A/N - Hello again. Time for the next chapter! But first:

Guest - Yeah Sonic and Knuckles usually get on reasonably well - later! In the games canon their first meeting was quite stormy. This was true in other media too. Who am I to change what works?

Stallion6 of Deviantart - How did the Angels get to the Floating Island you ask? That will become clear before this arc ends, have no fear.

evansadamd - Oh I'd love to see this animated. Maybe if someone does it they can get Tom Baker to do the 4th Doctor's voice and Jaleel White to do Sonic!

Zero the fox - Let me see, so if I'm interpreting your note properly you want Sonic and Knuckles to fight, correct? Well I hope you like this chapter though I warn you, I am NO GOOD at writing out those kinds of fight scenes! (I still try anyway).

weekj2001 - Thank you for your comments. I'm glad you liked the Gallifrey arc and the original characters too. Yes, the game was called "Time Warp" and you likening it to Dodge Ball is not a bad observation. When I wrote that chapter I was going to put in some "Rocky Horror" jokes with it but realized that no one on Gallifrey would know what that was, so the only reference that survived was Sarah Jane's quip asking if the game was "a jump to the left and a step to the right" which none of the other characters understood. Probably just as well.

The Doctor - You know, you're at least the third reviewer to ask about whether the Daleks will be showing up in this story, and each time all I can say is "maybe, wait and see!" Glad you like the story so far.

As always, standard disclaimer: Neither Doctor Who nor Sonic the Hedgehog belong to me. Doctor Who is property of the BBC. Sonic The Hedgehog SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only things that are mine are the story itself and any original characters I might come up with. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.

47 – RETRIEVAL

It didn't take long for the group to figure out their plans. Then the Doctor and Tails put the TARDIS into flight. As it took off the Master Emerald disappeared from the console room, staying behind on the Floating Island. The TARDIS quickly traced the signal from Sonic's communicator and after only a minute or so it began to land. However as it did so the Doctor flipped extra controls.

"I'm arranging for the TARDIS to be cloaked when it lands" he said to the others, "no one will see it."

"You mean it'll be invisible?" asked Knuckles.

"I believe I just said that" said the Doctor as the TARDIS finished landing, "now we're here. Let's see what's outside."

The Doctor activated the view screen and the four occupants of the TARDIS saw the very semi-arid area of the distant Mobian past. Not too far away they saw Dr. Robotnik still looking around and occasionally shouting into a useless communicator. Near him was a large gnarled thicket – presumably where Sonic and Bunnie were hiding.

"We have arrived" said the Doctor.

"Robotnik really can't see us" said Tails in some wonder.

"Of course not" said the Doctor who turned back to the console and activated Tails' communicator again.

"Sonic we're here" the Doctor said in a low voice, "but don't look for us. The TARDIS is cloaked right now. She will reveal herself after Robotnik has been neutralized. Here's what I need you and Bunnie to do..."

Sonic and Bunnie both listened to the Doctor and nodded their heads.

"This'll be fun" whispered Sonic to Bunnie, "do you want to go first, or should I?"

"Let me sugah" said Bunnie, "you'll be able to add to anything ah do."

"You got it" said Sonic.

"Just remember to stop when I tell you to" said the Doctor, "you're not the only ones who want a piece of Dr. Eggman." Both Sonic and Bunnie had to stifle their laughter at that but they agreed. "Good" continued the Doctor, "I'll be watching and will let you know" and he broke the connection.

"Who came up with 'Eggman' anyway?" giggled Bunnie, "ah forget."

"Tails says the Doctor made up the name based on something Sarah Jane said when she saw Robotnik for the first time" said Sonic in a low voice, "it sure does fit, doesn't it?"

"Oh yeah" said Bunnie, "wish me luck. Here ah go."

She stepped out from behind the gnarled thicket while Robotnik was facing away from her. Extending her prosthetic arm she tapped him on the shoulder with her robotic hand. Robotnik gave a yelp of surprise and swung around while Bunnie quickly retracted her arm.

"You!" he exclaimed upon seeing her, "what are you doing here?"

"Ah don't know" Bunnie replied in a dangerously sweet voice, "just sort of hanging out ah suppose, what about you?"

"What do you know about this place?" demanded Robotnik.

"Looks like a desert kind of area" said Bunnie, "ah thought you'd know about it seeing as how you brought us here."

"I?" said Robotnik sounding shocked, "I did nothing of the sort. You did this – you and your wretched Freedom Fighters."

"Did we now?" asked Bunnie, "well if we did why would ah come to this place too? Don't you think ah got better things to do than hang around some lonesome desert-like place with a big ol' fatty like you?"

"How DARE you!" roared Robotnik at Bunnie.

"She just speaks truth to power Doc" said Sonic emerging into sight next to Bunnie.

"I should have known you would be behind this you miserable hedgehog" said Robotnik.

"Well I was certainly behind you" said Sonic, "it's kind of hard not to be behind you considering how big you are, Egg Belly."

"I've had enough of you – both of you" exclaimed Robotnik as he whipped out a blaster, "I don't know how we're here but I'll at least be rid of you. Then I'll deal with getting home."

"Somehow I don't think so 'Buttnik" said Sonic. He grabbed Bunnie, pushed her to one side and said a quick "get under cover" and then began to run at a speed much too fast for Robotnik to be able to track him. But he didn't run away. He ran around Robotnik in a tight circle getting faster and faster as he went until he began to create a mini-tornado with the winds that his speed was kicking up. Robotnik was not able to stand up to the force of those winds and soon he was being hopelessly spun around and around where he stood.

"Stop it!" yelled Robotnik with some difficulty as he was spun around, "stop it! STOP IT!"

"That's very good" said the Doctor softly to Sonic, "now do give him what he wants and stop."

"Okay" said Sonic stopping suddenly where he was.

"Ahhhhhh!" said Robotnik who was so dizzy from the spinning that he was still turning crazily around trying to stop and steady himself. Before he was able to regain any control over his body he felt a tap on his shoulder, and then he was forcibly turned around to find himself face to face with Sarah Jane Smith.

"Hello" said Sarah Jane pleasantly while raising a hand, "nice to see you again." SMACK! Sarah Jane slapped Robotnik hard across the face.

"Ugh!" Robotnik cried out, staggering back from Sarah Jane, but before he could react any further he felt a hard blow to the back of his head and he fell down unconscious in the middle of a large dust cloud.

When the dust cleared Sarah Jane Smith and Knuckles the echidna were shaking hands over the body of the now unconscious Dr. Robotnik.

"Nice slap" said Knuckles to Sarah Jane, "I didn't know you could hit that hard."

"It takes proper provocation" said Sarah Jane.

"Believe me" said the Doctor who had come up to the two of them, "you don't want to be on the receiving end when that happens." He carried a bottle in one hand and handkerchief in the other. He poured some liquid on the handkerchief and then placed it over Robotnik's nose for several seconds, letting the unconscious doctor breathe in whatever was on the cloth.

"There" said the Doctor removing the handkerchief and putting it and the bottle away, "he'll be unconscious for hours. Long enough for us to get him back without him waking up inside the TARDIS."

"Once we actually get him in there" said Tails who had walked over to the Doctor's side.

"There are six of us now" said the Doctor, "I'm sure we can manage. I'll just uncloak the TARDIS – " here the Doctor pressed a button on his sonic screwdriver and the TARDIS became visible just a short distance away " – and there we are."

"So, what?" asked Knuckles, "we all grab a piece of him and drag him in there?"

"Maybe" said the Doctor with a smile, "maybe not."

"Oh joy" grimaced Knuckles.

"Hey Doctor" called Sonic coming up to the group accompanied by Bunnie, "good to see you again."

"You too, and Bunnie also" said the Doctor.

"And you little bro" said Sonic to Tails, "and Sarah Jane."

"Thank you" said Sarah Jane, "although this isn't exactly how I pictured coming back to Mobius again."

"If things always went how you pictured them life would be very dull indeed" said the Doctor, "unless you're Pablo Picasso. Now if the world were like his pictures things would certainly not be dull, although I'm not sure that would be an improvement."

"Let me guess" said Sarah Jane, "you knew him too."

"Oh yes" said the Doctor, "I was there in 1907 when he painted Les Demoiselles D'avignon and brought about the Cubist revolution in art."

"Doctor" said Knuckles interrupting, "are we going to stand here all day? Or get Robotnik moved?"

"No kidding" said Sonic, "Say Doc, who's the red guy with weird hair? How did you find him anyway?"

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here" snapped Knuckles, "and you're one to talk about weird hair, hedgehog."

"The name's Sonic red guy" came the rather short reply, "and you are?"

"Knuckles" said the echidna without adding any more.

"I see" said Sonic, "well I hate to break it to you, but your hair is weird Knucklehead."

"Really Sonic – " began Sarah Jane in a reproving tone but Knuckles didn't let her finish.

"Great manners" said Knuckles, "you don't even know me and you're already being rude. Your mother would be so proud."

"Hey!" said Sonic taking offense, "take that back."

"Use my actual name and I'll think about it" said Knuckles.

"Fine, Knux" said Sonic. Knuckles pounded his fist into his other hand.

"You're really asking for it" he said.

"Now, now" said the Doctor, "we're all friends here, aren't we?"

"You tell me" said Knuckles to the Doctor, "I'm not the one who started with the attitude."

"You sure got a short temper though" said Sonic with a wicked grin, "winding you up is fun."

"Sonic you only just met him" said Bunnie, "leave the guy alone."

"Start anything with me hedgehog and you'll find yourself splattered all over the landscape" growled Knuckles.

"Oh yeah?" shot back Sonic balling his hands into fists, "I'd like to see you try. I'm not the fastest thing alive for nothing."

"Very convenient if true" said Knuckles, "that must be very helpful in running away from fights."

"Ooh, that does it!" exclaimed Sonic whose feet began running in place almost of their own accord.

"No Sonic!" yelled Tails, but it was too late. Sonic began to run straight at Knuckles who didn't move. The echidna calmly raised his fist and Sonic avoided it only by changing direction at the very last second.

"Nice try" called Sonic as he began to run circles around Knuckles getting faster and faster until he was just a blue blur.

"We should stop this" said Sarah Jane to the Doctor.

"Not yet" said the Doctor calmly, "I think those two need to play this out."

Sonic was running so fast that a new tornado was forming around Knuckles yet the echidna still didn't move, nor did the winds Sonic was generating seem to be affecting him at all. Suddenly he punched his fist into the tornado and there was a loud "crack." Next thing everyone knew Sonic was lying flat on his back, the wind knocked out of him. But the impact had affected Knuckles too. Some of Sonic's speed hit Knuckle's fist and caused Knuckles to spin around a few times before he regained control of himself. By then Sonic was back on his feet. He looked at Knuckles with both anger and a new respect.

"Lucky shot" Sonic said "let's see how well you stand up against this!" And with that Sonic went into a spindash and launched himself at Knuckles who barely had time to get into a defensive stance before Sonic hit him. This time it was Knuckles who was thrown to the ground.

"Not so tough now are you, eh Knucklehead?" said a smirking Sonic. Knuckles jumped back up.

"I can take you any day" said Knuckles, "you may be fast but I can sure hit harder than you and I can spindash harder than you too!" As if to prove his point Knuckles began his own spindash, but Sonic was ready and also went into a spindash. The two irresistible forces collided and both Sonic and Knuckles were sent flying in opposite directions. They both landed on their feet and went charging at each other again.

Suddenly there was an earsplitting screech of high-pitched sound that caused both combatants to abruptly stop and clap their hands over their ears. Everyone else in the area did the same, except for –

"That's enough!" yelled Tails as he flicked the switch on his own sonic screwdriver which he was holding up above his head. The sound immediately stopped.

"Grab them" Tails said to the others. Bunnie came forward and wrapped her arms around Sonic while it took both the Doctor and Sarah Jane to restrain Knuckles once he got over his shock from the sound. Neither Sonic nor Knuckles was able to break free and after a moment they both calmed down, though they continued glaring at each other. The Doctor looked at Tails in amazement.

"Where were you hiding your screwdriver?" asked the Doctor, "you weren't carrying it in your hand."

"It was tucked inside one of my tails" said Tails.

"In one of your tails?" asked Sarah Jane raising an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah" said the fox, "when I don't use them for flying I can carry things in my tails if I need to. Comes in very handy."

"I'll bet" said the Doctor with a smile before turning to address both Sonic and Knuckles, "well you heard Tails, enough is enough. And don't either of you say 'he started it.' Knuckles, you control that temper of yours and Sonic, it really is rude to insult someone you've only just met."

"We should all be friends" said Tails, "We all hate Robotnik, right? And those Weeping Angels too, right?"

There was a tense silence and then Sonic visibly relaxed.

"Right" he said, "I was a bit out of line. I apologize – Knuckles."

"Thank you" said Knuckles, "and I'm sorry I let my temper run away with me."

"It's okay" said Sonic as Bunnie released him and the Doctor and Sarah Jane released Knuckles, "I'll say this – that's one heck of a punch you got. I haven't been hit that hard in ages."

"Are you okay?" asked Tails sounding a little worried.

"Nothing I can't handle little bro" said Sonic before turning back to Knuckles, "anyway I liked how you handled old Robuttnik there, you and Sarah Jane both. The look on his face was priceless."

"You softened him up for us" said Knuckles.

"Good" said the Doctor, "now why don't you two shake hands and make friends?"

"I'll shake your hand" said Knuckles, "but whether or not we'll be friends remains to be seen."

"Got that right" said Sonic as he and Knuckles shook hands, "but at least we won't be enemies."

"Now if that's all settled" said the Doctor cheerfully, "let's get Dr. Eggman, I mean Robotnik, into the TARDIS. Wait here a second."

The Doctor went back to the TARDIS and after a moment returned pushing a large moving cart.

"Let's get him on here" said the Doctor, "no need for us all to strain our muscles carrying him."

The Doctor, Sarah Jane, Bunnie, Sonic, Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails all grabbed different parts of Dr. Robotnik and lifted him up. Even with all six of them working together it was still difficult to put Robotnik on the cart, but after a few tries they did it.

"Why did you call him 'Eggman'?" Knuckles asked the Doctor after they got Robotnik on the cart.

"It's a nickname Sarah Jane and I came up with for him the last time we were on Mobius" answered the Doctor, "he really hates it but it fits him well, don't you think so?"

"I do" said Sonic from his place, "I mean just look at him!" Knuckles did look at Robotnik's body more carefully. Then he grinned.

"Good point" he said.

Using the cart the Doctor and the others were able to move Robotnik easily to the TARDIS. Once inside the ship the Doctor, with Tails' help, sent the TARDIS into the vortex.

"Come with me" the Doctor said returning to the cart and pushing it towards the door that led further into the TARDIS. Everyone followed him as he pushed the cart deeper into the TARDIS.

"Where are we going?" asked Tails.

"The medical bay" said the Doctor, "it should be right here" he added turning into another room which did indeed turn out to be the medical bay.

"Now" said the Doctor, "first I'll treat any injuries he may have and then I'll make him forget this whole experience. Hopefully when he wakes up he'll simply think he was just dreaming, or sick, or both."

No one said anything in response to this so the Doctor checked over Robotnik's body and used some very advanced technology to heal any wounds he might have suffered from either Sonic, Sarah Jane, or Knuckles. Once that was done he pressed both of his hands to Robotnik's head and concentrated briefly before looking up.

"There" he said, "I've removed the last few hours from his mind – well not actually removed them completely, just blurred them so he'll think they were a dream when he wakes up. Now let's get him back."

The Doctor pushed Robotnik's cart out of the medical bay and back to the TARDIS console room. He and Tails then set the controls to take them back to Robotropolis allowing to arrive in real time from when they left according to the TARDIS' internal chronometer. That would mean they would have been gone from the Mobian present for less than an hour.

Sure enough the TARDIS materialized at exactly the right time (for once) and in the right place, which was inside Robotnik's headquarters right outside his private bedroom. The Doctor motioned for everyone else to stay inside the TARDIS before opening the doors and pushing Robotnik's cart out of the ship where he found a rather unhappy looking Snively waiting for him.

"Oh dear" said Snively, "you found and retrieved my uncle. I was so hoping he was gone for good after he encountered that angel statue."

"You saw it?" asked the Doctor.

"Yes" said Snively, "for an instant, but it was gone when I blinked – and so was my uncle."

"You're remarkably calm about that" said the Doctor.

"There are many strange things on Mobius" said Snively, "I thought this was just one I hadn't seen before."

"Well you're lucky it didn't take you too" said the Doctor, "you would have found yourself stranded in the distant past with no way to return. That's what Weeping Angels do to their victims. I know what you're thinking: maybe you could harness their power and use it for your own ends. Well you can't. Weeping Angels take orders from no one and serve no masters except themselves."

"Then what can we do?" asked Snively.

"Leave them to me" said the Doctor, "your only concern right now is seeing to it that when your uncle wakes up he thinks he just had a bad dream or was sick."

"Oh don't worry about that" said Snively with a contemptuous snort. He snapped his fingers and a couple of Swatbots came up to him. Snively pointed at Dr. Robotnik. "Put Dr. Robotnik to bed in his private quarters." The Swatbots obeyed, lifting Robotnik's body up off of the cart. This took some visible effort (even for them) but they soon had the body off of the cart and carried it out through another door.

"If there's any footage of the angel delete it before Dr. Robotnik wakes up" said the Doctor.

"I will" said Snively with a sigh, "I'll also erase any evidence that you returned just now, although honestly I wish you hadn't brought my uncle back."

"He had to come back" said the Doctor firmly, "his destiny is here. If I'd left him in the past he could have done all sorts of damage. You yourself might not exist now as a result."

"Yes, yes" said Snively with some impatience, "I know the theories of meddling with time and causing alternate realities. I won't debate it with you. I'll do what has to be done. Just, just go Doctor."

"Good luck then" said the Doctor, giving Snively a wave and then turning around and pushing the cart back into the TARDIS. As soon as the doors were shut the TARDIS dematerialized.

"That's that" said the Doctor to the others, "now we need to – " Before he could finish the Doctor was cut off by the blaring of a loud alarm from the TARDIS console.

"What's that?" yelled Sonic over the din.

"It's the alarm from the Master Emerald" called the Doctor, "the Weeping Angels have returned to the Floating Island!"

(To Be Continued)

A/N - If you want to see Les Demoiselles D'avignon, the 1907 painting by Pablo Picasso that the Doctor mentioned in this chapter just search for it online and it will come right up. It is still a somewhat disturbing picture even today.