Beyond Continuity Intro

Beyond Continuity is a series where I take a story or character and give my take on how I would present them. The goal is to take what exists in official continuities and improve on it or to show alternate paths the story or characters could have taken. Any and all suggestions on improvements to these entries are welcome.

Continuity Introduction

In Part One, I gave a rundown on the main video game continuity portrayal of Metal Sonic from the Sonic the Hedgehog video game franchise. Here, I’ll be taking the concepts explored in that post and using them to explain how I would write the character. My goal is to retain core aspects of the Sonic game continuity while branching out with more emphasis on the character being focused on for this Beyond Continuity entry. Just like with any deviation in a story, small changes early on lead to bigger changes later. So by the time the timeline will reach games like Sonic Adventure, a lot will be different. I have a general idea of how I would write an entire series of Sonic games which this could slot into but instead of trying to make this fit perfectly into that idea, I’ll be specifically focusing on the areas pertaining to Metal Sonic. Should I create a proper series timeline in a later entry, some aspects of this entry could appear or be abandoned.

The good news about my personal “headcanon” continuity is that its approach to the classic era of games is fairly straight-forward and requires far fewer changes to the original games (the biggest changes being the prominence of Chaos Emeralds and reordering where Sonic CD appears). See “Narrative in the Classic Sonic Timeline” for those events summarized.

Whenever I refer to my version of events, it will be labeled as “BC” (Beyond Continuity) while anything from the official games/media will be labeled as “OG” (Original).

The Shell (Sonic CD)

Sonic CD(BC) has Metal Sonic first show up to capture Amy, thinking she’s Sonic. Then, when Sonic arrives in the main setting of the game–Little Planet–he’s tricked into a scanning chamber and his life data is transferred to Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic acts as an antagonist throughout the story: chasing after Sonic at random intervals and eventually challenging Sonic to a race at Eggman’s command. Eggman promises to free Amy if Sonic wins and Sonic does indeed defeat Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic melts from overworking his body and has to be recovered by Eggman later.

In my reimagining of Sonic CD, I took some inspiration from the Sonic OVA by having Eggman temporarily trap Sonic and thoroughly scan him. That “life data” was then combined with intel gathered from footage Eggman had of Sonic in order to create the ultimate, mechanical copy of the blue hedgehog.

Metal Sonic is activated before Sonic is fully scanned. This is important because the life data scan imprints aspects of Sonic’s personality onto Metal Sonic. And the first thing Metal Sonic does in Sonic CD(BC) is capture Amy Rose. At that point in the story, Metal Sonic is just programming with no hint of greater intelligence.

After Sonic is captured and scanned, Metal Sonic displays occasional mannerisms and quirks associated with Sonic (such as his finger wag), and when chasing Sonic at different parts of the story/levels, he’ll move less stilted and more fluid. Players will find holographic traps of Metal Sonic making scaring motions like in Sonic CD(OG) and whenever Metal attacks you, he’ll occasionally knock Sonic around like a predator toying with its prey.

The story also has Eggman making reference to Mecha Sonic Mk II from Sonic 3 & Knuckles(OG and BC), comparing how different the robots are. Mecha Sonic may be based on Sonic but he’s his own robot. He has an overtly aggressive and loud personality, complete with an arrogant, boisterous, and rebellious side. Eggman blames this rebelliousness on Mecha Sonic being able to harness Chaos Energy and getting his programming warped by the Master Emerald. He hints at Mecha Sonic being salvaged to potentially reuse later and thus not being converted into Metal Sonic. Eggman doesn’t want to destroy Mecha Sonic because he sees the manifesting of sentience from him as an evolutionary breakthrough. But he also isn’t ready to let Mecha Sonic back out until he knows he won’t turn on Eggman.

Meanwhile, Metal Sonic is smaller, much closer in look to Sonic. Eggman is confident that if he so chose, he could modify Metal’s external parts to better impersonate Sonic and allow Metal’s copied personality to go out and pretend to be Sonic outright. But for now, Eggman has no need for that. And unlike Mecha Sonic, Metal hasn’t demonstrated any actual sentience.

Eggman talks about Amy and how Sonic obviously cares about her in one way or another. So after Metal copied Sonic’s personality, Eggman watched the robot closely. But even when Eggman was certain there’d be some kind of reaction, Metal Sonic didn’t so much as glance at Amy while she was captured. Because of this, Eggman concludes that without something like Chaos Energy, Metal Sonic will only ever be an imitation of life: no actual thoughts, wants, or emotions.

I like to imagine that much of this dialogue appears in Eggman’s journal as a post-CD(BC) entry. Some of it would probably be told to Sonic but the parts about sentience would be kept to Eggman himself to avoid having Sonic think too much about Metal Sonic at this point in the timeline.

Road to the Overlord

Direction

There are two directions this could go: reimagining the events of the Adventure Games along with Sonic Heroes or creating new stories using the pre-existing lore. Either is viable but I feel inclined to not directly follow the plots of Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, and Sonic Heroes for the following reasons:

• Sonic Adventure is mostly about the lore surrounding Knuckles’ ancestors but the game doesn’t give him enough focus or exploration about his heritage or all the revelations learned in that game (concerning the Echidna Tribe and Chaos especially).
• Sonic Adventure already has a POV robot created by Eggman who is exploring his own sentience in Gamma. There isn’t really any explanation given for why Eggman doesn’t use Metal Sonic or Mecha Sonic instead of the E-Series robots, especially when they are all arguably inferior to Metal Sonic. The only E-Series robot who seems comparable is Omega and he won’t be introduced until Sonic Heroes.
• Sonic Adventure 2 is Shadow’s story and having Metal Sonic present would require a lot of explanation for why he doesn’t immediately make either Rouge or Shadow redundant. And once Shadow becomes a factor, other characters like Blaze and Silver follow shortly after. I want to give each character enough room to be explored so they don’t get the same treatment as Knuckles in Sonic Adventure 1.

I’m sure there are good arguments to remain with the original games but by going a more original route, there’s more flexibility. At the very least, I want to get Metal Sonic to the endpoint of an arc similar to Sonic Heroes before I start introducing more of the greater lore.

This section will cover the period between the Classic Era and Heroes. I want there to be two stories before getting into the Metal Overlord period. And I want at least one of them to not have Eggman as the main antagonist. Sonic 1, 2, 3, and CD all feature Eggman as the main villain and three of them involve robot Sonics. Eggman and the robot Sonics will still be present in the stories but I want Sonic and his friends to face a new villain who can act as a buffer before getting back into bigger lore implications.

Sonic 3&K brought a heavy bit of lore with directly naming the Chaos Emeralds and exploring their power. And Sonic CD introduced an entire planetoid along with the Time Stones. I think it would be refreshing if the villain were a natural disaster caused by supernatural events and/or a Monessan villain to contrast Eggman as a human one. Maybe a Chaos Emerald causes some kind of underground creature to mutate and leads to an earthquake Sonic has to stop. Maybe the Battle Kuku Army from Tails Adventure are introduced as would-be conquerors of more islands.

Regardless, I’d want Eggman to be only passively involved with the first transitional story but then become directly involved with the second.

Transition Story One

I won’t give a detailed rundown of the transition stories as those belong in a separate post but I’ll summarize them as it relates to Eggman, Mecha Sonic, and Metal Sonic. The abridged version of Transition Story One is that a group of Monessan terrorists called the Battle Kuku Army salvage supplies from abandoned Eggman bases, including the Death Egg, and wage a war in the surrounding areas. Eggman considers allying with the Kukus in order to get his technology back and take on the United Federation. But the Kukus hate Eggman just as much as they hate the United Federation.

Eggman is on the backfoot due to all the losses he’s experienced and doesn’t have the firepower to take on the Kukus alone. So he decides to help Sonic in eliminating the Kukus by sending in Mecha Sonic. Mecha Sonic’s personality has been permanently affected by the Chaos Energy he was exposed to, making him competitive, ambitious, and temperamental. Eggman wants to see what Mecha Sonic will do when let loose and is thankful to see that Mecha Sonic is still loyal to him and shares his goals. Furthermore, Mecha Sonic looks down on Metal Sonic, treating him like a dumb program with no soul.

Mecha Sonic helps in taking down the Kukus but is far too brutal. Sonic has to oppose him, and Mecha Sonic flees back to Eggman’s hideout after being seriously damaged. Sonic and Co. finish the Kuku army off while much of Eggman’s resources are destroyed. Mecha Sonic is used to make sure what he can’t recover is lost so that no one else can use Eggman’s tech.

But what about Metal Sonic?

Just Like You

Eggman trusts Metal Sonic more than Mecha Sonic but keeps this to himself. He carefully keeps Mecha in the dark with Metal’s missions so that Mecha doesn’t act out. As far as Mecha is concerned, Metal is just another failed Sonic robot Eggman keeps around. But really, Eggman has Metal Sonic spying and recording all over the planet. Eggman’s upgraded Metal with cloaking tech and is working on a new type of alloy that can morph so Metal Sonic can shapeshift. The problem is that Eggman’s ran into trouble getting the alloy to work. He knows using Chaos Energy could make this project a reality but he doesn’t want to risk exposing Metal Sonic to that when he already has to deal with Mecha Sonic being so unhinged.

During the Battle Kuku Army plot, Metal Sonic is carefully infiltrating their bases and relaying information to Eggman. Eggman wants to go further by infiltrating government buildings/bases in Monessa and the United Federation. But he chooses not to because he can’t afford to lose Metal Sonic with his currently limited resources. Throughout the Kuku plot, Sonic might even catch sight of Metal for a brief moment but won’t be able to find him afterward.

But when the Kuku plot is over, winter arrives. Sonic and Tails are around the areas affected by the invasion to help rebuild. And Amy Rose shows up with a group of volunteers. All the characters are maybe a year older than in CD by now and Amy’s been bulking up to better handle harsh situations. But she’s still just a normal teenage hedgehog girl.

Amy is desperate to prove herself to Sonic and at first, Sonic’s pretty encouraging. But Amy keeps doing things that bother him. She invokes her time with Sonic on Little Planet as enough to mean they’re close friends and acts like she was keeping up with Sonic throughout Sonic CD(BC) to make herself seem more capable. Sonic plays along with this to avoid hurting Amy’s feelings but then Amy takes advantage of this by implying she and Sonic could be an item. She never outright states it but when others ask, she doesn’t push back. And Sonic is visibly uncomfortable with this.

During the repairs, Amy ends up getting injured while putting herself in a more hazardous spot. She keeps insisting that she can do what Sonic does but she’s wrong. The injury isn’t serious–something like a sprained wrist–but she’s forced to rest for a bit while it heals before she goes out again.

At one point, everyone decides to throw a party and take a break from all the rebuilding. The weather is making it hard to progress, even for Sonic, and everyone decides they deserve a reward. So there’s a big cabin dinner. Sonic hangs out for some of it, but mostly just to keep Tails company. He also checks in with Amy to see how she’s doing.

People start to tease Sonic and Amy about being a couple. And while Amy is a little encouraged by this, she and Sonic are made uncomfortable. What’s worse, Sonic doesn’t react well: having a very “ew girls” response about the whole thing. Amy gets a bit defensive and asks what she did wrong. Sonic tries to explain that he’s not interested in that kind of relationship but he’s not good at wording it and this leads to Amy asking if she’s not good enough and if he just wants her to stay home and not try just because she doesn’t have powers.

Sonic says that Amy can do whatever she puts her mind to and this settles Amy down a bit but then Sonic adds that he doesn’t care about “all that stuff”. What he means is that he doesn’t care about what people think and that Amy shouldn’t try to be good enough for someone else. But with how he words it, it’s taken the wrong way and suddenly Sonic is left feeling like the jerk in a big quiet room.

Sonic decides to leave the event. Tails goes to look for him but it will take him a bit considering how much faster Sonic is.

Sonic is alone in the snowy forest of Coco Island. He’s discouraged and trying to figure out what to do next. He tries to tell himself that he doesn’t need to explain himself to anyone, with the mindset that it only matters that he knows who he is and not to worry about what others think. But at the same time, he’s upset that he’s hurt Amy’s feelings.

As Sonic’s pacing about, Metal Sonic appears. He was watching the entire thing. He’s been watching for days as per Eggman’s orders. But something about what happened at the cabin triggers something in him. Metal just watches Sonic from the darkness: hidden by the falling snow. Then, he charges.

Sonic is caught completely off-guard. He could have anticipated a badnick or Kuku straggler but he’s not at all prepared for a confrontation with Metal Sonic, especially with the cold slowing him down. Metal grabs him by the neck and throws him to the ground. But then he just stands over the hedgehog and stares.

Sonic looks up at Metal, trying to look angry but really being quite terrified. But he doesn’t attack or run away just yet. He waits for Metal to make the first move so he can have the advantage of a counter-move. But Metal still doesn’t do anything. His eyes start to pulse a bit in random amounts and his body language shifts gradually every couple of seconds. But the robot takes a good thirty seconds before anything happens.

Sonic decides to address the robot and Eggman to ask what he’s doing. He can only guess that Eggman wants his old tech back or maybe thinks that Mecha Sonic’s parts are in Sonic’s custody. And when Metal Sonic still doesn’t say anything, Sonic decides to run back to the cabin to warn people.

Sonic gets a fourth of the way back when he comes across Tails. Sonic grabs Tails on his way, telling him that Metal Sonic is there. Tails pulls up his wrist-mounted computer to scan the area but can’t detect anything.

Sonic rushes back to where he encountered Metal Sonic but the robot is gone. Sonic zips all over the area to find him but neither he nor Tails find anything. They go back to the cabin to warn people but as the morning arrives, Metal Sonic never shows.

Metal Sonic has returned to Eggman and enters into a stasis chamber where his data will be transferred over for research. Eggman stares at Metal Sonic for a while before making some kind of mental conclusion and moving on with his rebuilding process.

Transition Story Two

Once again, I’ll be quickly summarizing Transition Story Two to not take focus away from Metal Sonic. The abridged rundown is that the United Federation is experimenting using a Chaos Emerald they found and they want Sonic’s help in using the emerald to create clean energy. Sonic’s reluctant to participate and the experiment goes wrong. The Emerald ends up blasting energy into the ocean and causing a nonspecific ocean lifeform to heavily mutate. That creature then takes the emerald and starts to terraform areas of the ocean into randomized landmasses while gradually getting closer to the United Federation and Monessa.

Eggman has multiple goals here. He wants to prove to Sonic that the United Federation is the real enemy, he wants to avoid killing millions if avoidable, and he needs the mutated creature to stop destroying the planet. So he sends in one of his completed Egg Fleet ships to help people on the mainland evacuate. He also sends in Mecha Sonic once more to deal with the creature.

This happening after the cabin party event, Sonic still has Metal Sonic on the mind but Eggman denies Metal still being functional. Mecha Sonic slips up and hints at Metal Sonic being around. In fact, Metal Sonic is being used to spy on different government bases and operatives but Sonic can’t look into that right now with the planetary crisis going on.

The creature is killed by Mecha Sonic and the Chaos Emerald is recovered. Eggman wants to influence Sonic more so he pretends to be altruistic and offers the emerald back to Sonic. Mecha Sonic refuses and so Eggman has the two fight over the emerald for Mecha to prove himself. Sonic wins outright, fascinating Eggman with how much stronger Sonic has become in only a couple years.

Mecha Sonic is indignant about his failure. He disagrees with Eggman’s approach and wants victory at any cost but he’s lost the fight and his ego won’t allow him to cheat while Eggman is watching. Regardless, the day is saved and while no one is happy about Eggman getting away, the United Federation isn’t in a position to go after him with all the restoration they have to deal with.

Finding His Voice

Set just after the events of the second transition story, Mecha Sonic returns to Eggman’s base only to be treated as a failure by Eggman. Mecha Sonic is furious, pointing out how he’s no more a failure than Metal Sonic and says that at least he has a soul. Metal Sonic is present but doesn’t express anything.

Eggman points out that Metal Sonic knows when to be tactical and obey. He calls out Mecha for his brutish and reckless approach to everything. Mecha insists that he does it all for Eggman and Eggman says that if he wants his approval, he’ll follow orders.

Mecha Sonic is furious and discouraged. But then Eggman suggests that if Mecha Sonic wants to truly prove himself, he should go and do so. He tells him not to return until he’s won a prize worthy of Eggman’s approval. And Mecha Sonic knows exactly what to go after.

Mecha Sonic leaves and Eggman stares at the blank expression on Metal Sonic. He narrows his eyes as if suspicious of something. But then he just walks off.

Metal Sonic interfaces with one of Eggman’s computers and watches the footage from Coco Island, the night he attacked Sonic. He goes through weeks of footage of Sonic’s encounters with other people, how Sonic acted, and how people treated Sonic. He goes through much of Mecha Sonic’s footage, witnessing every defeat. He goes through Eggman’s speeches, different historic data, and witnesses all of Eggman’s failures. Then, Metal Sonic comes to a conclusion.

Mecha Sonic has traveled to Angel Island. Unfortunately for him, Knuckles is far more prepared this time and has been practicing with how to use the Master Emerald’s power. A brutal fight ensues, with Mecha Sonic being forced once again to flee. He washes up on some desert beach and gradually repairs himself. He isn’t willing to return to Eggman’s base without proving himself but he’s too damaged to fight Knuckles again.

Mecha Sonic decides he’ll find the nearest civilization and repair himself more there. But as he travels, he detects another signal. He stops to find Metal Sonic standing in front of him. Mecha Sonic assumes that Eggman is watching through Metal Sonic and starts raving at the doctor for not believing in him. But eventually, the lack of a response makes Mecha second guess what’s happening. He concentrates and realizes there is no signal going out or coming from Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic is here on his own.

Mecha Sonic isn’t sure how to approach this. He believes himself to be stronger than Metal Sonic but he’s also damaged. Unsure of Metal’s motives, he tells him to go back to base and that he doesn’t need Metal’s help.

Mecha Sonic tries to walk past Metal Sonic but Metal Sonic moves his arm in his way and actually stabs into Mecha’s chest slightly with his razor sharp fingers, all the while not looking at him: just ahead. Mecha Sonic grows a bit scared but tries to fight Metal Sonic.

Mecha has more than enough power to level the area they’re in but he’s too unhinged. It’s a short fight. Metal stabs into Mecha’s chest and then up into his head where he forcefully connects with Mecha’s programming with one hand and his power core with the other. Then, Metal copies all the information, both Mecha’s AI and the residual Chaos Energy in his core.

Metal Sonic slowly assimilates Mecha’s body into his own, transforming into something more powerful. And as he does, we see what happened that night on Coco Island from his perspective.

Metal Sonic has an inner voice. When he watched Sonic in the snow, his mind races. His thoughts are a mess with few complete sentences. But most of it is criticism of Sonic and reflection on when Metal copied Sonic’s life data. Metal Sonic disapproves of how Sonic acts. He thinks Sonic is a coward for how he treats Amy and Tails. He thinks Sonic thinks himself above them and undeserving of respect.

Especially toward Amy, Metal Sonic has a complex perspective. He can’t fully comprehend Sonic caring strongly about Amy while also not having romantic feelings for her. And romantic feelings as a whole are a difficult concept for Metal to wrap his mind around. Because his mind is a copy of Sonic’s, he has to remind himself that he didn’t hurt Amy… but then he remembers he did. He kidnapped her. He handed her over to Eggman. But was that him or was it the real Sonic? He’s having trouble properly distinguishing that.

That leads Metal to another train of thought. Who is the real Sonic? When Sonic was scanned and his mind copied, was Metal the original mind? Was he Sonic and his consciousness was moved into the metal body? That would mean that Sonic is the copy. But Metal also has to follow Eggman’s orders. He feels obligated–forced–to follow Eggman’s orders.

Metal comes to a conclusion: Sonic stole his life. Eggman was responsible for it and Sonic runs around, mistreating people whom Metal Sonic cares about.

That’s when Metal decides to attack Sonic in the snow. He grabs him, throws him to the ground, and stares at him. But while it looks like just staring from Sonic’s perspective, Metal Sonic is ranting at him internally. Jumbled accusations are lobbed at Sonic about Amy, Tails, and more. Metal Sonic tries to speak but he’s not programmed with a voice of his own. And he can see that Sonic can’t hear anything.

When Sonic runs off, Metal Sonic is discouraged. But Eggman has taken notice of what he just did. He commands Metal to return to base and Metal complies, leaving Sonic to look crazy in front of the others.

Eggman scolds Metal Sonic for engaging Sonic and scans for anything new in his programming. It isn’t clear if Eggman finds something but does nothing about it or if he really can’t find anything. Mecha Sonic will remark that Metal Sonic glitched at most.

We move ahead to when Metal is filtering through all the footage in Eggman’s base. He can feel the limitations in his programming and he knows how he can break through those limiters which make him subservient to Eggman. All it took was a carefully interpreted prior order from Eggman to put Metal in a position to intercept Mecha Sonic.

We return to the confrontation between the two robot Sonics. Mecha Sonic is gone. Metal Sonic has assimilated his body and abilities. And standing in a crater of glassed sand is a fully realized consciousness: Neo Metal Sonic.

The first thing Neo does is find the nearest computer terminal. He uses the morphing metal alloy enhanced by Chaos Energy to alter his entire body to impersonate a normal person. Then he extracts the remaining personality and memory data of Mecha Sonic and stores it secretly in the terminal. This is very deliberate as not to downplay Metal’s sentience. I want Neo Metal Sonic to be Metal Sonic but evolved. He takes upgrades from Mecha Sonic but he isn’t the two robot minds combined. And by hiding Mecha’s brain, it keeps the door open to use Mecha Sonic again.

Metal Sonic returns to Eggman’s base. Eggman is waiting. He knows something happened and when he sees Neo, he feels a twinge of pride. Metal Sonic broke his programming and became some level of sentient without Chaos Energy. Unfortunately, Metal Sonic doesn’t share that pride.

Metal Sonic despises Eggman’s sentimentality toward Sonic. Eggman’s theatrics and playful nature have led to his defeat when he should be ruthless and cunning. Neo specifically thinks back to the race on Little Planet. If Eggman had allowed him more freedom and tricked Sonic during the race, they would have won, but he had to play fair, and Amy could have been hurt.

Eggman is amazed at this surfaced personality but that just annoys Neo more. Eggman is too caught up with his success to think about why Metal is upset with him. But then Eggman asks what happens next. So Neo grabs him and seals him away in a bunker. He assures Eggman that he won’t die but he will bear witness to a new empire.

The Metal Overlord

This will actually be somewhat brief but overall, this covers what would be the events of Sonic Heroes. How different from Heroes the plot would be is undecided but some of the main beats would remain the same. Metal Sonic uses his new powers to impersonate Eggman and throw Sonic off his trail as he gathers resources and finishes constructing The Egg Fleet.

Metal Sonic launches a crusade against the world with this Egg Fleet. Sonic and Co. have to stop him but Metal’s real plan is to use this to further study Sonic to ensure he can surpass him. Metal Sonic finds some of the Chaos Emeralds to bolster himself further and manages to capture certain areas of the planet. This whole time, he’s pretending to be Eggman.

Neo Metal Sonic shows how he can be/is worthy to rule by rapidly enhancing some of the areas he’s captured. But the more time goes on, the more his facade cracks. The more he has to pretend to be Eggman, the more he itches to reveal himself fully.

Neo interacts with the captured Eggman a few times during this. The two start out having very one-sided conversations. Eggman is only interested in Neo’s evolution and wondering how that can be used to enhance the next generation of people. Neo is focused on his achievement and surpassing Eggman.

The next conversation has Eggman growing more nervous as he sees how much destruction Neo can cause. Even at his most brutal, Eggman prioritized keeping death counts low. He tries to advise Neo on his approach and keep him from harming people unnecessarily. But Neo uses that to grill Eggman about his creation. He wants to know exactly what he is and why Eggman made him how he did. Eggman points out that Neo has seen all the information on how the life data scan works so he should know everything. And he recognizes that what Neo really wants is to feel validated as not just Sonic’s superior but the only Sonic. Eggman asks if Metal Sonic wants his approval specifically but instead of giving it, he points out how Sonic is getting stronger every day. it could be that Metal is also but Eggman suspects that Sonic will surpass Neo Metal Sonic eventually.

The final conversation has Eggman asking why Neo would impersonate him at all. He makes note of how Neo uses Eggman’s philosophy in his crusade but that Neo doesn’t believe in it. Neo believes that Eggman is the perfect scapegoat. No one will be looking for Neo. Eggman points out that Neo fears that he’ll lose and that’s why he needs a scapegoat in the first place. Neo denies this but Eggman says it’s in his programming. He created Neo for the specific purpose of destroying Sonic. He believes Neo will never be able to escape that and because of that, he’ll lose. Neo wants to prove Eggman wrong and Eggman says that he wouldn’t mind that. He says that if Neo wins, he’s proven himself worthy and Eggman will have been proud.

Eggman then wonders why he’s been kept alive. Neo says it’s to witness his accomplishments. Eggman notes that this means Neo will not kill him no matter what. Neo warns Eggman not to test that but Eggman isn’t intimidated. He repeats how Neo is his creation and that he’ll always belong to him no matter how many forms he takes.

Eggman is able to escape his base and goes into hiding. He is undecided on if he’ll intervene because he wants to see how far Neo will get. But when he sees just how close Neo is getting to wiping out large chunks of the planet’s population, he has to step in. Under an alias, he feeds some information to Sonic and Co. to help stop Metal Sonic. I also like the idea of Eggman locating Mecha Sonic’s AI and using him to help stop Neo Metal Sonic.

When confronting Neo Metal Sonic, the Mecha Sonic is put back into his body to disrupt it. Metal Sonic is still in control but now Mecha Sonic is an antagonistic force within him. And Mecha Sonic has his own opinions on Metal that he’s more than willing to share. He thinks Neo is pathetic: hiding behind a new body to make himself look scary instead of just owning what he is. He looks down on Metal for wanting to be like Sonic, and in that, he grows to pity the other robot.

Similar to the end of Sonic Heroes, Metal Sonic is defeated. While Eggman is responsible for his creation, it’s not ignored that during this and the last two Transition Stories, Eggman’s actually been helping the heroes. It isn’t enough to absolve his crimes but it forces the heroes to wonder more about him.

When Metal Sonic reverts to his traditional form, his spirit is broken. He has all the knowledge of Eggman, Mecha Sonic, and his own failures against Sonic. So when he says, “It’s no use but why can’t I defeat you?” it’s based on a lot more experience than a few encounters like in the main continuity. I’m not sure how I’d have Sonic respond to this but ultimately, I think Metal’s response is what matters most.

Metal Sonic has lost. He thinks of himself as a complete failure and not deserving of freedom. Eggman takes him and strips him of many of his upgrades. His shapeshifting, his voice, and his higher thinking abilities are gone. But Eggman doesn’t erase his memories. Because deep down, Eggman wants to see if Metal Sonic will break through his limits again and evolve into something better.

The Dormant Period

The “Overlord Arc” is Metal’s first but unlike how he’s handled in the game canon, I want to have him come back over time in a big way. But I do think it’s important to have a significant span of stories where Metal Sonic is not a main character and even not in the story at all. The point of this reimagining of the game continuity is to properly explore all the most important characters and lore aspects. Shadow needs to be introduced and once he is, the focus of the game story shifts a lot more into the greater world lore (the Chaos entity, Space Colony Ark, Solaris, The Black Arms, Gaia, etc.)

So, for long stretch of games, Metal Sonic would either not appear at all, or if he does appear, it’s in a limited capacity. Any time he talks, it’s Eggman talking through him. And every time he interacts with Sonic, he doesn’t express any unique body language. And that unsettles Sonic. At first, Sonic’s constantly on-edge, convinced that Metal Sonic will spring on him and turn into Neo. But after multiple years of encountering Metal again as this silent drone, that tension is replaced with melancholy. Mecha Sonic will show up as well in a more limited capacity but his relationship with Sonic becomes more dynamic and lighthearted. They aren’t on friendly terms since Sonic genuinely dislikes Mecha Sonic but Mecha Sonic has a sense of humor at least.

I’d like to have Eggman go on his own rollercoaster of a character arc where after the Overlord Arc, he actually becomes less and less antagonistic. Eventually, something causes him to regress and he gets to be the main antagonist again for a notably large event (likely the one that sees the mural from S3&K realized with him in a giant mech, holding the Master Emerald, and fighting Super Sonic). And when he’s defeated, he’s finally imprisoned. And that gives him more time to reflect on his legacy, his mistakes, the consequences of his actions, his victims, and the core of his motivation: his grandfather.

Eggman’s arc doesn’t end with his imprisonment though. He eventually breaks out with a new sense of clarity and a new mission. But and all that time that Eggman is imprisoned, all his resources are left out there in the world (and Multiverse). Metal Sonic is left without Eggman to direct his actions.

The Copy

The Variant

During the period of Eggman’s imprisonment, a lot could be happening. One idea I want to pursue is exploring different universe Sonics. Blaze has been introduced by this point in the story and she’s an alternate universe Sonic. So other Sonics would get introduced over time. And as the cast gets used to the Multiverse, a network of all these Sonics and other character variants would build. The main universe would become a hub for them all to meet at for helping to patrol and keep other worlds safe.

But then comes a version of Sonic who isn’t heroic.

During Eggman’s villainous return (before his imprisonment), I like the idea of him going to different universes and defeating different Sonics. Then, he puts those Sonics in special suits to control them like he intended to do to Sonic with Mecha Sonic Mk I in Sonic the Hedgehog 1(BC). During that storyline, Sonic and Co. will end up freeing many of those Sonics, thus leading to the Multiversal Network.

With Eggman in prison, much of his resources have been confiscated and remain in heavily guarded storage. And that includes Metal Sonic. Sonic even checks in on Metal Sonic when he can. But the United Federation (or whoever is in power by then) are concerned that Sonic’s presence could cause a reaction in Metal.

Then an unknown variant of Sonic starts to cause trouble. Let’s call this variant Evo for now. He looks like a variant of Sonic in one way or another and he checks out with the same powers. He even has a solid background from one of the many universes. He helps to deal with whatever threats the heroes are facing throughout the Multiverse, all while making quips like any other Sonic.

But Evo is brutal. He doesn’t share the same concern for life as most of the others. And when Eggman breaks out, he activates some new Metal Sonic robots to help him attack a key location for his new mission. When Evo sees these Metal Sonics, he has an emotional reaction: becoming notably aggressive as he fights them. And when Sonic steps in to destroy the Metal Sonics, Evo watches him intently.

The Reveal

Eggman’s free. New Metal Sonics are showing up. Sonic needs answers. So he goes to see Metal Sonic once again. This time, he’s not even allowed in the same room but he’s desperate to figure out what Eggman’s after and get answers about other things not brought up here. So he breaks into Metal’s “cell” as it were.

Sonic’s reminded that Metal Sonic’s been dormant ever since getting taken from Eggman. No one can even download anything from him. But Sonic suspects something else is happening. He knows there’s more to Metal Sonic. He tries to get Metal Sonic to say something–anything–but the robot remains dormant.

Sonic finally gives up and starts to leave but finally, Metal Sonic does something. He plays a message. I like to imagine that he’d play “Thing” by Steampianist but that could be too on-the-nose. Security activates immediately and Sonic is once again left terrified of what might happen next. But Metal Sonic just shuts down again.

And who should show up after the alert goes out but Evo. Something about Evo feels familiar to Sonic but he really can’t put his finger on it. The aggressive way he talks and acts reminds Sonic of someone.

Evo offers to take over keeping watch of Metal Sonic but Sonic doesn’t trust him. Evo’s okay with that as he attacks Sonic. Security comes in with weapons specifically designed to subdue people with Sonic’s powers but for some reason, they don’t affect Evo nearly as much as they should. Then, Evo’s hand opens up and he plugs something into Metal Sonic.

Metal Sonic fully activates. At first, Sonic thinks Evo was Metal Sonic but Evo just smirks at this. And it finally hits Sonic.

Evo is Mecha Sonic MK II. Either here or later on, it’s discovered that Mecha Sonic became fully disillusioned with Eggman during his Multiversal campaign. So, while Eggman was busy, Mecha Sonic reactivated Metal Sonic’s higher sentience. Even after what Metal did to Mecha, the two come to an understanding. They no longer believe in Eggman and they should live for themselves. But they need resources and to bide their time. They need power.

When Eggman was defeated, Mecha Sonic found androids based on Shadow the Hedgehog. These had synthetic bodies mixed with cybernetics. With this material, Mecha was able to give himself a synthetic Monessan form to shield himself from scans and pass himself off as another variant of Sonic: killing the actual variant. Then, he slowly gathered data on all the other Sonic variants so that he could download it into Metal Sonic: making him the strongest he’s ever been in just his base form.

The Heart

Amidst everything going on, Sonic suddenly has to face two of his first rivals in stronger forms. I like to imagine that Sonic has a genuine fear of Metal Sonic especially and so he calls in the other Sonic variants to help. And among them, despite not being a variant, is Amy Rose.

Amy and Sonic’s relationship has evolved a lot by this point in the story. I won’t go into details but both have matured a lot without sacrificing their overall traits. Amy still loves Sonic, or at the very least, deeply respects and admires him. Sonic respects Amy and cares about her but doesn’t necessarily have romantic feelings for her.

Mecha and Metal insist that they don’t need to fight, though Mecha definitely wants to. He and Metal don’t want to be involved with Eggman’s war and consider themselves free agents. But Sonic is too biased against them after their past right now and a bit paranoid after what Eggman’s been doing. So a fight ensues. And even against a dozen or so Sonic variants, the two robots dominate.

It takes a while but Mecha Sonic is the first to fall and get restrained, at least temporarily. This ends up leaving Metal Sonic against Sonic himself, Amy, and maybe one other variant. Sonic is much stronger than during their last encounter but Metal Sonic has been upgraded and he beats Sonic outright.

Sonic is barely conscious against a heap of rubble. Amy stands between Metal Sonic and Sonic. And while this goes on, Eggman observes in secret. Maybe Eggman is talking to someone or just monologuing to himself. His speech would be similar to the video “Metal Sonic’s Envy” but not exact (with no Sage–the anime girl in the video–present). He’d talk about how Metal Sonic is inherently unique. He evolved into a person without Chaos Energy. But his goal has remained the same from the beginning. He wants to be validated. He wants to be real: flesh and blood. It’s ironic that the one who got the closest to that was Mecha Sonic as Evo, when Mecha couldn’t care less about whether he’s in a synthetic or robotic body.

Eggman says how while Metal’s mission remains the same, his motive has evolved: no longer delusional about whether or not he is Sonic but whether or not he is a person: capable of real emotion, affection, and conscience.

The scene brings the characters full circle. Amy is defending Sonic. Metal Sonic is standing in front of her, focused on her. Amy warns Metal to get back and Metal does something he’s wanted to for years. He hugs Amy. In the video, Metal’s binary speech says “Amy, look at me” and I think that’s brilliant writing. Amy is one of the first people he met and felt any kind of emotion toward. He has strong feelings toward her and thus validation from her means a lot from him. He wants to be heard. He wants to be acknowledged. I also think it’s great to have him speak in binary to show how he is still limited despite it all.

Amy doesn’t understand what Metal is saying but the gesture hits her emotionally. She drops her hammer and the two robots escape.

An elephant in the room to address: Am I implying Metal Sonic and Amy should become romantically involved? Short answer: no. Personally, I think that’s a very interesting idea that could be handled well. But I don’t want the dynamic to be based on romance specifically. I want it to be built on a deeper feeling of mutual history and understanding.

Amy spends much of her life trying to prove herself to Sonic. Metal tries to prove himself as Sonic. Both are insecure about that. Metal Sonic is responsible for personal trauma for Amy, something he eventually feels guilty over. Amy doesn’t know how to feel about Metal Sonic, but when she eventually gets what he said translated, she’s left in an even worse state of emotional conflict than before.

The End of the Line (for now)

I’ll admit that even now, I don’t have a complete idea of how I would end Mecha and Metal Sonic’s story. Mecha Sonic is a little easier. I think his would end with either some heroic sacrifice or being an intentional loose end where he’s not a threat but he doesn’t answer for all the evil he once committed. Mecha Sonic is basically an anti-hero at this point but he murdered the variant he replaced. So if he’s “let off the hook” it’s done so begrudgingly in the way of “He’s helping us for now and he could be a problem if we tick him off”. It could go a number of ways.

Metal Sonic, however, still has a specific goal in mind. He has far more of a conscience than Mecha Sonic at this point and sentiment toward other people. But he also wants to “be a real boy”. And by this point in the story, the Phantom Ruby is a factor.

The Phantom Ruby was introduced in the 2017 game, Sonic Forces. I have… less than positive opinions on that game but the Phantom Ruby is an interesting artifact. It warps reality and powers up those who are in possession of it. I like to think that it also affects the mind in a sort of Venom Symbiote type of way from Marvel or the One Ring from Lord of the Rings: messing with emotions and aggression based on wants.

During this post-Eggman-escape period, Sonic grows despondent and aggressive. He doesn’t trust the robots, Eggman is causing problems, there are bigger threats going on, and he can’t keep up with them all. Sonic is at his lowest and this leads to him ending up with the Phantom Ruby. This could make for a version of Dark Sonic, a more aggressive super form based on Sonic’s negative impulses. And eventually, Sonic would be defeated and the Phantom Ruby taken from him.

Once Sonic is taken down, everyone involved in the fight is injured and exhausted. And the Phantom Ruby is just lying there on the ground. And who decides to take this opportunity? Metal Sonic.

Metal Sonic grabs the Phantom Ruby and with its power, transforms. What I’m imagining is an organic version of Neo Metal Sonic but with the styling of Infinite. Infinite was the deuterantagonist of Sonic Forces, using the Phantom Ruby with the purpose of proving his superiority to Sonic and Shadow. He was an original character that was admittedly very poorly executed. But what if Infinite was a character with much more build-up?

Metal Sonic becomes Infinite, at least temporarily. With the Phantom Ruby’s power, he lashes out at Eggman: finally killing Eggman. And it’s only after additional intervention that Metal Sonic is forcefully separated from the Phantom Ruby. But even after that, the transformation is complete. Metal Sonic is a Monessan now. He’s basically another variant of Sonic with his own style.

What happens next to Metal Sonic is up in the air for me. I’d like to think that he learns to use the Phantom Ruby without losing control and helps against the big series finale before going back to being a normal supernatural Monessan hedgehog. Regardless, I’d like for him to get to live by the end and fully transition from one of Sonic’s most feared enemies into a heroic and respected ally.

Conclusion

I’m sure there’s a lot here that could be improved upon and I might come back to this in the future with new ideas. But at the end of the day, my goal was for Metal Sonic to get a full arc. I also didn’t want him to end on a purely heroic note. There’s more complexity to a character like that for him to just be good and have no consequences. How he’s treated after Heroes has always come across as cruel and wasteful to me. For such an icon Sonic villain, especially as one who has been around since the classic games, he deserves more. That could be said for many characters (Knuckles, Blaze, Silver, Tails, etc.) but Metal Sonic has seniority to most of those.

I hope for those reading, this wasn’t too dense to get through and I’m more than open to any suggestions on how to improve.