Metal Sonic
"Please tell me you remember Metal Sonic." Sonic begged me as the Eggbot stood still glaring at us. The real Metal Sonic was probably miles away on the Eggship or whatever it was called, watching us through this one. As for why he did that, maybe he didn't want to fight him.
I shook my head. I had to be honest, I KNEW of him, that Eggman built him as a 'superior', robotic copy of Sonic, or whatever, but that was it. I told you already, I didn't play any of the games. As for the comics, he was the one organizing the Badniks as a copy of Eggman, at least until Sonic discovered him after finding Mr. Tinker, A.K.A what I should have been instead of Mr. Engineer.
"Sorry Sonic, don't remember anything of a metal you. Besides, what got you so scared? It's just an Eggbot?"
"Metal Sonic couldn't speak at all when I fought him last time!" He whispered. "He could only speak when he was in posession of-"
"My loathsome copy, why are you asking this... this charlatan calling himself my creator if he remembers me when he obviously does not?" Metal Sonic asked Sonic, who turned to stare at him.
"But he IS Eggman!" Charmy chimed in. "He remembers who he is and the basics!"
"I've been observing him for nearly a month.
"Say, why do you even care?" Vector said, clearly wanting to tear out the robot's insides but seemingly waiting for something. "Last time we saw you, you hated his guts. Also, weren't you, dunno, destroyed by Sonic after you tried to take over the Eggman empire?"
"My creator, the REAL Dr. Eggman." The Eggbot said, putting emphasis on 'real'. ", repaired me and removed the rebelliousness from my coding. But you know this - we've clashed twice since then."
Okay, good for you then.
"He then decided to upgrade me to this form once again, to be his ultimate weapon in the final battle. But then..." The Eggbot looked down, as if it were sad. "I discovered I was completed too late. The war was lost, and this time not only you ruined everything again, you also made the doctor disappear to parts unknown, or worse..." He trailed off, but it was obvious he meant 'dead'.
"But he's right-mph!" I covered Charmy's mouth, to stop him from doing something that could get him killed.
"Not now kid, let the tin can dialogue. Want to know more about it." I told the bee kid, who nodded.
"However, not all was lost. During my repairs, the doctor gave me his bio-data in case he was unable to continue his great work. His genius, his drive, his vision... I had everything to run the Empire and bring it to greatness again."
Damn, the intellect and drive of Eggman when he-well, I was evil. Imagine what would he be now if I had given my current bio-data. Mann Vs. Machine maybe?
The Eggbot then glared at Sonic again. "But even with his bio-data, I only exist to SERVE Eggman, not be him. He's the only one who can truly restore his glorious empire of metal, I'm just an extension of his will. I decided to use his persona "
"But the presence of this... this cretin calling himself Eggman and doing everyting the Doctor would NOT ruined everything!" The robot said as it pointed a stubby, metallic finger at me, red eyes looking at me with anger, which I returned. "Even his brick-throwing is just a natural reaction, not an act of evil! It only serves to make people not fear him, but ignore him at best and even love and look up to him at worst! You, musclebound brute who is merely a good engineer, are ruining my maker's memory, and for that you shall die, but not before you tell me where the real Eggman is!"
"Okay, this is getting weird." Sonic said, and I agreed with him, so I decided to speak for myself.
"Look Mister, I don't know , but I really am Ivo Robotnik, nicknamed Eggman by this hedgehog here. I may not remember things like the Ark, these Deadly Six fellows, or why I used living animals to power my robots instead of plain old batteries, but I still remember my determination in building a theme park dedicated to me, and me only, my burning hatred yet respect of Sonic and, most importantly, my love of building machines." I listed, my hands posed on my hips.
The Eggbot serving as Metal's eyes did nothing, but it was clear by the way it looked at me that he was starting to realize I wasn't a phony, that I was his maker.
"As for why I decided to be good..." I said before sighing to add dramatic flavor. "Metal, I was sick tired of always losing the vicious cycle of wanting world domination-fighting Sonic and Co.-getting my behind kicked. And the fear and the hatred... A man can only ignore so much anger directed towards him before realising that being evil is, in fact, bad, not just for his physical health, but also spiritual. Karma, soul, all that mystical stuff."
I then looked at him straight in the 'eye'.
"So, when I woke up and realized that I could do good instead of continuing being the bad guy, I took the chance. And this boy here." I said, gesturing to Sonic. ", while not the first one to accept me, always had faith in me."
Sonic stood next to me and smile as he looked up at me. and I smiled back.
Unfortunately, Metal Sonic didn't take it very well.
Scratch that, he didn't just take it badly, he went ballistic!
Have any of you ever heard the horn of a tripod, the one from War of the Worlds, 2005? The one that is basically the Minnesota Vikings' except different pitch and louder and basically means 'you're gonna be vaporized in a second'? And the horn of a reaper as it topples skyscrapers and fucks shut up with a thanix cannon, the one that means 'prepare to be harvested'?
Well, his scream was a combination of both horns, plus Kratos snapping after Zeus mocked him for sacrificing Pandora and discovering that the Box was empty.
"YOU!" The Eggbot serving as Metal Sonic's 'avatar' screamed as it stomped towards Sonic, a finger raised accusingly. Espio and Vector tried to stop it, but the robot just backhanded them away, with so much force I hardly saw them fly. Hell, I even heard a 'crack!' coming from both of them, and it wasn't the ground! "NOT ONLY MADE MY MAKER FORGET ABOUT HIS PAST, YOU ALSO INFECTED MY CREATOR WITH YOUR IDEALS!"
Sonic, too dumbfounded and scared shitless by Metal's actions, didn't think of running away as the robot grabbed him by the neck and started to strangle him.
"TELL ME WHERE MY MAKER IS, OR I WILL CRUSH YOUR MISERABLE NECK!"
However, before he could break Sonic's neck, I shot at 'his' torso with the revolver. Unlike the robot that wrecked the hovercar, whatever model Metal Sonic was using was not as sturdy nor heavy, because the bullet not only penetrated the machine, it also sent it flying backwards several meters.
"Sonic!" Charmy exclaimed as he flied to the fallen and coughing hedgehog, with me in tow.
"You alright there partner!?" I asked as I helped him up.
"Y-yeah!" He said as he coughed and panted. "I just need to breathe."
"Look, partner." I said to the glaring robot. ", I don't know who the hell you are, but you commited one mistake." I said before cocking the rifle. "Attacking the one person that shouldn't be so quickly to forgive me, yet did so anyway." Then, I blew it's head of.
One-liners aren't my forte, but hey, I tried.
"Now what?" Charmy asked from behind me.
"First, we take Vector to an hospital." I said as I walked to the crocodile and lifted him, with Sonic doing the same with. "Meanwhile, Sonic, you could tell me more of his Metal Sonic. If we are going to kick his shiny metal ass, I want to know everything you know of him, and I mean EVERYTHING."
"Alright, but it's going to take a looong time to explain."
He wasn't kidding.