this one is the shortest so far
at least the day is saved! sort of
i also feel the need to explain that Sonic was not originally intended to be in this story
he just kinda showed up
and i think the better for it
Metal turned around. His living counterpart stood quite a few burned houses away with enough anger in his eyes to fuel a mission to deep space. Gloved hands clenched in rage, the hedgehog spoke again.
"Drop."
"Her."
The robot let the unconscious woman fall from his grasp. She tumbled to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Badniks began to gather in the area, rolling in from various locations around the attack. Sonic tapped his foot against the ground. Glowing, beady eyes stared him down with a fury. It was a 66 to 1 battle, and the odds were not in their favor. Metal Sonic began walking towards the blue teen. It jerked as it moved, twitching like a broken animatronic as it stalked steadily closer.
Sonic rubbed his nose. There was something off about this model, but he simply could not place it. He had fought countless other metal sonics in the past, yet this one stood out. Not in an obvious way. A shadow flew overhead. The robot jerked, clenched its claws, and charged at the azure vigilante. Sonic ducked as the sharpened fingertips of his adversary swung over his head. Using his low stance, he threw a punch at the midsection, leaving a sizable dent.
The robot's engine roared and it dashed off at sonic speeds. It disappeared into the woods before charging back to land another hit. The teen dodged, and took off after it, leading into a deadly race. The terrain was rough, but Sonic found himself capable of holding his footing. Trees and bushes burned around them, and smoke burned at his lungs, but Sonic kept running.
Every movement had to be precise at such high speeds. The slightest offsetting of the foot could land in disaster. If his foot caught in a charred root, or landed in a pothole, the hedgehog's face would certainly make a sizable imprint on the dirt. The teen hopped over a fallen log. This race was going nowhere. Curling into a tight ball, Sonic spindashed himself at the metallic mech.
Clunk.
Score! Metal fell forwards and collided with the ground, skidding to a stop at the village where they began. Now the real fight could begin. Ignoring the destroyed badniks, Sonic rolled once again and drove the badnik further into the dirt. The air screeched around him as he remained on top, spines driving the robot deeper and deeper. An elbow to the side, and a swift punch to the gut, and Sonic found himself removed from his place as executioner. The robot stood and prepared to fight once again.
Shins collided as both threw impressive kicks at one another. One might have even expected Sonic's bone to break, but excessive adventuring (and unexpected lab accidents) had left his bones quite tough. It would take more than a kick to end Sonic the Hedgehog.
Hands were thrown, and Sonic found himself in the middle of a hand to hand combat match. Metal was dented, bruises were made, and each fighter grew increasingly frustrated with the other's presence. Gosh if only there was a way to break this tie.
A loud sounding clank rang through the air as another object came barreling down from the sky, scoring a direct hit at the monster's head. A swift spin and another hit was landed in the robot's back, high heels stretching deep into the metal.
"Where.." -clang- "...have you been?" Sonic asked.
"I was just.."-bang-"...cleaning out the badniks." Rouge responded, irritated.
"Don't you want my hel-" Rouge was cut off by a swift punch to the ribs. Sonic gasped as he heard a barely audible crunch. That must have been a hard hit. Rouge gasped and dropped to the floor, grasping her ribs.
"Rouge!" Sonic yelled.
Metal grabbed Sonic's wrist. The bat responded by sweeping the feet out from under it, and kicking it away. She dove high into the air and landed on top of it, heels piercing deep into the chest of the badnik. She swept it away, revealing a huge dent where her shoes had landed.
"Woah, that metal is bendier than Tails' rubbeel pipes!" Sonic exclaimed. "How's your ribs?"
"They'll be fine, at least until we finish this." She responded. Metal Sonic rose from the ground, fingers twitching and jerking as it charged itself up for another round.
"I damaged it's chest cannon, but taking it down is going to be much harder." Rouge hurriedly explained. "Its endoskeleton is reinforced or something, I felt it when my heels went deep."
That much was apparently true. The dents on the head and chest should have been enough to damage internal systems, but it was still there, booting up for round two. Sonic rubbed his nose. It was time to strategize. Simple beating it down would not be enough. The teen tapped his foot. There had to be some way to take it down, even if they couldn't break it enough.
"How much power does it have?" Rouge asked. The exhausted mobians stood for a moment, staring at the robot.
"Doesn't matter!" Sonic yelled. He charged Metal Sonic and planted his heel into its forehead. While it was still flying backwards, the vigilante threw a calculated punch at its charging port, denting it shut. He zipped around to the back and booted the access panel on its main control panel, sending the badnik flying upwards. It came crashing down on the ground in a heap, dust flying everywhere. Sonic stood, a wide grin crossing his face at the motionless scrap heap on the ground below him.
"Metal Sonic battle 101: if the fight gets out of hand, there are three main points for a fast exit." He smugly proclaimed. Rouge just stared at the hedgehog, eyes wide in shock at how fast he had finished it off.
"Wha.. but… how?" She stammered, slumping to the side as she clutched her rib.
"I've been fighting these things for years! You learn a thing or two after a while." He cooly explained, dusting his hands off with emphasis.
"After all, I am a hedgehog. I know all the weak spots and gravity points. This one is no different." He bragged. Rouge just chuckled. She looked at the recently flaming village. Since the fight began, the fire had a chance to die, and the remaining villagers came out of hiding. Sonic looked around.
"Is everyone alright?" He asked loudly.
A chorus of coughs and disgruntled mumblings told the hedgehog that everyone was hurt, a little burned, and pretty traumatized, but relatively okay. The healing process had begun. Rouge radioed in to G.U.N that the village needed assistance and relayed that info to the leader. Sonic began to help dig people out of their homes and put out the remaining fires.
Rouge turned to the robot in the middle of the scene. Metal Sonic had put up an impressive fight. Too impressive. She needed to get to the bottom of things. Approaching it slowly, the bat began to inspect the mostly intact metal sonic. She reached out to inspect its damage when it twitched. Suddenly. Its whole body had jerked upwards before landing back down. Rouge gasped in surprise. Its head turned towards her. Oh heck no.
"Sonic!" She shouted.
"What?" Came the reply.
"This thing is still live!" She hollered. Sonic was by her side in a moment. An audible groan crossed his lips before indecipherable mumbling escaped the blue teen's mouth.
"This happens sometimes, I'll just dispose of it." He grumbled, seizing it by the back of its rocket and dragging it off into the woods. In typical Sonic fashion, he began to trash talk the garbage scrap he was hauling.
"Uuuugh Nose-hair really built you good didn't he." The hedgehog grumbled. A weak twitch was the only response.
"I suppose after beating you all the time, he'd eventually learn right? Well I don't know 'bout you, but i'm not one to give up."
A finger twitch.
"Never much of a talker, were you."
…
Sonic threw the destroyed metal sonic against a tree. He brought his foot down hard on one of it's legs, actually causing the metal to crack a bit.
"There, not going anywhere." He affirmed. Nodding at his work.
"Eggman will probably forget about you and leave you aaall alone until your computer finally stops. If he does in fact come getcha, i'll be ready for round two okay?"
Eyes flickered, the cracked screen nearly useless.
"You are a monster you know, all of this was your fault." He scolded harshly.
"You are responsible for all of those lives you took, and you will sit on that for the rest of your miserable life."
...
"I hope you're happy with what you've done."
And with that, Sonic The Hedgehog turned his back on the robot, and headed back towards the village. Leaving Metal Sonic behind, and the search ahead of him.