AFTER THE METAREX: SONIC'S STORY

Chapter Four

"Getting Together"

Sonic had no trouble getting back inside. Grounder rolled past him, mumbling to himself, but didn't even look Sonic's way. Apparently, Metal Sonic hadn't wanted anyone around him smart enough to challenge his authority.

Sonic made his way back to solitary confinement. The door was wide open. Those two ugly guys, Sleet and Dingo, were staring at the door.

"Uh, Sleet," Dingo said, scratching his head. "Is that door supposed to be open?"

"Of course it is!" Sleet said, pushing Dingo in and slamming the door behind him. "That way I don't have to look at you anymore!"

But since the lock was broken, Dingo just pushed it open. "That wasn't funny!" Dingo said. He picked Sleet up and tossed him in. Then he closed the door on him. "Now that's funny!"

Sonic put his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing. As he started to sneak off, however, Dingo yelled. "Hey! Who are you?"

"Uh…I'm-a Luigi! My brother Mario, he call me in to fix the plumbing. Said she's busted!"

"Oh yeah," Dingo said. "You don't look much like your brother."

"Yeah, that'sa what they all say! I see you later!" Sonic took off.

"Who are you talking to, dimwit?" Sleet demanded, pushing the door open.

"The plumber's brother," Dingo said. "What's wrong with the loo, anyway?"

"You're a numbskull!" Sleet said. "That was an intruder! Sound the alarm while I get my gun!"

Sonic whizzed about the camp, stopping at every hiding place to make sure the coast was clear. He passed the kitchen, where he saw Scratch and Coconuts arguing about something. He shouldn't have to worry about them for a bit. He decided to track down the old duck. Maybe he'd heard something from the masked girl.

As luck would have it, the masked girl had just been speaking to old Mister Plume. As she stepped out of the little tool shed they'd met in, Sonic noticed her.

"Hey!" he yelled. She started to run. "Not this time, you don't!"

Sonic chased the girl through the compound. He couldn't put on any real speed without risking crashing right through buildings and possibly injuring someone, and she knew the layout much better than he did, so it was difficult keeping up with her.

"I don't believe this!" St. John said once the Freedom Fighters reached the only gate of the quarry. "That blighter didn't even open the door for us!" He put his pistol away, and took out a rocket launcher.

"Too much noise, Geoff," Hershey said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "We're trying to be sneaky here. Bunny? Can you stretch over the wall?"

"I'll try, sugah," Bunny said. She extended her mechanical legs, then stretched out her robotic arm. She could get her arm over the top, but couldn't feel anything but the other side of the wall. "There's nothing for me to get a grip on!"

"Let me try," Honey said. She started to unfasten the bandages on her injured wing.

Sonic jumped over a rake the masked girl had tossed at him, dodged under the watering trough, and hurdled the old tree stump in front of him. The girl ran for a building and started to run up the side. Sonic followed her. At the top of the building, she staggered a little. While she was regaining her footing, Sonic finally caught up to her.

"Okay," Sonic said, "enough is enough!" He grabbed the girl and pulled her mask off. He froze. "A-Anita?!?"

"Onichan?" she cried. "You're my brother?!" Then, to his shock, she slapped his face.

"Wha-what did you do that for?" he demanded.

"How long has it been?" she asked. "Three years? Four? The legendary champion of the chaos emeralds. The fastest thing alive. So why did it take you so long to find your own little sister?!?"

"I…I'm here now," Sonic said helplessly. He shook his head. "Come on! I gotta get you out of here! The Freedom Fighters are about to raid the place! I don't want you getting shot!"

Sonic grabbed his sister's arm. She pulled away from him. "I'm not leaving! There are a lot of children here! I don't want any of them getting hurt!"

"I can protect them once I'm sure you're safe," Sonic promised. His blood ran cold. He'd made that promise to Cosmo, and look what he'd ended up doing to her!

"No!" Sonic said. "Not again! Never again!"

"What are you talking about?" Anita asked, giving him a strange look. Had he spoken out loud?

"I swear," Sonic said to her, "no more deaths! Nobody else dies while I'm alive!"

"Did you lose someone?" Anita asked. "Rosey the Rascal? That little dweeb with two tails that everybody used to pick on?"

"Someone I met last year," Sonic said. "And that dweeb is now my best friend, and mourning his girl friend's death. But that's for later. Right now, we have to…ow!" The little mink had found Sonic and Anita, and assumed her friend was in danger. Her teeth were like needles in Sonic's ankle.

"It's okay, Glow," Anita said, "this is my brother!"

"Really?" the little mink said. She turned her head from side to side. Sonic felt like he was being analyzed. The little girl's eyes were green. Not like his or Anita's, but a weird, phosphorescent green.

"Do you still pick your nose?" the little girl asked. Sonic glared at his sister.

"You try being locked in a room for days on end, and see if you don't spill your guts to whoever will talk to you," Anita said, shrugging.

"Anita, you're not helping," Sonic said.

"Her name's Sonia!" the mink insisted.

"Yeah, um, I've been going by that name," Anita said. "I didn't want any of the guards to know who I am. If they found out my brother's Sonic the Hedgehog…"

"Yeah, I get it," Sonic said. "Where'd you come up with the name Sonia? Take it from me?"

"It's my middle name…duh!" Anita said. "I realized after I gave it that it was too close to Sonic, but I couldn't take it back then. I think everybody just assumed I was naming myself after you because of hero worship or something."

"You used to practically worship the ground I walked on," Sonic remembered. "Drove me nuts!"

"Short trip," Anita said. "Now let's get moving! We can reminisce later!"

Sonic sputtered. Was she telling him how to fight Eggman?

Sonic found himself following his sister through the compound. "Um, where are we going, exactly?"

"First off," Anita told him, "we have to get the kids ready to run when we give the word. Let me do the talking. They're all so scared of Metal Sonic, they won't listen to a word you say."

"Gwow not scared of Metalhead!" Glow said, clinging to Anita. She looked over at Sonic and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Cute kid," Sonic said sarcastically. "Listen, the best way, I think, for us to move everybody out of here would be in the mine cars."

"Great idea," Anita said. "That's exactly where Metal Sonic is when he's not here! So we save the kids from Sleet and Dingo and Scratch and Grounder, and send them right to Metal Sonic! Your elevator doesn't go all the way to the top floor, does it?"

Sonic sputtered. Anita used to be crazy about him. Now she was a rude snot!

"So then, what do we do?" Sonic asked.

"You stay here and stand guard," Anita said, stopping in front of a small wooden building. "I'll get the girls first. They're easier to reason with than boys!"

"That's 'cause boys are coo-coo!" Glow said firmly. She stuck her tongue out at Sonic again.

Anita came out a few minutes later. She was followed by eight girls. They all squealed in horror when they saw Sonic.

"No no!" Anita said. "This is Sonic the Hedgehog! He's here to destroy Metal Sonic!"

"Um…hi, girls!" Sonic said. Five of them looked unconvinced. One stuck her tongue out at him. One ignored him. And the last started giggling. "What's so funny?" he asked. He wasn't wearing his plumber outfit anymore.

"You look like a girl!" she said. "You need a haircut!"

"Great," Sonic said. Nothing like insults to boost his ego.

"Let's move out!" Anita said. They moved to another small building. "Try to stay out of the way, onichan! Boris and Harvey might want to pick fights with you."

"Let me guess," Sonic said. "One's a badger, the other's an ocelot."

"Ah, if you're all old friends, it should be easier!" Anita said. She stuck her tongue out at him, then went inside.

Anita was in there longer. Sonic could hear a voice say, "How do we know we can trust this guy?"

"He's my brother! Do you trust me?" Good ol' Anita. He guessed she still loved him after all. "Don't worry. I can get him to do anything I like!" Or maybe not.

The boys looked at Sonic like he was some sort of roach they'd like to step on. What had they been telling these kids about him? Well, it didn't matter. They had to get moving!

"'Here, now, what's all this?" came a voice. The children squealed as Dingo stepped out from around the next building. Right behind him was Sleet with a shot gun.

"Well, well, Dingo, look what we've found!" Sleet pointed his shot gun at Sonic.

"Honey, are you sure you can handle this?" Hershey asked the other cat.

"I have to try," Honey said, removing the bandages from her injured wing. "If I can just fly over the wall and open the door so the guards don't hear you knocking the door down, it'll be worth it." She spread her wings. The injured one didn't want to cooperate.

"Honey, please!" Hershey said, as Honey flapped her bad wing experimentally. "You could damage it permanently! You might never fly again!" Honey winced, but started towards the gate anyway.

Honey let out a whimper as she flew over the wall. She landed heavily, scraping her left knee. Now she probably wouldn't be able to run either! Once inside, she checked the lock. Too difficult to break it. She wasn't good at picking locks, either. She checked the other side of the door. One of the pins was loose. She worked on it, and got it out. Then she started work on the others. The door hadn't been properly taken care of, since Metal Sonic and Sleet were the only two that weren't morons, and they left the work to stupid subordinates. Once she had two pins open, she was able, with St. John's help, to tilt the door enough for Bunnie to stretch her mechanical arm inside and remove the final pin.
"Watch the door!" St. John said. Honey jumped out of the way, and the others pushed the door open.

"So far, so good!" St. John said. "Wonder where that blasted Sonic is. Well, can't wait for 'im! Let's move, people!"

Sonic spun dashed into Sleet, grabbing the gun, and pointing it straight up. Bang! He punched the ugly guy out. Sonic didn't have Knuckles' muscles, but few Mobians could take a punch to the jaw from Sonic the Hedgehog. Sleet wasn't one of them. He folded like an accordian.

That left Dingo. Sonic hit him next. Unfortunately, Dingo was one of the few Mobians that could take a punch to the jaw from Sonic. "That hurt, mate!" Dingo yelled. "'ere, 'ave one of mine!" He punched Sonic back. The two of them traded blows for awhile. Dingo was pretty much solid muscle, including between his ears, and his head was like concrete. He started wobbling, but still wouldn't go down.

Anita pushed past her brother. She made a flying leap, catching Dingo under the chin. He finally fell.

"We make a good team, little sister!" Sonic said.

"Save the congratulations until we're all out of here!" Anita said. "Did you open the gate?"

"I thought that might attract attention," Sonic said. "It would be better to get these kids out of here first."

"We can take care of ourselves!" the badger said. "We handled you, didn't we?"

"Look," Sonic said seriously, "I'm the only one around that can beat Metal Sonic. It's not going to be an easy victory, though, and I can't be worrying about you guys while I'm fighting him."

"Sonia!" Mister Plume came running up. He was out of breath.

"What is it?" Anita asked. "Calm down and catch your breath. Are you okay?"

"I just overheard…he's coming! He's on the road! Metal Sonic!"

The kids, including the brats, all huddled together at the news.

"If he's on the road, he'll probably catch anyone trying to leave through the gate," Anita said. "His scanners can pick up a fly from a mile away!"

"The only other way is through the mine tunnel," Mister Plume offered. "And the pirates will be there waiting for us."

"We can handle anybody else," Anita said. "Metal Sonic's the only really dangerous one, and my big brother's ready for him! Let's get to the mine tunnel!"

St. John, Hershey, Antoine, Bunny, and Honey, unaware of what was going on at the other end of the compound, soon came upon the kitchen. Grounder had joined Scratch and Coconuts' argument.

"I'm sick of taking orders from you guys!" Coconuts was yelling. "I'm smarter than both of you put together! You should obey me!"

"Ah, shut up!" Grounder said, running over Coconuts' foot.

"You shut up!" Scratch yelled, hitting Grounder.

"Fire in the hold!" St. John said, pulling the pin of a smoke grenade with his teeth and tossing it into the broken window.

"Hey, what's that?" Grounder asked. "Fireworks? I love fireworks!"
"It's a smoke bomb, you moron!" Coconuts cried.

"We're under attack!" Scratch screeched.

"Hit 'em 'ard, mates!" St. John yelled, leaping through the window. He grabbed Scratch by the comb on his head and slammed him into the wall. As the rooster bounced off the wall, the skunk grabbed him and fell to the floor, flipping Scratch high into the air and against the far wall.

Bunny extended her mechanical arm, knocking Grounder over. "Ah'm sorry this'll hurt, sugah!" she said as she leaped onto the robot. She pulled open his control panel and yanked out a handful of wires. Grounder shut down.

Antoine, not wanting to be made to look like a coward and a buffoon yet again, decided he couldn't possibly have trouble with Coconuts. "Come here, monsieur," he said, "zis will only hurt a moment!"

With a squeal, Coconuts was on Antoine's head. "Oh yeah!" the monkey robot yelled, jumping up and down on Antoine's noggin. "Well take this! And that! And this! And…"

But Coconuts hadn't taken into consideration a simple fact: a coward, when forced to fight, cares about nothing but saving himself. Antoine completely freaked out. He started bashing Coconuts with the handle of his sword. "Get off! 'elp! 'e is killing me!" He ran around the kitchen in circles, finally running into the wall. As Coconuts fell off of him, Antoine stomped on him with his boots. "Save me!" he cried. "Save me somebody! I don't want to die!"

"'Toine," Bunny cried, pulling him off of the monkey. "It's all right! You beat him!"

"I-I did?!?" Antoine cried, completely shocked. He grinned. "But of course! Foolish popinjay! To zink you could stand up to Antoine Du'Cullote!" He sheathed his sword. "Hmf!"

"Alright, mates," St. John said. "Let's finish this! Bunny! You and Antoine, go left! Hershey, Honey and I will go right! We'll meet at the mine entrance! Now let's move out!"

St. John, Hershey, and Honey passed Sleet and Dingo. "The 'edge'og's finally done something right on this mission!" St. John said begrudgingly.

"They're so…ugly!" Hershey said.

"Those poor children must have nightmares about those two!" Honey agreed.

They started past Dingo. Suddenly, they heard a gun click.

"That will be far enough!" Sleet said. He was back on his feet, leaning against the door of a building. "Now why don't you three put your hands up nice and slowly!"

"Don't worry, girls," St. John said, as they raised their hands. "I can take him!"

"Geoffrey, no!" Hershey hissed.

St. John braced himself. And then…

Bang! The door Sleet was standing in front of flew open, knocking him against the wall.

"I made it, guys!" Breezie cried. Then she noticed Sleet behind the door. "Oh dear! Oh, the poor man! I've completely disfigured his face!"

"No, he already looked like that!" St. John said. "Nice save, girl!"

"Thank you, kind sir!" Breezie said, bouncing up and down as she realized she'd taken down a killer.

"Stop bouncing!" Hershey said. "Geoffrey! Don't look at her when she's bouncing!"

"Oh, grow up, Hershey!" St. John said. "Let's move! We still have to free the children before Metal Sonic arrives!"

They had no idea that Sonic and his sister were already leading the children into the mine. There were three empty mine cars. Anita got the children to crowd into two of them, leaving one for her and any Freedom Fighter that might show up to make a last minute escape if necessary.

Anita placed the badger in charge of the first car, and the ocelot in charge of the second. She put Glow in the first car. Mister Plume climbed tiredly into the second.

"Be careful, Sonia," he said. He looked at Sonic. "We all love this gal, Mister Sonic. Please don't let anything happen to her."

"Hey, she's my sister!" Sonic said, putting an arm around her. "No problemo!" He gave them all a thumbs-up. Glow gave him a raspberry.

"Let's wait until this is over to pat ourselves on the back!" Anita said, ducking out of Sonic's grasp. "Now get going!" she said. "I'll be right behind you!"

"Are you sure this is a good idea, sending the kids and an old man off to where the pirates are alone?" Sonic demanded.

"Don't worry," Anita assured him. "Boris is super strong, and Harvey can shoot fireworks from his hands. They don't hurt much, but they're pretty blinding. And Glow is…"

"Right behind you!" Sonic said.

"Glow?!?" Anita cried. "What are you doing back here?"

The little mink threw her arms around Anita. "Gwow help Anita!" She looked at Sonic. "Not Metal Sonic look coo-coo!"

"Very nice kid!" Sonic said. "Get in the last car, Anita. I don't want you getting hurt."

"I'm not afraid of Metal Sonic!" Anita said.

"Then you've lost it," Sonic said. "I've fought him. He's as tough as me, only completely ruthless!"

"There you are!" St. John yelled, as the Freedom Fighters burst into the old mine. "I see you finally did something right, clearing out the kids!"

"What did you expect?" Anita demanded. "He's Sonic the Hedgehog!" Well, at least she was loyal in front of people who insulted him.

Of course, Glow wasn't. "He's coo-coo!" she said, pointing at Sonic.

"Ah, ma petite, zat is what I 'ave been saying for years!" Antoine said, patting her head. She bit his hand. "Yee-ouch! You little cannibal!" He tried to pull free. She held on like a pitbull.

"Antoine!" Bunny cried. "Leave the poor little girl alone, you big bully!"

"But my love, she has ze bite of ze piranha!" Antoine wailed.

"Glow!" Anita cried. "Bad girl!"

Suddenly, they heard an explosion. Then another. "They're coming this way!" St. John said. "It must be Metal Sonic!" He pulled out his rocket launcher.

"You wouldn't stand a chance against him," Sonic insisted. "Leave him to me! Just get my sister to safety…please!"

"Your sister!" the Freedom Fighters yelled.

"Anita Sonia Parlouzer, at your service!" Anita said. "Now let's roll out!"

"I am in charge here!" St. John said. "I say when we leave!"

There was another explosion, this one just outside of the mine.

"All right!" St. John said. "We go!"

"Great to see you again, Breezie!" Sonic said, as he helped her into the mine car.

"It's been so long, my pretty one!" Breezie said. "You have grown so tall and so handsome!"

"And you're still…beautiful!" Sonic said. He shook his head. "But there's no more time to waste!" He helped Hershey and Honey into the car.

"Anita! Come on!" Sonic said. He helped his sister into the car. Then he bent over to pick up Glow.

Munch! "Ahh! Anita!" Sonic yelled.

"Not so loud, you great fool!" St. John said.

"Come on, honey!" Anita said. "We're going on a mine ride."

"Did you call me?" Honey asked.

"What?" Anita asked.

"Sorry, my name's Honey," the cat explained.

"Antoine," St. John said. "Sit down and stop flexing your muscles, mate!"

"But I crushed ze little monkey like an eggshell!" Antoine said proudly.

"Quiet!" Sonic yelled. They listened. There was the sound of heavy, clanging, mechanical footsteps.

"Go! Go! Go!" Sonic cried. St. John pulled a switch, and the last mine car moved through the mine. Sonic knew his enemy could easily catch up to it, though, if he let him. Sonic braced himself.

A figure moved towards him. A mechanical voice spoke. "So, my doppleganger! We meet again…for the final time!"

"You're the doppleganger!" Sonic said, rubbing his thumb across his nose. "I'm the real deal!"

"So we shall see," Metal Sonic said. "NOW!"

Next time, the final chapter! Sonic versus Metal Sonic!