Sonic Origins Vol 1: Rainbow Dash's Story

by LightWinzz

Chapter 9: Strange, Isn't It?

Author's Note:

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog, My Little Pony, or Dragon Ball Xenoverse.

---

Chapter 9: Strange, Isn't It?

"Hooohohohohohooo!" Dr. Robotnik laughed, rubbing his hands together in satisfaction as he watched the spectacle on the large monitor in front of him.

Today was a great day for the doctor. Not only had he managed to finally form the start of his empire after so many failed attempts, due to one blue annoyance, but now he had not one, but two of his headaches about to be dealt with. On the screen was at the rapid passing of the Stardust Speedway, a raceway he had specifically designed to test Metal Sonic's abilities when he first developed him. Now, his creation was racing on it yet again, but this time with a little competition.

On the speedway, the camera made sure to get a good focus on the three streaks of light, each one trying to push ahead of each other. The purple one was Metal, the blue one was Sonic, and the rainbow one was, well, Rainbow Dash. The doctor grinned to himself. If there was anything he learned from fighting Sonic all this time, it's that he had the advantage when it came to speed. Now that both his and Rainbow's advantage has been taken away, it was just a matter of time until Metal disposed of them both.

"Man, those critters won't know what hit 'em," Cubot said in his southern drawl. "That Metal may not a be a pleasant fella to be around, but he knows how to really bring 'em in."

"You seem to have out did yourself this time doctor," Orbot said in admiration.

Robotnik, without taking his eyes off the screen, gave another wicked grin. "Metal isn't like the rest of you bots. He is of a much more advanced design that I've been working on for quick some time now. Most of my machines wouldn't have been able to handle the massive amount of processing power required to manage all his systems. However, using data I've gathered from my past encounters with Sonic, I've managed to break past those limits and have created a full blown, perfect killing machine."

"Excellent great doctor," Orbot congratulated," however, why is it that he seems to act out of line more than any other badnik?"

"Unfortunately, in order for Metal's body to be used at its fullest potential, I had to give Metal full sentience, just like yourselves," Robotnik said in a more serious tone.

"Umm…doesn't that give him the power to betray us or somethin'?" asked Cubot.

"Indeed it does," Robotnik answered. "But no need to fret. When I built him I installed a program that made him automatically antagonize Sonic. From his first awakening, he had a certain hatred for that hedgehog just like I do. So, while its possible for him to betray us, he will do anything to destroy Sonic first. Even if he did end up doing so, I can just activate his final shutdown switch. His entire body will completely shut down if he tries anything too out of line."

It was at this point that he heard a loud "huff" from behind him. He turned and saw the real Amy still in her cage, looking at both him and the screen with a glare.

"You must be crazy if you think that bucket of bolts can beat Sonic!" she shot at the doctor as she held the bars of her cage.

Robotnik flashed her a grin. "Insanity has its virtues little girl, and right now it's paying off nicely."

Amy gave him a pout before she looked back at the race on the screen. She could see Sonic and that pegasus she saw on the monitors before clashing on the track with that robot Robotnik sent after them. She gripped the bars a little harder as she prayed in her head that she was right. That robot was absolutely terrifying to her when she first saw it. While it might have looked like Sonic, it was too cold to be anything like him. She could still remember those bright, but at the same time, dark eyes of his.

"Don't worry about your little boyfriend," said Robotnik. "Metal will be sure to end him quickly. As for the pony, I have other plans for her."

"What do you mean?" Amy asked.

To answer her question, a smaller monitor floated down to her cage with an outline of the pegasus on it. Many graphs, charts, and dials were all going crazy as a red energy swirled around the inside of the outline.

"This girl has some strange power hidden inside her that I wish to understand in detail," he answered. "Once Metal has finished off Sonic and brought me the remaining Time Stones, I plan on having him capture her alive. Then we can truly discover what makes her tick."

Amy didn't really like the tone in his voice when he said that. Whatever he was planning she knew wasn't anything good. While she had no idea who this pony really was, she was with Sonic, so in her head she supposed that was as good a reason to hope she makes it through this whole thing as well.

"Whoever you are, please get Sonic through this in one piece," Amy pleaded in her head.

---

While air was still a little hot around her, it felt a lot better to Rainbow now that she was going at her best. Even with the little field around them, air was still blowing through her mane and past her ears. She only wished she had her goggles right now. While they weren't necessary, they did help her to see little better with the breeze in her eyes.

From the very start of the race, she was really having to push herself to stay on par with the other two. Sonic was doing the figure eight with his legs again as his arms were thrown behind him, not taking his eyes off the track for even a second. Metal, on the other hoof, was flying just like she was, the jet on his back shooting out a purple streak as he did. He too was keeping his eyes on the track, completely uninterested in what her and Sonic were doing. She decided it was probably best for her to do the same. It was hard enough as it was making sure she didn't accidentally careen in the field and be sent flying.

The track itself was pretty basic. It was just a flat speedway with a few dips and turns. Sometimes they'd come across a little twist or something, but other than that it was rather bare.

Her thoughts were brought back to what was in front of her as a sharp turn suddenly came up, directing the three racers to the left. Sonic grabbed the bag that was on his back and brought it to his chest. He then rolled into a ball and began drifting around the corner, sparks flying from underneath him. He was getting rather close to Rainbow as he visibly struggled to make the turn, prompting her to fly a little higher while still trying to make the turn. As she did, however, she didn't notice Metal coming from behind, practically cutting her off. He made the incredibly sharp turn while she was sent off course from the action.

She managed to right herself just in time. Her wings flared, stopping her just short of hitting the invisible barrier. She was now semi upside-down, her stomach area ever close to the would be ceiling of the track. Very subtly she could feel the trickle of energy from it making her fur stand up on end. She strained her wings trying to keep herself making the turn, but she pulled it off. The turn finally ended, and she was able to get back in a proper flying position.

She let out a breath she had been holding in and looked to where she was now. She was just a little ways behind Metal now, and Sonic just ahead of him. The bag Sonic had tucked in earlier was on his back once again. With a flap of her wings, she pushed forward, slowly inching her way back to their side.

She was about to catch up to the metallic hedgehog. As she did, however, she felt a little pressure being exerted from in front of her. Her eyes wandered to metal, and she could easily see the purple aura from before becoming increasingly more prominent. The turbine on his back started to spin even faster than it had been before, causing a powerful wind to blow in her eyes. In an instant, Metal just zoomed ahead at an even faster rate than before, quickly gaining on Sonic. Rainbow looked on in shock at how fast this thing was. She was already pushing herself, and from what she could tell, so was Sonic. But Metal didn't even look strained at all from all this. She guessed it made sense since he was a robot. But what was with that aura all of a sudden?

With his newfound speed, Metal quickly caught up to Sonic. The blue hedgehog, with a twitch of his ear, instinctively turned to the bot gaining on him, seeing his metallic hand reaching out to him. The hand was trying to clamp onto the bag. Quickly, Sonic sidestepped away from Metal, his hand missing the bag by an inch.

"So, it's a game of keep away now is it? Sonic taunted.

Metal's only response was a synthetic series of beeps, but mostly to himself, as she raced next to his doppelganger.

Once again, he made an attempt to grab the bag from Sonic, but Sonic saw this one coming from a mile away. He jumped over Metal, letting the robot fly right under him. As he landed, however, he saw that Metal had seen that coming, and the bot swiped his leg under Sonic's. The action caused Sonic to trip up as he began to roll at high speeds, trying to find the best way to right himself. Metal took the chance to grab the bag again, and this time Sonic couldn't focus on his approach.

Just as Metal's fingers touched the leather bag, he was suddenly taken off course by a powerful hit to the head. He looked and saw the pegasus from before had caught up to them and had bucked him square on his metal cheek. He was about to swipe at her, but before he could she delivered another powerful kick to his face, causing him to lose his ground and, in a similar fashion to Sonic, rolled as he skimmed the floor, falling behind them both.

With a strong twist of his body, Sonic managed to right himself as he got back on his feet. He stumbled at first, but was quickly able to balance himself as he sped up again. He found a place next to Rainbow, the two now racing down the straight together.

"Hey thanks!" Sonic said giving her a thumbs up. "He nearly got me there for a second."

"No problem," Rainbow responded. "But you nearly hit me a second ago ya know."

Sonic scratched his cheek nervously at that. "Hey, you made it though. Good job on that part."

The two ceased their conversation when the sound of a loud hum was heard behind them. They looked back to see that Metal had recovered from the crash. Now he was not only gaining on them too quickly for their liking, but he was also curled up into a ball like Sonic had done before and was flying through the air. That wasn't even the worst of it, however. Surrounding his entire body were arcs of yellow electricity, some of them zapping the floor, others being drawn to the invisible field.

In huge burst of speed, the ball of lightning dashed straight toward the duo, forcing them to part from one another as it went between them. Both Rainbow and Sonic could feel the overwhelming amount of static emanating from Metal, even having to position their bodies as to avoid the bolts. Metal then uncurled from the ball and set his eyes on Rainbow, the pegasus getting chills sent down her spine as her eyes met his. With a bright flash of red of his eyes, he delivered a kick straight at Rainbow. She dodged it, only to see Metal rearing back a punch, small amounts of electricity dancing around it. Quickly, Rainbow brought up her fore hooves and threw them up in front of her face. The gesture protected her as the punch made contact, but that didn't stop the trace electricity from shocking her. She winced from the pain, but held firm as she continued to keep up her defense and keep in the race.

In response, she pushed herself higher than the metal hedgehog and attempted to buck him from above. Metal was easily able to counter this with two powerful kicks, making sure to exert pressure with the jet on his back.

Sonic, seeing his chance, turned to Metal as he was attacking Rainbow Dash and delivered a kick toward him. This didn't go unnoticed by Metal, however. With his right arm outstretched, he grasped Sonic's leg and pulled him in closer. In a series of movements that the two speedsters couldn't even begin to comprehend, Metal managed to push Rainbow's buck back as he caused her to flip back in the air, all while twisting his body and delivering a punch to Sonic's gut. The attack forced Sonic to cough up spit as all the air left his body.

Upon catching herself in the air, Rainbow attacked Metal once again. With his attention on Sonic, Rainbow crashed straight into him, making sure to wrap both of her hooves around him. The impact caused Metal to release Sonic as the blue hog fell to the floor once again, falling behind the two. Rainbow and Metal on the other hoof, were now flying through the air together, her hooves tightly grasping Metal's arms and Metal's left hand grasping Rainbow Dash's shoulder.

Both of their faces were mere centimeters from one another. Rainbow grit her teeth as she tried to keep herself from crashing into the sides. While of course Metal would've come with her, she'd have to guess that she'd be in pretty bad shape afterwards. She looked at the metal hog in the face. He didn't even seem fazed by the sudden attack. If anything, she was just being an annoyance right now.

Through the constant struggling, she noticed Metal's aura flaring up yet again. Before she could even process what was happening, she suddenly found herself spinning rapidly through the air, her and Metal still locked to each other. It felt like she was locked in a tornado. From behind the metal hedgehog, she could see his turbine on his back glowing bright. He was doing this intentionally. As the spinning got even faster, a quick jolt was sent through her hooves. She winced at the pain, but it didn't stop there. Her entire body was suddenly being lashed at by arcs of electricity, the source of course being Metal. To anypony looking at the two from a distance, it looked like two blue objects spiraling around one another with orange lightning twisting with them as they raced down the track.

Rainbow could feel the stings and aches throughout her body, the electricity causing her mane to stick up in places. She immediately tried pushing away from Metal, but this proved to be more difficult than she originally thought. Metal's claw hand was digging into her shoulder, both causing her pain and keeping her within the vortex. He squeezed a little harder as she began to struggle against his grip. Rainbow got another look at him through her squinted eyelids, trying her hardest to break free from the pain. His face was still unchanging. It was cold and stern.

Another wave of shocks over took her body, causing her to cry out in pain again. She pushed again, this time also using her back hooves. Metal felt this and squeezed even tighter, digging deeply into her. Rainbow cried out again. The skin around her shoulder was starting to turn red from the treatment and it wasn't getting any better.

'Come on Dash think!' she thought to herself as her body endured the punishment. 'Arrghh…this is getting unbearable! My shoulder feels like it's about to be pulled off! You gotta use your head! Wait…'

Without thinking any farther, Rainbow did something she never thought she'd have to do. Looking Metal straight in his red eyes, she reared her head back, and with all the strength she could muster, smashed it straight into his face. The strike forced Metal's head to jerk back as his grip loosened slightly. Rainbow herself was feeling the effects from her decision and was immediately regretting it. Holding back the tears that threatened to streak her cheeks, she gave another hefty push against the bot, slowly forcing herself out of the twist they were in. That is until the pain in her shoulder returned in full force.

She cried out again as not only was Metal's left hand still gripping her shoulder, but now he was using his other hand on her other shoulder as well, having the same effect. Metal's head came back up to look at her. While his face was unchanged, the red glow in his eyes and the purple aura were much more prominent. Without warning, the shocks returned, only with a lot more force to them. Rainbow could hear a sharp ringing noise as the electricity intensified, her body beginning to go into short spasms.

"Hey Metal!" Sonic's voice rung out.

While both Metal and Rainbow were still in their spiral, that didn't stop Metal from being able to find the source of the voice thanks to his internal radar. Taking his attention away from the writhing pegasus, Metal was able to see that Sonic was running right next to them, and there was something in his right hand.

"You want them?! You can have them!" he said before throwing it ahead of them.

As Sonic expected, Metal stopped the spinning and the electricity as he released Rainbow Dash, much to the pegasus's relief as she tried to stay airborne. Pushing his thruster to the max, Metal instantly managed to snag the object and keep ahead of the two.

Meanwhile, Rainbow continued to breathe heavily while trying her best not to throw up and stay moving. It came awfully close, too. Her body shook once more as she tried to get the last of the shocks out of her system.

"You ok there Colors?" she heard Sonic say to her side. "You looked like you were having some fun."

"Yeah," she said in between breathes. "Thanks for whatever you did. For second there I thought I was gonna be cooked."

Rainbow got a quick look at her shoulders and saw how red they both were. The left one looked the worst, as it took the longest amount of punishment. There were nearly a few puncture marks on it from Metal's fingers, too.

She looked back at Sonic, raising an eyebrow as she saw that there was something different about him.

"Uh Sonic?" she asked. "Where are the Time Stones?"

She could've sworn that Sonic sweat dropped at that as he scratched his cheek nervously. With his other hand, he pointed ahead of them. She followed his finger until she spotted Metal, who was no longer focused on them and seemed to be just bent on keeping ahead of them. She also spotted a particularly familiar bag in his grasp.

"You gave them to Metal?!" she accused.

"Hey, I needed something to get you two apart, and I don't think he could pass up getting his claws on those babies," Sonic defended.

Rainbow was about to retort, but stopped herself as she realized Sonic pretty much saved her a second ago by doing that. In a sense, he gave up the things he's been trying to keep safe this whole time so he could help her? Someone he's only known for a short time and barely knows anything about? Great. Now if she tried to say anything back she'd just seem like some kind of a jerk. She pouted on the inside a little from that, but sucked it up as she looked back at Sonic.

Struggling with her words for a bit, she managed to get out, "Thanks…"

Sonic looked back at her curiously, but with a little smirk as well. "Huh? I didn't hear that."

"Just shut up," she said back to him with a now visible pout. Sonic just smiled.

"Ah don't get your feathers all ruffled," he said. "We're still in the race, aren't we? Leave it to me and we'll have those stones back in no time."

"You have a plan?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said as a matter of factly. "We just have to go faster!"

Rainbow nearly fell to the floor when she heard that. "You're kidding me. That's your big plan?!"

"I never said it was complicated lady," he sassed.

Rainbow face hooved. How is it that this world's hero was one of the most simple minded kids she's ever met. Then it hit her. Maybe it was just that simple. She had her boost that she talked about with Twilight. Whenever she was like that she was nearly unstoppable; the fastest she's ever been.

"Well, if its needing to be faster is what we need, then you have nothing to worry about squirt," she said.

Without waiting for a response, she closed her eyes, reaching out for that feeling she had grown accustomed to the past week. She searched, and searched, and searched. That's when she felt it. The burning sensation in her chest. The strength in her heart that she could feel returning. She could feel it growing by the second as she let it take over her body. No…wait…

The burning feeling left her as she let out a burp.

"…"

"…"

What…

A snicker was heard from the blue hedgehog. "Well? Is that it?"

Rainbow's eyes darted back and forth as she looked at her hooves. What happened? Why isn't it working? It always worked when she needed it before! Why not now?! Why—

"Whoa! Heads up!" Sonic alerted her.

Rainbow was brought out of her thoughts by this and quickly noticed an arc of orange electricity shooting straight at them. The two parted, the bolt flying between them before dissipating. It didn't take genius to find out what caused that. Just ahead of them, she spotted Metal, only this time he was flying backwards, facing them with his right arm extended. She also noticed that said arm was coated in bright sparks.

"Huh. I guess he didn't want this to be over too soon either," Sonic said with a smirk. "Come on Colors! Time to juice!"

With that said, Sonic burst ahead, ready to face the metal hedgehog, who was still staring them down impassively. Rainbow, on the other hoof, was trapped within her own thoughts at the moment. She had grown so accustomed to her new powers there the past few days. Before, they felt like they came as naturally as breathing, or seeing. Now she didn't feel a thing, as if they had just completely abandoned her when she needed them the most. What went wrong…

Rainbow looked on to the ensuing chase between Sonic and Metal, the latter continuing to shoot bolts at the former. She couldn't help but see the look on Sonic's face as he weaved around the attacks. That gleeful, carefree look he had, despite what was going on. If anything, he looked as if he was enjoying himself. Rainbow's eyes narrowed.

You know what, she didn't need those powers. She didn't know why they were gone exactly, but it didn't matter. Sonic doesn't need anything like that to continue moving forward. He didn't need an edge of any kind. He just went in without care. With a determined look, Rainbow pushed forward, joining Sonic in his fight.

Metal, still attempting to zap his double, noticed the pegasus now making a move. While his main fight was with Sonic, Metal couldn't help but see the threat this equine could be to him. Her speed was on par with Sonic's, and while he couldn't understand the motivation, he could see how determined she looked right now.

Metal looked back to Sonic, shooting out another bolt to make sure he doesn't get any closer than he already was, before looking back to Rainbow. Unconsciously, Metal's left hand began to clench tightly around the straps of the bag he was holding. He couldn't compute why, but he felt something he didn't understand when he looked at her. He had no emotions, so he shouldn't be feeling them. So…why did he feel so enraged by her presence?

Metal lowered his right hand and hung his head low, his eyes being covered by his own shadow. Sonic and Rainbow looked perplexed by this as they continued to keep up with him. This quickly turned to a look of caution. Without warning, the dark purple aura around Metal suddenly flared up, and not just a little. The aura flare was engulfing his whole body, constantly swirling around him as his head was brought back up. They didn't know if it was possible for his eyes to be anymore red, but somehow, it sure seemed like it. Plus, the enormous amount of killing intent they felt from him was more than a little intimidating.

Metal's head suddenly jerked in Rainbow's direction before he fired up his jet and made a beeline straight for her, the bag he took from Sonic being dragged with him.

---

"NO NO NO NO NO!" Robotnik yelled at the top of his lungs, his hands frantically scratching his bald head.

He couldn't explain what was happening right now. Everything was going great. Metal had managed to snatch the Time Stones from Sonic, he managed to keep both of his enemies at bay, and he was able to keep a steady lead ahead of them, practically securing him victory. So why was he going back!

"What does that bot think he's doing?!" he yelled again.

"It seems he wants to do a bit more than do a simple retrieval mission sir," Orbot said observantly.

It was true. On the screen, they saw Metal go straight for the pony in a flash of purple. The two clashed, Sonic joining in soon after. Now, there were three streaks colliding with one another as they raced down the track. The blue one and the rainbow one were obviously Sonic and Rainbow Dash, both of them weaving around each other as they fought for dominance against the purple one.

"Ya sure yawl are seein' things right?" asked Cubot as he tapped his chin. "All I see is a bunch of crazy lights. I'm sure my eyes aren't as bad as my voice chip, which ya still haven't gotten around to fixin' doc—"

He was quickly silenced when Robotnik smashed his fist into the top of his head, forcing him back into his cubed state.

"Not so confident now are you!" he heard Amy insult him from the cage behind him. "I already told you, nothing can beat my Sonic! He's gonna trash that fake and be here any minute!"

The doctor rubbed his brow in annoyance. He didn't have the patience to retort at this point. Looking back at the current situation on screen he let out a grunt. If you want something done the way you want it, it's best just to get your hands dirty and do it yourself.

Getting up from his chair, he cupped his hands behind his back and silently walked to the exit to his control room, ignoring Amy as he passed her cage.

"Doctor?!" exclaimed Orbot. "Where are you going?!"

"Making sure things get done right for a change!" he yelled back in agitation. "You two stay here and watch the girl. I'll be back with those stones even if I have to tear the planet apart to do it."

---

Punch, punch, kick.

Rainbow twisted through the air as Metal made another pass. His claw came close to her face, but only barely grazed it as it passed.

Spin, retreat, charge.

Sonic came out of his spin dash as his fist collided with that of Metal's. He definitely felt the pain from punching what was basically a solid object, but bit it down as the two pushed off of one another.

Flip, punch, strike.

Rainbow flew into the air with Metal again, delivering a powerful punch to his head. The hit caused him to fly back, but not before his body started spinning separately from his head and struck her with the very bag they were trying to grab.

Run, fly, fight.

The three racers were still locked in their speedy battle along the raceway. To anyone else it would be nearly impossible to tell what was happening, as they were all going simply too fast to track. Rainbow herself was having a little bit of trouble keeping up with all that was happening, but she continued forward none the less, making sure to keep up with Metal and Sonic.

She grunted in pain as she rubbed the cheek where she was hit by that dang bag, but pushed the feeling back as she moved on. That bag. So close were her and Sonic to taking it so many times. Although, whenever it seemed that they had it in their grasp, Metal just twisted the whole situation on top of them and pushed them away. Plus, for some reason he was very aggressive towards her for the past few minutes. She didn't know what brought this change, but in a way, it was helping them. As long as he was trying to deal with them, he wasn't winning the race, which pained Rainbow Dash to realize.

Sonic was at her side as he collided with Metal again, this time meeting with flurries of kicks. It was a spectacle watching Sonic's legs being able to counter those attacks while still being able to run, albeit at a slightly slower pace than before.

"Little help here would be nice!" he requested to Rainbow.

Rainbow quick shot herself at Metal, already with a punch at the ready. It was about to make contact until Metal suddenly managed to sweep his leg under Sonic's, giving him enough breathing room to rotate his entire body and let her glide right past him. Rainbow was thankfully able to stop herself from hitting the boundaries, and Sonic caught himself from falling completely as he firmly planted his palm on the floor and flipped himself upright, staying right behind his counterpart.

Without missing a beat, Sonic rushed up to the opposite side of Metal that Rainbow was now on. Rainbow herself was lining up with them as they all raced down the track neck and neck.

"Now!" Rainbow shouted across to Sonic.

Metal looked between the two and noticed how he was being sandwiched in as the two quickly encroached. Turning to Dash, he caught her hoof as she tried to strike him, forcing her to back off as he pushed her away. Likewise, he turned to Sonic and saw him performing a spin dash straight at him, which he quickly countered by clutching the bag to his metal chest and performing his own spin dash. The two struck, and they bounced off each other with a flash of sparks.

From outside the track, the three streaks of light could be seen ramming into each other on multiple occasions, mostly the blue and rainbow ones being constantly bounced away by the purple one. There were several times when the purple one was sent off course from the other two attacking it together, only for it strike back with just as much force and reclaim its spot. This process even continued as the track suddenly turned into a short corkscrew before returning to its flatter surface.

After being pushed back once again, both Rainbow and Sonic jumped straight at Metal together, attempting to strike at him while they had him pressured. Metal, with quick precision, used their own momentum against them as he lurched up and spread his legs, catching them both in their jaws with two powerful kicks. The attack forced them to fall behind him, and he didn't let up on them one bit. He turned around and raised his right arm again, shooting more bolt at them.

Sonic and Rainbow had to be quick and precise with their actions as they dodged the attacks. One step in the wrong direct, on delay in their reaction, and that could very well put them out of the race at best. The storm of electricity that lashed out at them was relentless, making light explosions and scorch marks where they hit.

This didn't affect Rainbow in the slightest. The moment she saw an opening in the attacks, she charged right back at Metal, fore hooves outstretched. Since she had nearly every direction to dodge in, is was much easier for her to avoid being struck as she spun and twisted through the air.

"I've got you now!" she yelled with confidence as she approached the Metal hog.

Her cry didn't come to fruition, however.

As she approach Metal, his entire body suddenly and voluntarily dropped, completely disappearing from her view. Understandably, she was left extremely confused at the sudden action, but came to understand what happened soon after. The track, barriers and all, dipped into a straight fall. For Rainbow, this meant she was heading straight for what would be considered the 'roof' of the track. Without thinking, she tucked her wings in and angled her body down, doing whatever she could to avoid the fast approaching invisible fence. Thankfully, she was able to pull it off, putting herself in freefall as she followed the track and her target. She flared out her wings again, but mostly let gravity carry her from here. A thought in the back of her head surfaced as she thought of Sonic, prompting her to quickly look back up, watching to see what he would do about the change.

Her question was soon answered when he suddenly ran straight off the edge and fell straight down. He didn't seem deterred, however, almost like he was okay with having to fall perpetually in a race. He curled up into a spin dash as his body slowly drifted closer to the floor of the track, which might as well have been a cliff face at this point. As his ball like body touched the track again it unleashed some small sparks from the light tap. Not a second later did his body hit it again as he finally was able to uncurl, allowing him to run again, albeit straight down.

Rainbow didn't get to watch him for much longer. Very soon, the track, which was still in a straight drop, looked like it was starting to curve in on itself. She realized it was because the whole thing was turning into a downward spiral. Great. As if she didn't have enough of these nausea wrenching spins for today.

Angling one of her wings, she started spinning right along with it, making sure not to get caught by the invisible walls. For Sonic, all he had to do was follow the track he was running on. It wasn't long until she was able to spot Metal again, spinning just like she was as not to crash. From the outside, it now looked like the two speedsters forming a double helix with their respective streaks of light as they chased after the purple streak, which was forming its own spiral downward.

Metal looked back at his two pursuers, seeing how they were still able to keep up with him. Still, it's not like he was going at his top speed yet. If he was they would've stood no chance. It was strange. During his testing, he never was able to reach the speeds he was able to now. But, for some reason he could see, he was able to attain new heights after his short encounter with the two. It was like something was pushing him on, like it was wanting him to be stronger than them. Although, while he had this new speed, he didn't really want to utilize it. He felt a growing urge in his systems, which was odd for him. He felt the need to destroy, like all that mattered was taking these two down.

"Metal!" he heard being yelled through his internal radio. "Stop messing around and leave those pests in the dust. You've completed your primary objective. Leave the rest to me."

As he heard that, he managed to spot what looked like a fast moving, flying object outside the spiral, despite his constant spinning. His eyes flashed red briefly, but he supposed he could let it go for now. As much as he hated Sonic, and that pony, it wasn't his place to question the doctor's orders…yet. Looking back at the bag, he let out a series of beeps as he pushed ahead.

Meanwhile, Sonic and Rainbow Dash were still giving chase to the speedy bot. To be honest, however, they had been spinning so much now that they were surprised they hadn't thrown up their lunches yet. Sonic himself was looked awfully close to his breaking point as his gloved hand was clamping his mouth shut. Rainbow herself was feeling the effects as well, her stomach being tossed around like it was a ragdoll. Pretty soon, she'd be joining him. Thankfully, Rainbow noticed Metal making a sudden change in direction as he vanished from sight once again. If she wasn't mistaken, that hopefully meant they were evening out. Her wish came true as they both followed the new direction of the track, resulting back in the flat track they wanted.

Sonic looked as if he just swallowed something as he breathed out heavily. "Man…I don't think I could've held out much longer in there. I was about to have to call a quits if the rest of thing was like that."

Rainbow shook her head rapidly and held her stomach, doing her best to shake off the nausea. "Tell me about it."

Another thought came to mind shortly after, however. "Wait, where's Metal?"

"If I'm a guessing guy, I'd say that's him way up there," Sonic responded with a nod of his head.

Rainbow looked to where he gestured and indeed saw the Metal hedgehog. However, unlike all the other times where he was practically bent on attacking them, this time he looked to be going all out with his speed. The only thing they could easily make out at this point was the shining light from his jet in the distance.

"What's he doing?" she asked worriedly. "Does he just not care about us anymore?"

"He does not," a familiar voice said from somewhere behind them. "And it's better this way anyway."

The two looked back to find the voice. When they didn't see anything initially they looked up as well. Following them closely from behind the other side of the barrier was none other than Dr. Robotnik, in his flying egg mobile no less.

"Bout time you showed up doc," Sonic taunted. "It was getting pretty boring without your constant threats to destroy me."

"Believe me," he started, "I'd much rather be sitting in nice comfy chair watching you two flail about aimlessly, but as it stands I can't take any more chances right now. With the Time Stones in the hand of Metal, I can't take the chance of you pests getting them back. So, I'm forced to deal with you otherwise."

"Pssch," Rainbow scoffed. "Like you could do anything from that thing. It looks like you can barely fit in there."

"I'll have you know it's quite roomy in here," Robotnik responded. "What with the medications I put into it since the last few iterations."

He didn't need super hearing in order to hear the snickers that resonated form the two below him, both of them covering their mouths to prevent streams of laughter to come out. A small vein grew on the doctor's head as his face turned red.

"Fixing his specs, he said forcefully, "Laugh all you want! By the end of today, I'll be the one having the last laugh!"

With a quick press of a button, the bottom of Robotnik's egg mobile opened up, revealing an orange glow inside. Without warning, a bright orange beam suddenly shot out of the opening. Bursting straight through the barrier, breaking apart some of the arcs as he moved, and crashing right into the floor. The floor, however, didn't hold out much either, as the beam just broke it apart on impact. Sonic's and Rainbow's eyes went wide as Robotnik was chasing them down the track with a smile on his face, the beam completely destroying the track behind them as he did.

"Ok…Now it's really time to move Colors!" Sonic exclaimed as he burst forward to outrun the beam, Rainbow following close behind.

"Hohohohoho!" Robotnik laughed. "And now for the final touch."

He quickly pressed another button on the console. Sonic and Rainbow heard another noise in the distance. It sounded like a loud thud mixed with the sound of engines. This brought another thing to their mind, outside the fact they were being chased by a death laser. Just ahead of them, and the supposed end to the track they were on, was the tower Rainbow had seen when she first got here. They would've gotten a better look at it, but they were more focused on what was going on just ahead of them.

They could still see Metal in the distance, but that was nothing new. Ahead of even him, they saw a massive opening in the tower, leading to what they could only make out as some kind of bay area. But even that was small news compared to what came next. To either side of the opening were a pair of massive industrial sized doors, and they were slowly but surely closing.

Seeing how far ahead Metal was right now, Rainbow could only guess that he would be able to make there in time before it closed completely, where as they had no such luck right now. They were still so far behind right now, and the moment those doors closed there was nowhere for them to go to when that beam hit. Rainbow looked frantically back and forth, surveying the whole track for some way out of this. She could try flying both herself and Sonic out of here since the beam was breaking through the barrier. Although, looking closer at it, it was easy to see that it wouldn't be that simple. She could see the way the barrier reacted to the beam as it ripped and glowed from the sudden contact of the heat, even ahead of them. It was those arcs. As long as they were in place the barrier would stay up. They only seemed to go down once they were destroyed, and by then it was already too late; the beam would be right on top of them.

Rainbow could feel the sweat rolling off her head as she racked her brain on what she could do, but nothing came to mind. She could faintly hear what sounded like the others yelling at her through her earpiece, but at the moment, their voices were faded out as she saw the doors getting ever closer and let a feeling take hold of her she hasn't had in a long while. Fear. Fear of losing everything right here. The fear of not being able to see her friends again. The fear of not being able to go back to Equestria. She could probably just connect with the Time Gate again and vanish back to Sol, in fact the thought crossed her mind many times in past few seconds. But if she did, she'd be leaving Sonic behind to suffer that fate. If she just abandoned somepony like that, what kind of pony would that make her?! She didn't want to admit it, but she actually felt defeated; defeated by a large eggman.

The doors got ever close to each other, Metal closing in on them with great speed as he got farther and farther away from them. She looked over to Sonic, and for the first time since she first met him, she was actually looking to him for advice on this whole thing. Although, when she did, she never once expected to see a smile on his face. A smile. Why a smile? Did he just not get what was going on or something?

He let out a short laugh as he grinned again. "Well, I guess it can't really be helped."

Rainbow looked at him with curious eyes, wondering where he was getting at, all while trying to take her mind of the noise of a rapidly approaching beam of death behind them. Sonic turned to face her and flashed her one of his signature grins.

"Kinda wanted to save this for another time," he said, "but now's a good a time as any I guess."

"Wait…what are you—"Rainbow asked, but was cut off as he quickly sidestepped over to her and grabbed her nearest hoof in his hand.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, but it was ignored.

Sonic looked ahead at the doors. He saw Metal way ahead of them as he neared the bay, ever sure of his win of the race. Sonic smirked at that. It was a little fun while it lasted, but now it was time to bring it all home.

"Hold onto your tailfeathers lady," he said. "We're going Super Sonic speeds!"

She was about to question what the hay he was talking about, but the words were soon lost in her throat. The whole world looked as if it was suddenly going in slow motion. She could feel Sonic's hand grasp her hoof tightly. She could hear ever footstep he made as they clashed with the floor. Finally, she saw it. A faint, white aura that enveloped Sonic's body. The spectacle reflected brightly in her magenta colored eyes as they shrunk. With one more step, Sonic's foot came down to the floor, with great power, wind being blown from it as it impacted. Finally, the world came back to its true speed, but not in the way she expected it.

Without warning, she was suddenly being dragged by the hoof as the wind punished her face, forcing her to squint her eyes or else bear the pain. Her ears, mane, wings, and tail were all being forced back by the force of the wind. From the little she could make out through her squinted eyes, if she could she would've let them go wide with astonishment. A blue cone now enveloped both of them as they were racing down the track at insane speeds. Sonic's legs were now a blur as they were moving too fast for her track. In stark contrast to her predicament, however, he didn't look deterred by this action at all.

Already she could see that they were quickly gaining on Metal and the doors just ahead of him. She looked back to Sonic and the fear suddenly returned, not for her life this time, however, but it was towards Sonic.

'How…how is he so fast?!' she asked herself in panic. 'Why is he so fast?!'

In the span of a couple of seconds, they were now directly behind Metal, causing him to turn around. It was already too late, however.

"Yoink!" Sonic exclaimed as he grabbed the bag from Metal's grasp, all while the force from their speed sent him flying, forcing him to regain control.

Metal quickly righted himself and burst forward and his max output. But it was far too late. Just as the doors began to close on one another, Sonic, still dragging Rainbow with him, managed to squeeze right between the gaps, leaving Metal to smash right into the solid steel wall full on, leaving a massive dent in the door with him in the middle.

Robotnik, seeing the sudden development, although still in disbelief at it, saw Metal crash into the blast door and attempted to bring his egg mobile to a full stop. This proved far more difficult, however, as he was trying to both stop and shut down the laser he was still firing. If the worst could happen, it did. He pulled up on throttle in order to stop, but in doing so, he accidentally caused the egg mobile to veer backwards, forcing the laser to be angled straight at the door.

Metal, still recovering from the normally lethal crash, looked back down the track, saw a great flash of orange light blind his receptors before his whole body was engulfed by it. As the laser struck the door, the track in front of it crumbled into the bottomless pit, an explosion taking place where Metal once stood.

A second too late, Robotnik managed to turn the laser off, leaving the whole area in completely silence, aside from the crumbling infrastructure. He stayed silent for who knows how long, until he finally just let go.

"CURSE THAT HEDGEHOG!" he growled at the top of his lungs. "CURSE THAT EQUINE! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR ONE THING TO GO AS PLANNED?! IS IT?!

He continued his rant for what seemed like minutes before he finally managed to calm down. Slumping back in his chair and wiped the sweat that had rolled onto his face.

He a mix of aggravation and defeat, he let out a sigh. "Those two aren't out of this just yet. I still have an army of badniks just waiting for a little action. I can still get the Time Stones, and if I'm lucky, I can capture that little pony as a bonus. Although, once this is all over I'm gonna have to build a new Sonic android. One that won't nearly jeopardize my plans. Hmm. Hyper Metal Sonic. That'll be the new name. Or maybe I should just call it the v. 2—"

Robotnik never managed to finish his sentence. He was sent flying as his egg mobile suddenly exploded, and a purple streak shot straight through it.

To be continued…