Chapter 8: Formal Battle.
(Please note that from now on I'm going to refer to Ersatz as a "he" and not an "it" since sometimes it gets confusing.)
Ersatz, after analyzing the surrounding battlefield, drew a scimitar. It looked normal with a red clothed shaft, a silver hand guard, the meter-long blade curving with a broad point. But it soon started glowing via the huge amount of radiating energy. He gripped the sword backwards with the blade facing the opposite the hand. To not alarm Hunter and Swift, he slowly moved his arm upwards in an attempt to subtly blow them to bits.
Hunter saw this move and threw a knife at Ersatz, hoping that it would distract him as he slid into the shadows that lingered in the walls. Swift noticed this move also and jumped into the air. Ersatz looked upward and jumped near Swift at such a speed, Swift was thrown back by the whiplash of the wind as the forgotten knife flew into the wall..
"NOW!" shouted Swift. Hunter zoomed out of the wall behind Ersatz and pulled out his Chaos Emerald. He threw it to Swift and he shouted "Chaos Control!" He disappeared and reappeared at the speed of light with a mighty flash, thereafter carrying his sword again. It was a trick his father, Sonic, had told him when he was a child. He had to center his energy in the emerald, and focus his heart on something very dear to him.
Swift had focused on Clair because this journey had started out a rescue mission, remember.
Ersatz and Swift faced each other in an air battle, swords clashing dozens of times each second. Usually during the instances that Swift's sword hit the robot's body, it would have bounced off without even leaving a scratch, or even the slightest dent in the armor. But by attaching the Chaos Emerald to the sword with a chain, it was able to go through the stacked plates of metal like a hot knife through butter.
Luckily for the robot, he was still surprisingly skilled with the insignificant scimitar in his hand. He blocked Swift's swings again and again until he was able to counter the onslaught with a melee attack of some sort. But only with punches or kicks. Dr. Robotnic ordered specifically to knock Swift out and bring him to his base. Ersatz could eliminate anyone in his way which ensured him some fun.
Eventually, Swift was able to plant his foot on the ground and use his forward momentum to swing his sword right through Ersatz's ankle. For some reason, he didn't flinch, fall back, or even grunt.
He grinned.
Suddenly, long electrical wires sprouted from the hole in the leg and formed another food. A rubber sort of armor seemed to come from the hole to cover the newly created foot, fully replacing the lost body part.
Swift was shocked. How could this thing heal itself? A very smart scientist must have created this. At that instant, he knew who it was. That genius his father had talked about, Dr. Robotnic. He knew that he was not one to be trifled with, unless of course he was plotting something evil. Very evil. Inexplicitly evil. Otherwise, he was to be avoided.
Swift, still surprised by this amazing maneuver, was thrown into the Mona Lisa replica on the wall. Hunter stepped into the fray quick as a flash and landed a few blows on Ersatz with his katanas. Whenever the robot swung his scimitar in a downwards motion to try and crush him, Hunter just spun around and stuck a small metal disc on one of the robot's body parts.
Ersatz finally got tired of this pattern and spun around, launching the small lasers out of his fingers again and again, covering the entire perimeter with small burning craters. Hunter easily blocked this attack with his knives. With a calm grin on his lips, Hunter pressed a small button on his belt, and waited as a small countdown started.
After three seconds, a giant explosion surrounded Ersatz as the small disks ignited in a fiery inferno of wires and armor. Pieces of metal flew everywhere across the room. Hunter smiled, happy with his work. Swift had just come out of the hole in the wall with multiple bruises on his face, body and limbs. Small spots of blood were on his shoulder, showing where the stone spike had pierced him before.
"Good job Hunter." Was all Swift had to say. He was still amazed that Hunter had killed this guy on his own. Not that he doubted him, but it did make him feel a bit insignificant.
"Thanks." Hunter grunted. He still wanted to keep his "cool" attitude, even if he had just beaten one of their most powerful enemies. Swift rolled inside as they prepared to go through the black door opposite the white.
Unknowingly to them, there had been very many cells of Ersatz that had still survived. They slowly grew tiny strings (molecules much, much smaller than atoms) more and more, determined to fix together. Soon they would fix a new form, one much more powerful than the last.
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"WHAT!" screamed the doctor, not happy that his latest invention had been destroyed so easily.
Or at least that was Sparks, the shy helper, had expected to happen. All Dr. Robotnic did was twitch his nose and smirk. "Do not worry, clueless servant of mine." Sparks was always annoyed that this old man always called him clueless. But he knew it was true.
"Ersatz is not destroyed. All that echidna fool did was break my creation into many little pieces, and that is the beauty of it." He brushed his now very bushy mustache.
"If even a single cell remains, one tiny little cell, it can grow into a more powerful form until it can be surpassed by no one!" He now broke out into an uncontrollable laughter that he did at least ten times each day. Sparks really wanted to quit working for this insane… what was the word… loser, but this insane loser would have beat him so hard the screws would not fit in their pockets.