Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Ghosts Of New York ❯ Subterranian Terror ( Chapter 7 )

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Chapter 7: Subterranean Terror

It was the next morning, and everyone was up, except for Sonic. The rest of them were waiting for him to wake up; they had been for a few hours now. Finally, Tails volunteered to wake the sleeping Hedgehog. The fox walked into Sonic's room, and started trying to wake him up.

Tails: <shaking Sonic's shoulder> Sonic…Sonic, get up!

Sonic: …

Tails: <shakes harder> Come on, Sonic!

Sonic: <snore>

Tails: <both hands> Get up!

Sonic: …

Tails: <opens Sonic's eye>

Sonic: …

Tails let go of the eyelid, and it snapped shut. He stood back for a moment, thinking. He then snapped his fingers, and whispered something in Sonic's ear…

Tails: <whispering> Sonic…We've got chili dogs…

Sonic: <rolls over, mumbling> …Chilidogs…

Sonic then proceeded to burp obnoxiously in Tails's face. The fox nearly fell backwards as he tried to wave the smell away from his nose. Sonic continued snoring. Tails took a police megaphone off the shelf, and used it, right in Sonic's ear…

Tails: <using megaphone> Sonic! Wake up!

Sonic: <snore>

Tails wasn't happy. Outside the room, everyone heard the megaphone, and Scotty picked up the telephone and dialed a number.

Tails: <steaming, eye twitching> Grr…

Tails was about to take an evolutionary step backwards, and use the fact that he was a fox in order to wake Sonic up. Before he could release his anger, someone entered the room.

Amy: High, Sonic!

Sonic leapt out of bed, screaming.

Sonic: AAAAHHH!!!! AMY!!! NOOOO!!!!

Amy: What?

Sonic: ANYTHING BUT AMY!!!

Scotty came in.

Scotty: Thanks for your help, Amy.

Amy: But…I didn't do anything…

Sonic: Get her outta here before that changes!

Scotty: That's all for now, Amy. You can go on home.

Sonic: Whew! Now, I can get some sleep…

Scotty: On second thought, why don't you stay here for a while?

Amy: Yay!

Sonic: All right, I'm up, I'm up…

They walked out of the room, and entered the lounge.

Billy: Finally, you have awakened…Now we can start.

Sonic: Start what?

Sonya: Metal disappeared last night…He left us a message, but it says not to play it until we're all watching.

Sonic: Well, let's see it…

Billy pressed a button on a TV screen. Onto it popped the image of Metal.

Metal: After the events of yesterday, I realized that I had no place among you. Our methods are very different, and we cannot properly function together. Therefore, I have decided to leave the base, but I will remain in this city. Rest assured, I am not turning against you, but please know that if we encounter each other, I will not let you stop me from completing my objective my way. I admire your concerns for the lives of serious criminals, however I do not share them. If I encounter them, and their crimes are serious enough, I will eliminate them. It is my way. I am sorry to all of you for having to do this, especially to the children. However, it is necessary. I do not wish to lead Robotnik to you another time. Goodbye for now…I hope we meet again.

The screen went black.

Scotty: Well, I didn't see that coming…

Sonic: I don't believe this…

Amy: I do…The way you treated him, I'm just glad he took it as well as he did.

Sally: What are you saying?

Amy: If he wanted to, he would've killed you all in your sleep. Consider yourselves lucky.

Scotty: I never thought of it that way…

Simon: He's gone…

Lilac: I miss him!

Nightingale: I kinda do, too.

Sonya: I think we all do.

Sonic: For some reason, I do too.

Billy: Perhaps we should track him down.

Tails: Right…But how?

Nightingale: The same way Robotnik finds him…We'll follow his homing signal!

Billy: Excellent proposition, but frequency does he use?

Tails: It shouldn't be too hard to figure out…We could screen out police and fire signals, and follow whatever ones are moving…One of them would have to be him!

Nightingale: Good idea! Let's get to work!

They ran off to the lab, while the rest of them continued talking.

Susie: What's going to happen to him, Daddy?

Sonic: I don't know…Hopefully he'll be all right…

Scotty: Maybe we should call Knuckles, and tell him what's going on…

Sally: You're probably right…Maybe he could help us out.

Sonya: It might not be easy to convince him that Metal isn't evil…

Scotty: We'll never know if we don't try.

Scotty walked to the communicator, and dialed in a number. Billy had shown him how. After a moment, Knuckles appeared on the screen.

Scotty: Knuckles, there's something we need to tell you.

Knuckles: <sarcastically> Really? I never would have guessed.

Sonic: Will you can it for a minute and listen?

Scotty: Be on the lookout for a new version of Metal Sonic.

Knuckles: I'll take him down if I see him.

Simon: No, don't!

Sonic: If you see him, don't attack him.

Knuckles: What? Why?

Scotty: Believe it or not, he's on our side. He ran away last night, and we want him back.

Knuckles: Was he a prisoner or something?

Scotty: No. Like I said, he's on our side. He ran away because we don't approve of his methods of fighting crime.

Knuckles: Why do you want him back?

Simon: Because he's friendly.

Sonya: He can change his ways; I know he can!

Knuckles: Okay…Um, I'll uh…I'll watch out for him…

Sonic: And?

Knuckles: <sigh> And I'll return him to you safely if I can.

Sonic: Thank you.

They ended the transmission. A few moments later, Tails, Billy, and Nightingale returned, each carrying some odd-looking devices.

Tails: We modified these scanners to track Metal!

Sonic: Great job, guys!

Scotty: Let's put them to the test!

They all left, and split into three teams. Tails, Sonic, Sally, SJ and Susie were team one. Billy, Scotty, Sonya, Lilac, and Secret made up team two. Nightingale, Dr. Arrow, Amy, and Simon formed team three. The each went in different directions, and searched the city. They kept in touch with powerful two-way radios.

Sonic: Have you got anything yet, Tails?

Tails: Not yet, Sonic…

Sonic: All this walking is boring.

Sally: So we've heard…a thousand times…

Sonic: Well, it's true…

SJ: Is Metal gonna be okay?

Sonny: I'm sure he will…<thinking> at least I hope I'm sure…

Susie: We'll find him; don't worry!

They continued on. Far away, Billy led the others.

Billy: I hope we receive a signal soon…

Scotty: Well, the city is only so big…and he did say that he would stay somewhere in it.

Sonya: So we should be able to find him soon.

Lilac: I hope he'll come back.

Secret: We all do.

Off in another area…

Nightingale: Oh…Where is he?

Dr. Arrow: Relax, we'll find him in due time.

Simon: When is that?

Amy: I hope it's soon…

They searched for hours, not finding what they were looking for. However, Scotty and the others did find something else…

Scotty: Where could he be? I wish I knew…

From atop a streetlight, a voice came…

Rokusho: You seek answers…

Scotty and the others were startled, and looked up at Rokusho.

Scotty: Sort of…

Rokusho: You want to find your friend, right?

Scotty: How did you know?

Rokusho: If you travel in the skies, you gain a better view.

Scotty: What?

Rokusho: Why do you think I'm always up high?

Scotty: …

Rokusho: I can see a lot from up here. If you travel high, you may find what you are looking for…

Rokusho stood motionless for a moment, then disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Scotty: What did he mean?

Simon: Was he talking about flying?

Sonya: I don't think so…

Scotty: Yeah, I wasn't getting that vibe either…

Lilac: But what else could he have meant?

Secret: Hey…What about the rooftops?

Scotty: You might have something there…

Secret: <points upwards> And you might find it up there!

Scotty: Well, it's worth a shot…

The green hedgehog took a few steps back, and rushed toward a nearby building. He ran straight up the wall, and eventually landed on the rooftop. He looked around, but he didn't see Metal anywhere. He made his way to a higher rooftop. Still no Metal. He clicked a button on his radio.

Scotty: I've looked all around, and I don't see him anywhere.

Down below, Sonya and the others heard the message, and Sonya replied…

Sonya: Well, maybe we were wrong. Come on back, and we'll keep looking.

Scotty: All right, I'm on my way.

Scotty ran toward his family, but stopped when he saw something on a street below. He looked carefully, and saw a police crew near a subway entrance. He used his radio again.

Scotty: Sony, I've found something…Can you see me?

Sonya: <looking up> Yeah, we can see you.

Scotty: Then follow me.

They all ran off toward the entrance, forgetting about finding Metal for now. When they all made it, Scotty walked up to an officer.

Scotty: Officer, what's going on?

Officer: Well, Scotty, It seems that someone's taken over a loaded subway train, and is threatening to ram it into another one.

Scotty: What are they loaded with?

Simon: Explosives?

Officer: People.

A look of anger and concentration came over Scotty, and he rushed down the steps. The others followed him. Sonya took out her radio, and contacted the other two teams.

Sonya: Everyone! There's a situation in the subway system. I'm not sure where we are; can you follow our radio signal?

Tails: We're on our way!

Nightingale: We'll be there soon!

Sonya left her radio on so that the others could find them. Meanwhile, Scotty tried to figure out what to do.

Scotty: <pacing, thinking out loud> Okay, we've got a subway train full of people, and the hijackers want to kill them, and probably cause a lot of damage in the process…Roads, sewers, electrical and phone lines…all damaged…Not to mention the innocent lives aboard the trains…<sigh> And it's up to us to stop them…

He continued to think, as did all of them. Eventually, all of their friends arrived, and Sonya turned off her radio to save power. Billy informed them of the situation, and Tails translated it for Sonic. The police officer joined them in the otherwise empty terminal.

Nightingale: What about the power? If we shut off the electricity, the trains can't move!

Officer: That'd be hard to do; we'd also have to cut power to a good chunk of the city.

Scotty: And they'd probably begin taking the lives of the civilians until we turned it back on…

Tails: Is there a way to get to the train?

Officer: They've stopped the train between stations, so it would be difficult.

Billy: We'd have to be cautious of the electrical rails as well.

Tails: I could fly over them…but there's not much I could do when I got there…

Dr. Arrow: Is any way we could get in safely?

Officer: Well, there is a maintenance tunnel that could get you to them.

Scotty: It'll have to do.

Officer: <points to a side of the room near the tracks> The tunnel starts right there. Be careful.

They all entered the tunnel. It was dark, cramped, and musty. They slowly made their way to the train, and saw two armed hijackers in the front engine. They did their best to stay hidden, but it was hard because of the lights in the train. They went up next to a passenger car, and saw a single armed man inside.

Scotty: Okay guys, here's the plan: We lure that hijacker there over to the door. When he opens it, we knock him out. Try to get his gun away first.

They all agreed, and got ready. Unfortunately, they had been seen by the hijackers in the front car. They were the leaders.

Hijacker 1: Hey…It looks like the cops sent a team in…Should we start the train?

Hijacker 2: Not yet…I've got a plan…

Scotty picked up a rock, and threw it at the door of the passenger car. The hijacker took the bait, and opened the door, aiming outside with his gun. Out of nowhere, a laser cut his gun in half, and then the hijacker was hit in the head, and fell back into the train, knocked out.

Scotty: That takes care of him.

Scotty de-activated his emerald sword, and Amy put away her hammer. They all walked onto the train, and closed the door.

Scotty: Don't worry everyone. Everything is under control…<thinking> or at least it will be, I hope…

They made their way toward the front of the train, but before they reached the front door of the car, the train shook, and they were all knocked backwards.

Billy: Oh dear…It would seem that we are moving…

The train had begun to move, and rapidly picked up speed. It rushed past the station where they just were, and the officer informed the police as he saw it go past.

Sonic: This isn't good. If we don't stop these guys now, we'll all die!

Scotty: We can't have that happen, now can we?

A hijacker entered the front of the car.

Hijacker 1: Now, they'll have to pay us! Not only do we have all these people, but we've got the city's best crime-fighting group!

Scotty: I won't let you get away with this!

The hijacker grabbed a small child away from her mother. It was the same girl that almost lost her puppy to the river a few days before. Holding her with the barrel of his gun touching her head, he slowly retreated to the front car.

Scotty: I don't believe this! Now what are we supposed to do?!

Sonya: First, you need to calm down. You've got a good head on your shoulders, so use it!

Scotty: …<sigh> You're right…We don't have much time. Any ideas?

Sally: If only there was a way to get in there without being noticed…

Billy reached into his pocket, and pulled out a watch.

Billy: This device will turn the wearer invisible for a limited time. If you use it, you may be able to sneak in.

Scotty: How limited a time are we talking about?

Billy: I can't be sure…I haven't field-tested it yet. I didn't have a chance to try it for real…

Tails: It doesn't get any more real than the real thing!

Scotty: Easy for you to say; you don't have to risk your hide trying it out!

Nightingale: What about the doors?

Sally: That's right, we have to make them open the doors so Scotty can get in.

Sonic: I've got an idea…Get ready, Scott!

Scotty put the watch on, and Sonic knocked on the door. Hijacker 1 opened the set of double doors between cars, and Scotty activated the watch and snuck in. The Hijacker still had his hostage.

Hijacker 1: What do you want?

Sonic: To do this!

Sonic kicked the gun out of the hijacker's hand, and then knocked the man to the ground. The girl ran back to her mother, and Sonic and crew surrounded the hijacker. Hijacker 2 noticed the commotion, and entered the car, gun drawn.

Hijacker 2: What's going on here?

The doors behind him closed, and Scotty de-activated the watch while making a face at the hijacker. Sonic and the others disarmed Hijacker 2, and subdued him. Scotty opened the doors, and Tails and Billy entered the small control room.

Scotty: Your watch worked great, Bill! Now, let's see if we can stop this train.

Billy: Thank you, Scotty.

Tails: Uh-oh…

Sonic: <panicked, talking very quickly> Uh-oh? What is uh-oh? I don't like uh-oh!

Tails opened a panel under the console and pointed at a group of wires.

Tails: The connections have been fused! We can't stop the train!

Scotty: Then what do we do?

Billy: Given our current speed, starting location, and the length of this section of track, I estimate that we have about two minutes until we hit a wall.

Simon: That can't be good.

They all desperately tried to come up with a plan, but no one, not even the passengers, could come up with anything. There were only a few miles of track left when the train suddenly jolted as if it had hit something. The lights flickered on and off as people fell over, and the shrill screeching of metal against metal could be heard from outside the front of the train. Scotty struggled to his feet, and looked out the cracked windshield. In front of the train, there was a shower of sparks, and inside it, he could make out the shape of Metal Sonic.

Scotty: What? Metal?

The robot had his engine at full power, and dug his feet into the ground, trying to stop the massive train. He had a determined look on his face, which seemed odd because his face always stayed the same. Anyway, the robot had his arms and body shoved up against the train. The incredible shrieking noise made from this braking procedure was almost deafening.

Tails: <standing up> Oh man…what hit us?

Scotty: Take a look for yourself…

Tails: METAL?!

They were running out of track, and the various barricades were now visible. The train crashed through them, shattering the barricades and sending splinters everywhere. They quickly went from police barricades to water-filled barrels to heavy steel crumple devices. Metal took each and every hit, occasionally sending pieces of him flying. He didn't give up, though. The train was much slower now, but it had enough force to flatten Metal's body up against the wall. The robot screamed an electronic scream as its body was flattened. The force of it snapped the neck joint, and the head fell to the ground as the body's remains went limp.

Billy: <standing up> Oh my…

Scotty: Metal…

Tails: He sacrificed himself to save us…

Everyone exited the train, and Sonic helped his friends pick up the pieces of the martyr that had died to save them all. A fire crew arrived, and used the jaws of life to extract Metal's body. They all collected the pieces in an ambulance that was meant for injured people. Since there were none, Sonic and the others rode home with the various parts of their fallen comrade.

Scotty: <holding metal's head> Metal…I can't believe he's gone…

Sally: We hardly knew him…

Simon: You said he'd be okay…

SJ: Why did you lie?

Tears formed in the eyes of the children, who felt that they had been deceived. Tails and the others tried to help…

Tails: Maybe we can rebuild him…

Billy: Given the state and condition of his parts, I highly doubt it.

Nightingale elbowed Billy and glared at him.

Nightingale: What he means is…that…he…might look different than before…

The driver took them back to the base, and they brought the box of parts into the lab. Tails, Billy, Dr. Arrow, and Nightingale set about placing his parts on a table. They tried to put them near where they would be if Metal was in one piece.

Tails: Let's get to work, guys.

Nightingale: Ahem!

Tails: …And girl.

Nightingale: Thank you. Now, what should we do first?

Billy: I think we should begin by reassembling the torso.

Tails: Okay…Anyone have any idea how to do that?

They all shook their heads, `No.'

Dr. Arrow: This is a very complicated machine…And we don't even have any charts of its inner workings.

They all stood there, puzzled. Then, without warning, The eyes on Metal's head lit up. However, instead of showing the pupils, thousands of lines of binary code flashed upwards. They all stood there, not knowing what to do. The code flashed for several seconds, and disappeared. Then the words `EMERGENCY REPAIR MODE' appeared on it.

Tails: What's happening?

Billy: What does it mean by `emergency repair mode'?

Billy's question was answered when jolts of electricity shot between all of the parts. The crushed and mangled body slowly returned to normal as the head was somehow pulled toward it. The head and neck, now also repaired, attached itself to its proper spot on the body. The rest of the parts did similar things, repairing and re-attaching, until all of the parts had rejoined to nearly complete Metal Sonic. All that was missing was the parts that weren't recovered from the subway tunnel.

Dr. Arrow: Look at that…It's repairing and rebuilding itself!

Nightingale: But…How?

Then, the missing pieces slowly regenerated themselves from the nearest part, and connected in the middle. Very soon, a complete and undamaged Metal Sonic was on the table. The repair message disappeared, and the odd noise of Metal's fusion starting up became very loud before fading into silence. The rectangular pupils reappeared, and the robot slowly sat up and looked around.

Tails: Metal?

Metal: <looks at Tails> …

Metal was silent and motionless, but somehow they could tell that he was thinking. They all secretly hoped that the incident wouldn't affect their friendship with him…or his decision to join them.

Dr. Arrow: I hope he's the same Metal Sonic we all know.

Metal: <looks at Dr. Arrow> …

Nightingale: Me too.

Metal: <looks at Nightingale> …

Billy: How should we go about finding out?

Metal: <looks at Billy> …

Metal stood up, and went toward the door. He turned, and went down the hallway toward the entrance. The robot said nothing, and Scotty and the others saw him, and followed him out. Metal exited the base, and flew away without even looking back.

Scotty: Oh no…Not again…

Billy: His behavior was odd…He may be a threat…

Nightingale: I'll bet he went back to Robotnik because he was confused, and Robotnik is registered as his creator! Who knows what could happen?!

Neat one, huh?

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