A/N: Okay I always forget that people on FFN and AO3 probably never see my Tumblr tags LOL hi hello if you're still checking on this thing I appreciate and love you so much? This story is my like... happy place. I don't take it super seriously but writing these idiots' journeys in and out of depression hell has kind of been like a healing journey for me as well as them. Anyway last chapter wasnt remarkable so as the routine goes get ready for whiplash now HABHDNJjn sorry. sorry
Under the subdued glow of a street lamp, Sonic leaned back against a wall and waited. His ears flicked back and forth a few times, listening for something, or someone.
The streets were empty and wet, reflective like bars of ebony. The dim lights cast long, shimmering reflections in white, blue, and red. A few minutes passed, and Sonic's patience was wearing thin. He was about to leave when that certain someone he was waiting for finally showed up.
Through the darkness came a distinct red glow. Subdued, but undeniably robotic. Sonic pushed himself back off the wall by his elbows and stood with his arms folded. A defensive stance, but his posture was straight and tall - he wasn't going to present himself as vulnerable to the killer robot. Not yet. Even with the softness he had seen in him that day.
"Metal. I need to talk to you."
The robot stepped into the light, just barely illuminating his armour. He stopped there, unwilling to go any closer. Neo caught the hedgehog's eyes for a moment before looking away angrily. What was this, an interrogation? What right did he have to drag him out here, anyway?
"I'm not stupid." Sonic started, taking a few calculated steps towards him. "We're enemies, and you've come to me for help. I don't need a reason to help someone in need. But I do need to know that I can trust you."
Neo inclined his head slightly, partly daring Sonic to come within swiping range, partly telling him to elaborate.
"We have history. We can't ignore that." Sonic stated matter-of-factly. His expression was serious. "So, let's talk about it."
The small space between them felt more personal than ever.
Neo's supercomputer mind instantly calculated how quickly he could lunge for Sonic in this space. He took into account the wind, and the wet pavement, and the rain slowing him down and re-calculated it all in split seconds. Sonic eyed the space for a moment, hyper-aware of how fast the robot could move, but also how quickly he could get away.
The two looked at each other for a long moment, both thinking the same things.
"This could well be a trap. While I wanna help you guys, I'm not gonna risk mine or my lil bro's lives to do it." Sonic continued, lowering a brow at him. "Did Egghead put you up to this? I need to know where your head's at. Silver's one thing, but you... you're different."
Neo shook his head sharply, almost looking away again as he did, but he forced himself to keep eye contact. He wasn't going to back down.
"If he didn't, then why are you really here?" Sonic asked him, finally letting an accusing tone underline his words. "What do you want from us? Why won't ol' Egghead help you himself?"
Neo clenched a fist and turned away, glaring hatefully at the wall beside him. "It is none of your business, hedgehog."
"It's my business when my family is involved."
Neo froze. He slowly turned back around.
And then glared with all of his venom at the cursed hedgehog.
"You understand me perfectly."
"Yeah, I do. I have done this whole time." Sonic scratched his ear and offered him a half-smile. "Sorry 'bout that."
"I thought so." Neo revved his engine just loud enough to get his irritation across. "I am afforded no privacy. Must you take everything from me, hedgehog?"
Sonic frowned at him. "Jeez, Metal. Lighten up. It's not my fault, you know? We did exchange life data and all that."
Neo narrowed his optics at him. "You disassemble my body repeatedly. You refuse to kill me. You get my brother taken from me. Now you can invade our private conversations. What more do you want? Was my ultimate defeat not enough for you?"
Sonic held the robot's angry stare for a while. Their downfall as Metal Overlord was still very much a sore point, and they hadn't touched on it at all since it happened. Sonic decided to risk bringing it up. "Look. Metal, I'm not sorry that I beat you. You would have killed people." He then softened and sighed. "But I am sorry that I made you suffer. I'm sorry that I ran away like I did."
A spasm of pain ripped through Neo, and he hissed and recoiled. "Why are you sorry?! You have inflicted far more damage on me in the past. The main difference is that this time I felt great pain." He took a step forward. "Perhaps if I had felt pain in the beginning I would have abandoned my futile existence when I realized I would never win. My pain is something that you nor the Doctor could never understand!"
"You've won at something, Metal." Sonic told him with a shrug. "Apart from being a top-class jerk, you're also kind of a good sibling. I've seen it. I saw how you looked at Mecha." That half-smile appeared again. "It's almost like you love him. Who woulda thought? The evil Metal Sonic, actually considerate sometimes?"
Neo hated this. How dare the hedgehog comment on his private relationship with his siblings. How dare he act as though he knew anything about them! How dare he! Neo clenched his fists, and his shapeshifting program booted online at once. His nanite systems shifted, lengthening his spines and making his claws sharper as he phased towards his true Neo form.
How dare that hedgehog. How dare he speak to him in such a mocking way. How dare he try to get closer to any of the brothers. How dare he even say Mecha's name. How. Dare. He! He just had to take everything! He suddenly didn't care that it had been himself who had sought Sonic out for help. He didn't care that he had wanted Silver to interact with Sonic. It was all wrong. All of it.
Sonic stared at him. "Why are you so angry? You do realize you're changing, right?"
Neo stared pointedly at him, seething. And then he looked down at himself and turned his hands over. They had shaded from yellow to black and silver. He reached up and touched his spines, which were lengthening quickly. He cursed and took a step forward, where disorientation smote him to his knees. None of this was real, it couldn't be, he had to be glitching, right, and the pain of partly-fixed wounds resurfacing as his nanites moved-
When Neo could see and hear again, he found himself on the floor, back in his original form. Sonic knelt by his side with concern written all over his face. "Metal? Can you hear me?"
Neo stared up blankly for a minute. His CPU was still wrought with feelings of unreality, and he barely registered anything around him for some time. Gradually everything came back into view. First, he was blinded by the street lamp, and then, he was blinded by rage at Sonic for being in his face. The proximity of his greatest enemy rended a shard of his assassin programming through his CPU. Priority one hedgehog. Kill. Kill him. He was right there! But without Sonic, Tails wouldn't help them, and GUN might come for his brothers.
But worst of all, how dare Sonic show concern for him!
He snapped out of his trance and pushed Sonic back, who fell onto his backside with an "oof."
"Yep, still a jerk." Sonic remarked flatly. He stood up, rubbing his backside, and let Neo rise on his own. "You good, bolt brain?"
Once he was back on his feet, Neo went back to staring at the hedgehog angrily. His shoulders were tense and his arms ached. He had taken a particularly hard hit from the Egg Pawn back on the ship that he had forgotten about. Something was probably slightly out of place under his armour. Curses. He rubbed his arms antsily to try to ground himself, figuring that the discomfort might help.
"I was created to destroy you. And you are showing me kindness?!" Neo spat at him, still rubbing his arms. "Scream at me or accuse me or condemn me. Attack me. I could stand those things. Just stop being kind."
"You're not all bad." Sonic told him, unafraid. "You're holding back right now for one thing, and that's your siblings. You're not as selfish as you used to be."
"Stop it!" Neo clenched a fist in his face now. "I hate you. You cannot change that, no matter how kind you are."
Neo turned his back on Sonic and started to storm away, but the hedgehog's next words stopped him cold.
"Lighten up, Metal. You're not just a machine anymore."
Neo slowly turned back to look at him.
"Your ignorance of mechanics is amusing," Neo argued back, his cynicism clear. "Look at us, hedgehog. There are clear differences."
Sonic finally smiled at him, genuine. "Those differences are getting fewer and further between, Metal." He waved a hand and started to walk past him. "Anyway, I just needed to be sure you weren't pullin' something on me. Later, faker."
"I hate you."
"Glad to hear it. Told ya not to go all soft on me, didn't I?"
Neo glared at his back. His claws curled in and out several times. He raised a hand, calculating the gap between them and how quickly he could close it. He could kill Sonic in seconds if the hedgehog's guard was down. Just one clean slash and their "history" could be put to rest. It would be so easy! His torment would be over! And Mecha wasn't there to stop him! The idea was becoming more and more enticing with every precious second that passed.
He took a step forward.
"Give it a rest, Metal." Sonic told him. "We'll settle our score when the time is right."
He didn't have to look back at the robot to know what he was doing. A robot staring at you was the same as having a gun pointed at your head. That, and he knew the robot all too well. Putting his back to him was the ultimate test of restraint - just as he had done to Silver back at the GUN base.
Several feet away, Sonic cast the slightest glance back at him. "Oh, and adding to that- come back when the real you is talking. Okay?"
Neo slowly lowered his hand. Sonic was right. Every hedgehog-tracking and fighting protocol had come online without him consciously doing it. Flustered and angry, he went into his program manager and shut everything off. Being called a "faker" had triggered something in him. It made sense, when he actually analyzed it - being told that you're a fake does nothing but harm when you already dissociate from yourself.
Neo watched Sonic stroll out of view and just stood there. His hand lowered back down to his side and his claws uncurled.
Those words repeated in his head like some kind of glitch.
You're not just a machine anymore.
Neo glared at the ground as if blaming it for his anger. He hated this. And he hated how he knew his CPU was going to cling onto the hedgehog's words. It had to, he was programmed that way, right? He had to match Sonic's every move, analyze his every action, remember everything he did...
Or did he?
How much of him was programming at this point?
Neo wasn't sure anymore. He was this wretched robot-thing that not even his own creator could define anymore with semi-enemies who could never be his friends.
He caught his reflection in a puddle and stared at it for several long moments. Glowing red optics stared back at him, undeniably digital. Above them rested the bright white arrows painted on by his brothers, a symbol of his autonomy and personhood.
"If I am not a mere machine, what am I."
He looked up to find that Sonic was gone.
"What am I."
Pondering this, he recalled Mecha telling him that he was "just himself." Just Neo. Was that enough? To simply be, outside of any rigid definition? Slowly, he started the walk back to the hotel, sticking to the shadows as he went as his assassin instincts demanded him to do. And, as he walked, he thought back to Eggman calling him a child. It was true. So why did it make him so angry? Something clicked into place mentally and his optics brightened. He slowed to a halt.
If he was a child, what kind of upbringing had he had, really? In the non-robotic sense?
When he thought about it, the answer struck him with a new kind of pain. Neo was instrumentally parentified - forced to take on the role of an adult when he was little more than a child himself.
He thought about this for a long minute.
Eggman was an adequate father figure in some ways. He did show affection, and he did try to understand, and he did listen sometimes, and he did tend to the robots' needs when they arose. But at the same time, so much as wrong, too. There was an undeniable role reversal, a relegation of duties to each of them that shouldn't be given to such young AIs who couldn't even control their own feelings yet. They were made to be too intelligent for their own good.
What good did their programming do for them?
Neo had learned, over time, that taking on those murderous duties was a way to maintain closeness. To be useful. To have any semblance of identity. It was all he had, this anger, this drive to win and complete these tasks and to be seen, heard, cared about. His mind was alive, damn it, and with that came an instinctive need to be loved. And that came with a lack of touch with his own feelings, an inability to self-regulate, and a compulsion to be a caregiver for his family. To push away anyone who dared threaten the security of his identity and loved ones. His anger was so quick and sharp and hateful, but it had to be, it always had been, he had so much to protect and he didn't even realize it.
He had grown up too fast, and his hurt made so much more sense with this realization. It was not a child's responsibility to perform in order to deserve love or care. It was not their responsibility to take on tasks beyond their capabilities. It was not their responsibility to keep pains to themselves. It was not their responsibility to become a caretaker for others. And yet, there he stood, having done all of these things - repeatedly. As had his brothers.
This feeling... he didn't like it. It wasn't easy to carry. It was too large. Bigger than he was, or at least, it felt that way. More often than not, there was something safe about anger instead of grief. It was much easier to be angry than it was to be hurt.
This pain was self-preservation.
Neo checked in with his body and realized he was shaking with his rage. Rage that had nowhere to go. It overwhelmed him. He looked down at his hands, clenched them into fists, turned on his heel, and slammed his fist into the brick wall beside him. His fist went straight through and left a mess of bricks all over the ground. Trembling with hurt and hate, he turned away and held his head in his hands.
Nothing would be vengeance for the childhood he had lost. No score of successful battles, no number of times he won a race, no amount of apologies from his father would undo the damage done. He would always be this wretched child trapped inside a killing machine's body. He would always come up for air beaten within an inch of his life and know he would do it all again a week later, and this could be mourning too.
He stood alone in the rain with nothing but an aching chest, barely aware that he was clicking to himself.
In the corner of the room, a blanket shifted this way and that as a certain robot tried to free themselves. After a moment, Silver's head popped up from under the blanket and he sighed in relief.
Time for stealth.
Being the smaller and lighter robot, Silver easily slipped away from Mecha and expertly opened Tails' laptop bag without making a sound. Ironic, he thought to himself, considering how loud his mouth was.
Silver glanced around quickly. He didn't want anyone to see him doing this.
A quick scan told him that Mecha was in sleep mode, and Tails was fast asleep in bed. Neo and Sonic were Chaos knows where. Perfect. He didn't want an audience if he got emotional and he didn't want to get caught messing around.
Silver carefully opened the laptop and brought up the GUN database, which Tails had made little progress on - gaming had taken up most of that evening. He paused, unsure of how to work the military site, so he consulted his memory banks to see how Tails had gotten into the files. Bingo! After logging in with a VPN, Silver let out the smallest anxious sigh. He frowned as he carefully clicked through different pages. He was looking for something specific.
"Nope, nope, not that one... come on..."
He paused, hovering the cursor over a folder he had missed before. This had to be it, right? Hesitantly, he opened it and clicked on the text document inside. He paused for a second to look around. He didn't want anyone to see. He steeled himself, bit his lip, and looked at the screen.
Silver read the file. He read it another time. And then another. At first, the words didn't register, but then they did.
His systems turned to ice.
"The super Egg Pawns also contain animals that are set loose when destroyed."
It was alive.
That stuff on Neo's claws hadn't just been oil.
Silver grabbed the sides of the screen and stared hard at the words, hoping he wasn't reading them, that they would change and he was just glitching out. But they stayed. His hands slid down onto the bed, and then to his head, where he leaned down onto his elbows and stared at nothing.
There had been nothing left after Neo's Maximum Overdrive attack. Nothing at all. The animal within must have died with the machine instantly.
All living creatures responded instinctively to threats to their survival, hardwired to be afraid of death.
It had been scared to die.
He could have saved it.
Had Mecha known this? Had Neo known this? Did they lie to him? No, they wouldn't, right?
Silver slowly slid off of the bed onto the floor, where he sat and stared at nothing. He held his head in his hands and stared at the floor for several long minutes. The robot's thoughts raced ceaselessly. He cursed himself for his previous disdain of organic creatures. He hated that he hadn't learned more about the other machine. He pictured the terror that the animal within would have felt as if it was his own. Then, the harsh reminder that he couldn't even weld two pieces together to fix them came back. He remembered letting those last few scraps go into the sky like stars.
Suddenly, everything was put in perspective for him, and it made him sick.
If Neo kept on hating Sonic the way he did, his obsession with revenge would bring him down the exact same path as that Pawn... Hell-bent on vengeance with nothing left to lose. Yes, he had his brothers to live for, but what if they were destroyed before him? What if Mecha went before him? One day, Silver might be the one sitting on the floor, unable to salvage enough parts to bring him back. It was only a matter of time.
He really did identify with organics and their fears, he was scared to take a life, and his brothers were going to die one day.
And like a match destined to burn, this would all go up in smoke.
Silver almost got up to run away. These feelings were too much, and he needed to get far, far away from here. From all of this. He almost started crying in those pathetic clicks that he so hated, but he slapped a hand over his mouth and curled into himself to shut himself up.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck..."
He struggled up and on to one knee and was ready to run away to clear his head. But something in him told him to look at that file again. He resisted for a long moment. After everything he had just learned, he almost didn't want to see any of it.
But what would turning away change? Nothing at all.
He sighed shakily and turned back around to face the truth in front of him. He scrolled down slowly, and that gut feeling only got stronger. What it was about, he didn't know. Was this intuition? Could a machine even experience something like that? He wasn't sure, but he knew not to ignore it. Right at the bottom of the file about the Pawn was a shortcut to another file. Silver frowned at the button, unsure of what it could be. He scrolled just a little further to uncover the text below.
Super Egg Pawn Backup.
Silver froze in place. He stared at the file and its extension. It was executable, and would probably be downloaded into a machine- only to be destroyed all over again under GUN's control.
But Silver had the chance to do something about it.
Slowly, a smile spread across his face. Without thinking about it, he downloaded the file into his own documents and saved it, then deleted it from the original file.
Nobody else would get to it now. They could rest in peace.
He closed the laptop and hugged it close to his chest.
"I told you I'd be back for you."
As gingerly as he could, Silver crept over to where Mecha was sleeping in the corner and nestled up against his side with the laptop still in his arms. He fell into sleep mode soon after.
Mecha awoke at the disturbance and looked down at Silver, who was already dead to the world. He stayed motionless for a minute, as if moving would harm Silver in some way. Very slowly, Mecha lifted an arm and reached around to bring Silver closer to him. He gently nudged his muzzle against Silver's forehead and rested it there for a moment, finding comfort in his brother's presence.
He scanned his surroundings again for a few minutes. Neo had been gone for some time, as he had last been detected about an hour ago in a routine scan. Neo was capable of looking after himself, and Mecha knew that - but he couldn't help but worry. Especially since Sonic was gone too. He carefully lifted his head away from Silver and looked over to the window.
As if on cue, a familiar blue and white robot boosted himself up into the tree outside and stayed there, staring at nothing. Mecha tilted his head this way and that as he pinged Neo, asking him to come inside. Neo startled at the ping and looked around, clearly disoriented - there was only one place it could have come from, and Neo wasn't even thinking to look there. Mecha pinged him again and their eyes finally met. He slightly gestured inwards with his head, asking Neo to join him inside.
Neo stared at him for a long minute before seeming to register what Mecha was asking of him. He jumped over to the window and, as quietly as he could manage, vaulted inside where he landed in a crouch. Without saying anything, Neo moved across to Mecha's other side and leaned into him for security. Mecha rested his chin on top of Neo's head and gently rubbed his shoulder plate with his free hand.
"You can put your strength down." Mecha murmured gently. "Let someone take care of you."
Neo's optics brightened, then softened, at hearing his own words repeated back to him. So, Mecha had heard him after all, back then. Knowing this brought him some peace and grounded him back into reality. He nodded and nestled his face into his older brother's side, too tired to fight and too hurt to be cynical for once.
Exhausted, the three fell quickly into sleep mode.
In the early morning, the hues of the world bloomed anew as if reborn. Growing patches of blue, in a hue that was soft and bright at the same time. Though beneath the sheet of clouds was a grey darkening to steel, the leading edge was a brilliant white. The roads outside were still slick with water, though the puddles were still. This day could bring rain or sunshine, and Sonic hoped for both for the chance of a rainbow.
He leaned on his elbows against the windowsill with a smile and a mug in one hand.
Mid-sip, he heard movement behind him, and he flicked one ear back to listen before looking over his shoulder. His eyes met Silver's, and he smiled kindly at him from around his mug.
"Mornin' kiddo." Sonic finished his mouthful and put the mug down on the windowsill with a soft clink. "How did ya sleep?"
"Well, first I found my sleep mode setting, and then I ran it in my command center and boom, that's how I slept." Silver explained, deliberately sarcastic. He laughed at himself before clambering up to his feet. "Just kidding. I slept good, thanks." He folded his arms and leaned back against the wall. "How 'bout you, S- hog?" He cast the quickest of glances across to his resting brothers and grimaced at his near-slip up.
"Not too bad!" Sonic replied. He turned around to face the robot and as he did, his elbow knocked the mug next to him. "Oh f-" Before he could turn to grab it, Silver was already there, having zipped over in a split second. He grinned and dramatically presented it to the hedgehog in one hand.
"Here ya g- wait, is this..." Silver withdrew his hand and stared into the mug incredulously. "Did you really put an energy drink in this?"
Sonic reached over and took it from him, grinning confidently. "I sure did!"
"I... I just don't think people normally use those for energy drinks." Silver commented, amused. "You're welcome, by the way."
A crumpled-up piece of paper smacked Silver in the face and he yelped. "Wh- Hey!" He immediately looked over to Mecha and Neo and, as expected, he found Neo glaring at him. He snickered and leaned back against the wall. "Mornin' bro. Woke up in a charming mood, I see." When Neo just kept glaring at him, he laughed. "What? I'm sorry, did I disturb Princess Neo's beauty sleep?"
Neo stared at him and signed, "Shutting down." He then made a point of leaning back against the wall and shutting off his optics again.
"Hey! I know you're awake, asshole. You can't just say shutting down when you ignore me!"
To his side, Sonic was desperately trying not to laugh. He made a noncommittal noise and took a swig of his energy drink.
"I hope both of you fall into a pit of lava." Neo sarcastically murmured and folded his arms defensively as he sat back up.
Silver gritted his teeth at the coded speech and forced a smile. "I love you too, bro."
Neo shifted his irritated glare to Sonic. "If he seems confused it's because - and I present this as an empirical truth - he is truly the stupidest robot in the entire universe."
"Wow, really?" Sonic deflected the robot's sarcasm back at him with a smirk. "That must be genetic or something."
Silver looked between the two several times. "Wh- What? You understand him? No fair!"
Sonic nodded and chuckled. "Yeah. Comes with the territory when you trade life data."
Neo and Sonic looked at each other for a long moment. Sonic smiled sheepishly at him, and Neo just glared back. Neo broke away first and glared at the floor. He had spent long enough in the irritating hedgehog's company already. It was testing his patience and his restraint an absurd amount.
The tension was disrupted when Tails opened the door and slowly stepped in with his breakfast.
"Hey guys." Tails nervously smiled at Neo before giving Silver a friendly wave.
Sonic practically lit up at his little brother's return. "Hey lil' buddy! Glad you're back." He gestured to the robots and chuckled to himself. "Just been having a very pleasant conversation with our favourite 'Buttnik bots."
"O-Oh yeah?" Tails replied with a quiet laugh and went to take a bite of his food. He noted Neo's annoyance. "It seems like it."
Silver beamed at Tails. "I'll have you know I've been very pleasant! I was only a sarcastic bastard like, once!"
Neo rolled his optics at their conversation. By his side, Mecha finally stirred and his systems booted online with a distinct whir of gears. Mecha at first startled upon hearing multiple voices in the room, and his wrist lights booted on right away. Neo gently placed his hand on Mecha's arm to reassure him until his visual systems came online. When they did, Mecha calmed down and gave a nod of thanks to Neo. Neo bumped his forehead against Mecha's and signed, "safe" to him.
That was when Neo felt eyes on him, and he shot a defensive glare to the organics gawking at him.
Tails pretended he hadn't been watching and coughed nervously. Sonic, on the other hand, raised a brow at Neo and smiled. Neo looked away sharply.
"Y-You know... you guys don't have to be evil." Tails nervously told them. He started making the bed to distract himself from his anxiety. "It's obvious that you could be good people."
"Hey. We're not just evil!" Silver exclaimed, offended. "We're good sometimes!"
"Evil is an abstract concept." Mecha responded flatly. "Show me a handful of good and a handful of evil and I will acknowledge their existence."
Neo rolled his optics at them all and said nothing. This goody-two-shoes hero talk was worthless to him.
"I- Okay. What I mean is, you can be better people." Tails re-worded his statement with an ear flattened. "I thought you guys were supercomputers, do I reeeaaally have to spell it out to you?"
"What?! We are good!" Silver interjected with his arms out. "... Sometimes! On Mondays! And sometimes Wednesdays! Not on Sundays, though, that's reserved for pure evil, maiming and murdering and gaming."
"What if you do good things for selfish reasons." Neo interjected to himself. "Or, what about when bad actions lead to good outcomes?"
Mecha regarded his brother with a tilt of his head. "I believe that we are discussing the concept of "goodness" that organic creatures attempt to enforce. To them, goodness is about being kind, acting selflessly, showing compassion, and-"
"Dying of extreme boredom really fast." Silver finished his brother's sentence and put a hand on his hip. "This is cute and all, but like... we're killer robots."
Tails only got bolder. "I think you're just saying that." He ventured as he neatened a bedsheet. "You guys seem to pick and choose which rules are too "organic" for you as you see fit." He bit his lip after speaking, impressed at how brave he was being, but also nervous about losing Silver's approval. "You won't even consider not being evil because it's too "abstract" or "organic", but you'll quite happily play a video game with me?"
Silver pouted at him. "I thought that gaming session was gonna be a secret. Not cool." He crossed his arms and sighed. "Listen... things are real complicated at the moment. We've got a lot goin' on and you know that-
Mecha sat up straight and sharply looked up to the window. His movements were more stiff and robotic than usual, which caught Neo's attention at once. He waited to see if Mecha would say anything, but he didn't - instead, he quickly rose to his feet and strode over to the window, staring outside at nothing. Concerned, Neo jumped up to his feet and moved to stand beside Mecha.
That was when he felt it too. Something was wrong.
Neo narrowed his optics as he looked this way and that. Infrared and bio-tracking detected nothing, but that did not rule out robots. Nothing mechanical pinged back either, but that meant nothing in light of this. Perhaps GUN had perfected foiling his scanners by now. He cursed internally and set his scanners to a wider sweep. Now, a feeling like panic rose in him, sending energy to his limbs and taking his CPU clock rate higher. All of his scans registered nothing, yet they were definitely being hunted by something. He tried to apply logic to the situation, but it evaded him. There was nothing logical about fear of nothing!
Silver walked up behind them, frowning. "What is it?"
Mecha slowly took a step in front of Silver to protect him and lowered his head.
Tails gave Sonic a concerned look before looking over to the three. "Hey, guys? Mind telling us what's going on?"
Silver looked back to Tails and shrugged a shoulder.
Neo cast the slightest of glances to Sonic and Tails. His optics narrowed accusingly, but he said nothing. If either of them had sold the brothers out, he was going to make them pay with blood. Sonic met his optics and shook his head. He knew what Neo would be thinking. Neo held his eyes for a long moment before dipping his head and looking back outside.
That was when Neo and Mecha detected the threat. The thrum of a modified engine was unique against the din of the city traffic. The enemy must be close enough to detect now, and there was one main enemy they had already fought who used cloaking technology at a distance...
Mecha suddenly grabbed Silver, pushed him into Sonic and Tails, and shoved all of them to the floor in one smooth motion. At the same time, Neo revved his engine loudly and jumped out of the window before shooting off into the city in a blur.
"Mecha, what gives?! Hey!" Sonic yelped and tried to struggle out from under the robot, who held them firmly down. "Let go of me-"
Silver pressed his hand over the hedgehog's mouth and growled at him. "Shush. Somebody found us. That's the only reason Mecha would act like that." He withdrew his hand and looked up at Mecha. "Right, bro?"
Mecha nodded and released them, but motioned for the three to stay down. He slipped back over to the window and pressed his back to the wall and ran every scan he could throw at the situation. "We have been detected by the military." He looked down to the laptop, which was peeking out from under the blankets on the floor. He lingered on it for a moment.
Silver's systems turned cold. Had he drawn attention to them by deleting that file? His regret got the better of him and he spoke up. "U-Uh, Mecha, I think it's my fault. I messed around on the database last night..." He admitted, his voice wavering with guilt. "I didn't mean to cause a problem, I promise."
Mecha regarded him with a slight nod of his head. "Do not fret. We will navigate this situation as it unfolds, for what is done is done."
"Okay." Silver nervously responded and sighed. He was about to look away in shame, but Mecha's gaze rested on him again and he hesitantly made eye contact.
"Trust me." Mecha told him, sounding confident. "It is possible to make a mistake and still win."
Silver smiled up at him. It was then that he remembered that Mecha was a natural commander... He wasn't going to berate Silver for making a mistake - he was going to figure out the most efficient way to get them out of the problem. He nodded with fresh determination and tried to put his mistake to one side. "Yeah. Roger that, commander Mecha."
"Stay down. Do not leave this building." Mecha told them again. A distinct authoritative tone underlined his words. "I must leave to assist my brother. If you require my protection, ask Silver to ping me." He then vaulted out of the window and blasted off after Neo in a cloud of smoke.
Mecha's scanners now quickly detected a familiar enemy. It was travelling away from their location at high speeds - Neo must have been leading it away from the city. That was something he never would have done in the past.
It didn't take long to catch up. Mecha spotted Neo and the enemy locked in a deadly spar already. He came to a stop and hovered several hundred feet away, watching intently. Moving in now could distract his brother, and he didn't want that. It would render him less efficient at his task.
The gold-coloured robot swung its deadly lance at Neo. The sheer power launched a destructive energy wave that sent gold light through the air. Neo simply calculated where to dodge and moved. The other robot estimated where Neo would go and fired several missiles at him. Neo activated his black shield and deflected the first six, but the seventh broke through. He clumsily grappled with it in his hand, suddenly hyper-aware of the civilization beneath them. It would be so easy to just let it go over his shoulder whilst it still had momentum. Maybe it would destroy the useless buildings below him. Maybe even take Sonic out too, if he could throw it that way hard enough! But, for once, it was just a fleeting thought. He regarded the impulse and then let it go.
He looked up at the Egg Emperor and his optics brightened. His thirst for vengeance on GUN spurred him on to fight.
They took and deeply harmed his brother. They hacked one of his ex-soldiers in his own home. They nearly got Silver killed. And now they were dragging their feud into a public space! Where civilians could be harmed by the fallout! He had to laugh. Was the military not there to protect? Humans. So fickle in their intentions! So unworthy of his mercy. He had never been so elated to have the upper hand in battle! And his pent-up rage from interacting with Sonic only added more fuel to the fire!
So, just how many times would they play this game? It didn't matter. Neo decided he wasn't playing.
He took the missile in one hand, tested its weight, and then threw it right back as hard as he could. Precisely as it left his hand, he punched it with the other. The projectile moved too quickly for the other robot to process, and it broke through its torso cockpit with frightening ease. Neo hovered in place, admiring his handiwork with pride written all over his face. Judging by the lack of blood and screaming, the robot wasn't being manually piloted this time.
Mecha noticed this from afar. If nobody was controlling the Egg Emperor from within, then... where was the remote user, and where was the rest of the military? He looked around with a fresh sense of urgency. This wouldn't be the only mech after them. Not only that, but now he knew that GUN wasn't above playing dirty to get the upper hand. For a moment, he turned away from the fight in front of him to look around. But then his scanners detected something approaching quickly from behind. It didn't register as robotic or organic and moved too quickly to be either, too. He boosted himself up using his jet engine in an instant and a missile screamed by where he had been. He sent an energy blast after it to destroy it.
Then, Neo and Mecha's optics met.
Neo's optics darted from Mecha to the Egg Emperor several times.
"Go back."
Mecha moved closer, insistent. "I am not leaving you."
"I cannot allow you to be harmed again. Please go back."
"You are not invincible. It is not always wise to act alone."
"Mecha, go-"
As if to underline Neo's words, the Egg Emperor now targeted Mecha. It went from a standstill to a blur straight at him. Mecha had shown weakness before at the hands of this machine - he was an easy target to GUN, especially after what had happened to him.
Mecha froze in place. It was as if his processor had stalled. He stared straight ahead at the golden lance that rushed to meet him.
It hadn't hurt when it happened. He didn't feel pain, after all. It was what came after. The dark cell he awoke in. The ceaseless questions and accusations. The restraints. The sensory overload over and over again. And when the infection hit...
Neo was there in an instant. He swerved in front of Mecha at breakneck speed. Just before the deadly weapon could scathe his brother, Neo slammed his hand up against it and held it up. His arm shook with the strain and his optics squinted more and more the longer he held his position. He looked back at Mecha, silently pleading with him to move, and quickly.
Everything had slipped away so easily - his control over himself, his control over what happened to him. And then the intrusive thoughts came. Acting in ways that hurt his brother, after. That hurt. That hurt, he decided. Acting in ways that caused harm to his loved ones was the worst pain of all.
Mecha met Neo's optics with fear. Seeing this, Neo's desperate look softened. He reached back with his other hand and grasped Mecha's in his. He held it tightly and inclined his head towards him to show confidence in him.
"I've got you."
Mecha stared blankly at him. His hand shook and Neo just held it tighter. He moved his hand so that his fingers intertwined with his brother's. Mecha looked down at their hands and then back up at his brother.
The situation suddenly registered in his head, and just in time. He saw the robot's shield about to come down on Neo - he couldn't allow that!
Mecha yanked Neo back into himself and shot backwards as quickly as he could. The shield narrowly missed them both. Mecha released Neo quickly and boosted himself in front of the other robot with renewed resolve.
The Egg Emperor swung for Mecha again. This time he met it head-on. He dodged to one side, then up, and then landed several well-placed blows on the golden machine. He moved faster than ever before, too quick for the machine to keep up - it had clocked his speed so much lower in their last fight.
Fighting this hollow shell of a robot brought a strange type of closure. It had caused him to end up in that situation in the first place. Beating it now was like affirming that it wouldn't happen again. And this time, there was nobody piloting it from within.
That did leave a remote user, though. And unbeknownst to Mecha and Neo, their GUN contact worked from a distance to help them now. The Egg Emperor's remote access was shut down. Without any input on what to do, the machine's movements were slower and less calculated. It was no match for the two brothers in this state.
Mecha deliberately shot up above the machine and then slammed his feet down into its head as hard as he could.
It lost power and started to fall down to the ground below, luckily quite far from the city now. Mecha followed intently. Neo hesitated before giving chase - something was wrong here. Mecha wouldn't normally go after an enemy if it was already down, right? As he touched down a few feet away, he watched his older brother continue to attack. He gave him space for a moment.
Mecha kept going. He landed punch after punch on the defeated robot. The metal beneath his fists gave way with every heavy blow. Sparks flew from the scratched and dented metal plating. And he kept going.
Neo slowly walked up behind him against his better judgement. "Mecha."
Mecha either ignored him or didn't hear him. He tore into the other machine until his knuckles were dented and blackened from the loss of paint.
Neo gently rested a hand on Mecha's shoulder. "You need to st-"
Without warning, Mecha spun around and swung a clenched fist in Neo's face. Neo staggered backwards - Mecha was strong, and he was taken off guard. He held his cheek plate and stared at Mecha.
Mecha stared back at him. His was visor a bright and glaring red and his body shook as if containing the worst rage he had ever felt.
The two brothers stared each other down for a long minute.
Mecha's engine revved aggressively, while Neo stood calmly opposite him.
How strange it was for their usual roles to be reversed.
Something clicked in Mecha's head. He took a step back and slowly put his hands up in surrender. "I hit you. I hit you."
Neo looked at him softly. "It was my fault. I should have given you space."
"I hit you."
"Mecha-"
"I hurt you."
Neo flinched at the twinge of pain in Mecha's voice. It was unlike him to speak like that - it almost made him nauseous to hear. The only time he had sounded like that was when he was attacked by that terrible virus. He took a couple of steps towards Mecha and put his hands up, too.
"You are forgiven. My forgiveness will always be yours."
"Why."
"Because you are my brother."
"I hit you again."
"I am aware."
"I do not want to hurt you."
"You did not mean it. So, it does not hurt."
"Do not lie to me."
"I would not do that."
Mecha slowly nodded. He lowered his hands back down. Then, he turned and looked back at the broken robot behind him.
"I-" Mecha stopped, staring down at his hands. "I won."
"You did."
"I won this time."
"Yes, you-"
Mecha cracked. Without warning, he threw himself at Neo and pulled him into the tightest hug he could give with shaking arms. He buried his muzzle into the crook of Neo's neck and clicked sadly.
Neo gently wrapped his arms around his brother and held him tight. It was times like this where Neo hated that his brother couldn't feel touch like he could...
"I did it. I did it. I-I did it." Mecha stammered out. His voice synthesizer wavered with his anxiety and newfound anger.
Neo pulled back slightly and rested his forehead against Mecha's. "I saw. You defeated it like it was nothing."
"I did it."
"You did. I'm proud of you, brother." Neo gently took Mecha's marred hands in his and ran his thumbs over the flaking paint. When he looked down at them, he noticed how his brother's fingers twitched ever so slightly from the damage done to the joints. He ventilated sadly and looked back up at him.
Mecha couldn't stop shaking. He looked down at the ground as if to avoid Neo's optics.
Neo held Mecha's face in his hands and tipped his head back up. "Mecha. Look at me."
Mecha slowly made eye contact with him but said nothing.
"It is okay to feel."
"It scares me."
"Yes. Before, you did not have to process the tragedies that you have gone through. It was safer not to feel."
"I accomplish my tasks and nothing more. My missions are not tragedies. They are simply-"
"Mecha." Neo put his hands on his brother's shoulders and looked at him pointedly. "You are traumatized."
Mecha held his optics for a long moment. "I do not wish to be... that. I do not like it. It makes me hurt you."
Neo listened to him with a gentle nod. "I understand. But do not make this about me. You are the one who is suffering, you must think about yourself."
Mecha tried his best to understand this, tilting his head this way and that. "Think about myself..?"
"You are my brother. I love you and I am proud of you." Neo reminded him. "No number of punches to the face will change that."
"Are you certain of this?"
"Do you trust me?"
"I trust you."
"There is your answer."
"Affirmative." Mecha lingered on it for a second. "What are the terms and conditions of this... love."
Neo let out the smallest laugh at his sibling's straightforwardness. "There are none. I will always be proud of you."
Mecha's head lifted ever so slightly and his shoulders squared back. He gave a nod, seeming to return to his usual self. "Affirmative. I will log this in my memory banks for further scrutiny."
A distinct smile came over Neo's optics. He motioned for Mecha to follow him. "Do as you please." He looked back to check that Mecha was following. "I am always proud of you and Silver. You may recall that memory as often as you need."
Mecha stopped, and Neo stopped with him. Neo tilted his head. "What?"
Mecha played Neo's sentence back at him through his speakers and watched the other robot's expression twist into embarrassment. "I will ensure that I play this for Silver. It may boost their efficiency by an estimated 10%."
Neo squinted at him.
Mecha looked at him innocently.
Flustered, Neo turned on his heel and kept walking.
"You love him." Mecha stated, following behind his sibling. "Why is it difficult for you to convey that. You appear to have little problem conveying the same message to me."
"I do." Neo responded flatly, looking down at the ground. He clenched a fist. "And I would maim any being who so much as scratches his paint." He uncurled his hand and sighed. "He is my little sibling. Our relationship is... different."
"He angers you."
"And I rile them." Neo affirmed that with a smirk about his voice. "As their older sibling, it is my duty to tease them- "
He stopped cold in his tracks.
Mecha stopped by his side and tilted his head.
Neo reached up to his ear and sent a ping to Silver. Nothing came back. He slowly lowered his hand and looked at Mecha.
They shared a long look of dread.
"I believe we are drawing the same conclusion." Mecha said slowly. He tuned his auditory sensors this way and that, listening for any unusual sounds against the background of the city behind them. "There is military presence nearby."
Neo didn't wait. He grabbed Mecha's hand and shot off into the air, only releasing Mecha once his own jet engine had come online again.
Either Silver was badly hurt, or the military was scrambling all communications to throw them off.
Neither scenario would do.
Sonic leaned his elbow against his knee and rested his chin on his hand. "I can't believe I'm takin' orders from my worst enemies."
"Your worst enemies so far!" Silver "corrected" him with a smile. "Don't worry, our pops will probably end up making like, a hundred more robo Sonics."
"That's reassuring," Sonic muttered. "I don't know what I'd do with my time if I didn't have more metal me's to trash."
"Well, why don't you trash me?" Silver asked him, genuinely interested. "Is it just because I don't scowl like Metal or look menacing like Mecha?"
Sonic sat up and gave him a concerned look. "Kiddo, think back to everything we've talked about. You're practically one of us."
Silver stared at him. "What do you mean, one of you?" He squinted at Sonic and leaned forward on his hands. "I'm not about to become a hero if that's what you think! I'm loyal to my bros before anything or anyone else."
"Nah, I figured." Sonic stretched his arms up and yawned. "I mean more like, you're practically a person like us. Why would I wanna trash you?"
The robot sat back and sighed. "S'ppose so." There was a small silence that made him think more into it. He folded his arms on his knees. "I got it all wrong..." He nestled his forehead into his arms and sighed. "I always said... robots are easy. They say they wanna kill you and then, spoiler alert, they kill you, and that organics pretend to be your friend first." He lifted his head and looked at Sonic and Tails. "But that line isn't so clear cut, is it?"
"Well... nobody can really blame you!" Tails tried to reassure him with a smile. "I mean, you're only days old, right?"
"Yeah. I think I was just- I was just scared." Silver looked down and paused for a moment. "The only interaction I had with an organic being at first was when I was kinda just... abandoned by one." He seemed to realize something upon saying that, and made eye contact with Sonic. "And my AI chip just kinda kept growing more uh, complicated I guess. I wasn't really sure of what I was, and... it was easier to just run away from that feeling. So... now I know how shit Metal must feel every day. To not know what you are, it sucks."
Tails looked at him with sympathy. "That's a lot. B-but look on the bright side!"
Silver looked at him pointedly.
"You can decide who you are. You get to create yourself." Tails offered him a small smile. "You're not just another mindless robot."
Silver nodded and sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Guess so. Thanks, fox boy." He softened and gave a small laugh. "Identity is a game and I'm just kinda glitching through the walls."
He straightened all of a sudden and looked over to the door. Without saying anything, he slowly stood up and crept over to it. His body language gave away his stress, and Sonic and Tails looked at each other.
Silver tuned his auditory sensors carefully. When he did, he easily picked up the distinct sound of military boots on the flooring in the reception. And they were moving towards their room.
"Those GUN morons are here." Silver murmured. "I gotta go, they'll be here for m-"
The door was suddenly kicked down in front of him and several rifles and pistols pointed in his face.
"Sonic the hedgehog, come quietly!"
Silver immediately put himself in front of Sonic and Tails with his arm out to protect them. His expression instantly turned serious.
"You are harbouring a fugitive! Come quietly and we'll talk!"
Silver scoffed at them. "Come quietly my ass." He took a step forward. "I know how you guys roll now. You don't give a damn about anyone but yourselves!"
A soldier made the mistake of moving closer to him with a pistol to intimidate him. Silver just shook his head, swiped it out from their hands, and turned it on them. "You wanna play this game, huh?" He pulled the top slide towards himself until there was a click, and pointed it at each soldier in turn. "I can play too. Don't think I won't pull this trigger..."
Behind him, Sonic put his hands up and walked up to him. "C'mon kiddo. You don't need to shoot anybody here."
Silver grit his teeth and held the pistol steady. "You don't know what they're capable of, Sonic." He lowered his head and glared at the logo on their uniforms. "I'm not letting them hurt you too." He cast a slight glance over his shoulder upon hearing helicopters and riot vans outside. "You think they brought all this firepower just to have a chat with us? No way. No freaking way."
One of the soldiers reached for their radio whilst Silver was distracted.
"The robot fugitive has hostages. Bring all forces to our location."
Tails piped up from behind Silver in disbelief. "No he doesn't! You came in here with guns!"
Silver just snickered at the ridiculousness of it all. "Robots are always the bad guys, right? Everyone knows that." He twirled the pistol around his trigger finger. "Watch out everyone, big scary murder robot is just standing here menacingly!"
As if to underline his words, Neo and Mecha came back. They were instantly on either side of Silver, protective as ever - Neo was angry, and Mecha was distraught that this nightmare of an organization was threatening his brother. The three of them were formidable together, and the soldiers instantly backed up.
"Machines, give yourselves up..." Came a familiar voice from behind the row of soldiers. They parted to let their commander through with looks of surprise. Upon seeing the three standing there, he sneered with disgust. "... and we will forget about Sonic the hedgehog's little misdeed."
Mecha suddenly froze in place. Slowly, he backed away just one step - he wanted to protect his siblings, but he was afraid. He steeled himself before stepping forward again. The two strongest feelings in him fought with one another... The desire to defend his siblings against the deep-set fear of that terrible commander.
"Not a chance in hell!" Silver snapped at him and stepped forward, aiming at him with intent. "You're not getting your slimy hands on them ever again! Got that?"
The commander looked down at Silver's hand and smirked. "Your hand is shaking, little robot. Are you broken?"
Silver stole a look to his hand and found that it was indeed trembling - but not with fear. He growled and glared up at the human with renewed anger. "You would know about breaking things, wouldn't you? You're a sicko. Stay away from my brothers or I'll pull this trigger."
"Look, guys, nobody needs to get hurt-" Sonic tried to intervene, but Neo stepped in front of all of them, where he blocked Silver's aim deliberately.
Silver slowly lowered his pistol in disbelief. "W-Wait, what are you doing?"
"I give up." Neo signed. "Take me, leave them."
Silver almost couldn't believe it. "You're not serious right now."
Neo looked back at him and signed, "trust me." He gave a wink with one optic and turned back. "If we can get inside their base, I can destroy the technology that they stole from us, eliminate the virus completely, and delete everything they have on Mecha. Having been inside before, I know the layout well." He didn't turn around to look at Sonic, instead turning his head ever so slightly towards him. "Protect Mecha in exchange for your freedom. This conflict will not end until someone settles it."
Silver let his fingers slowly uncurl from around the pistol in his hand. Begrudgingly, he lifted it and let it drop to the floor. "Me too. I give up too. Just leave Mecha out of it." His breakdown from that night was fresh in his mind, and his thoughts of Neo coming home in pieces were too hard to bear. So before Neo could tell him not to give himself up, the deed was already done.
"Very well. So be it." The commander snapped his fingers and the soldiers immediately cuffed the two robots. "You're coming with us for... questioning."
"You didn't say there'd be a test." Silver quipped as he tested the cuffs. "I didn't study. What a shame."
Neo looked back at Mecha, who stared at him in terror and disbelief.
"Brother, this is not safe. I implore you to re-think your decision." Mecha begged him. "Allow me to come with you. I must protect you."
Neo shook his head. "Stay. We will not be gone for long."
"It'll be okay, bro. Don't worry about a thing." Silver reassured him with a smile. "Princess Neo and I got this."
Mecha could scream. How were they so calm? Could they not see the danger? He went to touch Neo, but a rifle in his side pushed him away. "You could come to great harm. Do not do this."
"Trust me."
"I..." Mecha hesitated and shakily lowered his hand. "I trust you."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
Mecha felt sick as his brothers left with the very group that had ripped his mind apart without mercy. He tried to follow, but Sonic grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Tails hooked his arm around Mecha's other arm to help.
"I'm sorry, buddy. He asked me to protect you." Sonic apologized with a sigh. "Let's just try to chillax now, okay?"
Mecha stared at the floor in shock. His brothers might not ever come back. And he was supposed to just accept that? He felt powerless all over again, just like he did back in that black hole of a cell. He didn't register either of the two organics speaking to him, or that they had made him sit down on the floor.
"Why."
The rainbow that graced the sky outside seemed to mock him.
A/N: alternate chapter title: tfw you're a murder machine but you also have crippling anxiety, metal stays on the sigma grindset, and silver played COD once so now he's a gun expert