Sonic: Metal Nightmare

"Mom, I was only trying to-"

"Enough, Teal!" Rouge was angry. She wasn't sure who she was angry at,
but she was angry. Tom drove home, the car straining against the fresh
dents and possible engine damage. His thoughts led to two places- one,
that he needed to talk with his wife, and two, that he had to plan
something.


------------------------------------------------

Zoom pounded on the cell doors. He heard an answer. Tails could see him
waving, the security camera network feeding back to him the message.
Quickly, he hacked the security codes and unsealed all doors. "MOM!"

Amy looked up. "Zoom! But-"

"No time, we have to go!" the boy said.

"I'm hurt..." Robotnik struggled to stand, his bandaged leg failing.

Boost offered his support. "Metal Sonic's on Earth. Tails figured out
where he was hiding and beamed us up here to get you!" Zoom replied,
"we have to get back to the main teleporters."


------------------------------------------------

Rouge peeked in her daughter's bedroom. The teenager was asleep, no
doubt having cried herself to sleep. She sighed. Rouge felt like she
was failing her little girl, her attempts to keep the family close
only straining on Teal's mind. Returning to her bedroom, Rouge expected
to see Tom in bed. Instead, he was sitting at the small table,
scribbling notes. "Tom?"

Setting the pencil down, he turned. "That robot tried to kill Teal.
I want it dead."

"Tom, you don't have to worry about this. GUN will-"

"You and Teal get to play the hero. It's my turn. And I'm not waiting
for it to destroy half the city or who knows WHAT else... this has to
end..."

"It'd be suicide to try and face it," she said.

Tom responded with a hint of anger, "I'm not getting anywhere near the
thing. You hate the others so much, let them do the hard parts." She sat
beside him. "Now, you're the military mind in this house, help me work
on this plan..."


------------------------------------------------

Morning fell over Central City. The GUN base camp was active, trying to
find Metal Sonic's whereabouts. Sonic sat with his family, glad to have
them back.

"No sign of the target," a troop reported to Shadow.

"Why not? No contact whatsoever... what is Metal Sonic up to?" Shadow
pondered the question. The robot had simply vanished. "It can't be on
the space station, all teleporter access was locked out. Unless it
flew..."

"Not likely," Miles said. "I had the place locked down, all hangar
doors and other access. It can't get in."

The feminine shape approached, walking with a confidence reserved only
for someone with skill and experience. Rouge was dressed in her old
combat outfit, pink heart plate shined and ready. "I need a gun... NOW!"
Without pause, a trooper handed over his rifle.

"Oh great, the bat's here," Knuckles remarked, turning his head.

"Like you've done anything," she shot back. "I know why you haven't seen
Metal Sonic." She pressed a remote switch, three bat-shaped spheres
floating in the air. "I used some of those."

"After I hit it with my car," Thomas added. "It's been damaged."

Tails processed this. "Wouldn't be enough to destroy it, but if it
were damaged, self-repair systems would need time."

"Miles!" Robotnik waved his arms. "I need you over here!" Tails ran
towards the old man. "I need to access my old files..."

"Why? We dealt with your space station and- wait... if you built this
thing, then you should have detailed schematics in your old files..."
Tails brought up remote access to the lab's files and opened the needed
records.

Working quickly, Robotnik found the document. "Here we are... tell me,
Rouge, what type of bomb is that?"

Cradling her rifle, she explained, "high explosive with a limited
blast radius. Made to concentrate the damage to a small area."

Robotnik said, "of course. This unit was made to resist puncture damage
with a sturdy outer hull. However... the bombs likely caused enough
vibrational force to interfere with the internal structure. It was made
to withstand external damage, but concentrate that internally..."

Tom waved Shadow over to him. "See my car? You're going to drive it
straight down that metal monster's throat!" Cocking an eye, Shadow was
curious. "I'd do it myself but if I jumped out, I'd probably break every
bone in my body... Reaching in, he flipped a switch, the seat, steering
wheel and pedals all moving inward. "Lets Rouge drive."

"The explosion from this vehicle won't be as powerful as those bombs..."
Shadow commented.

Tom explained, "this car? It won't blow up from a forward impact. Pin
that toaster to the wall for me."

Knuckles sulked. "We still don't know where it is. Some plan, Rouge!"

The bat looked him dead in the eyes. "So go draw it out, you moronic
ant eater! Or do I have to do ALL the work?" An angered look from his
wife kept Knuckles silent.

"Why waste time with that?" Everyone looked at Tails. "It'd be easier
to get his attention with a public announcement," he explained, grabbing
the radio. "Commander, this is Miles Prower. Listen to me very
carefully..."


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The hiding place was suitable to repair. It would strike soon. When
Little Planet appears, it planned to make its way there and find one
of the numerous pathways into the past. When that happened, Metal Sonic
could return to Earth many years before and defeat its enemies before
they existed.

Radio communications were monitored. The broadcast caused the robot
anger. The news was reporting that it had been destroyed. Checking
internal systems, repairs were only at eighty-three percent. Suitable
for what it could do for such a horrendous judgment. It would show
them that it was not defeated.

Tearing through the tunnels, it erupted from the manhole cover, hoping
to lay waste to the populace and draw Sonic to it.

It saw no one.

GUN had the city under lockdown, all citizens to remain in their homes.
All it found were empty streets. At the base camp, Miles monitored all
citywide security. "Found it!"

"Then let's go!" Sonic shouted.

"WAIT!" Miles said, halting him. "Sonic... I know you want a big
adventure, but this isn't about you. Rouge's plan makes sense! We take
this thing down quickly and with minimal damage."

"But it-" Sonic paused mid-sentence. "It.. took Amy from me..."

Tails placed a hand on his old friend's shoulder. "I know. It also
kidnapped Robotnik and injured him. It also tried to kill Rouge's
daughter. It's leveled several city blocks and will do more damage if
you don't stop this thing! But running into a ball and flying at it
won't help. And you don't need the Chaos Emeralds. We have the means
right here. Now.. get going. I'll watch from here."

Sonic stepped towards the others. Knuckles, Karen, Zoom, Boost, Slate,
Striker and Rouge were ready. Shadow started Tom's car. "You know what
to do," Rouge said. "Distract it long enough for me to get my bombs
into position to stun it. Shadow will do the rest from there."

Without a word, they left.

Grabbing an earpiece, Tom threw off his tie. "Okay, Rouge's orders,"
he addressed the soldiers, "you're to be ready in case their plan goes
to crap! Understood?" Sitting beside Miles, he said, "I'm her eyes on the
ground. I can work better from here."

"You're not worried about her?" Miles asked, puzzled.

Tom replied, "it was my plan. I made sure neither of us would be in
danger. It's the others who get the hard part."

Tails sat, thinking. "Ordinarily I'd be appalled by something like that,
but... actually, I'd probably do the same thing if I had a family. Not
like they aren't all capable."


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Metal Sonic was attacked from all sides, rammed into by blurs moving
quickly. It wanted Sonic but the rest were too distracting. They
refused to stop, seven opponents unwilling to give it a chance to
create a strategy.

Studying the battle, seeking patterns in movement, it begun to work.
Processing was slow due to previous system damage, but it would have to
formulate a plan. The rear jets were offline and escape was impossible.

The bomb went off, sending it into the street. Rising, it saw the second
bomb approach, exploding before it could run. The third followed. System
efficiency was down to sixty-three percent. Pulling upright, it had no
time, the car slamming its body, feet scraping pavement. As Shadow
reached the end of the road, he jumped out, the car slamming into
the side of a building, Metal Sonic pinned.

Flying downward, Rouge confronted the being. "Normally I'd mouth off,
but this is personal." The butt of the rifle slammed its head, working
loose a piece of its hull. Prying the sharp nails of her gloves into
the opening, Rouge tore the metal plate off.

"No begging?" she taunted.

It eyed her. "I do not beg." Shrugging, she aimed her gun, firing into
the exposed circuitry. Electric sparks and burning smoke was released,
the lights of the eyes going dead.

Tossing her weapon away, she helped Shadow to his feet. "Good luck with
the clean-up, Shadow..." The rest gathered around, watching the bat walk
off. For Rouge, it had been personal, and she didn't wish to stay around
to celebrate. The others could feel good about winning. She only wished
to return to her family.