I saw someone tear through the complex. I scanned him in time and knew he was Cavalier Sonic. I left the corpses of robots in my wake and went after him. I tried to signal him since I wanted to speak to him, but either my signal did not reach him or he did not answer. We left the complex and he took off higher into the sky, eventually stopping far above a blanket of forests. He turned towards me like he was waiting.



I stopped at a short distance, close enough to speak.



"I don't have your password, but I still request information from you," I told him.



He tilted his head at me. I remembered how aggravatingly chatty he was before, but this time, he wasn't speaking. After a moment, he said: "You want some information, huh? Yeah, I can give you that."



...! Good. "I need t--" He spun forward, aiming his foot at my head. I reacted just in time. I didn't have time to speak; he kept swinging at me, so I kept blocking him.



He was still aggravating. I activated my shield, causing him to bounce off.



"I'm not here to battle!" I shouted, angry.



He pierced his claws into my shield! He could even do that when I was in my true form...? I wasn't wasting my energy. I dispelled my shield and tackled him back. If he wanted a fight, I would give him one. I was far more prepared to face him than I was before.



His helmet stretched before his muzzle and gave him a long, jagged snout as before. I stayed cautious of his maw that hadn't yet revealed itself. As we fought, I took the time to scan him, gauge how he fights and his own data. True to his surname, he fought similarly to Sonic. The way he swung at me, the way he dodged... It was just like him. Though skillful, I knew exactly how to counter him.



I wasn't oblivious like his namesake. He likely knew I was aware. I had to keep my guard up. His similarities to Sonic were interesting, though. Carillon Rose said she was made 'way after all of this' and she never got to meet Amy before. This could only mean Carillon Rose was made after her passing... so the same was likely for Cavalier Sonic, assuming nature was kind enough to let the Hedgehog perish and not stretch on for centuries.



It's possible my future self gave them most of the data I had about their organic inspirations. I clearly had to give data for the voices, but combat was an entirely different level of behavior. I noticed Carillon Rose had similar speaking mannerisms that Amy did... The same could be said for Cavalier Sonic and the Hedgehog.



Carillon Rose said that my future self needed her since she was here in my time; knowing she originally wasn't supposed to be here, that means that plans changed. But Cavalier Sonic...



"Were you originally supposed to be a part of my future self's plan?" I asked in-between strikes.



"Yep," he cheerfully replied to me. "We expected a few bumps in the road--" He curled into a ball and shot towards me like a cannonball. I quickly got out of the way-- he swerved around and went right towards me again. I briefly activated my shield; his spines cut through it and broke it, but it did bounce him off. Shield technology must've been far more powerful in the future...



"Can you share your purpose?" I asked as he unfurled.



"For you? Of course. Before I get there, though, how about I tell you about yourself?" He laughed, extending blades from the undersides of his arms. His fighting style slowly changed, throwing more unique moves that Sonic hadn't done. He spun at me like a tornado.



There was a massive explosion nearby. From a quick glance, I saw it was the airship. I quickly scanned for other heat signatures... There were five figures, one far in the distance and four in the air, obscured by smoke. One of them looked like Amy. She was okay...



I had to return to the fight; Cavalier Sonic was not letting up. I focused on blocking and evading him because I still wanted him to speak. Every time he fought me, I gathered more data.



I extended similar blades from my arms to counteract his hits. Titanium screeched and sparked against titanium-- I pushed him away with my own skill.



He continued on: "I know your original purpose. Even when you changed your purpose, your original one still lingered, followed you like a ghost. To surpass who you were created for. You didn't want anything you made to have the same curse... A little funny you still named me Sonic, isn't it?"



Our blades clashed again, bringing us briefly to a stalemate. He stared at me, bright green eyes through his metallic visor.



"But there's a reason why. You didn't design me this way for fun," he said.



"Get to the point--"



He kicked me hard. I didn't expect it. I crashed into a cliff-- I saw Amy! She jumped off the very cliff I went into.



After retracting my weapons, I reunited with her... And she was hurt. She told me she was well enough. She was strong, but I knew she was in pain. I was incredibly angry. She said someone that looked like me-- very likely myself from the future-- hurt her. It didn't make sense to her... And it didn't make sense to me. I would never do something so horrific.



The information I gathered from Cavalier Sonic became even more important. Carillon Rose wasn't remotely as aggressive with us and it wasn't due to her lack of access to her main power source... Cavalier Sonic hadn't been aggressive in the past.



... Cavalier Sonic wasn't aggressive in the current moment. He bashed me into the side of a cliff... and then he lingered in the distance. He waited for me.



"Neo Metal Sonic!" I heard my Master's voice from my communicator. I... didn't expect him to call. "You located that metallic rat and he's online? I'm leaving to see him for myself. Subdue him-- and anyone who tries to take him."



How did he know I found Cavalier Sonic? I was confused... Did... Did I contact him accidentally when I was trying to signal to Cavalier Sonic himself? Regarding his command: I was the only one pursuing Cavalier Sonic at this point, so I didn't need to resist my programming... But I didn't want my Master to be here. I had to resolve the situation before he arrived. I briefly checked his location... he was in the main base, in his workshop. He was likely to head towards one of his vehicles. I would have enough time.



Amy said she would handle my Master; I trusted her. Even with her injury, she would be able to fight well against him. Plus, she had the support of her other allies. I didn't want to leave her... but I had to. I took in the sight of her pretty form, then I returned to Cavalier Sonic.



I didn't know why he was fighting me... Maybe he had an inappropriately timed enjoyment of combat. Either way, he needed to evade my Master's grasp. I wasn't sure if telling him Carillon Rose's location was useful yet, especially if my Master became a factor in this situation.



I overcharged my turbine and shot myself towards him, radiating my own energy.



He dodged and our fight resumed. We clashed with each other, evaded each other's strikes. I scanned his new patterns, incredibly wary of the different movements he made. I adjusted myself in turn.



He talked like our fight did not pause: "You probably noticed... I have quite a few things in common with my namesake. Proudly, in fact. I love it." He laughed; I didn't like how he laughed. "I am as free as they come, big guy. I help you because I want to. I respect you-- hell, I like you. You never programmed me to obey you, sometimes to your frustration. Hah!"



Our arms clashed.



"That was one thing you could never copy from the original Sonic, that freedom. So, you gave it to me. I'll always be thankful towards you for that." For the first time, his voice sounded sincere instead of cocky. "In a strange way, it's what has me listen to you. Funny how that works out."



"Then why are you fighting me?" I sneered.



"Because you asked me to."



What?



His statement caught me off guard. He directly punched me, sending me back. He chased me this time. He laughed again as he approached me. I kicked him and regained my own balance in the air. I went back on the defensive.



"What's my purpose, then? Well..." He stopped for a brief moment. I floated away from him, readying whatever else he was going to do. "In my time, there are robots far more powerful than those little toys that were in that airship," he said, gesturing to the billowing smoke. "I'm the answer to that. I rip machines apart and use their mass to strengthen myself. My body is like yours... But I don't copy data from them."



Even though he wasn't fighting... I felt much more cautious. Too calm. His voice was too... relaxed. I didn't trust the moment.



There was a visible line on the 'snout' of his helmet. He opened that terrifying maw... I remembered it well. He cackled in a deeper, distorted voice. I didn't hear Sonic anymore. He bolted for me-- I braced myself, clawing into him as soon as we clashed together.



"I steal it," he hissed to me. He clawed into my arm, pierced my armor-- he tore into me. I quickly kicked him away, separating us again. My insides sparked. I kept my treasures safe and hid them in another part of my body.



He brought out the blades from his arms again. I attempted the same-- and... couldn't. That should be impossible. I could morph my body however I wanted. But--



He went for me again, laughing. He appeared to be mentally stable one moment and having no sanity the next. His ears looked like horns. I narrowly dodged his blade.



I blocked his next strike with a barrier, only for him to immediately break it. He drained the shield itself. When I next shot at him, he used the same kind of barrier... One I could no longer make. Every time he touched me, even tangentially-- he actually did steal my data. They were completely missing from my own systems.



I couldn't let him steal more. I created more distance between us-- I repaired the integrity of my arm with my own mass.



He approached me too quickly and snapped his jaws at me. I used the core of my turbine, charging it with energy. He was trying to seriously damage me. I wouldn't let him.



I sent an energy blast through my turbine, aiming right at him. I hit him successfully, causing him to spiral downwards and fall with a trail of smoke. He quickly righted himself, then spiraled in my direction with the blades pointed ahead. What damage I caused, he already repaired.



At the last second, he changed the composition of his arms. They became jaws just like his head. One of them crunched onto my left arm and he tore it off.



I tried to rebuild my arm. I couldn't.



This... shouldn't have been an issue. I attempted to copy his data and re-conjure an arm. It didn't work. I didn't understand. This data was innate. How could he steal that?



The arm melted and melded into his body. His spines flared out, he grew larger. One of the spines on the lower part of his body stretched to become a bladed tail. He did not look like Sonic anymore. He looked like an otherworldly creature, a beast, somewhat like...



...



Cavalier Sonic shot a beam at me from his mouth. I narrowly dodged.



I couldn't use any kind of melee on him because he would tear me apart. Energy blasts seemed to do some damage, but he could quickly repair himself with his body composition. He prevented me from repairing myself entirely. I couldn't make any kind of transformation to combat him with force because I didn't have the bio-data I required. I was at a loss. I--



...! The Shield Crystal. That subdued him. I had to think of how I could grab one in this situation... Running might have been my only option, as cowardly as that was. No... I wasn't running entirely-- I was moving the fight somewhere else. To win, I had to do that.



... There was a Shield Crystal at the old base. That wasn't an option. My Master had some on the island. He crafted unique weapons that also came from the future... I realized then that they were used specifically to prevent Cavalier Sonic from using his abilities. My Master likely would bring the weapons with him... But... Then he would force me to give Cavalier Sonic to him.



I didn't know what to do.



"Did he tell you to destroy me?" I asked. The least I could do was get more answers.



He laughed. "No," he replied. "I was told to correct what shouldn't be."



"What?"



He tried to slice me with his tail-- I used my maximum speed to evade him. He was still incredibly fast in his monstrous form... I feared he might've been faster. I needed to--



!!!



He grabbed me. I didn't know how. The jagged maw that made one of his hands was big enough to trap my torso. He towered several feet over me.



"The real reason I was built was to counteract everything you are capable of." he said, lifting me up to his head. I overheated my body to force him to let go of me. I would melt myself and melt his hand with it...



My temperature went down. My eyes struggled to keep focus-- shocks ran through my body and stunned me. He was draining my energy.



"You built me to be the ghost that never left you, Metal Sonic."



Crack. He crunched into me. Painful.



I tried to speak. I couldn't. I tried to scream. I couldn't. I felt smaller...



No... No! I knew what he was doing! NO!



My future self would not tell him to take away who I was. Not unless he wanted to replace me. If he did not destroy me, he would wish he did.



I couldn't change my form. I couldn't--



He jabbed me through my core. Pain!!!



I couldn't feel the rest of my body anymore. I couldn't see. Backup power. My systems were failing. I couldn't survey my damage. I was outside of my own body.



This would not be how I failed.



Not when I was so close.



"See you later."



Sonic's...



...



...



...