Sonic: C O U N T E R P A R T

Chapter 11

"Hey, Knux! What are ya up to?" Sonic screeched to a stop in front of his red echidna friend, who was laying on top of the master emerald, sunbathing.

"Oh! I'm cloud gazing, reflecting on the sayings of my ancestors." Knuckles rolled his eyes. "I'm guarding the emerald. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Cool. Wanna race? I'm so bored!"

"Do you think I just lay here all day doing nothing? If you're bored, go bother Tails. My job is important."

"Ugh." Sonic groaned. "Tails brought us here to do his science stuff."

"There's nothing I can do to help you there. A guardian doesn't take breaks." Knuckles smirked. His smirk quickly turned into a frown when a pebble hit the side of his head. "Ow! Hey! What was that for?" Knuckles sat up and shouted at Sonic.

"I dunno." Sonic shrugged and through another pebble at him, this time harder. The pebble smacked Knuckles in the nose.

"You— Ow! Stop it!" Knuckles blocked another pebble from his face. "Behave yourself or you'll be getting some sense knocked into you!"

"Meh." Sonic threw another pebble and Knuckles clenched his fist.

"That. Does It." Knuckles growled. "Come here you annoying—"

"Try to catch me if you can—AGH!" Sonic was knocked aside by a metallic fist. Sonic's body skidded across the altar, scraping his arm in the process.

"What the—" Knuckles stopped to look at what attacked Sonic. "Metal Sonic!?"

"Oh great..." Sonic moaned. "Long time no see, gruesome." Sonic sat up and wiped his mouth and narrowed his eyes at the robot. "Guess the rotten egg decided to let you roam past curfew!" He stood and clenched his fists.

"Destroy... Sonic. Kill... Knuckles."

"What? What did I do!?" Knuckles blinked at him in awe. "Aren't you usually the one he's after, Sonic?"

"It talks." Sonic spat. "That's new, too bad it won't last long though—" Metal sped forward, grabbed Knuckles, and swung him into Sonic. The two collided with one of the pillars, putting cracks in them. They coughed as they took a moment to process the punch.

"Hey! Not on my island you don't!" Knuckles seethed and brushed himself off.

"Is it me or does it seem faster?" Sonic groaned.

"Terminate." Metal swung at Sonic, but he missed. Sonic jumped out of the way, allowing Knuckles to strike from behind. But Metal quickly regained control and grabbed onto Knuckles and flung him into the air, across the island.

"WooooOOOOaaaaAAHHHH! SONIIIIC!" Knuckles shouted as gravity carried his body elsewhere.

"Knuckles!" Sonic gasped and glanced back at Metal. Metal Sonic activated the jet engine in his interior and flew off in the direction Knuckles probably landed. Sonic smirked and chased after him. "That's what I'm talking about! A race! Ready to lose?" He jumped in the air and boosted forward, going quicker than Metal.

The master emerald was now left unguarded. No one was around for at least a mile. Amy took this as her chance and hobbled over to the master emerald, despite the pain she was in. Her ankle ached so bad that she started clenching her teeth with every step she took.

"Ugh! Why is it that Metal doesn't listen to me?" She leaned against one of the pillars of the altar and eyed the massive green gem. It sparkled and that's what caught her attention. The gem was beautiful, and Amy had this strange urge within her arise. She wanted to touch it. "I guess I can't complain. No one is here for this. Metal made my job a lot easier." Amy reached for the master emerald allowing the warmth of its light to graze her fingers.