Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Fear ❯ Body Swap ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Sonic woke up feeling weird. He sat up and yawned before going into the bathroom. As he walked, he noticed how strange he felt. There was this light brush against his shoulders, but he shrugged it off. At least, he did until he looked in the mirror and discovered the biggest shock of his life. Knuckles was staring back at him, his purple eyes wide, and his jaw comically dropped. But it wasn't funny to Sonic, who, though he hated it with a fiery passion, swore as loud as he could. Then he said a few more as he approached the mirror, shaking hard.

"No way!" Sonic flinched as Knuckles' voice came out, though he'd clearly said it.

He decided to skip the shower and stumbled over to his gloves and shoes, which hadn't changed. He moaned when they wouldn't fit and picked them up, unsure of what to do. He finally dropped to his knees and prayed out loud.

"Master Emerald, Tikal, this is an emergency! Please beam me and Shadow up to you!"

There was nothing for five seconds, during which Sonic began to cry, before there was a bright flash of green. He hit the ground as his body did…His body! What in the hell was going on?

"Me! I mean…Sonic! What's happened?" he asked desperately, trying to hide his tears.

"That, my dear fellow, is not Sonic. You are Sonic," Shadow said as he approached.

"So…who is he? Knuckles?" Somehow he knew that wasn't right, even as he said it.

"No, Blue Boy," Shadow grumbled from Sonic's body. "I'm Shadow."

"So that mean's that…"

Knuckles nodded and stood there with his arms crossed, looking irritated. The emotion was strangely out of place on Shadow's face.

"So I'm not the only one who woke up with a body change. Great," Shadow muttered.

"Stop crying, Sonic," Knuckles said, brushing by him.

"Heartless much?" Sonic asked, trying to do as the former echidna had asked.

Knuckles stopped and turned to approach him. The dark hedgehog knelt down in front of him and tilted his chin up.

"No. I'm not. But its really weird to see myself cry."

"I'm sorry," Sonic said, pulling away and hugging himself. "It's just…I don't know what's going on."

"I thought you liked adventure?" Shadow asked, his blue hand swiping away the tears on Sonic's red face.

"In my own body!" Sonic moaned. "Why am I Knuckles?"

"Same reason I'm you," Shadow said simply.

"Why's that?" Knuckles looked hopeful.

"I am not sure," the blue hedgehog said with a shake of his head. "But I'm guessing that this is a rather unexpected side effect of what that thing did to us."

"Damn it!" the red echidna swore.

Shadow and Knuckles looked surprised. "Wow. You really are upset," Knuckles said with a laugh.

"This isn't funny, Knuckles," Sonic said, tearing up again. "I'm scared and confused and I feel weird."

"Then welcome to the club," Shadow said, helping Sonic up. The blue being's stomach growled. "Damn, Blue Boy, do you ever eat?"

"I have a high metabolism," Sonic said with a soft snicker.

"I do, too, but this is a little ridiculous."

"Well, I was so tired last night that I crashed without eating supper. That's probably why I'm…I mean you're…how do I say this?"

Knuckles snorted. "Talk as if it's him. Don't use the first person for that. It'll confuse things."

"Fine. That's why you're so hungry," Sonic said.

"You hungry, Knux?" Shadow asked.

"Sure," the dark hedgehog replied with a nod.

The Master Emerald granted them their favorite breakfasts. Before Sonic could take a bite of ham, Knuckles halted him.

"What? I'm hungry," Sonic complained.

"If this works the way I think it does, you do not want to eat meat," Knuckles said seriously.

"Why not?" Shadow asked, putting his fork down.

"Because he still has my stomach and my taste buds."

"So?" Sonic asked, sounding impatient.

"I don't eat meat, Sonic. It tastes awful to me, and if I do eat it, it makes me sick. I was raised on fruits and vegetables. That's what I eat. You are in my body, therefore that should be what you eat."

"I don't like vegetables," Sonic growled.

"Shocker there," Shadow said with a snicker.

"Fine. Eat ham," Knuckles replied as he picked his apple up.

Twenty minutes later, Sonic was heaving his breakfast out all over the grass. He felt so sick it was scary. Knuckles and Shadow patiently held his dreadlocks as the rest of the contents of his stomach came up in another violent heave. Blessedly, it was the last wave. He sat back, shaking hard and crying again. There was no comment on the tears this time as he was picked up and carried to the pool. They washed his face and ducked him under to cool him off then sat there in the shallows with him. Knuckles spoke once Sonic had calmed down.

"I told you not to eat ham. Then you go and add bacon to it. Stupid move, Sonic."

"I'm never eating meat again," Sonic whispered, sniffling.

"You can once you get back into your own body. But my body is not used to meat."

"It hates it," Sonic muttered. "It wants to destroy it."

Shadow laughed softly. "No, Red Boy, it just wants to purge it."

"Red Boy?" Sonic asked.

"Well, I can't very well call you 'Blue Boy' anymore. I'm the Blue Boy now," Shadow said with a wink.

Sonic got a laugh from that before looking at the water. "Can I swim in this body?"

"Swimming is not a part of the body, Sonic," Knuckles said. "You still have to take lessons."

"Then I want another lesson."

Knuckles and Shadow looked at each other in surprise before leading him down to the deep end. This time, they instructed Sonic to work on his breaststroke. He was doing a marvelous job by the time they were ready to get out. Sonic was pleased by the progress. They went back to the Master Emerald, where a glowing Tikal was waiting for them.

"Greetings, Princess," Knuckles said, bowing low. Shadow and Sonic did the same.

"Greetings, child of red. Or should it be child of black now?"

"Amusing," Shadow said as they stood, though there was danger in those words.

Tikal laughed. "My apologies, Shadow. I had to have my jest."

"I'd rather you jest get on with it," Sonic quipped.

Tikal laughed again. "Oh, Sonic. You are a joy to be around."

Knuckles growled, his red eyes narrowing as he looked from Sonic to Tikal. Tikal was unbothered.

"Relax, Knuckles, you will always be closest to my heart. Trust me." She stroked his quills affectionately, making him shudder. He looked pleased.

"I do, milady. Thank you. Why are you physical?"

"M.E. and I are, to put it lightly, confused as to why you're now each other."

"Can you change us back?"

"That's the confusing part," Tikal admitted. "We cannot."

"…I don't want to sound rude," Sonic said softly. "But is M.E., you know…powerful enough to do so?"

Knuckles looked him over, studying him. "You are speaking out of ignorance, and are not trying to make light of it or be insulting."

"So?" Sonic asked.

"I don't have to hurt you."

"But is it?"

"Yes, Sonic," Tikal said, coming up to kiss his cheek. "M.E. is far more powerful than you realize. It takes only a tiny fraction of its power to keep this island afloat. It takes much less to make you food and drink or even to teleport you. A simple mind switch should be easy for it. But…there is some powerful magic afoot. Its roots are as old as M.E."

"What did Eggman create?" Sonic muttered.

"Eggman?" Tikal asked. "You believe this to be his doing?"

"Um…"

"It couldn't have been what he wanted to do with the thing," Shadow said thoughtfully. "But he created this...well, this thing."

"What did it look like?" Tikal asked intently.

Dead silence. She looked around, frowning. "Come now. Was it invisible?"

"N…No," Knuckles admitted.

"Well then what did it look like."

"My parents," Sonic said after a long pause. "My drowned, decaying parents."

"Maria and the Gun Soldiers," Shadow said numbly. "They shot her after she asked why I didn't save her."

"And…" Knuckles trailed off hesitantly.

"And?"

"You, Tikal. It looked like Perfect Chaos killing you."

There was a flash from the Master Emerald and Tikal placed a hand on it to soothe it. She appeared to be communicating with it for about two minutes. She removed her hand and nodded once.

"He has created nothing. He has unleashed Fear."

"But fear is an emotion," Sonic said.

"Yes. But it is also a powerful, powerful magical being," Tikal said solemnly. "It is as old as M.E., as I said. It was locked away by M.E. and the Chaos Emeralds thousands of years ago."

"What is it?" Shadow asked.

"A shape-shifter."

Knuckles looked thoughtful. "It locates your fears and becomes them so that it can touch you and…and…and what?"

Tikal nodded at him. "It feeds on your negative emotions. Fear is what it prefers, but it can sustain itself on any kind of pain. Sadness. Shame. Humiliation. Anger. Hatred. It absolutely thrives on hatred."

"Why isn't that it's preferred emotion then?" Sonic asked.

"Because true hatred is something that you don't find much of. But the three of us have it," Shadow replied. "I hate humans because they took Maria from me. You hate Eggman. It's the one thing you truly, truly hate."

"What about Knuckles?"

Tikal placed a hand on his shoulder. "His hatred is four thousand years old. It has been passed down from echidna to echidna, ever since I was sealed in here."

"What...who does he hate?" Sonic asked hesitantly.

"Myself," Knuckles replied.

"Knuckles!" Tikal exclaimed. "You hate your race, not yourself. You are as pure of heart as I am. M.E. likes that about you."

"I suppose," Knuckles said, looking away. Sonic frowned at the insecurity that he'd glimpsed in those eyes.

"Knux?" Sonic asked.

"What?"

"Tikal's not lying. She and M.E. love you. You're nothing like most of your ancestors. They only cared about themselves. You care…Well, that's it! You care! You care about everything and everyone. You'd even help Eggman!"

Knuckles looked up as he chuckled. "Yeah. I guess I would. Thanks, Sonic."

Sonic smiled and nodded. "Anything for a friend."

Shadow had watched without comment, but he had a strange sense that he wasn't needed. He was ready to help, but once Sonic had addressed the insecurity, he settled back and let them work. The Master Emerald flashed excitedly and Tikal placed her hand against it again. Her face twisted and she opened her eyes to look at Shadow then Sonic then Knuckles.

"You three, come touch M.E. Quickly!"

Sonic tried to dash over like Shadow did, but he couldn't move very fast. Knuckles, on the other hand, slammed face first into Tikal in the blink of an eye. Tikal and Sonic laughed heartily as Shadow helped him up. Knuckles' cheeks were bright red.

"S-Sorry, Princess. I…I don't know what happened."

"You wanted to obey her, yes?" Shadow asked, clearly amused.

"Yes."

"As quickly as possible?" Sonic asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes."

"Well, you're not used to being a hedgehog," Sonic laughed.

"What?"

"What Red Boy is saying is that your 'as quickly as possible' is a lot faster than what you're used to," Shadow said with a smile.

"I'm surprised he didn't go supersonic," Tikal giggled.

"It takes more than a second to go that fast," Sonic replied. "It takes a good minute of running before you can hit that speed, and that's me. And I'm the fasted thing alive!" he finished proudly.

"Not anymore," Knuckles argued. "You're the strongest thing alive. Shadow is the fastest."

Sonic looked shocked. "W-what?"

"Your speed is a part of your body, so that passes on to Shadow now," Knuckles continued. "My strength is yours now. I get Shadow's…Shadowiness."

"I'm just as fast as Red Boy," Shadow replied. "But I'm not as strong as you."

Knuckles nodded, and they turned to find an irate Sonic. "I want my body back."

"Yeah? I do, too," Knuckles countered. "Now, Princess, what is it you needed?"

"Oh, yes. Place your hand on M.E.," she said, placing her hand back on it.

They did so and were suddenly awash in the presence of the gem. They could feel its power rushing over them, around them, through them. Sonic suddenly didn't care that he wasn't the fastest thing alive anymore. Shadow felt a wave of peace, and he leaned his head against the gem. Knuckles had felt the feeling before many, many times. The one that came to mind was after he'd killed those people. It was the first time he'd felt like it was an accident and M.E. and Tikal didn't hate him. Their thoughts floated in a haze until words spoke to them. It wasn't the three creatures, and it wasn't Tikal's voice. The three males fell to their knees when they realized that the Master Emerald itself was talking to them. Even Knuckles had never had that happen before.

"There is power contained within the three of you. Great power. Fear was not able to destroy you like he did his other victims. He has encountered countless victims over the years, but none could withstand him for long. The way he kills is simple. He incapacitates a person with fear and draws them into himself to feed upon their emotions until their bodies melt into his. He has killed hundreds at one time before. You three should be dead. Yet you are not. It is a miracle."

There was a long pause, during which they floated there in peace and bliss, before the Master Emerald continued. "As this has never happened before, I am not entirely sure what occurred. Somehow, you three resisted him and were able to break free. Though, as you have noticed, there are some side effects. One that the three of you have noticed in passing is that you are linked together mentally. You sense each others intentions and thoughts, though they are not quite fully there. That link may be able to be expanded and encompass the three of you together. Another one is the fact that you switched bodies. There is a third thing, though, that has me most puzzled. When you were disengaged from Fear, you took a part of his deep magic with you, which is why I cannot switch your minds back. Magic that deep, as deep as I have, is not to be transferred without a merging of the minds. As far as I know, Fear is mindless. There is something special about you three. You have me quite intrigued. I would like to study his magic within you. Mayhap that would clear up some matters. But I need your full permission. I will give you time to talk it over. Come, Tikal, come into me again."

They were released and fell backward, gasping hard. Tikal was gone and they just lay there, sucking in great breaths. Knuckles stirred first, leaping to his feet and laughing.

"It talked to me! It actually talked to me!" he crowed, dancing around happily.

"I look weird doing that, right?" Shadow asked Sonic, who nodded.

"It's a bit disconcerting."

Knuckles fell back and laughed again, hugging himself. He turned to his friends and his red eyes gleamed with tears of joy. "Oh!" he gasped. "I have waited my whole life to talk to it! Tikal said that it might happen someday, but to actually have it happen! Oh!" He laughed again. "I'm so happy!"

And now that the Master Emerald had pointed it out, they could feel his happiness flowing into them. It made them feel giddy themselves, and Sonic jumped up and embraced Knuckles, who kissed his cheek repeatedly. They laughed together. Shadow stayed seated, his smile fading.

'I don't belong here.'

The thought cut through their happiness like a knife. Knuckles and Sonic turned to stare at him, their own smiles fading away. They approached him and sat on either side, each taking one bare, blue hand to stroke gently. Shadow looked down.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"You belong with us, Shadow," Sonic said seriously.

"It's not that."

"What is it then?" Knuckles asked.

"It's the situation. I don't belong here with you two when you're happy. I'm not a happy individual. I don't laugh a lot. I don't even smile a lot. I don't belong in your happy world. I belong in my own dark, dank, miserable world. That's where I fit in."

"But you laugh when Rouge and Omega are around," Sonic reasoned.

"That's once in a blue moon as it is, and I'm comfortable around them."

"And you're not with us?"

Shadow shrugged, keeping his eyes on the ground.

Knuckles looked up and Sonic nodded when he sensed the black hedgehog's reply.

"Shadow, you can be yourself around us. You can laugh and cry, or you can sit and stare at nothing. You're with us, and that's all we can ask for."

Sonic nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Besides, until we can figure this whole 'body switch' thing out, you're stuck with us."

Shadow looked up in confusion. "What?"

Knuckles reflected on this. "He's got a point. We can't just go and live our normal lives…or, well, you two can't. I could stay up here like this and nobody would care."

"Oh…I suppose you're right," Shadow said slowly. "Rouge and Omega wouldn't know what to think about me being Blue Boy. It would definitely make them uncomfortable."

"Tails would laugh himself purple," Sonic said then shuddered. "And Amy would finally catch me…Yep, it's official. We're staying up here until we sort the whole mess out."

"I don't think Amy wants to kiss you, Sonic. She would feel like she's kissing me. I think you'd be safe," Knuckles laughed. "Shadow, on the other hand…Well, let's just say it's a good thing that he's the fastest thing on Earth now…"

Shadow gave a short laugh at that. "That girl is way too into you, Sonic."

"Tell me about it," he muttered. "But," he added. "And I swear I will kill you if you say this to anybody else, I do love her. I'm just sorta waiting for her to calm down."

Knuckles snickered. "How's that working out for you?"

"Um…not so well," Sonic admitted.

They chuckled themselves into silence, staring at the Master Emerald.

"Are we going to give it permission?" Sonic asked.

"I'm not sure…" Shadow trailed off with a hum.

"Let me tell you something about M.E. and how it studies," Knuckles said matter-of-factly. "It studies very thoroughly for several hours at a time. It is going to take multiple sessions. Probably more than when it asked to study me, and it took about twenty of those. It will read every thought, emotion, and memory in your head, even those you think you've forgotten. With things that we've done together, it will cross reference to see the different points-of-view. If we say yes, it will take time to ask us questions about our lives, sometimes to very personal things, and your thoughts and reactions will reply for you. You will have no privacy. In all likeliness, we will know what each other's responses are as they happen. We will have no privacy with each other. That last one should have no effect on your answer, though, as that particular joy was forced on us by Fear. So, any questions?"

Shadow and Sonic shook their heads then went quiet to think. Knuckles stared at the ground and shared one last thought.

"I know this is a lot to take in, but consider just one more thing." He looked up at them. "If we do this, M.E. might be able to help us reverse the body switch. But it's not guaranteed. I've studied deep magic, and it is a finicky thing. Each type is different. M.E.'s is definitely different from what is contained within us. I can feel the undercurrent if I focus. It doesn't feel like M.E.'s. Not at all. We might have to figure it out on our own. But M.E. will help us all it can." He paused. "Just had to share that."

"That…was helpful," Shadow replied.

"Yeah. Just let me think about it."

Knuckles nodded and moved to go over to the green gem, but suddenly he slammed right into it. He swore violently as he rubbed his throbbing head. The pain quickly diminished, and he could hear Sonic laughing at him again. Knuckles' cheeks were hot as he sat down grumpily by the jewel, crossing his arms and harrumphing. He forced himself not to look at the echidna and the blue hedgehog. He was humiliated. Tikal giggled into his mind.

"It is funny, Knuckles."

Knuckles was tempted to share a rather creative curse word with her, but the emerald buzzed behind him and he thought better of it. So he leaned back and closed his eyes. "You have my permission," he whispered softly.

"Yes, Knuckles. But you are linked. I need all of your permissions," the Master Emerald replied.

"Am I ever going to get to speak to Tikal again?" Knuckles asked.

"Would you prefer to communicate with her instead of me?"

"No! I like hearing you," the black hedgehog thought quickly. "But I like hearing from Tikal, too."

There was a musical laugh in his head. "I am right here whenever you need to talk, child of black."

"Good. I like being able to talk to both of you." Knuckles paused. "But…if I may, green one, why have you never talked directly to me before?"

"I am overwhelming," the Master Emerald said, and Knuckles could sense a smile. "I thought you would not be able to handle it. It overwhelmed Tikal and her body could not take it. That is why she became one with me."

"If she did…that, then why am I fine?"

"I believe that the deep magic has changed your physical structure. You three are absolutely buzzing with magic. I thought it would fade, which is why I did not mention it when you got home. That was a mistake. If I had caught it in time, I might have been able to stop you from becoming Shadow, and the like."

"I am confused, M.E.," Knuckles said then flinched. "I'm sorry, green one. I did not mean any offense."

Tikal laughed and the Master Emerald gave off the smiling sense again. "You did nothing wrong. You call me M.E. all the time. I will not condemn you for speaking that way now. Shadow and Sonic may call me that as well. Now, what are you confused about?"

Knuckles couldn't stop the thought. "Oh, like you don't already know."

Tikal laughed harder as Knuckles blushed. The Master Emerald was highly amused. "Yes. I do. But Tikal has taught me over the years to ask questions and wait for a reply. So, I ask again: what are you confused about?"

The hedgehog relaxed. "You said that you could not switch us back. Doesn't that mean that you couldn't have prevented it from happening?"

"Good question, child," the Master Emerald praised. "A transference is a delicate thing, and can be undone if you know what you are doing. I do. When you came home, the magic was still soft and malleable, for lack of better terms. I watched you carefully for a day, and it appeared to be fading, so I paid it no more thought. It was not fading. It was settling. I did not think about checking you again until it was too late. When I saw you stumbling around this morning in Shadow's body, I knew just how mistaken I was. I am sorry for any trouble I have caused."

Knuckles sat there for a moment then sighed. "I should have come to you. I felt weird and tired all week. We both made mistakes."

The Master Emerald buzzed behind him. Knuckles smiled and stroked it. "You are too kind, echidna child."

"Wow. You really like that jewel."

Knuckles jumped and sat up straight, breaking his connection with the gem. He blinked stupidly up and Sonic.

"What?"

"You're…petting it."

"Oh…Um…Yeah. So?"

"Why?" Shadow asked, crossing his arms.

"Oh, er…you'd have to hear the whole conversation to really get it…" Knuckles knew he was blushing and hated himself for it.

"You were talking to Tikal?" Shadow surmised.

"Yes. And M.E. It's actually talking to me now!" Knuckles finished happily.

They both smiled at the rush of giddiness that filled them.

"Well, we've thought about it and talked with each other about it. What is your verdict on the matter, Knuckles?" Shadow asked.

Knuckles shrugged. "Truthfully, M.E. knows everything about me. I don't care if it studies me again. You two are more of a hesitation, but, considering you already know my life story, I'd have to say that I have no qualms about being studied. I'm completely for it."

"Then we're agreed," Sonic said. "So, uh, how does this work exactly?"

The black hedgehog leaned back against the Master Emerald. "Do you want us now?"

"Yes. I am most curious. Bring them in."

Knuckles gestured for them to come and sit beside him. They did so then leaned back against the jewel. Power swept them away again, and they relaxed as the Master Emerald began its study.