(I do not own Sonic X, etc.)

Flip card 2:

Name; Lancelot

Description: Second of Metal X

The air twisted and bent, shockwaves heading out in all directions as the Icarus came souring out of the Chaos Control warp, her engines on fire. Streaking across the sky, the ship went hurtling downwards towards the ocean below.

"I hate flying, I hate flying, I hate flying!" Knuckles kept repeating to himself over and over again, biting his lower lip. Tails was desperately trying to keep the nose of the ship up. If he let it fall at this point they'd ricochet of the surface of the sea and break up.

With a collision that shook the entire ship, the bottom of the Icarus skidded across the face, hoping like a cast rock from the shore, thick spray throwing out behind it.

"Ah crap!" Shadow cursed, staring out the window. Tails was unable to control the direction of the ship and it was quickly approaching the shore of a small island, the golden sands of a beech flying forward to meet them.

"BRACE YOURSELVES!" Tails yelled, putting the ship into what remained of auto-pilot and putting his head between his legs. Slamming into the water one last time, the Icarus skated through the swallows and up onto the beach, before finally colliding with a thick jungle just inland, trees falling before them as the space ship carved through the ground, gently slowing until finally coming to a stop. Steam and smoke steadily rising from what remained of the engines.

"Please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle until the ride has come to a complete stop." Sonic began, before falling over in exhaustion.

Knuckles brought his fist to bear and hammering the airlock door Shadow had welded shut, letting in the fresh air, a tree branch and swung around and hit him in the face.

"Ah, what is Chuck going to say when he sees this?" Tails asked in horror, staring at the Icarus from the outside, completely entangled in vines, her back half broken away and most of her paintwork scorched off. A few fragments that belonged to the wings were scattered off towards the beach. The ship had torn across the sands and through the undergrowth, leaving a wide ditch leading to the ocean. "He didn't even it insured!"

After a quick recon, they discovered that the island was a remote location with no land in sight for miles in any direction. It was short, probably no more than a mile in width, a large coral reef highlighting the waters for some distance. Apart from a few grazing animals, it was deserted.

Shadow jumped up onto the top of the crashed ship and looked around over the canopy of trees.

"I can go and get help by Chaos Control." He murmured almost under his breath as the blue hedgehog joined him . "But I need to know where we are first."

"Tails is working on it." Sonic replied. He was silent for a minute, before voicing what was on his mind. "It was Metal Sonic, Shadow." He stated almost reluctantly.

"I know." The black and red hedgehog sighed , folding his arms. "Whatever the reason, he's our enemy again Sonic. Try to remember that."

"But…" The blue hedgehog began but Shadow cut him off.

"He tried to kill you. He stole our Chaos Emerald and left us to burn in the atmosphere." It could not be denied. The painful bruising in Sonic's arms and legs refused to let him forget it. Sonic knew he had to accept the truth, that the Metal Sonic he called friend was gone, but he couldn't. not just like that.

Metal Sonic had overcome his programming, become truly sentient. He sacrificed everything to save Sonic and Shadow from the Biolizard. And now this new enemy stood in his place, a being just as evil as Eggman and twice as ruthless. "You need to remember that if he gets the change, he'll kill you." Shadow told him, welding the fact well into Sonic's mind. "You can try to talk to him, but I doubt he'll listen." Sonic clenched his fists. He had tried to reason with Metal Sonic himself, but it hadn't worked.

"So now what?" Knuckles asked, climbing up onto the top of the Icarus with them, his quills still messed up from the crash. "Was he just fooling us all this time?" Sonic looked u sharply.

"No." He stated almost angrily. "He told me someone got to his body, rebuilt it and reprogrammed him." He smashed a fist into an open palm suggestively. "When I find out who it was, they're dead."

Every system on the Icarus was dead. Navigation, weapons, life-support, even an emergency power supply. Most of the circuits were burnt rendered completely useless. Nothing seemed to respond at all. Finally Tails gave up trying to revive any of the ships systems and then began a salvage operation, hoping there was enough intact hardware left to build something useful.

Hours began to tick away and all the fox had been able to salvage from the ship were a few workable boards, nothing worthy enough to bring even one of the ship's system back online. Finally he was forced to accept it, the ship of a corpse.

"How's it going?" Sonic asked at one time after they managed to pry Omega out from the crushed wreckage of one of the cargo chambers. The android actually seemed annoyed that they left him captive there for so long. After being freed he marched right out towards the shoreline and stood there. He'd been was silent as a statue for over an hour now.

"I lost the patient." Tails was forced to admit, finally giving up on hooking together some wires and left them to disintegrate into charred ash. "It's completely dead, it'd be easier for me to make a new one from scratch." He leaned back in the pilot's seat, which finally gave and collapsed from underneath him. "Don't worry." he added picking himself back up. "I'll be able to turn what I can salvage into something useful by the end of the day."

More hours passed until just after noon and still Tails kept running into dead ends with what he was forced to work with. Occasionally Rouge came to take his place when it became obvious the strain of getting nowhere was beginning to take it's toll on him.

Shadow, as usual sat alone some distance from the others down the beach on a large rock jutting out over the shallows. The black and red hedgehog preferred his own company, the notion of being part of a crowd seemed alien and strange to him. Even on ARK he had stood out from the others, a loner, someone who depended on no one to give him strength. While Sonic was like him in many ways, there was one fundamental difference between them.

Shadow didn't burden himself with companions.

Even if Sonic and his group might be the closest thing that Shadow had that could be considered friends, the black and red Hedgehog kept himself apart. Not because he disliked their company but out of principle and pride.

Tikal however didn't seem to get the message. The female Echidna sat nearby silently trailing her bare feet in the waters of a rock pool. Ever since they had started back from the ARK she had kept herself close to him, like some frightened child clinging to a parent. Tikal seemed nothing like a frightened child however; she had confronted him and played with his emotions. Unlike so many, she was not frightened of him. On the country, if anything she seemed curious of his very existence.

While Shadow was a self confessed loner on principle, he didn't protest to her dogging his heals. He doubted she would listen to him and strangely the notion of teleporting where she couldn't follow forced a pit into his stomach.

Irritated, he turned to look down at her. She had her back to him and was gazing innocently at the water's surface, giggling now and then as the small trapped fish swam between her toes.

To Shadow's eyes, the world was a harsh place full of hatred, anger, betrayal and greed. Where darkness dwarfed the light and any notion of good intentions was swallowed up or destroyed by those with power. To see innocence in a world like that, so carefree and happy was an improbability. Yet he could see it right there before his very eyes.

This girl had seen just as much horror and destruction as he had and yet there she was, playing like a child like an insignificant rock pool. Confused, he turned away and gazed out to sea. The waves were slowly washing over the flawless beach, foam washing ashore near the rocks that lined the island to the north with the occasional hermit crab waddling upwards out of the depths. The scene had the desired calming effect he had been looking for and he relaxed, melting out of his sitting position until he lay on his back with his arms behind his head.

It was on rare moments like this he could forget who he was and what he had been through. When he could simple be nothing, an empty shell staring up at the empty sky. For about a minute it endured, before a familiar face leaned over him. Shadow levelled both eyes as Tikal looked down at him with a puzzled expression on her face.

"I didn't think you knew how to relax." She began as if she'd known him all his life. He grunted and flipped over so he faced away. "Hey I wasn't trying to insult you." She added, trying to gain his attention. He ignored her and kept his back turned. "Some ultimate life-form you are, if you're this sensitive to a comment." Tikal sighed angrily, crossed her arms and sat down on the rock with her back to him as well.

Shadow looked back over his shoulder, his eyes troubled. Why did this girl match him so perfectly? She was as different from him as he could imagine but in some strange way their conflicting personalities and egos managed to fit together to form one whole.

"Why do you take an interest in whether I relax or not?" He asked her without turning. "What difference does it make to you?" She looked back with a coy smile on her face.

"What, shouldn't I care Shadow?" She asked slyly, running her fingers through her Dreadlocks. "You play the part of the lone wolf very well. But in your heart, I can tell you're jealous." He gestured over towards Sonic and the others. Cream and Emerl were playing in the shallows, kicking up a good deal of spray and foam. Sonic himself was lying further up the beach with his eyes closed, basking in the sunlight trying to get a tan. He was probably asleep. Amy was sitting nearby as usual in awe of the blue hedgehog. Rouge was still trying to get Knuckles to sunbathe with her. Knuckles himself was pacing the beach, probably muttering something about not getting back to the Master Emerald. Finally Rouge gave up trying to talk to him but instead simply tackled him to the ground, the two of them rolling into the water.

Shadow could hear Knuckles' angry ranting from here, but after a moment they died down and were quickly replaced by mutual laughter.

"Jealous?" Shadow repeated with a short laugh. "Of them, what for?" Tikal leaned closer, violating his personal space.

"They know to have fun even when a crisis looms on the horizon, all you do is sit on your own clad in the belief you're better then they are." She told him in 'as-a-mater-of-fact-'voice. "I mean, would it kill you to get down of your high horse for ten minutes and actually live?" He turned to stare at her complete. He wore a mask of disinterest but in his eyes Tikal could clearly make out the unmistaken presence of wanting, no in fact a need. She had always known that Shadow bottled himself up but now she had had to adapt that theory. Shadow didn't want company, he needed it.

He had shut the doors to his heart a long time ago and nothing went in or out of it. As such what was still inside festered and grew stagnant like water trapped in a pool.

The only thing preventing Shadow from going over there and having a good time like the rest of them was his pride. His unfaltering belief that as the ultimate life-form he should live away from other people and hence his name, only exist in their shadows.

A sudden impish thought pushed its way into the female Echidna's mind and she blushed inwardly. If Shadow would not open up for them, then perhaps given enough time he could open up for her.

Shadow turned away and looked back out to see, resting his arms on his knees. What she had said had sunk in deeper then he could ever admit. Again she had carved her way through his mental defences like they weren't even there and struck hard at his heart. The day Maria died; as his escape pod fell away from the ARK he sealed himself off from everything and everybody else, becoming emotionless as a hunk of ice. Since then, the healing process had begun but the deepest wound, the one caused by the pain of seeing his only friend die, time could never heal. Tikal could never expect that of him and he could never expect that from himself. But perhaps, she had a point. What good was sitting here doing nothing? He was supposed to be the Ultimate life form, the perfect organism. Yet still he found himself incapable of enjoying himself without his thoughts drifting back to the world he lost long ago. No one, not even Prof. Gerald's greatest creation could live like that forever.

Swallowing his pride for a moment, he turned back towards Tikal and smiled.

"Want to play a game?" he asked. That question caught the female Echidna of guard and she blinked in surprise. "It's called, catch the annoying Echidna. You've got a ten second head start." With that he flipped back to his feet and raised his arms in a feigned attempt at being scary. Tikal giggled and dropped off the rock to the beach, making a bee line along the coast.

After a moment, Shadow started after her and the laughter could be heard all the way to the crash Icarus.

"You hear that?" Amy asked sitting up, looking up towards the rock Shadow had been sitting on a moment ago, now deserted. Sonic, who was wearing a pair of sunglasses, sat up briefly casting a glance in that direction before a smile spread over his face.

"Tikal's just flirting with Shadow." He replied as if it was nothing at all and lay back down.

"Flirting?" Amy repeated, looking up in utter surprise.

"Yep." The blue hedgehog chuckled with a large grin. "And the guy doesn't even realize it." Amy blinked and stared off in that direction. The sounds of laughter were still echoing across the canopy of the trees towards them.

Tikal, flirting with Shadow? Shadow of all people! He was like a solid wall of ice, frozen, cold and completely immoveable. The female Echidna must have some kind of empathic power, that's the only way it was physically possible for that to happen. Or perhaps she had some kind of sure fire technique to gain entry to any heart.

They said the way to a man's heart was through his stomach, yet Amy had stuffed Sonic with enough food to flatten an elephant and the guy would still keep running.

Running…Amy looked back again. It was difficult to tell from this distance, but after a moment she could make out the game the two of them were playing. Some that involved a lot of running about. Finally, she understood. It was one of the things Shadow and Sonic had in common. They liked to run.

Being the two fastest beings on this planet it was understandably, still that left Amy with a problem. That problem being she could never hope to run as fast as Sonic.

"Amy…" Sonic began. The pink hedgehog looked down at him. Sonic rolled up to a sitting position, removing his sunglasses, once gone she could see the doubt in his eyes. "Metal Sonic's the strongest enemy I could ever face. Even if I get the best of him, I can't destroy him." She put a hand on his shoulder sympathetically.

"I know." She told him. "I don't think any of us could."

"Shadow might." Sonic replied, looking down at the sand between his feet. "He may not like it, but he will if he has to." Shadow had already made it quite clear that if there was no other way, if Metal Sonic refused to back down, if Sonic couldn't reach him then the black and red Hedgehog would destroy him and without a second thought to it.

What frightened Sonic the most out of all that was he didn't think he could talk Metal Sonic out of being a bad guy again.

Over time, the blue hedgehog came to regard Metal was a vital member of their group and a good friend. Like Emerl and Omega, he broke Eggman's programming but unlike the two of them, actually gained his own unique personality. In redemption for his selfish acts that lead to the near destruction of Station Square, he took a full blast from the revived Biolizard, sparing Sonic and Shadow's lives.

Someone had gotten to his salvaged remains after that and revived his dark side, the power hungry Metal Sonic willing to do anything to achieve total domination. Time and again Sonic had put down attempts by Eggman and other lunatics whose ambition was the same. But this time it was different. This time he was fighting a friend. And this time, he doubted he would have little choice by to fight to the death.

"Hey Omega." Tails called down to the robot from the window of the ships cockpit, which by now was encrusted with vines and other debris of flora, whose large pivoted head rotated to stare directly up at him. "Wait there a second; I need your help with something." The young fox turned and picked something up before climbing out of the window. Slowly drifting out as his twin limbs spun out behind him. The device in his hands was a make shift machine with about a thousand loose wires and jagged ends sticking out all over the place. Tails had had to work with what he had. There was very little intact hardware left in the ship at all.

"Designate Omega requests explanation of device." The android began, thrusting a large metal finger rather rudely towards it.

"It's a global positioning system." Tails explained, holding it higher for Omega's large red eyes to see. "I had to dig it out of the Icarus' charred motherboard. I should be able to use it to tell where in the world we are, maybe even send a message for a pick up of some kind." The large robot studied the device carefully for a moment, his large eyes scanning the twisted surface.

"It lacks an energy source." Omega stated. Tails forged a large smirk.

"That's where you come in."

It took a while, but eventually Tails had wired running directly from Omega's miniature fusion reactor into his new device.

"You're using Omega as a battery?" Rouge asked sceptically as the young fox called them over, adding a few last minute touches. By the time had had everything set up correctly hours had passed and sunset was nearly over, the white edges of the moon beginning to peek over the horizon.

"Only for a minute. He's the only thing around here with an intact power source." Tails explained, finalizing the connections. There was a loud buzzing sound as it came online, several lights all over its surface lighting up.

"Ok then here we go." The fox began the readouts from the small device he had beginning to accumulate on the miniature screen. "We're in luck, one of the few remaining surveillance satellites is passing overhead, we're on an un-named island just off the eastern Brazilian Shore Line, North Easy of the Amazon River mouth."

"Fine." Shadow remarked. Now he knew where this place was he could do something about it. He crossed his arms before his entire body was engulfed by a small Chaos Control warp and he disappeared. Tikal smirked before fading into nothingness after him.

"Now there's nothing we can do expect sit and wait." Tails added, sitting down on the beech, watching the moon steadily rise on the horizon.

"Waiting, again?" Sonic asked in annoyance, running his hands through his quills. Chaos Control could have easily teleported them off this place, but Tails insisted on staying so G.U.N could help him transport the crashed spaceship back for drastically needed repairs.

"I hope you know what's coming Sonic." Knuckles began, joining the blue hedgehog by his side as the two of them stood near the shoreline; Sonic himself keeping a safe distance from the water's edge.

"I know." Sonic muttered, folding his arms; staring out to sea. "I don't have to like it, but I know." Metal Sonic would, after all, have it no other way.

Now that the evil Metal Sonic they thought had disappeared had returned, the confrontation between the blue hedgehog and his robotic counterpart was inevitable. They were going to fight and in all likelihood, one of them would not survive.

-

The searing cold of the Tibetan mountains stung Eggman's face as he gazed angrily out across the wasteland of the Egg Carrier's crash sight. This glorious ship, already torn to pieces had been all but destroyed on Impact. All many of smouldering parts lay scattered through the snow rendered completely unusable. It would take man power the likes of which he did not possess to move the Egg Carrier out of here. Now he was cut off from the rest of his army. Without the ships com systems up and running, he couldn't even send a distress signal to the Egg Moon.

Salvaging what they could from the wreckage, Becoe and Decoe were beginning construction of a small vehicle they could use to return to the moon. It was make shift, but it should get them there. Still, the slow progress caused by the cold was beginning to set Eggman's nerves alight.

Still, the crash hadn't been entirely bad. It had allowed him to locate a precious item. He looked down the fist sized Chaos Emerald in his left hand, glowing a powerful blood red. This at least had lessened his losses.

Strutting back inside the camp put up just beyond the confines of the Egg Carrier's large wing, Eggman shock himself down to rid himself of the snow. The camp was just a large green tent packed with salvaged equipment; two large Dreadnaughts stood guard outside. The only heat came from a single electric fire nearby.

"This is taking far too long." He told his two hence bots, who kept working on the small space ship that would take all three of them back up into space, once the blizzard stopped blowing.

"We're doing our best Doctor." Becoe stated. "Without the aid of Technician badniks, we're making pretty good time."

"Well I advise you to move it." The doctor snapped. "G.U.N could have picked up our position by now. I don't want to spend the rest of my life rotting in one of their cells." Without warning a loud shot rang out and one of the Dreadnaughts exploded in a firestorm of melted metal. Eggman covered his facer as fragments went flying into the other. The second machine raised its right arm ready to fire at something, both another explore tore through that was well. The scolded metal corpse swayed for a moment, before collapsing into the snow.

"What is this?" Eggman demanded, reaching into his jacket and withdrawing a laser rifle. There was a sudden thud before some invisible force tore the tent off from the ground, sending it flying into the winds. The cold snow lashing at him, Eggman strained through the veil to see a large dark shape flying overhead, thousands of blinking lights showing it to be a flying Battleship. Not as long as his Egg Carrier had been but large enough to possess a very serious problem. The word, BEHEMOTH was engraved on its bow near an ugly Dragon like figurehead made of metal. A large lock down door on the underside opened up instantly, several dark shapes flying out coming straight at them.

As they got closer, he could tell they were robots, but the like had had never seen before. They weren't of G.U.N make, but neither were they his own creations. They flew past him, encircling their group in moments, large nasty looking weapons pointed forward. With a soft thud, a large robot landed nearby. Taller than the rest, clad in purple samurai type armour, with long shoulder pads, one large green optic directly in the centre of its head and a long flowing grey cape out behind it.

"Greetings Doctor Eggman." It began, striding forward. Eggman raised his rifle ready to fire but before he could blink, the robot tore a sword out from a scabbard at its waist slicing his own weapon in half. The scientist staggered backwards staring in horror. "The Chaos Emerald if you please." It asked, extending an open hand forward.

"What Chaos Emerald?" Eggman began, deciding to play dumb.

"Don't try my patience human." The tip of the blade passed beneath his chin, glinting in the parched sunlight. "I know you have it. Hand it over, or you die." Left with those extremely limited options, Eggman reluctantly reached into his jacket and took out the Red Chaos Emerald. The robot snatched it away from him, before smacking him squarely on the face, forcing him onto his back in the snow. Decoe and Becoe were instantly at his side.

"Leave the Doctor Alone!" Becoe snapped as the two of them put themselves in harms way." Without warning a low rumbling began echoing throughout the blizzard, an amused chuckle that set Eggman's nerves on fire. Descending out of the glom came on his worst nightmares, the robot he built to destroy Sonic, who turned on his creator in an attempt to seize power. Metal Sonic himself. Eggman screamed like a little girl and backed off to a safe distance as the robotic hedgehog landed next to the first tall robot.

"I gave you a chance to join the machines true cause before; I won't so charitable this time." Metal Sonic stated, jabbing a finger at the two robots. Then he caught sight of the Chaos Emerald grimly in his General's grasp. "Ah, you do good work Dark Oak."

"I exist to serve you my lord." The taller robot stated, kneeling down and presenting his master with the Emerald. Metal Sonic took the jewel into both hands, admiring it almost greedily. "What do we do with the human?" The robotic hedgehog cast his creator a side glance.

"Destroy him." Was the simple reply, as he turned away and leapt into the air; travelling the long distance back up towards the Battleship above, disappearing into the blizzard. Dark Oak gestured to his troops, who cocked their rifles and aimed them directly at Eggman's head. With no time to loose, the doctor drew back his sleeve and pressed a button on his wrist watch.

Eggman knew of his own shortcomings and prepared traps against them. What weapons system were left on the Egg Carrier's wing turned the barrels of their turrets directly at the aggressors and open fired, the air instantly filled with bullets and missile fire. Several robots fell down to the snow, ridded with holes, others blown to smithereens. In the confusion, Eggman and his two robots made a run for their vehicle. The two of them tried to explain it wasn't ready but their creator wasn't listening. He simply jumped in the driving seat and slammed his fist down on the ON button.

(In Chris' voice)

Has Eggman been replaced as the new bad guy around? Will Metal Sonic ever be a good guy again? Whose that guy he was talking to? And what is that strange thing Chuck and Chris have now? Find out next time on the start of the Metal X Saga, The Spider's Web. Don't miss it!

End of Saga notes:

Not bad? I hope so; Sonic's Shuffle's original plot was pretty awful so I had to salvage what I could from it. A Mario party spoof at best.

Now Metal Sonic's back as the latest bad guy. Does he ever become good again? Well…I'm not giving anything away at this early point. But the fate I have planned for him may surprise a few people. I like to throw people surprise.

As for Hexagon: They are a Sonic based thing. To see them, go on Sonic Heroes and play the city levels. One some of the signs, you see Hexagon's symbol.

Who'se that guy in the robe Metal Sonic was talkign to? Could it be Krish? Or someone else? I'm telling you nothing! You wanna find out, wait like everyone else!

Anyway: Void's major part in the story is over, buthis legacy will float around for a while. In what form you ask? Well wait and find out!

Now, I'm sure many people have heard that the official second series of Sonic X has been confirmed. I don't mind being proven wrong on this point and from what I've seen, they're putting a lot more effort into this new season then they did the last on. Chris is back in it andhe's less of a pain then he was the last time.

Anyway, in the coming saga's I'll be trying to adapt a few things from the new series. (Hey no shame in that, if it's good enough that I think it's worth using then the writers behind the series are actually trying for a change.)