If Mario Was in Sonic Heroes (...Sort Of)
We begin with what's left of the SMG4 Crew, Cubot, and Marcy already sneaking through the streets of Robotropolis, heading towards the overgrown Eggman Base that Metal Madness is attached to. Floating high above the metallic blue skyscrapers is the airship, shielded from view with an invisibility spell by Kamek and Sig.
Soon enough, they're in an alley only a street crossing away from the base, and Cubot starts looking for something on the wall, "Okay guys, there should be a side entrance just across from us, and with any luck Metal's been too out of his mind to bother changing the access codes. All we've gotta do is get past the guards."
At that, he points up at a nearby watchtower, where a mechanical Toad looks out over the dark streets. Another robot, this one a pink-and-white knight with a basketball-patterned faceplate, swoops down to address him for a moment before resuming his patrol.
4 winces, "good thing Toadsworth isn't here to see that."
Cubot manages to spot the entrance, and as soon as the group sees an opening they make a break for it. There's a brief scare when Mario accidentally kicks a can (why is there even litter when everyone is in a robot hivemind) and catches Mecha Franky's attention, but thankfully the side of the base has plenty of alcoves to hide in, and a few more "civilian" level robots happen to walk by at the same time.
As it turns out, Metal Sonic really didn't bother changing the access codes, so Cubot's current status as leader of the Eggman Empire gets them in without issue. When they get inside, 4 realizes something pretty important.
"Uh, do you have any idea where they'll be keeping the Seed? 'Cause this is a pretty big place and I really don't thing wandering aimlessly would be a good idea."
"Well, the base is pretty different from how it was the last time I was here, but based on the structure there's a few spots in particular that would make sense. Plus the scanner's still working," he waves the tablet a bit for emphasis.
With that out of the way, the group keeps going, doubling their efforts at stealth now that they're this deep into enemy territory...and also doing their best to keep the more chaotic members of the group from getting distracted by the various robot-related memes they encounter along the way.
As they're moving, Root notices Tari scratching at the elbow of her Meta Runner arm, "Are you okay Tari?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah, my stump just started itching a bit. Haven't really had a chance to take my arm off in the past few days. I'll be fine."
"It comes off?"
"Yep! Just because I didn't get a prothesis the normal way doesn't mean I don't have to take care of it like everyone else."
"Oh, that makes sense. Just, make sure you tell somebody if it starts getting worse, alright?"
"Of course. Sorry if I made you worry."
As it turns out, she's not the only one having slight problems. Lil Coding's got a slight headache that's causing a bit of static on the edges of his hearing. Or...is the static causing the headache? Eh, either way it's probably not a big deal, so he doesn't bother to mention it.
Eventually they reach a dark room that seems as though it used to be a command center, with some sort of containment unit on the other side from the door.
"Well, according to the scanner this is the place. I'm betting the seed's in that thing."
"Mario's on it!" immediately he grabs Meggy by the legs (she's got a deadpan "oh not this shit again" expression but dutifully goes into a T-pose) runs at the container with intent to Smash, "Here we GOOOOO!!!!"
Unsurprisingly, this doesn't work, and he drops Meggy and shrugs, "Well, I've done all I can do."
The rest of the group just rolls their eyes, and Cubot floats over to the main console, "I'll handle it."
It takes a bit to find the right program, but soon enough he finds the controls for the containment unit and opens it, revealing a yellow Wonder Seed.
"Alright!" 4 walks over to grab it, "Just two more and-" Suddenly the room is bathed in red light, and the central monitor changes from Eggman's desktop to a mechanical-looking black-and-red eye.
"Did you really think it would be so easy to steal from me?"
The group quickly backs away from the monitor, 4 remembering to grab the still-accessible seed in the process.
"Fortunately for you, that trinket matters little to me. Still, you are intruders, and intruders must be either converted or destroyed."
While most of the group is shaking in fear, Marcy scoffs, "And how do you plan on doing that? There's no weapons in this room, and if your troops were close enough to catch us before we were ready and able to fight our way out they'd be here by now."
"You are correct...for a few more seconds, at least."
"What do you-" She's cut off by the rippling colors and chime of a wonder effect, and the group turns to a horrible sight, "no, not them..."
The mechanized Lil Coding points his claw at his stunned and horror-stricken father, "PRIORITY_1: ELIMINATE_INTRUDERS."
Mario pulls SMG4 out of the way just before Mecha Coding can hit him with a powerful energy blast, "RUN BITCH, RUUUUUN!"
And so the group books it back the way they came, their roboticized friends hot on their tail and Badniks and other conversion victims closing in around them, with Mario still having to drag 4 along.
Eventually they manage to get outside, where they see that the Airship, now in full view, is heading right towards them with pursuers of its own. They thankfully all manage to grab onto a hastily dropped ladder and climb up to help the crew fend off the robot army in their mad dash to the mercifully-nearby barrier between Robotropolis and the next Zone.
Unfortunately, their luck runs out, as Mecha Desmond appears high above them and uses his Galacta Knight powers to summon dozens of Heart Spears, which rain down and tear through the ship. It ends up crashing down just barely on the wrong side of the barrier, and the main group comes to in the flaming wreckage, robots closing in on all sides and the assorted minions and badniks all either unconscious, trashed, or beginning to convert themselves.
Desmond stands before them, eyes locked on Meggy's prone form because of course he'd be just cognizant enough to remember hating her, and in the blink of an eye lunges-
Only to be stopped short by Toadsworth's cane, the old toad shaking with the effort and half-metal already, but smirking up at his adopted grandson, "Come on my boy, I know you can move faster than that! This conversion nonsense really isn't doing your training any favors, is it?"
He looks back at what's left of the group, "Go on then, get out of here! We'll hold them off for as long as we're still ourselves!"
True to what he says, all the other half-converted characters jump into the fray, many fighting several full robots at once. Bomberto's among them, "Just like old times, eh?"
"If this is "just like old times," then you and I remember those times very differently, old friend."
Not wanting to squander this chance, the group follows Toadsworth's orders as soon as he gives them and runs for the barrier, which apparently when approached personally at ground level like this is opaque with a similar shifting rainbow color pattern to the unsprayed versions of the Super Mario Sunshine level portals.
They burst through with a bit of resistance, and then it's just SMG4, Mario, Meggy, Root, Marcy, Sig, Kamek and Cubot collapsing to the ground...and into deep snow, in the middle of the night, with a few errant bits of the ship half-buried nearby and the muffled sounds of the battle they just escaped behind them.
