Sonic Returns

Chapter ten: Metal

Right after the Tornado had dropped him off, Sonic immediately hit the top of the wing fortress, running. Racing over the top of the vessel, the blue blur came under attack by the various gun turrets built into the ship, and operated by the scratch-like chicken badniks, called clucks. The large gun batteries opened fire, trying to knock the blue hedgehog right off But Sonic was too quick for the gigantic cannons, veering to the left and right, avoiding and evading the oversized cannonballs. The blue blur spin dashed several of the robotic chickens as he ran along, busting both the clucks, and their turrets.

"Ho hum, same old dull badnik routine." Sonic sighed, running along, dodging, and smashing clucks. "This all you got, Eggman? The only way your robots threaten me is by boring me to death. Is this really all you got?"

"No, but thank you for asking." Robontik replied. A door on the surface of the wing fortress slid open, and the extremely obese Ivo Robotnik rose from the deep innards of the vessel, now floating in an odd-looking silver hovercar. Beside him hovered a blue badnik that resembled Sonic... except for the cold, unfeeling glowing red eyes that unnerved the blue blur.

"Eggman, long time no see." Sonic quipped, ignoring the creepy badnik for as long as he could. "You look... fatter. It's amazing that 'egg mobile' of yours can hold your weight!"

"Don't call me by that stupid nickname you gave me, hedgehog! I am Dr. Ivo Robotnik, the greatest genius scientist in all the world!" The angry fat man replied. "And as to my weight, I have put on quite a few pounds since you stranded me on that accursed mushroom planet. But while you intended for it to be my prison, I have built my Metropolis Zone; a paradise inhabited only by my robots and I!"

"Is that all you care about, Eggman? Robots?" Sonic glared at him in disbelief. "Cold, soulless machines with no thoughts or feelings of their own?"

"Of course! Robots are the perfect model citizens! No arguing or complaining! Merely following their programming in an orderly fashion!" Robotnik ranted. "Humanity is so much more inefficient. Diversity of opinion, diversity of thought... bah! It has brought humanity nothing but chaos, violence, and oppression! Once I have claimed all seven chaos emeralds, I will use their combined power to create the ultimate army! I shall conquer the earth, and unite all of civilization under a single, unified will... mine!"

"NO! People have the freedom to choose their own lives, to believe their own beliefs, and dream their own dreams!" Sonic yelled in defiance. "I'll never stop fighting for the right of people to be themselves, to choose their own paths in life!"

"Bah! You're nothing but an insolent teenager, with no knowledge of how the real world works!" Robotnik waved his hand dismissively. "But no matter! If you oppose me, my metal Sonic will make short work of you!"

Metal Sonic hovered down to the ground, it's eyes blazing in challenge to the blue blur. Sonic gazed at the thing with a smug look on his face.

"You think this little tin can of yours can hurt me?" The blue blur laughed, readying a spin dash. "I'll have thing busted open wide in five- OW!"

Sonic spin dashed right into metal's body, but the hedgehog simply bounced off it's metal body. "What the?!" Sonic was reeling, when the blue badnik spun around, and kicked him into the wall. Before the blue blur could even get up, Metal was on top of him, pummeling Sonic with a series of punches. It took the blue blur several minutes to kick the blue badnik off, by which time Sonic's body was covered by all sorts of welts and bruises.

"AHHAHAHA! You see?" Dr. Robotnik crowed triumphantly. "My robot is far more than you can handle, hedgehog! He's powered by your own energy-charged quill, and he is INVINCIBLE!"