//------------------------------// // Chapter Twelve: Eternal Suffering // Story: A Displaced Monster And Machine // by Prince_Zodiac //------------------------------// Chapter Twelve: Eternal Suffering {Metal’s POV} Once all of my Apocalypse magic had left me, I collapsed onto my hands and knees. I looked up at Gale as he outstretched a hand to help me up. “Alright, isn’t that better? Now come on! We’ve got a girl to-” Just before I went to grab his hand, Gale sentence was cut off as a laser blade stabbed through his chest. He stopped, shocked, and shakily turned his head around. Right behind him, was Alpha. “Sorry there Gale, but we can’t have Metal get back to normal just yet. That would interfere with our plans. To insure that something like this doesn’t happen again, I’m afraid I’ll have to kill you.” With that, he drew back his blade, and roundhouse kicked Gale’s head off. I could only watch, as Gale’s head rolled up to me. It stopped, face up, and his eyes were dark. “Well now, this is an interesting development now isn’t it? After all his efforts to bring you back, only to be killed in the end. Kind of ironic isn’t Metal?” I could help but stare at my best friend’s lifeless head. He was only trying to save me, and this is how he’s rewarded? “You… you killed him.” “Yeah, wasn’t all that hard either. Kind of relieved that I did too. Pretty sure if I fought him he might have replicated my power and mopped the floor with me. Good thing he was too busy helping you out.” I slowly raised my head to him. “You...you! I’LL KILL YOU!” I was suddenly filled with energy as I rushed at him and kicked him, sending Alpha flying. I quickly formed into a spindash and plowed into him, before uncurling and punching him in the face. He went flying even further, and didn’t have time to recover before I blasted him with a giant beam of energy. After a few seconds though, the beam burst as Alpha countered it with a small energy blast. “There you go Metal! Now this fight can really begin!” {Lisa’s POV} I ran to the spot where I sensed Gale and Metal had crashed. I hoped everything was okay. As I approached the crater, I saw Metal and Alpha fighting again. I sensed Metal’s mental state was a bit better. He no longer wanted to destroy everything in sight. But, that feeling was replaced a massive thirst for revenge. But, why? I mean, it could be Samantha. But, this want was for the death of someone else. “I wonder who it’s for.” As I tried to think up a person he could want to avenge almost as badly as he wanted to avenge Samantha, I noticed Gale was nowhere to be found. “Hey wait, where’s G-” Then, I saw it. Gale’s head. On the ground. Separated from his body. And his eye was dark. I slowly approached. “Gale?” No response. “Gale?” Again, nothing. “C-Come on, this isn’t funny. Gale?” I was answered with silence. I fell to my knees, and picked up the head. “Gale, cut it out. Come on, say something. Please, just say something, anything! Gale? GALE!” No, this couldn’t be real. This had to be a bad dream or something. This… this can’t be happening. But as much as I tried to deny it, I soon realized the truth. He was gone. Gale, the love of my life, the one I spent day and night with, was dead. I started crying as I hugged his head close. Tears streamed down my face as I sobbed. Then, suddenly, something inside me… no not just inside me, something all around me… ...shattered like glass. {Metal’s POV} “I’ll DESTROY YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID TO HIM!!!” I charged up another energy blast and fired it at Alpha. He promptly dodged and sent a ball of energy at me. It hit me, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was avenging Gale. I caught up to him and swung a fist, but he dodged. Then, he roundhouse kicked me away, before charging up a massive blast of energy. “Sorry Metal, but it seems we can’t get any use out of you after all. Ah well, doesn’t really matter to me all that much. Goodbye Metal, have a nice time in hell. Oh, and say hi to Gale for me!” He fired off the beam he had been charging. I didn’t have the time to recover as it made its way to me. I watched as my death quickly approached. But then, it suddenly stopped, a massive crack in it. The cracks spread and the beam crumbled into pieces. “What the hell?” Alpha was just as confused as I was. Why did his attack just fail like that. Was he badly hurt or something? Then I looked to my left, and found my solution. It was Lisa. But something was horribly, horribly wrong. For one, she had dark, empty eye sockets, that seemed to stare right through me. Her tendrils were out, all of them in positions showing that they were ready to attack. But that wasn’t the worst of it. No, the worst of it was that there were massive cracks in space and time all over the place, and, to top it all off, there were an army of monsters around her. At first I thought that they were Nightmare Fuels, but upon further inspection, it was revealed to me they were different. For one, Nightmare’s had glowing yellow eyes, not glowing crimson mouths. Two, these guys were a bit bigger, than the normal ones. They each had four tendrils coming out of their backs and there were tons of them. It was like a small army, and Lisa was the head of command. That’s when I noticed that Lisa held something in her hands. It was Gale’s head. ’Oh no.’ Seeing her like that broke my heart. She must be in so much pain, that she’s become this. Lisa looked at me, before turning her attention to Alpha. The monsters that surrounded Lisa started growling, sounding excited and, hungry. Lisa then snapped her fingers, and all hell broke lose. With unholy roars, the monsters attack Alpha. He tried to blast them away, but whatever pain he caused them they seemed to ignore. They piled up on him and started ripping him apart. I could hear his cries of pain as they tore off his limbs, and bit into his neck. Once they were done, they lept away and all that was left of Alpha, was a small, purple orb. I just stared in shock at how quickly the creatures destroyed that monster. I didn't have much time to dwell on it though, I had to help Lisa. There was no way in hell I was letting another person fall to the darkness today, enough of that has been done already it's starting to becoming annoying. As I approached Lisa, I reverted to my normal form. I saw that the ground around me was becoming devoid of colour and pieces in reality were glitching out. When I was close enough a feeling of fear swept over me from her presence, but I quickly subdued it and I continued walking towards her. She didn’t seem to even notice that I was afraid of her in the first place, as she kept her stance and her voided eyes remained empty. “Lisa?” I wasn't going to bother asking if she was alright, she clearly wasn't. “Lisa, can you hear me?” I asked as I moved closer and waved slightly. She didn't move. “Metal…” I heard her say my name in a very hushed voice. “Yes, it's me Lisa. It's Metal. Now, are you still in control? Do you know what you're doing?” I asked very cautiously. Not wanting to set her off. Suddenly, I heard her start to quietly chuckle. Which turned to a low giggle...to inane laughter. She hugged the head close to her chest and laughed like a maniac at the sky. She ceased her laughing and set her gaze upon me, I refused to even flinch under her glare. “Metal Sonic...it is you...my friend…” She giggled darkly again before continuing. “Look at you, all shiny and better after going God mode on us...and look at Gale...poor...poor Gale. Nothing but a head and an empty corpse.” She tossed the head in her hands before holding it close again. “Ironic isn't it? We thought you were the exact same thing whenever we first came here to save you...now Gale has become what he tried to prevent. Such a shame...such a loss…” As she continued talking about Gale her voice was getting darker and darker, but began to sound like a creepy little girl’s voice at the same time. “Lisa, I know you're upset, I know you're angry but you need to calm down. Let me try to fix this before you destroy everything.” I stepped in front of her and stared into her empty eyes, feeling the pain seeping through them. “Metal...I am in so much pain…I've lost the love of my life...my home...and my friends...one by one I lose and lose...now, with everything that's happened...you know what it feels like...don't you?” As she began to take a few small steps closer I remained in my place, not showing any signs of fear, that would only give her an advantage in this situation. I saw that those creatures were staring at me with hungry expressions. “What are these things?” I asked myself quietly. “Oh, you're wondering about my little helpers? Meet the Proxies, my little pets.” Lisa explained as she continued to draw closer. “Lisa...what're you doing?” I asked as she was right in front of me, staring into my eyes with her lifeless voids. “You understand my pain…” She said quietly before holding out her hand and dropping Gales head which landed with a clang. “You've stuck by me...even now...so…” I could tell she began to smile evilly as she grabbed my arms with and legs with her tendrils, holding me down. As I struggled she leaned down to me and brushed my cheek with her hand. “Come on Metal, why don't you share my suffering!?” She brought her last tendril up to my body and wrapped it around my torso. “Let's suffer together!!! Just you and me!!!” She drew one of her claw-like fingers across my chest, almost as if she was cutting me open with her nails alone, trying to reach inside my soul. She grabbed the side of my head with her hands and brought her close to mine. “I don't want to be alone while I'm destroying everything, I want you to be there too. You aren't scared of me, you want to help me...help me now!” She clamped down on my head and placed her lips on mine, her corruption pouring into my body from the kiss. I continued to struggle as my systems began to fail to fight off the corruption. “N-No…”   Lisa pulled away and looked at me with a smile. “What's wrong Metal? I thought you wanted me to yourself.” “N-No...I won't betray Gale...or you…” Lisa just giggled insanely before smiling and looking into my eyes again. “You don't have a choice…” She suddenly threw me into the air and her Proxies leapt at me. They bit into my body, corruption pouring into me faster than I could think. I just barely managed to use chaos control to get away before collapsing on the ground. I was aching all over, and the corners of my vision were starting to go dark. “Oh Metal.” I looked up to see Lisa surrounded by her pets. She stroked one lovingly, as an owner would their dog, before she faced me and started her approach, her Proxies not far behind. “Why do you resist? Don’t you want the world to know your pain? To know our pain? Don’t you want to make them all suffer like we have?” “No… I don’t… not anymore.” I struggled to get up. I faced her, putting on a brave face, but she was starting to scare me now. The way she talked, the way she walked, it was like something out of a nightmare. And I couldn’t wake up. “Hmm… what a shame. Well don’t worry, soon you’ll want to make everyone suffer like I do. We’ll make them suffer… together.” She started giggling madly before she snapped her fingers. Once again her Proxies charged at me, their monstrous bellows unlike anything I’d ever heard. I shot up into the air and took aim at Lisa. I didn’t want to hurt her, but if I ended this fast then I could get us all home and fix everything. Lisa didn’t expect me to attack her, so she was hit with the full force of the attack. She was thrown back and I went charging after her. I prepared to finish her off by punching her, but then she turned her head. Her eye sockets were gone. She was back to normal. “Metal? W-What’s going on?” “Lisa? Oh thank god you’re-” suddenly those eyes returned and a tendril pierced itself through my body. I could feel her creepy smile. “Oh Metal, you have such a soft heart. It’s nice to know that my face still has an affect on you.” The corruption was spreading through my body again, and once again I used chaos control to get out of it. I looked at her, not believing what she had just done. “H-How? How could you-” “It’s very simple Metal. All I did was hide my eyes, and you did the rest.” Once again her maddened giggles sounded off. I could no longer hide behind a brave mask. This was the fastest I’ve ever been taken down, and if I lose here a lot of people are going to pay the price. But, I didn’t want to hurt Lisa, she was going through too much for that. But then what was I supposed to do? I slowly tried to crawl away from her, which just caused her to chuckle. “Oh Metal. You’re so cute when you’re trying to get away. But I think we’ve waited long enough. Now come, and be a part of my eternal suffering.” Her tendrils wrapped themselves around me once again and I could do nothing as they lifted me up. Her Proxies started getting excited the closer I got to her, elated at the idea of having a new master. She held me up in front of her, a tendril ready to strike. “Welcome Metal, to your new life.” ”FUS RO DAH!” Suddenly, everyone, including me, was knocked away by some unknown force. As I flew through the air, I felt something grab me and carry me away from Lisa. When I looked up, I saw a gray dragon. It was Gale’s brother, Alduin. {Alduin’s POV} ”FUS RO DAH!” I bellowed. My unrelenting force shout fired off and hit the group of monster that surrounded Metal and Lisa. I grabbed Metal in my mouth as he sailed through the air and took off, hoping to put some distance between Lisa and myself. Once I was far enough I landed behind a mountain and set Metal Sonic down. He fell onto his hands and knees, sparks of electricity coming from his joints. “Are you alright Metal?” I asked as I lowered my head down to meet him. “N-No...just...need a minute for...self repair to kick in.” “You've got a hole in your chest and you're full of a darkness that is quickly spreading.” I stated, it seemed as if he was trying to downplay his injuries. “I've been stabbed…in the chest all day today...the corruption is nothing new either, I'll be fine.” The sparks ceased and the hole in his chest began to fill up again as he got to his feet. “I've got to go back.” “Wait.” I stopped him from taking off by blocking the way with one of my wings. “Don't just fly off without a plan. Do that and you’re as good as dead.” “I don't care if I die! My sister is out there, broken, suffering and tearing the world apart with her pain. I'll be damned if I just leave her for even a second, I'll gladly give myself up to make her better.” He responded readily, floating up to my head and staring me dead in the eye with determination. ‘He's so young yet so brave, either that or incredibly stubborn. Clearly he’s willing to lay down his life to make others happy.’ I thought to myself. “Metal Sonic, let me ask you a question. What is it that you promised yourself when you came to Equestria?” I asked with interest. He just clenched his fists and glared. “I promised that I'd protect everyone with my life, I promised to be a hero to those that couldn't fight for themselves. I'm a selfish bastard most of the time, but I know what needs to be done.” He answered darkly while pounding his fists together. ‘Hmm, something must have happened to him in the past for him to have a want to protect others like this.’ I thought for a moment before deciding that I wouldn’t be able to stop him. “Alright, then I’ll help you obtain that goal. But we need a plan first. We also need to find Gale.” “That won’t help.” He said simply. “What?” “Gales dead, a Nightmare stabbed him in the back and kicked his head off...he didn't survive long, that's why Lisa is like this.” He explained. “Although with what he explained to me earlier it's kinda hard to think of the consequences of death if it can easily be reversed.” “Hmm, I knew something was wrong with him, I couldn’t sense his energy. Very well, then we need to find his body and return it to his repair capsule.” “I suppose that could work. But, if we both leave Lisa will just follow us and her terror will be unleashed onto whatever universe we travel to.” I brought a wing to my chin and thought for a moment. “Hmm, so we can’t get Gale’s assistance with this right now, else we risk unleashing Lisa to the multiverse. However, she is incredibly powerful and has an army of monsters at command, so fighting her should be a last resort. Do you have any ideas?” Metal flew over to the edge of the cliffside we were on and looked over the side. “Maybe, I can try to reach out to the real her if I can get close enough. I don't know if I'll be able to reach her or not, but it's all I can come up with.” “Right. Well considering what she’s going through, it won’t be easy. Hmm, if only there was a more direct way of reaching her.” Metal thought for a moment before snapping his fingers. “I’ve got it! There isn’t a more direct way of talking to someone than going into their mind. If I do that, I just might be able to get through to her.” I nodded. “Very well, but how are you going to get there? After all, you don’t have the ability to enter someone’s mind do you?” “No, I don’t. But Lisa does.” “Hmm, and how do you propose to gain that ability? You have to see it first right?” “I can scan my memories.” “Yes, but even then she may have a way to block. With how experienced in the mind she is, she has to have a way to block intruders.” “Then what do you think we should do?” I stopped and thought for a moment, before a grin appeared on my face. “I believe I have a plan.” {Third POV} “Where did those two go?” Lisa looked around, trying to find Alduin and Metal. “Alduin will pay for what he’s done. I won’t let him take Metal away from me!” She turned to her army of Proxies. “Find them! And bring Metal Sonic to me, I don't care if you have to kill Auldin to do it, just bring him back to me!” With affirmative growls, her Proxies ran off, willing to search every corner of the world if it meant pleasing their master. Lisa watched them go, confident that her pets would find them easily enough. As they left, more Proxies leapt out of the cracks in reality, either spreading themselves around to act as lookouts, or placing themselves around her to act as a living shield. Either way, there were all readily welcomed into the growing pack. “Soon, I’ll have an unstoppable army. Then I’ll hunt down every Nightmare in the multiverse, and make everyone know my suffering.” She giggled like a mad women. Then, she noticed something, odd. A large number, nearly half, of the Proxies she sent out to search for Alduin and Metal were gathering in one area, and that number was growing. ’They must have found them. I guess I can make my way there and see if they need any help. After all, Alduin and Metal are no pushovers.’ With her decision made, Lisa made her way to the gathering of Proxies, the ones she had with her following right behind her. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong with them though, but she didn’t know what. It took her a while, but eventually she arrived. They were all lined up and facing her, as if forming some sort of defensive line against her. She began to wonder why, but then notice a difference. They all had glowing yellow eyes, with a yellow mist seeping out of them. Lisa then knew, these Proxies weren’t hers to command anymore. “What in the? Who dares to take control of MY Proxies?” “That would be me.” Lisa watched the proxies part, to make way for their new master, Alduin. He stood tall in front of his little army, ready to take on any challenge. “How? My pets only listen to me.” “It’s called the bend will shout. I can make anything or anyone obey my every command with that shout.” “And why not use it on me?” “Like the dovahkiin, displaced seem to have a resistance to it.” Lisa huffed. “And why take over my Proxies anyways? While you have a limited supply, I gain more every minute.” “War tactics, something I am very familiar with, and you have never used before. I will bring both you and your Proxies down before the end of the day.” “Is that a challenge?” “It’s a promise.” Metal flew down and landed next to Alduin. “From us, to you.” Lisa growled in anger, before swiping her hand, sending her Proxies off to battle.