Episode 25: True Power
Mephiles stood on the terra of the moon, staring at the Earth. The demonic hedgehog did not see the planet; he saw instead the faces of Sonic the Hedgehog and Nazo the Keeper of Chaos. Mephiles had grown far stronger than he had been when he first confronted Nazo, and now he debated to himself whether or not he still needed to hide behind the violet Master Emerald.
Mephiles looked at himself, and was just as appalled as he always was. The diluted shape of Shadow the Hedgehog was tiring, reminding him of his early incapability. Something in Mephiles' head snapped, and He threw off the bonds of the Master Emerald he had captured, the power of Chaos suddenly disgusting to him. Willing himself to cease to be dominated by Shadow in figure, Mephiles' body shifted and tore, reconstituting somewhat similar as he had been, his face remained the same, but his shoulders were broader, his arms and legs longer, and the few quills replaced by a vast sea of spines covering his entire back and the top of his head. The spines went all the way down to his elbows on his arms, all the way to his feet on his legs. Mephiles' lower face parted, growing a mouth. The tongue was a dark red, the teeth a glistening white. Grinning, the new porcupine-ish Mephiles flexed his muscular limbs and began to laugh.
"And now I am free of you completely, Shadow The Hedgehog. I rely on your form no more." Mephiles could see every detail of the earth's surface, even down to insects crawling on the ground.
"Of course, you are all insects to me," He said. Not that he truly believed that, after all, Sonic and Shadow had helped destroy him, and then Nazo… Nazo outclassed every other being in creation combined. To Mephiles, Nazo could have easily called himself a god. "But why not? Why do you choose not to see your potential?" deeming the Keeper a fool, Nazo banished thoughts of the silver-white hedgehog from his mind, only for it to be replaced by;
Why am I thinking about Hedgehogs so much, anyway? What's so special about them? Let's see… Sonic is extremely fast, decently intelligent, and quite lucky. Shadow is as fast as Sonic, but mush stronger and far more powerful, along with more intelligent.
Ashura is the same as Sonic. Fatal is…young, inexperienced. Although he does have the potential to defeat all his competitors, he doesn't seem to even be aware of the true extent of his power. Metal Sonic is a strange phenomenon. The robot has somehow managed a soul, but darts to and from one master so fast that he cannot gain trust in anyone. There are so many similarities between that robot and Fatal that I wonder if the scientist did not just make a flesh version of him.
Mephiles stopped himself, seeing a recurring theme of the doctor's. The human kept making things meant to help him that had the potential to take over for him, each more powerful than the last.
"My my my, doctor Eggman, you've taught something to a god. How impressive. Now, let me teach you something."
Mephiles drew out a heavier amount of his essence than he had used even in the hydra and began shaping it.
"You mortals have decided to fight me with hedgehogs, so with a hedgehog I shall make you submit."
The energy between Mephiles' hands was beginning to look like a hedgehog, though a rather grotesque one.
The roots of the hedgehog's quills were laced in wiring that melted into its head, emerging around its elbows; the flesh ending and the forearms being mechanical. The hedgehog was also machine from the knees down, and its head right under its nose grew a thin metal plate.
Mephiles finished sculpting the hedgehog and stepped back to admire his handiwork. The hedgehog's fur was colored blood red, each hair combed neatly for a flowing texture. His gruesome marriage of machine and flesh gave him a sadistic appearance. His mechanical parts were a pure gold. The hedgehog had four quills, two smaller on the back of his head, two larger coming up from his forehead. The quills all bent backward near the top, carrying the classic style for all Mobian hedgehogs with similar quills.
"Myrmidon, arise." The hedgehog's eyes opened, revealing flaxen-yellow base with jet-black irises and sickly green pupils. The hedgehog stood, not with the shakiness of one who is new to all around him, but with the swift and crisp motions of an ancient warrior.
"My lord." Myrmidon said. His voice was double, a monotone machine voice mixed with the vibrations of an organic throat. The voice was baritone and bass, deeper than Mephiles'.
"Run things for me here, my servile, I must tend to things elsewhere." Myrmidon bowed to one knee and lowered his head in response.
"It is as you wish, Almighty Mephiles."
Metal Sonic snuck quietly through the city of Tripoli, where Fatal had currently set up base. (Metal Sonic had left Tails' house upon discovering that the fox was not there.)
Metal Sonic's ultra-advanced radar had picked up his fleshly counterpart in this area, along with a group of American soldiers, working a spearhead into Eggman's foothold. Metal had come here to Tripoli to stealthily do what he could to help them. As it was, Metal Sonic had yet to be spotted by anyone or anything, but he knew that his luck was not everlasting.
Metal Sonic came around the corner and saw the hybrid hedgehog sitting underneath a coniferous tree. Fatal's head began to turn quickly to look where Metal was standing, so Metal darted back behind the house he was hidden behind. The navy hedgehog stood up, much to Metal's dismay, and began walking towards the house.
Metal's form shimmered and shook, melting into a pool of mercury-like liquid, coming together again as a common earth mouse.
Fatal came around the corner just as Metal finished changing, looking around angrily. Metal gave a little squeak and darted around the house. Fatal chuckled to himself and turned to go back to his tree.
To his absolute surprise, the tree already had him under it. "What the…?" Fatal stared wide-eyed at the tree, hoping he was just hallucinating. The Fatal under the tree was fingering the purple Super Emerald, just as Fatal had been before he had gotten up.
Fatal still held the emerald in his hand though, so he looked at it, then at the Fatal sitting under the tree.
An idea occurring to him, Fatal tried looking through the Emerald at the Fatal under the tree.
Continuing with surprising events, Fatal stumbled back when he saw the malice-made-physical eyes of Metal Sonic right in his face.
The robot grabbed him, pulling him behind the house. "Shh." Metal instructed. He held his alloyed hand over Fatal's mouth, making sure the hybrid did not violate his command.
"You really should pay more attention to little things like mice, Fatal." The hedgehog's eyes lit up in anger, and he grunted something under Metal's hand.
"Don't worry, little hedgehog, I don't have to hold you forever, just long enough for a special little something."
As if in response, an explosion went off suddenly as the spearhead shoved its way into the side of Fatal's army.
"Yeah, that." Fatal began to squirm violently as he saw Sonic destroy entire groups of his robots while the men behind him, moving almost as fast – as impossible as it was – swiftly put an end to anything Sonic did not.
Metal Sonic saw Jesse in amongst the others, and was suddenly wondering what he was doing here. His momentary distraction was enough for Fatal to break his grip and elbow him hard in what would have been a ribcage.
"Oh yeah, you're a robot." Fatal said sheepishly. Metal Sonic stared him down, using the malice in his eyes to slowly turn Fatal's glimmering orange eyes into wide discs of fear before the navy hedgehog even knew it.
Fatal caught himself though, and shook his head. "You won't get me that easily, traitor." Metal Sonic laughed. "Ah, the old term that's become like a brother to me. Do you have any idea how little that means to me, Fatal? Look around you! Who's the winner here?" The orange eyes darted to and fro, looking for something to use against the robot.
Suddenly the eyes hardened, and they focused on the robot. "ME!" Fatal released an orange chaos blast, beam type, and sent Metal Sonic through the house he had hidden behind.
"Well, you don't have to be that upset about it." Sonic the hedgehog was leaning on a branch not three feet from Fatal. The hybrid snapped towards him, his chest rising and falling quickly.
"So you're half me, huh? What's it feel like to be two people at once?" Fatal blinked, not knowing how to respond.
"What kind of a question is that!" Fatal yelled, taking a step towards Sonic. The azure hero shrugged. "I was honestly just wondering." Fatal lunged suddenly at Sonic, punching… the tree he had just been in front of.
"Ahh!" Fatal grabbed his hand, feeling the fingers bruise. The tree had a hole in it, but small consolation to the fact that he would not be able to use his right hand for a few minutes.
Sonic, in the meantime, was rolling on the ground behind him, laughing. "Oh, you actually fell for that? That's the old-oldest one in the book!" the blue hedgehog managed to say in between laughs.
By now, all of Fatal's forces were gone, and he was suddenly aware of twelve or so powerful men all targeting him, from many different angles.
Metal Sonic finally came back through the wreckage he had been spewed through, and came to stand beside his counterpart, who was just pulling himself off the ground.
"Couldn't stay away from the action, huh?" Sonic asked, a smirk decorating his face. Metal gave him a sideways look. "Nope." Fatal growled, not liking their casual talk as if he was no threat.
Jesse walked out of the shadows, seeming to materialize there, and came near Fatal; his hands full with a Beretta M280 50. caliber sniper rifle.
"Give it up, Fatal, you lose." Fatal's quills shimmered black for a moment, then again.
All were confused at what they saw, not sure what it was. Fatal gritted his teeth at them.
His quills continued to dance and discolor, turning black and standing on end, only to revert back.
"No, it's you who loses! Chaos Control!" The emerald was suddenly in his hand, and it disappeared into him.
Jesse, Sonic and Metal were all thrown backward as Fatal bonded with the emerald, his form turning into a dark silhouette, the pupils and irises disappearing from his eyes.
Sonic sat up, the blue super emerald in his hand. Metal sat up too, although he now wished he had taken the emerald when it was offered to him.
Fatal rose higher into the air, filling the place up with his triumphant laughter. Sonic was about to go super himself when Jesse ran past him.
"GO!" he ordered, leaving no wiggle room in his command. The human held up the orange emerald above his head and gritted his teeth.
"I hope this works." He said beneath his breath. "Chaos Control!"