Super Mario Bros. 3 - The Subspace Emissary

Chapter 29: Chase

Pit, Mario, King Rohan, and Rohan drove through town in hot pursuit of the carriage. Mario managed to figure out the controls of the Exo Tank and said into the communicator, "Okay, Sonic, I see you!"

He noticed a blue streak zipping on the rooftops of buildings. Sonic gave a thumbs-up and Pit said, "Split up!"

They did such that. The five navigated through the town and Mario said, "I see America with Palutena and Bayonetta's trophies!"

In the carriage, America whimpered in her cage and tried to keep her powers under control. She noticed Mario and the others. She smiled, confident that Mario and Sonic were going to save her. King Rohan struggled a bit with the Exo Tank's controls. His cape flowed through the wind. Rohan was floating in the middle of the Aether Ring he was driving and said, "Alright, we have to get closer!"

"Okay!" Pit said.

Sonic flipped off a roof and joined the Exo Tanks in the chase. Dimentio noticed the five and used his powers to keep the reins steady and distort the road. The road began to change and even break apart, making Mario temporarily lose control of his Exo Tank.

"Woah! Come on!" Sonic bounced from the walls of the houses and jumped from a cracked edge of the road.

He leaped from a ledge of the road and suddenly some Primids riding the carriage fired laser guns and even pistols at Sonic and the Exo Tanks and Aether Ring. Rohan ducked down but noticed a shield around the Aether Ring. 

"Quick! Return fire!" King Rohan said.

Mario pressed a button on the Exo Tank and fired red bolts from the tank. Rohan took notice of the controls of his Aether Ring and quickly fired red energy balls from the middle of the ring. The others fired bolts from the Exo Tanks and continued shooting at the carriage. 

"Get those heroes away from us!!" Dimentio ordered. "Summon a flock of Auroros now!"

Suddenly, another portal appeared and several robotic birds flew out of it. They had long beaks, rainbow-pattered wings, and similarly colored tails. The flock flew and then dived down against the heroes but our heroes were able to avoid the Auroros'.

"Gah!" Rohan held on and kept the Aether Ring's shield on. 

"We can't get close!" Mario exclaimed.

Sonic dashed and leaped for the carriage. He managed to grab onto America's cage and America exclaimed, "Sonic!"

"Don't worry!" Sonic said. "We've gotcha, kid!"

The hedgehog prepared to smash the lock with an empowered punch but he saw his ear twitch in the sense of danger and noticed a Primid aiming a pistol at him. He dodged the pistol shot. The bullet barely hit America. Sonic flipped onto the top of the cage and noticed Palutena and Bayonetta's trophies chained to the carriage. Some Angel's gonna be reeeeaaaallll disappointed...Gonna have to focus on the kid first... he thought. 

"Stop right there!" Dimentio flicked his finger and fired star-shaped energy bolts from it. 

"Too slow!" Sonic said. "HAHA!!"

Suddenly, Dimentio pulled out a giant rock from the ground and threw it at Sonic. The rock hit Sonic hard and made him fall off the cage. It did cause pain to the hedgehog, but he took heavier hits from Discordia. Sonic landed on Mario's Exo Tank.

"Woah! Hold on!" Mario exclaimed.

Sonic quickly flipped behind Mario and the heroes kept firing at the carriage, making it lose a wheel. Pit smirked and said, "Guys, press that big red button in the middle of the control panel of your tanks!"

"Um...Okay!" King Rohan pressed the button and his Exo Tank suddenly sped up.

"Wait up!" Rohan tried hard to make the Aether Ring catch up.

"Let's go!" Mario sped up and so did Pit.

Mario collided with the carriage causing King Rohan and Pit to hit the sides. Rohan reacted quickly by pulling out his staff, realizing that Mario was attempting to implement the Cattle Herd Strategy. This strategy was previously utilized by Mario, Peach, Luigi, and Rohan during a trip to Toad's uncle's farm in Universe-1001 to guide cows. The technique involved four individuals utilizing ATVs while one person followed behind the cows and the other three flanked the sides.

Mario quickly turned on the comms of his Exo Tank and said, "Rohan, keep my tank steady!"

Rohan ejected out of the Aether Ring and landed in the Exo Tank while Mario stood up and jumped from the tank. Sonic smirked and he and Mario jumped onto the carriage and clenched onto America's cage. 

Sonic and Mario grunted and smashed the lock of the cage. Mario opened the door and America grabbed onto him as the three jumped out of the carriage and onto Mario's Exo Tank. Pit quickly took out his bow and charged up an arrow. 

"See ya!" Rohan quickly extended his staff and swung it upward, flipping the carriage upside down.

Dimentio recovered from the attack and Pit fired the arrow, nearly hitting him. Samus' ship landed and the other heroes stepped out. Dimentio smirked and Pit ordered, "Release Lady Palutena now!!" his fingers pointed, ready to fire another arrow. 

Dimentio kept his smirk and noticed some Primids opening a portal and carrying the Palutena and Bayonetta trophies. Pit exclaimed, "NO!!" 

"You're too late, FOOL!!" Dimentio flicked a few bolts from his fingers and Pit dodged it. The portal closed and Dimentio threw more bolts at him. America dodged out of the way and uttered, "Oh, God, Oh, God, Oh, God, Oh, God...."

Her eyes glowed and two portals opened up by her. Rohan groaned and exclaimed, "Not again!"

As Dimentio stepped into his own portal, the gravitational pulls of the American portals began to take effect. Samus' ship was dragged along the ground, causing Peach to yelp in surprise. Mario quickly grabbed her hand to keep her steady. Zelda almost stumbled into one of the portals, but Link was able to catch her just in time. The intensity of the pulls caused the elves' hands to slip, and unfortunately, Zelda fell into one of the portals. The rest of the heroes were also pulled into the other portal.

"LADY PALUTENAAAAAA!!!!!!" Pit screamed.

"ZEEEELLLDDAAAA!!!" Link's voice echoed.

"MARIO!!!!" Peach exclaimed.

Forest of Focus, Galar Region - Universe-5010305

The heroes groaned in pain and Tails pulled out his device. "Okay...We're in Universe-5010305."

"Oh, another forest universe?" Link asked.

22 stood up and took Rohan's hand to help him up. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah." Rohan blushed.

"Wait...Where's Zelda?!" Link asked. "Zelda! Zelda!!"

"She fell into another one of the portals!" Samus replied.

 "SHIT!"

"I bet Zelda's okay right now..." Mario whispered.

"Oh, please tell me my ship is okay," Samus said.

Tails looked at the ship that was dragged with them and replied, "Yep. The ship's still intact."

"That's a good thing," Peach said.

Pit quickly took a look at the moon glowing. "We...It's getting dark out."

"We should think about setting up camp."