Chaos: Ok, now nobody kill me after what happens in this chapter...gulp

Flower: Thankyou for the reviews! Glad to see you like it!

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Outside, Tails struggled desperately against Mecha. "What're you doing?!" he yelled at Robotnik. The doctor merely laughed and said, "Wait and see." The glow was starting to fade from the tube.

Tails stopped struggling to watch as a hedgehog-shape came into view. Well, Sonic couldn't be dead, at least. Then the light had almost faded away and he could see that...he gasped aloud in horror.

Mecha's eyes gleamed.

Two hands were still pressed against the glass, but they were made of metal, with claw-like fingers. Inside the tube stood a robot. Or, more correctly, a half-robot. Robotnik frowned; something must have gone wrong.

Most of Sonic had been robotized, but two spikes, his right ear, and one foot remained normal. Apart from that, he was just like Mecha. Slowly he looked down at himself, digital green eyes flickering wildly.

Tails' mouth was still hanging open in shock. His head was spinning...this couldn't be happening. Slowly the tube hissed up again, just as Sonic's eyes flicked off and he crumpled to the floor.

Robotnik stood, stoking his moustache thoughtfully. Finally he turned to the fox and robot and said, "Mecha, take them back to the cell," then he grinned at Tails, "You're next, fox-boy! Just as soon as I straighten out a few problems."

Mecha strode over and grabbed one of Sonic's arms, then dragged him and Tails out of the room and back to their cell.

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Once again, Sonic woke up with a colossal headache. This time he made no sound, but tried to work out what had happened. He had been in the Robotizer, and the light had gone and he had looked down...

No, no no no. It had to be just some bad dream. He tried to open his eyes...and everything seemed more blurred, almost as though...

No! He slowly started to sit up, feeling as though his limbs were made of lead. He looked down. No, not lead. Some kind of steel. He wasn't thinking properly. It was as though he was watching it happen to somebody else.

No, he wasn't a robot. No, it was just some other hedgehog, not him.

Then he looked around, and saw Tails in a far corner, staring at him with wide eyes.

It was real it was real it was real.

Tails had seen him looking, and was shrinking down more. "Please, please don't hurt me," he was gabbling, "You're my friend, you're Sonic, please please please..."

"Tails." he said, and was horrified to hear it come out monotone, no emotion, just a recorded sound. Tails had stopped muttering instantly, but was still watching. Finally he said,

"You're Sonic, you remember? You don't want to obey Robotnik because he's your worst enemy...please remember!"

"Why wouldn't I remember."

Tails watched him with wide eyes, and said, "You really know me?" What was he talking about?!

"Of course."

Tails breathed a great sigh of relief and relaxed. "Mecha was wrong." he said happily.

"What did Mecha say."

"He said that robotization was the process whereby an animal is coated with metal and has their mind enslaved, and they work for Robotnik mindlessly. Or that's what he hopes."

"As if I'd ever work for Egghead."

Tails suddenly grinned. "Sonic, it really is you in there!" Sonic looked down at his metal body with disgust, and said, "Yes." Tails had left the corner and was coming towards him.

"They didn't chain me up, I think they hoped you would attack me...you won't, right?"

"Of course not. They can't take me over that easily."

"Wow, Sonic. You sound really...different."

"I hate this. I'm a...freak." He looked at his metal claws, and suddenly felt like hitting something. He turned and thumped the wall as hard as he could, only succeeding in hurting his hand under its metal coating.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh." he yelled, the sound coming out blankly, just at high volume. Tails backed away in sudden worry, and Sonic began hurtling round and round the room, crashing into the walls, trying to run out of the metal, out of the trap, back to himself.

Eventually his energy ran out and he dropped to his hands and knees. He couldn't change his expression, couldn't shut his eyes properly, couldn't laugh, couldn't even cry. Did Metal Sonic feel like this? Of course, he was entirely robotic, whereas Sonic just was on the surface.

He hated everything about it...the way his fingers were claws, the way his voice came out expressionless, even the way he was partly normal. He couldn't even be like a robot...

Be like a robot?

"Tails...I have a plan."