[Deleted]

Yumiko looked outside her apartment window and into the streets of Brightwing Lane. It was raining today, dark and gloomy so she couldn't go out and do anything after the mission, not that she has any plans today since she did all of her studies and didn't have any other missions to attend too...In fact, she was currently in a mission right now that was going to take place in her apartment.



Near Yumiko was a mirror, it may look like a standard mirror but a few hours ago, Spike the Hedgehog, a hedgehog that one of Yumiko's classes at Hylia Grace was looking after, stumbled into the mirror, which turned out to be a gateway into an unknown universe. It's presumably evil but either way, once Spike went into the mirror, he did not come back out.

And so Yumiko was waiting for Banjo, Kazooie and Volga to arrive so the four of them can enter the mirror together. Yumiko feared that if she went in alone, she too wouldn't come back out of it, but either way, she was prepared to face what the evil universe had to offer. She sat down at a couch and began to wait for the arrival of her teammates so they can start the mission by going into the mirror.

Hopefully they'll be here soon, as if they don't get Spike out of the mirror then the Teacher that Yumiko promised she would look after Spike for might get angry at her and purposefully fail her out of Hylia Grace!

Yumiko didn't want to think about such thoughts, instead she would rather read a book while waiting for everyone. Fortunately for her she did rent out a book before the weekend about Sonic.

It was by a Mobian who had witnessed a version of Sonic who lived with a wealthy family called the Throndykes in an alternate universe of Station Square, and from what Yumiko was reading so far...The Throndykes sounded annoying.

The book was called Sonic...Y.

"Jeez, how could these versions of Sonic and his friends stand these humans in this world. I wouldn't last a day in this version of Station Square. Fortunately it's just an alternate universe, it's unlikely we'll be seeing these people anytime soon." Yumiko thought as she turned a page, waiting for her doorbell to go off.

MISSION START!

[Deleted]

"I'm sure Yumiko will be happy to see us. What do you think?" Banjo said to his feathered friend, who hadn't said a word on the walk over thus far. The two had just entered the apartment building, and it looked fairly quaint. Kazooie seemed to be rather uninterested, however.

"Umm...I mean, yeah. Why do you have to ask me?" Kazooie said, confused as to why Banjo felt he needed a second opinion.

"I just wanted to ask because I think you two left on bad terms last time we were with her." Banjo pointed out. Kazooie had left in a sour mood after Yumiko referred to her as snarky. Sure, it was true, but it still felt kinda insulting.

"Whatever. Maybe sign up for a mission a little while after we finish our last one. Time heals all wounds, or something." Kazooie suggested.

"Yeah, I guess that's true. I just wanted to go on a mission with someone familiar, that's all." Banjo explained.

"Alright, then. Wake me up when we get to her apartment. Or don't, so I can get in a good nap." Kazooie said, before getting cozy in Banjo's backpack and falling asleep.

Banjo made his way towards Yumiko's apartment. He had written down the apartment number so he wouldn't forget, but it still took a bit of searching to find it. Luckily, it didn't take too long after being pointed in the right direction.

"Yeah, this is it." Banjo muttered, stopping outside Yumiko's apartment. Where was the other guy? Whatever, that didn't matter much. Banjo just knocked on Yumiko's door with his right paw, which was a little awkward but not a major challenge.

"Yumiko? It's Banjo and Kazooie here."

[Dragon Knight Volga]

Since recovering from the rather taxing previous mission, Volga was eager to embark on another. He was somewhat surprised to find it involved visiting someone else's apartment. Still, the Dragon Knight managed to locate the complex and wasted no time in literally flying up the stairs to this Yumiko's apartment. Volga landed directly landed behind a bear and a rather bizarre-looking bird. He didn't care if he startled them or not.

[Deleted]

Yumiko heard the sound of her door being knocked out and smiled in relief. "Oh their here." She thought to herself as she threw Sonic Y away as she quickly got tired reading all about the Thorndykes and their witty adventures instead of about Sonic and his friends. She approached the door and opened it for her teammates to enter.

"Thanks for coming you three. I really appreciate it." Yumiko thanked Banjo and Volga as she allowed the two into her apartment. She didn't seem to see Kazooie and when she looked at Volga in surprise. But never the less, she closed the door soon after so she can explain to the two about the mission more in detail.

"Anyway I should explain about what happened some more to Spike. you see I found this mirror shortly after leaving Hylia Grace for the weekend and I discovered that it was magical and would send anyone who goes through it to another dimension." Yumiko would prove to the two that the mirror was a gateway by sticking her hand into the mirror.

Which went inside it. Yumiko then proceeded to put her hand out of the mirror.

"I was going to get something to eat after I finished polishing it so I can give it to the police tomorrow morning, so I put Spike down nearby, which was a very big mistake as he ended up wandering into the mirror soon after, and I was too late by just a second." Yumiko finished explaining as she looked back at the mirror.

"Now he's lost somewhere in this possible evil universe and it's all my fault. We should get going and get Spike out of there as soon as possible." Yumiko said before looking at her team.

"Everyone ready to go into the unknown?" She asked.

[Deleted]

Banjo noticed, while he was waiting for Yumiko to open the door for them, that someone else had arrived. He seemed to be a man in a suit of red armour. He seemed to be flying over, an odd thing to do in a hallway. "Oh hey. You must be here for the mission with Yumiko. The name's Banjo." He said to Volga, before Yumiko opened the door to greet them.

"Hey Yumiko. Good to see you again. Hope you don't mind, but Kazooie's getting some shut-eye." Banjo said, gesturing towards his blue backpack. "Don't worry. I'll wake her up when we need to."

Banjo entered Yumiko's apartment. It seemed nice enough, and it didn't take long to find the mirror this whole mission was about.

"That's the mirror, huh? Where'd you find it exactly?" Banjo asked. The mirror itself seemed normal, as he could see himself in it just fine. Yumiko was quick to reveal its magical properties, sticking her hand straight through it.

"Weird. Let me try." Banjo approached the mirror and slowly reached out with his right paw, watching his digits go right through. It sort of reminded him of the paintings from Super Mario 64. He assumed they could just walk through it without any trouble.

"So how do you know that the universe it leads to is evil?" Banjo inquired. Calling whatever was on the other side evil seemed harsh, but it would make sense that she'd ask for help finding Spike if so.

Banjo held his chin in his paw, wondering if he should wake up Kazooie now or later. "Well, I'm ready when you are Yumiko. Let's find that hedgehog!" He said happily.

[Dragon Knight Volga]

Volga nodded at the bear. "That is correct. I am Volga." He replied curtly before turning to face Yumiko as she opened the door. The Dragon Knight stomped in after the bear and listened to the spiel about Spike the hedgehog. Volga suspected there was some magic at work that gave this mirror its strange properties but it didn't put him off. "A true warrior doesn't back down from a challenge." He declared proudly.

[Deleted]

"Well it's nice to meet you Volga and thank you for helping us." Yumiko smiled to Volga before looking back at Banjo. He wondered about how Yumiko found the mirror and weather or not she was harsh to call the universe that was within it evil, as after all, they haven't gone into it yet.

"I found it near this apartment complex. It seems someone threw it out for some reason. I was originally going to walk away from it but then I kicked a ball that was near it and it ended up going into the mirror to my surprise. I also felt a sense of dread when I went closer to it." Yumiko explained as she turned back towards the mirror.

"That's why I feel as though the universe is evil. The mirror makes me uneasy every time I look at it but I knew something like this shouldn't be left out in the open for anyone to stumble onto it, or whatever's in there to get out which is why I brought it back here so I can refurbish it for the police to collect tomorrow." Yumiko finished explaining as she breathed heavily.

"Well, since were all here and ready for the mission. We should go into it and see what this universe has to offer, who knows maybe I am dreading about it too much and the universe could be good. It might even be an alternate Li." Yumiko suggested as she approached the mirror before looking back at everyone.

"I'll go in first." Yumiko offered as she quickly entered through the mirror and into the other universe.



To Yumiko's surprise, when she came out through the other end she fell on the floor, as the mirror in this universe was on display in a store, which turned out to be a Vanity Store when Yumiko quickly stood up and looked around.

Nearby was a window which showed that it was bright as day outside, as well as the fact that the store appeared to be located in a city, as there was numerous buildings outside of the mirror store as Yumiko looked around.

"Huh, we ended up in a Vanity Store?" Yumiko was confused, that is...Until she heard a voice.



"Hello, any customers here? you better of not used the back door!" Yumiko turned towards the sound of the mysterious voice, during which she discovered the name of the vanity store she found herself in.

The Station Square Vanity Shop.

"Original name." She thought to herself as she waited for the man to appear to her and her mission partners. She also quickly grew uncomfortable with the weird music that was playing in the store as everyone in this store appears to hear it, yet Yumiko so far is the only person that is confused as to why this sort of music was playing.

[Deleted]

With little hesitation, Yumiko went through the mirror into the other universe. Banjo followed suit a bit more cautiously, sticking his head through the mirror before stepping through. To his surprise, it seemed to be a store, full of fancy-looking clothing. He looked down at the floor, making him realize that the mirror must've been hanging on the wall. He stepped through carefully, or at least more carefully than Yumiko had.

"You okay, Yumiko?" Banjo asked, noticing that she had fallen on the floor. She was lucky she hadn't fallen into a more dangerous environment. The area they were in didn't seem hostile at all, but still seemed a little odd. Maybe it was the nearby window. There was light shining through, and a city street could be seen outside. Banjo inquisitively walked towards the window and looked outside. If the universe they were now in was different from their own, then there would most likely be changes significant enough to be seen at a cursory glance. The world they were in may even be more normal than their own, having more in common with the world that existed before Li than Li itself. 

"Huh?" Banjo's attention was pulled away for a bit when an unknown voice called out from inside the store. It seemed as though there were people in this universe after all. Hopefully they'ed be able to help them find Spike.

Then again, what are the chances they'ed believe that the group had arrived through a mirror? It was most likely better if they didn't bring it up.

 

[Dragon Knight Volga]

Volga nodded at Yumiko's words before following Banjo the bear through the mirror, only to find himself in a very odd looking shop. A shop apparently called Vanity, which seemed to live up to its name. He peered at the odd garments until a voice caused him to look around warily. "We aren't here to purchase anything." The Dragon Knight had no desire to wear any of these silly things.

[Deleted]

Yumiko quickly stood up from her fall and looked at Banjo, looking happy. "Oh i'm fine thanks." She then turned towards Volga when they remarked that there not going to buy anything in this store.

"We won't, we just need to ask someone about where Spike has gone too since he had to end up in this st---Huh, so that's where the voices were coming from." Yumiko was interrupted by the voice of the man just now as he turned around a corner in the aisle that the four were in and looked at the group, mainly Yumiko and Volga.



He didn't care about them seeing as how they were human...And then he turned to Banjo and screamed because he was a anthropomorphic bear. "AHHHHHHHHHHH AN ALIEN. DON'T HURT ME!" He quickly climbed up to the nearest shelf, only for him to tumble backwards into the next aisle as Yumiko looked on in shock, she quickly headed towards the next aisle that the man had fallen in and approached him.

The music also started to change as well, which Yumiko briefly stopped to notice before going to the next aisle to help the man. He might also provide a good source of information regarding Spike's whereabouts.



"He's obviously a bear, not an alien. Don't worry though, were not here to hurt you." Yumiko explained as she helped the man up.

"Your not. So, like Sonic, you're from another world?" He pointed out, to Yumiko's surprise.

"You know Sonic? Well a version of Sonic, since there was one version of him from our world that wasn't really him at all and tried to blow up our planet." Yumiko explained about the fake Sonic to the man, who nodded and explained this world's version of Sonic.

"Yes, there was a Sonic in this world too. He hung out with a family most of the time until they found a way back to their home planet. In fact one of the members of the family wandered into this store an hour ago. I dreaded his appearance because of the way he acted." The man added. 



"You see, like most residents in this city, he has a sort of weird obsession with Sonic even though he's gone now. It didn't help that Sonic hung out with him throughout most of his time on Earth. He often bragged about it." He finished, giving Yumiko dread, as judging from the book that she was reading earlier, she might know who that kid is and slowly cringed.

"Did that kid also find something wandering about in one of the aisles, like a hedgehog that was more realistic and left with him?" Yumiko asked as the Man smiled.

"Actually, he did. I was going to give the Hedgehog away to a nearby pet shop but then he demanded that he should take it and well. I wanted him to leave as soon as possible so I did." He revealed as Yumiko gulped and turned towards her team at the other aisle.

"I think I know who may of taken Spike. We should get going and find him as soon as possible." Yumiko told her team, but the man quickly grabbed Yumiko's shoulder.

"The kid isn't hard to find, he's the son of the richest man in the world, and he lives in a Mc-Mansion neighbourhood just outside this city, in fact it will be the first neighbourhood that you would find outside the city." The Man give the group a hint as to where the boy lived and Yumiko nodded.

"Thank you, when does your store close? We need to come back here later once we see the boy." Yumiko asked.

"Oh at 5PM, it's currently 12PM." He explained.

"Then we only have five hours to find Spike, or else were going to be stuck in this world until tomorrow morning." Yumiko pointed out. Once the group were finished talking to the man then they can leave the store. The Man turned to Banjo and decided to ask him some questions regarding who he is.



"So, are you from Mobius like Sonic or..." He questioned the Bear.

[Deleted]

Banjo couldn't find anything interesting outside. It just looked like a normal city street to him. Besides, his attention was taken away from the window rather quickly by a voice from inside the store.

Of course, when the man stepped out to greet them, he was terrified by the walking bear in front of him. Banjo had a feeling something like this would happen.

"Calm down, sir, it's not a...big...deal." Banjo began to say, trailing off when he realized that someone like him would definitely be a big deal in a more mundane world.

Apparently the man was easy to calm down. It turned out that Sonic was a thing in this world. Not even as a video game character, either, but a real person. This made the idea of anthropomorphic creatures a lot less unbelievable, though it did make Banjo wonder why he was so frightening to him. If walking, talking animals were a real thing, he wouldn't be that big of a deal, would he? 

"What the hell was that?" Kazooie suddenly said. It seemed that the man screaming had woken her up.

"A man screaming. Turns out this world is pretty mundane, so we're kind of a big deal." Banjo exposited.

"Oh. Okay then. Tell him not to do it again." Kazooie requested.

"What? You mean scream loudly?"

"At least not when I'm sleeping."

Meanwhile, the group had gotten a lead as to the whereabouts of Spike. Apparently it was in the possession of AU!Sonic's old friend. That was sure lucky, since the poor thing could've just as easily been taken to the pound. Before they could be on their way, however, Banjo was stopped by the man.

"Oh, no, I'm not from that place. I'm from somewhere much less hospitable. The people aren't bad, though. There's a lot of variety, for one thing. Anyways, I'm Banjo, this is Kazooie." Banjo said, gesturing to the bird in question. 

"I should mention that you woke me up from a nice nap. Honestly, with the way you scream, I'd prefer if you hadn't." Kazooie snarked
 

[Dragon Knight Volga]

Volga turned to Yumiko, only to have the man appear around the corner. He was unfazed by the latter's freak-out and simply waited until the human stopped screaming. The Dragon Knight nodded at Yumiko's comment. "Then we had better leave, poste haste." Volga did not want to spend the night here.

[Deleted]

"Banjo and Kazooie." The Man proceeded to smile.

"Ok, i'll remember that!" He waved goodbye to the group as they left the Vanity Store, and were now outside on the streets of Station Square. Yumiko looked around in surprise over how big the city the group were in was...

It sort of reminded her of her own hometown back on her version of Earth.





"Woah, look at the size of this city. I didn't expect us to be in a city this big." Yumiko said as she looked around, confused as to where to go.

That was when she heard the strange music changed again, causing her to turn back towards her teammates. "Do you guys hear that strange music? I keep on hearing it since we got here." She asked before thinking back to what the Store Owner of the vanity store had said.



Despite the Man saying that the Boy that took Spike was outside the city, she wasn't sure which direction he meant by outside the city, scratching her head, she decided to go to her right and begun walking down the path.

At least she would, but she decided she should get her team's input first before they would go anywhere.

"I suggest we take right in trying to find the neighbourhood that the boy was in, unless anyone has any better ideas on where we can find the neighbourhood. Remember, the Man said he was in a mansion neighbourhood so presumably we just have to find a neighbourhood that has a lot of mansions outside of the city." Yumiko suggested before noticing a bus stop nearby.



"If we don't have any ideas then we can take that bus stop over there. Hopefully it would lead us to the neighbourhood." She suggested, before looking around to notice the citizens looking at the group in shock, some of them gasping and holding their breath at the sight of Banjo and Kazooie.

But not Yumiko or Volga...Because they were human. Yumiko slowly waved towards the crowd. "Umm, hello, does anyone here know where we can get directions to a rich neighbou--Argh!" Yumiko was pushed aside by a young girl who raced towards Kazooie and tried to grab the bird in Banjo's backpack by her ear.



"Mommy, mommy, can we get this bird!? It's not like other birds, can we can we!?" The Girl asked, to nobody as she tried to reach Kazooie's ear. Yumiko, trying to be nice, tried to get the girl to help the group.

"Umm excuse me little girl, where is your mother?" Yumiko pointed out the fact that the girl was not talking to anyone, she was by herself, regardless, the girl ignored Yumiko as she scoffed over how rude the girl was being. She tried to get her to ask her next question.

"Do you have any directions to a rich neighbourhood in this city? We need to get to one to find someone." Yumiko asked the girl, who continued to ignore her and tried to reach for Kazooie.

Meanwhile, at a nearby store, there was employers already putting up costumes that were similar to Banjo and Kazooie...Well that was fast.

[Deleted]

Stepping out of the store and into the city, there was the obvious dilemma of being unsure where to go. It seemed as though they should've asked the man for some directions. 

"Music? No, I don't hear it." Banjo said to Yumiko, who seemed to be hearing something nobody else could hear.

The group came to a bus stop, which seemed as though it would be their best bet. Buses go all around the city, so they'ed be able to get to where they need to go fairly quickly. However, this was flawed for a couple reasons. One, the kid apparently lived outside the city, so the bus might not even go there. Two, they didn't have any of the local currency. The former could be solved by learning where the bus goes, and the latter could potentially be solved, if only by depending on the kindness of strangers, Tennessee Williams-style.

It seemed, however, that people were crowding around Banjo and Kazooie, apparently awed by their unusual appearance. Yumiko was trying to talk some directions out of the crowd, but before she could get any info, a small girl ran over and tried to pull Kazooie out of Banjo's backpack. Apparently the kid wanted to take the opportunity to get herself an exotic pet. This was sort of understandable, though, since Red-Crested Breegulls aren't an actual thing. Kazooie grunted a bit, trying to avoid the child's grasp. Kazooie's mind raced, trying to think of a way to make the kid stop, while Banjo fumbled his words, trying to talk the girl down.

"Uh-um...hey kid, please don't...oh no." The awkwardness of the conversation had apparently gotten to him, and it seemed he didn't want to be harsh with the kid. This left Kazooie as the only one of them able to make the kid stop. Luckily, she figured out just how she could do so.

"CAW! CAW CAW!" She shrieked, trying to scare the child away without revealing her ability to speak. Banjo looked upset by this, but Kazooie just responded with a subtle shrug.

With that, Banjo tried to calm things down a little by speaking to the crowd of onlookers.

"Hey there, everyone. Sorry about this, but we're looking for the rich neighborhood outside the city. Do any of you know how to get there?" Banjo attempted to ask. Before he got an answer, Kazooie noticed something at a nearby store, and made Banjo aware of it.

"Are they setting up costumes of us?" Banjo whispered.

"Looks like it." Kazooie whispered back.

"How? Do we exist here too?"

"Maybe. This could be a universe where we're fictional characters."

"So this could be a universe where Rare wasn't bought by Microsoft?"

"Maybe. I wonder if they have Mario in this universe, or Legend of Zelda."

"What about Sonic?"

Kazooie gave him a look that basically screamed "Seriously?"

[Dragon Knight Volga]

Volga looked around for some sign that indicated where this particular neighbourhood was. To make matters worse, people started fawning over Banjo and Kazooie. He attempted to both push the people away from the poor bear and bird, as well as get their attention by slamming his Dragon Spear into the ground, creating a shockwave. The Dragon Knight was not one for being subtle. Volga just wanted to rescue this hedgehog and leave.