SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: SUPER SONIC Z
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: MIRROR, MIRROR
Freedom HQ, a few days after Amy and Lily have joined the Freedom Fighters. Sally and Sonic finally told everyone about their relationship, but were surprised that no one was actually surprised by this. They knew it all along. Guess it was too obvious, except for Sonic and Sally themselves. But for now the heroes were at work, and Sally was going through some archives, searching for some clues towards the last Chaos Emerald.
"Hiya Sal!" Sonic moved over and sat down next to her. "Have I told you that you look stunning when you're concentrated?" he said, sounding smugger than usual.
"Sonic, that was corny even for your standards. And can we do this later? I'm busy." Sally said as she continued to check out all the archives.
"Who needs the paperwork, when you got me? Now don't be such a sourpuss and gimme a kiss…" Sonic said as he moved closer and puckered his lips, but Sally pushed him back.
"I don't know what has gotten into you, but you're not going to kiss me until you got your attitude in check again. Besides, I got way too much work." Sally said.
Sonic had an annoyed look on his face: "Fine, who needs you anyway? I'll be off then, but don't beg me to come back afterwards." He said as he left the room.
Sally found Sonic's behavior odd: "Did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something? There's something off about him…I'll worry about that later, but I hope he doesn't make the others miserable."
Lily and Amy were sparring at the gym. Amy was physically stronger and more skilled, but Lily was more agile due to her experience on a hoverboard, so they were quite matched. "Hey there gals! Looking good!" Sonic said, barging in on their training session.
"Er…hi Sonic." Amy said. Despite accepting Sonic dating Sally, her crush on him hasn't completely died out yet so she could still be nervous and blushing around Sonic. Lily has gotten over her jealousy of Sonic since she knew he wouldn't be going after Amy.
"You working out? You look hot, and I don't mean that from just all the training you've been doing…" Sonic stated. Amy now blushed heavily and Lily looked angry at that statement.
"Are you…trying to flirt around Amy?" Lily asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I completely ignored you. Never thought a girl in overalls of all people could look so good." Sonic said.
"Are you trying to make fun of me?" Lily said, completely uncaring towards Sonic's advances (and for a reason).
"Why are you here Sonic?" Amy asked, still blushing. Despite kind of liking the attention he gave her, she was suspicious as to why Sonic would do something like that.
"Oh Sally is being moody and I just needed some company, don't mind if I come here and work out with you, these muscles ask to get sweaty. You girls wanna see what I can do?" Sonic asked them.
"I'd rather not…So if you don't mind leaving me and Amy alone, there are still some moves that need perfecting." Lily said disgusted.
"I thought you girls would be more fun but no, all serious and stuck-up like Sally. But fine, I'll be going, but you'll be missing out on wonderful me, don't be jealous when the others are fawning over me." Sonic said as he left.
Amy felt uncomfortable: "Since when did Sonic turn from a gentleman into a rude womanizer?"
"I don't know, even if I didn't start off on the wrong foot with him, I knew he's normally not like this…shouldn't we be talking to Sally about this later." Lily replied.
"Fiona, hand me that screwdriver will you? The one with the purple handle!" Tails asked Fiona. Fiona and Tails were spending more time together, and Fiona often helped Tails with whatever engineering he was doing. Though she had little to no technical knowledge, she tried helping out wherever she could.
Tails tightened a few screws on Tori, who started giggling. "Tori, will you stop that, I can't concentrate." Tails asked.
"I'm sorry, but that tickles!" Tori said as Tails was tinkering on her design.
"I'm not going to get your submarine mode finished if you don't work with me." Tails said as he grabbed another component and prepared to install.
"Hey lil' bro, you and your girlfriend working on some stuff?" Sonic asked as he came on. "But oh right, you already said everyone you're just good friends right? Oh, then don't mind if I also get friendlier with Fiona, so she and I will also be good friends." Sonic said as he moved towards Fiona.
Tails and Fiona looked puzzled at him. "Er…did you get hit on the head or something, cause you seem a bit off." Tails asked.
"Hush, lil' bro, I wanna talk to the vixen." Sonic said as he leaned on the workbench and looked at Fiona: "So, why is a pretty girl like you making her hands dirty on a plane."
"I'm not just a plane, buster. And though I'm only a few weeks old, I'm aware that your behavior isn't exactly appropriate!" Tori shot at Sonic.
"Sorry to grind your gears, plane girl, but if you excuse me, I'm talking to a real girl over here and what a girl she is!" Sonic said, looking with a smug grin at Fiona, who took a few steps back.
"What would Sally say if she found you talking like that to me?" Fiona asked.
"Let's talk less about Sally and more about you, gorgeous!" Sonic said grinning.
Tails jumped in front of her: "I don't know what has gotten you but you need to stand down, and by the way, that's no way to talk a lady."
"Oh, so you two have something going on. Shame, but I hope you two will be very happy, at least until Fiona gets tired of waiting until you come of age or she turns to pedophilia. Later bro!" Sonic said as he left.
"I thought Sonic was a nice guy and now he's so rude!" Fiona said with a dirty look.
"I don't know Sonic this way…I hope that he snaps out of it, whatever it is." Tails added.
"I know he was rude and all, but are you still going to install that submarine in me or what? Cause I'm eager to test my torpedoes out on the blue spiky guy if he gets something in his head again." Tori added.
Muttski was in the cold storage, where some meat was stored. Though Muttski was a vegan, he can cook with meat to keep his friends well-fed. But as he entered the cold storage, he was surprised to see an unconscious Sonic lying there. "Sonic? But Muttski saw him leave Tails' workshop…no matter, Muttski needs to take him somewhere warm…" Muttski said surprised.
Muttski had taken Sonic to his kitchen, where he had wrapped Sonic in a blanket and given him warm soup. "T-t-thanks Muttski, I don't know how long I was in t-t-there but whoever d-d-did this w-w-will pay." Sonic groaned.
It was then that Sally came in the kitchen: "Hey Muttski, have you seen…SONIC! I need to have a word with you! The other Freedom Fighters have been complaining on how you are hitting on the female members, will you explain yourself mister?" Sally said as her anger rose.
"B-b-but I haven't spoken to anyone t-t-today, I woke up, got knocked out and ended up waking up in the c-c-cold storage." Sonic explained.
"Muttski can confirm, Muttski has found Sonic and judging by Sonic's state when Muttski found him, Sonic was in there for quite some time. Luckily Sonic's powers kept him warm enough to survive until Muttski found him." Muttski explained.
"Wait, if you were locked in the cold storage, then who has been hitting on all the girls? There's an imposter amongst us! I'll warn the others." Sally said as she grabbed Nicole's handheld, but before she did, she rushed over to Sonic and kissed him on the lips: "I'm glad it wasn't really you."
"I feel warmer all of the sudden." Sonic joked.
"Corny, but sweet…it's you all right." Sally said smiling. She then spoke to Nicole: "Nicole, access all security files to see if the imposter hasn't messed with anything, also check out the security footage and warn anyone about the doppelganger."
"Accessing…for now no security breach has been detected. The camera footage of the cold storage was messed with, it has been looped to avoid detection. I'm trying to get a fix on him…Oh no, he's moving towards the emerald vault!" Nicole stated.
"Then we need to move out quickly…warn the others!" Sally stated. Nicole did so as she sent a signal to the others.
Sonic meanwhile has removed his blanket, and has recovered enough using the warm soup and vibrated his molecules to warm himself up. "I'm warmed up again, now I need some sugar." He said, before Muttski handed him some candy. "Thanks Muttski, now let's go get that poser."
Meanwhile, the fake Sonic was at the emerald vault, having disabled the security around it, and now he only needed the combination of the vault. "If only I could have gotten all the blue chump's memories…then cracking this safe would be a lot easier." He moaned.
"Stop right there!" Tails said as he and Fiona, Amy and Lily arrived on the scene. "We know you're a fake, and we don't like it that you were so rude…" Tails added.
"No, I'm not the fake one, I managed to drive off the fake one! It's really me, Sonic!" the fake Sonic lied.
"Oh yeah, what's my middle name?" Tails asked.
"Er…it did start with an A, right?" Fake Sonic asked.
"You're the fake one, I don't have a middle name, and Sonic would know that!" Tails said as he rushed at the fake Sonic, slashed his chest with his tails, leaving two cut marks.
"Argh! You little…if I can't get the emeralds, I'll get something else. Out of the way!" the fake Sonic said as he rushed towards the door, knocking Tails and the girls over as he rushed off.
"Sally, the fake Sonic has rushed off, but Tails managed to leave some cuts on his chest, so now we can tell them apart, he's heading for the workshop!" Fiona said over the communicator.
The fake Sonic had returned to Tails' workshop, where he saw a few Power Rings lying around. "These will sustain me for now, I just hope those chumps don't catch up to me." He said as he absorbed their power. "That's enough Chaos Energy for one go, now to think of a more permanent solution." He said as he rushed out of the workshop.
But then the real Sonic appeared and pinned the fake one to a wall. The other Freedom Fighters caught up and surrounded him. "So you think you can knock me out, put me in the deep freeze, mess with my friends and try to steal the emeralds and not face the consequences?" Sonic asked.
"I could have tried." The fake Sonic said amused, not impressed by Sonic.
"Who are you, and where do you come from? Do you work for Eggman?" Sonic asked him.
"Me? Working for that oversized omelet? No thanks. I am a being created from Chaos Energy. When your little bro here purged the overdose of negative Chaos Energy from you when you went Super, it created me. I copied your appearance and powers, alongside some of your memories and gained an independent existence." The fake Sonic explained.
"That's why you need the Emeralds, you need Chaos energy to sustain yourself, since you're a being of pure energy that has nothing to attach itself to." Tails realized.
"Indeed, but you chumps are getting in my way. So if you now excuse me, move over!" the fake Sonic said as he kicked Sonic in the stomach and broke from his grip, before grabbing Sally and hold her in a chokehold. "Stand back or I'll hurt her!" But Sally wasn't defenseless as Sally used the heel of her boots to kick him in the go-nats. "Ouch! You bitch!" he said in a higher pitched tone before he let her go and rushed away.
"After him." Sally said as they gave chase to him.
Sonic the others chased the fake Sonic around the HQ and into the Great Forest, but Sonic finally managed to catch up with his counterpart and tackled him down to the ground and the two wrestled of sorts to the ground. "Listen, you don't have to do this, we're practically family. I just wanted some nice clean fun. That's all." Fake Sonic stated.
"Being made from negative Chaos Energy, showing disrespect for my friends and the girls…sure, you're a decent guy. Note the sarcasm!" Sonic replied.
"I am you, I am born from you, the negative chaos energy, your dna, your memories, the dark parts of your mind!" Fake Sonic stated. Sonic chuckled. "What so funny?"
"You, my dark side? Oh please, you know what my dark side is? When Eggman would finally push me over the edge that I would be out for blood, that I'd betray my own morals and actually kill someone on purpose…you are just a punk using my image cause you don't have one myself." Sonic replied.
"Me, just a punk? I'm much more than that and I'm gonna show you!" fake Sonic said as he kicked Sonic of him. Sonic recovered and rushed at the fake Sonic, who did the same. The two bumped into each other, trying to push each other aside by the shoulders while running.
Sonic and his fake broke apart as they both jumped up and tried to deliver punches and kicks towards each other, but they mimicked each other so the blows deflected one another. "Stop copying me!" they both said at the same time. They tried spin-dashing and homing in on one another, only to bounce of one another.
"You can't beat me, we both have the same powers, we both have the same moves. I just need to tire you out." Fake Sonic boasted.
"Indeed, you have all of my moves, but I've been working on some new moves after the Super Sonic incident." Sonic said as he used his superspeed, before launching a powerful kick, which fake Sonic dodged, but it cut the tree behind him and it fell on fake Sonic. Fake Sonic escaped however by spin-dashing through the tree.
"Cute, real cute, but it takes more than that to stop me!" fake Sonic boasted.
"Like this?" Sonic said as he jumped up, moved his feet in a figure eight on fake Sonic's face, leaving a mark, while pushing him back, before peeling out and knock fake Sonic across the forest.
"Okay, you got me there, but now I know these new tricks, you can't surprise me anymore, I can use them against you." fake Sonic said. He tried to copy Sonic's cutting kick, but as he sped up and tried to kick, he ended up tumbling through the air and fall on his back. "That one went bad, but I can do that peel-out thing and…" fake Sonic said as he tried the Peel-Out, but tripped over his own feet.
"Unlike you I had the time to practice those moves." Sonic stated.
"It still doesn't matter, I've seen you use the moves, I just need to think of a way to block them and…" fake Sonic ranted, as he suddenly looked tired. "Man, why am I feeling so weak all of a sudden?"
"You have copied my powers, but also all my weaknesses. You tire out too easily if you use your super speed too much and uncontrolled. You're low on sugar. I on the other hand have refilled." Sonic stated.
"You bastard! I'll get you!" fake Sonic said as he rushed at Sonic, who stepped aside, and fake Sonic couldn't stop in time as he saw a ledge, and fell into it, but managed to hold onto a branch that stuck out from the wall. He saw a large river under him, who was running so wild it's impossible to swim in.
"Give me your hand." Sonic said as he reached out his hand.
Fake Sonic wanted to take the hand at first, but slapped it aside. "I don't need any stinkin' help from you!" he said as he tried to climb up again himself, but he lost his grip and fell down. He had a huge sharp-toothed grin on his face as he fell down and vanished in the depth and the water. Sonic hung down his head.
"Sonic, there you are, you know how hard it is to catch up with you and your doppelganger?" Sally said as the other Freedom Fighters finally caught up. They saw Sonic at the edge, looking sad. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"He fell down, I tried to save him, but he refused…he didn't deserve to die, no matter how rotten he was." Sonic explained.
"You think he drowned? If he copied your DNA, he should sink like a brick in water…" Fiona asked.
"Besides, even if he can somehow swim, no living being can survive the fall and the wild cold water…" Tails added.
"He's no living being, he's an energy being…he has copied my need for sustenance to keep up my speed, but he's not organic. So I don't know if he really is gone. But why I feel guilty then?" Sonic replied.
"Because you have a heart." Sally said as she pecked him on the cheek. Sonic smiled a little more. "So, let us go home, we already have Eggman to worry about, let's not worry about that fake you." Sally said as she helped Sonic stand up.
"Even if he comes back, I'll be ready for him." Sonic stated as he and his friends went home.
But somewhere further ahead at the river, on the riverbank, the fake Sonic crawled out of the water, coughing wildly and spitting out some water, while pulling a fish from his ear. "That chump…defeated me…but I'll get back at him…next time, I'll make things really miserable for him, I'll be a real…scourge." He said before he fainted on the riverbank.
A tall cloaked figure with approached the unconscious hedgehog and said: "Interesting, I sense he is a being composed of pure Chaos Energy. He might come in handy." A brown furred hand reached from under the cape and touched the forehead of the fake Sonic, leaving some kind of glowing green mark. He then picked him up. "Welcome to my covenant, young hedgehog!" he said as he dragged the hedgehog of with him.
END OF CHAPTER