Chapter Text
The turbine on his chest whirred loudly as Metal Sonic sparked back to life, LEDs flickering as he came back online.
Two enormous blue eyes glazed anxiously into his, a wet nose twitching on the end of a fuzzy yellow and white snout.
"Ta-T-Tails?" His voice crackled.
He tried to lift his head, but it seemed to be stuck in place. No matter how much he strained, every part of his body was frozen in place.
Forced to stare at his feet, he realised he was dangling about half a foot off of the ground, chained to the ceiling by the armpits.
"Don't try to move." The little fox warned, taking a cautious step back. "I've booted you back up, but kept your motor functions offline. Just in case you try to attack anyone."
"Why would I?-" He stopped short at the sight of the metal plating covering his robotic joints. "Oh. Right..."
He couldn't see much of the rest of the room he was in, but he could tell he was being watched. There were others here.
"Well, could you at least let me move my head?" Metal requested. "I can't really see."
"Umm.. I guess?" Tails looked away for a second, as if seeking approval from whoever was with him.
He reached around to the back of Metal's head, the machine feeling a slight tugging sensation on one of the wires that must have been there, and release in the joints of his neck as they loosened up, freeing its movement.
With a series of clicking sounds, he raised his head, gazing up into the room around him.
He was inside Tails' hangar, the place completely packed with people.
Scanning the area, he saw Amy, Shadow, Knuckles, Rouge - everyone from that night - as well as Surge, Sticks, Kit, and... him. Sonic.
"So... um..." Tails addressed him, seeming to not know what to say. "Metal Sonic? How... are you feeling?"
It felt so... alien. Hearing his friends call him by that name. Looking at him like he was a monster. He still couldn't comprehend it. All these memories, everything he'd known, and he was supposed to believe he was a fake the whole time?
Although, the evidence was all too clear. From the wires protruding from the back of his skull, to the skeletal hands, hanging limply by his side, still flecked with blood.
This body wasn't the flesh and blood he had convinced himself that he was. It was cold, hard, numb... metal.
And there he was. Staring him in the face. The real Sonic. The same one who had been crushed beneath his weight what felt like mere moments ago. That desperation to prove that he was real... had only further cemented what he was. Nothing but a copy, made to destroy.
All those eyes. Staring.
He averted his gaze.
After a few moments, he spoke.
"What's that?" He turned to the monitor, displaying a page of weird green gibberish. "On the screen."
"That's a code." Sonic stated matter-of-factly, rising painstakingly from his seat. "From the Emerald. Eggman used it to make you think you're me."
"Well, we don't know that, if this result was intentional." Rouge rebutted. "Let's not jump to any conclusions."
"Which is where you come in, robot." Shadow strutted over to Metal, face stony. "Tell us what you know. Now."
"Well, if we're going off what I KNOW, then you're out of luck." Metal explained. "The last thing I KNEW, I was Sonic, but clearly, that's wrong."
"Really, Mister Observant?" Sonic mocked. "What tipped it off? The tin skin? Or was it-"
"Hey! How the fuck do you think this feels?" The robot snapped. "Wait, I know how you'd feel, because I'M LIVING IT."
"Well do you know how it feels getting your ribs broken?" The hedgehog retorted. "Because let me tell you, if you're anything like me, you wouldn't be too happy with the guy that did it!"
"Alright! Enough!" Amy shouted, shoving herself between the two. "Sonic, I know you're mad, but just think about about what it would be like to be in his shoes. Please just show a little sympathy! And Metal, I'm sorry we've got you chained up like this. We're all just as confused as you, and don't want to risk you attacking anyone, just in case. If we can find out what happened, and make sure you don't have any bad intentions, we'll let you free. Okay both of you?"
"Yes Amy..." the two blue spiky entities relented.
"Let's start again." Shadow sighed.
Everyone in the room knew not to disagree with the hammer-wielding girl.
"Are there any gaps in your memory of recent, especially after the fight with Doctor Robotnik a few days ago?" Shadow questioned.
"Just before I came to Tail's house..." Metal began. "I woke up in one of Eggman's hideouts, and I couldn't remember how I got there... I just remembered going Super, or, I guess Sonic going Super while fighting him... and then, nothing."
"That lines up." Tails backed him up. "That's where the last of Sonic's real memories cut off in the code. Everything after that is from Metal's perspective, starting in that lab."
He turned to see the screen, displaying green-tinted footage of his exact point of view when waking up in that dingy base.
"The place is absolutely wrecked." Shadow noted.
"Did you all not do that?" The robot asked the others. "I assumed we- I mean, you guys, followed Eggman back and busted it up."
"No..." Sonic narrowed his eyes, thinking hard. "He lost sight of him when he ran off with the Emerald. We only got it back when we caught him running away from what looked an explosion."
"Huh." Tails paused the footage. "Look at that."
He had stopped it on a frame, with Metal's hands in view. Except... they didn't look like the pointed, silver digits, yet not quite like Sonic's glove-clad paws either. They were sort of a distorted blend of the two, like a greenish, pixelated filter had been overlayed on his perception.
Nobody spoke for a while, some lost in thought, others just not sure of what to say.
"Well, that confirms it then." Shadow folded his arms, as if settling the matter. "Metal speaks the truth. He was fooled."
He turned to Tails, giving him a small nod.
The fox returned the gesture, as if in tune with the alien, typing rapidly into his console.
The chains suspending Metal loosed, dropping him to the floor, just as his motor functions came online. His feet hit the ground with a loud clank, landing in a crouched position.
His joints clicked and hissed as he rose to a stand. It felt good to be able to move.
He flexed one of his wrists, turning it from side to side, only to watch as his hand rotated a full three-sixty degrees, and kept on spinning.
"Ohhh man that's weird..." He commented, voice quavering slightly as he leaned away from it as if there was some kind of repulsive insect sitting on it.
"So..." Amy's voice stood out quietly amongst the others. "If... Eggman purposefully did that to you, that's... that's just a new level of cruelty..." She rested her hand gently on his shoulder, sympathy brimming in her eyes.
Metal felt a metaphorical heart sink in his chest. She was right. The doctor really must have zero care for him whatsoever, if he was willing to play such a PAINFUL trick on him, just in the hopes that he could be used to thwart his enemy again. And now that he failed, what was he supposed to do? Stuck with these memories, this false personality, stuck with the hard reality, with nothing to do to stop it. He still believed with all his soul that he was the real Sonic, but he KNEW it wasn't true. He felt like no matter where he turned he wouldn't be wanted. His vision blurred, turning fuzzy like a cheap camera. No-one would want him. He was all alone.
Two firm, warm, hands suddenly grasped his face, turning him to look into Amy's deep, opal-like eyes.
"Hey, hey, Metal?" She spoke clearly, slowly, as if trying to talk to a cornered animal. He must've looked so pathetic, standing there, silently spiralling. "It's going to be okay, okay? We can help you." She looked around to the others, expecting them to back her up. They did without hesitation. "You can stay with us, if you want?"
She extended a hand, and he took it.