Days had dragged by since the storm blew over. While Metal was shut down, there was no flow of electricity to attract the lightning. Somehow, he managed to restart afterwards. He'd been beaten too badly to move, see clearly, or even speak properly, but he'd survived. However, he'd failed in his mission to destroy Sonic. If he ever made it back to his creator's base, he'd surely pay.

Distant movement caught the ravaged remains of his vision. He struggled to see what it was, but only caught blurred glimpses between bouts of gray static instead. Whatever it was, it was dark. And it was coming closer. It stopped only an inch or so away from his partly buried face. Metal could've sworn that for a split moment he saw a pair of familiar white, black, and sky blue shoes standing before him. He desperately tried to turn his head and look up, but it was futile. No matter how much he willed his body to move, it just wouldn't.

A comforting hand pressed to his cheek and gently turned his head to the side, so his dented, mud-caked face could clearly be seen. Metal just barely saw a pair of emotionless sky blue eyes looking straight into his.

"Oh God… It's even worse than I thought…" a familiar voice sighed, accompanied by its owner's falsely warm breath teasing where a mouth appeared to be missing. Metal recognized those eyes and that voice instantly, though it wasn't the same friendly tone he usually heard it being used in. It seemed to be lacking in concern or compassion.

"266!" Metal's cry of joy was greatly distorted. "Y-y-you're oKAY!" Though he couldn't clearly see his crush's reaction, he did feel a sudden chill of unwelcoming cool air replace the hand that had been resting on his cheek.

"Me?" Metal pictured 266 raising an eyebrow. "What about you?" And how do you know who I am?" At this, Metal was plunged once more into hopelessness and despair while at the same time being stabbed by realization.

This wasn't the same Shadow Android he knew.

It was a copy.

The malfunctioning droid didn't bother to embarrass himself further by speaking. Even so, the remade 266 went on.

"Well, whatever. I was sent here to bring you back to the base, and that's what I'm going to do." Immediately following this statement, Metal was embraced by warm arms and lifted out of the dirt. He found it difficult to stay aware of what was going on after that. All he knew was that he didn't want to be in this stranger's arms.

He didn't want to go back to the base.

He didn't even care whether he was repaired or not.

He just wanted the real 266 back.

When he was finally able to focus on his surroundings, he found that he was still being carried. There were familiar sounds of distant clanking and whirring around him. For a fleeting moment, he saw that he wasn't being carried by the same Shadow Android anymore. This one looked incomplete compared to the others he'd become familiar with. It was completely clad in steel rather than faux fur, and had bright orange stripes of paint in the same places the real Shadow had red stripes. Its eyes and muzzle exactly resembled what those of Metal had looked like before he'd been so horribly damaged.

"Wh-where…" Metal tried to ask where he was being taken to, though he already had a hunch he knew what the answer would be.

"You're being taken to the meltdown chamber," the unfamiliar Shadow Android answered dryly.

"Why…?" the question came as a strained groan.

"Because you've been broken beyond repair and can no longer do what you were built for. Instead, you will serve a different purpose."

"And… what is that?" Metal pressed.

"There's only one use for a broken machine," the one carrying him answered without an inch of compassion.

"Scrap metal."

Now the former robot knew for sure what was coming. His hunch had been correct. To his own dismay, he was resigned to it. He couldn't find any will, motivation, or reason to attempt escape. Without word or warning, he was dropped face down onto a cold, hard surface. He was still being moved, but more slowly and steadily. As expected, he soon felt warmth begin to envelop him. It was being intensified at a rate that matched the speed at which he was moving perfectly.

It got warmer.

Hotter.

His senses were being overwhelmed.

Everything ceased…

--

Two bright crimson irises steadily faded into view from an otherwise dark screen made to resemble a set of glaring eyes.

"You've awakened. Excellent." These were the satisfied words the owner of said screen detected, along with other faint sounds of clanks and whirrs in the distance.

"Whuh…?" he risked a groan. "Who are you? And… where am I?" With these questions he pushed himself up into a sitting position and surveyed his surroundings. He found himself resting on what seemed to be an operating table in a very poorly lit room, staring out into a mass of blinking lights and machinery.

Even though he'd never seen anything before this, the sight looked… oddly familiar, somehow.




Hyper Metal Sonic, Shadow Android © Sega