It seemed fitting to scout out someplace he had never visited. Although he was skirting close to the home bases of his enemies, a glimpse of stark white columnar architecture jutting into the sky drew him in, and soon he wandered into the Water Palace. Generally, Metal Sonic preferred technologically advanced, inorganic metropolises, populated not by organisms but by machines. Where marquee lights drowned out the stars. But the rigid marble slabs kept clean by the constant flooding in these ruins were devoid of life to a pleasing degree. The only sounds in the abandoned palace were of gushing steam and rushing water. As the sun sank closer to the horizon, the water reflected red and the marble pillars were tinged a faint orange. The sight reminded Metal Sonic of gums and teeth.
While hovering on top of an arcade, he found himself wishing for more white detailing on his own design. If only he could have white accents like Shadow's red ones…
As if summoned by these thoughts, a burst of steam from below sent Shadow launching into the air. He landed skillfully and his expression as he rose made it obvious that Metal Sonic would be a fool to attempt colliding with or fleeing from him. Fortunately, there was no chance of that—although Metal Sonic still had no perfect strategy, he was nothing if not persistent, and would not give up until Shadow understood his intentions.
"You weren't difficult to find," Shadow said. "If you were going to leave without explaining yourself, you could have at least bothered to hide from me. I would have hunted you down anyway, but why didn't you try?"
"Metal Sonic: could not find the words," he put on his display. Then he changed the message to, "Ultimate Lifeform: proven to fail to comprehend simple gestures." Metal Sonic had his arms akimbo.
"Is that what you think?" Shadow smirked, his eyes half-lidded. "Then I'm sure you won't mind answering my questions in detail now!" The setting sun behind him made him look gilt.
Metal Sonic nodded and shifted his torso forward proudly. He awaited the challenge.
Strangely, Shadow's confidence seemed to deflate slightly. He seemed pensive, glancing down at the marble and searching for what to say before meeting Metal Sonic's gaze again. "Metal Sonic, when you were tailing me on purpose to watch me, was it because—I can't believe I'm asking this—" he said, haltingly, "—did you do it because you're… infatuated with me?"
Everything pointed in that direction. Metal Sonic nodded.
"Oh my god, then Rouge was right!" Shadow reeled back, as if knocked off-balance.
Metal Sonic warbled in annoyance. Did Shadow have to bring someone who always had the privilege to stand by his side into this?
"You really aren't joking," Shadow said breathlessly, his eyes wide. "I can't believe it." At Metal Sonic's continuing glaring, Shadow held up a hand in a placating gesture. "It doesn't bother me. I'm only surprised… even if maybe I shouldn't be…."
Sensing an opportunity, Metal Sonic rushed forward and clutched Shadow's open hand in both of his own. Shadow blinked and his mouth hung open in astonishment, but he did not attempt to escape. Metal Sonic would have pumped his fist at this victory—had his hands not been occupied with this important task.
Shadow looked between their joined hands and Metal Sonic's display. Shadow flexed his fingers in Metal Sonic's grasp before asking, "W-What are you doing?"
Was it not obvious? Metal Sonic tugged him closer. He was willing to stay with Shadow until it sank in for him.
Shadow took a deep breath. "I didn't expect you to want me as a partner, but I understand what it can mean for somebody to show you the compassion and respect you deserve," he said. "Tell me, did you start feeling like this because Omega and I made sure you were repaired after you rebelled against the Doctor? Because I empathize with you for trying to be more than you were programmed to be?"
Metal Sonic tilted his head up with a jolt.
Before he could ask what Shadow was talking about, he continued, "Then you weren't online, huh? In that case, I'll explain what happened. I was... very confused, and could hardly remember anything. But when you attacked, I understood what you were going through." Now, he gave Metal Sonic's hands a squeeze without hesitation. "Even Rouge was uneasy telling me anything about my past, and all because she was upset that I might not have been the Shadow she knew.
"Eventually she did tell me everything, but at first it hurt, knowing she knew me and wanted to be 'friends,' that I had to follow her lead, but being kept at a distance. I barely spoke to anyone but Omega. And I don't think even Omega or you had been told by the Doctor that I was the original, right? I only found out the truth when he finally told me—after I had already decided to move on!"
Metal Sonic remained frozen, his processor wavering like the sounds of the water sloshing below. When had he rebelled against his master?
"It made sense to me that spending your entire life being treated as a copy could drive you to madness," Shadow said. "That's why I convinced Omega that it was for the best that you be left intact, because you and I weren't so different."
"Error: event not found." Metal Sonic thought alarms should be blaring inside his head. From an emotional standpoint, klaxons were certainly going off. A familiar threat was creeping up on him from behind, he could feel it.
"You don't remember?" Shadow glowered. "Wait… when I first saw you… you were speaking. It isn't actually that you simply choose not to speak anymore, is it? No, it's that you can't!" He clenched his free hand into a tight fist. "How could I have not realized this sooner? The Doctor, he reprogrammed you! He took away your free will after you overthrew him!"
Metal Sonic could not comprehend what Shadow was saying as he ranted on. No, that was a lie—he could, but he felt like he was not supposed to consider the meaning of these words. Was this what it meant to feel a chill?
"Come with me, Metal Sonic, together we'll find a way to restore your freedom and your ability to speak. And then we can both have a word with the Doctor." Shadow turned and tried to walk away, to lead him out of the Water Palace. When he realized Metal Sonic was standing still he looked back and said, "You don't have to be afraid, I've been down this road before." By now, the sun had touched the horizon, and Shadow's silhouette was bathed in a purple shade. The sky was deep red, and all the marblework looked less pristine and more like old, yellowed paper.
Metal Sonic displayed the message, "Removal of free will: increases efficiency. Function prioritized."
Shadow shook his head ruefully. "Once I help you, you won't have to prioritize what the Doctor wants anymore, Metal Sonic. Don't let him use you as he used me."
"Shadow: also prioritizes function."
"One that I chose. I don't serve anyone but myself." He again tried to pull Metal Sonic along, to no success. "If you… admire me as you claim to, you have to know that."
Metal Sonic could not understand how they could be at such cross-purposes. He tried to make his meaning as blunt as possible. "Metal Sonic: serves Doctor Eggman. Shadow: serves Maria Robotnik. Functions are prioritized."
To Shadow's credit, he seemed to have expected this, and had an answer ready. "That was the past. I don't consider the promise I made to Maria the most real thing about me anymore," he said. "I'm not surprised the Doctor would tell you I do nothing but work to fulfill her wishes if you ask, but it's a lie." With his free hand, he effusively gestured to Metal Sonic. "I bring happiness and hope to people because there's no need to repeat past tragedies! Nobody else ever needs to go through the things that I have! It doesn't matter whether or not that's why I was created, it's what I choose to do. It's why I want to help you now." The first stars were visible in the evening sky, framing Shadow's face.
How could he still not understand? Metal Sonic tried again. "This unit: would choose to prioritize destroying Sonic. All distractions must be removed."
"Really. And that's why you're holding my—"
Metal Sonic released Shadow's hand before he could finish asking the question. He had thought an alliance would be an improvement. But what if that was not the case? It was looking more doubtful every passing moment.
"If you don't want to be more than a weapon, we can't be allies!" Shadow snapped. "You're a thinking machine, let me help you free yourself!"
Metal Sonic would never be free until he executed his function. Until he destroyed Sonic the hedgehog, he would be a disposable design, not the true Sonic. He took a step forward and his display changed to read, "All obstacles in the way of function must be eliminated! … … …Target locked: Shadow!"
"After all of this, you're just going to fight me?" Shadow's expression twisted into a disgusted scowl. "You can't even defeat Sonic, how can you hope to beat—"
Shadow was cut off by a slash to his muzzle with Metal Sonic's sharp fingers. Sadly, Metal Sonic glanced at his hand and noticed the blood he had drawn was not green. He had been hoping it would be green like his loathsome copy's eyes. Shadow retaliated with a kick, but Metal Sonic tucked into a Spin Dash and deflected it easily. When he blasted toward Shadow he was left with no target—Shadow had warped to the side at the last moment—and instead sped up an incline and was launched onto a high vault. From this vantage point, he could see the entirety of the ruins laid out before him. The black blur that was Shadow soon caught up to him, and as they threw a barrage of kicks, punches, and Spin Dashes at each other, the blows they traded punctuated with bursts of sparks and flames that lit up the night. It was a matter of interpretation whether Sonic or Shadow was a more formidable opponent, Metal Sonic mused as they fought. If he could not ally himself with Shadow, killing him and copying his data could elevate him to the level of a supreme being who could surpass Sonic.
"Enough," Shadow said, after a collision between their Spin Dashes had put some distance between them. "Chaos Control!"
Metal Sonic was a machine and thus responded nigh-instantaneously. As he anticipated, when time unfroze six Chaos Spears were pointing at him from every direction, illuminating the marble like a ritual torch. But Metal Sonic's Black Shield materialized and blocked every attack.
As soon as the shield dissipated, Shadow rushed at him but skidded to a halt just out of Metal Sonic's range. "Chaos Blast!" Shadow shouted, and the ensuing burst of Chaos Energy sent Metal Sonic flying. Chunks of marble crumbled from derelict columns.
Metal Sonic caught his balance mid-air and began hovering. He did not allow Shadow another opening. Shadow chased after him, ready to knock him back again as soon as Metal Sonic came close enough to his level, but once Shadow got close enough to reach, Metal Sonic activated his Ring Spark Field. Shadow jumped back before his hands and face could be burned by the electromagnetic discharge.
Shadow opened his mouth to again use Chaos Control, but his horrified expression made it clear he realized this was a fatal error—being a robot, Metal Sonic had no need to say anything to use the technique himself. He activated Chaos Control, which he had copied from him during its first use, and time stopped. The flames from Shadow's rocket Shoes were frozen like they were in a photograph, and Metal Sonic could no longer hear the sounds of rushing water. He approached Shadow and prepared to skewer him, but before his sharp fingertips could pierce Shadow's face, a memory file came to Metal Sonic unbidden. He remembered Shadow's similarly worried expression when Metal Sonic had been tearing himself apart. How proud Metal Sonic had been then… whereas he felt empty now.
Time in the immediate area resumed. Shadow's fist slammed into Metal Sonic's display and knocked him back. Metal Sonic could not stop himself before he slipped off the vault into the dark swirling water below. He caught the edge of the marble with one hand. As he pulled himself up, Shadow strode toward him at a relaxed pace.
"Metal Sonic, I know you hesitated," Shadow said. "Let's put an end to this. Admit that you don't want to destroy me."
It was all too much to take. As Metal Sonic stood perched on the edge, he searched for the words to explain himself but they kept escaping.
Shadow did not require any prompting. "Do you think Sonic ever loses sleep thinking about facing off against you? Do you think he worries about what would happen if he lost to you?" he asked, more softly. "He doesn't." Even though the two of them had just been engaged in battle, Shadow approached Metal Sonic without hesitation. "I couldn't care less about whatever score you want to settle, Metal Sonic, but as long as you believe you can't be free or real until you defeat him, you never will be. Not even if you win," Shadow said.
Metal Sonic spat out static and he began to overclock, ignoring every warning that tried to catch his attention. His circuitry began to overload and blue sparks shot out from his joints as he activated a technique he was not supposed to utilize—his V. Maximum Overdrive. A crackling energy field surrounded him and he shot past Shadow, surging through the ruins like a comet. Shadow exclaimed something and chased after him, but Metal Sonic could not make out the words over the sounds of overloading. As Shadow tried and failed to catch up to him, Metal Sonic could imagine he was finally winning a race against Sonic. But just as the end of the Water Palace came into view, Metal Sonic's optical sense was fried and soon all of his systems shut down as well as he heard Shadow racing toward him and crying out in alarm.
Dreams rarely came to Metal Sonic. But sometimes, in stasis and in recovery mode, he shifted through his memories and emotions, compartmentalizing them so he could better fight another day. This time, everything running through his mind was weighing him down further. He had been within arm's reach of a single win and had ruined it like he always did. Shadow would be justified in leaving him like trash on the floor and treating him that way in any future encounters.
It should not have come as a surprise that this would happen. No matter how odds seemed to favor Metal Sonic, everything came crashing down on him eventually. Once, after a defeat, he was ashamed to the point of lying face-down in the dirt as summer turned to fall—covering his titanium shell with leaf litter—and then winter. As he was buried in snow, he had wanted to lie there until his components rusted away. Prior to that failure, he had all seven Chaos Emeralds, but even then he could neither attain a full super form nor defeat Sonic.
Metal Sonic wondered what would become of him this time. Maybe Shadow would throw him into the water, which would eventually freeze over, and snow would blanket the ruins and sheets of ice. And everyone would forget he had ever existed, just like how he had been forced to forget the one time he had been able to speak. The only time he had nearly set himself free. At least being decommissioned and sent to a watery grave by his own choice and Shadow's was not such a terrible fate.