The Third and the Last
Nighttime, a time when everyone rests, except for two.
"We were too careless about Zero!" Robotnik complained.
"If I recall, she was your creation, not mine." Ron replied.
"Well if I recall, it was your creation that released her!"
"To my knowledge, you accept responsibility for all productivity."
"Whatever! As long as we succeed this time."
"What do you propose, partner?"
"How about if we give Metal Sonic another try?"
"You're kidding right?"
"Why would I be joking about our next plan?"
"We'd have to totally rebuild him, with major design changes!"
"Thanks for volunteering, partner."
Ron left for a large laboratory like room with a large computer in the middle.
"52," he said to the computer. "Display possible upgrades for project 'Hyper Metal Sonic'." The screen displayed a diagram of Metal Sonic with labels pointing to different parts of the body.
Ron spotted a label that said 'alternative power source' . "52, display options for alternative power source." With that the words 'chaos emerald' appeared on screen.
"We don't have any chaos emeralds." He said to himself. "Perhaps I shall create some. 52, open data for chaos emeralds." The computer did so at his command. "Commence duplication." He commanded.
After six hours, Ron stepped over to a large glass container. He reached in and pulled out strange looking jewel. It had the structure of a chaos emerald, but its color was abnormal. It was a silver like color and it had deep red marks where the faces met. The marks looked like running blood. "52 analyze!" The screen flashed the words 'unknown' as a small camera examined the false emerald.
"I can feel a dark power flowing from it." He said to himself. "Yes, the dark emerald. The perfect power source for Metal Sonic.
Ron worked deep into the night trying to complete the revision of Metal. Such a creation did not take little time. Due to certain characteristics, he worked non-stop twenty two hours into the next day. When his tireless work was finished, he pulled out a small book and writes casually. From the looks of the writing, it was a diary. After he was done writing he went over to a bed that was sized for one, and the next moment, fell asleep.
He slept a straight twenty four hours, without disturbance from anyone, not even Robotnik. In spite of his partner's long rest, Robotnik made for a rude awakening the next day.
"I've been waiting to see the progress you've made on our creation." Robotnik demanded.
"I'm sure you'll be glad to know that it's finished." Ron replied.
"Exactly what are the differences between this one and the last one?"
"This emerald is the major difference."
"Where did you get that chaos emeralds? Wait! That's not one of the chaos emeralds."
"Impressive observation, my pudgy protege. This is not an ordinary emerald, but a dark emerald."
"Dark emerald? I think you're getting a little too creative, Ron."
"Say what you want to. This emerald's energy is at least ten times more effective than our original power sources. It should prove dangerous for our enemy."
"Hmm. It's ironic. You're willing to kill me if I lay a finger on Tails, but it seems his death will be because of you."
"Tails will be able to survive, because I put specific programming on Metal's CPU. He is to only destroy Sonic."
"Ron, you're leaving an opening that will make this plan fail for sure."
"For that to happen, they'd have to remove its energy source, and there is a small chance of that happening."
"I see your point. Suppose the energy built up and it destroyed itself. We need a clever way of executing our plan."
"I suppose I'll take care of that."
Two days later the two partners stood on the roof top of small sized section of their base. A large cannon was set up in front of them. "Ron, I must say that you've out done yourself this time. This plan is not only clever and destructive, it's original also."
"I'm an artist, trained in the art of destruction." Ron said with confidence. "I suppose you would like to finish this little project of ours."
"It would be an honor. Commence launch!" Robotnik commanded. Steam started to rise from the cannon and a light began to grow from the rear. The light seemed to explode as a large blue sphere was launched at the speed of sound straight into the sky.
"In four days, Sonic will be no more."
"And neither will Tails" Robotnik quietly said to himself.
That night, Tails was outside, sitting on a hillside. The same hill side where he first saw Zero. Tails stared out into the horizon, still pondering the disappearance of Zero. Sonic and Knuckles where inside the nearby house.
"Poor kid." Knuckles sighed. "Are you sure he's not depressed?"
"I think he's just thinking deep thoughts that he thought are worth thinking about." Sonic answered.
"I've just never seen him so sad like this."
"He's probably just getting older."
Indeed Tails was in deep thought, but it was more of a sign of possible depression. His deep thought was broken by the sight of a blue flash zooming across the sky. He decided observe it further. He watched it closely until midnight, and he noticed that when midnight struck the object was at the highest point in the sky, like the sun at noon.
Tails finally went inside, and went to his room. His room was fairly empty. There were a few of his creations laying in one corner of the room with his bed on the opposite side. For someone who had many thoughts in his head, he fell asleep really quick.
The following night Tails continued his observation. It didn't take him more than five minutes to notice that it was closer. He was standing in the same place as last night, and yet it still seemed to be getting closer. Tails went inside early that night, but not to sleep.
Tails noticed a message on his computer screen. The message read: It's getting closer, isn't it? Don't worry, after tomorrow you'll know what it is. But I'll let you know this, it would be best if you prepared yourself. If you don't, your life will be in great danger. You must survive! You have my warning. Persist and endure- RP.
Tails wasn't sure whether to heed these warnings or not. But he figured that it would be best that he does. He figured there would be no harm if he did prepare and the warnings were false. But what stirred up his mind the most was who sent it.
Then it dawned on him. "RP, is the same person who created Metal." He said to himself. This was not all he was thinking about. The phrase 'persist and endure' seemed very familiar to him. He wasn't sure when, but he could have sworn that he had heard that somewhere else before.
The next morning, Tails knew he had to train himself in preparation for the arrival of something. He didn't know how he would prepare. Going to Robotnik's base would be foolish, and the time it would take to get him there, the day would be well more than half over. He was already in great physical shape, so basic exercise would do him no good.
"Hey Sonic." Knuckles walked in. "Am I too early?"
"Sonic's not awake yet." Tails informed. "What did you need?"
"Well, I've come to warn you guys. I don't know If you've noticed...."
"That thing orbiting the planet, yeah I've noticed it." Tails interrupted.
"I wanted you guys to know that we should watching out for that thing. There's a good chance it's a scheme of Robotnik's."
"Knuckles, do you know someone by the name of RP?"
"Sorry, never heard of him." Knuckles was unusually quick to answer this question.
"Oh, that's alright. You wouldn't happen to know a way I could train myself, do you?"
"I don't know about training, but there is a way to make you stronger. Whatever for?"
"I felt it would be best to prepare myself incase this thing really is dangerous."
"Alright, when do you want to leave?"
"Right now would be fine. Sonic doesn't need to know where I am." With that said, the two journeyed to Knuckles's home.
The trip to Knuckles home was no ordinary one. The city in which he lived in was well hidden, at least hidden from Robotnik, a threat to most everyone. This city could be shortly described as an 'underground' city.
"Just a reminder Tails, the location of this place has been kept a secret since the beginning of its existence, so I need you to keep a secret also."
"No problem."
When the two first entered the city, they found themselves walking through the residential part of the city, which seemed similar to homes in any other city you might find. After a few minutes of walking, the two came to a large doorway.
"This is what we came here for." Knuckles said to Tails. Knuckles pushed open the large doors. It was dark inside. Tails was able to spot a glowing light way ahead of them. The Two continued to walk down towards the glowing light.
The doors slammed behind them, causing Tails to jump at the sound, shivering in fear. Tails calmed himself, and continued to follow Knuckles, who didn't seem to mind the sound. When the two finally reached the glowing light, Tails realized what it was, a large shrine like structure. The light was a large green emerald in the center. It was too large to be a chaos emerald, but it beared an enormous resemblance to the chaos emeralds.
"This is it." Knuckles said to Tails. "This is what you need."
Tails was confused. "What are you talking about, how can I use this?"
"We're here to make you stronger, like you wanted."
"Oh, I see." Tails was shaking in fear. He swallowed hard as Knuckles grabbed him by the arm.
"Just go up there, and stand on the emerald." Knuckles commanded. Tails nervously ascended up a small staircase in the formation of the rock surrounding the giant emerald. He did as told and stood on the center of the emerald. "Now, relax. You're to tense."
Tails did so, but still felt fear welling up inside him. Once he relaxed, the center of the emerald began to glow even brighter. With every second the glowing became brighter until the light was blinding. Tails felt a flow of energy developing between him and the emerald. Knuckles was covering his eyes. He could barley stand sunlight, and this was several times brighter.
Tails finally realized what was happening. This emerald was giving its power to Tails. Moments later, he felt a jolt of energy flow into him. Tails was afraid to stay on the emerald, but he knew he must. The next thing he knew, the energy flow had stopped. It had been done. Tails had the necessary power to defeat this upcoming threat.
The sun was setting when the two were outside the city limits. "Oh no." Tails said to himself in fear.
"What's wrong?" Knuckles asked.
"It's already sundown and I have to be back by morning tomorrow." Tails remembered the message he got warning him about this threat. Tomorrow was when he expected this threat to be known.
"Don't worry, with your upgraded strength you should be even faster than before, and you don't have me to slow you down." Knuckles replied without worry.
"Right. And thanks by the way."
"No problem." With that Tails rushed back the way the two had previously journeyed. It had taken the two 12 hours to travel from the floating island to Knuckles's 'home'. He was sure to get back in less than ten hours.
Without a doubt, Tails arrived back at the floating island in 9 hours. When he got back Sonic was asleep, and it was three hours until sunrise. Tails decided not to wake up Sonic just to let him know that he'd come back.
Tails was left with a dilemma. He didn't know whether to sleep until sunrise or to stay awake. If he chose to sleep, he may not wake up in time and all he had just done would be for naught. But he was tired, and he may not have his full strength if he didn't rest.
He figured that if he slept in the right place, the brightness of the rising sun would wake him. He left the house quietly, so Sonic would not awaken. He walked over to the side of the island where he had spotted the flying object. He laid down, and fell asleep.
Tails did not sleep peacefully though. His dreams were nightmares that spawned from his fear. He sometimes dreamt of a time where his end drew ever closer, but when he felt like he was about to die because of this terror, he remembered, persist and endure.
Dawn approached. Tails awoke as the sun rose above the horizon. He stared up into the sky, hoping to spot the flying object before it arrived. "After tomorrow you'll know what it is." Tails was trying to make sure he was there at the right time. He felt he should wait inside, but then he remembered, persist and endure.
Tails knew he had to wait outside. He had to persist in finding this approaching threat. He had to endure the pain that would likely be inflicted on him. After he decided to himself that he would stay there no matter how long he had to wait, he spotted it.
It flew at increasing velocity ever more towards the ground of the island. It was dark blue and spherical. But when he got a glimpse of it from the side, it appeared like a six-tooth radial saw blade. Without a doubt, it became very clear to him. Metal Sonic was back.
At great speed, Metal was hurling towards the center of the island, right above Tails's head, in an attempt to do nominal damage. It appeared to be aimed for the center of the island. By the time Tails realized this, Metal was only a fraction a of a second away from hitting the island.
Metal's crash was so enormous the instant after the impact dust and debris clouded Tails's vision. Tails stood and tried to see through to where Metal had hit, but couldn't. He couldn't help but think that the end of his home was near.
The dust cleared after over a minute, and when it did Tails was in shock. Metal had cleared the back half of the island down flat. Was this the full potential of Metal's power, definitely not. Tails knew a creation of Robotnik's power wouldn't stop there, he just couldn't figure how he harnessed the power.
"Tails!" Tails was surprised but relieved to hear it was Sonic calling him instead of Metal. "What's going on here?" Sonic's voice was full of confusion, surprise, and anger. It seems Metal's crash land had woke up Sonic. Tails turned slowly towards Sonic. "Metal is back."
"What! How?!" Sonic demanded to know. Tails ignored Sonic's shouting and went forward to see the damage and his next challenge. As Tails continued over he observed the land that used to be filled with life. It was nothing but a rough terrain. No grass, no vegetation of any sort. The only things the stood above the land were a few large rocks here or there. And then there was his opponent.
"It's nice to see you again Tails." Metal said in an attempt to instill fear into Tails. It had worked. Tails was so nervous he couldn't move. There was something about Metal that just scared him to where he couldn't think. "If you want to live your life to the fullest, go away now. Sonic's slaughter may be too much for your young eyes." Metal walked forward towards Sonic.
"Well if it isn't Metal for brains. He's come back for another beating." Sonic taunted as Metal approached ever more.
"Say what you want, they're your last words." Metal said in response to Sonic's insult.
"You said that the last time and you still failed." Sonic continued. "You would think anyone would have learned by now, but I guess robots are just too dumb to learn." It was apparent that Sonic's confidence level was off the scale, but it takes more than confidence to win a fight.
"Keep talking, it only makes it easier." Metal responded.
"What did you come here for? A fight, or the best insults in the world?" Tails finally noticed what Metal was trying to do. If Sonic's pride took over, one insult that was good enough for Sonic would send him raging toward Metal. But Sonic didn't stand a chance. Sonic was setting his own trap. Tails was wondering, should he try to warn Sonic, or just let this continue. He knew Sonic wouldn't listen, and Sonic would finally get what was coming to him. What was he thinking. Tails is not one to think on the basis of revenge. He had to try no matter what the result.
By the time he made his decision, it was too late. "Sonic, you're the slowest thing in existence." Metal had just made his move.
"Slow." Sonic began. "I'll show you just how slow I am!" Sonic charged at Metal like never before.
"Perfect." Metal muttered to himself. Sonic was going at Metal at top speed and when he finally reached Metal, the next thing Sonic knew was that he wished he would have kept his mouth shut. Metal nearly broke Sonic's jaw with only the back of his hand. The hit was thrown so fast that Sonic was thrown one-sixteenth of a mile into a large rock.
Sonic had his hand clenched on the side of his face. He let go only to glance at a handful of blood. He was about to scream from the pain. He struggled to stand up again, but only to almost be rendered unconscious. Metal had almost punched a hole through Sonic's body. He struck him in the weak point of the belly. The part that if hit, breathing is nearly impossible.
Sonic was clearly beaten. Now Metal was just rubbing it in. Tails could only watch in horror. After about a minute, Sonic was finally able to breath again. Sonic couldn't get up, and he was not bound to surrender, so it was clear to him. His end was finally near.
Metal pulled him up by the arm. Sonic was too dazed to see what was happening, he didn't know if Metal was about to strike again. Sonic was able to see the seriousness in Metals eyes before having his arm nearly ripped straight out of its socket. Sonic fell down screaming in agony. His arm was attached only by his flesh. The pain was almost too much to bear.
Tails watched as he still contained his vastly growing hatred while he watched his friends ever painful death. "Please, stop." Sonic managed to say before being let go by Metal.
"I will only stop when my mission has been fulfilled. I must achieve the ever awaited revenge of my master. Even if I have to pull you apart, limb by limb." Metal responded to Sonic's plea. He reached for Sonic's other arm and swung him straight into the ground, still holding on. "Not only are you slow, you're so weak you'd snap like a twig." After telling Sonic of his weakness Metal began to bend Sonic's arm to where it would snap off of his shoulder. Sonic could only scream in pain as he Metal began disable yet another one of his appendages.
It was only a matter of time before Tails couldn't stand watching this onslaught any longer. It was only his fear holding him back.
One moment later, Sonic's arm conceded to Metal's superior strength. The sound of the snap was drowned out by Sonic's agonizing screams. Metal let go of the arm and it laid limp on the ground. Sonic was hopeless. He couldn't get back up. He lost both his arms, and the pain was about to kill him. Unfortunately, it didn't.
"I thought you'd like to know, I weigh a ton." Metal informed. Sonic couldn't think of what Metal was planning to do next. Metal jumped up high and slightly forward to land on Sonic's back. Metal's landing forced Sonic into the ground. The ground underneath the incredible force was crushed beneath them, scarring Sonic's underside.
Metal stood in front of Sonic, facing away. Metal curled backwards and reached for Sonic's legs. He got hold and swung Sonic forward into the ground in front of him. Sonic's life was holding on by a thread, and so was Tails's contained rage.
"I grow tired of this. I will now crush you like the low-life bug you are." Metal had just declared his victory. He then stepped on Sonic's back on forced him into the ground. Sonic's eyes filled with tears. He knew this was the end.
"Stop!" Tails rushed towards Metal, but did not intend to strike. "Stop this right now."
Metal turned his attention to Tails. "Boy, I told you to go away! Do you want to die that badly?"
"If you stop, he will still feel pain. You can finish him after you've made me suffer." Tails knew he sounded like he was with Metal, but he was desperate. "You do want him to suffer to the fullest, don't you?"
"Ha! A fine idea!" He looked down at Sonic. "The boy has lost his mind. Now he wants you to suffer. But I guess I should grant his last request." Metal walked over to Tails in anticipation of getting more of what he wanted. "You've just sealed your fate." Metal began to charge at Tails, but discontinued to go on.
"This must some sort of trick." Metal thought to himself. "Tails must have something planned. If I'm distracted from Sonic, he just might find a way to escape with him. No matter how unlikely that is, I must not let it happen."
"It's an irresistible offer, but I'll have to decline." Metal announced. Tails couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why would he not accept his plea? "I know of your clever plans. And I'm not bound to fall for them."
Metal turned away and went on with crushing Sonic. Tails's frustration was uncontainable. His patience was completely gone. But through all this anger, he felt his power growing every second. He felt as though he had lost all sanity.
"Stop hurting him!" Tails's screamed in spite of his anger. And when Tails's rage let loose, a blinding light filled the air. Metal could feel Tails's power growing every second. This light blinded even him. Metal couldn't understand where this power was coming from.
The blinding light dimmed down, but there was still brightness around Tails. When Metal could finally see through the light, he was astonished.
Tails was glowing yellow, and the three parts of fur on his head the looked like hair had grown thicker. His eyes were full of seriousness. His breathing was calm.
"What is this? Is this a transformation of some sort?" Metal could not comprehend this outburst of energy. "How can you have this much power?" Tails did not respond. "Tell me!"
Tails did not know either. He assumed that this was the power granted to him by the master emerald. He didn't know how long it would last, so he had to do what was needed, and fast. He took advantage of Metal's astonishment and attacked immediately. He figured he'd start the way Metal did.
He charged forward and reached Metal well over twice as fast as Sonic did. He went for Metal's first target, the jaw. Tails's hit compared well with Metal's, knocking as far as Metal did Sonic.
Metal was enraged. There was an enormous dent, where if Metal were real, on the jaw. Now that Tails had interfered, Metal's programming allowed his already planned retaliation. Metal, without hesitation, flew straight at Tails, attempting to collide.
Tails stopped him by simply holding him back with is hand. Metal swung at Tails's arm with a force strong enough to snap titanium in half. But Tails's arm didn't budge. Tails punched the glass pane covering Metal's eyes, shattering it into millions of shards. Metal failed to hold up against the incredible strike, and fell back.
There were small electrical sparks arcing between the broken circuits which used to be Metal's eyes. "You little pest! You'll pay for this! I may not have my eyes, but there's no running from me. It'll take more than that if you ever want to take me down."
Metal began to charge at Tails once again. Tails knew Metal wouldn't make the same mistake twice. He knew he had something planned. Just inches away from Tails Metal disappeared. Unimpressed, Tails threw a punch over his shoulder. And as if he anticipated it, he struck Metal in the face. Again Metal fell back.
"How can this be? Can he already know my every move? No, he has to be hearing me. I can't go head on. Maybe I should try a truly unstoppable force." Metal thought to himself. He backed off away from Tails. Then he leapt up into the air and hovered over to the edge where Tails stood that morning.
Metal remained floating above it. "Say goodbye to your precious island, boy!" Metal exclaimed. He began to transform into his spherical stage, when Tails grasped his arm. Metal could not believe it. How could Tails go that far that fast?
Tails drew back his hand, and with one blow, punched Metal back to the island, still holding on to Metal arm. After metal landed, he found that his left arm had been completely torn off. "How can he have the power to do this?" He was more than frustrated now. He was scared.
The next moment, Tails was standing in front of Metal. Tails pulled him up by the arm, and paused for a moment. Then he swung and pierced through the chest plate of Metal, destroying numbers of Metal's vital electronics. Tails then laid Metal down then stomped on Metal's head, crushing it into a thousand pieces.
It was done. Tails succeeded. He had done what he set out to do, persist and endure. He persisted in the destruction of his greatest opponent. He endured the pain of watching his friend suffer. Then he realized, he needed to get Sonic inside immediately.
Tails walked over to where Sonic laid. Sonic was still breathing, his life hanging by a thread. He picked up and carried Sonic into the house on the opposite side of the island. When he arrived, he went into Sonic's room and set him down in his bed.
Tails gently shut Sonic's door and walked over to his own room. He found that is was harder to breath every second. He was exhausted, he walked over to his bed, and fell onto it, fainting. The glow that made Tails appear yellow faded away. Tails finally slept peacefully. Night time soon followed.
Tails finally awoke two days later. He figured he'd better not disturb Sonic, so he headed outside. The sun was still low. He assumed the sun had risen a couple of hours ago. He walked over to the damaged part of the island, and over to the remains of Metal. He didn't know why, but as he approached he felt the fear that he felt when Metal had previously arrived.
He tore off some vulnerable parts until he reached the center of Metal's body. When he discovered the emerald that was buried in the parts, he was petrified with fear. He cleared his mind of his fear and continued to excavate the emerald. When he finally completely uncovered it he saw it for what it was.
"A chaos, no. It can't be." Tails paused to make brief observations. "It's a false emerald. Has Robotnik found a way to duplicate the chaos emeralds?" Tails's mind was flooded with curiosity. But then he wondered. If RP created the previous Metal Sonic, and this one. Maybe Robotnik was not his only worry.
Several yards away, Ron stood in shadow, spying on Tails. "Tails you fool! Leave the emerald be." he whispered to himself. "The emerald will be of no purchase to you." he called out to Tails.
Tails was stunned by the voice. He walked over to where he heard the voice. He stopped in the middle of a step when a beam extended to just an inch away from him. "Who are you?" Tails asked the owner of the voice.
"I am the creator of that emerald. I am the creator of Metal Sonic. I am a lost soul. I am in endless torment. I am RP." Ron answered. "I have no intentions of killing you, so I suggest that you leave alone my creation."
Tails backed off away from the beam. "What about Metal? Can I take him?"
"Feel free." Ron answered. Tails went over to Metal and gathered all the more or less intact. He went over towards the house, when Ron went to the far side where Tails sighted Metal. In fear of future harm he held his hand up and a thin energy beam appeared. He threw it towards the pile of remnants of Metal. Upon impact, the beam exploded, destroying Metal's remains. "My business is done here." Ron said to himself. He headed back for Robotnik's base, with his dark emerald in hand.
Tails walked away from the smoke. He tried to find even the smallest piece of Metal, but found none. Metal was completely destroyed now.
Ron arrived at Robotnik's base in two hours, and went to the room where he and Robotnik did their planning. Robotnik was sitting, waiting for Ron to arrive. "Well Ron, did we finally succeed?"
"While we did not completely succeed, Sonic may have scars that will never heal." Ron replied.
"You mean he managed to destroy Metal again!"
"Sonic is barely living. It was Tails who destroyed Metal."
"That son of yours couldn't possibly have destroyed Metal I programmed him to kill him if he interferes!" Robotnik realized what he just said.
Ron look at him in disgust. "Betrayed by my own partner. Fortunately for you, no damage was done to Tails."
"So, Ron, when are you going to start on the next Metal Sonic?"
"That one my friend, was the third and the last!"
The End