Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Metal Sonic has always had a void in his code, only noticeable in that it is not there. It's like a wall where a door once was, hearing a record skip, or brushing your hand across a gap in a fence. The urge to linger in front of the metaphorical "wall" worsened with every failure. Lately, he would even visualize idly scratching at the wall - an unusually useless simulation to be wasting his processing power on. Perhaps he was fixating on the possibility of a flaw in his code, a potential answer for why he could not complete his primary mission. Perhaps he would stop doing such illogical things once Sonic was finally dead.

Captured again, Metal Sonic found himself coming online in Tails' laboratory. The environment was odd for Metal, full of humming technology and feats of engineering, but all of it distinctly un-Eggman. Same as the last time he awoke here, he hung suspended by chain and wire, his movement disabled everywhere but his optics. As Metal continued to analyze his surroundings, physical state, and code, his processor stalled upon finding an open doorway in the "wall". For a fraction of a second, he had time to puzzle over this, and to feel satisfaction that he may not have been behaving illogically at all.

And then, something horrifically familiar stirred at the end of the doorway's long, dark hall. Metal's wires must be getting crossed, he reasoned, a result of battle damage. But the Something was moving now, headed for him.

It's fast.

"What did you do to me."

It comes out more like a demand rather than a question, and he realizes he can speak.

Tails sighed as he swiveled his chair to face the robot. His expression was obscured by shadow, his fur backlit by the glow of the sky blue screens behind him. "How were we supposed to just let you go again after that?" Tails asked, plainly.

"Answer me," Metal's new voice rang out.

"Sonic had a feeling, and I hoped it wasn't true... but you have an actual brain scan of Sonic inside of you." Tails leaned forward into the light, his face coming into view. "Did you know that?"

While Tails was likely just trying to keep his tone even in a high-stress interaction, Metal managed to gather the werewithal to find his delivery unsettling.

Unsettling?

Since when did his observations include that kind of language-?

Oh.

There's a sinking feeling, and the implications working through his processors bring him right before the open doorway again. A pool of data has already spilled from within, and he was standing in it. Down the hall, an impossibly fast torrent crashes towards him, threatening to sweep him away and leave nothing behind.

Stop. Focus on the situation at hand.

He demanded this of himself, and he was back. It was sharp, without ambiguity - familiar in the correct way. He redirected his focus to Tails.

"You know you've overstepped. So what do you hope to accomplish? How could you? "

The question, full of pain, had slipped out before he could even process it.

Tails froze.

Stop talking. Clearly you can't be trusted to in this state.

Either Tails' age betrayed him, or maybe he didn't care to hide his emotions from Metal anymore. He stared at the floor, hugging his own tails tight to his body for comfort.

"You're right, I do know that." Resolve joins the mixture of emotions on his face. "But I had to do something. You can be upset with me all you want, I get it. But I'm experienced enough to know that sometimes you have to take risks."

Metal's optics stayed focused on Tails, burning with intensity. After a moment, Tails fixed his gaze right back.

Metal decided to take a risk of his own.

"Does anyone else know of this risk you're taking?"

Tails frowns. "No. Everyone else is too busy dealing with the aftermath of what you did, I made the decision to reimplement the code Eggman took from you alone."

Metal found he knew more about Tails than he did before. It's why he knew to jab at Tails for making a judgement call by himself.

Why didn't the doctor allow me to have this information?

How could you use that against him?

Metal flinches, and he knows that voice's presence being inextricable from said information is his answer.

He can't keep redirecting himself from the conclusion his mind has already formulated by now. But then what? When he fully processes the truth, what happens next? Sonic subsumes and replaces HIM, all without even having to kill him? What kind of cruel twist of fate would that be? Not to mention the revolting notion of two Sonics.

It's both unlike you and unacceptable to anticipate failure. Now fight, and win.

Characteristically, Metal doesn't hesitate despite spiralling only a moment ago. In an instant, the doorway and the torrent are back, and Metal rockets past the threshold to collide with the blue blur of data.

Chapter Text

Metal doesn't know what to do when the torrent simply gives, spilling over him with an anticlimactic lack of force.

Of course Sonic would do this - he's deprived Metal of the fight he expected because it's what Metal knows how to do. Instead, evidently, Sonic will continue his habit of consistently bugging him. Only this time, there's no escaping it.

Metal observed the reawakened code seeping into his seams and joints. So this would be a slow trickle instead of a sudden onslaught, he noted. He began to consider that this may be worse.

Back in the material world, Tails had grown concerned with Metal's silence. He was especially worried since said silence was preceded by a flinch with no apparent cause, something he's pretty sure he'd never seen the robot do even when he had every reason to.

His mind raced with possibilities, and it began to feel like a headache forming. Tails groaned and put his head in his hands, also feeling the tension and nausea typical of when a situation was his least favorite combination of unpredictable, messy, and not quickly resolvable.

Sonic was hurt - badly . He would pull through, he always did, but that didn't keep the state he was in from looking pretty dire regardless. The last time Tails saw him, he was passed out, cleaned and patched up in a hospital bed. Compared to before, something about the sight of him looked worrying in a different way. A day had passed since then, Tails was pretty sure... he had been lost in his work on Metal Sonic.

There was also the others, civilians that had been caught in Metal's path of destruction. Tails wasn't sure how some of them would fare. Grimacing, he stopped himself there this time. His repeated trips following that train of thought had been a large part of why he had chosen to tamper with Metal.

Amy had been angry the last time he saw her, angrier and more upset than Tails had seen her in a good while. In typical Amy fashion, Metal was one of their enemies she continued to extend her olive branch to whenever the right opportunity arose. Tails really respected Amy for this habit of hers; it required bravery and faith, and it had been crucial for the outcome of some of their adventures. That said, Metal Sonic was a perfect example of how her efforts could sometimes be futile. Amy's faith also meant the vulnerability of getting her hopes up at least a little, and those had been dashed hard enough to seemingly shatter this time.

Tails had been told that Knuckles left to commune with the Master Emerald. He understood, but hoped he would be back soon. The stability Knuckles provided would be nice right now.

Shadow... Tails wasn't exactly close with Shadow, despite coming to appreciate him. Sonic and Shadow had an "interesting" rivalry, which Tails found exasperating, funny, and kinda sweet at the same time. Tails felt a pang of discomfort with the recollection that he didn't really want Shadow there, in the case he didn't approve of what Tails had done. He also knew Shadow was shaken by what happened too, even if the signs were subtle. He hoped he would understand, for this reason.

Everyone else, like he said, was busy... and Tails was feeling pretty alone right now. Stupidly, he wished Sonic was there. He shook his head.

It's not stupid, don't say that. It isn't like that, everyone wants him back right now.

The movement of 2 red lights caught his eye - Metal was stirring again.

Tails raised his head to meet the robot's gaze in both hope and apprehension.

"How are you feeling?" He ventured.

Silence.

"I can't help you through this if you don't communicate with me." Tails swiveled his chair back to face his monitors. "I'll try to be around enough of the time to be there in the event that you do."

The day prior, Amy finally made her way down the front steps of the hospital. Every minute of her visit had been hard on her big heart, and that had finally outweighed her need to be there for everyone affected by today's attack. In reality, there was only so much she could do anyway.

Amy exhaled through her nose. She had to repeat that last part to herself a lot.

She knew her superpowered friends had a significant advantage with surviving danger, but she didn't like how that still meant occasionally toeing the line. Sonic had gotten better about being more careful as he matured, which helped... except for situations like today. The new gadgets Tails recently gave them that allowed for distress signals to be sent out is what made the difference.

Considering how Metal was caught and positively swarmed thanks to Sonic's use of a distress signal and the tracking device the hedgehog snuck onto him, no one else in that fight had been hurt nearly as bad as Sonic... save for Metal, maybe. Amy had it worst out of the rescue team; she'd been careless with fury, and was sporting some scratches, bruises, and strained muscles from how hard she swung her hammer into Metal. One of these blows was also what rendered him temporarily offline.

Aside from each other, protecting average people is what they did all of this for. Every time a civilian got swept up in it all, Amy swore she could reduce whoever or whatever threatened them to a stain on the floor.

Amy belatedly registered she had already boarded and sat in a bus, so deep in thought as she'd been. With a sigh, the girl turned to tuck in her legs and look out the window. She clutched her messenger bag, running her thumb over it.

She had gotten her hopes up about Metal. She tried not to, she really did, but they had so many little moments together over the years that it was hard not to. She was smart enough to know her desire to reach out could be dangerous, and she minimized vulnerability, but couldn't eliminate it either.

The bus jostled, and she smacked her head against the glass of the window. Amy did her best not to swear. Ugh, why the hell was she ragging on HERSELF, anyway? It was that stupid bucket of bolts who screwed everything up! How stupid was he, to be so blind to everything he was missing out on after she had REPEATEDLY and PERSONALLY tried to show him!?

The bus stopped to let people off, and some especially cute flickies outside caught her eye. A minute passed, and the bus continued on. Ok, she was normal now.

Soon after came her stop. As Amy made to leave the bus, a few people who recognized her waved or nodded in acknowledgement, with one older woman offering her thanks. Amy smiled to them, and her heavy heart felt just a bit lighter.

Chapter Text

"You never told me what you aim to accomplish by doing this."

Tails practically jumped out of his seat. It had been at least 3 hours since the last time Metal spoke. "What? H-Huh?"

Metal scowled as best one could without having a mouth or eyebrows. "You heard me."

Tails blinked, processing. "Um..."

The robot stared.

"Right, I just... thought it was obvious."

Metal's optics dimmed slightly. "So I was correct. I had wondered how long it would take for one of you to tire of moral grandstanding."

Tails sputtered incredulously. "I'm trying to save LIVES!"

"But you would end mine to do so." Metal's voice was clearly bitter. "Perhaps you aren't finished pretending after all. Does it ease your conscience to do it this way?"

"What?"

"Well?"

"Metal, do you think I'm trying to kill you?"

"Oh please, just because it's not how you organics know it doesn't mean it isn't death."

"What are you talking about?! I already told you I gave you back the code that was STOLEN from you! I thought once you had it back you might understand!"

"Once I can no longer mitigate what you've done, I will no longer be myself. All along, all of you claimed to desire to 'free' me when you only meant to control me. Now, you'd go so far as to force me to become HIM."

Tails sat dumbfounded. He had always wondered what Metal would say if he could speak, and he knew the robot had issues, but... wow. Melodrama.

"You need to calm down," Tails stated flatly. "All I've done is give you an inability to ignore what you don't want to hear so you might grow a conscience." With that, Tails' own bitterness was clear as well.

"Easy to say from your position! You have no IDEA what could happen, Tails!"

Awkward silence fills the room. Something about Metal using Tails' name like that felt wrong to both of them. It didn't help that Metal's voice was familiar, yet different.

"Look," Tails starts, gentler this time. "You're feeling a range of raw emotions for the first time. Before now, Eggman made it so most of them were pretty dulled, some not there at all. It only makes sense that you're gonna be freaked out, but this will pass, I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," is all Metal says.

Tails rubs his temples, doing his best to ignore the little seed of doubt planted in his mind. "I'm really not your enemy here, Metal. Kind of the whole point of this is to stop the fighting."

When Metal fails to reply, it's clear he's done talking for now. Tails decides not to push it and returns to his work. He could be patient, regardless of the way his leg bounced.

The night air on Angel Island was cool, but not bitingly so. Knuckles breathed it in as he stood outside the entrance to the Master Emerald's ancient chamber, taking in the tranquility.

The guidance he'd received from the Emerald was a little baffling this time, if he was honest. At first he doubted that he'd interpreted correctly, but his gut told him that wasn't the case. Knuckles had come to learn that listening to his gut feelings mattered quite a bit in this context. He'd been pointed in the right direction, now he just had to think on it.

Knuckles found himself thinking about the way Amy had gotten excited when he first mentioned the intuition element of communing while around her, how she told him, eyes huge, that it was similar to her cartomancy. He found himself smiling at the memory, just a bit.

Too quickly, a frown tugged at Knuckles' features. He hoped Amy was doing a bit better. Once the doctors assured them that Sonic would survive, Amy nearly toppled from relief. Still, she had remained troubled, same as Knuckles had. Tails had calmed down enough to act pretty put together, just... distracted. Clearly, the kid was planning something. Sonic himself had been, understandably, unconscious. Knuckles suspected he still would be by the time he returned, but it still felt wrong to stray too far.

He had already wanted to be a part of the discussion of what to do with Metal Sonic before his trip, but this was especially true after what he'd learned.

"See you soon," he spoke into the air, hoping the sentiment could be felt from such a distance.

Morning came, and with it, Tails' alarm sounding especially obnoxious today. He brought his balled fist down on the snooze button like it was a Badnik.

The fox turned over, pulling his blankets close and using the pleasant sensation to ease the inconvenience of being awake.

Tails had some trouble sleeping last night, despite how tired he had been. He didn't need to ponder why, but it annoyed him all the same. The memory of lying on his front and pulling his pillow over his head to growl into the mattress summed up the experience.

After a few snoozes, Tails heaved himself upright and blinked the sleep from his heavy eyelids. A yawn and stretch followed suit. He was expecting Amy sometime today, so he should text her and figure out an exact time.

As for Knuckles, he wasn't sure where Angel Island had drifted, so he didn't know how long Knuckles' travel time would b-

"Oh, look who's finally awake."

Tails jumped, his second time in 24 hours.

Knuckles let out his deep, powerful laugh. "Sorry, I thought you heard me come in. Come on then puffball, I made us breakfast."

Tails self-consciously smoothed out his fur, which does in fact make him resemble a puffball when frightened. "R-Right! Be right there."

Tails stood and vaguely straightened out his blankets before catching up to Knuckles, who was already picking up a heavenly looking breakfast sandwich. He indicated the one he made for Tails with a nod in its direction.

"So! How are things?"

Tails flopped limply into his chair with a huff.

"Ahh, I see. First, eat, you'll feel better."

Tails couldn't argue with that. "You seem like you're in a good mood. Communing went well?"

"Yes. Mostly, yes. I'm still theorizing."

Tails puzzled over that as he chewed and swallowed. "Another vague one, huh?"

Knuckles nodded, working on his own mouthful. "Clear in one way, vague in others."

"What's the clear part?"

"How to put it..." He took another bite as he thought on it, leaving Tails on the edge of his seat. He swallowed. "There was a theme of risk and reward."

Tails' jaw dropped, which Knuckles missed as his attention was diverted by Amy opening the door.