Chapter 31
The Hunter just glares at the hedgehog behind him, his arm still stuck in the blue blur's grasp. Rather than dwell on what the hero said, Hunter threw his free arm. Sonic dives down under the attack. Then the hero rolls into a ball and rams Hunter's legs. The robot's feet are thrown into the air. Sonic rolls onto his feet, grabs both airborne legs, spins, and tosses the vigilante into a wall. The whole base shook from the power.
A shadow forms from the dust cloud and Tails comes out, red eyes gleaming at his opponent. "Desperation will not make you stronger, hero. You know I'm superior. This isn't our first fight."
"Can it. You know I wasn't at my best." Sonic stretches his arm over his chest, the other arm pulling it closer to really ease the muscles. "There's been a reason I've suspected Tails. I may be out of shape, but instincts don't just disappear. I've had a bad feeling about you ever since I came living in the workshop. I just couldn't put it in words."
Sonic walks sideways, keeping an eye on the robot. This isn't going to be any fight he's been in before, or that's what Hunter is hoping for. Lifting his arm, the hero points at Hunter. "Tails is empathetic and sympathetic. Except, the whole time I was with you, you didn't once try and help me get stronger. Tails knows I feel my best running, yet you didn't try and encourage me to run. If he really was in control he would have asked if we could run together, even if he really didn't want to."
Hunter cracks his head to the side. Sensing the rising tension, Sonic wiped his hands together. "At the same time, I know you're not Tails. Everything you've 'planned' is nothing but hogwash. That's why I doubted the assassin. Tails wouldn't be all over the place like this strange 'plan' is. You didn't plan anything. You just did what you thought would benefit you. Look at Amy, you were going to kill her till you realized you could use her. You're clever, but so far that has done little for you. You've been nothing but lucky the whole time, lucky your random dark shots landed in a way you can progress."
Hunter's grip on the bow tightens. Sonic grins, amused at the response. "Not to mention, I've always puzzled over why you've never fought Shadow one on one. He isn't constantly under your control so it would be perfect for his alibi, and yet…" Sonic closes his eyes and shrugs. "The only reason I can think is… you don't think you can take him. Except, I can take him." Sonic opens his eyes, a coy smile forming on his cheeks. "That means I am a threat to you. You just want me apprehensive."
The grip on the bow cracks loudly and Hunter tore forward. Sonic blasts to the side and up the staircase. The vigilante shot up after him and reaches to grab. Dodging to the side the hero grabs the hand and slams him into the wall. Rolling up the steps he ducks under the leg swing. Then he propels himself up, flipping away from the bow smashing the ground. Sonic then steps on the small rocks and uses them to fly further up faster.
The two of them fly out of the entrance. Dust and debris fly after them in a blur of wind that rattles and topples the nearby trees. In the air Sonic twists around. He plants his foot on Hunter's fist to fly away. With a flash of blue he pelts Hunter. The robot crashes into the ground. Sonic propels to his opponent at full speed. Rolling away Hunter dodged. Still, Sonic rushes forward and kicks the Hunter's face. Reacting, Hunter threw the bow at Sonic's other leg. The hero spun around vertically. The bow hardly grazing his knee. He then lands the second leg into Hunter's face. The two flew away from each other.
When it comes to skill and strength Hunter surpasses Sonic. Yet, the one thing Sonic has always prized about himself is his speed. He may be out of shape comparatively, he's still the fastest thing alive. Even Shadow needs those rocket boots to be comparable. All the skill and strength mean nothing if you can't land the hit.
Hunter spins and lands, an arrow strung on the bow. He fires the shot. The arrow propels at light speed. The arrow only grazes Sonic's cheek, causing no more than a scratch. He may not be faster than those arrows, but he's defiantly faster than Hunter's dawdling fingers. He can dodge the moment he sees those digits begin releasing the string.
Sonic spun ducking over an arrow. Jumps over the next and rushes up a tree. He flies off and begins tree hopping. Hunter fires every arrow he has. Sonic leaps off and dives at the vigilante. A few arrows scratch him. Hunter slides away, picking up rocks. He blasts them at the hero. Using as much energy as he could, the hero blasts forward. He then drops to the ground and rolls under. Covered by the dust Hunter didn't see him. Realizing what he did, Hunter swings a kick. Sonic leapt up and over. As he travels over the Hunter he grabs the tip of the bow. His fingers quickly loosen the string and pulls it off. He lands and rolls away.
Unable to fire any more projectiles, Hunter smashes the bow into the ground. A wave of dirt and rock flung everywhere. Sonic leaps over the wave and grabs a stone to throw himself into the center. Hunter charges at him, swinging the bow. Sonic rolls to his side and leaps off another rock. Hunter smashes the rock and jumps after him. Rock to rock Hunter chases the hero. The final swing Sonic spun around and grabs Hunter's arm and spins himself. He let go and snatches the bow twisting in the air. Hunter's arm begins to spin, his grip on the bow weakening. Sonic pounces, landing a double kick to Hunter's chest. Then they fly apart, Sonic with the bow.
The hedgehog lands and holds the bow in both hands. Hunter lands and pelts forward. Sonic glows blue as the Chaos Energy leaves the bow and enters him. Then as the blue became more intense the hero snaps the bow and throws the pieces to the side. The two charge each other and both their fists collide. Hunter staggers back along with Sonic.
Sonic grins, still glowing blue. "I only needed enough to snap the bow. Still makes me a lot stronger though." Hunter dove to the side as Sonic smashes the ground.
Back in the base the ground continues to shake and shutter. The cracks in the wall gradually growing and spreading. Terra blinks as she felt her body jostle. Everything seems so cloudy and dark to her. That shaking and rumbling couldn't be anything short of some explosion though. She sat up, using her only good arm. She looks around at the chaos.
The foxes were trying to quickly help Rouge with the computer while Espio and Charmy clamored to stick the fracturing walls together. Vector held Cream and kept her under his body in case something falls under them. Knuckles is doing the same with Silver who was trying to help control the walls and his bleeding. Omega held one of his limbs in his hand as he remained connected to the computer. Shadow is bound and blindfolded, mumbling something to himself as he limply rests against the wall. Amy remains on the ground, also bound with minor repairs to her limbs.
Terra rolls on to her side and began dragging herself toward Vector. "What's… happening?"
The croc looks over at her. "Wow. You're moving? Wouldn't recommend it."
"What's-."
"Happening. I heard you the first time. Sonic is engaging Hunter. They seem to be really going at it. Knuckles would help, but he's been injured from the bow."
Terra blinks, looking up at the ceiling. They had to be fighting from the surface. How was Sonic throwing such a powerful hit though. There's no way Hunter alone could produce so much strength. From what she could see Sonic was nothing compared to Hunter. She watched as Hunter threw him around at the warehouse with that kid tied to the chair. Was he holding back? Why is he now going full strength? It didn't make sense.
"Don't bother. It's Sonic. Be glad he's involved now. Your plan may still work. We just need to have faith in him."
"How do you even know he can-."
"He's done it before." Vector looks away, toward the entrance. "He's done the impossible and survived. Tails may have been with him those days too, but this time it's stacked in his favor."
"Wh- how? Even if Sonic is faster, Duel is still stronger and more skilled."
Vector smiles. "Metal Sonic."
"What? What does that thing have to do with this?"
The croc chuckles. "You have much to learn about us and Eggman."
Above them the world shakes again as Sonic pounds the ground where his enemy once stood. Hunter tries leaping a kick at the hedgehog. Sonic blocks it, everything shaking once more. Suddenly, Hunter rolls and his fingers embed into Sonic's neck. Pain rattles down his throat and Sonic leaps away from Hunter. The hedgehog clutches his throat and dashes to the side. The Chaos Energy must have run out. If Hunter had waited a fraction of a second later he would have snapped Sonic's neck. It's proof that Tails' intelligence still lingered in that robotic mind. Hunter knew the energy was about to run out and struck accordingly.
The hero had taken several hits from the fox robot, the additional chaos energy helping booster his defenses. So he had some idea of how this robot fought. It was time to switch gears. Sonic skids to a halt and jumps at Hunter. The robot dives down and lifts a foot. Sonic felt the kick ram into his chest. The hedgehog is thrown over the robot and crashes through a few trees. Ignoring the pain, Sonic rolls out of the dust clouds and attacks Hunter. The fox swung a leg to kick the blue ball away. The hero throws his hands out and propels himself into the air and over Hunter. Hunter recognizes the move and spun to land a kick to the hedgehog's face.
Suddenly, Sonic glows blue and he grabs the Hunter's head. He smashes him into the ground and then rolls along the ground the throw him into the air. Hunter twists in the air to block the next attack. Sonic blasts from the sky and rams him in the back. Using Hunter's body as a jump pad he jumps away. Then he glows blue again to spin attack from the side. He did this several times. Attempting to regain control, Hunter grabs Sonic's foot only for the hero to pelt to the ground and roll all the way to the edge of the forest. Hunter is smashed through rocks and trees before letting go.
The robot got to his feet and shook his head. He didn't understand what happened. Sonic was suddenly fighting differently than normal. The hero skids in front of him, dancing on the tips of his toes. "What's wrong? Can't seem to read me?" The hedgehog throws a kick out mockingly. "You're not the only one who can copy and read people. Forget about Metal Sonic? He's annoyingly good at it. I've learned to adapt and change my attacks and moves mid fight. I have several different tactics at the ready. Tails would have known that and adjust accordingly, but as a robot you can only use that algorithm of yours. Unfortunately, something tells me it's no where near as good as Metal's. Am I wrong?"
Growling, Hunter smashes the ground. In the mask of the dust he disappears. Sonic blinks, realizing too slowly what happened. He dove forward. Hunter's fist still smashes his head. Stunned, Sonic falls forward. He catches himself with his hand and twists is torso with his legs stretched out. Spinning his legs connect with the robot and sent him flying. Sonic rolls to his knees and clutches his head with a grimace. Hunter was most defiantly stronger. One hit from him was practically twenty hits from him. A few hits like that and he will be done for.
A shadow appears over him, snapping the hedgehog to his senses. He jumps toward the attack, wrapping his body around the arm and coming back down on top the Hunter's head. He bounces off and tears back into the forest. He needs to keep the Hunter away from civilians. No telling if he'll use them as hostages. Sonic isn't about to risk it.
They began shredding the ground, smashing it with every attack, toppling trees as they dash by. The vicious tornadoes would blush with envy at the winds they've created. Dust covers the sky like an apocalyptic dust storm. Every breath an inhalation of particles and rock. This is a big problem, Hunter must have considered this and why he's been hitting the ground. Soon Sonic will have breathing issues and that will assuredly slow him down. Still, he wasn't going to give up.
They race through the dust and both rush at each other. Sonic leaps up and dove sideways, smashing through Hunter's attack and struck him directly. The robot then jabs his elbow down, striking the hero in the side. Sonic yelps and rolls away. He gave a big speech about Hunter being inferior to Metal, but Hunter is adapting quite well. Hubris on Sonic's part.
He encircles the robot and stops on all fours. He brought his arm up and massages the injury. Another hit like that and he might pass out. Hunter charges, dragging his hand along the ground throwing more dirt into the air before diving into the clouds to disappear. "Well, I didn't want to see you anyway!"
Sonic leapt into the air and began tree hopping. He dove under a fist and swung around the kick the Hunter back into the void. This is getting very hard. The only thing he had is open space with clear air. There is only one place like that though. Sonic shook his head, hopefully the group had their plan sorted out. They were coming back earlier than expected.
Sonic skids to a halt outside the base and turns to look for the faint sign of the Hunter on the outskirts of his sight. A fist flew out from the clouds. Sonic felt the fist catch his ear, the tip tearing off. Blood spills onto his head, but he ignored the pain. He stood, grabing the arm and slid to the side. He rams his elbow into the Hunter's head and kicks the hooded figure's legs out. Sonic then pelts back into the base. They smash through the walls and roll along the ground with several yells and screams of the surprised individuals.
Vector growls as he drew Cream closer to him, "Rouge!?"
"Omega! Now!"
"Understood!"
The whole room began to glow a faint green. Hunter jumps to his feet and charges. Sonic spins on the floor and kicks the Hunter's legs out. Then the hero rolls to his feet and began pelting the robot into the floor, the whole room shaking. Hunter pushes the hero off and smashes his face into Sonic's. The pain is less. Surprised, Sonic darts forward and catches the vigilante's hands in his. They began pressing into each other. At first Sonic's hands felt like they were being crushed by mountains. Gradually they felt like normal hands. Like organic hands.
Wide eyed, Sonic watches as the Hunter's form shrank down and the metal glare blazing into him began to slowly melt into flesh. The red beaming eyes vanishing and becoming rounded blue irises. The furrowed forehead relaxing as confusion began settling into these innocent eyes. Hunter fell to his knees, Sonic pressing him into the floor. The confusion evaporates and fear replaces them. The metal fades away and glistening fur replaces them. The robot gone Tails stares up at Sonic. Seeing his friend the hedgehog relaxes and smiles to him. Any fear the fox felt flew away and Tails relaxes himself. "S-Sonic?" His eyes closes and he falls to the floor.
The green light flees as white light envelops the room, blinding everyone. As it overcame Sonic the hero felt his body become lighter, stronger, and faster. Chaos Energy. The hero blinks as the light fades, the pain leaving with it. Suspicious, Sonic lifts his arm and rubs the tip of his ear. It was back, no longer torn off. He looks over at Rouge. "Chaos Emeralds. Where?"
Rouge smiles and points to the ceiling. "Tails had this whole room retrofitted to be a Roboticizer. He was going to use it to turn all his goons into robots. I've modified it to be a de-roboticizer and planted all seven Chaos Emeralds with it. Mostly in case there were severe injury. Instant healing. Right Silver?" She turns to look at the injured hedgehog.
The gray hedgehog slowly pushes himself into a sitting position, patting his once open belly. He took a deep breath and nodded. "Though, I'm still dizzy. I'm guessing it didn't replenish my blood."
"There's always something to complain about." Rouge rolls her eyes.
"I'm not complaining." The hedgehog blinks at her.
Rather than dwell on this news Vector waves over his team, "Charmy, Espio! Take Cream home and verify Vanilla's and Cheese's condition!"
"On it!" Charmy flew off first while Espio gently helps the rabbit to her feet.
The croc heaves a sigh of relief and looks back at Amy. The pink hedgehog was sitting upright, holding her knees to her chest. Tears pours over her cheeks as she blankly stares off into space. She only snaps out of it as someone approached her, "Amy." She looks up and is met with the green eyes of Sonic. She relaxes as he kneels down and holds her shoulders. "Welcome back."
"S-Sonic." She wept. "I… Eggman he… I don't-."
"I know. You're alright." He pulled her in for a hug and she clutched to him, crying into his chest.
Terra pats her arm in wonder, it wasn't broken anymore and the pain is gone. Shaking her head she looked around as the rest of the fox tribe slowly surround Tails. Knuckles jumps in between them, "Hey! What do you think you're doing!?"
"He's our chief." One of the foxes spoke. "We need to bring him back to the village."
"Hell no!"
Terra shook her head and leapt to her feet. "It's the best place to recover. We shouldn't stay here anymore than we should."
Omega stormed past the group and rounds on the unconscious fox. Knuckles raises his fists to attack. "Confirmed! No robotic parts detected!"
"Seriously?" Knuckles blinks. "Did you not see the freaky skin change?"
"Irrelevant!"
Sonic helps Amy to her feet and waves Silver over, "You fly Amy and Shadow over with you. I'll carry Tails."
"As his wife it's my duty to tend to his injuries!" Terra walks over to the unconscious fox.
Sonic suddenly appears in front of her, causing her to stagger back. "Wife? Your duty? You make it sound like a nuisance, and when did you marry him? No way, you're not touching him!" Sonic turns and lifts the fox. "We'll go to your village, but I'm taking him. Final." He glares at her.
Terra swallows at the implied threat and relents. "Fine. Follow me." She turns and marches out the exit. Sonic shakes his head and follows, the others right behind him.
The next chapter should be the last. That excludes a prologue that I'm considering writing.