SONIC HEROES: THE SERIES
Chapter Twenty-Six: Seeing Double, Getting in Trouble
High above the Mediterranean Sea, The Egg-Carrier III lazy floated through the clouds. Inside the ship, Metal, Mecha, Violet, and Eggman were standing behind a glass window to another room. The room was a large training area that was set for the new recruits: the Metal Squadron.
"My soldiers are ready." Metal stated.
"Then let the final test begin!" Eggman announced.
Hatches from the roof opened up and numerous soldier mechs dropped down. The mechs locked on to their targets and raised their guns to opened fire. Metal Knuckles blocked the bullets with his enlarged claws. Metal Knuckles ran right up to the mechs and slammed his claw through the chest to tear them wide open. Metal Jet flew high into the air and dived past a few mechs. A moment later, the mechs were split right down the middle. Metal Amy used her super speed to glide right past the mechs and smashed them to pieces with her hammer. The mechs surround Metal Espio. Metal Espio formed a hand sign and vanished into thin air. The next minute, kunai appeared in the mechs armor.
"That wasn't so difficult." Metal Espio commented.
"Oh, I think I hurt my claw." Metal Amy said.
The other members of the squadron sweat dropped. Meanwhile, Eggman was typing in the results of the test into the computer. Needless to say, they had passed all expectations.
"Truly impressive." Mecha said. "They were able to perform the technique of their original halves perfectly."
"As you can see, Eggman Nega knew what he was doing when he created me." Metal said.
"Looks more like a dud to me." Violet muttered.
"What was that?" Metal said his most threatening voice."
"Nothing." Violet said quickly.
"They have passed every test we have given them." Eggman stated. "Well, except for Metal Knuckles on the IQ test. But that doesn't matter. Now we can send them to destroy those meddlesome heroes."
"How do you plan to draw them out?" Violet asked.
"All preparations have already been taken care of." Eggman said with a devious grin.
The Scene changes to the Sonic Heroes base. Amy was in the kitchen, making a cake for her favorite hero. Jet was lazily sitting on the couch, trying to watch whatever was on the television. Espio was playing shogi with Knuckles on the table. And the scary thing was: Knuckles was winning. Knuckles moved a tile to block off the king, ending the game.
"Check and mate." Knuckles said.
"How did you do that?" Espio said in disbelief.
"You don't have a lot to do when you live on a floating island your whole life." Knuckles said.
"What does that mean?" Jet asked.
"I have no idea." Knuckles said.
Espio and Jet sweat dropped. Meanwhile, Amy walked into the room with her completed cake shaped like Sonic's head. But at the moment, the base doors opened up and Bokkun came flying in. Bokkun flew into Amy's path and caused her to trip on her feet. The cake went flying out of Amy's hands and splattered all over the male's heads.
"Oh no! My cake!" Amy cried.
"Not bad." Jet said as he tasted the cake. "But it could use a little more yeast." Espio and Knuckles stare at him. "N-not that i would know."
"You better have a good excuse for ruining my cake!!!" Amy screamed while strangling the poor little robot.
"I...Have...A...Message...from...Metal!" Bokkun screamed while trying to breathe.
"Clam down, Amy." Espio said calmly. Espio applied pressure to Amy's right shoulder, sending her into a state of relaxation. Espio took Bokkun and set him on the ground. "Better up before she snaps out of it."
Bokkun reached into his small bag and pulled out a wireless television. As Espio took the TV just as Bokkun reactivated his jetpack. But while trying to leave, Amy snapped out of her trance and remembered her rage for the little pest. Amy whipped out her hammer and knocked the little robot out of the base and landed somewhere in Nevada.
"It's good!" Jet shouted like a football ref.
"These guys are worse then Charmy and Vector." Espio muttered.
Espio turned on the TV and activated a previously recorded message by Metal.
"Greetings heroes. I have a little offer I wish to make." Metal said. "I have recently created four very powerful machines and I want to put them to the test." Metal pulled the yellow emerald into view. "If you somehow are able to defeat them, then they will surrender a chaos emerald. Meet them on Angel Island in one hour. Oh, and try not to die."
The TV shut off, leaving the heroes to ponder. But then, the TV started to do a countdown. When the TV hit zero, the small machine exploded in their faces. Bokkun could be heard laugh all the way from Nevada. That was until a mongoose jumped on him.
"So what do we do?" Amy asked while knocking the soot out of her quills.
"Those rust buckets are on my island!" Knuckles exclaimed. "I say we tear them to pieces!"
"How do we know Metal will keep his word?" Espio questioned.
"What have we got to lose? We've lost our self-respect a long time ago." Jet stated. "I'll get the emeralds."
Amy and Knuckles nodded and swiftly ran out of the base. Jet ran into the storage room and grabbed his Gear: The Wind Rider and both the purple and white emeralds. Jet jumped on his Gear and followed behind Knuckles, since he had no clue where Angel Island was. Espio only stood there with a stupefied expression.
"Somehow, I just know something will go wrong." Espio muttered.
In one hour, the four heroes had arrived at the shores of Emerald Beach. Out in the open waters, Angel Island lulled in the lapping waves. Without the Master Emerald to guide it, Angel Island went from a sky island to a sea island. Knuckles guided the crew through the thick forests of the island since he was the only one that knew the place.
"Be careful. There are a lot of dangerous creatures that live here." Knuckles warned.
"Hey, where's Jet?" Amy asked.
They turned around to find that Jet was indeed missing.
"I have a feeling we'll see him in 3...2...1..." Espio counted down.
"WASP!!!" Everyone saw Jet running by with a hoard of wasps behind him. "Get them off! Get them off! Get them off!"
"Saw that coming." Espio stated.
Jet ran randomly through the forest, smashing his beak a few branches along the way. Jet looked back and laughed when the wasps stopped following. His laughter was short lived when he crashed into stone wall
"Why me?" Jet muttered as he fell back.
The others found Jet on the ground a few minutes later. Knuckles looked at the wall and continued upwards to the rest of the structure. It was the Master Emerald shrine that once served as his former home. Knuckles took the steps to the top of the shrine while Espio and Amy helped Jet to his feet.
"Jet, are you ok?" Amy asked.
"Mommy, I don't want to go to school." Jet said in a daze.
"He's fine." Espio commented.
As Knuckles reached the top of the shrine, he was surprised to find that the red emerald was lying where the Master Emerald once stood. Knuckles was suspicious. Knuckles walked over and reached to grab the emerald. Knuckles then noticed a small shadow below him quickly growing bigger. The guardian echidna quickly jumped off the shrine just as a gigantic boulder landed. Knuckles flipped back and landed with his team.
"I just knew it was too easy." Knuckles said.
"That would be the first thing you ever known."
The four looked to the top of the boulder to see their attackers. They were more then surprised to find metallic copies of themselves staring down with evil red eyes. Metal Knuckles eagerly bashed his claws together, Metal Jet chuckled evilly, Metal Amy held her hammer on her shoulders, and Metal Espio tossed the red emerald in his claw.
"Who are you supposed to be?" Amy questioned.
"We are the Metal Squadron." Metal Espio explained. "We were created for the intention of your destruction."
"Well, you're going to have to do lot better then boulders to stop us!" Jet exclaimed.
"Will explosives do?" Metal Jet asked.
While they heroes held confused expressions, Espio noticed something beneath Knuckles foot. When Knuckles removed his foot, Espio found a thin piece of paper with markings. The paper suddenly ignited.
"Explosive Tag!" Espio shouted. "Everyone, move!"
Though confused by Espio's warning, the heroes followed orders. And just in time too. The flame reached the end of the note and released a large explosion. Knuckles covered his eyes from the smoke. But when he moved them down, Metal Knuckles came out of nowhere and socked him in the face. Knuckles tumbled backwards and flipped back to his feet.
"That's cheating!" Knuckles complained.
"Who cares?" Metal Knuckles shrugged. "All I want is to beat someone up."
"Then bring it." Knuckles challenged.
Knuckles and his metal counterpart charged forward and threw there fists. Both fist collided, but Metal Knuckles appeared to be the stronger. Knuckles bones were rattled on impact and was shaking like crazy. Metal Knuckles plowed his claws into the ground and, in an impressive feat of strength, flipped a slab of earth on top of Knuckles. Just when Metal Knuckles thought he won, Knuckles suddenly popped out of the ground and bash the phony in the face with his shovel claws. On another part of the grounds, Jet and Metal Jet confronted each other.
"If it wasn't for the fact that you're a glowing eyed, metal freak you would almost look as good as me." Jet bragged.
"Please, I'm way better skilled and better looking then you'll ever be." Metal Jet replied.
"Oh yeah?" Jet said.
"Yeah." Metal Jet replied.
Jet pulled out his fans and gave a hard swing. The fans created a backlash of winds. Metal held his claws forward and actually sliced the winds in half. Seeing this, Jet charged forward and jumped at his metal copy. Jet swung his fans across at the machine, but Metal Jet fell to the ground on his back. Metal Jet kicked his feet up to Jet's chest. The emerald bird fell to the ground and gave a short wheeze from the blow. Jet felt Metal Jet jump at him and held up the hand with Shahra's ring.
"TIME BREAK!" Jet yelled.
Metal Jet swung his claws down, but Jet was already gone. Metal Jet scanned the area, but Jet was nowhere in sight. Jet reappeared behind Metal Jet and kicked him in the back of the head. On another part of the grounds, Amy and her Metal counterpart were also engaged in the heat of battle. Ok...Maybe not battle.
"Wow, you uglier then I thought." Amy said.
"That dress and those boots. Girl, don't be talking to me about ugly." Metal Amy replied.
"You couldn't hit the side of a barn." Amy said.
"You ever heard of a thing called deodorant." Metal Amy said. Amy gasped. "That's right. I went there."
"It's on now!" Amy shouted.
Amy and Metal Amy whipped out there hammers together. Amy swung hers low, while Metal Amy aimed hers high. Needless to say, both pink creatures heard bells ringing. Amy clutched her stomach and dropped down to her knees. Metal Amy grasped her head to stop it from shaking. Amy's eyes flared with rage. Amy curled into her ball form and performed her own version of the spin dash. Metal Amy gracefully flipped over the pink ball with ease. Unfortunately, Amy rebounded off a tree and nailed Metal Amy in the back of the head. On another part, Espio and his counterpart were locked in a staredown.
"You're not going to give some long monologue, are you?" Espio asked.
"No. Unlike my allies, I take my job seriously." Metal Espio responded.
"Then...shall we begin?" Espio smirked.
"We shall." Metal Espio said.
They stood in place for several moments. Suddenly, Espio and Metal Espio threw numerous shuriken from their compartments. The shuriken clashed against each other, but Metal Espio's throw add more force. Espio's shuriken dropped like flies. Espio moved agilely around the shuriken as they flew by. But as the passed him, he noticed a single kunai with an explosive tag attached. Espio jumped just in time to avoid the explosion. Espio landed on his feet and performed a series of hand signs.
"Fire style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Espio shouted.
Espio breathed out a number of miniature fireballs from his mouth. As the fireballs came closer, Metal Espio also performed a series of hand signs.
"Wind Style: Gale Wind Palm!"
Metal Espio thrusted his claw forward, creating a huge gust of wind. The wing completely blew out Espio's fire balls. Espio cringed slightly. As the battles went on, Espio noticed how the robots knew all their moves. The metal versions could copy them completely. But everything has to have a weakness. Espio knew that they had to have one, too.
"Judging by your expression, I would say that you are ready to give up." Metal Espio taunted.
"Damn. This is one of those times I actually wish Vector and Charmy were here." Espio said out loud.
"Those two!" Metal Espio exclaimed. "Man, they are so annoying. I mean what kind of person..."
While Metal Espio rambled on, Espio saw this as a chance to attack. Espio reached into his wrist compartment and pulled out a shuriken with wire. Espio threw the shuriken. The shuriken wrapped around the metal chameleons legs and tightened together. Espio pulled back, forcing his counterpart to fall on his back. That when he realized something. They did have a weakness.
"Everyone, listen!" Espio shouted. The heroes turned their full attention to him. "They may have our abilities, but they also have our weaknesses!"
The heroes smirked deviously. The trio turned back to their opponents, ready to put Espio's theory to the test.
"Get ready for a beating!" Metal Knuckles raised his fist.
"You say you're better than me, right?" Knuckles questioned. Metal Knuckles nodded. "Does that mean you're smarter than me?"
"Of course! I'm the smarterest thing in the universe!" Metal Knuckles proclaimed.
"What's 10 x 2?" Knuckles asked.
"Overload! Overload!" Metal Knuckles screamed.
Metal Knuckles brain blew a fuse and fell to the ground. Meanwhile, Jet was trying to avoid Metal Jet's claws. Suddenly, Jet held his hand to halt his metal counterpart.
"Wait. Before you kill me, I think there is something you might like to see." Jet said.
Jet reached into his head feathers and pulled out a photo. Jet handed the photo to Metal Jet, who swiped it quickly and looked at it. It was a picture of the hero's trip to the beach and Wave in a bikini. Oil erupted from Metal Jet's beak and was knocked out. Jet sniggered as he took the picture back. Jet couldn't resist the temptation and looked at the photo. He was knocked out by a nosebleed. Now all that was left was Amy and Metal Amy.
"Look! It's Sonic!" Amy shouted.
"What kind of fool do you take me for?" Metal said while tapping her foot.
"Look! It's Metal Sonic!" Amy shouted.
"Where?" Metal Amy said excitedly and turned around.
When she realized Metal Sonic wasn't, she knew she had been tricked. Metal Amy looked back, only to be slammed in the face by her originals hammer. The four mechs were thrown into a pile. Metal Espio stood up, but his allies were not in the best form for fight. Four against one were not the best odds. Metal Espio reached behind and pulled out a black.
"We'll be back." Metal Espio forewarned.
Metal Espio threw the ball on the ground and in exploded into a cloud of smoke. When the smoke disappeared, the Metal Squadron was gone.
"Looks like things are going to only get tougher from here on out." Knuckles said.
"Nothing we can't handle." Jet smiled with a thumb up.
Blood was still trickling from Jet's nostril. Amy's eyes flared with rage and she quickly whipped out her hammer.
"PERVERT!" Amy said as she whacked Jet to Zimbabwe.
"We may have won, but I can't help but feel that something was missing."
The scene changes to the Egg-Carrier III. Eggman sat in his chair with Metal and Mecha standing on both sides of him. The Metal Squadron had just returned from their failed mission and twitching nervously. They knew from the memories of their previous bodies that Metal doesn't accept failure. Metal stepped up and confronted his troops.
"So, I created you with the most advanced technology and you fail!" Metal yelled.
"W-we still have the emerald." Metal Espio whimpered as he held out the red emerald.
"And you think that precedes to forgiveness?" Metal said coldly as he took the emerald. Metal threw it to Mecha. "The point is that you failed to defeat you originals and lost the chance to recover two more emeralds. I have no choice but to be rid of you."
Metal clutched his right arm and started to charge up his signature attack until.
"Wait!" Metal Jet suddenly shouted. Metal disabled his attack and heard out the metal bird. "W-we didn't fail. See."
Metal Jet reached behind his back and pulled out two items. The squadron was surprised and pleased to find out it was the white and purple emeralds the heroes had. Metal took the two into his claw and turned away from them.
"You actually did your job right." Metal said, sounding satisfied. Metal stared back at his soldiers. "Maybe I'll keep you around after all."
"Oh, I knew you would never get rid off me, Metal!" Metal Amy said excitedly. "We were fated for each other!"
Metal Amy jumped on Metal Sonic's back and hugged him, causing him to stumble a bit. Unfortunately, the sudden hug caused him to drop the emeralds. The moment the emeralds touched the ground, they were shattered to pieces. There was a long period of stunned silence. Metal Amy nervously back off and hid behind Metal Knuckles.
"All I know is, it wasn't me." Metal Knuckles said.
"They were fake!" Eggman exclaimed. "Those blasted heroes must have made them to trick us. They must still have the real ones."
"Impossible." Mecha stated. "The bug we planted in their base said that they emptied the vault as they left."
"But if they don't have them and we don't...who does?" Metal Espio asked.
The scene changes to night time in the middle of a vast desert. In the middle of this desert, a large broken tower laid untouched in its appearance of mayhem and destruction. Though it might not be recognized, this tower was actually the station that controlled Eggman's former company: Meteor Tech. At the top point of the tower, a pedestal stood pointed to the nigh sky. On top of the pedestal was the green chaos emerald and five stone fragments. Each fragment had a different color: red, blue, green, yellow, and purple. Suddenly a new figure appeared holding the real white and purple emeralds. The figure was none other than Omega, or as he now called himself, ABIS.
"Three emeralds are now in my possession." ABIS stated. ABIS placed the emeralds in the center of the fragments. "This should be enough to power them. Soon, my revenge will be complete." ABIS raised his claws and the emerald and stone fragments glowed. "GRAVITY CONTROL!!!"
The chaos emerald glowed unbelievably bright. The stone fragments hovered around the emeralds and started to glow themselves. The emeralds shot out beams of light into the fragments, which shot five multi-colored beams of light into the sky. Suddenly, a huge explosion of light filled the air. A shining crystal shrine supported by a giant halo floated down from the sky and remained hovered in the air. Those beams were actually a signal to call one of the most dangerous weapons in the cosmos.
"At last the destruction of the world has come." ABIS stated with glee. "The Wings of the Heavens: Babylon Garden."
The Squadron may be down, but they are not out. What will be the Squadron's next mssion? And what does ABIS plan to do with the returned Babylon Garden? Find out on the next Sonic Heroes.