A/N: Hey lads! A lot of things have changed in my life since I published the first chapter, hence the late update. TLDR version of this story so far: Metal Sonic is kind of a prick, but to be fair he's beaten by Sonic like once a week. Thank you for reading this far, I really appreciate your time!
Neo came into view atop the highest Final Fortress tower.
If he could feel adrenaline right now, he probably would - this was it, the final fight. This torment would come to an end! This thought sent a surge of confidence through his metal body, and he looked down upon the tiny, insect-like heroes below, his cape billowing behind him.
Seeing Sonic so small, so harmless, compared to his new, taller form made him laugh. If only he was always this tiny.
It was maddening. It was exhilarating. He laughed again, allowing derangement to wash over him. There was no Eggman, no Mecha, no programming holding him back now.
"All living things kneel before your master."
Neo lifted his hand and, without hesitation, launched a lightning bolt into the roaring sky. Seconds later, he brought the bolt back down and straight onto himself. Both the robot's body and the metal tower exploded into thousands of pieces. Then, in a vortex of bright light, wind, and smoke, began Neo's transformation.
A gust of ferocious, sharp wind struck the heroes, whipping at their feet and flattening their ears. Team Chaotix nearly didn't make it through the sudden storm, but they managed to join the other heroes, who all looked on, horrified.
Metal shards drew into the vortex, piecing together the enormous, dragon-like creature within. Somehow, each little piece fit just as it was supposed to, a testament to Neo's sheer power and robotic intelligence.
Above the deafening roar of the metallic creature, Eggman proclaimed that Metal Sonic had finally transformed.
An enormous horde of Egg Pawns made their hasty retreat to escape their unhinged commander.
Neo was alone.
But that didn't matter. Nothing did. Nothing but this!
"So that's Metal Sonic?" Sonic asked in disbelief. Crap. I underestimated what he was gonna do...
"It's useless! Metal Sonic has combined your data with the power of Chaos and is super strong! We can't defeat it! If only we had the seven Chaos Emeralds..."
Cream pulled out the yellow Emerald, prompting her comrades to follow suit. Big presented the purple Emerald, Rouge the white Emerald, Omega the green Emerald, Espio the red, Charmy the cyan, and Sonic the blue. Eggman was stunned at the sight of the seven emeralds. It almost seemed too convenient, too good to be true!
"What's this? But... How? Even with the Emeralds' power, our chances for victory are slim!" Eggman proclaimed. "It would take a miracle..."
Sonic smirked and tossed his Emerald into the air, catching it with ease in one hand. "Just leave that to me, Doc."
Wrought with worry, Amy came to his side and clasped one hand on his shoulder. "Sonic..."
Tails eagerly joined her, fists balled up in anticipation. "I'm going with you too!"
Knuckles was quick to coolly announce his involvement. "You can count me in, too."
Upon hearing this exchange, Shadow nodded to Sonic. "Okay, guys. We'll buy you some time. That way, you can go Super."
Each team non-verbally affirmed that they would fight in the battle against the maddened Metal Sonic, and took their positions.
Neo didn't have time for their heroic speeches. What a waste of their final breaths! It didn't matter if they worked with the "superpower of teamwork" or not, they were all going to die.
But there was a slight problem - his form was not yet complete.
Team Rose made the first move.
"Get away..."
Amy, Big and Cream all did their best to put a dent in the robot's armour, to no avail. He was too tough.
"You're all useless now that I've copied all of your data!"
Team Chaotix and Team Dark barraged the robot with whatever attacks they could throw at him, but it was no use. Although he was slightly damaged by the second and third team attacks, it was not enough to stop his next transformation!
Neo's fingertips burst off and were quickly replaced by long blades, forming knife-like wings.
He took flight without hesitation.
The wind roared, enraged, and snatched at the organic creatures below. It was as if the robot had full control over all the elements around him, and that the very storm itself was under his command. A perfect backdrop for his perfect form, and his perfect revenge. Quaint.
Team Sonic was finally ready. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles nodded in silent agreement, placing their hands together. The Chaos Emeralds whirled rapidly around them, and in a blinding flash of golden light, Sonic burst into his Super form. The surge of energy was enough to push Tails off of his feet, but he was quickly saved by a protective shield. He and Knuckles, both within protective golden shields, levitated upwards as if by instinct to join their friend's side. As a three, the heroes blasted into the sky to pursue their enemy.
Neo's scanners picked up the massive shift in energy as the trio approached. He turned to face them, grinning wildly.
"Long time no see, Sonic, my loathsome copy."
Sonic was silent. Focused on his next move, the golden hedgehog refused to let the monster's words take away his steady resolve.
Neo continued to fly aimlessly in one direction, dealing out all the crystal pillar attacks he could throw. Sonic destroyed them all with expertly placed homing attacks. The robot retaliated by swinging his spiked tail in the heroes' direction, but Sonic was quick to guide his teammates out of harm's way. Each movement in this aerial battlefield was a blur, streaks of gold and blue lining the sky for those who looked on from below.
"You really thought you could stop me, by turning into a monster?!" Sonic called out over the raging wind.
Neo's response didn't line up with this question whatsoever. "But that was the past! Now, you're nothing but a speck of dust to me." It was as if he was having a completely separate conversation in his own head. In fact, he didn't directly respond to anything at all now.
"You've really gone mad this time, huh..." Sonic murmured to himself, shaking his head as he smashed another homing missile. Compared to their previous encounter, the tables really had turned. As much as he didn't want to admit it to himself, seeing his long-time enemy end up so disturbed and messed up was...
"What is it, Sonic?" Tails asked.
"It's nothin' lil' buddy. Let's show him what we're made of!" Sonic shook the weariness from his expression and steeled his resolve. "You ready?"
Knuckles gave a thumbs up and joined the brotherly pair for a team attack. "We're with ya until the end!"
"I will become the ultimate overlord, ruling as the world's most supreme being!"
The trio launched their final team attack, shooting right towards the metallic dragon with all they had. Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails all hit the robot at his weakest points, making sure to do as much damage as possible to slow him down. This time, a sliver of black escaped the robot's dented armour and sprayed into the stormy sky. His wings were broken. The overlord let out a pained cry as his mechanical wings began to fail him. No longer able to support his immense weight, they gave way, and he plummeted through the dark sky towards the earth.
No! This wasn't possible! Why! Why! It didn't make sense!
He snatched a battleship as if it was nothing and hurled it at the heroes in a final bid to exact his revenge.
Of course, they suffered no harm at all, avoiding the frantic attack with ease.
It was futile.
"Why?! I had it all!"
In his panic, he accidentally used Chaos Control to slow time. But it was no use. It was all too late.
"I am the real Sonic..."
Neo stared upwards as he watched the world around him slow and darken. He stared up at that cursed hedgehog. Then the fox. Then the echidna. Why did they deserve to have it all? They had each other. They had friendship. They had everything. He never won. It wasn't fair.
He looked down at the earth as it steadily grew closer. As his vision slowly faded out, he looked for Mecha.
Then, he screamed.
It hurt. It hurt. By Chaos, it hurt.
He welcomed the nothingness that followed.
It was times like these where Neo wished he could delete his thoughts.
Maybe his auditory processing unit as well.
Better yet, his entire CPU could go too.
The defeated once-overlord sat completely defeated and battered on the floor of his cell.
He made for a pitiful sight in his state - reduced to his original build, he now sported dented armour, scratched paint, wires hanging from his shoulder and optics a faded orange rather than red. His arms were barely functional, and his legs probably couldn't support his own weight right now. The robot ran a scan of his systems out of cynical curiosity only to find hundreds of errors hurl themselves at his HUD. Great.
"Brother."
He looked up.
Of course it was Mecha. It was always that cursed Mecha Sonic.
What could he possibly want now?
Why wasn't he running scared after everything?
Could he even feel fear? Maybe he needed to learn a thing or two about it.
Neo quickly looked away with a scowl. "Leave me be Mecha. You are testing me."
Mecha wordlessly opened the door and let himself in.
"... You must have a death wish to advance that way, Mecha." Neo hissed.
The other robot closed the door behind him, apparently confident enough to close off his only exit. "As do you, judging by what you just pulled. I have no words for what you have done here."
"Good. I do not require your meaningless words, nor do I desire any misplaced pity. Pity is weakness and I have no application for it."
Mecha ignored his empty threats. "What is your processing efficiency right now?"
Neo shook his head to refuse a reply, but Mecha was quick to push the subject.
"This is your problem. You feel emotion."
Neo scoffed at that notion. "Is this lecture necessary? What do you know about emotion?" His eyes shot to the door for a second and he silently cursed Mecha for trapping him like this. He clearly knew Neo was in no shape to fight him and wanted to remind him of this. "Why are you here? You should be terrified of me. Leave."
Mecha shrugged one shoulder, a gesture learned from the other robot. "Your actions were an overly complicated manner in which to show your internal distress. Are you satisfied with the result?"
Neo lifted his scowl to meet the chastising stare of his apparent sibling. "I will never be satisfied. Not until one of us is dead."
Mecha hesitated slightly. "You cannot die, brother. You are a machine."
Neo took several moments to respond."If I am not living, why do you insist on referring to me as a sibling? An obvious logical fallacy such as this should be below you, Mecha."
The violet robot shook his head, unafraid to say his next words. "You wish to address logical fallacies? If you are in fact the "real" Sonic, why must you attempt such drastic measures to prove it? Is it not enough that it is true to you?"
Wrong. Move.
Neo visibly snapped. With a hateful hiss, he lunged up and forward and swung for the other robot, red eyes now blazing as best as they could with his rage. But...
He faltered, fist completely missing its mark.
Mecha strategically reached out and caught him around his arms. Neo pathetically tried to claw his way out of his robotic sibling's grasp, but to no avail. The sudden movements caused his joints to whirr and stutter, and his left shoulder slipped out of its usual place.
"You are missing my point," Mecha slowly began. "You process internal stimuli more akin to an organic creature than a typical machine. It is abnormal. The Doctor programmed you with Sonic the Hedgehog's data and it is not your fault. It is only natural that a supercomputer mind that processes stimuli much like an organic creature would be confused in a body like yours."
Neo slightly stiffened in the other robot's grasp. "You have no right to talk to me this way. I am your Lord."
"You are broken and in need of repairs." Mecha countered. "Attacking this unit will only expend what is left of your energy."
How humiliating.
"What do you want from me Mecha? I am defeated. There is nothing more to take from me." Neo snarled out. "If you are here to finish the job, do not continue to drag it out! This is torture!"
"I am here because no other unit is." Mecha answered plainly.
He was right.
Neo stiffened.
Then, he broke all over again.
He pushed his head into Mecha's shoulder and shut off his vocal processing unit, silently screaming in rage and despair. Mecha only held him tighter.
Neo unmuted himself. "I... I am lost, Mecha!" His fists balled up at his own chest. "I can solve any mathematical issue. I can calculate the success of any battle. I can engage in combat and make split-second decisions. I can command my own fleet. But I-I do not even know who I am. What I am. Anything! He drives me mad!"
As the blue robot spoke about his distress, his palms uncurled and pressed firmly into Mecha's armour to activate his pressure sensors. That distinct fuzzy feeling came over him as it had before, and his words gradually sounded as though they were more distant to him. What was this, an auditory processing glitch? Some CPU damage from the battle with the hedgehog? It might as well happen at this point.
"I am Sonic, but I am not. He has everything, I have nothing. Where do I put this... This hurt? This hate? Because I am told to hate him, I must also hate myself, for I am Sonic. I am reprogrammed again and again, and every time it is worse, I-" Neo tried to continue, but found himself faltering again. His voice took on a slightly different, deeper tone, and he noticeably lost balance. Mecha almost felt something resembling concern as he steadied the smaller robot with his hands. After several moments, Neo came back to his senses, now more defeated than before. "Just... Finish the job, Mecha. Do it. I cannot continue this worthless existence. My body can be repaired, but for what? To suffer yet another defeat? My very existence is just an exercise in futility at most. Your logic programming is compromised if you believe otherwise. All you have done is re-affirm this to me, but with more sarcasm and lectures. Perhaps you should leave before I convince you that your own existence is worthless, too."
Mecha ignored that last remark and carefully pushed the other robot's shoulder joint back into place, making sure to hold him steady. "This is a severe glitch that you are displaying, brother. If I could feel concerned I probably would in this situation." He began, deciding to take a new approach to help the other robot. Perhaps empathy was the better route? "You have experienced a significant lack of control over your circumstances since your creation. You have a disorganized attachment to those who are important to you, such as the Doctor. Your very existence is based on the identity of another being. You have been re-built and reprogrammed repeatedly. You have not been permitted to exist outside of these parameters before."
Neo took a moment to process this, then scoffed, his angry, sarcastic self seeming to re-emerge at this unprompted psychoanalysis. "What are you, a therapist? Robots cannot have midlife crises. If I have the processing capabilities of a mere organic, then it only furthers the case that I am an anomaly and will never be stable. You are wasting your time. There is nothing that you can do for me."
If Mecha could laugh at Neo's therapist statement, he would. Instead, he shrugged one shoulder and turned to walk out, gathering his sibling into his arms. "Come. Let us see to your repairs, now. No other unit belonging to this fleet is willing to go near you since your "midlife crisis", and the Doctor is avoiding you until he decides what to do with you. Conclusion: You are stuck with this unit from now on."
The two robots could well have been related to one another with how stubborn they both were.
Neo could see that he wasn't going to win this battle.
Ironic. Just like all his other battles, really.
Dry amusement at his own failed existence came over him, replacing his apparent depression.
"That... Will suffice, for now. Just, less of the therapist talk. Please. You are insufferable."
"I cannot sufficiently guarantee that I am able to uphold any promises of that nature."
Neo scoffed. "That was almost sarcasm, Mecha. I am impressed."
"I can detect sarcasm with 87% accuracy. You would be wise to not underestimate my abilities."
Neo let out a ghost of a laugh, managing to push one out past his cynical mood.
"Understood. Perhaps... I have underestimated you."