The air shimmered, thick with an unfamiliar hum. Theo, a green hedgehog in an orange jacket, surveyed the vast, darkened theater with a satisfied smile, adjusting the golden watch on his left hand. Beside him, Lucy, a brown cat with a sleek black and light blue skirt, gave him a confident thumbs-up.

"Is everything set, Lucy?" Theo asked, his voice echoing slightly in the cavernous space.

Her affirmative gesture was all the answer he needed. "Great. Then let's bring them here."

With a clap of his hands, a blinding flash engulfed them, momentarily consuming the room. When it receded, the theater was no longer empty. Confusion rippled through the newly arrived figures. Sonic, the blue blur himself, blinked, looking around. "Huh? What the??"

Behind him, Tails, his younger brother, voiced the same bewilderment. "Sonic, what's going on? Where are we?"

Sonic's gaze swept across the bewildered faces of Knuckles and Amy, then settled on a group of unfamiliar figures—a dragon, a wildcat, and a dog. Suddenly, Neera Li, staff raised, demanded, "What is the meaning of this?!" The tension was palpable, a clash of worlds beginning.