One-Shot #7: 404 Error

It had been a stupid idea, and Nicole should have realized it from the moment she had agreed to letting Sally and Sonic come along. Tensions had already been high between Sonic and his metal counterpart, and their journey to Eggman's old base had only made their already sour interaction more spiteful. She had been hoping with every fiber of her being that they wouldn't attack each other, and it seemed as if they really weren't going to. There had been little quarrels between the two, but that had been the worst of their fights. That was, until Sally had said something that Metal didn't like. She didn't know what she had said, but it must have been bad to make Metal mad. One second he had been talking to the princess, and the next second she had a large stab wound in her shoulder.

There had been no time to stop him, and no time to stop Sonic either. His reaction was exactly as she had expected; to attack Metal Sonic without delay. To step in-between the two hedgehogs was suicide, and Nicole knew that for a fact. They hated each other, and nothing was going to change that, especially since Metal had attacked Sally. Now there was nothing she could do about it. The only thing she could do was watch and hope that neither of them ended up killing each other, but deep inside, she was sure that that wasn't going to happen. Yes, it had been a stupid idea on Nicole's part.

Now the only thing she could do was assist Sally. As soon as the two hedgehogs had begun their battle, Nicole ran to her friend's side. She couldn't blame any of her friends for their actions. Sally had probably spoken the truth or asked a question, and Metal had only acted on his new-found feelings. Sonic was defending Sally; or avenging her, if Nicole wanted to be accurate.

As soon as she slid next to Sally and spotted the wound, her artificial heart skipped a beat. There was so much blood. Tears were flowing from Sally's eyes as she did her best to hold back a cry of pain, and it made Nicole want to cry herself. What was she to do about it? Nicole knew very well that if she tried to help Sally, there was a great chance that the virus would act up again. Did she want to risk it? Of course she did. At the moment, anything that would have happened to her didn't matter. Sally was her best friend, and she was more than willing to save her.

Without another word, Nicole called up the healing nanites that she had recently discovered. Unlike the previous nanites, they reacted positively when mixed with organic matter. Their nature at that second was key to the delicate process she was about to attempt. Biting her lip, the artificial life form called upon the nanites and began her work. Sally cried in pain as the tiny robots went to work, attempting to close up the wound and stop the bleeding.

"Come on…" Nicole whispered, listening intently to the battle behind her, "Work faster!" But the robots were already doing their best. No matter how fast they were moving, they never would have been fast enough.

After a few seconds of work, Nicole glanced back to the hedgehogs. The two were holding their own in the battle, but something about the "real" Sonic was off. For some reason, the look in Sonic's eyes scared Nicole. He was not aimed on just revenge, but for something else. Something much darker. The desire to kill, perhaps? She wished desperately that that was not what she was seeing. Sonic had been one of her friends for years, but there was no way she wanted to see him destroy Metal.

It was as if he had heard her thoughts, for within the next few seconds, Sonic went into a sort of berserk mode. The organic hedgehog grabbed Metal's arm and began to swing him around. The swinging continued for several seconds before he slammed Metal face-first into the nearest tree, producing a loud crackling sound. She didn't know if it had been the tree or Metal, but she knew that either way, he wasn't going to be in good condition afterward. Although she desperately wanted to go see if he was okay, she resisted the urge and continued to assist Sally.

Her artificial heart was racing as she watched the nanites do their work and listened to what was going on behind her. If only there was a way she could finish faster so she could stop the two hedgehogs. The option of speeding the process was there, but it was a dangerous choice. If she did it, the virus was most likely going to react, and the last thing she needed was to disappear at a time like that. At the same time, however, she knew that time was running out. If she sped the process up just a little bit, would she be okay? There was only one way to find out.

Silently, she made the nanites work even faster. Something stronger than anxiety was filling her as she listened. She wanted to look at him and make sure he was alright, but at the same, she didn't want to turn to him and see him in the form of metal ribbons. Of course, the sound of a high pitched rip made her jump and turn. The glance she received of the ripped metal only lasted for a second before a pain shot through her hand. Her gaze shot back, and she nearly screamed when she saw the ones and zeros in the place of her fingers. No, not now!

There was no time to do anything about it, for within the next second, she heard the one sound she had feared most. The crack, the break, the sign, whatever it was, it was the signal that Metal had lost. Shock swallowed her soul in a single gulp, and when she turned around, she felt like screaming. There was Sonic, holding a limp Metal Sonic by the neck, ready to deliver the final blow. At that moment, something greater than fear took over the artificial life form.

It was as if the entire scenario played out in slow motion. The girl stood up and ran to him as fast as her legs could carry her, her hand outstretched in an attempt to save him. Sonic tightened his grip only slightly, and then with one strong jab, sent the robot flying backward. Only Nicole had seen the side-effect of the attack, and she screamed his name in horror. Although she knew that there was no hope, she prayed that there was at least some "life" left in the robot.

When she reached his side, her hope shattered into a million pieces. Metal looked terrible, to put it kindly. One of his eyes had cracked, and he could no longer see anything through it, but that was the least of his injuries. There was a large chunk of metal that had been torn from his right leg, and through the hole, she could see a series of wires that made her shutter. His left arm had been torn off just below the elbow, and a few sparks were flying from the open wound. Despite this, she knew that worse was going to happen. The attack from Sonic had had both a physical aspect, and a chaos aspect. Yes, he had been attacked with some form of chaos energy.

She didn't know what attack had been used, but she did know that it was fatal. If nothing was done, Metal was not going to make it. Knowing this, Nicole called upon the regular nanites. There was no way she was going to let him die. He was much too important to her, whether he realized it or not. Without another word, Nicole began her work. She had to reverse the damage. At that moment, an explosion of thunder from over head made her jump.

She ignored it and quickly continued, but the remembrance of her pain made her jump back. Her eyes went to her hand and to her shock, her left hand no longer even held its shape. It was quickly degrading into a series of ones and zeros, making her gasp. This was the very thing she had been fearing and avoiding. Rotor had warned her against it; "The next time the virus acts up may be your last. You need to be careful." She had known that. He had explained to her in detail what it had meant to disappear. For her, the effects of the virus had the equivalence of the blue screen of death. Once she was gone, there was no going back.

But she didn't care. She didn't care if she was going to disappear without a hope of returning. The fact that death was a possibility in what she was doing didn't matter to her one bit. At that moment, Metal meant more to her than her own life. If there was a possibility that she was going to be able to save him, she was going to take it. She was going to do it, even if it meant that she was not going to save herself.

Swallowing, Nicole nodded to herself and continued. The first thing she had to do was figure out what the problem was. Most likely, something vitally important to his systems had malfunctioned, so that was the first thing she investigated. To her shock, there was barely anything left that wasn't badly burnt or melted. How was he alive? Without a word, she went to work. In the background, she could hear Sonic tending to Sally.

The reconstruction of a robot's inner workings was more difficult than she thought. She knew nothing of how he worked or what parts were the most important, and it resulted in a level of panic filling her. What was she going to do? What if she was already too late? Taking in a deep breath, she shook her head. There was no time to panic; she just had to keep trying.

Her mind was moving faster than her fingers (or what was left of them) as she continued. Despite her slim chances, she tried to keep her thoughts cheery. After Metal was fixed, they'd march over to Eggman's old base, fine the "antidote" to the virus, and everything was going to be okay. Sally would be without her wound, Sonic would be his usual laid-back self, and Nicole would be virus-less. And Metal would finally be accepted. No one would avoid him when walking down the streets, no one would whisper in fearful tones when they mentioned his name, and no one would hate him because he was one of "Eggman's cronies". Everything was going to be okay.

"Nicole," Sonic spoke from behind, "it's no use. If you keep trying, neither of you are going to make it." She shook her head as the first few drops of rain found their way to the solid ground. He didn't know what he was talking about. Sonic wasn't the one making repairs to Metal. Within an instant, Nicole convinced herself that she was winning.

"Nicole, just give up." Sonic's tone was harsher the second time around, but Nicole ignored it again. Failure was not an option. Without another word, she sped the nanite's process of healing. At that point in time, safety was no longer her concern.

"Nicole…" a weak voice called to her, making Nicole's throat tighten. "Please… I can't… don't… go…" The sound of Sally's voice almost swayed her decision, but she did her best to brush it off. The fake enthusiasm she had created had faded as quickly as it had been born. Tears were beginning to take root, and as they did, the rain's pace quickened.

"You do not need to sacrifice yourself for that piece of junk!" Sonic yelled, the fury in his voice beyond obvious. No, he didn't understand, but he should have. He knew very well what it meant to love another so much that his own existence was no longer important. The hedgehog had lived—and almost died—through the experiences that testified of his love for his family and friends. So why wasn't he acknowledging the good nature behind Nicole's intentions? Because it was over Metal.

Just as the thought passed through her mind, a metallic hand grabbed her wrist. She looked at him, tears finally spilling onto her cheeks. In a voice that shouldn't have been able to speak, Metal chocked out, "Nicole, stop. I am not worth it."

And finally, she starting sobbing. "Yes you are!" she exclaimed, her cries suddenly accompanied with the crack of thunder in the air.

If the robot could have smiled, she was sure he would have. She opened her mouth as if to say something and at the same time, she reached her hand forward. Then, a wall of pain hit her all at once. The limit had been reached. Her time was up. Within a matter of seconds, the nanites in her fingers and toes gave up, and the virus swallowed them whole. Ones and zeroes took their place, and with a cry of defeat, Nicole fell face first to the ground.

She heard Sonic gasp and Sally cry out in shock, but Metal's silence struck her the hardest. While the others were scared and unsure of what was to happen, Metal was calm. He knew exactly what was happening. In a few minutes, there was going to be nothing left. Once it was done with her, the virus would leave her like that blue screen of death: irreversible and forever broken. Swallowing, Nicole gathered her strength and looked up at the robot. He was dying. She was dying. The only thing she wondered was of who was going to disappear first.

One moment she was on her stomach; the next moment she was on her back, staring at the sky. She had no idea how she had turned, but she didn't seem to care at the moment. In that second there was only one thing that mattered. Swallowing, she held back the sobs as she stared at the metal hedgehog. There was something important that she needed to tell him, and as they were both fading, there was no other time to share it.

Gathering the last bit of strength she had in her body, Nicole reached her fading arm to his hand. Unfortunately, her reach was a little too short and she was unable to touch him. Despite this, the robot turned his head and stared at her. For what seemed like an eternity, the two simply looked at each other, barely able to even stay awake. Finally, Nicole spoke once again.

"Metal… I'm sorry." She whispered in a weak, near dead voice. "I know that this probably won't mean much to you right now… but…" she paused and collected every ounce of courage she had in her body, "I love you."

When he didn't respond, her heart nearly skipped a beat. Then after a few seconds of silence, he spoke again. "The feeling is mutual."

She simply sat there for a few moments before smiling an exhausted grin. At least her efforts weren't totally wasted. Gritting her teeth, Nicole looked up as much as her body would permit, and then spoke. "I'm sorry, Sally." From what she heard, she understood two things; Sally was crying, and Sonic finally understood how Nicole felt about Metal. Of course at that point, it didn't matter anymore. At that moment, the virus over-came its final obstacle. Within seconds, the ones and zeroes had reached her elbows and knees. Then her it reached her torso.

She closed her eyes and thought of the metal hedgehog. Would he be there—wherever she was going? Or was she going to be alone? Swallowing, Nicole closed her eyes tighter. She had no idea. For a brief second, the artificial life form opened her eyes. For a moment, she saw the clouds and the rain that came down. However, a wall of ones and zeroes quickly overcame her vision. For a moment they ruled her world, and the girl did her best to keep him in her thoughts. Then after what seemed like forever, there was nothing.

The longest one-shot so far! So, what do you guys think? I rather enjoyed this one... :) A Meticole one-shot. I like this couple a lot! XD

Next one is a request, as so is the one after that. Hope you guys will be looking forward to it!