Me: FireWolfHeart, you were my inspiration. I didn't thing anyone really cared about this story! Thanks for the review AND the vote of confidence. I appreciate it. Enjoy, my friend!
The clone grinned, watching with amusement as horror filled Sonic's features. "Hello."
It was talking to him. Sonic watched, horrified, as the his own voice came out of its mouth. Out of his mouth.
Sonic couldn't speak past the lump in his throat. He felt light-headed. It's voice only solidified the heavy truth slowly sinking into him. He staggered back subconsciously, suddenly off-balance.
It smirked again, it's impossible emerald eyes glowing with humor. "Seriously, dude, breathe. It'll be no fun taking you down if you just pass out."
Sonic again didn't respond, still in shock. Slowly, he stood upright, getting the eerie feeling he was looking in to a mirror. A twisted, haunted mirror that didn't follow his movements. Like a scene from a horror movie.
"Well?" the clone demanded, dropping easily into a fighting stance, one Sonic instantly recognized as his own. "We gonna fight or what? Come on, dude; the good doctor's waiting."
As though on cue, Eggman's voice resounded through the loudspeakers. "What do you think of my newest creation, Sonic?" he jeered.
That voice, that sentence, held a calming familiarity. Sonic paused a split second, gathering his scattered mind, and forced himself to relax, dropping into his fighting stance, his eyes locked on the clone. "I think you need to get yourself a new hobby," he replied. His tone was light and jesting, but his stance said otherwise. He frowned, his face drawn and serious as his tone dropped to artic temperatures. "You gone too far this time, Ivo."
XXxxXXxxXXxxXX
Watching and listening from his vantage in the computer room, Ivo Robotnic paused in a moment of rare hesitation. Sonic had called him by his first name. He could count the times his rival had done that on one hand.
He'd officially crossed the line. Robotnic frowned, unperturbed. It was to be expected. Indeed, Sonic's reaction to his clone was a part of the scientist's experiment, but…His head bowed slightly and he scanned his screen.
The last time he'd crossed the line, he'd accidentally caused the death of a small child. It hadn't been a part of the plan, but it was an unfortunate consequence nonetheless. It also wasn't something Sonic would put up with.
He remembered rushing back to his base and putting it on maximum security. He remembered the unnerving ease with which the hedgehog had broken through. Robotnic's security demolished, Sonic had walked right up to him. Ivo had been able to do nothing but stand there, completely defenseless. Then, the hedgehog had left, and Robotnic realized that had been a warning. He'd broken through simply to show that he could.
Robotnic frowned, studying the information before him. He'd have to be extremely careful this time, be rid of his rival quickly. If all went according to plan, the clone would soon be disposed of and Sonic would have no memory of the experience.
But then, things hadn't exactly been going to plan already. With the way things were going, he honestly didn't know what to expect. Choosing his words carefully, he leaned into the mike.
XXxxXXxxXXxxXX
"Stop stalling!" came Eggman's voice from over the loudspeaker, obviously addressing the clone. "We need to dispose of him quickly, before he regains his strength."
"Yeah, yeah," the clone muttered, rolling his eyes and starting towards Sonic. The hedgehog immediately turned and retreated, dashing down the hall as fast as his weakened state would allow him. Stall. He needed to stall. If it was anyone else, he would've faced them, and probably defeated them.
Sonic wasn't stupid. If he faced off against this clone, he'd be taken down in a matter of seconds, especially if he took his own fighting style into consideration. So, he ran, and prayed the clone wasn't enough of a copy to keep up. Eggman hadn't been able to match his speed yet. Maybe…
The copy rammed into him, slamming his body into a wall. Pain flashed through him like fire, spreading from his sores on his back. Sonic bit back a scream. Pushing the pain to the back of his mind, he was back up in an instant, his feet pushing himself off the wall he'd dented and down the corridor.
He'd barely gotten a hundred yards before he was rammed again, this time from the side. He was up again and running, not letting himself think about the pain. A third time, he was slammed against the wall. A fourth. A fifth. Still, Sonic ran, unable to do much else, going mostly on instinct now.
Somewhere in the back of his panicked mind, he knew his body, powerful as it was, could only take so much. Especially when he was so weak…A sixth crash sent him through the wall, into the next room. He had trouble getting up. His shoulder was dislocated.
Slowly, he pushed against the floor with one arm, the other tucked at his side as he sat up. Darkness tugged at the corners of his vision. He fought it, struggling to stand. The clone leaned against the broken wall, watching him with a mocking smile. "Too easy," he gloated.
WHACK!
THUD.
Sonic watch with mild shock as his copy suddenly rather violently hit the floor. Behind him, her shoulders heaving and her hammer raised in mid swing, stood the snarling form of Amy Rose.
The battered hedgehog nearly collapsed at the sight of her, relief flowing through him like a stream in the desert. Amy. He'd never been so happy to see her. His friends were here. Tails. Tails would know what to do. Was he further back?
Struggling, Sonic managed to get to his feet. He immediately felt dizzy, and staggered slightly, panting. "Amy," he began, looking up at her gratefully. "Where is-"
"Prove it."
Sonic's eyes widened slightly as Amy's hammer was suddenly pointed at him. She hadn't relaxed. She was still tense, ready to fight. "…What?"
"Prove that you're Sonic."
"Prove that…" Sonic's eyes widened as her words registered. "Oh." He frowned, fighting fatigue and frustration. It was a perfectly justified request. She had no way of knowing he was the real deal. For a moment, Sonic let himself imagine her trusting his clone and bringing it back instead, not realizing that Sonic was still trapped.
Yes, he was grateful. Nice thinking Amy. Still, he wasn't sure how much longer he could stand. Blasted wires. He focused on her, looking her in the eyes, and chose his words carefully. "What do you want to know?"
Her expression flickered for a moment, and there was a minute of silence as she thought it over. She had to ask him something Eggman wouldn't know about, something just between the two of them. "Think back six years, back on Earth. We were visiting a beach there and I gave you something." She hesitated. "What was it?"
Sonic smiled a little at the memory. He turned his wrist slightly, feeling the weight of her gift still hanging there, tucked under his glove, even after all this time. In his opinion, it had worked pretty well so far. "You gave me this shell bracelet, to 'protect me in the water'."
She nodded satisfactorily and shifted her weight, but didn't lower her weapon. "Do you still have it?"
Trick question. Sonic grinned at her craftiness. Yes, he did still have it, but he knew that wasn't the correct answer, the one she expected. "It was smashed by a robot right after you gave it to me." She didn't know he'd fixed it.
Amy's hostility evaporated immediately and she lowered her weapon, looking suddenly tired. "Sonic." She smiled. "You okay?"
He gave her a dry look. "Do I look okay?" On cue, another wave of dizziness hit him and he staggered as the room started moving. He felt a hand steady him.
"What happened?" Amy asked, sounding concerned. He felt her eyes looking him over, knew she was examining him.
Sonic chuckled, and his insides throbbed in protest. "Well, let's just say I met my match. Literally." Sonic glanced down at the copy, unconscious on the floor. "Jeeze, Amy. When did you start hitting so hard?"
Amy took a moment to respond, her eyes on the clone. "Huh? Oh, uh," she shrugged, smiling slightly. The smile disappeared as she looked him over again. "Sonic, what's wrong with your arm?"
"What?…Oh." Sonic glanced at said arm. "It's fine."
"It's dislocated, isn't it?"
"…A little."
Amy sighed. "Hold still."
"Wait, what are you doing?"
"Resetting it."
"Now?"
"Yes, now. Do you want it to heal like this?"
"Well, no, but-"
"Then hold still."
"Hey, wait-Hold it!-Ow!" Sonic groaned and grit his teeth. Great, now his arm was on fire again. Swallowing back a whimper, he rested his forehead on her shoulder, waiting for the pain to pass.
He could feel Amy's eyes on him. "What did he do to you?"
Sonic studied her curiously. Her voice was low and it trembled slightly when she spoke. It took him a moment to realize she was angry. Forcing himself to stand up strait, Sonic smiled at her encouragingly, about to tell her he'd be fine. Then he remembered the wires. He bit his lip and looked past her, toward the hall. "Tails would know," he replied, suddenly desperate to hear his brother's side of things, to be reassured. "Where is he? Did you guys spread out or something?"
Amy shook her head slightly. "No. It's just me." At his frown, she added, "He thinks you were just on a really long run. You've done that before you know, disappearing for weeks."
He nodded, pushing the hurt aside. Of course he wouldn't have looked for him. He'd only been gone…A chill swept through him as a word suddenly registered. Weeks. "Amy?" He paused and cleared his throat. "Uh…How long have I been gone?"
Amy looked at him curiously. "I don't know. How long do you think you were on your run before he caught you?"
"Amy…"
A loud thump interrupted him. They both started, and Amy suddenly went tense, all business again. "Never mind, Sonic. We can figure it out later. Come on, we need to get you out of here."
Sonic nodded distractedly while Amy slung his good arm around her shoulder and led him through the hole in the wall. Weeks…
As they passed the copy, Amy paused. "What about him?"
Sonic glared the creature on the ground. "It can't be left here. That thing has my abilities, Amy. At least as far as I can tell. And it's working for Eggman. Not a very good combination."
Amy nodded, thinking. "So we need to take it with us?"
Sonic frowned, suddenly nervous. "I dunno…what if it wakes up?"
Amy shook her head. "We don't have a choice. We can't leave it here." She looked him over. "Think you can walk?"
Sonic grinned. "Depends. Think you can carry this thing?"
Amy gave him a dry look, held up her hammer, and dropped it.
THUNK
The metal beneath it dented. Sonic looked at it warily. "Uh, exactly how much does that thing weigh?"
"More than you."
"…Right."
Amy reached down and hoisted the copy over her shoulders. "Come on."
"I dunno, maybe you should hit it again."
"Sonic."
"You know, just in case."
"Sonic!"
"What?" He gave her his most innocent look, then completely spoiled it by grinning. Man, it felt good to joke again.
She rolled her eyes, then headed down the corridor. Sonic limped after her, determined to keep up.
XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX
"So you guys carried that thing the whole way?" Tails stared at Sonic's duplicate, now sprawled out on a table in Tails' garage/lab/workshop. An oxygen mask had been secured over its face, pumping him with a steady supply of…that sleeping gas they used at hospitals. Sonic couldn't remember the name.
He collapsed on the nearest couch, face first, indicating that he was too tired to respond. Amy smiled slightly and spoke for him. "Well, the taxi was tempting, but we weren't sure how to explain our extra passenger."
Tails was no longer listening, his eyes on Sonic's back. "Chaos…Sonic, what did he do to you?"
Sonic groaned, trying to merge his face into the couch. Sleep now. Talk later.
"He was fighting the duplicate when I found him," he heard Amy say. "He was really getting kicked around." She paused. "Sonic, was that thing…stronger than you?"
Sonic found the strength to lift his head and send her an annoyed look. He'd just hiked six miles after getting the stuffing beat out of him and she wanted to discuss this now? He sighed. Of course they'd want answers. "No," he muttered. "Eggman stuck these wires in me that sucked out my strength. As far as I can tell, anyway."
"Wires?" Tails repeated, sounding horrified.
Yes, wires, he though moodily. It's just terrible, isn't it? "Yeah," he said instead, trying to be cordial. "I practically had to re-teach myself to walk."
He watched uncomfortably as Tails kneeled beside him, eyes on his wounds. "These wounds travel up your spine, all the way up to…" He froze, his eyes widening, and Sonic knew he was looking at the wound on neck.
He sighed. "Yeah, the wires were in my head too. Felt them there when they-Ow!"
"Sorry," Tails apologized, jerking his hand back, then winced. "That must've really hurt."
No kidding, Sherlock. Sonic winced at the biting sarcasm in his thoughts. He needed sleep. Now.
Amy frowned and slipped out of the room. Sonic's eyes followed her as she left. Tails watched his gaze and grinned. "Man, must've been a real pain, being rescued by Amy. I'm really sorry I wasn't there to keep her off your back."
For some reason, that comment annoyed him. He frowned slightly, then wondered why. "Nah, it was fine. She wasn't that bad." Actually, he mused, She didn't bother me at all. Weird. He looked over to where she'd disappeared again, wondering where she'd gone.
Tails was still scanning his wounds. "Why would he…If these...then…But would it connect…?" He frowned and looked Sonic in the eyes. "I need to know exactly where the wires were."
Sleep! his brain cried. He sighed, forcing himself to comply. "Well, most of them were-"
"On second thought," Tails interrupted, sitting in a nearby chair and folding his hands in front of him, "Start at the beginning. Tell me everything."
"Now?" Sonic whined, exhausted.
Tails nodded, all business. "Now."
He groaned.
Me: Oh, poor Sonic! Believe me, I know how he feels. I spent THREE DAYS from DAWN TILL DUSK working on my STUPID Spanish final! When it was over, my friends wanted to hang. No way José. I. Needed. Sleep.
Also, as of this moment, I didn't get a single response to my previous question! Does anyone know of any other Sonic-clone stories? Specifically, perfect-replica ones? 'Cause I only know of one.
Anyway, I incorporate reader's advice into the story ALL THE TIME. So, if you've got anything AT ALL to say, I'd love to hear from you. It's the reason I'm writing online: FEEDBACK. Now, go press the shiny blue button at the end of this ridiculously long arrow.
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