Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Egg Memo 25:
After the events of the Starfall Islands, I've... I've found myself looking through the events of my grandfather's early life, up to the ARK and its construction. My grandfather turned to nature as a way to help Maria. I've been thinking about that.

Egg Memo 26:
I've sent Sage and a small contingent of Badniks to the ARK, scanning for any usable data left. Black Arms DNA is a bust, but I have alternatives. I've spent years making robots in Sonic's image accepting endless design flaws to reach those ludicrous speeds. But Sonic... I've accepted that the things he does are biologically impossible. He shouldn't even be able to see what's going on around him at Mach 1, let alone at his full speed. A long time ago, I blamed the whims of Chaos. But if I can create a creature blessed in the same ways... I've already created the second-greatest mind in the universe. Flesh should be easy in comparison.

Egg Memo 29:
I spent the past week trying to figure out how to get an MRI done on Sonic without him noticing, only for Sage to hand me a scan herself. When I asked where she got it, she said, "His last hospital visit. Where else would I?" HOHOHO. That pest has taken enough head injuries that I should have thought of it myself! Although the main inspiration form, this creation will still be yours truly wouldn't want to infect him with idiot

Egg Memo 30:
While I refuse to legitimize the extended tantrum that was the Neo incident, Metal really outdid himself with the liquid metal he used to create his body. Completely brilliant design, extremely durable, yet perfectly moldable and lightweight. It can form into complex mechanisms like his engine, and it can seep through objects. I've been tinkering with the design and how I can incorporate it into my projects.

Egg Memo 32:
Blaze visited our dimension today, and I immediately pounced. HA! At the opportunity. I've gotten some blood and hair samples from her. I'm trying to figure out how she doesn’t boil herself alive every time she uses her powers and how to incorporate that into my designs. As for the metal, I've figured out how I'm going to integrate it into the body: through injections after creation. It will seep into the body, pre-programmed to attach to and coat the skeleton, and connect to the nervous system as an extension of the body feeding off the natural Chaos energy in the system to shift into new forms when needed. The only problem is metal himself. Sage has been suggesting putting him into the body, which already sounds like a migraine to figure out. All of Metal's combat data and experience in a body to finally match it But Metal doesn't have the best track record with power increases. I'll have to run tests before I even consider it.

Egg Memo 33:
For the past few weeks, I've been slowly lowering the intensity of my obedience protocols for Metal and have had Sage monitor him and his code. Nothing no outbursts of rebelliousness. Same ol' Metal Sonic. For the hell of it, I turned off his friendly fire filter and left him in the same room as Orbot and Cubot for three hours. They were all still in one piece when I walked in, though Metal was staring at the ceiling. When I asked Sage why, she said he was considering blasting through the ceiling... which was better than I expected in all honesty

Egg Memo 38:
[The sounds of bubbles whooshing in a tank can be heard in the background]
Part of me wonders if it can hear me. It's not a conscious being on its own closer to a living meat suit. It'll breathe on its own, and that's it. The solution gives him everything he'll need and accelerates his growth. Once it hits 17, it'll be ready to take out, and the finishing touches shall be made. Final... complete... new

[The sound of a hand placed against the glass]

...Only a few more weeks.

Egg Memo 42: this will probably be my final log pertaining to this development of this endeavor, funny 6 months of work and I still couldn't figure out a name for this... [an annoyed huff] neo. It was the only name that fit but more importantly the implication of Metal Sonic into the body. There were no complications cutting him open, and I placed the chip at the base of his spi-

FATHER BROTHERS AWAKE.

That's impossible! He should still be asleep till tomorrow

■

Ivo hadn't run this hard in years.

The door hissed open as he stepped into the sterile medical room, harsh artificial light stabbing at his eyes. Ahead, Sage hovered anxiously over a navy blue hedgehog, Ivo’s heart sank.

The hedgehog was on their knees, clutching the bedframe, arm trembling, desperately trying to stay upright on the cold tile.

"Brother, you're only going to hurt yourself. Please, calm down."

The hedgehog's ears twitched at the sound of the door. Slowly, their head turned red eyes locking onto Ivo’s through dark glasses. Their grip slipped, the last of their strength giving out. They collapsed with a thud, barely managing to squeak out a single word:

“Doctor?”

Ivo’s heart pounded so loudly he could hardly hear. He rushed forward, scooping the fallen form off the floor and placing them gently on the bed.

“S-Sage…”

“I already checked his vitals,” Sage said calmly. “He’s stable. For now.”

“He shouldn’t even be awake, let alone”

“I believe he was overwhelmed by the new sensory input,” Sage explained, her voice clipped but precise.

Ivo’s jaw clenched. “Just make sure he stays asleep until his body’s ready to move.”

“Yes, Father.”

Ivo looked down at his creation, watching as the boy’s face slowly relaxed from a grimace of pain. His gaze lingered on it's long, slender nose, the white streaks running through it's quills.

Slowly, hesitantly, Ivo placed a hand on the boy’s chest. He could feel the rise and fall slight, but steady. Alive. Breathing.

Ivo let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

Chapter Text

Metal had adjusted to life well enough. Fulfilling his basic tasks around the base but there were still problems. Chief among them: speaking and eating.

Ivo sighed, tiredly leaning back in his chair as he pondered the issue. Metal refused to eat or drink anything. Fortunately, the doctor had anticipated this and prepared solutions namely, a Chaos Emerald given to Metal to keep him energized. But it was far from ideal. The method was massively wasteful, and Ivo couldn’t help but feel annoyed that the only reason they were using it was because Metal didn’t like the idea of chewing.

Then there was the matter of speech.

Metal had never needed to speak. He’d been deployed on simple missions, or used as a bodyguard for Ivo himself. Back-and-forth communication had never been necessary. But now things were different. While Metal could still communicate with other Badniks through the EggNet, Ivo felt left out. Watching two beings have a silent conversation about you, in front of you, was deeply irritating.

Before he could ruminate further, the door to his office slid open. The sound of metal soles clanking against the base floor echoed through the room as Metal walked in.

Whether out of a human sense of decency or some aesthetic pride, Ivo had refused to let Metal walk around unclothed. He’d adorned him with a jacket similar to his own, though Metal’s was a dark navy instead of red. the shoes being similar to his as well keeping the shaft the same and changing at the throat of the boots from black to red sanding off the raised heel and finally a pair of yellow gloves with white cuffs.

Ivo sat up slightly, his gaze settling on his creation. Even as flesh and blood, Metal couldn’t emote much, his default scowl un changing. The two stood in silence for a moment, staring at one another, until Ivo finally broke it.

“You know you can’t just beam the knowledge into my head.”

He could have sworn he saw a twitch in Metal’s muzzle before the boy reluctantly replied.

“These tests and exercises are a waste of time. I am ready to resume my original roles.”

“Perhaps,” Ivo said. “Although your refusal to eat shows you’re not adapting to your new body well and we still don’t have any real combat dat—”

“I’ll eat. As long as I get to do something other than basic stretching.”

Ivo let out a dry chuckle. “Well, if you’re so eager, who am I to deny you?”

He turned his chair back toward the desk.

“I’ll have something ready for you in an hour or two. Although… I will be needing the Emerald before you leave.”

Metal paused for a moment before relenting, handing over the gem and feeling the excess strength drain from him as he did.

■

Sage and Metal walked down a large corridor toward the testing chamber quietly, the only sound being the clanking of Metal's soles against the floor.

"Are you upset at me, brother?"

Metal's face stayed in its scowl, looking forward toward the end of the hall like he hadn’t heard her.

"You know I'm connected to you and thus your brain, oh, you just had a spike in norepinephrine. That’s a stres—."

"I refuse to eat that sludge he calls food."

"Eat what?"

"Don't patronize me!"

"I have zero idea about what you're talking about, Metal."

Metal and Sage continued to walk through the corridor until reaching the entrance to the chamber.

"Past this door are three chambers, each with a contingent of Badniks inside. Me and Father will be watching," she said, quickly disappearing in a flash of red light, leaving Metal standing in front of the automatic door alone.

Metal pulled his left arm, then right, in a shoulder stretch. The pace of his heartbeat quickened as his eyes started to glow red, an empty HUD for now, as he stepped forward, walking into the first chamber. It was occupied by half a dozen cannon-fodder Badniks, namely Motobugs and Egg Spears, the robots quickly locking on to the hedgehog and charging him. Jumping over the first Motobug, it didn't have a chance to turn back around as its armor was destroyed by a misplaced spear slamming into it. And before the Egg Spear could realize its mistake, a boot slammed into its face, the rest of the Badniks being taken out in short order.

The lights in the empty room glowed green, playing a light chime as the door to the next room was revealed. Metal let out a light huff, kicking the head of an Egg Spear out of his way as he walked to the door. Passing through, the door snapped shut instantly behind him. The beeping of a dozen variants of the Egg Fighter beeped dangerously, forming a half circle around him.

"This is a bit better."

After watching this maneuver upwards of 1000 times in his existence, rolling into a ball and dashing was a small order for Metal to recreate. Slamming into the nearest fighter and sending it flying back into another in the group, he bounced off its chest and into the air, landing onto the shoulders of the next fighter, smashing into the head of the fighter, crumbling it but not taking it out. Half a second later, a spike of liquid steel punched its way through the rest of the fighter's head. Jumping down, Metal ducked a sword slash and then back stepped from a shield bash, slicing through the fighters until his ears perked up at the sound of a gunner whirling. Forming the blade around his forearm into a small shield, he weaved through them, letting the gunner take his own allies out before launching its impromptu frisbee through the gunner's armor, the lights flashing green as the final Badnik dropped. Picking up his weapon and letting the metal reform back to him, he walked into the next room the largest of the previous its only occupant an egg hammer

The idea that Egg Hammers were slow wasn't completely unfounded. Long distance, even an average person could outrun an Egg Hammer unit. But this was not a design flaw. In Ivo's eyes, Egg Hammers weren't designed to chase but to attack, and in swing speed, there were very few models that could compete with an Egg Hammer. So the idea that a truck-sized fist would be rocketing toward him at a speed that could impress Knuckles had crossed Metal's mind before he chose to charge and slam a bladed fist into the metal of its leg.

The sound of the badnik fist's impacting the ground was like an explosion; it filled the room, as well as dust and debris from the floor being launched up, blocking the good Doctor's and Sage’s vision.

“Sage, did he get hi—”

Before the Doctor could finish, The sound barrier shattered like glass, blasting through the room, clearing out the dust and revealing the ruined mess that was the robot's left arm like a buzzsaw had spiraled up its arm.

In the milliseconds of time after it had realized this, the algorithm running the Egg Hammer had deduced 3 things:

1st: The spiral pattern of the damage on its left arm suggested its target had flung itself upwards using itself as a ramp.

2nd: Based on the approximate weight, height, and speed of its opponent, it would be falling down into optimal swinging range in about half a second.

3rd:Its target was much faster than it, but land-based, and thus helpless in the air.

Based on this reasoning, the Egg Hammer swung its right fist in the air above it, and for its trouble, it was rewarded with only its wrist and everything above it blown off instead of its head. Above the Egg Hammer, metal continued to be sent upward from the force of his blaster shot, the smoking gun quickly receding into him as his metal soles crashed into the ceiling.

He felt power welling up inside of him since the beginning of this test, the same energy he fed off from the Emerald and he let it out, blue sparks dancing off his quills as he disappeared. The only thing suggesting movement was the trail of blue light and the sonic boom he let in his wake as he punched through the head of the Badnik and slammed down onto the ground, the Badnik’s eyes dimming as it fell back slowly, completely inoperable.

Metal's eyes as well dimmed back down from their neon red to their normal color as he rubbed his nose, a small, private smirk playing on his muzzle as sweats dripped down his head.

“Sage, how fast was he?”

“Compared to his previous model, Brother has had upwards of a 95% increase in speed and combat effectiveness.”

“And that was without his thrusters?”

“Yes, Father.”

All Eggman could do was laugh.

■

There were a lot of things about Metal's loathsome copy that irritated the former robot. One of the less known was his choice in eating habits. Metal, as a machine, was durable. He was designed to fight the Doctor's greatest enemies he needed to be but on the inside, like most things, he was extremely fragile. One misaligned screw, a loose wire, could tank his performance. Perfection was necessary.

Looping this back to his inferior, his idea of taking care of his body was shoving enough grease to kill most large animals down his throat and hoping for the best. In front of Metal was the same slop: a plate of chili dogs as Sage was trying her best not to laugh as Metal stared at a plate of hot dogs like they had personally offended him.

"I refuse to eat this."

"You did promise, brother."

"This is in no way healthy for me, thus tanking my effectiveness. The Doctor wants me to improve. Eating this would break the spirit of our arrangement."

"Well, actually—"

Metal felt a ping in his head and turned on his HUD, looking over a message Sage had sent him: a list of ingredients.

"Making chili dogs good for you was a lot more fun than it sounded to work on, but these dogs have everything you need to be healthy and energized, so eat up."

Metal couldn’t argue and slowly picked up the hot dog. The smell he had fought to ignore now hit him full force and to his dismay, it actually smelled good. Metal opened his mouth and took a bite.

"your ventral tegmental area just exploded with dopami—"

"Shut up, Sage," he said in between bites.

Chapter Text

To pass the time between tests and his assigned tasks, Metal started playing chess with the doctor. Partly to avoid the monotony of redundant scans and blood samples, partly because he genuinely wanted to challenge himself.

The doctor, who spent his days commanding an army of dozens of different machines across hundreds of thousands of units, was unsurprisingly excellent at the game. By Metal’s count, they had played eighteen matches, and he had lost every single one. The closest he had come to winning was game fifteen when he thought he had the doctor’s king cornered, only for the old man to reverse the game in a handful of precise moves.

That, combined with the doctor’s less than gracious attitude towards winning, irritated the former Robot.

“Ha! Another win for me, Metal. Maybe you should try practicing with Sage before trying to play me again,” the doctor said smugly.

Metal’s fist clenched for a moment as he resisted the urge to snap the board in half, speaking in his usual monotone.

“Doctor, I’ve noticed you keep checking on an Egg Base near a large island. According to my database, Angel Island will be floating near there for the next couple of weeks. Are you making a move on the Master Emerald?”

“No. Just a coincidence.”

Metal stared at him. “Then what’s wrong? What can I do?”

The doctor looked down at his creation, then rubbed his eyes with a sigh.

“For some weeks now, the base’s security system has been picking up an intruder near its perimeter. But any drones I send report nothing.”

“I can go. I’ll figure out what’s going on.”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to let you take a look. Have Sage tag alo—”

A gust of wind cut the doctor off as Metal vanished from the room in a blur, gone before the sentence could finish.

■

Metal couldn’t even hear the roar of his thrusters anymore. He blasted across the ocean toward the base, his speedometer still climbing as the Mach cone around him narrowed. Unlike his previous body, this one couldn’t house a single, massive engine. Instead, he had half a dozen thrusters formed from the metal coating his bones, two on his shoulders, four on his back, and two beneath his boots. The configuration granted him not only his old flight speed but far greater maneuverability.

He clenched his fist, channeling Chaos Energy through his system. It surged into the boosters, and he felt a new burst of acceleration. Wind screamed past his quills and face, and the ocean beneath parted into waves that chased his sides. For the first time, he felt what he'd autopiloted through most of his existence.

“You should probably slow down before you blast through the base.”

Metal sighed mentally and began pulling back his energy. As his speed decreased, sound caught up to him again. He made the rest of the journey at a more reasonable pace, landing gently on the base’s rooftop with a metallic clink. The thrusters melted back into him, returning to liquid metal that seamlessly merged with his frame.

Sage didn’t say anything. Her presence vanished from his thoughts, no doubt connecting directly to the base to get a better read on the area.

Metal looked down. The base was surrounded by tall grass, swaying slightly in the wind. Egg Walkers patrolled the perimeter, heavy and deliberate in their steps. Their heads popping about the brush every couple of seconds. Then, a ping flashed across his HUD: one of the walkers had been destroyed. He turned toward the indicated location; but saw nothing.

Just as he prepared to launch over, another ping, this one from Sage.

“Get behind something, now, before they spot you and run.”

Metal darted behind a series of protruding roof panels. Sage’s avatar reappeared in front of him, pointing toward a patch of grass below.

“I checked the logs. The intruder’s been tripping the security sensors at the same time every week. Now we know why we couldn’t detect them I'm almost certain they’re cold-blooded.”

“I’ll go down there.”

“Wait. If they get away, they’ll know we’re onto them, and if we catch this one, they'll just send someone else next time.”

“Then what do you suggest?”

“Look again.”

Metal peered from behind the panels. The Egg Walkers had changed formation, circling around the downed unit.

“I’m using their motion sensors to triangulate movement. When I give the signal, attack. Make a weapon and plant a tracker.”

Metal nodded. He retreated behind the cover again. Liquid metal from his right arm began to flow outward, forming a compact, low-powered rifle just strong enough to hit without killing. His left hand extended, and droplets of metal coalesced into a small bug-shaped device, the Eggman Empire’s logo engraved on its back. He loaded it into the riflen and waited.

A rustle in the grass.

A blast and then metal screeched and crumpled somewhere below.

Metal popped his head up, scanning.

Then he saw a tuatara bolting through the tall grass, clutching a hover Wispon. Their form hidden as they turned tail and ran, using the terrain for cover.

Metal fired. The shot struck home just before she vanished again. The walkers surged after her, crashing through the undergrowth. He let out a breath as the rifle melted back into his body.

A blinking dot appeared on his internal map, moving quickly away from the base.

■

Vega had only been this scared a handful of times in her life, most of them during her days in the Resistance. She didn’t, couldn’t, look back fondly on the war against Eggman. She’d lost a lot. But she’d also made some good friends, and when the fighting ended and she didn't know what to do with herself, she’d been invited to live with them on their Home Island, a quiet, old community that had slowly begun to expand. That felt like a lifetime ago now.

Then they found the base.

Some kids had gone exploring and came running back pale-faced, their tails tucked between their legs. Vega and her crew went to check it out. The four of them piled into a jeep, clutching Wispons that hadn’t been fired in months, hoping for nothing and, thankfully, they found nothing. Still, they kept making the trek. At first daily, then weekly, then monthly. Eventually, it was just Vega, watching. Making sure the Eggman Walkers still only circled the building and did nothing more.

Part of her knew it was pointless, paranoia. The base wasn’t even polluting the area. But she couldn’t let it go. So, every week, she hiked out there and watched.

Then, a few weeks ago, something changed.

The Walkers stopped circling. They started searching. A new pattern every week. She’d barely avoided detection each time, relying on how hard she was to pick up on sensors. But now it had all come to a head, boxed in like a wild animal, forced to fire her Wispon for the first time in over a year. She’d forgotten how hard it kicked. She ran like hell, didn’t stop until she felt safe, then called in every favor she and her friends had left.

Now, every Eggman War vet on the island was gathered in a field just outside of town, trying to figure out what came next.

Looping back to fear, Vega could count on one hand the moments she’d truly thought she was going to die. One of them had been early in the war, fighting in Sunset Heights. She’d heard the scream of a jet overhead, then seen a blue blur tear through the sky like a missile, collapsing the building she was in. In her eyes, the only reason she’d survived was because it had something more important to do than look for survivors.

She never forgot that sound.

And now, she heard it again.

That same roar.

Vega looked up.

And saw a blue blur screaming toward them.

■

"You know, catching your opponent off guard is an amazing tool. I'm surprised how often you refuse to use it, especially considering how often it’s been used on you."

Metal’s eyes narrowed at the jab, but he didn’t slow down. “It doesn’t matter.”

The tuatara had seen him first. Alerting the others and the islanders opened fire the moment they realized what was coming.

Metal cut the power to his engine and let himself drop from the sky as a rocket screamed past. He hit the ground running, slicing through the tall grass. The metal plating along his back and legs melted away, flowing seamlessly back into him.

“And Metal,” Sage chimed in, “try and keep them alive.”

He burst through the grass line, red optics blazing, and pounced on a tall bear. His left palm warped around the bear's face, and his momentum carried the both of them forward, slamming the back of the bear’s skull into the hood of a nearby car. Metal rolled through the landing, letting liquid steel surge down his right arm, reshaping into his shield. He came out of the roll and launched it like a disc at the next closest target, a cat, striking them square in the chest. The shield ricocheted back, Metal snatching it from the air just in time to block a hover Wispon blast.

The impact pushed him back, carving drag lines into the grass.

He looked up, hearing the crackle of electricity.

Metal ducked just as a lightning Wnispon cracked through the air, missing his head by inches. A bird advanced towards him, followed by two more ducking lashings behind the same car Metal had slammed the bear into.

“Quit hiding and fight like a man, you as—”

Metal grabbed the unconscious bear and hurled him at the bird mid-sentence. The bird shrieked as the body hit, both of them crashing down in a tangled heap. The bird’s Wispon discharged on impact, electrocuting them both.

“FIRING!”

Metal kicked into a boost, clearing the car just as a rocket reduced it to shrapnel behind him. Midair, his shield morphed into an arm cannon. He braced, and fired, blasting the gunner off his perch.

He skidded to a stop and leaned back, narrowly avoiding a swing from a Cube Wispon. With one fluid motion, he slammed his fist into the attacker’s gut, a dog and then caught him in a chokehold.

Metal lifted the gasping dog off the ground and turned toward a rabbit aiming a Burst Wispon at him.

The rabbit froze.

Metal let the cannon dissolve and wagged his finger at the rabbit, Then pointed to the ground.

The rabbit hesitated for a moment as the dog clutched at metal's arms then slowly dropped the Wispon.

Satisfied, Metal released the dog, only to kick him forward, slamming the poor mutt into the rabbit.

The two collapsed in a heap.

“And then there was one,” Sage pinged.

Metal stepped toward the tuatara as she stumbled back, clutching her weapon like it was the only thing keeping her alive. She fired wildly, and Metal calmly sidestepped the blasts. Her foot caught on a rock, and she tumbled to the ground with a cry, her weapon skidding from her grip.

“What... what the hell are you?”

“Come on, Metal. Say something cool,” Sage chimed in his head.

Metal rolled his eyes internally and stepped forward. The tuatara was sprawled on the ground, staring up at him in terror. He tilted his head, his red eyes narrowing.

Was she... smiling?

“HEY! CATCH!”

Pure reflex kicked in.

Metal rocketed to the side just in time as a hammer slammed into the ground where he’d just stood, the impact rippling through the earth with a shockwave of pink energy.

His HUD flared.

His synthetic heart, usually a steady pulse, was pounding.

Not metaphorically. Literally like it was hammering against his chest

Panic. Actual, physical panic.

“See how effective that is?” Sage said casually.

Metal clenched his fist and exhaled slowly, forcing himself to push the feeling down. He looked toward the fresh crater, dust still hanging in the air.

“Wow, sorry. Well, not sorry for throwing the hammer at you,” a voice called. “I just... don’t know my own strength sometimes.”

She stepped forward, through the grass.

Amy Rose.

If his memory banks were correct, the last time he’d seen her was during the fall of Eggperial City. She’d grown. Her quills were longer now, flowing down her back, and she moved with a relaxed, dangerous confidence. She slipped between him and the tuatara, saying something low and reassuring. The reptile scrambled up and began dragging her fallen allies toward a pickup truck.

“Kick his ass, Miss Rose!”

“Will do!”

“Metal! Stop daydreaming!” Sage barked.

Metal blinked, realizing he’d stopped moving and locked back onto Amy.

“I was just passing through,” she said, casually swinging her hammer over her shoulder, “and noticed the commotion. I don’t know if you’re just some lookalike or one of Eggman’s toys, but I’m gonna smash you into the dirt either way.”

She smiled. “Even if you are kinda cute.”

“FOCUS, Metal!”

He was trying. Really. He was dodging, barely, his body moving on reflex alone. But it was hard. Hard to keep his expression blank. Hard to think about tactics. Hard to think about anything except, What she had called him.

“What the hell is happening to me?"

Chapter Text

Metal had never danced before, never tried to match someone else's pace, but if he had to guess, what it felt like. Trying not to get his skull caved in by Amy Rose was probably a close approximation.

Her tempo was insane. The way she flowed between close, mid, and long range with that hammer, it was as mesmerizing as was it terrifying not helped by the new emotions clouding his mind.

"Metal, shield!" Sage's voice shouted in his head.

Metal raised his right arm. The disc barely formed before she slammed into it a spinning a blur of pink and red. She ricocheted off the shield like it was a springboard, flying into the air with tarot cards orbiting her like satellites before shooting down at him like meteors.

Metal jumped back, the cards barely missed, stabbing into the dirt where he'd just stood. He skidded to a halt, looking up just in time to see Amy launch her hammer at him.

The former robot raised his hands, metal crawling and plating over his arms and hands. His boots morphed, metal spikes stabbing into the ground to anchor him as the hammer collided with his palms. He caught it, barely.

He moved to hurl it away, somewhere she couldn’t reach it, but then he realized...

The hammer was already gone.

He looked down at his empty hands, stunned.

“What the f—”

Before he could finish the thought, he had to duck as another hammer swung horizontally for his head. His boots flared, transforming into thrusters, and he blasted himself backward, landing hard but steady a good distance from the pink hedgehog.

Metal’s HUD flared red, struggling to reconcile the mismatch between his internal data and the reality in front of him. The pink hedgehog shouldn’t have been a complete non-issue, but by all calculations, he should’ve been able to run circles around her.

And yet, it was hard just to focus, hard to push past the strange flutter in his core or even dare to look her in the eyes.

“Metal. The islanders are going to get away,” Sage pinged in his head.

Metal turned. The taratuta was climbing into a pickup, the others already loaded in the back, the engine roaring as it tried to speed off. He shifted his arm into a blaster and aimed for the vehicle's engine.

But before his shot could land, the blast exploded mid-air, hit from the side by a spinning tarot card.

“Hey, if Eggman’s making you do anything you don’t want to, i meet a girl kinda like you some time back, you don't need to listen to him”

Metal froze.

He had never known a voice could be so pleasant. There was no anger, no fear, just calm and compassion.

He forced the thought out of his head and wracked his brain. There had to be a way to complete the Doctor’s orders… without fighting her.

Metal let the blaster dissolve and raised a hand, pointing in the direction the vehicle had been trying to escape.

“There’s a town not far from here. I don’t know the name, and I don’t really care.”

Amy blinked, eyes widening slightly at the sound of his voice. It was faintly familiar.

“I was sent here to locate an intruder to an eggman base on this island. I found them. And then you showed up.” His voice was calm and mechanical. “Funny thing is, the Doctor doesn’t care much for this base. But he does care when someone starts messing with his things. So what do you think is going to happen when I leave and they keep poking at that base?”

“You think you can scare me?” Amy narrowed her eyes.

“Doesn’t matter if you’re scared. Just make sure the base is left alone.” He paused, voice going lower. “Pass the message to the intruders.”

His thrusters on his feet fired with a roar, lifting him slowly into the air. The wind kicked up around them, leaves and dust swirling.

“And next time” he said, gaze fixed on her, “it’s not going to just be me. Make sure they understand that.”

Not letting her respond he blasted off leaving a sonic boom in his wake. Amy, stared at his contrails as the distance between them expanded.

■

The Doctor sat hunched on a low stool beneath the Egg Mobile, slowly unscrewing a hatch under the hovercraft. It opened with a creak, revealing a worn red Chaos Drive, the once vibrant glow now dulled from overuse. With a small grunt, he reached in and began loosening it with a screwdriver.

Just as he lifted the drive free, a sudden flash of light flared behind him.

Startled, the old man jerked, and the drive slipped from his hand, clattering to the floor with a sharp crack.

“Sage!” he groaned, exasperated.

“I’m sorry, Father,” Sage said softly, flickering into view.

The Doctor sighed and pushed himself up, crossing the room to a supply cabinet. “It’s not a problem,” he muttered, rummaging around. “I’m assuming you found the issue and corrected it?”

“Yes. We found the intruder. They won’t be coming back, Father.”

“Good. Wasn’t that big of a threat anyway, but Metal needed something to do.” He returned to his stool with a new drive in hand. “Speaking of… was Metal okay?”

“Metal showed an increase of 78% in combat effectiveness,” Sage replied.

“Perfect!” the Doctor grinned. “I’ve got a new plan in the works. He’ll need to be in top shape for it”

With a satisfying click, he slotted the new drive into place. The Egg Mobile whirred to life.

“Well, I don’t have anything else for you today,” the old man said, stretching as he stood. “And I need to lie down before my back starts killing me. The day’s yours.”

Once her father disappeared down the hall, Sage lingered for a moment to make sure he was truly gone. She had lied about Metal, and about what had happened.

In a blink of light, she reappeared elsewhere, in front of Orbot and Cubot, who were loudly arguing about something entirely pointless.

“I need your help,” Sage said firmly. “Both of you. It’s a secret.”

■

“BIG BRO, YOU HAVE A CRUSH?!”

BANG.

The next day, no one could quite explain the hedgehog shaped dent in one of Eggman’s favorite walls.

Chapter Text

The hiss of Metal's blowtorch echoed through the base as he carefully reheated the dented section of the wall, the metal glowing orange under the flame. Once it softened enough, the torch retracted and reshaped into a hammer. Metal began pounding the wall back into form, each hit ringing sharply until the surface was more or less smooth again.

“I just don’t get it,” came the Doctor’s voice from behind. “Did you fall or something?”

“…Yes.”

“Really?”

“…Yes.”

“…Are you at least okay?” There was a note of concern in his voice.

“……Yes.”

Satisfied or just tired the doctor gave Metal a light pat on the head before turning back toward his lab. “Well, try not to fall again, Metal.”

Metal moved to follow, only to be intercepted by Orbot, Cubot, and Sage floating overhead. A migraine already began forming.

“Hey, big bro,” Orbot teased.

“Move.”

“Aww, come on, Metal,” Cubot whined. “Don't be like that! What if Father finds out about your cr—”

Metal's head snapped up, eyes flaring. “Why are you helping them?” he asked Sage, his tone a mix of betrayal and disbelief.

She smiled, clearly enjoying herself. “Why not. And honestly they're curious too about some things I am too.”

“Can we go in your room, big bro?” Cubot chimed in.

Without a word, Metal turned and tried to walk anywhere but here sage blinking existence directly in front of him.

“Pretty please?” she said sweetly. “We just want to see our dear big brother’s room.”

Metal stared at them with the dully already losing his patience for their antics.

“No.”

“Aww, come on, Metal,” Cubot whined. “We won’t mess anything up! We’re just curious.”

“Yeah!” Orbot chimed in. “We just want to see where our emotionally stunted, possibly-love-struck, wall headbutting older brother lays his head at night!”

Metal’s fists clenched, in annoyance

“Why do you all care? All I do is sleep there.”

“Exactly!” Sage beamed. “Which means we won't be interrupting anything.”

Metal turned only for Sage to reappear in front of him once more, still smiling, almost innocently

“Does she know how much you like her?” Cubot asked with a snicker.

“I. Do. Not. Have. Feelings. For. Amy. Rose. End of discussion”

Sage, unfazed, said calmly, “Sure, brother. Let’s go see that room now.”

The three floated off toward Metal’s quarters, leaving him standing behind. He glanced back at the Doctor’s lab, then at the retreating badniks, sighed, and reluctantly followed. He caught up with them just as they hovered in front of his door, stamped with a simplistic rendering of his face.

The door whooshed open to reveal a small, bare room. The metal walls were undecorated, the only furniture a single bed and an empty desk.

“I told you three,” Metal muttered, “this room is e—”

“Sad,” they all finished in unison, floating inside and poking around.

Metal’s expression soured as Cubot wandered into the bathroom, opening the door to find it just as plain. The only thing on the sink was a small yellow and red flower in a pot.

“You like flowers, big bro?” Orbot asked, tilting his head.

“No. It’s the Doctor’s. He put it here.”

“Where’d he get it from?” Cubot added curiously.

Metal’s eyes began to glow red. The two robots wisely dropped the subject and floated away from the sink.

“Are you three satisfied now?” he asked through clenched teeth.

“How are you satisfied with this?” Orbot shot back.

“Because I do my job. Unlike you two defective morons, I only come in here to sleep and clean.”

Sage shook her head. “No, this won’t do. You can’t keep living like this. I’m going to inform Father and make sure you get proper amenities.”

Metal’s posture stiffened. “Wait! The Doctor doesn’t need to know.”

“Why not?” Sage asked, tilting her head and the smiled. “He sent you to get this room furnished already, didn’t he?”

“I didn’t need anything else!!” Metal said.

“Yeah, right bro! Some wallpaper, a little carpet… we could really fix this place up,” Cubot said cheerfully.

Metal pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to ignore the pounding headache building in his chrome-plated skull. “You know what? Go nuts. I’m going to check if the Doctor needs anything.”

He backed out of the room as the three immediately launched into chaotic discussions about how best to ruin his carefully sterile space.

Metal made a beeline for the lab, only to find it empty. A single note lay on the Doctor’s desk. He picked it up and scanned the message.

“Gone for a while. Don’t break anything.”
– Dr. Ivo Robotnik

Metal crumpled the note in irritation and tossed it aside. With nothing else to do, he wandered the corridors of the base. Unsure what he was looking for.

He stretched. He paced. He walked in circles around the base.

Eventually, he wandered back into the lab, only to find Orbot and Cubot messing with the 3D printer, loudly arguing over which garbage Metal would dislike the least.

After an hour of wandering and boredom, Metal found himself standing at the exit of the base. He stared out into the open sky the sun starting to set in the distance.

And without another thought, he launched himself forward, blasting into the air at Mach speed to do literally anything.

■

Above ground, Metal usually flew a few hundred feet in the air when moving at near-max speed, less risk, fewer distractions. But tonight, he was barely a dozen feet off the ground, weaving between buildings and street signs like a rbat out of hell.

Car alarms wailed in his wake, disturbed by the shockwaves of his passing. He shot out of the city’s limits, across abandoned lots and over empty plains, before a dense forest came into view.

Metal narrowed his eyes. He could’ve flown over it. Should’ve. Instead, he poured more energy into his thrusters, dropping lower to the ground then, at the last second, cut them completely.

He hit the tree line sprinting.

Ducking, sliding, and carving a path between roots and fallen trunks, Metal maintained blistering speed. He slipped off a curved root, letting his momentum launch him forward. Curling into a ball, he slammed into the side of a tree hard enough to crack the bark, kicked off with a metallic thud that left deep imprints in the wood, and soared again.

Kick. Flip. Twist. Another tree. Another flip. A corkscrew midair just because he could.

He was starting to feel it that familiar, addicting rhythm. The world blurred around. The silence was perfect. And then—

CRACK.

He swore that branch hadn’t been there when he hit it full speed.

The momentum carried him straight through, splinters flying, and sent him crashing down through the canopy to the forest floor with a heavy thud on to his face.

Thunk.

Something small landed softly on top of Metal’s quills.

He lay still for a beat, letting the ache ripple through his frame. Somewhere nearby, something crunched. A tiny pressure pressed against the side of his head. He turned slightly—red optics locking with large, blue orbs.

A brown Chao floated just inches from his face, startled. An exclamation mark appeared over its head as it jolted back, dropping the apple it had been carrying.

Metal slowly got up, brushing leaves and bark from his frame. He stared down at the Chao as it hovered nervously, the exclamation mark over its head morphing into a question mark.

His HUD flared to life:

Subject: Chocola the Chao.
Known companion of: Vanilla the Rabbit.
Status: Non-hostile. Previously retrieved alongside amphibian subject "Froggy" for Chaos bio-data analysis.

Chocola floated up again, gently landing on Metal’s head. The question mark over its head changed into a bright pink heart.

Strange. Metal didn’t remember much about the Chao’s temperament, only that he’d once kidnapped it. Maybe it didn't realize who he was. Before Metal could process that thought a yell came from the trees.

“CHOCOLA! It’s getting late, we have to go home! Please stop hiding!”

“Scanning… Match found: Chocola... 100% similarity and Sonic the Hedgehog... 87% similarity.”

“Mr. Sonic’s here?!”

He turned toward the sound, watching as two figures pushed through the underbrush. One was a young rabbit girl with long ears, the other a three-eyed robot.

The girl brightened the moment she saw him. She ran forward, stopping just a few feet away with a wide smile.

“hi. My name is Cream. Thank you for finding Chocola, mister. I’m sorry my friend Gemerl here mistook you for someone else.”

She turned slightly and gestured to the robot beside her. The drifted forward, scanning Metal with an audible hum.

“Apologies. You resemble Sonic the Hedgehog by 89% according to my scans.” The robot’s voice was polite and neutral. “Please state your name.”

Metal paused for a moment, processing the situation. Deciding quickly, he settled on a name to give them.

"My name is Neo."

“Mister Neo,” Cream beamed, “my mom would probably like to thank you for helping us find her Chao.”

Metal thought it over for a second and gave a silent nod. He didn’t have anything better to do.

Cream led the way through the forest path, humming softly as Cheese floated beside her. Metal and Gemerl trailed behind the two former Eggman creations walking in cautious silence.

Gemerl glanced sideways at him.

“Is there something about my appearance that bothers you, Gemerl?” Metal asked.

“No,” the other robot replied, tone even. “You just seem... familiar.”

“You did say I resemble Sonic.”

“Most people of the same species share basic similarities,” Gemerl replied. “But an 89% match? Statistically impossible, unless you were his twin brother.”

Metal's eyes narrowed. “Didn’t the whole world think a black-and-red hedgehog was Sonic for a while?”

“Do not deflect from my original point, ‘Neo.’ My directive is to protect Cream and Vanilla. I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt because you helped find Chocola. Do not make me regret that.”

Metal turned his head slightly holding back the urge to let his eyes glow. The brown Chao on his head stirred uneasily at the movement.

“Is that a threat?”

“Interpretation is your prerogative.”

“Gemerl! Neo! What are you two talking about? We’re here!” Cream called out, turning toward them from the door of a cottage nestled in the village they had been walking through.

The two former Eggman robots held eye contact for one more long moment before breaking it, silently hurrying to catch up with the young rabbit.

Making their way inside the house, Metal was immediately greeted by the warm scent of baked goods wafting through the air. His stomach rumbling in a low growl at the smell. On his head, the Chao stiffened at the smell, then eagerly floated off him and zipped toward the kitchen.

Metal followed, pausing at the doorway to see Cream animatedly recounting the forest encounter to an older rabbit, who was bent down to her level, listening attentively.

The older rabbit stood slowly as she turned her gaze to the blue hedgehog. Her eyes narrowed slightly but then softened into a warm smile.

“Thank you very much for helping my daughter, Neo,” she said kindly.

She turned briefly to the stove, wrapping something warm in tinfoil with practiced motions before gently placing it into Metal’s hands.

Then she checked the clock on the wall and made a soft noise of realization. “Oh dear. I need to get going, Gemerl you already know ”

Without warning, she ushered Metal out of the kitchen by his shoulders and down the hallway, her movements gentle but firm. She glanced back to make sure Cream and Gemerl were out of earshot.

When they were far enough, she stopped, turning to face him, the warmth fading from her tone just, replaced by quiet authority.

“I don't know what you are, Neo,” Vanilla said quietly, “but what does Eggman want with my family?”

“Nothing,” Metal responded, sharper than he intended. “I didn’t even mean to come here. Why aren’t you telling the defecti—”

“Do. Not. Insult. My. Family.”

Her voice cracked like thunder in the narrow hallway. For a split second, something like fear sparked in Metal’s chest burying it beneath his pride as the doctor’s greatest creation.

Vanilla continued, voice level but steely. “The last thing I need today is Gemerl and you blowing apart my home in some death match.” Then, her tone softened just slightly. “But... It really was kind of you to help with Chocola.”

They reached the front door. Vanilla opened it, revealing a pink hedgehog standing outside, one fist already knocking mid-air. She blinked in surprise, then smiled.

“Amy. Hello.” They traded greetings warmly, like Metal wasn’t even there.

And Metal froze.

Didn’t speak. Didn’t move. Somehow lagging like he was still a machine. He stared as her voice echoed in his head, the way the setting sun caught in her quills, how she shifted her stance.

He didn’t understand it. Couldn’t process it. God, he wished Sage was here, Sage could keep him grounded all be it annoyingly

Amy caught the look. Her eyes flicked to him and recognition hit instantly. The hedgehog who once threatened to raze an entire village over trespass. Her hammer appeared in her hands in an instant, ready to strike.

Metal shifted too, stance light, ready to try and dance once more

Before either could move, Vanilla stepped between them.

“Nope.” Calm but firm. “I don’t care what you two have going on.” She looked between them with a gaze that could cut through steel.

Then she smiled. And when she turned her eyes back to Metal, he knew somehow, she knew and was taunting him.

“You’ll fight another day, Neo. Like you were going to.”

That stung more than it should have. Like being read too easily.

Metal stepped past them, head down,like a scolded teen trying not to sulk. Amy stood frozen, hammer still in hand, before finally heading inside, just as flustered.

Vanilla watched them both go, then chuckled softly to herself.

Amy, blushing and confused, glanced back at her. “Why'd you do that!?”

Vanilla only smiled.

■

Metal’s soles clanked softly against the base’s floor, the only sound in the quiet corridor as he returned. He’d eaten a few of the cookies Vanilla had given him and stored the rest neatly in the Doctor’s fridge.

Now he stood before his room, pausing.

The door slid open with a quiet hiss.

The sight that greeted him made him freeze.

The room had changed. A lot.

A couch, pink, of all things, had been dragged in and sat across from a mounted screen. Two figures occupied it, racing each other in a game with loud, chaotic music. Cables snaked across the floor like vines.

It was chaos.

Sage noticed him first, floating over cheerfully. “Do you like what we did?”

Metal stepped inside slowly, feeling something soft beneath his feet. He glanced down, carpet. Shaped and colored like the red Chaos Emerald.

He looked around.

His desk was now cluttered with items. gadgets, knickknacks, a few carefully positioned photos. A new shelf had been mounted above it, lined with books Frankenstein, The Republic, The Art of War, titles they must’ve assumed he’d like.

A small hologram projector sat on one end of the desk, looping images of Sage, Metal, and Eggman at different points. Nearby, a lava lamp bubbled quietly.

He turned toward the couch again, brow twitching.

“Pink?”

Orbot swiveled around with a smile.
“Do you like it, big bro?”

Metal stared a moment longer, then gave a noncommittal grunt.“…I don’t hate it.”

Cubot whispered loudly,
“Sage, what does he really mean?”

“He’s very satisfied with the changes.”

Without a word, Metal kicked all three out of his room and went to bed.

Chapter Text

“It’s nice to see you three.”

“Nice to see you, sugar,” purred rouge lounging in her chair, her voice slow and sultry. “I like the new office—”

“I don’t keep anything worth taking in here,” the woman interrupted flatly.

The bat arched a brow, smirking. “Oh, honey, Don’t say that about yourself. I bet I could still find something… valuable.”
She leaned forward, locking eyes with the woman.

A mechanical voice snapped through the tension.“Can we get to the point with this meatbag? I have Eggman robots to destroy.”

Rouge clicked her tongue and leaned back with an exaggerated sigh. “So impatient.” She turned to the agent. “Well, make your pitch?”

The woman gave a tired breath, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes.
“You’ve done a lot for the world and still do. some of your best work was under G.U.N.”

A new voice cut in, deep and cold “G.U.N. is dead. I have no intention of joining a corpse.”

“At least let the lady make her pitch, Shadow,” Rouge said with a teasing edge, eyeing him. “Don’t be rude.”

He grunted but said nothing more.

The agent continued, her tone more urgent. “The war. G.U.N.’s collapse. The disaster that was the Metal Virus. citizens and alike are losing faith in our ability to respond to global threats.”
She paused. “We need something to restore that trust. A signal that we’re still capable. I believe Team Dark’s participation in—”

“Pass,” Shadow and Omega said in unison.

The agent blinked, but Rouge just chuckled, folding her arms beneath her chest.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” she said playfully. “Getting these two to cluck like prize hens? That's just not gonna happen.”She tapped her chin. “Now, those jobs you mentioned earlier, those I’m still willing to talk about.”

The woman gave a dry smile.
“Obviously, all your previous amnesties would be reinstated. A substantially increased budget. Limited oversite and We’re prepared to hire the best engineers in the Federation to work on your tech. We want you operating at .”

Shadow was silent, arms crossed, but his eyes had narrowed in thought.

Rouge tilted her head toward him.
“You’re really considering this?”

“Yes. But…” Shadow looked back at the agent. “We need a moment.”

Without a word, the woman rose. Her heels clicked across the tile as she approached the office door, violet eyes beneath her brown bangs. She opened the door but glanced back, letting the light from the hall silhouette her frame.

“Take as much time as you need.”

Rouge waved two fingers with a wink.
“Will do, love.”

■

Metal and the Doctor sat quietly in the dining room off the base, the dull hum of machinery echoing faintly through the walls. Morning light was simulated by the panels above, casting sterile glints on the metal-lined table as they ate.

Metal chewed slowly on a piece of bread. Across from him, the Doctor spoke, voice low and measured.

“Metal, what do you know about the United Federation?”

The former robot swallowed and looked up, gears faintly whirring as he thought. “An enemy of the Empire. It was the most powerful state in the world before the annihilation of its military, G.U.N. Why, Doctor?”

The Doctor leaned forward, tapping his fingers rhythmically against the table as he chose his words.

“I have contacts in most corners of this small world, Metal. Yesterday, one of them informed me that G.U.N.’s main forces are being rebuilt and upgraded.”

Metal straightened slightly, tone sharper now. “Leveling a factory shouldn’t take long. Where is it located?”

The Doctor let out a soft chuckle, watching the hedgehog’s face tighten.

“Who said I even knew where it was located?”

Metal bristled at the laugh, fists clenching instinctively, but the Doctor raised a hand, his expression turning serious.

“I don’t know where it is yet… but I know where we can find that information. And a couple of other things I need.”

He paused, letting the implication sink in.

“Metal, have I ever sent you to Empire City before, they're holding a small celebration to announce what there doing, the gull we'll be going there and be having a short conversation with a woman named Topaz, the new commander of G.U.N”

■

Metal and the Doctor flew high above Empire City, flanked by a small contingent of Buzz Bombers and Falcos carrying Egg Pawns beneath their metallic bellies. Their formation cut through the skyline, zeroing in on a plaza packed with people. In the center of the crowd stood a raised platform, where a brown-haired woman was delivering a speech. Next to her stood a sleek, humanoid robot.

“Doctor… is that an E-2000?” Metal asked, narrowing his eyes.

The Doctor sneered. “Look at how they’ve massacred my creation, Metal.”

The robot resembled a fusion between an E-2000 and a G.U.N Hunter, finding a middle ground in size and proportions streamlined and militaristic,

Metal raised a brow. “are we here because of plagiarism?”

“Not entirely,” the Doctor muttered. “But it’s so blatant they could have at least—”

Metal tuned him out, not for the first time questioning the Doctor’s priorities. He shook it off and focused back in as the Doctor barked an order to the Badniks.

“Attack!”

The swarm descended in chaos. Buzz Bombers lit up the sky with energy blasts, Egg Pawns crashed down on stunned G.U.N agents, and panic erupted throughout the plaza. The crowd scattered as metal and clashed.

Metal and the Doctor floated down slowly, watching the chaos unfold.

Then the hybrid G.U.N Hunter moved.

It launched itself into a pack of Badniks, its laser arm charging in midair before unleashing a searing blast ripping through the squad like paper. The robot landed hard, as it turned toward Metal.

Metal didn’t hesitate. His right arm morphed into a cannon mid-flight, charging rapidly. The Hunter raised its laser arm, preparing another blast, but Metal fired first. The blast drilled straight through the laser arm, overloading it in a flash of light and starting a chain reaction.

BOOM.

The explosion blew the limb apart. The Hunter staggered back, sparking as missile pods slid open on its shoulders.

Metal’s eyes flared red. His thrusters roared just as the missiles launched dozens of them, all locking onto him. He darted away, weaving through buildings and drawing the projectiles out in a spiraling chase.

Then, in a blur, he looped back toward the plaza, dropping low and skimming the ground. He cut his power and slid against the pavement stopping in front of the Hunter dust flying in front of him as he wiped his nose for a moment.

The missiles screamed in behind him.

Metal blasted off to the side just before impact.

BOOM.

The explosion swallowed the hybrid Hunter in. Metal skidded across the pavement, sliding to a stop as chunks of scrap clattered behind him. Most of the civilians had fled, the remaining Badniks were mopping up the last of the G.U.N. agents.

Metal walked toward the raised platform, above him, the Doctor hovered, his Egg Mobile casting a shadow over the lone woman still on stage, surrounded by Badniks but unflinching.

“You're not going to get away with this!” she shouted defiantly.

“Wow. How terrifying,” the Doctor mocked. “Have you gotten that out of your system yet? Or do you have any other empty threats to spit”

She glared up at him, hatred burning in her eyes.

“Now, Commander Topaz,” the Doctor continued, smiling cruelly. “As fun as it was to crash your little public relations stunt, I have it on very good authority that G.U.N. is in possession of a certain duet of Emeralds, legendary for their... infinite energy. You know, the kind that turns rodents gold?”

Topaz’s expression shifted to surprise for only a moment before she steeled herself again.

“You’ll have to kill me,” she said coldly. “Because I’m not telling you anything.”

The Doctor sighed dramatically and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Metal, dear boy, could you do me a favor and… convince her to be more forthcoming?”

Metal nodded silently, stepping off the stage. He soon returned, dragging a wounded G.U.N. soldier by the back of the neck. The soldier groaned, barely conscious. Metal dropped him in front of the commander and extended thin, gleaming needles from his fingers, pressing them gently against the soldier’s throat.

“I'll give you until the count of ten,” the Doctor said lightly. “Does that sound fair, Metal?”

The former robot slowly shook his head.

The Doctor chuckled. “Five it is, then. Five seconds before he starts putting holes in your agents.”

Topaz’s composure cracked. “Please... don’t do this.”

The Doctor smiled wider. “Oh, don’t beg me. It's your decision after all.”

The doctor started counting slowly but before he could hit 0, there was a flash of light behind metal, accompanied by a sharp snap and Metal didn’t have time to react.

Steel-toe boots slammed into the back of his head, sending him tumbling, catching himself the needles melting back into him, then flipped up beside the Doctor.

Looking up, he saw another hedgehog.

Black. Red stripes. Metallic shoes. Gold rings around his wrists and ankles. And a face twisted in barely contained rage.

Shadow’s voice was tight. “Doctor… what is that thing?”

The Doctor grinned wide. “Hohoho… can’t you recognize my ultimate creation?”

There was a roar of chaos energy as red lightning cracked around the new hedgehog. Shadow energy cracked off him in waves, his eyes locked onto the Doctor, teeth gritted.

“Oh? Defensive of your title?” Eggman taunted. “Don’t worry. It was impossible to make him exactly like you, but I think he surpasses you in—"

A sudden barrage of gunfire and explosions tore through the badnik forces, scattering metal in every direction. Metal reacted instantly, forming a large shield in front of himself and the Doctor.

With a heavy thud, new figures landed on the platform.

The first was massive yellow, red, and black, one arm already morphed into a spinning minigun. The Omega symbol gleamed on its shoulder, red optics flaring with hostility as it stared down both Metal and his creator.

Then came the second: wings spread wide, hourglass figure silhouetted against the firelight, a heart-shaped cutout on her chest.

Rouge.

She flew in fast, grabbed the captured agent and Topaz and winked before lifting off into the sky.

Metal remained still, his gaze locked on the large robot in front of him.

E-123 Omega.

The minigun began to spin up.

“Deep scan complete,” Omega stated. “This meatbag appears lab-grown with eggman components.”

His eyes flashed red focusing on metal.

“Conclusion: you are fair game too exterminate.”

The robot lifted its minigun as Metal and the Doctor lifted off, the former launching sideways, the latter flying off into the sky.

Metal’s heart pounded as he barely sidestepped a black and red blur tearing past him in a buzzsaw-shaped attack whirring through the space he'd just occupied.

Snap.

he launched right as shadow reappeared above, slamming down into the pavement where he’d stood.

Snap.

The black hedgehog appeared again, this time to his right chaos energy crackling off his fist. It slammed into Metal’s barely raised guard, sending him skidding back toward the line of fire of the E-series robot. He only just stopped himself from becoming Swiss cheese, backflipping into the air. The thrusters on his boots roared to life, sputtered, and then reignited as he slammed into a wall.

Liquid steel flowed around his arms forming a circular shield on the right, and an arm cannon on the left.

Launching off the wall, he blocked a hail of bullets, then returned fire at the black hedgehog.

Snap.

Gone.

Sliding across the floor, he launched his shield toward the E-series' cannon, throwing off its aim.

Metal charged forward, cannon glowing with energy.

Snap.

A steel-toed boot crashed into his back, sending him tumbling forward. The metal around his collarbone then fired outward, forming a temporary limb that braced against the floor. Replacing his left, allowing the former robot to launch off the floor, landing behind the E-series and blasting it forward into its partner smashing both through a wall in a shower of debris.

Snap.

The black hedgehog was on top of him again.

A fist crashed into Metal’s arm cannon, smashing through vital components. The the cannon sank uselessly back into Metal’s frame.

Snap.

Gone.

Metal barely dodged, instinct screaming just in time to avoid a spear of chaos energy that hissed past his head.

Snap.

A knee slammed into Metal’s nose, blood gushing.

Snap.

Metal twisted, spinning to face behind himself and at last, they clashed, both landing heavy crosses against each other’s jaws. A Metal claw forming out of his other glove, metal swiped to disembowel the black hedgehog before he could get away

Snap.

Gone.

Metal wiped at his nose, waiting for Shadow to try and catch him off guard. This was what he was built for, born for. a smirk creeping across his face. Liquid steel flowed from his claw, reshaping at the knuckles into a compact blaster. It hummed low and ominous, the frequency steadily rising.

Snap.

The black hedgehog appeared in front of him, a lance of green chaos energy crackling in his palms.

He swung.

Metal barely caught his arm by the wrist, driving his blaster up toward Shadow’s face. But the hedgehog mirrored the move they locked together, each trying to overpower the other.

Then, clink.

Something metallic hit the floor beside them.

Metal turned.

A bomb. A pink heart painted on its shell.

Snap.

BOOM.

The world split open. Metal was flung into the air like a ragdoll, the explosion tearing through the platform. He smashed through rows of chairs, bounced once, then crashed through a wall, buried in rubble and broken bricks.

His hud flashed red with warnings.

“You think he’s dead? And where’s Omega?”

“No. And—”

Snap.

“Where. Is. It.”

Metal shoved the debris off just in time to see the E-series spin up both of its guns, red eyes flaring.

He raised his shield, melting every ounce of spare metal he had left into it and then braced.

When the barrage finally stopped, his arm felt like jelly. His frame was caked in dust, HUD screaming warnings. The shield fell away, morphing into a new weapon sleek, dense, modeled after Omega's own minigun. Embedded rounds recycled themselves, the left over metal flowing back over his skeleton.

He raised the cannon, stepped out of the smoke and spoke

"What was it you say? Exterminate. Exterminate."

Team Dark scattered from the line of fire. Shadow snapped out of view. Rouge shot into the air. Omega charged straight through, bullets sparking off the E-series’s chassis, doing little more than annoy it.

But Metal was faster.

He blasted off the ground in a burst of fire, slamming into the E-series in a spindash. The heavy robot skidded backward, Metal landed hard and kept firing, shots punching dents across its reinforced plating. He caught movement in his peripheral.

Rouge.

Hovering above, pulling out another one of her heart bombs looking for another opportunity to blow metal to hell.

Metal raised his knuckle-blaster and fired.

The pulse shook metal's bones, the feedback causing his own ears to ring.She barely dodged the shot, but the wave of sound still caught her.

Rouge screamed, hands flying to her ears as she spiraled, wings faltering.

Snap.

Snap.

Snap.

A gloved fist slammed into Metal’s face.

Snap.

He rolled with the blow just as a fist the size of his entire body crashed into the pavement behind him. His guns dissolved into liquid steel, surging back into his arms reshaping. From his right knuckles, a long, jagged blade extended, humming with his energy.

Snap.

Shadow appeared to his flank too close. A blade of Chaos energy swung for Metal’s neck. He barely blocked it in time, sparks showering between the clash. He shoved forward, forcing the black hedgehog back.

Snap.

Omega roared into range, swinging with bone-breaking force. Metal ducked under the arc and drove his blade deep into the robot’s leg, slicing halfway through. Omega staggered.

Metal’s thrusters ignited.

He rocketed upward, energy crackling off his form, and smashed a punch into Omega’s chest caving it in. The E-series stumbled, feet grinding sparks against the platform.

Snap.

“Chaos…”

Metal didn’t hesitate. Every bit of excess metal and energy in his system flooded into forming and powering his thrusters. He launched forward like a cannonball trying to interrupt the black hedgehog before he could finish what he was doing.

Ahead, Shadow raised a Chaos Emerald, his eyes glowing bright red.

“CONTROL!”

Metal ragdolled once again. He felt dozens of impacts slam into him at once, crashing down like a meteor. When he finally hit the pavement, he skidded and scraped across it

The former robot tried to rise, to fire his thrusters, to fight, but his body refused. The damage was too much. His systems were already being pushed and now…

Endless danger warnings flooded his HUD.

Then A heel slammed into his back.

That was it for Metal.

■

Rouge floated down, her wings flicking against the air. She landed gracefully next to the navy hedgehog’s unmoving body and stomped her heel once more into his back.

“Stupid Eggman. Stupid sound attack,” she muttered.

She turned to Shadow. “And you—you couldn’t have done that earlier?”

“If I had used it right away,” Shadow replied coolly, “it might not have finished him. I wanted to save it—for Eggman.”

He paused, eyes shifting to the E-series.

“You two alright?”

Omega’s voice buzzed through static. “He did not significantly damage me, although my motor functions are currently limited by 26%.”

“I’ll be fine once this ringing stops,” Rouge grumbled, rubbing her ears. She crouched next to the navy hedgehog, poking at him with a mix of curiosity and caution. “So… what do you think he is?”

Shadow’s gaze darkened. “The Doctor called him his ‘ultimate creation.’ Whatever this mockery is, it's part of something bigger. He’s planning something.”

Rouge stood. “So, what now?”

Omega stepped forward, guns humming. “I suggest we kill him now.”

Shadow ignored the comment and moved toward Metal. Cautiously, he picked him up, slinging the limp form over his shoulder.

“Not yet,” Shadow said coldly. “He's gonna tell us what Eggman’s planning. Either way he makes good bait for the doctor.”

Chapter Text

Metal woke with a shudder, pain racking through his back as he rolled over, the clinking of chains echoing in the concrete room. A bone deep exhaustion ran through his body, heavier than anything he remembered feeling before. When he opened his eyes, he saw what could best be described as a concrete box, bare walls, no windows, and only a reinforced steel door ahead. Thick chains ran from his wrists and ankles to metal loops embedded in the wall.

He shifted to sit up, then looked down. Heavy golden bands clamped around his limbs.

“Limiter rings,” he thought bitterly, tugging on the chains. Most of his energy was gone. He tried pinging his internal systems to locate his position, Standing was hard enough. Escaping like this was impossible.

He flicked through his hud, hoping for some sign of the outside world, until he found a message.

Sage.

> Metal, Father told me you were taken. Your tracker signal dropped off the face of the Earth after Shadow teleported you. I'm going to keep messaging you every hour until you respond or we find you.

He scrolled through the log. 48 unread messages. And the most recent:

> I’ve been trying to figure out ways to track you using your unique Chaos energy signature, but they'd have most likely put limiter rings on you. Father’s is trying to meet with his contact in G.U.N., but things are really tense right now because of the attacks and because you were captured. I hope you’re still alive, or at least that your chip’s intact and we can fix you. I miss you very much.

Metal stared at the limiter rings again.

"It’s been two days and I’m still this weak?" he thought. "These things are slowing down my recovery..."

Then a ping appeared on his HUD.

> My messages just got marked as read. Metal? Are you there?

> Yeah. You miss me?

He felt her connect through the eggnet and Sage sent what felt like the digital equivalent of a warm hug back across the link.

“How long have you been awake? she asked in his head.”

“Five, ten minutes. What’s the Doctor been doing?”

“I finally got Father to stop mindlessly leveling G.U.N. bases looking for you. He nearly drew Sonic’s attention. I think you already know what he’s doing now.”

“I... lost.”

“I don’t care about that right now. I just need to get my brother home. So stop sulking, and let’s think.”

Metal felt the sting at his pride form the scolding, but he complied silently and started to brainstorm with her.

“They’re either holding me to get intel on the Doctor… or they’re just using me as bait.”

“That could work in our favor. Metal, can you make something small? A bug? Something I can control remotely?”

Metal clenched his fist. He closed his eyes, willing the metal in his body to shift.

It was sluggish. Slower than he was used to. But it was moving.

"It’s going to take a while, even with how small it is," he thought.

"That’s not a problem for me," Sage replied in his head.

A small screen appeared in Metal’s HUD, Pong.

Metal mentally shrugged. Fine. He took control of one side and started to play, even as the bug slowly formed in his palm small, spider-shaped, with the Doctor’s logo emblazoned across its thorax.

■

144 games later, Metal layed against the floor, the spider now mostly complete. Its segmented legs twitched in his hand. There was the sound of metal against stone as the cell door creaked open. Heels clacked against the concrete.

Rouge strutted in, arms crossed, a playful smile on her face as she looked down at the slumped hedgehog.

"Well, you look comfortable."

Metal didn’t answer. He stayed still, focusing what little energy he had on finishing the spider. Even through the limiter rings, he kept molding the metal, slow and deliberate.

Rouge rolled her eyes and let out a sharp sigh.

"You know, this silent treatment’s going to get old fast."

…

"I know you can talk. You said something while we were fighting."

…

She leaned in slightly, voice dropping just enough to sound both annoyed and amused.

"Even if you weren’t some kind of evil clone, I could still torture you. I can have Shadow down here in five minutes tops to help. But I'd rather not do that."

She rubbed her ear and pouted slightly.

"Although... you do deserve it. After what you did to poor me."

Metal shifted. Slowly, he sat up. Then finally, spoke.

"You dropped a bomb right on top of me."

Rouge raised an eyebrow. "Well, you were trying to blow Shadow’s face off. And I obviously didn’t do anything permanent, compared to what you could have did. Bat ears are sensitive, you know."

"You thought you might’ve killed me."

She shrugged, casual as ever. “Shadow’s fallen from space. Sonic’s fallen into a black hole. Stop being a baby about a bomb, Metal"

"I never told you my name."

Rouge shrugged casually.
"Commander Topaz heard it. Wanna know what else we know?"

"Why not."

She crouched in front of him now, eyes sharp, voice like a knife wrapped in velvet.

"Your blood shows you’re at most a year old. Artificial. A copy and mix of a few things, hedgehog, cat, human. And I could probably guess your donors. Liquid metal, white highlights in your spines, skilled enough to give Team Dark a run for our money, sounds kinda familiar."

Metal scowled. Rouge leaned in closer.

"I can’t even blame you. He made you real just to be another weapon. What else would you do, leave? You know he doesn’t care about you, right? He spent a day looking for you and then got bored. He’s probably making another ‘Metal’ right now."

"Shut up," Metal snapped. "I don’t need you to psychoanalyze me."

"Aww, is Metal angry?" she teased with a mock pout before her expression hardened.

She straightened up and smoothed her gloves.

"That’s probably enough for one day. They’ll be bringing you some food and water, so... just think about where your loyalties lie and if you don't wanna spend the rest of you life in a box."

She turned and strutted out of the room never noticing the small bot clinging to the back of her heel.

"Metal, are you—"

"I’m fine," he thought sharply. "Just try to find me a way out of here."

Sage didn’t reply in words, but sent back what felt like a nod, affirmation wrapped in code. Then she was gone, in the spider.

Metal closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall. New emotions, heavy and unfamiliar, weighed down on his chest.

■

Metal spent the next few days healing and eating surprisingly good oatmeal while Sage silently skulked through the base’s systems. Rouge hadn’t returned yet and Metal was glad for that.

He stood, stretching as best he could with the chains still latched. He wasn’t at full strength, but he didn’t think he’d collapse just from walking.

A ping echoed through his mind, followed by Sage’s voice.

"We won’t have a lot of time to pull this off. Are you strong enough to win a fight with some G.U.N. fodder right now?"

Metal rubbed at his wrists as best as he could through the limiter rings.
"I’ll manage."

Moments later, the cell door opened with a soft metallic hiss. A short, stocky, blue quilled porcupine stepped in carrying Metal’s meal. He set the tray down, then glanced at Metal.

"Reach out your hands."

Metal obeyed, keeping his movements calm. The guard began undoing the locks on his wrists.

"Security footage is looping," Sage whispered in his head.

As the last lock clicked open and the guard pulled away, Metal struck. He grabbed the man’s arm and yanked him forward, slamming s fist into his throat. The guard gagged, stumbled forward. Metal hit him again this time in the back of the head, knocking him out cold.

Without wasting a second, he unlocked the rest of his restraints, then quickly stripped the guard and changed into the uniform. The clothes were tight, especially the pants, but they’d do. He adjusted them to cover the limiter rings, chained the unconscious guard to the wall wearing his clothes and shoes, then stepped into the hallway, blinking hard. Even through the goggles, the light stung his eyes. Still, he moved quickly trying not to draw attention to himself as he made his way to the elevator .

Once inside, he slumped against the wall, catching his breath, tugging slightly at one of the rings.

"Sage… how long until we can get these things off?"

"We’re heading toward Commander Topaz’s office. I’ve got the cams looping yesterday’s footage. You’ll have only a short window to find the key to your limiters."

The elevator doors opened. Metal straightened and walked with purpose. The higher floors were busier, plainclothes agents moved through the halls, distracted and unaware. He made his way to Topaz’s office and slipped inside, locking the door behind him.

He immediately began tearing through the desk, opening drawers, shuffling through files. After a few tense minutes, his hand hit something solid beneath the bottom drawer, a false panel. He yanked it open, revealing a hidden compartment.

Inside, he found it: a small case with the key to his limiters.

He quickly unlocked each ring, one by one. As they fell away, he felt energy surge back into his limbs. The haze of exhaustion starting to fade.

The. he felt it again. That pulse.
The one he’d felt when he first woke up here.

"Sage, did you ever find the Emeralds?"

"No. But it doesn’t matter right now."

Another plause caught his attention. He turned toward a nearby photo of Commander Tower standing next to Topaz in this office shaking hands and then tore it off the wall. Behind it was a wall-embedded safe.

"Based on her fingerprint patterns the code should be-"

Metal surged firm His fingers forming a smaller laser cutter quickly cutting the safe open.

"Or you could just do that," Sage muttered.

Inside, two Chaos Emeralds glowed softly. Without hesitation, Metal dashed back to the desk, grabbed a briefcase, and placed the Emeralds inside.bhe stepped toward the door. His expression was calm and he walked slowly and carefully making sure not to bump into anyone as he walked back through the base, toward the elevator

“Okay. Final stretch till we’re home free, Metal.”

He stepped into the elevator, pressing the button for the top floor. The doors closed slowly as he adjusted his gloves, just in time to see a black and red figure walking toward him.

“Fuck,” both of them thought at once.

Metal jabbed the button again, trying to be discreet. But Shadow was too close. The heavy clink of metal shoes echoed against the floor of the lift. Metal pulled his hand away from the panel and forced himself to stay still as Shadow stepped inside.

The dark hedgehog didn’t press a button. Just looked at the disguised figure standing beside him. One eyebrow raised, then he turned to face forward, arms crossed. The elevator began its climb.

“This floor is restricted to personnel with higher clearance. I don’t recognize you. Can I see your badge?”

Metal froze for a moment, brain scrambling. He forced his voice lower, flatter, trying to distort the sound.

“No? You’re an independent contractor. Not my commanding officer. You don’t have, authority to inspect me without cause.”

Shadow’s lip curled into a snarl.

“Who do you think you’re talking to? I take my orders directly from the Commander.”

“The guy who helped blow up half the moon?”

That earned a low growl. Shadow turned away again.

“You’re not worth the headache.”

For a moment, the ride continued in silence.

Then the elevator jerked to a halt. Lights flashed red. The P.A. system crackled to life:

“Red alert. Red alert. A max-security prisoner has escaped. Two high-level assets have been stolen.”

Shadow turned again. This time, really looking at the “agent” beside him. The spines. The slight glint of blue behind the goggles. The case in their hand radiating a familiar, unmistakable Chaos signature.

Silence.

Both of their eyes started to glow red. Energy crackled faintly in the space between them.

“I already gave you a chance.” Shadow’s voice was low, dangerous. “This time I’m going to send you to the Doctor in pieces—”

Metal struck first, a backhand, desperate and fast, trying to end the fight before it could even start.

Snap.

Cut.

The force sent Metal staggering. Then the elevator lurched. The cables gave way abd Gravity vanished for a moment. Metal’s blaster formed instantly, arm snapping upward as he aimed at the ceiling.

Snap.

Shadow appeared in front of him, a blur in the chaos. A fist slammed into Metal’s gut. Metal lurched, the blaster dissolving back into his arm. They exchanged blows mid-air as the elevator plummeted beneath them, neither holding back. Each strike was mirrored, each dodge narrowly avoided, Metal and Sage analyzing Shadow’s patterns in real time, searching for an opening.

A right hook, Metal batted it away, forcing Shadow back. Then A left cross. Metal leaned just out of reach. Metal surged forward, head slamming into Shadow’s face with a satisfying thud.

Snap.

He didn’t get the satisfaction of pressing the advantage. Blasting another hole in the ceiling, he rocketed out of the shaft just as the elevator crashed into the ground below, shaking the entire building.

Metal reached the top floor quickly, blasting another hole through and launching forward.

Snap.

A metal-clad sole slammed into his side. Metal spiraled mid-air, crashing through a wall and into an empty office. He rolled and scrambled up just in time to dodge spears of Chaos energy. His thrusters deformed instinctively, melting away into his back.

“Metal, just run!” Sage pleaded.

He ignored her.

Metal flowed over the case, locking it to his back to free his hands. Shadow rushed forward in a Spin Dash, Metal met him head-on.

Snap.

Snap.

Shadow appeared in front of metal a G.U.N agent’s rifle in his hands, unloading rounds. Metal dashed to the side, forming a shield in one arm. The bullets pinged harmlessly against it. Then he launched the shield at the black hedgehog. Shadow dropped the rifle mid-reload, Chaos energy crackling along his arm as he batted the disc aside, just in time to block Metal’s kick. A blade of glowing Chaos energy formed in Shadow’s hand. Metal dodged, forming a jagged metal sword of his own. They clashed, again and again, desperately slashing, trying to land a decisive blow, only scoring shallow cuts.

Another clash, Shadow nearly overpowered him, Metal surged forward, then launched himself backward, his blade melting away and reshaping into twin cannons. He fired wildly.

Shadow weaved through the blasts, skating between beams and surging forward, tackling Metal straight through a wall. They tumbled, rolled, skidded across the floor, then both rocketed back up, Chaos energy crackling off their skin and spines.

They met locking arms in a grapple, teeth bared, boosters burning. They slammed into a wall, then another.

To the panicked G.U.N. agents around them, they were just blurs, flickering in and out of sight, faster than normal eyes could follow.

They landed heavy strikes, each one trying to end the other. Metal began to pull ahead. He grabbed Shadow by the scruff of his neck and slammed him into a wall, then boosted again, driving him through into the next room's floor.

Shadow growled, dragging himself up and pulling out his Chaos Emerald, glowing with power.

Metal mirrored him. The briefcase on his back pulsed and another Emerald answered his call appearing in his hand unconsciously in a snap.

They both screamed,“CHAOS CONTROL!”

Time warped.

Everything froze.

The world turned black and white, silent and still, except for Shadow, striding confidently toward the navy blue hedgehog .A Chaos Spear crackled to life in his hand.

“You couldn’t even do it right,” Shadow muttered, raising the spear. “You’re not even good enough to be his fake, let alone copy me.”

He didn’t notice the tiny twitch in Metal’s finger.

Didn’t see the slight curl of a fist.

Didn’t react in time as the “frozen” Metal’s arm snapped up in a punch to a completely unguarded jaw.

Time resumed.

Shadow went flying, crashing through a wall in a storm of dust and debris. Metal dropped to one knee, His body screaming.

His voice came out strained, but proud. “Even the Ultimate Lifeform... can’t stop me.”

"That's all well and good, but the rest of Team Dark is going to be on you in three minutes, so let's get out of here."

Metal limped forward, liquid steel shifting and reforming into his thrusters as he walked toward Shadow barely holding onto consciousness. His red eyes gleamed as he stared down at him.

"You're a Metal Sonic!?"

Metal’s foot slammed into Shadow’s side, rolling him off his Chaos Emerald. Grabbing the Emerald, Metal blasted off just as Omega and Rouge arrived. He broke the sound barrier behind them, getting far enough away to avoid recapture before his thrusters sputtered. He crashed into a forest and promptly passed out.

■

Waking up in the same bed he had first awoken in, he slowly sat up, noticing the bandages wrapped around his arms and legs. The door hissed open, and the doctor rushed in, worry plastered across his face.

"Hello, Doctor."

"Are you okay, my boy?"

"Yeah, I’ll be fine."

The doctor smiled, grabbing a chair and pulling it over before sitting next to him.

"So… you took on all of Team Dark at once, infiltrated a G.U.N. base, stole three Chaos Emeralds, and beat Shadow?"

"It was nothing."

The doctor laughed, placing a hand on the hedgehog’s head.

"Atta boy."

"...Thanks, Da-Doctor."

Chapter Text

Metal spun on his heel, launching his shield like a missile, the disc tore through the air, embedding itself in the final Egg Pawn’s chest. The machine staggered back, sparking, then collapsed into the growing pile of ruined Badniks.

Metal exhaled, half habit, half exhaustion, and leaned forward, hands on his knees. Around him, the walls of the simulation chamber hissed open, revealing a squad of cleaning drones that promptly rolled in, buzzing and clicking as they began sweeping up the mechanical carnage.

Stepping through the debris, Metal reached the panel at the back of the room. He pressed it with a gloved hand. The screen flickered then glitched. Instead of the next wave, the image of Eggman’s logo popped up, animated, smug, with a wagging finger.

“You know you're supposed to be resting, right?” Sage materialized beside him, arms crossed, voice cool but concerned.

“I'm fine,” he said, hitting the panel again. Nothing.

“Were you going to do this all day?”

“Yes.Why?”

“So… you're not doing anything?”

“I'm doing this.”

They stared each other down for a moment until Metal finally relented, straightening up with a sigh.

“What do you want?”

Sage tilted her head slightly.

“Would you like to go to the Festival of the Sun with me, brother?”

Metal blinked. “What about the Doctor?” He tried to deflect.

“Father's busy. He’s neck-deep in a new project. He won’t notice if we’re gone a couple hours.”

Metal folded his arms, thinking it over. He glanced away form Sage, who promptly teleported into his direct line of sight, clasping her hands and giving him the most painfully effective look of faux innocence she could muster.

He sighed again, deeper this time. “Fine.”

Sage beamed.

■

Metal flew low across the ocean surface, the waves parting around him in ripples and foam as he approached the mainland. He touched down a few miles from the city’s edge, sand crunching under his boots.

“Aren’t you forgetting something, Metal?” Sage’s voice chimed in his ear.

“No? What?”

“The whole point of landing far away was not to draw attention to ourselves.” A beat. “Look at your outfit.”

Metal glanced down. Right. He wasn’t in an exact one to one with the doctor, but he still close enough that anyone halfway observant could connect the dots, especially here.

Slowing to a jog, Metal stopped behind a thicket of palm trees. With a moment of focus, a subtle shimmer passed over his frame. Liquid metal rippled out of him, cloaking his boots and chest. Textures shifted and hardened, dulling into something more inconspicuous.

Now, instead wore a black leather jacket white along the shoulder and under the arms with and a pair of sleek, black boots.
He looked up at the city skyline beyond the trees, festival lights already glowing in the distance.

“Better?”

“Much.” Sage’s voice held a note of satisfaction.

Metal made his way swiftly toward the city. He had never been to a place like Soleanna before, built along the water, full of light, motion, and sound. Small boats drifted by on the canals as he walked through the bustling streets, tourists and locals alike filling every corner of the festival. The energy was electric, pulsing with excitement and color.

Following Sage’s instructions, Metal wound through the city, observing landmarks lit up for the Festival of the Sun; hanging lanterns, shimmering water displays, food stalls, music. It was... overwhelming. But not unpleasant.

Cutting through a narrow alley to avoid a crowd surge, he paused. The soft sound of footsteps echoed behind him, He turned.

And froze.

A pink hedgehog stood at the mouth of the alley, brandishing a massive hammer in one hand and a set of tarot cards in the other, eyes narrowed with sharp recognition.

“What are you doing here, Neo?” Amy asked.

Metal stared, heart suddenly racing. His first instinct was to run, he could lose her easily if he really tried.

“Say something!!” Sage shouted in his head, snapping him out of it.

“Festival,” he blurted.

Amy raised an eyebrow, lowering her weapons slightly. “You’re just... here for the festival?”

Metal nodded stiffly.

“Is Eggman here too?”

“No. It’s just us.”

A sudden noise made Amy jump, and she yanked out her phone. A voice crackled from the speaker, Sage. Her eyes widened, tears welling up almost instantly.

“S-Sage...?”

“Yes. Yes, I’m very much alive. M—Neo, could you do me a favor?”

Metal felt a ping in his HUD. He looked down. A small construct design appeared in his vision; he extended his palm, and metal poured out, shaping quickly into a floating projector.

“We thought you died!” Amy said, still staring at the phone.

“Permanently destroying one of Father’s greatest creations,” Sage replied with a smirk in her tone, “would not be so simple.”

Amy laughed, wiping her face. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Metal held up his hand, the device now finished. It floated out of his palm, hovering between them. Sage’s avatar flickered to life, projecting clean and clear, while Amy’s phone dimmed back to normal.

The projection gave them a gentle smile.

“See you two later.”

And then she vanished, gone in a flash of light and code, leaving Metal alone with the pink hedgehog.

Amy turned to him with a smile. “So... looks like we’re both alone.”

Metal nodded slowly. “true.”

Her smile widened. “Would you like to explore the festival with me? At least until the person I’m waiting for arrives?”

Metal hesitated, then nodded again. A loud part of him wanted to say yes anyway. She beamed, then reached out and grabbed his hand, tugging him gently but insistently out of the alley and into the brilliant streets of the festival.

Amy seeing something hurried her pace, dragging Metal along toward the High Striker. A man stepped forward to meet them halfway, a sheepish look on his face. Amy’s smile grew wider as the man raised a hand to stop them.

“Hello, Mister Vito! It’s nice to see you again this year,” she beamed.

“Yes, it’s nice to see you too, Miss Rose,” Vito said, glancing nervously down at her and trying to keep a tentative smile on his face. “It’s just—”

“I promise I won’t break the machine this time, sir,” Amy said, hands behind her back in mock innocence.

“How about we let your friend here go first?” the man suggested, patting Metal on the shoulder.

Metal barely resisted the urge to shake him off.

Vito handed Metal the large hammer. Without a word, Metal walked toward the machine, gripped the hammer tightly, raised it above his head, and slammed it down in one clean motion. A satisfying ding rang out as the puck shot up and struck the bell.

Vito gave an impressed nod, taking the hammer back and placing it aside. “Alright then. Your turn, Miss Rose,” he said, handing Amy a much smaller wooden hammer.

“No offense, Miss Rose, but—”

“It’s fine, Vito,” she said, brushing it off.

Squaring up with the machine, Amy raised the hammer above her head and slammed it down with all her strength.

BANG!

The puck rocketed upward, hitting the bell harder than Metal’s had. But as the sound echoed out, the head of the wooden hammer cracked, splintering from the impact. Amy looked down at the broken handle in her hands and gave a sheepish grin.

“…My bad.”

Vito forced a smile as he took what was left of the broken hammer. Metal, without a word, discreetly formed a card in his sleeve, and handed it to Vito to pay for their swings.

Amy wandered over to the prize table, eyes scanning eagerly. She picked two things and returned, holding something behind her back with a grin.

She handed Metal a small bracelet, black with waves of fire etched in crimson across its surface. Without waiting, she gently slipped it around his wrist. Then she raised her own arm to show off a matching one.

"I figured you didn’t seem like the plushie type,” she said, smiling. “And this? It looks good on you.”

The touch was like electricity to Metal. His stomach whirred,

“…Thanks,” he said quietly. “You… too.”

She smiled up at him and took his wrists once again

Amy continued tugging him along from booth to booth. Eventually, they ended up in a small square with a water fountain at the center, surrounded by people chatting happily. He looked up, the sun was starting to set, and he hadn’t even noticed.

A small squeeze on his arm brought his gaze back down. Amy was smiling up at him, and his heart raced for what felt like the dozenth time that day. He wanted it to stop and never end at the same time.

“You wanna take a picture with me, Neo?”

“I—I don’t know…”

“Come on, it’ll be fun. Please?”

He couldn’t stop himself from nodding. Before he knew it, Amy had placed him in front of the fountain. She dashed over to a stranger and handed them her phone, then hurried back to stand beside him. Her arms wrapped around one of his, and he barely stopped himself from jumping. The stranger raised the phone, and Metal gave a small, uncertain smile. Amy let go right after the photo and rushed forward, grabbing her phone and showing him the picture.

“You’re smiling, Neo.”

Metal raised a brow, staring at the image. “…Aren’t you supposed to smile in photos?”

“Yeah, but you always have this look on your face,” She did her best impersonation of him, exaggerating a cold, blank stare. “It’s just… you have a nice smile.”

He covered his mouth for a moment, looking at the picture again. “I really look like that all the time?”

She nodded. He rolled his eyes, earning a giggle from hernthen a sudden gasp noticing someone in the crowd. Amy quickly pocketed her phone and grabbed his hand. “Oh, you two are going to get along so well!”

“Who is it?”

She didn’t answer, just pulled him through the crowd. Metal followed, looking up form her to see who she was leading him to. The blue hedgehog stood casually, a chili dog in one hand and a caramel apple in the other. On his face were a pair of sunglasses shaped like suns. Amy ran up and greeted him excitedly, throwing her arms around him in a hug.

Sonic the Hedgehog.

Him.

HIM.

He felt his eyes start to blaze, every part of him wanting to rush he's lesser, seeing here around him he felt something bitter replace the anger.

“What would she think of me if I ruined this for her?”

He shook his head ruined and ran off in a blur.

“Neo this is” she started, turning back to introduce them.

But Metal was already gone.

Amy looked around in confusion. Sonic, finishing the last of his food, glancing down at the pavement, skid marks from where Metal had taken off.

“He was just here?”

“Think your mystery guy ran off, Ames. Can’t blame him I'd be nervous about meeting me too,” Sonic joked, stretching with a grin.

“Sonic!”

“Joking, joking!” he chuckled, handing her his novelty sunglasses. Amy showed him the picture of them with her phone

Sonic raised a brow. “You definitely have a type, Ames.”

“It’s not like that, I promise,” she said quickly, blushing.

Sonic chuckled again, vanishing in a blue blur.

Metal bolted through the crowd, weaving between stunned tourists. He vaulted over a railing and dropped down a flight of stairs, landing in a roll and springing forward again, right by the water’s edge. He curled into a ball and dashed through a booth, trying not to break anything.

He heard him. That rhythmic, pounding stride, Sonic’s sneakers slapping against concrete. Metal veered sharply, ditching subtlety. He fired into a short boost across the water, skimming the surface like a stone, drawing gasps from nearby boat riders. He reached the far bank, turned a sharp corner, and ducked into an empty alley.

Reaching upward, liquid metal shooting out and latching onto a rooftop ledge and then pulling him up.

“Hey, did someone alot like me pass through here?”

A stranger pointed across the canal. Sonic smirked. “Guess he did run over the water. Cool.”

Rushing across the water he followed metals footsteps to the alley looking up and then bouncing off the walls landing in the roof and then taking off after Metal again, darting across the Soleanna skyline. The chase twisted through Soleanna. Eventually, the path looped around, right back toward the fountain.

Metal dropped down from a building’s edge, landing lightly. Amy looked up as he approached.

“Sorry for running off,” he said, his voice quiet. “Today was… nice.”

“Don’t mention it, ne–”

But before she could finish, he was gone again, vanishing into the crowd in a blue blur.

Sonic skidded to a stop in the space Metal had just vacated.

“Best two outta three, Neo!” he shouted after him, laughing and catching his breath. He turned back to Amy, smiling apologetically. “Sorry I didn’t catch him.”

“It’s fine,” she said, wrapping her arms around him. “Just don't run off, I need someone to watch the fireworks with.”

■

Metal sat perched atop a tall spire, the cool night air brushing against his frame. Below him, the city glowed, alive with sound and color as fireworks lit up the sky in bursts of gold and violet. He let out a breath, a reflex more than a necessity, and closed his eyes for a moment, letting the sound wash over him.

Then came a ping.

“You had fun with Amy, brother.”

He didn’t open his eyes.

“…Yes.” A pause. “Did you have to ditch me like that?”

There was silence in his head, long and loaded. Metal sighed quietly, hearing another explode in a slow bloom. They sat in silence together for a while, even if not physically. Then Metal spoke again, his voice softer.

“Sage… can you do me a favor?”

“Depends.”

“Amy took a photo of us. Can you—”

He didn’t finish. Another soft ping echoed through his mind, and the photo appeared in his HUD: Amy, smiling brightly, clinging to his arm. Himself, smiling too, however faintly, standing still by the fountain.

He stared at it.

“Thanks, Sage.”

Above them, another firework went off.

Chapter Text

Metal stared at the chessboard, his pieces slowly tightening like a vice around the Doctor’s. He glanced up, ivo's brow furrowed in concentration. He played slowly, deliberately, dragging the pace of the game out until, to Metal’s frustration, it ended in yet another stalemate.

“You know I was teasing when I told you to practice with Sage,” the Doctor said, wiping his brow with a gloved hand. “But that was actually pretty close.”

“Eighteen victories in your favor,” Metal replied flatly. “And three draws.”

“Keep that pace up and I might actually have to start trying,” Eggman chuckled. Metal said nothing, quietly tamping down the spike of pride that tried to rise at his bruised ego.

“Another roun--” Metal began, but a flash of light interrupted him.

Sage appeared beside the table, her expression urgent. “I found the last three Chaos Emeralds, Father.”

“Perfect,” Eggman said, straightening. “Where are they, Sage?”

“The first is on Angel Island, my filters picked it up after detecting an elevated amount of energy compared to the island's normal levels. The other two have been appearing together sporadically on sensors in and around Station Square. Someone has already found them, Father.”

Metal silently began packing up the chess pieces, already anticipating the order to move out before the doctor could even say it.

■

Metal landed softly on the edge of the island, his HUD flickering with static as he stepped into the thick brush.

“The interference is always a nightmare up here,” he muttered. “Any ideas for finding it?”

“Find a Chao,” Sage replied. “Being descendants of the Ancients, Chao are subconsciously drawn to Chaos Emeralds. Assuming Knuckles doesn’t have it…”

“Why would he?” Metal scoffed. “It’s extremely unlikely the Emerald just dropped into his lap. He wouldn’t even notice it on the island with all this interference from the MasterEmerald.”

As he pushed forward, he heard a small babble and turned. A Chao was stuck in a low tree near the edge of a cliff. It looked strange. A Sonic Chao with red eyes, upward-facing quills, yellow digits, and silver arms.

“Aww, Metal,” Sage teased. “It kind of looks like you.”

“I suppose,” Metal replied flatly. He walked over and hovered up to the branch, grabbing the Chao. It whimpered slightly in his hand. As soon as he set it down, it launched upward again, grabbing tightly onto his foot.

“It likes you,” Sage said smugly.

“Obviously.”

After a moment of annoyed struggle, Metal picked the creature up. In his other hand, a sphere of liquid metal formed, shaping into a Chaos Emerald. The Chao stared, mesmerized. Metal pulled the projection back into his body.

“Have you seen one of those recently?”

The Chao babbled, then nodded, pointing deeper into the forest. Metal set it down and followed.

■

The Chao led them to a small clearing. Sunlight spilled across the surface of a shallow pond. It was a perfect little oasis, fruit trees all around, a handful of other Chao playing nearby.

“Is this your home?” Metal asked.

The Chao nodded, grabbing Metal’s hand and trying to pull him further in. After a moment’s resistance, Metal let it drag him under a large palm tree. The Chao flew up, tried to grab a fruit, failed, and promptly flopped onto Metal’s head, whining.

With a sigh, Metal reached up, grabbed the fruit, and handed it to the creature.

“Do you know where the Chaos Emerald is or not?”

The Chao whined again, turning the fruit over in its hands, then sighed dramatically. It stood, made a few little boxing motions in the air, then zipped toward another Chao across the clearing, this one red in color.

“…Knuckles has it.”

The first Chao nodded, then resumed happily munching on its plum. It floated up and perched on Metal’s head while it ate.

“Well, that was a waste of time.”

“Not necessarily.” Sage sounded thoughtful. “Can you ask if Knuckles comes here often?”

Metal relayed the question. The Chao gave a happy-sounding babble and nodded.

“Perfect. We wait here. If he sees us with the Chao, he’ll be less likely to assume we’re after the Master Emerald and start a fight. He’s never been especially possessive of the small infinite energy sources he might just hand it over if we ask nice.”

Metal didn’t argue. He sat down, finding a comfortable patch of grass, and waited.

Something plopped into his lap as thay had brought him here left him for a moment. The metal Chao had returned, this time dragging a pink one behind it by the hand, proudly showing off its fruit before pointing up at the tree. The pink one hid behind its friend.

With a sigh, Metal got up, grabbed another fruit, and offered it gently. The pink Chao hesitated, then took it and sat beside the other, quietly nibbling.

“Your amygdala just lit up a bit.” Sage’s voice was amused. “Are you… jealous of your Chao?”

“It’s not my Chao. And I’m not jealous.”

“You’re lying.” she sung

“Stop scanning my brain” Metal snapped to her amusement

More Chao began to wander over, drawn by the fruit. Metal tried to ignore them, but the crowd kept growing, babbling and bouncing excitedly. Eventually, with reluctant haste, he started pulling down fruit and handing it out.

By the time the last one was fed, he was sitting in a quiet circle of satisfied Chao, playing around him like he was part of the landscape.

Time passed quickly. Metal looked up, sunlight slipping beneath the horizon as the Chao eventually drifted away to rest or play elsewhere. Then he heard heavy footfalls.

Liquid metal poured over the Doctor’s jacket, reshaping it into his black and white jacket. Knuckles the Echidna stood tall at the edge of the grove. He idly tossed a Chaos Emerald in the air and caught it with dramatic flair, surrounded by giggling Chao.

“Chaos Control!”

Nothing happened. Knuckles sucked his teeth.

“Tch. I can go super, but teleporting? That’s too much? And I protect your boss. You should be working for me.”

“…He’s talking to a rock,” Metal muttered.

“You talk to a voice in your head.”

“You're real,” Metal hissed internally.

The Emerald pulsed dimly in Knuckles’ hand. With a defeated sigh, he bent down and gave it to a nearby Chao, who clutched it reverently. Knuckles looked around and grabbed a plum from a low-hanging branch, then stared up at the tree, confused.

“There were way more fruits here yesterday. How did you guys even get these down?”

“That would be me.”

Knuckles yelped and spun around, fists raised. “Who are you?! Why are you here?!”

“My name’s Neo. And the little guys have something I need.”

Knuckles glanced at the Chao, then at Metal’s navy figure. “Why?”

“It’s for my father. He needs it.”

Knuckles frowned. “What for?”

Metal shrugged. “What does anyone need infinite energy for?”

There was a long pause before Knuckles finally sighed and lowered his fists.

“If you can get the Chao to give it to you, then it’s yours. But I want you off my island before the sun’s gone. Or I throw you off.”

Metal almost laughed. That was easier than expected.

He walked toward the Chaos Emerald, but a few larger Chao quickly floated in to block him. Metal briefly considered crafting a fake Emerald as a trade, but using his is metallic powers might spook the echidna.

Instead, he turned away, thoughtful.

He walked toward the pond, scanning the smooth, shiny stones at the bottom. He picked one up. Then, walking calmly back toward the Emerald, he gently forced his hand through the Chao’s defensive huddle and held the stone up alongside the real gem. Focusing, he let his energy flow into the stone.

The rock cracked and hissed in his grip.

When it was over, most of the stone had shattered, but embedded in the remains was a small crystal, humming with a small amount of chaos energy, like a rudimentary Chaos Drive then handed it to the Chao.

They huddled together, babbling, debating, then nodded in unison and passed the real Emerald back to him.

Knuckles gave a small nod of approval from his seat on a boulder.

Mission complete.

As Metal turned to leave, something tugged at his leg.

The Metal Chao.

It clung tightly to him, trembling. Metal tried to shake it loose but couldn't bring himself to be rough with it. He knelt down and gently patted its head. Tears welled in its red eyes.

Metal glanced up at Knuckles, who wasn’t paying attention. He leaned in and whispered to the Chao.

“When me and the Doctor conquer this island… you’ll be the first citizen we induct, okay, little guy?”

The Chao didn’t understand. But it smiled anyway, and hugged him again.

Metal patted it on the back and pulled away, watching it float off toward the others. Then, silently, he left.

“Metal, it’s okay,” Sage said gently. I wouldn't think less of you if you cried.”

“…It’s just a Chao,” he said. “It’ll be fine without me.”

He walked to the edge of the island. Held the Emerald up to his face.

“Chaos Control.”

Nothing.

Space didn’t bend. Time didn’t twist. Only silence and the rustle of distant animals.

“Did you misfire or…”

“I didn’t. I let me try again”

He thought about his destination station square and tried again to no avail trying to just pull power out of the emerald he found he could not get any extra strength form it.

“I can’t use it”

“But you used it before.”

“I know.”

Without another word, Metal jumped from the island, Emerald in hand, and flew toward the city, alone in the sky.

Chapter Text

Metal made his way to Station Square quickly, his black and white jacket changing back into his normal wear, the sun beginning to set as he flew. His inability to use the Emerald gnawed at him, his thoughts wandering as he began to descend. The roar of his thrusters waned as he landed just outside the city. Walking through the bustling streets, you could hardly tell a god of destruction had flooded most of it years ago, aside from the heightened level of Chaos energy compared to the surrounding area.

Speeding up, Metal cut his way through the city, eventually reaching the location Sage had marked on his hud. A surge of Chaos energy indicated that the last two Emeralds had been there not too long ago. Turning a corner, he found a large warehouse, old and weathered. Based on the location, it could have been around during the Chaos incident, still standing after everything.

As he approached, he noticed a wooden cart, red and green, with a chimney sticking out of its roof. The design seemed oddly familiar to Metal.

“Metal, scans show that there's a lot of repurposed EggTech inside the trolley,” Sage warned.

Metal mentally acknowledged her and continued into the warehouse. The door was wide open. He paused as a muffled voice cried out for help. Turning to the side, he spotted a human pinned beneath a net, struggling to escape. On the floor just out of the man’s reach was a strange weapon shaped somewhat like a Super Soaker.

“Sage, is that a water gun?”

“It’s giving off a Chaos signature, but its design, Let’s ignore it for now.”

Ignoring it for now, Metal moved deeper into the building, which was quickly showing its age. Cracked tiles and water damage marked every step. Eventually, he reached the main room, where he heard a group of humans arguing ahead.

“Let’s just ice the stupid puppet, man.”

“Yeah, and then have Sonic on our ass for the rest of our lives?”

“But we can’t just let her go, man.”

“You know you could totally let me leave. Promise I won’t tell a soul.”

Metal crept forward, his hud pinging the presence of robots. One was a Motobug, yellow and green, with a flower on its head and a cannon mounted on its back. The other was a larger, marionette-shaped robot. Surrounding them were three men, all holding the same strange Chaos infused weapons.

Raising his arms, metal poured out from them, reshaping into his arm cannons quickly charging. The sound startled the attackers, but it was too late. He blasted two of them, while the Motobug launched a net at the third. The threats neutralized, Metal stood down.

The marionette let out a sigh of relief, running to her rescuer before freezing mid step.

Metal stared at the puppet-like robot, just as confused.

“Metal Sonic… is that you?”

“Belle.”

She yelped and jumped back, stunned.

“I’m not used to you talking,” she said, looking him over. “So, uh… what’s the story with the not being a robot”

“Me and Father spent a while working on him. Amazing, right?”

Belle yelped again, looking down at the Motobug, its eyes suddenly flashing from their usual blue to red.

“Get out of them!”

Sage obeyed, and the Goodnik reverted to normal, its eyes swirling as it powered down. Belle bent down to check on it, while Metal formed a device, the same one he'd crafted for Sage back in Soleanna.

“You can't just take over machines like that, You could damage them, whoever you are.”

The drone floated from Metal’s hand, projecting Sage’s image into the room. She smiled gently at Belle.

“I am Sage, an A.I. created by Doctor Eggman. Making you, in a way, my big sister.”

Belle looked up and smiled softly.

“I guess that does make us sisters… and it’s nice not being the only girl anymore.” She stood up. “Not that it’s not nice seeing you two, but why are you here? Is Father here?”

“I could ask you that. Shouldn’t you be running around with the Restoration?” Metal asked.

“Well, I’ve been on my own for a while. Wandering. It’s been nice. And I’m here to keep Father’s tech out of these people’s hands, thank you very much.”

Metal glanced down at the Goodnik slowly booting back up and its cannon.

“With a net launcher?”

“Yes, a net launcher metal!” Belle sighed and threw her hands up. “Can you at least answer my question, Metal?”

Before Metal could respond, Sage cut in.
“No. Father isn’t here. We’re looking for a pair of Chaos Emeralds.”

Belle shook her head, stepping forward.
“I’m not going to help you two. "Honestly, it looks like you need our help more than we need yours.”

While they bickered, Metal slowly walked away toward the man groaning in the net, each step echoing as he tapped the man’s side with a metal sole. The prisoner flinched, still conscious.

Metal crouched down beside him.
“So. Where did you four get the weapons?”

“Fuck you, rat.”

Metal sighed, A metal spike extending from his palm

“Whoa, we are not doing that,” Belle said, noticing what metal was going to do. She ran over and grabbed his arm, Sage trailing just behind her.

Metal glanced up at them, expression deadpan, then rolled his eyes. The spike sank back into his hand without a word.

Belle crouched down. “Okay. My friend here probably won’t stay calm forever, so please, just tell us where you got the tech.”

The man looked conflicted. After a moment, he nodded. “You gotta let us go, though.”

“Sure. As long as you tell us, we can let bygones be bygones,” Belle said, glancing at Metal. “Right, Metal?”

Metal didn’t respond, still staring the man down.

“Right,” she repeated firmly.

Finally, Metal gave a reluctant nod.

The man exhaled. “We just wanted some hardware. Start building ourselves up as a—”

“We don’t care about your backstory,” Sage cut in. “Get to the point.”

“Sage,” Belle said, chiding. “You don’t have to be rude.”

“The guns, I don’t know how they work,” the man admitted. “The girl we paid gave 'em to us. Changed the water and gave us the blasters.”

Belle nodded softly. “Can we see the water?”

“It’s… in the basement.”

Metal got up quickly, already walking off. Sage floated beside him, silent. Belle lingered behind, exchanging a few more words with the man before jogging to catch up. Motobud trailed close behind.

“You see how much easier things go when we ask nicely?” Belle said.

“No,” Metal replied flatly.

“Figures.”

Metal tilted her head slightly. “Are you upset with me, Belle?”

“No. What would make you think that? The last time we saw each other was just perfect,” she said, sarcasm thick in her voice.

They reached a door, and Metal opened it. The two stepped down onto creaking floorboards. The scent of mildew hit Metal instantly, but there was something else too. Faint, but growing stronger with each step.

Chaos energy.

The Emerald in his possession pulsed faintly, in sync with it.

“Would you have preferred I blasted through you?” Metal asked without turning around.

“Oh yes, Metal, I should be grateful you slapped me,” Belle snapped. “It’s not even just that you hit me, well not entirely. It’s that I thought you’d listen.”

They kept walking, the silence heavy. Metal’s chest tightened and he finally let out a low sigh.

“I’m sorry for disappointing you. Can we please,”

“It’s fine, Metal.” Belle cut him off softly. The tension in her voice eased as they reached the bottom.

There, glowing water pooled in the center of the room. Around it, grass and flowers bloomed unnaturally from the damp earth. Sage floated over and scanned the pool, silent, then returned to the others.

“this pool most likely formed during the Chaos incident, After its rampage and eventual defeat, some of energy settle here in this water and didn’t fully dissipate. Whoever brought the Emeralds here placed them into the water, likely triggering this change. It’s what’s causing the plant growth. Metal, can you collect a sample? Please be careful.”

Metal nodded. As he approached the water’s edge, the air felt charged like lightning tickling at his quills. Forming a small cup with liquid metal form his palm, he dipped it into the pool, collecting a sample, then slowly returned.

“What now?” he asked.

“Just pour it gently on the floor,” Sage said.

She and Belle both stepped back slightly. Metal eyed them.

“This isn’t going to hurt, right?”

“You should be fine, Metal,” sage reassured him.

He nodded once and, with slow hesitation, poured the glowing liquid onto the ground.

The reaction was immediate. The water detonated in a flash of light, leaving a patch of scorched earth, fresh grass sprouted in an instant, spreading outward like veins.

“Exactly what I thought,” Sage said. “This substance is incredibly volatile. It doesn’t want to exist. That’s why so much of the energy is leaking into the environment and causes the plant growth. It has two weeks max before it burns itself out and turns back into normal water.”

Metal eyed the patch of growing grass.
“Still seems kinda dangerous. What about the emeralds, where are they now?”

“I’ve got a lock on an apartment nearby,” Sage said. “Retrofitted EggTech. I’m guessing that’s our girl.”

A location pinged on Metal’s hud. He turned toward the stairs, already moving, until he felt Belle’s hand on his arm.

“Please don’t tell me you’re just going to fly over and bust their door down.”

“I didn’t know the Doctor made you psychic,” he replied dryly.

Belle didn’t let go. “Can you please just let me take point on this one?”

“I don’t see why not,” Sage added unhelpfully.

Metal went quiet for a moment. Belle held his gaze, patient but firm and he couldn’t bring himself to disappoint her.

“Fine. But I’m not riding in the wagon.”

Belle smiled. “Deal.”

Together, the three of them climbed the stairs.

■

Skitter slipped through her apartment door, shutting it quickly behind her. A low light flickered on as her upper arms smoothed down her messy hair. All sets of her eyes closed in exhaustion as she moved further inside. Footsteps approached, metallic and even, and a mechanical voice echoed from her right.

“Hello, Miss Skitter. How has your day been? Would you like a drink?”

She opened her upper pair of eyes and glanced at the reprogrammed Egg Pawn, its usual blue lights now replaced with an eerie violet glow.

“No. I'm fine. Go back to whatever you were doing.”

The robot gave a curt nod and turned away, resuming its background task.

Skitter collapsed onto her couch, closing all her eyes again. She wouldn’t call herself an inventor, most of her tech was salvaged Eggman junk, retrofitted for her own use. She wasn’t Tails now, that would be someone to meet. But right now, her mind was tangled in what to do about her two newest "assets."

She'd been ungodly lucky. Finding one Chaos Emerald was a miracle, two, in the same junk shop, from a guy who didn’t even know what he was selling? Impossible but that had been her luck.

She’d used them to build those prototype weapons. She exhaled sharply, hands rising to cover her face, all of them. The money had been good, sure, but the blasters were barely stronger than Wispon, and their ammo would degrade in two weeks tops.

She could sell the Emeralds for an absurd amount, yeah, but owning even one broke at least seven international treaties ever since Eggman blew up the moon and Getting thrown into prison island didn't sound appealing.

“Maybe I could just hook them into the apartment grid. No more electric bill. That’d be nice…” she groaned, sitting up. “Pawn.”

“Yes, Miss Skitter?”

“I changed my mind about that drink.”

“I’ll get the vodka, Miss.”

“Thank yo—”

A sharp knock at the door cut her off.

She turned, still for a beat. She wasn’t expecting anyone, she never had guests. Last thing she needed was someone panicking at the sight of Pawn.

Another knock came, harder this time, followed by a voice.

“We’re trying to be patient, but I don’t have all day. We know you’re in there.”

Then a second, softer voice “Metal, you’re gonna freak them out. Relax! We’re not here to hurt you. Promise. Right, Metal?”

“As long as they hand over the Emeralds.”

Skitter froze.

She crept to the peephole and looked through, immediately recoiling. A hedgehog in Eggmangear with blue fur, red eyes. And next to him, a wooden robot.

She smothered a gasp, backing away from the door and turning to Pawn. Mouth covered, she mouthed:

“Home defense mode.”

The robot obeyed instantly, gently setting down the drink it had been pouring. Its arm folded back and reconfigured into a blaster. Skitter crept back to the door, cracked it just barely open, and called out.

“I don’t have what you’re looking for. Please leave.”

“You’re lying,” Metal said, his voice cold.

Skitter flinched under his stare.

“Metal…” Belle warned, stepping forward. “Hi. I think we got off on the wrong foot. I’m Belle, and this is my brother. Metal, say hi.”

Metal sighed. “Hello. My name is Metal.”

Belle smiled. “We’re here because we think you sold something dangerous to some bad people.”

“Or you have Chaos Emeralds,” Metal added flatly. “i don’t really care about the weapons.”

“Can you not right now?” Belle snapped at him.

Skitter exhaled through her nose. “If I just give them to you, will you leave and not come back?”

“Only if you promise not to make any more of those blasters,” Belle said.

“I wasn’t planning on it either way.”

“Perfect! See, Metal? Wasn’t this so much easier?”

“I’d be halfway home already if I’d kicked the door down,” he muttered. “But this was fine, I guess.”

Skitter opened the door wider and stepped aside. As Metal entered, his hud immediately picked up the Egg Pawn peeking from behind a corner, arm raised to fire. Not wanting to upset Belle, he casually formed a low-power electric charge and fired. The Pawn shut down instantly, intact but disabled.

He turned to face Skitter.

“So. Where are my Emeralds?”

■

Metal flew toward Belle’s wagon, cradling her carefully in his arms. The wind rushed past them, but neither spoke for a long moment.

“Thank you,” Belle said quietly, “for not destroying that Egg Pawn.”

“It was nothing.”

“Metal, you know…”

“Please don’t ask what I know you’re about to ask.”

She looked up at him. “Metal… is being his errand boy for the rest of your life really what you want? You could be free.”

“This is my purpose,” he said. “I wouldn’t ask you to stop traveling, or come back with us.”

“You would if he told you to,” she snapped. “You’d drag me back kicking and screaming if he asked you.”

Metal didn’t answer. She wasn't wrong

The wagon came into view ahead. He slowed his thrusters, stalling for more time.

“I liked seeing you again,” Belle said. “Even if I disagree with you… you're still”

“Yeah. You’re important to me too.”

There was a silence more comfortable than before.

“So… what’s it like? Having to breathe?”

“Annoying at first. But it feels good, like… like fulfilling a function.”

Belle laughed softly. “Of course you’d put it that way.”

They touched down beside Sage and Motobud, who had been waiting patiently.

“Did you find the Emeralds?” Sage asked.

Metal nodded, holding out both glowing stones for her to inspect before storing them again. She floated up and gently landed in his hand.

“It was very nice to meet you, big sis,” Sage said, voice soft but sincere.

“It was very nice meeting you too,” Belle replied, smiling.

Sage’s drone withdrew into Metal’s body, sinking into his skin. Belle stepped close and hugged him quickly, tightly, then stepped away just as fast.

“If you ever change your mind about your purpose,” she said, “please come find me.”

Metal nodded, slow and reluctant. Then his thrusters fired with a soft roar, launching him into the sky.

Belle watched him vanish.

“…Metal,” Sage said beside him, her voice quiet. “Do we tell Father about seeing her?”

Metal didn’t respond.

Chapter Text

Metal and the Doctor sat in the dining room as a service bot floated toward them.

"What would you like to eat?" it asked in a flat, polite tone.

The Doctor spoke first. "I’ll have a medium rare steak with a side of runny fried eggs and some water."

"I’ll have what the Doctor’s having," Metal added.

The robot beeped, doing its best impersonation of a nod, and turned to float off. But the Doctor cleared his throat, stopping it.

"Wait," he said, smiling at Metal wide, like he knew something the navy hedgehog didn’t.

"Are you sure that’s all you want, Metal?"

"...I’m fine," Metal said, looking down.

The Doctor’s smile widened. "Sage told me."

Metal’s gaze dropped lower, embarrassment crawling over him as the Doctor chuckled.

"Bring extra of those dogs, Sage’s recipe. I might have one."

Metal raised a brow.

"What? I can appreciate good food."

The food bot floated away slowly, and the Doctor continued.

"So, Metal, have you made any progress with drawing on an Emerald’s power once again?"

"No, Doctor we've been working on it but, no progress"

The Doctor hummed, frowning slightly.
"I see... Do you have any theories for this block, my boy?"

"Chaos is power. Power is enriched by the heart. For machines, that power is treated like a battery of sorts. We can only draw so much at a time, it takes some of your greatest machines to harness the Emeralds anywhere near their full potential. The Emeralds see me as… I am a person now. So maybe they see my heart as lacking. I can only draw a very limited amount at the moment."

Eggman nodded slowly.
"I suppose that makes sense. What about at the G.U.N. facility, then? You were able to use Chaos Control there."

Metal paused, thinking.
"...It’s not uncommon for Emeralds to respond to someone under duress."

"Duress," the Doctor repeated, tapping his fingers against the table rhythmically.

A lull fell over the room, the only noise the soft clatter of cooking and the Doctor’s drumming fingers. Metal swallowed, then continued.

"Doctor... Can I ask you a question?"

"Fire at will."

Metal hesitated, trying to find the right words. "Well, it seemed like you already knew what I was going to say before I even—"

The Doctor laughed and tapped his temple. "Remember, we’re packing very similar hardware, Metal. I just wanted some confirmation of my own thoughts, that's all."

Metal nodded as the bot returned with their meals. They ate quickly and quietly. Metal finished first. Soon after, the Doctor rose, and they both left the dining room.

They walked through the base side by side. The Doctor’s pace was slower than usual, his footsteps heavier.

"Metal," he said, voice low, "for some time now, I’ve been busy with other projects. Would you like to know what one of them is?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"Sage and I have been going through the combat data you’ve collected since your… change. And it’s been very enlightening."

"I’m happy to have been of help, sir."

"Good. We've been using that data to update other Badniks. And more data is required."

"So... training? Like after I first woke up?"

"Something like that, Metal."

They continued walking deeper into the base, entering areas Metal didn’t particularly recognize. Eventually, they stopped in front of a sealed door. The Doctor reached into his coat and pulled out a glowing yellow Chaos Emerald. The light from it bathed the hallway in a soft golden hue.

He held it out to Metal.

"Doctor, I already told you, I can’t really draw any-"

"Please. A mere block is a trifle, especially for a creation of my design”

Metal took the Emerald. The Doctor gave him a small, proud smile and rested a hand on his shoulder, looking down at him.

"Metal... no one gains anything without suffering. What happens next will be temporary. But the gain will be enormous, for yourself, and for my forces."

"I won’t fail."

"I know you won’t."

The Doctor turned and walked away, his silhouette fading slowly down the corridor. Metal stood still, watching him go, then turned back to the sealed door, Whatever waited behind it, he thought he was ready.

Eventually, there was a sharp hiss as the door opened. Metal stepped into a vast chamber. The smell of rust and stagnant water hit his nose instantly. Behind him, the door slammed shut with a violent clang, then disappeared entirely when he turned to look for it.

The room was massive, built like an abandoned underground mine. Rusted fans lined the walls, spinning lazily. He stepped over a tipped-over mine cart, scanning his surroundings. The center of the room was empty, the space divided into four large pools arranged in a square.

A low hum filled the air. Metal’s energy crackled to life. His thrusters fromed then ignited with a low roar. From each arm, a shield and a long blade formed.

The pools began to bubble slowly at first, then more violently, until dozens of Badniks launched from the water. Egg Gunners and Fighters burst from each corner pool. But these weren’t normal units. Their finishes were different, sleek black plating with piercing red LEDs.

They surrounded the navy hedgehog in a tightening circle, weapons aimed, movements precise.

Metal’s launched forward.

■

From the observation room above, Sage watched in silence.

Her gaze followed the growing swarm of Badniks closing in on her brother. She extended her senses through the Eggnet, monitoring the ones still held in reserve.

She glanced at her father beside her.

“Father… isn’t this a bit much?”

Eggman didn’t answer right away. His arms were crossed, his eyes cold and analytical as they watched Metal from above.

“Metal needs to be under real duress if he’s going to pull power from the Emerald,” he said. “He’ll figure it out and if he’s really in danger, I'll shut it down. I promise.”

Sage looked down again, a strange weight settling in her chest, something she couldn’t name.

■

Metal shot forward like a bullet, his form blurring into a spinning buzzsaw. slicing an Egg Fighter clean in half.

He landed and spun on his heel, launching his shield like a battering ram. It tore through two Gunners before bouncing back, replaced instantly by a second blade.

With a sonic boom, he surged forward again, Badniks behind him sent flying from the sheer force of his acceleration. He tore through the enemy lines like tissue paper.

The Fighters tried to block and parry, their upgrades giving them better speed and tactics. The Gunners adjusted their aim to where he would be, not where he was.

It didn’t help.

He blasted through another Fighter’s torso in a spin dash, uncurling into a slash through the next one before it could react. Sliding under a sweeping blade, the arc of the electrified weapon skimmed the tips of his quills.

He rocketed upward, slammed both blades into the chest of another Fighter, and used its body as a shield against incoming fire. Then he hurled the Badnik into a crowd of Gunners, breaking their formation.

His thrusters roared as he launched himself again. Mid-air, his blades morphed into arm cannons. He landed in a group of gunners, bracing himself as energy charged through his arms, the barrels glowing and then narrowing, Then he fired spinning

Twin lasers ripped through the crowd, sawing the wave of enemies clean in half. Explosions and sparks filled the chamber.

Metal stood in the middle of the carnage, breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling as the broken Badniks fell around him in twitching pieces.

Metal stumbled as the entire room rumbled beneath him. Massive mechanical hands rose from the murky water, reaching outward. The walls began to slowly close in, and overhead, the ceiling lowered, shrinking the battlefield inch by inch.

He heard the whine of a laser charging, then fired. He rocketed upward, barely dodging the blast. Looking down, he saw an E-2000 unit rising from the pool, its design upgraded like the others. Its red optics locked onto his with unblinking intensity.

Another charge sounded. Metal twisted in the air, narrowly avoiding a shot that would’ve torn through him from behind. Missile locks pinged on his HUD.

He dropped through the chaos, slicing through a Snowy unit's paw mid-descent, curling into a ball midair and tearing straight through an Egg Hammer. His momentum didn’t stop. He accelerated, using the boost to arc back around toward the first E-2000. He slammed into it hard, the force sending it skidding back. Its shield cracked, flickering violently.

Before it could recover, Metal shoved his charged blaster arm straight into its chest.

The roar of incoming missiles made him jump to the side. They pursued him relentlessly. He hit the ground in a skid, landing between two of the remaining, shrinking pools.

The walls were nearly on top of him now. Only leaving the center and corners of the pools, water lapped at his shoes slowly rising around him.

Raising his blaster he fired at the missiles, most exploded in a firestorm mid-air, but one slipped through the blast.

His other arm shifted just in time, raising the shield. It slammed into him like a freight train, hurling him backwards. The fire ball burned part of his jacket away. He crashed against the metal wall, then tumbled, smoking, into one of the bubbling pools.

Metal thrashed in the water, bubbles erupting around him as panic clawed at his chest. His thrusters hissed and boiled beneath the surface, One of the E-2000 units hovered above, red optics piercing through the murk, scanning for him like a predator.

He clenched the Chaos Emerald tightly in his hand. Nothing. No surge of power. No excess energy flowing through him.

“Useless.” The word nearly tore through his head like a scream.

Putting Emerald away, Metal looked up again, both E-2000s were locked on. He launched himself upward in a burst of foam and steam, threading between laser fire, rocketing out of the water in an explosive spray.

He collided hard with the cracked shield of the first E-series unit, punching straight through it. His arm shifted mid-movement, forming into a blade that plunged deep into its chest.

The machine buckled and fell back skidding against the ground. It raised its cannon, charging a blast meant to take metal with it.

Metal reacted instantly. He grabbed its arm, energy building at the barrel, his own face glowing from the light. With a roar, he twisted its aim and forced the blast sideways, right into the second E-2000. The beam carved through it cleanly, sending its body crashing backward in a heap of smoke and sparks.

Metal slid off the E-2000’s hitting the ground in the shallow water with a splash. He lay there for a moment, chest heaving, water lapping over him as it slowly rose He pushed himself up slowly, water falling off him as he faced the rest.

■

Sage stared down at Metal as he fought, her eyes flicked to her father just as he pressed a button. With a mechanical hiss, the walls began to close in again. The pools of water disappeared, leaving only the center platform intact, but the water continued to rise. Metal finished off the last wave of Badniks, as section of the wall slid open and three more units walked out.

Sage’s eyes widened for a moment looking up at her father a look for worry on his face is hand hovered for buttons like he considered stopping but didn't slowly lowering it

“Father we can't.”

“This is what Metal needs,” he said, a firmness in his voice she had never heard directed at her before. “Just sit tight and watch.”

Sage looked back down at Metal, then up at her father again. Something twisted inside her as she made a decision.

She linked into the Eggnet, reaching out to the new Badniks and shut them down.

“Master override: 0xF0A4E,” her father said lowly.

Her control vanished in an instant. Her commands were ignored. The network no longer listened. He had locked her out.

Sage turned toward him, stunned. He looked back at her trying his best not to show emotion, Instead, he leaned forward toward his screen, forming a familiar L-shape with his thumb and index finger, covering his mouth and nose, his eyes narrowed.

“I'm sorry but your brother has to do this,”

Helpless, Sage floated down to the observation window and stared.

■

The last Snowy crashed to the ground, sparks bursting from its shattered frame. its head caved in from a final spin dash.

Metal stumbled forward, chest heaving, hands braced on his knee. Around him lay a field of destroyed Badniks limbs, armor plating, and scorched metal scattered across the flooded floor.

“That has to be it,” he muttered, pulling out the Chaos Emerald.

It glowed faintly in his palm, almost taunting him.

“Some help you were.”

He checked his hud. a thin sheath of liquid steel still clung to his reinforced skeleton and barely enough energy left to move it.

Metal heard the heavy footsteps too late, metal smashing through rising water, slow and deliberate. He turned, just in time to see black clamps lunge towards him. They locked around his arms before he could react, he was yanked out of the water, lifted into the air. Then he heard it, the roar of thrusters. A sharp whine building fast. Rockets cutting through the air, barely slowed by the drag of water. He looked up, and locked eyes with red and yellow optics.

“Fu—”

A spinning mass of steel slammed into his back at full speed, the force curving his body unnaturally as he was flung across the room. The clamps released. Metal was airborne, skipping like a stone across the surface of the water before crashing, hard, back first into the wrecked frame of an Egg Hammer.

Metal resisted the urge to scream, or reach for his back, the pain burned like molten lava and his blood mixed into the rising water around him.

He pushed himself to his feet.

Shrugging off what was left of his soaked and burned jacket, letting it drop into the flood just as he heard the distinct whirr of a gun spinning up.

Without thinking, he dove, vaulting over the ruined Egg Hammer as bullets tore through the air at him. Metal’s eyes locking onto their warped reflection in a jagged panel of steel.

Three figures were walking toward him.

Mecha Sonic MK.0 to the left, long arms slowly reacting back into it, floated above the water, an unnerving smile on its face.

Mecha Sonic MK.I to the right, comparitin
the guns firing at him, lowered back into its black plating. it stepped with the others in its line.

Mecha Sonic MK.II in the center, taller and lankier than the rest. Red drops and what was left of Metal's jacket falling from its metal quills.

Metal pulled out the Emerald, holding it tightly, trying to get something from it.

“DO SOMETHING” the great metal overlord reduced to yelling at a rock.

It pulsed slightly in his hands, nothing, as he heard MK.II’s thruster roar towards him. Putting it away, Metal gathered what little energy he had left, metal thinly coating his arms and fist as he got up. MK.II was on top of him, a spray of water heating metal as it stopped on a dime from its charge. It swung, blowing through the side of a downed Bandnick as Metal raised his guard barely in time to block. His arm screamed as he stumbled back, ducking another swing. They traded blows, Metal trying his best to keep up with the machine as it overwhelmed him.

Mecha stepped in, and Metal could barely track the fist flying into his abdomen, folding him over. A backhand rocketed across his jaw, teeth chattering, sent him off his feet and to the side.

Pulling himself out of the water he was barely able to hear, MK.I flying towards him in a spindash, jumping over it as it continued and crashed into a wall. The clamps returned to his arm and pulled him in towards MK.II’s arm in a clothesline, going parallel with the floor. Metal felt MK.II grab him by the quills before he could land and swing him back, slamming into the floor holding him down under the water.

Metal had never really considered dying before. He was a machine, if his body was destroyed, he would be rebuilt into a new shell his. He had never felt this terror flowing through him as his vision blackened, trying to struggle out of MK.II’s death grip.

He saw visions of Sage, Belle, the Doctor, Amy, her smile, the darkness receding from his vision for a moment, seeing the bracelet she had given him around his wrist. Then the Emerald pulsed softly in his hand.

“I want to see her again.” He thought

The Emerald finally responded.

■

MK.II stared down at the body beneath the water, then glanced back up at MK.0.

“You know we’re supposed to get him to use the Emerald, not kill him, right?”

The message was silent, a direct link between the units.

MK.II’s sensors flicked on Metal Sonic’s heartbeat slowing. His movements had nearly stopped.

“I’ll pull him out when necessary. I possess multiple resuscitation protocols.”

MK.0 arms folding.

“First thing we have to do is pretend to kill my little bro-”

“Incorrect,” MK.I interrupted. “You are the inferior model and Also smaller making you the little brother out of the four of us.”

“That’s not how age works, MK-”

A sudden crunch.

MK.II froze for a moment. Then it looked to the side.

Metal sonic was staring straight up at him. his fist punched through MK.I’s back and out its chest, yellow chaos energy crackling off his arm in violent waves. His heart rate and chaos energy was rising quickly. Metal sonic tore his arm free, slicing clean through MK.I and silencing its comms mid message.

“Mission accomplished, brot” MK.I managed to transmit, just before it was gone

■

Metal's hud glowed green, every bar shooting up to 100% and then beyond that, energy bouncing off him and through water, slowly calming in his skin. The pain racking through his body was fading under the urge to tear metal from frame.

MK.II fired up, its rocket roaring as it rushed forward. Metal dashed backwards, forcing the larger robot to chase him through the mess of the flooded mine, staying just close enough for it to think it could catch up, before changing into next gear, turning into a tight drift a maneuver the larger hedgehog couldn’t copy.

As Metal dusted it, the spray of water covered MK.II while it charged after the smaller hedgehog bolting for MK.0. Its processor could barely keep up with Metal’s moves as it used its arms like whips, Metal dancing through the barrage, ending with a spindash that tore right through MK.0, It falling into the water.

Skidding to a stop, Metal turned as MK.II caught up, revealing rockets in its limbs. It moved twice as fast as before. Metal traded blows with the mecha, every hit he landed leaving dents in its plating.

Mecha threw a cross, Metal disappeared from its sight in a blur of blur Its arm went offline sliced clean through by Metal a blade extended from his arm, The arm fell. Metal caught it.

Mecha felt itself get sent flying back, its faceplate caved in by its own palm.

Errors flooded its vision. It couldn’t get up. It heard splashes near it, Metal standing over it, a blaster glowing over its face.

“Thanks for the push,” was the last thing it heard before its system went dark.

The liquid steel receded into Metal’s body as he turned from the boiling water, each step heavy with exhaustion. He walked toward the wall and pressed his forehead against the rusted surface. The flaking metal, the dampness , it was almost comforting now. His voice came low, hoarse.

“I’m finished.”

■

Metal sat upright in the medical bay, bandages wrapped around his torso, iv feeding into his arm. Across from him, Sage floated quietly, eyes fixed on the damage, not to his body, but to him.

“The scans say you’ll be fine in a couple days. No permanent damage,” she said, voice soft. “It won’t even scar.”

She drifted down beside him.

“Are… are you okay?”

“I’m fin-”

“You could have died!” she snapped, her voice cracking. “And you, and Father, just.. I don't know.”

Something twisted in Metal’s chest. A strange sensation. The tone of her voice pulled at something in him he didn’t have words for.

“I’m sorry for upsetting you.”

“It’s not-” she hesitated, struggling to find the word. “I’m not upset at you either of you really. I just…”

Silence fell between them. Only the steady beeping of the monitors filled the room. Then, the door slid open with a hiss. The Doctor entered slowly, looking down at the navy hedgehog with a small smile on his face as he rushed over to metal and checked him over for a moment, hands on the smaller creature's shoulders.

“Sage, is he ok? No permanent damage?”

“I'll be fine.”

“Good.” he took his hands off for a moment and his smile grew for a moment

“What did I say, my boy? I knew you'd figure it out, Do you feel well enough to try it now?”

Metal nodded then took the Emerald out carefully, his grip tightening, then easing. He thought of her pink quills and her smile. The glow began to arc softly along his frame. Then he cut it off and handed the Emerald back.

“Could you handle all seven?”

Metal paused, then nodded once.

The Doctor laughed and patted him on the shoulder. “Atta boy”

Metal smirked faintly. “Thanks, Doctor.”

The Doctor stood up, straightening his coat with a gleam in his eye. “Sage already knows, but this was the final piece. All that’s left is construction, and then the next grand scheme begins.”

He looked down at Metal, pride curling at the corners of his mouth.

“Rest up, Metal. We've got a lot to do.”

Chapter Text

Shadow sat stiffly in the G.U.N HQ meeting room, resisting the urge to tap his foot in irritation. Around him, the room buzzed with chatter, Team Chaotix, Team Rose plus Gemerl, the useful members of the second generation Diamond Cutters, and two thirds of Team Sonic.

The faker, of course, was nowhere to be seen.

A grimace formed on the obsidian hedgehog’s face. The sharp click of heels against the tile caught his attention. Rouge strolled over to him and slid into the seat beside him.

“What’s got you all upset now?” she asked with a teasing lilt.

“We were supposed to start forty-five minutes ago,” he said, glaring at the empty space where Sonic should be.

“Be patient. Blue’ll show, eventually.” She rose, already bored. “And while you brood, I’m going to enjoy myself over there.”

Shadow watched her saunter off and wedge herself between Knuckles and Tails, already working her usual magic on the echidna. He rolled his eyes and leaned back in his conference chair, arms crossed.

Then Vector loudly pulled out a deck of cards.

“Anyone up for Jack?”

Most of the room perked up. The lemur practically launched herself across the table to join the game as the crocodile started dealing. Shadow just sat, watching the clock tick down, the urge to start the meeting without Sonic growing more tempting by the second.

Finally, with a sigh, he stood, ready to give up and join the game when was the last time he'd played cards?

Then the door creaked open.

In walked the one Shadow had been waiting for, Sonic the Hedgehog, trailed by a pair of GUN agents.

“You know I’m not gonna get lost, right?” Sonic quipped as they followed him in.

The agents exchanged sheepish glances and quickly backed out. The idiot just smiled, greeted by cheers and waves from his friends as he strolled to the center of the room. He stopped in front of Shadow, cocking a smug eyebrow.

“Must be real important if you called the whole gang together, Shads.”

“Unlike you, I take my responsibilities seriously. Now sit down, we’ve already wasted enough time waiting for you.”

Sonic took the verbal jab in stride and plopped down beside his team. Shadow moved to the front of the room as the lights dimmed. A projector slid out from the center table, casting a series of blurry images onto the wall. Eggman floating in the sky, flanked by a blue hedgehog in similar attire, and white streaks running through his quills.

“Weeks ago,” Shadow began, “Eggman launched an assault on a rally held by the new GUN director, Topaz. His primary enforcer was this hedgehog. He easily overwhelmed multiple agents and new-tech defenses. Team Dark engaged and, after considerable difficulty, neutralized him.”

Rouge rubbed her ears and muttered, “Difficulty, he says…”

Shadow narrowed his eyes at her before scanning the room. A flicker of recognition crossed the faces of Amy, Cream, Sonic, and Knuckles. Maybe this thing had come after them too. Questions for later. He clicked the remote and advanced to the next slide.

“While in custody, we acquired blood samples during the encounter. DNA analysis shows an 89% genetic match with Sonic the Hedgehog—”

The room erupted.

Shouts. Questions. Disbelief. Shadow didn’t flinch.

“I’ll answer questions when I’m finished. Be quiet.”

Once the room settled, he continued, “The remaining DNA appears to be a mix of feline and human. Neither matched anyone in our system. Rouge and I suspect the cat DNA may originate from Blaze, but we have no leads on the human element. Based on cellular aging, the subject is no more than a year old. And during its escape, it confirmed my suspicions.”

He pressed another button. Two audio clips played.

“Even the Ultimate Lifeform can’t stop me!”

“That was from Metal Overlord Incident and this was form our most recent encounter”

“Even the Ultimate Lifeform… can’t stop me.”

Similar voices. Same inflection. Same exact words.

Shadow’s voice dropped. “Somehow, the Doctor managed to put Metal Sonic in a”

A sudden coughing fit cut him off. All eyes turned to Amy, who had started choking on her drink. She pounded her fist on the table a few times before raising her hand.

“Can I… can I step out for a moment?”

“Yes, Amy.”

She bolted out the door and slammed it behind her.

Shadow turned back to the projector, ready to continue, when a familiar snicker derailed everything.

Sonic was doubled over at the table, slapping it, wheezing with laughter.

“…Is he crying?” Tangle asked aloud.

“What,” Shadow said sharply, “about this is so funny?”

Trying, and failing, to contain himself, Sonic wheezed out between laughs, “I’d explain… but it’d be really hazardous to my health.” He hit the table again, slowly calming down. Shadow resisted the urge to strangle him.

“Like I was saying, Metal Sonic is in an organic body. During his escape, he stole three Chaos Emeralds, two from GUN custody, one from me. Since then, all of our scans for the Emeralds have come up blank, so we’re preparing to assume the Doctor has all seven. If any of you have one, turn it over.”

A heavy silence fell.

Then Knuckles raised a gloved hand, coughed awkwardly, and mumbled, “I had… one.”

Shadow narrowed his eyes. “Okay. Where is it now?”

“I… gave it to… Metal Sonic.”

“YOU DID WHAT?!” Shadow and Rouge shouted in unison.

Rouge rounded on him, voice rising, grabbing Knuckles by the shoulders. “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?”

Sonic and Tails, now openly trying not to laugh, both covered their mouths.

“THIS IS NOT FUNNY!” Shadow barked.

“No, no it’s not,” Tails choked out, snorting. “It’s just, not funny at all.”

“Yeah,” Sonic echoed, wiping a tear. “What Tails said.”

Rouge began violently shaking Knuckles as Shadow stood off to the side, attempting to mentally will away the migraine forming behind his eyes. The door creaked open and Amy returned, blinking in confusion at the circus as she took her seat again.

“...What did I miss?” she whispered.

Shadow ignored her, waiting for Rouge to finally let go of the echidna before continuing, voice tight with irritation.

“So that makes four confirmed Emeralds in the Doctor’s hands,” he said, glaring daggers at Knuckles. “And given our lack of intel and stellar teamwork, we’re going to go ahead and assume Eggman now has all seven.”

A holomap flickered to life behind him, displaying satellite images.

“In the past several days, Eggman’s fleet activity has skyrocketed, converging around a large island off the coast of Adabat. Every drone we’ve sent in has been shot down before it got close. We have a plan to breach the perimeter, and that” He swept his gaze across the room.
“is where you come in. Our job is to help cripple the fleet and stop whatever the Doctor’s planning before it start—.”

A G.U.N agent burst into the room, panting, panic clear even through the tint of his goggles.

Shadow didn’t look up. “This better be important.”

“Sir, I think you need to see this.”

“Spit it out!”

The agent rushed over and handed him a tablet. “It’s broadcasting over and over on every major channel.”

Shadow’s brow furrowed. He pressed a button on the projector, replacing the briefing with a high res video feed.
The screen flared white, then cut to black.
Eggman’s logo appeared, sharp, bold, and blood-red.

Then came the laugh. A deep, echoing cackle that made several people in the room stiffen on instinct. The screen shifted again, revealing the mad genius himself standing in the center of what looked like a massive engine room, octagonal in shape, with the seven Chaos Emeralds glowing in metallic pillars surrounding him, casting beams of brilliant light.

“Citizens of Earth!” Eggman began, voice booming with theatrical flair. “You know me as Doctor Eggman, the world’s greatest scientist, and soon, your undisputed ruler once again!”

The camera panned slightly, showing more of the vast, humming station behind him, impossibly advanced.

“I now stand inside a space station that makes the ARK, my genius grandfather’s masterpiece, look the relic it should be 50 years later ”

He raised his arms, gesturing to the machinery.

“But let it never be said I don’t enjoy a good challenge. That’s why I’m giving the world a fair shot.” He turned to face the camera head-on, grin curling beneath his mustache.

“This station will be fully charged and ready to launch in mere hours. In that time, do your best. Throw everything you’ve got. Try to stop me.”

His smile widened, sick with confidence.

“It won’t change anything.”

The screen glitched and went dark again, only for Eggman’s logo to return, overlaid with a set of coordinates in bright red text

The room was silent as everyone processed what they’d just seen. The tension was thick, no one moved, no one breathed.

Then Silver stood up.

“this doesn’t change anything,” he said firmly. “We’ve worked with worse deadlines, under more pressure. We’re going to stop this, just like every other one of Eggman’s insane schemes.”

A beat passed. Then murmurs of agreement rippled through the group. Voices rose in unison, determined, focused, ready.

Shadow didn’t smile, but he allowed himself a slight nod.

“Good,” he said. “Then let’s go over the plan.”

With the touch of a button, the briefing returned. The flickering light of the projector cast long shadows across the room as Shadow ran through the sparknotes of the strategy

The room soaked it in, tension sharpening into purpose. But one person wasn’t fully listening.

Amy Rose sat, fingers absently twisting the band around her wrist, her eyes unfocused. Her thoughts weren’t on the strategy, or the countdown, or even Eggman.

They were on someone else.

A quiet whisper escaped her lips, too soft to hear.

“Neo… is Metal Sonic.”

■

Metal stood atop the tower of the flagship nearest the launch base, wind howling past him. The fleet circled low, close enough to the ground that their engines kicked up great waves. Below him, the a dish embedded in the ship pulsed with energy, mirroring the others scattered across the fleet, each one projecting the red barrier that shimmered around the launch base.

A countdown ticked down in his hud. Launch was imminent

The Doctor had made his grand declaration some time ago. The Restoration, GUN, whatever scraps of resistance the world could muster, it wouldn’t be enough. They could fight, they could bleed, but the fleet would hold. The station would launch.

A ping lit up Metal’s hud. He turned.

In the distance, a formation of ships approached fast, sirens wailing across the fleet as fighters launched from decks all around him. The sky filled with motion, metal wings flaring, missiles screeching, as the first volleys lit up the horizon.

Metal didn’t move. He simply watched the battle going on in front of him as it grew, ships from every country Metal could name joining in, until they swarmed the great fleet like gnats to a corpse. Even with this mass of steel pushing against the fleet, the fighters and the Doctor’s forces were at a standstill. Energy pumped through him in anticipation of what was going to happen.

BOOM

Metal’s frame rumbled as there was an explosion on one of the ships near him.

“That's impossible. There's nothing that could do that kind of damage without getting shot out of the sky by-”

Metal held himself steady and looked forward as four more great explosions rocked the ships around him. The Egg Pawns investigated the charred remains of each impact site, some kind of kamikaze attack from a G.U.N ship and then he heard it. The sound of the sound barrier popping, Metal launched off the pole towards it in a boost, forming his thrusters mid-air and carrying his speed, launching himself like a missile at the Hedgehog flanked by Knuckles and Tails. As he turned at the sound of his roar, it was too late, metal snatching him away by the neck as he heard the yell of his name from the two, and he couldn’t help growl it out.

“Sonic the Hedgehog.”

“Metal, or is it Neo? It’s great to see you, bud. Love the new look.”

Metal ignored him and pumped more energy into his thrusters as they flew through the air and over to the next ship he threw the pest at it, sonic landing in a roll and then a boost, tearing through the Egg Pawns on the deck as Metal blasted at him from behind, his inferior jumping up to the barrel on one of the main gun as it fired, riding the bullet to the next ship and landing Metal right behind.

“COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT!”

“Well, if it’s a fight you want!”

Sonic tucked into a spinning dash and drifted, turning on a dime to rush headfirst into Metal. For his part, Metal only got faster, crashing into each other full speed in a headbutt, trying to force the other back.

“Ouch, more things change the more they stay the same, right, chrome dome? ”

“I am going to rip your voice box out.”

Metal lashed out, claws forming from his gloves at Sonic’s throat the Hedgehog jumping away instantly, and Metal was on top of him instantly, the two trading blows at max speed, destroying Egg Pawns that tried to intervene on accident.

Metal felt a fist bury itself in his stomach, and he lashed out in response, an elbow catching Sonic in the jaw. They both moved back, Sonic holding his jaw and Metal trying his best to hold in lunch.

“So, you like chili dogs? Or at least the 89 percent of you that’s me does.”

Sonic barely dodged the laser that Metal fired, and then sustained the former badnik flying up and trying to vaporize the blue blur, baiting his double to try and hit something that looked important to the ship. Unfortunately, no dice.

“Man, your aim is a lot better than it,”

Metal slammed down like a meteor, rage clouding his sensors. He crashed through the floor of the deck, dragging Sonic with him into the guts of the ship. Their hands locked mid-air, struggling for dominance.

Sonic headbutted him, right in Metal’s too long nose and followed it up with a spin dash that slammed them both down the corridor, Metal scraping against the wall in a shower of sparks. Metal’s arm snapped into its cannon form, and a laser screamed down the hallway, chasing Sonic. But the blue blur was too fast, he ducked into the next corridor, baiting Metal on a chaotic goose chase through the ship.

finally ending at the hangar.

Sonic leapt onto the wing of a fighter, blasting off as Metal chased from behind. He was gaining.

Sonic jumped off mid-air, flipping and landing hard on the next ship’s deck. Metal punched through the fighter like a bullet, a skidding trail of smoke and molten metal following him.

Sonic landed just in front of Team Rose, Amy, Cream, emeral, Big holding their own against a squad of Badniks.

Amy’s hammer cracked another bot in half before she spun to face him. "Sonic?! Why are you here? Did Tails figure out a way to shut down that shield yet?"

Sonic gave a crooked grin, shrugging as he wiped grime off his muzzle. "Oh, you know… just passing through. Kinda got pulled away before Tails cracked it."

Then BOOM.

Metal rocketed down toward them, crashing into the deck with enough force to leave a crater. He landed, thrusters still flaring, claws extended, pointing directly at Sonic.

"I'M GOING TO KI—"

He stopped mid-sentence.

Sonic pointed behind him. "You might wanna finish your threats a little faster, someone might overhear."

Metal’s red eyes flicked past him, and locked with hers.

Amy stood frozen, hammer slack in her grip, staring straight at him.

His voice caught in his throat.

He turned back to Sonic, who was grinning like an idiot.

Both of there Voices rang out at once
"I can explain."

No. Not now. Not her. Not like this.

Chaos energy sparked off his frame like wild lightning. His mind screamed. Every sensor screamed at him to fight as he held himself in place. He couldn't treat this all of things seriously as his traitorous voice croaked out

"I'm sorry I lied to you."

“Aww metal does have a heart”

Metal launched himself at Sonic as he jumped back, falling off the ship and hitching a ride on passing jet, Metal chasing just behind, Sonic looked up and then jumped, getting caught up in and held by a teal energy, and then put one hand in Tangle's and the other in Whisper's, as they held onto Silver, flying to their next ship.

“Sonic, what are you doing here?” Silver shouted over the wind.

“Mad Metal Sonic, real mad, and no, he's trying to kill me!”

Adjusting his grip quickly to turn back, Sonic yelled, “Duck!” as Silver let himself drop, a blast flying right over them and then exploding in a blue energy burst. Letting go of the three and holding them up with his psychokinesis, he turned, swiping his hand at Metal, a wave of teal energy forming around him and batting him into and through the hull of one of Eggman's ships.

“Woo, Silver!” Tangle yelled.

“That should buy us a minute,” as he flew and dropped them on the next ship…

“The shield is projected by the ships with the dishes, Tails says…” Whisper whispered.

“So we keep doing what we're doing.”

The wolf nodded before the roar of Metal's thrusters in the distance caught their attention. Kneeling down as her orange Wisp entered her Wispon, she lined up the shot and fired. Metal crossed his arms in front of himself, liquid steel pouring out, forming a shield and tanking the rocket head-on, flying through it and picking up speed.

“That’s as good as I can give,” Whisper whispered.

“Yeah, no offense guys.” Sonic said.

“None taken. Neither of us are really jealous. You gotta fight that thing.”

“You guys can make it to the next ship on your own, right?” Silver asked.

“See, that's insulting,” the lemur joked off, grabbing her partner’s hand, them starting to run off as Sonic and Silver got ready.

“So you got a plan, Sonic?”

“When have I ever?”

“Can't really be surprised,” Teal energy flowed off Silver in waves.

Sonic bounced on the balls of his feet, loose and ready, as Metal rocketed toward them. He blasted the ground in front of them, a burst of smoke and shrapnel spraying out, caught mid-air in Silver’s psychic field.

Metal landed in a skid, feinting a charge at Sonic before darting sideways. A wave of psychokinesis shattered the air where he’d just stood, slamming into the steel of the ship's hull.

But Metal was already gone, shifting his momentum, clicking into higher gear, faster, faster, until he was nothing but a navy-blue streak even to their eyes.

The white hedgehog raised his hands, psychic energy lashing out like chains, only for them to snap against empty air, an afterimage.

Sonic had kept pace the whole time. He tracked Metal through the blur, rushing in behind Silver mid-spin dash.

Metal’s arm morphed, a blade formed fire liquid steel he slashed down, aiming to carve his inferior copy to pieces. Only to slice through empty air again.

Caught in Silver’s grip, Sonic floated mid-air, spinning. Silver flung him forward, the momentum flowing into a brutal fist that slammed into Metal’s muzzle.

Metal spiraled back through the air, jets stuttering as he righted himself, rage burning in his eyes. He hovered for a moment, catching his breath, light panting, mechanical and low, as he scanned the battlefield.

Most of the fleet still stood, but several ships had fallen. The shield flickered weakly, its glow dimming with every second. His internal timer ticked lower.

“You thinking about how you’re gonna lose again, Chromedome?” Sonic jeered 

“To believe your actions have any consequence is delusi—”

“Yeah, yeah. Liked you better when you couldn’t talk, faker.”

“I’m going to enjoy disemboweling you.”

“Aww, but what would she think ab-”

Metal cut him off with a plasma blast. Sonic dodged, flipping through the air as Silver lashed out with a wave of psychic energy turning all the nearby Badniks into his spears.

Metal dove through it, weaving between Egg Pawns and landed hard, skidding along the hull, and fired twin energy beams.

Silver threw up a reinforced shield, psychic energy mixed with steel debris. Sparks flew.

Sonic zigzagged through the chaos, speeding toward Metal. Just before impact, Metal killed his thrusters and dropped low, catching Sonic’s punch with one hand, and slammed his knee into the blue hedgehog’s gut.

Sonic wheezed as Metal spun and hurled him back, straight toward Silver.

Silver dropped his defense to catch Sonic in mid-air, arms wrapped around him, just as Metal charged again, halfway there, speed ramping,

SNAP.

“CHAOS—”

All of Metal’s sensors screamed danger.

He barely registered the warp the black and red hedgehog glowing with energy hid feet slamming down and grinding into the hull try and stop snapping his arms up to guard metal forming into a shield.

BLAST.

The blast sent him ragdolling, through the hull then smashing through an internal wall, then another, then into the heart of the engine room, back first against a massive Chaos Drive.

The impact cracked the plating behind him. Segments of glass peeled off and hit the ground around him. Metal groaned, rising slowly from the wreckage. Then a ping echoed in his head, Sage.

“There was a really big explosion on Ship 23. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Never better.”

“Well, that’s good. Launch is soon, you should start making your way to the station.”

Sage disconnected promptly as Metal finished picking himself up.

■

Silver let his energy die down, the teal glow around him and Sonic thinning in the air after Shadow’s explosion. Catching the black hedgehog in his aura, he floated the three of them to the edge of the gaping hole Shadow had punched into the ship. Shadow peered down immediately.

“Little warning next time, Shadow.”

The black hedgehog ignored him, eyes locked on the smoking breach. Sonic held a hand to his chest, feigning offense.

Silver hovered over the hole, waving away smoke with a gloved hand, revealing the busted-up innards of the ship. Shadow just grumbled.

“You two couldn’t stay on task if your lives depended on it.”

“Hey, I was doing my job, until Eggman’s tin-hedgehog dragged me off.”

Shadow shot a sideways look at Silver.

"And you?"

"Was I supposed to just ignore them?”

“yes, actually. And I don’t think I finished him, either way, three on one should make this quick and we can get onto the ship”

The ship groaned beneath them, the thrusters whining in protest as it began tilting downward, descent inevitable.

“Maybe we should just move on. Sinking ship.”

“What, you scared you’re gonna drown?”

“Yes. Actually.”

Shadow rolled his eyes as Silver grabbed them both again with his energy, slowly lowering the trio down through the smoke and into the chaos Shadow had left behind.

“So… did you think about how we’re gonna find him, Shads?”

“See any you-shaped holes?”

Silver pointed. “ that's Kinda hedgehog-shaped, yeah.” He took off toward it, the others following close.

“Alright! Let’s go, Team SSS!”

Silver and Shadow didn’t respond.

“Sonic and the Hedge—”

“No.”

“Yeah, that one was pretty bad, sonic ”

“Mach 3, 'cause we all—”

“Yeah, we get it, Sonic.”

“I kinda liked that one.”

■

Metal heard the sound of the three hedgehogs tearing through what was left of the ship’s crew, heading straight for him as he slowly stood. The door blasted off its hinges in a burst of psychokinesis. As they charged in, Metal formed his arm into a cannon and blasted a hole in the ceiling, rocketing upward to escape the corner he was boxed into. The ship lurched, hitting the water, throwing off his flight just long enough for Silver to block the hole with his energy.

A blue blur slammed into his side in a Spin Dash. knocking him from the sky. Metal righted himself mid-air, only to dart back as a fist from Shadow swung at him. The three began to close in, slowly cornering him. Metal’s back hit the Chaos Drive, and then an idea struck.

He raised his blaster and pressed it to the glowing reactor behind him, his voice ice-cold.

“Move another inch forward, and we all go up in a Chaos-fueled explosion.”

“You wouldn’t,” Sonic said, eyes narrowing.

Metal’s arm glowed dangerously. Sonic took a half-step back.

“You’re lying. The Professor made those drives so they couldn’t—”

“Gerald Robotnik’s been dead for fifty years, and you're working off intel just as outdated. You really wanna test me? Us and this whole ship will be slag at the bottom of the ocean in seconds.”

“We could outrun it,” Sonic said, glancing at Shadow. “Right, Shadow? Or how about Teleporting us away”

Metal scanned his fellow artificial hedgehog, smirking.

“All tapped out, huh? Your little stunt must’ve taken a lot out of you.”

Sonic forced a smile. “Silver? Mind freezing Eggman’s monster?”

Silver hesitated, Metal staring him down.

“Did you know there’s a slight delay, maybe a tenth of a second or two, between when you gesture and when your powers actually activate? Go ahead. Maybe you’ll catch my afterimage.”

Silver tensed. “Sonic… You’re really fast, and you’d really take yourself out just to get the three of us?”

Metal shrugged. “I'd die pretty happy.”

A tense silence followed as Metal mentally panicked, praying none of them realized he was bluffing. The drive would explode, but taking out the entire ship? A joke. He’d be lucky if it even disabled him. Focusing away form them he metally messaged Sage.

"Getting 3v1’d. Standoff. Send reinforcements. Now."

“So... what are you waiting for?” Sonic quipped. “Egg Pawns to turn the tide, Metalhead?”

Metal ignored him, posture still.

“If anything,” he said coolly, “one of our friends is going to show up.”

“What, Whisper? What’s she gonna do, glare me to death?”

“Hey! Don’t mock her!” Silver snapped, teal energy sparking around his fists.

“Calm down, Future Boy, or do you wanna see how many paradoxes I can nip in the bud?”

They continued to stand until the heard a sloshing of water above them then Another noise echoed above them. Something striking metal.

“Great. We’re gonna drown in here,” Sonic muttered.

Then another bang and crackle of electricity. Metal looked up.

The ceiling broke open.

Two figures peered down, a green tenrec and a blue Fennec.

“Surge and Kit?!” Sonic yelled.

“You really think I’d miss this?” Surge grinned, electricity dancing across her quills.

Metal smirked. That’ll work.

“Who dragged in Starline’s failures?” Metal shot.

Lightning crackled between Surge’s hands. “Who do you think I am?”

“Surge, evil. My clone. My evil clone. Surge, please—”

“Someone not having an identity crisis.”

She immediately fired a bolt of lightning. The rest braced for the explosion.

Metal dodged, letting the bolt strike the Chaos Drive behind him.

The crystal shattered, then ignited.

A fireball erupted as Metal rocketed up, Silver’s barrier gone, and the ceiling wide open he blasted away

The last thing he heard was Shadow yelling

“DAMN IT!”

Metal blasted toward the station at max speed, Sage connecting to him mid-flight.

“Metal, we're about to launch and i have you-”

“Never mind that,” he said sharply. “Just launch, and leave an entry port open for me.”

Sage sent what felt like a nod to metal.

The station ignited suddenly, brilliant light flooding the sky. A towering exhaust plume the size of skyscraper through the ground under it as the station lifted off.

Metal’s sensors flared as he pushed everything he had left into his thrusters, wind tearing past him, the mach cone narrowing around his frame..

On his hud, a ping marked his landing zone, a bay Sage had cleared for him. She appeared in a flickering projection, waiting inside it.

Metal hit double-time, slowly closing the distance, outpacing the rising station as the air thinned. He shot past the burning exhaust plume, past the roar and heat—and into the station’s hangar, the walls closing around him like a steel vice.

He collapsed, breathing hard, the artificial air hissing around him. Sage hovered above, calm and composed.

“Mission accomplished, Metal.”

“Yeah…” the former robot muttered. He tried to get up, but sank back down, spent.

He just breathed as the ship entered the final frontier.

■

Amy had heard an angry god roar before but the new Death Egg was trying to submit it's place as the loudest thing she's ever heard.

It was an impossible sound. shaking the air, the sea, the sky.

She covered her ears, as did the others, the noise only beginning to fade as the massive station rose far above. When she uncovered them, blinking through the light and haze, she saw Metal, chasing after it like a meteor.

A sting flared in her chest.

She ignored it.

Turning around, her eyes landed on the stragglers, members missing from each team, and then Surge and Kit. She shook off her confusion. They needed all the help they could get.

The five of them were lifted by Silver’s energy and gently set down on the sandy shore.

Sonic rushed to Tails, eyes sharp. “You got anything to get us up there?”

Tails grimaced. “If you gave me a day or two…”

“We don’t have a day, let alone two,” Shadow growled.

His red eyes rose toward the sky. His hand brushed his limiter rings. He closed his eyes, and sighed. Then, without another word, he began removing them. Chaos energy poured off him in thick waves.

Omega's monotone broke. “Shadow. Are you sure about this?”

Rouge echoed the worry, her voice tense. But Shadow didn’t answer.

He opened his eyes.

Burning.

“CHAOS CONTROL.”

Chapter Text

Eggman stood in the command center, located at the highest point of the station. Around him, worker drones moved with mechanical precision, managing the successful transition of the Death Egg into orbit. The station now circled the Earth like the crown of his empire it was

He rose from his chair and walked to the wide observation window, a massive pane of reinforced glass that framed the black abyss. His gaze drifted from the half of the moon he shattered, down to the blue marble below. For a brief moment, he allowed himself a small, satisfied smile.

Victory.

Pulling out his communicator, he dialed the people he wanted to share it with.

“Hello, Sage. Metal made it aboard correct?”

"Yes, Father."

“Good. You two should come to the command deck. This view is… magnificent.”

“Father ” There was a pause. A faint groan in the background as Metal got up. “Metal is,”

“I’m fine,” Metal grunted, his voice low but stable.

“You should rest, Metal,” Sage said gently.

“I'm fine, Sage.” the artificial hedgehog growled more forcible

Eggman sighed softly away from his communicator “How bad is he?”

“He’s just… tired. The fighting took a lot out of him.”

Eggman hummed thoughtfully. He had hoped to have both of them present when he addressed the world. But perhaps a moment of silence, time for the world to sit with its failure, would be more effective at breaking its spirit.

“Tell Metal to eat something and rest. I’ll manage the address eventually, no need to rush for now.”

“Understood. Goodbye, Father.”

The line disconnected.

Eggman slipped the communicator back into his coat and returned his gaze to his Earth.

■

Metal finally got to his feet, and let his body feel it, the strain, the punishment, the burn in every synthetic muscle and nerve. Every part of him ached.

One hand pressed against the cold metal wall as he stumbled toward the corridor leading to the rear of the station. His balance wavered slightly. The blast really had taken more out of him than he wanted to admit.

“So,” Sage said dryly, floating beside him, “how many walls did you get thrown through?”

“Is now really the time?”

“I don't know, are you still planning on marching straight to Father like that?”

Metal didn’t answer. He kept walking, trying to bring up a map of the station on his hud, but nothing responded. He blinked, tried again. Still nothing.

“Sage. Why can’t I access the station’s layout?”

She shrugged and drifted beside him.

“Maybe you could just wander around the station and find it the hard way. That’s totally what you want to do, right?”

Metal stopped and glared at her. His red eyes flickered with tired irritation.

She smiled coyly, then looked away.

“Fine,” he growled out.

“Let’s get you someplace where you can rest.”

Metal grunted but followed. Sage floated slightly ahead, leading the way. And then metal felt a jolt, A spike of Chaos energy tore through his senses, raw, violent, overwhelming. He looked toward the floor of the ship. It was too far away to be the chaos Emeralds

Snap.

Before he could think more about it something slammed between his back quills hard and drove him to the floor, groaning as his chest hit cold steel.

He looked up, confused and furious, and saw Sage hovering above him. She looked surprised, then amused, then a familiar voice cut through the air.

“I’m so sorry, s—NEO!”

The weight jumped off of him.

Metal rolled over, and found himself staring straight up at Amy Rose, hammer in hand, eyes wide with concern and tension. His heart rate spiked.

Sage, unbothered, floated forward, hovering in front of the pink hedgehog. Amy stood stiff, her expression caught somewhere between dread and determination. She quietly placed her hammer behind her back, it vanished in a soft flash as she spoke.

"You two wouldn’t happen to be willing to just let me walk past… would you?"

Sage shook her head slowly. Amy's shoulders dropped.

"I’m more interested in how you got here," Sage said.

"I felt a huge spike of Chaos energy from below us," metal muttered, crossing hhid arms. "Then... she appeared above me."

Sage hummed thoughtfully.

“Chaos Control, most likely.” She nodded to herself in confirmation.

“Shadow must’ve taken off his limiter rings to teleport the others onto the station. The reason you appeared separately is probably because of the sheer distance the amount of people and his lack of an emerald must of caused the lack of precision.”

She turned to Amy, cocking her head.

“That about right?”

Amy blinked. “Would you believe I used tarot magic to get up here?”

Sage almost answered no, then stopped, hand covering her mouth as she actually considered it.

After a second, she shook her head.

“it Doesn’t matter.”

She turned back to Metal.

“Metal, I’m going to go find the rest of their little boarding party. I’ve marked somewhere on your map. Take her there.”

But before either of them could protest, Sage vanished in a sharp burst of red light.

Metal slowly turned to face Amy. She was staring right back at him. There was fire in her eyes, not anger, not yet. But something worse and metal couldn't decide if he did or didn't want to be burned the former badnik swallowing hard as he considered his words

■

Tails gripped his communicator tightly, surrounded by the Chaotix, Tangle, Whisper, Cream, Big, Gemerl, Rouge, Omega, and Kit, who stood quietly in the back.

The sound of Amy’s voice echoed faintly from the other end of the call, her conversation with Sage. She had hung up a moment ago, likely trying to keep them from listening.

The group ducked into a side room, a narrow maintenance bay filled with inert machinery. Tails worked quickly, trying to reach one of the lost hedgehogs. Or the echidna. Or someone.

Finally, someone picked up.

The sound of Shadow panting in the background filtered through as Knuckles answered the call.

“Yo, Tails? You okay? Who’s with you?”

“Knuckles, that doesn’t matter right now, Amy is with Sage and Metal. We need to—”

A sharp No came from Shadow. There was a pause, then Shadow’s voice, calmer now.

“Tails, is everyone else with you?”

"Yes, but w—”

“Amy can take care of herself well enough. We stick to the original plan.”

“Bullshit!” Knuckles shouted, his voice crackling through the comm.

Arguing broke out on the other end of the line, tails stared down at the communicator, nerves twisting in his chest. The rest of his team listened silently, concern and tension thick in the air.

Then Sonic’s voice cut through the chaos.

“Guys. Hate to say it, but I agree with Shadow. I think Amy’s will be fine. For now. This station still has to go down.”

“Sonic, how do you know that?” Tails demanded, his voice sharper than he intended.

“You trust me, buddy?”

Tails didn’t hesitate.

“Yes.”

“Then that’s enough.”

The communicator went silent the Call ended.

Tails lowered it, exhaling slowly.

All around him, the others waited. Badniks prowled the halls just outside, their footsteps echoing.

Tails stood up straighter, rallying his voice.

“You all know the plan. Sonic’s group is hunting the Chaos Emeralds. We’re targeting anything vital to this station’s operations and destroying it.”

■

Amy’s green eyes locked onto the former robot’s red. A flush of embarrassment crawled up her neck, of all the ways she could have made her entrance, that had to be it. She forced it down, just as Metal awkwardly rubbed the band on his arm, staring down at it like it held the words he couldn’t find.

Then she realized he still wore the fire band from Soleanna.

A tiny smile threatened to betray her. Damn it, she was supposed to be mad at him.

“I… realize you’re probably upset with m—”

“You think?” She cut him off, words sharp but softening at the edges. “N— M— What should I even call you?”

“Just call me Metal.”

She exhaled, frustration curling at her lips.

“I wish you’d just told me you were Metal Sonic.”

Something shifted in his chest at her voice, a sharp echo of that same ache he’d felt with Belle. He rubbed at the band again, eyes flicking anywhere but her as directions from Sage blinked into his HUD.

Amy fell into step beside him, muttering under her breath.

“Red eyes, works for Eggman, looks a lot like Sonic… why didn’t I guess sooner?”

Metal glanced at her.

“You really didn’t suspect?”

Amy let out a tiny laugh. “I take people I like at their word, okay? I didn’t know murder bots could be so much fun, or sentimental. You still have the band from the festival.”

Metal’s heart pulsed too quick. He lifted the wristband as if seeing it for the first time.

“I don’t know… it just feels wrong to take it off.”

Amy nodded, a small, understanding smile on her lips. She lifted her own arm, hidden under her golden bracelets, her matching band still there.

Metal’s eyes widened. He couldn’t mask it.

She caught the look and her grin turned sly. “Why’d you run away at the festival?”

“I didn’t want to cause a scene.”

Amy tilted her head. “And I’m guessing you didn’t tell Eggman about me either… the times we met?”

She was so close to him now, smiling, warm, impossible to look away from.

Metal stared at her and couldn’t bring himself to lie. He nodded his head, a silent confession.

“So… you could stop if you want too. Take the Emerald out of this station. Leave with us.”

Metal’s eyes dropped to the floor. He shook his head, small, final.

Amy’s shoulders fell, the faint crack in her hope showing for just a heartbeat. Metal ignored the new, wrong ache deep in his chest. He couldn’t lie to her, he couldn’t betray the Doctor.

They walked in silence for a moment before Amy, ever herself, nudged him with her elbow, trying to find a lighter thread to pull.

“So, most of the male hedgehogs I know don’t really wear clothes. Unless it’s, like… a special occasion.”

Metal blinked. “Amy. I’m overdressed for the launch of the greatest station in human history.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

Metal huffed out something like a laugh. “I suppose, The Doctor dressed me when I was first made like this. Part of me is human. It’d feel wrong not to.”

Amy’s eyes widened, curiosity brightening the sadness for just a second. “Oh, right! You are part human. Who’d he, you know, make you from?”

Metal’s grinned, small and brittle

“Himself. My brain’s based on his. Something about not wanting me to be an idiot.”

Amy gasped. “Really? That’s… I mean, all things considered… you’re pretty nice to me. At least.”

Metal shrugged, voice almost playful. “I'm partial to Eggs, I suppose.”

Metal pressed the panel again, it flashed red and he resisted the urge to punch it and let out a mechanical sigh, shoulders dropping in defeat. The destination Sage had marked probably wasn’t even a cell, not really. And even if it was, would he really want to put her in one? Then what,fight Sonic and get jumped again?
Sage knows what she’s doing, he thought bitterly. Fine. Fuck it.

He turned around to find Amy staring at him, confused. He walked past her, crossed to a table bolted neatly against the wall, and sat down. The cool metal pressed into his fur,it didn’t help. Amy followed, sitting across from him.

“We’re stuck,” Metal said flatly.

“Good,” she shot back.

Metal raised an eyebrow at her.

“You can’t go help Eggman. I still don’t want him to win.”

“…That’s… I understand.”

A soft whir announced Orbot drifting over,
“Would you two loveb—”

Metal turned his head sharply, staring dead into Orbot’s optical sensors. The sphere’s voice glitched into silence.

“Ahem. Lovely customers, would you like something to eat?” He produced two tiny menus from a compartment in his chassis, offering them politely.

Amy took hers with a amused grin. “Why does Eggman have a restaurant up here?”

“I don’t know,” Metal muttered, scanning the menu anyway.

Amy flipped through hers too. “Shouldn’t you be trying to stop Sonic?”

“Sage has it handled. And I… kinda don’t want to.” He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “There’s like twelve of you.”

“Aww, is Metal scared he’s gonna lose?”

“Yes. I will lose if I fight twelve people at once.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Sonic wins when you fight him with help.”

“You are not seriously comparing Egg Pawns to Shadow and Silver.”

She laughed,that soft, infuriating laugh, and leaned her elbows on the table. “And what if I am?”

■

Sonic ducked under a laser that fired from the wall, then leapt over a low swing from a strange Egg fighter clad in sleek black plating. He flipped, dropped, and brought his heel down to smash its head, but the machine snapped it's shield up just in time, blocking him. He bounced off, skidding back a few steps as the bot staggered.

“Have you all considered surr—” The hologram’s voice cut out as a Chaos Spear sliced clean through the projection. The flickering image of Sage scoffed before vanishing.

“I think you made her mad, Shads,” Sonic called over his shoulder, smirking.

“As long as she stops talking,” Shadow muttered, he shot a glare at Knuckles. “Are we close to the Emeralds yet?”

“We’re getting there,” Knuckles grunted, barely glancing back as he drove his fist through an Egg Pawn’s chest cavity. The smashed Pawn and its squad mates lifted off the ground, wrapped in Silver’s telekinesis, then hurled forward like cannonballs into a reinforced blast door crumpling it inward.

Surge shot forward and through the weak point sliver had made in a flash of lightning, landing on the other side the guys looked up at her, then heard a sudden yelp.

A blast from an E-2000 laser burst through the wall. All four dove to the side as plasma scorched the floor.

“Eggman’s got some upgrades, huh Sage?” Sonic quipped, to the air.

The only answer was another laser, this time firing from the ceiling. Sonic sidestepped a heartbeat away from losing quills, as Silver extended his hands, psychokinesis wrapping around the ruined blast door. He ripped it free from its hinges, revealing another chamber bristling with black-armored Badniks, and an Egg Hammer lumbering in from the back.

The E-2000 locked on to Surge again. As its barrel charged, Silver clenched his fist, the metal gun twisted inward, caving on itself. Sparks popped, the cannon exploding in the machine’s arm.

Sonic blurred in from the side, a living buzzsaw, Spin Dashing through the stunned E-2000 and neatly separating its head from its shoulders.

“Hey! I had that!” Surge barked, dropping back into a stance and rushing towards the next Badnik.

“Sorry!” Silver hovered forward, voice dry. “Should i have just let it blast you”

He flicked his attention back just in time to catch a shield bouncing off the wall, spinning straight toward the back of Sonic’s head. Silver nudged it with a burst of psychokinesis, ricocheting it back across the room, the shield slammed into the Egg Pawn that threw it, caving the bots chest in and taking it out.

Sonic threw him a thumbs-up, spinning back into motion and crashing into the Egg Hammer’s knee. The massive bot stumbled, just as Shadow teleported above it in a snap, air shoes slamming down onto the back of its neck. The impact sent the machine sprawling on its stomach, sparks and metal shrieking.

Knuckles stepped forward without breaking stride and caved in the bot’s head with one punch.

Sonic landed beside him, panting lightly. “We any closer, Knucks?”

Knuckles cracked his namesakes. “We’ll get there when we get there, okay?”

■

Metal sat in his chair, barely paying attention to his food. Trying his best to listen to Amy but feeling himself filled with uneasiness at the situation, opening his hud periodically hoping for a message from the sage.

Orbot hovered over with a gentle whir.

“Are you two enjoying your food?” the sphere asked cheerfully.

Amy nodded and offered a bright smile. “I didn’t know you could cook, Orbot.”

“What can I say?” Orbot puffed himself up slightly. “I am a bot of many talents. And you, big bro? You’ve barely touched yours.”

“It’s fine,” Metal grunted.

“No, no, no!” Orbot bobbed in the air, wagging a finger. “If you don’t like it, the kitchen can make you something else.”

Metal rolled his red eyes and pushed the plate toward him. “Surprise me.”

Orbot snatched it up and zipped away. Metal turned back to Amy, trying to say something only for Orbot to suddenly be floating beside them again, empty hands clasped like he’d never left.

Amy blinked. “How’d you get back over here so fast?”

“Bot of many talents,” Orbot repeated, voice sweetly smug. He twirled in place. “Now, would the two of you like to play a game?”

Metal’s mouth opened, ready to shut it down, but Amy cut in first, nodding eagerly.

“Yes!” she said. “That sounds fun.”

Metal pressed his lips into a thin line, resigned. “What is it?”

“Ten Questions.” Orbot spun around them. “It’ll be fun, right Metal?”

Amy leaned in, elbows on the table, grinning. “Come on. Ten questions. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Metal stared at Orbot, a bead of unease prickling the back of his mind. The little bot’s expression was all fake innocence, like he knew exactly what he was doing.

Metal nodded stiffly anyway, voice flat. “Fine.”

“Okay! First question: What’s your favorite color?”

“Pink,” Amy answered immediately.

Metal tapped his finger against the table, trying not to look at her. “I like red.”

“Great answers! I’m partial to aquamarine but also en—”

“Orbot,” Metal cut in, voice sharp. “Next question.”

The robot bobbed in the air, unfazed. “Favorite food?” And as if on cue, he zipped away, returning almost instantly with a plate of chili dogs, dropping it in front of Metal with a little flourish.

Metal stared at it. He tried to ignore the way his mouth watered, but Amy caught it and laughed softly, the sound tugging at his chest. A darker blush crept up under the edge of his muzzle.

“Why am I not surprised your favorite food is the same as his?” she teased.

“I do not enjoy this slo-” Metal started, but his stomach betrayed him, growling loudly.

“Tell your stomach that, Metal,” Amy said, covering her grin with her hand.

Metal shot her a look, grabbed a chili dog, and bit in. “Just tell me yours.”

“Soft serve ice cream,”

Orbot hummed happily. “Question three: What’s one thing you want to do when this is all over?”

Neither answered right away. Amy spoke first, voice softer. “I was planning to visit Tails. Before all this.”

Metal paused. “I… there are people I’d want to see again. I’m not sure she’d want to see me, though.”

Amy tilted her head. “Who?”

“Belle.”

She hummed thoughtfully. “I don’t think she’d be mad at you for this, mostly Eggman.”

Metal didn’t nod. He couldn’t. The thought at the back of his mindm

Orbot’s voice cut through the quiet. “Question five! What’s something you’re scared of?”

“Gaia forbid someone I care about getting hurt,” Amy said at once. “or worse.”

Metal’s voice was lower. “Disappointing the Doctor. Failing again.”

“Okay, okay less of a downer this time!” Orbot chirped. “What’d you two first think of each other?”

Amy squinted at Metal, chin propped on her hand. “I mostly thought you were just evil. With a pretty face.”

“Scary,” Metal deadpanned.

Amy’s eyes widened, then narrowed. “There’s no way you just said that.”

“The first time I saw you like this,” Metal shot back, “you almost caved in the back of my skull in.”

“I… apologized!” she huffed, pointing at him. “And you were doing pretty bad stuff.”

“Trespassing is illegal.”

“Assault is too, Metal.” She wagged a finger at him, trying to hold back a smile.

“they shot at me first,”

Orbot clapped his claws together with an innocent grin. “Next question, big one! Any crushes?”

Metal glitched for a half-second, a low static click in his throat. He nearly didn’t process the words, and when he did, he stared down at Orbot’s beaming face, every wire in him sparking at once. He risked a glance up at Amy, her muzzle was burning pink, nearly the same color as her quills.

Orbot hovered closer, peering at him with a go on look.

Metal opened his mouth, searching for words, and was saved by a sudden ping in his head. Sage.

Hey. Hope you had fun. I need you at the engine room. Now. Don’t let them take the Emeralds.

Metal shot to his feet so fast his chair scraped the floor. Amy jerked back in surprise, trying to shake the blush off her face as she looked up at him.

“I have to go,” Metal said quickly. “It’s Sage. Please… just stay here.”

She nodded and some part of him knew she was lying, but the Emeralds came first. He turned and ran, As Sage reconnected in his head, her voice was calm.

“Metal. Stop.”

He stopped on a dime. A panel in the wall next to him slid open, revealing an elevator.

This’ll take you straight to the Emeralds. Short trip.

Metal nodded wordlessly and stepped inside. The doors sealed him in, the hum of the lift carrying him down. He tried to focus, on the mission, on Sage’s words, but all he could feel was that heat in his chest when he’d looked at Amy’s face.

Blushing pinker than her quills.

Chapter Text

Amy watched Metal rush away, the door snapping shut behind him. She was on her feet in an instant, hammer in hand. She stalked to the panel he’d used, and glowed red at her touch, mocking her. She lifted her hammer, ready to make an exit, but Orbot suddenly floated in front of her, tiny arms raised like a hostage.

“Miss, remember what Metal said! You can’t follow him to the bottom level, ”

“That’s where Metal is, right?” she snapped.

Orbot’s optic flickered. He slapped a hand over his mouth, realizing he’d slipped. Amy’s hammer shifted in her grip, tarot cards floated around her menacingly.

“Please move.”

Orbot relented with a mechanical sigh and drifted aside, just in time for Amy to swing. The hammer slammed into the door with a deep boom, once, twice, three times, until metal buckled. Amy spun, kicked the twisted edge inward, then curled herself into a ball and bounced through the gap.

She dropped onto the walkway outside, skidding forward. Pulling out her communicator as she sprinted forward.

“Hey, guys, I’m on the—” She slowed, eyes darting for a marker. Her gaze locked on a flickering sign “floor 4”. “—I’m on the fourth floor of the station. Metal’s heading for the bottom. Who’s down there?”

Knuckles’ voice came through, rough and calm. “That’d be us, Amy.”

“So chromedome finally decided to drop in, huh?” Sonic snarked on the other head

She heard muffled shuffling on the line. Then Shadow’s voice cut in, cold and clipped. “How long since he left you and how far are we?”

Amy checked the ruined door behind her. “Only a minute why.”

Knuckles’ voice again: “We’re only a couple more rooms from the core.”

Shadow’s growl came quiet but clear. “Because Metal’s not coming down there for us.”

■

The elevator dinged as it reached its stop, opening silently into the vast chamber the doctor had used for his broadcast to the world.

Metal stepped out. Behind him, the doors sealed seamlessly back into the wall. He stood still for a moment, his sensors buzzing as the air cracked with energy.

Ahead, at the heart of the room, the seven Chaos Emeralds pulsed and glowed, humming like a heartbeat. The raw power stung at his skin, alive and electric.

He exhaled and closed his eyes, letting the low hum of the Chaos Emeralds sing in his ears. Slowly, he opened his arms wide, stepping forward until he stood at the very heart of the chamber.

Outside the heavy door, he could hear them coming, the echoes of fighting getting closer, Sonic’s voice sharp over the clatter of Badniks being torn apart.

The first Emerald rose, brilliant yellow, tugged from its pedestal by his pull. Then the blue, then the red, one by one they lifted off their spires, orbiting him like stars

The hum in the air built into a roar, Metal’s frame rattled his veins burning. He opened his eyes as the blast doors behind him exploded inward, torn apart by Silver’s power. Smoke and sparks cleared just enough for him to see them, his inferior, and all his allies behind him.

Metal pointed straight at Sonic, teeth bared in a grin.

“You owe me a rematch.”

The Emeralds shot forward, slamming into his chest in streaks of color. The room drowned in gold. Power roared through him, raw and bright, flooding every nerve, every wire, every scrap of flesh he hated and loved.

When the golden light finally died down, Metal hovered where he’d stood, arms out, palms open, quills and fur shimmering gold. Sparks crackled off him in arcs that kissed the floor and left burn marks in there wake quickly settling as his feet touch so floor.

A smirk split his muzzle, wicked and hungry.

“So let me show you what i'm made off, but you're like ants to me now,” he said, voice dripping with arrogance. “It's almost not even worth the eff—”

“ANT?! Who are you calling an ANT, you cyborg prick?!” Surge roared, pointing furiously as electricity cracked and sparked around her like a storm.

“Surge, maybe don’t provoke the deathbot in a super state,” Silver muttered, eyes wide.

“You guys hear a gnat buzzing?” Metal said, not even looking at her.

Surge didn’t wait. She screamed and charged, lightning lashing off her violently. Her fist came in like a comet, but Metal ducked, smooth and effortless, and drove his fist into her gut with a thunderous impact. The hit landed before they could blink. Her momentum vanished instantly, the air punched from her lungs.

He caught her by the spines before she could fall, lifting her with ease and glaring down at the others. Then he hurled her like a missile.

“Someone stupid get in my way,” she croaked out.

Silver leapt to catch her, but she hit him mid-air with a brutal crack, and the two tumbled across the metal floor, groaning, surge laughing lightly though her pain.

“Sonic, please tell me you’ve got a plan for this guy!” Knuckles barked, fists already clenched.

Sonic shrugged. “Not die long enough for the rest to blow up the station?”

Before he could finish, Metal appeared between them. A lazy backhand caught Shadow across the jaw, sending him flying through one wall, then another, and another, until the sound of impact was gone entirely.

Knuckles roared and launched a punch. Metal caught it mid-air, liquid metal wrapped in gold wrapping around his fist in a large ball. The weight pinned Knuckles in place, dragging him down until he couldn’t lift his arm.

Sonic dashed back in with a flip, Metal vanishing from his sight taking another step back and bumped into another hedgehog energy arching onto his quills.

Sonic spun with a kick, metal gone before it could connect, he felt a gloved hand grab his quills and slam him face first through the floor and start to drag him through it.

“I really hope the others are having better luck.” Sonic thought, dazed.”

■

Cream flapped her ears hard as she raised Big above Gemerl and the tall one. eyed Sonic robot fighting below. The two robots locked in a struggle for dominance, both of their engines roaring as they locked hands. Kit in the front of the room keeping fodder badnick from joining the fight

“Gemerl, look out!” Cream yelled down, dropping her feline payload as Gemerl gained the advantage, getting out of the mecha's grip and sweeping its legs, blasting away as Big crushed the robot under himself in a belly flop. Cream dropped down from the sky to get to her friend, helping the robot up as sparks came off him.

“Are you ok, Gemerl?”

“Most of my damage is superficial. I will be fin—”

There was the roar of thrusters as Big panicked, slowly being picked up, the mecha lifting the feline over its head, slowly walking out of its creator and then dropping the cat to its side, the room almost shaking. Its screen and plating were cracked and its arms sparked, heavily damaged as it moved to get ready to strike Gemerl doing the same, before they could continue to fight they a heard yelling and what sounded like smashing through wall the mecha turning to see a black blur tore through the wall to the side of the mecha, hitting it in the side and killing its own momentum. The mecha lurched, trying to stay up, but it was too much, falling down. The black hedgehog groaned in pain, holding his head as Cream ran up to him.

“Are you ok, Mr. Shadow? Aren't you supposed to be with Mr. Sonic?”

Shadow got up slowly. “Yeah, I'm fine,” clearly lying, and stumbled into a sprint back where he came as Cream went to check on Big and then pulled out her communicator

"Me Gemerl, Kit, and Big are wrapping up shutting down our part of the station"

■

Knuckles finally broke his fist free from the metal ball, panting, eyes burning red with rage.

He looked up, most of the team was down or gone, Sonic, wedged halfway into a reinforced wall, shoes kicking uselessly as he tried to pry himself out.

And Super Metal hovered above it all, drifting like a golden wraith. He turned, that infuriating grin carved across his muzzle, daring Knuckles to come try.

“I’m gonna knock those Emeralds right out of you!” Knuckles roared.

Metal’s grin widened. He closed his eyes like he was stifling a laugh, drifting down until his feet kissed the deck. He raised one palm and curled his fingers, beckoning.

That was all Knuckles needed. He launched forward in a streak of red, fists swinging wild. Metal danced back, arms folded, eyes still shut, slipping between the jabs like smoke. Knuckles snarled, throwing a hail of punches, hammering Metal’s space tighter, forcing him to dodge where there was nowhere left to run but through his spikes.

Knuckles swung one final haymaker, but Metal vanished in a flash of golden light. Knuckles blinked, breath caught in his throat, then felt a cold weight on his chest. He looked down, a glob of shimmering steel latched to his fur, pulsing gold metal laying on the floor.

“When did he—”

The thought ended as Metal swiped his pointer towards a wall, kuckeles yanked backward like a ragdoll and smashed into a wall hard.

Snap.

Shadow crashed down from above, Chaos energy l
Arching around his knee but Metal flipped clear, toward Sonic who had finally wrenched himself free, boosting in with a snarl, only for Metal’s roundhouse to slam into his ribs, sending him skidding sideways.

The two hedgehogs locked eyes, a quick, wordless nod. Then they blurred out, twin streaks of red and blue tearing circles around Metal in dizzying loops. Metal drifted lower, palm raised, tracking them calmly.

Shadow struck first, a hook to the jaw that passed clean through like a ghost. Sonic was right behind him, a spindash aimed at Metal’s gut, nothing but an afterimage.

They split, circled again, weaving illusions of themselves to bait a reaction. Metal didn’t even flinch. He stood there, golden energy dripping from his quills like static rain.

Shadow’s eyes flicked to Sonic and both hedgehogs committed. Shadow snapping forward with a brutal kick to the back of Metal’s head while Sonic slammed in from the front.

Both hits landed nothing. Metal flickered, and appeared above them, fangs bared in a grin. His fists clamped down, one hand gripping each of their quills. Moving to slammed them both into the deck

Snap.

In a flash light, Sonic and Shadow reappeared beside Silver and Surge, gasping, heads spinning. Metal lazily drifted down towards them like an angel made of malice.

Silver looked at Surge, then back at the wrecked hedgehogs.

“Surge, you mind tagging in for them?”

“Yes,” she spat, then cracked her knuckles anyway, lightning dancing between her quills. Silver floated higher, teal aura roaring to life.

“I suppose I can play with you too for a whi—”

Metal cut himself off as the ship rumbled beneath them.

His HUD flickered crimson, warning icons flaring. Parts of the station were failing, gravity systems dropping in and out.

He hissed mentally, shut his eyes, and reached deeper into the Chaos that flowed from him to the ship. He shoved more of his own energy into it, patching holes with raw force.

His feet touched down on the deck, The aura around him dimmed, his energy now felt a lot less bottomless than before staring at them as Sonic smirked at him.

■

Tails typed like his life depended on it, because it did. His Miles Electric was plugged straight into the Death Egg’s systems, lines of code flashing by as he battered at layer after layer of Sage’s digital fortress. Overhead, Omega’s minigun spun up, shredding through the swarm of black-armored Badniks that poured down the corridor.

“A new coat of black paint does not change your inferiority to the ultimate E-Series!” Omega boomed over the roar of gunfire.

Rouge swooped down beside Tails, she peered at his screen, then at the horde Omega was joyfully dismantling.

“Almost done? Tangle, Whisper, and the Chaotix just called, their sabotage is.”

Tails gritted his teeth, eyes locked on his screen. “Soonish.”

Rouge arched an eyebrow. “Soonish? I need a real number, genius.”

He ignored her, fingers flying faster, pulse thundering in his ears. He was almost in. Almost. Then, a flicker across the screen, scrambled text bleeding through his console in a glitching red crawl:

̷̨̺̱̤̳̆̕͠Y̶̝̙̮̪̭̽ȍ̶̧̧͍̟͓̪̍͐͊u̵̟̓̅̃͒̆ ̶̢̯̠̦͉̀̏̒͆̕c̸͖̩͆̅̐̂̈́̓ā̶̙̦͈̲̇͑̚̕͝ņ̸̩͍̀͒̂͜͠'̸̛̱͖̠͖̓ṱ̸̘͇̜͔͑̎̀̈͂ ̸̛̝̩̂̊b̴͍̱͍͑̋̈́̎ͅè̶̢͇̥̬́̾̽̂a̷̳̥̼͈͖̞͑t̴͇͉̫̽̓̎̍̚ ̴̛̖͙͛̌̈͗̉m̴̤̩͂̊e̷̓ͅ ̷̞̈̇́͗ͅm̶̯͔̭̹̞̀̀̽i̴̝͕̹̳͎̔̔̊̓̄̓l̸̲͕̩͈̏͑̀̀̕ͅē̸̻̖̻̖̻͂ş̸̜̑̿̋̌͒͜

He forced himself to tune it out. Cheap scare tactics wouldn't stop him. He jammed in the final override. His code wormed deeper, then clicked. The display flared yellow. He let out a whoop loud enough for Omega to pause his barrage and glance back.

“Yes! Maybe invest in better security for your doomsday weapons next time, Eggman!” Tails shouted at the nearest camera, grinning feral.

Rouge leaned closer, smirking. “What did you do?”

“I used a Trojan to wedge in through the maintenance subroutines,” he said.

“Sparknotes, Miles.”

“I have backdoor control of the main guns and the thrusters. They’re burning up the last of the station’s power to push it out of orbit, and then blow themselves sky-high. Even if Eggman or Sage gets control back, the code’s too corrupted to salvage.”

Rouge’s grin turned sharp. “Perfect. Pack it up, boy genius, Omega, we’re leaving.”

Omega sighed dramatically, minigun cycling down. “Aww.”

Rouge tapped Tails on the nose, making him squeak and blush bright red under his fur. She winked and took off to collect her terminator.

■

Surge blurred forward in a bolt of crackling green lightning. Her boot came down like a thunderclap, stomping clean through the metal floor where Metal had been a second ago.
He flickered aside in a flash of gold, liquid metal gathering at his hands as he reappeared behind her.

Surge spun, arms up to block, but Metal’s fist slammed through her guard like a battering ram, sending her skidding back across scorched steel. She dropped her burning arms and laughed through a wince her arms practically numb.

“Yeah, that hurt real bad, but you hit softer than last time. And you’re—”

She cut herself off, eyes catching a floating glob of liquid steel hovering near her shoulder. It hardened into a spiked ball and slammed into her gut. She staggered, swung to slap it away, but it dissolved, reformed, and cracked into her cheek instead.

Metal didn’t even glance at her. Silver was already closing in, a blade of raw psychic force slicing toward him. Metal batted it aside, liquid steel pouring around his wrists like molten claws.

Silver’s aura flared around him. Broken chunks of the station’s floor and ceiling ripped free, swirling around him. He thrust a second blade forward, Metal darted up through the debris, liquid steel coiling down his arms as sliver luanched a blade of psychokinesis at him, Metal chopped at it sending a blade of liquid steel out that cleaved the psychic edge clean through. Silver ducked just in time, skidding backward next to Surge.

“You got a plan?” Silver panted.

Surge spit blood, grinning wide. “Yeah. I’m gonna hit him really hard. You hold him still with your freak powers.”

“Can I get a reasonable as—”

Metal touched down, boots hitting the floor with a dull clang. He stalked toward them, golden glow flickering, sparks dripping from him. Silver’s psychic grip closed around him like a vise. Silver dropped to a knee, sweat dripping into his eyes as he poured every ounce of will into the hold. Metal pushed forward anyway, step by grinding step, red eyes locked on them through the teal mayasma of sliver's power.

“Anytime now!” Silver barked.

Electricity surged around Surge in a blinding wave, her quills bristling, sparks spitting off her fists. She spread her fingers in the shape of horns, teeth bared as Metal crossed the final few feet.

Silver’s vision blurred. His head pounded, but he didn’t let go.

Metal’s HUD screamed red. More systems failed. Gravity flickered. He felt the drain as he kept the ship Together, the pain, real, burning pain, flooding back into every nerve. The golden glow sputtered. Still, he lifted an arm, forcing his energy to flare.

“OVERCHARGE!”

The blast cracked the air like a thunderbolt. Surge’s lightning detonated point-blank, swallowing Metal in a sphere of blinding energy.

When the light faded, Metal was still standing, barely. The floor under him was scorched black. Half his jacket was gone and his fur singed his glow barely is protecting him at this point. His chest rose and fell raggedly, steam pouring off him.

Surge dropped to a knee beside Silver, both of them panting, spent.

“Hope it stings, Chromedome,” she hissed.

Metal wobbled forward, forced himself to stay upright. The gold shimmer bled away in flickers of navy blue as he forced the Emeralds to stay inside of himself. He stared at his shaking hand and the band around his wrists he barely kept undamaged.

A spin dash slammed into his ribs like a meteor. He skidded across the floor, scraping sparks in his wake.

Sonic landed in front of him, breathing hard, but eyes bright with that same infuriating grin.

“What’s wrong, Metal?” Sonic rasped, bouncing on his heels. “Getting tired?”

Metal spat, forcing himself upright. His voice came out shredded, rage-raw.

“You’re dead.”

Sonic let out a pained laugh. “Funny. Still here if you wanted me dead so badly you probably could killed all of us before tine could even pass don’t think i can tell when someone's sandbag—.”

Metal cut him off by slamming his fist into Sonic’s mouth, Sonic staggered, shook it off, and smashed his own fist right back into Metal’s jaw. Both of them were done talking. It was just instinct now, brutal, desperate, trying to win.

Metal ducked a Spin Dash, caught the rebound drift, but Sonic uncurled midair, knee slamming into Metal’s stomach. Metal lurched, growled, and curled his hand into a hammerfist, smashing Sonic down with a roar.

Sonic bounced up quick, blood on his lip. He grinned through it.

“Why’s that, huh? I think I know. Everyone else is knocked out, or too far to hear. So come on, get it off your chest. Clone to original.”

“Shut UP!”

Metal lunged. They collided again, fists and elbows and knees. Metal felt his nose crunch under Sonic’s forehead, Sonic felt Metal’s fist crack into his eye socket. Sparks of gold flickered around Metal, unstable, slipping between Super and not.

They tumbled. Sonic pinned Metal down, breath ragged.

“‘Cause you know,” Sonic spat. “If she saw any of us dead, she’d never look at you that way again. And that scares you. Because you’ve always wanted someone to look at you like that and the fact she can even make you question what you wa—”

Metal snarled and drove his fist into Sonic’s ribs, forcing him off. They dragged themselves up again, Metal swaying, that golden aura flickering, weaker and weaker.

“What do you even know about it?” Metal snapped, voice raw. “You don’t know what this is like!”

Sonic wiped the blood from his nose, smirked. “Eggman really went above and beyond, huh? You’re me, but you’re your own mess too. Come on, Metal. We could stop. Go back to Earth. Be your own… hedge-cat-man… whatever.”

Metal just stared at him, fist trembling. The glow sputtered, gold stuttering into navy and a small traitorous part of himself wanted to listen to him; a bigger part of metal couldn't betray his father form his words. They stepped toward each other, one more blow about to come—

And then Amy was there, slamming into Metal, wrapping him in a tight hug. The impact froze him. He felt her warmth. Her heartbeat. Her voice.

“Metal. Stop it. Please.”

from her words he could live with that.

The Chaos Emeralds slipped from him like loose teeth. His knees buckled. The light went out of him as Amy held him upright, barely conscious.

Sonic let out a shaky laugh. “Hey, Ames.”

“Yeah, Sonic?”

“…Thanks for being you, I guess.”

She smiled through her tears and gave him a thumbs up. Behind her, Knuckles stomped from the side punching Metal square in the face. The artificial hedgehog hit the floor hard, out cold.

“That’s for knocking me through a dozen walls” Knuckles grumbled.

“Knuckles!” Sonic barked. “He was already out, man!”

“Oh, uh, oops my bad.”

Snap.

Shadow blurred in, Chaos crackling around his fists. “Hey, he’s down—”

Before Sonic could stop him. Shadow drove his boot into Metal’s ribs.

“He did the same to me before you start crying,” Shadow said coldly, stepping closer, raising his foot again. “And honestly? He deserves—”

Amy slammed her hammer down between them. Sparks scattered.

“I get you’re mad,” she hissed, green eyes blazing. “But hit him again, and we have a problem.”

They stared each other down. The room hummed with tension. Shadow finally grumbled, tearing his gaze away.

“Fine.”

He yanked up the remaining Emeralds, tossing them out, one to Sonic, one to Knuckles, one to Silver. He kept the resffor himself.

Then he raised it high, voice flat but final.

“Chaos Control.”

Chapter Text

Metal moved his pawn forward.
He looked up at the Doctor’s face, but there was no face. Just a black void where it should be. The room seemed to peel away, walls dissolving into the familiar chaos of the Death Egg’s control chamber.

The Emeralds were gone from their pillars. The station shook. Red alarms pulsed overhead, temperature spiking so fast Metal’s wilted under it. He tried to stand, his legs wouldn’t move.

“It’s your turn, Metal.”

The thing wearing his father’s voice didn’t sound patient. Metal looked up at what was and wasn’t the Doctor. Panic coiled tight in his chest.

“Play, Metal.”

He forced the words out his ears flat to his head. “We have to go, fath—”

“DO NOT CALL ME THAT!”

The scream rattled him to his core. Fire licked at the corners of the chamber, too hot, too real, even for him. What wasn’t his father sat perfectly calm, watching. Waiting. Metal’s hands moved on their own, he pushed another pawn forward, no plan, no reason.

A low, disappointed hum vibrated from the dark shape. It slid a piece across the board, scraping deep into the scorched metal table.

“Now you care about my well-being, Metal?”

Metal squeezed his eyes shut, shaking. “None of this is real. You’ve gotten out of worse. Sage was with you, you're fine. She you have to be”

The deck beneath him lurched. The alarm shrieked louder. Flames curled around his quills, clawing closer. What wasn’t the Doctor leaned in, words dripping venom.

“That could true. But that’s not how you feel, huh?”

It slammed a fist down, shattering the board in one strike. The pieces clattered into the fire. The thing circled him, footsteps echoing louder than the sirens.

“Right, son?” it hissed. “You just gave up. For what? A girl? To be what? A traitorous little rat?”

Metal’s chest spasmed. The panic crushed him. He tried to argue, but his voice stuck in his throat. The alarms wailed until they sounded like screams. He couldn’t breathe. That simple human motion he’d gotten so used to, gone.

Metal looked down. His hands. Not fur. Not flesh. Just steel claws, trembling in the heat. The flames danced closer as what wasn’t his father laughed, low and cruel.

Metal tried to scream. Nothing came out.

■

Vanilla stepped back into the guest room, a bowl of cool water and a clean towel balanced in her arms. She pulled a chair up beside the bed and sat down with a quiet sigh.

Gently, she brushed the matted quills from Metal’s forehead. His fever still hadn’t broken. She dipped the towel in the water, wrung it out, and laid it across his brow. The hedgehog winced, breath hitching, his shoulders shuddering under the sheets.

Vanilla sat with him in the quiet, watching tears prick the corners of his tightly shut eyes. She glanced down at her hands, then slipped one into her pocket, her fingers closing around the small key Sonic had given her.

Her gaze drifted to the limiter still locked tight around Metal’s wrist. This wasn’t the first time she’d cared for a blue hedgehog laid up in her spare room, but this one hadn’t bounced back in a day or two like Sonic always did. A week of fever, nightmares, and half conscious muttering.

She hesitated. Then, with a small nod to herself, Vanilla leaned forward. Carefully, she unclasped the limiter from Metal’s wrist and set it on the nightstand. Almost immediately, his breathing eased, still ragged, but calmer.

Vanilla leaned back in her chair and hummed softly under her breath, a lullaby she hadn’t sung in years. She watched as Metal stirred, his eyes fluttering open. A cough rattled out of him as he panicked, trying to sit up too fast. He tumbled out of bed with a dull thud.

Vanilla sighed, stood, and stepped around the bed. Metal was half-curled on the floor, bandages wrapped tight around his chest and arms, his breath shallow as he struggled to push himself up. He bared his teeth in a low snarl, eyes wild, glassy with exhaustion and leftover nightmare.

She just looked at him. One calm, gentle look. The fight in him melted away like snow under the sun. Vanilla knelt beside him, one hand on his shoulder, the other steady at his back. Slowly, she helped him up, guiding him on the bend metal pulling the blanket over himself. They sat in silence. Metal tried to piece words together, each one scraping against his pride. Vanilla waited patiently, giving him space to drag some dignity back around himself.

At last, he looked up at her, red eyes locking with her brown. His voice rasped out, low and raw.

“Why am I here?”

Vanilla lifted an eyebrow, folding her hands neatly in her lap.

“Aside from you showing up in Amy’s arms,” she said lightly, “with Sonic behind her practically begging me to take care of you, and spinning me a very interesting story about who and what you are, ‘Neo” She let the fake name roll off her tongue, each letter landing with gentle sarcasm.

Metal cringed at the sound of it. The memories hit all at once, Amy’s arms, her voice,. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping the flush rising to his cheeks didn’t show.

Vanilla caught it anyway. She laughed, a soft, easy sound that made Metal want to sink away.

“For a robot,” she teased, “you have a terrible poker face when it comes to that girl.”

Metal clenched his jaw, resisting the urge to snap. He stayed silent, and Vanilla’s laugh faded to a fond smile.

“I suppose you want to call Sonic,” he muttered stiffly.

To his surprise, the rabbit shook her head.

“I will. Eventually,” she said, voice steady. “But you just woke up, and judging by the way you were thrashing in your sleep, I don’t think you had a very good rest.”

She leaned forward a little, her tone firm but gentle.

“Sonic can be here in a minute if he wants to. But before that, you’re going to tell me what’s wrong.”

Metal sat in the bed, trying, and failing, to pretend he hadn’t heard her at all. He shook his head, gaze skittering around the room, anywhere but at that patient, gentle smile.

He looked down at his wrists and ankles, felt the cold bite of the limiters pressing into fur and skin. It was so much worse than the cell. His energy crawled through him like molasses, heavy and unwilling. Even with one limiter off, it felt like the air around him was thicker. Out of habit, the Eggnet, for Sage, for that reassuring hum in his mind and found nothing.

Dead air. A cut wire.

His red eyes widened. For the first time in his life, the network didn’t reach back. He looked up at her again. Vanilla didn’t flinch, didn’t scold or pity him, she just sat there with that soft, endless patience that made his chest tighten with an ache for something he’d never really had.

He tried to bury it. But the silence dragged it out of him anyway. The words cracked in his throat.

“I failed…” He forced the rest out, voice raw. “Again. With every advantage and I… I don’t even know if Sage or the Doctor are alive. All because of her.”

His claws dug into the sheets. The last words came out like rust.

“I’m a failure.”

Vanilla didn’t move at first. She just let the silence hold him, let it settle around that raw confession like a bandage around a wound that needed air more than pressure.

“You know,” she said at last, voice soft and steady, “I think it’s good that you failed.”

Metal flinched, eyes dropping, shoulders curling in, but her voice stayed warm, gentle, immovable as bedrock.

“Because you didn’t fail because you were weak,” she went on, each word as careful as her hands. “You failed because you chose not to hurt someone who matters to you. You didn’t do what you were built for, even though you could’ve done it so easily. You chose not to be your creator’s machine.”

She leaned back a little, folding her hands in her lap, watching him with a soft, knowing smile.

“And do you know what that means, Metal?” she asked, her voice lowering, like she was letting him in on a secret the whole world had always known but he’d never been allowed to hear.

“It means next time… you can choose better. And the time after that. And maybe, someday, you won’t even have to try to choose at all.”

She reached out, laid her hand over his, her thumb brushing his knuckles.

“It’ll just be you,” she said. And her smile, so gentle, so stubbornly kind, didn’t waver for a second.

“Not him. You.”

Metal stared at Vanilla’s hand, at the way it fit over his, and tried, with all the fading control he had left, not to let the tears slip away.

Vanilla gave his hand one last soft squeeze, then stood, smoothing her dress.

“I’m going to make you something warm to drink,” she said, voice light, “and then I’ll call the others. All right?”

Metal managed a stiff nod. That was all he could give her.

She turned and stepped toward the door, pulling it open, and immediately paused when a small body tumbled forward with a muffled squeak.

Cream hit the floor with a soft thump, ears flopping over her eyes as she scrambled up, face burning. She peeked past her mother’s skirt, eyes darting to Metal in the bed.

“Hi, Mr. Ne— I mean, Metal…” she corrected herself in a rush. “I… I hope you feel better soon.”

Vanilla sighed, but couldn’t hide the fond smile tugging at her mouth as she guided her flustered daughter up by the shoulders and out the door.

Metal managed to lift a hand in a small wave. Cream’s ears perked, and she gave him a shy little wave back before her mother gently ushered her away, closing the door behind them with a quiet click.

Left alone, Metal let his hand drop back to the blanket and, with no one left to posture for, he let himself break. The tears came hot and fast, muffled sobs tearing through his chest until they ran out.

When the quiet settled again, he forced himself upright, feet braced on the floor. Using the dresser for balance, he pulled himself to standing, vision swimming for a moment as he steadied his breath. He looked down at his bare hands, flexing the fingers.

“Maybe my shoes are still around here…” he muttered under his breath, frowning.

He glanced around the small room, under the bed, the empty closet, nothing. A groan scraped out of him, frustration scraping at the edges of the fragile calm he had. Then there a knock at the door

Metal turned to the door just in time for it to swing open. Gemerl stood there, perfectly still, perfectly silent. His optics narrowed at Metal, scanning him from bandaged chest to bare hands.

Gemerl just said, flat as iron, “Come drink your tea.”

Metal blinked, then nodded, then hesitated. “Does Vanilla, happen to have gloves? Or maybe a shirt?”

Gemerl didn’t bother answering. He just turned and walked away down the hall with a soft whirr.

Metal sighed, ran a hand through his quills, and followed anyway.

In the kitchen, Cream and Vanilla were already sitting at the table, warm mugs in their hands. Vanilla looked up at him and, without a word, nudged a fresh cup toward the empty seat across from her.

Metal slid into the chair, wrapping his fingers around the warm mug. The steam rose to his face, something so simple, but for a moment, it made him feel almost normal. They sat in silence as they drank.

Every so often, Metal lifted his eyes and found Gemerl staring at him, unblinking, each time Metal looked away first, taking another sip just to have something to do with his hands.

Time drifted. A knock at the door broke it. Gemerl finally turned his head, stood, and disappeared into the hall. When he came back, Rouge strolled in behind him, all sharp eyes and sly grin, and right behind her, Sonic.

Metal’s eyes narrowed as Sonic flopped into the chair across from him, wearing that same infuriating smirk. Rouge dropped into the seat beside him like she owned the place.

For a moment, no one spoke. Cream and Vanilla slipped quietly out of the room, dragging a protesting Gemerl with them like he was some sulking watchdog.

The silence stretched.

Metal’s fingers tapped the mug once, twice, then he cut through it.

“Why am I here?”

“You know, that is a great question, Metal,” Rouge snarked, leaning back in her chair with a grin that said she was enjoying this a little too much.

Sonic looked sheepish for half a second before shrugging. “Can’t really take advantage of your new lease on life if you’re locked up in some G.U.N. blacksite. The U.F. owes me a few favors, so… here you are.”

Metal forced himself not to sneer. The idea of owing his inferior anything made his quills itch, but he was in no position to complain. Rouge reached into her jacket and flicked a slim card onto the table in front of him.

“They even went above and beyond,” she said, smug. “Made you an ID.”

Metal stared at it, a picture of him, the name Metal Robotnik printed underneath. He didn’t know how to feel about that. Carefully, he picked it up and tucked it away.

“When can I get these limiters off?” he asked, tapping his wrist. “And what did you do to my connection?”

Sonic raised a brow. “I’ve got one key. Rouge has one too. You’ll get ‘em when we think you deserve ‘em.” He shrugged again, casual as ever. “As for your connection, don’t look at me. Tails cut you off from the Eggnet. Ask him if you want answers.”

Metal nodded stiffly. Most of his systems still worked, but everything was slower, starved for energy. He opened his mouth to ask about the third key, but—

“Oh—” Sonic clapped his hands together, standing up so fast his chair scraped. “Look at the time, Chromedome! I gotta go.”

Metal’s quills bristled. Sonic just shot him that same insufferable grin as he strolled for the door. Rouge, of course, was grinning too.

Metal stared down at the table, claws drumming softly against the wood.

“…What should I even do now?” he asked, quieter this time.

Rouge tilted her head, her wings folding back behind her. “What do you want to do?”

Metal hesitated, a faint blush rising on his muzzle.

“I want to talk to Amy.”

Rouge barked a laugh, sharp but not unkind. Metal glared, which only made her laugh harder. She stood up, smoothing her gloves.

“Well then, you should do that,” she said. She winked at him on her way out. “I’ll be in touch, okay.”

Metal didn’t answer, he just sat there for a moment longer, watching the door Rouge had slipped through, feeling that faint warmth flicker stubbornly in his chest.

Eventually, he sighed and turned back to the table, opening his hud. He scrolled through the handful of contacts in it now — Amy, Tails, Belle, a few others he hadn’t asked for but were there anyway. He grumbled under his breath, his claw tapping the side of the interface.

Finally, he hovered over Amy’s number. Hesitated. Then he hit call.

The ringing echoed in the back of his head once, twice, and then she picked up.

“Metal! You’re awake! Are you okay?”

He flinched at the sheer volume, but it pushed away the ache in his chest. He cleared his throat, his voice coming out quieter than he intended.

“I just woke up not too long ago. I… wanted to talk to you. And… see you again.”

On the other end, he heard her hum, thinking, and then her voice brightened, excitement bubbling through the line.

“I’m so busy right now, but actually, there’s something we could do together! It’ll be good for you, and you can even apologize properly.”

Metal’s eyes narrowed a bit. “Apolo—?”

“Sorry Metal! I gotta go, but it’s good you’re okay. I was worried sick. Talk soon, bye!”

“Wait—”

But the line was already dead.

Metal sat there for a second, staring at nothing, his uncovered fingers drumming against the table. He considered calling back, getting an actual time or place, but something told him he wouldn’t get far with that right now.

He let out a soft growl.

“…I need clothes.”

Chapter Text

Metal sat on the carpet, his red eyes staring at the empty cup in his hands, a fake crown in between his ears. He stared to his side, Gemerl in the same predicament.

Metal looked at the three eyed robot and held back a smirk at the robot's expense, Gemerl staring back in a way that only Metal could tell was in annoyance at himself. Cream chattering to them.

Metal looked down at his hands, a new pair of gloves around them. Forming a fist, they stretched around him nicely, the sound satisfying to the navy blue hedgehog with the new gloves came a jacket, black and white, similar to the one he wore in Soleanna. Instead of fake leather it was a mix of polyester and cotton, the collar coming up to and covering his neck and finally a new pair of red shoes.

It was comfortable, and Metal liked how it all fit on him, the price though made him cringe, one of the problems for him these past few days, the reliance on Vanilla’s charity, a large part of him missing access to the Doctor’s coffers.

He opened his HUD slowly, zoning out more and more from Cream’s game as he scrolled through it looking for a task to do. At the Doctor’s base there was always something Metal could have done to make himself useful, and he felt himself grow restless even with the lack of energy in his system from the limiters.

Making his way to his contacts, he scrolled down and found himself hovering over Belle number again. He had tried to call her before, sitting in what was now his room yesterday, trying to find the right words to speak to his little sister and had chickened out. He mentally shook his head in time for him to be shook by small hands outside of it.

“Sir Metal, your tea is going to get cold.”

Metal nodded. “Sorry, Cream.”

Metal pretended to drink some as she sat back down in front of the two.

“So it seems like there is a little tension between my knights, and I order you two to try and talk out your differences, please.”

Metal and Gemerl stared at each other. Metal rose a brow, and Gemerl gave what felt like the same expression back to the former robot.

“I have no bad blood with Neo.”

Metal held in a growl at the jab, “It’s unfortunate Tails is losing his touch at such a young age, Triclops.”

“Elaborate, hedgehog,” Gemerl retorted, his voice going an octave lower.

“Leaving a broken voice box, I’d expect better.”

“Better than nothing. What’s that like?” Gemerl bit back.

Metal got closer to the machine as Cream tried to diffuse between them, to deaf ears.

“I don’t know, how’d that hole in your chest treat you?”

“Wanna find—”

“What did I say about you two bickering?”

Before Metal could say anything he felt himself being dragged off by the ear by a tall rabbit, much to Gemerl’s amusement. Making their way to the kitchen, she let go, Metal ignoring the setting and the smell of vegetables. Metal looked up at Vanilla, and part of him wilted at her gaze, but a bigger part of his ego couldn’t take being dragged around like a bad child laying down.

“Are you going to tell Triclo—” Her stare intensified, and Metal stumbled, changing his words. “Gemerl to not pick fights, or just me?”

Vanilla rolled her eyes and sighed softly. “If you are going to be living here, you need to learn how to keep your mouth in check.”

“I didn’t start it either,” Metal grumbled as she turned around back to the counter.

“I’ll talk to him, but he does have a good reason not to be the most happy with you.”

Metal bit back the urge to roll his eyes when Vanilla beckoned him forward. She handed him a small kitchen knife and pointed wordlessly at a cutting board piled high with onions.

Without a word, she turned back to the simmering pot on the stove, tasting and adjusting the broth. Metal twirled the knife in his hand, stopping when he caught her disapproving glance. He cleared his throat, flipped the knife back into a normal grip, and stepped up to the board.

The first slice came out rough. The second was better. He found a rhythm, thin layers of onion falling in neat piles as he worked. Vanilla moved around him with easy grace, humming to herself as she stirred the pot, her ears flicking every so often at the sizzle.

When he finished, Metal nudged the chopped onions over to her side. She accepted them with a small nod, sweeping them into the broth and stirring them down, her hum a soft thread weaving through the steam and clatter.

Behind them, the door knocked. Cream’s voice piped up, clear as a bell.

“I’ll get it!”

Metal didn’t think much of it. He wiped his knife off, half-listening to the hiss of the stove. Vanilla’s ears twitched, and she hid a smile behind the back of her hand.

“You should probably see who that is,” she said, tone too sweet to be casual.

Metal frowned at her, then turned, stepping away from the counter, and got blindsided by a pink blur that hit him square in the chest.

He staggered back half a step, arms frozen awkwardly at his sides. Amy’s arms squeezed tight around him, her quills brushing his chin as she buried her face against his jacket.

“Metal!!”

He looked down at her, ears flicking, and managed to rasp out, “Hi, Amy.”

She pulled back just enough to beam up at him, then grabbed his gloved hands in hers, squeezing them like she was checking if he was really there.

“You look so much better! You’re okay, right?”

Metal nodded softly trying to ignore his heart rate picking up as amy slowly let go of one of his hands waving at vanilla “it’ ok if i take him for a couple hours right”

Vanilla just nodded at the pink hedgehog, her lips twitching with a tiny smirk at Metal’s visible discomfort as Amy beamed at him. Without wasting a moment, Amy grabbed Metal’s hand and dragged him straight out the door. The crunch of grass under their feet followed them as they headed for her small car parked at the edge of Vanilla’s yard.

Metal raised an eyebrow as she tugged him along. “So who exactly am I apologizing to?”

Amy hummed innocently, squeezing his hand before letting go as she opened the driver’s door. “Guess.”

Metal paused, scanning the treeline as the car lifted off the ground with a soft hum. There were a lot of people she could spring on him like this. He threw out the first name that popped into his head.

“Knuckles.”

“Nope.” She winced a little, like just saying it gave her secondhand embarrassment. Metal filed that reaction away for later.

He kept guessing while the wind whipped past them. It whizzed passed his quills in new ways from the passenger seat, familiar, but not. He listed off names, each one met with a bright “Nope!” from Amy, her laughter creeping in more and more.

“G.U.N.”

“G.U.N. isn’t a person, Metal. And also Nope.”

He let out a groan through his teeth. She laughed again.

“Okay, okay, want a hint?”

Metal crossed his arms, leaning forward. “…Fine.”

“We’re close to them right now.”

He frowned, tapping a claw against his wrist. His HUD map flickered alive. They were drifting closer to Angel Island, but she wouldn’t have lied about Knuckles. He scanned the terrain in his mind’s eye, pulling up memories of the place he’d first met her the settlement tucked on that island. The villagers.

“…The people on that island. Where we met.”

Amy snapped her fingers, grinning wide. “Bingo! They’ve got an old truck that needs an engine fix, but getting it off-island would be a huge pain, so the Restoration’s lending a hand. And you, congratulations, are now an honorary Restoration tech.”

The car drifted down over the village, landing with a soft bump into the grass. Metal arched an eyebrow at her, suspicion in his voice.

“Why do you think I can fix cars?”

Amy’s eyes went comically wide, like she’d only just realized she’d assumed way too much. “Well, I mean, some of Eggman’s skills had to rub off on you, right?”

Metal stared her down for a heartbeat. “…Not even a little.”

Amy’s face dropped. He leaned forward, resting his forehead against the dash, his shoulders shaking, before he let out a quiet laugh. “I’m kidding.”

She puffed her cheeks out in a pout and jabbed a finger at him. “You’re mean, Metal.”

He smirked, pushing open the door. They stepped out, tall grass brushing against Metal’s calves as they walked toward the village edge. From here, it looked the same as it had the first time, quiet, sturdy, a few rooftops poking out through the trees.

“You did tell them I was coming, right?” Metal asked, eyeing his limiters with a frown. “I’d rather not have a Wispon fired at me like this.”

Amy’s eyes widen again as, Metal’s ear twitched.

“…Amy?”

Before she could scramble for an answer, the grass rustled. A faint hum of a hover Wispon flickered to life just ahead. They turned to find a tuatara glaring at them, hover Wispon in hand. Metal felt a flicker of recognition at the back of his mind.

Amy waved, closing the distance in two steps to wrap the lizard in a hug. The tuatara went stiff, tail flicking, but only leaned back with an awkward pat.

“Hi, Vega! Sorry for not telling you he was coming.”

Vega pulled back, leveling her glare at Metal. “Why is that thing here?”

Amy elbowed Metal lightly. “Go on.”

Metal and Vega locked eyes. For a moment, he just stared, every part of him resisting. Then he forced the words out through gritted teeth.

“…I apologize. For attacking you and your friends.”

Amy gave him an encouraging thumbs up from behind Vega’s scaly shoulder. Vega squinted, looked back and forth between them, then sighed, lowering her Wispon. The tiny wisp zipped out of it to hover at her side.

“Fine. It's fine if she's vouching for you, we should go straight to the garage though no offense miss rose”

Amy nodded and they started to walk quickly making a way out of the tall grass and the road proper.

“You know, Vega, the Restoration could use more good scouts—”

Vega laughed. “I’m fine right here, thanks though really.”

Amy pivoted instantly. “What about your friends? They were great last time. Right, Metal?”

Metal didn’t miss a beat. “I guess, they didn’t run. Lasted longer than most cannon fodder.”

Amy elbowed him. “He means that nicely I promise.” Metal shrugging in response

Vega just sighed, shoulders stiff, and pushed them all into a small garage tucked behind the village’s main row of houses. She slammed the door shut behind them, locking out any curious eyes. Metal stepped away from Amy and walked straight up to the battered pickup, gloved hand brushing over a shallow, dented imprint in the front fender, the unmistakable shape of a bear’s face. He half-remembered that fight. He didn’t bother hiding a small smirk.

Vega’s eyes tracked where his hand lingered, and she let out a low growl.

Metal didn’t bother responding. He understood the anger, on a technical level, anyway, but it was still irritating having the tuatara hovering behind him, eyes burning holes in the back of his quills. He popped the hood, half expecting rust and duct tape, but blinked in surprise. The engine was newer than he’d expected sleek lines, clean panels, two chaos drives humming quietly in the cradle.

He felt, rather than saw, Vega push a heavy tool bag into his free hand. He took it without a word, some flicker of understanding passing between them. She stepped back beside Amy, arms crossed tight.

Metal leaned over the drives. Both cores were discolored, no longer synced, probably fried by the surge of chaos energy during his last visit here. Fixing them wouldn’t be hard, but drives were volatile, and if you didn’t know what you were doing, you could vaporize half your own face.

He rummaged through the bag, pulled out a pair of jumper cables, then placed it around his neck for a moment. Amy tilted her head, watching curiously. Vega shifted her weight, still glaring but not moving to stop him.

Metal reached in, steady fingers finding the tops of the twin drives. The air thrummed faintly as he clipped each end of the cables to the small crystal housings. The hum grew louder, a spark dancing down the line.

“Vega. Try starting it.”

Vega and Amy both perked up. The tuatara didn’t waste time, she hopped into the driver’s seat, slotting the key in. The starter chugged once, twice, then the drives flared to life, burning a clean, stable red. The old truck rumbled with a smooth idle.

Metal felt the charge settle around them. “Turn it off.”

Vega cut the engine. Smoke curled from the plastic casing of the jumper cables, charred black at the clips. Metal popped them loose, slipped the drive lids back on, then dropped the cables on the workbench behind him.

Vega stuck her head out the window. “…How safe was that?”

“We’re fine,” Metal deadpanned, “aren’t we?”

Vega glanced at Amy, then back at him. Finally, with visible reluctance, she pushed the door open and stepped out. She stuck her hand out stiffly.

Metal blinked. Then he took it. Her scales were cool against his glove.

Amy practically bounced on her toes behind Vega, muffling a squeal when she saw the handshake. Vega rolled her eyes at Amy’s grin.

“Thanks again, Miss Rose. You’ve done us a lot of good.”

Amy laughed, brushing it off. “It’s no problem.”

You still want that face buffed out or

Vega opened the garage door and shooed them out into the sunlight. The warm afternoon hit Metal’s faceplates — bright, clean. Amy practically skipped beside him as they headed for her car again, her smile wide enough to burn.

“So…” she teased, elbowing his side. “How do you feel?”

Metal pretended to stare straight ahead, but a tiny huff escaped him. “…Fine. Why?”

Amy leaned forward, hands behind her back, eyes sparkling with mischief. “Come on. You know what I mean.”

He let out a small, reluctant hum. “It wasn’t bad. …Kind of nice, I suppose.”

Amy’s grin widened into something wicked. She leaned closer, voice dropping to a conspiratorial purr.
“See? We could always do more Restoration jobs, you know. Together.”

Something in her tone made a tiny, treacherous spike roll through his chest. Metal cleared his throat and nodded, maybe a little too fast. Amy just giggled, practically jumping into the driver’s seat. Metal climbed in beside her, shutting the door with a soft click.

The hovercar lifted off the grass with a low hum, drifting higher as Amy angled them toward open sky. Metal leaned back, eyes flicking through his HUD. He focused on Angel Island for a moment, old data overlaying fresh readings, then spoke without looking at her.

“Can we go to Angel Island?”

Amy blinked, side-eyeing him with a small grin. “I don’t see why not. Why?”

Metal’s twitched slightly. “It’s a surprise.”

Amy just laughed, rolling her eyes fondly.

■

Knuckles stood in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by the soft chitter of the chao. He clutched the Chaos Emerald Shadow had handed him after the last mess, a perfect red gem that matched his quills. The tiny creatures squeaked and circled him, whining for the shiny stone.

“Yeah, yeah, hold your horses,"

Knuckles muttered under his breath. He was so close. If he could just pull it off a one more time it'd be so much easier to work form there.

He lifted the emerald, holding it tight. He drew a breath, tried to remember the feeling when Shadow had done it, that tiny ripple in space. He cleared his throat.

“Chaos Control.”

Space rippled around him, and and before time could pass, Knuckles opened his eyes, standing in the middle of a plum tree about ten feet from where he’d started. He hopped down, fists pumping in the air.

“Ha! Eat your heart out, Shadow!” He crowed to no one but confused chao that couldn't understand him.

The chao squealed in delight as he grinned and tossed the emerald back to them, they instantly piled onto it, squeaking in tiny triumph.

Knuckles let himself relax, sitting then folding his arms behind his head and watching the chao scurry around, until he heard footsteps. Two pairs. Not Rouge. She always came alone when she wanted to bug him.

His eyes narrowed. The last echidna turned and found Metal, flanked by Amy, stepping through the garden entrance. Metal ignored him entirely, scanning the crowd of chao until he found what he wanted a tiny one, navy blue, with a pair of red eyes, squealing as it spotted him.

“What’s he doing here?” Knuckles grumbled.

Amy beamed at him, waving off the guardian’s scowl.

“It’s fine, Knuckles. Promise ok"

Knuckles grunted, but said nothing as Metal stepped into the chao swarm, scooping up the tiny creature. The little chao recognized him instantly, nuzzling into Metal’s glove with a squeaky cry, grabbing onto the synthetic hedgehog’s wrist like it would never let go again.

Amy cooed at the sight, completely forgetting Knuckles as she knelt beside Metal to fuss over the squealing chao, scratching its tiny head with gentle fingers.

Metal his back to leave like Knuckles like the guardian didn’t exist. Without another word, he started walking out of the clearing, Amy bouncing after him in step.

Knuckles just stared after them, arms folded, half-annoyed, half-baffled. He glanced down at the cluster of other chao, who stared back at him with the same big, confused eyes.

Knuckles sighed, dropping onto a tree stump with a resigned thud.

“Don’t look at me. I don’t get them either.”

■

The chao dozed peacefully in Metal’s lap, its tiny body rising and falling with each quiet breath. Amy, practically made heart eyes at the sight, thankfully no one else was up here to witness.

“Does this little guy have a name, Metal?”

Metal stiffened. “No.” He paused, running through possibilities in his head. “What about… Steel?”

Amy raised an eyebrow so high it nearly vanished under her bangs. “Really, Metal?”

“…Mercury?”

She laughed and shook her head. Metal scowled faintly, muttering half serious names under his breath until the chao stirred, blinking its big eyes awake and sitting up in his lap.

“If everything I come up with is bad,” he grumbled, “then you name it.”

Amy tapped a finger to her chin, pretending to think very hard, then snapped her fingers. “Tin Tin! Do you like that, little buddy?”

The chao clapped its tiny hands together and squeaked out a happy giggle. Metal exhaled in defeat, watching it bounce in his lap. He knew he was stuck with it now.

As they landed near Vanilla’s house, Amy hopped out first. looping her arms around Metal in a quick hug before he could step away. His heart kicked hard against his ribs as she pulled away, climbing back into her car with a wink.

“See you later, Metal, and Tin Tin!” she called, waving as she lifted off the ground and zipped away.

Metal stood there for a moment, the chao perched on his head now, babbling contentedly. He turned slowly to Vanilla’s front door, lifted a hand, and knocked twice.

The door swung open, Vanilla’s warm smile flickering the second she laid eyes on the extra passenger balanced on his quills.

“I’m assuming you and Amy had fun,” she said sweetly, eyeing the chao.

Metal nodded, a little too stiffly.

“And you brought me another guest?” She plucked Tin Tin from his head, the chao squirming in her gentle grip until it settled down, cooing at her. Vanilla fixed Metal with a look that could pierce his namesake.

“So, tell me, what do you know about chao care?”

Metal opened his mouth. “I… have a very extensive databa—”

“Or its food? Its medicine? Is this little guy wild? Do you have any idea how expensive these little angels are to care for?”

Metal’s ears flattened as he stayed silent.

Vanilla sighed, bouncing Tin Tin in her arms until he squeaked happily. “Well. I have a friend in the village who’s looking for extra help. It’ll be good for you. A job, so you can help take care of… Tin Tin, was it?”

“…Yes ma’am,” Metal said quietly, shoulders drooping just a fraction.

Vanilla smiled, gentle but unyielding. She turned, nodding him inside. “Come on. I’ll heat up your soup.”

Chapter Text

Metal tugged at his collar for the fifth time in as many minutes. The stiff restaurant uniform clung tight around his neck, the sleeves tugging at his shoulders every time he moved. He stood at the back of the little café, a cozy place in Vanilla’s village she liked to frequent.

The owners were nice enough, a pair of old squirrels who paid him decently enough and His coworker, a lanky duck whose name Metal hadn't bothered to memorize, at least he didn’t make his life harder than it needed to be.

He glanced down at the black band on his wrist. fire embroidered onto the rubber, and sighed, wiping down a counter for the third time in five minutes. Oh, how the mighty had fallen. The great Metal Overlord. A busboy. At least his shift was almost over.

Before he could sink deeper into self pity, the kitchen door swung open and the duck burst through, wheezing, eyes wide.

“Metal, you didn’t tell me you knew Sonic THE Hedgehog.”

Metal froze, the rag in his hand squeaking against the counter. He turned his head, voice low, venom barely hidden.

“What?”

The duck, oblivious, barreled on. “Yeah, dude! He’s sitting out there. Asked for you personally to wait his table, said you were friends!”

Metal’s fist clenched, the counter creaking under his grip. “Go back out there and tell him no.”

“I’m not telling the guy who’s saved the world multiple times ‘no!’”

Metal narrowed his eyes. “Name three times.”

“Uh-- the Chaos incident, the ARK, he put the world back together when Eggman broke it.”

“Name two more.”

“The Eggman War, and that one time with the big metal dragon in the Pacific-- but I don’t really remember the details.”

“Oh, woop dee doo,” Metal snapped, sarcasm dripping. “We’ve got a Sonic historian back here.”

“This is all common knowledge, bro! You’re acting like meeting the greatest hero alive is--”

Metal’s glove squeaked as he clenched his fist tighter, debating if the duck’s skull was worth losing the job over. Probably not. He exhaled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Fine. Just shut up. You sound like Amy.”

The duck’s eyes went huge. “YOU KNOW AMY ROSE!!”

Metal didn’t dignify him with an answer. He shoved the rag into the sink, pushed through the kitchen doors, and stomped out onto the café floor. Grabbing a menu and quickly finding his inferior. Trying to stop himself from laughing at his expense as Metal stood over him.

“Please laugh. Give me any excuse to kick you out.”

Sonic leaned back in his chair, grin smug and aggravating. “Nice outfit, Metal.”

Metal almost slammed his fist on the table, the menu hitting instead, landing with a dull thud. His voice dropped to a hiss. “Is victory not enough? Must you indulge in my humiliation as well?”

The blue blur just shrugged, feet kicked up, completely unfazed. “Yeah. Pretty much.”

Metal’s eye twitched. “What do you want to eat?”

Sonic tapped his chin, deliberately dragging it out. “Hmm. I don’t know… What do you recommend?”

“Don’t waste my time.”

“Hey, hey, I got a lot of rings and a key burning a hole in my quills, so if you want it, you gotta play nice.”

Metal bared his teeth, but forced the words out through clenched fangs. “Fine. Most people get our bruschetta to start. And would you like a drink?”

“See? Was that so hard? That bruschetta sounds pretty good, oh, and a Chaos Cola.”

Metal’s eye twitched again. He forced a smile that looked more like a snarl. “My pleasure.”

Metal stalked back to the kitchen window, the duck halfway through it, staring at them.

“Hey Metal, you think he’d give me his signature?”

“No.” Metal cut him off flat. “And I need bruschetta for him.”

The duck nodded quickly as he scrambled to prep it. Metal grabbed Sonic’s Chaos Cola, stalking back out to drop it in front of his customer.

Sonic popped the tab with that same infuriating grin. “So what made you get a job?”

“That’s none of your concern.”

“Oh, come on, Metal.”

Metal sighed through his nose, voice dropping. “I got a pet.”

Sonic perked up, way too amused. “Really?”

“What?” Metal snapped.

“You just don’t seem the type, that’s all. Chromedome going soft?” He leaned in, eyes sparkling. “Come on, what is it?”

“None. Of your. Concern.”

“Aww, don’t be like that” Sonic teased, but Metal was already turning away, ignoring him completely as the blue hedgehog huffed at the dismissal.

Metal returned with the bruschetta, practically dropping it on the table. The pattern repeated: Sonic dragged the meal out painfully slow, Metal delivered each dish with forced politeness.

Finally, Sonic finished. Metal dropped the bill in front of him. Sonic smirked, pulled out his wallet, and left a large tip, but when he flipped the slip open, no key.

Sonic stood up, stretching, all casual confidence.

“You forgot something,” Metal growled, low.

“Oh, did I?” Sonic tilted his head, fake innocent. “Don’t think so. Guess you’ll just have to wait.”

He shot Metal a wink, and strolled out like he hadn’t done anything wrong as the former robot seethed quietly stomping to the back.

“Hey, I’m taking my break.”

The duck stared at him, halfway through wiping down a counter. “Wait, what? Your break’s only thirty minutes and your shift ends in, like, the same--”

Metal was already out the door. The little bell above it chimed mockingly as he stepped into the late afternoon sun, eyes scanning the street for blue.

He hadn’t heard a sonic boom, which meant the pest was still here. Metal turned left just in time to see his inferior leaning against a railing, two boards in hand, one under his foot, the other spinning in his grip.

“Yo, Metal! Didn’t realize your shift was done already.”

“You’re going to hand over that key. Now.”

Sonic wagged a gloved finger at him, grin widening as he tossed the spare board right at Metal. The former robot caught it on instinct, claws tightening around the deck.

“Now, what’s the fun in that, faker?” Sonic dropped his heel, the wheels of his own board clicking against the concrete. “You want it, you’re gonna have to catch me first.”

A race. This entire stunt was for a race. Metal’s blood boiled for a moment.

Sonic pushed off lazily, drifting backward. “Hey, I promise not to go too fast, gotta keep it fair, right, buddy?”

Metal dropped the board to the ground, one foot braced on the grip tape. For a moment, they locked eyes, both bodies coiled like springs. Then Sonic’s foot hit the ground shooting forward.

Metal snarled and launched after him.

They tore down the street, Metal locked to Sonic’s heels, both weaving through the village’s narrow lanes. Sonic carved a perfect corner, Metal cutting a wider, looser angle behind him.

Ahead, Sonic kicked off a curb, landing clean on a rail. He spun, riding it backward just to look Metal dead in the eyes, that damn grin never leaving his muzzle.

Metal growled and matched him step for step, sparks spraying from under his board as they hit pavement again, neck and neck as they blasted out of the village and toward the trees.

The road vanished. Dirt and roots tore under the wheels. Sonic was already off his board, feet slamming the ground as he sprinted uphill, board tucked under his arm like it weighed nothing.

Metal kicked off, ditching the board, boots hitting the forest floor in perfect sync. just enough to close the gap.

Sonic laughed, effortless. “Not bad for a tin can!”

He surged ahead. Metal’s lungs burned. His limbs wanted to seize, the limiter still clamped tight as he tried to call on energy that wasn't there.

The forest blurred around them, Sonic weaving through trees like they were standing still. Metal clawed at every fraction of speed he could muster, but each stride felt heavier, the distance stretching.

He watched that blue quill annoyance fade into the green until Sonic was gone. Metal’s pace faltered, breath tearing through him like gravel. His shoes skidded to a stop on damp soil, hunched over, wheezing air through artificial lungs.

Metal stepped past the tree line, board tucked under his arm, half expecting to find sonic gone, a field of flowers spreading out before him. At its edge sat Sonic, board discarded at his side, eyes fixed on the sun as it dipped low, purples and oranges bleeding into each other, painting the sky like something out of a dream.

Metal stepped closer until he stood just behind him. Then he sat, the boards resting in the grass like an unspoken truce. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Just the breeze and the faint hum of insects and the rustle of petals in the dusk.

Metal broke it first.

“This isn’t like you.”

“Oh, great,” Sonic snorted, not turning. “I’m about to get psychoanalyzed by Chromedome.”

“I could just leave,” Metal said flatly.

“Sure,” Sonic shot back. “But then you wouldn’t get the key.”

Metal weighed the idea of punching him, then thought better of it. He forced his voice to stay calm. “If you want to say something, say it. If not, stop wasting my ti--”

“You really like Amy, huh?”

Metal blinked. That wasn’t what he’d expected. He nodded anyway. “Your point?”

Sonic didn’t answer right away. Instead, he asked, “Metal, do you love flying?”

Metal frowned. “I don’t see what that has to--”

“Just answer it,” Sonic cut in, voice quiet but sharp.

Metal exhaled, looking down at his gloved hands. “Yeah. I do. It’s… different now than before.”

“How come?”

“Before,” Metal said slowly, choosing each word with care, “I loved it because it was something you’d never beat me at. Something I was indisputably the best at.”

“And now?” Sonic asked.

Metal’s claws flexed against the grass. “Now it’s not about you. It’s… going from point A to B, dumping everything into the boosters, pushing every part of myself as far as I can. It feels… alive. Free.”

Sonic nodded, still watching the horizon. “So if you had to pick,” he said softly. “Amy or flying?”

Metal didn’t even pause. “Amy.”

Sonic barked a laugh, but it came out rough at the edges, cracking a little in the fading light.

“You know,” he said, after a moment, “almost my whole life I’ve been certain. My gut points one way, and I trust it, it’s never let me down. I was made to run. To wander. To see everything this world’s got hidden in its corners.”

His voice dropped low, a strange wistfulness coiled under the words.

“I’ve never really wanted anything else.”

He paused for a moment more, plucking a red flower from beside him. He twirled it between his fingers, watched its petals tremble in the wind, then let it drift away in the breeze.

“But then sometimes,” Sonic said, voice low, “with Amy, I wonder. Maybe I’m not so sure anymore. I think about it, I like her, and she loves me. Would I be happy like that? Sonic the Hedgehog, settled down…”

He barked out a laugh, brittle at the edges, like the idea was some joke he didn’t trust himself to make.

“I wouldn’t be any good at it,” he said. “It wouldn’t be fair to her, if I was always looking past her to the next adventure.”

The quiet settled over them again, softer this time. Metal turned it over in his mind, something about it striking a note somewhere deep.

“So was all this just so I could be your therapist?” Metal asked, deadpan. “You know you’re not gonna get any sympathy from me.”

“I just poured my heart out to you, man,” Sonic shot back. “We could at least pretend we don’t hate each other for five minutes.”

Metal huffed, but there was the ghost of a grin tugging at his muzzle. “I can understand being torn between what you were made for and what you want,” he said, voice low. He tipped his chin at the sky, where the sun bled orange into the horizon. “Well. There. I was nice. Now get to the point before it gets too dark.”

Sonic rolled his eyes, but for a heartbeat, there was something like real understanding between them. Hedgehog to hedgehog.

“Long story short,” Sonic said, voice calm, “I care about Amy. I care that you’re trying to be more than what he made you to be. But there’s not gonna be a third chance, Metal. Don’t waste this one.”

Metal bristled a little at that, glaring at him, but somewhere under the annoyance, the words found a place to stick. Sonic just shrugged it off, yawning as he pushed himself up, board in hand.

“Good talk, faker,” Sonic said, tossing something at him.

Metal caught it without thinking, the key to his second limiter, cold and small in his palm.

Sonic stood there a second longer, looking up at the broken pieces of the moon. “Oh, you can keep the board too.”

And then he was gone, a blue blur cutting through the falling dusk, petals whipping in the wind of his wake,

Metal looked down at the board in his lap, the key cold in his palm and unlocked the limiter on his opposite wrist. It clattered onto the grass with a dull thunk. Metal exhaled, his breath shuddering. For a moment, he just felt it, the way the power crackled back through him, the lightness in his chest he hadn’t realized he missed so badly returning.

He pushed himself up, board under his arm, and started walking, back through the forest. The woods folded around him in shades of dusk. Branches whispered overhead. He focused on the trail to Vanilla’s house, but then he saw something in the corner of his vision.

A flicker of black and red. He froze, head snapping to the shape, but it was gone, retreating deeper into the shadows. Another flicker. His systems surged.

Chaos energy, humming through what little he had left. He broke into a run, board clutched under one arm, his feet pounding the forest floor. Another flicker, further ahead. He pushed harder, lungs pulling at the thin flow of power still restrained by the last two limiters.

The forest blurred. until the roots did what they did best. One snagged under his shoe. He pitched forward, slammed into the earth, the board skittering out of reach. He rolled to his back, gasping. The flicker of red and black was gone.

“Dammit, Sage,” he rasped at the canopy, voice raw.

Metal pushed himself up to his elbows. The effort rattled him. He slumped back against the trunk of the nearest tree, breathing hard. He’d pushed too far, trying to channel Chaos like that with half his restraints still locked. Stupid. But seeing her, shook him more than he could admit.

He dragged in another breath, gloved fingers curling around the grass at his side. His mind skipped, from Sage’s to the other sister he missed.

He opened his HUD, hovering over the name. Before he could question his decision the call stopped ringing.

“You know, I was waiting for you to call me.”

Metal let out a faint sigh. “Sorry.”

There was a soft huff on the other end of the line more exasperated than annoyed.

“I was really worried about you when Tails told me what happened,” Belle said. “But… I’m glad you called. Sorry for that, too.”

“Belle,” Metal said, his voice low. “Can I ask you a question?”

There was a pause, a soft hum as she shifted on the other side of the line. “Sure, Metal.”

“Do you ever… miss being with the Doctor?”

The silence stretched again, metal could almost hear her gears ticking.

“…No,” she said at last. “But… the Doctor isn’t my father. Mr. Tinker is. So your question’s flawed.” She let out a little laugh, gentle. “I miss him a lot. But I think what you’re really asking is… if I had him back, would I stay with him again?”

“…I-- yeah. Basically.”

She hummed again, softer this time, like she was turning the idea over in her hands. “I miss him. All the time. But… even if I could have him back, I don’t think I’d be happy just sitting in that workshop again. I’ve grown too much. Exploring the world… being my own person, that matters too much to me Metal. So…” Her voice lowered, tender. “Please don’t do what I think you’re about to do.”

“I’m not.” His voice cracked. “I just… I thought I saw Sage. I wanted to ask you. And I…” He hesitated. “I guess I’m… feeling homesick.”

Belle didn’t answer at first. Then her voice came, warm. “Yeah. I know the feeling.”

They sat with that for a breath before Metal spoke again, rough. “It’s late. I’m sorry for bothering you.”

“Hey,” she cut in, a small smile clear even through the channel. “You’re not bothering me. It’s nice hearing from my big bro. And once you get those rings off? Do me a favor, come visit, okay?”

Metal nodded, though she couldn’t see it. “Yeah.”

They traded goodbyes, and when the call dropped, Metal just sat there, the forest pressing in around him, heavy and quiet. The board rested under his arm as he pushed himself upright, oblivious to the faint flicker of black and red that slipped between the trees behind him.

Chapter Text

Metal lay sprawled on Vanilla’s couch, Tin Tin curled up on his chest. The house was quiet, Cream and Vanilla both gone, leaving only the faint hum of the fridge and the soft whirr of hydraulics as Gemerl stepped up beside him. Metal cracked one red eye open, brow raised.

“Is there a problem?”

Gemerl’s optics stared back. “No.”

“Then why are you staring at me?” Metal shot back.

“Query denied.”

Metal rolled his eyes and sank back into the cushion. He tried to drift off again, but the tension of that stare made his quills itch. Before he could decide if he’d risk moving the chao just to get up, Gemerl spoke again.

“Why are you here?”

Metal rolled his eyes. “Faulty memory, Triclops?”

“I meant the couch, Neo.” Gemerl’s voice dropped a note flatter.

Metal’s muzzle twitched in annoyance. “Query denied.”

Silence hovered like static around them. Metal could practically feel Gemerl daring him to break first. He refused, until the robot spoke again.

“I will cease calling you ‘Neo’ if you stop calling me ‘Triclops’ and explain why you’ve been lying here for the past hour and a half.”

Metal hummed, tapping Tin Tin’s side softly. “Two for one? Hardly seems fair. I’ll pass.”

“Or i could tell Miss Vanilla you called me ‘Triclops’ again, unprovoked.”

“Fine. I’m waiting for something. Satisfied, T—Gemerl?”

“No. I am bored.”

Metal let out a dry snort. “We really need to get you a hobby besides blackmailing me.”

“You do not have the right to judge me, N—Metal.”

Metal jabbed a finger at Tin Tin’s sleeping form. “The chao counts as one.”

Gemerl’s optic narrowed. “The chao does not count as a hobby.”

Metal grumbled but gave in with a shrug. “Fine. Most of the things I actually enjoy I can’t do very freely here.”

Gemerl tilted his head, optic flickering. “Query? How much do you know about fighting outside of your power's?”

Metal blinked. “I know what I’m doing, why?”

Gemerl straightened, voice lighter in comparison to his usual tone with metal. “One moment.”

He disappeared down the hall as Metal gingerly lifted Tin Tin from his chest, setting the drowsy chao in his warm spot on the couch just as Gemerl returned, tossing him a pair of gloves and a head guard.

“A long time ago, I attempted to teach Cream the basics,” Gemerl said matter of factly. “She did not enjoy it. I would like to spar with you instead of 'bond like Vanilla assigned.”

Metal turned the gloves over in his hands, catching the faint flicker of excitement behind Gemerl’s calm faceplate and felt that same pulse in his core.

“Not that punching you doesn’t sound fun,” Metal said dryly, “but--”

“I am equipped with robust safety mechanisms calibrated for baseline humams,” Gemerl cut in. “Follow me.”

Metal pushed up to his feet, slipping the gloves on, snug but not too tight and followed Gemerl out into Vanilla’s small backyard. A patch of grass flattened underfoot, sunlight flickering through the trees.

Metal flexed his fingers in the gloves. “Not to ruin your fun, but how am I supposed to win this?”

“You don’t,” Gemerl replied calmly. “We continue until you are unable or you concede.”

Metal snorted, eyes glowing faintly as he sent Gemerl the projection. A large, blue holographic ring flickered to life on the grass around them. From somewhere near the house, the faint squeaks of Cheese and Chocola drifting over, the chao curious but staying at the edge of the yard watching them.

Metal dropped into a tight stance, weight low, chin tucked. Gemerl shifted into a looser guard, light on his feet, or as light as a three eyed robot could be.

Metal cracked a grin, fangs flashing.

“I suppose if I could knock you out, we'd call that a win.”

Gemerl’s optic flickered, almost amused. “Correct.”

Metal’s smirk widened as they squared up, then he launched forward, a blur of navy and white. Gemerl’s guard moved up, too slow. Metal’s fist slammed into the three eyed robot’s cheek with a satisfying crack. He didn’t expect the recoil, Gemerl’s head snapping back like flesh and bone instead of metal.

The brief surprise only made Metal hungrier as he ignored the stinging of his kuckeles. He pivoted, swinging his other fist in a clean hook but this time Gemerl moved sharp, slapping the punch aside with mechanical precision and springing back to the edge of the glowing ring.

“Didn’t expect you to recoil like that,” Metal said, rubbing his sore knuckles the best he could.

“I had that subroutine installed to react more organically to damage when I first attempted to teach Cream. I will be readjusting my output.” Gemerl droned, voice clipped.

“Won’t chan—”

Metal’s retort was cut off by a sudden rush, Gemerl rocketed back at him, faster than before. A trio of jabs lashed out. Metal batted away the first, dodged the second, but the third smashed square into his muzzle.

Pain exploded across Metal’s face, The old ache of bone under fur and steel. He snarled, catching Gemerl’s overextended arm, twisting at the elbow and using the robot’s own momentum to fling him sideways.

Gemerl flipped midair, landing in a handstand just shy of the ring’s edge.

“So close,” the bot mocked dryly before flipping to its feet, just as Metal pounced again.

They crashed together in the edge of the ring, Metal forced onto the back foot as Gemerl pressed, tight combos battering his guard. Metal weaved under a hook, feet skidding in the grass. Another jab grazed his cheek, the force pushing him dangerously close to the edge.

Metal sucked in a breath, pivoted, and slammed a cross into Gemerl’s side, right where lungs should be. The robot folded in a simulation of pain as Metal grabbed both sides of its head, yanked it down, and smashed a rising knee into its faceplate. Metal’s knee stinging in protest.

Gemerl stumbled back, optics flickering but steadied itself almost instantly, its three eyes glinting with the same gleam Metal’s had.

They circled each other in the fake ring, Metal grinning and Gemerl shoot sending the same feeling back.

“Metal hissed out a breath, bouncing on his toes. He feinted left, baiting out Gemerl’s guard, lining up a clean stamp to mark his shoe on that damn third eye.

Gemeral saw as it moved to slip sideways and then push Metal using his own.

Before a winner could be decided a shadow fell over them. Metal feeling a hand grip him by the scruff of his neck. His feet left the ground like a misbehaving kitten. Next to him Gemerl was hoisted by the collar the same way.

Vanilla didn’t say a word as she hauled both her bickering “boys” toward the house, the chao squeaking in protest losing the entertainment.

Gemerl’s optic flicked sideways to Metal’s scowl.

"I believe you we're dragged out of the ring first.”

Metal groaned. “Shut. Up.”

■

Metal looked down at his knee, the ice pack more annoying than relieving. He peeled it off, it hardly hurting anymore while Vanilla loomed above him, arms crossed. Cream stood to her side, giving her best impression of a glare.

“Do you two have anything to say for yourselves?” Vanilla asked, voice sharp.

“I was attempting to bond,” gemeral said flatly, “like you told me to.”

“By fighting?”

“I’m fine. And we wore safety gear. Right, Gemerl?”

Gemerl nodded. “All scans show only superficial injuries. I wouldn't seriously injure him.”

“You say that like you could,” Metal shot back.

Gemerl crossed his arms. “I was holding back about 99%.”

“And still lost,” Metal sneered.

“We were interrupted before we could finish.”

Vanilla sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as the two started to bicker again. At least they weren’t name calling anymore. She opened her eyes to see Cream looking up at her, eyes wide and worried.

“I don’t like them fighting,” Cream said softly, “but… It kinda helped, right, Mom?”

Vanilla let out another sigh. “I suppose.”

Metal snapped his head toward Gemerl. “If you’re so confident, how about Round Two??”

They both tried to stand, but Vanilla caught them by the arm and forced back them down.

“That’s enough,” Vanilla said firmly. “There will be no more of this. At least not without supervision.”

Gemerl nodded stiffly. Metal hesitated but a glance at Vanilla’s look made the fight drain right out of him. He relented with a huff. Satisfied, Vanilla turned on her heel and vanished towards her room, Cream grabbing Gemerl by the wrist and dragging him away for a lecture of her own.

Metal was left alone in the living room, grumbling to himself. He flicked his HUD open, checking for any alerts, and felt a spike of annoyance at himself. He’d let himself get dragged away from what he’d been waiting for.

He tried to settle back on the couch, but barely had time to slump down before a knock echoed through the quiet house. Metal snapped upright, He rushed to the door, half expecting for his package to be there checking behind himself before he swung open the door.

Disappointment punched through him, sharp and sour.

There, leaning in the doorway like she owned it, was Rouge arms crossed over her chest, wings flicking lazily, and that infuriating smirk plastered across her face.

"You don’t look happy to see me sweetie what's wrong ” she purred.

“i was waiting for something i wasn't expecting you”

“Aww, am I not good enough for you, Metal?” Rouge cooed, strutting forward. She leaned in, far too close for comfort, her breath brushing his muzzle.

“Were you expecting someone pink, perhaps?”

Metal stiffened, a blush at the edge of his muzzle.

“I can make this worth your while, you know…” she murmured, her smirk practically criminal.

Metal jerked back a step, fighting to keep down the heat in his face. “What do you want, Rouge?”

She sucked her teeth, rolling her eyes dramatically. “Tch. You boys are such prudes.” She flicked her wings, all mock offense before her grin turned sharp again. “Relax. It’s not all about what I want, I’m here to offer you something.”

From a hidden pocket in her suit, she pulled out a small, gleaming key. It dangled from her fingertips, catching the light, a limiter key.

She wiggled it teasingly, then tucked it back with a flick of her wrist. “You want it?” she purred, metal hesitantly nodded as she stepped back away from him, throwing a playful look over her shoulder.

“Then come on i don't have all day”

Metal shot a glance back at Vanilla’s home, sighed, then shut the door behind him. He took off after Rouge, who was infuriatingly faster than he was, her strut eating up the path to her sleek white and pink car.

“Are we heading to G.U.N. HQ?” Metal asked, tone flat.

Rouge flicked open the driver’s side door with a grin. “Nope. Team Dark’s got their own building.”

Metal folded his arms as she slid into the seat. “So am I going to get an actual reason why you need me for this?”

She gave him a side eye, already starting the engine. “Patience, Chromedome. You’ll find out. Don’t rush a girl.”

Metal muttered something under his breath, rolling his eyes as he climbed in beside her. The door clicked shut, the engine purring to life before he could question his decision.

■

Metal followed Rouge out of the car, boots crunching on gravel as she sauntered up to what looked like nothing more than a crumbling, abandoned brick building. She laid a gloved hand on the wall, her fingers tracing along the old mortar.

“have you seriously just been wasting my ti--?”

Before he could finish, she pressed her fingers against a section of brick like it was a keypad. A soft click answered her, then a pale white glow spread under her fingertips. The brickwork shifted with a deep mechanical hum, folding inward to reveal a steel doorway hidden behind the ruin.

Rouge shot him a smug look over her shoulder. “Coming or not, Metal?”

Metal narrowed his eyes but stepped in behind her, the hidden door sliding shut behind them with a hiss.

Inside, the space was bigger than he’d expected, wide, open, every room divided by walls of glass. Unpacked boxes were scattered around like they were still moving in. Rouge drifted forward, heels clicking on concrete, and Metal’s eyes drifted past her, through the glass, he spotted Shadow and Omega in the middle of sparring. Omega’s miniguns spun down glowing red, the ground around him covered in shell casings, Shadow panting across from him.

Rouge kept walking without a word. Metal followed, scowling as she led him into a smaller room, a simple office, desk covered in neat stacks of files. Each one had a picture of him paper-clipped to the front.

Metal folded his arms. "Am I allowed an explanation now?”

Rouge hummed as she dropped into the desk chair and flicked through a file. “Team Dark’s been freelance for a long time now. Back in the day, we had a whole nest of paper pushers and specialists to handle this sort of thing.” She spread her arms dramatically at the stacks of work. “Long story short--”

“You’re too lazy to do your own paperwork and you want me to do it for you.” Metal’s eyes twitched.

Rouge barked a laugh. “Bingo. If it makes you feel any better,” she tapped her file with her pen, smirking up at him, “I’ll be here slogging through Topaz’s batch of new paper pushers for us.”

“It doesn’t,” Metal hissed, grabbing the top folder anyway. “And when I’m done?”

Rouge held up a small metal key between two fingers and wiggled it teasingly. “You get your prize.”

Metal cursed under his breath but flipped the folder open anyway, dropping stiffly into the chair across from Rouge. The two fell into a rhythm, her flipping through files with a bored flick of her wrist, him tearing through his stack with mechanical efficiency.

It was peaceful until the door swung open a black hedgehog stepping in without a glance toward Metal, striding straight to Rouge.

“Do me a favor and tell HQ I took some ammo for Omega.”

Rouge raised an eyebrow, not looking up from her file. “You stole ammo for him? Why?”

Shadow crossed his arms, unbothered. “He was out. I was in the middle of a workout.”

“Or,” Rouge drawled, “you could have just asked for a shipment. Unless you’re trying to get fired for fun.”

Shadow scoffed. “And wait hours for delivery? And don’t make me laugh. We’re as irreplaceable as it gets.”

“You could’ve used the rubber training rounds,” Rouge shot back, pen tapping against her folder.

“Slower fire rate, lower travel speed, might as well not even bother.”

“does Omega have a lazer rig in there?,” Metal said flatly, eyes still locked on his paperwork.

Shadow froze mid sentence, ears flicking up at the unexpected voice. He turned slowly, eyes wide, to find Metal hunched over the desk, pen scratching line after line.

“What’s he doing here?!”

“Helping me out,” Rouge said sweetly, not looking up.

Shadow glared at Metal. “Go on.”

Metal didn’t even bother glancing up. “I don’t know much about Omega’s internal, but if Tails worked on him, he could probably swap the guns for a laser rig. Infinite ammo, much faster projectiles. Only cost would be the draw on his internal power source, but you usually have an Emerald handy.”

Shadow narrowed his eyes, considering. “You’re forgetting he’d overheat 3 times as fast. But…” He gave a quiet, thoughtful hum. “It’s an interesting idea.”

And before Metal could respond.

Snap.

Shadow was gone in a burst of Chaos Control, the air humming in his wake.

Metal flipping the page of the file he was on. Rouge just smirked at him over the top of her file. “Aren’t you helpful today.”

“And?”

Rouge’s smirk didn’t budge. “Oh, nothing,” she sang, but her tone dropped into something more serious. “I do have a question, though.”

Metal paused. Her shift in tone pulled his eyes up from the folder.

“Do you have any plans for after you get that last limiter off?”

Metal’s mouth opened then closed. He shook his head.

“So you’re just gonna keep working at that coffee shop?”

His eyes narrowed. “How do you even know about that?”

Rouge feigned offense. “It’s literally my job to know, Metal. You’re a lot of ‘talent’ to be wasting scrubbing mugs.”

“All this was just a job pitch?” Metal muttered.

“Partly,” she laughed, lounging in her chair. “I’m not saying you have to decide now, but let’s be real, you’re not exactly cut out for the fully domestic thing. And G.U.N could always use more competent members.”

Metal stayed silent, soaking it in. The silence stretched while he finished the last of his stack. Rouge had already put her feet up, wings flicking lazily behind her. When he stood, he gathered his work neatly and dropped it in front of her.

“Thanks for saving me a headache,” she teased, eyes flicking up to his scowl.

He didn’t bother replying, just waited as she led him out.

■

Metal stepped out of Rouge’s car and turned, hand out. “Key.”

Rouge twirled it between her gloved knuckles, a smirk dancing at her lips. “Just think about what I said, okay?”

Metal’s eye twitched, but he gave a stiff nod. She relented, pressing the key into his palm before slipping back into her car. The engine purred alive and she peeled away with a mocking little wave.

Only when her taillights vanished down the road did Metal look down at the small, gleaming key. He crouched, clicked the second-to-last limiter off his ankle. The soft click was satisfying, the rush of power that followed even better. Energy crackled under his fur like live wire as his vision sharpened and his systems hummed with more energy to work with.

He focused on the alloy deep inside him. The liquid metal that coated his skeleton, and willed it to the surface. It answered like an underused muscle, swirling into a small orb in his palm. He grinned faintly, letting it flow back into him. It wasn’t much, but it was something.

He started walking back toward Vanilla’s house. The lights were off, maybe they’d gone to bed early, he thought. He looked up at the sky, dusk bleeding purple into night. The quiet let him notice it: a flicker of black and red at the corner of his vision. He almost missed it, but then he turned, instincts faster than his thoughts.

Sage. Floating just beyond the treeline, staring at him with that same unreadable calm. Before he could speak, she flickered away deeper into the woods, but he was faster now, body already moving on autopilot. Branches snapped. Leaves whipped past. He chased the flicker through brush and shadow until his lungs burned with the surge of Chaos energy flowing close to free.

He skidded to a halt deep in the trees, breath ragged, vision darting for another glimpse, but the woods were empty again. Just shadows and the thrum of his pulse.

He was about to curse, to blame a glitch, a ghost in his mind, but then he felt it. A connection he hadn’t felt in too long. A voice, half a whisper, half a laugh.

"Hello, older brother."

Metal’s mouth opened, nothing came out. His systems flickered, mind scrambling for words while Sage’s snicker echoed between his thoughts.

"You just had a spike in—"

"I forgot how much I hated you poking around in my head," he shot.

"And I forgot how much I liked being in yours."

A ping blinked into his HUD, a waypoint marked on his map. Metal’s throat clicked dryly. The Doctor was here. His father. Trying to drag him back? His eyes flicked down to the black band on his wrist. He didn’t want to go with him, but he a large part of him wanted to go to see him.

Sage’s voice tugged him back. "Not that I mind you stalling while I poke through your memories. But I’m supposed to get you to Father."

"While you what?" Metal hissed in his own head.

No answer, just the sense that she could answer and wouldn’t. He scowled, grumbling as he pushed through the underbrush.

A few minutes later, the trees opened into a small clearing. There, at a simple table, the old man himself sat, the Eggmobile parked beside him, casting a warm glow across the grass. Eggman looked up as Metal stepped into the light, arms crossed, goggles hiding his eyes. He tipped his head toward the empty chair across from him. The chessboard already set.

Metal sat stiffly, a dozen words tangled in his throat. “I… it’s nice to see you, Doctor.”

Eggman clicked his tongue. “I suppose it’s nice to see you too, Metal.”

Silence fell, thick until Eggman played, sliding a pawn forward with a soft scrape.

“You know, I should have expected something like this eventually. Though I’d never have guessed it’d be triggered this way.” He smirked behind the goggles. “Hormones. Hell of a thing.”

Metal shrank slightly, memories of Eggman’s playstyle flickering in his head like static. “I… I’m sorry for disappointing you, Father.”

Eggman laughed, a low, throaty sound that made Metal’s quills prickle. “I’m not entirely disappointed, my boy. It was… interesting, rummaging through you two's hidden cam footage ”

Metal winced with Sage presence in his mind doing much the same.

“She really has you smitten, hm? You are my boy, can’t fault you for being shortsighted.”

A pulse of warmth stung Metal’s chest at my boy. He let himself smile, small and tired. “You’re… not mad?”

Eggman snorted. “Oh, I’m livid, don’t misunderstand. Do you know how annoying it’s going to be to replace you? And apparently I can’t reuse my best designs because someone in your skull won't like it.” He shot an invisible glare at Sage’s presence, then sighed, rolling his shoulders. “But it’s hard to stay angry at you for long. You’ll grow out of this eventually. Come back to your senses. Take your place at my side.”

Metal bristled. “i won't hold you breath Docto—”

Eggman’s eyes glinted behind the goggles. “Don’t push your luck, boy.”

Metal snickered, tension bleeding out of his shoulders as the board clacked quietly between them. Eggman leaned forward, brow furrowed, scanning the pieces as Metal calmly stole another pawn. The Doctor’s frown deepened when Metal snatched his bishop next, only to counter by taking Metal’s rook with an audible tsk.

“Been practicing?” the doctor rumbled.

“I’ve had time to think about our games,”

He leaned in too, both of them hunched a little too close for comfort. The only sound was the rustle of fabric and the faint click of chess pieces shifting back and forth.

Eggman’s eye twitched as Metal forced him into a corner, move by move. And when Metal finally murmured “Checkmate,” he found himself staring at the board longer than Eggman did, surprised at his own win.

Eggman hummed low in his throat, something between approval and annoyance. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the table and chairs folded inward, pieces slotting neatly together into a single metal case. Metal stepped back to give it room as Eggman scooped it up, standing over his son with that crooked, half proud grin.

“You only won because I was going easy,” Eggman spat.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Metal shot back. The old man grumbled something under his breath but didn’t argue, already stepping into the Eggmobile. It lifted into the air with a low whine, then vanished into the night sky without so much as a goodbye.

"You’re not going with him?" Metal asked, half to himself.

"Distance is irrelevant to me, Sage" whispered in his head warmth curling behind her words. "I want to spend more time with you. Now I’d like to see Tin Tin."

Metal didn’t bother fighting her presence. With a quiet sigh, he turned from the clearing and made his way back through the trees. The path opened onto Vanilla’s porch lights low, the house quiet. He slipped inside, boots quiet on the floorboards, only to find Vanilla curled up in her corner chair, book resting in her lap under the warm pool of a reading lamp. She lifted her head at his arrival, giving him a small wave.

Metal returned it stiffly before slipping past her down the hall, pushing open his bedroom door. He had just stepped in when the door clicked shut behind him, Gemerl appearing besides him.

Cream sat cross-legged on his bed, her legs dangling over the side, trying and failing to look serious. Beside her, Gemerl stood stiffly, eyes locked on Metal. At their feet sat a wooden crate marked with a green woodpecker logo, hazard warnings stamped all over it.

Metal’s eyes narrowed. "Thanks for bringing in my package," he spoke dryly, mood souring even more at sage laughing in his head.

Cream tilted her head. “Mr. Metal… what did you buy?”

Metal glanced at Gemerl, at the crate, at the wide-eyed rabbit trying to piece this together, and realized how this looked. He rubbed his forehead as Sage’s giggling started to fizzled out.

“Just open it,” he muttered, gesturing at Gemerl.

Gemerl did, pulling the lid off the wooden crate revealing neatly packed fireworks. Cream gasped, bouncing forward with a grin.

“There’s just fireworks!” she squeaked.

Gemerl crossed his arms, deadpan. “So what are they for?”

Metal opened his mouth, shut it, then dragged a hand down his muzzle. “It’s none of your business.”

“I’ll tell Mom you brought explosives into the house.”

He froze. Glared at Cream. Growled, then slumped in defeat. “…They’re not for me. Amy likes fireworks.”

For a beat, both rabbit and robot just stared. Then Cream’s eyes lit up, and she launched forward, grabbing Metal’s gloved hand and bouncing in place.

“You gotta let us help, Mr. Metal! We’ll make your date perfect!”

Chapter Text

Metal stood up handing the basket of flower petals to Gemerl, a pile of discarded stems at his feet. Next to him, Cream did the same, holding her own basket as he stepped forward. From his palm, a small pointed metal rod slowly formed. He placed it against the ground, dragging a shallow line through the dirt as he walked. The two followed him in silence until he reached the edge of the forest, stopping right before the clearing.

“Why’d you stop, Mr. Metal?” Cream asked.

“You two will lay the petals down along this path and then to the house, after she gets here. She’ll see them and It’s a surprise.” he said

Cream nodded, and she and Gemerl began to carefully spread the petals along the path. Metal turned, walking back through the flower field and down the slope. Behind an outcropping of large rocks sat the fireworks, neatly arranged and ready for Gemerl to light.

He headed back toward the house as Sage spoke in his head.

“Are you done with the flowers?”

Metal passed by Gemerl and Cream, who were halfway through placing the petals.

“Almost, Vanilla’s going to be gone the whole time, right?”

“She just entered Seaside City,” Sage confirmed.

Metal nodded and continued down the forming path, into the house, and into the kitchen. Vanilla’s recipe book lay open on the counter, his ingredients prepped and waiting. He turned on the faucet and washed his hands.

“You know what you’re going to tell her already?”

He nodded, slicing into a tomato, then pausing. A file popped open in his HUD, his speech. Sage beginning to read through it.

“You sure?”

"What’s wrong with it?!"

“Can I just do a bit of editing?”

"I guess."

Metal refocused on his prep work. Time passed quickly. The pasta boiled on the stove while Metal moved with careful precision. He checked the time, she’d be arriving soon. Through the window, he saw Cream waving up at him, the path fully laid out.

He turned to his room and opened the door. Hanging on it was a blue dress shirt and pants. He quickly changed, smoothing them down before stepping back into the kitchen. The pasta was done, the sauce perfectly mixed. He plated everything and set the table. Then checking his speech.

“You said you only did a little editing,” he muttered.

“It needed a lot,” Sage replied.

He sighed, skimming through the now much longer speech.

“Not to be rude,” she said, “but you wouldn’t mind if I don’t watch you and her, right?”

Who said I wanted you to watch?

She scoffed. “Bye, Metal.”

And then she was gone, her voice vanished from his head, replaced by the silence of the room. Metal exhaled, scanning the space one last time. Everything in order.

He sat down, hands folded.

And waited for her to—

Ring.

Metal shot up, quickly making his way to the door. He checked himself over one last time, smoothed down his shirt, took a deep breath, and opened it.

Amy stood there, and he immediately forgot how to breath.

She wore a red slit dress, a rose fashioned at her waist. His eyes trailed upward, her lipstick shimmered slightly in the light, her quills styled neatly. She held a small plastic container in her hands.

“What?” she asked, teasing, “Am I too dressed up for you, Metal?”

“It’s perfect,” he said, maybe too quickly.

Her smile softened. “You look nice too,” she said, lifting the container slightly. Inside was a small cake, layers of strawberry clearly visible through the clear plastic.

“I brought dessert. If that’s okay.”

He nodded and led her inside, guiding her to the table and pulling out her chair. She let out a small laugh as she sat.

"So what's the big occasion?"

"I can't do something nice on a whim?" he asked, feigning offense.

She gave him a knowing look, and he relented with a huff.

"It's a surprise."

She laughed again the sound like music to him.

"Can I guess?"

"There’s no point. You’d never get it."

"Wanna bet?"

They bickered playfully as they ate, light teasing flowing between them as easily as the conversation. Outside, Cream stood on Gemerl’s hands to peek through the window, her eyes wide with excitement as she watched the date unfold. The sun dipped below the horizon, the soft glow of indoor lights replacing it. The pasta was long gone when Amy opened the cake container.

"You made this?"

"How’d you guess?"

"No label."

Metal took the lid off, and Amy grabbed a fork and knife, cutting a piece free and offering it to him on the fork.

"I can feed myself."

"Come on, Metal."

"No." He leaned back slightly, and she followed him, pouting.

He sighed. "Fine."

She gently fed him the bite, smiling triumphantly, and finally let him take the next himself. They finished the cake together in content silence before Metal stood and headed toward the side door. Amy followed without a word.

"Come on, Gemerl," Cream whispered, hopping down and gliding gently to the ground with her ears. The two rushed off into the bushes, hidden among the leaves as they peeked through, watching intently.

Amy and Metal stepped out of Vanilla’s house. Amy stopped short, eyes widening as she looked down at the trail of rose petals through the grass

“When did you set this up?”

The former robot shrugged as they walked, their two shadows creeping along behind them through the bushes.

“You’re putting a lot of effort into this surprise,” Amy teased.

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I?” Metal said, too quickly.

She smiled up at him as he looked away, a faint heat blooming across his muzzle.

“I’ve got one for you too, you know,” she added.

Metal nodded as they kept walking. Amy tried to pick up the pace, but Metal stayed slow on purpose, buying time for his hidden helpers to get ahead. He flicked through his HUD, multitasking between keeping up with Amy and trying to contact Gemerl only to be yanked forward when Amy tightened her grip around his hand

“For a clone of Sonic, you can be really slow. Come on.”

“I was just… admiring the scenery,” he grumbled, stumbling back into step. “I put all this effort into the rose petal path. We could at least enjoy it.”

“I’ll enjoy it more if we walk like normal people, Metal.”

He couldn’t argue with that. He matched her stride and they followed the petals to where they ended the field of wildflowers, moonlight spilling over the clearing, the broken shards of the moon high above them. Metal forced himself not to glance at the rocky outcropping ahead of them, behind which Cream and Gemerl were hopefully hidden.

He turned back to Amy. Her watching him with that look, soft, knowing. She took his other hand, squeezing. He could feel the butterflies in his core, jittering like a misaligned thruster. She gripped his hands tighter and he guessed she felt the same.

He opened his mouth, the speech he’d written flickering in his HUD beside her head, and he shut it off.

“T-the first time we met…” he began, voice rougher than he meant it, “it was the first time I ever felt fear. And you, you immediately dwarfed it.”

Her hands tightened on him and so did he.

“I really like you. And I hope—”

She didn’t let him finish. Amy leaned in, pressing her lips to his, and the faint taste of strawberries hit him. The fireworks cracked to life behind them, but Metal barely heard them over the roar of his own heartbeat. He kissed her back. At first he was a little clumsy and rough, slowly they adjusted, and when they pulled apart they both found themselves a little breathless and red metal words gone and not really caring.

“Yeah. I like you too,” she whispered, grinning wide.

They turned to watch the fireworks for a moment, sparks of red and gold painting the sky. Then Amy shifted, one hand letting go of his to fish into the pocket of her dress. She pulled out a small, familiar key and dropped it into his palm.

“You had the last one?” Metal asked, stunned.

“Mm-hmm.” She nudged him. “Come on. Take it off.”

Metal bent down, fitting the last key into the final limiter. It clicked off his wrist, landing in the grass with a soft clink. A rush of power slid through his core, not a wild surge, but a clean, quiet flow of energy. For the first time in weeks, it felt like himself.

He looked down at the discarded ring, then back at Amy. Together, they watched the last fireworks fade into embers.

“Want to fly back?” he asked, excitement leaking into his voice.

“It's barely even a walk,” she teased but let Metal slip an arm under her knees, lifting her up in a gentle bridal carry. His thrusters hummed to life, blue fire flickering against the flowers as they rose into the air. Amy looped her arms around his neck, hugging him closer, then leaned in to kiss his cheek.

“Why’d you do that?” he asked, blinking at her.

She pulled back just enough to grin at him, pink in her cheeks. “What, I need an excuse to kiss my boyfriend now?”

Metal wobbled midair, just a touch thrown off. “That’s… that’s not what I meant.”

“Oh?” She laughed, the sound bright against the wind. “What were you asking, then?”

“I was asking if we could date. If I’d known, I would have done something better.”

“Better?” She laughed again, and he couldn’t help but smile too, his thrusters dipping just slightly as his chest fluttered.

“Well,” she teased, brushing another kiss against the corner of his mouth, “too bad. It’s already too late to take it back.”

Metal touched down gently and opened the door for Amy, his girlfriend, the word running through his mind like static.

Before either of them could say anything, Cream bounded up to them, grabbing both their hands and bouncing in place.

“I’m so happy for you two!” she squeaked.

Amy let out a little laugh, “Thank you for helping him out so much, Cream.”

Cream nodded eagerly and pointed behind her. “Gemerl helped a lot too!”

Gemerl appeared behind her, giving Metal a silent thumbs up, Amy giggled and waved as she and metal slipped past them toward the door. Metal opened it for her to find Vanilla about to do the same.

She paused when she saw Amy, her eyebrows arching before her mouth curled into a sly smile.

“Metal,” she said sweetly, tapping her own lip. “You have a little something…”

Metal froze, then frantically scrubbed at his muzzle, the faint smear of Amy’s lipstick smudging onto his glove. His face burned bright red. Amy wasn’t much better, and tried to duck past the woman, but Vanilla stepped neatly into her path.

“Wait, before you go,” Vanilla said, all warm menace, “I’m very happy for you both, and I know you’re young. But, my house is not for—”

Amy clapped her hands over her ears, face flaming. “Got it! Bye! See you soon metal!” She all but bolted out the door, l

Vanilla just laughed, shaking her head as she turned her look back on Metal. He stiffened.

“No, but seriously, Metal, not in my house.”

He nodded, trying not to picture what Vanilla had just put in his head, letting him rush past with a quiet chuckle.

Outside, Amy sat in her car. Metal was on her in a flash, leaning over the driver’s door. He pulled her into one last kiss quick and sweet.

“I’m sorry about her,” he murmured, still flustered. “And… see you soon?”

Amy smiled. “Yeah. I’m sorry for running off like that.”

He nodded, and she pulled away.

Metal stood there watching her taillights shrink into the horizon.

The End.

Chapter Text

Egg Memo 272: I’ve been tweaking the design of the Chaos Drives I use for the Egg F—

“Father, I have a letter for you.”

The Doctor paused mid-recording, lowering his recorder with an annoyed little click. He turned toward Sage, who stood there holding something in her flickering, digital hands. Eggman plucked it from her projection, flipping it over.

“From Amy Rose and Metal Robotnik.”

He hummed, low in his throat. It had been a while since he’d seen Metal in person, helping out with that fiasco involving that god of death, or was it non-existence? He shook the thought off with a grunt and unfolded the paper.

The handwriting was neat, if a little forceful.

■

Hi, Doctor Robotnik,

I’d really rather not be writing this, but unfortunately I can’t say no to my future husband, and he’d like you to be at our wedding.

Before you even think about causing problems: 99% of our guest list would love an excuse to take a swing at you and I will personally make sure you don’t get the chance to slink away if you ruin this for me.

Much love, Amy Rose & Metal Robotnik

■

The Doctor’s eye twitched. He flipped the letter over, sure enough, there was a date, time, and address. Sage’s soft laughter buzzed in the air beside him.

He shot her a flat look. “Did you get one too?”

“Yes, Father,” Sage said, her voice all sweet innocence as she handed him her invitation, this one on heavy cardstock, trimmed in gold foil, a far more elegant version than his.

Eggman huffed. “Ridiculous,” he muttered. Then, louder, “Sage, I need a suit.”

“I’ve already prepared one for you,” Sage said sweetly. She flickered, spinning up an image of an elegant, perfectly tailored tuxedo, and beside it, a delicate dress design for herself.

Eggman slumped back in his chair, scowling at the letter.