Chapter 1: Prologue

Long ago, there was a realm in one place you could never imagine: the center of the universe. In that realm, a whole menagerie of dragon-like creatures thrived. Then one day, these creatures began an attempt to burn everything they could find into dust. They almost succeeded when the gods punished them and they vanished without a trace, but not before making an imprint on the world around them. One of those markings existed in the realm of animals in a place called the Water Shrine, and inside, the stone kept a powerful magic. A magic so powerful that it could keep the universe of its creation from becoming confused with the others and causing the end of everything. And for more than fifty millennia, it has been kept safe. Then, everything changed.

There was a great demon that was so evil that it made Ganondorf look like a mere housefly compared to a serial killer and was the leader of this group of dragon-like creatures. The dragons were so powerful that they caused mass-extinctions, almost irrecoverable damage, and the death of several species. This demon had started to gather followers, either controlling them by magic or threatening their lives to do so. Ever since his kind was banished to the center of the universe, the best he could do was use the minds of others to do his work for him. His first servant was an undead cat and he tricked him by deception. When this one was killed, he immediately found a dinosaur bounty hunter and chose him to follow in the cat’s footsteps. This servant almost succeeded, but he too was killed. However, now he proved he didn’t need any of their help. He would unleash his army on his own.

"Finally..." A demonic voice hissed, "After fifty millennia, I can break free with my brethren. The dimensions are going to be mine!"

A smaller figure slunk up to the shadow and seemed to crouch into a low bow like a slave before its master. The larger one turned with a fleck of curiosity in his large orange eyes.

"Ryu, our dimension gate is ready for use." It informed him.

"Good job. I, as king of the Dragonoids, will be the first to test our newfound magic." Ryu commanded.

With one movement, Ryu stood up and raised a large hand into the air to fire a huge “beam” as thick as a tree. The beam shot high into the air until its energy particles spread into a kind of wormhole the color of fire. Ryu grinned a smile you could have seen in the dark as he seemed to levitate in the air.

"It is almost time. Go, captain. Gather the faithful. As soon as the dimensions merge, we will be FREE." Ryu barked.

"Yes sir" The captain said as he ran off to gather more troops.

 

Ryu levitated and ended up sucked into the vortex. It was a sensation he was easily used to and when he came out, he saw where he was. There was a blue planet; he was in space. This did not worry him though. He didn’t have to worry about losing oxygen or his body fluids boiling over in the airless vacuum. Since his species lived in space for so long, he was used to this kind of stuff as he took off at very high speeds, probably close to the speed of a comet: thousands of miles per hour.

 

“This will be known as the dawn of the Dragonoids.” Ryu said as his whole body seemed to become engulfed by a shield of flame.
 

Chapter 2: Out in the world

It was another great day on Great Fox ever since Krystal announced that she was three months pregnant. Now that five months passed in this world, it was becoming increasingly obvious now. Krystal made her way down the hall and Falco passed by. Falco’s eyes widened and he stifled a laugh just when Slippy came down to meet him.

"Whoa, lady, you’re getting huge! At this rate, you'll be bigger than the arwing." Falco joked.

"Oh, Falco, give it a rest." Slippy said as he slugged the bird's arm.

"It's okay, Slippy. I'm a little uncomfortable with this too. I don't think I'm used to being this big." Krystal said as she put her hands on her round belly.

Falco looked for a second as Krystal became trapped in a maternal moment.

 

“Yeah, yeah. We heard about the baby. Now, c’mon! Fox says he has an idea.” Falco said, beckoning forward.

 

When everyone was in the main control room, they all took their seats. Falco hopped in and propped his feet up on the table. Krystal took her new spot right next to Fox’s seat while Slippy sat next to a snoozing Peppy. Peppy woke with a start (and a snort) just when Fox raced through the door. He looked like he had just won a million dollars, but Peppy guessed it was something even better.

“So, Fox? Why’d you drag us all here anyway?” Falco asked, shrugging.

"Well, Falco, the reason I ‘dragged you all here’ is because…I think we should go back to Hyrule and visit Link. Y'know, kind of…a vacation of sorts and for Krystal, it’s safe to say it could be a baby shower." Fox suggested, causing Krystal to feel rather warm.

"Hyrule? You mean with that Link guy?" Slippy asked.

“Yes. He did help us out with Allos, so I think it’s fair to say that he would enjoy a visit from the Star Fox Team.” Fox reminded.

"Oh. Well, I suppose we could..." Falco began, but Peppy cut him off.

"I say it's a good idea, Fox. I'm sure we would all like to see our friend again."

Fox nodded in agreement and turned to Slippy.

"Alright, Slip. You better get that Dimension Ring ready. We're all going." Fox suggested.

"Right away, Fox." Slippy said as he raced off.

Falco shook his head with a shrug.

 

“Fox, you’re the only man I know who would do somethin’ like this.”

In another dimension, Sonic the hedgehog was hanging out with his best bud Tails. The two-tailed fox had recently received a telescope and he had a lot of fun looking at the stars and planets. After a while, Tails raced over to Sonic, looking like an energetic three-year-old.

 

“Thanks, Sonic! I just LOVE this telescope!” Tails said as he hopped up and down, excitedly.

"I knew you'd like that, buddy." Sonic thought to himself, “It’s a shame that Knuckles and all your other buddies couldn’t come over. Shadow came over, but he’s just been standing there since he got here.”

 

“Ah, that’s okay. You’re the best friend a guy could ask for.” Tails said, shaking Sonic’s hand.

Some thirty feet away from Sonic was his black counterpart, Shadow. Ever since their last adventure through the dimensions, he had been spending a lot of time looking at the stars at night and the clouds during the day. He only had one person on his mind whenever he did this. Sonic wanted him to talk about it, but it pained the black hedgehog to do so.

"I'll never forget you…Zelda. I hope Link is keeping you happy like he promised me." Shadow thought as he closed his eyes.

It was true that Shadow liked Zelda, but he knew he couldn't have her. The reason he liked her, if you remember, is that she reminded him of Maria: an old friend that passed away. He vowed that he would return and that they would meet again.

Just when Shadow was beginning to calm his mind, Tails spotted something.

"Hey, Sonic! What's that?" He asked.

Sonic went over to the telescope and peered through the lens with one eye. For a minute, he couldn’t see anything and was pretty curious on what Tails was talking about.

 

“Uh, what am I supposed to be looking at, buddy?” Sonic asked.

 

Tails moved Sonic aside and peered into the telescope. He adjusted it and then allowed Sonic to look into it again. What the blue hedgehog saw was somewhat horrific.

It was a kind of comet surrounded by a deep red cloud. It couldn't be the Black Comet, it was deterred some time ago thanks to him and Shadow. As he tried to adjust the lens for a closer look, he saw that it looked like it was ALIVE. It was heading in a direction Sonic knew all-too-well. That was where the Arwing II came a while ago.

"OH MY GOSH! Tails! We need to find the Chaos Emeralds and get going!" Sonic said in a very desperate tone.

"Why? Is something wrong with that comet?" Tails asked as he scratched his head.

"Tails, that's the same direction where Fox and Link came from! That…thing is no comet. It’s alive! That thing is going right to Hyrule!" Sonic said, even more urgently if that was possible.

Upon hearing those words, Shadow acted up for the first time since who-knows-when. At first, he was just standing there like a zombie. But when he heard the word “Hyrule”, he almost instantly changed from wonder to worry.

"Hyrule? If you're going there, count me in!" Shadow said as he raised a fist.

Sonic was slightly shocked. Ever since their meeting with Fox and Link when Shadow found out that Zelda didn’t accompany the hylian hero, he either didn’t talk or kept his conversations short. Of course, that was always a part of his nature.

 

Sonic shrugged and uneasily said, "Okay then."

The blue blur looked out into the world and seemed to concentrate hard on where the emeralds are. This was going to be one tough challenge.

"I’m going to find the Chaos Emeralds. If I’m right, they will warp me through the dimensions. It'll take time. But with Shadow, we'll find it in no time." Sonic said to pretty much no one.

 

Shadow took off in the opposite direction from Sonic and the hunt was on.

Dimensions away, Link was racing off to the castle. For the last two and a half years, he had had several adventures through the dimensions and now he thought he could take it easy. He had fought Concolor, the ferocious feline that experimented with the dimensions to try and bring back Ganon. And he defeated Allos, the bounty hunter that actually did what his predecessor failed to do; and he had to fight Ganon for the second time in his life. Ever since that adventure, he had actually proposed to Zelda and she had accepted without him even asking. Now that he had a wife, he had new responsibilities to take care of. During the past nine months, the happy couple had done virtually everything together. And about a month later, they found out that she was bearing a child. Still, Link had to get back to the castle as soon as he could.

 

“Whew! I thought I was done for with that monster. Zelda’s going to kill me; better hope that she’s not in one of those mood swings…” Link said to himself.

 

He was about halfway there when there appeared to be a huge gust of wind. Link looked up and saw what appeared to be a big, electric blue portal. He remembered seeing something similar, but this one was much larger.

"This looks familiar…" Link said, remembering that fateful day.

Somewhere back at Hyrule Castle, Zelda looked out the window and saw the portal. Even from the castle, she could see it.

"Is this what I think it is?" She asked herself.

Without another word, she hurried off as fast as her swollen womb would allow her. It took about half an hour, but she finally found Link and when she looked up, she almost fainted.

An enormous flying object was flying out of the portal like a pterodactyl flying out of a cloudbank and it was moving. It slowly flew to the borders of Hyrule. Then, slowly, it sank past the mountain range.

"Did you see that?" Zelda asked, holding Link's shoulder.

"Of course he did." A voice said.

Link whirled around and almost knocked Zelda over to see the Star Fox team right behind him.

 

Chapter 3: Rain on the parade

Link was so happy to see Fox again, he couldn't restrain himself. He sprinted over to him and gave him a bear hug.

"How are ya' doing?" Fox said, cheerfully.

"Oh, I've been great. As you can see, Zelda and I are married and..." Link began, but Fox cut him off.

"Having a baby? Great! Krystal's having one too."

Zelda spoke up for the first time and asked, "When's she expecting?"

"Uh...'bout a month now." Falco said as he looked at an invisible watch.

"That means we're going to have our baby at the same time!" Zelda said, excitedly.

"I guess we could stay that long. I do want to see that moment and we've got nothing better to do. What could happen?" Peppy said.

However, Peppy was wrong. Something WOULD happen that would take away this time of euphoria.

 

Back in Sonic's world, Sonic and Shadow finally found the Chaos Emeralds and had to act fast. Sonic put the emeralds in a circle with Shadow right next to him. Tails had a strange device in his hand and was monitoring the energy flow.

"Okay, guys. You're ready. The emeralds will take you right to the place you want." Tails told them.

Sonic nodded and Shadow did too. They then put their hands into the middle of it and closed their eyes in focus. In a flash of rainbow light, Sonic's fur turned the color of pure gold and Shadow's turned the color of platinum. As the almost-infinite power of the emeralds flowed through their veins, they pulled their arms back and shouted two words.

"CHAOS CONTROL!!!!"

In a flash of gold and silver light, they vanished completely.

"I hope you guys can do this…" Tails said, with angst.

A week had passed in Hyrule and the group was enjoying a good night, laying on their backs and looking at the stars. Then, everything changed.

A red speck of light was drawing closer to the planet at a phenomenal rate and Falco's eagle eyes quickly caught sight of it. Link noticed it too and immediately sat bolt upright.

"Hey, Fox, what's that?" Falco asked as he pointed at it.

Fox shot upward and tried to focus, but it was a little too late and the "comet" hit the ground, kicking up dust. At first, there was absolute silence, but then an earthshaking roar shattered the silence. The noise was so loud, everyone had to cover their ears and this bloodcurdling roar sounded worse than anything they had ever experienced.

"AAAAHH! WHAT COULD MAKE THAT?! IT CAN'T BE A DINOSAUR!" Slippy said in a shout.

Then, the thing that made the roar came out of the dust and reared up to its full height of twelve or twenty feet high. This thing had the body shape of a man, but he had a tail with something like an arrowhead on the tip, which was covered in several, foot-long spikes. He had massive feet, each having three-clawed feet like a dinosaur's. He had massive wings the size of a small biplane's and had a few small holes in it; signs that he had seen battle and lived. It had a thick neck and a head that looked very lizardlike with a small, beak-like protrusion on the upper lip. There were also several more rows of bronze-colored spines that began at the back of his head and went all the way to his tail, turning the tail itself into a weapon easily as good as his teeth. His massive arms were very muscular and ended in hands the size of a giant-screen TV with claws the size of swords. He was clad in dark purple robes that went from his waist and ended just past his knees, while the upper body simply revealed an alligator-like belly that was pale yellow. This thing wore special boots with holes that made way for his toes and it had eyes the color of fire.

 

The thing produced a low growl as it slowly thundered toward the frightened group, each step almost shaking the earth. Then, it stopped just feet away from them and stood with its muscular arms to its sides and its feet apart.

"What the HECK is THAT?!" Falco asked, very surprised at this being.

"Not 'what'. WHO? And the answer is: My name is RYU." The thing said in a deep, growling tone.

Ryu then fired a large beam into the air and, for a while, there was only silence. Then a white portal opened up and, with a scream, out came Ganondorf in his human form. Ganondorf landed with a “THUD” that could be heard a mile away and got to his feet, very happy to see that he was free.

"Finally I'm...WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE GODDESSES?!" Ganondorf said when he saw the giant dragon.

"Now, hand over your Key Item and I'll leave peacefully." Ryu said as he held out a hand, expecting someone to put something in it and wearing an expression as solid as stone.

When they didn't give him anything, or even answer, he spoke in a half-roar.

"HAND OVER YOUR TRIFORCE OR I WILL TAKE THEM FROM YOU!" He barked.

Ganondorf, outraged at this, put his hand up, showing the Triforce of Power. He was NOT going to let some lizard try to tell him what to do. He put his limbs to his body and then pulled them apart. A second later, he had turned into Ganon, the most savage beast ever to walk Hyrule. He was as big as Ryu, but the dragon man was still holding out his hand, like he was waiting for someone to hand him something.

"You want my Triforce of Power? COME AND TAKE IT THEN!!" Ganon roared.

Ryu slowly put his arm down and calmly stated, "As you wish."

It happened too quick for the naked eye to see. Ryu had crossed the distance between him and Ganon, which was more than three hundred feet, and smashed a great fist into Ganon's piggish face. The impact almost sounded like a bomb going off and Ganon was left on his back, surprised that Ryu had crossed the distance in such a short time. The great beast got to his feet, charged, and swung his sword at Ryu only to see the massive dragon duck under it and slam a spike-covered tail into his face. The spikes left sizeable marks in Ganon’s face and Ganon actually clutched his face, allowing Ryu to sprint over to him and dig his sharp teeth into the king of evil’s shoulder. Ganon howled in even more pain as he flailed his swords around, trying to make the dragon demon release him. It didn’t work. Ryu finished biting him and seized Ganon by his mane of hair so he could throw Ganon ten feet backward. Ganon got up and swung at his opponent, but Ryu simply raised a hand and seized Ganon’s wrist. Ganon stared in great surprise as Ryu twisted his wrist and punched him in the chin so hard, it almost broke his mandible. When Ganon recovered and swung again, Ryu spread a pair of wings more than eighty feet from wingtip to wingtip. Ganon didn’t even touch his opponent as Ryu took off through the air and seemingly vanished. Ganon, completely surprised as to how fast this creature was, looked around wildly to try and find the opponent he was going to slaughter.

 

“Look behind you, imbecile.” A growling voice snarled calmly.

 

Ganon whirled around only to have Ryu’s foot smash into his face and send him just ten feet behind the frightened spectators. Ryu touched down as he watched his opponent struggle to his feet and trudge toward him. After stifling a laugh, Ryu spoke again.

"You're not so tough. And you're supposed to be the most powerful creature in Hyrule? What a joke. Let me show you a REAL attack!" Ryu snarled as Ganon got up.

In another movement, Ryu spread his giant wings, spread out his arms, and breathed fire into the air. At first, there was nothing, but then a pillar of fire came down from the sky and engulfed Ganon completely.

"He defeated Ganon like he was NOTHING and it took us HOURS to beat him." Fox said in pure shock.

When the flames cleared,  Ganon fell to the ground and began to pant like a dog that had just run about three miles. Ryu strode over to Ganon and placed his reptilian claws on Ganon's ape-like hand. He then lifted the claws off Ganon's hand and out came the golden triangle that was the Triforce of Power. Ganon, deprived of his triforce, resumed the form of Ganondorf.

Ryu smirked and put forward the Triforce of Power. Instantly, Link and Zelda's triforce pieces acted up and left their owners’ hands. The triforce formed and Ryu clutched it in his hand like you would a strawberry before opening a red portal, sending Ganondorf back through it.

 

He simply said, “You will only have your triforce when it magically leaves my grasp, upstart weakling.”

 

Ryu then caught sight of the fearful spectators in front of him and grinned, showing off every one of his T-rex-like teeth.

 

“That’s right, pathetic life forms. Bow before the supreme life forms: The Dragonoids.” Ryu commanded as he pointed his index finger at them, “But should you disobey our orders, you will feel our fiery wrath.”

 

Then, without further hesitation, Ryu took off and vanished in a flash of red light.

Link, Zelda, and the Star Fox Team stared blankly. They had just seen someone with the Triforce in his hands and simply waved it aside as though it were nothing.

"Huh? Why didn't he use the power?" Link asked out loud.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Fox asked, “He defeated Ganon without getting so much as a bruise. Therefore, he doesn’t need its power.”

 

“Well, then why would he want it then?” Falco asked, obviously not getting it.

 

“Even I don’t know that.” Zelda said, looking at the ground and shaking her head, “But there must be a reason why that…Dragonoid came here. If he wanted to make sure Ganon didn’t get out, then he’s doing a good job: Ganondorf can’t get out now.

 

Ganondorf arrived in the void of the sacred realm and threw his fist forward, as though he was punching something invisible.

"I can't believe I lost to that oversized lizard!" Ganondorf roared.

He tried to shoot a spell through the air, but seeing as his Triforce was gone, he couldn't do it.

"Zip it and save your energy." An unknown voice said, somewhat annoyed.

 

Ganondorf could only guess that this was the Goddesses speaking to him and simply began to pout like a two-year-old.

"What's going to happen? Without the Triforce, the people of Hyrule will become sitting ducks!" Link said, very worried.

A flash of light came in and everyone was momentarily blinded. When the light cleared, Link opened his eyes to see two familiar hedgehogs.

"Hey, Link! Long time, no see."
 

Chapter 4: Chaos Control

It was quite a surprise to see Sonic and Shadow, seeing as they had appeared from nowhere. However, Sonic was simply grinning like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"How'd you…" Link began, but Sonic cut him off.

"A little thing called 'Chaos Control'. With it, me and Shadow can travel dimensions without even lifting a finger." Sonic explained.  "Isn't that right, Shadow?"

Shadow didn't answer. His eyes were stuck on Zelda and so wide, Sonic could have sworn they would have dried out. Zelda was a lot bigger than Shadow last remembered her. Sonic knew what his black counterpart was thinking about and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Shadow. But for them, time went on quicker than we imagined." Sonic apologized, but Shadow simply brushed Sonic's hand off and skulked off.

Link tried to go after him, but Sonic stopped him.

"Let him go. He just needs to recollect himself." Sonic said in a much wiser tone than he normally used.

“So, what did you come here for?” Link asked.

 

“Well,” Sonic said, “As I was looking through a telescope, I saw a comet streaking through the sky. I noticed it was going the exact same direction you and Fox came from, so I took it was going to Hyrule. What was weird about the comet was that it was…alive.”

 

“You mean that ‘comet’ that turned into something called a Dragonoid?” Fox asked, coming into the picture.

 

“WHAT?!” Sonic asked in confusion, “The comet hit here and turned into WHAT?”

 

“After that comet struck here, it turned out to be a living creature that referred to itself as a ‘Dragonoid’. Does that ring a bell?” Fox said, obviously wanting information.

 

“No.” Sonic answered, “But what happened when it arrived here?”

 

Zelda walked into the conversation and answered, apparently still in shock.

 

“First, it revealed itself as a black dragon by the name of Ryu. Then, he released Ganon and asked him to give him the triforce.” Zelda told him.

 

“Ganon? You mean that guy Concolor planned to release?” Sonic asked.

 

Zelda nodded and continued.

 

“When Ganon refused, Ryu fought him and walked out without a scratch. After he took Ganon’s piece of the Triforce, he took mine as well as Link’s. Strangely, he didn’t even bother using its power to grant its owner a wish. He just took it and flew off.”

 

Sonic dipped his head in thought and a solemn look crossed his normally cocky face.

 

“I’ve never heard of this guy. But given his choice, I’d say he’s not exactly friendly if he simply took your triforce without question. We must stop him!” Sonic said, his fist held in front of him.

"I suppose we have to go now, huh?" Link asked, changing the subject.

Sonic nodded and gathered the emeralds; a sign that it was time for another adventure through the dimensions. Link was prepared, but now wasn’t exactly the time he wanted to go. He had a family, but he decided that a safe universe for his family to live in was more important than staying home.

 

 

They hadn't gone two steps when a deep red portal opened up and a strange dragon creature came out. It was tall enough to look Fox in the eye and the Star Fox leader fell back at the sight. The dragon was humanoid like Ryu, but nowhere near as big…or ugly for that matter. The creature had what appeared to be a small rhino horn on its nose and a pair of fangs jutted from his upper jaw like a saber-tooth cat. It let out a loud, grating noise, a screech that sounded worse than nails on a chalkboard. It was, as far as Fox could see, a kind of scout or soldier.

"WHAT THE?!" Falco yelled in surprise.

The creature flipped into the air, producing a large sword in the process and went into a spin like a saw blade. Falco practically tackled Link to the ground trying to dodge the attack. The dragon tried again, but Sonic’s red boot found its way to the creature's jaw in a flying kick. The dragon snarled, wrapped its claws around Sonic's head, and threw him a good six feet away. It then opened its mouth and let loose, not a screech, but a jet of fire. Zelda didn't have time to get away, because she tripped and she awaited her fiery death. Shadow heard the whole thing and quickly teleported to Zelda, grabbed her, and teleported to safety.

He then put her somewhere safe and said, "Stay here."

The dragon tried a hacking slash at Slippy, but the frog jumped and the blade scraped the soles of his shoes. The dragon forgot about the frog and took a good look at Krystal before emitting its fire breath. Shadow raced in front of the blue fox and put his hands forward, his palms facing up. The fire splashed harmlessly off, allowing Shadow grabbed Krystal and teleported her to where Zelda was.

The dragon flew spun through the air like a dancer and planted a kick into Falco's side. However, the minute he landed, Fox was there to meet him with a flying kick. The dragon fell on his back, but then got up and performed a sweep with its tail. Fox fell to the ground and the creature towered over him. He then spoke for the first and last time.

"Now, no one will stop Lord Ryu!" It growled as it raised its blade.

Suddenly, all the air went out of the dragon's lungs and it fell backward with a hole in its stomach. Fox looked to see Shadow with a glowing energy spear in his hand. He then dispelled it and put his hand down.

"I'm NOT going to let you die, Fox." Shadow said.

The black hedgehog then went off and helped Sonic back to his feet. Sonic grinned and then pointed something out.

"Hey, Shadow. You saved Zelda." He said, with a positive attitude.

"That's enough. You and Link have to go." Shadow said as he looked Sonic in the eye.

Sonic, confused, asked, "Shadow, aren't you coming?"

Shadow simply said, "I'll stay here and keep Zelda safe."

Zelda was touched by these words and actually placed a hand on Shadow's shoulder.

"Thank you, Shadow." She said, in a quiet voice.

Shadow closed his eyes like you would when you have a painful memory. He then opened his eyes to see the rest of the Star Fox team with him.

"We'll stay here with Zelda in case more of those creatures show up." Fox said in a very determined tone.

"Besides, someone needs to be here when the babies arrive." Peppy said, having a point.

Link shook the tears out of his eyes and turned to Sonic.

"Ready for Chaos Control?" He asked.

Sonic nodded.

 

“Sure. I’ll be ready in a minute or two. Just get what you need.” Sonic said as he slowly began to charge energy.

 

Link thought and then went to his house for a few supplies. He got his bow and one thing he thought would come in handy: the Light Arrow. Then, he got an idea. If the Light Arrow wasn’t enough, then he’d need something he used in his last adventure. He took out the green crystal that held the magic of Farore’s Wind and clenched it in his fist. In less than a second, he was right behind the door of Time, the blade of Evil’s Bane buried deep in the pedestal. He took it in both hands and took it out with a grunt. There was a small flash of blue light and then a flash of green and Link had finally vanished.

 

 

Link returned to Hyrule Field and Sonic took a good look at him. He then noticed that his sword was no longer the Gilded Sword he used to wield.

 

“Hey, Link, what’s with your new blade?” Sonic asked, scratching his head.

 

“This sword will come in handy later. It might give us an edge in fighting the Dragonoids.” Link filled in.

 

“Sounds reasonable. Now, let’s get going.” Sonic said as a yellow energy began to surround him.

Sonic closed his eyes as he took in the power of the Chaos Emeralds and turned to his Super form. He then grabbed Link's hand and focused hard.

"Chaos...CONTROL!" He said.

In a flash of rainbow lights, the hylian and the hedgehog were gone.

 

“Link…be careful.” Zelda said as a single, silvery tear flowed down her cheek.

Chapter 5: Meet the general

It all happened in less than a second of rainbow light and Link felt his feet touch ground. Unfortunately, they weren't at Tails' place. They were in some grassy hill and Sonic seemed somewhat embarrassed.

"Uh, hehe... Sorry, Link. Guess my teleportation was a bit off." Sonic apologized.

"Don't worry. At least I'm not a hedgehog like last time." Link said as he looked at himself to find that he was Hylian.

They then strode off at a slow and steady pace to Station Square to find Tails' house. They hadn't gone a few steps when something zoomed past them. Link virtually tackled Sonic to the ground trying to dive out of the way.

"What kind of hedgehog was THAT?!" Link asked, very irritated at this…thing.

He looked up and then it hit him. A hedgehog didn't have feathers or a flying board. The thing that raced by slowed to a halt next to Sonic. It had Sonic's build and his feathers were similar to Sonic's spikes. It was very birdlike in appearance with a sharp beak and goggles over its eyes.

The bird then said, in a rather cocky and somewhat rude voice, "Hey, Sonic! Who's your friend?"

Sonic rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Hello, Jet. It's SO good to see you." He said, in a very sarcastic way.

Jet looked down from his board and saw Link on the ground. He smirked through his sharp beak and said something very rude.

"Ha! I didn't know you had ground-kissing friends, too!"

Link gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

 

“What did you call me, you flying turkey?” Link asked, fingering his sword.

 

Sonic took a hold of Link's arm and held him back before he did something stupid.

"Don't do it, Link. He's not worth it. Besides…" Sonic said, but on the last word, it was a whisper.

"It's me he wants. He's always wanted to beat me in a race."

Link nodded as a sly grin spread across his face and winked at Sonic. Sonic winked back and then turned to face Jet.

Sonic then turned to Jet and asked, "Wanna race?"

Jet nodded and said, "Don’t mind if I do."

The two took off with Jet still on his board. Link could only trail their dust clouds and struggle to keep up.

Two beams of light streaked across the grassy plain; one blue, the other green. It was a race between two rivals trying to prove who was superior: the air or the earth. The two had barely started going their fastest when suddenly, Sonic stopped. Sonic had seen something that Jet was pretty oblivious to.

"Jet! STOP!" Sonic warned.

The blue blur noticed that the same portal had appeared in the sky, but Jet chose to ignore him. The green bird turned to look at this pathetic ground-kisser and chose to taunt him.

"What? Afraid you're going to…" Jet began, but then he hit something and crashed. "Lose?"

Jet looked up to see a giant dragon. This wasn't Ryu, but it was definitely one of those Dragonoids. It was red with gold horns around his face like a lion's mane. Smoke was billowing from its nostrils and its wings were just like Ryu's minus the holes in the wings. Its head was more like a dinosaur’s and it had eyes that seemed to pierce his soul.

"After the giant emerald, too? Those pathetic morons were just as persistent." The dragon spoke in the usual cold tone.

"Um, Heheheh. S-sorry about stubbing your toe, s-s-s-sir." Jet stuttered.

The dragon raised its foot and brought it down before saying, "None shall oppose Red Wyvern!"

Jet flipped out of the way, but his board wasn't so lucky. The foot crushed it like a tin can and there were spare parts everywhere like some juvenile delinquent had just finished dismantling it with his bare hands.

"NO! NOT MY GEAR!!!" Jet screamed as his eyes flooded over.

The crying lasted a little too long and a foot narrowly missed the green bird. Sonic had just rushed up and grabbed him before he got crushed.

"I told you to stop! Don’t you LISTEN?!” Sonic scolded.

 

“Hey, Sonic, it’s not my fault I DIDN’T SEE IT!” Jet shot back.

 

“I'll be right back." Sonic said as he dropped Jet, painfully on the ground and raced off again.

Red Wyvern saw the blue blur race off and spread his mighty wings. When he brought them down, it kicked up dust like a helicopter and he flew off like a jet plane.

"Man! Sonic didn't arrive in time. I knew he'd be a coward…" Jet began.

Just then, someone picked him up at high speed and began racing after the flying dragon.

"I heard that, Jet." Sonic said.

He also had Link holding onto his neck and Jet was in his arms.

"Sometimes I wonder if hedgehogs have better ears than birds…" Jet thought to himself.

Sonic dropped Jet off at a nearby tree and raced off with Link still holding on for dear life. Jet wondered what that dragon was here for and then remembered it saying something about a giant emerald.

 

“Could that thing be after…”

Miles away, Knuckles was lying on his back with the largest emerald in the world behind him. It was none other than the Master Emerald: the one gem that could stop the Chaos Emeralds. Knuckles himself bore the duty of protecting this sacred jewel at all costs and he proved successful several times. The echidna's nap was brought to a sudden stop when he heard a low, vibrating roar.

"WHAT THE?!" Knuckles shouted as he shot upward.

Knuckles then saw Red Wyvern and took him as a threat. The minute the scarlet dragon landed, Knuckles glided through the air in a stance similar to Superman. Then, he saw how big Wyvern was. He didn’t really care and he landed just thirty yards away from the massive creature.

"And where do you think YOU'RE going?" Knuckles asked, pointing his fist at Wyvern like an accusing finger.

Wyvern laughed at how brave, or foolish, this creature was trying to be and simply said, "Pathetic creature. Get out of my way!"

Red Wyvern then inhaled deeply before breathing out two jets of fire from his nostrils. Knuckles flipped backward, but not far enough from Wyvern's arms. The dragon swatted Knuckles like a fly and brought the echidna smashing into the ground before continuing to trudge after the Master Emerald.

He hadn’t gone three steps when something hit him in the back and he turned to see Link, still holding on to Sonic. Sonic had taken one of Link's light arrows and threw it like a javelin, but this proved to be something of pure desperation. Although the arrow didn't hurt Wyvern much, but it did make him pause.

"Ah, the blue hedgehog and the elf boy. How many times does Master Ryu have to kill you?!" Wyvern shouted impatiently.

"What can I say? We die hard." Sonic said, rather confident.

Red Wyvern exhaled fire from his nostrils again, but Sonic was much faster than Knuckles and easily outmaneuvered them.

"Nice attack. Let me show you ours!" Link said as he pulled out the Mirror Shield he pocketed while he was searching for supplies.

The minute Wyvern exhaled fire again, Link put up the shield and the flames reflected, hitting the dragon in the chest. Wyvern roared as he clutched the spot like it was about to fall off. The red Dragonoid inspected his wound, which was no more than a simple burn, and scowled. Wyvern then took off and started flying around like a bird evading a predator as he breathed fire. Link could reflect the shots, but Wyvern's strategy was working: he was flying like a butterfly to make sure none of the attacks hit. He then came crashing down on the ground and tried to swat Link with the back of his hand. Link whipped out his sword and brought it into a vertical slash. Wyvern grunted in surprise as he saw something like a paper cut on the back of his hand. He raised a foot to smash Link and end it all.

"Not if I can help it!" Sonic said as he curled into his saw attack.

The blue hedgehog hit Wyvern in the foot and Wyvern roared as he hopped up and down like he stubbed his toe. Sonic grinned as he curled up and tried again. This time, Wyvern turned and caught Sonic with his tail. Sonic flew to the ground and actually drilled into it. As for Link, Wyvern took care of him by exhaling very thin flames that wrapped themselves around Link's arms and solidified, forming a kind of kind of bright ruby rope.

"You two are a real thorn in my side. I'll just take what I need and go." Wyvern said as he waltzed over to the Master Emerald.

"I won't…let you have…The Master Emerald…"

Red Wyvern turned and saw Knuckles getting up from the ground, apparently injured. The dragon rolled his eyes and flapped his wings repeatedly at Knuckles. The flapping created a gust of wind to rival a hurricane and Knuckles flew backward to meet the trapped Link.

"You're more trouble than you're worth." Wyvern said as he gripped the emerald in his hand like you would an orange.

A pillar of fire engulfed Wyvern and the red dragon vanished completely.

 

Chapter 6: Another way

Knuckles' eyes fluttered open as he came to. He saw an elf dude, Sonic, and Vector with a few bruises, too.

"Mornin', Sleeping Beauty!" Vector said, heartily.

Knuckles shot into a sitting position, but fell back down and clutched his arm, which was in a cast. Espio came into the picture and leaned Knuckles back into a comfy position. The chameleon was also battered and bruised and so was Charmy, who was right behind him.

"Take it easy, old friend. That dragon broke a few bones in your body, so I think it's best to say you shouldn't move for a while." Espio said as he took his hand off Knuckles' chest.

Knuckles simply pounded the mattress with his uninjured hand. It was obvious that the battle didn’t just hurt the red echidna physically, but mentally as well.

"That dragon took the Master Emerald! I can't let him get away with this!" Knuckles said, very frustrated.

"Knuckles, we know he did that. We tried stopping him too. As you can see, you're in worse shape than we are." Vector said, showing Knuckles a few bruises, lacerations, and gashes on his back.

Sonic nodded and said, "He's right, Knucks. You need rest. If anyone's gonna find the Master Emerald, it's going to be me and Link."

Link could only nod to that comment.

Sonic then took out all seven Chaos Emeralds and they began to circle both him and Link. They were going to find this Ryu guy and stop him once and for all. However, the Dragonoids had other plans for the travelling pair.

Universes away, Ryu held the newly found Master Emerald in his hand as though it were a kind of unique animal. He then looked into a kind of crystal ball and saw the Chaos Emeralds circling the blue hedgehog.

"Not if I can help it. This emerald is not just a key item, it is going to be a nice tool." Ryu said in a very confident tone.

Ryu then belched dark blue flames onto the Master Emerald and the great gem seemed to glow. Finally, the great gem produced a bright red light and Ryu smiled as he awaited results.

Back at Sonic's world, the Chaos Emeralds were just about to give off their energy when they suddenly lost their glow and fell to the ground.

"Oh no! They're using the Master Emerald to block Chaos Control! We may be trapped here!" Sonic said as he picked up the now useless emeralds.

“WHAT?! That’s impossible! I’m the only one who can tap into the Master Emerald’s power!” Knuckles said in surprise.

"You mean…I'm stuck here with THOSE GUYS?!" Link asked, pointing at Vector, Espio, and Charmy.

“Hey! Are you saying you’re not happy to see us after all these years?” Vector asked, pointing at Link.

 

“Vector, I think he just might.” Espio said as he glanced at his roommate.

 

"You just might be stuck here unless you find another way." Jet said as he entered, also wearing an arm cast.

"Oh, great! It's birdbrain again!" Knuckles said in a mixture of anger and sarcasm as he sat up.

"Oh, stoppit, you red mutt. You could ask Tails or Wave to do a bit of science for you." Jet suggested as he passed Knucks' bed.

"I thought of that long before you did, Jet." Sonic said as he looked the bird in the eye.

Sonic then turned to Link and held onto his arm.

"Hold on." Sonic warned before he took off at top speed.

When Sonic disappeared, Knuckles sat up a little slower than last time as he pointed his free fist at Jet.

"Did you call me 'RED MUTT'?" He asked as he put it closer and closer to Jet.

"Oh, uh…Sorry?" Jet apologized, sweating.

"Guys, I think we should get outta here before this gets messy." Vector said as he inched away.

"Yeah. Let's get outta here before I get clobbered." Charmy said.

"That's pretty much what he said, Charmy." Espio commented.

"Oh." Charmy said with a "boy do I feel stupid" look.

Then, Knuckles started beating up Jet with his uninjured hand and the Chaotix walked away without even looking back.

 

Sonic was running so fast, Link felt like they would time warp. It was like that time when Sonic came to Hyrule to help out with Concolor. He was going to speak up, but Sonic broke the sound barrier and Link's speech was messed up a bit.

"I dunno what you just said, but I think you mean it." Sonic said as he continued to rush on.

The minute they arrived at Tails' place, Tails already had some things for them.

"Hey, guys! I knew that the Chaos Emeralds wouldn't work once those dragon guys got the Master Emerald, so I whipped up these." Tails said as he held them out.

These items were a kind of tracking device and a new pair of shoes. The shoes were more like a combination of boots and track shoes and looked built for high-speed as well as good traction.

"These shoes are for you, Link. If you wear them, you'll be able to go as fast as Sonic." Tails explained as he handed them to the hylian hero.

"Well, that’s a relief. Now I won't have to grip Sonic's midsection all the time." Link said as he slipped them on.

The new shoes bore little to no difference to Link's boots and Link decided to take them for a spin. Link took off at his usual top speed, but instead of his usual speed, he was speeding so fast that a rock in front of him was gone in less than a second. He raced back in an equally fast amount of time. Tails then put his finger up and continued explaining other things.

"That's not all, I've equipped Sonic's shoes and your new boots with special sensors. Once you reach supersonic speed, you can travel the dimensions. Luckily, I made it special. If you don't want to warp, they won't do it. If you do, they will. Oh, and this…" Tails said as he held up the tracking device.

"I did a little scan on the Master Emerald as it was stolen. This device will allow you to find any key items. I don't know what these dragon guys are, but they're obviously not friendly." Tails said as he handed Sonic the tracker.

"Wow, Tails, you come prepared as always. Thanks, buddy." Sonic said as he gave the thumbs' up.

"Alright, if anything pops up, you can come here and tell me. Okay?" Tails asked.

"Alright, let's go, Sonic." Link said as he walked out the door.

"Good luck, Sonic!" Tails shouted as he waved.

Sonic and Link took off at the speed of sound and vanished in green light.

 

Chapter 7: The world of dinosaurs

This way of travelling the dimensions wasn't as bad as last time. Last time, he had to stay in his seat in the Arwing II and always seemed to feel close to throwing up. Now, it simply felt like he was running through a strong breeze.

 

“I think I can live with this.” Link thought to himself.

As suddenly as it began, it stopped. They were on the ground of a lush, jungle planet that Link instantly recognized when he saw a familiar creature. It had a stout body, a birdlike beak, four limbs, and a thick tail covered in little horns.

"Welcome to Sauria, Sonic." Link said.

"You've been here before?" Sonic asked as he looked around.

"Yeah. This is where Fox and I went to find the Ice Sage about a year ago." Link answered as he took in the beautiful landscape.

"Wow. For a moment, I thought we went back to the time when dinosaurs weren’t just confined to zoos…Well, we can sightsee later. Right now, we gotta move!" Sonic said as he strode into the dense growth.

Deep in the same jungle, another creature had arrived. It was none other than a Dragonoid and had obviously come here for a reason. This one wasn't red or black, but a kind of bluish silver. His snout was shorter than the other ones and he looked like a kind of Dragon pit bull and he had a straight row of spines that went down his back. He looked around and sniffed the air.

"Yes. This should be the way. First, I think I shall lure them in. Or if my name isn't Blue Firedrake." The dragon said as he strode off.

Then, there was a rustling in the trees and Firedrake looked at the spot. He grinned a fangy grin as he strode toward it.

"He'll make a perfect guard dog. Now, all I need is the bait." Blue Firedrake said as his big, orange eyes narrowed.

Link and Sonic walked through the forest until Sonic's tracker started going off. Sonic took the sensor out and inspected it.

"Hey, Link, I think we found the next Key Item. We gotta get going!" Sonic said.

“Wait. What’s a Key Item?” Link asked.

 

“Tails did a scan on the Master Emerald and found that several other items across the dimensions have similar structures. He named these things Key Items and he believes that the Triforce that was stolen from your world was one of them.” Sonic explained.

The blue hedgehog was about to run off when something moved. Both of them froze as Link slowly picked up a stick, extended it, and hit something near a large rock.

"OW!" The thing said.

The thing he hit came out from behind the rock and Link saw it wasn't a threat. The creature was a triceratops to you and me, but on Sauria, it was called an Earthwalker. It walked over to Link and spoke in a rather annoyed tone.

"Why'd ya' prod me that hard?" It asked. The thing's voice was adult, but it was somewhat boyish and still pretty young; probably a teenager.

"Sorry. We're a little hyper now." Sonic apologized as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Why, if Fox McCloud finds out you did that to me, I'm going to…" The Earthwalker began, but Link cut him off.

"Wait. You know Fox McCloud?"

Tricky shrugged in a manner, seeing as he was on four legs.

"Of course I know him. I'm his buddy Tricky. By the way, you wouldn't happen to know where he is, wouldja?" The dinosaur asked.

"Yeah. I'm afraid he's not here and he can't come." Link said.

"But I need someone to help the Walled City. There's a bunch of Dreadfin in there and I need help!" Tricky said, very worried.

Link flinched. He had been told about the Dreadfin and their fearsome reputation, but he had never seen one and didn’t really want to. However, he had no choice otherwise and the universe WAS in peril.

Sonic thought for a while and then asked, "Can you take us there? I'm sure we can help since Fox isn’t here."

Tricky was overjoyed to hear this and said, "Sure! Hop on my back. I know where to go!"

Link clambered onto the young dinosaur’s back, but Sonic was pretty reluctant. In fact, he stayed right on the ground.

"Nah. I'll run, but thanks for the offer." He told them.

“Oh, okay. But you better be able to keep up.” Tricky said as he looked back.

 

“Don’t worry about him. He’ll easily accomplish that task.” Link assured as he patted Tricky’s shoulder.

 

“You’re gonna have to not do that. I’m not some beast of burden.” Tricky said, glaring up at Link, “Alright. Now, let’s get GOING!”

 

Tricky charged through the undergrowth, snapping small trees like twigs. Sonic sprinted behind the dinosaur; the blue hedgehog was a sprinter not a bulldozer.

 

It took them a few minutes and Sonic happened to notice that they were going toward a very strong signal. He took out his tracking device and they were getting closer by the second.

"Hmm…Why would these ‘Dreadfin’ be at Walled City like that?" Sonic thought to himself.

Just then, Tricky stopped, causing Sonic to collide with his behind. Sonic fell to the ground and rubbed his head in pain.

"Now what was THAT all about?!” Sonic asked impatiently.

"SSSHHH!!!" Tricky hissed as he crouched down in a fern bush.

"What is it?" Link asked in a whisper.

"Those." Tricky answered as he gestured toward the direction he was going.

There were six or seven spinosaurs wandering a kind of ancient palace. Link remembered the redeye that came to Hyrule and his last journey through here. He then realized that these must be Dreadfin; the description was exactly how Fox told him. They were slightly larger than redeye, but they looked a little more lightly built with crocodile-like jaws and razor-sharp claws. They then saw that they had a kind of fin on their backs, hence their names. Just when Link thought things couldn't get worse, something came around the center palace and his eyes widened in surprise.

 

Chapter 8: The Dreadfin King

The thing came around the temple was a Dreadfin, but it was twice as big as all of the other dinosaurs in the area. It had armor-like plates on its shoulders and hips and decorative scales, each one red or gold. It's large, orange eyes almost blended into the color and the large fin on its back was only slightly more light in color. Its teeth were knifelike and a kind of dull yellow as well as peg-shaped for holding things in place and emerged from jaws the size of small biplanes. The main thing that stuck out of its body color were its claws; each one was as black as obsidian and longer than two of Link's swords: even longer than its teeth. It was the exact same size of the giant redeye that Link saw a giant General Scales take care of.

"I see you've found the Dreadfin King. He's big alright." Tricky said, obviously seeing the look of shock on Link's face.

Sonic's sharp eyes immediately spotted a figure that was the size of a canary compared to the Dreadfin King. It was none other than a Dragonoid and it was perched on top of the Dreadfin's head like those birds you see on rhinos in nature films.

"Looks like it was the Dragonoids all along…" Link said as he squinted, trying to see the Dragonoid ahead, “They must be searching for the key item. But what is it and where is it?”


Back in the Walled City, Blue Firedrake was looking around. He had found a way to control the Dreadfin King and have his soldiers patrol the area. It was ingenious; these beasts were so easy to control with their bloodthirsty minds.

"I know the Key Item is around here somewhere…But where? WHERE?" Firedrake asked himself. "Alright, I’ve had enough of searching through these ruins. I think it’s time to send these dinosaurs into the jungle. Maybe the Key Item is in there…"

Blue Firedrake then emitted a roar that the Dreadfin King met at exactly the same time. The Dreadfin turned their crocodilian heads and a few still searched the temple while a few others thundered off for the jungle. However, Blue Firedrake couldn’t shake the feeling that, in some way, he wasn’t alone.


Deep in the jungle, Sonic felt something under his feet. It was a kind of small tremor and he looked at his tracker. According to the tracker, he and his buddies was right above the key item.

"Uh, Tricky?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah?"

"Stand back."

Tricky waddled to his side, nearly knocking Link over, as Sonic leapt into the air and spun in the buzz saw fashion. The spinning hedgehog dug right into the earth and went down many feet. Link peered down the hole and waited for results.

“Where does he think he’s going?” Link asked.

His answer came when something burst from the hole and Sonic landed with a kind of Sword in his hand. It had the all-too-familiar head of the Krazoa on it and Tricky's eyes widened as he laid his eyes on it.

"WOW! The Krazoa Sword! I thought that thing only existed in mythology." Tricky said in astonishment.

Link was astonished and asked, "You've heard of this thing?"

Tricky nodded as he continued.

"Yeah. Legend has it that this sword was made by the Krazoa to help ensure peace on Sauria. However, the bad dinosaurs wanted to steal it for their own greedy reasons. So, they hid the sword so that no one would find it. I feel like I just fell into Saurian history!"

"Wow. I'm sure glad it's in our hands." Sonic said, not knowing the danger he just unleashed.


Back at the temple, Blue Firedrake froze and so did the Dreadfin King. Firedrake then sniffed the air like there was an alluring scent in the air. Then, the Dreadfin King emitted a low growl as all the other Dreadfin entered the city and began to patrol it rather than search it.

"It's close. I can actually see where it is…" The Dragonoid said in a quiet voice.

The Dreadfin King then turned and started thundering toward the jungle. Firedrake’s orange eyes searched the whole area until he spotted a group of three people, completely oblivious to the threat.


Link, Sonic, and Tricky were too distracted by the sword to notice that something was getting closer. Just then, an impact tremor coursed through the ground and Sonic took notice of it. Then, Sonic looked up and his eyes widened.

"Uh, guys? What has sharp teeth, scaly skin, and great big claws?" Sonic asked.

“Sonic, now’s not exactly the time to be telling jokes.” Link said as he looked at his pal, who looked utterly terrified.

"I dunno." Tricky said, not daring to look behind him.

Sonic stuttered for a moment and then slowly pointed behind them.

"I dunno either, but it's looking at us!" Sonic said as he looked into the bright orange eyes of the Dreadfin King.

 

There he was, in all his hideous glory. The Dreadfin King was looking down at them, his teeth bared and large drips of saliva dripping from them. The Dreadfin King was, literally, coming to dinner.
 

Chapter 9: War

Link didn't know what to do. He couldn't harm a creature of this size with just a few arrows and a sword and shield. This Dreadfin was going to squash them like cockroaches if they were lucky. The Dreadfin King raised its massive foot and brought it smashing down, planning to crush them all like beetles. Fortunately, Tricky narrowly galloped away and Link and Sonic sped out of the way easily.

"That was TOO CLOSE!" Link said as he regained his balance.

"Don't get too comfy!" Sonic said as he sped away.

The Dreadfin's tail was coming to meet them, but Link evaded it in a single bound. Meanwhile, Blue Firedrake laughed at their pathetic attempt of running away like frightened bunnies.

"If that's the best you can do, why don't you go in the sprint rather than fight?" The dragonoid taunted.

Down below, Tricky had reached cover and was well out of the Dreadfin King’s sight.

 

“What’s going on here? We can’t fight this guy with what we have…I GOT IT! I’ll go get help!” He said to himself.

Tricky took off, sprinting like a horse to avoid the Dreadfin King’s teeth and feet. In seconds, he was running through the Walled City, evading Dreadfin along the way. The Dreadfin noticed him and tried to snap at the Earthwalker only to see him race past with amazing agility.

"Man! These guys don't quit!" Tricky said as he continued to worm his way through them.

After what seemed like an eternity, Tricky went to a part of the Walled City where his father had told him all about. It was a kind of cave, but it had a large cage with heavy bars and saw what he was looking for. He knew because a large eye peered through the steel bars at him.

 

“THERE you guys are. Man, I sure am lucky my dad tamed all of you.” Tricky said as he began to open the cage.

Meanwhile, with the Dreadfin King, Blue Firedrake was still howling with laughter as Sonic and Link ran around like cheetahs trying to evade the feet, tail, claws, and teeth of the massive dinosaur. Then, something unexpected happened. When the dinosaur’s massive tail came down, Sonic leapt on top of it and ran across the Dreadfin's back. When he was at the base of the neck, he leapt into the air after shouting one word.

"SURPRISE!"

Blue Firedrake whirled around only to have Sonic collide with his face. The dragonoid keeled backward, almost falling off his mount, but he regained his balance and he spat out teeth that had fallen out onto the ground. He turned to Sonic and took a swipe at him with his long claws. However, he appeared to only swipe air and he missed.

"Ha! You'll have to do better than that if you wanna hit Sonic!" Sonic said as he evaded a sweep kick.

 

Then, Firedrake did a pretty stupid thing. He inhaled and vomited blue fire at Sonic, but the blue hedgehog proved too fast as he sped away, and the flames only burned the Dreadfin King. The Spinosaur reared its large head back and roared in pain. Firedrake lashed out with his tail, but Sonic proved too fast and jumped on it before bouncing onto Firedrake's mug. Firedrake clutched his face in pain and reached out blindly. He felt his hand close around Sonic's head and he opened his teary eyes before squeezing. Just then, something hit him in the back and he stumbled forward. When he turned around, Link was there to meet him with a diagonal slash. Firedrake released Sonic and clutched his wound. The huge gash went from his left shoulder to his right hip. He snarled like a mad panther and threw a punch at Link only to miss by a mile. Link rolled away before the punch broke him in half and slashed Firedrake in the calf. Blue Firedrake cried out, but then he broke off with a smile.

"You're better than I expected, boy. I'm surprised you didn't fight Lord Ryu." Firedrake said with a very toothy grin.

Just then, an earthshaking roar erupted from the Walled City and they whirled around from fighting to see Redeye swarm the area and start battling the Dreadfin. Another roar was heard and Blue Firedrake turned to see his whole plan almost go down the drain.

Out of the forest came a giant Redeye, easily as big as the Dreadfin King, and snarled like an enraged wolf. Then battling trio happened to notice they were on the Dreadfin's nose. The redeye opened its mouth and charged just when Sonic and Link slid down the Dreadfin's back and Firedrake took off like an eagle. Unfortunately, the Dragonoid lost control of the Dreadfin King just when the Redeye bit down on its nose. The Dreadfin King shook the mind control out of his head, came to, and gave his attacker a good swipe across the face. The Giant Redeye released his opponent and they started roaring their challenges to each other. As soon as they realized that threats weren't enough, they charged with their mouths open.

Firedrake searched the ground while in midair and saw Link make a run for the Krazoa Sword.

"Not if I can help it!" The giant reptile said as he narrowed his yellow eyes.

He dove at Link like a falcon and proceeded to swat the hylian hero as he passed. The high speed only increased the power of the blow and Link tumbled across the ground and stopped some fifty feet away from the sacred blade. Firedrake made a wide turn and reached for the blade, but Sonic leapt into the air and spun into his forehead again. Firedrake stopped in midair as Sonic came for him again. This time, Firedrake swung with his tail and hit Sonic like a professional baseball player hitting a homer. Sonic flew through the air and Firedrake then saw his mistake and the fate of the Dreadfin King.

The Dreadfin King and the Giant Redeye were still tackling each other when Sonic spun right through the Dreadfin's eye. The Dreadfin King roared in pain as he shook his massive head to try and shake the pain out. The Redeye seized its chance and brought its head smashing into the Dreadfin King's side. The spinosaur fell on its side and tried to get up when something like eighty large knifes plunged into his ribs. The Dreadfin King cringed in pain as the Giant Redeye seized it by the neck and proceeded to crunch the spine like a twig. The Dreadfin King, after probably centuries of life, was dead.

Blue Firedrake saw the fate that beheld his pawn, but now he had to make this mission fast. He flew down and gripped the hilt of the Krazoa Sword between his index finger and his thumb before taking off. He looked down at Link and grinned.

 

“I’ll see you later, boy.” The blue lizard said as he vanished into a red portal.

 

 

Back on the ground, Link came two and pounded the ground with his fist as he saw Firedrake fly away with a grunt in frustration. Sonic clambered out of the Dreadfin's eye socket and shook the blood and slime off him.

"EUGH! As much as I hate to say it, I REALLY NEED A BATH AFTER THIS!" The blue dude said as he shook himself of anything that would come off.

Link then looked at the Redeye and drew his sword. He was about to charge when Tricky stopped him.

"Don't do it, Link. You need to find that blue dragon and the Krazoa Sword. We'll handle things here." Tricky assured him.

"I hope you can. Thanks." Link said as he sheathed his sword.

Sonic powered up his special shoes and Link did his. Tricky even said, "Good luck" before they sped off through the portal.

 

Chapter 10: Crouching gorilla, hidden Dragonoid

Universes away, Blue Firedrake returned to his homeworld in the center of the universe, the Krazoa Sword in tow. He walked to the center of a large room with ten different pedestals, two of which had different items on them. The first one held three golden triangles that Ryu had stolen from the land of Hyrule itself while the other held the Master Emerald. Firedrake’s colleague, Red Wyvern, had snatched this from a persistent red echidna and shared the Dragonoids’ first clash with the blue hedgehog and the hylian hero.

 

“My Lord, I return with the sacred Krazoa Sword.” Firedrake said, holding out the sword in his outstretched hand.

 

A huge globe of fire appeared in the air and Ryu instantly materialized from it. The dark dragon touched down on the ground and took the Krazoa Sword in his mighty claw.

 

“Good work, general.” Ryu said as he took the sword over to a pedestal near the Master Emerald and sat the item there.

 

“What orders do you command, Lord Ryu?” Blue Firedrake asked, cautiously.

 

Ryu spun on his heel and began to pace across the room. Strangely, he seemed to keep the same satisfied expression as he did so. Then, it hit him.

 

“Open the portal to the bronze world and take a break, Firedrake. I will send in Salamander.” Ryu said as he went over to his throne.

 

“WHAT? You’re sending in that deranged psychopath? I would be far better than that lunatic.” Firedrake opposed, shaking his fist in midair.

 

Before Firedrake could even muster another point-out, Ryu had gotten up, crossed the amazing distance between the two Dragonoids, and backhanded his general. Firedrake careened to the floor and clutched his jaw as Ryu’s sharp teeth clenched together so hard, you could hear them grind.

 

“Those are your orders, Firedrake. Remember your place!” Ryu snarled.

 

Blue Firedrake slowly got up and skulked off to fetch Salamander, still surprised at how brutal his master was.

 

 

In a flash of green light, Sonic and Link reappeared in a dense jungle. Sonic surveyed his surroundings, had no clue where he was, and turned to Link.

"Link? Where the heck are we?" He asked as he scratched his head.

"I think I have a pretty good idea..." Link began, but there was a roar in the distance.

"Talk later!" Link asked as he hurried off through the jungle with Sonic right behind him.


Miles away, King K. Rool; king of the Kremlings was marching an army of Kremlings through the jungle. There were at least half a million of these crocodiles behind him and he looked very ticked off.

"That bumbling chimpanzee won't get me THIS TIME! I'll make sure of it! Now hurry up you buffoons!" The tubby croc barked.

"Sir, I'm not a baboon! I'm a crocodile and you know it!" One Kremling commented.

"Either they're going deaf or they're just plain stupid." King K. Rool muttered under his breath.

"I'd say they're downright brainless." A cold voice whispered into K. Rool's ear.

K. Rool froze and slowly turned around to meet a large, green fist. As soon as he fell to the ground, the green thing laughed, almost maniacally. Then, he turned to the army, who just stood there in complete shock.

"Unlike fatso here, I have a different plan for all of you." The thing said to all the Kremlings.

Bright orange fire engulfed the Kremlings and they shielded themselves. However, it seemed to be for nothing. They opened their once-yellow eyes only that they were turned red.


Back in the jungle, Link was hacking through vines and branches with his sword. They had been in there for about half an hour when all of a sudden, something big came smashing into them. All three of them skidded across the ground and eventually screeched to a halt.

"Oh. S-sorry, Link! Sorry, Sonic!" The thing said in a deep voice that Link instantly recognized.

Link came back to earth and saw the familiar face of Donkey Kong. Sonic came to and his face instantly lit up with happiness as he saw the big ape.

 

“Hey, DK. Long time no see.” Sonic pointed out.

 

“Uh, yeah. We can talk later, but we have to get moving in about…thirty seconds time!” DK said, trying to get away.

 

Link simply took out his sword and pointed it at DK so close, it was right in between the ape’s nostrils.

"What’s with all the rush, DK?" The hylian asked as he painfully got up.

"I was running from these NEW Kremlings! At first, I was creaming them. But then came some big, green, flying guy and those new minions of K. Rool’s. I'm glad I ran into you guys! I NEED YOUR HEEEEEEEEEEEELLLPPP!!!" DK said urgently.

"It must be those Dragonoid creatures again!" Sonic said as he narrowed his eyes again in anger.

"Dragonoid?" DK asked as he scratched his head.

"How about you let Green Salamander explain to him?" A deep, roaring voice asked.

Everyone whipped around to see a large, green dragonoid. Unlike the others that came before him, he had no horns. His head looked something like a lizard's and neither its head, neck, or tail had spikes on them. Green Salamander's eyes were as orange as citrines and his claws, like the others, were pitch dark. DK’s eyes widened as he recognized this thing and became paralyzed with fear as Link pointed up at the new beast.

"THAT is a Dragonoid." Link pointed out.

"Ohhh..." DK said as he stared, wide-eyed at the large dragon before him.

"Ah, Link and Sonic. My lord has told me all about you and how weak your little land is.” Link scowled. “And judging from what I’ve heard, you’ll make for an easy victory. When I’m through with you, my master will give me a reward worthy of a leading general like myself. And you won’t like that! AAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Green Salamander cackled.

 

“Is it me, Link? Or is this guy as crazy as his smile suggests?” Sonic asked.

 

“It’s not just you, Sonic. He IS insane.” Link answered.

 

Suddenly, King K. Rool rushed in from the jungle, looking as though he had just run a mile. When he caught his breath, he spoke, but through short gasps.

 

“Insane, am I? Well, I’ll just let my army of Dragonoids do all the talking for me if that’s okay with you.” Green Salamander snarled as he put his index finger forward, his insane smile as wide as ever.

A whole army came out of the trees. They were Dragonoids alright, but they bore surprising resemblance to Kritters, Krushas, and Klumps with wings, horns, and large claws.

 

“Guys…BIG dragon…controlled my troops and…” K. Rool began, but then he saw the whole army in front of him. “Oh. I see the insane iguana has just found you.”

 

Strangely, Green Salamander didn’t take this insult too much. If it were Ganondorf, he would have exploded in a rage. Salamander, instead, answered it with a wide grin and a smug look crossed his face.

 

All three people were almost helpless as Salamander simply said one word. As Salamander began speaking, he pointed forward and his catlike pupils turned into narrow slits as he barked one word.

"ATTACK!!!"

 

Chapter 11: War again

The Dragonoid Kremlings charged like stampeding wildebeests, all the while baring their sharp teeth, claws, and horns. Some took to the wing, some hiked around on the ground, and others clambered through the trees like malevolent reptilian primates. Link, Sonic, Donkey Kong, and K. Rool would be lucky to get out of this alive.

One burly Kremling Dragonoid took a good swipe at Sonic only to miss by a mile. The blue hedgehog hopped onto the beast’s head and kicked off, jumping onto the next one in the process. He repeated the process three more times before landing on solid ground and speeding off in a wheel fashion, bowling several of the lizards over.

 

A slimmer Kremling one inhaled deeply and vomited flames at Link, who rolled out of the way. The green-clad hero spun as he got up, slicing through one of the Kremlings' abdomen and spilling its intestines. Link spun on his feet and caught one behind him just when another charged to meet him from behind. However, the one behind him loomed up behind him, but only met a huge fist. DK had socked the dragon in the face and spun to smash another one in the face. He was about to punch one when multiple sharp objects buried themselves in his arm. A Kremling had snuck up behind him and bit him. Strangely, someone peeled the Kremling off and DK was left with a few puncture wounds. King K. Rool had actually helped his sworn enemy and proceeded to flatten this dragon-like creature under his massive weight. As he got up, he bounced one away on his stomach and socked another one down.

"Nobody, but ME gets to beat up Donkey Kong!" King K. Rool said angrily as he plowed through his ex-troops.

Sonic was hopping on these new Dragonoids faster than a frog on lily pads, racing for Green Salamander faster than most of the troops could even run. Link was also hacking his way through these reptilian soldiers at a phenomenal rate. Within seconds, Sonic was soon within striking range of Green Salamander.

"Take this, lizard boy!" Sonic shouted as he leapt high into the air and used his spin attack.

The minute Sonic was within ten feet of him, Green Salamander sidestepped the attack, his sly grin still on his lizardlike face. He cackled as he put up his black claws, which began to glow blood red and then brought them in a vertical slash. Four vertical waves of fire shot in the same pattern of his slash and Sonic barely got out of the way. However, the minute Sonic jumped away, another fire claw was there to meet him and caught him in midair, catching him in the front and sending the speed demon tumbling to the ground. Salamander snorted in disbelief.

"Pathetic mammal, how do you expect to win when you fight like that? AAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Green Salamander taunted.

Green Salamander barely had time to respond, seeing as Link was already within striking range. Before the green dragon had time to react, a light arrow buried itself in his chest. Green Salamander kneeled, clutching the spot in his massive hand just as Link pulled out his sword at the same time Salamander put up his claws. Both struck, but the results were impact sparks and clanging metal. Salamander's claws were so strong that Link's sword didn't even penetrate them. Link didn’t have time to respond as Green Salamander simply batted him away with his other hand and sent the Hylian hero tumbling to his right.

 

“So, you’re the almighty ‘Hero of Time’? I would have expected you to be faster! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Salamander said, easily as insane as ever.

 

“Y’know, that laughing is getting on my nerves, lizard-breath.” A voice said.

 

Green Salamander turned around to have a spinning blue saw-blade collide with his chest. The great green dragon stumbled back one step and barely had time to recover when Link’s silver Master Sword came up to meet him and put a rather sizeable gash on his right shoulder. Blood seeped out of the cut as Salamander simply touched the spot and licked the blood right off. He simply smiled.

 

“Just a scratch. Would’ve expected you to do far better than this! HEHEHE…” Salamander said, gesturing for them to bring it on.

 

THIS was going to harder than Link and Sonic thought.

Donkey Kong and K. Rool weren't having the time of their lives either. They had to work together to fend off these reptilian soldiers and K. Rool was probably having the worse part of it.

"I don't get it! They're going after me just because I have a stupid banana?!" K. Rool asked out loud.

“Banana? What Banana?” Donkey Kong asked, scratching his head.

 

“That Dragon-thing told my troops to search the whole jungle for it, but little do they know that I have it.” K. Rool said, triumphantly.

Just then, another Kremling Dragonoid leapt onto the crocodile king’s back and reached under his scarlet cape.

"HEY! I'm in NO NEED of a back rub!" K. Rool said as he flailed his arms.

A big, furry hand seized the Dragonoid soldier by the back of the head and peeled him off K. Rool's back. DK saw one approaching his front and reached out with his foot. An ape's feet are like a second pair of hands and DK used this to his advantage. His foot's "hand" grabbed his attacker on the nose and pushed backward before he brought the attacking Kremling smashing into the other. King K. Rool suddenly noticed that many were downhill and curled into a ball before tumbling down the hill. The big crocodile went rolling down the hill and bowled his traitors for troops.

 

“Strike!” K. Rool shouted in victory.

Green Salamander was still in pitched combat with Link and the two appeared to be evenly matched. Link's sword, after a hard work's of parrying, finally caught Salamander across the chest. Salamander clutched his wound, but was more than smart enough to not look away from THIS opponent for too long. He quickly spread his wings and took to the sky. When he was in the air, the Kremling Dragonoid flew up to meet him and gave him a kind of banana. This banana wasn't yellow, but the color of platinum. Salamander's smile broadened so much, it could have spread from one ear to another.

"Yes. The DK Isle treasure belongs to the Dragonoids! VICTORY IS MINE! AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Salamander said, as though he were holding a precious gem. He then looked at the Kremling Dragonoids and said, "As for you, you're no longer of any use to me, so HA!"

Salamander vomited fire onto the Kremlings and they lost their wings, their horns, and their red eyes went back to yellow. The one that gave him the DK Isle treasure looked down, tried to fly, but ended up falling to terra firma, some hundred feet to the ground. Salamander then flew up high and disappeared in a dimensional portal.

When Salamander disappeared, the Kremlings got up, moaning like zombies and one of them asked, "Hey, what'd we miss?"

Sonic pounded the ground with his fist and cursed, "SHOOT! Another Key Item lost. This time, they're not going to get away!"

DK looked at King K. Rool and scowled at him.

"Way to go, K. Rool, they took that banana you were bragging about and you thought they were giving you a back-rub.” DK said, his arms folded across his chest.

 

“Uh, hehe…Oops?” K. Rool said, sweating profusely.

 

“One more thing. You better get outta here, fatso, before they come back." DK threatened.

King K. Rool, fearing those Dragonoids more than anything now, ran off with what was left of his troops trailing behind him.

DK turned to thank Sonic and Link for their effort, but they vanished. He looked around and they were still nowhere to be seen.

"Great. Now I'll never thank them." DK said before leaping into the trees and swinging off, “I hope they know what they’re doing…for all our sakes.”

 

Chapter 12: The undersea ruins

Back in Sonic's world, Vector, Espio, and Charmy were back at their house, doing what they do best. Vector was sleeping at his desk with his legs propped up on the table and his hands acting as pillows. Just then the phone rang.

"ZZzzz…Charmy, get the phone…" Vector said, sleepily.

While Vector was sleeping, Charmy picked up the phone, flew it over Vector and dropped it on his head with a CLANG. Vector recoiled in pain, yelled quite a few cuss words I won't even tell you, and then picked up the phone.

"What? I'm a very grouchy guy today!" Vector asked impatiently.

A little pause and Vector's mouth dropped open.

"Oh. Hey, pal." Vector said apologetically.

Another pause and Vector nodded with the occasional "uh-huh" and "mm-hmm". After that, he nodded in approval.

"Alright. I'll be there, ol' buddy." Vector said before he hung it up.

"Ooh! OOH! Was that Mighty the armadillo? Where has he…" Charmy began excitedly, but Vector cut him off.

"No. That was Tails. He wants us to come over." Vector said, "C'mon, Espio."

Vector then noticed that Espio was asleep in a meditative stance and smacked himself in the face.

"Charmy, you know what to do." Vector said.

A few minutes later, Charmy returned with the pepper mill and began to sprinkle it on Espio's face. Espio's face tinged up a bit and finally, he sneezed. While Vector and Charmy chortled, Espio looked rather ticked off.

"You've got to find a better way to do this, guys." Espio said, grumpily.


In a matter of minutes, Tails had the Chaotix Crew in his lab.

“Well, what did you drag us here for?” Vector said impatiently.

"I’m going to ignore that comment. As for why, I'm kinda worried about Sonic and I think there are more to these ‘Dragonoid’ things than meets the eye. So I'm asking this of you." Tails said as he went over to a door.

The two-tailed fox opened the door and there were a few cameras and laptop computers.

"Whaddya want us to do with THAT stuff?" Vector asked as he scratched his scaly head.

"Link told me of a dimension where he found some mysterious ruins and that there was a character similar to that Red Wyvern guy. I want to find out what it means and I think you should try to help. I've tracked the area and I've found out that among those ruins hold a Key Item. Can you do it?"

Vector thought for a while, but then said, "Chaotix! Huddle!"

They did so and they whispered so quietly that Tails couldn't overhear them. They finally broke up and Vector had the confident look on his face.

"Of course we'll do it. All in the line of duty, Tails. Chaotix crew AT YOUR SERVICE." Vector answered as he gave the salute of a soldier.

"Yeah! Another adventure awaits us!" Charmy said with the excitement of a younger sibling.

"If we die, you stay away from our funerals." Espio said as he pointed a finger at Tails.


After a few hours, Tails had made a special spaceship for the Chaotix crew that could travel the dimensions. Espio and Charmy were packing up several boxes into their spaceship while Vector and Tails stood nearby with checklists.

 

“Okay, I think you have all the supplies you may need. If there’s anything else you want to bring, go get it now.” Tails said as he continued to use his checklist.

 

“I have a bit of stuff back home I’ll want to bring. I’ll go get it while you help my buddies pack up.” Vector said as he beckoned to walk away.

 

“You do that, Vector.” Tails said as he walked off for the rest of the supplies and Vector went off to fetch a few belongings.

A few hours passed and the supplies included some machinery, food, and other stuff for survival. Vector on the other hand brought things to entertain him and his buddies. He brought a Gameboy Advance, a Video Game system, and even a TV set.

"Alright, guys. Ready to go?" Tails asked as he made the last adjustment.

"Tails, we were born ready." Vector said as he thrust out his chest. The wacky trio hopped into the spaceship and warped to Tails' coordinates.

When the Chaotix crew arrived at the right planet, they looked around the city. It was full of animal people like them, only a little more human.

"Kinda close to home, isn't it?" Vector asked as he looked around.

"No." Espio answered.

After a while, they started hitchhiking and eventually a wheel vehicle stopped for them. The guy at the wheel was a rough-looking Gila monster guy that flicked his tongue out every once in a while that kind of freaked Vector out.

"Can I give you guys a ride?" It asked in a tough, gravelly voice.

"Why, yes. Your ride will do well.”

Vector then proceeded to wrestle the lizard off his ride. Espio flung Vector into the driver's seat and Charmy quickly hopped in just when Vector took off. Vector then happened to notice the driver's manual and flipped it open.

"Yikes! How does this guy afford an apartment?" Vector asked as he put it back.

The minute they reached the same place with the underwater temple, Vector pulled out a rather large suitcase and took out scuba gear.

"Underwater travel, boys. Slip these on and we'll be on our way." Vector said as he tossed them their proper garbs.

"Nice color. Does it come in anything else besides black?" Espio asked, inspecting his wetsuit.

Vector looked at Espio and folded his arms as he said, "It's either black or pink."

"I'll go with black." Espio said as he slipped it on.

When all three members were all dressed up, they waded into the water and began to swim through the water. Underwater travel seemed easy enough, but then something wrapped around Vector's leg.

"AAAAHHH!! It's a giant squid! There’s nothing you can do now…go on without me!" Vector screamed.

"Vector, that's kelp." Espio informed.

Vector looked down and, sure enough, there was the long tangle of seaweed wrapped around his leg. Charmy laughed at Vector’s antic and a cynical look crossed his face.

"Maybe I shouldn't have read 20,000 leagues under the sea." Vector said as he pulled the kelp off his leg.

The three then entered the underwater temple and found a tablet with a picture of a dragonoid with flames right under its clawed hands. It couldn’t have been anything else and even had ancient writing on it. Now the Chaotix crew knew they had no time to lose.

Espio whipped out an underwater camera and began to snap photos of the tablet. He caught at least six of them and when he photographed the last one, a kind of dark-red portal opened up and the tablet disappeared.

"NO! THAT WAS OUR ONLY LINK TO THESE DRAGONOID GUYS AND WE’RE DOOMED!!!" Vector screamed as he clutched his head.

"Take it easy, Vector. I got plenty of pictures." Espio said as he held up his camera.

"Looks like you wasted your whole speech, Vector." Charmy teased.

"Who are you guys?" A female voice asked.

The Chaotix crew turned around to see a dolphin lady with scuba gear and a quizzical look on her face. She then noticed that the tablet was gone and that these three goofballs were the only ones here.

"What did you DO?!" She asked, pointing a finger at Vector and actually touching his nose.

"Nothing. That tablet just vanished in a vortex of red light." Vector answered.

"Say, you wouldn't happen to have a photo developer would you?" Espio asked, trying to change course.

However, this dolphin girl had a look of great fear on her face and she even started to sweat, strangely for a dolphin. Then, she shook the look off her face and turned around.

"I think the long-made prophecy has come true. Follow me." The dolphin said as she swam out of the temple.

While they were moving, Vector had to ask something.

"Uh, Miss? I didn't exactly get your name."

"Teal. Now let's move." She said, not looking over her shoulder.

After a few minutes, the Chaotix and Teal got the photos developed and scanned on a computer. Strangely, the Chaotix didn’t need all their computers, because this Teal had several of them as well as several other gadgets.

"Wow. I wouldn't expect someone like you to have something like this." Espio said, somewhat impressed.

"To tell the truth, I'm a government agent. But I can tell you're good guys. Do what you need with my computer. NO, bee boy, there are no games." Teal said, suddenly turning around on the last sentence.

Charmy had tried searching one of the computers for some kind of video game that he could play. However, when he heard Teal, he stopped messing with them.

"Darn." Charmy said as he hung his head.

Now came the tricky part, translation. They went on for many minutes and everyone was getting impatient.

"Aren't you done YET? At this rate, the entire day will be wasted." Vector asked.

"Yeah. Whole day wasted!" Charmy said, rubbing it in.

"Back off, guys. Ancient translation of languages isn't exactly my specialty." Espio warned as he continued to go into the typing again.

"Let ME do it, then." Charmy suggested, tugging at Espio's shoulder.

Vector stopped the energetic bee by grabbing him by the head.

"Stop bugging him, Charmy." Vector said.

Charmy continued to protest, "Let me try! I wanna try! I WANNA TRY!"

Charmy got free of Vector's hand and looked at the hieroglyphics.

"It says, ‘The queen wanted the wings of an eagle…’" Charmy said.

Espio and Vector were stunned.

"She had a VCR, but she wanted a DVD, so she took her peanut-butter sandwich for a walk." Charmy finished.

"Let me try, Charmy." Vector said, shoving Charmy out of the way.

Vector ran his finger back and forth across the screen as he put a finger on his chin. Then, he looked at part of it and read it out loud.

"Hmm… Bird, rock, pork chop, bird, and bigger bird. I GOT IT! This is some kind of ancient shopping list!" Vector shouted.

"That's dumber than Charmy's if that's possible." Espio said in the "oh puh-leeze" voice.

Vector shoved Espio out of the driver's seat and typed on the computer a bit. The ancient text then turned into letters.

"Good job, Vector. You translated it into Spanish." Espio said, sarcastically.

Vector got frustrated and gave the keyboard a good whack. Then, it went into English.

"Ol' family touch." Vector said, proudly.

The Chaotix crew read the translation and then their eyes widened and their mouths dropped. Whatever it read, it could NOT have been anything good.

"OH NO! We gotta find Link and Sonic before it's too late!" Vector said as he raced off his seat.

"Sorry we're leaving so soon, Teal. We got work to do!" Vector apologized as he raced out the door.

 

Chapter 13: Meet the master

The minute Link and Sonic stopped, they found themselves in a wide plain of grass, flowers, and trees. Link looked around and finally realized where he was.

"Well, it looks like it's the Poke'mon world, Sonic." Link said as he walked a few steps forward.

Sonic looked around and then noticed someone coming straight for them on what could only be a hover bike. Sonic kept the sun's rays out of his eyes as best he could and tried to identify the figure riding it. However, he was approaching fast and Sonic immediately knew he wasn't going to stop.

"Hit the dirt!" Sonic shouted, tackling Link to the ground.

The hover bike zoomed over their backs and as soon as they saw it zip out of sight, they got up. It was then that they saw what the rider was trying to get away from. It was none other than a Dragonoid, but it was NOT one of Ryu's generals. This one was only about seven feet tall, had a small array of spines down his back, and had two horns over his eyebrows that stuck to the sides like bull horns. Still, it was flying around and snarling like a wolverine and both took it as a threat and took off after it. Sonic leapt into the air and landed on the flying creature's back just when it passed.

"WHAT THE?!" The Dragonoid snarled.

Sonic then took one of the Dragonoid's wings and began to jerk it violently, causing the Dragonoid to swerve left and right until it crashed into the ground. The bloodthirsty creature got up and charged Sonic, but the blue hedgehog was more than fast enough to avoid him.

"You will die, hedgehog, in the name of RYU!" The creature roared as he took off and tried dive-bombing Sonic again.

"Oh, I don't think so." Sonic said, his grin broadening.

The minute the dragon was a few feet away, Sonic quickly moved to the left and the Dragonoid landed with a crunch. It tried to get up, but it obviously broke something and landed in the dirt again. Link arrived with his sword out and looked at Sonic.

"You go find that guy. I'll make sure our friend doesn't try anything." Link said.

Sonic nodded and raced off like a bullet and he could hear the Dragonoid's screech in pain behind him. He guessed that Link ran the poor reptile through to make sure it didn’t call for help. The blue hedgehog looked around and saw the hover bike up ahead.

"Alright. I'll catch up to it in no time." Sonic said as he increased speed.

The chase didn’t last too long, in fact, it hadn’t lasted five seconds. Within that time, Sonic was level with the rider and the guy was wearing some form of shades. Sonic got a little closer and then spoke.

"Excuse me, sir? That Dragon thing's gone. You can stop now." Sonic said, turning to the guy.

The rider stopped and so did Sonic. The rider hopped off his vehicle while Sonic simply stood there, patiently. The rider took out a red and white ball the size of an orange and chucked it at Sonic. The ball hit him on the head and simply bounced to the ground. The blue hedgehog blinked a few times and stared at the ball at his feet before speaking.

"Uh, what were you doing?" He asked.

The guy seemed somewhat bewildered at this.

"Huh? You're not a Poke'mon?" The guy asked.

This person had to be at least eighteen, if not, younger and Sonic shrugged. What kind of question was that?

"Poke’mon? No way! I'm a hedgehog: Sonic the hedgehog." Sonic answered.

The guy removed his sunglasses to reveal yellow, catlike eyes. His hair was a kind of silver and spiked that made his head look like a bird of prey's.

"I've never heard of a Hedgehog. Is that some new Poke'mon?" The guy asked.

Sonic fell face-flat on the ground. Link arrived on the scene and got a good look at this guy, who looked, in his opinion, a little outlandish.

"So, he's the one the Dragonoid was after?" Link asked his fallen friend.

"Dragonoid?" The guy asked again.

Sonic got back up and asked, "I didn't get your name. What do people call you?"

The guy reached out his hand and shook Sonic and Link's.

"I can't remember my last name. Most people call me Raphael, but friends call me Raph." The person requested.

Sonic grinned.

"Nice to meetcha, Raph." Sonic complimented with a sly wink.

Just then, something came out of the sky and landed on the ground with a crash that sent all three people skidding. When the smoke cleared, it turned out that it was another Dragonoid, but this one was dull yellow and HUGE: over twelve feet tall. It had four fingers on its hands, wings on its arms instead of on a separate pair of limbs, and talons like an eagle. It had a thick neck that was packed with muscle and two, goat-like horns that pointed backward. Its snout was like that of a rhinoceros minus the horn and it lacked the arrowhead-shaped bone at the tip of the tail.

"Oh, great! Not this again!" Link said as he drew his sword.

"Do not worry…" The dragonoid said, "You're not worth it. I, the great Yellow Drache, am after something much more important