Eggman forced me into one of his ugly shuttles, tied me down, took me to his base, then chained me against a random pole. We were in some weird, empty dome that looked partially under construction. It was like a battle arena. I was still wrapping my head around how he found out I was at Metal's base, though. Was it a coincidence? No, he had that weapon trained on me. Ugh... Regardless, he had to know about me and Metal.



"Grabbing me out of the blue is a little less of a spectacle than your usual schemes," I sneered at him. "Don't you usually get your underlings to do your bidding?"



He tightened the chains that bound me to the beam. "What, and have you take them out to dinner, too?" he huffed.



"Have you ever wondered why so many of your robots end up fighting against you later? I'm genuinely asking," I told him, squinting. "And here's a follow up question: do you think holding me hostage will do anything to remedy that?"



"Rebellion is sometimes a byproduct of my genius, a facet of my work that's long since been patched out. Some lingering nuisances left." He grunted. "As for why you're here: why would I spoil the surprise? Please. I'm a person of spectacle by your own admission," he said with an awful laugh.



"There's no surprise about it. How did you know?"



"So impatient," Eggman sighed out. "You're not as smart as you think you are, rodent. Did you really think you could hide the scurrying around you did with one of my most elite robots? Did you think I wouldn't catch on to what you were planning?"



"Planning?" I scoffed in response. "Nothing I did with Metal was a plan. You're not as in control as you think you are. Your family dysfunction is your fault, Eggman." The way he claimed Metal pissed me off. I had to remember I was the one in chains, though. When he wasn't looking at me, I tried to see if there was anything interesting around the room or maybe a way I could break out.



"You say all that like it's a bad thing. Aren't you the one trying to be a part of it?" He laughed again.



"Considering how you're welcoming me in, I can't say I'll visit on holidays." I rolled my eyes. "It's not too late to consider being a vaguely reasonable person if you actually want to talk about this."



"Hmm... Nah. Work on your bargaining." He flailed one of his hands. I didn't know how Sonic could ever reason with him. He was as miserable as he was despicable. "I'll go invite our other guest. Sage, watch her." He got in his ridiculous floating orb and moved out of my sight. I heard his voice vaguely in the distance... Wait, where was Sage? Right when I thought about it, she lowered down from the air and lingered in front of me. I never even knew she was around.



I rarely ever saw or interacted with Sage since she wasn't often on the battlefield with Eggman. Metal did talk about her sometimes... From what I knew, they were pretty strained. Uh, and from how she looked at me, she was not a big fan of mine. I didn't take Sage for a very expressive person, but the way her visible eye honed in on me was nothing short of intense.



I decided to break the ice a bit. Might as well... "Long time no see, right, Sage?" I asked. The last time we met was at that goofy race with Metal and my friends, really.



She didn't answer me.



Well, that didn't surprise me too much. Our silence made me think about what was next. Eggman was probably summoning Metal... I didn't know what exactly he'd make us do, but it wasn't going to be anything remotely good. He was not above hurting Metal.



"Why did you do it, then?" Sage asked. Her question snapped me out of my train of thought.



"What do y--"



"You said you had no plan. I sensed no form of deception. So then, why did you meddle with Metal Sonic?"



God. "Meddling?" I repeated, baffled. "The reason I'm with Metal is because I love him." They weren't really that different than my friends in having to convince them about us, huh. "Did you have a plan when you called Eggman your father?"



"That's..." Sage might've been genuinely confused with what I said. "But you're not... family. Metal Sonic is not your father or brother."



"He's my boyfriend," I said, firm. "Look it up."



She stared for a while longer, eyes wide in shock. The blue squares around her briefly glitched out, and eventually, all the emotion faded from her face. She returned to that same cold stare, trained entirely on me, waiting for me to do something. "It doesn't matter what you call him. The outcome will not change."



"The outcome of what? Whatever you're doing here?" I scoffed back.



She didn't reply to me, but that didn't matter, either. Eggman called for her and the two of them went out of my sight completely. Ugh... I was really constricted. I couldn't bring my hammer out and I didn't have anything on me that could cut chains. I physically struggled to check if there was anything I could knock loose.



I was stuck and there wasn't really any way I could call for help. I really did have to be patient...



... I heard the familiar whirring of Metal's turbine. He was here! Eggman called him after all. Our eyes met.



"There you are, Metal Sonic!" Eggman called from above, then descended alongside Sage. I could tell Metal was confused, even angry. "I called you back for a special reason... But, before we get into all that--"



"Metal!" I shouted. "Knock him out bef--" The bastard tied a cloth around my mouth! I wanted to rip his entire moustache off and choke him with it.



Eggman went through his entire monologue, but in that, he revealed how he found out about me and Metal. He said that someone dropped Metal off at his base. But... Wasn't Eggman there when the big showdown with Cavalier Sonic occurred? He didn't actually collect Metal? But Rouge said everyone was gone. That could only mean that we didn't fight Eggman. Metal received a fake call back then, and this was the result...



He was lower than low. Eggman was more than disgusting. I tried to scream at him, to really give him a peace of my mind. I'd never been so angry before.



"Get rid of her, Metal Sonic. Kill her."



Metal completely seized up. He turned his head away, hands balled into fists and refusing to move.



"Now!" Eggman yelled, ascending out of reach again.



He couldn't disobey. Metal hesitantly stepped forward. I was overcome with... anger, disgust, honestly something worse. Metal was right, all that time back at the resort. He said that once Eggman found out, I would be viewed as someone who tampered with his things, played with his toys. The sick freak wanted my boyfriend to kill me!



I could tell he was fighting back as much as possible. He was going to play by as many technicalities as he could, so I had to take advantage of every bone he threw my way. With a swift strike, he slashed open my chains-- I kicked him back as hard as I could to make some distance between us.



I removed the cloth from my face and screamed: "You're disgusting, Eggman! Call him off!"



"Now, why would I do that?" he yawned. God, he pissed me off!



"What depraved part of your brain thinks this is a good way to respond to your creation dating someone?!" I yelled. "To me, that only shows why he never stuck around once he had the choice!"



Eggman growled and slammed his fists against his pod. "You mess with my things, you get the consequences, girl!"



"He's not a--" I stopped myself when Metal lunged after me with his claws out. I quickly moved back and knocked him with my hammer. I couldn't let Eggman distract me.



Metal clawed into the ground and took a while to actually stand up. My heart ached for him. I knew he was fighting so hard.



I looked around us. Eggman, at some point, locked the doors Metal came through. I didn't see any place I could escape. I could maybe attempt to get Metal to create a new exit. I wasn't any match for his speed, but being out in the open increased the chance of someone seeing us. Maybe then, I could get some help in incapacitating him if I couldn't do it by myself.



As he got up, his eyes slightly glitched out. I thought he wanted to say something... but he didn't.



"Stop dilly-dallying!" Eggman yelled. "Use your full power! Go your full speed!"



Whirrrr...



Metal took off after me. Electricity crackled around him and a scalding yellow-orange barrier surrounded him-- I jumped out of the way, causing him to crash into some construction materials. He got back up and aimed for me again. This time, he really aimed for me. I blocked the direct impact with my hammer, but he had so much momentum that I got slammed into the nearest wall.



His eyes were shaking and I had to keep away from his touch; I could feel the heat radiating off of him. He was struggling with himself more than me. He lowered his head, his eyes glitching out again. I shoved him back with my hammer.



"Metal, you have to keep fighting it!" I shouted back. "W-we'll figure out how to--"



He clawed into his own head and ripped through his armor. I wanted to vomit. I couldn't-- I couldn't watch him do that.



"Metal! No!" I shouted, my voice breaking. When I looked back at him, black spilled from the gashes he created. It-- oh my God.



This was the dream I had. It was this. He tore himself open as he tried to stop himself from fighting me. There was a point I could hardly move, and-- and he went right for my gut. I had to do everything I could to prevent that from happening... I couldn't repeat any mistakes.



"Stop damaging yourself!" Eggman broke my concentration for a brief second. "Fight her with everything you got! Fight her like she is Sonic the Hedgehog!"



He briefly struggled, then his posture changed entirely. Shit!



He went for me at a much greater speed. I hardly had any time to react beyond defending myself. He swiped at me and charged for me, over and over. I dodged him as much as I could, swung at him to get him back. His eyes were shaking. He was getting angry, angrier. He was losing control of himself.



"Metal, come back to me! Please!" I called for him. He looked at me, but I wasn't sure he was the one listening.



We clashed over and over and over, a battle that felt like hours but might've just been minutes. I wished it was under better circumstances... I wished it was like when we were fighting in the rain. I wanted him to stay on the ground after I knocked him back, then hear his laughter. I wanted to get mad at him for little, petty things, then have him kiss me and say something as cute as it was aggravating. This wasn't fair.



I felt exhausted. He knocked me away and made me lose grip of my hammer. Before I could reach for it, he threw it further away behind him. There was no way I could go for it without being at an insane disadvantage.



I kicked him, though he grabbed me and slammed me against the ground. Ugh...! He tried to stab me with his claws-- I rolled out of the way in time. I hastily searched for anything I could use as a weapon-- there. I went for one of the steel beams on the ground and swung it at him right as he approached.



He looked as rough as I was tired. Our fight made whatever fluids that came from him spill all over the place. His eyes were glitching more, he was sparking in places that shouldn't spark. Some of his body was dented from how hard I swung. I felt so... bad. I didn't want to hurt him. The way he looked broke me on more than one level. He was told to kill me, but was I any better?



"Metal... I'm so sorry," I cried to him. The beam was so heavy. I felt exactly the way I did in my dream. I wasn't sure how much more I could move.



"Rrrr-Rosy..."



!!!



"B-beam... The beam... A-above..." He growled out. I briefly looked up and saw what he was talking about. The beam I was tied to had some other construction materials suspended above. It'd crush him.



"But--"



"DO IT!" he screamed. "Des... Destroy me! Or I'll..." He groaned painfully.



"He can speak?!" Eggman shouted back. "Stop talking this instant! Kill her!"



He lunged for me again. I put all my strength into whacking the pole over with the beam in my arms. It swung over, then I dropped the beam and tried to dodge him again. I grabbed him to push him under the falling construction--



A sharp pain went through my body. He managed to stab me right as I forced him away. I cried out and collapsed, tightly grabbing my side. He staggered back-- the other steel beams landed right on him and crushed him.



I felt so... numb. I didn't know. I never saw his body so broken. His head was wedged between the beams and the ground, there were so many cracks, so much black everywhere. One of his arms reached out, drenched in red and black, and then he stopped moving. His eyes blinked off. I was so scared. I was so scared something too important broke. I didn't want to lose him. God, I didn't want to lose him.



I cried out and crawled over to him. I could barely see anything myself. I was sobbing, I was in pain, I was devastated. I tried to lift the beams off of him, but I had no more strength...



"He couldn't even take you down?!" Eggman screamed.



I forgot he was there. I was overcome with... something. I didn't know what. I was beside myself, baffled that he even kept speaking. I glared at him.



"Fine, I'll teach you the lesson myself," he growled. He brought out the same gun he had on me earlier. I dared him to do it. I was wounded and could barely move, and he still wanted a win by killing me. What a father figure.



Bang!



... I thought it was a gunshot at first. Instead, a hole had been ripped through Eggman's pod. He exclaimed in shock and dropped his weapon, quickly trying to right himself as he crashed to the ground.



It was Sonic! He unfurled himself from a ball and glared daggers at Eggman. Normally, he'd have some kind of quip or something, but he looked pissed. He went straight for Eggman-- in practically no time, he whacked Eggman into the ground and knocked him clean out.



Sonic and Sage had a brief stand-off.



"Take him and go," Sonic growled. "If you try anything, you'll have to fight me, too."



Sage briefly glitched out. She didn't say anything, her vision panning from us to Eggman. She levitated Eggman on her own and floated away.



Sonic sped towards me just as fast. "Amy?! Are you--" he winced as he stared at me. "We gotta get you out of here."



"No, no, get Metal, please," I begged. "I can't do it... Please." I tried to lift the beams again. The pain caught up to me, making me cry out again. I only realized then how much I bled.



I felt another hand on my shoulder. "Amy, we need to get you some medical attention," Tails said, voice rushed. He tried to help me stand--



I moved him away. "No! I'm not leaving without Metal!" I screamed. Tails stared, shocked. I turned back-- Sonic moved enough of the beams. I pried Metal out, most of his body sliding with it... His head popped clean off. I gasped out.



"I-it's fine! We'll take all of him," Sonic hastily replied, picking up the rest of his body. "You hold onto his head. Tails--" He handed the body over. He just as quickly picked me up. I held tightly onto Metal's head. I was having a harder time staying awake.



Sonic and Tails must have burst through the building with an entrance they made on their own. We went through a jagged exit, and then I was overwhelmed with light. I tried to focus. I had to keep a good grip on Metal.



"Wh-why are we taking Metal?!" I heard Tails ask. His voice sounded a bit echo-y... "I know Belle told us something was happening here, but this is a little crazy!"



"I'll explain some other time," Sonic said back.



I didn't want them to be in the dark. "Eggman found out. He told Metal to... to kill me."



"What?!" shouted Sonic.



"It's not his fault," I cried. "Please fix him."



"We'll fix you both, okay?" His voice sounded farther away. "We'll get you to..."



...



...



...



I had a weird dream. No, maybe it wasn't a dream. It still felt like one.



Something soft was under my head. My face was wiped with a washcloth. My hands felt very light... Did I not have my gloves?



Some voices faded in. I think I heard Charmy and Vector arguing about something to my left. Charmy sounded really upset... Was he crying? There was the hum of... something. We were swaying and moving... I felt like I was in a car.



Espio's voice was the loudest, right above me. I was trying to focus on what they were saying, but it was kinda hard to... I felt so disoriented.



"This is something you really don't need to worry about, kid. I'm not sayin' she's not your friend..." I honed in on Vector's voice.



Charmy squeaked back a response: "Well, you and Espio acted weird ever since Amy told us Mr.Kai was Metal Sonic, and now everyone's gonna--"



"She's waking up," Espio said...



... Where was Metal? I was holding him before. I... I didn't like it. I started to panic.



"It's alright," I heard Espio say, calm. "We're taking you to the hospital. We're almost there. Just try to relax."



I did my best, but I kept thinking of Metal. Where did he go? Why wasn't I with him? "Wh...Where's... Metal?"



"He's at Tails's workshop."



I relaxed a little. "A-are they... fixing him? Is he okay?"



I didn't hear Espio respond... I wasn't sure if he didn't answer or if my focus faded away too much. "I, uh..."



"Amy?!" shouted Charmy. "Y-you'll be okay! Espio said you didn't get hit in an important spot!" I heard him sniffle and sob. "And you're not weird, alright?! You're my friend and all my friends are cool!"



I smiled a little. Why was he telling me that?



"I know it's scary to see someone getting hurt, especially a friend. We're not gonna leave her alone until we know she's healing up, alright?" Vector told him.



"I told you we should've left him at Vanilla's," Espio sighed. "Charmy, she'll be..." The voices faded out for me again. I was so tired...



...