Darkness engulfed Sonic's vision for a while, he hardly felt a thing. Then, as consciousness slowly returned to the blue hedgehog, he felt something cold on his spiky back and heard a villainous cackle nearby along with a whooshing sound.
The speedster opened his eyes, looking at his surroundings and letting out a gasp of shock, his eyes widening, when he found himself strapped to a metallic table within some sort of brick-walled room decorated to be like some sort of mad scientist's lab.
Where? He thought quietly. "Where am I?" Sonic asked aloud at last.
"AT LAST!" A villainous voice boomed, "YOU FINALLY AWAKE!"
"Wha...? Who said that?" The hedgehog questioned, "What was I doing?"
"You were doing NOTHING, rodent!"
Blinking, the speedster spotted the Phantom Turbo Master circling above, laughing maniacally. Then, HE emerged: Fat with an oval body and a metallic arm, dressed in a villainous uniform, a cone-like head with red eyes and an orange moustache.
"No." Sonic was horrified, he knew this man far too well, it couldn't be him. But, alas, it was: The 1993-1994 Saturday Morning Cartoon incarnation of Sonic's own nemesis Doctor Eggman –Doctor Julian Ivo Robotnik.
"Yessssss!" Robotnik hissed, "It is I, Doctor Ivo Rrrrobotnik. Nice of you to drop in, you hated hedgehog. Its been quite a long time since our last meeting, hasn't it? Oh, how I miss the days I ruled Mobius WHILE YOU CAUSED ME A HEADACHE!"
Cold chills went up the hedgehog's spines when the cartoony villain raised his voice, more so than the cold table itself. Sonic never forgot his friends and foes, especially the different variations of them even though many had forgotten them.
When he'd been on the Saturday Morning cartoon show in every episode, the hedgehog had been terrified of this version of Eggman. Even Normal Eggman/Eggman Prime feared Sat AM Robotnik, Eggman once told Sonic that he had nightmares about him.
"Yeah," Sonic remarked, "I guess I miss trashing your Swatbots and foiling your evil schemes, but at least I'm still fighting the other you and beating up on him and his robots. And I thought you were gone for good once the show went off the air."
"I may be gone from your world, rodent!" Cartoon Robotnik snarled, "BUT I, DOCTOR IVO ROBOTNIK, AM NEVER FORGOTTEN! I may have been forgotten by many, but I will NEVER forget you just as YOU never forgot me, Sonic! I still HATE YOU!
"You may not know this yes, but you are in the Land of Forgotten Dreams, a place where many who are forgotten end up. I was forgotten and I've spent the last several years here, waiting for the day of our reunion, the day I would return.
"Now the time has come, you will all experience Robotnik's revenge, MY REVENGE! You will all pay for humiliating me, I will become a dictator again at last."
"Why do you want vengeance on me and my friends, doc?" Sonic asked, "It was all just some stupid 90s TV show that doesn't have lots of relevance to us today."
"Oh, Sonic!" Robotnik purred, "It was more than a TV show, I was famous, the world was mine and my empire was at its height, THEN YOU RUINED IT!"
"Hey, times change, people move on."
"The time for talking is at an end, rodent! Its time to get down to business!"
"Yeah, you bet it is, Robuttnik! Because I'm bustin' outta this joint and then I'm outta here before you can call in any Swatbutts to try and stop me."
"Ah, confidence, a foolish fool's substitute for great intelligence. Nonetheless," Robotnik got out a remote control and stepped aside, "The inevitable cannot be delayed any longer, prepare yourself for a world of pain, you spiky bastard."
"YES, DOCTOR ROBOTNIK!" The Phantom Turbo Master howled in agreement, "Activate the machine, steal Sonic's heart and powers, let us humiliate and fill our enemy with agony. Make him scream, make him suffer!"
The villainous former dictator scientist pressed a button on the remote and a machine came to life, it resembled a metallic claw combined with a laser along with an eye. Robotnik's Machine snapped into position, facing Sonic.
As the speedster watched, the eye blinked to life and began scanning the hedgehog before a glowing blue-red light emitted from the tip of the machine's laser claw: It was about to unleash its power on Sonic.
Yet, as he prepared himself, the speedster wondered one thing: Why did the villains need his heart and powers, was it to make some sort of clone, was it for more power? Whatever it was, Sonic was going to stop them and wreck their plans.
In all the commotion to come, as the blue blur was distracted by his enemies and the machine, a door quietly creaked open and a brown haired, blue eyed boy in a red and yellow outfit and brown boots snuck into the room.
Alex Kidd, Sega's former mascot and King of the Land of Forgotten Dreams, gasped in horror at the sight of the blue hedgehog about to be operated on. Dammit, Alex thought, this guy must be saved at all costs. What to do, what to do, what to do?
He took notice to an unattended control console close by, figuring that it helped power the machine and operate it. An idea clicking, Alex raced over and began messing with just about all the levers and buttons and switches, hoping something would happen.
It didn't take very long, a loud whir and hum echoed across the room, followed by a loud screeching noise that caused Robotnik to cover his ears and the Phantom Turbo Master to shriek. Sonic groaned in confusion, pondering what was happening.
The machine that would've blasted the hedgehog and taken almost everything from him stopped and then started acting haywire, spinning around and firing lasers indiscriminately all over the room, blowing up machinery and chunks of the wall.
Robotnik took cover and Phantom Turbo Master shrieked in agony and rage as a laser shredded through his arm. "I'LL BE BACK FOR VENGEANCE!" The vile would be ruler of all creation howled and flew off just as Alex Kid dashed out of the room.
One of the lasers soon struck the table Sonic was strapped to, melting the binders and chains tying him down, setting the hedgehog free and he jumped to his feet, grabbing the magic brush that lay on another table close by.
With Sonic free and back on his feet, he began formulating a plan on how to shut down this crazy machine for good and get out of here. Robotnik's Machine, which had already become sentient, spotted the hedgehog and began targeting him.
A missile fired and headed straight for Sonic, who back flipped out of the way to avoid the incoming projectile which blew a nice small crater in the floor in front of the hedgehog. Thinking fast, Sonic zipped around the room, dodging attacks left and right.
"Been ages since I took on something created by this nutty version of my nemesis," the spikey hero mascot commented, "However, how am I gonna bust that device, if I tried to attack it head on while its going bonkers, I'll be fried or sliced and diced.
KER BLAM! Another missile fired and the explosion at close range along with laser blasts knocked Sonic off his feet and he tumbled across the ground, almost losing the paint brush in the process but he grasped it tightly.
Just as Robotnik's Crazy Machine was about to unleash a barrage of missiles and lasers to finish the speedster off, a loud musical sound echoed across the room and fog covered the area before pink lasers went off, taking out one of the claws.
"Yoo-hoo!" A girl called out in a snotty sing song voice, "Looking for me, ya stupid hunk of junk. I bet you really wanna take out a hedgehog so badly, I'm a hedgehog too, so come and get me, ugly robot created by mad science."
Sonic looked up and spotted a purple-pink hedgehog, with pink hair and black eyes wearing a sleeveless red shirt, purple skirt and red pant leggings with combat boots and purple gloves holding what looked like a piano gun, standing right by the door.
Robotnik's machine took aim at the hedgehog girl, attempting to nail her with its claws and lasers, as the blue hero watched. The girl cartwheeled out of the way, performing a few somersaults to evade the incoming attacks from the robotic machine.
Whenever she had a chance, the girl would shoot Robotnik's Device, taking off more of its claws and lasers. Thanks to his new ally, Sonic managed to get back on his feet and launch an attack on the machine, joining in the battle.
"Nice job, Sonia!" The blue speedster complimented the girl, recognizing her and knowing full well who she really was. Sonia, the female hedgehog, giggled and kept evading attacks while firing on the machine with her gun.
Finally, after enough effort, Robotnik's robotic machine was down and broken. Sonic walked up to Sonia and high fived his long lost Sonic Underground sister. "Long time no see, sis." The speedster said happily, "Haven't seen you since, oh, 1999."
Sonia hugged Sonic happily, "I'm glad to see you again too, Sonic. Just like old times, by the way, why don't you have your medallion that transforms into a guitar? I still have my medallion that can turn into a piano blaster and back into a medallion just fine."
"Oh, uh, I still have it somewhere." The blue speedster said with a shrug, "I just don't use it a whole lot these days, but there are times where I kinda get it out and play some tunes on it, even though I kinda don't think about you and Manic a whole lot."
Something dawned on Sonic, "Oh, uh, since you're here, is Manic here too, Sonia?"
"Of course Manic's here in this world, Sonic." Sonia replied, "He's waiting for you in the village, I came here to help you get out of your predicament. The only other person here with me who wants to see you is good old Sir Charles Hedgehog."
"Uncle Chuck?!" Sonic's eyes widened, welling up a bit, he had not seen his uncle in a long time and the thought of seeing him again had been impossible after stuff happened but, now, Sonic was delighted at the thought of seeing his old uncle again.
"Yes, Sonic. Follow me, I will lead you to him, he's waiting for you outside."
"Ok, that's way past cool, I can't wait to see my uncle again."
Sonia walked out of the room through the open door with Sonic following her, but not before looking back to observe the wreckage of the machine and the damage it had done when it went haywire. His eyes soon widened when a question dawned on him...
Where was Robotnik and the Phantom Turbo Master, where did they go? Sonic just assumed they were still alive and probably got the heck out of dodge, since that was the case, the hedgehog knew he would come face to face with them again soon.
Another cold chill went up Sonic's back as he thought of his eventual next encounter with the creepy, menacing, red eyed and cartoon-y version of his longtime enemy. He preferred the Eggman of today over Saturday Morning Cartoon Robotnik.
Even before work on the animated series had begun, the thought of battling the mad doctor in a world already under his rule spooked the hedgehog more so than the fact that he was fighting to stop the doctor from conquering the planet.
Sonic and Sonia walked down the long, wide brick hallway away from the room and the door they'd gone through automatically closed shut and locked itself, ensuring that nobody would go back in there again, just in case there were more dangerous devices.
"What is this place?" The blue hedgehog asked his long lost cartoon sister curiously, "I know we're supposed to be in the world known as the Land of Forgotten Dreams, but where are we right now in this world? I've no clue where we are."
"We're in the Shadowy Dream Castle." Sonia replied, "Its one of the many tourist attractions here, it also used to be the place from where the king ruled. Over time, the seat of power moved and, well, this place ended up being abandoned..."
"And eventually taken over by Robotnik!"
A familiar old voice echoed down the hall and Sonic's eyes widened like never before, he recognized that voice, it belonged to. "Uncle Chuck?!" The blue hedgehog called, his voice echoing all over the walls as he realized he and Sonia had been chatting loudly.
"I'm close by, sonny!" Uncle Chuck's voice replied, "Very damn close! All you gotta do is just follow my voice and you'll finally see me again for the first time in forever."