-Sonic-

"Hey!"

I shade my eyes against the sudden light. The moment I got to the end of this alley, some stupid robot shone a searchlight in my face! I can't make much out in the glare, just some vague blobs. Blinking rapidly, I try and force myself to see, and they slowly resolve into a handful of robots. I haven't seen some of them before, but they don't look like anything special – this should be easy!

"Surrender."

Typical robots!

"Make me!" I retort, dropping into a fighting stance. They aren't gonna stand a chance!

"Command accepted."

Huh? Either Egghead's been messing with their responses, or these ones are broken somehow! Either way, they- what! There's one behind me! I didn't even hear it, but it's got hold of my arm! I pull away, fast, smooth metal fingers sliding across my arm, but there's no robot that can react fast enough to stop me! I go for the ones in front first, slamming into the one on the left, then the closest one to that, not looking back even for a moment, spinning so fast I'm mostly relying on my energy-senses to aim with rather than my sight. I loop around the five in front, vaguely aware of the clatter of broken parts behind me as I slam through each one, spin back for the one with the searchlight, then... stop? There's nothing else there! Where'd the robot behind me go! No robot can move that fast! I look about, staring at the tops of buildings on my right and ahead, the rubble on my left... but there's nothing there.

Wait – was that a movement, over there in the shadows? It's hard to tell; it's night, the sky that dark blue it goes a while before sunrise, the only real light around here coming from the broken moon.

"Come out!"

My voice echoes among the lifeless buildings, but I don't see anything. I turn, slowly, all the way around, searching every shadow for anything that could possibly be that robot, whatever it was... but there's still nothing.

"-Ah!"

Something slams into me from behind, and I'm knocked forward, sliding across the pavement, across the shards of metal and glass it's littered with. I scramble to my feet as soon as I come to a halt, ignoring the cuts and scrapes I've picked up and pushing the shock to the back of my mind, searching for whatever just hit me. There's a sound, like a really quiet engine, to my right; I duck and roll forward before even looking to see what it is, and I actually feel the wind as it shoots through the space I was in! Picking myself up again, I catch a glimpse of my attacker as it loops away...

No! It can't be! It – it looks like... like Metal! But it can't be!

No… no, it's not him. I'd know if it was him, I'd-!

I'm knocked flat again, scraping across the rubble and slamming into a wall. I get back to my feet, shaking my head to try and clear it, but it doesn't do any good. I see him – it – coming around for another strike, and I wait, wait for less than a second, but for me it seems like forever. I've sped up now, really fighting, my thoughts flashing by faster than anyone else's ever could as my entire body goes into overdrive. In the last possible instant, I dodge aside, and the robot slams into the wall right where I'd been standing. Faster than most people could follow, I leap off the ground and spin into its back, once, twice – and then it pulls away, and I slam into the wall!

Uncurling and dropping – so slowly! – to the ground, I see it swooping in yet again; looks like I haven't damaged it that much. I jump right over it as it flashes towards me; it swerves up, just brushing me as we fly past each other, but at this speed even the lightest touch is enough to send us both flying! I'm out of control, try to right myself in the air, but there's no time-

Wham!

I shouldn't have tried to straighten up, should have stayed curled. I don't know what I just hit, think I'm falling… no, not falling, stopped falling, hit ground now. Ground... I straighten my right arm, try to feel about... something, something broken, pieces all over the floor. And that robot, it must still be out there... I force my eyes open, try to ignore the pain in my head, try to concentrate as if that will make the two worlds I can see coalesce into one. Wall, a hole, stars... I went through a wall? ...Silhouette, red eyes – red eyes! I jump to my feet, never mind the pain, and can only stagger sideways, my head spinning, but it seems to be enough, because I hear a thud right where I just was. Got to speed up again, got to get a hold of myself, keep on fighting, but all I can do is cross to the hazy, blurred wall and lean on it...

I can hear it, hear the sound of the jet built into its back, and I duck, or at least fall over, as it flies by just overhead – and I'm jerked sideways, my right ear feeling like it's on fire!

I pick myself up again, slowly, see the robot standing just a few metres away. It's holding something, and I raise my hand to my head. That- that hurts! I look at my glove, already dirty, now streaked with blood as well. It took the tip of my ear!

I stare at it for a few moments, and it stares back like a warped reflection. Only one of us is going to make it out of this... and it's going to be me!

I feel myself speeding up again as I shift to a battle-ready stance, my head finally clear enough that I'm ready to fight again. The robot suddenly snaps into action, coming for me, but I jump to the side and it passes me by. While it's turning, I dash out through the hole in the wall – the building's too enclosed; I can't move so well in there. I only have to watch the hole for a few seconds before it comes out after me; this time, I jump sideways and up, rebounding from the wall and chasing it! The wall falls in behind me, but I'm moving so fast I only touch it for the tiniest fraction of a second, and I've sped up so much that the falling bricks seem as if they're moving through treacle, so very, very slow. Air is more like liquid at this speed; you have to cut through it, can even almost push off it with a little help. I do that now, the natural energy flowing through and around me letting me slice through the air, even track my foe, racing along its trail the way only I can. I can't see; my eyes are closed even if I wasn't spinning as fast as I am, but I can feel it, and I know I'm close-

I slam into it as it slows, sending it flying. Uncurling and dropping to the floor, the energy around me fading again, I watch it fly back and hit a pile of rubble. That was fairly fast, even sped up as I am; it'll have damaged it! I dash over, intending to finish it before it can get up again, but it's too fast, and as I get there it zooms out of the rubble – and right into me!