Chapter 11: Metal Madness
Chapter 11: Metal Madness
Rainbow's eyes shot open, the cold feeling of emptiness and nausea coming upon her yet again. She half expected to be face to face with Metal, his cold hands threatening to tear her apart wing from wing, his piercing eyes staring deep into her soul with a mix of hate and anger. Thankfully, that was not currently the case. Unfortunately, that presented even more questions. Oily smoke passed by her rapidly, seemingly spinning without end. She was back in the same trance that had trapped her in the tower before she encountered Metal.
Rainbow grunted to herself. Were these the effects of that stone she picked up? It happened right as she picked it up when she found it. Now she had it again and it looked as if its games weren't done with her just yet. She swore, it seemed this whole world was out to get her at the worst of times.
The smoke began to reveal shapes right before her eyes yet again. With quick flash of light, Rainbow was met with a giant, green and catlike eyeball staring right at her, the narrow pupil focusing in on her as if it was studying her being. Rainbow's own eyes grew wide, suppressing a frightened gasp as she stumbled backwards. The smoke partially parted to her movements and she nearly fell. The light came again and the eye was gone, bringing a new picture. Rainbow had trouble keeping herself up right as she couldn't see anything, her vision completely overcome with white.
To her relief, the light finally dimmed. Unfortunately, it revealed yet another image. This one was much different, as it seemed to encompass the entire area around her. She was in a large, metal room, the smoke still present as it continued to swirl. That's when she heard the crash. It made her jump, as she didn't expect the reverbing sound it made. She looked back and saw the culprit. Or, more like the culprits. Flashes of both blue and red streaks shot across and around the room. The two streaks were going at what she could only describe as sound breaking speeds. It wasn't long before the two collided with one another, resulting in another loud boom throughout the room. This cycle continued for what seemed like ages until the smoke began to cloud her vision yet again.
Rainbow looked on where the image took place in bewilderment, but quickly took on a stern stance as she glanced at the dull greys of clouds. "If you're trying to show me something, at least make it clear what your trying to get across and not something so vague!" she yelled, presumably to the Time Stone like it could hear her pleas.
Even though she asked for it, she never expected a result. In an instant, the smoke began to envelope her, like it was trying to wrap around her body and strangle her. Rainbow tried to shy away in sudden surprise, but it was to no avail. It was already upon her, and her vision turned to nothing.
Rainbow's breathe suddenly returned to her as her vision became clear again. She was still standing out in the open like she was when she was in her face off with Metal. She felt her right hoof firmly grasped around something. She looked down and saw that she still had the Time Stone in her possession. That felt like both a blessing and a burden at this point. She couldn't tell how long she had been in that trace, even if it had only seemed like a short amount of time.
"…KILL SONIC THE HEDGEHOG AND RAINBOW DASH." she heard from in front of her.
She quickly glanced up and froze at the eyes that looked as if they were trying to burn a hole straight through her head. Without hesitation, she swiftly threw herself back, a quick but precise metal claw coming centimeters from her snout. As it passed by her nose, she felt her body continue to fall backwards. She managed to get a good look at the obvious culprit as well. Metal Sonic was lashing out at her, this time, he looked like he was going for blood. The dark aura was now being expelled from his body in full, and his eyes were close to being completely red now.
Catching herself with her hooves, and the Time Stone now firmly gripped between her teeth, she delivered a powerful upward buck to his torso, sending him flying into the air. She knew she only had a second of breathing room. Rainbow capitalized on her attack and pushed herself straight at the metal hog. By this time Metal had recovered, and was now on an intercept course with the pegasus. Both reared back a punch, ready to strike the other. Rainbow was confident she could get hers off first, she just needed to watch where his was going.
Just as the two were about to collide, Metal suddenly vanished in a huge burst of speed, a blue after image being left behind for a split second. Rainbow looked on in astonishment, all before receiving a powerful kick to her cheek, Metal reappearing right next to her. She groaned in pain as she could feel her lip swell a little. Furthermore, it caused her to loosen her teeth on the Time Stone, the jewel flying from her grasp.
Rainbow then felt a quick punch to the gut, making her cough up as all her air left her. The strike had caused her to fly through the air, a sudden urge to lose consciousness enveloping her senses. She managed to fight them back, however, and focused back on her aggressor. She extended her wings, stopping her flight as she readied for the fast approaching bot. He was quickly upon her again, but just like before he vanished from sight. Rainbow's flier instincts kicked in as she quickly ducked to the left and turned back. Metal's kick had flown straight over her head, her mane barely being grazed by it. This was only a slight annoyance on Metal's part, however. Metal's torso spun completely around, turning separately from his head, and bringing the same kick around again.
Rainbow brought her hooves up in defense as the kick collided with them. With this painful defense stopping his spinning, Rainbow pushed him away, and bringing her own hoof up, she delivered a punch to his faceplate. With him temporarily stunned, few just a couple precious seconds, Rainbow backed off and retreated to where she dropped the stone. Seeing it lying flat on the ground, she swooped down and scooped it up in her hooves, making sure to hold it close to her chest.
She didn't even turn to see what happened to Metal. While she hated to admit it, he could easily overpower her with how he was right now. Her best chance was to fly as fast as she could away from the metal hog and get the Time Stone out of her hooves and with the others.
Tucking her hooves in and angling her body to be more aerodynamic, she dashed through the air at extreme speeds. The urban metropolis was a but a blur in her peripheral vision. She may not have her powers right now, but that didn't mean she had gotten slow.
"Silver?! Blaze?!" she questioned through her earpiece frantically.
"We know!" she heard Silver say in a similar tone. "Whatever's messing with him right now must have him targeting you! He doesn't even seem to care about the Time Stone anymore!"
"Seriously?! Why the hay would it make him come after me?! I thought it was after Sonic!" she exclaimed.
"Whatever it is, it must know you're messing with time just like it is!" Blaze assumed. "It wants to take you out of the picture!"
"Then what am I supposed to do?!" she questioned. "It's not like I can fight him like thi—"
Her words were cut off as she was suddenly struck in the gut. As the pain quickly set in, she could both feel and see that her entire body had come to a complete halt, and that it was being dragged high up into the air. She also noticed the hint of blue and purple that was underneath her.
'But how did he…' she didn't know if she thought that or if she said it aloud, not that it mattered.
Metal's head was firmly embedded in her stomach as he continued to drag her into the air, the jet on his back not letting up for a second. They were already moving past the roofs of some of the buildings. Now wanting to see how far he would take her, she positioned her body so that she could punch him right in the side of the head. He budged, but only barely. Gritting her teeth, she struck him again, this time with better results. The hit allowed her to roll her body off him, pushing him away as he zoomed past her.
She had to clutch her stomach from the pain, but she quickly bit it down as to try and get more distance between her and Metal, not that it was gonna do too much good considering how fast he managed to catch up to her. Before she did, however, she noticed that her hooves were no longer holding anything. Panicking, quickly searched the open air for the Time Stone, thankfully spotting it immediately. It seemed to have come out of her hoof and landed on the roof of one of the massive towers.
Rainbow zoomed down to the stone, hoping to get an opportunity to make another break for it. As she neared the tower, however, her vision was steadily consumed by a white light.
Rainbow held her ground, not wanting to show weakness to her foe. A colossal punch from the metal monster rocketed toward her, but her eyes remained straight all the way through the attack, her brain screaming to her to fly away, but her heart telling her to face the danger, to take the hit.
Rainbow took in a large breath as she gasped for air, feeling her senses return to her. She could also see that she had gone way off course from where she originally intended to go and was now heading straight into the side of the tower. Out of pure reflex, she veered to the right. She could hear the sudden change in sound as she passed right by the tower. Thankfully, she had missed it completely. She flipped herself to face back at the tower, wanting to take another pass to grab the stone. This position allowed her to see that Metal was coming at her yet again, and he was already nearly right on top of her.
"Rainbow what happened?!" Silver questioned.
"You tell me!" she answered sharply. "That wasn't Metal, was it?!"
"We didn't see anything!" he added. "All we saw was you sailing away from the stone and straight into a building! What happened?!"
"Uuuhhhhh! Never mind!"
Rainbow gritted her teeth as she had to suppress the feeling to run away again. She knew in the back of her head though that it was going to be a pointless endeavor if she tried. Swallowing a lump that had formed in her throat, she clenched her teeth and brought her hooves up to her face, still ready to defend herself.
"You want a fight tough guy?!" she taunted the metal hedgehog, seeing his eyes focus on hers as he continued forward. "Come on! I'll show you just how I treat jerks like you back in Equestria!"
Instead of waiting a couple more seconds for Metal to reach her, Rainbow met him halfway, her hooves at the ready for what came. She decided to throw the first punch, her hoof, however, being blocked by Metal. Metal threw one of his own, but it missed due to Rainbow blocking with her hoof and her moving her head out of the way.
A brawl started to ensue in the sky, and it quickly turned into a messy skirmish of blue metal and feathers. The two were continually circling one another, each one throwing their own attacks at the other. Rainbow looked as if she was having a much harder time keeping up with Metal than he was to her. Whenever she went to strike, her attacks were met with the familiar feeling of pain as she made contact with the arms and legs he used to block.
On the other hoof, Metal was having no trouble at all exploiting the pegasus's weak points. If she left a spot open for even a split second to attack, he was ready to press on it and take advantage. She could already feel the bruises and scrapes from where he grazed and struck her.
She changed it up a bit as she flew above him, ready to dive bomb him with a buck. She had managed to line up the attack, her back hooves acting like crosshairs for her aim.
Rainbow looked on in awe, her mouth agape, her wings falling to her sides. Her eyes were glowing bright with a golden light, highlighting her natural magenta color in the mix. She didn't know what she expected to happen in past few seconds. She should be gone. She should be dead. She should be denigrated. Instead, she was still alive, and in the presence of a bright, glowing figure.
"Aaahhh!" Rainbow shrieked as her eyes felt like they had just been blinded by the sun. She reflexively held her eyes with her hooves, completely blind to the world.
'Is it…that stupid stone again?' she asked herself as she remembered what happened earlier.
The blindness didn't last long. Her eyes went wide immediately when Metal had punch her square in the gut again. Metal then brought his leg up and roundhouse kicked her, sending her spiraling to the ground. He wasn't done with her yet, however. After a series of uncomprehendable synthetic beeps, he spun his jet up to full, disappearing as a blur.
As Rainbow continued to fall to the ground, the blur that was Metal Sonic passed her back, beating her to it seconds before her body reached it. Letting his feet hit the metal planet, he launched himself forward. Rainbow was just about to impact as he intercepted her. He delivered yet another powerful gut punch. The hit stopped her descent in an instant, and Rainbow could feel the whiplash from the sudden change in direction, along with the still evident pain shooting through her stomach.
Just when she thought she could catch a second's break, she felt another painful punch, this time on her cheek. The attack forced her back, and she felt another strike on the side of her torso. Then another as an uppercut. Then one on the opposite cheek. Then another. And another. Metal had her locked in deadly combo of strikes, utilizing a series of punches and kicks to keep her being pushed back while not letting her fall to the ground.
Not knowing what to do, Rainbow just brought her hooves up to her face in an attempt to defend herself. While she was still being pressed with painful blows, she already preferred the pain on her hooves to the pain on her face. That didn't stop Metal from delivering her another roundhouse kick to her side, forcing her to clutch her side as he finally released her from the attack. The last strike, however, forced her sail back several meters before Rainbow managed to catch herself in the air, proof of how much power was behind that attack.
Rainbow still clutched her side, wincing and coughing at the punishment she was just dealt within the past few seconds. It felt like she had just been run over by one of the many taxi carriages back in Manehattan, and then getting stepped on by the ponies getting out. She tightened her eyes shut at the pain, but she didn't have to have them open to know the damage on her body. All the areas she was struck already felt like bruises were forming on her already blue coat. The unmistakable sensation of tiny cuts along her body had reached her brain, giving her a good idea of how she probably looked right now.
Rainbow opened her eyes, but they were slightly droopy from the fatigue plaguing her body. She breathed hard, but steadily, slowly bring her hoof away from her side and making sure her wings kept her from falling to the ground. Metal was floating across form her. Thankfully he didn't seem to be pressing his attack for now, but that could change in the blink of an eye, far before she could even react.
Fighting off her body's own responses to the pain, Rainbow brought in an intact of air through her nostrils and breathed out through her mouth, forcing her exhausted energy out and taking another fighting stance, making sure to keep her hooves in front of her at all times.
She locked her eyes once more with Metal's. She didn't yet know how she was gonna get out of this one. Could she go for the Time Stone again? No. That plan would be over before she even made it halfway up the tower. She could try to take him head on. Yeah, like that worked so well last time. She racked her brain for ideas, knowing she was probably short on time as it was. She could probably try and hold out long enough so she could find Sonic. Then he'd be able to help fight this guy. Then again…
Rainbow locked her eyes with Sonic's as he stood across from her. Neither of them made a move, but on her end, it was more out of fear.
The flash quickly subsided as Sonic's image was replaced with that of Metal, himself still unmoving. Yeah, forget that. She'll just stick with what she's got.
"YOU DO NOT KNOW WHEN YOU ARE DEFEATED," Metal stated. "ALL YOU CAN DO IS DELAY YOUR OWN DESTRUCTION."
"With all that learning you've been doing, you should have figured out by now that I don't give up just because of a few scrapes," Rainbow said, determination evident in her voice.
"SUCH IS THE WAY WITH ORGANICS," Metal continued. "RESISTANCE IN THE FACE OF DEFEAT. A FOOLISH ENDEAVOR."
"Hey, could you do me a solid and just go back to not talking," Rainbow shot at him.
She never waited for a response. In a matter of seconds, she was already upon Metal. He never even got a chance to move out of the way. Rainbow's hoof struck him on his iron cheek, pushing his head back instantly, but his body barely moved an inch. Following up on this, she swung her other hoof, impacting the side of his torso. Following up with a mix of strikes from both her fore and back hooves, Rainbow was making sure to get as much payback for his attack on her a second ago as she could. Every strike forced him back little by little, he himself still making no real effort to block the strikes coming in.
With a yell, Rainbow let the final strike impact directly in the middle of his torso, causing him to lurch back more so than before. He flew back a couple of feet before he quickly stopped himself. His jet pushed him back on course and he was back in his floating position. He was now letting his head hang low like he was somehow in pain, a shadow keeping most of his face hidden from her sight. Ever so slightly, however, he slowly lifted it, bringing his eyes to be level with Rainbow's.
"Heh heh…What do you say to that tin head," Rainbow said with a smirk, speaking in between breathes.
Metal's expression, if you could call it that, looked that of boredom, or disappointment, like he was expecting more. Although, it also looked as if he was waiting on something.
"…"
"…"
"YeeeeeeOOOOWWWOWOWOWOWOWOW!" Rainbow started shrieking at the top of her lungs.
She suddenly curled up while she was still afloat, tightly gripping whichever hooves she could get a hold of. It felt like she had just punched through a brick wall, with all the consequences that came with it.
"OW OW OW OW OW OW OW OW!" Rainbow continued to groan, twisting and turning as she sought to sooth her poor hooves.
Fighting back the tears that were threatening to form in her eyes, Rainbow gritted her teeth tightly as she looked back at Metal, all while massaging her hooves. Metal's hand was now outstretched in her direction, his palm facing out toward her. His hand suddenly began sparking with electricity as he pushed his palm outward. The next thing she felt topped whatever punishment her hooves had to endure. A wave of lightning, in the shape of a perfect circle, formed from his hand and found its way straight to her. Pain shot through her whole body as it made contact, a mixed feeling of static and wind pushing her back. The attack had sent her flying backward, leftover sparks emanating from her body as she failed to catch herself. She impacted with the hard ground, sliding further down the urban street before coming to stop.
She struggled to get up this time. Most of her body felt numb from that last attack, causing her legs to stumble as there feeling slowly attempted to return. Even as she was starting to regain control, she still couldn't manage to get back on her hind legs, her fore hooves her only way of propping her body up.
"AS I SAID, YOU ONLY DELAY THE INEVITABLE," Metal said in a slight taunt.
Rainbow could only turn her body to look at the metal hog. For once, she was actually starting to agree with him. What else could she do at this point? Nothing seems to faze him. After that last attack, she wasn't in any position to try anything.
'Pony feathers,' Rainbow thought, a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead. 'What the hay am I supposed to do to this guy to get him off my tail? Running doesn't work. He's too fast! Fighting him head on doesn't work. He just pushes me back twice as hard.'
Rainbow mentally slapped herself. 'Come on Rainbow, you need to pull out some of that old Wonderbolt training if you're going to get through this. Just because things look bad doesn't mean you should throw in the towel halfway in.'
Rainbow could feel her consciousness fading, her eyes slowly shutting as the cold, metal claw closed on her windpipe.
As the image fell, Rainbow suddenly felt a wave of fear wash over her as she continued to stare at the bot across from her. She audibly gulped at the thought.
"Oh man," she groaned to herself, "this isn't good."
Metal continued his long stare at her, Rainbow not knowing when he'll decide to end this right there and then. She waited. And waited. And waited longer still. Even then he didn't even move. Was he messing with her or something? This entire time he barely did a thing. Then again, she did eventually notice he wasn't so much looking at her. His gaze was drawn to a point slightly above her.
"Heh! This looks like fun! You trying to hog this guy all to yourself Colors?" she heard behind her, much to her disappointment, and the cause of her ears dropping.
She turned around and it turns out her ears were not deceiving her. Sonic was standing there with his right hand on his hip, looking at the ongoing confrontation with a snarky expression. In his left hand was…oh you've got to be kidding! In his left hand was none other than the Time Stone she fought tooth and hoof for. He was just throwing it in the air before catching it, repeating the process over and over. It was like it was some kind of prize he won.
Behind him was the pink girl hedgehog that she recognized as Amy, this time she only assumed she was the real one. She was currently looking at her and Metal with a hint of awe in her eyes. It was like looking at Scootaloo in a hedgehog costume. Yeah right. Like Scoots would be caught dead in an outfit like the one this girl was wearing. On her back was the bag that she and Sonic had fought to get back during the race. She was obviously entrusted with the other Time Stones Sonic had been collecting.
"Yoo-hoo?" Sonic called to her, tossing the stone he held over to Amy, her just barely catching it. "Earth to Colors. You need some help?"
Rainbow finally managed to pick herself up, cringing at his tone of voice as he used her oh so infamous nickname. "No thanks squirt," she said, making she he heard the last bit. "Just so you know I was doing just fine. I was just trying to catch him off guard was all."
"Well you seemed to be doing a good job so far," he laughed, earning a glare from the rainbow pony.
"And where were you the whole time?!" she questioned. "For the fastest thing alive, you sure like to take your time getting from place to place!"
Sonic shrugged. "Just sightseeing. This place is so dull I have to find something to do."
"Sightseeing?!" Rainbow nearly yelled.
"Well doesn't matter." Sonic walked past Rainbow as he wound up his arm. "It's my turn anyway to take a crack at him."
"Wait! Your turn?! What do you mean your turn?!" Rainbow questioned incredulously.
"Hey, I can't let you have all the fun, and who better to have fun with than myself?" Sonic said, eyeing his counterpart across from him.
Rainbow was about to argue, but her train of thought was lost as she caught a glint of purple in her peripheral vision. She looked over to see that Metal was once again letting his aura flow. It didn't take a genius to see that he was thinking along the same lines as Sonic. She looked back at Sonic and saw that his own aura, still white, was slowly building up as well.
"Watch and learn! This is how we do things around here lady!" Sonic exclaimed as he charged forward, a sonic boom left in wake.
Likewise, Metal spun up his jet as he dashed forward to meet his doppelganger. The two then clashed in the center, a mix of white and purple intertwining.
"There he is! Bring us down here!" Orbot ordered to his yellow friend.
The two bots were currently riding in a spare eggmobile that the doctor kept around the place in case of emergencies. Cubot was piloting. Orbot was doing his best to guide him in the right direction, but it wasn't an easy endeavor. They were both currently overlooking the unconscious doctor that was lying face down on whatever was left over from the Stardust Speedway. It was the same position he was in when they last saw him on the monitor in the control room.
"Uh, yeah. I don't really know how to lower this thing," Cubot said, a hint of embarrassment in his voice.
"Just give me the controls."
With careful precision, Orbot managed to lower the eggmobile to the same level as the near destroyed platform, allowing him and Cubot to jump out and wheel their way over to the doctor. Right away they noticed the most glaring new feature on him. There was a now huge knot on top of his bald head. A little dried blood could be seen on the injury, but thankfully it didn't seem to be much more than that. Other than a few scorch marks on his uniform, he got out somewhat in one piece considering he basically exploded.
A quiet grunt could be heard from him as he lied there, a slight shift in his body showing that he was slowly starting to regain consciousness.
"Doctor!" Orbot exclaimed. "It's good to see that you're still alive. We didn't doubt it for a second of course."
"We didn't?" Cubot questioned, but he was quickly silenced by Orbot frantically slapping him across the face, causing his head to spin out of control.
"Of course I'm still alive you nincombots…" Although he was now conscious, he was still very sluggish with his words and was having trouble picking himself up. "Now help me up."
Seeing his struggle, the two bots quickly made their way under his arms, doing their absolute best to keep the large man from falling over again. It wasn't easy for their little servos to keep such a large mass up for long periods of time. Slowly but surely, they managed to help the doctor into the new eggmobile, making sure he was properly seated before taking their places at his sides.
"So, what's on the agenda now doc?" Cubot questioned. "We're in a worse spot than a horse at the glue factory."
"Just shut up and let me think for a second," he said harshly, rubbing his head injury as he leaned over the control panel to the eggmobile.
"I believe you should know sir that after you fell unconscious, Metal Sonic destroyed his own shutdown remote after he picked it of your person," Orbot explained. "I told you from the beginning that you should've created a better failsafe for when these kinds of things happen."
"I'm fully aware of the fact that Metal Sonic is no longer under my control," he said slowly bringing his head back up, but still looking a little woozy. "And am I right in assuming that you both have failed to stop Sonic and that pony?"
"Correct!" Cubot said, receiving a facepalm from Orbot.
The doctor sighed as he rubbed his temple, partially out of pain, partially out of disappointment. "Soonest opportunity I get, both of you are getting melted down and repurposed as garbage bots."
They didn't dare say another word after that statement. Whenever the doctor made threats like that, he usually back them up.
"Well," he continued, shaking his head as to relieve himself of his dizziness, "no matter. All three of them have lasted too long in my opinion. I can assure you that none of them will get off this planet alive."
"What are your orders doctor?" Orbot asked.
"Send a signal to all badniks stationed on Little Planet. Have them convene on my position. If these pests want to challenge the might of the most studious Dr. Eggman, then we'll be sure to show them the consequences of their folly."
He didn't waste any time taking control of the eggmobile and flying them away from the tower. The two bots had to hold on tightly as he made many sharp turns, not even slowing down for a second. But that's not what they were too focused on right now.
"What did he call himself?" Cubot asked.
The battle between Sonic and Metal was going exactly as one might expect. The hedgehog and the robot hog were clashing with each other in lightning fast streaks of light. To the naked eye, one would never even see the strikes they were throwing at each other.
Sonic quickly intercepted Metal, impacting with him straight on. His white aura flared, mixing perfectly with his blue streak, and he managed to push Metal back. He gave chase, throwing punch after punch in what looked like a blur. Metal had to go on the defense, bring his arms up to block the incoming strikes. After running some quick calculations, Metal angled his arms in a way that allowed him to catch both of Sonic's fists in opposing hands, gripping them tightly. Sonic's advance was halted almost instantly as Metal threw him over him.
Sonic landed feet first and was quick to dodge Metal's spin kick. Sonic threw a kick of his own, but it was matched when it met another own of Metal's. The two separated again, going back to clashing at high speeds.
Sonic decided to go for another strike, but before he could even close the distance between him and Metal, the metal hog had flown high into the air, keeping out of Sonic's reach. Metal then extended his arm, sending a powerful arc of electricity shooting out of it and right toward Sonic. Seeing the incoming attack, Sonic skidded to a halt before performing a backflip, dodging the attack and landing on his hands. Metal didn't stop the barrage. More and more bolts were being shot at his counterpart. Sonic pushed off the ground with his hands, performing as series of backflips in an attempt to keep away from the bolts as they exploded on the planet's metal surface.
As another bolt made its way toward Sonic, the blue speedster flipped his body to left, dodging the incoming attack as he broke into a sprint. Metal made sure to keep a close eye on his opponent, not letting Sonic out of his sights entire he could land a single hit.
Seeing the bolts, Sonic sidestepped each one as they rained down. He looked onward, seeing that he was headed straight for a tall, flat sided building. Good.
Pushing himself off the ground, Sonic's feet impacted with the face of the building before going into his figure-eight technique. The speed he was going at allowed him to run right up the side like as if he was still on the ground. Bolts continued to fly past him, but it didn't matter at this point.
With his aura flaring, Sonic went into a massive burst of speed, a blue cone forming around him as he near disappeared in a blur. Within a second, he was finally level with Metal. As he reached his height, Sonic pushed off the building, forming his new trademark move, the homing attack.
Seeing the attack, Metal did a quick scan before forming his own homing attack, shooting to meet with Sonic. As the two impacted, they violently bounced off one another, streaks of blue and purple colliding before shooting away in opposite directions.
Meanwhile, spectating the battle from a good distance away, was Rainbow Dash and Amy, the former watching with a mix of surprise and disdain, and the latter watching with the biggest eyes imaginable, enough to give even Pinkie a run for her bits.
"Isn't Sonic amazing!" Amy stated with great glee. "He's so cool and confident. *squeal* I can't even describe him with words alone!"
"He's definitely something," Rainbow responded, but not with the same amount of excitement.
Unlike the little hedgehog, whose eyes were focused solely on Sonic, her eyes were focused on the fight itself. Although that was starting to get rather difficult. The two were moving so fast that she could only catch glimpses of blue every now and then, whether it was Sonic or Metal she didn't know. Whenever they would clash, however, that was when they would stop moving for a brief second, just enough for her to see the mix of purple and white before they disappeared again.
Sonic…she just couldn't wrap her head around this kid. He's been an enigma to her ever since she met him. Capable of so much, and yet so infuriating. Plus, she just couldn't stand that he was keeping up with this guy. Yes, she wanted him to win, that's why she was here in the first place. But if this was anything to go by, he didn't even need her help.
But if what Silver said was true, that aura around him was not something normal. Now that she got a good look at it, it looked eerily like the aura around Metal, just a bit on the lighter side. Was Sonic really being influenced by another force as well? Even if that were true, for what reason, and to what extent?
Rainbow's attention was brought back to Amy, the girl still in her seemingly endless trance that she put herself into. What's this girl's deal anyway?
"So how do know Sonic?" Rainbow asked. "You his mare—girlfriend or something?"
Amy was taken out of her longing stare at the question, but it was replaced with a bright red blush that covered her whole face. She was tapping her feet together in a shy manner as she rested her hands behind her back.
"Well, we actually met just earlier today," she responded.
"You sure are making a lot of googly eyes at him for somepony you met just today don't you think?"
Amy looked up at Rainbow like she had just been insulted. "Wouldn't you feel like that if you were someone who was just rescued by him?! Everything was setup so perfectly. The damsel in distress in a hopeless situation at the hands of an evil villain, only to be saved by her hero when she needed him most. It's something out of a romantic story if you think about it."
"Whatever you say girly," Rainbow didn't think she ever felt more uncomfortable talking with somepony than right now.
"Hey, you're Rainbow Dash, aren't you?" she heard Amy ask.
"Yeah," Rainbow answered, glad to change the subject. "What about it?"
The hyperactive hedgehog girl squealed in excitement again. "I was watching the race from Robotnik's control room! Both you and Sonic were amazing the way you both moved so fast! I was so jealous of you!"
"So, you were jealous of me and the squirt over there?" asked Rainbow, her interest piqued. "I mean, I can understand that. I was pretty awesome out there wasn't I."
"Both of you were! I just kind of wish I could've been able to do the same."
Rainbow grew curious at that, prompting her to raise an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?"
"It's not just that you're both fast, it's that you're both so brave and heroic. Ever since I first saw Sonic, I guess I was a little jealous of him, too. He just charged straight into danger for the sake of others. I suppose that's also why I admire him so much."
"You admire him? Kind of low standards don't you think?"
If looks could kill, this kid was the embodiment of death. Amy looked as if she was personally insulted by her statement and was ready to throw with the older pony.
"Ok! Ok! I didn't mean it!" Great, now she was having to defend herself from the wrath of a little girl of all things."
Before their confrontation went any farther, a loud and ground shacking boom echoed off the buildings as it rung in their ears. They looked back to the fight to see that both the fighters were now going at near blinding speeds, only tiny flashes indicating where they were. Shockwaves formed whenever they bounced off one another, causing the whole area so feel like it was shaking.
However, after many more clashes, they stopped. After the final clash, Rainbow and Amy could clearly see the two. Metal had delivered a powerful punch to Sonic's gut, a blast of air forming around the strike as Sonic suddenly and painfully was shot back. His back impacted with the building behind him, making him cry out in a shot of pain. He fell to the ground, barely holding himself up. Metal saw his chance. While he was down, Metal raised his hand, charging the orange electrical arc around his whole arm.
"Sonic!" Amy screamed in fear.
Without another thought, Rainbow threw herself in the fight, leaving behind the yelling hedgehog girl. Metal's arm was close to shooting out its attack, close to ending the fight in a one, final blow. Rainbow prepped herself, she couldn't miss. Just as the arc was leaving his hand, she threw her punch, impacting with his cheek and causing the attack to fly off course, striking the side of the building in a fiery explosion.
Metal was quick to identify his attacker and swiped at her with his claw. Rainbow managed to duck under the attack and deliver a buck right to his chin. The hit violently threw his head back as he was sent flying a few feet away from the group, skidding to a halt as he hit the ground.
Rainbow let out her breathe. That was too close for comfort. Looking back at the wall Sonic was near nailed to, she saw the hedgehog picking himself up from his obviously pained position.
"You know, I was doing just fine lady," Sonic berated her. "I had him right where I wanted him."
"More like he had you right where he wanted you; back against a wall!"
"Heh, maybe from your point of view."
"It was my point of view that just saved your sorry flank kid. Don't even think for a second that these eyes would miss something as obvious as that."
"I don't know," he said, his snarky demeanor coming up yet again. "You sure seemed to be missing a lot of Metal over there when he was busy beating the blue out of you."
"What'd you say you little punk?!"
"Rainbow!" Silver suddenly yelled. "Stop fighting with him! Look!"
Tearing her eyes away from Sonic, she quickly spotted Metal making a bee line straight for them, his eyes full of killing intent. She swore under her breathe. Could she just get a break for like two seconds?
"Ok squirt, you had your fun, now it's my turn again," Rainbow readied herself, flaring her wings and getting into a crouched position.
Before she could even get her hooves off the ground, however, she felt a sudden slap on her rear end, causing her to jump in surprise as a blue blur shot past her.
"Sorry lady! I'm already tagged in! You can just wait till I need a water break!"
For a brief second, Rainbow just stood there in shock, one at what he just did, and one at his choice of words. In the span of a second, however, that shock quickly turned into a death stare, being directed to the blue blur himself. Lowering her head, she snorted, steam coming out of her nostrils like an infuriated bull.
"Why you—you little PUNK!"
Leaving behind nothing but a rainbow streak, she dashed forward. She quickly managed to catch up to Sonic, who was still on a collision course with his fake self. Instead of giving this kid the biggest beat down of his life, which she would've been ecstatic to oblige, she instead focused her effort on what was in front of them. She knew what they had to do. Just wait till all of this was over, however.
The three were now very close to meeting, each one leaving behind their respective streaks. Just as they were about to hit, however, Rainbow noticed that Metal was starting to turn his body away from them. This confused her for a second, but it quickly became apparent that he wasn't looking forward to a head on collision any more than they were. She even saw Sonic already beginning to turn his body. Following suit, she twisted her body to the left, following their movements as to keep up. Just as the collision was about to take place, both Metal and Sonic made a sudden sharp movement, turning completely to the left as they stopped on a dime, the sides of their feet touching. The two dashed off within the same second, leaving Rainbow in the dust. She herself really had to strain her wings in order to make the sudden change in direction. Thankfully, she managed the maneuver, following closely behind them.
The fight quickly became what could be seen as a second race, this time without restrictions. The entire metropolis was at their disposal, with no invisible force fields to hold them back. Metal would engage Sonic as he was closer to the ground, sometimes the blue streak that was the hedgehog bounce up the sides of the buildings to try and keep up with him as he got higher. If he reached a certain height, it was then he had to deal with Rainbow Dash. The two would weave around entire skyscrapers as their streaks danced around one another in what would normally look like a beautiful display.
As Rainbow and Metal made another roundabout, they collided, Rainbow bouncing higher into the air as Metal bounced back down to the ground. Sonic saw the falling bot and took his chance. With his white aura flaring up, he spun into a ball jumped up to meet him in a spin dash. At the last second, however, Metal twisted his body to dodge the incoming attack, letting him sail right past him. In retaliation, he extended his hand and shot a powerful bolt at Sonic. The bolt hit just as Sonic come out of his spin dash. Pain shot through his body as he did his best to block the attack, to no avail.
The blast of electricity sent him flying, sparks emanating from his body. It wasn't too long before Rainbow Dash flew past him as he sailed back to the ground, her hoof ready to strike.
"He's mine!" she yelled.
Metal looked at the incoming pegasus with an impassive look as he scanned her attack pattern. As he finished his scan he noticed how simple this plan of attack was. He was not impressed. As Rainbow neared him she was getting ready to throw her punch. Unfortunately for her, the attack never even made contact. In response to her advance, Metal did what was probably the most insulting thing he did to her during the fight. As the punch was a mere centimeter distance from his faceplate, he struck her cheek with a backhand.
Rainbow's mind when into a daze from the strike, a red bruise forming itself on her cheek. The hit itself changed her course completely. There was so much power behind the attack that she was sent flying past many structures, in what looked to be the equivalent of an entire city block. Before she could readjust herself, she felt her body touch the ground, skidding a few feet before she finally came to a stop.
She begrudgingly picked herself up, her cheek feeling like it was on fire. She rubbed it to alleviate the pain somewhat, but it was still there. Great. That was something else she'd have to check up on when she got back home.
It wasn't even two seconds before she heard the clanking of metal against metal in front of her. She looked up to see Metal walking calmly in her direction. He wasn't in any hurry, but that almost made the whole thing seem unnecessarily creepy. His aura was still very prominent, along with the glowing, red eyes, making him seem even more terrifying than he should be.
"Ok! Now you've done it you oversized washing machine!" Without a second glace, Rainbow took off into the sky, not waiting for Metal to catch up.
At great speeds, she sped upwards, the lights of the buildings passing her by before she reached the open sky. She could see that they were no longer on the underside of Little Planet, the red sky, assumedly caused by the industrial state of the planet, now in full view. She climbed and climbed, feeling her sense of gravity changing as she left the planet. As she left, the sky slowly began to revert back to its ocean blue color, the effects of the Robotnik's takeover not going past the place.
Once she felt she was at a good height, she stopped and turned back to face Little Planet. She didn't see Metal anywhere. He must not have followed her up. Good. That meant this could go off without a hitch.
Rainbow took a deep breath, prepping her body for what came next. She set her eyes on the small planet and pushed herself straight towards it. She out stretched her hooves and straightened her body, trying to be as aerodynamic as possible. With every second she could feel herself pick up speed, so much so that a cone of air started to form around her body. The planet was now approaching extremely rapidly, the sky changing back to its red hue.
Then came the final push. Rainbow could already feel her cheeks being pushed back by the air, having now to force her eyes closed. Her mane was blown back as her wings gave one final, hard flap.
BOOM!
That had pushed it. A massive rainbow shockwave had suddenly appeared in the sky where she once was, spreading throughout the entire sky. At its center, Rainbow Dash was zooming down at the planet at insane speeds, a rainbow trail left in her wake as the cone had tightened around her. This was her move: the Sonic Rainboom.
The details of the metropolis below were quickly becoming apparent. The ground was approaching at a rapid pace, and she had but just a few short moments before she met it. She scanned the area in front of her like her life was on the line. That's when she saw him. Metal was smack dad in the middle of the street where she had left him, looking up at the spectacle with what she assumed was shock on his blank face.
"We'll see who's inferior now!" she said, the taunt directed to her target.
She was just seconds away from a head on collision with Metal. She was going too fast at this point to stop, but at the same time she was going too fast for him dodge. She lined him up between her hooves, taking aim. Then she impacted.
The hit caused a huge shockwave to implode through the streets, anything that wasn't bolted down getting sent flying. Even bits and pieces of metal sheets on the buildings and streets were getting ripped from their placements and thrown to the wind.
Sonic, who had recovered some time ago, was forced to hang on for his life to a jutting piece of pipe. He was getting pulled off his feet as he put a death grip on it, having to close his eyes at the amount of force going against his face. He didn't know what that lady did, but one thing was for sure. This proved she really was crazy. Although, he could help but let a smile grow onto his face. He knew he liked her for something.
After some time, the shockwave settled, an echo in the wind its only remains. Anything that had been thrown by it had crashed violently in near every direction, some objects even imbedded in the sides of the structures. Bits of metal were twisted and contorted in unnatural shapes, some even twisted up like pretzels.
Rainbow herself felt like she had been struck by a ton of bricks, if the throbbing of her head was any indication. She had been thrown to the side after the impact, her body littered with bruises as her vision was clouded with dizziness. It was a challenge in itself to just pick herself up. Ever so slightly, she was able to recover some of her senses, her sight one of the first things to return. She shook her head, getting a good look at her surroundings. The whole place was trashed now. Well, it looked like garbage before, but now it was just a crumbled-up mess. While outwardly she was in great pain, inwardly she was patting herself on the back. She showed that tin can not to doubt her again, that is, if he was even still in enough pieces to regret it.
She glanced over to the impact sight, seeing a small crater made up of bent metal and jutting pipes. Black, industrial smoke was flowing out of the pipes. At least that explained why the smell of this place just got 10 times worse. She looked past the, however, and toward the center of the crater.
What she saw made her heart sink. Metal was indeed in the center, so she did make her mark. Not that it mattered. Metal had his arm extended all the way to his sides, his palms facing outward. The gesture was confusing at first, but she could now clearly see what was going on. Metal was encased within a dark purple, diamond shaped barrier. He was covered from all sides, no marks left on him or even the shield. Small courses of purple electricity danced on its surface.
"You have got to be kidding me," Rainbow said, aggravation evident in her tone of voice. "He has a shield now?! Is there anything this creep can't do?!"
Metal must have heard her comment, as he turned to face her within his own barrier. He lowered his arms, dropping the barrier as he walked out of the crater. Rainbow stared at him in utter disbelief. If even her Sonic Rainboom couldn't touch him, then what else did they have that could? Rainbow got up, her body shaking in pain from the impact. She held her ground against the approaching bot. No matter what happened, she was gonna go down swinging.
Then, she spotted another figure. In a quick series of motions, Sonic appeared in a blue blur right behind Metal, his fist clenched and ready to strike. This didn't seem to even faze Metal. As the strike came down on Metal's head, he moved it out of the way, letting the punch miss him completely and making Sonic open for the counter attack the followed.
Using his robotic like flexibility, he brought his leg up, kicking Sonic right on the chin. It looked to have fazed Sonic greatly, but he recovered quick, not letting it hinder him as he pressed the attack further. The confrontation turned in a mess of punches and kicks, each attack either making its mark or being blocked by a similar attack.
Rainbow watched on as the two weaved around one another, especially in Metal's case, his robotic body allowing for much more movement than Sonic's did his. Rainbow had to give this to the kid, he knew how to fight. It was strange considering how young he was. She couldn't help but wonder how he could be this skilled. Either he once had, or still has, a great teacher, or he was just uncannily great at self-teaching.
'One thing at a time Rainbow Dash,' she told herself.
She couldn't let her focus waver now. They needed a plan, and like right now. Even with Sonic and her attacking together they were still having trouble keeping up with this guy. She could already feel the fatigue starting to set in, and she could only assume Sonic was feeling the same way, if the beads of sweat on his face were any indication. Metal didn't suffer from that problem. As a machine, he had an endless supply of stamina.
Rainbow gritted her teeth. This wasn't good. If they didn't do something soon they would quickly get overwhelmed. Silver wasn't kidding when he told her that some of these guys were tough, but she wasn't expecting this.
"Hey guys, I'm happy to take in any advice now," Rainbow called out through the earpiece.
"Rainbow, how are you feeling?" she heard Blaze ask.
"Ugh…I feel worse than I did the day after that birthday party Pinkie and Discord threw for me. That means bad by the way."
"I'll have to take your word for it," Silver said.
"Less talk, more plan if you don't mind."
"Right, sorry," he answered. "I'm going to be honest with you, things aren't looking good. Metal has already gone past his old limits. Even with you and Sonic working together he's still able overwhelm you."
"Any ideas?"
"We're working on that," Blaze assured. "But there's only so much we can do from here. Your best shot at beating him right now is to work with Sonic the best you can. And I don't mean just fighting at the same time."
"Yeah, no thanks. He'll just get in…my…way," Rainbow trailed off, an almost 6th sense tickling the back of her head.
"Rainbow, don't start creating friction between you two," she scolded. "Everything you to do affects how the time line will play out."
"Wait, just hold on a sec will you," Rainbow berated, looking at her surroundings as to what was causing it.
"Huh?"
…Is this?
"Hey! I could use a little help now!" she heard being yelled at her.
She looked to the voice and saw Sonic getting kicked square in the gut, the hit throwing him backwards as he skidded to a stop just in front of her. He looked just about as beaten and weathered as she did. He was breathing heavily and his hands were now resting on his knees. His quills were an absolute mess and she could spot of couple of scratches around his body. Overall, he looked as if he was about to drop. Metal on the other hoof looked relatively fine, aside from his earlier punishment during the race.
"You know, I kind of considered you having your turn now," he said with a smirk, breathing in between his words. "For once I'm actually getting a bit winded."
Rainbow couldn't help but smirk behind him. Now he wanted that help.
"Sorry," she answered. "I didn't know if me shooting myself toward a planet was help or not."
"Hey, you're just crazy if you want to do something like that. I can dig that."
"Yeah? Well then you better get ready squirt. Things are about to get 20 percent cooler form here on out," Rainbow said confidently, taking a place next to Sonic, both now facing Metal.
Sonic was still breathing rather hard, but he was still able looked up to the pegasus lady to his side, an eyebrow raised. "20 what? That some kind of phrase where you're from? Heh, I don't know what you mean by that, but you're gonna have to pull something crazy out of that frizzled hair of yours if you want to take this guy again. I should know."
Rainbow blew a strand of her 'frizzled mane' out of the way at that comment, her eyes still set on Metal. "Don't get your quills in knot kid. I can take it from here. You just get that water break you obviously need, alright."
"Ya know, a water break sounds good right now doc. Ya think we could do that then come back to destroy 'em later?" said a new, western voice as it echoed off the buildings.
"We don't even need water Cu," said a bored synthetic voice.
"Shut it you two!" said an all too familiar voice.
At the sound of the voices, all three combatants, Metal Sonic included, looked up to their origins. Up above them, farther down the street, was the eggmobile with two small egg bots and a very disgruntled doctor at its controls. Rainbow and Sonic couldn't help but notice the state he was in right now. His clothing was torn in places and his mustache was all over the place, even more so than normal. There was even a thick knot on top of his head. It must've been there for some time, as it was just changing purple.
"Robotnik!"
"Robuttnik!"
Even from here, Rainbow could easily see the scowl that was evident on his face. Was it something that she said?
"No one calls me that anymore girly!" he said with anger in his voice. "And by the time this whole ordeal is over, everyone in the world will know the name Dr. Eggman! Starting with you two, at least for the remainder of your puny existences."
"…"
"…"
Rainbow, honestly, was a bit stupefied at his statement. Did she hear him right? Did a bunch of names just get switched or something? To her left she could hear Sonic cracking up at what he just said. Even she herself was having trouble keeping the laughter from being let loose. The doctor obviously heard them, as his scowl just grew even more threatening.
"Hahahahaha! Are you kidding me Robuttnik?! I knew you liked my insults, but you really seem to have taken them to heart!" Sonic laughed, holding his sides.
"Silence!" Eggman yelled.
Finally, Rainbow joined in on the laughter. "You know, I think it fits! All you need now is a wall for you to sit on!"
"Hey! Don't take it out on the doc!" said Cubot. "He's just goin' through a faze."
"I said silence! All of you!"
As he slammed his fist down on the eggmobile, Eggman's eyes inadvertently fell on the fourth member of this confrontation, his latest creation, Metal Sonic. The blue bot was looking up at him with hate in his synthetic eyes. Eggman attempted to return the same amount of hate to him.
"Metal Sonic," he noticed the twitch Metal's body made at the drop of the name Sonic. "I expected better from you. I created you, gave you a purpose, and gave you the skills to put that purpose to good use, and this is how you repay me?! That isn't going to cut it my friend. I gave you too much freedom from the get go to have let you loose. Soon, that mistake will be rectified."
"Sorry to burst your little hate trip," said Rainbow, "but what do you want Egghead? You're kind of dragging this whole thing down."
"What do I want? Well if you must know, I want you all to just go and disappear! You two have made a mess of everything that I've worked so hard to achieve here! If there's anything that I regret in the past hour, it's sending a failure like him," Eggman said angrily, pointing to Metal, "to do the work I should've done myself."
"Pretty sure there's a lot more you should regret then that," Sonic pointed out. "You haven't exactly done a good job of killing me all those other times."
"I'm all too aware of that you rodent. But soon, you'll be nothing but a pile of blue paste while I'll be sitting pretty at the thrown of Little Planet, and soon, the whole world!"
Rainbow was getting tired of listening to this guy's constant rambling. All he seemed to be that good at was booting his own ego. Metal Sonic more than likely agreed with her on some levels. Already, he was facing the doctor with a very threatening posture. If Eggman wasn't careful, he may end up getting a much worse beating than they had experienced a little while ago.
Metal slowly began to take steps in his direction, his back hunched over in a very creepy and terrifying manner. Dr. Eggman looked down at his creation and a wave of panic swept over him. Looking into those dark eyes, it made the sweat on him feel cold to the touch. Still, he had the upper hand here. All he is is a minor inconvenience He grinned madly, letting the panic flow out of him.
"I wouldn't get so anxious Metal," he said, raising his hand. "Besides, I think you all have much bigger worries at the moment."
At his final words he snapped his fingers, a sharp echo sent through their ears. Rainbow and Sonic looked at the doctor with peculiar looks. What was his game this time? There question was answered when the sound of the snap disappeared, and it was replaced by the sound of whirring machines.
Rainbow looked around the area. In every corner of the metropolis there were badniks appearing from its hidden areas. Not just a few either. If Rainbow didn't know any better, she'd say that every badnik that was on Little planet was here. Hundreds of the walking, orange badniks walked into the street with their weapons drawn, some of them being pikes and shields, while others were different assortments of guns. As the piled in, they started surrounding the three combatants in the middle of street, forming one circle around her and Sonic, and forming a separate one around Metal, who was simply looking at them all with what must have been disgust and pity.
It wasn't just these badniks, however. She could hear a mixture of both propellers and jets filling the area around them. She looked up to see no sky. It was just dark. She realized this was because of the huge mass of flying badniks that were forming an artificial cloud over the red sky. Some of them were just the normal orange ones, only with jetpacks and some odd-looking guns. The others were similar to the ones she saw on the Death Egg, a cannon underneath their round bodies. All of these bots had their eyes on the three below them, and looked serious.
As the bots around her and Sonic closed in, they were forced to go back to back, each of them facing an entire half of the horde. The circle was starting to get rather tight, but thankfully, they stopped, giving them just a few meters of breathing room.
Eggman, as this was going on, was grinning from ear to ear with excitement. His time has finally come. Three of his problems will soon be nothing but an annoying memory, ready to be lost to time. Ohohohoho! This must be what joy feels like!
"So, what do you have to say now?" he said, his voice filled with confidence. "I thought it would only be proper for you all to be introduced to the rest of the Eggman family. I assure you, they all have a great fondness for *cough* 'friendly greetings.'"
"What do we have to say?" Sonic asked, his cocky side coming out again. "Well, I thought we had enough here ugly before these guys showed up. Now it's like you're trying to prove a point."
"Yes, yes. Aren't you very clever," Eggman said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
Rainbow was barely paying attention to the banter that was going between these two dolts. She was more focused on the army of robots that were currently surrounding her. Not that they were any less goofy looking, but still…
Rainbow looked around her, eyeing the dark, purple creatures that had materialized around them.
She shook her head frantically. That again? Seriously, that stone had to have messed with her somehow. She was only wondering what these visions were supposed to be about. Silver did say that Sonic once used them to look into different futures. Is that what she was doing? Looking through time? If so, she wasn't a fan.
She focused back on the horde of bots. Now a normal pony might have been intimidated by the sheer mass of her opponents. Strangely enough, however, she didn't feel intimidated in the slightest. If anything, she felt excited, like adrenaline was pumping through her system at the sight of them. She smirked. This was going to be fun.
"Now, to everyone who is not a certain metal hedgehog, I will gladly accept your surrender," the mad doctor said. "Then again, anyone who is not a hedgehog in general should be the ones to surrender."
"Yada yada yada," Rainbow mocked. "Is talking all you're good at buddy? If it is, just sit back and watch as your little 'family' gets sent to the scrap heap."
"What was that?!"
"Heh, you're really pumped aren't you Colors?" Sonic said with a grin.
Rainbow couldn't help but return the grin, at least a half one. "Just watch and learn. This is how I do things back home!"
Rainbow closed her eyes, letting that feeling of adrenaline wash through her body, her heart getting sent ablaze by the sudden intake of energy. Taking in a sharp breath, she then let it out, a blazing red aura suddenly flowing around her body. Her signature red lightning bolt appeared on her chest before it vanished just as quickly. She opened her eyes, and was very pleased with the results.
"What?!" she heard Eggman yell.
Even Sonic couldn't help but look over to her. He looked at her with a hint of awe. How long had she been holding this back? Would've been nice if she had used it earlier. Could've probably saved them some trouble.
"Not bad Colors," he said cockily. "How about I join ya."
On que, Sonic let his own, white aura flare again. As the two stood by one another, their auras mixed almost perfectly, the red being highlighted by the white in a starlit fashion.
"Only one way to go from here ya know," said Sonic. "You think you're ready for that lady?"
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "I've been born ready. You're the one I'm not sure about."
"Enough!" Eggman cut them off. "You've gone on long enough! Eggman army! Attack!"
"Ready?" Sonic readied himself in a crouched, running position.
"Like I said, born ready," Rainbow said, flaring her wings at the approaching badniks, all before she left the ground in a burst of red.
To be continued…
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It should be 'three times as hard'
distress
Overall, a good chapter. Just keep a sharper eye out for any errors in the future.
8343037
Thanks for the update. I'm usually up till 3:00 in the morning writing these, so I sometimes I don't catch errors that I should notice pretty easily. I hope it didn't put you off and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please, be sure to let me know of any you see and I'll be sure to fix them.
8343607
Happy to help. Minor errors don't ruin the story for me, but I still feel the need to point them out.
Oh Sonic, you dog. XD Hands off the rump kiddo. I love how much he can get under RD's skin. The accuracy is real.
Rainbows ego died a thousend deaths.
Rest in Peperoni.
"Running out of time here, Tails!!"