Disclaimer
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Sonic the Hedgehog, Metal Sonic and all other related characters copyrighted by Sega.
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Written by Tylec Asroc
No greater hell than to be a slave to fear.---Ben Jonson
Sonic the Hedgehog looked up, up into the twinkling blue sky above the Little Planet. Thousands of lights shone above him, glittering like diamonds in the cool night air. Then he looked down below, where the land reflected the sparkle of night like a radiant pool of water.
He was in a city of metal, a city of lights, a spiraling maze of towers and skyscrapers stretching into the horizon. Robots buzzed around him, but none gave him notice. Sonic stood in the middle of an empty metal highway, which ran up and about the city like a twisted piece of neon blue string. He hadn't see any support legs; the road seemed to be levitating. He had followed the track so far, and now he stood at its pinnacle, reaching high above the surrounding buildings. A lone street sign had caught his attention.
"So," he said to himself, reading the sign, "I'm on the Stardust Speedway."
When he was, was a different question altogether. His hands patted the black waist pouch clipped around his frame. He had six of the time stones in his pouch (they were tiny things; thin little wafers that fit in his palm), and they had worked their magic on him, randomly zapping him from past to future, back and forth through the Little Planet's timeline. Humorously enough, he had lost track of time.
He hoped he was in the future though. His eyes drifted angrily to the center of the city, where a giant, gold-plated statue of Eggman towered arrogantly over even the tallest buildings. He hoped a place like this could be undone in the past.
Peering down in front of him, he followed the speedway as it dived into a deep incline that raced between the rows of buildings. His eyes traced the path as it curved back up to make a steep parabola. He grinned. It was just the kind of speed ramp he loved.
Spirals, loops, steep runways; it was perfect. Why had Eggman built the speedway when it was obvious his archenemy could use it to jet through the city?
Sonic shrugged. "Doesn't matter. I've got one last time stone to find." This city was the only place on the Little Planet left unsearched. The time stone had to be here, probably under heavy guard… perhaps near the statue, at the core. There was no time to loose.
Still, Sonic lingered a bit, looking at the stardust speedway. "Man, I wish I could take the time to cruise this course a few times." Maybe… he could use the time stones to come back…
A cackle of familiar laughter filled the air. "Sonic! What perfect timing!"
Eggman! Sonic spun around, and was blinded by a dazzling light. He squinted and blocked the headlight from the fat man's hovercraft. The long outline of what was undoubtedly a cannon was strapped behind the round ship.
Eggman continued to laugh. "For the first time, Sonic, I'm actually glad to see you! Ho ho, I've got plans for you!"
Sonic grimaced under the light. "Where are the time stones, Eggman!?" He didn't dare let on that he nearly had the whole set, but if he could learn where the last one was…
The light finally cut out. Plunged into a dizzying blindness, Sonic stumbled to the ground. "So impatient, as usual," the scientist chuckled. "There'll be time enough to discuss those jewels. But aren't you forgetting someone else?"
"Amy Rose!" Sonic gasped. He jumped into a ready stance. "What have you done with her, Egghead!?"
Dr. Robotnik leaned over his windshield with a most malevolent smile on his face. "I'm afraid time has run out for your little friend. She's scheduled to be terminated in…" he looked at his wrist watch, "Ho ho! Ten minutes."
"Where is she!?" Sonic growled.
Robotnik continued to smile. "Well, if you have the time to spare, Sonic, she's at the entrance to factory 25 in the western sector." He pointed casually down the highway to a crowd of smelly smokestacks in the distance. "The Stardust Speedway might get you there in time to save her."
Sonic looked into the city; that brat was here somewhere, probably miserable and crying. He couldn't leave her, even if she was totally annoying. He had to save Amy. "I'm gone."
The terrible roar of a jet engine washed over the scene.
"What the… " Sonic looked around blindly for the source. He found it in the sky above him, coming from a dark figure descending under the glow of a blue flame. There was no mistaking who it could be.
"Did I forget to mention," Dr. Robotnik grinned, "That I'm already sending someone to collect the girl?"
Once close enough to the highway, the figure cut off his flame and dropped, landing gracefully in a crouch with a hand out to support its spiny, skeletal body, which glinted like stardust itself.
Sonic raised an eye in surprise. He had only caught a glimpse of this robot earlier, when he had carried off Amy Rose. This was their first encounter; he hadn't been expecting something so… so… life-like.
"Metal Sonic," he smiled, trying to sound like a tough movie hero, "we meet at last."
The most advanced badnik ever rose to its feet with only the softest whisper of moving gears. Sonic watched it intently, noting that it was just his size and proportions; even its feet looked like his shoes! It wasn't bulky like that silver klutz on the Death Egg, rather this mech seemed to be stripped down to the bare bones.
Sonic noted that it had proper joints - elbows and knees that seemed fluid enough to be real and… fingers; it had an actual set of moveable, articulate fingers. A vent was cut into its chest from which the hum of a powerful generator resonated.
Its head, decorated in a crown of sleek spikes was tucked down onto its chest with its eyes shut off, like it was charging up or something.
Looking at the robot was like looking into one of those carnival funhouse mirrors. What Sonic saw was himself, but it was a distorted version of himself; this reflection was transformed into something black and sinister.
Never one to take anything seriously, Sonic whistled casually. "That's a sweet toy you've got there Doc," he snickered, stroking his chin as if he were contemplating a painting. "If it had a little more muscle, it might look just like me," he said, flexing to show off his absent physique.
"Joke all you want Sonic," the doctor replied with a devilish smile. "This time, you've met your match!"
"Pfff!" Sonic snorted. "If I had a nickel every time you said that…" he muttered. His eye traveled from the hovercraft to Metal Sonic, still looking deactivated. "Is this thing even on?" he asked, stepping up to the mech and snapping his fingers in its face. "Hello in there! Wakey wakey…"
A cold metal claw snapped itself around Sonic's wrist.
"What the…!"
Sonic tried to jerk his arm free, but the hand only squeezed harder at retaliation. Slowly it twisted the captured limb, making Sonic gasp out loud in pain.
The monstrous head raised itself to look at its prey. Metal Sonic's face was twisted into an appropriate scowl, its features sharp as steel. Sonic clenched his teeth as he squirmed under the mech's death grip. If it twisted his arm anymore, his bones were going to shatter!
The dark eyes ignited.
Sonic stopped. For an instant, he was hypnotized by the mech's piercing glare. The eyes… blood red and sharpened smooth as daggers, the eyes were a maddening sight. They were pain, cruelty, malice and hatred all mixed together and channeled at Sonic.
In a glance, the razor-sharp eyes slammed themselves down to the hilt into the hedgehog's brain, scarring his memory forever with their dark stare. For that moment, Sonic stared into the soul of a being so dark, so terrifying that he found himself completely overwhelmed.
So, for the first time in his life, Sonic stopped his struggling, stopped moving and hesitated.
Then a spasm of pain reminded him of his predicament.
"Aaahhh!" Sonic cried out in agony as his arm was twisted into a most unnatural position. Satisfied, Metal let go and used his other claw to knock the hedgehog to the ground.
Sonic lay on the ground, drained by the encounter. His world spun around him, tainted with red spots. Robotnik was laughing his head off in the background. The suction-hiss of hydraulics resonated in Sonic's ears as Metal stepped over to his quarry and gazed down with his evil stare, waiting.
Anger suddenly burned within Sonic. 'What am I doing?' He was Sonic the Hedgehog, champion of the world, destroyer of the Death Egg and he never gave into doubt or fear. Over the course of his adventures, Sonic had been surprised or startled as much as anyone could be, but outright fear of something? Sonic had never been afraid of anything. He jumped to his feet.
"Okay tin-man!" he growled, shaking the pain out of his arm. "Get ready for a world of pain." His spines bristled, ready for attack.
The mech looked to his master for approval. Dr. Robotnik gave an affirmative nod. Metal looked back at Sonic with an energized spark in his eyes; his claws curled in and out of his palms, as if he could barely contain his vicious programming. Somewhere from the dark figure came a voice.
"Sonic the Hedgehog…" His voice was like dead, hollow wind sifting in the air of a foggy day.
"Sonic the Hedgehog, I'm going to kill you."
"Bring it on," Sonic laughed with a determined grin crossing his face. Deep in his mind, he was on the edge of uncertainty. 'He could have killed me when he grabbed my hand,' he thought, '… but he let me go….'
Metal snapped into a sprinting position, crouching low to the ground. Sonic puzzled for a second, then looked down at the speedway and nodded, going into his own ready stance. There was an unspoken understanding between them. This would be the way to settle things.
Robotnik laughed once more, making his presence clear. He pulled a revolver from his pocket and raised it high into the air.
'He's been planning this,' Sonic realized. 'That's why he had this highway.' A test for Robotnik's greatest creation: a race to the end.
"Five!" the doctor shouted.
Metal's back began to glow white-hot as a flame erupted from his fusion jet.
Sonic pulled his waist pouch tight, careful that he hold on to the time stones. He wasn't going to lose to this robot.
"Four!"
Metal's jet glowed fiercely now, like an explosion frozen in time, waiting to burst.
Sonic's stomach filled with butterflies. What was he doing? He wasn't just risking his own skin here, but Amy Rose, he was putting her in danger too. What if Metal got to her first?
"Three!"
'Forget the girl,' Sonic thought. He wasn't going to lose. He wasn't going to let some tin man get the better of him. This guy was nothing. He turned to look at Metal Sonic, who peered back at him.
Sonic grinned. "I'm not afraid."
"Two!"
Metal glared at him for an eternity of the seconds they had left. His eyes glowed like red-hot coals, burning with hate.
"I'm not afraid," Sonic repeated, grinning triumphantly.
"One!"
"No…" Metal hissed menacingly. "But you will be... "
Dr. Robotnik fired his gun.
"GO!"
Sonic and Metal Sonic exploded down the ramp like elastics pulled taut and fired away. Sonic fired his feet against the metal speedway, blazing at top speed. Metal threw his arms behind him and let his fusion jet propel him down the incline.
Sonic ran like wildfire, gaining speed as he went further down, hoping to strike terminal velocity before he got to the bottom. With gravity pushing it was tempting, but slow, to make the drop in a few strides. Going down was easy, but you needed speed to work the up part.
Metal was in the corner of his eye; a limp marionette with a firecracker stuck in its back. 'Struggling to keep up,' he smiled. Sonic had no time to think about his opponent though; he could feel the path angling horizontally. Now came the push.
The first few steps were always the hardest, like climbing on smooth rock, but Sonic had enough practice that he might have been running up stairs. He blazed to the top of the slope with Metal trailing behind him.
He was horizontal again. Now he could really slam on the gas pedal. The sound of Metal's swooping jet came up behind him, growing close…. Then fading away.
Sonic risked one tiny look backwards…. And screeched his feet to a stop.
Far up in the Little Planet's atmosphere, the fire from Metal Sonic's jet was clearly visible among the twinkling stars. Sonic laughed out loud. Without any feet connecting the mech to the ground, Metal had flown up the incline and followed his heading into the sky.
Howling laughter broke out of Sonic's lungs. "Oh man… c'mon Robuttnik! That was pathetic!" Sonic laughed across the chasm to the hovercraft. And to think that lump of metal had shaken his nerves! "Ol' tin head can't even turn the right way! You are soo…"
An intense shriek, something like a falling airplane made him stop.
Sonic dived, just as a blue missile struck the speedway where he'd been standing, tearing a hole through the suspended highway. Debris pelted the hedgehog as his stomach scraped the ground.
There was perhaps a millisecond's rest, then Sonic heard the airplane jerk to a halt and crescendo back towards him.
He only just managed to roll away; the highway heaved up against his back and violently accelerated him on his course as Metal added another hole to the décor.
Maybe this mech wasn't so dumb.
Metal cut his ascent short and turned nimbly for another head-on tackle. Dazed and trapped on his back, there was no chance to avoid the mech. Sonic kicked his legs into his chest and used the leverage to flip off the ground, curling himself into a ball as he launched himself at the metallic fury.
Crushing pain surged through Sonic's body as he slammed back onto the ground. His stinging back told him that Metal Sonic had a better armor job than your standard badnik. 'Why did I have to learn that the hard way?' he groaned.
Sonic flipped himself up again, ignoring the needles in his back as he shifted to a ready stance. Their brief collision had deposited Metal on the other end of the two holes. Grey slashes down his head marked where he had met Sonic's spines, but otherwise the robot seemed fine.
"I thought we were having a race," Sonic panted.
Metal was having some difficulty getting off his back. "I don' recall any rules," the mech hissed in his whisper tone as he tried rocking himself into a sitting position.
Sonic's eyes lit up with a sudden discovery. "You can think," he declared. This mech had an actual brain! What did Tails call it? A.I.?
"Brilliant deduction, organic," Metal sneered as his feet dug into the ground. The motors in his hips pulled his body into his knees. "I'm going to enjoy finishing you off." There was a murderous fire in his eyes.
At the sight of those eyes, Sonic's muscles jumped in an uncontrollable spasm. His heart was racing and he hadn't taken a step. Metal took the moment to flare his jet up and lunge, claws aiming for a soft throat. Sonic just managed to control himself and hopped away, empowered with the crazed adrenaline rush that had saved him so many times. He jumped the holes and motored down the speedway. With mechanically enhanced reflexes, Metal flipped himself in mid-jump and followed.
Sonic clenched his teeth and let his feet run on autopilot; he was just a little worried, now that he knew what he was up against. Eggman had gone to the extreme with this robot! It had wicked strength, hyper agility, super armor and it was definitely smarter than your average bear.
A sizzling noise like live wires snapped his brain to life. Sonic shoulder glanced at an empty background - no Metal. He looked up… and put on an extra burst of speed as a sphere of crackling electricity beelined for his head.
'And he's got some major weapons!' Sonic thought as the electrified Metal crashed through the road. This was no robot; this was a monster!
"Take this!" cried a new voice. Sonic heard a large weapon discharge from behind and the whoosh of an energy bolt flying towards his head; he zipped into a ball as the massive blast flew overhead. Coming back to his feet, Sonic looked back to see Robotnik, quite far away, but gaining on the chase in his hovercraft. Then Metal made another electrified dive-bomb.
'Two on one,' Sonic grimaced as he jumped his doppelganger's attack and pounded towards a loop on the track. 'I don't know about this…'
The ringed obstacle continued into a vertical drop that brought the racers deeper into the jungle of buildings and lights. Sonic took the lead with Metal trailing behind. Low-flying badniks clogged the airway and tall buildings pressed Sonic for maneuvering space as Metal charged again and again with an electrified tackle.
Sonic was pleased that he could keep ahead of the robot, but the mech turned out to be quite fast with gravity on his side. Though he always stayed behind Sonic, whenever the speedway sloped down, Metal would leap off the track and dive ahead to try and ram Sonic. It took all of Sonic's skill to dodge the attacks. Once or twice he managed to spin-dash the unguarded Metal as he attacked, but the mech was relentless.
Robotnik's hovercraft could hardly match the speed of either hedgehog, but he stayed close enough to randomly catapult pockets of energy in Sonic's direction. All of his shots missed poorly, but they didn't help with the narrowed space. Even Metal found himself dodging ill-aimed laser bolts.
Sonic was working up a good sweat. Looking ahead, he noted break in the tunnel of buildings. Coming at him rapidly was a plaza bordered by blue skyscrapers and illuminated by waving spotlights. The speedway ran around some sort of decorative spike and circled down like a funnel, or a multi-level parking garage. 'This'll be a problem…' he murmured.
Whereas Sonic had to run down the funnel, Metal took liberties in his path. As soon as he got to the plaza, Metal jetted up into the air and dived into the path, smashing through three levels of hovering speedway to intercept Sonic on level four.
Metal had played this trick long enough for Sonic to expect the sneak attack. Sonic jammed as fast as he could while turning the never-ending corner. If he was lucky, Metal would try and land on his head and he could jump away, but this time, the mech had beaten him to the punch. An electric roadblock stood in his path.
'Well, at least I got to run the course,' Sonic panted mentally. It hurt to think, what with his oxygen-starved blood rationed throughout his body. 'This sure was the workout of a lifetime…'
The eyes were coming closer with every step Sonic ran. Their pupils seemed to stretch deep and black with hunger.
"Come and die," Metal whispered as his prey charged foolishly closer.
There was no way around. Sonic skidded to a halt far out of the reach of Metal's skeletal arms. His body felt weak and woozy. If it came down to a fight, he wasn't sure if he had the strength left for even one spin-dash. 'Look's like this is it…'
Dr. Robotnik's signature laugh filled the plaza. "I've got you now, hedgehog," Sonic heard him cackle. Then the doctor launched a volley of lasers into the top level of the winding chute.
Both hedgehogs reflexively kneeled to the ground and shielded themselves from the spray of debris that followed. Sonic felt like giant pellets of hail were bouncing into his body, but he hardly got the worst of it. When he finally lowered his arms from his head, Metal's body was slashed and dented in every spot possible. Again, the mech seemed not to notice.
"Now then," he whispered, charging up his electric shields. "Where were we?"
But it was far from over. A low moaning caught both their attentions and drew their gaze to the teetering spike that the speedway looped around. It seemed that a chance shot had eaten a large hole into the structure, and it was now quite unstable.
Sonic gulped. "Uh oh…"
Fortunately, the massive spike teetered and wobbled until it toppled away from the two. Unfortunately, the spike was long enough to smash into the top loop of the funnel speedway. The spike cleaved straight through two layers of highway like it was butter and wedged itself into level three. The entire track shook from the impact and both hedgehogs fell as the weight of the spike tilted the road beneath their feet.
Dr. Robotnik had never designed the Stardust Speedway to take such punishment. The metal roadway splintered and cracked under the weight, and the repulsorlifts that kept the structure in the air fizzled out one by one.
Metal Sonic took one look around at their unstable world and ignited his fusion jet. "Later."
Sonic didn't think leaving was such a bad idea either. He carefully got to his feet and began running after the robot, which was much harder now that his path had tilted itself about thirty degrees.
The first level lost its final repulsorlift. Weightless no more, it fell onto the adjacent level, which could barely support itself. The second level toppled into the third.
Sonic didn't think he loved anything more than adrenaline. "Move, move MOVE!" he yelled, half to his own body and half to Metal Sonic, whom he was quickly approaching. Now this really was a race! They had three more loops to complete before they could get to the opposite end of the plaza.
Level three gave away, crushing the spot where Sonic had just stood. The toppled spike slipped off the speedway and fell into the abyss.
Sonic moved his body with all his might. He was almost behind Metal and could feel the mech's blue flame pour heat over his face. 'Time to ditch this creep,' he thought and pushed his body to go faster.
Clenching his teeth and pumping his arms, Sonic came side by side with the robot. Metal Sonic glanced to his side and did a double take. "What???" the robot exclaimed as Sonic slowly pushed in front of him and took the lead.
A grin came across Sonic's panting face. "You're… too… slow!" he panted and then left the robot to eat his dust. Only one more loop to go; he could see the narrow corridor of skyscrapers beckoning him already.
About that time, the entire electrical grid for the repulsorlifts decided it could stand no more. Everything shut down. Level four hit level five and the domino chain continued without pause. Five. Six.
The path in front of Sonic creaked and bent under its own weight; he was running uphill again. But he was almost there….
Sonic made one last jump just as the funnel gave its final moan. He tumbled onto solid ground, just on the border of the plaza.
Metal Sonic still had half a loop to complete. Sonic could see him charging around the last bend, electric shield ready. "I'm coming!" he snarled.
Level six collapsed. The mech was so focused on his target that he didn't see it coming. One second he was charging, the next, a flash of blue highway hammered down on the mech like a flyswatter and pulled him into the abyss. An echoing 'NOO!' accompanied his fall into the chasm and then Metal Sonic's screams were swallowed up by a deafening crunch.
Sonic dropped onto his back and panted like a dog as he caught his breath. 'Now that was close,' he thought.
But curiosity drove away his weariness. Crawling on his hands and knees, Sonic made his way to the shredded edge of the speedway, daring to look down and see what was left of the mech. The fall was too far for him to make anything out. Just black.
Another scream echoed through the plaza. "Metal Sonic!" Dr. Robotnik cried out in disbelief. "This can't be happening!"
'Believe it,' Sonic thought to himself. Metal Sonic was gone.
Ignoring his archrival, Robotnik drove his hovercraft into the plaza and dived down, probably to see what could be found. Soon, he too disappeared into the black obscurity.
Sonic wiped the sweat off his brow and sat down again to rest his aching muscles. He was drenched in sweat and imagined he could hear the stuff squish around in his shoes. All he wanted was to go to sleep and rest.
But then he remembered Amy. How long did he have? Ten minutes? He gritted his teeth. "Better get going," he mumbled. After giving himself a moment to stretch and catch his breath, Sonic motored down the road.
The stardust speedway continued to twist and turn throughout the city like a roller coaster, but the rest of the trip was uneventful. No badniks, no Robotnik. Sonic actually felt a little bored, zipping along the highway with no opposition. The stillness was killing him.
After a few minutes of running, the skyscrapers began to shrink and the speedway more or less leveled off until the path hovered above a zone of smelly and smoky factories. 'She can't be far now,' he thought.
Sonic began to think about Metal. His first reaction was to laugh out loud to himself. To think that stupid lump of junk had rattled his nerves! Why, he had fallen almost as quickly as Silver Sonic!
Still, he felt a little unnerved whenever he pictured those eyes… But that was in the past! Metal was history.
'But he was strong…' a voice in his mind quivered. They had never really fought physically. Could he have defeated the robot?
"Of course I could!" he told his nagging doubts. Sure, maybe Metal was a little stronger and agile… and sure he could think and learn…
"But I'm still faster," Sonic smiled. Who had been leading in the race? Him! Who had been the first to get across the funnel? Him! Who had survived that death trap because they were faster? H….
Sonic's thoughts suddenly trailed off. The silence around him had been broken by a far off noise. Now he could hear something besides the wind… it was… it sounded like an engine… like a giant motorcycle, ripping and snorting as it barreled down its path.
Sonic stopped for just a second to look back at the twisted speedway and the city center. He had to squint to make it out, but there was something like a puff of smoke traveling down the highway and making its way towards him. His first guess was that the speedway was continuing to break apart and was crumbling into a cloud of debris. He decided he needed to keep moving.
But after another minute that strange motorcycle roar had not stopped. Sonic stopped again and found that the speedway had not deteriorated one bit. The puff of smoke, however, had cleared the skyscrapers and was growing into a thundercloud as it moved through the industrial section. Blue flames licked the tempest. Sonic's judgment told him it was best to keep moving and get Amy.
The roar continued to crescendo towards him. Sonic poured on his speed, going faster and faster, but still the flaming cloud came after him. It was so close now… maybe fifty feet away… and gaining.
Sonic ran until he thought he would break the sound barrier, but still the cloud came closer and closer. It had to be some sort of seeking missile, he decided. Maybe if he stopped, he could dodge it while it continued to charge forward.
Sonic turned and skidded, spraying sparks into the air. He crouched, ready to leap the incoming missile.
To his surprise, the flaming cloud only stopped its speed accordingly. Sparks flew back at Sonic where the missile scraped the ground to stop itself.
It was then that Sonic realized it wasn't a missile, and that the clouds and flame he saw was exhaust from a damaged engine. Just as he understood this, the "missile" stopped a foot from his face, sweeping black smoke into his eyes. A metal fist belted him in the stomach and sent him sprawling.
Two sharp red eyes ignited in the haze.
"Am I still too slow?" the dreaded voice whispered.
Lying on the speedway, clutching his rearranged stomach, Sonic realized that his fight was far from over. Very far.
The eyes attacked.
"NO!"
Sonic bolted to a sitting position with such speed that his spines tore through his hammock. The cloth tore noisily and he dropped onto the wood floor.
He looked around his crude wooden hut, searching for his enemy. Cool moonlight spilled in through the window of the one-room structure, illuminating his broken bed in a pool of blue light. Outside, palm trees tossed in the wind and surf crashed against the beach. He was back on South Island. It was just another dream.
He panted on the floor, cradling his head in his hands. His whole body was sticky with sweat. There was just no escaping the terrors; even now his head swirled with haunted images. Cold claws reached for his throat and evil, piercing eyes stared into his soul, exposing his one fear.
Sonic suddenly felt his stomach crush itself flat, forcing him to keel over in pain. He could feel something crawling up his chest. Clamping one hand over his mouth, the other supporting his abdomen, Sonic moved to his feet and ran out the empty doorframe.
He ran down the little dirt path to his hut and crashed through the tall grass to the sandy white beach, where he collapsed in the shoreline and unloaded his supper into the soggy sand.
The tide lapped around his kneeling body as he panted in the wet sand. The cramping in his stomach had subsided, but the sickness wrapped around his body clung tightly. He fell on his side, not caring how much sand he would get in his quills, and shivered madly.
His mind was jumping with paranoia; his eyes darted around at every sound. Was that the wind he heard in his ears, or was it Metal whispering a promise of death? Were those crickets chirping, or were they skeletal joints creaking against each other, waiting to wring the life out of him?
A twig snapped. The terrified hedgehog pressed himself lower into the water, praying he would not be found. After ten minutes of breathless hiding, he still could not quell his fears.
Metal Sonic…… Sonic had never before met anyone who could match his abilities; his speed, his agility, his flexible body and razor-sharp spines had remained unchallenged in his fights against Robotnik.
But this robot was something new. He was in every way Sonic's superior, even his speed and acceleration were mind-bogglingly greater! Sonic dreadfully recalled that night on the stardust speedway when the mech had caught up to him, even with his five minute head start at max speed. Metal's engine had been damaged too, but the spiked mech had still found him and resumed the battle.
Sonic had beaten him, though. He'd kicked and spin-dashed for all his worth and finally drove away the demon with the help of an ill-timed shot from Dr. Robotnik. But that hadn't been the end there. Metal was a robot. He could be fixed.
He'd encountered his metallic clone on many occasions; the doctor took Metal everywhere, like a bodyguard. Each time, luck had delivered Sonic from certain death at the robot's hands. A chance hit or a slow reaction from Metal was all that let him get away. He was always dreaded their encounters; he couldn't keep winning; it was as mind racking as juggling knives. No matter how skilled he was, one time he would slip up and that would be the end.
Fortunately, luck had stood with him one last time. When Sonic had learned about the Death Egg being repaired on Angel Island, he and Metal had dueled their last aboard the floating ruins of the sky sanctuary. Metal had plunged into the ocean along with most of the crumbling city. Finally, there had been peace of mind for the hedgehog. His enemy, his fear had been crushed. Surely the Eggman would never find the waterlogged remains of his greatest soldier.
With nothing to fear, Sonic ran about unburdened for two wonderful years. Then Robotnik returned, blew up the Master Emerald, freed Chaos and built himself a secret base deep in the jungle. Sonic had followed the scientist back to his headquarters that cold night without hesitation. What had he to fear? What could possibly be worse that that ordeal with the Egg Carrier and Chaos?
The answer resided in a green stasis tube on one of the top levels of the jungle spire. The mech had been deactivated, thank Heaven for that, but it had still taken every ounce of courage Sonic had to tiptoe past the sleeping assassin, blood-red eyes boring holes into his skull the whole time, and sneak into Robotnik's factory.
All the smashing, slicing, scorching and shocking horrors of the base hardly fazed Sonic. And the Egg Viper! That was just another motorized mess that needed a few spins at the cockpit. Eggman's latest death traps were nothing new, and yet that night in the factory had been one of Sonic's closest brushes with death.
'Metal Sonic was back.'
That was all he could think of as he ran through the base. Metal Sonic was back, waiting for him… His terror had consumed much of his concentration, leaving him quite vulnerable to stupid mistakes.
It had been almost a month since his awful trip into Robotnik's Mystic Ruins base and Sonic had grown weaker with every night. His fear was like a cancer festering on his soul; though long dormant, all it needed was a spark to trigger its growth.
Just one look into that stasis capsule and the mech had won the stardust speedway race all over again.
Sonic's convulsions intensified. He didn't want... no he could not fight Metal Sonic again. His arm reached behind his shoulder, combed through the long quills that masked his injuries and traced the scars dug into his back by steel claws. The marks ran far deeper than he could ever admit. No one, not even Tails knew of his secret burden. Sonic could never admit he was afraid. His mind was poisoned with terror, but he could never give any pretense of cowardliness.
As he lay in the water, struggling with despair, a large wave of seawater flew into Sonic's mouth and nose, forcing him to his knees to cough and sputter until his airway was clear.
He shook his head and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness so he could look out at the black horizon. Somewhere out there, Metal Sonic was waiting for him. How could he face that black monster when just a memory made him tremble?
Behind him, the palm trees swayed in a calm Sonic had not known for many nights. He got up and walked idly around, testing the endurance of his stomach. Calling for his attention were the solid black outlines of South Island's lofty green hills, a colourless vacuum on the starlit canvas of night.
According to the position of the moon, it was still very late, but Sonic had no desire to return to his nightmares. He began to jog towards the greenery, intent on getting to the natural speedways in the steep hills. Running was what he did best, and it was all he could do about now. He couldn't face his fears, but he could still run.
A brief sonic boom rippled through the sound barrier as the hedgehog disappeared into the night.
July 8, 2002---Tylec Asroc