Last time on Sonic the Hedgehog, as Sonic and Kicks left to deal with the debris of the Death Egg at the Ice Cap mountains, Knuckles stayed behind to keep an eye out for any possible intruders. Unfortunately for him, he'd confront one sooner than he thought. He meets Sage, Eggman's personal assistant, who reactivates the Death Egg Robot; Sonic and Kicks soon arrive to assist. Kicks goes after Sage while Sonic and Knuckles deal with the mech, finishing it off. When the duo meet back up with her, she's in the clutches of a new robot, modeled after Sonic…

Within a secret lab in the Death Egg, Sonic and Knuckles are confronted by a new robot shaped by Sonic, though only more menacing and metallic than him. Bulkier as well. In his clawed hands was Kicks, choking as her neck was grabbed hard.

Sonic: "Kicks!"

Knuckles: "Let her go, you tin can!"

Metal Sonic: "Hmph. Fine. I was bored with her anyway."

Metal Sonic then turns and tosses Kicks out through the wall, causing Sonic to try and run after her, but he gets grabbed and kicked out the same hole by the much faster Metal Sonic, sending flying across the island. Knuckles jumps out and glides down to grab Kicks before she could impact the ground head first. He lands on the ground softly, worried over his sister.

Knuckles: "Kicks… Tell me you're okay…"

Kicks does begin to stir as she blinks awake. She then jolts up, grunting in pain as she held herself, realizing just how much pain she was in.

Knuckles: "Whoa! Hey! It's okay. That metal thing isn't-"

Kicks: "Where is it then?"

Knuckles looked up, only now realizing he left Sonic to fight the monster alone. He then makes a mad dash to go assist. As he does, Sage looks on from the hole Metal Sonic with a smile, hands behind her back.

Sage: "This should teach them not to mess with my Father."

With Sonic, the poor blue hedgehog was being dragged through the ground before he is finally thrown into the nearest cliff, leaving a sizable crater from the impact. He gets out of the crater, landing on his feet as he shakily stands up to face his metal double, glaring at him.

Sonic: "Okay, tough guy. So you're supposed to be me? Wouldn't that make you a good guy?"

Metal Sonic: "And what makes you say that, meatbag? Just because you are… Doesn't mean I am."

Metal Sonic immediately dashes at Sonic, using his rocket feet to propel him at the hedgehog, causing him to jump to the side as he grits his teeth.

Sonic: "So much for that… He's basically me at full power… But with none of the restraint… And I can't run at full speed in my condition… But maybe I can use his speed against him…"

Sonic immediately starts running at Metal Sonic. The robot turns to see this, smirking to himself before rushing at his fleshy counterpart. Sonic smiles before sliding under the robot as he flew over Sonic. Sonic then landed both of his feet on the gut of the robot, causing Metal Sonic to lose momentary control and hit a few trees, crashing hard.

Sonic: "That worked… But I'm pretty sure that made him angrier…"

Metal Sonic: "Oh that's putting it mildly!"

Metal Sonic curled into a ball and rushes at Sonic, though Sonic countered as he goes for a Spin Jump. The two clashed before separating. As soon as Metal Sonic landed, he was immediately on Sonic once more. Sonic blocks the incoming punch before spinning around the arm and landing a hard kick onto the robot's face. Metal Sonic glared before grabbing Sonic by the foot and slammed him onto the ground before readying two lasers in his wrists.

Metal Sonic: "Eat laser blasts, flea bag!"

Voice: "How about you back off, Tin Man!"

Knuckles rushes in and lands a double fisted flying punch onto Metal Sonic, sending the robot skidding back from the force before tripping on a rock and hitting the cliff as he was still carried by the force.

Sonic: "Knuckles! How's Kicks?"

Kicks soon appears, much to the boys' shock. She just gives them a glare before she stares at the robot.

Kicks: "This jerk caught me off guard… It won't happen again."

Knuckles: "Kicks, you're hurt pretty bad. Stay out of-"

Kicks gives Knuckles a very intense glare, shutting him up as he looks away.

Sonic: "He is right, Kicks. Get some rest and let us handle this."

Kicks: "I appreciate the concern, boys… But I didn't hear any bell when I fought him. I'm not throwing in the towel because this thing got the drop on me."

Sonic: "...Boy you are stubborn. I feel like you and Sally would get along great."

Sonic smiles at his joke before the trio see Metal Sonic destroy the cliff he was implanted in. The robot glares at the trio as he stands across from them.

Metal Sonic: "I guess the female didn't get enough of a beating as I calculated. I guess I can break a few more bones; see how much an echidna can endure before I break your spirit."

Knuckles: "You'll find that a daunting task. We're a pretty stubborn duo. And we don't back down from any challenge!"

Metal Sonic: "Fine. Whether it's three or three hundred of you inferior rodents… I will destroy you all just the same!"

Metal Sonic then rushes at the trio, shooting a barrage of laser blasts to scatter them. Once they were scattered, he goes after Knuckles first, slamming a knee into Knuckles' chest. He then slams both his fists down onto the echidna, sending him to the ground with an intense impact. Sonic rushes in with a drop kick, sending the robot flying back. Metal Sonic glares at Sonic but is quickly met with a kick under his chin from Kicks, who then follows up with a lightning fast barrage of kicks, ending it off with a roundhouse kick with the other leg. Knuckles quickly recovers and returns fire at the metal hedgehog as he is sent flying from the impact of the kick. Knuckles slams a gut punch, then follows with an uppercut, sending him in the air.

Sonic: "Kicks! Give me a boost!"

Kicks nods before flipping onto her back; Sonic bounces onto her feet, causing her to kick him into the air like a bumper. Once Sonic was right over Metal Sonic, he dive kicks at the metal hedgehog. But once he impacted the double, Metal Sonic caught the kick, then quickly threw Sonic back down at Knuckles, the two hitting each other into the dirt. Kicks jumps up to drop kick Metal Sonic, but the robot dodges and grabs Kicks by her leg. He then slammed her leg on his knee, cracking something in her joint that made her scream out in pain. She was then gut punched, causing her to cough out blood before she was tossed to the ground.

Sonic: "Kicks!"

Knuckles: "Grr… If she's hurt then I am not gonna forgive that robot or the brat that made him…"

Sage's Voice: "Not like your forgiveness would mean anything to me regardless…"

The duo's ears perk up before they turn to see Sage, hovering above them with her hands behind her back and a smirk on her face.

Sage: "Have you learned the futility of fighting the inevitable? This is the true strength of the robots created by Lord Robotnik. Had you agreed to join us, rodent, you would have been this strong… Or perhaps stronger."

Sonic: "You don't seem to get it, lady. I declined because the "utopia" Eggman intends to create is nothing short of a power fantasy. He intends to destroy all life on Mobius just to satisfy his own wishes, not better the world at all. I don't care about power or to get stronger. I care about the people around me; their happiness. If Eggman intends to rob them of that happiness, then I'll do everything in my power to stop him."

Sage: "...Brave words. But can you back them up?"

Sage smiles as she points out to Metal Sonic descending to approach a weakened Kicks. Sonic's eyes widened at this. Knuckles charges at Metal Sonic first, angrily and blindly throwing his fists at the metal hedgehog. But he was countered with punches to his face, a kick to his back, and a stomp into the ground from Metal Sonic, planting him into the ground.

Metal Sonic: "Wait your turn. I want you to watch as I turn your beloved sister into paste."

Metal Sonic then turns back to Kicks, who tries to sneak in a feint attack with her still working leg. But Metal Sonic dodges and grabs the leg. He then smiles before pulling Kicks' leg, painfully popping it out of its socket. He then slams her down onto the ground before reeling back a fist.

Metal Sonic: "Now… Let's see you turn from red… To even REDDER!"

Metal Sonic launches his punch at Kicks… But the punch is stopped by Sonic blocking it, but just barely with both of his palms.

Sonic: "Urgh… Leave Kicks alone! Your beef is with me!"

Metal Sonic: "You? Hah! You are outdated, meatbag. I am the superior version. Faster… Stronger… More deadly! You are nothing to me!"

Sonic: "Yeah? Well what I lack in strength… I more than make up for by having the heart to protect others!"

Sonic quickly moves his hands to catch the other fist aimed at him, putting himself and Metal into a stalemate as the two headbutted each other. Knuckles barely stood up, but he was panting and holding his arm as he stares on at this stalemate. As Sonic continued to hold Metal there, he did feel his limit getting reached. He tried to hold on, trying to protect Kicks with what strength he could muster. Metal Sonic pushes against Sonic, forcing him to a knee as he piled onto the pressure. Sonic grits his teeth as he feels the Chaos Emeralds in his possession call out to him. He rejected their power though; either out of fear of losing control again or because he was scared of what might happen to Kicks and Knuckles, he dared not use them even now. Sage only smiled as she raises a thumb… then points it down, indicating that Sonic has lost… That is until something flies and crashes into Metal Sonic, slamming across the ground with such force. It was the Tornado!

Sonic: "Wha…? The… Tornado…?"

Voice: "Sonic!"

Sage: "What!?"

Sonic turns around and sees Tails land and quickly run up to embrace Sonic. Sonic was still trying to register what just happened, as was Knuckles.

Sonic: "Tails!? You… How did you…?"

Tails: "We built an Emerald Radar! We triangulated the exact spot you were at based on your X and Y coordinates. Though, we didn't take into account the Z coordinate so finding you was still tricky."

Sonic: "Wait… We?"

The group then hear the sound of buzzing, followed by a large shadow hovering over the island. Looking up, the group saw… The Vespa Queen, along with a very large army of Buzzers, along with Coconuts on the palm of the large mech.

Jenni: "Hello, Spike. I hope me saving your butt isn't going to be a common occurrence."

Sage: "...This just got bad… Very bad…"

Metal Sonic: "Damaged… I've taken… heavy damage from that… attack…"

Sage turns to Metal Sonic before turning back to the towering mech, then at the heroes who just gotten their second wind. She starts calculating her odds, then her options.

Sage: "Tch… I got the data necessary from the Death Egg, and a new robot that could easily destroy that rodent… I'll cut my losses and call it enough of a victory… Metal Sonic! We are retreating!"

Metal Sonic: "But… I want to… destroy…"

Sage: "Time and place. We shall destroy them one day… For now, let them think they won…"

Metal Sonic is reluctant, but finally complies as he joins Sage's drone and leaves the island. Sonic looks on as they leave, staring at his robotic copy as he leaves before then turning back to Kicks on the ground.

Once everything had settled down, everyone reconvened at Knuckles and Kicks' hut, with the Vespa Queen mech was parked nearby. Jenni was with Kicks as she helped the echidna recover… with Knuckles looking over her shoulder. This annoys Jenni before she turns to him.

Jenni: "Do you mind? I'll get to you as soon as I'm done with the more critically injured."

Knuckles: "I don't care about that. I'm worried about Kicks, lady! If you're a doctor, then help her!"

Jenni: "Ugh… She's seen better days, but your unnatural endurance is what saved her life ultimately. She just needs to stay off her feet for a while and…"

As Jenni deals with Knuckles, Tails was with Sonic, wrapping bandages around the hedgehog.

Tails: "Sorry we were late, Sonic… Like I said, finding you was trickier than it should have been; we never thought you were in the sky of all places."

Sonic: "Eh, imagine my shock when I found out. And I'm standing on it. But… I'm glad you guys showed up when you did."

Tails: "So you mind filling me in on what happened? Why was there a robot version of you?"

Sonic: "It's… gonna take a bit to explain, little buddy. For now, I could use a breather…"

Sonic says, petting Tails on the head. Jenni soon approaches with Knuckles, the duo satisfied that Kicks is in a stable condition and should recover naturally.

Jenni: "Well, the good news is the girl echidna should be able to walk in a few days. Though the bad news is that she won't be making a full recovery quite that quick."

Sonic: "...I'm sorry, Knux… I tried really hard and-"

Knuckles: "Nah, you did great, Sonic. Honestly, had you not jumped in, I feel like it could have ended so much worse. If Kicks can still walk, then she'll still kick like a champ."

Jenni: "And besides, you can't expect every fight to go the way you want them to. Take this as a small victory; Kicks is alive and…well… kicking, and you two are still up and at 'em."

Sonic: "...Heh. Thanks, Jen. I needed that… But uh… Why are you out of your home? Aren't you too sick to leave?"

Jenni huffed at that as she glared at Sonic.

Jenni: "No, you dimwit. I never claimed that; I have to be careful of my stress levels and be mindful of the amount of pressure I put myself through so as to not let my condition act up. I can use my Virtual Robot headset and come out of the house just fine otherwise."

Sonic raises his hands up defensively as he smiled awkwardly, not thinking Jenni would take offense. Knuckles then clears his throat in order to get everyone's attention.

Knuckles: "Much as I appreciate your friends saving our bacon, I do have to ask them to leave. I can't risk too many people on my island."

Jenni: "Because of the island's treasure, right? Trust me, my friend, I don't intend to take it off this floating piece of a continent. I'd rather not have some curse follow me around; I've seen those movies and I'm not dealing with any possible detriments to my health!"

Knuckles: "So you'll leave my island?"

Jenni: "Only if I can take the Death Egg's remains with me~ I need to study what Ivo's up to now that his grand master plan has been thoroughly grounded."

Sonic: "Wait… Isn't Eggman gone though? I blew him up along with his base."

Jenni: "Well, yes you did. But the thing is… He's a robot. Meaning you only destroyed one body of his. Eggman's still out there… He'll be back for another round…"

Sonic looks to the ground; he needs to be ready next time then. Eggman almost won because he wasn't strong enough. Next time will be different, he says in his mind. Tails looks at him before giving him a determined look.

Tails: "We'll beat him together. You, me, and Sally too."

Sonic looks at Tails before smiling and nodding.

Knuckles: "Alright. I guess I can let you all stay for one night, just so the doctor can collect her debris. Just no funny business. Got it?"

Jenni: "Cross my heart, my dear."

The two shake on it as Sonic watches. At least that was solved. The Death Egg will be off Angel Island and, sad as it sounds, these two echidnas can live Eggman free.

Later that night, Sonic tries to fall asleep. It was late and of course he needed his sleep. But then a noise stirs him awake. He gets up and finds Kicks not on the portable hospital bed. Instead, she was struggling her way away from camp. Sonic quickly goes to confront her, being mindful of his own injuries.

Kicks: "Why are you following me, hedgehog?"

Sonic stops a few feet from the echidna, though the girl did not turn to face him.

Sonic: "Well, you are injured, Kicks. And… I'd rather not see you hurt yourself more."

Kicks looks back to Sonic before pushing off the tree she was leaning on, letting herself fall. Sonic reacts by speeding over to her, a gust from the sudden burst of speed passing them both once he stopped to catch her.

Kicks: "...Heh. Guess you are looking out for me."

Sonic: "Well, uh…"

Kicks: "...Sonic. Thank you… For earlier…"

Sonic: "You mean protecting you from that tin me? No problem; I'd do it again."

Kicks shakes her head.

Kicks: "For listening. I… never talked to anyone besides my brother before… And it felt good talking to you… And… I'd rather get strong enough to protect you next time, Sonic…"

Sonic: "You will. I'm sure of it. But first… You need to get better. No being reckless, okay?"

Kicks smiles and nods. She then leans in and plants a kiss on Sonic's cheek, surprising him… Yet he did not resist.

Kicks: "Consider that permission to visit the island whenever. Just be sure to call first."

Sonic: "S-Sure! Thanks!"

Sonic lifts up Kicks, bridal style carrying her back to her bed to rest some more. As he laid her on the bed, one thought now filled his mind… How was he going to explain this to Sally? That another girl got smitten with him. He can only hope she takes that bit of news well…

At the country of Mercia, at a docking station, a boat stops at the wooden docks to drop off its passengers. Two pairs of boots walk along the dock and onto the stone edge of a fishing city that greeted them. Sally and Alicia had arrived at their destination.

To be continued…