Sonic the Hedgehog

Twisted Mirror

Even with his lungs gasping for oxygen through the surrounding smoke and debris, Sonic gets to his feet to assess the chaotic situation that has now engulfed him and the others. Knuckles looks fine aside from the minor wound he sustained moments before the explosion, and Amy, aside from the shock, looks alright. Thankfully Tails was standing in the corner of the living room, away from the door and ensuing blast, but the young boy looks petrified. Sonic doesn't blame him. Robotnik is serious about this emerald.

The emerald! Sonic thinks, panicked.

He looks over and sees it lying on the floor of the apartment- only a small walk from the front hall where the black hedgehog stands. If the stranger's speed is anything like the war hero's, then...

Sonic speeds into the living room in a blink and grabs the emerald. As he wraps his finger around the gem, from the corner of his eye, he can see the black hedgehog approaching. Somehow, he had gotten from the front hall and to the living room with NO issue. This stranger didn't just share Sonic's appearance. He shares his speed as well. The black hedgehog's fist is moments from colliding with Sonic's face when-

"AAAAAAAAAH!" Knuckles screams to the top of his lungs as the full weight of his body clashes against Shadow mid-air, causing the two to slam through the walls of the apartment complex.

Knuckles's scream can still be heard several rooms down, followed by the shocked reaction of the unfortunate residents having their walls smashed through before their battle goes someplace outside.

Well, I guess that solves that problem. Sonic thinks. Now, where did that rocket come from?

"So you're my rip-off," a metallic voice says behind the confused hedgehog.

Sonic whirls around to the giant hole in the apartment wall. Through it, he can see a distant skyscraper and a green transparent road with cars passing by and disappearing as quickly as they come into the view. Then something descends in front of him. Something covering and overshadowing everything behind it. Sonic has to do a mental double-take to check if what he's seeing is real.

And here I was, thinking the black hedgehog looked similar. Sonic thinks as he stares at his metal clone.

The robot hovers in the air thanks to the jets on its back. Its red eyes stare down at its opponent with unseeable disdain. Its metal hands clench, their grip tightening the more it looks at the hedgehog below it.

"I don't get it, is this a staring contest?" Sonic asks. "If so, you are totally cheating, my dude."

"Is this all you are?" Metal Sonic asks. "Just cheap jokes? How have I been confused for a copy of you? I am CLEARLY the superior being!"

"Geez, is this really all Robotnik can come up with these days," Sonic says, holding back a chuckle. "Has he really sinked down to hired hands and cheap knock-offs of yours truly? Glad to know I left an impression. I must really live rent-free in that Egg-shaped head of his."

"YOU WILL NOT INSULT THE GREAT DR. EGGMAN, RODENT!" The metal henchman yells. "You are an incompetent, worthless creature who delayed Doctor Eggman's rule through dumb luck. Such a reality is a disgrace that must be corrected. Corrected through means of extermination. And I don't know anyone better to start with than you, faker."

"Ha!" Sonic crosses his arms. "You really think we're comparable? Please, you're not even good enough to be my fake."

Sonic turns to Tails and throws the red gem in his hands in his direction. The baffled fox shakes off his surprise and dives to catch it in his gloved hands.

"Tails, hold onto that for me," Sonic says while stretching. "I got another Robotnik Lackie to humble. Take Amy and run."

"But Sonic-!" is all Tails can get out before he's interrupted.

"You can do this, Tails!" he says while giving a thumbs up before he dashes forward, out of the hole in the wall, and towards his metal counterpart.

...