Chapter Text
“Just one teeny-tiny problem with your grand evil scheme.”
“Oh? And what might that be?”
“I’m gonna whoop your spiky butt before you conquer anything!” With that having been said, Sonic lunged towards the towering robot- how tall was he this time, anyway?-and kicked him square in the face. The hedgehog wasted no time and started bombarding his robotic counterpart with blow after blow- right until Sonic hit a little too hard and sent both him and Metal Sonic- Neo Metal Sonic, the Mobian mentally corrected himself- crashing through the metal platform into a room below. “Oof!” Sonic flopped face first into Neo Metal Sonic’s chest as they both hit the floor. He was back on his feet in an instant however, and regarding his longtime rival with a smirk. “Ha! How do you like that?” Sonic was not about to let on that he probably (read as: definitely) just severely bruised his face and would be feeling it tomorrow morning. Well, technically he was already feeling it. But it was definitely going feel worse tomorrow.
For sure.
Neo Metal Sonic glared right back at him, the torn, sparking panels on his robotic body liquefying and then solidifying back into their undamaged state. “I like it just fine,” the badnik answered, his electronic voice sounding almost sour. “Sonic the Hedgehog bio-data- successfully copied.”
“Oh, right. You copy people’s abilities,” Sonic countered, cringing as he was pretty much stating the obvious. “So tell me, what exactly do you plan to do if you actually somehow manage to kill me, take over the world, and find Sunny-Side Up, huh? Without me, you won’t have a purpose anymore. Not in Eggman’s eyes, anyway. All he’d see is a walking pile of free scrap.”
“No!” Neo Metal Sonic practically roared. He lunged forward, swinging his leg up and kicking Sonic right in his chin. The hedgehog let out a pained yelp, but this didn’t seem to deter the badnik in the slightest. Sonic dodged as quickly as he could when Neo Metal Sonic swiped his claws, aiming for his organic rival’s throat.
No way Sonic was dying in that manner. And there was no way he was dying today either. “Look, señor starfish head,” Sonic began as the addressed robot suddenly stopped trying to slash him to death (no doubt taking a moment to process and comprehend the insult that was just thrown at him), “the last time I saw you in this form, you were fighting for yourself- not for Eggman. Yeah, I know you said he stripped you of your rebellious coding. But that doesn’t change anything, because even when you were first built by the doc, you still didn’t have any ‘rebellious coding’ in the first place- not at the time, anyway. It developed with time. You evolved. You became more than just your programming. I saw you do it- and I know you can do it again if you really tried.”
“Your attempts to dissuade me from carrying out my plan are futile,” Neo Metal Sonic retorted, crimson optics narrowing. Whether or not Sonic actually heard it or just imagined it… despite the robot’s tone, he also detected… uncertainty? “No more games, Sonic. Tell me where my master is. Now.”
“Neo, just listen to me-” Sonic started to approach his rival, reaching a hand out towards him, ignoring all the warning bells going off in his head. He needed to get Neo Metal Sonic to understand. He needed to-
Neo Metal Sonic snagged Sonic’s wrist in between his talons and squeezed. Sonic yelped and tried to pull away. Neo Metal Sonic struck him in the side of his face with his free hand, stunning the hedgehog. The badnik then grabbed him by the throat, and- after releasing Sonic’s wrist- lifted him in the air, squeezing the Mobian’s neck. Not enough to cause permanent damage, Sonic noted once his thoughts managed to catch up to him. But enough to dissuade him from trying anything funny.
“My full designation is Neo Metal Sonic,” the robot snarled, clearly losing patience. “Now. Tell me where Doctor Eggman is, and I just might make your death quick.”
“Neo-” Sonic gasped as Neo Metal Sonic squeezed his throat a little harder in warning. “It doesn’t have to be like this- you know that. You don’t have to be evil. You don’t have to do what Eggman tells you.” He felt his rival’s grip on his neck loosen just slightly. Sonic took that as a good sign. “And another thing- this form of yours. Neo Metal Sonic, is it? The first time you took this form, it was because you started becoming more than just what Eggman put in your head. He took that away from you after we beat you. He took away your Neo form, your sense of self- everything that you gained was lost. No. It was stolen from you. By Eggman. And then, he gives this form and all its capabilities back to you- and for what?? To serve him? Neo, you never intended for this form of yours to be used this way. You intended to use it for yourself, not Eggman. Doesn’t the fact that he gave it back to you, but only for his purposes… doesn’t it feel like… I dunno, a slap in the face, pretty much?”
“I…” Neo Metal Sonic’s irises flickered, several errors flashing across his optical screen, before returning to normal. His grip loosened on Sonic completely, and the hedgehog was sent falling to the floor.
He landed with a painful thump. “Ow!” Sonic lay sprawled on the floor for a second or two before sitting up, rubbing his back and wincing. Yeah, he was definitely going to be feeling it in the morning. He looked up at Neo Metal Sonic, who had turned away and was now staring at… something. The wall, Sonic assumed.
The hedgehog got to his feet, contemplating whether or not to just leave. He now knew who was behind everything that was going on. He now knew who was pulling the strings. Sonic should leave. Now, while he had the chance to do so.
But his inner hero said no.
“Hey,” Sonic called out to Neo Metal Sonic. The addressed badnik turned his head to the side, now looking at him with one blood-red iris. “Are you okay?”
There was a moment of silence.
And then, his rival spoke. “‘Are you okay?’” Neo Metal Sonic repeated. He clenched his trembling fists as he turned his whole body now so as to face Sonic. “‘Are you okay?’ How do- how can you possibly expect me to feel ‘okay’ after you said all of that!!” The robot’s vocal modulator squelched with emotion, then returned to normal. “What am I supposed to do now? I- I cannot- I-” Neo Metal Sonic fell to his knees. His hands found their way to his forehead and his sharp talons dug deep into the metal carapace as he buzzed in pain. Despite all the warning bells going off in Sonic’s head yet again, the Mobian blatantly ignored them and instead approached his distraught rival. He knelt down in front of him, and- despite the fact that his heart was racing with the knowledge that this probably would not end well- he pulled Neo Metal Sonic into his arms.
It was a little awkward, hugging him. But once Sonic had settled his arms into relatively comfortable positions- one being wrapped around Neo Metal Sonic’s shoulder pad and the other around the robot’s waist (thankfully not where his spiky belt was)- he decided it wasn’t that bad. Sonic was actually somewhat surprised as to how warm the badnik felt. He expected Neo Metal Sonic to be cold to the touch, like the many other machines Sonic encountered over the years.
But he was warm.
He felt Neo Metal Sonic shudder a bit at his touch. But the badnik didn’t pull away. In fact, after a moment or two, Sonic felt a pair of robotic hands settling on the small of his back. Neo Metal Sonic buried his muzzle in Sonic’s shoulder, still shuddering intermittently. Occasionally Sonic would hear a squelch from the bot’s vocal modulator.
And then it hit him.
He was crying. Sonic gently ran his hand along Neo Metal Sonic’s back, murmuring softly. “It’s okay,” Sonic whispered. “Let it out. Just let it all out.” The robot’s electronic sobs became more frequent, as did his shudders. And Sonic didn’t let go. He kept holding onto his rival, rubbing the robot’s metal back, muttering soft reassurances.
Sonic knew that sooner or later, Tails would begin to think something went wrong. Normally at this point Sonic already be trying to find his way out and at the same time be causing as much destruction as possible.
He should leave.
But he couldn’t. Not…
Not without Neo.
“Come with me,” Sonic blurted. Neo Metal Sonic seemed to stiffen in his arms. This didn’t deter Sonic. “You don’t need to stay here. You can come with me. It’s not too late. I can help you. Or at least try to, anyway. And I want to try. I wanna try to show you that there’s so much more to life than just following orders.”
“I am a machine,” Neo Metal Sonic said, his hands sliding off Sonic’s back and falling limp at his sides. “I am not alive. Therefore, I have no life-”
“Neo.” Sonic’s voice became firm. “You’re a machine? Yeah, that’s true. But just because you’re made of metal and circuits and whatever else is inside you doesn’t… it doesn’t mean you’re not alive.”
“But- the most commonly accepted definition of the word ‘alive’ means… to be able to exist and self-replicate independen-”
“Hey.” Sonic pulled back just enough so he could look Neo Metal Sonic in the eyes. “‘Most commonly accepted’ my butt. Forget what the Internet or wherever you pulled that stupid definition of yours from says. Sometimes the most commonly accepted belief isn’t the right one. You’re alive, Neo. If not to anyone else, then at least to me.”
“I…”
Sonic shuffled back forward, pulling the robot back into a hug. “Come with me.”
There was a long moment of silence. That was fine. Sonic would wait as long as he needed to.
And then, the answer finally came.
“I… very well. I will go with you.” Neo Metal Sonic pulled back to look Sonic in the eyes again. “But what of your friends? They will think that I am manipulating you. Using you. They will not accept my presence.”
“One step at a time,” Sonic told him. “We’ll take it one step at a time.”