SegaSonic: Metallic Ascent 3

Metallic Ascent - Part 3

0900 hours, Day 2...

The rising daylight began to reveal the Overlord's blue and purple coloring, but he himself went unnoticed in the isolated mountain range. And so it was unmolested that the robot began to reactivate its systems again. As the systems began to come back online, all that wonderful power began to surge through him again, only this time it didn't come alone; every limb began to tingle with its own power as it reactivated. By the time the dragon robot was taking in visual input and the red eyes were glowing again, he realized that he was now no longer dependant solely on the Emerald.

He slowly began to get up on his four feet, the long white claws pushing into the stone. Standing on all fours, he felt the Emerald's power still flowing in him, but now each limb tingled with stored power all its own. Realizing he was self-sufficient now, he threw his head back and roared again in joy, the roar gradually fading and the expression again becoming one of ecstasy.

So enthralled the robot dragon was that he spread his wings open again and immediately took off, losing himself in flight knowing he was now free forever. The first time, he fought and clawed to keep what he had gained, then insufferably had it all taken away from him; this time, he would live in glory or die with glory, freedom and power staying with him to the end. If after all he done to enhance his form and abilities he could still not defeat the organic Sonic, than he would ask that termination be quick, that he be allowed the honor of a glorious death. He would not suffer to lose it all again, to return to the limitations Eggman had imposed on him. He would accomplish his mission and live forever as a glorious machine or be permanently deactivated trying.

For most of the rest of the day, he flew through the sky, seeking signs of the organic Sonic or other things he could conquer and destroy, to prove his power further still...

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Meanwhile...

The TV was blaring in the otherwise quiet workshop of Miles "Tails" Prower, showing crashed or broken airships filling a mountain valley, all smoking, some on fire. The announcer was stating "In the space of one night, these airships were smashed by an unknown but apparently very powerful force while flying in mid-air, crashing and sometimes rolling into the valley seen here. All but one of these ships bears the mark of Dr. Eggman's Air Fleet, and it is obvious that something has smashed much of his fleet. The primary suspect is the renowned world hero and Dr. Eggman's rival Sonic the Hedgehog, but we have not yet been able to reach him for comment. For Channel 10 News, I'm..."

Tails switched off the TV. Had Sonic done this without him knowing, even asking? He needed to know. And had whatever destroyed the ships been stopped? Was it still out there? He had so many questions, but only one way of answering them: waking Sonic, who had crashed at his workshop for the night and was sleeping in, as was typically the case whenever Sonic was here. Usually it wasn't a good idea to wake him early (Sonic would get jumpy and irritable if this was done), but in this case Tails felt the circumstances justified an early wake-up.

He walked over slowly to the cot Sonic was laying on, blanket over him to help keep warm. "Sonic." Tails stated, giving a little shake to the blanket while being careful to avoid getting poked by stray spines that may have embedded themselves in the blanket. Sonic moaned and shifted position, but did nothing else. Tails tried again, this time the result being Sonic moaning for five more minutes.

"Sonic, this is important! Something's happened to Eggman's Air Fleet, a lot of the ships have been destroyed!" Tails exclaimed. Sonic turned, looked his sidekick in the eye, then yawned and got up out of bed.

"Now whaddya goin' on about again?" Sonic said as he rubbed his eyes to clear the sand from them.

"Sonic, it was all over the news when I checked this morning. Something or someone destroyed a bunch of Eggman's airships and sent them crashing down in a mountain valley somewhere!" Tails exclaimed, leading Sonic toward the TV in the break room nearby.

Tails turned the TV on again, the images of broken airships again appearing on its screen. More reporting was going on: "As you can see, all of these ships are totally destroyed and testament to the immense power of whatever destroyed him. No casualties from the previous night's disaster have yet been reported, but all but one of the destroyed ships have been identified as ships of Dr. Eggman's air fleet, and both Dr. Eggman and his main rival Sonic the Hedgehog are currently being sought for comment."

Sonic's eyes popped open from their half-sleepy state and he exclaimed: "What? How? What could've destroyed all those ships so fast? Did Eggman's newest creation run amok on him?"

"Maybe, but I thought you might know more..." Tails replied.

"What, you think I did this in my sleep or somethin'?"

"Can you blame me for askin'?" Tails answered with a grin on his face.

"No way! You keep the door locked at night, remember? And even if I was to get out, how would I know where to get up to where Eggman's fleet was anyways? I haven't been tracking that thing as a matter of habit, G.U.N's supposed to be dealing with that."

"That's true, and I've already checked the Tornado's automatic flight log, it hasn't been flown over the past few days. Still, the press will be looking for you, and they'll..."

The sound of a doorbell cut off Tails' last sentence. Sonic and Tails looked at each other with concern, then Sonic asked Tails to open the door. When Tails obliged, he was greeted by a huddle of reporters with microphones and photographers clicking away with their cameras, the flashes blinding him for a moment. In the back, a few cameramen were holding video cameras over the rest of the group, recording live.

"Ah yes, Miles Prower, is Sonic available for comment at the moment?" one of the reporters asked, holding out a microphone in Tails' direction.

"Uh... yes, let me go get him." Tails quickly replied, turning away and walking back towards Sonic.

"They want to see you." Tails stated to Sonic with a smirk on his face, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder back toward the door. The smirk told Sonic all he needed to know.

Dealing with reporters wasn't something Sonic relished, particularly now after just being woken up. But if he didn't do it, he knew they wouldn't go away. He walked over to the door and was greeted by a dazzling array of flashbulbs, which caused him to cover his eyes in reaction and make a comment for them to take it easy with the flash.

"Sonic the Hedgehog, our viewers have been anxious to know: do you know who destroyed those airships in the middle of the night, and if so do you know if its still out there and capable of menacing society?" one of the reporters quickly asked, almost shoving the microphone in Sonic's face.

"No, I do not know what brought down those ships, nor do I know how. As for it being out there and a waiting menace, I'd say probably, considering Eggman couldn't stop it." Sonic replied bluntly, having little stomach to carry on an extended interview and wanting to avoid further conversation at all costs. While the press showed its collective disappointment, Tails closed the door and both him and Sonic snuck away from it, concerned but hoping things would just end there...

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1000 Hours...

Dr. Eggman came to in darkness, the back of his head throbbing. The last thing he remembered was the horror at the roar at the once-again transformed Metal Sonic, then the entire bridge tilting and turning underneath him. He had tried to reach the escape pod in his quarters nearby, but slipped and fell down a set of stairs as loose objects slid or flew around him in the toppling bridge tower. Something must have conked him in the head and knocked him cold; now, the bridge tower, and the rest of the Egg Fleet flagship as well, were smashed on the ground. He was sure he had only survived by being in the top part of the falling tower when it crashed and thus not being crushed upon impact.

In complete darkness, Eggman sat up. Something was pinning his left leg, which he thought likely broken. With great effort he pushed the object off his leg and then tried to turn around onto a crawling position, but the piece of wall he was on shifted, tilting down toward a drop Eggman couldn't gage in the darkness. He grabbed onto the edge with one hand, but the wall piece shifted again and his grip failed. He fell through empty space for a few seconds, landing on a tilted wall piece, rolling off it and dropping freely again into, judging from the loud clattering Eggman heard upon landing, a pile of parts and loose debris.

The clattering echoed in Eggman's ears for a minute, then the unearthly silence fell again. It felt like a tomb; Eggman thought he could cry. Would he die in here, undone not by Sonic but the robot he had created to duplicate him? Why hadn't he swallowed his high regard for Metal Sonic and tossed him into the slag when he had the chance? So much trouble would've been saved, for him and the world now too.

Flailing about in the debris pile, he tumbled down its side and landed on his face on another metal floor. He knew going down and out was the only way he would manage to get out of the ship's ruins, but he had no energy to go anywhere. After crawling forward a few feet, he tumbled head-over-heels down another short slope and ended up passing out again at its bottom, unable to guess where he was in the tower or how any rescuers would get to him...

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1100 Hours...

"Over here! We've got two more!"

"Oh goodness, just like the other one we found! Check 'em!"

In the background loomed the broken ruins of the Babylon Rogues airship, its bottom crushed by the impact and buried in the dirt and rocks of the valley bottom, its top a crumbling and broken mess of metal partly on fire. A group of aid workers, nearby good samaritans that had heard the early-morning impacts and rushed out at first light to search, had been combing the valley floor for casualties. Now they had found two victims of the catastrophe, a larger grey figure laying on his back and a smaller green figure on his face within a couple hundred yards of each other. Behind them was broken pieces of a green airboard, having failed in its attempt to cushion the impact of the fall.

"Any vitals?"

"No sir. Just like the purple one we found a half-hour ago."

"All right, I'll mark them down as DOA. Help me carry them to HQ, we'll need to airlift all three to the nearest internment facility until we can get an ID from someone. You two take the large grey one, I'll carry the green guy."

"Yes sir."

As the lead worker picked up the green figure, limp as a rag doll, he rolled it over to reveal a face with large eyes and a wide, short beak. "Just like the purple one." he sadly concluded, shouldering the figure and beginning to work his way up toward the headquarters building perched at the top of the valley.

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Oh woe to the world, for Babylon is no more and the second tribulation is yet to come!...