~Chapter 7: The Suspicion~

Shard crept after his younger brother sneakily, hiding behind trees frequently to remain unnoticed. He was able to zoom his vision in on Metallix, focusing hard.

Metallix was simply just standing as Honey babbled on about random stuff; she seemed to be explaining about Knothole: its history and its reputation.

"See? Don't you think that he's a little... strange?" Nicole questioned, having to speak to Shard via system link due to Shard's current position being out-of-range, making her unable to appear there in her holographic form.

"If you ask me that's just the normal Mex," Shard responded to her quietly.

"Shard, you don't know that," Nicole reminded. "Just... do some research or... find some way of getting information."

"Roger that," Shard replied, signing off the call. He already had a plan in mind.

He dived out at Metallix and tackled him down aggressively.

"What the?!" Metallix reacted, looking shocked.

"Tell me everything! Where is Eggman?!" Shard demanded, laser pointed in Metallix's face.

"Eggman?! Shard, what on Mobius are you talking about?!" Metallix responded, looking both frustrated and confused.

"Oh, you know what I'm talking about!" Shard yelled in his face. "Now tell me everything you know!"

"Shard! Knock it off, you idiot!" Metallix snapped, shoving him off. Shard sat up, rubbing his head as he watched Metallix stand and dust himself off angrily. The black and yellow robot then smiled sweetly.

"Oh. I guess you're not a spy after all," he concluded, shrugging. Metallix gave him a look of pure confusion.

Honey had watched the whole thing, now hiding behind a tree, peering out at the two. "Are you two done yet?" she asked them. The two robots looked at each other and looked back at her.

"Yes," they answered in unison.

"Good," Honey smiled, a bead of sweat dripping from her head.

"This is Shard," Metallix introduced as Shard inspected him suspiciously. "He's my idiotic older brother."

"Hey! I am not idiotic!" Shard snapped. Metallix just glared at him while Honey merely giggled.

"Cute!" she pinioned. Shard seemed to blush at the compliment, smiling cheesily. Metallix frowned at Shard's reaction to Honey's words.

"Well, I guess I'd better be going now," Shard shrugged. "I just got to tell Nicole that you're not a spy."

Metallix gave Shard an odd glar, narrowing his LED eyes slightly. "Spy?" he queried.

"Yeah, Nicole thought she heard you talking with Eggman," Shard chuckled. "Sounds stupid, right?"

"...Right," Metallix responded slowly. He then chuckled a false chuckle. "Well, we can't have anyone thinking that I'm a spy, can we?"

"Don't worry, I'll tell her that there's nothing to worry about," Shard assured. "I'll catch ya later then, bro!" With that, the mechanical hedgehog flew off and back into the village. Metallix watched him leave, a dark look on his face.

"Are you okay?" Honey eventually asked him curiously.

Metallix's glare did not change. "Oh, I'm fine," he answered, sounding quiet and dark. "I just have some... business to take care of." The blue hedgebot then flew off, a set goal in his mind.

...

Tails was sat tinkering sadly by himself. He was extremely worried about Sonic. What if he was never going to see him again? After all the great times the two shared together...

Nicole appeared before Tails. "You're missing Sonic, aren't you?" she assumed, trying her hardest to sound sympathetic. Tails just nodded in response to her question, not taking his eyes off what he was messing with. Nicole decided to continue, doing all she could to comfort the young fox. "Don't worry, we'll be able to return him to his normal state," she assured him. "He'll be the old Sonic that you used to know, and he'll get Eggman for what he did to him."

Still, Tails didn't speak.

Shard killed the moment by flying into the room. "Nicole!" he called, skidding to a halt as he almost crashed into something. Both Nicole and Tails looked at him strangely.

"Great news!" Shard continued. "We don't have anything to worry about; Metallix is not a spy!"

Nicole seemed confused. "How can you be sure of that? Did you ask him?" she asked.

Not understanding that Nicole's question was sarcastic, Shard responded by saying: "Yes!"

Tails and Nicole stared at him, wide-eyed with horror.

"...You ASKED him?!" Nicole repeated, gasping.

"Well, technically I interrogated him, but he was just too grumpy to be a spy," Shard explained. "There's no doubt that he's still the good ol' Metallix we know and love."

Nicole couldn't believe what she was hearing. She managed to contain her anger but proceeded to stare at Shard. There was a pause before she finally spoke.

"Shard, I know that Metallix is not himself," she admitted. "I know that he was talking with somebody. Now he's probably going to attack!"

Shard could only laugh hysterically. "Don't be ridiculous! Metallix would never do that!"

Nicole sighed, frustrated that she couldn't get through to the reformed Metal Sonic.

Tails decided to stand up, putting down the gizmo he was tweaking. He left the room silently.

...

Metallix had made his way back into Knothole, waiting for the perfect time to strike. He sent a voice message to the doctor.

"Doctor," he said. "Prepare to send Sonic in."

-Author's Note-

Sorry I've been gone for like two years! I got a new laptop and moved on to do YouTube and a lot of school work needed doing, but since I managed to find this writing programme on my new laptop (FINALLY!), I've been able to update this story! Though I still think it's terrible compared to the first XD Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!