"I think… I would like to stay with you." Metal said. Sonic and Tails were both a little surprised by what Metal had said. It wasn't that Sonic didn't want Metal in his house, quite the contrary. He could teach Metal how to use his free will and help him find who he is as a robot, not what Eggman wanted him to be. However, he, and apparently his brother judging by his expression, still thought Metal would want to live alone, or something like that- sure it wasn't like he could do that, at the moment, but still.

"Of course, buddy!" Sonic answered. He could felt happiness coming from Metal- his suspicions were correct, Metal could feel happy too! At the excitement of his discovery, Sonic almost forgot to ask his brother:

"You´re alright with that bro?" Tails nodded. As he was about to say a verbal confirmation, he remembered he forgot to check something important- Something about Metal.

"Metal, there isn´t any kind of tracker or something similar inside you… right? I didn´t think about it, until know." Tails said, being slightly embarrassed. Sonic noticed that Metal´s happy mood had shifted to a sad one as soon as he started thinking about the doctor.


"Buddy… do you want to talk about…" Sonic wasn´t even able to finish when Metal interrupted him in their mental conversation.

"No. Later." Sonic frowned. However, he tried to make Metal feel better using their mental connection. Sonic didn´t really understand how their weird mental link could make Metal feel better, or him better. Either way, Sonic found that he didn't mind it. As long as he could help Metal find who he is, he didn't care about how or why any of this worked.

After their short mental conversation, Metal answered Tails:


"Negative. He never put one to begin with." Metal was trying to hide the sadness on his voice. - Sure, his voice was robotic, but it also contained some sort of emotion. (thanks to Tails´ work, of course)

"Great! Eggman won´t know you are here then." Tails answered, totally oblivious at how Metal was feeling. Although, Metal had started to feel better, thanks to Sonic.

Sonic, then, looked at the clock, located at the wall, and saw that it was 9:00 pm.

"We should go to bed Tails, it´s getting late." Sonic said, as he remembered the amount of energy his brother spent on fixing Metal today.

"But it´s still 9:00 pm!" Tails said as he looked at the clock. "I generally go to sleep later."

"I know bro. But, considering how much you´ve worked today, you need to sleep." Sonic said with an affectionate expression on his voice.

"Yeah… you´re right. I´m just gonna finish my food and I´ll go to sleep. Good night, guys." Tails said as he ate the rest of his chili dogs.


After Sonic and Metal Sonic said goodbye to Tails, Sonic decided to bring up Eggman again. He could feel that Metal was still a bit affected, even if he had eased Metal's sadness.

"So… do you want to talk about it?" Sonic asked. He could sense that his metal double wasn't very comfortable talking about the subject yet.

"Look, if you don't want to talk about it, it's fine. Just remember that you don't owe the doctor anything. Heck, even from us. You can do whatever you want, alright? You don't need to obey orders anymore." Sonic then reached out to place a hand on Metal's. "And if you need to vent about Eggman, now or when you want, I'll always be here, ok?"

Sonic immediately felt gratitude coming from his metallic counterpart and the uneasiness "dissipating". Metal, because of what Sonic had said, now felt comfortable talking about Eggman.

"Thank you for actually caring. I thought Eggman cared, but I was wrong… He told me that he would never replace me or abandon me, but, I suppose, he was just using me to defeat you." Metal said, with his robotic voice filled with sadness and betrayal.

"I'm so sorry, buddy." Sonic couldn't help but feel a little bit angry- after all, how could Eggman make this kind of promise and, then, break it like that? Especially someone who Metal considered a father figure! Sure, Eggman was a villain, but what he did was very low- even for him. "I promise I won´t ever do that to you. And while Tails isn´t here, I´m sure he wouldn´t do it either."

"Thank you, Sonic." Metal said, hugging the other. Metal´s mood had gone from a sad to an uplifted one. And Sonic couldn´t be happier he was able to help Metal feel better.

"No problem, Mets!" Sonic said, as they broke the hug.

"Mets?" Sonic felt confusion coming from his metallic counterpart. "But that's not my name."

Sonic was kind of surprised Metal didn't know what a nickname was. Metal didn't really have much interaction with the outside world, so it did make sense. Still, he thought Eggman would've given him some kind of nickname at some point.

"I know, bud. When I said Mets instead of Metal- it's called a nickname- It's like saying your name in an affectionate way. I do the same thing with Amy, I call her Ames."

"… Interesting… I like the nickname you gave me. Would you teach me more about Mobians and the outside world? it´s very fascinating!" Metal said with some levels of excitement present in his metallic voice.

"Of course, Mets!" Sonic could feel his double´s excitement growing even further.


In the next chapter, Metal is finally going to learn more about the whole world! Let´s just hope Sonic and Tails can keep Metal a secret from their friends...