Chapter 4

Carnival Night

It was just about five minutes past sunset when I saw Doc's hovercraft heading towards the carnival almost completely out of control. Its engines were smoking and small bursts of electricity were jumping across the mainframe. I tapped Metal Sonic on his shoulder and pointed towards the faulting ship. Mecha didn't waste any time as he flew up and started pushing on the underside of the craft, straightening out the free fall it was in. The craft steadied itself as Mecha helped bring it down safely. As soon as it touched down, Robotnik leaped from the machine and yelled so loud I was sure people on the shore a hundred miles away could hear him.

"Something wrong, Doc?" I asked casually, not really intimidated by his anger. He looked over at me with fire in his eyes. I thought he was going to jump me and maim me until I passed out. But he steadied himself and breathed a few deep breaths as he got his anger under control.

"Yes, there is something very wrong. Sonic has somehow manage to retrieve all the Chaos Emeralds!" he answered, his voice rising higher as he spoke those words. This came as a shock to me, but then I realized something that Tails had said to me back in Hydrocity. He had said that I would never get their "emerald-S". I had never heard of anyone ever recollecting any lost emeralds, much less all of them, within one day. It took years to be able to find the entrances to the dimension where the emeralds were went to. I thought about it for only a second, coming to the conclusion that the teleporters must have all been on the island.

As I looked up from my thinking, I was certain this time that I saw Metal Sonic's eyes glow brighter for just a second as he looked at me. Could the robot have it in for me for allowing Sonic to reclaim all the Chaos Emeralds again. I brushed the thought away. Logic told me that since Mecha had been with me for the entire day, there was no way that I could be held responsible since the robot had also allowed Sonic to reclaim them.

"So what if Sssonic has the emeralds again? We will just have to be craftier than he is," said Metal Sonic. Robotnik nodded slowly as he lifted his head.

"Indeed. Now that Sonic has all the Chaos Emeralds again, we will have to be smarter in order to win," said Robotnik. He then turned towards me. "Do you think you can do something to slow them down?" I didn't really know where they even were at the time, but I didn't want Doc to get angry again.

"No problem, Doc. Just leave it to me," I said, clenching my right hand into a fist.

"Very well. Mecha, stay with Knuckles in case he needs your help with something. I have a few modifications to make to my ship before I challenge Sonic again," said Robotnik. I didn't surprise me that Doc left Mecha there. After all, what better way to keep tabs on me. I still trusted him enough to allow the robot to stay. I had total confidence that Mecha wouldn't attack me, since he had no reason to. But the image of his eyes shining brighter for that brief second gave me enough of a worry to be sure and watch him more closely.

"Come on, Mecha. We need to find out where those two ended up," I said to the steel-blue robot. He hesitated as I walked in the direction of the roller coaster. "What's wrong with you?" I asked as I turned around to face him.

"Nothing that concerns you," he spat. He then looked up at the roller coaster. "I just don't exactly find this place very user friendly. I've experienced some of the worst horrors since my activation in this…amusement park." He then started to walk towards me and I started walking forward as well. I glanced back at him as we passed under the screaming roller coaster, noticing that he was watching it with a look of fear in his black and crimson eyes. I faced forward, smiling to myself.

"So, any ideas on how to catch them when they get here?" I asked.

"Yes, I do have a plan that might work. Does this place have any chilidog stands?" he asked, now walking along side me. I had to think about it. Since I don't eat chilidogs, disgusting things, I never had any reason to look for one in the carnival. But then I remembered the one that was near the Ferris wheel

"Yeah, there's one near the Ferris wheel. Why?" I asked. He looked over at me, his eyes casting their red glow on my face.

"We shall use Son- the hedgehog's favorite food against him. By luring him to the stand, it will put him in a situation where his guard will be down somewhat. This way, I can jump him with more surprise than if I were to attack him out in the open," he answered. I wondered if I had heard the plan right, because it really stunk compared to what I had in mind. Maybe that fear of the carnival was getting to him more than I had originally thought.

"You know, there might be a better way to…" That's as far as I got before Mecha looked at me, his crimson eyes as bright as headlights on a car. I immediately shut my trap when I saw how irritated he was getting. Better to have a bad plan than to end up on the robot's hit list. Metal Sonic returned his attention forward, his eyes toning down to their normal output.

"Come. We must prepare," he said as he started off in the direction of the giant Ferris wheel.

**********

"Man, check out all the cool rides!" cried an excited Tails as he and a now de-charged Sonic stood at the main gates to the carnival. The whole place had to be as big as Knothole, filled with rides and games galore. Sonic watched as the roller coaster flew high into the air during one of the loops.

"Yeah, but they're nowhere near as fast as what I'd like them to be," said Sonic. Tails looked at him with a smug face.

"It's always about speed with you. Try having fun without speed for once," said Tails. Now it was Sonic's turn to have the smug face.

"Hey, I've always felt that need for speed ever since I was able to break the sound barrier when I was three years old," said Sonic. Tails just shook his head and walked through the automatic counter and into the main area of the carnival. Before Sonic could even get through, Tails had started running towards the Carousel. Sonic watched as his friend climbed up onto a unicorn seat and rode the thing around for several rotations. Sonic walked over and climbed onto a sea serpent seat. While it was nowhere near the kind of speed he wanted, the ride was still fun never-the-less. After about five minutes of this, they both got off and started for the game area of the carnival.

"Hey, Sonic. I betcha I can get that middle cup before you can," said Tails as he and Sonic walked by a ball toss game. The whole thing was a board set with different colored cups all placed next to each other, so that the ball would skip across them and come to rest on top of one. There were a hundred cups; 85 colored white, ten colored blue, four colored red, and one colored gold in the middle.

"You're on!" said Sonic as he gathered up the twenty balls scattered about the floor inside the tent. He then gave ten to Tails and kept ten for himself. Tails tossed one out onto the cups. They went skimming across the cups, bouncing of the corners of some, then came to rest inside of a white one on the left side of the board. Sonic then tossed one onto the board, watching the ball bounce about and come to rest in a white one near the back of the board. Both of them couldn't help but smile as they both threw one at the same time, enjoying the short dance the balls made before coming to a rest in their cups.

**********

I looked up from my spying place behind the cotton candy stand near the ball toss game they were playing. I had left Mecha behind to execute his "plan" while I found out where they were. As I watched, I couldn't help but feel kind of happy myself, having always enjoyed the fun of the carnival when I was younger. I watched as they threw two balls each out onto the board, two of them coming to rest against each other just outside of the gold cup, one ball blocking the other one from entering. My rivalry with them subsided somewhat as I watched them move on to another game further down the strip. They just didn't seem like the kind of people who would be evil. I mean, they were having fun while me and Mecha were busy trying to stop them. A sudden buzz on my hand radio interrupted my thoughts, and I lifted it up to answer.

"Yeah, go ahead," I said. The radio crackled with static for a second, then cleared.

"Everything's ready on this side. Now just get them near the Ferris wheel so that they'll notice the stand," came Metal Sonic's voice over the radio. I still didn't think that Mecha's plan would work, but it was better than having the robot turn his attention towards me.

"Okay. See you in about twenty minutes," I said, breaking contact with him. I stood up and walked out into the open. I then whistled at the two friends as they were getting ready to play a game of ring toss. They both stopped and looked over at me. Sonic's eyes still had the fire of anger in them, and Tails was still afraid of me as I calmly walked out into the open.

"Hi Sonic, Tails. Enjoying the carnival?" I asked casually.

"What's it to you, Knuckles?" asked Sonic. I noted the fury in his voice, but kept my own voice level, trying to gain his trust.

"Nothing really," I said defensively. "I just wanted to know if you guys would like a tour of the place. After all, you have no clue where you two are going, anyway." Sonic relaxed slightly as he started to calm down.

"What's the catch? What kind of trap are you planning this time?" asked Sonic, with a bit of defensiveness in his voice.

"No catch. I just feel kind of bad about how I've treated you," I said as I walked up to the ring toss tent, grabbed a ring, and tossed it at the bottles. I guess it was just luck, but the ring went around one of the bottles with a clink sound.

"Nice toss," said Tails as he walked up towards the tent to get a better look at the ringed bottle.

"Thanks, kid. It's just skill and a little luck," I said. Tails may have bought the scam I was pulling, but Sonic wasn't.

"I still think your full of it," said Sonic as he crossed his arms.

"Well, if you don't believe me, then I'll stay in front of your eyes the whole time I'm with you," I said, trying to sound friendly and insistent. Sonic looked from me to Tails, who was looking at him.

"Come on, Sonic. He seems a lot nicer now. I'm not even scared of him anymore," said Tails. I smiled inwardly. I still had that knack for being able to fool even the best of instincts in anyone. Sonic looked at me, then sighed.

"All right, you can join us, but just in the carnival. You come within two feet of my pack and you will regret it to no end," warned Sonic. I looked at his pack and noticed that it was glowing ever so slightly from within. Must be where he keeps the emeralds when he's not using them. I figured we'd just take them after we jumped them, so I let it slip my mind for the time being. As we walked around the carnival, I told them about what rides were where, how they worked, and ,for Sonic's sake, how fast they ran.

As we neared the Ferris wheel, Sonic suddenly grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards the entrance to the Scrambler, a machine that sent you flying around in a seat in a way that the force from the movement of the ride would fling you to the side of the seat while it spun around in circles. I was a little reluctant, but I got on and sat in the seat that was behind Sonic, while Tails was in the seat behind me.

I had set the machine to spin for three minutes, then stop. As it started up, I could hear Sonic in the seat in front of me yelling for it to get into gear and really spin. Then the thing started to spin faster and faster. Behind me, I could hear Tails laughing and screaming loudly with delight as we spun around in circles. I had to admit, I was having quite a blast myself.

I flung my hands into the air and let out a yell of my own. In front of me, Sonic continued to yell at it to go faster. I watched as he suddenly leaped out of the restraining harness and ran along side of the machine. He then gripped the side of his seat and sped up, pushing the machine to go even faster. I heard Tails scream his approval of the now near sound breaking speed the machine was going at. I was even enjoying the rapidly spinning ride as I watched Sonic jump back into his seat.

"Now that's more like it!" he yelled over the rushing wind. I couldn't help but smile. Indeed, the ride was more fun the faster it spun. But within a minute, the timer went off and the machine slowed to a stop. We all climbed out, now slightly dizzy from the spinning. Well, at least me and Tails. I guess since Sonic could spindash, the spinning really didn't get to him like it did to us.

"Now THAT'S what I call a ride," said Sonic as he went out through the exit arch. Tails and I followed close behind. I was really starting to like hanging out with Sonic and Tails, but I still had my home to defend. But by this time, we were heading towards the Ferris wheel, and Metal Sonic. I still didn't want to see them dead, at least not yet. I guess it was good-natured side that took over at this point. I checked to make sure my radio was off, then I mock pointed towards the left.

"Sonic, I have to tell you something," I whispered. Sonic and Tails followed me out of sight of where Mecha was waiting. I then quietly told them about what Mecha was planning on doing.

"So I was right. This was a set-up!" whispered Sonic. I nodded, shame evident on my face. I looked at Sonic, not aware that my worry of how Mecha was going to react was showing on my face. He looked at me, then sighed.

"Well, since you told us about the trap, Tails and I will follow it through. We have an edge of Mecha now that you've told us about what he's planning," said Sonic. I nodded slowly.

"Sorry about misleading you," I said. Sonic then smiled at me.

"Hey, no biggie. You're all right for a rival," said Sonic. I couldn't believe he had called me a rival. I hadn't really thought about our conflict like that. We walked back out of the hiding spot, laughing like I had told them something funny. My eyes glanced towards the spot where Mecha sat in the shadows of a stand nearby, his eyes only visible if you looked really hard. He was watching me closely as we neared the Ferris wheel and the chilidog stand. It sent chills down my spine, but I didn't pay him much attention.

"Hey! A chilidog stand! All right!" cried Sonic, keeping to what he would normally say if he hadn't know it was a trap. He walked over and grabbed one of the freshly cooked chilidogs off the cart and took a bite. I watched Mecha out of the corner of my eye as his eyes lit up suddenly, his engine flaring behind him. He suddenly shot forward. Sonic was also keeping an eye on him. At the last possible second, Sonic turned towards Mecha and leaped over him, Mecha passing underneath.

I lunged at Sonic, who put the finishing touch on our joint trick as he spindashed lightly into my chest, knocking me to the ground, but not enough force behind it to actually hurt very much. By now, Metal Sonic had regained his momentum and was flying towards Sonic and Tails. I watched as they ran down the main trail and then broke off onto a side route, Mecha close behind. I then stood and brushed the dirt off my fur. We had pulled it off. I had repaid Sonic for the fun time and his help in tricking Metal Sonic into thinking that he hadn't known about the trap. I started off towards exit of the carnival, looking for a suitable place to rest for the remainder of the night, content that I had done my part for this encounter. Let Mecha and Robotnik finish it.

**********

Sonic and Tails ran down another side route as they tried to lose Metal Sonic in the maze of rides and games. Sonic then got an idea as he spied a game where there was a tennis ball cannon that you used to shoot down targets. Racing over to the game, he grabbed one of the cannons and swung it around to face Mecha, who slowed to a stop only two meters away from him and Tails.

"Back off, Mecha! This thing's, uh…a fusion cannon. One blast from this thing could put a gaping hole where your engine is!" said Sonic, trying to sound more confident than he was. Tails looked at Sonic with disbelief, trying to figure out what he was going to do with a tennis ball cannon. But Mecha didn't know it wasn't a real fusion cannon and started backing up.

"Very well, hedgehog. You have the edge now," he said as he took a couple more steps back. Sonic was getting braver the more Mecha backed up. Unfortunately, Sonic made the mistake of pulling the trigger on the cannon from excitement. A tennis ball shot from the cannon and flew at Metal Sonic, who ducked under the ball and watched it bounce away. He then turned his attention to Sonic, his crimson eyes bright with anger.

"You dare to try and make a fool out of ME!" cried Mecha as he started walking forward. Sonic pointed the cannon at Mecha and started firing off several rounds of balls. Metal Sonic tried to dodge the balls, but he was too close to really do any maneuvering. The balls struck him all over the place, some hitting him in his glass eyes, causing hair-line cracks to form on he lenses; others entering his engine intake and clogging up the air flow. As soon as the cannon was spent, Sonic grabbed Tails hand and took off, leaving a damaged Metal Sonic behind to re-stabilize his systems.

"That hedgehog will pay for this outrage!" shouted Mecha as he cleared the balls from his engine intake. He then took off after them, despite the difficulty in his visual sensors from the damaged lenses. He cruised along the ground, searching for any sign of his quarry. He then planted his feet in the ground, skidding to a halt as he saw them standing next to the roller coaster entrance. Remembering his encounter with it earlier in the day brought back the fear he had never wanted to feel again. He stood fifty feet away from the ride, not willing to take another step forward. Sonic was watching him with interest as he and Tails stood next to the entrance to he ride.

"Wonder why he stopped chasing us?" said Sonic aloud. Tails looked over at him, trying to figure out the answer himself. Then it hit him.

"He's afraid of the roller coaster. Look at how he's staring at us with that hatred look he always has, but he's unwilling to come any closer to the ride," said Tails. Sonic looked over at Metal Sonic with disbelief. Over the entire year he had been fighting the robot in combat, he had never seen him afraid of anything before, not even when he had fought him as Super Sonic.

"Well, what do ya know? Mecha's actually got a fear of something. Well, if he doesn't want to come near this ride, then I say we have some more fun before we start the chase again," said Sonic.

"You sure that's a good idea, Sonic?" asked Tails.

"Sure. If he's too afraid to come near the roller coaster, then he won't bother us while we're riding it," answered Sonic. Tails looked back at Mecha, who was still in the same spot, his eyes shining brightly with hatred.

"Okay, let's go!" cried Tails as he jumped into the roller coaster's second seat, Sonic taking a seat behind him. The safety bars clamped down on them as the cars started their trip to the top of the first hill. Metal Sonic watched them as the cars went over the side of the hill, accelerating the cars and causing the aerodynamics that had scared him stiff. Cursing to himself, he started to walk away from the ride, knowing that they would just continue to have fun while he was there. It was then that he noticed the main switch he had pulled that morning about a quarter mile down the path near the roller coaster. An idea crossed his mind as he walked back to the same spot. He watched the roller coaster as it did its final loop before coming to a stop. Sonic and Tails looked up from their seats to see Mecha still in the same spot.

"Well, he's still there. Want to go again?" asked Sonic.

"Sure!" answered an excited Tails. The ride started towards the first hill again. That's when Metal Sonic flew down to the switch and pulled it back to the off position. The lights around the carnival started winking out rapidly as the power was cut from the place. The roller coaster was halfway up the incline when it froze in place, the power no longer pushing it up the hill.

"What happened?" asked Tails. Sonic looked down to see a blue light heading towards them from about a quarter of a mile away.

"I'll give you three guesses," said Sonic. He watched as the light suddenly made a sharp turn towards the roller coaster. "And now he's not afraid of this thing one bit!" Tails started to panic as he started pushing up on the restraint, trying to get free.

"Don't waste your strength, little bro. I'll take care of this," said Sonic as he reached behind his head and grabbed two emeralds from his pack. He then clapped the two of them together, his blue flashing to hot yellow. Super Sonic pried the restraint off his lap, then flew over and pulled off Tails' restraint. Sonic looked at the blue light again, this time recognizing it as Metal Sonic with his enhanced vision, and he was within about ten seconds of reaching them. Sonic grabbed Tails and flew down and away from the pursing robot.

Sonic looked back to see Mecha trying to stay with them, his crimson eyes being the only source of light besides himself and the moon. Sonic then raced around one stand and deactivated the emeralds quickly so that Mecha couldn't track him by his glow. He then placed Tails into the relative safety of a nearby tent and told him to stay put until he got back. He then raced back out into the open. Metal Sonic had lost sight of him when he had de-charged himself, but now had him once again on his damaged visual sensors.

"So, you want to face me alone and without the emeralds. Good. I will enjoy this immensely," said Mecha as he faced Sonic.

"Like you could ever beat me, ya piece of junk," said Sonic. Mecha let our an angry shout, then charged Sonic, who dodged to the side. Mecha overshot him, tried to correct, but was knocked backwards from a spindash to the side.

"You fight well, Sssonic, but I am superior," said Metal Sonic. Sonic just stood in place with a smile on his face.

"If you are, then how come I beat you all the time?" he asked. Mecha charged him again, with the same results. But this time, Sonic's spindash caught him right in-between his left knee joint, causing the Mecha to lose his balance and fall to the ground, his left leg now crumpled inward by the attack. The robot activated his engine and rose off the ground, then turned and headed in the direction of the exit.

"You may have won this time, Son- hedgehog, but I will be back!" shouted Metal Sonic as he flew out of view. Sonic then walked over to the tent.

"You can come out now. He's gone," said Sonic. Tails walked out into carnival, his eyes having now adjusted to the dark.

"Boy, no matter how many times I see him, Mecha always sends a chill down my back," said Tails. Sonic nodded in agreement as the two of them started towards the exit on the opposite side of the park. They were almost there when they heard a familiar engine whine approaching them. Both of them turned around to see Robotnik's hovercraft approaching them, this time sporting a big brassy wheel on the underside, with what looked like huge glass balls placed in quarter increments around the wheel. The wheel was slowly turning with an even bigger glass ball held by the wheel. The wheel making a soft humming noise as it spun. Sonic and Tails spread out in different directions.

"Okay. Let's see what he does first," directed Sonic. He watched as Robotnik flew the craft into the middle of them, then dropped the giant glass ball in-between Sonic and Tails. Sonic went on the defensive. There was something that ball was supposed to do, and he had a feeling he wouldn't like it. It was then he noticed the humming noise get louder. It wasn't until his fur started to stick up that he realized what the new attachments were for. His answer came a second before the brass wheel and the ball started conducting electricity between the two of them. Sonic immediately felt a strong, electromagnetic pull occur as he and Tails started to get drawn towards the glass ball.

"Run, Tails!" yelled Sonic as he started running in the opposite direction. His feet didn't get much traction on the ground from the pull of the orb, which made him only slowly inch away from the strong pull of the machinery. Sonic then turn his attention to Tails. He wasn't as fast as Sonic, and there would be no way that his friend could stay away from the deadly electricity. His fears were confirmed as he watched Tails slowly get pulled towards the crackling electric current.

"You have a choice, Sonic. Give me the emeralds, or watch Tails become barbecue," said Robotnik, laughing loudly. But what Robotnik didn't know was that mentioning the emeralds gave Sonic an idea. Taking two emeralds out of his pack, he smacked them together above his head, his blue flushing to hot yellow. Super Sonic then turned his momentum around and shot straight towards the electromagnetic field. He then entered it, invincibility keeping the artificial lightning from electrocuting him. Sonic flew through the electrical storm and snatched Tails up in his arms just a fraction of a second before he touched the field. He then ran out of the range of the pulling force and set Tails down outside the carnival in the dense forest just outside the exit. Without saying anything, he turned around and headed back towards the craft. Robotnik was busy cursing as he lowered his ship to retrieve the ball and try again. He was so busy he didn't notice the glowing, yellow hedgehog heading straight for him. Super Sonic slammed hard into the side of the ship, knocking it on it's side and to the ground.

"Get out here, Robotnik! Now!" shouted an angry Sonic. He then walked up and placed his hands on the bottom of the ship, sending his invincibility into the ship's electronics for the second time that day. He was so preoccupied with exacting revenge on Robotnik for almost causing his best friend to die that he didn't notice the blue light heading straight for him. At the last second, Sonic caught sight of the light. But it was too late to get out of the way as Metal Sonic slammed into him at full speed, knocking him into the side of the nearby ring toss tent. The whole tent collapsed on top of Sonic, burying him in a pile of wood, glass, and fabric.

"Told you I'd be back, Sssonic!" said Metal Sonic. He then righted Robotnik's ship, detached the brass wheel, and they both took to the air. Tails had watched the whole scene from the safety of the trees. After Metal Sonic and Robotnik were out of view, he dashed to the fallen tent.

"Sonic! Are you all right!" cried Tails. The pile shook for a second, then Sonic emerged, stunned but unhurt.

"Boy, good thing I'm invincible or that would have really hurt," said Sonic. He started to reach out to de-charge himself, but saw the sleepy look of his companion's face and thought better of it. "You tired?"

"Just a little," he answered. Sonic looked about the area, but didn't see anything.

"Okay, here's the deal. I'm used to staying awake for days on end when I have to, but you're not. So I'm going to keep watch for the rest of the night while you get some sleep," said Sonic.

"Are you sure?" asked Tails.

"Sure. I mean, who better to watch over you than Super Sonic?" asked Sonic. Tails smiled and stretched out on a patch of thick grass nearby as Sonic took out a blanket from his pack and strung it over Tails. Sonic then flew up into a tree just a few feet away and sat down on a branch, his eagle-like vision enabling him to spy on a few flicky birds arguing back and forth about something a hundred yards away. The night went by without any more incidents. By morning, Sonic felt as though he had been placed in front of a large block of ice within the last couple of hours of his watch. How could it get so cold so quickly? His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a yawning Tails as he woke from his sleep.

"Oh man! Who turned on the air conditioning?" asked Tails as he quickly wrapped himself in the blanket.

"I don't know. I was kind of wondering that question myself," answered Sonic. "I'll take a look around real quick and then I'll make us some breakfast. How does bacon and eggs sound?"

"Sounds great! I haven't had a good breakfast in a while," answered Tails. Sonic smiled as he leaped from his branch and flew high into the sky. He looked about the island to see what was causing the sudden drop in temperature over the night. There wasn't anything different that he could see. The now charred jungle landscape, the desert, the mountain range on the island. Sonic scratched his head in frustration. Realizing that the problem wasn't on the island, Sonic flew towards the edge of the island. When he got there, his eyes took in the giant mountains of the Ice Cap mountain range.

END OF CHAPTER 4