Spirit of the Phantom Ruby

Part 22 - It All Comes Back to the Source

Sonic and his group swarmed to the front of the base where they grabbed the attention of several guarding robots. The steel-covered mechanics immediately launched into attack, forcing the group to scramble apart and pick them off one by one.

"Don't worry guys, we just need to keep the defense distracted long enough for Team Dark to destroy the doomsday device!" Knuckles called over his shoulder to his battling comrades.

Sonic chuckled. "Heh, I could do this all day!" He did a homing attack on one and used the acceleration from the bounce to do a homing attack on another. And another. And another. The blue blur was simply bouncing off of each of his opponents, either knocking the robot off balance or exploding it entirely. He jumped up into the air, smiling down at his enemies, until suddenly his face met the ground as something hard hit him in the back of his head. The hedgehog quickly rolled over and saw his own reflection in a shining, silver-and-blue face made of steel. The glowing red eyes of Metal Sonic stared him down, daring him to fight back.

"Hey, buddy! Long time no see!" Grimacing, Sonic rammed his fist into the robot's head. Metal recovered quickly and swung back, but by then the blue hedgehog had already gotten off the ground and spin-dashed him. The two dueled amongst the chaos, surrounded by Mobian and robot melee, but one never could seem to best the other.

"Look out! Coming through!" Amy smashed her hammer into the robot's back, but the machine simply brushed itself off and continued fighting Sonic.

Sonic smiled reassuringly to his pink admirer as he grasped the robot's arms in a wrestling stance. "Don't worry, Ames, I got this!"

Amy studied their tussle, then shrugged and took her hammer elsewhere in the midst of battle. The blue blur shoved the robot down, but Metal grabbed his arm and flipped him around instead, landing him back-down into the ground. The robot stood over him, glaring intensely at its biotic counterpart. Sonic returned the glare, equally intense, until his eyes drifted over Metal's shoulder and stared past him.

"Hey?! Uh, guys!"

Unable to hide his disconcertment, Metal looked up at what Sonic was seeing. High up in the sky, ebony clouds the sizes of mountains slowly swirled in an unnatural circle above the facility. In the depths of their inky blackness, red veins of lightning could be glimpsed, occasionally streaking towards the base which they all fought outside of. A long, blasting siren suddenly echoed all across the landscape, coming from the loudspeakers scattered around the facility, as a strong wind picked up, making the trees in the forests around them sway violently. Metal abruptly let Sonic go and turned to leave, but the blue blur leapt up and caught him by the shoulder, shoving him down into the ground.

"What's going on?" Sonic demanded, pressing hard.

Knuckles stopped fighting. "Isn't it obvious? Eggman's started up the doomsday device already!"

Silver quickly demolished whatever robots were left. He looked around, hands outstretched and glowing a bright, blue-green hue. "We have to help Team Dark or it'll all be too late!"

"Agreed!" Sonic called, sending most of the group running inside, and then leaned closer to Metal. "Where's Eggman? How's he planning on surviving this?"

Metal's red eyes simply stared past him, flickering slightly. They looked up at the sky, then back at him.

"My hatred for you is far greater than my desire to live." The robot suddenly shoved him off. "I will keep you away from that machine for as long as possible."

Sonic stared at him, stunned. "You mean, he's not here?"

Metal chuckled. "He is."

"Then don't make me repeat my question!"