//------------------------------// // City: Red Gate Bridge (Vs Metal Sonic) // Story: Sonic Forces: Resistance is Magic // by MetalJrock //------------------------------// “So Tails, Spike, and other me are on a mission? Alrighty. Hopefully they don’t get too ahead of themselves.” Modern Sonic shrugged off the explanation Knuckles and Applejack gave to him once his team returned from Neo Prison Island. Twilight tilted her head, “You’re awfully calm about this. They went into enemy territory.” Sonic said, “I can trust Tails to do his own thing, Spike is capable in his own right, and younger me knows what he’s doing. It’s not like Infinite’s everywhere twenty-four seven, Twi. If they can turn the Egg Dragoon into another one of Egghead’s pile of scraps, they can face whatever’s at the Chemical Plant.” “I know, it’s just...” Twilight started to speak. Buddy listened in on the conversation. His Wispon was in hand, and he was awaiting his next orders from the Commander. He saw Rainbow Dash flying into the room. He heard her cut off Twilight and say, “Hey, Sonic. I thought we agreed I tag along for the next mission?” Sonic rubbed his head, “I, uh, kinda forgot about that after Shadow told his story. You should’a said something, Dash.” Rainbow folded her hooves, “Heh. I kinda forgot too. Ah well.” she glanced at the monitor and looked over the map, “Anything new happening?” Knuckles looked at the monitor and exhaled in disappointment, “Of course. Sorry guys, I know you wanted a break, but we’re getting reports that Metal Sonic is attacking the city on South Island.” Sonic cracked his knuckles, “Don’t worry, Knux. Might as well help finish cleaning off the city.” he eyed the wolf, “Hey, Buddy, wanna join Rainbow and me in trashing that blue bucket of bolts?” The wolf hesitated for a moment before Rainbow spoke up for him, “What’re you scared of? You and Fluttershy took on Infinite and pretty much won! I fought Metal Sonic before, and he’s nothing compared to him. You’ll be fine, trust me.” Rainbow was right, why was he scared? He’s faced tougher challenges during his time in the Resistance. He took on Infinite, dealt with the Phantom Ruby, fought off Sombra, and helped bring down an ambush. Despite the nagging in the back of his mind, the faith everyone put in him pushed him through. With a firm nod, he pumped his fist and decided to go. Sonic proudly patted his shoulder, “Alright, partner. Ready when you are.” “Hey, Rookie.” Knuckles called out getting the wolf’s attention, “Metal Sonic is a pretty tough foe. Not as powerful as Infinite, but before Shadow and myself of corse, he was considered Sonic’s equal. You’re going to need an upgrade.” he tossed Buddy a drill-shaped weapon, the wolf catching it, “That’s the Drill Wispon. It takes a few seconds to charge up, but the energy it has packs one heck of a punch. It should help you in the fight.” Buddy nodded and decided to give it a quick test. Yellow energy began to appear around his hand. Knuckles’ eyes widened and tried to reach a hand to stop him, “Buddy, no—!” Suddenly, the Rookie bounced all over the room as the Drill Wispon dragged him along for a brief ride. He could barely control himself as he leaped wall to wall in a matter of seconds. Everyone ducked for cover as the wolf bounced all around. The drill ceased and Buddy dropped to the floor instantly. Knuckles and Twilight could only shake their heads. Buddy smiled sheepishly as he cleaned himself up, embarassed. Twilight asked, “Are you sure giving him that was a good idea?” “Maybe?” Knuckles replied, unsure of himself. Sonic clapped, “Least we know it can pack a punch.” Rainbow said, “Yeah. It’s not as fast as me, but that thing is pretty quick.” The city was being attacked once more, not just by the remaining Death Egg Robot, but by a mysterious blue and purple blur. Volts of electricty shot out and the people were panicked. A cat ducked for cover behind a trashcan, hoping to be missed by the villain. A clanging sound was heard and the trashcan was tossed aside, the cat gulped in fear as Metal Sonic revealed himself. He raised a glowing fist, intending to kill. Luckily, a rainbow blur showed up and kicked Metal Sonic back with a rear hoof. Rainbow Dash shook her slightly aching limb and looked down at the cat, “Yo, you alright?” she asked. The cat trembled and spoke, “Y-Yeah. You’re with the Resistance, right?” the pegasus nodded, “Thank goodness you showed up when you did. Metal Sonic’s been wrecking this place moreso than usual. It was already in a bad state before, but...” Rainbow reached a hoof for his shoulder, “Don’t worry one bit, we’ll kick Metal Sonic’s sorry flank and you can get back to cleaning up. In the meantime, head to somewhere safe. We’ll be sure to keep Metal busy.” The cat tilted his head and smiled, “Got it.” Sonic and Buddy finally caught up with Rainbow Dash, “Okay, now I see why you went ahead. Those wings of yours really work wonders sometimes.” Rainbow smirked, “Told ya.” The cat’s eyes widened, “Sonic the Hedgehog? And the wolf from before? It’s so cool to meet you!” Buddy scratched his neck, bashful over being recognized as a hero. Sonic said, “Yep, that’s us. As much as we’d like to give autographs and photo-shoots, we have a robot to catch up to. Get to safety!” The trio ran to the outskirts of the city to the bridge. Sonic, Buddy, and Rainbow Dash slowed down. “Wow, it’s surprisingly empty here. I’d image a swarm of robots following Metal Sonic or something.” Rainbow said. Buddy shook slightly, worried that something was waiting for them. Rainbow added, “If Pinkie were here, she’d probably say that her Pinkie Sense was going off her something.” “Darn right I would!” yelled Pinkie directly through the comms. The heroes all jumped upon hearing her voice. Sonic sighed, “Pinkie, we’ve been over this. Can you please be more quiet when on the comms? I’m all for hype, but these things are a little sensitive on the ears.” “Oops. Sorry!” Pinkie apologized. Sonic then spoke back to HQ, “Got anything around this area, guys? It’s awfully quiet.” Twilight answered, “We are. It’s a large signal. Something’s definitely coming!” The bridge started to shake. A giant Death Egg Robot emerged from nowhere and tore the ground apart. Luckily Rainbow Dash managed to get her bearings and grip Sonic and Buddy’s hands with her hooves, flying to the nearest stable piece of land she could find. “Yep. Should’a seen that coming.” Sonic admitted. “This looks to be the last robot too.” Rainbow noticed. Buddy gulped. Sonic said, “We got this in the bag, partner. Just your grapple to swing me around and we’ll take him head on with your Drill Wispon. Rainbow will be right behind us.” Buddy still looked uneasy, wondering if he’d just mess up again in front of his hero, “Don’t be afraid, dude. The two of us will be with ya through the whole thing.” “And if something does go wrong somehow, I’ll be sure to pick you up.” Rainbow assured. Feeling a little better, Buddy decided to see what he could do. Sonic grabbed his hand and they jumped, the wolf using his grapple on the Death Egg Robot. Rainbow Dash flew by their sides. A giant laser tried to hit them but missed the three of them as they ascended towards the head. Sonic curled into a ball, Rainbow flapped her wings faster and Buddy aimed his Wispon downwards as it charged. They dropped through the robot and destroyed it with ease. Buddy used his Wispon to create an opening through the back of the collapsing metal behemoth, allowing the three of them to exit the robot. They landed in a small area under the bridge and needed a moment to get their bearings. “That. Was. Awesome!” Rainbow cheered. “I know right?” Sonic replied. Buddy panted, the adrenaline in his system fading. He agreed that it was pretty fun, ignoring the risk of death of course. Maybe the hero life wasn’t all that bad, he admitted. Sonic smiled, “Told you we were fine.” he said to the wolf. “Ah know yer all happy and hyper, but Ah think ya’ll should go after Metal Sonic wherever he is.” Applejack told them. “We’re on it, Applejack. We just needed to get that out of our systems.” Rainbow admitted. Sonic, Rainbow Dash, and Buddy dashed through the small cavern and spotted the setting sun through an opening. “He shouldn’t be too far from here.” Sonic pointed out. Right as he said that, a swarm of cubes suddenly appeared and took the form of Metal Sonic, the robot towering over them. Buddy’s eyes widened at the sight. Sonic merely rolled his eyes, “Great... Another upgrade.” “Eggman’s Phantom Ruby is becoming a real pain in the flank!” Rainbow groaned. They started running after Metal once he started to back away to charge. “Wait... Isn’t Metal Sonic a robot? Why would Eggman need to make a fake? Couldn’t he just build one?” Twilight asked. Shadow chimed in, “Creating the fakes takes less time and with that, he can cause more mayhem.” Sonic added, “Not to mention, Metal’s kinda known for having a traitor streak. Having a fake would no doubt be less of a risk. It doesn’t matter anyway, he’s still getting his butt kicked.” “But what if... there is a real Metal Sonic being built right under our noses?! And he looks more menacing and stronger?!” Pinkie wondered in horror. Sonic asked, “Like Mecha Sonic? I doubt it, Eggman hasn’t used that since I was a kid.” He knew Mecha Sonic could pose some threat, if he got to go all out like with the emeralds, Sonic realized that it would most likely be a tougher fight than his usual bouts with Metal. Pinkie responded, “No! I mean like—“ “Whoa!” Metal created barriers of lightning on the bridge, Buddy got Sonic’s attention and guided him past them. Sonic said, “Sorry, Pink. As much as I want to debate this, we gotta focus on Metal right now.” “Okey dokey lokey!” Pinkie said before ending the call. Sonic and Buddy quick-stepped around the barriers while Rainbow swerved her flight path to avoid them. “Has Metal ever done this before?” “Uh, kinda?” Sonic replied. “At the very least he has nothing to throw at us!” More cubes appeared, taking the form of Egg Pawns. “Me and my big mouth.” he saw some Wisp Capsules and dashed into them, the creatures giving him and Buddy the energy to boost through the random swarm. Appearing around Rainbow’s vicinity were Falcos and Flappers. Rainbow Dash grumbled upon seeing the robots and kicked one of the Flappers back once it neared her. She dodged the flight path of a Falco and nearly got hit by one of its bombs, “Oh come on!” she kicked back the bird-shaped robot once she avoided the projectile. Metal Sonic threw a volt of lightning onto the ground, creating a wall of lightning with a small gap in the middle heading towards the heroes. “Holy crud!” Sonic gasped, him and Buddy timing their jumps just right to leap right through the gap while Rainbow lowered herself to go through it. “Haven’t seen that move in a while. Guess Phantom Metal can use those moves again too. Wonderful.” Buddy saw Metal charging a Spin-Dash, purple energy enveloping him. He reared his arm back and charged his Drill Wispon right as Metal boosted after them. The Wispon managed to strike through the blue robot, sending him tumbling back and sliding on the concrete. “Nice moves, Buddy!” Rainbow complimented, her and Sonic catching up to the wolf, who proudly smiled at his friends. Metal shook his body and started to spin horizontally, more purple energy covering him. Suddenly, he darted through the street like a torpedo. “Look out!” Rainbow warned Sonic and Buddy, grabbing them with her hooves, their palms gripping onto her limbs. The same path Metal Sonic went down became electrified and Buddy sighed in relief once he realized they were safe from that. Releasing her grip on her friends, Rainbow saw an opening to strike Metal Sonic and did so, driving her hooves directly onto his torso. The robot was pushed back by the force of the buck and did a backflip, skidding on the floor with his metal claws creating sparks on the floor. “What’s wrong, Metal? Got nothing robotic to say this time?” Rainbow quipped. More cubes materialized and with them came more Egg Pawns, Falcos, Flappers and Orbinauts. The Flappers all surrounded Metal Sonic. The Falcos surrounded Rainbow Dash, who moved slightly ahead of Sonic and Buddy. “These things are starting to get on my nerves.” She nudged one of the bird bots. The Egg Pawns attempted to shoot, but Sonic boosted through them before leaping after the Falcos, aiding Rainbow in bringing them down with his trademark Homing Attack. The pegasus kicked more of the robots before flying and creating small whirlwind to knock them back. “Yeah!” Sonic and Rainbow cheered together as Sonic landed. The hedgehog, pegasus and wolf reached the robot and destroyed the Flappers with ease before landing a double hit on Metal Sonic. Getting his bearings once more, Metal Sonic threw down a few walls of lightning for the heroes to avoid before charging a Spin-Dash. Sonic and Buddy leaped over one of the walls before quick-stepping to the side. Buddy charged his Drill Wispon and released all the energy right as Metal neared them. The Wispon managed to whack Metal out of his ball state and made him land on his back. The cubes around Metal Sonic’s body began to fade out, more purple contrasting with Metal’s shining blue sheen. Rainbow noticed this and said, “I think we’re finally getting somewhere!” “Finally.” Sonic sighed. But to their surprise, Metal ascended, then brought himself down, breaking the bridge. “Ah!” screamed Sonic in surprise. Him and Buddy jumped over the pit and narrowly missed Metal repeating the action. Rainbow caught the two that time and they flipped back onto the street. Rainbow Dash drove a hoof onto Metal’s head before Sonic followed up with a Homing Attack, Buddy ending their conbo with a Grapple, kicking down the robot as hard as he could. Metal Sonic started to fade out more, the cubes continuing to vanish from his fake body, sparks appearing. “Here goes, partners. It’s about time we end this! When we join forces, the sky’s the limit!” Sonic boasted, wanting to finish the fight. Time seemed to slow down as Sonic high-fived Rainbow Dash and Buddy and they all somersaulted in the air as Sonic shouted two words to the robot. “TRIPLE BOOST!” Sonic, Rainbow Dash, and Buddy started to boost after Metal Sonic. They hit the robot, who slid on the concrete once more. Before he could counter, the trio spun around like a torpedo right through the fake robot in a bright blue aura, turning him into a pile of cubes once and for all. With the battle done, the heroes landed. Sonic and Rainbow Dash smiled at one another, “That was totally cool!” he admitted. “Heck yeah it was! We totally kicked Metal’s sorry fake flank!” Rainbow cheered, giving Sonic a high-five. Buddy panted and looked to Sonic, who spoke to him, “You were awesome out there, dude. We were like a well-oiled machine! Fighting a... uh, a kinda well-oiled machine. You are a pretty cool partner.” he extended his fist to the wolf. Buddy smiled and gave his hero a proud fist-bump. For once, he felt confident. He faced Metal Sonic and Infinite, and his hero was surprisingly proud of him. He did his best to compose himself of course. “For a rookie, you’re catching on to the whole hero thing quick. Pretty soon, we won’t get to call you Rookie anymore.” Rainbow said to the wolf. Buddy chuckled at that. Sonic put a finger to his ear and called the Resistance, “Yo, Knux. We took down Metal Sonic and the last Death Egg Robot. We’re on our way back.” “Good to hear. Tails, Classic Sonic, and Spike are now leaving the Chemical Plant and they have a major update from their trip. He said it was good news.” Knuckles replied. “Nice!” Rainbow shouted. “Let’s get going!” Sonic, Buddy, and Rainbow Dash arrived back at the HQ before Tails‘ group did. Rainbow had finished telling her friends about how she totally defeated Metal Sonic on her own. “I very much doubt that’s what happened, Rainbow.” Rarity said with uncertainty. “It was a team effort. Buddy, her, and I did it together with an awesome team boost.” Sonic reminded them with a smirk. “Now that makes more sense.” Applejack said. Rainbow huffed. Twilight shook her head, “I don’t know how you managed to find fun out of all this. It’s war...” “That was awfully grim...” Rainbow muttered, “Where did that come from?” Twilight moved her eyes suspiciously, “Uh, nowhere. Just, hm, uh, thinking out loud. Right!” Applejack rolled her eyes at that, “Now that right there is a load of horseapples.” Silver overheard the conversation, “Everything alright?” “No! Nothing is wrong. Nothing at all...” the alicorn muttered. The future hedgehog raised a brow, “Okay?” “Seriously, Twilight. You’ve been acting strange for a while now. Just get it off your chest!” Rainbow said. Remembering what Infinite said to her, Twilight snapped, “It’s not that simple, Rainbow Dash!” “Um, why doesn’t it have to be?” Fluttershy asked. Holding her head, Twilight said, “Because... Because... Argh! Just forget it, alright?! It’s not important right now.” “It is important, Twilight.” Rarity insisted. Silver knelt down, “We’re here to listen. It sounds like something is seriously bugging you. Maybe if-“ “Enough! If I wanted to talk about it, I will!” Twilight snapped again. She exhaled and muttered, “I’m sorry. I’m just not ready yet. Maybe soon.” Silver said, “Alright. We’ll let you think it over.” Applejack nodded in agreement, “It might be fer the best. Just tell us when yer ready, sugarcube.” The door to the HQ opened, and stepping forth were Tails, Classic Sonic, Spike and... a unicorn? The girls’ eyes were taken aback by the sight of the unicorn they had befriended. Starlight Glimmer waved nervously, “Uh, hi?” “Starlight!” The unicorn suddenly found herself hugged by the mares. Rainbow was the first to let go, “Hey... were you mind controlled too?” Starlight looked down in shame, “I was... I’m so sorry for worrying all of you. To make you think that I fell off the deep end again.” Twilight smiled, “We’re just glad you’re safe and back on our side. I never wanted to believe it when the Resistance told us. But we can never hate you for what Eggman did. It looks like we’re all finally back together.” they all hugged once more, Spike joining in this time. “Thank you, Twilight. Is there anything I can do to help now that I’m back?” Starlight asked, the group hug ending. Sonic said, “Actually there is.” he extended a hand, “Name’s Sonic. Er, Modern Sonic anyway. You already met my doppelganger over there. I wouldn’t worry about any grudges. It’s a pleasure to finally meet the real you, the girls, especially Twilight, have been waiting for you to join us for a while.” Starlight perked up, “You’re Sonic? I heard a lot about you from Twilight and Spike, it’s an honor to meet you too. Sorry about my fake and the mind-control.” Sonic replied, “Like I said, don’t worry about grudges. That beatdown is water under the brudge for you and me, it wasn’t even the real you anyway.” “Glad to hear it. I’ll be happy to help stop Eggman.” Tails said, “Great to hear, Starlight. Because we can use that help now more than ever.” Knuckles crossed his arms, “What did you guys find?” “We can finally stop the Phantom Ruby!” Spike exclaimed, Classic Sonic nodding. “How?” Twilight asked. Tails continued as he inserted the flashdrive into, “I took a look at the data on my Miles Electric on the way in here. Based on the readings, the Phantom Ruby requires a ton of energy. The only place that can provide that is the Death Egg! If we stop that, the Phantom Ruby will be left useless!” “Awesome work, bro!” Sonic complimented. “The Death Egg?” Fluttershy gulped. “No offense, Tails. But that doesn’t sound all that simple. It’s the Death Egg, it’s one of Eggman’s biggest bases!” Rainbow Dash told him. “We know that. Tails came up with a plan.” Spike assured. “What is the plan then?” Rarity asked. Tails said, “First, we need to distract Eggman. While he’s busy with whatever we send out, we’ll hack into the Chemical Plant’s main computer to shut down the Death Egg’s defenses. And with that, we can destroy the Death Egg, which will shut down the Phantom Ruby.” Knuckles hummed, “Huh. That’s a really solid plan. Okay. Buddy, Twilight, Vector, Charmy, Pinkie. You will cause some mayhem in Green Hill and get Eggman’s attention. Sonic, Rainbow Dash, Starlight, the three of you will infiltrate—“ A message suddenly rang through the laptop. Curious, Amy answered it, “Hello?” “Miss Amy?” came the voice of a little girl. Amy asked, “Cream? Are you and your mom safe?” “I think so. A strange water creature showed up near the Master Emerald. Mister Gemerl and Mister Big are fighting him, but I don’t know for how long.” Cream answered. “We’re coming, Cream. Don’t worry.” Amy assured her friend. “Um, who was that?” Fluttershy asked. Knuckles said, “Cream. I sent her, Vanilla, Big, and Gemerl to watch over the Master Emerald on Angel Island. I knew they wouldn’t want to risk themselves in our fight. Myself, Amy, Rarity, Applejack, and you can go check on them. From the sound of it, Chaos is back. It shouldn’t take too long.” The laptop rung again and Amy answered it. “Greetings, Resistance. We could use some help here!” came an elder voice. Tails shouted, “Professor Pickle?!” “Indeed. Eggman’s forces are attacking Spagonia. We could use some assistance.” Professor Pickle said. “Wait, you’re back in Spagonia?” Sonic asked. “I returned to my old university after you vanquished Dark Gaia, and once the doctor started his reign I began to refuge anyone who needed it. It appears the doctor caught on to my deeds. It appears we are being attacked by a black hedgehog and bug-like being. Please aid us!” Pickle said. “Sounds like Chrysalis and Shadow fakes.” Twilight deduced. “We’ll be right over!” Sonic said. “Argh!” Knuckles groaned, “Change of plans. Shadow, Rouge, Rainbow Dash, Silver, Espio. You’ll head down to Spagonia. I have a feeling it’s a high scale attack. ModernSonic and Starlight can infiltrate the Chemical Plant. Tails, Classic Sonic, Spike can wait here and finish repairing Omega in the event we’re infiltrated.” Tails, Spike, and Classic Sonic saluted. “I’ll be sure to show those Phantoms how they insulted me.” Shadow growled. And so the Resistance began their biggest counterstrike yet.