Sorry this took a while. My only excuse is laziness and stress from school. Now, enjoy the face off between Metal and Mercury!

Metal and Mercury circled each other, studying the others movements as they prepared their strategies. Mercury could feel the calculating red neon receptors following his every molecule, picking out the unconscious patterns in his movements that could lead to the prediction of his attacks. He in turn studied how quickly Metal's engine moved his titanium limbs and the angles at which they moved. It was an unnecessary precaution, as Mercury powers were going to make this battle very short. A flick of his wrist and this helpless robot was going into orbit. But there was no harm in a bit of study, was there.

"Get on with it!" Sonic yelled from his place head first in the ground. "I want to see some robot butt kicking!"

"Shut up Sonic," Mercury muttered, not taking his eyes off Metal. "I know what I'm doing."

"But…"

"I said shut it!" Mercury took his eyes off Metal for less than a second, but in that instant the robot doppelganger made its move. Its jets firing instantaneously, Metal came at Mercury like a speeding bullet, aiming its lethal fingers towards Mercury's neck. Even so, the cat was able to bring his palm round to deflect the strike harmlessly past his ear. Retro rockets fired in Mercury's face as Metal stopped itself dead, bringing its other arm up at Mercury's temple. Again Mercury misdirected the strike wide, this time bringing his own hand up to strike the robot in its armored core. The attack had a massive amount of power behind it and Metal was once again sent flying backwards a few steps before correcting its movement.

"Reluctant compliment: You are skilled, more skilled we must admit than any we have faced before. This battle will be useful research material for our creator."

"Yeah, well sorry to disappoint you," Mercury sneered, raising his open palm, "but this battle's over." The unearthly creature thrust his hand forward, concentrating his abnormal powers onto the metal in the droid's body, which was just about everything. "Prepare to meet the stars, robot!"

"Pitying correction: We don't think so. Activate anti-magnetic barrier!" There was a small flash and Metal's body was illuminated with a strange blue aura. As soon as the light appeared, Mercury felt his grip on the robot slip away, misdirected without his approval. Mercury was shocked. Again he tried to grasp at the robot through his powers, but it was as if Metal Sonic wasn't there. Nothing like had ever happened, not even in his shattered memories. How was it possible that this robot could hold such power?

"Bemused query: Are you wondering what is happening?" Metal showed no signs of happiness or amusement on his mouthless face, but Mercury was sure that the robot's eyes glowed with a fierce enjoyment. "After our last encounter with you, our processors worked ceaselessly to create a counter-strategy to your unusual abilities. We theorized that your powers revolved around a crafting of magnetic fields beyond our sensors, so our plan was to bend these fields counteractively around ourselves, making us untouchable. Further attempts will be futile."

Mercury listened to all of this, growing less frustrated and calmer with every word. Mercury's soul was a curious one, and not knowing what was stopping him infuriated him. Had Metal not explained what was happening, it would have had Mercury at a disadvantage. Artificial arrogance would be the metallic monstrosity's downfall, Mercury was sure of it. Now that he knew what was happening, his mind was already devising a new plan of attack.

"Well, you seem to have taken away part of my advantage." Mercury wasn't sneering, but his confidence hadn't left his eyes. He raised his hand, and the sword on his back flew to his fingers. "But you're still no match for Mercury, first of the failures." Mercury charged Metal, blade spinning in front of him like a deadly propeller. Metal flew upwards, trying to escape Mercury's range, but Mercury flew after him and Metal was forced to outrun the alien feline. On a straight run, Metal could hold its own with Sonic and Shadow, but piles of trash miles high constantly barred its path, forcing the copy of the blue blur to slow its speed to avoid it. But Mercury had no such problem, his body bending around the obstacles as easy as water runs down a mountain. Indeed, it was an undesirable situation for Metal Sonic. "You can never outrun me!" Metal's audio receivers caught as it felt Mercury's blade scratch the edge of its toes. The blade was hard and sharp, sharp enough even to cut through the tips of its metal feet. Finally, Metal came to the conclusion that outrunning this opponent was not an option.

"Clarification: We have many more ways to defeat you than beating you in a fair race. Equal terms have never been our specialty." Turning round, Metal fired a rocket from his wrist and activated his afterburners. The rocket exploded on Mercury's blade, not damaging it or harming the cat but blinding him temporarily. When Mercury exited the smoke cloud, Metal wasn't ahead of him.

"Where are you," Mercury muttered to himself. His eyes scanned the junk pillars around him. Then he spotted it, standing tall atop the tallest of the piles fifty meters away.

"Haughty boast: Prepare to face our most ingenious programming. Robotic reanimation!" Blue sparks danced around Metal's fingers as it slammed the hand into the surface of the column it was standing on. The sapphire bolts moved round the pile and what appeared to be discarded robot parts began to float out of the heap towards the metallic cobalt copycat, grouping together in balls of lightning. Having realized whatever Metal Sonic was doing was dangerous, Mercury flew towards it. But before he'd made it twenty meters Metal raised its hand, its vocabulator miming some order Mercury's ears missed. Whatever it'd done, it was effective. For a few seconds, Mercury lost control of his body. Moving at such a high velocity this of course meant that he made an undignified crash landing. Having left the range of whatever weapon Metal had used, Mercury looked up to see now two robot bodies beside his droid opponent. They had the basic same shape of Metal Sonic, but were much more roughly made, the same blue energy Metal had summoned them with sparking between their joints. "Now, Conscience separation. Shadow android and Silver Sonic!" Metal's body convulsed, and two streams of numbers shot from the robot's cranium into its creations. As soon as the numerals entered the newly completed bodies, neon red eyes shone from their heads. "Order: Now, our brethren, help us destroy the feline!"

"Understood!" All three of them looked towards the ground where Mercury had been, to see the animaloid speeding at them with a look of absolute determination on his face.

"Great," Mercury thought as he slashed at the first junk bot. The machine dodged easily, and worked with the others to push Mercury back. "The stupid thing can split its programming into new bodies. Now I'm outnumbered." Not being able to use his powers on Metal directly, and now behind in numbers, Mercury was losing badly. His sword sliced through the new adversaries multiple times, but every time they lost part of their anatomy, bolts of electricity brought the lost parts back. The original doppelganger hung back, firing lasers and rockets from its wrists every chance it had.

Before long Mercury found himself back in the clearing where Sonic and the others were. "Hey!" Sonic yelled. "Aren't you done with that stupid thing yet?"

"I told you before Sonic, desist from speaking to me!"

"Do as he says," Shadow advised his blue comrade. "If it is taking him this long, then Metal must be stronger than ever." Mercury had to agree with the last son of the Black Arms. Mercury tried to remember a harder opponent he'd faced in his mysterious past. This robot was trouncing him as badly as Jupiter had in his flashback. Every inch of his forearms and shins felt like a living punching bag, and his chest wasn't much better. He wasn't tired, he didn't have any muscles to feel tired as far as he knew, but not being able to take out something that by the law of his skills should be powerless against him, was beginning to agitate him. And, as history has proved so many times, it is those who attack with emotion that are the ones who lose. And, in a repetition of times gone by, it happened again. Mercury swung his sword furiously at Silver Sonic's shell, blade flat in an attempt to knock the pieces he'd remove far enough away so that they wouldn't return. The weapon passed through the abnormal machine's empty joint and as that robot escaped damage the other rushed in and knocked the sword high. Registering its chance, the real Metal Sonic rose and grasped Mercury's weapon, holding it within his magnetic field. The robot to the left made a carefully calculated uppercut, followed by the other homing attacking the helpless alien. Mercury flew back, failing to stop himself and crashing deep into the ground. Before he'd even began to rise, the new bodies of Silver Sonic and the Shadow Android were waiting above him, looking intently at their creator.

"Decisive order: Finish him!" The robots' only register of the order was to turn ominously towards Mercury.

"Damn it," Mercury mentally yelled. "I'm going to regret this later! Voices, this would be a really good time for some advice. Anything?!"

"Have you tried to control the copies?" The harsh voice asked, a sort of dry amusement in his voice. Mercury hadn't. He'd assumed that Metal would have created these new bodies with the same sort of magnetic defenses that it itself had. But was it possible that the accursed robot had planned for his assumption and done without? Well, there was only one way to find out.

Metal watched Mercury curiously as its two lackeys moved towards him. More than one of its artificial personalities were marveling at the stupidity of these meatbags, more were ignoring the cat completely and planning what they were going to do to the fake hedgehog, Sonic, once this annoyance was out of the way. Only one remained skeptical: the Metal Sonic that had surpassed the limits of all the others in becoming the almighty Neo Metal Sonic, and the monstrous Metal Overlord after that, strong enough not only to disobey the master, Dr Eggman, but defeat and control his army single handedly. It was the dominant sentinel in this body, the alpha male so to speak. This creature, it fascinated it. There were few that the former Neo found worthy of fighting. Sonic was programmed to be among them, but Metal also found that Shadow was a very challenging adversary. Knuckles the Echidna, a muscle-bound red animaloid and a companion of its loathsome copy also proved a match for Metal's mechanical might, though not nearly at Shadow's level. But this…Mercury, he was a whole other league. He fought at his full compacity at all times. But it wasn't like he was desperate, no, he used his full power because he could afford to. But now it was all going to end.

Or was it?

Silver Sonic and Shadow Android went at Mercury, beginning a homing attack copied from Sonic as they closed in. The two now deadly sawblades dived at Mercury at an impossible speed…

And stopped.

Mercury was standing again, hands held high, smiling. Metal sensors could read the power flowing from him into the unprotected bodies of his two minions. "Critical observation: Took you long enough."

"Sorry to disappoint." Mercury sneered. "But I'd rather not die until I know who I am. And to do that," the grey cat's fists tightened, causing the metal bodies to shriek in protest, "I have to defeat you." With a roar, he threw his hands up, sending the two bodies careening up into the atmosphere.

The instant it was obvious that both the separate entities were doomed, Silver Sonic and Shadow Android's data streams abandoned the junk husks and returned to their combined host. Metal's shell shuddered as the information, renewed with captured data, updated its system. The spasm was so violent that it dropped Mercury sword, allowing it to return to its master. New experience flowed through it, and with it new strategies. Metal regained its composure and faced Mercury; its hard drive confirmed that its battle plan would be successful.

Once again, the duelist circled, both confident in their own success. Then, in a flash they met again, Mercury's sword dancing as Metal's claws slashed. Neither seemed to have tired at all, though they had been fighting for nearly a quarter of an hour. Then again, Metal Sonic was a robot and Mercury was an alien, so weariness probably wasn't even in their vocabularies, besides a description of an enemy. But neither side's power was infinite, if one of them didn't make a break soon the fight was going to end with both parties flat on their faces. Metal knew this, even if Mercury didn't realize it yet. Its solar batteries were flashing red, and there wasn't strong enough sunlight to replenish it under battle conditions. So it was time for Metal to pull its trump card, metaphorically speaking.

"Confident boast: We know how to defeat you, Mercury first of the failures. We need only the opening to finish this confrontation once and for all. And then we will finish off your friends, and our master will once again praise us as his greatest creation." Metal made a wild outer strike at Mercury's throat, which the feline blocked with his sword.

"Tell me Metal," Mercury grunted as he tried to push the metallic blue arm away from him. "You are an incredibly intelligent being. So why do you serve one who is weaker than you. Eggman is not worthy of such loyalty. He is nothing but a worthless coward." Mercury wasn't positive that Eggman was a coward, but from how he'd seen him act last time he'd seen Metal he was pretty sure his guess would be close enough.

"Confused musing: That would be correct. But he is our creator." Metal knocked aside Mercury arm, transformed into a sickle like blade. "We are indebted to serve him."

"All birds must leave the nest at some point, no matter their origin. Once again, why serve someone weaker than yourself." Mercury increased his barrage, pressuring Metal's processors to work on answering his question while defending its body.

"Error: Logic and programming clashing. Unable to compute." Metal's eyes began flashing multiple colours. Taking the initiative, Mercury slammed Metal with an uppercut inside his jet booster's intake. Unable to counter balance the force, Metal went skyrocketing, right into Mercury's waiting snare.

"Take this!" The alien slammed his robot opponent up with his knees again and again until they were a good 100 meters off the ground. Then, he began to spin, faster and faster, his sword spinning above his head, until he was revolving faster than sound. Doing this created an unnerving whistle that made the ear tingle. Then without warning he began slamming his arms, legs and tail into Metal, all concentrated to be harder than iron, creating crater sized dents in Metal's armor. Finally he wrapped his tail around Metal's framework and positioning himself head first above him, his twin bladed sword-staff still spinning violently fast. "Magnetic cyclone!" Pushing himself down with force of a falling skyscraper, Mercury slammed himself and Metal down into the ground and drilled the unfortunate robot deep into the contaminated earth. "HAAAAAR!"

His attack finished, Mercury flipped out of the massive crater his move had created, smiling at his own handiwork. Nothing could have survived that, not even Shadow. Satisfied, he began to walk away, but stopped abruptly. There was still a sound echoing from the hole in the dump. Mechanical sounds.

"Error: Error: Error: Error."

"Impossible," Mercury thought. "I put so much power into that attack!"

"Even the strongest techniques are useless against some opponents."

"Shut up already,"

"But you asked for my advice."

"……curse you!"

Mercury walked up the crater wearily. Reaching the rim, he peaked over at where he thought he'd slammed Metal. There was nothing there but a crumpled heap of used construction material. "What the…" The slightest whistle informed Mercury of a presence behind him, and his hand rose only seconds before Metal made a grab for him. The robot was dented, sparking and limping, or more hovering in jolts, and one of his eyes had a crack running down the centre, but the grip on Mercury bony limb was stronger than iron.

"Exclamation: We have you now!"

"But how…?"

"Metaphor: Never reveal your hand before all is revealed. Unnecessary explanation: While you wasted your energy on that fancy maneuver, our shields redirected the damage to unnecessary portions of our body. Ingenious, don't you think?" Mercury could swear he detected arrogance and pleasure in Metal's monotone. "But now, as we promised, we have you exactly in place for our final display!" As it said it, Mercury felt the grip on his arm tighten. Not only that, he'd stopped sensing the point of contact between Metal and his skin. Looking down, Mercury saw a blue glow around Metal's claws like when he'd activated the barrier, only brighter. "Weary assumption: We suppose you'll want us to explain this as well." Faster than even Sonic could move, Metal grabbed Mercury's other wrist, disabling him. His sword clattered to the ground. Mercury didn't dare try anything with the rest of his body in case Metal caught more of him. "Explanation: While watching you we noticed that, thought you move with speed and grace, your body mass is too small to support any such movement, especially considering how dense your bones are. Having observed your later skills as well, we have come to the conclusion that you use you magnetic powers to move you genetically altered metallic structure. An incredible skill, offering nearly unsurpassable power yet as precise control as the subjects own thoughts, but it has one flaw. By projecting our magnetic barrier over your body we can, figuratively speaking, petrify you. Musing: We wonder, what would happen if we projected this over your head?" Mercury stiffened. "Would you, figuratively speaking, cease to function? We wish to test this, literally speaking." Mercury tried to move, but before his own eyes he saw the glow move from his arm all along his body, down his legs and tail, right up to his collarbone. He was completely paralyzed, his tail and knees going limp, his body only held up by Metal's unyielding grip on his arms.

Metal's impassive red eyes fixed on Mercury's stony grey ones. Artificial light staring into a lack of light. Almost poetic. Metal's photoceptors gathered the last information it needed, and then it began to force the barrier upwards, towards Mercury's nervous centre.

"This is it," Mercury though despairingly. "The end. There's nothing I can do now. It's all over. Maybe in death I can finally learn about my past. Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto and Gaia. Soon you will all be known to me."

The light reached his Adams apple.

"Wait, who is Gaia. Damn, why do I have to have a revelation now?! Someone hates me. I swear by my sword I'll…"

The glow radiated over his chin illuminating the metallic hairs.

"Wait, my sword. Maybe it I can…" Mercury looked down at his unique blade, lying where he'd dropped it. "Metal's put its foot on it, but if I can just…"

Now it was at his lower lip, shining onto his falsely coloured teeth.

"Ultimatum: This is your end. Prepare to meet your maker!"

"So you think, you stupid robot!" Focusing his powers outside the barrier around them, Mercury bent his sword upwards, slamming the flat of the blade into his elbow joint. With nothing holding it in place, his hand flew forwards, straight into Metal Sonic's chassis, through its engine core. The engine that powered the magnetic barrier. Metal bent backwards in a sort of imitation gagging movement. The barrier stopped at the base of Mercury's skull…

…And receded.

Free of his simulated cage, Mercury attracted his weapon and placed it against the fallen doppelganger's neckpiece. "Astonished statement: It is not possible! Even at the edge of shutdown and powerless you still managed to counter our strategy. It is truly amazing." Mercury looked down at the kneeling form before him. He had nothing against this robot really. It was only doing what it was programmed to. Somehow, he thought he might have done the same thing in the past he couldn't remember. But it was a threat to him now so it had to be exterminated. Maybe under different circumstances he could have learned from this prodigy of science, but not now.

"Are you ready to blackout?" Mercury asked.

"Overdue answer: You asked us before why we served one who is so much weaker than ourselves. We could not answer you then, nor can we now. But we will accept you advice." Metal Sonic rose slightly onto one knee, not taking its face away from the earth. Mercury took up a defensive stance, but Metal made no move against him. Then it spoke again, and its words shocked the extra terrestrial feline.

"Statement: What is thy bidding, my master?"

More action and more Star Wars copyright infringements. I'm sure George Lucas hates me. What happens next is a mystery to all. Review!