Sonic and the Freedom Fighters: Parallel Dimensions

Chapter 5: Celebrity Status

-Freedom Fighter Barracks-

Sally sighed as she sat at the central table of the Barracks, trying to make sense of the recent goings-on. Between the modified Egg Tyranno and the automaton from yesterday, and both of them barely turning up any leads so far, she was struggling to piece together whatever Eggman was planning... or how he was even able to build such powerful robots in a short timeframe.

"You okay, Sal? You look a bit out of it." She heard Sonic ask, as she turned to look at him.

"Sorry, just have a lot on my mind. These robots are raising so much more questions than they answer." She replied.

"Y'know, you really need to relax more, maybe pick up a hobby. It's not gonna do us much good if you end up burning yourself out like this." The hedgehog said. Nicole's digital form appeared beside him, looking quite worried for Sally.

"I agree with Sonic. Wearing yourself out would do far more damage to us as a team than not knowing what Robotnik's next move is." She added.

"Whatever Eggman's planning, we need to be ready for it. We can't afford to let our guard down with him involved." She countered, before suppressing a yawn. "...That said, I do see your point."

"Maybe you just need to take your mind off it for a little while? I can see if Tails will let you borrow some of his games." Sonic suggested.

"That might not be a good idea." Nicole replied.

"Why not? Does she not like them?" He asked.

"Oh, quite the opposite. That's the problem, actually."

"Wait, really? Wow, Sal, I never would have figured you for a gamer." Sonic replied in surprise, looking at the princess as she turned away bashfully.

"Well, uh… there's a reason for that…" She replied.

"During Mobotropolis's restoration, she would often forgo certain responsibilities in favour of playing whatever games caught her interest." Nicole answered for her, eliciting a shocked reaction from Sonic.

"You're kidding." The hedgehog replied.

"Believe me, I wish I were. I ended up having to delete about a terabyte's worth of games from my hard drive. To this day, I still don't know how Disgruntled Flickies takes up so much storage space." Nicole clarified.

"Those poor Flickies… They never reclaimed their home…" Sally whimpered, a look of distress and shame on her face. The room was silent for a few seconds before Sonic spoke up again.

"...Anyway..." He started. "You should at least find something to relax from time to time." His advice was quickly interrupted by a knocking at the door. Sonic quickly darted over to open the door, only to be greeted by...

"Hi, Sonic!" The unmistakable pink hedgehog greeted the second he opened the door, smiling brightly. "Are you free tomorrow? Because I think I have something we can do together." She asked.

"Oh, right, I'd love to, but I just remembered I have a thing to do, so..." He said, rubbing the back of his head, before quickly rushing back in and dragging Sally out. "Maybe Sally can go with you instead." He offered.

"Wait a minute, Sonic-" Amy complained, only for Sonic to start up a run.

"Yeah great talking to ya too gotta go bye!" He yelled as he quickly left, with Amy futilely trying to catch up.

"Sonic! Wait!" She called out to him, resigning and slumping her head back. "Ugh! And I was just gonna ask if he wanted to go to Mina's concert too."

"Um... Who's Mina?" Sally asked. Wide-eyed, Amy rushed to Sally's side.

"Who's... Wait, you don't know Mina Mongoose? She's one of the best singers in the whole world!" She proclaimed as she began to dart around the confused princess. "She's so awesome! The way her voice conveys the emotions of whatever song she's performing... And all at only 16 years old!" She continued before finally stepping back. "Any, she's hosting a concert tomorrow and I wanted to see if Sonic would go with me, but..."

"Hmm... you know what, I'll go with you. Sounds like it might be fun." Sally suggested, smiling.

"Really?!" The pink hedgehog gasped, taking Sally's wrists into her hands. "Oh, you'll love it, I promise! We gotta get you your ticket! To the concert hall!" She said before rushing towards the concert hall, once again leaving Sally to be dragged away.

-Eggman's Base-

Following the destruction of the earlier mech at the Freedom Fighter's hands, Venom had sat herself down at one of the consoles and opened some old files from Eggman's archive, flicking through each entry to see if there were any ideas that she could implement into her next design. She had gone through several files with no success before Eggman came back, stopping once he saw her going through the archive.

"Dare I ask what exactly you're doing?" He asked as she continued to scroll through the entries.

"Just going over some old schematics. You never know when something might come in handy." She replied, flicking over to the next entry. "Speaking of, what's this about a 'control collar'?"

"Oh, that's an old design. I was going to use it to subdue unruly Mobians back in Mobotropolis until I realized throwing them in the Roboticizer was much more efficient." Eggman explained as he moved to a nearby console.

"Well, I can certainly see the value of something like this. It's certainly less conspicuous." Venom responded, looking over the specifics of the device. "We might even be able to miniaturize the design-" Her idea was interrupted by the sound of beeping coming from Eggman's direction. The doctor quickly attached a small communicator to his ear.

"What?... You're kidding me. Ugh, just great." He growled before turning it off, turning to Venom who was now looking at him expectantly. "Orbot's just informed me of a concert that's happening tomorrow. No doubt Sonic and his friends are going to be on high alert." He said. Venom returned her attention to the Control Collar blueprints, and a plan began to form in her mind.

"Actually... I think we can use this concert to our advantage..." She announced.

Some time later...

-Emerald Town Music Hall-

Amy excitedly bounced up and down as she left the music hall, with Sally following close behind. Sally had slipped her ticket into her pocket, while Amy held hers close to her chest as she turned to face the princess.

"Oooh, I can't wait! This is going to be the best concert ever! Thanks for agreeing to come with me, Sal!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"You're welcome. Though I'm curious, why didn't you ask Cream to go with you?" Sally asked, her head tilting a bit.

"Well, I was gonna, but she doesn't really do well with concerts. Y'know..." She replied, pointing to her ears to illustrate her point.

"Ah, fair enough..." Sally responded, before the conversation was interrupted by a banging noise from nearby. "Huh?"

"What's up?" Amy asked, only for Sally to quickly investigate the alley next to the hall. Staying out of sight, she noticed something strange - a black-cloaked figure with a long, red serpentine tail pulling something into the music hall's side entrance, one that was supposed to be reserved for staff only.

"Something's wrong. Follow me." She said, prompting Amy to follow as they quickly entered before the door closed. Inside were a few hallways extending left, right, and directly ahead, branching around corners, with the intruder nowhere in sight. "Which way did they-"

"Uh... can I help you two?" The pair heard a voice ask, with Amy turning around to face them.

"Sorry, we were just..." She started, before she realised who it was she was speaking to. A yellow-furred mongoose Mobian with purple hair stood before them, clad in a black tank top, brown shorts, teal gloves and boots, and two silver earrings on each ear. Amy's eyes lit up as soon as she recognized her. "Oh my gosh, Mina Mongoose! H-Hi! I'm Amy Rose. I'm a HUGE fan of your work! You're so awesome!" She gasped excitedly, eliciting a giggle from the mongoose in question.

"Thanks! I'm always glad to hear my music's left an impression on someone." Mina said with a smile. "Though I think you two are a little early for the backstage tour, aren't you?"

"Um... Right! Well, I, uh... w-we..." The hedgehog began to stammer, prompting Sally to step forward.

"Sorry, we're not here to cause trouble. We just thought we saw someone suspicious enter through this way. Have you seen something or someone that looked out of place?" She explained. Mina stepped back and took a second to think.

"Hmm... Well, now that you mention it, I did see someone coming through with a huge box of stage supplies, but... I thought we weren't loading in until tomorrow morning." Mina replied.

"Did you get a good look at them?" Sally asked.

"I didn't see their face, but I think I did see their tail. Red, snake-like... didn't look like any of the crew members, so-" The mongoose responded, before their conversation was cut short by the sounds of crashing and shouting. "What was that?" She asked. Sally and Amy rushed in the direction of the noise, only to be greeted by the sight of a wave of Egg Pawns in the corridor ahead that began charging at them.

"Of course this happens the second I decide to take a day off." Sally sighed as the girls pulled out their weapons. "Mina, stay close!" She continued before they leapt into battle. Sally took one half of the hallway and sliced through the robots with her Ring-Blades, her swift movements making it near impossible for the Egg Pawns to even touch her as she destroyed them one by one. On the other half of the hallway, Amy took out swathes of Pawns as she swung her hammer around, keeping the waves at bay as their advance was blocked by the head of the hammer.

Unfortunately, their progress did little to stem the tide of Egg Pawns as they continued their advance through the corridors, with Sally and Amy taking a moment to catch their collective breaths while they slowly approached.

"There's... so many of them!" Amy gasped.

"How did they even get in here?" Sally wondered aloud, only for her train of thought to be interrupted by Mina quickly stepping in front of them. "Huh? Mina, what are you-"

"Stand back!" She said to them, her face taking on a serious expression. Sally was still unsure, but she and Amy reluctantly stepped back a bit as instructed. The Egg Pawns began to charge forward as Mina took in a deep breath...

...and before they could even touch her, Mina raced forward at blinding speed, charging through the wave of Egg Pawns as she knocked them away and shattered them through the force alone. She eventually stopped at the other end of the corridor, turning back to look at Sally and Amy who gazed at the pile of destroyed robots littering the floor.

"...Did you know she could do that?" Sally asked Amy, who simply shook her head in stunned disbelief. The pair quickly shook it off as they returned to escorting Mina through the corridors of the Music Hall, following the sound of fighting and resistance while trashing the occasional Egg Pawn that tried to attack them. They soon found the source of the sounds, as they stumbled upon the Hall's security team fighting back against the Pawns that had made their way into one of the rooms. Sally and Amy quickly jumped in to assist, making short work of the remaining Egg Pawns, and once they were done, the security team turned to Mina.

"Miss Mongoose! Are you okay?" One of them asked as the group exited the room, keeping an eye out for any more robots.

"Yeah. Thanks to these girls." She replied, gesturing to Sally and Amy.

"Thanks for helping us out with those robots. We can take it from here." The guard said to them, escorting Mina towards the back exit. Sally crouched to examine one of the destroyed Egg Pawns, contemplating something.

"Hopefully they'll be alright. In the meantime, we should find out how these Egg Pawns got in-" She tried to say before the sound of a terrified scream interrupted her. The pair quickly rushed out and looked around, soon spotting an unconscious Mina being picked up by a red serpentine tail, her security team lying on the floor as she was pulled through a gap in the ceiling.

"Mina!" Amy yelled, getting no response save for the fading sound of footsteps. "Sally, did you...?!"

"Yeah, I saw. Red snake tail. Must have been the intruder from before." She replied, pulling out her handheld computer from her waist. "Nicole, contact the emergency services. I need to call Sonic." She commanded. The A.I. immediately began to call them while Amy already had her communicator pulled out and contacting the blue hedgehog.

"SONIC!" She yelled as soon as Sonic picked up.

"Whoa, what happened?" The hedgehog asked from the other end of the call.

"The most horrible, terrible, AWFUL thing happened, that's what!" She replied. "It's Mina! She was kidnapped!"

"Mina? As in Mina Mongoose? What does Egghead want with a singer?" Sonic asked.

"We're not sure. And there was someone else here along with the robots. They captured Mina and took out her entire security like it was nothing." Sally added as she looked over the guards. Some of them had scorch marks on their clothes, and a few of them had been struck with something that looked like a small syringe, those guards in particular looking like they were in pain.

"Got it. I'll be over at Eggy's base in no time." Sonic replied before hanging up, leaving Amy and Sally to take care of the injured guards.

-Sol Dimension, Venom's Lair-

Back in the Sol Dimension, Blaze and Silver were hard at work setting the portal generator up, making sure all the pieces were in place before trying to hook it up to the main power supply. The two were currently trying to figure out how to set up the wires to give the generator sufficient energy, which proved an issue since Silver recalled how, by Venom's admission, the test run used nearly all the power in her lair, which meant they wouldn't be able to confirm where they were going until it was already too late.

"I don't think we can get enough power to the portal like this. And even if we could, it would take way too long." Silver said as he put down the wires he was holding, with Blaze doing the same.

"So what now? We wait here hoping she'll be merciful and come back?" She asked, trying to keep as calm as possible with the numerous roadblocks plaguing their mission.

"Not necessarily." He replied. "I have an idea... but it's a bit risky."

"...Let's hear it." Blaze said after a moment of thinking, deciding that they didn't have a lot to lose at this point.

"Okay. Well, the person who built this portal configured it to run on Sol Energy, right?" He asked.

"The compact version, yes. But we have no way of providing it right now." She answered, and after a moment of realization looked back at him. "...Wait, you're not thinking...?"

"Yeah, that's why I said it would be risky. Our only shot is if you use your power to generate as much energy as you can." He continued. Blaze looked at the generator for a bit, wondering if it would even work... and then sighed.

"...Fine. If this is our only chance to follow her, then it's a risk we'll have to take." She replied.

"Great! Then let's get to it!" He said enthusiastically, the pair resuming their work on the portal generator.

-Sonic's Dimension, Eggman's Base-

The world around Mina spun violently as she woke up in an unfamiliar place, a mild sting in her neck as she struggled to sit up. She looked around, finding herself in some sort of containment cell with the robots from before standing guard, separated from her by a clear screen. She took a moment to collect her thoughts, trying to recall how she ended up here. At most, she remembered a sharp pain in her neck followed by becoming overwhelmed with tiredness, then nothing. She guessed that she was hit by some kind of tranquillizer or sedative.

She didn't have a lot of time alone with her thoughts, however, because she could hear some faint sounds of crashing coming from nearby. Soon enough, a streak of blue raced past and instantly destroyed the Egg Pawns guarding Mina's cell, and before Mina could even question what had happened, the screen opened up, allowing Mina to walk out of the cell where she was greeted by Sonic.

"Hey! Mina, right? Name's Sonic, and I'll be your hero this evening." He introduced himself.

"Wha...? Wait, what's going on? Where am I?" She asked, before she was interrupted by an alarm sounding through the base.

"Look, there'll be time to explain later. For now, we gotta dash." He replied, picking her up and racing through the fortress, dodging and weaving his way through the robots that tried to stop him. Mina was taken aback and held on tight as Sonic carried her through the base, until their advance was stopped by a wave of Egg Pawns blocking the exit. Sonic set Mina down and prepared to engage them.

"Okay, just stand back while I-" He tried to say before Mina stood in front of him and charged through them with her own super speed, knocking down the Egg Pawns like they were bowling pins. "Or, uh... that works too." The hedgehog remarked before leading her outside, the mongoose spotting a small biplane operated by a yellow fox. Sonic helped her into the plane before jumping onto the wing, and Tails quickly took off, leaving the island fortress. Mina took a moment to look back before letting out a relaxed sigh.

"Thanks." She said to them both.

"Don't mention it. Besides, it was thanks to Sal and Amy that I knew you'd be here." Sonic replied, the plane heading straight for Emerald Town...

...unaware that the whole skirmish had been observed by Eggman and Venom, as they watched the whole thing from the surveillance feed.

"That was a little too much to throw at them, don't you think? Seems like a bit of a waste if you ask me." Venom said, the mad doctor beside her grinning evilly.

"Trust me, that just makes it more believable." He replied. "Now we wait to set the trap..."

-Emerald Town-

A few hours after she had been rescued from Eggman's clutches, and after convincing both the Freedom Fighters and her manager that she was okay, Mina stepped into her room in the nearby hotel that the staff had been kind enough to set up in advance. She was looking forward to unwinding after such a hectic day, and she would need to talk to her manager tomorrow about possibly increasing security at the Music Hall... which would, unfortunately, mean a delay in the performance. Sighing, she decided to sleep on it, moving to the bathroom to prepare for bed... only to be distracted by her reflection, as she spotted something odd. One of her earrings was a different colour from the others, a dull gold clashing with the usual silver sheen.

"Wait... how long have I had this earring on?" She asked, moving a hand over the earring, endeavouring to take it off... only for a sharp pain in her head to interrupt her, causing her to recoil and grasp her head, feeling the world fade around her, soon leaving her slumped over the sink. After a few seconds, a beep sounded from the earring, and Mina slowly stood back up, her face bearing a blank expression and her eyes dull and glassy.

"Can you hear me, Mina?" She could hear a female voice in her ear say to her, and she felt compelled to respond.

"Yes, ma'am. What are your orders?" Mina replied, her voice devoid of emotion.

"Excellent. We have a lot of work to do..." The voice of Venom said. It was time to move to phase two of their plan...