Red Guardians

by MetalJrock

Sonic 3: The First Act

Sonic hopped and hit the side of the strange round mech. It seemingly glowed white as the hedgehog and fox collided with it, slightly damaging it each time they made contact. A small flame bursted out of the barrel on the side, prompting the duo to take cover from the fire that seeked to burn them.

Tails spun his tails so that he could fly over the robot, lowering his arms so that he could grab Sonic away before he got burnt by the robot's flamethrower. "Nice save, bro!"

"It's no use, Sonic!" the two could hear Eggman say, "I must apologize to my newest allies, but it's for the greater good."

After that, Sonic and Tails landed, seeing a bunch of missiles shoot out of the ports on top of the machine. "Oh crud." gulped the hedgehog, seeing fire cover the entire forest. In the blink of an eye, the entire jungle was covered in flames, surprising the duo. "H-He burnt the entire island! Robotnik's gone nuts!"

The round robot flew out of their reach as Sonic and Tails processed what just happened. "Did he just do that?!" Tails shouted the question in disbelief.

Sonic shook his head, "Enough about that! We may not be able to do so now, but we gotta trash that bot before he could burn anything else down in his rampage!"

Tails nodded, following Sonic as the two sprinted. The hedgehog jumped atop another Badnik, destroying it and saving the critter inside. Following the path, Sonic noticed a small hole as well as the faint sound of a giant ring. Following the sound, he and Tails leaped down the hole next to a rock and went to the left to follow the noise, finding themselves in a small cavern,

"Uh, Sonic?" Tails pointed upward. Sonic faced up, seeing another Warp Ring above them. Seeing a yellow spring planted on the ground next to them, the duo jumped on it, flying toward the Warp Ring where they vanished inside.

---

Knuckles slammed his fist on the keyboard in anger, "Why did he do that to our island!?"

Big Mac gulped, "Knuckles... Why did Mister Robotnik do that? I-It's not right!"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Mac." the echidna commented, "Robotnik probably had enough of Sonic and Tails and wants them gone through any means necessary... I just wish he didn't blow up my island to do so!"

The colt watched as Knuckles tried to calm himself down as he figured out his next trap. Big Mac looked at the monitors, seeing Sonic and Tails fall out of the ring, back on the spring, and leaping back onto the surface where they continued their trail. 'If Robotnik is a nice guy... Then why did he torch our island?' he thought, figuring out why the scientist would perform such a cruel act.

Grunting, Knuckles looked away from the monitors, "They got another emerald... Great. If anything, the rings in the jungle are the easiest to find. The others should be in more hidden locations."

"Didn't Robonik say Sonic could use the energy?" Mac wondered.

"Yeah," Knuckles answered, "In fact, he used an ascended form when I ran into him to take the emeralds. Luckily, I got him off guard, which allowed me to nullify the energy he harnessed long enough for me to grab them."

"You can do that?" Big Mac asked.

With a smirk, the guardian continued, "Yeah. As guardian of the Master Emerald, I was given many unique abilities to hone Chaos Energy. Once we're done physical training and this ordeal, perhaps I'll teach you as well, kid."

"Cool!" cheered the colt.

---

Sonic and Tails continued their trek through the burning Angel Island, seeing the small animals run and the trees burning made their skin crawl, but for now they couldn't focus on that as Robotnik's machine was a bigger priority. "Robotnik's always been sick, but to burn someone's island? That's too far!" shouted Sonic.

"Was he like this when you first met him?" Tails asked.

The hedgehog shook his head, "Not quite. He turned animals into robots, be he wasn't crazy enough to burn Green Hill! Then again, he did keep an entire planet enslaved before I met ya." he revealed to his pal, who growled in disgust.

The duo jumped on the platforms, avoiding the water below entirely. Tails lifted Sonic long enough so that the two could avoid the Badniks that awaited them. Once they were away from the water, the two landed on a small pattern and jumped off a small cliff to the right, landing in another area. "Those rocks look strange." pointed out the hedgehog, pointing above him.

"But we can't break them." observed the fox. "We're not able to reach them and even then, there's a spring right there."

Sonic nodded, and jumped on a rock, using it as a stand. He turned to the left, seeing another cliff and then he jumped, destroying the Badnik near the edge. He then saw something familiar to him standing near the right wall. "A monitor? Here?" he wondered. At that moment, Tails hovered next to him, also confused.

"I didn't know Angel Island had shield monitors." Tails noted.

The hedgehog put a finger on his chin, "Wait... The symbol on the screen is different than the other ones. It has flames on this one. Let's see what this is about." Sonic jumped on the monitor, a red orb surrounding his body as he landed. The orb also covered Tails, surprising him.

"Woah. It's a flame shield or something!" Sonic realized. "How is that even possible?"

"The monitors placed on the island seem to be elemental based, judging by this. I wonder if this gives us an immunity to fire." the fox wondered aloud.

Sonic smirked, "I guess we're about to find out!"

The duo jumped up and ran through the empty field, seeing the round robot from earlier descend. "Yo, Robotnik! This tin can of yours can't do anything to us!" the hero bragged. The robot silently responded by activating its flamethrower. Sonic remained still as his shield absorbed the heat. "Awesome!" he cheered. The hedgehog then jumped, but an idea came to him.

He pushed himself forward, creating a small burst of fire as he lunged, hitting the robot. Tails mirrored his actions and the two bounced atop the robot with ease, taking the missiles that it launched and absorbing their heat as well. Sonic and Tails stopped once they heard the robot explode and landed on the ground.

Then, out of nowhere, a spinning sign began to fall toward the ground. As if he saw it before, Sonic decided to play around and jumped, causing the sign to bounce in middair. Tails laughed as he joined in on the fun before finally allowing the sign to land, it showing Sonic and Tails' proud faces. The two posed as they cheered.

"Too easy! Piece of cake!" boasted Sonic, wagging a finger.

"That wasn't too bad!" Tails bragged, raising a fist.

---

Knuckles and Big Mac blinked. The colt was the first to break the awkward silence, "Uh, mister Knuckles... Where did the sign come from?" he asked.

The echidna answered, "Your guess is as good as mine... What I'm wondering is how it has Sonic and Robotnik's face. Maybe it's like a territorial thing. I should make one with our faces on it just to rub it in theirs." he heard the red colt laugh at that.

Then, Knuckles looked back at the monitors, seeing Sonic and Tails run again. "Soon they're gonna be at the bridge. You ready for the trap?" he wondered.

"Eeyup!"

---

Sonic and Tails ran on the field, ready for what was ahead. "That was a little too easy." admitted the hedgehog, "Robuttnik's got somethin' waiting for us ahead."

"Most likely." Tails replied, "We should also keep an eye out for any Warp Rings. From the look of things, they're hiddn in strange areas this time, so we should be careful."

Sonic nodded, "You got it!"

Something tackled Sonic and Tails, getting rid of the flame shields that surrounded them. "Ah!" grunted the hedgehog, picking himself up off the grass. "What the heck was that?"

Metal clanging was heard, bringing shivers to the duo's spines. "What is that?" Tails gulped.

"You! Hand me the Chaos Emeralds!"

Sonic's eyes went wide at the sight of the familiar tall, blue robot that threatened him. "Metal Sonic!? I thought I trashed you back on Little Planet!" he shouted, getting back on his feet and helping Tails do the same.

"My loathsome copy... if you must know, I was upgraded. I am now Mecha Sonic! And I will be your end." Mecha Sonic revealed. "Now, hand me the Chaos Emeralds you have if you value your pitiful life!" he repeated his command.

Sonic clenched his fists, "And what if I don't you bucket of bolts?"

Mecha Sonic spoke, "Then you will suffer the consequences."

Comments

[Nova Blaze]

I feel bad for Knuckles and Mac right now. They want to believe Robotnik, but the evidence is building.

[Bryce98]

I was kind of hoping that this story would follow Knuckles' story in S3&K. The one where he's the playable. But whatever, maybe that one happens after Sonic's story.
I mean, after being shown up by Sonic wrecking Robotnik on the Death Egg and then Doomsday Zone, going up to the remains of Sky Sanctuary and having an epic showdown with Mecha Sonic is pretty awesome. Especially since Mecha Sonic is powered up by the Master Emerald.