Sonic had taken some tapes from Eggman's base, assuming that they were details to his upcoming plans. He was naturally rather confused at finding out that Eggman still used VHS tapes for his videos, and was thankful that he had a VCR in his living room to play them with. When he put the first tape into the VCR, he was disappointed at finding out that it had nothing to do with Eggman's future plans. What came onto the screen was a home video of Eggman celebrating his 45th birthday with his robots. His base was decorated with balloons and banners, and he was served cake; specifically, a chocolate cake with several layers and candles on it. But the most noticeable thing about the video, were two specific robots in the party, who seemed to be considered the second and third highest ranking of Eggman's robots; Metal Sonic, and a gray robot called Metal Knuckles. They were in their Classic designs, looking like children, since it was five years ago. What was so noticeable about them, to the point of being the entire reason Sonic continued to watch the video, was the way they were behaving.
As he watched the home video, he saw Orbot and Cubot serving the cake to Eggman. He was a little confused at this, since the video took place years ago and he had assumed that, since he only met those two robots recently, that they didn't exist until recently. But the video was showing him that Cubot and Orbot had indeed been around for years; he just never saw them before because they never left the base.
After Eggman blew out the candles on the cake, Orbot said cheerfully, " Here's to another year of you making inventions and robots! I do believe I know which one you're most proud of? " Eggman said with a grin, " Yep! Metal Sonic's my pride and joy! He's my greatest creation! I still can't believe I just finished building him last week! He's already proving himself to be even better than I expected! " To Sonic's surprise, every robot in the room happily agreed with him, rather than being jealous and annoyed like he had expected.
Sitting at the chair to the left of Eggman, Metal Sonic laughed and said, " Well, of course I am! With my super sonic speed, it makes sense that I'm your favorite! Thanks, boss! " And rather than being annoyed with his cockiness like Knuckles would with Sonic, Metal Knuckles actually smiled and said energetically,
" You're so awesome! Like, you can do everything Sonic can do, but, like, better! And you're on our side, so you'll never hurt us like he would! Plus you can do all this cool stuff like fly and boost and- Ooh! Do you think you could figure out how to do even more stuff?! Like, finding other abilities with your speed that Sonic could also figure out but you do it sooner?! Hey, maybe you could learn a skill where you, like, jump and then fly at something curled up in a ball! That would be so cool! " He was sitting at the chair right beside him, looking eager and cheerful.
Metal Sonic laughed and ruffled his hair (or what looked like it) before saying with a shrug,
" I guess I could give it a go! But hey, it's Robotnik's birthday! Who cares about Sonic?! Right now, it's time to have some fun! " His voice sounded almost identical to how Sonic's voice sounded when he was 10, but with the pitch deepened a little. Metal Knuckles giggled and said, " You're right! Besides, when you finally fight him for the first time, you'll win against him easily, so it's not like you need to try and improve yourself anyway! You're awesome just the way you are! "
Metal Sonic replied, " Exactly, little bro! Why try and improve myself?! That fight won't be hard to someone who can fly! Yo, Robotnik! Where's it supposed to take place, again? Some place called Little Planet? " Eggman exclaimed with a grin, " Yep! You'll be racing him in a track I'll build called Stardust Speedway! "
Metal Knuckles said with a mesmerized smile, " Ooh, Stardust Speedway! I love that name! Makes me think of stars! Pretty stars that, like, cover the sky! And their light falls onto the ground like shiny dust and it's like, stardust, you know? Wouldn't it be cool if stardust actually existed?! " Metal Sonic rolled his eyes with a smile and said, " I'm sure it does, Knux. It's probably out there somewhere. Anyway, you don't have to worry about me losing that race, because now that I exist, that Sonic guy is no longer the fastest thing alive! " Eggman rolled his eyes and insisted, " I told you, robots aren't alive. They're nothing but machines made to serve me. That's what's so great about them! "
Metal Sonic ignored what he said while all the other robots in the room rolled their eyes at it, and he continued, " With my boost, I can go at four times the speed of sound! Sure, I get tired out and overheat for a couple seconds after using that boost, but hey, it's awesome anyway! And I'm gonna take full advantage of it! " Eggman finally finished the cake and exclaimed in his usual hammy way, " Finished! And it was excellent as usual! " He went out of the kitchen, and everyone followed him out of there, with the camera being taken as well.
Sonic sighed, stopped the home video, and said in annoyance, " Maybe the second video has his evil plans? " He took out the tape and put in the second tape after rolling his eyes at how cocky his metallic enemy was. He still couldn't believe that Metal Sonic was acting exactly like him. Seeing him smile even for a second was very unusual, and even then, it was always just a smirk, not a genuine smile like he was having fun. Not to mention how childish and optimistic Metal Knuckles was. Of course, since the two of them were based off 10-year-olds at the time, them being childish was understandable. Eggman would later upgrade them to look older.
After putting the tape into his VCR, Sonic sat back down on his living room couch and was again disappointed at seeing that it was a home video, this time of Eggman celebrating Christmas with his robots. But to his surprise, Metal Sonic was in a bad mood this time. " I can't believe I lost... " he complained, looking stressed out and annoyed. He was sitting in the living room with his elbows on the table and his hands on his chin, looking confused and irritated. If Sonic didn't know any better, he'd say that Metal was acting exactly the same way he did when he was in a bad mood. Metal Knuckles was comforting him the best he could as Eggman opened presents under the tree. Surprisingly, Orbot and Cubot were trying to cheer him up, too.
With his arm around him, Metal Knuckles said with a nervous smile that made it clear that he felt sorry for him, " I'm sure it was just bad luck. You're still the fastest thing alive! You just need to keep trying! You'll beat him next time! I know you will! 'Cause you're awesome! " Orbot and Cubot nodded in agreement with him, and Metal looked at them with sad and confused eyes, clearly feeling insecure at losing to Sonic. He asked, " Do you really think so? " wondering why they still respected him.
Orbot said cheerfully, " Why, certainly! That loss was just a fluke! Everyone knows how lucky Sonic is! He has to have been lucky to survive trillions of attempts on his life! You'll win next time, most certainly! " Cubot agreed, " Took the words right out of my mouth! Course, I wouldn't say it so fancy schmancy like, but still. "
Metal Sonic said unhappily, " You don't know what it was like. He set that race up in Stardust Speedway and everyone was certain I would win! And what happened? Sonic beat me and I ended up slamming into an electrified wall at four times the speed of sound!... You know how fast that is?! Three thousand and seventy-two miles per hour! You can't even begin to imagine how painful it is to run into a metal wall at that speed! And if that wasn't bad enough, the wall electrocuted me when I hit it, so I had to deal with extremely hot jolts of electricity rushing through my body and burning me from the inside, forcing me to convulse, paralyzing me and making me pass out with my oil bleeding out of me! I-I've lost count of how many times I've had NIGHTMARES about that! I, I-I NEVER WANT THAT TO HAPPEN AGAIN! "
Cubot asked, " You mean losing to Sonic? " Metal Sonic looked confused for a few seconds, and then said nervously, " Um, yeah. That's what I meant, " not wanting them to figure out that he had been traumatized and developed a phobia of it. They already had months ago, but he was trying to make them think he had gotten over it. After all, everyone in the base was aware of how jumpy he was acting when he was reactivated from the electrocution in the Death Egg Mk II, and it was easy to figure out that PTSD was the explanation.
Metal Sonic sighed, and complained, " I fought him three consecutive times, and I never won once! I even fought with Robotnik alongside me, and I still lost! I even gained power from that energy ball I found that let me fire electricity at Sonic, but I still lost! And that's not even getting into the fact that some strange purple ' Time Eater ' thing sucked me into a copy of Stardust Speedway yesterday and I ended up losing to Sonic again!... And it snapped me out of the denial. It forced me to face the possibility that I might never win... I just... I just don't understand... How do I lose? " His voice was practically breaking in those last few sentences.
Orbot, Cubot and Metal Knuckles looked at him in sympathy. After a few seconds, Metal Knuckles put his hand on his shoulder and said to him with a smile, " You'll win eventually. Those losses are nothing but flukes! Remember, you're dealing with the luckiest guy in the world here! But eventually his luck will run out, and you'll get that victory you deserve! I know you will! You can do anything you set your mind to! We all have faith in you, Metal! We know you can do it! " Metal Sonic sighed with a depressed look on his face, and asked everyone watching him, " You guys still think I could win? "
Everyone in the room nodded, including Eggman. Metal Knuckles told him with a smile, " Yeah, of course you'll win! You're, like, the awesomest guy ever! You're Robotnik's bestest robot! We all admire you for a reason, Metal! You're like the best guy we know! Sonic may be admired by a lot of people, but you're admired by a lot of people, too! We know you can do it eventually! If Robotnik won't beat Sonic, you will! It's only a matter of time! You don't have to worry that we've lost faith in you, because that'll never ever happen! You're the coolest guy we know! " All of the other robots in the room cheered in admiration. Eggman, who was still opening his presents from his robots, asked with a chuckle, " But not any cooler than me, right? " still agreeing with most of what was said.
Metal Knuckles laughed and said cheerfully, " Nope, you're still the bestest! Your engineering skills are great as ever, Dad! " Eggman rolled his eyes and said with a smile, " Now Metal Knuckles, what did I tell you about calling me, ' Dad? ' " He sadly looked at the floor while admitting, " To not do it. " Eggman said, " Right. I'm your master, not your dad. Although I did create you, and look after you, and have authority over you, I'm not technically your dad. Besides, if I let you call me Dad, then all of my robots would want to! Can't have that! If all of my robots called me Dad, then no one would take me seriously! " Metal Sonic chuckled with his arms crossed, clearly thinking that already nobody took him seriously.
Eggman said cheerfully, " You're hardly the only one who's been beaten by Sonic. Just do what I do, and never give up! Keep in mind what I keep in mind! Victory is inevitable! We'll win eventually! My next plan will succeed for sure! " and laughed triumphantly. After hearing that, Metal Sonic became very annoyed at realizing that he was in the same situation as Eggman and that not giving up hope could make him just as delusional as his idiot boss. So he responded to the possibility of him never winning against Sonic by growling angrily, picking up a dart and throwing it at the dartboard with Sonic's face on it at the other side of the room. The dart landed straight in the center of the dartboard, right on the nose of Sonic's picture, and he sat back down on the couch with his arms crossed growling. Everyone cheered and applauded Metal Sonic for his accuracy, saying, " What an aim! " " That was awesome! " and, " Right in the center! Yee-haw! " But instead of appreciating the approval, Metal sighed sadly and said with frustration, " Now why can't it be that easy with the real Sonic? " He walked out of the room in annoyance, angrily muttering that he would get his revenge someday, and Eggman simply continued opening his gifts and ignored him, while everyone else looked at Metal in sympathy before returning their attentions to Eggman, knowing that Metal wanted to be left alone.
Sonic stopped the video and took the tape out of the VCR. He couldn't believe what he had just seen. Metal Sonic was acting just like he did when he was in a bad mood. He was devastated by losing to Sonic so many times, and had reacted to it the same way that Sonic would've if he had lost to him. His losses had upset Metal more than he could've ever imagined; the way he spoke about flying into an electrified wall implied that he was severely traumatized by the experience and never wanted it to happen to him again. Metal was annoyed with Sonic, confused at losing so much, and seemed to be desperately trying to fight off despair, being actually unsure of himself and needing to be reassured that he could win. All of the robots in the room, and even Eggman, seemed to like Metal Sonic and respect him enough to feel sorry for him and try to cheer him up. Metal wasn't quite the serious and calculating robot that he was known for being, acting more like Sonic after losing several times and having his confidence shaken, acting more like Sonic in a bad mood after being repeatedly humiliated by his enemy. Metal seemed to have changed a lot from the last home video, where he acted exactly like Sonic, being cheerful, carefree, and cocky. Here, after losing to him several times, he had turned into the opposite; negative, pessimistic, and unsure of himself. He actually seemed like he was losing hope, and was angry at Sonic for making him that way. Losing to Sonic didn't just damage him and humiliate him. It broke him. It broke his spirit. He went from just as happy as him to completely miserable, all because of the terrible circumstances of his life. Sonic sighed, and shuddered at the thought that if he had gone through the kind of life Metal Sonic did, he might have been beaten down into having the same personality. If he was repeatedly beaten and humiliated by a different version of himself who was universally loved and forced to work for an idiot he had no respect for, he'd get bitter, too.
Feeling increasingly more curious, Sonic put into the VCR the third tape, and saw that it was a home video of Eggman's 47th birthday. Metal Sonic and Metal Knuckles looked a little older now, having been upgraded to be able to keep matching their organic counterparts as they aged. Sonic was confused at noticing that Metal Sonic was reading a book in the living room as Eggman celebrated his birthday eating two cakes in a row. Not only was he reading a book, but he was reading a book about the tales of the Arabian Nights, which was the exact same book that he himself had, although he hadn't read it yet; it was a gift from Tails that he kept putting off reading. Sonic wondered if Metal had actually stolen that book from him as he watched his robotic counterpart read it, clearly exasperated with Eggman and trying to ignore him by distracting himself.
Before Eggman had started eating his first cake, Metal Sonic deadpanned, " Why are you having more than one of these things? Surely one would suffice? " Eggman simply laughed and said with a grin, " I can have as many cakes as I want! I deserve it! It's my birthday! " and started eating it while watching TV, ignoring him and being in his own little world.
Metal Knuckles came up to him with a smile, sat down beside him and said, " Hey, bro! What'cha reading? " and giggled. He seemed to have exactly the same childish and optimistic personality as when he was a kid. Metal Sonic rolled his eyes and deadpanned, " The title's on the cover. Can't you read it? " Metal Knuckles laughed nervously and admitted with embarrassment, " Not really. I'm dyslexic, remember? So what'cha reading? " Metal Sonic sighed and said, " 101 Tales of the Arabian Nights, the book you got for me from the library, remember? I'm halfway through it, " clearly wanting to be left alone so that he could read in peace, but not having the heart to tell him to leave.
" 101, huh? Gee whiz, that's a big number! That's higher than I can count! Hey, you've been reading an awful lot of books lately. How come? I mean, I know you're more intelligent than Sonic and you're more of an intellectual and you're always in the base instead of out in the open field where you can run for a while, and so it makes sense that you'd be all reading while he's all running, but you didn't always read books like this. How come? " Metal Knuckles asked him curiously.
" Well, since Sonic read a book with this title, I decided that as his rival and robotic counterpart, it was only logical for me to read that book as well! As his rival, it's my purpose in life to focus on getting better than him at as many things as possible. If Sonic read this book once, I'll read it twice! Then I'll be better than him in this aspect because I'll be more familiar with it than he is from reading it twice! " Metal Sonic said. He seemed to be trying to have a cocky smile, but it was clearly nervous and forced, showing just how stressed he was from losing to Sonic so many times. He was getting desperate, desperate to surpass him in any way he can, and desperate to improve his chances at beating him in literally any way possible, no matter how insignificant.
" Huh? But, uh, your goal is to beat Sonic in a fight. H-How would reading the same books as him, improve your chances of beating him in a fight? " Metal Knuckles asked, looking worried about him and confused. " S-Simple! You, you see, Sonic knows a lot of stuff that I don't due to his much greater familiarity with the media, so his knowledge of the media gives him more to draw from when it comes to thinking up strategies on how to defeat me! I-If I'm familiar with the same books that he is, I'll take away that advantage he has over me, because if he tries something I recognize from a book we both read, I'll know how to handle it! I-I-It's genius! " Metal Sonic explained with a forced smirk, stammering from stress at just thinking about how much he's lost to Sonic.
Confused and getting increasingly concerned at how his desperation to beat Sonic was making him resort to reading the same book as him to slightly improve his chances, Metal Knuckles asked, " But, he doesn't just read books! He also watches like TV and movies and stuff, and you don't know exactly what TV shows and movies he's watched! It's impossible to be familiar with the exact same media he is, because you don't know everything about him! Maybe it's because I'm a ditz and so I don't get this, but are you sure you shouldn't be focusing on getting better at actual fighting techniques, like the Homing Attack and stuff? Reading books seems like it'll give you a very small amount of help in comparison. "
Metal Sonic laughed nervously and said with a forced cocky smile, " N-Nonsense! I'm already perfect at all of the fighting techniques that I've learned! I-I've even mastered the Homing Attack! It's literally impossible for me to get any better at them! I've practiced them billions of times! I-I know how to do the attacks, now all that's left, is to improve my strategy, a-and w-what better way to improve my fighting strategy than by getting to know Sonic better?! If I read the same books that he has, I'll know how he thinks, and if I know how he thinks, I'll be guaranteed to beat him! It's the perfect plan! I-It has to work! It has to! I-It's not like this is a desperate last resort, i-it's more like, I've become an expert at literally everything else and c-can't improve in any other aspects! " He laughed nervously, as if he was suffering from sanity slippage or under an extreme amount of stress; it was very hard to tell at this point.
Feeling extremely concerned about him, Metal Knuckles put his hands on his shoulders and said to him sympathetically, " Big bro?... Maybe you should take a break from all this, ' trying to surpass Sonic in every single aspect, ' stuff. I know how important it is to you but you're stressing yourself out. I don't like seeing you stressed out! I like seeing you happy... Why can't you be happy again?... It's Eggman's birthday, you should be having fun! Don't you remember having fun?! You don't need to be so focused and fixated on guaranteeing a victory over Sonic to the point where it takes over your whole life! Lately, that's all you've been focused on! Just yesterday, you ran through Green Hill Zone for the 200th time just to get better at it than Sonic! Don't get me wrong, it's good to improve yourself, but it's also good to have fun and enjoy yourself sometimes. I wouldn't be so worried about you trying to improve yourself so much if you had fun doing it, but it seems to just be stressing you out. You don't need to spend months on end doing whatever you can to get better than Sonic. You're already better than Sonic! You're the most awesome guy I know! You can do anything he can do and more! So what if you still haven't won yet? That's just because you're unlucky. You don't need to do literally whatever it takes to improve your chances, because you're like the bestest robot ever, and the only thing keeping you from winning is luck!... So will you please try to enjoy yourself more?... I'm asking you this because I care about you. You're my best friend, and you mean everything to me. Please, take some time to relax!... At least for today? "
Metal Sonic looked sad as he tried to comfort him. He almost looked... insecure. After looking at him nervously for a couple seconds, he sighed, put the book down while using a table napkin as a bookmark, and said reluctantly, " Okay... " trying to humor him. Metal Knuckles sighed in relief and gave him a hug, and to Sonic's surprise, he actually returned it, albeit while rolling his eyes. " I'll take a short break, just for today, " he said with an amused smile, and his brother ended the hug.
" But you know, I don't just read these books to get better than Sonic. It's for my own entertainment, too. I have to find some way to pass the time, and since I'm not spending every second of every day fighting Sonic, reading books and trying to improve myself is the only way I can fight off boredom!... Don't worry about me, Knux. I'll be fine. I know it looks like I'm getting extremely desperate to prove I'm better than Sonic and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but I, I can assure you... it'll all pay off in the end, because I am going to win. And... when I do, I'll find something else to focus on, " Metal Sonic told him with a smile, appreciating that someone respected and cared about him. His smile was mostly genuine, except for the last four sentences where his smile was clearly forced and his stress revealed itself. It was almost as if he was saying something he wasn't sure was true, and only trying to humor him.
Clearly reassured by his statement, Metal Knuckles asked him curiously with an eager smile,
" That's a relief. So, like, what are you gonna do after you beat Sonic? I mean, you spend all your time focusing on making it easier to accomplish that goal, so what are you gonna do, like, after you accomplish it? " Metal Sonic looked nervous, worried, and doubtful, and said in confusion,
" After? Um... " having clearly never thought that far ahead. " Ooh! Are you gonna spend a lot more time with me?! I mean, fulfilling your life's goal will free up a whole bunch of time for you, so you could spend that time with me! It'll be fun! Won't it fun?! " Metal Knuckles asked excitedly, jumping up and down eagerly.
" Well... I don't see why not, " Metal Sonic replied, clearly just trying to humor him and not being sure if that day would ever come. " YAY! " his brother cheered, and he ran out of the room to tell Cubot and Orbot the good news, not aware that Metal Sonic had sighed wearily and walked over to the living room looking bored and miserable. It was like he had forgotten how to have fun. Nothing could give him joy anymore. It was either reading books, or trying to get better than Sonic through hours and hours of practice, or nothing. And neither of those activities gave him the thrills and excitements that Sonic had gotten from running fast, stopping Eggman's plans, and just plain living with the wonderful life he had.
Sonic stopped the tape, unable to bear seeing any more of it. He never thought he would feel sorry for that robot. If it weren't for Eggman making him fight him, he wouldn't have had to suffer losses that would break him and beat him down until he went from having the same personality as Sonic to being miserable, negative, bitter, sarcastic, apathetic and obsessed with proving himself. He had become so different from him, all because of the circumstances of his life. Sonic sighed, and decided to sneak the tapes back into Eggman's base, since it was clear that his plans weren't on them.
Author's Notes: Doesn't take place in the same continuity as The Rescue Mission, but it does show Metal's backstory and his relationship with his friends. About the only thing that's different is that this story has Metal Knuckles around before Metal Sonic's fight in Stardust Speedway, instead of after. Can't blame you if you think it's not well-written. Is it obvious that this story was written long before The Rescue Mission was? Heh heh. Later.