~Metallan Horizons~
by Amberspike-Sama
____________________________________________________________________________
Okay, for the credits and copyrights:
Silver Sonic, Metal Sonic, Robotnik, Sara and everybody else except Yral are © Sega. The versions of them depicted in this story, including Metal as a childlike android and my ‘hot’-looking Robotnik, are © myself, AS-Sama, derived from Sega’s originals.
Yral (pronounced Ree-al, or Ree-elle if you want it to sound more feminine) was originally a character designed by Redtailedhawk, then developed into what she is here by me. Therefore, I’ll say that Yral—original idea/design is © Redtailedhawk, and Yral—current is © AS-Sama.
The chapter quotes for this story were found at QuotationsPage.com. All are attributed to their rightful creators.
This story is © 2006 by AS-Sama. It may not be reproduced, or my ideas used in any way, shape or form. It is the product of a year or two of imagining and Rping between Redtailedhawk and I, not to mention an insane amount of hours spent over a keyboard, and I need you to respect that. ;)
____________________________________________________________________________
Forenote
-----------------------------
This is my answer to the gap between ideas and action - I will write it out.
Hortense Calisher
____________________________________________________________________________
As a writer, I tend to get three kinds of ideas.
The first is the kind that’s vaguely interesting, but that I can forget about and not feel too bad about the loss.
The second is the kind that tapes itself to my brain and won’t go away unless I do something about it. Oftentimes, the second type consists of visions that I simply sketch out to make them stop bugging me, or little scenes that I have to write. Small things, mainly.
The third kind is where most of my larger ideas end up. It consists of ideas that don’t bother me day in and day out to be put down, but that are so creative and interesting that I feel guilty not doing so. The idea for this fic sits in that third category, and has been there for about two years, to date.
My friend Redtailedhawk got me into Sonic a few summers ago, and the fandom has never truly left me. Like most people, we started out as your average fancharacterxrealcharacter-shipping n00bs that had crushes on the main figures of the series—I was a big Knuckles fangirl in particular. We made up bad fanfiction that never was written down, drew primitive art, and happily existed as mainstream, normal fans—that is, until Sonic Heroes came out, and Redtailedhawk fell head-over-heels in love with Metal Sonic.
That changed a lot. We drifted away from the main characters and became interested in the robots of the series, dropping our former crushes for a darker side of the series. I personally was fascinated by the fact that robots, vessels without personality and little characterization, could be given so much by those who adored them. To me, they were sketched outlines, open ground—characters that I could truly exercise my imagination in, mold to my interests. I created humorous, interesting traits for them, unique attributes that other people hadn’t thought of. Soon enough, I fell in love with them, my versions of the characters Sega had ignored. I liked our Metal Sonic, who was a mischievous n00b-killing gamer, the Robo Knux he had reprogrammed and made into a girly-girl, the devilish goth Tails Doll who ran around with a giant beetle as a pet, and most of all, Silver Sonic, the sane one of the bunch, the guy who had failed at Metal’s current job but still had his weathered dignity.
Silver Sonic, the long-suffering robot caught in the midst of the insanity of the other mechas, was the most fascinating in my mind. Compared to the humorous appeal of l33t Metal, feminine RK and devious TD, he was different. I liked him for the practicality and intelligence I had given him, for the fact that he was the oldest and that his glory days seemed long past, giving him a bit of angst. I didn’t quite know it then, but I had always been intrigued by angst—the pain that scarred and ate away at characters and the elaborate emotional ways it could do so. I couldn’t define it, but I liked what it was and inwardly longed for it, despite the fact that I didn’t know how to create it.
When I finally discovered the spectrum of angsty storylines out there through my friend Blackfeatherz29, I introduced the concept to Redtailedhawk and wasted no time in questioning our versions of the mechas, going through the ‘what if’s that sparked the story I have here today. Of course, I was drawn towards Silver Sonic first.
What if Silver had a darker reason for why he was put out of service as a Sonic-chaser?
What if Silver’s sort of ‘blank,’ long-suffering personality was a result of this?
What if a disaster scarred him, and his successor Metal as well?
What if Silver had a terrible secret that he has to keep from the other mechas for their own safety? And what if the secret is something that lives on in him?
These questions called for the introduction of a ‘Silver’s past’ storyline, one Redtailedhawk and I perfected through various RPs. Normally, we worked backwards, from her favorite character, Metal, who would discover something that eventually dragged the whole of the angst out. I had fun introducing more characters to our universe for those happier past days, including Sara, (aka Sera from the Sonic Anime, whom Robotnik loved) a younger, more attractive Robotnik, a childish version of Metal (a pre-upgraded form of the robot that was already an android in our universe, due to Redtailedhawk liking Netraptor’s ideas) and Redtailedhawk’s Yral (who at first was a spirit that tempted Silver in one plotline and later became part of his past herself.) Eventually, I grew to liking this past world so much that I got the idea to write it into a story, but, put off by the sheer size of such a project, I resolved not to do it. So Redtailedhawk and I simply continued to polish it and keep it alive through RPs for the next year or so.
The fact that it would make a great story never left my mind, however. I told myself that it was too strange, too off the norm to be a good fanfic, but the plotline was so complex and interesting that I simply could not let it go. After the rest of the details were filled in, every plot hole was sewn shut, I realized that I’d feel guilty not writing it. Other people I told the plot summary to agreed that I simply had to write it, so I made up my mind that it, as large as it was, it was going down on Word.
So yes, after some procrastination, I have begun the story. I have it here because I believe this site to be a place where people have open enough minds to read it and not think of the fact that it doesn’t correspond to any official plotline, that it’s quite a strange take on the Sonic realm. It’s a long story, it’ll take much time to complete, so I sincerely hope that you’ll give me nice reviews to keep me going. ^^ The plot is detailed and bittersweet, and I will try my best to put what was created through years’ RPs and dreamings into words that will give it justice.
Enjoy what I have up and the moment, and expect more. Thanks for having actually read this as well. Your interest means a lot to me. :)
~Amberspike-Sama
http://www.freewebs.com/amberspike-sama/
http://amberspike-sama.deviantart.com
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/amberspike-sama/
Author's Chapter Notes:
Explains the origins of the story. Read this before you begin reading the story itself, so you'll know how all the weirdness of it came about. XD