You would be forgiven for thinking that an earthquake was currently happening in the resistance base. After all, the ground was shaking, furniture and utensils were dancing all over the place with the vibrations and various students had found desks to hide under until the event had passed.

As it turned out though, that wasn't the cause of the disruption.

The door to Team RWBY's dorm was flung off it's hinges, flying out of an open window and landing in the courtyard below.

"Yo! What the hell man?" A voice from below exclaimed as the door hit them.

Into the room charged Ruby and Yang, both excited beyond belief. Ruby couldn't stop moving her feet, running all around the room just to burn off her excess energy, while Yang's hair was on fire! Normally this only happened when she was angry but it seemed that mass excitement ignited it too.

"HURRY UP AND PUT IT IN ALREADY!" Ruby said giddily.

Rushing over to their TV, Yang pulled out a video game case and placed the disk inside. The two plonked themselves down in front of the screen, their eyes glistening as the game started up.

SEGA PROUDLY PRESENTS

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Their smiles grew ever wider as the various logos appeared on the screen, detailing the people who had created this masterpiece.

Then, a pair of red and white trainers appeared on the screen, the wearer tapping one of his feet impatiently.

"*GASP* It's him! After all this time!" Ruby squeaked.

Then two yellow tails waved by with white end points, followed by a pair of spiked knuckle gloves punching against each other.

"It's all of them!" Yang had teary eyes of joy.

The game intro then showed an elevator door opening, to reveal a yellow fox with two tails, a red echidna who owned the knuckle gloves and a blue hedgehog wearing the trainers from earlier. All three ran towards the screen as the music blasted out and the game title appeared.

SONIC MANIA

"It's so beautiful!" Ruby cheered as the girls watched the screen in childlike wonder.

"Go on, Sonic! Beat up those Badniks!" Yang urged the little hedgehog on.

The intro soon gave way to the title screen and the girls grabbed a controller each, ready for their new virtual adventure. Ruby chose Sonic (obviously) while Yang went for Knuckles.

"Ah! It's so good to be back in Green Hill again!" Ruby sighed.

The rest of the afternoon went much like this, with the girls playing through the game all day. The only sounds to be heard from their dorm being the in game effects, music and their comments such as:

"IS THAT THE DEATH EGG ROBOT?"

"Chemical plant! Hell yes!"

"I LOVE PUYO PUYO!"

"Is that chicken doing the weather?"

"Press Garden looks so pretty!"

"HAHA! It's my turn to use this machine Robotnik!"

And so on and so forth.

It was late into the night when Blake and Weiss finally came back in and forced the girls to stop playing so they could all get some sleep.

"No! I don't wanna!" Ruby cried like a spoiled brat, flailing her arms wildly as Blake held her out at arms length.

"Fine, I'll go to bed." Ruby accepted defeat.

"However! I get to wear this!"

Dashing over to her wardrobe, she quickly put on a Sonic the Hedgehog onesie, complete with a pull up hood with the signature spikes on it. Weiss tried to protest but Blake moved her hand down and shook her head.

"Just let her." She sighed.

Reluctantly, Weiss agreed and all four went to bed, with Ruby dreaming of playing her new game again tomorrow.

A few hours later

At around 3 AM, Blake stirred from her slumber, eyes bleary and her hair unkempt. It's a well known fact that kitties cannot sleep when they are thirsty. Still half asleep, Blake made her way to the small fridge in their room and looked through the various items for the one she desired.

"Strawberries... no."

"Iced tea... yuck."

"Strawberry Sunrise... is Yang even allowed this stuff?"

"Ah, here we go."

She pulled out a small milk carton and began chugging it down, still half asleep before making her way back to bed. Walking past the window, she shielded her eyes from the light coming from outside. She quickly shut the curtains and climbed back into bed.

"Man... that pink light is really bright."

"*Yawn* Pink light?" Ruby asked as she rolled over in her bed.

"Y'know. That pink light from that weird swirly portal making the humming sounds?"

"Oh... right." Ruby sighed.

Ten seconds later, all of them were wide awake.

"Wait! Portal?" Yang gasped.

The four ran over and flung open the curtains to see a pink swirling vortex with a pulsing sound in the middle of the courtyard! Grabbing their weapons, the team ran downstairs to see what was going on.

Being on the other side of the hallway, JNPR and ZXA hadn't seen what was going on. The girls decided not to disturb them, confident they could handle this themselves.

Outside, the portal had just finished expanding to it's full size, much to the relief of the girls. If it hadn't finished appearing yet, they were still in time to stop whatever was going to come out of it. All of them aimed their weapons at it, preparing for whatever was about to appear.

Suddenly, a small object fell out of it and plonked onto the grass in front of them.

"Well.. that was anti-climatic." Weiss admitted.

Tentatively, Blake creeped forward and knelt down to examine the object. It was a shining pink gem of some kind, glowing beautifully and pulsing with the light.

"How pretty!" Blake thought as she reached to pick it up.

*CLANG*

Her hand froze where it was as something landed just in front of her position, something made of metal, with red robotic feet.

(Insert music: Sonic Colours – Eggman Theme)

Blake looked up slowly to see the entity that had spawned. The red, shoe like feet were attached to two thin blue legs. That lead up to a blue, circular body with a jet engine on the back, the cooling fans contained within a yellow circle on it's chest. It's hands had five pointed fingers on each and the head consisted of three smooth protrusions like hedgehog spikes. It's eye's were contained on one central LED screen, showing two red eyes that stared down at her, looking past it's pointed metal nose.

The robot looked down at Blake, who promptly scampered back and drew her weapon again.

"What is that thing?" She asked.

Then, she and Weiss looked over at Yang and Ruby, who were both staring open mouthed at the robot.

"Sis, you seeing this?" Yang asked.

"Yup." Ruby nodded. "But I don't believe it."

"You know this thing?" Weiss was baffled.

"Yeah, from our video game." Yang explained.

"Metal Sonic." Ruby identified the perpetrator for them.

"What is your game character doing on Remnant?" Blake wondered.

Metal bent down and scooped up the pink gem stone. Holding it in the palm of his hand, he allowed it to float upwards slightly as he observed it before speaking in a robotic voice.

"OBJECTIVE ACHIEVED. PHANTOM RUBY HAS BEEN ACQUIRED."

He turned his head, staring in the direction of Team RWBY, but not doing anything. It seemed like he was trying to comprehend something.

"Uh, Yang... Why is it looking at us like that?"

"I don't think it's looking at all of us, Blake." Weiss interjected.

Weiss then began walking off to the side, out of Metal Sonic's vision. He didn't even acknowledge her as she moved away. Blake then tried the same thing, moving slowly beside the heiress. Again, there was no movement from Metal.

When Ruby tried it though, his eyes followed her. Ruby hopped back and forth, moving in random directions. On a dime, Metal's head would turn and move to keep it's gaze locked on her. But why?

Yang gasped in realisation.

"Ruby! Your Sonic onesie! It thinks you're him!"

Looking at her attire, Ruby realised her mistake. She began to try and take it off but was stopped as Metal began marching up to her. His feet clanked along the ground as he stomped closer to Ruby. Yang aimed her Ember Celica at Metal but Blake stopped her firing.

"If we shoot him we'll cause chaos across the base! Let's see what he wants first."

Reluctantly, Yang lowered her weapon as Metal was right in front of Ruby, the young Huntress leaning backwards nervously as Metal Sonic stared into her very soul.

"MUST ELIMINATE THE HEDGEHOG!"

Ruby backed away, panicking as the robot advanced on her. She desperately looked around while her friends prepared to fire on him. It would ruin their chance at stealthily handling this but they wouldn't just let Ruby die over it.

As Metal raised an arm to strike, Ruby had a thought, a random, crazy thought but it was her only shot.

"I'll race you!" She shouted.

Much to everyone's surprise, Metal backed away.

"I ACCEPT."

Weiss and Blake had to do a double take after hearing that. This machine of death and destruction wanted to race? Of course it made sense with Yang.

"Well, it is how you fight him in the game and Ruby is as fast as Sonic. Plus he'll kill her if she doesn't."

So what you're saying is, we have no choice." Weiss clarified.

"Yup."

Apparently understanding this, Metal backed away, though still watched Ruby. He then held one arm up and waved a finger at her before turning and facing in the direction they would go, placing a line on the proposed track, far away from the base. Ruby lined up alongside him, she would have to just figure this out as they went.

(Insert music: Sonic Mania – Metal Sonic Boss Theme)

"3..."

"2..."

"1..."

"GO!"

The two sped off, leaving a mix of rose petals and flames in their respective wakes. Running at top speed, the two left the base and made their way along the highway. It was early morning so there was no real traffic about, making Ruby very relieved, they might just get away with this after all!

Plus, this was actually kind of fun! Either Metal was a lot slower than she thought, or Ruby herself was faster than she had believed. The lights that illuminated the highway were a blur as the two ran on, the illuminated city in the distance providing a stunning backdrop to this duel.

Metal then edged slightly ahead of Ruby and turned to face her, still flying at full speed all the while. Then, arcs of electricity covered his body and he began slowing down, heading straight towards Ruby! Thinking quickly, she jumped up and over Metal, who switched off the electricity shield a little further back and began trying to catch Ruby up again.

Seeing his approach, Ruby aimed Crescent Rose behind her and fired three shots. Metal dodged easily around the first two but the third one caught him slightly, hitting his arm and making his torso spin a full 360 degrees!

He quickly shook this attack off though and began charging up a yellow energy barrier. Once it reached full charged, Metal began spinning around with his arms held forward, like a drill but and began moving towards Ruby. There was no way she would be able to get through that energy barrier but maybe she wouldn't have to.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw the barrier was fading and Metal himself was slowing down substantially. Seeing her chance, Ruby leapt up just as Metal approached her and as she came back down, she planted a boot in his back. Metal skidded against the road, tumbling around before recovering and zooming up ahead of Ruby again.

Metal then began flying along the divider that split the highway into two sections, also where the lamp posts were kept. He smashed into the m without hesitation, knocking the light fixings off their poles and sending them spinning into the air. Of course, what comes up must come back down!

Glass shattered as Ruby just managed to run ahead of the first light pole. The next landed just in front of her and she had to slide underneath it through a narrow gap to avoid the obstacle. The third one came down and Ruby jumped up again but this time, Metal was ready.

As Ruby leapt up, Metal curled into his spinball form and zoomed at Ruby. She didn't see the doppelgänger until too late when she felt his steel form smash into her from behind. Flailing her arms wildly, Ruby fell over the side of the highway and tumbled downwards to the ground below.

"OOF!" Ruby groaned as she hit the dusty ground back first.

Rubbing her head as she got back up, she found Metal had his hand pointed right at her with a n energy blast ready to fire. In his other hand was the Phantom Ruby, still pulsing vibrantly.

"A FOOLISH ATTEMPT. I CANNOT BE BEATEN. THERE IS ONLY ONE SONIC!"

Metal prepared to fire on Ruby, when they both noticed the Ruby pulsing even more strongly than usual. It began hovering by itself and Metal backed away for his own safety as the Ruby emitted it's signature sound and a portal opened again.

"DOES NOT COMOUTE. I DID NOT ACTIVATE THE RUBY."

From within the portal, the two saw something moving, something coming closer. Metal peered in intensely, trying to identify the object. Ruby looked in too, and soon realised what it was. She smiled to herself, pulled off her hood and addressed Metal.

"You're right. There is only one Sonic."

Metal was still bewildered as Ruby had revealed herself to not be Sonic the Hedgehog.

"There is only one Sonic, and here he comes!"

As Metal looked back in, he was hit in the face by a blinding blue blur. It shot out of the portal and made a loop of the arena, leaving a bright blue trail behind it as it travelled. Metal tried to fire an attack at the newcomer but the blur zipped past him repeatedly, knocking the robot about like he was a pinball in a machine.

Finally the blur stopped next to Ruby and the glow subsided. There, standing beside her, was the hedgehog himself.

It was his classic form, so only about three quarters of Ruby's height. He still had his cute little pot belly, along with his classic red shoes and shorter spines. It was also apparent that, like his video game self, he couldn't speak. Instead giving Ruby a thumbs up as the two stared Metal down.

"SCANS IDENTIFY TWO (2) TARGETS. PROCEEDING EXTERMINATION OF FAKE HEDGEHOG AND ANNOYING CHILD!"

"Hey! I take offence to that!" Ruby shouted.

(Insert music: Sonic Forces – Metal Sonic Battle)

Metal sonic rolled into his spin dash form and made straight for the pair of heroes. The two quickly jumped over him and began running in the opposite direction. Though this seemed like cowardice, it was actually just setting up the battlefield. Speed would be key to this fight.

Their opponent quickly flew after them and soon caught up. Charging up a light in his chest, Metal fired out a beam of concentrated energy that tore up the ground and moved slowly towards our heroes.

Pieces of concrete were being thrown up everywhere, so Ruby decided to use them. Seeing a larger piece in mid air, she leapt up and swiped it backwards with her scythe, sending it smashing into Metal. Sonic followed up by overhead kicking another piece right into Metal's face. As the robot was dazed in the air, Ruby gave a two footed kick that sent Metal tumbling back down to the ground.

His jet boosters firing, Metal shot back up as Ruby tried to slash at him with her scythe. He ducked underneath and knocked Ruby away with ease. He prepared to give chase only for Sonic to spin dash into his back and send all three off again at high speed.

With Metal in between the two heroes, they began knocking him back and forth between them, like a tennis ball in the court. After a few moments of this though, Metal countered by overloading his circuits and forcing Sonic to not attack him. It didn't last long enough to stop Ruby, who timed her next attack just as the energy wore off, spinning towards Metal with her scythe blade extended to hit him repeatedly. Knocking him back, Sonic landed down on top of Metal and smashed him into the dirt, out of sight.

"Did we get him?" Ruby asked.

She soon got an answer.

Metal emerged from the earth with an almighty explosion and threw several chunks of concrete all over. He then began using the same strategy as Ruby and Sonic had earlier, throwing pieces at them constantly and disrupting their attacks. Despite his programming wanting Sonic dead, Ruby was his priority since all she was doing was hindering his objective.

Punching Sonic away, Metal extended an arm outwards and smashed Ruby into the dirt. He did not relinquish his grip but let her be dragged through the ground, using his other arm to throw various debris pieces at her, he then cast her aside like a piece of rubbish.

"I'm not giving up that easily!" Ruby panted.

Bravely, she began running towards her opponent, Metal mimicking the action. The two began to increase their speeds as mach cones formed around both of them. Neither showed a sign of backing down until they finally made contact.

*KABOOM!*

The very earth around them was terraformed by the shockwave from the impact. Metal began attacking with blindingly fast jabs and punches, which Ruby was able to counter by spinning Crescent Rose wildly.

Alas, she made one small mistake with her timing, allowing Metal to land a jab to her gut and forcing her to drop her guard. With an opening provided, Metal slammed into her and began dragging Ruby backwards, smashing her into a nearby warehouse. Sonic himself followed the two inside at full speed.

Inside, Ruby groaned as she smashed through the roof and hit the floor. Metal allowed her no quarter as he began spin dashing and rolled onto her back, using his body like a saw blade to slash at her repeatedly. Ruby could feel her aura being torn through by the sharp spines until Sonic arrived on the scene and drop kicked Metal off her.

His doppelgänger tried to fly back at him but Sonic was able to slide underneath Metal's attack. In a split second however, Metal swooped back around and kicked Sonic back again. The hedgehog curled himself up and spin dashed Metal into one of the walls.

Both hedgehogs now curled up and began bouncing around the room, rebounding off the walls and each other, causing little damage to each other but merely trying to break each others attack. As the two finally stopped, Sonic tried spin dashing again but Metal interrupted him with an extending arm, sending the blue blur flying backwards into some nearby containers.

"ENEMY HEDGEHOG DISABLED."

Metal began charging up his chest laser again, aiming it at Ruby this time.

"COMMENCING DESTRUCTION OF HUMAN CHILD."

Ruby gave an audible gulp as Metal prepared to fire. The laser finished charging and the glow on his chest faded for the split second it needed to launch the projectile. And it would have done, had a bright yellow flash not appeared before Metal Sonic's eyes.

Grabbing Metal by his head, Yang threw him high into the air but did not follow him. Instead, she drew her buster arm and Ember Celica and began firing them alternately. Metal bounced across the sky, constantly being knocked around by the explosive projectiles.

"Wassup, tin grin?" Yang smirked.

"Yang!" Ruby cheered.

"The one and only! And speaking of one and only, how ya doing speedy?"

Sonic gave Yang a quick thumbs up as Metal clattered back down to the ground. He was sparking slightly and his eyes flickered on occasion. He was weak and vulnerable.

"Time to end this!"

(Insert music: Sonic Forces OST – Fist Bump (from 0:50)

Energy cones of silver and blue began forming around Ruby and Sonic respectively. Metal Sonic realised what was happening and tried to move away, only for Yang to fire off another shot at his leg to keep him down.

"Yang, now!" Ruby ordered.

Grabbing both Sonic and Ruby, Yang began spinning around until the two heroes were a blur going past. Upon reaching full speed, Yang threw them forward and the two made for Metal Sonic at full speed.

Unable to move, Metal was subject to the full force of the attack, as both heroes blasted right through his chest, tearing it to shreds and leaving a gaping hole right through it.

(Music Stop)

Metal looked down at his wound as his eyes flickered off. Using what little strength he had left, he took a last look at Sonic before he collapsed in a heap on the ground.

The Phantom Ruby rolling out of his hands and stopping just beside Sonic's foot. The blue blur flicked it up his foot and caught it in mid air. Yang meanwhile was examining Metal's body.

"This'll make one hell of a collector's piece!" She grinned, to which Sonic laughed silently.

"So I... guess I should thank you for helping me out." Ruby said, still having some difficulty believing she was talking to the real Sonic.

To her surprise though, Sonic shook his head, instead pointing at her, which she could only assume meant he was thanking her. He gave her a thumbs up as a way of confirming that thought before he activated the Phantom Ruby again, letting the portal appear to take him home.

"Hey!" Yang called after him.

"So do we hold onto this thing or what?" Gesturing at Metal Sonic's body.

Sonic nodded.

"Sweet!"

"Um... Mr. Sonic?" Ruby called to him.

"I know this is gonna sound silly and all but... could I maybe ask you for one small favour before you go?"

Next Morning

The beeping alarm woke Blake from her slumber. Groggily she sat up with bleary eyes after her disturbed night's sleep. She and Weiss had received a call from Yang and ruby that everything was OK, so they took the opportunity to at least get some shut eye.

She rolled over to the side to get out of bed, only to met face to face with the staring red eyes of Metal Sonic!

"YIPES!" She squealed, leaping up and latching onto the ceiling.

"Haha! I never thought you'd be such a scaredy cat Blake!" Yang laughed as she took of the Metal Sonic head.

"Yang! Where did you even get that?" Blake snapped.

"A little souvenir from our encounter last night. Man, you should have seen it! It was awesome!"

"It does make a rather nice trophy." Weiss admitted, examining the robot's body.

"Just make sure you share it with Ruby. I don't want you two fighting over this little piece of nerd treasure."

"Ah, don't worry." Yang waved her off. "Ruby got something too."

Lying on her bunk bed, Ruby was looking intently at her scroll with the biggest smile on her face. On the screen was a photo of her in her Sonic attire, Yang next to her and the blue blur himself, giving Ruby a fist bump.

"Best... game... ever!" Ruby giggled.