Cross Collision

A/N- sorry about the long wait for this part, I lost it amongst my files and only just found it again. Updates'll still be slow for a while as I'm really out of practice and I've been working on an original comic too (you can find the link to my comic on my profile if you're interested in reading it), so it'll take some time for me to get back into it. (ps. I apologise for the bad attempt at Esperanto, I had to use translate because I have no time.) We're gonna steer this into actual plot territory now so we can get on with the story, which I know has been well overdue. Let's get going again.

Part 12: Gathering some Artefacts

"Danny! Mia amiko! Estas bone vidi vin!"

"Oh no-"

Danny yelped as the enormous black werewolf in the green hoodie grabbed him from the air and pulled him into a crushing hug, much to the amusement of his friends. Shadow watched the large beast warily, at a distance well out of arm's reach. He frowned, the only reason he hadn't attacked the creature was that the children seemed to be happy to see it, so they probably knew it. It turned to look at him, and snarled, to which he responded by dropping into a defensive stance. Danny tapped its shoulder and it put him down, blinking.

"Kiu estas tiu?"

"Don't worry Wulf, he's with us." Tucker gave the creature a thumbs up, and it relaxed.

"Okay. Kio estas lia nomo?"

"Uhmmm..." Tucker paused for a moment, translating what he'd just said in his head for a moment, before nodding. "His name is Shadow- No wait! Not Johnny's Shadow, this is a different Shadow!"

Wulf, who'd started growling again at mention of the name, stopped at Tucker's hasty explanation. "Okay. Saluton, Shadow."

"... Saluton, Wulf." Shadow nodded in acknowledgement, but did not get any closer.

"Kio okazas tie, miaj amikoj?" The werewolf ghost looked back at the teens he was familiar with, while waving a hand around them. "Kial estas ĉiu salato?"

"Little bit of an accident here, Wulf, we need your help to fix it." Danny grinned at his friend. "Will you give us a hand?"

"I will!"

"Awesome! You can make portals, so we'll be able to get back easily with your help." Sam pointed out, a small smile on her face. "Do you think you can help us sniff out some ghost items like this? Danny can't find them here but you might be able to."

Wulf's ears perked up at seeing the emerald Shadow held, and he leaned close to it, snuffling the gemstone. Sam raised a finger as she went to point out that she did not mean to literally sniff it out, but Wulf straightened up and nodded. Danny and Tucker whooped triumphantly as the werewolf flew off and the group started to follow him.

"I bet Clockwork's got something too."

"Give it up, Danny, he doesn't help when he's given a choice."

"True, but can't hurt to ask him right? I mean, the whole fate of the universe thing and I'm not entirely sure he didn't help me willingly before." Danny glanced at his friend, who tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Good point."

"Who is this 'Clockwork?'" Shadow frowned at the teens as he hauled them along, following Wulf through the chaotic realms.

"A ghost we know. Time controlling sorta guy, so he's bound to have something that can help."

"Never mind Clockwork, where can I get a pair of those?" Tucker was looking over his shoulder at Shadow's shoes, practically drooling.

"They are one of a kind. You cannot have them."

"Aww man you're no fun."

"Tucker, we have more important things to worry about here."

Tucker shot a glance forward to Sam, tutting. "More important than cool technology? I don't think so."

"How about saving the world, is that more important?"

"She's got a point, Tuck." Danny shrugged at his friend. "We'll save the worlds first, then we can ask about the rocket shoes later, alright?"

"Yes. Ask later." Shadow groaned. "Much later."

Tails flew above Sonic as he ran, watching for any sign of Rouge or Eggman's robots. The dust clouds; kicked up by Sonic speeding through the desert; forced him to remain a little higher than normal, which at least had the benefit of a slightly further view range. Behind them the pyramids holding Eggman's base were quickly disappearing into the distance, and the desert below them was just as quickly turning into grassland again. Sighing, he pondered just how useless their trip so far had been, before returning his attention back to the skies ahead.

A sharp change in the direction of the dust below indicated that Sonic had switched course, so the fox looked ahead of him to see where he was heading to. Ahead a small aircraft sat atop a hill, the distance had it resembling a miniature jet plane. Sonic had stopped next to it, so Tails slowly landed beside him and stared up at Rouge as she sat on its wing, smiling knowingly down at them. Sonic held his hand out expectantly.

"Come on Rouge, hand it over."

"Aww, you mean you don't want to give a lovely lady these jewels out of the goodness of your heart?" the bat said, her voice imitating disappointment with a practised ease.

"A lovely lady? Maybe. You? Naa." Sonic smirked as he shot back.

"Oh you're such a charmer, Sonic."

"So gimme my Emeralds back Rouge, we haven't got all day!"

"You're always in such a rush, heaven knows how you don't just collapse from exhaustion from all that running about you do." Rouge winked at the hedgehog, who bristled uncomfortably. She stood up. "Okay, give me a moment to retrieve them from in here."

"You better not fly off with them!" Tails shouted at her, and was rewarded with an amused laugh.

"Tails, I promise you, if I were not going to give them to you I'd have not even shown up."

Sonic caught the small bag as it was tossed out from the cockpit of the plane, and Rouge peered back over the edge at them. The bat blew a kiss at Tails, who blushed brightly but made a large show of bristling his fur as if he were offended. Sonic chuckled quietly at him, and opened the bag to inspect the contents within. A small frown flickered across his face, before he looked back at Rouge.

"Aww, only our two? You mean you never found one of your own?"

"Hey, that'd cost extra, Sonic." Rouge smirked playfully. "But no, I didn't find one. I usually wait until someone else grabs one and then... liberate it."

"Yeah, we had noticed."

"Don't worry Sonic, I'll be sure to keep an eye out and lend you any I find." Rouge sat down in the plane's cockpit. "But they'll only be on a loan, of course!"

"Heheh, of course. Catch ya later, batgirl."

Together Sonic and Tails watched as Rouge fired up the jet and flew off in it, vanishing from sight rapidly with only a contrail to show that she'd ever been there. Tails sighed as Sonic passed him the bag with the Emeralds in it. The hedgehog looked at his friend with confusion for a moment, before crouching down to smile directly at his face. Tails gave a softer smile in response as he closed the bag up and slung it over his shoulder. Sonic reached out to ruffle his hair, grinning.

"Something eatin' ya, little bro?"

"Yeah. We have absolutely no idea if this will work, if we can collect all the emeralds in the first place, or even how much time we have left!" Tails' smile fell once more. "Not to mention we've let a bunch of teenagers we barely know go off in search of their world's equivalent without even knowing if they exist!"

"Oh, is that all?" Sonic held up a hand to silence Tails as the fox opened his mouth to respond. "No, I'm serious. We've done this before, Tails. We can do it again."

"Yeah, but there's a difference between our world merging with a parallel dimension, and our world merging with a parallel universe!"

"Sounds about the same to me."

"Sonic, how can you be so relaxed?"

"Eh, you know me, Tails. I don't panic externally." Sonic chuckled. "Don't worry though little bro, I do know what you mean. Blaze was one thing, she could use the emeralds too so we could double their power, but Danny and his friends won't be able to. So we can only hope Shadow's right about their ghost zone versions."

"I dunno if I can, Sonic. What'll we do if there isn't anything?" Tails sighed, his ears drooping slightly. Sonic gave him a playful punch on the shoulder.

"We always come up with something! At any rate, we need to try."

"... I guess you're right." Tails sighed, pausing quietly for a moment before perking up again. "We better get back to searching!"

"That's more like the Tails I know! Come on, let's go!"

Sonic grinned as Tails nodded and went airborne once more, and waited for his friend to get a head start before he started running. He quickly took the lead again, of course, and together they sped towards a mountainous region in the distance.

Behind them, a shadow rippled across the clouds of dust and grass, following the trail they left behind.

"Angry pink hammer creature, I am not sure that this is a particularly wise decision!"

"Oh shut it Boxy, no one asked you."

Amy Rose calmly walked the thin beam as if it were a regular footpath, and not a precariously positioned bar no wider than her foot. At the end of the beam; a supporting structure for a bridge that was being built between the mainland and an island; one of the Box Ghost's containers rested. It was tilting back and forth in the breeze, threatening to fall into the ocean below. The Box Ghost floated near her, wringing his hands together.

"I can just levitate it towards us!"

"Yeah, but you lost it in the breeze in the first place so I think I'll handle this on my own. The heck is the box made of anyway?"

"This one in particular is a very special box, it is made of woven unicorn hair and is one of my most prized possessions!"

"Unicorn hair. Seriously?" Amy groaned, focusing carefully on where she put each foot.

"It is a very strong crafting material, suited only for the most powerful of boxes!" Box Ghost shouted, a hint of pride in his voice.

"It got blown away in a light breeze!"

"I did not say that it was the heaviest."

Snorting, Amy decided it probably wasn't worth continuing the argument with the Box Ghost, and continued her walk along the beam. She was moving as fast as she could, in case another breeze were to come along and whisk the box away once more. It was one of the last ones that he had conjured to check, so it figured that he'd lose track of it. The end of the beam was shaking as gravity threatened to pull her from it, so she slowed down to try and minimise the vibrations. The last thing she wanted was for herself to take a dive that distance, let alone the box.

She finally reached the package where it rested, a few feet from the very end of the bar, and carefully leaned down to get it. As her hands gripped the box, she cautiously straightened and turned, watching Box Ghost where he floated aimlessly back on the solid part of the bridge. He looked particularly offended that she was touching what he prized, but he made no effort to come across the space between to take it from her. Amy reached the sturdier ground fairly quickly as a strong draft of wind shook the beam, encouraging her to jump the remaining distance. A quiet mutter escaped her mouth as she dusted her dress down from the rough landing.

Box Ghost grabbed for the box the moment he was sure she only had it balanced on one hand, but was greeted by the face of her hammer as he tried. Pouting, he rocked backwards in the air and eyed it eagerly instead as Amy opened it up slowly. The small smile crossing her face as she pulled the large gemstone from inside the package made him smile too, but only until she casually tossed the unicorn hair box aside. With a horrified yell, he dived for it and grabbed hold of it gently before the wind could catch it and blow it away again. He scowled at her.

"You foolish hedgehog! I told you that this is a very rare material and very powerful, and you got your accursed gemstone back, why did you merely toss my treasured possession aside?!"

"Oh, sorry Boxy, force of habit." Amy smiled, admiring the glowing Emerald in her hand. "It's alright though, right?"

"Fortunately yes."

"Then no harm done!"

"There is still much harm done!" Box Ghost yelled, tilting the empty box so that she could look into it clearly. "That stone of yours has displaced whatever was contained in here! Unicorn boxes do not exist to contain merely air!"

"What did it have in it then?" Amy pocketed the Emerald and walked over to look into the case.

"I do not know, I collect boxes, I do not care for their contents!"

"Seems kinda stupid to me."

"Do not insult my boxes!"

"I didn't."

"You did!"

"Oh never mind. Look," Amy held her hand out to shake the ghost's, "I appreciate your help Box Ghost, thanks."

"... You're welcome?"

"I have to get this to Sonic, so if you want you can go wherever or come with me, I don't know."

"I shall consider your proposal for travel. Meanwhile, BEWARE!" he yelled, disappearing after finishing the final word.

Amy laughed to herself, and patted her pocket to check the Emerald was secure, before she ran back towards the city. Her shoes clacked on the pavement as she ran through, thinking to herself what the best way to get to Sonic would be. A quiet, eerie rumble sounded out through the air, and she slowed to a stop back in the shopping district she'd started her fighting with Box Ghost. It almost seemed like only a day had passed for her, until she remembered she'd gone home at least once to sleep. Sighing, she passed the boarded up window of the shoe shop, hiding her face behind her hand in embarrassment. The rumble sounded again, louder this time, and she paused once more. Other shoppers stopped nearby, evidently also having heard it, but as it went quiet again they went about their ways.

There was an unusual chill in the air, and her fur stood on end as she shivered, before she resumed walking in an effort to warm herself up. The rumble sounded once more, this time loud enough to shake the ground. Voices around her displayed concern, this was not normal. She turned to reassure a nearby child who looked ready to cry, before the tiny cat pointed to the sky with a look of shock on his face. Turning her head to look at the source of his interest, her face fell, and she reached for her phone the fastest she'd ever had before.

"Vladimir Masters! For crying out loud where have you gotten to?"

Eggman groaned as he shouted into the microphone for the fifteenth time in the past hour. It had been ages since the other human had gone elsewhere to do whatever he had to, but he'd not returned. The scientist pinched his brow for a moment, before throwing his hands up in resignation. If the man on the other end did not want to answer, he'd just have to carry out his plans without him. Good thing he always had backups, of course.

"Where is my idiot robot assistant when I need him...?"

At finding no sign of the spherical robot he groaned once again. You just couldn't get the staff these days. He'd lost track of Sonic after the hedgehog had escaped his pyramid base, he'd lost track of the human children, and he'd found no signs of the Chaos Emeralds. An exasperated breath forced its way past his moustache, saying in one noise the several curses floating about inside his head. It was not his day, and to make things worse, Sonic was right; their worlds were at risk, and there were very few ways to stop it. He made his way over to the window of his office.

Suspended several thousand feet in the air, his airship was, if he did say so himself, state of the art. A gleaming, red and black, metal whale in the sky, it was a sight to behold, though most of the planet citizens didn't seem to think fondly of it. Not that he could blame them, of course, it was exactly his intention for his ship to strike fear into them. Below, the lands of the planets spread out like a map, and he could see so many of them on each continent. In the skies around him, there were clouds and not much else; it was far too high for most birds to fly, and Sonic's tiny aircraft had trouble getting that high. It was peaceful.

"Hmm? What's that?" He focused sternly on something in the sky, suspended over Station Square and glowing brightly. "Could it be..."

Crashing through into the control room of the aircraft, Eggman dived at the sensors located on the outside of the ship, examining their displays and readouts carefully. With a frown, he walked to the windows to get a better view of the scene below.

"... The Special Zone..."

TBC