Sonic and the Freedom Fighters: Parallel Dimensions

Chapter 1: Two Worlds

Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit, fan-based work of fiction. All characters portrayed in this story, unless specified otherwise, belong to SEGA.

-Emerald Town-

It was midday in Emerald Town, and despite that, the liveliness of the town had dwindled somewhat. Traffic had been diverted through certain streets while most of the civilians were crowded near the town square and other places, leaving some of the streets empty. And as it would turn out, for good reason.

A blue blur raced through the empty streets, followed closely by a giant mechanical monstrosity, one that resembled a red-and-grey Tyrannosaurus with powerful legs, a long tail, and razor-sharp fangs. It was one of Eggman's newest creations, a remote-piloted robot called the Egg Tyranno, and it charged through the streets in an attempt to eliminate Sonic, the blue hedgehog that was currently outrunning it.

"Alright, Sal! Rexy's taken the bait!" Sonic said through his communicator as he raced ahead. "Shame Eggman decided to make this thing a remote-controlled robot. I kinda prefer the in-person back-and-forth banter."

"Focus, Sonic. Lure that thing out of the city first, worry about the witty repartee after." Sally replied. She was currently flying through Emerald Town on her Extreme Gear, heading in the direction that Sonic and the Egg Tyranno would be passing through. "I'm on my way, so just keep it occupied. Bunnie, how's the evacuation process coming along?"

"Doin' good! Path's all clear for ya!" She replied, safely placing a car down onto one of the roads, leaving a clear path between Sonic and the town outskirts.

"Good." Sonic answered, continuing to outspeed the Tyranno but holding himself back enough to leave it in close range. They soon got to a downward slope, and the Egg Tyranno suddenly leapt up and landed at the bottom. It faced Sonic and raised its tail into the air, the tail's tip opening to reveal a hidden missile launcher, from which it fired a large volley of missiles at the blue hedgehog. Wasting no time, Sonic rushed ahead and jumped from missile to missile, redirecting each one to collide with another, until the last one where he kicked it back at the Egg Tyranno. It exploded and veiled the robot in a cloud of smoke for a few seconds before it suddenly leapt out and attempted to catch the hedgehog in its jaws. Before the razor-sharp fangs could come down on him, though, Sally raced past and caught Sonic, saving him from the robot's gnashing jaws.

"Phew! Just in time." Sally gasped as she sped away from the Tyranno, leading it down an empty street.

"Aw, my hero!" Sonic said in a semi-sarcastic manner before turning back to watch the Tyranno chase them. "I don't get it, though. Why attack the city if it's us he's after."

"He knows we'd be too distracted minimizing collateral damage to fight him." She replied. As if on cue, the Tyranno suddenly jumped in front of them and prepared to swing its tail through a nearby building in an attempt to crush the pair. Before it could, Bunnie flew in and held the tail back, allowing Sonic to launch himself forward and slam himself into the Tyranno's head, making it lose its balance briefly and preventing its attack. The hedgehog landed safely on the ground and raced ahead with the town outskirts in sight. The Tyranno made one last pounce, and Sonic ducked underneath the robot as it landed on the grassy outskirts of the city, attempting to crush the hedgehog with its tail only for Sonic to nimbly dodge the attack. The rest of the Freedom Fighters converged on his position.

"Alright, big metal dino out of the city: Check." Sonic remarked as Sally readied her Ring-Blades.

"Good. But we can't rest yet. Let's take this thing down!" She declared as both sides prepared to fight...

-Sol Dimension, unknown location-

Meanwhile, in the middle of the stormy seas, a giant metallic ship rocked on the waves, both from the rough waves and the battle that was ensuing upon it. On one side of the ship stood a lavender-coloured cat with a purple coat, red shoes, white pants and a red gem on her forehead, a wisp of fire emanating from her open hand. On the other side, a large robot with a serpentine head and tail and razor-sharp claws hovered ominously over the deck of the ship.

The cat, Blaze, launched a stream of flames at the mech, which was blocked by an energy shield before the mech retaliated by firing a volley of laser blasts at the cat. She rolled to the side and avoided the blasts, and noticed the mech firing missiles at her. The cat only had enough time to jump back before they hit the deck and exploded, obscuring the cat in a cloud of fire. The mech stared at the impact site for a few seconds before they suddenly appeared to implode. It soon became clear that Blaze was absorbing the flames, before she suddenly surrounded the mech in a twister of fire, the mech forced to shield itself. Its boosters flared up and the mech launched itself out of the flames, taking a swing at the pyrokinetic cat, moving too fast for her to react and knocking her back a bit. She managed to get up as the mech prepared another attack, which was interrupted by a jet of even more powerful flames striking it in the back. The mech quickly put up its barrier and turned around to witness another cat, one who looked similar to Blaze albeit noticeably older, clad in a regal dress and with a more complex adornment of red jewels on her forehead, firing the stream of flames at her.

"You stay away from her!" She growled, the fury clear in her voice, as several markings on her arms and back lit up as she launched several blasts of scorching fire at the mech. While the mech engaged, Blaze ran towards the stern of the ship, picking up a metal crate as she did, where she saw another ship pass by. Like the others surrounding them, it was metallic in structure and technologically advanced, despite retaining the appearance of a pirate ship. Several Mobian koalas were on board, as well as a hedgehog with light grey fur, and a young, orange-furred raccoon with a green shirt, black pants, and tan gloves.

"Marine! Silver!" She called, grabbing their attention as she tossed the crate towards the ship. The hedgehog, Silver, extended his hand and the crate became encased in a light blue aura before it was pulled towards him. "Take these, and get the ship back to Laevatein!" She continued.

"Wait, what about you?" Silver asked as he placed the crate on the deck of the ship.

"I'm going to help my mother!" She said, turning and racing back towards the mech.

"Blaze, wait!" Silver yelled in concern, only to feel the raccoon grabbing onto his shoulder.

"She and Cinder'll be fine, mate! C'mon, you heard her! We gotta get these gems and people back on dry land! We'll swing around for them after!" Marine assured him, rushing to the wheel as Silver reluctantly retreated from the edge of the ship. As it altered its course, the two pyrokinetic royals bombarded the mech with their flames, avoiding counterattacks as they did so and doing their best to keep its attention on them. Eventually, however, the mech fired a powerful laser blast from its palm that struck the deck of the ship. The two managed to avoid it, but in doing so left themselves open to attack, prompting the mech to strike both of them with its tail. Silver watched all of it unfurl from the stern of the commandeered ship, looking around anxiously for a way to help before noticing another, unattended ship.

Back on the main ship, the mech slowly approached the two cats, both having been knocked towards the stern, and prepared to strike. Its attention was suddenly pulled towards the fleeing ship when a blast of explosive energy struck it in the side, sending it staggering. Upon recovering, it looked towards the origin of the attack, discovering that Silver had moved to an adjacent ship and was using his psychokinesis to aim the cannons, the metallic container placed next to him. The mech launched towards him as he fired more shots at it, dodging every blast. It attempted a swipe of its claws as it got in range, but Silver was able to teleport out of danger and fired a sharp wave of energy. The mech blocked the attack with its arm and attempted to fire on the hedgehog as he warped around while launching more waves and debris at it. After a few seconds of defending against the onslaught, the mech charged up and released a shockwave that knocked Silver back, then fired a laser blast at him, sending the hedgehog falling and landing back on the deck.

"You should have escaped when you had the chance." A cold, feminine voice called out from inside the mech as it landed and reached for the container. It tore off the lid and peered inside...

Only to find that the container was empty.

"What?! Where are they?!" She asked aloud, the mech charging up for another blast. Suddenly, she remembered something, and the mech looked over at the escaping ship, now a good distance away from the rest of the fleet.

"Hmm. You're a clever bunch, I'll give you that." She commented as the mech took flight, only for its progress to be suddenly halted as a blue aura suddenly appeared around it. Silver, with his hand outstretched, was using his powers to keep it in place.

"No, you... don't!" He gasped, using all of his energy to stop the assailant. The mech struggled to move as it forcibly aimed its arm towards Silver before finally firing another shot, knocking him away and breaking his hold. Now free, the mech rocketed towards the ship and landed on the deck, knocking away the various Mobians on board as they tried to defend the ship.

Back on the fleet's flagship, Blaze had recovered and watched as the mech began to chase after the fleeing ship. The pyrokinetic cat formed pressurized jets of flame from her hands and underneath her feet, launching herself towards the ship. By the time she reached them, the mech had already punched a hole in the deck of the ship and stolen her targets: The Sol Emeralds. Blaze managed to cut in front of the mech before it could escape and prepared for another fight.

"Give those back. Now!" She growled.

"When I'm close to fulfilling my goal? Unlikely." The pilot responded, but before another word could be said, the mech was suddenly struck in the back by a laser blast and turned around to find that Marine was aiming one of the ship's cannons at her.

"Ha! Gotcha!" She cheered. In retaliation, the mech fired a missile at the cannon, destroying it and knocking Marine back, making her tumble off the deck and leaving her hanging off the edge of the ship.

"Marine!" Blaze cried out in concern.

"It either me or the child, Guardian. Take your pick." The mech's pilot said as it flew away. Blaze took a few seconds in a panic, internally debating whether to chase after the mech or help Marine, before flying at full speed onto the deck of the ship and grabbing Marine's hand before pulling her up. Before she could as if she was okay, they heard a loud noise above them and saw that the mech had opened a large rift in the air, the Sol Emeralds glowing in its hand before it flew through.

"Get back here!" Blaze demanded, flying back up and trying to fly through the rift, only for it to close before she could enter. Blaze came to a stop as she panted in exhaustion and frustration, wondering what to do now...

-Sonic's Dimension, Emerald Town Outskirts-

Meanwhile, back in Sonic's dimension, the Freedom Fighters were still in combat against the Egg Tyranno as it thrashed around and bombarded the field with missiles. The team attacked whenever they had the chance, only for their attacks to bounce off the Tyranno's armour. Taking a step back, Sally stared at the mech, trying to find a weak point, and noticed a slightly paler colour to the mech's underside. She started up her Extreme Gear and sped past the Tyranno's legs, driving her Ring-Blade into the underbelly and leaving a noticeable tear before she raced out from under it, avoiding its attacks along the way.

"As I thought. The underside's armour plating is weaker." She replied before turning to her allies. "Bunnie! Rotor! Topple that mech!" She commanded. Bunnie immediately rushed forward and avoided the Tyranno's attacks. She then began to push against the mech's lower jaw, pushing the body upwards and forcing the mech to move back to counter. Rotor, meanwhile, circled around and placed himself behind the mech, grabbing onto one of the Tyranno's legs. The combined effort prevented it from being able to move away from Bunnie, the cyborg Mobian using her built-in boosters to throw the Tyranno onto its back and leaving its underside vulnerable.

"Sonic! Now!" Sally called out. Sonic then raced forward, taking Sally into his arms before leaping into the air. Sally activated one of her blades as Sonic performed a mid-air Spin Dash, rocketing towards the Egg Tyranno, and the resulting combination attack tore through the armour of the mech, destroying its most vital components. Soon after, they tore out from the mech's head and landed on the ground, watching the mech fall limp and lifeless, its eyes losing their blue glow as it shut down completely, the last thing it records being the Freedom Fighters celebrating their victory.

-Eggman's Lair-

Watching the events unfold from safe within his fortress, and controlling the Egg Tyranno's movements remotely, Eggman sighed in frustration as he slumped back in his seat, the screen in front of him displaying a 'SIGNAL LOST' message. After a few seconds, he got up and began to pace around the room, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration while his subordinate robots, Orbot and Cubot, looked on nervously.

"Well... l-look on the bright side, sir. At least that was just the prototype model." Orbot said nervously.

"Yes, and unless I can find some way to amplify the power output, it'll just be the exact same story!" Eggman responded. "It would be a simple matter if we knew where those blasted Chaos Emeralds were-"

"Dr. Robotnik?" A voice sounded from behind him, interrupting his rant.

"What the-?!" Eggman yelled as he turned around in surprise, finding out that behind him stood a red-scaled snake Mobian with piercing yellow eyes and a cream-coloured underbelly, with most of her body covered in a thick black trench coat. What was visible were her hands, which seemed to be equipped with a pair of cybernetic gauntlets, a pair of feet that looked metallic in nature and designed to give the illusion of footwear, and a tail that swayed ominously behind her. A metal briefcase was gripped in one of her hands as she stared intensely at the doctor. "Wh-Who are you? And how did you get in here?!" He asked once he recovered from the shock.

"Entering a fortified base is easy with the right tech." The Mobian replied, her mouth stretching into a slight smirk. "And as for who I am... you can call me Venom."

Author's Note: Venom and Cinder are original characters and belong to me. All other characters belong to SEGA.