(I do not own Sonic, Sonic X, Sonic Heroes or anything related.)
(I know it's a rather short chapter but it'll have to do for now…."
S.O.N.I.C GO!
S.O.N.I.C GO!
GO! GO! GO! GO! LET'S GO!
Episode 52: Metal Sonic's ascension
Sighing out load, Sonic lay back on the surface of the flag ship, his feet dangling over the side, the song of a couple of birds hanging in the air. He was so relieved that he'd actually won his fight against Metal Sonic, he wasn't too bothered by the water just a few feet away. Storm clouds gathering above, the occasional spit of rain falling down, despite their victory the whole place had an absolute ruination feel to it. Ships from the Egg fleet lay scattered across the bay, some with their tail ends sticking into the air, thick columns of smoke rising from their engines, which by now were clogged with water.
Already more and more boats belonging to the human military were arriving, some containing technicians, scientists and scavengers. A mere glimpse at Eggman's technology enabled them to create the robots now used for the military, without which they wouldn't have had a hope of fending off the Eggman Empire's recent attack on the city. The mere prospect of an entire fleet, especially one this large laden with new technology for them to steal was an invitation they couldn't ignore.
"We're here live on the remains of Doctor Eggman's flag ship, mere hours after the Guardian Unit for the Nations…G.U.N proclaimed victory in this monumental conflict. And as many expected, the world renowned hero Sonic the hedgehog is present amongst the defenders." Sonic opened an eye and looked up lazily toward a news team that was standing nearby. A helicopter sat a few feet, the blades on top still slowly turning. The reporter was Scarlet Garcia, the news reporter that had had the privilege to report on all the Eggman Empire conflicts from Eggman's first attack with his robot Missile Wrists to the ARK incident. "Sonic, a few words for our viewers please." She added, directing her mike toward him.
"We came, we saw, we tore Eggman's robots limb from limb." He replied lazily before making himself more comfortable.
Chris looked up as the Chopper descended toward the Flag ship. After a rather ungraceful landing, the X tornado lay on its side nearby, the water gently lapping around its feet. From now on, he told himself, he'd leave the flying to tails.
"Well it's just a few scraps." Sam stated, inspecting the X tornado, his own plane sitting not to far away. His hair was matted with sweet and engine grease and so was his red uniform. He placed his helmet on the wing and went in to have a closer look. "A good mechanic like me could have this fixed in no time." He stated.
"You're a mechanic?" Chris asked, looking back in surprise. Sam gained a superior smirk as he pushed himself under to get at the burnt out engine.
"Boy, you're looking at a one man pit crew."
The chopper landed with a soft bump and nearly instantly Chuck was off, loosing his balance as he leapt for a moment before straightening himself up. Tanaka quickly following
"Considering all this was conceived by a single scientist, this is a marvel of engineering work." He stated looking around, before he spotted Chris. "Oh there you are." He added, walking over as Cream and her Mother Vanilla climbed off after him. "Seems Sonic made good his little pledge to take Eggman down…"
"Looks like it." Chris agreed.
"Well, maybe I didn't manage to kick Eggman's butt." Said a voice; Chris and Chuck looked around to see Sonic and Amy came walking up to them. "But I sure managed to smash Metal back to the Stone Age."
"Hey Sonic." Chris began. "Who're your friends?" He added, looking over to the new crew behind them.
"They're sort of following us around…." Amy put in. "Sonic, I keep telling you, you're too famous for your own good."
"You're telling me…" Sonic began. "Have seen some of the most popular hair do's in town recently? Blue and spiky….half the girls down there look like that girl from Tenchi mayo or it muyo? You know, that Anime Cream likes to watch…"
"Cheese!" Cream nearly screamed, jumping into the conversation her frantic eyes wide. "Did you find him?" Sonic hesitated briefly before shaking his head.
"Sorry Cream, I was slightly preoccupied." Cream looked like she was about to cry, Suddenly ears shot up as a very familiar sound reached her, apparently something only she could hear since her mother didn't seem to have noticed anything.
"What is it Cream?" Amy finally asked, noticing her alert state. Cream didn't reply, instead she hesitated for a brief moment, before staring off toward the large tower like construction in the very centre of the flagship. Directly between them and it was a large purple shape, lumbering toward them.
"Chao CHAO!" Came the loud call as Big the cat came into view with a small chao and a Frog sitting on his head, each clinging to a large muscular ear as he walked towards them. The Chao didn't wait, it flew off the cat's head and straight into Cream, nearly knocking her over.
"CHEESE!" Cream yelled, her Chao finally back in her arms, who gave out an appreciative "chao chao chao chao chao chao!" Big waddled up, Froggy repositioning himself so he had the majority of room amongst the purple fur, pulling the overgrown mess around his small body.
"Oh so that was your chao." Big said to himself, sitting down next to the water and casting his line out into the water. Big, who had neither a sense of direction or purpose, had managed to find his way though sheer luck into the detention area were Eggman kept all the animals he was using as organic batteries for some of his robots. It was there he'd found his beloved amphibious pet and Cream's oldest Chao friend.
"We really can't thank you enough Mr. Big." Vanilla said with a small curtsy. Big just tilted his head to the side with his usual blank look and characteristic, not understanding the basic gesture. "uh…" He grunted, before he finally got the message.
"You're welcome." He said, before he went back to his fishing.
"Well that's one thing taken care of." Sonic added, dusting his hands. He hesitated for a moment, remembering something. "Erm, guys. There's something you should all know. It's something none of you will find easy to believe." Mostly everyone, apart from Sam and Big looked his way.
"What is it?" Chris asked. Sonic paused for a moment, wondering how to relate Shadow's sudden return from the dead without making it sound like he'd gone completely insane. He opened his mouth to start when someone called over to them.
"Well look who it is." Everyone turned to see a Crocodile, a Chameleon and a Bee emerging out a small trap door in the metal skin of the Flag ship, kicking aside a large collapsed sheet of metal to escape. Vector was first to emerged, carrying a bulging canvas bag over his shoulder. Espio and Charmee quickly following.
"Might have expected to see you here." Vector added, standing before them.
"Haven't seen you guys in a while." Sonic grinned, silently thankful for their intervention. The bag Vector had over his shoulder gave a loud grunting noise and twitched slightly. "Say, what's in the bag?" Vector swung the bag in front of himself, dropping it off on the ground. It groaned in protest.
"Well he's of no more use to us so I guess you guys can have him." Vector said simply, dumping the bag down in front of them and untying the top, revealing a beaten and infuriated Eggman.
"I demand I be treated with the dignity the Geneva Convention provides!" He said angrily, the ends of his moustache curling. The news crew hesitated only briefly before their camera was on the dictator, now in one of the less dignified positions imaginable.
"Mr. President!" Someone at the White house declared, turning up the volume on the large wide screen TV. The middle aged man, who was already busy with paper work piling onto his desk, gave the TV a side glance, before it had his full attention at once.
It was then that Eggman noticed the chaotic scene around him, his grand Egg fleet smashed to pieces, lying in ruin. "AHHHH!" He screamed, tearing his way out the bag, Decoe and Becoe falling out after him. "My precious Egg Fleet! All that work for nothing!" He clenched a fist and began shaking it up toward the sky. "This is you're fault Metal Sonic. I'll make you pay for this!"
"Metal Sonic?" Sonic repeated. "I thought he was working for you?" Eggman simply growled angrily.
"Far from it." He put in, stamping his foot. Sonic was felt speechless for a moment or two, before he attempted to answer back, again someone interrupted him.
"About time I found you." A voice shouted and a dark shape swung out of the darkness, materialising into the light. Shadow pushed past all the stunned people around and made his way directly to Eggman, a stern scowl on his face. The news team froze, catching sight of the black and red hedgehog.
"It's him…" Garcia managed to stutter. "The black hedgehog from ARK, I thought he was dead…Get a shot of him quickly!" Instantly the camera was on him and Shadow's face was broadcast on live news to the entire world. He was already famous enough thanks to the ARK incident and nearly everyone recognised him.
"OH CRAPPPP!" The President screamed; his mouth hung open at the television screen, his fists curled around clumps of his premature grey hair.
"I want a word with Eggman first." Shadow said angrily, pushing Chris aside, who was stunned into paralysis by Shadows sudden appearance.
"How…how…how…" The boy began
"That was what I was about to talk to you all about." Sonic replied, dragging Chris back and gesturing for everyone else to back off as well. Garcia and her crew didn't move, they kept perfectly still, their camera pointed forwards.
"Alright, time to answer a few questions!" Shadow snapped. Eggman just sat there, dumbfounded, before pushed himself up.
"What are you doing here!" He demanded angrily. "My drones aren't supposed to be active yet; you're supposed to be nowhere near completion!" Shadow looked stunned for a moment. "Oh never mind, it doesn't matter now, destroy these idiots!" Eggman added, swinging his arm out, gesturing toward the crowd behind him, who held their breath. Everyone was watching this moment on their television screens, mouths hung open in shock and horror.
"I'm not your puppet!" Shadow said simply. Everyone breathed out a sigh of relief expect for Eggman. "Now, you and I have unfinished business!" He leant forward and took hold of Eggman by the shoulders, his grip tightening every couple of seconds.
"This isn't possible! You should be obeying my commands, my programming system was perfect, and I designed it myself…unless…" The sides of his moustache dropped down and his face went white. "You're the original…." The side of Shadows mouth twitched slightly. "Shadow…now, wait just a moment…we can talk this out now…" Eggman began stammering, sweat running down the sides of his face. Shadow's eyes narrowed, fixing Eggman with an anger filled gaze. The scientist yelped and covered his face with his arms.
"Start talking fat boy."
"Why exactly didn't you tell us this before?" Amy asked when Sonic finished a brief account of his meeting with the black and Red Hedgehog at Eggman's base as Shadow began his integration of the fat scientist, looked on by the entire world thought a live news feed.
"I was slightly preoccupied." Sonic admitted, gesturing to the crashed fleet all around them.
"I don't get it." Sam began, whipping his hands free of oil with a rag he'd pulled out of his pocket. "I thought Shadow fell to his death from the ARK. How'd he survive?"
"That's what I'd like to know." Sonic replied. "And I'm sure that's what Shadow would like to know as well." He paused. The clouds were darkening and within moments, it began to lightly drizzle. "Say, have any of you guys seen Tails and Knuckles anywhere?"
"I thought they were with you?" Chris asked. Sonic shook his head.
"We kind of got separated when Metal Sonic showed up. They went on ahead to shut the Flag Ship down." He sighed. "I'd best go look for them, back in a sec." He was about to race off when he spotted a faint blot of red and orange on the horizon, gently blurred by the intensifying rain. Those blobs manifested quickly into faint outlines and then distant figures. Now Sonic could see perfectly the Echidna and his old two tailed fox friend. Tails looked half dead, leaning on the Echidna's shoulder. Without hesitating, the hedgehog raced off to their side. Amy and the others quickly following.
"What happened Knuckles?" Sonic demanded. The Red Echidna placed Tails down and now Sonic could see the nasty large bruise on the side of the foxes head. Tails himself looked like he may have a concussion, he was struggling just to keep his eyes open.
"We managed to take the ship down, but something hit us from behind and hard, when we came to the Master Emerald had disappeared from it's post and Tails here looked pretty bad." He paused. "I think he took the full brunt of the attack." Chuck looked over him, helping Tails up into a sitting position.
"Two cracked ribs," He said with a sigh, noticing a swelling on the left side of the fox's chest. "Amy, there's an emergency first aid kit in the chopper." Amy was about rise and Sonic disappeared and then re-appeared with a red plastic case. "Er...Thank you." Chuck added, taking the case and opening it, with drawing some bandages and a few disinfectant towels, which became more and more soggy as the rain become harder. "It's too cold and wet out here, let's move him into the chopper where it's relatively dry." Sonic gave Knuckles shoulder a brief glance.
"You ok?" He asked. Knuckles just gave him thumbs up.
"I'll be fine."
"I woe you one for bringing him back Knucklehead."
"Forget it pin Cushion."
Tails hissed as Chucked pressed against the painfully swollen area, wrapped a white bandage around his chest, his eyes widening.
"Easy there." Chuck told him, closing the door to the warm interior of the chopper. Cream and Cheese sat next to him in the other seat, Vanilla close by. Sonic, who had been suddenly shut out, watching through the window.
"I feel terrible." Tails admitted, lying back in the chair, ignoring the throbbing.
"Oh Tails." Sam began, opening the window next to the pilots seat. The fox looked his way. "Your X tornado got a bit danged up and the engine had a few bullet holes in it, but don't worry, I managed to fix it." Tails' eyes widened slightly and he looked over toward the plane, which was lying on it's side in a puddle of oil ridden water.
"And now I feel worse."
"Well what do we do now then?" Espio asked as Chaotix sat back and watched the rather entertaining spectacle which they had dubbed, the black hedgehog's revenge. Whatever plans Vector had now for riches, had gone down the plug hole. Just like Espio had imaged from the beginning, this entire fiasco had been a complete waste of time and he was sick of rubbing that in Vector's face.
"What can we do expect…" The Crocodile crossed over to Big and sat down next to him at the edge of the water. The bat gave him a momentary side glance. "Got any spare bait?"
(Flip Card 1: Cream and Cheese)