Flip card 2:

Name: Equinox

Age: A month

Species: Robot

Description: The last of Metal Sonic's general's and the weakest of the four.

-

With missiles flying from launch compartments on his arms, Omega went in for the kill. Each projectile struck Equinox hard, but didn't seem to be doing any damage. The armour covering his insect-like body held in up and the last few missiles the General simply batted away with his pike. Omega spread his arms, out talons arching ready to slash. Coming around the side of the general, E123 cut across one of his legs legs. Equinox had been expecting the armour on the leg to hold up, but to his utter dismay; Omega's claws sank deep through the metal; nearly carving his entire limb off. Staggering backwards, one of his front legs nearly hanging off; Equinox swung his entire torso around trying to impale the blade edge of his pike straight through Omega's chest plate.

Despite being large, Omega was anything but slow. Dodging around the swipe, he turned and aimed another missile; this one striking the wound he had given Equinox a minute ago. Now weakened, the limb was blown clear off with a spray of molten metal and charred fragments.

"I'll make you pay for that, you obsolete model!" Equinox accounted, his eyes glowing bright yellow. He tucked the ruined stump of his ruined leg underneath his body and ran forward on his remaining seven legs.

Before he could reach Omega through, Sonic went flying in with a kick that sent the general flying sideways and into the side of a tree.

"Omega, you weaken his armour; and I'll take care of the rest." The blue hedgehog told the battle android as the spider like General of the Machine Federation hoisted himself backup.

"Affirmative." Omega replied, before converting his legs from walking mode to mobile mode; the stumpy limbs retracting into the body and a set of tank like treads taking their place. The jet engine on his back flared to life, propelling him across the distance between himself and the leader of the Metal X ground forces. Equinox turned and repeatedly swiped away at the incoming robot. Now in mobile mode, Omega was fast enough to race around it all; before he went in hard and fast, clawed fingers already outreached. Equinox tried to reverse away, but E123 was too fast. Before he could stop him, Omega's talons sank deep into his armour, before wrenching forward; tearing a huge chuck off of his chest.

Sonic wasted no time. He started spinning on the spot, going faster and faster; gaining as much friction was he possible could before rocketing forward with a loud sonic boom. Equinox tried to get out of the way but by now it was already too late. Sonic tore through him like a cannon ball, shooting through his weakened armour and flying out the back in a giant spray of fragmented metal shards.

Equinox convulsed violently, before the glow from his golden yellow eyes died away and he collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.

"Well…" Sonic began, dusting his hands. "That wasn't so hard." Suddenly, with a loud humming of reactivating systems; the Metal X General's eyes snapped on and like someone rising from the grave; the spider like robot rose to his feet. Both omega and Sonic were left stunned, Equinox still had a gapping hole in him; they could both see right through his chest to the trees behind him, but he was up as if it was nothing at all.

"You really thought it would be that simple to defeat one of Lord Metal Sonic's elite?" The General asked flatly, the glow from his eyes changing from yellow to a blood red. Slowly, he removed his helmet to show the machinery inside. Placed directly where he brain should be was the Red Chaos Emerald; glowing brightly and wrapped in wires and cables; all feeding its energy down into the robot itself.

Equinox began to chuckle as the red glow increased dramatically and chaos energy began washing over his entire body; the hole in his chest growing smaller and smaller until it disappeared entirely. Then his leg re-grew out of the stump, providing him with all ten limbs again. The blade of his pike rippled and gained a serrated edge. With a sudden flush of colour, his armour changed from orange to a blood scarlet.

"Why is it never easy?" Sonic asked. Just once he'd like to save the world without having to nearly kill himself to do it, just once. Several hidden compartments inside Equinox's body that hadn't been there before opened up and the tips of missiles protruded from the darkness.

"Incoming!" Omega exclaimed; pushing the blue hedgehog out of the way as at least two dozen projectiles came flying through the air. Sonic looked up in horror as each and every one smashed hard into the battle androids' body, engulfing his form in afire and smoke; hiding him from sight.

"Omega!" There was a loud thud as the charred form was sent toppling backwards to the ground, large holes torn in his red armour and the G.U.N emblem on his chest nearly burnt off. His eyes were still red, showing that his systems were still active; although his body itself was in no condition to move.

"Any last requests?" Equinox asked, replacing his helmet back over his head. Sonic stood up, his back to the robot; before he slowly turned around. His green eyes alight with more of the usual humour he was so famous for.

"You bad guys are all the same. All talk." He announced, assuming a new fighting stance. "Are you going to fight or what?" Equinox simply growled, before swinging his pike forward in front of himself; the blade aimed directly at the blue hedgehog.

How that he'd tapped into the power of the Chaos Emerald he had been given by Metal Sonic, The Metal X General's strength and speed was greatly augmented. Not only that, but his armour seemed to take twice as much punishment as it had before.

Keeping the fight as far away from Omega as possible, Sonic went on the offence, sliding through the vicious swipes Equinox made with his pike before trying to pry open the armour. E123 had already shown him that while the armour plating covering the General's body was super stronger, the machine inside was pretty fragile. All he really needed to do pry it open enough to fire a Sonic wind inside; but instantly he realized that Equinox had installed a good detail of that ancient technology onto himself when a thick force shield formed itself over the spider like robot's front, forcing the blue hedgehog to back off to a safe distance.

Turning, Equinox fired another barrage of missiles straight at his target. Sonic turned and ran, trying to out distance them. He growled when he looked back and discovered that they were smart bombs; when he turned they followed him. Turning back, Sonic charged straight back towards Equinox; who swung his pike down ready to fight. Just as Sonic came within swiping distance, he ducked under the swing and leapt high up into the air. Equinox exclaimed and staggered backwards as his own missiles acted too late in trying to follow their intended target and hit him square in the face instead.

Landing back on the ground, Sonic cupped his hands and gathered as much energy and he could spare; before shooting back around and firing a Sonic Wind at the Metal X General while he had his back turned. The attack hit with full force, ripping Equinox from the ground and sending him crashing through the undergrowth between the trees before disappearing completely with a loud crunching sound that echoed across the area following after him.

Breathing heavily, Sonic sighed and sat down on the ground. A good deal of sweat was running down the sides of his head. His ears pricked up when he heard a twig snapping underfoot and only managed to dodge Equinox's pike as it went flying out of nowhere, thrown like a javelin. The blue hedgehog looked back as it impacted into the ground nearby.

"Man…what do I have to do….to make you take…a hint?" He asked out of breath as Equinox clambered out of the darkness like a colossal insect, despite having the regenerative power of a Chaos Emerald backing him; the General's armour and scratched deeply in a few places. Hissing, Sonic forcing himself to his feet; his quills and blue fur a completely mess and a nasty bruise developing on the side of his head.

"Need a hand blue boy?" A familiar voice asked. Sonic looked up as a white blur came down from the sky as Equinox charged forward; the tip of a boot smashing itself into the General's head. Equinox backed away; a large hole torn in the side of his helmet.

Rouge spread her wings and descended to stand a little in front of the blue hedgehog.

"This guys one tough nut to crack." Sonic replied; stretching his arms out until something cracked.

"What, a robot even the mighty Sonic the Hedgehog can't stop?" The female bat asked coyly.

"I'm not kidding here." Sonic retorted. "Omega and I threw everything we had at him, but he just regenerated using that Chaos Emerald inside his head." Rouge cast a glance over towards the battered body of the E123 and then towards Equinox himself and the red glow leaking out the cracks running through his helmet.

"Think you can get his helmet off?" She asked back towards him. Sonic nodded, before pausing to dust himself off. Then when Equinox was least expecting it, the blue hedgehog raced forward; sweeping past the robots defences and throwing himself at the head. Batting him away with the blunt end of his pike, Equinox slammed the blue hedgehog repeatedly into the ground before tossing him back up into the air. Looking up, the general opened up every missile compartment on his body and prepared to fire.

Flipping up in mid air, Sonic curved himself into a ball and started spinning. He remained hovering high up for a second, before rocketing downwards. Equinox fired, and every missile he had left screamed towards the spinning blue hedgehog. The spinning motion protected Sonic from the individual blasts and before Equinox could stop him, Sonic smashed down on top of his head, shattering his helmet into pieces.

"ENOUGH!" The General declared, forcing a thick force field around his body; throwing Sonic off. His metal arm trailed out and his pike tugged itself out of the ground and returned to him. "For the glory of the Machine Federation, you must all die!" He added, turning to swipe away at Sonic.

Omega found just enough energy to lifted his right arm an in that instant, fired several missiles straight at the Metal X general. Focusing on Sonic, Equinox left himself open and caught the full burnt of it.

Seeing him distracted, Rouge went flying in; drawing her leg back and gathering strength before smashing one of her most powerful kicks straight into the General's head. With a sickening twist, she decapitated him; the metal head containing the Chaos Emerald sent rolling across the ground.

But that wasn't the end of it. The body just keep on moving without the head, turning to smash a super strong punch straight into Rouge's body, sending her crashing to the ground.

Sonic shot over to the severed head and wrenched the Red Chaos Emerald free from it, its glow steadily increasing as now he had in his hands. He could already feel its power replenishing his own and with a sudden snap, he turned and shot back towards the red of Equinox; his quills with a faint yellow tinge to them. Focusing all his strength into one attack; Sonic tore through the Torso of the general once again, his spin attack severing the torso from the insect like legs.

"Long live METAL X!" This time, without any Emerald to regenerate himself' Equinox was finished. Sonic had pierced the generator inside his body causing fatal reaction. The spider like body convulsed several times before collapsing to the ground. An instant later, beams of light began lancing out of it; energy bolts dancing over the outside before with a boom that shook the ground it exploded in a firestorm.

-

With a reluctant roar, the engine of the Blue Typhoon finally came back online and many of the controls in Tails console lit back up. Knuckles was still down in the energy chamber and with his help, the correct flow of energy from the Master Emerald had been managed and without that overpowering flow; the conduits supplying power to the whole of the ship didn't short out. The output on the engines buzzing like crazy, the ship began to lift off of the ground. The holographic display that kept it hidden from radar and the searching Machine Federation drones stayed on, constantly adapting to what was around it; like a chameleon whose coloured changed depending on what it was sitting on. The red Chaos Emerald that they brought back had been added to the others down with the Master Emerald, but even with that boast the movements of the ship seemed a little sluggish.

Big had wandered out of the room Tails had put him in and was now standing next to Cosmo, looking out towards the new wilderness around.

"Oh pretty." He remarked, holding his frog up. "See Froggy? See all the pretty colours?" The amphibian simply puffed its cheeks out.

"Rippit." The frog replied, before slipping out of Big's hands and hopping down his arm to nestle itself in the thick fur on his shoulder.

"Right, time to take her up." The Doctor began, sitting down at the main console panel.

"What about the others?" Sonic asked once he and Rouge had hauled Omega's heavy body back to the Typhoon

"Forget 'um." Eggman replied with a moment of hesitation; now busy rushing over the controls. "Right now we've more important things to do, like getting out of here. This ship's a slug as it is." Sonic slapped his hand down hard, gaining his old Nemesis' instant attention.

"Maybe we need to lighten the load." The tips of Eggman's moustache began to curl in anger, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses. "We leave here with everyone with came with, or we don't leave at all." Eggman had no sway for argument on the ship and the decision to hunt for the others was unanimous.

It's sensors still sweeping outwards, the Blue Typhoon began to slowly move away from the Metal X drones; keeping outside a safe distance in case one of them should try to penetrate the disguise that made them appear like a patch of sky or at other times like a cloud.

Cosmo stood as usual staring out at the main window down towards the ground. Tails looked up, finally noticing that she had not said anything in the last couple of hours. Flipping a switch, he transferred the controls to Eggman, who gladly accepted them; but was kept from taking them out of Mars' Atmosphere by Sonic standing over his shoulder, occasionally snapping his knuckles to emphasize what would happen if Eggman did anything stupid.

"Hey." Tails began, joining her side. Cosmo looked up and smiled briefly. "A penny for your thoughts?" The green haired girl sighed.

"I'm here because of what the visions showed me." She began looking up at the sky. "But at first, I wasn't sure what help I could be if I didn't know what they meant." All Tails could do right now was listen. "I'm sure though, that I alone was sent the images for some reason. I was supposed to come here. I just haven't discovered what for yet."

"More of that destiny stuff?" The young fox asked. Like Sonic, he shared the opinion that nothing was set in stone; that nothing was predetermined.

"We all have a destiny." Cosmo replied. "All of us are here on this journey because we are supposed to do something important." She then turned to face him. "What those something's are can't often be accurately predicted, not until the moment itself." Tails was silent. He would be lying if he said he understood half of that, but it had had some deep meaning that he managed to salvage. Destiny was something Cosmo' people took very seriously. Their belief was everything and everyone had one predestined path, but as to how those paths were lived was always up to the decision of the individual. It occurred to Tails that despite how closely their lives had become with the visitors from Maginaryworld, he himself knew very little about them.

He knew they were dimensional travellers and that their home reality was created from the sentient thoughts of all the beings in the others. Apart from that, he knew nothing of their culture.

Cosmo was looking down at the terraformed surface of Mars with a smile on her face. Now here was a chance to learn some much about them. It was the driving ambition that made him such a good engineer, the one true passion that Tails held was a lust for learning.

"Well, four down three to go." Knuckles stated with a short grin, looking up at the red Chaos Emerald now placed with the other three and the Master in the centre of the Energy Chamber.

"Now don't loose that." Rouge began with a coy smile, her wings folded around her arms. "It took a bit to get my hands on it." Knuckles laughed under his breath, putting his hands on his hips.

"Sonic was the one who brought it in."

"I helped."

"So did Omega.

"I did most of the work."

"Yeah? Well Omega's the one who needed a new coat of paint." The two of them stared at each other angrily, before Knuckles forced some laughter down and before the two of them knew it, they were collapsing over each other in fits of laughter.

"I thought we weren't going to argue anymore." Rouge began, sitting down on the metal steps leading up the Master Emerald's pedestal.

"Where's the fun in that?" The red Echidna asked, sitting down next to her.

"Fun?" Rouge asked back sceptically. "I didn't think you knew what that way." Knuckles levelled his eyes.

"Ha Ha." He muttered flatly. "Friends argue Rouge, besides with you it's funny." Rouge forged her own smirk. "Friends?" The red Echidna began, holding up his own fist.

"More like blood brothers, Knucklehead." She replied, batting her own fist against his.

"Brothers?"

"Siblings then."

-

Metal Sonic was not pleased. He had entrusted that Chaos Emerald to Equinox to help him with the experiments, yet instead he choose to defy orders and engage Sonic himself. The outcome was obvious. The only thing that kept his temper from boiling over were the prizes his first general had been able to snag. With glare red eyes and looked over the large green stasis tube he was keeping Shadow in. The black and red hedgehog floated there in a form of suspended animation, his nose and mouth covered by an oxygen mask with a pipe that lead up the mesh of devices above. Bubbles were constantly floating up to the surface of the green liquid. Normally, prisoners would be kept in simple cells down in the Behemoth's brig. But Shadow was no ordinary prisoner. This way, they could keep him from waking up and interfering. Plus Metal Sonic now had the unique opportunity to study him. If Chaos control could be synthesised, his forces could be near invincible on the battlefield.

On top of him, Dark Oak had been able to gather another four prisoners from Sonic's party. All of them Mobians, they were presently being taken down to the brig for containment. Metal Sonic thought it a good idea not to kill them just yet. They might come in handy later on.

Turning away from tube, Metal Sonic watched as holographic display appeared in front of him; his faithful first general was reporting in.

"Interrogation, I am sorry to report, has revealed little else then we already know." Dark Oak admitted. He was standing in a corridor with a row of cells on either side. Standing nearby, his ragged fur and drooping ears was Hare. Blood was leaking out the side of his mouth. Dark Oak had asked him questions regarding the specifications of their craft and how to detect it. When he didn't answer, they beat him. Throughout it all, even the kicks and punches, he had said nothing.

"That won't matter." Metal Sonic replied flatly. "Keep them alive for now; they may prove useful later on during our campaigns."

"The only thing we'll ever help you do…" Hare began, looking up weekly; blood running out the side of his mouth. One of his eyes had been beaten black and bruises were partly hidden underneath the fur. "Is write your epitaph."

"You'll speak when spoken to." Dark Oak reminded him, lifting the mobian rabbit up by his bandana, before tossing him roughly into an open cell. Hare collided with the back wall before falling limply to the floor. Nearly instantly the bars slammed shut after him, leaving Hare alone.

Tikal was in the cell opposite, hugging her knees to herself. Someone onboard the Behemoth, some kind of technology was preventing her from teleporting away; and Chaos seemed unable to come to her assistance either. She was trapped her, just like the rest of them. Her thoughts however were not on her own safety, or on that of those in the cells around her. Instead she found herself wondering what they had done to Shadow.

She had been here long enough to realize that they had all walked right into a trap. Metal Sonic lured them here to this planet offering them his Chaos emeralds as a prize. Travelling here, they had brought the Emeralds they had with them. If Metal Sonic found the Typhoon, not only would he capture the rest of their crew; but the Chaos Emeralds as well.

(In Chris' Voice)

The adventures really off on Mars! But how are things going back on Earth? With Chaotix still hunting Fang the Sniper, Cream and her Mom looking for the Last Chaos Emerald and Hexagon setting up a new global defence grid, anything could happen! Find out what happens next time on Sonic X: The cross heirs of the Sniper! Don't miss it!