Experiment Time: March 14, 2009
Prime Material Time: January 3, 2009 - 3:28 AM

	It had been a very long time since Knuckles lost control of himself, and he was very tempted to do so now. Over two months had passed since he had been in the presence of the Master Emerald, and he needed to get back. He couldn't even sense the Chaos energy that he was so used to feeling in the world, and he felt naked - moreso than usual - without it. The whole place screamed out its aberrant origins, made his skin tingle, if not crawl, with its unnatural existence. Knuckles needed to get out of there, had needed to get out of there since he woke up in the overfurnished prison cell.

	Knuckles had tried to escape, many times in the past few months. However, unable to call upon the Chaos energy, all he really had was his brute strength and combat technique. He couldn't see where the doors were, so he eventually left a pattern of dents in a ring around his room from where he punched and kicked everywhere he could. All he had earned for his troubles, however, were broken paws - whatever he was in was stronger than steel, unbreakable even with a focused attack. Worst of all, many of the dents had faded, as though the metal were actually regenerating itself!

	He paced like a wild animal around his room, limping with every step on injured hindpaws and clenching broken hands. His fist-spikes were cracked, as well, making every hand motion hurt. He needed medical attention, but that could wait; what he needed most was to get out of here, to get back to the Master Emerald and his duty. Everything else was irrelevant, because the Master Emerald knew him - whoever said the Emeralds were just super-powered gems was never a Guardian! - and that would be all he needed.

	Knuckles snarled deeply, not realizing the sound coming from his chest and throat until he uttered it. He caught himself far too late, keeping still and focusing on his breathing.

	Calm. He needed to be calm.

	Now.

	"Subject Knuckles the Echidna, code name SRP-BSM, numeral 2."

	Knuckles took slow, deep breaths, looking over at his food slot as it opened. He worked his hands slowly; yes, they could carry his tray back to his bed without dropping it, so long as he ignored the shards of pain lancing throughout his paws. It was relatively spartan, as he preferred - a salad, a steak, fruit, bread, and water; all the basics - but once again, all of it was blue, as it had been every day before. He needed to eat, however, and so took the tray, stifled his pain, and began to work on eating it.

	He knew there was something in the food that was making him lose focus by making him horny. It hadn't taken him long to realize it, but instead of trying to starve himself, he meditated and willed himself not to accept the effect of the drug. Knuckles didn't dwell on who would want to make him lose his discipline, let alone in this particular way. He had long since decided he didn't want to know, and took it as a test to maintain his focus.

	Never had he been tested so constantly, so persistently, as this. Knuckles would have been willing enough to jack off if it hadn't been for the bracelets and cock ring he'd been unable to remove. He had a feeling there were cameras, but he didn't care - it was a Guardian's prerogative to take care of such needs as required, so long as the defense of the Master Emerald wasn't compromised in the process, and the thoughts behind it were kept relatively discreet, usually amounting to no staring and keeping one's drool to oneself, especially in the presence of female echidnas.

	Knuckles never had a problem with that.

	It wasn't that he didn't have more than his fair share of female admirers; indeed, he had been the reason some females took their leave of him with a sheepish grin as soon as possible. By the same token, when the time was right, Knuckles would follow Guardian tradition and produce an heir, if not many heirs, with the right female. It was his duty to do so; thus, Knuckles would do so.

	The right female, however, would have to realize her role to him would be childbearer and friend - nothing more. He would not mistreat her or ignore her, but Knuckles had no interest in females beyond procreation. His lusts were occupied with males, greatly so, but were heavily suppressed through his duties to the Master Emerald and echidna laws against homosexuality.

	He never had a problem with that, either - until now.

	Knuckles took a slow, deep breath as he heard the knock on his door, trying to fall back into the small amount of peace he'd found in his mind. He didn't move - the door was unopenable from his side, and he figured his captor would come in on his own time. The knock was a courtesy, a warning that someone was preparing to enter, not unlike one he would use to alert a newer Guardian before entering his room.

	Another snarl came from his throat, not as easy to suppress as before. Knuckles willed himself back into the calm, taking the feelings of lust and channeling them into something more useful in this situation: combat awareness and battle fury. His captor would have to fight him.

	Knuckles heard the door open and burst into motion, rising to his knees and lunging from his kneeling position, striking at the large ball of orange and white fur - too large to be Tails, too bright to be Big, safe to strike! - with his elbows instead of his broken fists. He landed a heavy strike to the gut, but he was stunned when his other elbow was caught. To his credit, Knuckles took the following tail slam to his chest easily, allowing himself to fly back with it and landing with only a slight grimace of pain on his feet.

	"Stand down, Guardian!" the large creature commanded. "I'm here to fix your paws!"

	Knuckles' battle haze faded slowly, and he blinked a few times as he looked over the massive creature. It was as big as Robotnik, but it looked like Tails. He shook his head rapidly and blinked again, trying to make sure the drug wasn't having a hallucinogenic effect on him. The giant fox was rubbing his gut where Knuckles' elbow struck; Knuckles nodded mentally, realizing that he had indeed struck something that was there.

	"Tails?" the echidna queried. "It's been two months since I last saw you - you can't have gotten out of shape that much, that fast."

	The fox chuckled, setting a satchel down and pulling out a pair of black mittens and socks. "Good thing I'm not exactly Tails, then, isn't it?"

	Knuckles took a step back and locked himself into a defensive stance. "Not another step. What am I doing here?"

	"Elbowing me in the gut because you broke your hands and feet trying to break out of here," the fox quipped, tossing Knuckles the gloves and socks. "Don't make this harder on yourself than it needs to be. Just put those on and sit down, and I'll be happy to explain more."

	Knuckles sat down and began pulling the gloves and socks on. "If this works," he warned, "I'm going to attack you again."

	"That wouldn't be very nice."

	"I have to get back to the Master Emerald. It's unguarded. You're in the way - I'm going to break out of here, and if you continue to stand in my way, I will break through you."

	The fox chuckled, amused in the face of Knuckles' even tone and challenge. "You have nothing to worry about. The Master Emerald is safe on Angel Island where it's always been, under heavy guard by my superiors. When you're done here in the Experiment, you'll be sent back."

	Knuckles sat still and digested that for a while. His fists and feet itched, but the pain was fading faster by the second. He felt the flexibility returning slowly, and he clenched and unclenched his hands. Even his fist-spikes weren't hurting anymore. Unnatural as the technology was, Knuckles was willing to give credit where it was due.

	"I appreciate the healing," Knuckles said. He locked a more offensive stance. "Defend yourself!"

	The fox shrugged and pulled a remote from his satchel, pressing a button just as Knuckles swung his right fist. The punch fell short as it curved down and slammed into his foot, just as his other foot rose to meet his dropping left paw. In a matter of seconds, all four paws met in front of him, and he couldn't get them loose.

	"What the hell...?!" Knuckles growled. "Let me go!"

	"No," the fox said simply. "If I let you go, you'll attack me again, and we'll be back in this position all over again: my nanite gloves generating electromagnetism enough to hold you and your superstrength in place."

	Knuckles thrashed, nearly spinning a complete circle on his backside. "You sound like Tails. You're just a bigger geek!"

	"Oh, skewered by your rapier wit," the fox said sarcastically, bowing low. "My name is Kit. When you can calm down, knucklehead, I'll let you go and - on your honor as the Guardian of the Master Emerald - you will refrain from attacking me."

	"If those are the conditions," Knuckles snarled, "we're going to be here a very long time."

	"I have nothing but time," Kit replied evenly. "Frankly, I could leave you in this position and come back in a couple of days, after you've had a chance to starve for a little while. Or you can accept the terms of surrender and allow me to explain myself."

	Kit leaned against the wall, staring Knuckles down as the echidna stared back. Knuckles continued to try to pull free from the nanite gloves, but they held him fast; Kit looked neither more nor less amused than when he came in. The staring contest was silent for nearly an hour - how could the fox be so patient? - before Kit spoke up again.

	"Need any help, Guardian?"

	"I'm going to break out of these and knock you out cold before I leave," Knuckles snarled.

	"And what do you think will happen to the others?"

	Knuckles paused. He hadn't thought about anybody else - he'd been unaware that anyone was here besides him. "What do you mean? How many Guardians - "

	"Please. You think this Experiment is all about echidnas?" Kit scoffed. "You're the only echidna in the Experiment - aside from any that Dextral might have created. However, Sonic, Shadow, and Fang are already here, and have been here as long as you."

	"What?!" The word ripped itself from Knuckles' chest in a near-primal scream. "The Freedom Fighters - "

	" - will be fine without Sonic and are being helped by my superiors," Kit said.

	"The Master Emerald - "

	" - is being protected by Blaze for the time you're here, with the consent of the Brotherhood of Guardians."

	"My duty - "

	" - is irrelevant to this Experiment!" Kit rubbed his forehead. "You and Sonic are too much alike. Neither one of you listens. I'm not even done explaining everything. Will you let me finish, or are you going to continue flailing about and wailing like a tortured fox?"

	Knuckles went quiet, but didn't stop trying to pull free of the gloves and socks that stubbornly held him in place. His eyes burned with rage as he glared at Kit, waiting for him to continue; maybe he'd break free, catch Kit with an uppercut as he started talking, and make him bite off his tongue.

	"You will be here until the Experiment is finished," Kit said, deciding not to tell him the duration. "Once we think you're ready, you and the others will be sent to Tails' cell, one at a time, to..." Kit ignored Knuckles' widening eyes as he tried to think of the proper way to phrase it. "...relieve your building tension." He flicked a tail along the underside of Knuckles' dick, emphasizing his point.

	Knuckles' shudder was wrought of a combination of revulsion and intense pleasure. He thrashed in the nanite gloves with more strength than he had, and managed to pull one fist away for a few seconds before it slammed back into his paws and would not be moved.

	"You and your superiors are crazy!" Knuckles howled. "I'm a Guardian - I refuse to be involved in such a scheme!"

	Kit rolled his eyes. "It's not what you think..."

	"The hell it isn't!" Knuckles thrashed again; this time, a paw came loose for a few moments. "I'm not going to rape him! There is nothing that can force me to do that!"

	The oversized fox sighed in frustration, reaching down to try to still the echidna. "You're not going until we think he's ready to agree. The Experiment fails if Tails is raped; he has to be willing to go through with it!" He pulled back just in time to avoid another spinning attack from Knuckles. "Stay still! At this rate you're going to hurt yourself!"

	Knuckles no longer fought his building fury. Something in him woke up at the thought of Tails being trapped in a cell, made to wait until he was assaulted by his friends. He didn't notice Kit press the button that controlled the nanite gloves, nor did he care; all he knew was that he'd managed to pull himself free with a series of loud cracks, and the dimmest sensation of pain and imbalance were rushed away in a mental cloud of red anger and... and primal...

	Kit yelped as Knuckles grabbed his wrist. He didn't have the time or initiative to cry out again as he was thrown to the bed, his tails pinned aside while the Guardian tried to stroke himself. The bracelets and cock ring reacted violently, causing Knuckles to roar in pain as he was shocked; still, Knuckles merely ground himself between Kit's cheeks, snarling in a feral tone foreign to his own ears.

	He didn't care. He had his prey.

	"All you had to do was ask, Knuckles!" Kit shouted. "No need to rape me!"

	Rape?

	What was he doing...?

	Knuckles backed up, the red haze in his vision fading slowly. He watched from miles away as Kit rolled over and stood up; he could feel the jagged red lightning of pain pounding at the doorway to conscious thought, but he ignored it as he tried to figure out what had happened, where he was. What was he about to do?

	He felt himself collapse, adrenaline nothing more than a memory and pain from dislocated, maybe broken, arms and legs starting to seep into thought. He couldn't move without searing pain anymore, and he looked away from Kit when the larger fox picked him up to lay him on his bed.

	"Look at where all that rage got you," Kit was saying. "Well, fortunately, I can bring someone in here to take care of you while your arms and legs heal."

	"I don't want help," Knuckles growled, masking a near-sob. What had he done? What would have happened if he hadn't been stopped? "Just go away."

	"You can't move," Kit said matter-of-factly, "and even with our best treatments, it will take a week for you to be able to walk. Quite frankly, you don't have the ability to tell me 'no' right now."

	Knuckles gasped in pain as he rose up on one elbow, just to defy the oversized fox. "No!"

	Kit shook his head. "You and Sonic are way too much alike," he muttered. "The only difference is that Sonic managed to understand the inevitability of this situation and had something to lose. We've taken care of you and your needs; thus, you're still attacking and still breaking your own bones in an attempt to escape."

	Kit knocked four times on the door - two times, then two times again - and the door opened. A pair of black-armored cobra males stepping in and around Kit moved toward Knuckles, carrying braces and bars in addition to the obvious armament of daggers at their sides. Knuckles yelled as he tried to swing at one of the cobras, but his attack was weak; the cobra caught the attack in his tail, tossing Knuckles back with a flick of his tail. The cobras worked together, and quickly, locking Knuckles' elbows in place by bracing the joint and holding the arms still with the bar. They did the same with Knuckles' knees, leaving him bound and spreadeagled on the bed.

	"That's a good look for you," Kit said, grinning.

	Knuckles gave a deep, feral snarl. Tears of pain and fury rimmed his amethyst eyes, but he was NOT going to give Kit the pleasure of seeing him cry.

	"You know," Kit said suddenly, watching the cobras work on tapping the bracers, "I think this is going to go well for you. Not the whole paw-mitts and bondage thing - I mean you having to rely on someone else."

	Knuckles' breathing grew heavier. He was held in place, his broken bones healing slowly, immobile. The feeling of helplessness finally started to creep into his soul - he wouldn't be able to eat anything, drink anything, even use the bathroom without help from the cobras. He forced himself to breathe normally, or at least less shakily, as his life was suddenly thrust into the hands of the cobras.

	"Is that what you're afraid of?" Kit asked, a concerned look on his face. "Reliance on others? Eventually, you'll have to rely on Tails for sexual relief in this Experiment, you know. The cobras can't unlock their armor, and they won't jack you off - they're too afraid of what Dextral will do to them for ruining the Experiment."

	Knuckles gave another weak thrash in his bindings, but he barely moved. He might be able to sit up and hobble around, but he couldn't do anything that would get him anywhere.

	"If you don't cooperate, the cobras have every right to walk away," Kit said. "And you will starve, maybe even die. You're relying on them now, until your wounds heal. And all that falls back on you for breaking your own bones."

	Kit stepped out of the room with a salute-wave, the door closing behind him. Knuckles jerked in the restraints as the fox left, but he couldn't move - the cobras held his waist down, and the restraints held him immobile otherwise. The cobras continued to silently work, calibrating the restraints, one attempting to feed him.

	Knuckles bit at the cobra's hands as they approached his mouth, narrowly missing each time. The cobras maintained their discipline, their stony faces. Each move they made had a purpose, like Knuckles' moves did - long before he'd ever been trapped in this horrid experiment. Seeing their stoic demeanors made him all the more upset; he was getting more and more jealous of what he used to have.

	He had to calm down, but he was trapped. He couldn't be calm if he was trapped. They had no right to trap him here!

	"Untie me!" Knuckles demanded.

	"We cannot do that."

	"Damn it, let me go!!"

	The cobras continued their work. They didn't frown at his insolence, smirk at his futility, stare at him in incredulity - they remained disciplined, working to feed him and tend to the machines healing him. It was all unnatural; the machines were unnatural, the cobra's cold stoicism was unnatural, his bondage and helpless rage were unnatural!

	Why was he stranded here?!

	Then - after minutes, or hours, or a full day; Knuckles couldn't tell - the cobras started to walk out, silently, leaving him alone.

	Alone with his thoughts.

	Alone and immobile.

	Helpless - neither discipline nor rage would help him here.

	"W-wait!" Knuckles yelled. "Come back!!"

	"We will return later."

	"Come back!!" Knuckles repeated, managing to sit up. "Damn you, come back here!!"

	The cobras turned, walking back to him. One began to tie the bars of his bindings to the bed while the other produced two items from a pouch at his side. That cobra forced a ball gag into Knuckles' muzzle, tying it in place; the other was a pulsing, buzzing stone attached to a ring that he placed around the base of Knuckles' shaft.

	"We were warned this might happen," one cobra said. "Thus, we were told to be prepared."

	The other cobra spoke. "Perhaps telling you about the rest of this week will be of some help. We will return every day, every six hours to stay with you for two."

	"You are to remain bound, and you will ask when you can for permission to use the bathroom. We will feed and bathe you at specific times of the day."

	"Since you seem to be intent on disobedience, this week, you will be punished - gently."

	One cobra pressed a button on the ring at Knuckles' base. The echidna moaned as the ring stopped muffling the vibrations of the stone, providing a gentle vibration throughout his shaft. He jerked back and forth, the bindings making him immobile - absolutely immobile.

	The door closed. The light in the room started to fade, leaving him to the darkness. Why didn't he listen to Kit? Why was he here? Why was he going to be used to assault Tails?!

	Why was he left alone and helpless?!

	Knuckles did the only thing he could do. He screamed, muffled against the gag, his rage allowing nothing else, his discipline useless. He screamed until he was hoarse, until his fury left him burnt out so discipline and calm could take back over.

	But there was no discipline, no calm, anywhere in Knuckles' body. The ring's buzzing slowed for only a few minutes, just as he was about to release, long enough for him to calm down... and started back up again, working him back toward that pleasure, that need for release.

	He would have to rely on those cobras, and would be reminded every night that he could be brought back to this position of helplessness, even after he was healed. He tried not to cry. It was stupid to cry. Stupid to accept his helplessness.

	However, like the rising and falling of the intense pleasure in his crotch, crying was inevitable.