(I do not own Sonic X)

Flip card 2:

Name: Equinox

Description: Second general of Metal X, one of four of Metal Sonic's greatest servants.

Sent flying by a metal fist, Sonic back flipped in mid air and rebounded off the side of a wall. Metal Sonic absorbed his counter spin with his large bracer before seizing him by the arm and smashing him repeatedly against the floor. Freeing one arm from the fall, the blue hedgehog took hold of a pipe sticking out of the floor and used the momentum to tear his robotic counterpart up from the floor before smashing his back into the side of a metal pillar in the centre of the chamber.

As Metal Sonic bounced off it, Sonic came at him again with a flurry of punches, knocking him back again before landing one last kick against his head, sending him flying down towards the ground. Landing in a fighting stance, Sonic paused to catch his breath. His strength was beginning to fail him; Metal Sonic was now twice as strong as he had been before. Sonic wouldn't be able to last against him much longer.

Metal Sonic rose up from the floor like a phoenix from the ashes, its eyes glowing blood red. His armour looked like it hadn't even been touched, not so much as a scrap or cut on it.

How had he gotten so strong? The robotic hedgehog's strength and speed had even surpassed those he had during the rise of the Egg Fleet, while Sonic's was beginning to wane. Not only that, but he seemed to get stronger and more agile as their fight wore on.

Pausing only long enough to gather himself, Sonic shot forward with a punch that Metal blocked. Swinging his leg around, the blue hedgehog smashed a kick into the robots side before somersaulting over him and smashing the strongest spin he could muster directly into his back. Metal Sonic was sent rocketing forward before he collided with the side of a wall, leaving a large imprint in the surface.

Sonic backed off, still finding it hard to catch his breath.

"Well, how'd like that huh?" He asked with a smirk, before collapsing to one knee, more exhausted then he thought possible. Even part of his body from his quills to his toes felt like something had completely drained their energy. Looking up, he could see Metal was still embedded in the wall, his arms spread out in a near comical fashion. After a moment, the blue hedgehog could hear the robot making some sort of noise that seemed familiar. It took a moment to register in his tired mind, but eventually it came to him. Metal Sonic was laughing.

His arms wrenched themselves free, the talons tearing hold of the wall before they pushed Metal's entire body free. The robotic hedgehog shook himself to dislodge a few fragments from his armour before turning to face Sonic.

"I've endured this game for long enough." Then he simply disappeared. Sonic didn't have time to look around for him as sliding through the air faster than Sonic could even see, Metal Sonic landed a single punch against his stomach before smashing three kicks against his chest. Sonic was sent tumbling backwards, spiralling out of control as he crossed the floor.

Metal wasn't done there either. Souring through the air, he came down behind the already injured hedgehog and smashed another kick into his back, sending him flying in the opposite direction. Tumbling helplessly, Sonic couldn't defend himself from the onslaught. Metal batted him a bout like a rag doll across the chamber, battering him repeatedly with blows that left him dazed and bruised.

Finally, Metal reached down and lifted Sonic aloft in one hand, his talons clenched around his left arm. Blood of oozing from his nose, left eye and mouth, thick black bruises covering his arms and legs and more than luckily, several broken ribs if not arms or legs.

"You're my friend Metal." The blue hedgehog managed to splutter. In reply to this, Metal Sonic simply laughed before tossing him down towards the floor.

"You're more of an idiot than even I estimated." The robot laughed, delivering a sharp kick, sending him rolling across the chamber to the far wall. "That Metal Sonic was a polluted parody of my true self. It was your infectious personality that corrupted my main program. But now he cleansed me of your virus."

"He?...Who's he?" Sonic demanded, finding the inner strength to push himself unsteadily to his feet.

"That's my little secret." Was the sharp reply. The fight that ensued was over was quickly as it began. Sonic was already in no fit state to put up a fight and Metal was now over twice as fast and strong as him. Within two minutes, the blue hedgehog lay broken and battered at Metal Sonic's feet, desperately trying to get up; his desire to fight burning ever brighter but his body far too fatigued to manage it.

Gathering all his energy, Sonic forced his hands upwards and fired at close range a Sonic Wind. The swirling energy caught Metal Sonic by surprise, tearing straight through the right hand side of his body; ripping his arm from his metallic frame.

The robotic hedgehog staggered backwards, energy sparking around his wound.

Sonic forced his way to his feet, breathing hard. He hadn't wanted to do that but Metal Sonic had left him little option.

"What!" He demanded as he watched a startling sight. Metal Sonic's eyes blared bright red and parts of his body began to liquefy, forcing their way to his wound; reforming a new arm from nothing. Once the new limb was completed, Metal tested it's strength, before turning back to the startled blue hedgehog.

"You can't stop me that easily Sonic. My body instantly repairs any damage it receives and whatever technique was used to hurt me it copies." He held his new hand out, swirling blue power now whipping around his arm. "In short, I am invincible." A copy of Sonic's own attack shot from his arm and hit the blue hedgehog head on. For the first time, Sonic was on the receiving end of his own attack. The tornado of power encircled his body, tearing at his blue fur, before ripping him from the floor. Flung around the chamber, Sonic was tossed like a rag doll from wall to wall before finally slammed hard against the floor; sending a wave of pain through his entire body. "The more you fight back, the stronger I become." Metal added, before drawing a leg back and kicking the hedgehog straight in the chest; breaking at least one rib.

Sonic shuddered at the impact, falling to his knees, his eyes wide as he hugged his chest. Pain shooting through the whole front side of his body. Metal Sonic punched him down fully to the floor, keeping his metal foot onto of his head.

Yes, crush him. The voices told him, screaming at him to finish it. Crush him under your foot was their message. Where better to end Sonic's career? He could feel the blue hedgehog squirming under it, trying to move. It was a hopeless resistance. All Metal had to do now and stomp.

But in the end, what would that prove? That he was no better than Eggman, an opportunist who took his greatest enemy by surprise? Besides, Sonic hadn't been the one to defeat him before. It had been that merged hedgehog Nazo that delivered the final blow. Metal wanted to defeat him in combat, to prove that he was stronger and in everyway more powerful. Only then would he destroy him.

Almost reluctantly he retracted his foot, leaving the battered hedgehog flat on his face. Sonic groaned, his body aching but not beaten, forcing himself over onto his back. He had a black eye and cuts everywhere, blood oozing from his nose."

Have no illusions hedgehog." Metal told him. "The Metal Sonic you used for your own bidding is dead. I am the real Metal Sonic." The blue hedgehog spat a mixture of blood and saliva at his feet.

"No you're not. The real Metal Sonic had surpassed this. You just devolved." He managed to say between drawn out breaths. "Shadow and I beat you once, we can do it again." Metal chuckled.

"Cocky and arrogant to the last." He leaned down, kneeling so their faces were level. "Well I wouldn't be so confident if I were you. Even as I speak, my own robots are over running your ship." A horrified looked passed over the blue hedgehog's face, realizing that he had left the others undefended. "Don't worry. We aren't here for you, we're just after the Chaos Emerald you so conveniently managed to take from the ARK. You saved me the trouble of retrieving it." He leaned closer a little closer, the hate in his half eclipsed eyes more than evident. "I'll be dealing with you and you pathetic rabble you call friends soon enough."

"My lord." Came a flat emotionless voice from somewhere on Metal Sonic's body. The robot paused and stood up, lifting his bracer to his face, a small flap opening up to reveal a com device. "We have the Chaos Emerald." If it was possible, a small smile would have spread over Metal Sonic's face.

"Be grateful I'm letting you and your companions live for now." He told the blue hedgehog before turning, his cape following out behind him. Sonic grimaced, forcing his arms to prop his body up.

"Wait…." He began, blood leaking from his nose and mouth. Metal Sonic paused and looked back over his shoulder. " You're...our friend Metal. You took a direct hit for us." The glow from the robotic hedgehog's eyes intensified.

"Believe me Sonic, I won't be making that mistake again." With that he was gone. Sonic tried to crawl after him. But his strength was gone and he collapsed to the floor, sinking into unconsciousness almost instantly.

-

Shadow studied Equinox for a moment. He was different from the other robots he'd had to endure, and a lot faster. It took a tremendous amount of agility to dodge around a Chaos Spear attack. Sonic was the only one who had managed it before. He had the look of being heavy and slow, yet moved with fluid and precise movements.

"Machine Federation?" The black and red Hedgehog repeated, crossing his arms, narrowing his eyes. "Never heard of you."Equinox looked amused by the remark.

"That will soon change believe me. Within a year, every sentient being on your planet will know who we are." His yellow eyes squinted at Shadow through the visor of his helmet. "The Machine Federation is the creation of Lord Metal Sonic. Four robot clans that will serve as his army in our wars of expansion." Shadow chuckled lightly to himself.

"World conquest? Don't bad guys have any other goal?" He asked with a large smirk. These people were all the same, their one ultimate goal above all others, the domination of a region or planet.

"The sentient organics of this planet are naturally flawed creatures they war, become riddled with disease and then die so early in their lives. Their only reason to exist was to create us mineral forms of life to replace them. Now that the Federation has come into being, their moment of existence has passed. Only the strong will survive in our world. And it will be our world soon enough." Equinox replied, holding on arm up. A small compartment on the underside of it opened and a sword like blade. "But when the Master told us of the Ultimate lifeform, I knew I had to come here to see it for myself." He paused to give Shadow a fresh look over. "I see your power is immense and your skill and strength unchallenged. Truly impressive, no organic comes even close to being your rival." Unlike Sonic, Shadow could not be flattered. He simply raised his arm and fired a chaos Spear at point blank range directly towards the robot. Equinox raised his sword, the width of the blade absorbing the attack and directing it away from him.

Shadow sneered, before skating forward, landing a kick directly against the side of one arm. Equinox staggered backwards, the momentum drop of his guard allowing the black and red hedgehog to get it close enough to smash a fast volley of punches directly against his chest plate, before finishing with a spin attack at his head. Equinox was sent flying backwards before landing with a loud crash against the side of the wall.

Shadow remained in a crouch for a moment, before standing up, the beginnings of another Chaos Spear burning between his fingers. Equinox hauled himself to a sitting position, a gentle laughing escaping him. "Ah yes, just like the Master said; Swift, agile and powerful. I can see the title; Ultimate Life-form is fully justified." In an instant he was back on his feet. "But still, as an organic you are flawed and must be removed. Unless of course you prove worthy of a place at our side." Bring his sword up, he slide forward with surprising speed and began slashing, his swings ruthlessly calculated, coming within inches of Shadow's skin. Shadow simply began dodging, sliding through his attacks like a shade.

Getting close enough, he whipped around and fired a Chaos Spear directly at Equinox. The robot ducked under it and brought the tip of his sword straight across Shadow's chest, the tip narrowly missing his heart, a few strands of white fur from his chest falling to the floor. Shadow looked down at the unexpected hair cut, before darting forward and slamming a knee directly into Equinox's face. Blinded, the robot dropped they sword, trying to remove its damaged helmet.

The black and red hedgehog did not let that go unpunished, he somersaulted over him, paused to gather enough energy in his hands before firing several Chaos Spear's all at once directly into his back. Taking the full force of the attack, Equinox collapsed to the floor, a large smoking hole burnt into his armour.

Back flipping to his feet again, Equinox smashed his own fist into Shadow's face before landing a kick of his own. The robot possessed strength that surprised Shadow and so the black end red hedgehog was forced to reply more on speed to allude his opponents swings than sheer physical power.

Shadow batted one of the robots fists aside before sliding in close, landing a punch directly across his chin, knocking Equinox to the ground with a loud thud. Instantly Shadow was on him, smashing punch after punch into his face before Equinox grabbed him by the arm and tossed him back. Shadow rebounded off a wall and came back with a flying kick. Equinox side stepped avoiding it then tried to hit Shadow as he came across. The black and red hedgehog grabbed his arm and rocketed over it, swung momentarily in the air before a leg came flying out of nowhere, smashing a kick directly into the back of his head, knocking his ruined helmet off and leaving the robot himself flat on his back.

"I'm only going to tell you this once. Get off this ship." The robot flipped himself over and back to his feet, his sword instantly reappearing in his hand. His helmet had been removed, revealing his actual head. It was modelled after a human's head, with eyes, nose and mouth almost mimicking their features. On each side of his head where the ears should be were two horn-like jagged pieces of metal that curved up towards his bald head. His yellow eyes shielded only by a thick layer of glass, behind which Shadow could easily see a jumble of complex clockwork and electronics.

"You are perfect except for one thing Shadow. You retain emotion, an attribute that weaken organics like no other. You could be truly be an Ultimate if you renounce them. The federation has ways of removing their influence if you so wish." The robot stated almost in a nonchalant-manner. Instantly the black and red hedgehog's face was awash with utter disgust. "It would pain me to destroy something as near perfection as yourself. Lord Metal Sonic may not agree with me, but I believe if the life-form proves worthy is should be preserved."

"You sicken me." Shadow replied, flying forward, grabbing Equinox by the arm and tossed him over his own shoulder and into another wall. The black and red hedgehog didn't even stop there; he just kept slamming Equinox into any solid object he could find before landing him on the floor and firing one last Chaos Spear directly against his chest.

Equinox didn't move. Shadow just lowered his arm and began to walk away. He stopped when he heard something from behind him and turned. Equinox had already picked himself up apparently unharmed, although his armour was nearly in tatters.

"Whether you join or oppose us matters very little." He stated, his voice leaving no room for any sort of argument. "Winning against me is within your capabilities, but not against my three brothers and impossible against the master." Shadow raised an eyebrow. "I am one of four generals created by the lord Metal Sonic and by no means the strongest. One of the will see to your death should you choose to be an enemy."

"You talk too much." Shadow replied flatly, raising a fist. "Attack me, and I'll grind you into the dust." He heard Equinox chuckle before he faded away, teleporting through some means of technology, becoming transparent before fading away altogether, his last words

"I wouldn't be so sure of that if I where you Shadow."

It had taken some time, a lot longer than they had anticipated, but eventually Bean, Bark and Hare made it to the Four Points artillery Cannon. The one thing that deafened the Eggman Empire occupation force in England. Once it was removed, nothing would be preventing the forces gathering around the British isles from starting their invasion.

"Can't you hurry it up?" Hare asked in a hushed whisper and Bark set the charges on the last of Bean's explosives. Gaining entry to the foundations of the tower hadn't been difficult; it was getting out unharmed that bothered them so much. By now, the security teams around the city were beginning to suspect something. They could tell that the forces surrounding the British Isles were readying themselves, but for what they could not say.

Escaping the city after the bombs went off would be impossible. The security would be put instantly into red alert. Nothing would be allowed to enter or leave the perimeter walls. So instead, Bark had thought of something better. Once the tower had been demolished, they would escape the grounds and hide in the back alleys of the city and wait. It would not be long after that, that the G.U.N coalition strike force would be knocking at their doors and they would have other things on their mind than finding three saboteurs.

"Controlled demolition is a difficult business." Bean remarked; setting the last of the plastic explosives in a crack where it would not be discovered until it was too late. "You don't want this thing to come falling down on some civilians do you?" Hare simply grumbled and turned back to his watch. The robots never patrolled inside the tower for some strange reason none of them could guess too, instead they remained stationary outside as still as statues. That made Bark nervous, but still they had a job to do.

"Ok, that's the last of it." Bark stated, fitting a few last wires into the device and straightening up.

"Good." Bean added, reaching into his backpack for his programmer device. This allowed him to change the settings of his bombs from either times to remote triggered. "I think five minutes should be enough for us to get away." He pressed the screen on the small rectangular device before putting it back. "Ok, let's move, in five minutes, this is all going to go sky high."

"Not before time." Hare added dryly, looking out through a porthole window one last time to watch the large Dreadnaught standing ten feet away on the other side of the stone wall. The tower was placed on an artificial island in the middle of Thames River, guarded on all sides by patrol boats and several large Dreadnaught robots. The trio had managed to gain entry by hiding about one of the boats and had swum ashore then the several searchlights amounted about were occupied elsewhere. Getting past the Dreadnaughts hadn't been that difficult. The large robots weren't as advanced as those other Badniks where and wouldn't look twice in their direction if they didn't make a noise.

The foundations of the tower were several chambered with a multitude of stone and metal pillars. These supports were all that had to be taken out in order to bring the whole thing down. Against nearly each one, Bean had planted explosives of many kinds ranging from plastic explosive to T.N.T which seemed more than enough to bring the whole place crumbling inwards.

Bark was not the only one who found that they had encountered no security inside the tower itself odd. Hare was also puzzled. After all the efforts to keep them out outside, he wouldn't have thought the place would at least have some staff to keep it operations. The machines above however seemed fully automated, but that still didn't warrant no protection. There was advanced security upstairs where the tower was. That was more than expected, but nothing down here. Intruders could simply walk in if they wanted.

His large ears stood on end as he picked up a distant sound in the background. At first it was so quiet he could barley hear it and as time passed, it began to increase in pitch and strength.

"You hear there?" Bean asked, how able to hear it himself. The three of them stopped, trying to figure out that was making that noise. An idea suddenly sprang to mind and Hare looked down, finally noting the large metal grates on the floor, the ones that covered several large holes leading downwards into the river. At first he hadn't paid much attention to them, but now that he was forced to he realized what they were here for. This tower's base didn't need any security because it didn't need it. If intruders were detected, the system simply began a purge.

Geysers of river water began rocketing up into the chambers, spraying all of them with the pollution Eggman's factories had been dumping into it. Within moments the floor was covered in an inch of steadily rising water.

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Bark shouted, pushing his way through the rising tide towards the metal staircase they provided them entry down here. Without warning a large steal door came flying down from the ceiling, blocking it off and leaving them all trapped. Bark bashed his large fist against it several times, but the barricade did not budge.

"Bugger!" Hare began, now what the water was well above his knees now. "I knew you two would get me killed someway, I just didn't thing it would be by drowning." Bark ignored him and kept punching the door, only succeeding in hurting his own fist. That door was a security feature, not even Bean's explosives would be able to move that.

"We won't be drowning." Bean reminded them with a more that worried expression o his face. "In less than four minutes, the explosives so off and we all get blown to pieces."

"Oh no you don't." The polar bear began through clenched teeth, refusing to cease his attack on the door. Repeated punches flying one by one into its surface without so much as leaving a dent in the metal. "I'm not ready to cash my chips in yet!" All the while the water was rising and within minutes they would be out of air to breath.

Bean retreated to whatever high ground he could find and searched his bag. He was nearly out of explosives and all he had left were a few sticks of T.N.T and a box of matches. He looked over towards the porthole windows that stared outside. The water hadn't reached them yet. That he had would just have to be enough.

Wading through the rising waters, Bean made his way over to the far water and stuck as many sticks of dynamite as he could into the window crevice, the round edge holding it fast. He rushed his work, widening all the fuses into one quicker than he should before trying to strike a match. The water had nearly made them all damp and near impossible to use but eventually one flared to life and he hurriedly lit the fuse with it.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" He cried, wadding as quickly as he could away from it. Hare and Bark looked up, before the entire wall exploded and the water that was being pumped up began flying out in a rapid river outside, carrying them with it. Hare tried to hole onto a metal pole but the current swept him away and outside with the others.

The Dreadnaughts standing outside all turned to stare, one of them was too slow and it got swept away and into the river. Just as the three of them landed in the river, the timer on Bean's bombs reached zero and the entire foundation of the tower erupted in a fire storm, throwing several robot guard outside straight into the water. The tower lurched to one side violently as its legs were taken away from under it, the stone base beginning to crumble into the waters.

Then finally with a loud groan that could be heard across London, the tower crashed down into the river, causing a tidal wave that send Bean, Bark and Hare surfing over the surface and straight onto a rocky bean just under the London Bridge.

Couching and struggling for breath, their fur and feathers completely drenched, they looked back to see what remained of the artillery Eggman used to keep his conquest safe sink below the surface, the island it stood on still in flames.

Bark reached back into Bean's backpack and withdrew a small com device. Physical worn out, he pressed a single button on it before collapsing to the ground in exhaustion.

Miles away to the south west, a small light in Okida's raptor Mech began blinking. He paused long enough to stare at it, before a large smile spread over his lips.

"This Major Okida to all G.U.N front line forces." He began almost happily down the com to the other troops waiting across the channel. "Artillery is done, I repeat artillery is done. Commence Operation D-day 2 at once."

-

Shadow had discovered Sonic unconscious some time ago, lying beaten and bruised on the floor in one of the cargo hangers. With the blue hedgehog over his shoulder, the ultimate life form traversed his way through the Icarus. Destruction lay everywhere metal corridors and chambers in absolute tatters, scorch marks from laser fire lining nearly every wall. The ship was a mess, yet there was no sign of the invaders. They had come and then gone, probably after taking what they came for.

Arriving at the cockpit and bridge, Shadow discovered more scenes of battle. Apparently, their boarding party had bee here as well. The door had been bashed in and the signs of a struggle were more than evident beyond. Knuckles sat with Rouge trying to dress his wounds, but the Echidna was trying to avoid it, leaving a bloody cut on one of his dreadlocks. The bat herself had not escaped without injury, there were two large bruises on her left arm and one of her gloves had been torn to shreds. Amy seemed the worst hurt. She sat at the far end near Tails in the cockpit; Tikal was tending to the numerous wounds to her head. Some that had bloodied her quills.

"Sonic!" The pink hedgehog cried, nearly knocking Shadow over as he put the blue hedgehog's limp body down on one of the seats. "Who did this?" She asked, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Metal Sonic." Shadow replied with a sneer. He didn't even have to be there for it. He just knew, Equinox had told him that he served the robotic hedgehog and armed with that knowledge, it was a safe assumption who had done this to his long time rival. Indeed, Metal Sonic was the only one capable of doing it, the only one strong enough by far. The black and red hedgehog paused, suddenly noting the lack of a Chaos energy flux generated by the grey Emerald Void had given them. "The Chaos Emerald, where is it?" Knuckles pushed himself up.

"We tried to stop them." The Echidna stated. Blood was running out the side of his mouth, a good deal of bruises ran over his chest and arms and his dreadlocks were all out of place. "There were too many. They took the Chaos Emerald." Shadow blinked and looked over towards the container in which Sonic had placed the grey Chaos Emerald that Void had given them. It lay on the floor, its lid off and the interior empty. Strange though, that they took the jewel and then left without finishing them off.

"We've got bigger problems right now." Tails added coming out of the cockpit. "That attack disabled the controls. I can't get them back on line and if I can't correct our course after we enter the atmosphere we're going to come down all wrong." His eyes were wide with fear, even behind his goggles. "We're going to crash!"

(In Chris' voice)

Metal Sonic a bad guy again? What did that guy Fang sold him to do to him? And how are Sonic and the others going to get out of this mess? It's free fall time as the Icarus plummets towards Earth! Find out what happens on the conclusion of the Sonic Shuffle Saga: The Decent. Don't miss it!