~Chapter 4: The Roboticization~

Sonic came to shortly, rubbing his head as he groaned. "Ugh… Hey, where am I?" he exclaimed once realising he was not where he wanted to be. Instantly Sonic jumped to his feet, looking to his left and right quickly, before hearing a bellow of evil laughter coming from his left. He saw Robotnik, now known as Eggman, entering through a door in the shadows, followed by the same violet weasel who had captured him.

"We meet again, hedgehog!" Eggman greeted with an evil grin painted on his face.

"Eggman!" Sonic hissed in response, narrowing his eyes.

"That's right, Sonic!" Eggman cackled. "And this time I finally have you! In a matter of seconds, you will be my robotic slave who will do my every bidding!"

That description clicked something in Sonic's mind, causing his eyes to widen and his pupils to shrink as he pressed his hands against the glass hard. "No!"

Eggman chortled again. "I finally have you! Now you will be… roboticized!"

"Ahem," coughed the weasel by his side. "Since I caught him for ya, I think I deserve my payment."

The round man turned to the weasel, looking down at him due to the size difference between Mobians and humans, a mad grin still fixed on his face as he stroked his moustache. "Oh, don't worry, I still have something in mind for you, Nack," he assured. Two SWATbots then grabbed the weasel, Nack, by his arms.

"Hey! We had a deal, flabio!" Nack yelled.

"I know we had a deal," Eggman acknowledged. "I'm just not a man of my word." He looked directly at the two SWATbots. "Throw him in the roboticizer."

Both robots tossed Nack in the spot beside Sonic, where the same glass cylindrical shape lowered. "This ain't right, Humpty Dumpty!" the bounty hunter snapped angrily.

Eggman bellowed out his laughter again. However, before he could start the process, Nack reached for the pistol in his holster. He seemed to grin. "Y'know, blubberbolts, always strip your victim of his weapons before throwing him into a roboticizer," he advised, shooting the top of the tube. The system above appeared to malfunction as Nack then shot the glass, causing it to crack. He kicked the cracked area as hard as he could, making an escape.

"Hey! What about me?" Sonic exclaimed.

Nack turned and looked at him. "Sorry, blue boy, but it's survival of the fittest!" he responded, running out.

"Grr," Eggman growled. "Oh well, no matter. At least I still have my arch-nemesis!" He flipped a switch.

Sonic looked at himself, feeling… fuzzy – almost like he was being electrocuted slightly. He saw himself turning robotic, noticing that it happened fast. "NO!" he screamed as he felt his mind being overtaken.

…

"Hey, Mex, if you calculate Sonic's speed, shouldn't he be back by now?" Shard asked as he sat with his brother in the hut. "In fact, he should have been back ages ago."

"Yeah… There's something not right…" Metallix agreed. "Sonic would've been back within seconds."

"Something's up," Shard confirmed, standing up. "I'm gonna go and look for him. You stay and meditate or whatever." He then flew out.

"I do not meditate…" Metallix grumbled.

…

Shard was flying around the Great Forest, seeing that it was now dark. "Sonic! Sooooniiiic!" he called. "Where the heck could that organic thingamajig be?"

…

Eggman chortled as he reopened the roboticizer. Sonic stepped out of it emotionlessly, only… he wasn't Sonic anymore. He had bulky yellow arms and red squinted eyes. His quills were still blue and his legs were also yellow and bulky. His shoes were still red and striped white, plus he had a silver muzzle and a mouth.

"Finally! The hedgehog is roboticized! He's finally my slave!" Eggman laughed menacingly. "Now I can use him to do my dirty work without anything getting in his way! He's even stronger than he was before!"

Sonic just stood before him, awaiting commands.

Eggman then calmed down. "Now, my loyal servant, return to Knothole and send me the coordinates when you get there, my Mecha Sonic!"

"Yes, master," Sonic replied in one tone, flying out of the base.

…

"Sonic! If you can hear me I have fresh Chilli Dogs!" Shard lied. He was secretly becoming deeply worried for his friend, until hearing the sound of thrusters approaching at fast speed. Shard sighed. "Mex, I told you to stay behind at the – WHOA!" He was interrupted when he was tackled down, not by Metallix, but by a different hedgebot.

Shard struggled to wrestle this robot off himself, but eventually he managed it. He got into a defence position as he hopped back on his feet, watching the other stagger up. The former Hyper Metal Sonic scanned his opponent, and was horrified at the results. "…Sonic?" he reacted.

Mecha Sonic's red eyes brightened as he scanned Shard for whatever information he would need in order to defeat him.

Model Name: Hyper Metal Sonic

Preferred Name: Shard

Weakness Notes: …

It took Sonic a moment to detect Shard's highest weak point, until finally his scanners locked onto his power gem shard.

Weakness Notes: The source of life data is stored within the power gem shard. Can be damaged upon high impact.

"Weakness detected," Sonic announced emotionlessly, whipping out his built-in arm lasers. He began to fire at Shard's power gem rapidly. Luckily lasers weren't powerful enough to destroy power gems, but this wouldn't have been Mecha Sonic's intention.

"Sonic, stop!" Shard commanded, attempting to fly away from the lasers. "It's me – Shard!"

"Hyper Metal Sonic – enemy!" Sonic responded, continuing to shoot. Shard continued to avoid the shots, deciding that he had no choice but to fight back.

"Sorry about this, Sonic," he apologized, firing at Sonic with his arm cannon. Sonic's shots were faster since he had two lasers, while Shard only had one firing appendage. He was struggling in this fight.

Shard fired at Mecha Sonic as fast as he could, trying to his areas which he thought might have been weak spots. It was no use as he was beaten down.

Sonic approached Shard, aiming at him at point-blank range. "Target elimination necessary," he confirmed, charging a final shot. Shard braced for the last move, but suddenly saw someone grab Mecha Sonic from behind and wrestle him, attempting to get him onto the ground. It was Metallix.

"Go!" Metallix yelled at Shard, a somewhat angry expression on his face.

Shard stumbled to his feet, watching Metallix struggle, too. "But, what about you?" he asked.

"Never mind me! Just go!" Metallix repeated. Seeing that Shard was hesitant on leaving, he glared at him with bright red irises. "GO!"

Shard decided to listen to his brother, flying off, his engines spluttering.

Metallix then focused on the fight when Shard had left, finding himself being thrown over into a tree. He gritted his teeth angrily, attempting to stagger back up, but soon had his throat grabbed by Mecha Sonic in an instant. Sonic aimed his charged laser at Metallix, scanning him.

"Target elimination unnecessary," Sonic announced.

"You bet, bolt-brain," Metallix growled, firing at Sonic in the chest. Sonic toppled back, but not completely. Once he had regained himself, he tried to shoot Metallix, but the blue hedgebot was too quick, flying into him and knocking him over, flying him through several trees. Sonic fought back with his hands, causing Metallix to lose balance in his flight and tumble when he crashed to the ground, still grasping onto Sonic.

"You're not hurting anybody as long as I'm around to stop you!" Metallix growled. "Even if you are really good beneath all that!"

"You will be destroyed so that I can continue my mission," Sonic stated, kicking Metallix in the chest, hitting his power gem. The hedgebot grunted quietly before finding himself on the ground, one of Sonic's feet pressing down on him. Sonic aimed at him, ready to fire, as Metallix stared at him with his deadly expression.

"Go ahead, Sonic; do it," Metallix snarled.

Sonic was about to finish Metallix, but was then contacted by Eggman.

"Wait, Mecha Sonic! Metallix could be of use!" he revealed.

Mecha Sonic stopped charging his laser, grabbing Metallix and yanking him up to his feet. He hit him as hard as he could across the head with his arm before carrying him away.

~End of Chapter~