Tails stared off into an oncoming orangey-red city. "So what would a city be doing out here, if this island is hardly even recognized by Robotnik outside of a place to put prisoners?" Tails asked, using Sonic as a way to let his monologue out. "It must be some sort of independent settlement." Tails looked to Sonic, who was usually very talkative, at least around him. "Hello? Erius to Sonic! You there?"
Sonic's great focus on the ground shattered. He looked over to Tails. "What were you saying?" Sonic asked. Tails groaned.
"What I'm saying is, this should be friendly territory," Tails explained, eyes still resting out of exhaustion formed by that day's events as his head tipped to the side tiredly. "Still, Robotnik somehow knew we were on South Island back when he attacked us in Prison Hill, so there's a good chance he has some amount of drones in the area. We should be really careful." Tails opened his eyes, to find Sonic had already disappeared. He directed his eyes over to a blue blur dashing around the many Bumpers and pinball machine-like outskirts. Tails smirked with a complicated emotion somewhere between irritation, and relief that nothing had really changed with Sonic. He flew off after his best friend, and didn't even notice the pod rocketing down from over the horizon.
As Sonic blazed through the outskirts of the city, he grew a sort of scratchy feeling in the back of his head. Not like someone was watching him. More like as if someone was actively pursuing him. He then witnessed something in his mind, a flashing image of someone behind him. It seemed so real, as if it was a live feed. As always, he acted in tandem with his instinct. He Quick Stepped to the right as a blast of lightning shot through the lane he was just in. It bounced off a Bumper, then another, and eventually reached him again. He quickly slid under the ricocheting bolt, with the sparks barely missing his slightly protruding nose.
Sonic put his hand on the ground, spun around, and screeched to a halt. He then stood up. It was Metal Sonic. Metal was directly in front of him. He wasn't stopping to face off, he was just trying to ram Sonic with his head. Sonic moved so fast that it seemed he disappeared into thin air. Metal looked around, confused. Through his red-tinted vision, he locked onto Sonic behind him. However, it was then that Metal saw something different. Tails.
Metal looked up, and raised his hand in Tails' direction. "Heh, maybe you aren't such a perfect replica after all," Sonic jeered, not even looking. "That's just the sky. I'm down here, aluminum brain!" Metal fired. Sonic nearly laughed, but heard a sudden cry of pain. It was Tails' voice. He swung around to face the sound. "Tails!" He cried. He then felt a strong punch in the back of the head. He fell to the ground, as did Tails. Metal looked down upon both of them, as he approached.
Metal then stopped at the sound of laughter.
"Good boy, Metal Sonic!" Robotnik cackled, lowering from the sky in his Rob-O-Matic. Metal Sonic looked directly at him "You have defeated that little thief. Now, kill him and the fox boy. Take the Chaos Emeralds, so we can take the world by storm!" Sonic could hardly get up, nor could Tails.
Metal looked around, between Sonic and Robotnik. Sonic was thoroughly confused, and it looked like Metal was as well. Before, Metal would kill him without hesitation. He would have had it not been for Tails. "What are you waiting for?" Robotnik asked, his smile not dropping. "Finish him!" Nothing happened for a few seconds, except Metal trembling with metallic clanks and wobbly sounds. "Ugh, fine! I'll do it myself!" Robotnik prepared to fire a missile to blast Sonic and Tails to smithereens, but just then, a web tangled up his Rob-O-Matic. "What?!" A blurry figure smashed into the pod, snapping the web and bashing Robotnik far away into the distance. It was… Penumbra the Spider!
"The girl! It's the girl from Emerald Coast!" Tails exclaimed.
"What? She's saving us?" Sonic asked, barely getting up to his feet. Penumbra landed on Metal Sonic, stomping him into the ground. He didn't react, it was like he was suffering from some kind of fatal error.
"Eh, you could call it that," Penumbra said, wiping some web off her arm. She no longer wore the Robotnik clothes, instead it looked like she had stolen the first articles she could find in some random store. "I was really just here to take out Robotnik."
"Wait, are you trying to kill him now?" Tails asked. He supposed something must have gone wrong and voided the deal Penumbra had with Robotnik. He looked to Sonic. "Are we okay with this?"
"Eh, I don't really care," Sonic replied. Tails groaned.
"No, I just wanted to leave an impression," Penumbra replied. "I don't want to kill Robotnik until somebody ups the price on his head." Penumbra heard police sirens in the distance. "Well, I guess I should be going into hiding again. They are PROBABLY after me. I'm glad I could save your asses, cuz I kinda like you, Sonic. Bye!" She yanked out one of her own legs, and flew off into the distance atop it.
"What… what just happened?" Sonic asked as soon as she was out of earshot, his face a tomato red. He turned to Tails wide-eyed. "You heard her, right? Tell me you heard her!"
"Yes, Sonic. I heard her," Tails answered, rolling his eyes. "And it sounds like she has the right idea!" Sonic looked at Tails concernedly. "No, not about that. I meant that we should go into hiding as well. It's getting pretty late."
"Alright! I saw a cave of some kind from the mountaintop! We should go there," Sonic replied, sprinting off. Tails begrudgingly followed. Because he knew that the last cave Sonic persuaded him to go into didn't go so well.
But then, he ran right back. He pulled the malfunctioning Metal Sonic out of the ground, and carried him forward. The robot was docile, and didn't attack. Perhaps Metal could be useful, even if just for parts.