Chapter 2 - Simple Evidences, Complex Key
Sonic stared out the window, letting out a light sigh. "What is he hiding?" He said, lightly. "I need to find out…" He looked down at the small, handmade bag Ivo had left out at the park a few days before hand. The only thing in there was bread, or so he though. He didn't want to move it from the bag, just in case something happen to it. He flopped down on his bed, looking up at his ceiling. "Come on Sonic, think. What could he be so afraid of?"
It has been a few weeks since Sonic ran into his arch rival, Ivo (also known as Eggman) in the park. Ever since then, Ivo was nowhere to be seen. Sonic worried that this meant whoever or whatever found out that he was having a relaxed day, and did something to him. He turned to look back at the bag again. "Why can't you tell me? Do you not trust me? Will they kill you?" He said, sadly, to himself.
There was a knock on the door which made Sonic jump, falling from the bed to the floor. "Y-Yes?"
The door opened to reveal Tails, the two-tailed fox, staring at him in an odd manner. "Are you ok? You're talking to yourself…"
Sonic nodded lightly. "Yes, I'm fine…" He turned to look at the bag again. He saw something in it, that didn't look like bread. "…Just fine…"
Tails rolled his eyes. "Ok, whatever you say." He closed to door slowly, leaving Sonic alone again.
He nodded slowly, taking the bag. He dug his hand inside to find that there was more than just bread inside. He decided to flip it over, and dump everything on his bed, to see everything that's inside it. There was not much stuff in it, which amazed him. He didn't want to feel like a snitch, but he looked through to see if there were any S.O.S. signs, or anything that would bring him closer to whom or what is causing Ivo's discomfort. He looked at the small bundle of crap on his bed and started to move them around. The only thing he saw that drew interest to was a small, opened note pad. He took it, and couldn't stop reading it.
Written on it were a lot of very random words.
Morning, EvEning, Time, Month, Extra, InterNeT, HEre, PlAnt, Rest, Keep, Week, HElp, NexT, HopE, MOre, OpeN, HInder, TipS, THundEr, Sun, KeY.
Sonic kept looking at the page with confusing. "What do you MEAN!" He looked over at the door, and sighed. "I don't understand this at all! What is with all these lines and bolded letters?" He blinked, thinking. "I have a feeling…it's a code…" He took a piece of paper and looked back at the little note pad. He blinked, trying to find it out, writing the bolded letters on the other piece of paper. Slowly, he was making words.
Meet me in the park when the moon hits the sky.
Sonic blinked again. "When the moon hits the sky?" He looked up at the window again. "I never thought to look for him at night…" He looked out more. The sun was just setting. "Will he still be there? Did he give up?" He didn't hear the door opening. "I wonder if he's been hiding there…all this time."
"And you're talking to yourself again…wonderful."
Sonic jumped, turning his head quickly and spiking his quills up. "TAILS?"
Tails chuckled. "You've been talking to yourself…a lot…I just wanted to see if you were ok."
Sonic let out a light growl. "I'm fine." He said throw clinched teeth.
Tails shrugged. "Oh…Ok…whatever." He turned away, and started to walk off. Sonic followed. "Where are you going?"
"To the park."
"At this hour?"
Sonic nodded. "I'll be seeing you later." He ran off quickly, heading off to the park.
As he slowed up when he got to the park, he saw a young adult slowly waking out of the entrance. He felt like he had known this man, and bowed. The man smiled, and bowed as well. "He's waiting for you…." He said lightly.
Sonic blinked as the young adult left him. Sonic turned back to him, but saw a teenager in his place. He backed up lightly, a bit freaked out. "Do I WANT to go see him now…?" He said lightly, a bit intimidated. "That guy was creepy…" He added lightly as he slowly walked over to the Park entrance. He was looking around for the similar, fat man with the large mustache. He looked around, trying to find him. He took a deep breath, and spoke softly. "Ha…Eggy…you there?"
"Over here, Sonic."
Sonic's ear flickered to where the sound came from, and he turned. There, sitting in a tree, was his rival, giving a light smile. "It took you long enough to find that code." He chuckled lightly. "I thought you would have looked into my bag the moment you got home; looking for clues for any world domination crap or stuff like that. But…" he's smile get lighter. "You respected my personal space…Thank-you."
Sonic blushed lightly. "Oh…well…I didn't want to find any plans or anything…I would ruin the fun…besides, I thought there was only bread in the bag." He chuckled, handing him the small bag to him. "I put everything back…"
Ivo bowed lightly, in a thank-you, and took the bag gently, jumping down from the branch.
Sonic looked up at his glasses, which were glowing in the moonlight. "Why didn't you just tell me to meet you in the park?"
Ivo turned lightly. "They could have heard." He started to shiver.
"Will you tell me who these people…ARE now?"
Ivo shook his head. "I…I can't…they'll find out…"
Sonic started to growl a bit, his tail twitching lightly. "I wouldn't tell ANYONE, Ivo! " He snapped. "Just tell me already! I'll find out whether you like it or not, damn it!"
Ivo backed up in intimidation, lowering his head in submission. "I-I-I can't, I-I-I'm sorry…" He turned his head. "I…I…"
"Then why did you want me to come here at night? Are you going to try something funny?" Sonic said, a bit more angrily.
Ivo shook his head quickly. "No! No, no, no! I wouldn't think to do that!" He's voice was shaken up.
Sonic rolled his eyes. "Yeah…says the guy who did it to Chris…and Knuckles...at least three times…"
Ivo started to tremble. "T-T-That wasn't really me! I really wish I could tell you, Sonic, I really do!"
Sonic got closer to him, getting ready to just smack him a crossed the face. "If you want to tell me, then tell me! Why are you such a chicken all of a sudden? You NEVER acted like this before! NEVER!"
Ivo fell to his knees; tears stared to slide down his cheek. "I'm scared, ok, really scared. I don't want to lose anyone, I don't want any lives to be ruined!" He shook his head. "I don't want you involved."
Sonic gently started to walk over to him, placing his hand on Ivo's shoulder. "I want to be involved, Ivo. I never seen you cry before, nor have I seen you so scared. It's making ME scared." He leaned down, and wrapped his arms around his neck, making Ivo flinch. "You have always had this heart of steel. You never seem to want to give up. Even when you knew things weren't going to end well, you still kept going, showing no fear. You never wanted to give up on what you wanted to do."
Ivo shook his head more. "That's because I knew my life was at risk."
Sonic sighed. "By what, though? I want to know!"
Ivo sighed. "I-I really can't tell you, Sonic…I-I can't…" He looked up, staring into Sonic's Emerald eyes. "I'm really scared…"
Sonic blinked, saying nothing. He sighed, but still kept silent.
"You think I'm trying to trick you…am I right?" Sonic hesitated. He really didn't know what to believe. "I understand. You and I…we are like peanut butter and tuna fish. We don't go well at all…b-but…" He pushed Sonic's arms away, gently, and turned his head. "That's not…me…"
Sonic blinked, his ears slowly dropping from their perky position. "I-I don't understand…" He said, lightly.
Ivo turned back, but only for a second. "I wish I could explain more…I'm such a kind hearted person…under the Eggman act…"
Sonic tilted his head lightly. "Act?"
He nodded. "I told you before, my name's Ivo. I really don't like that nickname…not one bit…"
Sonic lowered his head. "Sorry…"
"I was once really skinny…when I was little?" Ivo lowered his head. "Yes...and small…smaller than the rest of my family…and all the kids in my school. I was really smart for my age, though…Very smart. My only weak point was reading…"
"Reading?"
Ivo nodded, slowly. "Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to read, more than the average person would…but I can't read out loud for the life of me. I would stutter…a lot. I was never very social, ether. I was friends with…like…five people. Everyone else hated me. For one reason or another, they would bully me, or stuff me in my locker – that's how small I was." He sighed.
Sonic gulped lightly. "I-I'm sorry…"
"You would think that would be the reason why I went on to try to take over the world…but I always looked up to the bright side of life. I had a family, friends, and a school to go to…but…" He stopped.
Sonic tilted his head more, trying to look at his face. "But…what?"
Ivo shook his head, tearing up more. "I…I lost all my hope."
"What do you mean?"
"When my mother died, I didn't want to live anymore. Nothing meant anything to me anymore. I didn't care." Sonic lowered his head. "I ran away from home at age fifteen…and I never turned back…"
Sonic's head jolted up, quickly. "What about your father? Did you ever think about him at all when you ran away?"
Ivo didn't move. "My father died when I was only six."
Sonic lowered is head again. "Oh…"
"I ran away." He started to tear up more, his voice cracking from the tears. "Everything…gone…
"I meet a kid, around my age. His name was Arien. Arien and I…we became friends…" He covered his face. "I-I don't remember…W-What happened…" He closed his eyes, which were hidden from Sonic's vision by his glasses, trying to hold back more of the tears. "Everything after that is such a blur…I-I can't remember."
He felt Sonic's hand on his back. He flinched. "Look, Ivo, everything is fine." Ivo nodded slowly, handing him a small coin pouch. "What's this?"
"K-Keep it…I need to get home. Decoe will start to get worried."
"You said that last time."
Ivo chuckled weakly. "That's because it's true. He worries about me a lot. He is my son after all."
"…S-Son?"
Ivo nodded. "Yes…but…that's another time." He bowed, turned, and started to walk off, waving. "I'll see you later, Sonic."
Sonic blinked, looking down at the pouch. "…Why would you give me this?" He felt stuff inside it. He dug his hand inside and pulled out two objects. The first was the note pad from before. "How…did he?" He said, lightly. "Never mind…"
The second object that looked like a human eyeball painted red. Sonic blinked. "An eye painted red?" He tilted his head. "What does that mean?" He looked at it, oddly, and slipped it back into the pouch. "I'll think about it later…" He looked back at note pad, and also placed it in the pouch. He slowly walked back home, trying not to turn back and follow Ivo. He really wanted to though, and turned his head more often than not just to see if he was watching. He sighed after the third looking, and ran home.
Ivo looked around the alley way, still shaken up and teary eyed. He saw that only one person was there. "Where's-"
"He's coming. He had stuff to do…what's wrong?"
"I-I told my past…"
The young man leaned down and started to rub Ivo's back. "I see." He turned. "Look whose back."
Ivo looked up and smiled, handing the teenager his note pad…the same note pad that Sonic had in the pouch. "Can you…put this in the pouch I'll be giving Sonic two minutes ago?"
The teenager smiled, and nodded. "I will do just that, Uncle." He took the note pad. "Don't you think he'll question about it, however?"
Ivo nodded. "All the more reason he would want to come back to see me." He smiled lightly. "Is it normal to feel…comfortably talking to him?"
They both nodded. "Yes of course, Ivo."
"I would be worried if you weren't, Uncle…" the teenager turned. "I need to hurry. Lots to do today…" He turned, putting the note pad in his pocket. "I'll see you later, Uncle; Arien."
The two nodded as the teenager vanished into the darkness.
Ivo got up, and looked up at the young adult. "I also told him about you, Arien."
He smiled. "I don't mind, not at all." He started to push Ivo away. "Hurry up now, you do not want your son to get worried now, do you?"
Ivo shook his head. "No, I don't." He smiled. "I'll be seeing you later then?"
Arien nodded. "Yes. Let's hope."
Ivo bowed his head, and left the alley way, heading out to the sea; to his base which he called home.