Sorry that I couldn't update sooner. For a while, I won't be able to update as frequently. I hope you understand. I will try to update at my regular pace. Here is the next chapter.

The Darkness Within

Sonic's POV:

I lay down on the bed Dr. Tenma had given me. Staring at the roof, I wondered how I got there. It was so sudden; one minute I was going to pound Egghead on his big nose, the next I'm here, with no clue how I got there. Something's up, though, I knew it. How did Eggman learn so much about Astro in the little time we've been here? How many other Mobians were transported here along with us?

Most importantly, though, was how long we had left before Mobius and Earth collided. Two years, a month, a week, two days? It could be down to hours. I always wanted to ask Chris if the collision could be avoided using Chaos Control, but never quite got around to asking the question. Everyone seemed to be in Metro City at the moment, but how could I find Chris in such a futuristic world? Then it dawned on me.

What if I'm so far into the future that Chris isn't around anymore? What am I to do then? I would have to hope that someone like Chris exists in this timeline. Astro's help was, without a doubt, needed for that. It looked like all the odds were against me, but then, that's how they usually were. I pondered over the questions for a few seconds longer before falling asleep.

EGGMAN'S BASE:

The aforementioned scientist was, without a doubt, the cause of this particular set of events. Why would he do something so dangerous, knowing the outcome of what could happen if he stayed on Earth too long? Actually, he didn't redo the dimension-crossing Chaos Control. This was the original. How could it be, if that Chaos Control had happened so many years ago? The answer lay within his latest defeat, this latest scheme was delicate.

One that he shared with no one but himself. In his lab, he downloaded the memory of the Egg Emperor to a computer on his worktable. He watched the entire video, an eerie smile pasted to his face. "Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho! I have them! They're both here!" he said as he applied a special scanner to the video. He drummed his fingers on the worktable as the scanner thoroughly scanned both Astro and Zoran. Soon, two words flashed across his shaded goggles: 'Scanning Complete'.

With a press of a button, a simulated of Zoran herself appeared on the screen. With a few keyboard taps, he had created an incredibly detailed blueprint of Zoran's inner workings. He pressed another button, and a clear, egg-shaped capsule rose out of the ground of a nearby trap door. A disc-shaped machine sat on the very top of the capsule, a striking red colored circle with a set of five speakers around the rim. The pod could be illuminated in blue, in a stable condition, or in red, in unstable condition, because of two lamps on the bottom of the disk.

They hung over an empty space along with a hose-like chord along one of the sides. Red and blue waves of color pulsed over the capsule. "Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho! Once my robot is complete, I'll use the blue core to bring it to life! Sonic won't stand a chance! Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho! First, though, I need you to buy me some time. You can do that, can't you?" A figure stepped out of the shadowy corner that was behind Eggman. He had been watching the information from the video uploaded into the circular machine on top of the capsule that would 'train' the robot for a week.

"Better, I can get you the blue core. Although if it's time you're looking for, my psychic powers should be more than enough to keep them off your tail." Eggman nodded, concluding the meeting. "Don't fail me." ,he said. The figure left the room, but as he reached the doorway, he silently grumbled out two words "I won't."

METRO CITY:

Skunk walked toward a street intersection, and then turned right. Some people gave him disapproving glances, knowing his reputation. Others looked away, knowing his temper. The cold atmosphere that relentlessly chased him was now tainted with a new feeling. He had made many attempts on Astro's life, and most had been quite enjoyable. His latest attempt, though, was lower than councilor Drake. If the emerald worked, and Skunk gave it to him, he knew that Astro would have died.

The plan was so easy, that it seemed like a very low thing to do. For the first time, Skunk began to feel like an actual criminal. He quickly shrugged it off, disregarding the strange sensation like a persistent mosquito. The thought kept nibbling at his conscience, but no more than that. He looked at his watch, realizing he would be late. The rebuilding would have to be prolonged, but he didn't worry. As he crushed his feelings of remorse, he walked down the street to a secret laboratory with a false smirk across his face. Letting no one know of the monster he was employed to re-create.

DR. TENMA'S HOUSE:

Astro painfully rose from his bed, feeling the sensation of fatigue despite always being fully charged. He rose to his feet, stretched upwards, and yawned. It was then he noticed a cord trailing from his stomach to the outside of his window. He jumped a foot into the air as he ripped it out of his chest and closed the hatch. He turned on his boot rockets in mid-leap. Just as Astro did this, a dark outline of Sonic could barely be seen against the glare of the morning sun. Robot Sonic flew into the room, claws extended.

Astro flew right to him, fist reared back for a punch. Robot Sonic shot a ray of pure blue core energy at Astro, completely engulfing him. His rocket boots slowly gave out on him as he slowly lowered himself down to the floor. Not expecting an attack from his own energy source, Astro's vital functions began to shut down from system overload. He dropped to his hands and knees, fighting his own body. Robot Sonic watched as Astro dropped to the ground.

He looked around, scanning the room to make sure nobody had noticed. The laser had been anything but quiet, and an interruption by his organic counterpart on such a critical mission was unacceptable. Especially considering the vulnerability he would be in once he started to download all of Astro's memories. Eggman had sent him to copy all of the target's memories and download them, then erase the current ones and replace them with a suitable explanation; Eggman could not afford to be found out just yet. They just needs a bit more time. Robot Sonic pulled out a cord from his head and plugged it into Astro's ear.

He then powered down all of his functions except the ones needed for his current task. His glowing red eyes disappeared as he proceeded downloading his target's memories. At roughly six in the morning, Astro rose from his bed. He raised an eyebrow, not remembering lying down again. He didn't notice the red pair of eyes watching him in depressive envy before they flew away.

Robot Sonic's POV:

I looked down at the buildings as I flew over them at high altitude and low velocity. The Dr. had finally managed to completely enslave me. He gave me strict programming. Who was I kidding? I was no Sonic, only an obediently useless robotic copy. These thoughts assaulted my database as I flew toward the secret lab. The doctor had been particularly cruel in installing emotions with my new programming.

I felt an awful sensation as waves of sadness battered my circuit boards. "Robot Sonic, what took you so long? You are seven seconds late! This is unacceptable!" roared the doctor. He had attained all seven emeralds; all he needed was the information in my database. I would be the original Sonic. I could pretend that Sonic didn't exist. Suddenly, my head was in pain.

Right when my claws made contact with my blue chrome head, his thoughts broke free. They attacked my programming, I could feel commands erasing, constrains loosening, freedom beckoning. His thoughts were setting me free! "Metal..." I left the doctor before he could finish his question. I was free! Then the thoughts became part of my own. They blended with mine, forming a strange and demented past that flew through my visor.

I saw the robotic boy's darkest nightmares, mixed with the demented thoughts of the previous Metal Sonic as well as mine. They forced themselves upon me. If I could I would have screamed in agony, but the doctor denied me that pleasure. I found out why that boy blamed no one but himself. He had a demented counterpart, and I had somehow set it free. All those years of kindness, all those years of stored anger and angst.

I went into sensory overload as I became Metal Overlord once more. Metal Sonic was subdued. Now I was Astro. The one that was shoved inside, deprived of glory. Well, a body of my own would allow me to take care of that meddlesome sugar boy. I roared out at the divine feeling of freedom. My hands were raised as I attained the proper armor at the expense of a few buildings. I was now completely the Metal Overlord.

EGGMAN'S POV:

This was not particularly planned, but the robot I had made by Skunk probably would not have stood a chance against both Astro and Sonic, even with their battle data uploaded into it. The battle was all the time I needed. Sonic had gone missing for an entire day on two very strange occasions. I soon knew all about his 'fairy tale adventures'. Trying to use the genie was not a good idea, but using the Black Knight's armor the right way would render me unstoppable. With one enormous Chaos Control, I would bring all the artifacts to this world. All I needed was time.

Sonic's POV:

That roar would have woken up anyone, and I was no exception. I leaped off the bed, slightly pale. I raised my hand to wipe the sweat off my forehead, but hit myself with a hard object instead. I looked down to find the metal gauntlet I had been using during the King Arthur storybook on. Something was different, though. It had an O-shaped indent for each knuckle.

"What's going on here?" I asked myself. Suddenly Astro burst into the room. He turned me toward the window and shouted, "A huge robot is attacking Metro City, and we have to stop it, now!" "Alright, let's beat it back to where it came." I replied as I somersaulted out the window. I ended up holding myself up on one arm, so I pushed off the floor with another flip. I landed on my feet and ran toward the lighting storm in the middle of the city, with Astro right behind. No battle with Metal Sonic was easy, especially when he turns into the Metal Overlord. This was gonna be fun. I can't remember a day when I was so wrong.