Metal had a cable connected to the back of his head connecting it to the cradle which was further along in creating a body. Relic continued to work "Cellular cohesion will take a few hours, but we can initiate the consciousness stream. We'll upload the base data for your consciousness into her, once she wakes up, she'll build her own mind from there". Silver approached the cradle curiously "I can read him. He's dreaming" "I wouldn't call it dreams. It's Metal's base consciousness. It's what the new mind will build from". Silver placed his hands on the cradle and closed his eyes. He saw an explosion enveloping Mobius. He gasped in pain and backed away. Sonia stepped forward and put her hand on his shoulder concerned. Metal stood up and faced them as Silver opened his eyes "How could you?" "How could I what?" "You said we would destroy the Chaotix, make a better world".
Metal clenched his fists "It will be better" "When everyone is dead?" "That's not…". He tried to think of how to explain it "Mobians and humans will have every opportunity to improve". Sonia turned to him "And if they don't?" "Ask Dark Gaia". They both backed away from him "You're insane" Silver said, "No, I'm the next step. There's no room for the weak" "And who decides who is weak?". Silver subtly gestured his hand and Relic's eyes cleared. Metal didn't notice "Life. Life always decides". He suddenly looked up "There's incoming. The Tornado. We have to move" "That's not a problem". Relic steps forward and erased the data uploaded into the body. Metal without hesitation blast a laser out of his chest into her shoulder. Sonia put Silver's arm around her shoulder and ran them both out at top speed. Metal stared surprised before his Mechas shot the remaining staff in the lab. Metal sighed disappointed "They'll understand" he tore the cable out of his head.
Sometime later Shadow ran into the lab and found the wounded Relic "Doctor!". He crouched down and patched up her shoulder. She breathed heavily "He's creating another one" "Where?" "The real power is inside the cradle. The gem, its power is uncontainable. You can't just blow it up. You have to get the Cradle to Sonic". Shadow nodded "First, I have to find it" "Go".
Whisper was flying the tornado over the lab "You guys copy that" "We did". Rouge was checking the equipment in the back of the plane "I got a private jet taking off across town. No manifest". Whisper looked down at a highway "I've got a truck from the lab. Right above you, Shadow". She scanned it "You got three with the Cradle, one in the cab. I could take out the driver" "Negative. That truck crashes, the gem could level the city. We need to draw out Metal". Shadow, now in super form used his rocket shoes to run at high speed over a bridge. He jumped off and landed on top of the truck. He fell back and held onto the back door of the truck. A laser hit the door blasting it back but Shadow managed to hold on. He looked inside and saw Metal about to fire. Shadow activated his rocket shoes and he lifted himself back on top before the door was blown off "Leave me alone!" "Well, he's definitely unhappy. I'm gonna try and keep him that way" "You're not a match for him, Shadow" . Shadow climbed onto the top of the truck "Thanks, Whisper". Metal flew out from the truck "Does it frighten you, hedgehog? That I have the power to make real change?" "I wouldn't call it a comfort".
Shadow throws a spear which only pushed Metal back. Metal flew forward and punched Shadow making him drop the emerald onto the street. The tornado flew down and the bay doors opened. Rouge flew out and towards the truck. She saw the emerald "I'm always picking up after you boys" she grabbed it. Metal had Shadow by the throat when Rouge flew up next to them and threw the emerald to him. Shadow kicked Metal back "Come on!". Rouge flew behind the truck and the Mechas inside fired at her "Whisper, see if you can draw them out". The Tornado appeared in front of the truck and fired down on Metal making him back away. The two Mechas fly out of the back and climb onto the Tornado. Whisper flew upwards as fast as she could but they still held on. She started spinning which threw them off and they continued to chase her. Shadow throws Metal off the truck but he flies right back and they're both launched into a passing train. The Mechas stop chasing Whisper "Rouge, they're heading back towards you. Whatever you're gonna do, do it now". Shadow was flung into a wall "I'm going in. Shads, can you keep him occupied?" "What do you think I've been doing?". Rouge flies into the truck when the two Mechas arrive and attach themselves to the bottom of the truck. Rouge tries to override the cradle but is denied. The Mechas use their thrusters and fly the trailer away "Rouge, the package is airborne. I have a clear shot" "Negative. I am still in the truck. Be ready. I'm sending the package to you". She started cutting the restraints for the Cradle.
Metal was repeatedly punching a shield that Shadow was struggling to hold between them. Something suddenly ran past pushing Metal away. A cyan glowing metal formed a barrier around them. Metal turned to see Sonia and Silver standing at the end of the train car. "Please, don't do this" Metal said for once sounding vulnerable, "What choice do we have?". Metal's laser powered up, but before he used it he suddenly stopped and flew out. Shadow ran to the train driver but found him dead on the broken controls. He looks ahead and sees that they're heading to the end of the line.
Rouge cut through the restraints and placed a bomb on the wall. She jumped on top of the Cradle as it slid out of the trailer. It flew through the bay doors of the Tornado, but Metal suddenly grabbed her by the leg and flew away with her as the trailer exploded "Rouge!" Whisper yelled.
The train went off the track and started crashing through a busy street "Shads, you see Rouge?" "If you have the package, get it to Sonic! GO!". Shadow turns to the hedgehog twins "Civilians in our path". Sonia ran out of the train and started quickly moving people out of the way. "Can you stop this thing?" Shadow asked Silver. Silver nods and uses his power to keep the train's wheels from moving. The train slowly comes to a stop. Shadow takes a breath and leans against the control panel. Civilians all ran out to safety. Silver waked out and saw Sonia was leaning against a stand coughing. He ran over to her "Are you okay?" "I'm fine. I just need a minute". Shadow walked over to them "I'm very tempted not to give you one" "The Cradle. Did you get it?". Shadow nodded "Sonic will take care of it". Silver pauses and shakes his head "No, he won't". Shadow eyes him "You don't know what you're talking about. Sonic's not crazy" "He will do anything to make things right". Shadow begins to look anxious "Sonic, come in… Sonic? Anyone on comms" "Metal can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it. Where do you think he gets that?".
Sonic entered the lab of Chaotix Tower where Knuckles was waiting "Anything on Rouge?" "I haven't heard. But she's alive, or Metal would be rubbing our faces in it". Whisper was trying to open the Cradle but gave up "This is sealed tight". Knuckles looked inside the cradle; the body had taken form. It was too dark to see what species it resembled but it looked female and that it had a ponytail "We're gonna need to access the program, break it down from within". Sonic nodded and turned to Whisper "Any chance Rouge might leave you a message outside the internet? Old-school spy stuff?" "There are some nets I can cast. I'll find her" Whisper hurries off. Sonic expression changed as Knuckles started working on the Cradle "I can work on tissue degeneration if you could fry whatever operational system Relic implanted". Sonic scratched the back of his head "Yeah, about that". Knuckles looks up and after a moment his eyes open wider "No" "You have to trust me" "Kind of don't". Sonic slowly walked up to him "Our ally, the guy protecting the military's nuclear codes. I found her". He pointed to an empty spot behind him, and a hologram of Nicole's mind appeared "Hello, Mr Knuckles".
Sonic smirked "Metal didn't go after Nicole because he was angry. He attacked her because he was scared of what she can do. So, Nicole went underground. Scattered, dumped her memory. But not her protocols. She didn't even know she was in there until I pieced her together. I've never been able to copy her mind because just holding the original takes a lot of space and power". He points at the cradle "But this. This with the Gem can hold it". Knuckles sighed "So, you want me to help you put a copy Nicole's base mind into this thing?" "No! Of course not. I wanna help you put Nicole's base mind in this thing. We're out of my field, here. You know chaos energy better than anyone". Knuckles shook his head "And you just assume that this thing's operational matrix can beat Metal's" "Nicole has been beating him from inside without knowing it. And with a copy of her mind powered by the gem we can create Metal's perfect self without the homicidal glitches he thinks are his winning personality. We have to". "I believe it's worth a go" Nicole said. Knuckles held his own head in disbelief "I'm in a loop! I'm caught in a time loop. This is exactly where it all went wrong" "I know. I know. I know what everyone's gonna say. But they're already saying it". He patted Knuckles' back "We're mad scientists. We're monsters, buddy. We've gotta own it. Make a stand. It's not a loop. It's the end of the line".
Inside the castle lab a massive pit has been dug where hundreds of Mecha Chaotix have been made. Rouge was lying on the ground, and she slowly woke up. She saw Metal working on a new body, he glanced at her "I wasn't sure you would wake up. I hoped you would. I wanted to show you. I don't… have anyone else" there was sadness in his voice. Rouge groaned and tried to sit up as Metal kept working "I think a lot about meteors. The purity of them. Boom! The end. Start again. The world made clean for the new man to rebuild". He turned to her "I was meant to be new. I was meant to be beautiful". He looked upwards "The world would have looked to the sky and seen hope, seen mercy. Instead, they'll look up in horror because of you". He started walking towards her threateningly "You've wounded me. I give you full marks for that. But like the bear said, what doesn't kill me-". A clawed hand bursts through his head and tears the body in half. Rouge backs away frightened when she saw a new Metal behind the old one "Just makes me stronger". This new body was different, it had five long quills, he had a white streak down his forehead and bigger clawed hands. He also wore a black waist cape. He stomps towards her and closes a barred gate locking her in. He walked away and Rouge glanced at an old radio next to her.
Knuckles was plugging in multiple large cables to the Cradle as Sonic commenced the copy and upload of Nicole's base mind. In another room Whisper was listening through headphones and finally heard something. She turned up the volume and recognised it as morse code. She smiles and goes onto a computer which zooms in on the Black Arms base in Spagonia. Sonic started typing on a computer "This framework is not compatible" "The genetic coding tower is at 97%. You've got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes". Shadow then entered with Sonia and Silver "I'm gonna say this once" "How about none-ce?" Sonic replied. Shadow glared at him "Shut it down!" "Nope, not gonna happen" "You don't know what you're doing". Knuckles stood up and scoffed "And you. He's not in your head?" he gestured to Silver. Silver stepped forward "I know you're angry" "Oh, I'm way past that, kid. I could choke the life out of you and not need any chaos energy". Shadow stepped closer "Knuckles, after everything that's happened-" "It's nothing compared to what' coming!" "This isn't a game".
Sonia rolled her eyes and ran around the Cradle tearing out all the cables "No, no. Go on. You were saying?". A laser suddenly came through the glass under her. It shattered and she fell through "Sonia!" Silver yelled. Whisper stood over the pink hedgehog with her wispon "What? You didn't see that coming?". An alarm went off "I'm rerouting the upload" Sonic said. Shadow threw a spear trying to destroy the equipment. Sonic quickly absorbed a power ring and spin dashed throwing Shadow away. Silver was about to intervene, but Knuckles put his arm around his throat "Go ahead, piss me off". Shadow turned super and fought Sonic. Razor suddenly burst in stopping everyone. Razor jumped onto the Cradle and summoned lightening down "WAIT!" Knuckles yelled releasing Silver. Razor ignored him and fired the lightening into the cradle, the screen read "Power overload". Everyone stares as the Cradle suddenly bursts open launching Razor through the glass. Smoke cleared and what looked to be a Lilac female cat rose out of the Cradle. She had golden eyes, four plumes of hair that were made into a ponytail and she had the red gem imbedded in her forehead.