I am Sonic

Chapter 8: Still a Hero

Amy walked down a hall with bared doors on both sides. Every few steps she'd look through one of the doors, just out of curiosity. The lights flickered for a second; Amy's heart began to race. Something was going on. As she got down halfway into the hall, she looked into one of the cells and froze in place. She saw Sonic inside, sitting down, lying back, and resting without a care in the world. There was a switch next to the door that she was quick to flip. The doors opened and Amy went in running. Sonic opened his eyes when a familiar hug overtook him.

"Hey. What took ya so long?" he said in a calm fashion while Amy broke down into his arms. She cried happy that he was safe. "Hey, calm down. I'm alright." Amy let him go, smiling with joyful eyes. He noticed her torn skirt, but didn't want to say anything, mostly since he just wanted to get out.

"I thought Eggman had done something horrible to you," she said as they stood up.

"Nah, he was too busy worrying about some new robot. I think it's busted so he was trying to figure out what went wrong." Amy now knew the whole truth.

"Hurry, let's find a way out of here."

"I thought you'd never ask," he said giving his cool smile.

Sonic and Amy made their way back to the upper level of the base. They would have simply gone back outside through some other door, but a strange noise caught their attention: a sound like metal being smashed.

"What was that?" Sonic asked, being none the wiser.

"Oh no!" Amy realized it had to be the robot she once believed in her heart was Sonic. "Hurry, follow me," she said, running to where the sound was coming from.

"Hey, what's this about anyway?" he said following close behind.

"No time to explain now."

When they arrived, they found the room trashed. Everything was ripped to shreds. Clone Metal Sonic stood in the center of the room with his head down. No one could imagine the anguish and sorrow he was going through right now.

Sonic gawked when he saw the robot. Had it not been for the injured arm showing his metallic skeleton, he would have thought to be looking in a mirror. And it was an even bigger surprise to see where the rest of Amy's skirt went. Clone Metal Sonic looked up seeing Sonic, the confirmation of the truth.

Amy didn't say a word. She didn't know what to do now that the real Sonic was back. Sonic approached Clone Metal Sonic cautiously, not knowing if he was hostile or not. Clone Metal Sonic stared at him not with hate, but with envy.

"So, you're the robot Eggman was talking about," Sonic said, not knowing how devastated Clone Metal Sonic was to know that.

"My whole existence is a fraud: all my memories, my past...it's all a mistake," Clone Metal Sonic said giving Sonic a harsh look. Amy stood back; she didn't want to get involved if this turned out violent.

"What happened?" Sonic asked with a casual tone.

"My past means nothing. I have no past. How can I know who I am if all Iremember is YOUR life?" His right, exposed hand was shaking slightly. He was rejecting his autonomic programs that kept him moving just like Sonic. He was beginning to take complete control of himself. Now Sonic understood what happened, and what Clone Metal Sonic was going through.

"Hey, don't get all down on yourself. You can always know you are, not by what you did yesterday, but by what you do today." Sonic was all about not looking back, not dwelling on the past. The present was always most important to him. Clone Metal Sonic noticed he'd diverted from Sonic's pattern of thought, or else he would have thought of that before Sonic even had a chance to say it.

Just then, alarms started going wild. The sounds of clamping doors and compressing air could be heard from every direction. Eggman's voice came up on a loud speaker.

"Muwhahahahahaha!" That same laugh. Everyone knew they were in trouble. "Fools! I knew you'd come back to this very place. That is why I've evacuated this base and locked it down. There's no escape!" Sonic shrugged it off. Eggman had tried things like this before and there was always a way out. "I hope you enjoy your last minutes of life, since this base is set to self-destruct within two minutes!" The loudspeaker went out.

"Sonic! We gotta get outta here!" Amy yelled.

"There's no way out. All the exits are seal and reinforced," Clone Metal Sonic said solemnly.

"Hey, there has to be a way out of here," Sonic said without loosing hope. Clone Metal Sonic remembered what he read in that log.

"There is a way for you two to escape. Sonic, make sure she doesn't see this." Clone Metal Sonic gave Sonic a look that told him this wouldn't be good.

"Alright. Come 'on Amy," he said opening his arms for her. She was scared that something bad was going to happen. She walked into Sonic's arms. He held her close, making sure she wasn't facing Clone Metal Sonic. He put one hand on the back of her head just in case she tried to look back.

"I can't shut down my pain sensors. Amy please don't look back, and Sonic, take care of her." Sonic nodded, knowing this would be the last time they would see each other. Amy feared the same thing.

Clone Metal Sonic backed himself up against a wall, sitting down. He knew what he had to do, and he knew it wasn't going to be easy. He wanted to take more time to prepare himself, but time was something they didn't have. He raised his left arm. The sharp pointed tips of his fingers seamed to sparkle in the light. Then instantly, using all his strength, he jabbed his fingers into his side, piercing skin and flesh. He let out a scream, his breathing kicked up. Amy held on Sonic tighter, flitching when she heard the scream. Sonic was flitching as well, watching the horrific scene so Amy wouldn't. Then, if that weren't barbaric enough, Clone Metal Sonic clenched his hand and flung his arm out, ripping a gaping whole in his chest. This time he screamed with even more agony, and he continued with a harsh whimper after it was over. Metal ribs were visible and the artificial plasma dripped liberally. Sonic gritted his teeth, understanding that Clone Metal Sonic was going through unimaginable pain. Amy began to cry. She wanted to look back, but Sonic held her in place, not letting her turn her head. It was now that Sonic understood why Clone Metal Sonic did that. In his chest, behind the ribs was a Chaos Emerald. He grabbed the Emerald and took it out if his body. It was dripping with the artificial plasma.

"Here, I don't have much time. Take it," he said, holding out the Emerald to Sonic. It was his power supply. Soon he would deactivate. Sonic took the Chaos Emerald, not caring that it dripped with what seemed like blood.

"I'll take good care of Amy. Don't worry." Clone Metal Sonic gave him a smile through the pain. Everything he saw began to fade to black. Amy was still crying, still trying to look back and Sonic still kept her from being able to.

Before another second was wasted, Sonic used the Chaos Control, sending him and Amy far beyond the base, closer to Amy's house.

Back inside the base, before everything finally turned to black, Clone Metal Sonic gave his last words. "I am not Sonic, but I am still a hero."

The base exploded. There was nothing left.

AN: Sorry this one took so long. The server wasn't letting me upload. Stick around, there's a bonus chapter comming up tomorow.