A/N: hooo boy okay trigger warning for self harm and suicidal ideation
The sun was in a rush to come down. With it came the cover they needed.
GUN's fortress was just over a hundred miles from their current position.
Sonic ran like the wind down the expanse of dirt roads. While they were made of packed gravel for the most part, they cut through dark green hills and were obviously graded for vehicles. This was the perfect racetrack for the world's fastest hedgehog - he could really extend himself now and push his body to the limit. Or, he would, if he didn't have a murder machine and his little brother behind him to keep an eye on.
After some time, Mecha naturally moved ahead and took the lead. To anyone looking in from the outside, it could appear like he was asserting some kind of authority - but that couldn't be further than the truth. As the group moved, Mecha continuously scanned his surroundings, purposely catching the two organics in his radar - keeping check on their vitals. Any time Tails showed signs of tiring, Mecha would deliberately shorten his strides, moving closer to the fox in case he needed help.
"Hey Mecha, you ever think about Sky Sanctuary Zone? It's kinda funny that we're running side by side like this in hindsight."
"I have not needed to recall that situation. Is it supposed to be humorous, given our current circumstances?"
"Yeah."
"I do not understand what is-" Mecha started, before abruptly cutting off and pulling back. Just as he had predicted, the fox above him had grown tired - Mecha jumped a little, caught Tails in his arms, and kept going.
"Woah! U-um, thanks." Tails stammered, his face quickly growing hot with a mixture of embarrassment and surprise. The idea of being held by the older brother of Sonic's arch-enemy made his hackles stand on end for a moment - until he remembered that Mecha had proven trustworthy already. He tried his best to relax, but it was difficult. He was still an attempted murderer. It wasn't easy to just forget that part. At least Silver had never done anything of the sort...
"Okay guys, pit stop!" Sonic announced, then skidded to a stop. He didn't want his little brother to get too tired. Mecha came to a stop too and carefully set the fox down on his feet, who gave a thankful smile and slung his backpack off onto the ground.
Sonic watched, and as he did, a small smirk came over him. "Sometimes you do such a good job of being a good guy - I forget you're kinda like, one of the bad guys."
"Indeed." Mecha said simply.
"I could say the same about all of you, though," Sonic added with a wave of his hand, "especially Silv."
Mecha met his eyes and gave a nod. "I must be honest, hedgehog. It was... Pleasant, to see you acting as a relative to Silver," he said as he walked over to Sonic, "you performed adequately. Therefore, you deserve more credit than I have given you."
Sonic smiled warmly at him and rubbed the back of his head. "Really, it's nothing-"
Mecha reached out, took Sonic's free hand, and shook it. "Thank you."
Sonic paused, taken off guard - and then returned the shake with a bigger smile. "You're welcome."
Mecha let go as gently as he could, as if afraid to hurt Sonic - which he was, he didn't want to hurt someone who was good to his brothers, after all. He moved away to put some space between them as his anxiety got the better of him. But as soon as he did this, Sonic bounced up to stand by Mecha's side in a way that almost perfectly mirrored Silver. Mecha privately noticed this and would have smiled, if he could. He folded his arms and let out a small chuckle.
"Hey. Whatever this is, we should do it more often." Sonic suggested with a smile.
Mecha gave a nod. "I would agree, hedgehog. That would be my preference as well, if not for the obvious underlying issues with such an arrangement."
They were quiet for a moment, both thinking the same thing - though neither would voice it outright for a while.
Neo.
"I know he hates me. He always will, that's not gonna change," Sonic said, quieter, "but I'll get through to him."
Mecha looked at him. "I assume you are referring to Metal Sonic."
Sonic nodded. "Yeah. Even if he hates me, he's still..."
"Family."
"Bingo."
"Your attempts may be in vain. His programming is strong." Mecha dismissed him.
"I know," Sonic agreed with him and gave a soft sigh, "but let's face it. He's not the same as he was. I think he can change."
"Must he change?"
"If he wants to." Sonic jumped up onto a rock and looked out across the horizon. It was almost endless, just more roads, more hills. "That's something the guy's gotta figure out on his own. And if he wants to, then, well... I'll be around, waiting. Whether it's for a rematch or something a bit less violent."
Mecha cocked his head to one side. "I must remind you that this allegiance between us all is temporary, even with the revelation that we are loosely related."
"Yeah yeah, I know." Sonic then gave him a thoughtful look. "Can I ask something?"
"You just did." Mecha responded flatly, echoing his father's words perfectly.
"I- Sure, right." Sonic stifled a laugh at the robot's bluntness before continuing. "You're a robot, and you're chill with that, right? So is making friends and having family not a weakness to you?"
Mecha pondered that for a long moment. "My brothers have taught me several things about this that have remedied my past misconceptions, as have you. Family is not a weakness. It is a strength." He paused, hopping up onto the rock to stand beside Sonic. "Whether it's through blood relation or through the people you meet - it's those you carry with you wherever you go. Those who fight for you, challenge you when you are wrong, who love you. Those who show up when you need them."
"Cheesy." Sonic rubbed a finger under his nose and grinned. "You must love your bros a lot."
Mecha gave a nod. "I have learned that love," he looked down at his hands, turning them over thoughtfully, "requires being present even when one's damage makes them impossible."
"You have a big heart, Mecha." Sonic commented, again finding himself surprised but humbled at the robot's newfound depth.
"I am incapable of suffering from cardiomegaly." Mecha stated.
Sonic snorted in reply. "Not even gonna respond to that."
"You just did." Mecha repeated themselves smugly.
Sonic, without warning, reached over and patted Mecha just a bit too hard on the back. Mecha's posture snapped into a straight and tall position and, without any other warning, he spun around and slammed his fist into Sonic's face. Sonic was sent sprawling to the ground with a crack.
"Mecha!" Sonic yelled, blood spilling down his chin as he scrambled back on his elbows. "What the hell dude!"
Mecha hopped down from the rock and advanced on him as if he couldn't hear him, void of any pity as he prepared to strike again.
Tails immediately put himself between the robot and the hedgehog with his arms out defensively. He bared his fangs at Mecha and flattened his ears in warning.
"What are you doing?! I thought you were our friend!" Tails cried.
Mecha stopped in front of Tails and looked down at him, regarding him with a vacant stare.
Sonic's freshly bruised face hardened. His eyes narrowed and his lips curled into a wry smile. Was this a trick? Had they fallen for a scheme after all? Once an Egghead 'bot, always an Egghead 'bot, right?
"Do not touch me." Mecha said in a low voice. "I am warning you."
Sonic's face softened again and his mouth fell open in a silent "oh." This wasn't some ploy. It was the trauma. Of course. He wiped his chin with his thumb as he got up onto one knee, where he then put his hands up in surrender.
"Easy, buddy. Easy. Let's not fight." Sonic said quietly.
Mecha kept his stare fixed on Tails like a wild animal. He moved closer, forcing Tails to take a step back to avoid him. The fox's fur bristled and stood on end, and he crouched slightly, ready to spring to defend Sonic at any cost.
"If you want to fight him, you'll have to go through me!" Tails declared, hiding the slight waver in his voice well enough to pass as confident.
"Do not touch me. You are not authorized to-"
Mecha stopped. Realization dawned on him all at once. What was he even saying? They weren't the enemy right now! Fear and shame overloaded his systems and he scrambled back, falling onto his own backside and staring up at the two organics before him. He pressed a hand to his back and shielded his face with his other arm as if expecting a blow. The lights built into his wrists flashed on in a bright red, a warning to stay away, far away.
Sonic approached slowly, still with his hands up, and knelt down a small distance from the panicked machine.
"Easy. You're okay." Sonic told him quietly. He couldn't help but pity the robot in front of him - the same machine who had once fought him without a shred of fear. It humbled him to see what had become of his once-enemy, and his chest ached at the retrospect of it all.
Slowly and warily, Mecha lowered his arm, peering over it at Sonic.
"I hurt you." Mecha said, barely audible as he had turned down his vocalizer's volume. "The bad memories make me hurt people. I apologize. I apologize."
"You didn't mean it," Sonic reassured him, "the bad memories don't make you bad."
Finally, in a low whisper, Mecha said, "I believe I might be a bad person."
For one second, Sonic thought he was about to confess to something terrible, maybe a murder, maybe some other awful crime. But then he realized that, in actuality, everyone thought they might be bad, in some way. But they only revealed that before asking someone to love them. A kind of dismantling. Saying, you've seen my darkness, so what now? What happens now?
Well, what happens is - you see it, acknowledge it, and let it exist just as authentically as the light. And Sonic knew that better than anyone.
Sonic shook his head. "You're not. The bad things that happened to you don't make you bad."
Mecha let his arm down onto his knees and looked down. He said nothing.
"I'm sorry for touching you without asking. I shouldn't've done that."
"I apologize." Mecha murmured, ashamed.
"You're forgiven."
Mecha finally met his eyes. "You sound just like my brother."
Sonic straightened a little at that, but then relaxed and smiled. "Yeah. Guess we are alike."
Tails moved to stand next to Sonic, wringing his hands with concern. "Sonic, are you okay?"
Sonic wiped his face before giving his sibling a thumbs-up. Tails sighed in relief and rubbed his forehead, turning his attention to his brother's robot double next.
"Are... you okay?" Tails asked warily, taking a cautious step closer to him.
Mecha nodded. "Affirmative. I apologize for threatening you. It was not my intention. I... lost control."
"... Sonic, can we talk?" Tails asked in a whisper. He walked a small distance away from Mecha and Sonic followed.
"Sure, buddy. What's on your mind?" Sonic questioned him with his head cocked to one side.
Tails looked over his shoulder at Mecha and frowned. "Are you sure we can trust him?"
Sonic's expression turned serious. "You've seen me in my, no pun intended, darkest moments when I lose all control. Do you trust me, even with that?"
"Of course I do, Sonic. It doesn't bother me!"
"These guys have their own darkness, that's all. I would be a hypocrite to turn them away after seeing it."
"Yeah, you're right... I just worry. I mean, he just hit you!"
"It's complicated, lil' buddy. It wasn't his fault."
"But what if he hit me?"
"Then I would deal with it. I wouldn't let you get hurt."
"And I hate seeing you get hurt. How do you think I feel?"
Sonic wiped his bloodstained glove on his chest - the dampness was starting to irk him. "I hear you, lil' bro. I do. But I'm okay, and nothing's gonna happen now. It was just a mistake."
Tails glanced back to Mecha and grimaced. "It's not like getting hit by a living person, Sonic. He's... He's..."
"A robot. I gotcha. They tend to have very hard fists, and I would know. It's not the first time I've been socked by a 'bot."
"I wish you weren't so casual about things sometimes," Tails sighed in exasperation and rubbed his face, "I worry."
"I appreciate you lookin' out for me, buddy, but really, it's gonna be fine from here."
Mecha turned down the sensitivity of his auditory receptors. He didn't want to hear their conversation, especially not when it was about something he was so ashamed of. Instead, he turned his focus back to his mission. His brothers. They needed him, even if they had pushed him away to keep him safe.
As the darkness inevitably came over the world ahead of him, Mecha took off on his own.
He had taught himself to love. Now he had to teach himself to cope.
"... So that's pretty much the whole thrilling saga." Silver concluded, having explained Mecha's predicament to the Egg Pawn before him.
"That sounds..."
"Insane. Yeah. I know. Which is why you gotta get out of here, stat."
"Okay. So what now?"
"You a multitasker? Think you can run and fight?"
Silver put one foot behind the other and crouched a little as soldiers and mechs came towards them, his engine already revving up at the prospect of action.
The Egg Pawn stammered, "I-I don't have any weapons like you!"
"You don't need any. Look behind you."
Right on cue, a familiar navy blue robot came down with a bang right behind the Egg Pawn. The Pawn startled and jumped away before whirling back around to face him. As Neo stood up and straightened, the other robot backed away, their systems flooded with cold terror.
"That's- I- He-"
Silver reached over and patted the 'bot's head. "That's your ticket out of here."
The Pawn stared at Neo dubiously. "You're kidding me. No. No way. This is a trap."
Neo stepped around the robot to stand in front of them protectively. He lowered his head and flexed his claws in anticipation of a fight.
"No. Whether you believe it or not, we're all family here." Silver told them confidently and moved to stand beside his brother. "And us hedgehog-series don't give up on family. We're making sure you get out safe, together."
"What about the other Pawns here?! I can't just leave them!" The Pawn blurted out.
"No 'bot gets left behind." Silver told them over his shoulder with a smile.
For a small moment, Silver's smile dropped - talking to this Pawn about family brought back thoughts of the one he had fought against, the one who had been alive. He wished he was standing there saying the same thing to them right now. No more would befall the same fate. None. Everyone would be going home today.
Seeing that they were running out of time, the Pawn turned and sped off to the nearest exit in a panic. Their panic soon subsided, though, at the reassurance of having two murder machines covering their back. Silver hopped and skipped backwards, training his forearm lasers on the robots that marched towards them, and Neo followed suit, keeping his claws ready to slash if anyone came too close. A soldier dared to press forward just a little too close for comfort, and Neo held up a hand and flexed his claws in warning - it was enough to get them to back up. But a glimmer of his murderous programming almost, so corrosively almost, dared him to take a swipe - but he resisted, kept resisting, until-
The Pawn slipped out through an opening in the gate and looked back to wave.
"Thank you!"
Silver grinned after them and waved back. "See ya back home! Be safe!"
Neo was too focused to look back, so he just lifted a hand in a passive wave that could be seen over his shoulder. As soon as the fleeing robot was out of scanning range, Neo snapped back to what was most important - his brother. Neo grabbed Silver by his arm and took off into the air above the robots and soldiers clamoring towards them. Once his feet were off the ground Silver activated his own jet engine and hovered on his own.
"I can fly by myself," Silver told him with a poke of his tongue, "where to now?"
Neo nodded his head towards another building in the base - the armoury. Silver's face lit up, and he yelled a silent "yes!" before darting off in that direction. The two touched down at the door - not that two murder robots with an arsenal built into them needed one - and they kicked it in without a shred of fear.
"You did well back there. For a psychopath, I mean." Silver teased Neo with a smirk and a nudge to the side.
"That means a lot coming from a good example of mental health like you." Neo signed back with a slightly harder nudge in return.
They stepped over the broken door and looked around.
That was when a realization dawned on the two of them, and a sick sort of anger flooded Neo's systems. He had expected weapons in an armoury, of course - all of them, and a training area, all of the normal resources inside such a building. But not this. Not Egg Pawns, deactivated, stored as weapons to be used. GUN logos stamped onto their chest armour.
Neo's nausea only grew stronger. His hands curled into fists at his sides and he bowed his head in shame.
Silver looked at him and sighed. "It's barbaric. I know."
Neo let a quiet hiss escape him and he turned his head away before signing, "I used them as weapons too."
Silver slowly nodded in understanding. "I know you did. They... told me."
Neo turned away and rubbed his arms, then his face, shaking his head. Silver went to touch him, and in a sudden flash of anger the other robot spun on his heel and smashed his clenched fist into the wall. It easily left a dent, and he left it there for a moment, eyeing the damage he had caused. It felt good. It felt so good! Destroying things felt so natural, but shameful at the same time, and it confused him.
Silver was quiet for a moment behind him. He looked his brother up and down, and then sighed and closed the gap he had created between them. A hand came to rest on his back, just above his engine, and it stayed, unafraid of the storm beneath it.
"Hey. Don't lose your cool." Silver murmured gently, letting a small, kind smile come over him. "It's okay. Let's make things right. We'll do it as many times as it takes."
Slowly, Neo pulled his fist away and opened it. He looked at it for a moment, before resting his palm on the dent he had made and letting air out of his vents in a sigh. After a moment he gave a nod. With Silver's hand guiding him, he turned back to face the situation in front of him.
"C'mon princess. We got 'bots to free." Silver gave him a pat before walking off towards the Pawns lined up against the walls. One by one, he walked along and activated them with a touch of a button on the back of their heads. Neo followed suit on the other side until they met at the end. Once they met up, they turned around and waited.
Like clockwork, each Pawn came back online, all equally as confused by their situation - and soon enough, all optics were on the two robots standing on the other side of the room. Silver gave Neo a nudge and smiled, telling him without words what he had to do. Neo took a step in front of him and steadied his shaking hands.
"You are free now," Neo signed as calmly as he could, "go home."
"What happened to us?" A Pawn asked, baffled.
"Did GUN deactivate us?!" Another questioned in disbelief.
"Do not trust GUN," Neo told them, his hand movements growing more confident, "it isn't safe here. They will use you."
Silver stepped up next to him. "You heard the 'bot. Get home as quick as you can, we'll get you a change of clothes later." He nodded his head to the GUN logo on the closest Pawn's chest. "It's not the cutest look on you guys."
One robot left, then another, until all of them scattered outside. Neo strode after them and watched, making sure that none were attacked - but in larger numbers, Neo knew these robots could be formidable - and they escaped as a group, easily evading gunfire. Neo folded his arms and felt something else come over him rather than guilt, or anger. It was pride. These units who he once deemed nothing more than weapons, property, even, really were something.
Silver hopped up behind him and patted his sibling's head, now with a semi-auto rifle he had found on one of the walls in one hand.
"Well aren't we just two big steaming buckets of awesome?" Silver asked with a grin.
Neo flicked Silver's ear before signing, "I am awesome. You will always be the silver sheep of the family."
"I'm cooler than you." Silver retorted with a smug smile.
"You wish."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Which one of us can shoot lasers from their wrists? Is it me?"
Neo gave him a long look.
"It's me." Silver answered for him.
"Whatever, silver sheep."
"If I'm the fam's silver sheep, you're the emo kid," Silver took his rifle from over his shoulder and aimed it over Neo's, "now hold still." He shot down a camera that they had missed on the way in, and, satisfied, he slung it back over his shoulder and grinned with pride. "There's no problem the humble bullet can't solve!"
Neo lightly shoved Silver by his shoulder and turned back into the armoury. He then turned on his heel and signed back, "you can't solve every problem with a gun."
Silver snorted. "Don't lecture me. There's no problem here."
"You might not be always able to out-gun the enemy," Neo tapped his head with a claw, still walking backward, "but you can always outsmart them."
Silver walked after him with a smirk. "Yeah, got it. That's why I always think to carry two guns."
Neo turned around and covered his ears. "I can't hear you but I'm certain you're saying something stupid."
"Dickhead."
"You are an experiment in artificial stupidity."
"I don't know what you're saying but it's probably something stupid! And kind of mean!"
Neo stopped and held up a hand, motioning for Silver to stop. Silver skipped to a halt behind him and cocked his head.
A familiar soldier rounded the corner, armed and ready - and then groaned and turned away with a hand over their face. "You again... What the hell are you doing here now?"
"Breaking and entering!" Silver beamed over Neo's shoulder with a wave.
"How frank of you."
Silver gave a shrug. "I just thought it was obvious."
"You know the drill. Back up, hands up, weapons down, et cetera..."
"My Piscean pal..." Silver started to saunter over casually with his free hand up. "We both know that you're an escapist who avoids confrontation by any means necessary. Let's just skip to the part where you let us go a third time."
"Not a chance. You're coming with me, quietly. Now put the weapon down."
"We are weapons," Silver retorted with a shrug, "want us to just lay down on the floor or what?"
"Okay, smartass. You know what I meant-"
"Oh! Did you find out your ex's Venus sign? I'm intrigued. Wait wait, don't tell me, it was S-"
"Scorpio."
Silver shook his head and sighed sympathetically. "I'm so sorry. How's the trauma?"
"Oh, it was-" The soldier studied the pair thoughtfully for a moment. "Huh. You're not the mindless killing machines they told us you were. You're- You talk like one of us. It's throwing me off, honestly. All this family and astrology bullshit, it's... It's not what they told us."
"Well, your governing body sure does enjoy its lies." Silver retorted casually, studying his fingertips.
Neo gave an affirming nod to his side.
"Well if you freaky robots didn't invade our spaces like this-"
"You are an invasive species." Neo signed with a smirk about his optics.
Silver gasped and turned on Neo. "Hey! Stop calling the humans an invasive species! They're taking it personally."
"Not my problem." Neo signed back, then folded his arms decisively.
"Just... Out with it. What do you want, and can murder be avoided to get it?"
A grin spread over Silver's face. "Absolutely. Just hand over our dad's 'bots and technology and we're good."
"Your dad- Oh. Robotnik." The soldier's face dropped with the realization. "What, so he can try to take over the world again? No."
"It's not like that, I swear," Silver replied seriously, "this isn't about some convo... conver... conv..."
"Convoluted." Neo signed with a roll of his optics.
"Convoluted! Plan to take over the world. This is about something much cheesier." Silver took a step forward and smiled with determination. "It's about family. And your guys have some of my family here. We want to bring them home, where they're safe. Our older brother and dad are waiting for us to bring 'em back."
Neo looked down and away. His body language became rigid with denial. Was Eggman really waiting on them? At this point, he found it difficult to say. Difficult to trust. But Silver had hope, and Neo didn't want to crush it right now. He pushed it back down, again.
"Your guys are holed up that way." The soldier stepped aside and pointed down a hallway in the armoury. "Go, before I change my mind."
Silver's face lit up. He bounced past the soldier, but had second thoughts and backed up. He looked up at them with a smile and held up a fist.
"Thanks."
The soldier hesitated, looking down at the robot's hand as if half-expecting it to come flying at his face. But it didn't. After a moment, they bumped their fist against his, and managed a smile.
"Get out of here. Quickly. I could lose my job for this."
"Roger that!" Silver gave a salute and turned to Neo, motioning for him to follow. "You heard them. This way."
The two robots made off to their next destination, but before disappearing around the corner, Silver turned back and smiled.
"Thank you, really. You're cool."
"You too, Sagittarius." They replied with a small laugh.
"See? Compatibility at its finest, Pisces. Later!"
With that, the pair headed off in the direction that the soldier had sent them in. While Silver was very pleased with himself for getting them this far, Neo's mood was much darker and brooding, again. He couldn't hide it anymore, and he didn't notice when Silver slowed down and cocked his head aside questioningly.
The younger sibling stopped and watched Neo stride off ahead of him.
"You're seriously doing this? Now? Everything's going fine!"
Neo turned his head slightly and signed over his shoulder, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You." Silver caught up to him and walked by his side. "You're shutting me out. Things get a little emotional and you go right back to pretending you don't care. Why?"
Neo didn't give him an answer, and Silver frowned. He sighed out of frustration.
"It's because of dad, isn't it?"
The sudden tension in Neo's hands gave Silver the answer he needed.
"What happened between you guys?"
"Nothing happened."
"Don't treat me like a little kid." Silver said seriously. "Just tell me. Please. I can handle anything."
"He disrespected you," Neo answered as shortly as he could, "said you needed to grow up. We have a job to do. We can't be normal."
Silver's face dropped, and the hitch in his engine told Neo without words that his brother was hurt. He looked at the younger robot with regret in his gaze. The two walked in silence for a long minute, until Silver finally responded with a nod of understanding.
"I see."
They continued for some time. Silver's optics stayed trained on the floor as those words repeated in his head over and over.
The more Silver thought about it, the more it hurt. He wanted to make his father proud, but the job he was given would make that impossible. It dawned on him that he would never be what his father wanted. He wanted a killing machine, and he got a clown. A scared little kid who carried guns around to make himself feel bigger. And, worst of all, he liked the very assassination target programmed into him.
"I don't like our job."
Neo looked at him.
"I mean it." Silver met his optics with a serious expression. "I don't. I don't want to kill people." He held his ground for a moment, but embarrassment and shame over his admission overrode his resolve. He looked down at his hands and turned them over a few times. "You can judge me all you want, Neo. I'm just... I'm not... I can't..."
A cold but gentle hand came to rest on his shoulder, and Silver looked up to meet his brother's softened gaze. Silver was surprised when Neo put an arm around him and pulled him close to his side.
"I- You're not disappointed in me?"
Neo shook his head decisively and kept him close.
"I feel like I've broken up our family." Silver said quietly. "I never meant to hurt any of us. I'm sorry I'm... like this. I've disappointed dad, I've gotten us into this... mess, and I... I don't wanna let anyone down. Especially not my brothers. Not you."
Neo stopped suddenly. He let go of Silver, only to grab his shoulders, spin him around, and look him in the face sternly.
"Neo?"
"You have never hurt our family," Neo told him sternly, "you are perfect the way you are now."
Silver stared at him, feeling the silent words strike him right in the "heart." Slowly, he gave a nod - and felt his bottom lip tremble.
Stop it Silver. Stop it. You're being so pathetic. You're being such a child. How could anyone ever love-
Neo whisked him into a tight hug - the kind that only a protective older brother could give. Silver leaned into it and buried his face into Neo's armour. His racing thoughts gently settled with the reassurance that, even if he wasn't exactly like his brothers, who could fight and kill so easily, he was still loved. That was all he needed.
Chaos, I'm so stupid. That's right. That's right... he loves me. He really loves me. I'm his brother, I have a family who loves me. No matter what.
After a long minute, Neo released his little brother and gave him a bonk on the head. As Silver reached up to rub his head, Neo shoved his sibling's shoulder to get him to walk again. Silver gave a quiet laugh and got moving.
"You've become such a softie." Silver teased him. "We have a big bad robot rep to keep up, you know."
Neo knocked on his own chest armour sarcastically.
"Yeah, yeah, maybe you got a hard exterior - but a soft interior behind it." Silver prodded him with a smirk. "And no, I don't wanna see it, thanks."
"You don't want to see what I'm made of?" Neo quipped back, then pretended that he was going to remove his arm plating.
"Not particularly. Keep your guts inside where they belong, will ya?" Silver nudged him in the side with a grin.
"I'll try."
"Cool. Thanks."
Silver bounced off ahead with his rifle in both hands, eager to find the next group of Pawns to free. It felt good to play the part of the hero.
Neo looked at him and felt a swell of pride in his "heart" for his little sibling. He was so kind, so smart, so funny, and...
Like Sonic.
And that was okay.
Maybe he could start to accept the Sonic in himself, too.
He held onto that thought for a moment. Just one precious, revolutionary moment.
Mecha checked his radar periodically. He was still alone - good.
Ahead, the horizon was lit with a yellow glow. It slowly spread out into the sky where it dimmed the stars. Mecha forced his engine to work harder, shooting into a downhill sprint towards the lights. He could fly, of course, but hearing his own heavy footfalls kept his mind focused and away from the flashbacks that danced on the edges of his CPU. That, and perhaps proceeding on foot would get him mistaken for the hedgehog, rather than a killer robot flying above the city.
Streetlights, buildings, cars - Mecha had entered civilization again before he knew it, and suddenly obstacles were everywhere. No matter, he could scan his surroundings in an instant to calculate the best route forward. He skidded down the road and around a turn, effortlessly dodging cars and pedestrians alike.
"Mecha, where are you?"
In his surprise, Mecha lost his footing and almost tripped over himself as he rounded a corner. He recalibrated his stabilizers and kept moving.
Eggman had finally comm'd him.
"Doctor?"
"I don't know what you think you're doing gallivanting around like that. Return to base, immediately."
"Are you tracking my movements?"
"Of course I am! The three of you took off to Chaos knows where! Only, I can't get hold of Metal - he shut off his link."
Mecha privately found amusement in that. Of course Neo would do that, if not to spite his creator over anything else.
"I cannot return to base at present. I must retrieve Metal Sonic and Silver Sonic before doing so."
"Mecha. This is an order, return to base."
"With all due respect, doctor... No."
"Excuse me?"
"I will not return to base."
There was a radio silence and the tension on the other end was palpable.
"Metal Sonic is a bad influence on you."
Mecha was quiet for a moment. "They have had more influence on my actions than you since my activation."
"This isn't the time for daddy issues, Mecha. I need you back at base, right now."
"You claim that we have a job to do," Mecha stated flatly. "so allow me to finish my job."
"Are you disobeying me?"
"Affirmative."
Mecha shut off his commlink and pushed on.
Mecha sat in silence, entirely focused on his job.
In his hand was a chaos emerald. He tilted it to one side, staring intently into the spark of light in its center. Its power warmed his hand, and though he could not feel the heat, his systems registered the immense power with ease. He would master Chaos Control. He had to. His creator, his master, had deemed it his latest task to complete.
Hours, then a day passed. He hadn't moved from that spot on the floor.
"Chaos Control."
Mecha awoke face-down on the floor. His limbs trembled as if he had suffered a severe electric shock, and his hand was hot and scalded from where he had been holding the emerald. He had failed again. This would not do, no. There was no room for failure!
"I must remedy this inefficiency." Mecha mused to himself as he sat up. He steadied his hands and fumbled with the emerald again. He had failed to stay in his Super form against the hedgehog in their last battle, and he refused to fail again. Failure was inefficiency, and he was a machine built to complete a task. He could not fail. This was his purpose. The doctor had told him so.
"Chaos Control."
This time Mecha awoke on his back, staring up at the ceiling. The paint on his hand had burned away and his fingers refused to comply with his wishes, curling open and letting the emerald clatter onto the floor. He stayed there for a few minutes to let his systems recover from the shock. Once his systems were stable, Mecha sat up and gathered the emerald back into his shaking hand.
"Chaos-"
The door creaked open and a red glow spilled through the crack. Mecha looked up to see the newest hedgehog-series peering through the gap at him. Once it was acknowledged, the other unit pushed the door the rest of the way open and stepped in. It had picked up the surges of Chaos energy in its scans and had come to investigate.
Curious, the younger robot approached and stood over Mecha. Its optics flitted from the emerald to Mecha several times.
Mecha lifted his hand to show the other unit his emerald.
It crouched down and held out its hand, silently asking to hold the gem. Mecha complied and watched intently. The other robot turned the gem over a couple of times, studying it, taking in its energy. It tightened its grip on the emerald for a moment and its glow brightened along with its optics. It then handed it back to Mecha with a beep.
Mecha took it and held it exactly how the other robot had held it. Nothing happened.
The other robot shook its head and beckoned to take it back again. This time it moved closer to Mecha and transferred its data to him, showing him how it had calibrated its sensors to get the most accurate readings on the Chaos energy. Mecha took note and copied the settings. This time when Mecha held the emerald, it glowed harmoniously along with the lights built into his frame.
"Chaos Control."
Mecha teleported across the room, on his feet rather than on his face - and turned around to face the new robot. He gave a nod of thanks. The other robot nodded back in reply.
"You possess a great deal of skill," Mecha told it, "what other data do you possess on this subject?"
Its optics lit up in an response that intrigued Mecha. Was it pride? Happiness, maybe? He wasn't sure. He wasn't good with emotions. Never had been.
This robot was a real prodigy. Only days old and already mastering Chaos control, where Mecha still fumbled and failed. It was extraordinary.
So, it almost surprised Mecha to see the same robot limp back to base in several pieces the next day. He watched as it stumbled into the repair bay and fumbled about with tools, attempting to reattach its own arm to itself. Mecha couldn't understand several things about the robot - it was talented, articulate, precise. So why did this keep happening? And every time it came stumbling back in, it seemed angrier.
After the third day of seeing this happen, Mecha couldn't stand by anymore. He followed the robot into the repair bay and, as expected, it was already trying to weld missing plating back onto its side. Mecha came up behind it and pinned its hand down to the workbench.
"Allow me to assist you." Mecha said before taking matters into his own hands. Much to the other robot's protest, Mecha welded the plating back to its rightful position on its body. It gave a nod of thanks and left. Mecha let it go.
It almost became a tradition. The younger robot would come back to base broken, and Mecha would do his best to repair it when the doctor was busy. But each time it happened, the younger robot only grew more resentful. Mecha couldn't understand why.
"You are wasting resources by brightening your optics," Mecha murmured as he finished soldering a wire back in place, "you would benefit from freeing up more RAM space."
The robot shrugged him off and stalked away to the training room. It locked itself away for hours.
Mecha supposed that it was focused on its job like he was. He looked down at his hand that had been scalded by the emerald days ago.
"You are overworking your systems. Your core temperature is above optimal levels." Mecha warned it as it stalked by him.
"You are pushing yourself excessively." Mecha would warn it again the next day.
"You should seek repairs before training ag-" The door would slam in his face another day.
"Chaos Control." Mecha teleported to the other side of the door on the day that followed. That was the first time he had followed the robot into the room. It was also the first time he had seen it harm itself. Claw marks streaked down its forehead. Mecha stood there, still, uncertain of how to approach the situation.
The two war machines stared at each other.
"Causing damage to yourself will not aid you in accomplishing your goal." Mecha finally stated.
The other robot folded its arms.
"You have been online for one week." Mecha observed. "I assume there are errors within your neural network, as it is still forming."
The younger robot tilted its head.
"As your neural pathways form, they replace other, less complex pathways that you began with. This process increases the probability of cascade failure with each pathway that integrates. Rather than attempt to terminate your existence, I propose that you treat these difficulties within your systems as challenges to overcome, rather than obstacles to be avoided."
Mecha wasn't certain if the robot just lacked a voice synthesizer, or if it just didn't want to speak to him. Either way, he didn't care. He just required data on why this new machine was acting so inefficiently and irrationally. It was clearly very intelligent, especially considering the fact it was barely a week old, so, why? It was baffling.
The next day, the pair spent their time practicing Chaos Control instead.
The robot shook its head and took the gem from Mecha, balancing it a certain angle on its palm. Mecha nodded and took it back, copying the other robot perfectly - who gave a beep of what might have been joy. Mecha nodded, closed his hand around the gem, and murmured the command - he disappeared and reappeared behind the younger robot. It spun around to look at him and clapped its hands together, a smile coming over its optics.
Whether it was the healing power of Chaos energy, or the presence of a neutral party that expected nothing of him, the newer robot wasn't sure - but its temperature was lower that day, and the program for anger took up less processing space than ever before. By the end of the day, it finally let Mecha fill in the scratches on its forehead - a gentleness that no other robot had afforded it yet in the few days that it had been operational.
Mecha wasn't surprised when Neo chose to paint a white arrow in that very place.
Neo dusted off his white arrow as he followed after Silver, who bounded fearlessly ahead into the shade of the next weapons room.
Silver flipped a trigger on his semi-auto, welcoming the soft glow of its flashlight to the ground. Slower now, he paced the room, his optics scanning over each power console. This room wasn't for guns, it was for robots - a lot of them. The light shifted, a light movement of Silver's hand shining attention to a chip laying on top of one of the consoles.
"That better not be what I think it is."
Neo was quick to catch up to Silver, and he made sure to get in front of him to sign, "do not eat that."
Silver laughed. "Do you think it's gluten-free?"
Neo gave him a long warning look.
"Right, right. Serious mode..." Silver muttered, before approaching the chip and brushing his thumb over it. He frowned, glancing back over his shoulder to the robots around him. "Erm, hey... you don't think..."
"Wait! Don't touch anything!"
The two robots startled and looked down the corridor they had come from to see the same soldier from before. They stopped in the doorway, panting with their hand on the door frame.
"They're infected, aren't they?" Silver asked flatly. "Great. Just, fantastic."
"No, listen, don't break-"
Neo's optics brightened in panic. He connected the dots in an instant and reached out to stop Silver, but he had already picked up the chip in his fingers and cracked it in half. Neo smacked Silver's hand to the left, sending the chip - and the ensuing explosion, just far enough away to avoid harming them or anyone else too gravely. In the same precious few seconds, Neo tackled Silver to the ground and shielded him with his own body against the shrapnel and smoke.
A smoking hole in the wall said all it needed to.
"... It was a trap." The soldier finally breathed out, slumping against the door frame. "Jesus, that was close."
Slowly, Neo pushed himself up just enough to glare in Silver's face with narrowed optics.
Silver stared up at him, at first in shock, and then irritation. "Stop staring at me. I'm fine."
Right in his face, Neo signed, "You were almost blown up!"
"Yeah, almost! Can we just drop it, please?"
Neo didn't relent. He only narrowed his optics more.
"Okay, I get it... I'll be more careful. Promise." Silver finally said with a groan, figuring what his brother wanted to hear. "Now lemme up. We don't all have time to lay around on the floor like you."
"Be very, very careful." Neo warned him sternly, and only then did he get up and pull Silver up to his feet.
Silver bent down to pick up his semi-auto, flipping the light back on as he gathered it into his hands. "You're not my mother."
Neo ignored him and turned to the soldier instead to sign, "thank you. He is an idiot."
Silver caught that last part and stuck his tongue out both of them. "Hey, fuck you. Neither of you are gamers." He then turned on his heel and got to work activating the few Egg Pawns amongst the GUN mechs. Neo watched, more guarded than before, and the soldier came to stand by him.
"Siblings, huh?"
Neo looked up at them with a knowing expression.
"I know. Shit's hard. Good luck, man."
Silver's face lit up as he watched each Pawn come back online. "Gooood evening ladies! Ignore the erm, damage to the décor."
Confused and disoriented, the group of Pawns gathered in front of them.
Neo gave a similar speech as before, and Silver made sure to shine his flashlight on Neo's hands so that his words were visible.
"It's not safe here. You should return to base. We will regroup there." Neo told them with more authority than before. This time, he was much more confident in himself - and Silver smiled by his side, proud of him.
"I've got them." The soldier spoke up beside them.
Silver and Neo both looked up at them questioningly.
The soldier gestured to the exit and started walking. "Come on. I've got you covered."
The Pawns followed after them.
"Hey, thank you. Maybe you are a gamer after all." Silver called after them with a grin and a wave.
"I don't know what you're on about, but thanks."
That left Neo and Silver alone together in the dark of the room. Silver looked over to the consoles and a smirk came over him.
"Smashy smashy?"
Neo gave a nod.
"I call dibs on this half!" Silver announced as he bounced over to the left side of the room.
Neo leaned back against the wall and signed, "it's all yours little brother. Make it quick." He then folded his arms and gave a nod.
"You're the best, bro." Silver said through his grin. He looked over to a computer monitor on the wall and let his rifle drop to the floor. He wandered over to it, picked it up, and tested its weight in his hands.
"Get ready for a big file transfer!"
Neo was lucky that his processor clock speed was so high. A second later the monitor was coming at him, and he sent a fist flying into it - promptly sending the shattered screen onto the floor with a bang and a mess of parts.
"Didn't want you to feel left out." Silver told him with a shrug.
"Thanks."
Silver got to work destroying each console with his wrist laser, which wasn't quite as flashy as he would have liked - but it got the job done. Once he was done, he dusted his hands off and picked up the semi-auto one more time. He slung it over his shoulder and started off ahead.
Neo followed close behind. He wouldn't admit it, but his processor was still racing after Silver's little near-death experience.
Okay, maybe there was one Sonic-like quality in the robot that Neo couldn't cope with yet - his lack of ability to slow the fuck down and think.
Acting impulsively had gotten Neo into far too many preventable messes. He just didn't want the same outcome for his brother.
"You'll get him next time."
The doctor patted them on the head once and left them alone in the repair bay. It had been a month since their creation and they were no closer to victory. Metal stared at their reflection in the glass of the window. Another day, another failure. Another mess of parts to put back together, another can of paint to hide the scuffs and scratches from a lost battle.
Nobody was really surprised when they failed. Everyone knew it was going to happen. The whispers of other robots every time he walked back through those big metal doors, the look of disappointment on the doctor's face, though he tried to hide it - it said it all. Metal shook their head as if to rid themselves of the useless thoughts. No, they would succeed next time. They would get stronger. Smarter. They just had to train more. Learn more. Become more. They would become more calculating, less impulsive. They had to.
Their optics were unfocused enough to make them miss the robot on the other side of the glass as it walked by. More movement caught their eye, though, and they snapped back to reality and rebooted their visual sensors quickly.
Mecha stood on the other side, looking at them.
Metal felt oddly seen. Not just in the literal sense, but... everyone else seemed to look through them and at the failures behind them. Mecha was different. Perhaps because Mecha, too, had failed. Mecha's failures were why Metal was built in the first place - they were supposed to accomplish what Mecha never could. Mecha saw them as just another robot. Not a failure.
They walked up to the glass and pressed their forehead to it. Mecha did the same from the other side.
"Persist. Your chances of success grow higher every day." Mecha said.
Metal remained silent, as always, but the brightening of their optics told Mecha that they were growing enraged again. They placed a fist on the glass and looked down.
"You are angry."
For the first time, Metal spoke. They met Mecha's gaze with the hateful, spiteful glare of an angry child.
"I am tired."
Mecha didn't say anything. He just looked at Metal, unable to understand.
It wasn't his fault. He just wasn't programmed to. But he wanted to.
Metal turned away in anger and disappeared into the depths of the base. As they stalked away, Mecha could feel a crackle of electricity in the air, as if their emotions had transformed into something destructively tangible.
"That kid's a lost cause."
"He's just a crybaby."
"He has one job and he can't even do it!"
"It's clearly not working out. He's never going to defeat Sonic."
"It's almost cruel to keep throwing him out there. He's just going to break again."
Metal turned off their auditory receptors as they walked down the hallway. It seemed that everyone had something to say about them, and they didn't want to hear it. Their hands clenched into fists at their sides as they went, and they knew that the robots around them hushed when they saw them pass by.
They would learn to fear this child.
It hadn't surprised Mecha when Neo embodied a storm when he transformed. It had been a long time coming.
The door wasn't locked this time.
Curious.
Unafraid, Mecha pushed it open, expecting to see Neo training again - as he always was at this time of day.
What he hadn't expected to see was the crazed overlord kneeling on the floor motionless in the dark.
Mecha approached. His footsteps echoed against the cold metal walls.
"Lord Neo."
Slowly, Neo turned his head to look at him.
To say that he was a mess was a sore understatement.
Scraps of blue plating littered the floor around him, wires in a tangled mess at his feet, arms torn open, shoulder plates wrecked. White paint dripped down his face and legs. Exposed circuitry sparked and crackled in ragged openings in his armour.
"What have you done."
Neo tried to stand, but his legs just didn't have the strength to hold him. Mecha walked over and threw an arm under Neo's broken shoulder plate to hold him steady.
"What have you done..."
Neo stared at him like a crazed animal. There was no recognition in his optics. Only fear, disorientation, and misery. A twisted kind of pain that sank its claws into his mind and wouldn't let go.
Mecha carefully set him down on the floor and held his face.
"Brother. Are your auditory sensors calibrated."
Neo didn't answer him. He looked down at a sharp silver piece of metal and fumbled to pick it up, his fingers scarcely responding to his commands. With it in his shaky grasp, he tried to place it over his knee joint. When it didn't stay in place, he panicked and started to claw at the plating underneath. It cracked and bent in his grip as he went to remove it.
Mecha smacked his hand down and leaned close to the robot's face.
"Stop."
Neo stared at him. "I must reconstruct my form with my own hands. I must destroy him. I need him gone. I need me gone. I am him. I..."
When Neo trailed off into an incoherent mess again, Mecha ran his thumb over the overlord's cheek plate and pressed his forehead to theirs.
"Stop."
"I can't stop! I have to-"
"Stop. You are destroying yourself."
"I..."
"Stop."
Neo broke. With an ugly static sob he fell forward into Mecha, who wrapped his arms tightly around him. Neo melted into his touch, head dipping forward to rest on Mecha's shoulder. He clicked and sobbed his "heart" out into the other robot who couldn't feel a thing.
"I want it to stop. Make it stop. Please. Please."
"I know." Mecha nestled his face into the crook of Neo's neck and squeezed him.
"I want to die. Please, let me die."
Mecha gently rocked Neo as he held him, speaking quietly and calmly as he did. "I know."
"It hurts."
"I know. I recommend that you disable your pain sensors."
"No. It is not that. It hurts inside. In my head. Always. Make it stop."
Mecha couldn't understand. He never had. But it wasn't going to stop him from being there. He pulled back a little to wipe white paint from Neo's muzzle.
"Continue," Mecha said gently, resting his forehead to Neo's again, "tell me what hurts. I want to understand."
"If I destroy myself first nobody else can touch me. He will not get to do it. He... I... We..."
Mecha shook his head, disagreeing. "Do not seek to own your destruction," he told him, "seek to own yourself."
A glimmer of rationality came over Neo for a moment. He stayed silent, thinking.
"You are incredible. You are powerful. You are skilled. Claim ownership of these qualities, for destroying them would be most wasteful."
The tension in Neo's frame slowly dissipated, denial replacing his fear now. He pulled away ever so slightly, and Mecha noticed.
"You are just saying that."
Mecha followed after him and kept his head pressed to Neo's. He wasn't going to let Neo slip away again.
"I have believed it since the first day we met."
Mecha recalled seeing that glint of, whatever it was, in Neo's optics when he was just days old.
"What did you feel when we met. I saw something in you. Something I did not understand. What was it?"
Neo paused, reflecting. He leaned back into Mecha, engaging with him, coming back to his senses.
"I was... happy."
"How did you feel."
"I felt..." Neo paused, searching within himself. "Like a person. Like myself."
"You could be happy again."
"How?"
"I do not know. Such emotions are outside of my experience. However, if you felt it once, you must have the ability to feel it again."
"How long must I wait?"
"However long it takes. I cannot provide an accurate estimate on an emotional state."
"I do not know where to start waiting for it."
"Then let us begin here," Mecha said, carefully gathering up the scraps of metal around them, "with you."
"I still want to die." Neo told him. He met Mecha's gaze with defiance.
"No," Mecha said, "you wish to be happy."
Mecha crouched atop a tall building. His gaze was fixed on the yellow of the horizon that faded into the black of night.
He had second thoughts of going forward alone, and waited. Trusted.
The sound of footsteps behind him registered instantly as those of Sonic.
He knew the hedgehog would come after him.
"Guess it would be pointless for me to say to stay outta trouble, right?"
"Affirmative," Mecha gave a small laugh, "you are smarter than you look, hedgehog."
"Thanks, I think."
They were quiet for a moment. They took in the twinkling of city lights below that mirrored the stars that scattered in the sky, the place of concrete and light just as alive as the expanse above it. Mecha swept his gaze across the cityscape before him as he sat down on the edge of the roof, letting his feet hang.
"I suppose it is humorous in hindsight, hedgehog."
"Hm? What is?" Sonic asked with his head cocked to one side.
Mecha looked up at the stars.
"We once fought over the Master Emerald in my Super state. My failure led me to practice Chaos Control with my brother after his creation. If that had not transpired, I may not have ever formed a bond with him in the same manner. So, I repeat... It is possible to make a mistake, and still win."
He looked up at Sonic.
"And I won."
"If we keep going, what do we win?" Neo asked.
"Happiness." Mecha replied.