Metal Sonic was impatiently waiting in an open field for Sonic to show up and fight with him. He was standing in the field with his arms crossed tapping his foot in impatience. He had sent a letter to Sonic's house issuing the challenge; it wasn't Eggman's idea this time, and Metal Sonic hoped that he wouldn't get in trouble for choosing to fight Sonic on his own while his idiot boss was busy with his futile plans, but he just couldn't wait any longer. His letter had specified a specific location and time, but as he waited for his rival, he started to wonder if he was ever going to show up.

Feeling extremely stressed out, he thought to himself, " Did Sonic forget? Did he not look in the mailbox today? Did he choose not to fight me because he thought his victory was an absolute certainty and thus the fight would be a waste of his time?! Is he too busy?! Did he see the letter and just THROW IT AWAY?! Does he not even CARE?!... Does he think I'm pathetic?... Is he right?... No, he can't be. He JUST CAN'T BE! He's wrong! He has to be! Arrgh, this is preposterous! Where is he?! " Metal Sonic shook his head at the thought, having gone from impatient to deeply saddened to panicked and enraged with denial over the concern that Sonic would never show up from his lack of respect for him. He muttered angrily, " Where is he? " and growled quietly with his arms crossed.

Getting increasingly more upset and frustrated, Metal Sonic sighed wearily; his internal clock made it so that he could always find out exactly what time it was. If Sonic arrived at this point, he would be five minutes and sixteen seconds late. The so-called " fastest thing alive, " shouldn't ever be late for anything, since he would logically use his speed to his full advantage. So for him to be late implied that he really didn't take the fight seriously. He should be early, if anything, not late!

Suddenly, Metal Sonic was distracted from his thoughts by the sound of something speeding along the ground at high speed beyond the forest. He was completely shocked when he saw a yellowish-orange blur running towards him and then stopping in front of him, revealing itself to be Tails, the closest friend and younger brother figure of Sonic. " What?! " Metal Sonic exclaimed in surprise and confusion with his arms no longer crossed, bewildered by seeing the six-year-old child run up to him. Tails, clearly trying to look brave and confident, said, " I'm here to fight you! " and went into an offensive position.

Metal Sonic couldn't believe it. " Where's Sonic?! " he asked in confusion, not understanding the situation. Feeling increasingly stressed out and upset, he thought, " Why would Sonic do this?! I sent that challenge out for him, not Tails! Does he really think I'm so weak and pathetic that a child could defeat me?... Has he really lost that much respect for me?... It is true that I've lost to him several times, but, did that really make him stop seeing me as a worthy opponent?! NO! It couldn't be! It just couldn't be! "

Tails looked upset for a while at hearing him ask where Sonic was, and after a brief silence, he said nervously, " Sonic? He's off fighting one of Eggman's latest robots. Why- " Metal Sonic ranted in frustration, " Eggman?! Why is he fighting Eggman?! I sent him a letter telling him I would fight him today! He could've fought Eggman afterwards! Why isn't he here?! What, did he just not care?! That's what this is, isn't it? He chose to face that imbecile over me because he thinks he's an actual threat and sent you here just to taunt me! That's why you're here, isn't it?! " He seemed to be less taking his anger out on Tails and more complaining to no one in particular about his situation, needing an excuse to vent his frustrations. But Tails didn't know that.

Intimidated by him, Tails admitted nervously, " A-Actually, he doesn't know I'm here. And he never got the letter in the first place because he had to go deal with Eggman before it came. So I pulled it out of the mailbox, and I figured that now was the perfect time for me to impress Sonic by defeating you! " The words hit him like a brick, and the instant he heard the second sentence, his mind went blank and he stopped listening to what Tails was saying. Sonic never got the letter in the first place.

Metal Sonic was shocked at hearing this, and that shock quickly turned into relief, more relief than he had felt in a very long time. Sonic didn't think he was that weak after all! He was so overcome with relief at hearing this that he said with a smile, " OH! " and laughed nervously with relief - which Tails interpreted as him mocking him - and exclaimed happily with a forced smile to hide his nervousness, " Of course! Of course he wouldn't send you to fight me! That's a, that makes much more sense! O-O-Obviously Sonic acknowledges that I'm a worthy opponent, so he would never send a child to fight me! He'd, he'd never for even an instant think I was that weak and pathetic as to be defeated in a battle by someone far less capable of fighting than him! I should've known! " After laughing for a while, he sighed in what Tails didn't understand was a massive amount of relief.

Embarrassed and offended, Tails pouted and said, " Hey! I-I can fight, too! I'm a lot smarter than Sonic, and I can fly unlike him, and I can use my tails to attack! I-I-I could win against you, too!... I'd obviously have a much harder time doing it, but, it's not impossible! "

Metal Sonic rolled his eyes at him and said with an amused smile, " You're cute when you try to act tough! " playfully ruffled his hair just like Sonic did, and then chuckled. He wasn't just saying that to mock him; he really did find that kid adorable, in spite of himself. It made it impossible to take the idea of him wanting to fight him seriously. Tails, on the other hand, was incredibly confused and taken off guard by the fact that Metal Sonic had playfully ruffled his hair in exactly the same way Sonic did. On the one hand, he recognized it as an affectionate gesture, since it didn't cause him any pain and Metal Sonic was smiling at him and calling him cute instead of attacking him. On the other hand, Metal Sonic was laughing at the idea of him being able to fight, and Tails was incredibly hurt at being treated so condescendingly, no matter how sweet and heartwarming Metal Sonic's nonchalant affection for a brief second could have been.

" Hey! I am tough! " Tails whined in annoyance, humiliated at being laughed off and dismissed as not a threat by someone he wanted to fight. Wanting to prove his point, he tried to punch him, only for Metal Sonic to instantly grab his wrist to hold it still and roll his eyes at him, going from smiling to looking bored and exasperated with him. Scared and slightly discouraged, Tails looked bold and tried punching him with his other hand, only for Metal Sonic to instantly grab his other wrist and force him to his knees effortlessly. Metal Sonic then kneeled down to the ground so that he was at eye level with him, and looked bored and exasperated with him, rather than surprised or even angry. Aside from him holding his wrists just tightly enough that he couldn't escape, he wasn't bothering to cause him any pain at all. He wasn't worth it.

Despite that, Tails was still frightened at being put in a position where he couldn't try to hurt Metal Sonic or escape from his grip. He gasped and broke out in a cold sweat, regretting ever going to face him in the first place.

Metal Sonic rolled his eyes and deadpanned in exasperation, " Look, kiddo... how old are you? " Shaking in fear, Tails stammered, " Six... " Metal Sonic sighed wearily and deadpanned, " Exactly. Think about it, Miles. How would I impress anyone by defeating in battle a six-year-old child? What would I have to gain from such a pointless endeavor? And why would I be satisfied with doing something so simple and trivial, instead of defeating a worthy opponent in a battle where both participants were fighting to the best of their abilities?! Don't you understand?! I'm not gonna fight you because I have no reason to do it. It's not worth my time, and I would have nothing to gain from it. You're not Sonic, and you're only a child. If it were up to me, I'd never fight you at all. "

Offended at what he perceived was mocking him, Tails stammered, trying to look bold to hide his fear, " Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I can't fight robots! I fought alongside Sonic plenty of times! I went on entire adventures with him without getting injured! I-I'm not weak! I-I could still beat you! And if you would just let go of my wrists, I'd prove it to you! "

Metal Sonic sighed and rolled his eyes at the fox's stubborn insistence on fighting him, and said in boredom, " Why are you doing this? " in what seemed to be the same tone he would use when telling Eggman about the flaws in his plans.

Scared and ashamed of himself for getting into the situation, Tails sighed in defeat, and looked down as he admitted sadly, " I just wanted to prove myself to Sonic by defeating you in a fight... " Metal Sonic gave him a confused look. " I-I, I figured that would really impress him, and prove to him that I'm not just his weak little brother anymore!... I guess I should've thought this through... " He couldn't help but notice that Metal Sonic still hadn't truly attacked him yet. Did he really not think he was worth fighting with? Did he really find him that weak that he wouldn't gain any satisfaction from beating him up? Tails felt even more weak and humiliated, although he was still grateful that he wasn't going to get killed.

" Why are you trying to impress him this way? From what I've heard, he's already impressed with you! It seems incredibly uncharacteristic of you to challenge to a battle someone far more powerful than you. I thought you were the smart one! Look, Miles, it is indeed true that you aren't as capable of fighting as Sonic. Why you would think for even a second that you could defeat me in a fight is beyond me. You're clearly not meant for fighting, so there's no reason you should be fixated on attempting to prove otherwise. You'll never be able to fight like Sonic can; you simply don't have the same abilities as him. You can't homing-attack or move at the speed of sound, the latter of which is what makes his attacks so powerful in the first place. You can't fight like Sonic can. You're just gonna have to accept that, " Metal Sonic explained in exasperation.

Tails exclaimed in annoyance, " I can move at ALMOST the speed of sound! That's close enough! " He didn't want to hear any more of it, and he didn't want to have his wrists held by him, either. Wanting to trick him into letting go of him, Tails groaned, and cried out, " My wrists... Let me go! It hurts! " Metal Sonic let go of him immediately, and his eyes were wide open with shock as Tails pulled away and rubbed his wrists as if he was in pain. " What?! " he exclaimed, looking panicked. He groaned and facepalmed before he said to him, " See?! That perfectly illustrates my point! I wasn't even trying to do that! I was barely holding onto you! I was just trying to hold you still, and I still caused you pain! Why did you think it was a good idea to try to get into a fight with someone who could hurt you without even meaning to?! "

Ashamed and humiliated, Tail sighed sadly and said quietly, " You're right... I'm an idiot!... I'm pathetic... " and closed his eyes as his lip quivered, trying to force back the tears. He failed to do so, and quickly covered his eyes with his hands, humiliated at breaking down crying in front of Eggman's most infamous robot. He wanted to look strong in front of him, but it was clear that he had failed miserably. He could never get Metal Sonic to take him seriously. Perhaps he really was that pathetic. " That's absurd! " Metal Sonic exclaimed in shock with his eyes wide open, surprising Tails and making him look at him again.

" While you don't have the fighting skills of Sonic, that hardly means you're pathetic! The point I was trying to make was, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. It is true that you can't fight like Sonic, but that's not what you should be focusing on. Sonic's strength lies in his speed. Your strength lies in your intelligence. Your engineering skills easily rival that of Eggman's, and you also have far more common sense; take it from someone who knows. You should be focusing on trying to improve at the skills that you have that he doesn't, instead of trying to be someone you're not and not reaching your true potential, " Metal Sonic told him. Tails couldn't believe what he was hearing. He thought Metal Sonic considered him to be pathetic, and yet here he was saying the opposite. In fact, he seemed to be genuinely trying to give him good advice. Confused, Tails said quietly, " Huh? "

Metal Sonic sighed, and reluctantly said, " Look, kid, I know how you feel... I want to prove myself to Sonic, too. For almost my entire life, that's been the only goal I've had! I dedicate myself entirely to trying to surpass him, and while part of it is for the hopes of getting the satisfaction of defeating him, the main reason I'm focused on this, is because I want his respect. But you're a lot more different from him than I am; speaking purely in terms of abilities, I have the same abilities as Sonic and more, while you have barely any in common with him. So you shouldn't be focusing on trying to be as much like Sonic as possible, because you're simply too different from him. You can't be focusing on making inventions that make this cruel and horrible world at least slightly more tolerable, when you're also focusing on imitating Sonic as much as possible! If all you focused on was imitating him, you'd only succeed in being an inferior version of Sonic, and you're better than that. Much better. You're your own person! So what if you can't fight like Sonic can? Leave that to him, and focus on what you can do. That's the only way you can achieve your true potential... Do you understand? "

There was a silence. Feeling guilty, he reluctantly placed his hand on Tails' shoulder and looked at him with a worried expression. He never meant to make the kid cry. He never even meant to cause him any pain. He just wanted to leave and go home the instant he found out Tails had come to fight him without Sonic's permission, but the kid just had to try and attack him and force him to hold him still.

Tails looked at him in confusion when he placed his hand on his shoulder. Since it didn't hurt him at all, Tails recognized it as a sign of compassion; Metal Sonic was clearly not trying to be antagonistic to him at that moment. He seemed to be telling him with that gesture that, at least from his point of view, he was giving him advice because he was trying to lead him in the right direction. The robot's voice sounded so much like Sonic's, with the only difference being that the pitch was lower, and he spoke in a way he never would've expected him to. It was comforting. It didn't seem like Metal Sonic to even fake such compassion, let alone show it. He wouldn't go through the trouble of looking like he had gone soft just to make a kid let his guard down. He didn't need to make a kid let his guard down in the first place, so there couldn't have been any ulterior motives. So he must have genuinely meant it.

After a few seconds, Tails eventually smiled and wiped away his tears, thankful for the rare act of kindness. Metal Sonic sighed with relief and said, " You'll be okay, right, kid? " Tails nodded with a smile, and he continued, " Good. I'm going home. Just remember what I said to you. " With that, he flew away at the speed of sound, using the jet engine in his chest and the rocket-shoes that were his feet to leave in a blue blur.

Tails smiled warmly. On the one hand, he had failed to prove himself as a worthy opponent to Metal Sonic because he had refused to even try to fight him on account of how weak he was, and he went through the humiliating experience of crying in front of him. But on the other hand, he was actually shown that Metal Sonic had a soft side; he refused to kill him or injure him when he could've easily done so, he expressed regret when he thought he had been holding his wrists too tightly, and he even gave him some genuine advice, showing that he didn't truly hate him. As Tails walked home, thankful that nothing had happened to him, he smiled, knowing that he should keep all of this a secret. After all, no one would ever believe him. And even if they did, they would think he was an idiot for challenging Metal Sonic in the first place, and they would never let him live that down.

Author's Note: Just in case you're confused as to why Tails is called 6 years old here, my head-canon is that the Dreamcast Era takes place when Sonic is between 13 and 14 years old. I mean, just look at Sonic's model. In the original Dreamcast version of Sonic Adventure, he looks almost just like Classic Sonic, but with longer spines. He even still has a pot belly, and his eyelids are skin-colored. Even in Sonic Advance 2, where he looks closer to his current design, his eyelids are still skin-colored like his 10-year-old self's are. So it makes more sense to me that the explanation for his gradual change in design between the Dreamcast and Modern Era is that he's aging naturally. He looks so much like Classic Sonic in Sonic Adventure because he's only 13, so he was still a kid not that long ago, and Classic Sonic is a kid, so he'd resemble that design. Then he naturally aged into his current design. It makes more sense to me. My point is, if the Dreamcast Era takes place 2 years before the Modern Era, then Tails was six years old during that time, because 8-2=6. And again, this story isn't technically " canon " to The Rescue Mission, it's just showing you what Metal in that story was like before Sonic Heroes, being way too focused on surpassing Sonic to prove his worth, but still having a good heart. I don't wanna promote myself, but The Rescue Mission is my best story and I'm pretty much never gonna top it, so if you haven't read it already, you really should, even if it is pretty long. So hope you liked this story, don't blame you if you didn't, see ya.