Metonic Ship Week 2018 - Game

by the-clarity-organism

Living in Bygone Island was a surprising lonely life for local hero Sonic the Hedgehog. Maybe that's what convinced him to become friends with Eggman and Metal. But on one of his visits, Sonic has the distinct feeling that Eggman has an ulterior motive when the doctor puts his lab on lockdown and Sonic and Metal are given suspiciously intimate games to play.

A/N: This story is a collab with the-enigma-machine

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Eggman's lab stood isolated and immense, a terrible beacon built along the edge of the cliff overlooking the sea. It was there that the mad doctor lived. All the villagers feared him, and he was at the root of most of Sticks' conspiracies. He had automated weaponry stashed along the exterior of his lab designed to shoot intruders on sight.

But he wouldn't shoot Sonic.

Sonic pounded on the great, steel doors. He shouted, "Yo, Eggman!"

After a full, agonizingly slow second, the door opened. Sonic dashed inside. The interior halls were a labyrinth, but Sonic knew where he was going. He had the layout practically memorized by now.

So maybe it was a little weird that he was friends with both Eggman and Metal. But honestly? They were nicer to him than the vast majority of the villagers, and Sonic was pretty sure he would have gone insane by now if he and Metal hadn't become friends. His friendship with Eggman had followed quickly after that.

Right as Sonic entered the main room, the door slammed shut behind him. Eggman's robots spilled into the room soon after. Sonic was surrounded.

"Ahah!" Eggman waltzed in after one of the robots, stroking his mustache. "You've walked right into my trap, hedgehog! You're mine now!"

Sonic paused. The robots didn't move.

He smirked. Eggman smirked back.

The robots filed out of the room, and the door opened back up.

Sonic straightened. "So, where's Mets?"

Eggman meandered over to one of the control boards. "Metal is wandering the lab. He should be close by. I'll radio him."

Sonic had a sudden urge to straighten and smooth his neckerchief. "And he's doing okay?"

"Hm. Bit of a worried boyfriend, are we?"

"W-what?" Sonic's cheeks suddenly felt very warm. "I don't know what you're talking about, Egghead."

Eggman took another glance at the control board and grinned in a weirdly-knowing manner. "Anyway, Metal will be here in less than a minute."

He leaned on the control board. But his hand slipped and pushed one of the buttons. There was a click then a slamming noise as if some door had just locked itself shut.

"Uh, what was that?" Sonic asked, looking around.

"Oh." Eggman slapped his forehead. "Silly me. I just engaged the lockdown system. Looks like you might be stuck here for a while!"

Sonic blinked. "...Can't you just-"

"Ooo, let's play games to pass the time! I have some in the other room. I'll go get them!" Eggman turned and began sprinting down the hall. His voice echoed throughout the lab as he called back. "Metal! Keep Sonic company while I'm gone!"

Sonic had never been so confused.

Metal appeared from the other side of the hallway. His pace was brisk, and as soon as he saw Sonic, he slid into the room.

"Ah, my apologies…" Metal said sheepishly. "He really did lock the door."

Sonic shrugged. "It's cool. Y'know, there was this one time where I ended up locked in Amy's house during this one storm with both her, Tails, Knuckles, and Sticks." He paused. "So basically this is nothing."

Metal winced, shivering slightly. "That sounds as if it was most dreadful."

Sonic chuckled. "You're so mean to them, Mets," he said, although with no sense of scolding.

A small chute opened in the ceiling, and from it, a variety of boxes tumbled out. Sonic jumped into action immediately and caught all three before they even hit the floor.

A screen nearby lit up. Eggman was waving. "I found them! Although I have very important doctor things to take care of right now. You two kids have fun!"

The screen flickered off.

Sonic raised a brow. "Kids?"

Metal rubbed the back of his neck, groaning. "He locked us in here, and then he gave us whatever is in those boxes."

Sonic set the boxes down. "Well whatever important doctor stuff he's doing, at least we still get our time to hang out, right?" He smiled. "You have no idea how hard it's been to sneak over here lately."

Metal picked up one of the boxes. It was covered in a thin newsprint paper, and he began sliding his fingers beneath the seam. "Is this so?"

Pulling off the edge of the packaging, Metal hesitated. "...Is it because of the others?"

Sonic's mouth became a flat line. "Ah..." He stared off into the distance, looking as though he wanted to be away from the conversation as soon as possible. "My friends. The villagers. The usual..."

"...I see."

Metal hesitated just long enough to create the beginning of an awkward pause. Then he ripped the remainder of the packaging off in a single motion.

He held the box up. It was vibrantly colored and made of cardboard with bright, bubbly letters adorning the top.

"It is," Metal turned the box over, "a board game."

"Really?" Sonic leaned over, brushing the top of the box with his fingers. "Huh. No dust." He smirked. "Guess Eggman planned ahead for once."

Metal shook the box gently. The contents inside shuffled more than rattled. He then lifted the lid and examined the contents.

"Ah." He pulled out a small, neon colored tablet. The screen lit up, illuminating Metal's face. "It is a game where we fill in the blanks. You know the sort-there is a list of incomplete sentences, and we must finish them. Although this seems much more advanced than the standard."

"But basically mad libs then." Sonic laid down on his side, propping himself up with his elbow and his hand cupping his cheek. "Hopefully it's nothing too depressing, or it'll be," he glanced up at Metal, "sad libs."

Metal groaned, although there was a tone of amusement in it, and his gaze lingered on Sonic just long enough to be noticeable. "Regardless, it seems we are required to wear these headpieces. According to this device, they will detect the first word that comes to mind for us."

Sonic glanced over. There were indeed two headpieces sitting in the box. He reached in, as did Metal, and they both fastened the thin, headband-like devices to their heads. In the front of each headband, a small, yellow gem adorned the front.

Metal sat down on the floor next to Sonic and held the tablet carefully.

"So I will list a word category, and you think of a word from it. It can be any word. Then I will use these to fill out the sentences. Are you ready?"

Sonic nodded, leaning forward with interest. He grinned. "When am I not?"

Metal placed the pencil on the paper. "The first category is noun. Can you give me a noun?"

Sonic hummed, tracing his free hand on the floor as if drawing a circle. But before he could say anything, the gem on his headpiece lit up.

A small robotic voice from the tablet said, "Armor."

Metal looked over at Sonic. "Was that the noun you were thinking of?"

Sonic nodded, silently impressed by Eggman's little game.

"Fascinating." Metal read off the tablet again. "And how about a verb now?"

"A verb?" Sonic tapped a finger against the floor in thought.

The tablet registered his thought: "Touch."

"I see. Yes. I see." Metal nodded. "And for the last category, I need a proper noun, such as a name or a place."

The tablet spoke again, this time without even a second to spare, "Metal."

Metal stared at Sonic incredulously.

Sonic shrugged. "You're the only one sitting here. Might as well get you involved, right?"

Metal glanced back at the tablet. "Yes, that is everything. Now the machine will automatically fill in the blanks in the randomly-generated sentence here, and then we will...we will-"

Metal trailed off, the bottom of his optical screen turning faintly red.

Sonic blinked. "What's up?"

When Metal didn't reply, Sonic pushed himself up and crawled over next to Metal to peer at the tablet.

There, in the tablet's synthetic font, Sonic could see the sentence. On impulse, he read it alloud.

"It would be wonderful to touch Metal's armor."

Sonic paused. His mouth dropped open. He blushed. "Oh."

Metal only let out a soft beep.

Sonic cleared his throat before tearing the tablet from Metal's hand. "Uh! I'll do the next one, okay?"

"Y-yes. This will do." Metal was staring at anything that wasn't Sonic. "A-although, while I am not experienced with these so-called mad libs, it seems rather odd for all three blanks to be bunched together like that, does it not?"

"H-hm?" Sonic trailed his fingers against the side of the tablet. "I-I guess. I haven't really played much."

"I see."

Sonic thought it slightly odd for Metal to ask that, but then again, Metal probably just wanted to be away from the world's most embarrassing mad lib.

"Okay!" Sonic exclaimed forcefully. "So…"

Sonic brushed his fingers across the tablet's screen in a frantic motion, trying to start another mad lib.

"Alright, uh-" Sonic's eyes scanned the screen. Its obnoxious brightness somehow wasn't distracting enough. "A proper noun?"

The gem on Metal's head lit up. The tablet beeped out, "Sonic."

This was already feeling familiar.

Sonic lifted the tablet closer, certainly not trying to hide behind it. "Verb?"

Metal stiffened. He reached out towards the tablet. "Wait wait wait-I did not think-"

The tablet cut him off. "Caress."

Sonic dared to glance back at Metal, who had turned away and was staring off at the wall.

"I-ah-I was thinking about something," Metal explained.

"Right..." Sonic's face felt embarrassingly hot. "It's asking for a noun now."

"Fur," the tablet chimed instantly.

Sonic inhaled. "A-and an adjective."

The tablet followed with, "Soft."

Metal was tense and completely stiff.

"Ah...another noun."

"Garden," both Metal and the tablet said.

Sonic gripped the tablet tightly. "Alright. It's making a sentence..."

Metal lunged over and snatched the tablet from Sonic's hands. He then turned the tablet towards himself, eyeing it closely.

Metal's face lit up as the screen flashed. Then the red of his Metal's optical screen overpowered it.

"Uh...Mets?" Sonic called quietly.

Metal placed a hand to his face, staying silent for a long moment, then flipped the tablet onto the floor, screen side down.

"...L-let us play something else."

Sonic could only guess at what the tablet said.

The mere thought made him flush.

"H-heh, yeah. Let's." He gathered up the tablet and headpieces into his arms and dumped them unceremoniously back into the box. "All that mad libbing was really silly anyway."

Sonic nearly slammed the lid of the box closed. When he looked back up, Metal was staring down at the box in thought.

Metal glanced back up to Sonic. "S-so...you do not actually find my armor touchable?"

"W-what?" Sonic cleared his throat, trying to compose himself. "No, of course not, Mets! Your armor looks super touchable! I'd-"

Sonic tried to compose himself.

He failed miserably.

Sonic pressed the heel of his foot against the mad lib box and sent it sliding across the room. That left the next box in the pile. It was small and light-a card game.

Metal opened the box gently and let the cards slid onto his hands. The cards were paper thin and diversely colored.

A manual fell out with the cards. Metal set the cards off to the side and unfolded the manual. He skimmed the contents.

"I see. It is a test of how well we know each other. The blue deck tells us which color of card to pick, and then the other decks will contain questions corresponding to the color they are."

Metal began separating the cards by color into decks.

Sonic tilted his head. "So each color is like a different category?"

"That is what it seems, yes. We ask one another the question on the card, and if the one asking is correct, they get to keep the card. If they are not, the other player keeps it. Whoever has the most cards by the end wins."

Sonic nodded. "I'll-uh-let you go first since I went first last time."

"I suppose that is logical." Metal peeled a blue card from the deck. Before Metal could flip it over to read himself, Sonic caught a flash of orange color from its underside.

Per the rules, Metal then took a second card-orange to match the underside of the blue card. He read the card aloud, "Preferences."

Sonic's ear twitched. After the last game, he had a sinking feeling where this was going to go.

Metal continued politely reading the orange card. "What is your favorite food?"

Metal considered that. "I believe you love chili dogs, do you not?"

Sonic let out a sigh of relief. So the card was normal. Maybe there was hope.

Chuckling, Sonic leaned forward with a smirk. "Well, I love your chili dogs specifically, but yeah, you could say it generally too."

"I-I-" Metal averted his gaze and set the card down to his side. "W-well, thank you. I appreciate it."

Sonic grinned. He loved flustering Metal with compliments whenever he got the chance.

"Alright, my turn." Sonic turned over the next card. The backside was purple this time. So he reached for the purple deck, but when he saw the text on top, he froze.

It read, 'Relationships.'

Oh no.

Sonic flushed, but he had no choice but to pick up the card anyway and read off the other side.

"Who is your best friend?"

He breathed. Another standard question. Thank goodness.

Sonic tapped the card against his cheek, trying to think. "Well, I'd hope that I'm your best friend..."

"Is that your hypothesis?" Metal asked in that sort of monotone way that implied he wasn't going to give any sort of hint.

Sonic let himself hope. "Yeah, I guess it's my guess."

Metal chuckled. "Then you would be correct. You truly are my very best friend."

Sonic flushed pink, not at the answer, but at the tender way Metal stared at him when he said it. In a way, Sonic supposed that Metal had gotten his revenge for the previous compliment that Sonic had flustered Metal with.

Metal picked up a new card. Sonic carefully stashed his own off to the side. Per the rules, Metal had to pick up a purple card this time too.

"Do you desire a romantic relationship?"

Sonic's ears perked. "Uh-" He stopped himself, remembering that Metal was supposed to answer first.

Metal's optics shifted off to the side as he thought. "Hm. Well, I do not believe I have ever heard of you harboring feelings of remorse over your singleton status. Although I have heard rumors that you would flirt on occasion, I have never directly observed you engaging in this activity."

Sonic pretended to be distracted with by floor.

Metal continued, oddly hesitantly, "Thus I would conclude that you are not interested in romance."

Metal stared at him, awaiting a response. Sonic's lips cracked into a weak smile. He leaned forward and took the card from Metal's grasp.

"Sorry, Mets. You're wrong."

"W-what? I am?" Metal's optics widened. "Y-you mean to imply you actually are interested in a romantic relationship?"

Sonic nodded. "You could say that."

Metal went silent, simply watching as Sonic picked up another card.

Purple again. Why was every card purple?

"Are you-" Sonic blinked. He had to reread the card again to make sure he wasn't reading it wrong. "Are you, uh, in love with anyone?"

Sonic peeked up at Metal. Maybe Metal might move just enough to give himself away.

He didn't.

Sonic chewed his lip, glaring at the card as if it were his arch nemesis. Why was this the question he had to guess? Frankly, it was rude. It was none of his business if Metal was in love with someone or not!

But if Metal was in love with someone, Sonic wouldn't exactly be upset. After all, who Metal loved was maybe his business and...

...and he was getting off track.

Sonic looked back at Metal. "W-well uh, you don't really know that many people, right? Your options are pretty limited, so...no?"

Metal paused, perhaps thinking about Sonic's wording, but still leaned forward and took the card from Sonic.

"Limited options are not always bad," Metal pointed out.

"W-wha-" Sonic stiffened. "You're in love with someone? Who? I-"

Sonic stopped himself. The who wasn't part of the question on the card, and it was wrong to pry. Reluctantly, he slumped back into his original position.

Whatever he had insisted before, a part of Sonic really did want to know.

Metal pulled up another card. He made a face at it then reached for the purple deck.

"Wait-" Sonic grabbed Metal's hand to stop it. "Did you seriously pick up another purple card?"

Metal glanced briefly down at their joined hands. He nodded quickly.

Sonic glared at the main deck. He slapped it with the back of his free hand, and the cards tumbled across the floor.

"S-sonic!" Metal panicked. "You are ruining the integrity of the game! You..." Metal trailed off.

The back of every single card was purple.

Sonic released Metal's hand, flushing. "I'm starting to think Egghead set this game up to be as embarrassing as possible."

Metal spread out the cards with his hand to ensure he hadn't missed any. "I would not put it past him. The orange card was likely to help trick us into thinking there were other colors in the main deck."

"Ugh." Sonic let himself fall over. The cards underneath him sprawled outward from the force. "I wish I'd known that earlier."

"It cannot be helped," Metal said, He began to gather the cards back up and put them away. "If you wish to look on the bright side, I do not think any other game could possibly cause more embarrassment."

Sonic heaved himself up, allowing Metal to get the cards below him. "Yeah, I guess so."

He heard Metal reach for the remaining box. Surely Metal was right. The questions on those cards were already extremely personal. There couldn't be anything that was worse than tha-

"Sonic," Metal began. "What is...Twister?"

...Oh.

Sonic looked over, his mouth dropping open at the box Metal held.

Metal continued, "Surely they do not mean the natural disaster kind of twister? That seems highly dangerous to convert into a game."

Sonic swallowed. "N-no, it's not like that."

He took off the lid of the box but paused as he stared inside.

"Sonic?" Metal's optics blinked. "Is something wrong? I would like to know how this game is played."

Sonic shuffled the contents around. He pulled out the manual and skimmed its contents.

"Well, uh-according to this, the mat'll light up to tell us where we need to put either our hand or foot."

"Ah. Interesting." Metal pulled out the mat and let it sprawl out flat onto the floor. "So this is a test of flexibility?"

Sonic nodded. "Basically."

He stared at the manual again. "But I've never played one like this." He squinted. "I think Eggman might've rigged this one too."

"It is possible..." Metal ran his hand across the mat. "Should we still play? I am admittedly curious."

Sonic scratched his cheek. "I mean, I guess we have nothing else to do, and we're locked in here anyway."

Metal nodded. "I will be careful not to play with my back facing upward so as not to hurt you in case we overlap. I want you to remain safe."

Sonic smiled warmly. If someone had told him months ago that Metal would say things so sweet, he wouldn't have believed them.

But now? He knew that Metal was capable of that and so much more.

But the fact this meant Metal would be staring up at him during the whole game made his blush all the worse.

Metal searched the mat then pressed a button at the edge of it. The mat's colors lit up then dimmed. A single yellow circle lit up, showing a very familiar looking shoe icon with 'left' written above it.

Sonic glared. That looked like his shoe.

Yup. Eggman definitely rigged this. Sonic decided he would play anyway, if only because he was curious.

And yet, not even five minutes later, he was regretting that decision, as Metal had his limbs outspread along the board with Sonic hovering right over him.

Their muzzles were nearly touching and Sonic heavily desired a hole for him to hide in.

Metal turned his head slightly to look at the mat then returned his gaze to Sonic. "I cannot tell. Have any of the circles lit up?"

"I-I don't think so, and they haven't for a while."

Sonic could feel his arms starting to give out, although it was hard to tell if it was from exhaustion or the fact that Metal was right under him, and falling would mean-

The lab's alarms went off, blaring. Sonic gasped. His limbs slid out from under him, and with no more support, he immediately fell on top of Metal.

His lips brushed Metal's muzzle, and even with the impact of the fall, it was the only thing Sonic could focus on.

The large screen in the room lit up. Sonic bolted upright. His face was redder than the flashing lights.

They stopped suddenly.

Eggman's face showed up on the screen. "Sorry 'bout that, false alarm! Must've tripped something by accident."

Sonic side-glared at the screen. He knew it was very much not an accident.

Eggman waved casually. "Anyway, proceed!" The screen clicked off.

Sonic put a hand to his face, desperate to hide the redness that he honestly wasn't sure would ever go away. He turned back to Metal, who had sat up and had a hand to his muzzle exactly where Sonic's lips had touched.

Sonic flinched. "A-ah, Mets. I'm sorry! I didn't mean-I just slipped and-uh-"

Metal stared at him, but not with offense. Rather, Metal looked thoughtful.

"So..." Metal averted his gaze. "You did not enjoy it?"

"W-what?" Sonic blinked, unsure how to proceed. "No, uh-of course I did. I mean, it's you after all, b-but-"

He froze as Metal suddenly reached out and touched his shoulder. Metal pulled him forward, locking his muzzle to Sonic's in the closest thing to a kiss that Metal was able to achieve.

Suddenly, Sonic's mind clicked. The person Metal loved was him.

Sonic smiled into the kiss, then relaxed, easing into it.

Thanks, Eggman.

He had previously regretted blurting how touchable Metal's armor was, but now? He had very little to regret.

He could also confirm as he slid his arms around Metal's back: his armor was indeed very touchable.