A/N: Redoing the entirety of this series since over the years I've thought more and more of how I wanted to continue it. When I first made it I didn't really think about how to go about it and really had no plot. Now I do, and I'm ready for round two(or three…) as I get back into writing!

Based off the 72th issue of Egmont Fleetway's Sonic the Comic (STC) that ended the Metallix Saga (which you can read for free here ~ ~ since well… good luck finding physical copies)

(*Some Spoilers Ahead*)

High in the sky, the Miracle Planet cast its shadow on Mobius. It was no longer the peaceful planet it once was as the Brotherhood of Metallix had conquered and twisted it into metal over the month the Miracle Planet had disappeared from Mobius. The Alpha device, the device that turned everything it touched into metal, loomed like a tyrant on the little planet and now it had Mobius in its' iron fist, too. All organic life, besides a few small pockets, had been snuffed out. And those small pockets would soon be gone, too for there was nothing to stop the Metallix Reign. By travelling back in time and making sure Kintobor never became Robotnik, the Metallix removed the only thing that could stop them; the self-destruct program.

Turns out that was the only thing Robotnik designed for them. The rest was all thanks to Robotnik's right-hand man, Grimer. Now with Robotnik (and therefore the program) gone, Mobius would forever be ruled by the Brotherhood.

…If not for a certain blue hedgehog.

With the help of the Chaotix crew and the Omni-Viewer, Sonic had travelled back in time to fix what the metallix had changed. And the Emperor Metallix was not happy to find they had succeeded.

Right before the gigantic red metallix's eyes he could see Mobius returning to its disgustingly organic self. Even more frustrating was discovering the self-destruct device back in place. By design they were expressionless, yet all the other metallix in the room could feel his seething rage boiling through his circuits.

Just then, the red pirated copy of the Omni-Viewer spat out a lone metallix; one that should've returned with two others. He was beaten, scratched, and dented from an obvious fight. This one here was personally responsible for failing to stop Sonic. All eyes turned to him, he who was the weak-link that could end the Brotherhood for failing his mission to guard the timelines.

"Brother 274… Report." The Emperor's said in a booming voice that echo across the room. It almost sounded like it came from all the metallix as a collective. 274 looked down, ashamed and ready to take whatever punishment he got as he told the Emperor what had happened. Sonic had brought along a strange device and promptly placed it on 144's head. It had caused him to malfunction and destroy one of his own brothers, 596.

After that, it all went downhill. 144 had attacked 274 which left him unable to stop Sonic and co from correcting the timeline. And no matter how hard he tried to stop his brother, to fix him, it was too late. 144 had offlined barely a minute later. 274 was all that was left.

There was silence in the room as everyone waited for the Emperor's decision. This was a grave mistake for all of them, to underestimate Sonic's knack of finding just the right way to defeat his foes. But the Emperor had to deal with something much more serious than a lone metallix's failure. Sonic was obviously going to ask Robotnik questions. That only meant he would soon find out about the self-destruct program.

The Emperor knew he wouldn't hesitate to use it. There was no time to decide a proper punishment. Though…

"Get yourself repaired and then report to the head of the factory…" The Emperor declared. "I'll be leading an assault to correct a mistake." 274 nodded as he was glared at. He knew he caused that mistake and promptly rushed out in silence. He would be a fool to stay behind in case the Emperor changed his mind on such a lenient decision.

As 274 rushed past building after building where once a forest grew, his brothers raced by heading towards a single point; where 274 had just left. He paid them little attention, his objective was not theirs; he didn't have the right to have theirs, not after such failure.

He shook his head; he needed to focus on what he needed to do now. 274 gingerly landed at a building that was next to the massive factory where everything was made. He'd be in the factory soon enough, but for now the repair shop was where he was headed. It was much smaller and much less busy, but important none the less. As 274 entered, he gave a huff out of his vents in annoyance. The place was busier than normal –some brothers having decided to get a quick check-up before the assault on Sonic. That left all the yellow plus mark-wearing brothers with their hands full. And the only "medic" left available was 122.

..Famous for his love of flowers and partly disowned because of it.

Only reason he was still around was because of just how extensive his knowledge went, with plants and metal. If you wanted a prisoner to talk, asked 122, he can put them on the brink of death, but never further. If you wanted repairs, you'd be fixed twice as fast compared to the other medics. Didn't mean anyone with a choice would want to be repaired by him however.

"Here to be repaired 122." 274 said.

"Oh finally! I was beginning to wonder if you decided to go MIA." 122 replied as he ambled over with all his tools at the ready. "And please, call me Tattoo."

Another irritating trait of his; Always wanting to be called by his informal name like a disgusting organic. They meant a completely different meaning here in the brotherhood and yet he tried to make it unbearably normal.

"Just get me fixed already." 274 huffed out. The sooner this was over the sooner he could spend less time wasting time with this malfunctioning nutcase.

"Still shaken from your brush with death I suppose?" Tattoo said was he began soothing bumps and pulling dents into place. 274 only huffed again. He didn't want to admit it, but yes he was. Having to face their leader with the threat of a death sentence would scare anybody.

274 listened no more after that. However, 122's endless ramblings continued on even though his audience had tuned out. Thankfully, all repairs were done in less than a few minutes.

"Now hurry off to the factory survivor, don't want to be scrapped for being late after all that."Tattoo said as he finished touching up 274's paintwork. One last huff and 274 dashed as quickly out of the building, and away from 122, as possible.

Some of the medic's words stuck however, not many, but still. 274, besides his "long" service, hadn't picked up an informal name. Survivor was sounding quite fitting, not many could screw up so utterly badly and not be scrapped. 274 decided then and there that Survivor would definitely be his informal name.

274 pushed the thought to the side for now now that he had arrived at the factory. It was a good 10 miles wide and long; and growing every day. Inside were many parts shifting in unison to create as many new brothers as fast, and as great, as possible. It was one of 274's favorite places. Such an efficient place and despite the chaos, was utterly organized. Except… something was off.

Survivor looked around confused. The factory wasn't running as fast or as organized. His brothers working the machines usually focused and swift, were hesitating; Tense shoulders and nervous glances at one another. One was even shaking so bad his brothers nearby had to remove him from his station. There were also two of them saying good-bye to each other as if they may never see each other again. Survivor's shoulders slumped.

This was his fault.

If he was just a bit faster, just a bit stronger, none of his brothers would be so… frightened. He shouldn't be alive right now. Survivor's chest engine lightly whirled in distress, but he had orders so he continued on. He hurried off to meet the head of the factory. A quick ask of where he currently was was all he needed and soon he arrived at room 319 on the third, and top, floor.

The head of the factory was of a different model than the rest; more bulky with a visor like optic and nuclear chest engine. He was the prototype to the one who ended up throttled by Super Sonic. Only reason he wasn't used was because he couldn't properly use chaos energy like they intended for his design. That didn't mean he didn't have use however. Turns out he was phenomenal at leadership and keeping things in order. He outclassed the previous head of the factory in a very short amount of time.

"274?" He asked as 274 walked in. 274 merely nodded. No need for small talk. "You'll be assigned to the very end of the manufacturing sector. You're job is to detect any faulty new brothers and repair them."

Oh har har… 274 thought. The irony in that job couldn't have been by accident. Survivor couldn't deny it though, and rather politely accepted the position spot number and left.

It didn't take long to get to the spot and soon 274 started working. The job was mostly boring, but it was essential. No one wanted a faulty brother in their ranks (how 122 got past Survivor will never know). It was mostly scanning and passing, scanning and passing. The conveyer that moved the new brothers along was going a bit slowly today, what with the big deciding battle going on soon. In fact, they should be at Robotnik's citadel any moment now. His engine whirled nervously. No he had to focus on the task at hand! He had already gone through 30, that's good. And no way could the Emperor fail… he couldn't.. could NOT fail. Survivor wanted to fly off and get in at least get one punch.

But he could do nothing, but scan and pass. Survivor softly huffed, he was trying to not fail at this, but… everything still felt like too much. Scan and pass, scan and pass, scan and-

"Rrrping! Rrrping! Anomaly detected." The scanner slightly startled 274 to attention. The new brother, 10-961, had set off the scanner's alarm. 274 quickly pulled 10-961 off the main conveyer and onto a siding. Bringing a portable version of the scanner over, 274 move it up and down the height of 10-961.

"Anomaly detected!" Survivor huffed angrily as the scanner failed to tell him what the anomaly was. "Anomaly detected!" He hoped this wasn't a cruel joke that the emperor set up – to give him a malfunctioning scanner. He'd have to take 10-961 over to the testing rooms.

Survivor signaled a standby brother to temporarily take his spot while he dragged 10-961 along a pulley system towards the testing rooms. The testing rooms were labeled alpha, beta, delta, etc. rather than by number. There was never very many needed in the first place, very few brothers had any serious faults, fewer still that required complete and total shut down.

274 typed in the security code to test room Gamma, and hauled 10-961 to the middle of the room. Not knowing what to expect, 274 chained 10-961 to the floor from his wrists and ankles and put a special cap over top his brother's chest engine; didn't want him flying/running off.

As it seems someone else tried to. Survivor made a mental note to have someone come in and clean this mess afterwards. Thankfully any debris was long since removed, but chips, burns, and scratches still needed to be patched up. 274 shook his head, but continued on. He quickly flipped open 10-961's panel and punched in the code to activate him. Quickly afterwards, he darted to the door, next to the control panel it case things were REALLY bad.

It took a second, but 10-961 crimson eyes slowly lit up.

"Greetings 10-961, I'm your brother 274. You're here in room Gamma to be tested for malfunctions." 274 stated plainly. 10-961 hadn't exploded or showed signs of derangement, so that was good. But he seemed very confused… or at least curious maybe. "10-961?"

"Sorry..274.? I'm just…" 10-961 started slowly, but trailed off. Hmm.. Maybe his processor was having troubles running? That's not good for any situation, might be a good place to start.

"Don't apologize, let's just get started and soon we'll find the problem. If you become unstable and try to attack, I'll be force to terminate you…" Survivor gestured towards the control panel. One flip of the switch and 10-961 would be crushed. "First, let's test your agility.."

"I.. uh.. okay. What first?" 10-961 asked a little unsure. He felt sluggish and odd. He felt like he was missing something.. but what? He'd have to ask later, 274 had issued an order.

So it began, first with testing of simple movements like catching a ball and tossing it back; then to complex equations and answers. They blazed though the process, both of them totally focused on finding the problem. Restraints were removed to do engine and movement tests. Then information on key details was next. 10-961 was… failing this endeavor.

"Recite information on the Sonic & co." 274 requested.

"Sonic and who now?" 10-961 asked. Oh no…

"Uh.. okay how about Mobius?"

"Who's that?"

"Not who, what." 274 felt concern rise. "How about the Brotherhood?"

"Is that a group? Wait is that us? I know you called me 'brother' before?" 274 was DEFINITELY concerned now, but at least he found the problem.

"It seems your data, which every brother has, is missing," 274 said and then clarified. "And yes the brotherhood is us, you are the 10,961th brother created."

"That's a lot."

"shush," 274 said. "I'll fetch the required information; this room will be locked until I get back."

10-961 could do nothing but wait. There were too many questions though and one thing still seemed off. Hopefully they'd be answered by the time his brother got back. For now, 10-961 just scanned the room and daydreamed. He wonder what the outside of this place looked li-

"SHA-SHING" A bright flash enveloped the room.

…

… …

…10-961 uncurled himself from a ball and looked around. The noise and flash had startled him. He had no idea what in the world happened or if he was in danger. It wasn't long before he noticed a group of golden floating rings. 10-961 was perplexed. What were these? Where had they come from? Did they do anything?

Slowly he crept towards them, intensely staring forwards in case they… they what? Leapt at him? Suddenly sprout eyes and claws and try to dismember him?

Tentatively, he gently touched it. Nothing. All the really happened was that it's spinning was now out of sync with the other rings. Hmm..

Okay so it wasn't sentient and was rather smooth. What else? Wait…an idea pinged into 10-961's head! He could try his in-built scanner. It was simpler than the handheld version, but was good for quick information – at least that's what his HUD was telling him (whatever HUD was, kinda disorienting with it being on his optics…)

The quick scan wielded more information than 10-961 was expecting, mostly because he felt- really felt! -an electrical surge go through his systems. Suddenly, all the information that was missing was all right there. From what 10-961 gathered, the simple scanner shouldn't give this much info, so it must be from his hard drive! It even gave some information about this 'Sonic'; a hedgehog who could absorb the energy of the golden rings with but a touch and something about 'chaos sensitivity'. But that was it, his corrupted hard drive only giving information related to the scanned object.

The information DID, however, give 10-961 an interesting tidbit. One could combine rings into a larger ring; the larger rings can teleport objects to a random location. Sidenote: some objects with tracker chips have not been found – further testing on hold.

Well it wasn't like there was much to do. Maybe it would be a nice surprise for his 274th brother!

Less than 30 seconds later, 274 was punching the code in for room Gamma. In his other hand was a USB drive with all the information his brother was missing. When the heavy doors slid out of the way, Survivor was met with a bizarre scene. 10-961was holding several rings on one arm while a larger ring lazily rotated in front of him.

"Oh! You're back! Look what I-"

"What do you think you're doing?!"

10-961 flinched at the volume of 274's voice. Oh he didn't think his brother would be mad!

"I uh.. wanted to-" 10-961 didn't get anymore out as 274 marched over, switched him offline, and crammed the USB with essential data into one of 10-961's ports. Survivor, while waiting, was thinking two things; anger at his brother's recklessness and relief he caught him in time before he was randomly warped. Survivor mindlessly kicked some of the rings that had clattered onto the floor out of the way. This room was more damaged than he previously thought. Rings weren't supposed to blink into existence in testing rooms for fear of a new brother getting into big trouble and a team having to go rescue them; if possible…

"Error: Download Failure. Try Again?" 10-961's optics pinged. 274 rumbled as he took the USB out. This wasn't good at all. From what the archives tell him, this meant that the data WAS there, but totally and utterly corrupted. He'd have to have a medic stop by to fix it proper. He hoped it wasn't 122.

10-961 onlined again and was now a little disoriented.

"Your hard drive's information is definitely corrupted… Do you realize what could have happened if you had taken a misstep and fell into the ring?"

"I would've warped?"

"You would've war-," 274 stopped midsentence, baffled. "How'd you know that? Your hard drive -!"

"Is corrupted I know! But I found out something while you were away. The inform-m-mate-te-!" 10-961's voice chip fizzled into static. "What's happening?!"

"WARNING: SELF DESTRUCT ACTIVATED."

"NO! NONONONO!" 274 screamed internally as his systems locked up and sparked. 10-961 shook and shuttered, but didn't lock up. 274's mind was shutting down and fading, but 10-961's only slowed. And with his slowing mind, the world crawled with it. He saw his brother, 274, the only one he knew, dying before him; and he saw the ring spinning so slow it seemed not to move at all. He reached out and grabbed his brother by the shoulders, an act that took forever, before turning and half-jumping with shaking legs into the ring.

"SHING!"

And then they were gone…