I laid in our old bed for days, reminiscing on the past. Sonic’s gentle smile, the way he always wanted me to live.

The way I had failed to take it.

Just don’t think too much.

I needed to remember Sonic, but I needed to listen to his words. I needed to keep him in my memory.

I was sick of remembering. Sick of being hurt. Sick of letting hours slip away because of the memories stuck in my head. I wanted to move on, but it seemed impossible for me, now that there was nobody to help me. No one to help distract me from my aching heart. Only I remained, and that hurt more than anything.

I wanted to cry, but I was beyond tears. 

Run.

It had been so long since I had gone on a run. After everyone died, it seemed pointless. There was no one to compare myself to. No one to fight. Only memories.

A dismal thoughts turned over in my mind. One that I kept trying to block out, although was unable due to my time alone. I used to think about how Black Doom had created me. I knew I hated him, but we were the only two things that existed in this universe. Unless there were other creatures out there, which was not a stretch. I’ve seen many alien races come and go in my time. Perhaps…

Perhaps I could find another species. Another race to give myself to.

Another chance.

Maybe… Maybe I could move on like that. By finding other people to help and serve. Maybe then, and only then, could I finally have peace and closure from the hell that I have put myself in.

It was difficult to stand up, but after hours of commanding myself to, I finally did. I finally forced my muscles to move, my legs heavy from the many days I spent without movement. I stretched, then dashed out of the house, building up speed with my air shoes. Long gone were the days I could wave by random strangers as I used the roads to build momentum.

Not that I ever waved to anyone. I regret that.

You never really realize how much you miss people until you are no longer around them. It doesn’t even have to be people you know or like–just anyone, really, is enough to make the world feel lived-in. It’s uncanny to see empty streets with everything frozen in place, just as they left it. I miss seeing old ladies walking down sidewalks, the humming of vehicles as they move throughout the town, the constant buzz of energy that came from mobians shopping–all of it that I took for granted, people that I never cared to give a wave to, all gone, forever.

I miss the life I could have lived.

There was a certain tall mountain in the area that, once I built up enough speed, would shoot me into space. I clutched my emerald in my hand, going super, then continued my dash up the side of the mountain.

I reached the very peak in a flash, the world whizzing by me like the good old days when I would race against Sonic.

I missed him a lot, but I shook my head vigorously. I couldn’t think about him now. I had to give myself something to hope for, and the remembrance of him would only slow me further.

I ran off the side of the mountain, the air rushing past my ears as I was launched into space. I really didn’t need it, although it was much easier to use the momentum I built launching myself off the mountain than flying up myself.

Why was I doing this? I thought suddenly. Is it okay for me to try to move on from him?

I continued on through the vacuum of space, unsure exactly what direction I was going. I decided to pass by Earth to see how the planet was doing. Ever since humans had nuked the crap out of it, I was worried that the entire thing had died. And to be honest, it did. The entire planet was still covered in a thick, radioactive smog that made the planet appear almost like a gas giant. I decided to take a short break to admire to the swirling patterns on the moon.

I enjoyed the moon. It made me feel light, but not weightless. It offered a nice view of the earth; even when the earth was so destroyed, it was beautiful.

I heard a few muffled quick, beep-bloop sounds coming from around a mile away. I thought it was nothing, until I heard it again.

Perhaps it was an old moon rover. But how would it still be functional?

I wanted to leave it alone and admire the view for a bit longer–because after all, I had all the time in the world– but something told me that I needed to investigate the source of the sound. So I did. I got up and walked across the chalky ground over to where the sound was coming from.

I stared at the source of the sounds, the breath nearly knocked out of me. Rage built up in my chest. I was unsure how to react to what I was looking at.

Or rather, who.

“Why the hell are you here?” I hissed, leaving a good many meters between us.

With his feet wedged underneath a large boulder, Metal Sonic stared up at me with his two red, piercing eyes. The two red LED rings bore no emotion, which always gave me the creeps; there was no way of reading him at all.

I could usually read people, although as of late, I had gotten out of practice. Still, even decades ago, when I was surrounded by people–albeit, complete strangers–I could still read everyone’s body language except Metal’s. Metal had a way of cloaking everything. I knew in my head that he had emotions, that the robot could feel something, although he was so good at hiding it that he might as well have been a mindless robot slave for Eggman.

I wondered what he did these days.

Metal gave me a few short, quick buzzes in response, clearly frustrated at his inability to speak. Metal was always mute, as Eggman never thought it necessary for him to speak. One of the many ways Metal was manipulated by Eggman. He was isolated by his inability to speak, and because of this, he was easily led into hurting Sonic.

Or at least, that was what made sense to me before. After all, I had gone through something very similar before.

“You got stuck?”

Fvzzzz!

Metal tried to pull his leg out, but he was unable. That was strange. He was usually stronger than that.

It was only then that I noticed the wear on his body. His paint was scratched off along the edges of his body, orange metal showing from underneath. His eyes were much fainter than I remembered. After giving a few panicked tugs, he turned back to me, his eyes wide.

For the first time, I was witnessing Metal scared.

“Do you… want me to help you?”

Metal gave me a slight nod.

I just rolled my eyes. “Chaos, I wish you could talk! Why didn’t Eggman put a voice chip in you?! It’s not that difficult!”

At the mention of his master’s name, his eyes narrowed. He curled back into a ball, his leg still stuck underneath the giant boulder.

“I’m not mad at you, I’m mad for you!” It had been so long since interacting with another soul that I could not help but rant. “It’s infuriating watching you try to communicate when Eggman could have easily fixed you by putting in a stupid voice chip! But no! He kept you isolated from everyone, unable to come to your damn senses, because you are so incapable of communicating. The worst part is, it’s not even your fault! It’s Eggman’s damn fault!”

The chaos emerald glowed in my hand from anger. I sighed.

“I’ll let you out, as long as you don’t fight me. Got it?”

Metal nodded. I gripped the emerald tighter, focusing on my internal Chaos energy. I held out my hand and allowed my power to flow from it, causing the rock to explode into many pieces. Metal simply stared at everything that was going on, as he usually did, although it was not as apprehensive as usual.

“How aren’t you broken? It’s been forever since I last saw you. Honestly… part of me is glad to see another being again.”

The robot was lying on the ground staring up at me. He tried moving his body, although for some reason, it fell limp.

“Is your battery running out?” I asked, knowing that he couldn’t answer well. Surprisingly, he shook his head no.

“What’s wrong, then?”

He held up his forearm to me. It was confused as what to do with it at first, although I decided to inspect it, since that’s what he appeared to want me to do. I noticed his rusty frame underneath his faded blue paint and how loose his joint bolts were.

“Metal… are you falling apart?”

He nodded gravely, giving a weak Bzzzz… in response.