Metal Mayhem

"Metal Mayhem" is the fifth and final episode in the Sonic Mania Adventures web series. It first aired on the official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube Channel on 17 July 2018.

Synopsis
The decisive battle looms. With the fate of the Chaos Emeralds at stake, it’s up to Sonic, Tails, Mighty, and Ray to unite against a superpowered Metal Sonic. It's time for Part 5 of Sonic Mania Adventures: Metal Mayhem!

Appearances
Characrters:
 * Dr. Eggman
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Metal Sonic
 * Mighty the Armadillo
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Ray the Flying Squirrel
 * Sonic the Hedgehog

Locations:
 * Classic Sonic's world
 * Angel Island

Items:
 * Chaos Emeralds (x7)
 * Chili dog (x4)
 * Master Emerald

Vehicles:
 * Tornado

Plot
Sonic and Tails arrive at Dr. Eggman's base of operations on Angel Island. Upon entering the strange base however, they find no threat in question, which makes Sonic displeased. Suddenly however, Sonic and Tails get ambushed by Metal Sonic, who drops down from above and encages both heroes in force-fields emitting from the floor. Completely frozen, Sonic can only watch as Metal Sonic violently lowers the force-fields again and swiftly takes both his and Tails' Chaos Emeralds for himself. As Sonic and Tails recover, a laughing Eggman reveals himself with the rest of the Chaos Emeralds in hand. A disgruntled Sonic then looks on as Metal Sonic uses Eggman's remaining Emeralds and his own to empower himself to Super State levels, granting him yellow eyes and a golden aura.

Excited by the more powerful robot, Sonic prepares to battle his rival, much to Tails' dismay. However, Metal Sonic reacts faster and easily pushes Sonic back while Eggman looks on victoriously. As Sonic struggles with Metal Sonic, who pushes him against the wall, the two of them witness Ray walk in and stare at them. In the midst of the slight confusion, Mighty also walks in. Noticing Metal Sonic, Mighty takes his revenge upon Metal Sonic by punching him backwards. However, Metal Sonic easily recovers, and Eggman orders him to continue the fight. In the meantime, the four heroes get acquainted with each other and team-up to face the evil robot.

After a short struggle, Sonic, Tails, Mighty, and Ray find themselves outmatched despite managing to land some blows on Metal Sonic. It is in that moment that Tails recalls that he is stil in possession of Eggman's handheld. Bringing the handheld online, Tails tells Sonic with one look to keep Metal Sonic occupied. As Sonic does this by running in circles around Metal Sonic, Eggman watches with glee and Metal Sonic prepares to strike his foe. However, much to Eggman's shock, Metal Sonic finds himself trapped and encased in the base's force-fields due to Tails' meddling with the systems through Eggman's handheld. Tails then manages to strip the Chaos Emeralds from Metal Sonic by lowering the force-field again, causing the Chaos Emerald to be ejected from the base. Sonic then proceeds to hit Metal Sonic away with a Spin Dash, and the heroes celebrate in the belief that they have won. However, the four heroes soon find Metal Sonic attempting to power up again using the power of the Master Emerald while Eggman watches on with a maniacal laugh. Before the empowered Metal Sonic can attack however, he is swiftly punched out of the facility with Eggman by Knuckles. The echidna then calmly takes the Master Emerald and leaves the base as the others look on.

With nothing else to do, Sonic, Tails, Mighty, and Ray decide to enjoy some chili dogs by the Tornado. During this, Tails manages to choke on his chili dog.

Continuity

 * Sonic, Tails, Mighty, Ray, and Knuckles arrive at Eggman's facility that they were seen heading towards in "Mighty and Ray"
 * The Chaos Emeralds that Sonic and Tails were shown to have in "Sonic Returns" and "Sonic and Tails" respectively are stolen by Metal Sonic in this episode.
 * The Chaos Emeralds that Eggman was shown to have in "Sonic Returns" are shown in this episode.
 * The Chaos Emerald that Metal Sonic stole from Mighty in "Mighty and Ray" is shown in this episode.
 * Mighty recalls his fight that he had with Metal Sonic earlier in "Mighty and Ray".
 * Metal Sonic prepared to use the Master Emerald that Eggman stole in "& Knuckles".
 * Knuckles retrieves the Master Emerald after having gone after it in "& Knuckles" and "Mighty and Ray".

Goofs

 * While Tails' is sitting on the Sonic F eating his chili dog the bottom of his shoes are colored red instead of being colored white and red.

Trivia

 * This episode features several references and Easter eggs:
 * The music that plays when Sonic and Tails encounter Metal Sonic in Eggman's base is a remix of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 final boss theme music.
 * Dr. Eggman juggling Chaos Emeralds is a reference to the original Sonic the Hedgehog, where he will juggle the Emeralds at the end of the game if the player has not collected all of them.
 * The move Sonic is performing when preparing to fight Metal Sonic is the Super Peel Out, that move that debuted in Sonic the Hedgehog CD. It also made an appearance in Sonic Mania and Sonic Mania Plus.
 * The chili dogs Sonic, Tails, Mighty and Ray eat at the end of the episode are a reference to Sonic the Hedgehog's fondness for chili dogs.
 * The way Metal Sonic tries to power up by harnessing the power of the Master Emerald is a reference to the same feat Mecha Sonic managed to pull off in Sonic & Knuckles.
 * The music that plays when Knuckles appears and punches Metal Sonic is based on Knuckles' personal theme from Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
 * The music that plays in the final scene in the episode is based on the music piece from Sonic Mania that is played whenever the player completes an Act.
 * Tails choking on his chili dog is a small nod to the "Tails dies" Internet meme by Aaron Webber. He had even joked five days before the episode's release that Tails would die, foreshadowing the episode's suggested ending.
 * Despite harnessing all seven Chaos Emeralds in this episode, Tyson Hesse has confirmed that Metal Sonic did not undergo a super transformation.
 * Metal Sonic's Chaos Emerald-empowered form was designed by the original creator of Metal Sonic, Kazuyuki Hoshino.