Chapter One

He was frozen in place, unsure whether he should approach the crumpled robot or continue running. If they had just been fighting, it would be different. Eggman would always come along eventually and salvage what was left to rebuild him to fight another day. That's how it always worked. But not this time. He was not gone. He was still there, lying in his own oil. If he were living, it truly would be a gruesome image.

But to Sonic, it still was anyway.

Yes, they fought. Yes, he always won. Yes, Metal always ended up in a heap of scrap. But to see him still here after a week… it wasn't right. Though no one else realised it, he could think. He could feel angry, he could feel annoyed, he could feel proud – Sonic hoped, and believed, he could even feel happy.

And right now… he was distraught.

Sonic wasn't sure how, but he could feel it. He always could. It felt like Metal's thoughts were in his head. He could communicate with his metal counterpart just as well as he could with his friends. It felt no different to him.

He remembered one of the first times they'd fought. Metal had claimed to be the real Sonic, to which Sonic had laughed. How could the "real" Sonic be Metal when he himself was standing right there? However, his laughter had deeply confused his brother.

Another time, Sonic recalled getting frustrated and responding to a snarky comment Metal had made after he'd gained the upper hand. Knuckles had shot him a funny look. It became apparent to Sonic since then that no one else could hear his robotic doppelganger. He had always just assumed that Metal was speaking out loud, like Omega did. But Metal was… different. Unique in a different way than Omega in that his thoughts appeared more mobian to Sonic. He spoke in a way that suggested that he was not mobian, yet it still had… character to it. Emotion. Not the flat, monotone voice of Omega, but a mildly sarcastic, mocking voice that appeared to have tonal shifts, like a real person.

Sometimes, Sonic wondered if it was his own mind that added the more mobian-like qualities to Metal's thoughts or "voice." Sometimes he wondered if his mind had made up a voice for his silent counterpart altogether just so he wouldn't go crazy fighting him. Maybe, in doing so, he made himself crazy anyway…

The blue hedgehog shook his head to bring himself back to reality. Metal. He had to go over there. He didn't think he could live with himself if he didn't.

"… Metal?" He started, unsure of how to go about this.

What if Metal was no longer online? He'd be talking to himself! Well, to anyone else, it would look like that either way but that wasn't the point. He carefully took a few steps closer, his muscles tense just in case Metal turned to swipe at him. Those fingers were kind of sharp.

He froze as Metal's head turned to look at him. His eyes were glowing a deep crimson colour. It always looked to Sonic like he was glaring at him, but that was just how Eggman made him. The metal surface of his body was not as shiny as it had been at the start of their fight a week ago. Now it was all scratched up and dull, covered in mud and grass stains and dents. Sonic immediately felt bad. He did this.

He expected to feel Metal's mood shift to fury when he spotted him, but it remained the same gloom as it had been before he announced his presence. If anything, it got worse. That made Sonic feel worse.

"Hey, buddy…" He brought up his hands in a calming motion and changed his stance, trying to show Metal that he wasn't here to finish him off, "I want to help, ok?"

The familiar feeling of thoughts that were not his own rushed through his mind.

"He didn't come back for you, did he?" He didn't need a response from the way Metal's anger flared up at that, "Why not?"

Metal stared back at him. While his expression was obviously unchanging, Sonic could just feel the misery radiating off him. The distinct words "I failed" flashed through his mind and he suddenly understood. Eggman wasn't coming to fix him because he was done with Metal. He'd failed at stopping him so many times that Eggman no longer viewed him as an asset. It seemed the old doctor had finally realised that Metal wasn't going to be able to take down his nemesis, so he discarded him. Left him here in the forest to fade away and rust.

Sonic couldn't help but be influenced by the wave of despair that travelled through his mind from Metal's thoughts. He kneeled down to hug the mangled mess. In his head, he heard a sound of protest, but Metal made no move to dislodge the hero.

"I'm so sorry, Metal. We'll fix you up. I promise."

"No way are you bringing that thing in here!"

"Why not?" Sonic hissed back at the echidna.

"Why not?" He huffed in disbelief, "Why not?!"

Tails stepped between the two arguing friends, afraid that their yelling would turn into a fistfight at any moment, "Knuckles! Calm down!"

Knuckles shot a withering look at the young fox who shrank back a little, "That thing tried to kill us. Many times! And you want to just drag that murderous machine in here? Where we live?"

Sonic folded his ears back. Why did he insist on being difficult? Why did he keep referring to Metal as "thing?" He deserved to be treated with as much respect as the rest of them. He thought, he felt. In those basic ways, how was he really any different?

"He." Sonic growled quietly.

"What?"

"He." He said louder, "Stop calling him a thing."

The red furred echidna ran a hand down his face in frustration, "Sonic, it's a fucking machine for Chaos' sake!"

Sonic's grip on Metal grew a little tighter imperceptibly. Metal had shut down not too long after he'd picked him up, so he didn't react, but Sonic felt offended on Metal's behalf. Yes, he was a machine, but so was Omega. So was Gamma. So was Gemerl. So were Orbot and Cubot. They all thought. They were all sentient. They all had personalities. How was Metal any different?!

"Look, I thought that maybe Tails could fix him up and-"

"And what?" Knuckles interrupted, "Then he can march on back to Eggman? Then he can kill us while we sleep? While our guards are down?"

"No!" The young hero snapped, "Just shut up and listen to me!"

"I'm not gonna stand here listening to you act like a crazy person, Sonic! That thing is dangerous and unpredictable. If we keep it here, either Eggman will come and attack us to get it back or it will attack us itself. Think." Gradually, Knuckles' voice lowed until he was no longer shouting but calmly attempting to defuse the situation before it got out of hand.

Sonic was thinking, he'd been thinking for a while now. He'd been thinking since he approached his metal counterpart earlier in the same day. All that had been on his mind was Metal and the thought of him lying there, alone, hurt… But he did see Knuckles' point. Of course he did, but Knuckles didn't understand. He didn't know Metal like he did, he couldn't feel his pain.

He dropped his gaze, clutching Metal closer, "Please."

He knew Knuckles hated that because Tails was going to say yes. He didn't beg for things often; in fact, he never did. That would prove to his hot-headed friend that Sonic was serious, that he wasn't going to back down. It would also prove to Tails that his brother needed this. He heard Knuckles huff and stomp away, muttering something along the lines of "crazy hedgehog" and "don't cry to me when I'm right."

He looked up at Tails hopefully. Tails was eyeing Metal as if he thought he'd jump to life and attack him, but he had a small smile on his face.

"If you want me to, I'll fix him." He replied to Sonic's implied question, "I can see if I can change his programming too. You know, so he doesn't… attack us like Knuckles said?"

"No."

"Huh?" Tails looked at his brother, confusion taking over the slight smile on his face.

"I don't want you to change anything about him." He mumbled, "I just want you to fix him."

Though Tails still looked utterly confused, he nodded, "Ok, I won't."

The yellow fox held out his arms for Metal and, though it seemed silly, Sonic almost didn't want to let go of him. He felt oddly protective over the robotic version of himself. He forced himself to loosen his grip and carefully handed over Metal. As Tails walked away to the garage to work on Metal, Sonic caught a glimpse of Knuckles in the front room, shaking his head in disapproval.

'Too bad.' He thought, 'It's already decided.'

He turned to the still open front door and stepped outside. Might as well finish that run.

Sonic felt sick as he raced back to the house. What if Knuckles had convinced Tails to destroy what was left of Metal? What if Tails did change Metal's programming? If so, would that change his personality? What if, what if, what if? That's all that had been clawing at his brain since he left.

He had purged the thoughts briefly. He'd been gone all day, bugging Shadow to race with him. The stubborn dark hedgehog had refused, like always, so Sonic had followed him for hours until he agreed, albeit reluctantly. After Sonic had won, the thoughts started creeping back. He was thinking about how fun it would be if Metal joined their side. He could have races all the time with his metal counterpart. They could bicker in that fun way he did with Shadow. Though, he didn't think Shadow found it quite as amusing as he did. They could even just hang out and talk.

He wondered what it would be like to just sit and talk with Metal, without having to be in the heat of battle. He never got that with Shadow…

Then it hit him. Metal. What if something happened to him before Sonic had the chance to find out if he'd stick with them? Metal wouldn't have the chance to decide. Of course, Sonic wouldn't force him. Hence why he didn't want Tails messing with his programming. He wanted Metal to make his own decisions. Without the influence of Eggman, or himself. After what Eggman had done, Sonic was leaning more towards the possibility of Metal joining their side, or at least not going back to his creator.

He slowed to a stop just before he collided with the wall of the house. He let out a deep breath. Maybe everything was fine. There was no need to panic over nothing, after all.

He opened the door calmly, as if he hadn't just been freaking out outside, and walked into the house. Ignoring Knuckles on the settee, he walked through the kitchen and to the garage door. The garage had been converted into Tails' workshop not long after they had built the house together. He already spent enough time in there already fixing up and improving the Tornado that it just seemed right. The only thing Sonic hated about the place was that it was a mess. But he let it slide, mostly because he didn't go in there that often. It was Tails' space, so Sonic supposed he could keep it how he wanted. At least he seemed to always find what he needed in the chaos of the garage, that must count for something.

Still, he didn't like it. When he stepped into the garage, which today in particular looked like an atomic bomb went off inside, his ears twitched in annoyance but he tried to ignore it.

'Metal. Focus on Metal, not Tails' infuriating living habits.'

"Hey, buddy!" He called, rushing over to ruffle the fur on younger one's head.

Tails giggled, pushing Sonic's hand away and fixing his fur. He sent his brother a playful glare before turning to look back at the arm of Metal. A part of the plating had been removed so that Tails could easily work on the joint of the arm and some of the wires were sticking out. Sonic thought that they looked like veins.

"Hey, Sonic. Do anything interesting today?" Tails asked, picking up a screwdriver to put back together the part of the arm he had been working on.

"Not particularly." The hedgehog replied, more focused on Metal, "How's Metal coming along?"

Tails turned to face him, "I'm still working on him. It may take me a few more minutes, an hour at the most, to be done. Mostly his motor functions were damaged, and he needs a new battery. I'll have to go get some metal tomorrow to replace his scratched plating though…" He paused, looking as though he wanted to say something else, but seemingly unable to bring himself to do so.

Sonic furrowed his brow in concern, "What's up?"

He sighed, "Sonic… Why do you want Metal to be fixed?"

"Hmm?" Sonic tilted his head to the side.

"I mean… Knuckles is right. His hardware is pretty advanced. And, yes, it is amazing that Eggman was able to design a robot that could keep up with you, match you in combat even. But…" He paused again, trying to find the right phrasing that wouldn't make Sonic snap at him, like he snapped at Knuckles earlier, "But… he's also just a robot. Not only that, he's a robot created by our enemy. You fight him all the time. Why would you want me to fix him up so he can attack us again?"

"He won't." Sonic replied, his tone implying that asking the question had been ridiculous.

"How can you be sure?" Tails asked softly.

"He just won't, ok? I know he won't." Sonic folded his arms.

"You can't know that, Sonic. At least let me change his programming a bit so that he's… friendlier. That way, I can guarantee that he won't attack us, and Knuckles will get off your back about it." His yellow-furred brother suggested.

Sonic shook his head. No. If he messed with his programming, he might mess with Metal. Sonic knew he could think for himself. He wouldn't attack them because Sonic promised they'd fix him. He promised that Metal could continue having a purpose, that he wouldn't be thrown to the side and forgotten about. How could Metal possibly turn around and fight them for helping?

"You just have to believe me, ok?" He placed a hand on the fox's shoulder, "Please, I know what I'm doing. Just get him back to 100% and if something happens, I'll handle it."

Tails' baby blue eyes searched his own emerald ones for a moment then he sighed, "Ok… Ok, I trust you."

"This is stupid."

Sonic spun around glare at Knuckles who appeared in the doorway of the garage, his quills bristling. Was really he still trying this? Why couldn't he let it go?

Knuckles returned the glare with one of his own before turning to Tails, "I thought at least you, Tails, would have some sense. Metal's obviously going to attack us the second it's back online."

"Sonic seems so sure though… his gut feeling is never usually wrong, Knuckles." He flashed Sonic a reassuring smile, "I believe him."

"How about a vote then?" Knuckles asked suddenly.

Sonic froze. Why did he sound so confident all of a sudden? Just what was his game? Certainly, he knew he was already beat.

"We just did, no? You said you didn't want him here, Tails and I said we do. He stays, end of." Sonic punctuated his point by putting his hands of his hips.

"I meant with everyone."

The young hero's ears pinned back, and he dropped his arms to his sides. How many of his friends would side with him on this…? Tails did because they were brothers. They had each other's back. But the others didn't have the same kind of obligation. They'd all been attacked by Metal. Despite the sympathetic look of encouragement Tails sent him, he couldn't stop his stomach from doing flips. He felt even more sick than he did on his way back to the house. Metal could change; he knew in his heart that it was true. His friends might not see it that way, though. All they saw was a machine. It wasn't his fault he couldn't express himself verbally. Metal deserved a second chance.

This wasn't fair.

Sorry, been away for a while, I know. Not dead, I've just been busy with assessments in school and quite honestly I've been really lazy recently. Don't know what's wrong with me but I'm going to be trying to get some stuff posted a little more regularly, but no real schedule can be promised... yet. I'm trying.

I also know that I should really be updating the stuff I already have on here instead of adding more, and I know it's probably frustrating to some if not all of you but my brain just doesn't work like that unfortunately. I have trouble focusing on one story for too long. I will still, of course, be updating things eventually, and I always eventually do go back to older stories, it just takes me some time to find the motivation, so forgive all the new stuff. Sometimes I just need to step away from a story for a while and get focused again, but because I clearly procrastinate more than I work, it takes a really long time. But, hey, I'm finishing school in a few weeks (cry) so maybe I can try and focus on updating for a few months before University (if I even get in, double cry)?

Your comments make my day and help in the motivation department, like, a lot, so I'd appreciate any feedback you have! Hope you enjoyed, let me know if you did, and I'll see you all next time!

~Fortune