(I do not own Sonic X, etc.)
S.O.N.I.C GO!
S.O.N.I.C GO!
GO, GO, GO, GO LET'S GO!
Episode 13: Mars the New World
The fourth planet in the solar system was the wasteland, Mars. Barren and desolate, the planet had an atmosphere no creature from Earth could survive in, a harmful dose of carbon dioxide that the oxygen dependant people of earth could never use. Giant sheets of ice ran across it's poles, proving that the planet had once been hot enough for water for exist in it's liquid form. It's surface was scared with the evidence as well, the deep remain of ancient river beds that had dried up when the ice at the poles drew all the present water into itself.
The Behemoth, the giant battleship of the Metal X Machine Federation floated in orbit around the Red Planet. From here, Metal Sonic had conducted experiments on the soil extracted by the probes. From his results, it showed that microscopic life had existed on the planet a couple of million years ago, preserved almost perfectly in the rocks. How fortunate, to have a planet so close to home so perfect for their needs. This would prove very advantageous. On more than one front.
For some time now, Metal Sonic had been looking for an excuse to test the full capabilities of the alien technology he had liberated from Doctor Eggman. So far, all he had used it for was augmenting the physical strength of his armies. Nothing all that spectacular, that was all that Eggman had been using it for and Metal Sonic wanted to do something far more ambitious.
In the Behemoth's science labs, standing before a large holographic display of the barren planet, Metal Sonic studied the diagram carefully as it changed, adding into it levels of water, foliage and even rain forest. A wasteland turning nearly instantly into a paradise. After running the last few simulations, the leader of Metal X was how assured that the plan was sound. Orbiting around the empty world at a lower altitude than the Behemoth was a web of satellites; all awaiting his command to start their objective. It would take a few hours for the process to finish, but when it was over, Metal X would have all the energy it would require for it's experiment.
Metal Sonic had considered using the Earth for his purposes, but that world was too spoiled. The humans who had previously ruled unchallenged over it had left it in a terrible state. Pollution, waste, land development, oil spill, all this ruined the flow of natural energy.
"Seeding is ready to begin my Lord." Dark Oak, strongest of his Generals began, his metallic faceappearing in a holographic display nearby. "Energy collectors are standing by, the labs are waiting." Metal Sonic turned to give his most trusted General a glance over his shoulder."
"Then begin the operation." Dark oak bowed with a sweep on his hand, lowering his head face in respect.
"At once my lord." With that he disappeared. Barley a moment later the diagrams had showed the positions of the satellites began to change, showing their new positions as the operation got underway. First the net began to tighten around the barren planet as the satellites moved into their final places, resting just beyond the stratosphere.
If an observer had been watching from outside the ship, he would have seen a thin shield of purple energy slowly spreading around the entire planet, changing it's colour from red to a deep violet. Blue lightning began lancing from satellite to satellite like the inside of a thundercloud only on a much grander scale. From the Behemoth, Metal Sonic watched almost in awe as the incredible technology undertook it's task.
Inside that shield, all the carbon dioxide in Mar's atmosphere was being converted almost instantly into oxygen. Such a fast reaction was needed or Mar's natural supply of gasses would simply shrug off the attempt at atmospheric change.
According to the probes results, the exact conditions were being generated on the planet below. Within two minutes, Mars' atmosphere was now a near copy of Earth's. Once this process had been completed and stabilised, the satellites finished the job and the purple shielded dissipated into nothing; the blue lightning bussed for a moment before vanishing completely.
From here, Metal Sonic could actually see the difference. The planet was now far less red. Now it appeared a pale brown. The compounds that gave it the blood red façade were now gone, leaving the air around it clear and breathable. Not that any of his units needed to breath, but for his plans such an environment was necessary.
"Phase one successful my lord." Dark Oak added, his holographic image reappearing beside his master.
"Perfect." The ancient technology had worked beautifully and to specification. If Metal Sonic was honest with himself, he would admit he held out reservations about if the magnitude of this task could actually be completed. Apparently he should have had more faith in this miraculous hardware.
"Phase two ready to begin."
"Then begin."
The starlight wasn't particularly bright tonight and the darkness of the earth magnified ten-fold by the weakening of the moonlight. What lit up the night sky tonight was the ring that now encircled the Earth, the fragments that the Eclipse Cannon had blown off shone like the blinking lights of a city above.
Tikal lay on he back staring up at it. She'd never seen such a beautiful phenomenon before. It was like a belt of stars slowly sliding across the sky. The female Echidna sighed and put her arms behind her head. Like a puppy, she'd followed Shadow across the wilderness before he finally stopped on a side of a cliff overlooking a canyon. She suspected he'd stopped not for his sake but rather for hers.
He sat not to far away at the base of a tree trunk, nimbly tossing and catching his Yellow Chaos Emerald in one hand, his head leaning on the other. He'd been travelling all day and hadn't shown very many signs of fatigue, although in his dark red eyes she could see the pull of a strange tiredness.
"Don't you ever sleep?" She asked, looking back at him while upside down. The black and red hedgehog twitched and turned to look at her, before sighing.
"Not very often." He replied, although she could tell just by looking at him he was tired. The Chaos Emerald could sustain him for longer then he could by himself, but as he yawned she knew he was in need of sleep.
Sitting up, Tikal hugged her knees closer to herself.
"Shadow, exactly how old are you?" She asked over her shoulder. The hedgehog didn't bother to look up.
"68." That was the exact number of years since his creation, although admittedly he'd spent most of that time suspended animation. Tikal smiled smugly at him, pressing the end of her thumb against her shoulder.
"Well over two thousand." Surpassingly, he smiled back.
"You don't look a day over five hundred." Was that a joke? From Shadow the Hedgehog? 'The' Shadow the Hedgehog? Tikal's grin widened with an almost sadistic twist to it. Perhaps she was making more progress than she herself thought. "Why the sudden interest in age?" He asked after a moment of silence.
"Just curious." She replied. While hardly a burden, Tikal was proving to be an interesting puzzle for Shadow. She followed him when she had no need to, she insisted on being his companion when she was already perfectly aware that he liked to travel alone and she seemed unimpressed by any attempt he made to be menacing. As far as she was concerned, the only shadowy thing about him was his name. Still, he would be lying if he said her companionship wasn't friendly. She kept conversations frequent and engaging, even when he didn't want to. Any topic she brought up always seemed to draw him in by some strange means that he did not understand. He knew she had some other motive for tagging along, but since he could feel it wasn't sinister in nature he let it go unexplained.
Even as he sat thinking, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier and by the time he realised he was half-asleep he had his eyes closed. Forcing one of the open he saw that time had slipped past for about an hour and Tikal was sitting next to him leaning back against the tree. She'd taken the yellow Chaos Emerald off him and was studying the jewel, turning it over in her hands. Surprisingly, she wasn't asleep yet and didn't look like she was going to nod off any time soon either. "You need more sleep than that." She said without looking up. "Go on, take a nap; no one's around here to think you're week." Pride was telling him not to. Sleep was for lesser creatures, surely not a burden for the ultimate life-form. It actually occurred to him how unbearably arrogant he was being. Perhaps it was Tikal's influence, but he found himself actually embarrassed by his own attitude.
Just as he was drifting off, she elbowed him in the ribs forcing him awake. What the matter was, was already quite clear. In the sky, a new star had appeared. A red star, it's light burning twice as brightly at the other stars. For an instant, the star pulsated blood red before changing to a deep purple. With one final blast, the star seemed to explode expanding across the entire sky before everything returned to normal.
Shadow forged a frown and stood up.
"What was that?" Tikal asked looking stunned.
"Trouble." Shadow replied flatly.
-
Cosmo woke up with in a cold sweat, her eyes wide. She was breathing hard and her pulse racing. It took a moment, but she managed to calm herself. She found herself still at Tails' workshop in the Mystic Ruins, in one of the bedrooms upstairs. A shaft of sunlight was gently flittering though into the room, falling just short of the bed. After a second, she remembered what she was doing here and then her dream itself, the disturbing image that had forced her awake.
She saw a world, this Earth and the planet next to it. One was overridden with abundant life, the other barren and empty. Suddenly, that barren world had blossomed and the two planets looked almost identical. Just as this beautiful sight reached its peak, a metal parasite began feeding off the life of this new world; devouring all in it's path. As it ate, it grew stronger and stronger and once it had sufficient strength, it invaded the second and then both planets were reduced to lifeless husks.
Being new to this dimension, Cosmo did not know what this new vision meant; only that it would be important. She had to tell Sonic about it. Throwing off the covers, she ran downstairs to the main living area of Tails' workshop. Knuckles was asleep on the sofa next to the large screen TV. A small blanket draped over him, not large enough to cover his feet. His shoes sat on the floor and his gloves on table between the sofa and the TV. He was snoring loudly.
The loud whirring of equipment working was coming from the doorway heading down into the underground workshop. Tails was nowhere in sight, so Cosmo assumed he was down below working on another of his inventions. She couldn't see Eggman or his two robots either.
"You're up early." A voice stated when she got downstairs. Turning, Cosmo saw Amy sitting in the kitchen area enjoying some toast.
"Sonic…is not here?" Cosmo asked, looking concerned. Amy took a bite of her toast and shook her head.
"No, he went out for a run." The small girl from Maginaryworld suddenly looked confused.
"I do not understand." She confessed. "Your planet is in peril, yet he finds time to run?" The pink hedgehog smiled.
"It's what he does." Cosmo's expression warranted further explanation. "I guess you just have to know him." The green haired girl sat down next to her and Amy offered a piece of toast. It took a moment for her to realise it was food.
"Do you know where he has gone?" She asked after finishing half of it. Amy leaned back in her chair.
"Sonic's never in one place for more than a minute; that's how I met him." The pink hedgehog remained silent for a moment, remembering that time like it was yesterday. It had been when Earth and Mobius were two separate worlds. Eggman had only just started out to conquer the world and rumours of a lightning fast blue hero fighting his robots off were spreading like wild fire. Amy had never paid too much attention to the gossip. That is until she was corned by three of the Eggman's Dreadnaughts. She managed to fight one of them off with her old Piko hammer. She would have been taken prisoner, had Sonic not been flying overhead with Tails and jumped in at the last minute.
Ever since then she'd followed Sonic and in time had been introduced to all their friends. In a strange way, that was the day her life really began.
"I had another vision." Cosmo began, gaining Amy's attention. Quickly she conveyed her strange dream and how it had left her feeling rather shaky. Then again, all her visions did that.
"I hope you're not asking me what it means." Amy started with a nervous grin. Cosmo just sighed, leaning on the table.
"I don't know what it could be predicting, I just know it's important." Knuckles yawned loudly, stretched until something snapped. Wiping away the salvia from the side of his mouth the Echidna sat up, the light coming in from the half closed window stinging his eyes. It took him a minute to remember exactly what he was doing away from the Emerald shrine but when it all came flooding back he groaned falling back into the seat.
He still didn't know exactly why the Emerald insisted that he abandon it to help Sonic and the others. As guardian, his only duty was to safeguard the Master Emerald.
Whatever it expected to happen had to be serious for it to get him involved. The Emerald was not easily moved by the plights of others. Still, he was it's guardian and subordinate to it. Whatever it said, went.
A loud hissing came up from the floor and the lift to the workshop below rose through a concealed trap door near the stairs that lead up. Tails emerged, his fur covered in a great deal of oil. Apart from the a space around his eyes which his goggles had shielded, his face was blackened. He coughed several times into his glove, before dusting himself off.
"Mondays…" He muttered to himself, sitting down on the sofa. Knuckles repressed the urge to comment and to laugh when Tails pushed his goggles up to his forehead, leaving two blank spaces around his eyes. Flipping the TV on, the fox sighed and leaned back in his seat.
"How are the repairs on the Icarus coming along?" Amy asked coyly from the kitchen.
"Their not." Tails replied sourly, wiping some of the oil off his chest fur. "It'd be easier to build a whole new ship from scratch. Chuck is going to kill me." Knuckles rolled his eyes, remembering the nightmare fall from space trapped inside the space ship Icarus. Frankly, he'd be glad to see the back of the thing.
"A recap of our top story today." The reporter on CNN began, the words: EMERGENCY BROADCAST slowly sliding across the screen. The caption screen at the side showed a picture of the planet Mars, or at least that's what the subtitling said. The planet being showed didn't look anything like Mars. It was blue and green, an almost exact copy of Earth but the landmasses were all different. "Astronomers, scientists and Government officials are at a loss to explain the sudden and startling transformation of the planet Mars." Tails shot forward in his chair, staring in wonder. "Reports are conflicting, but it appears that the Red planet now had a breathable atmosphere and lush vegetation; an amazing overnight transmutation. Many have taken to the streets." The reporter turned to a human in a grey suit with a red tie and a pair of old wire rim spectacles. "Professor Hawk, can you sum up what you expect is happening?"
"Er…yes." The old man began. "What has happened to Mars is a process called Terraformation. For several years, scientific groups have been labouring with the idea of turning Mars; the closet planet to us, into an inhabitable place. It seems someone has had the same idea."
"This just in, the White House has just made a statement." The presenter started, holding a hand to his ear microphone. "They are advising people to stay in their homes until official assessments of the situation and the possible danger to security can be evaluated."
"This some joke?" Knuckles asked, raising an eyebrow in scepticism. It certainly didn't look like a joke. It wasn't April first anymore so a bit late for an April fools joke.
Cosmo looked up at the report and staggered back instant, recoiling in surprise. That planet on TV, it was the same one from her vision.
-
Those lucky enough to look out their car windows in that exact spilt second would have caught a glimpse of the blue hedgehog as he shot past, darting through the on coming traffic too fast for any of the drivers to see him.
Running up the side of a truck, Sonic paused just long enough on it's top to get his bearings before flying off again. If he was perfectly honest, he would admit that he had no clear destination in mind. His head was clouded with thoughts and to clear himself he did the only thing that calmed him down; he ran.
The humans were unused to rapid change so the world's present situation disturbed them greatly. Many of them were heading into the countryside to wait out the period of conflict. It was they'd done during previous wars so Sonic supposed it made sense to them. Personally, he just saw that as running away.
Eventually he slowed down and came to a stop in the middle of a traffic clogged city on the coast, a steady stream of cars and trucks heading out along the highway. Once Station Square had been made an example of, the general public was beginning to think no city was safe. Sonic sighed and folded his arms.
There were still so many unanswered questions. Like who had reprogrammed Metal Sonic to be a bad guy again? It wasn't Eggman, otherwise why would he be helping them? If not him, then who else could have? An old enemy? Or a new one throwing itself into the mix? As if this situation wasn't complicated enough.
The city was all but deserted as he strode in. The only people left were either police assisting with the evacuation or closing up shop, the rest of the populations were clad inside the traffic jam a mile long.
Wandering around, Sonic eventually found a place were people looked like they intended to stay for at least a few more hours. Perhaps in defiance of a popular intent to flee, they looked as busy as they could trying to maintain a relatively normal life style. Sonic found there was some logic in that and he forged a smile at his own revelation. No amount of sulking was going to change a situation, even if you didn't like it. Life was never fair, that was what made it life.
No matter who the enemy was, Sonic would have to give it his all. Metal Sonic was a very strong opponent, as skilled if not more than himself. He could afford no distractions of hesitation in a fight.
"It took you long enough to get here." Stated a voice. Sonic shot around in a fighting stance, just before a torrent of fire came lancing out of nowhere. Hitting the dirt, Sonic only managed to get the ends of each quill scorched. The flames continued past him before colliding into the side of a petrol tanker, the explosion tearing open the ground and throwing the blue hedgehog across the street and into a lamppost, knocking it over. People began running and screaming, putting themselves a save distance from the destruction.
Looking up, Sonic watched as a large lumbering form marched out of the ensuing fires gathering around. He frowned, forcing his way to his feet as he recognised Theta, one of Doctor Eggman's elite robots. The Eggman Empire symbol on his left hand side had been removed, replaced by a new emblem; an armoured fist of metal. The icon of Metal X.
"Playing for another team?"
"A transfer. I fight for the Machine Federation now." The robot raised both barrels and fire shot through the air. Sonic slide to the side avoiding a scorching before somersaulting forwards and smashing a flying kick straight into Theta's chest plate. The robot kept his ground and battered Sonic away like a bug before stamping forward, nearly flattening the hedgehog underneath his large foot.
The blue hedgehog was on his feet in an instant, his body spinning around with a tight vortex, smashing itself at top speed straight into the robot's waiting arms. Theta took hold of the attack and dug his heals into the road, the sheer force of the spin forcing him backwards. Eventually Sonic ran out of momentum and leapt back out of harms way.
Fire lanced through the air again and Sonic had to leap into the air to avoid it. Rebounding off the side of walk, the bleu hedgehog came rocketing back with a punch knocking Theta backwards. Sonic didn't stop there, he landed another punch an another and another before finally somersaulting up and smashing one final kick.
Theta toppled backwards before crashing to the ground and there he stayed, motionless. Sonic paused to gather his wits, before slowly approaching.
Theta had put up better fights than that before. There was no way it had been that easy. His paranoia paying off, Sonic tried to avoid a punch as Theta mimicked Emerl's favourite attack and launched a metal fist straight through the air at him. He failed and took the whole brunt of it and was sent flying straight into the side of a truck.
"Hardware update?" Sonic asked, the left side of his face going numb.
"A gift from General Leviathan." A second hand shot out and grabbed Sonic by the throat, tugging him violently across the sidewalk before slamming his back into the road; keeping him pinned to the ground.
"Can't we discus this like human beings?" Sonic managed to gasp as the metallic hand kept him pinned, Theta towering over him; slowly raising a large flat foot.
"Nice try hedgehog." The robot said with a fair amount of disgust in his voice before slamming his foot down. Sonic wrenched himself free of the fist and rolled to the side before swinging up with a kick. The robot grabbed his foot and attempted to toss him over his shoulder, but at the last second Sonic grabbed his head and took Theta with them somersaulting straight into the side of a wall, straight through it and tumbling into a thick pile of brick dust.
Flip card 1:
Name: Theta
Description: Created by Doctor Eggman as part of his elite, E1004: Theta now fights for the Metal X Machine Federation.