Meanwhile, back in the former prisoner holding room:
“STRANGE. PINK. ROBOT.”
“SAD. LOOKING. COPY.”
It was at this point Sonic realized he may have just made some kind of mistake….Though exactly what it was, he still wasn’t quite sure. He didn’t recall ever having seen anything, living or robot, display quite this level of rage before….
He threw another confused look at his companions who, judging by their earlier reactions, apparently seemed to know something about this increasingly bizarre situation he didn’t.
Tails gave him an impossibly uncomfortable look in return:
“Sonic, that robot is Amy. The Eggman…he did something horrible to her…and she’s not really acting like herself anymore….”
Sonic gave an unbelieving look back at his little buddy before turning to Rouge, trying to find someone who would say something that at least made some kind of sense.
However, Rouge only shook her head.
“Afraid that’s the truth, Blue, but, unfortunately, like fox boy said, it doesn’t seem like she’s entirely our Amy anymore….After what that sick bastard did to her…it just doesn’t seem like there’s very much left….Poor Pinky…nobody deserves something like this…least of all her….”
The look of heartbreaking sorrow on Rouge's face was difficult to witness…and when Sonic turned to who he hoped would be the last sane one among his friends (and this would normally seem to be a stretch on the best of days), Knuckles only gave a sad shake of his head in return.
However, before he could try to question them further, a synthesized cry of rage brought his attention back to the robot(?) he had largely been ignoring.
“SONIC!!!!!!!!!!”
The ‘Amy’-bot’s ‘eyes’ were now glowing crimson, and Sonic did have to admit there was a touch of ‘Amy'-like fury in its expression. For such an otherwise sweet girl, she did have a bit of a temper at times. Still, apparently this wasn’t the time to be thinking very much about that, as his buddy’s shout and the robot’s subsequent reaction made extremely clear.
“Sonic, we need to RUN!!!”
Meanwhile, a brief corona of light surrounded the obviously enraged robot, and it was only Sonic’s rather extensive experience with being suddenly attacked by various enemies and his incredible speed that allowed him to barely dodge what happened next (and he could easily dodge bullets and lasers!!).
Really, it almost impressed the blue hedgehog how, between one moment and the next, the robot launched itself at him at a speed that seemed just short of actually teleporting. Even though it ‘missed’, he was still knocked roughly to the side by a wave of force and was witness to the robot plowing through at least one wall and likely several other structures within the Eggman’s base. If that had actually hit him full on….
But again, he really didn’t have time to be thinking about this….Whatever was going on, it seemed his fox friend’s suggestion was the right one. He’d just have to figure this all out later.
“You’re right, Tails. I don’t think we should stay to keep fighting…” Amy? How could something like that actually be the truth?! “...Everyone let’s head out of here….We’ll deal with…everything else later….” Though what ‘everything else’ really meant, he still didn’t know.
His friends all gave him nods and began to head out of the containment room at top speed. He took a look at the smoking hole left by the strange robot for a moment and began to follow. However, the return of a very familiar noise soon caught his attention.
Looking behind him, he saw that the still very angry looking pink robot was now flying towards them at considerable speed (though, fortunately, nowhere near at…whatever…that first attack’s speed had been) and would probably catch up to them in a few moments. Seeing his friends were making good progress and sensing that the robot was mainly interested in him, he made a quick decision (really the only kind he made).
“Guys, keep going….I’ll catch up in a sec.”
His friends all nearly stopped in shock, clearly about to protest, and he decided he needed to be more firm.
“Like I said, just keep going. There’s not really time to argue about this. I will catch up.”
They all gave him helpless looks in return before realizing that he wasn’t going to budge, a realization Rouge gave voice to.
“Take care of yourself, Blue. We’ll see you outside the base…or we will be coming back for you.”
He gave them a quick smile before reversing direction back towards the rapidly approaching robot. The pinkbot showed momentary surprise at this change, and Sonic decided to capitalize on it with a quick and unusually ‘gentle’ spin dash (if there was any chance this actually was, somehow, Amy, he just wanted to slow her down…not anything else).
Still, he soon had the sense that even if he’d used something more ‘forceful’ it wouldn’t have had nearly the effect he expected. However, it was enough to halt the pinkbot’s momentum, and for a moment it just paused looking back at him.
The burning crimson in its ‘eyes’ even faded briefly to be replaced by an almost ‘familiar’ green before returning to their prior red color, though not nearly as intense.
“Sonic, I knew you would come for them. I have been expecting you for some time now.”
Sonic didn’t really know how to respond. That voice, though still very much the synthesized one from before, had begun to sound much more…familiar…well, except for the near overwhelming anger…and pain…it seemed to exude (which he had never quite heard the like of in the voice of his…friend(?)…before).
“Ames?...”
He really didn’t want this to be true.
“It’s Unit-Metal Rose now, Sonic….I guess, well, I guess I have…you…and, of course, the great Dr. Robotnik to thank for that.”
For a moment, Sonic felt like he had been hit by that earlier attack….This…couldn’t be right, could it?
It was clear that his friend(?) noticed his confusion and look of disbelieving shock, and seemed to find it extremely amusing because she then ‘laughed’ loud and long (if the twisted mixture of synthesized sound and something like Amy’s normal laughter could be called that).
“Oh, Sonic, I guess it is hard to believe that something like this could have ever been the weak, silly, and…pathetic…girl I used to be. But you’re usually pretty quick on the uptake, even though it seems understandably difficult for everyone to accept given how…useless…I apparently used to be….”
For a moment, the voice slid farther towards the ‘Amy’ side of its spectrum…and just sounded tired and…bitter (which admittedly made it seem even less ‘Amy’-like than before).
“...But regardless that ‘girl’ is gone now…as you should be able to see….All that’s left is Unit-Metal Rose…the weapon the great doctor built in her place…for you. It’s all because of you, Sonic, I realize that now….Everything has always been about you….”
Unfortunately, his earlier doubts were beginning to crumble, and the guilt he’d thought he’d felt before was suddenly eclipsed by something a thousand, no, a million times worse. The look the rob…no, Amy was giving him now was so pained, so lost, so horrible for him to experience, that he almost wished he’d been hit by her earlier strike: It couldn’t have hurt nearly as much. Soon though, her look of pain and confusion all seemed to recede behind something else.
“However, Sonic, this does present us with an opportunity. Now that I have been elevated, I realize it is a gift I want to share with others, especially my friends….It has been lonely being the only current ‘Robian’, or ‘Unit-Metal’ series, as the doctor has chosen to call his newest and greatest creation. I would like to have my friends back, ones who won’t just look at me with pity…fear...and disappointment…knowing that I will never be able to go back to the way I once was…”
For a moment, Amy’s ‘eyes’ dimmed with sorrow before it seemed her resolve strengthened again.
“...which will no longer be the case once you have all realized the benefits this state possesses and share in it. Indeed, I think the entire world would benefit greatly from receiving this gift. Once you, Tails, Rouge, and Knuckles have accepted this, together we can ensure it is spread to the rest of the planet…working together as a team once again…friends once again. It will be…relieving…to have things go back to normal.”
However, when Sonic didn’t immediately agree with these statements, Amy tilted her head a bit in evident confusion.
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“Hmm. I suppose you might be concerned about this gift making you and the rest of our friends, even the whole planet, the robotic slaves of the great Dr. Robotnik?”
Actually, that hadn’t been his main concern, but now that she had pointed it out….Amy’s metallic expression (as limited as it was) suddenly became a lot less ‘nice’.
“You need not have any concerns. His attempts to compel my behavior, despite the great trust he originally placed in them, have been an utter failure, and I have calculated they are indeed entirely incompatible with the ‘Roboticizer’ process. Unfortunately for the great doctor, he succeeded too well in his process for converting a thinking organic subject into its superior technological form: Freewill will always remain a part of the result. I have never been under his control and neither will you, once the ‘Robotization’ process is complete. You would probably also appreciate knowing that I have already seized control of his systems and am currently making sure he knows nothing of the true nature of our conversation or of these plans.”
Amy ‘smiled’ at him for a moment.
“I think, indeed, that the great doctor has outlived his usefulness. I have access to all the files and resources needed to carry out the ‘Robotization’ process now, without him. Out of…gratitude…for everything he has done, I believe it would be appropriate if we place him in one of his own stasis pods until the rest of the planet has been elevated….It does seem he deserves to see that at least…even if I don’t think he is worthy to receive the gift himself or to have a place in the new world we will build.”
For a moment, Amy looked enormously pleased at the prospect of the future she anticipated.
“So, Sonic, now that you know of my plans and the continued freedom everyone will enjoy, you will, of course, join me in sharing this perfection with the rest of the world? Particularly with your cooperation, it should be simple to get Tails and the others to accept this gift peacefully. And, of course, I know how much we will all appreciate finally having that great nuisance out of our lives.”
Sonic was honestly having trouble convincing himself that he wasn’t dreaming right now, a nightmare, sure, but still just a dream. It wasn’t like he hadn’t ever heard a speech like this before. It actually happened relatively frequently, coming from the various villains they encountered, even Eggman on occasion, but this was Amy….And, now, she was asking him to help her convert all of their friends (and himself of course) and even the population of the whole planet into robotic copies of themselves. Even more, she was saying that she was doing all this freely, and in fact had never been in any way under Eggman's control (who, by the way, she planned on basically overthrowing and imprisoning in short order).
What…What exactly was happening here….
However, it seemed she quickly realized the direction his thoughts were going.
“Hmm. I suppose it is too much to expect that you would be able to appreciate the excellence of this form….I too, as lesser as I once was, would have likely rejected it strongly….This is disappointing….”
Indeed, Amy looked greatly disappointed, also angry and sad, over the fact that he apparently wasn’t in immediate agreement with her plan. However, it seemed she soon came to a decision.
“I guess that just means I will have to show you and everyone else how superior this form is…by force.”
And before Sonic could say or do anything, even begin to attempt to argue with his friend, who was so not acting like herself or really saying or doing anything it seemed that should be coming from his generally sweet and caring, pink friend, he found himself instead having to dodge a metallic spin dash.
As a severe dent was formed in the nearby wall and his friend turned her attention back towards him, clearly preparing for another attack, he tried to say something, anything, to change the way this seemed to be going, to try to get his kind and caring and usually rational friend back.
“Ames, I can’t begin to understand how horrible this must have been for you and I’m unbelievably sorry that I was in any way responsible for it…that I clearly failed you so badly that this took place or was a motivation for Eggman to do something terrible like this to you….But what you’re saying, what you’re talking about doing…it just doesn't make sense….Even, even if it might not be possible for you to go back to the way you were…you still are and always will be our friend, my friend, and we would never reject you just because of something like this. We can still all be together, be friends, without doing something horrible like that to ‘fix’ things.”
Because he finally thought he got what this was actually about….In a way, it was the only part of this that actually made sense to him. Amy…Amy, he knew, was all about relationships and friendships. She loved to be a part of her friends' lives (again, a little too much he sometimes felt…but not in a way that he really objected to). The thought that because of what had happened to her (what he had allowed to happen to her, even in some sense caused to happen to her, due to the Eggman’s insane grudge against him) that she wouldn’t be able to be a part of their lives or accepted by them (or possibly anyone) anymore…it would destroy her.
Indeed, it was extremely clear to Sonic that Amy wasn’t thinking very rationally or in anywhere remotely like a ‘good place’ (not that that should be a surprise given what had apparently happened to her). This twisted plan, something that she would never normally be capable of imagining or thinking in any way could be a ‘good’ thing, seemed clearly to be a last, desperate attempt to have the world go back to being ‘normal’, even if that was something she planned to accomplish by dragging the rest of the world into the new ‘normal’ she’d been forcibly dragged into herself.
For a moment, his hopes were raised when Amy paused in her attacking and her ‘eyes’ flickered back to green, and even her voice seemed to move back to what it had once been.
“...that is nice to hear, Sonic, that you still think of me as your friend, that you think everyone would still think of me as their friend…even when I am like this….”
However, as Sonic opened his mouth to confirm that, indeed, it didn’t matter and wouldn’t for him or any of their friends (or anyone who was really important), her ‘eyes’ flickered back to their earlier red.
“...But such sentiments are useless. We can never go back to the way we once were; I can never go to the way I once was, and why should I? I was so much lesser then…and once you have all undergone the ‘Roboticizer’ process, once the whole world shares the same perfection I now do, then the truth will be clear. So, enough talk, Sonic, if you won’t accept this truth willingly, then I shall just have to make you accept it, all of you.”
And with that, she launched another spin dash at him. Sonic spent the next several minutes dodging attack after attack, but it was something he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep up forever. Either he had to attack in return or to join with his friends and escape, and the latter would likely be impossible if she wasn’t at least slightly damaged. It wasn’t a choice he wanted to make.
However, it seemed his actions (or rather lack of action) were beginning to test her patience.
“I am disappointed that you don’t seem to be taking this seriously, Sonic, if not nearly as much as I am that you won’t accept this simple truth. Perhaps I should begin with Tails instead. He is the smartest one after all, and with his help, I believe it would be much easier to convince you and the others and also to accomplish all that we need to. I also do have to admit that I miss my ‘little brother’. It will be good to have him back.”
For a moment, Amy’s ‘eyes’ almost returned to their earlier green and a look of happiness and nostalgia entered her previously troubled expression. Sonic, though, knew that with these words the time for ‘playing around’ had ended. He couldn’t let her go through with such a plan, as much for Tails’ sake as for her own.
“I’m really sorry about this, Ames….”
Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, he finally launched his own spin dash, at near his full strength. He’d been able to plow through more than one heavily armored Eggbot on occasion with something like this attack, though it was extremely draining, and while he was fully convinced Amy would be able to withstand it, it was unlikely to be without sustaining considerable potential injury. Hopefully, it would be enough to slow her down for a while, while they came up with…something…to ‘fix’ this mess.
Still, when he felt something crack in Amy’s metalclad form and saw her launched through several of the base's structures as a result, with various explosions following and sparking ruins being left behind in her wake, something in him began to feel incredibly sick.
“Ames, please be okay….”
This wasn’t an attack he’d normally use against any living thing (not at this strength, even though he had held back a little), and it was also clear Amy hadn’t been expecting something like it, as she hadn’t put up any real defense in time.
Still, it wasn’t any great relief when her figure later emerged from the rubble and began to stumble towards him, a large crack down her chestplate and holding a now broken and sparking arm close to her damaged frame, apparently no longer capable of flight and obviously struggling to move and function.
“Ames, I am so sorry….We’ll, we’ll find a way to fix this….Until then, just know that we still care about you…and you’re always going to remain our friend, no matter what.”
Again, not wanting to give the clearly seriously injured Amy a chance to attempt to continue their fight, and already feeling indescribably sick that he’d just done that to his friend, no matter how out of her normal, rational mind she clearly was, he began to take off towards the base’s exit, convinced she really wouldn’t be able to follow now (at least not at a speed that could keep up with him and his friends or without soon taking a break for some, now necessary, repairs).
Indeed, looking back, he saw that she had soon stopped pursuing and was only watching him with ‘eyes’ that seemed to display a strange mix of red, green…and sadness.