Sonic the Hedgehog

Outmatched

Was that Knuckles?! Tails wonders as he ascends higher in the sky.

The young fox carries the surprisingly light hedgehog away from the mountaintop with a mighty chaos emerald secured in their possession. Internally, Tails wants to celebrate for a mission success, but he holds off for two reasons. One: things are certainly not over yet. And two: Sonic is currently nowhere in sight. He isn't the only one concerned over this. Amy looks up at him and asks:

"Do you see Sonic anywhere?"

He almost responds but is suddenly unable to speak. Unable to breathe. A tightening, suffocating grip wraps around the boy's neck, causing him instant pain. Because of it, his grip on Amy loosens, and the pink hedgehog begins falling twenty-two feet from the air, with the white chaos emerald still in her grasp. She screams in fear during her fast descent to the ground, but she never makes it there. Instead of falling onto the cold hard mountain, she lands in the warm embrace of her hero. Sonic the Hedgehog.

Talk about a close call, Sonic thinks as he breathes a sigh of relief, thankful he was able to speed up the mountain and make it just in time to save Amy.

She blushes in Sonic's arms and clings to his neck, much to his annoyance. It's unclear what happened to the black hedgehog, but Sonic doesn't have time to think about that. No, what has his and Amy's full attention is the monster holding their mutual fox friend captive. Metal Sonic. The metal menace stays suspended in the air with its thrusters as it squeezes the air out of the struggling child in its inescapable clutches.

Never in his life has Sonic felt so angry. Every muscle in his body wants to jump out at his clone, but after what happened in Grand Metropolis, he'll need more than his feet.

"Still putting your friends in danger, I see," Metal Sonic says, looking down at his organic counterpart. "I would say I expected better, but there's not much one can hope for concerning a simpleton such as yourself."

"WHAT DO YOU WANT!" Amy screams, watching in horror as Tails's face turns purple.

"Are you for real?" Metal Sonic asks. "Take a wild guess. Here's a hint: it rhymes with- 'Give me the chaos emerald or the fox perishes.'"

Unable to bear the sight of his suffering friend, Sonic acts quickly and takes the emerald from Amy. He gives her a look that says: "trust me."

"Fine," Sonic says, clutching the gem. "If you want the emerald... take it."

Without warning, Sonic chucks the emerald at his sinister doppelganger. However, as soon as the emerald leaves his hand, the hedgehog curls into a ball and shoots toward Metal Sonic at the speed of a rocket. Out of pure reflex, the robot throws Tails to the ground and uses its right arm to catch the emerald, and the other to block his opponent's attack.

"Impressive quick thinking..." Metal Sonic acknowledges as he's pushed back through the air. "And yet, ultimately futile. Only a fool would prioritize their friends with so much at stake."

Metal Sonic reels his head back and clashes it against Sonic's sending him crashing into the snow below. Amy starts running to him, but he holds up a hurt arm, stopping her.

"Get Tails and fly out of here!" he yells, pulling himself up. "I'll deal with the ugly mirror."

"WHILE HE MAY BE UGLY, AT LEAST HE IS NOT OUTMATCHED," a metallic voice says to Sonic's right, catching the hedgehog's attention.

To his side is E-123 Omega. Despite lacking any sort of facial expression, his bloodlust is unmistakable, especially with its lock and loaded shoulder canons and built-in machine gun aimed in the war hero's direction.