Review Responses:
Before I respond to anybody, I like to address a certain review that I since recently deleted. I will not say who sent this to me, for it was a guest. And while I appreciate you guys taking the time to read my stories and you are entitled to have your opinions on them, there are ways in which you give suggestions. I was told that I need to do something for my story to work. Let me make something clear, what I decide on my story is my decision. If you do not like that choice, then please stop reading. Don't waste a review on works that you may not like. Go elsewhere. I cannot express enough that RESURGENCE is a LOOSE adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), and this story takes place in an alternate world. I am not trying to make it like the video games. I am not following every story segment nor is it going to be accurate. I am going to tell a story that I want to tell. Period. Suggestions are that, suggestions. Feedback helps with the direction and quality of my writing.
And if the person who had made that post is still reading along, and you KNOW who you are, then I suggest that you keep quiet or go read someone else's stories. I'm not trying to bully you or talk down on you. I just want you to be better.
That goes for everybody.
To Boss Teal: Like I said last chapter, Silver and Blaze will not be making an appearance in RESURGENCE. With the kind of story that I want to tell, it's impossible as of now.
Eggman underestimated the power of Ixis Magick, given how little he knows about the subject matter. What I'm doing with how it works, it's safe to assume that it's pretty overpowered.
The name "Metallix" comes from the Brotherhood of Metallix from Sonic the Comic. I happened to repurpose the name by mixing "Metal" from "Metal Sonic" and "Ix" from "Ixis" to create "Metallix".
To calderoneric758: I'm not so sure that the Blue Typhoon will make an appearance, but Sonic will definitely have more moves and skills that were introduced in recent content.
That's all for now, on with the show.
Downtown, Westopolis, United Federation
"OPEN FIRE!"
Bullets were flying all over the place. Utter hell broke loose in the metropolitan city of Westopolis, except instead of aliens invading, there were robots.
The mayor ended up informing the Guardian Unit of Nations about the attack, which they answered by swiftly deploying a unit of armed soldiers to deal with the threat.
Now, these soldiers were shooting their assault rifles at various armed Egg Pawns. Mainly composed of Egg Bazookas, Egg Guns that carried shields as a means to protect themselves.
However, GUN Beetles were also deployed to deal with Eggman's Gun Flappers, Laser Flappers, and Bomb Flappers that were busy
wreaking havoc. Lasers blasted at moving vehicles, causing deadly crashes on the hectic streets. A chain of explosions occurred sporadically in random buildings and landmarks, and a volley of bullets hit every other soldier, whether they were on the side of Eggman or GUN.
One squad of GUN soldiers made up of five men was shooting at a few Laser Flappers behind a barricade, destroying two dozen of them. However, they (along with the other several dozen GUN soldiers nearby) were blown back by a powerful shockwave.
"W-What the hell was that?!" A GUN soldier inquired as he got up.
Getting up, another noticed something from the distance and pointed out, "New enemy, straight ahead!"
Cleared from the debris was a dark giant metallic canine which was as long as an eighteen-wheeler, wide as two school buses, and stood roughly thirteen feet tall.
This was the Egg Cerberus.
"Lord Almighty…" A female GUN soldier whispered in sheer horror.
The Egg Cerberus let out a great howl, asserting its dominance throughout the whole battlefield. It dashed forward and tore through GUN soldiers like they were prey, friendly firing a few Egg Pawns in the process. GUN Beetles with their turrets were easily made quick work of by the Egg Cerberus' paw and tail swipes.
The carnage led from an original army of seventy soldiers reduced to a measly two dozen.
Eventually, GUN sent out one of its mechs to try and deal with the threat of the Egg Cerberus. This would be the Big Foot Type B, a derivative of the original F-6t Big Foot that was equipped with a Gatling
gun.
"Eat lead, you mangy mutt!" The driver of Big Foot Type B shouted before firing the gun at him in the vehicle.
This, however, proved to be the pilot's blunder as the Egg Cerberus took all of the mech's rounds without a ding or scratch in sight.
Growling, the larger robot jumped to crush the GUN unit with the intent to flatten its driver from the inside.
When time seems to move slowly figuratively for the GUN soldier within Big Foot Type B, a distortion in space-time occurred in a literal sense. With the space of this particular altercation, the Egg Cerberus ceased movement as it was still in the air, merely a couple of feet from the unmoving GUN vehicle.
Suddenly, a yellow and red streak of light blurred its way to the cockpit of the military vehicle and broke into it, whisking the immobilized soldier out of harm's way and bringing the man back to his fellow teammates.
When the laws of time and space resumed, the Egg Cerberus resumed its hunt, demolishing the GUN unit, only without the blood of its initial victim.
"No! Tim!" Some of the squad members screamed, watching the Big Foot Type B variant reduced to scrap metal.
Suddenly, a flash of light flicked for a second. Warping in the middle of the safe zone of GUN's side stood Shadow the Hedgehog with an unconscious GUN soldier named Tim.
"Agent Black Wind, sir!" All of the remaining soldiers saluted.
Shadow nodded to everybody as he said, "At ease, men. Anybody, take this one to the nearest medical support you can."
One volunteer raised his hand and took it upon himself to take his teammate away to safety.
Shadow turned to the rest of the soldiers and asked, "Which one of you is the captain of the original squad that was deployed when called?"
A tall GUN with peach skin, blond hair, and violet eyes stepped forward.
"I am, sir." The Overlander answered, holding his assault rifle against his chest armor.
"What is your name and number?" Shadow continued inquiring.
"GUN Unit 50577, Stewart." The soldier, now named Stewart, replied.
"GUN Unit Stewart, give me a brief report as to what transpired here." Shadow instructed evenly.
"Yes sir! In roughly three hours, an attack on Main Street and Chao Drive escalated into a small war with the entirety of Downtown Westopolis caught in the crossfire. The enemy has been relentless to whatever and whoever they decide to actively target." Stewart expressed in a flat tone.
Shadow peered at the culprits of the excessive senseless destruction and flames that was a result of the bombing.
'So, the doctor is behind all of this foolishness. But what could be his motive? A form of revenge for refusing to join his so-called empire? Hmph, spare me.'
"And what of the civilians?" Shadow asked, moving on to a different aspect of the conversation.
"Eighty percent of all of the civilians made it to the safety shelter south of the city." The blond stated.
Shadow gave a nod, then flatly asked, "...Eighty percent? How many casualties, Stewart? Give it to me straight."
"At least two hundred and fifty losses, I'm afraid sir." GUN Unit Stewart answered somberly.
"Damn," Shadow grunted to himself, clenching his fists. "The commander should have sent me here sooner. All of this pointless death could have been avoided."
Turning back to Unit Stewart and the other GUN soldiers, Shadow ordered, "Stewart, you and the rest need to fall back and protect the civilians in the safety facility down south. I'll handle this from here."
Shadow turned to gaze into the distance, watching as the Egg Cerberus howled into the sky.
Seeing this happen, Stewart questioned, "Permission to speak freely, sir?"
"...Granted," Shadow slowly accepted.
"Are you certain about this decision? The enemy has numbers on their side. Not to mention that there's that beast that's several times our size. None of our weapons can leave a single dent on it." Stewart asked.
Shadow glanced at the GUN soldier then calmly questioned, "Are you questioning my orders, soldier?"
Sweat poured from the human's pale face.
"N-No, sir!"
Facing his target, Shadow said, "Then do as you're told. Your place is with the people. They need you. I am needed here."
Stewart nodded, before directing the other soldiers to clear the area. This left the battlefield empty for Shadow to pick up where the GUN soldiers left off.
Seeing that there was still a large quantity of Egg Pawns and other Badniks tearing up the city, Shadow narrowed his red eyes in complete disgust.
"...How repulsive. It's like watching an infestation of pests feasting on a carcass." Shadow spat.
An object suddenly came to Shadow's attention that caused the stoic black hedgehog to crack a Sonic-like grin.
A submachine gun.
Taking the weapon into his hands, Shadow stated to himself, "Time to clean up these streets!"
As he declared this, a horde of Egg Pawns with guns noticed Shadow. Their "eyes" flashed a bright red, recognizing the danger that Shadow posed.
With that, the front row of the horde aimed their guns at the black hedgehog. Not only that but Laser Flappers and Gun Flappers pointed their attachments at the Mobian.
Shadow began to move his legs, shaking on his Jet Shoes to glide on the ground as he built momentum.
Bullets were sent towards Shadow's way, but he weaved around them as he fired a Chaos Spear at the squad of robotic foot soldiers. A third of that horde was reduced to burnt pieces of scrap metal.
Five Laser Flappers decided to chase down the hedgehog, burning the concrete in the process. Shadow then warped behind them while hovering in the air and fired at each robot until they combusted.
Zipping around the area away from the Egg Cerberus' line of sight, the GUN agent kept blasting Badnik left and right with his submachine gun. At one point, he ran out of bullets and found himself surrounded by armed Egg Pawns.
However, Shadow remained unphased by this fact. Faster than any machine could calculate or anticipate, the hedgehog knocked leading Egg Pawn's head clean off with an uppercut before landing a sidekick which knocked the decapitated robot body into several other machines.
Shadow dodged a charging Egg Pawn that carried a shield by jumping into the air. With the snap of his fingers using his left hand, a violet orb of chaos energy eradicated the machine in seconds.
With his heart being filled with a dutiful sense of justice, Shadow converted these thoughts into power. Due to this, a build-up of Chaos Energy manifested itself by Shadow's fur black fur and red irises glowing cyan.
This phenomenon was known as Chaos Mode Type A: Justice, also known as Hero Shadow.
Peering at the remnants of the Badniks, Shadow grunted, "Chaos Control!"
Shadow used his temporarily acquired elevated state to expand Chaos Energy around him in a radius that almost reached the Egg Cerberus. This resulted in all other moving objects, alive or inanimate, stopping moving except for Shadow himself.
Within this sphere of distorted space-time, he blitzed through the rest of the Egg Pawns multiple times with powerful strikes from his fists and feet. Setting his sights on the remaining Flappers, Shadow surrounded his aerial mechanical adversaries with magenta orbs of destruction.
Landing several feet away from the enemy, Shadow snapped his fingers. When time and space reverted to normal, there was a great explosion that occurred behind Shadow that shook an entire block.
The Egg Cerberus took notice of this, taking ten steps towards the smoking area. The robot canine's head perked up when it saw the black hedgehog stepping out of the fumes with no scratches or burnt marks on him as his irises surged with scarlet lightning in them.
"...And then there was one," Shadow spoke ominously, staring down the Egg Cerberus growling at the hedgehog.
The GUN agent then declared, "A weapon like you is too dangerous to be left to function. Today, I'll be the one to put you down."
With that, the hedgehog charged at the mechanical hound at high speeds.
Lycaeon, Unified Wolf Pack Nation, Lobonia
Within the city of Lycaeon in the country of Lobonia, the Team Sonic and the Knothole Freedom Fighters visit the Waya tribe's chief in search of another Master Emerald shard and the next Chaos Emerald when they are bombarded by unwanted intruders.
Now, they all stood inside the bottom of Lobonia's Freedom HQ with the enemy
A red vixen, a green hawk, a light brown and black lynx, a violet weasel, and a white wolf.
"Hello, sister. I've finally come home." Drago Wulfe greeted his team, the Destructix, behind him.
"Sister?" Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles inquired at the same time.
"The Destructix!" Bunnie and Antoine exclaimed out of shock.
"What now?" Sonic asked, tilting his head.
"The Destructix," NICOLE said in her holo lynx form as she floated four feet from the ground. "A mercenary group that is composed of Acornia's most wanted criminals. They mainly serve as a work-for-hire group for other crime organizations, but are mostly well known for their successful heists and their competence in armed and unarmed combat."
"Oh, I get it. They're like the mirrored version of Shadow's team. Only less morally complex." Tails recognized, with Sonic nodding in agreement.
"Long time no see, eh princess?" Fiona greeted.
"Not long enough, certainly!" Sally said curtly, glaring at the red fox.
"Aw~ Don't tell me that you're still hot over me griefing you out of a Warp Ring." Fiona mockingly cooed, looking at the nails of her left hand. "You did me a favor if anything. Or are you sore over the incident with the queen's necklace? I wouldn't worry about it, it's nice and safe with me in my jewelry box. I figure you wouldn't need it. I mean, what's a random piece of metal with rocks on it worth compared to an entire kingdom?"
"You no good dirty–" Sally gritted her teeth as she clenched her fists, activating her blue Ring Blades.
Bunnie came to Sally's side, placing her real hand on the girl's hand. The chipmunk princess then saw the rabbit's face and she shook her head with disapproval.
"Easy, Sally-girl. Actin' the fool will allow her to get under your fur. Simmer down." Bunnie advised.
While Sally was still fuming on the inside, she listened to the words of her friend.
"A'chaka!" Lupe barked, pointing her spear at the opposing side's leader. "This is no longer your home, and I am no longer your sister! How dare you set foot on this land? Have you no shame after the disgrace you brought to yourself and our tribe long ago?"
Drago Wulfe cackled, exposing his sharp teeth as he sneered at the Waya tribe head.
"Ah, A'chaka died when you cast me away over trivial matters. I am Drago now."
Lupe growled, "Call yourself whatever you like, you're a traitor to the eyes of the Waya and a criminal to the rest of Lobonia. I hardly call conspiring to undermine my leadership, almost starting a civil war, and attempted regicide trivial. The scar that you left me with says otherwise."
"You and I both know that it should have been me leading the pack in the first place, little sister. Father promised me so." Drago snarled back. "But no! He had to die at the hands of that horrid Ixis shaman and left that delusional woman in charge!"
"You dare speak ill of the deceased!?" Lupe shouted, seeing red. "Our mother was a wise and respected member of the pack! I could not help what the matriarch ordained, A'chaka!"
"SHE WAS YOUR MOTHER," The white wolf rebuked. "She was never mine and you know it! And she was a weak-minded sentimental fool! If she'd followed tradition and disregarded her bias towards you, her full-blooded child, there would have been a stronger Lobonia under the single banner of the Waya! Just as Father would have wanted!"
Team Sonic and the Knothole Freedom Fighters were taken aback by Drago's outburst, while Predator and Raikō winced at the wolf's bellow.
Fiona, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Fang thought at the same time, 'He's insane!'
"Even after all these years where you had time to reflect and you still have not purged the wickedness that's in your heart." Lupe sighed, shaking her head in disappointment. "I can see why Mother has deemed you unworthy to lead our people."
Drago had nearly lunged at his most hated adversary to rip out her throat when Raikō went to his side and spoke to him.
"Oyabun! Please, calm yourself! Remember why we are here." Lightning Lynx whispered, causing Drago to take sharp breaths until he shimmered too slightly.
"Alright, time out! Let's dial it back," Sonic said as he formed a capital "T" with his hands as he walked next to Lupe, looking at the Destructix. "From what I'm gettin' all of this is that ya'll are bad news. I think we can get behind that. Now, aside from bein' led by Fido and his petty grudge, what brings you guys around here?"
"Better yet, who sent you?" Knuckles clarified, with the shard of the Master Emerald now stored in a bag that Sir Charles gave him.
"Ha, like we're gonna give that away!" Predator Hawk snorted. "Fat chance!"
"Besides, the computer pretty much gave you the name of our game. We take jobs, then complete them. Regardless if it's clean or dirty." Fiona explained, walking with a fem fatal sway with each leg akin to Rouge. "If all goes well, we reap our rewards for the job well done. I don't know about the others, but what was a means of survival eventually became my go-to method of getting my thrill fix."
Turning to Sonic, Fiona suggestively winked, saying, "I'm sure you, of all people, know how exciting life on the edge is."
Sally's right eye twitched in irritation as she desperately refrained from rushing at the fox to go for her jugular right then and there.
'...Must resist…the urge…to maim this broad…' Sally said, repeating the mantra over and over mentally.
Fiona continued, "As for what we're here for…"
Looking at the crowd of people, the red vixen spotted the yellow diamond cut gemstone in the small gloved hands of Tails.
With her eyes catching the Chaos Emerald in her line of sight, Fiona formed a smug scandalous grin worthy of the slyest of vixens.
'Perfect!'
Fiona walked over, moving close to the young fox kit as she attempted to appeal to Tails' adolescent mind and his hormones.
Fang, Raikō, and Predator facepalmed at this while Drago watched with his cold calculating eyes. Meanwhile, Sonic, Sally, and Knuckles narrowed their eyes at Fiona's movement.
"Hey there, little man~," Fiona cooed while crouching down to the shorter fox, patting the boy's cheek. "I see that you've found what we've been looking for. Why don't you be a good boy and hand that pretty little gem to me, hm?"
'She's after the Chaos Emerald!' Our heroes thought to themselves.
Tails peered at the feet of the older vixen to the top of her head before scrunching his face up in disgust, taking a step back as he swatted the thief's hand away from his face as he wrapped the yellow Chaos Emerald behind him using one of his tails.
"Back off, lady! You're not getting anything from me, so you can just forget it!" Tails fired back, causing Fiona to reel her hand back.
Fiona took this rejection personally, with her face twisting from shock into someone who had been appalled and angered.
"You twerp!" Fiona snarled, lunging to backhand Tails, only for the fox to backflip over to Antoine's side, behind Sonic, Sally, Lupe, and Knuckles.
Sonic grinned at Tails with pride, giving him a thumbs up with his right hand before turning back the vixen.
"You heard the kid, lady. Sorry, but no dice." Sonic smirked, giving Fiona a thumbs down. "Unless you wanna get sent packin', you best get to steppin' right on out of here while you still have the chance. Your choice."
Before Fiona could say or do anything in response to Sonic's comment, Raikō appeared and brought his arm in front of the vixen with a neutral gaze over his shoulder.
"Don't," Lightning Lynx denied.
Fiona retorted in a demanding way, "Why not!?"
"We've done this your way, Sheila," Fang stated, who joined Raikō's side with Predator following next to him. "Now, it's time for us blokes to have a crack at it."
Meanwhile, Bunnie faced Tails, then leaned to his ear as he said, "Sugar, Ahm gonna need ya tuh take tuh the sky with that gem in your hand. Ahl come right behind ya so the way can play keep away with it."
"I can do that." Tails agreed with a nod, taking the yellow Chaos Emerald his hand from one of his tails.
"Good. Way don't want any more damage to come to that wolves' Freedom HQ, do way? Now, wait on mah mark." Bunnie instructed, which the younger fox nodded in compliance.
Tails compiled, saying, "Yes, ma'am."
"Leave now, A'chaka," Lupe commanded. "You have no place here."
From there, Drago took out a golden machete from his right holster, then said, "One way or another, we're claiming that gemstone! And we're not afraid to take it by any means. Even if I have to go through you, your allies, and that obnoxious blue rat! DESTRUCTIX, ATTACK!"
"I'll make you eat those words, mutt!" Sonic fired back, while Lupe held her spear to voice her command.
"You'll rue the day of your return, A'chaka! FREEDOM FIGHTERS, CHARGE!"
With that, the two grounded groups ran towards each other, ready to settle the score with one another in an all-out brawl.
Tails leaped out of the hole that the Destructix made which led to the outside. Using his two tails, he took flight away with the Chaos Emerald in his hand. Bunnie followed by using the propulsion jets that Rotor installed in her robot legs.
Predator recognized this, and said, "Oh, no you don't!"
The Mobian hawk threw his hoverboard forward, then jumped on it as he rode after our flying heroes in pursuit of them and the Emerald.
Downtown, Westopolis, United Federation
Shadow tested Dr. Robotnik's latest creation's durability by attacking him physically using a barrage of Homing Attacks.
What came out of that action was that Egg Cerberus activated a mystical light blue shield being erected. The howl of the mechanical beast sent a pushed Shadow through two solid buildings.
Fortunately, Shadow recovered quickly and planted his feet on the ground, sliding to a halt while standing.
Shadow noticed the shield that the Egg Cerberus had, sensing the kind of energy that it was emanating.
'That barrier is producing the same kind of strange energy as that dragon that I fought in Soleanna! The doctor must have got his hands on this power somehow.' Shadow mentally analyzed.
The Egg Cerberus ran through the streets of Downtown Westopolis, baring its mechanical teeth while looking for Shadow.
Shadow saw this and began to jump around using his superior agility to avoid being torn to shreds by the Egg Cerberus' teeth.
Landing on a random flag pole, Shadow thought to himself aloud, "I won't be able to put this metallic mutt down as long as it has that barrier equipped. There has to be a way to catch it off guard and disable that feature. Only then, I can put an end to this madness."
While his eyes roamed around the body of the Egg Cerberus, the GUN agent found the antenna that was on the mechanical hound's head. Then, he looked around and observed other buildings nearby. That resulted in a solid plan that Shadow formulated.
Shadow curled into a ball, similarly to Sonic, and began to glow an orange-red light. When Shadow gathered the energy from spinning in place, he stood on his feet while enveloped in bright light.
When he located his target, Shadow jumped off of the flagpole and somersaulted in the air. The power of the light allows the black hedgehog to lock on to his desired target from a longer distance. Because Shadow was using the Light Speed Attack, the Egg Cerberus couldn't perceive his movement and was caught off guard when the hedgehog landed on its back as Shadow proceeded to grind on the rail that acts as its spine. In mere seconds, Shadow grabbed a hold of the beast's antenna, actively bringing the anatomical movement of the Egg Cerberus to his complete mercy.
Grinning with a hint of malicious intent, Shadow shifted the antenna to force the mechanical hound to ram into sturdy buildings. He did this four about four times, damaging the armor around its body and head. Doing so disabled the function of the Ixis Barrier.
Shadow hopped away from the dazed Egg Cerberus, which was smoking and staggering from the damage and malfunction.
Shadow then began approaching it slowly, knowing that the confrontation was nearing its end.
"This is the work of the doctor? How disappointing. With his mind, he could be making the world a better place. But instead, he either creates or unleashes monstrosities like you," Shadow said, starting down the malfunctioning and struggling to stay online.
Much like before, Shadow's racing thoughts began to turn into power. That power manifested as a crimson light radiated off of Shadow's black fur and scarlet red irises.
This phenomenon was known as Chaos Mode Type B: Vengeful, also known as Dark Shadow.
"However, I don't place blame on you. You're merely a soulless killing machine, a slave to insidious programming by a man who refuses to look beyond himself to see the bigger picture. Although it is meaningless to do so, I can't help but pity your existence." Shadow continued before using Chaos Control to warp to the head of the Egg Cerberus.
"Doctor, I know that you can hear me through this cold metallic shell. I do not know why you've sent this machine to the city, but I will get to the bottom of it. And when I find out what you're up to, I will be coming for you! So, expect a visit soon, because you have much to answer for." Shadow declared as he placed a hand at the temple of the mechanical hound. "And for the record, the Professor would be disappointed in you."
'Now, to set this city and this machine free.' Shadow thought as he gathered all of his rages in his body as chaotic, violent energy.
"CHAOS…BLAST!" Shadow bellowed, proceeding to unleash a massive explosion that enveloped the Egg Cerberus and any vehicle within a twenty-meter range.
Moments passed and Shadow walked away from the large crater he created without real harm to him. He wasn't even fatigued in the slightest.
Looking over his right shoulder, Shadow saw the smoldering remains of the Egg Cerberus to which he reduced it.
Turning away, Shadow walled away as he scoffed to himself, "To think that was a part of the legacy of the late Gerald Robotnik. What a waste."
Before Shadow could leave, however, he foresaw and kicked an incoming missile that was headed his way.
"There's another one around here, huh?" Shadow questioned, looking at the area that he was in.
Little did Shadow know a dark entity emerged from his own shadow until it fully stood, towering the GUN agent with its digital "eyes" flashing red.
With his right ear twitching at the sound of an engine humming, Shadow found himself turning around, only to be sent flying to a building at blinding speeds with side kick.
The black hedgehog waa slammed into a brick wall before kneeling on the floor.
"Damn it," Shadow coughed, spitting out saliva. "What the hell hit me!?"
"I did, rodent." A deep sinister digital voice said from afar.
Shadow slowly got up from the rubble to see a dark figure in the distance while fire scorched the streets of the heavily damaged city. The figure approached Shadow, with its footsteps making a high metallic winding sound as each clang of its mechanical feet got louder and louder.
Shadow eventually caught a glimpse of his assailant, his eyes widened for a brief moment until they narrowed once more.
"...You!" Shadow spoke, now standing with his guard up. "What are you? Another one of the Doctor's duplicates of the blue hedgehog?"
Thanks to the light provided by the fire, the mechanical foe that stood before Shadow revealed itself to be none other than the evolved form of Metal Sonic, Metallix.
Metallix mockingly laughed at the GUN agent, declaring, "Oh, I am no mere copy of an inferior being. You know exactly who I am, Shadow the Hedgehog. Take a good look while you can, for it may very well be the last thing you'll see today."
Looking at the face of the machine, Shadow deduced, "...Metal Sonic. Or, you appear to be. But there's something different about you. An just your appearance."
"You'd be correct, rodent. I have already surpassed what I once considered to be my loathsome copy." Metallix confirmed. "What stands before you is a weapon of Ixis. Absolute power. I am Metallix!"
Shadow thought, 'Ixis? What is that supposed to be? Perhaps Dr. Thorndyke may have better insight about it than I. I'll save that for later.'
"Metallix, huh?" Shadow echoed, crossing his arms. "Guess you've grown out of being made out of Sonic's image…Hmph. What business do you have with me?"
Metallix began to walk around as he explained, "I was given power unlike anything ever seen. It came with a massive overhaul my body and systems had gone through. My new objective is to test this power on a capable opponent. I have yet to know what my limits are currently."
"I don't see why you've decided to come to me for that. Your grudge is with the blue hedgehog, not me. You can settle that with him, so leave me out of it." Shadow reasoned logically.
"Ah, yes. The filthy blue street rat. I am saving his torment for another day. Until that day arrives, I am in need of a proper challenge. And the target that has been selected is you, the so-called Ultimate Lifeform." Metallix stated as he turned to face Shadow. "Why else would Robotnik go through so much trouble to get GUN to send one of their best operatives here?"
"What!?" Shadow shouted, gritting his sharp teeth out of anger.
"That should not be a surprise," Metallix said casually. "A new tool requires a series of test trials before proper usage. That's standard protocol. Take the facility south of Westopolis, for example. While they were high in numbers, their lack of power and proper defenses proved their inefficiency as obstacles. For that, I've dealt with them accordingly."
Shadow gripped his gloved hands tightly and he glared at Metallix with absolute disgust in his eyes.
'Agent Stewart, the men, no! I led them to their deaths! All of those people! They're…' Shadow realized mentally.
"Oh, what's wrong? Does hearing your own folly bother you, Shadow?" Metal mocked before laughing in Shadow's face again. "HAHAHA! You've gone so soft it's sickening."
"...You bastard!" Shadow growled, feeling his rage boil from the inside. "I'll send you to hell for that!"
Chuckling at his declaration, Metallix prepared to engage in combat as he said, "You delusional rodent! I'll be the one who will send you…TO OBLIVION!"
Metallix and Shadow curled into balls to spin in place before launching themselves at each other with the intent to tear each other into shreds.
Lycaeon, Unified Wolf Pack Nation, Lobonia
Drago dodged a few thrusts from Lupe's spear head which was aimed at his head, only to be knocked back by a shield bash in the face from his younger half sister.
Shaking it off, Drago had to roll to his right in order to evade a downward thrust which would have impaled the white wolf through his neck.
As he collected his own weapon, Drago grinned as he noted aloud, "Oh? Going for the throat, I see."
Lupe snarled as she lunged forward to maim her half-brother, saying, "It's fitting punishment for a power-hungry treacherous fool like you!"
Timing the thrust of her spear, Drago rolled off of the attack and swiped at Lupe's heel, leaving a horizontal cut that took her down a peg. Because of this, Lupe was left wide open for an attack.
"Whoops, my hand slipped." The white wolf cackled.
Drago, taking his sister's own spear, heads it at her head as he teased, "Even still, you should have kept at the basics instead of making friends with the enemy. Now…"
He shoved the spearhead closer to the snarling Lupe's neck.
"...You're going to surrender the title of chief to me and hand over that Chaos Emerald or I'll–"
"—Here's Sonic!"
Sonic came crashing into the white wolf in a spinning ball before kicking him to a nearby wall using a powerful somersault kick known as the Sonic Up Draft.
Landing in front of the chief, Sonic shouted at Drago, saying, "And stay down, mutt! By the way, I'm a hedgehog!"
He turned to see Lupe clutching her right foot while her heel bled.
"Argh!" Lupe groaned. "...He struck my heel."
"Shoot! That's no good! Don't worry, Lupe. Sit tight, I'll get you hel–oomph!"
Sonic was interrupted by Raikō, who landed a flying kick while cloaked in yellow lightning.
Getting up from the sudden attack, Sonic turned to see the male lynx, who held a palm close to him.
"Impressive. Nobody has ever been able to quickly recover from my Flying Raiju Kick." Lightning lightly complimented. "Regardless, I will not let you interfere with our mission."
"That was a lucky shot, pal." Sonic frowned as he wiped the small bruise from his right cheek. "It'll take a lot more to put me down! If you think you can keep up with me, then bring it on!"
Sonic and Raikō then made a sprint outside, leaving a pair of trails that were blue and yellow respectively.
Thankfully, Knuckles saw the bleeding wound that Lupe sustained and came to her aid.
Kneeling before her, the echidna opened his palms then surrounded her heel's wound in a soothing green light. This light healed Lupe in a matter of seconds.
"Try standing, now." Knuckles instructed, holding out one of his large hands for Lupe to grab.
She took it, allowing the Waya chief to be pulled up. As she stood, the gray wolf longer felt discomfort in her right heel.
Turning to Knuckles, she said, "I am most grateful for your assistance. Thank you, Knuckles."
Knuckles nodded before directing his attention to Drago Wulfe, who was up and ready to lunge at both his sister and echidna, whom the latter was associated with the blue hedgehog.
With a snarling growl, Drago bellowed, "I'll rip your throat out and kill your annoying militia friends!"
Lupe at Knuckles, the gray wolf asked, "Shall we?"
"I insist. After you, chief," Knuckles insisted politely.
The echidna and the armed she-wolf jumped back into the action, double teaming the now barely sane Drago Wulfe.
NICOLE went back into her computer upon Sally's request to deal with Fiona Fox herself. Speaking of which, the two were duking it out in close quarters combat.
Sally, surprisingly enough, was currently on the offensive. She went to swing her Ring Blade with her right hand and throw a left jab at Fiona, but the red vixen evaded the blade, and caught the jab. Fiona then used the momentum to flip the princess over.
However, Sally managed to recover in mid air with her acrobatics and landed perfectly on her two feet.
Raising her left eyebrow, Fiona asked, "My, oh my. You've been off your game lately, haven't you, sugar queen?"
Sally furrowed her eyes at this tease as she came to blows with her rival and adversary by
blocking a sidekick and a roundhouse kick with her forearms.
"Game? I'm always on my game, Fifi. I honestly don't know what you're going on about!" Sally fired back as she went for a low sweep to make the fox girl fall.
Fiona, however, saw this and backflipped away to avoid getting caught lacking.
Fiona placed a finger on her cheek as if she was innocently wondering about something, "Hm… I don't know. That's not what I've been hearing lately."
This prompted Sally to charge at Fiona with her Ring Blades ready to cut her into little ribbons. But this was a mere ploy as she jumped in the air and landed a clean flying kick to the vixen's gut, forcing her to the ground.
Sally got on top of the girl with a blade inches away from Fiona's face, demanding, "What have you been hearing, hm? Explain yourself!"
Despite her certain situation, Fiona smirked at her riled up rival.
"You talk about game," Fiona smirked as she took her to legs and kicked Sally off of her in the chipmunk's chest so that the vixen could stand. "But rumor has it that your boy toy officially called it quits. So, is it true? Have you and ol' Monkey Fuzz split?"
Sally rolled into a crouch, scowling at her rival as she growled, "That's none of your business!"
"Ha! You didn't deny it! He totally dumped you! Not that I could blame him, of course." Fiona mocked while she snorted. "Such a shame. A princess of one of the greatest kingdoms in Mobius and you can't even keep a man. Not so hot when the shoe is on other the other foot, huh?"
"Shut up!" Sally shouted as she leapt forward to pounce on the vixen.
Fiona then morphed into the very ex that the Destructix member brought up, causing the field leader to falter. Fiona grinned, then kicked Sally away as in the princess' ex's image before shapeshifting back to normal.
Sally sprawled on to the ground hard, tasting a trail of blood from her top lip. Fiona slowly walked over to Sally as the auburn haired chipmunk glared at the fox with complete hatred.
"Tch. Don't look at me like that, princess. You knew it was me the whole time, and you still couldn't follow through." Fiona scoffed.
Sally got off of the floor, seething in rage as she said, "...I really hate you."
"Really? Is that supposed to mean something to me? All I did was steal a couple of objects from you." Fiona frowned. "You, on the other hand, left me to rot in a fucking cave as you were busy saving everybody. On top of that, you were busy going gaga over a posh royal shit-flinger! Do you know what it's like to be used like a Chaos damned lab rat by a deranged technomage!? Do you!?"
Sally's rage was squandered by this sudden outburst as she remembered exactly why Fiona ended up the way she was today.
It was because of her past mistake as a leader.
Guilt flooded the heart of the princess as she said, "Fiona…I–"
"–Save it, Acorn! I don't need to hear any more of your half-assed apologies or empty promises. It didn't mean shit, just like I didn't mean shit to you on that day. You can't change the past or change the feud between us, so hate me all you want. But I can tell you one thing, though. I'll always be around to remind you of that failure, and I'll enjoy every second of it. Face it, princess, I'm just your little problem now. The scourge of your existence. And I'll never stop screwing with you."
Sighing, Sally retracted her Ring Blades and brought her fists, saying, "Fine, then. If that's how it is going to be, then allow me to take responsibility accordingly. Put 'em up, Fifi."
Fiona grinned at the princess' will be burning in her eyes.
"Now you're speaking my language!" Said Fiona, taking her fighting stance. "Come and get it, sugar queen!"
The two then dashed at each other to continue their grudge match.
With Antoine, the coyote had been running and diving from display case to display case while avoiding gunfire from Fang the Sniper.
Antoine kept his head down from his current shelter with bits of leftover debris on the ground next to him.
'Why must I be dealing with ze trigger-happy one now? Oh, I knew I should have asked Rotor for equipment.' The swordsman mentally complained.
"C'mon out of hiding and surrender, mate," Fang said, holding both of his revolvers. "You lost the moment you brought a sword to a gunfight."
Antoine frowned at this. He hated being underestimated. It took him a long time to get over his insecurities and shortcomings during the majority of the war against Naugus. For Fang to mock his growth was a great disservice to the Freedom Fighter. But Antoine was not going to allow the weasel's words to get to him…
…Nor would the coyote allow the words to get a pass.
The Mobian swordsman darted towards the debris of large rocks and shards of glass. Then, the coyote gazed at his right gloved hand with a peculiar looking device.
That's when he recalled a tool that Sir Charles fitted with.
Antoine grinned at this, thinking to himself, 'Pardon me, but I am not admitting ze defeat, today.'
Fang was deciding whether or not he should use his tail to hop high to blow Antoine's brains out overhead when he saw four objects moving upwards above a display case in front of him.
Because these objects were moving so fast, Fang's instinctual reaction was to shoot at the four objects, which happened to be chunks of rocks.
"Here goes nothing!"
Using this reaction to his advantage, Antoine took his right hand and called forth a stream of energy, and flicked it as a whip. This Enerbeam, as Sir Charles deemed it, managed to smack one of Fang's revolvers out of the mercenary's left hand.
"Bloody hell!?" Fang barked in bewilderment.
The weasel shot at Antoine, but the swordsman drew his blade in a flash, deflecting the bullet. Antoine then wrapped his Enerbeam whip around Fang's other hand, harming him enough to drop his other revolver. Antoine made sure to slap both guns away from the purple mercenary's reach before dispelling the whip.
"Oh, wow! Zis tool iz quite handy. I surely be using it more often." The coyote said with gratitude.
Fang grasped the back of his hand where the burn was more prominent, grunting, "Ah, damn it all!"
The weasel then set his sights on Antoine, who smirked at his handiwork with pride.
"You!" Fang vehement in anger.
"Oui, me." Antoine nodded. "Forgive mé for ze pain, but your firearms were a problem. If you want, we can duel with our hands instead."
Seeing red, Fang took out two hunting knives from his back holsters and charged at Antoine with the intent to maim the swordsman while entering a state of predation.
Antoine sighed as he drew his sword, saying, "Very well zen, én garde!"
Outside of the base, Tails and Bunnie just so happen to be evading enemy fire from Predator Hawk with his Extreme Gear deploying its own machine gun barrels to fire with.
"Hand that stone over, or lose your hides!" Predator Hawk commanded.
In response to this, Tails called Bunnie's name as he passed the emerald over to her hands.
Turning around mid-air, Tails used his Tempest Bracer to form his signature red arm cannon.
"Take this!" Tails exclaimed as he took aim at the teal-green bird of prey.
The two-tailed kit proceeded to fire a series of yellow spheres of plasma.
Predator Hawk cursed under his breath as he flew downward and away from the balls of plasma, allowing them to hit the water below.
"If I can't gun you down, then I'll just blow you to bits!" Predator declared.
Pressing a button on his board with his rear foot, Predator Hawk's Extreme Gear unloaded two small but powerful missiles. These two projectiles were then launched to hit both flying Freedom Fighters.
"Uh oh! Incoming!" Tails shouted as he was ready to activate his Golden Shield.
Bunnie tossed the yellow Chaos Emerald back to Tails, saying, "Go on an' take this, hun. It's mah turn now!"
Bunnie adjusted her cowgirl hat, then formed her cannon using her mechanical arm. Aiming at her desired targets, the Mobian rabbit fired two electrically charged shots of red energy at the missiles. The blasts met the projectiles, successfully detonating them away from any harm.
The older Freedom Fighter turned her head towards the pilot, then shouted, "Yawl head on back tuh thuh others, ya hear? Ah will handle this no-good buzzard."
"What? I can't just leave you out here!" Tails said in concern.
"Don't be worryin' bout me. Ah can take mahself just fine. But as long as ya got that gem in your hands, he's gonna keep on pressin'. An he ain't gettin' close as long as Ahm on his tail feathers." Bunnie said, flexing her mechanical bicep with confidence.
Tails saw this, then nodded in agreement and out of respect for his new elder comrade.
"Alright, then. He's all your, Bunnie. I'm counting on you." Tails said before taking off back towards the hole in Lobonia's Freedom HQ.
Predator flew out of the smoke to see Tails fleeing.
"There's no escaping from me, runt!" The hawk screeched, readying to continue his pursuit.
The Extreme Rider, however, was intercepted by Bunnie, who flew over to block his path.
"Hold it! If ya want that gem, you're gunna have tuh deal with me!" Bunnie stated while her arm cannon shifted into a hand with an open hole gathering energy.
Below that confrontation, Sonic and Lightning were racing on the large platform where Freedom HQ stood, leaving streaks of blue and yellow. The two would often jump and clash with each other while in a blur.
But if people were to follow along, they could see Sonic and Lightning exchanging punches and kicks. The lynx managed to knock Sonic into a wall, but the hedgehog bounced back by curling into a ball and slamming into Lightning's chest. Fortunately, the Destructix recovered by backflipping back onto the ground.
The two went back to running after, racing around the small pseudo-island platform.
"I'll admit, I'd never thought that you would be this formidable," Raikō admitted while running at the same pace as Sonic. "For that, you have my respect."
Sonic grinned back at lynx, casually saying, "Heh heh! You ain't half bad, yourself! It's not every day where I get into a race with a guy who can keep up with my joggin' speed."
The last sentence shocked Raikō beyond belief.
'Jogging!? This is supposed to be jogging to him? We're moving at speeds close to my limits! I can't be that outclassed, can I? Just how fast can this hedgehog possibly get?' The ambush attacker thought to himself.
"I see," Raikō acknowledged before stopping altogether with Sonic doing so as well. "Then I suppose that I need to do everything within my power to defeat you."
Never losing his upbeat attitude, Sonic said, "That's the spirit! Give it your best shot! Oh! I didn't get your name, by the way."
"I was once called Yamaneko Raikō, a member of the Raiju clan, and a former servant of Maiden of Conquering Storms, Raijū Indira. Now, I am the ambush shinobi, Lightning Lynx." Raikō explained as he tapped into the nanites in his body to expel more yellow lightning to course all over his body like a cloak. "Now, you state your name and master!"
Snorting, Sonic uses his right hand's thumb to point at himself as he declares, "Tch! I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog! I ain't got no master, except the wind that blows free!"
Sonic, channeling his power through his own body, raised his right until he moved it horizontally to his body. A small cyclone of blue winds danced around Sonic, wrapping around his body like a protective barrier.
Both of them took a step, readying themselves for each other's next attack.
"Very well, Sonic the Wind Bringer! Steel yourself, and come at me!" Lightning shouted before rushing at Sonic at full speed.
"Alright, let's do this!" Sonic agreed before meeting Raikō halfway, resulting in a loud crash.
Downtown, Westopolis, United Federation
Dark blue and reddish-orange streaks ran along the burning streets and flew into the air throughout their clashes for dominance.
At a certain point, they even smashed through five buildings in the process of their fight. Nonetheless, it was clear that the dark blue streak of light controlled the fight the entire time.
When the two combatants reappeared on the streets while sliding to a halt, Shadow warped to land a barrage of punches. Metallix bobbed and weaved through the GUN agent's physical assault.
Shadow finished the assault by throwing a fastback kick into his opponent's torso/head of Metallix by bending down.
'He didn't budge at all!' Shadow thought to himself in concern as Metallix shrugged the hedgehog's leg off of his metallic cheek.
"Ha! Pitiful," Metallix chortled before punching Shadow's midsection, launching the black hedgehog in the air.
As Shadow was stunned, constantly flipping with no control, the Mobian android flew past Shadow, only he kicked away. Metallix then dashed over to his opponent again to uppercut the so-called Ultimate Lifeform. The robot then jetted after Shadow, kneed him to the gut, then brought his mechanical left foot down Shadow's head, diagonally sending him downwards through four buildings until he crashed into the fifth building on his back.
The stunned Shadow felt his aching head ringing as he got out of the imprint Metallix sent him in.
"There's no way…" Shadow muttered in a groan.
Before he had time to process Metal's drastically increased speed, Shadow looked up to see Metal standing on top of a skyscraper a block away from him.
As he fired a yellow beam of energy from his red gem core, the android screamed, "DIE!"
This was the Plasma Propulsion Attack, The Metal Laser.
Shadow, fortunately, picked this up and warped away using Chaos Control, avoiding being completely decimated along with the building that was behind him.
Shadow reappeared from behind Metallix, ramming into the robot's unguarded back with his elbow. Using this opportunity to his advantage, Shadow warped himself in front of Metallix and summoned a large sphere of chaos energy around himself that struck the former robotic Sonic duplicate multiple times until it launched Metal backward.
This attack was known as Chaos Burst.
Shadow front kicked Metallix upwards and distorted space-time for the currently stunned robot so it could stop moving. Shadow jumped up and charged a slow Chaos Spear, which he fired the slow approaching attack. Shadow then fired three more to increase its power. Then, he curled into a ball and flung himself in the back of the enlarged yellow blast of energy, combining the Spin Attack with Chaos Spear. When he resumed time, Shadow crashed into Metallix as they plummeted straight into the ground, leaving a large crater that shook the area.
Shadow jumped out of the crater while breathing heavily, landing five feet away to see what would happen next.
Ten seconds passed when suddenly the ground shook. Crackles of sparks discharged from the crater. This build-up until Metallix had burst out of the crater as he landed three feet away from the hole, laughing at Shadow while covered in white electrical energy.
"Did you think that would harm me? And to think the Professor deemed you as the Ultimate Lifeform." Metallix spat while crossing his arms, causing Shadow to growl in frustration.
"No way! That attack struck a weaker point on your body! How are you still standing!?" Shadow demanded.
"It's quite simple to understand, Shadow the Hedgehog. I have surpassed you by leaps and bounds." Metallix declared, reveling in his ego. "As I said to you before, I am superior in every way. The perfect weapon! Not even you, the Ultimate Lifeform, can stop me. Now, be the first to witness my supreme power!"
Metallix's power had spiked, indicated by the burning white energy surrounding the robot and the gem on the center of his body. This power created a strong draft that nearly caused Shadow to be blown away.
'...This pressure! It's unreal!' Shadow gawked while keeping his guard up.
"Activating Ixis Magitek System!"
Metal raised his left hand and ignited a violet flame. Clenching his clawed hand, then flicked his arm with it glowing red from the heat of the flame. This resulted in a giant wave of violet fire being sent towards Agent Black Wind.
This ability was called the Ixis Flare.
Shadow jumped to avoid the flames but was bet with a Burning Ixis Spin Attack to the face. The boiling hot spines inflicted cuts onto Shadow's body. Then Metal axe kicked the hedgehog, which Shadow bounced back up to a flying kick in retaliation.
Metal's response was to simply go intangible by utilizing the Shadow Melding feature in his Ixis Magitek System. Being significantly faster than Shadow, Metallix turned to Shadow while he was moving past him and grabbed him by the top of his head.
Next, hurled Shadow down to the ground, causing him to crash upon impact. Following that, the robot stomped on Shadow after diving down with his right outstretched mechanical leg and foot. This "Foot Dive", as Metal called it, led to him pressing and dragging Shadow's body into several small facilities such as a bank, a couple of markets, and an elementary school.
Shadow soon got out of the rubble, rugged and bruised all around his body. He had cuts that were cauterized by the Metal's spins. Blood was present, staining his gloves and fur as he had been trying to wipe it off of him. Seeing this and the destruction that the android had brought upon the city served to enrage the hedgehog as the anger caused throughout his body.
'I've had enough of this!'
Shadow watched as Metallix flew at him with the intention to blitz him again.
"Chaos Control!"
Space and time distorted around Metallix, now stopping in mid-dash. Shadow used this given moment to get out of the way. However, an eerie violet and gray-blue aura had manifested as it surrounded the robot.
The power had started to eat away at the effects of Chaos Control, nullifying the energy entirely. Before anybody knew it, Metallix broke free from the distortion, bewildering Shadow in the process.
"W-What is this?" A visibly shaken Shadow questioned as he looked up to see Metal standing above him with an ominous violet aura acting as an outer glow.
"This is absolute power. An endless abyss of everlasting misery, void of time and light, and home to damned souls. That is the true essence of Ixis." Metallix lectured in a chilling tone, forming his Neo Buster out of his left arm. "And that abyss shall be your final resting place."
"Now, away with you!" The robot bellowed, blasting a charge shot directly at the Ultimate Lifeform, causing Shadow to fly directly to another building before an explosion destroyed it and seemingly Shadow as well.
Metal watched the light show emotionlessly, then turned away from the sight of his handiwork. If he were to have peered closely at the rubble with his scanners, he would have seen four flashes of lights seeping from the cracks.
"What a waste of space," Metallix said in utter disappointment. "Goodbye forever, Project SHADOW."
Metallix began walking away. Before he could take his fourth step, his scanner had begun to pick up exponentially large power that was rising higher at a rate Metal had not anticipated.
"What is the meaning of this!?" Metal gasped as he looked back at Shadow's supposed unmarked grave.
The ground trembled at the energy being released. The magnitude was immediately followed by an eruption of Chaos Energy from beneath the debris that Shadow once laid. Now, Metal witnessed a pillar of yellow and red burning chaotic energy radiating from a figure, creating a strong gust that blew bits of debris away from him.
The source of this spike in raw power happened to be Shadow the Hedgehog himself, only there was a notable difference in his appearance.
Shadow's body had gained a reddish-yellow hue due to the massive amounts of energy that he was emitting. His pupils and irises also completely vanish, leaving a scarlet glow.
This is a Shadow without restraint, with thoughts and desires solely focusing on survival. This drive had resulted in him discarding his Inhibitor Rings, unleashing a Force of Chaos deep inside the Ultimate Lifeform. This was Chaos Shadow.
While Metal had originally felt a tinge of fear, that quickly shifted into intrigue.
"It seems that there's a bit more fight left in you than I initially thought," Metallix admitted.
"NO!" Shadow roared. "I...WON'T...FALL...HERE!"
Metallix cocked his head curiously, then fired bursts of energy from his Neo Buster.
It had no effect on Shadow.
This proved to deepen the robot's curiosity about Shadow's limits and his own.
Metallix laughed at Shadow's determination, saying, "More Chaos Energy? Ha! You're too much, Shadow! A fool, stubborn fool, some would say. But if it makes you feel stronger, then by all means. Take your best shot. Either way, your death will be at hand."
Sick of the android's slander, Shadow dashed at Metallix with his right fist out to land his final attack. In seconds, Shadow's collision with Metal ended in an explosion so great, a third of Westopolis was completely leveled.
Smoke covered the area for a couple of minutes. But when it cleared, a weary Shadow could be seen kneeling on the ground out of exhaustion. He looked around in all directions, finding no sign of his former adversary.
"...Finally. …It's over." Shadow huffed as he spat out blood.
"...I couldn't agree more."
Before Shadow could comprehend the dread that instantly came over his body, an invisible force began beating Shadow.
Hits ranged from punches in the face and abdomen, kicks to the head, chest, and rib cage, which finally ended with a devastating headbutt as Metallix shouted, "I am the mightiest!"
The last attack sent the bloodied Shadow sprawling to the burnt ground, defeated. Metal revealed himself upon deactivating his Ixis Magitek System since it timed out for the day.
Metallix looked at his arm and saw that on a small screen, the energy tank for his IMS (Ixis Magitek System) was reduced to ten percent.
"Damn it! Just when I was beginning to have some fun…" Metal cursed. "Oh well then."
The killer machine then slowly approached Shadow, taking in the black hedgehog's groans of agony.
'...T-This can't be…' Shadow thought to himself as he can feel the ominous presence of Metallix creeps up on him. 'I'm barely hanging on by a thread... He can't be unbeatable…can he?'
The next thing that he knew, Shadow was grabbed by the neck by Metal's right hand as he began squeezing the life out of the organic Mobian.
"Perhaps I was wrong. It seems that I've gotten some kind of use out of a washed-up lab rat after all." Metallix jeered, never breaking eye contact with the struggling synthetic Mobian hedgehog. "You have my thanks, Shadow."
"...D-Damn you!" Shadow grunted as he was getting choked out. "Y-You…won't…g-get away…with this!"
Metal chuckled at Shadow's resistance. "Haven't you realized it yet? I already have. You're just too rebellious to notice that. But you won't have to worry about that soon. Once I've rid myself of you here, I'll deal with the rest of those annoyances. I think I'll start by hunting down that precious team of yours."
"...No!" Shadow growled, continuing to try and break free despite his depleted state of power.
Metal made a shushing sound, telling the hedgehog in a chillingly soothing way, "Shhh… Just give in to the abyss, Shadow. There is no need to fight anymore. It is inevitable."
Memories of Shadow's entire life flashed before his eyes. From his earliest memories in the Space Colony ARK with Professor Gerald and Maria, his battles with Sonic, saving the planet, Rouge awakening his pod, forming Team Dark, to his final confrontation with Black Doom.
'I-I…can't just…d-die here! I…I have to keep my…promise! Shadow thought as he felt himself losing oxygen from his lungs. 'Everything…it's getting blurry...!'
Just as Shadow was about to pass out, he was thrown aside as Metallix quickly erected a barrier from his Power Gem Core to tank a few rounds of bullets that had been fired out of nowhere.
Shadow opened his eyes to find himself a couple of feet from the ground.
'...I'm…flying?' Shadow pondered in confusion.
"I've got you, Shadow!" A familiar feminine voice spoke to him as he was being carried over the shoulder. "Just hang in there!"
As it turned out, Shadow had been caught by his comrade, Rouge the Bat.
And who managed to push Metallix into the defensive happened to be another teammate of Shadow. This was a robot that was introduced as the last machine of the E-Series.
Its design vaguely resembled E-102 Gamma, while standing out with a sturdier upper body and arms with red eyes instead of green ones. It was also much shorter than the other models and his shoulders were larger with a red "Ω" on the front of the left and back of the right with red handlebars on the top. Instead of the twin exhaust pipes and the Jet Booster of the first E-100 Series robots, this model possessed one circling pipe around the waist with two flaps attached and having twin jets installed in his back below the hunch. The stripe running from its head to stomach had also been changed so that it is a separate piece of metal altogether and not simply painted on like the others and he also has one extra finger and two hands with yellow wrists studded with large spikes like a dog collar. Just below its stripe is a plate of clear material that allows others to see some of the robot's inner workings.
Holding out its two arms that were turned into gatling guns stood E-123 Ω (Omega), the third member of Team Dark.
Seeing this, Metal jeered, "Speak of the devil…The gang's all here. This is just perfect."
"N-No… Rouge, Omega. Y-You two…."
shouldn't be here." Shadow groaned softly.
"Hush, tough guy." Rouge insisted in a tender and caring tone. "You're in no condition to pull the macho loner this time."
"SCANNING COMPLETE. IDENTIFICATION OF ASSAILANT, CONFIRMED. THREAT LEVEL, EXTREME." Omega stated. "METAL SONIC. YOU WILL NOT DESTROY SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG TODAY. FOR MAKING AN ATTEMPT ON HIS LIFE AND FOR BEING A CREATION OF DOCTOR ROBOTNIK, YOU MUST BE ELIMINATED IMMEDIATELY."
Metallix crossed his arms, saying, "Is that so? The Ultimate Lifeform fell by my hands. What makes you think that you, a failed model of a discontinued series, stand a chance against me? Even before I evolved."
"I AM THE ULTIMATE E-SERIES MACHINE. REGARDLESS OF OUR DIFFERENCES IN POWER AND DESIGN, EVERY MODEL HAS AT LEAST ONE FUNDAMENTAL FLAW TO BE EXPLOITED. I WILL DETERMINE THAT WEAKNESS, AND WE WILL USE THAT TO END YOUR ACCURSED EXISTENCE. IF I HAVE TO SACRIFICE MYSELF FOR THE CAUSE OF THE MISSION, THEN MY DESTRUCTION WOULD BE A SMALL PRICE TO PAY."
Metallix formed his Neo Buster cannon, stating, "Like I'd let you function long enough to find out! I'LL CRUSH YOU!"
"Omega, don't!" Shadow screamed with concern after shifting his position to watch the confrontation.
Metal would have gone through with finishing if he didn't receive a transmission from the radio piece built into his "ears".
"Metallix! Do you copy, Metallix?" Dr. Robotnik spoke in the robot's ear.
"What do you want, now!? I am in the middle significant work!'
"Don't take that tone with me, Metal! I know exactly what you're in the middle of doing, thank you! I've collected the necessary data that was needed from this trial. You've done well. Now, it's time for you to return back to base."
If Metallix was flesh in blood, his face would have been fuming at his creator's decision.
"WHAT!? NO! YOU CAN'T JUST PULL ME BACK ON A WHIM NOW! I WAS THIS CLOSE TO–"
"–And you will get your chance soon enough!" Robotnik interrupted, clearly not amused by the robot's protest. "All of those pesky nuisances will. Leave them be for now. They can be our messengers as to what's to come in the near future."
Metallix kept his cannon activated for a few more seconds, then lowered it as he reluctantly obeyed.
"Fine! …I'm on my way." Metal relented before cutting off the call entirely as he turned to Omega, the now grounded Rouge, and Shadow, which Rouge was helping to stand. "Consider yourselves lucky today. All of your deaths have been postponed to another time. We'll meet again."
Metallix took off into the skies, leaving a violet and dark blue blur behind.
Shadow watched the android's escape with weary and rage.
"D-Damn him!" Shadow haggardly spat as he breathed harshly. "DAMN HIM!"
Bile of blood escaped from Shadow's throat, forcing him on his hands and knees to cough. Rouge kneeled beside the hedgehog with Omega kneeling on the other side of him.
"Shadow, stop it! You're hurt!" Rouge barked out of concern.
"ROUGE IS CORRECT. YOUR CONDITION IS FAR TOO CRITICAL FOR YOU TO SUCCUMB TO STRESS. WE HAVE TO RETURN YOU BACK TO HEADQUARTERS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE."
"...NO!" The heated Shadow shouted behind him, causing the former thief to jump back a little. "I-I have to stop him…I should have. But I…"
"Shadow…" Rouge whispered, watching the tears that fell from the hedgehog's eyes.
"...I…" Shadow repeated to himself a few times, only to find himself collapsing to his aid to the concern of his comrades.
"Shadow/SHADOW!"
'...I failed.' Was the last thing that the GUN agent thought before everything went dark for him.
To Be Continued…
Author's Note: Hi, everybody! Ya boy is back with a new chapter!
I originally intended for this to be an incredibly long chapter, but I decided to split it in half for your enjoyment.
Now, to add context about lore and character appearances.
Mr. Stewart, a character from the Sonic X anime, existed in this continuity as a GUN soldier. In Sonic X, he was a spy who used his cover as an elementary substitute school teacher to keep an eye on Chris Thorndyke, who was in contact with Sonic and his friends. Unfortunately, he was killed off, making this his only appearance.
Fiona's feud with Princess Sally differ from the Archie comics, but being left behind by accident has still happened to Fiona. At some point in her career, Fiona has sucessfully stolen the late Queen Alicia's prized necklace to spite Sally, earning the princess' complete contempt for her. You may think of Fiona and Sally's rivalry in a similar vein to Kim Possible and Shego.
At a certain point, Lightning Lynx had undergone the same procedure as Fiona, but the operation was consensual for Lightning. He's way faster than the average Mobian. However, he's nowhere nearly as fast as Sonic and most of his friends.
The Hero and Dark forms in the game, Shadow the Hedgehog, are interrupted here as modes instead. This is due to Shadow merely tapping into the Chaos Energy within himself while entering a state of mind. Mind you, the Inhibitor Rings around his wrists and ankles are on when he enters these modes. These modes in this story are called Chaos Modes, with Types A and B depending on his moods.
Chaos Shadow from the Archie Comics is a transformation in the RESURGENCE continuity as well. But instead of being a rage form, it's a form achieved out of tgw basic need to survive and the drive to thrive by any means necessary. In this form, Shadow has full access to his true power, which is an equivalent of a full continent (as one Chaos Emerald can destroy an entire nation or restore a piece of the planet). This Chaos Mode would leave Shadow incredibly weakened and vulnerable after this boost in power fades away.
Metallix's Ixis Magitek System is based on weapons that Megaman would collect as he acquired them in his games. The Neo Buster is like a Mega Buster, but suited for Metallix. The "Foot Dive" was inspired by Doctor Doom's move from Marvel Vs. Capcom.
How Ixis Magick works is that it can rob the time and life out of a living object, crystalizing it. Ixis bypasses the laws of time, capable of breaking out of space-time distortions like Chaos Control. It also has elemental variants and can allow users to turn invisible, intangible, and Shadow Meld. Chaos Energy can only affect Ixis Magick if it's either pure or more abundant. Ixis Magick can be taxing to non-sorcerers or those who overuse its properties.
Omega has been away, testing prototype weapons that can deal with Ixis Magick users or beings with Crystalline abilities. He, however, is not powerful enough to take on the likes of Metallix.
Anyways, that's it for lore. Let me know what you guys think of the arc so far. Ask me any of those burning questions that you have. What do you enjoy about this story? Who's your favorite and least favorite characters? Who would you like to see more of? What's your favorite moment in this story? Do you have any ideas? Let me know your thoughts by reviewing.
See you guys later!
-DarkShadowGames451