Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters, trademarks, locations, etc. are the property of SEGA, Sonic Team, Archie Comics, Yuji Naka and Naoto Oshima. "The Metal" is the property of Tenacious D. I claim no ownership to any element except original story content.


The Metal

They looked… happy.

It didn't make sense.

Sonic snorted in irritation from his hidden spot up in the tree. What was the big deal? It was just a boring old building full of boring old ladies teaching boring old stuff. Not to mention the rules…

Still, all the kids below him were talking, laughing, singing and skipping all the way down to the schoolhouse for the day. And they looked so… happy.

He stood up, ready to leap from his branch. Those kids obviously didn't have a clue how sweet freedom was. One day they'll see. And then they won't look so happy anymore.

He sprang from his hiding spot, and the next thing he knew he was zipping from tree to tree, swinging off branches and somersaulting through the air, traveling deeper into the Great Forest.

His spines were blowing in the wind. His stomach did corkscrews in his chest. His mind was absolute bliss. He felt free. This was the life, and no misguided children were going to convince him otherwise.

His thoughts began to drift back to Knothole. It had been three weeks since he made his deal with Nate, and Sonic had managed to keep his gang surprisingly well behaved for the most part. Granted, he hadn't mentioned the deal to the guys yet, fearing that they would want to get in on the lessons and steal his thunder. Instead, he relied on more frequent jam sessions and a handful of new video games to keep everyone distracted enough to stay out of trouble. As a result, Nate kept his promise and started tutoring Sonic on the art of flight, and at the rate he was going, he'd be sure to start piloting Winged Victory within a couple months.

As his attention returned to the present, he couldn't help but feel that the weather was celebrating his good fortune along with him. The sky was clear, the air was crisp, the sun was reflecting off the metal figure to his-

Sonic froze mid-leap, his head whipping around to locate the source of the flash. Spotting it to the left, he jumped to the forest floor to get a closer look. What he saw made his jaw drop.

The machine was six feet tall, humanoid, and armed to the teeth. Its shiny chrome exterior was well polished but slightly worn from wandering around the forest for who knew how long. As it turned its smooth triangular head to look at him, Sonic could see that the robot had no eyes, but a thin red sensor bar on its "face." The robot faced Sonic, paused, and then began to speak:

UNIDENTIFIED LIFEFORM DETECTED IN IMMEDIATE VICINITY

SCANNING…

SPECIES RECOGNIZED AS ERINACEUS MOBIUS

EXACT IDENTITY UNKNOWN

QUERY: IDENTIFY

Sonic, who was still too busy wrapping his mind around what he was seeing to pay attention, had remained remarkably still and silent throughout the entire exchange. To top it all off, he had no idea what any of those words meant. It was no surprise that all he could do in response to the robot's question was let out a weak, "wuh…?"

SUBJECT UNCOOPERATIVE

REPEATING QUERY: IDENTIFY

At this, the robot raised its right arm, revealing a powerful-looking laser weapon, and pointed it directly at Sonic. The hedgehog, for his part, composed himself, stared the robot down and cocked his head to the side. "You're not from around here, are you?" he responded, somewhat convinced that this thing was partly responsible for sending the whole island into a tizzy.

UNIDENTIFIED LIFEFORM CONFIRMED AS HOSTILE

NEW OBJECTIVE: CAPTURE AND RETURN TO CREATOR

LAUNCHING COMBAT RUNTIME LIBRARY ALPHA 3-5G

The robot's final sentence was Sonic's first clue. Seeing the laser on its arm begin glowing a bright red was his second.

Uh, oh…

He had just enough time to leap out of the way of the blast, landing on all fours a few feet to his right. Glancing back at the now-smoking spot where he jumped from, he knew that had he been a split-second late, that laser would have easily turned him into a pile of smoldering charred chunks.

He looked back at the robot and couldn't help but crack a grin. "See, now you're speaking a language I can understa—whoa!"

This time he felt the heat of the laser singeing the fur on his back as he hit the dirt. This thing wasn't messing around. He looked back up, ready to give the robot another smart retort, only to get a metallic kick to the chin that knocked him several feet backwards. How did that thing get so close so quickly?

"Alright, that does it!" Sonic snarled, rubbing the bruise on his chin. He really didn't know what this thing's beef with him was, but it picked the wrong punching bag. "No more Mister Nice 'Hog!" Throwing caution to the wind, he ran straight at the robot and gave it a swift roundhouse kick to the abdomen.

"Yeeeeowch!" He cried, hopping on one foot while clutching his sore one. That thing had been rock solid. While Sonic had felt the impact all the way through his shoe, the attack had apparently not left a dent in the robot's armor.

TARGET THREAT LEVEL DROPPING

PROCEEDING TO SUBDUE

The robot's fist was raised high above its head, ready to smash it into the hedgehog's back. This time though, Sonic was ready for it. Thinking fast, he back flipped out of the way of the attack, letting it shatter the topsoil beneath it. Then, ignoring the ache in his foot, he backed up several feet, took a running start to gather as much momentum as he could, and leaped straight into the robot's body with both feet. Again, the blow left the machine without a scratch, but the sheer force of the impact was enough to knock it flat on its back. Sonic, on the other hand, let his knees take the brunt of the shock before flipping backwards as the robot fell, leaving him unhurt and prepared to strike again.

TARGET THREAT LEVEL RISING

ADAPTING TO NEW DATA

Sonic racked his brain for ideas. That robot was getting up soon, and he needed a way to shut it down for good. He could almost subconsciously feel the quills on his head flare in and out in response to his sudden adrenaline rush. Maybe…

He looked up just in time to see the robot bearing down on him again, this time putting its full weight behind its deadly punch. Time slowed to a crawl, and Sonic could admit that other than try to dodge again, he was out of options. Trying to use fisticuffs on the iron giant would be like trying to chop wood with a plastic water bottle, but he needed to counterattack somehow. Didn't this stupid thing have some kind of soft spot?

With nothing to lose, Sonic instinctively leaped straight into his opponent's steel chest, curling into a ball and letting his quills flare out in every direction. To his surprise, the unorthodox move worked like a charm, knocking the robot flat on its back again with its torso finally showing signs of damage.

Sonic uncurled himself, speechless, and looked down at his hands. Where had that come from?

ANALYZING…

ANALYZING…

DAMAGE TO UNIT APPROACHING CRITICAL

LAUNCHING EMERGENCY PROTOCOL-

"Oh no, you don't!" Sonic yelled triumphantly. Feeling adventurous after his successful stunt, he took a running start, jumped, curled himself into another ball and slammed into his fallen opponent, this time aiming for the head.

He couldn't see exactly what happened, but he certainly felt it. The robot's head unit crumbled under his weight, his quills cleanly slicing through the circuitry underneath. What remained of his opponent was a broken metal torso with sparking wires jutting out of its "neck."

Sonic uncurled himself and landed on his feet, looking over the broken bot. He couldn't help but laugh out loud, enjoying his victory before turning away towards Knothole. I guess you can kill metal! Wait'll the gang hears about this…

A sudden crunching sound stopped him in his tracks. Is it… getting back up? He looked over his shoulder, expecting to see his enemy put up one last fight. Instead, he got a bigger surprise: the heavily battered hull of the robot was falling apart, piece-by-piece. Sonic watched in shock as its chest area finally split apart, revealing the hollow chamber underneath.

At least, it would've been hollow, if a very dazed, very dirty and very exhausted grey rabbit hadn't stumbled out of the robot's chassis.

And with that last image burned into his brain, Sonic finally came to a valid conclusion: he was losing it.

"W-where…" the rabbit groaned in a small yet raspy voice, squinting as he took in his surroundings, "where am I?" His eyes finally settled on a bewildered blue hedgehog. "Who are you?"

Sonic wasn't sure which question to address first without putting his brain on overload. He settled for a stunned silence.

"The—the others!" The small animal suddenly gasped. "My family...!"

Now that Sonic had a good look at it, he recognized it as a rabbit from the Turquoise Lake zone. A large number of smaller rodents had set up a thriving community near there, much like the rest of South Island. But that zone was on the other side of the island. Why would this little guy be all the way over here?

"Woah, easy there!" Sonic finally said, holding his hands up. "What are you talking about? Why were you in the…?"

"It was that monster!" the rabbit cried hysterically. "He—he took us all… burned our homes… stuck us inside those machines…!"

Wait… there are more?

"Look, uh…" Sonic said, not really wanting to get involved but knowing the creature was obviously having a rough day, "you need help, man. Why don't I just-"

But the traumatized lagomorph was beyond listening now, running off in the opposite direction. "I have to go!" Sonic heard him wail. "H-have to… warn everyone…!"

"H-hey!" Sonic shouted, but he was too late. Mobian rabbits were quick little creatures, and although Sonic could've easily chased him down, there was no way to determine which direction he went after he disappeared into the underbrush. And frankly, Sonic wasn't really in the mood to track down a runaway mental patient. His best bet would be to notify the authorities in Knothole (via Nate, of course) and let them deal with the problem.

"Well," he finally said, dusting his hands off and walking in the direction of Knothole, "glad that's over with!"


A/N: First action scenes are rough to write... why not leave a review and let me know how I did?