Rockin' sat in the middle of a large room. He had just sent out a video of distress to his thread, the same one that sucked him into his computer and turned him into a pony. For some reason, he had the character's memories as well as his own. He didn't dwell on that, though, as he saw a white hole open in the black wall. "They're coming," he said, smiling. "I won't have to do this alone after all."

Once the newcomers arrived, he turned to them. "Welcome to the multiverse. This is Code's hub. They're not here right now, as you can see, but I know everything we need to know. The portal to the first world is almost open. I don't know where it is but, until it opens, I say we introduce ourselves."

"If you haven't seen my video, my name is Rockin' Strings. Yes, I'm a pony. I can do some magic but I'm more of a strategist than anything else. Who wants to go next?"

-----

Anomaly watched from the shadows above as Rockin' began his little spiel. You chose a good leader, Code. He didn't know how but knew Code could always find a good leader for any group, being a good leader himself. He knew because of the shadows, he was hidden from wandering eyes. He didn't know if Rockin' had seen him jump to the corner but didn't care as long as the unicorn didn't give away his position. He waited until all the new people had introduced themselves before jumping down, landing beside Rockin'.

"Portal's open," he stated. "Time to go."

A man in his boxers was catapulted through the portal; he landed awkwardly on the floor, one hand under his chest and one leg bouncing painfully off the ground, as he fully face-planted. The pained, murmured complaints of the stranger were barely audible as the dazed man sort of struggled to move his limbs into a position to stand. Failing that, he resided to rolling onto his back and half-glancing around.

"Not again," he groaned, putting an arm up to his eyes.

The man's arm, like most of the rest of his body, was scarred from what appeared to be battle. Though it could have just as easily been torture as well. His shoulder-length dark hair lay beneath him in a matted mess. He was tall, toned, and had green four-leaf clovers on his white boxers.

After the magical pony finished speaking, Levi - in D'ren's body - finally sat up and glared over at it. "Are you the same one from the other multiverse thread?" he groused in what sounded like a stifled half-Irish accent.

Sitting in his room, tapping on his phone like usual, a boy was doing what he did. When suddenly, the app on his phone closed, and a large central button appeared. Letting curiosity get the best of him, he tapped on it, knowing full well it was likely a virus. His phone was yanked out of his hands and began glowing brightly, floating in the air. Reaching for it, he felt his hand get sucked into the light, soon followed by the rest of his body.

Being flung downwards he landed face down on some sort of carpeting. That's odd. His room had wooden floors. Standing up, his long black hair covered his face. But... he had blonde hair. Brushing his hair out of his face, he felt his ears. They seemed much... pointier than he remembered. Looking around this new room stood another man. And... is that a horse? Albeit a small one, there was a red horse in the room. Standing utterly confused, he looked down. He was wearing a deep blue robe and boots. Feeling around himself. On his hip he found... A gun?! Where did he find this? He then found what felt like a handle on the other hip. Looking towards it, it looked like a Machete. He looked like Ysran come to life! Only one way to find out for real. Concentrating, he raised his hand upwards. Swirling darkness swept around him. Nice. Then, of all the possible thingz, the pony started to talk to him."What the hell man." What was going on? Who was this "Code" person? Where was this place? How did he get here? The best course of action was likely just to listen and see what exactly was going on. This was going to be a long day.

"NO! No no no, fucking no! God dammit you son of a fucking bitch game putting three of those fucking fat bois after I just fought fucking two of them?! DO YOU NOT WANT ME TO FINISH THIS DLC OR SOMETHING?!" yelled an incredibly angered Dark Souls player as the "You Died" message slowly faded in for the 20th time that day. A friend could be heard laughing away in the headphones as the player continued to rant and rant about how terrible the enemy placement was in the Ringed City DLC. The friend simply responded with "git gud" but the player was having non of it.

With an angered sigh, he leaned back in his desk chair and said it was high time he took a break from the game. Just as the player had that, the screen on his laptop turned a solid white color. Odd, to say the least. Did the game crash? Did the screen inexplicably crack? Such questions were running through his mind before white light overtook him.

. . . . .

Moments later, a woman clad in a medieval like attire fell through a conspicuous portal into a room with a firm "clunk".

"Aww... what the hell was... was... what?" Ember slowly stood, seeing a red colored... pony, a fairly normal looking dude, and someone also seemed to have just stumbled out of Lord of the Rings. That reference actually made Ember's head hurt quite a bit as the personalities and memories of both the player and the character slammed together into one entity. Kneeling slightly, clutching her head, she could barely make out all the exposition the pony, who could apparently talk, blurt out at them. Vague memories of reading a forum of some sort drifted through, but the current migraine pushed that aside. Though the pain was starting to subside, just in time for the pony to finish.

"If you haven't seen my video, my name is Rockin' Strings. Yes, I'm a pony. I can do some magic but I'm more of a strategist than anything else. Who wants to go next?" the red pony "Rockin" said, finishing up. Ember looked at him with tired eyes, the name repeating in her head.

"Rockin Strings...? Are you fucking kidding me? A red freakin pony named Rockin Strings summons me and whoever the hell these guys are to accomplish some... thing... gahh my fuckin head..." she thought to herself, irritation building up. "Okay okay, wait just a moment... pony... I'm used to going after vague objectives that will somehow make things move forward, alright? But if there's one thing I regret from my time as the Unkindled, is not stopping somebody and asking what the hell is going on. So.... What the hell is going on? In as much detail as your horse brain can manage, please." Ember asked, now standing again, arms crossed.

To say that Rawk's plans for the day had been derailed would be an understatement. After he'd planned to attend a Dungeons and Dragons group for a week now, on the very day he was going to go relax... his computer sucked him up. No, really. His computer screen turned white, and absorbed him. As he landed, he blanked into a trance as a window appeared in front of his face. It was a normal-looking window. It was tinted dark blue, and had a flame pattern behind the text.

'Do you want to take the tutorial?'
Yes No

Rawk decided to press "Yes", and then had a bunch of information absorbed as he realized that he had the powers of The Gamer.

After gaining the knowledge he needed to know [with the slight headache that accompanied it], Rawk took the time to observe his surroundings. The first thing he saw was a red pony that had just finished talking. Above his head, Rawk saw a "player tag" like one would see in an MMO.

<Rockin' Strings, LV. 5>
<Life's Element of Sound>

"Huh... neat..." Rawk thought to himself as he looked at the rest of his companions. They were all LV. 5, so at least he wasn't weaker than them... That was when he realized it was his turn to introduce himself. "Yo. I'm Rawk. I'm a gamer. Being here seems to have given me video game powers." After the introductions, Rawk looked over at the newcomer that landed next to Rockin'.

<Anomaly, LV. ???>
<The Discontinuity>

Before stepping through the portal, Rawk knew he had something to take care of... "Status"

Rawk then deliberated... he had 20 Attribute points, so he figured that he could try a jack-of-all-trades build, since it appeared his Luck couldn't be increased with his points. So, he put some points in each stat, focusing on stats he felt would be useful immediately.

Rockin' and Anomaly looked at each other. With a sigh, the man in the black cloak stepped forward. "Whether you remember it or not, you filled out a character sheet, thinking this was an innocent role play. Rockin, the red pony stallion here, did not summon you. Code summoned whoever completed their sheets. You have become that character. Be thankful you got to choose. Rockin' here was forced to be a pony for the entire time he's leading you to collect the crucible pieces to restore balance to the multiverse. Now, the portal has been open for 15 seconds already. I suggest you follow him through," He pointed at where Rockin' had been, not noticing the stallion was already heading for the portal, "and do what you were summoned to do so you can go home. Or should I just turn each of you into rubber duckies?"

Rockin rolled his eyes at the empty threat. With how tough Anomaly acted, he knew Code would do worse to him if he did anything to the heroes. "Bye, Anomaly." he called over his shoulder as he stepped through the glowing, blue doorway.

-----

Rockin appeared on a narrow path leading straight. "This looks strange." he frowned, tilting his head. "An old platforming level. What game, though?" he asked himself, looking up at the tall trees.

This was the original Sonic game. Rockin was so happy, he almost ran in circles, before remembering that doing so would plummet him to his death. He walked ahead, leaving more than enough room for the others to join him.

Once everyone arrived at the level, of their own free will or not, Rockin addressed them all. "There are multiple paths here. I can take to the sky but I'll need each of you to check different paths to see if it's hidden. It could be anywhere. Keep your eyes open." With that, he opened his metal wings and took flight, letting the rest of them decide where they would go to search, using whatever means they deemed necessary.

Ysran watched the situation unfold, listening intently. So this was Anomaly? Not as tall as he was expecting. Then there was the portal. Stepping through, Rockin' explained that they were in an old Sonic game. Great. Well, at least they didn't end up in Mortal Kombat. And before Ysran had a chance to ask any questions, Rockin' took off on a pair of mechanical wings. "So uh... he never told us what exactly we're looking for. And there's really only one way forward: through the level." Ysran put his hands on his hips and looked down. "Though I suppose if we're looking for something, a little extra help wouldn't hurt right? Gimmie a sec."

Ysran closed his eyes and put one of his hands to his temple, while the other was extended towards the ground. "Let's see if this works... A dark aura began to surround the ground where Ysran was pointing.Torezodu En Noco! shouted Ysran. On command, a swirling black hole opened in the ground, as a horrid creature began to claw its way out. With a helping hand from Ysran, the creature eventually stood on its feet and looked forward with soulless eyes.

"This is Chuckles, a Shambler. I call him that because he laughs when he eats. It's... a little off-putting, but what else would you expect from an Eldritch monstrosity eh?" He said, patting the Shambler on the back."So, we ready?"

Rawk listened as Anamoly filled in the holes of their quest. Just as Anomaly finished speaking, a window popped up in front of Rawk.

Main Quest: Crucible Hunt!
Goal: Collect the Crucible pieces in order to restore peace to the Multiverse!
Rewards: ?,?,?,?
Time: Indefinite

Do you accept?
Yes No

Rawk stared at the window. Why was it asking him if he accepted when the "No" option was grayed out? Oh, well... Rawk went ahead and clicked "Yes". The window then disappeared. Rawk then stepped through the portal, winding up behind Ysran. Rawk glanced around... Sonic, eh? Before Rawk could begin to glance around, Ysran summoned... something. Rawk glanced at the creature. "Observe." A small window then popped up.

Shambler
Eldritch Summon
Lv. 3
A creature summoned by Ysran. He calls it "Chuckles".

Rawk then decided on a lower path that branched off and sloped down near where he was. He pointed it out to Ysran. "I'll take down there. Inventory."
Rawk grabbed his baseball bat out of it's space. He closed the notification window as he headed down the slope.

You have equipped the Aluminum Bat.

Ysran looked to the others. "Did he just say 'inventory' out loud?" No matter. As Rawk wandered off, Ysran felt concerned for him. A bat likely wouldn't defend him to well."Follow him, would ya Chuckles? Do what he says and protect him." With a slight grunt, Chuckles ran off after Rawk with surprising speed. Ysran looked around, eventually looking down. Below appeared to be endless sky. How strange. That's when he noticed another path leading off of the main one leading down."Imma take this path." and with that, Ysran headed down. Or rather slid, as it was ridiculously steep.

Finally at the bottom, Ysran was greeted to several loops, floating enemies, Golden rings, and bounce pads. Out in the sky, Rockin' could be seen flying around. Ysran was tempted to screw with him, but decided that possibly injuring or killing his guide probably wasn't the best idea. Only thing now was to get through. Walking up to a ring and touching it, it immediately evaporated with a ding!. Next was the jumping pads. Hopping from one to the other with surprising ease, he looked back. He had gone quite the distance. But still, there was more to do. Onwards!

Rockin' scanned from the sky, looking at the many things making the level. "Strange," he said, frowning. "Where could it be?" He reached the end of the level without seeing it. "I think we need Sonic. He should know this level the best. With his speed, he should be able to check everything on his way pretty fast." Taking flight again, he flew beside the ground, looking for the others. "Any luck yet?" he asked, looking at the summoned thing curiously.

Meanwhile, alone in the sonic world, a soft groan left Cherry as she sat up with a hand on her head.

"Owwww. My heeaaadd. I seriously have to stop writing posts that late at night— that form took an hour and a half!!"

The Witch got to her feet and gave a stretch of her arms, pausing for a wide yawn. "Uch. I probably look terrible. Today's going to be a makeup day, isn't it?" Used to falling asleep in her clothes, Cherry started to pat around where pockets would be in search of her trusty mirror. Once she found it, she began to rub at her eye with a childish fist, flicking open the mirror to check her appearance.

"..."
"EEEEEEE-AAAHHHH!!"

The shriek thankfully wasn't too loud, only people nearby could have heard it. But Cherry didn't seem to mind, as she was too preoccupied shivering as far away from the pocket mirror as possible. "Wh-wh-wh-wh..." She stammered, looking all over her body. Pink hair in pigtails? A witch costume? Cherry accessories? Oh god...

"I, I have to be dreaming. There's no way I'm the Cherrywitch! It's sleep deprivation, that's all! Why would Cherry be in a sonic game, anyhow? Hehe, yeah, just... just a... nightmare... heh." Sadly, it didn't even seem that the Witch believed herself. Cherry let out a big sigh, looking all about as she stood again. Well, she'd just have to get to the bottom of this, wouldn't she?

As Rawk continued on down the path, he heard something behind him. Glancing backwards, Rawk saw Chuckles and sighed. Apparently, Ysran didn't think he could handle himself... Rawk had to stop himself from insulting the man. After all, perhaps he just didn't understand video game logic... Rawk paid Chuckles no mind as he continued on down the path.

It was definitely a Sonic game. A few enemies were scattered about, some boost pads led to higher up in the level, there was a loop-the-loop in the distance... and rings. Lots of rings. Rawk was sure this was Green Hill Zone Act 1. Rawk walked forward, collecting a ring. He then was face-to-screen with another pop-up window.

You have gained the No-Sell status. In this world, as long as you have at least one ring, you can take one hit without your HP being depleted. This does not save you from death by falling.

Rawk stared, incredulous. However, just before he could really start to think of a plan for this, he heard something unexpected...

"EEEEEEE-AAAHHHH!!" The shout carried well here, Rawk reflected as he took off toward the sound, closing the window. One enemy was in Rawk's way, but there was also a boost pad. The Gamer hit the pad, then the enemy, tripping over and losing the ring he'd found. Rawk quickly got up, bringing his baseball bat up.

You have lost your No-Sell Status!

"Observe."

Motobug, Lv. 1
Weak enemy found in the Green Hill Zone's first Act. Moves along the ground rapidly.

Rawk quickly went to work, striking at the Motobug with his bat. As the enemy swerved backward, a small bar appeared above its head, and red text above it.

-25 HP

The enemy wasn't quite dead, and quickly recovered, ramming into Rawk before he could react. "Ugh..."

-5 HP

Another hit sent the Motobug careening back again, before it blew up.

You have defeated the Motobug!
You gained 5 EXP. You gained 3 Dollars.

Rawk noticed that as the enemy disappeared, it dropped something. Rawk walked over to it, and picked it up.

You have found a Basic Gear [Crafting Item]!

Rawk didn't pause to find out more about the gear, instead stashing it in his Inventory and heading off to find the voice. Eventually he found a person... who wore a lot of pink. Rawk looked around. There weren't many enemies nearby, and it seemed they either hadn't heard the small girl, or deemed her a non-threat. "You okay?" Rawk asked her.

Ysran continued bouncing around, on jump pads and running around collecting rings. Soon enough, however, the way forward was blocked by what appeared to be robotic Bees. Should be easy enough. Pulling out his revolver, he got on one knee and took aim. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! *click* Looks like he was out. He probably had more in his pack, but he didn't exactly feel like rummaging through it at the moment. The mechanical bees had fallen, and the way forward was clear. Midway through his next jump, he heard an ear-piercing screech from his side. Falling face first into the bounce pad, he tried to re-orient himself. The scream came from his right. And what do you know, there's a path to the right. There was another to his left, but he had to know what that scream was. Running along a fairly straightforward path, across a large gap, Ysran saw Rawk and Chuckles next to a small girl. A new friend? "Hey! Rawk! Over here! Did you find anything? Y'know, besides the girl?" Ysran tried to think of a way over. None of his spells would give him flight, and he doubted he could Summon a fish big enough to walk on like a bridge. Looking to the left and right, there didn't seem to be any paths that directly linked them. At least, not in sight.

The girl spun on her Mary-Jane heels, blinking in shock at the man. Finally, she began "well, I don't remember you in the sonic games..."

But before she could ask any questions, another strange man called from across the way. An... elf? What was even happening?

"Hey! Rawk! Over here! Did you find anything? Y'know, besides the girl?"

Subconsciously from watching the elf search for a way over, with a snap of her fingers Cherry summoned, from what seemed to be a burst of gold light, a real flying broom! The broom zipped over to Ysran like an excited puppy, hovering down to allow the elf to climb on. Only then did Cherry seem to tune back into reality, turning her gaze down to her hand which so easily casted the summoning spell, as if it were ingrained in her.

Cherry's eyebrows pinched together as she turned to look at the first man, who she assumed was named 'Rawk.' "Er, um, yeah I'm fine. Just a little shocked— hey, you aren't like, some drug induced hallucination are you? Like, this is real? A dude with a bat, a witch, and an elf on the first stage of old school Sonic, I wasn't slipped anything, right?" After the confused or even critical gaze she would most likely receive, Cherry sighed. "Guess... not. Great, okay, well my name's Cherrywitch but call me Cherry I guess. Do you know what's going on?"

As the girl stood up, she gave a snap of her fingers. Then a flying broom and suddenly just popped into existence and flew right towards him. Stopping at about waist-height, the broom hovered, and Ysran hopped on.

Flying forward at a speed faster than expected, Ysran was almost flung over to the two. The girl was talking when he arrived, and he heard something about her name being Cherry. Stepping onto land and off the broom, he got a closer look at the girl. She looked... Really young. Like early teens young. Her eyes were also enormous. She looked Like she belonged in some sort of low-budget anime. But, Ysran decided it probably wasn't a good idea to immediately insult somebody he just met. After all, he probably looked pretty strange, too.

"Hey, thanks for the ride! My name's Ysran. You new here I suppose? Well, I suppose we're all pretty new here." Ysran looked down an put his hand on his chin. You could practically hear the gears turning in his head as he tried to put all the pieces together. Just then, Chuckles had managed to finally catch up to everyone. "There you are, little buddy!" He turned to Cherry. "This is Chuckles. He might look a bit scary, but don't worry, he doesn't bite."

Rawk looked at the girl, waiting for her to answer. As he did, he noticed something different about her. It was right above her head...

<Sakuranomajo, Lv. 5>
<The Cherry Witch>

"Well, I don't remember you in the Sonic games..."

Rawk had to chuckle at that comment. True, he wasn't from Sonic, but before he could reply, he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey! Rawk! Over here! Did you find anything? Y'know, besides the girl?"

Rawk shook his head in reply. "Nothing important. An enemy dropped me some loot, but that's about it. No sign of the Crucible piece." he shouted back across to the Eldritch Mage. It was then that the girl, Cherry, asked what was going on. Rawk shook his head. "Long story short?
You've been sucked up by your computer into the Multiverse as the character you were last working on. We were pulled here by a guy named 'Code' to reassemble the Crucible. That's all I know of it. Rockin' might know more." As Rawk said this, a new pop-up window appeared.

Story Quest: Regrouping
Goal: Regroup with Rockin' and find out your next course of action
Additional Goal: Introduce Rockin' and Cherrywitch
Rewards: 50 XP, 500 Dollars
Bonus Rewards: 2 Affinity Points, 1 Random Crafting Material
Time: Indefinite

Do you accept?
Yes No

Rawk clicked "Yes" on the window, before looking around. It looked like the fasted way back would be to backtrack. It was then that Rawk watched Cherry summon... a broom?

"Observe."

Broomy, Lv. 0
A basic flying broomstick that can be summoned by Cherry. Seems to be sentient, but has no known combat capabilities.

Due to using it enough times, the skill 'Observation' has leveled up. You can now see a bit more information when you use it.

Rawk closed out all relevant windows before turning to Cherry. "Seems to me like we should be heading back to regroup with the rest of our companions soon. Why not tag along. You seem to be in the same mess as us." he said to the girl, before turning and starting to head back, aluminum bat at the ready.

The witch blinked her wide anime-esque eyes at Rawk silently. "... You're serious? I'm my persona... because I was sucked into my computer." Cherry gave a deep sigh, holding her head. "Okay, great. Either my whole reality is crumbling around me or I'm insane. I guess the first one is what I'll go with for now."

Rockin? Ugh, might as well...
Already done with all of this, Cherry perked up when the elf said something about introducing her to some 'Chuckles.' Being fairly tiny, Cherry had to peak around Rawk to see what he was talking about. "Oh, hell—..."

"AHHHHH MONSTER! MONSTER!!" Cherry leaped behind the elf, shaking like a leaf. Comically, broomy had followed by hiding behind the elf as well, shivering along with its master. "What is that thing?! A swamp monster?! Ahh, killitkillitkillit!!"

As the girl and broom jumped behind Ysran, he couldn't help but laugh a little. "Yeah, that's Chuckles all right. Don't worry, he's totally docile. He won't attack unless his life or mine are in danger. He's usually pretty friendly. Go on. Say hi to Cherry, Chuckles. I'll need you to be defending her too." With that, Chuckles gave a short nod, or at least, that's what it looked like, and began to shuffle slowly over to Ysran.

Chuckles gave what was almost like a wave to the girl hiding behind him. His soulless eyes followed her every move. "See? Totally harmless. He'll be helping us out for a while." Ysran began to walk towards the path that Rawk came from."We ready to head back? Or should we look around a bit more?"

Rockin' landed by a flag at the end of the level. Tilting his head, he eyed the green, porous rock laying beside it. "I think this is it," he said, spreading his wings again. "Time to get the others," he said, taking flight again.

Rockin' landed by the group with a smile. "I found- Who's the new girl?" He looked at Cherry, tilting his head sideways. Standing straight, he smiled brightly. "Hi. I'm Rockin'. I'm your guide. Any questions, don't be afraid to ask. For now, though, I found the piece. Anyone need a lift?"

As the monster neared, Cherry made a small squeak of fear as she slid a little further behind Ysran. As the monster gave, well, she supposed it was a wave, Cherry returned it with a meager wave back. "... Not a talker, is he?" She muttered with some sarcasm, hesitantly scooting just slightly out from behind the elf, still close enough that she could duck behind him if she required a human shield.

Noticing a shadow upon the ground, Cherry lifted her bright pink eyes curiously to just see a pony land near them.

"I found— who's the girl?"

The Witch pouted, quite cutely to say the least. She was a woman, dammit! Eighteen years equals adult! Of course, she looked far from it in this form.

"Oh... so, you're the "Rockin'" he was talking about...?" She gave a small nod to Rawk, eyeing up the pony curiously. A... talking, Pegasus? Jesus, is this wasn't real, Cherry thought she must be tripping some serious balls right then. "Erm, I mean, hi. I'm Cherrywitch, but Cherry is fine. Um, so, piece? I guess you can explain it to me along the way." She gave a quick whistle and Broomy darted to her side, ready for flight as the witch climbed onto it. "Room for one more here too. Lead the way."