Cold and darkness. A black surge of cold and darkness, that was as boundless as the cosmos, all locked up inside his head. He tried to laugh about it, to tell himself that his pain would decrease over time as he slowly forgot. Hah. The thought of forgetting it was laughable in itself. He would never, even if he lived to be ten billion years old, forget that experience, which had destroyed minds, bodies, and his soul.
"Fear nothing and no one except the Lord God, who can destroy both body and soul," he intoned, remembering the words of a roadside preacher. God, how he wished that same preacher were here now. Then the old man could explain why the hell he was still alive.
Staggering about his 'back yard' in the evening, the forest behind his hut, he was a new Freedom Fighter. Not one week had passed since… the apocalypse. "The End Of The World", foretold in the preacher's Bible. It was wrong. The End had come in the form of a mega-nuclear blast, which wiped out all life within A THOUSAND KILOMETRES of itself. Nuclear fallout had done the rest. He wanted to hunt Robotnik down, chase him to the far corners if the planet, but his father had lived long enough to implore him, "Son, do not take a life for a life."
Zack's words had amazed Lazer. It was inconceivable; no, it was immoral. How, in the name of all things holy, could he not kill Robotnik? Why should such an evil man be allowed to exist? He had the power. He had the reason, oh yes, he had several million reasons: the lives of his fellow citizens. Zack had been adamant. "I know you hate him, but some day, you will understand."
Because his father had been dying in very great pain, Lazer knew that he was not just repeating the line from a movie.
"Daddy," he had sobbed, using the name he had called his father when young, "I will never kill anyone. But I will have revenge."
He would. The wrath of the Ancient Walkers would fall upon Robotnik as surely as the sun rose in the east. He walked around the back yard, his mind a fever of thoughts. Vengeance. Revenge. Destroy everything that he values. He needed revenge as much as he needed the blood in his veins. His mind was pitch black with anger, frustration, and the thoughts of how he would torture Robotnik. He could kill him in so many ways! Snap his spine in several places. Behead him (or impale him multiple times) with the samurai sword. Burn him alive with the fury of five Chaos Emeralds. Electrocution. Kicking his face into pulp with spiked boots. There were so many ways he could do it, but he was bound by a solemn oath.
"There are ways." he said with clenched teeth, "To exact vengeance without death."
Helping his new allies, the Freedom Fighters, was one. He could assist them with their vengeance and gain his at the same time. If he ever met Robotnik face to face, would an oath be enough to hold back his inexpressible rage? He did not know what to do. He did not know what to do. He growled, building up into a scream. Birds flew off the trees as he screamed long and loud. He felt for the sword on his back, and drew it out.
"DAMN YOU, ROBOTNIK!" He ran toward the object of his hate, Robotnik, hating him with anger as terrible as a god's. He raised the sword; his mind consumed with darkness, all reason, self-control and compassion obliterated.
"DIE!"
He slashed with all of his might. He saw the blade cleave through the rib cage, popping the lungs, severing the spinal chord, crushing the heart and exiting the other side. Gouts of blood spattered the ground as half of Robotnik flew into the air, slopping into a gory mess of blood, fat and organs. The redness spread until it filled Lazer's mind. He glanced to his right, and Robotnik was standing there.
"You're supposed to be DEAD!" he yelled, close to the point of hysteria.
You cannot kill me.
Lazer heard Robotnik's voice and knew it was the truth.
"I can TRY!"
He dashed and slashed with fury. Blood was everywhere, in the earth, the skies and the sea. Robotnik was standing alive, and to his left.
"NO!" Lazer roared. The entire universe was covered with red; the stars were gone from the sky. He heard booming laughter.
"ROBOTNIK! WHY DON'T YOU DIE?"
You cannot kill me.
"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!!"
Crossing the boundary between sanity and insanity, Lazer slashed with his sword, the instrument of murder. There was so much blood, so many screams from his tortured spirit. Globs of gore splattered the ground, sapping the grass with murder. Lazer was at the center of the sea of carnage, enraged beyond all hope. When Robotnik stopped appearing, Lazer looked at what he had done. He had killed. His sword dripped with Robotnik's fluids. He stared and stared, and the dead bodies of Robotnik melted and shifted. Red hedgehogs, his kindred, were scattered on the ground, their blood crying for justice at what Lazer had done. He recognized his friends, his relatives, and his own parents, cut in halves or dismembered by the blade.
"I warned you not to kill. You have failed, me Lazer."
"Daddy," he choked, and sunk to his knees. His paws sunk into the spilt blood of the red hedgehogs. He had murdered the very people he had wanted to avenge.
"What does this mean?"
Lazer.
"WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?" he cried.
Lazer.
He fell forward, splashing into the red mess, smothering himself.
Lazer.
He looked up at the voice.
"Rebecca?"
It was she, the red hedgehog he loved. Floating above the dead, she approached him, her light orange hair waving in an unfelt wind.
"You're so beautiful. Rebecca."
She stopped in front of him, an ethereal beauty amidst the endless slaughter. As he reached out his bloody paw, she held out her paw to his.
Lazer. Do you still love me?
"Yes. Always," he nodded his head.
Lazer. Why did you murder our people?
"I thought that they were Robotnik. But he tricked me into killing them, instead."
You understand now. By murdering Robotnik, you murder your own family.
"I don't understand. They're dead already!"
Soon, we will be together again. I miss you so much, Lazer.
"I miss you, Rebecca. Are you dead? Are you alive? Please, you must be alive?"
She smiled and floated upward, pointing to a circle of light in the red sky. Lazer strained to look up, but he was sinking. He was being drowned in blood.
"You must be alive for me to live, Rebecca."
He went
under, the cold and darkness complete.
"That was a scene from
a bad horror movie." Lazer awoke from the bloody nightmare, saying those
words as he remembered. He was still in the 'back yard' behind his hut, and
went to retrieve his sword.
"My subconscious hates me," he remarked, "if that's the kind of dream it shows me."
It was morning, about ten o'clock judging from the sun in the sky. He had been taught to tell time from the sun's position from his samurai sensei.
"Wait. I'm not supposed to see the sun around here!"
The trees around the Lake Of Rings blocked out the sky, preventing Robotnik from finding it by air units. But he could see the sky now. He looked around.
"Oh, damn."
More than twenty trees littered the ground. They had been chopped down, and Lazer knew by what.
"I was slashing while hallucinating, and did this? Bloody damn wonderful," he said, "But I don't think the Lake can be seen from here."
Lazer looked back to his hut, still covered by trees.
"Yup. Robotnik can't see anything except open ground. No harm done."
He looked at the fallen trunks and their stumps. He remembered an admonition from his sensei to hone his skills every day.
"Hmm."
He stood beside the roots and stump of one tree, with the rest of it lying crooked the ground. He held out his arm, and fiery red light seared the ground. Only a blackened hole in the earth and a cloud of smoke remained.
"Good… just need to fill it in with soil."
He would do the same for the rest. He looked now at the dead trees, the majority of the wood he had fallen while dreaming.
"I wonder..."
Seconds later Lazer
walked into Knothole village. All the major Freedom Fighters had their own
huts, and several dwellings for new fighters were already under construction.
Antoine, on his patrol, was the first person he saw.
"Antoine. Does Knothole require timber for the new huts?"
Antoine scowled.
"Aren't you supposed to be gardeeng ze Lake of Ringz? Yes, Sonic was supposed to cut down trees and make ze necessary wood for ze huts. But he eez lazee, he went off somewhere and eez goofing off."
"Okay."
He turned around, took to the air
and dashed into the forest. Antoine adjusted his wig, muttered something about
not trusting that red pincushion, and continued his patrol.
Lazer burned away all
the stumps and placed the remaining trees upright in the burnt holes. He took
out his sword, and held it before him.
"It is time to practice."
He leaped into the air without the help of his chaos emeralds. Near the top of one tree, he performed a horizontal slash. The branches and leaves fell to one side, and he was left with a cylindrical log ready for 'processing'.
"Good."
He jumped again, using his physical skills to gain height. Above the log, he held his sword with both hands.
"KEEYAHH!!!"
He fell to the ground, splitting the log down the centre. When he landed, the log was still standing, supported by the hole in the ground.
"All right, then."
Jump to the midsection. Horizontal slash. Four logs were ready to be used.
"Great. This is easier than slashing robots."
He carried on thus, and had his breakfast in the afternoon.
"Sonic!"
Sally said, hands on hips as the blue wonder screeched to a halt in front of her.
"Sal. You're cute when angry."
She bared her teeth and pointed to the forest.
"You've been gone most of the day! You still have to cut down trees for the new huts. How can the Freedom Fighters carry on when they don't have places for new arrivals to live in?"
"Okay, okay, calm down Sal…" he looked past her, "…what the?"
She turned around. Lazer was walking toward them, holding on his shoulders a very large bundle of wood. The load was tied together with vines.
"Hello, Princess, Sonic," he greeted in a strained voice. The weight of four trees rested on his back.
"Holy Goddess. How can you carry that?" Sally exclaimed. Lazer rolled the logs off of him and to the ground.
"It's part of my training. There's more where this came from, behind my hut. I'll get the rest."
He spun around and ran off.
"Well?" she said, and turned to Sonic, "Go help him!"
As confused as he was, Sonic obeyed and zoomed to the Lake. Sally walked up to the bundle of logs. They were adequate for building purposes.
"Hmm. Our new Freedom Fighter
is turning out to be an excellent help. Well, I'd better get Tails and
Rotor."
Sonic, not wanting to
appear inferior carried the weight of four trees along with Lazer as they
plodded through the forest.
"Man, these are heavy," Sonic grunted. His legs wobbled beneath him.
"I know. But I can't become stronger without exerting myself," Lazer replied, sweat rolling off him.
"Hey, why are you doing this for us? It's my job."
"Well, it's hard to explain, but I had a bad dream and," he paused for breath, "cut down these trees, thinking they were Robotnik."
"Oh, okay. I'll stop talking now, to save my breath."
"Yeah."
When they reached Knothole, they dropped their loads on the ground and sagged against them, gasping for air.
"Okay. I'm gonna carry less than that next time, ego or not," Sonic panted. Lazer did not say anything and flew back to the forest. When Sonic caught enough oxygen to follow, Lazer was carrying a load five trees in weight.
"Whoa, man! You'll get a hernia!" he warned.
"I'm… not worth it... if I can't become… stronger." he wheezed. Sonic watched as Lazer trudged onward, refusing to give up. He shook his head, and thought of how Lazer's city had been wiped off the map by a thermonuclear explosion, the doing of Robotnik.
"He wants to feel pain," Sonic realized, "To stop remembering pain."
Sonic was wrong. Cold and darkness were all that Lazer felt… he was numb to anything else.
Lazer…
Lazer…
I miss you so much…
~END~