Metal Overlord
Knuckles woke an unwilling Sonic as the first hints of colour entered the misty eastern sky. About half an hour later the ten of them were slowly moving through the damp undergrowth, following Shadow's directions towards the Airbase, as the light brightened the pace gradually began to increase…
"I'm going on ahead, I'm going to find Omega and destroy him. The Thousand still surround the Airbase. I won't be noticed."
Knuckles' breath caught in his throat. He narrowly avoided tripping over a branch laid across his path. Shadow went to catch him but Knuckles pushed his hands away as they continued to move forward.
"You can't! It's foolish, wait until the rest of us are there to help you!"
"I don't need any help to destroy him. I trusted him, he betrayed me. I will teach him just how foolish that was" A kind of mad vengeful joy danced in his eyes. The sight of it made Knuckles more than a little afraid.
"What if the Thousand spot you, or Metal Sonic?"
"They won't. I am more than capable of getting past them."
"Don't be over confident. If you screw up we could be too late to save you!"
"Then it will only be my life wasted"
"Do you really think we can beat them without you?"
"You will if you have to. But I will not fail"
For a long moment Knuckles envied Guardians' ability to glue their Charges feet to the floor with a mere thought.
"I'm not going to be able to stop you am I?"
"No" Shadow shook his head
Knuckles' face grew pained "Then please… be careful… If you die because you wouldn't wait… I swear I'll never forgive you…"
Shadow flashed him a rare smile "I wont give you reason to hate me." He said before disappearing in a black streak.
Knuckles sighed softly to himself and pushed more speed from his aching limbs to catch up with the rest of the group. Sonic up ahead was leading them, trailblazing, the rest of the group was strung out over quite a distance. Knuckles pushed his screaming limbs hard until he managed to reach Sonic's side.
"Hey Sonic, throttle back a bit ok? The rest of us can't keep pace! You'll run us ragged before we get there at this speed"
Sonic looked around, only Espio at his side was keeping pace with any ease, Vector was training increasingly far behind. Eggman was almost out of sight. Sonic nodded and cut his speed in half, much to Knuckles secret relief. The rest of the group caught up in a rush and Knuckles dropped to the back again.
"You ok doctor?" He asked a struggling Eggman.
"I'm not an athlete I'm a scientist!" he panted
"We can leave you behind if you like; you've done more than enough for us now" For Knuckles the pace was now no more than a fast jog. "The Thousand will have more than enough to keep them busy… you'll be safe"
"No, I'm not going to miss this fight. I want to see you lot rub Metal's sorry face into the ground"
"That's no way to talk about your creation…" Knuckles smirked
"Useless hunk of scrap, him and Omega, how dare they rebel against their creator?"
"They always do" Knuckles laughed softly
"Yes, my grandfather paid for it with his life"
"Your grandfather didn't pay for Shadow's mistakes he paid for his own" Knuckles snarled "And Shadow will spend the rest of his life paying for your grandfather's mistakes. It'll be the Shremu who'll bare the burden of what he created, not the humans, it's always us, you get the blessing, we endure the curse."
Eggman just stared at him. Knuckles glared back with a look that would have killed a lesser man, before dropping back further to cover the rear of the group.
Shadow came upon the Airbase. He peered towards it. The Airbase sat uncomfortably on the ground amid a clearing in the forest, in places trees lay crushed under its weight. The Thousand were milling around it in loose patrols on both the ground and the actual deck. Shadow, hidden by the trees sat and watched for a long time. Chaos Control would more than get him onto the deck, but if he couldn't find Omega quickly he would be in major trouble. Suddenly he realised he might have been a little rash coming to do this on his own. Then he looked down at himself and smiled. Who was going to tell the difference between him and all the others?
He walked quickly out from the underbrush, hoping no-one would have notice his point of origin. Fear bristled up and down his spine as he crossed the dusty clearing to approach the Airbase. He was soon among the outer reaches of the Thousand's patrols, well within sight and no-one had so much as taken a second glance at him. His tension eased a little, enough for him not to have to fight so hard to prevent himself spurting green and blue flames. The further he walked the more members of the Thousand he encountered. He had to pass within a few feet of one; it did no more than look at him with his own ruby eyes and hiss, before scratching its spiky head and looking dolefully back out at the horizon. Shadow couldn't help but pity it. The further he got the more he began wonder if he was being let through, if the Thousand weren't looking for him, what were they looking for? Then all of a sudden fear leapt up his spine and he only just kept the flames from giving him away. Someone was following him.
"Keep moving Project Shadow" His own voice whispered. Shadow was about to turn round when the voice hastily added "My name is Noche, a friend of Apolloi, an ally!"
Shadow after only faltering for a second continued to walk in the same casual manner. Noche walked up beside him.
"How did you recognise me?" Shadow whispered, knowing the other must have been certain of his identify before revealing himself.
"Bracelets, and the wound on your shoulder. Apolloi gave us a good description of you before he helped you escape. We are sorry for his loss but we do not blame you. Quickly, have you come to defeat Metal Sonic?"
"No, I've come for Omega, my friends will be here soon, only once they are here will we will destroy him"
Noche nodded, watching a member of the Thousand close at their side.
"We number about two dozen, we have a plan, when the time comes, the Thousand will be distracted, you and your friends will have a clear path to Metal Sonic. Omega resides on the lower deck, near the back." Noche pointed with his thumb "We will put our plan into action as soon as you go for Omega, if all goes well by the time you are finished with him and your friends arrive the Thousand will have their own problems to deal with. We cannot guarantee you privacy when you face Omega but he is usually alone." Noche looked at him for a long moment "Good luck Project Shadow… the hope of many runs with you" Noche went to walk off
"Noche"
"Yes?"
"Thank you"
Noche nodded and soon disappeared into the masses.
"Where's Shadow?" Sonic asked him as they ran through the trees
"Gone ahead to fight Omega" Knuckles refused to meet his eyes
"What! Knuckles you were supposed to be looking after him!"
"When exactly did that become my job?" He growled
"He told you, and you let him go?"
"What was I supposed to do Sonic? How would you have me restrain him? Echidna are just as flammable as the next creature!"
"But no-one wins an argument against you!"
"No-one else spews fire when they get angry! ... He'll be alright… If he isn't… we'll get by without him."
The frown that crossed Knuckles' face was little short of pitiful.
"Well… I hope he hurries up, we're nearly there!"
Shadow found his way to Omega's deck unhindered; he wondered if that was Noche and his friends' doing.
"Do you feel pain Omega?"
The robot turned round to face him "No"
"Shame… I suppose I'll just destroy you quickly then"
"Unlikely Shadow the Hedgehog"
"It wasn't smart to betray me. You are made of metal" he allowed the furious red and black flame to ignite around him "Metal, melts"
Omega charged him, guns blazing. Shadow sent out a blast of flame, any bullets Omega managed to fire vaporised before they could get near. Shadow jumped out of the way as Omega careered towards him and fell broken onto the deck. Shadow waited a casual moment for his white hot body to cool before walking over and standing on him. Omega struggled to right himself but it was a hopeless task.
"What should I do with you now machine? I am tempted to leave you to rust for an eternity in your fused body. But I am not without mercy, besides we can't risk your being repaired."
Shadow reached inside Omega's damaged metal head, ripped out the memory module that was Omega's life-force, his mechanical brain, and crushed it to dust in his fist. Shadow ripped off a chunk of his arm and ran to rejoin the group.
The rest of the group had made it as far as the edge of the Airbase. The Thousand seemed distracted by something happening amid their own ranks. Most of the area around the bottom of the Airbase was deserted.
"Hey we're missing one, where's Shadow?"
"Gone off to fight that machine"
At that moment Shadow jumped off the Airbase for the third time to land on the ground beside them "You mean this machine?" he grinned manically and held up the partially melted remains of Omega's arm "No-one betrays me and gets away with it. It wasn't so much a fight, as err… a flash fry… the greatest mismatch of all time!"
"Remind me to never, ever get on your bad side" Espio said firmly.
"Well done Shadow!"
"A few members of the Thousand loyal to me are creating a diversion, we have a clear path to Metal Sonic, but the confusion will only last so long, he must know something is happening by now, we must hurry"
"Come on then, time's against us. Metal Sonic awaits!"
"Shadow, could you buy us a few minutes to prepare?" Sonic asked holding out two of the Chaos Emeralds. Shadow nodded, called the Shard into his hand, grasped it and whispered to himself, then time stopped.
"I can give you about three minutes…" Shadow muttered softly.
Sonic nodded and held out the Chaos Emeralds again. Watching him a few of the others did the same holding out one or two each.
"Sonic what are you doing?" Knuckles asked nervously
"We need all the help we can get. I'm going into my Super Form. Shadow what about you?"
"Do you think that would be wise?" Rouge asked cautiously.
"We've just about got control of the fire, lets not have any surprises, who's to know what will happen"
Shadow busy searching for the promised reserves he would use to hold time itself was hardly fit to reply.
"Yeah, probably better not to risk it"
"Anyone else?"
"If we do have these Supper Forms none of us have used them before. Now might not be the best time to learn" Espio answered.
"Alright" Sonic held out the purple and red Emeralds to Knuckles. Knuckles staggered back into Rouge.
"Wha…?"
"Come on, Hyper Knuckles"
"N-no" He shook his head.
"Come on Knuckles we need you!"
"We aren't supposed to induce our Hyper Forms…"
"You've done it before!"
"That was then… times have changed…"
"Come on Knuckles we don't have time!"
Knuckles looked at Shadow, sighed, closed his eyes and took the Emeralds. This went against everything he'd ever been taught. He would be opening himself to every danger he was supposed to protect from. As he watched Sonic began the process, soon he was surrounded by a warm golden glow. Knuckles noticed he looked more like Shadow than ever. He closed his eyes. All the muscles in his body tensed up. Unlike Sonic this for him was more of a nightmare than a pleasurable dream. Knuckles allowed a small cry of pain as his Hyper Form took hold, for a moment he fought with it, the angry power, his other self, before he subdued it to his will. Panting and surrounded by sparking electricity he opened his now ruby eyes. Sonic was looking at him concerned. Shadow was coming to him.
"Knuckles are you ok?" He reached out to put his hand on his shoulder.
"No Shadow! Don't touch me!" Heaven knows what might happen if he did! Shadow looked a little hurt, but backed away.
"We all ready?!"
"Let's go!"
"Yeah!"
As they ran forward Shadow had no choice but to let time flow normally again.
He was waiting for them. Metal Sonic's neon red eyes glowed from where he stood on the deck. The whole group came to a halt facing him, he was still in his small combat form, only just bigger than Vector, the same as he'd been the last time Shadow had seen him. Metal glared at the group, finally letting his eyes rest on Eggman.
"Greetings master" he mocked
"You're a useless hunk of metal" Eggman growled back
"And who's fault is that my creator?" Metal laughed "My, my don't we have an interesting parody?"
Almost as though on queue Shadow jumped forward "It doesn't have to be this way! We don't have to fight!"
"You truly are naïve little Project Shadow, to think your words can change my mind"
"You don't have to do what you were programmed to!"
"Who are you pleading for now, me, Sonic, or yourself?"
Shadow scowled "This is your last chance… the only one here who's naïve is you, to think you can take me on!"
"You're an arrogant creature Created, no matter, I am more than able to deal with you"
Metal raised his hand. Behind him a set of bay doors opened and a huge robot rolled out. Metal laughed and promptly disappeared. The robot's multiple guns gleamed in the sunlight as it rolled closer. Shadow standing at the head of the group felt something. Something he didn't like. The robot was moving quickly, the others had reacted and started moving out the way. Shadow tried to run… his feet wouldn't respond. His natural instinct was to burn, to keep the robot from crushing him. The pain caught him so much by surprise that he screamed. Metal Sonic laughed loudly from a vantage point on the top of the Airbase. Knuckles flying away assuming that they would all get themselves out of the way looked back. Shadow was bunched up, his eyes squeezed shut, the robot drawing ever closer. He requested the power from his Hyper Form and it answered, longing for the conflict. Knuckles swung round like a fighter jet turning on a sixpence and dove straight for the robot. His outstretched fists made contact with its middle with only a few metres to spare. Knuckles' attack stopped the robot for a moment, and left a huge dent in its thick armour plating. Knuckles dropped to the floor. Above Sonic's golden form slammed into its side then retreated for another attack.
"What's wrong?" Knuckles asked Shadow
"Stick… I can't move" Shadow gasped. He'd managed to shut down the flames so the pain had ceased, but its intensity still reverberated through his body. The Sticks had never done this to him before; he guessed Metal had made some modifications.
"Who's got it?"
"The robot"
At their side Vector, Espio and Amy all slammed into the robot's treads. Above Sonic came in for another attack. The robot turned its guns towards him.
"Sonic look out!" Knuckles screamed. Sonic veered off his attack just as the robot went to fire its missile. There was a loud grinding noise. Knuckles just stared confused, Shadow paralysed could do nothing.
"Knuckles get down!" Tails voice screamed from somewhere nearby. Knuckles responded instantly, instinctively forcing Shadow to the floor and shielding him with his body, forgetting his fears of what could happen touching Shadow. Above them there was a huge explosion. Shrapnel ripped past them, burying itself in the deck. A large chunk bounced off Knuckles' Hyper Form which relished in the challenge, and for a moment threatened to break free. Finally the rain of metal was over and they looked up. The robot sat burning, one of its gun turret arms on fire. Metal Sonic was roaring with anger, screaming Apolloi's name, a small group of the Thousand, watching unseen cheered.
"I still can't move…" Shadow whimpered from where he lay face down on the floor. Knuckles couldn't respond because the robot was moving towards them again. Drawing all his strength and goading his Hyper Form on he punched one of the robot's treads. His attack had the desired effect, it spun and changed course. When he looked back to Shadow Rouge was rapping his arm round her neck and preparing to jump back into the sky.
"Fight, Echidna boy, you're so good at it" She winked at him. "I'll deal with your spiky black buddy" With that she leapt into the air, taking Shadow with her. The robot swiped at Vector and Espio attacking from the side, caught them and sent them flying. Above Sonic attacked again, striking one of the robot's arms, he broke it and it fell off, slamming to the ground so close to Knuckles he was forced to leap back. His Hyper Form complained he was a coward.
"Sonic!" he yelled indignantly
Sorry!" He cried back, swinging round for another attack.
Knuckles freed from having to protect Shadow jumped into the air. It was his turn to have a piece of the action. The robot was preparing to fire its guns again, aimed at a hastily fleeing Tails. There was again the grinding noise and that arm too exploded. Amy slammed her hammer into another of the robot's arms, snapping it off. Sonic flew up by Knuckles side.
"If we leave it alone long enough it'll destroy itself!"
Knuckles smiled "Lets not. Come on we'll go together, give it an arrow through the heart."
A mean smile crept across Sonic's face "Yeah!"
Knuckles nodded with an equally evil grin. They joined hands and as one charged forwards. As they punctured through the robot's thick metal skin Knuckles insulted his Hyper Form, complaining it was weak. The resulting indignation gave them enough power to break through, and fry every electrical system in it. Sonic and Knuckles blasted triumphant out the other side, Shadow gained the use of his muscles again, and a small section of the Thousand roared their approval.
Sonic and Knuckles hanging in the sky were joined by Shadow, floating on a wave of fire. A sudden air of calm descended as the robot burnt itself out. Espio and Vector appeared to be the only casualties and all they sported were some new bruises and a bloody nose between them.
"That was too easy…" Sonic said still glowing brightly. The others looked around, looked at each other uncertainly. Then there was a rumble and a metallic grinding noise.
"It's not over yet!" Tails screamed as Metal Sonic rose up before them, switching his form quickly to a many pincered thing, like a many legged lobster.
"My machine may have been sabotaged, but I am not weak. Fear not, those members of the Thousand who betrayed me will be punished, they will beg for mercy before I allow them to serve me again"
"You'll have to get through us first!" Knuckles shouted, the electricity around him sparking wildly, providing a fine contrast to Shadow's flames. Sonic on his other side glowing golden nodded his agreement.
"Where's your Charge Guardian? Has Control betrayed you completely? So what was it that induced this state, Chaos then? There's a certain irony there. Fear not, Chaos will betray you too, if you live long enough to see the day. Though I doubt you will. You truly are a conceited fool Guardian, but if you cannot see for yourself, I am not going to help you"
Knuckles was at a loss for words. How could Metal Sonic know all that, about his deepest fears he'd not mentioned to anyone. Surely… he glanced across at Shadow… he must be wrong; the legends couldn't be coming true… could they?
"Enough talk, let's get it on!" Sonic cried leading the way forwards, into the attack.
Sonic, Shadow and Knuckles soared towards Metal Sonic, the others ran towards his many heavy legs and prepared to swarm them like locusts. Sonic, Shadow and Knuckles charged him as one, but before they could get close Metal swiped his arm at them. Knuckles managed to dart away, Shadow was clipped and sent tumbling, Sonic took the whole force of the blow and was thrown down where he slammed into the deck, at the same time Shadow's fiery form hit Metal's middle and slid down his armoured chest doing virtually no damage at all.
"You guys ok?" Knuckles yelled from where he hung in the sky, just out of Metal's reach.
Shadow rolled up into a ball and burst clear of Metal's claws. Sonic shook his head and climbed wearily back into the sky. Shadow beside Knuckles started to glow red, Knuckles was suddenly fearful his hate would consume him but when he looked across Shadow's face was surprisingly calm.
"Cover me while I try this" Shadow said softly, before sending a strong stream of flame in Metal's direction. The place where it hit started to glow red, Knuckles was concentrating so hard on watching that he nearly missed the bladed fist coming towards them. He only had time to force Shadow and himself out the way before it sliced past near their heads.
"You were supposed to be covering me!"
Knuckles was more surprised to find he hadn't been burnt to a crisp.
"Shadow, do that again, we'll try to keep his hands busy!" Sonic shouted.
All of a sudden Tails was in the sky beside them, his tails whirring.
"Doctor Eggman says you need to aim for the middle of his chest, that's where his power core is housed, unfortunately its well armoured"
"Tails you stay here and help Shadow aim and keep watch. Knuckles help me keep Metal from attacking them"
Everyone nodded then broke in different directions to avoid another swiping attack.
Sonic and Knuckles buzzed round Metal like angry wasps, attacking whenever possible, but clearly he wasn't fooled. Shadow never managed to burn him for more than a few seconds before Tail's screamed warning forced them to move. As he flew Sonic noticed what the others were doing. Amy and Espio were climbing up Metal's body, they were small enough to go unnoticed. They were nearly to the right place… Then Metal noticed them, his hand started to swing through the air…
"Amy, look out!"
Shadow hearing Sonic's warning tried to burn the hand sweeping towards them but wasn't fast enough. The fist brushed against Metal's body, sweeping them off him like he was brushing away dust. Amy and Espio were sent hurtling away, they slammed into the deck, skidded across it and didn't get up again.
"Amy…" Sonic muttered pitifully, and if anything the golden glow around him intensified.
"This isn't working!" Knuckles yelled
"What else can we do?" Shadow asked pitifully "I can't do any more!"
"What about Chaos Control?" Sonic asked
They again jumped away from Metal's swiping hand. When they regrouped Shadow sent Knuckles a helpless glance, and Sonic realised Shadow was already drenched in sweat.
"Ready to give up?" Metal asked
"No way!" Sonic replied, defiant as ever. The fire around Shadow, holding him in the air wavered, he was reaching exhaustion.
"You are so arrogant Sonic. But it is no longer you that I want. Chaos Control!" Metal shouted
Shadow stared around, everyone except himself was frozen. Suddenly he knew who Metal wanted.
"Oh boy"
"So Project Shadow what are we to do?"
"You can't hold time forever. Kill me now, whilst I'm undefended"
"serve me Chaos Controlled and I will let your puny friends go excepting Sonic of course."
"Over my dead body"
Metal Sonic reached out and struck him across the face through the flame as he had so long ago, sending him sprawling through the sky.
"That, could be arranged. You have such arrogance Chaos Controlled, are you willing to be the cause of yet more deaths?"
"If I serve you what will you do then? I am a weapon, what will you do with me but send me against innocent souls. I am better dead than serving someone like you. I will not be your slave"
"If you will not do so willingly…"
Shadow could feel it, time was about to start up again. To his horror Metal Sonic plucked Knuckles' frozen form out of the group. As he watched Shadow felt as though he was paralysed again, though this time there was no Stick holding him. Time started again. Knuckles looked around, down at the ground and felt the metal pincers of Metals Sonic's arms around his waist.
"Knuckles!" Sonic shouted and flew towards them. Metal Sonic lifted one of his many hands and swatted him out of the sky as though he were just a fly. Shadow didn't even turn his head to watch him fall, his eyes were aware of only one person.
"Not so arrogant now are we Project Shadow?" Metal Sonic laughed "Lets see if you are really willing to sacrifice your friends…"
Shadow panicked. The flames rapidly changed to green; then as his fear intensified shades of blue entered. Then the flames seemed to have no colour at all, they switched so quickly between the various shades. It was at that moment Metal made his mistake. He squeezed his fist. Shadow heard a loud snapping sound even over the roar of the fire, Metal Sonic's laughter and the calls of the others. Knuckles screamed out in agony as his Hyper Form abandoned him. Inside Shadow, something broke, or rather, broke free.
The fire went totally black. The world fell utterly silent. The fire seemed to be sucking in light, and after a moment ceased to be fire at all, it could only be described as a kind of black light. Shadow in the middle of it disappeared entirely. Despite being terrified by the sight the others were mesmerised, there was something oddly beautiful about it too.
"Ah crap" Metal Sonic's voice broke through the silence; he panicked and hastily tried to finish Knuckles off.
"Take your hands off him!" Shadow roared, his voice amplified ten times. Then silent darkness consumed everything.
The black ball silently extended far past the Airbase, far into the forest beyond, far up into the sky so that it could be seen for hundreds of miles around. Then as quickly as it had appeared it dissipated. The light returned and the forest was just as it had been before and Rouge, Tails, Espio and the others hadn't been so much as knocked from their feet. Metal Sonic on the other hand was an entirely different story, he was… gone, completely. When Rouge looked up to where he had been only a moment before she saw nothing but a bright sky… and Shadow slowly carrying something red down.
They all ran forward and gathered around Shadow and Knuckles. Sonic and Tails pushed their way to the front and knelt by him, Sonic close next to Shadow.
"Can you fix him?" Sonic asked desperately, looking across at Shadow. Shadow's ruby eyes swam, his hands where he held him were trembling, for a moment he looked earnestly at Sonic, then lowered his head against Knuckles'.
"Come on Knux you can't do this to us!" Sonic cried desperately.
Suddenly a silver glow appeared around Shadow. For a moment his eyes opened. He grinned and looked at Sonic with the corner of his eye.
"I did not say I could not do it Blue Hedgehog"
They all stared as the silvery glow spread from Shadow to Knuckles, as they watched the great bloody gash across his chest healed and was covered by Knuckles normal vibrant fur. When he groaned everyone cheered. The silver glow went out and Shadow sat up. Sonic hugged him. When he released him Shadow just blinked, his mouth hanging open. Then Sonic slapped him.
"That was for letting me believe he was dead"
Shadow just smiled "You're welcome Sonic"
"Ugh… that brings new meaning to feeling the pinch…" Knuckles groaned, sitting up with Shadow, Sonic and Tails' help. He looked around.
"Shadow… what did you do?"
The Airbase was gone, aside from the small section they were standing on. Shadow shrugged and gestured around.
"This, just happened"
Knuckles blinked. Someone whistled in awe "… What about the Thousand? Did you kill all of them?"
Shadow shook his head "I don't know… As I caught you I saw some things that looked like me disappearing into the trees, maybe a couple of dozen. But suffice to say, there aren't any left on the Airbase" He shrugged "I don't care about them anymore"
"A few dozen aren't enough to cause us any trouble"
"Yeah… Uh… if everyone's ok now I think I'm going to collapse" After a brief pause Shadow made good on his word, but for once he was caught by many willing hands.
He put one more block on his model bridge
"You'll get to see Earth one day Shadow"
Maria held him up a triangular block to go on the top
"That'll be fun. You can show me all those things, and we can play in a real park with grass under our feet"
She paused, handing him the final block "Maybe Shadow, but I might not be there…"
"Of course you will!" he said happily putting the block on the suspension bridge's tower "We'll always be together…
"Maria?…"
"No, she's not here… but I am"