Chapter 9: Return of a Hero
Omega approached the EggHydra and released a SALVO of missiles as he did such. The EggHydra lost two more of its remaining heads, now only a pair of them remaining.
"EggHydra is obsolete," Omega stated. "Probablity of survival of Egg Hydra: one times ten to the power of negative fifteen percent."
That's when Robotnik remembered something that could prove helpful: when a head was severed, it could still attack on its own... if he could remember the frequencies used to activate each of the individual heads. Robotnik pulled out a PDA and frantically began to work on it, attempting to find his blueprints for the EggHydra as the battle raged on.
The EggHydra dove at Omega once more before unleashing a devestating wave of flames. Omega used his jets to boost away from the attacks, then retaliated with a stream of lead from his machine guns. The bullets had little effect on the dragon-based robot, doing little more than ruining its paint job. The EggHydra's two remaining heads lunged at Omega, attempting to crush the last of the E-100s with its titanium jaws. Omega was caught by the EggHydra, but its outadated pneumatics weren't strong enough to crush Omega's armor. Omega fired a missile into one of the mouths, causing it to explode. The explosion caused a chain reaction, destroying the central core of the EggHydra, and the final head.
"Battle status: termination of EggHydra successful," Omega stated, then turned to Robotnik and continued, "Primary objective restablished: terminate Doctor Ivo Robotnik, alias 'Eggman'."
"Don't celebrate quite yet," Robotnik said as the three heads that were severed began to rise up to fight once again. "A scientist of my calibur always has a backup plan."
Omega rushed towards one of the EggHydralings and grabbed it by the jaws, attempting to destroy the machine by pulling the jaw beyond its intended angle of freedom. The other two EggHydralings quickly dove underground and rushed towards Omega. Omega was caught by one of them as it sprung up from the ground and wrapped itself around Omega. The final head sprung up and used its jaw to crush Omega's head.
Omega, although still operational, was now unable to see. "Commencing damage analysis... analysis complete. Tracking systems: critically damaged, replacement required. Camera systems: critically damaged, replacement required. Audio sensors: severly damaged, offline. Weapons systems: heavy damage, operating at approximately 40% efficency. Locomotive systems: fully operational. Logic systems: fully operational. Overall battle efficiency: 15%. Reassessing probability of success. Probability of success: 3%. Initiating emergency data transfer and self destruct system."
Omega transferred his program to another machine elsewhere on Mobiüs, then exploded, destroying himself and the EggHydralings in the process.
"A pity," Robotnik
said. "I worked so hard on both of those... Back to the drawing board!"
"I say ve run!" Ludwig suggested. "Our zells vill not last long against adamantite!"
"Quit your whining!" Bowser shouted. "Shut up and hand me the Ztar!"
"Right, Papa!" Junior said as he dug into his shell and grabbed the Ztar.
Junior then threw the Ztar to Bowser, but his aim was off, and the Ztar landed behind Roboshi.
"Sorry, Papa!" Junior shouted.
"Don't worry about it, we'll just muscle our way through!" Bowser roared.
"If that was any of us, we'd be in the dungeon for at least a month!" Iggy whispered to Wendy, who simply nodded.
"Roy, you take him from the left," Ludwig said as he picked up one of the adamantite shards and tossed another to Roy, "I'll take him from the right."
"Right," Roy said. "Let's crush this walking scrap heap!"
The two strongest of the Koopalings ran towards Roboshi from opposite sides. Roboshi retaliated by unleashing a spray of bullets from his hands, each hand directed towards one of the two Koopalings charging towards him. Ludwig and Roy took several hits, but the bullets merely chipped their shells. When they got up close, Roboshi attempted to blast them both with its flamethrower, opening its mouth and unleashing a wave of fire.
"Now!" Ludwig shouted.
Roy and Ludwig both tossed their shards into Roboshi's mouth, damaging both the flamethrowing and the adamantite launcher.
"Everyone, use ze zards he zot at us!" Ludwig said. "Zey can tear zrough his armor wiz ease!"
The royal Koopa
family began collecting the shards and tossing them at the robotic Yoshi,
tearing through it with ease. When its plating was nearly destroyed, Bowser
grabbed it, ripped the armor off its back, and incinerated the internal
mechanics of the machine.
"You can't win," Knuckles said. "We outnumber you three to one."
"You think I serve Cronos Sonic by choice?" Smithy asked. "I would have betrayed him and took the power of time for myself in an instant had I been given the chance! There's no denying it, any who oppose Cronos Sonic will be destroyed."
"Typical," Princess Toadstool said. "You're a coward, willing to do anything to further your own selfish purposes."
"Are we going to fight, or simply lecture one another all day?" Smithy asked.
"You just had to do this the hard way!" Knuckles shouted as he charged towards Smithy.
Smithy swung his hammer at Knuckles, but Knuckles simply jumped over it and thrust his fist downwards as he fell towards Simthy, landing a direct hit onto Smithy's head. Smithy then grabbed Knuckles by the ankle, and threw him to the floor. Smithy raised his hammer and was about to crush his bones when a shuriken hit the automaton from behind, buying Knuckles just enough time to roll out of the way.
"Who was that?" Gadd asked.
"Sorry we're late," Vector said as he crushed Smithy's hammer with his massive jaws.
"We had a bit of trouble finding you guys," Charmy said as he stung Smithy in the eyes, blinding the automaton.
"You didn't think we'd chicken out now, did you?" Espio said as revealed himself behind Smithy.
"About time you guys showed up!" Knuckles shouted.
"Everyone, now!" Gadd shouted as he blasted Smithy with FLUDD.
Princess Toadstool
quickly followed by smashing Smithy with her frying pan, Knuckles pounded
him with his fists, Espio threw several shuriken at Smithy, Vector rammed
into Smithy with his shoulder, Charmy continued to sting him, and Luigi
dealt the finishing blow with his Thunderhand, reducing Smithy to rust.
Raknor rushed headfirst towards Geno, who jumped out of the way. Geno was successful at dodging the attack, but he tripped over his own feet in doing such.
"I'm not yet used to this vessel," Geno explained. "Robots are much more difficult to manipulate than dolls..."
"Don't worry about it," Tikal said as she trapped Raknor in a barrier. "I think I can handle this one myself."
Raknor started to glow red, and all of the sudden, he unleashed a flaming blast, shattering the barrier and knocking Tikal to the ground.
"Are you okay?" Geno asked.
"A bit shaken, but what's the worst that can happen?" Tikal asked. "It's not like I can die."
"Your intentions are well," Geno said as he stood up, "but you would do well to remember that pride comes before a fall. If we do this together, we can pull it off. United we stand, divided we fall."
"Sorry," Tikal said as she stood up.
"To be truly united, we must both lead and follow at the same time," Geno reminded her. "We must give others our thoughts, while considering theirs."
"I'm ready," Tikal said as she began to glow with light.
"Understood," Geno said as he transformed into a cannon.
A beam of light came down and stunned Raknor as Geno blasted him with a Geno Flash. Tikal and Geno then rushed up to Raknor and held up their hands, summoning a beam of pure light to vaporize Raknor.
"UNITY'S VALOR!" the two of them shouted as they conquered their foe.
"Only one challenge remains now," Tikal says, "Cronos."
"No, there is another," Geno said. "One final battle."
Tikal thought for a moment, then said, "You don't mean-"
"You know of that to which I refer," Geno said. "Two great defenders, the red and the blue, tell me, are we truly such fools? That now our greatest hopes must fight, one for the darkness, the other for light. Against time itself they stood as one, ensuring evil's design would be undone. Yet now they clash, one with clouded mind, when it is over, what will we find? If victorious the unsure is, all is surely lost, yet if rightousness is victorious, what is the cost? Will the fallen, his sight regain? Or inside him shall darkness forevermore reign?"
"We have to stop him!" Tikal said, "If he-"
"We cannot," Geno
interupted. "Only Sonic can stop Cronos, and after that, only Mario will
be able to defeat him."
"W-what happened?" asked the figure.
It was a hedgehog, much like Sonic, but much older. The voice sounded familiar to everyone there, even Mario, who had only heard in a twisted form.
"Sonic, is that him?" Mario asked.
Sonic didn't answer, he simply cried... it was the first time he had seen his grandfather in six years.
This shouldn't be possible, Cronos Sonic thought to himself. How can he and I exist at the same point in time? Is he from another timeline, or from my past? If I destroy him, would I create a paradox that would destroy all timelines, or would I merely destroy him? Or would it be impossible for me to kill him? Is it possible to defeat him without injuring myself? If he is indeed my past, should not I have memory of this encounter? It matters not, I will simply send him back to his own time, and then none of this will matter...
"You are not wanted here, old man," Cronos Sonic said to his past self. "You would do best to return the way you came."
Cronos Sonic attempted to create another wormhole, this time focusing on his past self, but nothing happened... he had used too much energy creating the first, and the Cronos Reactor needed time to recharge...
"I do not mean to intrude," Sonic the elder said, "but I know neither where I am or how I arrived here... although this forest does look familiar... Regardless, I must inquire as to what the situation is here. I see the Chaos Emeralds being used, and the Time Stones... there is another force present which I am unfamiliar with, yet it rivals the powers of the former... and another which surpasses them all... The only reason for all these items to be used is either because the ones using them thirst for power, or are preventing one who does from gaining such power. Despite which of those two possiblities is true, at least one of you intends to abuse the power, and I cannot let that come to pass."
"Gramps, we have to stop that robot!" Sonic shouted.
"That voice... Sonic, is that you?" Sonic the elder looked upon him, and then said, "Was I in a coma of some sort?"
"Gramps... That robot is using the power of time to bend things to his will..." Sonic hesitated, he couldn't bear to tell his grandfather the whole grim truth. "He attempted to travel back in time, but Mario stopped him, which... did... something to his portal and pulled you from the past..."
"I'm afraid that I must put an end to this reunion," Cronos Sonic said as he rushed towards Sonic as he shouted, "Even with the old man here, it changes nothing! My power is absolute!"
Cronos Sonic quickly struck Sonic to the ground, then approached Mario, and started to stab one of his claws towards him. The claw stopped right in front of Mario's forehead, never hitting its target. Cronos Sonic turned around to see that his past self had created a barrier, protecting Mario at the last second.
"You believe yourself to be so powerful," Sonic the elder said to Cronos Sonic, "but in truth, your power is nothing... Yours is but the power to destroy, to bring death, to end life... You are nothing more than a machine of destruction, cold and calculating. True power is not the ability to destroy, nor that to create, but that to fight against impossible odds, when you've already lost, and to still come out, not only alive, but victorious. That is true power, that is hope. Before you can obtain power, you must first know what it is. And because of this, you shall never have that which you seek. If you wish to see true power, then I will show it to you this day!"
"You have no idea to whom you speak," Cronos Sonic laughed. "Sonic... tell this fool of my past..."
"There's only one fool here!" Sonic said as he used a Chaos Flash to blow Cronos Sonic back.
He deserves to know, Mario thought to himself. But then again, it's not my place to say... Would I be able to tell him if I was in Sonic's shoes? Probably not...
Mario jumped up into the air, and ground pounded Cronos, creating a small crack in the robotic hedgehog's armor.
"I-impossible," Cronos Sonic said. "Even with the power of the Stars, you should not be able to damage omnium!"
"Well, it looks like we were right," Mario chuckled. "After all, there's no way I could have harmed a god."
"It matters not," Cronos Sonic said. "A simple crack will not turn the tide of battle. I can see inside of you. The injuries I gave you earlier caused internal bleeding. You're having trouble simply standing up. The same could be said of Sonic the younger. The only one of you three that is in any condition to fight is Sonic the elder.
"Furthermore, in addition to his physical injuries, Sonic the younger is conflicted within himself," Cronos Sonic explained. "Should he tell his dear grandfather the truth? Would it be what he considers ethical to forewarn him of his future, possibly changing the past six years? How dearly he wishes to speak of the truth, yet at the same time, he realizes that if he were to do this, he would be little different from myself."
It's true, Mario realized. Changing the past, even to save a lost loved one, can only be considered an act of selfishness. No matter how horrible the past may seem, changing it in even the slightest manner could make it a thousand times worse. I've no doubt that he can withstand injuries just as well as I can, but right now, his mind must be a mess...
"Sonic! Don't let him get to you," Sonic the elder said. "Whatever it is, it can wait. I will discover my future when it comes time. Whether it is to die at the hands of this monstrosity or something entirely different, you cannot allow him to break your spirit."
He's right, I shouldn't worry about this now, Sonic thought to himself. But, if I were to tell him... I could prevent this entire incident from happening. Not only would his life be spared, but those of countless others that Robotnik's actions have cost. But, even so... no, my intentions are completely different from his. He simply knows that if the truth is revealed, his current self would never exist. This is my chance... I can set everything right... I just need to get the Cronos Reactor from him.
Sonic stood up, his resolve stronger than ever. "Thanks for the talk, I needed that. But I'm going to have to ask you and Mario to both step back. This is my fight and mine alone."
"Sonic, I do not know how much you have matured nor how skilled you have become, but I must ask, are you sure your mind is clear when you say those words?" Sonic the elder asked.
"I'm sure," Sonic said as he reverted to his normal form, handing the Chaos Emeralds to Mario for safekeeping. "Hold on to these."
"Be careful," Mario said.
"Sonic, your voice is shaking, and it's not from your injuries," Sonic the elder said. "I will not stop you from doing this, but I must ask you one last time, are you certain that you wish to do this?"
Sonic chuckled nervously before replying, "I've never been more sure of anything in my life."
"You had no chance with the power of Chaos," Cronos Sonic laughed. "As you are now, you pose no more threat to me than a gnat."
"We'll just see about that," Sonic said as he rushed towards Cronos Sonic.
Cronos Sonic teleported behind Sonic, and attempted to strike him with a hyper-aging blast, but Sonic simply jumped over it and struck Cronos Sonic with a homing attack, then followed through with a barrage of kicks by running in place atop Cronos Sonic's head. Cronos Sonic used a spin dash to knock Sonic off, then began to glow before vanishing. The Time Stones began to glow with a fierce brightness as Sonic grabbed Cronos Sonic's claw as it was coming towards him, and threw him to the floor.
"Impossible!" Cronos Sonic said. "I was moving at ten times the speed of light! Even if you knew where I was, there's no way you should have been able to react in that time!"
"There's no way," Mario said. "How can-"
"The Time Stones," Sonic the Elder explained to Mario. "While the Chaos Emeralds can be powered by any emotions- hope or ir, courage or fear, generosity or greed, love or hatred- the Time Stones can only be powered by one's hope."
How could I have forgotten? Cronos Sonic thought to himself. The Time Stones cause Little Planet to stand still in time. Although normally I would have gone far faster than possible otherwise, the Time Stones are making it to where I must use the Cronos Reactor simply to maintain my standard speed!
"What's the matter?" Sonic mocked. "I thought you were a deity. You must be joking around; after all, there's no way a mere mortal such as myself could possibly have the upper hand over you."
"You celebrate too soon," Cronos Sonic laughed. "This battle is far from over."
Cronos Sonic split into four, and surrounded Sonic. Meanwhile, he looked into the future by a few minutes, and saw his defeat. The Time Stones would continue to drain the Cronos Reactor's power until it was useless... then Sonic would create a wormhole and jump into the past in an attempt to change things... Mario would jump into the wormhole in an attempt to stop Sonic. Cronos Sonic then saw two different worlds, as though the future was undecided...
One future showed not him, but Sonic as the beholder of the Cronos Reactor. The past would be different: he would remain as his former self, but have passed away days after he was supposed to be transformed into his current form. The loss drove Sonic mad, being unable to prevent the death of his grandfather, and he would use the Cronos Reactor to make others suffer.
Then, he saw an entirely different future. He could not see any time in the near future of this given world, but this future intrigued him even further. He saw a great many universes, combined to form a single... "Macroverse". He saw the Mushroom Kingdom and Mobiüs both there, along with countless others... then he saw the entity that he would use to regain his power. It went by many names; Majora, Outside Space, Giygas, Titaniboo... It was a darkness that desired to devour all, wanting only destruction. Yet, its power was sealed, and along with it, the Cronos Reactor. Metal Sonic then realized what he had to do... He would act as a servant to this dark entity, freeing it. Then, when it was released, so too would be the Cronos Reactor. But that was not all Metal Sonic saw. He saw other items that he would be required to obtain in order to truly control time, among them, an ocarina held by a young boy, blueprints created by a young pyromancess, and another set of blueprints owned by soldiers wearing a blue eagle. Of course, the Time Stones were also among them, and they would be among his first goals.
Regardless of what he saw, and knowing that viewing the future had drained the Cronos Reactor even further, he continued to fight. He did, after all, have to make it look convincing. He rushed at Sonic from all sides, attempting to strike with his claws in a drill-like fashion. Sonic quickly created a shield of air around himself by using a spin dash towards the ground, then releasing it at the last moment as Cronos Sonic struck. The blast forced Cronos Sonic back. He quickly reformed into one; he was losing too much energy as it was. Cronos and Sonic each began to charge a spin dash and clashed with one another. The clashing forces created a deafening sonic boom as the two struggled to take control of the battle. The Cronos Reactor could take no more. Time resumed, and Sonic won out. Cronos- no, Metal Sonic fell to the ground, unable to move. The Cronos Reactor was in his hands, but it was powerless now. Mario sighed with relief as Sonic walked over to Metal Sonic and picked up the Cronos Reactor.
"I'm certainly glad that's over," Mario sighed with relief.
"No, it's not over," Sonic said. "Not by a long shot."
Mario looked puzzled, then asked, "What are you talking-"
"Sonic! Whatever your reasons, you must disregard the thought immediately!" Sonic the elder said. "Whatever your intentions, whatever your reasons, no good can come from changing the past!"
Mario then realized exactly what Sonic was going to do. "I won't allow you to do this!" Mario said.
"You don't have a choice," Sonic said, using the Time Stones to instantly power the Cronos Reactor, creating a wormhole into the past.
Sonic jumped into
the wormhole, and Mario quickly followed.
Chapter 10: The Mobiüs Decision
Where am I? Mario thought to himself as he looked around. And more importantly, when am I?
It was a forest, not particularly dense with trees, but that was all that could be seen without looking to the sky. It wasn't Angel Island, the clouds could be seen above. The Time Stones were lying on the floor, and Sonic was holding the Cronos Reactor.
"You okay?" Sonic asked. "I wasn't expecting you to follow me."
"Sonic, this is the day it happened, isn't it?" Mario asked.
"Yes... the day it all started," Sonic said, memories he hated now surfacing. "It was my fault... I lead Robotnik right to him... If it wasn't for me, none of this would have happened... But now I can fix all of that."
"I can't allow that," Mario said. "No matter how selfless you think you are being, no good can come from destroying the past."
"Tell me, have you ever made a mistake?" Sonic asked.
"What kind of question is that?" Mario asked, almost bursting into laughter. "Of course, countless times! I'm only human."
"Haven't you ever made a mistake that you wanted to undo?" Sonic asked. "A mistake that was so great, it harmed not only yourself, but countless others around you, and even many you would never meet?"
"Perhaps when I first made such mistakes," Mario began. "But after time and thought, I realized that if I had never made such mistakes, I never would have learned not to repeat them."
"You're not going to willingly let me do this, are you?" Sonic asked.
"No," Mario said, "I can't."
"I won't let you stop me," Sonic said. "Nothing can stop me. Not even you."
"Listen to yourself!" Mario shouted. "You sound exactly like Metal Sonic!"
"I'm nothing like him!" Sonic shouted. "If I can change the past-"
"So the ends justify the means?!" Mario asked. "If you go back in time and kill a murderer before they have any intention of commiting their crime, isn't that the very crime you're trying to prevent? Isn't that in itself murder? You can't punish someone for a crime before they attempt it! If you do, they've done no crime to punish! You can't kill someone in self defense if they've yet to attack you!"
"I don't plan on killing anyone," Sonic said, "unless they plan on getting in my way. And the way I see it, there are two people in my way right now. One is Robotnik, and the other is you."
Mario still had the Chaos Emeralds, but they flew from him towards Sonic. Sonic transformed himself into Super Sonic as Mario transformed himself into Metal Mario with the Power Stars.
"Do you not realize what you're saying?" Mario asked. "Those words have been cried by thousands of power-hungry dictators throughout history, all of them cruel and heartless! Is that really what you want yourself to become? I guess you really would be like your grandfather then... becoming the very thing you fought to destroy."
"You'll pay for those words," Sonic said as the golden aura around him turned a crimson red. "Prepare for death!"
Sonic quickly grabbed the Time Stones, and attempted to freeze Mario in time. However, the jump to the past had drained them of their power, and left them useless for the time being. As Sonic tried to activate them, Mario quickly charged up his Firebrand and smashed Sonic in the face with it. Sonic simply shook it off, and rushed back towards Mario. Sonic then flew up and dove towards Mario, hovering just above him and quickly kicking at him. Mario raised his arms to block the attacks, absorbing the blows until Sonic gave up on this method, realizing it was doing him little good. Mario used Sonic's pause to his advantage, spinning around in a barrage of punches, drawing Sonic in with a tornado. Sonic countered by landing and spin dashing towards the ground, creating a second tornado, only this one spinning in the opposite direction. The two cyclones met one another with a deafening crash, destroying one another in the process. Sonic rushed toward Mario and performed a roundhouse kick, which Mario ducked under. While dodging the roundhouse, Mario began a sweeping kick, which Sonic jumped over. Sonic went into a homing attack from his position in midair, which Mario swiftly dodged by rolling aside.
"I don't want to hurt you," Mario said. "Don't force me to do this!"
"You shouldn't worry about me," Sonic said, his voice stern. "You're in far greater danger than I am!"
Sonic created a beam of pure Chaos energy, blasting Mario into a tree. Sonic then rushed towards Mario, who created a barrier of smoke by unleashing his Firebrand on the ground. The smoke allowed Mario to get up close to Sonic and go into a flurry of fireballs. Sonic escaped by teleporting behind Mario, then quickly delivered a sweeping kick to the plumber. Mario caught himself as he fell, and used his hands to thrust himself towards Sonic, kicking Sonic in the face as he rose. Sonic backed away momentarily as each of them realized just how strong their foe was.
Each of them was already seriously injured from the battle against Cronos Sonic. It wouldn't be exagerating to say they were both near death. Yet here they were, seconds later, fighting as though they were at peak physical condition for this battle. Although they weren't sure of all their properties, Mario knew that the Chaos Emeralds alone were not capable of allowing Sonic to do this, as Sonic knew that the Power Stars couldn't be the only thing allowing Mario to fight. It was their very wills that were clashing, not their bodies but their spirits. Medically, they shouldn't even be conscious right now, much less fighting like this. Yet they refused to give into their limitations... and it was quite possible that neither of them would survive if they kept doing this any longer. Both of them had internal bleeding, and were losing blood at an alarming rate. Regardless, they paused for but a moment after coming to this conclusion.
It's impossible, Sonic pondered. I'm moving faster than any human being can even see, yet he's keeping up with me. It's like nothing can stop him... He's barely able to breathe, and yet he's able to block an attack he shouldn't even be able to see! There's no denying it: he truly is the strongest foe I have ever fought. He's not just using his fists, but his very heart to fight. He shouldn't be able to last much longer, but then again, neither can I. But I can't give up. If I win this, I can save Gramps, not to mention hundreds of lives that were taken by Robotnik after this day. I can't- I won't lose.
Never have I fought anyone quite as determined as him, Mario thought. I've fought with those whose will was as strong as my own, but never against them. All the foes I've fought, they only used their mind and their body in battle. Yet Sonic fights with the one thing they didn't, which always allowed us to triumph over evil: he fights with heart. Without that advantage, do I really have a chance? I've been in countless situations others would have considered hopeless, yet for the first time, that feeling of hopelessness has come over me... No! I can't give up now. Not after we've all fought so hard. If he changes the past, there's no telling what damage will be done. I can't let him go through with this!
They both rushed towards each other with blinding speed. Was anyone watching, the sight would have appeared as two large bullets shot at one another, one a liquid silver and the other a bloody red. Sonic rolled into a spin dash and knocked Mario to the ground. Sonic rushed over to where Mario had fallen and attempted to use a Chaos Spear to finish off the plumber. Mario quickly jumped up and out of the way. Mario then began to charge the Firebrand not only in his right hand, which could not be harmed by flames, but in his left as well, which was completely unprotected from them. He then unleashed a devestating wave of flames, so hot that the attack nearly caused him to faint from heat exhuastion, setting the forest around them ablaze. When the initial fires cleared, Sonic was there, using the Chaos Emeralds to protect himself from the attack, sighing with relief as though he didn't expect to survive.
"Although I still can't allow you to go through with this, I do have something to say," Mario said. "I've fought many foes, some alone, others among friends. Yet all those evils combined could not amount to the strength you fight with."
"I hate to admit it, but the same could be said of you," Sonic said, his rage momentarily masked. "To think, I've stopped giant robots with ease, some as much as twenty stories in height, yet here I am, pushed beyond my limits by a plumber..."
"We don't have to do this," Mario said. "Let's go back to Mobiüs. My friends and I will return to our world, and everything will be back to normal."
"If I succeed, things will be better than normal," Sonic said. "All those that were harmed by Robotnik after he captured my grandfather... none of them will have perished."
"How many of your friends have you met thanks to Robotnik?" Mario asked.
"What are you talking about?!" Sonic asked. "Robotnik didn't introduce any of us!"
"That's not what I meant," Mario explained. "How many of your friends would you not have come across if you weren't fighting against Robotnik?"
Although Mario didn't know much about Sonic's past, he knew he was right about this... Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and many others Mario didn't even know existed... there were many people Sonic had met along his journeys. But Sonic didn't see this. His mind was too clouded in anger to think clearly. Sonic saw one thing and one thing only in his mind: Metal Sonic. And nothing Mario said could change that...
"Enough stalling," Sonic said. "Let's finish this!"
The two of them rushed towards one another, their left fists meeting in midair with a force so great that they completely shattered the knuckles in their hands. The blow was so great that it shattered their hold on their current forms, returning both the heroes to their normal selves.
They were both badly bruised and bleeding... any doctor would tell you they would die if they didn't tend to their wounds immediately. Then again, with the condition they were in, they shouldn't even have been able to breathe without the help of a machine at this point. They knew this battle was nearing its end... their bodies were already pushed far beyond their limits, the amount of adreneline being pumped through their bodies was probably so great at this point that it would likely have harmful side effects upon them similar to steroids... assuming they even survived this.
They rushed towards each other once again, just as fast as before. This time, they both jumped into the air. Sonic used a homing attack as Mario attempted to jump on the blue blur. Mario's feet landed on Sonic as the two attacks met. The resulting crash knocked them both to the ground. They rose up again, and rushed towards one another just as before. This time was more like the first. They raised their fists, this time the right. What in reality took but a millisecond felt like hours to the two of them as their fists moved towards each other with equal force. Just as with the left hands, their rights now crushed one another beyond use. But what Sonic didn't realize was that Mario was charging his Firebrand. His hand crushed, he was now unable to hold it in, and an explosion was unleashed from Mario's hand as it fell limp. The blast knocked Sonic to the ground. Sonic rose up once more. As Sonic looked to Mario, things grew dark. Sonic could see a familiar figure approaching Mario from behind, but Mario didn't see it. Sonic fainted, falling face first to the ground.
"It's over," Mario sighed with relief. "I just hope he's okay..."
Mario began heading
over to Sonic with the intention of checking his pulse. However, his mind
no longer locked into a state of battle, he suddenly felt all the pain
he had been holding back. He took a few steps towards Sonic, then as things
grew dark, he could swear he could hear a voice... He dismissed it as a
hallucination, likely caused by losing so much blood...
Epilogue: Truth
"Are you okay?" Mario asked, Sonic now coming to.
"W-where am I?" Sonic asked.
They were in the Sky Sanctuary, Tikal having healed them both.
"Back on Angel Island, back in the present," Mario said. "There's someone who wishes to speak with you."
"Gramps?" Sonic cried. "He's still here?"
"I am," Sonic the elder said, "And I must speak with you before I leave."
"Gramps, I... I kept a secret from you," Sonic cried.
"I know, and I kept one from you," Sonic the elder said. "I am not from the past."
"B-but how?" Sonic asked.
"When Metal Sonic created that wormhole, it didn't pull me from the past," Sonic the elder explained. "It split him in two. When we seperated, it was as though I had been awakened from a long sleep. At first I could remember nothing that had happened since my... transfiguration. After I heard your voice, I remembered everything... all the pain I caused, the death I brought, the evils I had committed."
"But it wasn't your fault!" Sonic said.
"How I wish that was true," Sonic the elder said. "You always thought of me as the strongest being ever to live, when in fact, my strength is nothing. I have allowed this dark machine to control me, to take control of my desires."
"But you're free now!" Sonic shouted.
"No," Sonic the Elder said, crying, not for his own fate, but for the pain it caused his grandson. "Metal Sonic and I are one in the same, it is not natural for us to be in two different places at the same point in time. For this, I must return to him and become whole again. But before I go, there is something I must tell you."
Sonic simply cried as his grandfather continued. "Imagine time as a stone tablet. All that live are like a chisel, writing history as it goes. The future not yet decided, yet the past... the past is very different. You cannot fill in a symbol you engraved, you can only make another symbol through it. Doing such damages the message on the tablet, only slightly, but it is still there. A single letter can be overlooked with little worry, the reader would be likely to pass it by without notice. But as you change whole words or sentences, you corrupt the meaning of the tablet. At such time, the tablet is useless, and is shattered. The past is not ours to change. It is already written in stone. The future will be too, but not so long as we can still call it the future. Until then, we may write the future as we choose. So choose wisely. Even if those who would choose to do wrong outnumber you a million to one, choose to do that which is right. That is true power, and that is why Metal Sonic can never prevail. It is also why you could not prevail over Mario. As to who is truly stronger, I can only guess. But so long as one's strength is fueled by their desire for rightousness, they cannot be defeated by one with selfish desires."
Sonic cried as he and his grandfather hugged. It felt odd to Sonic, as the last time he hugged his grandfather, his arms only came up to his grandfather's waist.
"I'll save you," Sonic cried. "I promise."
"You've grown so strong," Sonic the edler said. "Never give up hope. Even when all is lost, you still have hope."
Sonic the elder turned away, and walked back to Metal Sonic, merging with his other half, still inactive, and never having realized what happened.
Sonic walked over to Mario, still crying.
"I thought I'd never open my eyes again, I thought you had killed me back there," Sonic said, then cracked a smile. "Thank you. You stopped me from making a mistake that I would have regretted more than I can ever know. You were right. I almost became the very thing I hated most. I can't thank you enough."
"There's just one thing I don't understand, though," Mario said. "After you fainted, I took ten steps towards you. After that, I collapsed. The next thing I knew, I was back here, and Tikal was healing us. No one saw us come back. They said they found us uncononcious, the Power Stars, Chaos Emeralds, Time Stones, and the Cronos Reactor all right beside us, and they said our wounds weren't that serious, as though someone had already tended to them."
"Don't look at me, I was out longer than you were," Sonic said, then pondered. "It couldn't be..."
"Couldn't be what?" Mario asked.
"Nothing," Sonic said. Even if he did find us, there's no way Gramps would have been able to know when or where we came from... It's impossible... isn't it? But, I could have sworn I saw him.
"Before I collapsed, I heard a voice," Mario explained. "I thought I was delirious, but it said something to me. Something that makes me wonder..."
"What did he say?" Sonic said.
"He told me 'Thank
you, stranger. It was a lesson that not even I was able to teach him...'"
Mario said. "But, how would he know?"
The goodbyes were long, and even those that normally caused trouble were there. Bowser and his children just wanted to go home, and Robotnik wasn't in any position to cause havoc anyways.
"So I guess this is it," Mario said. "Thank you, all of you."
"No problem!" Knuckles said.
"Come and see us again sometime," Vector said directly to Princess Toadstool, examining the diamond that she used as payment to hire Team Chaotix.
"And thanks to all of you as well," Sonic said, "But you still owe me a rematch."
"If we went any further with our battle, we would have died!" Mario said. "Can't we call it a draw and leave it at that?"
"I was injured from the fight against Gramps," Sonic said. "Things would have been different if I was at my full strength!"
"I was injured too!" Mario laughed.
"Yeah, well, we'll see next time," Sonic said as he extended his hand.
Mario extended
his and shook Sonic's hand before Gadd opened a portal, and everyone went
back to their own homes, with the exception of one.
Tikal, Geno, and a masked warrior stood near a fountain high above the Mushroom Kingdom.
"What of the thousand year seal?" the masked warrior asked.
"It has already been taken care of," Geno said. "Princess Toadstool is already on her way to Rogueport."
"And what of her husband? It is nearing the solar eclipse," said the masked warrior. "I fear that the time may be near."
"What of his brother, Tutankoopa?" Geno asked. "Hasn't he done anything to prevent his return?"
"No, I fear not," the warrior said with grief. "I fear my young friend has grown heartless with death. Possibly even to the point that he would serve his elder brother."
"Shouldn't we choose the next set to behold the Quadramashers?" Tikal asked. "If Titaniboo returns, there is no telling what he will do."
"No, the previous holders will choose as they see fit," said a spectral voice.
Four ghostly Toads appeared, each old and bearded, one red, one green, one yellow, and one purple.
"The tenth beholds shall be chosen by the ninth," said the purple Toad. "The Podoboos that were once Parakoopas shall decide."
"With all due respect, Elder, isn't time running out?" Tikal asked.
"We have nothing to worry about." The red Toad laughed. "After all, the tenth of fire just defeated time itself."
"So then, it has been decided?" the masked warrior asked.
"Yes," the yellow Toad said. "Mario shall be the tenth of fire, Luigi the tenth of earth, Wario the tenth of wind, and Waluigi the tenth of water."
"Do you really think they can get along?" Geno asked. "The Marios and their half brothers have never seen eye-to-eye, to put it lightly."
"There's no better time for them to learn." The green Toad laughed.
"Perhaps I worry too much," Geno sighed.
"I must return to my home dimension," Tikal said. "I will watch over the Master Emerald. I pray you succeed in restoring the seal upon Titaniboo."
"I must fly back to Pop Star," the masked warrior explained. "There is a darkness in my reflection that I must confront."
"Be careful, Meta Knight," Geno said, then turned to Tikal. "And take care of yourself, young echidna."
The ghosts vanished, the council recessed. The next year would be quite tiring on the Mushroom Kingdom, to say nothing of other worlds, and even other universes. But for now, it was a time of peace, a time of rest.
THE END
Prologue to the
Macroverse Series:
Mario Versus
Sonic Book I: Deceptive Prelude
Mario Versus
Sonic Book II: Chaotic Interlude
Mario Versus
Sonic Book III: Timeless Finale
Super Mario Bros:
The Four Hammers Adventures
I now plan on fixing these to be consistent with one another and to be released exclusively on Super Smash Bros. RP. As you may have noticed, I changed the names of the Mario Vs. Sonic trilogy. I appologize for any confusion this causes, but as the books developed a more serious tone, I believed their titles should reflect it. Until I finished the story, I had no intention of doing such, and Timeless Finale was the title of the final chapter. After finishing it, I grew to enjoy the name, and changed the story's name to such. In comparison with "Timeless Finale", the titles "Mushroom Kingdom Madness" and "Mobiüs Mania" sounded horrid. So, I came up with their new titles. This caused me to come to a point where I disliked the title of chapter 10, as I didn't want a chapter to have the same name as the book itself. As I was writing the final chapter, I realized it had a similar theme to the movie Time Cop 2: The Berlin Decision, in which an officer must stop his friend from altering the past by preventing the holocaust. So, after giving it some thought, I named the chapter after the movie, and it is now known as "The Mobiüs Decision".
Another note for the final chapter is that I had been planning it since I neared the end of the first book. Until I was actually writing the chapter, I had intended for the aura around Sonic to turn black, or to quote how I originally had it, "...yet instead of the golden glow that normally shone around Sonic, an aura black as the void itself surrounded him." However, I realized that many people could interpret this as a racial slur towards Africans. I personally never use the terms "white" or "black" to describe people (I use the terms "peach" and "brown") as they themselves sound as though referring to them as holy or evil, but I felt as though it could be thought of by someone else that way regardless. At the same time, by changing this, I wonder if I am unintentionally supporting the use of such terms to describe a person. I will consider this further, and when I rewrite this story, I may change the aura back to black as I had originally intended.
Since we're on the subject of political statements that may be interpreted from this story, I would like to say that I am for the Death Penalty on convicted murders. Take note that Mario says this, if you kill the murderer before he commits the crime, not after. If time travel was possible in real life, I would be opposed to a pre-crime death penalty, but still for the post-crime death penalty.
One of the main reasons I wish to go back and fix these stories is because the storyline of Super Smash Bros. RP is greatly dependent upon these books, and I feel that they should also be consistent with the RP. Also, a lot of changes happen in four years, and my original plans for the trilogy have changed greatly.
The biggest change will probably be in Chaotic Intermission. Looking back upon it, I feel as though it is a horribly written story that feels as though its sole purpose in the trilogy is as filler simply so I could have the pleasure of calling it a trilogy. Despite getting several pieces of feedback stating they enjoyed MvS2:CI, I in no way feel satisfied with it. Throughout the entire story, I can find only two major points that truly affect the onset of the third book. I intend to fix this. This may include completely rewriting the story, and I have several ideas I wanted to implement that I didn't originally. Also, although I truly enjoyed the idea at the time, in retrospect, having a chess match in the middle of the second story was one of the worst ideas I actually used.
Furthermore, I had no intention of the Mario Vs. Sonic trilogy and Four Hammers being related (I was just starting Chaotic Intermission when I finished Four Hammers), and I certainly didn't have any plans for running a website. And even when I started the site, I didn't plan on it having a storyline, much less making it seem as though it was interlaced with my fanfics. So, now I will begin working on the Prologue to the Macroverse Series, which will basically just be my same fanfics with improved grammar and continuity. Also, I'll probably write another ending for this book. I was juggling through several of them. I was originally going to have Sonic's grandfather actually be from the past, but that raised too many complications in how things would play out. This is mainly because if he was truly from the past, Metal Sonic would have remembered the events. At one point, I even considered having him be from the future, but that raised even more complications...
Until then, enjoy the original version, now that it's finally complete!
Thanks for reading!
-Adam "MarioFanaticXV"
Butler
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