Sonic 5x5
Dimensional Clash
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
Sonic the Hedgehog comic characters are (c) Archie comics
Other characters belong to their respective owners.
It was that time again for Sonic and Tails. The duo were chasing Dr. Eggman's Egg Mobile through the long corridors of his latest massive battleship, the Egg Carrier 25. Tails had converted the Tornado to car mode in order to be part of the chase, but he had to weave to avoid the spiky Orbinauts littering the path. Sonic simply leapt over them, occasionally able to slip past their spike balls and smash their vulnerable heads, all the while never missing a beat. "You can't catch me, Sonic! I loaded up my Egg Mobile with nitro fuel mixed with hyper-go-on energy!" Eggman taunted, throwing a lever to speed up. As he turned around, he yelped to find Sonic in front of him. "Do tell, doctor..." he said smugly. "Come back, you jerks! I don't have hyperspeed!!" Tails shouted from behind them. Eggman chuckled to himself. "Yes, you wouldn't want Tails to run into trouble, would you?" he said threateningly. Sonic rolled his eyes. "Wait here a sec!" he said, smacking the Egg Mobile with a homing attack before running back to check on Tails. Eggman spun around a bit, but quickly righted himself. "Hah! Knew you'd do that!" he smirked, taking off for the back of the ship. As Sonic returned pulling Tails by the arm, leaving the Tornado behind, they tore off after Eggman quickly. "I-I think I-I'd rather you l-left me..." Tails said woozily, having not been prepared to move at such speeds. They found Eggman in front of a large portal device, not unlike one Tails had built to reach Blaze's world earlier in the year, but this one was bigger and sported a red & black color scheme. He pressed a remote from his Egg Mobile, and the machine whirred to life. "You can trash my Egg Carrier if you want to, Sonic... but then you'd be left to wonder what I'm doing on the other end of this portal! Toodles!" he said, flying the Egg Mobile through the glowing gateway the machine was creating and vanishing. Sonic's eyes narrowed, and he jumped in after him without hesitation. "Sonic!! It could be a trap!!" Tails shouted as the portal vanished behind the hedgehog, leaving the fox alone on the Egg Carrier...
Sonic opened his eyes in unfamiliar surroundings. His head was sore, and he realized he must have fallen on it when he arrived. He was in a forested area with simple huts made of grass and twigs. The familiar face of Tails greeted him as his eyes opened. "He's awake! Sonic! Are you all right?" he asked, his voice sounding different somehow. "Huh? Yeah... Where are we, Tails?" Sonic muttered, rubbing his head and looking around. Tails gasped. "Ohhh, you're totally not alright. You don't know this is Knothole??" he said with concern. "Oh, doesn't he? Well, he at least remembers ME, riiiight?" came a totally unfamiliar voice. Sonic glanced toward the voice to see a brown female chipmunk wearing an open blue vest. "GEEZ!! Cover up!!" Sonic gasped, looking away. A coyote in a military uniform stepped next to the chipmunk. "Uh-huh... Zis Sonic is clearly an imposter, my princess! Listen; I am not to believing how much more obnoxious he sounds!" he stated with his French accent. "He hit his head, Antoine..." the princess retorted in annoyance. Sonic stood up impatiently. "Sorry, I don't have time to visit. Gotta find Eggman... C'mon, Tails!" he said, turning to leave. Tails glanced at the others and then at Sonic. "...What's an Eggman??" he asked, making Sonic stop short. Suddenly, all was made clear as another Sonic sped onto the scene, greatly resembling Classic Sonic. "Hey, Sal! What's... HUH??" he yelped upon seeing his green-eyed doppelganger. "WHO ARE YOU!?" both Sonics shouted.
Meanwhile, a mustachioed villain with a metallic hand and round body sat in a control room deep in the bowels of his city, Robotropolis. His name was Dr. Robotnik, and his minion, a diminutive fellow with a large nose named Snively, was rushing into the room. "Sir! Sir! A... A most unusual intruder!" he babbled in his nasal voice. Robotnik rotated his large seat to face Snively, petting his robotic chicken, Cluck, as he scowled at him. "Robotisize the intruder, you nitwit!" he ordered. "Is that any way to treat...yourself?" said Dr. Eggman as he walked into the room behind Snively. Robotnik's eyes narrowed. "You're not me. You come unarmed!" he said, firing a laser from his robotic hand at Eggman! However, Eggman pressed a button on his suit to create a protective force field. "Don't underestimate yourself, Robotnik." he smirked. The darker Robotnik tented his fingers and cracked a smile. "Color me intrigued. Leave us, Snively..." he said. Dr. Eggman watched the minion leave before speaking up. "I've been studying the multiverse recently. I have found that there are countless worlds, each with a Robotnik and...a Sonic." he explained quickly. Robotnik frowned, standing. "No, no, this won't do... Sonics across multiple dimensions, you say?? It... It's a nightmare!" he shouted. Eggman nodded. "Yes... but imagine if all of us eggheads put our brilliant minds to the task of defeating them?" he suggested. Robotnik walked over to him with a smirk. "Yes... I think this is the beginning of a beautiful partnership..." he said deviously.
It didn't take too long for the situation to become clear to the Sonics and their companions at Knothole. (Except Antoine, who continued to insist that one of the Sonics had to be dangerous.) Thus, the pair of hedgehogs decided to head for Robotropolis to stop Eggman, hopefully before he could team up with his alternate self. "I'm coming, too!" Tails insisted. Knothole Sonic shook his head as he picked up a brown knapsack. "Bro, one Robotnik is too dangerous! We can't risk endangering you against two!" he said. Sally, the royal chipmunk, had her hands on her hips. "YOU shouldn't go so hastily, either, Sonic! Chances are the Robotniks are already teamed up! We need a plan!" she said sternly. The native Sonic rolled his eyes like he'd heard this a hundred times. "Two Sonics is all the plan we need!" the green-eyed Sonic said confidently. As the pair of them sped off, Sally sighed loudly. "Yeah... A disaster plan..." she groaned.
With Knothole Sonic leading the way, they quickly arrived at Robotropolis. "Whoa..." the other Sonic gasped upon seeing the polluted city, "Eggman in control...? This place is crazy!" he stammered. "...Yeah, I guess so." the other Sonic agreed, "We've just been Freedom Fighters for so long that I guess we're used to it." he shrugged. He then tried to do the secret Freedom Fighter handshake with his doppelganger, but he clumsily mucked it up. "Uhhh... Rock, Paper, Scissors?" he said sheepishly. Knothole Sonic sighed, "Maybe you're not me..." he muttered. The duo continued to Robotnik's headquarters, but they didn't get far inside before Snively barred their way with a squad of humanoid SwatBots. "Aha! Twice the hedgehogs means twice the stupidity!" Snively said smugly, pointing the robots in their direction. At that moment, Eggman and Robotnik stepped into the room behind Snively. Eggman was piloting his Egg Mobile, a new satellite-looking gizmo attached to the bottom. "Hello, Sonics! I've met my other self, too! He's been most helpful already... Together we made a more compact version of my dimensional-transporter!" he announced, pressing a button to create a new portal, which he quickly escaped through! "...We'll leave Snively to attend to you. He'll keep you company until our return!" Robotnik sneered, following Eggman to a new world! The green-eyed Sonic knew that the portal would close in seconds. "I have to follow them! Cover me!" he said, rushing for the portal! Knothole Sonic nodded. "Juice time!" he said, pulling a shimmering ring out of his knapsack. "Wait!! Hedgehogs!! Stop!!! Waaaaaugh!!" Snively wailed as Knothole Sonic turned into a speeding bolt of energy, knocking down the swatbots one by one while the other Sonic breezed past Snively and leapt through the portal! "I hate you!! I hate you boooooth!!" Snively whined.
Sonic emerged on a beach with a small hut nearby. He was apparently on an island. There was no sign of Eggman or Robotnik. "That portal must send us to different parts of the same dimension... I guess." Sonic reasoned, looking around. "What was that noise??" came a voice from the hut, speeding outside. It was another blue hedgehog, who stopped short to stare at Sonic. This hedgehog was similar to Sonic, but had messier quills, furry blue arms, white tape wrapped around his hands and feet, and a brown cloth tied around his neck. He looked at Sonic briefly before sighing in relief and glancing back into the hut. "It's okay, guys. It's only another me!" he said. Normal-Sonic shrugged and watched as alternate versions of Tails, Knuckles and Amy joined them outside. Most of them looked similar to normal, but Knuckles was huge, forcing the visiting Sonic to do a double take. "Hittin' the GYM, Knux?" he muttered. An orange badger in tatty clothes that she clearly made herself was among the group as well, and freaked out upon seeing the second Sonic. "A doppelganger!! The government's plan to replace us with well-groomed automatons has begun!!" she shouted, lifting up a boomerang defensively. Tails rolled his eyes, adjusting the goggles on his head. "Obviously, Sticks, this is another interdimensional, um... Yeah, doppelganger. Like when there were two Knuckles!" he stated. Knuckles looked at his hands glumly. "I still only have two Knuckles... Oh, wait, there's two more!" he said, glancing at his other hand. Normal-Sonic tapped his foot impatiently. "Yeah... I don't have time for this. I chased TWO Eggmen into this world, so unless you can help, I gotta go..." he sighed. Amy gasped. "Wait! Remember what happened when there were two Knuckles?? They started flickering!!" she said worriedly. Tails's eyes went wide. "Right! Having two of anyone can cause an anomaly... And you're saying there's THREE Eggmen in our world now??" he stammered. The native Sonic seemed to be ignoring all this, examining his doppelganger. "...Why do you shave your arms?" he asked. Normal-Sonic glared at him. "I do not! Why do you wear a bandana??" he retorted. "It's a neckerchief!!" the other Sonic snapped. "Whatever, it's clashing with our natural good looks!" Normal-Sonic complained. "I can't take it!!" Sticks shouted, "Lemme hog-tie him!!" she yelled, tackling the nearest Sonic. "Agh!! Sticks!! Wrong Sonic!" he groaned. "Enough fighting! We have to join forces and stop the Eggmen before our world flickers out... or something!" Amy said, pulling Sonic and Sticks up. Not far away, a canine stuck in a tree costume was watching them intently, holding up branches to add to his "disguise." As the group of heroes started to move, so too did the "tree..."
Dr. Eggman and Dr. Robotnik had already met up with this universe's Dr. Eggman, a more athletically built version who wore a red, buttoned up coat. He sat on a couch in his island lair, a plate of snacks set out for his guests. "It's rare that I get such a dapper class of visitors to my lair. Pardon the mess; I hosted a meeting of fellow villains not too long ago. They eat like a pack of wolves, though I suppose that's because some of them were wolves." the native Eggman said. Robotnik had a very irritated expression. "We are not here for pleasantries... We have come to recruit you to our cause of eliminating Sonics across the multiverse!" he said, getting right to the point. The native Eggman munched on some nachos loudly before replying. "I thought there was something alternate-dimensiony about you. Who are you, astronauts?" he asked densely. "We're YOU, ya dimwit! Though I can't believe it..." the other Eggman groaned. The native Eggman jumped at this revelation. "...And I get made fun of for my weight here." he muttered.
Meanwhile, the Sonics, accompanied by Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Sticks, had arrived on the island dominated by Eggman's lair. They didn't get far before several animals in red robes stood in their way. "Haaaalt!" came the dweeby voice of a buck-toothed light blue mammal at the front of the pack. "...Dave?" Normal-Sonic muttered. This guy worked at a burger shop in his own world. "Ugh. What do you want, Lightning-Bolt Society?" Knuckles said with a groan. A large-toothed walrus stepped forward to answer this. "Our spy caught you roughin' up that Sonic doppelganger. We've come to, uh, 'liberate' him from ya and recruit him to our side!" he told them. Amy glanced at Sticks. "I want you to remember this the next time you think about prematurely tackling someone to the ground." she said in a scolding tone. "No promises." Sticks grumbled. There were several more guys in red robes, and it seemed like it could be a bit of a fight to get past them. "Uh, guys... It was all just a misunderstanding... And I don't wanna join you..." Normal-Sonic said awkwardly. Dave held up a fancy-looking laser-weapon and grinned. "You assume we're giving you a choice, hehehehe..." he chortled. However, when he went to fire, it turned out he was holding the weapon backward, and he scattered several of his allies instead. "Uhhh... Whoops..." he mumbled. "If Eggman's going to let his stuff be stolen so easily, he should at least leave instructions with it..." Tails sighed, bemused. The two Sonics exchanged glances and zoomed past the Lightning-Bolts together. "You guys got this, right? We'll get Eggman!" the native Sonic shouted. Moments later, they busted a hole through the wall to enter Eggman's lair. "Well, that was excessive... Or the wall was extraordinarily weak." Normal-Sonic shrugged. However, two Eggmen had already escaped through the portal device, and the native Eggman was about to follow. "I'll bill you for the wall later, you spiky vandal! See you around the multiverse!!" he said, hopping into the portal. "Come back here!!" both Sonics shouted, leaping into the portal after him together!
Upon landing in the next dimension, it appeared to Normal-Sonic that he was back in Robotropolis. However, something was off. "Bandana-Sonic" looked around before pointing to a skirmish playing out a distance away. "Looks like we found ourself... myself? Uh... You know, this world's Sonic!" he said. Normal-Sonic looked, but the first thing he saw was a pair of tall canine fellows. One had blue fur, dark red body armor and a purple cape, while the other was a hulking orange goon in green shorts. They appeared to be commanding some high-tech SwatBots. "Blast those hedgehogs!! We can't let them escape THIS time!" the blue-furred one shouted. "I think our chances are about the same as all the other times." the orange one muttered. "Quiet, Dingo, you dolt!" his companion snapped. Facing the robots was a trio of hedgehogs, each equipped with... musical instruments? One was clearly Sonic, though wearing an odd medallion. The others included a maroon hedgehog with pink hair and a green hedgehog with messy quills and a red vest. The visiting Sonics didn't wait for this to play out, and instead dashed over and trashed the SwatBots with some quick spin attacks to their metal heads! With the robots quickly dispatched, Dingo was quick to flee. "Sonic's so fast he's in three places at once!! I wanna quit this job, Sleet!!" he wailed. Sleet, the blue-furred canine, turned and fired a remote device at Dingo, morphing him into a motorcycle. "You're not going anywhere without me!" he growled, hopping on his transformed ally and riding off! The two Sonics stopped in front of the three other hedgehogs. "Whoa, wait, you're not in three places at once... 'Cuz these guys are way better looking than you, ha-ha!" the green hedgehog said teasingly. "Very funny, Manic. What's goin' on here?" the native Sonic said. "Alternate universes..." Normal-Sonic began, "Multiple Eggmen..." Bandana-Sonic continued. "Oh brother, I did not need more brothers..." the pink hedgehog groaned, "Slow down! What're Eggmen??" she snapped. The native Sonic chuckled. "Eggman, I get it! They mean Robotnik, Sonia!" he explained. Normal-Sonic tapped his foot as he glanced at the extra hedgehogs curiously. "Um... Who are these two?" he wondered. The native Sonic looked surprised. "What, are you serious?? They're my brother and sister! Next you're gonna tell me you guys aren't even princes..." he grumbled. "PRINCES??" the other two Sonics gasped. "I got a feelin' it's gonna be a loooong day..." Manic sighed, twirling a drumstick in his fingers.
It didn't take long for the group to arrive at the conclusion that they had to brave Robotnik's fortress in an effort to stop his interdimensional duplicates. The five hedgehogs made their way through the base, getting past the security with surprising ease until they reached the native Robotnik at his control room. "Egad! Three Sonics! Why this is even worse than the prophecy! I surrender!!" he said, throwing up his hands in a cheesy display of acting. "The other 'Buttniks have been here, haven't they?" Prince Sonic groaned. Robotnik grinned widely and vanished before their eyes, his voice playing over a speaker. "We're already well on our way offworld, you predictable hedgehogs! We would have left sooner, but we wanted to whip up a parting gift for the bunch of you!" he taunted. As hidden doors started to open in the room, Manic and Sonia looked a bit nervous. "I got a bad feelin' sibs..." Manic grunted. "Yeah. What nightmare could multiple 'Buttniks put together?" Sonia added. In marched several upgraded SwatBots, each given a personal touch by the Eggman who altered it, being spiked armor from Knothole-Robotnik, a jetpack and laser upgrade from Normal-Eggman, and giant claws provided by the other Eggman. The visiting Sonics looked around for an exit frantically. "We gotta catch those Eggheads before they get away!" Bandana-Sonic shouted. Prince Sonic nodded. "No prob! We'll handle these bots; Sonic Underground style!" he said as he and his siblings touched their medallions, making their instruments appear! As Prince Sonic strummed his guitar, lasers fired at the robots. Sonia's keyboard added additional laser cover, while Manic's drums knocked some of the bots off-balance. "Hmm... Maybe I should take up an instrument..." Normal-Sonic muttered, dashing off with Bandana-Sonic in tow. They searched the base frantically, barely locating the open portal as it was starting to close! "They got away again!!" Normal-Sonic growled. "Better stop 'em before they add a fifth Egghead to their group!" Bandana-Sonic stated. The pair leapt into the portal, wondering what strange reality awaited them next.
The next world seemed decidedly more surreal than the others. It was as though the two Sonics had stepped into a cartoon, and things certainly seemed toony as they spotted this world's Sonic being chased by a chicken robot and two that were more familiar to Normal-Sonic; Grounder and Coconuts. The trio of robots were firing, of all things, mouse traps from bazookas they were carrying, all while Tails frantically struggled nearby, having been tied up. "And I thought my Eggman was loony..." Bandana-Sonic muttered. Normal-Sonic nodded. "I guess we should... help?" they said, running over and getting everyone's attention quickly. "What!? Hey! I'm seein' double in a funhouse mirror!" Toon-Sonic gasped. The robots quickly became frantic and distraught as they saw the extra Sonics. "No way, no way!! Somehow we lured even MORE Sonics here! Dr. Robotnik ain't gonna like this!" Coconuts groaned. "Yeah, he's gonna be REAL ticked at YOU, monkey-breath!" the chicken robot snapped. "Huh? What did Coconuts have to do with this, Scratch?" Grounder wondered. "Shush, I ain't takin' the fall for this..." Scratch whispered. While they were distracted trying to find someone to blame, Toon Sonic untied Tails while the other Sonics spin-dashed right into the trio of robots, leaving them a heap of disassembled parts! "D'oh, this is YOUR fault!!" Scratch shouted, somehow still functional. "When I pull myself together, I'm telling Dr. Robotnik about how YOU TWO messed up!" Grounder retorted. Toon-Sonic turned to the other Sonics along with Toon-Tails at this point. "Gee, since when are there three of you, Sonic?" Tails wondered. "Dunno, but I like their style..." Toon-Sonic said. "Let's move this along!" Normal-Sonic sighed, "You're Robotnik's about to meet FOUR of himself! So let's go!!" he said hurriedly. Toon-Sonic glanced at Tails. "Yeah... Sounds dangerous. Guess you'd better head back to town and stay there, keed." he said. Toon-Tails frowned, but nodded. "Yeah, I get it, Sonic... No way I can help with five Robotniks..." he sighed. Toon-Sonic patted his head reassuringly and headed off with the other Sonics while Tails watched him dejectedly. However, he was suddenly startled by a portal opening up nearby! "What's that!?" he stammered. Normal-Tails suddenly poked his head through the portal. "Hey... How many Sonics have you seen today?" he asked.
At a hilltop fortress featuring a gaudy, giant statue of this world's Dr. Robotnik, the five evil doctors had already met and were starting to discuss their plans. "I can't imagine what a thrill it must be for you to meet me!" Toon-Robotnik said to his visitors as he sat upon a surprisingly lavish throne, set up mainly for show, as the rest of his fortress was largely a dump. This Robotnik had a more clown-like appearance to him, with a big red nose budging from his lumpy, triangular head. Knothole-Robotnik seemed particularly disgusted with him. "You are the most disappointing version of myself yet... Your fortress is a joke and you carry yourself like a buffoon!" he growled. "Now, now, name-calling won't get us anywhere!" Normal-Eggman stated, stopping the two Robotniks before they could begin fighting, "We should focus on how we're going to capture a multiverse worth of Sonics!" he stated. The Robotnik from the Underground's reality scowled at him. "Capture? I've wasted my life trying to capture hedgehogs! With our forces combined, we should be able to destroy them!" he growled. The second Eggman frowned. "Wait, isn't destruction a tad extreme? All I want to do is build an evil theme park, after all. Conquering the world is just a ticket-sales scheme." he said, making all his dimensional duplicates give him perplexed glares. "I agree, though. I'd rather Sonic be alive to see my triumph. It'd be more satisfying." Normal-Eggman stated. "You're fools! But then, why else would you rename yourselves 'Eggman!?' I changed my name TO Robotnik, something far more menacing than I started as..." Knothole-Robotnik smirked. "Your name isn't Robotnik?? What is it?" Toon-Robotnik asked. "...Julian..." he groaned. Toon-Robotnik laughed at him a bit before composing himself. "W-well... If I may interject; It doesn't matter what we do with our OWN Sonics after we capture them! Together, the capture should be assured at the very least!" he grinned. Suddenly, an alarm blared in the fortress. "Augh!! The hedgehog!! He's here! Battle stations!!" Toon-Robotnik shouted, rushing off. "Go on and distract them... We'll put our heads together back here in the meantime..." Normal-Eggman chuckled.
"Scratch! Grounder! Coconuts!! Where are you idiots!?" Toon-Robotnik called. Toon-Sonic sped in with a garbage can holding the trio of robots' parts. "I'm gonna have to give ya a citation for leavin' litter lying around!" he said, attaching said "citation" to the garbage can before speeding back to rejoin the other Sonics. Robotnik growled in anger and produced a bazooka seemingly from nowhere. "I don't care how many of you there are! I'll blast you into as many pieces as my S.S.S.S.S. Squad!!" he shouted, firing wildly as the three Sonics sped into the room! After hearing several explosions, he looked out to check his work, and saw no sign of the hedgehogs. "Yes!! Ah ha ha ha ha!! I did it!!" he laughed, only to suddenly be swarmed by three blue streaks, carrying him to the center of the room and leaving him tied up on the floor, the ends of his moustache tied together as well. "Gaaaah!! I HATE that hedge-hog!!" he shouted. "What a goof! And I thought MY Eggman was a clown!" Bandana-Sonic chuckled, hi-fiving the other Sonics. Suddenly, the room went dark. "Huh? What's going on??" Normal-Sonic gasped. "A Darkinator!" Toon-Sonic exclaimed. "Surprise, hedgehogs..." came the unpleasant voice of Knothole-Robotnik. As the Sonics went to duck under the blanket of darkness to see what was happening, they found Eggman pointing a weapon at them. "Say cheese!" he said, firing! The Sonics got up to flee, but Bandana-Sonic was tracked by the fired beam and lifted into the air by it! "Hey!! Where's the gravity??" he yelped. The darkness started to be sucked back into the Darkinator, and Toon-Sonic suddenly found himself face-to-face with Underground-Robotnik. "Flee THIS!" he said, firing a double barreled weapon! First, Toon-Sonic slid on some ice on the ground, and then he was stuck in Mega-Muck from that Robotnik's world! Lastly, the Darkinator fired the darkness it sucked back as a beam, striking the remaining Sonic as he panicked over which of his counterparts to rescue! The evil scientists freed Toon-Robotnik and stood over their captives with sneers. "Combining our technologies seems to have been effective!" the second Eggman said. "And you'll be pleased to know that our minions have captured your other doppelgangers, as well!" Underground Robotnik smirked. Normal-Eggman activated the portal device quickly while the Robotniks grabbed their captives, who struggled defiantly. "We'll get out of this, Ro-butt-nik!!" Toon-Sonic growled. "Our names are ROBOTNIK!!" Knothole-Robotnik roared. A door burst open just as the Sonics were being carried into the portal by the Robotniks, giving a quartet of Tails's just enough time to see what had happened. "Oh, no... Sonic!!" Toon-Tails cried.
Shortly after that, the four Tails, joined by Sonia and Manic, arrived back in Normal-Tails's home reality, the place his own portal-hopping invention was able to track the Robotniks to. The group walked through Central City heading for his workshop, but not without drawing attention to themselves. Col. Gunner walked out of a coffee shop and promptly did a spit take as he saw the quartet of foxes. "Th-they're multiplying!! Or...n-no... What did they put in this coffee!?" he shouted, storming back into the shop! Amy and Cream were walking the streets, too, and while Amy stared in disbelief, Cream hid behind her shyly. "Oh, my gosh! Why are there so many of Tails??" she whimpered. Amy blushed as she thought of the possibilities. "C-could there be a gang of Sonics around, too?" she wondered. Toon-Tails and Knothole-Tails didn't care for all this attention. "People are staring..." Toon-Tails shivered. "Should we have snuck into town or something?" Knothole-Tails added. "Nah, it's cool...I think." Normal-Tails said. They passed Copter, Punchy and Rainbow as they continued on, and Copter flipped out. "MORE clones of Tails??? Wasn't I enough?! BUCKY!!!!" he yelled, frightening the visiting foxes. "And who's that green guy? Razor's street-punk cousin?" Punchy wondered. Manic was trying to hide among the foxes, but hearing this snide remark, he stepped out. "Hey! I'll show you a punk!" he growled. "Hey! We don't have time for this! Let's keep moving!" said Sonia, grabbing Manic by the arm. Rainbow glanced from Sonia to Amy down the street. "Pinky has a copy now, too??" she muttered. Normal-Tails groaned and kept leading them. "Should've went to the Mystic Ruins..." he grumbled. Arriving at the workshop, they found that odd man in the alligator suit, Gator, who was talking to a pair of copies of himself, which honestly didn't seem so odd at this point. "Oh, hey, Mr. Fox! You gotta talk to you today, too, huh? Don't you hate that?" Gator asked. Tails opened the door to his workshop and led everyone inside, ignoring him. "I told you, me! I came from the future!!" one of the Gators shouted, "No, he's lying! I did!!" the other argued. Upon gathering in the workshop, the Tails were greeted by a confused SPOT. "Error... Tails detected in too many locations!!" the robo-puppy's monitor read. The fourth Tails, who had been silent during the trip, now spoke up. "I think I have some ideas. Well, basically just inventions..." he said. Normal-Tails nodded. "I was hoping to hear that. Tell me what you got; I'm already forming a plan!" he smirked.
The sidekicks took two of Normal-Tails's Tornado planes to reach the place where he'd left the Egg Carrier, floating in the ocean much like the first Egg Carrier once did. This was the place where the Sonics were being held, as the new robot activity picked up by Tails's radar suggested. The group split up into teams, the two main teams provided with laser-powered lockpicks that Goggles-Tails invented before leaving. This would allow them to sneak around the Egg Carrier with a minimum of detection. Knothole-Tails and Toon-Tails teamed up to search the ship for the Sonics, while Sonia & Manic teamed with Goggles-Tails to run interference. Normal-Tails returned to the air with the Tornado-1, keeping a bird's-eye view of the area and maintaining radio contact with the others. Knothole-Tails carefully held the laser-lockpick to the lock on a doorway, cautiously manipulating the barrel of the gun-shaped device like the inventive Tails had shown him. "You know what you're doing, right?" Toon-Tails asked. The door slid open, and the other Tails smiled. "No prob! ...Uh oh!" he yelped, seeing laser grid defenses ahead of them. "...Maybe there's a way to turn it off somewhere?" Toon-Tails wondered. They called the other group for assistance, but Sonia, Manic and Goggles-Tails had run into trouble. Robot guards patrolled everywhere down the route they were going. "If I can get to a computer, I might be able to turn off those laser grids..." Tails stated. "Ah, no sweat, I can totally scope out a computer!" Manic volunteered. Sonia rolled her eyes. "Even you're not that stealthy." she sighed, touching her medallion to make her keyboard appear. "I'll give you boys some cover!" she said. As she played a haunting melody on her keyboard, a pinkish fog covered the area, obscuring the vision of the robots. Tails looked a bit unnerved by it, but Manic grabbed his arm. "C'mon, let's move!" he said, starting the search quickly. Fortunately, finding a computer was a simple matter in Eggman's ship. "Okay... Cover me while I hack this..." Tails said. As some Egg Pawns stormed into the room, Manic touched his medallion to draw out his drums. "Hope you can concentrate with a little noise..." he chuckled. Outside, Normal-Tails tried calling the other groups. "How's it going down there?" he asked. All he could hear, however, was the loud banging of Manic's drums in his ears. "Yow!! ...Sorry I asked..." he yelped.
The five Sonics were stuck in a reinforced cage together. The Robotniks' combined knowledge had constructed a cell they couldn't escape from. So, they spent the time determining how to tell each other apart. "Why don't we call you 'Tall Sonic?'" Prince Sonic joked, pointing to Normal-Sonic. "I'm gonna call you 'Bling Sonic.'" Bandana-Sonic teased him back. "Do it and they'll be calling you BOOM Sonic!!" Prince Sonic retorted. "I'm fine with Knothole-Sonic, thanks..." the fourth Sonic chimed in. Toon-Sonic was looking outside the cage anxiously, not ready to give up on escape. "I expected Scratch and Grounder here to guard us by now..." he sighed, "Or at least someone equally dense." he added. Instead, the Robotniks and Eggmen were there, eager to taunt the hedgehogs. "Comfy, hedgehogs? Now all I need are your pesky siblings..." Underground-Robotnik grinned. "Let me through! I want to mock the brats! So, Sonic, I finally found the ultimate humiliation for you... Making you spend time with yourself! Ha ha ha ha ha!!" Toon-Robotnik cackled. "That's not how you gloat!" "Boom"-Eggman groaned, pushing the Robotniks aside, "This'll teach you for cutting in line at Meh Burger!" he shouted pitifully. While they were taunting the Sonics, Julian Robotnik was tinkering with the portal device, looking at various other realities they'd still not visited. "It still galls me to no end!! We could destroy these five, but there are still Sonics across the multiverse! They could yet find me...us, and thwart our plans as these rodents have!" he growled. Normal-Eggman looked at him and shrugged. "Well, we've captured enough. Only way to destroy all Sonics across the multiverse would be to find the Prime Sonic that anchors them to the multiverse... The source of their existence, if you will. I theorize that one Sonic came first...and it's none of these." he said. Julian's eyes widened. "That's it! We need to find this...Sonic Prime!" he stated. "A fool's errand." Toon-Robotnik stated, "The destruction of a Prime would likely destroy the very fabric of the entire multiverse!" he warned. "Hm... Amazingly, you have a point." Boom-Eggman stated. "What's THAT mean??" Toon-Robotnik snapped. Julian sighed as the other four Robotniks looked at him, obviously disapproving the idea of possibly destroying the multiverse. "...Just a thought. At least I can take comfort in ending my own Sonic..." he sneered, "Not to mention the wondrous marvel our collaboration has wrought..." he added, motioning to a mechanical object left in the shadows where the Sonics couldn't see it...
While Sonic's sidekicks were busy trying to rescue his five selves, Robotnik's sidekicks were gathered just outside the room containing their cell, talking among themselves. Snively, Scratch, Grounder, Sleet, Dingo, Orbot, Cubot and Char were all assembled, each seeming a bit uncomfortable together. "I'm amazed at how few of us are actually...robots." Orbot observed. "Yeah. Which dumb Eggman has a little fairy workin' with him?" Cubot snickered. Char growled. "Hey! For your information, we have our own Orbot & Cubot, but Dr. Eggman said one pair of bozos was enough!!" he snapped. Snively folded his arms in contempt of his so-called counterparts. "I'm obviously the only intelligent one here. But why is it there are no interdimensional copies of me? I'm Snively Robotnik, blast it!" he complained. "Hey, I think you called me stupid!" Sleet growled. "But not me? ...Okay then..." Dingo muttered. "Oh, you're all losers! I bet WE'VE actually captured Sonic WAY more times than any of YOU!" Scratch bragged. "We've also had Sonic escape more times than any of you!" Grounder added. "Not helping..." Scratch frowned. "Well, well!" came the voice of Manic as his group arrived on the scene, "Looks like an all-star lineup of 'Buttnik's rejects!" he snickered. Dingo's eyes lit up as they arrived. "Awww, Sonia found us here!" he sighed, making Sleet punch him. "We can finally catch them if you'll get your head out of the clouds!" he snarled. "Catch this!!" Goggles-Tails said, having converted his laser-lockpick into an actual laser weapon to fire at the sidekicks! Snively and Char bolted out of the way while the laser knocked Grounder's head off! "Ouch!! He's meaner than our Tails!!" he whined. "While you're going to pieces, I'll be taking the credit for catching these pests! Ha-ha haha!!" Scratch laughed, running ahead only to get blasted back by Sonia's laser-keyboard. "...Screwball." she sighed. This was all a diversion, however, and the other two Tails snuck past the minions during the distraction. Almost, that is, as Orbot and Snively turned and leapt at Toon-Tails! "Aaaah!! I'm caught!!" he yelped. Knothole-Tails turned and kicked at Snively to help out. "A Freedom Fighter never leaves a friend behind!" he cried. Orbot backed off nervously, allowing the foxes to move on. They found the Sonics' cage unguarded, and started to work on the lock. "Big guy! You came by yourself??" Knothole-Sonic stammered. "Use your eyes! My bro's with him!" Toon-Sonic grinned. "But you won't get away!!" said Toon-Robotnik, emerging from the shadows with most of the others. However, they quickly noticed one was missing. "...Where's Julian?" Normal-Eggman wondered. "It's no use... Sonic will escape! That pesky rodent ALWAYS escapes!!" Julian snarled from the shadows, grabbing the fruits of his collaboration with the other Robotniks and activating the portal device from the Egg Mobile! While the Robotniks turned to see what he was doing, the Tails freed the Sonics. "Where's he goin'?" Bandana-Sonic wondered. "To eliminate all you pesky rodents with one fell blow!! Farewell, hedgehogs!!" Julian roared, jumping into the portal! "Oh dear... He's after Sonic Prime!!" Boom-Eggman said worriedly.
There was no time to worry about Julian, though. The Sonics and the Robotniks still had the matter of settling things. Each Robotnik produced a weapon native to their respective worlds, but the Sonics didn't give them a chance to use them. A whirlwind of blue blurs stormed the room and surrounded the four Robotniks, leaving them dizzy and, in a moment, thrown into the same cell the Sonics were just inside! "Oooof!! Nincombots!! Get in here and HELP ME!!!" Toon-Robotnik shouted. The minions all scrambled into the room, followed by Sonia, Manic, Goggles-Tails and Normal-Tails, who had landed his plane to meet up with the group. "It's no use, Eggmen! You're outmatched now that we're united!" Normal-Tails said. "Yeah, maybe we should've brought the E-X series instead of just me..." Char said worriedly. Normal-Eggman got into a groveling position quickly. "Wait, please, Sonics! Don't lock us in here! You need to listen! The Robotnik that escaped is serious here! He plans to eliminate the very first Sonic to ever grace the multiverse! His existence is what anchors all these parallel worlds! Well, the Sonics in them, anyway. But destroying even a single person in that Prime reality could have disastrous consequences for the rest of the multiverse!" he warned. Sonia put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "You expect us to believe any of that??" she said. Suddenly, the portal Robotnik escaped through started to flash, and objects around it began to change, becoming grimier and more metallic than they were before! "Why do I think he was telling the truth?" several of the Sonics said at once. The Robotniks all wailed loudly at that moment, and they, too, started to change! "No!! Julian’s influence is affecting us, first! W-we're being... r-robotisized!!! NOOOO!!" Underground-Robotnik shrieked as his body was rapidly converted to metal and wires! "S-sonic!! Save meeee!!" Boom-Robotnik wailed. In a moment, the four of them had become snarling robots, much to the horror of their minions. "Uncle Julian’s gone insane...er!" Snively gasped. "D-doctor Eggman!! Speak to us!!" Orbot cried, rushing to his master with a sobbing Cubot. Sleet and Dingo were oddly okay with this. "We're free!!" they cheered, hi-fiving each other. The Sonics looked at the portal intently, knowing what they had to do. "Tails?" Normal-Sonic said. "Yes?" they all replied. "Uh... Stay here and keep an eye on things..." he stated. "We've got a 'Buttnik to kick!" Prince Sonic added. "Why do I get the most psycho Robotnik in the multiverse?" Knothole-Sonic groaned. Without further delay, the five Sonics chased Julian through the portal...
Arriving in the Prime Dimension, the Sonics experienced slight discomfort as their bodies were converted into strange, pixellated forms. "Why do I feel so retro?" Toon-Sonic wondered. They found themselves in Green Hill Zone, but it was different from the one Normal-Sonic knew. Everything had an unusual look to it, as though the entire world were made up of tiny squares of light. Like a video game. They didn't have long to gawk before they encountered Robotnik Prime, a rotund man with a red shirt with two yellow stripes, and black pants. He was riding his Egg Mobile, swinging a large, checkered wrecking ball in their direction! "This feels familiar..." Normal-Sonic muttered, "Except he's not very talkative." Indeed, all Robotnik Prime was doing to show surprise at finding multiple Sonics was gesturing wildly. A sixth Sonic stepped past the others and looked up at Robotnik Prime. He looked like a pixel version of Classic Sonic, with more of an attitude in his expression. "That must be Sonic Prime!" Bandana-Sonic realized. Before the two primes could duke it out, however, a huge fist slapped the Egg Mobile aside, and Julian revealed his pixelled self! He was wearing a suit of body armor that the five Robotniks had built together, and likely would look more impressive had it not been converted to pixel art. It succeeded in sending Robotnik Prime flying, at any rate, and now he stared down the six hedgehogs with contempt. "So, you all followed me. Fine, then. The more, the merrier!! I'll savor the chance to crush every last one of you spiky blue rodents once and for all!!" he snarled. "Bring it, Ro-butt-nik!!" Knothole-Sonic shouted, rallying the others to charge him like the Robotniks before! However, Julian was ready, his armor equipped with speed-targeting that no Sonic could outmaneuver. "The fun begins..." he smirked, easily swatting aside Toon-Sonic first, then kicking Underground Sonic across the grassy field! He fired up a jetpack and lunged at Bandana-Sonic as he tried to pursue him, grabbing him and hurling him to the floor! Normal-Sonic tried a homing attack, but a boxing glove popped out of a hatch on his armor and knocked him away with perfect timing! Finally, as Knothole-Sonic tried to speed at him from behind, Julian did an impressive backflip and kicked him hard, sending him to the ground! "Satisfying... but all things must come to an end!" Julian sneered, approaching Sonic Prime. The hedgehog tried to jump up and strike Julian’s head, but he was instead grabbed in the suit's huge hands, and in a moment those hands closed over his throat! "Farewell!! All Sonic the Hedgehogs...will now...perish!!" Julian cackled.
The five other Sonics tried to get up, but as Julian was crushing Sonic Prime's throat, they all howled in pain at once, as though he were indeed hurting all of them at once through that single Sonic. The danger of the ending of Sonic Prime's life was manifesting in other ways, too. The grassy fields and palm trees of Green Hill Zone started to grow cold, the life in the area being replaced with metallic robotisization. This even extended to other realities, which the Tails and minions experienced firsthand. The Egg Carrier rapidly turned completely to metal, and those on board cried out in terror as their bodies were converted to cold metal. "S-s-sonic!! Save uuuus!!" cried Knothole-Tails as the metal covered his body, his fellow foxes already having been robotisized. Snively, Sleet, Dingo and Char were panicked as well as they succumbed to the robotisization, but the robots initially seemed fine. "Hah! You can't robotisize a robot!" Cubot laughed. Suddenly, several things around them started to vanish into nothingness, including Cubot's polygonal body. "Yaaaah!! You're disappearing!!" Grounder yelped. "I wanna go home!!" Scratch cried as they helplessly watched the world around them collapse!
The Prime dimension was slowly starting to vanish as well. However, the Sonics had not been robotisized. Perhaps they would simply vanish once Sonic Prime was dead. This was something they would never allow while they still breathed, of course, and Bandana-Sonic was first to crawl his way toward Julian in a desperate attempt to fight back. "Hey... Egghead!" he panted, earning a glare from Julian. Bandana-Sonic held up his wrist, where he was wearing a watch-like device. "Made ya look!" he chuckled, firing a whip-like energy beam from the wrist-device and coiling it around Julian’s arm, making him soften his grip on Sonic Prime as he struggled! "You pest! You think this will stop me!?" he growled. With this diversion, Prince Sonic touched his medallion to acquire his guitar, and strummed it to zap Julian’s face with beams, irritating him further. "I feel a song comin' on, 'Buttnik!" he said tauntingly.
These diversions were enough to allow the other Sonics to start moving, and as a result, Knothole-Sonic quickly located some golden rings floating around the area. "Power rings? Here? Sweet!!" he said, grabbing a couple and using them to power up, then charge at Robotnik and knock him off balance, his grip on Sonic Prime loosening even further! With this opening, Toon-Sonic sped in and wrestled Sonic Prime free of Julian’s grip, speeding him away safely! "You take a breather, handsome. I'm up, over and everywhere!!" he said, leaving Sonic Prime to rest a good distance away before joining the other Sonics in speeding around Julian, keeping just out of his reach in order to aggravate him. "Hedgehogs... HEDGEHOGS!!! I hate hedgehogs!! I hate them so much!!" Robotnik roared, firing missiles from a launcher concealed in one of the arms of his armor, which the Sonics easily avoided. "You're too slooooow!! You're too slooooow!!" the Sonics taunted, enraging him further. "I can't stand you, Sonic!! I hate you!! Hate... hate... hate!!" he snarled, fuming as he tried to chase the arrogant hedgehogs. During this chaos, Normal-Sonic caught sight of a TV monitor conspicuously hidden atop a palm tree. It had a familiar sparkle displayed on its screen, and he quickly knew exactly what to do. He ran at the tree with incredible speed, and leapt up at the box! Meanwhile, Julian turned his attention to Sonic Prime. "Never mind. Prime is still weak. All I need to do is blast him before he recovers, and it's all over..." he sneered, aiming his arm missiles toward Sonic Prime. At that moment, everyone heard some catchy music playing as Normal-Sonic approached, his body trailing sparkles behind him! "Game over, Julian! I bet even your fancy armor can't stop Invincible Sonic!" he shouted, charging at him before he could fire a single shot! Julian shrieked as Sonic's mere touch burned through his armor, allowing the hedgehog to race around him and tear it off piece by metallic piece! "No... NOOOOOO!! I... I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!!!" Julian roared as he tumbled to the floor, the last of his armor shattering to pieces just in time for Sonic's invincibility to wear off!
The effects of Sonic Prime's near-death were rapidly wearing off as he recovered, the world reappearing and derobotisizing back to the way it was before. A portal had emerged nearby, likely reopened by Tails back in Normal-Sonic's world now that things were back to normal. Julian stood up and snarled. "This isn't over... Mark my words, rodents..." he started to say, but before he could finish, a checkered wrecking ball struck him in the back, catapulting him through the portal as he cried out in surprise! Robotnik Prime stuck his tongue out at Julian now that he was gone, and glanced around at the Sonics nervously before fleeing, quickly chased by Sonic Prime. "Good to see this place getting back to normal." Bandana-Sonic smiled. "Yeah... Let's get our worlds back to normal, too!" Toon-Sonic suggested. The others nodded, and they headed back to pick up their sidekicks and villains. Everyone had indeed returned to normal, with all of them derobotisized and Cubot restored to existence along with everyone and everything else that vanished. The sidekicks met their Sonics with relief, while the Robotniks looked on grouchily. "Well, uh... Come on, Char, this love-in has me missing my Orbot and Cubot. And Alpha. And Terra. And Firepaw. And Hoover..." Normal-Eggman said, slipping away nonchalantly at first before breaking out into a run. Normal-Tails activated his portal device and motioned to the other Robotniks. "We're sending you all back home. No more funny business until that's done, you hear me?" he warned. Underground Robotnik nodded. "I'm sick of these inferior versions of myself! I'll be glad to get home!" he said. "Hey! You can't talk about our master the way he talks about us!!" Scratch said angrily. Boom Eggman shrugged. "I'm comfy as the inferior Eggman, honestly. That extra power, it just seems to come with added stress. Made Julian crack." he said. The Sonics glanced at each other and sighed. "No one wants to trade 'Buttniks, then? Good, let's get this show on the road!" Prince Sonic chuckled.
Since Normal-Tails had invented the portal device, that reality's Sonic & Tails duo saw the other groups safely back to their respective homes, sharing a brief farewell with their interdimensional duplicates at each stop on the way. Soon, they were back in Station Square, and quite relieved to be home. "All that dimension-hopping was awful exhausting. I could really go for a good Chili Dog..." Sonic sighed, stretching his arms and yawning. Tails nodded. "I wouldn't mind visiting any of those guys again, but one at a time. Five at once is a bit much..." he stated. Suddenly, they were greeted by a young, brown-haired boy in a red shirt who seemed strangely happy to see them. "Hey, guys! I wasn't expecting you to meet me while I was on my way home from school like this!" he said cheerfully. Sonic and Tails stared at him in confusion, and the boy picked up on it quickly. "Uh... Guys? Don't tell me you forgot who I am? Chris Thorndyke? You're staying at my parents' house?" he said, chuckling awkwardly. Sonic and Tails's eyes went wide as they realized that the portal device had goofed on them. "Tails!! We're in the wrong universe!! Gaaaah!!" Sonic cried, panicking, "Get us home, quick, before we have ANOTHER Eggman to deal with!!"
There are many worlds in the multiverse. Some are similar, some are drastically different. In this multiverse, they all have one thing in common. One incredible force of good, a champion of freedom and enemy of oppression. No matter what evil arises across these dimensions, that darkness will always be challenged by the blue blur, Sonic the Hedgehog!
The End!
