FicWad

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/Alternate Mobius/
Midday, day six.
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Waking up with no idea of what had happened wasn't a new experience for Aura.

After all, that was exactly what had happened on her first ever teleportation, after Kharis had died. Coming to in the middle of a forest when the last thing she remembered was running away from the Mettalix through alleyways had been terrifying and she had hardly moved from that clearing for a week.

In a nutshell, every time she teleported over a dimension, it was very rare not to collapse immediatly on arrival. Even if she did manage to stay awake, she would sleep for anything from half a day to well over a day and a half before waking up, and that small window of consciousness before collapsing would be vague.

So by this point it was a well trodden path that she didn't raise an eyebrow at.

"I think she's coming around!"

The voice was familar and young, Aura hooked onto it like a swimmer needing air, using it as an anchor. It was easier when nobody else was around; then she just let herself wake gradually. This way, it felt like swimming through quicksand, but the tone of Shelly's voice instilled a feeling of urgency. Finally opening her eyes, she saw Shelly and her mother leaning over the side of the bed. Aware of a wet cloth against her head, Aura shifted and tried to sit up and Ally tutting slightly helped her.

"We thought you wouldn't make it"

"I must have been out a while..." Aura murmured. It had been an huge strain, but one that had worked.

She couldn't control how long it would take to recover from any use of her powers, but by now could make a fairly close prediction. Unless it was a continous useage, electricity took a very short time, anything from minutes to hours; teleportation of distance blocked electricity for a while, and any further teleportation anything from a few hours to a day; dimensional teleportation tended to have her sleeping or sluggish for at least a day, but she would usually be fully charged by then. Knowing her recovery period, the consequences of using, and limits of her powers had all been discovered through travelling; not always peaceful, sometimes eventful, with no safety net to speak of as she had stepped into the unknown.

"Three days"

Of course, when other people were involved with teleportation, all bets were off.

"Zachary brought you in, and I thought you were, well..."

"Dead?"

Ally nodded.

"I had a dream..." Aura yawned, trying to shake off the sluggy feeling "I was somewhere...and I saw somebody I knew..." she paused, trying to remember the dream, or was it dreams, she had been having "Then I was scared, there was a person saying they were trying to help, trying to make me do something that I didn't want to"

"I think that was me" Ally explained "You had a fever, it must have been high enough to make you confused. I was giving you a drink of water but you didn't seem to want it"

Aura chuckled "I guess I seem to keep getting in the way"

"Hardly" Ally laughed back "You got Zachary back for us, and Shelly told me what you did to Ivo, and I'd say he fair deserved it"

Aura couldn't help chuckling "The look on his face was priceless", she stretched her arms "what time is it?"

"Around noon"

"Want to take a walk, Shelly?" Aura asked, swinging her legs over the side "I need to stretch my legs, three days is a while to be lying around"

"Well, alright, but don't go too far" Ally urged them "Ivo could still be sending his troopers around, we saw quite a few more more the day before yesterday, but it seemed normal the other day" then, she frowned "Besides, I think we need some things explained"

"You mean my abilties?" Aura ventured, having a pretty good idea that it was, and the nod was what she expected "I promise I'll explain everything when we come back, I just need some fresh air"


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1pm, day six.
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"I can't believe you did this!" Amy laughed throwing her hands up in the air. Sonic stood at the other end of the room, a grey ball of fur sat on a shoulder both arms clinging around his neck, and a big fluffy tail drifting from side to side.

"I thought you needed something to cheer you up"

"Isn't it against hospital rules?" Amy said, trying to be serious but unable to stop herself grin.

"You're insulting Ryndar" the hedgehog said with mock seriousness himself, "Besides, I think he needs cheering up too..."

Amy sighed, "He misses Aura...doesn't he?"

"Yeah...it's been almost a week, if she was coming back, wouldn't it have happened by now?". He was rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke, making Ryndar jump off with a squeak, jumping into Amy's arms.

"She'll come back"

"Are you sure?"

"I hope so"

"Me too..." Sonic sighed again, sitting in the chair "I mean, I think she's pretty stupid to run away again, but like you said, it's not good for her to be alone...sure, for people who've always been on their own, but Aura wasn't always like that, and you need friends!"

"Everyone does, Sonic"

"Amy?"

"Hmm?" was the answer, as the pink furred girl fiddled with the bandage around her head.

"Don't do that"

Amy smiled "Was that all you wanted to say?"

"Yes...I mean no" he babbled, amusing her to no end. It was always humourous to see Sonic get flustered. It didn't happen often enough, but just made it all the more funny when it did. "I mean...do you...do you still want to..."

"Give it a go?" she said softly, smiling.

"...with us?"

"Of course I do!" Amy exclaimed, almost jumping out of the bed "I know I don't run around you like a girl with a crush anymore, bothering you every minute, but I still...well, erm..." Amy blushed this time, and it was Sonic's turn to supress a grin.

"Love me?" he grinned.

She nodded.

"Well, I am irristable!"

Sonic didn't even have time to dodge the pillow thrown at him.



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Alternate Mobius
1.30pm, day six.
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Aura returned as promised with Shelly around an hour later. They had taken care, sticking only to the small park, which in spite of his rule, wasn't as dismal as she had expected. Except for Sparky and Hayley, who were asleep, the rest of the family were now waiting for Aura to explain.

Aura appeared flustered, brushing her fringe, and fiddling with the ends of her hair. It wasn't the first time this situation had come about, having done so many times on her travels. Explaining to somebody what she could do was nerve-wracking; she didn't like to; she was under no illusion that her teleportation could be very dangerous if the information fell into the wrong hands, but she owed it to Shelly and her family to explain, after they had helped her.

"Um...okay...what do you want me to say first?"

"How did you do that sparky thing?"

"And the fire thing?"

"And that teleporting?"

"Where do you come from?"

"Why are you here?"

Laughing, Aura threw her hands up "I can't answer all those questions at once...I'm not that fast!"

"Just tell us where they came from, the lightning and fire then?" Zachary asked, "...and that teleportation trick you got us away with"

"Well..." Aura paused before she began "I can't say why I can do them, because I honestly don't have any idea where they came from. As to how; I learned them over the last eleven years and just practiced a lot" This was the real crux of the test for Aura, it was easy to believe what she had already told them, but this wasn't as simple.
"I don't know if you'll believe this..." Deciding to try and start from the beginning, Aura asked if they had heard of a man called Kintobor. If she was correct, there could be a lot of similaries between her own Mobius and theirs.

"Robotnik used to be a person called Kintobor..."

Ah-ha! Something to work with. Aura felt more at ease. "And he didn't come from Mobius, right?"

Another nod, "He came from a planet called Earth"

"In another dimension, right?"

"He did say that, but not many people believed it" Ashley explained "I mean, saying he came from another planet is strange enough, but another dimension!"

"Did you?"

"Actually, yeah, I did" was Ashley's answer "Back before he was Ivo, I worked as a robotics engineer in a mechanics laboratory. He came in one day, got interested in a project I was working on and we talked. He didn't seem like the type of person to make that kind of thing up"

"Well...what about alternate dimensions?"

"Isn't that the kind of thing you always see in a comic book!" Zachary laughed "I mean, another version of a planet, impossible"

"It's not"

"You mean, you're from..."

"Another dimension?" Aura nodded "Yes, I'm from an alternate version of Mobius"

There was dead silence, as they all took in this information. Then Ashley spoke up "It explains a lot...like why Ivo didn't know who you were, or why you said you didn't know anything about him. Ivo keeps records of everybody's name, but not where they live, too hard to keep track. He's got just about every single bit of the planet under control, so you would have known about him" He fixed her with a questioning gaze "You pretended that to find out about him, didn't you?"

"I did...and I wish I hadn't had to lie, but I didn't know if you would believe me"

"After seeing those strange abilities...I can believe something like that...but how did you get here?"

"You remember that teleporting I did?" this was to Zachary and Shelly, both of whom nodded, "Well, I can do it across a distance, and across a dimension as well...I found it when I was eight, travelled for eleven years, then went back to my own"

"We have our own Robotnik" she continued, and explained, "I wanted to help in the fight there, but I messed up"

"Why did you leave in the first place?" Ally regretted asking almost as soon as the words left her mouth. She saw the faintest trace of pain cross Aura's face, but it quickly vanished, and she sighed.

"My parents died when I was a baby, and my brother also died six years after. When I ran away, that was when my teleporting power surfaced, so I used it to get away"

"Like you said when we were captured?" Shelly piped up

Aura nodded, mutely "I went back, and when I was helping with an attack, somebody got hurt because of me..."

"Was it really your fault?" Shelly interrupted "Cause you said there was a robot, and he was like one that scared ya, and that person pushed you outta the way..."

Pausing, her words made Aura think. Metal Sonic was very similar to the Mettalix, and seeing anything that looked like it would have scared her, no matter how much she could have convinced herself. It hit her with the force of a sledgehammer - just like when she was eight, once again she was blaming herself for something that wasn't all her fault. Yes, she had frozen, but put anybody else in that situation, with the same experiences, and she doubted they wouldn't act in a similar way. Sonic hadn't blamed her. In fact he had tried to tell her that more than once, but she had refused to hear it.

It took me eleven years to stop blaming myself that Kharis dying was all my fault, that it was because I froze, or I didn't do anything...but I was a kid. Aura rubbed her arm, am I going to take another eleven years this time?

"Aura?"

"Sorry?" Aura looked up.

"Are you okay? You seemed to be staring into space for a second then" Ally asked.

"I'm fine, but I think you're right Shelly, it wasn't all my fault..."

"Yeah!"

"So what do you want to do now?" Ashley was watching her reaction.

"I think I need to face what I ran away from. I need to go back"



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7pm, day six.
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"I can't belive it!"

"Sonic..." Amy watched him pace around the room, with hands clenched tightly and eyes narrowed. She wanted to reach out and comfort him, but wasn't allowed to get up yet. She exchanged a glance with Tekno, who tried to calm him down, but didn't have much luck; Sonic was to tightly wound for that.

"Of all the stupid things to do, going after that robot on his own, he could have been killed!"

"He's not a kid anymore Sonic, you can't try and control him"

"You wanna bet!" Sonic whirled around on the canary, who was unerved by his eyes "If I have to keep you lot safe, I..."

He was stopped by the look in her own; stern and forceful, trying to make a point, he couldn't control Tails. Heck, the kid was only two years younger than he was. But it was always that image of when he met Tails, scared, being attacked by badniks, and just eight years old. No matter how old the fox could be, he would always feel protective.

"I'm ok, guys, really!" Tails yelped as antisceptic was dabbed on a cut across his cheek. Metal Sonic had been spotted and Tails had been the only one nearby. But without any backup he didn't have much luck with beating him. He was lucky only to get a few cuts and bruises for his efforts, as well as being worn out. It was this that calmed Sonic down enough to speak without shouting.

"Why did you go alone?"

"But Sonic, he was going to hurt people, I'm sure of it. I know he's powerful and all, but I would have felt a thousand times worse if I hadn't done anything!"

"It was still stupid!" Sonic uttered, exasperated. Ryndar trailed around his feet, tugging and uttering small squeaks, able to sense his frustration. "You can't go against something like that without some sort of plan!"

"This coming from the person who rushes into things without thinking at all" If Amy had thought Sonic would shrug off her teasing, she and the others were surprised when he clenched his fists and narrowed both eyes, seeming to all intents and purposes to be deeply offended. "Sonic...I'm sorry...I didn't mean..." She was shocked when he burst out laughing and had to breath deeply until he could speak again, still chuckling a little.

"Sorry Amy, I just couldn't resist it..."

Giving him a wry look then folding both arms, Amy shot him a look of her own and sighed "Sonic, you ever do that again and you can sleep on the floor!"

"Huh...floor?" Tails piped up "I don't get it" he commented, scratching his head. Amy just smiled, squeezing Sonic's hand and making Tails wide-eyed "You mean you...you two?"

"They finally realised they both had thick heads and decided to do something about it" Tekno chuckled, "About time I think"

"Johnny would be pleased" Tails murmered "He always thought they would, guess he was right"

"Hey, he's probably watching us right now and laughing as hard as he can"

"Sonic, that's the first time I've seen you laugh or smile when mentioning him in a long while" Amy squeezed his hand again "That's a lot more like the Sonic we all know"

"And love" Tails commented, nudging Tekno, both tails swishing from side to side and snickering.

"If you weren't sixteen, Miles Prower, I wouldn't put it against you to sing that song"

"Why" Tekno nudged Tails back after Amy had spoken, with a teasing tone "I don't believe I've ever heard that song"

"You mean this one?" He grinned, and took a deep breath "Sonic and Amy, sitting in a tree!"

Tekno joined in "K-I-S-S-I-N-G"

"First comes love, then comes marriage!"

"Then comes a baby in a little carriage!" both finished together.

"I wouldn't stop and take up singing, it wouldn't work, trust me" Sonic crossed his arms, rolling his eyes.

"Sonic, I resent that remark!"

About to make a cutting remark of his own and probably very sarcastic, Sonic was cut off as his wrist comm flashed.

"Wierd, the only one back at the base is Kintobor..." He groaned "Great! It must be Metal Sonic again" He pressed the button and a row of text flashed across the screen. Sonic blinked and turned to the others. "Guys, I'm gonna get back to the base"

"Is it Metal Sonic?"

"No, it's not. Just Kintobor reminding us there's nobody there. You lot stay here; I think Tails needs to get checked out and you both say I need to get out more"

"But Sonic..." Amy began, but he had already left.


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If a robot could feel boredom at all, Metal Sonic was certainly feeling it now.

Attack a city, capture some people, put them in badniks; attack another city, capture some more people, make more badniks... It was fun, especially when somebody actually tried to fight back, but becoming too monotonous even for a robot. The last time he'd had any real fun was with the hedgehog and his friends, the one he had been built to look like. His predecessors, the Mettalix had failed, fools compared to him. He, Metal Sonic, was the next step, the next level. More powerful and a thousand times smarter. The Mettalix had been mere drones, and stupid to go against Robotnik.

Metal Sonic didn't think the man was a complete genius, but knew better than to bite the hand that 'fed' him. After all, Robotnik had built him, and he owed the man that much. Besides, the biggest thrill since he had been activated was the hedgehog, and if he beat him and his little band of rebels, nothing would stand in the way of Robotnik controlling the entire planet.

But the hedgehog wasn't appearing anywhere, and he had only encountered two of the freedom fighters, both easy to defeat. He wouldn't even have gone against them if they hadn't tried so hard to stop him. It was almost laughable; according to the profiles uploaded to his central processing unit they were actually meant to be a challange. Then there was the coward, Aura. When they had met, Metal Sonic had no idea why she was so scared. After leaving the Chemical Plant Zone, he had searched through databanks to find out, and the discovery of what his predecessors had done delighted him.

The freedom fighters were scared of him, but they were more of a challange than anybody else he had met, and because of that he wanted another encounter.

A sound to the east caught his attention and he slid into the shadows.

"Well, what do we have here" he murmered, red eyes glinting as he hid and watched the hedgehog ran past. This just made the day better; all on his own the hedgehog would be defenseless. But, he thought, looking back to the Emerald Hill zone, would it be even more fun to attack him now or do some real damage. It was a silly question really, Metal Sonic thought with a sneer.
Besides, there was more fun to be had playing with your food before eating it.



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Sonic grinned as he came to a stop outside the door to the building. Climbing the ladder on the side right up to the top, he peered in a window with a satisfied nod, and continued on to the roof, pulling open the door that reacted to his fingerprints and let himself in.

"I would have thought you would have more sense, Takashi" the voice of Ovi Kintobor tutted from the hologram. Sonic had stopped using his adopted name in public after the treadmill incident, because of the fear by Kintobor that he would be taken away; and in any situation after the tragedy of Robotnik's creation, for fear of being ostracised for the part he played in it. Kintobor, however, still referred to his charge as Takashi in private moments. It was like calling a child by his full name, Sonic knew Kintobor was angry or dissapointed with him when he used it.

Still, hearing the name did bring up a lot of memories, and it took a few seconds to realise Kintobor had been asking him a question "Sorry?"

Kintobor sighed, or the holographic version of one "I said, did you understand the message I sent you?"

Sonic nodded "I checked in when I climbed up, and she's there"

"Good"

The hedgehog rubbed his face with a hand and supressed a yawn "How long's she been there?"

"About eight hours. There wasn't any need to contact sooner, and I took into account she might be a little...unresponsive until she rested fully"

"I'm glad she's back" Sonic said, resting against the console. He yawned again, startling himself "I guess Aura isn't the only one who needs some rest" he commented, stretching both arms above his head. He headed for the door, "I'm going to grab a few hours too. Wake me if Amy or the others call, or Aura wakes up, k?"

"Of course, Takashi"

"I'm not Takashi" Sonic chuckled "I'm Sonic the hedgehog" He pronounced this name with a grin, in the way awestruck fans would. As he walked down the corridor, he heard Kintobor's voice trail after him.

"Sorry Sonic, but I met you as Takashi, and you will always be that, remember"


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9pm, day six.
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A little more than an hour later, rubbing her eyes, Aura smiled at catching her reflection in the mirror as she brushed her hair.

It was happy.

Feeling hungry, instinct guided her to the kitchen. While she walked she began tying her hair back, but halfway through just let it hang down, wrapping the hair scrunchie around her wrist and humming slightly.

"Hello Aura"

"Oh" Aura smiled, a little startled "Hello Kintobor, I guess you noticed I got back?"

"Picked up the signal nine hours earlier. I was going to alert Sonic and the others, but I think you'd already fallen asleep before I could"

She nodded "I teleported into my room. I think I just flopped into my bed"

Kintobor chuckled. "They were worried you know" he commented absently, "Sonic did appear angry that you had run off again, but I think he was more concerned that none of them could go after you"

"I didn't think..." she sighed "I thought the best thing to do, was to get away" She felt uncomfortable with his words, she wasn't used to having people around who were interested in her problems. Actually, that wasn't strictly true, she had made friends who were interested; it was more that Sonic and the others could understand better. She didn't like talking about it in any case, but at times like these when she was worried, talking came more easily "It was like my coming back hadn't done any good at all, and then when Amy was hurt, I..."

"Amy is fine"

Aura swallowed, and it was a few seconds before she could speak "She is?"

"She had a concussion, they were worried because it was serious, but everything is fine" Kintobor assured her, surprised to see tears in Aura's eyes. Since she had joined, he had been studying her. It wasn't that she was unemotional, he knew that since she saw her smile and laugh, but that she tended to lock things up, not talk when something bothered her. She did cry; Sonic had revealed that much, but apparently this had only been in front of him. Kintobor was no psychologist, but felt that from those years she spent mostly alone, there hadn't been any need to share problems or feelings, so it was now hard for her to do so. He watched her blink them back, a shuddering sigh escaping her lips.

"I was so worried, I thought she was going to die. Because I was too scared to do anything!" Her voice trembled on this last note.

"You know that fear is a thing that isn't easy to overcome" he smiled.

"I know" Aura was smiling now, wiping her tears away. Pulling out a bowl and packet of cereal, she concentrated on this as she talked "And I hope next time I can get past it, because if I'm right, Metal Sonic won't stand a chance"

"We havn't found anything to beat him yet..." Kintobor paused.

"I think I might have an idea..." Aura was almost beaming. It did sound like it would work, and even though she knew there was a chance it wouldn't it was still hard not to feel excited.

She brought a spoonful of cereal to her mouth. It fell to the floor with a clatter along with the bowl as an explosion made the ground tremble.

"Metal Sonic!" Aura paniced "no...not now!" head darting left and right, her voice rose frantically "I need Sonic to help me..." It was so much like then...unaware, an explosion catching her off-guard. Outside, a robot clad in blue metal with glowing red eyes that would kill her given half the chance. This made her stop, trembling, but then she remembered one crucial difference.

This time, she wasn't defenseless.

Kintobor tried to tell her Sonic was here, but Aura jumped off the chair and headed straight for the door. Connecting quickly to the terminal in Sonic's room, he didn't even register the fact that Sonic was lying with his head and arms almost hanging to the floor, instead turning up the volume on the hologram as high as possible.

"Sonic!"

"Wha..." Sonic murmered something drowsily. Convinced himself it was his stomach, he rolled onto the other side of the bed. "Lemmie sleep..."

"TAKASHI!"

"What's going on!" Sonic yelped, confused by the urgency of the cry and the use of his real name. His precarious position meant his quick reaction had his head hitting the small table, which prompted a few curses, before a second explosion rocked the foundations. This shook any traces of fatigue, flipping himself into a standing position and pulling on his socks, sneakers and gloves in a frenzy.

"Metal Sonic is attacking"

Sonic groaned "Great...and the others can't get back here as fast as I can...it'll take em almost twenty minutes!" The hospital in Emerald Hill was on the outskirts. It hadn't seemed important while Amy had been so ill, but now took on a more serious revelence. Tails had been exhausted and wouldn't be any use; there was no way Amy could help, and Tekno was needed in case Robotnik sent anything their way. So it was just him and Aura. Just normal badniks and he wouldn't worry, but Metal Sonic was far more dangerous and Sonic didn't like the odds.

"It's worse, Sonic"

"You always manage to cheer me up, don't you Kintobor" Sonic frowned, then laughed nervously "How can it be worse? Metal Sonic is attacking, and I'm the only one able to fight him!"

"Aura's out there" the hologram said, deadpan.

Slapping his face with a hand, Sonic mumbled through it. "ok...it's worse"

"She said something about having a plan, that she needed you to get through it. But she ran out when the first explosion happened before I could ask anything else"

"She's scared stiff of the Mettalix, and Metal Sonic is just the same!" Sonic cried as the floor shook again and one sneaker flew from his hands in his surprise, landing on the other side of the room "How can she do anything!" He grabbed at it and pulled it on.

"Sonic, you have to have more faith, it takes a lot to confront a fear, you should know that"

"She came back" Sonic nodded, "I know she must have been scared then" Finally finished, he stood up and grinned at Kintobor. This sudden shift of expression was lost on the hologram, who didn't understand until the hedgehog flung open the window and jumped out before he could say a word. The window just swung back and forth, and Kintobor sighed, disconnecting himself from that terminal and going to the main computers.

"I swear!" he muttered "If I wasn't a hologram, I would have grey hairs by now..."



___________



Oh yes, now this was indeed more fun.

Sending a missile at a hill to scare the inhabitants of the houses below, Metal Sonic let out a long, robotic laugh, then let another impact with a house. The vibrations from the subsequent explosion didn't bother him in the least. Hearing the screams of terror was like music to his sensors, and he stopped firing enough to hear them more clearly.

"Stupid wobot!"

Metal Sonic grinned, turning at the small child who was kicking his leg. In an almost invisible move, he swiped the young mobian by the scruff of the neck so quickly the child didn't even notice. Flinging his arms and legs around trying to get free, it wailed about being let go and insulted the 'stupid wobot' over and over. Thinking about the option of taking it to be enslaved or torturing it himself, he didn't notice movement nearby and only turned in that direction when he heard a voice.

"I would say something about picking on a person your own size, but you don't even come close to being a person"

"Well, this is certainly a surprise" Metal Sonic drawled, dropping the child to the floor. It kicked the robot once more before running away.

No pity, he considered. There was more fun to be had now anyway.

Aura was about fifteen feet away, hands by her side which crackled with untamed energy. She was emotionally charged, he could tell, and failing at hiding the signs; the fingers and thumb clenched into fists, teeth gritting together and ears pricked up showed her entire body was taut, tense and angry.

This just amused Metal Sonic, who could still remember how she cried in pain when he twisted her arm. Sparing a glance at it, he could see it was still held stiffly.

"I did not imagine to see the coward again" he taunted, provoking the reaction he wanted.
"Shut up!" Aura spat, eyes narrowed and forming a sphere of energy with her hands which she sent flying at Metal Sonic.

With a swerve of his metal body, it was dodged, and Metal Sonic gave the electronic version of a sigh, tapping his foot and rolling both eyes. But he looked pleased. "I see the coward has gained a backbone", the voice dripped with smugness, "I do prefer an enemy that fights back, it will make it so much more rewarding when I defeat you"

He thrust an arm forward.

Easily remembering what had happened the last time they had met, Aura still only managed to avoid his attack by a few inches. It had been close...too close.

"Aura!" Sonic yelled, striding across the landscape at high speeds, aware of the devestation already wreaked by the robot, and was worried by the close proximity of it to the tense form of their newest member. Expecting her to be as scared as when they had first met Metal Sonic, he was amazed, almost astonished to see her standing, shouting at him to stay back. In a split second her hands twisted and turned, sending huge charges of electricity at the robot who dodged, weaved, and sent back his own attacks.

Sonic swooped and got her out of the way just as Metal Sonic ran straight at her. "What the heck are you doing!" he yelled as soon as the distance between them and the robot made it safe enough to speak.

"I know what I'm doing!" Aura shot back.

"Come off it, you don't have a clue!" Sonic growled, grabbing her arm to stop her leaving "Get a grip Aura, you're part of a team so try to remember there are other people to think of" his tone softened a margin "people to help you. So you can't go off and fight him on your own!"

If he thought this would get through to her, he was wrong. Aura just stared him straight in the eye "Put yourself in my place, what would you do?"

"I wouldn't go rushing off..." Sonic began.

Aura interrupted him. "If I wasn't here now, I think you'd be doing the same thing"

"Maybe..." Sonic admitted "But I still don't like this, we need more people here" he paused, groaning "He must have been watching us, trying to get one person on their own. We stand more of a threat together and Robotnik knows that"

Aura looked back. Eyes widening, she pushed Sonic roughly to the floor, throwing herself down as well. A lazer blazed above a second later. Sonic was sheepish as he thanked her, but that look didn't last as tbe fight turned into a game of cat and mouse. Metal Sonic would send shots at them and they would run, Aura clinging to his hand as they dodged and weaved each attack that came. At some point they split, Aura returning fire but rarely hitting her target dead on. Sonic flew straight head-on and managed to get a few hits in, but only dented the metal. Flung away by the enhanced strength of the improved Mettalix, both crouched behind a wall trying to catch their breath. It had been less than five minutes since the entire thing had begun but it felt like hours. Aura still had power left, but her injured arm now ached constantly. Sonic noticed her discomfort, remembering when his robotic duplicate had given her the injury.

"Get out of here!" he whispered hoarsely.

"No!" Aura turned back, eyes flashing angrily "This guy is made from the robot that killed my brother, and by the man who is responsible for my parents being taken away from me!" Chest heaving, she took more deep, shaking breaths before speaking again "I have a stake in this and nothing is going to stop me from trying to beat Metal Sonic!"

The robot in question could be heard, his rocket jets hissing above the sound of their frenzied whispering.

Aura smiled, eyes drawn half-closed, and looked surprisingly confident.

Confused, Sonic rubbed his eyes with one hand and exhaled slowly.

"Sonic..." Aura finally said, and faced him straight in the eye. Sonic almost felt like groaning, he knew that look. Amy used it, Tails used it; he had used it himself on almost an infinate number of occasions. Johnny had used it on the day he died.

It was the look that said plainly, trust me.

Don't question what I'm doing, don't try and stop me. Just trust me.

"Ok..." he sighed, resigned "What is it"



___________



"Don't bother hiding" Metal Sonic drawled slowly, drifting along the grass. Every so often sending a short laser at a nearby hill or patch of grass, scorching it black. They'd been hiding for a few minutes now, and though he wasn't bored yet it was getting slightly tedious.

"How's THIS!"

The blast hit one of his thrusters. A plume of smoke quickly rising, his altitude fell as the smoke in turn rose upwards; now he was grounded, his skill at attacking impared. But it made him no less of a threat and with his prey now visable, he turned to attacking with more anger and ferocity, proving beyond a doubt that he was far more advanced than his predecessor. But he had prepared for this sort of eventuality by filling his memory capacity with those from the original Mettalix.

"Stay still!" he hissed as Aura and Sonic kept running, dodging, weaving and attacking in turn "You didn't try and escape when he died, did you!" He sent this accusation at Aura, who froze.

"W..what did you say?"

Metal Sonic grinned devilishly, tapping the side of his head "See here, I have all the memories of the Mettalix that my master, Robotnik, managed to get back to his base and one of those was the one that..."

"STOP IT!" Aura yelled, shutting her hands against both ears, and squeezing her eyes shut "Shut up, it''s not true, it's not true!"

"Aura!" Sonic stood on the other side of Metal Sonic, with less than twenty meters from him to the robot. He cursed, he hadn't expected Metal Sonic to know about Kharis' death, and if anything could jeapodise their plan, this could. Metal Sonic didn't move, just stood still watching her reaction. It wasn't a good sign, he thought, but she'd asked him to trust her. Could he still do that? Sonic knew he had to, even without looking at Metal Sonic he knew that one step and Aura could be killed.

"But it is, you know it is. I can see what he saw, your face" the taunting continued, "and you didn't move one inch, just sat there like a scared little coward" Metal Sonic didn't seem to care at all, not that he would, but now Aura had her eyes open and was shaking violently, hands covering her mouth and tears running down both sides of her face.

"Don't...please don't!" She hadn't reacted like this when telling him about that night, and Sonic had assumed more of a reaction. Obviously it was delayed, or Metal Sonic had hit a particularly sensitive spot, the fact that she had blamed herself. Her pleading did little difference, and seemed to provide Metal Sonic with even more satisfaction.

"And then, that Mettalix fired, and you would have been dead if he hadn't done that, wouldn't you"

"SHUT UP!" Aura screamed, making her voice hoarse.

Sonic made up his mind in that split second. The grass underneath his feet didn't even seeming to get touched, waved swiftly by the gust of wind as the hedgehog race. It would take less than five seconds to get there, he could make it!

Metal Sonic got there first.

"He died to save you...a useless little kid who was much of a coward then to stop the Mettalix, or to do anything to stop me now. Not that you could" he squeezed Aura's injured arm but she gritted her teeth, only letting a small cry pass between pressed lips "But any sort of a normal person would have tried. Not a coward though, and that's what you are"

"Let her go!"

Metal rounded, facing Sonic, and glanced back from the person in his grip to the hedgehog that he and his predecessors had been made to look so much like. It was almost a travisty.

He was the better version, but Sonic was the original; there could only be one.

"I'm not a coward, you are"

Looking at Aura, he was surprised to see she didn't flinch away like before. His hand was tightly grasping the neck of the jumper she wore, and this made her head tilt upwards, with his other arm inches from her injured limb. Knowing it was still sore and tender, he squeezed it again and she gasped. Her words made him laugh. "Me, a coward?"

Sonic could only stand and watch, replaying what had happened when Amy had tried to help at the factory. As much as he hated to admit it, trying to get Aura away from Metal Sonic then hadn't done much good, and if he tried now it was going to happen again; he had to trust her. This is frustrating... he growled deep down, hands clenched into fists and all limbs tensed. If any sort of opening came, he would have to be ready to take it.

Aura couldn't nod, but her eyes said it all.

"You are a coward, you work for Robotnik, pick on people smaller and weaker and don't care about anybody but yourself" she stated as calmly as possible "That's what I think a coward is, not being able to do what's right"

Metal Sonic said nothing and squeezed her arm once again, making tears come to her eyes as she forced more words out.

"Y...you're right though" She paused, trying to breathe "I was a coward, because I didn't know what was the right thing to do then. I was scared because you reminded me of the Mettalix, and because I thought I'd killed Amy. So I ran away instead of staying to face my fears. So if I hadn't come back, that would have made me a coward"

"Exactly" Metal Sonic began, but was cut off.

"I did come back though, if your sensors can't tell" Aura teased. It was dangerous in her position, but almost made Sonic smile. "So you're wrong, I'm not a coward. I came back, and we're going to stop you"

"Really" the robot smirked, staring straight into her face "I'm sure he thought that both of you would be safe, didn't he..."

The words stung deep. Aura was sure that Kharis had thought that; that as he had been running, he thought they would both be safe. But it hadn't turned out that way.

Metal Sonic obviously didn't have every single memory of the Mettalix which had killed her brother. If so, he would have seen it coming. He would have known that when Kharis had saved Aura, it had been by grabbing the Mettalix that had tried to kill her, and somehow overloaded it with the same energy it had fired at Aura. He would have known that the energy of the Mettalix weaponry and Aura's electrical ability were similar. He wouldn't have let her get so close. But he didn't know, and he didn't push her away.

Sonic didn't know what was happening. This wasn't their plan.

Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, Aura appeared in great pain, arms straight against her side, fists being clenched together and the nails pressing into the palms of her hands. Tears at the edges of the eyes showed the strain, one escaping to run down her face. But this was a tear of concentration; as every single fibre of her body drew the strange powers that she had never been able to explain, and was sure to never fully understand.

She had used them before, to defend, to survive.

This wasn't the first time she had used them to their fullest extent, but just electricity wasn't enough. Using just one power drained energy from the other; that was why teleporting dimensionally prevented use of her other abilities for a certain time, it took the most energy. Lightning, on it's own, didn't use as much; she needed more energy than it could provide. She knew the next step had to be performed, as scared as she was of it, but thinking of Kharis saving her, Amy trying to help, Sonic's trust and ultimatly Metal Sonic taunting her helped. It didn't make it any less frightening, but it helped to make it easier.

Lightning merged with fire, making the blood in her veins almost burn and crackle with untamed energy.
This was hers, something that nobody could take away. A part of her that was able to be felt even when unused. A tool that could be dangerous and often was, but one that had been trained and practiced over so many years that she was confident using it. Metal Sonic wasn't like the trooper that had captured Shelly when they first met or those when they were escaping from Ivo. They had been less complex in design; not simple to take down but easy compared to Metal Sonic. There were no visible weaknesses here so Aura relyed on what she knew.

Mettalix was the old version of Metal Sonic, and Mettalix was taken down by a large electrical charge, so a bigger charge might do the trick. By now the power she excerted was making her entire body glow with a dim but noticable light. Sonic noticed it and stepped forward. He stretched one arm out, but quickly drew it back. It wasn't hurting her, not that he could see, but it could and would hurt him if he touched her.

What was she doing?

Metal Sonic was also now fully aware that something was going on. Only none of his optical sensors, nor his programming, were able to make any sense of it.

The words he was about to say, were never spoken out loud, as with every single part of her filled with as much energy as she could muster, Aura sent it from her arms, legs; each and every part of her body straight through the arm which he grasped. All of this untamed energy into his systems fried the electrical impulses inside down each and every wire, overloading Metal Sonic's sensors.

First he could no longer move, but his hands remained grasping the arm and neck which kept the flow of energy going. Every part of his programming ordered to let go, but no matter how many times the command was sent and recieved, nothing happened. Then his auditory sensors failed; no longer able to feel his body shutting down, now he couldn't hear it either. Lastly, a darkness swept over him as his visual sensors failed. Unable to feel, see or hear anything, his only constant awareness was of each system shutting down. With every second another part of him faded, burnt out by Aura's attack. Then, he didn't even feel that.

"Wow..." The only word Sonic could say, and the only one which adaquatly summed up what had just happened.

Metal Sonic jolted, shuddered, and let go of Aura, and collapsed, arms and legs bent and sparking wildly with the slight, minute traces of power left.

But even those dimmed down, and a horrible electrical smell rose into the air.

Sonic sighed, relieved that it was...

"Over..." he breathed "It's over!" But as the deactivated robot fell, Aura took a shuddering breath then fell down as well, the glow leaving her body and any traces of what she had just done. "AURA!"

Running, he knelt down and pressed two fingers against her neck, pushing away the rollneck of the jumper, yelping as a spark jumped from her to him as a remenent of the power. He could feel a pulse, it wasn't strong but it was there. Picking her up in his arms, and casting a glance back at the mangled body of Metal Sonic, he raced in the opposite direction from the base.

You did it, we both did it... Sonic thought as he ran, keeping his grip tight and eyes firmly ahead to his destination.


__________________________________________________________________________________________

9.45pm, day six.
__________________________________________________________________________________________



Tekno stood outside, watching for Sonic.

Contacting Kintobor after he had left got little results, apparently Sonic had arrived, talked a little, then got some sleep. The hologram did mention that Aura had come back a few hours before, but that she was asleep as well. It made the reason for Sonic running off more sense, but didn't make Tekno feel much better.

Especially when he had called her, almost frantic, to tell her that Metal Sonic was at the base and that Sonic and Aura were trying to fight him.

Tekno had wanted to go and help, but none of them were at full strength. Amy would still be out of action for a while, Tails was almost exhausted from his earlier battle with the robot, and she was the only one there to protect them who wasn't injured. It would take Tekno half an hour to get back to the base on foot, and she couldn't fly that far. It made waiting even more harder, but being the tactical person of the group Tekno knew the best thing she could do was stay there. But it still didn't make it any better knowing her friends were fighting him, and she was just sitting here, waiting.

Something in the distance caught her attention, and she flew into the air to see what was happening. It was Sonic, running at full tilt along the roads, so descending to the ground a second later, Tekno waited for him to arrive. When he did she was shocked to see Aura in his arms, unconscious and pale.

"Sonic. What happened?"

Breathless, he took in a deep breath first "we won"

"We won?"

He nodded "We beat him, but..." he paused, looked down at Aura "...she used that trick, but it was so much energy. It completely overloaded Metal Sonic and I dunno what it did to Aura. She just folded to the ground when he let go"

"Get her inside" Tekno told him "We'll get help"

Sonic nodded, following her.