Chapter 15 - The Rising Darkness
Upon arriving at Area 51, Anthony walked with a hurried pace towards where Sharpe's office was located. He was glad that he was informed as soon as possible about what happened with Alec, and hoped it was not as serious as T-Bone made it out to be. Upon arriving at Sharpe's office, Anthony knocked on the door and entered the office upon hearing someone say, "Come."
"Mr. Bault," Sharpe said, standing up, "glad you could come."
"Yeah, T-Bone told me," Anthony said. "Is Alec alright? He didn't become sick, did he?"
"No, no...He's fine," Sharpe said. "The doctor said he isn't suffering any ill effects from the overdose. Apparently, his psionics may have provided some protection from them. We still wanted you to know just in case you wanted to take a look at him."
"Might as well, since I'm here," Anthony said. "Where is Alec right now?"
"His quarters," Sharpe said. "The doctor ordered medical leave from all duty today so we could check his vitals. We're also checking him now that we've lowered the dosage to below the safe maximum."
"Alright, I'll go check him," Anthony said, and then walked out of the office. He walked towards the officer's quarters and knocked on the door of the room where he saw Alec last time. To his surprise, the door was already open a crack, and he saw Alec on the bed looking like he was ill.
"Alec!" Anthony said, rushing to his bedside. "You look terrible! What's wrong?"
"I...don't know..." Alec said, weakly. "After they lowered my dosage, I started feeling weak. I can't even use my powers as strongly as I could before..."
"Don't try," Anthony said. "You should be getting used to your powers and should be able to use them without the meds, so don't worry abut it." Anthony then raised a hand over Alec's body and concentrated to psionically check Alec's vitals. "Well...I don't sense anything wrong with you besides the fatigue. Maybe all you need is bed rest and..."
Suddenly, Alec raised a hand up and grasped Anthony's forehead, and Anthony felt some of his psi energy being drained. Anthony had to restrain Alec after that using a Paralysis power.
"Alec, what were you DOING?!?" Anthony said, shocked.
"I'm sorry...I didn't know what came over me," Alec said. "I just sensed your power and went for it like a dehydrated person would to water."
Anthony understood. "Well, don't do that again! I recognize that power...I call it Psi Drain...and that's no way to feel better. All you need is to just rest and let your body get used to the new power levels."
"Alright..." Alec said. "Again...I'm sorry."
"It's alright," Anthony said, and walked back towards the door. "Just rest. I need to get back to my students now, so I'll catch you later."
"Alright..." Alec said, and then returned to his rest after Anthony had left. One thought still permeated his mind, however...
"What's happening to me?"
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Jenna and Lars have just returned to Mobotropolis after receiving a tour of Mobara and Angel Island. They were given the VIP treatment from Queen Aleena...though were confused why they saw Sonics and wondered who those two other hedgehog teens were until T-Bone explained that they were the Ani-Earth versions adopted into the Arcadian Sonic's family. They also had a bit of an embarrassing scene on Angel Island. Apparently they had stumbled upon one of the Chaotix and his girlfriend necking...
"Well...that was embarrassing," Lars commented. "Do you think Charmy and Safron will forgive us?"
"I'm sure he will...it was an accident," T-Bone said, "and they were out in the open somewhat."
"I'm just glad Knuckles was a gracious host while we were there," Jenna said. "I originally heard he tends to be overprotective of the emerald."
"That was before Anth set him straight," T-Bone said.
"Well, thank you for showing us around, T-Bone," Lars said.
"It was my pleasure, Lars," T-Bone said. "I was glad to meet the two of you, and..." T-Bone then saw someone approach the three of them. "Hey there, Anth...we just finished the grand tour of Mobara and ."
"Thanks, T-Bone, I appreciate it," Anthony said. "Well, Alec is okay, just a little weak from having to take a lesser dose of the medication he's taking, but hopefully he'll get used to the weaker psi power levels."
"I hope he'll be alright..." Jenna said.
"He will," Anthony explained. "He understands it's a precaution, although..."
"What?" Lars asked.
"Well, he apparently his mind was hungry for psi energy because it wasn't used to its new condition," Anthony explained. "He tried using a Psi Drain power because he felt like a dehydrated person in need of water. It was purely unintentional, but it was worrying..."
"Well, I'll go tell Major Sharpe to keep close tabs on him so he doesn't try anything like that again," T-Bone said, and then turned towards Jenna and Lars. "Well, I've got to return to A51. I'll see you all later."
"Until next time, T-Bone," Lars said as he gave T-Bone a hardy handshake. After giving a similar handshake to Jenna, T-Bone then walked off towards the portal.
"Well, I hope Alec will be alright," Jenna said. "So...where are we off to now?"
"Downunda," Anthony said. "Home country of most of the echidnas here on Mobius."
"Including the Dark Legion?" Jenna said, worriedly.
"Well...yes, but they're in hiding right now since getting their butts handed to them by Ani-Earth's Chaotix and...by the Dark Gamemaster before..." Anthony said, trailing off after saying that last part.
"Don't worry about that, Anthony," Lars said. "You beat that dark self of yours with Amy's help."
"True..." Anthony said, though the mention of the Dark Gamemaster worried him for a different reason, but he shook that worry off. "Let's get moving. There's a transit gate to the portal on Downunda..."
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That evening, Alec was having a hard time trying to sleep in his barracks. The loss of the strength of his powers was getting to him, and he felt like he was starving to death practically, longing to get his psionic strength back.
Finally, he could take no more. He got up, being as quiet as possible, and crept towards the door. He could sense the guards outside his room, and decided to take a drastic measure...
...in the form of a Hypnosis power.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next morning found Jenna and Lars preparing for another excursion on Mobius. They were with Anthony outside his home, and were making plans for what Anthony described as their "final exam".
"So, any questions before we leave?" Anthony asked.
"Well...I'm curious...what sort of test will we be receiving?" Lars asked.
"I'm not sure," Anthony said. "Hopefully, the guardian of the Time Stones will be willing to create a similar test to what I received."
As they continued to talk, Anthony's communicator began to blare. "ANTH!!! We've got a problem!!!" It was T-Bone's voice.
"What's wrong, T-Bone?" Anthony said into the communicator.
"It's Alec!" T-Bone said. "He's gone missing after knocking out several of the guards with a Hypnosis power. One other thing, Anth...he's gotten a hold of the trichlorodicathelene...and looks like he took a larger dose!"
"Oh no...how much of one?" Anthony said, already worried.
"If the docs have it right...he took over 1000 mg at once!"
"I'll be right there," Anthony said, and then turned towards his students. "I've got to run..."
"We'll help, cousin," Jenna said.
Anthony nodded and the three ran towards the portal.
Upon arriving at Area 51, Anthony walked with a hurried pace towards where Sharpe's office was located. He was glad that he was informed as soon as possible about what happened with Alec, and hoped it was not as serious as T-Bone made it out to be. Upon arriving at Sharpe's office, Anthony knocked on the door and entered the office upon hearing someone say, "Come."
"Mr. Bault," Sharpe said, standing up, "glad you could come."
"Yeah, T-Bone told me," Anthony said. "Is Alec alright? He didn't become sick, did he?"
"No, no...He's fine," Sharpe said. "The doctor said he isn't suffering any ill effects from the overdose. Apparently, his psionics may have provided some protection from them. We still wanted you to know just in case you wanted to take a look at him."
"Might as well, since I'm here," Anthony said. "Where is Alec right now?"
"His quarters," Sharpe said. "The doctor ordered medical leave from all duty today so we could check his vitals. We're also checking him now that we've lowered the dosage to below the safe maximum."
"Alright, I'll go check him," Anthony said, and then walked out of the office. He walked towards the officer's quarters and knocked on the door of the room where he saw Alec last time. To his surprise, the door was already open a crack, and he saw Alec on the bed looking like he was ill.
"Alec!" Anthony said, rushing to his bedside. "You look terrible! What's wrong?"
"I...don't know..." Alec said, weakly. "After they lowered my dosage, I started feeling weak. I can't even use my powers as strongly as I could before..."
"Don't try," Anthony said. "You should be getting used to your powers and should be able to use them without the meds, so don't worry abut it." Anthony then raised a hand over Alec's body and concentrated to psionically check Alec's vitals. "Well...I don't sense anything wrong with you besides the fatigue. Maybe all you need is bed rest and..."
Suddenly, Alec raised a hand up and grasped Anthony's forehead, and Anthony felt some of his psi energy being drained. Anthony had to restrain Alec after that using a Paralysis power.
"Alec, what were you DOING?!?" Anthony said, shocked.
"I'm sorry...I didn't know what came over me," Alec said. "I just sensed your power and went for it like a dehydrated person would to water."
Anthony understood. "Well, don't do that again! I recognize that power...I call it Psi Drain...and that's no way to feel better. All you need is to just rest and let your body get used to the new power levels."
"Alright..." Alec said. "Again...I'm sorry."
"It's alright," Anthony said, and walked back towards the door. "Just rest. I need to get back to my students now, so I'll catch you later."
"Alright..." Alec said, and then returned to his rest after Anthony had left. One thought still permeated his mind, however...
"What's happening to me?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jenna and Lars have just returned to Mobotropolis after receiving a tour of Mobara and Angel Island. They were given the VIP treatment from Queen Aleena...though were confused why they saw Sonics and wondered who those two other hedgehog teens were until T-Bone explained that they were the Ani-Earth versions adopted into the Arcadian Sonic's family. They also had a bit of an embarrassing scene on Angel Island. Apparently they had stumbled upon one of the Chaotix and his girlfriend necking...
"Well...that was embarrassing," Lars commented. "Do you think Charmy and Safron will forgive us?"
"I'm sure he will...it was an accident," T-Bone said, "and they were out in the open somewhat."
"I'm just glad Knuckles was a gracious host while we were there," Jenna said. "I originally heard he tends to be overprotective of the emerald."
"That was before Anth set him straight," T-Bone said.
"Well, thank you for showing us around, T-Bone," Lars said.
"It was my pleasure, Lars," T-Bone said. "I was glad to meet the two of you, and..." T-Bone then saw someone approach the three of them. "Hey there, Anth...we just finished the grand tour of Mobara and ."
"Thanks, T-Bone, I appreciate it," Anthony said. "Well, Alec is okay, just a little weak from having to take a lesser dose of the medication he's taking, but hopefully he'll get used to the weaker psi power levels."
"I hope he'll be alright..." Jenna said.
"He will," Anthony explained. "He understands it's a precaution, although..."
"What?" Lars asked.
"Well, he apparently his mind was hungry for psi energy because it wasn't used to its new condition," Anthony explained. "He tried using a Psi Drain power because he felt like a dehydrated person in need of water. It was purely unintentional, but it was worrying..."
"Well, I'll go tell Major Sharpe to keep close tabs on him so he doesn't try anything like that again," T-Bone said, and then turned towards Jenna and Lars. "Well, I've got to return to A51. I'll see you all later."
"Until next time, T-Bone," Lars said as he gave T-Bone a hardy handshake. After giving a similar handshake to Jenna, T-Bone then walked off towards the portal.
"Well, I hope Alec will be alright," Jenna said. "So...where are we off to now?"
"Downunda," Anthony said. "Home country of most of the echidnas here on Mobius."
"Including the Dark Legion?" Jenna said, worriedly.
"Well...yes, but they're in hiding right now since getting their butts handed to them by Ani-Earth's Chaotix and...by the Dark Gamemaster before..." Anthony said, trailing off after saying that last part.
"Don't worry about that, Anthony," Lars said. "You beat that dark self of yours with Amy's help."
"True..." Anthony said, though the mention of the Dark Gamemaster worried him for a different reason, but he shook that worry off. "Let's get moving. There's a transit gate to the portal on Downunda..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That evening, Alec was having a hard time trying to sleep in his barracks. The loss of the strength of his powers was getting to him, and he felt like he was starving to death practically, longing to get his psionic strength back.
Finally, he could take no more. He got up, being as quiet as possible, and crept towards the door. He could sense the guards outside his room, and decided to take a drastic measure...
...in the form of a Hypnosis power.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next morning found Jenna and Lars preparing for another excursion on Mobius. They were with Anthony outside his home, and were making plans for what Anthony described as their "final exam".
"So, any questions before we leave?" Anthony asked.
"Well...I'm curious...what sort of test will we be receiving?" Lars asked.
"I'm not sure," Anthony said. "Hopefully, the guardian of the Time Stones will be willing to create a similar test to what I received."
As they continued to talk, Anthony's communicator began to blare. "ANTH!!! We've got a problem!!!" It was T-Bone's voice.
"What's wrong, T-Bone?" Anthony said into the communicator.
"It's Alec!" T-Bone said. "He's gone missing after knocking out several of the guards with a Hypnosis power. One other thing, Anth...he's gotten a hold of the trichlorodicathelene...and looks like he took a larger dose!"
"Oh no...how much of one?" Anthony said, already worried.
"If the docs have it right...he took over 1000 mg at once!"
"I'll be right there," Anthony said, and then turned towards his students. "I've got to run..."
"We'll help, cousin," Jenna said.
Anthony nodded and the three ran towards the portal.