Last time on Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic and his friends intercepted Eggman's attack on Christmas Island, helping in evacuating the Kingdom of Snow. Sonic's team went for the Egg Carrier itself, infiltrating it in order to put their plan into motion. But as Tails and Amy were doing their part, Metal Sonic made his appearance, defeating them both very easily. With his sights set on Sonic and Knuckles, will our remaining heroes be able to defeat this robotic copy of the Blue Blur?
Lightning strikes around the Egg Carrier, giving a fitting scene for the fight ahead. Metal Sonic stood on one side, having just blasted an already Tails and Amy with missiles just to spite his opponents; on the other side was one seriously angry hedgehog and his echidna friend. Metal Sonic could only smirk as he crossed his arms.
Metal Sonic: "Why look so serious, meatbag? Are you angry about your friends?"
Sonic: "They were already beaten! Why would you blast them like that!?"
Metal Sonic: "Why?"
In a split second, Metal Sonic was right at Sonic's face, showing that he's been upgraded since the last fight.
Metal Sonic: "Why not?"
Metal then slams his knee under Sonic's chin, grabbing the hedgehog by the foot before slamming him repeatedly on the floor. Knuckles rushes in and attempts to slam a fist on Metal Sonic's face… but the punch is caught. The robot smiles before then taking off in the air, holding both Mobians as he tossed them into the sky, then caught them by their faces. He then flew around to the side of the ship and slammed the duo's faces on the metal, dragging them across the entire ship, crashing into cannons before returning to the arena and throwing them onto the ground. Sonic and Knuckles both struggle to get up, rubbing their faces in pain.
Knuckles: "Sonic…"
Sonic: "Yeah?"
Knuckles: "Is it bad that I want to kick your ass?"
Sonic: "...No. I want to kick my own right this second too…"
Knuckles: "Cool. Just checking to see if we were on the same page."
Metal Sonic: "Hmph. I'm not sure what's more impressive… Your ability to stand after that or your ability to smack talk. It only took me a minute to put you both in your place."
Sonic: "You're me, right? Then you should know that I'm not that easy to break down."
Metal Sonic: "Oh, I know. An indomitable will. The ability to never give up, even when the odds are stacked against you."
Metal Sonic says as he lands on the arena, now beginning to pace around the duo.
Metal Sonic: "But that's the thing… I don't give up either. I am you in every way. Heh… Or rather, I'm better than you in every way. Strength… Skill… Even speed… Every attribute… Everything that makes you "you"... is also me. But multiply that by 10."
Metal Sonic then approaches the original, towering over him with an evil glare.
Metal Sonic: "Face it, Sonic… You are nothing compared to me. Those friends of yours… They were only the start. Your family… Queen Aleena, Uncle Chuck, Uncle Jules… All of them… are next."
This causes Sonic to snap as he immediately rams into his metal copy with full force and fury, kicking the machine off the ship once he reached the end. But Metal Sonic came right back as he slams a punch right on the hedgehog's face, then kicked him away. Sonic rubs some blood off his mouth as he growls.
Sonic's Thoughts: "No better time to use this move… Let's see how this jerk feels about Light Speed…"
Sonic curls up before charging up energy by spinning in place; Metal Sonic does the same, charging up just as much energy before both hedgehogs uncurled, now glowing with energy.
Sonic: "Ready!?"
Metal Sonic: "This is your end!"
Both glare at each other before they vanished. From Knuckles' point of view, he just saw two streaks of blue fly by, clashing at speed so fast his eyes couldn't track them. Sonic and Metal Sonic slammed into each other with such incredible speeds, running so fast that not even gravity could catch up as Sonic ran on the sides of the ship, underneath, even through the burning inferno of the bottom thrusters. Each hit let off a shockwave, with multiple of them going off in quick succession.
Knuckles: "So fast… There is no way I can help like this… Unless…"
Knuckles then gets an idea, closing his eyes as he begins to concentrate, focusing his mind and body.
Knuckles' Thoughts: "If I position my body just right… And concentrate on where they'll come in from…"
As Knuckles concentrates, the fight between Sonic and Metal Sonic continues as various bits of the Egg Carrier were suffering structural damage from the duo's constant barrage of attacks.
Though Eggman didn't seem too worried.
Sage: "Father. There are several points of destruction within the Egg Carrier's hull. Several personnel have been sucked out by these points… Shall we escape?"
Eggman: "Fret not, Sage. Even if this ship is destroyed, it bothers me not. Besides… It's less Mobians to deal with in my army."
Sage: "You mean… the Robians?"
Eggman: "Exactly. The more structural damage, the better."
Sage glares at Eggman from behind, not liking this direction of her father's ruthlessness… But she remained quiet…
As Sonic and Metal Sonic's fight reached its apex, the two began racing each other, all over the Egg Carrier, anticipating the next move.
Metal Sonic: "What's wrong, hedgehog? I thought you were faster than this! Or is this it?"
Sonic: "Can it, bolt bucket!"
Metal Sonic: "That's it? That's your comeback? Pathetic…"
But as Metal Sonic taunts Sonic, Knuckles sees the opportunity, opening his eyes before throwing his punch forward, slamming it at just the right moment to hit the robotic hedgehog in the face while he was moving so fast; essentially using the force of velocity and momentum from Metal's own speed to send him flying right off the Egg Carrier and into outer space. Sonic slowed to a stop as he took a moment to catch his breath.
Sonic: "I knew you had something cooking… But I didn't quite expect that."
Knuckles: "Hmph. Years of punching things have paid off. Also… Kicks is about quick combo-like kicks so… There was some practice there too…"
Sonic only gives Knuckles a pat on the back with a smile. He was too tired for any real remark; Metal Sonic did have everything Sonic had - that was no bluff at all - possibly even greater, but Sonic had Knuckles to make up for it. Of course… The relief of their victory quickly went away when Metal Sonic returned, slamming onto the ship hard enough to leave the metal on the deck to bend into a crater.
Sonic: "Wh-What!? But I thought that would've…"
The robot stood up straight, putting a hand on his shoulder before making the motion of cracking his neck, rolling his shoulder as if to stretch.
Metal Sonic: "I was augmented. Upgraded, in other words. The metal plating can take a lot more punishment than you think. But lesson learned… Don't get too distracted."
Metal then flew at Sonic and Knuckles, slamming a fist right into both their guts. Then he slammed them together before kicking them into the sky. Forming a Black Shield, Metal Sonic then raced at the heroes before swiftly and mercilessly barraging them with attacks before slamming a fist from above on them to send them right back onto the Egg Carrier, heavily injured from that barrage. Metal then landed on the ship, walking up to Sonic.
Metal Sonic: "Hmph. Seems I have proven which of us is the strongest hedgehog. I'll at least spare you of whatever Eggman's planning. He doesn't need a weaker metal hedgehog in his army anyway. Goodbye… Sonic the Hedgehog."
Metal Sonic lifts up a foot and prepares to slam it on Sonic's head. And he would've, had a barrier over the downed hedgehog not stopped him. Metal is surprised and looks around before spotting two other Mobians on the ship, Sally and Julie.
Sally: "Step away from my boyfriend or else, you metal hasbeen!"
Metal Sonic: "...Oh yeah. My other self and you are in love, aren't you two? How cute."
Julie aims her gun as Metal Sonic, beginning to fire as he steps towards the girls, namely Sally, but her laser blasts just bounce off harmlessly. The robot stands in front of Sally, the latter expecting some kind of attack.
Metal Sonic: "So how about it? Wanna become roboticized and ditch the loser over there? I'm sure I can convince ol' Egghead to let you keep most of your personality intact."
Sally: "What!? Ew, no! You think I'd ever date a robot like you!? Also what's this about roboticization?"
Metal Sonic: "Aw come now. I'm basically Sonic anyway in every way, but better. His moves, his skills, his speed, his strength-"
Sally: "But not his heart."
This causes Metal to stop his poor attempt at flirting as he returns his attention to the princess.
Metal Sonic: "...'Heart'? Sorry, but that doesn't compute. Why would I need a 'heart'?"
Sally: "You may be physically stronger than Sonic in every way, but you lack his true strength. His heart. A guy like Sonic always does the right thing, even if it's not in the best way possible. He follows his own path and listens to very few. But you? You're trapped by your own programming. You have no path of your own. So in that sense… You are weaker than Sonic."
Metal Sonic looks visibly ticked off the more Sally talks. Once he was called 'weaker', he lunges at Sally, trying to strike her. But Sally jumps over the strike, placing her hands on Metal's head before creating a barrier downward to slam the robot so hard that Julie was pushed away from the force. As Metal laid on the ground, he suddenly realized… he couldn't move anymore.
Metal Sonic: "Urgh… M-My body… I-I can't… Why can't I… move…?"
He then saw an intruder in his systems; Nicole had turned off all functions on his body, effectively making him unable to fight any longer.
Sally: "Oh and by the way… Sonic has never beaten me in a sparring match. And he still wouldn't beat me in a real fight. Out of our friends, I'm one of the few who can take his ego down a peg."
Sally unplugs Nicole from Metal Sonic before running to tend to Sonic and Knuckles with Julie.
Sally: "Are you two okay?"
Sonic: "Man, Sal… Way to bring a man's spirit down…"
Sally: "...Uh… Sorry? I think?"
Even Sally wasn't too sure how to respond to that. But clearing her throat, she tends to the boys' wounds.
Sonic: "What happened to Tails and Amy? They got knocked off this big ship…"
Sally: "Well…"
Back on the ground, everyone sees the explosion from Metal Sonic's missiles. Sally had her bad feeling until she saw Amy and Tails fly off different sides of the Egg Carrier. Tekno flies up to catch Amy, but Tails hits the ocean; Titania chases the fox and brings him to her ship to recover, with Tekno following suit. Sally orders Rosie to help the fallen the best she can before bringing Julie to the Egg Carrier as back up.
Sally finishes her explanation, but she wasn't sure of Amy and Tails' condition yet. This only made Sonic feel worse as he punches the hull of the deck.
Sonic: "Damn it! I should've guessed Metal Sonic would've done something… Me and Knuckles should've destroyed him back on Angel Island when we had the chance…"
Knuckles: "Don't beat yourself up over it, True Blue… We didn't have the strength to beat him then… And, much as I hate to say it, we still didn't now…"
Eggman: "Oh, my heart bleeds for you, rodents."
The group jump at the voice as they turn, seeing Eggman come out of hiding in his Egg Mobile, smiling at his intruders.
Sonic: "Eggman… So you finally decided to show yourself, huh?"
Eggman: "Hmph. I must say, that was quite a show you gave me. Bravo, bravo! Of course, I'd ask for an encore… But I think it's time we got to the final act."
Julie: "Sally just beat your best robot guard! What could you throw at us, fatso!?"
Eggman: "I'm glad you asked, echidna. You see… I wasn't just sitting by, doing nothing, while some flea bitten freedom fighters destroyed my various projects. Oh no… I was taking time to examining some much appreciated research. That 'spike' of energy from the Death Egg. Ring any bells, rodent?"
Sonic takes a step back, realizing what Eggman meant as the man smiled even wider, a shadow forming over him to give an ominous look.
Eggman: "That's right. I've used that data to upgrade my device here. Allow me to show you just what the fruits of my labor have achieved!"
Eggman pressed a few buttons as a glass barrier shuts over his cockpit, spikes jutting out on the top as his Egg Mobile lets out a magnetic signal. Various parts of the Egg Carrier dislodge from the sides of the ship, rising until two arms were formed, spikes on the knuckles. Eggman smiles before slamming the knuckles together to show the strength of his latest mech.
Eggman: "Allow me to show you… BIG ARMS! The Chaos Killer! Mwahaha… HAHAHAHAHA!"
To be continued…
