Chapter Five – Hyperblast
A few days later, at his workshop in Mystic Ruin, Tails was working on his plane. Giving it a clean, his young daughter, Amber, by his feet, getting wet through. But on this beautiful, warm, sunny day, it didn't matter. Suddenly, he heard rustling, and Tails just smirked, not surprised he'd tracked him down. His Purple speedster was back, and just like Sonic, rubbish at hiding. He grinned.
"Hi, Max. You can come out. I don't bite." He called. Suddenly, Max popped his out around the side of the plane, still fascinated with both it and the Fox. He walked towards him and fumbled. He gulped.
"Hello. I'm sorry for running out on you. It was very rude and I apologise. I got a little overwhelmed. I've heard so many stories about you, that I just got rather starstruck." He admitted. Tails blinked, but nodded, accepting the apology. That was very formal, but to Max, a perfect reflection of his father. Highly professional and by the book was always Sukko's way. He stood to face the Hedgehog, and two were eye to eye. Tails gasped. Just how old was Max? Despite his incredible Super-Speed, Max stood there, as cool and as calm as anything, his excitement about the plane now long passing. But there was no hyperactivity, no permanent bouncing that so characterised the Blue Blur. Again, a perfect reflection of his father, the King of Stealth. Tails thought, deciding to ask some probing questions to see if he could find out just who exactly Max was. The Hedgehog was clever, so Tails had to pick his words very carefully. He grinned.
"Stories, Huh? Told to you by your father?" He wondered. But Max just giggled.
"Er, no." He grinned. Tails blinked. That answer he was not expecting. So Sonic 'wasn't' his father. He quickly regained his thoughts. He frowned.
"So who did tell you the stories?" He stammered. But Max just giggled.
"Er, that's kind of obvious don't you think." He smiled. Tails heaved.
"Sonic?" He asked. Max nodded, shrugging, throwing out his hands.
"Who else." He beamed. Finally, he looked down and spotted Amber, and his heart just melted. "Oh, she's cute." He added, kneeling down to the two year old. Max held out his hands. "May I?" He asked, politely requesting to pick her up. Tails immediately nodded. There was something about Max he immediately trusted. The look. Sonic had it and so did he. He was definitely his blood, and Tails was determined to find out how. But asking probing questions wasn't working, so maybe just generally talking about family might. Tails smiled, as his daughter, immediately took to Max giggling, curling up into a ball in his arms. He beamed.
"Your good with girls." He giggled, but Max just rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, I have three sisters." He admitted. "It seems that with the new generation, there are girls everywhere." He huffed, throughly unimpressed. Tails gulped, blinking hard. Definitely not Sonic's 'son'. But who's? He gasped.
"Three sisters? That a lot." He admitted. Four children was considered more then the average. Max sighed.
"Yeah, that was totally my Dad's doing. He and Mom had me and my twin sister, Sapphire first, at just aged twelve. I mean, who has kids that young. Anyway, unfortunately, Mom died in childbirth, but then just three years later, Dad got a surrogate, and some of Mom's frozen eggs, and had yet another set of twins. Two more girls. Jade and Crystal. Talk about crazy." He heaved. "But twins really do run in my family. Even my Dad and my Uncle were a set. Identical too." He giggled, recounted it like it was nothing, cuddling the little girl in close. Max looks down at her. "You are really adorable. Hi, I'm Max. What your name?" He asked.
Tails shook his head, completely blown. He quickly crunched the numbers, in his head, from what he remembered about Sonic. He gasped. Max was just three years younger then himself. His brain exploded, as suddenly his mind ran straight back to Sonic's birth certificate, and the time written upon it. He gulped.
"Er, her name's Amber. Wait, your a Phronshentico?" He gasped. But Max just shrugged.
"Yeah, so what?" He frowned, looking at Tails. But the Fox stammered. Time to tell the truth.
"I found Sonic's birth certificate, it had a time written on it." He stammered. But Max just giggled, rolling his eyes.
"Er, well, yeah. Him and Dad." He giggled, stating the obvious. But Tails just sighed. Then finally, he clocked it. He bounced.
"Sonic's your Uncle. They were twins. So he did die without fathering children?" He heaved. Max nodded.
"Yeah. Only my Dad had kids." He heaved. But then Tails frowned, realising something. He gulped and hard.
"Wait, did you just say that Sonic and your Dad were 'identical'?" He gulped. But Max nodded, giggling like crazy.
"Oh, yeah, and it's so funny. Do you know of those stupid 'Sonic' conventions? Those hero worship things where people dress up as my Uncle, pretend to be him, dyeing their fur and just prance about like idiots in giant tents, a sea of blue everywhere. They do still happen." He grinned. "Well, my Uncle hated them, he never went anywhere near one, but my Dad was all over them. He was always the extremely weird one in the corner, like you constantly get at those conventions, driving everyone there crazy. Last year, he overrun the place with two hundred little critters. It was poo everywhere. It was hilarious." He laughed. "I wonder what he'll do this year. I've heard him threatening fur die solvent through the sprinkler system. Oh boy, will that make such a mess. Everyone at those conventions absolutely detests him, but it's just utterly ironic that the one most hated person in that place, is the only 'real' Blue Hedgehog there. But then again, that's my Dad all over." He added, to the utter astonishment of Tails at the story. He knew none of this. He blinked, desperately struggling to believe that Sonic had a identical twin brother, and the fact that he was actually still alive. He heaved.
"Max. I grew up with Sonic, spent years working with him, fighting Eggman by his side. He said nothing." He stammered. But Max frowned.
"I'm not that surprised, to be honest." He admitted. "Especially during the war against Eggman. The House of Phronshentico has a long history with the House of Robotnik. My grandfather fought Eggman's father. If the Human found out that we had young children, namely me and my sister, he would have tracked us down and murdered us, or potentially everybody. My Dad, Sukko, must have persuaded Uncle Sonic to say nothing to anyone, just to keep us safe. Now I know Uncle Sonic is extremely loyal to the family, so I'm suspecting you found out the truth about him after he died. But I know what you meant to him. The world, Tails. Him, not telling you, would have been extremely hard. But please, forgive him, because it worked. My family survived." He beamed, extremely proud. Max could say this now because Eggman was gone. Plus this was Tails, if anyone deserved to know the truth, he did. Tails nodded, tears in his eyes, but then he smiled.
"Sukko?" He wondered. "That's your father's name?" He asked. Max nodded.
"Yep, Sukko and Sonikku." He grinned. "But my Dad was born first, by three minutes." He added, but then he rounded on Tails. "Look a word of advice. Don't go looking for Dad. You will never find him. There is a reason why the world has no idea that the Hero of Mobius has an identical twin brother. Because Dad wanted it that way. He is the King of Stealth. The extremely powerful Psychic who will spot you, long before you find him." He growled. Tails gulped. Sukko sounded like a Hedgehog not to be messed with. But then he frowned.
"A Psychic?" He wondered. But Max nodded, but some reason, rather nervously.
"Er, yeah. Dad and Uncle Sonic are exact opposites of each other. I think the medical technical term for it, is 'mirror image' twins." He shrugged. But Tails heaved, taking his daughter back from Max. He heaved.
"I'd like to meet him." He admitted. But Max just giggled.
"I can ask Dad, the next time I see him, if you want." He beamed, Tails just jumped for joy. He gasped.
"Really, you'd do that." He smiled. Max nodded.
"Sure. He knows what you meant to Uncle Sonic. He should come and see you." He grinned. They giggled.
But suddenly, there was an almighty explosion on Angel Island in the distance, as large plumbs of dark grey smoke rose up from the floating island. Tails outright panicked. He screamed, calling for his wife and who came and took Amber to safety. Tails scrambled the bi-plane readying it for take off. Max, without a moment's hesitation, immediately helped him. They looked at each other. The Hedgehog was only slightly younger then himself, and yet Tails felt like he'd know him his entire life. His eyes. The sparkles. He knew them so well, and with a nod, the plane was ready and in the air in record time, Max pushing along to ground to get it airborne faster, before it climbed aboard.
Max immediately sat in the second seat, rather then on the wing, but Tails saw as a fellow pilot in him, so he wouldn't have done that. But as Tails made a beeline for Angel Island, he called back to the Hedgehog.
"There are six people who now live on Angel Island. Shadow, Rouge and Knuckles." He informed, Max nodded. He knew who they were. But then Tails heaved. "But there are also three girls, as each of them has a daughter. Violet, Pearl and Scarlet." He added. Max gulped.
"Wow." He heaved. But Tails rounded on him.
"Look, I need your help. I'll find Shadow, Rouge and Knuckles and find out what's going on. You get down there and use your Super-Speed to find the girls and get them to safety." He ordered. But Max just outright gulped, shaking hard.
"Are you sure about this?" He stammered. But Tails just heaved. Due to his father's and Uncle's incredible protection, Max had never been in battle. The Fox could clearly hear that in his voice. This was both a good and bad thing at the same time. Tails growled, rounding on him.
"Max, your the nephew of Sonic The Hedgehog. You can do this." He spat, believed that with every ounce of his being. It was Max's eyes that proved it to him. Emerald green, just like his Uncle. The power was there, he just needed the confidence. Max heaved, and gritted his teeth. He nodded, now believing himself.
"Yes, sir." He heaved, as Tails landed the plane very bumpily on the Angel Island, with further explosions going off all around them. Tails called out to Max.
"Whatever happens, just follow your instincts. They will know what to do." He bellowed, and with a nod, the Purple Hedgehog was gone.
Max had never been on Angel Island before, and yet, somehow, he knew it. It had a air of familiarity about it, that Max just couldn't but his finger on. Like his Uncle's spirit was guiding through his first battle, showing him the way. He closed his eyes, and took in a deep breath. It was as though the Blue Blur was right there, with him. He opened his eyes as he sped through the island. He smiled.
"Thank you. Uncle Sonic. I'll make you proud." He heaved, and gritted his teeth, pushing hard. He had three girls to find. Angel Island was vast and currently being ravaged by robots, looking uncannily like Badniks, from all directions, trying to destroy the Island. Max was confused. What was going on? Several Badniks went for him, but he dodged them, and suddenly his instincts were telling him to super-spin into a ball, and spin-dash and home attack them. Max frowned.
Okay?
He knew the moves. Not practiced at all, but yet his accuracy was absolute pinpoint, as the Badniks just exploded beneath him. He gasped in astonishment. Now he knew his Uncle's spirit was with him, as his confidence just exploded. Suddenly, he heard a scream. A girl, obviously cornered, trapped into amongst the Badniks. Pearl had lost sight of both her mother and the other girls and now she had no idea where all these robots had come from. Now she was backed up, right against a tree, having failed to fend off the machines, which all of a sudden, began disintegrating all around her. Something very fast, and very Purple just whizzed past her, and she squealed again, when he suddenly stopped in front of her. Taller then her, he looked at him, as he offered her a hand. He smiled.
"Hi, I'm Max. I've been send by Tails to help you." He grinned. But Pearl, was her mother's daughters to a tea, immediately jumped into his arms. She knew a rescue when she saw one. She cried.
"I'm Pearl. Get us out of here, Berry Boy." She squealed, and immediately Max was off, running out of there as super-speeds Pearl had never seen before. She gasped.
"Whoa." She stammered, but Max just giggled at her. She was funny. Berry Boy? He frowned. What was that? But regardless, he rather liked it. They crisscrossed the islands again, and so they heard fighting again, as they saw an Echidna holding her own atop a mighty boulder, punching as much as she could, but she was on the verge of being overwhelmed, by the sheer number of Badniks. Pearl thumped Max. She squealed.
"Berry Boy, stop, Scarlet is over there." She growled. Max immediately turned and ran straight for her, Pearl threw out her arms, ready for the catch. She screamed.
"Scarlet, jump." She bellowed. The Echidna turned, and was somewhat bewildered with what she saw. But she quickly noticed that this Purple male Hedgehog was easily outpacing these robots, and the fact that Pearl was with him, meant he could be trusted. Making a split second choice, and taking a leap of faith, she jumped for them as they rushed passed, practically landing on top of Pearl, but Max grabbed her and held her steady. Pearl screamed, as they were being followed and fast. The Badniks were on they're tail. Pearl looked over her shoulder and squealed.
"Run, Berry Boy." She panicked, but Max just giggled, he went low and fast, punching the accelerator and hard. He accelerated so fast, that he somehow managed to do the only thing his Uncle never achieved on Angel Island. Break the sound barrier. The almighty shockwave shook the entire floating island, and it immediately announced to everyone he was there.
Knuckles whirled rounded as he just outright gasped.
"Max?" He gulped, but Tails just came running up behind him, having found both Shadow and Rouge. The Fox grabbed him.
"Yes, he's looking for the girls. Don't worry, he'll find them, and get them to safety." He growled. But Rouge just rounded on him.
"But Tails, who is he?" She asked, as it was obvious that Knuckles and Shadow had filled her in. Tails just beamed.
"He's Sonic's nephew." He grinned. "For real." He heaved. But Rouge just stared.
"But that means..." She stammered but Tails cut across her. He growled.
"That Sonic has a brother, who's still alive, yes, but now is not exactly the time. What's going on here?" He spat. Everyone just blinked at him at the revelation, but then Knuckles just shook his head, getting back to the task in hand. He growled.
"Angel Island had been playing up for some time. Veering off course, stopping and starting in it's flight plan. It occasionally happens, so I thought nothing of it. But then there was an almighty explosion in the side of the island, just below the terrain, as something or someone had just physically punched it's way out from the inside." He heaved. Everyone stared at him. He heaved. "Angel Island is completely hollow. How do think it's light enough to float? When we finally defeated Eggman, we tracked down all of his rogue robots, that could potentially threaten Mobius. They found them all, including the original Metal Sonic, but not all. One eluded us, a robot who just disappeared into depth of Mobius, never to be seen again." He hissed. "Neo Metal Sonic." He leered. An upgrade variation of Metal Sonic, with both the ability to speak and transform. Knuckles growled. "Neo's been hiding inside Angel Island all this time and I never knew. I'm so sorry." He sniffed. But Tails just frowned.
"Knuckles, it's fine. We have all been rather busy, but why now? Why wait, hiding for a full ten years, before revealing yourself." He wondered, but they all looked at each other. Shadow growled.
"Max." He hissed. "His recent Sonic Booms. That robot has always been obsessed with the Blue Blur. He believes him to be back, not aware that Sonic himself, is not longer with us." He growled. His temper was flaring. He'd lost sight of Violet when the explosion happened, as the Badniks poured out of the massive hole, overwhelming everyone and everything. Suddenly, they too were set upon, forcing them all to fight back. But the Badniks stood no chance, not against these four seasoned fighters. They fell and quickly, and more were coming and fast. Tails heaved.
"Any sign of Neo yet?" He panted, looking round. But Shadow growled.
"He'll show. It's only a matter of time." He hissed, as he was forced to fight, yet again, but truthfully he was worried. His daughter was still missing, and now he had to trust an untrained speedster from the greatest bloodline in the world, to find her.
Max sped through Angel Island, but carrying two passengers, made it rather cumbersome. But he wasn't giving up. Tails said three girls, and three he was finding. But everywhere he looked, there was no sign. Even Scarlet and Pearl were worried. Suddenly, he heard screaming, followed by some of the harshest swearing Max had ever heard in his life. He gulped, but Pearl and Scarlet just giggled. The Bat grinned.
"That's Violet." She bellowed, point in her direction. The female Hedgehog a perfect reflection of her father. Max made a beeline straight for her, except he was immediately cut across by an almighty lilac blur streak, in stark contract to Max's own deep purple one. Whoever this was, had Super-Speed. Suddenly, he stopped as Scarlet screamed at the stubborn Hedgehog. She growled.
"Come on, Violet, we have to go. We're got a rescuer." She panted. Suddenly the lilac blur streak came screeching to a halt and Max found himself face-to-face with the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen in his life. Violet was stunning. Her temper was fuming, her deep purple eyes raw, now utterly fed up of being attacked by robots. Her purple stripes stood out against the terrain and jet black fur coat, quills and clothing were all cover in dirt, much to her distaste. Max's eyes widened as Violet just growled, their eyelines level. He gulped.
"Whoa!" He breathed, only to get promptly thumped by Pearl who heard him. Violet hissed at him.
"Who are you?" She spat, very coldly. Max who was still staring, just got cut across by Pearl. She gulped.
"This is Max. He's been send by Tails to get us out of here." She panicked, as more robots began zoning in on them. But Violet just heaved.
"I don't need your help." She spat, but then the robots were on top of them, forcing them to move. Scarlet screamed.
"Are you sure about that?" She panicked. Suddenly, they were overwhelmed, and very quickly ran out of there. Violet gulped. She gave in. Now she was out of her depth. She rounded on Max.
"Alright. You lead, I'll follow." She growled. Suddenly, Max put his foot down on the accelerator and was gone, but to his utter surprise, Violet had not been left behind. Easily keeping up, she was gently swaying from side-to-side, one foot in front of the other, one arm forwards, then the other. The motion was so unbelievably smooth that she looked at though she was speed skating on ice. That plucked on Max's heartstrings so hard, as he struggled to keep his eyes off her, and if Pearl hadn't have thumped again, he would have hit a tree. That finally made Violet smile. She giggled at Max.
"Your funny." She smirked. They crisscrossed the island again, until Max finally found the clearing he remembered Tails had main a beeline for when they landed here, and he ran straight for it. They burst through the trees, landing in the dirt. The girls scrambled off of him and immediately ran in for hugs from their respective mother and fathers. Knuckles, Rouge, and especially Shadow, all relieved to finally have their daughters safe. But Max, having been floored, got to his feet, suddenly heard noise behind him, and immediately instinctively spin-dashed. But he didn't go forwards, he went backwards, straight into the oncoming Badniks, send them flying. But more kept coming, so he spin-dashed again, this time he turned it sideways, at incredible speed, creating a mini tornado which set all the Badniks high in the air and straight into the trees. Finally the wave ended, and they were safe, for now. Until more Badniks found them again. Max rolled out of the spin and landed perfectly on his feet, only to greeted by being immediately stared at. He gulped, rather sheepishly.
"Er, Hi." He panted, giving them all a rather lame wave. Those moves definitely weren't Sonic's. They were very much his own. His instincts going a bit mad. 'Max Specials', he later called them. But before anyone could do anything, suddenly Max was grabbed from behind around the middle, clasping his arms by his side, by an immensely large robot who then proceed to hover him high in the air. Neo Metal Sonic had finally found his target. Years of binding his time and finally the Blue Blur was now his for the taking. He bore down the Hedgehog, ready to finally have his revenge.
Neo Metal Sonic shares some distinctive traits with his normal form, but now he was significantly larger. His black eyes had red irises, his torso had a rocket engine, and the primary blue colour with red shoes. His head has five long quills as opposed to his regular three, with white stripes and markings around his eyes, similar to that of Shadow's. The yellow colour in his ears has been replaced with red and his nose is now black. He also possesses more pronounced body armour, with black and curved shoulder plates, larger gauntlets and leg armour with pointy knee caps that have white outlines, a plate covering his pelvis and elf-like shoes. He also sports a spiky belt with a black cape that protrudes out of the back of his waist. The robot moved around to the front of him, and bore right down on him. Max squealed.
"Hey, let me go." He screamed. But Neo just smirked at him.
[The Blue Blur had become weak. A lifetime of fighting has left you wary. Finally, you'll lay down and give me my victory.] He hissed, but Max's eyes just narrowed as his temper just exploded. The exact same infamous temper that both his twin father and Uncle had. He growled, shaking in roar anger.
"Go to hell." He hissed. "My Uncle was not weak." He spat. "I'm not the Blur Blur, I'm the Berry Boy." He growled and before Neo could do anything else, Max activated his Super-speed, kicking the robot's belly extremely fast. Finally, Neo let him go, leaving Max to Super-spin in mid air against the robot. Before long Neo just couldn't take the bombardment and but the Purple Hedgehog didn't stop, as he, in pure anger, he super-span even harder against the mighty robot.
Faster and faster, Max pushed the revolutions. Far beyond anything the Blue Blur himself ever did. He knew could go faster, he knew he could go further, he just had to prove it. Suddenly his temper finally outright exploded as his entire body, in his ball, shone a deep white light as Max pushed the spins from the hundreds to the thousands, to millions per second. He was aiming for something and he was going for it. Neo's body just hung there, completely overwhelmed by the sheer power, as Max ground down on him and hard. The Purple Hedgehog knew that spinning speeds could be equivalent to straight line speed. It was easy to spin to equivalently speeds the sound barrier breaking, but that wasn't what Max was going for.
He wanted the Hyperblast. The explosive rainbow shockwave at Mach four point six. He felt the intense resistance push back against him. He growled, stubbornly not backing down. Suddenly his body shone from white though lilac to deep purple until with a roar of pure anger, Max hit his goal.
KA-BOOM!
The almighty explosion ricochetted out from his body in all direction, forcing the others to scream and immediately run for cover. Its deep rainbow colouration spreading horizontally out across the entire Angel Island, but was both stunning and beautiful, and also deadly. Neo Metal Sonic didn't stand a chance. He just vaporised, his entire body reduced to dust in the explosion. Any and all Badniks left on the island was also completely disintegrated and in one singular move, Max completely wiped out the last of Eggman from Mobius.
The nephew of the Sonic The Hedgehog.
Oh yes.
Finally, the shockwave died down and Max slowed the spinning until he rolled out and collapsed into the floor, panting incredibly hard. Immediately all three girls ran for him, before their parents could stop them and they all jumped on Max, hugging him to death. Pearl was squealing at the top of her voice.
"You said 'Berry Boy'. I came up with that. I came up with that." She beamed. Tails, Rouge, Shadow and Knuckles all looked on in total shock and awe. They just stared at each other in silence as the watched their girls be all over their newly found hero. Who needed the King of Speed when they had the King of the Hyperblast in their presence. Tails was dumbfounded. Max had done it twice in as many days, almost. He had seen Sonic do it in the past, but he needed a enormous push from behind. He'd have never have done off his own stream.
Rouge was watching Max and the girls play, when something caught her attention, in the deep bushes opposite them. A very familiar pair of bright green eyes. Level with hers, there were careful to stay directly behind Max as he sat on the ground. Suddenly a figure of a Hedgehog came into view, silently walking forwards to look up where the battle had taken place.
A Blue Hedgehog.
Sukko, stood there in his absolutely identical twin glory, a stunning royal Blue Hedgehog looking and smelling fantastic. He had large emerald-green eyes, peach muzzle and belly and a nice smile. Long Blue quills ran down his head and back. He wore knee high dark brown and beige patterned leather boots, with no socks and grey soles. He had a pair of white gloves with silver bracelets, over the thin cuffs on his hands. Falling off his shoulders was a long black coat, clearly showing tattoos underneath. He was broader and heavier then Sonic, and his muscles could clearly be seen across his chest. He put the Blue Blur to serious shame. He completely ignored the stunned looks he was receiving.
He looked to the where the fight had been and back down to Max, and the smile on his face just said it all. Pure and utter pride at what his son had managed to achieve. He beamed from ear to ear, as he saw him surrounded by girls, and then, upon seeing Rouge looking at him, promptly rolled his eyes, which made her snigger.
But Rouge's sudden giggle made the other parents look at her, and then she nodded towards Sukko. She smiled.
"Look." She pointed and finally they saw. Knuckles, Tails and Shadow, all seeing the identical twin brother of the mighty Hero of Mobius for the very first time. He wasn't Sonic, that was obvious, but he was still stunning all the same. He had been on the island to back up his son, if anything went wrong, but as everyone saw, he didn't need it. His eyes met with Tails's who gulped and hard.
"Sukko? Sonic's brother?" He asked. The Blue Hedgehog nodded. But Sukko wasn't hanging around. With his son fine and disaster averted, he was keen to leave, and with a blink of an eye, he vanished into thin air. Max never knew his incredible father was even there. But his energy levels were crashing and before long, he was fast asleep on Violet's shoulder, still sat on the floor.