Disclaimer: I don't own anything besides my ideas.
Chapter 6
Naruto was running along the hallways of the FF base in Knothole Village while cursing under his breath. He'd been called to a meeting today along with the other members of the Freedom Fighters, and this would be his first one as an official member of the Knothole Freedom Fighters. Apparently the team was going to go over some new strategies for fighting Robotnik as well as how to better their own defenses. Unfortunately, Naruto's alarm clock must have broken sometime during the night and he was running a few minutes late.
"Relax Naruto, I don't think a few minutes is going to turn you into the next Kakashi," Kurama chuckled amusedly at his host's panic.
'Shut up furball! I just recently became an official member of this team and I wanna make a good impression. Last I checked, being late to important meetings was the exact opposite of that!' Naruto rebuked before skidding to a halt in front of the meeting room Tails had shown him during his tour. Straightening up to try and look casual, Naruto opened the door to walk in only to be greeted by the sight of Sonic hopping up into the air in his patented spin-dash. Walking over to the table where the other FF members minus Tails were seated at, Naruto asked, "What's up with Sonic?"
Turning to him Sally said, "Ah Naruto, so glad you could join us." You could practically hear the chiding in her voice so Naruto decided to play it cool.
"Um, sorry I'm late, my alarm must have broken last night," Naruto mumbled embarrassed. Yeah, smooth is not his strong point.
"Pft, Ah bet you just slept through eet. Your snoring could drown out a stampede, let alone thee alarm clock," Antoine scoffed.
Ignoring Naruto's glare at the French coyote, Sally turned back to Sonic and said, "At any rate, I'm sorry your request was denied Sonic but that's democracy in action."
"But it's a perfect plan, any fool can see that!" Sonic argued.
'What plan?' Naruto wondered.
"Keep listening, I'm sure it'll come up," Kurama advised.
Sure enough, Sonic's plan was revealed to have him get purposefully caught by Robotnik and have himself Roboticized. Using a device the FF had developed earlier, Sonic would retain his free will and use the mechanical enhancements being Roboticized would give him to take down the mad doctor and his empire once and for all.
'Am I the only one who sees that plan as half baked?' Naruto thought, seeing several gaping holes in the plan. For starters, while Robotnik seems like a bumbling buffoon, the ninja doubted he got to where he is by being stupid. If Sonic, someone who has easily both defeated and avoided him for years was to just suddenly get captured, he would probably suspect something was amiss. Plus there was no guarantee that instead of Roboticizing the hedgehog, the tyrant wouldn't just make a big public execution of him just to be safe. Finally, even if Sonic became significantly stronger, the blonde doubted he could defeat an entire empire on his own.
"Trust me, you're not the only one. If I didn't know better, I'd think a younger you would be the one to come up with that plan," Kurama deadpanned.
'You can be a real jerk sometimes, you know that?' Naruto deadpanned right back at the Tailed Beast.
Apparently the other FF members thought the same as the two dimensional travelers, as they all gave reasons why Sonic's plan was denied. Finally relenting that he was outvoted, Sonic left the meeting room in a huff. Antoine suggested that the speedster should be monitored, but Sally shot that idea down claiming that Sonic was anything but disloyal. So intent in their discussion, none of them noticed a curtain whiskered blonde left the room shortly after the hedgehog.
"Where do you think you're headed?" Kurama asked the blonde as he hopped from rooftop to rooftop, even though the ancient fox had a good inkling.
'I'm going to catch up with Sonic and see what he's up to,' Naruto replied mentally, trying to spot the blue speedster.
"I thought Sally said she didn't want him to be monitored? And here I thought you wanted to make a good impression with these guys."
Naruto rolled his eyes as he caught signs of where Sonic sped off to by the trail of dust still floating above the ground. 'I know that stupid, I just want to make sure the guy's okay. He looked pretty upset after that meeting after all, and I know how impatient people like him can take it being rejected like that.'
"Speaking from personal experience, eh?" Kurama chuckled.
'…Kind of, yeah,' Naruto admitted, causing Kurama to balk as he figured that would have gotten a rise out of the dimension-displaced shinobi. Hearing that, Naruto elaborated, 'Look, I know I've not been the cleverest person in the world nor the most humble, but even I can admit that I can be a hothead a lot of the time. But that is what makes me the best person to talk to Sonic right now because he's acting like I tend to.'
"…You've really matured, Naruto," Kurama mused, impressed.
Naruto grinned, 'Not really, it's just that going through all I have with the war and everything helped give me some perspective. I doubt I'm going to be writing any psychology books anytime soon, but I can at least think a bit clearer on things. I also think what Itachi told me about not handling everything on my own kind of stuck with me, ya'know?'
"Well at least one of those Uchihas had more than their own ego behind those eyes of theirs. Anyway, I think that blue hedgehog is over there if I'm sensing him right," Kurama then narrowed his eyes and growled, "And he's not alone. Judging by the intent I'm sensing, I doubt it's a friend with him
Trusting the Tailed Beast's judgement, Naruto also narrowed his eyes and stealthily made his way over to the building that he recognized from the tour as the FF's fitness center. Sticking to the shadows, Naruto saw the door open and the figure who emerged was definitely not Sonic. The Mobian who came out was purple in color with white on the face. Judging from the body structure, Naruto guessed that the person was male, and had the physical characteristics of a weasel. He wore brown gloves, a brown hat, brown shoes, and finally a brown belt wrapped around his waist. Over his shoulder he seemed to be carrying a package of sorts, and he was the one who had the wicked intent Kurama sensed earlier.
Naruto got closer and to his shock noticed that the package he was carrying was actually and unconscious and bound Sonic! Growling under his breath, Naruto got ready to jump the kidnapper. "Wait Naruto, you need to plan this out!" Kurama warned as he felt his friend was about to do something both stupid and drastic.
'No time! I have no idea who this guy is, and by the time I get the others to come up with a full plan Sonic could be either long gone or dead!' Naruto stated firmly as he stealthily crept closer and closer to the weasel.
Seeing his opportunity right before the criminal got on a strange looking vehicle with his unconscious cargo, Naruto made a break for it. Using his ninja speed and reflexes, Naruto was able to get behind the weasel and held a kunai to his throat. "Drop him and put your hands in the air," Naruto growled dangerously while keeping a firm grip on the knife.
The Mobian gulped, "W-who are you supposed to be?!"
"The one telling you to drop Sonic now," Naruto stated coldly.
Slowly, the Mobian made to put the hedgehog down. However, Naruto failed to keep track of the weasel's tail and, the moment Sonic was on the ground and he prepared to knock the kidnapper out, the tail sprang forward holding a strange looking weapon that sprayed a stream of gas right into the human's face (2). Before Naruto to retaliate, his vision quickly faded to black. When he opened them again, he noticed he was inside the FF base with both Sally and Dr. Quack looking over him while the rest of the team watched worriedly from a distance.
"Naruto, are you alright?" Sally asked worriedly.
The human groaned as he sat up, rubbing his head and trying to remember what happened. "Easy kid, from the looks of things you took a blast of a very powerful sleep agent right to the face (3)," Dr. Quack warned, placing a hand on Naruto's chest to prevent him from overexerting himself.
At that, memories of what happened before he got knocked out came rushing back to him. "Never mind that, we've gotta rescue Sonic!" Naruto exclaimed as he leapt up, easily throwing the duck's hand off him.
"Wait, rescue? What d'yah mean hun?" Bunnie questioned as the other FF made their way over to their newest recruit.
"What I mean is Sonic got kidnapped!" Naruto told them urgently.
"WHAT?!" was the shout that came up from this declaration.
"Sonic was kidnapped?!" Sally repeated in a shocked state.
"Oh no, Sonic!" Tails cried while flying around in a panic.
"Who could 'ave even gotten thee drop on thee 'edgehog?" Antoine wondered, because even though he saw the blue blur as immature and his alleged rival, even the egotistical swordsman would admit Sonic was next to impossible to defeat on the battlefield.
With a grim look on his face, Naruto told the FF what he saw before being knocked unconscious. "That sounds like that no good varmint Nack the Weasel! But, wasn't he locked up after the last time he tried to attack Sugah-Hog?" Bunnie stated after Naruto described the kidnapper.
Sally, looking urgently to Rotor ordered, "Go check on Nack's prison cell! And question the guards if they saw anything in the last few days. I want to know what happened pronto!"
The walrus saluted the princess before running off towards the jailhouse while the others were left to figure out a plan of action. "We can't stand around for long. I don't know how long I was unconscious, so I've got no idea how close this 'Nack' guy is to doing whatever he plans to do with Sonic! We'll need to start tracking them and hope they don't have too much of a head start," Naruto insisted while looking ready to jump into action at a moment's notice.
Sally shook her head at this, "It's not good, Nack is notorious for owning some of the fastest land vehicles around. Knowing his reputation as a bounty hunter, I'm willing to bet Nack is hoping to cash in on the price Robotnik placed on Sonic's head. He's probably already in Robotropolis as we speak, and then Sonic will be at the doctor's mercy!"
"Even more reason we should leave now! If there's a chance to save Sonic, I'm willing to take it," Naruto rebuked.
Antoine spoke up, "If thee doctor already 'as thee 'edgehog, it might be too late to do anythink."
"Don't give up without even trying Ant!" Naruto admonished while noticing the hurt and scared look Tails now had at the thought of his best friend and hero being in the hands of the evil tyrant. "For all we know, Sonic is being held prisoner and is waiting for us to go and rescue him!"
"Enough!" Sally ordered before the argument could escalate further. "We're wasting time arguing amongst each other. We need to split into two groups. Naruto, Antoine and I will scout out Robotropolis to see if Sonic is actually there and, if possible, try to rescue him. The rest of the FF will remain in Knothole in case something happens, but keep the com channels open because I'll have Nicole radio in if things get bad."
Accepting their designated roles, the Knothole Freedom Fighters split up. Once Sally, Antoine, and Naruto were a distance away from the hidden village, Naruto asked the princess, "I noticed you were holding back something when you had the others stay back in Knothole. What do you think is going to happen?"
Sally seemed surprised at first but then took on a worried expression. "It's about Robotnik having Sonic. Knowing that madman, he'll almost certainly decide to Roboticize Sonic the moment he gets his metal grip on him. When that happens, I have no doubt in my mind that he'll use Sonic's memories to attack Knothole. If that were to happen, I'm not sure if anyone could stop a mechanized Sonic. That's why I left some of our best offensive members behind in order to either ambush Sonic or at least slow him down enough for us to help."
Nodding at the FF leader's logic, Naruto then gained a grave expression and asked, "Are you sure Robotnik wouldn't execute Sonic immediately after capturing him?"
Sally gained a panicked look at that but quickly reigned it in. "…No," she said after a few seconds of silence, "Robotnik may be capable of such tactics, but he has too much of a flare for the dramatic and is too sadistic to make it that simple. He'd want Sonic to be his mindless slave, crushing his friends instead of just dead."
"Well there's that at least, but how will we know when Ro-butt-nik is about to Roboticize him?" Naruto questioned.
Suddenly, Nicole spoke up with a beep, "Sally, my sensors are indicating a hostile incoming at great speeds from Robotropolis' direction."
With a nervous look, Antoine gulped, "That ees how!"
Suddenly, a Robian flew at the small group while firing lazers from wrist-mounted canons! This Robian was blue in color with yellow plating located at key points along its body while the hands were white in color. The eyes glowed a sinister scarlet color that matched the beings feet, and almost every part of the robot looked pointed, deadly, and menacing. Despite all this, there was no doubt as to who the Robian attacker was:
"SONIC!" Sally cried out desperately as she went diving for cover from the deadly lazer bolts.
"He has become ze Mecha Sonic!" Antoine whimpered as he was knocked out of the way by Naruto.
[All hail Robotnik!] Mecha Sonic declared in a dead sounding monotone, continuing his barrage while hovering from his rocket propelled feet.
As Naruto dodged the lazer fire, he felt something from Sonic that he felt earlier when he first met the controlled Robians during the earthquake, but couldn't place what the feeling was. He chose to ponder it later as he had to focus more on his and the other's survival. "Is there any way to stop him without permanently damaging him?" he called out to the princess.
Looking up from her hiding position, Sally answered, "There might be, but we'll need to regroup!" Turning to her dropped computer she ordered, "Nicole! Execute maneuver 'DLG. 70'!"
"Working…" Nicole hummed before suddenly multiple copies of the FF scattered over the clearing.
Antoine gasped in shock while Sally reassured him by telling them it was Nicole creating multiple holographic images to confuse their roboticized friend. The ploy worked as Mecha-Sonic started aiming for the duplicates, but he was quickly going through them. While he heard Sally discuss something with Nicole, Naruto decided to take matters into his own hands. 'These holograms are cool and all, but they're about the same as a regular Clone from back home. Let's see how he handles some Shadow Clones!'
With that, Naruto made a familiar cross seal and suddenly there were several poofs of smoke that revealed even more duplicates of the blonde. As the Shadow Clones charged Mecha-Sonic, several did a simple Transformation Jutsu to look like either Sally or Antoine to increase the Robian's confusion. As the Naruto Clones began to swarm the mechanized hedgehog, there was the sound of thrusters getting closer and closer before suddenly, Bunnie Rabbot blasted onto the scene and gave the blue robot a hard backhand with her mechanical fist. Turning to the blonde's clones, the half-Robian asked, "Y'all okay there Sugah?"
The Narutos grinned and one answered, "Never been better!" While another said, "Now let's stop Sonic before someone gets hurt, namely him!" And then they all cried out, "CHARGE!" The orange mob didn't pull any weapons or destructive jutsu out, however, as they didn't want to risk harming Sonic beyond the point of repair. Mecha-Sonic, however, had no such reservations.
Analyzing… Mecha-Sonic stated as he viewed the approaching horde that was rushing him from all sides before his upper torso started to rotate at fast speeds while his arms were held straight out, firing their lazers all the while. The literal tornado of blaster fire destroyed Naruto clones left and right, along with the landscape, while Bunnie took to the air after receiving a signal from Naruto himself.
Once the fallen hero slowed down, his arm cannons still smoking, his mechanical eyes surveyed the surrounding area that was now littered with scorched earth and burnt down trees. [Error, no life signals detected. Possible conclusion: target Naruto Uzumaki used duplicates to hide his escape.]
Mecha-Sonic was so busy with his analysis that he didn't notice the ground shifting slightly beneath him. That is, until Naruto popped right out of the ground and sent him hurtling up into the sky with a chakra-enhanced uppercut. "Bunnie!" Naruto called out.
"On it!" the Rabbot called back, appearing above the rapidly ascending Mecha-Sonic and, clutching both flesh and metal fists together, sent him right back down to Earth with a powerful spike. On the ground, Naruto quickly created two clones that grabbed one arm each before giving the original a powerful heave, rocketing him right towards Mecha-Sonic's now falling form.
'Oh, this is going to hurt,' Naruto thought right before his blonde head crashed into his roboticized friend's abdomen and sent him crashing right into a tree. Meanwhile, Naruto fell to the ground rolling while nursing the large bump that started steaming on his head. 'I was right, that definitely hurt!' Naruto groaned as he staggered back to his feet.
"I always knew you were hard headed, so thanks for proving me right," Kurama laughed from within the seal.
'Now is so not the time Kurama!' Naruto mentally shot back as he spotted Mecha-Sonic rising to his feet, murder blazing in his possessed eyes.
"C'mon Sugah-Hog! Do us a favor and stay down!" Bunnie pleaded as she went for a falling kick, using her leg's telescoping ability to lengthen the range of her attack.
[You shall all be destroyed in the name of Robotnik!] Mecha-Sonic returned as he used his booster rockets to dodge the descending leg, which shattered the tree he was standing in front of.
Before Bunnie could recover, Mecha-Sonic used his speed to get behind her and put her in a full nelson. As she tried to escape, Bunnie suddenly let out a cry of pain as a surge of electricity passed on from Mecha-Sonic right into her organic body. "Bunnie!" Naruto cried in alarm as he saw the rabbit Mobian drop in a heap, momentarily stunned from her shock treatment. "Okay Sonic, I know you're my friend and that you're being controlled right now, but now I'm gonna knock you around until you come back to your sense!" he growled as he launched himself at Sonic, using both Shadow Clones and the Substitution Jutsu to dodge the Robian's lazer fire.
As Mecha-Sonic focused on the frontal assault, Naruto used his skills as a ninja to sneak around behind the hedgehog in the hopes of knocking him out with a sneak attack. Unfortunately, Sonic had learned to be wary of sneak attacks over the course of the fight and, using his sensors to their maximum capacity, easily was able to detect Naruto. Just as the blonde leapt for his unprotected back, Mecha-Sonic once again rotated just his upper torso and grabbed the blonde by the throat before lifting him up and violently slamming him into the ground. Naruto gasped in pain as his remaining Shadow Clones were dispelled by the sudden break in Naruto's chakra.
'I don't think I've been hit that hard since Granny Tsunade!' Naruto thought in pain as his vision started to dim. Before he blacked out, he noticed Mecha-Sonic flying off once more and two shapes rushing towards him.
Several minutes later, Naruto woke up with a gasp and found himself in the Knothole Infirmary once more. 'Jeeze, twice in one day. I wonder if getting knocked out will become a thing for me in this universe?' Naruto thought sarcastically while getting up, rubbing his still slightly tender throat.
"Better get used to it until you're back to a hundred percent brat, because while not as strong as some of the foes you've faced in the past, the beings of this universe are no pushovers," Kurama advised him (4).
'Yeah, that's true. Worst part is from what I can tell I'm only still at about half my full strength, so it's probably going to take a couple months before I can really go all out," Naruto agreed as he noticed the door opening.
A relieved looking Tails flew into the room and quickly went to Naruto's bedside. "Naruto! Boy am I glad to see you're alright! From what Aunt Sally and Ant told me, I thought you might have gone into a coma or something!" the young fox greeted the blonde happily.
"Thanks Tails, but you don't need to worry, I'm stronger than I look," Naruto grinned, hoping to ease the twin-tailed Freedom Fighter's worries. Gaining a serious look, Naruto asked, "What happened while I was out?"
Also getting serious, Tails replied, "It's not looking good. When you were knocked out, Aunt Sally and Antoine were able to get you back to base while Aunt Bunnie was able to recover enough to go fight Sonic," at this he looked grim and continued, "For now she's able to hold him off, but I don't know how long that will last. Then it's almost certain that Sonic will attack Knothole!"
Getting to his feet, Naruto rolled his shoulder with a pop and stated, "Well, I guess it's time for me to get ready for round two!"
Tails looked surprised. "You're going back out already? But your injuries-"
Naruto cut him off, "I heal fast, plus besides me and Bunnie I don't think there's anyone else on the base who can fight Mecha-Sonic without someone getting seriously hurt."
At this, Tails brightened. "Actually, I was able to call in an old friend who can definitely help us! He was fortunately in the area when I was able to contact him, and he's nearly as strong as Sonic!"
"What do you mean by 'nearly' kid?" a new voice chimed in.
The two looked to the door to see a red Mobian standing in the doorway with a confident smirk on his face. His fur was bright red and done up in dreadlocks on the top of his head, while around his neck he had a white ring of fur. His shoes were red, yellow, and green with metal plating on the top and he wore what appeared to be white mittens with two spikes jutting out from the knuckles on each hand. In addition, the being gave off a fairly powerful aura and Naruto recognized that a lot of it was what appeared to be natural chakra! It was then that Naruto realized that this Mobian in front of him was almost like him in Sage Mode, except he seemed to keep it naturally flowing through his body all the time. Unlike with Juugo, however, this Mobian didn't seem to be adversely affected by it (5).
Before Naruto could figure out what all this meant, the Mobian stepped forward with a hand stretched out in greeting. "Hey there. My name is Knuckles the Echidna, guardian of Angel Island. Pleased to meet you."
Naruto, shaking himself out of his thoughts grinned and took the offered hand, mentally impressed at the strength he felt in Knuckles' grip. "Naruto Uzumaki, nice t'ah meet you as well!" he greeted.
Letting go of his hand, Knuckles stared at Naruto for a moment before nodding. "I thought so. I was going out to fight Blue right away, but as soon as Tails mentioned you I had to see this for myself. You're definitely from the same place as him, there's no mistaking a power like that," he said aloud.
An odd feeling built up in Naruto's stomach at that and he asked warily, "'Him'?"
Before any of the rooms occupants could say a word, another voice called out from the hallway, "Yo~! Why did you run off without me, Kucks~? Trying to find my way through this big place alone just sucks~!" (6)
'I know that rap!' Naruto thought in stunned amazement as he turned to the new figure entering the room. Despite looking much younger there was no mistaking that blonde-white hair, the ever present shades, and horn shaped tattoo on his left cheek. In almost a haze, Naruto weakly called out, "Bee?"
Turning to his fellow jinchuriki, the Cloud ninja gave a big grin and said, "Hey cool~! I finally found you, fool ya fool~!"
1. Begins during Mecha Madness in StH #39.
2. While it may seem that Naruto went out too easily, please keep in mind that Naruto is still recovering his full power and that Nack the Weasel is a tricky villain, having captured Sonic several times in the past. Also, Naruto was both focusing on saving Sonic and had never seen a gun before so it would be easier for Nack to take him by surprise.
3. Remember that Naruto can still get affected by poisons and sleeping agents, like when Sakura accidentally poisoned Naruto after they confronted Sasuke during the Five Kage Summit. His recovery time is better than average though, as the sleep agent used on him was designed to last twelve hours.
4. While I do enjoy some stories where Naruto goes to a new universe and starts curb stomping everyone, I'd rather do a story where Naruto gradually regains his former strength against foes that are dangerous in their own right. While some of the villains from the Sonicverse aren't as flashy or as seemingly dangerous as the ones from the Narutoverse, keep in mind that they all have their own unique strengths that could make them dangerous to even the most powerful heroes.
5. Remember how Knuckles and the other Guardians are linked to the Chaos Emerald? I figured that would be similar to being in constant Sage Mode minus the craziness that came with it for Juugo. I plan on exploring this more later in the story so keep your eyes peeled!
6. I'm going to level with you, I'm not that great of a rapper or a poet even, but I'm going to try my best when it comes to writing Killer Bee instead of some authors who just write him speaking normally. I mean come on! What's Bee without his rap talk? It'd be like Naruto without his orange or his ramen, that's what! Besides, in canon he isn't considered a great rapper anyway so I think I can get away with some bad lyrics here and there, fool ya fool!
AN: Here we are again! I'm actually really excited to be writing this chapter as it will be a one of two part story arc like in canon Sonic. Needless to say, things will be going down slightly differently this time around. For starters, Naruto actually saw Sonic getting kidnapped, so this won't cause the FF to think Sonic went off and tried to do his plan on his own. Also, I hope I made the fight scene exciting enough, cause if you read the original version of this fight you'll noticed I did things differently. I also hope my characters didn't seem to OOC, as again I'm not the best when it comes to writing out dialogue. There will be the traditional challenge chapters after this, but I'm actually getting close to writing out all the ideas in my head so hopefully I will be able to focus solely on my main stories within the next year or so.
Next chapter I plan to make epic! Now that Naruto and Bee are reunited, what will this mean? How will the fight between the FF and Mecha-Sonic go down now? What is it about Robians that Naruto feels as familiar? Why am I asking you all these questions? Tune in next chapter to find out! Until then, Read and Review!
