Chapter 2: Battle Weary
Location: Madubin Island
That same time...
Stepping through the doorway, Shard immediately found himself standing within a chamber that was bathed in white. Korianda trailed a short distance behind, a worried expression on her face that wasn't entirely unwarranted. The cavernous chamber spread out in every direction, and housed a central building with a white tile floor. There were two wings; one containing an area for food preparation, while the one contained bathing and sleeping quarters. Though Tarro had been successful in restoring his memories, it had come with its drawbacks. He had developed mental instability, prompting Korianda to lock him up for his own safety. That had lasted for about as long as Tarro had permitted it, eventually revealing that he was capable of teleporting. It appeared that he was recovering, but that all changed when Sally attempted to assassinate the Prime Minister. Proclaiming that it wasn't supposed to have happened that way, Tarro had abruptly locked himself within the chamber. Existing within a pocket dimension, the chamber's physical characteristics never remained consistent, making it unpredictable. Korianda glanced in the direction of the void, the worried expression remained in place due to the absence of Ki energy.
"Wonderful," Shard grumbled, following her gaze, "I can't even see him out there."
Korianda squinted her eyes, making out a barely visible figure that was standing in the far off distance. The figure appeared to be glowing, but the she dismissed it as merely being the result of the chamber's unstable nature.
"Was goin' on?"
Hearing the voice, both Shard and Korianda turned to discover Sly standing stark naked in the doorway of the bedroom.
"Sly, why aren't you wearing a diaper?" she questioned, causing the boy to glance up.
"Not a baby," complained the boy.
"Where's your brother?" Shard asked.
"He not in bed," he replied.
Korianda glanced in the direction of the void, the worried expression remained in place when she couldn't sense his energy. The chamber itself existed within a pocket dimension, one where the physical characteristics never remaining consistent, making it unpredictable every time.
"Wonderful," Shard grumbled, following her gaze, "Can't even see him out there."
She questioned Tarro's logic in bringing a toddler into the chamber, as she watched Sly race forward. She expected that he would run off in to the void, instead Korianda was surprised when refrained from stepping off the tiled platform, in fact she noticed he was trembling uncontrollably.
"BIG BRODER!" Sly screamed at the top of his lungs.
Korianda flinched and inwardly chastised herself for not expected him to resort to doing that, especially when he had breathed in deeply just before hand. At first they saw nothing, but then a glowing speck appeared in the distance, moving at a relatively fast pace. It took Shard a moment that the speck wasn't moving across the ground, but rather it was tearing through the air. The robot spotted the young Saiyan, and for a moment thought that he had undergone some kind of transformation, but merely shrugged it off as visual distortion. Tarro abruptly dropped down in front of the steps seconds later, the billowing gold aura dispersing as he landed. His outfit consisted of a pair of tattered and torn orange pants, a powder blue top that had come to resemble a toga, a white sash, and black slip-on shoes. Cuts and bruises covered his entire body, though only superficial, it was enough for Sly to cower behind Korianda's leg in fear.
"You bellowed?" he asked, ascended the steps.
Noticing the look of terror on the young Dovahkiir's face, Tarro dropped down on one knee, hoping to convince him that everything was alright.
"Hey buddy. Don't worry, I just got a couple of booboos," he explained to the boy.
Sly let out a whine and pulled away when the older boy attempted to reach for him, unconvinced by his words. Letting out a sigh, Tarro rose to his feet and immidately turned his attention to the reformed Metal Sonic.
"I'm not even gonna bother asking how you got in here, but you'd better have a good reason why you're distracting me."
"Well...I've got good news and multiple pieces of bad news?" he reported.
"Give me the bad news," the boy said, "At least I'll have something to look forward to."
"Alright. The Deputy Prime Minister's been arrested," Shard stated, causing Tarro to blink in surprise.
"Seriously?"
"It's being reported on UNN...something about supplying weapons to the Sons of Korhal."
"Wonderful. The one man trying to keep the piece is now out of the equation," the boy grumbled, "You said you had more 'good news'?"
"Yeah, Sonic and the others were moved out of the city this morning," the robot continued, "Now it's being reported that they were arrested."
"On what charges?"
"Who knows," he replied with a shrug, "I did learn that someone sprang Sally from that psychiatric facility while I was patched into the hospital's security network."
"Interesting...Any idea who that individual might be?"
"No. I've not found anyone exiting the building with Sally."
"That's troubling. What about Sonic and the others, did you manage to track them?" Tarro inquired.
"I tracked them to a military base located 20 kilometers outside Tarsonis City."
"...That sounds like Camp Connelly, but it was decommissioned years ago," Tarro commented, "Looks like someone using it as a military black site."
"So...what now?" Shard questioned.
"I'll be staging a prison break in the morning."
"There's one other thing," Shard stated.
"Oh goodie, what could it be this time?"
"Sticks avoided the fate of her friends this morning," the robotic hedgehog reported, "She fled the Prime Minister's estate and is on the loose in the city."
"Find her before she gets herself killed."
"Rodger," he said, exiting the chamber.
Looking back in the direction of Korianda, Tarro discovered Sly was no longer with her, instead he glanced towards the open door of the bathroom where he found the youngster boy seated on the toilet. It hadn't only been the lack of attention that had contributed to his unwillingness to use the potty, but because he had only used a potty chair up until that point. Being terrified of using the regular toilet for fear falling in, it was easily rectified with the use of an adaptor seat. He had only needed to wear diapers at night for the first little while, something that he had quickly outgrew the need for.
"I really need to teach him to pee standing up," Tarro sighed.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"I'm fine," he answered, though Korianda wasn't convinced.
Hearing the flushing of the toilet, Sly soon returned to the pair, though still suspicious of his adoptive brother's beat-up appearance.
"You wanna get outta here, buddy?" he asked, causing the boy to nod his head.
Remaining hesitant, Sly slowly proceeded forward, wearily keeping his brown eyes focused on the older boy as he took hold of his hand.
"Tomorrow I'll get you some clothes to wear, kiddo," the older boy stated.
"But me like bein' nekkid," the boy declared.
"I can imagine," he commented, "But that doesn't change the fact that you'll need to start wearing clothes now."