WHEN DO MY STORIES END CHAPTER 4
Chapter 4: Let it Burn
Knuckles and I jumped around the crowded corridor, dodging whatever attacks were shot or thrown at us. Eventually, there was a good pause in their attacks, and I took the chance to coil into a ball and use my homing attack on a couple of robots that were close to me. Every now and then, I would uncoil and kick a robot when they would least expect it. One of the robots actually tried to grab at me, and I laughed at it for attempting that trick 'cause I placed my shoes on its shoulders and jumped off it to have Knuckles punch the heap of metal in the face. The robot's head swiveled for a while making the wires in it become tangled and twisted. It later short circuited and blew up. The robot army that had tried to surround us had now only been reduced to a few in minutes. Knuckles and I took out the last few easily.
After a while, I scanned the corridor to see a pile of metal with some steaming robotic parts. The corridor was also damaged, somewhat, due to the battle that we had not too long ago. I admit that I tend to be reckless when it comes to fighting, but Knuckles does too, so I'm not the only one to blame here. Then, I realized that the robots weren't even trying to defeat us. They didn't even attempt to attack us directly. Of course, I saw a couple of bullets, missiles, lasers, bombs and punches coming at us, but it was like...they were meaning to miss us on purpose. My fur stood up on end. I wasn't getting a good vibe at all.
"We better get a move on and not waste time fighting other robot armies that come our way," I stated, and Knuckles nodded.
The echidna went on ahead of me just so he wouldn't fall behind. I looked around at the scraps of metal on the ground. Then my thoughts drifted off to Tails. I hoped he was okay. I wonder what he was doing anyway. My eyes averted down the curved hallway and didn't see Knuckles. The red-head actually covered some ground but that didn't mean he would get too far from me. I sprinted off after him. I looked down at the map and found that we had to make a sudden turn somewhere in the hallways. I cursed myself. I should've still been in the lead, but then I wondered if my comm would be able to link with Knuckles'. I'm kind of glad that Tails also built one for Knuckles. It's sometimes hard to get into touch with the echidna when we're looking for him.
"Cross your fingers, Sonic," I prayed. I pressed one of the buttons to have me contact Knuckles. I waited for some time, and the screen read that it couldn't connect. I gave a mouthful of a sigh out. Then, I told myself that I'll just have to go after Eggman myself. Knuckles is strong enough to take care of himself, and I should know that because I've been at the end of his spiked fists before. I looked down the path I was supposed to take and changed to look down the path that Knuckles had taken. I shrugged to myself and followed the map's directives. I raised my comm up to my face again and did my best to read the map. The map's image was getting static. I kept pressing the "reset" button to put the image back in order, but it kept getting interrupted.
I immediately stopped running when I saw the familiar insignia of Eggman's face on the screen. I figured it all had to do with the Eggster. He was playing with me and my friends. The usual. Then the image transitioned to the real Eggman. Fancy mustache, red coat, finished with his magnificent lab glasses. Duh, I'm being sarcastic. I cringed when he laughed. Why didn't he have a laugh similar to all other villains? He was like an evil Santa Claus or something whenever he'd laugh, and I remember that one time when he did dress up as Santa Claus and try to ruin Christmas. It was kind of funny seeing him in a Santa outfit. For some reason, it really suited him. An evil Santa... Or he could be like Santa's evil twin, and I laughed at my last thought.
"Oh, ho-ho-ho~! How have you been, Sonic?" I heard Eggman say. I just looked at him like I expected him to know the answer. There was an awkward silence for some time, and then Eggman started laughing again. I actually began to think what was funny.
"Tell me where you are Eggman, and where have you put the Master Emerald?!" I spat, almost sounding demanding. If someone else were to watch me from afar, they would've thought I was mad since I was screaming at my wrist but there wasn't, so I was okay; and I'm not mad or insane. Eggman waved his finger at me through the screen while shaking his head. I tapped my foot impatiently waiting for him to tell me what he had planned. He was always stupid enough to reveal his plans before reaching the half point or climax of the adventure.
"I don't know what you're talking about Sonic. Why would you think that I, Dr. Eggman, would take the Master Emerald out from under our dear friend Knuckles?" Eggman clasped his hands and dramatically looked at me. I scowled at his response. He and I knew that he was only playing around. Soon, Eggman cleared his throat and returned to business. "Listen, and listen well blue hedgehog because this will be the end of you."
"You've turned into a big time villain doctor!" I stated sarcastically, and he grinned evilly in returned. I watched the screen, waiting for what surprise he had in store for me, then my mouth gaped open when I saw Knuckles unconscious by the Master Emerald. So he did manage to find it, but why was he unconscious in the first place. There must've been some kind of invisible field shielding the Master Emerald away from anyone who would try to touch it. The echidna must've been too stubborn to find another way to get to the Master Emerald. Typical. I growled lowly finding out that Knuckles was unconscious, and just before the video had transitioned back to Eggman, I saw a little bit of movement coming from Knux. I became a little relieved to find out that the Knuckle-head was still hanging on.
"Ha, you think that will slow me down?" I retorted. Eggman waved his finger at me and started laughing again. What was up with villains and laughing?
"Head on forward blue hedgehog, the next room will be where you'll draw your last breath," Eggman replied. Then the link with Eggman disconnected. Then, I continued to look blankly as the screen. Then, I saw a signal. A signal? I typed in Tails' code and hoped that my comm was able to link with Tails. I needed to inform what had happened just recently. Luckily, I was able to see my little brother's face again. When he saw my face, I was sure he wanted to reach right through the screen and strangle me like mad. I couldn't help but chuckle, although I was a little sorry for keeping him hanging.
"Sonic, I've been trying to get a hold of you for half an hour! What happened to you?! Did Eggman get you? ...Well, it doesn't like it, but what happened? You have to tell me why you just disconnected the link!" Tails blabbed. I smiled at just hearing his voice. I had to admit that I really was growing a little worried for him, too, but I'd never say that. Tails and I never really disconnected for very long. I started walking down the small, narrow hallway, making sure to follow the path that the map had chosen out for me.
"Tails, I was pretty much occupied with getting Knuckles' attention, and I didn't really want you butting in on our conversation. After Knuckles and I got a little acquainted with each other, I tried to get back to you but there was interference. That's why I couldn't be able to link back with you," I replied.
"What do you mean—Wait...you don't mean that Dr. Eggman managed to take the Chaos Emeralds? I would've been able to detect them with my radar!" Tails exclaimed. I then heard some shuffling and typing in the background. I was about to inform Tails about Eggman managing to take the Master Emerald from Knuckles again, but my thoughts shifted to my surroundings. I noticed that I had walked into what seemed like an empty room. It looked more abandoned than empty... Honestly, I felt like I was a cop or detective having been called in on one of those crime scenes 'cause there were a lot of papers randomly settled on the ground. There bad lighting in the room, along with some, what seemed like, violently torn off limbs of robots on the ground.
I didn't know exactly what Eggman expected me to do here, but I was sure he wanted to have a showdown with me. He made it seem like it was going to be some kind of special battle. I didn't know whether or not to notify Tails about it, but I guessed Tails would find out by the time I—
"Sonic, something fast is coming your way!" I heard Tails' voice cut through my thoughts. I snapped my head round and heard some hissing down the hall. The hissing sounded really familiar, like an engine. An engine that hisses? As I looked down the hallway, and saw a silhouette of blue. I thought everything around me just went by in slow motion just for me to realize who my opponent was going to be. Metal Sonic? I thought Eggman got rid of him after our last encounter with him.
I blinked myself out of my short trance, and at the last second, I jumped to the side almost avoiding Metal Sonic's outstretched claws. I only got a small scratch on my side from him, and I couldn't help but hiss lowly. I twisted my body round before I landed back on my feet. My teeth clenched and watched Metal Sonic. At first, I thought the metal look-a-like would crash into the wall but immediately came to a stop at the other end of the room probably a few centimeters before touching the steel wall. He flew upward carefully decreasing his speed. He turned himself around, and then his engine began to quiet, letting him slowly touch the ground. Once that was done, he glared right at me with his robotic, evil eyes. I heard heavy doors on all four sides of the room coming down from the ceiling; they all fell at the same time, making the ground shake just slightly. The whole room was sealed shut.
All I could do was stand in place and look straight at metal with the cocky stare I always gave him, and he would do the same except with a more aggressive nature. I felt my hands beginning to sweat from underneath my gloves. The suspense was killing me. I wanted some response from my metal look-a-like, but he didn't do anything. Then, I saw a giant screen come into view. Looks like another message from the doctor.
Ugh.
He was, of course, grinning down at me, and I could only grin cockily back at him.
"Surprise, surprise Sonic! I thought it'd be okay if I brought back Metal Sonic since he seemed to be the one robot you had trouble in defeating," Eggman exclaimed.
"Tsk, I've defeated Metal a lot more times than you could count. He's just too stubborn to admit defeat," I retorted. "So, what's up? Too afraid to battle me yourself, Egghead?"
I watched Eggman's toothy smile turn into an annoyed look. I grinned inwardly just looking at him trying to think up of a way to respond to my earlier statement. "I have only chosen Metal Sonic to battle you to see how much you have improved from your last encounter with him. I have managed to restore the memory of when he gathered you and your friends' abilities back when and let him fight you again. He's been begging to see you fall on your knees," Eggman dramatically explained. "So I thought, why not now? This would be the best moment. To see one of my greatest accomplishments, finish you off. This version of Metal is special. I have managed to fuse Metal's power outlet with the Master Emerald's energy."
I stared at the mad man wide-eyed for some time. Then I looked over to the dark corner where Metal Sonic stood. I wondered how he reacted to the Master Emerald, and the same goes for the giant green emerald. I knew that Knuckles wasn't going to be happy when he found out that Eggman was using it for another one of his crazy experiments. I then looked back up at Eggman and shrugged his arrogance away, "I'll take on anything you dish out Egg-head!" The doctor just smirked then signed out. I fixed my eyes on Metal Sonic.
"So, I heard you missed me," I commented casually, and I knew all too well that Metal could understand me. He just chose not to reply. "Alright, giving me the silent treatment, eh? How about we get right to fighting?"
At that moment, Metal Sonic reactivated his engine and flew right at me. I stood my ground and held up my hands ready to clasp his metal claws. I jumped up at him making the metal monster lose a little control of his flying pattern. I managed to make Metal stay close to the ground, but my back was burning quite a bit but ignored it. We were spinning in the air. Metal Sonic was trying to claw at me, but I kept my hold on his hands trying my best not to get his hands to scratch me or anything.
"Grah!" I hollered. There was a sudden pain in my back, and I assumed that Metal had pinned me against a wall. Immediately I lost the firm hold on the other me, and he pushed his hand against my face. I growled and snarled. I knew what he was thinking. He wanted to smash my head into the wall, but I wasn't going to let that happen.
"Give in to defeat Sonic," Metal said. I felt him take his free hand and held it close to his face. My vision was beginning to blur a bit, so I decided to take some drastic measures. I managed to get my arms to move and punched one of Metal Sonic's eyes out. My ears twitched when the metal monster screamed...well...in a robotic way. I blinked a couple of times to get my eyes to start working right, and then charged at Metal while ignoring the growing headache. Metal Sonic "sensed" me coming his way and quickly moved to the side. I was going to change directions until I felt cold, metal hands grasp at my neck. I choked on my own air and saliva. I needed to cough, but I couldn't. I blinked my eyes open a bit and saw Metal's other hand transforming into some gun. Dr. Eggman must've added some new accessories to him.
"Tsk, that bastard," I thought, smiling to myself.
"Yes, I believe he is. Even though I would've enjoyed having your blood covering my hands, I guess this could work as well since you'd still be dead under my doing," Metal hissed, and all I could do was chuckle at him.
"C'mon Faker, show me what you've got!" I choked out, still with the usual grin on my face.
"I'd be glad to."
I heard a couple of clicks then a loud roar erupted from someone coming off from my left. I was losing air and my vision was blurring, so I couldn't see who it was; but I was able to recognize the battle cry. I felt the grip on my neck loosen, and I fell to the ground breathing heavily and choking while I gasped for air. I looked up and saw my friend, Knuckles, punching Metal's muzzle like crazy. I smiled lightly, glad that Knuckles came just in time.
Then, I heard my comm come back on, and of course, it was Tails. I coughed one last time before greeting him, "What's up...buddy?"
"Sonic, what happened to you?! I left connection with you for a little bit, and you're almost beaten to death!" Tails exclaimed.
"Ah, don't worry bro, I'm doing just fine," I stood up. The only pain I had was the growing headache. I wasn't going to feel good after this battle.
"Sonic, you have to get out of there fast! I detected a bomb somewhere in the room you're in!" I held my breath in for a second then looked around. "Wait, it's moving!" Tails added.
"Wait, how can a bomb...move...?" Then, the thought hit me. I looked straight at Metal Sonic who had just managed to kick Knuckles off of him. My metal counterpart must've had that bomb installed into him. I ran towards Knuckles who was about to launch another powerful punch at Metal. For me being the fastest thing alive, I managed to stop the fist from connecting with Metal's chest. Metal Sonic was in a pretty bad shape, and he looked like he was about to let himself blow up. Great, one of my greatest enemies/rivals has turned suicidal...with the exception of Shadow. I managed to stop him.
"Knuckles, we have to get out of here quick! I think Metal Sonic has a bomb in him," I exclaimed.
"What? Why didn't you tell me sooner, we could've already been out of here!" Knuckles roared. He motioned for me to follow him to the giant sized hole he made in the metal walls. I wondered how he was able to find me because I thought that he was too busy trying to save his precious Master Emerald. Then, I began to wonder what Eggman was really up to. For sure, he was trying to kill me since he had placed a bomb into my opponent. I couldn't help but think horribly at the thought. If I had continued to fight with Metal, I would've continued until the bomb went off. I guess I was just too lucky for my own good. Having a lot of luck is good for a hero. All heroes need luck, and I have a lot of it.
"Alright Sonic, I have had a good scan of Eggman's base, and it seems that he had made a run for it. He doesn't seem to be anywhere in the base anymore," Tails informed. "I've also detected more bombs, and now your escape out of the base will be a little more complicated since there will be armies of robots waiting for you at each sector and exit."
"Great, just great Tails, you just had to share this information with us. I was beginning to think that we were done with bombs too," Knuckles said. I couldn't help but snicker at my red-furred friend.
"Alright buddy, show us the path to the quickest escape route," I said with a big grin on my face. There was a feeling of excitement coming from all over my body. The familiar feel of adventure developed. I began to break into a run with Knuckles trailing behind me. My ears perked at the sound of the beep from my comm. I pulled my wrist up and looked to see the escape route I was supposed to take with Knucklehead. My smile widened, and I jumped a ways back and grabbed my red friend's hand and sped down the halls since the ceilings behind us were beginning to cave in thanks to the robots who were trying to slow us—me—down.
Suddenly, a sound that came from behind caught my attention; I looked to my side to be tackled by my robot friend. I screamed because of the sudden pain and because Knuckles' hand slid out my grasp oh so suddenly.
"Sonic! What's going on?" I heard my fox friend's voice come from my comm. I gasped when Metal Sonic pressed me against the wall again. I didn't have the time to answer Tails because I was kind of busy trying to loosen the choking hold Metal Sonic had on me. We were pretty much having a silent argument by fighting with our gazes—well, I was trying to keep my eyes open. Both of us were thinking of the same things, we wanted to see who would be able to make it outside first even though my metal counterpart was going to explode, and I didn't want him to drag me down with him.
I heightened my strength and successfully made a small gap between his metal claws and my neck. Even though I didn't have good upper body strength, I managed to make a swift escape. Just as I freed myself from Metal, I curled into a ball of spikes and charged at him hoping to weaken him by just a bit. Any amount of damage on him would buy me time to get back to Knuckles, so I rammed him onto the floor and bounced away from him charging toward the opposite direction.
As I was making distance between me and Metal, I went to go look for Knuckles. I really hoped he was okay. After all, I did just suddenly drop him somewhere in these long, red illuminated hallways. My eyes searched for my red friend, and luckily, he wasn't too far from where I was almost strangled to death. The only thing I hoped for him is that he wasn't unconscious. I didn't literally want to carry him out of Eggman's base; it would only slow me down...just a tiny bit. I kneeled beside him and shook him awake. I gave out a sigh of relief that he was still conscious after that stumble with Metal and because I wouldn't have to carry him out. I helped him pick himself up, and just as soon as he realized I was helping him, he immediately snatched his arm away from around my shoulders. All I could do was smirk.
"Do you think you can hold up by yourself? I don't have much time to talk, but Metal's going to be here any second, and I need you to get out of here and take Tails with ya no matter what. Okay?" I asked cautiously, looking around for any sign of my metal counterpart.
"Wait...you're not coming?" I heard Knuckles ask.
"Of course I am! I just need to settle things with Metal. Now get out of here before the base collapses on top of us!" I shouted nudging Knuckles forward towards the direction of the supposed exit. I knew that he couldn't come up with anything else to protest against me, so he left. I sighed with relief and pressed a button on my comm to look at the map of the base. I sped off back towards the direction where Metal was. I needed to stall him, and then I'll find my way out. I heard Metal Sonic making his way towards me. His metal shoes heavily clanking against the metal floor. I was hopeful enough his jet pack didn't work so he wouldn't be able to charge at me anymore.
Once we made eye contact with each other. I quickly charged a Spin Dash and sped after him with all the speed I mustered in that one attack. And as I expected, Metal's computer thing was too slow to calculate what was happening, thanks to Knuckles mercilessly punching him. I unrolled myself and flipped back onto my feet and watched Metal tumble backwards down the hall.
With his mimicking lightning fast reflexes, he managed to get back up on his feet. I smirked and then continued to run down the hall trying to find my own way out of the base with Metal Sonic trailing behind me. I haven't forgotten about the bomb that was implanted in his body, nor the several bombs hooked around Eggman's base. A bead of sweat began to crawl down the side of my face. I really wished I had my Chaos Emerald with me. I really did... At the moment, all I had to do was keep as far a distance away from Metal to not further trigger the bomb inside him.
My ears twitched, I heard explosions developing behind me. The bombs have just been set off. I sped up not wanting to get caught in the flames. I heard Metal's jet engine trying to function. I heard buzzes and several robotic movements coming after that. Then, I heard a sonic boom and that gave me a sign that Metal had managed to get his engine to work again. I cursed within my growl. Why did his jet engine have to work at a time like this? I took in another breath of air and sped off at higher speeds. I wasn't going to let Metal Sonic catch up with me.
I looked over my shoulder and saw Metal Sonic nearly approaching me. I stepped to the side not wanting him to try and grab at me again. Metal was fizzing and sparking like crazy. I took the chance and boost forward, making a good distance between me and my metal counterpart again. Then, I quickly halted and twisted my body around to face the speeding robot and then charged my Spin Dash and quickly released after him. I hit him square in his chest and launched him into the bursting flames heading our way. I managed to slow my momentum by uncurling myself and landing on my feet. Metal Sonic continued tumbling backward until he was enveloped into the flames. My eyes narrowed, and I turned back to the direction I came from, not wanting to burn my skin and hide once. I continued speeding off towards the unknown exit.
And honestly...I didn't sense a difference in Metal Sonic's fighting patterns. They seemed the same to me even after Eggman told me that he was fused with the Master Emerald's Chaos energy...