Fatal Velocity
(The Blue World)
Part One

"…Sonic's an enigma to me. Sometimes he acts so hopelessly idiotic that you can't help but wonder how he'd stayed alive against Robotnik for so long; other times he has these moments where, if only briefly, he's a genius. If he had less of the former and more of the latter, I wouldn't have any reason to complain…but there's about as much chance of that happening as there is of Eggman conquering Mobius."

—From the journals of Knuckles T. Echidna

Sonic awoke to the decidedly uncomfortable feeling of being shaken in a rough manner. "Wake up, hedgehog," A low growl demanded.

Eyelids fluttering open, Sonic unthinkingly slapped away the hands shaking him. "Hey, knock it off." He protested, squinting and blinking to restore his vision. There came an odd sort of irritated beeping from above, further rousing him from sleep. He lifted his head to see where he was, and froze.

He saw a metal room around him—walls, floor, and ceiling a gleaming silver—and a flat table that he'd been placed on like a crude bed. The room had only one door, and no windows. But that wasn't what concerned him at the moment.

What did was the robot standing not two feet away from him, glowing emerald eyes shimmering in disgust as they watched him. Painted a bright crimson red, it seemed completely different from its predecessor Metal Sonic. Instead of being slicked-down, this one was bulked-up; two massive iron fists ended its arms, which were wide and flat like airplane wings. Five triangular dreadlocks hung down from around its face, whose muzzle stuck out further than Mecha's, yet also ended in a conical spike for a nose. Two separated eyes peered at him beneath thick eyebrows, slanted down in an expression of annoyance. And finally, a white crescent had been painted over its chest, a mockery of its namesake.

Sonic nearly had a heart attack. "Robo Knux!" He gasped, jumping to his feet and backing away from the pseudo-echidna until his back hit the wall with a muted thump. "H-how did—?! Where am—??"

"You're in Robotropolis." The robot sneered. "We brought you here for medical treatment. Heh, you should have seen Mecha-Bot Two when you were first brought in. 'Fit to be tied' didn't do him justice. As I recall, I had to knock him offline at one point because he kept threatening to use his lasers on your life-support mechanisms." He seemed delighted at the memory.

Stunned, Sonic looked down at his body—which had so recently been mauled almost beyond recognition—and saw nothing more than faint traces of white crisscrossing scars where his injuries had been. He slowly traced a finger along one of them. "What did you do to me?"

"It's amazing what technology can do these days, isn't it? Mend broken bones, heal up gashes overnight..."

Now Sonic was really confused, and it showed on his face when he looked back up. "Why? Heal me, I mean. I'm your enemy, aren't I?"

Robo Knux scowled, as if reminded of something unpleasant. "Not…at the moment." He bit out in a restrained voice, coolly turning to stroll out of the room as he clenched his fists. "Follow me."

Sonic didn't move. RK paused when he saw that the hedgehog wasn't following, and turned to give Sonic the benefit of a steely glare. RK pointedly glanced downwards and lifted one of his hands, casually showing off the twin six-inch spikes that graced its primary knuckle-joints like massive razors. "Don't worry—I will not attack you, unless you need some incentive to comply?" This last was said with something akin to hope.

Sonic eyed the claws with a mixture of emotions, then looked back up at his adversary's blank expression. RK was probably the only robot Sonic feared more than Metal Sonic—mainly due to his unpredictability. Uncertain whether to trust the robot or not, Sonic slowly stepped forward and nodded.

RK couldn't hide his disappointment as he pushed a button on the wall, and the metal door slid upwards with a pneumatic hiss. The hallway outside the room was equally as bare as inside, and the blue hedgehog snorted. "Who's Robotnik's interior decorator? I really must get his number."

RK glanced at him for the briefest of moments. "I've never been all that interested in decorations, myself. Ridiculous organic habit." He went silent then and said no more, turning to stride down the hallway at a clipped pace.

Sonic gave him a puzzled stare as he followed the robot through multiple intersecting corridors. RK was being unusually nice to him for some reason he couldn't comprehend. Why? And where was Robotnik?

His answer came as another door opened to reveal Eggman, who was leaning comfortably back in a solid iron chair. The doctor turned to face them with a furrowed brow, fingertips tapping together absently. He appeared to be in deep thought, and though Sonic might have imagined it, worried as well. He looked up with a scowl similar to RK's across his disgustingly bloated face.

"You." He spat, jabbing a finger in Sonic's direction as if the mere action could slay his adversary. Sonic stood firm, becoming more and more curious as to what was going on as his fear began to fade. He opened his mouth to give a snide retort, but stopped halfway when Metal Sonic emerged from behind the chair. Red pupils met green. Silence descended.

"Doctor, what is going on?" RK asked with much indignation. "Why are you making us keep him alive?" Sonic looked at the crimson robot in surprise.

"We need him alive…because we need his help." Robotnik admitted in a begrudging sort of way. "Danger is at hand that could destroy us all if unchecked, and only together can we stop it."

"Wow, thanks for that little cryptic statement." Sonic scoffed. "That really helped clear things up."

"Shut up." Robotnik snapped. "Mecha, RK, do you see these readings?" He pressed a button and the security camera's views were replaced by a complex line graph. The lines seemed fairly flat for a good portion of the viewed area, but then began to sharply fluctuate up and down. "These are the most recent data gathered from my security probes near our mini-Zones." He pointed at the spot where the fluctuations began. "This was at around 2:00 a.m. three weeks ago, when a molecular reaction occurred within the Zones' near vicinity."

"So?" Sonic snorted. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"It means, hedgehog, that the borders between zones have begun to drastically weaken. Given another week, or even a few more days, and they will disappear entirely. You know what will happen then." The doctor replied. Sonic sucked in a sharp breath, and Eggman glowered at him. "NOW do you understand the problem?"

Sonic nodded slightly. "Uh…yeah. This is way, way not cool. What can we do?"

"WE can do nothing." Robotnik grunted. "YOU, on the other hand, can go with Metal Sonic to the source of the disturbance, which is somewhere inside the Cosmic Interstate. I can't be any more specific than that, though—my deep scans keep getting scrambled."

Sonic grunted and took a long look over at Mecha. The robot's eyes had flared a few watts in outright anger, causing the blue hedgehog to recoil slightly. "I'm not going ANYWHERE with that robot by myself." He exclaimed.

"Nor I." The robot agreed. "I absolutely refuse to be alone with---with him."

Eggman frowned, then waved a dismissive hand. "Oh, very well! RK can go with you two—his built-in energy tracker may be able to assist you once you are in the Interstate itself, anyway."

Sonic gritted his teeth. "I can't believe that I'm about to help you jerks out." He muttered. 'This totally sucks."

Robotnik pressed another button and a far-off buzzer sounded, summoning several SWATbots into the room. "The feeling is mutual, rodent. SWATs, escort him, Metal Sonic and RK to the nearest Interstate portal."

"Wait!" Sonic suddenly cried. "Let me get one of my friends to come—we'll need all the help we can get."

Eggman considered this for a long moment. "Who?"

"Knux. He's also a bit experienced at world-hopping."

"Fine. SWATs, change of plans. Wait outside with a transport to take them to the Floating Island and retrieve the guardian first, THEN take them to the nearest Interstate portal." The robots saluted and marched swiftly from the room. "Now," Eggman hissed, leaning over to bring his face closer to Sonic's, "get out of my sight!"

"Oh, lovely." Daisy muttered, fighting the urge to scream profanity to the heavens. Behind her, the portal winked closed without a sound. In front of her, she peered down the barrel of a wicked-looking gun that had been pointed at her face.

"I, uh…don't suppose we could talk this over?" She attempted.

The robot behind the rifle gave no reply, tightening its finger around the trigger. A battle-cry filled the air suddenly, and a reddish-black blur slammed into the robot.

Daisy jumped backwards into the dense forest undergrowth, scared stiff. The ball uncurled to reveal some odd sort of bipedal animal with black fur and a shiny red shell covering its backside. It lifted a miniature radio and spoke into it while Daisy listened in amazement.

"Knuckles! Quick, where are you??"

A faint reply came floating out of the metal speakers, but Daisy couldn't hear it.

"Listen, Eggman's back!" the animal explained, eyes darting about warily. "I just found one of his robots on the island!" An alarm sounded somewhere far-off, startling them both. A sudden, intense stream of swearing issued from the radio, and both of them winced.

"—of all the frackin' things that could go wrong today!!" The tirade finally ended, as the voice dropped back to a normal volume. The animal listened to it attentively.

"Yes, I took care of it. What? No, I don't know! You will? All right, hurry! Mighty out."

Several tense minutes passed in silence while he watched the sky impatiently, as if waiting for something. Occasionally he would cast a wary glance around before returning to his vigil. Daisy hoped that he wouldn't spot her within the bushes, and cursed her poor choice of clothing. Yellow was not the best color to wear for stealth missions.

Please don't let him see me, please don't let him see me, pleeeeeaaaaaaase don't let him see me! She prayed over and over like a mantra.

The animal's gaze scanned her hiding place and moved on…then paused. Suddenly it whirled to stare directly into her eyes, apparently doing a double-take.

Daisy looked to the sky and growled. "See if I ever become a nun," She huffed.

"Knux!" The animal screamed into it's radio again, sounding horrified. "Knux, there's a human here! Mayday! Mayday! Overlander invasion, repeat, OVERLANDER INVASION!"

"Mighty, where the HELL are you?!" The voice on the radio shouted loudly enough for Daisy to hear. "Get out of there! You don't stand a chance against an invasion! We've got the place surrounded and the fly-by's already started, get out NOW!"

A new sound reached them over the siren's wail—a deep bass droning that came from above. Daisy and Mighty looked up, and saw the silhouette of a plane flying against the sun's glare. A sharp whistling of falling objects drifted through the area at the same time.

Mighty's eyes widened. "Oh, no…"

The world caught fire and vanished, or so it seemed to Daisy. The ground wasn't under her feet, she was flying backwards through smoke and flame, pain searing her, screaming…then her head met something hard, and all was darkness.

Sonic frowned and clapped a hand to his forehead. "Dammit, Knux." He growled, watching the planes near them. He turned to the two robots behind him. "I've seen this strategy before. Those planes are gonna nuke this area, and us with it. You'd better fly up outta the way."

Metal Sonic stayed silent, so RK voiced the obvious question: "What about you?"

The hedgehog flashed them a cocky grin that sent Mecha's hatred protocols into overdrive. "I'll run, duh!" An explosion was heard somewhere nearby, shaking the ground a bit. "I'm gonna go talk to Knux, meetcha at Mushroom Hill in two hours!" He took off at a light jog, slowly building speed for a good solid run. He waved over his shoulder at the two robots as he vanished into the surrounding jungle.

"Right." RK muttered, activating the five mini-rockets built into his dreadlocks and hovering above the ground. "Time to get out of the way of the fireworks." He looked at his robot partner. "Hurry, activate your Booster and let's scram."

"Shut up." Metal Sonic growled. "I don't take orders from you." But he activated his rocket propulsion system in his backside nonetheless. The two fled upwards, just before their former position was raked by fire and ash…

"Okay…"

Daisy tried to assess her situation. Status, focus on status.

Her left arm lay pinned beneath her in the position she'd landed in, unable to get up. From the lack of sensation coming from that limb, she was pretty certain it was broken or dislocated or something. She'd been tossed clear by the explosion, hit the ground and skidded a ways before coming to a convenient stop at a hard, unyielding boulder. That same boulder she was now sprawled against like a pile of wet leaves, staring ahead with blank, glazed eyes.

Her head hurt; blood was oozing down her face from some unknown injury; her legs, like her arm, felt cut off at the knees; what parts of her skin she could see were badly burnt…

But she was alive.

After pondering all this and considering it all from a scientific viewpoint, Daisy finally managed to come up with a suitable statement to describe her current condition.

"…ow."

Not her best observation, she could have done better. But at the moment she was starting to pass out, so she decided to let it lie.

Sonic pushed himself to go faster, the shockwave of an explosion tailing at his heels. The heat was incredible. Sweat was pouring off him in rivulets, hitting the flames behind him with a hiss. Fire nipped playfully at his backside, crackling in amusement at his futile attempt to escape.

It dawned on Sonic at that moment, that this might not be as easy as he'd thought.

"Come on, come on, come on, come on…" He chanted to the beat of his shoes against the hard-packed dirt underneath. He looked behind himself. Big mistake.

His feet were hitting solid ground one minute; then he felt nothing but empty air.

Sonic's view of the landscape tilted crazily as he tumbled over and over in freefall. His eyes bulged as his legs slowed down but continued to rotate in running motions, as if they had a hard time believing that there was no longer anything solid beneath their feet. His hands clawed at the air, and he opened his mouth to scream—

"Gotcha!"

Sonic blinked. He looked up, to find he'd been grabbed around the arms by someone. Someone with orange fur. And two tails spinning like helicopter rotors.

"You all right, Sonic?" Miles 'Tails' Prower asked, straining to fly with the extra weight pulling his arms downward.

"Tails!" Sonic gasped, his heart attempting a daring escape from his ribcage through repeated pounding. He swallowed the massive lump of panic that'd lodged in his throat, sucking in breath after breath to ease the fright of his near-death experience. "Oh, wow…talk about timing! Where'd you come from?"

"Believe it or not, I've been looking for you everywhere. Everyone got kinda worried when you didn't come back. I'm glad I found you—Robotropolis was going to be my next stop."

"Er, yeah, about that…"

"Tell me later, 'kay? I've gotta focus on landing."

Sonic spared a nervous glance downwards. The ground, though it was getting closer, was still distant. He gulped.

It took a while, but they eventually landed. Sonic leaped the last five feet to the ground. Good thing, too—Tails felt like his arms were about to fall off.

"Whew! Thanks, big guy." Sonic breathed a sigh of relief. "Thought I was toast for a sec there."

The fox grinned at him, rubbing his shoulders to restore circulation. "Well, I'm a bit surprised you didn't remember about that little dropoff. The same thing happened to you last time we were here, too."

"Last time?" Sonic echoed, confused. Then he looked around himself, at the broken stone pillars scattered around the area. His eyes got big. "Hey, this is Marble Gardens! Oh wow! Man, I haven't been here in ages."

"So. Sonic? Care to explain your sudden vacation?" Tails steered the topic back on-course, folding his arms and arching one eyebrow. Sonic let out a nervous laugh.

"Aheheheh, um, well, it's kinda hard to explain. It's a bit of a long story, too."

Tails shrugged. "Okay, then you can tell me while we head for Knuckles' place. I need to radio the others and let them know you're okay."

"All right then. I need to speak with Rad Red, anyhow." The two headed off, Sonic talking the whole time about his strange adventure.