Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ On the Road Again ❯ War of the Bots ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter 9: War of the Bots

Returning to our adventurous tale, we find the crew at a campsite in a Wisconsin forest, standing with the RV, looking toward a robot, which called itself Metal Sonic-2, and the machine reached out with his robotic hand to help Sonic the Hedgehog stand up after the fall. Sonic awoke from the flashback, and then he saw the hand again. Slowly and sadly, he turned his head away, closing his green eyes. Then suddenly, Knuckles the Echidna kicked the robot away from Sonic.

"I don't know what you are, but you're not getting Sonic!" The red echidna said, bravely.

The robot stood unharmed. "You are mistaken. I have no quarrel with you." He said.

Knuckles growled, angrily. "Then let me give you one!" He said, and then the echidna ran toward Metal-2, but before he could attack the robot, Rouge stopped him, standing in his way.

"Hold it, Knuckles. Let's hear him out." Rouge the Bat said to him, gently. Then Knuckles stood still, not saying a word or moving. But he kept his eyes alert and on the robot stranger.

Tails quickly ran to Sonic, and Shadow followed. The blue hedgehog was still on the ground with his head turned away from the robot, and his eyes were still closed.

"Sonic, are you all right?" Tails asked, concerned for him. "Sonic?" He whispered.

Then Sonic finally opened his eyes and he blinked them, perhaps to keep tears from coming. He took a deep breath, and then he looked up to see his friend. "Tails…" He whispered.

"Did he hurt you?" Shadow asked him, kneeling down beside the blue hedgehog.

Sonic shook his head. "No, I'm okay, I'm all right." He assured his worried friends.

He felt Shadow hold him and then lift him up to his feet. Sonic stood and let out a sigh, and then before he could fully recover, Metal Sonic, who had been tracking the RV down, attacked him. It all happened so fast and suddenly. Sonic was thrown away from Tails and Shadow, and he crashed against a large tree, falling to the ground with a bruise on his head.

"Time to perish, hedgehog!" Metal said as he pointed a laser weapon toward him. But before it could be fired, Metal-2 stood in his way, greatly surprising the first Metal Sonic.

"You reject! How dare you show your face around me again?!" Metal pointed to him.

"I will do what I want," Metal-2 said to him, "I turned away from evil because it has no reward." The stunned crew watched as the two robot hedgehogs focused on each other.

"Hey, there are two!" Tails said, surprised, and then he asked, "Which one was made first?"

"He was," Metal pointed toward Metal-2. "But the Doctor found him to be imperfect and made me to replace him!"

"That is a lie, and you know it. You were made first." Metal-2 said, truthfully.

"That does not mean I have to accept it!" Metal snapped, furious.

"You will not harm the innocent. You will be stopped." Metal-2 stood, defending.

"You are even more stupid than when I first computed, foolish, sad machine!" Then having enough of talking, Metal fired a laser toward his robotic enemy. Instantly, and before the laser could attack, Metal-2 surrounded himself with a protective shield, so he was unharmed.

"Whoa!" Sonic yelled, and he quickly rolled out of the way to safety.

"Look, Metal is fighting the stranger, and it's a war!" Tails gasped with shock.

"It's the War of the Bots!" Knuckles added with his eyes opened wide.

Just then, another laser was fired, and after hitting a tree, it fell dangerously toward Sonic. Tails saw this, and so he ran toward the hedgehog. "Sonic, run!" Tails warned him in time, but before the young fox could reach him, Metal caught him from behind, gripping his arms.

"NO!" Sonic yelled, and he jumped over the fallen tree, unharmed. Metal-2 turned toward the robot, which lifted his laser gun weapon to the fox's head. Tails closed his eyes.

"Keep away, reject, or I will turn him into dog meat!" Metal coldly threatened.

"Move away, Metal-2…please…" Sonic whispered, and then Metal-2 stepped back. Sonic surprised even himself when he winked his eye at Metal-2, signaling him. The robot seemed to have understood, and then Sonic faced Metal, who held Tails as a hostage. "Metal, you've turned into a big time villain to snatch little ones like that, it's ruthless!" He said, pointing.

"Thank you for your friendly comments, lame hedgehog, but now, I think it's time for a little token for your misdeeds. I will take him down, knowing it will hurt you!"

"Yeah, I think I feel a headache coming on for you." Sonic said, confusing the robot.

"What does this mean?" Metal asked, and Sonic did not answer. He let Metal-2 answer.

"It means you have reached the end of your line!" Metal-2 replied, and then he lifted his hand toward the robot, aiming for the head. It was a direct hit, and Metal Sonic fell backward with the force of a laser fire. Tails was free and unharmed, miraculously safe and alive.

Just then, they heard a voice, and then Chaos came out from the forest. "Boy, am I lost!" He said, and then he noticed the robot, standing next to Sonic. "Oh, Metal, you got him! Hooray!" He ran to him, happily, but Metal-2 stepped away. "Hey, Metal, what happened to you? You look different!" Chaos finally noticed it, with surprise and confusion.

"I am not your friend." Metal-2 said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, you've said that a lot." Chaos said, and then he gasped when Metal-2 raised his arm with his blaster ready to fire. "Whoa! Metal, calm down! I think you've played Duck Hunt too much!" He screamed with fright as he dodged the attack by turning into a puddle, and he fled away.

"Is it over?" Amy asked, peeking out from behind a rock, cautiously with Tikal and Freeway. Knuckles and Rouge came out from behind the RV, after it became quiet.

"Whew! That was quite a battle, but is that it?" Knuckles wondered.

Rouge shrugged. "I don't know, but Metal is gone." She pointed toward the ground where the robot had fallen with a damaged head. But the robot was nowhere to be found.

"He better not come back, or else!" Shadow said, bravely crossing his arms, standing.

Unable to speak at first, Sonic ran to Tails, and then he hugged him tight, feeling relief. He closed his green eyes while holding him like a father would hold his only, precious son. Then after a long moment, he faced him with his eyes blinking tears away. "You okay?" He asked, softly.

"Yes, I'm all right, Sonic. Thanks." Tails answered, quietly, and then he smiled.

Then Sonic stood up, turned around and he faced the robot Metal-2, which stood silently. The blue hedgehog walked toward the robot, careful in his steps, and he stopped in front of it. Metal-2 remained quiet and still, and then at last, Sonic raised his right hand to him.

"You saved my friend's life, and perhaps my entire crew also. Thanks." Sonic said, and then he shook the robot's hand, gripping it tightly. Metal-2 slightly turned his head, and then nodded.

"You are very welcome." The robot said, and the team gathered around him, curious, but Shadow kept away, standing next to the RV, watching Metal-2 very carefully and cautiously.

"He does look different from Metal, and I admit, he did help us." Sonic said to his friends.

"And look, Sonic, he's got your shoes!" Knuckles pointed to the robot's shoes, which were red with a white stripe, much like the famous pair that belonged to the fastest hedgehog.

"What?" Sonic gasped, and then he looked down to see that his red sneakers were still on. "Don't scare me!" He said, and then to his surprise, his friends laughed, finding it to be funny.

"So, when do I call for the tow truck?" Shadow asked, unsmiling to the others.

"No, Sonic, don't!" Tails requested, "Why don't you test Metal-2, and see?"

"Put him through a test?" Sonic asked, looking down at his friend.

"Yes, it's only fair that we give him a chance, even if it's a simple test." Tails nodded.

"I am able to endure tests." Metal-2 told the team, and then Sonic agreed.

"All right then, prove it. Stand on one foot." And at his word, Metal-2 did so. "Yeah!" Sonic shouted as he leaped into the air, and then he landed. "Okay, put your foot down." He said, and then Metal-2 placed his foot down. "I shall call him…Metal Me!" Sonic grinned.

"You have lost your mind!" Shadow said to him, "This could still be a trick, you know."

"Shad, I know a trick of Eggman when I see one, and this is sure not one of them."

"What if it is a new trick?" Shadow asked, still cautious and wary of the robot.

"Then I'll learn from it." Sonic answered, simply.

"Metal sure disliked him, so an enemy of Metal is worth a chance." Knuckles said, and he recalled what happened. "He could make a good security system, maybe so."

"Okay, what's your point?" Shadow asked the team, still unsmiling.

"I say we let him stay with us…for now, anyway." Sonic replied, and then Shadow snorted.

The black hedgehog looked right at the robot with eyes that did not welcome him in. "Beware, I'll be watching." He whispered, and then he turned away to vanish in the darkness.

"Is he always this way?" Metal-2 asked the team, after Shadow was gone.

"Maybe when he's out of coffee, but he'll come around." Knuckles answered.

"In the meantime," Sonic said, "Tails, see if you can learn anything about him."

"Yeah, ask him some questions." Rouge said, and then the fox looked toward the robot.

"All right, Metal-2, are you ready for some questions?" Tails asked him.

"Yes, I am qualified to answer any questions you may have." Metal-2 replied.

After a moment of thinking, Tails began to ask. "What operating system do you use?"

"A custom-made one." Metal-2 answered, and then Tails continued asking.

"How much storage memory do you have? And what about RAM?"

"Storage memory is approximately 1000 gigabytes. RAM is 100 gigabytes."

"What is your armor made of? And what kind of output do your blasters have?"

"Armor is titanium-carbon alloy. Blasters are high plasma discharge."

"How fast can you run? And how about your flying speed?"

"I run fast, and I can fly very fast."

"One last question. Why do you have a Russian accent?"

"Because it's cool." Metal-2 replied, and then Tails finished his questioning, for now.

"Do you have a house, or a home to live in?" Tikal asked him, shyly.

"No, after escaping from Robotnik, I have made the forest my refuge." Metal-2 answered.

"Then you can stay with us in the RV, and travel on the road." Amy pointed to it.

"I am willing to be a hand of help." Metal-2 assured the leader Sonic.

"Yes, I'm sure you will be." Sonic said, quietly and he thought of things.

"Then can he stay with us? Will he be our traveling protector?" Amy asked.

Sonic sighed. "Years ago, I saved Scott's life, and he was a criminal in New York City. He always tells me how even a thief needs a chance, so, I can say the same for him." Then Sonic said to Metal-2, with a welcoming tone in his voice: "Welcome aboard, Metal-2."