Chapter 8

"Hey, Maurice?" My voice felt choked and hoarse as silent tears fell down my cheeks. I stared at my black and white hands in the dark, "Will you still recognize me?" I shut my eyes tight, "Are you even still alive?"

I sat upon a giant, blue bed. His matching bed was adjacent to me, on the right side of the blue and red room. I could only stare and cry, the thought of his fearful eyes at this monstrous beast too much to bear.

Whispers filled the emptiness, "I'm sorry...I'm afraid…."My lips quivered as I finished my sentence, "I couldn't escape..like you wanted..."So many tears, so little time, "I'm...I'm just not as strong...as you." I clenched my fists and opened my fearful, dark eyes. I could barely see through my tears, "I-I've always been a crybaby...haven't I..."

My teeth clenched, and I screamed. I screamed as loud and as long as I could. I was angry, so angry at myself, at the Good Doctor, at everyone! I ran around the room, tossing my toys and overturning the little table in the middle.

It was only when everything was chaos that I sunk to my knees and cried, "Why?" I sobbed, "Why did all of this have to happen?" I began to hit the blue carpet, my fist weak against even that, "Why?...WHY!" I screamed.

I sunk into unintelligible sobs and screams. Nobody could hear, and nobody who cared was going to come, so why not? I was alone in this eternal darkness, and I knew I was going to be alone for all time.

Child.

I looked up, the voice dark and menacing, but I could care less. That was all this place had to offer, "What? Are you going to punish me for being angry and sad?" I asked, my voice so broken, it was more of a whisper, "If so, then go ahead. I don't care." I didn't know who was talking, nor could I see anyone through my swollen, red eyes.

I'm not here to punish you. In fact, I want to give you something.

I sat up, my heart chaotic and lost while still unclear as to who was talking, "Who are you?" I was looking around vigorously now, "Where are you?"

I'm right here… His voice was suddenly right in front of me, and with some effort, I managed to see a black hedgehog that looked to be the same size and shape of me. Even his quills looked the same.

"Who are you?" I blinked, my tears silent once more, and my voice ready to give out from all the screaming and crying. My eyes became heavy as I stabilized myself with my shaking arms. I could feel my forelegs becoming numb, but I could care less at this point...I just wanted my heart to do the same.

My name is Chaos, and you are mine. I came to give my dearest her birthday present.

"Today is my birthday?" I whispered, my voice losing itself. I could barely hear him, but at the same time he was too loud. It was as though his voice was echoing in my head,and when I looked up, his mouth didn't move.

Yes, both yours and your brother's. I had never known my birthday, and time seemed stagnant here, so I couldn't tell if he was lying or not. I chose to believe him though, cause, why not? It only seemed fitting and ironic to lose my identity on my birthday.

He held out a black, shadowy hand, Come, take my hand, and receive your heritage.My eyes blinked slowly, watching as his form flickered within the shadowed light.

I held out my black hand, ready to take it. I was too broken to refuse, but at the same time, I didn't trust this dark shadow who seemed to know everything. He waited patiently for my hand, and closing my eyes, I allowed my hand to fall into his. After all that's happened, trust was lost to me.

I was expecting the usual cold, or at least a horrible feeling to go up my back like with the doctor...but his hand was warm. I opened my eyes to see a maternal smile on his face, and though he had no pupils in his empty eyes, I could tell that he cared. He pulled me into a hug, and I cried silently into his warm, loving shoulder, my arms slowly hugging him back.

Thank you for trusting me, my dark dearest.

I opened my eyes, a light shining through the open window of the metal room. I was lying in a soft, warm bed, a hushed buzzing noise in my flicking ears. The room itself consisted of a metal bookcase, metal floor, and a circular, yellow open window beside it.

I could see leaves from a hidden tree blowing in the sweet-smelling wind, and feel the birds' beautiful morning song in my forlorn heart. What happened?

I sat up quickly, "Knuckles...Tails..." I felt my eyes growing wet as I remembered them, and my last moments with them. They had sacrificed their lives to save mine...but...I'm not worth the saving.

They had been the only ones to really try to take me in, and I got them captured, or killed. I covered my eyes, the nightmare only making this pain worse.

The buzzing in my ears started to get louder, and my hands fell from my eyes to look around. I also recalled the robot, and the fact that it had taken me based on matching DNA to someone named Sonic. I didn't even know Sonic, but somehow I've managed to meet some of his closest friends, get them captured, and then be mistaken for him! I'm not even a boy! How could I be mistaken for a male hedgehog? That makes no sense!

I looked to the window, and of course saw nobody, then looked to my left, and nearly jumped out of bed.

The robot from before was standing there watching with his dead, crimson stare. But that was it.

I sighed, "Are you just gonna stand there?" I chuckled softly, my head sinking back down to look at the silver covers, "Or what?" I felt a metal hand grip my black arm gently. I looked to see him pointing behind himself at the only door in the room.

"You...want me to follow you?" I asked softly, and he nodded. I allowed him to help me off the bed, but he didn't put me on the ground. Instead, he placed me on his shoulders and proceeded to carry me out of the room. I didn't fight back...there was no point. Besides, at least this was quicker than him just leading me, and yes, I am calling him a he because that is what he looks like. It's much better than calling him an 'it' anyways...it makes him seem like less of a threat, I guess.

I rested on his metal spikes. They seemed to be only for decoration, and with the way they were shaped, they also made a nice headrest.

I heard a happy, robotic noise as he continued down endless gray halls and through repeating automated doors. The doors were huge, and I could only assume that whoever this robot worked for was around the same size...I couldn't imagine. I mean, after all, I'm not even three feet high, so how could I imagine someone that tall?

"So...you seem kinda nice." I traced the outline of the mechanical quills, the happy noise filling my ears again. Then, with a start, I heard another voice echo in my head.

"I missed you." The cute, male voice was garbled and covered with robotic interference. It was the robot's voice, but I couldn't understand why he needed to talk in my head...nor why he didn't just do it before.

"You talk?" I asked, a little surprised. My small arms now supported my head as I rested my chin on them.

"In a sense..." He replied, "Just not in the way you know." He added sadly, "...but you should know that." He looked up at me for a second in confusion before looking at the halls again, "I guess it has been a long time."

"Why didn't you talk to me before?" I asked curiously, remembering the blank stare I had gotten only a little while ago, "If I had known you were like this..you wouldn't have had to take me forcefully."

He looked up to me for a second before continuing, "You weren't compatible at the time. Your mind had some sort of block around it..." He chuckled, "I had thought you were Maurice at the time too! Your DNA matched so perfectly with his that I had to do a double take." I heard a robotized sigh, "Sorry about the scare..."

I giggled softly, "It's alright. I've been though worse." Another chuckle.

"I know." He looked at me again, "I'm sorry I wasn't able to get there in time." He stopped before a huge red and gold door that made all the other doors look small in comparison, "Something weird has been going on lately. Maurice...um, Sonic is gone, and so are all the people he's had close contact with..."

"Who is Sonic and why is he so important?" I threw my hands up, "He's all I seem to hear about these days! He's even in my dreams-but with that name you just said..." I could feel his shock in my mind.

There was a soft static, then, "You don't remember?" He took me off his shoulders and stared at me with concerned, glowing red eyes, "You don't recognize me?"

I looked into his eyes, then down at the floor, "You seem familiar...this all seems familiar." I felt dejected again, "But...no. I'm sorry..." A tear fell down my face, the frustration overwhelming as I tried to remember. His claw-like finger wiped it away gently.

"It's...probably for the best." He decided, a smile filling my mind, "Everyone calls me Metal Sonic, but you can call me Burakku. It's..what my real creator called me." He chuckled, "It's nice to meet you."

He let me back down onto the ground and held out his hand. I took it, a small smile breaking over my face.

"Nice to meet you, Burakku!" A small flash filled my mind, the idea of having done this once before hammering at the walls of my amnesia. His grip, eyes, and demeanor was comforting, reminding...and the smile on my face became one of fond remembrance. I knew that I knew him, but couldn't remember where or when, nor for how long. I just knew that I could trust him, and that he had been important to me long ago. Even the name was familiar, and my smile grew brighter with that knowledge.

A happy noise was in the air again, "Why don't we say hello to my knew employer, huh?" His eyes searched me, and I nodded.

The door opened while we stood there, hand in hand to a huge, metal room filled with mechanical devices. They lined the walls, much like with Tail's barn, but unlike the shed, there was a huge machine in front of an even larger window that looked out into crashing, blue waves that were spanned across the horizon.

This machine had seven windows on it, all static and blurred out besides one. It was a red and black hunky robot, and promiscuous bat in the corner. They seemed fine, and were chatting as they walked carefully through abandoned, ancient streets...my eyes widened in shock as a black robot entered the scene. But before I could do anything, the screen filled with static, and they were gone.

The huge, black chair in front of the screens moved, and a heavy, gloved fist came down on the machine. A goofy, angry voice filled the air.

"Damn it all!" I jumped at the sound, "He got everyone..." His voice sounded sad, then he suddenly whirled around in the chair, causing my heart to miss yet another beat as he cried out, "That's it! I'm going to get them back-" He stopped, his black glasses staring at me in a stunned silence.

He has big, but for some reason, also not. He had skinny arms and legs, but a blown up belly. His head was small as well, but seemed almost mask-like as it didn't fit properly. What I assumed were glasses seemed to be glass holes in the mask for sight...plus he had some sort of goggles or strange glasses that wrapped around his bald head. His main feature was a huge, orange mustache that was amazing in stature, and he wore a red overcoat with gold buttons, and black pants that seemed to double as his boots. His hands were gloved in black, glistening fabric, and his funny mouth was still open from his last few words.

"Metal...who's this?" He looked so confused, and couldn't seem to focus on one side of me, "I thought I told you to find Sonic." He suddenly laughed, "If you think that's Sonic, then I need to fix your eyes...and your processor..." He thought for a moment, continuing to study me, "Scratch that. I have to fix everything..." He looked at him, and I could hear Burakku's laughter in my head though he showed no emotion in his eyes, "Why are you laughing?" A soft anger pulled at the corner of his mouth, "This is a serious matter!"

"I know this isn't Sonic." He said lightly, "But her DNA is identical." Suddenly, the man's face went from anger to astonishment to just plain confusion.

"Wait...you're telling me..." He couldn't even get out the sentence due to his shock. He stared at me again, "She...she isn't who was described..." His face then turned to horror, "What did he do to you?"

His fake eyebrows shot up and he stood to his feet. He was so tall, around six foot at least. Fear was etched into his mask, and I couldn't help but feel startled and a little scared. I wasn't scared of him, but I was scared of what he was talking about...even though I didn't know what that was.

"I need to find Sonic, now!" He declared, "If he could do this to..." He sunk back into his chair, his face falling into his hand. I felt sorry for the guy.

"We'll find Sonic, boss." I heard Burakku's voice again, "Don't even worry about it." The man nodded, and slowly got up. With a sigh, he walked over to me and knelt down.

"So...um.." He seemed at a loss for words, but the silly voice had disappeared, and in its place was the voice of an older man, "You can call me, Dr. Eggman..." He paused, trying to look for things to say as he pulled gently at his mustache. I liked this voice much better than the fake one he had been using. This one was kinder, and held concern for the people it was talking to….it was also less loud.

I looked down, my hand tightening on Burakku's hand, "It's nice to meet you, Dr. Eggman...but I can't really help you." I felt bad for having to say that, but it couldn't be helped. I wanted to help this man as he seemed nice and I actually really liked him. Thankfully Burakku decided to explain, his hand tightening protectively around mine.

"She...has amnesia..." Eggman's glass eyes seemed to widen, "My guess was that it was caused by some sort of overwhelming trauma." His voice was hesitant and he couldn't help but whir in-between some of the words.

"You can't remember anything, child?" I nodded and the doctor became thoughtful, "No visions, or dreams? Nothing?"

"I have nightmares...but that's it." I relented quietly. He looked at Burakku, then back at me.

"Could you recount some of them, please?" He asked, and I obliged. I told him of the one where I was falling into the ocean, and the one with me and another little hedgehog running only for the little hedgehog to escape and me to be left behind. I continued with the one about the strange room with the seven crystals, and though it was harder to tell, I told him about the flashes of drowning that I get. By the end of my tale, he was sweating.

"And you don't think those are memories?" He tried calmly. But I could tell he was panicking, heck, I was panicking.

"...I hope they aren't." My voice was quiet. Burakku looked at me.

"Why?"

"I-I...They're all so violent, and dark! I don't want that to be my past…." Eggman became thoughtful again as he listened, "Because...if that was my past...then that will be my future too..." My eyes fell, "Wouldn't it?"

He sighed, "Your past doesn't determine your future." He stood and looked out the window, his eyes going back to elder days, "I know someone who had a hell of a past, and yet, he was probably the happiest little boy in the world…" He chuckled to himself, "The reason being; he didn't dell in the past." He looked back at me, "He looked to the future." He knelt back down and took my shoulder, "You may have had a horrible past, and I'm not making light of that fact, but it's only if you live in that past that it messes with your future." He smiled, "Pain doesn't last forever. Sooner or later, that cloud will break, and you will see the happiness you missed out on so long ago." He was so sincere that I had to wonder what's happened to him in the past.

I stared into his eyes, a flicker of emerald on the other side, "How do you know so much?"

"Experience." We stared at each other for a couple seconds, but the base had suddenly become alight with crimson warning. My ears rung with the loud beeping. Burakku started looking around for the source, but Eggman just kept smiling, and put a strange device around my wrist, "Take this, it will help you find me and Metal." He seemed to know what was coming.

"Where are you going?" I was so confused. This was all going by so fast...I could hardly keep up.

"Don't worry about it...just..." He took my hand and led me to the huge device in front of the window and directed me to a little hidden, metal box beneath his chair. Without much effort, I climbed in and he shut the metal door, "Hide here, and don't come out until you know it's safe. You may be the only one who can save us in the end." He smiled through the slits in the metal and vanished.

It wasn't long before I heard shattered glass, and a huge struggle. Eggman was yelling at something in that goofy voice and I could hear the sounds of many robots filling the room. Then, everything went silent. I was almost too afraid to come out, as I didn't know who might be out there. For some reason, I was waiting for Eggman or Burakku to open the door and tell me everything was okay...but that never happened. Instead, the box began to get darker as a fading, golden light filled the slits.

Finally, I opened the door, and found the room was trashed and empty of anybody besides a large, red and gray crab-like robot that was watching me sadly. The sun was going down over the water, and I could hear a beeping coming from my wrist.

I walked up to the robot, and seeing it's harmless intent, sat beside it and petted its hard shell, "Don't worry little robot, I'll find them." It nuzzled itself into my fur and relaxed in my lap.

I looked out the window to watch the sunset, and when the last light faded away, I carefully lifted the poor robot off of my legs, stood up, and looked at the beeping thing on my wrist.

I opened it, and found a map, as well as two blue dots surrounded by red ones. I held the device to my chest, a new purpose forming in my mind.

"I will save you...all of you." I whispered softly to myself, and took off running faster than the speed of sound on the twilit road to hell.