As I have had rightfully pointed out, I forgot to mention that I do not own any of these characters. I will not be using any of my OC's in this story because it will spoil the atmosphere. I repeat, I do not own any of the characters in this story. They are copyrighted to Sega.

By the way, this story is set seven years later so Sonic is fifteen. The original Sonic, whom no doubt was used in the movie, was eight years old.

~Chapter 2: The Resurrection~

'I can't believe I'm rebuilding Hyper Metal Sonic when he tried to destroy the Land of the Sky…' Tails thought as he tinkered with the body he had just built. So far it was lifeless, and the last piece needed was the power gem – after the arm was fixed on completely.

The arm had been completely attached, and now it was the most risky part of the job. Tails had to install the power gem core. In doing this, he would have activated Metal once again. Hesitantly, Tails carefully placed the red power gem in Metal's chest, quickly pulling away once it was fitted into place.

At first there was nothing, until Metal's hand twitched slightly. His red irises turned on, 'blinking' a few times before they turned green. The red power gem also turned green. He sat up, glancing around to adjust to his surroundings. That was when his attention was drawn to Tails.

Tails stayed exactly where he was, at a safe distance.

Metal just tilted his head.

"...Hello," Tails decided to say, gulping before he said it. "I-I'm Tails… Sonic told me to rebuild you in a new body… H-Here, you can take a look at yourself…" Tails handed Metal a mirror.

Metal took hold of the mirror, looking at himself. He was in a slightly different body, which was the colour black, and he had yellow markings on himself. He also had an arm cannon on his left arm, and the most noticeable thing was his mouth.

"Y-You can talk now…" Tails continued. "I installed a mouth for you…"

Metal wasn't sure how to use the mouth, thinking of something to try and say. He opened his mouth to speak.

Tails stood there, hopeful. If the mouth failed, then that was lots of work and efforts down the drain.

"Great job, kiddo," Metal said with a smile. His voice had much emotion in it, sounding slightly computerized.

Tails seemed confused, but then decided to respond, scratching his neck nervously. "T-Thanks."

Metal noticed Tails' nervousness. "What's up?" he asked. "Something bothering you, Miles?"

"It's not every day that I get to rebuild one of Robotnik's robots," Tails answered. "And I'd prefer it if you called me Tails."

"Okay then Mi- Tails," Metal replied. "But can I ask, why did you even change your name?"

"It's just a name my friends call me," Tails answered. "And also… I kinda hate my real name."

"Same here. My name is 'Metal Sonic', think how I feel," Metal compared.

"I thought your name was Hyper Metal Sonic," Tails pointed out.

"They're practically the same, you know," Metal stated.

"If you hate your name that much, why don't you just change it?" Tails suggested.

"To what, Hyper?" Metal responded.

"To anything. Wiz? Bumblebee? Matrix? Jack?" Tails replied, giving examples.

Metal thought. He didn't really like any of those names, until one hit his mind as he attempted to click his fingers, smiling. "I've got it! How does this sound: Shard?" he thought out loud.

"Why would you be called Shard?" Tails asked.

"Well, this power gem pieced all my data shards back together in my operative chip. Also, it sounds cool," Metal explained.

"I suppose it does suit you…" Tails acknowledged. "Alright, you chose that to be your name, and so from now on, your name is Shard – Shard the Metal Sonic."

"Cool," Metal smiled.

"Alright then, Shard, how about we start to help you socialize with the others?" Tails recommended.

"Socialize?" Shard asked, sounding a little nervous. He folded his arms and looked down nervously. "I'm not sure if I'm ready…"

"Come on, Shard, what's the worst that could happen?" Tails questioned.

"Considering that I tried to destroy the Land of the Sky not so long ago, I don't think anybody would really want to talk to me, let alone talk about me," Shard answered. "Could you imagine me in a conversation? Let's use Sonic, for example. He could say something positive about you, like: 'Hey, Tails, we've been buddies for years and you've never left my side.' Me? 'Oh hey, Shard, remember that time when you tried to kill me and destroy the Land of the Sky so Robotnik could build his empire and marry Sara? They were some great times, right?' I mean, what's the point if everything in an average conversation will be about me trying to kill Sonic?"

"Hiding away won't help you," Tails finalized. "Besides, you could start helping us and all those times would be nothing but a memory."

"A very disturbing memory," Shard corrected.

"Shard, we all worked together to rebuild you," Tails revealed. "Knuckles found your data chip, Sonic convinced me to rebuild you and I built you a new body."

"Why would Sonic want to repair me after I tried to kill him?" Shard questioned.

"He claimed that he could feel your regret," Tails answered. "The regret of what you had done. Subconsciously in your core you were feeling regret."

"I was?" Shard asked.

Tails nodded.

"For how long again?" Shard questioned.

"Seven years," Tails responded.

"So Sonic's fifteen now, right?" Shard clarified.

"Yup," Tails replied, nodding. "Let's just get you in the civil world, Shard." Tails then headed outside.

Shard followed behind slowly.

Tails used his two tails to fly up.

Shard tried to use his new boosters to follow, but ended up falling back down to the ground into the sand of the beach on his front. He wasn't completely used to his new body.

Tails flew back down to his side. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Shard just raised his thumb, before pushing himself up. His metallic face was covered in sand until he shook it off, getting back to his feet.

"Try again; you'll eventually get the hang of it," Tails assured, flying back up.

"Hopefully," Shard replied. Carefully, he used his boosters to hover, losing his balance slightly. He then managed to balance himself, flying after Tails. He was soon by his side in the sky.

"Alright, Shard, you got it!" Tails smiled.

"I suppose I have," Shard responded, also smiling.

"Now all we need to do is find Sonic," Tails stated.

Shard followed Tails the whole way of the flight until they eventually found Sonic in Green Lake City, sat on a bench eating a plate of chilli dogs.

Tails flew down to Sonic, with Shard by his side.

Sonic looked up at Tails, putting up his thumb to greet him as he landed.

"Hey, Sonic," Tails greeted.

"Hey, lil' buddy," Sonic replied with his mouth full. He then swallowed his bite of the chilli dog with force. "So, what brings you here?"

"We came to find you," Tails answered.

"We?" Sonic asked, sounding baffled.

"Haven't you noticed the robot by my side?" Tails asked, in an obvious tone of voice.

"What robot?" Sonic asked, sounding more confused.

Tails looked to his side, seeing that Shard was gone. He looked up, down, behind and to the other side of him. There was no sign of the black and yellow robot. Tails sighed. "He must be shy again…" Tails then flew off to find Shard, finding him easily. He was hiding in a bush , his black ears poking out of it and his electric green eyes shining through the shadows of the bush. Tails laughed.

"Shard, what are you doing in there?" he asked, still laughing slightly.

"I'm not here," Shard responded.

"Yes, you are," Tails argued, pulling him out of the bush. "I already told you to stop hiding."

Sonic came over. "Tails, is everything alright?" he asked, until he noticed Shard.

"…I'm in your imagination," Shard lied.

"Sonic, this is Shard," Tails introduced. "You know, he used to be Hyper Metal Sonic."

"Good to have you back Met-Shard," Sonic said, smiling. He held his fist out for a fist-bump.

Hesitant, Shard gently fist-bumped Sonic.

Sonic smiled his usual grin.

Shard smiled back with a nervous smile.

"You two are getting along well," Tails noticed.

"Well, we are connected," Shard responded.

"Hey, you can talk now?" Sonic acknowledged.

Shard looked at him and nodded. "Tails sure knows how to build robots," he complimented.

"That's Tails for ya," Sonic agreed. "It's a natural born talent of his."

"I noticed," Shard said.

"Well, we'd better be heading back now. It's getting late," Sonic realised. He turned to Shard. "Hey, wanna race?"

"Alright," Shard replied.

Both the two then sped off quickly, leaving a breeze.

Tails flew off after them.

That night, everyone was resting. Sonic and Tails were sleeping soundly, while Shard was quite uncomfortable in his sleep-mode state. He seemed to be having a nightmare of something.

The lava. His memory of him falling and dying in it. Even though he let it happen, it wasn't a nice experience.

He then heard Robotnik's voice echoing in his head as images flashed quickly.

"I'll get you, Metal. You worthless piece of scrap! It's about time you expired like all robots do!"

"No…" Shard groaned, twisting around in a disturbed way while resting.

"You'll be destroyed, Metal Sonic. You shouldn't have betrayed your master! Your end will be soon!"

"No…!" Shard groaned again, this time a little louder, his twists and turns becoming a little more uncomfortable.

Different images then flashed. It looked like himself – his old self, lifelessly standing in a spotlight while he was surrounded by darkness.

"Metal Sonic, you will destroy your inferior model!" Robotnik's last echo-voice was, as the other Metal's eyes switched on.

"No!" Shard shouted, rebooting suddenly. He looked around, panicking, seeing that everything he saw was just a virtual image in his mind. Realising everything was just in his mind, he decided to go back in sleep-mode.

~End of Chapter~