Notes: sorry for the delay, work you know

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog CD

Ch. 8: Time to end this Metallic Madness

Sonic and Amy were making their way to Robotnik's fortress. Well actually, Sonic was trying to go alone, but Amy kept following him.

"For the last time, Amy, it's too dangerous. I want to get in and get out. If you're there, I'll have to keep an eye on you."

"I can take care of myself, Sonic. Besides, you might need me to help you."

"I'm sure in any other situation your help would be appreciated, but here it's too risky."

"You know I'm going to follow you anyway."

"Alright," Sonic sighed, "Let me go in first. Then wait about an hour or so. That way I'll have taken care of any traps or Badniks there might be."

"Deal. Before you go, I just want to say one thing. Sonic, you can do anything!"

Sonic smiled, gave her a thumbs up, and ran inside the dark fortress.

Meanwhile

Robotnik had cameras all over his base, and was waiting for Sonic to show up.

"The war began. Earth trembled in fear. Bald, brainy, and cold-hearted. The distance grows closer, little by little. Wow! The power he possesses is incredible! He doesn't stand a chance!"

"Hey, Eggman! You know the speakers are on right? Or do you just really love hearing the sound of your voice?"

"I do, as a matter of fact. This is my turf, Hedgehog. You can't do anything, so don't even try it. Get some help."

"You talk too much, Eggman."

Apart from all the turbines, the first thing he saw was a blue rhinoceros beetle Badnik called Mecha-Bu. On the end of its horn was a buzz-saw. Sonic leapt over the Badnik, only to run into another Mecha-Bu.

"Come and get me!"

The two Badniks charged at Sonic, but he leapt out of the way and they ended up destroying each other.

"That's one problem solved. Everything here is metallic. How boring is that?"

He avoided several spinning blades on wheels, and a dozen or so buzz-saws. He ducked quickly to avoid a Poh-Bee. This one was similar in looks to the ones at Wacky Workbench, but instead of a blaster on the end of its abdomen, it swung a pair of maces on long chains. Sonic rolled out of the way, only to be stopped by a new Badnik called Scarab. It used its long claws to grab Sonic and keep him rolled up in a ball. It then shoved him back in the direction he came.

"Oh, a double team, eh?"

The pill bug Badnik from before, Dango, was also here. There were even more Mecha-Bu. Sonic led the swarming Badniks on a chase.

"I'll try to go slow, guys."

"What are you doing, you stupid machines? Don't do what Sonic does!"

More and more Badniks joined the fray as they chased him. That's when he saw an opportunity. A Badnik that appeared to be a large walking bomb was just ahead. It was fittingly called Bigbom. Sonic ran up to the Bigbom and stood there. The Badnik's fuse was now lit. The other Badnik had caught up and were starting to attack. That's when Sonic grabbed the long chain of the nearest Poh-Bee and ran in a circle around every Badnik. He tied them all together next to the Bigbom. Then he ran far enough to not be caught in the blast.

*BOOM*

Flowers now adorned the area.

"Who says I'm all running and no brains?"

Sonic had to get past moving platforms, some of which disappeared and reappeared. As he went deeper into the fortress, he noticed an overabundance of two things: spikes, and Robotnik's face. He now came to a corridor that was much smaller than usual. There was also a questionable beam of red light.

"Now how am I supposed to fit through here?"

His curiosity got the better of him. He touched the beam. A shock traveled through his body, and before he knew it, he had shrunk.

"Oh you have got to be kidding."

"Ho, ho, ho! You look ridiculous, Sonic. You are now 25% of your original height."

"Well at least I can get through these narrow passages now."

He made his way across conveyor belts, pistons, and the occasional Bigbom.

"I can still jump as high as I used to. That's kinda weird. No time to think about it. This madness ends now. Metallic Madness, if you will."

He was now in a more open area.

"I really hope this can be reversed."

"Sonic, is that you?"

"Oh no."

Amy Rose had caught up.

"Has it been an hour already?"

"No, but I couldn't help myself. I stayed back until you cleared the way. You look so cute!"

She picked him up and hugged him.

"You're like a little stuffed animal."

"Put me down and help me look for a way back to normal."

"What makes you think Eggman would have a way to return to normal?"

"Yeah! What makes you think that, Hedgehog?"

"Because only you would do something that stupid."

Sure enough, there was another laser with a blue beam. Sonic ran towards it, and with a zap, he was his normal size.

"I really need to work on my design plans."

"What a joke. Amy, you stay here while I time travel."

"Why?"

"Because you can't run fast enough. Now stay out of trouble."

Past

The fortress was now merely a construction zone. Against a beautiful morning sky, Sonic ran past warning lights, traffic cones, and barricades. Not much else was different in this past. Robotnik's face still adorned the walls. All the traps were still in place. The only thing missing, it seemed, was all the cameras. Sure enough, Robotnik was installing them.

"I would get my minions to do this, but some things you have to do yourself. With these in place, I can monitor that blasted hedgehog all throughout my base. Sonic, dead or alive, is mine."

Sonic quickly ran in a different direction.

"Sheesh, what a grouch. No sense in trying to stop him. The real target is that machine thing."

He destroyed and headed back to the future.

Present

"There you are. Did you fix the past?"

"That I did Amy. Still, there's one more thing I have to take care of before I'll be sure of a good future."

"What's that?"

That's when she noticed the giant floating ring.

"Get the last Time Stone."

Special

This place was almost as crazy-looking as the last. The sky was green. The water was pink. A large planet was in the background. It almost looked like it was going to touch the ground. A large pyramid-like building dominated the landscape. It was surrounded by futuristic towers, a forest, and small mountains.

"I'm not even gonna ask."

The seventh and final Time Stone, a lovely red color, was now in his possession.

Bad Future

He went straight into a true nightmare. All the machinery was rusted and broken down. The lights kept flickering. Everything was a brown color.

"This is sad."

The Time Stones came out and began to spin in the air. There was a blinding light.

Good Future

"Sonic, there you are. Whatever you did, it worked a miracle."

"You're telling me."

All the décor was a sky blue. There were potted plants and fountains everywhere. Sonic and Amy kept walking. They were in a large building, but walked outside to see what else had changed. The area was now dotted with buildings, which were in turn surrounded by trees and ponds. As they kept walking, they came to a dead end room. Then a very slowly falling platform with spikes lining the bottom appeared. There was a space in the platform for one to get through.

"Looks like we'll have to wait for enough of these things to drop so we can get out. I hate waiting."

With that strange obstacle behind them, they went on. There was a door just ahead.

"Amy, stay here."

"Why?"

"This door has to lead to where Eggman is holed up. It's just me and him now."

"Give him the old Sonic boom! Save the planet from disaster. Show him this ain't his neighborhood to take over."

"Enough already. Wait until I call you."

The door opened and closed automatically. He was in a small room with only two doors: the one he came in through, and the exit on the other side. He walked towards the exit, but then the lights went out.

"I don't mind the dark, but what's the point?"

Then he saw a yellow light hovering in the air. It stopped just above his head.

"What is…? Oh wait."

Sonic dodged the incoming laser blast. It was one of the firefly Badniks from before, Hotaru. Two more appeared and all three began flying around and shooting lasers.

"There's always something stopping me from getting to Eggman."

Sonic bobbed and weaved back and forth, avoiding the blasts.

"This is getting annoying."

The trio of fireflies closed in on him. That's when he leapt up and smashed them one by one.

"Now that that's out of the way."

The door opened to a large open room.

"It's time for the Final Fever, Hedgehog. Behold the Psyco-Egg!"

It was a circular pod with four large spikes attached. They rotated around the pod.

"From this angle, it looks like a giant d-pad from a video game controller."

"That's it! Get yourself ready for a fight!"

The machine touched down on the ground. Robotnik spun the spikes around in an attempt to crush Sonic.

"Missed me! Maybe you shoulda added more spikes, Eggman."

The machine lifted back into the air and shot the spikes at the ground.

"That's one. Two, so close. Three, try again. Four isn't your lucky number either."

The spikes were being drawn back to the pod, but before they got there, Sonic gave the doctor a good hit. This caused one of the spikes to malfunction and explode.

"You little…"

With the three remaining spikes, Robotnik tried the same strategy. The main difference being that the spikes were spinning faster. It wasn't as easy to try and stomp around with only three spikes.

"Stop it while you still have some dignity, Eggman. I've seen what the future could look like if you go around carelessly exploiting this planet."

"As if I'm going to listen to you. I would never neglect my own creations."

"Whatever happened, it wasn't pretty. Look around you, this good future has nature and technology working together."

"So what?! I'm not in charge, am I? It's only a utopia if I'm the one who made it so."

Sonic waited for the right moment to hit the pod again. Now with only two spikes, Robotnik resorted to keeping a distance and firing the spikes as projectiles again.

"Your plan could really use some work, Eggman. In fact, all your machines and Badniks have been pretty lacking this time around."

He gave the pod another hit, leaving only one spike.

"You think you're all that? Try this on for size, Hedgehog!"

Robotnik pointed the last spike towards the ground. He then used it as a makeshift pogo stick.

"Isn't this fun, Sonic?"

"Not really. That's why I'm putting an end to this game."

Sonic took a running start and leapt at the pod. Using the momentum, he gave it one last hard hit. The Psyco-Egg was now breaking down, and the room with it.

"Maybe I shouldn't have hardwired the surrounding area to explode if my machine was destroyed. Here's hoping you don't make it, Sonic. We're outta here!"

Robotnik made a break for it. Then Amy Rose came running in.

"I'm guessing you beat him. This sort of thing always happens when you beat the bad guy."

"That it does, Amy. Now hang on tight, because I'm getting us outta here."

"You don't have to ask me twice."

Sonic rolled his eyes as Amy wrapped her arms around his neck. He picked her up in his arms and started running. The ceiling was collapsing. Large support pillars were crashing down around them. The floor was giving way. Sonic jumped from the increasingly limited footholds. Before he knew it, they were running back down the chain that connected Little Planet to the mountain. Sonic ran a bit farther and put Amy down.

"Stay here, and watch the fireworks."

"Huh? Sonic, what do you mean?"

But he had already sped off. He ran as fast as he could, and with all his might, destroyed the chain connecting Little Planet. With it gone, the planet slowly flew back into the atmosphere.

"Finally. Hey, what the…?"

The Time Stones appeared and zoomed through the air back to Little Planet. All seven began spinning around the planet, causing a lot of sparkles to appear. The sparks arranged themselves into Sonic's face.

"Well how do you like that? It captures me perfectly."

The glittering sparks then fell to the ground, and everywhere they landed flowers sprouted. An entire field of flowers now covered the landscape. With that, the Time Stones disappeared, and so did Little Planet.

"That was amazing!"

"It sure was, Amy."

"I guess we won't see the Little Planet for a while now, huh?"

"I can wait."

"I thought you hated waiting?"

"I've time traveled who knows how many times. This is easy."

"What about Eggman?"

"He's out there somewhere. Probably already plotting something. I'll be ready."

Elsewhere

"My robotizers destroyed, my future ruined, my Metal Sonic defeated, my plan finished! Nothing has gone right!"

"Doctor."

"WHAT IS IT?!"

"Pardon, sir, but the project you had us work on is nearing completion."

"What?"

Robotnik brought up a screen to check all the systems.

"So it is. This almost brightens my day. However, if I'm not careful, Sonic will find out about this. I have to distract him. I know. I have just the robot to keep tabs on Sonic."

The robot came in from the next room.

"With this spying on Sonic, I can find a way to keep him preoccupied. He has no idea what's in store for him. Oh, ho ho ho ho ho! Get me a sandwich!"