Chapter 5: Legacy of the Hero

As the sun rose over the horizon, Silver sat on the edge of a rooftop, looking out over the city. He'd been running on a wild goose chase all night long, and was exhausted. Flying for such long periods and in such quick succession took a serious toll on his stamina. He hadn't dared slow down even once for fear that Metal Sonic would get a away. Now it didn't seem to matter. How did you find an unregistered, untracable, super-fast robot in a city of millions?

Every robot, replica, android and just about anything animate with more metal in it than a meat loaf had been outfitted with tracking functionality at their respective production plant. It was the law, and since the robot riots of 2140, 2164, and 2181 the punishment for ignoring the laws of robotics had become so steep that no one who valued their business would dare let a bot pass inspection without it. It was rumoured that even the outlaw Eggman Nega took special precautions with his robot minions. In Nega's case, it was probably due to his ancestor's bad habit of creating robots that ended up betraying him. The point was that since the scientists who repaired Metal Sonic had adamantly refused to install any new technology, for fear of invalidating the historical artifact, the GUE forces were rendered useless unless the robot did something to make his presence apparent.

A GUE soldier caught up with Silver just before dawn, and told him that they hadn't had any better luck than the hedgehog. The strict public protection laws prevented them from taking greater measures in hunting down the robot. Even if they had the right, what could they do? Raid every building in the hopes of randomly spotting Metal Sonic?

Silver understood the problem, but he was still bitter about it. He'd hoped that Metal would continue rampaging like he'd done in the studio, attracting the attention of every law enforcement unit in the city, but the rogue robot had taken the intelligent approach instead, and was lying low.

It couldn't last... Sooner or later, Metal Sonic would do something to reveal himself. And then- Silver stood up on the ledge, clenching his fist while wearing an expression of grave determination. And then, Silver would finish him off himself.

-

The heavy tarp wrapped around his body wasn't quite what Metal Sonic had in mind when it came to rearranging his exterior to match his proper stature, but for the sake of staying inconspicuous in broad daylight, it did the trick.

Not all of his functions were back online yet. His circuits for capturing, encoding and employing the valuable data of other life-forms and machinery were functioning at a satisfactory level, but so far he was unable to access his shapeshifting functions. The Chaos data was corrupted beyond restoration, and although an incomplete copy of that data had been enough to shapeshift into a likeness of Dr Eggman once, it wasn't enough now. He'd need an intact sample of that data in order to regain his full potential.

Chao were the answer. Metal doubted that he'd have the stroke of luck of finding a frog with a pure trace element of Chaos's power a second time, but every chao in existence carried a lingering remnant of the god's influence - it was what gave them the possibility of achieving the ultimate goal of a chao breeder; the Chaos, Angel and Devil chao. As Metal Sonic knew, because he'd spent an inordinate amount of time studying in preparation for the grand scheme that ended up being thwarted by those "Sonic Heroes", the water-elemental deity Chaos had originally been a chao that attempted, somehow, to draw affinity from the seven Chaos Emeralds in the same manner that regular chao drew affinity from animals and people they touched.

Somewhere in this city, there had to be a Chao Garden.

One might wonder why Metal Sonic didn't find the advanced society of the twenty-third century Central City suspicious. The fact of the matter was that the robot believed he'd wound up in the oddity of a civilisation known as Future City, which was the place where Sonic and his friends thwarted Metal Sonic's attempt to use the Eggman army to take over the Hexaco power plant, and where later on Sonic had his first encounter with the band of thieves known as the Babylon Rogues. However, the time when Metal Sonic would realise the full truth was rapidly approaching. When he entered the Memorial Chao Garden located in the park at the heart of the city, the truth was embodied in a massive marble statue.

Metal Sonic stopped dead in front of the memorial. The statue was of Sonic the Hedgehog in one of his trademark victory poses. The plaque on the pedestal beneath read:

"Sonic the Hedgehog, who saved Earth on twenty-six seperate occasions.

Our gratitude will last forever."

The line underneath described Sonic's date of birth and...date of death. While a hundred variations of the basic chao danced merrily around him, Metal Sonic stared at the plaque for nearly half an hour. The stillness of the robot rivalled the statue before him, but inside Metal Sonic's head there was intense activity taking place. Conflicting code lines threatened to shut down Metal's artificial mind. The mission was completed, and yet, it wasn't. He'd been programmed to defeat Sonic the Hedgehog. HE had been programmed to defeath Sonic the Hedgehog. HE had been programmed to do it. HIM. METAL SONIC! No one else! Sonic the Hedgehog could not be dead by anyone's hand but HIS! HIM! METAL SONIC! HE had to be the one to do it, or his programming could never be completed.

The conflict reached its climax...

FATAL ERROR.

The robot toppled backwards. Its red eyes blinked out.

"Chao?" said the nearest chao.

"Chao," its partner agreed.

"Chao!" another objected.

"Chao," said the first chao dismissively.

"C-chao..."

Metal Sonic's red irises flashed back to life. The error was resolved. Sonic the Hedgehog was dead, here, but elsewhere in the infinite reaches of space and time Sonic was still alive and well. The programming was not impossible to complete, but it would require far greater power than Metal Sonic had ever had any ambition of acquiring in the past. The greatest technology of this future reality would have to be harvested and assimilated into his being. The seven Chaos Emeralds would serve as the power source. If he had to tear open the very fabric of time and space to clear a path to his prey, then Metal Sonic would do so without hesitation.

The megalomanical robot looked at the memorial again. This time he noted the finely-woven red tapestry draped around the base of the monument. Just what he'd been looking for. Metal threw his disguise off, tore a length of blood-red fabric loose and wrapped it around himself as a magnificent cape. The frayed edges of it only made it all the more intimidating.

Next, Metal Sonic utterly demolished the statue of his nemesis and positioned himself on its base. A love of striking cool poses was something the robot shared with his flesh-and-blood twin, so here in the moment of clarity, when Metal Sonic's path lay clearly drawn before him, the once and future Overlord made a stance of defiance against the entire universe he'd been thrust into.

The chao ran for cover while Metal Sonic's malevolent laughter boomed against the confines of the Memorial Garden.

In the next chapter:
- Metal Sonic takes on the Guardian Units of Earth.
- Silver tries to make it to the showdown in time.
- Blaze challenges the doctor's orders, and loses.