Metal was a robot of logic and reason. This presented a problem.

Sonic was sound asleep, laying against a tree. He was curled up so much that his neckerchief was pressed over his muzzle. He breathed softly into it.

Metal was programmed from the very start to kill Sonic. It was his one and only mission, to defeat Sonic. Eggman had told him that himself. Putting that into action now would be easy, as Sonic being asleep made him an easy target. In fact, Metal's processors had already returned with solutions on how to do so.

Eggman never said that Sonic had to be awake in order for Metal to kill Sonic. To become the true Sonic, Metal would have to kill Sonic. There could only be one Sonic. Metal had to prove that he was better to become the true Sonic.

An error popped up in Metal's system at the last detail. Sonic being asleep was a state of vulnerability. Sonic could not fight Metal when he was asleep, because Sonic was not active when he was asleep. Therefore, Sonic was not at his best when he was asleep. If Metal killed Sonic when Sonic was asleep, Metal was not killing Sonic when Sonic was at his best. Metal could not definitively be better than Sonic if he didn't kill Sonic at his best.

Metal paced back and forth, considering his options. Realistically, it did not matter if he killed Sonic while he was asleep. No one else was around. No one would know that he took advantage of an opportunity. He would be the true Sonic in the eyes of the public.

But, no. It did matter. Metal would know.

Metal had cheated his way to trying to kill Sonic before, with Eggman's particle accelerator. Sonic cheated too with that blasted horseshoe, but Metal had cheated first, so he couldn't blame Sonic, unfortunately.

Point being, Metal had morals. If he killed Sonic unfairly, he would not be the true Sonic. It was a fact.

Metal approached Sonic, squatting down and staring at his enemy with rage. Even asleep, Sonic just had to make things complicated.

But, Metal could fix that, couldn't he? He could wake Sonic up. Sonic's couldn't be asleep if he was awake. If Sonic was awake, they could fight, and Metal could properly defeat him.

Another error. If Metal woke Sonic up, Sonic would not reach mental clarity. Sleep was required for mobians to function, and cutting Sonic's short would mean he wouldn't go through his entire sleep cycle. He would fail to be in top condition. Therefore, Metal still couldn't defeat him at his best.

Ironically, it seemed that Sonic being in this vulnerable state made him harder to kill.

Metal redirected his thought processors, hoping to find another solution. He was motionless for a painfully long time.

His processors clicked. He could wait for Sonic to wake up. Sonic would be alert and fully-rested. If Metal defeated him after that, there would be no denying that he was superior; that he was indeed the true Sonic.

Yes, this was optimal. There were no better options.

Metal sat on the grass, eyeing Sonic closely. Sonic hadn't moved or shifted. He was still resting, sound asleep and completely unaware of Metal sitting there. That was fine, as Metal could wait as long as he had to.

Time passed. Birds chirped and flew about, one even landing on Metal's head. He ignored it, just as he ignored the leaves that occasionally came loose from the trees and fell to the grass below. If he put any focus on them, he would waste precious power. He needed all power possible in order to defeat Sonic. Of course, Metal already knew that he was superior, but what if he was at 80% power by the time Sonic woke up? Losing a whole 20% of his power before the fight had even begun was problematic. He could most certainly defeat Sonic with 100%, but any less? It was a risk.

Metal beeped as he reaffirmed this. He checked his battery, noting that it was not at 100%. He stood up, ready to fly back to Eggman's lair in order to charge himself to full capacity, but stopped himself.

If he left, there was the possibility of Sonic waking up. Metal didn't know when Sonic had fallen asleep, nor did he know when Sonic had slept last, and therefore couldn't determine when Sonic would awaken. If Sonic woke up, he would most likely leave, and Metal would have to find him all over again. By the time Metal found him, Sonic might not be as alert as he would've been after just waking up.

Metal sat back down, trying to process this. This was all much more complicated than he had originally expected, which made it all the more difficult, as running through every process each time burned through his power. He was built to fight, not to reason, so actually stopping to think was not productive power-wise.

Yet, Metal had to. As much as he hated to admit it, Sonic was skilled and intelligent. Metal would not win with brute force and no plan.

His battery dropped by 1%, but Metal kept testing his processors for a solution. While he did not know the answer, he was sure he could reserve more power than if he just sat and watched Sonic sleep, as long as he found it.

The solution appeared.

Of course. Sleep mode. While the term was not wholly accurate, as organics replenished energy during sleep and Metal would just be entering a state that consumed very little power, it was still the answer to his problem.

Yet another error. If Metal went into sleep mode, he would not be aware enough of his surroundings. Sonic could wake up, see Metal, and choose not to fight him. This was an unacceptable outcome, especially after all the effort and processing power that Metal had gone through to ensure his victory.

There was one more option, and Metal thankfully did not even need to use processing power to think of it. It was already there, in his sleep mode settings.

Metal could be awakened from sleep mode manually by Eggman, or by a time set by himself. However, a third option existed, where enough movement against Metal would automatically take him out of sleep mode. This was perfect, given the circumstances.

Metal was already adjusting his settings as he approached Sonic. To set the sensitivity of his movement sensors too low would be disastrous, as another bird landing on his head could alert him out of sleep mode. To prevent this, he set it higher than what could be done by any of the forces currently around himself, excluding Sonic.

The catalyst of this also meant that he would need to be surrounding Sonic enough to feel most of Sonic's movement upon his awakening, but Metal could situate himself accordingly.

Metal sat down next to Sonic, leaning against the tree. Taking great care not to wake Sonic, as that would ruin everything he'd worked so hard for, he lifted Sonic into his arms. Sonic let out a noise, but flopped obediently against Metal. This was logical, as Metal was naturally warm from being on, and mobians were typically drawn to warmth when sleeping.

Metal positioned his hands carefully, placing one at Sonic's side, Metal's arm comfortably between Sonic's back quills and tail, while Metal's other hand supported Sonic's legs. Sonic didn't stir, as Metal had planned, and continued to sleep against him. Everything was perfect.

Just as Metal activated his sleep mode, one last error popped into his system.

Sonic was warmer than Metal had previously anticipated.

He could accept this.