(Looks like Riku got busted by Sonic and the gang. Now it looks like he'll have to fight his way out. But what about his confusion about who's good and who's evil here? Things don't look good, that's for sure. I don't own Sonic, SatAM, OR Kingdom Hearts.)

CHAPTER 4

"Hey, you're that dude I saw talking to Robotnik!" Sonic pointed a finger at the silver haired boy before him. "Just who the heck are you and where did ya come from!?"

Riku glared at Sonic as he stood upright. "My name's Riku," he said quietly, before his Keyblade materialized in his grip, "And where I come from is none of your business, Sonic Hedgehog!" He pointed Way to the Dawn aggressively at his foe.

'Whoa! There's that mondo freaky key-sword again,' Sonic thought. "So what's up with that key-sword thingie?" He demanded.

"For your information, this thing's called a Keyblade," Riku told his opponent, "And I'm going to use it on you! DARK FIRE!" Riku threw a ball of black flames straight at the hedgehog.

"Whoa!" Sonic bolted to the side, and the fireball missed completely.

Riku did a double take. "Wh-What the?!"

"Think a little old fireball's enough to touch this hedgehog?" Sonic smirked and eagled a finger at Riku.

"Obviously not," Riku said in a deadpan voice, before he ran at Sonic and leapt into the air; he swung his Keyblade down upon the blue hedgehog with force.

"Too slow," Sonic leapt away in a flash.

"Hold still, pincushion!" Riku yelled as he leapt at Sonic, swiping at the hedgehog with his Keyblade, only to miss every time due to Sonic's super agility.

Sonic kept jumping and dodging, doing acrobatics and gymnastics in mid air to show off. "Riku, Riku, Riku, aren't ya getting' tired yet?"

"Yeah, I'm tired," Riku shot back, "Tired of your cocky attitude!! Dark Aura!" Riku rose into the air, before pointing his Keyblade out and charging at Sonic like an angry bee.

Sonic yawned mockingly and speed stepped aside each time Riku passed by. "Tsk, tsk, tsk…" When he saw Riku finally land he sped over and kicked him right in the back.

"AGH!" Riku went flying into the bushes, sending leaves scattering about through the air, and landed flat on his back. "Ok, NOW I'm mad!" He picked himself up, only to see Sonic tapping his foot impatiently.

"Yo, Riku! You gonna land a blow on me or what? I'm waaaaiiitin'!" Sonic taunted.

Riku growled and his eyes burned with rage. "Keep it up, Sonic! You're starting to piss me off!"

"Ah, ah, ah, watch the language," Sonic teased, waving his finger at Riku.

"I'll watch nothing!" Riku jumped at Sonic; he gripped his Keyblade in both hands, pointing the blade down and stabbed at the hedgehog with force; he only hit the earth beneath him as Sonic once again dodged. 'I can't keep swinging blindly at him,' Riku thought, 'There's GOT to be a way I land a blow on him. Maybe If I can confuse or daze him some how…aha! I got it!'

"Well, as much I enjoy playin' around here,' Sonic said, 'I think it's time I sent ya packin' back to Robotropolis!' Leaping into the air and spinning like a buzz saw, Sonic launched another Sonic Spin at Riku.

Riku, however, had other plans. "DARK SHIELD!" Riku threw up a free hand, producing his energy shield of octagons.

Sonic was totally unprepared; he hit the shield head on and was sent flying backwards. "AAAAH!"

'Got him,' Riku thought before lifting into the air for another "Dark Aura" attack.

Sonic hit the ground smack on his read, his head pounding from the head on collision. "Ow…the heck did I just hit? A laser?"

"Sonic!" Sally's voice cried out, "Look out!"

"Whu-WAH!' Sonic was suddenly struck as Riku's Keyblade seemed to cleave right through him like a hot laser.

Riku seemed to cut right through Sonic to the bone, before bursting out from another angle and piercing through the hedgehog again, and again, and again, and again; Sonic never even touched the ground; Riku was striking him so randomly and quickly. Finally, Riku appeared right above Sonic, his Keyblade raised in a stabbing position like a murderer's knife before he brought it down upon the small blue hedgehog; even if the blade didn't strike Sonic, the miniature black fire storm still would and did.

"NWAAH!" Sonic cried out as he was sent spiraling up into the air, helpless.

"Sonic!!" Sally cried helplessly as she watched her love sail upwards into the air.

"It's time to finish this! DARK FIRE!" Riku charged up a single black fireball in his left hand and prepared to fire it at Sonic.

"Hold yer horses there, sugar!"

Riku turned around, only to be met with a steel-enforced punch to the chest that sent him flying back; Riku, however, was able to recover in the air and landed on his feet to face his new opponent. "Hey, you're that… You're that Rabbot girl!"

"BUNNIE Rabbot," Bunnie corrected, "MISS Rabbot to you. And ya better leave ole' sugar-hog alone, or else!"

Riku pointed his Keyblade at her angrily, "Or else what!? I'm not afraid of you, or your metal enhanced limbs! I bet you enforced them just so you could have the advantage over your foes, huh? Well it won't help against me!"

"Don't go thinkin' you know anythin' about muh legs and arm, ya here?" Bunnie was feeling rather sensitive at Riku's misconception.

"Whatever, I don't really care!" Riku lunged at Bunnie and started swiping at her with his weapon.

Bunnie tried to block Riku's blows, using her metal arm to shield her as Riku's Keyblade banged against it. 'Guh! That little ole' key thingie's pretty strong, its puttin' dents into muh arm here.'

Riku beat against Bunnie's metallic arm like an angry drummer; his ears were filled with the clanging sound of metal on metal. 'Come on! That arm's got to give some time!' He gave one more swing and grappled with Bunnie, Keyblade to metallic arm; it was quite a challenge, given Bunnie's strength, but Riku put in some extra hand power and gripped Way to the Dawn in both hands, trying to push down on Bunnie's arm. Grunting, he tried to force Bunnie's arm one way and break the grappling, so that he could get in a quick hit.

Bunnie wouldn't have it, however, as she forced Riku's Keyblade to go the other way. "Sorry, sugar, but you gotta get up pretty early in the mornin' to pull a move on Bunnie-gal with that with that overgrown key o' yours," she retorted with a confident smile.

"First of all, don't call me 'sugar.'" Riku shot back with a scowl, "and secondly it's a KeyBLADE!" He suddenly broke the grapple, causing Bunnie to slip and lose concentration; plenty of time for Riku to unleash a flurry of quick blows upon her non metallic torso.

Bunnie was caught unprepared as the weapon she was holding back suddenly removed itself and made her lose her footing; next minute, she was met with flurry of swipes from Riku's Keyblade against her chest and stomach. She was knocked backwards before Riku threw his Keyblade at her from a short distance like a boomerang; she was tagged instantly and fell to the ground tumbling.

Riku caught his Keyblade after his "boomerang tag" move and gazed at the felled half robot/half animal foe. "Is that "early" enough for you?" He challenged.

Bunnie huffed as she struggled to her feet. "Not early enough Sugar…cause I can still…do…this!" She threw out her metallic left arm, which extended out almost like a shot harpoon.

Riku didn't expect a move like this and was hit right in the torso and knocked flat on his back. "AGH! Jesus!"

"Didn't know ah could do that, did ya, sugar?" Bunnie smirked.

Riku scrambled to his feet, despite having the wind knocked out of him. "I…huff…guess not…" He gasped out. "And for the last time, don't call me 'sugar!'"

Sally, meanwhile, had Nicole (her handheld computer) out to check Sonic's diagnostics. "Nicole! Run diagnostic test on Sonic, quickly!"

RUNNING DIAGNOSTIC SALLY, Nicole beeped in a smooth quiet voice, SONIC IS HEAVILY INJURED, BUT HIS CONDITION IS NOT CONSIDERED CRITICAL.

Sally sighed with relief as she wiped a few tears from her eyes. "Thank Mobius, for that…"

"Hoo yeah!" Bunnie shouted from above as she extended both legs down at Riku like a ladder for a long range kick.

Riku leapt to the side as Bunnie's metallic legs slammed into the ground, kicking up dirt and earth into the air. Before Bunnie had a chance to return back to the ground, Riku struck back. "DARK FIRE!" He launched another black fireball directly at Bunnie's legs as soon a she came down.

"WHOA!" Bunnie cried out as her legs were engulfed in flames; thankfully she was spared from what had happened to Sonic. However, Bunnie found herself on the ground, her robot left badly damaged and ceasing to function. "Oh mah stars, that fireball made me an 'ole robo-plegic!"

Riku let out a sigh of exhaustion. "Whew, these Freedom Fighters are wearing me out… I wouldn't have fought back if they didn't attack me first," he turned to Sally.

Sally stood her ground and glared at Riku. "Why are you doing this anyway!? You don't look like one of Robotnik's robots, so whay are you following his orders?"

"What orders?" Riku asked, "I'm just bringing some eco-terrorists to justice! If I bring you guys in, Robotnik said he'd find a way to send me back home! I don't know what the situation is here, so I don't know who to believe. I don't have any allies or enemies here so…"

"Ugh… Don't ya get it Riku?" Sonic coughed, waking up and pushing himself upright with his hands, "We're actual Freedom Fighters, not eco-terrorists! Buttnik's lying to you!"

'Lying!? So that darkness I felt from him…' Riku started to have his doubts. "Wh-Why should I believe you!?" He said in an uncertain voice.

"You don't know anything about us," Sally shot back, "And you don't know Robotnik either! He's no ruler, he's a dictator! He took our home and planet from us and rules over with an iron fist!"

"He's captured almost all of our kind too," Sonic added, "Most of our buddies've been roboticized by Robotnik and made into his slaves!"

"…Roboticized?" Riku look confused at the word, "What the hell does that mean?" He didn't like where this was going.

"It means they're turned into mindless robots," Sally said in a sad voice, "that's what he does to us, as well as turning our planet into a lifeless cold robotic world." Sally started to tell their story to Riku; she told of Robotnik's betrayal of Mobotropolis, the exile of the king, the many roboticizations of hapless mobians, and the struggle of the Freedom Fighters against Robotnik's might.

As Riku took all of this in his confusion turned to shock, then to horror, and finally it became rage. "That's…horrible!" He gripped the handle of his Keyblade tightly. "I can't something like this has actually happened…that monster! I can't believe I actually trusted and confided in a…a…a…a tyrant!!" Now his rage was becoming guilt. "I can't believe I was helping the side of evil…not again… Urgh!! What have I done!?" He dropped to his knees and beat against the ground with both fists, feeling nothing but rage and shame; both were directed at his self. 'No! Can't believe I let myself get tricked again! First with Ansem, now with this Robotnik character… Oh god, what would Sora think if he saw this? He'd be ashamed of me; ashamed that I let my self get used by evil again that's what!' "What am I supposed to do now!?"

"Try cooling it, bub, instead of messing around with my friends!" A female voice roared out, above a loud stomp.

Before Riku could turn around, there was a sudden hard impact to the back of his head, before everything went black

TO BE CONTINUED