Chapter 21

Infinite Descent

"the stifling heat of September

Somehow

it seems to destroy us."

- William Carlos Williams

Of course the Chaos Emerald was locked away up there. Where else would it be? He should have guessed this. Every time he ever had to gather the Chaos Emeralds, it involved trudging through increasingly dangerous zones until he reached the end. It was only then, after fighting the most dangerous boss monster, he found the Emerald.

Sonic frowned. It was his own fault he hadn't thought of this before. If he had just stopped for a single second and considered, it would have saved a lot of time. They could have avoided stomping through the wilderness and gone straight to the top of the tower.

Although, maybe it was for the best. If they hadn't gotten lost in the wilderness, Sonic never would have had the opportunity to get to know Metal so well.

He felt Metal squeeze his hand, breaking him out of his thoughts. Metal was frantic. He kept cycling rapidly from the detector, to the tower, and back to Sonic.

Sonic squeezed his hand in return. "Don't you worry. I've defeated Eggman so many times I can't even remember them all, and Nega is no different. As long as I'm with my friends, the bad guys don't stand a chance."

Metal dropped the detector back into his crate. "That is my concern. You said, 'friends.' Plural. But there are no 'friends.' It is just you and me, damaged as we are."

"Ah, but there's your mistake You're not just my friend," Sonic said, stepping next to Metal and throwing his arm around his shoulder, "you're my best friend."

Metal was visibly stunned. "We are...not just friends, but best friends?"

"Of course! And there's no one I'd rather have by my side in this fight!"

Metal said nothing, but he did throw his arms around Sonic and pulled himself into an embrace. Sonic did likewise, resting his chin on Metal's shoulder.

As always, the familiar, welcome warmth of Metal's chassis cleared his head, allowing his own words to echo through his mind. Was Metal his best friend? What about Tails? Only one person was ever the best, so by definition, he could only have one best friend.

But, just as one person could be the best runner and the other the best swimmer, maybe he too could have two best friends if they belonged to different categories.

So what kind of friend was Tails? Tails always supported him, went on adventures with him, and had been by his side for years. Tails was like a brother to him, yet he was brilliant too. He could always count on Tails' strategy, inventions, and intelligence.

As for Metal, he was the friend who would hold his hand, who would keep him curled into his chest at night, whose scent he would inhale deeply. He could almost still feel how gentle Metal was when he had brushed through his quills, how smooth his hands were, how warm it was to place his cheek against his engine panel, how he wanted to—

His mouth went dry. This train of thought needed to stop, and it needed to stop now. He tried to think of anything else, but he couldn't. The thought was already rolling through his mind—the snowball that starts the avalanche.

Metal was a friend whose neck Sonic wanted to wrap his hands around, whose muzzle he would press his lips against. Then he would open his mouth and—

"Sonic? Is something wrong?"

Sonic heard Metal's voice, for Metal's voice was all he heard, just as Metal's chassis was all he felt, and Metal's scent was all he smelled.

Before Sonic even had time to react, Metal stepped up to him and placed his fingers on his neck. Sonic inhaled sharply. Metal kept doing this, and the more it happened, the more he wanted those fingers to trace through his fur, down his neck, and to his chest.

"Are you alright? You have suddenly turned red," Metal said.

Sonic grabbed Metal's hand. For a brief moment, he held it in his own, then slowly and deliberately, he dropped it.

"I'm fine. Just fine. Super fine. Finer than a fine arts museum."

Some people were meant to think, and some were not. Sonic was firmly in the "not" category. There was a reason he had never thought like this before, and it was a very good reason.

"But—" Metal reached for him again, but Sonic inched backward just enough for Metal to only grab air.

Run. Run away. He needed to run away. He could outrun anything.

Metal looked visibly upset. "Sonic? Did I do something wrong?"

"No. You're great. I'm great. Everything is great. Emerald's up there?" Sonic leaned his weight from one foot to the other, unable to hold still, and pointed at the glass outlook that crowned the building.

"Yes—"

Sonic threw his arms underneath Metal and pulling him to his chest. There it was—Metal's chassis rubbing into his fur. He winced. "Great. Let's go."

Before Metal could say anything, Sonic took off. He ran as fast as he could, ignoring the growing tightness in his chest and the shortness in his breath. He would outrun those too.

"What are you—" The clang of Sonic's robotic foot drowned out Metal's voice. Though the tower was mainly concrete, steel beam reinforced the corners. Sonic had ran at it and clicked his foot magnet as soon as his heel struck the beam. His foot held fast, and his speed pushed him forward just enough for his shoe to briefly grip a step above. He immediately clicked his magnet off and took another step, slamming it to the steel beam again.

Metal turned his head to watch the ground disappear as Sonic ran straight up the building. "You never cease to amaze me. I would not have thought to run up the building, yet this is the most direct route to the Emerald. But, I suppose I should have known. Your ability to defy my predictions is what I admire most about you."

He admires me. He admires me! Sonic thought. He bit his lip and tried to focus on the glass room above, but he had long lost control of what happened in his head, and Metal's words made his heart leap.

As he neared the top, Sonic pressed both feet against the tower and pushed himself upward. He twisted in the air, turned himself around, and slammed his robotic foot into the glass. The windows cracked, then shattered, and glass shards streamed all around like snowflakes in a blizzard. He flew forward, soaring into the room and sliding across the floor.

Sonic wasted no time. He sat Metal down as quickly as he could and stepped away. Luckily, he had a good excuse to act busy because his lungs seemed to have gone flat. He leaned his arms against the wall and wheezed.

"Quickly, we do not have much time," Metal said, stepping behind him and rummaging through the crate. He pulled out the green Emerald and offered it to Sonic. "Take this. We do not know what is in here, and you may need to use it at a moment's notice."

Sonic swallowed and tried to fight the sink hole collapsing in his chest. He held up his palm, and Metal dropped in the Emerald.

Of course, the room was dark. That was normal. What wasn't normal were walls and floor. They were made of stainless steel, similar to everywhere else in the maze, but they were perfectly spotless. Not even a scratch marred their surfaces, and despite the darkness, they were polished enough for Sonic's reflection to look back at him.

He looked horrible. It was probably for the best he hadn't seen himself lately because his quills were disheveled and the bags under his eyes were so dark they threatened to leak into the rest of his face. Even his robot leg, the one part of him that was normally flawless, had grime caught between the metal seams.

Metal had the detector out and was already pacing around the room. Metal was so proactive and so smart. But of course he was, Metal was wonderful in every way, including his beautiful—

Sonic bit his lip with enough force to cause pain and clenched his eyes shut.

"This is...not what I was expecting," Metal said, walking up behind him. He was close enough Sonic could almost feel the heat from his chassis. "The signal is diffuse, as if it is coming from a thousand points all around the room."

He placed the detector back in the crate. "We will need to physically the area."

"Great," Sonic squeaked. "I'll look over here. You look over there."

"But—"

"It's fine. We'll find the Emerald faster this way."

Metal didn't look convinced. "I suppose…"

"Great," Sonic said, already walking as far away from Metal as he could. "I'll tell you when I find it."

As he heard Metal's footsteps clanging away from him, Sonic exhaled the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. What had happened to him? As if the leg wasn't bad enough, now he desperately wanted to lift his evil robotic clone into his arms and let him press his muzzle to his cheek while running his claws through his quills. It was ridiculous! Outrageous! He was Sonic the Hedgehog, the hero who protected nature against Eggman's invasive industry.

He shouldn't be attracted to a robot.

Sonic groaned. He may as well look for the Emerald while he descended into insanity, so he began to trace the circumference of the room. It was circular with great windows stretching all around. Filing cabinets filled with neatly ordered papers stood next to conspicuously dustless mainframe computers. Large, bright screens filled the few patches of walls lacking windows.

He trudged up to one of the filing cabinets and jerked the drawer open. It rattled, slipping of its tracks and collapsing onto the drawer below it. Sonic tried to pull it further, but it was now stuck, and he only managed to tear the paper underneath.

He threw his hands over his head, swirled on his heels, prepared to scream, then stopped when he heard the shatter of glass.

It was Metal, standing on the other side of the room. A broken display case sat in front of him and shards of glass scattered around his feet. But that was hardly noteworthy, unlike what he held in his hand.

It was the green Emerald.

"Quickly, Nega has six of the seven Chaos Emeralds in this case. Despite the broken glass, I believe if we swap the fake Emerald for the real one, Nega may not—"

Metal's voice broke into radio static. He looked at Sonic, his eyes wide with panic, before the two ovals shattered into snowy noise like a broken television. Slowly, his fingers slackened, and the Emerald teetered perilously close to the edge of his palm. For a fraction of a second, Sonic thought it might stay, but the Emerald slipped off his hand and rolled across the floor.

"Mets? Metal? You alright? Hang on, I'm coming!" Sonic prepared to leap forward, but there was that voice, that awful, taunting voice, and it wasn't coming from the walls.

It was coming from Metal himself.

"Nuh-uh, I wouldn't do that if I were you. Not unless you never want to see your little Paperweight pal again. In fact, if I were you, I would hold oh-so perfectly still."

A deep, cold, dry sweat spread across Sonic's skin. "Metal—"

"He—" Metal's voice struggled to break through the static, though he still did not move. "He is in my head. I cannot think—"

Steam hissed from a single door standing behind Metal. The room filled with mist, and a wave of heat passed over Sonic. Through the mist, Sonic could only make out the silhouette of a tall, round figure.

"In your head? Don't be so dramatic. You are a robot. Nothing was ever in your head!"

For the first time, Sonic heard Nega's real voice. Without the radio static, it was haunting.

The steam finally cleared, and the full figure of Dr. Eggman Nega emerged. Though he looked similar to the ordinary Dr. Eggman, his gray mustache and yellow suit were unmistakably different.

He walked up to Metal, the heels of his boots clicking on the floor, and leaned his elbow over Metal's head. "Honestly, who doesn't encrypt his radio in this day and age? You're just asking for trouble. Think of who could get in! The government, teenagers hackers, corporate spies…"

Drumming Metal's head his fingers, he added, "Although, I am still proud of that fake Chaos Emerald signal. Getting the signature juuuust right is an art!"

Metal didn't move, though his head was still pointed toward Sonic. His frozen, broken gaze seemed a combination of pleading and panic.

Sonic tensed himself to sprint. "Let Metal go, right now!"

"I don't know whose head is emptier: Paperweight's or yours," Nega said, knocking on Metal's head with his knuckles. The impact jarred the snow on Metal's optical screen. "You're in no spot to make demands. This is a trap, you dimwit!"

Nega lifted his hand in the air, inspecting it. "I will admit, it was foolish of me to have let you parade around this long, but watching you and Paperweight bicker was just so entertaining. And yet…"

He pushed his glassed against his nose. "It's all fun and games until someone's expensive particle collider explodes."

Sonic clenched his fists. He didn't have time for Nega, for his games, for any of this, especially not if Metal was in danger. He shifted his weight to his heels, tensing his legs and preparing to jump.

Nega straightened his posture. All traces of his playful demeanor vanished, and in its place stood a cold, calculating cruelty. From his coat pocket, he pulled a simple remote control with a single, red button.

"Move one inch, hedgehog. I dare you," Nega growled. "Actually, why don't you tell him, Paperweight. It'll be better if he hears it from you."

Sonic stood up. "Metal?"

Metal stood motionlessly, the static on his screen matched by the static of his voice. After a brief pause, his voice coalesced, though he still sounded distant.

"A long time ago...after my failed attempt at taking control of his empire...Eggman...doubted my loyalty," Metal said, his voice cracking. "He took away my power...replaced my battery with primitive electricity...and...he—"

Nega pushed Metal's head down. "We don't need your life story, trash can! Get to the point!"

Metal's voice grew weaker. "He installed a kill switch...a bomb placed over my hard drive. If I disobeyed him again, he would…"

Nega drew his fingers across his own neck, as if he were slicing it open, and smacked his lips.

"So, the way I see it, rodent, you have two choices," Nega said. He reached aside and shoved a rolling office chair beneath him, coasting to a stop as he threw his legs over Metal's head and leaned backward. "The first: I press this button, activate the kill switch, and boom! Paperweight transforms into fireworks."

All the thoughts racing through Sonic's head vanished like the stars from the sky, leaving an awful, painful vacuum in his head that was just as terrible.

He choked. "...and the what's second choice?"

"Why, I am so glad you asked!" Nega snapped his fingers. A single light flashed from above, illuminating a small circle etched on the floor. Two, thin matte black rectangles the size of mailboxes stood on either side.

"The second choice is you set that Emerald on the floor and step forward into this circle, nice and slooooow."

Sonic clutched his chest. The sink hole was still there, and it was collapsing from inside of him. His heart stammered, his lungs screamed, and no matter how he panted, he couldn't catch his breath.

He gritted his teeth. He couldn't focus on that, not with Metal buckling under the weight of Nega's heels, his face filled with nothing but static. Metal needed him.

So he brushed the pain aside and considered his options. He had his speed and the fake Emerald. What if he sped toward Metal, scooped him up, and teleported away?

But, even with his speed, all Nega had to do was hit the button once, which he would certainly do if he saw Sonic move. It would take him less than a fraction of a second, and Metal would be doomed.

Or, maybe he could attack Nega directly, knocking the remote out of his hand before he could do anything, then save Metal.

Could he do it? Would he be fast enough to save Metal?

He was Sonic the Hedgehog, of course he would be fast enough to save Metal. He dug his heels into the floor, his robotic foot scraping, and launched himself into the air. A single spin dash should be enough. He tucked his head into his chest, curled himself into a ball, then choked.

The room twisted in vertigo. He tried to breath, but he was spinning so fast now, and his heart was spinning too. It went around and around in his chest, faster and faster, until it was going faster than he was.

And then, it stopped.

Sonic clutched his chest. He tried to breath, but his lungs had stopped with his heart. His spin broken, and he tumbled to the floor, skidding forward until his forehead tapped Nega's heel.

Dark spots multiplied on the edges of his vision, and his body went limp. He lost his grip on the fake Emerald, and it rolled out of his hand.

"No…" Sonic whimpered. He tried to move. He wanted to move. He wanted to do anything.

"Ooh, look at that. Cardiac arrest," Nega said, tapping the tip of his foot on Sonic's head. "I suppose we'd better make this quick then."

Nega leaned down and picked Sonic up by the cable wrapped around his chest. Sonic hung limply as he walked, his chest already so tight the strain could make it no worse.

Nega threw him to the ground inside the circle. He hit the ground hard, hard enough that he gasped, and that was enough to squeeze in another breath. He rolled over, gasping for air, just as a solid, glass tube shot up from the floor to the ceiling all around him.

Looking distastefully at his hand, Nega wiped it on his pants and said, "No need to look so glum! At least you'll live long enough to see the fruits of your decision."

Though the edges of Sonic's vision were dark, Nega held the remote up so Sonic could see it with perfect clarity, then flourished his hand in the air and slammed the button down with his fist.

A/N: I drew a scene from the last chapter! Remove {} from the link to see it: fav{.}me/damntbq