Sonic the Hedgehog in _____________________ TIME AND SPACE _____________________ By Shax the Raptor Part two - The Anti-Verse CHAPTER FIVE: THE KNOTHOLE HELL-HOLE "State-name-and-business" "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ" "state-name-and-business" "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ" -- OUCH! "State-name-and-business" Sonic woke up, after being poked several times by a SWAT bot. He sat up, dazed. State-name-and-business" said the bot, repetitively poking him in the arm with a stick. He remembered the dream he had. He had dreamed that him, Tails, Knuckles, his old girlfriend Amy, and two strangers, one a purple cat with super powers and the other a foul- mouthed yellow porcupine karate expert had been teleported to a desert planet as a test by some supernatural wizard from beyond. He giggled to himself. "OK, no chilli dogs for me today!" It had obviously been a dream, for he was now lying down in amongst the trees in the Great Forest. He wondered why he fell asleep during his afternoon exercise. He decided to find his way back to Knothole. Funny, he didn't seem to recognize the section of forest he was in. He stood up. "State-name-and-business" said the SWAT bot. Sonic had forgotten about him. "You-are-in-robot-territory" said the bot. Sonic giggled and pushed the bot over backwards. "Dream on, Ro-BUTT-nik!" said Sonic. "Knothole will never belong to you!" he did a spin-dash and obliterated the robot. He then walked off in search of Knothole Village. "I can't understand it!" he said to himself. "Knothole is nowhere in sight, and I can't find one place in this darn forest that I recognize!" He had been walking for an hour, and even though he knew more about the forest than the trees did, he was hopelessly lost. He then heard a scream, and a lot of laser-blasting. He ran in search of the sound, and saw a team of Ultra-SWAT bots fighting Knuckles. At least he thought it was Knux, except he looked older. Maybe in his twenties. Sonic knew this was impossible, though. When Knux had finished fighting the U-SWATs, he ran for the bushes before another army found him. He then ran smack into Sonic. When he got up and looked at Sonic, his mouth dropped open and he turned pale. "Hi Knux! What's up?" asked Sonic. Knuckles simply looked at him strangely. "S....SONIC?!?" he said, alarmed. "Uh huh" replied Sonic, confused. "B...B..But, you mean you're ALIVE?" asked Knux. "It beats the alternative" replied Sonic, thinking it was all a joke. Knuckles started smiling. "How did you do it?" he asked. Sonic looked very confused. He was starting to see the seriousness in Knuckles' eyes. "What's gotten into you?" he asked. "I'm just so happy to see you after seven years of thinking you were dead!" replied Knux. "What are you talking about?" asked Sonic. "I saw you only last year when we defeated Robotnik on the floating island!" Knux looked at him blankly. "Anyway, I'm lost, can you direct me back to Knothole? I guess that's where you're going." Knux looked at Sonic as if he was crazy. "Did you get amnesia when you were away?" "No, why?" asked Sonic. "Because" said Knux, frightfully. "Knothole and the Great Forest were completely destroyed in the robot raid ten years ago!" CHAPTER SIX: DIMENSIONS "Are you nuts?" asked Sonic, getting agitated. "We are standing in the great forest! Look at all the trees!" "Metal" replied Knux. "They are all just made of metal. Go ahead and tap on them." Sonic went and tapped his knuckles on the trunk of a tree. It made a hollow clanging sound. Still not believing it, he went up to every tree he could see. Every single plant was stainless steel. Then he ran. He had to go a long way away from that place. He had to think. He came to a clearing in the metal forest, only to see a sight that caused his breath to catch in his throat. He saw what looked a little like Robotropolis, except it was much bigger. Say, as far as the eye could see. It spanned from the base of the hill to the horizon, and probably beyond. In the sky were several ships that looked like Robotnik's Death Egg, but without the impression of Robotnik's face on the front. Robots were everywhere, and most of them were bigger than U-SWATs. And in the middle was a huge building, no, more like a castle, no, more like a fortress, made from iron with revolving windows, and elevators, and strange pump-like things. This was all too much for Sonic to handle. How could Robotnik take over the entire of Mobius in one night? It was impossible, yet there it was. Suddenly, someone came out of the bushes beside him. He l looked, and there was Tails. "TAILS" Sonic cried to his friend. "WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED HERE?" Before Tails could answer, the bush shook again, and out came Knux. Then Sonic was very surprised to see the two strangers from his dream emerge as well, and then came Amy. "Sonic" said Knux. "Don't worry, it isn't our home. It's the Anti-Verse." Suddenly, it all started to make sense. Sonic had thought the dream had seemed a little too real. He wasn't dreaming, he and the group really had been teleported somewhere else by the strange Dominatrek character. The question was, where? "Where did that guy send us?" asked Sonic. Streak the Cat spoke up to answer his question. "We think Dominatrek sent us to some sort of parallel universe - the Anti-Verse. He said something about us going back to Mobius, but it not being the Mobius we know. So, we think that this universe was once like ours, except that somewhere, history took a wrong turn, and everything ended up like this." "History sure made one heck of a wrong turn!" said Sonic, gazing at the new Robotropolis City. "Well, what are we supposed to do here?" asked Tails. "I met the Knuckles from this universe!" answered Sonic, remembering the slightly older Knuckles he met earlier. "We could talk to him!" The group agreed, and Sonic led the way to where he met the other Knux. "WOW!" yelled Knuckles, when he heard their story. He hadn't believed them for a second, until the other Knux showed up, then how could he not believe. "By the way" said Sonic to the older Knuckles. "Mind if we call you something different from our Knuckles? Just so you know who we are talking to." "Yeah" said the younger Knuckles. "This is the Anti-Verse, so why not call him 'Anti-Knux'?" "Ok" replied Anti-Knux. "Just so I know who you are referring to when you say 'Knuckles'. So, what do you think you guys are supposed to do here?" "I guess we just have to beat Robotnik." replied Sonic. "Could be hard, when he already controls the planet." Anti-Knux looked at Sonic strangely. "Who's Robotnik?" he asked. "Oh, you know" replied Sonic. "Big fat guy that controls most of Mobius." Anti-Knux thought about it a while, then said "Oh! Dr. Robotnik! No, he died long ago." Sonic gasped. "Well, who did all this then?" Anti-Knux looked down at an apple he was chewing on. "That robot" he said. "Mecha Sonic." CHAPTER SEVEN: REIGN OF MECHA SONIC Anti-Knux explained the situation. "You see, Robotnik's biggest mistake was upgrading Mecha to the ultimate supreme robot ten years ago. M.S. became so powerful, that he was much more powerful than Robotnik himself. Worse still, he also became incredibly power hungry. He secretly programmed all the SWAT bots to be loyal to him, and one day, Robotropolis revolted. Robotnik disappeared, probably killed by Mecha, and the robot wasted no time in taking over his throne, and taking Mobius. And, oh, the poor Freedom Fighters. Knothole was the very first place Mecha attacked, and the Freedom Fighters were held in prison. I escaped, but I was unable to help them. I feel so guilty about it!" Anti-Knux started to sob, and Sonic comforted him. He continued, "You, Sonic, you were the first to go. Mecha always hated you, 'cause you were the original blueprint for him, and he didn't want to be simply a clone. So he personally executed you as a sign of his power. Then Tails and the other Freedom Fighters were taken and robotized. After that, there was a huge robot raid I call the iron war. Nobody on Mobius was any match for Mecha and his robots. Everyone was taken and robotized. I am the only creature on Mobius that is actually living. Everything else that moves is a cold, steel robot. So, in a nutshell, Mobius is a wreck, Mecha gets much more powerful all the time, and it won't be long until I share the fate of everyone else." Even though this wasn't his universe, Sonic felt a certain amount of anger about what Mecha Sonic did to Mobius. He also felt some fear about the fact that Anti-Knux mentioned the fantastic power of Mecha. After all, he had always been a powerful rival, but now, he might be too much. Well, it seems that this was Dominatrek's plan. The strange being had sent them to this particular universe for some reason, and he knew who Sonic was, perhaps he also knew Sonic's fear of his arch-nemesis. Maybe that was the whole point of this "test". Sonic thought that Dominatrek was probably sitting back somewhere having a good laugh at his expense. And Sonic couldn't very well not go through with it, because it was the only way him and his friends could go home. "Well..." he said, shakily, "Let's go". It didn't take long for the worst possible thing to happen. They made a couple of mistakes, and a couple of alarms went off, and a giant robot gently escorted them to a flea-ridden dungeon. Because there weren't any living organisms left on the planet, the dungeon was more like a scrap heap. Sonic and the group weren't seen as criminals, but rather, as obsolete robots who had gone haywire, causing them to be in a forbidden area of Robotropolis. The dungeons were small, and only two were put in each one. Tails was put in with Knux, Streak with Petals and Sonic with Amy. "Now what, genius?" Petals asked Sonic sarcastically from the next door cell. She spat onto the concrete floor, then turned to Streak. "What are you waiting for, Superman? Turn on the sparks and fry these bars so we can get outta here and get on with our lives!" Streak shook his head sadly. These bars are made from a very, very strong metal. A dip in a lava pool couldn't melt them. He slid down the wall into a sitting position and played with a small stone in his hand. Sonic decided to take this time to work things out with Amy. She had ignored him for a long time, now he had enough free time to find out why. "So...um...Amy.." he began. "Save your breath" Amy replied. Well, at least she said something for a change. "What's wrong?" he asked her. "You" she snapped back. "C'mon! What did I do wrong?" "You know" she said. "When you were just a normal hedgehog, we were best friends. But then, you discovered your super speed and you were all like 'HEY! LOOK AT ME!' and everybody thought you were so cool, and you joined the Freedom Fighters, and you got so many friends that you couldn't count them.." she began to sob. "So that's why I took off! I joined another band of Freedom Fighters, and I became a hero, too!" she said tearfully. "C'mon, Amy! I didn't forget you!" said Sonic. "As a matter of fact, my life hasn't been the same since you left! And to be honest, this hero stuff is getting a tad boring. Believe me, Amy, there is a difference between fans and friends, and amongst all the fans I have, I have very few true friends, and I still have a place in my heart for you. So whaddaya say? Friends?" Amy stopped crying and smiled slightly. "I'll think about it" she said. Suddenly, Sonic saw something that made his heart skip a beat. A very familiar shadow passed over the wall. Slasher! But, as the creature came into view, he noticed it had no wings, and looked slightly different than Slasher, but it was still a velociraptor. Sonic felt a bit disappointed, but he was still interested. The raptor shoved one fingernail in each lock, which acted as a lockpick. "Hurry!" he said, then ran off. Sonic tried to follow him, but he was long gone. "What was that about?" asked Streak, confused. "Dunno" said Sonic "But I'm starting to get used to dinosaurs helping me out!" They walked down the corridor, and came to a flight of stairs. It went up a long, long, long way. Eventually, they came out a side door in the huge fortress Sonic saw earlier. They decided to face Mecha Sonic, so they found the main door into the building. It was a huge golden archway, and it led to a huge throne room. It was like a medieval castle, except for one thing - it was completely robotized. To the left, there was a long orderly line of robots, who seemed to be signing off on some identity machine. At the back of the room, there was a huge machine like a master computer. And there, sitting in front of it, asleep on a throne, was none other than Mecha Sonic. Except, here, he was a little bigger. Okay, he was totally huge. The steel spikes on his back were longer, sharper, and had little barbs on them. Two huge guard robots stood either side of him, but made no attempt to stop the group when they approached. Sonic decided to defeat Mecha without waking him up. He looked pretty mean, even meaner than usual, and that is really saying something. Sonic got everyone in a bundle, and whispered the plan. "Okay, to get this guy, we'll all have to pitch in. Streak, you hit him with an electricity bolt, and I'll finish him off with a spin dash. Knux and Petals, you are the best fighters, so you attack him if he wakes up. Tails, it's too dangerous for you, lil' bud, you just go hide somewhere." Tails took one look at the menacing face of the robot hedgehog, and immediately agreed, pretending to be disappointed. Unfortunately, they were all huddled together and none of them saw Mecha Sonic's red eyes all of a sudden light up. Nobody saw the master computer go on-line. Nobody saw Mecha look towards them, and nobody saw the twisted expression on his cold, metal face as he saw them standing there. CHAPTER EIGHT: IRON BATTLE "S..S..S..SSSSSSONIC!!!" came the hissing wail from the throne where Mecha Sonic sat. The group instantly jerked their heads around to face him. "Oh oh" said Sonic, eyes not shifting from Mecha. Mecha was obviously utterly furious at the sight of his nemesis. "BUT YOU DIED!" he screeched in a surprisingly high voice. "I KILLED YOU PERSONALLY! I SAW YOU DIE!" Sonic grinned. "Well, I'm not the Sonic you killed! I'm from another dimension, and I've come to kick your shiny stainless steel butt!" Mecha obviously had no idea what Sonic was talking about, so he seemed to disregard what he just said. "No matter!" Mecha said, more calmly. "I have grown much more powerful since you last met me." Even though he didn't have the ability to smile, you could just about see him grinning. "See this?" asked Mecha, pointing to the giant machine that took up the entire northern wall. "How can we miss it?" Sonic whispered to no- one in particular. "This is my brain!" continued Mecha. "I am inside this machine! All I have to do is beam my complex thought patterns to the robot you see before you! I have changed, S..Son..Hedgehog, and I am meaner than anything you could ever imagine!" Sonic didn't like the way Mecha said that. All of a sudden, Mecha curled into a ball and shot off like a ten foot circular saw. Sonic and the others barely got out of the way in time. Streak concentrated all his energy and set off a blast of electricity in Mecha's direction. Mecha stopped for a second, said "Repairing damage, please wait --------done" and attacked again. Sonic did a spin dash and bounced off Mecha like a ping pong ball. All Knux got was a deep gash on his arm by one of the robot's spiked hands. Petals got kicked in the head, and all Tails and Amy could do was stand back and watch their friends get horribly beaten up. What could they do? Amy had only ever fought SWAT bots before - she didn't even know where to begin with Mecha. And, as for Tails, the only special ability he had was to fly, and what good would that do? Suddenly, as Sonic was evading Mecha's plasma blasts, Tails had an idea. He remembered what Mecha had said before - "I am inside this machine". He realized that the four were going about it the wrong way. They were attacking the robot, when the real Mecha was inside the giant machine. He started twirling his tails like a helicopter rotor. "Tails! What are you doing?" screamed Amy, grabbing for him. She was too late. Tails was flying towards the giant machine. Mecha was too busy fighting Sonic, Knux, Streak and Petals to notice Tails. Suddenly, Amy realized what Tails was thinking, and a grin spread across her face. But then, Mecha had Sonic cornered. He chuckled, and you could swear a wide smile took over his lifeless face, as he balled up his heavy fist and slammed Sonic like a Mack Truck. Tails started pulling out all the wiring he could see. Mecha leaned over the unconscious Sonic, ready to deal the fatal blow. But he was strangely hesitant. Then everyone knew why. Mecha looked up and said "Right limb is no longer active. Fatal error in main computer" That was followed by a shrill "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" and then by a cry of rage when he saw the little fox removing the wiring from the machine. With one arm dangling lifelessly beside him, Mecha raised his left arm and a little missile popped out. He was aiming for Tails, in front of the massive computer. As he was getting his aim perfect, Knuckles jumped into the air and did a glide towards Tails, snatching him away just in time. Mecha set off the missile just as Tails was grabbed and carried to safety. The small explosive smacked into the giant computer, causing a massive hole in the middle. "Fatal error - systems shutting down" said Mecha, just before landing face first with a CLANG! Almost simultaneously, all the other robots in the room stopped functioning. They had won, but Sonic was still unconscious. He opened one eye and croaked "Tails-you--saved-me-buddy!" just then, the walls seemed to melt and everything swirled around. They once again heard the voice of Dominatrek. "WELL DONE, YOU HAVE COME FURTHER THAN I EXPECTED." "Sonic's hurt!" yelled Knuckles, not knowing where to look for the being. Dominatrek appeared in front of them. "SONIC WILL BE ALL RIGHT" he said. "Can we go home, now?" yelled Streak, as if thinking the being was hard of hearing. "NO, NOW YOU SHALL ENTER TEST THREE" There was silence for a second, then Knux went hysterical. "WHAT THE HECK DO YOU MEAN, D*** IT!?! HOW MUCH LONGER ARE YOU GOING TO TELEPORT US AROUND THE UNIVERSE, BETWEEN PARALLEL DIMENSIONS AND SO FORTH, JUST FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT!?!" "SILENCE!" shouted Dominatrek "I WILL NOT BE SILENT!" argued Knux. Dominatrek held out his hand and blasted Knux with something much more forceful than he did before. Knuckles was knocked to the ground. "YOU SHALL ENTER THE IMPOSSIBLE TEMPLE OF GHIL-SHA" he said, grinning. He raised his hands above his head and clapped them twice, and everything went dark. ------------TO BE CONTINUED-------------