: a small alien mouse creature wearing a red space suit instead of a blue one, and red fur instead of blue, long eyelashes and a heart shape on the tip of its tail, indicating that this one was female.
"Chuih!" Chuih exclaimed with joy.
"Chupea!" the female space mouse exclaimed with joy as she jumped off the scout's shoulder and rushed to hug Chuih.
"Um…hi." The female scout greeted as she raised her hands in the air, "You can all relax, I'm not an enemy. Honest."
Sonic, Kingpin and Joker look at her and then at Chuih and the female space mouse hugging each other, then back at the scout who's clearly showed honesty and sincerity in her eyes, two things the faker they defeated clearly lacked.
"Alright, we believe you. You're not an enemy." Sonic said as he got out of his fighting stance.
"Yeah, we can tell you're the real deal and not a clone." Kingpin said as he and Joker put their weapons away.
The female scout sighed in relief, "Thank you…Chupea and I have been fighting against these weird things too since we've arrived in this strange world. Some of them looked like my friends."
"I know that feeling." Sonic said, "Why not join us?"
"You don't mind?" The female scout asked.
"Of course we don't, the more friends the better." Sonic said, "I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!"
"I'm Yu Narukami, codename: "Kingpin"." Kingpin, real name "Yu", introduced himself.
"I'm Ren Amamiya, codename: "Joker"." Joker, real name "Ren", introduced himself.
"I'm Alicia Melchiott, Squad 7 Sergeant of the Gallian Militia." The female scout introduced herself.
"And then there's Chuih and…Chupea, right?" Sonic said.
"Chuih!"
"Chupea!"
The two space mice squeaked in unison.
The group smiled as they found them to be cute, when suddenly exhaustion and pain hit Sonic, Chuih, Yu and Ren, as they all grunted in pain, causing Alicia and Chupea to gasp in concern.
"Oh my! You're all too exhausted after that fight, aren't you? I've got some medical supplies that I can use." Alicia said.
"Thanks Alicia." Sonic said.
Soon, the sun had set, and nighttime had come. The heroes, now with Alicia and Chupea as part of the group, decided to use one of the beach huts to spend the night in. Alicia treated Sonic and the others' injuries with Chupea's assistance, adding medicinal alcohol to the wounds and then wrapping them in cast. After they were finished, they prepared a meal using fruits and vegetables that they gathered along the way. Even though they had an artificial taste, because of this world, it was still enough to satisfy their hunger.
"Thanks for treating our injuries Alicia-san and Chupea-san." Yu thanked her.
"And thanks for the meal too." Joker thanked.
"Yeah, thanks a bunch Alicia and Chupea." Sonic said.
"Chuih!"
"Chupea!"
"You're welcome!" Alicia said with a smile, "And by the way, you can drop the "san" part. Just Alicia will do."
"Chupea!" Chupea squeaked.
"Very well, Alicia and Chupea. Good to have you two on the team." Yu said.
"I wish I could have also prepared some bread to go with your meal, but I don't have the proper ingredients with me at the moment, so this will have to do." Alicia said.
"That's okay, you've already helped us a lot." Ren said, while the others nodded in agreement.
"That's good. Now, I'm sure there is plenty of stuff that you must know that I don't, and vice versa, but it is getting late, and we all need to rest. Especially you four since you've been fighting this whole time." Alicia said.
"No need to tell me twice." Sonic said as he went to bed, "I'm getting so shut eye right now, good night."
Sonic laid down on his bed and went to sleep.
"Yeah, we should go to bed too. We'll talk more tomorrow morning." Yu said.
"Usually, I have a talking cat to tell me to sleep, but whatever. Good night." Ren said as he went to sleep, leaving everyone confused about the "talking cat" part.
"Oooookay…?" Alicia said, shrugging it off, "Well, Chupea and I will go sleep on the cabin next door. Good night."
"Chupea!" Chupea gave Chuih one last hug before joining Alicia.
"Chuih!" Chuih said as he went to sleep next to Sonic.
"Good night." Yu said as he also went to bed.
"Good night." Everyone said in unison, while Chuih and Chupea squeaked.
And so, Sonic, Chuih, Yu and Ren went to sleep in their beach hut's beds. Alicia and Chupea went to the other hut next to theirs and went to sleep in their own bed, with Chupea sleeping next to Alicia.
"I've found some more people I can rely on, but I have a feeling it won't be enough. Whatever is going on with this weird new world, we need to gather as many allies as we can. Those clone things, they are taking orders from someone, and that someone is our enemy." Alicia said in her thoughts before falling into a deep slumber.
As the heroes slumbered, they wondered how their friends would be doing if they ended up in this world too. And if they didn't end up in this world, then where could they have gone to? It was no secret that this whole interdimensional crisis is unlike anything they have faced before, and their foe is way more formidable than any villain they ever faced before. Not only do they need to get stronger, but they need to gather as many allies as they can.
Dremagen…Dr. Eggman…the Clone Army…it didn't matter in the end who their true enemy really is, taking them down is what truly matters.
Meanwhile…
Knuckles the Echidna, Guardian of the Master Emerald and the last surviving member of the Echidna Tribe, found himself in a strange empty void as he walked down a pathway made up of asteroids. There was no sun or moon, or even stars, just an endless black void. He's been wondering around for who knows how long. Any normal person would have gone insane by now, but Knuckles' determination was unlike any other as he kept wondering, looking for an exit, any exit. Not to mention, the Master Emerald is unguarded. He needed to find it and protect it from anyone who wanted to use it or worse misuse its powers.
"I know I made sure to set up traps around the island and especially around the alter in case someone tries to steal it, but even then, someone as cunning as that batgirl could bypass them and steal it anyway." Knuckles said to himself, "Gah, this isn't good! All these "What-Ifs" are bumming me out."
Knuckles kept on wondering and wondering, but no matter how far he wondered, the scenery wouldn't change at all. Or did it?
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed what appeared to be a blue door with a golden "V" on it. Curious, Knuckles walked up to it and examined the door.
"Strange…" he muttered, "What's a door doing all the way out here in the middle of nowhere? Did someone lose it?"
He looked behind the door but saw nothing on the other side. It was strange but…something about this door felt…magical? Mystical? Spiritual? It was difficult to say, but upon further inspection, Knuckles could tell this was no ordinary door that was placed here randomly.
"Maybe I should try opening it?" Knuckles wondered as he placed his hand on the knob and…
The door opened and Knuckles shielded his eyes at the brightness on the other side as he walked through the door.
When the brightness died down, Knuckles looked up and found himself in a blue room with a bunch of doorways covering all four walls but in the center of the room, was a table and the other side of the table, on a fancy looking sofa, was a bizarre looking old human man, or at least Knuckles thought it was human.
Except this "human" had large bulging, bloodshot eyes, a really, long nose, a crooked smile, a bald head on top with white hair around. He was wearing a black suit, white gloves, white socks and black shoes. He also appeared to be skinny to the point of almost showing his skeleton.
"Greetings, Guardian of the Master Emerald, welcome to the Velvet Room." The bizarre old man greeted Knuckles.
"Huh?" Knuckles looked confused, "What's going on here? Who are you and what is this place?"
"I understand this is happening all too fast and it may be difficult to understand it all at once but…My name is Igor and I am delighted to make your acquaintance, Guardian of the Master Emerald. As for this place, this is the Velvet Room, a place that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a place that only those who are bound by a contract may enter." The old man known as "Igor" explained, "However, you are a special case. You are not a "guest" but rather a "visitor" who came here because you happen to share a fate with a few of my past guests. While you may have yet to meet them, such a day is not far off."
"What are you talking about?" Knuckles asked in confusion.
"Do not worry, it will all make sense, eventually." Igor said, "Now then, you've been wandering through the void for a long time until you found your way in here. Your arrival was not by chance but because you, your friends and some of my past guests share the same fate: to save the whole universe from the Master of a Thousand Dimensions."
"Dremagen!" Knuckles exclaimed.
"Indeed." Igor said, "You have already made your acquaintance with her and seen her powers firsthand. She knew you and the Master Emerald would pose a threat to her plans, so she attempted to banish you to the void between dimensions."
"What!?" Knuckles said.
"The Master of a Thousand Dimensions, she has claimed the Chaos Emeralds for herself and used Chaos Control to merge all the dimensions into a singular one, to which she refers to as "her" dimension. If she isn't stopped, something terrible will happen to every dimension involved in this incident." Igor explained.
"Okay, you seem to be aware of what is going on, do you happen to have a way I can also enter her dimension so I can go kick her butt?" Knuckles asked.
"I can send you to her dimension, but alas, I am unable to send you to her exact location." Igor said, "It would appear she has created a dimensional barrier preventing anyone and anything from accessing her base of operations."
"Just get me as close as you can." Knuckles said.
"Very well." Igor said, but then he remembered something, "Oh, forgive me, but could I ask you for a favor before you go?"
"What kind of favor?" Knuckles asked.
"Nothing too complicated, it is just…my assistants." Igor said, "I am afraid when the Master of a Thousand Dimensions merged all dimensions into one, the Velvet Room was also affected by this phenomenon, taking on the appearance you see before you. I asked them to investigate the matter but…none of them have returned and now I fear the worst."
"And you can't just leave the room unattended, right?" Knuckles asked to which Igor nodded, "Alright, I'll do it! What do they look like?"
"Here are their pictures." Igor said as he handed Knuckles the four pictures of his assistants, "Their names are Elizabeth, Theodore, Margeret and Lavenza. If you find them, give them the Velvet Keys attached to the photos. They will help them find their way back to the Velvet Room."
"Gotcha." Knuckles said, "By the way, about the Master Emerald…?"
"It is somewhere in the new world created by the Master of a Thousand Dimensions, but I am unable to ascertain its exact location." Igor said, "But with your connection to the Master Emerald, finding should prove to be no challenge to you, correct?"
"Alright, thanks Igor." Knuckles said, "Now, how do I go to Dremagen's dimension?"
Igor smiled as he snapped his fingers and one of the doors on the wall to Knuckles' left opened, "Best of luck Guardian of the Master Emerald, until we meet again."
"Alright, Dremagen, here I come!" Knuckles shouted with determination as he went through the door that Igor opened. The door closed once he went through.
Igor silently sat on his chair, deep in meditation, "I hope nothing serious happened to my assistants. And I do wonder how my previous guests are doing…if only I could get into contact with them, but the Master of a Thousand Dimensions seemed to have found a way to prevent me from summoning them here, even in their dreams…perhaps, if they could recover that strength, they had at the end of their original journeys…"
Soon…
On the other side of the door, Knuckles found himself in the middle of a wasteland, with rocks and dead trees around and a few mountains around. It was currently nighttime. As he examined his surroundings, he looked at the photos Igor gave him. Three young women and a young man, all of them had silver hair, golden yellow eyes and dressed in blue, the similarities suggesting that they are all siblings.
"Okay, they should be easy to find, but the Master Emerald comes first." Knuckles said as he put the pictures away, "That Igor guy said that its somewhere in this world."
Knuckles closed his eyes and focused, "It's faint but I can sense the Master Emerald's presence. Hmm…"
Knuckles opened his eyes, "I need to get to high ground." He said as he went on ahead.
After a while, he found a tall cliffside and climbed it using the spikes on his gloves. Once he reached the top, he got a better look of the location he was in. His current location was in some kind of volcanic wasteland, but he could also see a forest and a city in the far distance, but then something else caught his attention: to his right he saw a giant volcanic crater with a massive cloud of volcanic fumes coming out of it. He could tell that there was something hiding in the cloud, but he couldn't really tell what it was. Curious, he decided to take a closer look as he jumped off the cliff and glided towards the crater by trapping the air between his dreadlocks.
But as soon as he got close to it, "OOF!" he grunted as he hit something in mid-air and got knocked back.
Knuckles recovered as he landed on the ground next to the edge of the crater. He walked up to the edge and tried reaching out his hand, when suddenly, some invisible force knocked his hand back, "WHOA!" he shouted in surprise.
Knuckles looked up to see the volcanic fume cloud on the other side of this invisible barrier, "Dremagen's hideout must be on the other side, but how am I supposed to reach it?" he wondered.
"Forget it man, it's useless! You can't break that barrier!" A voice spoke from behind.
Knuckles jumped and turned around, "Who's there!?" he demanded while in his fighting stance.
"Whoa there, I'm not your enemy!" the person revealed to be a young man with spiky blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a black and red racetrack suit, black shoes and fingerless gloves, "I'm just an indie car racer and martial artist who just happened to find himself in a strange place surrounded by creepy guys trying to kill me, with some of them looking like my friends. You're not one of those creepy dudes, are you?"
"Do I look creepy to you?" Knuckles demanded, clearly offended by the question.
A red vein stuck out of his forehead
"Nah, just peeved off by my question." The racer said, "But that also means you're not one of them and I could use a friendly face right about now."
"Well, I guess you could consider me friendly, but that doesn't mean that I trust you yet." Knuckles said.
"Hey, I get it, strange place, unfamiliar folks, some friendly, some not, it makes it hard to trust others. But I can tell you're friendly and I'm willing to take that risk." The racer said, "Surely you are willing to take the risk and trust me, right?"
"Maybe, if you help me take out those creeps over there." Knuckles said while in fighting stance.
The racer looked at where Knuckles was looking and sure enough, there was an army of clones, consisting of Badniks, Street Thugs, Yakuza Thugs and humanoid robots carrying ray guns known as "Robotcops".
"Great, more of these creeps. You can tell by the look on their faces that they are looking for a fight." The racer said, "Let's get them red dude!"
"The name's Knuckles, not "red dude"." Knuckles said.
"I'm Jacky Bryant! Nice to meetcha Knuckles!" The racer, known as "Jacky", introduced himself.
"Here they come!" Knuckles let out a battle cry as he and Jacky charged at the incoming enemies.
Knuckles punched his enemies with his mighty spiky boxing glove wearing fists, while Jacky took down his foes using a fighting style known as "Jeet Kune Do". The enemies came at them in waves as Crabmeats fire energy blasts from their pincers, Buzz Bombers fires energy blasts from their stingers and Catterkillers burrow underground and attack from below. Street and Yakuza Thugs attack with knives and pipes. The Robotcops fire their ray guns. Knuckles and Jacky dodged them all as they take down every enemy coming at them effortlessly as they all vanished into purple particles upon defeat.
Things become complicated, when the defeated Robotcops suddenly get back on their feet and attack Knuckles and Jacky, who barely dodged their shots.
"What the heck!? I thought we broke these guys?" Jacky was confused.
"They must be equipped with some kind self-repair system; I've seen this kind of tech before." Knuckles said, "We just need to bring them down again!"
The fight continued until Knuckles and Jacky took out all the enemies, until only the Robotcops remained, as they kept coming back thanks to their self-repair systems, making them extremely tedious to deal with. They noticed among their ranks was a Robotcop that stood out: he was white, had a single black optic and wore a police captain's hat, dubbed a "Captainbot".
"I bet that guy is the one leading all the other ones!" Jacky said.
"Then let's take him down!" Knuckles said.
The Captainbot fired his ray gun at the two heroes, who dodged his shots as they rushed towards him with Knuckles landing a punch across its face and Jacky landing a swift kick to the torso.
The Captainbot collapsed into a pile of scrap metal. The other Robotcops soon met the same fate as they just fell to the ground into a pile of junk, since their leader got taken out. The piles of scrap vanished into purple particles.
"Heh, they weren't so tough." Knuckles said.
"Just a bunch of chumps begging for a beating." Jacky said.
"You know? You're pretty good for a human." Knuckles admitted.
"And you are pretty scrappy for a giant porcupine." Jacky said.
"I'm an echidna actually, but thanks." Knuckles said, "I suppose I can trust you, for now."
"Same here." Jacky said.
"By the way, earlier you said I couldn't break that barrier." Knuckles said.
"Trust me, I already tried it myself, nothing worked so far." Jacky said, "Whatever's on the other side HAS to be the source of all our troubles and they set up that barrier to keep anyone from getting close."
"There has to be a way to make it through." Knuckles said.
"Maybe, but I have no clue." Jacky said, "The only thing I know for certain is that there is no way we can get close to the place as long as that barrier is there."
"I guess our only option now is to explore the rest of this world and look for another way." Knuckles said.
"Looks that way." Jacky said, "And if we can find more friends along the way, the better chance we have against more of those creepy things that keep attacking us."
"Agreed." Knuckles said, then suddenly his stomach started growling, "Um…"
"All that fighting opened up your appetite huh?" Jacky laughed, but then his stomach started growling as well, "Heh, well, same here."
"I saw a forest over that way, let's go." Knuckles said.
"Sure, lead the way Knucky-boy!" Jacky said.
Knuckles and Jacky traveled across the wasteland towards the forest, with the red echidna leading the way. They encountered more clones along the way and brought them all down, disintegrating them into purple particles. This opened their appetite even more as they finally reached the forest.
They gathered a bunch of fruits and vegetables and then started a fire to cook them into a dish. When they ate, they noticed something felt off about them, but their hunger came first as they ate their meal anyway.
"Man, that hit the spot." Jacky said.
"Hey Jacky? Have you noticed that something weird about this world? Like how…everything feels…fake?" Knuckles asked.
"Now that you mention it yeah, even the food we just ate felt fake, yet still filled our bellies anyway." Jacky said, "It feels weird."
"It must be because Dremagen's new world isn't a natural one." Knuckles said.
"Dremagen?" Jacky asked.
"The evil witch who calls herself the "Master of a Thousand Dimensions"." Knuckles explained, "She's the mastermind who created this world by merging every dimension into one, including our own."
"If she's the baddie, then I bet that thing behind that barrier is her hideout." Jacky said.
"Yeah." Knuckles said, "Dremagen seems to be the key to everything that is going here. If we want to bring our worlds back to normal, we'll have to deal with her."
"But the question is…how to get past that barrier?" Jacky wondered.
Knuckles and Jacky were deep in thought. But no matter how hard they thought about it, nothing came to mind.
"Meh, no use thinking about it now, besides…" Jacky let out a yawn, "I need so shut eye."
"Same here…" Knuckles yawned.
"We can continue this in the morning. Good night." Jacky went to sleep as he lay down next to the fire.
"Yeah…good night." Knuckles said as he laid down next to the fire.
Before going to sleep, he wondered what to do about that barrier, but more importantly…he needed to find the Master Emerald and use to stop the Chaos Emeralds from aiding Dremagen. There are also Igor's assistants, who have gone missing. And what did Igor mean when he said that he shared a fate with his past guests, whoever they are? And what about Sonic and the others? Are they okay? Too many questions and not enough answers. All this thinking made his eyelids feel heavy as he finally closed them and went to sleep.
Meanwhile…
Back at Dremagen's Castle, Dremagen sensed a disturbance as she looked through another portal and gasped in shock when she saw Knuckles, "The Guardian has escaped the void!? But how?!" she wondered in an almost panicked state, before she calmed down, "No matter, he needs to be dealt with sooner rather than later."
She summoned another squad of clones, this time consisting of a pair of large barbarian warriors, who appear to be twin brothers, each carrying a large sledgehammer, and a pair of burglars, one tall and wearing a red shirt, and one short and wearing a blue shirt, and both wore sunglasses, and each carried a stun gun.
"Finish the Guardian and his new friend! They must not be allowed to interfere any more than they already have!" Dremagen ordered them.
The four clones bowed before departing through a portal.
"The Guardian must be disposed of! He must not be allowed to find the Master Emerald!" Dremagen said as she looked up at the Chaos Emeralds on her throne, "If he gets it, all my plans will be jeopardy!"
She then looked at the Knuckles Clone, "You! Find the Master Emerald before anyone else does!"
The Knuckles Clone bowed before leaving through a portal.
"I have worked too hard to bring my entire collection together! Anyone who opposes me shall be destroyed!" Dremagen declared.
Unbeknownst to her, Sage has been eavesdropping on Dremagen the whole time, "So the Guardian is in this world too? This may be our chance."
She quickly rushed back to the lab before anyone could notice her. Once she made it back to the lab, she made sure to tell Metal, Orbot and Cubot about it.
"Knuckles is here?" Cubot asked.
Sage hushed him, "Not so loud!" she said, pointing at Dr. Eggman, who was working on his next project.
"Sorry…" Cubot said.
"We need to get Knuckles on our side and help him find the Master Emerald so that Dremagen can't use the Chaos Emeralds anymore." Sage said, "And since Father still doesn't want to work with him since he is friends with Sonic, we'll have to do it ourselves."
"But Sage, won't we get in trouble with the boss if he finds out?" Orbot asked.
"I will take full responsibility if it comes to that." Sage said.
Metal Sonic made some mechanical sounds and gestural language.
"I know Big Brother Metal, even without the Emeralds, Dremagen will still be a formidable foe, but this is the most optimal method than taking her head on while she still has the Emeralds on her side." Sage said.
Metal Sonic nodded.
"We'll just have to wait for our opportunity." Sage said.
Metal Sonic, Orbot and Cubot nodded, as they all went to join Eggman, who just finished working on his project: an Egg Driller, which was a red car with big black tire wheels and a large drill on the front.
"Ah, Sage, Metal Sonic, Orbot and Cubot. I just figured out a way to keep our unwanted guests entertained." Eggman said.
"Challenge them to a kart race?" Cubot asked.
"No, I'm going to equip Dremagen's clones with my inventions!" Eggman said, "Take my old Egg Driller for example, I've made some modifications to it that will make it far more effective than the last two times I used it against that blue pest and his playmates. And I've got the perfect clone to put it to good use: AXEL!"
The clone of a young man with short spiky green hair, green goatie and blue eyes. He wore an opened up red Hawaiian shirt, showing his buff top, a shark tooth necklace, black short pants with a black belt, brown gloves and white sneakers with a red design on them.
"Time to put your "crazy" driving skills to good use and destroy those fools!" Eggman said.
"Alright, let's get it on!" The Axel Clone said as he jumped in the Egg Driller and drove into the portal.
"Alright, next up, Largo Potter in my Egg Hornet!" Eggman announced as another clone piloting another one of his inventions.
The Egg Hornet was a large aircraft consisting of an old version of the Egg Mobile, equipped with a pair of drills on each side with rocket thrusters, and a large rocket thruster on the back. The drills also had homing rocket launchers built in them.
The clone riding inside it was a large, muscular man in his mid-thirties, with brown eyes and dark brown hair that he keeps in sideburns, which reach down to his chin like a beard in two halves. He wore the Gallian military uniform, complete with armored plating. He also carried a lance with a warhead on it.
"I'll wipe those scum from my sight!" The clone known as "Largo Potter" said as he piloted the Egg Hornet through the portal.
"And finally, Big the Cat and Froggy in the Egg Walker!" Eggman announced as the last clone presented himself.
The Egg Walker was a modified Egg Mobile with a rifle-shaped Volkan Cannon on the right side of the cockpit and a large and elevated Lock-On Missile launcher on the left side of the rear. On the bottom, it was equipped with two heavily armored legs.
The clone piloting it was Big the Cat, a large purple furred cat with yellow eyes, long ears, white fur on the front, a large brown belt with a gold buckle around his waist, brown gloves and sandals. He also carried a fishing rod. Froggy was a simple green frog with yellow eyes, riding on top of his head.
"I can't wait to see the look on Sonic and his friends' faces when they see two of their dimwitted friends become their enemies!" Eggman chuckled evilly as he watched Big piloting the Egg Walker through the portal.
"Will equipping them with your old tech really make a difference?" Orbot asked.
"Of course it will! It will give them more options than just their own abilities!" Eggman said, "Now we sit back and enjoy the show!"
Eggman said as he sat on his chair and grabbed some popcorn as he watched the show on the multiple monitors. Sage, Metal Sonic, Orbot and Cubot watched as well as they stood next to him.
"Are you gonna share those?" Cubot asked Eggman about the popcorn.
"No, you dolt! You can't even eat in general!" Eggman snapped.
"Oh yeah, my bad." Cubot laughed sheepishly.
Orbot sighed, Sage rolled her eyes and Metal Sonic facepalmed.
Meanwhile…
It was the middle of the night as Tails, Nanako and Rolly slept next to the campfire, unaware that the clone of a young woman in rollerblades was closing in on them, as she pulled out a spray can.
TO BE CONTINUED…