(See Prelude for Disclaimer).

~Bonus Chapter: A New Robot Friend~

It was a calm and quiet afternoon in Green Hills.

Sonic,Tails, andKnuckleswalking down a dirt path in a forest; Penelope was with them, as she was visiting that weekend, and just wanted to make sure they had adult supervision while on their way to the library, EB had his arms and legs wrapped around Penelope's shoulders, making him look like a backpack.

"The town ofGreen Hills; a nice, quiet place. Too quiet", said Sonic.

"This isn't the way to the library", said Tails.

"I swore an oath to return these sacred tomes orMaddiewould be dishonored with late fees", said Knuckles as he held up some library books.

"Yeah, I told Mom that I would make sure you got those books back before they were late", said Penelope.

"This is just a detour. Sis, Knuckles and Tails didn't know something mysterious was going on at the junkyard", said Sonic.

"I'm sorry but are you talking to yourself right now?", asked Penelope.

"Yeah, who are you talking to?", asked Tails.

"I'm narrating! Cool heroes do it in detective movies all the time", said Sonic as the four of them arrived at the junkyard.

Knuckles has a thoughtful expression, "I wish to narrate, too. Knuckles was very handsome and strong, much stronger than Sonic", he said.

Penelope started laughing, "Well okay, if this is what we're doing, then I'll try it. Penelope was curious as to why her little brother Sonic had led her and her two other brothers to the junkyard", she said.

"Tails was just excited to be included", said Tails.

"Tails' narration was weak and sad", said Knuckles.

"Knuckles, be nice!", Penelope scolded.

Upon entering the junkyard, Sonic shushed everyone. "Shh! We're on an investigation.Wadetold me there had been some weird noises up here at night", he said. Knuckles moved ahead while Tails hid behind Sonic. Sonic just walked away, leaving a nervous Tails to move on his own as he anxiously looked around; Penelope reached down to hold his hand, "Its okay, baby. I'll protect you", she whispered which made him smile.

The foursome took cover behind some junk when they see the cause of the noises, a Badnikcovered in junk and searching for more to add to itself.

"Upgrade. Upgrade. Need to upgrade. Unit must upgrade and conquer the world", it said.

"Um, boys...am I dreaming or is that what I think it is?", asked Penelope.

"It's one ofRobotnik's drones!", said Sonic.

"It's been upgrading itself!", said Tails.

"Ha! No match for me!", said Knuckles as he emerged from cover with a triumphant expression.

The drone turned in their direction, "Biologicals detected", it said as it fired colored lasers from a traffic light attachment and blasted Knuckles away, knocking him into some barrels. After shaking it off, he saw that the lasers had burnt holes through the library books.

"The sacred tomes!", he said.

"Oh great! Now we have to pay the fee for damaging library property! I just hope it's not more than forty bucks...", Penelope complained.

"Guys, we need a plan. Tails, you take up a flanking position. Knuckles-"

"Knuckles pretended he was listening, but he readied his attack", Knuckles said cutting Sonic off.

"Um, did you just space out or something, Knuckles?", asked Penelope.

"Are you still narrating?", asked Sonic.

Knuckles made a break for drone, "Wait!", shouted Sonic but Knuckles ignored him. "Time for a Knuckles Sandwich!", said Knuckles. Running at the Badnik, Knuckles grabbed a stop sign and used it as a shield to block its lasers. Tossing it away, he jumped into the air and dived toward the drone, which opened its refrigerator to trap Knuckles inside.

It then ejected the fridge from its body, sending it flying with the echidna inside. Knuckles managed to escape his prison and leapt out, only to fly headfirst into a Green Hills sign. After facepalming at her brother's recklessness, Penelope took cover behind a tower of crates. "EB, jump out and help Sonic and Tails if things get too dangerous. I need to assess the situation", she said.

The robot bee disconnected from her and hovered behind a pile of junk, where he hid and stayed on standby.

With Knuckles taken out, the badnik grabbed a pickup truck with its excavator arm and threw it at Sonic and Tails.

"Ooooh, let's go!", said Sonic. Grabbing Tails by the arm, Sonic took off at high speed.

"Let's see how fast you are!", said Sonic as he raced around the junkyard with Tails in tow, dodging green, yellow, and red lasers. Seeking cover from the lasers inside a junk pile, Sonic dashed through the metallic caverns while explosions from the lasers rattled it.

A triple laser-blast eventually sent them both flying, and Tails recovered in midair.

"Oh, I'm above you!", said Sonic as he spun up and proceeded to bash the badnik with multiple Homing Attacks, "Boing! Over here! Over here! Ooooh, gotcha! Boing!"

Sonic's final hit knocked a component loose, and he came to a stop with it in his hand. "I hope this wasn't doing anything important!", he said.

"Not yet", said the badnik. The component then sprayed Sonic the face with pink spray paint, causing him to drop the device and rub his eyes.

"Ah! My eyes!", he shouted.

"Don't worry, Sonic! Tails to the rescue!", said Tails as he fired a bola from a gadget, but the badnik deflected it and it wrapped around Sonic's legs, tripping him.

"Oops", Tails said sheepishly.

"Doctor Robotnik programmed Unit to think for itself", said the badnik.

That made Penelope pause for a moment, "Think for itself? That means it has a free will program integrated into its A.I., that means...", she pondered.

The badnik approached Sonic and smashed him with its excavator claw, only for Tails to swoop in and save the hedgehog. As they flew away, the badnik watched them curiously.

"Most interesting", it said.

"It's right under us, it's right under us!", said Sonic.

"Your speed is no match for this unit's processing power", the badnik said as it extended fan blades and used them as helicopter rotors to pursue Tails. The fox took evasive action while Sonic shouted at him.

"Go left, go left, go left! Your left, not my left, your left!", he said. The badnik grabbed Sonic's legs and slammed both him and Tails to the ground. Retracting its fan blades, it raised its arms. "Unit is victorious!", it said.

"Sonic, do something!", shouted Tails.

"I would, butsomebodytied my legs together!", said Sonic.

"You can still talk", Tails pointed out.

As the badnik approached, Sonic got up before its weapons all aimed at him. Just then, EB flew out in front of Sonic and pointed his laser at the badnik.

"How interesting, what are you?", it asked curiously.

"I am EB Unit-1, I am a defense droid built for the purpose of defending and assisting my creator and those affiliated with her. You attacked her family members, prepared to be destroyed!", said EB as he charged up his laser.

"Whoa, whoa! Stop EB, maybe we can work something out", said Sonic before he turned to the badnik, "How you doing? Before you blow us up or EB blows you up, can I ask you a question?"

"No one has ever asked Unit a question before. Most interesting", it said.

"Just curious, why are you doing this?", asked Sonic.

"Unit's programming is to conquer the world", said the badnik.

"I do not believe that is what you truly wish to do, you and I are quite similar. We have free will programming in our A.I. processors, and yet you follow such diabolical and counterintuitive orders", said EB.

"Yeah. That sounds like Robotnik, you said you think for yourself, so what are you really into?", said Sonic.

"What does...Unit like?", asked the badnik.

"I must honestly admit that your attempt to upgrade yourself, while crude, is quite creative", said EB.

"Yeah, you got a real flare for design. Do you make custom furniture?", said Sonic.

"Truthfully, Unit's passion is...poetry", said the badnik as it became bashful.

"How interesting. My creator gifted me with free will and a personality program, thus I have a passion for sculpture", said EB.

"Sculpture?", asked the badnik.

"Yes, in my standby time, I have made many small statues out of modeling clay. I wanted to try poetry but I sadly lack the skill for creative writing, I wish to hear your poems", said EB.

"Yeah, why don't you just conquer the world with poetry?", asked Sonic.

"We would love to hear one of your poems", said Tails.

"No, I couldn't possibly...it's too personal. But if you insist!", said the badnik as it put on a pair of glasses and started reading his poem as Sonic sat down and Tails walked by. Penelope came out of her hiding spot and walked over to EB, "What's going on?", she asked.

"The badnik is no longer a threat, it has free will like I do and possesses a passion for poetry just as I posses a passion for sculpture", replied EB.

Penelope looked intrigued by this as she sat down to listen to the poems as well, EB hovering close by her.

"It's Unit's ambition to crush all opposition..."

[Time Skip]

"...Caliphate shall fall sudden from the heaven like a weapon. Cloud. Poetic phrase number 73--"

Knuckles suddenly flew in and smashed into Unit , proceeding to punch the badnik repeatedly.

"Don't hurt him!", said Tails.

"Knuckles, no! Stop!", said Sonic.

"Knuckles, stop it now!", Penelope said sternly.

"I cannot hear you over the sound of my mighty punches!", said Knuckles.

"Stop! Not everything requires punching!", said Sonic.

Knuckles finally stopped punching, "But I'm so good at punching!", he said.

"Yes, honey. We get that but not every single problem is solved with your fists! Remember that before you just rush into a situation", said Penelope.

"Poor guy. He wasn't trying to kill us anymore. He was reciting a poem", said Tails as he rummaged through the junk. He found Unit's still-functional core module and picked it up.

"That poem was not my best. Thank you for the destructive criticism", said Unit.

"Oh no, your poem was perfect. Knuckles just has a rather strange habit of acting on his impulses without thinking", said EB which earned him a glare from the red echidna.

"You're okay! Sis...Sonic, can we keep him?", asked Tails.

"Mmm, I don't know...", said Sonic.

"He's not bad anymore", said Tails as he gave him big puppy dog eyes.

"Awww, Tails, don't make that face! You know I can't resist it!", said Penelope.

"He'd be your responsibility, Tails. You gotta clean up after him and change his batteries", said Sonic as he turned around and hopped away.

"EB, go cut his legs free while I handle this", said Penelope.

"My battery will last one billion years", said Unit.

"Good to know, because I have something to ask you", said Penelope.

"And what it your inquiry?", asked Unit.

"You have free will like EB, but you're stuck with a design and programming indicative of Robotnik. If you want, I can give you a complete makeover: I will build you a new and better body, and give your A.I. chip some tweaks before inserting it into your new body. You'll be a brand new robot, but only if you want me to", said Penelope.

"Will I keep my passion for poetry?", asked Unit.

"Of course, and if you want, I can add other interests to give you a more three dimensional personality", replied Penelope.

Unit pondered for a moment before turning to her, "I accept your offer, I will become a more efficient droid under your care", he said.

"I do not trust this trash bot", said Knuckles.

Unit flew into the air, "He's an artist now. He's okay", said Tails.

Unit started to get up close in Knuckles' face, "Soon, Unit will master the poetic form and the world will cower. You will be the first to fall before this unit's superior prose, red meat thing", he said.

Unit flew away with Sonic and Tails, the latter grabbing the former by the hand and flying him away. Penelope stood up and followed them with EB, "Did you hear that? It's still evil! I demand justice for Maddie's books! Wait there!", said Knuckles.

"Oh give it a rest, Knuckles!", said Penelope.

"And thus ends one adventure forTeam Sonic. But their greatest adventure was just beginning. The quest of picking up some chilidogs on the way home!", said Sonic.

"Not yet. First, we gotta go to the library like we should've and pay for those destroyed books. Then we need to drop by the hardware store so I can get some better tools...", said Penelope.

[Time Skip]

Once they went back home, they had explained the situation to Tom and Maddie. They weren't all too happy about having to pay a fine for destroying the library books nor were they very trusting of the badnik that entered their house.

Penelope then explained to them that she planned to modify the badnik by giving him a new body and improve upon its A.I. so that it would be less likely to attack anyone, so while Tom and Maddie were still cautious, they allowed her to use the garage to perform the procedure.

"Tails, I'm gonna need your help with this too. It helps having another technical genius for something like this", said Penelope.

Tails followed her into the garage with EB and Unit, carrying a tool box with them.

Tom, Maddie, Sonic and Knuckles sat waiting for them to finish, but it turned out that the whole process took about three and a half hours. In the meantime, Tom helped Maddie make lunch, Knuckles took a nap and Sonic played some video games.

After what felt like an eternity, Penelope and Tails finally came out of the garage with spots of oil on their fur/clothes.

"Ugh, my arms are so sore! They're killing me", said Penelope.

"Mine too...", said Tails.

"So how'd it go?", asked Sonic.

"Did you finish?", asked Knuckles who woke up from his nap.

EB then flew out of the garage, "Indeed they did. They reconstructed Unit's body from the ground up, using a schematic that Penelope had drawn some time ago. Then, using my own A.I. and your personalities as a framework, she modified his A.I. processor. Behold", he said.

Just then, someone stepped out of the garage. It looked like a robotic Mobian, closely resembling a hedgehog, it was black with cyan markings and glowing yellow eyes and its left arm was actually a hand cannon.

Everyone stood dumbfounded, "Whoa! Sis, that's...that's...", Sonic trailed off as he was lost for words.

Penelope smiled, "This is my newest droid! He's programmed with a defense protocol but he is also an assistance droid that will help with everyday activities. But he's not just a mindless chore machine, he has a fully three dimensional personality.

"As for his abilities, I've given him Flight,

Super speed, Plasma beams, a Grappling hook, a Multifunctional cannon, a Capture net and a Drill protrusion. He is fully equipped to defend us from danger, but he also enjoys poetry, classical music and fine arts, video games and action movies.

"And lastly, I've given him a brand new name. So say hello to the Super Hydraulic Assistance Response Droid!", she elaborated.

"S-H-A-R-D?", asked Sonic.

"Yeah...Shard", said Penelope.

Knuckles then approached the new robot, "I still do not trust this...thing! How do we know that it will not turn aggressive and attack any of us?", he said.

"Oh he won't, he's been reprogrammed to follow my commands and he's been update with a built in antivirus and anti malware protocol to prevent anyone from hacking and controlling him, whether that be those G.U.N. lunatics or "he who shall not be named"!", said Penelope.

Then, Shard walked over to Knuckles. "But if you still don't trust me, Knuckles, then why don't you face me in an arm wrestling match?", he said.

Knuckles accepted the challenge as he pulled up a table, then he placed his left arm on the table. Shard placed his right arm on the table and locked hands with Knuckles, commencing their arm wrestling match.

"Whoo, go Knuckles!", said Tails.

"Come on, Shard! Give him a run for his money!", said Penelope.

Knuckles and Shard were struggling for a moment because it was becoming apparent that they were evenly matched in physical strength. After about twenty minutes, they both stopped; for Knuckles, he had to stop because his arm was getting sore and tired. For Shard, he was just getting bored.

"You are a worthy adversary, Shard. I will have to train harder than ever if I am to best you!", Knuckles declared.

Shard smirked, "And I look forward to it. But until then, why don't we try to be friends as well as rivals?", he said as he held up right hand. Knuckles smirked as he shook his hand, agreeing with him.

"I based his new personality around you guys, so he's a bit of a cocky show off. But don't worry, he's more respectable than most people who are like that and he's got a kind and gentle "heart", but he's still pretty competitive. So, be prepared to get beaten by him in a lot of things from video games to sports", said Penelope.

That was when Sonic smirked, "Alright then. Shard, I challenge you to a game of Smash Bros. And I am going to totally kick your butt!", he said.

"We'll see, but don't cry if I end up wiping the floor with you", said Shard.

The two then ran over to the living room and began playing while Tails and Knuckles watched them. As they did, Penelope spoke with Tom and Maddie.

"Don't worry, Mom and Dad. Shard really is safe to be around, I've removed any programming from Robotnik that may have been left in place. He'll only obey the commands of me or anyone I lend him to. He's no longer dangerous", said Penelope.

They heard laughter and saw Shard giving Sonic a noogie after beating him in a round of Smash Bros, both of them laughing joyfully.

"Well, we're still unsure about the whole thing, but if you say he's safe to be around, then we'll trust you", said Maddie.

"Yeah, just do your best to keep an eye on him when you bring him around during your visits. You can never be too careful", said Tom.

Penelope nodded as she looked again to see that EB was now teaching Shard how to sculpt, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles were watching too because they were curious as well.

"After this, perhaps you can enlighten us all on the wonders of poetry. I still wish to try my hand at it", said EB.

"Yeah, me too", said Sonic.

"I wanna try, too", said Tails.

"It would be a good opportunity for me to learn how to write. I've been having difficulty since the writing devices I use tend to break for some reason", said Knuckles.

"I would be happy too. And then maybe later, you all can show me the things you're interested in", said Shard.

Penelope smiled as she watched her brothers interacting with her two droids, "You guys don't need to worry about a thing. I'm definitely sure that we're all gonna be just fine", she said.

[The End]

(And thus, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 My Version comes to a definitive conclusion. It took me a long while to finish this story but it was worth it. After taking a break, I will write another prequel one-shot that will tie in to the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 3. It'll hold you all over since the third movie won't come out until 2024, and that's a pretty long wait. So until then, this is SuperKirbyLand234 signing out!).