A quick blue blur dashes through the wind, running free and lively, causing the grassy areas to ruffle up and down as it passes. From afar it's nothing but a long streak of a fading blue line amongst the tall trees with lush tropical leaves, picking up the wind within the green horizon filled with little critters and plantations. The blur too fast for anyone to comprehend or register at first.

But up close, there sped a carefree blue hedgehog, his emerald green eyes glinting with a thrive for adventure; his large, sharp quills speeding alongside the wind; white-gloved hands stretched to his side as he ran, allowing for easier acceleration.

The blue hedgehog was born with a special ability, a gift of incredible speed that no one else had. Despite his previous fakers and 'cheap copies' trying to replicate or succeed him, he was the one and only Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sonic sped through the vast horizons of planet Mobius, his home. In a matter of seconds, he could go through every part of the world if he wanted... cities, horizons, hills... you name it. However, there are times when he has to come to a pause on his evening jogs to protect his planet from evil... one of those evils being none other than Dr. Eggman.

Eggman's largest ambition is to conquer the world, and if the world falls into his hands... his beloved "Eggman Land"— a world wide amusement park filled with brilliant blinding colors, technology, and games all tuned up to the max, advancing the whole planet with machinery in however way the madman desired it to be— will rise once again. Planet Mobius' citizens then will gasp in terror at "Eggman Land" and its glorious empire before they soon be turned into machinery through a process of turning organic parts into metal known as "Robotomy" or "Roboticization". No one would ever need to sleep, eat, or breathe ever again. And best of all...

No one will ever have to worry about the weightful responsibility of making the decisions.

Every human and anthropomorphic animals (Mobians) on the planet, would be stripped away from their homes to their freedom— everything being corrupted under Eggman's control. Sonic couldn't let that slide, he didn't want the doctor to succeed.

He had to protect his home, his friends, all creatures big and small, and everyone else living on planet Mobius against all evil like Eggman. Even if it means risking his own life in the process.

Speaking of Eggman...

There was a strange sighting up ahead, a large smoke in fact, just some distance away within the bundle of tall trees.

Not too far.

"Eesh, looks like someone recently burned some chili dogs there-"

Seeing the smoke, Sonic with his current pace then braced himself as he sped up even faster, causing the wind to pick up and shift as he boosted himself towards the direction of the potential fire, the green environment blurring at the corners of his vision the faster he ran.

Save whoever is left there first before it's too late. The firefighters will take care of the rest after.

Sonic quickly planned in his head and just in a matter of moments, he was in a complete 'battlefield', the smoke led to a small camp ground being invaded by a group of badniks.

These animal shaped like machines rummaged through the place, tearing down any tents or equipment nearby. Some of the cabins and trees were smeared with ashes or already torn down by these little gremlin machines.

Strangely however, most of the badniks were just creating this one large bonfire right in the middle of the campus and setting it a flame, their movements were also rather sloppy and stiff as well, making their efforts rather disorderly.

Sonic then took a quick lap around the campground to find that there seemed to be no other signs of life, no cries of help, no scent of anything...nothing...
From what Sonic can conclude, the campground was just empty besides the invading machines.

Now what's going on here? Can't be anything good I bet.

He skidded to a stop on his run, gazing at the badniks, slightly confused but also reassured that no one else needed saving here except for the little critters trapped within the badniks.

He then quickly took easy work on the machines by curling himself into a ball and shooting himself towards the first row of badniks that he saw, his quills cutting through them with ease as they broke apart and releasing the little critters that were used as batteries inside of them. This move was what's called a spindash.

The three freed critters consisting of a Ricky (Squirrel), Pockey (Rabbit), and a Picky (Pig) chittered happily at their freedom as they jumped up and down and circled around the blue hedgehog, their way of thanking Sonic for saving them from their machine imprisonment.

"Heh, no problem guys, just doing my thi-"

Sonic quickly coughed as he held his breath and briefly glanced at the bonfire not too far away. The smoke was growing stronger as the other badniks continued to feed its large, hungry flames, the fiery fingertips consuming each plank of wood and fabric the badniks threw into it.

Gotta stop them from building that fire. What's up with burning a pile of sticks anyway? Definitely not for roasting marshmallows, that's for sure.

The three animals seemed to be affected by the smoke as well, coughing and instinctively trying to scurry away, but they were stopped by two other badniks—the Motorbugs.

The Motorbugs blocked their path, their eye pupils showing an angry cyan glare as the bug-like machines slowly swiped their claws towards the critters, their giant wheels causing them to tilt slightly back and forth as they moved.

"Hm."

In those brief moments, Sonic has already locked his eyes on the two targets and spindashes into them before returning back to his previous position, freeing two more Rickies in the process.

He then quickly scanned around the devastated area to figure out where he could bring the creatures to safety.

Hmmm nope that's just a tree, a bush, even MORE trees...come on, there has to be some place out here....

Sonic thought as he turned his head to the right, he spotted an area perfect for the occasion:

A bright flower field stretched across the distant hills, its small patches of pastel orange and yellow glowing warmly under the welcoming sun.
The flower field was far away from the mass destruction of the campus where Sonic stood.

Bingo.

"Alright everybody, hold on tight, I'm getting you guys all out of here!"

He said as he held out his hands and quickly scooped up all five of the little critters, steadying his red sneakers against the rough, muddy surface before speeding off toward the flower field. He made sure none of the animals fell from his arms as he ran at the speed of sound, his feet skimming the soft grass.

But in those brief moments, a question lingered in the hedgehog's mind...

Well that was weird...what's Egghead up to now? Why make the badniks create that large bonfire in the middle of nowhere? The campus looks abandoned and no one else seems to be around...

Just before Sonic could finish that thought, he has already made it to his destination as he quickly checks on the animals before carefully lowering them down and letting them go out in the flower field filled with colorful yellow and orange flowers.

The animals chittered in glee as they were released. However, the thought of the bonfire came back to Sonic again. Something about it made him feel...off.

Something's not right here. Better get back and deal with the fire and rest of the badniks already.

Just as he turned his head toward the direction of the invaded campground, he barely had time to react ad the world seemed to slow around him.

He was met with a large, black screen shaped like curved eyes, emitting a menacing glow from hollowed-out res pupils.
Sharp metal claws stretched out toward Sonic's face, and the figure resembled a blue hedgehog just like him—except its quills and body structure were smooth and metallic.
Of course, this was no other than...

"Metal?!"

That was the name Sonic managed to shout in surprise before he quickly slid his feet to the side, tilting his whole body down just enough to avoid Metal's claw.

Metal Sonic is a highly advanced Badnik created by Dr. Eggman with the sole purpose of defeating and surpassing Sonic in every way.

So it was clear that Metal would take any opportunity he could to strike down the blue hedgehog.

So this was a trap after all huh? They were just trying to lure me in with that large smoke!

Just as Sonic was about to fall backwards to the bed of flowers, he swiftly used his other foot to steady himself and twisted around In the process of that movement, he curled into a ball and spindashed right back at his doppleganger.

However, despite Sonic's immediate reaction, Metal Sonic predicted this as he spun back and also curled up into a ball—perfectly copying Sonic's spindash attack as the two clashed against each other in a matter of seconds, sharp blue quills bashing against the opposing metallic surface.

Great, now I have to deal with my ugly copy too. Gotta make this quick-

Keeping the bonfire and the remaining Badniks back at the camp in mind, Sonic quickly pulled back, clashed against Metal once more, and attempted to land a swift punch to the robot's face.
Unsurprisingly, Metal dodged it with ease and struck back with his sharp metal claws. Sonic dodged effortlessly, moving behind Metal with a smug expression as he folded his arms.
   
"Wasn't expecting to see you here Metal. Say, how's Egghead? Still mourning over his previous million defeats?"

Metal slashed a claw in his direction, but Sonic stepped back and moved to the other side, staying out of Metal's reach before the robot's sharp claws could even touch him.

"Orrrr, should I just stick with calling him "BaldyMcNoseHair"? Haha! That one kind of explains itself-"

Metal, without much of a response, turned back and attempted to strike again, but Sonic easily dodged just in time and chuckled at his own remark.

"And Egghead still made you mute, doesn't that bother you at all? Not having the freedom to talk?"

Sonic swiftly curled into a ball and spin-dashed right at Metal, then uncurled as he landed on the ground and stood back up.

Man, why can't Metal just make beep boops! sounds as a response? I've been talking to nothing at this point!

Sonic purposely keeping that smug face as he looked at his copy who remained silent and took no hesitation to dash back to tackle the hedgehog as the two locked their fists together, one trying to push the other, their strengths just about evenly matched.

"Heh, and you were able to talk while you were Neo Metal Sonic. Come to think of it, I think that was also your best form yet!"

Sonic stated, slightly struggling against Metal's tight fists as he casually compared Metal with the robot's other superior form, Neo Metal Sonic. Neo Metal Sonic was another upgraded version of Metal that practically tried to carry on Eggman's tyrannical legacy at least two times prior.

Neo Metal Sonic also had the ability to speak, shapeshift, and turn into a giant mech dragon unlike how Metal is now.

"So seriously, what's with the downgrade still? You know I would like a challenge! Not that I'm really complaining though- and ooop!"

Sonic managed to gain the upper hand as he mustered as much strength as he could to grab onto Metal's claws and YEETS the robot towards a nearby tree by slightly spinning himself around.

Oh wait, the fire, don't forget about the bonfire-

Hit with a realization, Sonic positioned himself to a run. With a teasing look, he briefly glanced at Metal, who was already recovering from the impact. The robot, unscathed, ignored the leaves that had fallen on him from the tree, got back on his robotic feet and sent a red glowing glare back at the hedgehog.

"Hey Metal! Wanna race?"

Despite Eggman creating Metal Sonic to look and have the abilities like Sonic, he didn't program Metal Sonic to run on two legs. The robot instead always hovered or flew up in the air every time he were to 'run'.

However, that didn't mean that Metal Sonic wasn't fast either. In fact, he has surpassed Sonic's speed before on some few occasions.

There was also always the possibility of Metal Sonic just being a second faster than Sonic. Every time when they battle, Metal grows stronger through each data he collects.

"Let's see if you're still able to catch up with the original!"

With that in mind, Sonic speeds off back amongst the tall tropical trees, away from the beautifully colored flower field, the wind brushing against his blue quills.

But of course without much of a surprise, Metal caught up rather quickly as Sonic headed back to check on the chaos at the campus, the robot just following right behind Sonic's steps, the rocket-like structure attached behind Metal's back and front assisting him in matching up to Sonic's immense speed, its blast leaving a white cyan trail similar to Sonic's as Metal sped through.

Can't run off somewhere else to warn the people about the badnik invasion at the campus, too risky with Metal tailing behind me...

Sonic obviously couldn't get Metal off of his trail, knowing Metal, the robot knew exactly what he was going to do. Without much of a plan, Sonic knew he had no other choice but to deal with the destruction at this campus and Metal at the same time all by himself.

Sonic glanced at Metal, who remained silent in response, before boosting himself forward, speeding even faster than before. The area at the corner of his eye turned into nothing but a blur. And, of course, Metal Sonic followed close behind without breaking a sweat.

Dealing with this would be so much easier if I had Tails, Amy, Knuckles, or anyone else around to help...

Sonic admitted to himself at the mention of his own friends as he arrived back at the devastated campus, the returned smoke leaving a sting to his nose as he started to look around for perhaps a phone to call or something that could help him distinguish the bonfire, spindashing and destroying any badnik that he came across.

While running through the campus and briefly glancing around the area, there weren't any water hoses that he could use to extinguish the bonfire but...there were a few rusted buckets he spotted clattered alongside some of the destroyed cabins.

So as an alternative, if Sonic couldn't call any help for the fire, perhaps he can put out the fire himself using the buckets.

It would just be a little difficult with Metal literally still chasing right behind him.

Heh, no big deal, I like the chall-

He briefly glanced back at Metal who was now catching up to him rather too closely as the earth beneath him started to slightly shake and....

KaBOOM

Suddenly a large explosion erupted in the distance, interrupting Sonic's thoughts as the ground shook, catching Sonic off balance as he tripped on the dusty pebbles and fell.

"Whuh- whooaaa!"

Metal, not at all fazed from the explosion in the distance, quickly took this chance to land a hard kick right in Sonic's gut, punting him in the air towards a nearby cabin.

"Oomph-"

Sonic grunted painfully as he was then hit against the wooden planks of the cabin.

"Ow...hey, think fast!"

Without a moment of hesitation, Sonic quickly curled into a spindash the moment he touched the solid surface, using the remaining wall of the cabin as a boost to launch himself directly right back towards Metal.

However, unlike how Sonic thought Metal was just going to copy his move again, he was instead greeted with a large gas tank thrown in his direction.

Huh, now that doesn't sound like a spindash...oh Chaos, that's a tank-

The tank landed with a loud ca-clink, heavily bouncing right beside Sonic as he managed to take a wobbly sharp zigzag to dodge it and uncurled, placing his hand on the dusty ground to steady himself as he turned back to face his doppleganger.

"Ha! You really thought I couldn't dodge that Metal? Come on, I know you could do better than th–"

Suddenly Metal tackles Sonic just right where he wanted him and shoves his 'loathsome copy' towards where he threw the gas tank, making sure that the blue hedgehog's quills pierced right into the large tank's white surface like hammering down a needle in place.

Sonic exclaimed in both surprise and minor jolt of pain as he immediately kicked Metal back and used both of his hands to try to detach his three large spiked quills from the oil tank against his back, that sickly greasy feeling of the gasoline coating right into Sonic's smooth burnishing quills and gloves as he tried to free himself from the tank's hold.

I've gone through worse, nothing I can't handle-

However, just as he pulled his quills right out of the oil tank, Metal quickly recovered from the kick and grabbed onto Sonic's head and shoved his face right back at the oil tank just as the tank started to squirt out more of that greasy black substance from the new openings.

Don't swallow it don't swallow it don't swallow it-

Half of Sonic's face got splashed with pure gasoline as the greasy black substance covered his right eye and half portion of his body before he curled his hand into fists and gave a stern punch right at Metal's face.

Metal's face glitched for a moment at the punch as he was knocked back before suddenly quickly balancing himself and speeding off and disappearing right from Sonic's grasp...

"Eeyuck! What's even with all of this Metal?"

Sonic, not really expecting a response from his doppelgänger used his gloves to quickly wipe off as much gasoline as he could from his face and just as he was about to speed off for a moment to get himself clean before getting ready for more combat, he glanced up to see the figure of Metal, firmly holding two pockies by their long rabbit ears, his copy hovering just right above the large bonfire...the two pockies squeaking and whimpering in pain as they coughed from the smoke, their little light cyan paws and legs kicking up in panic and terror as they saw the fire below.

And three...two...one...Metal released them from his sharp metal grasp.

"Oh no you don't!!"

Without even a second thought, Sonic jumped up towards the fire to save the two falling animals, reaching towards to grab the pockies as they were going into the flames of the fire.

Wait a second...

The world slowed as he came to realize what just happened. He just jumped up towards the fire to save the pockies....while he was still halfly covered in gasoline.

At that moment, he realized his mistake too late. The moment he goes near that fire, he is going to be set aflame. There's no turning back now.

Metal, his unblinking eyes glowing red, looked down at Sonic, knowing that he'd won. He has finally proved his 'loathsome copy' that there could be only one blue hedgehog. The one that was physically better without any organic limits.

...

Or so the robot thought....

There was one more thing that Sonic had that Metal didnt.

Sonic instead just smirked as he just embraced himself towards the fire, grabbing the two pockies as he curled into a ball to keep them safe, and just as the flames were going to set Sonic aflame, a slight golden yellow glow pulsed through him as his form slightly flickered in and out, giving him a bit of a shock of energy before it faded away and suddenly, a bunch of golden rings just spewed out of his quills, probably like fifty of them or so scattered against the ground and quickly disappearing as Sonic then soon uncurled and unevenly landed on the surface.

"Whoo! That was a close one!"

If it wasn't for the rings that Sonic collected along the way, he would've died right then and there. Rings were like a life shield for Sonic and anyone else who was able to wield it.

It also at times allowed the wielder to draw from its power to slightly move much faster than normal as well. The rings kind of just pop up and appear in convenient places around Mobius.

"Nice try but better luck next time!"

Sonic exclaimed as he held onto the two pockies gently, his quills no longer covered in gasoline thanks to the rings as he gently tucks the two critters into his quills.

Alright time's up, Metal's go to go.

Sonic decided then put his foot in front and launched himself into the air and spindashed directly at Metal who did the same as the two forces collided and recoiled a couple of times in various angles, the blue forms hitting against each other from left and right, side to side, sparks of kinetic energy emitting from the two each time they tackled each other.

However in the midst of the fight, the ground started to shake and rumble just like before as a large cyan pulse of energy blasted off from somewhere and went past through the two opponents.

This catching both off guard and recoiling from their ball form. However, Metal was much faster at recovering from this minor setback

That one millisecond was just enough for Metal to tackle down Sonic to the ground as the robot wasted no time to raise his claw, but just as he was about to stab the hedgehog right in the gut, Sonic already ready to set a counterattack before his robotic copy could do so, a sudden translucent turquoise energy surrounds the two as they were frozen in place and lifted up from the air.

"Mind if I cut in?"

Sonic and Metal both turned to the source of the voice, revealing a white furred hedgehog whose quills spread out like a typical maple leaf coated in shining silver, the hedgehog's golden-yellow eyes' glint reflecting from his circular golden cuffs, his gloved hands also surrounded by the turquoise energy that was keeping Metal and Sonic in place.

"Eyyy Silver! Nice to see you drop by here again!"

Sonic lightly clicks his tongue and makes a 'gun' gesture and briefly winks as he casually greets the teen hedgehog from two hundred years in the future.

"Soooo, how have you been?"

Silver is a fourteen year old hedgehog with the power of levitation, telekinesis, and teleportation. He also has the ability to travel back in time using chaos energy, a type of chaotic and unfathomable power that can be obtained by the use of one of the seven Chaos Emeralds. It is said that with the use of the Chaos emeralds, the user has the ability to turn their thoughts into power.

If there was any reason for Silver to travel back in time, it's because he has to prevent some catastrophe that was triggered in the past that's affecting his future.

"Hey Sonic! It's good to see you too, you know the usual, doing well till the future gets screwed up...again."

Silver answers as he raises both of his hands up with an exasperated look on his face, his dark and light turquoise shoes lightly stomped on the ground to empathize with his frustration.

"Seriously though Sonic, how many more times is the future going to get screwed? And is it kind of weird that it always involves the timeline where you're in it?!"

Silver looked at Sonic, almost as if accusing Sonic to be the culprit of this somehow.

"Eh, who knows, I'm not the one who's trying to cause it though–"

Sonic noticed that look from Silver as he simply shrugged and held up both of his hands to show a sense of innocence at his response. In return, Silver just let out a sigh before focusing back on the main task at hand.

"We'll talk later, first I need to get rid of-"

Just as Silver turned to Metal to dispose of the robot, the ground shook and rumbled, the trees ruffled violently amongst their roots while the other little critters panicked and scattered away in the distance as another blast of this mysterious cyan forcefield starts to come towards the three.

"Whoa what's–AH!"

The forefield passed right by them and this time knocking all three over more harshly down than before, this making Silver trip and fumble to the ground, losing his concentration, unintentionally releasing both Sonic and Metal from the telekinetic hold.

"Silver, WATCH OUT–"

Sonic shouted as he quickly got up to his feet once hitting the soft rumbling ground, seeing Metal hover just some inches away from Silver with claws stretched out to stab the white hedgehog.

"Huh-?"

In those brief moments, Silver glanced up to see Metal glaring down at him with a menacing glow...despite the warning, Silver won't have enough time to react to protect himself, Metal was just too fast for him.

Sonic's eyes widened at that realization...

Oh no one's getting hurt on my watch.

Sonic with a determined drive to stop Metal, he launched himself in the air and just as he was about to curl into a spindash, Metal instantly glared back at him at the corner of his eye as if he knew what Sonic was going to do beforehand, his focus doesn't seem to be completely on Silver at all in fact.

Shoot. What's he doing now?

As the world was in slow motion, and before Sonic could fully curl into a ball, Metal suddenly turned around and grabbed onto one of Sonic's leg just in time, the cold metallic claws digging into Sonic's skin... and in those brief moments, the two locked eyes with each other, Sonic's eyes widening in surprise and starting to realize what's about to happen within the next couple of seconds.

Ohhh boy, well this sure is going to hur–

The surroundings around them resumed back to its regular pace in the eyes of everything else as Metal spun Sonic around violently like a fidget spinner.

"Wh-wh-WHOAAAAAA-"

Sonic exclaimed as he was then thrown towards a small boulder nearby. Sonic curled into a ball just in time to protect himself from the incoming boulder as his ball form crashed against the hard rock surface, completely shattering the boulder to smithereens.

Ow. Should've seen that coming-

Sonic uncurled from his ball form as he turned to face Metal, feeling a small wince, then briefly glancing down to see his own right leg now having four thin long streaks of red lines formed from Metal's claw.

...And I'll worry about that later, it's just a scratch

With the pumping adrenaline still running through Sonic's veins, it would take some time before the pain was going to bother him. He just had to keep up with his pace to keep the adrenaline going.

Just as Metal was about to advance towards Sonic, a bunch of broken wooden boards from a wrecked cabin surrounded by turquoise energy floated up just behind the robot.

Sonic seeing this, lightly smirked as he put back his iconic smug look at Metal and puts his gloved hands between his hips as he lightly rocked his feet back and forth.

"Heeeey Metal! So how do you feel about eating planks of wood by the way?"

Metal slightly glitched in response as if in slight confusion as he paused and glanced behind to see a whole broken down cabin beginning to all bombard on him. The planks of woods piling on top of the robot.

"Sonic, get ready!"

Silver shouted amongst the chaos of the sounds of the falling wooden planks, now ready to engage in combat as he quickly flew over to Sonic using his levitation, turquoise energy completely surrounding him and soon Sonic himself as the silver hedgehog lifted himself and Sonic high up in the air.

"Hey nice save there by the way Silver, I almost got my butt kicked!"

Sonic complimented as he gave a thumbs-up to the other hedgehog and smiled.

"No problem Sonic, just returning the favor!"

Silver simply stated with a grin as he folded his arms, glancing back down at the broken cabin that he threw on top of Metal. Squinting at it from a distance in the sky, seeing something move underneath, most likely Metal himself pushing through the wooden rubble already.

"That cabin's not going to hold Metal for long, if we need to come up with a plan, it should be now."

Silver turned to face Sonic who was kind of doing a couple of arm stretches and laying back, seemingly not too worried about the stakes at all despite the previous hits that he took from Metal.

"Also uh...by the way, what was that strange energy that shook the ground earlier?"

Silver quickly asked as he lightly rubbed the back of his neck, the presence of that strange cyan forcefield leaving a rather uneasy feeling to his gut.

"First of all, I got a plan,"

Sonic paused on his stretching as he glanced at his scratched leg and quickly took out a small cloth he stored in his quills to temporarily bandage the wound.

"And second, I got nooo idea what that wave was, but we should definitely check it out aft-"

FUWOOSH

Sonic's sentence was cut short as that intense wave of energy came back again, hollering like an echo, knocking both Sonic and Silver back harshly in the air, causing the two hedgehogs to spin backwards.

"Oh come on, not again–!"

Silver exclaimed in surprise as he quickly caught himself in the air using his telekinesis and immediately spotted Sonic falling down from the sky beside him as well.

"Hold on Sonic, I'm coming!"

With a determined look on his face, Silver put both of his arms to the sides as he dove straight down, feeling the wind's pressure and easily caught Sonic using his telekinesis before either of them even hit the ground.

"Whoo! Thanks for the save there again!"

Sonic thanked the white hedgehog and smiled as he pumped both of his fists up in the air, cheering at Silver's efforts, and didn't seem distraught at the fact that he could have fallen to death at all.

"And that's one you owe me!"

Silver said half jokingly as he set Sonic down on solid ground. But just as Sonic was going to say more, he glanced behind Silver to see Metal coming out of the cabin's rabble and starting to head towards their direction.

Looks like Metal's ready for more

"Silver, no time to explain but look after these little guys and try to restore the rest of the camp,"

Sonic quickly instructs Silver as he takes out the two pockies that he safely stored within his quills and hands them over to the other hedgehog.

"Wait huh-?"

Silver, still taking the time to process what Sonic just told him, gave him a slightly confused look while gently holding onto the two pockies and just as he was about to ask questions, a quick light blue blur brushed past him and tackled directly onto Sonic.

Luckily Sonic already saw Metal coming at him as he stepped back and turned around, facing forward and started to run, ignoring the slight stings that radiated from the cut on his leg, the cloth slowly beginning to come loose.

"I'll be back in a jiffy Silverrrr!"

Sonic briefly shouted to Silver before he turned to focus on the path ahead, leading Metal to a specific direction, already disappearing in the distance amongst the looming trees. The two become nothing but a blur.

"..."

Silver watched as he saw the blue-ish blurs of Sonic and Metal disappearing in the distance, leaving him with a slightly confuzzled look as he blinked. He literally had to process all of that within mere seconds after all.

"I uh- right, I guess I'll catch up afterwards then!"

He glanced around then met his eyes with the two pockies on his hands before looking back in the horizon where Sonic disappeared off to.

Metal's only after Sonic, so it would be up to me to take care of the rest here while Sonic distracts him. I'll just have to regroup with him later.

Silver thought to himself as he came to understand the situation at hand and nodded firmly, then glanced back at the pockies who cuddled against his gloved hands.

"Don't worry, I'll get you guys safe."

He then turned around and looked at the wreckage spreaded across the campus, the bonfire specifically catching his eye as he held out one hand to lift a bunch of dirt from the ground with his telekinesis, preparing to use them to distinguish the bonfire.

"And I'll help restore this place too. I'll make sure of it."

And with that he got to work.

—--------------------------------

Metal continued to pursue his loathsome "copy" as his red metallic shoes hovered above the ground, weaving and speeding through each obstacle—vines and trees—with precise calculation. His cold, unwavering gaze was fixed on one target only: Sonic.

If there was anything Metal wanted to prove, it was his own self-worth and the significance of being more than just some machine. He was the better version of Sonic, the more advanced iteration of his "copy." After all, Sonic was merely a fleshy counterpart, and Metal was quite certain he existed even before Sonic himself.

The sound of Sonic's footsteps thumped against the grass as he ran—so slow, so pathetic in Metal's eyes. Despite the past setbacks, Metal was confident that he could destroy Sonic within moments once he got his hands on the blue hedgehog again. And so, the robot continued to chase his "copy" at high speed, ignoring all of the scenery that nature had to offer around him.
After a while, just as Metal was about to overtake Sonic, the two opponents entered an area where grass met steel, metallic machinery dominating the large landscape. Badniks roamed everywhere, red capsules contained with critters, and small, levitating alien creatures known as Wisps floated inside, all trapped.
However, there was one thing amongst this place that stood out the most:
The iconic red logo of a face with round eyes, a large mustache with three spiked points at each end, and a wide grin—the "Eggman Empire" icon, all neatly plastered across steel crates, massive machinery, and banners throughout the area.

"Ha! I'm not surprised to find an Eggman base being the source of that strange wave of energy, of course it's him. I should've guessed!"

Sonic just smirked, immediately recognizing this as one of Eggman's 'oh so secret bases' as he took a quick scan around before Metal managed to speed ahead of Sonic and met the blue hedgehog face to face, raising a claw that's just about to strike.

"Hmph"

Sonic was not too concerned at Metal facing him as he curled into a ball and ducked right down under the striking claw just in time then backtracked and hit Metal right to the side, knocking the robot backwards.

However, Sonic just being out in the open of the Eggman base has alerted the badniks as they started to go after Sonic as well, an alarm also seemed to set off as specific lights around the area began to blare bright red.

"More badniks? Ohh Yeahh! Now this is what I'm talking about!"

Sonic whooped in the air at the thrill of more action, he curled into a spindash and started to tackle down the other badniks and began to free the creatures trapped in the capsules, making his way towards Metal all at the same time.

Metal however, did not waste any more moments to recover as he stood up and dodged the spindash before turning back to grab onto Sonic the moment he uncurled, slamming the hedgehog harshly against the hard metal surface.

As much to the robot's disappointment, Sonic was rather unfazed and just kept that irritating smug look on his face as the hedgehog raised both of his hands up.

"You know Metal, I think you're forgetting something..."

Suddenly a couple of those small alien creatures who were freed from the red capsules, the wisps, this particular wisp being an "Ivory Wisp" whose appearance resembles a lightning bolt with three ivory colored triangular tentacles stemming from their main body sneaks up behind Metal.

"I got more friends to back me up here."

Sonic's irritable smirk was the last thing Metal saw before he was instantly ZAPPED by the Ivory Wisp, whose cyan eyes glowed brightly as they emitted a powerful stream of electricity from their small, geometric body to Metal's, essentially tasing the robot.

This sudden shock caused Metal to jerk upright and twitch violently, sparks of electricity flying out of him. Despite this, Metal persisted. With twitching limbs, he managed to swipe his claw behind him and grab onto the Ivory Wisp tightly.

However, Sonic took advantage of this moment and spindashed at Metal, catching him off guard. The impact sent the robot reeling, allowing even more Ivory Wisps to join in and zap Metal continuously.
Metal instinctively tried to get back on his feet but suddenly his body finally came to an utter halt due to the constant shocks.
He was soon forced to release the Wisp he had previously grabbed as his face screen flickered in and out, clearly displeased by this forced decommissioning. Slowly, his metallic body began to collapse toward the ground.

"Aaaaaand rust in peace Metal! Rust in peace."

Sonic waved a quick goodbye, knowing that Metal was most likely going to be rebuilt by Eggman again. He then curled into a spindash and resumed destroying the remaining Badniks and freeing other creatures trapped within the capsules and machines. The other brightly colored Wisps trailed behind the hedgehog, helping him free their friends as well.

It was no surprise that the Wisps would help Sonic; after all, he had saved their entire species from being annihilated by Eggman in the past. Since that day, a handful of Wisps had decided to move to Planet Mobius, where Sonic resided. The hedgehog seemed to make quite a lot of allies, but also enemies at the same time.

Just as Sonic sped off, another Wisp—a "Jade Wisp," resembling a typical light jade-colored ghost with three flat, wavy tentacles—phased directly into Metal's barely functional, twitching body. As Metal's body turned translucent from the wisp, he began to sink through the floors of Eggman's base, dropping to the first level, then the second, descending deeper and deeper underground.

Eventually, the Jade Wisp unintentionally brought him into a darkened room filled with large, empty tubes, making the space feel eerily vast and hollow. At the sight, the Jade Wisp quickly detached from the robot and flew straight back to the surface, letting out frightened alien noises at where they have just stumbled into.

Metal's fried body landed with a thud against the hard smooth floor as he remained there in the quiet darkened room, a small remnant of function still remained there as Metal tried to pick himself up, but was met with vain as his limbs glitched and failed him.

Metal wasn't done yet, his 'copy' was just right there.

How is it possible that he failed once again against some wisps? Despite the effort put into defeating Sonic...was it all just for nothing?

In those last moments, Metal's attention caught the only light source in the strangely dark massive room, though the mere source was rather a dim magenta glow that he saw, the glow coming from an object of which he could identify as having a close shape of a hexagon...

Metal couldn't quite see, but that was the only thing he witnessed at the corner of his vision before his circuits eventually just gave out, his red eyes dimmed and faded as he lay there, unmoving.

...

—------------------------

Moments...minutes...and perhaps hours passed before Metal suddenly went back online to see himself in a vast, dark-purple void stretching across endlessly, seeing himself covered in some translucent blue pixels that were just starting to drift and fade away alongside him.

Metal's red eyes flickered in and out briefly to indicate a blink to express his slight confusion as he saw himself just floating in this strange vast space.

He glanced around to see large shattered indigo colored shards all in various scales scattered across the massive area.
Several strange red, blue, and black pixelated curtains draped down above the high massive ceiling, and a very faint violet outline of what seems to be a large empty blueprint stretched across what looks like the 'floor'.

Metal did not recognize what he was processing from any of his databases, nor did he know of how and why he was somehow turned back online.

But one thing that did stand out amongst this view was the small bits and pieces of some dimly lit, light grey colored stones trying to merge with each other, which were floating right in front of Metal, reading off a rather strange energy to the robot's senses...

And there was the faint familiar steady hummm radiating off from the very pieces.

(End Chapter 1)

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Words: 7002

Special thanks to
DaGreenieStudios
NephaliMations
For test reading and editing some of this chapter.  They've been a major help and I recommend to check out their others works too :D
(Really, they're really incredible people and it would be appreciated if you were to support them!)

And darn, this is probably the longest chapter I have written by far, doubt anyone will really have enough attention and time to read all of this but oh well, at least the chapter is released :')
Though hopefully I managed to write the chapter in a way where it doesn't require anyone to know about the Sonic lore as much, which may or may not explain why the writing became more lengthy than usual hahaa- and don't get me started on the character accuracies, it was NOT easy writing any of these characters, especially when it came to Silver and Sonic.

Anyways, I hope to the ones who finished reading this chapter has enjoyed it, your engagement is really appreciated and I could not thank you all enough for attempting to read it!
Really, thanks again for sticking around for this long. It means a lot.

Have a decent good day or night fellow readers!

(It is now time for me to sleep as this chapter is released so I shall go back to check on Wattpad tomorrow morning-)