Part 1
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Knuckles stared at Sonic, sweat pouring down his face. "If you've come here to kill me, let's get this over with."
Sonic raised his hands. "I don't want to fight you." A sad look ran across his face.
"Right…" Knuckles slowly approached Sonic, then lunged. Sonic rolled to the side as Knuckles punched through the cave wall. Dust flew and he jumped at Sonic again. Sonic dodged again and again. As the two kept fighting, parts of the cave walls came down around them.
Soon they were completely surrounded by rock wall. Sonic looked around, then back at Knuckles. "What's the point of trapping us in here?"
Knuckles smiled at Sonic. "I won't let you hurt my friends. So neither of us is getting out of here."
Sonic sighed. "So this is what you're willing to do to trap me." He sat down sighing and looked at the walls. "Guess we can at least talk now, without you being worried." A blue glow came from Sonic's chest lighting up the cave.
Knuckles eyes went wide. "Wait! You let me trap you!?"
"Yeah." Sonic nodded.
Knuckles stared for a few moments in disbelief, then grabbed him, lifting him against the wall. "Why!?"
Sonic didn't even try to fight back. "Because it's the only way we can talk without a fight apparently." He looked down. "Guess that's my fault though."
"What is this, villains' therapy? Why aren't you fighting back!?" Knuckles let go turning away. "Guess I can let my guard down, now that we're both dying in here anyway"
Sonic looked at Knuckles. "Sacrificing yourself to protect Tails. You really are as brave as I remember. Just wish you weren't so stubborn."
"What!?" Knuckles turned back to Sonic ready to attack.
Sonic raised his hands. "Look. I came here to talk. That's all. Like I said, I don't want to fight you."
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Part 2
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Chief Oran walked into a room with white tile floors and walls. Fluorescent lights on the ceiling bathed the machinery in white light. Plastic containers held different creatures and robots, showing readings for temperature, time span, heart beat, and electric output among other things.
Dr. Robotnick looked over a large cylindrical container with a black and red hedgehog inside. He looked up when he saw Oran. "Uh, chief sir. You wanted to see Metal right?"
"Yeah. I wanted to see this robot of your's before sending it out in public." Oran walked over and Robotnick took him over to a square plastic box with a glass on the front. At the top of the door a label read Metal Sonic. Inside was a hedgehog looking robot with a blue head and glass lenses instead of eyes. Sleek gray metal arms came off a round body. Underneath were metal legs with wheels at the bottom of blue feet.
Dr. Robotnick pulled out a remote. "This allows us to turn Metal on and off, as well as open his containment unit."
Oran sighed. "Yes. I already read the files. I know about its 2 hour battery life and its fail safe."
Robotnick laughed, somewhat embarrassed. "Right, of course. I'll just activate Metal for you then." He clicked the remote and the door to the containment unit opened. The lense eyes of the robot glowed red as sound came from the hydraulics pistons activating and gears moving.
It stepped out of the containment unit and faced Dr. Robotnick. "Metal Sonic model 1 activated. Authorized user recognized: Dr. Robotnick. What are your orders?"
Robotnick looked at the robot and spoke. "Recognize new authorized user: Chief Oran." He then gave Oran the remote.
Oran pressed a green cross shaped button on the remote and faced Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic scanned Oran and spoke again. "User confirmed: Chief Oran."
Oran raised an eyebrow. "Metal Sonic. Find Dr. Lancert."
"Objective accepted." Metal Sonic whirred for a few seconds, then spoke. "Dr. Lancert is 20 feet away horizontally, and 30 feet away vertically. Do you want Dr. Lancert brought here?"
Oran looked at Metal Sonic. "No. Have her killed." Robotnick turned to Oran startled.
Metal Sonic whirred for a few seconds. "Dr. Lancert has not been confirmed for death row, so killing her would be against standard police protocol. Objective denied."
Oran smiled at Dr. Robotnick. "Ok. I think this thing is safe to use." He turned back to Metal Sonic. "Track down Sonic, and bring him back incapacited but alive."
"Objective accepted. Specimen 343: Sonic the hedgehog will be neutralized and returned for questioning." Metal Sonic walked out of the lab.
Dr. Robotnick pressed a button on his lab coat sending down a large screen. It showed a camera view going through the lab, then through doors, hallways, stairs, and eventually the 4th Street. As it picked up speed, the surroundings blurred gray together until the color around changed to green.
Dr. Robotnick smiled. "I've taken the liberty of setting up a system so you can watch Metal's body camera from your computer.
Oran nodded. "Good. This thing seems safe. But I still can't help feeling concerned about this." He took out a roll of paper from his pocket with a list. "Still, we can't just let criminals go unpunished. Maybe this robot can deal with criminals like Sonic did."
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Part 3
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Knuckles' laughter boomed through the walls. "You really expect me to believe you changed sides?" He lay on the ground unable to breath.
Sonic looked at him. "No, I don't. Guess at this point, I expect to die down here."
"Yeah." Knuckles smiled. "I can't believe it. I stopped Sonic. My friends don't have to be afraid anymore, they're safe."
Sonic shook his head. "You realize they'll just send others right? Chaos Containment won't stop. They'll just keep hunting you until they capture you."
Knuckles lay there peacefully. "So what's it like working for those maniacs."
"They're not maniacs. They try to keep peace and protect innocent people." Sonic sighed looking at the rock wall. "Sometimes they go too far. That's why I left."
Knuckles shook his head laughing. "Even now you try to keep up appearances. We're dead anyway and no one will ever hear us. What was that?"
Knuckles looked around hearing some sort of banging nearby. Sonic stood up and the two followed the sound as it grew louder and louder. Sonic's eyes went wide. "Look out!"
He tackled Knuckles to the ground as a robotic hedgehog burst from the rock wall. Dust went flying and the cave shook.
The robot looked at Sonic. "Specimen 343. You are under arrest for crimes involving property damage and insubordination." Then it looked at Knuckles. "Criminal identified: Knuckles the Echidna. Secondary objective created. Knuckles, you are under arrest for crimes including property damage, assault of officers, and theft. Any attempts to resist will result in use of force."
"What the!?" Knuckles got to his feet. "What is that thing!?"
"Ivo...you sent Metal out!?" Sonic looked at Knuckles. "We need to destroy that thing before it kills someone!"
"Gladly!" Knuckles charged Metal Sonic, punching it backwards. Small dents were starting to form on it.
Then Metal Sonic's body started sending off steam and glowing red and orange. Knuckles hit it, and yelped jumping back. "Agh. That burns."
Metal Sonic walked toward Knuckles. "Do not resist. Attempts to do so will result in use of force."
The super heated robot kept walking toward Knuckles until Sonic kicked it. "Hey. I'm the one you're after!" He wagged his finger. "But I guess that doesn't matter when you're too slow."
Knuckles jumped through the hole Metal Sonic had made as it faced Sonic. "Specimen 343, submit to arrest for retrieval, interrogation, and decommission."
Sonic laughed. "Like I'm gonna turn myself to be tortured and then killed." He jumped to a rock wall and kicked off, shooting into the hole. Then he sprinted.
Metal Sonic shot out after him as he caught up to Knuckles who held his head after running into a wall. Sonic looked at him waving him on. "Come on! Follow me!"
Knuckles chased after Sonic as the two ran out of the cave. Then Knuckles glared at him. "Sonic...I'll make you pay for this."
"We've got bigger issues right now." Sonic looked at the cave as Metal Sonic came out.
Its eyes focused on Sonic for a moment, then turned to Knuckles. Fire shot out from its back as it shot at Knuckles. Sonic looked and dove, knocking him out of the way.
Metal Sonic hit Sonic back several feet as he yelled in pain. His body hit the ground and moved limply. Metal Sonic turned away from Sonic hitting Knuckles' fist.
The robot's body cracked as it fell over. Knuckles hit it with another punch as it got up. Bits of jagged metal stuck out as sparks shot off. Then it shot away. Knuckles smiled. "When are humans gonna learn. Nature beats machines every time."
Knuckles turned toward Sonic who was holding his stomach. Then he shook the head. "Why'd you do that?"
"That thing would've killed you." Sonic spat out mucus mixed with blood.
"Right." Knuckles looked toward the river. "You know I could just drown you and be done with it."
Sonic laughed, gritting his teeth to sit up. "Maybe. But I'm willing to bet you won't."
Knuckles sighed, sitting down. "No. I guess I won't."