Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Life Bestowed ❯ A Familiar Face ( Chapter 7 )

Legal Stuff:

I don't own any of the characters in this story. They are the properties of their respective owners.

Author's Notes:

Tails has run into trouble again…the lives of his friends are on his shoulders, and things aren't looking too good. Let's observe…

Chapter 7: A Familiar Face

Tails wandered through the woods for quite some time. He was determined to leave the forest by going in a straight direction, but that hadn't seemed to work too well. It was easy to get turned around, especially when one is under as much stress as Tails.

Tails: Okay, come on, Tails, don't give up… There has to be someone around… Oh, why me?!

He continued through the woods, and his speed slowed as his spirit grew faint. Eventually, he sat down, not knowing what to do next. He couldn't fly up to look around; he was out of energy now, and willpower, too.

Tails: There's no way I can do this alone…

He sat by himself, thinking. For a moment, he actually considered what it would be like back in New York without those in the Freedom Eagle. He then quickly shook his head.

Tails: No…I can't think like that.

He decided that he needed a plan. But what? While he thought, far away, Metal Sonic flew over the treetops. He was headed for Robotnik's base, and wasn't in the best of moods.

Metal Sonic: Oh, when I get my hands on that scientist…He's gonna pay for putting me through this… Making me work with those pathetic organisms… Not to mention Chaos… Ooh, he will pay.

He flew on, unaware that back in New York, Chaos was waking up. The creature found himself stuck in a tree. Chaos looked down at the ground below, and tried to remember how he got here.

Chaos: Last thing I remember, I was fighting with Knuckles…and then we hit each other…and now I'm here. But how?

A bird suddenly dropped down in front of him, hanging from the branch. It startled Chaos, who yelled as he fell from the tree. Forgetting that he could glide, the creature hit the ground head-first with a painful thud. After a moment, he sat up, rubbing his head.

Chaos: Ow…Why does the ground hurt so much?

He sat there, pondering the question. Far to the south, Robotnik's base was maintaining its position over the tip of the Florida Keys. The factories had produced enough explosives to decimate a small town, but New York was a very large city.

Robotnik: Production is at 18 percent and climbing! And there's still no sign of that hedgehog! Oh, this is too good! Just another day or two, and it should be ready! That means I can finally take a break!

He sat down in his chair with a bag of marshmallows in his hand, and flipped through the TV channels. He came to a stop on Wheel of Fortune, and cheered for the players.

Robotnik: And if Sonic and his friends do show up, they'll be…eliminated! Ha ha ha!

A devious plan entered his mind just then. He remembered a project he had started at the center of the base, one that he had forgotten about in all the commotion of moving.

Robotnik: And if by chance that doesn't work, I'll unleash my super roboticizer on them!

He began to laugh maniacally, getting louder and louder as he thought of different ways to use his super roboticizer. He could make Sonic as harmless as a fly, or turn him into a deadly robot that could match Eliminator in battle, and use that to help take over the world. The scientist held a chaos emerald in his hand as he did so. Meanwhile, traveling once again, we see Tails is still thinking in the forest.

Tails: Come on, I need something! Anything!

A cold breeze blew through, and it reduced his concentration. His train of thought was completely broken when there was a loud whoosh from behind him. He turned around, and there was another one from the opposite direction. They seemed to surround him, and then he saw a glimmer of something blue.

Tails: Huh? S-S-Sonic?

The harsh voice of Metal sonic spoke to him from somewhere out of his sight.

Metal Sonic: No, it's not your pathetic friend!

Tails: Metal!

The fox's alertness doubled, and he began to look all around to try and see his opponent. He was suddenly attacked from behind and Metal Sonic brutally tackled him. Tails crashed to the ground, hurt. Metal Sonic stood over him, and raised his sharp fingers up like a set of knives, and prepared to stab the fox.

Metal Sonic: You're going to pay!

Metal Sonic stabbed at Tails, but the fox rolled away just enough to dodge the hit. He got to his feet quickly, and faced the robot.

Tails: Pay for what?!

Metal Sonic answered him by rushing over and grabbing the fox by the arm. The robot swung him around and tossed him into a tree. Tails crashed against it, and dropped to the ground. His head was hurt by the impact. Metal Sonic walked up to him, and faced the fox.

Metal Sonic: I'm going to have my revenge for being forced to cooperate with your friends!

Metal Sonic raised a fist to strike once more, but stopped when there was a voice from above them both. It sounded old and wise, and somewhat familiar.

Voice: Revenge is a fruitless endeavor!

Metal Sonic: What?! Who's there?!

They both looked up into the tree, searching for the source of the voice. There was a flash of something gray, and Metal Sonic was suddenly knocked to the ground. He jumped to his feet, and searched around for what had attacked him. Tails struggled to stand up, closing his eyes because of the pain. He then felt a hand helping him up. When the fox was standing, he was able to open his eyes. He saw a pair of glowing red eyes staring back at him, but they were not of Metal Sonic.

Metal Sonic: Who…are you?

The one who had helped Tails turned around to face Metal Sonic. He was a grayish-white robot, wearing a large tan cloak. His head had a purple streak down the middle, and there were two large, purple horn-like antennae sticking up from it. The robot then answered Metal Sonic's question…sort of…

Robot: My name…is of no importance.

Tails: You!

Tails remembered the robot's name, now that he thought about it. It had been a while, but here that machine was once again. His name: Rokusho. Tails would've jumped for joy had he not been in so much pain.

Rokusho: You attack the weak…the innocent…but what happens when the innocent fight back?

Metal Sonic: Are you some kind of philosopher or something?!

Rokusho: I am merely a defender of justice.

Metal Sonic: Great, another crime fighter…that's all I need!

Rokusho tossed his cloak aside, letting it land on the ground. The robot stood bravely in Metal Sonic's path, defending Tails. The two machines squared off, staring each other down.

Metal Sonic: It doesn't matter…I'll take you down like I did Tails!

Rokusho: We'll see about that.

They charged at each other, and Rokusho moved slightly to one side, avoiding Metal Sonic's tackle. As he did so, he struck the hedgehog robot with his powerful Chanbara sword. The two machines passed each other, and Metal Sonic sensed that his arm was damaged, and he looked down to see a smoothly cut stump right where his wrist should've been.

Metal Sonic: Argh…I'll get you for that!

They rushed at each other again and met in the middle. Rokusho swung his sword again, but Metal Sonic dodged. The blue robot returned with a punch to Rokusho's chest. Rokusho retaliated by landing a devastating blow to Metal Sonic's face with his left arm Pipo hammer. Metal Sonic, not at all pleased with this, quickly kicked Rokusho down, and backed away, unknowingly approaching Tails.

Rokusho: Eeargh! You must be shown the error of your ways!

Rokusho climbed back to his feet, and faced Metal Sonic. Tails saw an opportunity, and came at Metal Sonic from behind with a spin dash attack. The robot slammed into the dirt, and shakily stood back up. He turned around to face Tails.

Metal Sonic: You shouldn't have done that!

Tails was worn out from the fighting, and the spin dash had tired him further. This allowed Metal Sonic to grab him with his remaining hand, and held him in a hostage position with his handless arm.

Metal Sonic: Let's see how you fight when the innocent are in danger!

There was a familiar voice from behind the robot, and it yelled at Metal Sonic.

Voice: Let's see how you fight when you only have one arm!

There was a bright green flash that went through Metal Sonic's shoulder, and seconds later, the arm and hand fell to the ground. Metal Sonic turned around, and as he did he saw a bright green glowing blade, and then its owner. Tails saw it, too.

Tails: Scotty!

Scotty: Hang on, Tails, We'll have you out of there in a jiffy!

Tails: We?

The next thing he knew, Tails was taken from the arm of Metal Sonic, and was being carried away by Johnny. The hedgehog set Tails down Scotty.

Tails: Huh? Johnny?!

Johnny: That's me!

Tails: But I thought-

Before he could finish, Johnny had rushed off into the fight. He kicked Metal Sonic down, and the robot hedgehog lay still for a moment.

Johnny: Now what, Scott?

Scotty: I think we should-

Scotty was interrupted by Metal Sonic, who stood up, barely.

Metal Sonic: I've had enough of this! I'm out of here!

The robot took off into the sky, shakily, and flew away. Scotty watched him go for a moment, and then he noticed Rokusho. The two crime fighters recognized each other, and approached one another.

Scotty: You…Rokusho. Thanks…for helping Tails.

Rokusho: I was only defending someone who wasn't able to do so themselves. Besides, I didn't do all the work.

Scotty: Where have you been all this time?

Rokusho: I keep on the move, searching for professor Hushi, my mentor and creator. You've been in New York, I trust.

Scotty: Mostly. I guess it's lucky you were around here when you were. Judging by his injuries, I don't think Tails could've lasted long enough for us to arrive if you hadn't helped out.

Rokusho: You're welcome, then. It was nice to meet you again.

Scotty: It was nice to see you again, too.

Rokusho: You have some problems to attend to, I see. I must get back to my quest now.

Rokusho walked over to his cloak, and picked it up. He put it on, took one last look at the others, and then leapt into the sky, disappearing from sight.

Tails: Thanks…Rokusho…

Scotty walked up to Tails and Johnny, and saw that Tails was bruised and battered, but otherwise okay. They began to make their way back to the crash sight, traveling through the forest.

Tails: How is it you were able to find me? I thought the crash knocked you all out.

Scotty: It did, but that tends to wear off after a few hours.

Tails: Huh?

Tails looked up at the sky, looking through the tree branches, and noticed the sun was past its midpoint in the sky.

Tails: I guess I was gone longer than I thought. Is everyone else okay?

Johnny: We're all a little beat up, but no one's been seriously hurt.

Scotty: In fact, Billy's already started fixing up the Eagle. That crazy echidna…

Tails: That's good, I guess. But…what about fuel? I thought the Eagle ran out.

Johnny: It did, but the others are working on a solution as we speak.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the site. Everyone was up and about, and Tails approached Billy, who sat on top of the Eagle, working on its boosters. The fox flew up to him with his tails, and Billy was a bit surprised to see him.

Tails: Hey, Bill. How are the repairs going?

Billy: Quite well, actually.

Scotty was below them, and he yelled to Billy.

Scotty: What about the fuel?

Everyone paused, waiting for an answer.

Billy: I've got extra, I'll put it in.

All: <face vault>

Scotty: Billy! Do you mean to tell me that you had spare gas this whole time?!

Billy: Why yes of course.

Scotty: Then…why didn't you put it in before we ran out?!

Billy: We were in the air, and you have to put it in from the outside.

Scotty: Uuugghh… <sigh>

Meanwhile, Amy and Johnny had found each other, and hugged.

Amy: You're back!

Johnny: Well of course I am. <smiles>

Amy: I was so worried about you earlier; you were the last one to wake up.

Johnny: Thanks…

Amy: I waited by your side the whole time.

Johnny: You didn't have to do that…

Amy: I wanted to…I didn't want to be away from you.

Johnny: Well, it was nice when I saw you first when my eyes opened.

Amy: Really?

Johnny: Yeah.

Johnny barely had enough time to answer when Sonic called to him from near the Eagle.

Sonic: Hey, Johnny! Could you give us a hand over here?

Johnny looked down at Amy, who seemed to say `go' without really saying anything. He then nodded, and ran over to Sonic. They worked late into the night repairing the Freedom eagle, using tools and supplies that were aboard the helicopter. They took a break every now and then, either to rest or to eat. As this was going on, Metal Sonic was far away. He was in no condition to face them again, and had decided to find Robotnik.

Metal Sonic: I think maybe I should retire after he repairs me…

He pondered the possibility as he flew. Meanwhile, Robotnik was in an enormous room at the bottom of his flying base's main tower. Suspended in the ceiling was the visible bottom half of a gigantic metal orb, made up of hundreds of dark gray metal panels. Several wires and pipes extended from it, attaching to various parts of the room. There was a single large door near the bottom of it, with a ramp that led up to it. The orb stretched nearly to the ground, and beneath it was a large glass chamber that contained more pipes and wires, with a control panel on the side. Robotnik walked up to it, carrying a grayish-white chaos emerald.

Robotnik: My super roboticizer is so marvelous! With the base's main generator feeding power to it, I can turn that useless hedgehog into a valuable minion! But, with a little boost from this emerald, I could make him a killing machine that only serves me! Ha ha ha ha!

He reached into the center of the chamber, and placed the emerald there. He then pressed a button on the control panel, and the chamber closed up as wires connected themselves to the emerald. The chamber then retracted into the ground.

Robotnik: I've got you this time, hedgehog!

He started to laugh evilly, growing very loud as the base hovered over the Florida Keys in the sunset. Far away in New York, Chaos was again trying to remember what he was supposed to do. Eventually, he gave up, and went to a local arcade. Everyone inside ran away, and he couldn't figure out why. Chaos shrugged it off, and found a Pac-man game.

Chaos: Ooh, I'm in heaven!

Such things were his thoughts until he realized it took money to play the game. And that was something he didn't have. The only way he knew of to get money was to rob a bank. So, that was his next destination…

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Go Rokusho!

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