Disclaimer: Metal Sonic © Sega/Archie Comics

Chapter Three

Off The Record

{Rerouting sub-power lines to portable frequency disruptor. Readying false identification code: Metal S Three Six Five, for diversion run. Target distance seven point five kilometers. Approximated time within window: four point thirty seven seconds.}

Cool wind whipped at the robot's azure outer shell as he sailed above the cloud line as his mechanical irises thermally scanned the land beneath him for any kind of threat. Below him were rolling hills of green grass and trees with a small dirt road cut through it by the pilgrims from long ago. There were no cars or people to corrupt the natural landscape and mere thought of it 'relaxed' Metal to some degree because he was so accustomed to the rampant industrialization of Mobian and Human life.

For a robot Metal had an ironic fondness for natural environments since he had started to analyze many famous pieces of poetry and prose. In a sense the bot found the material 'enlightening' in how the writers managed to present the beauty of the world through their own eyes. Metal would never be able to accomplish such literary excellence no matter how hard he could try due to his restricted mindset, but he hoped one day that would change.

Now wasn't that time to be dwelling on such fantasies however due to the strict timetable that Metal planned to follow. Approximately three hours ago Dr. Robotnik had presented Metal with the new task of capturing Victor Argos so he could interrogate him and gain the secret tools of the trade that could help build the perfect reskinning technique. Metal however had a totally different plan though since he knew that Robotnik's intervening would create a wrinkle in the bot's plan.

{Robotnik intervenes and captures Argos, Argos refuses to give up secrets, psychological profile suggests that Victor is strong willed, estimated time of mental breakdown due to torture: three months if he doesn't die, estimated time the Doctor will properly learn to skin robots: a month if he focuses, then he'll need to rework my body to properly mimic a Mobian bone structure along with equipping me with weapons estimated time on that is three months and the list goes on.}

So after some careful calculations and planning Metal had come up with a perfect plan. He wouldn't capture Victor at all, because a squad of G.U.N. soldiers would just 'happen' to get intel of Metal's arrival and just so 'happen' to stop him. But before the squad could get there though the cyborg would have a little less than fifteen minutes alone with Victor, in that time Meta's communication arrays and other kinds of surveillance devices would just 'happen' to shut down.

Everything had been calculated down to the finest detail and to Metal that was all the reason he needed to go through with it. He soared through the skies effortlessly before he began to near a large lakeside mansion in the distance. A thick stone wall surrounded the mansion along with a high-tech security system to deter even the most convicted of killers or thieves. None of them would be a problem for Metal however, but for the moment he'd have to rely on stealth instead of brute strength because if Victor got any warning of his approach he'd retreat into a small panic room designed to withstand the most powerful warheads known to man.

Metal Sonic quickly landed on top of the mansion without a sound before scanning the area for any kind of anomaly. Once he deemed the area secure he leaned over the roof of the mansion and began to carefully cut a large hole in one of the windows with a red laser from his fingertips. The process was slow and would probably aggravate most but Metal was patient since he never felt emotion of urgency before. A few seconds later the robot gently took the piece of glass out of the window and crept into the mansion before performing a scan of inside of what looked like a medium sized guest room.

Again nothing interesting popped up prompting Metal to resume the mission. He made his way over to one of the small internet ports within the room and plugged his finger into it in an attempt to hack the system and gain control of the security cameras. Metal knew that an attempt to hack the security system in total would be too noticeable despite his software so he resorted to the smaller things like cameras to at least get a bearing of the mansion and where Victor was.

After finally getting through the firewalls Metal was given full control over the security cameras within the house before he began to search for the canine. In a matter of nanoseconds he had found Victor tending to some paperwork in his office down the hallway from the guest room and from Metal could tell it would be no problem to just walk down there. Metal unplugged himself from the wall and walked out of the room like any other living being before heading down the hall towards the office doors.

{Nearing the full blown blackout, beginning falsified signal jammer, output: 27%}

'M- tal, is everything alr- ight?' came Robotnik's voice via the communicator implanted into Metal's brain. 'I'm receiving minor ra- io inter- ence.' stated the Doctor through small amounts of static.

"Jammer array in nearby area. It does not interfere with mission I will continue." stated Metal blandly through the communicator rather than audibly.

'But I'm det- ing a G.U.N. cho –er he- ing your wa-' Before he could finish his sentence Metal increased the signal jammer to one hundred percent before he grabbed the door handle in front of him and tore the door away.

{Must make it look like I forced myself in.}

Metal then peered into the room before a bullet suddenly ricocheted off his forehead with a loud clang. Standing in front of him behind a desk and carrying a pistol was Victor Argos who wore a simple pair of house sweats and shirt. There was an angry expression on his face as he kept the weapon level with Metal's head.

"Stay back damn it!" he yelled defiantly even though a smart man like him knew that his weapon would do no good against the robot.

"There's no time for this." stated Metal nonchalantly as he stepped forward and kept his hands at his sides. "Can you help me?" he then asked, getting straight to the point rather than going through formalities.

Victor hesitated for a moment, but kept his aim steady. "What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded savagely, throwing away his polite mannerisms in the face of the metallic foe.

"I'm trying to escape Robotnik's reign and become 'mortal,' you are the only one who can help me." explained Metal plainly as he carefully watched the time slowly countdown until the G.U.N. forces came.

"That's stupid, I know who you are, I know what you've done, why the hell should I trust you?" yelled Victor angrily as he took a step towards the bot.

Metal looked down at the ground, the canine's words and anger 'hurting' him deeply before he looked back at him. "Because I have no reason to lie." he then answered.

{That is the truth.}

The answer surprised Victor and left him speechless as he stood there staring at the machine. Metal could detect the subtle change in breath and heart rate within the canine and the knowledge seemingly put the bot at a sense of 'ease.' Even though the situation confused him, Victor was curious and wondered where it would go.

"Why the sudden change in heart?" he then asked Metal curiously, still with his pistol aimed at Metal's head.

The robot straightened up at the question. "I . . . have seen the error in my ways and I . . ." trailed off Metal, not too sure on how to continue. "I regret all of it," he said, causing a shocked and intrigued look to befall Victor. "I am tired of fighting the same fights for a goal I do not even support. I am tired of trying to be the perfect Sonic the Hedgehog. I . . ." he trailed off again as he thought about the next few words. "want to be me."

Silence suddenly filled the room as the two pondered their next moves carefully. "But you're pure machine aren't you?" asked Victor in a confused tone as he tried to fully grasp the robot's words. "How could you possibly uhhhhhh 'feel?'" he then asked him in a disbelieved tone.

"The Doctor has given me the gift of consciousness and I have learned so much about you mortals." answered Metal simply as memories of Lily and her mother resurfaced in his mainframe. "I was built to be perfect and do everything perfectly, but that kind of life is boring and dull. You mortals however, despite all your imperfections, you live such a thrilling and interesting life. I want to experience that." explained the robot, really trying his hardest to convey the emotion of sincerity despite how hard it was for him.

{Please believe me.}

Victor thought about the robot's explanation and pondered them for a while before finally lowering weapon. "You make a pretty good argument, I hope you're not lying to me." He then stated in a believing tone.

Metal lowered his head as a wave of 'ease' fell over him before looking back up at Victor. "You have my thanks Victor." said the robot, managing to fit a bit of gratefulness into his tone. "I am sending you blueprints, schematics and all the information you could possibly need about my body." explained Metal as he began to send the information from an anonymous email address. "Please, the sooner I can get away from the Doctor, the better." He then stated as he continued streaming the information.

"How do you plan on doing that though after I change you? That bastard must have some sort of tracker in you." asked Victor curiously, starting to find the situation interesting.

"Leave that to me." nodded Metal, plans already setup and saved within his hard drives. He then noticed that his time was starting to running out. "Just one more thing," he then said as he remembered something incredibly insignificant information wise but for some reason important to him 'character' wise. "A woman, Reina, she works for you correct?" he then asked a bit hastily as he watched the time count down.

"Uhhhh, Reina Moreau? My intern? Yeah she works for me. How do you kn-"

"She assumes I am Robian, please explain to her otherwise. It doesn't sit right with me that I'm lying to her." answered Metal before Victor could even finish his sentence.

"Wait, how the hell did you meet h-"

"I'm very sorry, but please play along to the best of your ability." stated Metal as hydraulics seemed to hiss to life within his body.

"What're you tal-"

Metal suddenly rushed Victor with a stream of fire jetting out of his back for added propulsion before securing Victor's arm behind him. The robot then grabbed the pistol out of the canine's hand and aimed it at his head as a four G.U.N. soldiers suddenly came through the torn open doorway. They quickly aimed their assault rifles directly at Metal's head, but now with the sudden hostage situation they would have to careful.

"Put the gun down now!" demanded one of the soldiers angrily as he stared the robot down.

The robot ignored the yelling soldiers as he began to scan them automatically. All of them seemed to be in perfect health without any kind of physical ailment that Metal could use to his advantage but most of the time that was the case with G.U.N. soldiers anyways. As he scanned the area further he found that the only exit was one of the windows but he also tried to find a way to ditch Victor legitimately without making it look like he chose to leave him.

"Don't worry guys!" yelled Victor suddenly before he elbowed the robot behind him with the loud clank of metal on metal.

{What?}

He staggered backwards from the gut shot and took the split second to analyze Victor's elbow for any noticeable injury only to find that the flesh was torn to reveal a shiny silver bone sticking out from underneath. The news 'shocked' Metal and as he regained his footing he switched his optics to thermal to find that Victor's right arm was slightly colder than the rest of his body which was clear sign that he was in fact a Robian.

"Shoot him!" yelled Victor as he got behind the line of soldiers and winked at Metal, knowing that a simple line of gunfire wouldn't take down the battle hardened robot.

Metal didn't even flinch as the bullets ricocheted off his hardened body before he rushed the group of soldiers and engaged them. He bent the barrel of one of the soldier's guns and kicked him in the chest before spinning around and punching the next soldier in the chest sending him flying backwards. The last two soldiers turned to Metal to open fire once again but before they could fire the robot tackled one of them right through the wall into the garden outside.

'Metal! There you are! I lost your sig-'

"Apologies Doctor I'm busy." interrupted Metal as he slammed the soldier into the ground with enough force to knock him unconscious.

'Did you apprehend Victor! What's going!' demanded Robotnik in an infuriated tone as he attempted to reestablish a link with Metal's ocular sensors.

"G.U.N. must've gotten news of my arrival. I am fighting them now, but chances of me getting Victor are slim." answered the robot in his normal dull tone as he got up and looked behind him to see the rest of the soldiers gather near the hole in the window and open fire. More metallic clanks filled the air as the bullets ricocheted off the bot's body before his left hand rotated and his finger's hollowed out to reveal fully functioning machine gun. He aimed the weapon up at the line of soldiers before opening fire without the use of his aim program.

{I don't want any more deaths on my hands.}

The soldiers quickly got on the ground as the bullets whizzed by them, sending dust and glass everywhere. After lightly peppering the room with bullets Metal performed another scan of the area to find that the soldiers were fine and uninjured just as he had planned. If he could've smiled he would since a sudden wave of relief came over the bot before he sensed another electromagnetic signature that nearly matched his own. He turned to the side as the energy signature got closer and within a split second of light speed processing Metal quickly brought his hands up to stop the huge burly arms of another robot from crashing into him. The ground underneath him gave way as he attempted to push the behemoth back and he even resorted to activating his reserve thrusters for some extra power.

"How nice to see you again, Metal." sneered a robotic voice much like Metal's except with a more advanced control over the use of sarcasm.

"Stand down E-123 Omega." ordered Metal fruitlessly in his bland tone as he stared back at the walking arsenal.

"I don't take orders from you and I never did." replied the red robot as the two struggled to overtake one another.

E-123 Omega was a gigantic work of machinery, his red and black oblong shaped body was made of the densest of metals while his broad black shoulders were powered by the most powerful circuitry. Even though he wasn't built for speed like the streamline Metal Sonic, where Omega lacked in grace he made up for in sheer destructive power and ever since he had been reactivated he had put it to good use. After defecting from the Doctor's legion of machines Omega had put his abilities to good use as he tried to take down the very person who created him in the first place but what confused Metal the most was how exactly he had done it. From the little information that the Doctor had disclosed to him before, Omega was charged with eliminating one of his brother models E-102 Gamma before he could complete his mission however Gamma had uploaded all his data and 'soul' into his sibling giving him 'life.'

Metal couldn't make any sense of the story since the notion of Gamma having a 'soul' in the first place seemed unlikely and for him to just give it to Omega was illogical since it still lead to his overall destruction. Another thing that Metal couldn't fully comprehend was the fact that after all of it Omega did in a sense obtain a soul from Gamma's body. Data and news footage have shown Omega making remarks or 'enjoying' his work along with him presenting a sense of pride around people and almost considering then less than himself. Most would call it being obnoxious, but Metal called it impossibility.

"You have failed to obey orders I will now decommission you." stated Metal blandly through his guise of non-sentience before he quickly released Omega's hands and punched him right in the chest with a clang.

The sudden attack caused Omega to stumble backwards a bit before regaining his balance and simply staring back at Metal. There was a moment of silence before a synthetic laugh seemed to exit the robot's vocal speakers. The sight of the large bot laughing went against everything Metal knew thus far since he never thought it was possible for robots to ever purvey such advanced emotions audibly.

"You are fast I will admit, but Metal I am built for warfare," said Omega as he slammed his hand against his metal chest with a clang. "You are built to fight one person only." stated the walking arsenal before his hands withdrew into their shells to form large rotating machine gun barrels along with two miniature rockets in each hole. Omega's chest also hissed open to reveal even more machine guns while his large shoulders opened up to become two missile batteries.

"You have no hope of defeating me."