The group were now all in the lab "All our work is gone. Metal cleared out. He used the internet as an escape hatch" Knuckles said. Shadow was glaring at Sonic "Metal?". Rouge was on a computer "He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other". Mighty stood next to her clutching his arm "He's in your files, he's in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?" "Nuclear codes" Topaz said. Mighty nodded "We got to make some calls. Assuming we still can". Rouge looked surprised "Nukes? He said he wanted us dead" "He said extinct" Shadow corrected. Whisper crossed her arms "He also said he killed somebody" "There wasn't anyone else in the building". Sonic stepped forward "Yes, there was". He points to the middle of the room and a hologram of Nicole appears, but it was torn apart. Knuckles stares stunned at the hologram "This is insane" "Nicole was the first line of defence. She would have shut Metal down. It makes sense" "No. Metal could have assimilated her. This isn't strategy. This is rage".

Razor entered and lifted Sonic by the neck, "It's going around" Whisper casually said. Sonic tried to speak "Come on, use your words, buddy" "Oh, I have more than enough words to describe you, Sonic". Shadow stepped forward "Razor! The Mecha?". Razor put Sonic down "Trail went cold about 100 miles out, but it's headed north. And it has the Beryl. Now we have to retrieve it, again". Rouge crossed her arms "The Genie's out of the bottle. Clear and present is Metal". Relic was staring at one of the broken Mechas on a desk "I don't understand. You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?". Sonic was leaning against a desk with his back to the others, he started to chuckle. Knuckles shakes his head, "You think this is funny?" Razor said. Sonic turned to them "No. This isn't funny. I find you guys funny" "This could have been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand". Sonic stepped towards him still laughing "That's what's funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this" "This might not be the time, Sonic" Knuckles said.

Sonic frowned "Really? That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls?" "Only when I've created a murder bot" "We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?". Knuckles didn't say anything, but Shadow glared at him "Well, you did something right. And you did it right here. The Chaotix were supposed to be different than G.U.N" "Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?". Mighty shook his head "No, it's never came up" "Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We were standing 300 feet below it. We're the Chaotix. We can bust arm dealers all the livelong day, but that up there, that's… That's the endgame. How were you guys planning on beating that?". Shadow stared at him "Together" "We'll lose" "Then we'll do that together, too". Sonic scowls and Shadow looks to the others "Razor's right. Metal's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller".

Night in Spagonia Sonia was on a street, handing things out to a group of people "Thank you" a woman said as Sonia gave her some clothes. Sonia then took out a bottle of pills and gave it to an elderly mole "Those the right ones?" "Yeah. Thank you" "The doctor who refilled it, no insurance hassle. I made a house call". She then gave a tiger that was about her age an envelope "That should be enough" "Thank you". Sonia then smirked "My number's in there too, by the way". The tiger smirked and nodded thankfully before leaving. Silver came over "Smooth" he said sarcastically. Sonia rolled her eyes "I could have gotten more stuff if you helped me" "I can't outrun bullets". Sonia scoffed "You can stop them mid-air" "I mean it. You're gonna get shot standing still" "Do you think I want to be. You said, wait. I'm waiting. I don't know what for. We had Sonic helpless. All these years-". A young human boy ran up to them "Excuse me". The boys father ran up "Costel, we're have you been" "The church". He looked back to the two hedgehogs "The man says you need to come to the church" "What man?" "Sonic the Hedgehog". The siblings looked to each other.

They entered a fenced-up church and into a circular room where a chair had it's back to them. They saw that somebody was sitting on it wearing sheet that covered his body. Silver could tell it wasn't Sonic "Talk, and if you are wasting our time-" "Did you know this church is in the exact centre of the city? The elders decreed it so that everyone could be equally close to Gaia. I like that. The geometry of belief". There was a pause "You're wondering why you can't look inside my head". Silver stared at him curiously "Sometimes it's hard. But sooner or later, every man shows himself". The figure stood up and the sheet fell off "Oh, I'm sure they do". It turned to them, it was a blue robot hedgehog with a yellow depression in his chest with a black centre, red eyes, a jet on his back and clawed hands. Silver and Sonia backed away as Metal stepped closer to them "But you needed something more than a man. That's why you let Sonic take the Beryl" "I didn't expect… I saw Sonic's fear. I knew it would control him. Make him self-destruct". Metal nodded "Everyone creates the thing they dread. Men of peace create engines of war. Invaders create Chaotix. People create children, designed to supplant them, to help them end". Silver stepped closer "Is that why you've come, to end the Chaotix?" "I've come to save the world".

Metal led them into the Black Arms base "This is a start, but there's something we need to begin the real work". Silver and Sonia looked around; the lab was now full of taller blue Mecha Sonic's but there were others as well. There were Mechas resembling the other Chaotix "All of these are…" "Me". Metal flew up and pulled down a chain "I have what the Chaotix never will. Harmony. They're discordant. Disconnected. Sonic's already got them turning on each other". He looked to his robots "And now their faces will be smeared everywhere we go. And then you get inside their head…". Sonia crossed her arms "What is wrong with just killing them" she said this to Silver as well as Metal. Metal turned to her "And make them martyrs? You need patience. You need to see the big picture" "I don't see the big picture. I have a little picture. I take it out and look at it, every day".

Metal stared at her "You lost your parents in the bombings. I've seen the records" "The records are not the picture". Silver glanced at her surprised "Don't" "No, please" Metal said kindly. Sonia glanced at the ground "We were 10 years old. Having dinner, the four of us. When the first shell hits, two floors below, it makes a big hole in the floor. Our parents go in and the whole building starts coming apart". Metal listens intently "Our mother pushed us out of the way, we roll under the bed, and the second shell hits. But it doesn't go off. It just sits there in the rubble. Three feet from our faces. And on the side of the shell is painted the symbol of Sonic the Hedgehog". Silver sighed "We were trapped for two days. Every time they try to save us, every time the bricks shift, we think this is what will set it off. We waited two days for Sonic the Hedgehog to kill us". Sonia nods "We know what they are". Metal softly nodded "I'm sorry. I wondered why only you two survived Black Doom's experiments. Now I don't. We will make it right. You and I can hurt them" he said to Sonia. He then looked to Silver "But you will tear them apart from the inside".

Topaz walked with Shadow "They're all over the globe. Robotic labs, weapon facilities, jet propulsion labs. Reports of metal Mobians, resembling the Chaotix coming in and emptying the place" "Fatalities?" "Only when engaged. Mostly guys left in a fugue state going on about old memories worst fears and something too fast to see". Shadow sighed "The twins. Makes sense he'd go to them. They have someone in common" "Not anymore". She handed him a pad that showed Black Doom dead in his cell with his blood on the wall spelling "Peace" "That's kind of a mixed message" "Is it? If it was my mission, world peace, I'd probably take out Black Doom, too. Metal could be in any system. He could be pulling planes down from the sky. What if he's just doing what he's supposed to?". Shadow stared at the pad "If I thought Metal were bringing peace, I'd hand in my emerald" "Would you?" Topaz asked sceptically. Shadow glanced up at her "Let me know if he leaves any more messages".

Shadow walked up the stairs and heard Whisper "Don't worry about it, leave nightlight off… That's a negative. I answer to you. Yes, ma'am". She realised Shadow was staring at her "I gotta go" she hung up her phone. She turned to him and held up the phone "Girlfriend" "Any of your old contacts come through?" "Still waiting". Shadow nodded "Wait faster". Shadow entered the next room where Rouge was at a computer speaking to Mighty "We're getting access denied on all basic information stream" "Yeah. Well, you guys are definitely off Techno Base's Christmas list. Every country with a nuke is fighting a cyber-attack. I'm being deployed to the Middle East, in case certain people start blaming each other instead of you". Sonic came over "Technology here has the new encryption drive, but I don't know for sure if it'll hold them. I'll send them out. You hear something, we need to hear it, too" "Hey, that goes both ways. Watch your six". Shadow walked over to Razor who just entered "Any help from on high?" "Armand's either away from his post or he's been ordered not to answer. But Metal can't hide forever, we'll find him" "Well, he's not exactly hiding". Shadow showed them all the image of Black Doom. Rouge stared at it "This is good" "No. No it isn't" Knuckles said. Rouge nodded "He's showing us his hand. This isn't his pattern. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?". Shadow got what she meant "Doom knew something that Metal wanted us to miss". Rouge went back on the computer "I'll bet… Yep, Look, everything we had on Black Doom, it's been wiped" "Not everything".

The group were now all looking through paper files "Known associates. Black Doom had a lot of friends". Sonic spotted a file Knuckles was looking at "Wait. I know that guy". He took it and saw a picture of a red echidna with an eyepatch "From back in the day. His name's Kragok. He operates off the Mazuri coast. Black market arms". Shadow stared disapprovingly, "There are conventions. Alright? You meet people. I didn't sell him anything. He was talking about finding something new, a game-changer. It was all very Max Payne". Razor stared at the picture and saw something on the echidna's neck "That brand. What is that". Knuckles checked it from a computer "It's a word in an Mazuri dialect meaning thief" "What dialect" "Ma-Masudan". Sonic and Shadow looked to each other seeming to recognise the name "If this guy got out of Masuda with some of their trade goods…" "I thought Jules said he got the last of it". Knuckles stood up "I don't follow. What comes out of Masuda?". They eye Shadow's emerald "The purest form of Chaos energy on Mobius".