...So wired right now...so very wired...
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EP 3 ROOOOOOCCCCCKKKKS! MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
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And now, back to your regularly scheduled insanity.
(Disclaimer: see last chap.)
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"Prepared to die? Not that it matters if you aren't," The Evil And Unfortunately Also Super Sonic-clone sneered.
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The Real, Regular, And Now Screwed Sonic the Hedgehog tried to see if there was anything lying around that he could use to defend himself, but except for himself and the guy who wanted to beat his face in, there was nothing here.
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In hopes that the 'wish and it appears' thing was working again, Sonic concentrated very hard on the thought that he would REALLY like something to save his life right about now.
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And amazingly enough, something did.
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Even as the Super Sonic-clone took a step forward, raising its arms to attack, something from behind it flashed yellow. A slash through the body later, and a now very confused looking Super Sonic-clone dissolved into dust and nothingness.
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Leaving Raven and his Chaos Blade standing in his place.
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"Aw man!" Sonic yelped, jumping back from his 'savior', "Not you! Not NOW, anyway!"
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"If I had known you would react like this, I wouldn't have bothered stepping in and saving your life in the first place," Raven retorted with a huff, bringing everything else Sonic was going to say to a screeching halt.
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This was a side of Raven that Sonic was completely unfamiliar with: calm, composed, rational…
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…Oh, not to mention that this version was actually SANE.
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"…Um…" Sonic started, "Hey, um…Raven?"
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"Yes?" the white and silver hedgehog replied.
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"…Ah, the heck with tact - Raven, why aren't you all crazy and rabid and gibbering and all anymore?"
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Raven's eyes narrowed at the unflattering description. That and the oversized Chaos Blade he was still holding onto helped Sonic to quickly decide to rephrase his question.
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"I mean…why aren't you out of your mind anymore?"
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Raven snorted, apparently amused by the idea.
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"Out of my mind? This is my mind!"
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With that little declaration, Sonic mentally revised his estimate of Raven's current sanity level to Not As Sane As Previously Suspected.
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Unless, of course, this was the Fount of Light dressing up as someone else again. But that seemed kinda unlikely, what with the fact that they were all just swallowed by an icky black goober monster not too long ago.
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"You don't believe me, of course," Raven added, "But then again, you've never had your will crushed beneath that of a intergalactic monster who wants to destroy the universe, so why should you?"
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"Haven't done anything that specific, nope," Sonic agreed, "But I imagine we'll have plenty of time to talk about it later, once everyone's safe and we beat this snot-monster."
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"Quite optimistic of you," Raven replied, "Where shall we start then, O Savior of the Planet?"
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"First we find the others," said Sonic.
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He looked around again, but there was still no one around but himself and the not-so-crazy Raven.
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Huh…that gave him a weird idea.
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"Hey, if this is your mind, doesn't that mean you know your way around?" Sonic asked the other hedgehog.
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Raven's gaze went to the floor, his expression positively sheepish.
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"…I'm lost too," Raven admitted.
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"Oh really? Hey, no sweat!" Sonic grinned, "I know EXACTLY how to stop being lost!"
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"You do?"
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"Yep," the blue hedgehog laughed, "All you gotta do is to run as fast as you can until you find someone…THEN you stop and ask them for directions!"
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Raven stared at him. Sonic could tell the other thought he was kidding. Well, he wasn't! This had actually worked a bunch of times for him already. No reason that it wouldn't work now.
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"Hey, we're fast enough that running'll get us most anyplace anyway!" Sonic pointed out.
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And because he didn't feel like arguing anymore about it, Sonic ended the conversation in his favor by turning around and trotting off into the distance. Not wanting to be left behind, the white hedgehog started after him.
They didn't find anyone at first, but the dark dimension that had once been the Fount of Light was less creepy and unpleasant when one was moving around. Sonic loped easily along, while Raven skated slowly to his side.
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"So, Raven," Sonic said once they had been going on this way for a couple of minutes, "Any cute baby names for Shadow that I should know about?"
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The only good thing about what had happened was that his arm had healed.
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As for the reason, Knuckles had no idea why.
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If this was a dimension as concocted by Eclipse, why would the monster want to do something that actually benefited his enemies?
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The echidna could only hope that this meant that Eclipse didn't have full control of the dimension. This was a cheering thought, since Knuckles had actually liked the Fount Shadow, who had been semi-nice in a freaky sort of way.
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Not so nice was this whole new twist of having a negative version of yourself popping out of thin air to bother you - and who would then attack you when you tried talking back or ignoring them.
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"Running around like an idiot isn't going to help anything, you know," said a voice.
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'As if on cue,' Knuckles grumbled, looking to see his negative doppelganger eyeing him speculatively.
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"Just shut up," Knuckles growled at the other, "And for the last time, I am NOT going to get rid of my friends just because YOU say it's the only way to keep the Master Emerald completely safe."
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The negative-Knuckles looked fairly taken aback.
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"All right, but -"
"No."
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"But I -"
"No!"
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"I'm trying to -"
"Shut up!"
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"Not until -"
"Shut up or you're going to lose the ability to speak permanently!"
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The negative-Knuckles paused to frown at Knuckles, who ignored it to enjoy the moment of peace and silence he'd finally gotten. Too bad it really was only a moment long.
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"You think you're so very clever, don't you?" the negative-Knuckles sniffed.
"If I say yes, will you leave and never come back?"
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"Really," the negative-Knuckles sighed, "It must be a miracle you have any friends at all, with an attitude like that. And speaking of miracles…if I DO leave, you're only going to be stuck with a reminder of when NOT to put seven Chaos Emeralds together. You'd be better off just sticking with me."
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"Whatever it is, I can handle it fine," Knuckles growled, "I'm more than capable of protecting myself."
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"I doubt it," the negative-Knuckles grinned, pointing over the echidna's shoulder before vanishing into thin air.
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From where it had pointed, there was a ferocious roar. And although it took Knuckles a minute to place the roar from his memory, when he realized who it had to be he groaned and turned, already preparing to run.
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Perfect Chaos glared back at him.
And this was a Perfect Chaos made of water…curiously reddish water that resembled blood FAR too much for Knuckles' liking…and it was a Perfect Chaos that screamed in anger and charged right for him upon eye contact.
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Knuckles bolted the other way.
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Being rather speedy - almost as fast as Tails, which really said something since only Tails was almost as fast as Sonic - Knuckles managed to forge a lead that kept him out of biting, smashing, and drowning range.
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So focused was he on running that he almost ran right into the two characters heading his way. He had only a second to register them as some of his missing companions, one white and one blue, before he was passing them.
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"Hey!" Sonic yelped.
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"Wrong way!" Knuckles bellowed at them over his shoulder as he didn't dare stop.
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"What?"
"Huh - AHHHH! BIG CHAOS! RUN!"
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A roar and an energy blast later, Knuckles found himself being passed by both a totally freaked out Sonic and a confused and strangely subdued Raven.
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In fact, they were going to leave both him and Perfect Chaos in the dust within seconds -
"Wait! Don't leave me back here with this thing!" Knuckles cried.