Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In Green Hill Zone, a calm wind blows through the air. Flickies are chirping, flowers are blooming, when suddenly-WHAM! Sonic’s shoe connects with Knuckles’ spiked glove, sending a static shockwave throughout the zone. Immediately all the small animals are drawn to the fight, eager to see what happens. Sonic and Knuckles each flip backwards and land on their feet. The two are friends that are willing to trust each other, but they are both rivals, and are each more than willing to partake in a duel every now and then. Sonic flexes his muscles as his quills glow with a blue spark, while Knuckles cracks his…well, knuckles, as he crackles with a similar red spark.

Sonic: Well, this fight has been pretty fun, but I have a few better things to do, so let's finish this, alright?

Knuckles: Sure Sonic, but I intend to show why I'm Angel Island’s guardian, so don't cry when you lose, ok?

The two then bullrush each other, getting into a fist fight. Knuckles swings a few times and misses, causing Sonic to taunt with a finger wag.

Sonic: Hey Knuckles, are you sure you've had any training at all-

In a flash, Sonic gets punched in the gut by Knuckles and sent flying. Sonic lands on a wall and retaliates by firing energy beams from his kicks. Knuckles dodges the beams by digging into the ground, and when Sonic tries to find the red echidna, Knuckles pops out of the wall Sonic is on. Quickly landing on a loop, Sonic lands some homing attacks on the gliding Knuckles while barely avoiding the returning punches. Knuckles eventually spikes Sonic into the ground, and Sonic barely rolls out of the way of the following punch. Getting up on his feet and ready to end the fight, Sonic starts rapidly bouncing off the surrounding walls and hills, spin attacking into Knuckles repeatedly and slowly rising him into the air, before landing a final dropkick that creates a shockwave as it spikes Knuckles into the ground, creating a crater on impact. Landing on the ground and tired, Sonic pumps his fist in celebration.

Sonic: WHOO, that was tight! You ok, right Knuckles?

Knuckles pushes himself out of the ground and stands up, smiling.

Knuckles: Yes hedgehog, I am fine. You really think your wimpy kicks can do lasting damage? Either way, good fight.

Sonic, feeling a bit cocky, decides to school Knuckles a bit.

Sonic: Well, maybe next time you should focus more on dodging attacks than taking them, ey knucklehead?

Chuckling a bit, Knuckles then puts on a more serious face, knowing that his time here is running low.

Knuckles: Well, I must return to the Master Emerald. The island won't protect itself, unfortunately. Just keep an eye on the world down here, ok?

Sonic calmly responds, a warm smile on his face.

Sonic: Sure thing, buddy. We'll meet again, don't you worry.

Knuckles nods before flying off into the distance towards Angel Island.

Chapter Text

Now alone, Sonic thinks to himself, feeling a bit hungry.

Sonic: Well, I don't have any reason to stay here. Maybe I can get a chili dog at Seaside Hill…

At the same time, Miles “Tails” Prower arrives elsewhere in the zone with Sonic’s plane, the Tornado. Tails has been wanting to spend some time training with his hero, Sonic, in order to be more of a hero himself.

Tails: Ok, I picked up some readings here that match Sonic and Knuckles. Now where could they be?

Suddenly, both Sonic and Tails feel a rumble in the ground beneath them. Sonic can see rocks floating around him, the trees shifting with the accelerating winds, and he can even hear the panicked cries of the small animals in the zone around him. Before he can do anything, Sonic sees a dark rift appear above him, and he can feel the portal slowly try to suck him in. Tails, seeing the portal in the distance, rushes to it to find out what is going on. Sonic, feeling more annoyed than anything, calls out to the portal, hoping to get a reaction.

Sonic: Really, a mysterious portal? Eggman, you create this? Is there some ancient evil I should know about?

Tails arrives just in time to see Sonic walking back. Tails is confused why Sonic isn't running, but then immediately realizes what Sonic is planning to do. Sonic stops a good distance from the portal, staring the portal down.

Sonic: Fine. If no one will give an answer as to why I must go to Narnia for the fifth damn time…

Sonic then gets in a starting position, starts running in place, building speed as blue electricity covers his body and eyes, his muscles suddenly bulking up. Before Tails can call out to his friend, Sonic yells out in defiance.

Sonic: THEN HOW ABOUT I JUST GO MYSELF!?

Tails: Sonic, Wait!

Sonic then dashes at speeds faster than light, sending out energy that Tails can barely resist, as he leaps straight into the portal. The portal then closes behind him, leaving the zone to resume its peaceful tranquility…while Tails starts losing it, rapidly breathing in a panic.

Tails: …What just…happened?

Meanwhile, Sonic eventually nears the other side of the wormhole, where he sees a man with purple skin, white hair and glasses.

???: Wow, my first hero from another Multiverse entirely, this is going to be amazing-

As he is speaking, the man sees Sonic travel through the portal towards him and yells out in terror.

???: -OH MY GOD-

Sonic tackles him to the ground, holding down the man with his elbow.

Sonic: Look pal, I don't know who you think you are, but I've been isekai’d a few too many times for my liking, so I'll only ask you once: What do you want?

Suddenly, the man’s arm glows with energy as he pushes Sonic backwards with surprising force. Sonic lands on his feet, surprised by how that man just gained strength out of nowhere. The man stands up, dusts himself off, and puts his glasses back on.

???: Jeez, I didn't know you were so jumpy. I was going to give you a nice greeting, too. You can't have been, like, kidnapped via portal beforehand, right?

Sonic, clearly fed up, just says the truth.

Sonic: Yes.

The man, blushing at first from embarrassment, corrects himself.

???: Oh, well no fear! My name is Fu, and I was wanting to find the greatest hero in your world, no harm in that! And, well, you are that hero, Sonic.

Sonic raises his eyebrow.

Sonic: Well, I would enjoy the praise, if it wasn't suspicious as all getout. Why'd you go through all the trouble to summon me?

Fu, looking a bit nervous at first, tries to play it off.

Fu: Well, I'm what you'd call an experimenter. I see something cool, I do something with it and see what happens next. And that's probably why I got attracted to other Multiverses like this one.

Sonic blinks a bit in confusion.

Sonic: …Other…Multiverse…what the HELL are you talking about?

Fu, hearing Sonic is unfamiliar with Multiversal concepts, fills with utter glee as he snaps his fingers, summoning a chalkboard and a bunch of school tables. Sonic, being put in one of the chairs of the tables, feels completely disoriented at the change in tone.

Sonic: Um, did you just summon a classroom or something?..

Cutting off Sonic, Fu slaps the chalkboard with a ruler.

Fu: I'm glad you asked about the Multiverse, my spiny friend! See, as you probably know, you live in a universe with planets, people, etc. However, there also exist different universes with different histories, people, etc, and this collection of realities is called a Multiverse. Hell, you've probably seen Multiverse stuff without even knowing it.

Sonic takes in Fu’s info, and thinks about how Silver and Blaze come from different worlds. They must be from different realities in the Multiverse. Sonic even remembers Blaze mentioning the “Power of the Stars” that supposedly allowed parallel realities.

Fu: Well, most realms in this Multiverse share similar events, people, and the like, like you often being a hero that helps people. However, there are OTHER Multiverses that have different common rules, people, etc, and all these Multiverses together make up the OMNIVERSE! Plus some Multiverses are versions of each other separated by some multiversal event, but that's besides the point. The different Multiverses don't interact much, except for rare, shared realities that take traits from two or more separate Multiverses. That, my friend, is how I found you.

Sonic, barely wrapping his head around the information dumped on him, just stares at Fu in confusion.

Sonic: Wait, so there's, like, millions of versions of me, and…everyone else? As well as everything in the other Multiverses?

Fu: Exactly! And what kind of curious genius would I be if I didn't experience everything the Omniverse has to offer? I mean, there aren't many versions of me, so I might as well…

A fed up Sonic just gets out of his chair and starts walking away.

Sonic: Well, I can't say I didn't appreciate the learning experience, but I'm not sure I want to partake in your crazy AU crap. I know I've dealt with stuff like this from the Paradox Prism, and the magic books, but this is ridiculous…

Suddenly, he hears a familiar, regal voice from nearby.

???: Well, it took long enough to find you, knave.

Looking in the direction of the voice, Sonic sees a sword bouncing towards him. It's Caliburn, the legendary talking sword Sonic wielded in the world of Camelot.

Sonic: Wha- Caliburn? When the heck did you get here?

Caliburn: Well, I was going to ask you the same thing. The purple delinquent used one of those dark doors to take me here, only to ramble on about other worlds and other nonsense. I wasn't expecting anyone else to be brought here as well.

Sonic: Same for me. He gave me the same deal, but I still have no idea what he even wants…

Before Sonic can finish his thought, Fu peeks over his shoulder and blurts out.

Fu: Oh WOW, you two know each other?

Sonic: ARGH, yes! I ended up in his world through a book, why do you care?

Fu: Well, this proves you know something else about alternate realities, even if you didn't know it yet: Story Links!

Caliburn: Story Links? I thought we've learned enough!

Fu: Wrong-o, buddy. See, while most people don't travel to other universes, or Realms as I like to call them, pretty much everyone has seen or heard of other worlds through stories. Every single functioning reality has appeared in other realms as thoughts, books, movies, video games, really anything written to page! I also think some thoughts create new realities entirely, but I’m not too sure. Some magic can even use those containers as a link to the reality shown. The only exception to the rule are smaller pseudo-realities hidden in certain realms with containers as shells, which often experiences tamperences from those shells.

Sonic and Caliburn sit there, almost shocked, but tempered by the fact they learned of other realities already. Before Sonic can say anything, Fu continues.

Fu: This also means that you have experienced a Shared Realm, one that shares data from different Multiverses. Caliburn’s world, Camelot, is shared between a Sonic Multiverse and a Round Table Multiverse, so it has Sonic stuff and Round Table stuff.

Sonic is a bit put off guard that an entire Multiverse or more is named after him, but just tries to ignore it. However, Fu then pulls out a metal gauntlet, which Sonic immediately recognizes as the gauntlet he got from Merlina in Camelot.

Sonic: Fu, where the heck did you get that from!?

Fu: Oh, well before I teleported here, I went through your little seaside cave and found this.

Sonic: You went through my HOUSE!?

Fu: Huh, I didn't think that was your actual house. Either way, I was just looking for something that matched Caliburn with the whole medieval look, although I'm now guessing that it actually came from Camelot, right?

For a second, Sonic looks down in shame, knowing that it did indeed come from Camelot…the realm he left behind. However, he doesn't dwell on this for too long, as he quickly snatches the gauntlet from Fu’s hand and puts it on. Turns out, it still fits on his right hand perfectly!

Sonic: Huh, it still fits after a year.

Caliburn: Well, for me it's been 3 weeks.

Fu: Oh yeah, different realms progress at different speeds, so unless you choose to enter a realm at a specific date or link two realms together, different realms can disconnect pretty quickly.

Sonic is taken aback by this. Just 3 weeks? To him, he’s had the time to age up from 16 to 17, nearly an adult in fact, and yet Caliburn, and even the rest of Camelot, still haven't had time to recover from either the loss of their king or from the damage Arthur and Merlina caused. Caliburn then makes a rather snide remark.

Caliburn: Well, Knight of the Wind, now that you're here, you can still become our rightful king…

Sonic cringes and feels his concern turn to rage as he immediately realizes what Caliburn was trying to do, which makes him grab Caliburn by the hilt.

Sonic: Oh no you don't, pal! My home is on Mobius, and your stupid politics won't change that! I'm a teenager, not a ruler! I'm sorry you still can't find a ‘worthy king’, but maybe you should fix that monarchy system up a bit so you wouldn't have that problem!

Caliburn: It's not for me to decide! You have wielded the true power of Excalibur, destiny has chosen you as king!

Sonic: Yeah, only after you literally TRANSFORMED into Excalibur! I’m not even old enough to drink, I can't run England in another realm!

Then, Sonic notices something odd. While all of Caliburn’s golds and reds are the same, his silver blade has a purplish tint. Looking at himself, Sonic sees that all his blue quills have become purple, and looking at his reflection in Caliburn’s blade, his eyes have become purple as well, with his mouth, arms, and chest becoming white.

Fu: Oh yeah, in this world, everything is either purple, white, or black, with a few yellows and reds as well. I don't know why, but as I started traveling the Omniverse, my body started adapting to whatever reality I was in. That must be happening to you as well.

Suddenly, the trio start hearing sounds of magic and battle in the castle near them. Looking up, they see purple and white lights strobe through a high window, as if whatever was glowing was crashing against each other.

Fu: Speaking of which, part of the reason I brought you to this realm, which my magic says is called XTale, was because there's a fight going on in this castle, and I wanted to see how you would fare against it.

Sonic: Then why didn't you try stopping it yourself?

Caliburn then softens his tone, genuinely pleading to Sonic.

Caliburn: Sonic, no matter your feelings on me, I implore you to help those in need, destiny or no. They don't deserve to be hurt.

Sonic then readies himself, eyes filled with determination.

Sonic: Who said I wasn't gonna help?

He suddenly starts speeding towards the castle entrance, Caliburn in hand, with Fu following behind.

Chapter Text

Entering the castle, the trio run through multiple rooms, ranging from kitchens, to ballrooms, to balconies, flowers in every room they go through. The trio see multiple people throughout, not human, but rather anything from frogs, to ice creatures, and even to living flames. These monsters, for some reason, seem to be in shock, not from seeing Sonic and Fu (In fact, they seem pretty normal, really), but rather from something…else. As they near the hall where they saw the bright lights, Fu lets out an excited squeal.

Fu: Oh, my first battle in the Omniverse! This is going to be exciting!

Sonic and Caliburn just look at Fu in confusion, wondering why he is so giddy in such a serious situation.

Caliburn: Well, and I thought you were too casual, knave.

Sonic: Do you want me to throw you through a window?

Eventually the trio enter a hallway, warm light from the sun glowing through the windows that line the hall. The chirping of birds can be heard throughout. Here, they see more of those monsters they saw before: three goat people, the woman (Toriel) and bearded man (Asgore) seemingly being parents to a young man (Asriel); a skeleton (Papyrus) in large clothes that seem to be military garments; a fish woman (Undyne) in bulking armor; a fashionable robot (Mettaton); and a spider girl in a hoodie (Muffet). There also appears to be a human kid with black hair and both a red eye and a purple eye. They all have clothes with an X theming, and they all seem to be looking down on a skeletal man in massive robes that…seems to be melting.

Fu: This might be more interesting than I thought.

Scoffing, Sonic steps forward.

Sonic: Ok, what the heck is going on here?

The monsters and the human turn towards Sonic in confusion. The goats, skeleton and spider appear concerned, the fish and robot seem serious, and the human and the melting man are utterly shocked. The human, Frisk, has no idea who Sonic, Fu, or Caliburn is. He never saw any code that referred to them, so it can't even be possible that they exist…right? Chara, the voice in Frisk’s head, speaks to Frisk in frustration of an intruder's existence.

Chara: Oh my god, who the HELL are they? We are so close to ending XGaster, we don't need any distractions!

XGaster, through the pain of his melting form, looks at Sonic’s group in utter confusion, thinking to himself.

XGaster: I…I never anticipated this…I don't even remember adding their code, what…what ARE they?

Asgore Dreemurr, hoping to avoid any unnecessary deaths, tells Sonic in no uncertain terms that he needs to leave.

Asgore: Young monster, please leave the premises with your allies immediately. I don't want anyone else getting involved…

Sonic raises an eyebrow, feeling a bit insulted.

Sonic: Well, thanks for the compliment, pal…

Caliburn: I think monsters are just the non-humans of this realm.

Sonic: Oh.

With a glint in her eyes, Undyne lowers her spear and points toward Sonic.

Undyne: I don't know why you're here, but you should go home before things get ugly here. We can't have justice being interfered with.

Muffet, Papyrus and Mettaton also have weapons (or a muffin in Muffet’s case), but seem less dangerous. In fact, Papyrus looks scared. Sonic is undeterred by the threat, instead being filled with anger and resolve.

Sonic: Oh c'mon, do you really call THIS justice? What the hell did Mr. Melts-a-Lot even do?

Frisk starts to approach, but is stopped by Asriel raising his hand. Toriel instinctively reaches for her son, fearing this armed stranger might attack him, but that thankfully doesn't happen as Asriel approaches Sonic.

Asriel: Look…um, what's your name?

Sonic: Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog.

Asriel: Look, that man, XGaster, has OVERWRITTEN this world multiple times, but now Frisk and Chara have the power to OVERWRITE while he doesn't.

Sonic: OVERWRITE…what the heck does that even mean?

Asriel: It means editing the world like code, changing the entire world to the point where alternate timelines don't even exist. It's a cycle of pain and suffering that…we don't want to happen again. Once we get rid of XGaster…we'll finally be free.

Hearing this, Sonic feels pretty conflicted. This man sounds like he's done terrible things, and he himself has taken out villains that went too far, but he doesn't even know what the man’s motives are, or whether Frisk and Chara, whatever one is the kid with the black knife, are trustworthy with this power.

Sonic: Well, we can't just kill him off, right? I mean, has nobody tried changing him for the better?

Caliburn: Sonic has a point. Without that OVERWRITE, you could probably just lock him up for the time being. Hell, you could OVERWRITE him into changing his ways.

Sonic: Ok, that's a bit much, pal.

Sonic isn't exactly thrilled with forcing someone into being a certain way. Asriel and the others are a bit weirded out that a talking sword exists, but they don't really dwell on that too much. Powering through the pain, XGaster stands up, gritting his teeth. His hands seem misshapen, like his fingers are made of knives, and his cloak seems to be melting as if it was his skin. He speaks in desperation, as if he wants everyone to understand him.

XGaster: I…made this experiment…this world…so you all could live PERFECT lives…PERFECT stories…and THIS is how you REPAY ME?

Sonic and Caliburn are put off by XGaster’s claim. They both know fully well what trying to perfect a world can lead to through Merlina…and it never ends well. However, this does prove to them that some part of XGaster isn't evil, just prideful. However Fu, who has secretly done similar experiments with realities himself, starts to admire XGaster.

Fu: Y'know, he doesn't seem that bad. In fact, he just might have a point…

Fu is immediately shut up by Sonic shoving Caliburn’s blade into his face.

Sonic: Ok, I'll have to put a NO on that idea! Trying to “perfect” lives doesn't ever end well.

Asriel: Well, if you know how dangerous this mindset is, then you must know that we must stop XGaster before he causes more pain…

However, while Asriel is trying to be a voice of reason, Frisk and Chara are silently fuming in the rage of 10 storms. They remember every timeline before, and they remember everything that XGaster did to them. How he turned Frisk into a monster, how he attacked Chara and Undyne, how he removed Frisk’s soul entirely, forcing him to use Chara’s soul. They have nearly gained the freedom they never thought they could have, but now some hotshot hedgehog and his sword buddy are telling them that THEY are in the wrong? And their anime-looking friend is outright DEFENDING their tormenter? That won't do, not one bit. Toriel, noticing the anger rising in Frisk’s face, puts her hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

Toriel: Are you…ok? I don't know what you're feeling, or what Chara is feeling, but you shouldn't deny telling us about your feelings…

At the same time, Asgore notices that the soldiers are starting to shake, unfocused on the moment at hand. Papyrus tries to say something, but he just…can't. Ignoring Toriel’s advice, with his voice slowly rising, Frisk feels nothing but utter malice as he shoves her arm away.

Frisk: We…have suffered by that BASTARD’S hands, this whole WORLD has suffered, and you have just walked in here and told us to calm down? That you want XGaster FREE?! You have NO RIGHT to decide who is redeemable! You are the only people in this REALM that lies between us and a free life…

Then, in the heat of the moment, Frisk suddenly screams, Chara’s voice also audible, as they both cry out in unison.

Chara/Frisk: …AND WE WON'T HAVE IT!

Suddenly, Undyne and the other guards raise their weapons, clearly preparing to attack. Papyrus has bones, Undyne has a spear, Mettaton has a laser sword, and Muffet has an army of spiders, including a giant, muffin spider beast. The goats and Sonic don't know why this change occurred, but they know something is dreadfully wrong. All the soldiers seem to have become robotic and unfeeling, staring straight ahead at their target. Asgore, taken aback by the sudden mood shift, yells out to the guards.

Asgore: Undyne! Tell your guards to stand down, they've done nothing wrong!

However, Asgore’s pleas fall on deaf ears, as the guards are completely under Frisk’s control due to his OVERWRITE. Toriel, desperate to stop any unnecessary fighting and unaware of Frisk’s control, steps in front of the guards and pleads.

Toriel: Calm down, everyone! This is a revolt against XGaster, not a mindless slaughter! Have you forgotten any form of decency?

Not getting any response, Toriel turns to Papyrus, barely any kindness bleeding through his cold stare, and she pleads to him.

Toriel: Papyrus! You're normally a voice of reason, you never just attack someone like this! I mean, aren't you thinking of what your brother would think? Spare the same mercy to Sonic that you would your brother, Sans…

However, before Papyrus can respond, everyone hears footsteps from the end of the hallway behind Sonic’s group. Those footsteps come from a short skeleton in a hoodie with a scarred cheek, a glowing eye, and a damaged, bloody skull that is partially turning to dust. XGaster sees this and is filled with relief, thinking to himself triumphantly.

XGaster: Finally, the missing piece I needed! Now to see if the X-Event can handle this new development…

In an oddly calm tone, Cross Sans sees all of this and greets everyone.

Sans: Hey…

A bit taken aback by Sans’ indifference, Sonic tries to respond.

Sonic: Uhh…hey. You're Papyrus’ brother, right? I get that you guys aren't a big fan of XGaster, and my pal Fu here was kinda a moron, but can you please get your brother to back off a bit? At least after you fixed up your noggin, whatever happened there…

Caliburn sees Sans from Sonic’s side, and he notices that the skeleton has two glowing bones hidden behind him. Not a great sign.

Caliburn: Sonic, I don't think this monster is well. No matter what these people are, they shouldn't be turning to dust as they stand. And I don't think it's wise to ignore the bones he brandishes, either.

While the goat family is concerned about Sans’ current state, Frisk and Chara are just annoyed that he's even alive. They controlled the soldiers to try and kill Sans earlier, after Sans refused to accept their ideals of reverting the world to reflect the other Undertale realms, and the fact he was determined enough to stand against them now irritates them, Chara especially. Frisk raises his hand, and as if by instinct, the soldiers raise their hands as well, summoning magic ranging from spears to bones, bombs, spiders and the like. Caliburn looks back and sees all the projectiles, warning Sonic.

Caliburn: Sonic, behind you!

Looking back to see the projectiles ramming towards them, Asriel and Sonic leap out of the way as they target Sans. Without even a glance, Sans destroys the projectiles with his bones before rushing towards Frisk, crying out in defiance.

Sans: THERE YOU ARE, PAL!

In a flash, Sonic runs in between Frisk and Sans and blocks the latter’s strike with Caliburn.

Sonic: Ok, guess we're doing THIS now! What the heck did Frisk even do to you?

Meanwhile, Fu is seeing all of this and is getting pumped.

Fu: This is awesome! I can't wait to tell the Time Patrol about this…they'll probably hate me even more! Plus all the monsters here look like the Time Patrol members, so…

Among the soldiers, a stone cold Undyne stands tall, her eyes glowing purple like the other soldiers.

Undyne: Protect the human…at all costs.

Undyne, Papyrus, and Mettaton run towards Sonic and Sans, looking to kill them both, but before they can reach either of them, their attacks are blocked by Asgore, Toriel, and Asriel respectively. As his trident holds back Undyne’s energy spear, Asgore yells back to Sonic.

Asgore: Sonic! There is something wrong with the soldiers!

Sonic: Yeah, I kinda noticed! Does this Sans guy happen to be a soldier too, by any chance?

Asgore: That doesn't matter…I'm sorry you got roped into this, but you seem like a good man. You try to subdue Sans, and we'll stop the soldiers!

Sonic nods his head, and the battle ensues.

Chapter Text

Sonic pushes Sans off with his blade, and the two clash blades over and over, Sans’ bones holding surprisingly well against Caliburn. Sonic rolls up into a spin dash, taking care not to stab himself with Caliburn, and rolls straight towards Sans, who barely dodges. Meanwhile, half of the hall is in purple flames as Asgore, Toriel, and Asriel fling flaming magic at their attackers. Multiple spears are summoned by Undyne and pierce Asgore, who simply brushes it off. Toriel goes on the defensive, destroying any bones fired by Papyrus towards her with a flaming shield, while keeping herself away from Papyrus’ gaster blasters. Asriel summons two swords as he clashes with Mettaton’s laser blade, the two exchanging bombs and stars while they try to throw each other off guard. Narrowly avoiding bones that stab out from the ground, Sonic yells out for aid.

Sonic: Hey Fu, you gonna help out here, or what?

Fu laughs, completely unbothered by the situation.

Fu: Are you kidding? This battle is way too interesting to pass up!

Fu then unsheathes a thin, black blade. Suddenly, Sonic and Sans’ battle is interrupted by Muffet, riding her giant muffin monster that roars like an avalanche. The two barely avoid the monster’s bite before Sans summons a bunch of gaster blasters that fire lasers, tearing the muffin to pieces and forcing Muffet to hop off. Sonic, in utter disbelief at this show of power, starts to panic a little.

Sonic: Ok, when the hell did skeleton people get LASERS!?

At that moment, a whole swarm of spiders envelop Sonic and Sans.

Sonic: Oh god! Just because I got a bee friend, doesn't mean that insects are allowed to eat me!

As the two quickly dispatch of the spiders with spin attacks and bones, Muffet runs up to strike Sans, only to be slashed at and kicked away by Fu.

Fu: Tada! Don't worry, I'll keep the spider under control!

Caliburn: Took you long enough. Besides, why are you saving the enemy?

Fu: Well, Toriel said she didn't want anyone to die, I'm just following orders.

As Muffet is getting off the floor, Fu uses his ki to create a purple replica of his sword.

Fu: While you're taking care of the skeleton, I'll be keeping the spider in check!

Fu then leaps towards Muffet with glee, forcing her to defend herself with webs and bagels. While Sonic is a bit confused with how excited Fu is acting, he doesn't get to think about it very long before multiple gaster blasters appear, forcing Sonic to dodge out of the way as Sans tries to slash at him with his bones. Knowing that he is this close to seeing the X-Event realized, XGaster summons multiple floating hands around him with the last of his power. Like his own two hands, these hands have holes in their palms that suddenly sprout spikes, and XGaster slams these hands downward to strike down Frisk. Frisk manages to dodge and slash away all these hands, even getting closer to XGaster to kill their “father”. Sans realizes that he's found an opening to finish his mission, and while he is blade locked with Sonic, he summons multiple gaster blasters above the distracted Frisk, not noticing how close XGaster is to him. Noticing the purple glow that the blasters give off, Caliburn warns Sonic.

Caliburn: Sonic, the boy!

Seeing the blasters and realizing that he needs to do something, Sonic calls upon his full power, which unbeknownst to him has changed drastically. His purple quills return to their original blue, his pupils turn blue with a bright shine, and his muscles grow as lightning lines his body. Everyone's attention is pulled towards the glow for varying reasons: Caliburn has no clue what this form is, none of the people from XTale have even seen blue in anything other than food and Sans’ magic, except for XGaster, Frisk, and Chara, who saw it on Ink before, and Fu thinks this state is similar to the Royal Evolution that many Vegetas have gotten. Before anyone can react, Sonic pushes Sans off himself, and gets XGaster and Frisk to the other end of the hall before the blasters can even fire. Fu comments to himself in amazement.

Fu: Is this… a cross-realm transformation? Oh, I have gotta see this!

Using the distraction to his advantage, he launches spit at the soldiers. While at first they are just annoyed at this, they realize too late that the spit turns them to stone as they are reduced to mere statues. Even as statues, their eyes still glow purple. Horrified, Toriel looks at Fu and yells for an answer.

Toriel: What the hell did you do to them?

The other Dreemurrs look at the statues, their eyes filled with concern for their old friends. Fu looks at the terrified family, and just shrugs.

Fu: Oh, don't worry about it, I just turned them to stone. I can revert them back after the fight is done, you're welcome.

Toriel/Asgore/Asriel: You better.

Letting Frisk and XGaster down, Sonic sighs in relief.

Sonic: Hey, you guys all right?

Frisk: What…how…how did you move so fast?!

Sonic: Hey, I'm the fastest thing alive, what did you expect?

Sonic suddenly notices that his fur has turned blue again. Sonic, looking at his crackling muscles in confusion, stares at himself with wonder.

Sonic: When the hell did I get as buff as Knuckles, let alone get my old palette back?

Sonic is then cut off by Sans rushing up to strike him down, only to be blocked and pushed back by the Dreemurrs. Fu runs up in front of Sonic, chipper as ever.

Fu: How is the fight going, blue blur? Don't worry, the soldiers have been put on cement for the time being.

Caliburn: Well, we nearly let the skeleton blast XGaster and Frisk to pieces. At least we get a moment to rest.

Sonic: You wouldn't be able to keep an eye on these two, would ya, Fu? Y'know, to keep ‘em safe and all-

Suddenly, Frisk stabs at Sonic with his knife. Sonic catches it at lightning speed, cutting his left palm in the process.

Sonic: What the hell are you doing, kid? I feel you should be more grateful that I saved your life!

Gritting his teeth in utter disdain, Frisk and Chara yell at once, genuinely upset that everyone is fighting them.

Chara/Frisk: WHY DO YOU FIGHT FOR HIM!? We, Asriel, mom and dad are the only people willing to fight XGaster! You try to be middle men, Cross defends him, and the soldiers need to be controlled to even DO anything against you!

Everyone is caught off guard by this. The Dreemurrs look at Frisk and by extension Chara, both members of their family, horrified that they would do such a thing, Sans scowls in contempt that his brother is being controlled, and Fu…whistles to himself to lighten the mood.

Sonic: So you ARE controlling the soldiers! I'm guessing “Cross” is your nickname for that psycho skeleton. And you WONDER why he's trying to kill you, you're puppeteering his brother!

While Sonic initially has his voice raised, he lowers both his voice and Frisk’s blade as he speaks more calmly, yet stern.

Sonic: You're right about me not knowing what XGaster did to you, and I get that you're scared, but you controlling people like this means you are doing the same thing as the old man.

Chara: WHAT DID YOU JUST-

While Chara is yelling, he realizes that Sonic can't hear him, as Frisk isn't saying the same thing. Instead, Frisk is looking at his hand, still feeling the same rage that Chara is feeling, but whatever is left of his soul letting him feel the same sense of tiredness and sadness that he's felt throughout all his lives.

Caliburn: Actually, I was wondering why you aren't controlling the royals or the skeleton the same way.

Chara and Frisk both feel a large sense of shame, knowing exactly why they can't control those monsters. Cross is so overwhelmed with hate that he resists any control they have…and the boys just can't bring themselves to take control of their family. Hell, Frisk can barely bring himself to take control of his crush, Muffet. At the same time, XGaster, looking for any advantages he can, checks the stats of everyone to see if he can do anything, only to be caught off guard by the strange variety of souls. All the monsters have the same white souls they normally do, but actually have human traits slowly growing into them, ranging from Patience, Kindness, Justice, and even Determination. Caliburn has a full Patience soul, Sonic has a white soul that isn't upside down, showing he isn't a monster, and also has a growing Integrity, and Fu…has Perseverance. The trait of OVERWRITE itself.

Chara: …No. Frisk, we are FAR too close to back down now. We need to-

Suddenly, Frisk snaps his fingers. Everyone near him sees that the eyes of the petrified guards have stopped glowing, showing that his control over them has ended.

XGaster/Chara: WHAT!?

Frisk: Chara, I can't keep doing this. Manipulating our friends, attacking our family…it just isn't worth it. I don't want Cross, or anyone else, to suffer anymore.

Frisk lowers his knife as Sonic lets go. Sonic stares at his bloodied hand, the scar in his palm being similar to the one on Sans’ cheek. Despite the pain, Sonic smiles.

Sonic: See, was that so hard?

Fu: Y'know, I kinda wanted a more dramatic result…

Sonic, Caliburn, and Frisk give Fu a stern look, making him realize that he should pivot.

Fu: OH, uh, that doesn't mean this is a bad result! Now I can release the guards-

In a moment, Sans pushes off the Dreemurrs and barrels straight through Fu, ready to strike down Frisk…only for his bones to be blocked by Sonic's blade.

Sonic: Well, now that we got the issue outta the way, let's see how you can handle me at full force!

Caliburn: Yes, let us see-WOAH!

In a flash, XGaster sees Sonic’s soul turn fully blue with Integrity as Sonic blitzes behind Sans and kicks him away. Sans steadies himself, a chunk of his soul having deteriorated yet slowly regenerating, and creates bones in the ground. Sonic, rather than just dodging the bones, uses them as stepping stools, narrowly avoiding any blue bones, and slashes away any gaster blasters as they appear. Boosting forward, Sonic clashes blades with Sans, and when Sans knocks Caliburn away, Sonic barely blocks a bone with his metal gauntlet, which manages to completely block the attack. Sonic also notices that the fingertips of the gauntlet are pretty sharp, and gets an idea.

Sonic: Would ya look at that? Time to improvise!

Sonic quickly pushes Sans off himself and scratches the skeleton away, managing to draw a bit of blood. Sonic then rushes in, bringing the two into a clash where they each block, redirect, and punish each other's attacks, neither able to land a clean attack for a few seconds, before Sonic uppercuts Sans away and starts spamming Homing Attacks, which Sans can only block with his dual bones. Deciding enough is enough, Sans grabs Sonic’s soul in midair with telekinesis, his left eye glowing blue and yellow.

Sans: Sorry kid, but you shouldn't have gotten involved in this. I won't let my father die!

Sans then starts slamming Sonic into the walls, causing Sonic to bleed quite a bit, before the hedgehog expels his energy to release himself. As he lands, Sonic sees a bunch of gaster blasters looming above him, ready to fire, and he jumps up to barely avoid the blasts before punching a blaster away, causing it to slam into the rest of the blasters. On the sidelines, the Dreemurrs, Frisk, Fu, and XGaster are all watching the battle unfold in awe. However, among them, Asriel wants to help Sonic in the fight.

Fu: This fight is AWESOME! Normally, the fights I see are all about flying and ki blasts, so a magical, grounded fight is a nice change of pace-

Asriel: Ok, I'm not standing back anymore!

Asriel pushes Fu aside and runs into the fight, his parents fearing for his safety.

Toriel: BE CAREFUL, my child!

When Sonic lands, Sans gets up close, ready to strike, only for his bones to be blocked by Asriel’s swords.

Asriel: I've got your back, Sonic!

Sonic just shrugs a bit before turning his attention to Caliburn while responding.

Sonic: I didn't really need the help, but thanks for it anyway.

Sonic hops on and off Sans’ head and runs to Caliburn. At the same time, Asriel and Sans push each other away and start blasting magic, all of Sans’ summoned bones and blasters being countered by Asriel’s stars and fire. Some of the attacks nearly hit Sonic as collateral, but he manages to dodge them. Sonic eventually reaches Caliburn, who started hopping towards him while he was fighting.

Caliburn: Well, it seems that you have a bit of synergy with that other royal-to-be.

Sonic: Shut up, metal-breath.

As Sonic is picking up Caliburn, Sans uses his blasters to pin Asriel down before rushing at Sonic. Seeing the skeleton approach him, Sonic channels all the Chaos Energy in his body and disperses it on the unfamiliar realm around him.

Sonic: CHAOS CONTROL!

Suddenly, Sans’ bone blade stops right in front of Sonic’s face as the power of chaos stops time around him. Caliburn, being connected to Sonic’s power, is the only one who can perceive things normally. Fu, Frisk, and XGaster can see time normally, but they can't even move an inch.

Caliburn: What…IS this?! I've never seen you be this impressive in Camelot!

Sonic: Learned it from Shadow. Think Lancelot, but without the sword and armor.

In a flash, Sonic rapidly kicks, punches, and slashes at Sans, not missing a single inch of his body, before he slams into Sans’ cheekbone with an electricity charged punch. With the damage done, Sonic snaps his fingers, causing time to resume and Sans to fly across the hall, freeing Asriel from the blasters as well. While most people in the room are baffled that Sonic seemingly did so much damage in a second without moving, XGaster is horrified that anyone could ever have so much power without RESET or OVERWRITE, and Fu is hyped to see such a technique.

Fu: That was AMAZING, how did he even do that?! I've seen time get stopped before, but I've never seen whatever type of magic this is!

As Sans is getting up, Asriel runs up next to Sonic, breathing heavily from pushing back the blasters.

Sonic: Wow bud, you don't look so good.

Asriel: Don't patronize me, Sonic. Now, please tell me that Sans is on his last rope.

Sonic: Yeah, seems like it. Let's end this little party, then!

Quickly jumping up, Sonic summons ten blue energy spheres that start circling around Sans, and at the same time Asriel starts clashing swords-to-bones with the skeleton. When Sans tries summoning some blasters, Sonic slashes them away before attacking the skeleton as well, with the spheres also ramming into Sans, removing his ability to counterattack. After multiple slashes that end up completely winding Sans, Sonic channels his power, leaps back and uses Soul Surge to charge all the energy in his very soul into Caliburn before dashing at ludicrous speeds towards Sans. Asriel barely gets out of the way as Sonic clashes blades with Sans before parrying the bones out of his hands, then kicking the skeleton into the wall multiple meters away. Before Sans can struggle to get up, Sonic is pointing Caliburn directly into his face, keeping him down.

Sonic: Stay down, buddy.

Chapter Text

Seeing that the fight is over, Fu remembers that he needs to release the guards.

Fu: Oh yeah, I should release the soldier guys.

Fu snaps his fingers, and Muffet, Papyrus, Mettaton, and Undyne start to have their bodies turn back into flesh, bone, and metal. Once the soldiers turn back to normal, they look around in utter confusion, not recalling anything since they were taken over.

Mettaton: Oh my, what happened? I hope no parts of me got damaged.

Papyrus then sees Sans down on the floor, and is overwhelmed with emotions. Frisk took control of him before, forcing him and Undyne to fight his brother, promising that Sans would be brought back. But seeing Sans now just brings him to tears as he pushes Sonic out of the way and hugs Sans.

Papyrus: SANS! I'm sorry for attacking you, for letting you get hurt! I know that you would've been restored, but I just can't see you like this anymore!

Sans: It's fine. It was Frisk’s damn fault any-

Suddenly, Sans coughs up blood. He only had 1 HP to begin with, and now he's barely hanging on with 0.1 HP after all the damage. Knowing that he's dying, Sans stares at Sonic.

Sans: Sonic…you need to get me that human’s soul. Everyone else was fooled by Frisk and Chara. XGaster tried to give us the best life possible, he only OVERWROTE the timeline because the humans did something-

Muffet: YOU IDIOT! He made Frisk go all murder mode in one timeline!

Undyne: The bastard killed Alphys just because me and Chara stood against him!

Sans: What…but he couldn't have. He couldn't have caused Asgore to-

Sans suddenly stops speaking as he sees Toriel break into tears and hug her husband. He remembered that Asgore was killed in the second timeline, but only now remembered that it was XGaster who did it…and that he was also killed then as well.

Papyrus: Sans…I think you might've been left in the dark about what our fa-XGaster has d-

Sans then coughs blood again.

Sonic: Ok, Frisk! If you really are chill at this point, make sure that Sans survives, ok?

Hearing a bit of grumbling from Chara, Frisk summons the OVERWRITE button and presses it, suddenly glitching Sans back to full health with an unbroken body, minus the scarred cheekbone. Seeing his brother is ok, Papyrus hugs Sans, as a guilt-ridden Frisk looks down in shame, Chara silently sharing that shame.

Frisk: Everyone…we're sorry. For making the humans try to kill us, for making Sans try to kill us, for leaving Sans for dead…for all of it. We wanted to take XGaster down so badly that we were desperate, and anyone going against us made us angry. We just want this world to be happy, like the others that we saw.

Mettaton: Well, considering that allowed you to create me, you weren't completely in the wrong.

Papyrus: He's right! This battle may have threatened to pull us apart, but now that we are together, we can make things better, via compromise! We use the OVERWRITE to reverse all the bad of this realm, while keeping all the good, and give everyone a second chance, including our fa-XGaster, yes!

While Chara isn't completely happy with the compromise, both Sans and Frisk smile, as well as everyone else…except for XGaster. Sonic and Asriel fist bump at the victory, although it takes Asriel a second to realize what that is.

Fu: See? Bringing you here saved all these people! Happy ending!

Asriel: Thanks for the help, Sonic. I fear what would have happened without you.

Caliburn: Well, despite his issues, Sonic has a tendency to stop evil, like a proper knight should.

Sonic rolls his eyes as Fu is hit with a realization.

Fu: Hey, uh, Sonic and Caliburn, if this realm is gonna be OVERWRITTEN, then we should get out of it before we become a permanent part of it.

Sonic: Oh, ok then. Honestly, I'm not very keen on staying around any longer, so this is probably for the best.

Sonic then stares eye to eye with Caliburn, making sure that the blade knows how serious he is.

Sonic: And I think that we're dropping me off in MY REALM. Got it, buddy?

Caliburn: Fine. We will discuss it on the way.

Getting grabbed by Mettaton, XGaster looks on at all the work he put in, about to be destroyed. Centuries of timelines, manipulation, and perfection…gone.

XGaster: No…this CAN'T BE HAPPENING! I am so close to making my perfect story a reality! Without the half of my soul that Ink has, I'm worthless! What the hell am I supposed to-

Chapter Text

Suddenly, everyone hears a glitchy sound across the hall. Looking over, everyone sees a strange, glitchy portal that a black, red and purple version of Sans with a scarf walks through. His eyes seem turned away from the group, but under his eyes are what appears to be purple tear streaks (all the purple on his body is normally blue). This Sans looks…wrong in every way.

???: Anomalies, anomalies, anomalies…what the fuck could possibly cause this many damn-

This strange alternate Sans stops speaking as he sees everyone else. Everyone looks at this Sans with utter confusion, wondering why he's even here or where he came from.

Papyrus: …Does Sans have a twin brother I didn't know about?

Sonic: I already dealt with ONE Sans, I don't wanna deal with another!

Caliburn: This Sans looks homeless.

Sonic: Really dude? You aren't even gonna mention how he looks like someone spat in a game cartridge?

While everyone is confused by his arrival, the glitchy Sans checks the code of everyone in the room, immediately noticing XGaster’s halved soul, the OVERWRITE that Frisk and Chara have…and that Fu could have, and that Sonic, Caliburn, and Fu aren't even from this Multiverse. He also notices that the monsters are growing human traits in their souls, but this seems to be an issue in all the realms, so he can't really deal with that. Seeing all this, the Sans reforms his posture and starts approaching the group.

???: Well, I've seen enough to know the problem here. If any of you were wondering, my name is Error, and I'm not here to hurt you…just get rid of any anomalies that could cause problems in MY multiverse.

While most people in the room are on edge from Error’s ominous messages, Fu hears that Error is trying to fix anomalies, like Chronoa in his multiverse, and gets excited…and starts squealing.

Sonic: OW, ow ow OW, can you PLEASE stop whatever that is!?

Caliburn: It can't be that annoying, Sonic.

Fu: Mr. Error, would you happen to be this multiverse’s guardian?

Error: Uh, yeah? I'm technically one of a few guardians, but I'm the only proper guardian, especially compared to-

In a surprising burst of speed, Fu appears right behind Error and starts poking around his coat.

Fu: So other multiverses have guardians too…I theorized that was the case, but it's amazing seeing one up clo-

Error, not exactly a big fan of being touched, SLAMS Fu with a blackened bone, pinning him to a wall and stabbing straight through his chest.

Error: GET OFF ME, YOU STUPID DEMON!

Everyone gets put on guard, but is a bit confused by Error’s phrasing.

Toriel: Wait…demon?

Error: Oh, you didn't know? Four-eyes here is mostly demon, along with god knows what else.

Fu: Oh come on, it's not like I'm trying to hurt anyone! I just do a few little experiments in worlds I find cool and sometimes help them out, there's no fault in-GAH!

Error: SILENCE! You sound exactly like that idiot, Ink…

While most people have no clue who Ink is, Chara, Frisk, and XGaster know exactly who Ink is.

XGaster/Frisk/Chara: How…how does he know Ink?

Error: In fact, I wonder if this is where that “interesting friend” Ink has is. Explains why he'd never shut up about it.

Fed up with how Fu is being manhandled, demon or no, Sonic blitzes straight towards Error.

Sonic: Put him down, asshole!

Asriel/Caliburn: Sonic, WAIT!

Right before Sonic can land an attack, a black and red gaster blaster appears right in front of Sonic, blasting him back to the ground.

Sonic: …Ok, not my brightest moment.

Caliburn: Maybe be more thoughtful next time.

As Sonic gets up, he starts charging up Chaos Energy, and Error sees this, realizing that Sonic has a similar corruption to what he himself has, although heavily suppressed.

Error: Oh hey, looks like we have something in common.

Sonic: What the hell makes you think that-wait, do you have Cyber Corruption? Did you come from a realm with anything called Cyber Space?

Error: Nah, fell into the Anti-Void between realms, gave me an epiphany. Don't know why I fell in there, though.

Sonic: …Wow. Really dodged a bullet there.

Suddenly, a bunch of blackened bones sprout from the ground, and Sonic and his allies are barely able to avoid them. Error then stares daggers into them and speaks with utter malice.

Error: Y'know, you all are rather lucky. If I had my way, you, and the rest of this GOD-FORSAKEN MONSTROSITY OF A REALM, would be nothing but ASH! However, I do have a truce to keep: no creation, no destruction…

Error then darts his eyes between Frisk and Fu, and pulls some purple strings out of his tear streaks, wrapping them around Frisk, Fu, and their souls in a flash. A wicked, yellow-toothed grin grows on his face as he plans to do an absolutely horrible deed.

Error: Fortunately for me, that doesn't mean I can't minimize the potential damage!

Immediately, Error pulls his strings, ripping the souls straight out of Fu and Frisk for everyone to see. Three screams, and the deed is done. Frisk’s soul, in actuality belonging to Chara, glows red with Determination and purple with XGaster’s Perseverance, and Fu’s soul glows fully purple. Everyone looks in utter horror at this turn of events. Frisk and Fu don't die, but they are left empty and hollow.

Fu: I…I can't feel anything…

While most of the monsters are horrified, Muffet and the Dreemurrs start outright crying. Overwhelmed with grief, Toriel summons a torrent of flames near the ceiling!

Toriel: GIVE IT BACK, YOU DEVIL!

Toriel throws her hands down, sending the wave of flames straight down, but Error simply swings some of his strings to destroy all the flames. Everyone else who can also tries to attack him, with little success. Muffet and Mettaton rush towards him, but his bones crash the two into each other. Papyrus and Sans create some gaster blasters, but they are countered and overpowered by Error’s own blasters. Asgore, Asriel, and Undyne then try to attack him with their weapons, but he just blocks them with his bones, and when Sonic tries to slam into him with a homing attack, Error grabs him with telekinesis and slams into all the monsters. During all of this, Frisk is grasping his head in pain. Without a soul, whatever is left of Chara and Frisk know that they don't have much time left, and Chara starts fighting over the body, eventually starting to gain control. With everyone defeated, Error creates another portal and turns to everyone to mock them.

Error: I'm sorry for the rude interruption, but it's about time that I leave. I'll be keeping these souls nice and safe. I have a sneaking suspicion Ink might be aware of this realm, so those of you that don't belong should probably leave soon. As for those of you that are soulless, any last…words?

As Error turns to see Frisk, he sees that Frisk has…changed. His outfit has devolved from a white shirt, black scarf and pants to just a white shirt and pants, with Fu’s outfit devolving similarly, and his hair keeps changing from black, to white…like Chara. Head in his hands, the boy turns up to stare straight at Error.

Frisk/Chara: I got a few words…

Suddenly, nearly as quickly as Sonic at full speed, the boy gets straight behind Error and snatches the two souls, absorbing them both. Chara is in full control, and his outfit has changed again. He has gained glasses, a white and black scarf, a black bodysuit, and he has two souls: those of himself and Fu. The OVERWRITE button appears in front of his hand, fully powered thanks to Fu’s soul, and everyone realizes what is about to happen. Chara’s mouth becomes jagged and his eyes become purple, red, and black with hate as he stares at Error.

Chara: …WHO SAID YOU WERE THE ONE IN CONTROL?

Realizing what will happen to him, Sonic tries to run to intercept the OVERWRITE…

Sonic: NO!

…But it was too late. Before anyone can stop it, Chara presses the button, and nearly instantly the timeline ends. XGaster, as he feels himself get lost to the button’s influence, feels overwhelming failure-the X-Event had failed. Chara was in control, and everyone else, including Sonic, Caliburn, Fu, and Error, were along for the ride.

Chapter Text

Meanwhile, back in the Prime Sonic realm, Knuckles is resting in front of the Master Emerald on the floating Angel Island. It's been about 5 minutes since his duel with Sonic. Knuckles has spent his entire life protecting the emerald, and even though he'd like to take a break, he isn't planning to stop anytime soon. However, Knuckles then sees a shape in the sky approaching the island. He stands up, ready to guard the emerald, but lowers his guard as the object gets closer, revealing itself to be Tails in his plane, the Tornado.

Knuckles: Hello, Tails! What brings you here to the island?

Tails lands the plane near the ruins that the Master Emerald resides in and hops out, running to Knuckles. Knuckles notices that Tails seems incredibly distressed and breathing heavily, barely even able to speak.

Tails: Knuckles…Sonic, he's-he’s…

Knuckles: Calm down, young fox! What's happened to Sonic?

Tails: In Green Hill Zone, this crazy portal showed up, and Sonic leapt INTO IT!

Knuckles: Sonic’s gone missing?...Honestly, knowing him, he should be back in a week at most.

Tails calms down a bit, but he still is very concerned for his friend.

Tails: I know, but the last time he's gone missing was during that war that Infinite was in, and I'm not very confident that Classic Sonic will show up to help. And the last portal we ended up in trapped me in Cyber Space, and nearly trapped Sonic as well. On top of that, I have no clue what actually took him away this time.

Knuckles: Well, did you look for any blue’s clues?

Tails: …It's just clues, but yes, I did find one.

Tails pulls out a blue quill from his glove, that quill belonging to Sonic.

Tails: This quill was at the site where Sonic was teleported away. I could create a device that can use this as a tracker to locate wherever he ended up.

Knuckles: Um, Tails, how come the quill is changing color?

Tails: Wait, what?

Tails looks down on the quill, and realizes that it's rapidly changing color, eventually settling not on blue, but on purple. Not the best sign in Tails’ eyes.

Tails: Oh no, no no no, I've never seen anything like this! Gaia, please tell me you're ok, Sonic…

Knuckles: Well, it's still sparking, meaning he's still alive, and you can still find hi-wait, why are you coming to me?

Tails: Oh yeah, you're probably not gonna like this, but I came to ask for the Master Emerald…

Knuckles is taken off guard and is filled with frustration at the request. He is friends with Sonic and Tails, but he's been protecting the Master Emerald for as long as he can remember, and he isn't very keen on handing it off willy nilly.

Knuckles: No, young fox! I'm not going to just GIVE you a sacred, powerful artifact like this, it's forbidden!

Tails: Knuckles, I know that you're protective over this thing, but I need its power to charge the machine I need to find Sonic! The alternative is looking for the Chaos Emeralds, and that might grab the attention of Eggman! I don't want EGGMAN knowing his biggest enemy is gone!

Knuckles: But I can't let this emerald leave the island, let alone be used to interfere with other realms!

Tails: I'm not using it like that, I'm using it to make a portal, that way I can search for Sonic myself! In fact, I'm planning to build a base here on Angel Island, that way I can use the emerald’s power without taking it away from the island. Please? Don't you care about Sonic?

Knuckles puts his chin in his hand in contemplation. He may be the emerald’s guardian, and he has issues trusting others, but he can't just leave a friend to die…even if that friend can be annoying. Plus, Tails plans to keep the emerald on the island, meaning he can still protect it from any threat…what could go wrong? Reluctantly, Knuckles decides to let Tails use the emerald, nodding in affirmation.

Knuckles: Fine, young fox. You can use the emerald. Think of it as a blessing…from a friend.

Tails: Thank you, Knuckles! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

Tails hugs Knuckles before flying back to the Tornado, pulling out a bunch of metal and tech to build the base with. Looking at this, Knuckles can't help but smile seeing how determined Tails is to be the hero. Meanwhile, in the underwater Atomic Destroyer Zone nearby South Island, the physical A.I. Sage is checking up on the code for a group of badniks from a balcony, making sure that there are no errors that could interfere. Seeing that all the code seems up to snuff, her red body parts turn blue in satisfaction as she hears a hydraulic door open behind her. Through the door is both her rotund father Eggman, and her slick blue brother Metal Sonic. As Eggman takes a peek at the bots over a guard rail, Sage smiles and affirms their condition.

Sage: Father, your badniks are in proper working condition, both animal-powered and battery-powered.

Eggman: Excellent work as always, Sage! Hopefully this batch will be able to take down Sonic.

Metal Sonic: Hah, there isn't a lot to fix in these bots to begin with.

Eggman lowers his eyebrows and stares at Metal, not exactly thrilled with the backtalk.

Eggman: What are you implying about my craftsmanship? It's the whole reason you and Sage are alive.

Metal Sonic: Exactly, and these bots don't even compare to us. Thus, not a lot to fix.

Eggman: Fair enough...I know I restored Metal's voice speaker, but recently he's been showing a lot of signs of attitude...almost like-

At that moment, two bots tumble down from a higher up balcony, a circular headed robot barely pulling up from the railing as a square headed robot holds onto the other for dear life. Eggman, Sage, and Metal all groan in unison.

Eggman: Speaking of “not a lot to fix”, Orbot, Cubot, are you done with the repairs to the Egg Carrier?

Orbot/Cubot: Yep! It's all repaired!

Eggman: Good. Glad to see you be useful, for once. Honestly, I thought you'd screw this up-

Cubot: Oh, my gears hurt! If you don't expect us to do this, then why send us to do it at all?

Eggman, who was walking back to the door, stops dead in annoyance as Orbot and Cubot are getting up. Metal shows his clawed hand, clearly asking if he can tear the robotic butlers to shreds, but Eggman shakes his head before slowly walking up to the bots, his footsteps somehow the loudest in the entire hanger (aside from Sage and the butlers, because they've been floating). Eggman clears his throat as he stares down at the two with disdain.

Eggman: If you need a reminder, after that war where I NEARLY took over all of Mobius, my Eggman Empire had been completely abolished. The only reason operations are even running is because of your superior, Metal Sonic. Because of this, and the Eggperial City falling, I haven't had the materials to build any proper workers without skimping out on troops, so you should be honored and grateful that your usefulness isn't a burden to me. Got it memorized?

Orbot/Cubot: …Y-yup…g-got it memorized…sir…

Eggman: Excellent. Now, could you please get me a cup of coffee? It's the only way a genius can properly function.

Orbot: Right away, sir! Now what blend would you prefer?

Eggman: As much cream as possible. Tastes great, and lets me steal from farmers.

Orbot and Cubot race off through another door to get the coffee. As Eggman and Metal are walking back to the door they came from, Sage gets a strange message from the energy scanners.

Sage: Father, the energy scanners detected a high blip of concentrated energy in Green Hill Zone.

Eggman: Oh! Would those happen to be Chaos Emeralds, by any chance?

Sage: No, it seems to be a completely different type of energy, and it's been dissipated for 5 minutes at this point.

Eggman: Strange…well, the plan is to send a group of badniks after Sonic to distract him and target another city, likely Station Square. You, me, and Metal can investigate the energy surge during the attack.

Eggman and Metal walk through the door, which slams behind them. Sage’s red particles pulsate as she wonders: what could create such a surge?

Chapter Text

Sonic wakes up. He only needs the bare minimum of sleep, but it helps to pass the time. He hops out of his bed and looks out of his window-yup, same castle as always. Walking over to his bathroom, Sonic looks in the mirror. His skin is a nice, clean white, and his fur is purple, including the fur on his arms. He was always put off by how derpy he looks when he tries to focus on one of his purple pupils in the mirror. He also sees the red scar in his left palm, a birthmark that would spark a connection with the soldier, Cross. Cool guy, that Cross, if a bit lazy. As he gets done brushing his teeth and fixing his spines, he hears an all-too familiar voice outside his bedroom door.

???: SONIC! You're gonna be late for your training with Binary!

Sonic: Do you have any idea who you're talking to? I'll be out in a sec, tops!

Sonic blips over to a closet, pulling out a black, no sleeved shirt with a white X over the torso, and black, tight shorts, both with holes for his spines. Looking over at his bed, Sonic spots a white glove and a gray metal gauntlet with a golden wrist guard and an engraved red jewel. Deciding to get some practice in, purple tear marks appear on Sonic’s face as he pulls some strings from them and grapples the glove and gauntlet, pulling them towards him. Putting everything on, Sonic looks at himself, the glove having a hole in it showing his palm’s scar (any glove he got for his left hand would get that same hole for some reason). Running over to the door, Sonic hops into his shoes in front of it: red shoes with a white stripe on each and a silver, wing-shaped buckle on each heel, with gold ankle guards for good measure…although a lot of the flare has been dulled by mud and dirt from prolonged use, which Sonic doesn't really mind. Before he opens the door, he looks over in the corner to see a full suit of armor, complete with a cape. He was given the armor for working with the Royal Guard, but he's never really bothered using it.

Sonic: Should I…nah.

Opening the door, Sonic sees his father, Arthur. Sonic has always looked a bit like him, just not having a set of spines coming from his forehead and not having some quills as a mustache, but Sonic has never been a fan of being compared, arguing that he is way too thin to be compared to his dad. Arthur is wearing a purple fur robe with golden gloves and shoes, and a crown with some purple and red jewels…attire fit for a king. Arthur looks at his son with a raised eyebrow, questioning his choice of wear.

Arthur: Why don't you ever bother to wear your armor?

Sonic: Eh, can't really have movement bogged down, gotta be as flexible as possible.

Arthur: Son, we made that armor to BE flexible! Is this part of your habit of rebellion?

Sonic: WHAT? NO, I'm offended you would think such a thing!

Arthur: Sonic, don't give me that sass! Yesterday, you were holding kids off a tree!

Sonic thinks back to yesterday, when he saw some bullies harassing a monster kid in Kingdom Cross, and decided to teach them a lesson by dragging them up a tree and holding them off of it by their legs, eventually causing them to beg to be put down.

Fox Bully (Past): STOP! Please, let us down!

Sonic (Past): Are you sure? I think you've been missing your lessons a bit, so I put it on myself to teach you one. Have ya learned to say sorry yet?

Demon Bully (Past): WE'RE SORRY!

Thinking on those events, Sonic smiles a bit, although his father isn't very amused.

Sonic: Heh, nice.

Arthur: SONIC!

Sonic: What? Those kids were beating up another kid, I can't just stand back and watch, it's no big deal! You said yourself that I gotta go train with Binary, so I gotta go…toodles!

Sonic says this as he starts walking away from Arthur, before bolting away in a lightspeed dash. Arthur rubs his eyes in annoyance at how nonchalant his son always is. Sonic runs into the castle court, where he finds his mother, Guinevere, looking at some documents next to Caliburn, the royal blade, with his scabbard being next to her leg. Guinevere also looks a bit like Sonic, although is a bit taller and more refined, and she often wears a white coat dress with some purple X patterns, as well as wear a silver band crown. She also wears simple black gloves and shoes with some X patterns. Seeing Sonic enter the room, Caliburn calls out to the violet blur.

Caliburn: There you are, young prince. I assume you got a good rest.

Sonic: Do I ever get a bad rest?

Guinevere: Honey, do you think we should get you new shoes?

Sonic: Nah. These kicks have been working wonders, I ain't getting rid of em.

Sonic picks up Caliburn, holding him with one hand no problem while putting the scabbard on his back. Guinevere chuckles a bit, seeing her son all grown up.

Guinevere: Aww, my little man is a warrior now.

Sonic: C'mon mom, I'm 22, you shouldn't be too surprised. Besides, my old man has been on my case already.

Guinevere: Yeah, I get it. Here, have some rings, for those chili dogs you like.

Guinevere tosses a few rings with surprising strength at Sonic, who catches them with a smile.

Sonic: Yeah, thanks mom!

Caliburn: Don't worry, Queen Guinevere, I will keep an eye on your son.

Sonic: Oh come on, I'll be fine!

Sonic dashes out of the court, and as he is about to reach the entrance, he stops and turns to see a classroom of kids, with a human teacher reading them a text.

Teacher: …But just as the war between Humans and Monsters were at their most dire, the Mobians and Demons joined the fray, with Arthur and Towa leading the charge, and with the power of Caliburn and the holy child Chara, they stopped the fighting and called for peace, leading to where we are today!

As the kids cheered and started asking the teacher questions, Sonic smiled.

Sonic: Y'know, it's nice seeing kids learning how the world works.

Caliburn: Seems odd that the castle is being treated like a preschool.

Sonic: Well, my mom insisted that kids learn from the source texts. Honestly, I respect that.

Caliburn: They could just learn from copies. All this is doing is causing a racket to distract the nobles.

Sonic starts getting ticked off at this.

Sonic: Pal, what if the copies get something wrong?

Caliburn: Do you really expect so little from your own parents?

Sonic: Y'know what? Let's just scratch this conversation and just move on, ok?

Sonic then dashes through the Pendragon Castle entrance and into Kingdom Cross, the place where the mobian, human, monster, and demon kingdoms all meet. Sonic uses his strings to swing all over the towns, dashing over and under buildings at blistering speeds, greeting most people as he passes by. Sonic eventually passes by that same kid he beat the bullies for on a bench, who calls out in appreciation (he would wave, but he doesn't really have arms).

Monster Kid: Hey, Sonic! Thanks for yesterday!

Sonic: Hold your applause, I was just doing what I do!

Sonic eventually makes a pit stop at a store near the Dreemurr Castle, called Arachno-Chili And Bakery, and drops off the rings while picking up a chili dog before dashing off into the castle. The shopkeeper, Muffet, wakes up and notices the missing chili dog and the rings, and knows exactly who moved them around. Inside the castle’s courtroom, Sonic finds Asgore and Toriel, who were busy planting some flowers. Seeing Sonic enter, Toriel calls out to him.

Toriel: Sonic Pendragon! It's so great to see you!

Asgore: Right on time as always, boy.

Caliburn: Indeed. In spite of some dilly-dallying.

Sonic: Hehe, yeah, I'm here for Binary’s weekly training. By the way, where's-

As he is speaking, Sonic hears some laughing, as Asriel, Frisk, and Chara enter the room, the first two being the same age as Sonic, and Chara being 28. The trio notice Sonic and smile, with Asriel rushing over to give Sonic a noogie, causing Sonic to drop Caliburn, who just hops upright.

Asriel: There's my spiny boy!

Sonic: ARGH, stop, stop! I yield, small horns, this hurts like hell!

Asriel releases Sonic, and Sonic can't help but smile in embarrassment. Sonic then turns his attention to Frisk.

Sonic: I see someone likes leaving his castle.

Frisk: Oh come on, you of all people should know this is a second home for me. Or are ya too short to notice that?

Sonic: Oh ho ho, I KNOW your ass ain't talking when you know damn well I'm the best baller on the planet!

Frisk: Was that pun intentional?

Sonic: Hardy har har!

Chara: Sonic?

Sonic turns to Chara. Chara's always sorta been the odd one out. Asriel and Frisk wear pretty casual attire, Asriel with a black robe and Frisk with a white shirt with a black scarf and pants, while Chara wears a white shirt, black pants…and a black chestplate with a white and black cape and golden earrings. A bit much, Sonic thinks. Frisk and Chara both have glowing eyes with a scar over each right eye, but while Frisk has red eyes (which is kinda hard to see with how much he squints), showing his power over RESET, Chara has purple eyes that seem oddly spiky with an X in the middle of each, showing his status as the “holy child” and his power of OVERWRITE. While Frisk does live in a separate castle, due to being the king of humans, Chara lives in a castle floating above it, showing his godlike status. Despite all this, Chara doesn't seem to have any issues socially.

Chara: Do you have your locket?

Sonic: Oh yeah, don't worry pal, I got it.

Sonic reaches into his gauntlet and pulls out a golden heart locket, putting it on and flipping it open to see a picture of himself with all his friends: Asriel, Frisk, Papyrus, Undyne, etc. Everyone in his friend group wears a locket like this, per Chara's insistence.

Chara: Thanks for that.

Sonic puts a thumb up, but then hears Muffet call out.

Muffet: Sonic, did you pass by my store?

Muffet enters the court, the robot Mettaton following behind. Sonic gets nervous a bit as Muffet chuckles…and Frisk gets a bit flustered.

Sonic: Oh, uh, did I pay you too little?

Muffet: Hehe, no silly! You didn't bother to say hello!

Muffet then winks…which makes Sonic a bit uncomfortable. He's not really attracted to anyone for any reason, hell, seeing romance makes him nearly gag, but only Frisk, Mettaton, and Cross really know that, and due to Muffet being half-mobian, outrunning her is a bit harder than most.

Frisk: Uhh, h-hey Muffet, your coat is very cute today…um…

Muffet: Aw, thanks! I get that a lot. The Royal Guard makes these costumes priceless…

Sonic starts cringing so much that he starts eating his chili dog to get his mind off the flirting.

Caliburn: Sonic, that is not the manner in which a prince eats food.

Muffet: Well, somebody is putting the hog in hedgehog, ha ha!

Sonic: Qoet! Yu ha ani dea how mu I nee to ea?

Muffet: Don't you have infinite energy, or something?

Sonic finishes the chili dog, and just stays quiet and mumbles to himself. 

Sonic: It's not infinite, I take my naps…

Mettaton notices how awkward Sonic looks and decides to break the silence.

Mettaton: So, have you kept your legs in top shape?

Sonic: Yeah, and you can help me keep ‘em that way through training.

Sonic picks up Caliburn and starts dragging Mettaton to the training grounds, the bot’s feet scraping against the metal floor.

Muffet: You're going to bring Mettaton back, right?

Sonic: It's a top priority!

With Sonic leaving the room, everyone else is just left standing there.

Muffet: Hah, he's totally into me.

Asgore: Did you think he liked the flowers?

Chapter Text

In a massive, golden space with floating papers throughout known as the Doodlesphere, a version of Sans with a massive paintbrush, Ink, is floating in the center, drawing some hearts and clothing ideas with a smile. On his vest is a belt with a bunch of vials containing paint that provides his very emotions, except for one vial that contains half of a purple soul-the half of XGaster’s soul with the OVERWRITE. Getting a bit bored, Ink wonders what his “old friend” is doing.

Ink: Hmmm…I wonder what Error’s up to. He's normally a lot louder than this.

Ink floats on over to a white, blank void on the other side of the Doodlesphere, the Anti-Void, and sees…nothing. Only a bunch of strings left behind and Error’s TV and couch.

Ink: Y'know, I expected to see an empty void, but not THIS empty. If I hated AUs like Error and had to follow the truce, there wouldn't exactly be much to do other than watch TV. Well, maybe he's finally getting some friends!

Ink then looks down at the vial with XGaster’s soul half, and remembers that fun realm, XTale, he enjoyed helping out.

Ink: Oh yeah, speaking of friends…wait, what if Error found XTale? Eh, I'll check up on it. I wonder what progress XGaster’s got on the plan.

Floating down to the paper containing XTale, which is purple with a white X on it, Ink uses his paintbrush to create an ink portal and hops in. Inside XTale, Undyne and Alphys are having a date in a park in Kingdom Cross, eating some sandwiches at a table.

Undyne: Yo Alphys, how's the new season of Mew Mew Kissie Cutie?

Alphys: Finally, someone asked! The animation is phenomenal, and the bad guy-

Undyne: Don't spoil it! You can have a nerdy monologue after I finish it.

Alphys: Oh, ok. Um, how's the job as Chara’s guard?

Undyne: Pretty good, but honestly kinda boring. I guess that does make sense though, no one really wants to fight the Holy Child-

Chara then approaches the two with a smile, which immediately grabs their attention (as well as the attention of everyone else in the park).

Undyne: -And speak of the angel. How'd the hangout with Frisk and everyone else go?

Chara: Eh, pretty well. Sonic's training at Dreemurr Castle, so I'm just waiting for him to finish.

Undyne: Nice to see the punk is getting his crunches in. Good you left too, because you KNOW that cape of yours would be too dumb to focus around.

Chara feels a huge wave of embarrassment, but Undyne just chuckles a bit.

Chara: IT'S NOT DUMB!

Undyne: It's just a joke, tightass. Besides, I had a cape phase too.

Chara: You're real lucky we're friends, you know that?

Undyne: I know.

Chara smiles a bit and looks at Alphys, and while Undyne is chuckling, Alphys looks at Chara and is frightened by how seriously he's staring at her. In the previous timelines, she was allowed to keep her memories by XGaster, being his assistant, but in this timeline she doesn't have those memories, and she's always felt a bit uncomfortable around Chara.

Alphys: Why is he staring at me like that? Did I do something wrong? Oh god, did I forget spilling his coffee or something?

Alphys then looks behind Chara, and notices a small puddle of purple ink.

Alphys: Hey, did someone spill some paint?

The trio turns their attention to the puddle. Seeing it, Chara feels oddly nostalgic.

Chara: Why do I feel like I recognize this ink? It kind of reminds me of-

Suddenly, Ink pops out of the puddle, covered in purple ink. The brown of his cape, vest, shorts, and paintbrush have become black, and the blue jacket around his waist, as well as the paint on his brush, have become purple, with the only parts of him retaining their colors being his vials and eyes. Looking around a bit, Ink decides to greet himself with a smile.

Ink: Howdy, everyone!

Alphys and Undyne look at each other in complete confusion, recognizing him as a version of Cross, but having no clue why he's here…or why he came from paint. Undyne shrugs Alphys a bit, getting her to greet Ink.

Alphys: Um…hi, uh, inky-cheek-

Ink: My name's Ink.

Alphys: INK, uh, what brings you here?

Ink: Well, I was looking for Error. But I gotta mention, XGaster cleans this place up REAL good!

Alphys and Undyne get a bit suspicious hearing XGaster being mentioned. Chara however, starts getting mortified as he realizes who this is. He, Frisk, and XGaster have met Ink before, hell, Ink was who inspired XGaster to create this whole realm in the first place. And he remembers who Error was, too…and who he became. Ink then notices Chara, and calls out to him excitedly.

Ink: Oh, hey Chara! Wow, you look all grown up now! What's with the purple eyes?

Chara: I…uh…I don't know what you're-

Undyne, being somewhat aware of AUs thanks to Chara, decides that this is far too important for the kingdoms to ignore.

Undyne: Well, if you're friends with the Holy Child…THEN THE KINGS AND QUEENS MUST BE NOTIFIED, THIS INSTANT! Wait here Chara, I'll be right back!

Chara: Undyne, WAI-

Before Chara can stop her, Undyne leaps off towards Pendragon Castle, leaving Chara utterly fuming.

Ink: So, do you have a new soul, or-

Chara grabs Ink by the collar, with Ink not being very frightened in return.

Chara: You are not supposed to BE here! You need to leave, NOW!

Ink: I don't think I really can, I need to find Error first.

Alphys: Um, I was kinda on a date here. Do I need to leave, or…

Meanwhile, Sonic and Mettaton cross legs in the sky above the castle training grounds, before they clash blades. Sonic pushes back Mettaton’s beam sword with Caliburn, before Mettaton extends his arms to try and hit Sonic. Sonic grabs the arms and uses them to throw Mettaton into the ground. While the fight is going on, Sans Cross, Papyrus, and Frisk, are watching it go down.

Papyrus: Go, Sonic! Go, Mettaton! Use the power of your friendship to beat each other up...wait, that sounds wrong, actually.

Landing on the ground, Sonic and Mettaton rush towards each other and punch each other in the face at the exact same time, creating a shockwave. The shockwave nearly hits someone that comes through a doorway to the grounds: XGaster, neatly dressed as a butler.

Sonic: Oh crap! Are you-

Sonic is initially worried, but when he realizes the person nearly hit was XGaster…he just gets annoyed.

Sonic: Oh, it's YOU. False alarm, it's the bitch butler.

Cross: Hey pops.

XGaster: Hello, Cross, Papyrus…Frisk.

Frisk looks at XGaster with utter disdain, with most other people in the training grounds feeling the same. Really the only people who seem chill around XGaster are Cross and Papyrus, the latter actually trying to be kind to his adoptive father.

Papyrus: Hello, XGaster! Have you come to give us some food?

XGaster lowers his arm holding a platter, taking off the lid to reveal some burgers and chocolate milk. XGaster’s eyes glow red, showing he also has RESET, as he stares at everyone but the skeletons in mild contempt.

XGaster: That's all I can do.

Papyrus: Thank you for the meal!

As everyone is eating (except for Cross, who is just drinking some ketchup), Papyrus feels bad for the disrespect XGaster has gotten over the years, and asks Sonic and Cross about it.

Papyrus: You know, I know I probably shouldn't, but I feel…rather sorry for my father.

Sonic: Why? I get that he's your old man, but he did take control over us in previous timelines. God knows what he'd do if Chara wasn't around.

Cross: Eh, I'm more worried about Chara. Are we sure that we can trust a “holy child”, let alone one who has the SAME power our dad had?

Sonic: Come on, I know the guy, he's chill.

Caliburn: Personally, you should have more trust in the nobility, especially since you serve them. They only want what's best for everyone. After all, if they didn't, they’d be like...yawn...XGaster...

Sonic looks away in annoyance, before Caliburn yawns and falls asleep, tumbling onto the ground with a few metallic clangs.

Sonic: Oh right, chocolate makes him fall asleep.

Cross: Huh, you'd think he'd be a lot more sharp.

Papyrus and Sonic groan as Cross chuckles to himself, catching the attention of Frisk, before everyone hears Fu and Error Binary enter the grounds, with Fu seeming to be trying to convince Binary of something.

Fu: Oh c'mon Binary, I've seen it work before! This is, like, PERFECT for your line of work.

Binary: I'm not doubting it could work, but the fact it works at ALL is concerning, especially since you came up with it.

Fu and Binary turn their attention to everyone on the grounds, who all wave back, actually including XGaster, although he's a bit more embarrassed.

Papyrus: You two have returned from your talk.

Cross: Hey sib, good to see there will actually be some training today.

Sonic: Yeah, speaking of which, what took you so long? Four eyes can't possibly have thought of something THAT amazing.

Binary: Yeah, you're probably right. He was just taking a bit to properly explain everything.

Fu: Hey, it's called “proper detailing”!

Binary raises the closest thing they have to an eyebrow. Fu tries to make a mocking retort, but he isn't quite as gifted at that as Sonic and just gives up in front of the imposing skeleton. Binary isn't exactly imposing in size and shape, being right between Cross and Papyrus to have a somewhat basic height with Cross’ skull shape, but they are by far the greatest in regards to Glitch Magic, the only competition, Sonic and Fu himself, being leagues behind, as shown by Binary having constant purple streams under their eyes and having a glitchy ring floating around their right eye. They are so strong that, rather than wearing a hoodie version of the royal guard garb like Cross, they just wear a white, oversized hoodie robe that reaches down to their ankles with black Xs, with blackened hands to match, black shorts and purple slippers. They do have a red scarf like Papyrus that serves to cover their mouth, which both has a golden tooth and oddly moves up and down as they speak, as if it's on a layer in front of their face. Seeing Fu stop speaking, Binary clears their “throat”.

Binary: Anyways, now that we are here, would anyone like to show their skills?

Sonic: Already over it!

Everyone looks up to see that Sonic has already created a web of strings, which Binary calls “gaster graspers”, and is hanging over everyone with a wink. Seeing Sonic treat this exercise as a joke, like always, causes Binary’s eye to twitch a bit in frustration. Binary wants to scream, but just sighs and moves along.

Binary: Ok then, moving on. Who's next?

Fu: Oh, my turn!

Binary: …Fine, you can go.

Fu smiles in excitement and runs into the center of the grounds. Sonic hops down next to Frisk as everyone watches Fu pull out…a random punch card. Mass confusion follows suit.

Fu: Gentlemen and gentle-thems, you're probably wondering why I have this punch card I got from some ice cream vendor.

Nobody responds to Fu, with Sonic starting to tap his foot in boredom. Papyrus wonders to himself if he should give some encouragement. Knowing he needs to get a move on, Fu clears his throat and steps towards the doorway that leads into the castle.

Fu: Well-

Papyrus: You're doing great!

Fu: …Thank you Papyrus, well, this punch card holds the key to passing through any object! Observe.

Fu holds the card up to his face, before lowering it down. He constantly raises and lowers the card as he takes a step backwards through the doorway, before eventually stepping all the way through, with the punch card being raised up right as he does so. At that moment, reality starts to glitch around Fu’s outfit, the same as it's always been including his long, black and white scarf, and especially glitches around the card. Fu then moves his off hand to a nearby wall, at which point his hand phases through the wall itself.

Fu: Eh? What do you think?

Everyone watching claps with excitement ranging from overflowing (Papyrus), to barely existent (XGaster), and to somewhat moderate (everyone else). Getting excited and prideful from the praise, Fu keeps flicking his hand through the wall.

Fu: I know, crazy right? Just keep this bad boy up to your face, and with Card Clipping, my Glitch Technique, you'll be able to move anywhere you wa-

Suddenly, Asgore’s voice calls out from the castle.

Asgore: EVERYONE! I would like your attention, please. Yes, that includes XGaster.

Fu is so caught off guard, that he drops the card and barely grabs it in the air, causing Sonic and Mettaton to chuckle a bit.

Fu: Coming right away, sir! My presentation was close to done, anyway.

Trying to play off his embarrassment, Fu tosses the card away.

Binary: Well, that was something, at least.

As everyone is walking into the castle to meet Asgore, Frisk picks up the card, and gets saddened when he reads a message on the front. Frisk then quickly walks over to Sonic, with no one else listening.

Frisk: Hey, Sonic…

Sonic: Yo, what's up?

Frisk: I read the punch card Fu dropped, and… it's not pretty.

Punch Card: Come Back…Please.

Sonic: Oh…Why didn't Fu mention that?

Frisk: I remember seeing a monster struggle to sell “Nice Cream” in Kingdom Cross. A rabbit, I'm pretty sure.

Sonic: Ouch. Let's give him a hand today, ok? Like nobles should.

Frisk smiles a bit at Sonic’s idea. Always trying to help the little guy.

Frisk: Sure, that sounds nice.

Sonic then remembers that he left Caliburn behind, so he dashes to the grounds, picks up Caliburn and sheathes him before dashing back to the group.

Sonic: Nearly forgot sleepy here.

Chapter Text

The group meets up with Asgore in the castle court, in front of the main gate to Kingdom Cross. Asgore is pretty happy to see them-all except for XGaster, who he just tries to ignore.

Asgore: Hey, everyone! I assume that the training session went rather well.

Binary: It would have, had a certain hedgehog even participated and not just shown off.

Sonic is just whistling a tune to himself, completely oblivious to the comment. Binary just looks at the prince in sheer annoyance as the group follows Asgore out of the castle.

Cross: So boss, what's the news?

Asgore: Well, Undyne was on a date with Alphys-

Frisk: -Good for her-

Asgore: -But somebody apparently showed up from a puddle of ink, looking for XGaster.

While most of the group is just a bit confused at this, XGaster and Frisk realizes EXACTLY who this mystery person is. The two look at each other for a second before bolting past the group, pushing Papyrus to the ground, trying to push each other out of the way with sheer determination. Cross isn't exactly thrilled to see his brother pushed away like that, while Fu is more curious what made Frisk and XGaster so panicked.

Papyrus: Wait! Why are you two running away like that?

Cross: Hey, what the hell is wrong with you?

Fu: Hmm…I wonder.

As Mettaton is helping Papyrus up, Sonic looks in the direction that XGaster and Frisk ran to, partially confused…and partially intrigued.

Sonic: So, I'm assuming we're chasing them down, right?

Asgore: Indeed, we need to find out what got them so riled up.

Sonic: Well, in that case, I'm going to run ahead, ok?

As Sonic turns to start running, Papyrus calls out to him, getting Sonic a little annoyed.

Papyrus: Sonic, wait.

Sonic: What's up now?

Papyrus: I, Papyrus, want you to promise that harm won't come to either of them, ok?

Sonic: Yeah, yeah, yeah, everything will be fine.

Sonic blitzes forward at high speed, leaving the group in the dust. Papyrus seems somewhat happy as the group follows Sonic's trail.

Fu: C'mon, I want to see what this is all about!

Papyrus: Well, at least Sonic will make sure everyone is ok…Right?

Ahead, Ink is talking to a bunch of people in Kingdom Cross. Fu’s parents, Towa and her creation Mira, are looking at Ink’s vials with awe (although nobody sees XGaster’s soul piece), Alphys, Toriel, and Muffet are confused seeing another Cross, Guinevere and Arthur is asking him about something, Undyne is keeping watch to make sure nobody overhears, and Chara is silently facepalming knowing how Ink could jeopardize his whole life. Frisk and XGaster nearly reach the group, but get facepalmed by Sonic blitzing right in front of them, looking disappointed.

Sonic: What is up with all the drama? I get a new guy can be interesting, but what could be so…important…

Looking back, Sonic sees the group and the skeleton they are hanging around. Seeing Sonic, XGaster and Frisk, Ink gets excited and runs up to them, at which point everyone else notices their appearance. Muffet, seeing Sonic, is nearly as excited as Ink.

Ink: Hey, you guys! Wow, I've never seen a monster that looks like this.

Sonic: Uh, pal? I'm a Mobian, not a monster.

Ink: Ooh, cool! I'm Ink.

Sonic: Sonic. Are you the guy XGaster and Frisk were freaking out about?

Ink: Oh, them? I've met them before. XGaster’s a really interesting guy, y'know?

XGaster: Oh god, don't tell me that Ink is an idiot…

Frisk: Well, at least Ink isn't causing too much damage.

At that moment, Asgore’s group arrives, taken aback by there being another Cross. Papyrus gets an odd sense of deja vu, Asgore, Cross, and Mettaton are just confused, and Fu and Ink are intrigued by each other. Binary, seeing Ink, feels uneasy and…oddly angered, as if Ink has personally wronged him. Toriel, on the other hand, is worried why Asgore and his group were running like that.

Mettaton: Well Fu, it seems your Multiverse theory is correct.

Fu: WOW, another Cross! Hello, I am Fu, prince of demons, and I assume that you’re the Ink that Asgore mentioned.

Ink: Yup!

Papyrus: You look a lot like my brother, Cross.

Ink: Well, me and your brother are both versions of Sans, so that’s probably why.

Fu: Then the Multiverse does exist! I’ve researched so much about it, this is amazing! What realm do you come from?

Ink: Y’know, I don’t really know what realm I come from. I just hang out in this sort of hub I call the “Doodlesphere”.

Fu: There’s a HUB of realms? Please tell me what it’s like, I NEED to know mo-

Toriel then interrupts by clearing her throat, stating her concerns.

Toriel: Well, I'm glad you are getting along this well, but can you please explain why you were so panicked a second ago?

Asgore: Well, Frisk and the butler just ran to see Ink for some reason, even pushing over Papyrus.

Hearing this, Ink realizes that something is a bit off. Everyone but the skeletons seem to have quite a bit of contempt for XGaster, especially Frisk and Chara, and he was called a “butler” rather than a more dignified role. Frisk and XGaster are also clearly searching for an explanation. He was aware that Frisk and Chara were combined to become the “X-Event”, but he doesn't know how they separated or who the extra guys are. With all this in mind, Ink smiles and makes up a story to help XGaster out.

Ink: So XGaster, you're done borrowing that pen?

XGaster: What is he talking… Wait, he found me a way out! Why yes, I was just wanting to hand this back to you. Wonder how this got through all the timelines…or why Frisk is so paranoid.

XGaster lets off a smug grin in Frisk’s direction as he hands Ink a pen in his suit pocket. Frisk can barely contain his rage at being one upped like this, with Chara similarly angered. Ink then asks another question.

Ink: Now that I think about it, XGaster used to be pretty high up in this world. What's with the demotion to butler?

Chara: Well, we were able to stop XGaster from using the OVERWRITE, and I became the new owner of this realm.

Ink: Oh, so you came up with the Mobians and Demons in this timeline? I don't exactly remember them being here before.

Chara: Uh, yeah sure.

While everyone is listening in on this, Cross is the only one to notice a discrepancy: Chara claimed before this that people like Sonic and Fu were part of the previous timelines, tortured like the rest, but now he says he created them for THIS timeline.

Cross: Oh, you made a big mistake, pal.

Ink: Ok, with that settled, if you can tell me where Error is, I'll be outta your hair.

Fu: Aww, I was starting to learn so much!

Arthur: I've never heard of whoever this “Error” is.

Ink: Oh, well he looks like one of us Sans-es, but he's all black with a scarf and yellow teeth, kinda looks like a hobo…

Hearing all this, Binary starts to blank out as they are hit with a wave of visions. Seeing Papyrus turn to dust, a young, genocidal Frisk, a Cross in a blue coat trying to comfort him, falling into a corrupted void, and pulling souls out of versions of monsters he knows. Cross and Papyrus notice that Binary is voiding out, their glitches getting more violent, so they give them some more space, allowing Ink to see them, thinking they might be Error. Ink runs up into Binary’s face, causing them to snap out of their trance.

Ink: Hey, Erro-wait, you aren't Error, although you kinda look like him. You got the same scarf and everything! Are you, like, related or-

Binary: GET OFF OF ME!

Binary, who both feels extremely uneasy about Ink and isn't exactly comfortable with physical contact, completely lashes out and summons a bunch of gaster blasters, putting everyone on edge and getting Ink to back off.

Ink: I didn't mean to make you upset! Error also isn't a big fan of contact, so I get it.

Binary unsummons their gaster blasters, although they are clearly still irritated. Thinking this could be a good time to gain a powerful ally, Towa decides to speak up.

Towa: Well, we may not know exactly where this Error is, but we are glad to help you for the day. Not the worst offer, right?

Ink: You make a great point, lady!

Towa: In fact, to help you with your search, my husband Mira will be your right hand man for the time being. Isn't that right, honey?

Mira: Yes, Towa. I would be honored to.

The way Mira spoke didn't really convey what he meant, sounding a lot more stagnant than he intended, but everyone was used to it at this point, and Ink wasn't really phased by it. Seeing that a search party was starting, Undyne decided to organize the troops on hand.

Undyne: Hey, scar boys.

Sonic/Cross: Yeah?

Undyne: We'll have to look for this Error throughout the kingdoms, and I think it would be best to split into groups. You two, Fu and Papyrus will be in one group.

Cross: Sure, I can handle that.

After a few hours of searching, the groups didn't find any trace of Error. Binary didn't go with the groups due to being too out of it, so he waited at the park in Kingdom Cross until everyone returned. Sonic in particular wasn't thrilled at finding nothing of note.

Sonic: Well, this wasn't fun at all. Honestly, I'm pretty sure hell would be more stimulating.

Papyrus: C'mon, Sonic, it wasn't that bad. You got to hang out with us!

Sonic: Yeah, you're probably right. You are REALLY good at finding silver linings, ya know that?

Papyrus smiles proudly, while Ink just sighs in disappointment.

Ink: Well, I guess Error isn't in this realm, sorry everyone. I just could've sworn he'd look around here.

Sonic realizes what this meant, and isn't exactly happy about it.

Sonic: Wait, so this whole time you were GUESSING this Error guy entered our realm?

Ink just kinda shrugs in Sonic's direction, at which point an anxious Chara eagerly pushes Ink to leave.

Chara: Well, isn't that a shame. Now, I'm pretty sure you have other places to look, so maybe you should leave as soon as possible, that would be GREAT.

Binary: Yeah, I would prefer that. I'm tired of this stupid game you're playing.

Hearing this, Fu gets an idea to both help Ink and, more importantly, have a bit of a fun experience.

Fu: Well, if you're going to look in other realms, why don't you bring some of us along? We already know about you guys, so letting some of us come along might lessen the load for ya!

Hearing this idea, Sonic gets pretty excited, while Cross and Papyrus aren't as accepting.

Sonic: Hell yeah! Field trip, baby!

Cross: Eh, I don't know about that one, dude.

Arthur: NO! None of you are leaving the kingdom! You all have duties to uphold, and you know it!

Sonic/Fu: What, but I just wanted to go, it won't be too long with us-

Arthur: FATHER'S ORDERS!

Towa: Yeah, as a mother, you shouldn't go explore worlds you can't handle, my boy.

Ink: Yeah, I'd appreciate the help, but your parents probably know what’s best.

Fu and ESPECIALLY Sonic are completely deflated by this, and just sit down in disappointment while everyone but Papyrus and Cross turns their attention to Ink. Seeing how disappointed Sonic and Fu are, Papyrus attempts to cheer them up.

Papyrus: Well, just because you're not going on some crazy adventure doesn't mean the world is over. I mean, you have us as friends. That's all you need-

Suddenly, Sonic blitzes away, only Cross, Papyrus, and Fu noticing.

Ink: Don't worry everyone, I will make sure you all are safe. I'm sure Error will understand-

Fu: Guys, does anyone know where Sonic went?

Separated from everyone, Sonic dashes onto the top of the tallest skyscraper, looking out towards the sky with a great sense of sorrow. He doesn't even notice Caliburn sleeping on his back as he opens up his heart locket, staring at the picture inside. Unsure how to feel, he starts to talk to himself.

Sonic: Guys, I…I love ya, but, I…just CAN'T keep going on like this! All my life has been just training, politics, the same kingdoms OVER and OVER again…you may want this life, but I DON'T, I DON'T deserve this boredom!

Sonic then closes the locket, takes a deep breath, and plants the fingers of his gauntlet hand into the ground, starting to run into place. As he builds up absurd amounts of momentum, he stares into the sky and sees the ‘skybox’, seeking to break it like a twig, hoping it will lead to another world. Meanwhile, Arthur is scolding Cross and Papyrus for letting Sonic disappear.

Arthur: WHAT DO YOU MEAN Sonic got out of your sight?

Cross: Dude, do you see how fast that guy is? You guys didn't even notice him gone!

Guinevere: Honey, why are you so worried about him? He runs around the kingdoms all the time.

Frisk: Yeah, he probably isn't in any jeopardy. He even has Caliburn with him.

Arthur: Well, before now nobody knew of interrealm travel! You know how reckless that boy is!

Alphys: No offense, king Arthur, but interrealm travel doesn't seem like something that can just easily be accessed.

Ink: Yeah, no worries! Only me and a few other guys, like Error, even know how to get to the Doodlesphere, let alone other realms.

Chara: Good, because I don't want to deal with any cosmic shenanigans. My own world is good enough.

Binary: Well, if I know anything about that hog, he might do something real stupid and try to break the skybox.

Fu: Oh yeah, you taught me about that. It's a set of lines in the sky that hold space together, basically the fabric of reality.

Papyrus: Sonic must be smarter than that. He must be going off to get…chili dogs, yeah!

Suddenly, Mettaton gets some readings of high energy.

Mettaton: Everyone, I would hate to interrupt this lovely banter, but I'm getting some measures that read like Sonic. He's building a lot of momentum, but it doesn't seem like he's going anywhere.

Asriel: What? Sonic loves moving, why would he be-

Suddenly, Sonic blitzes into the air as if a ball of light, creating a shockwave that knocks over multiple people and that Ink’s group can barely withstand. In the sky, Sonic shatters reality like glass, opening a way to a black void that Sonic barrels through. As the shockwave dissipates, everyone catches their bearings and stares at the dark rift in the sky.

Arthur: Don't tell me that was…

Fu: I sensed that…that was DEFINITELY Sonic.

Chara: I thought you said Sonic couldn't go to the Doodlesphere!

Ink: I did! In fact…I don't think that's the Doodlesphere at all…

Inside the VOID, Sonic finds himself floating and staring into nothingness. It's a miracle that this ‘place’ has any air at all, even if he doesn't need it, and Sonic can't see any light or feel any heat…it's all just cold. There seem to be a bunch of silver wormholes in varying distances, with pink wormholes surrounding each of them, and each of the wormholes have varying colors on the inside.

Sonic: Ok, I definitely expected the Doodlesphere to be a bit more lively than this…Oh, what am I saying? I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog, this place ain't that big a challenge. Just have to find another realm, probably through one of those holes, and then come back when I've had my fill. Easy peasy-

Suddenly, Sonic hears some yawning, as Caliburn starts to wake up. Sonic immediately realizes that he unwittingly took along a passenger…a passenger that will more than likely scold him.

Sonic: Oh crap.

Caliburn: Ugh, yes Arthur, you do look good in that robe-

Suddenly, Caliburn realizes that he and Sonic have somehow ended up in a swirling mass of blackness, and isn't exactly happy to find himself in this position.

Sonic: HEY, Caliburn, hope you had a nice rest…now, I'm assuming you have a lot of questions-

Caliburn: SONIC, WHERE THE HELL ARE WE!?

Sonic: Yeah, I probably should've expected that. Well, we all met an inky version of Cross from outside our realm, in a place called the Doodlesphere…

Caliburn: …WHAT?

Sonic: He was looking for someone that is apparently like Binary, and I had the idea of…maybe…seeing the Multiverse for myself?

Caliburn: OH MY GODS, YOU KNAVE!

Sonic: What? The rift home is back the way we came, I'll just check out another realm and come back later!

Caliburn: No, the FUCK you are not! I know exactly how terrible your sense of direction is, Pendragon! Now go back the way we came, or so help me, I'll-

Suddenly, Caliburn starts coughing badly.

Sonic: Caliburn! What's going…

As Sonic gets more worried, he starts to cough a bit himself, and he notices that he and Caliburn are crying black tears.

Caliburn: …What hell did you bring us to…

Sonic: Don't worry, I'll get us out of here!

Sonic tries to fly to one of the rifts, but he can't. Whatever this place is, it's slowly weakening his abilities. As Sonic starts to shiver from the overwhelming cold, he notices an ungodly amount of red eyes staring at him from the black, voices laughing at him from the void. He eventually creates a string and randomly targets a silver rift in the distance, the rift having blues and yellows on the inside. Swinging the string into the wormhole, he thankfully latches onto something in whatever world the rift leads to.

Sonic: Gotcha! Ok Caliburn, we're getting outta here!

Mentally pulling himself with the string, Sonic pulls himself and Caliburn into the rift as fast as possible, leaving the VOID behind. Most sets of eyes start looking elsewhere, but one set continues leering at the rift Sonic went into.

Chapter Text

Meanwhile, in the Prime Universe 7, in Age 793, Pan walks out of a gift shop with a blue bag. As she walks out, she calls back to the store owner.

Pan: Thanks for the gift, sir! I hope your day goes well.

Owner: No problem, but don't you think that t-shirt of yours is a bit small? There's midriff and everything!

Pan: Eh, it's a style choice. Plus, I like the gray with red sleeves.

Owner: Eh sure, go crazy kid.

As the door closes, Pan rushes into a small alley, adjusting her orange bandana and black pants, making sure they fit.

Pan: You'd think people wouldn't ask a lot of questions. Well, I am Satan's granddaughter, I guess it's not that crazy.

As Pan twists on her red shoes and fingerless gloves, she looks up towards the sky. With her bag in hand, Pan flies up into the sky. Flying above Satan City, Pan takes in the wind blowing past her face with excitement. Giggling a bit, she looks down to see Krillin on his cop bike, still in service despite his age. Floating down to the street, she starts a conversation while floating next to him.

Pan: Hi, Mr. Krillin! How's the job going?

Krillin: Hey, kid! Nothing much wrong, today. Don't you think you shouldn't be flying in the street?

Pan: Well, my grandpa is a ‘god’ to everyone, so they'd probably just get out of the way.

Krillin: Ha, ya goober! Now, what's with the bag you got?

Pan: Oh this? It's my birthday present!

Krillin: Oh crap, that's now? I always miss these. Plus, aren't presents supposed to be a surprise?

Pan: Well, my mom and dad constantly do stuff to help me out, I thought I'd do something for them and make my birthday easier.

Krillin: Aw, you're a saint, Pan! And here I was, thinking it was to get the present you wanted.

Pan: Oh, I didn't think about that. Guess that's a nice bonus, too.

Krillin and Pan chuckle to themselves a bit, before Krillin gets a call from his walkie-talkie.

Krillin: Well, I have to go now, Pan. Cat got stuck in a tree.

Pan: Oh, that's pretty important! You go do that, Mr. Krillin!

As Krillin drives away, Pan is about to rise into the sky, before she suddenly sees a girl in the distance, about her age. This girl is practically covered in pink, with a hot pink skirt, a pink striped turtleneck, purple-pinkish stockings, and even pink eyes. The only non-pink parts are her brown boots and hair and even the hair has pink highlights. This girl looks a bit confused and scared, not seeming to know where she is, so Pan decides to help, dropping onto the same sidewalk and walking up to her.

Pan: Hello there!

???: AGH, oh, hi.

Pan: I didn't freak you out, did I?

???: Oh no, it's fine. Who are you?

Pan: Oh, right, I'm Son Pan, or just Pan for short…or would I be Pan Satan?

Hearing ‘satan’ freaks the girl out quite a bit, with her hair turning fully pink and her eyes glowing.

???: S-Satan!?

Pan: Is there something wrong with that name?

???: I don't know, that name just seems oddly…demonic, y'know?

Pan: Yeah, my grandpa wants to be seen as fearsome, so…woah, did your hair turn pink, like, completely pink? And are your eyes glowing?

???: Yeah, I just kinda glow pink when I'm feeling a large amount of emotion.

Pan: Cool. Anyway, do you live somewhere in Satan City?

???: …Wait, that's what this city is called?!

Hearing this, Pan realizes that this girl is REALLY lost. The girl calms herself down a bit, turning her hair and eyes to normal.

Pan: …Huh. Yeah, the city’s named after my grandpa I mentioned. So, what's your name?

???: Uh, should I trust you?

Pan: I don't know why you wouldn't. It's not like your full name or anything.

???: Um, ok…Betty. Betty's my name.

Pan: Great! We can talk more on the way.

Betty: W-where are we going?

Pan: To my parents’ house. They'd be more than happy to help you out! And as a hero-in-training, it's my duty to help those in need!

Pan strikes a pose while puffing out her chest, a goofy smile on her face. Betty chuckles a bit at how earnest Pan is being.

Pan: Do you think the pose is silly?

Betty: No, no, I've just never seen anything like it. I'll go with you then.

Pan: Ok, great! Hold my hand, and don't let go.

Betty: …Ok?

Betty grabs Pan’s hand, only for hers to be nearly crushed by Pan’s strength. Caught off guard, Betty looks at Pan’s muscles and realizes how surprisingly jacked the girl is.

Betty: JEEZ, do you lift logs or something…and are those abs?

Pan: Oh, sorry, I forget to turn off the strength sometimes. I can lower it if you-

Suddenly, Betty's grip strengthens to nearly match Pan, which confuses Betty quite a bit.

Pan: Oh, there ya go! Now, are you ready for something cool?

Betty: I mean, I guess? Are you gonna, like, summon one of those mech carts or-

Pan: LIFTOFF!

Pan suddenly flies into the air, Betty screaming behind. In the sky, Betty finds herself a mile above the ground, holding onto Pan for dear life with her hair and eyes glowing bright pink.

Betty: OH MY GOD, WE'RE FLYING! HOW, HOW ARE YOU FLYING?!

Pan: Oh, well I can use ki to fly and get super strong. Hell, I can use it to shoot laser beams…or, at least I should.

Pan looks down, and realizes that Betty isn't exactly enjoying her flight. Not wanting Betty to be uncomfortable, she tries to help her.

Pan: Um, are you scared of being this high up?

Betty: YES, yes I am, why'd you ask?

Pan: Well, when I was starting out, I was also scared of being this high up, so I started watching things around me rather than below me.

Betty: How would that ever-

Betty then looks out to the clouds, and sees that some of them look like other things.

Betty: Oh, that cloud looks like a crow. That's…that's kinda nice.

Pan: See, told ya it would work! I like being up here because of how freeing it is. Like, not even gravity can control me! I guess I kinda forgot others might not like it so much.

A calmed Betty turns back to normal and keeps looking at the clouds. After a bit, Pan looks down and sees her house below her in the countryside.

Pan: Look, my house is below us!

Betty looks below her for a second, before immediately closing her eyes in fear.

Pan: Don't worry, you won't be in the air for much longer.

Pan starts lowering herself and Betty down to the house below.

Chapter Text

Landing down behind the fountain in the yard, Pan brings Betty to the ground, who takes a second to take her breath.

Betty: Oh…oh wow, that was a strange ride.

Pan: Eh, after a bit, it's not that weird. Now, I'm going to show my birthday present to my parents, and then I'll introduce you to them.

Betty: Ok then, I'm good with that. Lets me breathe for a second.

Pan steps out in front of the fountain, and soon after, her parents Gohan and Videl enter the yard from the house, excited to see their girl.

Videl: Hey, Pan!

Gohan: There's my little girl! Where'd you run off to, Pan?

Pan: I was just looking for what my presents could be tomorrow.

Videl: Oh crap, we probably have to get presents, don't we? Dammit Videl, you moron! Don't worry Pan, they'll be ready by tomorrow, we've just been busy…

Pan: Well, funny you say that, because…tada!

Pan shows her parents the bag. They are intrigued, yet kinda confused.

Gohan: Oh, is this for us, Pan?

Pan: Nah, it's actually for me. That means you won't have to spend time buying presents!

Videl: Thanks, I guess, did you just do this to get a certain present?

Pan: Well, no. I know you guys care pretty hard for me, so I just wanted to lighten your load a bit.

Gohan: Aww, thanks honey! So can we see it, then?

Pan: Nope! It's a surprise for my birthday party.

Videl: Ok…y'know, this feels more like a party for us than for you at this point. Now, do you wanna come inside, or-

Pan: Well, not yet. I met someone on the way here. Come on out, Betty!

Betty then walks into view from the fountain, her hands close to her chest.

Betty: H-hello.

Gohan: Oh, hey there.

Videl: Look at you kid, making friends. How did you get here, anyway?

Pan: Well…I kinda flew here.

Gohan and Videl immediately realize what that means and start to panic.

Gohan/Videl: YOU FLEW AROUND WITH HER?!

Pan: Yeah, I sorta realized that wasn't the best idea. But I wanted to get home quickly because…she's lost.

Becoming a bit more understanding, the adults decide to help.

Gohan: …Ok. Just think a bit before you act next time, ok?

Gohan then walks up to Betty, who gets a real good look at him. She notices that his hair is very spiky and messy, while his glasses seem to be bandaged together in the middle, and he's wearing a strange white cloak over his casual attire. She also notices that he has just as much muscle as his daughter.

Betty: Well, your daughter definitely takes after you in build…aside from the height.

Gohan: Well, I'm Gohan, and my wife's Videl. Nice to meet you, Betty.

Gohan holds out his hand. As he's doing this, Videl senses something…odd from Betty.

Betty: Well, nice to meet you too, Mr. Gohan-

Suddenly, a pink blob flies out of Betty's hair and bites Gohan’s hand with surprisingly high strength, causing him to yelp in pain.

Gohan: ARGH! What the heck is that thing? Why is it biting my hand!?

Betty: Oh no, Kumu stop!

The blob, Kumu, stops biting Gohan as it hears the command, although it clearly seems agitated. Videl rushes up in a fit of anger at seeing Gohan injured as he rubs his hand.

Videl: Ok, what the heck is that thing? You have some explaining to do.

Betty: I-I don't know, really. This thing, Kumu, just kinda comes out of me at times.

Pan: Oh, it must be trying to protect you. That's kinda nice, actually.

Gohan: Yeah, I'm pretty sure Kumu means ‘teacher’ in some languages, so that would track.

Videl: Look, I don't know what's going on with that thing, but your family might. Where did you come from, exactly?

Betty thinks to herself, but seems to get more and more concerned as she does.

Betty: I-I don't know. I just kinda woke up in the middle of Satan City, and I was wandering around until Pan found me. Kumu seems to know a bit more about me, but they still don't know where we came from.

Kumu then growls to itself in shame, showing that Betty is right. Betty pets Kumu to make it feel better.

Videl: Sorry, but it's pretty hard to help when we don't know anything about you.

Pan looks at Kumu for a second. It reminds her a lot of Buu, with it being pink goo that can morph around. She then gets an idea.

Pan: Actually, that Kumu of yours looks a bit like Buu. Maybe we can go to my grandpa’s place and ask about it!

Betty: Well, as long as we're not flying, then that's fine. Maybe we should use one of those mech carts.

Videl and Gohan get pretty confused by this. Was Betty talking about cars?

Gohan: Umm…you mean cars, right?

Betty: Oh, that's what those are called? I thought they were like the carts pulled by horses, y'know?

Videl: What, are you from, like, Age 100 or something?

Betty: I-is that a long time ago? Because I don't really know what the dates are like.

Videl: …Let's just get going.

Pan: Ok! I'll just put this bag away first.

As Betty and the parents wait for Pan as she runs into the house, Videl whispers to Gohan.

Videl: Hey, Gohan.

Gohan: Hey, Videl…why are we whispering?

Videl: Look, honey, just try sensing Betty's energy.

Gohan realizes that he hasn't been actively sensing energy and tries to sense the ki of Betty. Strangely, he can barely sense her ki, as if she's nearly dying, and he can clearly sense malevolent ki from Kumu.

Gohan: Woah. This girl's ki feels like it's drowning in mud. And the blob…well, it doesn't feel like it's draining her, at least.

Videl: Well, we…

Videl stops for a second, conflicted about something, before forcing a smile on her face.

Videl: You should keep an eye out, just in case.

Gohan nods, but feeling like something's odd with Videl.

Chapter Text

Back in the Prime Sonic realm, on the floating Angel Island, a small shack is situated next to the Master Emerald, some sensors similar to solar panels linking the two together. Inside the shack, multiple computers whir next to a metallic pad as Tails and Knuckles wait for the pad to be fully charged. While Tails knows exactly what the contraption will do…Knuckles has no damn clue how anything works.

Knuckles: Tails, I know you're using the Master Emerald to guide a portal to Sonic, but…how?

Tails: Well, it all has to do with the DNA of me and Sonic.

Tails then turns Knuckles to a strand of his own hair, which is inside a tube on the wall connected to all the machines. There is also a window on the opposite, west side of the shack above the teleportation pad.

Tails: Since Sonic has used the Chaos Emeralds so much, he's started to generate his own Chaos Energy. Thanks to this, I was able to command the Master Emerald to detect Sonic's energy using the DNA in his quill, meaning when I'm teleported by that pad, it will send me to whatever realm Sonic has ended up in. That strand of my hair means that when I command a portal to open up with my Miles Electric, the portal will lead back here, since I've used the emeralds a few times myself.

Tails then picks up the Miles Electric from a desk and pressed a blue button on the back, opening a slot that reveals Sonic’s crackling purple quill.

Tails: And this baby is how I'll locate Sonic after teleporting.

As the quill slot closes, Knuckles itches his head in mild confusion.

Knuckles: I think I've got it down. I trust that this will work, right?

Tails: Oh yeah, pfft, it will…

Tails stops for a second, recalculating the possibilities in his head, but then just shakes it off.

Tails: Yeah, yeah, it'll work.

Knuckles: I don't like that pause, young fox!

Meanwhile, down in Green Hill Zone, Sage, Eggman, Metal Sonic, and multiple badniks are scanning the site of Fu’s portal. While Metal and Sage are focused on the site, Eggman is inside his Egg Mobile, reading a screen.

Metal Sonic: Confirming, this is categorically dull. Surely, the attack has started, right?

Sage: I've never seen Metal this irritated…or this expressive in general. Father, have the distraction group located Sonic?

Eggman, looking at the body cam of the distraction badniks, sees that they can't find Sonic anywhere. He tries scanning for Sonic himself with his Egg Mobile, but they all turn up empty, which gets the doctor pretty heated.

Eggman: BAH, no one can find that blasted hedgehog!

Sage: He's missing? He's likely hiding until you attack.

Eggman: Not likely. That prickly rat never stands still for more than a second, creates a lot of excess energy. 

Metal Sonic: If that copy is missing, then now is the moment we must execute the plan!

Eggman: Well with our luck, Metal, Sonic might be eating a chili dog in one of the cities…wait, ‘copy’?

Eggman starts approaching Metal, hovering above him with the Egg Mobile. The only time he's ever heard Metal call his living counterpart “copy” was around the time when he rebelled against his creator. Not wanting that to happen again, Eggman questions his creation as nicely as he can.

Eggman: Metal, what makes you think that Sonic is a ‘copy’? I mean, I don't want a repeat of the last time you thought that.

Metal Sonic: Ugh, moronic fear. I just believe I'm a better Sonic than him. You built me that way.

Eggman looks down for a bit, seemingly knowing something Metal doesn't, before chuckling to himself.

Eggman: Why yes, Metal, I did build you to be better than that blue cretin. However, you are still a copy, but on the bright side you are a 'next-gen’ replacement, so to speak, and a damn fine one! And hopefully my genius will make you the first of many!

Metal starts getting more angry, not just because he was called a copy, but because he'll potentially have others filling his same role in future. Metal flies up to Eggman’s level and gets up close to his face.

Metal Sonic: Father, I am currently experiencing heightened aggression from boredom. It SOUNDS like you want to make it worse. Are you REALLY moronic enough to call that a ‘good idea’?

As Metal and Eggman continue arguing, Sage sees a glowing string latch onto a tree from the sky, with Eggman and Metal next to that same tree. Looking up, Sage sees the string coming from a slight sliver in the sky.

Sage: …Father…

At Angel Island, Tails and Knuckles see that the teleportation pad has finally fully charged.

Tails: Finally, we're ON-line!

Knuckles: Congrats. Although, I didn't know this thing was connected to the internet.

Tails: Not what I meant, but close enough.

Tails is so hyped by the charging finishing, that he doesn't notice his Miles Electric detecting a massive energy surge around Green Hill Zone. At Green Hill Zone, however, Sage struggles to grab the attention of her father and brother, getting more and more frustrated as the two bicker.

Eggman: Look, Metal, I love you like a son, but I am more than willing to remove that FACSIMILE of a shell if you don't lower that attitude!

Metal Sonic: Potential objective: slap Robotnik for his stupidity. DO YOU WISH TO CONFIRM!?

Sage: FATHER, METAL!

Eggman/Metal Sonic: WHAT?!

Eggman and Metal look up, finally noticing the sliver and string just as something barrels out of the sliver. In a split second move, Sage pushes Eggman and Metal out of the way of the barreling object, which creates a crater in the ground that completely mangles the tree while spreading a huge shockwave. This shockwave starts spreading across the entire globe, stopping almost all mechanical devices on the planet. When the dust settles, it reveals Sonic, with Caliburn in his hands as the black tears dissipate from both their faces. As he feels his strength return, Sonic panics as he hopes Caliburn is alive.

Sonic: Hey, swordie! We're in a realm now, don't you die on me!

Caliburn: Ugh…yes, I am ok, Sonic. Although, you are in SO much trouble, knave!

Sonic is thankful that his butler is alive, although the relief he feels gets lowered by the scolding. Getting a look at Sonic and Caliburn, Eggman, his children, and even his badniks are all completely bewildered by seeing their nemesis barrel out of the sky. Eggman and Sage also notice the differences in Sonic’s look, mostly his purple coloring and his more medieval clothing with the X theming (as well as the fact that he has clothes at all), although Metal mostly notices the strange, talking sword that Sonic holds. Meanwhile, the shockwave reaches Angel Island and is strong enough to tip it, nearly toppling it over entirely. In the shack, Knuckles and Tails fall towards the west wall, Knuckles catching himself on some terminals while Tails slams onto the wall above the teleportation pad, nearly falling out the window that he accidentally breaks with his elbow. On the terminal, Knuckles tries to recollect himself.

Knuckles: Oh great, what's happening to my island now?

Tails: I don't know, but are you al-

Tails stops speaking as he realizes what happened. Looking at his left arm, Knuckles notices that he accidentally pulled the lever to activate the pad. Trying to stay calm, Tails reassures Knuckles as the pad blares to life, green sparkles blaring around him.

Tails: Don't worry. As long as all these machines are intact, I can get back. Just make sure everything is ok-

Suddenly, the pad warps Tails to another realm, leaving Knuckles alone in the shack.

Knuckles: Well, he did say he would be fine. Now, I need to check up on the island…

Knuckles then notices a strand of Tails’ hair floating down. Looking up, Knuckles notices that the tube that held a return hair is broken and empty, and looking down, Knuckles realizes that the hair has flown out the window, which isn't exactly a good sign for Tails’ return trip.

Knuckles: Argh, damnit! Island, please forgive me, I can't let a friend get lost!

Knuckles hops out the window, and realizes that the ground has been completely tilted, and he starts to slide as the flying isle tilts more and more.

Knuckles: I APOLOGIZED, DIDN'T I?

Knuckles then starts to slide down the island and follow the hair, avoiding all the rocks, dirt mounds, and even the Tornado on the way to the edge. He eventually has to leap from the mini-isle holding the Altar of Emerald and glide behind the hair, eventually leaving Angel Island behind. Meanwhile, Sonic starts to look around at the environment he is in, seeing all the green grass and loops in the distance, all under a setting sun.

Sonic: Huh, vibrant place. Has a lot more color than home. I swear, I could run around this place for hours, I can just feel it. Plus, I kinda like the peach on my muzzle.

Caliburn: Well, you saw this other realm that you wanted to see. Now can we PLEASE go back now? I can see the rift.

Sonic: Oh c'mon, we just got here. We gotta explore at least a little bit.

Metal Sonic: YOU.

Suddenly, Sonic hears Metal call out to him. Looking towards the noise, Sonic sees Metal and Eggman, as well as the badniks behind them. He also looks the other way and sees Sage. Sonic just chuckles to himself.

Sonic: Well, looks like someone wants to have a greeting party. I'm flattered, really.

Eggman: Why, if it isn't Sonic the Hedgehog! Now, why did you come out of that-

Sonic: Wait, wait, wait…how do ya know my name?

Eggman: Wait, you don't recognize me? I'm the GREAT Dr. Ivo Robotnik, Eggman, and YOU have always been a thorn in my side! Although, I remember you being a lot more blue.

Caliburn: Well, you did say that Cross had an alternate self that appeared.

Sonic: Right, Multiverse stuff. Is that why that tin can kinda looks like me, is that a robot copy or something?

Metal Sonic: Oh you MOTHER-

Sonic: So, is there a Cross, by any chance? Or, Sans, as I guess he's normally called.

Caliburn: What the hell is a Sans?

Eggman: I'm sorry, you impudent rodent, but I don't know who you speak of, although he sounds as pathetic as you! I can hardly believe this-ANOTHER Sonic? I can hardly handle one as-is!

Sonic: Oh c'mon, haven't you ever met a skeleton monster before?

Eggman: What? No! What do you mean, monsters?

Sonic: Really? I mean, you're obviously human, what about demons?

Sage: We don't have records for demons, aside from beings like Dark Gaia, and we have also never seen a talking sword like that.

Sonic: Oh, this is just Caliburn, my right hand guy, when he's not being a nag, of course.

Caliburn: SONIC, sometimes a part of me REALLY wants to end you, but my chivalry is keeping you safe.

Sonic: Oh wow, where do you hide those balls, because I CAN'T SEE THEM! I saved you, y'know, you should be grateful!

As Sonic’s attention is turned away, Sage tries scanning Sonic, and she finds some interesting info, including his Pendragon surname and his high amounts of Cyber Corruption. However, something catches her eye: the ID. When she gained sentience, she gained this advanced scanning tool, so Eggman could never explain what this ID is, especially since, in most cases, it ended up being the exact same string of 12 letters. However, in this Sonic’s case, his ID seems to be DOUBLE the length of most people…similar to Metal. Sonic himself stops arguing and decides to get a move on.

Sonic: Look, I would love to chat, but I have a million better things to do, and honestly, your army of robo bugs is kinda lame looking.

Eggman: Why, you stubborn little pincushion! You may not be MY pincushion, but I will destroy you all the same! Eggman Empire, ATTACK!

Metal Sonic: Affirmative.

Breaking from the distraction plan entirely, all the badniks approach and surround Sonic, with Metal being right in front of him. This sorta ticks off Sage, who prefers sticking to the plan and knows that any Sonic is no joke.

Sage: What are you both doing? Didn't we agree to the distraction plan?!

Sonic, seeing all this, just chuckles to himself, offending Eggman and Metal.

Eggman: Now what could you find so funny, hedgehog? You don't even know what the Eggman Empire is capable of!

Sonic raises Caliburn with his right hand, a cocky smirk on his face.

Sonic: Geez, I didn't know that some versions of me had a reputation like this. But, then again, you seem to have lost a few times to this other Sonic, so I hate to sound high and mighty, but you just might have to buckle up for this, pa-

Sonic realizes that his hand is completely empty, and, looking around, he sees that Caliburn has perched himself on a nearby northern cliff.

Sonic: Caliburn, WHAT THE HELL are you doing? Don't you see the OBVIOUS FIGHT that is about to break out? And that YOU'RE my sword?!

Caliburn: Well, you certainly think that you can handle this on your own, and I personally would like to have a break from your brashness, knave.

Sonic: Oh, FUCK OFF!

Sonic flips Caliburn off, before turning his attention towards the army surrounding him, sighing as he does so.

Sonic: Well, fine. I don't need you, or your royal treatment. Now, if all ya bots think you can handle speed perfected…

Sonic forms a sure, yet crooked smile as he charges power, purple energy crackling around him and erupting like a geyser. Eggman, Metal, and Sage all immediately detect that Sonic’s power has spiked to nearly Super Sonic levels-he’s been holding back. Sonic’s pupils narrow in pure glee as he challenges the badniks with his claw outstretched.

Sonic: THEN LET'S GET WILD, EVERYBODY!

Chapter Text

Before anyone can react, Sonic snaps his left-hand fingers, causing multiple badniks to get destroyed in a purple eruption of energy. This causes the animals inside the badniks to get set free, albeit extremely dazed, which Sonic notices.

Sonic: Huh, living animals as a power source? That's a new one.

At once, all the badniks attack Sonic at once. In the middle of the field, Sonic strikes at all the badniks around himself in a flurry, while dodging others and allowing them to hit each other. During this, he has to dodge and parry the energy bullets fired by flying Buzz Bombers, which look like blue bee robots. Realizing this, Sonic leaps off a ladybug-esque Motobug and creates a string from his eye, grappling a Buzz Bomber in midair and swinging it around him, slamming it into the other Buzz Bombers. Eggman, Sage, and Metal are completely taken aback by this, but are even more so when Sonic throws the Buzz Bomber into all the badniks beneath him, nearly destroying all of them, after which he starts flying in place.

Metal Sonic: This Sonic has some strange techniques. He can even fly without Chaos Emeral-

Before Metal can even finish his thought, Sonic flies towards him, leaving Metal barely enough time to get out of the way of a one-armed slam. Not wasting any time, Sonic immediately starts pressuring Metal with punch after punch, kick after kick, in a style similar to breakdancing, until Metal eventually tries slashing back with his metallic claws, eventually clashing both claws against Sonic’s gauntlet.

Sonic: Ah, a fellow clawing expert. Well, I guess you are a decent copy after all.

Metal Sonic: DESTROYING FAKER!

In a second, Metal launches a large energy blast from his chest engine point-blank at Sonic, which blasts him away and forces him to land on his feet. Getting up, Sonic clasps his gauntlet, summoning multiple purple energy spheres that surround him.

Sonic: Destroy me? I don't know man, don't you have anything better to do? Oh wait, you obviously don't.

Recognizing this attack from her last encounter with her Sonic, Sage decides to take the opportunity to warn Metal.

Metal Sonic: Attack unrecognized, what's this all about-

Sage: Metal, those shots home in on you!

With a wave of his hand, Sonic sends the spheres straight at Metal, who uses his foot thrusters to maneuver around the shots. However, the spheres turn around and target Metal again, forcing him on the defensive. As Metal is dodging and kicking away the energy spheres, Sonic runs up close, trying to hit Metal with stray hits, and even manually throwing some energy spheres to catch Metal off guard, which ends up causing havoc to the zone around them and almost hits Eggman. In the sky, Knuckles finally glides up to Tails’ hair and catches it.

Knuckles: FINALLY, I have caught you, you idiotic strand of-huh?

Knuckles notices a ball of purple light in the distance below him, and then realizes that it's approaching him at light speed! He barely gets out of the way as it passes by, at which point it hits a cloud, causing it to explode in purple thunder.

Knuckles: What the hell was that?

Looking ahead, Knuckles realizes that he is nearby Green Hill Zone, as he sees purple energy crackling wildly in a part of the zone. Seeing this, he knows that whatever that chaos is, it's probably trouble, and decides to investigate. At the battle, Metal is barely fending off the energy spheres and Sonic all at once, when he gets blindsided by a sphere hitting him in the back, giving Sonic a chance to slash at his visor, completely blinding the bot and forcing him to auto-repair. Seeing that his counterpart is blinded, Sonic takes the chance to mock and belittle him, putting his shoulder on Metal’s.

Sonic: Aw, I'm sorry pal, I got a bit carried away, y'know? Now, are you ready to give up, because I'm pretty sure it's retiring time for you, pal.

Metal Sonic: GET OFF ME, YOU WASTE OF MEMORY!

Metal tries to blindly slash at Sonic wildly, but Sonic dodges and starts wailing on the double, doing more and more damage with each blow and pushing Metal towards the edge of a waterfall.

Sonic: GOODNIGHT, BLUE BOLTS!

Sonic is about to skewer Metal with his claw, but he suddenly gets stopped in place and lifted into the sky by Sage. Looking back towards the girl, Sonic realizes that she has similar Glitch Magic to him.

Sonic: Oh, a glitchy person like me? Didn't know those existed in this realm.

Sage: Our realm’s Sonic had a similar Cyber Corruption as well. Now, please cease this pointless battle.

Sonic: …Nah. I don't think I will. In fact, you're kinda disappointing me here. Because, you are too WEAK…

Sonic immediately expels his energy, breaking Sage’s hold on him. Before she can fight back, he rushes straight towards her at sonic speeds and grabs her by the face with his left hand, using his energy to shock her in the process.

Sonic: …AND TOO, DAMN, SLOW!

Sonic then starts spinning like a top with Sage in tow before he throws her straight towards Eggman, causing the both of them to come crashing into a loop, nearly totaling the Egg Mobile in the process. Getting up, injured and bloodied, Eggman is completely livid.

Eggman: Why you, damn HEDGEHOG! Whether it be mine or a counterpart, you always get in my…way…

Eggman then realizes that Sage has landed in his lap, and is somehow even worse for wear. Sage has only had a physical, non-simulated body since Dodon Pa’s last race, and she isn't used to taking damage in general. Barely able to open her eyes, she looks up at her father.

Sage: Father…I-Is this what…p-pain feels like?

Sonic: Oh crap, is she your daughter? Sorry, but I couldn't really tell, what with the body shapes.

Overcome with fury, Eggman smashes a big red button on the Egg Mobile, causing it to fly out of the rubble and sprout multiple weapons, including guns and missile turrets.

Eggman: FIRE!

The Egg Mobile starts firing all the weapons it has, which Sonic casually evades with his agility and Homing Attack. After a bit, Sonic dashes under the Egg Mobile and grapples it with one of his strings before slamming it into the ground, burying it. Almost completely winded, Eggman watches as Sonic leaps towards him, claw ready to strike, before getting blocked by Sage’s energy shield.

Eggman: Sage, don't hurt yourself!

Sage: Do I have a choice in this situation?

Building up power, Sonic breaks a hole in the barrier with his fists, causing Eggman and Sage to cower in fear.

Eggman: Sonic, are you MAD!?

Sonic: Well, this is self-defense, you attacked me first, so I'm just making you learn a few lessons. Plus, the way you speak and the multiple robots makes you sound like a mad scientist, so I'm just doing everyone a favo-

Sonic is cut off as he is kicked in the face by Metal Sonic, glowing with golden energy, knocking Sonic away from Eggman and Sage. Hopping up from the ground, Sonic sees Metal between him and the two, his visor having been completely restored as his energy dissipates. Metal stares at Sonic with a cold, hateful stare, and Sonic stares back in turn.

Metal Sonic: Target, Sonic, Locked. Desire: TO KILL SONIC. My visor is restored, so RESUMING COMBAT.

Sonic: Y'know, for someone with no mouth, you sure do like talking, pal.

Eggman: Metal, can you copy Sonic’s abilities?

Metal Sonic: I can't. Cyber Corruption makes that task impossible.

Sonic: Yeah, not sure you could either way. You can't copy someone like me.

Sonic rushes up to Metal to try and punch him, but Metal forms a black energy shield that completely stops Sonic’s attack, causing him to recoil in pain. While Metal can't really smile, he definitely feels like he wants to.

Metal Sonic: Copying unnecessary. I AM MORE THAN ENOUGH!

Metal lowers the shield to immediately power up into overdrive, golden energy flowing wildly, before spearing Sonic across the zone, through waterfalls and hills alike. Despite the pain, Sonic smiles with a thrill from the battle.

Sonic: Well, guess you got a little fight to give!

Sonic uses his strength to push himself off of Metal, somehow perfectly landing on the ground. Metal’s overdrive runs out right before he and Sonic start dashing all over Green Hill Zone under bridges and over waterfalls, periodically tackling each other while leaving blue and purple trails of light respectively, a sight which Knuckles doesn't miss while gliding over the zone. Eventually, the two tackle into each other and spin onto a bridge before stopping in place, locking each other in a grapple. Metal then starts producing a high amount of electricity, heavily shocking Sonic before he retaliates with his own purple electricity, creating a massive, shocking field.

Sonic: I don't think you understand pal, I'm the thunder guy around here, not-WOAH!

Before Sonic can finish speaking, Metal flies up and throws him through the bridge, causing him to careen down the side of the waterfall, with Metal flying behind. The two start fighting down the side of the waterfall, Sonic firing some energy beams from his kicks and jumping off the walls for attacks, while Metal fires chest beams and tries to attack with electrified strikes. After a bit, Metal becomes unable to handle the high energy output and stops producing electricity, which Sonic gets cocky seeing.

Sonic: Aw, what's the matter, are you tuckered out? I got all the lightning I'll-

Sonic is cut off by Metal grabbing him by the neck who, resisting the shocks, starts dragging him up the waterfall, the electricity shocking the water, and in turn badly shocking Sonic. Eventually the two end up rising into the sky, Sonic having stopped dispersing his electricity at this point, and Metal starts wailing on the stunned Sonic.

Sonic: Geez, when did this guy start fighting like a monster? I need to get him out of the air…

Metal then flies up and slugs Sonic in the face. Immediately after, he realizes that a glowing string has been wrapped around his arm, which Sonic uses to pull Metal towards him before dashing above the bot and stomping him, sending both of them straight down to the ground. With Sonic on him, Metal expels some energy to get Sonic off of him, causing them to stand a few feet apart. Despite the injuries, Sonic thinks of a way to end the fight in a snap.

Sonic: A Glitch Technique should be enough to end this. How about…a “Slingshot”, yeah!

Knuckles, who has been watching far enough that he couldn't recognize Sonic or Metal, realizes that the chaotic energy blasts have stopped flinging around everywhere, which makes him a little suspicious.

Knuckles: I have a feeling things won't be calm for very long…

Locking onto Metal, Sonic starts dashing around the metal copy, who tries to hit him with little results. Eventually Sonic dashes up to Metal, seemingly going in for an attack, but just dashes back. As he lands, Sonic’s pupils start glitching as his focus goes farther than it should be, as the Glitch Technique is nearing completion. Sonic then dashes up to Metal and is about to stomp him in the face, only to dash away, causing him to boost away at immeasurable speed, causing shockwaves as he does so. These shockwaves are so strong that they launch Metal and multiple trees away, and even Knuckles is nearly knocked out of the air as Sonic blitzes underneath him. As Metal gets up, he realizes that Sonic is completely out of sight. Eggman then shows up, his Egg Mobile close to the ground, and Sage in his arms.

Eggman: Metal, did you take care of that purple pest? I hate to admit it, but we can't handle any more of him at the moment.

Metal Sonic: Unsure. He used some technique to dash away at incalculable speeds. I didn't detect any cowardice, so I don't understand why-

Suddenly Sonic, who had dashed a full circle or two around the planet, circles back and kicks Metal in the chest at full speed, sending him flying into a mountain, creating a massive purple explosion of energy at the moment of impact. Knuckles, who has corrected himself from the earlier shockwave, notices the blast expanding out towards him.

Knuckles: …Oh no…

The blast ends up launching Knuckles out of the sky, while Eggman can barely resist the force of the blast’s shockwave. Sonic, on the other hand, isn't physically phased at all by the blast he caused, but is more so shocked at how much damage he did.

Chapter Text

Eventually the blast dissipates, leaving nearly a fifth of Green Hill Zone completely leveled. The greenery is completely scorched, the hills and mountains are leveled, and a lot of the water is either evaporated or leaking away from broken rivers and waterfalls. Knuckles, who is clinging onto consciousness, sees that he is pinned onto the side of a mountain, barely holding onto Tails’ hair.

Knuckles: …What…what was that? Is that what caused my island to shake? …I'm going to have to fight that, aren't I?

Knuckles pushes himself out of the mountainside with a grunt, stumbling and barely landing on his feet. As he gets up, he truly realizes all the damage that has been done, seeing the landscape turned black. He then sees some animal friends come out of some smoldering trees, one squirrel and two birds, with the birds seeming to be a parent and their child, who suffers from an injured wing, likely due to the damage.

Knuckles: Small creatures, nobody was killed by whatever caused this, right?

The animals shook their heads at Knuckles. Thankfully, all the animals were either able to evacuate the area or hide in things like trees and holes, although they were injured.

Knuckles: Oh, thank Gaia. Now, do you know where the thing that caused all this might be?

While the birds shake their heads no, the squirrel points towards an area on the outskirts of the damage, where Sonic landed. Looking ahead to where he must go, Knuckles dashes at great speeds towards the area. Back with Sonic, he is looking at the damage he caused with a hint of melancholy, while Eggman looks on in both terror and mild amusement.

Sonic: Wow…I…didn't know I could do that…

Eggman: Wow, and I thought I hated the environment.

Knuckles, who has just arrived at the scene, hides behind a rock when he realizes that there are people in the area. Peeking over the side of the rock, Knuckles scowls, seeing Eggman at the scene of what is likely his crime, but soon realizes that someone else is there too, and that person is…Sonic?

Knuckles: It can't be! It's Sonic! Now I can get the young fox back home and-wait, something seems peculiarly off.

Looking closer, Knuckles realizes that Eggman is actually pretty injured, with a somehow near-death Sage in his arms. Meanwhile, Sonic is both actually wearing clothes and has purple quills, with a clawed gauntlet for a right glove-and he sure seems to be getting angry. Sonic then turns, yelling and pointing at the doctor.

Sonic: YOU! You're the one that made me do this! If you and that robot copy hadn't attacked me, I NEVER would have done this!

Knuckles: Sonic caused all this damage?

Eggman: Sonic, please! I never intended for this! If you had just beaten me and didn't try to KILL me and my daughter, Metal wouldn't have had the need to push you this far! That's how my Sonic does it! In fact, I would honestly rather take him at the moment…

Sonic, completely fed up, opens his hand, claws ready and crackling with purple energy. Sage opens her eyes to see Sonic getting closer and closer, and realizing that she needs to save herself and her father, tries to detect Atomic Destroyer Zone to warp them back home, but struggles to do so in her condition.

Sonic: Y'know, I actually wasn't planning to kill you. Maybe a bit of royal maiming, but that's about it. However, you've convinced me that's NOT ENOUGH.

Eggman, struggling to find a way out of getting him and his daughter killed, tries to threaten Sonic, acting all cocky.

Eggman: W-well, Sonic, this Egg Mobile of mine has a secret weapon, built to destroy entire CITIES! Even a stubborn rat like you wouldn't be able to handle such awesome power!

Sonic: …Good for you, pal.

As Sonic gets closer, Eggman gets more and more desperate, and Knuckles is about to intervene, when Sonic is stopped by something dashing into his way. It's Metal Sonic, broken in half and barely functional, with only one arm and exposed, crackling wires. Barely holding on, Metal stares at Sonic with both hate and an intense perseverance.

Metal Sonic: S-STay aWaY from THEm.

Sonic: Oh my god, YOU AGAIN!? I don't know if you noticed, but I literally made you BLOW UP like dynamite! How have you even got enough RAM to function?

Metal Sonic: PriMary ObJEcTive: PRoteCT fAMily. SecoNDARY ObJeCTivE: destroy SONIC.

Sonic: Oh, you see them as your family, huh? Yeah, because bastards like them can even FEEL kindness, let alone deserve it!

As Metal is about to have his last stand, Sage finally detects the base, and with a blink of her eyes, she, Metal, and Eggman are surrounded by a red ring of binary code, as the teleportation process begins. Seeing that he and his family will be ok, Eggman starts weeping with joy a bit.

Eggman: Oh thank goodness, I installed that teleportation function. Good work as always, Sage.

Sonic: Oh, of course, people like you prefer running away, rather than facing the consequences!

As the last remaining members of Eggman’s group starts floating into the sky, Sage gives a stern look to Sonic, which somehow puts him off the most out of everything this realm has had to offer.

Sage: I don't think you understand what you've done today. But don't you worry, we will meet again, Sonic Pendragon.

Realizing that Sage somehow knows his full name, Sonic watches on in disbelief as Sage, Metal, and Eggman are enveloped in red light and warped away. Knuckles can't help but chuckle at Sonic's bewilderment.

Sonic: Th-that little brat just DOXXED me!

Knuckles: And thus, karma is proven to exist.

Sonic, while trying to lower his anger, notices Caliburn hopping towards him, which is quite the sight for Knuckles.

Caliburn: Sonic, what happened?

Knuckles: What in the-

Sonic: A code child has my mother's maiden name, that's what happened.

Caliburn: No, I mean the damage.

Sonic looks back at all the burnt fields, filled with sadness for what has happened.

Sonic: …I guess that I went a bit overboard.

Caliburn: Clearly. A noble such as yourself shouldn't be razing fields, that's what wars are for.

Sonic gets pretty frustrated that Caliburn isn't even trying to console him.

Sonic: Well, sorry pal, but that egg-guy and his lackeys egged me on! I didn't know I was THAT strong!

Caliburn: Cross-level pun aside, this isn't our world to keep in shape, we should just leave before we get in trouble. Maybe give a notification about the burnt area to a local government, but keep your involvement vague to evade any conflict.

Sonic: Yeah, it was eggy’s fault anyway.

Knuckles: Why, you damn hypocrites…

Sonic then picks up Caliburn, ready to get a move on.

Caliburn: Plus, considering that child has your info, we should probably leave as soon as we can.

Sonic: Oh c'mon sharpie, we just got here, we might as well explore a little-wait…

Sonic stops in place, thinking he heard something nearby. Knuckles is tense, thinking he's been found and ready for a fight. Sonic tries to detect anything…and then sneezes.

Sonic: Ugh, nevermind. I should probably learn to sense energy at some point.

Caliburn: Oh my, I think this realm might have some new allergies.

Sonic: It's not allergies, people just sneeze sometimes. You would know if you had a nose.

Behind the rock, Knuckles thinks about everything that's happened. Sonic disappearing, the purple quill, Tails being whisked away, and another Sonic coincidentally entering this realm with quills that match the purple quill perfectly. Could this Sonic possibly be…no, it couldn't be. This Sonic is far too brazen, and while he always thought his world’s Sonic was a bit foolhardy at times, that hedgehog was always responsible for his actions. And what does that sword mean about nobles and wars? It doesn't make any sense. Knuckles tucks the yellow fox hair into his glove as he preps himself to battle Sonic.

Knuckles: No matter what, you need to face this Sonic. He's caused too much damage, and needs to be stopped! Just because you've lost to the hedgehog once doesn't mean you will lose again. He's likely even more damaged than you are! So…have at you, faker-

Knuckles hops over the rock…only to realize that Sonic is gone. He's dashed away, not even realizing that Knuckles was watching.

Knuckles: GAIA, DAMNIT!

Chapter Text

In Prime Universe 7, Videl and Gohan are driving Pan and Betty to Satan House. As they are getting close to Satan City, Pan notices that Betty seems a bit uncomfortable as Kumu grunts to her about something. Due to being connected to it, Betty understands what Kumu is asking her, and can somehow telepathically talk to it.

Betty: What do you mean “we shouldn't be here”? I'll take all the help I can get, and you aren't exactly comforting me here. I mean, I don't even know who you are, and you can somehow speak DIRECTLY to my mind!

Pan: Um, Betty, are you bothered by something?

Betty: I did ask to drive in a car, but I'm not really used to going this quickly, or being in cars like this at all. Doesn't help that Kumu is also telling me to get out.

Kumu gasps in frustration for getting called out.

Pan: Well, I also don't feel that great in a car, too stuffy. To get my mind off it, I look out the window and look at everything that passes me by. Y'know, like you did in the sky.

Betty: Ok…

Taking Pan’s advice, Betty looks out the window of the door next to her. On the nearby field she sees deer grazing next to flowers, frogs hopping in ponds, and even some pterodactyls flying in the distant mountains. At the same time Pan is also looking out her window, both her and Betty taking in the sights. Whenever Pan stares at a creature, she tracks it moving by with her finger, which Betty also starts doing too. Kumu is also looking out Betty's window, silently staring at the outside animals with an intense hunger. Gohan, sitting in shotgun while Videl is driving, turns back to the kids.

Gohan: So, how's the sightseeing?

Pan: Pretty nice, especially with the bees out today! Bzz, bzz, we got a lot of pollen today!

Betty: It's nice, but…aren't dinosaurs supposed to be extinct?

Gohan: Um, no? I mean, a few types are endangered, but none are really extinct. Why would you think that?

Betty: Oh, no reason, I guess they just look like the type of animals that would…be extinct?

Gohan: …Ok then.

After a bit, the car drives into Satan City. The city is filled with small shops and people walking too and fro, billboards advertising Hercule all over.

Gohan: Well, here we are again, Satan City.

Betty: Aww, I liked seeing the animals.

Pan: Well, on the bright side, we're getting close to my grandpa, right mom? Mom?

Videl, who was focused on the road, realizes she was being talked to and gets a bit flustered.

Videl: Oh, uh, right! I mean, we're in a car, a few tunes wouldn't hurt, right? Hey, how about some music?

Pan: Yeah, that'd be awesome!

Betty: Wait, how can you play music without any instruments-

With a few presses on the control board, the car starts blaring metal music, which Videl lightly beats her head to. Betty and Kumu, however, are completely taken off guard by the music and panic a bit.

Betty: ARGH! What the hell is happening?

Videl: Wait, you don't like the music? Ugh, damnit, of course this happens, I can turn it off-

Betty: I mean, the music is interesting, but how the hell are you playing it? There's no trumpets, drums, anything!

Gohan: I mean, we can record music and play it later. It's not that big a deal-

As they look back, Gohan and Videl notice that Betty's hair has turned fully pink.

Gohan: Hey, what's up with the hair?

Betty: Um, when I get really scared or emotional, it turns fully pink. I don't really know why it's pink at all, to be honest.

Gohan: Huh, I just thought you were born with them or had highlights.

As Gohan wonders what's up with Betty, Videl turns off the music entirely.

Videl: Y'know, I should probably just focus on the road, we're pretty close to my dad anyway, let's move on…

Noticing how uneasy Videl is acting, Pan and Betty are confused, while Kumu is indifferent and Gohan is a bit concerned. Eventually they arrive at Satan House and go through the gate, the house being as lavish as ever. Before they enter the house, Videl turns to Betty, whose hair has returned to normal.

Videl: So, just so you're aware, my dad can be pretty…intense.

Videl then knocks on the door a bit, and after a second, Hercule Satan opens the door. Betty notices that Hercule, while also pretty muscular, is clearly much older, having an afro with a bald spot, some wrinkles, and a mustache that turns into sideburns. She can't really tell if he's wearing a gi or a night gown.

Hercule: Hey, Videl! How's my little girl doing? It's been years since I last saw ya.

Videl: Pretty alright.

Pan: Hey, grandpa!

Hercule: Aww, look at you Pan, growing big and strong, just like your old gramps!

Pan rubs her head in embarrassment, while Gohan and Videl smile at her. Betty gets a sense of joy looking at the happy family, while Kumu feels a bit…conflicted. Hercule then notices Betty and Kumu.

Hercule: Hey, who's the pink girl and…what's with the blob?

Pan: Oh, this is Betty. She's pretty cool, and I think she’s the same age as me…how old are you?

Betty: I don't really know, but…I feel like 14 is a good age for me.

Pan: Hey, that's how old I'll be on my birthday tomorrow!

Hercule: Hey, good on ya, kids! Plus, you seem to be the same size, too!

Pan, Gohan, and Videl kinda stare at Hercule (although Videl tries to hide it behind a smile). Pan is pretty short for her age, being a bit over 3 feet tall and matching height with Chiaotzu, and it's a bit of a sore spot for her, so she changes the subject quickly.

Pan: Ha ha ha, anyway, the other one’s Kumu, and that's kinda why we're here.

Videl: Yeah, Pan found Betty in the streets with amnesia, and Kumu kinda looks like Buu, so we're going off a hunch here.

Hercule: Well, I won't say no to that, come on in!

Everyone walks in, the living room filled with china pots and antique shelves with a white color scheme. On top of that, there's a bunch of golden statues of Hercule in his prime, with a full afro of hair and a flowing cape. Hercule smiles gleefully at this sign of his status, with Betty the only one other than him to be mesmerized at the gold and glamour.

Hercule: Ain't they majestic?

Betty: Yeah, they are…

Pan: Y'know, my grandpa used to have a dog named Bee.

Betty: Really? What was Bee like?

Pan: Oh, he was the cutest doggie ever! Even with how old he was, if you threw a bone or stick, he would ALWAYS catch it. If he could talk, he'd probably sound like: “Look, I got the thingie, yay! Can I have some loves now, please?”...I miss him.

Betty: Wow, he sounded like the best pet ever.

As Betty, Kumu, and Pan look around, Gohan gets himself comfortable on a couch as Videl talks to her dad.

Videl: So dad, how's the dojo doing?

Hercule: Not great, honestly. I've been getting allegations of my dojo being “useless”, that I'm ripping people off, it's outrageous!

Videl: Well, I mean, they aren't wrong…

Gohan: Hey Buu, we're visiting!

After Gohan calls out, Buu steps into the living room. However, Gohan and his group realizes that Buu isn't the only person hanging out with Hercule. Next to Buu is what appears to be a female version, who looks nearly identical, but with pink skin-hair connected to her antenna and a somewhat undersized bra. In the female Buu’s arms is a tiny Buu in wraps with a pacifier.

Videl: What the-is that 2 more Buus? I'm scared to ask, but we don't have another Kid Buu situation, do we?

Hercule: Nah, that's Miss Buu and Baby Buu.

Videl: Really breaking the bank on those names, huh?

Hercule: Buu might have gotten into my stash of literature…

Videl: Oh Dende, did he read Bob And Margaret? I thought you said you'd throw that out.

Videl chuckles a bit, knowing EXACTLY what the contents of that book is. Gohan blushes a bit, while Pan and Betty just stare at each other in confusion, not getting the context.

Pan: …Uh huh…

Hercule: Well…yeah, I threw that out, but he read it the day BEFORE and he wanted to have a relationship, so he split into Miss Buu and they eventually had a kid, Baby Buu.

Gohan: Well, look at you go, Buu! Guess you're a family man now, huh?

Buu smiles and gives a thumbs up.

Buu: Yup, Buu happier than ever!

Miss Buu: Miss Buu happy to be married to big boy like Buu.

Miss Buu rubs Buu’s chest and belly before pulling the latter like string, causing them to chuckle a bit. Looking at the couple, Betty is initially weirded out, but then gets interested in them for…how they are.

Betty: You…you can shape shift? And you choose to look like that?

Betty immediately realizes that she might have said something offensive.

Betty: WAIT, I mean, NO OFFENSE, I'm just not used to…it…

Buu: Eh, is just how Buu is.

Gohan: Yeah, we tried to make him skinny once, trust me, it's better like this.

Gohan, Hercule, and the Buus chuckle a bit, while Kumu just looks on in confusion.

Pan: Do you know what they're joking about?

Betty: Not a clue. They don't seem to have a care in the world…are they unhealthy? Were they just born like that? Are they…like me?

As Gohan is chuckling, he notices that Videl looks uncomfortable and stops. Videl isn't thinking of Buu after he became good…but rather before that. Before Gohan can reach to her, Videl walks over to the Buus, trying to get over her anxiety.

Videl: So…this is your kid?

Miss Buu: Yup! Doesn't bite!

Videl: Well, aren't they a little bundle of-

Suddenly, Baby Buu starts crying up a storm. Before anyone can react, Videl grabs Baby Buu and starts rocking the baby, manically trying to calm it down.

Videl: Calm down little guy, you'll be fine, I'm here! Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree-top-

Everyone looks on in confusion at how Videl is acting. She's definitely trying to be motherly, but it's kinda…forced. Miss Buu then pulls out a bottle of milk and grabs her baby back, putting the bottle in Baby Buu’s mouth, causing him to calm down.

Miss Buu: Miss Buu’s child, Miss Buu knows how to handle it.

Embarrassed, Videl brings her hands together to her waist, trying desperately not to burst.

Videl: Yeah, yeah you're probably right.

Gohan: What was that about?

Videl, feeling like she screwed up again, tries to play it off.

Videl: Oh, I was trying to be helpful, silly me!

Hercule can absolutely tell Videl isn't being herself, but assumes that it's just stress. Kumu whispers a few grunts to Betty, but Buu also understands it.

Betty: What do you mean “she's unstable”? Maybe she just doesn't like crying babies, it's not that crazy.

Buu: Yeah, Buu also isn't fan of crying. And you sound very rude, Kumu.

Betty: Wait, can you understand Kumu?

Buu: Mhmm. Kumu is very cute.

Buu sticks his finger out to pet Kumu, only for it to bite Buu’s finger. Buu, however, doesn't actually feel any pain as he pulls Kumu off him. Kumu growls at the majin, who just laughs at the aggression. Hoping to shift the conversation, Gohan gets to the point of the visit.

Gohan: Well, that is why we're here, Buu. Pan found this girl, Betty, with amnesia in Satan City. Kumu seems to be pretty similar to you, being a pink mass and all, no offense, so we wanted to know if you might know anything about Betty and Kumu.

Buu thinks for a second, but can't remember anything about either of them. Looking back at Miss Buu, she just shrugs, also at a loss for who Betty might be.

Buu: Buu doesn't know. Buu remembers being built by witch as Kid Buu, getting controlled by Bibidi, and then released by Babidi. No memories from Grand Supremo Kai, either.

Pan: Well, maybe you were built by that witch too, Betty.

Miss Buu: Humans didn't exist yet, Miss Buu thinks not.

Betty sighs to herself, both in disappointment at being no closer to figuring out who she is, and for being a bit insecure about her body.

Betty: Huh, you'd think with how similar Buu and Kumu are, they'd be related…do you think I look like Buu, too?

Hercule: What do ya mean, pipsqueak?

Betty nervously lifts up her sweater, showing that her stomach has quite a bit of chubbiness before putting her turtleneck back down.

Betty: I mean, we're both somewhat large…and I have nowhere near the amount of muscles you guys have.

Hercule just kinda laughs for a second.

Hercule: Oh c'mon, you can fix that easily! Just work out at my dojo for a week!

Videl, a bit annoyed, momentarily gets over herself and palms her father in the face to make him shut up.

Hercule: I was just trying to help!

Videl: Time and place to shill, dad.

Seeing Hercule get embarrassed causes Betty to chuckle a bit before Pan tries to comfort her.

Pan: I mean, I don't really get the problem. You look cute either way. If it's a fitness thing, I'd be happy to have a training partner.

Betty: You-you really think so?

Kumu just groans at the sappy moment, which Pan definitely notices as she points a finger into its face.

Pan: Hey, I'm trying to be kind here, and she deserves it! If you have a problem with it, then say it to my face, or her face for that matter!

Kumu and Betty are taken off guard by how up front Pan is. Kumu can't bring itself to insult Betty, so it just backs off. Betty, seeing Kumu as her only friend before now, doesn't really know what to think about it.

Pan: That's what I thought.

Gohan: Well, thanks for the help anyway, Hercule. It's getting pretty late, so we should probably be going home.

Betty: Um, I don't really have anywhere to stay, and I don't really want to sleep on the sidewalk…

Pan: Oh c'mon, why would we leave you outside? I mean, we don't really have any extra beds, but you can sleep on one of our couches.

Betty: Oh. Thank you. Thank you so much!

After a bit of hanging out, Gohan's family goes to leave Satan House.

Hercule: Thanks for visiting, you guys! I promise, if I wasn't so busy training, I totally would know what's up with that Betty gal.

Gohan: Right…well, thanks anyway. I hope Buu’s happy with his new family.

Pan: Um, before we leave, can I ask a question?

Hercule: Sure kiddo, what do ya got to say?

Pan: When's grandpa Goku going to come back?

The whole mood instantly turns dour. Videl and Hercule look at each other in concern, the Buus don't know what to say, and Gohan feels his anger boil over, but calms it down enough to avoid hitting anything. Betty and Kumu don't know who Goku is, but they can sense something is wrong.

Betty: Is this Goku your other grandpa, on your dad's side?

Pan: Yeah. He's the strongest guy I ever knew, strong enough to be chosen to train with the supreme deity, Zeno…and I haven't seen him in nearly 10 years.

Betty instantly recognizes how terrible this fact is, and even Kumu feels sorry for Pan and her family. A family man, stolen by the gods for his strength alone.

Hercule: Well, I'm planning to give that zenni guy a piece of my mind, and bring your gramps back-

Pan: No, it's fine, you'd probably get slapped around. Even Goku has to do what Zeno says, and you're nowhere near as strong as him.

Pan lets out a few tears, sobbing. Getting out of her anxiety, Videl kneels down to Pan, consoling her.

Videl: Well, it's your 14th birthday tomorrow, if it would be any time for Goku to come back, it would probably be then. Zeno would be kind of a dick to keep Goku for even longer, y'know?

Gohan: Yeah. Be strong for your grandpa, ok? We don't wanna cry on our birthday, do we?

Pan wipes away her tears, smiling towards her parents.

Pan: You're right. I'll be strong, for Son Goku! Your kidnapping can't stop me, jelly bean!

Gohan's family walks out of Satan House, the Buus and Hercule waving goodbye.

Buu: See you later, friends of Buu!

Videl: See ya, dad! You better get some presents for your granddaughter!

Gohan looks over at Videl, feeling a mix of concern and relief.

Gohan: Well, at least Videl seems to be back to normal. I swear, every time a big family event comes up, she loses her edge entirely and tries to act all sweet. Guess it must be stress, although the Baby Buu moment was extra strange. Hopefully, when we get Pan’s birthday done, she'll be her old self full-time!

Chapter Text

In the Five Nights At Freddy's Before realm, Tails appears in a small forest in the dark of night with a flash of multicolored light. Completely disoriented from inter-realm travel, the fox tries to get his bearings.

Tails: Ok, that was a lot…rougher than I expected. I seem to be in a forest of some kind, so I should probably find shelter, which would mean civilization.

Tails looks down at his Miles Electric, and notices the black outlines surrounding it and his own body. Looking in the reflection of the screen, Tails notices that he looks relatively similar, but his mouth and eyes are a bit smaller, and his body is a bit more simplistic, as if he's in a comic book.

Tails: Huh. Guess different realms give different looks.

Turning on the Miles Electric, Tails immediately sees a warning notification: TELEPORTATION GUIDING INTERRUPTED. Seeing this, he facepalms in frustration.

Tails: Ugh, damnit, of COURSE it was interrupted! Guess that shockwave damaged the energy tracking. That must mean this isn't where Sonic is. Well, guess that means I shouldn't waste any time here.

Tails navigates the menus to activate a return teleportation, hoping he can try again back home, but the Electric gives another notification: ENERGY LOW, NEEDS RECHARGING.

Tails: Of course. If I find a cord of some kind, I could probably use the quill to recharge-

Suddenly, Tails feels someone's leg bump into him. Looking up behind him, Tails sees a human woman with a large backpack in a brown coat and jeans, illuminated by his Electric. She also seems to have burnt orange hair that sticks both up and down, with blue eyes that look down at him. Seeing someone else, Tails is relieved, not realizing that Mobians might not exist in this realm.

Tails: Oh thank Gaia, there are people here. Hey ma'am, do you know where I-

Suddenly, the woman screams out in terror, having never seen a living animal like him, and hits him with her flashlight.

???: OH GOD, STAY AWAY FROM ME!

Tails: OK, OK, I'M LEAVING!

Tails runs away from the woman, who is confused that he actually didn't attack her.

???: Huh.

Running into the woods, Tails sees some neon lights in the distance. Running out of the woods, Tails finds himself in a parking lot, and sees where the light was coming from: a sign for a building called “Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza”. On the sign are images of what seems to be this building's mascots: a bear in a tophat, a rabbit with a bowtie, and a chicken with eyelashes and a living cupcake, and all three seem to be animatronics given their exposed joints. Given he's in front, it's likely the bear is Freddy Fazbear. Apparently, living animals like Tails don't exist as actual people, but rather as mascots for companies.

Tails: Well, it's better than nothing, at least. At least the animatronics are guaranteed to give me some wires.

Walking up to the pizzeria’s entrance, Tails feels as if someone-something-is watching him. He did see someone earlier, so it could be her, but it feels like something else entirely. On the other side of the entrance doors, he sees a lock keeping him from getting inside.

Tails: Well, it would figure for a business to lock up for the night. Weird that teleporting takes so long, though. I wonder if there is anyone…

Tails feels a strange urge, a calling to enter the building. He doesn't know what’s causing it, but he feels like it's destiny to enter this pizzeria…which means he probably shouldn't go in at all.

Tails: I probably shouldn't cause any trouble. I mean, a few minutes of travel time to a town or city shouldn't take THAT long…

Looking out at the road from the parking lot, Tails sees a dark figure looming in the distance. The figure vaguely looks like a rabbit, and he can't make any colors out of it, even in the moonlight as if it was a living shadow, aside from white that seems to form eyes and…teeth. Seeing this, Tails decides that breaking in isn't that bad an idea.

Tails: Welp, I don't know if this counts as cowardly or not, but I'm GOING INSIDE!

Tails flies around the building and eventually finds a window. Using his nanotech, he summons a boxing arm that breaks through the window easily, allowing him to hop inside. Making sure he doesn't slip on broken glass, he looks around himself, seeing that the room he is in, as well as the main dining room next to it, has a bunch of tables with stuff like paper plates and party hats on cheap cloth covers. Tails isn't exactly impressed with the craftsmanship of this building.

Tails: Well, this is a shoddy kids location. This place is probably struggling business wise, though I guess I'm not one to judge.

Tails then looks up and sees a camera looming above him, currently inactive.

Tails: Well that confirms someone is here, alright. I don't really want to be caught tampering with wires here, so maybe I should ask the night guard if I-

Suddenly, Tails hears some footsteps, HEAVY footsteps, as if someone was approaching him in metal boots. Unsure of who the footsteps belong to, Tails hides under a table to the left of the doorway. He is hit with the stench of rotting cheese as he sees some old gum at the bottom of the table, but he bites his tongue and holds in the urge to vomit. He hears the footsteps getting closer and closer until he finally sees a pair of blue legs and feet enter the room, clearly a robotic skeleton in a blue fur shell. As the figure gets closer to the broken window, Tails sees who they are in full: Bonnie, somehow stomping around the premises, seemingly searching for whoever broke the window…searching for Tails. Tails is extremely confused, seeing this advanced tech in such a low-budget building.

Tails: Is that one of the performers? Did they hear me break the window? Wonder how a fast food joint can afford this kinda tech.

After looking around for a bit, Bonnie seemingly shakes his head in confirmation that nobody is in the room before stomping out of the room, turning towards the main dining room to the right. Making sure to be as quiet as possible, Tails crawls out from under the desk and peeks into the dining room. His eyes widen in shock as he sees multiple animatronics walking around the dining room, including the bunny Bonnie, the chicken Chica, and Freddy Fazbear himself, hidden in the shadows. A few of the desks have what appear to be plastic cupcakes with eyes as well. There also seems to be a curtain near the back, with a sign reading “OUT OF ORDER”. Deciding he can't stay out in the open, Tails tiptoes as silently as possible into the opposite hallway, heading into the door on his left. Tails finds himself in a kitchen, which ironically seems to be the most clean room so far, albeit still with some pans left out and a cockroach or two in the corner. The only standout prop is a cupcake with pink icing and a candle, seemingly left behind from a birthday party on the island countertop.

Tails: Well, I don't think any of them saw me, so I think I can take a breather. Plus, I deserve a treat after all of this-

Suddenly, Tails hears a deep laugh coming from elsewhere in the restaurant. Checking behind himself, Tails accidentally hits a pot on a stove with his tails, causing a bunch of clanking. Tails the pan to a standstill to stop the noise, but he then hears heavy footsteps approaching the kitchen.

Tails: Oh no, no no! Now how do I get out of this? These animatronics definitely are intelligent…

As Tails feels panic settle in, he then looks at the cupcake, and gets the idea for a distraction.

Tails: Maybe they're too intelligent…

Tails taps the left side of his gloved hand with his thumb, causing a small fire to sprout from his pointer finger. He lights the candle with the flame, putting it out with another thumb tap, before hiding at the end of the island furthest from the door.

Tails: Ok, this doesn't seem likely to work, but if the flame distracts whoever shows up, I can get out of here and hopefully explains things to whoever's running the bots.

After a second of tension, Chica enters the room, oddly making some raspy sounds as if she's dying, which just makes Tails even more uncomfortable. Chica looks around the room for a second, trying to find whatever made the clanging noises, but stops DEAD when she sees the cupcake. She can't understand why, she knows it's pointless to be enthralled by a cupcake, she needs to follow the mission…but she can't look away. Susie Chica reaches her hand out to the cupcake, wanting to grab it, but unable to, for a reason she can't understand. Tails peeks out from behind the island and sees that the distraction has actually worked, filling him with relief.

Tails: Oh, thank Gaia. Now I just need to get out of here. I did see a door in the hallway next to a window, so that could be where the night guard is…

However, as Tails looks at the distracted animatronic, he sees her hand reach out to the cupcake, not grabbing it for some reason. She looks almost…sorrowful. Having learned a habit or two from Sonic, Tails can't help but want to help this thing in any way he can, even if he knows he shouldn't. Tails ducks back behind the counter for a second to think.

Tails: Agh, no Tails, you shouldn't be thinking of helping this robot out, it's trying to hunt you down, for pete’s sake! But then again, no normal animatronic should be THIS focused on something, maybe it has a reason…like a haunting…no, that's stupid, I'm not going to sing a chicken robot happy birthday! But if I did, I could fly over the counter in a pinch…

Tails peeks again, seeing the animatronic still staring at the lit treat, and decides that he needs to lend a helping hand…even if he feels the urge to slap himself for doing so.

Tails: Ugh, this is STUPID, I'm SUPPOSED to be smarter than this! Oh well, here goes…Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…

Hearing the singing, Chica knows for a fact someone is in the kitchen with her…but she can't bring herself to hunt them down. The melody is too sweet. She feels a faint glimmer of calm, as if she's finally feeling the sense of family she lost about a decade ago. She feels as if she's human again, even if in fragments. Tails, mind racing as he sings, struggles to figure out a name to say. He has no clue what the official name for this bot is, let alone the names of the whole gang, so he tries to think up some random girl names, praying that the eyelashes on the art for this bot means she's a girl…and he gets a name that could work.

Tails: …Happy birthday, dear…Susie, happy birthday to you…

Hearing her real name, who she really is calling out to her, Chica gets a rush of memories that she had lost. Visions of a mother, father, and even sister, a dog with golden fur, her favorite type of pizza with all the toppings she could want…but it's all wrong. She can see her family, but not their faces, she can't remember her home at all, and all the food she remembers eating seems black. The only memories that are clear are the memory of her finding her dog's blood on the road, following the Yellow Rabbit to find her dog, finding her dog's corpse in a dark room with robotic parts…and dying, cold and in pain, drowning in her own blood with a knife in her chest, as that cruel, PURPLE man watched over her. She can't handle it. Why did she have to die? Why was she the first of MANY? Why did GOD leave HER and EVERYONE ELSE TO SING THESE DAMN SONGS FOREVER!? Completely losing her calm, Chica roars as she smashes the cupcake with her own robotic fist, Tails covering his ears in pain as the lights in the building momentarily start roaring to life.

Chica: SHUT UP!

After the scream and the smashed cupcake, all Chica can do is sob…before she realizes what she did. Tails uncovers his ears as the lights turn back off, noticing that his Electric was flickering during the freakout. However, what peaks his attention more is that anguished plea the bot made…it definitely wasn't supposed to say that, and while the voice did sound recorded by an actor, bleeding through it was the voice of a little girl. Peeking up from behind the counter entirely, Tails realizes what is going on.

Tails: These animatronics…they're possessed?

Chapter Text

At that moment, Chica turns her head towards Tails, finally finding the intruder. Tails notices this as her eyes turn from the normal white with pink irises to a deep black with white dots for pupils. Before Tails can react, Chica screeches and stomps closer and closer, his panic and terror leaving him unmoving.

Chica: YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE!

Tails: W-WAIT! Don't attack!

Chica realizes that she spoke again, stopping right in front of Tails’ face. She and the other animatronics have NEVER been able to speak, just cut pre-recorded voice lines short to say one phrase: It's Me.

Chica: How did you make me speak…fox…boy?

Tails: A-are you not supposed to be able to speak?

Chica: Other than what the company records for these suits, no.

Tails: Ok, well, your name is Susie, right? I can call you that, right?

Chica seems to stop for a second, her eyes returning to normal. If she was still human, she feels like she would be crying at this point.

Chica: Yes. You're the only person who's ever called me that and not Chica.

Tails: That's the name of your suit, right? How did you even end up like this, anyway?

Susie: That's not for you to find out, it's not like you could help anyway…and I should be asking why you broke in-being honest is a-always important!

Tails is caught off guard by this sudden change in tone, with Susie rapidly shaking her head to get back to normal.

Tails: What was…

Susie: That was one of the lines this body was given, I guess I just say things sometimes. Back to what we were saying.

Tails: …Ok, well, I was just looking for a few wires to recharge my Miles Electric with-

Susie: Were you going to use US for PARTS!?

Tails: Well, I thought about it, but I didn't know you were alive, so I can just use other parts in the building-

Susie: NO! We were planning something for this week that needs the pizzeria’s power, something that would let us feel something for once, and we can't have anyone messing it up! Besides, why should you be able to leave when we haven't for YEARS?!

Susie gets closer and closer to Tails, her mouth gaping more and more open. He sees that her rage is causing her to become more aggressive and unstable, and with his back to the wall, he knows he needs to think of something to avoid possible death…then he remembers the Chaos Emeralds. A way to help both of them out.

Tails: WAIT, I can help you!

Susie: We've heard that before, and look what we are now! Unless you have what trapped us here, you can't help us!

Tails: Look, I know it sounds crazy, but I can bring you all back from the dead!

Susie stops, pulling her head back just a little. Sure, it sounds ridiculous, but she is currently inhabiting the body of a chicken robot, so maybe…no, it can't be true, not after all this time.

Susie: No. You can't just bring people back to life, God…nature would never let it happen.

Tails: Well, I don't think our worlds are exactly the same. The realm I come from has seven gemstones known as the Chaos Emeralds. Just one emerald could power anything indefinitely, but all seven together can make miracles happen, and it sounds like you need a miracle.

Susie: …Realm…miracles…what are you?

Tails: I'm Tails the Fox, for whatever that's worth.

Susie: Well, we can't leave the pizzeria, we don't have the power reserves for it. That's what the plan was for.

Hearing this, Tails shows Susie the purple quill.

Tails: Fortunately for you, I was going to use this to recharge my Electric, just need a few wires for it. It could probably keep you charged for a while. Now…do you trust me?

Tails lifts his hand out, and Susie doesn't know how to respond. For all this time, she and the others have been trapped in these robotic shells, stuck in a bad dream of watching other kids come in and out with their families while they were forgotten, and then all of a sudden, a talking, breathing fox appears out of nowhere and promises that he can help, seemingly without a hint of ill intent. Why does this feel like something other than too good to be true? Is she just that desperate for release? However, the moment is cut short when they both hear a sliding heel towards the entrance. Looking over, they see a human man with very baggy eyes, wearing a security guard uniform and a mullet, peeking into the kitchen, looking horrified that he was found. With no other response, he just spouts out a pathetic greeting.

???: H-Hello?

Susie instantly recognizes who the man is and stomps towards him, ready to finally catch him as the man slips on the kitchen floor in a panic, falling on his rear. Before Susie can reach the man, Tails steps in between the two, trying to diffuse the situation.

Tails: Hey, hey, calm down!

Susie: Get out of my way, Tails. Ralph here has been causing too much trouble.

Ralph: What-how do you know my name? How are you speaking like that? I didn't even do anything!

Susie: Come on, you know what you did! You kept us in these locations for a decade, and now you're going to leave us!

Ralph: I was just doing my job, please!

Tails: Look, I get that you're angry, but he didn't even know you were alive, you can't blame him!

In his terror, Ralph recalls an event that did indeed happen a decade ago…and would explain the haunting.

Ralph: Oh. Oh no. If by “a decade ago” you mean 1983…that was when the Missing Children Incident happened, among other things.

Tails’ heart sinks when he hears the name of the incident.

Tails: You died…as a child?

Susie: No one looked for us. Ralph is the only one who never left.

Getting a moment to calm down, Ralph realizes that Tails is a talking fox.

Ralph: Wait, uh, are you a fox?

Tails: Yeah, I'm assuming I'm not a normal thing here, am I?

Ralph: Yeah, but after the animatronics trying to kill me, you're a nice change of pace-

Ralph gets cut off by Susie punching a fridge next to her, showing that she isn't exactly a fan of the night guard’s back talk. Ralph visibly has some sweat stream down his face.

Ralph: I'll shut up now, don't you worry…

Tails: Hey, Ralph, do you have any wires or cords here?

Ralph: Um, I mean, there are plenty of cords here, we have a whole ROOM for just electronic parts in fact, but why are you asking?

Tails then shows Ralph the quill.

Tails: Well, I know you've been working here for a while, but I need a cord or two to connect my Miles Electric to this quill and recharge it. It's the only way back to my home.

Ralph: I did want to finish my last week on the job, but since you're already here, I can't really say no to letting you get home.

Tails: …Also, since we know the animatronics are possessed by people, you wouldn't mind them coming with me…to help them?

Hearing the request, Ralph stands up and gets defensive.

Ralph: HEY, uh, some cords wouldn't be much lost, but Freddy Fazbear’s relies on these animatronics, I can't just-

Ralph then stops as he looks at Susie, staring at him in contempt. He is obviously terrified of the animatronics, but with what he knows now, he knows that…they're just kids. They don't deserve to be stuck here. Coppelia doesn't deserve it.

Ralph: …Heh, so much for finishing the job, huh? But if I just let you take the animatronics, Fazbear Entertainment would probably sue me and my daughter out of our house, especially since they can't make new ones. We have a "Mimic Program" that went missing, so...yeah.

Tails understands Ralph's plight, but also raises his eyebrow after hearing of a mimic program, which sounds like a learning AI. Would a random, low-budget restaurant really be able to afford an advanced AI like that, and how could they just LOSE it? He really doesn't want to see its carbon emissions, that's for sure. As he's thinking of a way for Ralph to avoid getting hurt, he sees a broken camera in the corner of the kitchen with a cracked lens.

Tails: Hey Ralph, do you record each night’s camera footage?

Ralph: Uhh, each night guard does, but usually we discard each night’s footage because nothing really happens, and the company thinks the behavior of the animatronics are just programmed actions.

Tails: Wha-why?

Ralph: The animatronics are programmed to roam at night so their servos don't lock up, and even them KILLING people by stuffing them into suits is considered an issue with trying to keep bare endoskeletons in suits. Confuse people for endos, and ta-da, DEATH. And no, we don't ever call law enforcement.

Tails gets a sense of how this “Fazbear Ent.” Is not only bankrupt, but MORALLY bankrupt. He's honestly surprised that Ralph is still alive after what seems like years. The sooner everyone leaves this building, the better.

Tails: Back to what I was saying, is the kitchen’s camera working at all?

Ralph: Um, not really. We haven't really been able to afford any repairs that aren't reserved for the animatronics. Doesn't have a camera feed, and none of them have any audio.

Hearing this, Tails snaps his fingers as he gets an idea.

Tails: Perfect! I broke in, right?

Ralph: Yeah, why do you-

Before Ralph can finish, Tails balls his hand as an arm cannon forms around it.

Tails: Well, if I hold you at gunpoint, It'll look like you didn't have a choice in stopping me. That way, they can't blame you for losing the animatronics, or at least can't pursue legal action. Keep the nightly recording, and you've got your proof!

Ralph somehow gets even more nervous.

Ralph: Umm…I'll try to act the part.

Susie: Are you sure the others will follow you?

Tails: Well, the other kids trust you, right?

Susie looks down with a look of concern.

Susie: Yes, but I'm not the leader…

Tails: Well, believing you is probably better than staying trapped here, so we might as well try.

With the arm cannon aimed at Ralph's head, Tails and Susie walk the night guard out of the kitchen and towards the main dining room. During this, Ralph gets the feeling that he's seen Tails somewhere before.

Ralph: Hey, uh, Tails?

Tails: What is it, Ralph?

Ralph: I don't know why, but I feel like I've seen you somewhere before, like in a game or something.

Tails: Well, this realm seems to have talking animals, at least in a way, so maybe you’ve seen someone like me in a book or something.

Before they can continue speaking, the trio are stopped in their tracks by the other animatronics standing ominously in the doorway, including a new, red fox animatronic that seems to be in pretty rough shape.

Tails: Well, that could answer your question, Ralph…do you think I would look nice as a pirate-

Susie: Everyone! I know this may seem odd, but-

Freddy: Wait, we can talk?

Susie: …Yes. Tails, the bear is Gabriel, the rabbit is Jeremy, and the fox is Fritz.

The animatronics are extremely confused on how they suddenly have the ability to speak, let alone how there's a talking fox they've never seen before.

Fritz: Hey, is that fox going to replace me?

Tails: Nope, I'm all skin and bone, although I am a good mechanic.

Gabriel: With that aside, I see you've caught Ralph. Took long enough.

Jeremy: Yeah, you even caught a new guy!

All the animatronics start doing ghostly chuckles in triumph, all except for Susie.

Jeremy: Weird you didn't kill them right away, but I guess you want to go for the stuff-in-suit route.

Tails and Ralph get a bit uneasy before Susie speaks up.

Susie: While I do want to kill Ralph, the fox here broke in-

Jeremy: -Is that why the window was broken-

Susie: -And he said that he had some gems that could bring us back.

The animatronics seem confused hearing the news, looking at each other and wondering if Susie is serious. Susie’s face, like the other animatronics, can't quite emote well, but her lower eyelids raise, hoping that the others will listen to her. Somewhat nervously, Tails steps up, his cannon still pointed at Ralph.

Tails: In my world, there are seven Chaos Emeralds that can practically do anything, including revive people. At first I just came here for some wires to get back home, but after hearing about you guys, I wanted to bring you with me so you can get another chance.

Ralph: Don't worry, I am not gonna get in your way. I know you're all just kids, and I just want to be with my daughter-

Tails and Ralph get immediately silenced when Gabriel walks up to Susie, microphone to his side. His movements, while definitely done with intent, are clunky and slow, as his body would suggest.

Gabriel: Susie, I know you want freedom, we all do, but some random thief guy can't help us. Our best bet is taking our killer down, just like Charlie promised. And even then…

Tails/Ralph: Charlie…who's that?

Jeremy: Besides, we've got Ralph, don't you want to get overcharged and finally get out of here? Hopping along in awesome town-oh, uh, how'd that happen?

Fritz: Then we can finally get his daughter, and we won't shanty alone any longer!

Tails and Ralph are caught completely off guard by the assassination plot of a child.

Tails/Ralph: WHAT!?

Gabriel: Yeah, why do you think the power went extra screwy this week? You've been our only “friend” Ralph, so we just wanted to know who your daughter was before you bailed out, right Susie?

Susie: …Well, we just wanted out, if getting brought back means not killing a random child, then is that so bad? Besides, Charlie didn't even want us to do that anyway. Are we really going to give up on her?

All the animatronics stare at Susie in disappointment, Gabriel especially. Susie's heart plummets as Gabriel plants his hand on her shoulder.

Gabriel: Look, I know Charlie wants the best for us, but at this point…we've hurt people.

Jeremy: Yeah, remember that random guard Fritz bit in ‘87?

Fritz looks down, distracted hearing Jeremy's comment. That was more than just a random guard...

Gabriel: Even if we get our happiest day, do you really think there will be a happy place for us? At this point, we're just gunning for our killer so he won't hurt us again. This is the best we've got…

Susie: You're not even listening-

Gabriel: SUSIE. We're NOT coming back, WE CAN'T! Some damn CRYSTALS WON'T HELP!

The room is filled with a sense of hopelessness, the animatronics utterly convinced they can't be saved. Gabriel then looks over at Tails and Ralph, looking to just get the moment over with.

Ralph: Tails…I think they're looking at us…

Gabriel: Fritz…kill ‘em.

In a flash, Fritz blitzes past the animatronics, including Susie, straight towards Tails and Ralph with a loud screech. Thinking quickly, Tails swings his arm to summon a boxing glove, decking Fritz and launching him into the other bots, unfortunately including Susie. In a panic, he turns towards Ralph.

Tails: Ralph, HIDE!

Ralph: Stay in the office, got it.

Rushing to the office, Ralph locks himself inside, just to notice that Tails went through to the west hall.

Ralph: Tails, what are you doing!?

Tails: I'm NOT leaving those kids to rot! If that means beating the sense into them…or dying in the process…then all's well that ends well!

Sighing, Ralph watches as Tails rushes off, using the cameras to watch the battle about to unfold.

Ralph: Generator, don't fail me now.

Chapter Text

Running into the main dining hall past the door to the arcade, Tails sees Gabriel, Jeremy, and Fritz standing down on the other side of the room.

Gabriel: End of the line, fox-

Susie then rushes in and grabs Gabriel by the arm, pleading to him.

Susie: Just trust me, he wants to help us!

Gabriel: Susie, if he leaves, he'll tell everyone about us, we'll be minced metal! Boys, get him!

In a flash, Fritz rushes straight at Tails through the tables, sweeping at him with his hook. Tails dodges out of the way, countering with extended glove blows for each missed swing, actually surprised at how well he's doing against the bot. Uppercuts and body blows do decent damage, but hitting the exposed limbs really slows down the pirate. Meanwhile, Jeremy walks away to the stage to grab his guitar, and Susie then punches Gabriel in frustration.

Gabriel: Argh, what the hell Susie? Are you crazy?

Susie: Just listen to me, you dense idiot!

Susie and Gabriel start pummeling each other and screaming, neither really taking much damage, while Tails punches Fritz in his mechanical shin, bringing the bot to his knee.

Tails: You know, you don't really look so good.

Fritz: Oh c'mon scallywag, you really think we can still feel pain after all this time!?

At that moment, Jeremy grabs his guitar and silently moves towards Tails, as if teleporting. As Tails stares at the downed Fritz, he hears a step and turns to see Jeremy with his guitar raised high. Tails barely ducks and counter-punches, but gets slashed in the back by Fritz’s hook. He turns and smacks away Fritz with his tails before barely smacking away Jeremy's guitar, and then he nearly gets bitten by Fritz, barely holding away his jaws. He looks up and sees Jeremy about to slam him with his guitar, so he quickly flies away from Fritz’s maw…who ends up accidentally getting smacked by the guitar.

Fritz: Watch where yer swingin’ that thing!

Jeremy: Look man, I'm trying-

Before he can finish, Jeremy suffers multiple blows from a curled up Tails ramming into him multiple times from above. Ending the combo, Fritz grabs Tails by the leg.

Fritz: I finally got ye, ya little-pipsqueak trying ta’ steal me booty-

In order to save himself, Tails uses his arm cannon to flash Fritz with light, causing the bot to scream in pain as he covers his one eye.

Fritz: AGH, DAMMIT ALL!

At that moment, Jeremy slams Tails into the ground with a bounce, but Tails kicks the bot while he is in midair, at which point the two keep on swinging at each other. In the spur of the moment, Tails blasts the guitar to bits, enraging Jeremy into trying to plunge his fist into the fox. Tails barely dodges the mechanical punch, which breaks through the very floor, and charges a spin dash that barrels straight through Jeremy's chest, mechanical parts spewing out. A quick scream, and Jeremy is downed. Looking at the scene, Ralph is honestly astonished.

Ralph: How the heck is this guy just dismantling the animatronics like that?

At that moment, Gabriel winds up a haymaker that ends up removing Susie’s head. Turning to see the attack, Tails sees Gabriel push a decommissioned Susie away, and then push away Jeremy as he rushes towards Tails with a bellowing scream. Tails jumps out of the way of a bite, only to get hit across the room onto a table by a follow-up mic hit. Getting up, Tails barely flies off the table before Gabriel slams the thing to pieces. Gabriel then ominously stands straight, slowly turning his head upwards towards Tails, eyes completely black and white.

Tails: I don't think flying gives much of an advantage here, what with the ceiling. Look, Gabriel, I get that you're upset. I was alone for years, albeit in a different way, so I get the pain, but that doesn't mean you should try to make others suffer like you!

Gabriel: …Heh, I would be pretty shocked that you started flying…if I wasn't a dead boy walking.

Gabriel then screams into his mic, creating a sound so loud and horrid that Tails can barely keep himself airborne. Gabriel then starts attacking Tails, who counters with tail swipes and punches. Both of them take quite a few hits, although Tails’ attacks are not nearly as damaging as Gabriel’s bites.

Gabriel: I know you won't help us! You’re just like him, you're ALL just like HIM! Moles trying to steal my pizza!

Tails tries hitting Gabriel with his boxing glove, but the bear just bites down on it and rips it off the nano-arm, spitting it out immediately. Tails then summons his arm cannon and tries to blast Gabriel, but before he can react, the cannon gets bitten and Tails gets flung over to the stage, Gabriel running close behind. As Tails reaches the stage, he gets hammer fisted into it by Gabriel, who then backhands him into the bathroom hall nearby. As Tails gets up, he sees a wall that seems oddly painted over, as if fake, and then backs away from the wall as Gabriel rushes in and stops, his gears audibly whirring. Slowly turning to face Tails, Gabriel slowly starts walking towards the fox, arms outstretched and mouth agape, before Tails tail whips him into the girl's bathroom.

Tails: Gabriel, I don't want to fight!

Gabriel: Stop calling me that! You just think of me as Freddy Fazbear, admit it!

Thinking on his feet, Tails rolls up into a spin dash and tries ramming into Gabriel, but the bear ends up catching him in his hands and throws him into one of the stalls. As Tails tries to get up, Gabriel spears him through the wall and into a hidden room. Blood coming out of his mouth, an injured Tails sees Gabriel standing above him. Around the room are a whole bunch of abandoned old tech and props, including broken arcade machines…and some other things.

Gabriel: Now…what suit would fit you best?

Tails: …Hey, is that a yellow version of Jeremy's suit?

Gabriel turns to where Tails is looking, seeing a suit similar to Bonnie, but completely yellow with a purple bowtie, a different head shape, and not in the best shape. Gabriel stops dead in his tracks, horrified by the suit. He knows that suit, and even worse, he knows what the wearer did to him. Only now does Gabriel realize that he's in a room his suit didn't let him see...the last place where he was alive.

Gabriel: Huh, Charlie was right about this room after all…

Trying desperately to save himself, Tails lights his glove lighter and holds it to Gabriel’s left foot, lighting it ablaze. Gabriel actually feels it and starts screeching in pain, giving Tails the opportunity to run to a wall that is way thinner than the others, obviously the fake wall. Reaching the wall and easily busting through it, Tails turns when he hears loud banging, finding Gabriel banging his own foot against the wall to put out the fire, and by the time the flame is finally out, nearly the bear’s entire left leg is completely smashed in and covered in smoldering ashes and cinders.

Gabriel: …That…that ACTUALLY HURT!

Tails: I-I'm sorry Gabriel, I didn't know what to do-

Instead of letting the fox finish, Gabriel just roars with malice and tries to drag himself towards Tails with labored breaths, clearly not designed to handle injuries like what he's suffered. Scared by Gabriel’s clear hatred and pretty damaged himself, Tails runs out into the dining room, only to find Fritz lunging towards him, preparing a hook strike. Thinking on his feet, Tails summons his arm cannon and blasts Fritz point blank, launching the bot back onto the stage. As Tails catches his breath, Ralph watches on from the cameras, thankful yet worried about Tails.

Ralph: Oh thank god he wasn't killed in the backroom, but how the hell did he…was he pummeled through the WALL?!

Suddenly, Tails hears some electrical whirring and crackling as Fritz slowly gets up, his head violently twitching before he roars, overflowing with energy as his eyes turn black with yellow, crackling pupils.

Fritz: I GOT YE NOW, YA PIPSQUEAK!

Tails: Oh crap, I accidentally overcharged him! …Uh, you're welcome?

In a flash, Fritz dashes up to Tails, some leftover electricity trailing behind him, giving Tails barely enough time to block with his arm cannon.

Tails: Oh no, oh no, oh no!

Ralph: Oh boy, they aren't supposed to do that! …Well, I guess I'm glad I'm safe here, I mean, I couldn't handle that, I’d probably end up…

Ralph stops speaking, realizing exactly how dangerous things are getting for Tails. The boy needs help…and he's the only one who can give it, even if he's scared to.

Ralph: …Aw, damnit…

In a hurry, Ralph opens the west hall door and runs to the dining room, grabbing a broom from the closet along the way, and eventually arrives at the battle. Tails is barely hitting away Fritz’s hook strikes with his wrench, flying over the tables that Fritz barrels through, although Fritz blitzing through everything damages his suit a bit, self preservation be damned. Seeing the fight up close feels like a fever dream for Ralph, but he steels himself and takes a deep breath.

Ralph: Ok Ralph, you can do this, if he can, so can-

Before Ralph can even take a step, in the middle of the room, Jeremy rises from the pile of broken tables, albeit struggling to move due to his damage.

Ralph: WHAT, HOW!? I thought Tails literally RAN THROUGH YOU!

Turning his attention to the night guard, Jeremy slowly stomps towards Ralph, his left arm over the hole in his chest.

Jeremy: …O-Oh, thERe yOu are, YOU DAMN-

Jeremy raises his arm and slams it forward, Ralph barely avoiding it and counter-attacking with his broom. The whack to the face actually knocks Jeremy back a fair distance, causing Ralph to gasp in amazement at himself. As Jeremy struggles to attack, Ralph counters with what he thinks are decisive blows, when really they're just chaotic flailing, which actually does decent damage.

Ralph: HA! I'm actually doing this! Wait till Coppelia hears about-

Suddenly, an enraged Jeremy swipes the broom head clean off, silencing Ralph and putting him in a cold sweat.

Ralph: …C-clever boy…

His eyes turning black and white, Jeremy starts pushing the offense onto Ralph, who can barely defend himself with his broomstick. Meanwhile, Tails is dashing away from a volatile Fritz throughout the dining room, getting as many hits in as he can while avoiding the bot’s erratic hook attacks and bites. Eventually Tails kicks Fritz away into some of the last remaining tables, giving himself a chance to breathe, but turns to see that Gabriel has snuck up behind him. However, as Gabriel roars and is about to attack, he gets decked in the face by Susie, which causes his jaw to break and turn to the side of his head. Susie, who's holding her own head under her arm, places her head on a table next to her, while Gabriel shifts and cracks his jaw back into place.

Gabriel: …Y'know Susie, we're supposed to be a band, a team…do you really want to risk us all, just to play savior?

Susie, in response, just stares on with a disappointed glare. She can't stop now. With no words spoken or needed, Gabriel and Susie run up to each other and start wailing on each other, Tails seeing the fight, as well as the fight between Ralph and Jeremy, unfold.

Tails: Why is Ralph not in the office? He knows how dangerous this is!

While he tries to think of something to stop the violence, he sees Fritz get up, not in the best mood…or in the best physical state. His suit has a bunch of tears on it, even more than it already had, his endoskeleton arms are exposed like his legs, and his jaw keeps bobbing up and down, revealing his small, inner endo teeth.

Fritz: Yarr, how about…ye…StaND stILl…

Fritz, completely overwhelmed by his excessive charge, starts violently shaking, stopping him dead in his tracks while Tails looks on, extremely concerned.

Tails: He can't be ok, I NEED to end this in one hit!

Looking around the room and seeing that all the animatronics are battling, Tails looks at the ceiling and hatches a plan, although he takes a deep sigh because he isn't exactly thrilled about the plan. Turning to Susie’s head, he whispers to her what to do.

Tails: Susie, I think I have a way to stop the fighting, but you need to make sure Gabriel and Jeremy are both in the center of the room. Ok?

Fritz then becomes able to move again and tries to run straight towards Tails, but Tails then starts flying and spears Fritz straight through the ceiling, causing the two to end up in the night sky above the pizzeria. A flailing Fritz tries to claw at Tails, but fails as the fox is holding him by the legs.

Fritz: Let me down RIGHT NOW, SHORTY!

Tails: I don't think you want that, buddy!

Meanwhile, back down in the pizzeria, Ralph is barely ducking under Jeremy's blows until Jeremy's body damage forces him to slow down in the closest thing he can do to getting a breath. In that moment, Ralph gets a splitting headache as he sees visions of Susie in his mind, calling out to him. Confused and disturbed, Ralph eventually hears a request from the spirit.

Ralph: ARGH! What do they want now?-

Susie: BRING HIM TO THE CENTER.

Looking into the center, Ralph sees a small pile of broken tables, and takes a guess that is the “center” Susie is referring to. At that moment, Jeremy gets up, and after a brief pause, he lunges towards Ralph, who ducks under the punch and, in the heat of the moment, stabs straight through Jeremy's eye in retaliation. Jeremy screams, and Ralph realizes that his broomstick is actually stuck in Jeremy's head as the two start wrestling the broomstick from each other. At the same time, Gabriel and Susie are exchanging blows in the east side of the room until they eventually get in a grab lock. Enraged, Gabriel stares straight at Susie's head.

Gabriel: Susie, you better go kill Ralph RIGHT NOW, OR ELSE-

Before Gabriel could finish his sentence, Susie spears him, her hand keeping his mouth closed, into the center pile. At the same time, Ralph manages to wrestle Jeremy to the pile, pinning him with the broomstick. Up above, Fritz’s struggling nearly causes Tails to drop him, getting one of Fritz’s legs free. Still overcharged, Fritz starts kicking Tails in the face like a jackhammer, covering the fox’s face in blood. Focusing his strength, Tails starts twirling in the air, spinning the bot in his hands like a ragdoll, before finally throwing him down to the pizzeria with a loud scream. The moment before, Ralph looks up and realizes what is coming up, so he warns Susie.

Ralph: HIT THE DIRT!

Ralph lets go of the broomstick and Susie gets off of Gabriel as they both dash away, and before the center animatronics can get up, Fritz smashes into them from above at high speed, nearly toppling the entire ceiling. In the rubble, the animatronics are completely tattered in a crater; Gabriel has his limbs bent backwards and his eyes popped out, Jeremy is missing both his arm and face, and Fritz has lost his legs and has a broken jaw. The three lay in the rubble, unable to move.

Chapter Text

Flying back into the ruined pizzeria, a damaged Tails looks onto the broken animatronics as they struggle to get up. Ralph and Susie also look on next to him.

Fritz: Y-yE wOont Ge-Et awaY with ThiS, you F-F-Freak!

Tails cringes a bit, hearing himself be called a “freak”, but he tries to ignore that.

Tails: Guys, I do want to help, but you just tried to kill me! I had to stop you somehow-

As he is talking, Tails looks towards Susie and jumps back in surprise as he sees her detached head.

Tails: Yikes, are you alright?

Susie just kinda shifts left and right, trying to simulate a “no”. Tails and Ralph then look around the room, noticing that the cameras are all either destroyed or inactive.

Ralph: Look at that, huh, guess I don't need to play prisoner.

Tails: Well, that means I have some time to kill.

Tails then uses nanotech to create a healing bot above him, repairing all the injuries he took, before then summoning a wrench out of thin air. Susie opens her eyes wide in surprise, realizing he's planning to fix her up. Gabriel just bitterly chuckles, with some garbled glitches mixed in.

Gabriel: S-SorrY, “friENd”, buT I don't think YoU HAve time FOr T-That. ThE NighT, IT Ends IN a FEw H-Hours. You can't LEarn to F-FiX us in A day-

Before Gabriel can finish speaking, Tails gets to work. He fixes up Susie's damaged suit, tightens up any loose bolts in her endoskeleton, and reattaches her head perfectly. He even uses a homemade lemon juice mix to remove any rust in her, which ends up being…a surprising amount. After a few minutes, she's in nearly mint condition, fluidly moving her joints in amazement.

Tails: Ta-da, good as new!

Susie: I-I don't know what to say. Not even Fazbear technicians could do this well after weeks, and you made me feel like new in under half an hour.

Tails: Well, after learning to fix up Gemerl, tech like this is a cakewalk. Why didn't I fix Omega this easily, he was WAY simpler than Gemerl!

Jeremy: Well, A-aInt thaT just-SomeThing WE should Te-TELl youR PareNTs about!

Tails: How about we don't do that.

In just half an hour, all the other animatronics get the same fix-up job that Susie got. Standing up, the animatronics marvel at their refurbished bodies.

Tails: All fixed up. Now, do you STILL think I mean you harm?

Gabriel: …Why did you help us?

Tails: Just a trait I got from Sonic, I guess. You should probably thank him, not me-

Hearing the name Sonic, Ralph suddenly realizes who Tails is and is nearly filled to the brim with hype.

Ralph: WAIT, I know you!

Tails: …You do?

Ralph: Yeah, you’re Sonic's sidekick in that game on the Genesis, Sonic The Hedgehog 2! I got that game for Coppelia a bit ago, and she loved it!.. although I don't know why you're alive somehow.

Tails: …Huh. So my realm is a video game series to yours? I'll…keep that in mind.

Gabriel: Well, Tails, just because you fixed our suits, that doesn't mean we are friends. Besides, we don't have enough energy to stay far from here for long-

As he steps menacingly towards Tails, he glitches out from low power and is forced to take a knee. In response, Tails pulls out the purple quill, a somewhat confident look on his face.

Tails: Don't you worry, I'm prepared with this bad boy. Contains a LOT of energy, that way we can-

???: DO WHAT?!

Upon hearing the booming voice, Tails, Ralph, and the bots immediately turn their attention to the prize counter between the two halls. There, they see what looks to be another Freddy Fazbear suit slumped over, except this one is bright yellow and has no visible eyes, its mouth agape. The bots know exactly who this is, but Tails and Ralph have no clue.

Tails: …Uh, hello there. Who might you be?..Ralph, do you know anything about this?

Ralph: I have no clue! This kind of looks like the mascot from the old location, Fredbear’s Family Diner, or something like that, but even then, I think he had a purple hat and bowtie-

Gabriel: CASSIDY, so glad you could be here! I swear, your chances of showing up are, like, one in a thousand-

Jeremy: Hey Cass, you like the new voice? Don't know how it showed up, but we'll take it.

Clearly panicking, Gabriel chastises Jeremy in his face.

Gabriel: Jeremy, you are NOT the speaker, I AM-

Cassidy: Well, I could've had worse. Now…you wanted to leave to kill some tween, am I correct?

Gabriel, horrified that Cassidy knows of his plan with the other animatronics, tries to think of a rebuttal, but just ends up making garbled noises. At that moment, Tails looks down at his Miles Electric, noticing that the screen is constantly glitching out, showing Cassidy's face with the constant phrase of “It's Me”. At that moment, Cassidy warps right behind Tails, catching him off guard.

Cassidy: YOU! You shouldn't be here!

Tails: B-but, I'm trying to help you! Didn't you hear me at all?

Susie: Tails, out of all of us, Cassidy hates our killer the most. Whenever she shows up, I hear her say…things-

Cassidy: DON'T YOU WANT TO KILL HIM TOO!?

Susie, intimidated by Cassidy's pure rage, just stays quiet. Cassidy then slowly gets up, her jaw and arms hanging limp as she floats just high enough off the ground to stare down at Tails with contempt.

Cassidy: Now, how about you leave forever, or else I'll-

???: Cassidy, calm down.

Everyone hears a calm, childish voice from a vent above the prize counter. Ralph and Tails immediately notice that the animatronics have all turned their attention to the voice, not saying a word. Two slender, black hands slowly peek out of the vent and start unscrewing it, and once the vent pops off, out slithers a slender, doll-looking bot, with a white mask with purple tear designs. Tails can barely tell they even are an animatronic at all as they turn their attention towards him and Ralph.

Fritz: C-Charlie…

Ralph: Y-you’re the puppet from that old ‘87 location! I always knew you were thinking…is it a bad time to bring that up?

Charlie: I remember you, Ralph, I'm glad you avoided getting hurt. You though, Tails…

Charlie floats down to Tails’ level, looking at him face to face, which makes him nearly take a step back. At the same time, a damaged camera momentarily turns on, managing to record a few seconds of the encounter, before permanently shutting down.

Charlie: …What are you gaining from this?

Tails: Come again?

Charlie: You seem to be about as lost as we are. Some of us attacked you, and you still try to save us.

Gabriel: …How much of this night were you here listening?

Charlie: We arrived right after the building collapsed. We heard enough. You…what could you possibly hope to gain?

Tails: I-I just want to help, what could you not get about that? I get why you don't trust me, but please-

Cassidy: We don't want your help, we need to take REVENGE!

Charlie: Cassidy's right. There's a killer that hasn't been punished yet. Taking him out is the only thing that can let us rest.

Tails: Well, why rest when you can come BACK? The Chaos Emeralds in my realm can be used to bring miracles, and from what I know, reviving dead kids probably counts.

Charlie stops and considers the idea. At that moment, Cassidy hears some voices in her head from a certain boy.

Cassidy: No, Evan, we can't use some nice jewels to destroy him, unfortunately-

Tails: Who's Evan?

Susie: That's the other kid possessing that suit. Since Cassidy ended up in control, only she can hear him.

Tails: Well, you all got the ability to talk now, so maybe you can switch out with him, Cassidy.

Cassidy looks at him dead on, but with an affirming nod from Charlie, Cassidy reluctantly stops and focuses, before rapidly twitching and shaking. When the body is done shaking, the white pupils turn a light blue, and a boy’s voice comes through.

Evan: I'm…I'm here. With all of you…

Susie: You…you're actually here! All this time, I've just heard about you from Cass…I didn't expect you to be that monotone and…British?

Seeing how many dead kids there are currently, Ralph is filled with dread as he thinks about why they are all here.

Ralph: …How many kids have died here?

Charlie: You don't want to know.

Tails: Well, if there isn't anyone else, I can charge you all up, and then we can try opening up a portal with the charged Miles Electric-

Evan: I don't think you can. Cassidy said we're bound to this place.

Tails: What, by the power? Well, I have the quill-

Charlie: No, he means his body. What you're looking at isn't actually the Fredbear suit they are stuck in, but just a projection of it. They can't just project anywhere in the realm that isn't related to Freddy's, let alone outside of it.

Ralph: Well, where is your real body, then?

Evan: …We don't know.

Tails: YOU DON'T KNOW!?

Gabriel: Whether you like it or not, we're not leaving those two alone!

Fritz: Aye, we've been a crew far too long to leave some for the sharks.

Tails: B-but, I can't just leave you here…

Ralph, hearing all this, thinks about all these kids must have gone through, and then to his own daughter, Coppelia. No kid deserves to be alone.

Ralph: I…I can have them stay at my place.

Charlie: Your home?

Ralph: Yeah, if Coppelia is fine with it, they can stay at my place until their body is found. I do have a bit of history with this place after all, heh.

Evan: I know you don't want to, but-

Cassidy: ABSOLUTELY NOT!

The Golden Freddy apparition starts wildly shaking, causing Cassidy to take control again.

Cassidy: WHY WOULD WE EVER TRUST A FAZZIE LIKE YOU!?

Charlie: Yeah, this is too risky, we can't be separated.

Tails thinks for a moment, and then has an idea.

Tails: I think I have a way to remedy that.

Tails runs to the Parts & Service room and grabs a spare cable, hooking it up with his Miles Electric and the quill to finally charge it up to full power. He then inputs a command, causing a small device with a screen, similar to the Miles Electric, to be created from nanotech.

Tails: This remote can let us communicate from different realms. My friend Blaze lives in the Sol Dimension separate from my realm, so I know for a fact this baby can work. Just plug it in every now and then.

Tails hands the device to Ralph.

Cassidy: Still, why should we trust him?

Ralph: Well, you don't really have to stay with me, since you can go anywhere Fazbear related, but I just wanted you to have some company.

Susie: C'mon, we don't have any idea where our killer is, he can't hurt you-

Ralph: -Oh yeah, definitely not-

Susie: -what’s the point in avoiding help?

Evan: Please…I just want to talk to someone…

Cassidy ponders for a bit, and decides to bite her tongue for the sake of the others.

Cassidy: …You know you can't tell anyone, right?

Ralph: Well, I am a man of my word, heh.

Jeremy: Well, guess we got no reason to stay here. Let's get charged!

Using the quill, Tails charges all the (physical) animatronics through their feet pads. The bots suddenly move much more fluidly than normal, although definitely still janky.

Fritz: Well lads, looking back, I have no clue why I was turning down his offer. This feels amazing!

Gabriel: I hate to admit it, but he's right.

Tails: Don't worry about it. Sorry I couldn't give you a boost Charlie, what with the lack of pads on you.

Charlie: I don't need it. After all, I'm not broken like the others, so I don't need power. That's why I'm their guide.

Tails slightly hides a concerned look. He doesn't exactly feel good hearing kids being called “broken”. Trying to ignore it, Tails turns to the bots.

Tails: Ok everyone, are you good to go-

Tails then hears a crunch under his foot. Looking down, he lifts his foot to see a cockroach, which gets up like nothing happened, as well as a few other roaches next to it. He lurches back in disgust, only to see Susie…talking to the roaches.

Susie: Hey little guys, I know we've been through a lot, but it's time that I leave. I know our home was busted up, but you're roaches, you've survived worse, so…don't forget about me, please?

While Tails is weirded out, he notices that Susie almost sounds on the verge of tears.

Tails: Are you ok?

Susie: …I'm fine. Can we go now?

Tails: …Sure. Just stand with me in the crater.

After Gabriel, Jeremy, and Susie pick up a microphone, guitar, and Mr. Cupcake respectively, Tails, Susie, Gabriel, Jeremy, Fritz, and Charlie stand in the crater in the center of the pizzeria. As Evan, Cassidy, and Ralph look on, Ralph pulls out a Freddy's token and shows it to Cassidy.

Ralph: Hey, uh, you need something Freddy-related to show up? Well, maybe this can be your anchor, even without Fo-Fritz, hah!

Evan: Cassidy, can I see the token?

Cassidy: …Sure.

After some twitching, Evan gains back control and looks at the token, as well as Ralph.

Evan: …Thank you. For just meeting you…you seem nice.

Ralph: Well, I try to be!

Tails then looks out a broken wall to see the shadow rabbit again in the distance, staring at him. At the same time, Susie sees a shadowy version of Freddy outside the building. The creature isn't completely black, but rather a dark purple with blackened joints and clothing, with glowing white eyes and teeth being the only thing clearly visible. Thinking they might just be seeing things, neither Tails or Susie tell the others.

Tails: So, uh, are ya ready to go, Gabriel?

Gabriel: Sure, but we've been over this, I'm NOT Gabriel anymore, I'm Freddy.

Tails: The more you deny it, the more I'm gonna say it.

Seeing Tails’ smug grin, Gabriel really wants to punch the fox, but a hand on his shoulder from Charlie makes him bite his tongue. Tails then presses a button on his Miles Electric, and the quill stored in the device emits bright purple static and light that surrounds the six.

Tails: See you guys later!

Ralph: Make sure to phone home!

With a bright flash of light, the group vanishes in a purple flash, leaving Ralph and the Golden Freddy collective in the wreckage.

Evan: So…what do we do now?

Ralph: Well, according to my watch, it's only 1:00 am…somehow, and there isn't really anything to guard anymore, so, uh…how about we go to my house? Coppelia should be asleep by now, you'll love her!

Evan: Does that mean we can ride in a car?

Ralph: If you don't wanna teleport, sure!

Evan: Yay…

Cassidy: I hate this already.

While the group walks out to Ralph's car, the woman that ran into Tails earlier watches on from the woods, wondering what mess Ralph got himself into.

Chapter Text

Returning home, Pan’s group parks the car outside the house. While Gohan and Videl get out, Pan gets out and stretches, and Betty gets out with Kumu…and hears her stomach rumbling.

Pan: Ah, we're home! You wanna see the house, Betty?

Betty: Yeah, I would kinda like-

Before Betty can finish, Pan grabs her hand and drags her and Kumu into the house. The house is pretty quaint with quite a few blues, no second stories or anything, just a nice countryside home, the complete inverse of Satan’s mansion.

Pan: So, this is the home room TV, you can sleep on the couch in front of it, THIS is one of the potted plants that we have lying around, THIS is the kitchen, you obviously know what happens there-

While Pan is speaking, Betty is taking in the info, but her sights are mostly aimed towards the TV. She's never seen anything like it before, and she suspects she hasn't in her former life either. She flips a knob, and it suddenly switches on to a news channel. Presses a button, and it switches to an animated movie with an ungodly amount of dalmatians (probably, like, 101 of them). She is in utter awe at the sight, and while it doesn't want to admit it, Kumu is as well.

Betty: WOAH, do you see this, Kumu? It's like a book, but bright and moving!

Gohan and Videl then enter the house, seeing Pan running around and Betty messing with the TV.

Videl: …I don't know, Gohan.

Gohan: What, what's the matter?

Videl: Isn't it a bit weird that we have some new kid just running about our house, especially with that weird blob creature?

At that moment, Kumu spots an old ball that looks like a round lion head. Looking for something to kill, it starts gnawing on the ball, only for it to make a squeaky noise, which gets Betty and Kumu’s attention.

Betty: …I don't know what that is…but it sounds really nice. Keep chewing it!

Kumu chews the ball more to make more squeaks, and both it and Betty start giggling in satisfaction, while Gohan and Videl look on in confusion.

Gohan: …I think we'll be fine.

Videl: Wow, she's about as autistic as Pan.

Gohan: Hah, you're kinda right about that!

Pan: -And THESE are our wall of family pictures, even some of grandpa Goku! Whew, you caught all that?

Betty: OH, uh yeah, this is a pretty nice place…although, I am kinda hungry.

Videl: OH, uh, don't worry about that, I can make dinner-

Gohan: Honey, just relax for a bit, I can handle the food.

Hearing this, Pan starts hopping with her hand raised.

Gohan: Yeah, Pan?

Pan: Can I make the food? I've gotten pretty good at cooking. I can make MEAN macaroni!

Gohan: Sure, I'm down for that!

Videl: …Yeah, so would I.

Squealing a bit, Pan dashes over to the kitchen, with Gohan and Videl walking to the couch.

Videl: Hey, I know you like the TV, but momma's got a game she wants to rewatch, so can we have a turn?

Betty: Sure, I can move so you can have the switches-

At that moment, Gohan sits down and switches to a recording of a battle ball game using a remote.

Gohan: Nah, I think we'll be fine.

Betty: …AMAZING.

As Videl sits down to watch, Betty walks over to the picture wall with Kumu, ball still in mouth. They see a picture with a baby Pan in the arms of Gohan and Videl, and besides them are a spiky haired man in an orange gi, which they assume to be Goku, a woman in a yellow and blue dress, and a small boy that looks like a small Goku. There is also a picture of Goku holding a young Gohan in his arm on a beach. Gohan is wearing a red hat with a strange, starry orange ball on top, and…has a monkey tail? Betty is confused, while Kumu just finds it weird. In the kitchen, Pan is making macaroni and cheese, with some burger and spices added in, while wearing an apron that is way too big for her, nearly reaching her ankles. Betty then walks into the kitchen, trying to catch a glimpse of the food.

Betty: Hey, how's the food?

Pan: Great! I added some extra spices in, y'know, to enrich the flavor.

Betty: Ok, uh, then what is the food, y'know? Never really heard of it.

Pan: Oh, it's pretty simple really, just some boiled pasta mixed with some cheese dust. I added some meat, but that isn't needed.

Videl: YEAH, GET EM EAST CITY WESTMANS!

Betty: AH JEEZ, why is your mom screaming!?

Pan: She gets kinda involved with sports, I don't get it either.

Kumu then sniffs the food and thinks it's alright, but then notices a tray full of spices on the center counter and picks up some spicy pepper, bringing the shaker to Pan.

Pan: Uh, sorry, I'm not the biggest fan of spiciness.

Kumu deflates a bit by being rejected.

Betty: Well, we can put some on our bowl when it's served.

Pan: Great Idea!

Kumu perks up again at the idea. Soon, the meal gets ready and is served as everyone sits down at a table next to the kitchen.

Pan: Dinner is served!

Everyone takes a bite (Betty after she drops some pepper into the bowl) and immediately enjoys the meal.

Betty: This-this is AWESOME! Do you feed this to other people, or-

Betty is cut off by Pan enthusiastically eating her bowl like a rabid dog, before answering mid-chew.

Pan: I jwust eit a lowt.

Videl: PAN! I know you like your food, but maybe try showing some manners for our-

Before anyone knows it, Betty also starts eating like an animal, with Kumu also taking some bites.

Gohan: Well, guess I don't have to worry about etiquette.

Videl: Huh, guess I'm the only one who eats normally.

Videl chuckles a bit as everyone else wildly eats their meals. Betty ends up finishing first, since she shares a stomach and bowl with Kumu.

Betty: I'll be frank, that was probably the best thing I've ever-

Kumu then reminds her to ask about the picture.

Betty: OH, hey, uh, so you know all those pictures, like the one with a little Gohan with the…tail?

Gohan: Oh ye, wat abao-

Suddenly, everyone realizes what she's talking about, and Videl facepalms.

Videl: DAMNIT, I forgot to put that photo away before we left!

Gohan swallows the food in his mouth and tries to comfort Videl.

Gohan: Hey hey hey, it's alright, she was probably gonna learn about it at some point, so let's just rip the bandaid off here, alright?

Pan: Oh, can I tell her about the Saiyans?

Gohan: Sure, knock yourself out.

Betty: What are Saiyans-

Pan hops out of her chair and stands firm. She starts explaining what the Saiyans are, using hand motions the whole time.

Pan: WELL, I'm glad you asked! Saiyans are a race of aliens with monkey tails, although the tails are a recessive gene, so I unfortunately didn't get one. My dad is actually a half-Saiyan, while I'm a quarter-Saiyan, and if dad still had a tail, looking at a full moon would turn him into a GREAT APE KAIJU! While Vegeta, another Saiyan here on Earth, is the prince of all Saiyans, my grandpa Goku was the one who proved that Saiyans could be a force for good across the-

Betty: Um, question, why did Goku have to prove that?

Pan: Oh…Well-

Pan then goes on to explain how the Saiyans used to conquer planets, that they had a rigid class system, and some of the general barbarity they were known for throughout the realm. Needless to say, Betty was EXTREMELY put off, although Kumu was more conflicted for a reason it couldn't understand.

Betty: WHAT!? You…you aren't bad, right? You can't be…

Pan: Look, I know that sounds bad, and it was, but my family isn't like that, and the Saiyans that were are either completely wiped out due to a space tyrant, or reformed like Vegeta.

Betty: Ok, but…that is a LOT to take in…

Videl: Trust me, I was freaked out when I learned of that, too.

Gohan: Yeah, I'm honestly nothing like my dad or Vegeta, and the only thing my daughter inherited was their love of fighting.

Pan: Yeah! Whenever I do some training, it honestly feels euphoric, like I'm a tornado free from control, it's AMAZING!

Kumu laughs a bit, hyped hearing of battle like this.

Pan: See, Kumu gets it. When I get Super Saiyan, it'll be even-wait, you don't even know what Super Saiyan is! Dad, show her!

Gohan: Eh, should I really do it inside the house?

Videl: …Well…

Videl wants to encourage Gohan, but she isn't really confident in herself. Pan then shows her eyes like a sad puppy, which gets her parents to comply.

Gohan: Ah, sure, it'll be fine.

Pan: Yay!

Gohan steps out from the table and to the front room, and the others watch as he stands there, concentrates, and…

Videl: Betty, you might wanna hold onto the table for this.

Betty: Why?

Gohan: HAH!

With a roar, Gohan’s aura explodes as he's covered in golden light, creating a gust that nearly knocks Betty out of her chair. Betty, caught extremely off guard, holds onto the table as her hair and eyes turn fully pink and Kumu tries to keep itself steady for dear life.

Betty: OH DEAR GOD, WHAT IS HAPPENING!?

Gohan then turns calm as his flaring aura is contained and disappears, his hair having turned golden yellow and his eyes turned a teal green. Gohan then notices how freaked out Betty is and tries to reassure her.

Gohan: OH, don't worry about the form, it's just a power up so it's pretty safe, especially when you've mastered it like I have. And hey, turns out we both have color-changing hair.

Betty: …Huh, I guess we do.

Pan: Good on you guys…good on you…hey mom, are you done with your food?

Videl: Yeah, but finish it quick, it's nearly bedtime.

Pan: OH, I need to get Betty a blanket!

Pan shoves all the macaroni in Videl’s bowl into her mouth before grabbing Betty, who's turned back to normal.

Pan: As a hero, it is my duty to make sure you sleep well!

Betty: Uh, sure, I'm fine with that. Also, you have some cheese on your face.

As Pan rushes Betty to her room to find a blanket, Gohan notices Videl sighing, although not due to relief.

Gohan: Hey honey, you alright? You've kinda been all over the place today.

Videl: Yeah, I'm just kinda stressed out due to the birthday tomorrow, let alone some random kid and her blob showing up. You know how…iffy I am about Buu, so that Kumu thing being similar is…

Gohan: Yeah. Don't worry, we can get through this just fine. Besides, Beerus and Whis will probably show up for the birthday, so Whis can help us out with Betty and getting dad back.

Videl: …Damn, you really are a hero, huh?

Gohan: We both kinda have to be. I mean, we're parents. Besides, Pan and I will always look out for you, ok?

Videl: …Ok. Gohan, thank Dende I married you!

Eventually, Pan gets the blanket and Betty lays down on the couch, wrapped like a burrito by Pan.

Pan: There ya go, snug like a bunny. You comfortable, or-

Betty: I'm good. Plus, Kumu likes their sleeping bag, too.

Kumu is enjoying itself in a spare sock, but pretends it's uncomfortable when it notices the girls talking about it.

Pan: …Do you not like it?

Kumu drops the act for a moment before snuggling into the sock.

Betty: I'm pretty sure they're just embarrassed, although I don't get why…are you really some of the last Saiyans?

Pan: …I mean, Vegeta has some pretty nasty things to say about Frieza, the tyrant that blew their home planet up, so I kinda have to believe it.

Betty: So, you're like some types of vultures in that sense?

Pan: …I guess? Why vultures?

Betty: I don't know, it's just what I thought of, how do I even know what vultures are anyway?

Pan just chuckles at the question and walks over to her room’s door before turning to Betty.

Pan: Good night, Betty!

Betty: Um…Good night! Yeah, good night!

Pan enters into her room, and Betty and Kumu, as well as the rest of the house, eventually go to sleep. In the night, a bird can be heard outside of the house, being heard by Kumu…who wakes up, slinks out of the sock, and taps onto Betty's head. While Betty is still asleep, her eyes glow pink under her eyelids, and she gets up and out of the blanket, slowly trotting out of the house into the front yard. The blue songbird is calmly sitting on a tree branch, slowly building up a nest…before a pink spike shoots out of Kumu’s mouth, stabbing through the bird and piercing its soul, which looks like an upside-down gray heart. The mouth retracts, pulling the soul into Kumu's mouth and making the bird corpse fall into the bush below. Kumu smiles at the death it caused…but then frowns, regretting what it did a little, until a dim glow shines in Betty, showing she absorbed the soul. Kumu gets its mind off the kill as it leads Betty's body back inside the house.

Chapter Text

Back in XTale, everyone looks at the black crack in the sky as Arthur gets more and more angry, eventually yelling at the guards.

Arthur: WHY DID YOU LET SONIC GO!? THIS SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!

Papyrus: W-we didn't mean this to happen!

Asgore: Calm down, old friend. You shouldn't yell at another kingdom’s men.

Alphys: Ink, sir, you have any idea where Sonic went?

Ink: Well, the reason the Doodlesphere exists is so we don't have to travel through the VOID between realms. I actually got my paintbrush from there, but I don't remember the VOID being that…dark. If that VOID is like the Anti-Void now…that's bad.

Frisk: He also brought Caliburn with him, I'm pretty sure.

Guinevere can barely keep herself from bursting into tears while a frustrated Arthur grabs Ink by the collar of his coat.

Arthur: You! You're the reason my son is gone! You're going to find him and Caliburn, OR ELSE!

Muffet: Yeah, I want my boyfriend back, Not-Cross!

Mettaton just groans to himself.

Chara: Don't panic, everyone! I can use the OVERWRITE to bring them back anyway.

Binary: Good, the sooner you leave the better, Ink-

XGaster: That's not how the OVERWRITE works, I'm afraid. Trust me, I've tried to affect multiple realms at once, it just doesn't work that way.

Chara looks at XGaster with disdain, pointing his finger at the fallen skeleton.

Chara: The only reason Ink even showed up was because he had connections with YOU, so shut it!

Asriel, despite also having contempt for XGaster, can't help but think rationally.

Asriel: Y'know Chara, he is at our mercy, what reason would he have to lie?

XGaster: Smart one. You should listen to him.

Ink: Well, if the VOID is like the Anti-Void now, it'll corrupt anyone with a soul, and since I don't have one…

Chara: You're NOT helping your CASE!

Towa: As the queen of the demons, I, of course, will send some of my people to find Sonic. After all, us demons are more used to the darkness than you all.

Toriel: Maybe reconsider? Being demons likely won't make your people immune to whatever the VOID is-

Suddenly, while everyone is in a panic, Ink vomits up black ink onto the ground, silencing everyone.

Ink: WELL, guess anxiety counts as excitement, huh? Ahem, as a guardian, it is my job to keep you all safe, so I'll be going in the VOID. I'm pretty sure I'll be fine anyway!

Fu: Can't I go then? Sonic is my friend, after all.

Papyrus: We're all Sonic's friends, although I'm not sure about all of us going.

Towa: Fu, no, this is a job for adults.

Fu: But I am an adult, besides, my glitch magic could probably help protect me from the VOID.

Realizing Fu’s glitchy nature, Ink then gets an idea.

Ink: Well, this might be selfish, but your glitchiness would make you the best bet for an ally.

Towa: WHAT!? You can't really-

Fu: YES! I knew you'd see potential in me! Mom, I'm going to bring him back, and once I do, you'll never doubt me again!

Binary: Well I doubt that you two should stay together for any time at all…which is why I'm going with you.

Papyrus: WHAT? Are you sure you should be doing this? I don't…want to lose you, and I don't think Cross wants to either, right?

Cross, who's been oddly silent this whole time, just nods his head in agreement. He has been listening to everyone, but he's been thinking too much about Chara to comment himself.

Muffet: …Ok, well in that case, I WILL GO TOO!

Ink: Eh, three people seem like a good group, and these two are the only ones with that cyber stuff, right?

No one speaks up, showing that Fu and Binary are the only ones with glitch magic…at least, other than XGaster. However, XGaster can't bring himself to speak up, knowing that he can't let Chara discover that he hid that power. Binary silently shakes their head at their father, wordlessly telling him not to say anything.

Ink: Ok then, that settles it! As you all know, Error is missing, so you shouldn't have any troubles while I'm gone.

Binary: …Ink, you're good at navigating, right?

Ink: Yup, why'd you ask?

Binary: Because if you try anything funny, we are turning around immediately, you hear me pal?

Ink: Sure, partner!

Binary just sighs to themselves as Asgore and Toriel walk up to Fu.

Asgore: Young man, take these Senzu Beans that I grew, just in case.

Fu: Do I really need these? I can make healing circles, y'know.

Toriel: Please, for everyone's sake, just be careful.

Fu: Oh, don't worry, we'll be perfectly fine.

Fu pockets the three beans as the king and queen step back. At that moment, Ink whispers to XGaster.

Ink: By the way, I still have your other soul half. Once I've found Error, I can help you out with the X-Event, alright?

XGaster: Uh…sure.

In a flash, Ink, Fu, and Binary launch into the sky towards the rift to the Void. Everyone looks on with a mix of awe and concern-including XGaster.

Chara: I could've gone to find Sonic myself…

XGaster: Considering you made yourself the “chosen one”, that wouldn't be wise for your world.

As Chara is angered by XGaster’s words of wisdom, Toriel sees Arthur pick up Guinevere.

Arthur: What's wrong honey? I thought you were stronger than this.

Guinevere: I know, but…it's so hard to pull yourself together when your child is gone…

Toriel: Please don't worry, it will be alright. Ink’s group is searching for your son at this moment…

Arthur: Tori, look at what has just occurred…everything is NOT alright.

Everyone travels back to their homes in their respective kingdoms, hoping for some good news to pop up sooner or later. On his way, Frisk buys some nice cream and leaves a pretty high tip, leaving with a cream-covered smile. Meanwhile, in the west wing of Dreemurr Castle, XGaster is drinking a wine glass full of chocolate milk in his own shady little room. He wasn't given much expense, but he was able to touch his room up enough to be…acceptable. As XGaster sits at a table with one seat, wondering why he's so filled with dread, Papyrus barges into the room with a plate full of spaghetti, causing XGaster to nearly choke on his drink.

Papyrus: SURPRISE!

XGaster: Son, is this really the time for-COUGH-surprises like this?

Papyrus: Sorry if you weren't prepared for my appearance, but everyone is trying to calm themselves down while Sonic is found, and no one really talks to you. And thus, here I am!

XGaster: Well, thanks for the gift. Try and have more tact next time, please.

As XGaster is handed the plate of spaghetti, he doesn't eat. Papyrus immediately notices a pained look in his face.

Papyrus: You seem troubled.

XGaster: Hardly. Today has just been a bunch of drivel, is all-

Papyrus: You're worried about Binary, aren't you?

XGaster tenses up, slightly bending his fork and shattering his glass, spilling what little milk is left.

XGaster: I-I shouldn't worry about others. I was a god, I crafted this world many times over, worry should be beneath me.

Papyrus: You told me about that. You wanted to perfect things.

XGaster: Did I tell you...God, how low have I sunk? It was so easy to just ignore the conditions of others when I could OVERWRITE, when anything that happened to them was just a mistake to fix…but now?

Papyrus: Since you've been living normally like us, you haven't been able to be complicit…

XGaster: I know, and it's DRIVING ME UP THE WALL!..y'know, in the previous timelines, I raised Frisk and Chara as my children. I hurt them, even destroyed the soul of one, just to see what happens…funny how I called them “ungrateful”.

Papyrus: I heard that…yet, you started creating timelines for their sakes.

XGaster: …Huh. I almost forgot that part. I nearly gave up living when I couldn't make a realm for them…but when Ink came and showed me what could be done, I was ecstatic about making our realm perfect…which became an obsession. I was a fool.

Papyrus: Well, from what I've seen, it is pretty clear you've grown to feel remorse, so you're making progress.

XGaster just bitterly chuckles to himself.

XGaster: Hardly. I ran to Ink, all in a vain attempt to latch onto my old status. I care for you and your siblings, so WHY am I so focused on change?

Papyrus: …Well, some things do need changing, ESPECIALLY the way the world treats you. I care for Chara, but he's too stuck on old grudges. If we work on improving this world, instead of replacing it, you won't feel as conflicted anymore.

XGaster: I hope you're right.

At that moment, Cross barges into the room and sits on XGaster’s bed, seemingly distracted about something he's thinking.

Cross: Hey pops, hey paps.

XGaster: Hello, Cross.

Papyrus: Hey. Me and father were just discussing…hey, why do you look so angry? Did a ketchup bottle spray in your eye again?

Cross: No, it's Chara. All this time, he's been claiming that EVERYONE existed in the past timelines, but APPARENTLY the mobians and demons didn't exist until THIS timeline. Why would he lie like that? He ONLY said the truth when Ink appeared, what's so important about that version of me?

Papyrus: …Well, maybe we can ask him, he must have had a good reason…or at least, a reason that was good in his head. Once everyone calms down from the departures-

Cross: The only reason that Sonic, Fu, and Binary are even GONE is BECAUSE OF HIM BEING A CONNIVING BASTARD!

Papyrus and XGaster fall silent hearing Cross breathing heavily. They had never heard him THIS filled with vitriol…at least, in XGaster’s case, not in this timeline.

XGaster: Wow, you really hate him, huh?..guess that carried over into this realm as well.

Cross/Papyrus: Huh?

XGaster: You don't remember the past timelines for a reason. I tried to perform the X-Event through Chara and Frisk, giving them my OVERWRITE so I could use their ideas for a “perfect” world, but they eventually overthrew me in the last timeline, and you, Cross, were the only one who stood against them.

Cross: Me?

XGaster: Yes, however, some…unexpected arrivals ended up leading to the realm we live in now.

???: Then why don't you tell us everything, old man?

Suddenly, Asriel steps into the room. Since he isn't known for being too kind to XGaster, the skeletons get a little nervous.

Cross: Uh…hey Asriel. How much did you hear exactly?

Asriel: Enough. Cross, when I saw you walking to XGaster's room, I followed you, because…I also noticed what Chara said.

Papyrus: So you don't hate our father?

Asriel: Well I still kinda do, but if he cares about you two and Binary, I figured I can at least hear him out to see why Chara is acting weird. Plus, he seems way too hurt to try anything at this point.

XGaster is hit with a feeling of melancholy, before his face turns more stern.

XGaster: …Well then, let's not waste any time.

Meanwhile, Frisk arrives at Arachno-Chilli And Bakery, Mettaton sitting with Muffet. Frisk blushes a bit seeing Muffet turn to him and smile.

Muffet: Hey, it's you. It was getting a bit lonely here, no customers and all.

Frisk: Yeah, well, I got some nice cream for you and Mettaton!

Frisk holds up two nice creams, although they have melted quite a bit at this point.

Frisk: …I ate the one I got for me.

Muffet: Awe, aren't you a sweetie! I'm just surprised you didn't eat all of them yourself.

As Muffet’s spiders get Frisk a chair, Mettaton just kinda shrugs to Frisk, seeing how she doesn't notice his feelings. Frisk quietly sits down, the stick of his eaten nice cream in his hand as Muffet starts speaking, almost tearing up a little as she looks at her locket.

Muffet: …Why did he just blitz away like that? He had a great life with all of us!

Frisk: Wow, crazy right? Really, is that ALL you could manage to say?

Muffet: I mean, he’s a royal with a girl who LOVES him! What more could he need?

Mettaton: …Maybe, he just wasn't satisfied with his life.

Muffet just looks baffled at Mettaton, as her spiders look at her, shocked at her face (one of them is eating tiny popcorn).

Muffet: T-that can't be possible! Just because I'm not royalty, doesn't mean he wouldn't love me…

Mettaton: …Well, I'm not sure that he loves you-

Muffet: NO, he HAS to like me! Why else would he hang around with me? It's probably that Ink guy's fault, making him leave! Right, Frisk?

Frisk, hearing Ink brought up, can't bring himself to speak, just nodding in agreement. In reality, he's been secretly thinking to himself about all the decisions he and Chara have made, in the hopes of having a perfect world…and how it led to this. A bunch of his friends being so far from home, one because he didn't want to BE home…he's tired of all of it.

Mettaton: Well, maybe if we LET Sonic go with Ink for a bit, we could've understood why he wanted to go without any fuss.

Muffet: AS IF! Ink is buddy-buddy with XGaster, he can't be trusted! I mean, he's the reason Fu and Binary are gone right now! You should know, right Frisk-

Frisk, who's been hardening his grip on his stick, breaks it in his palm as he screams out loud.

Frisk: WHY DOES EVERYTHING WE DO MAKE THINGS WORSE!? I'VE kept lying to everyone about the timelines for YEARS, because Chara told me we'd have a “happy ending”, but now THIS HAPPENS? I'M TIRED OF THIS!

Muffet and Mettaton, as well as all the spiders, look on afraid as Frisk is overcome by rage, his eyes glowing red and his teeth gritted. After a second, Muffet realizes what he's implying.

Muffet: …What do you mean?

Frisk: I can't hide it anymore, can I? ALL THIS TIME, you all thought that me and Chara were noble heroes in the previous timelines. NOPE! We manipulated all of you just to deal with XGaster, and we didn't even TRY talking to Ink. Chara was too prideful to notice anything wrong with his “perfect” realm, and I just WENT ALONG WITH IT! You wanna know why Sonic and Cross were born with scars? It's because I ATTACKED THEM in the last timeline! Hell, we're the reason Cross isn't named Sans in this timeline! I'm…just too tired to keep this up…I'm sorry I didn't care sooner.

The group is filled with silence. The fact that Frisk hid all of THIS away…it's a lot to take in, even for Frisk himself. Muffet wants to reach out a hand or two to comfort him, but she can't…but then, Mettaton thinks up an idea.

Mettaton: Wait, you said you created the scars on Sonic and Cross, right?

Frisk: …Yeah, Chara kept them because he thought they looked cool.

Mettaton and Muffet aren't sure what to do with that info.

Mettaton: …Well, maybe you have a link with them through those scars. Y'know, magic jargon. Why don't we use them to track Sonic down?

Muffet: You're right! If anyone would be interested in that sorta stuff, it would be Alphys! She'd ABSOLUTELY nerd out over interrealm travel!

Frisk: …So you don't care that I lied to you?

Mettaton: Darling, if it makes you feel better, how about you explain everything to us when we get there?

Frisk: Sure, I guess?

Mettaton smiles hearing Frisk’s reply. Sheepishly, Muffet nearly backs out before holding her hand out to Frisk, who holds and shakes it before the group run to Alphys’ lab, a large group of spiders in tow.

Chapter Text

Inside the VOID, Ink, Fu, and Binary arrive through the rift. Instantly, they feel a harsh, cold feeling around them. Oddly, Ink feels like a part of him is in the VOID…screaming. Plus, Ink changed to have a more pastel look with no outlines. Feeling something is wrong, Binary turns to see Fu writing down notes, which he isn't very thrilled about.

Binary: What are you doing?

Fu: I'm writing down notes on the VOID, obviously. I mean, a space of nothingness between all the realms? Amazing! Hell, Ink seemed to have changed physically! Do you think that's what he originally looked like?

Binary: Fu, Sonic is MISSING, no one cares about your curiosity on Eldritch horrors!

Fu: Well, do you have any idea where Sonic went?

Binary looks around the VOID, seeing all the portals in the distance, but not answering. They can't tell if Sonic went through any of the wormholes.

Fu: Exactly. If I learn how this place works, maybe we can find Sonic easier. Ain't that right, Ink?

Fu’s smile fades as he sees Ink staring off into the distance. His pupils have become blank pricks, and all his vials have completely drained (aside from the hidden one with XGaster's soul piece). Neither Fu or Binary can tell a thing from Ink's blank face.

Fu: …Uh, Ink? You're all good right-

Suddenly, Fu starts coughing, black tears streaming down his face. A cold chill spreads through his body as he feels his power draining, Binary looking on in genuine concern.

Binary: What's going on now?

Suddenly, Binary’s entire body starts wildly glitching as they are overwhelmed by pain, feeling as if they are being torn apart. Their tear streams and pupils turn red, and their glitch ring turns black as they scream in pain.

Fu: Ink, please tell me you know where Sonic went-

Looking over, Fu sees black streaming from Ink's eyes.

Ink: We shouldn't be here.

Ink's arm then starts slowly turning to stone, as if his life force was being sapped away, and quickly. Fu swears that he can hear laughing from the black abyss around them.

Fu: OK, WE NEED TO GO! Where's the closest portal?

Binary: WHY AREn’t You heaDIng BaCK?

Fu: Back home? We need to find Sonic, why would I go back?

Binary, in their pain and panic, sees a red portal underneath them.

Binary: FIne, theRE’s A PoRtaL Down THERE!

Fu: Huh?

Fu looks below himself, but doesn't see it until he focuses using glitch magic. However, he then feels his face glitch out due to using his corruption and decides to go quickly.

Fu: AGH! WELL, I think it's time we go then!

Grabbing onto Ink and Binary, Fu creates a string from his eye and swings it into the portal, latching into something and pulling everyone in. Inside, the group pull through a rift in the sky and smash into a tree, snapping it in half on the way down, but thankfully surviving. Coughing up a bit of blood, Fu feels the pain and drain go away as the black tears disappear. Alongside him, Binary stops glitching out, and Ink’s arm turns back to normal, all the stone breaking off. The world itself oddly resembles a 16-bit video game, a land full of green, waterfalls, palm trees, and even a loop in the distance (it resembles Green Hill Zone from the Prime Sonic realm), with Ink’s group appearing pixelated to match.

Fu: Well, this is a nice change! I didn't know our bodies adapted to whatever realm we enter!

Ink: …Where are they?

Ink sees that his vials have been drained and searches desperately for a full one, but to no avail.

Binary: Well, since Sonic can also use glitch magic, he could've ended up here. If he stayed out there, we would've seen his…body…

Binary then notices Fu jogging down a bunch of notes about the realm.

Binary: Wha-are you taking notes AGAIN?

Fu: Yeah, so? I can't WAIT to visit this place again after we find Sonic.

Binary: Oh no, you are NOT coming back here! Don't you find the fact that the portal here was both red and HIDDEN a red flag?

Fu: Oh come on, lighten up a little. Just because we got here in a weird way doesn't mean that it's bad. Ink probably knows all about it.

The two look over to Ink and notice how lost he appears. Fu tries getting vibe by sensing his energy, but can't feel a thing, and when he and Binary try checking Ink's stats…they realize he doesn't have a soul at all (unfortunately, they didn't check his inventory).

Fu: WOAH, you don't have a soul! How do you, like, FEEL anything without one?!

Ink: That isn't your business…

Binary: I'm assuming that's what the vials are for. Not having a soul probably made him vulnerable to the VOID.

Ink tries absorbing some ink from the realm into a vial, which results in a dark, rusty red liquid going into a vial.

Ink: I…don't recognize this color…

Fu: You get ink from realms?

Ink: …More like from the people of realms.

Fu: AWESOME!

Binary: NO, NOT AWESOME! Didn't you see the colors that were previously in the vials? They shouldn't look like BLOOD! We need to search for Sonic and GO!

Fu: OH come on pal, I mean…this place would allow for some nice houses for our kingdoms, y'know.

Binary sits in silence, dumbfounded about what Ink is suggesting, while Ink looks on in confusion.

Ink: …What are you talking about?

Binary: YOU WANT TO COLONIZE THIS PLACE?!

Fu: NOT COLONIZE, we'll share if there's anyone here-although there doesn't seem to be anyone around-and it'll help minimize the tension between our kingdoms-

Binary: OH for GOD'S SAKE, that isn't important right now! We need to find Sonic and Caliburn, and-

While Fu and Binary are arguing, a presence watches over them in secret…or rather, two are.

Binary: -And I can't BELIEVE how moronic you and Sonic are! Are you THAT desperate for mommy’s approval?

Fu: Well, I'll have you know, I'm not desperate, just curious about the possibilities, while you're just upset that we don't listen ALL the time!

Binary: EXACTLY! I try to train you up, because that's my JOB, and you just brush it off like toddlers! Why now, when there is actual DANGER, will you not take me seriously!?

???: Geez, I didn't cause that much harm, did I?

The group look over, and miraculously they see Sonic, leaning on a tree casually…with no clothes, no arm fur, and blue fur instead of purple.

Sonic?: Long time no see, partners.

Fu: OH, you're…here? I'm confused.

Ink: I know colors. You're purple, not blue.

Binary: Yeah, and why are you naked-

In the split second Ink, Fu, and Binary are staring at each other, Sonic somehow changes to match what they are familiar with…but with no Caliburn. Binary can swear that they felt reality glitch like static for a second.

Sonic?: The heck are you guys talking about anyway?

???: Exactly. Don't you guys know how to greet an old friend?

Behind the group is another Sonic, this one much older, with wrinkles and gray hairs all over. Oddly, “Sonic” looks frustrated seeing him, while this new Sonic just chuckles to himself. Trying to sense their energy, a nervous Fu feels that they seem to have good energy…but it feels like it's a mask for something else.

Sonic?: Oh God, WHY are you here?

Sonic??: Oh don't worry about that, I'm just a future version of you, no fault in that.

Sonic?: You don't even care about this sort of thing, go away! These are my friends anyway.

Fu: Huh, a future you, huh? Weird that this realm isn't…purple…

Binary: Wait…where's Caliburn? You brought him with you to this realm, right?

Sonic?: OH, well, how about you follow me and I'll show you! I mean, I don't want to keep this perfect new place to myself, right? After all…nothing can last forever, so why not savor it?..

As “Sonic” is speaking, Fu looks around and sees something that fills him with dread: Sonic’s fingers are covered in blood, and in the trees, hidden by glitches, are animal corpses hanged by their own intestines. A cold sweat hangs off Fu’s face as he realizes this truth and tries desperately to tell Binary and Ink about it.

Binary: This is not the time for a tour, you blue dolt! Go get Caliburn yourself, right now!

Fu: …Uh, B-B-Binary? I feel like there's more important matters-

Binary: WHAT could possibly be more important than getting Sonic-

Suddenly, the group hears the older Sonic chuckling to himself, with a surprisingly deep tone of voice. Turning to face him, they see how his teeth are actually a grungy, dark shade of yellow, as if they were slugs taped over his jaw. The sight nearly gets Binary to vomit.

Sonic??: Sorry, this is very entertaining to watch, but we all know where this leads to, so I'll just skip to the end.

Suddenly, reality glitches like static, and the older Sonic turns a dark, dusty blue, to the point where he barely seems blue, and he somehow gets more disheveled and gross, his shoes turning into black, jagged feet. The white of his eyes turn black, his pupils turning into bright red pricks, and he gains a giant, X-shaped scar on his chest. All the dead animals around the realms become clear to see, the rivers turn to blood, and all the trees and greenery immediately wither and die. “Sonic” just sighs to himself, being forced to get a move on with his game.

Binary: What in the HELL-

Sonic?: Shame. I wanted to drag this game out a little longer.

Suddenly, more glitches occur as the younger Sonic takes a form similar to the older one, but less disheveled, with normal black shoes, and no scar. While Fu and Binary are overwhelmed with terror, Ink doesn't feel a thing about the situation.

Fu: W-what are you things?

Ink: You seem a lot like VHS Sans. Darkness and glitches mixed.

Sonic?: You have a keen eye, skeleton. I'm X, and that older me is Lord X. We're EXEcutioners, or .EXEs.

Lord X: I like calling him Sonic X.

Sonic X scoffs at the nickname.

Sonic X: Y'know, normally I have to trap souls in vessels here, can't really leave the VOID. How did you bunch get here…does it have something to do with, say, SONIC?

Fu: Uhh, kinda, yeah.

Binary: FU! Why do you know Sonic? Do you have something against him?

Sonic X just laughs to himself, his voice distorted to the point of sounding demonic, like Lord X.

Sonic X: Against him? No, I ADORE him!

Fu and Binary fall dead silent hearing Sonic X. Fu can swear he sees drool from X’s lip, while Lord X cringes a bit, technically hearing his own fanboyism.

Sonic X: I just understand him, and he understands ME! Two blue beings, obsessed with freedom, that's what we are! We're PERFECT!

Fu and Binary are overcome by a wave of disgust hearing X’s words, but Ink notices that his smile has morphed into a grimace.

Lord X: Don't worry, it's just a hyperfixation, normal for us .EXEs.

Fu: Oh, really? I kinda get that, I mean, I'm more into multiversal stuff-

Binary: Fu! They are demons. Why are you casually talking to them?

Fu: Buddy, I'm a demon too, and I'm searching for ANY reason not to be horrified.

Sonic X: …At least, he WAS perfect until…

Suddenly, X points his finger at Fu, roaring like a mountain of rage.

Sonic X: …YOU!!

Fu: What! What'd I do? I mean, last I checked, he was ALWAYS purple-

Sonic X: Oh right. You don't remember, because of the OVERWRITE.

Fu: Wait, what?

Sonic X: Did that Chara boy not tell you? You brought Sonic and Caliburn to XTale for your little experiment, and all three of you got assimilated into that pathetic world. Now, he's PURPLE, with CLOTHES ON! He's RUINED!

Fu and Binary are taken aback by the info, with Fu trying to deny it altogether with false confidence.

Fu: W-well, you must be lying! Chara would know how the previous timelines went, and he NEVER mentioned that! Plus, we've got Ink here, and he's the guardian of our multiverse, so back off!

Lord X: Actually, I'm with the demon boy.

Sonic X/Fu/Binary: What?

Lord X: See, us EXEcutioners are very powerful beings, able to conquer an entire realm should we open a passage to one. However, the reason I keep my rule to one realm is because Guardians of multiverses are the only beings capable of DESTROYING our kind, so I prefer to lay low. So, my younger self, I suggest you back off from the group with TWO guardians.

Binary: Why are you saying that-wait…

Ink's eyes widen in curiosity.

Ink: What are you suggesting?

Lord X: See, the reason you got OVERWRITTEN was because a certain Error intervened when he shouldn't have, getting assimilated along with you. Ain't that right, Binary?

The group is hit with even more confusion, especially Ink, while Lord X just laughs to himself. Binary thinks back on the vision they saw back in XTale, and realizes that must be visions from their past life.

Ink: So all this time, Error DID go to XTale?

Lord X: Also, in case you were wondering, I said that because peeving off Sonic X is hilarious.

Sonic X: Well, one of the guardians doesn't have a soul, and the other is a guardian no more. Why should I run, when I don't have to hold BACK!?

With a snap of his fingers, Sonic X causes the entire zone to burst into flames. Lord X just sighs to himself, disappointed at how overzealous his past self can be. While Fu and Binary ready themselves for a fight, Ink just stares on at X, not saying a word.

Sonic X: So, now that we're all here, maybe you can tell me how to travel to REAL realms. But if you do, please…try and make it FUN FOR YOUR GOD!

Chapter Text

Suddenly, Sonic X rises into the air and spears Fu, his hand on Fu’s chest as they both rise into the air. While Fu struggles to get back his breath, X can't contain his laughter.

Sonic X: Normally, my victims can't find the spine to fight back, let alone take a HIT! You're already exceeding my expectations!

Regaining his strength, Fu unsheathes his blade and stabs X between the eyes before spinning and flinging him away. Despite the damage, X just laughs to himself, regenerating the damage as the two have a flying face-off. Looking into the red sky, Ink, Binary and Lord X watch as Fu and X trade blows in the sky. While Binary is concerned (and frustrated) about Fu, Lord X and Ink could really care less, with Lord X turning his attention to…you?

Binary: Damnit, I hate to say it, but I have to help him!

Lord X: Geez, what a goodie two-shoes, am I right?

While Binary looks on confused, Lord X reveals a sarcastic smile to you. You do find that funny, don't you?

Ink: Oh hey there, audience.

Binary: ARGH!

With that, Binary flies into the sky.

Ink: So, you aren't going to fight us?

Lord X: Nah. I love little me, but he needs to learn his lesson eventually.

In the air, X keeps trying to claw and kick at Fu like a wild animal, most of which Fu is able to avoid, while Fu responds with slashes from his blade. Every slice sends flesh and blood flying from X, but he just regenerates every time and laughs in Fu’s face.

Sonic X: Do you really think you can hurt me? You will learn to bow to your GOD-

Before X can finish, he's blasted away by a gaster blaster as Binary rises up. Having gone blow-to-blow pretty handily with X, Fu has gained a bit of confidence, brushing his hair to the side.

Fu: Y'know, X isn't actually very strong, just kinda tanky. I wonder how his regeneration works, actually…

Binary: Now is not the time for theorizing!

Binary raises their hand, trying to grab X’s soul…only to realize he doesn't have one, which gets a hearty chuckle out of X.

Sonic X: Fool, do you REALLY think we .EXEs have souls?

As X’s arms are raised in a shrug, Fu grabs his arm with a glitchy string and swings him into a loop, shattering it into pieces and dust.

Fu: What, I'm trying to be practical-

Binary: No, honestly that was one of your smarter moments-

Suddenly, a fountain of dark red energy blasts out of the rubble, Sonic X rising out of it with a roar. Containing his power (and impatience) as best he can, X snaps his fingers, and a dark red echidna (similar to Knuckles) with bloodshot eyes appears out of nowhere to sock Fu in the face. With Fu recoiling from the hit, he and Binary are surrounded by the echidna, a burnt black-furred fox (Tails) with two scars where tails were, and a surly man with glasses and sickly skin (Eggman) in a flying mech.

Fu: Hey, looks like we have some new friends.

However, when Fu and Binary check their adversaries, they make a horrible realization…they have souls. BROKEN, gray souls. Dave, Alan, Gamma…not Paul. Before the info can be processed, the echidna flies up to Fu and starts wailing on him, which Fu is forced to block. Meanwhile, the fox starts slowly hovering up to Binary, who starts summoning bones to fend him off. The fox takes each hit in stride, fur and blood being shed, until a bone flies up to hit the fox in the chin, breaking his neck…which the fox just snaps back into place. In a moment, the fox grabs Binary's head from above.

Binary: ARGH! Get off me, you stupid fox!

As Binary tries getting the fox off their head, they look ahead to see the man charging a massive beam from his mech. Thinking quickly, they grab the fox by the soul and toss him off into the beam as it is about to fire, causing the entire mech to self-destruct and blasting the man and fox into pieces. At the same time, after avoiding a few attacks, Fu grabs the echidna by the fist and spits on him, turning him to stone and making him fall into the fires below with the other proxies. At that moment, Sonic X pounces on Fu from above, attempting to bite his head off, but Fu just smiles as he slices X in half with his sword, creating ki shurikens that keep the demon in midair until Fu slashes him away into a mountain.

Fu: Y'know, this is actually kinda cathartic.

From the burning ground, Ink and Lord X watch the fight occur, with Lord X feeling a mix of amusement and disappointment.

Lord X: Well, he must have learned his lesson by now. I'm gonna go pick him up and…

As Lord X watches Fu and Binary, he realizes that they both have colored souls; the souls of the gods. This fact makes him genuinely concerned, knowing how strong those souls are.

Lord X: WHAT!? When the hell did these guys have the souls of gods? I need to get that idiot out of here!

Ink: Hey, does Sonic X take defeat well?

Lord X: Never seen him lose, but likely not, why-

Before Lord X can even finish, he's skewered by a bunch of bones before a giant bone slams him into a nearby hill, with a large gaster blaster firing a stream of ink on him right after.

Ink: We can't have a demon weighing us down.

The pieces of the hill break apart, revealing a furious Lord X that immediately heals all his scratches, blood streaming from his eyes, flowing onto his curled hands and seeping into his wrinkles.

Lord X: Y'know, I was actually trying to keep you AWAY from him, but if you want to play that way, then FINE!

In a flash, Lord X dashes up and tries slamming Ink with his hand, but he just hits the ground as Ink backs away with teleportation, not showing a hint of surprise, although he is strangely covered in blood after teleporting. After pulling each finger separately out of the ground, Lord X tries a few more times with direct attacks, none of which hit until Ink leaps up and summons some gaster blasters to blast the demon, but he glitches reality with static to swap places, causing Ink to teleport more to avoid them. Ink then summons bones with a flick of the wrist to destroy the blasters and stab Lord X, but the lord just avoids the bones and breaks off their tips, using them as knives to slash at Ink and even throws them, but Ink just barely dodges every attack, as if he isn't even trying. Teleporting back, Ink uses his brush to paint a fan into existence, creating a gust of wind that blows Lord X into a bunch of fire, which combusts around him. Walking out of the fire, aflame with a grimace, the hog uses static to glitch behind Ink, lifting his face with eye-hands to reveal a purple, fleshy one underneath, and tries to bite down on the guardian, but Ink grabs Lord X by the face and turns the ink on his paintbrush into a green Thinner and jabs it straight in-and through-Lord X’s throat. Feeling actual pain, Lord X teleports away and lowers his normal face back, realizing there is a large, gurgling hole in the back of his head that is slowly regenerating, and he knows exactly why.

Lord X: Well, he certainly has the power of a guardian. I need to find an opportunity to kick these idiots out!

A few arms sprout from the ground and grab Ink by the legs to restrict his teleportation as Lord X’s head splits in 4, with rows of teeth and a gory, tentacled head in the center, as if Lord X became an eldritch flower before leaping to attack Ink. Meanwhile in the air, X bursts out of the mountains with a lightspeed kick, which Fu and Binary barely avoid as a blue and red trail flashes past them. Feeling confident, Fu pumps his fist as he taunts X, who snaps his neck to face the pair like an owl.

Fu: You know, for a guy who likes games, you sure are boring to fight! Don't you have anything new to do?

Sonic X: Oh, don't worry, I'd HATE to keep you bored!

Turning to match his head angle, X rapidly twitches his hand before holding it open, causing two stretched arms to sprout from a loop and grab Fu and Binary, pulling them so fast that they slam into the loop and disconnect it from the ground, making it roll across the burning fields like an unhinged ferris wheel. Recovering quickly with acrobatics and magic respectively, the two run along the loop as it rolls, hopping when needed for pits, fire, and spikes, and ducking under extended arms and animal corpses as X laughs maniacally overhead.

Binary: So, is this what you wanted from the Multiverse?

Fu: Not really, but it is exciting! Plus, if it makes you feel better, most realms probably won't be like this-

Binary: Oh my god, I'm DONE WITH THIS!

Sighing to themselves with frustration, Binary leaps up and stomps down with a glitchy shockwave, stopping the loop dead and glitching all the obstacles to have 0 “health”, causing them to flicker out of existence. Binary then summons a bunch of corrupted gaster blasters to fire on X at all angles while they start whipping the laser-covered demon with ten strings, one in each finger.

Fu: Yeah, he can't do anything now! You've totally-

As Binary is bringing a handful of whips down, a bunch of arms extend into the sky and crush the blasters as X grabs the graspers, his pointer finger scratching a wound into his thumb through anticipation.

Fu: -Got it…

Sonic X: Now THIS is some GOOD ENTERTAINMENT!

Yanking on the strings, X pulls the glitchy skeleton straight towards him, and quickly goes from releasing the strings to biting down on Binary's arm. As Binary tries to scream, they just get punched in the teeth, getting launched straight into Fu, who barely catches them in a cloud of dust. As the dust settles, Fu realizes that half of Binary’s arm is completely gone, the stump heavily bleeding. Gently putting the skeleton down, Fu magically draws an X along the ground, creating a healing field of energy under Binary. The two look up to see Sonic X laughing as he holds the torn off half of Binary's arm over his mouth, seeking to drink the dripping crimson.

Sonic X: Food and a show? This is the most fun I've had in years!

However, Binary silently smiles as they snap their remaining fingers, causing the removed arm to explode and launch X into the ground. Back on the burning floor, a grounded Ink is blocking all of Lord X’s blows and bites with his paintbrush, which Lord X is trying to rip away with tentacles. During this, Ink vanishes yet again, as inky gaster blasters strike Lord X down from above. Ink reappears a bit away from a puddle of blood Lord X spilled earlier, only to hear an explosion overhead. At that moment, Fu focuses more of his own energy into the healing zone, restoring Binary’s arm, black as ever, but making himself more tired in the process.

Fu: Nice…sneak attack…buddy. Maybe now's the time we go.

Binary: …You're suggesting that now?

Suddenly, X rises into the sky with a roar of pure hatred, causing the surrounding realm to fall apart more and more, hills losing texture and the rivers of blood rising higher, getting up to Ink’s ankles.

Sonic X: ALRIGHT, NO MORE GAMES! I WIN, YOU LOSE!

X then digs his fingers into his cheeks, pulling his bloody tears into strings (like what Binary and their students use) and wrapping them around two different mountains, miles in the distance.

Fu: I KNEW he had glitch magic! And I'm a bit too worn out to keep fighting here…

Binary: He must've learned how to use those strings from us…but how could he learn it so quickly?

With a hefty pull, the mountains are ripped out of the ground and smash right above X’s head, before he tosses them towards Fu and Binary. Fu gets up and readies his sword, ready to split the mountains however he can, but Ink rises in front of him and paints a black wall of ink, which the mountains fail to break through as they shatter.

Fu: Alright, you came here to help us! What are friends for, huh?

Ink: You aren't my friends.

Fu awkwardly chuckles a bit at the reaction, but then sees the echidna, fox, and man from earlier crawl up from the side of the loop, severely burnt and covered in blood.

Fu: Crap! I thought for sure the stone spit would last, it must be Sonic X’s doing!

Binary: Well, do you have a plan or what?

As the attackers pull themselves up and start shambling like zombies towards Fu, he remembers the senzu beans that he was given, and pulls one out to eat.

Binary: You FORGOT you had beans?!

Fu: To be fair, so did you.

After eating a bean and having his wounds and ki healed, Fu sighs and preps ki in his hand, rushing towards the trio and striking them all at once with his palm, implanting ki into them as makeshift bombs. He steps back from the disoriented corpses and pulls three strings with his middle three fingers, using them to lasso the corpses before leaping into the air with them.

Fu: Sorry about this!

As Fu raises the bodies above his head, the fox turns their gaze to him and speaks.

Alan: THANK YOU.

Fu is taken aback by those words for a second, but brushes them off as he tosses them below. As X is preparing to throw another mountain, the bodies fall in front of his face before exploding, breaking the mountain and the trio into pieces and leaving X disoriented. X looks around for his attacker, but can't find them before an invisible Fu kicks him into the sky. Getting his bearings, X roars and summons a bunch of elongated arms from the environment to catch the demon. However, as he's dodging and rising, Fu is breathing demonic fire into a sphere in front of himself, preparing a new attack.

Fu: CORRUPTED JUDGEMENT!

Binary: Here he goes again with the anime moves…

Fu starts rising, avoiding the arms the entire time, and slashes the fire orb in two, causing the orbs to glitch out and turn into duplicates of the original orb, just as large and dangerous. Fu does this until he has eight orbs and, after creating a ki replica of his sword, slashes the orbs towards X with both his blades, causing the orbs to barrel through the arms and plunge into X’s chest, before splitting into many, many orbs before exploding, launching the horrific hedgehog into the sky. As X is facing upwards, the red clouds below him, he sees Fu appear above and drop down with a cross-slash attack with both swords, splitting him into four pieces and launching them all into the ground below, breaking apart the clouds on the way down and causing a flaming shockwave on the way down. Fu lands next to the skeletons and both sheathes his sword and dissipates his ki sword as the group see X’s upper torso try to regenerate, but seem to struggle.

Sonic X: What…what did they DO TO ME? Is this…actual pain? I-I HATE IT!

Fu: Hey, uh, do you have Sonic around here…by any chance?

Sonic X: NO!

Fu: Ok, well, would you kindly point us to a way out of here? That would be swell.

As X finally regenerates his torso and right arm (glove included), Lord X teleports next to him.

Lord X: Now do you see? One guardian is WAY too much for you, let alone three! If you don't want to disappear completely, I suggest…

As Lord X is trying to talk some sense into X, the latter slowly floats into the air and stares at the vial Ink has with all of the emotions of the realm. X smiles, knowing of a way to turn the tides.

Sonic X: Nah, I have a better idea.

Suddenly, X pulls out a bloody string and grabs Ink with it, pulling him close, and before anyone can react, X grabs Ink’s vial and pours all of its contents into his mouth. As Ink pushes away, everyone realizes what happened.

Fu: Uh, Ink, are you ok?

Ink: I still don't feel any-

Suddenly, Ink’s entire being is filled with the pain of years of torture and “games”. Is this what X has been doing all this time? Then, X starts bending his fingers in different directions, causing Ink to wildly bend as his body transforms, his body turning grey and his eyes bleeding red.

Binary: How is that monster doing this?

Fu: …Uh, hey Binary…Sonic X can control this realm, right? Wouldn't that include-

Suddenly, as he stands up hunched over, Ink holds his hand out, causing a bunch of inky gaster blasters to surround Fu and Binary.

Fu: …Ok then. Good talk.

Suddenly, Fu and Binary find themselves running for their lives against an attacking Ink, leaping over bones and flying under gaster blasters until they finally take cover behind a broken hill, barely avoiding a torrent of ink from a blaster.

Sonic X: See? I can take out a guardian, no problem in sight!

Lord X: That's what we call dumb luck.

Binary: INK! IF WE SURVIVE THIS, I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF!

As another blaster fires upon the cover, X’s body is fully restored, albeit now with an X-shaped scar over his torso and shoulders. Fu and Binary try to think of a plan for escape.

Binary: We need to find a way out of this realm.

Fu: Without Ink? I mean, these .EXEs might only have control in their own realms, otherwise why don't we see them all the time? Get Ink out, and he'll be fine!

Binary: Well, how do you suppose we create a portal out of here?

Fu: Well, I have a suspicion that reality can be more easily broken in places where interrealm travel has already occurred. Go back to where we started, or to the skybox like Sonic, and we can use a focused attack to make a rift out of here!

Binary: Well, there's a decent chance we're SHOT out of the sky, and it's hard to find our starting point when THE ENTIRE WORLD IS ON FIRE!

Fu then turns to you.

Fu: …Hey, have you been watching us? Can you help us out here?

Binary: Fu, they aren't even in this realm, and they look like they're sitting on…a couch, a bed? Either way, I don't think they can-

Suddenly, Ink sneaks up on the duo and smacks Fu away with his paintbrush, covering the demon in purple paint as he is launched away. As Fu tries to recover, Binary and Ink start launching everything from bones to gaster blasters at each other, as well as their unique tools like terrain glitches or objects painted into existence. However, as Fu is getting up, Ink creates a bomb under Binary that launches them into the sky upon detonation.

Fu: Nevermind…I've got this any-

With a wave of Ink’s hand, the purple paint transforms into shackles that bind Fu and cut his speech short.

Fu: OH COME ON!

X, who is next to his new proxy, extends his arm out, which grows to gargantuan sizes as it tries to catch a flying Fu, destroying some glitching mountains in the process.

Fu: This is a REALLY unfair game, you know that?

Recovering, Binary sees the trouble that Fu has gotten himself into, before they are attacked by illusions of X and a bunch of gaster blasters, which they narrowly avoid with rapid teleportation. Given a narrow opportunity, they spread a wave of glitchy energy onto the flying Ink and X, who are struck with extremely high gravity and slam into the ground below.

Sonic X: HAH! Do you really think this will-

Suddenly, Binary curls their pointer finger upwards, causing a bone to sprout and stab through X’s arm and cut it off, causing it to stop just before it could grab Fu. Fu then expands his energy, breaking free of the restraints as he tries sensing any errors in the world.

Fu: C'mon, c'mon, c'mon…

Fu actually detects one really quick, and better yet, it's right in front of him.

Fu: Oh, well that's convenient. Now, APPARENTLY I made a rift before, so maybe…

As his blade glows purple and white with the power of his soul, Fu slashes at the air in front of him, creating a black and gray rift, which he feels ecstatic about…although that feeling is a little overshadowed by the feeling of just wanting OUT.

Fu: Binary, I think I found a way out!

Sonic X: NO, THAT CAN'T BE POSSIBLE!

Binary then teleports to Fu, but Lord X does the same. At that moment, X breaks himself and Ink out of the glitched gravity state.

Binary: OH GREAT, what do you want?

Lord X: Oh, don't get your undies in a twist. I just want you to leave, alright? These games…haven't been very fun for me for a while.

Fu: Oh, well…thank you?

Lord X: Shame we can't talk any longer, you probably have better things to-

As Lord X pushes Fu and Binary through the rift, they end up somewhere where everything has dropped the pixelation and looks much more bubbly (you could even call it “funkin”)...or at least it would look that way if everything wasn't gray and dulled out. The trio then realize that they ended up in a dark space full of the corpses of Eldritch beings (Ghatanothoa, Yog-Sothoth, etc) that other .EXEs are using as mountain-sized buildings. As the three see all these monsters do things ranging from butchering corpses to trading people they captured, the trio get the sense they made a mistake, with Lord X whispering to the others as best he can.

Lord X: Great, the Execution Crossroads. If you don't like seeing your guts, let's go back and-

Suddenly, both X and Ink leap out of the rift, and not exactly quietly.

Sonic X: OUR GAME ISN'T DONE YET, YOU-

Unfortunately, X only realizes his mistake when all the other .EXEs stare at the group with their blood red eyes, almost all of them seeking to take the kill. Fu nervously chuckles to himself before beginning to sob as Lord X facepalms himself. In a flash, Fu and Binary find themselves running for their lives from a whole army of .EXEs, each trying to catch them. However, while almost all of the .EXEs can manipulate reality, they keep using their powers to try and push each other out of the way, with some getting eaten by other .EXEs in monstrous forms, others getting trapped by varying traps and tentacles, and some getting tossed into the VOID below by gargantuan arms. Fu and Binary jump over and kick away the attacks of many .EXEs, including the sword slash of a .EXE that looks like an Arabian man (Aladdin) with bloody eyes, as they search for an exit.

Binary: We aren't getting anywhere like this, we need to lose them!

Fu: Uh, uh, in there!

Fu points to a “building” that appears to be a giant mix of octopus, human, and even dragon (Cthulhu), with a front door on each of the thing’s oozing legs. With no other option, Binary summons a bunch of gaster blasters to fire upon the .EXEs, distracting them as the two rush inside the right leg…only to find themselves in a disco room, with what looks to be a more goofy Sonic .EXE hanging out with his “victims” and a few other .EXEs…that are smoking weed with sunglasses?

Sunky.MPEG: Hello fwends, do ya wantsa go fest with cereal?

Binary: …What the fuck?

Suddenly, a large horde of .EXEs rush into the room, with one looking like a toy of a cowboy (Woody) with bloody eyes and a sewn-on head.

???: There you are! Sunky, you better hand them over-

The cowboy is cut off by X pushing him out of the way, with Ink in tow.

Sonic X: Out of the way, Respiro! You are MY playthings, and there is NOTHING you can-

Before X can finish, Binary tosses Sunky into his face, indenting the small EXEcutioner into his skull, and as X screams, Ink summons two large bones that spear Fu and Binary straight up through the roof, eventually stopping and bringing them to a staircase. As the two try to catch their breath, another group of .EXEs lower on the staircase find them…only to get blasted out of the building by an unseen, inky gaster blaster.

Fu: RUN!

The two dash up the building, pushing .EXEs either out of the way or the building every now and then, as dozens of gaster blasters fire upon the building from the outside, splashing its parts everywhere and blasting other buildings as collateral. All the while, Ink is splashing purple paint all over the building with his paintbrush. Eventually the duo reach the top, where inside the beast’s head is a large, rotting chasm filled with red smoke and a bunch of people with bloodshot eyes and no mouths howling in agony, which a humanoid squid-looking .EXE with a shirt (Squidward), bloody eyes, and scars on his head is literally conducting to. Fu and Binary cough a bit at the smoke, causing the .EXE to notice and raise his snarky voice.

???: Would you pipe down? If you're some escaped slaves, you aren't exactly helping your ca-

Before he can finish, the .EXE’s face gets caved in by a bone from Binary, causing the red mist to dissipate and giving the victims a chance to breathe. Fu and Binary try speaking to a victim that looks like a square sponge with a shirt (SpongeBob), while Lord X silently teleports behind them.

Binary: YOU! Do you know of a way out of this nightmare?

???: NO, PLEASE DON'T HURT ME, I-wait, are you people? Y-you don't look human…look man, I've been wanting out for YEARS, I CAN'T HELP!

Fu: If I'd hazard a guess, he's a victim that was turned into a sponge creature by the squid you beat up. I guess it'd make sense he wouldn't have any good info…

Lord X: BOO.

Fu and Binary are caught off guard by the demon’s entrance, while the sponge, as well as all the other victims, just start bawling their eyes out. Lord X just heckles to himself.

Binary: NOW what do you want?

Lord X: I just wanted to say, you've done pretty well, avoiding all those idiots down there…also, you could've just hopped into the VOID a while ago back on the ground.

Fu: Wait, you mean the holes in the ground? Why didn't you say that earlier?

Lord X: You never asked.

Suddenly, both X and Ink barge into the room, hoping to finally get their hands on the duo.

Sonic X: You thought you were SO CLEVER, didn't you? Well now, there's NO ESCAPE!

Ink snaps his fingers, causing the purple paint all around the building to become massive vines that entangle the dead beast and close off all its orifices.

Lord X: Y'know, this game is really unprofessional. It's not very kosher to let it annoy other EXEcutioners, you know what I mean?

Sonic X: SHUT IT, old man! This is my game, and I'm going for 100%!

As X and his older counterpart are arguing, Binary stomps their foot with glitched energy, corrupting the building's legs to unnaturally bend straight up, kicking some .EXEs into the distance while causing the horror to drop to its crotch (you could almost hear it groan in agony). The creature starts listing forward, and as the victims are panicking, Fu blasts the vines over the building’s eye sockets off, showing that the creature’s head is moving toward a sinkhole in the crossroad grounds.

Fu: Welp, JUMP FOR IT!

Right before the building’s head turns, Fu and Binary jump through the eye socket, going through a sinkhole and ending up back in the VOID surrounded by black mist, where their art style changes back to that of XTale. Other than the mist, there aren't any signs of the Execution Crossroads even existing.

Fu: We…we made it out!

Fu’s happiness is immediately cut short as Binary starts glitching again and Fu starts crying black tears.

Fu: Oh right.

The two then realize that a bunch of .EXEs that fell into the VOID earlier are still here, and they don't really care about it much, being completely immune to the VOID’s effect. Things then get even worse as X and Ink also burst into the VOID with black mist, X clearly getting tired of all the chasing and looking as pixelated as he used to.

Sonic X: Just…give up…and let me KILL YOU ALREADY! Seriously, I'd rather have the old cannon fodder than playmates like YOU!

While X is talking, he doesn't even notice that Ink’s fingers are slowly turning to stone. As the .EXEs surround Fu and Binary, the two prepare for a last stand…until a sound similar to breaking glass can be heard.

Fu: …Uh, did anyone hear that?

Binary: Now is NOT the time, Fu!

Fu: No seriously, I hear…breaking glass?

Suddenly, a bright light nearly blinds everyone in the area as the sound of a shattering mirror signals a rift opening, with a golden outline and an orange-and-red inside. As some of the .EXEs try to investigate the rift, they are hit with hundreds of invisible blows, leaving very visible holes in their bodies, before what sounds like two voices at once can be heard.

???: Well then, didn't expect to find people to fight in a dump like this…

Suddenly, a man appears next to Fu and Binary. While the man looks human, he has extremely spiky, black hair with a few bangs and what almost looks like a widow’s peak. On top of that, he has a monkey’s tail, torn black wristbands, baggy white pants with a red sash, and a somewhat torn, open jacket, showing that he isn't wearing a shirt, with yellow shoulder pads that almost look like clouds. On the back of his jacket is the image of a heart, one side light blue and the other side purple, with a lock in the middle. The man turns to face Fu, a cocky smile on his face.

???: …Although, considering I was following you, I probably shouldn't be surprised.

Fu is surprised that the man knows who he is, although he's a bit too tired to put it into words. Lord X peeks his head into the VOID, making him look like a severed head surrounded by black mist, when he sees the man among the .EXEs, and is immediately filled with concern.

Lord X: Oh no…not another guardian!

Sonic X: Y'know, I've seen a few .EXEs that look like you…what are you, Goku, Vegeta?

???: Nah, I'm Gogeta, and I'm the man that's going to beat you!

Sonic X: Not like that, you won't!

Gogeta notices the black tears under his eyes, not giving a single worry.

Gogeta: Oh yeah, one second. This should fix that…

Suddenly, Gogeta’s hair turns golden as he turns into a Super Saiyan, with an aura similar to a rainbow-colored sun that completely cures himself, Fu, and Binary of the VOID’s effects. On top of that, Ink stops suffering the VOID’s effects, his fingers turning back to normal, and his body turns back to normal as X’s influence breaks completely. Seeing someone casually wave off the VOID’s effects this well, all the EXEcutioners are left completely speechless.

Gogeta: Better?

All the .EXEs silently nod in confirmation.

Gogeta: Good.

In a flash, Gogeta vanishes, and a second later, another .EXE that looks like Sonic is completely obliterated, before Gogeta reappears and starts wailing on all the demons at lightspeed. The .EXEs do try fighting back, but all their strikes just end up hitting afterimages as Gogeta uses them all as bowling pins for his ki blasts. On top of just being weaker, .EXEs don't have the same level of control in the VOID that they do in their “realms”, so they never stood a chance.

Sonic X: GET THEM ALREADY-

X tries to command Ink, only to realize that the skeleton’s just flown over to Fu and Binary before he himself starts getting pummeled. Ink just floats there next to the two as they watch the light show of yellows and blues.

Fu: Oh hey, you're back to normal.

Ink: Yep. Crazy day so far.

Fu: Oh yeah, definitely.

All the while, Binary is in too much disbelief to really comment at all. Suddenly, Gogeta appears right in front of Ink and the group.

Gogeta: This guy bothering you?

Fu: OH NO, we're chill, don't worry!

Binary: Well, he is pretty bothersome.

Ink: There's Sonic X behind you.

X, who tried getting a sneak attack on the distracted Gogeta, just gets backfisted in the face before the Super Saiyan kicks him away. Then, using Instant Transmission, Gogeta gathers all the other .EXEs into a line, causing them to get bulldozed by the careening Sonic X.

Gogeta: STRIKE!

Recovering, an absolutely livid X roars at the Saiyan, to the point that his own face starts distorting and breaking apart from sheer anger.

Sonic X: I'M SUPPOSED TO BE THE PUPPET MASTER, NOT YOU!

Gogeta: Shame, because I think I pulled your strings pretty well.

Infuriated, X lunges at Gogeta, who just teleports out of the way. This happens a few more times until Gogeta teleports behind X and holds his tongue out, looking to taunt the devil, which absolutely works.

Sonic X: THAT'S MY THING, NOT YOURS!

Once more, Gogeta teleports behind X, but he then reveals that he's been charging up a Big Bang Kamehameha as a giant orb of energy sprouts in his hand, which he then holds to his side, ready to fire. Lord X, realizing that his past self can't survive this, dashes in to save his prodigé.

Gogeta: Well, I'm getting TIRED of this GAME, now GO TO HELL!

As Sonic X sees Gogeta hold his blasts forward, Lord X swiftly pulls him out of the way as Gogeta fires a massive wave of ki from the orb. The other .EXEs aren't so lucky, as they all get utterly decimated by the blast. As the beam dissipates, all that's left of the attacking EXEcutioners are a few bloody scraps if even that. Gogeta then turns to the group, as Fu starts squealing with excitement.

Gogeta: …Are you alright, or-

Fu: OH MY GOD, THAT WAS SO DAMN COOL!

Chapter Text

Meanwhile, in the Prime Sonic realm, electrical devices all around the world start whirring back to life, recovering from the overload Sonic’s wave caused. One of the buildings that are recovering is the GUN Fortress, the main stronghold for the Guardian Unit of Nations. Inside, an old man in uniform with one green eye and one brown eye is steadily walking through the darkened hallways as the lights flicker on. He eventually reaches a door to his right, and in front of it is a Mobian bat with a heart-shaped chestplate, who smoothly speaks with him.

???: Took you long enough, Abraham. You weren't kissing a badge or anything like that, were you?

Abraham: Now isn't the time for jokes, Rouge. Nothing should've been able to hit our power supply like that.

The two head through the door, leading to a sort of control room where a bunch of technicians, researchers, and other workers are scrambling to determine what is going on. From a balcony behind glass, Rouge and Abraham see a map on the wall across the room, with a purple marker at South Island, the location of Green Hill Zone.

Rouge: Well, if you want an explanation, the best these guys can give is that some sort of electrical shockwave originated from South Island, short-circuiting most electrical appliances all around Mobius. The weird part is that energy apparently matches…Sonic, of all people.

Filled with frustration, Abraham slams his fist on the glass in front of him.

Abraham: That CAN'T be possible! Sonic would know how dangerous an EMP blast like that could be!

Rouge: Don't blame me sir, I'm just the messenger looking for pay.

The door behind the two then opens, revealing a black-and-red hedgehog with ring bracelets and anklets, who doesn't exactly look happy to be here.

Abraham: There you are, Shadow. Do you need an update on the situation?

Shadow: Nah, I heard you both. It seems we've got a faker in our midst.

At that moment, a G.U.N. soldier runs up the balcony to speak with the group, a worried expression on his face.

GUN-Soldier: Commander! The source of the shockwave has been located, and it is traveling across the sea towards Station Square!

Abraham: What?

Everyone looks at the map, and the purple marker is indeed traveling across the ocean towards the city of Station Square, located near the floating Angel Island.

Shadow: Considering Sonic can't swim, he'd be a moron to try and risk running across the ocean.

Rouge: Maybe he isn't alone? He does like flying on the Tornado with that fox buddy of his.

Abraham sighs to himself, not sure what to think of this development. At the same time, Shadow turns to a window to the side of the room, arms crossed.

Shadow: Let me guess. I need to go confront whoever, or whatever, that is, right?

Abraham: Correct. You have gotten the closest out of anyone here to beating Sonic himself, so you're our best bet, especially since G.U.N. is still trying to rebuild after the Eggman Empire fell. Rouge?

Rouge: Who, me? Sorry, but I can't go. Omega is recharging, and I promised him we'd both watch that purple show he really likes. Plus, with how rough that blue blur can be, I wouldn't want to ruin my nails fighting him. You understand, right Shadow?

As Rouge is speaking, Shadow just raises his eyebrow, knowing that she's just trying to avoid fighting to take a shower or something trivial like that, as well as to potentially avoid fighting Sonic. However, he then just smiles to himself.

Shadow: Eh, fair enough. Means more fun for me.

Abraham: Shadow, take this.

With one hand behind his back, the commander tosses a pistol to Shadow, who catches it before storing it away with chaos magic.

Abraham: Whatever this is, it could have Sonic’s power. DON'T underestimate it.

Rouge: Right, be careful for us. It would be a shame if you died, y'know.

While Rouge is trying to act coy, Shadow can tell her concern is sincere. He then just chuckles to himself a bit.

Shadow: Who said I would?

Shadow then leaps and breaks through the window, perfectly landing on the grassy grounds below, before skating away through the woods with his rocket shoes.

Abraham: Did he really have to break through the window?

Rouge: He has a flair for the dramatic, you gotta give him that.

Meanwhile, in the middle of the Emerald Sea, Sonic is running on top of the water, with a frustrated Caliburn held in his scabbard.

Sonic: WOO-HOO! Told ya I could run on water! I'm free as the wind, baby!

Caliburn: Sonic, I'm worried you'll fall into the water! You know you can't swim.

Sonic: Oh c'mon, I'll be fine. Look, there's a city, just up ahead!

In the distance, there are a bunch of small, sandy islands, with features ranging from hills to loops, and nearly a quarter of them are connected by wooden platforms. All the platforms are in front of a large metropolis that seems to be partially under construction. Seeing the islands and city getting closer, Caliburn starts panicking a bit.

Caliburn: Sonic, you're gonna-!

Sonic just smiles as he speeds up, leaping over islands, running through loops, all without a care in the world as he lands back on the water.

Sonic: What, crash? I'm fine! Giant city, here I-!

However, Sonic is cut off by an orca slamming into him from the waves below, causing him and Caliburn to fly through the sky. At a hotel near the coast, a bunch of people are hanging out at a pool. While most of the people there are humans in swimwear, there are also a bunch of Mobians that aren't wearing anything, but are covered up by things like fur and feathers. One of these mobians is a pink hedgehog named Amy Rose, who is laying on her red dress. Oddly, unlike the rest of the hedgehogs, her head quills are shaped like a bob cut under a band, she has no quills on her back, she has an extra large tail, and she has a white fur crescent on her chest. As she is laying down, Amy thinks about her history with Station Square.

Amy: Ah, I remember loving this place when I lived here. Sure, that was before Perfect Chaos destroyed everything, but I'm glad the city brought itself up. Hopefully, Chaos has some peace by now…

Then, a tanned woman with a plate full of drinks kneels down next to the hedgehog.

Drink Woman: You're Amy, right? Here's your bubbling water you ordered!

Amy: Aww, thank you-

However, as Amy goes to pick up the glass, she sees that the water is reflecting something purple. Turning around, Amy sees Sonic and Caliburn fly down and slam through the pool, with the poolgoers running out of the way, while Amy and the drink woman duck under the bouncing duo, who slam into the hotel behind them and land into a couple’s restaurant table. As the dust settles, both the poolgoers and the hotel members stand and stare at the strange, purple pair, with them thinking they know who the hedgehog is. Amy and the drink woman also stare through the hole in the wall.

Pool Dog: I think it's Sonic!

Hotel Waitress: Why did he break through the wall?

Drink Woman: Um, you know him, miss Amy…why does he have a sword with a face?

Amy just grabs her bubbling water and starts chugging it out of stress.

Caliburn: …THIS…is why you need to learn some patience…

Sonic: …Ok, to be fair, I didn't expect the GOD DAMN orca!

Hotel Waiter: Indeed, the orcas aren't exactly well-liked around here…but hey, it's just like you to survive something like that, am I right?

As Sonic gets up and picks up his blade, he realizes that a lot of the people around him are actually cheering for him.

Sonic: Oh wow, I didn't know I needed validation like this until I got it!

Caliburn: Great, this realm’s Sonic seems like a hero, now we can-

As Sonic is moving back towards the hole, he accidentally bumps into Amy, who he turns to see.

Amy: Sonic…are you ok? I wanted to call you here a minute ago, but the power blacked out and-

Sonic: Sorry, should I know you?

The audience gasps around them.

Sonic: What?

Amy: Should you know me, I'm one of your best friends! Besides, why are you purple, and why can that sword talk?

Caliburn: If it makes you feel better, this isn't your Sonic. We're just travelers from another realm.

Amy: W-what!?

Sonic: Yeah, I wanted to see how things looked in different realms. For example, I don't remember hedgehogs having quills like that. I mean, where'd your back quills go, girl?

Amy gasps, feeling completely disrespected. And by a version of her hero, no less!

Amy: L-look, I don't know how my quills got like this, but I think they look beautiful with my-

Amy then falls silent as she realizes she doesn't have her dress on. In front of her hero. Oof.

Amy: AAAAHHHHHH-

Sonic: With your-what? Your purse, or somethi-?

Amy: DON'T LOOK AT ME!

In a panic, Amy dashes away to get her dress, leaving Sonic and Caliburn confused.

Sonic: What's up with her? I mean, she wasn't caught with her fur down or anything-

Amy then dashes back with her dress on, some Red still on her face. Despite her embarrassment, she tries to keep herself calm.

Sonic: Oh, there you are.

Amy: Look, I don't know what your deal is, but I'm all about helping others, so I would be glad to help you around the city if you need.

Sonic: …Nah, don't need it, but thanks anyway. See ya!

Sonic pulls out a string and latches onto a skyscraper, pulling himself quickly over Amy’s head and swinging him towards the station center. After looking at the audience for a second, a nervous Amy runs after Sonic. In the main district of the city, Sonic swings down from the sky and lands on a sky, looking at the city around him. The city looks pretty complete, although some of the buildings are still under construction, and streams of water run throughout.

Caliburn: Sonic, maybe you should've considered asking that pink hedgehog for help on the way back to the rift.

Sonic: Oh c'mon, I can find my way back. Besides, I'm currently in the mood for a snack…

Looking around, Sonic notices a chilli dog cart a short distance away.

Sonic: Bingo!

Sonic dashes over to the cart and leans on it to casually speak to the human owner.

Sonic: Hello there, sir. I'm a bit of a fan of your work, and I would like a-

Chilli Dog Man: Oh my goodness, you're Sonic The Hedgehog!

Sonic: Oh, uh, yeah I am, although I am also-

Caliburn: Sonic, it seems these chilli dogs cost some rings.

Sonic: Oh crap, right. Weird this realm has the same currency as ours. Sorry man, I kinda forgot that I'm not very liquid-

The man puts a chilli dog in Sonic’s hand.

Chilli Dog Man: Go ahead, take it. How else could I reward this city’s hero?

Sonic: …Oh, uh, alright then. If you're liquid either way, then it's probably fine.

As Sonic walks away, taking a bite or two out of his food, he really gets to take in how he's perceived in this realm.

Sonic: Man, everyone here knows who I am, even though I've never been here. Far out, huh?

Caliburn: Yes, I guess “far out” could describe it…

Sonic: Like, if I wanted to, I could RULE this place! It's…almost exactly what I wanted it to be.

Caliburn: Almost? Oh, that dumb grin on his face…it's exactly the same one Arthur made when he finally learned to wield me...look, young Pendragon, this kingdom isn't yours to rule, the Mobian Kingdom back home is. So just, please be quick with your look around this city, so we can go home, ok?

Sonic: Ok, fine, if it'll get you off my-OH, what is that?

Caliburn: Wait, what-WOAH!

Getting distracted by a colorful building in the distance, Sonic swings over there with a string. Amy arrives in the city right after, trying to find the hedgehog.

Amy: Ugh, where could that purple Sonic be? If Birdie was here with me, it'd be way easier to find him!

Meanwhile, Sonic swings onto the building that contains Twinkle Park. Looking through the ceiling windows, he sees a space-like world of attractions and wonder that is somehow WAY bigger than the building on the inside.

Caliburn: This seems wildly impossible.

Sonic: You're a talking sword, don't be a stick in the mud. This is awesome either way!

Sonic then swings in the other direction away from the park district. As Amy is running through the city, she feels a swift breeze in her quills as Sonic swings overhead. As Sonic lands on a building and starts running across it, his arms behind his back without a care in the world, Amy runs up and onto the building and runs alongside him, trying to have any form of conversation.

Amy: Uh, other Sonic, can you please tell me where you came from? I'm friends with this world’s Sonic, so seeing you running around is kinda weird, y'know?

Amy has the feeling that Sonic is here for some other reason, but can't bring herself to ask directly.

Sonic: Buddy, I don't really feel comfortable talking about my personal life, alright? We just want to look around, right Caliburn?

Hearing the name “Caliburn” reminds Amy of a story her realm’s Sonic told her, about him entering the world of King Arthur and slaying the king with the help of the book’s Caliburn. She didn't believe that adventure was real-just an excuse from Sonic to avoid a date-but maybe it was more real than she realized, at least real enough for an alternate realm (AR) version to exist.

Amy: Hey, Sonic said he had a sword named Caliburn that helped him defeat King Arthur-

Sonic: WHAT!? BUT THAT'S MY DAD-

As Sonic yells in shock, he immediately realizes that he just revealed his royal heritage. Sonic and Caliburn just silently look at each other for a second before Sonic swings away with a string, Amy reaching for him to no avail.

Amy: Wait-aw, damnit. He was royalty this whole time? Why didn't he just say that…

While Amy lost track of Sonic through the city skyline, she decides to try following him by summoning tarot cards around herself, using the circling cards to glide between the buildings. A large distance away, Sonic is swinging away.

Caliburn: Sonic, you know you shouldn't just give out your identity like that-

Sonic: I KNOW, it's just…if that girl's story is true, I…

While Sonic is freaked out by the idea that versions of him and his father could come to blows, he tries to play it off as obvious.

Sonic: Well, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

Caliburn: Shouldn't be surprised? You have a wonderful father! If he can see his entire kingdom as children to care for, imagine how much he cares for you.

Sonic: Stop hopping on him, dude. Do you have any idea how strict that guy is? I mean, at least Mom gets me-WOAH!

Sonic sees a shore at the end of the city and pivots in a panic, starting to swing in the other direction.

Sonic: Ok, kinda close honestly. I'm not used to this much water!

Caliburn: Sonic, did you forget that you can fly-LOOK OUT!

Caliburn yells out as Sonic notices a floating Amy up ahead, who is looking through some buildings to her left.

Amy: Sonic? Ugh, normally I can find him quickly, but I'm not used to a brand new Sonic-

Sonic: GANGWAY!

Before Amy can react, Sonic accidentally slams into her, causing all the tarot cards to scatter onto the streets below. Recovering, Amy realizes that she's being dragged through the sky and holds onto Sonic for dear life (but not without getting pretty flustered).

Amy: AGH! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?!

Sonic: What am I DOING? Why are you FLOATING in the middle of the SKY?!

Amy: I WAS LOOKING FOR YOU! Now, can you PLEASE BRING US DOWN-

Before Amy can finish, the hedgehogs faceplant into a side window of a casino, a rich couple of men staring at them through the glass.

Sonic: …Ow, my poor nose…

After a second of sliding, the group fall into a dumpster near the casino entrance. Caliburn is the first to hop out.

Caliburn: On the bright side, we're down now, you two.

Amy and Sonic poke their heads out of the dumpster, trying to hold back their vomit and wipe off the trash stuck to them respectively. At that moment, two blond, human girls walk out of the entrance giggling, likely drunk as a skunk, and start giggling more when they notice the hedgehogs in the dumpster.

Girl 1: OH, MY, GAIA, is that SONIC? I didn't know he could be such a slob!

Girl 2: Yeah, and with a GIRL, TOO? You should probably check for an infection, baby girl!

Sonic: For your information, I do not know this girl, I have no clue how superheroes avoid this stuff.

Amy feels her face turn beet red as she can't bring herself to look at…anybody really. This day just keeps getting worse and worse, doesn't it? Getting angered at seeing the closest thing he has to a son being disrespected, Caliburn raises his voice.

Caliburn: THIS ISN'T YOUR BUSINESS! I will politely ask you to leave before I contact the authorities!

Girl 2: Ok mister sword, we're sorry, sheesh!

Girl 1: Yeah, I kinda feel bad about the jokes, not gonna lie…

As the girls walk away, the hedgehogs hop out of the dumpster and try to shake off the garbage, with Amy…vomiting in the dumpster behind her.

Sonic: Ok, I'mma be real, this WAS fun until, well, whatever THAT was. Right…uh, what's your name again?

Amy: …Amy Rose-

Sonic: Right, right right, so I'm pretty sure it's time for us to go now…

Caliburn: Finally, you came to your senses.

Amy, still worried about what this new Sonic’s arrival could mean, as well as just wanting an answer, wipes the leftovers from her mouth and runs to Sonic as he stares at the horizon, seeing how the sun is setting.

Amy: Wait, you're leaving?

Sonic: Look petals, it's getting pretty late, and I'm not currently liquid enough to rent a room, so…

Amy: You admitted that you're ROYALTY!

Suddenly, the group hears what sounds like an old man coming from a nearby alley.

???: Hey, would anyone have a spare ring?

Distracted by the plea, Sonic follows the voice, with the rest of the group following, and in the alley they find an old, human man sitting in an oversized box. His battered clothing doesn't give off very wealthy vibes. Seeing this, Sonic and Caliburn are a little perplexed, while Amy covers her mouth in shock and pity.

Amy: Oh, you poor thing…

Sonic: Why did he ask for a ring?

Amy: What do you mean? He obviously doesn't have any money!

Sonic: So you're saying he…can't afford a home?

Sonic is devastated, seeing an innocent man like this, and while Caliburn also feels sorry for him, he tries to think of a logical explanation.

Caliburn: Well, he must not be very good with his finances-

Hearing the made up excuse, Sonic snaps before the sword can even finish.

Sonic: WHAT!? So you're saying he DESERVES TO BE LIKE THIS because he's UNLUCKY!?

Caliburn: No I'm not, I'm just saying-

Old Man: Oh, please don't fight. After this city got flooded, a lot of homes were destroyed, and I lost my money at the casino after the fact. With the renovations, there haven't been many opportunities for people like me…

Caliburn: …Well, whoever is in charge of this city's reconstruction probably has plans to help out you lower-wealth folk, so you don't have to-

Suddenly, a loud orchestra of trumpets and trombones can be heard throughout the city.

Caliburn: …What in the worlds is that?

The group looks around the alley corner into the street, including Amy after she tosses the old man a ring.

Old Man: You're a saint, young hedgehog.

Amy: I hope things get better for you.

Looking into the street, the group sees a fancy black-and-silver lamborghini driving through in the distance, band members on each side playing to the heavens. Multiple citizens of all types of wealth gather to see the commotion. A strawberry blond man with a fancy blue suit pokes his head out of the top of the vehicle, waving to the crowds.

Amy: Oh, that's Mayor Bullyani!

Caliburn: Bullyani? That doesn't seem like a very regal name.

Amy: It's a sore spot for him.

Bullyani: Greetings, fine citizens! It is with great pride that I announce that this city is nearly finished with reconstruction. A few months to go, and we'll finally be able to put Chaos and the Eggman Empire behind us!

Quite a few people clap at the announcement, but not all of them. While Sonic hears of Eggman and recalls the mad doctor, he doesn't get what “Chaos” is. Some RPG final boss?

Sonic: Chaos? I don't think you can forget about an ENTIRE concept.

Amy: He's referring to a water monster that was corrupted a long time ago. It destroyed this whole city two years ago before my Sonic beat it.

Sonic cringes a bit at the thought of a water creature.

Sonic: Water…great…

After he is done waving, Bullyani ducks back into his vehicle. As the vehicle passes by the group, they overhear a conversation between the mayor and his driver, where the former doesn't seem thrilled about his citizens.

Bullyani: Ugh, I hate that I have to do these update speeches every now and then. We're working on fixing things, why can't they have some faith and be patient?

Driver: They are likely just stressed from daily life, sir. I heard that some people lost their homes to gambling. Do you have an idea on how to deal with that?

Bullyani: Seriously? Casinopolis is the city’s best moneymaker. Reconstruction is way more important than some gambling addict low-lives.

Hearing Bullyani’s words in secret upsets the group greatly as the lamborghini passes by. Amy is filled with shock, Caliburn is disappointed at the mayor’s ignorance, and Sonic…is completely unresponsive. He just looks on at the fancy car, driving past the casino with applause and a band, knowing that some people are suffering at some dude’s expense.

Amy: How COULD he?

Caliburn: Well, that isn't noble in the slightest! A royal shouldn't ever be that insensitive, right Sonic…Sonic?

Sonic doesn't respond, as he grits his teeth through heavy, rabid breaths. As his fangs show, he clenches his fists, causing his metal gauntlet to scratch itself with horrid screeches and for blood to come out of his hand scar. Something will change.

Chapter Text

As Shadow drifts closer and closer to Station Square above an orange sea, his rocket shoes propelling him over water, he taps a small button on his glove, creating a digital map in front of his face. It shows that Shadow is getting close to his destination, but also shows that Knuckles is close as well. Out of sheer boredom (and a slight worry he might not be enough to be Sonic), Shadow starts a call. Knuckles, on the other hand, is gliding over the Emerald Sea and lands on a sandy loop island, getting a view of the setting sun but not of his target.

Knuckles: Great. Where is that hedgehog now?

Suddenly, Knuckles hears rapping from his glove and gets freaked out for a second.

Knuckles: WHAT IN THE-oh wait, that's my ringtone.

Knuckles taps a button on his glove, and a video image of Shadow plays, starting a call between the two.

Shadow: Knuckles, are you near Station Square?

Knuckles: Yeah. I honestly forgot I had one of these communication things.

Shadow: Well, mine has a map that is leading me to an energy source similar to Sonic. If you aren't aware, it created a shockwave that overloaded a lot of tech across the world.

Knuckles: Really? I'm not very know-howable on tech, but I'm actually searching for a purple Sonic. He caused a lot of damage, and I need to stop him!

Shadow: Well, that's alarming, but you're in luck. The signal says that a Sonic is in Station Square.

Knuckles: That was in the direction the purple Sonic went, but proceed with caution. That hedgehog’s power is nothing to scoff at!

Shadow: Ok, aren't you going to proceed with caution too?

Knuckles: I would, but we both know I'm not proficient in stealth. Let us wish upon luck!

Knuckles stops the call, and starts gliding towards the city quickly enough to cause a shockwave. Meanwhile, Shadow continues drifting on the waves towards Station Square, but wonders what sort of monster he's hunting down.

Shadow: Ok, so there IS a second Sonic, it seems. I would hate to admit it, but he's at least even with me, if not stronger. And what sort of damage was Knuckles talking about?

Meanwhile, in Station Square itself, Sonic is getting angrier and angrier, imagine a scene of Bullyani swimming in money and laughing while innocent people starve and perish. This anger doesn't go unnoticed by Amy and Caliburn, who get a bit concerned seeing Sonic’s bleeding hand.

Amy: Uhh…Sonic? Do we need to talk about something?

Suddenly, Sonic creates some strings from his eyes (which weirds out Amy a bit, now that she sees it) and grabs Caliburn with them, pulling the living blade into his right hand.

Caliburn: Good idea, wanting to leave this realm quickly. I wouldn't want to see this travesty of a show any longer, either-

However, instead of swinging off, Sonic walks into the road, staring at the vehicle ahead of him. Realizing something bad may happen, Caliburn tries to get out of Sonic’s grip.

Caliburn: Um, Sonic? I don't know what you're thinking, but can you please not act reckless-

Caliburn struggles, but can't break free due to the strings.

Amy: Sonic?

In a moment, Caliburn starts glowing blue with soul magic, as Sonic readies an attack, with a look of horror on Amy’s face as she realizes what's going on.

Caliburn/Amy: NO SONIC, DON'T-

Before Amy can stop it, Sonic swings his sword, creating a blue wave of destructive energy. Inside the car, Bullyani casually looks behind himself for a second, before looking back again in a panic as he notices the death wave careening towards him.

Bullyani: Driver, GET OUT of the road, RIGHT THIS SECOND-

The wave nearly causes the car to flip over as it hits, the car getting sent into the air and crashing down. A giant gasp comes from the crowd as they realize what happened, with the band stopping their instruments entirely (some even drop their instruments). Amy is shocked and appalled at first, but then gets enraged at the smiling Sonic, who swings a finger in the mayor's direction.

Sonic: Yeah, SUCK IT richie!

Amy: SONIC!

Sonic is immediately silenced, getting caught off guard and even a bit frightened at the toe-tapping girl. However, he just gets kinda confused as to why she isn't taking his side.

Sonic: What?

Caliburn: Sonic, you should know exactly what. You attacked a government official!

Sonic: You heard what that guy was saying too, right?

Amy: Yeah, but that doesn't mean he deserves to die!

Without even noticing Amy's angered expression, Sonic slowly walks up to Amy, causing her to nearly whimper as she realizes how surprisingly imposing Sonic can be. Without skipping a beat, Sonic talks to Amy in a deadpan, yet furious tone.

Sonic: He was going to let people starve, and he'd probably get himself killed eventually. I have to do this.

Amy tries to talk back, but she can't bring herself to. Meanwhile, the driver and Bullyani pull themselves out of the vehicle, only for the latter to see the violet hedgehog staring at him, immediately causing himself to panic.

Bullyani: Driver, call the police, RIGHT NOW-

Before the mayor can finish, Sonic dashes up to him and holds him up by the tie (although, due to his height, Sonic can't get the mayor off his knees). At that moment, the driver runs away, which Sonic doesn’t mind.

Sonic: Oh, calling some guys to be meat shields for ya, huh?

Caliburn: Sonic, it's their JOB to defend him, now stand down!

Sonic: What, so he can make more people suffer?

As she looks on in the distance, Amy wonders if Sonic might have a point. He’s SONIC, after all, and the mayor doesn’t seem to be a great person. He must have a good reason for the damage…however, she then notices the old man, hiding behind the dumpster next to her. People could end up at risk if this new Sonic tries to play judge, jury and executioner, and so Amy decides to steel herself and run closer to the action.

Bullyani: But we built a statue for you in the casino!

Sonic: I would be flattered, but I know what game you’re playing, old man!

Amy: SONIC!

Sonic and his captive turn a bit to see Amy, pointing straight at Sonic.

Amy: I don’t know what you could possibly be going through, but the Sonic I know would NEVER act like this, killing willy-nilly! So back off away from that man, or I’ll make you!

As Amy is speaking, she flicks her wrist back with a stream of pink energy, summoning a massive pink-and-yellow hammer that dents a crater into the ground from its sheer weight.

Caliburn: Please listen to her, Sonic, I don’t want you being in any more trouble than you already are!

With Bullyani still in hand, Sonic fully turns to Amy, a small, cocky smirk on his face.

Sonic: Look pinkie, I don’t know what told you that I was “your” Sonic, but I never said that I was, did I?

???: EXACTLY!

Taken off guard a bit, the group turns to see Knuckles, who has finally tracked down Sonic and is raising his spiked fist, ready for battle. Without saying a word, Sonic drops the mayor to the ground and turns to the echidna while stretching, more confused than anything. While happy to see him, Amy is also pretty confused at Knuckles’ arrival. Meanwhile, Bullyani is too scared shitless to move.

Sonic: Well, thanks for the support, but…who are you?

Amy: Knuckles!..Why are you here?

Knuckles: False Sonic! I have seen what you’ve done during your fight with Eggman, and me and my fists shall be your undoing!

Sonic and Caliburn, hearing Knuckles’ words, immediately realize that he must have seen them in Green Hill Zone, and the latter gets filled with a sense of urgency. Amy, on the other hand, gives a suspicious look to the pair.

Amy: What does he mean by that?

Caliburn: Sonic, we can’t waste time here, let’s go!

Sonic: Well, I’m not letting this jerk get away with everything, so I’ll kill him quickly, and then we ca-

Before he can finish speaking, Sonic recoils before sneezing, making everyone around him a bit confounded.

Sonic: Ok seriously, why do I have the sniffles today-

Suddenly, as he tries to wipe his nose with his arm, Sonic suffers a flaming kick to the head that launches him away, causing him to dribble on the road before rolling to a stop. Shaking off the pain and dirt, Sonic gets up to see Shadow, standing high next to Bullyani.

Sonic: Oh great, a new guy. What’s the deal with you, huh oiled-spines?

Ignoring Sonic entirely, Shadow stares down at the mayor with a stone-cold expression.

Shadow: Leave the area. Now.

Saying only a few whimpers, the mayor gets up and starts running away. Annoyed at being ignored, Sonic gets into a running stance facing the running mayor.

Sonic: Fine, I don’t have time for you anyway.

Sonic tries dashing towards Bullyani, but Shadow is able to track him and intercepts his path with a Chaos Spear, forcing Sonic to stop and allowing the mayor a chance to get away. Immediately, Knuckles tries to rush at Sonic, who blocks the punch and throws the echidna by the wrist, who lands on his feet next to Shadow and Amy. At this point, a lot of the citizens that were watching had hid in their homes or otherwise got away from the scene, in order to not get hurt.

Sonic: Are you guys seriously defending that fucker? He’s prioritizing a SHINY BUILDING over people! Are you his guardhog or something, tall, dark, and edgy?

Knuckles: -Aren’t all hedgehogs edge-y-

Shadow: I’m Shadow The Hedgehog, the Ultimate Lifeform. Sure, that mayor is an idiot, but as part of the Guardian Unit of Nations, I can’t just play punisher!

Sonic rolls his eyes, hearing of Shadow’s role, while Caliburn gets a bit more hopeful.

Sonic: Oh WOW, a secret military force with a brooding bio-weapon. And one LITERALLY named GUN, too. Seriously, go look up Trope Talk, maybe you’ll be a bit less brainwashed afterwards, alright?

Shadow: What the hell is he talking about?

Caliburn: Oh thank goodness, someone with actual political knowledge! I’m sorry for the boy’s outburst, I assume you have a voting system so a better leader can be instated, so we can hopefully just move on from all of this. Sonic here is a prince, after, we wouldn’t want his kingdom to fall apart, do we?

Knuckles: We don’t believe you, magic blade! We will make you pay for destroying Green Hill!

Sonic and Caliburn cringe hearing the reveal, while Amy and Shadow’s eyes widen with the realization, before they start screaming in rage and panic, their fingers curling with the shock.

Amy/Shadow: HE DID WHAT!?

Sonic: I only broke, like, a bit of it, and it was an accident! Besides, no one was even living there, no one was even hurt!

Amy: What about the small animals?

Sonic, initially very defensive, falls silent when he hears that animals could have been hurt, even if they aren’t mobians, and Knuckles’ face of judgement doesn’t give him much confidence. Meanwhile, Caliburn isn’t nearly as caring for the small critters.

Caliburn: Oh come on, they’re just animals, why would that ever be a big-

However, before Caliburn says his thoughts out loud, he sees the concern in Sonic’s face, realizing that Sonic really does care about small creatures, unlike him. With that in mind, he tries to support Sonic and deny that he did harm.

Caliburn: Sonic couldn’t have hurt the animals. Wild creatures are built to get away from disasters quickly.

Sonic: Y-yeah! I only blew that place up because of Eggman, you gotta believe me!

While Amy hesitates a bit hearing Sonic’s words, the boys don’t back down, with Shadow even hiding a smile, excited for the upcoming fight.

Shadow: Sorry, but I’ve got a job to do, and GUN would like to have a word with you for your actions, prince.

Realizing that he can’t talk his way out of a fight, Sonic builds up energy as he prepares to battle, Caliburn still in hand.

Sonic: Well pal, Amy has that oversized mallet, and Knuckles has his spiky-fists, so what weapons are you plannin’ to use? Eyeliner?

In response, Shadow summons his gun out of thin air and, after a light twirl, points it with one hand directly at the prince, who realizes that his shadowy counterpart isn’t joking around.

Sonic: Oh…