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"You're going already?"
Metal Sonic nodded, barely turning from the steel door to look at its creator. Metal Sonic was dead-set on leaving and it didn't have the time for goodbyes. Afterall, The Hedgehog never did.
"If you insist on training like that," His father said, motioning toward the bot's previously destroyed arm- The paint still barely dry. "Can you atleast wait for me to give you your toolbox?" Metal Sonic turned back and beeped, crossing his arms and tapping its foot impatiently. With an annoyed tone Robotnik sighed. "I appreciate your.. 'Enthusiasm' to destroy Sonic, but.." He said with a hand covering his face. He approached Metal and kneeled down, resting his hands on its shoulder plates. His expression turned to one of concern now as he looked for the words. He opened his mouth to say something but hesitated, looking off to the side with a pained expression. He sighed again and turned back to Metal with a look of pride and worry. Metal didn't understand. "Just be careful out there this time.." Metal beeped quietly in agreement, and his father patted Metal's head as though ruffling some imaginary quills before turning back to grab the toolbox from off a cabinet.
Metal was confused as he left. Clearly his creator did not understand the importance of its training.
Round hills covered in trees rest under pretty blue skies. Bright white clouds roll by slowly, and the sun shines a golden glow onto the hot afternoon. What a beautiful day for a high speed battle-race between a vibrant blue hedgehog and his robotic clone!
The two hedgehogs zip through the forest, their speed knocking branches off of trees as they maneuver between them. Metal's optics flicker around briefly as he processes his surroundings, only to lead back to its target. The two run neck and neck, knocking into each other's sides as they race.
"Hey, Metal! What'd Egghead send you out here for anyways?" Sonic shouts over the sound of wind as they race forward faster than a jet. "An ancient treasure, a chaos emerald.. Some friends maybe?" Sonic looks over slightly as he speaks, searching Metal's face for some sort of a response, but Metal only narrows his optics at the last one.
Sonic turns back to focus on running. Sigh. "Fine, that was cheap.. I mean, a guy can hope, right?" No response. "So, just to fight me like usual? Couldn't he have sent you out for something more interesting today? It's been a while since the last Big Adventure TM.." He waves his hands dramatically to exadurate the last part.
During Sonic's quip session he loses focus for a moment and Metal takes his chance to attack. Metal spin attacks into Sonic's side, knocking him into some trees to their left.
"Hey! No fair!" Completely fair. Sonic wasn't even paying attention to their race.
While Sonic is down Metal jumps at him, claws at the ready, but Sonic dodges just in time and takes a shot at Metal. The two battle it out, one swing after another. Knocking each other into tree after tree.
They look like lines of pinkish-orange and blue light zig-zagging across the foliage of the forest with their speed. Through their battle they end-up back up and running but not unwounded, (blasting through a tree at 40mph will leave a dent or two).
They kick up their speed, knocking harder into each other this time. To an outside observer they'd be like clashing flicks of light passing by, visible only for a moment before disappearing into the distance.
Through their battle, the coverage of the trees becomes slightly sparser and hot light shines down from above. Metal is knocked into the side of a tree and the bark grates through his paint and scratches up his plating revealing some wires, but he bounces back quickly and knocks into Sonic, his shoulder blade giving the hedgehog's arm a bruising.
As they race on, the trees continue to sparse out and they meet the end of the forest, entering a grassy field. The sun is hot and Metal's already burning CPU begs him to slow down and put his energy into ventilation. He presses on anyway. The two continue to clash and brawl. Metal's cooling systems start up unconsciously and his fans begin whirring, but he shuts them off to put all his energy into racing and fighting. They knock into and spin-attack at and kick one another as they run.
Metal launches his plasma pulse laser and Sonic dodges, jumping over top and kicking him in the back. Metal uses his booster to launch fire from behind in response, but Sonic has already moved to the side and he homing-attacks at Metal full force. Metal uses its already active booster to move out of the way and Sonic eats dirt.
As Metal is about to make a move, Sonic jumps to his feet and runs at Metal. Metal takes the hit with a "Clang!" and grabs Sonic by the arm. He swings Sonic around and throws him into the ground with a thud. Sonic gets back to his feet, Metal flies at Sonic, who dodges, and they shift back into racing.
As they run, their speed blows the surrounding grass to the ground and the sound of wind howls loudly. The heat coming from Metal's booster almost overtakes him, but his fans start whirring again. He attempts to shut them down but they stutter on and off, refusing to stop battling the heat.
Suddenly, "Y'Know, you'd think he would know not to send his Egg-Pawns out in this heat if he didn't want them becoming Omelet-Pawns." Sonic jokes. "Real 300 IQ genius." Did he just call Metal a pawn? How Sonic even heard his fans stuttering through the wind he'll never know. It doesn't matter anyways. A moment passes and he manages to turn his fans off for good.
They continue to clash before meeting rocky cliffs jetting out of the ground in front of them. The two continue to battle and race around them, maneuvering between surrounding boulders.
As they run, Sonic knocks Metal into the side of the cliff which shreds through the plating of his upper arm and loosens his shoulder plate as he flies forward. He goes to claw at Sonic in response but as he does, Sonic spin-dashes into him, knocking him into the cliff again, which he bounces back off of.
Metal fires a plasma pulse laser in Sonic's direction, which causes him to slow down avoiding it. Using the opportunity, Metal flies at Sonic. Metal knocks Sonic into a rock, knocking the wind out of him. Metal goes to fire another laser but- No, he needs to win first. It needs to recharge anyway. He opts for a spin attack instead. Sonic scrambles out of the way just in time and Metal hits the rock instead.
Sonic kicks at Metal from behind but Metal uses its booster which causes Sonic to jolt back. His shoe would have lit aflame if it weren't made specifically to withstand his speed. Metal turns back to fly at Sonic but he catches Metal's claws in his hands. Sonic is pushed back into the cliff, and they wrestle against it. Metal attempts to claw at the other but Sonic pushes him to face down and it grazes its own legs. Sonic takes his chance and pushes Metal by the side before running off, getting another head start on the race. Metal quickly follows suit.
As the race continues, the heat is unbearable.
Warnings flood its system. Its CPU, once again, begging him to turn on his fans.
Sonic knocks him into the side of the cliff again. It didn't even notice for a moment with the heat distracting his systems...
The heat is slowing it down.
Frantically, his fans turn on but with a stutter. A consequence of forcing them off earlier. They run hard and loud. He feels slower with them on. It knows this isn't the case. It was slower with them off. He was being slowed down by the heat. But he feels so much slower.
Sonic knocks into him again. Focus!
Sonic runs- hand clasped around a cut he got earlier in their fight- a bit ahead of him now. When that happened, Metal doesn't know. The cliffs stretch on a ways ahead of them, even for their speed. Up ahead is a cluster of rocks, which will be difficult to navigate around.
Metal takes the information in, trying to focus. Processing...
Okay.
The two reach the rocks and Metal opts to fly above to catch up. As Sonic falls behind he looks up at Metal with a determined look in his eyes. "Haven't you ever heard that what goes up must come down?" He shouts before he homing attacks into Metal Sonic's side. Metal falters shortly as Sonic latches his arms around Metal's legs. Metal glares down at Sonic and Sonic's Serious and Determined expression quickly slips into a sheepish smile. Metal squints with a beep as if to say, "Hasn't anyone told you the same?" before aiming to smack his legs into the side of the cliff. Sonic yelps and lets go of Metal's legs, falling to the ground with a grass filtered thud. Metal lands to stand over Sonic tauntingly, with a smug look in its optics. "Jeez," Sonic says through a grin "Do ya have to rub it in that badly?" Metal flicks Sonic's ear before turning heel and blasting off. "HEY!"
As Metal flies forward his systems run a little easier.
Up ahead the cliff meets its end, the hill smoothing out into the ground. Before Metal can turn way up the hill, Sonic runs up the side of the cliff, causing Metal to fall behind. As Metal flies out of the shade of the cliff, his systems flood with errors.
Metal lowers his head into a glare, eyes focused on his rival. Background processes close, spark capacitors deactivate, heat regulation goes on low-power mode. All power redirects to speed as he guts itself on the inside.
V-Maximum-overdrive activated.
Sonic notices immediately. He looks back to see Metal catching up and something about Metal seems off. He's always been able to sort of sense what Metal Sonic means and feels, and this is way off. A serious expression overtakes his face and he adopts a focused stature. What is he doing..
Metal flies by Sonic's side and attempts to knock into him, Sonic doesn't hesitate to knock back. Sonic Kicks Metal to the side of the cliff but Metal flies above and immediately aims to hit Sonic again. Sonic dodges but nearly loses the lead.
As they zip forward, Sonic running across the hill and Metal flying just over the edge of the cliff- steadily gaining the lead, they periodically clash with each-other.
The grass is pushed down and scorched by the sheer power of their speed. The sun beams blindingly against Metal's screen. "Looks like you're glaring in more ways than one.." Sonic has to hold back. Metal's components nearly melt in the heat, as warnings begin overflowing his processor, even with most processes shut off. Seek cooling immediately. Deactivate booster ASAP. Return to base for repairs soon.
The errors continue to flood his systems until he stops processing them at all, and Metal carries on attacking Sonic, hoping to have the lead locked down by the time they reach the end of the hill.
Sonic cringes as he can feel the heat practically radiating off of Metal as he dodges a spin attack. Maybe a quip about it being an oven wouldn't be great right now.
Metal's processes become fragmented and his thoughts become nonsense as his systems require immediate cooling. Errors continue flooding and flooding. His mind becomes a delirious mess. The only thing running with any priority other than cooling systems now are his flight and attack protocols. And even those need to shut off soon.
Suddenly, his booster explodes energy out of it, and in a flurry of now-purposeless warning messages and errors, his raging fans run 10 times louder and his booster 10 times more deactivated. In an instant Metal Sonic is plummeting to the ground, knocking into the side of the cliff as it falls. The sounds of Sonic frantically trying to figure out what just happened go unheard as his hydraulics take complete priority, and its mind further dissolves into a fragmented mess.
Sonic slides down the wedged cliff and approaches Metal. The scent of smoke fills air that once smelled of beautiful spring flowers. Sonic kneels down next to Metal, the whirring and lack of movement from the poor bot telling Sonic all he needed to know. "Our races have really gotta stop ending like this.." Sonic stands back up awkwardly, unsure if Metal can even hear him. His optics deactivated back when he went into v-max' mode, but now his head isn't even moving. It should be glaring at him right now.
..
For just a moment Metal regains the ability to process slightly.
"Well, see ya later whenever you want a rematch I guess.. But maybe try a cooler day next time, bud." Sonic says before turning away.
And with that his systems are off once-again.
It didn't have the time for goodbyes. Afterall, The Hedgehog never did.
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The sound of water flowing floods the cool sunset air. The sky is a dazzling gradient from cobalt blue to salmon pink. The moon shows itself ever-so-slightly looking down from sky. Birds chirp, and crickets sing.
A beautiful evening to be sure. If only it weren't for the stain-like scent of burnt wires and smoke.
With a whir, mechanical components reawaken.
A small waterfall leads down from a cliff into a shallow and rocky river. This is what Metal Sonic finds itself laying in.
Metal sits up slightly as his systems come online. A few are still suppressed so it activates them, and he's immediately flooded with errors to look through. He would have sighed.
Repairs required urgently.
It could have questioned where it is, who brought it here, but it decides to stand up and look for his toolbox instead. He can go over his memories later. At least he's cooled off now.
An hour passes as the limping bot makes its way back to the forest where Sonic found it in the first place. It was so much faster when it was flying.
A path marked by scolded dirt tells him he's reached his destination. He trudges over to a tree, and sure-enough, lying at its side is a small red toolbox. The metal on it isn't scolded or dented or broken. Hopefully Metal Sonic will be able to say the same for himself soon.
Metal Sonic plops onto the ground, leaning against the tree. It would be nice if he could see the beautiful green foliage, but his systems need power right now and dense forests aren't something it always needs to process. The sounds of birds singing is nice, though. The sound of the grass swaying in the wind can be enough once-more.
Metal pulls out a welder and starts working.
As Metal works, his processes begin trying to learn from the encounter with the copy.
Activate training protocols.
Focusing. Turn here. Need sharper angle. Arms closer..
Blue? - Identified as Sonic. Priority changed.
How did I allow myself to focus so much on training to defeat Copy that I miss my Copy? Allowed him to get the lead on me- note as failure. Always should ready self for The Hedgehog.
Heat distracting systems..
..Too much blocking cooling at beginning, caused disaster later. Note failure.
"An ancient treasure, a chaos emerald.. Some friends maybe?" "I mean, a guy can hope, right?" "So, just to fight me like usual? Couldn't he have sent you out for something more interesting today? It's been a while since the last Big Adventure TM.."
Has been while since large mission.. What does "A Guy can hope, right?" mean? Hoping for me to make friends? ... Question of priorities in copy.
Opt to fly above. "Haven't you ever heard that what goes up must come down?" Impact made. Sheepish smile. Hasn't anyone told you the same? Attack. Copy fell. Assert position as true Sonic. "Jeez, do ya have to rub it in that badly?" Flicks ear. Exit. "HEY!"
Systems running sufficiently.
Systems run easier. Question.. My priorities.
"Just be careful out there this time.."
Priorities: Defeat Copy and prove self as true Sonic. Serve creator..
Serve creator. Did I do as said? This was not so 'careful.' I was not aware when copy showed up, or of damage from heat..
Situation is not optimal. Not optimal at all.
Too much to question. Too much failure.
Metal's still-fragmented mind is filled with anger and takes a break from this process. Metal looks down to see its previously shredded arms looking functional again, though the welded metal is deeply uneven. Failure.
Metal grabs for a tool out of the toolbox and finds a small note inside. Curiosity gets the better of him. It reads it. It's addressed to him.
"To My Greatest Creation/Son/Metal Sonic..
I want to remind you to STOP! GETTING YOURSELF DESTROYED!
I know you're perfect in every way and my pride and joy but sometimes you make decisions that aren't so perfect..
SUCH AS: Getting blown up, exploding, overexerting yourself.. ETC !
I love you, stop blowing up please. I know destroying Sonic is your mission and it's VERY IMPORTANT but
NOT BLOWING UP IS ALSO IMPORTANT! if you want to destroy that menace you need to exist.
SIGNED, THE AMAZING IVO EGGMAN ROBOTNIK, ROBOT EXTRAORDINAIRE AND RULER OF THE EGGMAN EMPIRE.
..Also your dad. (Heart)
PS. I'M PROUD OF YOU"
..
Metal Sonic feels awful for a second at the realization that he went directly against his creator's orders by blowing up today.
Then it feels a joyful at the implication that its father is proud of it either way.
As Metal flies his systems run a little easier.
Maybe this day was not a complete mistake.
He takes a moment to turn over to look at the sky. It's pretty. Appreciating nature is good for it's head.
Nature is optimal.. I am Sonic. Maybe today is not too bad.. Much is learned.
As his head clears up, he beeps out many laughs reprocessing the letter, as well as the day's quips.
My father is proud of me.. Despite any of my actions. Maybe my second objective has been fulfilled, in a sense..
And I have learned many things today. This will help me on my first objective..
Metal Sonic messily finishes up his repairs and makes his way home to his father, expecting a pat on the head and a fresh coat of paint.
Situation: optimal.
