A/N: Hey, guys! Welcome to my new one-shot. This one-shot is a cross-over between Mario and Sonic. I've always loved both series and characters, but I prefer Mario. If you don't know, Sonic's fanbase is among the worst on the Internet. Even though I'm a Sonic fan, I consider myself one of the most "normal and moderate" fans, you know how it is, those who wouldn't give you death threats because you don't share their opinion? I know this because of some videos that I have seen, and I take inspiration from them, such as that of IcyAngels452, who also has an account on this site. Also, if you've noticed that Sonic appears in my Mario one-shots, it's because in some Mario fanfictions, Sonic is among the characters, so I make him a recurring minor character. I see these two as friends. It is true that they are rivals, but their console war has been over for many years, and as early as 2008 it can be seen that when they appear together they have no problems with each other. More than 12 years have passed and still today a good number of fans of one or the other do not realize it. End premise, let's start!

It was a day like any other, on Mobius, and it was noon. Sonic had received a call from his friend from the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario, who had told him that he would come to visit him and they would have lunch together. Thanks to the pipe that connected the two worlds, it was possible to move from one world to another at any time, and Mario often communicated with Sonic. The blue hedgehog today was more thoughtful than usual. Something tormented him a little. At that moment, Mario arrived, with a smile under his ebony-black mustache.

''Hello, Sonic!'' he greeted him cheerfully.

''Hi, Mario! I've been waiting for you!'' exclaimed Sonic.

''So how are you?'' asked the human.

''Pretty well. How about you?''

''Everything's fine.'' The man in red noticed the hedgehog's expression. ''Hey, is something wrong?''

''I'm fine. I am a little lost in thoughts. Do you remember our old rivalry in the 90s?'' asked Sonic.

Mario realized what he was referring to. The console war between Nintendo and SEGA, between the Nintendo 64 and the SEGA Genesis, as well as the phrase ''Sega does what NintenDON'T.''(1) and Sonic was to be his rival. '' Yeah, why?'' he asked.

''Well, I feel that since my 3D debut, I am no longer able to compete with you. Other series are much more capable in this. And let's not talk about my terrible fanbase. It became especially problematic from 2006 onwards.'' Sonic replied.

''Then let's do a summary of the main games and think about it. We will take turns. You will start.'' said Mario.

''All right. In 1999, with Sonic Adventure, me, Tails and the others were redesigned, and I no longer had black eyes, but green ones, and I grew taller. Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 were highly appreciated by both critics and audiences. Then, after SEGA stopped producing consoles after the SEGA Dreamcast, Sonic Heroes came out in 2003, the last game with the first voice actors, for example, Ryan Drummond dubbed me. The game was good, but not everyone liked it. Starting in the same year, the TV series Sonic X was released, and we all got a new cast of voice actors. For example, Shadow and I were voiced by Jason Griffith, Tails by Amy Pallant and Amy by Lisa Ortiz. Fans in general didn't appreciate it very much, and when an artwork for a video game with Shadow as the protagonist showing it with a gun was shown, this caused more controversy and started a real schism among the fans of the series, with a good number of these that did not accept other games in the series except the classics. It reminds me of those terrible Pokémon fans who only accept the first generation.'' began Sonic.

''Then there was your 15th anniversary, right?'' asked Mario.

''Yeah. For 2006, after some spin-offs that did not meet expectations, Sonic '06 and a remake of the first game on the Gameboy Advance were released. Both were disappointing. The development of the former was troubled because the development team was too small, and to make matters worse, Nintendo announced the Wii, at the time with the code name ''Revolution'', and to ensure that I could debut on that new console, they had to split the team in two to develop a project, which was Sonic and the Secret Rings, which then had a sequel, Sonic and the Black Knight, and they were part of a duology in its own right. Sonic '06 was supposed to be released for the Christmas holidays, but it was clearly incomplete, with plot holes, points where the story doesn't make sense, glitches and long loading times, not to mention Elise, who wascontroversial because of a scene in detail that I won't describe, while the remake of the first game suffered from an inconsistent framerate. Since then, it was clear that the fanbase was really going out of control, and in 2010, SEGA, in a desperate attempt to increase the value of the series, had to cross out of the shops a good number its games, those that did not have high enough scores on Metacritic.'' said Sonic.

''Mamma Mia. Tough situation.'' replied the man.

''Yes. But after 2006, it got worse. Now it's your turn.'' said the hedgehog.

''Right. Moving on to 2008, let's see what happened. Barack Obama won the election and became the President of the United States, Pokémon Platinum was released in Japan, and Sonic Unleashed was released for PS2, Wii, XBOX 360 and PS3. The latter two used a new engine, the Hedgehog Engine, while the others did not. Also, in these versions, the ''Savannah Citadel'' area in Mazuri also had levels rather than just a boss, and unlike the first two, there was also the ''Skyscraper Scamper'' area in Empire City. The feature of the game is a new form, the Werehog, and the presence of daytime stages with the classic fast-paced gameplay, and nighttime stages with a gameplay based more on combat and platform. The PS3 and XBOX versions received rather negative reviews, even in comparison to the others.'' said Mario.

''IGN's review of the PS3 and XBOX versions, written by a certain Hillary Goldstein, was biased and even the videos of their gameplay, they played really badly. IGN gave the versions for PS2 and Wii a 7/10, but in the others, it was a 4.5/10, while the rating for Sonic '06 was a 4.8/10, and what the latter got right were just the soundtrack, Mephiles, a good villain, and some scenes, for the rest, almost nothing. The review was so biased and unprofessional that the guy was fired. He complained about the different gameplay in the nighttime stages and the hubworlds, which honestly, were better than those of Sonic Adventure, those were bland. They also made a joke about a friend of mine, Big, saying that he would be better than the Werehog, but without explaining why. There is a difference between constructive and destructive criticism. Constructive criticism explains what's wrong and how to improve it, destructive criticism is when you that you don't like something or it sucks without explaining why.'' said the hedgehog.

''But the gameplay of the daytime stage was more fast-paced than ever. This seemed like a solid game.'' replied Mario.

''Yes, it is. Also, a real player wouldn't want to be influenced by the opinions of others, let alone those of middle-aged men.'' said Sonic.

''Fast-forward to two years later, with the release of Sonic 4: Episode 1. Although other games had already done what the fans wanted, with a return to the classic 2D style, and they were all excellent, they were all on portable consoles, and therefore do not count as main chapters. Sonic 4: Episode 1, even before it was released, received controversy from fans over whether Sonic's modern design with green eyes was used. This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. In addition, many criticized both the voice actors and the ever-growing cast of characters and only wanted Sonic as the protagonist, forcing SEGA to do so at the cost of taking development away from other characters.'' the man continued.

''And then Sonic Colors came out. It was fast and the mechanics worked well, so it could be considered among the best in the series. Arthur Gies of IGN gave the game an 8.5/10, and his review had no problems, but the game received a negative review from Jim Sterling of Destructoid. We know he was controversial for 7/10 in The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. In this case, the criticisms, such as the fact that the weapons broke and the difficulty was too high were right, but it was nonetheless biased. For his review on Sonic Colors, he criticized the controls, the physics, the 2D sections and thought the game was bad and poorly designed. Also, from this game on, there was a new cast of voice actors. For example, my new voice actor was Roger Craig Smith(2). Honestly, I preferred my old voice actor, it fits better.''

''Yes, I think so too. Even though you seem arrogant at times, that new dubbing seemed to make you cockier, with all respect to Roger Craig Smith, I think he does better in other roles.''

''Then there is Sonic Generations, a great game for my 20th anniversary, like with the previous one, it received an 8.5/10 from IGN, and the review was by Jack Devries. The problem is that the two Adventure games got better reviews despite even more noticeable flaws: the dubbing had a mediocre quality, the former had a bland hubworld and the Knuckles and Rouge levels in the latter were poorly designed.'' said Sonic.

''Then, in 2013, Sonic Lost World was released. The game came out on 3DS and Wii U, had a level design rather similar to Super Mario Galaxy, and was more focused on platform and parkour. While the 3DS version received a 6.8/10 from IGN, the Wii U version received one point less because Sonic was not running fast. Honestly, the latter was better: the 3DS version had sometimes awkward controls, too long and poorly designed stages with things like pushing a snowball for half a level. The Wii U version had its problems, such as experimentation and a use of the Gamepad that was shoehorned in because they had to, but the review for this version, written by Vince Ingenito, while better than that of the Hillary Goldstein because it was more professional, creates more controversy over the presence of a run button and a lack of speed than the rest, and both he and the fans accused the game of copying me because of the level design inspired by Super Mario Galaxy. The speed problem is almost nonexistent because Sonic has an infinite Spin Dash, since unlike previous games, it does not lose momentum after a jump or a landing, and it ends only when you land on a rail or on a spring. The game was OK anyway, maybe a little underrated.'' Mario continued.

''Finally, we have Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, the first game of a trilogy. IGN gave it a 4.3/10, and both critics and fans consider it worse than Sonic '06. In a sense, they were right, since that game, albeit bad, at least had an idea of what to be, and was a very ambitious game. Instead, Sonic Boom seemed to have no idea of what it wanted to be, repeatedly going from fast-paced sections to fighting, to platformer to puzzles. There are complaints about this, but they do not cover all the problems, since there are also other problems: horrible experimental sections, various glitches and issues with 2-player mode. The game wasn't even done by Sonic Team, but by Big Red Button. Before the release of Sonic Forces and Sonic Mania, with the former one also disappointing expectations while the latter was a great success, those of IGN said something unprofessional about me and my series. It was bad enough that in their review of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, they criticized the game for having ''too much water'', giving it a 7.8/10 for this. Really stupid, huh?'' concluded Sonic.

''Yes. About the reviews, even if they are made by two different people, it shouldn't matter who's writing them. If two people make a review with as little bias as possible, then the score should be relatively similar, and instead those of your games are clearly inconsistent.'' replied the man in red.

''No doubt.'' said the hedgehog. But the worst is my fanbase. Not all of them, but many of them only accept the classics and the two Adventure games, say that other games are shitty and complain without explanation, insult the voice actors, threaten to kill you if you don't share their opinion, and think that many will probably already be thirty-year-olds against children. Not to mention the fanfictions on the verge of trash like those TV shows, certain fanarts that make you want to puke, and the most no-sense and disgusting ships.''

''And no fanbase is safe from that, trust me.'' said Mario, a little disgusted.

''What is your fan base like? Like mine?'' asked the cobalt hedgehog.

''Let's say that it's much better than yours, but some characters have a toxic fanbase, such as Waluigi(3), Daisy, Rosalina and sometimes Luigi. In the case of the latter, a good number of his fans hate me as a character because they think that I treat him badly, that itwants the spotlight for myself, or that i'm a horrible brother. This worsened due to a video that was not to be taken seriously, and this worsened my reputation in the fanbase.(4)'' explained the human. ''Why do you ask?''

''I am the mascot of SEGA, but it is clear that I am not as successful as I used to be, and it is not SEGA's fault either. Just to know, have you ever had failures? ''

''Yes. The live-action film released in 1993 with Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo was a complete fiasco. The direction and the script sucked, the narrative structure was inconsistent and the film was too different from the source material, and the actors were unhappy, not with the film itself, but with the experience. John Leguizamo, who took the role of Luigi, criticized the fact that it was an adult movie rather than a family movie, and Bob Hoskins, who instead portrayed me, was injured several times on the set, for example when he injured his hand during the shooting of a scene in the car and he was forced to wear a pink glove, and both claimed that they also had to get drunk to make everything go smoothly, and criticized the choice of scenes to shoot. A film is never good without a good direction and a good script, otherwise it would ruin the final product.'' replied Mario, who put both hands on the hedgehog's shoulders. ''Listen, Sonic. You have a lot of fans who really appreciate you, and you're not SEGA's mascot for nothing. Luigi and I went to see the recent movie with you and Tails, and it was really good, certainly one of the bestmovie based on a video game, since all but three or four had sucked. The others were the Angry Birds sequel and Detective Pikachu. In two years, I will have a new movie from Illumination Entertainment, known for the Despicable Me series and the Minions, who become their mascot. What I want to say is that I had some failures, but they never stopped me, and therefore you must not be stopped by failures either.''

Sonic was surprised. It will be the experience that Mario had from all those adventures, but he seemed so wise, and that conversation made him feel better. He wrapped his arms around his neck and hugged him. ''Thanks, Mario. I feel better now. You are a true friend. And to think that you once had a rivalry with me and Donkey Kong, but you managed to turn these rivalries into friendships.'' he said.

Mario returned Sonic's embrace, being careful not to sting himself with his quills. ''You're welcome, Sonic. I have a lot of experience in my adventures. It will be PAC-MAN's 40th anniversary in two weeks.'' he said.

''Oh, yeah! I'll call Megaman and let him know.'' Sonic exclaimed.

''Good. Now I'm going to make pizza for lunch. You also told me that chili dogs are your favorite food, but I have never tasted them, so I would like to try one.''

''Sure. I have a lot of them at home, so when we finish eating pizza you can get one.''

''Thanks. Now I'm going to your house to make pizza. Cooking will take about an hour and a half. See you at lunchtime, '' said Mario, who went to Sonic's house and started making pizza.

While Mario was preparing lunch, Sonic was running around for two hours, then returned home, where he smelled a delicious smell from the kitchen.

''Hey, Sonic. The pizza is almost ready, in five minutes I will take it out of the oven.'' Mario greeted him.

''All right. I'm getting very hungry.'' said Sonic.

After five minutes, the pizza was ready. Mario took it out of the oven and took two dishes, then cut the pizza into two halves, giving one to Sonic, and warned him that being freshly baked, it was very hot and that he had to blow on it. It was the classic pizza margherita, with tomato sauce, mozzarella, oil and basil. The hedgehog took his half with his hands and took a bite, then opened his eyes wide, surprised.

''Do you like it?'' asked the man.

''It's delicious! The ingredients mix well together.'' said the hedgehog, who briefly put the pizza on the plate and gave him a thumbs-up.

''I'm glad you like it. Luigi and I are Italian, and pizza is our typical dish. If I'm honest, Luigi cooks better than I do.'' said Mario.

''Really? You are really good at cooking.'' replied the hedgehog.

''Grazie, Sonic! I really appreciate it!'' said the human, with a smile.

When they both finished eating pizza, they laughed about the fact that Sonic's muzzle and Mario's mustache were dirty with tomato sauce. The hedgehog then took two hot dogs with chili. Mario started eating it, and was amazed at the taste. It was spicy, but the flavor matched.

''What do you think?'' asked Sonic.

''It's really tasty! Chili gives flavor to the meat.'' replied the man in red.

''Thanks. I'm glad you like it.'' said the hedgehog. Soon after, when they finished eating, they started washing the dishes, and Mario checked the time. It was already a quarter to three.

''Mamma mia! Look at the time! I have to go home!'' he exclaimed.

''It's OK. Thanks for visiting me today. Do you know what? With all the experiences you've had in your life, you seem wise like a veteran, and besides, I see you as an older brother.'' said Sonic.

Mario didn't expect it. Sure, he was an adult and Sonic was a teenager according to the Mobian age, but he didn't expect to hear these words. ''Thanks, Sonic. I didn't know you thought this of me. It is true that I am an expert, but I am only twenty-four years old.'' he said, and the two hugged each other.

''I mean it, Mario. I'm glad you're my friend.'' said Sonic.

''Me too.'' said Mario. The two broke away and gave each other an high five, then a fist-bump and and a strong handshake.'' Now I'm going home, my brother is waiting for me. See you soon.''

''Thanks again, Mario. See ya!'' Said Sonic, and the two friends said goodbye. Mario then left the house to reach a pipe, and the hedgehog smiled. He knew that their friendship would not be stopped by their worlds.

A/N: Well, this one-shot is over. I hope you enjoyed how I described the relationship between Mario and Sonic. Since PAC-MAN made its debut on May 22, 1980, in exactly two weeks I will do a one-shot to commemorate the event. Don't miss it. This one-shot is the longest chapter I've ever written, and I hope you don't mind the broken fourth wall. See you next time!

(1): A sentence that symbolizes the old rivalry between Nintendo and SEGA. This phrase can be offensive to Nintendo fans though, and if someone wants to joke about that phrase, then go right ahead, but don't be a jerk about it.

(2): If you are a fan of the Sonic and/or Resident Evil series, you would know that Sonic and Chris Redfield are both voiced by Roger Craig Smith.

(3): It's a reference to the fact that Waluigi fans want it absolutely playable in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, threatening Sakurai too. Honestly, I don't understand why. At least Daisy made her debut in Super Mario Land, which is a game in the main series, same for Wario.

(4): If you don't know, it's a reference to the video ''Mario is Mental'' from Matpat from GameTheory, divided into two parts.