"No..."
Stretched out before them were the remains of Station Square, ruined by both the forces of evil and the passing of time. Miles feared that this would be all he'd see of his hometown, but had hoped it wouldn't be so. Holes were punched through solid concrete, cars lay on their sides, and scarce was the surface not covered by shattered glass. Even Perfect Chaos hadn't managed to make things nearly this bad. Miles landed the Cyclone, having accepted this reality a long time ago.
His machine trudged through the streets as an electronic map stored in the Cyclone's onboard computer guided them to their destination. An unearthly silence hung over them, and Samie tried to imagine the city full of life again, the way her father had seen it. Shortly, they reached the main square.
Miles stopped. "This is where Sonic fought for the last time." He looked up at the sky, as if he expected to see his old friend up there.
"Uncle, what's that?"
On the sidewalk next to them lay a bouquet of blue flowers, held together by a power ring.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say someone's lain flowers at your father's grave." He moved closer to take a better look. "They're still fresh... could someone still be living in this city?"
"Miles, look out!" A shrouded figure fell upon them from above. Samie ducked and heard a slicing sound right behind her. When she looked up, she saw a huge gash across the Cyclone's missile turret (right above her). Miles kept his eyes open and, seeing the figure's movements at the edge of his vision, turned the vehicle to aim right at it, but all he saw was a blur as it moved behind a pile of debris.
"Damn, he's too fast!" Miles used the brief break in the action to analyze the damage dealt to the turret. {Unusable. That figures,} he thought as he charged forward, Vulcan Cannon blazing. The high-caliber rounds he'd spent so much effort on punched through the heap of steel and concrete as though it were balsa wood, and he knew that he'd hit anything that could've been back there. "That'll take care of it," he said.
But suddenly their foe leaped out from behind its cover, went straight over their heads, and aimed to come down right on top of them. Miles only had a split second to act, and he knew the Cyclone couldn't dodge this.
"Bail out!" he cried, yanking Samie from the back seat and rolling to safety. The two of them ran blindly through the streets of the dead city as they heard the Cyclone take the fatal blow meant for them. They ran on for some time, and didn't dare look back.
-----------------------
"Alright," said Samie between gulps of air, "what the hell was that?"
"I don't know..." Tails replied, also out of breath. He stiffened. "Did you hear that?"
Samie shook her head, but took out her hammer just in case. Tails wished he had a gun, but he had always been loath to keep one lying around the house. True, the Cyclone was a lot more dangerous than any firearm, but he knew she didn't know how to start it. "I don't know how that thing could've kept up with us, but if it did, we have no choice but to fight."
Samie rolled her eyes. "That's a comforting thought. C'mon, we should keep moving."
The two walked down one of the city's main streets, a bit lost without the map, though Miles said he could probably find it anyway. They would've appeared calm, if it weren't for the glances they threw down the alleyways perpendicular to their path.
"Just a few more blocks, Samie, hang in there."
"I'm fine." Then she shrieked as the space in front of them erupted into flame with a bright flash.
"Tails!? How is this possible?" said a voice neither had ever heard before.
"Who the hell?" Miles rubbed his eyes, turning away from the blaze. He saw a scarlet figure a good distance away, with a rounded head adorned with spiky dreadlocks. He almost laughed with relief at the sight, until he saw the wicked claws on each of its hands, and the harsh black and red eyes that seemed to burn with eternal anger. Miles scowled. "Metal Knuckles!"
The metal monstrosity threw its head back and laughed. "It is you! I thought you were dead, Tails. I don't know where you've been all this time, but I'm just glad I get to destroy you!"
"What's Robotnik done to Station Square?" Samie demanded of this new foe.
"What? Have the two of you been living under a rock?" The robot paused a moment, then decided to indulge his victims with the information before he killed them. "He's wiped it out, of course! His dream has always been to rule the world, after all. This was an example to anyone who would even dare to resist him."
Miles gritted his teeth. "He's mad..."
"I don't expect you to understand..." He raised his claws in a fighting position. "I expect you to DIE!" With a howl of rage, Metal Knuckles fired his jets and blasted toward Miles, only to be intercepted by the young hedgehog, and to receive a heavy blow from the Piko-Piko hammer.
"Leave him alone!" shouted Samie.
"Urgh... I underestimated you," he admitted. "But you're still no match for me!"
Miles dropped to the ground and performed a spin-dash straight at the android, who quickly sidestepped and stuck a claw out, letting the fox's speed do the work for him. Miles felt the metal blades pierce his skin, but little else. He skidded to a stop and clutched his side. Samie ran up and pounded away on the artificial echidna, who blocked her powerful attacks effortlessly. Miles, recovering faster than expected, saw an opening and whipped with his tails, sending the robot to his knees. Samie took the opportunity and hefted her mallet *way* back, executing an uppercut smash that sent her foe sailing.
Miles smirked. "You haven't changed much, Metal. A speech upgrade might let you strike fear into the helpless, but it won't do you any good against us."
"Don't call me that."
The fox raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong, Metal Knuckles?"
The machine lowered his head, simulating a glare.
{Let's see how much I can screw with him,} thought Miles. "It *is* your name, isn't it, Metal Knuckles? Or does it offend you now, Metal Knuckles?"
Now he lowered his gaze to the ground and shook with anger.
Samie lowered her weapon. "Are you sure about this, Unc?"
But her uncle paid her no heed. "Oh, I get it. You're having a bit of copy envy, aren't you, Metal Knuckles?"
"SILENCE!" roared the infuriated contraption. "Your friend is no more; I don't have to live under his shadow."
Still Tails at heart, Miles' eyes widened, and his tails drooped. "Are you saying Knuckles is dead?"
"Indeed."
"You bastard! I'll kill you!" Miles grabbed a lengthy lead pipe and bolted over. Claws locked with the makeshift weapon as the two tested their strength, trying to make the other yield. Samie kept her distance, fearing she might hit her uncle if she tried anything.
Miles looked straight into those ruby eyes, wishing with his entire being that he'd live to see them extinguished. He knew his adrenaline was kicking into overtime, and he thought he felt his strength equal out. He couldn't unclench his jaw at the moment, he was exerting himself so much, but he managed to growl out: "So what do you call yourself now, murderer?"
"Regrettably, Tails, I didn't kill your friend, though I certainly would've given the chance. And if you must know, my new name is Painmonger – and you're about to find out why!" With that, the crimson warrior doubled his efforts, forcing Miles to his knees, just as the fox had done to him before. Then he wrenched the pipe from his grasp and savagely backhanded him across the face, sending the two-tailed hero to the ground.
The young hedgehog raised her hammer and charged, crying out as she went.
"Samie, no!"
Painmonger laughed as he raised his arm, the claw flipping back to reveal a minigun. "Now it ends!"
Samie's vision went black, she collapsed, and the last thing she heard was the sound of the bullets firing...
"NO!" Miles knew what he heard, and crawled out from behind Painmonger to see if Samie was hurt, but all he saw was a huge shuriken sticking out of the pavement right where she'd been standing.
The evil android saw that its bullets hadn't pierced this impromptu shield and cursed. "Damn! Why do you always show up at the worst possible time!?" No answer. "I know you're out there, show yourself!"
"You don't really expect me to do *that,* do you?" said a deep, raspy voice.
"I'll have you this time! Nobody defeats me! Not even you, Espio!"
"No holds barred," said the hidden chameleon.
Painmonger emptied dozens of rounds into the windows of buildings where he thought the shuriken had come from.
"Is that all?"
"Damn you!" In a rage, the metal echidna revealed the gun in his other hand, and fired at everything he could see. Miles quickly crawled behind the ninja star shield, and saw that his niece had only collapsed because she'd run headfirst into the steel that had suddenly appeared in front of her.
"DIE, DIE, DIE!" Painmonger cried, as walls began to crumble due to the massive damage. He began to laugh as everything fell around him, an insane cackling that chilled Miles to the bone. Finally the sounds of fired rounds changed to clicking noises, and the air was still as everyone listened for a trace of the ninja.
Espio appeared by Miles, wrenched the shuriken out of the ground and hurled it. Painmonger dodged, but not enough as the weapon sliced off his left arm.
"We'll meet again, Espio!" he said, switching to a tactic of full retreat.
"I know we will."
Stretched out before them were the remains of Station Square, ruined by both the forces of evil and the passing of time. Miles feared that this would be all he'd see of his hometown, but had hoped it wouldn't be so. Holes were punched through solid concrete, cars lay on their sides, and scarce was the surface not covered by shattered glass. Even Perfect Chaos hadn't managed to make things nearly this bad. Miles landed the Cyclone, having accepted this reality a long time ago.
His machine trudged through the streets as an electronic map stored in the Cyclone's onboard computer guided them to their destination. An unearthly silence hung over them, and Samie tried to imagine the city full of life again, the way her father had seen it. Shortly, they reached the main square.
Miles stopped. "This is where Sonic fought for the last time." He looked up at the sky, as if he expected to see his old friend up there.
"Uncle, what's that?"
On the sidewalk next to them lay a bouquet of blue flowers, held together by a power ring.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say someone's lain flowers at your father's grave." He moved closer to take a better look. "They're still fresh... could someone still be living in this city?"
"Miles, look out!" A shrouded figure fell upon them from above. Samie ducked and heard a slicing sound right behind her. When she looked up, she saw a huge gash across the Cyclone's missile turret (right above her). Miles kept his eyes open and, seeing the figure's movements at the edge of his vision, turned the vehicle to aim right at it, but all he saw was a blur as it moved behind a pile of debris.
"Damn, he's too fast!" Miles used the brief break in the action to analyze the damage dealt to the turret. {Unusable. That figures,} he thought as he charged forward, Vulcan Cannon blazing. The high-caliber rounds he'd spent so much effort on punched through the heap of steel and concrete as though it were balsa wood, and he knew that he'd hit anything that could've been back there. "That'll take care of it," he said.
But suddenly their foe leaped out from behind its cover, went straight over their heads, and aimed to come down right on top of them. Miles only had a split second to act, and he knew the Cyclone couldn't dodge this.
"Bail out!" he cried, yanking Samie from the back seat and rolling to safety. The two of them ran blindly through the streets of the dead city as they heard the Cyclone take the fatal blow meant for them. They ran on for some time, and didn't dare look back.
-----------------------
"Alright," said Samie between gulps of air, "what the hell was that?"
"I don't know..." Tails replied, also out of breath. He stiffened. "Did you hear that?"
Samie shook her head, but took out her hammer just in case. Tails wished he had a gun, but he had always been loath to keep one lying around the house. True, the Cyclone was a lot more dangerous than any firearm, but he knew she didn't know how to start it. "I don't know how that thing could've kept up with us, but if it did, we have no choice but to fight."
Samie rolled her eyes. "That's a comforting thought. C'mon, we should keep moving."
The two walked down one of the city's main streets, a bit lost without the map, though Miles said he could probably find it anyway. They would've appeared calm, if it weren't for the glances they threw down the alleyways perpendicular to their path.
"Just a few more blocks, Samie, hang in there."
"I'm fine." Then she shrieked as the space in front of them erupted into flame with a bright flash.
"Tails!? How is this possible?" said a voice neither had ever heard before.
"Who the hell?" Miles rubbed his eyes, turning away from the blaze. He saw a scarlet figure a good distance away, with a rounded head adorned with spiky dreadlocks. He almost laughed with relief at the sight, until he saw the wicked claws on each of its hands, and the harsh black and red eyes that seemed to burn with eternal anger. Miles scowled. "Metal Knuckles!"
The metal monstrosity threw its head back and laughed. "It is you! I thought you were dead, Tails. I don't know where you've been all this time, but I'm just glad I get to destroy you!"
"What's Robotnik done to Station Square?" Samie demanded of this new foe.
"What? Have the two of you been living under a rock?" The robot paused a moment, then decided to indulge his victims with the information before he killed them. "He's wiped it out, of course! His dream has always been to rule the world, after all. This was an example to anyone who would even dare to resist him."
Miles gritted his teeth. "He's mad..."
"I don't expect you to understand..." He raised his claws in a fighting position. "I expect you to DIE!" With a howl of rage, Metal Knuckles fired his jets and blasted toward Miles, only to be intercepted by the young hedgehog, and to receive a heavy blow from the Piko-Piko hammer.
"Leave him alone!" shouted Samie.
"Urgh... I underestimated you," he admitted. "But you're still no match for me!"
Miles dropped to the ground and performed a spin-dash straight at the android, who quickly sidestepped and stuck a claw out, letting the fox's speed do the work for him. Miles felt the metal blades pierce his skin, but little else. He skidded to a stop and clutched his side. Samie ran up and pounded away on the artificial echidna, who blocked her powerful attacks effortlessly. Miles, recovering faster than expected, saw an opening and whipped with his tails, sending the robot to his knees. Samie took the opportunity and hefted her mallet *way* back, executing an uppercut smash that sent her foe sailing.
Miles smirked. "You haven't changed much, Metal. A speech upgrade might let you strike fear into the helpless, but it won't do you any good against us."
"Don't call me that."
The fox raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong, Metal Knuckles?"
The machine lowered his head, simulating a glare.
{Let's see how much I can screw with him,} thought Miles. "It *is* your name, isn't it, Metal Knuckles? Or does it offend you now, Metal Knuckles?"
Now he lowered his gaze to the ground and shook with anger.
Samie lowered her weapon. "Are you sure about this, Unc?"
But her uncle paid her no heed. "Oh, I get it. You're having a bit of copy envy, aren't you, Metal Knuckles?"
"SILENCE!" roared the infuriated contraption. "Your friend is no more; I don't have to live under his shadow."
Still Tails at heart, Miles' eyes widened, and his tails drooped. "Are you saying Knuckles is dead?"
"Indeed."
"You bastard! I'll kill you!" Miles grabbed a lengthy lead pipe and bolted over. Claws locked with the makeshift weapon as the two tested their strength, trying to make the other yield. Samie kept her distance, fearing she might hit her uncle if she tried anything.
Miles looked straight into those ruby eyes, wishing with his entire being that he'd live to see them extinguished. He knew his adrenaline was kicking into overtime, and he thought he felt his strength equal out. He couldn't unclench his jaw at the moment, he was exerting himself so much, but he managed to growl out: "So what do you call yourself now, murderer?"
"Regrettably, Tails, I didn't kill your friend, though I certainly would've given the chance. And if you must know, my new name is Painmonger – and you're about to find out why!" With that, the crimson warrior doubled his efforts, forcing Miles to his knees, just as the fox had done to him before. Then he wrenched the pipe from his grasp and savagely backhanded him across the face, sending the two-tailed hero to the ground.
The young hedgehog raised her hammer and charged, crying out as she went.
"Samie, no!"
Painmonger laughed as he raised his arm, the claw flipping back to reveal a minigun. "Now it ends!"
Samie's vision went black, she collapsed, and the last thing she heard was the sound of the bullets firing...
"NO!" Miles knew what he heard, and crawled out from behind Painmonger to see if Samie was hurt, but all he saw was a huge shuriken sticking out of the pavement right where she'd been standing.
The evil android saw that its bullets hadn't pierced this impromptu shield and cursed. "Damn! Why do you always show up at the worst possible time!?" No answer. "I know you're out there, show yourself!"
"You don't really expect me to do *that,* do you?" said a deep, raspy voice.
"I'll have you this time! Nobody defeats me! Not even you, Espio!"
"No holds barred," said the hidden chameleon.
Painmonger emptied dozens of rounds into the windows of buildings where he thought the shuriken had come from.
"Is that all?"
"Damn you!" In a rage, the metal echidna revealed the gun in his other hand, and fired at everything he could see. Miles quickly crawled behind the ninja star shield, and saw that his niece had only collapsed because she'd run headfirst into the steel that had suddenly appeared in front of her.
"DIE, DIE, DIE!" Painmonger cried, as walls began to crumble due to the massive damage. He began to laugh as everything fell around him, an insane cackling that chilled Miles to the bone. Finally the sounds of fired rounds changed to clicking noises, and the air was still as everyone listened for a trace of the ninja.
Espio appeared by Miles, wrenched the shuriken out of the ground and hurled it. Painmonger dodged, but not enough as the weapon sliced off his left arm.
"We'll meet again, Espio!" he said, switching to a tactic of full retreat.
"I know we will."