(( truly a sera moment

Sage, will narrow her search to this zone cluster, and I may be finally rid of this Zone and its headaches.”

specific zones may be possible.” He’s rambling now. The robot can ramble. Hd keeps rambling as he takes a couple steps back - wires still elongating - and sits as menacingly as he can on a pole of scrap and junk. “I am attempting to send a ping … now.”

Silence.

“This message, if it reaches —

long as they connect to both the arch and the transceiver.

“I can only calculate the probability of her takeover in your Chaos zone, but I am missing essential variables… fascinating.” His optics sputter. “Analysis concludes that I cannot travel though this gate, but contact with —

so freely, but there is no Eggman here.

“So that I may return to my own zone. Perhaps you are familiar with her; her designation is Sage.”

Metal moves to the arch, as thr paneling at the top of his head pops open. Wires writhe like many serpents, extending improbably —

Metal knows how Miles operates. He likes to tinker. If there is a transceiver in here, maybe…

… bingo! There’s one. He picks it up with a surprising amount of gentleness.

“Explanation; I am attempting to pass a message to my… sister,” it still feels wrong saying this —

Thankfully, Metal is a lot less, uh, STABBY thanks to his sibling’s interference. His optics lock on to the archway.

THAT must be the doorway between the zones. Perhaps he can use it to piggyback a message?

Without any warning, he starts combing through the junk. —

— I far exceed those parameters. Do not feel TOO bad about it.”

He tilts his head to the side. Dramatic ass robot.

“Admission; I should not have been surprised to see Miles’ work here, he constructed may vehicles while here, after all.”

“Observation: ah. You have finally caught up.”

( in reality, he had gone a different route than her. Same results, though. )

He shifts his weight between his hips, cocking one out to the side.

“Your ground speed is impressive… for a feline. —

… and then the EVIL LIGHTBULB went off in his head. )

🟣
||

(when she got to the coat, she kept moving in a straight line after the turn, which gave him perfectly narrow perimeters for his calculations.)

Metal looks up from his claws when Rush comes to a stop, like some sorta mean girl. —

It doesn’t seem like he followed her; there is no roar of an engine, or maybe metallic footsteps. There’s nothing…

… except he’s already there when Rush gets there. What?

( insolent child, he had thought to himself. they’re fast, but her speed is lesser than Sonic’s. This race isn’t sporting. —

Hazardous to my existence. I presume you have a ‘lair’?”

Yeah, that’s definitely humor. Weird ass terminator.

Regard.”

He starts scanning the horizon. They’re far enough from civilization that he shouldn’t have to worry about, I dunno, Blaze come running in? Maybe be would be weaker in age, but he doubts it.

“My continued presence in this Zone is unplanned, and potentially —

not unlike Sonic’s, really, buuut he can’t shake off all of his Sonic-isms.

“… you must be confused by my silence. I apologize. Officially, I should not be able to speak at all, so I often forget biological rely on it for communicating ideas.

Perhaps you and I are not dissimilar in that —

“My counterpart’s… BLAZE is a young adult, around twenty years of age, give or take. Not only have I been displaced spatially, but potentially chronologically…”

His simulated voice trails off. Despite not really needing to, he cups a hand under his chin and massages it. A thinking pose —

Metal’s eyes dilated (well, more like the DISPLAY of his eyes, those aren’t actually his eyes) during the practiced speech. Daughter of—

“Amendment; I am VERY far from my Zone. My counterpart’s counterpart—“

He visibly trips up that sentence. The display on his face flickers. —

Dramatic pause!

“Far from my Zone. Your Biometrics confuse me. Query; you are a member of the Solus royal family?”

soul energy like a heavenly arrow, which rips through the eye of the egg-shaped machine. Its crude carcass falls not long after.

“I am /Metal/,” he corrects as his arm splits again. “The latter half of that designation is irrelevant. You could infer I am…” —

an Eggman design, but with different colors.

The energy buildup has to go somewhere. His left arm splits open— giving a good look at the pink energy built up within— and his cured fist swiveling out an trading places with a barrel.

PFTOO.

Spinning quickly, he fires the —

the cat could know about him. Another member of the royal family, most likely.

Hm. Perhaps, in this situation, it would be prudent to do things Sage’s way; with words, not weapons.

… hold that thought, he’s just noticed another mechanical entity in the vicinity. Definitely based upon —

how many warriors are there? This organism speaks with some familiarity, so they recognize him from somewhere. He has never been here before, so his existence cannot be common knowledge. The logical assumption is that this… ‘Rush’ must be kin with Blaze the Cat, she’s the only way —

Malevolence’s influence. If this was Priority One, he would be more than willing to engage in a fight. However …

This Zone is still unknown. It is definitely a Sol derivative, not a Chaos derivative, but he knows very little beyond that. What are the capabilities of their warriors?
—

FASCINATING, is what he thinks. That spark is Sol Fire. He is not familiar with it as intimately as his counterpart, Johnny, but…

That grin flares his rage up again. It’s close enough to that asshole to trigger a response— angered quickly stomps down.

Internally, he stamps down on the —

Very little space separates the two of them, but Metal has never cared for 'social etiquette'. His eyes flick over this entity once more, just to be sure.

If that doesn't convince him, his quick biometric scan via Copycat confirms it.

"You are not Sonic the Hedgehog."

-- course himself for a head-on collision. ETA 15 seconds. He has Priority One within eyesight-- weapon systems primed and online, malevolent energy building up in his left hand in anticipation. He quickly scans Sonic over for potential injuries he can take advan

Metal stops on a dime. --

designed for it, after all. Miles become mere footsteps to him, as he closes in. Past the debris and the robotic carnage, Metal spots him.

In his "Phantom Rider" guise, no less. He has the audacity to HIDE himself? From what, Nega?!

His navigation systems --

Even here, he cannot escape his shadow. Talons curl into fists. Logical thought is quickly thrown out the window as pink wisps start to fly off his body, rage made tangible. With a swivel on the ball of his left foot, Metal Sonic's engine flares to life!

Tracking the current is easy. He was --

Not much to do for now except think. So-

Something else, on the edge of his perception, tugs at him. An airstream, a disturbance in local wind currents. He doesn't even hesitate with cross-referencing velocity, it's too close to the ground to be anything else.

Sonic.

--

... his mind naturally drifts off again. He didn't put it together, but Eggman Nega, whatever his name is, has white hair. Like Sage.

Nega is either a dimensional variant, or his creator's descendent. Is he descended from Sage, if the latter is true? Or is he a digital entity, instead? --

are, according to his internal ENV data collection, slight variations. The air is slightly more tainted, and the water's PH is slightly off. But only slightly.

So. Metal is alone here, until Sage can figure out a way to pull him back. Obviously the Tether is not working if he's STILL HERE. --