PART ONE_
PART TWO

Subject: Sonic Anime review

Date: 04 May 1997 19:52:00 +0100

From: tyro@deco.franken.de (Alessandro Sanasi)

Organization: KNF Germany

To: kel5482@p3.net
CC: BAUERLE@engr.erie.ge.com, drazen@andrews.edu, KenP7672@aol.com, rubens@ns.nsb.norrkoping.se, SMfreaks@aol.com, sylphfox@thepoint.net, Willohare@aol.com, winapp@mpcug.com

Hello.

I've started to write a review of the Sonic Anime from Japan. Here is the one for the first episode. Hopefully it will clear up some of the unanswered questions in the plot.

Thanks to Seiji and Maringa J. Micik for their help.

The film begins with a lifeless Metal Sonic hanging in some sort of blue energy field. Dr. Eggman appears and says that HyperMetalSonic is his newest weapon to destroy Sonic. But the robot should be patient a little longer, until everything is prepared. With Eggman's last words, Metal Sonic's eyes come to life and start to glow in an evil red color.

In the next scene we see an old owl flying toward Sonic's headquarters in some sort of mini-plane that could need a few mechanical fixups. Said 'headquarters' seems to be built out of a sattelite antenna, an Apollo rocket, two railway wagons, something that looks like the wreck of the Enterprise, and a Boeing 747 at ground level. Sonic is relaxing on the beach, and Tails comes running out of the Boeing to excitedly show him his new self-made surfboard with rocket boosters. Tails asks Sonic if he would like to try it out, but Sonic turns down the offer. So Tails jumps into the water alone, while Sonic turns on his stereo and notes that the little fox is still a real kid.

Tails powers up his surfboard and gives Sonic a good splash of water in the process. While he zooms past, Tails demonstrates a few stunts and calls to his friend that even Sonic would have a lot of fun with this, although he can't swim. Sonic just lies back and tries to relax again. When Ojisan the owl appears (Ojisan means something like 'old man') and Sonic hears Tails scream, he first reacts very annoyed and yells that the fox should be quiet, until he realizes what's going on.

Ojisan zooms right over Sonic with his plane, and after the clouds of sand have settled down, Tails wants to know if his blue friend is ok. Sonic confirms this, rubs his nose in the usual "Bruce Lee" routine and looks around to find out what's going on. Just then he notices Ojisan's plane, which trails a long cloud of smoke behind it. Tails wants Sonic to go and help the owl immediately, but the hedgehog just replies that Tails should take care of this instead. The little fox reacts very displeased about this and yells at Sonic that he finds this behavior pretty uncool. But finally he heads off alone to rescue Ojisan, flying after him by spinning his tails.

When Ojisan hears Tails call his name, he first greets him without really listening to what he says, until Tails tells him that the engine of his plane is burning. Tails tries to grab hold, but a sudden explosion sends him tumbling backwards. The fox tries again, and finally lands on the left wing of the plane to stabilize it, which tilts it back into a horizontal position. But now he notices that the plane is heading directly toward the cliffs, and notifies the owl about it (who is extremely short-sighted - I wonder who gave him that pilot license). Tails screams for Sonic (the same shout we hear at the beginning of the 30 second .AVI video preview), and Sonic comes to the rescue at top speed, saving both just in time before the plane collides, for which Tails thanks him ("Arigato, Soniku").

Ojisan informs Sonic (while facing a blue flower that is about the same height as Sonic) that the president needs their help. Tails tries to tell the owl that he is talking to a flower, but without much success. So they both board their bi-plane to go to the president's palace. Ojisan wishes them a save journey, while waving goodbye in the wrong direction.

In the palace there is a bad surprise awaiting our heroes, because when Sonic asks why the president has sent for them, Dr. Eggman appears in the president's chair and states that he is pleased to meet them again. To prove this, his robots attack the two friends, after Eggman ignored Tails' question what happened to the president. Sonic and Tails destroy the robots in a sonic second. Sonic goes into a Spin Dash, intending to return the friendly welcome, but is stopped by the voice of the president, who is held hostage by Eggman together with his daughter Sera.

Sonic and Tails jump on Eggman's desk and Sonic wants to know what all this is about, and warns the doctor not to even touch a hair of his hostages' heads. Eggman only laughs, and after some smalltalk he reveals why he is here. He creates a small ball-like hologram of Sonic's world and explains that the planet consists of two parts: the outer part is called "Earth of the Sky" which are island-like pieces of land that hover around the globe, connected by bridges. Sonic interposes that he already knows this, for which Eggman commands him to keep quiet.

Eggman continues that on the inner part (the planet itself), which is called the "Earth of Darkness" there lies a highly technological place called EggmanLand. He lived there in peace, until one day an opponent named Brak-Eggman (a giant robot) appeared and conquered the city with his troops. After that he turned the main power plant (the Egg-Generator) to maximum, which is now about to explode if not turned off before sunset. This explosion would destroy the whole planet. But when Eggman glances at his audience, he notices that everyone fell asleep during his narration. He pulls out a needle and sticks it into the 'ball', which causes a loud bang that wakes everyone up. ;)

The president wants to know what they could do, and Eggman explains that only one would be fast enough to make it in time: Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic isn't very eager to help. After all, Eggman was the one who build that thing, so he should take care of it himself, so he says. The president begs the hedgehog to do it for the sake of the planet, and Sera begs him too, but he shouldn't do it for the planet, but rather for her and for himself. After which Sonic jumps back to the floor again and replies that Eggman can't be trusted, because 99 % of everything he says is a lie. Tails points out that there are still 1 % left that could be true, and finally Sonic agrees to do it. Eggman gives Tails a wrist-watch navigation device, which will lead them to their destination.

Both friends start immediately. Sonic still wonders if they can trust the Doctor, but Tails tries to compose him. Meanwhile, Eggman and Sera play video games (some kind of wrestling game starring Eggman and Sera), and Sera, who always looses ("yada yada yada"), asks for revenge every time. Eggman gets fed up with it, but Sera threatens the doctor she would quit being a hostage and just leave if he doesn't continue to play with her. At this moment a giant robot crashes through the wall, and Sera is happy about the exciting change. Eggman is not so pleased about her jumping right into the cockpit and pushing buttons, and tries to throw her out while forbidding her to touch anything. But finally the cockpit closes and the robot leaves with both of them. Staying behind is a confused president and a robot holding a sign which says "Bye Sera".

By now, Sonic and Tails have reached the entrance to the Earth of Darkness, which looks like a giant vortex in the sky. Tails flies into it with his bi-plane, and Sonic has a hard time to keep his hold on top of the plane's wings, until they finally crash-land on the ground. Sonic asks Tails if he is all right, Tails confirms and tells Sonic he should have a look around. So this is the Earth of Darkness...

Tails checks in what direction they are supposed to go, and Sonic immediately asks what they are waiting for. After passing quite a few obstacles Sonic wonders if the whole thing isn't a setup after all, because there seems to be an incredible amount of traps on this particular route (spikes, CaterKillers, BuzzBomber etc). But Tails again reassures him that they are still heading into the right direction. Sonic uses his famous figure-eight move to gain speed, and finally both disappear in some kind of Warp Zone. They reappear totally exhausted in a strange city, which looks similar to post-war New York (complete with car wrecks and "One Way" traffic signs), void of anything living.

Sonic looks around astonished and wants to know where they are, since he has never heard that such a place would exist on the Earth of Darkness. Tails doesn't know the answer eighter, but tells his friend that they are still on the right way and suggests going to a higher place to have a better look. Sonic agrees and they zip up to the spire of the highest skyscraper around, where they discover that the whole city is about to sink into the sea. Tails points out that this could be caused by the Egg- Generator, and that they should hurry up. Then a lightning flashes, and Tails clings to his friend worriedly, because he is afraid of lightning (very cute scene).

Moments later both are on their way again, but are stopped by an explosion in front of them, which sends them flying through the air (Sonic doing some cool backward flips, Tails landing on his head). A giant robot appears and Tails cries out horrified that this must be the mysterious Brak-Eggman, who conquered EggmanLand. The robot confirms this and congratulates the two for making it this far - to their grave. Tails shivers in fear, putting his tails between his legs, but Sonic stays cool and isn't impressed. He replies not to be interested in playing with the robot, after which the robot tries to shoot them, but Sonic and Tails are too fast for its aim. They hide behind an old bus, and Brak-Eggman calls to them to come out from whereever they are. Sonic tells Tails that they don't have time to bother with the robot, and again wants to know where EggmanLand is. Tails checks his navigation device and then points toward the highway.

Before they leave, Sonic and Tails decide to taunt Brak-Eggman and make fun of him (Tails sticking out his tongue, Sonic showing his raised middle finger etc), and Sonic shouts to Brak-Eggman that he would never be able to catch them because he is too slow. But the taunts soon get stuck in their throats as the robot unfolds his giant wings and starts his turbo booster, and our heroes have to flee. The robot tries to grab Tails out of the air, but Sonic is faster and pulls the fox along. Then Brak-Eggman launches missiles that destroy the bridge on which Sonic is running, and only in the last second Sonic is able to stop his fast pace before falling into the gap. Both Sonic and Tails drop exhausted onto the street, Sonic's shoesoles smoking from the run.

When they look up, they see the robot looming above them, who then blasts away the last piece of the road on which Sonic and Tails currently are. The friends try to trick the robot by making noises as if they were drowning in the water below, while holding onto a metal girder right under the bridge. First the stratagem seems to work, but soon Brak-Eggman appears again and notes that he isn't all that stupid, and starts shooting - this time with something sticky that is unknown to Sonic. Tails gets hit and is glued to a metal fence. He cries for Sonic, but Brak-Eggman fires some kind of missiles at the hedgehog, and he has to run for it. One of the following explosions is noticed by Knuckles, who was digging in the ground outside the city, some distance away.

The giant robot approaches Tails to "finally kill him". Tails replies that Sonic will save him because he is faster than the missiles. As if on command, Sonic returns, riding on one of the missiles and directing it right into the robot. But Sonic gets hit by the pressure wave, and when the smoke clears, he has stepped in a puddle of the glue. Now it starts to rain. The robot appears again (although a bit damaged), and says that he can't be defeated that easily, and that Sonic without his speed is indeed nothing but a normal hedgehog. As he walks forward, the cemented ground cracks, and several pieces (including the one Sonic is glued to) sink down, while the resulting holes fill with water from the nearby ocean. Tails tries to come to the rescue, but can't break free from the glue that holds him. The robot aims at Sonic (who is covered by water up to his chin by now), but Knuckles is faster and hits the robot with such force that it falls backwards.

Knuckles frees Tails, orders him to help Sonic, then goes back to fighting. The fox is eager to do it, but his tails are still glued together, so he grabs a large piece of metal and uses it as a surfboard to zoom over the water toward his friend. The robot ponders who the new attacker is, and starts shooting once again. Knuckles manages to avoid the robot's projectiles for a while, until he too steps into the sticky stuff. Brak-Eggman grabs the echidna and lifts him up.

Meanwhile Tails tries to pull Sonic out of the water, who is close to drown by now, but the hedgehog's feet are still held by the glue. With one mighty heave Tails frees his friend, who immediately uses a Spin Attack to cut off the robot hand that holds Knuckles. Brak-Eggman tries to leave with the words "We will meet again", but Sonic doesn't want to let him. Using Knuckles and Tails as airborne lauchpads, he spin-dashes at the flying robot, causing it to explode and fall into the water.

Then Dr. Eggman and Sera emerge from the cockpit of the robot. Eggman scolds at the hedgehog and informs him that an even more dangerous person is waiting for him in EggmanLand. Sera gives Eggman a good hit on the head with a metal pole and warns him not to dare to even touch a single hair of Sonic's head. She complains about her kidnapping and says that Eggman and Brak-Eggman are the same person anyway, and asks what the meaning of all this is...

Sonic thanks Knuckles, who replies that he and the hedgehog are already friends for a long time, that he was just around accidentally and that they could pay him back when there's an opportunity. Tails wants to know if Knuckles is going to continue searching for treasures, and Knuckles confirmes this, since "it's his destiny". Just then the clouds part and the sun appears right over the horizon, and the friends realize that there isn't much time left to turn off the Egg-Generator. Suddenly the ground shakes and the lights go on in all the buildings of EggmanLand. On the generator complex the lights form the giant face of Dr. Eggman.

Sonic zooms off, followed by Tails who calls to Knuckles that he hopes they will meet again. A wish that is fulfilled soon, since Knuckles follows the duo because he is worried about them - after all, they aren't as strong as _he_ is, so he states. Knuckles glides ahead and calls to Sonic that they should hurry because their time would run out. The hedgehog follows while calling to Knuckles to wait up ("Mateo, Knuckelse!").

Tails flies into view and gives us a thumbs up and a wink, then turns to follow the two, and this is how the first episode ends.

Ok, this is it, hope you liked it. I'll review the second episode soon (speak: in a few weeks)... it's quite a hard job to do for me, since my birth language is German. :) So give me some time, ok?

Bye

Alessandro

Subject: Sonic Anime review - part 2

Date: 08 May 1997 23:04:00 +0100

From: tyro@deco.franken.de (Alessandro Sanasi)

Organization: KNF Germany

To: Sonic-MailingList@inet.uni-c.dk CC: BAUERLE@engr.erie.ge.com

Hello again.

Due to the overwhelming request, I decided to finish the review of the second part of the Sonic Anime a bit earlier than originally planned. :) So here it is... hope you like it.

Our heroes have arrived at the entrance to Eggman's headquarters. Tails is astonished that the doctor lives in such a magnificent building, of which Knuckles replies that this isn't anything special, and they wouldn't have time to admire it anyway. Sonic agrees and gives the signal to set out.

While they run down into the building, Tails monitors their route with his wrist navigation device. At first Knuckles is very delighted because he finds all this really thrilling, but Sonic calls to him that he shouldn't be, since you never know what lies ahead. Knuckles admits that Sonic is right, especially when they get shot at from every direction a few seconds later. Knuckles tells Sonic run ahead while he will take care of the problem at hand. At this point we see the title of the second episode: "Sonic vs. Metal Sonic".

Sonic runs as fast as he can toward the Egg-Generator (which looks like a giant metal version of Eggman's head), but can't reach it because the conveyor belt that leads to the generator runs in the opposite direction. He commands Tails to fly to the turn-off lever, but the fox isn't strong enough to pull it alone, since it is at least three times his size. At the last moment Knuckles breaks through the wall, glides toward Sonic and gives him the decisive push that lets him reach the lever. The machine stops exactly one second before meltdown (which is shown on the display above the lever), and all the lights in EggmanLand go off again, leaving the city shrouded in darkness.

But the whole thing seems to have been a setup, because suddenly Sonic is trapped in some kind of forcefield. Knuckles calls to the hedgehog that he is going to save him, while desperately trying to run to him on the still moving conveyor belt. At this moment the Egg-Generator literally breaks apart and Sonic falls into the void below. Luckily Knuckles can catch him just in time before he hits the ground. But something is still there... a strange-looking purple engergy egg. Knuckles looks over to it and notes that there is something moving inside, something that looks like Sonic. Then the egg goes off in a flash, and when the clouds part, Sonic stands face to face with his metallic counterpart.

Tails cries out that this robot looks exactly like Sonic, while Knuckles wants to know what's going on here. But the robot just stands there. Then we hear Eggman's laughter, and the whole room is filled with strange lights. Knuckles asks what this is, of which Tails replies he wouldn't know eighter, but that he thinks the lights are pretty. The lights turn into blue flames and head off into the distance, from where moments later Brak-Eggman emerges, the robot they fought in the first episode (Tails: "This is the ghost of Brak-Eggman!"). But as fast as the robot appears it goes to pieces again - obviously the damage Sonic inflicted in part one was too much for it to take.

Then Sera and Eggman appear in all the scrap metal (Sera pulling the doctor out by his mustache). When Sera notices that they are being watched, she turns around and smiles innocently. Sonic and Tails are more than aghast, while Knuckles suspects that Sera makes common cause with the doctor. Sera starts to cry, tears literally flowing like waterfalls from her eyes. She apologizes and defends herself. She says that Eggman tricked her, that she didn't know of Eggman's true intentions, and that she would still be very worn out by all the incidents. While she confesses, Eggman lowers his head more and more.

Sonic asks the doctor what he's aiming at with all this ruse. The doctor sticks out his tongue and taunts Sonic that he walked right into the trap he has set for him. Sonic gets disgusted and races toward Eggman - but at the same moment Metal Sonic's eyes flash red, and he is in front of Eggman in an instand, stopping Sonic's attack. Tails can't believe it that anyone could be faster than Sonic, after which Eggman proudly presents them his newest weapon - HyperMetalSonic - and tells the friends that he incorporated all of Sonic's attributes and data in the robot, which is destined to get rid of Sonic permanently. Sera does not actually agree with this plan, but the other robot-minions prevent her from releasing her anger on Eggman. Sonic demands Sera's release, but Eggman replies with glee that Sonic should first defeat his counterpart, let's see if he is still so inquisitive after that...

Metal Sonic scans his target, and Sonic commands his friends to stay out of this - that's something between him and the robot. Metal Sonic starts his turbo engine, and the fight begins. When the robot grabs Sonic, Tails follows to help his friend, but Knuckles grabs Tails' leg and stops him, well knowing that it's impossible to keep up with the two. Eggman follows the fighting pair in his Egg-O-Matic, with a tied and gagged Sera on the sideseat.

Sonic and Mecha Sonic continue fighting, until Sonic lands on a peak, wondering where his opponent disappeared to. The latter appears promptly and gives Sonic a good kick that leaves him falling to the far-away ground below. Mecha Sonic watches Sonic's fall, until he is convinced that the hedgehog is dead.

In his Egg-O-Matic, Robotnik and Sera monitor the progress of the fight on a display, which shows the life signs of both Metal Sonic and Sonic. Finally Sonic's life signs drop to zero, and the display changes to show the stylized figure of Mecha Sonic jumping with joy and the stylized figures of Sonic with a halo and Tails crying. Eggman can't believe his good fortune. Finally the hedgehog has bit the dust.

Meanwhile Tails flies with Knuckles in tow toward the warpgate (through which they entered the city in the first episode). Knuckles wants to know what Tails is up to, and the fox replies that he wants to return to the Tornado (his plane) and repair it. (Is it just me, or does Tails really have a tear in his eye while saying this?) Knuckles' question what they should do about Sonic isn't answered because they are entering the warpgate.

At Sonic's headquarter Ojisan has made himself comfortable on the beach (in Sonic's beach-chair) and is pretty surprised to suddenly see Sonic appear in front of him. He greets the new arrival a bit embarrased and wants to know what happened. He doesn't get a reply, and the owl notices his mistake - NOT! The last we hear is Ojisan's scream that Sonic should stop...

Meanwhile Sonic awakens in the middle of a beautiful forest on a huge bush (which probably stopped his fall) and wonders what happened. He remembers his journey to EggmanLand and how Metalla (some kind of japanese nickname for Metal Sonic) hit him. He sure hopes that... - at this point the sencence ends and we return to Knuckles and Tails who have reached the headquarter with the damaged Tornado. Suddenly the fox jumps up and screams because it just came to his mind that Ojisan was here all the time - hopefully nothing happened to him. They enter the Boeing, and Tais calls for the owl, but doesn't get a reply. Knuckles already suggests that Ojisan isn't here anymore when the owl appears right behind them and greets Tails.

The fox wants to know why Ojisan is wearing Sonic's belongings, and Ojisan replies that Sonic himself gave them to him yesterday evening. Yesterday evening? But that could have been only one: "Metalla!" Tails and Knuckles blurt out in unison.

Meanwhile Eggman apologizes on Sera for his behavior, of which Sera still reacts very annoyed, until the doctor presents her a dress. She can't believe her eyes, and immediately laughs again (this girl really seems to be pleased easily).

Back at Sonic's base, Tails has started to make some alterations in the navigation device Eggman gave him. Knuckles asks why the fox is doing this, and Tails explains that he is trying to adjust the device on Sonic's brainwaves, and at the same time at Metalla's, since the robot not only seems to have Sonic's abilities and speed, but also his personality - and his 'heart'. Strictly speaking, the two are 'twins'. Knuckles doesn't believe what he is hearing, but it's the only explanation why the robot didn't kill Ojisan.

At the president's palace, the president is worried about the whereabouts of his daughter, and is horrified about the pictures he gets from various places of the city, and the image of a well-known person who wreaks havoc there. Sonic is responsible for all this? It can't be. At once he gives order to make contact Tails. Knuckles hears the signal and reacts pretty indignant about it, since he is busy repairing the Tornado. Therefore only Ojisan appears on the screen, dancing to the music from Sonic's stereo, and the president wants to know what's going on here. Knuckles pushes the owl to the side, and is then asked by the president who he is. The echidna introduces himself as Knuckles, Sonic's friend (IMHO "Tatchi" is a very colloquial word and is mostly used by the japanese mafia, but oh well) and asks what the other one wants. The president is a bit surprised about the rude stranger and Knuckles only learns from Ojisan's interruption that he is actually talking to the president.

By now, Sera has tried on her dress and is really delighted. She asks Eggman if she is looking good in it. Eggman, who is now wearing a green tux, confirms this and suggests at the same time that now, since Sonic is history, they could start to get a bit more intimate. But Sera is not very pleased at all about the idea to marry the doctor and become the mother of a dozen crying egg-babies, which she makes clear by grabbing Eggman by the throat and shaking him like mad (BTW, the song Eggman sings in Sera's flashforward that shows her in housewife clothing with a bunch of babies is a japanese lullaby). She screams that she won't marry the doctor, never ever.

Meanwhile Tails has filled in the president about the whole story, and the president asks what Eggman would be up to. It's impossible to destroy the whole planet this way. Knuckles interrupts and says that this would surely be possible. During his journeys he has visited many continents, and found out that the Earth of the Sky is held by ice bridges on the North Pole. Magma flows through these bridges like blood flows through veins, and if someone destroys those bridges, the magma would flow out and melt the ice. As a consequence, all the continents would break apart and be thrown into space, where they would turn into cosmic dust, leaving only the planet itself...

Everyone is horror-stricken about this revelation, and Tails asks the president not to tell Sonic anything about this. But the hedgehog has already overheard it, since he is standing on a high railing behind the president. He wants to know what they want to withhold from him and why. Tails tries to apologize, but just at this moment a message arrives that Metalla is heading for the North Pole. Before the president can react, the hedgehog has already left at top speed. So he turns to Tails and Knuckles again and asks them to help Sonic.

Elsewhere Robotnik is also on his way to the pole, and with a screaming and raging Sera beside him he flies his Egg-O-Matic into a warpgate. Knuckles and Tails head in the same direction with the repaired Tornado (Knuckles standing on top of its wings as Sonic usually does). Tails has finished his work on Eggman's tracking device, which now scans for Sonic's and Metalla's brainwaves.

Meanwhile Metalla has reached the North Pole and starts to break apart the ice to free the magma, but the arrival of Sonic stops him. The hedgehog is angry that he came too late and wonders where his metal twin could be, until Metalla comes out of the ice right underneath him. Both contrahents face each other, and Sonic says that this planet would be too small for two Sonic's, and that they should fight it to the death. Metalla nods, and both attack.

Sonic and Metalla zip across the whole continent during their fight, until they face forehead-to-forehead, both running like mad and pushing against each other. Sonic admits that the robot could read his thoughts, but in the following clause he could do the same, and finally they shoot straight upward. At this very moment, the Egg-O-Matic appears from the warpzone, and both collide with it (Sonic landing on the front part, Metalla crashing right through the bottom, his head coming out inside. Eggman can't believe it that the rodent is still alive, and wonders how this is possible and what's wrong with Sonic (dunno why Sonic prances about so much in that scene). Sera kicks against Metalla's head because she thinks it's Sonic who wants to peek under her dress. :)

Eggman tries to grab the hedgehog, but Sonic is faster and zips away, re appearing under the Egg-O-Matic and holding onto Metalla's legs. Eggman stumbles and falls at the 'nose' of his ship with all his weight, which causes it to tilt to the side. Sera falls out but is caught by Knuckles who was gliding along close above the icy ground, with the comment that this was indeed a close one.

Again Sonic and Metalla are engaged in a fight, when suddenly Tails' plane is coming right at them, separating the two. Eggman then sends two missiles after Tails (one looking like a hare, the other one like a Turtloid - probably a reference to a japanese tale about a speed contest between a hare and a turtle). The hare-missile speeds away and hits the plain clear, causing it to explode in a cloud that is shaped like Eggman's head. However, the Turtloid-missile only starts to 'walk' through the air at an extremely slow pace, much to the dislike of the doctor.

Meanwhile Knuckles looses his balance when trying to land on the slippery ice, which doesn't seem to bother Sera much - she is just happy about her 'attraction to men'. When she finally gives Knuckles a kiss, he slumps to the ground and is knocked out.

Tails managed to jump out of his plane in time, and now rolls down a snowy hill, while getting covered with snow until he looks like a giant snowball with two tails. Eggman tries to re-capture Sera, but Tails rolls right into her and Knuckles, involuntarly preventing it. The three roll on until they are stopped by a wall of ice, but their attention soon turns back to Sonic's and Metalla's fight, and the magma that is pouring out.

The fox calls to Knuckles to do something, before the ice bridges melt away completely and the planet is lost. Knuckles is a bit indecisive at first, but Sera's remark that she would trust him - after all, he is a real man - and the kiss she gives him soon make him leap into action. He digs several holes into the ground that lets the magma flow off, although the hat he wears catches fire in the process.

Tails and Sera cheer at Knuckles' success. Then they see Sonic appear in the distance, who immediately falls to the ground, drained from his fight with Metalla. The robot appears right behind him and kicks him in the back, sending the hedgehog straight toward Tails and Sera. Metalla grabs Sonic at the throat with one hand, lifts him up easily and literally tries to strangle him in the air. Sera's concern however is not so much about Sonic than about the fact that she might have to marry Eggman if Sonic dies, which is the reason why she attacks the robot, biting, kicking and punching away at it like mad. Sure enough, Metalla is totally unimpressed by all this and doesn't budge.

Tails tries to use his modified tracking device to transfer Sonic's brainwaves to the robot, and succeeds. This seems to be too much for Metalla. He lets go of Sonic and has some kind of short circuit. With his last bit of strength Sonic goes into a Spin Attack and gives Metalla a hit that sends him flying away into the distance.

Sera helps Sonic up, and the hedgehog thanks the fox and praises him for his clever plan. Just then they hear a crash, and see that something has hit in the ice bridge above them. Tails first thinks that it's Eggman's ship which got stuck there, but Sera screams that this it belongs to her father. In the burning ship they see the president and Ojisan, but they obviously can't break the glass of the cockpit to get out.

Immediately Sonic orders Tails to carry him to the ship, before its occupants suffocate or burn to death. The fox takes off at once, but is stopped by Metalla, who is still alive and kicking. Sonic shouts at the robot, asking if it still hasn't got enough and to just leave them alone. Tails wants to try his tracking device again, but it is blasted to bits by a well-aimed shot from Eggman. The doctor congratulates the fox for his wits, but also tells him that now their end has come. Then he commands Metalla to attack and finish the hedgehog once and for all.

Again a wild chase begins between Sonic and Metalla, during which Sonic lands on Knuckles head (which he accidentally stuck out of the ground when Sonic was passing by), causing a large swelling, and Knuckles gives Sonic a 'thumb down' for it. At the end Sonic throws Metalla directly at the cockpit of the president's ship, which finally breaks the glass. A few seconds later, the ship explodes.

Everything seems lost, but then Metalla appears in the smoke, carrying the president and Ojisan to safety. Sonic can't believe it. But right after Metalla has dropped the two (the owl landing on Tails and the overweight president on Knuckles), a large piece of the exploded ship hits the robot and Metalla falls down into a deep crater. Sonic jumps right after him, but the heat prevents him to get any closer. Metalla slowly crawls upward toward Sonic. Suddenly Knuckles comes digging out of one of the crater's walls, grabs Sonic and yells at him that Metalla only wants to pull him down into the magma, but Sonic refuses to listen. Then as Metalla is just close enough to grab Sonic's outstretched hand, he slaps it away. As Metalla slowly sinks into the magma, he says, "There can only be one Sonic" (probably a reference to Sonic's earlier statement that the planet is too small for two of them). Sonic's scream "Metalla!" echoes through the icy grave as he sees his 'brother' dissolve, and Knuckles can hardly hold him back.

Finally, we see our heroes stand on an ice cliff overlooking the destruction. Sera tries to cheer Sonic up and wants him not to look so fierce - after all, they have won the battle. Tails is convinced that his friend will feel better soon. But again Eggman appears in his Egg-O- Matic, as if to have the final word. Proudly he presents a CD on which Metal Sonic's data is stored, and he threatens to build a new robot, this time without emotions. But Eggman's triumph is interrupted by the Turtloid-rocket, which slowly walks past our astonished friends toward the doctor. The Turtloid snatches the CD (although Eggman immediately points out that it belongs to _him_), and promptly detonates.

Everyone laughs, and the president states that now everything should be back to normal again. However, Knuckles doesn't agree. He walks over to Sonic and gives him a good thump on the head, saying that they are now even again. (Sonic hit Knuckles during the fight with Metalla, remember?) The hedgehog feels innocent and wants to know why Knuckles did this to him. Instead of replying, the echidna just sticks out his tongue and runs away. Sonic gives chase, followed by Tails. Eggman vows to have his revenge on Sonic, but is cut short when the president, Ojisan and Sera jump to him into his Egg-O-Matic and order him to follow the others, which he does, although under protest...

While Sonic and Knuckles quarrel about whether the hedgehog has really hit the echidna or not, the Egg-O-Matic appears behind them. Sonic looks back and now decides that it's better to take his leave. Knuckles' "Wait up, Sonic!" is ignored completely.

Phew, and that was that. Comments, anyone? :)

Bye

Alessandro