~Born~

(Current Year: 1996)

Metal had come back from the Death Egg that Ivo built to fight in. He had been beaten by Sonic again. Callie, however, had to stay in the home Death Egg. She waited as Metal polished himself, finally coming out of the Polish Room as shiny as a new penny. He went over to the Games Room – a new room which had been installed which was mainly for videogames. In fact, everything about it was videogames. Metal walked into the room, seeing her playing on 'Crash Bandicoot'.

Callie paused the game when she saw him, standing up and smiling. She was now a little taller, being the exact same height as Metal. She had brown hair which was short, just above her shoulders. She wore a black dress very similar to a particular blue one, and wore black shoes which she could slip on easily. "Hello, Metal," she said.

"Hello, Callie," Metal responded, sounding a little emotionless.

"Why are you so sad?" Callie asked.

"I'm not sad," Metal replied.

"But you don't sound happy," Callie pointed out.

"I've been given a new nickname which I hate," Metal revealed. "Sonic has now started to call me Metal Sonic. But I'm not a 'metal Sonic'. He's an 'organic Metal'."

"Don't get so angry about it," Callie said. "It's nothing to get angry about."

"But I'm not a metal Sonic," Metal repeated. "I'm Metal. Just Metal. I'm my own person. I don't deserve such a disgusting title."

"I think it's kinda cute~" Callie pinioned.

"It deserves to rot in a hole," Metal pinioned.

"I'm still going to call you Metal," Callie said. "Metal Sonic is too long. I bet even that meanie Sonic will stick to calling you it."

"Hopefully," Metal added.

...

Later on Metal was called to test out a new training course set up for him.

"Okay, Metal, since you have failed three missions I decided that you should train in a course like this," Ivo explained.

Metal looked at the obstacle course that was set up for him. It looked easy. He looked back at Ivo. "I'll give it a go," he decided. "I'll even try my best not to

Ivo nodded, opening the door into the obstacle course. Metal went inside. Ivo closed the door and looked through the window, pressing a button to switch on the course. Blades started to spin, fire began coming out of tubes in the wall and walls began crashing together.

Metal counted down in his head before he set off. '3… 2… 1….' Suddenly he was off at full speed.

Metal leapt over a small barrier using his hands. He swerved past the poles which were neatly in a line, then doing a very fast limbo under a flamethrower which was built into the wall. There was a spinning blade on the floor which he leapt over easily. Then he had to get past the blades quickly and carefully, along with the large knives that chopped downwards. He got past both of these easily, then facing the walls which crashed together. He had to time it right…

And he did.

Metal quickly sped through the three crashing walls and reached the end, getting a time of 1:54.

"Impressive," Ivo said.

"Thank you," Metal replied. "Now I am going to spend some time with Callie."

"You seem attached to her," Ivo pointed out.

"I was built to protect her life. That was my original purpose. How is it possible for me not to be attached to her?" Metal asked.

"I just don't want your connection with her to get in your way when fighting Sonic," Ivo replied. "It might make you softer."

"And if I spend too much time fighting Sonic I'll end up attacking Callie," Metal responded, walking off before Ivo could say anything back to him. He didn't need to listen to nonsense like that.

Ivo sighed. "He's gonna get himself into a heap of trouble…" he said to himself. "Well, I guess I should go check on that new robot I made from Steel Sonic's parts."

...

Metal was walking through the metallic hallways when Callie passed him, riding on her scooter. He got his booster going at a mild pace, flying beside her.

"Are you having fun, Callie?" Metal asked.

"Yep~!" Callie replied. "I'm going SUPER fast!"

"Indeed you are," Metal chuckled.

At that very moment both the two could hear Ivo shouting angrily. They both slowed down.

"Grr! You irritant little piece of scrap! Get back here with my blueprints!" Ivo shouted, and could be seen running through the other metallic corridor ahead.

Metal looked at Callie. "I'll go see what's happening," he said, flying to Ivo. "Is everything alright, Master?"

"Not really, no!" Ivo answered angrily. "You see, I was building a robot from Steel Sonic's scrap parts, but it took its blueprints and ran off!"

"Don't worry, I'll get those blueprints off him," Metal assured. "And I'll bring him back to you."

"A little warning: he's built with strength and extreme stealth. And he has a free mind which can't be controlled. Also, he cannot be deactivated," Ivo explained.

Metal noted this down in his head. "Got it," he said, flying off through the hallways.

...

Metal arrived in the Storage Room. It was dark and had no lights. The room was ginormous, with bits and pieces of robots and other machinery scattered around the perimeter. Metal began searching around the room, switching on his night vision.

"Come out while you can, failure. I'll eventually find you," Metal commanded, searching slowly, checking every area like a hawk. He heard a sound come from the back of the room, immediately heading over. He could hear the sound of a robot shivering, and could hear faint whimpering. 'I've got you now…' Metal thought successfully.

Metal approached the source of the sound, finding a little robot crouched behind a giant robot arm. He had orange irises and looked very similar to Metal. His chest had a golden lightning bolt painted on it and he was silver. His top quill on his head was slightly longer and the other two quills were shorter. His eyes were less threatening that Metal's and he wore a belt with a holster holding a silver pistol, a black sniper rifle being on his back. His shoes were a very light chrome colour, as were the back of his hands. His back engine was also shorter than Metal's. In height, he's probably a little taller than the height up to Metal's waist. He looked up at Metal, still shaking. Metal only looked down at him angrily.

Metal grabbed the robot by the arm and pulled him up harshly, causing the robot to bleep in fear and look away from him, turning off his eyes. Metal forced the robot to stand as tall as he could, still happening to tower over him. His face was mere inches from the chrome robot's face.

"Hand me those blueprints. You're coming with me whether you like it or not," Metal confirmed.

The robot shook his head, trying to pull away.

"Come with me or I'll be forced to destroy you!" Metal snarled.

This only made the robot want to get away more.

Metal grew angry. He shot a lightning attack at him, injuring him badly.

The robot screeched and started whimpering again.

Metal snatched the blueprints from his grasp, picking the robot up and carrying him in both arms as if carrying a dead body.

The little robot curled up a little, scared.

Metal carried him to Ivo's office. "I have caught him, Master," he informed.

"Excellent," Ivo responded.

Metal handed Ivo the blueprints.

"I guess I'll have to start again with this one," Ivo said with a sigh after looking at the blueprints. "Take him to the Meltdown Chamber. I don't want to see him in my sight ever again."

"Might I ask what the title of this robot is, Master?" Metal asked.

"He was going to be called Metal Sniper because he was a stealth robot who could easily snipe people," Ivo answered. "Is that all you wanted to know?"

"Yes," Metal replied, carrying Sniper out.

...

Metal took Sniper to the Meltdown Chamber. He strapped him to the conveyor belt with leather belts.

"Trust me. It's better this way," Metal said to Sniper.

Sniper began making sounds as if he was crying softly. "W-Will it hurt…?" he asked.

"…I don't actually know," Metal admitted.

"I don't want to die…" Sniper cried.

"I can't help you, Sniper. I'm sorry," Metal apologized.

"Just let me go. I'll do anything," Sniper said, looking at Metal with pleading eyes.

Metal couldn't help but stare right into them. Those eyes… nobody could resist them. Metal then looked away. "Fine," he eventually said, taking Sniper off the conveyor belt. He picked him up and sped off to the Repair Room.

...

Metal began to repair Sniper when they got there.

"Ouch!" Sniper yelped at some point when Metal was fixing his arm.

"Did that hurt?" Metal asked, looking somewhat surprised.

Sniper nodded quickly.

"Strange…" Metal said. He eventually fixed Sniper.

Sniper managed to stand up, but his arm was still sore. Metal gave him a sling to support it.

"Is that better?" asked Metal.

"Yes," Sniper answered. "Thank you, Metal."

"You learnt my name fast," Metal stated.

"I was looking at your database on my main computer," Sniper responded. "I've also learnt that we are both built from the same parts, and we are the only two in existence with them."

"Are you saying that we're brothers?" Metal asked.

Sniper nodded.

"I almost killed my own brother…" Metal told himself, guilty.

"It wasn't your fault," Sniper said, overhearing him. "You didn't know I was your brother."

"I'm sorry for trying to kill you," Metal apologised. "And for threatening you. It wasn't a usual thing of mine."

"When you become threatening you can easily scare the enemies away," Sniper explained.

"I've already tried doing that to my rival," Metal announced. "It didn't work. He was too cocky."

"You were pretty scary to me," Sniper clarified. "But I am a bit of a coward."

"So was I when I started off as a fighter robot three years ago," Metal compared. "I bet that in the future you'll be quite the robot. Nobody will stand a chance against you."

"You really think so?" Sniper asked, sounding happy.

"I don't think. I know," Metal replied.

"I'm gonna be as scary as you, then!" Sniper said, doing his best to strike a heroic pose. "The terrifying Metal Sniper!"

"I think you'll get along with a friend of mine," Metal said, chuckling a little.

"Really? Who's your friend?" Sniper asked curiously.

"Her name is Callie," Metal answered. "She is our Master's daughter and is currently six years old. She's really nice, don't worry. Come on; I'll take you to meet her."

"Okay," Sniper reacted, walking with Metal to where Callie was last left riding on her scooter.

...

Meanwhile, Callie had snuck into the control room which activated Metal's obstacle course. She was very quiet, but she turned it on. She knew that she had some robot abilities, which was why she was very accurate with her writing and painting. Almost accurate, anyway. Maybe she had the same skill as Metal did? Of course, Callie was going to find this out by trying out the obstacle course. And so she went inside.

Callie took time to climb over the barrier. She just walked around the lined-up poles. When she came to the flamethrower in the wall, she crawled under it carefully, as low as she could go so she didn't get the slightest bit burnt. Then there was the spinning fan on the floor. Callie tried to do a runners-up to jump over it, only just managing. When landing on the other side, she almost fell backwards into the rotating blades. Her heart was racing when she regained balance. Now there was no way back. Nothing was going to make her jump over than fan again. But when she looked ahead…

She realised that there was no more moving on for her. But she had to try getting to the end. If she shouted for help, she'd be in big trouble. So she decided to take the risk.

Uh-oh! Callie's in trouble! That's what happens when you leave a six year-old unsupervised and doors unlocked. And also, we have introduced Metal Sniper (the character with 'Believe in Myself SA2 version' for his theme)! What will happen to Callie? And how will Metal get away with keeping Sniper alive? Find out next chapter!