Chapter 20: Talk

Sonic's feet crunched through fallen twigs as he moved into a more lush part of land, on the side of the lake opposite to where Eggman's lair was. From that distance, the building was barely a white spec on the horizon, and the rough, ragged, rocky terrain had given way to lush grassland and clumps of trees. And, just as he had expected he would, Sonic found his robotic duplicate sitting in the grass near the water's edge, in the middle of one such cluster of trees.

"Yeah, I thought you'd come out here," he said, putting his hands behind his head and strolling over the last few steps towards Metal. "I knew you'd come here because this side of the lake is the limit of where Eggman's radar works. You were never allowed any further than this before. But you came here a lot, because this was the furthest you could get from him, and also over here, it doesn't look so much like that whole area around his lair, so, over here, you kinda feel like you're free of him."

Metal turned his head fractionally, red eyes lifting to look up at Sonic. Sonic grinned down at him.

"See, I know you so well, I even know that, right from day one, you've always wanted a bit of freedom from old Egghead," Sonic continued.

Metal turned his head forward again, looking out across the water.

"What's the matter, Metal?" Sonic asked him. "Usually you'd be looking for a fight by now."

Metal did nothing, remaining in the same position, sitting with his left arm wrapped around his knees and his right arm hanging limply at his other side.

"But maybe you're not fighting me because you like me too much," Sonic said with a smirk. "I mean, obviously you do, since you went to such a great effort to save me from drowning, and all."

Sonic heard Metal sigh, but otherwise he got no response from him.

"Or you did all that because you wanna be a hero all of a sudden," Sonic suggested with a shrug. "Maybe winning that crown wasn't enough for you. You want the medal now, too. Is that it? Did you do it for the glory? Or just because you like me so much you didn't want to see me drown? Or was it both?"

Still Metal said nothing, his eyes looking out across the water. Sonic waited a little until he was sure that Metal wouldn't answer him before trying a different tactic.

"So I noticed you broke your arm," he commented. "You should probably come back with me, see a doctor about that."

Metal turned his head slightly away from Sonic, angling it down as he moved his limp arm. Sonic took a step closer and leaned over, noticing then that Metal's right hand was burst open, the back panel hanging off, and two of his fingers from that hand were missing entirely: but, more interesting than his clearly injured arm or broken hand was the soggy piece of purple card sitting at his side.

"What is that?" Sonic asked, pointing a finger at it.

Metal turned his head forwards, looking out across the water, ignoring Sonic's question. Sonic shrugged and darted around Metal's back and snatched up the soggy bit of card.

"What is this?" he asked, letting it dangle between his thumb and forefinger. "It looks like one of Amy's stupid tarot cards, only it's all beat-up and old!"

"Give that back."

Sonic turned the card over, noticing then that there were blotted marks from one of those pink marker pens Amy had loved so much when he first met her.

"Gees, did Amy give this to you?" he asked.

"Give it back."

Sonic shook the card, which wiggled, as it was wet and limp.

"How long have you had this?" he asked.

"I said give it back!"

Sonic grunted out a noise of surprise as a metallic hand grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around.

"Give it back, you loathsome fool!"

Sonic grunted as Metal shoved the heels of his metal palms into the still tender part of his chest. He staggered back a step, but Metal stepped up to him again.

"It's one thing, Sonic, it's one tiny, little thing! You have everything: you have your medals, your fans, your friends, Miles idolises you and Amy is in love with. Are you really so selfish that you can't let me have just this one, tiny, little thing?"

Sonic grunted as Metal shoved him again, again staggering back. Before he could even catch his breath, Metal shoved him again and again, only stopping when Sonic's back hit a tree.

"I didn't save your pathetic life because I like you, Sonic! I don't like you, I despise you! And I don't care about being a "hero" and getting medals and my photo taken with the stupid mayor! You already know why I pulled you out of the water, stop playing ignorant!"

Sonic tensed as Metal, his eyes glowing brightly, slammed the fist of his unbroken hand into the tree next to the one Sonic was pressed against. His fist sunk into the bark and the tree started to tip over towards him, but he caught it effortlessly and turned and threw it out into the lake. He then turned back, eyes ablaze and chest heaving, to glare at Sonic.

"That was a bit an over-reaction, don't you think?" Sonic asked him with a small smirk.

"Shut-up and give me back what's mine!"

Metal grabbed his good hand around Sonic's wrist, his grip painful and very almost unbearable.

"Drop it, or I'll crush your wrist."

"Fine!"

Sonic opened his fingers and Metal immediately released him, awkwardly catching the soggy old tarot card before it fell to the ground. The glow from his eyes vanished and his face switched from one of pure rage to one of childlike concern as he eyed it over. He turned away from Sonic, looking out across the water again, and carefully laid the card out over the palm of his broken hand. Sonic stepped away from the tree, sauntering over to Metal. He put an arm around Metal's shoulders, and, when shining red eyes fixed onto him, he met them with a smile.

"I just got two questions for you, buddy," Sonic said to him. "First of all, how long have you been able to talk?"

The glow faded from Metal's eyes instantly.

"And secondly, just how long have you been in love with Amy?"

Metal's face fell.

"I mean, you've had that stupid tarot card a pretty long time," Sonic pointed out. "And I'm not stupid, I see the way you look at her, the way you're trying to behave yourself around her."

"You're an idiot and you don't know what you're talking about," Metal answered him.

"Is she the reason you've been pretending you can't talk this whole time?" Sonic asked.

Metal looked at him for a long moment, before narrowing his eyes.

"Get your hands off of me and I might answer you," he growled.

Sonic lifted his arm off of Metal's shoulders and held up his hands.

"The old man thought this was what I wanted," Metal said quietly. "He took me unawares. I came here to rescue Cream, but he caught me off-guard. When I woke up, I could talk because of this."

Metal lifted his chin and Sonic screwed up his face.

"Whoa, your neck is bald!" he said.

Metal frowned.

"You can't feel that?" Sonic asked him, rubbing a finger against the area on his own neck where Metal was shaved bald. "You've got a scar there too."

"Idiot, I can't feel anything with these, can I?" Metal tightly replied, holding up his good hand.

"Oh, right, I forgot about that..." Sonic mused.

Metal sighed and turned to look out across the water again.

"So that's it?" Sonic asked. "Eggman gives you a voice and you're not gonna use it?"

"Not everyone needs to talk the entire time like you do," Metal coldly replied.

"Okay, well, if you're not gonna talk to me any more, then when I go home, I'm gonna tell everyone you saved me because you love me."

Metal shifted his eyes to glare at Sonic from the corner of his eye.

"Amy said she thought you'd gone back to Eggman," Sonic added.

"I did," Metal replied.

Sonic paused.

"When I woke up and he told me he'd given me a voice, he said he did it because he thought it was what I wanted," Metal explained. "He thought it would make me stay with him."

"But it wasn't what you wanted?" Sonic asked.

Metal shook his head.

"You didn't want to be able to talk?" Sonic asked.

Metal shook his head again.

"I don't care about it," he said. "It wasn't the thing I wanted from him. I know he had the plans to give me hands, hands that can feel, hands that can touch without causing pain. He showed me the plans and I went with him because I thought I could get what I wanted."

"So what happened?" Sonic asked.

Metal turned to him with a bitter look on his face.

"Up in the air, I saw you drowning," he said. "And I heard Amy crying for you. I don't like it when she cries. She doesn't deserve to ever be that sad. And she's in love with you, and if you'd drowned, she would have been sad for the rest of her life. I didn't save you because I care about you or what anyone thinks of me. I did it so Amy wouldn't be sad."

"You could have let me drown, you know," Sonic said with a shrug.

"Yes, I could have," Metal answered, with a plainness that made even Sonic shudder.

"You could have gone with Eggman, got your hands, and with me out of the way, you could have had Amy all to yourself, right?"

"Idiot, it isn't like that. Do you really not see how much she loves you? She always has her eyes on you. During the gala, she was always looking at you or looking for you. The very first thing she ever said to me was about how she believes she'll marry you one day. When I saved your life, didn't you see how she fell all over you? She didn't see anything or anyone else but you. She never has. And you don't even appreciate it. She gives her whole heart to you, and you just make stupid jokes and push her away. I never hated that the old man made me like you. I hated that I was never enough like you for her."

Sonic slowly nodded his head.

"Gees, Metal, you've really got it bad," he said in a low voice. "I mean, I thought that maybe you got that biological body, hit puberty and started feeling things, but I never expected this! You sound like something out of one of Amy's dumb romance movies or books or something she thought she saw in her stupid tarot cards."

"Amy's tarot cards aren't stupid, you are!"

Sonic frowned.

"You're not seriously telling me you believe in that stuff?" he asked. "Surely you – a robot – knows how illogical it all is?"

Metal looked down at the wilted card resting on his upturned palm.

"It's important to Amy," he said. "So it's important to me."

"Wow, that's weak," Sonic scoffed.

Metal fixed his eyes onto him, but said nothing.

"Kinda pathetic, actually," Sonic added.

Metal clenched his good hand into a fist and his eyes started to glow again.

"Go ahead and hit me," Sonic casually told him. "If it'll make you feel better, if it'll get us out of here quicker, go ahead and do it."

"I can't," Metal replied.

"Why not?" Sonic asked. "Because you do like me?"

"No, because I haven't thought of a way I can hit you yet."

"What?"

"I'm calculating a way I can inflict the maximum pain and damage without leaving any mark of my attack."

"That's more like the Metal I know!"

"Got it."

"Huh?"

Sonic frowned as Metal raised his good hand, hooking the tip of his middle finger under the tip of his thumb. He then moved it over to just under Sonic's nose. Sonic smiled in amusement, but when Metal released his middle finger and it snapped up against the underside of his nose, he saw stars as a jolt of pain shot through his nose and up into his head.

"Ah!" he cried, cupping both hands over his nose. "Gees, it would have hurt less if you'd just kicked me in the – ah!"

He blinked away the blurriness from his eyes and found Metal watching him with an incredibly self-satisfied grin.

"Do you feel better now?" Sonic asked him.

"A little," he replied.

"Alright, can we go home now?"

Metal tilted his head and his grin gave way to a look of curiosity.

"Look, if you really don't want Amy to cry, you're gonna have to come back with me," Sonic tried. "I promised her I'd bring you back with me. She'll cry if I go back without you."

Metal looked out across the water again, but said nothing.

"She's was really upset that she shouted at you," Sonic added. "After you saved me. When she realised you were just trying to help me, she got upset and she wanted to apologise to you. I made her go home, but she's waiting for you there."

"I wasn't trying to help you, I was trying to help her," Metal corrected him.

"Look, dude, the thing about me and Amy is…"

Sonic drifted off as he tried to think of the best way to explain himself. When he realised that Metal was watching him intently, he sighed.

"Look, just come back with me, okay?" he said. "I'm not good with this sort of stuff. If you're in love with Amy, that's your deal, and you need to talk to Amy about it. Don't drag me into it."

"She is in love with you," Metal plainly replied. "You are a part of everything she does. Don't you see that?"

Sonic groaned.

"Come back with me," he said, pointing his hands at Metal. "I'll take you to Tails, he'll fix up your broken hand and maybe take you to a doctor about your arm, and I'll talk to Amy. I'll… Just let me talk to her. Then you can talk to her and whatever happens next is up to you, okay?"

Metal looked out across the water again.

"Amy needs you back for that stupid fairy garden thing," Sonic said suddenly, as the idea occurred to him. "She can't do it without you!"

"I don't even know what a "fairy garden" is," Metal grumbled.

"Dude, neither do I," Sonic admitted. "But Amy does. She'll tell you what you need to do, you'll do it, and she'll think you're amazing. And… I'll keep Rouge out the way so you can get that kiss you never got at the gala, huh?"

Metal turned his head to look at Sonic again.

"I'll race you back there?" Sonic tried.

Metal smiled, but, even with his inability to accurately express his emotions through his facial expressions, Sonic already knew it wasn't a happy smile.

"This is one race you will lose, Sonic," Metal said.

"Oh yeah?" Sonic retaliated. "You've never been faster than me, not even when you had a jet engine in your chest, what makes you think you can beat me on those legs, you – ah!"

Sonic doubled over as his vision once more blurred from Metal flicking his nose. He blinked it away and forced himself to focus, finding Metal still standing in front of him.

"That was you chance to get a head start, you know," he said in a strained voice.

He pulled his hand away from his face, his eyes widening when he saw a red smear on his glove.

"I think you broke my nose, Metal," he said.

"Pathetic," Metal smoothly replied.

"Oh yeah?" Sonic said, lifting his eyes to Metal's. "Let's see how you like it!"

Sonic flicked his middle finger against the underside of Metal's nose the same way he had done, but, when Metal merely blinked in response, he wilted.

"Well," Metal said, his expression going flat. "That was mildly irritating."

"What is your nose made of that that doesn't hurt you?" Sonic demanded.

"It's not my nose that makes me immune," Metal replied.

"Huh?"

"It's my metal fingers that make you weak."

Sonic yelped as Metal flicked his nose a third time.

"Stop doing that!" he snarled.

Once he had blinked away the blurriness, he saw Metal was already almost out of sight, running back in the direction of Amy's house.

"I'll still get there before you!" Sonic shouted, starting after him.

"I'm really a little too big to do this any more you know, Amy."

Amy ignored Cream's very polite protest and squeezed her harder. Technically, she was right, she was bigger than she used to be, and the rear seat of the Tornado really wasn't big enough to accommodate her sitting on Amy's knee any more, but she needed the hug, and so she held onto her friend tightly. The flight home was mercifully short, which Amy attributed both to Tails flying faster than usual and the fact that, really, she didn't want to go home without knowing what had happened to Metal. As Tails closed his plane into the hanger it was stored at, Amy, Knuckles and Cream hurried back to Amy's house. The taxi that had been carrying Vanilla and Vector had gone, but Amy knew they would be inside her house as she left a spare set of keys with Vanilla at all times. She opened her front door and Vanilla and Vector hurried into the hallway to greet them, both grabbing Cream into a hug. Amy skirted past them as they asked Knuckles if everyone was okay. She left them all talking and went to the kitchen, where she started making tea and began rummaging for any snacks Metal hadn't already consumed. When she eventually pieced together a tray with a pot of tea, a bowl of sugar, four cups, a muffin, a Kit-Kit bar and four chocolate chip cookies, she brought it into the living room, placing it down onto the low table in the middle of the room. Vanilla and Vector were sitting on the couch with Cream in between them and Knuckles was crouching on the ground, hunched over something outwith Amy's line of sight.

"Oh hey Amy," he said, as he noticed her beside him. "Look at this. Weird, huh?"

He turned a little and Amy realised he was crouching by the little round table by her couch that was filled with framed photos of her friends. It looked as though they were all present as usual, but when she noticed the largest frame in Knuckles's hand, she realised that the centre photo, the one of her and Sonic, had fallen to the floor.

"It's broken," Knuckles said, turning it over to show that the glass over the photo had cracked, and a shard was missing.

Amy stared at it for a long moment as she realised the sound of breaking glass she had heard before leaving for the gala must have been the photo hitting the floor and breaking. She then also remembered that, on at least two previous occasions, she had found the photo removed or turned over, and it could only have been Metal who did it.

"You okay, Amy?" Knuckles asked her.

She nodded numbly, but was glad when she heard someone bursting through her front door. She had hoped it was Sonic or Metal – or, better still, both of them – but she was oddly still quite happy to see Rouge.

"Honey, are you okay?" Rouge asked, taking a hold of her arms.

"We had a little incident," Amy answered.

"Eggman took Cream," Knuckles explained, standing up behind Rouge.

"Why didn't you call me?" Rouge asked Amy.

"It looks like you were still out partying," Knuckles commented.

"Club Rouge is an exclusive venue that offers adult entertainment after most clubs have closed and before any restaurants open," Rouge smoothly told him.

"You sound just like the advert on TV," Knuckles mused.

"I voice the advert on TV," Rouge returned. "And you don't own a TV."

Knuckles pouted at her, but she turned her attention back to Amy.

"Turn around," she said.

Amy numbly did as she asked, tensing a little as she felt Rouge zipping up her dress: in the chaos of everything that had happened, she had forgotten that she had unzipped it when she had planned to jump into the lake. Rouge then took hold of her shoulders and turned her back around.

"You don't look so good," she said.

"Oh, right," Amy muttered. "I think I'm cold enough now."

She unrolled the long glove down her left arm and slipped it off, the ring Rouge had put on her finger earlier coming off with it. She passed it to Rouge and removed the other glove, passing that to her too. To her surprise, Rouge blindly put the gloves and ring down onto the arm of the couch, her eyes never leaving Amy's face.

"What happened last night?" she asked.

"Eggman took Cream, like Knuckles said," Amy repeated, waving a hand at Knuckles. "And he said he wouldn't let her go unless we gave him Metal."

Rouge's eyebrows shot up.

"And you gave him Metal?" she asked. "Why didn't you call me? Shadow could have used Chaos Control to get in there and save Cream and I could stomped all over Eggman's face with my new boots."

"I didn't think and we didn't really have time," Amy said. "He said he would…"

Amy's voice trailed off as she looked over at Cream.

"We should go," Vanilla said, standing up. "Thank you again, Amy, Knuckles. Both of you should get some rest."

"Goodnight, Amy," Cream said. "Or… Good morning?"

"Come on, sweetie," Vanilla said to her, ushering her out.

"You guys did great, take it easy, you've earned a rest," Vector said to Amy and Knuckles.

Amy nodded and waved to him.

"I took a taxi here, you can use it to get home, if you like," Rouge offered them.

"Won't you need it?" Knuckles pointed out.

"No, but you should definitely take it to… Wherever it is you call home," Rouge tritely replied.

He turned to Amy and she nodded.

"Okay, but let me know when Sonic gets back," he said, before passing the broken framed photo to Rouge.

She accepted it and watched him leave before turning her attention back to Amy.

"Now sweetie, if I put you in the shower will you clean yourself up or will you just sit on the floor and cry?" she asked.

Amy swallowed carefully.

"It really bothers me that you know me so well," she admitted.

"Okay, well, I'm gonna put you in there, and if you're not out in 10 minutes, I'll come in and wash you myself, okay?"

Amy hesitated before nodding and allowing Rouge to guide her to her bathroom. Knowing that Rouge would keep her promise – and probably not even wait a full 10 minutes before coming in – she showered quickly. She wrapped a towel around her head and one around her body the instant before Rouge picked the lock on the bathroom door and opened it out wide.

"Doesn't that feel better?" Rouge asked her.

"I don't know," Amy numbly replied.

"Let's get you dried off, then you should go to bed and get some rest," Rouge advised.

"And what are you going to do?" Amy asked.

"I'm going to find Sonic and Metal and bring them back," Rouge replied.

Amy turned to look her in the eye, momentarily amazed by the offer: but, the longer she looked at the unnaturally calm and confident look on Rouge's face, the more she started to realise the offer was not literal.

"You're going to send Shadow to find them," Amy concluded.

"I was going to send Omega, since he's usually best at breaking into any of Eggman's little lairs, but now that you mention it, Shadow might be a better option," Rouge replied.

Amy nodded.

"Instead of that, since I do believe Sonic will be safe, can you do something else for me?" she asked.

"Sure, honey, what is it?"

"After you take that ring back, can you stay with me until Sonic gets back?"

Rouge smiled and put an arm around Amy's shoulders.

"Forget the ring," she said gently.

"Really?"

Rouge nodded. Amy then hauled the blanket off the couch and moved into her bedroom. She changed into her pyjamas and then balled the blanket up with the blanket on her own bed. She then curled herself around the bundle and closed her eyes, sure that she was too worried to sleep, but determined to try, as it would pass the time quicker until Sonic returned.

Next Chapter: Sonic and Metal return to Tails, who is surprised to learn Metal can talk: but he quickly advises Metal that he needs to learn to be tactful now that he can talk, since he's often just a little too blunt. Sonic opens up to Amy and tells him something she never knew about him before, and then Sonic takes her to be reunited with Metal. Both Sonic and Tails are a little disappointed with how Metal handles the reunion. Chapter 21: Build