Chapter 20: A Monster Reborn
September 5th, 2316 – 4:50 AM – Robotropolis, Robotnik Empire
Tails tried desperately to think of a way to get out of this situation, as he stared at Metal Sonic, but he just couldn't think of anything. He felt like he was staring at an executioner's axe, one that was about to slice right through his neck. They were locked in a room with Robotnik's deadliest invention yet, with no way to escape its wrath. Robotnik began to start babbling again.
"I'm sure you two remember the promise I made to you a while back, don't you?"
Tails and Knuckles looked at each other, slightly confused. When he didn't get a response, Robotnik spoke up again.
"After you destroyed the first Metal Sonic, I swore to all of you that I would create another Metal Sonic. That time has finally come, now that I have copied Sonic's life data again! That's why he was missing from your cell. The new Metal Sonic is stronger, faster... And at the same time Tails, he is immune to the good side of Sonic's life data. There will be no messing with his programming this time, little fox boy! You'll have to think of another way to defeat him!"
Tails clenched his fist, feeling like screaming out his rage at the doctor.
"Now, if I wanted to, I could send out Metal Sonic right now to destroy Planet Freedom, but I want to have some fun first. I'm sure you noticed I allowed my new medical bots to heal you up, haven't you?"
Tails felt his fingers trace across his bandages.
"That wasn't because I suddenly had a change of heart about you! The only reason I've treated your injuries is so you'd be in tiptop shape to fight Metal Sonic, thus the fight would last longer and thus you'd provide me with more entertainment. As a bonus, once you, my last obstacle, have been eliminated, there will be nobody left to stop me from taking over the world!"
"You are a sick sick bastard Robotnik!" Knuckles shouted.
"Flattery won't get you out of this fight, you stupid echidna!" Robotnik said back. "Now, please don't die too early! I want this to be as enjoyable as possible! And now Metal, kill these two runts!"
Metal Sonic wasted no time in getting the fight started. One second he was standing the middle of the room, and the next second he was standing right next to Knuckles. Before the echidna could even pull an arm back for a punch, Metal Sonic had already kneed him in the chest and sent him crashing into a wall.
Tails moved over to help Knuckles, but one second later Metal Sonic was standing between him and the echidna. The robot moved so fast it was almost like he was teleporting. Tails spun around to whack him with his tails, but the robot easily caught his appendages in mid swing. Metal Sonic then followed up by swinging him up into the air by his tails and slamming him down headfirst into the metal floor.
The fox screamed, after his jaw bounced off of the ground. He clutched to soothe the pain, but it did little good. After Tails stood up he looked around in all directions, trying to spot Metal again... And suddenly the robot was right in his face. Before Tails could react at all, a metal fist slammed into his stomach. The fox's stomach crumpled in like it was made of nothing more than rubber, and the force sent him flying backwards a good twenty feet. He crashed down to the floor hard, as he moaned out his pain.
"Is that the best you can do?" Robotnik called out from his loudspeaker. "I thought you were the saviors of Planet Freedom!"
Tails allowed his anger to push himself harder to get to his feet. Off to the side, he saw Knuckles throwing a punch at Metal, but the robot easily blocked his punch with one hand, before punching him across the face with his other hand. Tails steeled himself, feeling that Metal was going to come over to him next.
Suddenly, a burst of inspiration struck the fox. Even as Knuckles fell to the ground, Tails swung his tails around. Metal "teleported" over to the fox at the same time, but he was just in time to catch the blow from the tails right in his face.
It was just too bad for Tails that his attack had almost no effect at all. Metal's head twisted to the side a bit from the impact, but it quickly snapped back into place. Before Tails could try anything else, the robot extended his claws, and raked them across the young kit's chest at lightning speed. The claws cut hard across his flesh, bringing up blood and soaking his fur wet.
"AAAH!" Tails screamed, wrapping his hands over the new wounds.
And then Metal was gone again, but this time Tails saw him teleport to the center of the room. Robotnik came onto the loudspeaker again.
"Nice try Tails, but overall I'm quite disappointed in both of you! You're losing so easily!"
Tails and Knuckles both glared at the nearest camera.
"Well don't just stare at me like that! Give it another go! I want nothing short of your best performance!"
Metal got moving once again, only this time he went into a spin-dash. His spikes tore up the metal floor as easily as if it were made of paper. Fortunately for the pair though, that slowed him down a tiny bit. It wasn't much, but it gave them enough time to get out of the way. The blue blur of metal blasted across the floor in a straight line towards the wall. However, rather than stop, it plowed its way vertically upwards the vertical surface. The room was basically a gigantic dome, so Metal was getting high above them very quickly.
Metal then jumped off of the wall and flew down towards them as fast as a cannon shot. Tails leaped to the side, but he was too slow. The impact with the floor sent parts of it cracking up and down, like an earthquake. At the same time, a shockwave blasted him backwards. He skidded across the floor...straight over the lip of one of the large cracks in the floor.
Tails felt himself falling downward far below, into the inky blackness, when a strong hand grabbed him by the wrist. The fox looked up to see Knuckles standing there.
"Hold on! I'll pull you u--!"
Knuckles was cut off when Metal shoved him from behind, sending the two friends falling down into the darkness. Tails' eyes widened in fright, as the thick darkness below rushed up to meet them.
With a sudden jerk though, they stopped falling. Tails looked up to see Knuckles keeping them both from falling by digging one of his fists into one side of the chasm. They were about twenty feet below the lip of the gap.
"Tails!" Knuckles barked. "Fly us out of here!"
"Got it!" he shouted.
He began to wrap up his tails...when he heard Metal's jet engine above them. He was coming down inside the crack to finish the job. Grunting, Tails hurriedly started to fly them upwards. He felt tired from the fighting, so this was no little feat for him. The fox looked up, and saw Metal descending downwards at a frightening rate. He jerked to the side, and the robot swept past them. As fast as he could, Tails laid on the speed and they were now back up in the room.
"Tails!" Knuckles screamed. "Below us! Look out!"
Metal smashed dead on into the two of them from underneath. Knuckles and Tails flew through the air in opposite directions, before smashing back down to the metal floor. The fox shook his head, and looked up to see the mechanical beast hovering menacingly overhead.
"You two are just no fun at all!" Robotnik boomed out. "You're boring me! Metal's got you totally on the ropes! Oh well, I suppose that's my fault. I did my work all too well! What would you say if I did something to change things up?"
Tails' eyes widened in fear. He wondered what Robotnik was about to do now. Whatever it was, it wouldn't be good... With a hiss, a metal door opened up on one side of the arena. Tails turned around to see who was entering.
It was Nail and Redrum, being pushed into the room by a troop of robot soldiers. Nail now had a proper bandage over his leg, instead of the one he'd made out of his T-shirt. Redrum had also been repaired, with the scrapes bended back out and painted over. He had even received a new pair of legs.
Behind them, the soldiers tossed in a sniper rifle, a handgun, a knife, a box of grenades, and a box of ammo. It was all of the weapons Nail had before, only it looked like Robotnik had refilled his ammo stock. The robots quickly slammed the door closed behind, before Nail or Redrum could try to fight their way out.
It was amazing how much Tails' view of them had changed in the past few minutes. They'd gone from being the last people on Planet Freedom he wanted to share a jail cell with to the people he would need to work with in order to survive this fight. Nail turned to look at Tails.
"Robotnik told us what was going on before he let us into the room," Nail said, sounding frightened.
"Is it true?" Redrum asked. "Is Metal Sonic back?"
"Look over there," Tails answered, pointing a finger at the robot.
Nail's eyes visibly widened in terror. "No way...he wants us to fight him? He was able to destroy entire cities on his own!"
"That was the old Metal Sonic," Robotnik said over the loudspeaker. "This one is even stronger!"
"Damn!" Redrum cursed. "He'll make mincemeat out of us!"
"You know, I do think this fight is a tad unfair..." Robotnik said.
"No shit man," Nail said.
"Four on one I'd say just won't do... So I'm going to send in Sonic himself to back up Metal!"
A door opened on the opposite side of the arena, and a second blue hedgehog robot entered the room. This one resembled the old Metal Sonic, with its similar size and design. The main differences looked to be longer spines, and green eyes. While he was smaller than Metal Sonic, Tails felt himself even more frightened of him.
"No!" Tails said, tears streaming from his eyes. "Not Sonic... No..."
No... No no no! Not my big bro! This isn't real...please let it just be a nightmare... Let me wake up!
"That's the lowest move ever, Robotnik!" Knuckles said. "Forcing Sonic to fight for the wrong side!"
"I know," Robotnik said, cackling. "That's exactly why I roboticized him. Anyway, since you've not been much fun and I want to hurry up and get on with taking over the world, I've decided to just end this now. Metal! Sonic! Destroy all of them!"
While Sonic went after Redrum and Nail, Metal decided to attack Tails and Knuckles again. This time though...it was different. Tails' sadness and anger had given him a strength he didn't know he had, and he was now expressing this emotion through his fighting. His eyes were practically sparking with rage.
That Robotnik... I'm going to make him regret ever did this to Sonic! I'm going to smash Metal into tiny pieces!
As Metal Sonic "teleported" over to Tails, he flicked his tails around much faster than he had before, aiming for his head. He actually managed to force Metal's head to spin all the way around before it locked back into place.
While it would have been lethal for a living person, apparently it wasn't so for Metal. The robot easily recovered as he swung a hand out towards Tails, the claws extended out to their full length. This time though, Tails saw the claws coming, and ducked underneath them.
The fox counter attacked by revving up a spin dash. Tails flew towards Metal as a ball of orange fur, and smashed straight into him. One of Metal's eyes actually cracked a little, and he was pushed back some by the collision. Tails bounced backwards after the hit, and landed on his feet.
Metal gave Tails no time to rest, as he went into a spin dash that ripped up the floor like it was made of no more than soft mud. The fox only just barely sidestepped the move, getting a gash across his back from one of the stray spines. Tails winced in pain, as he reached over to hold a hand to his wound.
Luckily for him though, by this time Metal switched opponents to fight Knuckles. Tails watched for a moment, as he saw the echidna take on the robot. He appeared to be feeling just as vengeful as Tails, with how much more effective his attacks had gotten. Knuckles actually managed to deflect Metal away from him by punching the robot as he rolled past. Metal smashed into a wall, although he was back on his feet very quickly.
Knuckles didn't give him any chance to launch an attack though, as he sped over to the robot and launched into a dizzying array of lightning-fast punches. His fists looked as if they were tiny white comets, as they bashed up Metal's body. The robot was pounded back into the wall for about a foot, until Knuckles was kicked backwards when Metal brought up his leg. He skidded across the floor for about ten feet, before jumping back up.
Knuckles breathed heavily, as sweat rolled down his face. Tails wasn't exactly great too, with the cuts Metal had inflicted on him. Despite their stepping up the game, Metal appeared to be hardly damaged at all. He just had too much endurance and durability on his side.
What're we gonna do? We're giving it our best, and he's hardly got any scratches on him! Plus, he's a robot, so he's got a tougher body and he can't feel any pain! I just don't see how we're going to win...
A couple minutes earlier...
"Metal! Sonic! Destroy all of them!" Robotnik shouted, his voice reverberating throughout the room.
The sound was so loud that Redrum might have thought his voice was that of a god. Nail didn't let it distract him though, as he quickly snatched up his sniper rifle and squeezed off a shot.
Apart from a shower of sparks where the bullet collided with the metal, there didn't seem to be any effect.
"Shit..." Nail hissed.
He fired again, and got the same result as before.
It looks like Robot Sonic is bulletproof. Fan-freaking-tastic.
Before he could fire again, Sonic got moving. He was moving so fast it was like he was warping from place to place. Sonic decided to reappear right in front of Nail. Gasping, Nail held up his rifle in both hands to block any attacks. However, it blocked Sonic about as effectively as wet spaghetti. The bot hedgehog launched into a spin kick into the fox's chest, which sent Nail flying backwards. He crashed to the metal floor so hard his breath was taken away.
While dragging himself to his feet, Sonic advanced on Redrum. The robotic dog snatched up the .45 handgun on the floor and opened fire. If there weren't sparks flying off where the bullets hit Sonic though, Nail wouldn't even know if Sonic was getting shot. He walked through the hail of bullets as easily as if it were nothing but a gentle rain. Then the robot dog clicked on empty. As he started to reload, Sonic wrapped one arm around the metal dog's neck, and threatened to crush it.
Nail wasn't about to let his friend die, as he squeezed off another shot, whacking Sonic in the head. Again, there didn't seem to be any visible effect apart from a shower of sparks. But luckily—or unluckily, depending upon how you looked at it—Sonic released Redrum and then turned his attention back to Nail.
Before Nail could even raise his gun, Sonic had already teleported back to him. Nail instinctively went for the knife in the holster on his shoulder, and stabbed with all his might towards Sonic's chest.
The blade broke into a thousand tiny metal shards as it made impact, leaving nothing behind but the hilt of the knife. Nail stared at the knife in total disbelief, before looking back to Sonic. The hedgehog robot extended his claws, and slashed them over Nail's chest. The claws were so thick they went all the way through his Kevlar vest and cut down to the skin. Nail grunted, his eyes popping open at the searing pain.
Nail clutched to his chest, trying to hold in some blood. For a moment though, he raised up his head again to look Sonic in the eye. The fox couldn't help but notice a metal collar around the robot's neck. Nail instinctively reached into his pocket. The remote control was still there… It looked like Robotnik hadn't confiscated it. He pulled out the device and eyed it for a split second, as he remembered something he said earlier.
"If you do anything I don't want you to do, like try to break out of your cage, or run away, I press this button. While it won't kill you, you aren't going to feel like doing much of anything for a while. I just shocked you with the minimum charge. The pain will go away in a little bit, but the higher charges will have you roiling in agony for hours."
A broad smile crossed Nail's face. If he had time, he would have danced, but this would have to do. With glee, Nail hammered down the button on the remote control.
Sonic lit up like a Christmas tree as electricity surged across his body. It was quite possibly the most stunning light show he'd ever seen in his life, and the most personally gratifying. After a few seconds, the voltage finally subsided, and Sonic dropped to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. The robot lay still, not moving at all.
"We are some lucky bastards, aren't we Nail?" Redrum said to Nail, laughing.
"Oh yeah..." he said, grinning back.
"No!" Robotnik bellowed from the loudspeaker. "That's not supposed to happen!"
That sent Nail and Redrum laughing again. Nail turned to face the nearest camera, and gave it the middle finger with both hands.
"Up yours, egghead!"
"Fine little children; have fun being so immature and vulgar while you can," Robotnik said, sounding frustrated. "You just got lucky because of a technical malfunction. Metal Sonic will just have to finish you off instead, after he's done dealing with Tails and Knuckles."
The moment of celebration was blown as the two of them turned to face Tails and Knuckles fighting with Metal Sonic. Both of them looked like they were about ready to give up, with how battered the looked. Multiple slash wounds covered all parts of Tails' and Knuckles' bodies, as well as dark bruises. The four of them still weren't out of this mess yet…
"Nail!" Redrum suddenly shouted.
Nail turned back to face the robot dog.
"What if we got the collar around Metal too?" he said, continuing to speak.
Nail stared at him like he was crazy for a second, but then he nodded in agreement.
"It's risky," Redrum said. "But it's the only way I can see for us to get out of this alive."
Nail turned to face the still form of Sonic, and pressed the button on his remote that would switch off the collar.
"Get the collar," Nail said. "I'll go help Tails and Knuckles."
Redrum nodded, and dashed for the body. Meanwhile, Nail ran over towards Tails and Knuckles. Redrum caught up fairly quickly though.
"What now?" he asked, as they ran side by side.
"When we get close, pass the collar to Knuckles," Nail said. "I know he's got fast hands because of his punching, so he can slip the collar around Metal's neck the easiest. Then we all try to distract him, and I fry the sucker once that thing's around his neck."
"Got it."
Fortunately, Redrum didn't have to run far, as one of Knuckles' attacks knocked the echidna at his feet. Weakly, Knuckles opened his eyes.
"You..." he gasped, sitting up.
"No time to talk!" Redrum shouted, shoving the collar in Knuckles' hands. "Put this on Metal as fast as you can! Then we can zap him just like we did Sonic!"
"So that's what did it..." Knuckles said, while he climbed to his feet. "How's that work though?"
"Long story. Just get it on him as soon as you can! We'll distract him!"
"Uh...sure!" Knuckles hurriedly answered, jumping up to his feet.
There was no time for questions. In the meantime, Nail ran over to join Tails, who was in the middle of fighting Metal Sonic. Tails had only just managed to jump out of the way of another one of the robot's spin dashes, when Nail dashed over.
"Hey...my fellow vulpine," Nail said, to the much smaller Tails.
"What do you need!" Tails shouted.
"We've got an idea to take down Metal."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah! All we gotta do is keep him distracted long enough for Knuckles to put a special surprise around his neck..."
"Was it that thing that zapped Sonic?"
"Yep...exactly. Now let's get to drawing him away."
Nail turned to face Metal, and cupped his hands over his mouth.
"Hey...you big stupid robot!" the older fox called out, as loudly as possible. "Come get us! It's fox season!"
Metal Sonic took the bait. He decided to teleport over to Nail first. He tried to whack Metal on the head with his rifle's stock, but the robot intercepted the attack easily by grabbing the gun. The robot then pulled the gun from Nail's hand and tossed it aside. Before the fox could get away, Metal kicked him in the stomach, shoving him backwards.
However, that gave enough time for Tails to get behind Metal and kick him from behind. The robot stumbled forward a few steps, before whirling around in a circle with its arms spread out, knocking the other fox back as well. Nail gulped, as the robot turned around to face him again
Oh boy...now it's my turn again.
However, before Metal could attack, Redrum charged him as he pulled out a grenade and yanked off the pin. The robot dog tossed it at the robot...but even as he threw it Metal had already teleported to him. Thus, the explosion completely missed its intended target.
Metal tried to punch Redrum, but the metal hedgehog easily dodged the attack. Metal followed right up with a kick that sent the robot dog sprawling. He fell to the floor with a mighty crash. Metal strode over him, and lifted up one foot above his downed opponent's head. Nail's eyes widened in terror, but then Knuckles took advantage of the opportunity to clamp the collar on Metal's neck.
"I did it Nail!" he cried out. "Fry him!"
Nail didn't need to be told twice. He jammed the button down. An electrical surge swept across Metal's body. Redrum quickly rolled aside, watching the spectacle. Sparks flew out of the metal hedgehog's body like he was a fireworks display, lighting up the entire room in their glow. After a few moments, the sparks finally faded, and Metal crashed to the floor unconscious.