TatlTails: Haha, thank you!

Nova Lioness: Thank you!

Nate the Werehog: Stop giving me ideas… *writes down possible future story idea*

Chidori99: They are a pretty awesome team nonetheless xD

jordylill777: I know right xD Well, here's the next update!

ShadowyChica: Thanks buddy, glad you enjoyed it!

Thunder Croft: Thanks, the whole Shadow and Knuckles teamwork thing is completely tubing off of me xD It's ok, lots of my reviewers have been busy lately.

Chapter 12

"So, the robot fuel will be like a gas for the machine?"

"Yeah, that's how it's supposed to function. Eggman's robotic fuels from his badniks are able to generate enough energy to keep this machine running for days. I doubt that the changing process will take that much time for Sonic to turn back into an adult hedgehog, but we can't be too sure right?" Tails stated, tightening some loose bolts on the large, metallic contraption. Knuckles stepped up, placing his hand on the lever that was meant to activate the machine.

He really wondered if this machinery could actually reverse the effects of the baby ray. Sure, Tails had made impressing inventions in the past like the Tornado and the Tails rocket, but some of the two tailed fox's inventions were far from working. The chance was one in one-thousand for it to work.

"Alright, that should be able to hold the main engine down for a while… Oh, hey Sonic!" Tails greeted as a crawling baby entered the room.

Sonic giggled as he maneuvered his way to Tails. "Aba?" Sonic asked in curiosity, pointing at the fox's wrench. Tails just patted his tiny, spiked head while pointing his finger over to Knuckles. The blue hedgehog clapped his small hands together. "Aroo…" Sonic cooed, crawling toward the echidna's open gloved hands.

"So…what's next on the list?"

"We need some berries, though not just any berries. We need Acara berries," the fox explained as he brought out a picture on his laptop, "They are said to hold the power of shape-shifting, a very unique berry in the aspect of having a super power. The only downside to it is that it's highly rare nowadays. There are very few places where you can find an Acara berry in Mobius, hah, why they only exist on plant reservations! Though, it is possible that Blaze the Cat might now where these berries may exist in her dimension…"

Knuckles gave the prodigy a blank stare.

"Isn't Blaze back at her home dimension?"

"Correct, but, Silver can take you there. Since the two share a strong companion bond like how Sonic does with Blaze, the white hedgehog surely has the access of getting there. Of course, Silver's been on a constant roam after this evil demon called 'Mephiles', so he doesn't stay put in any particular area… You and Shadow will have to search on your—"

The fox nearly dodged a punch that fractured his laptop.

The red guardian growled in annoyance. There was no way, in hell, that the echidna would work with that black menace AGAIN. One time was enough…

"Aw, and I just bought that things last month!" Tails sighed as he wrote down a note to buy a new one.

"Tails, we've been through this…there is no way in HELL that I'm going to be working alongside that lab rat again…"

The two tailed fox sighed. "Look, if it helps, Amy and Rouge can come along. I'll even let you guys take Sonic along since the need for adventure still burns in his tiny body. Though no matter what, Shadow will have to come along. You need his chaos powers to make the journey a lot easier than what it really should be," Tails explained as he tried to control Knuckles from raging. The echidna just growled in irritation. 'Come on, please? Do it for Sonic!" the fox begged.

Knuckles just grumbled as let out a barely audible 'fine'.

'Thanks Knuckles, now hurry and get everyone! I'll stay here and do further research on more ingredients we need," Tails waved as the echidna made his way out the door.

x-x-x-x-x

From atop, four eyes watched upon the two figures as Knuckles left the fox's house.

"My, my, this won't do at all! Come, Cubot, we must report this to the doctor IMMEDIATELY!" Orbot announced as the red marked robot pressed one of the buttons on Cubot's back.

"YEEHAH!" the yellow robot exclaimed as he hovered off, turbo speed.

Orbot sighed, "We must get your voice chipped fix while we're at it…"

x-x-x-x-x

So, as Knuckles gathered his err…pals, possible crush, and Shadow, the five mobians set off to find this so called "Silver the Hedgehog" guy out there on Mobius. Amy was quite sensitive on the topic of bringing Sonic along with them, but nonetheless, the baby hedgehog still shared that spark of adventuring his young adult self had within.

Shadow and Knuckles were leading from the front, sending death glares at each other as usual, Sonic and Amy were right behind them, and Rouge lagged at the back of the group keeping a close eye on possible jewels nearby.

"I hate you…"

"Cheers, so do I."

"I'm going to punch myself for being with you."

"Go ahead, I need entertainment."

"You know what? FU—"

"KNUCKLES! Watch your language, we have a child with us!" Amy hissed, kicking the back of the echidna's legs. Sonic giggled cutely.

The red echidna breathed in air through gritted teeth. Purple eyes stared back at green ones. "I was going to say 'fudge nuggets' ok? Besides, this fanfic needs excitement either way…" Knuckles stated, flatly. The group of mobians just stared at the echidna strangely. The hell was he talking about, a possible fourth wall breaking? Nonetheless, the three figures left the problem alone as Sonic began to let out a small whimper.

"QUICK, COVER ALL OF YOUR EARS!" Knuckles exclaimed as a thought struck him.

"Wait…I don't have ears…" the red echidna laughed embarrassingly as the group fell down to the ground dramatically.

Sonic let out a tiny whine as his peach colored arms covered his eyelids. "What's wrong sweetums?" Rouge asked as the blue hedgehog pointed at Shadow. "Ba!" Sonic said, bouncing up and down. The group just stared in curiosity. "BAAAA!" Sonic began to cry. As Shadow stepped forward, the blue hedgehog caught hold of the ebony hedgehog's golden inhibitor rings on his wrist. "Oooh…" the baby hedgehog cooed, staring at them in curiosity.

Rouge and Amy awed at the cuteness, Shadow blushed at the situation, and Knuckles couldn't help but burst out in complete laughter. Then, like lightning escaping the clouds, Rouge slapped the laughing echidna hard enough for him to land on the ground.

"How dare you laugh at such a cute sight, KNUCKIE!" the white bat exclaimed with a 'humph' noise following shortly.

"Um, thanks Rouge, but I would appreciate some help here…" the black hedgehog said as he tried to pull his hand away from the tiny baby hedgehog that was still clinging at the inhibitor ring.

The bat laughed as she strode over to Sonic.

Then, without any warnings, the bat lightly nuzzled the blue hedgehog's neck making Sonic laughed.

It was then that the baby hedgehog let go of the ring and fell back into Amy's arms, still being attacked by Rouge's nuzzling. "Who's a cute baby? You are! Yes, you are sweetheart!" Rouge said as she kept up the nuzzling. Sonic just continued to laugh. "Ba!" the baby hedgehog exclaimed as the white bat stopped her actions. Sonic held a tiny smile on his face. Amy couldn't help but release a tiny giggle while Shadow just let out a tiny 'humph' from his mouth as he crossed his arms together.

"Alright everyone, let's go!" Rouge clapped as she began to push Knuckles, who had picked himself off the ground, forwards.

"Ow, quite your dang shoving bat!"

"Now, now Knuckie, let's not be hasty! I do have quite some advantages at this poi—"

"DON'T YOU DARE, OR I'LL BITE YOU!"

The albino bat giggled once more. How she just loved playing around with the easily enraged echidna.

Behind them, Shadow and Amy followed as Sonic soon became developed into sleepiness.

x-x-x-x

It was soon night time, and the gang was nearly asleep. Knuckles couldn't help but stay up a little longer as he kept an eye on Sonic who was napping in Amy's sleeping bag.

"I always found Sonic to be the type who didn't need any protection. He always knew how to handle the problem in his own hands, even if it consisted of a little bit of some rule breaking. Now, man now, he can't even be trusted alone in the kitchen…" Knuckles paused, "Sometimes, I wonder if the guy gets scared at doing it. I'm pretty sure with all the heroic smiles Sonic makes; there has to be a catch to it…"

The red echidna looked up at the starry sky, "Tikal…you must've been scared too right? I mean, you had to put up with your father's rage of war while you wished for peace among the tribes. Though, you broke out of your comfort zone to protect your father from his own greed, man, you didn't deserve that horrid fate. You deserved a chance at life. I'm pretty sure you never even got to do the things outside of Angel Island. Ha, I bet you never even got the chance to love, or perhaps…you did. You just never got to tell him how you felt."

Suddenly, the fire of the camp took form. Knuckles picked himself up. It was then revealed that the fire itself, took form of Tikal's body. Her whole figure was covered in an orange hue.

"I see, someone's being a little nerve wracking…" Tikal giggled, "What's the problem?"

"Geez Tikal, you've got to stop doing that whole shape shifting thing without telling me!"

"Sorry Knuckles, but when I heard you talking about me; I knew something was up. Care to talk?"

The guardian sighed as he let out a sigh.

"Sonic—"

"The friend you keep on jabbering about?"

"…Yeah, well you see, the guy has done all this heroic stuff all his life, but I wonder if Sonic's at least a little scared of sacrificing his life just for the good of Mobius."

"Wouldn't you be?"

"I guess…"

Tikal rolled her eyes, placing her gloves hands on her wrist. "Still a hardheaded guy, I see… Come on Knuckles, I'm pretty sure it's obvious that Sonic's scared. He might not show it on the outside, but inside Sonic's just another scared soul just hoping that his plans don't backfire on him. When my father was ready to launch the attack, I felt the same way as well. Confident on the outside, scared to death on the inside," the female echidna said as the fire began to shrivel back and forth. It was then that Tikal vanished, unable to hold her fiery form any longer.

Knuckles was deep in thought before a loud yawn escaped his mouth. Yup, time for bed… Glancing back at Sonic, the red echidna smiled as he drifted off into dreamland.

To Be Continued

WELL I WAS GOING TO SUBMIT THIS ON THE DAY I GOT BACK TO SCHOOL, but I decided to be nice ad upload it now. I have a feeling; I'll regret doing this xD

Shadow: Regret you'll shall.

Hey, where are my usual co-hosts?

Shadow *opens up closet door to reveal Sonic and Knuckles* They are a little tied up at the moment…

Ah, I see, well they'll get free on their own time. So, I guess none of you visited my profile of why this story went on hiatus. It went on hiatus because I decided to work on my new story A Reason to Smile. It's going great so far; I'd recommend all of you to read it, but I don't know if you guys enjoy reading an AU story.