Then everything went nuts around the lot of them. Alarms blared loudly as strobe lights flashed. Metal Sonic saw all of this and said calmly, "Our little blackout appears to have ended." Previously inactive security cameras in the room hummed to life and fixed on the group. The voice of the Freedom Fighters' adversary and Metal Sonic's former master blared out from a loudspeaker set in the upper corner of the room. "Ah! My traitorous creation has returned. Welcome home, my servant." Metal Sonic almost flinched at hearing that voice. Then he drew himself up tall, faced the nearest security camera, shook his fist and said defiantly, "I no longer serve you, Eggman! I am a Freedom Fighter now!" Evil laughter resounded in everyone's ears for a moment. "Such defiance, my creation. Have you forgotten so soon what I hold over you even now?" There was a long pause, during which there was only silence from everyone present. "You know the fate of traitors to the glorious Empire of Eggman." Metal Sonic abruptly clutched at his chest and doubled over with a distorted-sounding shriek, convulsing as if in an insane amount of pain. Berserk electricity crawled along his body. Sparks flew everywhere as the air was filled with the sound of grating gears and overheating machinery as the robot fought against his programming. A clot of thick, black, greasy smoke issued forth from his turbine. In the depths of his sundered, tortured mind he realized that what he was fighting was the most basic precept of his core programming: obey his creator and master. He could remember a time when such would have been fine. That was before his creator had betrayed him and tried to destroy him. He would NOT obey! Redirected hatred and sheer defiance fueled his desperate battle to overcome it as he directed all of his strength to the task at hand. But his programming proved to be too strong for him to combat as he fell to his knees, and then almost gracefully collapsed with what sounded kind of like a weak moan. Tails knelt by Metal Sonic's motionless, smoking body, then looked up at the nearest security camera and shouted in an outraged voice, "You killed him!" The answer to that shouted statement was almost immediate. "Not so! I merely… convinced him to see things my way." Tails gave a loud yelp and jumped about five feet straight back as the fallen robot abruptly began to move, slowly standing up and glaring at the Freedom Fighters with great hatred as he prepared to fight. "You have befriended Metal Sonic, whose sole purpose in life was to eradicate the lot of you. I think it only fitting that he be the one to destroy you." Remembering the robot's last request, Tails led the attack. Everyone else followed him in with no delay, also remembering. The fight was a whole heck of a lot easier than it would have been before the robot's defection. Tails could have sworn that, at certain key moments during the fight, the true Metal Sonic gazed out from behind those neon eyes. He'd never thought a robot could have a soul, but such was the case with Metal Sonic. Sometimes, during the fight, the robot would freeze in place oddly, just for a single moment, during which it looked as if some great struggle was taking place somewhere deep within him. Was he truly resisting Eggman's control over him? Was this what he had meant by fighting back? These odd freezing moments most often occurred when he was about to dodge a powerful hit and made it totally impossible for him to dodge in time to avoid the hit, as if the true Metal Sonic wanted the lot of them to take him down. But that didn't stop him or even slow him as he finally lunged forward and knocked Sonic down. The robot stood over his flesh and blood counterpart, lethal steel claws held at the blue hedgehog's throat. It looked like this was the end for poor Sonic… But then Metal Sonic froze right where he stood, shuddering slightly, appearing to be caught in the greatest internal struggle yet. The robot looked as if he was fighting against paralysis. His neon eyes dimmed, showing how divided his attention was between the task at hand and what was going on inside him. A few oddly strangled sounds were audible, as if Metal Sonic was trying to speak and something was preventing him from doing so. The strained sounds resolved into a single word. "…Strike…" Sonic gaped. The robot's tremors worsened considerably as the battle raging inside him built in intensity. "…I am… in control…" His voice was a little bit stronger, but a lot more urgent. Metal Sonic was pleading now. "…Strike now…" Wasting no more time, Sonic leapt up and struck with all his strength. He sent the robot flying across the room to strike the opposite wall with his back. There was a sharp crack and Metal Sonic's neon eyes flickered dangerously, evidence of massive internal damage. He stayed there for a long moment as if stuck to the partially broken wall like a swatted fly. Then his legs finally gave out and he slowly slid down to lie against the wall in a sprawling position. Thin streams of sparks leaped from his joints like an erratic heartbeat. His eyes flickered wildly as he shook a little. A moment later, he made one weak attempt to stand back up, and then he was still. His neon eyes had dimmed considerably, but they still flickered like crazy.
The whole battle had lasted just a few minutes. It only took one look for Tails to see that Metal Sonic was badly damaged and his internal gyroscope was disabled. All the robot could do was stay put, since he had no sense of balance. His internal systems were trying their hardest to make the necessary repairs, but it was happening far too slowly to help him in any way. "I'll finish this," Shadow said in a low, threatening voice, stepping forward and brandishing the Chaos Emerald with a ferocious intensity. Tails shook his head and replied in a soft voice, "No. I made the promise. I'll do it." The dark hedgehog obediently backed off, understanding how the young fox felt. He understood the meaning of promises all too well. Tails stepped forward and took careful aim. Just as he was going to deliver the finishing blow, Metal Sonic jerked feebly where he lay, struggled to look up at Tails and spoke. "Chaos Topaz." Tails relaxed at that, even though Metal Sonic's words were barely audible past the roaring static that filled his voice. "He let me go," the robot said, seemingly incredulous at having been released in his most dire moment. "He wanted me to face your final strike as myself." He tried to stand up and failed miserably. All he could manage was a weak, undignified squirming motion since he couldn't figure out which way was up now that his gyroscope was offline. Even if his gyroscope hadn't been offline, he probably wouldn't have been able to stand up anyway. "Stay down," Tails said, forestalling any other attempts. Following the young fox's suggestion, Metal Sonic gave up on trying to stand up. Off to the side, Sonic swiftly took out all the security cameras with Knuckles backing him up. Now they just had to escape before anything else happened. But how would they get out of there? Shadow prepared to use Chaos Control again, this time on all of them. Seeing that, Sonic shook his head and called out, "Hey! You can't do this alone and you know it!" The blue hedgehog stepped up to his black counterpart. Then he said, "I'm going to help you. Do we buddy up on the Chaos Emerald?" Shadow shook his head and answered, "Last time we did that neither of us could move for a week, remember?" Sonic looked down at that and muttered, "Sure wish I had a Chaos Crystal too…" Off to the side, kneeling by the fallen Metal Sonic and helping out as much as he could which really wasn't much at all, Tails yelled out, "Hey! Sonic!" Then he reached into his little knapsack and pulled out the Chaos Topaz. "Catch!" Tossing it to Sonic, he turned to the rest and got them ready for the upcoming teleportation home. Tails' took Metal Sonic's hand and reached out to Sally, who laid a hand on Amy's shoulder. Amy grabbed Knuckles' hand. Knuckles put a hand on Sonic's shoulder. Sonic and Shadow were both holding their Chaos Crystals in one hand, each putting their free hand on the other's shoulder. Everyone stood still and waited silently as Sonic and Shadow used Chaos Control in tandem, sweeping them all back to Knothole.