Chapter 11: Showdown (Part 2/2)

The Guardian Units of Earth were busy scrambling everything space-worthy they could pull out in such a short time frame. Conquest the Bat had given strict orders to the field commanders that they were not allowed to engage the Metal Sonic ship until a sufficient force was gathered in the surrounding area. Trying to take down the enemy over a series of attacks would just result in the Ultimate Overlord growing stronger as it devoured the defeated ships. The only hope was an all-out offensive using all the combined firepower of the orbital defence fleet at once. Victory would be within reach if they could deal enough damage before the Overlord had time to assimilate more scrap in order to reinforce itself.

But that was for the worst case scenario. Conquest still had some hope that Silver and Blaze would be able to destroy the core of the monster and save the day. There was also the vain hope that Shadow would come through for Earth as he'd done so many times in the past, but that hope was fading fast.

-

At the heart of the Ultimate Overlord, Silver and Blaze were locked in intense combat with Metal Sonic. Curiously, Metal wasn't using any copied abilities this time, but fighting solely with his own skills. Blaze, who could think and fight at the same time, unlike her partner, speculated that it was beause Metal Sonic had invested all of his copied data into the superstructure they were all standing within. Whatever the case, the robot was still a formidable adversary.

Metal Sonic grabbed Blaze by her ponytail and pulled her off balance while at the same time kicking away Silver, who'd thought he could jump Metal from behind. Before Blaze could react, Metal Sonic twisted around and threw his fist into her stomach. With the wind knocked out of her, Metal prepared to deliver a finishing blow to the cat. Silver wasn't about to fail his friend a second time, though, so he used his psycho-kinetic energy to head-butt Metal Sonic with a teleport dash. Before Metal could recover, Silver used his power to tear the usurper's throne out of its base and throw it right at its owner.

For once, Metal Sonic failed to dodge and recieved the full weight of his throne, knocking him back down again. After a second, he was back up and back on the offensive.

Silver jumped straight up, wrapped in the glow that signified the active use of his psycho-kinetic powers. Although it was only temporary and drained a lot out of him, Silver could fly through the air with total control. Metal Sonic was forced to conform to the artificial gravity of his domain, which was why when Metal jumped after the white hedgehog, Silver managed to curve behind his enemy and grab him. Silver then spun in the air and forced both of them down to the ground. Even as they fell, Silver let his energy charge, so that when they hit, he'd release a massive shockwave of kinetic energy, enough to paralyze or destroy any foe. But right at the last second, Metal Sonic released a charge of his own, wrapping his body in shocking electricity. Silver was thrown off, and Metal landed on his feet.

While Silver sat with every hair on his body charged with static electricity, Blaze ran past and aimed a burning hurricane kick at Metal Sonic. Metal spun around the attack, and, still glowing with electricity, tried to get a hold of Blaze. Instead, Blaze caught Metal's hands, but as her body was covered in fire, it was a stalemate of violent discharges.

"You cannot hope to win," Metal Sonic taunted. "I was created for the sole purpose of defeating the most formidable champion this world has ever seen."

"And you failed," Blaze pointed out, struggling harder.

"In this deviated timeline, perhaps. Once the true path of history is restored, the world will know the truth. I am superior! I am the ultimate!"

Metal Sonic hadn't noticed that his left arm was glowing teal around the shoulder.

"Sorry, but that report gets an F," said Silver, standing behind Metal Sonic with his hand outstretched. The lines on his gloves were brighter than ever.

"What?"

"I'm gonna have to flunk you out of history class, buddy!" Silver yelled as put all his strength into the pull.

Metal Sonic screamed with rage and surprise as his arm was torn out of its socket. Blaze seized the opportunity, and threw her burning fist into the exposed hole, frying the delicate circuitry within the metal armour.

"This is im#os#ible! I c#n't los#!" Metal Sonic protested, his voice becoming distorted with static.

"Back to where you belong!" Silver shouted triumphantly.

With fire consuming the flammable interior, Metal Sonic was torn apart by the psycho-kinetic energy. Furiously, remembering all the pain Metal had caused him, Silver reduced the Sonic lookalike to scrap. Finally, he walked over to where the CPU was spilled out, and stepped on it hard.

In the silence after the battle, Silver and Blaze breathed a sigh of relief. Metal Sonic was defeated. It was finally over. All they had to do now was find the central point of this big ship and put it out of commision. With no robot villain to worry about, it shouldn't be any trouble at all.

They looked up at the blood-red dome situated above where the throne had been. It seemed the most promising place to look.

"Ha ha hah ha hah hah ha!"

Silver and Blaze looked behind them. It didn't make any difference. The laughter was coming from every direction at once.

"An excellent performance. I thank you both for providing me with such an entertaining distraction in the moments before I seal my victory."

"Me-Metal Sonic?" said Silver, unable to disguise his concern. "But we destroyed you!"

"Hahahahahaaaha ha! Come now. Did you really believe that destroying my avatar would make any difference at all? I am everything you see before you!!"

"I won't accept it! He must have a weakness!" said Blaze, not just to reassure Silver but herself as well.

"You coward! Show yourself!" Silver shouted.

"Very well."

Metal Sonic stepped out of the nearest tunnel. He didn't say a word, but simply pointed at something on the other side of the cavernous chamber. Cautiously, Silver and Blaze turned to see a second Metal Sonic coming out of a different tunnel. With growing fear, they watched dozens of Metal Sonics step out of the shadows, all identical to the one they'd fought so hard to defeat.

"Now, finally you understand." said all the Metal Sonics in perfect harmony. "You cannot win. Even if the impossible should occur, and the Ultimate Overlord is undone, it will serve as nothing more than a minor setback. The body your scientists unearthed and repaired is still down there on Earth. It copied itself into me, and should I fall, then it will resume the grand task, and this entire chain of events will repeat. Needless to say, my successor will have learned from whatever mistake lead to my undoing."

Silver and Blaze stood back-to-back in the center of the chamber. There had to be over a hundred of the robots, and who knew how many more the Ultimate Overlord could create at a moment's notice. They were trapped. Even if they could run, where would they go? Destroying the core of the ship wouldn't do any good - every single piece of it would have to be vaporized to be sure, and even then, what about the original? GUE had been as sure as the heroic duo that the Ultimate Overlord was the transformed original, and had put every resource towards it - meanwhile, the original was still running loose down on Earth with no one in pursuit. For all they knew, it could be creating a second Ultimate Overlord right at this moment.

The situation was hopeless. Completely hopeless...

-

The GUE fleet slowed as they neared the edge of the Safe Zone surrounding the Ultimate Overlord. Any closer and they'd be in range for it to capture and assimilate their ships. All the fleet needed now was the final go-ahead from the GUE Commander...

In the next chapter:
- A real old-fashioned spaceship fight with lasers.
- Shadow the Hedgehog comes to the rescue.
- The Metal Mastermind shows its face.