Uniting Forces Against the Void

Synopsis:  The Mobians meet Pibby, a young warrior who has come with news of a creature that has set its sights on Mobius and other planets in the Videogame solar system (a solar system containing planets seen in video games; planets include Mobius, Corneria (from StarFox), Phantomile (from the Klonoa series), Popstar (from the Kirby series) and Kinoko (the planet from the Mario games). It is up to the Mobians and many others to team up with Pibby to put an end to this looming threat.

Chapter 1—A Small Redemption for Rob 

Recently in Mobius, there had been whisperings among the royal court that Miles Prower had his sights set on the lovely Zooey whom he had been secretly courting during the resistance.   The two had been dating for years but only presently had he gotten the urge to wed her.    He had thought it would remain a secret, but there was no way of keeping something hidden with the hedgehogelets running around. 

Miles wasn’t upset at all, but Zooey was surprised.  She wholeheartedly accepted the proposition and couldn’t wait to get the date and celebration ready.    It would be everything she and Miles had been dreaming, only far better than they ever imagined.    That evening, after paling around with Sonic and playing with the kids for a bit, he and Zooey returned to their high-rise treehouse in the veldt, which was skirting the royal kingdom.    He could walk from the capitol to Mobius’ Crystal Kingdom in no time flat.  

Along the way, there was something extremely unusual buzzing next to the treehouse that hadn’t been there in days prior.    There was a portal of crackling static, looking like something directly from an analog TV or even more ancient.    Computers weren’t unheard of but TVs were old tech and the ancient parts were used for newer replacements such as virtual reality devices that were ubiquitous in this world.   

A robotic hand came out, followed by a cyclops-esque being.  

‘It’s coming, it’s coming for us all !   I warned them !  She may be your answer.   Only pray she comes with an army.   Because if it corrupts you, you will be forgotten, obsolete, erased just like the other mistakes, just like I will be.’, Rob said.    He screamed as the black pixelated tide came up to swallow him and yank him into the abyss where he originally emerged.     There was a cyan being that sprung up, bringing with her some other friends that looked like they were from different realms as well.    She had an eyepatch, an impressive claymore on her hip hanging by an embossed leather belt and her magenta hair was fluttering wildly in the March wind.    

‘What in the Gods name is happening ?’, Miles asked, clearly confused.   Pibby introduced herself as well as Melira and a sidekick who went by ‘Blue Tornado’.    

‘So, you’re trying to stay out of the pathway of this glitch or void ?’, Miles asked, as he kindly offered his new acquaintances shelter.   His fiancé would be lodging in a room by herself for a while and the others would have their own guest room to sleep in overnight.    

‘Rob warned us, just like he did you.  Apparently he was able to run from it in the first go around.’, Melira explained.   Pibby straightened up. 

‘I have to save Bun Bun.   Before that terrible void appeared, she was my closest friend.’, Pibby stated.   A single tear ran from her uncovered eye but she quickly wiped it away.    

‘Come, have some dinner.   We all need our strength.   If Rob was right about the glitch…’, Zooey began.

‘Which he was.   Villain or not, he let himself be sacrificed to appease its insatiable hunger.’, Blue Tornado chimed in, shivering a bit.   Even as a sidekick he had never seen anything so unforgiving.   He wondered if Pibby’s answer of friendship truly was the solution to what appeared to be an invincible corrupting mass.  

Chapter 2—Others Join the Cavalry 

The unmistakable sound of a portal gun breeching a gap in space and time were heard.   All around Mobius, there were vortexes opening everywhere.   Reagan Ridley looked dazed.   She had landed with her coworkers in a very strange place, even weirder than Cognito Inc.    There were Power Rangers, Sailor Scouts, Pretty Cures, wizards from Hogwarts and Hexside School, Care Bears, the Mane 6 and Discord, Jem and the Holograms and many others too vast to name.   

‘What the flip is going on ?’, Eric Cartman yelled.   Every character felt similarly.   They were all literal fishes out of water, especially the aquatic Trolls, amphibians, and non-corporeal entities like Slimer and Scratch.   

‘We’re all from different eras and different places.   I think we should all work together and see exactly what it is that drew us here.’, Vanilla said, wisely.   Vanilla was an inhabitant of Mobius and she had been jolted from her typical hovercar ride towards Crystal Palace to Crystal University where her daughter Cream studied medicine to become a nurse.    

‘The rabbit’s right.  Do you know someone who can get our heads on straight ?’, Heman inquired.   Riding on the back of Battle Cat, he wasn’t the oddest character there, but at least he didn’t feel out of place like Bloo or Wilt.   

‘Don’t worry, we’re all gonna get back to our own dimensions, I just know it !’, Wander reminded them in his usual upbeat way.   Lord Hater had to admire his cheeriness because behind them they could actually hear the glitch starting to creep from its confines, bringing with it the characters it had enslaved.  Of course they were lumbering, mindless puppets, devoid of any personality.  They were the Void and the Void was hankering for more sustenance.   

Chapter 3—Preparing for Battle 

‘The Void…’, Keroberos said, with a slight tremble to his timbre.  It wasn’t like the Guardian to be frightened, but so were Chopper, Luna, Artemis and Happy among other ‘mascots’ that had gotten literally thrown into Mobius.  

‘We’re all here for a reason.   We should work in tandem.’, Omniman stated, boldly.   Other heroes and heroines agreed, even if they were vigilantes, desperados or undesirables.   It was as if the least likely and obscure had been gathered in one place for an ultimate showdown none of them would soon forget.   

Tony Tony Chopper thought analyzing the Void would be the best way of understanding it.   Pibby shook her head and looked him straight in the eyes. 

‘I’ve seen what that monstrosity can do.   There is no ‘analyzing’, only running.’, she said, wiping an errant tear away.   Her face was still smeared with blood from fighting.  Now that she had a weapon, she knew that ancient weaponry had some effect, but it wasn’t enough.    

‘Maybe singing would help ?’, Twilight Sparkle posited. 

‘What about our Stare ?  We haven’t tried that.’, Cheer Bear added.   

‘All viable options.   Fighting will be our last resort, or I can take reality into my own clutches.   Let’s see how the Void deals with that.’, Discord offered with a smug, flashy, mercurial grin.

One could best summarize what happened next as organized chaos.   Knuckles, Sonic, Shadow, Silver, Amy, Sonia and Manic used their abilities and their crystals to combat the Void.   Since all the attacks were coming out of a place of purity, love, compassion, and an overwhelming will to survive, the Void began to shrink, shudder and spark into oblivion.

Chapter 4—An Explosion of Goodness 

Ironically, it was Sonic who pulled everyone into a song.   He had already achieved ultimate form, glowing a brilliant golden.   His siblings were almost blinding to gaze upon.    With a strong voice he began, 

Out of many, one 

A bundle of branches unbroken

We shine brighter than the Sun

This is our Truth, unspoken

You may try to rule with fear

Overrun, corrupt

Sweep us away with darkness

Well, the Light is waking up  

It was something no one expected.   Only Twilight had mentioned it and the others felt it was a ridiculous plan.   Mordecai joined in with The Power, the unlimited magical keyboard thought to have been lost on the moon that Rigby obtained through an errant wormhole the Void had accidentally breeched.     So many abilities were coming their way that the motley crew had more than enough talent, ability and unconditional love to completely ruin the Void’s plan to erase them all. 

The Void couldn’t speak, it could only recoil.   Randy Cunningham was landing a series of expertly directed kicks to it, since it had been weakened and contact with the entity didn’t lead to corruption any longer.    Jake Long, Juniper Lee, Jackie Chan, all the great kung-fu heroes, including one Fa Mulan and animal companion Mushu, started slicing the Void into manageable pieces. 

Pixelated, disoriented, the Void could do nothing but shriek in pain as the song lead into its chorus.   Unable to retaliate, it burst into a million pieces and simply shrunk into thin air.    Where it had come from remained a mystery, but it certainly wasn’t coming back. 

One by one, as if on cue, everyone received their own portal back to their own world.  What were hundreds, thousands and millions returned to only Sonic and his family, standing gawk-jawed and wide-eyed in their field where a miracle had just happened.    

Chapter 5—Order Restored

All the corrupted characters had been restored, but only Pibby and her friends remained.   Bun Bun was by her side, looking whole, relieved, and grateful to be by her friends’ side.    There were tears of joy and all of them chortled with pure glee that the nightmare had come to an end.   

‘I bet your wondering why you remained behind.’, The Oracle said, dusting herself off from the skirmish of the after-attack and victory.  

‘Actually, we were wondering that…How did you…’, Melira asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow.   The aristocratic villainess was just as puzzled as the Blue Tornado was.    He just wanted to be returned to his superhero’s side so he could fight crime like other high-profile superheroes did.   

The Oracle took Pibby’s face in her hands and exuded a shining golden light from them.   The patch that had been covering her eye had been completely dissolved and she could see again.   Overklempt, she hugged the Oracle and paused for a second.

‘Just as addled as you are, I fear I have no good answer.   However, Cecil may be able to figure a method of opening a door back to your respective worlds.   You and Bun Bun, Blue Tornado and Melira.  I’m certain you have families and lives for the living all your own.’, she said, wisely. 

‘That’s the best news I have heard all day.   Thank you, and we appreciate your fighting with us.’, BT said, gratefully.     

With that, Cecil got on an algorithm and began to open a rift for each character to slip into before they had said their goodbyes.  Pibby was the last through her ‘door’ and she waved her final farewell.   It had been life-changing fighting by Sonic’s side.  He and his siblings had proven to her that strength does come in numbers and from the most unusual of places.    

Chapter 6—Tails’ Wedding 

Preparations for Sir Tail’s Wedding were in full swing.   Some of the attendees and footmen were still bursting with glee after meeting Sly Cooper, Star Fox, Samus, Mario, Luigi and their female versions, Maria and Luisa.    The multiverse could certainly become a bit befuddling at times.    

Tails was suited with a very sharp black tuxedo with cream, peach and gold in his bowtie.   The amber hues certainly brought out his sky-blue eyes.    Antione looked upon him proudly. 

‘It brightens my day to be at this happy occasion, mon ami !’, he said, clapping a firm hand on the fox’s back.   Tails nervously chuckled.   It had taken him years to gain the resolve to finally wed his lovely girlfriend Zooey, but he figured spending a lifetime with her and venturing into the unknown together was a heck of a lot better than going it solo.     

Ode to Joy was being played by the organist as Zooey promenaded down the aisle.    Her dress was flowey and elegant, almost billowing like clouds.    It had low poofy shoulders and a grand bow at the back.   Her train was meticulously stitched lace with myriads of patterns in it; the most notable, her favorite flower, which really denoted her personality.   

Tails’ blue eyes overflowed with cheerful tears as he and his soon-to-be wife sang their wedding vows… 

United as one 

Under one Sun

A new life just begun 

You and I (my blushing bride) 

With you by my side

To teach, comfort, guide 

Matching my stride where ‘ere I may go

The two have finally been made whole 

There was nary a dry eye in the grand ballroom hall as Tails and Zooey sealed their union with their ring exchange and a kiss.    What followed in the reception room could only be described as an incredible gala that was full of laughter, food, dancing and everyone having a blast.   

Epilogue 

Tails and Zooey would set off via recently commissioned spaceship as tested and insured by Cecil, Cyril and Rotor.    All the glitches had been worked out of the Stardancer.    It was the first of its kind and none of the Mobians had ever been to space before. 

‘We’re planning to go to Kinoko.’, Tails said, wanting to thank Luigi personally for the assist during the battle against the Void.   He, Mario, Peach, Daisy, Waluigi, Wario and Yoshi had been integral in winning against the terrifying glitch.    

‘You won’t be gone long will you ?’, Sonic asked, genuinely knowing he would miss his best friend.   

‘Of course we won’t.   Besides, all of you have your paws full here.’, Tails stated wisely.    With that, he winked, swept Zooey off her feet and hoisted her into Stardancer.  Working on chaos emerald energy, the warp would be rapid.   It would only take them a day to arrive to Kinoko, but their stay there would probably be a fortnight.     With Tails and Zooey away, they would have to have a replacement for his work and station and luckily Cream was there to learn.    Vanilla couldn’t have been prouder.   The job certainly suited her, and the young rabbit was a quick study in anything she apprehended.     What the future held from then on, though, was a mystery. 

To Be Continued…