Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Don't own Sonic and co. TESEEWWW! Boom! Clods of dirt flew into the air as my blast hit the spot he had been. I spun to face him, but he was gone! Where'd he go? Hmmm.something's not right. He's around here somewhere, I can sense it. But where is he? I scanned the area again. He was here, alright, but I could not pinpoint his location. My scanners were having trouble scanning in the bushes. "Alright, hedgehog, show yourself!" I called out. "You aren't afraid of me now, are you? Come out now, and I'll make your destruction quick and painless!" No answer. Chicken, I thought. I focused on a clump of bushes, and an idea formed in my head. I know! I'll force him to come out of hiding. I took careful aim, and fired at the bushes. Voosh! It instantly caught aflame. Hmm.that was kinda cool. I thought. I targeted another clump and fired again. It became a pit of dancing flames. I continued in this fashion, blowing up the flora and having a ball. I was so engrossed in what I was doing, perhaps that is why I didn't sense the danger until it was too late. All of a sudden, I felt Sonic jump onto my back, and loosened my main back plate! I bucked him off, and faced him, making sure that I kept my back from him. If he pulled another stunt like that, that plate would come of completely, and expose my circuitry. I couldn't let that happen. We circled each other, sizing one another up. I would not let him defeat me. "You cannot win, Sonic," I said. "I am much stronger than you." I wished I felt as confident as I sounded. Sonic gave me a grin. "That may be true, Mecha," he replied. "If I were alone." That's when I realized my grievous error. While I had been busy blowing up plants after he disappeared, he had called for backup. Smooth Mecha, real smooth. Now I'll have to put up with his friends as well. Unless.I grinned evilly. Unless you make it impossible for his friends to reach him. I stuck my arms straight out, and spun, firing blasts in every direction, creating an impenetrable wall of fire. "Uh-oh," said Sonic. "This is beginning to look bad." "No, really?" I said sarcastically. "I'd like to see your friends make it through those flames." He bent his head and began muttering something into a device on his wrist. I quickly fired a blast at it. He recoiled as it hit his communicator, causing it to explode. "Waah?!" he cried. I shook my finger at him. "Ah, ah, ah Sonic." I said. "No more outside contact. Just you.and me. to the finish!" Sonic was trapped. And he knew it. I could almost hear him thinking about how he was to escape. I knew he wasn't going anywhere. I relaxed a bit, and without warning, he struck! I only had time to put my arm up to defend myself with. Pain shot through my arm as he connected with it, and I realized that I could no longer move the bottom portion of it. He had sliced through the wires with his spines, thus reducing my firepower. "Ahhhh!" I heard him cry out. I turned my gaze to him, and what I saw was different than I had expected. He was cradling his right arm much in a fashion as I was at the moment. It appeared as though he had broken his arm. But how? I returned my gaze to my shattered arm. Hmmm.that's weird, I thought. From the angle he attacked me, his body protected his arm. How could he have hurt himself in the exact same area as he hit me? This totally doesn't make sense. I returned my gaze to Sonic, who was staring at me. For a few minutes, neither of us spoke; we just stood our ground. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, a voice spoke. Boy, this is weird. I agree, I thought back. Huh? Who said that? we said in unison. I did. No, I did! What's going on here? I looked at Sonic. He seemed to be just as confused as I was. Could he have been the mysterious voice in my head? Impossible. And yet.perhaps he was. What? What was I thinking? I shook my head. No dumb voice was going to keep me from completing my mission. "Something weird is going on here," I said, "but it's not going to stop me from defeating you!" "No, but perhaps this will!" a new voice cried out. I spun, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in my arm, in time to see a red object flying straight for me. I jumped aside, the object berely missing me, and it crashed into the ground beside me. I raised my laser at the thing in the ground. It ground, and I discovered that it was the echidna, Knuckles. "Ow, first crash landing ever," he said slowly, lifting his face from the ground, only to look down the barrel of my laser. I grinned. His eyes widened in shock. "Oh.crap." he spoke. I gazed straight into his eyes, and I could feel his fear. Heh, heh, not so tough now, are you, echidna?" I gloated. Knuckles grinned at me suddenly. I saw reflected in his eyes why. I had turned my back to Sonic, and while I had been busy with Knuckles, Sonic had snuck up on me from behind. Oh boy, not cool. Now what? If I turned to face Sonic, Knuckles would attack. If I didn't turn, Sonic would attack me. Then, it hit me. I continued to stare into Knuckles eyes, watching Sonics' every move. I saw him pull back his left arm, ready to knock off my back plate and mess up my internal systems. "Take this!" Sonic cried. I back-flipped over Sonic, sending another spasm through my arm, but also causing his punch to hit Knuckles square in the jaw. "Ow!" cried Knuckles.

"Oh, man, sorry Knuckles, I didn't mean to hit you," Sonic apologized, and helped Knuckles to his feet. Knuckles rubbed his jaw and glared at me. "This guy's beginning to annoy me," he said. "Let's take him out together!" "He's bothering you?! How about me?" replied Sonic. "He is the reason my arm is hurt. Let's get 'im!" Without warning, Knuckles leapt toward me, and with his California-sized knuckles, he punched. I tried to block them as best as I could, and return with my own, but with only one arm, it was mighty hard. Finally, one of his punches hit home, right in my gut. I flew backward from the force of the blow, and smacked into a large boulder that was projecting form the ground, sending a wave of agony through my body. "Ahhhh!" I cried out, but I wasn't the only one to do so. Sonic had cried out as well, and was doubled up, as though someone had punched him. That's weird, I thought. Knuckles ran over to Sonic. "What happened?" he asked. "Are you alright?" It took Sonic a moment to answer. "No.as soon as.you.hit Mecha.I felt.like I too.had gotten.punched," he said haltingly. " Something similar.happened earlier as well. When I rammed into a tree, Mecha clutched his head, and looked dazed for a few seconds. Then, when I attacked him and broke his arm, a hot white pain shot through my arm, and suddenly, I can barely move it." "Hmmm.that is strange," Knuckles replied. " It seems as though you and Mecha somehow share each other's pain." I thought about this for a minute. It made sense, and yet none at all. How could that be possible, if we were two separate beings? I glanced over at Sonic. He appeared to be thinking the same thing I was. I looked at my arm, then at Sonics', then back at my own. Could the echidna be right? No way, I thought. The smoke must be getting to me. There isn't any way that could be true, could it? It doesn't make sense. I agree, said the voice in my head. It doesn't. I jerked my head up. Sonic had done the same. "What is it, Sonic?" asked Knuckles. "Hm? Oh, nothing." Sonic replied quickly. "Sonic, don't lie to me. Something's up. What?" Knuckles pressed. "I." he paused. "I heard a voice.inside my head, doubting what you had said. I thought back that 'I agree.' Then, I totally snapped out of it, like coming out of a trance. I heard the same voice earlier, too, I'm sure of it." "Hmm.," Knuckles muttered, deep in thought. While they were talking, I figured was the best time to get up and prepare for another round of battle. I got up shakily, still a bit dazed from the impact. Then, I felt that something was wrong. There was too much air moving about my insides. I reached back with my left hand, and felt lives wires. My plate had been knocked off when I hit the boulder. Oh, crap, I thought. This isn't cool. One well aimed hit could either seriously damage me, or destroy me. I'm vulnerable, and I had better be on guard from now on. Out of nowhere, Sonic suddenly shouted out. "Knux! Mecha is up, and his back plate is missing, and he is vulnerable!" Knuckles snapped out of his funk, rejoining reality. "Huh? How do you know that, when you can't even see him from the position you're in?" Knuckles asked. "Well.. ya know that voice I told you about?" "Yeah, what about it?" Knuckles snapped. "I heard it again, just now. It said something about how one hit to my backside would either destroy me, or seriously injure me. I assumed that the voice was talking about Mecha, so I decided to tell you." Knuckles turned and stared at me. "I don't know what is going on here, but something is defiantly weird. C'mon, Sonic, let's get outta here. We can finish this later." He put his arm around Sonics' shoulder, helped him up, and they began to glide away. Sonic glanced back, and we held each other's gaze, until they made it past the fire, and I could no longer see them. For some reason, I wanted to go with them, but I refrained from it. I needed repairs, but I did not know if I could do them myself. I activated my thrusters, and soared into the night sky. I should have gone back to Robotropolis, but I didn't. I needed some time to think, and I wanted to be alone. I flew towards the center of the forest, not looking back at the ring of fire that burned brightly into the night sky.