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“I’m sorry, Espio!”
Amy swung her hammer one final time. Lightning struck the ground, and Espio was gone, his last two rings left flickering on the ground.
She stood still, panting, as Metal checked the list of players. That left Sonic, Shadow, Vector, Gemerl, and Blaze still opposing them. Shadow and Vector were still on their yellow lives, so it would be wise to prioritize those two.
She was about to make this known to Amy when she spoke again. “Another death for the Red Queen,” she said. She lifted her hammer and looked sadly at it. For all the time Metal had known her, the face of the weapon had been a clean yellow, merely scuffed now and then by the robots it destroyed. Now that it had been wielded against flesh and blood Mobians, though, it was stained with a brownish red, a mark of the war she had been forced into.
“How many more do we have to kill before all this violence can end, my hand?” Amy breathed.
“You are winning, my lady,” Metal responded. Ever since Amy had been brought to her red life by her own orders, the pair had worked to form the Red Army and destroy all who opposed it. The lines between factions had been made clear thanks to them. Traitors had been revealed, enemies had been made. And then those enemies were killed, one by one.
Silver had burned their banner. They shot him.
Rouge had refused to bow. They struck her down.
Jet had betrayed them. They brought him to a swift end.
Now with Espio’s elimination, their lead continued to grow. It was only a matter of time before Amy, the Red Queen, reigned victorious.
Metal thought Amy would take comfort in that fact. But instead, a pained expression overtook her face, and she collapsed to her knees. The crimson fabric of her cloak pooled on the ground around her.
“My lady?”
Amy lifted a gloved hand to touch her crown. The fabric came back stained red. “The blood’s dripping into my eyes…” she said. “I can’t see. I’ve been blinded by violence, my hand.”
Metal knelt down in front of her. She wasn’t programmed to comfort. All she knew was blood, death, destruction. She knew how best to tear a person limb from limb. She knew exactly how to make a death as slow and painful as it could be. She knew how to run as far and fast as she could, never stopping until she’d caught and destroyed her target.
Gentleness, care, love— things like that simply weren’t in her nature.
But as Amy’s red eyes began to well with tears, Metal found herself lifting her clawed hands to gingerly cup her queen’s face.
“What’s the world come to…?” Amy asked. “We all started out as friends. You and I built up our little business…”
“We had a goal, and we worked to achieve it.”
Amy smiled sadly. “It was a lovely place.” She clenched her hammer in her hands. “…And now we’ve become stone cold killers.”
She closed her eyes, and her body began to shake with sobs. Saltwater dripped down her cheeks. Metal grasped the hem of her own cloak and lifted it to Amy’s face, trying her best to wipe the tears without scraping her claws against her skin.
They stayed there for a while, letting Amy cry it out while the two of them soaked in each other’s presence. A few seconds in, Metal leaned forward so their foreheads were resting together.
With every one of Amy’s shaky breaths, a cloud of moisture fogged Metal’s visor. She made no protest; the lights of her yellow eyes only lingered silently on Amy’s upset face. Amy was Metal’s queen, and Metal was Amy’s hand. Metal lived to serve her. She would stay here with her, unmoving, for as long as Amy wanted her to.
It felt like hours before Amy finally pulled away and wiped her eyes. “Thank you,” she said. She took Metal’s hand and squeezed it gently. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“Anything, my lady,” Metal responded. She had repeated that phrase so many times over the past several weeks, to the point that it had become second nature. She was made to do two things: destroy, and stay loyal to her master. With no means of reaching Dr. Robotnik, she had found a new master. And she would obey her every command without fail.
Amy smiled gently. “Whatever else happens in this game… I’m glad you’ve been here with me, Metal. I couldn’t have asked for a better hand.”
Metal gazed into her eyes for another moment, then lifted Amy’s hand to the spot on her muzzle where a mouth should have been. She briefly pressed Amy’s gloved fingers against the cold metal in a reverent kiss.
Amy’s sorrowful smile brightened into something a little more genuine. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to the top of Metal’s head.
Metal nearly short-circuited. Amy’s lips were soft and warm, a stark contrast to Metal’s sharp, hostile exterior. Just as Metal wasn’t made to love, she wasn’t made to be loved. And yet, Amy treated her with such tenderness. The way she looked at her… it made Metal feel as if she could be a real, living person, not only capable, but worthy of love.
Amy wiped her eyes once again and stood up. “Come on,” she said. “We should go find Omega and Sally. We’ll be stronger as a team.”
Metal looked from the hand offered to her up to Amy’s smiling face. Blood dripped down from her crown into her pink quills, blending into the red of her cloak, staining her white gloves. It was quite a sight: sweet Amy Rose, overtaken by the bloodlust of a red life.
She was so beautiful.
Metal took Amy’s hand and stood up. They had a fight to return to, and they would surely be victorious.
The perfect queen.
The perfect hand.
They would bring the other players to their knees.