AN: Hello everyone, welcome to the Pantry! This is a side project meant to keep my writing sharp and introduce new ideas while I work on my main project which is about 25% complete at the time of this chapter dropping.

Genre, length, theme and other criteria will vary pretty widely with each new entry as I am choosing from a list of titles that I have made that sound interesting. Starting from a title, I will do my best to embody the titles of each story, hoping to improve a bit from the entire experience.

Last but not least, I'm looking for other writers to talk writing with and build up some skill. I'm not picky about skill level and just want to be around other people who want to improve too. So if you're interested, feel free to shoot me a DM.

So without further ado. Story #1:

BUILT FOR REVENGE

"Get down!" Rotor shouted ducking his head beneath the shrubs.

The headlights of two locomotives shone on either side of a strip of vegetation. The same one Rotor and Tails found cover in. Their whistles blared as they simultaneously barreled forward, stirring the wind and leaves beside the rails.

On the opposite side of the tracks, there were rows of torches. Their light was blocked periodically before returning through the gaps of the train cars creating a dizzying strobe. It made looking out for their objective increasingly difficult.

Rotor waved Tails to follow. The roar of metal made hearing nearly impossible. He lead them to a safer position behind a pair of trees. When those metal crates were dropped off the locomotive, there was nothing to stop their violent departure other than a number of collisions. Rotor noted the five-inch deep scars toted by the nearby trees.

It was less than careless. It was an intentionally destructive method of deploying his sentinels. Eggman: nature's nemesis.

From the locomotive's origin, Rotor saw two distinct red flashes. He ordered Tails to stay clear only moments before the crates were ejected. The projectile crates made a solid thud on the other side of the tree Rotor was sitting behind. It violently shook dozens of leaves from the tree and cut a deep wound into the trunk. It only bounced a single time before sliding to a stop relatively close by. Lucky.

Tails gasped as he felt the wind of another crate whoosh past his face. This one tumbled for seventy feet before colliding with a tree on the verge of collapse. Unlucky.

Tails looked to Rotor and nodded. The far one was his.

With a single bound, Tails leaped into the air and flew over to the crate. As he did so, he unclipped his backpack. Tails landed and immediately got to work, as did Rotor.

First, they needed a laser cutter to melt through the titanium fasteners, giving them access to the machines within. It was crucial that they remained undamaged or they would trigger a security response. Obviously, something to be avoided.

Rotor executed the plan to perfection. The cutting operation was a breeze leading to the next step: overriding the machine. He jammed a chip inside the exposed data port to load his custom software. It took a few seconds and the heart-skipping terror of a falsely realized mistake but eventually, a blue ball popped out of the crate and uncurled itself. It stood tall and scanned Rotor with blood-red eyes. A Metal Sonic.

Rotor stood deathly still, even his chest did not move with his shallow gasp. Red was not the color he was supposed to be seeing. The machine should have booted with green eyes. That change was the first line of code and the signal for a successful hijacking. Everyone knows the carnage a Metal Sonic can reap. And Rotor unfortunately experienced much of it first-hand. Their eyes meant death in the most primitive language. Fear.

Cutting his losses, Rotor slowly moved a hand to his hip. The machine moved its eyes to follow it but did nothing to stop it. The Metal Sonic still did not move even as Rotor gripped a flare at his hip. All in one motion, Rotor rose his arm and shot a red flare into the sky. It was the signal of a failed mission. The team that waited for them a mile up the tracks would abandon them as planned.

Reacting to his sudden movement, the Metal pinned Rotor up against a tree. Despite this bit of aggression, it was not normal that it didn't attack him yet. The Metals were known for ruthlessness and decisiveness. There was never a time where they took this long to make a decision, even in groups of seven or more. In other words, the chip may not have worked as intended, but it did something.

On Tails's end, he was battling the clock. The cutting operation seemed to take longer than normal. Then, add that to the fact that he could not find the data port on this machine and Tails had a precarious situation on his hands. Had Eggman rolled out new Metal models that were less susceptible to attack? If that was the case, they were beyond under-prepared to take on this mission.

When dealing with an undeployed Metal unit, it was never advised to fully unbox it. But that was all Tails could think to do when there was no port visible at his entry point. He rotated it as many times as his nerves would allow. When he was certain there was no port, he left it on the ground beside the teetering tree.

Tails turned to inform Rotor and was horrified to see the Metal's eyes drowning him in red. From what Tails saw, he knew Rotor would be dead only momentarily. Perhaps it wasn't too late to save himself. To get back home and see Cream. He regretted not saying goodbye to her before he left and not visiting Sonic's grave near the fringe of the forest. Somehow in the excitement of the new overriding technology Rotor devised, he forgot his typical ritual of visiting his two favorite people before departing.

Tails had flight on his side, just a hop and he'd be able to make it over the trains, back in the forest, and back to base. But before Tails made it anywhere, he felt a cold hand grip the back of his neck and hoist him up. He was in the tight clutches of the Metal Sonic. He clawed at his neck, but as he did he felt his strength slipping and his blood vessels ballooning. Frantically, Tails reached for his weapon but fumbled the grip. He heard the sentencing thud of his gun's descent. He was done for. He put a hand out, reaching for Rotor, his vision fading to black.

Rotor in a final effort delivered a point-blank round of his shock pistol into the Metal. The energy surged through him as well causing him to collapse, but affected him less strongly than the now frozen Metal. Not bothering to return to his feet, he aimed and fired at the other Metal that still had a grip on Tails's limp body. It dodged easily now that Rotor didn't have the advantage of close quarters. Quicker than anyone could react, it stalked after him and hoisted him up by his neck as well. It had no issue lifting his meaty frame from the earth.

Rotor looked down at the collapsed Metal, the one that didn't outright attack him and begged, "Help…us…Sonic."

It took a moment, but his words seemed to spark action in the machine. It swept the feet from under the other Metal forcing it to drop Tails and Rotor. It was still partially immobile from the shock pistol, but its legs were operational. Back on its feet, the machine attempted to crush the head of the evil Metal, but its foot was grabbed, the unit flung into a tree, and chased.

With the evil Metal distracted with the good one, Rotor thought this the best time to escape with their lives. He hoisted Tails over his shoulder and began legging it toward the cliffs in the distance. Strangely, though, a guilt washed over him. Like the good Metal was an ally he was abandoning them. Rotor pushed through the feeling and kept running. This was no time to be personifying those machines, even if they were built in the likeness of his late friend.

In a few more steps the feeling became too taxing to ignore. Rotor stopped and slid Tails onto the floor. He felt his pulse. It was still there. Rotor had some time.

The evil Metal delivered another kick to the good one which was in a glitching pile in the grass. One of its legs had been torn from the socket and most of the actuators within the arms were still malfunctioning. Just as it was about to receive the final blow, a pop rang out. Another shock pistol round. Another dodge. Another shift of aggro.

The evil Metal activated its rocket and darted after Rotor, but didn't make it far. The good Metal trapped the leg of the evil one between its torso and one of its malfunctioning arms and was digging into the ground with a single limb disallowing the other to escape. Rotor shot another round at the hovering Metal, but missed when it deactivated the thruster and fell to the ground. It seemed to do everything to avoid those shots.

With another kick, it shed the good Metal from its leg then returned its attention to Rotor. In seconds it disarmed and apprehended him as he reloaded his empty shock pistol. Though wounded, the good Metal still tried to help, but this only earned it a debilitating kick to the CPU. Rotor saw his hope fade with the eyes of the machine before they went black.

That was it. Rotor cursed himself for his stupidity and now he would await a painful death. That is, until Tails ambushed the machine from the trees above. He latched on its back and delivered a point-blank shock. He reeled from the electricity running through him, but grit his teeth and delivered another three while still holding on.

The evil Metal jerked about trying to control itself, but it finally collapsed. Tails stood panting and shaking.

"Good thing…I always carry two. You alright?" Tails said, extending a hand to help Rotor.

Rotor nodded, grabbing on and hoisting himself up. They looked at the state of the strip. The trees and vegetation were already dying, but the Metals' fight didn't help things.

"We gotta grab the other guy and make repairs. If it weren't for him we woulda been done for."

"Sounds like a plan—!"

"Watch it!" Rotor yelled, pulling Tails mere inches from the claws of the evil Metal.

It was still online, twitching and skittering about, yet strong enough to kill. Tails tried reloading his gun as the machine neared, but it was fast enough to smack it and all the rounds from his hand. Tails and Rotor back-peddled trying to avoid its clutches. It leaped to Rotor and rushed him with a flurry of attacks before turning his attention to Tails, the main flight risk.

"Tails run! Get back to base!"

Tails couldn't turn to escape as he tripped over a protruding branch and was left to the mercy of his enemy once more. Before he was dispatched, a loud crack resounded from beside him. The wobbly tree that was struck by the crate earlier began to fall and the evil Metal was in its path. Normally it would be able to dodge out of the way, but the good metal had rebooted as well! And with newfound control in its arms, it held the other in place. Tails closed his eyes and shielded himself from the branches.

Crash!

BUILT FOR REVENGE

Thanks for reading!