"Sonic, come on down from the roof." Tails exclaimed. He looked up at his best buddy, Sonic, concerned. Since Eggman's funeral just a week earlier, Sonic had been acting differently. He hadn't been eating; he appeared far away, even when Tail and he watched movies together. "Sonic! I made chili dogs! Are you going to come down to eat them?" he tried to gather Sonic's attention, but to his surprise, that did not seem to even get through to him. Feeling defeated, Tails walked back into the house.
Sonic stared at the sky. His eyes dim; he was really hoping that Eggman was just faking his death like usual. It was not until he saw the body lying in the egg-shaped casket that it hit him that Eggman was gone. He thought about all the times that he had defeated Eggman, the time that he gave Eggman his nickname. All the times that he had battled Eggman to save the world went through his head. The other times that went through his head were when he and Eggman worked together or even just hung out. Eggman always brought over delicious nachos and chilidogs, and they would hang out sometimes, sometimes answering questions on social media together. Sure, Eggman was Sonic's biggest enemy, but Eggman, when he was not trying to take over the world or turn the planet into Eggman land, was a stand-up guy: Sonics Frienemy. Sonic held his arms. He hated feeling like this. He looked out at the island lair. Maybe there was something inside the old base that could help Sonic calm down. Maybe shutting down Eggman's main computer would help? Sonic jumped off of the roof, looking back to the chilidogs that Tails had made. He took a deep breath before blurring over, grabbing a few for the road. Tails looked over at the missing chili dogs and sighed in relief. Sonic was eating again. That was good. He looked over to where Sonic had blurred off, wondering where he was heading.
Sonic soon approached the island lair. He placed the paddles inside the wooden boat, tying it to a rock. He looked up at the enormous structure, wondering how to get inside. He put his hand on the door, noticing it was cracked open. Now, that was odd. He looked around. He ensured nobody followed him as he opened the door further, entering the lair. Walking around, he noticed the deactivated badniks and the lonely feeling the abandoned base had. He reminisced, holding his arms. "Wow, this place is like a haunted house. I feel like a ghost could jump out at me any time." he chuckled nervously, making his way through the halls. Eggman was really gone for good. Tails and his other friends rejoiced. Knuckles was happy the master emerald was finally safe, Amy was delighted she could finally focus on living her life and pursuing love instead of fighting for freedom, and Tails was overjoyed that Sonic could retire from being a hero and relax for once. Sonic, on the other hand, did not know how to feel. He had been a hero his entire life. Nobody even once asked him once what he felt about all of this. Sonic loved being a hero and the praise that came with it. Being the center of attention, no longer being needed? That killed him on the inside. He placed his hand on the doorway to the main hub. It was open as well. He looked at the monitor, brandishing Eggman's logo. He looked at the console, hopping up onto the chair. "Now, how does this work?" he spoke low. Looking around, he placed his hand on the smooth, cool metal. Sonic realized that he had no idea what did what. He hung his head "I don't know what any of this stuff does. Maybe I should just leave." he spoke low, looking to where Eggman's spare goggles were. Maybe there was some screen inside of the goggles to translate what he was looking at. He hopped from the chair, grabbed the goggles off the counter, and held them up to his eye. "Let me see…" he looked through the lens at the data. "Yep, nope, that is too smart for me. Guess I will have to come back with Tails later," Sonic stretched. He was just about to leave when he heard a familiar weak beeping. Turning around, he looked dead at Metal Sonic. Sonic's eyes widened. He walked over, kneeling down to the charging robot. "Hey, I guess you have just been sitting here, waiting for Eggman to return, as well," he spoke low. Metal Sonic was still injured from the last time he fought with Sonic. Sonic placed his hand out towards his metal duplicate. Metal Sonic's eyes lit up dimly. It looked at Sonic, almost as if he was looking through Sonic. Sonic sat next to Metal Sonic, grabbing his knees close to his torso. "He is gone, Metal Sonic. He isn't returning. Eggman has died." Metal Sonic beeped a few times. The charging cables disconnected from his back. He stood up, looking at Sonic. Sonic held the goggles weakly. He shook his head. "I can't understand why I am not happy. Why am I feeling like this? I should be happy that the world is finally safe. Why am I feeling so conflicted? So lost. I wish Eggman were alive." Sonic wrapped his tail forward, next to his leg to comfort himself. He held up the goggles, looking into the lenses. "What do I do? The world no longer needs a hero. It no longer needs me. If only I could do something to make the world need me again."
Metal Sonic looked at the goggles. He took Sonic's goggles and stared into the lens. Beeping, his eyes flashed. Sonic's reflection was mirrored in the goggles. Metal Sonic, who was made to destroy Sonic, knew he could defeat Sonic now, but for some reason, he didn't. Something about the way Sonic was acting. Maybe it was the fact that Eggman, the creator of Metal Sonic, was dead. The reflection of Sonic in the goggles made Metal Sonic run a few possibility calculations. To stay active, Metal Sonic needed someone to maintain him. To fix him when he got damaged. With the weak mental state, Sonic was in. Maybe he could be tricked into maintaining Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic placed his hand out, blasting Sonic with a stun ray.
"Urgh… what happened?" Sonic opened his eye; he cringed at the pain emitting from next to his left eye. His left eye did not seem to want to open due to the pain. The last thing he remembered was a bright light coming from Metal Sonic. In the state that he was in. Sonic considered himself lucky to be alive, but why was he alive? He sat up, looking around, trying to process where he was. He was in a lab, that much was evident. He had been lying on a steel table. Where was Metal Sonic? What had happened during the time that he was out? Why did his eye hurt so bad? Sonic had these thoughts race through his head as he looked at the wall. He stood up, grabbing his head. Something really was feeling off. There was pain going through his brain. He walked to the door and exited the room. Metal Sonic was standing next to the wall. He made whirring noises, seeing that Sonic was up. Sonic braced to be attacked, but instead, Metal Sonic just walked up to him, and his eye lights blinked. Sonic tilted his head. "What did you do to me, Metal Sonic…?" he spoke softly. He attempted to open his other eye, cringing at the pain. Fighting through the pain, he managed to open his other eye, happy to see that it was still there. He sighed in relief. "Alright, what did you do- Wow. " he spoke in awe. For some reason, just by looking at Metal Sonic, he could tell what needed to be fixed, He tilted his head, looking up. "If only you could talk. Did you do this? Wait, this means I can shut down the main computer now." he smiled, patting Metal Sonic on the head. He rushed to the central hub. Metal Sonic followed.
Sonic hopped onto the chair, spinning around. His eyes lit up as everything was suddenly easy to understand. The badniks schematics, which seemed to be written in a foreign code, now seemed simple. "Wow, if this is how Egghead saw the world. Does that mean that I am as smart as him now? How did this happen?" he looked over at Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic buzzed, then beeped a few times. Sonic's eyes lit up. He walked over to the egg-shaped mirror and looked at his reflection. He tensed up, seeing the circuitry next to his left eye. "Did you do this?" he asked. Metal Sonic walked over, beeping again. Sonic nodded "I get it now; you did this to me, so you did not have to die- ah deactivate forever. This must have gone against your initial directive to destroy me. Does this mean you have some hint of sentience?" he turned around, placing his hand on Metal Sonic's shoulder "I didn't know that a robot like you could feel fear, or was it something else and I am completely wrong… Ah, it's not like it matters. What was I doing? Oh yeah, shutting this place down." Sonic walked back to the chair, jumping back on. He ran his fingers over the keyboard. "Alright, once I hit this button. It will all be over for good… I just need to confirm deleting all data." he spoke lower, hesitating. He thought about everything that just happened to him. "Well, what harm will it be to keep everything up…" he spoke low, exiting the program to wipe out everything. Metal Sonic stood next to Sonic. Sonic looked at the monitors. "I could still be a hero with this, couldn't I… Maybe I can use the badniks to save lives instead? No, nobody would ever believe they are good now. What can I do?" he spoke low, organizing his thoughts. "Alright. I know. I can have some fun with this." he smirked, looking at Metal Sonic. "What about this? I am going to pretend that Egghead is still alive. I mean, why not? As long as nobody gets hurt. What harm will it cause?" He looked back at the monitor. "So, let's get started, shall we Metal me."
A few weeks passed. Sonic was learning to control the badniks that were left over. He grabbed a wrench and worked on Metal Sonic. "Alright, it seems that a few of your wires were cut, and a few of your gears are broken as well. I will have to gather some new wires. You know Metal Me, you are sure a great listener." Metal Sonic stood still, allowing Sonic to fix him. He beeped a few times. Sonic chuckled softly. "Once you are all fixed up. Let's go train some badniks together." Metal Sonic buzzed weakly. Sonic closed the panel and looked at Metal Sonic. "You know, I was harsh on you back then. You're an impressive piece of machinery." Metal Sonic turned his head. He looked at Sonic, walking off to gather something from the side. Sonic tilted his head, walking back to his chair. He jumped up, grabbing the modified gloves he had created himself: One of the first things he had made. He found himself getting more into this role of being the robot guy. He looked over at Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic held out a gift box neatly wrapped in red and gold. Sonic placed his hand out for the present. "You got me something?" he asked curiously. "How?" Metal Sonic placed the neatly wrapped present in Sonic's hand, looking at him almost expectantly. Sonic smiled, opening the box. He held up a modified coat, it was just like Eggman's, except his size. He chuckled softly. "Aw, did you make this for me? I don't think that I should wear it, but I appreciate it…" Metal Sonic just blankly stared at Sonic. Sonic felt guilty as he stood up, placing the coat on. He looked into the mirror, doing his best impression of Eggman. "Mwhahaha, I am Doctor Sonic the Hedgehog, "he joked, spinning on the ball of his heel. Pointing at Metal Sonic. "I shall take over the world." Metal Sonic beeped in what appeared to be approval.
Sonic chuckled softly before taking the jacket off. He placed it neatly on a coat hook. "I don't think I pull off a villain persona well, now do I?" Metal Sonic lowered his head. Sonic shrugged "I am preparing to have the badniks attack this small town, but I will swoop in at the last moment to save the day. As I always do. Sound good?" Metal Sonic seemed disappointed that Sonic had taken the coat that he made for him off. He just stood still. Sonic put the gloves on and tapped a few buttons on them. "It might take a bit for me to learn how to control these bots, but then we will attack, and I will be the hero again. It is the perfect plan, huh!?" Metal Sonic just buzzed in what Sonic saw was agreement. Sonic put a thumbs up: "I will be so perfect that they will theorize that Eggman is really back. This is going to be perfect."