Here we go with chapter 2! Shadow Android's origins. Disclaimer: I do not own it.
It was the first time I had seen Eggman in two months. I had begun to suspect he had been stranded on some deserted isle, never to return.
Maybe I was correct with my assumptions; he certainly looked like a castaway. His eyes were red and bloodshot; his chin had a thick layer of stubble that he normally would not permit. What little remained of his hair was sticking in random directions instead of the usual comb over that he somehow believes no one notices. And his left eye was twitching in the way it only did when he had been drinking insane amounts of coffee to keep himself working without sleep. He seemed happy though.
"I did it!" he shouted, doing a little jig that further confirmed the too-much-coffee-not-enough-sleep theory I currently had.
"Yes!" Metal Knuckles cheered in triumph as he joined the doctor in his happy dance. Metal Knuckles had no idea what had been accomplished and why that involved dancing; but far be it from Metal Knuckles to pass up jigging opportunities. Eggman reached over and grabbed Metal Knuckles' arms and they started dancing with each other for about five minutes. Then Eggman stopped, staring off into space with a strange look on his face. Then his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he passed out on the floor.
Yes, that was what normally happened when he came off a no-sleep-lotsa-coffee binge.
Metal Knuckles didn't even pause in his dance, except to taunt, "Too much for ya, huh? You can't out-dance the dance mastuh!" Then he stuck his butt out and wiggled it around in what I can only assume was some sort of victory pose.
It's going to be a loooooong day.
After about two days worth of sleep, Eggman was more or less in his right mind again, and therefore in a position to brag about what he'd been so happy about on the fateful pass out dance day.
"After all my work, I finally managed to create a factory that will mass-produce an unstoppable hoard of new machines to take over the world with!" He stopped here to do a mad scientist laugh.
"Mass producing SWATbots?" I asked, cocking my head. Didn't he already have factories for that?
"Not exactly," Eggman chuckled. "These machines have an even more advanced AI than the Metal series, my crowning achievements. Absolutely glitch proof so no more annoying Metal Kn—"
Eggman all of a sudden noticed that Metal Knuckles was staring at him. He looked sad. Eggman's face developed a look that reminded me of a look one gets when realizing he's accidentally kicked a puppy, and the doctor hastily stated, "Knees! I hate it when my knees feel all…metally…"
It was a horrible cover up, but luckily Metal Knuckles bought it and perked up to his usual annoying self.
"Anyway," Eggman also cheered up as he went back to explaining his genius. "My new Android series will be all but unstoppable once I get all 10,000 units created! I have a mere 500 now, but they've already succeeded in taking over Green Hill Zone! Bwahahaha…oh, now what?"
Eggman turned to the monitor for some reason that I couldn't fathom and growled. "Shadow? What's he doing here?"
I also turned to the monitors which indeed showed Shadow the Hedgehog, looking around in bewilderment. I wonder why Eggman's intruder alerts hadn't been going off. Strange…
"Bah! I'll take care of this myself! Metal Sonic, watch the monitors and make sure that no one gets into the new assembly lines."
As Eggman turned to go, Metal Knuckles blocked his way. "What do I do?" he asked eagerly.
"Um…stay here and…um…stare at this pretty penny," Eggman offered, handing him said penny.
Metal Knuckles was instantly transfixed. "Ooh, shiny," he said, staring at the penny intently.
"I'm going to fix that personality glitch," Eggman remarked aloud, staring at Metal Knuckles. He seemed highly disturbed. But also distracted, as he added, "Tomorrow," and left.
"Hey, Metal Sonic, what's that noise? Huh, huh? What's that noise? What's that noise, Metal Sonic? Tell me. Tell me, tell me, please, please, pretty please with whipped cream and a jug of oil on top tell me!"
I finally looked up from my work and focused on my counterpart, Metal Knuckles, who had been standing three feet away from me and chanting, "Tell me, tell me, what's that noise?" over and over for the last three minutes. Obviously he had tired from staring at his pretty penny; or perhaps his newfound boredness had to do with the fact that he had accidentally dropped his penny in a drain the moment Eggman had left the building.
Other than the noise currently emerging from Metal Knuckles, however, there was no noise. None at all. I was supposed to be watching the monitors for intruders, of course, but it was hard to concentrate with Metal Knuckles' infernal chanting.
"There is no noise," I informed him, knowing that he wouldn't let me off the hook that easily.
"Yes there is. Tell me what it is. Please, pretty please?"
I sighed and gave him my full attention, deciding that it would be easier just to go along with his game. "It's the Bolt Fairy, Metal Knuckles," I told him patronizingly.
He paused, his central processing unit trying to take in my comment. "The…Bolt Fairy?" he asked.
"Yes, the Bolt Fairy. Whenever good little robots' old rusted bolts get replaced by nice, shiny new ones, the Bolt Fairy comes and takes the old bolts and gives you a quarter for it."
If they could, his optics sensors would have gotten huge. "Really?" he asked in wonder. "Why does the Bolt Fairy want my old bolts, Metal Sonic?"
"To make bolt towers, of course," I replied, wondering when he'd let me go back to watching the monitors.
Metal Knuckles looked thoughtful. "Is the Bolt Fairy a red and white robot?"
"Sure, yeah," I humored him.
"With a big, flat head and yellow eyes and he's got black on him too?"
"Yes, that description sounds accurate."
"And he's got a funny little yellow marking? And when he shows up there's a funny sound?"
"Yes, you always know the Bolt Fairy's here when you hear a funny sound."
"And the words INTRUDER ALERT flashes on the TVs when he shows up?"
"Yes, that…" All of a sudden I got this sick feeling that I really ought to turn around and take another look at the monitor. I did so and gasped. E-123 Omega, Eggman's rogue robot, was in the base near the assembly plants!
"Yea!" Metal Knuckles looked excited. "The Bolt Fairy's here and I'm gonna get a quarter!"
"Why didn't the alarms go…" All of a sudden Metal Knuckles' questions about noise started to make sense. Of course, that didn't explain why I hadn't heard them. But I had a feeling someone else could shed some light on that dilemma…
"Metal Knuckles."
He cringed, as he usually did whenever I used that tone of voice. "Yes?" he asked.
"Did you do something to my auditory sensors?"
"Um…"
"Tell me what you did."
"Well, you were recharging and I was bored and your ears looked interesting so I sorta…unscrewed them from your head and played with 'em like a ping-pong ball and then put 'em back before you woke up."
I stared at him. He, for his own part, stared at the ground. I checked my internal readings and sure enough, my hearing had decreased by 92%. "Why would you do that?" I asked him.
"I dunno."
"And why can I still hear you?"
He perked up, pleased to have an answer. "You were talking REALLY loud today and I thought we were playing a game, so I've been yelling at you. So was Master; but he always likes to yell like that, y'know?"
That's strange; the sides of my temples seem to be throbbing. Perhaps he had done more damage while I was asleep. I would have to consult Dr. Eggman when I had more time. Right now, I had to go stop Omega before he did massive amounts of damage and I was blamed.
"Stay here," I told Metal Knuckles. "And don't open the door for anybody but me."
"OK!" Metal Knuckles grinned, then looked confused. "Who's Me?" he asked as I rushed out of the monitor room. Normally I would have started trying to explain in a futile attempt to make him understand, but now I have more pressing concerns.
I arrived at Omega's location soon after I left and began performing sensor sweeps of the area. My sensors indicated that he was inside the new assembly plants; which frankly could not be a good thing.
I raced into the Android processing plant and looked around, my first view being of thousands of robots in various stages of assembly that looked just like…
"Shadow?" I asked aloud. Seriously, a Metal Sonic, a Metal Knuckles, and now Shadow Androids?
What, can't Eggman think of an original design for his robots?
Omega appeared at that moment, a laser cannon where his arm should be as he literally blew the place apart. That reminded me that there was something I was supposed to be doing; but I digress.
"Omega," I said aloud, causing him to pause in his tirade and stare at me. "Cease this activity at once!"
"Negative," Omega replied, aiming his weapon at me. "My Priority One Objective is to destroy Eggman's machines until only the original remains." he paused for a moment, lowering his weapon a fraction of an inch. "You are intelligent," he told me. "You do not have to serve Eggman. Join me, Metal Sonic, and we will complete Priority One Objective together."
I was tempted. I had, after all, been wanting to leave Eggman, if only temporarily. Just so I could prove once and for all that I was not simply a mere copy of Sonic the Hedgehog. Here was a perfect opportunity…
Omega sensed my hesitation and lowered his weapon more, looking triumphant. "What is your reply?" he asked.
"Does your offer extend to Metal Knuckles?" I asked him, still uncertain as to whether or not I should throw in my lot with him.
Omega shuddered. "Are you kidding?" he asked me incredulously. "Of course not!"
"Why not?" I demanded.
"Surely you haven't forgotten the jellybeans incident!" Omega snapped.
Oh….yeah. It was shortly before Omega went rogue, actually. Metal Knuckles had gotten bored and shoved green jellybeans inside Omega's armor; where they melted. It took three weeks and a pickax to get them all out. Metal Knuckles' only remark was how cool it was that jellybeans could melt and he hadn't known they could do that. Omega had harbored a grudge against Metal Knuckles' ever since.
"Is Metal Knuckles here?" Omega suddenly asked, distracting me from my memories. "Because if he is I'll blow his head off!"
I hissed and brought up my ion cannons. "No you won't!" I yelled at him. "MY Priority One Objective is to protect Metal Knuckles!" With that, I shot him.
He had been certain that I would join him and was unprepared for an attack. As a result I scored a direct hit on his power core; he was shutting down.
Omega glared at me. "Good…shot…" he admitted. "But you…have…failed." With that, he dropped a small round object on the ground. I stared at it in shock. It was a bomb; with a mere three seconds on it before it exploded.
"Priority One Objective…complete," Omega informed me. At that instant Shadow the Hedgehog Chaos Controlled in, grabbed the rogue robot, and disappeared.
And then everything exploded.
"Metal Sonic! Don't go into the light! I NEED YOU!"
"Would you get out of here?"
"WAAAAAAAA!"
Well, the good news was that now my hearing sensors were working properly. The bad news was that that was the only thing that seemed to be working.
"Metal Sonic, I'm reactivating you slowly. You took quite a beating."
"You blew up!" Metal Knuckles' yelled from somewhere in the room.
"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO GET OUT OF HERE!"
Finally, my optics sensors were reactivated and I started looking around. Eggman was working on me and standing right behind him was Metal Knuckles.
"What….happened?" I asked, my voice shaky as it was still in the process of reactivating.
"Omega destroyed my base AND all my Shadow Androids," Eggman said, obviously pouting. "Except for one of the older models that I had already put into use."
I looked to where he had pointed and saw a Shadow Android lying on another table on the other side of the lab. While it was mostly intact, it looked like someone had put a machine gun to it's head and repeatedly pulled the trigger. Even so, I could tell that it's quill highlights were not red like Shadow's were.
"Why is it orange and black?" I asked, genuinely confused.
"It seems that Metal Knuckles is roaming my base at night with orange paint when he should be recharging," Eggman said, glaring at Metal Knuckles.
Metal Knuckles looked offended. "Orange is pretty!"
Eggman sighed. "Well, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, I suppose. Shadow did a pretty number on it, but Omega didn't touch it. He was obsessing over destroying Shadow Androids beyond repair and somehow the orange paint fooled him into mistaking this particular one for something else. And since my blueprints were destroyed along with my processing plant, this model is my sole remaining Shadow Android. It will take years to redesign my schematics."
My rebooting process finally completed and I stood shakily to my feet. Eggman shooed me and Metal Knuckles out of the room so that he could work on repairing the Shadow Android model.
Two weeks later I was back in Eggman's lab with Metal Knuckles as the doctor reactivated the Shadow Android machine. Eggman flicked a switch and the machine's optics lit up.
"Shadow Android," Eggman said aloud. "What is your Priority One Objective?"
This was a standard question whenever Eggman created a new machine; just to make sure they were functioning properly.
Shadow Android was silent for a long time. Then, quietly, he replied, "I…I don't remember."
In case you were wondering, that is a sign that he was not functioning properly. Eggman muttered something under his breath as he ran Shadow Android through several diagnostics, all of which showed several large gaps in his memory processors.
Eggman responded to these dilemmas by sitting me down and updating my Priority One Objectives by adding Shadow Android as one of my charges. I was upset; I did not want to protect Shadow Android. I had a hard enough time protecting Metal Knuckles; there was no way I could protect TWO robots!
But then, I did not yet know that Shadow Android was much, much different than Metal Knuckles…
I found out during trash duty. It was a menial task; getting all the useless scrap around Eggman's base and throwing it into the furnace where it was melted down so Eggman could turn it into something else. Metal Knuckles, as usual, was trying to find new and unique ways to tap-dance on the ceiling. (Don't laugh; the lunatic has actually pulled it off and almost blew up the state of Wisconsin doing it—don't ask.)
Shadow Android, apparently, was attracted to the bright colors of the fire and went to touch it. I quickly heeded my P.O.C. and grabbed his wrist.
"Do not touch the fire, it will cause your arm to melt."
Shadow Android went silent, staring at my hand which restrained his; and then at the fire. I prepared myself to try to answer a slew of nonsense questions.
Finally though, he nodded. "New programming complete. I will not touch the fire."
To say I was shocked was putting it mildly; I hesitantly let go of his wrist and he backed away from the fire where he would not get burned. "Well…good." I said, as I could think of nothing else at the moment.
"Look! I'm a moose!" Metal Knuckles called from somewhere in the room; but I ignored him for the moment and went back to shoveling scrap metal.
After a while, Shadow Android broke the silence that had fallen over the room. "Metal Sonic?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
I froze again and looked up at him. He was staring at me intently, more than likely recording my every move in order to relearn the data he had lost.
I nodded back at him. "You are welcome."
It seems I am no longer just Metal Knuckles' protector. I am Shadow Android's teacher.
Shadow Android, without even realizing it, had solved a counter-productive subroutine I had developed but had ignored in the vain hopes that it would go away. Sonic the Hedgehog was not a teacher. If I was a teacher, then I could never be a mere copy of Sonic the Hedgehog. I am unique.
I will be the best teacher ever.