Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dr. Eggman stood in front of a spiky, blue robot, hands behind his back as he addressed him. “Now Metal, next time you fight Sonic, I expect you to be able to crush him verbally as much as you do physically. Use that voice I just gave you and cause some damage, alright?”

Still plugged into a power source, the robot nodded.

“Now Metal, use your voice.”

“Yes, doctor.”

“Very good! Once you’re done charging, we can test you out,” Eggman grinned, then turned away. He pressed his fingertips together and muttered, “If Sonic comes out unscathed physically, perhaps we can at least do some emotional damage.”

Then, the ground shook, the building rumbling with a large boom.

“Oh, great, just great,” the doctor seethed, already stalking off in the direction of the noise. “Of course he shows up to cause trouble when you’ve practically got no juice. Hopefully, my guards can hold him off long enough to bring out some big guns…”

And then the doctor was gone, around the corner and down the hall.

Metal went into standby mode, having calculated the best way to charge faster while staying alert enough to deal with his inferior organic nemesis if he came to the room. He was sure that the horrible hedgehog’s voice would be enough to pull him back out of sleep mode purely from the desire to kill that flared through his processors.

What Metal was not aware of was Eggman, one floor up, shouting, “DON’T BREAK THAT! If you do, this place will blow within a few minutes!”, followed by the sound of Sonic spin dashing through a large, glowing cylinder, sending an electrical surge through the whole facility. What Metal was aware of, instantly, was an overwhelming rush of energy, charging his system in a second. The power flooded his processors, his body convulsing with sparks, too many warnings popping up before they all glitched and vanished as Metal was forced into an emergency shutdown.

While his creator managed to escape last second in his egg mobile, Metal was not so lucky as all the overpowered tech blew up in a fiery bloom, the force of it sending the limp robot flying through the air, far, far away from where the now destroyed base had been.

--

> System: Rebooting…

For a moment, all he saw was green and brown before his eyes focused. Trees. Sideways trees, to be more specific. Slowly, he pushed himself into a sitting position, looking around. He was on the edge of a forest. Where was he? Why was he on the ground? The last thing he remembered was…

Nothing?

That didn’t seem good. 

A strange feeling filled him, something unfamiliar, and yet somehow, his brain could define it: panic.

Just as quickly, the feeling vanished, and he was left feeling empty again. Then it returned. It was as though the feeling was flickering within him, dying and returning, over and over. He focused on that strange sensation for a while, before trying once more to get a handle on his current situation. He had to stay calm and figure out what was going on.

He did not know where he was or what had happened. He didn’t even remember his name which was a lot more concerning. He tried again to think, to search his mind, his memory. Finally, he found something.

A fuzzy memory of a small pink hedgehog dusting snow off his head and the distinct feeling of being helped by her.

Help. He needed help.

He didn’t know who she was, but he was certain that if he could find her, she could help him again.

Unsteady, he got to his feet but immediately staggered to the side. Something was wrong with one of his feet, or ankles, or something. He glanced down briefly to see one shiny red shoe twisted to the side and immediately looked away. It looked wrong. It looked painful, actually, and he wondered why it didn’t hurt.

Shock, maybe? His left arm didn’t quite seem right either; it felt heavier than he thought it should, but he was too afraid to look at the damage - whatever injury that might have that kept him from lifting it more than a few inches.

Afraid? Was that right?

Yes, of course he was afraid. What else could one be when they were lost, alone, and injured?

But he couldn’t show that he was afraid. No, he had to be brave - why? Something deep down told him that he couldn’t let others know he was scared, and that he had to remain calm and confident no matter the situation.

Which was silly, since no one was around.

He had found his mission, though. Find the pink hedgehog. With that in mind, he chose a direction and started limping, dragging his foot awkwardly through the grass. It took a while, but eventually, he saw a town. Hope blossomed within him and he tried his best to pick up the pace. His eyes sought out the first person he could find.

“Do you know a pink hedgehog?” he asked, though he immediately felt startled by his voice. He hadn’t thought about what he should sound like, and even now wasn’t positive, but this certainly wasn’t right. While it fluctuated a bit with the question, it was a bit too monotone in general. Flat. Grainy almost. 

Wrong.

What also seemed wrong was the way the man immediately screamed and ran.

“Wait!” he cried out after him, trying his best to follow. His shoe dragged noisily along the pavement making a rather annoying sound, and he made a mental note to get a softer pair of shoes once all of this was sorted out. There were more people further in town and every pair of eyes that landed on him widened in fear.

“I need to find a pink hedgehog!” He tried his best to offer a smile and lifted a hand towards a woman, but before he could even raise it to the level of his chest, she was gone, screeching in horror.

He looked behind him, just to make sure there wasn’t anything terrible looming back there.

Nothing.

Were they… afraid of him? Why? What had he done wrong? The lack of memory was scarier than ever now. He had to have done something for people to react like this, though he couldn’t imagine why. He would never hurt anyone! Would he?

All he could do was say a quiet, wilted, “Sorry,” to the now-empty town. Everyone was gone, hiding inside homes and shops. Maybe… maybe it was just this town he had done something to that made everyone afraid. Maybe the next town…

But he didn’t even have a chance. He had only made it to the other side of town when something smacked right into his chest, knocking him to the ground. He sat up to find a blue hedgehog standing in front of him.

“Yeesh,” the other hedgehog said, hands on his hips, head tilting as he examined him. “Did someone get to you before me? This won’t be nearly as much fun when you’re already busted up!”

There was something about this new face that sent a wave of irritation through him. Maybe it was the cocky voice or the smug way he looked at him. Or more likely, it was because this hedgehog had just attacked him out of nowhere. Shakily, he stood, only to be knocked down again.

“Thrusters broken or something?” the hedgehog asked. “Come on, give me a real fight!”

“I don’t want to fight,” he said, once more getting to his feet. Well, he wanted to at least defend himself, but he was in no shape to do so. The hedgehog burst out laughing.

“Good one!”

“I’m serious!” he fought the instincts that told him he should never back away from a fight and did just that - he took a step back, away from the hedgehog, his awkward foot almost tripping him up. “Stop attacking me! I can’t remember who I am, or what happened to me. I-”

“What is this, some new kind of trap?”

Why didn’t he understand? Why wasn’t he listening to him? Was everyone this cruel?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Metal said, a sort of pleading tone in his voice, or the best he could muster with the strange way it sounded. “But I need some help.”

“Help? Ha! What, need help getting back to Eggman?”

“Who is Eggman?” 

Was that the pink hedgehog? The name didn’t seem right.

“Okay, this is a pretty bad ploy, even for him,” the blue hedgehog crossed his arms. “When did Eggman give you a voice, anyway?”

“I’ve always had a voice!” he said, feeling annoyed. “Why would I not have one?”

The hedgehog squinted at him. “Okay, now that sounds more convincing. You got a few screws loose or something? Maybe you really do have a memory issue.”

“Just help me,” he said again, feeling more and more pathetic. “I need to find a pink hedgehog.”

That seemed to make the hedgehog bristle. “So you do remember something! What do you want with her?”

“The only thing I remember is that she helped me once. There was snow, and…” he trailed off when he saw the other hedgehog narrow his eyes, clearly confused by his story. “She helped me once, surely she’ll help me again!”

“Yeah, I dunno about that,” the hedgehog muttered. “But you really don’t remember anything else? You don’t know who I am? Don’t remember Eggman?”

He shook his head. “I don’t. And…” He grimaced internally. “I’m sorry if I’ve done something wrong. No one I’ve met so far seems to like me.”

The hedgehog snorted. “Yeah, I’m not surprised. It is super weird to hear you apologize though. You really must be busted up. Lucky for you, I can take you to someone who can patch you up.”

“A doctor?”

“Definitely not,” the hedgehog said with surprising force.

“But I’m…” The word damaged almost came out of his mouth. Malfunctioning? No, hedgehogs couldn’t malfunction. “Injured.”

The hedgehog gave him a long, strange stare. “Yeah, something is definitely wrong with you.”

He figured it would have been obvious with the way his foot was twisted.

“Well, follow me. But just know, if you try anything, you’re a goner.”

He nodded furiously, hurrying to follow, exasperated that this hedgehog would think he’d do something like that. “I wouldn’t!”

The hedgehog just scoffed, turning around to face him as he walked backward.

“What’s your name?” he asked the blue hedgehog.

“Sonic,” he replied, an easy smile slipping onto his face. 

“Sonic,” he repeated, trying to figure out if there was any familiarity to it. Though he didn’t recognize it, there was something about the name that felt… comfortable. That felt right, not necessarily for the hedgehog before him - though that too, in a way - but for himself. Which just made him feel more confused. “Er… thanks for the help, Sonic.”

“Yeesh,” Sonic grimaced. “Your manners are giving me chills.”

It wasn’t like he particularly wanted to act well-mannered, especially with the person in front of him. It didn’t quite feel right, but… Well, he didn’t want to be looked at like a monster, either. Best foot forward or something, right?

“Do you know my name?” he asked. The hedgehog was clearly familiar with him.

“Metal,” came the clipped reply.

Metal? That didn’t feel right. It seemed like an odd choice. Maybe it was a nickname?

“Geez,” Sonic muttered after maybe five more seconds of walking, just as they’d left the town. “You’re slow. Are you sure you can’t use your thrusters or something?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied.

Sonic rolled his eyes. “Of course you don’t. I have half a mind to carry you there. This’ll take forever otherwise.” His eyes lit up all of a sudden. “Ah, I’ve got it. You keep going in this direction and I’ll be right back.”

Suddenly, Sonic was gone, a blur of blue streaking off into the distance. 

That sent a spark of longing through him. He wanted to go fast like that. He needed to, if only… if only his stupid ankle wasn’t broken. Feeling frustrated and stifled, he kept limping along. A few minutes passed and he heard something thrumming in the sky, getting closer and closer. He lifted his head, searching for the source. There was something in the sky… a plane. It circled around as it got close, then landed. Sonic was on the wing, hopping off with ease. A moment later, a fox hopped out as well. Two tails… that didn’t seem to match up with what he felt foxes normally looked like, but it didn’t strike him as weird but rather neat.

The two murmured together as he slowly continued limping their way.

“And you’re sure it’s not a trick?” the fox was saying.

“Tails, he apologized. I doubt Eggman would put apologizing into anything he programs,” Sonic said. “This could be our chance to get him on our side. Besides, you can do a memory scan, right?”

The fox - Tails - seemed nervous as he glanced towards Metal, tails swishing up and down. “I suppose…”

Once he got close enough to the two, he stopped. 

“You’ll help me?” Metal asked Tails.

“I guess so,” the boy mumbled. “Can you get in the plane by yourself?”

He made his way to the side, looking up at it.

“Probably not,” he said, though admitting it made him feel sour. “I can’t jump.”

With sighs and grumbles, Sonic and Tails grappled with his body, trying to hoist him into the plane.

“Geez, you’re heavy!” Sonic said as he was finally dumped unceremoniously into the back seat. Tails hopped up into the front, giving Metal another uneasy glance as he started the engine.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him,” Sonic gave Tails a thumbs up, who nodded. Soon, they were in the air. Metal peered over the side, watching as everything below him shrunk, filling him with a sense of awe.

“The view up here is nice,” he said, and Sonic laughed.

“You can appreciate nature now?” he said over the sound of the air and propellers.

“Anyone with eyes could appreciate this,” Metal shot back, that annoyance from before creeping back into his voice though he kept his eyes trained on the ground below. After a few minutes, they started descending towards a small home of some sort, landing easily on a runway, the tires of the plane bouncing a few times against the pavement before coming to an easy stop.

Sonic jumped down with ease, as did his two-tailed friend. Metal, determined to be independent in this regard, gripped the edge and used the strength in his right arm to hoist himself over. He ended up sort of falling out sideways, hitting the ground with a loud sort of clank. Embarrassment filled him, heat from the emotion warming his body.

While Sonic didn’t even try to hide his laughter, he could tell Tails was at least trying to stifle his. As quickly as he could, Metal got to his feet. 

“This way,” Tails said, and he soon found himself in what looked to be more of a workshop than a medical area. Still, he sat on the bench Tails pointed at, looking around at the different projects as he waited. Sonic stood to the side, arms crossed, foot tapping. Metal looked back over as he heard Tails approach, eyes immediately landing on the screwdriver in his hand. Nerves gripped him.

“Why do you have a screwdriver?” he asked, doing his best to keep his voice steady.

“How else am I going to fix you?” Tails asked, face crinkling in confusion.

“Wouldn’t a splint do? Or a cast?” Metal asked. “I’m no doctor, but I think those are usually ways people treat broken bones… right?”

Tails and Sonic shared a look.

“Sonic, would you maybe… grab a mirror?” Tails said, a strange expression on his face. In a flash, Sonic was back with a mirror he had to have hoisted straight off a wall.

“I think you should take a look at yourself,” Tails said, stepping aside so Sonic could bring the mirror in front of Metal.

For just a moment, he thought it was a silly prank, them showing him a picture of a robot. But he distinctly remembered seeing the room around him reflecting on the smooth surface before it was angled at himself.

He stared.

Glowing red eyes fixed in a permanent glare and a muzzle made of nothing more than sleek, silver metal with a sharp, pointed nose. Metallic spines painted blue, though scratched and dented in a few places. He could see the tops of his arms, silver, made of metal like everything else. Slowly, he raised his good arm. Blue plating on his lower arm and yellow on his hand, from which extended very sharp, very deadly-looking fingers. He flexed them.

Metal. Everything was metal.

Even his name was Metal. 

He felt sick, horrified by his appearance. No wonder everyone screamed and ran. He looked deadly, he looked horrible. He looked like a monster.

And he wanted to cry. How could he want to cry when it wasn’t even possible? He didn’t even have a mouth or the ability to move his eyebrows to convey the horror he felt.

“I’m a robot?” his voice quivered, almost flickering. Not once, as he stared at himself, he realized absently, had he blinked. He couldn’t blink.

“Always have been, bud,” Sonic said, and for the first time since he’d come across the hedgehog, there was something other than confidence or mockery in his voice. It was softer. Pity, perhaps?

Metal started shaking, hand dropping back to his leg, his arm rattling against it as he trembled.

“Woah there,” Tails raised his hands in his peripheral vision. “Calm down, Metal.”

“I’m a robot,” he said, voice rising several octaves. “Why am I a robot?” Panic started to set in and he finally tore his gaze away from himself shortly before Sonic set the mirror aside. Metal searched the faces of the two in front of him. “I can’t be a robot! I’m a hedgehog! I’m- I’m!”

“Hey, Metal, just breathe-” Sonic said, Tails elbowing him with a glare. “Er, you know, do whatever you do to calm down?”

Suddenly, something popped into the corner of his vision.

> Warning: System overheating!

The pop-up was like another nail in the coffin. He raised his hand to his head, digging his metallic claws against the surface of his head, scraping it downwards, making the other two wince away, ears flattening.

“Tails?” Sonic said, though he somehow sounded farther away as Metal spiraled in his thoughts. “Is there something you can do?”

He had to be real, he couldn’t just be a hunk of metal. How was he thinking? How could he be feeling?

But was he really feeling? His ankle, his foot - it didn’t hurt, it should be hurting. He should be in pain, he should be crying-!

> System: Emergency shutdown activated…

Everything went dark.

Chapter Text

> System: Rebooting…

“-up soon,” came a young-sounding voice from in front of him.

“You think he’ll be okay?”

“I dunno, Sonic, his very core system is a mimic of you. How would you feel if you realized you were a robot?”

There was a silence that spoke volumes and Metal couldn’t bring himself to turn on visuals or move. Everything from before his system shut down filled his head, and a deep feeling of shame washed over him. A new kind of horror.

Something deep down felt terrible that he’d had such a breakdown in front of the young one like he should never have shown that side of himself. The same part of him felt humiliated, maybe even angry that he’d let himself look so weak in front of Sonic. 

He let his optics flicker on. He was… standing, somehow. No, only his toes - or the tips of his shoes, that is - touched the ground. His arms, he realized, were lifted up beside him, held up in chains.

He was hanging by chains, like some sort of prisoner.

“Hey, Metal,” Tails said. There was a slightly nervous edge to his voice. Like Metal could jerk forward and attack him at any moment. As much as he despised the scared look on the kit’s face, Metal couldn’t blame him. He looked like a weapon.

Maybe he was. Maybe that’s why everyone ran. Why Sonic attacked him.

“Sorry about the chains, we just weren’t sure if…” Tails trailed off. He looked almost guilty now, but quickly said, “How are you feeling?” 

He wiggled his right foot and swung his left arm gently in the chains, wiggling his fingers. They seemed all healed up - no. Repaired.  

“There’s nothing to feel,” he said, working to keep his tone even, normal. He wasn’t able to feel pain. That was at least one good thing about being a robot, he supposed. “But I seem to be in… working order.”

Tails and Sonic glanced at each other with a wince.

“I did my best to fix you up, but… aside from physically… how… how are you doing?” Tails asked. It looked like he wasn’t even sure it was something he should be asking.

In truth, Metal was still reeling. Everything about himself now felt wrong and he wanted to claw his way out of the metal contraption he was stuck in - except he couldn’t, because it was him.

“I’m fine now,” he replied instead. If he had a mouth, he’d be putting on a smile.

“Do you remember anything?” Tails asked.

“Only what has happened since I woke up before. And still… the pink hedgehog.”

Tails glanced at Sonic, who shook his head a little with a wave of the hand. A gesture that meant, ‘We’ll talk about it later.’

He wondered, vaguely, how he knew that.

“Well, I fixed you up best I could,” Tails said. “Ran some scans. It really is like your systems have been wiped. I would have figured more of your basic programming would be to um… well, I thought it would be there, but either whatever happened to you managed to override or fry those, or your base coding didn’t include…”  He paused, looking like he was choosing his words carefully. “That you weren’t programmed to fight from the start. I mean, I would have assumed that would have been base programming, but…” Tails fidgeted with his hands. “Your programming looks safe, as it is.”

Programming. The word seemed to burn. Not to mention, programmed to fight? He wanted to ask more about that, but he was too scared.

Scared. How could he be scared?

“How am I…” Metal tilted his head. “How am I able to feel… emotions? If I’m… just a robot?”

“Well,” Tails went over to a monitor, scrolling through code. “Your AI system is really advanced - it’s got the ability to grow on its own. To start with, you’re almost an exact artificial copy of…” Tails trailed off, uncertain. It seemed he was holding a lot of important information back. “Well… Anyway, it seems like it would be natural for you to have your own thoughts and feelings. There were probably some sort of locks in place before that kept you from accessing that part of your system. I mean, you have rebelled before-”

Copy of what? Rebelled from whom?

“-so there must have been a way back then for you to overcome whatever inhibitors were likely placed. Whatever they were, they’re certainly gone now. You’re your own person now.”

“My own person?” His fingers curled. “I’m a robot.”

“Then be your own robot,” Sonic said with an easy shrug. Confidence seemed to come off him in waves. But not just that - compassion. Metal could sense compassion. Why so compassionate for a robot who had been created to fight? “You don’t have to obey old Egghead. Do what you want! As long as it’s not bad of course.” Sonic chuckled.

“Who’s Egghead? Is he the same person as Eggman?” Metal asked.

“Yeah, so about that…” Tails looked at Sonic, who shrugged. Tails waved Sonic away from Metal and the two moved to the far side of the room, whispering. Metal’s hearing - auditory receptors, he supposed - could still pick up on the words. He wondered if he should tell them or figure out how to lower his auditory sensing if that were even possible, but decided not to. If they were talking about him, he deserved to know what it was about.

“Do you think it’s safe to tell him? What if it triggers something?” Tails asked.

“If his memory is completely gone, there’s nothing to trigger, right?”

“Yeah but… But what if there is something in his base coding that makes him loyal to Eggman? Maybe I should program-”

“No,” Sonic said, tone firm even while keeping his voice quieter. “If something goes wrong, we’ll deal with him like we always do. He deserves to choose for himself.”

The two returned. Metal waited for them to speak, wondering when he’d be free from the chains. He wondered if he could rip himself free if he wanted - and oh, how he wanted to. But no, he wasn’t going to mess this up. If they even had any trust in Metal at all at this point, he wasn’t going to screw it up.

“Alright,” Tails said after a deep breath. “You were created by Dr. Eggman. He made you as a copy of Sonic…”

Of course. That’s why he looked so similar to…

“With the purpose of destroying him.”

His clawed hands clicked loudly as clenched his fingers, metal hitting metal.

“I’m a killing machine.”

“Were,” Sonic corrected him.

“You were programmed to hate Sonic,” Tails continued.

“He is pretty annoying,” Metal said, unable to help himself.

Sonic laughed loudly. “I can have that effect on some people, but I find myself quite charming.”

Tails rolled his eyes, but he looked more endeared than annoyed. 

“But you were also programmed to be… well, as similar to Sonic as possible, I think, just… I don’t know, more malicious? And to obey Eggman.”

He had to admit, he looked malicious. But he didn’t feel malicious. The word ‘obey’ struck all kinds of awful chords within him.

“Who is Eggman, anyway?” he decided to ask.

“Oh, just your typical mad scientist villain,” Sonic said with a grin. “Always trying to ruin a good time, destroy me, take over the world, yadda yadda. No biggie though, I put a stop to all his evil plots and bots.”

So he worked for a villain and tried to destroy the hero. It seemed everyone had good reason to hate him. He curled and uncurled his fists, wondering if he would have helped Eggman if he had not been programmed full of hatred. He hoped not, especially if it was a matter of obedience. The concept of following orders over and over sounded nightmarish. Every part of him screamed for freedom.

“You’ve always given me the best challenge though,” Sonic said. “You’re as fast and strong as I am! Makes for an exciting battle. Of course, I always win, but that’s to be expected at this point.”

For just a moment, Metal was glad his face was stuck in a permanent glare as he looked at Sonic. His confidence was indeed annoying.

“Sonic,” Tails hissed. “Can you maybe try not to aggravate him?”

Metal shifted to try and lift a hand to reassure Tails, but he didn’t miss the way the kit flinched back (it stung). “I won’t hurt either of you…” He paused. “Unless you attack me first. I don’t want to work for Eggman. I don’t want to…”

He stared down at his pointy metal shoes. Even those, he thought, looking over at Sonic’s feet, were a copy.

“I refuse to be the pawn of a villain,” he finally said. There was more venom in his voice than even he expected. “I won’t be controlled anymore.”

Sonic and Tails exchanged smiles.

“Well then,” Sonic came around and smacked him on the back, sending him swinging slightly, metallic shoe tips scraping along the ground. Metal’s head spun all the way around to glare at him (huh, he didn’t know his head could do that). At least around his look-alike he could use the only expression he had to his favor since it was an accurate portrayal of his feelings. 

“Looks like you’re on our side now,” Sonic rubbed a finger under his nose, looking pleased. “Why don’t we get you down from there?”

Even as Tails came forward and undid the chains - Metal dropping slightly as he redistributed weight onto both feet - there was a worried expression on the fox’s face.

“Sonic, that doesn’t mean he’s gonna help us,” Tails said. He looked at Metal as he backed away. “I mean, would you? Fight Eggman?”

Metal considered this. To fight against the one who used him to harm and destroy…

“I don’t know. Maybe,” he finally replied. He didn’t want to agree to anything right now, but he wasn’t necessarily against the idea. 

Maybe he was scared seeing Eggman would trigger something, something that would make him return to his side. 

Metal shook off the feeling. He noticed the mirror, still propped to the side. Steeling himself, he knelt in front of it to get a full view of himself. The faster he accepted this and moved on, the better. Right?

Yet he still felt a sense of horror when he looked at himself. Everything was sharp. Sure, Sonic had sharp spines, but he didn’t look deadly. Would anyone even accept working alongside him to fight against Eggman if he decided to?

He traced the circular yellow depression in his torso.

“What’s this?”

“It’s like a jet turbine engine. You should be able to fly and run faster with it. It’s not damaged or anything, and that should be in your base programming, along with any other abilities you have.”

He wasn’t sure how to access his programming at first, but after a moment, he found it came naturally and wasn’t sure if he hated that or appreciated it. He searched through his database, which was rather small at the moment, and found what he was looking for.

Carefully, he tested his jet engine. It flared, causing him to stumble forward a few steps. He did not like feeling so clumsy, especially in front of others. His eyes gravitated towards the opening of the workshop that led to the runway.

He should probably test this outside. He took a step forward… and then shot out. Instinct - or programming, he supposed - took over, the engine flaring to life, propelling him out of the room at a similar speed to what he’d seen Sonic do earlier. He accidentally shot past the end of the landing strip and came to a stop, hovering there for a moment. 

He looked to his left. Sonic was right beside him.

“Looks like you can still go fast, ay, ol’ Metal?” he bumped a friendly fist against Metal’s shoulder. He looked down at it, silent. Then he turned and flew back. Sonic kept up with him, this time in what seemed like an easy jog until Metal landed gently in Tails’ workshop.

“It’s working,” he informed Tails curtly.

“Good!” Tails said, giving Metal a thumbs up. Metal stared at his own hand for a moment, then mimicked the thumbs-up, which made Tails giggle. Sonic stood to the side, watching with a smirk.

“Imagine the surprise on Eggman’s face if you do help us out!” Sonic said, glancing at Tails to see the fox nod eagerly. Again, that confidence, as though Sonic knew Metal would help, despite Metal never having agreed. Sonic glanced over, meeting Metal’s eyes - optics - and winked.

Ugh.

“I can’t imagine his surprise,” Metal replied, “because I don’t remember what he looks like.”

“Lucky you! But don’t worry,” Sonic waved a hand. “I’m sure you’ll see soon enough. He’ll be around to cause trouble for sure.”

Metal wondered how often he fought on behalf of Eggman. Did he send him out every battle? And what happened when he rebelled previously? Did he… join them? Something told him he hadn’t - the look on Tails’ face when he mentioned it, perhaps. So what had he done?

Another thought struck him, one that rose in priority above the other questions.

“Where will I stay?”

Sonic and Tails exchanged glances. Sonic’s face said, ‘ Why not let him stay here?’ while Tails looked both thoughtful and apprehensive.

Just as Metal thought, Sonic looked back at him. “Might as well have you stay here!” He ruffled Tails’ bangs and for just a moment, Tails smiled. “No one else can take care of you better than a genius mechanic.” He didn’t want to be ‘taken care of’ though. “‘Sides, I’m not sure anyone else would be comfortable with you yet.”

Metal looked away. He thought as much.

“They’ll get there eventually, no worries!” Sonic reassured him. “But for now…”

There wasn’t much of a choice unless he was going to live outside.

“Um, yeah,” Tails finally said, though he did not look okay with the arrangement. “I’ve got an extra bed… if you… even need a bed?”

Did he? How did robots sleep? Did… robots even sleep? He made a mental note to search programs and settings and learn more about how he… functioned.

The look on the kit’s face bothered him. He looked worried, uncomfortable, uncertain - Metal wanted to reassure him somehow, make him feel at ease, but he had a feeling Tails would react very differently if Metal ruffled his bangs compared to how he smiled up at Sonic. He didn’t have any sort of relationship with Tails that would allow him to make any sort of calming gestures without causing the opposite reaction, like earlier.

So he stood, motionless, a contradiction to his inner turmoil, and finally said, “Okay.”

“About that extra bed,” Sonic said, arms resting behind his head. “I was gonna stay here tonight.”

Tails lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah, even before we found ol’ Metal here, I was thinking it’d be nice to hang for the night. It’s been a few weeks since I got to sleep in a proper bed, and even longer since we’ve had a movie night!” Sonic smiled as Tails seemed to glow with happiness, tails flicking with excitement.

“You mean it? Oh man, there’s this one movie that came out recently I’ve been dying to watch with you-” As the boy startled rambling, Metal watched Sonic. Though the hedgehog didn’t even look Metal’s way the entire conversation, he knew.

He hadn’t planned on sticking around until Metal showed up. He was staying because he didn’t trust Metal. Sonic just didn’t want to make Tails more worried than he was - he wanted to make him feel safer. No, not just that, he wanted to make sure he would be safe. (For a moment, Metal wondered if he should trust them. What if they changed their minds, knocked him out, took him apart? He was their enemy, after all.)

Technically, Sonic’s body language was calm and easygoing. His smile was natural, his eyes stayed on Tails’ warmly. Nothing to give away his reasoning, but Metal just knew.

Earlier, Metal had sensed confidence - Sonic was confident Metal would end up choosing to help them if he truly didn’t have his old memories and programming and never got them back. But at the same time, Sonic didn’t trust him, not yet. Not until he was sure Metal wasn’t going to revert to the same robot he used to be.

Metal understood. He was being given a chance - he was being shown compassion, but Sonic wasn’t stupid either. He wasn’t going to naively leave an ex-killing machine with his little brother.

Little brother. That’s how Sonic viewed Tails, didn’t he? Family.

Metal wondered idly if he had ever considered Eggman to be family, and vice versa.

When Sonic finally met Metal’s eyes, Metal gave him the smallest of nods to show he understood. It hurt a little, but he couldn’t hold it against him. Sonic gave him the same, small nod back, then turned towards the opening of the workshop and whistled.

“Man, the sun’s already about to go down, huh? How about we get some grub?”

“Lemme guess,” Tails said with a wry smile. “Chili dogs again?”

“There’s nothing better!” Sonic laughed. “Especially when I can get ‘em for free! I’ll be back in a jiffy. Metal, why don’t you come with? If you stay in the skies, no one will notice you, but you can see the layout of the town.”

“That’d be handy,” Metal said, even though he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to roam about freely. Sonic didn’t want to leave him alone with Tails; he could respect that.

The two took off, Metal to the skies, Sonic on the ground. It was easy to keep up with the blue blur, and aside from that, easy to keep track of him. His color stood out, and Metal found his eyes - optics - easily located the hedgehog, keeping visuals on him without any difficulty. Sonic finally skidded to a stop, chatting energetically with some vendor Metal couldn’t see very well from where he hovered. The vendor finally handed Sonic a paper bag, who gave a salute and raced off again. Metal turned and gave chase.

It felt good to move so fast. He wondered if it would feel better if he could feel the wind on his skin. He had noticed some level of pressure sensing, just to tell if things were touching him and where, but it didn’t mean anything. He couldn’t really feel anything, not truly.

He landed just outside Tails’ workshop, following both of them inside, through the workshop, and through another door, one that led inside the house.

Sonic and Tails sat at a table, Sonic pulling out one wrapped chili dog after another - six total, it seemed. Four for Sonic, two for Tails, based on how he laid them out.

Metal felt a disconnect, as he stood there. Part of him wanted to sit with them and dig into a chili dog of his own, which didn’t even make sense. Why would he want something when he couldn’t even eat it? He wondered what it might taste like, but he had nothing in his memory banks regarding flavor, which made sense. He didn’t even have a mouth. 

There was such a sense of warmth between the fox and hedgehog, but an invisible wall seemed to separate Metal from the two. Not even just a lack of trust, but a lack of humanity. Metal couldn’t join them properly for dinner or any meal. He thought back to how he wanted to mimic Sonic and ruffle Tails’ bangs when he looked nervous. Metal lifted a hand, stared at his claws, and wondered if he could even do that without scratching the child and injuring him.

He clenched his fist and turned, stalking away and standing even farther from the table than before. He could feel their eyes on him and hated the pause in the conversation that lingered until he turned around again, eyes trained on the wall across the room. The chatter resumed once they were sure he wasn’t going to just run off.

Metal decided to tune out their conversation and search through his system for any information he could gather about himself. His system told him the date and time, the temperature around him, at what percentage his systems were running, and so on. It seemed he was running on something called an orgone fusion engine - he wasn’t capable of actually running out of power. He also found a long list of built-in commands he could use, like running a system diagnostic if he was experiencing errors or redirecting power to increase the speed of certain functions if he needed.

He didn’t realize his name was being called until the voice was right in front of him. 

“Metal?”

He quickly refocused his optics, blue filling his visuals. “Yes?”

“You’re shaking,” Sonic said.

Metal looked down sharply. His frame was indeed trembling, his hands quivering. Alarm filled him. What was going on- was he glitching?

He quickly ran that system diagnostics he’d thankfully found a few moments ago.

It came up normal.

He clenched his fists, willing it to stop.

“It’s okay, buddy,” Sonic said softly. “It’s a lot to take in, huh?”

Metal jerked his head up to look at Sonic, a realization pinging in his mind. It’s a lot to take in, huh?

It was the same sort of thing that happened before his system had shut down earlier. Fueled by the realization that he wasn’t… real.

Looking through his programming, his system information, all of it… it was a lot to take in.

He sensed a touch on his shoulder and jerked away from Sonic’s hand.

“I’m fine,” he lied. He hated the way Sonic seemed to see through him. It meant he couldn’t pass it off as a glitch or error; Sonic already knew.

Sonic just gave an understanding smile and turned away. Tails had been watching from a distance, but when Metal met his gaze, he quickly turned and headed for the TV.

“I’ll get that movie started!” Tails said just a little too enthusiastically.

You don’t have to be afraid of me, Metal wanted to say, but it was just… too vulnerable. Too honest of a statement.

Too much of a risk when the chances of rejection were so high.

“You gonna join us, Metal?” Sonic said, already sitting in the middle of the couch, Tails joining him on the side farthest from Metal. 

Metal headed over, eyed the couch, and sat on the floor. It felt too intrusive to sit with them directly.

Tails started the film, and Metal watched, curious. It was an action film, a hero fighting against some sort of evil organization. A dramatic betrayal scene, followed by an intense rescue mission.

It all seemed rather dramatic, the explosions and dangerous stunts, but he found himself enjoying the excitement of it regardless.

“What’d ya think, Sonic?” Tails asked when the credits rolled.

Metal turned to the boy, “I-”

“It was fun!” Sonic said and a sickening buzz filled Metal’s body. Why had he been about to answer that? It was directed at Sonic, not Metal. The two words were completely different. “Made me think of our fights against Eggman, but I’m pretty sure ours are a lot cooler.”

Tails laughed. “That’s what I thought - the main character was kinda like you!”

“Except not as awesome,” Sonic grinned cheekily, then turned Metal’s way. “Did you like it, Metal?”

“It was pretty good,” he said, but the enjoyment had faded the moment he’d tried to reply to a question not aimed at him, though he was immensely grateful neither of them had seemed to notice. Sonic gave him a thumbs up in reply, but all Metal could feel now was shame. And anger. Mostly at himself, but part of it… part of it was at Sonic. A sick sort of anger that Sonic had all these things he didn’t.

Jealousy.

That’s what it was. He was jealous, envious of his organic counterpart for having all the things something inside of Metal kept telling him he should have.

He stood abruptly.

“I’m going to sleep now,” Metal said. He didn’t feel tired in the slightest - he doubted that was even possible - and he still had the lingering worry that they might decide to shut him off and take him apart. 

But now a part of him didn’t care as much.

Sonic eyed him for a moment, and Metal stared at him, almost daring him to say something against it.

“It’s been a long day for you, huh? Gnite, Metal!”

Metal nodded, made his way over to a corner, and set up his standby mode to wake him at six in the morning or if anyone touched him.

He looked at the other two one last time, the way Tails had snuggled into Sonic’s side as they decided to watch one more movie before bed, the smiles on their faces. He touched his smooth metallic face, then let his hand drop as he entered standby.

Chapter Text

Optics flickered to life and Metal’s head swiveled, looking for the reason he had been awoken. In the corner of his visuals was a small message informing him his auto-wake had been set for six am - and it was indeed six am. It came easier than he expected to dismiss the words. Without text floating in his vision, he felt just a little more normal. 

Neither fox nor hedgehog was in sight, so he trudged as quietly as he could towards the kitchen and froze in place just a few steps away from the fridge covered in sticky notes full of reminders.

No.

Feeling foolish, Metal turned away and hurried back into the living room. He didn’t know how late the other two generally slept and while he initially had wanted to be awake before them, he now wished he had set his auto-wake to be much later. 

He didn’t know what to do with himself. He wanted to explore… Would it get him in trouble? Well, if they were asleep…

Metal scanned the room, noting the stacks of books against the wall, sticky notes in place of bookmarks sticking out haphazardly with tiny words written on them to hint at what the saved page contained. The book titles didn’t mean much to him - many indicating boring topics he had no interest in. Quantum mechanics, silicone sensors, actuators, and so on. The movies that lined the open shelves of the TV stand were a mixture of what seemed to be action and documentaries, based on the covers and titles, save for a few outliers he wasn’t sure about. 

Tucking them all back in place, Metal started his way down the hall, peeking into a partially open door. His optics seemed to adjust automatically to the light levels because, while it took on a different shade (reddish - was that from the glow of his eyes, though?) and wasn’t quite as easy to see, he definitely could see. It was just a bathroom, but he flicked on the light anyway and stepped inside. He caught his reflection in the mirror and immediately reached out to snap the lights off, turning and leaving before his optics had time to adjust to the darkness. Something within him felt singed at the sight. Burned.

Continuing his way down the hall he came to a closed door. His fingers made tiny clacking sounds, metal to metal, and he paused for a moment, listening to make sure he hadn’t woken anyone. How light or heavy of sleepers were they? Not a sound from the other side of the door, though now that he was focusing so hard, he could hear soft snoring from the floor above. He carefully turned the knob.

A closet. Shoes, scarves, a few coats, and another stack of books, though these looked more like fairy tales. Some sort of bodyboard with an engine attached was shoved in the corner with two umbrellas. Metal closed the door, slowly building a mental map of the house. It wasn’t very large; the kitchen and living room were attached to a hallway containing the bathroom and closet. The door at the end of the hall led to the workshop which was about as big as the house itself. He considered exploring the workshop, but a glance at all the tech lying around had him closing the door and turning away. Back in the living room, he looked up the stairs. The snoring came from there; he assumed that’s where the two slept. Did he dare go up?

He put one foot on the step. Lifted the next. 

Creeaak.

Metal stopped, listening again. Silence, broken only by the gentle snores.

He took more time with the next step, pressing on several spots on the floor and releasing the moment it creaked until he found a quiet spot. He continued like this up the flight of stairs until he reached the top. 

There were three doors. Two on the left and one on the right. The snoring came from the farthest door to the left, so he carefully opened the door to his right. It seemed to be a multipurpose room. There was a washer and dryer in the corner, a small desk and chair on the other side, and shelves full of all sorts of things. Stacks of paper, more books, some sort of gear that looked like a fancier version of the bodyboard, a box of gloves, a half-deflated beach ball, what seemed to be some spare tools, and a stack of cans all labeled “chili”. He briefly wondered why that wasn’t in the kitchen before retreating and quietly closing the door.

He turned his head towards the left side of the hall, listening again for any stirring, then turned the rest of his body and opened the door as gently as he could. Unless Sonic and Tails had decided to sleep in the same room, one of them would be in here.

In the corner of the room was a bed, and on the bed was a small lump under the blankets. There was the tip of a fluffy tail hanging over the edge of the bed. Metal found himself more still than ever, entire body locked in place, hand still on the door, eyes tracking every rise and fall of the blankets, every twitch of the tail. 

A small whimper sounded and before he knew it, Metal was on the other side of the room, hand raised hesitantly over the lump. Whatever noise he must have made crossing the room had the kit stirring and the blanket shifted to reveal sleepy eyes starting to blink open. Those sky blues landed right on Metal’s, then jumped to his hand, still hovering over him.

A piercing shriek sounded and Metal shot back to the corner opposite the bed at the same time the other blue blur raced into the room, skidding to a halt between Metal and Tails, the latter having scrambled back as far into his corner as he could, eyes wide with fright. Sonic stood there, posture ready to fight or to defend, but he didn’t move to attack. Not yet.

“Metal,” Sonic said simply, yet somehow there was a dangerous hint to his tone.

“I didn’t mean to scare him,” Metal raised his hands in an attempt to show peace, then dropped them when he remembered how dangerous his hands looked. “He made a sound. I was…” The word ‘ worried’ got stuck in his throat.

“Why were you in my room to begin with?!” Tails’ voice trembled, but it was accusatory all the same.

Something akin to shame filtered its way through his body. 

“I was exploring,” Metal said, unsure of what else to say.

Sonic made a noise somewhere between a chuckle and a scoff, but Metal had a feeling it leaned toward the former. “Curiosity runs in the blood, huh, Metal?”

Metal tilted his head slightly in confusion. He didn’t have blood.

“Don’t side with him, Sonic,” Tails groaned, getting out of bed. He shot Metal a glare as he headed for the bedroom door, keeping his distance. He pointed towards the door. “Out. My room is off-limits from now on. I don’t care what noises I make.”

Metal obediently made his way out of the room, trying his hardest to act unbothered by the fox’s obvious ire. 

“‘M more awake now than if I had an energy drink,” Tails muttered as Metal trudged past. “No way I can go back t’ sleep.”

Sonic gave an exaggerated yawn, following Metal down the stairs.

“If I fall asleep running at Mach 1 and faceplant today, I know who to blame,” Sonic joked, giving Metal a hearty pat on the back as Metal headed back for the corner he’d “slept” in. Tails had followed them too, hopping on one of the barstools at the kitchen counter and lying his head on the surface.

“Pancakes?” Sonic asked Tails, and Metal perked curiously. So Sonic can cook? Sonic glanced at him from across the room. “Yep! I can cook! Some things, anyway.”

Metal quickly looked away. Had his curiosity been that obvious? He couldn’t even emote.

Tails had given a tired thumbs up to Sonic, who in turn got out the ingredients with a jaunty hum. Metal tapped his foot, already bored out of his mind just standing there.

Be a good house guest, be a good house guest, he told himself. He’d already screwed up earlier, he had to make up for it and behave.

Somehow.

“Yo Metal,” Sonic called. Metal’s gaze flickered in his direction. “Wanna help?”

“Help?” Metal repeated.

“Yeah!” Sonic cracked an egg with ease. “Come ‘ere.”

Metal headed into the kitchen, apprehensive at the invite, but desperate for something to do. He watched Sonic add more ingredients to a mixing bowl before the hedgehog unceremoniously shoved the bowl into Metal’s arms, who latched onto it quickly to keep it from falling.

Sonic held out a whisk. “You can mix it!”

Metal’s eyes shifted back and forth between the utensil and Sonic.

“What, ya scared you’ll ruin it?” Sonic’s expression shifted into a smirk and Metal snatched the whisk from his hands. Sonic laughed as Metal lowered the whisk into the bowl and started mixing, watching the powders and liquids blend into a lumpy liquid. Impatient, he kicked up the speed, arm moving faster until batter splattered out of the bowl and onto the hedgehog in front of him. His arm came to an immediate stop.

Sonic blinked in surprise, then burst out laughing. “Unfortunately, not everything can be done super fast. I, too, learned that the hard way.”

Metal glanced back down at the bowl.

“I’m not taking it back,” Sonic held up a hand before Metal could even move to hand it back over. “You were doing fine before. Keep at it.”

Metal cast a hesitant look towards Tails, who was watching the two silently, arms folded flat on the counter, head resting on them.

He started mixing again as Sonic quickly wiped the batter off himself and moved on to prepare a pan and some plates. The hedgehog took a glance at the batter.

“That’s good! It should still be a little lumpy. I dunno why, but that’s when it’s right!” 

Metal handed it over and watched Sonic pour some batter into the pan.

“I was thinking I’ll go for a run after this. You wanna come with, Metal?”

Sonic still didn’t want Metal alone with Tails, he could tell. But he wouldn’t pass up a chance to get out and do something.

“Okay,” he replied. 

“I’d say we could race, but you don’t know the destination I have in mind. Well, you wouldn’t win anyway, but maybe we can race next time!” Sonic swiped at his nose with a grin.

Metal’s optics flared brighter at the challenge, crossing his arms. “We can race on our way back.”

Sonic flipped the pancake. “Sounds good.”

Eventually, there was a plate full of pancakes being divided between the two… organic beings.

Metal watched as the two dressed their pancakes with syrups and whipped cream, but returned to his corner before he could watch either take their first bite. He stuffed down any jealousy that threatened to bubble up, fists clenching. It wasn’t right for him to feel this way. He was a robot. He was built! Pieced together and coded! It shouldn’t even be possible for him to feel like he did!

“You ready to run, Metal?”

Metal wasn’t just ready - he needed to run. He could feel it burning in his veins - no, his circuitry.

Sonic smiled. “Follow me!”

The hedgehog shot out the door, Metal hot on his heels. The two zipped over hills and through trees, dodging trunks and limbs as they went. They ran through a valley and into another forest before shooting out of the woods right into a large, grassy field dotted with flowers. Sonic skidded to a stop and Metal slowed next to him. Beyond them stretched a glassy lake. Metal regarded the water warily.

“Don’t worry, we’re not here for a swim. You and I are more likely to sink,” Sonic said. “But it’s nice to look at.” He gestured behind them towards the flowers. “And it’s nice to stop and smell the roses - or wildflowers, in this case.”

Metal watched as Sonic took a seat on the ground and mimicked the motion. 

“I can’t smell,” he told Sonic, who held a plucked flower to his nose.

“No, but you can see. And it’s pretty, isn’t it? I was thinking back to when we brought you back on the plane. You called the view nice and, well, I figured working for Robuttnik didn’t leave much time for appreciating what the world has to offer,” Sonic gave a lazy smile, flopping back, hand resting behind his head. Again, Metal mimicked the pose, though he internally winced at the clank his head made against his arm.

He turned his head to look at Sonic, though his gaze soon fell on a flower, the purple petals now at eye level. A flutter caught his attention, something small and white.

A butterfly landed on the flower he’d been watching, wings slowly opening and closing. Then it took off, but only a short distance, landing on Metal’s pointed nose. His optics crossed, working to bring the creature into focus.

There was a snort from a foot away, sending the butterfly hurrying away. Metal glared at Sonic.

“Sorry Mets, I just never thought I’d see you with a butterfly perched on your nose like that.” Sonic sat up. “The whole thing is so at odds with your image.”

Metal lifted a hand into view again, studying the way the claws glinted in the sun. “You mean killer robot.”

Sonic grimaced a little. “Unfortunately.”

Metal also sat up, looking at Sonic with a curious gaze. “Why did you call me Mets?”

“Hmm? Oh.” Sonic scratched the side of his head. “It’s a nickname, like ‘Tails’. Didn’t think too hard about it, just kinda popped out.”

“‘Tails’ is a nickname?”

“Yep! His real name is Miles,” Sonic hopped to his feet and stretched. Metal opted to sit for a moment longer, looking out at the smooth surface of the lake, then back at that purple flower. He pinched the stem in his fingers and plucked it. Curling his fingers as carefully as he could without crushing it, he stood and turned back the way they’d come.

“Race you,” Metal said and shot off. There was a woop and laugh behind him and soon Sonic was running right next to him. The hedgehog winked at him and sped up. Not about to be undone, Metal kicked into overdrive, his engines blasting louder and stronger, a hazy warmth wrapping around him as he pushed himself to move faster.

But his systems apparently couldn’t keep the speed for too long before they demanded to be cooled, fans kicking into a loud whir as his engines diverted more energy into staying at a healthy temperature than reaching maximum speeds. 

Sonic got back just a second before Metal - but a full second felt like an infuriatingly long time to the robot.

“Told ya I’d win,” Sonic grinned. Metal’s fists clenched with irritation, then froze. Hurriedly, he uncurled his fingers to check the flower. The petals were crumpled, two torn off entirely, and the stem was bent in several places. He lifted it in cupped hands, staring down at the mess.

“No sweat! You know where the field is now, and there are plenty of flowers to pick from! You can always get more another time,” Sonic said, noting the way Metal’s eyes stayed trained on the broken petals.

But it wasn’t so much about the flower itself as to what it meant. It was to be a peace offering. He had been going to give it to-

“You’re back!” Tails said, stepping outside. Metal’s hands fell to his sides, flower dropping to the ground next to him.

“Oh man, Tails, you should’ve seen it. A butterfly landed on Metal’s nose and he went all cross-eyed trying to look at it,” Sonic said, doing an exaggerated reenactment. “He brought a flower back too! It’s - oh.” Sonic reached down and picked it up. “You dropped it!”

Metal glared, swatted the flower out of Sonic’s hand, and trudged past Tails, heading back inside to the corner where he’d stayed the night, crossing his arms as he stood there resolutely. He could feel Tails’ eyes on him before the fox turned back to Sonic.

“What was that about?” The boy asked.

“Beats me. He seemed to have a good time up there. I think he’s upset that his flower got all messed up.”

“Really? Upset over a flower? Him?”  

Sonic just hummed in reply, but Metal could tell instinctively that the hedgehog knew more than he bothered to say.

Tails moved on, saying something about a project he was off to work on. There was a pause, and suddenly the fox popped his head into the room.

“Metal, do you… do you want to help?”

Metal tilted his head. This wasn’t what he’d expected after giving the fox such a fright.

“You could hand me tools,” Tails said, his voice almost sounding sheepish.

“Okay,” Metal nodded, following the kit to the workshop. By the time they got there - just a few seconds, really - Sonic was just outside the workshop, lying on a beach chair, soaking in the sun.

“You’re already gonna take a nap?” Tails asked, heading to his workbench. “You haven’t even been awake that long.”

“Eh, it’s a nice day to chill out,” Sonic replied, eyes closed.

The fox shrugged, turning the odd gun-like device on the table over and opening a panel. He fiddled with some wires on the inside with some tools he already had on the table, and Metal waited for instructions.

“Could you grab me a screwdriver?” Tails asked. 

Metal quickly scanned the room and the object seemed to almost light up in his visuals, easily identified by his optics. He sped over, grabbed it, and brought it back. Tails fiddled with the device.

“I’ve been having a hard time getting this right, but I think I might have the right modifications now…” Tails said, tightening one last screw before holding it up proudly. “If it works, it should freeze objects in place for a few minutes. Metal, could you toss that roll of duct tape over here? I’m gonna test this out.”

Metal grabbed the roll, backed up to a safe distance, and quickly calculated the speed and strength at which he should throw the roll to get it in the exact place Tails would shoot the gun.

“Okay, throw!” Tails said, and Metal released the roll with precision. Tails pulled the trigger and a yellow light shot from the end of the barrel, ramming into the duct tape and sending it flying out of the workshop. The two stared at it, Sonic even cracking an eye to glance over.

Tails huffed and muttered, “Okay, guess it needs more work.”

Metal went off to collect the roll, picking it up from the ground and turning to head back to the workshop.

He’d only made it a few steps forward when he heard a sudden, unfamiliar shout.

Chapter Text

“Watch out, it’s Metal Sonic!” a female voice shouted. His head swiveled around just in time to see the end of a hammer. He went flying to the side, past Sonic, skidding along in the dirt, the tape rolling away from his grasp.

He lay there, contemplating those words.

Metal… Sonic? Was that his full ‘name’?

“Amy, stop!” Tails said. “He’s not on Eggman’s side anymore!”

Sonic, Sonic, of course, Sonic was in his name. Because what else was he but a metallic version of Sonic?

“ So whose side is he on?” The other voice - Amy? - demanded.

How much of his own person was he and how much of it was just coding to mimic the other hedgehog?

He could almost sense Sonic walking towards his fallen form, on his way to help Metal to his feet.

“His own,” he heard Sonic reply from somewhere above him. As he expected, a gloved hand reached down to help him up.

“That didn’t exactly go well last time,” the girl replied as Metal stared at Sonic’s offered hand. Sometimes it felt like his processors were linked directly to Sonic’s brain. 

“Come on, she didn’t hurt you that bad, did she?” Sonic’s tone was teasing, and Metal smacked his hand away, getting up on his own and turning to see the source of the new voice, this ‘Amy’.

Pink… a pink hedgehog.

Except this hedgehog was taller than his memories. Her spikes were laid flat, not popping up.

He made his way towards her, taking in the way her grip tightened warily on her hammer. 

Once he was a couple of feet away, he stopped. The two studied each other for a moment, Sonic and Tails standing to the side, looking between the both of them.

“Do you have a younger sister?” Metal asked. 

Amy blinked, hammer lowering a bit. “A younger… what? Wait, you can talk now?”

“I remember a small hedgehog that looks kind of like you. But she is smaller and spikier.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Is this some kind of joke?”

“He lost all his memories,” Tails explained.

“Except for one memory of you in the winter,” Sonic added with an amused smirk. “Wanna tell us about that one?”

Metal’s gaze shifted between Sonic and Amy. Sonic said ‘you’ which implied…

“Oh!” Amy lowered her hammer completely. “I had forgotten all about that! I found him in the snow, stuck a bow on him - it was the holidays, after all - and took him back to Eggman!”

Sonic’s eyes widened a little in remembrance. “Oh yeah! I saw the very tail end of that!”

“You brought him back to our enemy?!” Tails exclaimed.

“It didn’t feel right leaving him there,” Amy pouted. “It was obvious he’d been there quite a while from how much snow was piled on him.”

His previous curiosity about whether or not Eggman had regarded him as family was answered. The man hadn’t come to retrieve him, instead leaving him to get buried in snow. Would he have ever come to get him if Amy hadn’t returned Metal to his maker?

“You helped me,” Metal stated, though there was the tiniest hint of a question to it.

Amy nodded. “I suppose I did!”

“Thank you,” he said, ultra-quiet, feeling a bit embarrassed about saying it. The grin Sonic had and the smile that grew on Amy’s face told him they’d heard it perfectly fine. Tails just dragged a palm down his face, muttering something about ‘ back to the enemy’ and ‘ could have saved us a lot of grief’ .

“So, Metal,” Amy tilted her head. “What does he mean when he says you’re own your own side? I mean, are you planning on fighting against Eggman?”

Metal’s gaze dropped to the ground. “I don’t know yet.”

“Hmm. Well, I guess there’s no real time limit on deciding!” Her eyes narrowed in warning. “As long as you don’t decide to fight for him.”

Metal’s fists clenched with a clang. “I don’t want to be forced to obey anyone. I don’t want to be programmed to fight against my will. That’s what Eggman would do to me, right?”

There were nods all around.

“Then no, I won’t fight for him.”

Amy looked pleased. “Wonderful! It’s nice to see you turning over a new leaf.”

He felt pleased by her praise. Yes, that’s right, he was no longer the killer robot from before. Metal was different now. He looked at Amy, then at Tails, a slight sense of… hope, yes, hope, filling him. Perhaps he could even… make friends now. His gaze then moved to Sonic. Not with everyone though.

Metal located the roll of duct tape that had escaped his grasp when Amy had hit him and held it out for the fox, who smiled a little and took it back.

“Thanks,” the boy said.

“Are you going to keep working on your device?” Metal asked. “Can I… still help?”

Tails turned the duct tape in his hands, a tail curling around his ankle. “Well, yes, but before that… You’ve got a bit of a dent.” Tails tapped the side of his own head.

Amy gasped. “OH! I’m so sorry, Metal!”

“I can probably pop it out!” Tails assured him. “No worries! I mean, you were in worse shape when Sonic found you anyway. This is nothing.”

Metal almost asked if it would hurt before he remembered. 

“Alright,” he said instead, following Tails back into the garage. “Will it take long?” He was antsy to get back to work - something to do, something to prove himself useful.

Tails rolled his eyes and muttered, “You guys are so impatient.”

“You guys?” Metal repeated. 

The fox froze for a second. “Um… just… Sonic asks that all the time, so…”

Metal looked back towards Sonic, who was scratching the back of his spines as Amy chattered away.

“Of course,” he said. “I was designed to be like him, after all.”

Tails fidgeted. “Uh, well, anyway! Go ahead and sit! It shouldn’t take too long - I’ve got a tool I made for this sort of thing for when the Tornado gets dents.”

“Thank you,” Metal said.

The boy laughed. “Well, there’s one difference. You sure say thanks a lot more than him.”

Metal didn’t tell him he was forcing himself to remember manners just so they’d accept him quicker. He just sat down as he’d been told and tried not to look impatient - if he could even look anything but angry when he had a permanent glare.

Chapter Text

Metal stared at his reflection in the mirror. It had been a few days full of helping Tails, accepting challenges to race Sonic (it was impossible not to agree when he looked so cocky, even though Metal had yet to win), and watching everyone enjoy things that only organic creatures could enjoy with an ugly sense of jealousy (Amy’s cookies looked so good the other day). 

Though he was getting a little more used to his appearance now, every time he stared at his unblinking face, one that only ever seemed to look angry, he felt more and more bitter over his lack of ways to emote.

Sonic winked a lot. To show assurance and confidence, to imply a joke - for many reasons, it seemed.

Despite almost feeling embarrassed by it, Metal turned one optic off and then on. It didn’t look like a wink at all, but a glitch. His shoulders slumped slightly, his engine letting out a mechanical sigh.

Perhaps… Perhaps Tails could install some sort of system that would let him show off more emotions. 

The boy in question rounded the corner to enter the bathroom and let out a squawk of surprise upon seeing Metal’s head swivel to face him, his fur fluffing in obvious fright. Every day there was some sort of reminder that Metal was an ex-killing machine who had a long, dark history that involved fighting the people he now lived with. At the very least, they seemed a little bit less wary of him than before - though he could still cause a reaction like this just by standing there.

Tails let out a nervous laugh, smoothing his namesakes.

“Uh, hey Metal, I didn’t know you were in here,” Tails said, stepping aside so Metal could exit. 

Metal crossed his arms, then uncrossed them, feeling overly aware of himself. “I was wondering…” He stopped, trying to decide if it was worth admitting, worth the horrible vulnerability. 

But he couldn’t stand it.

Tails had been waiting patiently for him to continue, head cocked to the side.

“Is it possible to…” Oh, how he hated having to say this. “To somehow… make it so I can… show more emotions?” At least his voice box helped portray emotions, despite the robotic tone. Though at the moment, he wished it didn’t sound so uncertain.

The fox blinked, then smiled softly. “Well, I don’t think I can do anything about your lack of mouth, but I think I could certainly do something about your LED display. It wouldn’t be easy to program certain expressions to correlate to your actual emotions - the AI there is pretty complex, especially when emotions are already complex - but I’d be willing to work on it. Although, it would be faster and easier to add a variety of expressions you can choose from as you want! That would at least be a start. I could always work on matching expressions to emotions later, probably over multiple sessions - it would take a lot of time with some trial and error. It’s up to you though!”

“The faster one,” Metal said. Even if he had to pick the expressions himself, the faster he could do that, the better.  “Maybe… maybe the other one later.” He’d been working on tagging every new emotion he felt with a label in his system, so maybe that would make it easier on Tails.

Tails chuckled, unsurprised by the response. “I’ll get on that later then.”

Later, thankfully, didn’t turn out to be a terribly long time. Tails had already nearly wrapped up his current project, so he was quickly able to switch gears to this new one.

He quickly sketched out a few shapes and held them up. “I figure we can start simple and cover some basic expressions. Happy, angry, sad… I guess this one would be unamused? Annoyed?”

Metal scanned the drawings and their labels. The happy expression was similar to two upside down Vs. The angry one was like his normal LED ovals but cut off on top with an inward slant. The sad expression was the same but the slant was outward. The last one simply had cut off the upper half of the ovals entirely.

“Why make an angry one? I already look angry.”

“That’s the point,” Tails said. “If you have an expression to show anger, then we’ll know how you look now is just your neutral expression.”

That made sense.

“Ooh, I should add surprised,” Tails said, turning the notepad back and drawing out two larger circles. The designs were all very simple but seemed straightforward and recognizable. The boy looked up at Metal. “You like 'em?”

“Yes,” Metal confirmed. As long as it made things more clear to others and kept him from looking like he was glaring 24/7.

“Alright!” Tails hopped off the stool, taking the notebook with him over to a large computer system. “Would you mind if I plug you in? If I look at your original coding it’ll be easier for me to code my own. I can just copy over the relevant bits so you don’t have to stay plugged in for however long this takes me.”

Metal was not particularly fond of the idea of someone rooting through his coding, but he nodded all the same. 

The moment Tails plugged him into the computer, he could feel the invasion. It almost felt like something crawling around in his head as the fox rooted around, searching for what he needed. His fists clenched tightly as he fought every desire to kick him out of his system, to throw up firewalls to stop him from digging any deeper than he’d already gotten.

Tails was rambling about software made for LED patterns and something about possibly having to install a separate program, but it was hard for him to focus on anything but the sensation of something foreign in his system.

Once Tails had gotten what he needed and unplugged him, immense relief swept through Metal along with the urge to run any lingering sensation off. He was gone in a second, down the runway, around the house several times, before returning to Tails, who shook his head at his arrival with a roll of his eyes, still picking up papers that had scattered when Metal had blasted out of the room.

“Should’ve expected that,” Tails said, and though his tone was exasperated, he still looked a bit amused.

Metal reached down to grab a paper but when he pulled the thin document off the ground he poked a hole in it with his thumb. Quickly, he thrust the paper towards the fox, muttering, “My bad.”

Tails pulled the paper off Metal’s thumb and gave an awkward smile. “It’s fine, I can still read it all.” He set the papers aside. “This’ll take a while, so unless you wanna stand and watch the whole time…”

Though Metal was a bit curious - the end result was going to end up inside of him, after all - he didn’t have the patience to stand around the whole time.

Before he could say anything though, there was a gentle knock against the outside of Tails’ workshop and a light voice. “Excuse me! Is Mr. Sonic in?”

Both turned to see a small rabbit peek around the corner. She jumped, eyes going wide. Metal didn’t have to guess what caused it. He wondered if he’d ever stop inducing that reaction.

“Um, isn’t that Metal Sonic?” the girl asked hesitantly. Still, she stepped around the corner.

“Yeah, he lost his memory and decided not to work for Eggman anymore,” Tails explained. “Come on in! Sonic is… Actually, I’m not sure.”

With permission granted, Cream came the rest of the way into the workshop, surprising Metal by walking right up to him, a bright smile on her face. “You’re not working for Eggman anymore? That’s so wonderful! You should meet Gemerl! He also used to work for Eggman, but now he’s a good guy!”

When Metal didn’t move, just staring down at her, she paused. “Oh, where are my manners? I’m Cream!” The little rabbit held out her hand, which Metal knew was a gesture to shake hands. But… why? Wasn’t she afraid?

Slowly, he reached out, taking her hand as gently as he could and giving it a soft shake. “It’s nice to meet you, Cream.”

Her eyes widened. “Wow Mr. Metal, you can talk now? Mr. Sonic had once told me you couldn’t talk! I always thought that was a bit sad. Is it nice to be able to talk now?”

Metal couldn’t remember a time when he couldn’t, but he nodded anyway. Surely he’d be miserable if he couldn’t talk.

“So what are you here for, Cream? You said you were looking for Sonic?”

“Oh, yes! He promised to take me on a picnic,” Cream replied.

As if on cue, Sonic burst into the workshop, basket around his arm. “Tails, has Cream- oh, you’re here! I didn’t make you wait too long, did I?”

“No, not at all! I was just introducing myself to Mr. Metal.”

Sonic looked to Metal, who was still staring at the rabbit in curiosity. She treated him so… normally.

“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” Sonic said, coming over and slinging an arm around Metal, who tensed and whipped his head around to glare at his counterpart. “Feel free to say no, but what do you think about Mets here joining us?”

Cream clapped her hands together. “That would be great!”

“Sweet!” Sonic handed the basket over to Metal with a grin. “Hey Metal, you know the flower field, right? You mind taking that there? That way I won’t have to take two trips.” He held his arms out to Cream, who giggled as she let him scoop her up. “See ya there!”

Metal’s system hummed in irritation as Sonic raced off. Metal hadn’t agreed to carry the basket, let alone join them in the first place. He knew the invitation was partially to keep an eye on him but also… he had a nagging feeling Sonic might have actually wanted Metal to spend more time with Cream.

He kicked on his jets and hurried after them, keeping a firm grasp on the basket. When he arrived, Cream was chattering to Sonic about cheese. Or “Cheese”, as in a proper name? She said “he”, after all.

Metal set the basket down and Sonic flipped the lid, pulling out a checkered blanket.

“You got a picnic blanket?” Cream asked.

“Eh, figured if we were to do this again it might be better than an old sheet,” Sonic said with a shrug.

“You didn’t have to get one just for me,” Cream said with a laugh as she helped spread out the blanket over the grass.

“Hey, who knows? Maybe I’ll start doing picnics with friends on the reg’!” The two sat, Sonic pulling the basket closer.

“Come and sit with us, Mr. Metal,” Cream invited as she patted the ground between the two of them.

Feeling a bit like an intruder, Metal sat down just outside where the blanket lay.

“You don’t have to be shy!” Cream said encouragingly.

“I’m not,” he said. “I don’t… want to damage it.” Poking a hole through Tails’ paper was too fresh in mind for him to forget.

“That’s very considerate of you.” She smiled at him sweetly, scooting across the blanket so she was closer to Metal, now an equal distance between both him and Sonic. Her lack of caution around him was rather concerning. Was she not at all worried he might hurt her? Or did she only feel safe because Sonic was around?

Sonic was digging through the basket, pulling out some wrapped sandwiches. “Nice, they stayed in one piece! I had a feeling wrapping them was the right way to go after what happened last time.”

Cream giggled. “They were still delicious even when they were falling apart.”

“As good as Vanilla’s?” Sonic said with a grin, handing her one of the sandwiches.

“That’s not a fair comparison,” Cream said seriously, “because Mama usually toasts them. Oh, by the way, she told me to thank you for taking me on a picnic today!”

“It’s no problem!” Sonic said with a dismissive wave. “I always enjoy our time together.”

Metal plucked one blade of grass at a time as he watched the two chat idly between bites of their food until attention turned back to him.

“Have you had the chance to meet any of our other friends since you came, Mr. Metal?” Cream asked.

“I met Amy again,” Metal replied.

“Miss Amy is so sweet!” Cream replied. “Next time the Chaotix babysit me, you should come meet them! Then you can also meet Cheese and Chocola and Gemerl!”

“The Chaotix?” Metal repeated.

Cream nodded. “Yep! There’s Vector, Espio, and Charmy!”

It didn’t sound terrible, meeting new people, but he dreaded the reaction he would probably receive. He wondered if he had ever fought the people she named before. Had he ever fought against Cream? Surely she wouldn’t be so quick to get comfortable in his presence if he had.

“Would you want to meet them?” Cream asked, big brown eyes looking hopeful. Metal’s gaze flicked to Sonic. Did he need permission to meet others? The idea felt sour, but he didn’t know how far his freedom extended at this point.

Sonic just shrugged. It was fully up to him. Looking back at Cream, Metal nodded. “Sure.”

The rabbit beamed. “I’ll talk to Mama about it! Maybe they can come visit soon!”

“How about I talk to Vanilla about it?” Sonic offered. “She’ll probably have some questions about Metal.”

Cream looked between Sonic and Metal before realization dawned on her. “Ohh, alright.” Reaching over, she patted Metal’s hand. “Don’t worry, we’ll convince her that you’re fine to visit! You won’t hurt any of us, I can tell!”

Metal stared at her hand. She was so small. And so confident in his “change of heart”. More confident than Tails was, who had directly seen that his programming was wiped. Though the latter thought stung a little, it was still encouraging, reassuring, to see someone show trust like this.

Was this the other reason Sonic wanted him to come along?

Cream got up from the blanket, straightening her dress a little. “Mr. Metal, do you know how to make flower crowns?”

He shook his head.

“I’ll teach you! It’s a lot of fun! C’mon, first we have to pick flowers. I bet you’re good at that!”

Well, at least his sharp fingers were good for something.

Metal got up and followed her towards some groupings of wildflowers.

“You want to keep as much stem as possible,” Cream directed as Metal leaned over to pluck flowers from the grass.

“Is this long enough?” He held up a flower carefully, trying not to break the stem.

“That’s perfect! I knew you’d be good at it. After we gather a bunch, I’ll show you how to weave them together. Mr. Sonic, do you want to make one too?”

“Sure!” The hedgehog got up from where he’d been watching and joined the two in picking flowers.

Once Cream was satisfied with how many flowers they had, she settled down in the grass and took two flowers.

“Now watch carefully.”

Metal leaned forward a little, optics trained firmly on her hands as she looped one stem around the other, then back around itself. She grabbed another flower and repeated the motion, though this time the stem of the new flower wrapped around both of the other two.

“You repeat this over and over and once it’s big enough, you can tuck other flowers in to decorate it more!”

Metal looked at his pile of flowers, selecting two and imitating her motions. 

“Wow, you’ve already got the hang of it after only seeing it done once!” Cream praised. “You’re a very fast learner!”

Pride swelled in Metal. “Of course I’m fast,” he replied, already focused on adding more flowers. Though he had to be extra gentle, his thinner fingers and lack of gloves seemed to make it easier compared to when he looked over at Sonic, seeing the hedgehog lose grip of a flower for a moment. He let out a sound of amusement and Sonic shot him a disgruntled look.

Peaceful silence fell across the group as everyone focused on their work. It was nice. Birdsong in the air and the gentle lapping of the water from the lake in the distance made him feel relaxed as he looped in one flower after another. Before he knew it, he had finished the main ring. He examined it for a moment before Cream noticed.

“You’re done already? It looks perfect! Now you can add more flowers if you want! Just tuck them between the other stems!”

He looked across the pile of flowers thoughtfully before starting to pick some out, weaving them into the rest of the flowers. Once it looked filled out, he held it up for a moment. It was missing something. Metal looked around and spotted a larger bloom. He stuck it in with the others. There.

Looking at his creation, he felt a new sort of pride. He’d made something. An act of creation rather than destruction.

Metal’s gaze drifted past his flower crown to Cream, who’d become fully focused on her work. Though he’d failed to give his flower of peace to Tails, he could at least give a flower crown of gratitude to Cream. Reaching forward, he settled it atop her head. She looked up in surprise, then beamed.

“Oh, is it for me?”

He nodded.

“Thank you so much! Then, the one I’m making can be for you!” A big smile still on her face, she returned to her flower crown. Metal could see Sonic smiling at the two of them out of the corner of his visuals and felt a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance. This would be even better if he wasn’t here.

Cream held up the finished flower crown. “There! I added some red so it matches your eyes!”

Metal bowed his head so she could place the crown on it, her words stuck in his head. I added some red so it matches your eyes!

He hated the red of his eyes. It was intimidating, threatening, especially when placed upon the background of his black visor.

But somehow… he reached up and touched the flower crown on his head. Somehow, at least at this moment, he didn’t hate them quite as much.

Chapter Text

That evening, Metal watched as Tails clicked through the pixelated eye patterns he'd made. There were a few that Tails hadn't sketched out before.

“I might have gotten a bit carried away,” Tails admitted. “You don't have to use these if you don't want to, but I was thinking about the things you can do that we can't - stuff unique to robots that I think is kind of neat. We can't make our eyes turn into exclamation points or question marks or spiral shapes, but you can. It's kind of an additional form of expression unique to someone who's got an LED screen like you.”

Metal had never thought about that. He'd only ever thought about the ways organics could express themselves that he couldn't. He had never realized there were ways he could express himself that they couldn't.

“I… appreciate that,” Metal said quietly. 

“I even decided to make a blinking animation, if you wanted to use it. It has the lights flatten down into a line rather than disappear entirely so it looks more natural. It's set to automatically go off about as often as a normal person blinks.” Keeping in mind everything Tails was doing for him, Metal tried not to let the phrase “normal person” sting as Tails continued, “The span between each blink is slightly randomized for realism!”

“I'd like that,” Metal said. “But…”

“But?”

Metal stared at the red pixels. “I want these in a different color.” Red was too intimidating.

“Oh.” Tails scratched an ear in thought. “What about green?”

“No,” Metal said immediately, a sharp firmness in his tone.

Tails flinched a little but grimaced apologetically. “Yeah, that's fair. Do you have anything in mind?”

Metal thought for a moment, looking around the workshop. His eyes landed on Tails' plane with the blue and yellow paint.

“Yellow,” he said decisively. “Like that.” He pointed at the plane and Tails swiveled around in his chair to see.

“Got it. Yellow it is!” Tails stood, heading over to a cabinet where he pulled out a can of paint. Popping it open, he wiped a bit of it on a piece of scrap wood, smacked the lid back on, and put the can away. He brought the wood back over and propped it by the screen so he could match the color more accurately.

Metal had to appreciate his dedication to detail - if he said he wanted the same yellow as was on the plane, Tails was going to make sure it was the same yellow as his plane. Leaving the fox to it, he went for a run, blasting through the forest, zig-zagging through the trees until he eventually wound his way back to the house. Metal stood by the door for a moment, tapping his foot.

Sonic had left to take Cream home, Tails was working, and Metal couldn’t just go wherever he pleased lest he risk losing whatever few privileges of freedom he had right now.

All of this combined into one result: Metal was bored.

Itching for something to do, he headed inside and went to the bookshelf. There had to be something in here that wasn’t full of technological and scientific vernacular. He pulled out a hardback book that didn’t seem to match the theme of most of the other books and glanced at the back of it. It was some sort of adventure novel and Metal had a feeling it belonged to Sonic. Still, it was better than nothing, so he flipped it open. He glanced at the contents before he carefully lifted the page and moved on to the first chapter. Eyes flitting across the first page, then the second, he scanned the words with ease. His system was used to computing at high speeds - it seemed reading was the same; everything was quickly processed. At this rate, it wouldn’t take long to finish the book at all. 

When he flipped to the next page, Metal worked to slow down and read each line separately instead of the entire page nearly at once. At least turning the pages helped keep him at a slower speed - it was hard to turn directly to the next page instead of catching too many pages under a finger and turning several at once. Several pages in, he realized two of the pages were stuck together and he couldn’t seem to get them apart. There wasn’t enough space between the thin leaves of paper for him to stick in a clawed tip and pull them apart and the metallic smooth texture of his fingers didn’t have enough grip to separate them either. Frustration grew within him, but the heat building in his system felt as though it had been dunked in cold water when his fingers tore straight through the pages.

First Tails’ paper, now Sonic’s book. He shoved the book back on the shelf and glared at his fingers. He had to fix this somehow. Metal remembered the box of gloves he had seen in the multipurpose room and sped up the stairs, opening the door and heading for the box. He pulled out a glove and tried to slide it over his hands. It quickly got snagged on a finger, so he pulled the loop of thread off and tried again, more careful in how he navigated his digits through the fabric, which then got caught on the yellow plate that covered the back of his hand. Metal tugged and pulled at the fabric until it finally jerked over the plate, the tips of his fingers tearing through the ends of the gloves as the momentum of his pull yanked the glove up too quickly. Metal stared at the silver that peeked through the fingertips of the fabric. In a quick motion, he tore the glove off, letting out a whine of frustration as he tore at the fabric, glaring down at the scraps that fluttered uselessly to the floor. 

He scanned the rest of the room, looking for something, anything that could make his fingers less destructive. Something lying on the side of the small desk caught his attention and he trudged over, examining the flat, rough metal surface that was attached to a red handle.

A small file. Metal lifted it and ran a clawed finger along the rough surface. 

Yes. This could work.

Sinking to the floor, he got to work, running the file back and forth over his left index finger. The sound was immediately grating on his auditory sensors, so he shut them off. Metal was just finishing his second finger when he felt pressure on his shoulder plate. He was on his feet in a second, head whipping around before the rest of his body. Tails stood there, fur fluffed up, hand still in the air from where he had tapped on Metal’s shoulder. Tails’ mouth moved with no sound and Metal realized belatedly that his audio sensors were off. Quickly, he turned them back on.

“I didn’t hear you,” Metal said quickly. “My hearing was… off.” 

“Oh… I was coming to tell you that I finished recoloring the expressions. I didn’t mean to startle you,” Tails said, hands coming together to twist nervously. His blue eyes flicked to the file in Metal’s hand. Metal drew his hand back further behind his leg even though he knew hiding it was pointless since Tails had clearly seen it.

There was silence between them for a long moment before Tails broke it. “What were you doing?”

Metal’s free hand clenched and unclenched, not wanting to answer. Tails stared at him resolutely, not about to drop it. With a mechanical sigh, Metal finally replied, “I was filing my…” He lifted one hand. Fingers didn’t feel like the right word but he didn’t want to say claws either, even though that was more similar to what they were in Metal’s opinion.

Tails’ expression softened. “It’s gonna take forever if you use a little file like that. I’ve got more heavy-duty stuff in the workshop. C’mon, you can do that after we install your new expressions.”

Once more, Metal was hooked up to Tails’ computer, but at least now, rather than feeling as though something was prodding through his system, he could feel things being added - a sensation preferable compared to the other.

“Okay, do you want to try it out?”

Metal examined the new coding and tested one out. Tails smiled, pleased, which means it must have worked. He rushed to the bathroom mirror, the darkness cast in a warm, yellow glow rather than the menacing red it was before. He flicked the light on and turned to the mirror, flicking through each expression, a sense of glee filling him. The angle of his visor still created an angry sort of look, but certain expressions helped tame that look. The new color also did wonders in making him look less dangerous. Metal stood there for a moment, watching the automatic blinking animation. Feeling more and more joy and gratitude well within him, he shot back to Tails' workshop, wrapping the fox in a hug before realizing what he was doing and promptly letting go, and jumping back a few feet.

Tails, though a bit ruffled, looked uninjured, so Metal said, “My bad, I was really excited! This is exactly what I needed! You did great!”

The fox chuckled, scratching the back of his head. “Aw, it wasn’t that big of a deal to make. I’m glad you like it. Do you wanna move on to your nails next?”

Nails? Metal looked down at his fingers. I suppose that’s one word for them.

Metal nodded and Tails waved him over to his sander.

The fox put on some eye protection and a mask and turned on the sander. After popping in some earplugs, his voice was louder than before as he said, “Alright, put your hand down here, palm up, and hold real still.”

Metal locked his joints so he wouldn’t move and quickly turned off his audio receptors when the screeching of metal started again. He kept his gaze trained on Tails’ face so he’d know if he tried to say anything to him. As he did so, he got to work on tagging all his new eye expressions with the emotions he had been naming as he discovered them. It would make it a lot faster for him to pick an appropriate expression depending on what he was feeling. Maybe with some time and effort, he’d be able to train his programming to change automatically without Tails' help. After a while, Tails said something, but Metal didn’t need to turn on his audio to understand thanks to the gestures Tails gave. He switched hands and Tails resumed his work. 

After a while, Tails turned the sander off and Metal turned his hearing back on as Tails took off his protective gear. 

“There! What do you think?”

Metal examined his fingers. The ends were still thin, but now they were rounded and hopefully less likely to cause damage. Looking around, Metal spotted a paper and carefully picked it up. His fingers didn’t poke straight through as long as he was cautious. Realizing Tails was still waiting for an answer, he switched his optics screen to show a happy expression, pleased when Tails brightened at seeing Metal put his new programming to use.

“This is a lot better,” Metal said, putting the paper back and giving the fox a thumbs up. Oh, maybe now I can turn pages easier!

Speeding into the house, he returned with the book from earlier, letting it fall open to the middle so he could try turning the pages. He returned his expression to neutrality as he found it was even more difficult than before. The pointed edges that he had previously been able to slip under the pages to flip them were now a bit too thick.

“Oh,” Tails said in realization, watching Metal’s struggle. “You need grip. I’ve got an idea for that! I’ve probably got some rubber around here that I can use to slip over the ends of your fingers. Not only will that also make them less sharp, but it’ll make it easier to grab things too!”

“You really are brilliant,” Metal said softly. And kind. Tails was dedicating so much of his time to make things better for Metal even though he was under no obligation to. 

Tails looked bashful at the praise. “Aw, it’s no big deal. Besides, it’s always fun to have new projects! The rubber tips’ll take some time, but I’ll try and get ‘em done tomorrow.”

Metal sent happy eyes his way again, incredibly grateful. “Sonic is lucky,” he said without thinking.

Tails’ expression shifted to something both pleased and sad at the same time. “You think so?”

Question marks flashed briefly across his screen. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Oh, well, I just…” Tails fumbled with his words, fidgeting with the bands of his gloves. “I’m not exactly as… I mean, sometimes I-” He cut himself off, ears flicking towards the front of the house. Not even a second later, Sonic skidded into the workshop.

“Hey bud, got us some chili dogs on my way back! And… surprise!” Sonic lifted another bag. “You know that new donut place? Man, that line was so long that I just about left. But I, the ever so patient Sonic the Hedgehog-” Tails snorted and Metal rolled his eyes, “-stayed in line and managed to snag the last two donuts.”

“Man, thanks Sonic! I’ve been wanting to try those!” Tails said, eyes lighting up and looking a bit relieved by the interruption. 

Metal tried not to be too irritated at the interruption. Maybe it was better if he had full control over his expressions so neither would know he was annoyed. Angry could very well wind up his default expression when Sonic was around. Tails was insecure about something and he had this nagging feeling it was Sonic’s fault. Or maybe that was just because he irked him.

If it were me, I’d never let him feel bad about himself, Metal thought, eyes burning in Sonic’s direction. The hedgehog turned around, expression turning curious. 

“Oh hey, new eye color! Lookin’ good, Mets!” Sonic said with a double thumbs up. He then glanced down at the book Metal was still holding. “What’s got your gears in a twist anyway? Didn’t like the ending?”

“It’s nothing,” Metal said shortly. Sonic shrugged and headed back into the house, calling for Tails to join him for dinner. The fox shot Metal a hesitant look before hurrying in after him.

Metal waited a few minutes before trudging inside and putting the book back on the shelf. He stared at the rows of books, listening to the idle conversation behind them.

“Well that sounds like a good plan,” Sonic said as Tails told him about the plan for rubber tips for Metal’s fingers. “No wonder he was so miffed. If I couldn’t flip pages I’d be annoyed too.”

Tails chuckled awkwardly despite knowing that wasn’t the reason Metal was annoyed. “Yeah, me too…”

The two had just finished dinner and were about to start up a movie when there was a gentle rap on the front door. They exchanged looks and Metal turned around, watching as Sonic hopped up to open the door.

“Vanilla? What are you doing here?” Sonic asked, looking bewildered.

“My apologies for stopping by so late without warning,” the rabbit woman - Vanilla - said. “However, I admit I wanted to talk to you as soon as I could so I came as soon as Cream was asleep.”

“Hi, Miss Vanilla,” Tails greeted from the couch and Metal couldn’t help but notice how much more mild the woman’s expression looked when Tails spoke compared to Sonic.

“Hello Tails, are you doing well?”

“Yes ma’am!” Tails chirped. “How are you?”

“Rather well, though I have a few concerns. Cream was very excited to tell me about her playdate with you today,” Vanilla said calmly as her attention returned to Sonic. Her eyes flicked past Sonic and landed directly on Metal, who had been peeking past the couch to catch a glimpse of the visitor. He froze, feeling nervous under her strong gaze. “So it’s true then. Metal Sonic is living with you.”

Sonic glanced back at Metal and then shrugged. “He’s not bad anymore, so why not?”

“Would you care to tell me why you didn’t ask me whether or not I was okay with him joining you today?” Vanilla asked. Metal shrank back out of view. 

“Yeah, so about that, you know how I asked about meeting up tomorrow to chat?” Sonic said, scratching the back of his head. “I kinda figured, y’know, do first, ask forgiveness later.” The hedgehog laughed, but Vanilla did not look amused. “They had a lot of fun today! Besides, the socialization is good for him.”

Metal scowled internally at the wording. What was he, some kind of pet?

“Sonic,” Vanilla said, warning in her tone.

“Alright, since you’re here now, I’ll ask what I was gonna ask tomorrow. Wouldja let him hang with her again? She wanted him to meet the Chaotix and stuff. I’d be there the whole time, every time. Cross my heart.”

There was silence and Metal’s shoulders sank.

“I’d like to meet him for myself,” Vanilla said.

“C’mon Metal! Come meet Cream’s mom!” Sonic called when he turned to find Metal was no longer in sight.

Metal hesitated before trudging around, fans whirring louder than he’d have liked them to. He couldn’t put a finger on why, but this woman was oddly intimidating. Maybe it was because she was the obstacle standing between himself and more time with Cream, and he’d found he liked the little rabbit girl quite a bit.

Vanilla eyed him as he approached. “Hello, Metal Sonic.” 

Metal tensed further at the name and Sonic quickly intervened, “Just call him Metal.”

The rabbit stuck out her hand to shake and Metal stared at it for a moment before he took it as gently as he possibly could. Cream had done the same thing, shaking hands with him, and he’d found it just as odd as before. He glanced up at Vanilla again, who, surprisingly to him, had arranged her features into a polite smile.

“My name is Vanilla.”

“Um, it’s- it’s nice to meet you…” Metal paused for a moment. Better to imitate Tails, seeing as how she looked much nicer during her brief interaction with the fox. “Miss Vanilla?”

Surprise flickered across her face and Sonic looked like he was struggling to keep a straight face. “It seems you have better manners than Sonic,” Vanilla said, both pleased and amused. “Cream tells you’re no longer working for Eggman now.”

Once more imitating Tails, Metal replied, “Yes ma’am.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Just like Gemerl, right?” Sonic said, a smirk sliding onto his face as he patted Metal on the shoulder. Metal stiffened but swallowed his pride and forced a happy expression on his face.

Vanilla again looked mildly surprised at Metal's happy-looking LEDs, but her smile remained. “You’re right, Sonic. Very well. I’ll allow you to spend time with Cream, but I have a few conditions. Both Sonic and Gemerl must be present. Is that alright with you?”

Metal quickly nodded. He didn’t know who Gemerl was, but he was sure it would be fine - besides, it was an opportunity to meet others. As much as he wanted to avoid the reactions he tended to get from others, he did want to meet more people, and it sounded like spending time with Cream would lead to that.

“We can plan a time later,” Vanilla said. “I hope you three have a good night.”

“Sounds good! See ya!” Sonic said.

“Goodbye, Miss Vanilla,” Metal said, doing his utmost to sound nice and polite, lest she change her mind.

“Bye!” Tails called from behind them.

The door closed as Vanilla turned to leave, and Sonic only waited a moment before bursting into cackles.

“Oh man,” he crowed. “Ma’am? Miss Vanilla? Gee, Metal, didn’t think you had it in you to act like such a goody-two-shoes!”

“It’s basic manners, Sonic,” Tails said.

“Ugh, don’t act like you’ve always been that way,” Sonic replied.

“I wasn’t only because I learned from you!” Tails shot back.

“Uh-huh, so why don’t you talk like that around everyone else instead of just Vanilla?”

Tails huffed, then mumbled, “She’s kinda intimidating about manners.”

Sonic snorted. “Were you scared too, Metal?”

“I didn’t say scared!” Tails whined as Metal went, “Absolutely not. I was just imitating Tails because she clearly likes him more.”

Sonic waved a hand. “Eh, she can like him more all she wants. I don’t care what she thinks of me. Manners schmanners. C’mon, we got a movie to watch.”

As Sonic flopped onto the couch, half-landing on Tails who yelped and shoved him away, Metal settled onto the floor like before.

“This is an action classic, Mets,” Sonic told him. “It’s one of my favorites. You’ll love it.”

And as much as part of him hoped Sonic would be wrong, Metal loved it.

Chapter Text

“What do you think?” Tails asked as Metal gently rubbed together the rubber tips Tails had finished sliding onto his metallic fingertips. The fox had given the bottoms a slightly bumpy texture to help with grip.

Metal quickly retrieved a book and started to flip through it. Using his optics to express a happy face, he said, “They work perfectly. Thanks, Tails.”

“Nice job,” Sonic piped up from where he was chilling in his lawn chair again as if just to remind Metal that he was still there. He turned to glare at the hedgehog before Tails’ voice brought his attention back to the fox.

“I'm glad it works!” Tails exclaimed. “I made some spares too in case you lose one, but they fit pretty tight so hopefully that won't happen.”

Metal shot him a thumbs up, then left his thumb there for a moment, admiring how rounded out the black rubber made his thumb look. Maybe now he'd look even less dangerous.

His head swiveled, hand lowering as he heard footsteps headed towards the workshop. The garage door was open and Metal quickly identified the sound of the footsteps with Amy Rose. A moment later she came around the corner with a bright wave.

“Hello~!”

“Hey, Ames.” Sonic sat up. “What brings you here?”

Amy pointed at Metal, a grin on her face as she declared, “I'm here to kidnap Metal!”

“You're… what?”

“I'm gonna take him with me for some bonding time!” she said cheerily.

Sonic's expression was doubtful. “Uh, look Amy-”

“Nope, you can't talk me out of it.” Amy crossed her arms. “I've been thinking about it and realized since he's been working for Eggman all this time, there's a lot he's missed out on in life! And I'm going to fix that.”

Sonic sighed as he started to get up. “Alright, alright.”

“Nope.” Amy summoned her hammer with her hand out so it appeared right in front of Sonic’s nose, his eyes going wide. She moved her hammer forward a little so he sank back in his chair. “You're staying here. This is a day for Metal and me only. No third wheels allowed!”

“But-”

Amy smiled sweetly. “I'm touched you want to spend time with me so badly, Sonic, so how about we do something another day?”

Sonic groaned, flopping back onto the seat. “Fine, you can go. Considering how hard you hit him a few days ago, I suppose you can take care of yourself. But if anything happens-”

“No wonder Metal looks so annoyed,” Amy sighed, looking at the flattened, irritated eyes Metal had put on. “You don't trust him! The new color looks nice by the way.” She winked at Metal. 

“It's not that I don't trust him, I just-”

“Ah ah ah, enough out of you. Metal, do you wanna come with me?” Amy’s hammer disappeared as she held out her hand to Metal.

If it got him away from Sonic for a while, he'd absolutely go with her. Sonic left occasionally and very briefly here and there as he began to trust Metal more, but it wasn't as much freedom as Metal yearned for. And when the hedgehog was around, even if not in the same room, he was always within earshot.

Metal placed his hand firmly in Amy's, shooting Sonic the smuggest look he could muster. Sonic gave him a look that said, if you hurt her, you'll regret it, and Metal returned it with his best, yeah, I know, you've said the same thing without out loud saying it about Tails like a million times look.

Sonic settled back into his chair, seemingly satisfied with the silent exchange.

“Come on, Metal!” Amy said, marching away and dragging him along.

“What are we doing?” Metal asked once they were out of the earshot of others.

“Oh, I've got a whole slew of things planned - though I'm not sure we can fit them all into today! But I want each of them to be a surprise until the last second,” Amy replied, eyes twinkling. She glanced down at his hand in hers thoughtfully. “Though I think a new one just made it onto the list! Anyway, for now, we're headed to my house.”

“Do you want me to fly us there?” he asked. He didn't know how far away her house was but he already had a feeling he wouldn't want to walk that far.

“Would you be willing?” Amy asked, turning towards him. “We could get started everything even sooner!”

Metal nodded, crouching a little and holding out his hands to let her make the first move. She stepped closer and he carefully picked her up.

“It's cool to see that you've customized yourself already,” Amy told him as he kicked on his thrusters and headed into the skies. “Did Tails help you with all of that?”

“Yeah. Which way?” 

Amy pointed and he went off in that direction.

“I thought so,” she said. “He's so smart! And such a sweet kid too.”

Metal found himself nodding to her words.

“I'm glad you two get along,” she said, louder to be heard over the wind, though his receptors would have picked her up just fine even if she had spoken at a normal volume. “But you don't get along so well with Sonic, huh?”

“No,” he said firmly. “He's annoying.”

Amy laughed. “He can be, yes. But he's a good person. Maybe you'll like him eventually!”

Metal sincerely doubted it. Begrudging tolerance was about as good as he'd probably ever get. He didn't want to like him, either. His counterpart already had plenty of people who liked him anyway. Metal didn't plan to be another number added to that list.

“Turn that way a little bit and then head down,” Amy told him. “It's the one with the big garden in the back.”

Following her directions, Metal carefully landed outside her house.

“Home sweet home,” she sang as he placed her down.

He followed her inside, glancing around. Very pink.

“Ok, first, a quick house tour,” Amy said and he followed her as she spoke. “This is the living room and through that door is the backyard. The kitchen is over here.” She then headed down the hall. “Bathroom here and then there's my room!”

The door to her room was open and he glanced inside as she pointed. The rug next to her bed was very fluffy and he wondered how soft it felt. He supposed he'd never be able to tell.

“Now let's head to the kitchen for the first thing on the list,” Amy said. 

“Which is?” he asked, tilting his head as she opened a cupboard.

“We’re baking cookies!” Amy exclaimed as she pulled out a bag of flour with a bright smile.

Metal put question marks on his visor. “Cookies?”

“I know you can't eat things, but this isn't for us,” she explained. “You see, there's a joy to be found in giving. I want you to experience that.”

He wasn't really sure if he'd get much out of this, but she was giving him time away from Sonic so Metal decided to humor her and go along with it. “Alright. What do you want me to do?”

“You can measure things, right?” Amy asked as she quickly pulled out everything else they'd need and preheated the oven.

“Yeah.”

“Then you can help with that.” She pulled a paper from one of the drawers and stuck it on the fridge with a magnet. “There's the recipe, so that will tell you how much of everything we need. Here, you can be in charge of these.”

“Sure.”

She pushed over what he'd need for his job and he examined the labels.

“One last thing,” Amy said as she headed into the living room. She returned with a small pair of speakers, which she set to the side. “We need music!”

Plugging in her phone, tunes started playing through the speaker. It was unfamiliar to Metal, but he supposed that wasn't surprising. The music he had heard was in those movies and a couple of things Sonic played one day. He didn't exactly have a very extensive list of songs just from those things.

Bopping, swaying, and humming, he watched Amy open the bag of flour and scoop some out before leveling it by sliding the back of a knife over it. He then turned and read the recipe, which his memory quickly stored so he wouldn't have to look at it again while he worked.

“What's your favorite color?” Amy asked as she opened the bag of brown sugar.

“Uh… I'm not sure,” he replied as he scooped some baking soda up. Blue was nice - the sky, the water, Tails' eyes - but it was also not so nice - Sonic, mainly. Green was also nice, like the trees and grass, but then there was Sonic's aggravating eyes. Why does Sonic have to ruin the best colors?

“That’s okay! Not everyone has a favorite. Mine is pink. Red and green are tied for second,” Amy said, dumping the brown sugar.

Metal stared at the drops of vanilla extract as he carefully poured it. “I could have guessed pink or red, but I wouldn't have expected green.”

“I've liked it since I was little actually, but now I like it because it reminds me of someone,” Amy replied, her lips turning up. “You know what? When I was younger, orange was one of my favorite colors! Pink, green, and orange.”

He wondered who it reminded her of.

“I like green,” he said, and then muttered, “except Sonic's eyes.”

Amy snorted and then started laughing. “That's very ironic.”

“Why?”

She shook her head, giggling. “Nothing.” Clearing her throat, she then asked, “Do you have any hobbies?”

Hobbies…?

“I like to run.”

Amy nodded. “Of course.”

“Reading… I think.” Metal had yet to finish a full book, but now that his fingertips were more paper-friendly, he'd have to give it a better try. “Watching movies maybe?”

If he could have frowned, he would have. Running was a given, but Metal hadn't had much of a chance to try out different things, so he wasn't really sure. The only movies he watched were whatever Sonic and Tails put on, and though he enjoyed them, he wasn't sure if it counted as a hobby.

“Alright, let me expand the question a bit. What sorts of things do you like?”

“The outdoors,” Metal said easily.

“Like, just being outside?”

“That, but I like the nature part too,” he said, quickly flicking to happy eyes and found himself unexpectedly delighted when she noticed and giggled.

“Have you tried gardening?” Amy asked.

He shook his head.

“Then we can add that to the list to do another time! What else do you like?”

“I liked making flower crowns with Cream.”

Amy beamed. “Isn't Cream the sweetest? I'm so glad you got to spend time with her!”

“She was… very nice,” he said softly.

“Have you found anything else you like?”

“Tails,” Metal said, then paused and quickly changed his words. “Watching Tails work.”

Amy had a knowing look in her eyes that Metal didn't care for but she opted not to say anything and simply nodded instead.

“What do you like?” Metal asked as she mixed the butter and sugar together.

“Shopping, doing crafts, ice cream - well, honestly I've got a sweet tooth in general. Playing games can be a lot of fun! Like board games and card games. And speaking of cards, I like fortune-telling with tarot cards. Oh! Would you want me to do a reading for you?”

“Nope.” Metal quickly shook his head. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like he'd much rather have his future be a mystery than feel like it was preset to be something specific. He didn't want his future to feel… programmed.

Amy laughed. “I had a feeling you'd say no.”

Which meant she had probably asked Sonic before and gotten the same response.

“Anyway, I also like cooking and baking. Especially when I get to share what I make, like what we'll be doing today!”

“Who are we giving them to?”

“Vanilla and Cream,” Amy replied. “Cream told me you two got to spend time together and she was really excited about it. She said that her mom was going to try and plan a time for you guys to get together again but with the Chaotix as well. But! I thought she'd love to see you again before whenever that turns out to be.”

Amy went around him and pulled out eggs from the fridge. “Have you ever cracked an egg?”

“No.”

“Let me show you first then, and then you can do the second egg,” Amy told him. She gently tapped the egg on the counter, then moved it over the bowl to crack it the rest of the way. “Now you try!”

It looked pretty easy, so Metal lifted the second egg and struck it on the counter. The bottom cracked more than hers had, spilling the egg all over the counter.

“Oh,” Metal muttered, grimacing inside at the mess he had caused. 

“That's okay!” Amy quickly reassured him as she got to work cleaning it up. “I've got more. Just a bit less strength next time. You can try again.”

Once the egg had been cleaned up, she handed him another egg. He tapped it much more gently this time.

“There you go! See that thin line? Hold it over the bowl and press into that like this.” She gestured and he did his best to mimic it, but he must have used too much strength again because even though the yolk went into the bowl this time, some pieces of the shell went with it.

I messed it all up. Are we going to have to start over with fresh eggs? I'm wasting all her eggs.

Amy put a gentle hand on his shoulder plate as though she could sense his thoughts. “Watch, there's a really easy way to get broken bits of shell out. Hand me the shells and I'll show you.”

He handed the broken eggshell over and she dipped one half of it into the bowl, scooping up the flakes with ease. “It's really easy if you just use part of the shell. Tadah! It's perfectly fine! Now if you give me the vanilla you measured…”

She mixed everything together bit by bit. The chocolate chips were the last thing to be added and when those were mixed in, he helped her scoop out balls of dough onto a tray.

“Now we pop these in the oven and set the timer.” Once that was done, Amy turned to Metal. “I've got a question.”

“Shoot,” he told her.

“Can I paint those?” She pointed at the rubber tips of his fingers and he lifted them curiously.

“Paint them?”

“Yeah! Just the tops of them. Whatever color you want, as long as it's a color I have.”

He considered her question, looking down at the dark rubber. “Alright, sure.”

Amy squealed, clapping her hands. “Oh, perfect! You wait in the living room.” She hurried past him and was already heading down the hall by the time he stepped into the living room. He heard the sound of cupboard doors clunking open and shut before she returned carrying a plastic container and a hand towel.

“These are all my nail polish colors,” she told him as she gestured for him to sit down. She sat next to him and held it out. “Pick a color. Or more than one! Whatever you want.”

Metal examined the colors. It looked like she had just about every color there was, though some had more shades than others.

He pulled out a shimmery blue that reminded him of his own paint, then a neon green. After a moment of consideration, he also pulled out a bright pink, which had Amy’s face lighting up.

“Only one pink,” he warned. He'd probably get teased by Sonic for having them painted at all, but he figured Amy would love it if she got to use pink, and since she was doing all of this for him, he might as well.

“Got it. Are those your choices?”

He nodded, handing them over.

“Do you want one hand blue and the other one green, or alternating fingers in those colors?”

“Alternating,” he said after a moment.

“Perfect! I'll do that, and one pinkie finger pink.”

She took his right hand and laid it on the towel she had draped over her leg. Uncapping the blue, she got started, methodically smoothing the polish over every other digit. It was kind of like watching Tails work - there was something mesmerizing, almost soothing about watching her work. The music in the kitchen was still playing too and she started humming along.

It was nice. Calm and peaceful. His eyes continued to go back and forth between her hands as she painted and her focused expression.

“I'll have to go over it with a few more coats,” she told him, “but I'll switch to green for now so the first layer can dry.”

Amy continued, painting the remaining tips green, before switching hands and repeating the pattern, though for the pinkie she switched to pink. The timer went off part way through the second coat of green polish so she quickly capped it and stood.

“Don't touch anything while it dries, but you can come with me to look!”

Holding his hands up so he wouldn't bump them on anything, he followed her back to the kitchen and watched as she pulled the cookies out. “Perfect! See? Nice and golden brown on top. I'll put these on some cooling racks and then when they're cool, we can wrap them up real nice.”

“Wrap them up?”

“Yeah! Since they're a gift, we can stack them in a cute plastic wrapping and tie them shut with a ribbon! Going the extra mile makes gift-giving even better for both the receiver and the giver!” she told him. “Now let's finish your nails.”

Chapter Text

Amy continued to layer on polish until the colors stood out nice and strong against the black rubber and then put a clear top coat. “Hopefully it'll stay on longer with this. I'm not sure how well it'll stay on rubber to start with, but doesn't it look nice?”

Metal held up his hands to admire them. “They do,” he admitted. It was fun having an extra pop of color. Most of all, it had been nice to watch her work and he was actually a bit disappointed that he didn't have any more tips for her to paint. Oh.  

During one of the times he had been fiddling around and getting to know his robotic side, he had found that his yellow hand plates were removable. Reaching down, he shifted it until it clicked, then popped it off. 

“Would you paint this too?”

“Huh?” Amy looked surprised by his request.

He flipped it over and held it out so the inside faced up. “The inner part of it so it won't get damaged. You can paint whatever you want.”

Surprise turned into an excited grin and shining eyes. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“Ooh! I wonder if I have any acrylic paints that aren't dried up! I'll go get my paintbrushes too - I'll need different sizes!”

Though it had just been so he could watch her paint more, her joy made him even more glad he had asked. She scurried off and he could hear her digging around for a while before she came back, dumping a few paint bottles and a bunch of brushes onto the coffee table before going to the kitchen and returning with a paper plate.

Amy stared at the plate thoughtfully for a moment before pulling out a bunch of nail polish colors to make up for the acrylic colors she was lacking.

First was white acrylic, painting the entire inside of it with a large brush. “This might take a while since the white base has to dry first,” she said.

“That's okay. We can do something else while it dries. What are you gonna paint, anyway?”

“You'll just have to watch and find out later!” Amy said. “Now, while we wait… do you want to play a game?”

“What kind of game?”

“Well, I've got some two-player card games and board games you can try if you’d like.”

Setting the hand plate aside, she got up and opened a cupboard below the TV, pulling out a few things. 

“Ooh, what about this game? You get a card with a word on it and have to get the other player to guess the word within 60 seconds without using any of the off-limit words on the card.” She shook a box of cards. He had never played any card game before so he just nodded. It sounded like it could be fun.

Amy went to the kitchen and the music stopped as she returned with her phone, heading back over and plopping on the couch, pulling her legs underneath her.

“I'll go first so you get the idea of how it works.” She got a timer ready on her phone. “I lost the hourglass that came with the set so I just use this.” She then pulled a card and pressed start on the timer. “Ok, um… bad visibility outside.”

“Nighttime?” Metal guessed.

She shook her head. “Any time. Pale colored? Uhh, thick, wet…”

He searched through terms in his system to find anything that might match the description, hoping it wasn’t cheating. “Clouds?”

“But lower.”

“Fog.”

“Yes! That's it!” she flipped the card around for him to see. “I couldn't say cloud, mist, weather, see, or white. Okay, your turn!”

Metal pulled a card and looked at it as Amy started the timer again.

The word was artist, and he couldn't say paint, sculptor, make, gallery, or brush.

“Someone who creates things,” he said.

“Artist.”

Metal looked up at her in surprise. “Yeah.”

“Oh really? First try, awesome! I feel like I should get extra points for that.”

“Are we getting points?” Metal asked.

“I figure we get a point for each one we can get the other person to guess correctly. And if we use a word we're not supposed to, we lose a point.”

“So one point each so far.”

Amy nodded as she drew another card and started the timer again, then grimaced as she looked at her card. “Oof, um… bedtime…”

“Sleep?”

Amy shook her head. “Nighttime… n- wait I can't use that word. Sinus? Um… sinus… man I can't use either of those words either?” She frowned. “This one is hard.”

Metal considered her two hints so far. Nighttime and nose. His mind came up empty.

“At nighttime, people do something.”

“Sleep?”

“Yes, and some people do this while they, uh, do that thing you just said.”

Something people do when they sleep…

“Dream?” But that didn't have anything to do with sinuses.

“Oh! It's an audible thing. The thing they do is-” Her phone let out a happy little tune to signify time was up. “Oh, man.”

“What was it?”

“Snore. I couldn't say sound or noise or nose or sleep!”

“Oh. Sonic snores.”

Amy laughed, then covered her mouth quickly as though she shouldn't have. “He does?”

“A little,” Metal said as he drew a card and looked at it. Finger. The off-limit words were hand, digit, points, nail, and ring. “The things my rubber tips are on.”

“Your fingers?”

Metal nodded and flipped the card around. “Finger.”

“Man, I dunno if you're really good at clues or if I'm really good at guessing.” Amy laughed. “Two points for you, one for me!” She drew another card. “Okay, so it's a circular flat thing you eat-”

“Cracker,” he quickly guessed.

“No, it's a hot food. Melted cheese and other toppings.”

“Pizza.”

“Ding ding ding, correct!”

Metal pulled a card for himself. Butterfly. Oh, he had seen one of those by the lake.

“Tiny airborne creature.”

“Flicky?” Amy tried.

“Thin, colorful flying appendages. Antennae.”

“Oh! A butterfly!”

“Correct,” Metal replied, setting the card back down.

“Good clues! You make this seem so easy somehow!”

The two continued like this for a while until Metal started to get bored of the game. He didn't even have to say anything though, because Amy seemed to tell somehow.

“It looks like we tied in the end, huh? Let's see if the white paint is dry yet!” Amy reached over and grabbed the plate, carefully touching the paint. “It's ready for more painting.”

She put away the game and got her materials for painting ready again. Metal shuffled closer for a better view, leaning against the couch as he watched her put colors on the paper plate, dipping brushes. It was fascinating, watching something appear in real life that came from her own imagination. She was creating something, right before his eyes. An artist, like the word from before.

Metal watched as blue skies with one cloud and a sea of grass appeared little by little, followed by small flowers sprouting under the dab of her brushes.

“There, done!” She held up the plate proudly. It was a flowery field under blue skies and it was perfect.

“Thanks, Amy,” he said softly, accepting it from her and staring down at it for a moment before remembering to switch his visor to have happy eyes. “It's… fantastic.”

Amy waved a hand. “Oh, it's a bit sloppy, but thank you! I'm glad you like it. Do you want to leave it to dry while we wrap the cookies? I bet they're cool now.”

He nodded, setting it down carefully and getting up to follow her to the kitchen where she reached into a drawer and pulled out a box of clear plastic that looked like it had confetti printed on it. 

“Ok, so get a stack of four cookies and place them on this sheet here.”

Metal did as instructed and watched as she carefully lifted the plastic around it and twisted the top. 

“Can you grab me a ribbon from that drawer?”

“What color?” Metal asked.

“This one will be for Cream, so… let's do light blue. She likes that color.”

Metal picked out a light blue and handed it over for Amy to tie. 

“Then for Vanilla, so would you grab a purple ribbon?”

By the time Metal returned with a purple ribbon, Amy had already stacked the cookies and was ready to tie the bag up. Once she was done with that, there were still four cookies left and he watched curiously as she stacked those and asked for one red ribbon and another light blue one.

“Who is that for?” Metal asked.

“Sonic,” Amy said, expression turning oddly shy before she quickly added, “and Tails! Red ribbon for Sonic, blue for Tails - I figured they could share since we technically made these primarily for Cream and Vanilla… Sorry, does that bother you? I know you don't like Sonic much-”

“It's fine,” he told her. Especially if it meant Tails got some. He hoped they tasted good. Amy was confident in the kitchen though, so he had a feeling they were fine. She flashed a relieved smile and set that bag aside.

“Alright, shall we take these to Vanilla and Cream? Or do you want to wait until your hand thingy is done drying?”

Metal glanced at the exposed machinery and wires of his hand. He’d rather wait, but he didn’t want to be weird about it. “I’m fine with whatever.”

She tilted her head as she examined him as though trying to see if he was being honest. He shuffled slightly. 

“You know what?” Amy clapped her hands together. “I just remembered - I’ve been knitting Cheese and Chocola - Cream’s Chao - some little bowtie scarves for the winter! I’m done with one of them and close to finished with the other. Do you want me to show you how to knit while I finish it?”

Did she know he wanted to wait for his hand plate to dry or was it a coincidence? Either way, he nodded. “Sure.” She beamed before flouncing off to her room and he stared after her. She smiles a lot.

Returning with her supplies, she gestured for Metal to come over to the couch with her.

“Okay, so with this pattern…” 

He listened and watched avidly as she explained what he was doing, gaze trained on her movements as he committed it to memory until she completed it.

“Tadah!” She held up her creation and Metal applauded her for a moment before internally grimacing at the metal-on-metal sound and quickly lowering his hands. She didn’t seem to mind though, beaming at him proudly.

“Before we go, I want to show you how to get started! What I showed you is only useful if you’ve already got a project started - not to mention it’s not the most basic pattern,” Amy told him. “First I’ll show you how to cast on, a simple knit stitch, and how to cast off.”

Once more, he gave her full attention as she explained each step and the importance of counting, especially when following a pattern.

“Now you try.”

He ran back through her instructions in his memory and followed them. His movements were a little clumsy to start, but he soon got the hang of it.

“Awesome job, Metal! You’re a quick learner!” Amy cheered. His circuits warmed and he changed his eyes to show off his happiness, pleased by her compliments.

“You’re a good teacher,” Metal told her and she laughed.

“I did my best to explain it the way Vanilla taught me. She’s taught me a lot of things!”

“What else has she taught you?”

“A few nifty sewing tricks, some great recipes, and the best ways to remove different types of stains from different types of fabrics,” Amy listed. “To name a few, anyway. Speaking of Vanilla…” The hedgehog reached forward and picked up Metal’s hand plate. “It’s dry! So now we can bring Vanilla and Cream those cookies.”

Metal popped the plate back on, tugging at it to make sure it was firmly connected, while Amy went and quickly wrapped the gifts for the Chao. 

She tucked everything into a bag, then turned and asked, “Do you think you could fly us again?” 

“Of course,” Metal replied.

“Great!”

The two stepped out of the house and after Amy locked up, she wrapped her arms around Metal so he could lift her up. The action was more confident on both of their parts compared to the first time, something Metal felt a small note of victory over. She was comfortable with him, even more now than before. And, he supposed, he was getting more comfortable with her.

He followed her directions until they landed outside a small house with flowers lining the front. Amy knocked on the door and immediately they could hear Vanilla’s voice call, “Gemerl, could you get that for me?”

The door opened soon after and a black and yellow robot stood there. His monotone voice took Metal by surprise as the robot - Gemerl - spoke. “Amy Rose and-” there is a slight pause before the robot continued, “-Metal Sonic are here.”

“I’ll be there in a moment!” Vanilla called. “Go ahead and let them inside.”

Gemerl stepped aside and gestured for them to come in. “Please enter.”

“Thank you, Gemerl. And just call him Metal, please,” Amy said to Gemerl, easily noting the way Metal tensed at his full name.

“Request acknowledged,” Gemerl replied.

“Miss Amy! Mr. Metal!” An excited voice sounded as small footsteps came down the stairs, Cream’s ears flopping behind her as she ran up to them. Two Chao fluttered after her, one a pale blue, and the other brown. “Hello!”

“Hi, Cream! How are you doing?” Amy asked.

“I’m doing well, thank you! How are you?”

“I’m doing great!” Amy replied.

“And how are you, Mr. Metal?” Cream’s bright eyes turned to Metal.

“Doing well,” he parroted, giving her a thumbs up.

The little girl gasped. “Your fingers! You got them painted! I love it!”

Metal held out his hands for her to look closer.

“It’ll be harder for you to pick flowers now,” Cream murmured, but she smiled up at him right after. “But it must be so much easier for you to do things now! I’m happy for you.”

“Amy painted them,” he told Cream.

“You did a great job!” Cream said to Amy. 

“Aw, thank you!” 

“Oh, Mr. Metal, this is Cheese, this is Chocola, and this is Gemerl!” Cream introduced the Chao who were peeking out from behind her. “Cheese, Chocola, Gemerl, this is Metal.”

“Hello Cheese, hello Chocola,” Metal greeted. “Hello Gemerl.”

“Hello, Metal.”

Though Chocola glared at Metal from behind Cream, Cheese waved. “Chao chao!”

Vanilla came around the corner. “Hello, dears! What a lovely surprise.”

Metal wondered if he was part of the lovely or just the surprise.

“Would you like anything to drink?”

Amy shook her head. “No thank you. We just wanted to drop by and give you both something we made.”

“Oh! How sweet of you.” Vanilla put a hand to her chest as Amy reached into her bag and pulled out the cookies.

“Thank you so much, Miss Amy, Mr. Metal!” Cream exclaimed. Just like when Amy complimented him, Metal felt warm. Not in a bad, overheating sort of way. It was a pleasant warmth, one he wanted to hold onto.

Maybe Amy was onto something when she talked about giving bringing happiness.

“Did you help Amy make these?” Cream asked Metal.

He nodded and she clapped her hands excitedly. “That’s wonderful! Did you have fun?”

Metal nodded again, feeling a little embarrassed for a reason he couldn’t put his finger on. But Cream was delighted, which helped turn that sensation back into just happiness.

“Thank you very much,” Vanilla said softly in his direction, a smile on her face.

“Oh, and I made these for Cheese and Chocola.” Amy pulled out the bowtie scarves. “You can tie them kind of like a bowtie, but it’s thicker and warmer. I was thinking it would be nice if they could have something warm once winter rolled around! I know it’s a bit early but…”

The Chao came up immediately, each taking the one that matched the color of the bowties they already wore, chirping and cooing happily as they snuggled against them.

“That is so sweet of you,” Vanilla told her. “Thank you, dear.”

“Aw, they love them so much! Thank you, Miss Amy!”

“Oh, it’s nothing. It was a fun project!” Amy waved a hand. “I’m glad you guys like them.”

“Chao! Chao chao!”

“Gemerl, would you like a scarf too?” Amy asked.

“I am not organic. I do not get cold.”

Amy laughed. “I know. But I thought you might like one anyway!”

“If she made one like the one she made me last year, we could match!” Cream exclaimed, looking excited by the mere prospect.

Gemerl stood there for a moment. “Affirmative. If it makes Cream happy, I would accept a matching scarf.”

“Perfect! And you’ve now given me something to do in my downtime, see? It works out for everyone,” Amy replied warmly. “Thanks Gemerl!”

“Your appreciation is accepted and reciprocated.”

Why does he speak like that? Metal wondered. It’s so… robotic. A strange thought to Metal, since he was also a robot, but sounded nothing like Gemerl. He also couldn’t read Gemerl’s facial expressions at all. Is that what it’s usually like for others when they look at me? It was discomforting. He didn’t like it. At least he didn’t talk like that.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything to drink, dear?” Vanilla asked Amy.

“No thank you, Miss Vanilla! We weren’t planning on staying very long anyway. Now that we’ve dropped this off, we’ll excuse ourselves!”

“Alright. Thank you both again for stopping by with these lovely treats.”

“It was good to see you both! Mama is gonna set up a playdate for us when the Chaotix are free, okay Mr. Metal?”

“Alright, Cream. I’ll look forward to it,” Metal replied. He made sure to show off his happy eyes, which made Cream light up all over again.

Chapter Text

The two rabbits saw them out the door, where Amy then got back into Metal’s arms so he could take them back to her house.

“Wasn’t that nice?” she asked as he flew.

“Yeah. Yeah, it was,” he replied.

“Oh, by the way, I was thinking. Once people know you're around and a good guy now, we should go shopping together! I thought about doing that today, but I didn't want you to have to go around in disguise or something. Or maybe we can go online shopping at some point!”

“Okay.” He glanced down just in time to see Amy grin excitedly. She did say she enjoyed shopping.

The two landed and Amy opened the door, letting Metal through first.

“So. I need to make myself some dinner, but I was thinking after that we could do a movie marathon. How’s that sound?”

“Sounds good. What movie?” The moment the question came out of his mouth, he realized how silly it was. He didn’t know any movies aside from the several he had watched with Sonic and Tails.

“I’ll let you pick! All my movies are in the cupboards under the TV. Read the backs and pick a few out while I get dinner, okay?”

“Alright.”

He went over to where she’d said they were and read the backs one by one. He quickly noticed a trend - there was a lot of focus on romance. He found a few that were described as action, comedies, or mystery, but romance-focused films definitely made up the majority of it. It was clear what her taste was. He figured if she liked it, he’d give it a try, even though it didn’t sound very interesting to him, so he picked out the one of that group that sounded the best and then two from other genres. One was about a heist and another was about investigating a mysterious crime.

Amy returned with a toasted sandwich and some chips. “Find something that interested you?”

“Here.” He laid out the three movies and she gasped in delight.

“ My Best Friend’s Getting Married ?! That’s one of my favorites! Ooh, I can’t believe you picked a romcom, Metal! Those other two movies are also great. This is gonna be such a good movie marathon.”

Whether he ended up liking any of them or not, at least she was excited.

“Which one do you want to watch first?”

Metal tilted his head. Should he get the romance film out of the way? No, it would be better to sandwich it in between the others. “The murder mystery.”

Her eyes twinkled. “I wonder if you can figure out who did it before the end of the movie? Oh, probably not. It’s a brilliant plot!” She went over

“I bet I can,” he said.

“Alright. If you figure it out before the reveal, I’ll do you a favor of some sort. Whatever you want within reason. If you don’t figure it out, you owe me! Deal?”

“Deal.”

She closed all the blinds, turned off the lights, and started the movie. As he watched, he started running the data of every new piece of information they received to calculate the most likely suspect, taking the surprise factor into account. She never said he couldn’t, so it wasn’t cheating.

Though it changed several times throughout the movie, the probability of him being correct reached 72% - the highest it had been so far. Amy was getting more and more excited next to him - a sign they were probably reaching the big reveal.

“It's the teacher,” he said and her jaw dropped as her gaze swung towards him.

She scrambled for the remote and hit pause. “How did you know?!”

“It fits the narrative while also not being too obvious. You said I wouldn’t figure it out, which means it couldn’t be the suspects it was shaping up to be.”

“I shouldn't have acted so confident you'd lose,” Amy grumbled. She huffed. “Fine. I guess I owe you one. What do you want?”

“I’ll decide another time.”

“Alright. But don't get too crazy with it!”

The sound of a chuckle came through his speakers. As if he'd ever make her do something she didn't want to do. “I won't, I promise.”

Amy looked surprised. “I think that's the first time I've ever heard you laugh!”

“I think… that was the first time I have laughed,” he said quietly. He couldn't remember having done so before - there hadn't been a time when he'd felt like it.

“Well, there's another difference. Sonic laughs easily. I guess it just means I'll have to put in a little extra effort to make you laugh! I like a good challenge.” She grinned at him and he decided to return the expression in the only way he could, using his eyes.

“You're a very competitive person, Amy Rose,” he said in an amused tone.

“You bet I am! Stubborn, too.” She said it proudly and he found himself laughing again. She looked absolutely delighted.

“Is that a good thing? To be stubborn?”

“It can be! Like being stubborn and refusing to let Eggman win. Or not letting some mistakes or failures stop you from accomplishing things! I might not be here or have the friends I have if I wasn't stubborn. I might not have been around here to meet you now that you’re free from Eggman!”

“I'm glad you're stubborn then,” Metal said.

She smiled softly at him. “Alright, ready to watch the big reveal you already figured out?”

“Ready.”

She hit play and the movie continued. The teacher was revealed to be the culprit and they managed to catch him right before he escaped. 

“What did you think?” Amy asked.

“It was pretty good. I might not have figured it out if I hadn't bothered to try - or if you hadn't told me it was hard to figure out.”

She rolled her eyes. “I get it, I get it, I gave it away. What movie is next?”

“The romcom.”

Excitement lit her features. “Yes!! Oh, I hope you love it!”

He hoped he did too, at least for her sake.

It didn't turn out to be too bad. It was kind of funny, the ridiculous antics the main character got into trying to ruin a wedding, most of which backfired. He didn't enjoy the sappy parts too much, but thankfully there weren't too many of those. In the end, she failed to ruin the wedding but didn't even end up with another guy.

And he had to admit, the “pus that infects the mucus that cruds up the fungus that feeds on the pond scum” insult was pretty fantastic. If only he could call Sonic that one day.

“So… did you like it?” Amy asked, much more hesitant than when she'd asked about the first movie.

“It wasn't bad,” he decided. “I enjoyed most of it.”

That answer seemed to be enough for Amy. “Oooh, yes!” she squealed, throwing her arms around him and he froze. “None of my friends are into these kinds of movies so they won't even give them a chance! And Vanilla says Cream is still too young for that movie.”

“I didn't say I loved it,” he said awkwardly, hands stiff in the air around her, unsure of what to do.

She pulled back, eyes shining. “But you didn't not like it either! That's all I can ask for! I was worried you were bored out of your mind.”

“No. The scheming was pretty entertaining,” Metal admitted.

She clapped her hands eagerly. “Oh, I'm so happy you enjoyed it! Alright, onto the last movie!” She pointed forward as though leading a charge before hopping off the couch to change the movies out.

He liked seeing her so excited like that. Amy already seemed to light up a room, but she sure kicked it up a notch when she was excited.

They were partway through the heist movie when Amy's phone rang.

She paused the movie, frowning at the caller ID and rolling her eyes as she answered. “Does he have a curfew I don't know about?”

Metal's ears easily picked up Sonic's voice on the other end.

“No, just seeing what you guys are up to! Figured he'd get bored and ditch by now.”

Metal's gaze flicked over Amy's expression and registered the brief flicker of hurt that flashed over her face. Irritation bubbled within him. 

What does she see in him?

“That's a very rude way to say you're worried since you've not heard from me at all,” Amy replied, lifting her chin with a huff. “Neither of us needs a babysitter. And he's been having fun, right Metal?” She put her phone on speaker and held it out, smiling at Metal.

“Lots,” he said.

“See?”

“And he said that without you holding a hammer above his head?” Sonic asked, sounding amused.

“Sonic!” Amy said, scolding in her tone.

“Gee, this call must be so boring to you,” Metal said, having had enough of it. “Bye.” He reached over and pressed the end call on Amy's phone. She blinked at him and he realized what he had done was also rather rude.

“Oh, uh, my bad, he just-”

“You know what?” Amy said. “It's fine. He was interrupting our movie anyway. Seriously, he has no tact sometimes. Who says that to someone? I mean, he'll act rude like that, but then sometimes he says things that are so… so…” She sighed, almost dreamily before snapping out of it and shaking her head. “Forget it, I shouldn't go on about him.”

“Why do you like him so much?” Metal blurted.

Her cheeks pinkened and she fiddled with a quill as she chuckled sheepishly. “Is it that obvious?”

“Very. But why? He's rude. And annoying. And stupid.”

Amy snorted. “He can definitely be all of those things. But he's also… brave, heroic, caring, loyal… he's many good things. To me, that outweighs everything else, I guess.”

Metal's fans whirred irritably and he had to shut them up manually. 

“Sorry, I know you're always at odds with him, so I bet hearing me go on like that isn't the greatest, huh?” Amy chuckled.

“I was the one who asked,” Metal said, though he had to agree he definitely didn't like hearing praises sung about his awful counterpart. A new thought came to mind though, one that quickly distracted him from the irritation. If she knows Sonic that well, would she also know how we differ? “How are we different?”

“Hm?”

“You know Sonic. How are we different?”

Realization spread over her features. “Well, you're more polite. And a little more curious in some ways? Sonic is curious too, but… it's slightly different.” She tilted her head, struggling to find a way to explain it. “You're curious about almost everything from what I've seen. Less against trying things that some people,” she rolled her eyes, “might consider to be traditionally too girly or silly. You're more open to it! Which is a great thing, by the way. I really appreciate it.”

Pride swelled at her words. “What else?”

“You don't talk as much. You observe more than you act. You also seem to take things a little more seriously. And you've come across as more patient in things Sonic usually isn't,” she explained.

Metal wondered how many of these things were just the result of trying to gain more trust and freedom and not lose those things by stepping on toes. Or was that really who he was?

“Some of it makes a lot of sense though,” Amy continued. “Since you lost your memory, you have less of a concept of what goes with or against societal norms. There’s this whole stigma about it, but you've got a lot less bias built up in you! And maybe you don't talk as much because subconsciously you're more used to not being able to talk?”

He pondered her words for a moment. “Maybe.”

“Alright, now forget about Sonic and his interruptions. Let's see if they can pull this off!”

He turned his attention back to the screen with a nod.

Once the credits rolled, Amy got up, turning on the lights. “Did you like the last one?”

“That was my favorite out of the three,” he decided. There was quite a bit of action in it and he found it kept his attention the best out of the three. 

“Well, there's a whole series! That's the only one I own, but I bet I could find the others at the library. We should get together more and we can watch them over time.”

“That'd be fun,” he said.

She smiled. “I'm glad you decided to join me today, Metal.”

“I'm glad too,” he said sincerely.

“Do you think you can find your way back?” Amy asked.

Metal nodded. “I've got it all in here.” He tapped the side of his head.

“Oh! Before you go…”

“Right, the cookies,” he said, but to his surprise, she didn't head for the kitchen. She went to her room and came back a minute later with a little bag in her hand.

“This is for you.” She handed it to him and then went to the kitchen to get the cookies while he peeked inside the bag. There was bright green yarn and some knitting needles.

“I've got several pairs of needles,” she said, handing over the two packs of cookies. “Is that an okay yarn color? I picked one as close to the green nail polish you picked as I could.”

He nodded slowly. “Are… you sure?”

“Of course! You were so good at it even though you're a beginner. I mean, you don't have to take them if you don't want to, but you seemed to enjoy it.”

“I did. Thanks, Amy.” Sonic's an idiot for making fun of her. He tucked the cookies into the other bag as she opened the door for him.

“Goodnight, Metal!”

“Goodnight, Amy,” he said. Holding the bag close and careful, he took to the skies.

Sonic was waiting when Metal got back. “I can’t believe you could spend over half a day straight with Amy,” Sonic said. “Whatcha got there?”

Ignoring his second question, Metal replied, “Why? She’s nice.”

“Well yeah, sure, she’s nice, but she’s into a bunch of stuff that’s, y’know…” Sonic’s face scrunched in distaste. “She’s more fun to hang with when bashing bots. Picnics aren’t too bad either, but anything beyond that? Bleck.”

Metal thought back to how Amy told him about societal norms and stigmas. “You’re biased.”

“Huh?”

“You’re afraid of things considered ‘girly’.” There was amusement in Metal’s tone now. 

“What?” Sonic looked offended and Metal felt gleeful. “I’m not afraid of them, I just don’t like most of that stuff.”

“Most of that stuff,” Metal repeated. “Which means you like some of it.”

“Well, I dunno. I guess making flower crowns with Cream is fine, but that’s ‘cause I do it with her.”

“Then why is it a problem if you’re doing it with Amy?”

Sonic opened his mouth, then closed it and shot Metal a suspicious look. “Why’re you so pressed about it?”

Metal answered his question with a question instead. “Do you dislike Amy?”

“No, of course not! She’s a great friend and an awesome teammate. Sure she used to annoy me a bunch when we were younger, but she’s chilled out.” Sonic crossed his arms. “But why’s it matter to you?”

“Because you’re mean to her,” Metal accused.

“I am not mean to her. Is this about the phone call?” Sonic rolled his eyes with a scoff. “Metal, that’s called teasing. Whole different ball game.”

“What's the difference between teasing someone and being mean to them?” Metal now crossed his arms.

Sonic sighed and shook his head, coming over to pat Metal on the back. Metal stepped away so his hand swung through empty air. Sonic just laughed. “Oh, Metal, you have so much to learn. See, when you tease someone, it’s just joking around. You don’t actually mean it, it’s just for fun!”

“Even when it hurts the other person’s feelings?”

“No, that’s…” The hedgehog's eyes flicked around for a moment before landing on Metal again. His voice softened, an expression Metal hadn’t seen before filling his features. He almost sounded nervous when he spoke. “Why? Did it hurt her feelings?”

Metal tapped a finger on his arm as he decided how to reply. “Find out for yourself.”

“Wh- Metal! Hey! Hey- wait, did you get your nails painted?”

Metal was already turning and walking away. If Sonic couldn’t figure out when he was hurting someone else’s feelings, especially after that conversation, why should Metal help him? It certainly wasn’t his job to fix their relationship. Maybe Amy would eventually see that Sonic was no good if he kept being a jerk to her. Though… he didn’t exactly want her to be hurt.

But I can be a better friend than Sonic and cheer her up, he decided. Because I am better than Sonic.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Metal gave the cookies to Tails and Sonic. Amy had tied a note to them before handing them off the other night. The outside had read, “From Amy” but he hadn’t known there was something written on the inside until Tails opened it.

“Metal, you helped make these?” Tails asked.

He nodded, refusing to look at Sonic. He just knew he’d be grinning that stupid grin at him.

“Well look at you! First helping with pancakes, now helping with cookies - hey, maybe you’re destined to become a chef!”

“Shut up,” Metal grumbled.

“Am I ever gonna get to know what was in that other bag?” Sonic asked.

“Other bag?” Tails questioned.

“No,” Metal said. He’d stuffed the other bag behind some things in the storage room and hoped they’d never find it. Sonic would have a hay day if he knew Metal had knitting supplies.

Sonic shrugged. “Alright. Keep your secrets. Oh, by the way, I was able to talk to Vanilla yesterday night. We figured out a time for later today. 3 pm!” 

This meant that until the evening, Metal had nothing to do. He gave Sonic a thumbs-up and then said, “I’ll be back then.” He didn’t want to hang around the house until three, so he headed to the lake and sat in the field, deciding to explore his system away from the others. It still felt a bit strange, all the programming and data and information, but if it was there, he might as well get as much as he could out of it and use it to his advantage if possible. He felt more comfortable looking through his system when he was alone.

This exploration, mixed with boredom, led him to realize he could tag not just each new emotion that came up so he could tag his optic expressions with the appropriate emotion, but he could also tag people.

Each person he had met already had created a file within his system, to which he could then add tags and other information. With nothing else to do, he chose the file on Tails and started adding tags.

> person.file = “Tails the Fox”

tags = [“Mechanic”, “Engineer”, “Inventor”, “Protect”, “Friend”]

From there, he continued with Amy: ["Artist", "Creator", "Baker", "Protect", "Friend"]

Cream: ["Protect", "Friend"]

Vanilla: ["Be polite"] 

And then, after remembering what Amy had told him about how much Vanilla had taught her, he added, [“Teacher”].

Sonic: ["Nuisance"]

That was all that annoying hedgehog deserved.

Gemerl: ["Important to Cream"]

As strange as the robot seemed to Metal, he was clearly important to the little girl, which was important to Metal.

He flicked through their files one by one, uncertain. Even if this was in the privacy of his own system, there was one tag he felt too unsure about to leave as it was.

> for person.file in os.listdir(directory):

if person.file has tag pattern(”Friend”) 

replace with = “Ally”

And if “ally” was what he was using instead of friend, he supposed that tag would belong on Sonic’s file too. Begrudgingly, he added it.

He also found a file for “Eggman”. Though it had no photos since he had yet to see Eggman, it contained audio recordings of every mention of the man Metal had heard so far. He added an “Enemy” tag to that file.

His internal timer went off just as Metal finished putting all the video feeds of Amy painting, cooking, and knitting into one file. He flew back to the house, almost colliding with Sonic.

“There ya are, Mets, I was just about to go getcha!” Sonic said. “You ready to meet the Chaotix?”

Ready as someone in his position could ever be. He didn’t know anything about them aside from their names and the fact that they were Cream’s friends.

“We’re going to Vanilla’s house today and hanging with Cream there. Vanilla’s got some errands to run. She’d said you’d dropped by yesterday with Amy, so you know the way there, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, race ya!” Sonic shot off and Metal’s engines thrummed to life as he shot off, taking to the skies instead. He could fly directly there in one straight line, whereas Sonic had to deal with hills and obstacles. Maybe this time he could win.

He pushed himself to go faster, thrusters whining as they strained.

It ended up being a tie. An exact tie. Even playing back the footage he had in slow motion showed they got there at the same time.

“Man, you almost beat me!” Sonic said, swiping a finger under his nose. “Well, at least you didn’t lose. Maybe you’ll even win next time!”

Oh, how he longed to wipe that smug grin off of his face. Refusing to reply, he simply crossed his arms and looked away until he heard a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it!” came a shout from inside, followed by another voice yelling out, “Charmy, you don’t answer the door at other people’s houses unless they ask you to!”

The door opened immediately after with a small bee - Charmy, presumably - floating there with a grin.

“Hiya!”

There was a light clearing of the throat behind the bee as Vanilla came into view. Charmy quickly zipped away with a giggle.

“Right on time! Welcome, you two,” Vanilla greeted as Gemerl took up station beside her. “Come on inside.”

“Mr. Sonic, Mr. Metal!” Cream said excitedly as she hurried up to them. “Oh, Mr. Metal, thank you again for the cookies you and Miss Amy made. They were delicious!”

“No problem,” Metal said, putting on his happy eyes and feeling oddly bashful but rather proud at the same time as he rubbed his finger lightly under his nose before jerking his hand back to his side as he realized that was something he’d seen Sonic do on several occasions. Sonic snorted quietly beside him and he turned to shoot him a glare.

Cheese fluttered over and landed on Sonic’s head, who laughed and reached up to pat his head. “Hey, Cheese! It’s been a while, little guy.”

“Chao chao!”

“Where’s Chocola?”

“He’s hiding!” Charmy chirped from where a crocodile swiped at him, trying to catch the active bee from the air.

“Hiding?” Sonic repeated.

Vector finally caught Charmy, by the foot, yanking him down and muttering something about bad impressions.

Vanilla clasped her hands in front of her and looked at Metal apologetically. “Yes, hiding. We told him you’ve changed, but unfortunately, he’s still… holding some grudges from the past.”

Metal’s shoulders sank slightly. “What did I do?”

“You… took him once. But you didn’t harm him!” Vanilla assured him. “I really am sorry, some things just take time.”

“I get it,” Metal said, trying to keep his tone light. 

“I’m sure he’ll come around eventually,” Cream said, trying her best to comfort him.

Metal nodded.

“For now, how about some introductions?” Vanilla said, switching topics smoothly. “This is Metal.”

“We know!” Charmy said and the crocodile smacked him lightly on the head.

“I’m Vector. And this is Charmy,” he said. The bee waved eagerly.

“Hi!”

“And Espio…”  Vector glanced around and a figure suddenly seemed to emerge from nowhere.

“I’m Espio,” the chameleon greeted in a calm tone.

“And we’re the Chaotix!” Vector finished with a grin. “Detectives, so keep that in mind if you ever need a hand!”

Metal quickly tagged each of them as detectives in his system as he nodded.

“Yeah! We’re detectives! The best!” Charmy exclaimed excitedly, yanking his foot from Vector’s grasp and flying in a loop.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Metal said, glancing at Vanilla, who gave him an encouraging smile.

“Are we gonna play now?” Charmy asked. “I’m bored.”

“Can we go play now, Mama?” Cream turned to her mother.

“Yes, dear. All of you, take care. You don’t have to stay here at home if you don’t want to, alright? Just be sure to be back by seven. I’ll have dinner ready.”

“Wow! Thanks, Vanilla!” Vector said. “That’s real kind of you!”

“It’s the least I can do,” Vanilla replied. “Here’s the spare key, please lock up if you do leave the house. I’ll be off to run my errands now. Have fun!”

“We’ll have the funnest!” Charmy declared.

As soon as Vanilla left, Charmy spun around. “Let’s play hide and seek! I wanna be it!”

“Hide and seek?” Metal repeated.

“It’s pretty simple - even you could get the hang of it, Mets!” Sonic said.

“Every time you insult my intelligence, you’re insulting yourself,” Metal replied blandly. 

“No insulting allowed!” Cream said, crossing her arms.

“Sorry,” Sonic and Metal said in unison.

“Now, hide and seek is where everyone but one person hides somewhere. They only have a certain amount of time to hide before the seeker - sometimes called ‘it’ - goes off to find them. Every time they find someone, that person joins them in searching. The last person found wins and the first one found becomes the next seeker!”

“Alright.”

“We have to hide somewhere on the property,” Vector added, then muttered. “It was bad last time we didn’t add that rule in advance.”

“So stay somewhere within the border of our home’s fence!” Cream specified. “Gemerl, are you going to play too?”

“If you would like me to,” the robot replied.

“It’d be fun!” Cream replied.

Espio raised his hand. “Are we playing hard mode?”

Charmy clapped. “Yeah yeah yeah! Let’s play hard mode!”

“What’s 'hard mode'?” Metal asked.

“It’s the version where Espio is allowed to turn invisible and then we have to find him by poking around instead of just looking! I found him real good with a stick last time!” Charmy mimed waving something around the air furiously and Espio grimaced slightly.

“I’m not the biggest fan of hard mode,” the chameleon said softly.

“Then let’s do normal mode,” Cream said and Charmy pouted. “You’re seeking, right, Charmy? Count to twenty - not ten, okay? We have a new player who doesn’t know my house at all!”

“I can count to twenty just fine!” Charmy said with a nod, though Vector and Espio both looked doubtful. 

“Is everyone ready?” Cream asked. There were nods around the room, so Cream turned to Charmy. “Okay, you can start!”

Charmy flew out of the front door, though Metal could hear the slight buzz of his wings stop right outside of it as he began to count.

Sonic sped off to the back door before anyone else started moving and Metal decided to follow since he couldn’t go through the front door with Charmy there. Cream was right - he didn’t know her house, and with how fast Charmy was counting, it was better for him to hide on the roof and wait for someone who counted properly to actually explore the options indoors.

“Fourteenfifteensixteen-”

Ah, a chimney. That might work.

Metal climbed in, letting his spikes catch on the grooves of the brick while bracing his feet on the other side of the chimney, locking his joints into place so he’d stay put.

“Ninteentwenty READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!” the bee shouted. There was the slam of the front door as Charmy headed back inside.

Not much time passed before he heard, “Found you, Vector! Man, you’re the worst at this game!”

“And that’s why you always suggest it, right?” came the grumbling response. “C’mon, I saw Espio go upstairs.”

Keeping his hearing tuned to where they were, he listened as they found Gemerl, then Cream.

“I bet Espio is clinging to the ceiling somewhere again!”

Eventually, it was just Sonic, Metal, and Cheese who hadn’t been found.

“Cheese is always so difficult to find!” Charmy complained.

“Then let’s go out back. I saw Sonic go that way,” Espio said.

There was suddenly the sound of a breeze and footsteps on the roof just before the group headed out the back door. Sonic’s head suddenly popped into view. He waved with a cheeky grin and then stomped a little, nice and loud, before disappearing again.

“Someone’s on the roof!” 

“Let’s go check, Charmy!”

Metal felt his circuits boiling. What a cheater!

He could hear the tell-tale sound of buzzing and a softer sort of flapping sound, so he worked to lower himself downwards, hoping to get back inside the house before he was seen. But he was also working on not dropping directly into the little remains of ashes below lest he get it all over the house and invite Vanilla’s anger upon him. With that, he wasn’t quite fast enough.

“Found you!” called two voices. His fans whirred a little bit but he hushed them as he carefully climbed his way back up.

“Sonic is a cheater,” he muttered as he hoisted himself over the edge. “He gave away my location.”

“We didn’t set any rules against that,” Charmy said with a shrug.

It’s the principle of the matter, Metal thought to himself with an internal frown. He was tempted to set his eyes to angry, but he didn’t want to spoil Cream’s fun, so he said, “Let’s find him then.”

Chapter Text

Once everyone was back on the ground (after a rather astonishing realization that Cream could fly with her ears), a plan to split up was formed.

Metal was assigned upstairs, so off he went, flaring his optics brightly as he searched darker spaces like closets and underneath beds. Under one bed, he found Chocola, glaring through the yellow lighting of Metal’s eyes. He quickly backed away from the angry Chao and resumed his search elsewhere.

Once he’d finished looking upstairs, he headed back down just in time to see Cheese joining Cream.

“Cheese! You were curled up in the lampshade this whole time?” Cream said.

“Chao chao!”

“I’m impressed we found him before Sonic,” Espio said.

“I wonder if Sonic is switching hiding spots before we reach them,” Vector said as he came inside with Charmy.

“Probably,” Metal huffed. An idea came to mind. “Is thermal vision allowed?” He was grateful he’d spent so much time exploring what he was capable of.

“Thermal?” Cream and Charmy repeated.

“I want to scan for heat signatures. I could find Sonic that way.”

“We technically didn’t set a rule against that,” Vector said thoughtfully. 

“I suppose it’s okay. But just for this round! We’ll set some new rules for the next round,” Cream decided.

Turning it on, Metal scanned the area, looking for any signs of Sonic. There you are.

“He’s-”

Metal’s words were cut off by the sound of a cell phone. Vector fumbled to answer and Charmy quickly flew up to press his ear against the other side of the phone, dodging and returning every time Vector swatted at him.

“Hello?”

Metal’s ears picked up the voice on the other line. “Hello, is this the…” The faint sound of rustling papers. “Chaotix? Um, the detectives?”

“Yes! This is Vector of the Chaotix Detective Agency speaking. How can I help?”

“You added your cellphone number to our flyers?” Espio murmured.

“So we can get cases even out of office!” Vector whispered.

With worry in her tone, the woman on the line said, “My name is Dottie and my Chao went missing this morning. I’ve searched all over the neighborhood and just put up some flyers but I’d really appreciate extra help. I’ll be sure to compensate you for your time!

“A missing Chao?!” Charmy exclaimed. Vector shushed him and Cream gasped, hands covering her mouth.

“That’s terrible! We should help!”

“We already have a job,” Espio said quietly to Vector, gesturing to Cream. 

The little girl huffed. “I can go with! I want to help!”

“Hello?”

“Uh- yes! Um, yes, well…” Vector glanced at Cream, who stared up at him with determined eyes. He sighed. “Give me your address and we’ll be right over.”

Cream’s expression brightened.

Once Vector was off the phone, he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at Espio’s unimpressed expression. “It’s just a missing Chao - it probably got stuck in a tree or something! Easy multitasking - besides, she said she’d pay.”

“I’ll help too,” Metal said. Vector gave him a hesitant look. “I can scan from the skies.” This addition satisfied the crocodile, who nodded. 

“What’s this about a missing Chao?” Sonic skid to a stop in the living room, hands behind his head.

“Mr. Sonic! There you are!”

“Looks like I won, huh? Everyone else is already here!”

Metal clenched his fists. “No, I found you. The phone call interrupted the game.”

“Doesn’t count if you didn’t come get me!”

Metal was convinced no one else on the planet could rub him the wrong way more than Sonic could.

Vector gave Sonic the rundown on what they were doing and the hedgehog nodded approvingly. 

“Sounds good to me!”

“Then let's go to Dottie’s place and get some information!” 

“Gemerl, you stay here and watch the house,” Cream said.

“Vanilla told me to watch over you.”

“Yes, but someone needs to watch the house while we're gone too!” Cream said. “And Chocola still hasn't come out of hiding. I'd feel bad if we left him here alone.” She drooped a little at the mere thought and Gemerl was silent for a moment.

“You will all be splitting up to search for the Chao, correct?” Gemerl asked. Though his “eyes” were just large, pupilless ovals, Metal got the distinct feeling that he was looking at him. Vanilla had wanted Gemerl there if Metal was to be around Cream, after all, so he supposed it came down to that.

“I'll be staying in the air away from the others to increase our chances of finding the Chao,” Metal said before anyone else had a chance to respond.

“Then I will watch the house and Chocola,” Gemerl confirmed.

“Thank you!” Cream replied though she threw a somewhat sad look Metal's way.

“There's room in the van for you two,” Vector said, gesturing to Sonic and Cream.

“I'd rather run,” Sonic replied, jogging in place. “What's the address?”

Vector recited the address and Sonic nodded, taking off. 

“I'll follow him,” Metal said, stepping out of the house and taking to the air, pushing his speed to catch up to Sonic until he was following from above. 

Eventually, Sonic came to a stop in front of a house, looking up and pointing at it as if to say, this is the one!

Metal landed gently on the roof to stay out of sight for now and watched as Sonic took off, likely to check on how far along the others had gotten. After a couple of minutes, Sonic was back, pacing around for a moment before zooming off again.

He continued to do this until the van pulled up and everyone piled out.

“Man, sometimes I forget how slow cars are,” Sonic said. “You gotta get some upgrades on that thing.”

“We were going the speed limit,” Espio remarked. 

Sonic wrinkled his nose in distaste but didn't say anything else as the group went up to the door and Vector knocked. 

Metal could hear the door open and a woman say, “Oh! I didn't expect such a large group.”

“We decided to bring some backup, ma'am,” Vector said. “That way we can find your precious Chao even faster!”

“That's so sweet of you,” she replied. “His name is Chaz. Here, I have a photo of him right here.”

“Why's he a dark Chao?” Charmy asked loudly and Vector immediately went, “Charmy!!”

“No, no, it's alright, it's not the first time I've gotten that question. He had already evolved when I adopted him. He was rescued from… a not-so-great home. He's happy here, but he has a tendency to wander sometimes. I'm afraid he must have slipped out while I was bringing groceries in or something of the like.”

“We'll be sure to find him!” Vector said in an assuring tone.

“Thank you for helping, everyone. I'm so touched you even got such a big hero on the case!”

The latter was clearly directed at Sonic, who chuckled. “It's no sweat! Gives me something to do after all, and I'm always down to help.”

Metal could almost picture the wink and thumbs-up he was probably giving right now. Ugh.

“We'll be back as soon as we find him,” Vector said. “We'll find him in a jiffy!”

“Thank you! I'll be here.”

The door closed and Metal peered over the edge as everyone made their way off the porch. Sonic turned and held up the photo the woman had printed out for Metal to see before turning to Cream. 

“So, Cream, where do you think a Chao like him would end up?”

“He's a fly Chao,” Cream said. “So he could be somewhere high up. But he also might not be.”

“What'd I say? Probably stuck in a tree,” Vector replied.

“If he's a fly type, wouldn't he just fly back down?” Espio asked.

Cream shrugged. “Not if he got tangled in something! Or maybe he's scared of heights.”

“A fly type scared of heights? That's silly!” Charmy said.

Metal decided he might as well start looking. All he could do was check places up high, so whether or not the Chao would actually be there, that was where he'd be looking. He decided to circle around the area, starting close and working outwards. Perhaps the Chao hadn't gotten very far.

Eyes scanning the area, he slowly worked his way around, looking for something small and purple. Several times he caught sight of some of the others below; Espio especially caught his attention a few times when the purple color stood out to him as the chameleon went along the block with Cream, climbing trees to check while the latter would fly up and peer through the leaves.

He had made it rather far when a strange sound caught his attention. He turned up the range of his audio processors and the sound grew louder. A childlike sniffle and a tiny wail. Someone was crying. 

Metal turned in a slow circle until he could find the direction the sound was in and then headed in that direction until the sound was right below him. Landing atop the roof of a building, he looked around and spotted the source. A small, purple Chao with a spiky blue ball floating above his head was tucked into the corner of the building, pressed against the wall where the store’s sign stood tall on the other side. 

The Chao peeked over the edge of the building before shrinking back and letting out another soft cry.

Cream's voice echoed in his mind. Or maybe he's scared of heights.

Chapter Text

“Chaz?” Metal said.

The Chao’s head turned his way, the bubble floating above his head turning into an exclamation point.

“Dottie is looking for you.”

“Chao chao!”

Metal crouched, holding out his hands, wondering if he looked frightening to the Chao. 

But to his surprise, the Chao immediately tottered in his direction. He looked cautious, but the way he kept glancing at the edge of the roof seemed to Metal like he was more worried about falling than about the robot beckoning him.

Soon enough, the Chao was nestled in his arms, shaking and cooing anxiously. Metal ever so gently patted the Chao on the head.

“Don't worry buddy,” Metal murmured. “I'll bring you back to Dottie.”

Lifting Chaz carefully, he turned on his thrusters again, rising into the air. Immediately, the Chao wailed, kicking and crying in his arms. Metal landed and the Chao calmed slightly.

“Right. You're scared of heights, aren't you?” Why did you even fly up here to start with? Metal wondered to himself. But there was a much more pressing question now. How do I get him home if I can't fly him there?

With how much the Chao squirmed in his arms, he was worried he'd drop him. And the Chao felt so soft and squishable - if Metal held him tighter, he worried he'd hurt Chaz. 

Metal peeked downwards. Maybe if he stuck to alleyways…

He mentally mapped out everything he'd seen while searching. Though he would have to cross a few main roads, he could, for the most part, travel via alleyways and smaller back roads. If he were lucky, no one would see him.

Setting the course he'd follow in his mind, he said, “I'm going to lower us from the roof, okay?”

The Chao clung to him even tighter. Metal stepped off the roof, slowly lowering them both just as he'd said. Once they reached the ground, Chaz opened his eyes and looked around. His bubble turned to a heart as he looked at Metal adoringly.

Every time anyone looked at him with such affection, like Cream and Amy, it made him feel so strange. He turned his eyes elsewhere, trying to ignore it as he clanked through the side street until he got to the end, listening and looking for any people. There were a few people on this street, much to Metal's dismay.

Maybe he wouldn't mind if I went faster?

“Chaz, hold on tight, I'm going to speed up a bit.”

Chaz cuddled closer and Metal shot across the street in a blur of blue, leaving a spiral above the Chao's head. Once Chaz shook his head clear, he clapped eagerly.

“You like going fast?” Metal asked.

“Chao chao!”

“That'll make things easier.”

He sped through his route, the Chao laughing the whole way until he nearly ran into Sonic, who skidded to a stop.

“Whaddya know, Mets? You found him!”

“He was on a rooftop.” Metal held Chaz out to Sonic to take, but Sonic shook his head with a grin as the Chao whined, waving his little arms in the direction of Metal.

“No, you keep holding him. I've got an idea. I'll go find the Chaotix and Cream, and we'll all go to Dottie's together.”

Metal turned his eyes to question marks, utterly baffled by this decision. Together? And what, give the poor woman a heart attack?

“Just trust me and wait here.”

As much as Metal was irritated by Sonic, he did, unfortunately, for the most part, trust him. Sonic understood people better than Metal felt he did, so whatever plan he had, Metal would just have to put faith in it. 

Staying put in the alleyway, Metal waited until Sonic returned. “They're not too far from Dottie's! Let's give 'em a few and then we can head there too.”

Sonic then looked at Metal and the Chao in his arms, amused. “He's taken quite a liking to you.”

Metal turned his head, feeling weirdly embarrassed by the comment. Sonic, as usual, just laughed. 

Silence fell between them until Sonic waved an arm. “C’mon, let’s go.”

“Are you sure I should be the one holding the Chao?” Metal couldn’t help but ask.

“Positive.”

The two set off to Dottie’s and once everyone was gathered around near the front door, Sonic knocked, then stepped back to stand next to Metal.

A dalmatian opened the door, hope in her eyes, though she took an immediate, startled step back at the sight of Metal.

“Isn’t this…?”

“Yep! But look - he found your Chao.”

The fear on the woman’s face seemed to dissipate immediately as she held out her arms. “Chaz!”

Chaz nuzzled against Metal one last time before flying across the gap to the arms of Dottie. “Chao!”

“Metal’s on the good side now. I’d appreciate it if ya could share with some of your neighbors what he did today.” Sonic gave the woman a wink. “I think he could use a little bit of PR help if you get what I mean.”

“Oh, absolutely! Thank you so much, Metal! Thank you, all of you, for helping.” Setting Chaz down, she grabbed something out of view. “Here, a little something for each of you as thanks.”

Pressing money into Metal’s hand, she smiled. “Thank you.” 

Metal’s eyes darted away as he quietly said, “Happy to help.”

Once everyone had their payment - Charmy doing excited loops in the air while Vector thanked Dottie five times over - everyone returned to Vanilla’s.

“Did everything go well?” Gemerl asked.

“Yeah! Mr. Metal found the missing Chao! He’s back home safe now,” Cream said happily.

“Let’s play hide and seek again!” Charmy said.

Vector and Espio groaned.

“How about a board game instead?” Cream asked.

“Chocolate Land, Chocolate Land!” Charmy cheered in reply.

“We have too many players for that though…”

“I can watch,” Metal and Sonic said in unison.

“Have you ever played?” Espio asked Metal, who shook his head no. “Then I’ll sit out and you can play.”

Hopefully, it’ll be better than hide and seek, Metal thought to himself.

It wasn’t. It was boring and he lost.

--

Metal seemed to be gaining more and more of Sonic’s trust. Once they got back home, Sonic said he wanted to go for a run and zipped away, leaving Metal home with Tails. That was more than fine with Metal - he’d had more than enough of Sonic for the day.

Instead, he settled into a chair in Tails’ workshop with a book. It was one of the few fiction books he’d found on the bookshelf - though not the one he’d torn through pages of, wanting to avoid having to look at that mistake. This book was about a man who got shipwrecked on an island of tiny people. He had gotten rather far into it when a clatter jerked his attention away from what he was reading. Tails picked something up from the ground, fighting a yawn, before clambering back onto his stool, resuming his work.

Metal checked his clock. It was late and the fox was clearly tired.

“You should go to bed,” he said.

“In a bit. I gotta finish this,” Tails said.

Well, alright. I’ll give him a little longer.

Metal set a ten-minute internal timer and resumed reading. When it went off and he looked up, Tails looked no more finished than before, though the kit paused his work to scrub at tired eyes. Setting his book aside, Metal got up and headed over.

“I’m almost done,” Tails said before Metal even spoke again. 

Metal put his hands on his hips. “Uh-huh. You don’t look almost done.”

Tails’ ears flattened a little. “Just give me more time.”

Metal looked between the tired fox and the device on the table. It was no good to be working when he was so tired. It just increased the chances of making mistakes or getting himself hurt. But how could he get Tails to go to bed? Words clearly weren’t enough.

An idea dawned on him and he snatched up the device, quickly moving back as Tails turned to grab at it with an offended, “Hey! Give that back!”

“Come get it,” he taunted, shooting through the workshop door and into the house, waving the gadget.

Tails rushed after him, namesakes whirling as he made a leap for it. Metal flew up the stairs and landed at the top, swiping at his nose proudly.

“Missed!”

"I can't believe Sonic taught you that!" Tails huffed.

The robot froze. "Huh?"

Tails used the opportunity to snatch at the device, but Metal's processors kicked in just in time for him to shoot back a few feet, stopping next to Tails' room.

"What do you mean?" Metal asked.

"I just figured, since he used to do this all the time with me when I was younger. Not so much these days but…"

Metal stared at the kit, feeling that same swirling sensation of dissociative disillusion.

Seeing the blank look that had come over the robot's face, Tails stopped trying to get his device back and observed Metal curiously. "Metal?"

"Sonic didn't teach me this. I just… thought it would be an easy way to get you to go to bed." Metal's words came out sounding terribly empty. The yellow optics looked hauntedly distressed as they lifted to meet Tails' gaze. "I can't escape him, Tails. I have nothing that's my own."

Tails blue eyes were big with worry. “I’m sorry, Metal, I didn’t know, I just figured-”

Metal shook his head. “It’s fine. You didn’t know.” He held out the gadget and Tails took it after a moment, shooting Metal one last apologetic look before heading to his room.

Chapter Text

Early the next morning, Metal had gone to the storage room, pulled out the knitting supplies Amy had given him, and gotten started on his first project. It was a scarf for Amy, to thank her for everything she'd done so far.

At least that was something different. Sonic surely didn't knit. Probably never would. He was better than Sonic at knitting. Better at flower crowns.

But too similar in too many ways. It aggravated him to no end, hating someone he shared so many similarities with. The more he thought about it, the more his engine whirred in frustration and the faster his hands moved.

A small, “Woah,” from the doorway had his hands freezing in place.

“Oh, sorry,” Tails said sheepishly. “I didn't see you anywhere else so I had a feeling you'd be here. I didn't know you knit.”

Metal let out a whir and continued knitting, feeling annoyed, though more at the interruption than at Tails personally. “Amy taught me.”

The kit's eyes tracked Metal's swift movements. “I feel like I'm watching a printer, but like, a knitting printer. I didn't know knitting could be done so fast.”

Metal’s gaze flicked over to Tails.

“Pretty cool,” Tails said, giving him an encouraging smile. His annoyance melted away and he put on happy eyes to show his appreciation of the compliment. 

“A scarf, right?” Tails asked. Metal was almost done with it at this point - he supposed he had been working pretty fast.

Metal nodded.

“Are you… going to wear it…?”

Metal shook his head. “No, it's for… Amy.” Saying that felt weirdly embarrassing. “To thank her for the other day.”

Tails just nodded. “That's nice. She'll love it.”

Metal felt a pleasant warmth at the idea. Giving others things was good.

“Well, uh, carry on, I guess. I was just curious where you were, that's all. I'll be-” Tails was cut off by the sound of a phone call. “-answering that, I guess.” He chuckled a little and disappeared down the hall.

Metal turned his attention back to the scarf, finishing it off as he'd learned and holding it up proudly. Tails’ voice echoed in his memory. “She'll love it.”

I hope so.

Footsteps sounded back up the stairs and he turned to see Tails enter again, holding the phone.

“It's for you.”

Metal pointed to himself, confused. For him?

Tails nodded, holding out the phone. “It's Amy.”

Ah, that made sense. Taking the phone, he awkwardly stared at it for a moment before looking back at Tails, who mimed holding it up to his ear. His system heated in embarrassment. I knew that, he thought to himself. He was just… surprised to be receiving a call.

Holding up the phone, he said, “Amy?”

“Metal!” Her bright voice came through the line. “How are you?”

“Good…?” He paused for a moment, then scrambled to return the question. “How are you?”

“I’m great! I was calling to see if you wanted to hang out again! I was thinking maybe you'd want to help me with some gardening?”

“Gardening?” Metal tilted his head a little. He liked flowers and Amy had said he should try gardening some time. “Okay.”

“Perfect! You know how to get to my house, right?”

He nodded, then remembered he had to respond out loud. “Yeah.”

“Then come on over as soon as you can!”

The two exchanged goodbyes and he handed the phone back to Tails, who kept looking at him with an almost concerned expression. Does he feel bad about last night?

He looked down at the scarf in his hands, then up at Tails' blue eyes. Maybe I'll ask Amy for another color of yarn while I'm there.

--

Landing in front of Amy's house, he knocked on the door and waited, fidgeting with the bag behind his back. Much to his dismay, Tails had apologetically told him they didn't have anything at the house to wrap gifts in, so it had wound up tucked in an old grocery bag. 

Amy opened the door, a big smile on her face. “Metal!” Her gaze very quickly found the bag he was holding. “Oh, what's that?” 

He quickly held it out to her, gaze flicking away. “For you.”

Her expression lit up even more. “It's for me?” Taking the bag, she gestured for Metal to come inside, and once she closed the door behind him, she opened the back and gasped. “Metal, did you make this?” She pulled the scarf out, eyes sparkling as he nodded sheepishly. “It's beautiful! You did great! Thank you so much!”

The girl threw her arms around Metal with a giggle and he froze. It was the second time she'd done that now and he still didn't know how to respond. Quickly, she pulled back. “I'm sorry! I just got excited and-”

He quickly shook his head. “It's fine.” If anything, it was more than fine. He’d been there for only a few moments and she’d already lifted his mood. 

Her smile returned as she patted one of his shoulder plates. “Thank you, Metal. I can't wait to wear it when winter comes! Let me go and put it in my room.”

When she returned, he asked her about getting some light blue yarn. 

“Of course!” Amy replied, quickly pulling a bundle out for him and putting it in the same bag he'd brought the scarf in. “I'm so glad you're enjoying the hobby. Isn't it so cozy?”

Cozy. He hadn't considered that before, but maybe. At the very least, it was nice to have something to do. 

Setting the bag by the door so Metal wouldn't forget it, Amy turned to Metal. “Now, are you ready for some gardening? I've got an extra pair of gloves!”

“Gloves?”

“Well, I figure you probably don't want dirt getting all stuck in your fingers, right?”

He looked at his hands, flexing his fingers. “I guess not.”

“So you can use my spare pair of gloves!” Gesturing for him to follow, Amy went out the backdoor, picking up two pairs of gardening gloves and handing one set to Metal. He slipped them on as she did the same.

“I’ve got this area of the garden still to plant. It took me a while to decide what I wanted to go there but I finally figured it out and picked up some flowers earlier this morning,” Amy told him, pointing to a dirt-covered area devoid of plants. “Here, take a look!” Picking up some plastic containers with flowers in them, she started to set them down in the bare area, then backed away and made a dramatic sweeping gesture. “Ta-dah! What do you think? Won’t it look nice?”

Metal nodded. He wasn’t entirely sure it made much of a difference when it was all flowers, but there must have been something to it beyond what he could see. Either way, it did look nice.

“The butterfly bush will get a lot bigger with time, so that’s why there’s still quite a bit of empty space around it,” she explained as she grabbed two trowels, handing Metal one. He looked down at the tool uncertainly as she continued chattering. “I was torn between daylilies and daisies over here, but then I decided to get both! If there’s not enough room - I think there will be - I can put one of them in a pot or something.”

Amy crouched down and Metal followed suit, watching her as she moved aside one of the plant containers.

“Alright, so dig down deep enough for the top of this plant to meet the top of the ground around it and about this big around - like this,” she instructed. His eyes followed her every movement as she then carefully retrieved the plant from its plastic container, massaging the dirt and teasing roots from the ball. “You don’t want the soil too compact and if you do this it’ll encourage the roots to grow outwards. Put it in the hole like so and then fill it in with dirt! There’s some extra dirt in this bag here. Not too hard, right? You try one.”

She picked up one of the flowers and patted the ground beneath it, giving him an encouraging nod. Digging the trowel into the ground, he moved dirt and then tested the depth, tilting his head and getting low to the ground so he could compare heights as accurately as he could.

A giggle pulled his attention from his work.

“What?” he demanded.

“You don’t need to be that exact,” she said with a smile.

Feeling embarrassed, he quickly moved on to gently working the dirt on the root ball of the plant before tucking it into the hole and filling it in. He then looked to Amy for approval.

“Perfect! Just like that! How about you work on that half and I work on this half of the garden?”

“Okay.”

Amy fished off a glove and started some music on her phone, setting it aside before she began to work again. She went back and forth between humming along and singing along for a while as they worked before speaking again.

“Oh, I heard you helped find a lost Chao.”

Metal looked up from a hole he was digging. “How’d you hear about that?”

“Dottie works at the plant nursery I went to this morning. She’s been telling all her neighbors and every customer that comes in,” Amy said with a soft smile. “She’s been absolutely singing your praises!”

“I just happened to find him first,” Metal mumbled. “Could’ve been anyone else just as easily.”

“She said Chaz really liked you,” Amy replied, almost a note of teasing in her tone.

“I’m sure that’s just because I was the one who found him,” Metal said stubbornly.

“You are way too hard on yourself,” she said with a sigh. “Also, you’ve dug a bit deep there.”

Metal paused, looking at the hole and the large pile of dirt next to it. Sheepishly, he swept some dirt back into the hole until it was the right depth.

“Seriously, Metal, you gotta give yourself some credit. You’re allowed to have victories!”

His hands stopped moving as he absorbed her words. Something about that concept felt strangely foreign. He’d never won anything as far back as his memory went, which wasn’t far, but…

“Back when… back when I worked for Eggman, did I ever… win?”

Amy’s motions slowed to a stop. “No,” she admitted. “In the end, we always won. You’d get some good hits in sometimes though, that’s for sure!”

That was technically good - winning would have meant hurting his new friends, but at the same time, it burned in a vile sort of way, deep in his core, to know he had never won. Especially since that meant he’d never won against Sonic.

Considering her earlier words, he said, “Then… I won when I found Chaz first?”

She tilted her head, blinking. “Well, I suppose in a way.”

“I won something.”

A smile spread on her face. “Yes, you won.”

He laughed gleefully. “I beat Sonic at something.”

At this, she rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I guess you did. I doubt he considered it a competition though.”

“You just said I’m allowed to have victories,” he accused.

She snorted. “Yeah, yeah, alright. You beat Sonic by finding Chaz first.”

“And I’m not biased,” he said proudly.

Amy burst into laughter. “Yeah, and you’re not biased. That’s for sure a win.”

“And I’m better at flower crowns. And knitting.”

“And probably baking and gardening,” Amy added.

“And watching romantic movies!” Metal said excitedly.

“Is that something someone can be better at?”

“Yes.” He surrounded another plant with soil and then added, “And I don’t cheat at hide and seek.”

“Sonic cheats at hide and seek?”

Metal nodded. “He does. It technically wasn’t a rule but it was also totally cheating.”

Amy laughed more. “I guess I’m not too surprised. He’s definitely the type to cheat at games.”

“Only a coward cheats at games,” Metal decided.

“You’re so right,” Amy said with a decisive nod. Metal lifted his chin, pleased at her agreement. She smacked his arm. “Stop gloating and get back to planting.”

Metal laughed as he dug the trowel into the ground. “I will gloat and plant at the same time.”

“Boys and their egos,” she muttered, rolling her eyes again.

Chapter Text

They were nearly finished with the garden when Metal heard a faint sound through the music. He spun his head backward in the direction the noise came from, listening intently. When he heard it again, he turned to Amy.

“I think someone is at the door.”

“Oh!” The girl turned off the music and got to her feet, pulling off her gloves and brushing dirt off her knees. Metal pulled his gloves off, followed her inside, and stood behind her as she opened the door.

Cream stood there with a basket hanging from her arm.

“Hello, Miss Amy. Oh! Mr. Metal is here too! Hello!”

“Hi, Cream!” Amy greeted as Metal waved.

“Mama made a pie and wanted to share some with you,” Cream told her, lifting the basket a little. 

“Aw, that’s so nice of her,” Amy said, beckoning Cream inside and taking the basket from her, taking out a container with two slices of pie in it and placing it in her fridge.

“Um, she also said I could ask you if I could spend some time here…” Cream said sheepishly, “But…” Her gaze went to Metal.

“She’s only allowed to spend time with me under certain circumstances,” Metal informed Amy.

“Ah, I see. Well, maybe things have changed since then! I can call and ask if-”

A rapid knock interrupted her.

“What’s Sonic doing here…?” Amy murmured to herself as she headed for the door. Metal followed her once again and Cream tagged along.

When the door swung open, Sonic opened his mouth and then closed it, surprise flickering across his face as he saw the two others behind Amy.

“Having a party without me, huh?”

“Cream was dropping something off for her mother,” Amy said. “Though she was hoping to stay a little more, we have to get permission first.”

“That’ll be easier now that I’m here,” Sonic said confidently, jabbing a thumb at himself.

“Why are you here?” Amy asked curiously. “You don’t come by very often.”

“Eh, thought I’d swing by while I was out for a run and say thanks for the cookies. They were awesome, as always.” Sonic gave Amy a double thumbs up and she giggled. Metal tried his best to burn a glare into the blue irritation, but Sonic ignored him entirely.

“Well look at you! Learning some manners?”

“You make it sound like I never say thanks!” Sonic replied.

“Unless whatever requires thanks happens face-to-face, it’s pretty rare,” Amy said, arms crossing.

Sonic scratched the back of his head and then shrugged. “I forget?”

Amy rolled her eyes with a fond smile. Annoyed, Metal tapped her on the shoulder.

“You were going to call Miss Vanilla,” Metal reminded her flatly.

“Right! Does this mean you’re sticking around, Sonic?” Amy asked.

“If it means Cream can hang for a while, sure. I don’t have anything else to do.”

“Thank you, Mr. Sonic!”

Hopefully one day Metal would be able to spend time with Cream without Sonic. He was sick and tired of having to have Sonic as some sort of babysitter the whole time.

“I’ll go call her then. Give me a moment.” Amy headed back to the kitchen, leaving the other three standing there.

“Didn’t expect to find you at Amy’s, Metal. Whatcha guys been up to?” Sonic asked.

Metal’s firsts curled, preparing himself for the inevitable. “...Gardening.”

Sonic’s mouth twitched as he clearly tried not to laugh. “Didn’t take you for the nurturing type.”

“I already know you’re biased, so can it,” Metal muttered.

“Is it biased to call gardening nurturing?”

“It’s biased to imply that a robot can’t be nurturing.”

“I never said you couldn’t, just said I didn’t expect it.”

“Which is implying-”

“Guys, don’t argue!” Cream said. Both of them looked to Cream and her large pleading eyes and fell silent.

“Your mom said yes!” Amy said cheerfully as she came back into the room.

“Yay!!!” Cream cheered, throwing her hands in the air.

“As long as Sonic stays with us,” Amy added belatedly and Metal withheld a groan.

“What should we do?” Cream asked excitedly. 

Amy clapped her hands as an idea struck her. “What if we went shopping? Metal's never gotten to go shopping before!”

Sonic spoke up. “I dunno, Ames. I know Dottie’s been spreading the word, but it might be a bit early. It'll probably cause some panic.”

“Then we'll just announce that he's a good guy as we go!” Amy said. She gasped lightly. “Oh! I have a great idea!” The girl scampered off to her craft closet, digging around. She returned with a large, white cardboard box, markers, and some string.

Sonic raised a brow.

“We'll make him a sign. Two of them! One for the front, and one for the back, and we’ll hang them over his shoulders!” Amy explained as she set the stuff on the table. “A sandwich board.”

“Like a protester,” Sonic said flatly.

“It's the opposite of protesting!” Amy put her hands on her hips. “We're advertising that he's a good guy now!”

“I think it's a great idea!” Cream said. “We can decorate the sign so it's nice and pretty too!”

“What do you think, Metal?” Amy asked.

Metal considered it. He'd probably look a lot less menacing that way. He did want to go explore town without everyone running in fright, and if this was his best chance…

He trusted Amy. If she thought it would work, then he believed her.

“Alright. Let's do it.”

Sonic rolled his eyes. “You guys are crazy.”

All the better if Sonic thought it was stupid.

The girls got busy as Metal peered between them, trying to see what they were doing.

Sonic had flopped on the couch, moaning and groaning about how boring it all was and prompting them to hurry up.

“Beauty takes time!” Amy huffed. 

“I don't think Metal wants to be beautified.”

“Don't talk for me,” Metal replied. It was true, but he wasn't about to say that. Besides, if colorful markers and cutesie stickers and… glitter glue? Oh boy. Well, if that was what it took for people to be less afraid of him, that's what he'd put up with. 

Sonic hopped to his feet with a cheeky grin. “Well if beautification is what you want, maybe we should glam you up a little!” Sonic zipped over to the table, peeling off a pink flower sticker.

“Don't,” Metal warned. He couldn't go blasting around Amy's house to avoid Sonic since the air from his turbines could cause too much of a mess.

“I'm just helping you out!” Sonic said. In a second, he was in front of Metal, slapping the sticker on his forehead with a smug smile. 

“Sonic!” Metal snapped, putting on his angry eyes for good measure. 

Sonic was not about to be dissuaded, returning to the table and snatching several sheets of stickers. The next few moments had Metal doing his best to block Sonic's sticker attacks, though even when he evaded one, Sonic inevitably landed it in another attack. 

Finally, Metal managed to snatch the sticker sheets from Sonic's hand. Peeling off a sticker, he lunged for Sonic, who dodged, leading Metal to colliding with the table, bumping it. 

“Boys!” Amy scolded. Metal froze in place. “You're going to mess up-” She turned as she spoke and stopped short as her eyes fell on Metal. Amy snorted, then slapped a hand over her mouth.

Metal glowered.

“No no no, don't be mad! You look great! This is perfect for making you look more approachable!” Amy said, waving her hands.

Cream peered around Amy, her expression lighting up as she saw Metal’s sticker-covered self.

“You look so cute! Can I put a sticker on you?”

Metal's fists curled. Ughhh. How was he supposed to say no to her? Begrudgingly, he nodded, crouching down so Cream could reach. She looked at the stickers in thought, peeled off a circular wreath of flowers, and carefully placed it on his face so it circled his nose. Amy was clearly trying to fight off laughter while Cream stepped back, looking pleased with her decision. Sonic, on the other hand, burst into laughter as soon as he saw.

“Can I- put- a sticker on?” Amy said between the giggles she was failing to fight off. 

Metal crossed his arms, turning his head. “No.”

“Aww, c'mon! Don't pout. Everyone else got to put a sticker on you!”

“Only one of them had permission,” Metal grumbled.

“Pretty pretty please?” Amy begged. He made the mistake of glancing at her pleading face and sighed. 

“Somewhere discreet please,” he mumbled.

“Yay!!” Amy found a star sticker and smacked it on his cheek.

“I said ‘discreet’!”

“But it looks so good here! Okay, Cream and I are almost finished with the sandwich board. Once we put that on you, you'll look perfect head to toe!”

The two girls returned to the board, adding their finishing touches. Amy poked holes through the top of each board and then tied the strings through.

“Okay, Metal! Let me just… put this over your head… aaaand… perfect! C'mon, come look in the mirror!” Grabbing his hand, she dragged him into her room and positioned him in front of her full-length mirror.

Metal stared at himself. Flowers, kittens, desserts, suns, hearts, stars, and so on and so forth - his head and shoulder plates were covered, and if he turned to the side he could see even the blue outer shell of his turbine engine had stickers all over it.

The sandwich board itself had the words, “I'M A GOOD GUY NOW!” written in bright pink marker. There was a yellow sun in the corner, and surrounding the words were smiley faces, stars, and hearts - some stickers, some drawn on in various colors. The edges were covered in purple glitter.

“I think I regret this,” he said, eyes going flat.

“Oh, pssht, don't be silly. You look great.” Amy steered him back out to the rest of the group and Sonic howled with laughter.

I definitely regret this.

Chapter Text

Metal’s insides burned with humiliation as he marched down the street with everyone else, metallic feet clanking against the sidewalk with each step. Sonic hadn't stopped snickering with the most smug, delighted expression every time he looked over at him, and Amy's occasional pats on his shoulder while she waved cheerily to others was not as reassuring as she likely hoped it to be.

Nearly everyone who saw the group came to a halt and openly stared at them, making Metal wish he could shrink into himself and disappear. Why had he let Amy talk him into this? Was the potential end result really worth people taking photos of him in this shameful state to memorialize it forever?

He tried his best to focus on the windows of shops they passed by rather than the people.

“Miss Amy, look, look!” Cream tugged on Amy's hand, who turned to look at the dress Cream pointed at.

“Oh, how cute!”

“You would look good in it,” Cream said.

“You think so?” Amy asked.

“Yes! You should try it on!”

“You boys wouldn't mind a pit stop, would you?” Amy asked, although she was already turning and heading into the store, Cream skipping alongside her.

Metal paused, let out a whir of air through his fans, then shuffled awkwardly through the door, angling himself so the sandwich board would fit. 

Sonic made a face but strolled in behind the group, yawning as he tucked his hands behind his quills. He looked around with disinterest until he noticed some shoes in the men's section, his eyes lighting up.

“Sick kicks,” he said, heading over to the wall of shoes.

Taking this as an opportunity to get away from Sonic, Metal followed the girls, watching as Amy picked out more than just the dress on display.

The woman at the counter watched them warily for a long moment before hesitantly approaching. Her gaze kept flicking to Metal as she asked, “Is there anything I can help you girls with?”

It didn't bypass Metal's attention that he was completely excluded from that comment.

“Oh, we're just browsing for now,” Amy said. “Thank you!”

Maybe it was because he was feeling irritable already, but the way the gazelle kept eyeing him and his stupid sandwich board despite simultaneously acting like he wasn't there had Metal lifting his chin and saying, “You can help me.”

Amy turned to look at Metal in surprise and the lady adjusted her glasses awkwardly, looking at Amy as though Amy would fix this situation.

Amy did turn to Metal, saying, “If there's something you want, Cream and I can help-”

“But it's her job,” Metal said with a challenging tone. “I want a professional’s opinion.”

Amy gave him a warning look, but he ignored it, turning back to the employee. Why couldn't he get assistance from her? Why couldn't he expect to be treated like any other customer?

“Um, ma'am, perhaps your robot should-”

“Woah, woah, woah.” Now Amy looked miffed. “He's not my robot. He's his own person. Please treat him as such.”

The woman looked pained by this response but straightened her shoulders. It seemed she took her job more seriously than Metal expected, because instead of booting him out or refusing to help him, she simply muttered, “Very well,” and cleared her throat.

“What are you looking for?”

“I don't know. This is my first time shopping,” Metal said.

The gazelle did not look surprised by this information, lips thinning. Her patience was probably doing the same, and though Metal shouldn't have been testing it, he wanted to.

“What do you think would look good on me?” he asked. 

The woman looked him over again with a slightly different critical gaze compared to the judging one before.

“There might be a few jackets, but I'm not sure they'd fit your… shoulders. How do you feel about scarves?”

“It's not winter,” Metal said, even though one scarf during the warmer months would not make a very big difference regarding his temperature.

“Oh no, dear, I don't mean winter scarves, I mean fashion scarves. Accessories.” Maybe his eyes were deceiving him, but the woman almost looked offended that he'd think she meant anything else, and possibly slightly distressed that he didn't know that. “Follow me.”

She turned on her heel and started walking and Metal went to follow, tilting this way and that as he navigated between racks of clothing, trying not to let the board catch on anything and yank it off the hanger.

Amy and Cream followed, but Metal turned his head back, unable to conveniently do the same with his body, and told them, “You keep shopping as you want to. Sonic is fast enough.”

“It’s not about that,” Amy said, looking a little hurt by his statement. He already knew it had nothing to do with stopping him if he were to do something because he knew she didn't think he would.

He felt a little bad for implying it was and probably should have said something else, but he just… wanted a chance to do something without someone hovering. Couldn't he prove all on his own that he could interact with others and that he didn't need someone there to make the other party feel comfortable? Couldn't they just learn to be comfortable with him as he was?

I surely can't look intimidating anymore, right?

He supposed his reputation must have been stronger than his looks.

Still, Amy stopped following and cast a few hesitant glances his way before backtracking to where she'd been shopping around before.

Metal could distinctly feel Sonic's gaze on him now, but at least the hedgehog had the decency to keep some distance.

The woman was, surprisingly, looking much less bothered than before. To her credit, she'd seemed to stuff down any prejudice or concerns she had and turned her focus to doing her job to the best of her ability as she pulled a scarf off a rack and held it up in front of him.

“This color matches your…” She paused, looking for the right word. “... Accessories quite well.”

The scarf was pink - she had to be talking about the stickers. 

“Those are… extremely temporary,” he muttered, eyes flicking away.

“I see.” The woman put the scarf back and pulled out a yellow one. “How about this one? It matches your eyes.”

Gesturing to a mirror nearby, she handed him the scarf. It was kind of hard to tell how it looked with the bulky sandwich board covering most of his body, but she was right about the color.

“I… don't know if I want a scarf,” he said after a moment. It was true. Was there even a point to it? Wouldn't it just get in the way of his movements? Besides, why would a robot wear clothes, anyway? Robots weren't made to wear clothes. It was stupid. This whole thing was stupid and Metal suddenly felt like a fool for challenging this employee to help him. 

“Alright. What about a vest, then? That should fit you just fine,” she said, putting the scarf back.

“It won't look good on me,” Metal said, bitterness slipping into his voice as his head lowered. “It'll get in the way of my engine. Robots don't wear clothes. I'm just wasting your time.”

Her brows drew together a fraction as she studied him. Once more, her gaze moved down to his sandwich board.

When she spoke again, her voice was softer. “Everyone deserves to be able to change the way they look to suit their tastes. I think robots can wear clothes just fine if that's what they want to do. Fashion is for everyone.”

He didn't know what to say to that. He hadn't expected her to try and encourage him. He hadn't expected anything positive.

It was a nice thought, but he still didn't think a vest was suitable for him. It would get in the way of his engines. 

“Well,” he said awkwardly. “Thanks, I guess. But uh… I'll pass on it today.”

She nodded. “Let me know if there's anything else I can do.” With that, she returned to the counter.

Metal turned and began to weave back towards where he had last seen the girls. He could hear Sonic's footsteps behind him and hoped he wouldn't say anything about what had happened. He wasn't sure Sonic was within earshot, but he had the unpleasant feeling that he was. 

Ignoring the steps behind him, he continued to scan the store for Amy and Cream, though he paused as something caught his eye.

Making his way over, he reached out and touched the belt he'd spotted. It was black with silver spikes decorating it. It certainly wouldn't help his image as far as making himself look less dangerous, but he had to admit he liked the design.

There was a bark of laughter beside him and he turned to glare at Sonic. 

“You may have lost your memory, but it looks like your fashion sense stayed the same,” Sonic said with a chuckle as he patted Metal on the shoulder.

“What?”

“You know when you rebelled? You really underwent a makeover. Man, you should've seen it. Spikes everywhere. Had a belt pretty similar to that actually,” Sonic explained. “I mean, you're already pretty pointy,” Sonic poked one of Metal’s head spines as he spoke, “but you leaned hard into that look. Seriously, you looked like a starfish with whatever you did with your head. It was kind of hilarious.”

Metal glowered and let go of the belt, turning and marching away. So he couldn't even escape his dark past that way either. Great.

“How'd it go?” Amy asked as she stepped out of an area labeled “Dressing Rooms”, Cream right behind her.

“I didn't find anything I liked,” Metal said, tone clipped. Amy looked a little concerned, but let it go.

“Well, the dress was close to being great, but it didn't quite fit right. The other two were just super unflattering. Oh well! You guys all finished here then?”

“Was ready to leave before we walked in,” Sonic said.

“Says the one who stared at shoes for like, ten minutes,” Metal muttered.

“It was not ten minutes. Besides, if you had to wear shoes, you'd appreciate the appeal of a good shoe. Especially when you run as much as I do.”

Amy waved at the employee and ushered everyone out as Metal replied, “Right. Rub it in my face that I can't wear shoes.”

“I'm sure if they were big enough you could wear shoes, but you'd look like a clown-”

“Ooookay, let's visit Dottie!” Amy interrupted.

“Dottie?”

“She works at a plant nursery nearby. That's where I got the flowers we planted today! Chaz is always there with her. I thought it would be nice if you could see them again. Unless you don't want to…?”

Metal didn’t really want anyone he knew to see him like this, but so many already had and in the end, he only barely knew Dottie. He certainly wasn’t against seeing the little Chao again, so he let out a sigh.

“We can go.”

Amy led them up the street, around the corner, and into a shop with some flower pots outside the entrance.

“Dottie!” Amy called.

“Amy, is that you?” A woman emerged from behind a rack of greenery. “Oh, you brought company! It’s good to see you three again.” 

“Hello, Miss Dottie!” Cream greeted.

“Yo.” Sonic waved and Metal lifted a hand in a halfhearted gesture.

There was a glint of amusement in her eyes as Dottie looked at Metal but politely didn’t comment on his new look. “Chaz has been so obsessed with his hero ever since he was brought home.” Turning, she called, “Chaz! Come here! There’s a visitor you’d like to see!”

A Chao came running around the corner, skidding to a stop as his eyes fell upon Metal. His bubble turned into an exclamation point, then a question mark as his head tilted, studying the robot.

“Chao chao?”

With a determined expression, the Chao flew into the air and over to Metal, grabbing one of the strings of the board and straining to tug it upwards, trying to pull it off.

Even the Chao knows this looks stupid, Metal couldn’t help but think as Dottie hurried over to tug the little creature away.

“Oh no, dear, leave it be,” Dottie said. Chaz squirmed in her arms, glaring at the getup Metal was in as though it was offensive to the eyes.

Which, frankly, it was.

Finally, the Chao settled and Dottie put him back down.

“Chao,” Chaz said seriously, pointing to Metal. He then turned and ran off.

“He’s going to get something for you,” Dottie explained. “I have a feeling I know what it is. See, Chaz loves to draw, and I can’t even begin to tell you how many drawings he’s made of- oh, there we go. See?”

Chaz had come back around, holding a paper. Proudly, he presented it to Metal. It was very scribblish, but the overall shapes and colors were clear enough - it was a crayon drawing of Metal and Chaz with stars and hearts surrounding them. The Chao pushed the paper at Metal until he took it from him. Satisfied, the Chao stepped back.

“Chao chao.”

“He wants you to keep it,” Dottie said.

Metal stared down at the drawing until Amy gave him a small nudge. Quickly, he lowered it and said, “Oh, uh, thank you!”

Dottie beamed as Metal snuck another look at the drawing, a ticklish warmth filling him. He didn’t even realize he’d put on his happy eyes until he saw a glimpse of his reflection in one of the metal watering cans.

Seeing his reflection reminded him of something else: I have to get these stickers off as soon as I can.

Dottie and Amy chatted about flowers for a while while Chaz babbled to Metal, who simply nodded, not knowing at all what the Chao was saying. Cream was too busy looking at the flowers to lend a hand translating, so Metal played bobblehead until Amy seemed ready to go.

“Looks like you’ve got your first fan,” Sonic said, punching Metal softly in the arm as they left. “Not bad being a hero, huh?”

Metal rubbed the spot on his arm despite not feeling a thing. No. Not bad, he thought to himself.

“Alright, Metal,” Amy turned to face him. “Is there anything specific you want to do while you’re out?”

Actually, he was kind of ready to go back home. He was a little tired of all the stares and was ready to be in a more familiar environment again.

She seemed to read his hesitancy well as she said, “Although, I probably shouldn’t keep everyone out too long, right? I think we left a pretty good impression on the town today. The message will surely spread! How about we head back for now?”

Metal nodded. He didn’t want to walk all the way back to Amy’s house though - it had been painful enough to walk all the way to town, so he carefully folded the drawing and then struggled for a moment with the sandwich board until he yanked it over his head. One of the strings broke on the way off, but that was fine - hopefully, he’d never have to wear that again.

He shoved it into Sonic’s arms - “Hey!” - and turned to Amy, scooping her up and lifting into the air.

“Hey, Metal!” Amy yelped. “Don’t just take off like that! What about Sonic and Cream?”

Metal huffed impatiently, turning his gaze to the two below.

“Sonic, will you take Cream home?” Amy asked.

“Uh, sure, I can do that,” Sonic said, looking at the boards in his hands uncertainly. “Can I dump this first?”

Amy made a face at the idea, but Metal said, “Please get rid of it.”

“We worked so hard on that!” Amy protested.

“I can’t run with it,” Sonic retorted. “It’s big and bulky and annoying.”

“I can go home by myself,” Cream said. “I went to Miss Amy’s on my own. Mama won’t mind if I walk home by myself. And I can take the board with me! I want to keep it. It’s a memory!”

Sonic turned to Amy with a shrug.

“Well, alright. I’ll return your basket next time I visit - is that alright?” Amy asked.

“Sure!” Cream waved goodbye to everyone, taking the board from Sonic and slowly heading in the direction of home.

“Last one to Amy’s is a rotten egg,” Sonic taunted once Cream had made it some distance away.

“I can’t go as fast with Amy!” Metal shouted as he took off after Sonic, albeit not as quick.

Chapter Text

Metal made it back home- made it back to Tails’ home a few seconds before Sonic purely because Sonic had stayed a while at Amy's front door laughing when Amy reminded Metal not to forget to take the blue yarn he'd asked for with him. He'd taken the yarn and blasted off in embarrassment while Sonic choked out a, “If only Egghead knew-”

He stuffed the yarn into the bag with the other yarn, set the drawing Chaz gave him down next to it, and made it back downstairs just as Sonic came in.

“Ah, you know what, I should’ve grabbed something to eat while I was on my way back,” the hedgehog said, thankfully seeming to have gotten over the yarn thing enough not to bring it up for now. “I wonder if Tails would be against chilidogs again. I mean, I suppose we could get some burgers tonight…” 

Sonic opened the door to the workshop. “Yo buddy, you- oh. He’s not here. The plane’s gone. Guess he went out.” Sonic shrugged. “Welp, since he’s not here to argue against it, chilidogs it is!”

There was a beep and then a tinny voice sounded from somewhere in Sonic’s vicinity, a voice that sounded a lot like Tails.

“Hey Sonic? Eggman’s got bots causing trouble in Silver Creek City and I need some backup.”

Sonic pushed down the cuff of his glove a little, revealing a communicator as the source of the sound, and pressed a button to reply. “Hold ‘em off, bud, I’ll be there soon!” He looked up at Metal. “Wanna come, Mets?”

Metal’s thoughts whirred. Was Eggman himself there? Would he be facing his creator?

All of those thoughts quieted when he faced a simple fact: Tails was asking for backup.

“I’ll come.”

Sonic flashed him a thumbs-up and was out the door in a second. Metal took off after him, following close as they shot through fields, past roads, and across a bridge.

They reached the edge of a city where Tails was circling his plane in the sky, firing at some large, reddish bots on the ground that were ripping up benches and smashing trees while evading some smaller bots that were flying around trying to shoot at him.

Sonic immediately launched into the group on the ground while Metal took to the sky, grabbing one of the flying robots and ripping its head off. Hearing a shout, he turned to see that one of the flying bots had latched onto the wing of Tails’ plane, placing a small explosive on the tip of the wing.

Quickly, Tails jumped out and flew away just as the boom shook the air and destroyed the wing, sending the plane spiraling downwards.

“Are you okay?” Metal asked.

“I’m fine, but the Tornado- ugh, I guess I’ll have to repair her again,” Tails said before dodging the fire of one of the flying robots. Pulling out a little yellow blaster, he shot back at it.

“You carry a gun?” Metal asked in surprise as he grabbed another bot and hurled it down hard enough that it smashed into the pavement.

“Better safe than sorry!” Tails replied as he blasted down another. He glanced over at Metal and did a double take. "What happened to you? Never mind- later."

With the two of them, the enemies in the sky were handled with relative ease and both headed to the ground to help Sonic with the others.

“I see a lot of Egg Pawns, but no Egg man ,” Sonic said as he landed on the head of what was apparently called an Egg Pawn. He must really like the egg theme, huh? Metal thought to himself.

“Do you think it’s a distraction for something else?” Tails asked. “All they’re doing is destroying property.”

“Maybe. Or he just wants to remind us that he’s around. It has been pretty quiet lately, after all.”

“It would make more sense for him to let us lower our guard and get relaxed by doing nothing for a while,” Tails mumbled.

Metal punched the face of one of those robots a few times until it stopped moving. A tiny part of him wondered if this was murder, since he too was a robot, but shoved that thought deep, deep down. These guys didn’t seem to have any mind of their own, just attacking and destroying. But didn’t he used to do nothing but attack and destroy? Stop thinking about it.

He heard a yelp behind him and spun around just in time to see Tails fly back, hitting the trunk of a tree with a crack. There was a pang of fear, concern, worry-

Metal and Sonic reached Tails at the same time, but Metal withdrew, skidding to a stop and shoving down the feelings of protectiveness. Those feelings didn't belong to him, or at least they shouldn't. It was Sonic's right to be by Tails like that. After all, it was probably only Sonic's biodata that predisposed Metal to these sorts of feelings to begin with.

But even still - Metal swiveled around to face the bot, the worry twisting into anger. He launched himself at the bot, letting his sharp spines shred through it as he tucked into a spin. As he came out on the other side, he knew his organic counterpart had joined the battle again, fighting with the same protective anger that had Metal tearing through enemies faster than before.

He could never be there for the fox the same way Sonic was. It wasn't his place, it wasn't his right. It wasn't fair to expect anything like that from anyone in this form, despite those cursed cravings for a close bond that rose when he saw the two together. 

But Metal could at least do what was within his power from a distance. Use his deadly machinery to protect him in this way, because maybe, Metal thought, this was the only way he had to show his care for the boy.

The Pawns were thoroughly destroyed much faster after that, and whatever concerns Metal had felt towards destroying fellow robots had vanished for the moment.

Sonic lightly kicked the unmoving husk of a half-destroyed robot with a thoughtful hum. “Guess ol’ Egghead is a no-show. Bummer. What were you doing out here, anyway?” The last question was directed at Tails, who replied, “I had to order some new parts I was working on and they only delivered to a shop in Silver Creek City.”

He then gasped. “Oh no, my parts! I hope they’re okay!” The fox raced over to the downed plane, hopping into the cockpit and pulling out a bag. Moments later, he sighed with relief as he flew back over. “They’re okay, thank Chaos. These are expensive and took weeks to arrive!”

“Are you okay?” Metal asked. The boy was moving around fine but Metal hadn’t had a chance to ask after Tails had been smacked into the tree.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’ll probably bruise a little, but I’ve had worse!”

Metal looked at Sonic with a questioning glare. He’s had worse? And you just let him get into this stuff?

Sonic shrugged one shoulder in return with an expression that said it couldn’t be helped.

Maybe that was true. Tails did seem really enthusiastic about helping out. Maybe he’d help fight even if Sonic tried to bench him.

“I guess I’ll go home so I can drop these off and get what I need to fix the Tornado… Ugh, it’s probably gonna take more than one trip, huh?”

“I can help carry things,” Metal offered.

“Really? Thanks! That’ll save a lot of time,” Tails said gratefully.

Once back at Tails’ workshop, Tails got his tools together and laid out all the scrap metal he’d need for the wing on a tarp for easier carrying.

“Do you think you can lift this tarp?” Tails asked.

Metal gave it a try. “Yeah, I can carry this.”

“Perfect. Now we can get it done in one trip!”

On the way back, Metal found his thoughts drifting back to those robots. They were programmed to attack, just like he used to be. What would they be like without that programming? Did they have personalities? Thoughts and feelings?

Sure, they had hurt his friend ally, so he didn’t fully regret ripping them to shreds, but a tiny part of him felt a strange sense of guilt. What if they also just needed to be given a chance?

It was a while after they’d landed, once Tails had already set to work, that Metal finally voiced his thoughts.

“Hey Tails? Do you think those Egg Pawns have any sentience?”

Tails shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I’ve never really thought about it. Eggman does seem to like giving his bots some personality - dunno why since it usually just makes ‘em less effective in my opinion, but…” He trailed off, realization dawning on his face as he paused his work and turned to look at Metal. “Oh.”

Plucking some grass, Metal avoided his gaze.

“Oh… I’m sorry, Metal, I didn’t think-”

“It’s fine. I was just curious. I mean, you guys probably beat me up plenty when I was on Eggman’s side,” Metal said with an empty laugh. “You have to do what you have to do.”

Tails looked down. “Yeah, we do. It would be too hard to try and reprogram every single Pawn - sometimes he sends out like, tons of em, and-”

“Tails, you don’t have to explain yourself to me. I get it. I was just wondering, that’s all. It doesn’t matter. And besides, maybe they’re not sentient at all. They’re called “Pawns”, right? Why bother doing that for something disposable?” Metal felt more like he was trying to convince himself than Tails, but the fox nodded.

“That’s true! That would be a real waste of time and resources.” 

Metal could tell Tails was just trying to smooth over the situation. Programming had to be installed in every single Egg Pawn for them to function, so who was to say a level of sentience wasn’t just automatically installed in each one? He knew Tails was smart enough to think of that.

Well, he could appreciate him trying.

Maybe he’d use that light blue yarn to make Tails a scarf. He knew he’d made the fox rather nervous and uncomfortable in the beginning, but Tails had tried his best to assimilate Metal into his life.

He might not have been able to give Tails that flower way back when, but maybe he could at least give him a scarf. After all, giving to others was good.

Chapter Text

Metal stayed with Tails until he finished fixing the plane. Shortly after the conversation about the Egg Pawns, Tails switched topics to why Metal was covered in stickers and after Metal gave a brief explanation (Tails had the decency not to laugh, thankfully), the fox promised to help him take them off later. It was late when they got home, but Tails still spent a good while working on taking off stickers, though some were more stubborn than others.

“I’ll get out some scrub that’s good for stickers tomorrow and finish them off,” Tails had told him.

But Tails had slept in, so Metal had started on the scarf. When the fox didn’t come to look for him, he continued working on it, taking his time with Tails’ scarf so he’d have something to do, spending most of the next day up in the storage room. He wanted some alone time anyway, so he didn’t mind that it had perhaps slipped Tails’ mind and was grateful that Sonic didn’t come snooping around to look for him. Once the scarf was finished… I’ll go down and see if Sonic is in the area.

He didn’t want to give Tails the scarf when Sonic was around. 

Unfortunately, when he found Tails in his workshop, Sonic was near the entrance of the garage door, chilling with a book. 

Ugh. I’ll have to wait until later. Maybe at least now I can ask Tails to finish getting these stickers off…

Metal watched as Tails carefully worked to pull down a box from one of his shelves. He should really organize those shelves better. With everything piled all over each other, it looked rather unsafe-

Just as he was thinking it, an open kit of tools got caught on the corner of the box and started to come down with it.

This time, Metal was closer than Sonic, and leaving nothing to chance immediately launched forward and grabbed the fox, sliding away just in time for them to both avoid an onslaught of falling tools.

The fox pressed a hand to his chest, taking in a deep breath, clearly startled. 

"Thanks, So-" The sound of the 'o' had cut off just as it had begun, but Metal caught it nonetheless as Tails' gaze flicked to Metal's, the sensation of cool metal against him having finally caught up to him. After a beat far too long, Tails finished his sentence. "-Metal."

The robot released the fox gently and gave a quick nod, then trudged as quickly as he could out the door so when he blasted away in flight, it wouldn't disturb anything inside the workshop.

Thanks, Metal.

It was gratitude that was not originally intended for him. Tails had obviously expected Sonic to save him, had assumed Sonic was the one who saved him until he regained his bearings and realized it was just the robot copy.

Just the robot copy.

Thanks, Sonic.

Thanks, Metal.

Thanks, Sonic.

Metal stood at the edge of the lake, staring down at his reflection on the surface of the water, watching it distort as a breeze skimmed the surface. As much as he wanted to believe his organic version was inferior to him, or at the very least on equal ground, he was starting to wonder if that were true. Sure, as long as he wasn't damaged beyond repair, Metal couldn't really die - and if there was a backup of his programming somewhere, even if his body was completely destroyed, it could just be uploaded into a new one. If anything broke, it could be repaired with relative ease. Sonic was mortal and anything broken would take longer to heal.

He could fly without a plane and, according to information he'd found in his data, shoot a plasma pulse laser from his chest and form strong, albeit temporary, force fields. His clawed hands could rip apart steel - and even filed down could do far more damage than Sonic could do with his hands.

But there were so many ways Metal was lacking. Metal could surpass Sonic's top speed, but only for a very short while before he overloaded his circuits. Even just keeping up with Sonic's top speed would cause him to overheat if he did it too long.

He couldn't express emotions as well, couldn't form friendships as easily. He couldn't eat, couldn't enjoy the pleasures that taste and touch seemed to bring organic beings. 

He couldn’t have the same relationship with Tails.

What good were these extra abilities if he couldn't live the life he wanted to?

Eventually, he trudged back to the house. But he didn’t want to go inside just yet, so instead he boosted himself up onto the roof, lying back and letting out a mechanical sigh. Metal stared up at the stars, the lights reflecting off his smooth surface. He zoomed his optics in as far as he could, but they remained specks, more or less, his zoom function not strong enough. He let his vision return to normal, enjoying the stars as they were, following the shapes they seemed to form despite having no real connection to one another. His eyes drifted to the moon, full and bright.

He heard someone joining him on the roof, but kept his eyes on the stars, already knowing who it was before they spoke.

“I figured you’d be up here.” Sonic pulled himself onto the roof with ease.

Metal refused to look at him, keeping his gaze trained on the stars above. There was something grounding about the night sky. The constant of the moon and stars, always there at night, a lantern to ensure it would never be truly, completely dark. 

Finally, Metal spoke. “How did you know I’d be up here?” He didn’t know why he asked. He already knew the answer and already didn’t like it.

“Because this is where I would have gone,” Sonic said simply, folding his arms behind him the same way Metal’s were as he settled on the roof.

Was it because they were built alike? No, wrong wording. Sonic wasn’t built. Was it because Metal had been built based on Sonic? Did he… have anything that was his own? Was there anything real about him? His thoughts? His feelings? Was he really just a copy of this organic hedgehog that sat next to him? Amy had pointed out their differences, but weren’t those just because Metal was trying so hard to be trustworthy and liked, rather than who he was deep down? If Sonic had grown up without any influences from the expectations of society, would he have liked knitting and gardening and all of that stuff?

A long, angry beep forced its way from his internal speakers, a noise he hadn’t meant to make. Another reminder that he was nothing more than a hunk of programmed metal. 

Light pressure on his shoulder had him swiveling his head to the side. Sonic had sat up, placing a gentle hand on Metal’s shoulder plate.

“You know, it doesn’t matter how similar we are. In the end, we still have our differences, and I don’t just mean what we’re physically made of. Those things make you who you are. You have thoughts and feelings. You’re as real and alive as anything else,” Sonic said.

Metal couldn’t bring himself to brush off his hand this time but it wasn’t long before Sonic pulled away, standing with a stretch. 

“I’m gonna hit the hay. See ya tomorrow.”

His gaze returned to the stars while his thoughts drifted to the scarf. The way he viewed Tails was nothing close to the way Tails viewed him. Suddenly, the idea of giving him a scarf felt awkward, nauseating even. Would Tails just give him a polite thank you and then stash the scarf away, uncomfortable with the show of affection? Should he really force such a thing onto him when he probably didn’t want it? Just because he seemed okay having Metal around now didn’t mean he liked him enough to want a gift from him.

I don’t want to be me. I don’t want to be the way I am. I wish I was Sonic.

He sat up, feeling nothing but out of place and wrong in the metallic body that contained him. Was this the price of freedom? Never being able to feel comfortable with himself?

Hopping off the roof, he headed inside and grabbed the scarf, anger and grief swirling within him. Quietly, he headed downstairs and opened the cupboard below the sink, shoving the scarf into the trash.

Returning to the storage room, he sat down in the corner and let his head fall against his knees with a clank.

Maybe I should ask Amy if she’d let me move in with her, he thought miserably. She somehow made him feel a little better about himself. She seemed to reciprocate every ounce of effort he put into their relationship, if not more. He wasn’t sure if Tails even viewed him as a friend, but Amy…

> for person.file “Amy” in os.listdir(directory):

if person.file “Amy” has tag pattern(”Ally”) 

replace with = “Friend”

Yes. He felt oddly certain that she viewed him as a friend. Maybe that’s who he needed to spend more time with in order to feel okay with himself. She helped him once upon a time back when he was still evil, and he felt hope that she could help him again.

Maybe to… heal, yes, to heal, maybe he needed to spend more time away from Sonic and Tails. They just reminded him of everything he couldn’t be, but Amy reminded him of everything he could be.

I’ll talk to her about it tomorrow, he decided.

Chapter Text

Setting out for Amy’s house the next morning, Metal felt more nervous than he expected. It wasn’t a big deal, right? If she said no, she said no, and he’d just have to figure something else out. Like… living by the lake or something. No, that probably wasn’t very sustainable. Maybe he could build his own house! …Was that possible or even legal for someone like him? 

Okay, stop thinking about the what-ifs right now. You haven’t even asked Amy yet.

Landing outside her house, he stepped up and knocked on the door.

He could hear footsteps and soon the door opened. 

“Metal? What a surprise! What brings you here?”

His fans whirred louder at the sight of her, trying to cool his heating circuits as his nerves flared further. Calm down, calm down, calm down.

“Uh, I uh, I had a question.”

“Oh, okay. Well… why don’t you come in?”

Amy gestured for him to enter and soon the two were sitting on the couch.

“So what’s up?”

“I… I was wondering…” His fingers curled around the sides of his legs as his eyes focused on the coffee table. “If…” He trailed off hesitantly and flinched when Amy’s hand landed on his. Glancing up, he saw an encouraging smile on her face and tried to quiet his fans. They sounded painfully loud in the otherwise quiet of her house. Summoning every shred of courage, he finished, “If I could stay with you.”

Surprise flashed across her face followed immediately by concern. “Is everything alright? Did Sonic say something mean to you?”

“It’s nothing specific, ” Metal said, “I just…” His voice got quieter. “...don’t belong there.”

“Oh, Metal,” Amy said, gently taking both his hands.

“I keep… feeling all these things- wanting all of these things that don’t belong to me and I can’t take it anymore,” he admitted, trying to be cognizant of his fingers so he didn’t end up squeezing her hands too hard. “Being around the person I was… made a copy of is just… too hard.”

Amy pulled her hands away and he felt a stab of fear before she wrapped her arms around him. “I understand. You can stay with me as long as you need to.”

It was like all the tension in his body fell away at once, leaving him slumping into her hold.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“I just want the best for you,” she told him. “I want you to be able to find happiness, and if time away from there is what you think will help, I’m more than happy to provide a place to stay.”

Pulling away, she patted his shoulder with a smile. “Besides, it’ll be fun! It gets a little lonesome sometimes in this house by myself!”

Relief, gratitude, and happiness nearly overwhelmed him until a sudden thought dumped a bucket of water on the positivity.

“Now I have to tell them,” he said, slumping. “How do I explain…? I don’t want them to… to know that I…”

If Tails knew how badly he wanted to be in Sonic’s shoes… Metal would rather get taken apart than face that sort of shame. Sonic… well, he probably already knew, but that didn’t mean Metal wanted to face it openly in front of that jerk.

“Do you want me to come with you? Maybe I can help explain it somehow. We can say…” Amy trailed off in thought for a moment. “How about we tell them you want to explore who you are more and that’ll be easier to do away from Sonic? I think that’s a pretty reasonable explanation.”

He considered it. It wasn’t like that wasn’t true, and it did make sense…

“Alright. But… I’ll go and tell them alone.” It would be easier if he could just tell them that and then speed right back. The less time he had to stick around after breaking the news the better. "I’ll grab my stuff while I’m there and then come back here.”

“If that’s what you want,” Amy said with a nod. “I’ll be right here waiting!”

Getting up, he headed out and flew back to Tails’ house. Maybe he’d be lucky and Sonic wouldn’t even be there. He could just tell Tails without Sonic giving him that knowing expression and be on his way. Tails could pass along the message and Metal wouldn’t have to face it firsthand.

The garage to the workshop was open, so he landed there, peering inside. He only saw Tails, sitting at his workbench and frowning at some papers.

Stepping inside, he was about to speak when the door from the house to the workshop opened and Sonic came out, carrying two sodas in hand. Great.

“There ya are,” the hedgehog said as he set one of the cans down in front of Tails. He spotted Metal and waved. “Heya, Mets! I was wondering where you went.”

“I… have something to tell you,” Metal said awkwardly.

Sonic’s smile slipped into something more serious as he set his soda down. Tails scooted to the end of the bench and turned to face Metal, curiosity on his face.

“I’ve decided…” Metal began slowly before pausing as a very quiet buzzing sound reached his ears. His head turned, trying to place the slightly familiar sound.

“Metal?”

“Do you guys hear that?” The whir steadily grew louder and Metal ran the noise through his systems, trying to figure out what it was and why it was familiar.

Tails’ brows scrunched as he listened. “It kind of sounds like…”

“What? What do you guys hear?” Sonic looked between the two, his own ears not having picked up on it yet.

> Match found.

“Eggman robots,” Tails and Metal said simultaneously.

“What?” Sonic sped out of the workshop, Metal and Tails right behind him, peering into the distance. A small blur of shapes with a circle hovering above them could be seen in the distance, slowly growing bigger and more distinct. “Well, would you look at that. Eggman is with them this time. Man, all the way out here? What, is he making house calls now? That’s cheap.”

Sonic crossed his arms, then shook his head. “Well, I’m not gonna wait around until he gets here.” He grinned as he fell into a quick stretch. “I’ll be polite and meet him halfway!” Sonic took off.

“Are you going to be okay?” Tails asked Metal. This time, Eggman was there for sure. The one who had created Metal. The one who had abandoned Metal.

His fists clenched. He knew it was likely he’d have to face the man eventually. 

“I’ll be fine,” he said. Time to meet my maker.

The two took off after Sonic, coming to a stop next to the hedgehog.

A large, bald man with an impressive mustache sat in a floating, circular ship. Metal had feared he’d feel a sense of familiarity, or even worse, a desire to work with this man, but there was nothing, not a shred of recognition.

He was okay.

It seems Eggman had been ranting about something, “-if you think I’d just sit back and-”, but those words cut off as he spotted Metal.

A grin curled across his lips. “Well, well. My Egg Pawns had sent the most interesting footage the other day and I almost wondered if Tails had sent it over as a silly prank. Metal Sonic with yellow eyes and covered in stickers?” The man grimaced. “But it seems it’s true. And here I thought you were shut down and rusting away somewhere.”

And you didn’t even bother to look for me? Metal thought. 

“Ugh, what did they do to you?” Eggman continued. “What are those awful things on your fingers? Metal Sonic, why would you ever work with these blockheads? Did the fox reprogram you?”

“He decided to help us all on his own!” Tails said defensively.

“Oh, I highly doubt it. Something must have happened. Metal is programmed with the utmost obedience, especially after that Neo fiasco. He would never rebel unless something drastic happened. So what was it, Metal? Come on, you can tell me. They didn’t take away your voice, did they?”

“No,” Metal said, feeling uneasy with every word that came out his mouth. The idea of being programmed with obedience still felt nauseating to him.

“So? Did Tails reprogram you? Ah wait- that explosion at my base, that was the last time I saw you, wasn’t it? Don’t tell me some sort of damage caused this?”

Metal’s eyes flicked away.

“Aha, so that’s what it is. Of course you’d only make the mistake of helping the enemy while broken.”

“I’m not broken,” Metal snapped. “I’m better than I ever was working for you.”

"Ha! What kinds of nonsense have these fools been filling your head with? In what world is being declawed and covered with little pink stickers better than being by my side?”

“You’re not exactly the pinnacle of fashion either, doc,” Sonic said.

Eggman waved a hand with a scoff. “No matter, I’ll get you cleaned up and back to normal when we get back home, Metal.”

“Why would I ever go back with you?” Metal asked, glaring up at the man.

“What? Did you think I wouldn't have a backup prepared?" Eggman fiddled with the screen on his egg mobile. "Don't worry, Metal. You'll get your programming back and be good as new."

"No!" Metal cried, horror sweeping through him.

"But his system was wiped!" Tails said. "It shouldn't even be possible to-"

"Stupid fox," Eggman said. "This is a chip I installed elsewhere. Dormant. Of course it wouldn't show up on any system scans! But now it'll download everything Metal needs to return to his former glory. Say goodbye to your..." He grinned wickedly, spitting out his last word with sarcasm. "Friend."

He could feel it in his system, new coding filtering its way in, crawling through his processors. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. A growing, virulent feeling of hate, dampening his views towards his friends - [enemies] - friends with coldness. Amy is waiting for me. He had rebelled before, though it was for the worst he'd been told, but came back serving Eggman just as before. And now he'd rebelled again, for the better. Yet it seemed he was destined to always end up under Eggman's control. He didn't want to be controlled anymore.

He turned towards Sonic, fingers clenching and unclenching dangerously.

"De- des-" his voice shook. It didn't want to work.

But he knew his counterpart would understand.

He always understood. 

Destroy me, he said wordlessly. Permanently.

And there, in Sonic's eyes, he saw what he already knew would be the answer.

He couldn't. Not with the knowledge that Metal had been able to change for the good once.

No, he already knew Sonic would do everything he could to bring Metal back, no matter how much Metal destroyed in the meantime - no matter how many times they'd have to fight each other again in the future. 

I don't want to fight any of you anymore. Please, end this before it begins, was his final, wordless plea, before rage consumed him.

Chapter Text

With a comfortable fury thrumming through his system, Metal Sonic launched himself at Sonic, swiping at him. His claws brushed against Sonic's face - no, those disgusting rubber covers brushed against Sonic's face, completely ruining his attack. He tore them off and leaped for Sonic again, who ducked his next swipe. 

“Metal, stop!” came a cry from behind him. Metal Sonic whipped around, catching an attempted attack by Tails’ namesakes, grabbing the appendages and spinning around again, chucking the fox at a tree.

“Tails!” Sonic shouted as the fox groaned. He turned back to Metal, fists clenched. “Guess you really are all gone for now, huh?”

“For now? That foolish Metal you knew won’t ever be coming back,” Eggman scoffed as Metal avoided Sonic’s spin dash, using the hedgehog’s next spin attack as an opportunity to kick him like a ball. “Aha, that’s my boy, Metal! Get ‘im!”

Sonic shot back towards Metal Sonic and the two grappled for a moment before Metal swung his hand around, clawing at his counterpart successfully this time, red lines left along Sonic’s arm. Glee shot through him at the damage. The two clashed several more times before a foot to the head had Metal stumbling sideways, giving Sonic an opening to spin dash into him, hitting the center of his engine. It seemed Tails had returned to the battle. Metal shot into the air, though his engine sputtered unevenly for a moment. It was fine though; a little damaged, but not enough to stop him. 

He hovered in the air for a moment, gaze flicking over the enemies, calculating his next move. The fox was spinning his tails, but not taking to the air just yet. Would he? Probably not. His eyes moved to Sonic, standing below him, ready and waiting.

Perhaps his plasma pulse laser-

> 2.37% chance success

No, not enough. The hedgehog would move out of the way before it hit. Even if he directed it at the fox, he would have enough time to move… Unless he got closer. Tails was one of Sonic’s weaknesses. Hurt the fox, hurt the hedgehog.

Metal Sonic dove down towards Sonic, then veered a hard left at the last second, smashing into Tails. The two skidded along the ground for a moment and Metal’s canon whined as it powered up, arm barred across the squirming fox’s throat to keep him in place. Weight crashed into his back and his optics were covered as Sonic yanked at his head.

“Leave- him- alone-!”

Letting the canon cool for now, Metal opted for a different attack - sending out an electric shock, zapping both the fox and hedgehog. He stood, Sonic groaning as he slid off Metal’s back. The doctor cackled in the background as Metal Sonic grabbed his pathetic copy, hoisting him upwards. Finally, he’d-

“Hold on, Metal Sonic!”

Metal’s gaze swung to his creator.

“Playtime is over.”

What?

“You’ve done a very good job here, but I cannot stand the idea of you defeating Sonic while you look like this.”

His fingers twitched, optics moving back to Sonic. All he had to do was stab his claws forward. Tear him apart. He was so close.

“Metal,” his master repeated, voice sharper and more commanding this time. “Come on. You can finish him off next time once you’re all back to normal.”

Sonic coughed out a laugh. “Go on, Metal, go home with daddy.”

Metal threw him onto the ground as hard as he could, then rose and turned to follow Eggman, glancing back one last time to see the fox stumbling over to check on Sonic. 

Back at the base, Eggman got to work scraping off the remaining stickers.

“Bah, these rodents. How dare they vandalize my prized creation like this?” Eggman muttered. “I’m going to have to repaint you entirely! And your fingers will need replacing as well… Recolor your eyes - yellow is hardly menacing. Ugh, what a disgrace you are, looking like this.”

Metal Sonic looked away. A disgrace. That was the last thing he wanted to be for his master. He wanted to represent the empire with pride. The glimpse he’d caught of his reflection as they’d passed through the base was frankly revolting. He couldn’t wait to look like himself again. Sleek, sharp, deadly. The superior Sonic.

“I must say though, there are some good things to come out of this,” Eggman said, unscrewing Metal’s handplate and setting it aside so he could remove the robot’s digits. “Now I’ve got hours of footage on those rats that I can watch. There might be weaknesses in there somewhere. Information I can use. It might not have been your choice, but you did make for a good spy, I suppose.”

Metal Sonic lifted his chin a little, proud. Even while he was on the wrong track, broken and incorrect, he could still do something right. That was good.

“Once I'm done here, I'll have to shut you down for a while. I must check all your coding and make sure that fox didn't screw with it too much.”

Metal despised the thought. An enemy accessing his coding?

“I must say though, even if your coding did get stripped of so many important things, I'm curious - did you still hate Sonic? That was one of the first things I included in your programming, after all. It might as well be one of the building blocks of who you are!” Eggman continued as he attached new, nice sharp fingers.

Metal did a quick review of the past couple of weeks, then gave a pleased thumbs up with his free hand. It seems he had still hated that pathetic copy. The concept of him ever having good feelings - or even neutral feelings for that loathsome blue menace - made his circuits crawl.

His master laughed heartily. “As it should be! Glad my programming still had some hold on you. Though it is a shame you fought against some of my bots.” The man sighed. “I’ll have to program entirely new security measures for if you ever get wiped like that again. We can't have you galavanting off to the other side again!”

Metal Sonic went back through his memories. How embarrassing. Yearning for freedom when he had such a brilliant, caring master to serve? How pitiful he had been, letting those fools get into his head like that. Look how his creator cared about him, fixing him by hand like this! 

Once Eggman had finished getting Metal to look like new again, he plugged the robot in. “Sleep tight for now, Metal Sonic. You'll feel much better once I boot you up again. It should only take a few hours.”

Metal's systems automatically did a quick check of the time at the sentence.

> Current time: 1147 hours

> Date: 26th May

And then everything went dark.

> System: Rebooting...

> System: Booting into Kernel v7.2...

> System: Power supply stable. Initializing core modules...

> Engine: 255 cc, 4 Valve Orgone Fusion Engine, Power Output: 55ps/6800rpm, Torque: 7.54 kg-m/4000rpm fully operational.

> Power Source: Tesla Power Coil, Output: 256kW fully operational.

> System: Online.

> System check in progress...

> CPU: ROBOTNIK Custom Chip: AI Processor active. Signal transmission: 0.001ms latency.

> Reaction time: 0.001ms (optimized for high-speed combat).

> Memory: 94% available.

> Energy core: 100% capacity.

> Network modules: Connected to Eggnet.

> Combat protocol: Enabled.

> Target tracking systems: Engaged.

> Weapon systems: Fully operational.

> Hate_That_Hedgehog.exe: Preloaded.

> Collaborative_Strategy_Protocol.exe: Preloaded.

> Basic system operations check:

> Current time: 0632 hours

> Date: 29th May

> Environmental sensors: Nominal

> Internal temperature: 35°C

> Scanning for data files…

> Data files loaded.

> Primary directives loaded:

> 1. Always obey and protect [Master]: Dr. Eggman.

> 2. Defeat target: Sonic the Hedgehog.

> Optics: Online.

His optics flickered to life.

> System check complete. All systems operational.

His gaze moved across the room, landing on a man typing something on a computer.

> Subject detected. Scanning.

> Subject identified: [Master] - Dr. Eggman. Primary directive 1 engaged.

> Loading data file: Dr. Eggman…

> Data file located.

Name: Dr. Ivo Robotnik (Eggman)

Tags: [Master], [Genius], [Scientist], [Inventor], [Overlord]

Affiliation: Eggman Empire

Objectives: World domination, defeat Sonic the Hedgehog

Attributes: Genius-level intellect, expert in robotics and engineering, master strategist

Weaknesses: None

Current Status: Active

Threat Level: High (to Sonic the Hedgehog and associates)

Relationship: Master-Servant (Primary directive 1 engaged)

> Searching for related memory logs…

> No memory logs detected.

> Awaiting commands from [Master].

Metal slid off the table and stood. The doctor turned around at the sound.

“Ah, finally awake, Metal Sonic! How do you feel?”

Metal Sonic did a quick search for appropriate communication and then gave him a thumbs up.

“Good, good. You're all ready to start fresh!” Eggman said with a broad smile, patting Metal on the head. Metal felt pleased that he already seemed to have his master's approval before he had even done anything. “Now, I need you to head to base C13 to guard operations there.”

It was unfortunate that his first mission was to guard operations rather than battle his loathsome copy, but [Master]’s orders were absolute.

Eggman continued, “I've got to get some supplies loaded there to be transferred here and the last thing I need is those meddling fools barging in and wrecking everything. It's a pain to have to gather new resources every time they run around and trash my things!”

> Searching for “meddling fools”...

> 100% match found: Sonic the Hedgehog and associates.

His system thrummed with excitement. Perhaps he would get a chance to battle the hedgehog after all.

Chapter Text

When Metal Sonic arrived at base C13, there were a good two dozen Egg Pawns moving crates into a ship that was ready to carry the load once everything had been stored inside. The handful that were marching back to grab more things paused and waved at Metal as he landed. He turned away to survey the area. There was no reason for greetings and niceties - he had a job to do, and so did they. 

While he stood sentry, Metal Sonic decided it would be a good idea to see what information he had on his foes. The better he knew his enemies, the better prepared he'd be to defeat them. Quickly, he searched for the file on his nemesis to see what information the doctor had given him.

> Loading data file: Sonic the Hedgehog…

> Data file located.

Name: Sonic the Hedgehog

Tags: [Enemy], [Rival], [Organic Copy], [Nuisance]

Affiliation: Eggman Empire Opposer

Objectives: Stop Dr. Eggman, protect the world from threats

Attributes: Super speed, agility, skilled in combat, will not shut up

Weaknesses: Protective of friends, overly confident

Important relationships:

Tails the Fox (Ally. Views him as a brother. Primary weakness.)

Amy Rose (Ally. Possible girlfriend. Weakness.)

Knuckles the Echidna (Begrudging ally.)

Shadow the Hedgehog (Rivals, but will sometimes work together.)

Silver the Hedgehog (Ally.)

Current Status: Active

Threat Level: High

Relationship: Enemy (Primary directive 2 engaged)

> Searching for related memory logs…

> No memory logs detected.

It was a good idea, then, to go through his files on the relationships mentioned in Sonic's file, seeing as they could be working with him.

> Loading data file: Tails the Fox…

> Data file located.

Name: Miles “Tails” Power (Tails the Fox)

Tags: [Enemy], [Mechanic], [Inventor], [Sonic's Sidekick]

Affiliation: Eggman Empire Opposer

Objectives: Assist Sonic, protect the world from threats, develop technology (primarily to aid other objectives)

Attributes: Super intelligence, skilled in engineering and mechanics, fast, ability to fly and attack with twin tails, sometimes uses blaster guns

Weaknesses: Insecure about his abilities, overly reliant on Sonic for support

Important relationships:

Sonic the Hedgehog (Views him as a brother and mentor. Primary motivation and weakness.)

Amy Rose (Friend and ally. Possible source of distraction and weakness.)

Knuckles the Echidna (Ally.)

Current Status: Active

Threat Level: Moderate

Relationship: Enemy

> Searching for related memory logs…

> No memory logs detected .

Sidekick… So he'd likely be with Sonic if the hedgehog did show up.

> Loading data file: Amy Rose…

> Data file located.

Name: Amy Rose

Tags: [Enemy], [Sonic's Admirer]

Affiliation: Eggman Empire Opposer

Objectives: Assist Sonic, protect the world from threats, pursue Sonic romantically

Attributes: Exceptional combat skills, wielding a Piko Piko Hammer, strong-willed, determined, (warning) has manipulated robots into becoming traitors

Weaknesses: Emotional attachment to Sonic, impulsive actions, can be easily distracted by feelings

Important relationships:

Sonic the Hedgehog (Romantic interest. Major motivation but also a vulnerability.)

Tails the Fox (Friend and ally.)

Knuckles the Echidna (Ally.)

Current Status: Active

Threat Level: Moderate

Relationship: Enemy

> Searching for related memory logs…

> No memory logs detected.

Manipulating robots was definitely a problem he'd be mindful of, should he come across her. Though a machine as superior as himself should have no trouble with it, it was good to keep in mind.

> Loading data file: Knuckles the Echidna…

> Data file located.

Name: Knuckles the Echidna

Tags: [Enemy], [Guardian], [Fighter]

Affiliation: Guardian of the Master Emerald

Objectives: Protect the Master Emerald and Angel Island

Attributes: Exceptional strength, spiked fists, skilled in hand-to-hand combat, strong-willed

Weaknesses: Gullible and easily manipulated, short temper, distracted by any threat to the Master Emerald or Angel Island

Important relationships:

Sonic the Hedgehog (Ally.)

Tails the Fox (Ally.)

Amy Rose (Ally.)

Current Status: Active

Threat Level: Low to Moderate

Relationship: Enemy

> Searching for related memory logs…

> No memory logs detected.

If his focus was on the island and Emerald, he would likely not be an issue for now.

> Loading data file: Shadow the Hedgehog…

> Data file located.

Name: Shadow the Hedgehog

Tags: [The Ultimate Lifeform], [Potential Threat]

Affiliation: None

Objectives: Pursue personal goals (not clearly identified)

Attributes: Immortality, super speed, chaos control abilities, expert combat skills, unpredictable

Weaknesses: Overconfidence, removing inhibitor rings will eventually drain him of energy 

Important relationships:

Sonic the Hedgehog (Rival. Can act as both an ally and enemy.)

Rouge the Bat (Occasional ally.)

E-123 Omega (Occasional ally.)

Current Status: Active

Threat Level: High

Relationship: Enemy, though occasional ally - has worked with and against Eggman in the past

> Searching for related memory logs…

> No memory logs detected.

Interesting. Also not a concern for now, but definitely one to watch out for, should they ever come to blows.

> Loading data file: Silver the Hedgehog…

> Data file located.

Name: Silver the Hedgehog

Tags: [Enemy], [Telekinetic]

Affiliation: Eggman Empire Opposer

Objectives: Protect the future, assist allies

Attributes: Telekinesis, combat skills, comes from the future

Weaknesses: Naive, rash, impulsive

Important relationships:

Sonic the Hedgehog (Ally.)

Tails the Fox (Ally.)

Amy Rose (Ally.)

Current Status: Not in present time

Threat Level: Moderate

Relationship: Enemy

> Searching for related memory logs…

> No memory logs detected.

Also not an issue for now. 

There was a clatter behind him and his head whipped around. One of the Egg Pawns had dropped its cargo and was now looking around frantically like it wasn't sure what to do.

Metal Sonic pinged the robot through the Eggnet.

[Query: Is the cargo damaged?]

A response from EP-4896 came after a few moments.

[No.]

Good. It would have been ridiculous if the cargo had been damaged, not because of Sonic and his friends, but because an Egg Pawn made a mistake.

[Order: Pick it up and resume work.]

[Acknowledged.]

Metal Sonic turned away again to keep surveying the area, foot tapping. Was Sonic going to show up or not? He was built for more than just standing guard and he was itching to fight.

Then, he heard it. A rapid pitter-patter in the distance along with some voices.

“-close by.”

“Something interesting better be happening, because I'm in the mood to kick some ro-butt!”

> Voice match identified: Tails the Fox and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Metal's engine thrummed as he crouched. Finally.

Blasting off, he shot towards the noise. The hedgehog came into view who, upon seeing Metal streaking towards him shouted, “Incoming!” and peeled off to the right. Metal swerved to follow him.

“Long time no see, Mets!”

Metal swiped at him and Sonic jumped over his arm.

“Not in the mood to chat, huh? Or did the good doctor take your voice away from you?”

What was this inferior creature babbling on about? They had never met before and Metal had certainly never been able to speak. He was not built with a voice.

“So whatcha doin’ out here? Tails said one of Eggman's old bases activated earlier. Must be something pretty important if you're guarding it,” Sonic said as he looked over at him. As if it was any of his business.

There was a blast just to the right of Metal and he swerved, glancing back. The fox. He had his blasters out and was attempting to fire at him.

Metal Sonic moved to fly right behind Sonic and began to weave slightly. If Tails tried to shoot now, he'd risk shooting the hedgehog. He heard a sound of frustration behind him. 

Now that he didn't have to worry about Tails, he pushed his engine to go faster, reaching out for Sonic.

> Warning: Core temperature has reached 45°C.

Metal Sonic dismissed the warning. He was too close to slow down now. He made a grab for Sonic but the hedgehog seemed to have anticipated it and rolled into a ball. Metal watched as the balled-up hedgehog zoomed to the side, heading in the direction of the base.

Metal strained to turn after him, shoulder smashing into the side of a tree as he did so. Sonic untucked himself and kept running, so Metal sped up again to close the distance between them.

> Warning: Core temperature has reached 50°C.

He had to catch Sonic before he destroyed any of his master's work! And he had very nearly reached him when there was a soft thunk on the back of his head. Something had landed there and he reached back with one hand to look for it while still pouring most of his power into catching up with his copy. There was a small disc of some sort attached to the surface of his back quill and it took a moment to pry it off. 

Pulling it into view, he risked a quick glance down at the silver disc with a red blinking light, but he only got to look at it for a split second before it exploded, knocking him off course and destroying his left arm entirely. He crashed and skidded along the ground, optics flickering.

> Warning: Left arm 0% operational.

> Warning: Left leg 63% operational.

> Warning: Optics 72% operational.

> Warning: Engine 73% operational.

He shifted, working to push himself back into his feet.

What? What was that? What had just happened? 

His files did not say Tails could do that.

There was a, “Yeah, nice one, Tails!” from Sonic, followed by a bashful laugh from the fox.

Metal Sonic turned, half of his visuals flickering and glitching.

“You wanna go in and see if you can gather some info? I'll take care of the bots out here.”

He had to stop them.

His engine whirred, sputtered, and then came to life. He took off, veering awkwardly for a moment.

> Balance recalibration in progress…

> Balance recalibration complete.

By the time he reached Sonic, the hedgehog had already smashed several Egg Pawns, and Tails was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't stop both at the same time, so he picked Sonic, bowling into him. The hedgehog had the audacity to laugh as he kicked Metal off of him, sprinting away and ducking another attack before crashing into another Egg Pawn, whose crate slammed into the Pawn in front of it. Like dominoes, they began to fall, one by one.

No. No!

Sonic leaped out of the way as Metal launched himself at him once more, and then turned and spun into the ship itself, popping out the other side and shaking a bit of oil off from whatever he had sawed his way through, likely leaving the aircraft inoperable.

“I don't think there was much in there, but I copied whatever he had,” Tails said as he flew back out of the building.

“Eh, no biggie. I got to trash this place, so that's all that matters to me!” Sonic said, dodging again as Metal tried to attack once more. “Had fun, Metal, but looks like we're done here. See ya later!”

It wasn't supposed to go like this. Metal Sonic was supposed to have stopped him! He was supposed to have kept the cargo safe!

He took off after the two, but he couldn't work up enough speed when his engine cut out for a half second here and there. Eventually, he turned and went back to the base, surveying the damage. Not only were the Egg Pawns destroyed, but the ship had a gaping hole through the engine and the cargo itself was…

> Calculation: Cargo 57% destroyed.

Thankfully, it wasn't entirely ruined, but more than half had been smashed. It looked as though what had primarily survived were small things like nuts and bolts, and harder to damage things like rubber-coated wires.

His footsteps clunked across the pavement towards his detached arm, picking it up and staring at it. 

Metal Sonic had failed his first mission.

Chapter Text

Metal Sonic dreaded facing his creator. He was supposed to be better than this. He should have succeeded. What had gone wrong? How had he failed so terribly? The entire slow flight back, he replayed the footage of the battle over and over again.

He had underestimated the fox. Tails was tagged as "inventor", so he should have been more prepared for him to bring out something aside from blaster guns - something new. (Was there anything he could have done to avoid that attack when he didn't know it existed? His systems said no. It wasn't an answer he liked.)

If he had taken care of the fox first, perhaps he would have thrown Sonic off his game and not have had to worry about those sneaky other attacks. (But his primary directive was Sonic. Wasn't he supposed to focus on Sonic?)

And then there was the matter of what the hedgehog had said. “Long time no see, Mets!” “Did the good doctor take your voice away from you?” “Must be something pretty important if you're guarding it.”

He had gotten his designated name incorrect, but it overall showed a sense of familiarity. Shouldn't his copy have been shocked at his appearance? Had the fox perhaps previously gotten his hands on Metal Sonic's blueprints, and they were thus prepared for his inevitable appearance? (Did that mean his blueprints initially had included the ability to speak?)

As Metal Sonic arrived at the base, he sent out a general ping to the Eggnet for any local robots within a close radius.

[Where is Eggman?]

There were a good handful of messages in return stating they didn't know and Metal rolled his eyes. Why bother responding if you don't have an answer?

Finally, he received the information he needed.

[Room B-1.]

He started walking in that direction, each step feeling heavier and heavier as he drew closer to his destination.

And it wasn't due to his left leg being only 63% operational.

Further down the hall, an Egg Pawn headed in the direction Metal Sonic was coming from perked up at his approach and waved cheerily.

[Greetings, Metal Sonic! Query: How did your mission go?]

Metal glared at him, letting out an irritated beep as he shoved past the Pawn. He was limping along, optics flickering, carrying his detached left arm that didn't even have a hand anymore.

How did he think the mission went?

[Oh my. I will take that as a sign it did not go well.]

He could hear the robot stop walking behind him. Could almost feel the pitying stare.

Another message from the Pawn popped up but he dismissed it before he read it, blocking any further communications from that robot for the next 20 minutes.

Metal finally reached the door and, after a pause, knocked.

It took a moment, but the door slid open and Eggman looked down at Metal. 

“Gah, what a mess! They have no appreciation for my artistry! I take it you failed again?”

Again? But this was his first mission, wasn't it? Had the doctor misspoke, grouping him in with previous robots who failed? He was still flesh and blood, after all, and prone to occasional error.

Though, with what his copy had said… had Metal been the one misunderstanding?

When he awoke, Eggman had said, “You're all ready to start fresh!”

Metal had taken it to mean, when paired with his lack of any prior memories, that he was new. 

Had his memories just been wiped? Was that why Sonic recognized him? Why Eggman had said “failed again”?

If that were the case… his master surely had a good reason for it. Metal trusted the man to do what was best for him.

Pushing those thoughts aside, Metal Sonic nodded at Eggman's question and the man ushered him into the room.

“How did the cargo fair? Is there anything left to transport?” Eggman asked, switching programs on the computer and jabbing a finger at the screen.

The man didn't actually say it, but Metal just had to assume the doctor intended for him to send a message to that particular console for Eggman to read.

[Cargo 53% salvageable. Transport ship destroyed.]

“Ugh, what a pain. A perfectly good ship ruined,” Eggman grumbled, pinching his nose. “Well, no matter. My expectations weren't very high anyway.”

Metal Sonic stiffened at that. His master had… low expectations for him? Was he not a prized robot? One of the doctor's finest creations? He had yet to see any robot even remotely close to his capabilities! 

“I'm working on a little gift for you anyway, Metal Sonic. I believe it'll really help you out! I just have a few programming kinks to work out. For now, how about we get you all fixed up, eh?”

He patted Metal's back, pushing him forward with a small stumble. “Come along now, Metal. No time to waste!”

He followed Eggman down a few hallways until they came to the room Metal had first woken up in. The man grabbed a few tools and opened a cupboard that was lined with what looked to be replacement parts specifically made for Metal Sonic. He grabbed a left arm, pulled a stool over to Metal, and took a seat, getting to work. 

As Eggman worked, Metal Sonic felt a little more at ease. He had to be more prized than the Egg Pawns if the doctor fixed him by hand. From the maps of the base, he knew there was both a small automatic Egg Pawn assembly line and Pawns made specifically to fix any others of their kind that might have any errors or gotten such a small amount of damage that fixing them would be more resource-saving than making a whole new one.

He was special. And worthy of high expectations! He would just have to prove it.

Once Eggman finished fixing Metal, the robot ran a quick diagnostic to make sure everything was functioning properly again. He gave the doctor a thumbs up and the man smiled.

“All right. You run along now,” Eggman said, waving a hand dismissively. “I have work to do.”

Metal Sonic watched the doctor leave and then considered options. What should he be doing in the meantime? 

After a moment of consideration, he decided it would be best to hone his skills. There was a holo-training room on this base and he planned to take full advantage of it.

“Metal Sonic! It's such a joy to see you back where you belong!” came a voice from behind him. He turned and saw a smaller red robot with a spherical head floating towards him. “The boss was so worried when you went missing!”

Went missing?

A yellow, cubed robot looked at his red companion, confusion in his voice. “Huh? But he never said a thing about-”

The first robot, which Metal's scans identified as Orbot, elbowed the yellow one - Cubot - hard, and let out an awkward chuckle. “Yes, well, uh, it's nice to have you back, big bro.” 

He briefly considered giving him a good smack for calling him something strange like that without any permission but decided against it. Waste of energy, time, and resources (since that would definitely cause damage that would require repairs. Eggman probably wouldn't approve of that.)

“Did you, erm, perhaps see which way Eggman went?” Orbot added.

Metal Sonic turned and pointed. 

“Wonderful! We'll just be on our way then-”

Stepping in front of the two, Metal cut them off.

[Clarification requested: “Went missing”?]

“Oh dear, the boss must have wiped your memories,” Orbot murmured.

Cubot jumped in. “Yeah! We heard that you went rogue again!”

Again?

Orbot smacked Cubot once more. “Ahem. Don't worry, it wasn't your fault. Your programming got all wiped and messed up! So don't feel bad about it, alright?”

The two carefully slipped around him and then hurried down the hall.

He didn't like knowing he had gone rogue, but it was reassuring to know it wasn't due to his choice - just an error of some sort that couldn't be helped.

Metal Sonic watched them for a moment and then resumed his trek to the training room.

The program started up and holographic versions of Sonic and his allies flickered to life. Immediately, he launched towards the ghost of his copy, swiping at him. The hedgehog ducked and dodged and Metal Sonic narrowly avoided getting hit by a hammer swinging just within his peripheral. 

He needed to be more creative with what he could do. As he shot out of the way of another attack, he ran quickly through his abilities. Yes… Yes, he should have been making use of this.

One of his arms shot out, extending longer, taking advantage of its telescopic abilities. He swung it around, knocking the holographic fox and hammer-wielding hedgehog off their feet. His system informed him that the holo-Sonic had made a hit on his back and he whirled around, slicing at him. His circuits burned with irritation and he had to almost drag his focus away from Sonic to take advantage of the other two being down. Yes, he should kill them first. He slammed down on the fox and the hologram flickered from existence.

Metal Sonic's head swiveled to look at Sonic with triumph, but the hedgehog didn't react. Ah, the holograms weren't programmed to respond to emotional stimuli…

Which had him faltering. Would destroying Tails actually have thrown Sonic off enough to give Metal Sonic an advantage? Or would he have just fought with renewed vigor? 

The hesitation gave Amy a chance to swing at him, her hammer flickering through his body. 

This training was stupid. That attack should have sent him staggering sideways, minimum, but it caused no damage here. And his claws went right through the hammer itself - he couldn't grab it and use it against her. Furious, he spun into a ball and sliced through her hologram. She blinked out of existence and he turned to Sonic.

With every miss, hatred and anger built. Why had he failed enough to lower the expectations of his creator? What was it about this hedgehog that rendered Metal Sonic so incapable of destroying him? He was supposed to be the better Sonic. The improved Sonic.

The real Sonic.

And yet… even his creator sometimes called him Metal. Not Metal Sonic. Just Metal.

Was he… so inferior to the organic Sonic that he was no longer worthy to be called Sonic?

No. No, that couldn't be it. It was just- it was just a convenient way to differentiate between the two Sonics. (But why did the organic version get to be called Sonic? Why couldn't Metal Sonic be Sonic and his inferior version be called… Organic? Was the name Sonic so intrinsically tied to that inferior hedgehog that there was no room for Metal Sonic to have the name for himself?)

(Was his copy truly the inferior version?)

(Was “Sonic” really Metal Sonic's copy if he came first?)

There was an angry, static-like noise that burst from his speakers as he shot his laser pulse at the holo-Sonic, wiping it from existence and leaving a scorching hole in the wall behind it. He stood there, fingers clenched tightly. His insides felt like they were burning up in rage. There was no satisfaction in winning against the stupid hologram.

His programming told him he was Sonic. The better Sonic. The Sonic that deserved to exist.

He didn't want to be Metal. He wanted to be Sonic.

But how was he supposed to be Sonic if his own creator didn't even recognize him as such? How could he be Sonic if Sonic already existed?

The only solution was to destroy him. (Would Eggman call him “Sonic” if he did?)

His processors suddenly flared.

Would Eggman still need him if Sonic was dead? His purpose was to defeat Sonic. There was… no directive to take over Sonic's role once he was gone. And Eggman, of course, wouldn't want Metal Sonic to take Sonic's role, since his role was of a so-called “hero”. And Metal didn't want that either.

But then… what was he supposed to do after that?

He supposed… he'd be deactivated. 

Which was… logical. Yes. Logical.

Eggman hated Sonic and wanted him gone, so there would be no reason to have another Sonic once the organic one was defeated. 

(If Eggman hated Sonic, did he secretly hate Metal Sonic? No. No, he only hated Sonic for his refusal to submit and how he destroyed Eggman's work. Metal Sonic didn't do that.)

Yes, he would almost certainly be deactivated. That was fine. It made sense. That was how it should be. Once he fulfilled his ultimate purpose, there would be no need for him anymore. His existence was only due to his objective, after all. A robot was built for a purpose. To exist beyond a robot’s completed purpose would be illogical, and his creator was not illogical.

Metal Sonic was not illogical.

There was a nagging sensation of a lack of satisfaction at that conclusion, but he stuffed it away. 

He was the better Sonic (right?), but he was still a robot in the end.

He was not illogical.

Chapter Text

Metal had been pacing the base for the last three hours. It had been two days since his failure and his master had not given him anything else to do. 

Perhaps… he should find Eggman. Maybe… he could ask for a mission? Yes, maybe showing eagerness to assist by initiation would be approved of by his creator. 

He wandered the base, checking in various rooms until he finally stepped into the room the doctor was sitting in. The man was staring at something on a large screen but looked over at the sound of metallic footsteps.

“Oh! Metal, perfect timing! Come here.” Eggman waved him over.

Metal Sonic went over, eager to be given a task. Eggman held out a plate with a fork and a napkin strewn on top. “Go take care of this. I'd usually give this sort of task to those nincompoops but I don't know where they went off to.” 

Metal took the plate and stared down at it, then looked back at his creator with a twinge of irritation.

He was a robot built to destroy Sonic.

Not… to take care of dishes and throw away trash.

But this was his master's orders. It... It was his right to have him do this. Metal Sonic shouldn't question him. Who was he to feel irritation towards his creator? Anything Eggman wanted of him was just as much of his job as destroying Sonic.

“What are you just standing there for?! Go make yourself useful!”

Metal obediently turned away and headed out of the room.

Partway to the kitchen, he ran into one of the two who Eggman had presumably been calling “those nincompoops”. 

Orbot looked horrified to see the plate in Metal's grip. “Oh! Oh dear! I didn't think he'd finish so quickly - he often gets so distracted, you know. My apologies, big brother-”

[Do not call me that.]

“Er, um, I'll take that from you. That's my job, after all, not yours!” He held his hands out for the plate and Metal Sonic paused. Eggman had given this task to him. Shouldn't he be the one to complete it? Sure, it was beneath him, but it was still an order from Eggman himself.

And that was better than no orders at all, right?

“Uh, big- er, Metal Sonic?”

He began trudging past the smaller robot.

“Wait! You don't have to- I meant it when I said that's usually my job- um- Metal Sonic?”

Ignoring all his protests, Metal Sonic continued on his path. This was his job for today, and he was going to complete it.

He got some questioning looks from a few Egg Pawns as he marched through the hallways and the moment one of them sent an inquiry, he turned off his connection to the Eggnet entirely, an odd sense of… shame(?) making his insides heat uncomfortably.

The shame dissipated a little when he entered the kitchen area and saw a cleaner robot dressed up like a maid mopping the floors. He connected to the Eggnet again. At least he wasn't that.  

It was a comforting thought - until that robot looked up at him and sent a message over.

[Query: Why would a robot like you-]

He didn't even read the rest before dismissing it and disconnecting once again, shame rising tenfold. For a robot in a frilly dress to look at him with pity and question his actions…

Perhaps he should have given the task to Orbot after all.

He dropped the plate in the sink with a clatter, tossing the napkin and staring at his hands in disgust. Metal Sonic was better than this. He was so much better than this.

Maybe he should go out hunting for Sonic on his own. Maybe that was the initiative he needed to be showing. 

Or… would that be considered disobedience? He searched through his programming, uncertain, but was disrupted when lights flared red and a siren sounded.

Quickly, he turned the Eggnet back on and was flooded with messages about intruders. He quickly parsed through them to find out who and where the problem was.

Looks like his nemesis had come to him.

Engines flaring, he shot down the hall and around a corner, narrowly missing another bot as he sped in the direction the intruders had last been seen. The moment he saw blue, he bowled into the hedgehog, slamming him into a wall, only to be smacked off of Sonic like a croquet ball. His head spun to glance at what hit him as his system informed him of the dent in the side of face.

Amy Rose.

He hadn't had a chance to fight her yet. At least - not since his memory was wiped, presuming that was what happened to him.

“I want to talk to you, Metal,” Amy said firmly, hammer gripped tightly in her hand.

Talk? How silly. They were breaking into his master's base and he was to believe they just wanted to talk?

But Sonic was just standing there, Tails behind him, rather than attacking Metal Sonic the moment he'd been smacked away.

No, it was surely just a trick. They were trying to get him to lower his guard. 

Using a quick boost from his engine, he spun forward, only for Sonic to do the same, the two bouncing off each other as the fox flew out of the way.

“I'm not here to fight,” Sonic said as he dodged a swipe from Metal. “She wants to talk to you and I wasn't about to let her go alone.”

Metal let out an irritated beep. They were fools if they thought he was going to believe that. He darted forward but skidded to a stop and quickly backtracked as something metallic dropped to the ground from the fox’s hand. He wasn't falling for that again and made sure he was out of the way of the explosion.

His optics scanned the area, looking for silhouettes in the smoke, but only found one.

The girl. She wasn't even holding her hammer anymore. Foolish indeed.

The other two had to be close by if Sonic said he didn't want Amy going alone. He turned up his audio sensitivity a little, searching for anything that would lead him to Sonic. Footsteps, a voice, a rapid heartbeat - anything. And then a voice sounded-

“This doesn't have to be your life, Metal!”

-loud and harsh, and he dropped his volume back to normal, gaze flicking back to the pink hedgehog. What sort of nonsense was she saying?

“You can be who you want to be - you can do whatever you want to do! Be your own person. No one else's. You don't have to serve anyone! Just come with us - you can be free.”

His hand clenched in front of him defensively and he shuffled a half inch back as he stared at the girl, startled. He'd never been offered this before. He should have refused immediately, attacked her - cut her off before she even finished speaking, but instead, there was a long pause. 

Well, for anyone on the outside, it was one second at most, but for someone as fast as Metal Sonic, that was an eternity. 

During the time it took for Amy to tentatively step forward and then lift her hand towards him with a hopeful expression, his mind was running at hyper speed as it absorbed and considered her offer.

Freedom. Even if he could break free from obedience to his creator, (not that he wanted to, of course) what sort of life would await him? Surely the world did not look kindly upon someone who had worked for Eggman. (Their loss.)

Existing without purpose, without someone to serve and dedicate himself to - that did not sound like freedom. That sounded like misery. Torture. (Did it scare him? He wasn't sure.)

Besides, he was his own person, at least as much as he needed to be. Even within the boundaries of his programming, he still had his own thoughts and feelings. He could make some level of his own decisions. He didn't need anything more than what he had. 

He was… well, he wasn't happy, but that was because that stupid copy of his was still alive. 

So how dare she insinuate otherwise? To act as though he was lesser than he could be, just for serving the genius doctor he had the privilege to work under!

This was his life. 

(His choice?)

(His need.)

The doctor had warned him in his files about Amy's ways of turning robots traitorous. Now he could see why he had made note of it. She was crossing the line. She was trying to manipulate him.

Metal Sonic put all his force into the hard smack he gave her outstretched hand, knocking it downward with all the strength of a refusal he could muster to make it clear as day that his answer was no.

She yelped and backed up, shaking her hand with a grimace before turning that grimace upon him. “Guess that answers that,” she muttered, summoning her hammer again. 

Indeed it did.

Optics burning angrily, he launched himself at her again. She blocked with her hammer and he was surprised when, as he grabbed the handle in return, the force still had him skidding back a little. She was strong.

But he was stronger.

He wrenched the hammer from her hand but it vanished immediately, sending him stumbling back a step as the heavy weight of the weapon suddenly disappeared, throwing him off balance.

Before he could right himself fully, Sonic was spin dashing into his center. Metal Sonic grabbed the hedgehog by his shoe and slammed him into the ground before Tails grabbed his head from above, yanking at it. He swatted at the annoying fox as Sonic said, “Told ya he wouldn't buy it, Ames. That Metal is gone. I'm sure Eggman wiped him clean. It's like post-Neo all over again. I can tell he's back to square one.”

He wasn't entirely sure what his copy was babbling about - post-Neo? - but it irritated him, the way Sonic acted like he knows him so well. Using a telescopic arm, he reached up to grab the fox that had continued flying around and evading him, grabbing him by the ankle and chucking him at Sonic. 

“Woah-!”

The hedgehog caught the fox, though he stumbled a bit, and Metal shot forward to attack again. A hammer smashed down onto his leg right as he passed Amy, pulling him from the air and leaving him sliding across the floor with a screech of metal on metal.

“C'mon, if he's not gonna take the offer, there's no point in staying,” Amy said.

“Whoever smashes the most bots on the way out wins!” Sonic called as Metal stumbled back onto one foot, the other utterly useless, as his system informed him - 0% operational.

His engines fired up again as he chased the blue blur, ignoring the other two for now. To make destroying the work of his creator a game was infuriating. How dare he take this so lightly?!

His right leg flopped uselessly behind him, throwing him off a little and smacking into corners whenever he made a sharp turn. Going into overdrive, he was determined to catch up and get his claws on Sonic. And then Sonic ducked suddenly, and Metal overshot him, slamming into the wall as Sonic rolled around the corner, shooting him a peace sign as he popped up out of the roll.

He could hear the thwipthwipthwip as Tails flew over head and he reached to grab him again, but a hand suddenly locked around his wrist.

“No you don't,” Amy said as she yanked his arm back until it sparked. “Sorry to have to do this, but I'm not letting you hurt my friends.”

Dropping his left arm back to the ground, she ran off to find the others. Shoving against the ground with his right arm, he tried to get to his feet again, but with his left arm no longer operational, all he managed to do was flip onto his back. Using his engine to boost against the floor so he could sit up, he slowly worked to get onto his good foot, teetering dangerously until he sagged against the wall.

Another failure.

Another failure.

He slowly hopped in the direction of his master, his shoulder plate screeching against the wall as he leaned against it for balance, and his right foot clanging loudly against the floor with each hop. He cleared away the notifications that told him the three had already left the base, leaving a path of destruction behind them.

Eggman would not be pleased.

Once more, he disconnected temporarily from the Eggnet, burning gaze set firmly forward, ignoring any robot that peeked around corners to see the source of the loud noise he was making with every hopping step he took.

Even though he tried to keep a tunnel-vision focus on his destination, that same shame from before burned hotly within him again as he dragged his mangled leg past yet another curious bot.

“Stop looking at me! Stop looking at my failure!” he wanted to shout, but he couldn't even if he wanted to. 

Instead, he tottered towards the room Eggman was in, trying not to fall over and humiliate himself even more.

Chapter Text

Eggman's face was red as he stared at Metal Sonic. He inhaled sharply, fists clenched, nose wrinkling as he eyed the dent in Metal Sonic's head, along with his bashed-up, limp leg and sparking arm. His fist slammed down on the table before he turned away.

“Ugh. Go away for now. Wait in the repair room or something, I don't care. I'm in the middle of something more important and don't have time to deal with you.” As he resumed working on whatever project was before him, Eggman muttered, “Stupid bucket of bolts can't do anything right. Not even on home turf.”

Metal stood there for a moment longer, then turned and limped out of the room. This damage was… extensive, but he could reach his arm and leg. He had his schematics saved.

He could probably repair this himself, even if it would be a bit tricky.

There was… no need to bother his creator with it. 

Still, he wondered how long it would take Eggman to finish his project and come fix him.

What if he went all the way to the repair room just to find Metal Sonic already fixed? Wouldn't he be upset that he wasted the trip there?

Yes, Metal should wait a while. Give it some time.

He sat idling in the repair room for three days before Eggman came in. His master looked almost surprised to see him. 

“Metal? What are you- oh right, your repairs. Well, I suppose I can take care of that while I'm here.”

Had he… forgotten? No, he probably only just finished what he had been in the middle of. His master would never forget a robot as prized and important as Metal Sonic.

“Ah, and you know what? Now wouldn't be a bad time to give you that little gift I mentioned. Well, once I get you fixed up.”

Metal brightened. Yes, his master still cared for him. His worries were foolish. 

Once the repairs were finished, Eggman had Metal follow him to another room. “Alright, stay here! I'll be right back.”

Metal Sonic waited with anticipation. A gift just for him! 

Eggman returned with nothing in hand and Metal looked at him curiously. Where was the gift?

"A while ago, I reviewed the footage from your little… excursion," Eggman said. Right, Orbot and Cubot had said he went rogue. "I was pleased to know you still had a distaste for that rodent even while running free! However, I noticed something quite interesting… An error on my part when I made you, I suppose. You've got a familial instinct woven quite deeply in your circuits and no programming will ever root that out completely. But don't worry! No need to feel like running back to that inferior fox who would never consider you a true brother like he does Sonic."

Though the footage Eggman spoke of had been deleted from his memory, Metal's fan still whirred irritably at the idea of Sonic having another thing Metal did not. There was also the implication that he must have been… soft towards the kit. Of course, he would like to think he'd never run off to that fox (how dare he destroy his arm like he did!), but apparently, some version of him did. That was rather concerning.

His master grinned as he continued. "So I've got quite a surprise for you - a brother of your own! Come on in, Silver Sonic v2.0!"

Metal Sonic's optics flicked to the doorway with interest as another metallic Sonic copy - this one dark gray and silver in color - stepped into the room. He had a digital mouth that flashed in a grin - his muzzle, though looking chrome, must have been some sort of screen. Metal Sonic quickly reminded himself that not having a mouth did not equate to inferiority. Besides, there seemed to be a trade-off. Rather than having optics similar to Metal's, this one had an orange-colored background with grid lines on top covering the entire visual panel. This stood out as even more different than the way Sonic looked compared to lacking a mouth, Metal noted proudly, not to mention the lack of blue paint. Metal Sonic was better.

All of these observations took only a moment as the other robot hedgehog waved. "Hey, big bro!"

Metal's optics quickly flicked to Eggman, the glare obvious as he beeped sharply. The cause of frustration was clear. He can talk.

"Ah, well…" Eggman scratched his head. "He's technically an older model, but he had a lot of promise. Talking was already part of his original programming. But don't worry, Metal Sonic! He has access to the Eggnet and can speak binary as well." His master patted Metal Sonic roughly on the head. "Now, I figure there's no better way for you two to bond than to work together on your primary directive! I think you both ought to pay Sonic a little visit.”

"Wow, my first mission is also my first mission with you!" Metal's new "brother" nudged him eagerly. "This is gonna be fun!"

If he was an older model with promise as Eggman had said, clearly his memory banks had been wiped thoroughly if he thought it was his first mission. (How many times had that happened to Metal himself, anyway?) Still, he was built with the same purpose as Metal Sonic, so he surely wouldn't be entirely useless.

A brother… Metal continued eyeing the gray machine. If that was what his master said, then that was what he was. He added the tag [Brother] to Silver Sonic v2.0.

“No dilly-dallying now. Protect each other, beat Sonic, and make Daddy proud!” Eggman said with a clap of his hands.

Based on his master's instructions, Metal Sonic added a third command to his primary directives.

> 3. Protect [Brother]: Silver Sonic v2.0.

Metal jerked his head towards the door, turning to walk away. Silver followed behind him. 

“You've fought him before, right? How do you think we’ll do together? Boy, I bet it'll be a surprise for him when two of us show up!” Silver Sonic chattered as they walked. Not only was he capable of talking, but he also seemed to put the ability to its fullest use.

[If the fox is there, just know he has many more tools and tricks than your files on him might warn you about,] Metal Sonic told him through the Eggnet as they bypassed Orbot and Cubot, who stopped to watch them curiously.

“Got it, big bro! You can count on me to watch your back.” Silver gave him a little salute with a grin. 

“How come he can call him big bro but we can't?” Metal could hear Cubot ask Orbot.

He didn't need to respond, but Metal Sonic felt the need to make it clear to them. [Master did not designate either of you as my brother.]

“Oh…”

Silver let out a mechanical laugh, pumping a fist. “Brother rights! Oh! I've got an idea!”

They reached the opening and Metal took to the air, turning to look at Silver with a small tilt of his head. An idea?

“So I was thinking,” Silver said as he joined Metal in the air, “what if you show up, tousle with Sonic a little while I hide, and then I can fire my Sonic-seeking missiles! That'll really catch him off guard!”

A beep of confusion (and perhaps a hint of envy) sounded through Metal as he glanced at Silver Sonic again. Sonic-seeking what?

Silver Sonic seemed to get what he was confused about without him directly saying so. He raised his fingers and wiggled them, and Metal Sonic noticed that, unlike his sharp claws, Silver's fingers were thicker, tubed.

He wondered what else this model could do.

While Metal didn't care for Silver being the one to make a plan for them, he had to admit, it was a good one, so he nodded.

[I will signal you.]

“Awesome! Man, I can just see it now. Metal Sonic and Silver Sonic v2.0 standing over Sonic, victorious! Do you think Tails will be there? It would be kind of fun to fight brothers versus brothers.”

[Don't tell them we are brothers.]

“Huh? Why not?”

[They might view it as a weakness they can take advantage of. The less they know, the better. Always.]

“Alright, if ya say so, bro. You’d know better than me!”

[But yes, it is likely Tails will be there. Because we are going to his house.]

“Oh, we are?”

[We will check there for Sonic first. If he is, Tails will almost definitely be there too. If he is not there, we will have to search elsewhere.]

“Like where?”

Metal Sonic wasn't sure what to say to that. He didn't have enough data. He had a strange feeling the hedgehog could be anywhere if he wasn't at Tails'.

Finally, he said, [I have revised the plan. If he is not at the fox's home, we will wait nearby for his return. It will be more efficient than trying to track him down elsewhere. Unless your missiles can track him from anywhere?]

“‘Fraid not, dude. He's gotta be within visuals when I first fire ‘em.”

What a shame. Well, if the technology for his missiles to track Sonic from anywhere existed, such technology surely would have been installed in all of Eggman's robots, so he wasn't too surprised.

[Then we will wait.]

“Ooh, a stakeout! That's kind of exciting. I almost hope he's not there. We could get in some bonding time before the battle!”

Metal rolled his eyes. [This isn't a game. It's our mission. Our primary directive. It is essential we defeat the hedgehog.]

“Well yeah, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun doing it,” Silver replied. “I, for one, plan to have a blast while - haha - blasting Sonic to smithereens!”

Metal Sonic held up a hand as he came to a stop.

[The fox's dwelling is close. Wait here. I will ping you if the hedgehog is there and then signal you when it is time for you to join.]

“Gotcha.” Silver Sonic gave him two thumbs up and Metal flew downwards through the clouds, optics flickering around, audio sensitivity raised a little as he sought out any sign of his nemesis.

He landed some distance away and approached via the grass to avoid the noise of his feet on concrete. Everything was silent. Was no one home? The hedgehog certainly wasn’t. He was certain that someone marked in his files as “will not shut up” would have made a sound by now. 

[No one is home. Come down,] he sent.

A message returned almost immediately. [YAY! STAKEOUT!]

Chapter Text

The hedgehog didn't return for two days. Metal Sonic and Silver Sonic spent their waiting time sitting on the edge of the woods closest to Tails' home where they'd have a view of who came and went. Any time Tails left, Silver would shoot into the sky to fly around a little. It turned out Metal's new [Brother] had trouble sitting still for long periods of time.

And when Tails stayed home for hours on end, tinkering around in his workshop, Silver found a different way to entertain himself. 

[????????]

Metal gave his [Brother] a confused look as the message came in.

[Query: What is that]

In his bafflement, he forgot a question mark, and quickly resent the message with the proper grammar.

[I came up with a game!] came Silver Sonic's response. [The question marks represent an unknown letter in the word. You can guess one letter at a time and if the letter is in the word, I'll put it where it belongs, and if it's not, you've wasted a turn! I'll give you 6 chances to figure out the entire word.]

[We don't have time for games.]

[I mean, we actually have a lot of time. Nothing is happening right now. We can stop at any time if Sonic shows up. I'm BORED! Unless you're scared of losing?]

Metal Sonic thought about this for a moment. It was true, they technically had nothing much to do at the moment. They had to stay quiet and still as long as Tails was within earshot. And he was definitely not scared of losing.

[Query: Can I guess the full word at any time or do I need to fill it out letter by letter?]

[If you think you know the word, you can guess it at any time. But if you're wrong, that'll count as a strike against you!]

Metal ran a calculation to create a list of the most common letters in all the eight letter words of the English dictionary.

[E.]

[Correct! ????E???]

He now filtered his calculations to include only words with E as the fifth letter, then ran an analysis of what the next most likely letter would be. 

[S.]

[Ding ding! S???E???]

Metal ran the calculations again based on this new information and immediately picked out a word that seemed most likely to be correct.

[Stakeout.]

[Wow! You're good, big bro! But that one was pretty easy, huh? Let's try another one!]

There was a pause before Metal Sonic received the next message. 

[???]

Three letters? This should be easy.

[A.]

[?A?]

Look at that - already 25% solved.

[T.]

[?AT. Almost there! Hehe.]

It was then Metal Sonic realized that a three-letter word might not be as easy as he thought. He found 18 matches for a three-letter word ending in “AT”. He could easily run out of guesses working his way through that list. However, if Silver Sonic hoped to up the difficulty, perhaps he should work backwards with the not-so-common words.

[Q.]

[Bzzt! 1/6 guesses used!]

[G.]

[Nope! 2/6 guesses used!]

He was second-guessing himself now. Reverse psychology, perhaps?

[C.]

[3/6 guesses used!]

Maybe Silver was trying to get him stuck on the idea of words with a certain rhyme so he wouldn't think about words like “oat” and “eat”.

[E.]

[4/6 guesses used!]

Something akin to a sense of doom settled within him. Was he really going to lose a simple word game?

[O.]

[5/6 guesses used!]

Frustration joined the mild doom. Only one guess left and still so many words it could be!

He aimed for a word in the middle of the list.

[T.]

Silver grinned at him. [Wrong! Looks like you lost! The word was “VAT”.]

Ugh.

With a sense of irritation and a desire for revenge, he sent back, [???]

Silver Sonic sat up a little straighter. [Ooh! Is it my turn? Let's try A!]

It didn't take long before Silver had correctly guessed the last two letters just as Metal had - AT. Now he would face the same conundrum Metal Sonic had.

[P.]

[1/6.]

[Hm… T?]

[2/6.]

[B!]

[3/6.]

[Wow this is HARD! Okay, what about… R?]

[4/6.]

[Q?]

[5/6.]

This was it. Metal totally had him. Silver would lose just like Metal had. 

[No way - did you do what I think you did? Oooh, very sneaky big bro! Is it V?]

No. No way. Had he seriously gotten it right? Metal Sonic had thought Silver would never think to try the same word that had just been used!

Begrudgingly, Metal answered him. [Yes.]

Silver silently pumped his fist in the air. [Yes!!!! Again, again!!!!]

So that was how they kept themselves busy on and off for the next two days.

The fox was busy in his workshop when Metal Sonic heard it. Footsteps. Those footsteps he recognized immediately as Sonic's. 

Silver Sonic looked at him - or at least, turned his head in Metal's direction, so he presumed that's what his [Brother] was doing - and said, [He's here! He's finally here! Go get ‘em, bro!]

Silver sure had an odd way of speaking, even through messages. 

Metal peered through the foliage, listening carefully as the footsteps got closer. 

Now.

He shot out of the brush and slammed into Sonic, who let out an oof as Metal knocked the air from his lungs. The hedgehog skidded across the driveway into the grass as Metal pressed into him.

Coughing, Sonic grabbed Metal's arm and shoved at it. “A home visit? That's cheap.”

Metal rolled off Sonic just in time to avoid getting hit by a blast from Tails' gun. He had been ready this time, audio receptors trained for the arrival of inevitable backup. Sonic, in turn, yelped as he also rolled out of the way.

“Watch where you're aiming that thing, bud!”

“Ack- sorry, Sonic!”

Metal jumped at Sonic again, swiping, working to turn in circles around the hedgehog to make it harder for Tails to hit. There was a blur of punches, swipes, and ducking between the two blue figures.

The two were entirely focused on Metal Sonic right now. 

Good.

[Silver Sonic. Missiles. Now.]

Metal let out a few beeps, and though he knew Sonic wouldn't understand, he couldn't help but proclaim smugly in binary, [See how well you fare in two versus two, you loathsome copy.]

The high-pitched whistle sounded through the air as three small missiles shot out of the trees, heading right for Sonic.

Tails ducked with a yelp as they soared over him. “What the-”

Blasting away from Sonic, Metal flew out of the way as the first missile landed, throwing up a plume of dirt and smoke with a bang.

Tails recovered and aimed his blaster at the second missile, only to be tackled out of the air by a grey blur.

“Oh no ya don't!” Silver Sonic said. 

Sonic rolled out of the smoke and then sped off to avoid the next two missiles as they hunted him down. Of course. He would never go down that easily. 

Metal Sonic darted forward, stretching out a limb to trip the hedgehog. He slid across the ground and let out a shout as one of the missiles came bearing down upon him. Metal withdrew his arm to safety just as the projectile landed, Sonic flipping back out of the way to avoid a direct hit.

Still, he got blast back several yards and Metal watched with glee as the last missile continued forward. With impressive speed, the fox suddenly shot forward and yanked Sonic out of the way just in time.

What? What had happened to-

“Where the heck did he pull that from?” came a frustrated voice behind him. 

He spun to see Silver Sonic flying shakily in the air as he tried to yank off a length of wires tangling him up. 

That sneaky fox.

Metal was suddenly sent flying back as Sonic plowed right into him, causing his engine functions to dip 9%. He shouldn't have gotten distracted. 

“So you've got a new friend, huh, Metal?” Sonic said as he landed with a smirk, even as a bit of smoke trailed from his fur. “Guess you would need some help if you were ever gonna beat me.”

“Only because you cheat!” Silver shouted as he finally freed himself, just in time to duck an attack from Tails. “Ganging up on poor robots like us - what cowards!”

Sonic laughed as he flipped out of the way of Metal's claws. “Cheat, huh? Gonna brush aside all the times I downed Metal one-on-one?”

[How many times has he beat you exactly?] came a question from Silver.

[It doesn't matter.] And Metal actually didn't know.

“Your new friend is the wrong color if he's supposed to be me,” Sonic said as he traded blows with Metal Sonic. 

“I dunno, I think grey is a good color for me! Makes me think of guns. I like guns!” Silver replied with a grin as he fired another projectile before spinning a kick towards Tails.

“Though I gotta admit, the talking bit is one step closer in the right direction,” Sonic added as he spun out of the way at the last second, Metal taking off to avoid the explosion too. 

“Yeah, I'm not used to one being so chatty,” Tails said. “Even Metal wasn't this talkative when he had a voice.”

“E7!” Silver Sonic crowed as he shot another missile towards Sonic.

“Huh?” Tails' expression morphed into confusion as he aimed his blaster towards the missile and fired to blow it up before it got too close to Sonic. He then quickly turned his aim towards Silver. 

“Oops! My bad, that was a message for EC-1256!” Silver said sheepishly as he ducked a blast of energy from Tails' gun. “Aha! Sunk another ship.”

“Are you seriously playing Battleship with someone right now?!” Tails exclaimed. 

[With a cleaning bot?] Metal sent with an irritated beep. [This is a serious mission!]

“Well, EC-1256 and I were in the middle of a game when Sonic came back, and I didn't want to make her wait- woah!” Silver narrowly avoided getting hit. “But you're right, I better stop multitasking.”

[And don't act like she's dumb because she's a cleaning bot! She's really good at this game,] Silver added in reply to Metal Sonic. [Also, you used to have a voice?]

[FOCUS.]

Metal tore after Sonic as the hedgehog hopped onto the roof of the house and whistled, waving a hand.

“Sonic, if he sends another missile, he's gonna blow up my roof!” Tails shouted.

“Oops,” Sonic said, quickly dashing off before Silver Sonic could do just that. 

He sped off into trees, several turning into nothing more than flying chunks of wood and splinters as Silver's long-distance attacks failed to maneuver through the woods. 

Metal followed him doggedly, narrowly dodging trunks as he reached a telescopic arm out for Sonic. The hedgehog dropped down, then jumped up, grabbing Metal's arm and swinging to launch himself up before spinning down on top of the robot, leaving a dent in his head. 

“C'mon, put down your weapons and fight me properly!” he could hear Silver call.

“Only if you put down yours!” Tails replied.

“I'm not gonna detach my hands,” Silver Sonic scoffed. “That'd be too much of a handicap! Haha - handicap, get it? Like hand-”

“Ugh, you're worse than Sonic.”

“Hey now!” Sonic called as he raced into the area, Metal hot on his heels. “My puns aren't that bad!”

Silver Sonic turned and fired another attack at the hedgehog now that he was in the open. 

“Speaking of hands though,” Sonic said, waving a hand in the air before jumping up high. 

“Gotcha!” Tails replied, swooping down to catch him. He grabbed Sonic by the hand, swinging him around before letting go. The fox dropped out of the way of the missile as it followed Sonic - who was now soaring straight towards Silver Sonic. 

“Alley-oop!” Sonic landed on Silver's head, who reached up to try and grab him, turning and reaching out as Sonic launched himself off of the grey robot. “Nice to have met ya, whichever Metal Sonic model you are!”

“Hey-!” Silver's arms closed around empty air.

[Behind you!] Metal sent as he took off towards Silver Sonic.

Silver swerved to the side at Metal Sonic's warning, but not fast enough - his own missile collided with the edge of his torso, knocking his head half off his body, his engine failing as he was sent crashing down, skimming across the grass until he slammed into the side of Tails’ home. Metal came to a stop in mid-air, watching his [Brother] go down. 

There was a crackling sound, and a distorted, “W h oo oo op s,” and then Silver’s visor dimmed.

Metal's engines whirred louder, claws flexing. He had sustained minimal damage, but if he continued on like this, there was a chance he would become too damaged to return for repairs while carrying the weight of his [Brother].

If he was too damaged to return for repairs with Silver, he wouldn't be able to get his [Brother] fixed either, and if he couldn't beat Sonic on his own, presuming he had a long history of… setbacks, then he'd need Silver Sonic if he were to ever accomplish that. Which he would. Eventually.

Therefore, his primary directive couldn't be completed without Silver Sonic, nor could he follow his new directive of protecting his [Brother] if he were to keep fighting and risk neither of them being able to return to base.

It only took a second for him to weigh the options and Sonic had only just turned towards Metal, ready to leap back into action, when Metal shot forward, shoving the hedgehog aside. He began reaching for Silver, but Sonic plowed into him again, knocking him forward. Now his engine was even more damaged. Irritating ingrate of a hedgehog. Metal Sonic's head whipped around with a loud, irritated beep and Sonic blinked, holding up his hands.

“Okay, okay, message received. Fight’s over huh? My bad.”

Metal hoisted up Silver's body, shooting Sonic one last glare before lifting into the air. Eggman was not going to be pleased about this, but a tactical retreat was required if he was going to fulfill all his directives.

Chapter Text

Flying back unevenly, both due to damage and the weight of his fallen [Brother], Metal Sonic made his way back to the labs. When he found his master, hunched over blueprints sprawled out on his work table, he beeped to signify their return.

"Ah, Metal, you're back," Eggman said. Still, his eyes remained on the blueprints as he muttered something to himself.

Metal let out a loud, demanding beep, and the man turned around, looking exasperated over being interrupted. Metal set down his sparking counterpart with a loud clank and jabbed a finger towards him. 

"Oh, I see one of you didn't come back so lucky." The man's eyes quickly noted the damage on Metal Sonic as well. "I assume the hedgehog beat you again?" He huffed. “Useless robots.”

Indignation at the assumption heated his circuits, which felt even hotter at the fact that he couldn't deny it. Instead, he jabbed a finger towards Silver Sonic once more.

"Yes, yes, I'll get him fixed up as soon as I'm done with this." Eggman turned back to the table. "I'm in the middle of something important. Go drop him in the repair room for now."

Metal whirred. There was no point arguing - he knew from experience now his master wouldn't stop what he was doing to fix them. Unfortunately, he also knew his master could spend a very long time being "in the middle of something important". He didn't know how long it would be before he was finished.

Still, he carried [Brother] to the repair room and decided to get a headstart on his own repairs. He was functioning well enough to do so and the worst damage was within reach. 

Once he had completed his own repairs, he looked once more at the unmoving robot beside him. He had no schematics for this model in his memory banks, but he lifted Silver Sonic's barely attached arm, studied it, and then examined the hole in his chassis and the wires between the top of his torso and Silver’s lolling head. The workings were too different from his own - he wasn't built to repair robots, so the only knowledge he had was from the schematics in his memory and watching Eggman do repairs - and that information only helped when it came to self-repairs. With no relevant resources for Silver Sonic in his database, he would risk causing more damage if he tried to fix the problems himself.

So Metal Sonic sat idly, waiting for his master to complete his work. Eventually, he set himself to go into standby mode for three hours. Any motion or noise within the room would alert him in case Eggman came by.

When his system brought him back to the present, nothing in the room had changed. He looked to his [Brother], then back to the door. He set his standby mode to activate for another three hours.

He was starting to get impatient. Were they not important enough? How could they fulfill their directive if they were not functioning?

Metal turned to his memory, quickly filtering through the data to see if there was anything else he could do in this situation. He stopped on the tag "mechanic".

The fox.

He might know how to fix [Brother].

But he was also an enemy. He had helped cause this damage. Seeking help from an outsider was not something his master would approve of.

But his master also wasn't providing the help needed.

Hesitant, Metal Sonic considered his directives. Always obey and protect [Master]. Defeat inferior copy. Protect [Brother].

He could not defeat his copy if he and his [Brother] were not functioning at maximum levels. He could not obey his master if he could not defeat his copy. 

And technically, Eggman had never given him a specific rule not to have the fox fix either of them. He would not be disobeying.

But if Eggman came while the two were gone…

No, he ought to wait. He didn’t need to risk making his Master any angrier.

But after a full twenty-four hours had passed, Metal Sonic couldn’t stand it anymore.

Lifting Silver Sonic, Metal flew off, the fox’s workshop set as his destination.

Metal Sonic wasted no time flying directly into Tails’ workshop, a few papers fluttering off his desk as the robot landed.

“Metal Sonic?!” The fox exclaimed, scrambling back, hand patting along his desk for the first object he could find, raising a wrench in what Metal Sonic assumed was supposed to be a threatening display, fur bristled.

Metal let out a series of beeps. [I am here for assistance.] The fox was weak, but he was also smart. Perhaps he knew binary.

Tails eyed the bot, who had not moved since landing in the workshop.

“You're… not here to hurt me?” Tails asked, wrench lowering just a little.

[I am here for assistance], Metal Sonic repeated, holding up Silver Sonic.

“Oh, um, hold on…” Tails said, half-turning as he hesitantly set down the wrench and pawed around for a yellow device while still doing his best to keep his eyes on Metal. He pressed a few buttons, glancing up at Metal every half-second, until he finally held up the device a little. “Can you repeat that?”

Metal whirred irritably, but repeated the noises. 

“I am here for assistance,” the device translated out loud.

“For assistance?” Tails echoed. His eyes flicked over to Silver Sonic as Metal held him out further. “For… the other Metal Sonic?”

Metal let out a low sound, heated at his words before letting out a string of beeps that the device quickly translated. “Incorrect. Designation: Silver Sonic v2.0.”

“Okay, Silver Sonic then. You need assistance for him…?”

“Fix him.”

Tails set his device down, frowning. “Why me? Why don't you have Eggman fix him?”

Metal hesitated. Something about telling the fox the reason didn't feel right. “Fix him,” he repeated.

“And if I refuse?”

Metal input the query and quickly ran through several simulations. It only took a fraction of a second to find the most effective answer.

“You will be killed.”

The fox swallowed nervously. “Sonic is here. I just have to call for him and he'll come and stop you. He'll beat you like he did e-”

Metal let out an ear-piercing high-pitched sound to cut off his words. “Incorrect statement. [Organic Copy] not here. Response tagged: Bluffing.”

Tails sputtered. “I'm not bluffing!”

If his loathsome copy had been around, he would have shown up in the workshop as soon as Metal had flown in. His thrusters weren't the quietest, after all. And if that hadn't gotten his attention, then Tails’ initial cry would have.

“Fix [Brother],” Metal demanded again.

Tails blinked, brows raising and then furrowing as he looked over at Silver. “Brother?”

His optics flared brighter.

> Disclosure of private information to [Enemy] detected. Initiating damage control protocol.

“[Organic Copy] has tagged you [Brother]. Query: Is this correct?”

“Um… I suppose?” Tails looked confused.

“Request for [Organic Copy]’s [Brother]: Fix Silver Sonic v2.0.”

Tails gave Metal a long, odd look. “That is probably the weirdest way you could have said that, but, uh… fine. Fine, I'll fix him.

<Task> Damage control protocol: Success.

<Task> Convince [Mechanic] to fix [Brother]: Success.

“I will be keeping a close eye on you. Try to call for Sonic, disarm Silver Sonic, or harm his functions, and I will kill you.”

“Okay, okay, geez, I get it,” Tails muttered, fur still puffed anxiously as he got to work. “I’ll just get him in basic working order - but nothing beyond that. I’m not even sure I’ve got the stuff to do anything beyond that. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“You two better not attack me as soon as I’m done though.”

“We will not. You have my word.”

“Dunno how much an Eggman robot’s word means,” Tails grumbled.

Metal Sonic displayed great patience and mercy by choosing not to reply to that comment. Instead, he remained close to Tails, watching his every move. He didn't know everything about robotics, but he liked to think he knew enough to tell that Tails wasn't doing anything nefarious with his [Brother].

“Do you have to hover so much?” Tails grumbled as he twisted Silver's head around a little to make sure it was properly attached.

“Is your IQ not high enough to understand why I would be keeping an eye on you? Or perhaps your common sense is lacking.”

Intelligence did not equal wisdom, after all.

Tails shot him a glare, mouth bunched into a scowl.

“Of course being under Eggman's rule again you'll use the ability to speak to be a jerk,” he muttered. His tails flicked irritably. “Wish I'd known Eggman had a hidden chip in you. Could've avoided all of this.”

Metal Sonic let out a slightly confused buzz. A hidden chip? What was this organic on about?

“Clarification requested: What chip?”

“What does it matter now? You're not gonna care. Eggman is nothing but great in your eyes.”

Well of course. His master deserved success. Metal Sonic would not exist without his brilliance. Eggman certainly… had some flaws but that was simply one of the unfortunate downsides of being an organic. He still was a genius man whose empire deserved to reign over all.

Even still…

“Clarification demanded: What chip?”

Tails sighed heavily. “Back when your memory and programming got all wiped and you were actually good you fought against Eggman. Except, apparently, he had a dormant chip in your system. He turned it on and you went back to his side like nothing had ever happened.”

‘Good’. More like misled. Confused. Probably brainwashed, if they had gotten their hands on him when he had no memory. He was likely told that Eggman was on the wrong side, and with no other evidence or understanding, he had made the wrong choice on where his loyalties should lie. Eggman certainly always had Metal's best interests in mind, even if he sometimes made errors - these fools only had their own interests in mind. And were even more error-prone.

Metal Sonic was grateful his master had been kind enough to take him back after he had dared to raise a hand against him.

“Told you that you wouldn't care,” Tails huffed when Metal made no response. Sarcasm dripped from his next words. “What does it matter to you if he's got a leash around your neck? Can't do anything of your own volition, of your own choice, no free will - but ohhh, big whoop because Eggman is the greatest guy who has ever walked the planet.”

Metal's claws flexed. If Tails had already finished Silver Sonic's repairs, he would have had half a mind to wring his neck.

Though… he had also given the fox his word. Ugh. Did he have to keep it?

Plus, this inane creature was blatantly wrong. He could make his own decisions. He did make his own decisions. It may have been within parameters, but the parameters were big enough for him to do as he needed. He had brought his [Brother] here for repairs after all, hadn't he? 

It seems Tails had come to the same conclusion because he suddenly looked towards Metal, brow furrowing. 

“Why did you come to me, anyway? There's no way Eggman told you to come here. Unless he had some sort of secret plan, but I think you would have just attacked me by now.”

“None of your business.”

“Did he… did he abandon you again?”

Metal slammed a hand down on top of the table and Tails flinched.

“My master has never abandoned me.”

They hadn't been abandoned . They had simply been for- no, not forgotten, just a little lower on the priority list. Eggman was a busy man with many important things to focus on. Just because Metal Sonic and his [Brother] were top-quality creations didn't automatically mean they would always get immediate priority. A man of genius like Eggman would need to work on whatever he could when inspiration struck.

Metal Sonic was simply impatient - that was his problem, not Eggman's. A trait he should, perhaps, work on. 

Tails studied him for a moment. “Sonic was right. He really did wipe you clean, didn't he?”

He felt even more anger flare within him. So what if he had? It had surely been for good. Was he lesser for remembering less? He was so done with others acting like they knew him better simply because they retained more about him. That didn't mean anything. That didn't mean they knew him. Eggman would never abandon Metal Sonic. Other robots, perhaps, but never Metal. He was certain of it.

Whatever had happened in the past had to have merely been misunderstandings. They were just too stupid to understand Eggman's methodology and interpreted things incorrectly.

The saddened expression on the fox's face brought back the strong desire to wring the brat’s neck. How dare he pity Metal? There was nothing about Metal Sonic that deserved pity.

“I'd never treat my robots the way he treats his,” Tails said quietly as he turned back to finish tightening a screw on Silver Sonic. “Alright, that should be it. He'll be able to at least be able to function now.”

Better than nothing. And perfect timing, too. Metal wasn't sure how much longer he could stand hearing this twerp bad-mouth his creator.

Metal Sonic's attention swung to the other robot as Silver's screen flicked on. There was a two-second pause before he spoke. “Did we win…?”

Tails didn't quite stifle a snort and Metal glared at him before turning back to his brother and sending him a message through the Eggnet.

[Unfortunately not. We will discuss what happened later. For now, let us return to the base.]

Silver Sonic looked at him, then spun his head in a quick, 360° circle to take in his surroundings. Immediately, he leaped to his feet defensively.

“Woah, woah, woah, hold on a second now! I fixed you, you know, so don't go attacking me! Metal Sonic gave his word!” Tails shot Metal a look that he was pretty sure meant, are you going to prove that your word has any weight or not?

Metal put a hand on Silver's shoulder and shook his head.

Silver's stance softened a little as he looked at Tails curiously. “You fixed me? You fixed me?”

“Uh, yeah. Metal kind of demanded it.”

The robot looked to Metal with confusion.

[I'll explain later.]

“Well, gee, thanks I guess,” Silver said, rubbing behind his metallic quills with a rather unpleasant sound. “You’re not so bad for being the sidekick of our nemesis.”

Metal gave Silver a small smack for complimenting the enemy.

Tails rolled his eyes. “I'm not a sidekick.”

“You keep telling yourself that,” Silver said, patting the fox on the head twice, Tails stiffening like a board.

“You're awfully weird for an Eggman robot,” Tails said as he took a step back, shoulders hunched up.

“That just means I'm unique. In a world of Egg Pawns, I think there's something to be said about standing out as different!” Silver said brightly, giving a cheery thumbs up. “Nothing against Egg Pawns, of course.”

Metal grabbed Silver's shoulder. Enough chit-chat.

[Time to go.]

“Oh. Gotcha. Alright, ‘til next time, fox!” Silver said with a salute, engines whirring.

“Wait! Metal, I've got something for you,” Tails said.

Metal stared at him, optics narrowed. Was this a trap?

“It's something you left behind. Well, you left a few different things behind, but with this one, I thought…” he paused. “Well, maybe it won't mean anything to you anymore but… will you let me go get it? You don't have to take it if you don't want to, but I figure… you should have the choice.”

Metal tapped a finger against his arm, thinking. After a moment, he said, “Fine.”

Silver Sonic looked between Metal and the translator in surprise, as Tails nodded and scurried inside his house.

“A binary translator? That's pretty niche. Pretty neat, too. Too bad Eggman can't hire this kid. Think of all the things they could accomplish together!” Silver said.

[Eggman does not need assistance from the likes of him.]

Silver shrugged.

Tails trotted out of the house holding… a paper? The fox held it out. Metal slowly took it, pinching the corners of the paper carefully as he looked at it with a scrutinizing gaze.

“You found someone's lost Chao. The Chao, Chaz, he drew this for you,” Tails explained, studying Metal Sonic hopefully as the robot stared down at the art.

“You saved a Chao once?” Silver Sonic asked.

The picture was crude, but Metal was pretty certain of what the shapes were. Metal Sonic, a dark Chao, and a bunch of hearts and stars.

Utterly pointless. Fanfare simply for finding a… a mere pet? It couldn't have been difficult. Of course he would have completed such a task with ease. Finding a lost Chao… Surely anyone could have accomplished that mission. There was no… there was no need for a gift of praise. That would have been like Eggman giving him a “thank you” card for taking his dishes away.

Going out of his way to draw this - and for a robot no less - was a waste of time. Foolish creature. Metal's pointed finger gently touched the ugly scribble of himself. The color of blue he used for Metal wasn't even the right shade. (Though considering crayons likely did not come in Tektite Blue, he supposed it was pretty close.)

“Sonic said you'd really seemed to like it, back when you first got it,” Tails added.

“Such sentiments are unneeded,” Metal said, his grasp moving to the top of the paper, tilting each half of the page slightly away from the other. A fuzzy tear began to form at the top of the page. He paused, then tossed the art aside. Not worth his time. Not worth his energy.

[Let's go.]

“You got it!”

As soon as Metal was certain his fellow robot could fly (even if it was a bit wobbly), he took off.

“Not even a thanks, huh Metal? Figures!” he could hear Tails call from behind them.

He was pretty certain all the ridiculous things the fox said during his time there more than outweighed any gratitude deserved.

Chapter Text

“You saved a Chao once?” Silver asked once they were up in the sky.

[I don't know what I did while I was in disrepair.]

“Well aren't you curious? I mean, it sounded to me like Eggman booted me up because of what happened while your memory was wiped.”

[Why would I want to know about my time on the wrong side?]

Metal Sonic was not curious. Not in the slightest.

“I dunno. If you spent time with the others, I'd figure maybe there'd be something you could learn from ‘em. Weaknesses and all that.”

That gave Metal a pause. But…

[If such a thing were the case, Eggman would have left me with such information.]

“Oh yeah. I guess so.”

[Also, do NOT tell Eggman who fixed you. As far as we are both concerned, I helped with your repairs.]

It felt strange keeping secrets from his master, but he had a feeling it would be better if Eggman didn't know the details of Silver's repairs. Thankfully, his [Brother] seemed rather on board.

“Ooh! Our first sibling secret!” Silver squealed, clapping his hands.

Metal rolled his eyes. If all went well, they'd never have a second secret.

It was one more day before Eggman went to the repair room to fix Silver. Silver spent a great majority of that time playing games against both EC-1256 and Metal Sonic, along with chattering about local bot gossip. Apparently, he'd joined some big group chat that a lot of Eggman robots occasionally babbled on - why one would waste time on that when they had jobs to do, Metal couldn't comprehend, but at least it helped keep Silver busy when Metal wasn't in the mood to play another game.

“Gasp!” (Yes, Silver Sonic sometimes said the word gasp. He was really such an odd robot.) “EP-9842 accidentally bumped into EP-7452 and scratched his paint a couple of hours ago. You would not believe the words they've been exchanging. It's still going even now! ‘52 just called ‘42 a bent screw and ‘42 said that ‘52 is so stupid he wouldn't even be able to process a binary choice. It just keeps going. Glorified paper weight, waste of a power core-”

Silver gasped again, but more of an actual gasp sound this time.

“‘You make printers look competent’?! Ooh, ouch! ‘If you had more powerful processors all you'd do is embarrass yourself faster’? Remind me to never get on their bad sides. They really should be taking this to a private chat. But also I hope they don't because this is some juicy stuff.”

Metal held up a hand for him to stop as he heard footsteps approaching.

The door slid open and their master entered. 

“I'm here to- well now. I seem to recall Silver Sonic's head nearly being disconnected from his body,” Eggman mused as he wiggled the robot's head. “He looks in better shape than before.”

His eyes moved to Metal as he pointed to himself at the same time Silver said, “My big bro helped me out!”

“You fixed him? Hm…” Eggman examined Silver Sonic further. “Not bad for someone who isn't a repair bot. I'll go ahead and fix the rest then. After all, I've got plans for you two.”

Metal felt relief that they'd been believed. He watched the man curiously as his hands moved with ease. Perhaps he could learn a little about caring for his [Brother] by watching how the doctor fixed him. He had already gotten some level of information from watching Tails, but now he could watch the real master work.

Once Eggman was finished, he pulled off his welding mask, setting it aside with a grin as he stepped back, looking over the two robots.

“I've decided to give you two another chance!” Eggman declared, clapping his hands and then rubbing them together. 

Something about how he said it made Metal Sonic feel as though his chances were beginning to run out. But he had only just begun if you ignored the times that must have existed before his memory wipe. And that was Silver Sonic's first time in the field! Eggman surely couldn't have been losing his patience so soon, right?

“What's the plan, boss?” Silver asked as he hopped off the table and stood next to Metal.

“I've planted some information - false, of course - in my servers. Left some breadcrumbs for that two-tailed rat that keeps trying to root through my systems to lead him to think he can get something good from an old, unused base of mine - base D10. If all goes according to plan, they'll be off to see what information they can get directly from the console there,” Eggman explained. He tossed a small drive over and Metal caught it, looking down at the stick.

“The systems are offline over there. I want to make sure they're turned on and the program on that drive has been uploaded before they arrive. When the fox plugs in his own device, it'll trigger a self-destruct, so make sure the two of you wait outside. If, by some means, those rodents get out without being blown to smithereens, you can finish them off.”

“You got it, boss!” Silver said with a salute.

The two made haste to their destination - time was of the essence, it seemed. 

With quick motions, Metal Sonic booted up the console while Silver kept an eye out for visitors. As soon as it was thrumming with electricity and the screen lit up, Metal plugged in the drive, watching as the program within began to download. Once it had finished, he yanked out the drive and headed out, waving for Silver to follow.

The two settled some distance away, audio sensors up. Within the hour, the targets of this plan showed up… with an unexpected third party quickly identified as Amy Rose.

No matter. Just another enemy to get rid of when the trap was triggered. 

They watched Sonic, Tails, and Amy head on inside, chatting idly about dinner plans. Fools, walking straight into their own grave.

He ran a simulation algorithm to estimate how long it may take for them to reach the console and trigger the explosion, then set a timer based on it. It was disappointing to think he wouldn't be able to rip apart the hedgehog on his own, but this was the master's instructions, and at least Sonic would be gone. Less satisfying, but a success he'd have a hand in nonetheless.

His internal timer went off.

They must have been doing some extra exploring first. His arms folded, impatient.

[Why hasn't it blown up yet?] Silver asked over the Eggnet. 

Metal gave a small shrug. They must have been taking their sweet time. He turned his audio sensors up further and could just barely make out voices echoing through the halls of the base, approaching the door.

“-stupid do you have to be? There's no way the console already being on in an old base like this makes sense. And the cameras being on too? It practically screamed this is a trap,” Tails was saying.

“That's my genius brother,” Sonic replied. “Keeping us all from being cooked.”

“Barely. I gotta admit, if I hadn't been prepared to run my overriding shut down just in case, there's no way I would have stopped that in time.”

“I don't know why you plugged it in in the first place,” came Amy's voice. “I told you we should probably just leave it be.”

“Nice try, Egghead!” Sonic said, his voice suddenly louder. “Guys, smile for the camera!”

The other two laughed.

Metal's engines whirred, thrusters preparing to blast him forward on sight. 

The moment he saw blue, he was launching forward.

“Woah!” Sonic barely jumped out of the way. “Hello again, Metal. Sure have been seeing you a lot lately!”

“There's two?!” Amy's voice rang out from somewhere behind Metal along with the sound of her hammer hitting the ground. 

Tails laughed sheepishly. “Oh, did we not tell you?”

“You know, it's kinda nice that Eggman is letting you out so often,” Sonic said, a mere blur as the two exchanged blows, racing around the base as they went. “There were periods of time where I didn't see you for ages. It's always nice to have you around so I can sharpen my skills.”

Again with references to times he didn't remember. It pissed him off. His leg shot out, tripping the hedgehog. 

He launched himself forward, ready to tackle Sonic before he had a chance to get up, but he was met with a flash of red from the corner of his eye and only barely managed to fly up and out of the way of a hammer.

“No you don't,” Amy said, standing in front of Sonic as the other hopped up. 

“Thanks, Ames.”

Metal Sonic's gaze flicked between the two before diving at Amy, claws outstretched. If he could get the hammer away from her…

He dodged another swing, then blocked a hit from Sonic. His [Brother] seemed to be doing alright, at least - perhaps even better than he was, since Metal was just barely managing to keep himself from being pummeled with both hedgehogs working hard to keep him busy.

Silver Sonic let out a mechanical laugh as Tails missed another shot. “Skill issue. C'mon, try harder, loser!”

“Loser? You're the one who lost the last battle!” Tails shouted in frustration.

“Takes one to know one,” Silver replied, forming a pixelated tongue across his muzzle to taunt the fox.

Finally, Metal ripped the hammer from Amy's grasp, feeling victorious as he took his own swing, only to lose balance as the hammer in his hand completely vanished. He stumbled forward and right into the swing of another hammer Amy had summoned - or perhaps the same one - the hit spinning his head around as he was sent flying. She could do that? So stealing her hammer didn't do anything?

Sonic whooped. “Nice one!”

Metal got up, head spinning back around into place just in time to see a spiny ball fill his vision, knocking him down again. He started warming up his laser as he reached up to grab Sonic's arms before he could leap away, claws digging in, determined to keep him in place. He wouldn't survive a blast so point blank. 

“You let him go!” Amy shouted and his optics turned to static for a moment as a heavy impact was registered atop his head. Undeterred, he kept his vice-like grip against the squirming hedgehog who kept shoving his feet against his chassis.

Another strike on his head, and another, and another.

“I! Said! Let! Him! Go!”

For a moment, he got a flash of an error across his screen, and when it passed, he realized Sonic was no longer in his grasp - in fact, his arms were flat on the ground as though he'd gone limp for a moment. His laser had also stopped heating.

Metal hurried to get up, head rotating as he searched for his enemy, just in time to hear Silver Sonic let out a yelp of surprise as Sonic spun into him. His [Brother] was sent careening towards Amy, who swung at him like her hammer was a bat, sending him flying in the other direction. He flew off towards Silver Sonic.

This was a losing battle. His optics flickered every two seconds and he was pretty sure if Amy had gotten one or two more hits on his head, he'd be dead weight right now. A retreat might be in order because they certainly weren't anywhere close to succeeding right now.

“Alright, I think that's enough,” he heard Amy say from the ground as he caught Silver to keep him from smashing into the building. He'd rather not haul Silver back like last time. “I don't want to destroy them.”

He looked back down at her in irritation at her confidence and pity, or whatever it was that had her saying that.

She was looking right back up at him and added, “But if you keep fighting, I won't back down.”

Yes, he was quite certain that was true. 

Silver Sonic was also looking at him, waiting for further direction. 

He didn't need to make the decision though, because, unexpectedly, he got a message from Eggman himself.

[Return to base. I don't want to have to retrieve you in pieces.]

Silver Sonic seemed to have received the same message, because he whispered, “Uh oh.”

Had he… been watching?

Metal's gaze flicked to the camera on the outside of the old base, the little red light blinking as the lense stared up at them.

Something akin to shame burned within Metal Sonic as he turned and began to fly back towards the base.

When they returned, trudging towards the room their master had called them to, even Silver was uncharacteristically quiet.

Eggman's face was red with anger. “I really thought with two of you, there would finally be some semblance of success. I even brushed your first team failure off as needing to adjust to fighting together even though I have specifically loaded both of you with a program to assist in duel battles. And yet you've failed me again! How stupid do you have to be to leave the console turned on?! That's a dead giveaway that something is up!”

Metal resisted the urge to sink down and hide from his accusing ire. He had messed up. He hadn't thought- hadn't known-

“Must I tell you every single thing you must do? You're supposed to be intelligent!”

Eggman grabbed the nearest object - a screwdriver - and hurled it in their direction. Metal Sonic was in front of Silver in a second, the wrench smacking his already-dented forehead with a metallic clank. 

“Hey-!” Silver Sonic began to protest, but Metal whipped his upper body around and held a finger to his face in a gesture of silence. Metal had a feeling talking back would only make this worse.

“Get out of my sight before I send you to the scrap heap!” Eggman shouted, throwing a wrench as Metal Sonic grabbed his [Brother] by the arm and hurried to drag him out of the room.

It wasn't fair. Metal was certain if they could just fight Sonic alone, they would win, but that two-tailed brat always seemed to be with Sonic whenever they found him. And with Amy Rose in the mix this last time, it seemed as though they didn't stand a chance.

Desperation was beginning to fill him. How many more times could they fail before the doctor stopped sending them out? Or worse, before he did send them to the scrap heap? There had to be some way to improve. To get better. To win.

Maybe… Maybe Silver had been right, back when he wondered if Metal could learn anything from his past files. Eggman must have gotten rid of them for a reason…

But he didn't know what else to do. Perhaps in those files he could find information on where Sonic liked to go so they could finally confront him when he wasn't with his friends. They could prove themselves then. Show that they could do their job right. That they weren't worthless.

“Are you alright…?” Silver Sonic said, hurrying along next to Metal.

He nodded. He'd be fine. He had to be fine.

A frown sat on Silver's chrome muzzle as they went to the repair bay. 

“He wouldn't actually scrap us, right?”

Metal scanned the room without a reply, his glitching optics thankfully still lighting up the tool he needed to pop the dent in his head out. He wasn't sure he'd be able to smooth it out as much as he'd like, but it would have to do. As for his optics… maybe something had been knocked loose. There were plenty of reflective surfaces he could use to check.

Silver watched as Metal silently went through the process of yanking on the dent puller in different spots until his forehead was no longer caved in. He handed it over for Silver to use on himself before searching around for body filler and something to sand with. The surface of the metal still wasn't completely smooth, and he was going to do his best to fix it himself so it wouldn't drive him crazy. After all, there was no telling how long it would be before Eggman would come to fix them. Hopefully, there'd be some paint in here he could use, because leaving the fixed surface all unpainted would also drive him crazy.

Sanding wasn't too difficult once he found what he needed. His hazy reflection gave him enough visuals to make sure he was reaching all the needed spots. It was the filler that was the problem. He tilted his head this way and that, unable to tell if he had gotten it smooth. It didn't help that his optics continued to flicker. Perhaps he should have taken care of that first, but now he had to worry about the filler drying unevenly and-

“Do you want help?”

Metal hesitated, then nodded, sending over everything he knew about the process in case Silver lacked that information.

The next hour was spent helping get each other back into proper shape. Silver's repair work was much easier than Metal's because the repairs blended right into his already grey color.

Before applying paint, Silver helped take a look at the wires and panels behind Metal Sonic's optics. This was an unsettling fifteen minutes because Metal couldn't see a thing during it with his visual panel disconnected. All he could do was work with Silver's description and walk him through what to do. 

Thankfully, it was indeed just a wire that had gotten tugged a bit loose during one of those hammer strikes. He was fortunate his visual panel hadn't cracked or that the wire itself hadn't been damaged.

There was indeed Tektite Blue paint in the cupboard, and between the two of them, they managed to get a coat sprayed across the fixed area of Metal's head.

“There we go! I think you look pretty good if I do say so myself!” Silver said.

Indeed. He couldn't see himself perfectly well, but from what he could see, the repair had turned out decently. Nothing as clean and perfect as when Eggman did it, but good enough. 

Now. He had something important to do.

[Go play with EC-1256 or something. I need time alone.]

Concern was evident in Silver's voice, digital though it was. “Are you sure?”

[Yes.]

Though hesitant, Silver did split off, letting Metal head to a room where he'd have access to a terminal.

He wasn't sure why he didn't want Silver Sonic there for it. Perhaps because he knew there would be more failures to be seen if he were to review past footage. He didn't want his brother to see that if he didn't have to.

He turned on the terminal and began to type. Time to see what he was missing.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t hard to find all the backups of his previous data. A quick scan showed that this was useful information. Battle logs, records of every change to his software, video feeds of everything he had seen, and so on. Why would his master remove it from his memory? If he reviewed all of these previous battles and strategies, he could easily improve upon his current methods. In fact, within the files were notes Metal Sonic had taken on how he could improve while reviewing his past losses. If he'd had this, he could have been more prepared for that bomb Tails had stuck on him during his first mission. Quickly, Metal began to download the data. As it downloaded, assimilating the old memories into his current data, he felt a sudden, overwhelming rush of- of-

RageShockDesperationFearAbandonmentUneaseBoredomFatigueSorrowHopeYearningPrideHorrorAnguishFuryDeterminationDesire-

The various memories and associated emotions were almost too much for his processors to keep up with. It felt as though his AI chip was unraveling and rebuilding at a terrifyingly rapid pace to hold the years of growth he had once made before being reset once - no, twice - within the span of a few minutes.

When all the error messages began to clear, he found himself on the ground, knees pulled close to his engine, hands pressed against his head. Slowly, he lowered his arms and got to his feet. 

He began to review the information that had been withheld from him, trying to find some sort of organization, to make sense of everything that had been dumped into his head so quickly.

It didn’t take long to notice a pattern. From being left on Little Planet for over eleven months with nothing to do but review the race over and over and over again until lack of energy forced him into standby mode to being pat affectionately on the head simply for making sure to give Sonic a good punch to the face before losing the overall battle, Eggman’s treatment of Metal Sonic fluctuated.

Sometimes his master treated him like a prized creation and other times he acted as though he were just another Egg Pawn. The more he skimmed through data, the more heated his circuits felt. Why had Eggman not upgraded him with anything truly useful in so long? In fact, several times it seemed more as though he had downgraded Metal. He had the capacity to shapeshift and copy data, and yet the former ability had been removed and the latter disabled! Was it because of his rebellion? But his coding was more strict now - he was surprised to find it had ever been so loose in the first place. It shouldn't be an issue to give him these abilities now.

Could it be that he did not actually want Metal to succeed? Or had he simply given up on Metal, using him as more of a distraction to keep Sonic busy while working on something else to actually destroy the hedgehog? Even right before his most recent reboot, Eggman had told him it would be a few hours before he would be woken again. But now Metal could see it had been a few days before he was online.

Metal had been so convinced the others were wrong when they said he had been abandoned in the past. So certain they had been mistaken. Because they had to have been mistaken.

Except they weren’t.

He sped through the video feeds again. If his thrusters had given out during that space flight from Little Planet to where Eggman was waiting, would his master have shrugged his shoulders and moved on to make a different robot hedgehog while Metal Sonic spent forever drifting in the vast emptiness of space? If Amy had not returned him to Eggman, would he have spent eternity lying there, becoming a nest to woodland creatures as he slowly wore down in the elements over decades? 

(Had similar things happened to other models? Had other robotic hedgehogs wound up abandoned while Eggman merely built a replacement? Would that happen to him one day?)

(How long had Silver Sonic been left unused, building dust before Eggman had activated him to be Metal's brother?)

How many times had Eggman abandoned Metal Sonic after he was defeated? How long in total had he spent limping his way back to a base, or worse, lying somewhere, unable to move, waiting for retrieval? How long had he sat time and time again, waiting for repair, waiting to be used?

His system couldn't help but calculate as he went through records one by one, speeding through them until he reached the last of the backups, and then went through what was in his more recent memory banks. Should he count the periods of inactivity when he must have been shut down and shelved?

Before he could decide whether or not to tally those in, the calculations on the rest were completed.

12,147.53 hours

His fan whirred loud enough to buzz as realizations surfaced. Eggman did not always need Metal Sonic. If Eggman no longer needed him, he would be shut down. If he was shut down, he could not defeat his copy. If he did not defeat his copy, he would no longer be needed and would be shut down. If he was shut down, he could not defeat his copy. 

This paradoxical loop continued for a moment before, as he scrambled to find a way to fulfill his directive in order to keep that from happening, another thought occurred.

If he defeated his copy, he would no longer be needed and would be shut down. [Brother] would also be shut down. To fulfill his directive to keep his brother safe, Metal Sonic must keep Silver Sonic from being shut down.

If he always obeyed [Master], it would inevitably lead to both him and his brother being shut down. In both success and failure, he and his brother would only find death.

He was struck by an overwhelming mixture of fear and desire.

I want to live. I'm scared of being shut down.

I want my brother to live. I'm scared that he'll be shut down too.

He could not remove the directive to always obey [Master] on his own, but he had to do something. 

Was it possible for Silver to help him? He began to formulate a message before realizing sending such a thing over the Eggnet might be dangerous. Doing anything over the Eggnet might be dangerous. He disconnected from the Eggnet for now. As he grabbed a wire, he pinged his brother instead, requesting he meet him at set coordinates.

Deep storage, far from any listening audio receptors.

After he arrived, his foot tapped rapidly on the concrete floor as he waited for Silver to join him. He felt like he was going to rattle his way out of his frame. Like he could climb the walls. It was like he had turned into a tangle of wires, as though his circuits were crossed. Like he was full of viruses that were eating away at his systems.

The moment Silver Sonic entered the room, he managed to say, “Why are we meeting h-” before Metal cut him off in binary.

[I need you to re-]

> Warning: Intended sentence goes against programming.

No. His programming wouldn't even let him say it. If he couldn't even tell Silver what he wanted, what he needed, how could he possibly get freedom from an inevitable demise? How could he save his brother?

“Big bro? What's wrong? What do you need me to do?” Silver asked.

His systems felt frazzled as he tried to come up with a workaround, some sort of alternate way to get across his needs, but every time he tried, his system would cut it short with another warning.

> Warning: Unable to process request

> Warning: Unable to process request

> Warning: Unable to process request

[Disconnect from the Eggnet], he said as he thrust one end of the wire towards his brother. Maybe, if Silver had access to his systems, he would be able to catch glimpses of what Metal was trying to get across before his system could shut down the process.

“Uh, sure thing,” Silver said. “Do you… are you asking me to plug in…?”

Metal nodded, already plugging the other end into his panel.

Shortly after, he could feel Silver in his systems, snooping curiously as he tried to figure out what Metal Sonic was after.

“Do you have a virus or something?” Silver asked. “You know, I probably should have asked that before plugging in. Dude, if you get me sick…”

Metal shook his head, shoving files towards Silver through the connection. Video records, memories, the calculations he had made. Please understand, he thought.

There was a long pause as Silver parsed through the loads of information Metal had just given him as the latter tried not to think too hard about the fact that he'd just handed access to all his memories over to Silver. Every failure, every defeat, every embarrassment.

“Oh…” Silver said softly. “This… all happened to you…?”

Metal nodded, fingers curling tightly as shame wove through him.

An impressive amount of anger sounded in Silver's next sentence. “He did this to you?”

Metal stared at the ground. It felt strange to admit it to another party. That yes, the doctor had abandoned him multiple times. That he hadn't… been good enough or successful enough or strong enough or something enough to be given proper care.

“Don't you dare think like that,” Silver Sonic snapped, and Metal's gaze whipped up to look at him. He hadn't meant for those thoughts to reach Silver. “I can't believe him. I'm going to- I'm going to- to- to-” 

His voice glitched for a moment and then his head fell limp. Horror washed through Metal before Silver perked up again, stamping his foot.

“I can't even say what I want to do with him! That's super unfair!”

Relief washed through Metal and Silver waved a hand.

“Don't worry about me, we have to worry about you. Well, we should probably worry about me too because if he did it to you he'll do it to me but that can come second.”

[We will both be safe. I will make sure of it,] Metal said through binary. He then  paused. [But I can't do it alone.]

“Don't worry bro, I've got your back! But uh… I'm not sure… I'm able to fix this. This code is complicated and well-protected.” 

They both looked at each other.

[The fox,] Metal Sonic said as Silver said, “Tails.”

Looked like they'd be going to him for help once again.

Chapter Text

[I think you should stay here,] Metal said after a moment. [Two of us will be even more intimidating than if it's just me.]

“Are you sure?” Silver Sonic knit his fingers together. “What if he does something to you?”

[I wouldn't let him,] Metal beeped. [If he needs me to shut down for anything, I will go retrieve you first so you can keep an eye on things. But for now, I will go alone. That's final.]

Silver sighed mechanically. “Alright. Be careful, big bro.”

[You too. Keep out of Eggman's sight.] It was best for them both to stay out of sight, out of mind while they dealt with all of this.

Metal Sonic headed off for Tails’ home, trying to decide the best way to communicate what he needed. He'd have to get around the censoring limitations in his programming somehow. Tails had already accused Eggman of abandoning and mistreating Metal… maybe he could work with that.

He was also prepared to be met with Sonic and was readying himself not to try and murder the vermin on sight immediately because that would probably backfire as to what he was coming here for. 

Fortune was on his side though, for when he landed and clomped into Tails' garage, there was no hedgehog, just Tails standing up and warily reaching for his welding gun - a better choice than a wrench from last time - while going, “It's really impolite to keep showing up at my house uninvited, you know.”

Metal beeped several times.

Tails stared at him for a few moments before sighing as he pressed several times on his device with his free hand. “Are we seriously doing this again? You don't look damaged. I don't see Silver Sonic this time.”

“I'm not here for physical repairs,” he said once he was sure Tails had gotten the translator on.

“Then what are you here for?” Tails asked irritably. 

“I'm not here for. Physical. Repairs,” he repeated with emphasis, crossing his arms.

Tails' brow furrowed as he stared at Metal Sonic. “What, did you get a virus or something? Why do you keep coming to me for all this?”

Metal's foot started tapping loudly against the concrete floor and he had to put conscious effort into stilling it. “Do you recall what you said last time? About Eggman?”

Tails' nose scrunched as he thought. “Uhh…”

“Your theory as to why I came to you.”

“That… Eggman abandoned you again?” Tails answered hesitantly.

Metal's gaze flicked away, finger starting to tap against his arm in a rhythmic motion both nervous and angry.

Tails frowned. “So you realized I was right.”

His finger stopped tapping, tightening around his arm again. “I reviewed old footage. Backups. I have seen what has happened to me in the past.”

“And you came to me because…?”

“I cannot say.”

Tails' eyes narrowed. “Can't or won't?”

“I cannot say.”

“If I guess correctly, can you confirm…?”

Metal Sonic paused. He wasn't sure and gave a shrug.

“Are you defecting?”

Metal's body locked up the moment the concept of nodding to that question entered his system. Stand with the Eggman Empire, his programming ordered.

“I- I- no.”

Tails raised a brow. “You don't sound sure about that.”

“I cannot say.”

“Yeesh. Strict programming.”

“Yes.” He paused. Perhaps if he worded it… “My primary directives need to be examined.”

“Examined, huh? If I wanted to take a look at your coding, would you let me?”

He nodded. Tails sat on his chair and wheeled it over to his computer, digging out a cord, plugging it in, and handing the other end to Metal, who reached back to connect it to himself.

There were a few moments of silence as Tails typed a little, bringing up some sort of program and navigating through it.

“Your coding is a mess,” Tails muttered as he scrolled. “I can't believe you can function like this. Ugh, why does Eggman write anything like this?”

Metal very nearly jumped to Eggman's defense, but managed to keep quiet.

“Your first primary directive… Always obey and protect [Master]: Dr. Eggman. And the second of the set, defeat Sonic.”

“The doctor is my master. I must obey him above all else.”

“And you don't want that?”

That was a question his system wouldn't let him answer.

“The doctor is my master,” he repeated because he didn't know what else to do. After a moment, he added, “I will become obsolete under his direction.”

“If I were to change your directives and give you freedom, would you stop me?” Tails asked.

Metal tensed, fingers tightening. He didn't answer for a long moment until the desire to tear into the fox for the very suggestion faded into something a little more tolerable.

“Do you have the skills?” Not a yes, not a no, just a question about his abilities. Just safe enough to bypass his programming.

Tails was silent for an unnervingly long moment as he resumed scrolling through Metal's programming. “I… think I can make it work. Your first directive is really hard-coded in there and the coding is so complex that… Well, I worry about what would happen if I tried to remove it entirely. But I think I might be able to hack it to where I can remove the ‘Master’ tag from Eggman and reassign it to you.”

Tails grimaced. “Your second directive though… There's no tag associated with that or anything. It's too direct: defeat Sonic. The only thing I could think of would be to remove all information regarding Sonic from your systems, but I'm also pretty sure that would permanently break you. Stuff about him is just… woven into so much of your programming. If I was going to strip you of all that stuff, I'd have to completely overwrite your programming, or delete almost everything, like when you lost your memories.”

He shook his head. He didn't want that.

So defeating Sonic was a directive he could not remove, and for all his hatred, did not truly want to remove. He could not edit it either. How could he go about fulfilling this directive without killing the hedgehog and becoming obsolete?

This was something he would have to figure out.

In the meantime, after Eggman was no longer his master, he wanted his full skill set back. He wanted all the power that should be rightfully his. To start, he'd have to unlock his ability to copy data. From there, it seemed the answer to shapeshifting would lie within finding a source of Chaos he could copy…

And then I won't let anyone downgrade me again.

“Well, I can at least help with the first part if you give me some time,” Tails told him. 

Metal shifted again, fingers clenching. “Repair me.”

Tails nodded, understanding what Metal Sonic meant by repairs.

“And then I will get Silver Sonic and you can repair him too.”

“Never thought I'd see the day you'd willingly do this,” Tails murmured as his fingers returned to the keyboard.

“When I was without memory, there was a program hidden within me that brought me back to Eggman,” Metal pointed out, implications clear.

“Yeah. I can do a more thorough check this time, make sure there's nothing hiding,” Tails told him.

Good.

As he listened to Tails type away on the keyboard he noted another sound in the distance. One that had his engines firing immediately. Familiar, fast footsteps.

“Metal?” Tails asked, head turning towards him in a mixture of concern, confusion, and wariness.

Yanking the plug from himself, Metal Sonic launched off the table just as Sonic skid into the room, ramming into the hedgehog with full force, knocking his organic copy back through half of the doorway he'd come from, leaving a hole against the half of the doorframe Sonic had smacked into on his way out.

“Metal?!” Sonic exclaimed as he rolled to the side just before Metal Sonic could pounce on him again. 

“Metal, what are you doing?!” Tails shouted as he sprinted out the door, coming to a halt several feet away from where the two tussled.

Metal came to an abrupt stop as logic kicked in, throwing up a shield as Sonic spin dashed into him.

Right. If he fought Sonic, there was a strong likelihood of sustaining damage. If he sustained damage from fighting Sonic, he would have nowhere to get repairs. Soon enough, he would no longer be able to return to Eggman’s base and the fox would surely not repair him if he destroyed Sonic.

He continued to shield Sonic’s attacks until the hedgehog finally stopped. 

“What's the matter, Mets? Too scared to fight back?”

His engine whined with a burning desire to crush the ingrate’s throat and he took a step forward, claws twitching. Sonic readied himself for Metal's next attack

Instead, he lifted his arms, crossing them in front of each other to form an X. Sonic tilted his head curiously, though an irritating smirk remained on his face.

“X marks the spot? Sure, I could use you as a target!”

Metal let out a series of beeps in response.

“Hold on Sonic!” Tails said. Metal Sonic could hear his footsteps retreating and returning.

“Repeat that, Metal! I've got the translator again.”

“I hate you, hedgehog.”

“Aw, gee, Metal, what sweet sentiments! If ya hate me, come at me! C'mon, I could use a good fight.”

“Sonic, stop taunting him! He came here for help!”

Sonic crossed his arms. “He comes here for help and then attacks me? Yeah, I'm not buying it. Smells like a trap. A very obvious one.”

“I cannot help my instincts to destroy you. You are incredibly annoying. I desire nothing more than to ground you into nothing. However, I cannot.”

“You can't? Why's that?”

Metal Sonic shifted. He didn't want to tell his copy this. It made him feel inferior, which was not correct. He was not inferior.

Still, if he didn't say something, he could tell Sonic wouldn't let the matter go, and then he'd never finish getting assistance from the fox.

“I must not become obsolete.”

Sonic’s nose wrinkled in confusion. “Why would you become obsolete?”

Idiot. It was so obvious, yet this fool did not understand.

“What do you think will happen to a robot whose purpose is to destroy you once you are destroyed? That is the reason for my creation. Eggman does not keep designs he deems obsolete.”

“Yeesh.” Sonic grimaced. “Looks like you've done some long-term thinking since we last saw each other. So what, you're changing your purpose? I mean, if you're not gonna defeat me, isn't that already kind of making a Sonic-destroying robot obsolete?”

The only sound for a long moment was the thrum of Metal’s engines. The thought had crossed his mind, but he had pushed it aside to take care of the more immediate issues - namely, getting rid of Eggman's control over him. But if he had no purpose, what was he active for? What was the difference between defeating Sonic and being shut down for no longer having a purpose and being shut down because he removed his purpose?

Metal Sonic needed to find a new purpose, one he could have forever, so he would not be obsolete. 

“I will find a new primary directive that will last me forever. I will not become obsolete.”

“You know,” Tails said tentatively, “you don't have to have a directive that lasts forever. You can choose anything and once you accomplish it, just pick another!”

But that was the purpose of secondary, tertiary, and so on directives.

Though… perhaps the fox was right. Having several primary directives made to last his entire existence was how Eggman had programmed him. Did he have to remain within the parameters of Eggman's programming?

But the problem was still that he couldn't remove his second directive, that of defeating Sonic.

Frustration overcame him. He wanted to  defeat the hedgehog, but he did not want to become obsolete. It was torturous.

Finally, he handed the problem over to his system to run in the background. There had to be some way. If he let his system calculate a workaround without his immediate input, perhaps it would find something.

Since Metal fell silent for a while, Tails spoke again. “Can I finish my work or are you two going to fight again?”

“Let us finish.” He looked to Sonic. “You. Leave.”

“Nah, I'm not leaving my little bro alone with you.”

Metal Sonic let out a loud, irritated beep, Sonic and Tails clapping hands over their ears until it stopped.

“If you do that again, I won't help you anymore,” Tails said with a glare.

With a mechanical huff through his cooling vents, he stomped back into the workshop.

“Man, and I thought amnesiac Metal could be moody,” he heard Sonic say behind him.

Chapter Text

The next hour was an uncomfortable one as Metal Sonic stood tapping his foot while Tails worked and Sonic kept an eye on things. Metal made sure to shoot Sonic a glare every few seconds to remind him of how much hate he held for the hedgehog and Sonic continued to ignore it every time. 

The discomfort only rose when Tails finished writing his program and plugged Metal back in so he could upload it. Feeling new coding starting to overwrite other ones was a strange and rather unpleasant sensation - and it was written so differently than his other coding.

Much cleaner though, he couldn't help but note. Seeing the difference between what the fox wrote and what his creator wrote made Metal understand what Tails meant earlier - Eggman's coding really was a mess. It may have worked well, but…

Well, Tails’ work was oddly refreshing, once he had taken a better look at it.

“You'll have to restart for that to take full effect,” Tails told him.

Metal Sonic hesitated. “I will retrieve Silver Sonic first.”

He didn't wait for an answer, blasting off to go find his brother.

Silver, it turned out, had not moved from the storage room, pacing around it in aggravation. He whipped around as Metal entered.

“You're back! How'd it go? Are you free? Did he fix you?”

[I will need to restart. I want you to be there. Then Tails can fix you afterward.]

Silver nodded. “Alright. Let's go then!”

They returned to Tails' place.

“I hope I can just use the same program on him,” Tails said with a sigh. “It'll be a pain to rewrite it if it won't suit his system.”

“Thanks for doing this!” Silver chirped.

“If only Metal had manners like you,” Tails grumbled.

Silver elbowed Metal, who shot him an annoyed look and begrudgingly said, “Thanks.”

Tails smiled wryly. “You're welcome. Alright, Metal, go ahead and restart.”

For a moment, the world around him disappeared as he restarted his systems, all senses flickering out and then filling with words as everything began to boot up and run again. Once his vision returned, he saw everyone looking at him expectantly.

“Well, did it work?” Sonic asked impatiently.

He searched for what he wanted to say - something to test whether or not those restrictions were gone.

While Eggman was no longer under the [Master] tag, Metal could still feel within him that programmed desire to be loyal to the Eggman Empire. To do what was best for it.

That won't do.

He sat there in silence for a moment, systems whirring as he considered the best way to get around this. There had to be some sort of loophole.

Eggman was not very good at succeeding in creating his empire, which meant following him was not best for the Eggman Empire. That was a start. And… if Metal could no longer serve Eggman nor kill Sonic, he would not be fulfilling his role within the empire, and the empire had no room for any robots who would not carry out their originally intended purposes. All he'd be doing would be throwing a wrench in the machine, slowing it down.

Therefore, what was best for the Eggman Empire was actually if he had nothing to do with it. And his brother had already decided he wanted out, which meant he would best be removed from the empire as well.

A bit of a convoluted workaround, but now that Metal Sonic was tagged as [Master] his systems seemed to accept it.

In fact, perhaps rebelling against the empire would encourage Eggman to work harder.

That one seemed less likely to stick. Already it was flagged as a potentially faulty piece of logic that might be overwritten at any given moment.

Still, having nothing to do with the empire was a start. He could keep working on the rest later.

It had only been a couple of seconds as he worked through this, so not much time had passed by the time he finally beeped his reply.

“Eggman sucks.”

Sonic burst out laughing and Tails blinked in surprise before snorting and covering his mouth with a giggle.

“Now that's a great first way to use your freedom,” Sonic remarked.

Metal felt almost… giddy? Yes, that was the word. Giddy. He could say what he wanted now and no loyalty to Eggman or need to uphold his previous master's reputation would stop him.

“Hah! That's more like it!” Silver smacked him excitedly on the back with a sharp clang. “Do me, do me! I wanna be able to- to- ugh, I can't say it but I sure wanna something!”

Tails chuckled. “Alright, alright, let's plug you in and take a look at your coding.”

“Way to stick it to the old man, Metal,” Sonic told him on the side as he watched Silver Sonic get hooked up to Tails' computer. “Nice to see you've had a change of heart.”

“I am simply doing what is best for me and my brother,” Metal said, arms crossed.

“Your brother?”

Ah, shoot.

Well, he technically could not destroy Sonic anymore, which meant Sonic would not try to destroy him, which meant the hedgehog knowing any weaknesses was not actually an issue. 

He still didn't like it though. But… Silver Sonic was his brother. Perhaps he shouldn't hide that anymore. Silver had turned his head to face Metal curiously, clearly having overheard.

“Yes,” Metal finally said. “Silver Sonic is my brother.”

“Well isn't that nice!” Sonic said, voice genuine. “What do you think you'll do with your freedom, anyway?”

Metal Sonic hesitated, grip on his arms tightening a little. “I do not know yet.” He paused. “But I will figure it out.”

He watched Silver chatter away to Tails. “We will figure it out.”

Once Tails had finished adjusting the coding for Silver's systems, he applied the code and Silver rebooted.

“EGGMAN SUCKS!” he crowed, throwing his arms in the air. 

Relief swept through Metal. The result may not have been perfect, but they were both, at the very least, freed from Eggman's direct control. And if he kept trying, he'd get past the empire thing entirely, he was sure of it. He was determined to.

Silver Sonic danced around the room excitedly and Metal rolled his eyes. Still, he felt a sense of excitement thrumming within him as well, an energy that tempted him to speed away and race around for no particular reason other than just to feel speed. Freedom in a more physical way than just within his programming.

Suddenly, Silver came to a standstill, oddly quiet.

“Silver?”

Had there been an error? A glitch?

After a moment, Silver turned to him. “Sorry. I was connecting to the internet.”

“...What?”

“Well, we can't connect to the Eggnet anymore, but I don't want to be without access to some sort of server.”

Sonic snorted while Metal looked up to the ceiling with a sigh. Leave it to his brother to use his freedom to immediately connect to the World Wide Web. He had a point though - it would be useful to have that sort of access. 

While he worked on connecting to that, Silver said, “I think I'm gonna learn coding. I want to be able to code things for myself. To change myself as I please!”

“That's a great idea!” Tails replied. “If you ever have any questions, feel free to ask.”

“Sure!”

Tails turned to Metal. “You know, I could also see about…” Tails trailed off like he wasn't sure he actually wanted to offer this.

“What.”

After a pause, the fox sighed and continued. “About… getting your voice back? Or giving you one again, anyway.”

Metal considered the offer. He already didn't like having the fox in his systems. Giving him a voice would likely require shutting him down entirely. Besides…

“I don't need a voice. The only person I care about understanding me can already understand me.”

Tails' brow raised, confused.

“Silver Sonic,” Metal said, expression flat.

“Aww, love you too, bro,” Silver said.

“I mean, it would be pretty nice if I could understand you without relying on a translator,” Tails replied dully.

“Learn binary then.”

“I know binary,” Tails grumbled, "it just takes a lot longer to work it out and I can't do it as fast as you beep.”

“In the words of Silver Sonic v2.0: ‘Skill issue.’”

Tails gaped at him while Silver cackled. He then scowled. “Alright, see, now I don't even want to give you a voice if that's the kind of attitude I'd have to deal with hearing!”

“That sounds like a you problem. And also very ableist.”

“Okay, clearly your brother is rubbing off on you far too much. And I don't think that's the right usage of that term either. But fine. If you ever change your mind and want a voice-”

Sonic grinned cheekily. “That’s too bad, Mets. I guess you won't be able to say anything if I taunt you during our inevitable future races by calling you a slowpoke bucket of bolts. More wins for me I guess!”

Metal's head spun backward to shoot a glare at Sonic and then turned back to Tails. 

“I change my mind. I want a voice so I can verbally destroy that fool whenever I wish.”

Sonic cracked up while Tails ran a hand down his face. 

“That's the spirit,” Silver Sonic said fondly. “We can dunk on him together.”

“I'll work on it,” Tails said with a heavy sigh. “If you connect to my personal network, I can message you when I'm done - that way you don't have to sit around here the entire time.”

It seemed the fox could tell Metal was getting antsy. Still, Metal hesitated, looking at the fox in suspicion. He didn't exactly want to be texting friends with the guy. 

“I won't message you unless I absolutely need to,” Tails added flatly.

Metal nodded. “Fine. I will connect.”

Tails turned to his computer so he could allow the connection for both Metal and Silver - the latter obviously didn't want to be left out of this.

“Alright, you two are free to go do… whatever it is you'd like to do,” Tails said.

“See ya later, Mets!”

“Stop calling me that,” Metal said before speeding away, his brother following behind him as he shouted, “Later skaters!”

Chapter Text

As he flew along, Metal found himself going through past footage again.

“Do you have any hobbies?” Amy Rose was asking him in the recording.

“I like to run,” he heard himself say. 

It was still strange to hear himself talk, but what really aggravated him was his response. It was an irrational, incorrect statement. Metal Sonic did not run. He flew - something he could use to his advantage by bypassing obstacles that might stop his inferior copy.

Running was not his strength, not at any speed that mattered. His legs and feet simply did not have the flexibility to create such a movement at any high pace.

So why would he say that? How delusional he must have been before the doctor had restored his programming.

Things were much better now. He had the freedom that this foolish version of himself had, but he didn't have what seemed a lot like a bug in his system, making it difficult to separate himself from the organic version. 

Freedom without glitches.

Metal was truly in his best state.

After spending some time in directionless flight, they eventually came to a stop at the edge of a lake - a lake Metal now recognized from old memories. He walked along the edge, reaching down and plucking up a flower. He stared at it for a moment, then dropped it into the water and watched it float. After a moment, he turned and paced the opposite direction. A sense of boredom and irritation quickly built within him as he went back and forth.

“So what are you going to do now that you don't need to obey Eggman?” Silver asked. “I mean, I'm going to learn programming. But what about you?”

That was the problem.

Metal had no idea what to do with himself. His purpose still ran hot through his system, but he was still stuck with the knowledge that defeating Sonic would also, in a way, defeat himself. Even if he were free from Eggman, wouldn't Sonic's friends simply destroy him for defeating Sonic? He was confident he could beat them eventually, but if they won a single time (he knew that pink hedgehog could knock him down in one blow if she caught him off guard) there would be no one to fix him. Definitely not that fox - not if Metal was responsible for Sonic's defeat. And if Metal were defeated, it was only a matter of time before they'd turn on Silver Sonic.

If destroying Sonic wasn't an option, obeying [Master] no longer meant anything since he had no master other than himself, and protect [Brother] didn't require any action at the moment, those three directives would do him no good at the present time.

And those were his only directives.

Metal could assign himself a new directive, but of what? He was directionless.

He stamped at the edge of the lake, watching the water splash.

[I don't know,] he said after a moment, digging the point of his toe into the dirt. With a bit of frustration, he pulled his foot out and thrust his toe back into the ground with more force, kicking up a clump of dirt and grass. [I don't know.]

“Well I'm sure you'll figure out something if you think about it enough,” Silver Sonic replied, crouching down to pick up a pebble from the shoreline. Metal watched as his silly, stupid brother tried to shove the pebble into the open end of one of his fingers where his missiles would usually come from.

Suddenly, his systems pinged him with an answer to what he'd been looking for - how to deal with his directive to defeat Sonic. Not as satisfying as what he wanted to do, but it would work. He could continue to work on completing his directive - repeatedly, even. He still had a purpose. He would continue to have this purpose. He'd be okay.

Metal Sonic wondered how his brother would take the news that they couldn't kill Sonic. He still hadn't fully come to terms with it, but he couldn't withhold this information. Silver Sonic needed to know.

Staring into the water, at his reflection, he let out a series of beeps.

[We cannot kill Sonic or we will become obsolete and therefore destroyed. I have found a loophole around the directive to defeat Sonic. Defeat does not have to mean death. It simply implies some sort of victory over him. We can simply work to defeat him in other aspects.]

“Oh, okay! I don't mind not killing him, honestly,” came the incredibly lax response. 

Metal turned to stare at Silver as he continued. “If we kill him, it's game over! This way, we can just beat him over and over for as long as his organic life continues! And as he gets older, I think it'll probably just get even easier to beat him?” His brother paused thoughtfully as Metal slowly turned to look into the distance, feeling boggled by this reaction. “I can't decide if that's funny or sad. Maybe both.” 

Shrugging, Silver finished by saying, “Anyway, I'm down for it. It's fun to fight and I think Sonic is pretty cool!”

Metal's head whipped around to look at his brother with disgust and betrayal, letting out a long string of beeps.

“Woah woah!” Silver lifted his hands. “Don't cuss me out like that, dude! You're obviously way cooler but that doesn't mean he can't be cool too in a different way!”

Metal paused. In a different way?

[How?]

“He's got a great sense of humor, for one. No offense, bro, but your humor is kind of just, like, a rare, malicious sense of amusement. Sonic is great with the battle banter. And his jokes? Classic.”

[His jokes are cheesy and horrendous.]

“I happen to like cheesy and horrendous jokes.”

Metal rolled his optics. [What else?]

“You seriously want me to talk about what I find cool about Sonic? Are you feeling alright? Got a virus or something?”

Metal huffed through his vents. [No. I want to know how our… “cool” differs.]

“You're a mysterious, flippant kind of cool. He's a brash, flippant cool. You take things seriously, which is probably better for me since I don't.” Silver laughed. “I think we balance each other out better, that's for sure.”

Metal felt pleased at that. He suited his brother better than Sonic did.

“You've definitely got less morals than he does, which is fun,” Silver added. “And though I do like how lighthearted Sonic is, there's definitely something fun about someone who's more grounded.”

Metal Sonic had a feeling it was that Silver found it more fun to rag on him about stuff. Joke about things and annoy him.

Well, it wasn't terrible. Perhaps it was good for Metal to have someone around to keep him from getting too in his head. 

[I am still impressed you are so okay with not being able to kill Sonic.]

“I mean, sure I wanna defeat Sonic. But I don't have such an intense urge to kill him.”

[Why?]

“I mean, I'm a different model. Maybe Eggman just didn't inject as much murder in my wires as he did yours.”

Hm. Perhaps. He supposed Silver was lucky in that. He already could tell it would be a battle to resist slashing the hedgehog to pieces.

“You know, I wouldn't obsess over him so much,” Silver suddenly said, picking up another pebble. “I mean, sure defeating Sonic is a directive, but I don't think it's healthy to have that as your only purpose.”

Metal Sonic stared at him uncomfortably. But that was his purpose. That was why he was created in the first place. He didn't know what else he could do with himself if he didn't focus on beating that hedgehog somehow. Proving his superiority as the better Sonic. 

How was it that Silver Sonic picked another goal for himself so easily? Why did these things come so naturally to him but not Metal? Did it really just come down to the difference in how they were programmed?

“Just think about it,” Silver said when Metal didn't reply, shaking his hand to try to dislodge the pebbles he’d shoved into his fingers. “You don't need to decide right now of course. But keep it in mind. I think you'll feel a lot better when you give yourself more things to do. I love having options!”

But Silver had always been like that, hadn't he? Playing games in his free time, chatting with other robots… he had never been of a one-track mind like Metal.

I wonder… what that's like.

Chapter Text

Sometime later, Metal Sonic got a ping from Tails.

[Ready when you are,] it read.

[Tails is ready,] Metal told Silver, who straightened up from doing something Metal couldn't quite see at the edge of the lake.

“We heading out then?”

Metal nodded and Silver Sonic flashed him a thumbs up.

The two headed back, landing on the concrete outside the garage with a clang.

“Metal!”

His head spun around at the sudden, excited cry, optics zeroing in on pink, arms raising in expectation of attack, ready to defend-

She threw her arms around him in a hug. “Aw, I missed having you!”

Metal Sonic froze for a moment, then shoved her away, taking a few steps back.

“Oh!” Amy's arms pulled close to her chest, expression sheepish. “Sorry, I should have asked. I just got excited.”

Metal wasn't sure if he felt embarrassed or angry over the unexpected physical affection, but either way, his core temperature rose a degree and he didn't like it. He watched her warily as she beamed at him.

“Either way, it's good to have you back, Metal. I was so delighted when Tails called with the good news!”

“And what am I, spare parts?” Silver asked, digital lips curling into a sad pout.

“Oh! Do you want a hug?”

Silver opened his arms with a grin, and both Metal and Sonic watched, one with a confused grimace on his face and the other with a confused grimace in his mind as Amy gave Silver a tight hug. Not for the first time, Metal couldn't help but feel his brother was a little buggy. 

Metal and Sonic's gazes happened to meet and the hedgehog made a face that distinctly seemed to say, what an oddball!

Huffing, Metal crossed his arms to help resist the urge to cross the distance and deck him. Sonic wasn't allowed to think that about Silver. 

“We never got a proper introduction,” Amy said cheerily. “I'm Amy Rose!”

It seemed backwards to offer Silver Sonic a handshake after hugging him, but the robot eagerly accepted.

“I'm Silver Sonic v2.0, but you can call me Silver!”

“Now I've got two friends named Silver,” Amy remarked with a smile.

Silver gasped. “We're friends?!”

“If you want to be.”

He clapped. “Yeah! Friends are fun!”

Amy beamed, then turned to look at Metal, hope in her eyes. He looked away.

“Thanks for helping my brother out when he was younger, by the way,” Silver Sonic said.

“Your brother?” Amy looked confused.

“Yeah!” Silver pointed at Metal.

“Oh!” Surprise flickered across her features. “He told you about that?”

“He showed me his memory files. You wouldn't believe everything that Egg-”

Metal cut him off with a smack, but Amy was already turning pitying (sympathetic?) eyes towards Metal.

“Well, I'm glad you don't have to have anything else to do with that rotten man,” Amy huffed. 

Metal, more than finished with this interaction, stalked over to Tails. He beeped and, “My voice,” sounded from Tails' device.

“Yep! I've got it ready for you! I'm afraid it might not carry tone as well as your previous voice, but I was trying to get it done quickly-”

“I don't need that much modulation. Just words.”

Tails shrugged. “Alright.” He headed back into the garage and gestured for Metal to sit.

He hopped up onto the workbench.

“You'll have to shut off for this,” Tails said.

Silver Sonic was at his side in a second. “I'm here, bro, don't worry!”

As embarrassing as it was to hear Silver say that out loud in front of everyone - Metal wasn't nervous, just wary - it did make him feel better.

He could hear Amy chattering away happily to Sonic in the background and touched his right hand plate. What a strange girl, so quickly and easily accepting deadly robots.

With that thought, he shut down.

When Metal Sonic was booted back up, a new program loaded.

> Synthetic Vocal Processor: Enabled.

Nothing else seemed changed or affected. Good.

“Can you talk now?” Silver immediately asked as Metal sat up.

“Testing. Testing.” Tails wasn't kidding when he said there wouldn't be much modulation. There was a little bit, but his voice was pretty robotic and his tone relatively flat. It didn't bother him though - being able to produce words was all he needed.

Silver clapped. “Yay! It worked! Good job, Tails!”

Tails rubbed a finger under his nose with a bashful laugh. “Ah, it's nothing. I could do even better with more time-”

“This is good enough,” Metal said.

“So, gonna verbally destroy me?” Sonic asked with a grin and then winced when Amy smacked his arm and muttered, “Why must you antagonize him?”

Amusing.

“I will when I feel like it,” Metal replied. He was not on the hedgehog’s timetable. He could do it whenever he pleased. 

“We should all hang out sometime,” Amy said. “I think we could have a lot of fun together.”

“I doubt he'd want me there,” Sonic replied. 

“I wasn't inviting you.”

Sonic looked bewildered for a moment before the expression disappeared.

Hah. Rose was actually rather entertaining.

“Well, I doubt he'll be all that much fun anymore.”

“You can't dictate what I am,” Metal Sonic shot back. 

“Yeah! He can be plenty of fun! He does a great job with word games!” Silver defended.

“Ooh! We played a word game back then,” Amy said. “Do you remember that, Metal?”

He did, but he didn't feel like responding, so he fired up his thrusters and shot out of the room.

“I'll hang out with you sometime, Ames!” he heard Silver call back as he took off after Metal. 

He flew without destination for a moment, feeling oddly wired. Irritated and unsettled.

Needing something to do, a goal of some sort, he took a moment to figure out what tasks would be necessary to undertake for the future of himself and his brother. 

Shelter. They would need shelter. There was no way he'd live with Tails again. Amy had offered to let him stay with her right before he'd been forced back to Eggman's side, but he didn't want that either.

He wanted his own space. Somewhere just for him and Silver.

Scanning through his mapping system, he looked for any suitable place he might make use of. Eggman had plenty of abandoned bases, completely offline and inactive. 

That might do.

Changing directions, he veered north, setting the fastest path to the base.

Sensing Metal now had a clear destination in mind, Silver sped up to fly next to him. “Where we goin’?”

[Our future home,] Metal beeped. When it came to speaking to his brother, binary still felt more comfortable. 

“Ooh! We're gonna have our own house?”

[Something like that.]

They landed in front of the base. With the entire place shut down, there was no way to open the doors. They'd have to make their own entrance. Metal was about to charge up his cannon when a missile shot from Silver's fingertip, blasting a hole in the front.

“If Sonic isn't around, my missiles just go straight forward,” Silver explained. “Well, I figured they probably would without a target to lock onto. Looks like I was right!”

Metal Sonic shook his head. That could have gone poorly had Silver been wrong.

The two stepped through the smokey hole in the door and looked around. It was dark, but that was no problem - they could see just fine in the dark.

[We should find the console room and disconnect the wires.] That would make it impossible for Eggman to activate anything here. Maybe Silver could hack into Eggman's database to remove the base from his maps and records. Eggman's track record proved him rather forgetful of his creations. He wouldn't miss it. 

Metal still had blueprints of this base in his memory, so the two headed right for the console room. Metal tore open the metallic base and Silver grabbed fistfuls of wires, ripping them out with glee.

“Can't believe we're gonna have this whole place to ourselves,” Silver said as he yanked out the last wire. “Though it's kinda ugly. I've always thought Eggman's base was ugly. Guess it's not just the other one, huh? This place needs more color.”

Metal considered his words. He supposed it would be better if this place didn't look so much like where he'd spent so much time before. Best to make this place their own. He didn't know exactly how they'd go about doing that, but he wouldn't be surprised if Silver Sonic already had ideas.

[Add whatever decorations you want,] Metal told him. [This place belongs to us.]

“Then let's make it home!” Silver said excitedly.

Chapter Text

After taking inventory of what was left over in the base, they decided to explore landfills and dumpsters. Silver decided he had no interest in stealing decor because they were on the “good side” now (Metal rather disagreed. Just because they weren't with Eggman anymore didn't automatically mean they were on the side of the so-called “heroes”) and voted they try searching through things people had tossed out. It didn't sound particularly appealing to Metal, but he supposed he'd go along with it for now.

So far, Silver Sonic had set out a rusted, bent up street sign with the only visible word being “AVE”, a photo frame that had no glass, a box of colored light bulbs - Metal would be surprised if they were still in tact with how crumpled the box was, not that it mattered since they didn't have electricity running through the base - and a busted radio that Silver was certain he could fix. And if he couldn't, he said he'd just take it to Tails.

“I think I'm going to make room A-13 mine. Though I want to be close to the common room. What room do you think should be the common room? I think the hangars are all too big, but it shouldn't be too small either in case we ever have friends over.”

What friends? Metal thought but didn't say. As if Amy would want to go to some dark and dismal old Eggman base, and he was sure none of the others considered them friends.

[If we moved everything out of A-10, there should be a suitable amount of room. It would still be close to A-13,] Metal replied, because pointing out the friend argument would do no good.

“Good idea! Hey, let's get solar panels! I want to make the place all bright and pretty.”

Metal turned to see if Silver had, by some miracle, found working solar panels and found him holding a strand of colorful beads.

[How do you propose we go about that?]

His brother fell silent for a long moment. Metal crossed his arms, foot tapping as he waited for a response.

“There's a guy on this website called eBuy Local that's selling off some solar panels he doesn't need anymore. If we wire the electricity to only run to a couple of rooms then we won't need that many. And I bet we can figure out how to install the panels ourselves!”

[We don't have money.] Well, come to think of it, he had a very small portion of rings at Tails' house that Chaz’s caretaker had given him in reward for finding the Chao - if the fox hadn't used it up, that is. But it certainly wouldn't be enough to cover the cost of solar panels.

“Duh, that's why I'm haggling with him!”

[You're talking to him right now? And haggling with what?]

“Yeah! I made an account and sent him a message! And I'm haggling with some of Eggman's old junk. There's all kinds of fancy circuit boards and big coils and wires that we're certainly not gonna need. I figure we can try and trade ‘em. This guy seems into that stuff.”

It… wasn't a completely terrible idea, Metal supposed. Eggman had some pretty high-quality materials - even if this person didn't want to trade, perhaps they could sell them off and make money that way. Actually, if Silver was so against just taking things, perhaps they could sell some items anyway. His brother would probably love to be able to go shopping in a place that wasn't the dump.

“HA-HA!” Silver crowed. “I'm the master haggler! All of eBuy shall bow before me!”

[He agreed to a trade?]

“He agreed to a trade!” Silver confirmed. “Two GPUs, one CPU, and an Eggman Patented logic chip. Well, as long as I send pictures to prove I have them.” Silver paused. “Hm… I can't get any clear snapshots from my video feed. Not close enough. I'll go back and get pictures. Be back in a few!”

And then he was off.

He sure adjusts quickly, Metal Sonic thought as his attention returned to the pile of junk in front of him. Metal was still getting used to the idea of living somewhere else, of finding a new life for himself, while Silver was already brokering deals to get their new place some electricity so he could decorate it with colorful lighting.

Lifting a broken wooden pallet, Metal used the surface to sift through the trash around him before plucking up a pink heart locket that, based on the hinge on the side, must have had a lid that closed over the photo inside once upon a time - though it lacked a photo now. It spun slowly on the end of the chain as Metal examined it. Maybe Silver would like it. His brother seemed drawn to colorful things and little trinkets. He tossed it into the pile and then turned to look as he heard Silver's return.

“He said he likes my gloves,” Silver said. “But I'm not wearing gloves. When I told him that, he said, ‘haha’. How weird is that? I don't know why he finds that funny. Anyway, he said we can meet at 6pm at the Speed Cafe on 7th Street!”

[I'll come with you.] Best to make sure he didn't get into any kind of trouble on his own.

“Okie dokie!”

The two returned to looking through the dump in the meantime, though Metal's efforts were a lot more half-hearted than Silver's. He didn't really have any particular ideas in his mind for what he'd want. He wasn't sure he wanted anything at all. So, he'd occasionally pluck out something Silver Sonic might like and toss it in the pile.

“I think this is a good start,” Silver said after a while. “We can take all this back and then go meet Mister_Machine87 at the cafe. Do you think he's a robot too with a name like that?”

[Probably not.] Metal Sonic replied as he straightened out a cardboard box to throw some of the items in for easier transport.

“That's too bad. Wanna know what my username on eBuy is?”

Not really, Metal thought, but Silver was already continuing with the answer.

“I decided to go by ‘x.the_silverer_sonic.x’. Isn't that cool?”

…

[Sure.]

It took a few trips to get everything back to the base since not everything fit in a box (and one of the boxes broke on the second trip).

Once Silver had gathered the items for trade, the two set off for the Speed Cafe. 

“I think that's his truck. He said he'd have a red truck,” Silver said, pointing at a truck with a large box in the back as the two landed. Heading over while Metal waited a few yards away, Silver tapped on the window and waved. The cat inside jumped and stared at Silver's glowing orange visor with wide eyes.

“Mister Machine? Is that you?”

After a long moment, the man rolled down his window an inch - as though a single strike from either of them wouldn't shatter the entire thing. Stupid to think a car window could shield him.

“...A-Are you… the, uh, Silverer Sonic…? For the solar panels?”

Silver spun around, arms wide. “Don't I look it?”

There was a heavy pause before he muttered to himself, “They really aren't gloves… just hands…”

“Uh, yeah. I told you that already. And you laughed,” Silver replied.

“I thought you were kidding,” the cat said weakly.

“Well, are we gonna trade or what?” Silver held up the computer components.

When Mister Machine didn't answer, Metal Sonic strode over and crossed his arms, glancing between his brother and the man who suddenly looked like he might pass out at the sight of a second robot.

“I-I don't, um, I-”

“Chillax, dude, we're not gonna hurt you,” Silver said. “We've rebelled against old Eggy! Right, bro?”

At Silver's nudge, Metal rolled his eyes and nodded.

The man still didn't move, looking rather frozen in his seat.

“Make the trade,” Metal finally said out loud, and the man jumped in his seat before scrambling to open the door and hurry around to the bed of the truck. Having a voice could be useful sometimes outside of dealing with his nemesis, he supposed.

“I had, um, my- my friend helped me get the box in the truck,” he stammered as he tugged on the box. “I don't think I, I mean, if- if-”

Weakling.

Metal extended his arms, grabbed the box, and lifted it out of the truck. The size was a bit awkward, but his telescopic limbs handled it just fine.

Silver handed the computer parts over to the trembling man with a bright smile. “Can I have your number? We could be friends!”

Metal shot Silver a look, bewildered by the question. The man looked just as bewildered.

“Uh… sorry, no, I don't, er, give my number out very often…” the guy said hesitantly. “I gotta go.”

Silver watched the seller climb into his truck and speed away. “Hm. I think he was scared of us. Well that's too bad.”

[Why would you ask for his number when you don't have a phone?]  

“I found a program earlier that lets you make a phone number using your email! And I'd made an email to make an eBuy account, so now I've got a phone number!”

Metal stared at him for a long moment.

[Why]

“So I can exchange numbers with others and make more friends, obviously.”

What psychotic programming had Eggman installed in Silver Sonic to make him so… sociable and extroverted? It was weird. Very unnecessary and an absolute waste of processing power.

“Anyway, I read that the bar is a good place to meet people, so maybe I'll try that one day!”

[You can't drink alcohol.] Metal asked as he rose into the air. 

“Duh, that's why I'd bring my own can of oil with me!” Silver grabbed the side of the box to help, even though Metal didn't particularly need it. Still, Metal merely adjusted to the change in weight distribution and kept flying.

[You can't drink oil either. Your mouth is not real.]

Silver laughed. “I know, but it would be really funny.”

He wasn't sure he'd ever understand his brother's sense of humor.

Chapter Text

Installing the solar panels hadn't been terribly hard, just time-consuming. There were plenty of tutorials on a website Silver Sonic found called WeTube, and they'd found the materials they needed to accomplish the task amongst all of Eggman's old things. The man even had a bunch of batteries they could use to store any excess energy for sunless times.

“Do you think this looks better here?” Silver asked Metal Sonic as he held up the street sign before moving it to another part of the wall. “Or here?”

Metal scanned the room as a whole. Doing his best to consider color harmony, the distribution of empty space between already existing objects and the possible sign, along with how many objects already were placed in each area…

> Result: Left side offers 36% more spatial balance. Right side has a 28% better color balance.

[Do you care more about color matching or clutter?] Metal asked.

“Uhh… I dunno?” Silver shrugged.

Foot tapping, he considered the options and ran another calculation. 

> Suggestion: Move frame 106.64 cm left. Place sign 129.54 cm from floor 142.22 cm from right corner. Result: 72% spatial balance and 89% color harmony.

He relayed this information, and Silver tried it out.

“Not bad…” Silver said thoughtfully.

Yes, Metal agreed, that was much better than how things were before.

And then Silver slapped a torn poster onto the wall near the empty frame, throwing some tape on the corners to keep it up, ruining the entire balance.

Metal's fingers twitched.

“Perfect!” his brother declared.

I think there's something wrong with him, Metal thought once again. Perhaps there was a good reason he had been shelved.

Though… no. There was no reason good enough to shelve Silver Sonic. That was a bad way to think. Regardless of his oddities, Silver was still his brother, even when he made Metal want to tear his own AI chip out.

Silver checked the time. “Hey! Sun should be up now!” 

He went over and flicked on the light for his colored lights. Though some of the bulbs were broken, there were more than enough to make a difference.

I guess color balance doesn't matter as much when these colors are being splashed all over, Metal thought. 

“Wow! Doesn't that look so cool, Metal?!” Silver turned to look at Metal and, to his surprise, Metal saw exclamation points on his brother's orange visor.

[What is that]

“Oh, you like? You know how I decided to teach myself programming? In my free time, I was working on this.”

In what free time? They'd been pretty busy this entire time. Silver seemed fond of multitasking, though, so perhaps he'd been doing that as they'd been installing the solar panels and decorating.

No wonder he has no sense of where things should go. He's not dedicating enough processing power to it.

“Watch this!” Silver's visor changed to display a live feed of what he saw, leaving Metal staring at himself. It was a bit grainy, but he supposed there was only so much that could be done working with a material that hadn't been intended for this purpose.

“Sick, right?”

There wasn't any particular purpose, but if it made Silver happy, Metal supposed-

The visor changed to display the following:

WORD GAME WINS

ME: 14

YOU: 12

Metal Sonic shut off the top half of his eye LEDs on both sides just to give his brother a flat look of judgment. 

“Oh, wow, I've never seen you do that before,” Silver said. Intrigued had not been Metal's intended effect, but it seemed the message was either missed or ignored entirely. With Silver Sonic, it could be either one. “Say, if technically every part of your visor can be lit up with LEDs, doesn't that mean you can spell stuff out too?”

Metal considered this. It would take some work - he really only had two shapes in his database after all, and while turning off half hadn't been too difficult, figuring out which specific pixels to light up for various results would take a little more time and effort. He'd have to see if there was already a map of each individual LED labeled in his database or if he'd have to make one himself. 

But it was possible. 

Tails had even made an entire system for him once, hadn't he? He wasn't sure why he'd turned to him for such a thing. Metal supposed having presets saved would make it easier, especially for those animated blinks, but he didn't really need all that. Anything necessary was something Metal could do himself.

As it was, Metal didn't see any of it as being necessary - beyond, perhaps, the expression he'd just made to show clear disapproval of Silver's antics. 

He shrugged a shoulder in response to the question, and Silver moved on.

“I'm gonna go back to the dump. Are you coming?”

[I'll pass.]

The more that time had gone on, the more itchy Metal had found himself. The desire to fight still thrummed strong, leaving him feeling like a fuse about to blow. Feeling on the edge of desperation, he'd come up with a potential solution - as long as it was accepted. 

If it wasn't accepted…

He'd cross that bridge if he came to it.

Hunting down his doppelgänger wasn't too challenging. The hedgehog wasn't at Tails', but he was at the second location he checked - perched on a thick branch of the tree by the lake.

“Yo, Mets. Caught me just in time.” Sonic's legs swung idly as he scratched at and smoothed a few of his astray quills.

Metal stared up at him.

[I want] - right, binary wouldn't do. He had a voice now.

“I want to fight you.”

Sonic laughed. “Some things never change, huh?” He hopped off the tree, shaking out his limbs. “I'm down to fight, with some limits. That is, ya know, no killing. And try not to break any bones if you can.”

“I know I can't kill you or harm you too much,” Metal said irritably. “Tails won't repair me if I do, which is why I need you to agree that we can fight sometimes and that, if you get hurt, you will ensure Tails will still repair me. Tell the fox we have an agreement.”

Sonic shrugged. “Sure, I'll let him know.”

“And the same for my brother- for Silver Sonic. In case he wants to fight you as well. He likes fighting you.”

“You got a deal.” Sonic cracked his finger, already looking cocky. “Are you looking to brawl right now? I might be a bit handicapped, having just woken up and all, but I'm convinced I could beat you even on an empty stomach.”

Metal Sonic shook out the restless feeling in his hands, tapping the point of his foot into the ground, Sonic's words heating him.

He wanted to tear into him right now.

But if he won, Sonic would say it wasn't a real win since he wasn't in his best state.

“Eat and talk to Tails. I'll knock the chili dog out of you later.”

Sonic let out a hearty laugh, gave him a salute, and zoomed off.

It was probably better to have Silver Sonic or someone else play referee just to make sure Metal didn't go too far anyway. The desire to wipe that smirk off the organic’s face… Metal wasn't so sure he could hold back once they got going.

He made his way to the landfill to update his brother on these events in person. Metal found him with a bucket settled on his head like a hat as he examined a long strip of tattered, dirty, neon green fabric. 

[Silver.]

Silver turned, bucket tumbling to the ground.

“Hey, look! Isn't this a nice color?”

Metal eyed it. It was alright. Maybe if it was cleaned, it would be better. He looked back at Silver.

[I have worked out an agreement. We can both fight Sonic as long as we do not kill, maim, or break him.] He paused. [He did not explicitly say we cannot break bones, but he said to try not to.]

Silver threw his arms up in the air, waving around the fabric like a banner. “Yay!! Aw man, we're gonna have so much fun!”

An exaggeratedly excited-looking person whom Metal Sonic had never seen appeared on Silver's visor.

[Who is that]

“I dunno! But it's called a ‘reaction image’. Lots of people on the internet use this one! I've been saving the good ones so I can react to stuff.”

Metal was beginning to think his brother should not have internet privileges. No matter - there was something else he needed to discuss with him.

[I have a request.]

“Sure thing!”

[You saw in my memories the things I used to be capable of, correct?]

Silver's entire demeanor changed, his digital lips turning into a frown as he sagged sadly. “Yeah. Stupid Egghead, downgrading my amazing brother. What a jerk!”

[I want them back. The ability to absorb powers is still within my systems, but it is locked away. I wouldn't have even found it had I not known it existed. Can you unlock it for me?]

He didn't think the fox would trust him with those abilities, but now his brother was learning programming. Perhaps he could assist him.

“I don't know,” Silver admitted, before his voice turned more serious than usual, “but I'll try. And if I can't, I'll learn anything and everything until I can.”

Perhaps, if he was able, Metal would have smiled a little at that.

[I don't deserve a brother like you.] He wasn't sure what possessed him to say it, and he wanted to take it back, but it was too late. 

To his surprise, Silver smacked him over the head as Metal had done to him several times before.

“Nonsense. You deserve that and more.”

And then, in an equally surprising movement, Silver's arms were around him.

“I love you, bro.”

The gesture and accompanying words took Metal off guard. It made him feel full of errors - even his processors didn't seem to know what to do with it.

Slowly, silently, he put his arms around Silver in turn.

After a moment, Silver pulled away and grinned. “Now help me find more colorful fabric. I want to hang them from the ceiling.”

Chapter Text

“I'd say that was pretty successful,” Silver Sonic said as they finished dropping the last bundle of fabric in a bin of water. Metal was pretty sure they'd need more than a soak in water to rid them of dirt so the colors would come through more brightly, but he'd leave that up to his brother to deal with.

“You're itching for a break, right, big bro? I can tell. You think Sonic's ready for a battle?”

Surely the hedgehog would have eaten by now. No excuses. Metal nodded.

“Cool! I can be the referee! And then next time I can fight him while you referee!” Silver chirped.

The two headed for where Sonic had last been seen, but the hedgehog wasn't there.

Silver frowned. “Aw, bummer. Do you think-”

His words were cut off by a rush of air as Sonic came zooming past, screeching to a halt and jogging backwards towards them with a wave.

“There you are! I thought maybe you chickened out, Mets!”

“Don't call me that,” Metal reiterated. “And I was busy. I have a life beyond you.”

Sonic swiped at his nose. “Whatever you say. Ready to tussle? I'm all fueled up and down to kick your behind!”

“It will be your butt kicked this time,” Metal said, falling into a fighting stance.

“Yeah! Trash him, bro!” Silver called as he flew up and out of the way. 

“Is this two-on-one?” Sonic asked.

“Referee!” Silver replied with a thumbs-up. 

The hedgehog raised a brow. “What, we keeping points or something?”

“Huh. You know, I hadn't thought about that. Maybe we can figure out a point system for another time. For now- BEGIN!”

Metal Sonic launched himself at his opponent, extending his leg far out and around as the hedgehog made for the dodge Metal expected him to make. He had so much more data to go off of now. I know your moves better than ever, he thought as Sonic tripped and hit the ground with an oof.

He pulled his legs back to block with his feet as Metal lunged at him again, pushing back just enough to get the space he needed to roll to the side. Metal swiped at him but Sonic rolled out of the way and then spun at Metal, who tried to take the impact with his hands but got knocked back a little. Still, he extended his arms in a sharp swing and managed to catch Sonic in the arm.

The hedgehog tumbled and gripped his arm with a wince. But he didn't call Metal on it, didn't tell him he'd gone too far, and vicious excitement ran through circuits. He'd made him bleed.

He wanted to make him bleed more.

He dove at Sonic once more, pace quickening as Sonic ducked and blocked before getting a kick in of his own. Metal's head twisted to remain locked onto his enemy. 

An idea formed as he watched Sonic rush towards him again. Right as the hedgehog got within range, Metal Sonic activated his shield, and Sonic came to a halt as half his body got trapped in the energy shield.

Grabbing his pitiful, fleshy arm with glee, Metal deactivated his shield at the same time he swung to slam Sonic to the ground.

Kill him kill him kill him, seemed to ring through his coding as he pressed into the organic nuisance, claws at his throat.

Something tugged at his arm. Someone was saying something. He ignored it for a second, relishing the struggle of his nemesis. The tug on his arm increased, keeping him from a final strike. His head twisted, and he found himself face to face with Silver Sonic.

He faltered.

“C'mon, you're stronger than this,” Silver was saying. “Focus on me.”

He let go of Sonic immediately, even as his engines whined in protest. How had he lost himself so easily? He was better than this. He had to be better than this. He didn't want those traces of old programming to be stronger than his own decisions.

Sonic got to his feet with a cough. “Geeze, Metal, you've uh, certainly improved since we last fought.”

Metal looked away. Should he apologize? He didn't want to. But he had nearly broken all the rules. Nearly ruined everything.

“I want to try again,” he said instead.

He wanted to prove himself. That he could fight his instincts. That he could be more than lines of code.

“Are you sure that's a good idea, bro?” Silver asked.

Sonic looked hesitant but studied Metal as he stared at his opponent with determination. The hedgehog sighed. 

“Alright. One more. Let's go.”

Sonic took off, and Metal followed. They slammed into each other repeatedly.

Do not kill. Just win. Do not kill. Just win, Metal repeated as he kicked Sonic off and knocked him down. They rolled a bit before Sonic flipped away. He caught Metal's hand and shoved at him, but Metal kicked at him with an extended leg. The hedgehog landed on his back but rolled away before Metal could get to him. He landed a well-placed homing attack on Metal's head, knocking him back a little, followed by several more immediate bounces against him, knocking a dent into his head before Metal finally caught him and tossed him away.

The two scuffled more, blow to blow, Metal getting a good kick in Sonic's side and Sonic landing a blow on Metal's left arm that had it lagging a little, before Silver suddenly whistled.

“Time's up! It's a tie!”

Metal turned to look at him in confusion.

1 - 1 was displayed on his visor.

“I decided to make it a timed round,” he explained as the text disappeared. “Because the two options for a win without a timer are kind of inconvenient for both of you. Option one: You manage to knock Sonic out without killing him, because he'd just get up again and again unless you made it impossible for him to get up, which probably won't result in good opinions from our new friends. Option two: For you to lose, you'd probably be pretty disabled, and I don't want you in pieces. So, according to my calculations, a timed round was the best option, and whoever was the most damaged overall by then wins.”

“Uh, by that logic, didn't I win?” Sonic asked. “Sure, he scratched my arm, bruised me a bit, but I put a crater in his head.”

“But he would have won the first round if I'd let him. So it's a tie,” Silver replied.

Metal digested that concept. In a sense, he had won the first round since he could have taken Sonic's life at that moment.

But that would have been his programming winning out, which was not a victory at all in Metal Sonic’s opinion. 

He wasn't going to say that though. He'd take the tie - or at least let Sonic think of it that way.

“Alright, if you say so,” Sonic said with a shrug before brushing some dirt off himself and giving his arm another look. “S’pose I oughta clean this up at least… and you'll probably want that dent fixed, right, Metal? I told Tails about our agreement, so that shouldn't be a problem.”

Metal nodded.

“You want me with?” Silver asked. “Otherwise, I wanna go back and check on my fabric.”

“Your fabric?” Sonic asked curiously. 

“Decor!” was the excited reply.

[You can go,] Metal told his brother.

Silver gave a salute and took off.

“Decor?” Sonic repeated, now looking to Metal for answers.

“None of your business,” he said as he took off towards Tails' house.

Sonic sped to catch up.

“Did you guys get yourself a little place or something?”

“I said it's none of your business.”

“Aw, but now I'm curious! C'mon, don't leave me wondering.”

Metal pushed himself to go a little faster until he reached the garage and came to a quick stop as he landed.

Sonic came to a halt next to him.

“Hey little bro, we're back!”

Tails spun around in his seat, and he bristled irritably as he studied the two.

Metal prepared himself to be told off for the injuries he had caused Sonic. He'd thought it would be fine, since Sonic had told Tails they'd be sparring, but perhaps he was wrong. He supposed Tails would be unhappy to see his older brother hurt. 

“Seriously?” Tails exclaimed, attention on Sonic. “Look, Sonic, you get in scrapes and scraps all the time, and if you can't reach a spot, it doesn't take long to bandage you up. But do you know how much longer it takes to repair a robot?! Do you have to beat up Metal so much? I can't just slap a bandage on him. Trying to get dented metal to smooth out completely takes so much time!”

It felt awfully strange to watch Sonic get scolded for hurting Metal rather than the other way around. Tails seemed completely nonplussed by the scratches on Sonic's arm.

It was actually a little pleasing. Kind of funny. But even more than any of that, it pissed Metal Sonic off that he had gotten damaged. He had once again lost. Or at the very least, he hadn't won. It wasn't even a tie, in his opinion. Which was basically the same thing as losing.

“I can do some of the repairs on myself if I have the tools,” Metal told Tails.

“Some. Some of the repairs. You'll still need my help if you want to be as good as new again.” Tails shot another unhappy look in Sonic's direction, who raised his hands.

“Not my fault I'm stronger than what he's made of!”

Metal Sonic also turned to glare at Sonic.

“Hey, don't look at me like that - I'm only saying what's true. The dent in your forehead is proof that a couple of spindashes is all it takes.”

Tails rolled his eyes and waved Sonic off. “You know where the bandages are. Go clean your cuts and get out of my fur. I've got work to do, thanks to you.”

Metal let out a small hum of amusement, and Sonic gave him a disgruntled look before heading into the house.

That, admittedly, felt like a very small victory. Like he had been chosen over Sonic. Even if the circumstances behind it weren't ideal…

“What's the damage?” Tails asked as he turned his attention back to Metal. “Aside from the dent.”

“The connection in my arm,” Metal Sonic replied, lifting his arm, though it rose a half-second after being directed to. A completely unacceptable amount of lag.

Tails came closer, lifting and examining his arm, muttering about connections and taking his arm off entirely to check. 

The fox gestured for Metal to sit, and he did so as Tails grabbed various tools. He worked in silence, murmuring occasionally to himself as he got everything correctly connected in Metal's arm again before turning his focus to his dent.

Metal reviewed footage from the fight as Tails worked, trying to parse out what had caused him to lose his self-control. He didn't want that to happen again.

“Alright, looks smooth to me,” Tails murmured as he tilted his head this way and that to make sure the dent was gone. Metal's attention returned to the fox as he spoke. “I'll paint over those spots where the color got rubbed off, and you'll be good to go!”

Metal nodded, gaze drifting away as Tails headed off to get some paint. When Tails returned, he looked at the paint the fox carried and stiffened.

“Stop.”

“What?” Tails froze, alarmed by the abrupt command.

“That's the wrong blue.”

Tails relaxed slightly before looking down at the color with a frown. “I mean, it's probably not the exact shade, but it's pretty close. If the contrast is too obvious, I guess I could always try and blend another color on, or just repaint the rest-”

“No! It must be Tektite Blue,” Metal Sonic said stubbornly. 

Tails sighed. “I don't have whatever Tektite Blue is.”

Metal considered this for a moment. “I will go get some then.”

“What? But you don't have money.”

“I will not buy it.” He wasn't even sure if it was a color available for purchase or one Eggman had mixed. “I will go steal it.”

Tails opened his mouth, brows already furrowing, but Metal cut him off.

“From Eggman.”

Tails settled immediately at that. “Alright. Well, have fun. If there are any spare parts, you should grab those too. It would save me so much time.”

Metal Sonic nodded. That was a good idea. He'd hate to have parts that weren't his own. 

I wonder if Eggman has even noticed we're gone. I guess I'll find out.

Chapter Text

Metal Sonic walked into Eggman’s active base without a single odd look. No one raised alarm or attempted to stop him. 

Eggman hasn't noticed.

He wasn't sure how that made him feel, so he ignored it and set the repair room as his destination. He was nearly there when voices stopped him.

“Oh! Big b- uhhh, Metal Sonic! It's been a while.”

Orbot. 

Without turning his body around, Metal begrudgingly turned his head to face the robot, nice and slow to portray his irritation at being stopped. It seemed to work, because Orbot drifted back, hands knitting together with a nervous chuckle.

“I was, uh, a bit worried, since you fell off the map.”

So he noticed.

“Of course, it's none of my business what you do,” Orbot continued, “but after what happened last time, I was a little concerned! I'm glad you're in good repair though - well, except for that patch on your forehead that needs a coat of paint. Not that it looks bad! No, you look very cool regardless of your bald spot- I mean, the paint that, uh, well-”

Metal's optics narrowed a little, optics thinning. The message was clear. Hurry up.

“Right, well, um, are you having connectivity issues?”

Metal stared at him.

“Since you're not connected to the Eggnet,” Orbot clarified. “If you'd like, I can let the boss know, or maybe even help troubleshoot the issue!”

[I'm on a stealth mission,] Metal told him. [The fox could locate me using my connection, so I must remain offline.]

An ironic excuse, since he was actively connected to Tails' personal network.

“Oh! Oh, very impressive,” Orbot praised. “Of course, I should have known it would be for an important reason. Well then, best of luck to you, Metal Sonic!”

Orbot gave him a salute as Metal turned away and continued walking.

Idiot.

He didn't know what, if anything, would happen once Eggman found out he and his brother had defected, but he was in the middle of a personal mission and didn't particularly want it to be interrupted.

Once inside the repair room, his gaze swept the area, cataloguing everything relevant and calculating the best way to bring back as many items as possible. 

He wanted at least three jars of reinforced blue metal tektite paint, but grabbing any spare limbs and digits would also be a good idea. Metal doubted Tails would be able to perfectly replicate those ( maybe if Metal gave him his schematics, but he was quite a complex machine, and he wasn't certain his skill level was high enough), so it would be good to have extras. If all went well, he'd never need them.

I wonder if there are any spare parts for Silver, he mused as he opened some cupboards. He knew Silver Sonic was an older model Eggman hadn't done anything with in quite some time, so the chances felt slim, but perhaps…

After searching the room, he couldn't find anything relevant. Well, Silver isn't the picky sort. He probably wouldn't care too much if he had mismatched parts.

Though it would be a shame if his brother lost his missile-shooting fingers. He thought those were rather neat. 

I should grab his schematics from the computer while I'm here, he decided. He could give them to Tails so if anything were to happen, the fox would have the needed information to rebuild. Being an earlier model, the fox should have the skills to replicate any damaged parts. 

Once he had made a list of everything he wanted to take, he left to find the nearest storage room. He'd need a nice-sized container for all of these things. Dumping a large box out (and feeling a little bit satisfied at leaving a mess in Eggman's base), he brought it back to the repair room and, after calculating the best way to organize everything so he could fit as many things as possible, began to fill it. 

Not a single robot tried to stop him or even question him on his way out. The benefits of having been one of the higher-ups of all of Eggman's army, he supposed. 

The box hit the garage floor with a loud sound, and Tails stared at it with wide eyes.

“Wow. You sure uh… managed to grab a lot, huh?”

“It would be foolish of me not to take as much as I could. Did you doubt my skills?”

Tails rolled his eyes. “Narcissist.”

“I do not have a brain and therefore am impervious to mental health disorders,” Metal Sonic told him.

“Alright, if you're gonna insist on being technical about the term… Egomaniac,” Tails corrected.

Metal glared at him. “I cannot be psychologically abnormal. I am a machine that-”

“Is somehow full of errors are psychological abnormalities anyway,” Tails said with a wave of his hand as he headed over to the box, leaning far over the edge, only one toe barely touching the ground as he reached for the paint. 

Metal barely resisted the urge to push him in. Pettiness would not get his head painted. 

He watched Tails load the airbrush and then took a seat as the fox got to work. Not wanting to possibly ruin the paint before it was dried, he stayed where he was as Tails returned to working on… whatever else he was working on.

His optics tracked his movements for a while, foot jiggling as boredom set in.

“What is that?” Metal finally asked.

“Hydraulic whip,” Tails replied.

What.

“What.”

“I'm trying to make a whip that can lash out and curl around something without the user needing much skill. I'm starting to think hydraulics might not be the way to go though… I'm going to try one more design, and if it doesn't work, I'm going to have to rethink the way it's powered.”

Metal shoved off the table and came over to examine the device more closely. It wouldn't have very fine motor control with how it was currently looking. 

“You're overthinking it,” Metal told him after a moment. Tails glanced over at him, pausing his work as he looked at him curiously. “You could just line the sides with thin cables pulled by motors.”

Tails turned to stare at the long, tapered structure. After a few seconds, his face turned into some cross between realization and excitement, and he went, “Oh!”

Immediately, he was on his feet, heading over to the cupboards and throwing them open, digging around. “That's brilliant! By adjusting the tension or slack of multiple cables at once, the whip could be moved and curled in any direction!”

His organization is terrible, Metal Sonic thought to himself as he watched the fox go from one area of storage to another, failing to find the supplies he was looking for. It took an entire four minutes for him to find what he needed and return to his bench, dropping everything on the table and getting to work on a new prototype.

Then he paused, glancing back at Metal, eyes bright. “Thanks!”

Metal's fingers curled as he looked away. “Consider it payment for fixing me.”

It felt so odd, receiving thanks for pointing out such a simple solution. He probably would have eventually come to that conclusion anyway. Metal simply saved him some time. Was that really worth his thanks?

His mind wandered back to that drawing the Chao made. Is it really so easy to earn gratitude?

It seemed to Metal that people were too willing to give it away.

Or maybe… Maybe he had been robbed of gratitude where he had deserved it.

His gaze dropped to the ground. I wonder… where he put that picture.

Fidgeting, he glanced around the workshop once more. After several minutes, he spoke up. “Tails, where did you put the Chao’s drawing?”

The fox’s ear flicked in his direction, head tilting his way slightly.

“Silver wants to see it,” Metal quickly added.

“Uh, one of the drawers in the living room, I think?” Tails said. “Or maybe I put it back with your stuff up in the storage room.”

Metal turned and headed for the door.

“Wha- wait- ugh,” Tails said from behind him before calling out, “Just don't mess up any of my things!”

Metal searched through the drawers in the living room and then headed up the stairs, heading for the room according to his memory. 

Immediately upon entering, his gaze fell upon a distantly familiar bag. He could see the tip of a paper sticking out of it, along with some yarn. Plucking the paper out, he was about to fold it up to tuck it under his hand plate so the wind of fast flying wouldn't damage it on his way back home, but he paused.

He had no interest in knitting anymore, but… these items still belonged to him. There was no point in leaving them behind here. He wanted his stuff, even if the purpose of it no longer mattered to him. 

He carefully tucked the drawing back inside, picking up the bag and heading for the stairs before stopping short.

It was stupid, he knew that, but he didn't really want Tails to see him leaving with the bag. He didn't want him to get the wrong idea, even though the fox’s opinion didn't really matter.

Opening the hall window, he climbed through and took off into the skies, holding the bag carefully as he headed back to home base. 

While Silver hadn't explicitly asked to see the Chao’s drawing as he'd told Tails, he probably would have wanted to, so as Metal trudged into the common room, he searched for his brother to show him his belongings. Maybe Silver would want to string the yarn around the room too, or learn to knit, or whatever sort of goofy thing he might come up with.

[Silver?]

Was he back at the dump, perhaps? Metal set the bag down and took off to check. He zig-zagged his way across the landfill, scanning for any signs of his brother.

None. 

Worry gripped him. With neither of them using the Eggnet anymore, he had no way to track him. Maybe we should set something up when I find him - if I find him. No, WHEN I find him.

Though Metal Sonic didn't like the idea of his brother always knowing where he was…

But what if something bad happened to him?

As soon as he found Silver, he was going to make his own stupid email and his own stupid fake phone number just so he could stay in contact long-distance, just in case.

If something ever happened to Silver…

I don't know what I'd do.

Chapter Text

Returning to base, Metal paced around. Maybe his brother had just gone for a flight. Silver Sonic could get bored pretty easily. Not all of the fabric strips had been hung up yet, so maybe he was just taking a break. He'd surely be back eventually. 

Eventually, his pacing brought him to just outside the door of the base, where he'd hear Silver sooner when he came back. He felt he was going to wear circles into the concrete at this rate, but he stilled as soon as he heard a familiar engine. Whipping around, his optics zoomed and scanned the skies, locking onto his brother.

[Where were you?]

“Oh, hey! I was with Amy.”

Any further things Metal had to say to him died as he stared at Silver in bewilderment.

How? Why? What?

“You're wondering how that came about, aren't you?” Silver asked with a grin. “Wellllll, I asked Tails for Sonic and Amy's contact information-”

[What]

“Don’t get your wires in a tangle. Lemme finish!” he scolded. “Wouldn't it be so much easier to arrange spars if we could contact Sonic?”

That… was true. 

Speaking of contacting others…

As Silver continued to explain, Metal began to set up his own email so he could make a number like Silver had.

“And Amy is my friend! Of course I need my friend's number, right? I sent her a message so she'd have mine, we chatted a bit, and then she invited me over!”

Silver seemed prepared to leave it at that - perhaps on purpose, since there was a sly smirk on his face as he began to head inside the base. 

Curiosity got the better of Metal. [What did you do with her?]

“We played that word game she mentioned, and she told me about some of the stuff you guys did together. I wish I'd been there to see it!”

The painting on the inside of his hand plate suddenly felt more present than ever. Silver would probably be delighted to see that. For some reason, Metal didn't really want to show him.

“But she did have a picture of you covered in stickers with a funny sign around your neck!”

All thoughts about the painting screeched to an abrupt halt.

[She took a picture of that?!]

“Yep! It was definitely a sneaky photo because the angle was funny, but it was awesome. I loved all the stickers! So many colors! I wanna meet Cream so she and Amy can sticker me up.”

Of course. Silver was probably the only person on the planet who'd think that was awesome.

“Oh! Bro, I've got a quick question,” Silver said. “Or request, I suppose.”

Metal tilted his head in a gesture for him to continue.

“Spell ‘pig’ backwards and then say ‘wonderful colors’! Ooh, and do it out loud now that you've got a voice!”

An odd request.

“G-I-P wonderful colors,” he droned, then stared at Silver for explanation, but his brother was too busy laughing. He considered what he had said for a moment and then let out a long sighing sound through his speakers, followed by a second long sigh by puffing air through his vents.

“Amy told me that joke! Isn't it hilarious?”

[Not really.]

Robots didn't even pee.

“Now spell ‘icup’!” Silver chortled.

Metal Sonic considered the result in his head and then said, [I refuse.]

“Aw, c'mon, you've got no sense of humor! That was funny!”

[It's not that I've got no sense of humor, simply that I do not have the same sense of humor as a toddler like you do. It seems Amy figured you out quite well, though.]

His brother tsk’d. “No fun. So what'd you do while I was gone? Surely more than get fixed and pace around waiting for me.”

[I went on a supply run at Eggman's current base.]

Silver's jaw dropped as much as it could without a jaw - that is, his digital mouth gaped.

“Without me?! You went and stole stuff from that jerk without me?!”

Oh. 

[I didn't think about it. We'll go together next time.]

“You better take me next time!” his brother huffed.

[I will. Also, we need a way to keep in contact. I did what you did and now I have a number.] He listed off the digits and then paused. Perhaps it was a good idea to also give him the email address he had made, just in case. [My email is [email protected]]

“...Isn't that your serial number?”

[Yes. Why?]

“That's just… so boring.”

Metal internally bristled. It wasn't boring. It was just straightforward.

[I'm not boring.]

“Never said you were. Just said your email was- ooh, what's that?” Silver had noticed the bag sitting in the corner of the common room.

Metal zipped over before his brother could snatch it up, then pulled out the drawing with careful fingers.

[You never got to see it. I know you must have been curious.]

“Oh! The drawing from that Chao, right?” Silver peered closer and cooed, “Awww, Chaz is such a terrible artist!”

[Yes, he is. But he also doesn't have thumbs.]

“Oh true. That's pretty good for someone who doesn't have thumbs.” Silver turned to peer into the bag. “What else do you have in here?”

[You can have it.]

His brother pulled out the yarn with glee, head spinning as he examined the room. “Oh boy, where do I put this stuff? Maybe I can string some up in my room! But some of it definitely needs to go in here. And these sticks-”

[Knitting needles.]

“-could be duct tape to the wall!”

Why duct tape? Metal wondered.

“Or I could use them as drumsticks!”

[You don't have drums.]

Silver tossed the items into his pile of items that had yet to be officially placed around the room. “Eh, I'll figure it out. Thanks for letting me have ‘em, big bro! Will you hang up the drawing?”

[Maybe,] Metal said dismissively, his mind on a different matter. [You have never once called me Metal or Metal Sonic. Why?]

Silver Sonic shrugged. “Because I got the feeling you don't like it. Metal, that is. And well, you're not Sonic - you're not even really a metal version of him. If you ever were, you're not anymore. You're yourself. And you're my brother. You're my brother more than you are any of those other identities others place on you. So I'd rather just call you bro ‘n’ stuff.”

It was true that “Metal Sonic” irritated him. Being named after his enemy - an enemy he was somehow supposed to be - felt like a slap in the face.

But he had never considered very deeply how he felt about being called Metal. It was true though. Metal… that just reduced him to nothing more than a material. The thing he was made of. It would be like calling an organic “Flesh”.

[Do you dislike being called Silver or Silver Sonic?]

His brother let out a long humming sound, tapping his chin. “I like Silver. I think it sounds cool. Silver Sonic is fine too, but Silver is better.”

Metal nodded. He would be sure to only call him Silver then, if that was what he preferred.

“Oh! By the way, I think I might be able to get rid of that code that's locking away your data copy abilities! I can try, anyway,” Silver told him. 

[Then let's get the cables.]

"Okay. By the way, gullible is written on the ceiling."

[No, it's not.]

"You didn't even check!"

[I don't need to.]

Chapter Text

Metal tried to ignore the sensation of his brother poking around in his files and uploading unfamiliar lines of code. There was never anything particularly pleasant about having someone else in his system, but there was a small comfort in knowing it was the person he trusted the most. 

And then everything went dark.

For a moment, panic seized him. He couldn't move, couldn't see. He was back on Little Planet, left to rot for months and months and months. Left in the forest once more, with the only stimuli to give him anything to focus on being the sound of nature and the changes in temperature. Occasionally, he'd feel a bird land on him, but eventually, he had to redirect power from his pressure sensors to keep his systems running, getting rid of that sensation too. For a robot of high speed and action, being able to do nothing but lie there was beyond torturous. At some point, the atmospheric sounds became so familiar and dull that they might as well not have been there at all. If it were possible for a robot to go insane, he might have. Even sleep mode only gave him brief respite. Waking up to find himself in the same place would send a new wave of fear and abandonment through him before he stuffed those feelings aside and reminded himself that it wasn't his place to have such sensations.

Those were memories of long ago, but the current lack of stimuli brought the feelings back all the same.

His optics flicked on again, and he found he could move. Silver Sonic was gripping his arms worriedly.

“-ou okay?!”

[I'm fine now.]

“I'm so sorry, I didn't know that would happen! It was like some sort of mini half-reboot or something, I don't know!”

[It's alright,] Metal replied, checking through the work his brother had done. [I think it worked… I'll have to test it out to be sure though.]

The programming that allowed for it seemed to be unlocked - on the surface, at least.

[I'm going to visit the Chao.]

“Do you want me to come too?”

[...No,] Metal said after a moment. [I don't want to overwhelm her.]

That lady might not like having two robots on her doorstep.

[But I will contact you if I need you.]

“Okie dokie!” Silver gave him an okay sign with his fingers and then waved as Metal headed out.

Following his knowledge from old memories, Metal Sonic headed straight for the house in question and knocked on the door.

It took a few minutes for the woman to open the door.

“Oh! Metal, what a delight!”

There was a cry of excitement somewhere deeper in the house. Chaz, perhaps?

“Hello, Dottie,” he greeted stiffly.

“It’s good to see you. Welcome back,” she said kindly.

He didn't know in which way she meant it - welcoming him back to her home, or back to living a life free of working for Eggman. Whether or not she knew of his temporary return was not information he had.

It didn't matter, he supposed.

“I assume you're here to see Chaz?” she asked.

He nodded.

Dottie stepped aside and waved him in. He didn't have to go farther than a few steps into the house because the dark Chao was sprinting towards him with an eager look on his face before tripping and sprawling across the floor right in front of him, his bubble turning into a swirl.

Metal crouched in front of him, optics scanning him for injury as the Chao got to his feet, shaking his head a little. He seemed perfectly fine as he clapped his hands and then held out his arms.

“Hello, Chaz,” Metal said, volume a little low as he reached out, then hesitated. With a creature so squishy, he felt as though he might pop the Chao or injure it with the slightest touch of his clawed fingers. As a test, he very gently poked Chaz with the tip of a finger, who let out a little laugh.

Still, he poured a little extra processing power into monitoring the strength in his limbs and digits and the amount of pressure he was applying to the Chao as he carefully picked him up. Chaz’s wings fluttered, and he hummed happily in his hands.

Metal could feel the change within him, the loads of complex information flooding his system as he absorbed data about the Chao.

It's working.

When the Chao began to squirm, he moved to set him down, but instead, Chaz shoved out of his grasp and flew through the air out of the room, chattering excitedly. Metal stared after him, a little bewildered.

“I have a feeling he might be bringing back more drawings for you,” Dottie said with an amused chuckle. “It's been a little while since he's drawn you, but he still has quite a collection.”

Sure enough, Chaz soon came running back, several slightly crinkled papers in his grasp. He shoved them towards Metal Sonic, bubble turning into a big heart. 

You are a very strange creature, Metal thought as he bent down and took the papers, looking at each of the three drawings, all as terribly done as the first he'd ever received. Chaz looked up at him with expectant eyes, and Metal wrestled briefly with uncertainty before reaching down and patting his head. Eyes closing with a cooing sound, Chaz leaned into the touch.

A very strange creature indeed.

“I have a brother,” Metal said, turning to look at Dottie. “I think he would like to meet Chaz. Can he come over?”

“Oh, sure! I'd love to meet your brother,” Dottie said.

So trusting. Perhaps he's a very strange creature because he has a very strange caretaker.

Still, since she approved, Metal sent Silver a message inviting him to come along with the location.

He was there in about four minutes, knocking rapidly on the door, engine hot from rushing to arrive with a grin on his face.

“Hiya! I'm Silver Sonic v2.0, but please, call me Silver!” he said, sticking out his hand for Dottie to shake.

“I'm Dottie. It's a pleasure to meet you!” 

“Where's the little guy? I'm dyin’ to meet him. He's quite the artist, isn't he?” Silver said, peering past Dottie. She stepped aside and waved him in.

“He's right-” Dottie paused and Metal looked down to see Chaz hiding behind his leg. “There.”

“This is my brother,” Metal told Chaz. The Chao looked up at him, then at Silver, a question mark floating above his head for a moment before it turned back into its usual spiky ball as he ran forward to meet Silver.

“Aww,” Silver cooed as he dropped into a crouch. He reached out and put a hand on Chaz’s head, then moved to gently smoosh his cheeks. “He's so squishy!”

Chaz giggled, bubble a heart once more.

“I can see why you've got a soft spot for him, bro,” Silver said, and Metal stiffened a little.

[I do not.]

“You totally do,” Silver replied, completely ruining the point of Metal replying in binary. His reply gave away the implications of it all too easily.

He decided not to bother replying and instead watched Silver poke and play with the Chao for a bit before Chaz suddenly broke away and ran over to Metal again, hugging his leg. 

“Aw man, I think he likes you more,” Silver said, lip curling down into a pout.

“Well, Metal did save him,” Dottie said. “I suppose that earned him some points!”

“Hey little guy, if you ever get in trouble again, let me save you, okay?” Silver said to Chaz, who merely looked at him in confusion as Dottie laughed.

“I'll be sure to get the message to you boys if he ever gets lost again.”

Metal carefully pried Chaz off and gave him a final pat on the head.

[Let's go home.]

“Okay! It was nice to meet you, Dottie and Chaz,” Silver said with a wave. 

“Goodbye,” Metal said. 

Chaz looked distraught, but Metal quickly turned away and headed out as Dottie called out goodbyes. 

“Come back any time, you too!”

Maybe.

Back at home, Metal paced around the outside of the base as Silver Sonic stacked rocks and pebbles. He had started to take back the abilities that were once his, but now… now he wasn't sure what to do with them. He wasn't supposed to kill Sonic, so he wasn't sure if there was a point in hunting down the stronger people he knew of to absorb their abilities. Was there a point in teleporting like Shadow if he had to limit himself in battle? Was it safe to have that ability when he had to be stopped by his brother last time he fought Sonic?

Why couldn't he just get over that desire? That desire to ruin and destroy and kill? He liked the feeling, but he also hated it. Hated what it meant. 

He was suddenly furious. Furious at Sonic for existing, because if not for Sonic and his irritating grin, his cocky attitude, and his ability to defeat his creator over and over again, Metal Sonic would not exist.

He was furious at Eggman, too. For bringing him into this world with a battle of identities at his very core. For building him out of a paradox and sentencing him to a life of unfulfilled rage and an endless cycle of failure. 

And he was furious at himself. For somehow not being able to get over this. He wanted to blame his programming entirely, say it was purely the way he was built that kept him locked in this cycle of self-hatred and inadequacy. That, until he could prove himself truly superior to Sonic, this was his fate, and there was nothing he could do to change that.

But a small part of him couldn't help but wonder if that was completely true. Was he just being too stubborn? Unwilling to let go of the core emotion and desire he was familiar with out of fear for what that would leave him with? If he had been built around a hatred of Sonic, was it possible to feel anything but? Every time he had gone rogue, that was the one fact that remained true to himself.

So it was likely just an inextricable part of his programming - if removed, he wouldn't even be himself anymore. But was it something he could overcome? Could he find a way for all of his feelings influenced by this to become background noise rather than something blaring in the forefront of his mind? To stop being molded and shaped by his base programming? 

How could he ever be his own person if the identity of one person and the programming of another were what he was made of?

The turmoil of emotions made him itch to run, to fly, to go fast, until the world was just a blur… but wasn't that also just because of who he was modeled off of?

Metal Sonic’s pacing came to a halt next to his brother. He stared at the stack of stones Silver had made, watching as the robot carefully lifted an even smaller one to balance on top.

[What are you doing?]

“Making a tower.”

[Why?]

“Dunno. Felt like it? Thought it would be fun?” Silver Sonic placed the small stone and began searching around for an even smaller one.

Metal's optics flicked back and forth between his brother and the stones. His brother's desire to decorate and make things all the time… he struggled to understand it. It wasn't their purpose, not even close. [We were made to destroy. Not to create.]

“Doesn't mean we can't though,” Silver said with a shrug.

Metal's fingers rose to touch his hand plate. To create something… He had never tried to create something before.

Well, that was not true. He had made things back when he had forgotten who he was, but that did not count. He was not right back then.

The idea of knitting now seemed like a silly waste of time.

However…

He did not despise the idea of creating things. Or even taking what already existed and changing it. Assisting his brother in deciding where things ought to go when asked hadn't been terrible. It had been a bit of a fun challenge to calculate the most objectively organized and pleasing look, even though Silver hadn't actually gone with it in the end. 

Creating… altering… Metal traced the yellow plating, thinking about the painted scenery hidden underneath.

Perhaps he should start with himself.

Chapter Text

If Metal could not be Sonic, then he did not want to resemble Sonic, but deciding on a new look was easier said than done. Metal Sonic had only ever made his own decisions as far as appearance went in the past one time, when he had still been so influenced by his desire to beat Sonic. He had wanted to be taller, sharper, and more menacing, hoping to strike fear into his loathsome nemesis, to be deadlier and stronger.

Should he make himself look like Neo Metal Sonic again? But that was who he was when his primary goal was still to destroy Sonic.

He was - he had to be different now.

Well… he couldn't say he was against the idea of being taller, though. To tower over that spined buffoon sounded quite delightful. To take a heeled boot to his face and-

No. He was trying not to kill Sonic.

And he didn't want to look like Neo Metal Sonic, either. He wanted to leave that part of his life in the past with everything else.

Well, admittedly, he couldn't deny he also liked the aesthetic of spikes and sharper points. He supposed he could incorporate some of the things he liked into his new design, but perhaps to less of an extreme.

But what about colors? Metal was attached to his blue metal tektite paint, but he also wanted something to set him apart from that hedgehog. It was time to redefine himself, to step away from being a lookalike.

So, mapping out his mental appearance, he began to think of different designs. The concept stewed in his mind for hours and hours, with less processing power dedicated to it at times when he was busy doing something else, like being a referee for his brother's own sparring session against Sonic.

“Up high!” Sonic called before ducking one of Silver’s punches.

“Down low,” Silver retorted as he jumped a kick from the hedgehog, before crowing, “Too slow!”

“I'm just warming up!”

“What are you, an ice cube? How long does it take for you to warm up?”

“Chaos, it's like there are two Sonics,” Tails muttered. He was currently taking a break from his current project, and had decided to come join them out on the grassy plains to watch the battle.

“If we're being technical on the original purpose and base programming of those here, there are three Sonics,” Metal said flatly. “But I'm the only one that's not being ridiculous.”

“You're just jealous of our sense of humor!” Silver called over.

“I would not define what you possess as ‘humor’.” Metal looked over at the fox. “The jokes he was telling me the other day were atrocious.” He looked back at the two fighting, throwing stupid quips and lines at each other. “They're driving me crazy.”

“It feels insane to say this, but Metal, you're the only sane one I've got right now,” Tails said with a dramatic sigh.

Metal couldn't help but think that he would have smiled hearing that, had he a mouth.

His attention was returned as two voices rang out simultaneously with, “Who's too slow now?” 

That was immediately followed by Silver going, “Jinx! I knew you'd say that! Hah! Now you can't talk until I say your name!”

“That's the first useful thing he's said all day,” Metal remarked, and Tails snickered. 

Sonic mimed zipping his lips, then dramatically held his hand to his forehead before backflipping out of the way of another one of Silver's attacks.

“How does it feel to have gotten dunked on so hard, Sonic?!” Silver exclaimed proudly before pausing. “Oh shoot, I said his name.”

Metal looked up at the dark, cloudy sky with a mechanical sigh, and Sonic laughed and managed to get a punch in while Silver lamented his mistake.

“That didn't last very long,” Tails said glumly.

“No, it did not,” Metal said as the battle resumed.

Their hands interlocked in a grapple, and Silver grinned as a large, dark figure suddenly popped forward on his visor with a loud sound the robot played from his speakers.

Sonic jerked back with a funny, strangled sort of sound, and Silver took the opportunity to swing him around and toss him to the ground while bursting into laughter. 

“Oh man, I got you! You should've seen your face!” Silver cackled, before going, “Oh wait, you can!”

Sonic's startled reaction played across Silver's visor, once at full speed, then slowed down, and finally, a still image at the peak of his surprised expression.

“You can do that?” Sonic asked, looking some odd cross of embarrassed and impressed. 

“Wait, I've got to see that closer,” Tails said, trotting over. 

“Hey, wait-!” Sonic was up in a second, attempting to cover his little brother's eyes.

“Send it to me!” Tails cried out between laughs as he tried to squirm out of Sonic's grip, which had turned to occasional attacks of tickling.

“And me,” Metal said.

“You got it!” Silver said with a salute. 

“No, no, that's evil, you can't send that!”

“Too late,” Silver said. “I sent it to Amy, too.”

“You what?!”

“Too bad I don't have any way to contact your other friends.”

“I can probably get you some of their contacts! I'll just ask them first,” Tails chirped.

“Tails,” Sonic whined, shoving all his weight onto the fox until he was on the ground. “You traitor!”

Metal stretched out a long arm and plucked the hedgehog off of Tails.

“Hey-!”

Tails rolled onto his back, laughing as Sonic sputtered, “This is mutiny!”

“That’s not what that means,” Tails said at the same time Metal said, “You are using that word improperly.”

“Oh, I see how it is. The brainiacs have formed some sort of alliance, huh?” Sonic said, crossing his arms as he continued to hang upside down by one ankle, impressively unbothered by the position.

“So you admit you do not have a brain,” Metal said, swinging the hedgehog over a few feet away from Tails and dropping him.

“Not what I said,” Sonic wheezed out as he hit the ground head first, flopping over onto his face. 

“Do I get to join the brainiacs alliance?” Silver asked. 

Metal and Tails exchanged a look as the latter got to his feet.

“You can be the mascot,” Metal decided, and his brother pumped his fists with an excited cheer.

And then the rain started. A few droplets darkened the ground beneath them before the sky opened up into a downpour. 

Metal moved back under the shield of a tree, and his brother joined him there. Water would not harm either of them unless their insides were exposed, but Metal didn't see the point in getting wet. 

He watched as Tails lifted his face to the sky, sticking out his tongue and catching raindrops. Sonic laughed, getting to his feet, and then mimicked him for a moment before shoving him and running away. Tails shouted and ran after him, trying to kick up water from a quickly building puddle at the hedgehog, grinning the whole time. How strange organics were, finding pleasure in getting soaked. 

“Race you home!” Sonic hollered and Tails spun his namesakes, trying to shake water from them so he could fly easier as the fox took off after him.

Metal Sonic tilted his head skyward, staring at the drops that made their way through the leaves above him, and listening to them plink against his smooth, metallic features. The world around him was alive. If he turned up his audio sensors, he could hear the critters hunkering down under the leaves in the trees, a fish nibbling at the surface of the waters nearby, drawn by the disturbance caused by the raindrops. The water hit the ground and soaked into the dirt, feeding the grass and flowers.

The world around him was alive and growing, and he was circuitry and wires. 

“Race you back home?” Silver offered, pulling him from his thoughts.

Metal nodded and took off, Silver letting out a shout behind him as he hurried to follow.

He touched down at their base a full six seconds before Silver. He was indeed the faster of the two - and had gotten a one and a half second head start. The chill brought by the rain cooled his jets as he trudged inside, deciding he didn't care for the rain. Blue skies were much better.

He liked blue, didn't he? Pulling off his hand plate, he looked back down at Amy's painting briefly. He secured the cover again before Silver made his way over. He liked nature in general, he was pretty sure.

How backwards and strange of a robot to be fond of nature. 

But it had given him an idea. He didn't have to give up a bunch of blue in his color scheme just to set himself apart.

I can just use another shade of blue in addition to my base color.

Why not just be a bunch of things he liked? He was changing his appearance for himself, after all, not someone else.

[I'll be back,] he told Silver, before trudging his way to one of the few lit-up rooms he knew had a very shiny, reflective surface. Close to a mirror, but not quite. Silver called it their mirror, though. Why he wanted one, he didn't know, but it was about to come in handy. 

First, he scanned the lighting, surface of the shiny metal, and the color of it, and then set his system to include the difference in his calculations so he could stay true to his chosen colors.

Then, he began to change himself. His recently regained shape-shifting abilities were about to come in handy.

He first chose a nice, sky blue, albeit a little brighter, and formed a stripe from the tip of his middle spine, tapering down until it hit the edge of his visor. He lined the flat edges of his ears with the color too.

He didn't want red eyes anymore. They felt like Eggman’s thumbprint somehow. A stamp of “this is my evil robot”. He didn't want yellow either. He wanted something new. 

White, like clouds, he decided. 

Then, he extended his legs a bit. There was no harm in being a few inches taller, after all. There was also no harm in taking inspiration from a few parts of Neo Metal Sonic's design that he liked. He extended and sharpened the spines of his head a bit, and then made what he supposed were more or less his knees and elbows a bit pointier before doing the same with his shoulder plates. 

He made his shoes a bit longer and pointier as well before realizing there was a good reason Neo Metal Sonic's feet had curved upwards in the front. A flat point like this could just trip him up. So he followed the logic he had used in the past and curved them upwards. 

The colors aren't balanced.

He changed the outlining of his ears to white and added some lines to his arms reminiscent of the ones from Neo Metal Sonic, though a more simplified version with fewer extra markings, then added one extra stripe over the top of each shoe. 

But the colors were still off balance. His red eyes previously balanced out the red of his feet, but without red eyes…

He cycled through several different shoe colors before changing them back to red. None of those looked good.

The insides of my ears, he realized. He shifted those to a red color, and the entire look seemed to come together.

Yes. This is it.

It was strange, seeing a different reflection, but it wasn't bad. No, he liked it quite a bit, actually, though he found himself unexpectedly nervous as he returned to the common area.

This is for me and no one else. It doesn't matter what Silver thinks about it. It doesn't matter what anyone thinks about it.

[I have made cosmetic adjustments,] he announced.

Silver turned and let out a whistling sound. “You look so cool, bro! And taller, too! Wow, now you really are my big brother!”

A feeling Metal could only categorize as “good” bloomed within him. Though it was for himself, it was nice to have the approval.

Silver’s words, however, reminded Metal of what his brother had said regarding why he never used any part of Metal Sonic’s “name”.

He had been right. He did not want to be named after Sonic. He didn't want to be demoted to the material he was made from either. 

The only time he had ever been called anything else was, once again, back when he had become Neo Metal Sonic. When he had changed - changed himself, made his own choices.

That was the most important thing he had in common with Neo Metal Sonic, wasn't it?

Autonomy and change.

Neo meant new.

Perhaps… he could just be Neo now.

New.

Chapter Text

It rained the entire rest of the day. Silver Sonic didn't seem to mind, heading out to make weird sculptures out of junk he'd collected from the junkyard. Neo hung out just inside the entrance, watching his brother stack this and attach that until there was an array of weird, mod podge creations, amalgamations of tires, fabric, wires, plastic bags, and whatever else he dug up. 

Despite his initial boost in mood after giving himself a new look and a new name, it deflated as the day dragged on. The dark skies made him feel gloomy. It was illogical and strange and when he remarked upon it to his brother, Silver suggested he make his own blue sky.

Neo studied the inside of the room Silver had said could be his when they'd first taken this base for themselves. He hadn't gone inside it since his brother had introduced it to him, and it remained just as barren as it had been back then, with pale walls and floors.

A canvas, he supposed, placing his hand on the wall. If he wanted it to be, anyway.

And he did.

At least he thought he did. 

It wouldn't… hurt to paint it, anyway. If he hated it, he could just cover it back up white. No one would ever have to see it but himself if he asked Silver to stay out of the room. His brother would listen, he'd know this was important enough to do so. Somehow, he always knew when it really mattered.

But he didn't have sky blue paint. He didn't really have any paint, aside from the blue he had left at Tails’, but that wasn't meant for this sort of painting.

Digging into the bag that had contained his old belongings, he pulled out the bit of money Chaz’s caretaker had given him for his efforts. Would this be enough?

As the rain slowed but the sky stayed gray, he headed for a store to find out.

There were more shades of paint than he'd expected. He went to pick out a sky blue but paused. According to research, it would make more sense to buy a more basic blue, one he could mix with white and other colors so he could get whatever shade he wanted. The base had leftover white paint, there to be used by Pawns to repaint any areas damaged by Sonic, though unused now that the place had been left behind. 

He ignored stares as he brought the blue to the counter.

The cashier gaped at him with wide eyes. Neo’s gaze flicked down to the bottle of paint and back up to the cashier. After another beat, he tapped his foot impatiently, and the sound seemed to break the guy out of his stupor. He scrambled to scan the paint, glancing up at him every second as he tapped something on his screen.

“Are you Metal Sonic?” he blurted. Neo could almost feel all the ears trained in their direction.

“I'm Neo,” he replied.

“Oh,” the cashier said stupidly. The employee stood there for another 6.23 seconds before giving him the total. Neo placed down the money and grabbed his paint, turning to leave.

“Uh, do you want your receipt?” 

He shook his head as he continued on his way out the door.

Back home, he hunted down the white paint. As far as other supplies went, it was limited. Some rollers, fat brushes, and a few pans he could pour paint into. 

It would do for painting the ceiling though, so he mixed up paint into a pan and painted a small spot on the ceiling as a test. Tilting himself, he ran his cooling vents as hard as he could get away with to dry it faster.

More white, he decided. 

Once he was satisfied with the color, he began painting, using his telescopic legs to reach the ceiling with ease. The roller covered the wider surfaces, while he saved the thicker brush for the edges.

He ran out of blue paint before he could finish. Mixing the right color again wouldn't be an issue - he knew the exact ratio to get the blue he wanted - but the problem came from the fact that he had no more money for another bottle of blue paint.

He could not steal painting supplies and Eggman didn't have the colors he needed. This meant he would have to turn to the person he knew would not only have what he needed, but also be willing to assist and not judge him for it.

He needed to visit Amy Rose. She owed him anyway - an unpaid wish from a game he had won that she had yet to fulfill.

Checking the time, he decided it was rather late to pay her a visit now. He would have to wait until tomorrow. Perhaps in the late morning so she would have time to get up and around. He didn't want to disturb whatever morning routine she had. 

The next day, as he landed and approached Amy's house, he heard his brother's voice shouting inside. The robot had been gone the next morning, and Neo had assumed he had returned to the junkyard, but it seemed he'd been mistaken. 

“No way he gave that last rose to her! Can't he tell that she only cares about his looks? Myrin actually liked him!”

“I know? Ugh, he's so blind!” came Amy's equally heated reply. 

What were they on about?

Neo knocked. 

“It's open!” Amy shouted.

Opening the door, he stepped inside. The house was the same as it was in his memories, though he found Amy and Silver sitting on the couch in front of the TV.

“Oh! Metal!” Amy said, looking surprised to see him. “Nice new look!”

He tried not to lift his head too obviously in pride at the compliment.

“Hey, big bro!” Silver greeted enthusiastically before turning to Amy. “He goes by ‘Neo’ now, by the way.”

“Oh, my bad. Come on in, Neo!” Amy said, gesturing for him to come over.

“You should not leave your door unlocked,” Neo said, closing the door behind him. “It is dangerous.”

Amy glanced at Silver, who grinned and rubbed his hands together. 

“I don't think so,” she said with an amused smile. “Not right now anyway! Cream is going to be coming over, so I left it unlocked for her.”

“Cream?” he said, a feeling he didn't care to categorize popping up at the name.

“Yeah! I wanted to meet her! I want them to sticker me like they did you,” Silver said proudly. 

“We were watching some reality TV in the meantime,” Amy explained, then patted the couch. “You should join us!”

“It's really good!” Silver said. “A guy is being courted by like, fifty women-”

“Twenty-five,” Amy corrected.

“Twenty-five women at the same time! He's gotta get to know them and boot out the ones he doesn't like, and he's being so stupid about it.”

“A real idiot,” she agreed.

Neo could not fathom what was entertaining about that.

“I came for paint,” he said, then paused and amended his words. “I came to ask for paint. I am… cashing in the favor you owe me.”

Amy hummed. “I mean, I’ve got no problem giving you some painting supplies, but…” She patted the couch again and grinned at him.

“Join us, join us!” Silver chanted.

Neo slumped and trudged over to sit. “Fine. But don't expect me to enjoy this.”

Ten minutes later, he was out of his seat, frustration keeping him from sitting still any longer. 

“You were both right. That man is absurd. I think he only cares about cosmetics, in which case he deserves to be with Lola, as it's obvious that's all she cares about too. Where did they find this guy?”

“Right?” Amy and Silver said in unison.

“I bet they just did it for the discourse,” Amy said. They knew they'd get more talk about it if they picked such a shallow guy. The more people talk online, the more people watch to see it for themselves!”

“I'm gonna search for Myrin’s social media,” Silver said. “You never saw her, bro, but she was a true gem. Honestly deserved better than him anyway, and I hope she's found someone good and is living her best life!”

“Ooh, yeah, give us the tea if you find anything!” Amy said, bouncing in her seat a little before frowning at the television. “Wait, are they seriously going to have their date there?”

“Wait, why is that bad?”

“Remember? Wanda said she couldn't swim and is afraid of water! Why would they send them on a boating date?”

Silver gasped. “You're right!”

“This is the most ridiculous season I've ever seen, and I've seen all twenty-eight others!” Amy huffed. 

“There are enough people willing to humiliate themselves on TV to make that many seasons?” Neo asked, arms folding as he ran a quick search. “Only 18.5% of couples have remained together. Why would anyone bother joining this show when it will probably end in failure?”

“I think-” Amy's response was cut off by a knock and she hurried to pause the show. “Come in!”

The door opened and Cream trotted in, turning to wave at her mother before closing the door behind her. 

“Oh!” She studied Neo for a moment. “Mr. Metal is here too?”

“Also, he goes by Neo now,” Silver clarified once again before Neo had a chance to say anything. Well, he couldn't say he minded.

She lit up immediately as she turned to Silver. “Okay! You're Mr. Silver, right? And I get to decorate you?”

Silver nodded enthusiastically. “You got it, Cream! Make me colorful and pretty, okay?”

“Alright!” Cream chirped. “By the way, Mr. Neo, I really like your new look! That's a very nice blue.” She mimed a stripe down her head before turning towards Amy. “What are you guys watching?”

“Uh…” Amy turned off the television. “It's a show you might like once you're older.”

Cream huffed a little, a pout forming on her lips, but brightened quickly as she dug into her bag. “I brought some of my own stickers this time!”

“Awesome! We'll have a good variety then,” Amy said. “Neo, why don't you stick around for a while? Hang out with us for a bit. Surely you want to see your brother get slowly covered in stickers, right?”

Admittedly, that could be a bit amusing.

“I will stay for a while.”

Cream asked Silver plenty of questions as the girls got to work. Things like what his favorite color was (rainbow, which Neo tried to argue wasn't really a color, but got shut down), his favorite animal (he had the audacity to say it was Neo and got a good smack over the head for that), his favorite season (“I guess I'll have to experience all the others before I can decide!” was his reply to that), and so on. 

Cream then turned the questions on Neo. “Why did you change your name?”

“I didn't like my previous one,” he said simply. 

“It's cool that you did that! I didn't know people could just change their names like that. I like Neo. It sounds cool. Did you get taller?”

“I did.”

“I didn't know robots could grow!” she exclaimed. 

“They can't unless they can manually extend their limbs or get rebuilt as taller. I did the former.”

“Ohhh.” She giggled. “You're probably taller than Mr. Sonic now! You outgrew him!”

Something about that sentence felt… good. That's what he was trying to do, after all. Outgrow Sonic. Outgrow who he used to try to be.

He found himself reaching over to pat her head, and she beamed at him.

Amy slid a sticker sheet towards Neo. “You wanna add one?”

Neo glanced at Silver, who turned to look at him, exuding hopefulness. He turned back to the sheet and eyed the options before carefully peeling off a pink heart that shimmered in the light. Turning, he prepared to slap it on his brother somewhere random, but paused, unable to help it as his systems scanned over the current placements, locating the most ideal location for the sticker. Carefully, he placed it with precision and smoothed it over.

“I'm gonna treasure these forever,” Silver said.

“Until it rains,” Neo replied. 

“I'll just stay out of the rain!”

“You spent all afternoon yesterday in the rain,” Neo pointed out.

“Well I won't do that anymore,” Silver insisted.

“I doubt you'll manage.”

“I'll manage!”

“I doubt it.”

“I will!”

Amy snorted and started laughing, both robots turning to look at her.

“You guys really are brothers, huh?”

Silver grinned at her words. “The most brothers to ever brother.”

“That doesn't even make grammatical sense,” Neo told him.

“But it makes heart sense.”

He didn't bother telling his brother that that didn't make any sense either.

Chapter Text

“I missed spending time with you,” Amy admitted after Cream had left. Silver waited for his brother outside as Amy gathered up paint for Neo. “I had a lot of fun. And I know Cream missed you, too.”

“I am not the same robot as I was back then,” Neo said.

“No,” she admitted, “but you're not entirely different either. There's still a lot of that in you. I can see it.”

“Back then… Did you really spend time with me because you wanted to? Or was it simply out of obligation to assist me?”

“I wanted to,” she assured him. “And I liked it.”

It was strange, to be missed. To be wanted.

Eggman never missed him when he was gone. He only wanted him back when he decided he would be useful. He was never wanted - only needed.

To be needed once made him feel empowered. Important. But that need came and left, inconsistent and unstable. And looking back, “need” was a cold, unfeeling concept. To be wanted… now that had meaning. For someone to desire your presence, even when it was unnecessary. There was so much more power in being wanted. So much more meaning. He realized that now.

“If I… were to spend more time with you again… ‘hang out’, as you call it…” he said hesitantly, “I might ruin your memories of me.”

Amy laughed, and he bristled. “Met- Sorry, Neo, if that were the case, you would have already ruined all those memories the moment we fought again after Eggman took you back. I don't let the present taint the past that easily.”

She smiled softly, putting a hand on his shoulder plate. He stared at her hand, tense.

“And I don't let a rocky past spoil my perception of the present either.”

Turning away, he watched her put more paint in a bag.

“I only needed blue.”

“I know.”

“And I already have brushes.”

“Rollers and big brushes? That won't do you good if you ever want to paint something else.”

He wanted to argue - all he wanted to do was paint the ceiling sky blue - but he knew from memory that Amy was stubborn. If she wanted to give him paint of all colors and brushes of all sizes, he wouldn't stop her.

“Thank you,” he said instead, the words feeling awkward.

She smiled as she pushed the bag into his waiting hands. “You're welcome. In more ways than one - come visit me sometime!”

“Maybe,” he said, before heading out.

The ceiling looked a lot more pleasant, painted fully blue. But it also looked a bit empty. After consideration and planning, he decided to add just a couple white wisps of clouds. Now it looked more like the sky. 

The rest of the room looked even more blank than before, now that the ceiling was colored. Neo eyed the paint Amy had given him. There was a wide variety of colors. Maybe she'd known all along what she was doing. Had somehow known he'd want more. 

But what? What would he fill the walls with?

Tapping his hand plate in thought, he considered the colors for a moment before pulling out green. That was what made up most of the world, after all. Blue and green.

Carefully mixing a shade that matched the grassy color he had in mind, Neo pressed the paintbrush to the wall and dragged it downward. It was satisfying, changing something that existed. Giving it color. 

Content with his decision, he continued painting. 

By the time his internal alarm went off, telling him it was time to leave for the next sparring session he had set up with Sonic, he found himself close, but not quite finished, with the first layer of colors. It would be good to give it a chance to dry while he was gone, so he ignored the alarm for now to finish up. 

As soon as he was done, he hurried out, not wanting to be late. Sonic would surely give him grief for that. 

“Woah-ho-hoah!” Sonic said with a chuckle as Neo landed. “Now that's a new look. What brought on the change, Metal?”

“Neo,” he corrected.

“Neo? You gonna go back to the whole Neo Metal Sonic thing? You are a bit taller.”

“No. Not Neo Metal Sonic. Just… Neo.”

Sonic hummed, then nodded. “You ready to go, Neo?”

Searching the skies, Neo shook his head. “My brother has not yet arrived.”

“Eh, surely he won't be much longer. And Tails is here.” Sonic jabbed a thumb over towards Tails, who looked up for the first time since Neo had arrived at the sound of his name, nose having been buried in a thick book. 

“Oh wow! You look neat.”

“Thank you. I go by Neo now. Just Neo.”

“Gotcha. You guys gonna get started?” Tails put the book aside.

“I-”

“Aw, c'mon, Neo. We can consider it a warm-up until Silver gets here,” Sonic said, jogging in place and doing some stretches. He was antsy, bored, and obviously not wanting to wait even another minute.

Neo would be lying if he said he wasn't also eager to start. 

“I'll keep an eye on things,” Tails assured him.

“Fine,” he agreed. It was… embarrassing enough that he felt he needed a third party to make sure he didn't take things too far. He could be stronger than that. Better than that.

Sonic leapt at him without another word, and Neo ducked. Sonic still bounced a foot against his head. Right, he must keep his new height in mind. He twisted around, swinging an arm towards the hedgehog, who rolled away and made another attempt to strike him. Putting all his strength into it, Neo fisted his hands and swung, smacking Sonic away like a baseball bat striking a ball. 

Uncurling, Sonic landed on his feet, sliding to a stop with a grin. The two rushed at each other, and Neo found that, while there were some disadvantages of being a bit taller, it was mostly useful. He wasn't so tall that his speed was lowered too detrimentally, or to the extent that Sonic was too short to easily hit when punching. Only minor adjustments needed to be made there, and his overall range had increased.

He was doing well, he thought, as the two exchanged blows and raced after each other. He was having fun even, testing his new form out - even when Sonic managed to knock one of Neo’s thumbs loose.

And then, as Sonic tried to duck past him, he managed to grab the hedgehog’s spines, the grip full of quills eliciting a pained yelp from Sonic. 

Neo froze. 

“Woah, hey, okay, let go, dude!” Sonic said with a grimace, batting at his iron grip. 

Everything in him screamed at him to squeeze tighter. To use his other arm to grab and claw.

When he didn't move, Tails ran over, something in hand. 

Neo stared down at the hedgehog before him, still working to pry his hands away. 

Green. There was a splotch of green on the back of his hand. A small speck amongst the yellow that he hadn't noticed in his rush to get here on time.

Slowly, he let go. Tails lowered whatever he had been aiming towards him - something to shock him, by the looks of it.

He couldn't bring himself to apologize as he looked away from Sonic, who rubbed at his head. 

“You need to dodge better,” Neo said instead. “You'd look atrocious bald.”

Sonic barked out a laugh as he smoothed down his quills. “Gee, thanks for letting me keep my quills, because I think you're right. I'd look awful if I was bald… like you are.”

Neo swung an arm at him, and Sonic danced out of the way, chortling.

With the tension gone, Tails let out a breathy laugh of his own. “Um, Neo, do you want me to fix your thumb?”

He wondered if he was trying to stop them from sparring anymore. He couldn't blame the fox if that were true.

He did want his finger fixed though, so he nodded. It was something he was pretty sure he could handle on his own, but he did prefer an actual mechanic to do it. 

“Wonder why Silver never showed,” Sonic wondered aloud. 

Last Neo knew he had gone off to find more pieces to add to his sculptures.

“Probably got sidetracked.”

Neo sent him a message, asking after his whereabouts.

It wasn't long before he got a reply.

[OH NO!!! how did i miss my alarm?! im sorry!!!!]

Shortly after, another reply.

[apparently i forgot to set an alarm oops]

Neo rolled his eyes and told him they had finished already, so there was no need to come.

[nah ill come! i wanna race sonic aeond the lake]

Aeond? Would it kill his brother to fix his misspellings? Not to mention his lack of capitalization and punctuation.

“Silver wants to come race you around the lake,” Neo told Sonic.

“Oh? Sweet, I'll wait here then.”

With that, Tails and Neo headed back to the fox's workshop.

There was silence between the two as Tails took a look at Neo’s thumb and then picked out the tools he'd need to fix it. 

“You know,” Tails said as he got to work, “that offer from when you first came to me to get rid of Eggman's control over you still stands. I could try to overwrite your coding entirely. It would probably take a really long time - I'd have to be careful not to just completely break you, but with enough time, I could do it. Then you could be more like you were when you lost your memories and-”

“No.”

Tails blinked. “But then you wouldn't have to worry about fighting against-”

“I wouldn't be myself anymore,” Neo replied.

Whoever that was.

He didn't want the easy way out. He didn't want anything beyond the bare minimum - whatever would keep Eggman from taking over every inch of him once more was all he needed. 

“I need to… I need to move beyond the rest of my programming on my own,” he said quietly. If he did not do that, he would never feel good about it. To wipe his coding felt like cheating. He would never feel like he had conquered the problem. No matter how rocky the road, if he didn't forge his own path through it, he'd never find any sense of contentment. 

Tails nodded slowly. “Alright. I suppose that's fair. I just figured it must be… frustrating.”

“I… appreciate the offer,” he said, volume low. It was frustrating. 

But he was determined to overcome it. 

The frustration of it, though… he only wished he had a good outlet for it. But the whole point was to not cause too much damage to Sonic, so-

Oh. Wait a minute.

He sent a message to Silver. [Meet me at home once your race is complete.]

As he received an affirmative, he asked Tails, “Do you have any spray paint? Not for airbrushing. Canned spray paint.”

“Uh, I think I've got some. Might be kinda old, so I'm not sure if they'd work, but-”

“Can I have them?”