Chapter 4. A New Chance
Metal opened the door to the workshop with a plate containing a sandwich in hand. Spotting Tails at the computer, he walked over to him.
After the alternate Sonic had left the house, Tails had gone to his workshop and had spent the past couple hours on the computer, working furiously on it. While this was not unusual for Tails as Metal had found out over the past year, the fox was more absorbed in his work then usual. Metal had discovered that whenever Tails was like this, there was something on his mind, usually related to Sonic. Whether it be grieving for him or just simply remembering when he was alive, Tails would work on something to take his mind off it until he got over it.
He supposed that the alternate Sonic's appearance must have caused this latest episode of being absorbed in work. He supposed he should have expected this. Seeing your brother somehow come back to life, only for it to not actually be him can cause those feelings of grief to reawaken, that false hope snuffed out just as it came up.
It was for the best that he checked up on him, to see if he was okay.
He stopped right next to Tails, placing the plate on the table. The fox paused his work when he heard the sound, looking up and seeing him.
"Some food for you." Metal said. "You have been working for hours and it was likely you were hungry."
Tails looked at the sandwich for a moment before grabbing it and taking a bite from it. "Thank's Metal." He said in between bites and he continued to work while he ate.
Metal remained where he was for a few moments, wondering if he should address the elephant in the room. It was obvious it was going to be on Tails's mind for as long as the alternate Sonic was here. There were similar thoughts going on in Metal's head ever since he showed up as well and he decided that he needed to address them now.
"Are you feeling alright?" He asked. "I know the alternate Sonic's appearance has likely reawakened some emotional distress in you. I want to be sure you understand…"
"I know he isn't our Sonic." Tails interrupted before Metal could finish. "I know he isn't back from the dead. He's just some Sonic from another universe."
Metal was silent. He did not expect Tails to quickly accept that it was not really their Sonic. He at least expected him to be in denial about it for a bit longer even after the truth came out. He supposed that if he was organic and in the same position as Tails, he would've at least had some denial remaining at first.
"But, when I saw him at first." Tails continued, looking down a bit with a look of sadness. "I did think he really was alive again. I had that hope that he was back from the dead after what happened and his confusion was just some form of amnesia."
Metal saw some tears well up in his eyes. "It's just….even after a year, I miss him so much."
Metal took a step towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. In truth when he first saw the alternate Sonic, not knowing he was from another universe, there were some thoughts that came through his head. Such as wondering what would happen to him when Tails saw him. He knew he would still remain a hero, too much had happened between him and Eggman to even go back to him, but not as a surrogate brother to Tails as Sonic would go back to that position. He even wondered what Sonic would think of him now that he was fighting Eggman. Would he be proud of the fact that he turned good and abandoned Eggman, or would he mistrust him like how everyone else did when he first left Eggman?
Either way, it did not really matter right now since both he and Tails now knew that this wasn't really their Sonic.
"There is something else you are upset about though." Metal stated.
Tails nodded. "If this is an alternate Sonic, shouldn't he be happy to see me?"
Metal tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
Tails looked at him in surprise. "You mean you didn't notice? Whenever he looked at me it always looked like he was expecting to do something bad to him. And even though he's only been here awhile, he seems determined to keep his distance from me."
Metal replayed those moments his head. While he has assumed the alternate Sonic's behavior was due to his presence. He realized some of that behavior had also extended to Tails. The suspicious glances, the harsher behavior towards the fox, and his insistence that he do things by himself. This was not Sonic's usual behavior when he was alive.
Something had happened to him that made him act like this. Something that he wasn't telling them.
"I acknowledge that his behavior is odd." Metal stated, nodding his head. "We need to figure out what is causing it."
"It'll probably be difficult though." Tails said. "Since he probably won't be open to talk about it."
"Affirmative, but we cannot force him to do it. We need to ease him to be comfortable with it. Get him to trust us before doing so."
Tails nodded in acknowledgment before turning back to the computer. "Not a bad plan."
Metal turned his attention to what was on the screen. It contained various energy readings, their analysis of them, and comparisons to similar energy sources. There was also program running attempting to scan for that energy source on the Earth. It was clear from Tails's attention that this was what he had been working on for the past couple hours. "What is it that you are looking at?" Metal asked him
Tails took a brief look at him, slightly surprised that he was still here, before turning back to the computer. "While you were investigating Sonic's grave, I looked over the alternate Sonic. I found that there was strange energy readings emitting from him. They appeared to be more prominent when I removed devices from his gloves and shoes.
"Devices?" Metal asked.
"Turns out his gloves and shoes are different because of them. If you remove them, they go back to the ones we're familiar with." Tails explained. "They seem to be made to regulate the energy in him. This Sonic called it Prism Energy."
"What exactly is this energy?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Tails answered, indicating to the computer screen. "Whatever this energy emitting from him is, it's almost as powerful, if not even more so, than the ones we're familiar with. It isn't like anything I've seen before. And so far, no scans are turning up anything else like it."
Metal stared at the screen processing the info as the questions continued to pile on to him. While he had gotten answers to some of his initial ones about the alternate Sonic earlier, they seemed to be replaces with other questions. How did he get infused with this energy? What exactly had happened to the alternate Sonic that made him mistrust a version of his own brother?
And if this was an alternate Sonic, could someone or something have followed him here as well?
Just then, an alert came on the screen. He and Tails shot their heads up towards the screen in response and the fox looked at the notification in surprise.
SIMILAR ENERGY READING LOCATED.
Tails blinked for a second before working on the computer again. He watched as the map of the world zoomed in on a specific part. Tails looked at it for a moment before turning to Metal.
"Is Sonic…" he began before hesitating and asking again. "Is the alternate Sonic still here?"
Metal nodded. "Affirmative. He is outside the house"
Tails blinked in surprise. "Really? I thought he left after we offered his help."
"I do not know why he is still here despite not wanting our help either. Perhaps he remained here to think over what he is going to do next."
"Well can you get him for me? I think he may want to see this."
Outside, Sonic jogged around the house. He had no idea why he hadn't left Almost-Tails's house. He didn't need his or his robots help, so why was he still here?
He supposed that it was because he really didn't really know what to do next. While he knew that he had to go to the Grim to find Nine, he realized he had to consider that he likely started to change it into the world he wanted, what he wanted them to live in. And the fact that his lab could be anywhere and could spend forever looking for it.
Of course, he was realizing another concern of his. If these counterparts were aspects of his friends, what if that was what they actually thought about him deep down?
What if they never actually liked him? What if they merely tolerated him and Shadow was the only one who expressed his actual feelings to him?
What if when he restored them, they blamed him for what happened? What if everyone, even Tails, abandoned him afterwards?
Was this how it was always meant to be for him? Be alone forever with everyone around merely tolerating him?
He wasn't sure if he could handle it. The truth that despite everything, everyone he befriends would turn his back on him in the end and he would be alone in his fights.
And this whole situation with the Paradox Prism breaking revealed that to him.
And he had no idea how he was going to fix this now, how to fix anything.
It was all broken and it was his fault. And his only way to fix it all was gone.
As he thought about those, the jog started to turn into a run. As his anxieties got worse, he got faster and faster. Until he was just a blue circle that encircled the house. To the hedgehog, everything else seemed canceled out.
Suddenly, he hit something in front of him and landed on his back. Looking at what he hit, he discovered that Metal had stopped him and was staring down at him. He didn't seem to have been affected by Sonic running into him.
"Tails wants to see you." He said.
Groaning, Sonic stood back up. "Couldn't you have told me that while I was running. I would've stopped."
"I did. You did not listen, or have any indication that you have heard it."
"Could've caught me at least."
"That was my intention, but you veered off-course a bit."
Sonic let out a sigh. "Just take me to him so I can see what he wants."
Metal turned his back on him and started walking towards the house as he followed. Going through the living room and into the workshop. He saw Almost-Tails staring at the computer, occasionally typing on it as they approached him. He noticed them and turned his chair towards them.
"What did you want to show me?" Sonic asked, wanting to find out Almost-Tails found out quickly.
The fox seemed a bit surprised by his directness of the question, with no further questions from him, but turned to the computer. "When I was analyzing the energy that was emitting from you, I did a scan of the world to see if there was anything similar to the energy here."
Sonic frowned. Why was Almost-Tails taking an interest in the Prism Energy in him? Did he have plans to use it in some way?
Almost-Tails continued, pointing to a blue, flashing dot on the map. "After a while, I detected the energy in Green Hill. Not an energy similar to it, but exactly the same energy that's emitting from you."
Sonic froze when he heard that. He stared at the dot indicating where the energy was with rapt interest, the rest of Almost-Tails voice almost drowned out.
If Prism Energy was here in this universe, then that meant there was a shard. A shard Nine didn't know about. If he could find the shard, he could use it to lure out Nine. Maybe use it as a bargaining chip to try and talk things through to get both of what they want. He could get his world back and Nine can get the world he can live in.
"I know what to do now." He said aloud
Almost-Tails and Metal turned their eyes towards him, and a concern washed over him. If Almost-Tails was looking at the prism energy, that means they could take an interest in the shard. And seeing how the Council, Thorn, and Dread abused the shards' power, he could only imagine what Almost-Tails and Metal would do if they got their hands on the shard.
The only person he could trust to ensure the shards were used properly was himself. No one else could get their hands on them.
"Are you certain that's the location?" He asked, indicating to the blue dot on the map. "That there's nowhere else the energy source is."
"I double checked to make sure, but yeah. Nowhere else does the same energy signature appear on the map."
Sonic then turned his back on them and began to walk towards the door out of the workshop. "Where are you going?" He heard Almost-Tails ask.
"That's none of your business." Sonic answered bluntly. "I know what I'm going to do now and it's none of your concern."
He heard Almost-Tails get out of his chair and follow him. "You seem to at least know what's causing the energy. Likely from a shard you mentioned in your story, and you're not going to let me come with you?"
"Even if there was a shard there, you don't need it, I do. So you don't need to come with me."
"And what if it's buried?"
"I'll dig it out. I've done it before with the shard in Boscage." Sonic replied as he left the house and towards the direction he saw on the map.
"Then let me go with you and examine it before you take it." Almost-Tails suggested. "I could get some more info on the energy that's emitting from you."
Sonic froze at that suggestion. It was like he feared when he discovered Almost-Tails was researching the energy. He wanted the shard for his own purposes.
"You can't come with me." Sonic stated.
"But…" He heard Almost-Tails start before he interrupted.
"I said no!" He said loudly, turning around to face him. He saw that Almost-Tails was startled by the outburst, having taken a step back. "You probably can get everything from what you scanned from me."
"But I could potentially get more info with the shard, maybe at least figure out how to use it properly."
"So you want it for yourself?" Sonic asked angrily. Just like the other counterparts? He silently added.
"That's not what I'm saying." Almost-Tails protested. "I want to make sure no one like Eggman abuses it if it's powerful."
"It is powerful. Saved you a trip." Sonic stated angrily.
He could see the frustration with him emerging on Almost-Tails' face. He didn't like acting this way towards someone who looked like his brother, but he had to remind himself that this wasn't really his Tails. And after everything he went through, he couldn't risk putting his trust in any counterpart in his friends. They could have ill intentions for all he knew and this shard that was discovered was too important for anyone to interfere with him.
Almost-Tails was about to speak again when they heard a noise not far from where they were. The two looked in the direction the noise came from.
Descending upon them was a group of robots, some from this world's version of Eggman, and ones that had come from the Chaos Council. Alongside them, he saw Doctor Deep in his small mech and this universe's Eggman in his hovercraft. As they descended closer to the ground, Sonic and Tails took a step back, not taking their eyes off the squad of robots.
Deep's eyes fell on Sonic. "Hello hedgehog. I see you already found a version of one of your friends."
Sonic stared at him in shock. He hadn't expected the council to find him here since they likely had no idea about this universe. He figured that if they didn't know where he was, then he could think of what to do without worrying about attacks from them. But here they were, right in front of him and Almost-Tails.
"How did you find me?" He asked bewildered.
"Oh it was very easy for us to track you. We just had to follow the Prism energy you emitted, and it led us here."
Sonic was silent. How could he have overlooked that they could likely track him. They had scanned the energy from him back in No-Place. Of course they would use it to try to track him down.
The other Eggman grinned. "They came to me shortly after they arrived. Offering me resources to take control of this universe in exchange for capturing you."
Almost-Tails gave a sigh. "Of course they would win you over with that."
Deep took a step forward in his mech, unsheathing the sword that came with it and pointing it at Sonic. "Of course, you can answer an important question for the council right now. Because we're going to get the answer out of you either way once we capture you."
He leaned towards him. "Where are the shards?"
Sonic glared at Deep. There was a small, petty, vengeful part of him deep down that wanted to rat Nine out. To tell the council where he was in retaliation for betraying his trust and taking away the shards. Who cares if Nine got what he wanted, he took away what he wanted.
But he knew what the council's intentions with the shards were. And like it or not, they were much safer with Nine right now.
"I don't know where they are." He lied. "They were gone when I returned to the cave."
From behind the glasses, he saw Deep's eyes narrow. "I see." He said in a tone of voice that told him he didn't believe what he said. "Take him and make sure the fox is hurt as we take him."
Sonic's eyes widened as the robots started to advance on him. Looking at Almost-Tails he saw him slowly back away as one of the Council's robots advanced on him, a weapon deployed and ready to descend on him. Looking back at the house, he saw two red pinpricks, which meant Metal was likely watching. But would he be able to make it?
Looking back at the robots, he decided that he had no intention of being back in the council's clutches after the first time he was in them, and whether this was Tails or not, the counterpart didn't deserve to get hurt because of him.
He slammed into Deep's mech, causing him to stumble long enough for Sonic to get out of his sight and towards the robot threatening Almost-Tails. Once he was close enough he leaped towards the robot and hit its chest, knocking it to the ground before he slammed into it again, deactivating it.
Looking back to check on Almost-Tails, he saw he had moved out of the way of the robot he attacked, but a few more were advancing on him. He had his attention on the smaller robots of this world's Eggman. He flew up with his two Tails before flying towards one of them, kicking it down. Other robots tried to either grab or shoot him down, but Tails managed to maneuver away, flying to the next nearest robot and fighting them. He was just kicking them though, he had gotten a small energy pistol out and had occasionally fired at the robots, either damaging them or hitting them in the right spots to disable them.
In his distraction, Sonic nearly missed one of the council's robots hitting him. He managed to step back away from the punch, but the robot grabbed him by the head with its other hand. It lifted him up as Sonic squirmed to try and free himself.
"Hey, watch the quills." He shouted as he kicked it, but the robot didn't budge.
It began to turn towards Tails, who was too busy fighting other robots to notice. As it turned the blasters on its shoulders towards him, Sonic realized what it was about to do.
"Let go of me!" He yelled as he brought his fist back and slammed it into the robot.
As he brought his first forward, the lines that separated the plates on his gloves began to glow blue and when his fist contacted the metal, the robot went flying back, causing him to let him go. The robot flew away for a few feet before slamming into a tree and slumping to the ground, deactivated.
Sonic looked at the destroyed robot in shock, he didn't recall having strength like that. He looked at his gloves and noticed the blue glow emanating from one of them.
Must be the special ability granted to me in this universe. He thought as he watched the glow die out. Not as impressive as the claws or hover shoes, but I'll take it.
Turning to the other robots, he saw that they were advancing on Almost-Tails, who was getting exhausted from flying out of reach. Sonic immediately sped towards them, leaping towards the nearest group and brought his leg back for a kick, the shoe glowing with blue energy as he did so. He kicked one of the robots, the force of the enhanced kick knocking it back into a group and causing them all to tumble back, hitting each other as they flew away.
Almost-Tails looked at him in shock as he lowered himself to the ground. "How did you do that?" He asked in awe.
"My gloves and shoes change depending on what universe I'm in thanks to the devices on me." Sonic explained. "Also give me some cool abilities."
Almost-Tails nodded before his eyes widened at something he saw behind him. "Look out!" He cried out.
Sonic looked back just in time to see an energy shot hit the ground near where they were and both he and Almost-Tails were knocked back.
Landing on the ground, Sonic groaned as he saw through blurred vision Almost-Tails lying on the ground. He saw him try to get up as robots slowly advanced on him. Deep was alongside them, looking intently at the fox. He turned to the other Eggman. "Take him." He said. "He could be of use to us."
"No!" Sonic said as the robots began to close in on the fox. He tried to get up, but the blast must've taken the wind out of him because he kept falling to the ground. So he ended up looking at Almost-Tails helplessly as the robots came closer.
Just as a robot picked up Almost-Tails, Sonic saw something rocket past him towards the group of robots. One of the robots was suddenly thrown at the robot grabbing the fox, knocking it back and causing it to let go of him. Another robot had a hole punched in it's chest as the savior grabbed the fox and got him out of the group of robots.
Sonic watched as Metal skidded to a halt on the ground next to him, clutching Almost-Tails in his arms. He placed him down near Sonic and turns his head back towards the robots and the Doctors.
"I was wondering when you would show up." Deep said as he looked at him. "I've been wanting to know who my enemy is."
"You look like the Doctor." Metal said glaring at Deep. "You and this council this Sonic mentioned must be from another universe like him."
"Correct you are. But for a machine, I thought you'd be smarter."
"Where did you come from?" Metal demanded, ignoring the insult.
Deep grinned. "Does it even matter to you? As soon as we have the prism back your world will just be another one for us to conquer. We were already ready to conquer a couple more before the prism went missing and everyone was powerless to stop it. You can't stop us, especially with your Eggman on our side."
"Says the person who's part of the council that I keep kicking the butt of." Sonic retorted, slowly getting back up.
Metal looked back at him for a moment, not saying anything, before turning his attention back to the Eggmen and their robots. He seemed to be thoroughly looking at them, presumably to know what he was facing, but could he fight them all?
"Did the universe you originate from have a Sonic?" Metal asked.
Deep looked surprised at that question, but quickly shook his head. "No, but neither did the other universes we were intending to conquer."
"Then that is where you will fail in conquering this one." Metal said, getting into a fighting stance.
The engine behind Metal's back ignited and he propelled towards the robots, with Deep and Eggman ordering to attack the android as he charged. The robots aimed whatever blasters they had at him and fired at him but Metal weaved around the blaster fire, closing the distance between them quickly.
As soon as he was close to the first robot, he punched through it in the chest, instantly deactivating it. He pulled his arm out and turned his attention to another one, this one one of the councils. It attempted to smash him with its arm, but he dodged out of the way and smashed a joint in its leg. With one leg unusable, the robot collapsed onto one knee and Metal finished it off by punching into its neck, deactivating it before moving on to the next.
As Sonic watched Metal destroy the robots, he began to gain an understanding of how Metal fought. He had seen some of it when he had fought Silver Sonic, but he had been exhausted and could barely see any of it. Here, he saw how efficient, and machine like Metal was in combat. Aiming for weak spots to gain an advantage or eliminate any threat. Then once an enemy was down, moving onto the next quickly. And if an enemy attempted to attack, his dodging seemed precise and ready to counterattack any enemy.
As much as Sonic didn't trust Metal, he had to admit he was impressed by his fighting.
As Metal destroyed another Council robot by leaping up to its head and smashing into its neck, Deep charged towards him with his sword. Metal seemed to detect it and sidestepped out of the way of the stab. He turned towards him, ducking under a slash soon after. After he dodged another attack, Metal leaped up onto the arm of the mech Deep was controlling.
Deep noticed this and tried to shake him off, but Metal held on, reaching the shoulder joint holding the sword before bringing its fist down on it. The joint was damaged, but it didn't disable it. Metal slammed it down again, this time the blow disabled the sword, causing the sword to be dropped.
Metal attempted to get to the other shoulder but Deep, using the functional arm, slammed him onto the ground. He kept the arm pinned against Metal as he tried to free himself. Deep crouched near him with something in his hand.
"Let's see what your mind is like." He said to Metal.
He slammed the device on Metal's head and the robot started to twitch, his eyes glitching in and out. Almost-Tails, who had gotten back up, screamed his name as he watched in horror while Sonic watched in shock.
Despite his distrust, he knew Metal meant a lot to Almost-Tails and whatever Deep was doing to him, it couldn't be good. Someone had to save Metal from him.
Before he could even question what he was doing, he found himself running towards Deep as he gripped the device on him, his arm being pulled back and his hand balled into a first for a punch. From the corner of his eye, he saw blue energy glowing from it.
"Leave him alone!" He yelled as he got close enough to leap towards Deep.
Hearing him, Deep had just enough time to see him throw the punch which landed in his chest. The force from the energy knocked him back away from Metal and caused him to lose grip on the device causing it to tumble to the ground. Deep himself flew back a few feet before landing on the ground on the mechs back.
Using the functional arm, Deep slowly got back up. Sonic saw a look of shock on his face, clearly not expecting the punch to knock him back like that. Taking a glance at the other Eggman, he clearly wasn't expecting it either given the similar look of surprise.
"Why you…" Deep growled as he did his best to get the mech in a standing position, the functional arm deploying a cannon. Sonic also saw the remaining robots begin to surround him and Almost-Tails, who had run to Metal's side, the robot still twitching.
Suddenly, there was a beeping from both Deep's mech, and Eggman's shuttle. The two doctors paused in their actions before both pressed a button on their respective vehicles.
"Yes?" Deep asked, talking to whoever was on the other end.
"We got the data you extracted from the robot. We only got the most recent from him." What sounded like on the other end said. Sonic saw Deep's face get a look of disappointment at the news. "But we did find something of interest."
Sonic froze. That couldn't mean what he thought they meant, right?
Deep raised an eyebrow. "And what might that be?"
As if to confirm Sonic's fears, answered. "Prism energy was detected in this world. Located in a place called Green Hill. There might be a shard there."
He watched in horror as Deep slowly let out a grin. "So if we get it, we might be able to recharge our energy and continue with our plans for domination."
"Affirmative."
"Get the ship ready to fly there. Me and the other Eggman will be back with you shortly." Deep turned his gaze to Sonic, Almost-Tails, and Metal. "What do you want me to do with the hedgehog and his friends?"
"Leave them for now. We need to rub their failure in their faces when we eventually conquer this world."
Deep was clearly unhappy with having to leave them alive, but nodded anyway.
This world's Eggman, who was on the same call, looked baffled by the order. "But we have them surrounded. If we let them go, they're just going to cause problems for us. Wouldn't it be better if we take care of them now?"
"We can deal with them after we force them to see the world that they care about being conquered. Let them see how unstoppable the Council is before we wipe them out."
All around them, the robots began to lift off and fly away from them. Deep's mech activated his thrusters and soon joined them. This world's Eggman turned to the three and glared at them. "See you later hedgehog." He said before flying off.
Sonic stood there, his hands trembling from what he had just heard. Once again, he had put a world in danger from the Council because of his presence. He felt even worse since this world was relatively normal and was handling things fine. And he put everyone here in danger.
And it was all his fault.
Just like everything else that had happened from the moment he shattered the Paradox Prism.
He turned towards Almost-Tails and Metal. The fox was still sitting next to him while the latter had stopped twitching and his eyes had gone back to normal and was slowly sitting back up. "You okay Metal?" Almost-Tails asked.
"I am fine." Metal answered, giving Almost-Tails a nod. "The device had disrupted my systems and caused some minor data loss."
"Must have been an extraction device judging from what the other Eggman said." said Almost-Tails, looking at the discarded device. "If they now know about the energy location, things just got more complicated.
They turned their heads towards Sonic. He stood there, waiting for them to yell at him, to blame them for what happened and that he never should have come here. For them to turn his backs on him like the other counterparts.
But instead, they continued to stare at them, waiting for him to say something.
"I need to go." He said.
"Wait!" Almost-Tails cried out, getting up and running to him. "What are you doing?"
"Going to where the Prism energy is." Sonic answered. "If I can get there before the council, maybe I can get them out of this universe so they can't hurt anyone here."
"Do you really think that?" The fox asked. "You heard the Eggmen, they'll probably just come back once they have the capabilities to conquer us."
"Maybe I can fix all this before that happens." Sonic said. Ignoring the fact that he didn't know what would happen to the other shatter-spaces and their inhabitants when he restored his home
"Ignoring the possibility of them conquering our home." Metal said, walking up next to Almost-Tails. "You are going towards an area where there is a ship with multiple versions of Eggman alone."
"Are you saying I can't handle them?" Sonic asked angrily. "Because I've already faced the council multiple times and I got out alive."
"I am saying you are acting like a reckless idiot right now." Metal countered.
"Please just let us help you." Almost-Tails said, walking over to him with a hand extended.
"I told you I don't need your help!" Sonic said, slapping the hand away. "I can handle this on my own."
"You're more likely to get captured, or worse if you encounter them alone." Tails protested.
"You don't know me that well." Sonic replied.
"I knew a version of Sonic though. And he knew when a situation was too much for him to handle alone. Just let us help you."
Sonic stared at the two. There were many things he could say for reasons why they couldn't come. Because he didn't trust them, because he didn't want to see them hurt, because he didn't want them to get the shard if there was one. No matter what his answer was, he knew he couldn't let them come with him.
He shook his head at them in refusal and turned away. He began running in the direction that he saw Green Hill in. From behind, he heard Almost-Tails cry out his name, telling him to wait, but he didn't slow down or even look back.
After a few seconds of running though, he heard something approaching from behind. He recognized the sound as coming from Metal's thruster engine, and it was rapidly coming closer. A second later, something grabbed his arm, causing him to slip and fall to the ground. Looking up he saw Metal standing over him, gripping his arm tightly.
"Let go of me." He said struggling against Metal's grip, but it was strong.
"Negative." Metal replied as he started to drag him back towards the house. "I will not let you run off into a dangerous situation."
"Are you trying to prevent me from stopping the council from reaching the energy source?" Sonic asked in frustration as he kicked Metal in the leg, but the robot was unaffected aside from a slight stumble that he quickly recovered from.
"I am trying to prevent you from doing something stupid." Metal answered. "You were clearly not listening to anything me, or Tails were saying."
Sonic said nothing, but continued to try and struggle to escape. In response, Metal glared at him. "You are lucky I did not break your arm when I grabbed you."
Hearing the implied threat, Sonic stopped struggling and let himself get dragged, grumbling the whole way.
Tails watched as Metal dragged the alternate Sonic back to the house.
He just couldn't understand this Sonic. He went out of his way to protect him, yet he refused their help. In fact, he seemed insistent on going alone and he had no idea why. If it was to protect him from getting hurt, he'd been in worse situations than having to go up against Eggmen from other universes. But to this Sonic, it felt like the only way he would be safe was for him to stay out of it.
Even then, it was clear there was something else that was making Sonic refuse their help. Which made him wonder what could have possibly happened to this Sonic that made him not even trust his brother.
Regardless, the situation had quickly escalated. Now they had to deal with not just a mysterious energy that had a connection to this Sonic, but versions of Eggman wanting to claim it for their own nefarious purposes. Even with Sonic and Metal with him, he was going to need some help.
He brought out a yellow handheld device, cycled through a list of names on the screen until he pressed one and waited. After a few seconds there were a few beeps, signaling a connection and a girl's voice came from the other end.
"Tails, is that you?"
"It's me Amy." Tails confirmed.
"What's going on? I've been hearing reports that Sonic is back from the dead. The actual Sonic, not Metal."
Tails took a look back at the house, seeing Metal close the door behind him with Sonic watching the outside. He turned back to the device. "It's a bit more complicated than that, but I'll explain later. Can you call whoever you can and meet at my home."
"Sure, I can do that. Why?"
Tails looked at the remains of the robots that had been destroyed in the fight. "Something is happening that's threatening us, and we're going to need all the help we can get right now."
Author's Note: I'm admittedly unsure if I'm writing Sonic too much like a jerk here. I mean I wanted his mistrust of Tails and Metal to be understandable given what he's been through, but I'm unsure if I'm going too far with it. Let me know if that's the case.
Also, I'm aware that the first footage of batch 3 of Prime is out now. But I have decided on how the story is going to go, and I will not change to connect with the third batch.
I will also be taking a break for this story for a bit as I am planning on starting another fic I have had planned for awhile, one that is unrelated to Sonic, but it won't be posted here. It will only be on Ao3. So keep an eye on my profile there to see it.
See you next time.