What If…Sonic and Metal Sonic Switched Places?

A Fanfiction by Stoney, a.k.a. 'Stonewall', a.k.a. 'Mr. S', a.k.a. 'Why Are You Bothering To Read This When There's A Whole New Chapter Below For You To Read? Let's Just Hurry Up And Start The Fic Already, Eh?'

* * * * *

Chapter VI

Irritation

* * * * *

The lights and sounds of teleportation faded away, and Knuckles stepped off the crystal lens with a relieved sigh. Home at last.

Espio had arrived here the previous day, but he himself had been delayed when Bunnie had reported that she'd found one of his teleporters broken in the Great Forest. As it was, it had been far too long since he'd last seen his precious island.

He scanned the area, satisfied as he confirmed that everything was the way he'd left it. Two seconds later, he was surrounded.

"THERE you are, Guardian." Mecha muttered, running up to him from his left.

"Knuckles! Good to see you!" Rouge grinned as she dropped in front of him from above.

"Hiya, Knux!" Sonic waved cheerily as he flew up from behind.

Knuckles suddenly found himself in the middle of a triangle of people with no way to escape, but that wasn't his main concern. He looked at Rouge, then Mecha, then Sonic.

He blinked, then did a double-take.

"Holy crap!" He yelped. Wasting no time, he dove towards Mecha and Rouge, pushing them out of the robot's line of fire. Landing in a tuck-and-roll, he stopped the motion on one knee, placed between the robot and the other two organics. He bared his teeth ferociously. "Look out, you guys!" He warned in a guttural growl. "Metal Sonic's here!"

For a few seconds Rouge lay frozen in the mud where she'd been pushed, not knowing whether to be shocked or enraged.

She chose the latter.

"Knuckles, you idiot!" She screamed, jumping up and smacking him hard across the face. Surprised, he reeled and fell over from the blow, staring up at her angry expression and fingering the stinging palm-print on his cheek.

"HEY! What was that for?!" He demanded, temper rising.

Rouge was livid, face screwed up in a grimace of fury as dirty tendrils of mud slowly slid down her head, staining her fur an ugly brown. Mecha stood up and began to slowly inch away from her, not wanting to be around this time bomb when it exploded.

"It's all right, stupid!" She yelled practically in Knuckles' face. "Mecha's on our side!!"

Knuckles blinked, looked at Sonic, blinked again, and looked back at Rouge. "Huh?"

Sonic frowned. He knew that normally he'd be cracking up at Knuckles' expense by now. The frown deepened, when he looked over at Mecha and saw him biting his lip to hold back laughter. But he himself didn't feel any amusement at all within him, and began to get a bit worried. Was there something wrong with his Emotional Flux Guidance Protocols? Had he hit his head one time too many while in Robotropolis? Did he have a virus?

The last thought was especially alarming, so much so that he ran a quick scan of his system, just to be sure his files were clean. This, unfortunately, distracted him enough that he didn't notice Rouge getting ready to deliver another beating to the red Guardian.

Luckily, Mecha saved Knuckles from a particularly gruesome demise by stepping between him and Rouge at that moment. "Calm down," He warned her. "Have you already forgotten that we need his help? I'm afraid you are doing a rather poor job of asking him for it."

Knuckles instantly became a little suspicious, wondering what was going on and why the familiar blue hedgehog was speaking so strangely. "Hi Sonic, what are you talking about?" He asked, deciding to play it cool for now.

The hedgehog turned to him. He didn't even smile, so serious was his expression. "You heard me, Guardian. We are in need of your assistance."

Knuckles stood up, folded his arms and raised one thick eyebrow at Mecha's use of his title. This was making him more curious by the second. "Oh?"

"Mast--uh, Robotnik caught me yesterday. He performed an experiment on my person before I could escape--"

Knuckles' other eyebrow shot up to join the first. "An experiment? What kind?"

Mecha was about to reply, but he suddenly choked off his words in a grunt, eyes growing wide in sudden fear as he weakly clutched at his neck. Sonic's system registered an understanding of what was going on and activated its program for supplying emotion, producing chemicals in his body that caused him fear and anxiety. This caused a small reaction in his face that tightened a few of the muscle-cables around his glass eyes, causing them to widen.

"No.....!" Mecha moaned, staggering to the side as if he'd fall over from the weight of despair on his chest. "Oh Chaos, no.....no, no, no!"

"What?" Rouge asked, misinterpreting his body language as a reaction to pain. "What's wrong?"

"The experiment...was for a new bioweapon." Sonic answered for him, eyes wide with rage and terror. Mecha's computer brain had just supplied him with information on what the weapon's effects were. The idea of such results happening to his original body sickened and horrified him.

Rouge looked from Mecha to Sonic and back again. "Is this true?"

Mecha nodded weakly, bent over with his hands on his knees, head hanging. He felt like he might cry. Slowly he looked up to lock gazes with Rouge. "And now I've got it." He smiled bitterly in Sonic's direction. "Still want this body back?"

Knuckles' eyes were narrowed in thought. "What kind of weapon? What do you mean?"

"Nerve agent." Mecha explained dejectedly. "Destroys anything living by eliminating various tissues within the body and causing it to drown in its own fluids. It's slow-acting, but the effects are irreversible once they've started." He slumped to a sitting position, feeling oddly drained and exhausted suddenly. "It'll start by attacking the brain, sending the victim into a deep sleep to prevent any kind of struggle. Then it'll target the respiratory system, exploding air pockets within the lungs and filling them with blood. The digestive system will go next, as it'll eat away at the stomach wall and cause the natural hydrochloric acid we all contain there to finish the job. After that, it'll begin to literally dissolve the top layers of skin away and give the victim a blotchy red appearance. Finally, it'll break down major arteries and veins..."

"Stop." The command was little more than a whispered request coming from Rouge, who'd gone even paler than usual. "How long do you have?"

His stare was mournful, as if he was already beyond help. "A week, two at the most, before the symptoms begin."

Sonic's expression was grim. "We don't have much time, then."

Everybody looked up at him in surprise, an unspoken question in their expressions. "I just completed a wireless hook-up to Robotropolis' mainframe, and went through a batch of files on the bioweapon." He explained. "Robobutt apparently created an antidote for it in case he ever got infected." A cold smile appeared on his chrome face. "And lucky for us, he has."

"Do you know the antidote?" Mecha asked hopefully, even though his mind already knew the answer.

"No; he was overconfident and didn't believe he would need it at hand, so he never told anyone about it. As it is, he's retrieved a copy of the formula from his datakeeping section in the G-3 and has a batch being mixed up right now to use on himself."

Mecha leaped to his feet, but was stopped from doing something rash when Rouge placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Not now," She murmured through clenched teeth, giving him an intense glare that instantly halted his struggle to escape her grip.

Knuckles stared at Sonic for several moments, an unreadable expression on his face. "There's something different about you," He said slowly. "It's like...I don't know, like you're a different person or something. I can feel it." He blinked in confusion for a second, then turned to Rouge. "What's going on?"

"Which brings us to the point of our visit," Rouge said. "We need to ask a favor of you."

"But you probably won't like it." Sonic added.

Knuckles' eyes darted between all three individuals. "Why do I suddenly have a very bad feeling about this?"

"We need to borrow the Chaos Emeralds." Mecha blurted out. "Some siphoned energy from them has done something drastic to Sonic and I, and we need them to fix it."

Knuckles gave him an odd look, and Rouge slapped her forehead. "What do you mean, 'Sonic and I'? YOU'RE Sonic!"

Mecha suddenly realized his mistake, but Sonic stepped forward to save him. "That's the problem." He replied. "I'm not really Mecha, and he's not really Sonic."

Knuckles blinked, face blank. Sonic hazarded on.

"I'm Sonic, and Mecha--" He pointed at the hedgehog standing next to Knuckles, still trapped in Rouge's grip-- "is stuck inside my real body. We switched by accident."

Knuckles stared at the both of them. They waited tensely for his response. Finally he shrugged. "Oh, okay."

All three were taken aback. "Huh? You mean you're not surprised or anything?" Mecha exclaimed.

"Well, I just recognized why both of your aura's feel so different. They've switched bodies, like you said."

Rouge breathed a sigh and took her hand off Mecha's shoulder, who winced and rubbed it with his other hand. "Well, this makes things a whole lot easier. Do you think you could help us?"

Knuckles scratched the back of his head, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "Well, uh, ya know, I'm actually not all that sure that the emeralds are available to use at the moment."

"Why not?! Listen to me, Guardian. This is crucial. I understand that those gems mean a lot to you, but it seems ridiculous to think that is it not possible for us to take them off your hands for a few hours, at the least."

"Sonic--I mean, Mecha--it's not because of that! The Master Emerald's power has been growing weaker lately; I need those emeralds now to help keep the island aloft!"

"What about the super emeralds?" Sonic asked quietly. "They held this place up when Robotnik took the Master away that one time. I was there. I helped charge 'em, remember?"

Knuckles' face was showing clear signs of stress that he'd been successfully hiding until now. "I know that, Sonic, but they've gotten weaker as well. It's like Chaos itself is going into remission, and taking all its energy with it. All of the emeralds have gotten so weak by now that some of them are temporarily going dead--including the Master. I just can't spare them at the moment, I'm sorry."

Sonic's electronic eyes brightened a couple watts as his emotional flux sent a slight surge of power through him, similar to a rush of excitement. "Wait, I think I've got a solution..." He exclaimed, opening his chest panel and pulling out the fake emerald. "...right here!"

For a split-second, Knuckles eyes went wide in shock as he saw what apparently was the Yellow Chaos Emerald, held in the hands of someone who had been a major enemy up until now. Protective instinct surged through him, and without thinking he yelled and lunged forward to attack. "You little thief--!" He roared.

WHAM. Knuckles gasped and fell backwards, a steel-toed boot planted firmly under his ribs. He landed hard on his back, and before he could get up the boot had switched positions from his stomach to his neck, effectively pinning him. He looked up to see who'd attacked him, and stared into two mascara-laden eyes.

"You know, I've wanted to do that to you for a LONG time now, Treasure Hunter." Rouge commented lightly, adding a bit of extra pressure on the echidna's jugular for emphasis. "I don't like repeating myself, but obviously you lot weren't listening carefully enough the first time. If you're calling somebody a thief, you'd better be talking to ME, understand? And furthermore, SONIC is in that body. HE. IS. ON. YOUR. SIDE. You know Sonic better than I do, so tell me; would he intentionally steal one of your beautiful emeralds for his own personal gain?"

Knuckles looked up at the bat's face, and the fiery rage drained from his body, leaving only fear behind. The bat's expression was calm and almost cheerful, but her eyes were hard and cold, revealing the masked anger underneath. He knew that one wrong move right now could very well mean his death. "Uh....."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Rouge asked sweetly, jabbing his neck with her toe. He nearly choked, but she quickly let up on the pressure enough for him to breathe again. He sucked in a massive breath, and spoke at last.

"All right. Fine. Whatever you say."

"MUCH better!" Rouge smirked, taking her foot off his neck and stepping away. "So, are you going to help us or not? We may have an emerald, but figuring out how to use it isn't my forte."

He looked at them all, gave a groan, and closed his eyes. "How do I get myself into these messes?"

"Gee, I don't know." Rouge chuckled. "Maybe it just comes with the territory."

Knuckles glared at her.

* * * * *

Antoine had always liked routines. There was always something reassuring, something comfortable about them that made him feel safe and secure. He always got up at the same time each morning, always fixed himself the same breakfast. He stuck to a rigid schedule that contented him with its planned-out events for the day, leaving no room for unknowns.

He liked that. It seemed like those little certainties in life, the ones where you didn't have to worry about what happened next, were the only thing he figured Robotnik couldn't take from him. And thus, he was glad to have them.

That might be one of the reasons he and Sonic had never gotten along well; the hedgehog was spontaneity in its most condensed form. He was wild. Unpredictable. Uncertain.

And Antoine hated that.

Well, maybe 'hate' was too strong a word. The only thing Antoine would ever use the word 'hate' towards was Robotnik. That was another of those solid certainties in his life. Whereas, with Sonic…..it was more like 'disliked'. Or 'repulsed'. Or 'did not condone'. But no matter which word was used to describe his feelings towards the blue hedgehog's attitude, it was guaranteed that it would be negative one.

It was also the reason why he had liked Sally so much. Apart from himself, Sally was the most organized person he knew. Neat. Tidy. Certain. She seemed to like schedules as much as he, according to how often she stayed up late planning raids down to the smallest detail. He thought that would guarantee her affection for him, the fact that they were so much alike in that respect.

But as the saying goes, 'opposites attract'…..and it was apparent that she had fallen for Sonic long before Antoine had even entered the picture. But nevertheless, he still enjoyed the princess' company, because her neat, organized, scheduled nature was another of those certainties he loved so much.

But today, as Antoine watched Sally fly about in a mad rage, gathering supplies for a sudden, unprepared solo assault on Robotropolis, he realized that his assumption of her character might have been radically incorrect.

She was screaming.

Snarling invective, growling from deep in her throat, eyes flaming a dull red. All of her venom was voiced at Robotnik, although she did mention a few choice words about the fat human's mother every now and then.

"WHAT DID THAT BASTARD DO TO HIM?!" She bellowed. Antoine blanched. He had never thought Sally to be the type to 'bellow'. Apparently he knew her less than he thought.

"WHAT DID HE DO TO MY SONIC?!?" She bellowed again, slamming her fists down on a table and putting a crack in the wood. "I'LL KILL THE OAF WITH MY BARE HANDS WHEN I GET TO HIM!!"

Oh yes. That was something else he had to remind himself about as he silently watched her storm about the Knothole War Room, with him watching in shock from the doorway. She was doing all of this because of Sonic.

To be more precise, it was the hedgehog's little panic episode earlier that had left Bunnie with an injured scalp and the Infirmary with a lovely hole in the wall. As soon as Sally had heard the news and learned who was responsible, her thoughts had immediately leaped to blame Robotnik.

It must have seemed perfectly logical to her: Sonic had been captured by Robotnik, who had done something to him to make him act strangely. Therefore, the Overlander had to die slowly and violently while she watched.

Antoine shook his head. This wouldn't do. He had to act, before things got out of hand. That is, if they weren't already…

"Prinzess!" He squeaked out at last. "You muzt calm down!"

Sally let out an inarticulate yell of rage, whirling to face him, teeth bared and eyes bulging. "Don't you DARE tell me what to do!" She snapped. "That—that MONSTER has done SOMETHING to Sonic, and I'm gonna go find out what!" She heaved a small backpack up onto her shoulders and stomped up in front of him, giving him a glare so full of misdirected hate that he winced.

After a few moments with no response Sally was forced to speak, biting a demand out through clenched teeth. "Let. Me. Through." Antoine gulped, screwed up his courage, and made a decision that could quite possibly have bad results in store for him.

"No."

Sally's mouth dropped open slightly, and her eyes grew wider. Then her former anger reasserted control. "LET ME THROUGH THE DOOR, DAMMIT!" She screamed in his face, a vein bulging in her forehead. Antione watched it throb a couple seconds before responding.

"Moi prinzez, 'ou are acteeng very irrational—"

"IRRATIONAL MY ASS!" Sally swore, stomping her foot in a very un-princesslike manner. "Listen buster, I am ROYALTY, and YOU are still under my command. That gives ME the right to have YOU do as I say. When I tell you to move, you DO IT! I'm ORDERING you to move, NOW! SO, STAND ASIDE!!!"

"Moi liege," Antoine began with a small smile that didn't reflect his inner terror, "you forget sectzion 45, paragraph eight of zee Acorn Monarchal Constitution, which clearly states in column two zat, 'under extreme circumstances where presiding liege ees seen unfit to 'is or 'er god-given service for self and country, command shall be taken up by zee 'ead of counsul in their stead.'

Sally's jaw dropped again, but this time it stayed there. The anger in her eyes faded to be replaced by something else—fear. "You wouldn't," She exclaimed in a trembling voice, backing up a step. "You wouldn't dare…"

Antione's expression was hard and cold, though he remained sympathetic behind the stony exterior. It hurt to deny Sally like this, but if that's what it took to keep her safe, then so be it. "Prinzez, I did not want to do zees, but I hereby declare your actzions to be irregular, and you to not be in your proper state of mind. 'Enceforth until you again seem fit for them, I declare Annulment of your title and duties."

 "NO!" Sally screamed, anger reappearing as she dropped her bag and went into a battle stance, enraged mind forming excuses for her to do what she never would normally. "NO, I WON'T LET YOU! YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO KEEP ME FROM SONIC!!" She roared then, charging at him bodily, planning to fight him tooth-and nail to gain freedom. The coyote yelped in surprise and braced himself—

--and was shoved out of the way from behind, as an extending robotic arm grabbed Sally around the waist. "Now, that there's enuff'a that!" Bunnie growled, walking in and pinning Sally high up on the wall by her robot arm's grip. "Y'all kin jus' stay up thar 'till yuh get a grip!"

Shock and surprise wore off quickly, and soon Sally degenerated to another screaming fit, fists beating wildly on the hand around her but doing no damage.

Bunnie shook her head and sighed. "Hoo-boy, ah sure hope shugah-hog gets back soon."

* * * * *

Knuckles scowled.

He did not like this one bit.

Time and time again, he'd argued his case. He was not a people person. Never had been. Staying cooped up on a remote island for most of your life tended to do that to you. Being around others made him edgy and nervous, which made it dangerous for them to drag him along. It was entirely possible he'd lash out in response to any provocation.

But the facts still remained clear, their logic silencing any argument he could create.

They needed mechanics, two of them: Rotor Walrus, and Miles 'Tails' Prower. The reason was simple: Sonic had blueprints to a machine that could siphon Chaos energy. If they could build one and re-enact the scene that had taken place with that failed experiment, it was possible that he and Mecha could switch back.

Unfortunately, this plan had reached a catch when Sonic, Mecha, and Rouge had arrived in Knothole, to find Rotor wasn't at his workshop. Or anywhere else, for that matter.

A heated argument had followed. Rouge just wanted to storm up to the nearest villager and demand the location of the fox and walrus, but Sonic requested they use more caution. It was pretty obvious that he would need to stay out of view—at least, until they were certain that the sight of Metal Sonic inside Knothole wouldn't cause mass panic amongst the villagers. Mecha had explained vaguely that he'd left the village without explanation a day earlier, and everyone would start asking the wrong kinds of questions if he were spotted. Rouge wasn't that well-known around here, which had left only one person available to do the investigating.

So, they'd returned to the island to fetch him.

Of course, he hadn't been too happy to hear this.

But after a bit of pleading on Rouge's part (he HATED it when she used the 'puppy-dog eyes' on him!), he'd agreed to be dragged down here.

"Ahem."

Bunnie whirled, just as Antoine unsheathed his sword. "Who goes zere! Oh—excuze-moi, monsieur Knuckles. I did not realize zat waz 'ou."

The echidna waved away the apology. "No time to talk guys, I need to know where your mechanic is."

Bunnie arched an eyebrow, while Antoine nodded. "Ah, 'ou mean monsieur Rotair? 'Ee is at zee rivair, I believe."

"Thanks." The guardian was gone without another word. Bunnie looked at Antoine, face a mask of confusion as Sally continued to struggle.

"What tha hoo-haw was that about?"

* * * * *

"All right guys, I think I know where he is." Knuckles declared, jogging up to the edge of Knothole where the Great Forest resumed its typical thickness. Within the flora was a robot, a hedgehog and a bat, the latter two of which stepped out to greet him.

"About time!" Mecha and Rouge exclaimed in unison, both equally impatient.

Sonic was a little bit calmer, remaining in the shadows between trees. Only the glow of his red eyes gave him away. "Where is he?"

"The river. Is there anywhere around there where you could hide?"

Sonic considered this. "There's an empty hut near the bridge—the person living there left for another freedom fighter band down south."

"Perfect. You can stay there while I talk to the guy. Then, we'll get your fox friend and leave."

"Not too eager to stay, are you?" Rouge chided. "What's the matter? Scared you'll actually need some social skills?"

"Bite me, thief."

"Sorry, you're not my type."

"Cut it out." Sonic glared. "let's just get this done with." He looked around, then began to slip off silently. "Follow me—the river is this way."

Mecha snickered as they began to tail the sleek robot. Knux arched an eyebrow at him, and he grinned. "It strikes me as funny that HE, of all people, is the one who broke up that fight."

Knuckles thought about this for a moment and laughed, himself. "You're right. Normally Sonic's the one who starts the argument, not ends it."

"What's so funny?" Rouge demanded, slowing down to join their little discussion. Knux waved her off.

"Nothing you'd be interested in."

Rouge's gaze took on a dangerous glint that Mecha had seen before. He wondered for a moment if he should warn the Guardian.

"Do you think I'm not capable of understanding whatever it is you're talking about?" Rouge said, eyes narrowed.

Mecha grinned. Naaaah, this was too much fun to watch.

"That's right!" Knuckles said brightly.

"Oh good. It'd be bad if my understanding level was equal to that of one-celled algae."

Mecha couldn't help it. He laughed. Knuckles' expression darkened.

"Never mind. You don't have the brain capacity to appreciate fine humor, anyway."

"Even if I don't, at least my brain is bigger than yours."

Knuckles smirked. "Who says you've even GOT a brain? I think there's just a bunch of rocks rattling around in your skull."

"And yet I'm still smarter than you. Go figure."

Knuckles' brows came together in a frown as he tried to steer the topic to something else. "At least I don't have to resort to using my body to get what I want."

"Hey, this body's a gift. I'll use it however it pleases me."

"You have no shame, do you?"

Rouge grinned, showing her teeth. "Nope. Not an ounce."

Knux grinned as well, hitting upon a topic guaranteed to make the fruit bat angry. "Gee, those canines of yours sure are pointy. Do you keep them that way for sucking people's blood?"

The bat gasped, slowing down. Then rage settled in. Mecha would swear later that he saw the bat's eyes go crimson at that moment.

"YOU!!" She screeched, throwing herself at the echidna in insane fury. Knuckles' eyes went wide, since he hadn't expected an attack.

"Oh crap!" He yelped, ducking as Rouge soared overhead and smashed through some thick underbrush. Not one to waste a life-saving opportunity, Knux broke into a full-tilt run as the bat fought tooth and nail to free herself from the tangling plants that bound her. Her rapid stream of curses could be heard from quite a distance away, especially after she finally got untangled and began running.

"GET BACK HERE!!!"

Mecha was laughing so hard that he could barely walk, let alone run. Knux growled and punched him hard in the shoulder, eliciting a gasp of pain from the hedgehog. "Shut up and start moving," was the echidna's only comment. Mecha couldn't keep the grin off his face though. So what if that punch hurt? It was worth it.

Far ahead, Sonic was debating whether or not it'd be worth it to halt their journey and tell those three off. Chaos knows the whole village could probably hear the racket they were making. What's the point of being hidden if you let yourself be found?

His eyes flashed as another loud bellow of curses erupted from Rouge. "That's it." He muttered. "I've had enough of this." He slowed down…

* * * * *

"I am going to kill you so much." Knuckles snarled. "You know that, right?"

He shifted about a bit, trying to get comfortable and failing. The cords around his wrists and ankles chafed him and bit into his skin, rubbing it raw. He couldn't help but notice that they were made out of some super-tough metal alloy that was too strong for him to break. He shifted again and winced. "Did you have to tie these things so tight?! I can't feel my fingers or toes!"

Rouge didn't say anything, speechless with rage as she was. Knuckles knew for certain that meant she was beyond anger at this point. After dealing with her during the ARK Incident and putting up with her for the months afterwards, he'd learned a thing or two about reading into her moods. And based on that knowledge, he knew that whenever Rouge got angry, she got loud.

But when she got really angry, she went quiet.

That was usually the signal for anyone within striking distance to drop what they were doing and run for the hills, 'cause they wouldn't stay alive otherwise. Her face had turned a deep scarlet: a few cosmetic changes, and she would've looked identical to Knuckles. Sonic's life was now forfeit. That much was guaranteed, judging by her expression alone.

Mecha was still laughing, not minding this manhandling in the least. After all, this wasn't even his body. Why should he care if it got beaten up? He'd get switched out of it soon anyway.

Sonic glared back at them from a few feet ahead, where he'd grabbed the ends of the cords binding the three and was using it to drag the hogtied Mobians along behind him. There. This should teach them a thing or two about stealth.

Knuckles' head smacked into a rock, earning a stream of obscenities aimed at Sonic's family line three generations back. The robot smirked in sadistic glee, then checked himself. No. He shouldn't be enjoying this, he reminded himself. Hurting people was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong! But in this case, sadly necessary.

"Sorry Knux. Here, this'll get us there faster." He said, activating his rocket booster and hovering in the air. He began to gain altitude, pulling the three up until they were dangling by their limbs with their backs facing the ground.

Rouge's eyes narrowed to hungry slits. She bared her fangs and hissed, loud enough to make a chill run down the spines of the other two organics. Mecha looked at her, and gulped.

"By the Entities," He muttered. "Guardian, look at her. I think she's regressed."

Knux grimaced. Regression was bad news. He knew that under extreme stress, it was possible for a Mobian to revert to a wild, incoherent state: a state where they wouldn't be able to speak, or walk upright, and would act on instinct alone—just like an unevolved animal. If Rouge had regressed…

"We're in trouble," He stated flatly.

"Brilliant grasp of the obvious, Einstein." Mecha snorted.

"Stop it. Don't make me come over there."

"I'd like to see you try anything."

"Shut up!"

"Why? What are you gonna do, huh?"

"I'm gonna kill you all. Every last Entity-damned one of you!" The echidna raged. "Man, I think I'm gonna regress myself if this keeps up…"

"Don't worry. We're there." Sonic interrupted, landing gently so as not to injure them too much. He pulled out a gun and trained it on Knuckles' forehead before he allowed the cords around the echidna to snake back into a compartment on his wrists, where they'd originated from.

Knuckles rubbed his arms and legs, trying to get the blood flowing again and wondering how many pieces he should snap Sonic into. Damn that robot's foresight for getting the stupid gun out. He stood up. "You're dead." He declared emotionlessly. "I won't need to do anything to you. Rouge will do it for me."

Indeed, the bat looked as if she'd enjoy such an act immensely. Her claws were extended, and she was drooling. Her teeth were in plain view, all nice and sharp.

Even as a robot, Sonic felt a twinge of fear at the sight. "Okay, we'll just leave her tied up, then."

"Wise move," Mecha muttered. "Can you untie me now?" The cords around his feet and hands snaked back into their resting place. "Thanks."

Sonic looked at him. "Well, you're not against me, at least."

Mecha snorted. "News flash, hedgehog. That's MY body you're occupying. Do you really think I would want to harm it?"

"Good point."

"And I'll kindly ask YOU not to hurt him." He spoke to Knuckles. "At least, until we've switched back. After that I don't care."

"GrrrrrrAAAAAARRRR," Rouge growled, trying to chew through her restraints. Knuckles looked nervously at her.

"This is gonna be a loooooong week, isn't it?"

"Not if we all get killed first," Mecha replied. "Anyway Guardian, it's your cue. Go get the mechanics, will you?"

"All right, all right." He grumbled. "I'm going already."

* * * * *

"Rotor."

The walrus glanced up. "Oh, hello Knuckles. What brings you down here?"

Knux approached cautiously. Rotor was kneeling next to some odd-shaped contraption on the riverbank. To be blunt, it looked like a big engine hooked up to a waterwheel.

The echidna's brow furrowed in curiosity. "You, actually."

Rotor blinked, and straightened up to face him. "What?"

"I need your help."

Rotor blinked again. "O-kaaay. For what?"

:"Well, I need someone to help me build something."

Two purple eyebrows shot up. "Really? What is it?"

"A machine to siphon Chaos Energy."

Rotor bent back down to tinker with the machine. "Huh, no kidding. For the island, right?"

"Something like that." Knuckles watched the walrus at work for a few minutes before he decided to speak up. "What're you doing over here, anyway?"

"Creating a new power source for the village." Rotor straightened back up, wiping his forehead. "Hydroelectricity."

Knux blinked. "Hydro-whatsis?"

"See that waterwheel? As the river turns it, it'll build up energy in this generator that we can use to power everything." He patted the bulky machine at this point. "We won't need to steal batteries from Robotropolis anymore if this works right."

Knux looked impressed. "That sounds quite useful."

"Yeah, but we won't be able to get much amperes out of something this small. In order to power all of Knothole, we'd need some heavy-duty equipment."

"Too bad. But anyway, about my request…"

Rotor gave him a sidelong look. "Sure. Count me in. When would be a good time for you?"

"Uh, right now, actually."

Rotor looked surprised. "What? NOW?"

"That's why I came down here: to get you and Tails."

"Tails too? Well, uh, gee, I've gotta ask Sally and all—"

"Actually, she seemed pretty busy from what I saw." Knuckles recalled seeing the princess being physically restrained by Bunnie, and shook his head. He wasn't even gonna ask what that was all about. "I know it's sudden, but this is really important."

Rotor looked worried. "You said it was for the island, right? I hear the Chaos Emeralds are getting weaker…?"

Knux nodded. "Yup."

Rotor stood up. "Okay. Let me go get the rest of my tools."

* * * * *

Tails, however, was a bit more difficult to retrieve.

When Knuckles arrived at his hut, he found the kid crying on his bed. He frowned. 'Argh, I don't have TIME for this!' His mind roared.

He hesitated. Comforting others was definitely not his forte: He had absolutely no idea what to do. So, he decided, he'd just try whatever came to mind. Let's see…he may as well ask the kid what this was all about, at least.

"Knock, knock." He spoke. Tails' head jerked up, and when he saw who it was he quickly wiped his eyes clean.

"Oh, hi Knux." He said glumly. "What're you doing off the Island?"

Knuckles strode further into the abode. "To tell you the truth, I need the help of a couple mechanics to build something for it."

Tails blinked, then sighed. He jumped off his bed and shook his head. "Sorry Knux, but I really don't feel like it now. I just found out that Sonic went crazy this morning because of something Robotnik did…" He scratched behind one ear and trailed off.

"And now, you're all depressed." Knux finished.

Tails sniffed. "Yeah."

Knuckles kneeled down next to the fox cub and put a massive hand on his shoulder. "Listen kid, what if I told you that I found Sonic, and he seemed perfectly fine to me?"

Tails' eyes, Knux would later swear, grew to the size of dinner plates at that point. "You FOUND him??"

Knuckles grinned, jerking one thumb to point over his shoulder. "Out in the woods on my way here. He's waiting for me out there 'cause he knew people would start asking questions if he entered the village."

Tails jerked upright, looking even more shocked—and beginning to perk up a bit. "He's STILL THERE?! Quick, where is he?? Please, take me to him!"

Knux paused, suddenly uncertain. "Um, well, I don't know…"

"Aw, c'mon, PLEASE! I'll help build whatever it is you need, I just wanna make sure Sonic's okay."

Knuckles sighed. "……Fine. If you insist."

Tails jumped for joy. "YAY!"

* * * * *

"HEY, SONIC!" Knuckles called out, walking through the Great Forest with Tails and Rotor. He turned his head this way and that, looking for any sign of blue amongst the greens of the forest. "SO-NIC! Where are you, man? Tails wants to talk to you!"

The fox peered around uncertainly. "Are you sure he's here?"

"This's where I told him to meet me," Knuckles grumbled. "I'm gonna kick his sorry butt if he skipped out…SOOOONIIIIIC!"

Blue. A flash of color in the shadow of a bush. Knux sighed. "There you are. Tails says he'll help me, but first he wants to talk to you."

The hedgehog in the foliage kept very still, regarding Knuckles with an icy glare. Knuckles gave him a pointed, and slightly pleading look. 'Please, please just do this right,' His mind begged.

Mecha didn't move for several moments, but then he turned his gaze to the shorter fox and walked out of the shadows with a wave. "Hiya, little buddy!"

Tails ran up and tackled him, throwing them both to the ground. Then he punched the hedgehog hard in the shoulder. "Don't call me 'little'!" Then he hugged Mecha, who by now was flabbergasted. "Oh Sonic, I'm so glad you're okay! What happened? Bunnie got hurt, although she's up and walking around now, but the Medical Ward hut's a wreck."

"Uh, well…" Mecha squirmed out of the cub's grip and stood up. "I don't remember, actually."

Tails blinked. "You don't?"

Mecha gave a cocky grin that looked exactly like Sonic's usual one. "Nope. Not a thing. Last I recall, I was waking up in the forest with a mondo headache. Then this guy came by." He pointed a finger at Knuckles. "He warned me that everyone was makin' a big fuss and that I should steer clear, so I did."

Tails turned to glare at the echidna, who shrugged. Turning back to Mecha, he asked, "So then what happened?"

"Nothin' much. I just sat here and waited."

Rotor slapped Mecha on the shoulder. "It's good to see you're okay, buddy. We were pretty worried for awhile."

"Yeah, the kid was a regular basketcase when I got there," Knux chortled.

"I was not!" Tails defended himself angrily.

Knuckles put both hands up in a peaceful gesture, still chuckling. "Sure, sure, whatever you say." He turned to Mecha. "By the way, where's you-know-who?"

Mecha smirked. "Well, after she calmed down a bit, I untied her and she went off to search the forest high and low for blue robots."

Rotor frowned. "Blue robots? You mean like Metal Sonic?"

Mecha flinched a bit. "Uh, yeah. We—Knux and I—thought we saw him somewhere in the woods."

"Who's this 'she' you just said?" Tails asked suspiciously. "It isn't who I think it is, is it?"

"Well well well, if it isn't the foxboy!"

Tails clenched his eyes and teeth shut. "Oh no." he muttered.

Rouge stepped out of the trees, a wide smirk on her face. "My, I haven't seen you since that ARK Incident almost a year ago. So, how have you been doing? Anything happen that I should know about?" The smirk turned sinister. "Gotten any…girlfriends?"

No reply came. Tails stood rigid, fists clenched so tight that their knuckles were white underneath the gloves. Rouge's expression faltered a bit, and she edged forward. "Uh, hello? Foxboy? You-hooo, anybody home?"

"Don't…call…me…'FOXBOY'!!" Tails yelled, whirling to face the white bat with his face red from anger. "What are YOU doing here?! Go away!"

Knuckles looked pleased. "All right! Finally, someone who I can agree with!" He pumped a fist in victory.

Rouge gave him an unamused look, then turned to politely smile at Rotor. "Hello there, I don't think we've been properly introduced."

The walrus was staring wide-eyed at the bat, jaw slack. "Uh…yah…um…er…gah…" he stuttered, trying to form something coherent and failing.

"Rotor, Rouge. Rouge, Rotor." Mecha introduced the two. Rotor gave no reaction except to stand there stuttering like an idiot some more. Rouge gave a very, very wide smile upon seeing the walrus's reaction.

"Heh, thank you, 'Rotor'. I do believe you've just made my day." She giggled, sauntering over to tease Tails some more. Mecha snapped his fingers, then waved a hand in front of the walrus's eyes. No reaction.

Finally, Mecha bonked him on the head. "Yo, Rote, wake up man!"

That got the walrus moving, all right. Rotor jumped an looked around a bit, suddenly confused. "Wha-huh-what?" He sputtered, looking back and forth.

"SOONIIIIC!" Tails whined, finally reaching his limit with Rouge's provoking. "She won't leave me alone!"

"Join the club," Knuckles muttered.

The fox angrily jabbed a finger in Rouge's direction. "You never answered my question, you know. What're you doing here, huh?!"

"Well, Knux and I found her out here all tied up," Mecha snickered. "Three guesses as to who did it."

Rouge nodded. "I'm gonna KILL that rotten jerk when I find him!" She snarled, flattening her ears against her head. Then she smiled toothily in Knuckles's direction. "But first, I think I'll tag along with you guys. Never know when a treasure hunter of my skill may come in handy."

Tails and Knuckles frowned, while Mecha shrugged and Rotor nodded vigorously. "Okay," The hedgehog spoke. "We'll probably need your help to filch some parts from Robotropolis, anyway." He was suddenly subjected to twin glares from one fox and one echidna. "What? Look, we've gotta get parts for this thingamajiggy of Knux's from SOMEWHERE, right?"

Finally, Tails gave a begrudging nod. "Well, all right. If Sonic says it's okay, then…"

Knuckles just growled, turning to stomp away. Rouge followed at a smug trot, with Rotor quickly running up to walk beside her—while staring at her the whole time. Tails glumly followed them, while Mecha trailed at a distance.

It was because of this, that no-one but he heard a highly-amused, synthesized voice emit from the trees. "Gosh Mecha, I didn't know you could do such a good impression of me!" It taunted.

The organic hedgehog ground his teeth together. "Shut. Up. Just shut up."

A silent laugh was the only reply.

Stoney: ……And, I'm back.

Sonic: Where in the name of the Entities WERE you all this time?! Do you know how long I've been waiting to find out what happens?!?!

Stoney: Yes.

Sonic:…

Stoney: Truth is, I had to battle my way through an epidemic of Writer's Block. This story's ending is finished, but the middle portion isn't. I've been having difficulty finding ways to connect what I'm writing now with the already-finished ending, and it's slowed me down WAAAAY more than it should have. Bleh.

Shadow: Well, you'd better hurry it up. How come I didn't appear a single time in this chapter? And when are you going to write more of MY What If story? You're beginning to irritate me.

Stoney: Looks like I picked an appropriate chapter title, then.

Shadow: Ha ha. Answer me before I Chaos Spear you to an early grave. I mean it.

Stoney: The next chapter of your story is nearly done, geez! I'm just doing the finishing touches.

Sonic: Which, as we all well know, could take months.

Stoney: Ah, shut up.

Sonic: (looks at Shadow) Shall we?

Shadow: (Nods) With pleasure.

(They both jump Stoney at the same time, pin him down, hog-tie him, and drag him offscreen.)

Stoney: Hey! Ow! Where are you taking me? Let me go! OH NO! NOT THE CHEESE GRATER! PLEASE, ANYTHING BUT THAT! NO, NOO, NOOOOOOOOOOO!

(Several loud crashing sounds are heard, then silence. Shadow and Sonic walk back onscreen, giving each other high-fives.)

Sonic: That was quite possibly the most satisfactory thing I've done yet. Besides saving the world, of course.

Shadow: Of course.

Sonic: Well, I'm off to my trailer. This script format sickens me.

(Shadow shrugs)

Shadow: I don't really care either way. See you at the barbeque later?

Sonic: Wouldn't miss it!

(They walk off in separate directions.)