PROJECT: Nightmare
Chapter Three: The Morning After
A light moan emitted from the bedroom. "Where... am I?"
He looked up the the sound. Quietly he crept down to where she lay, waiting in the doorway.
Rouge sat up and held her head, feeling dizzy. "I feel like I went through the spin cycle..." Regaining her focus, she made the figure in the doorway out to be Knuckles. "Wha... YOU! What did you do to me?!"
Knuckled changed position, leaning on the opposite beam. "Hey, don't get hasty. I only found you unconsious in an alleyway, brought you here to my house during a thunderstorm, dried you off, and stayed up all night to make sure you'd still be alive in the morning. Is that a valid answer?"
"Oh." Rouge instantly felt stupid. He was just trying to help her and all she could do was accuse him. "...Th...thank you, Knuckles."
He looked at her in surprise. THAT certainly wasn't expected. "...You're welcome." he spoke softly with sincerity.
"Agh!" Rouge keeled over, her head throbbing in pain. She gripped her forehead with both hands. "Ah ah ah... owww..."
In an instant he was at her side, gloved hand placed gently on her upper back. "Rouge, are you alright?"
"Gnnngh..." was all he got as a reply.
"Are you alright?" he repeated.
"I will be... if I can get... some asprin..."
"OH! Right, stupid me."
"I-it's all... alright..." she said feebly as he ran out of the room. Oh, the pain!! She bit her lip in an attempt not to scream.
"Here HERE!" Knuckles rushed back into the room and handed her two white pills and a glass of water.
Gasping frantically, Rouge gulped down the medicine and then flopped back on the pillows. She began to pant heavily. "Th-thanks..." she breathed out. "My head feels like it's in a clamp."
"Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. At least I still remember my name..."
"...And you remembered me."
Rouge looked away and smiled. "Heh. I'd never be able to forget you..."
Knuckles grinned shyly. Then his expression fell serious. "Do you remember what happened?"
Rouge rubber her temple in thought and frowned. "There was... someone. I was trying to follow him."
"Why?"
"He looked familiar to me."
"From where?"
"What is this, 20 Questions?!"
"Sorry." Knuckles held out his hands in defense. "I just want to know how you managed to get beaten to a bloody pulp."
Rouge glared. "I was NOT beaten to a bloody pulp! Jeeze, I'm not that weak.. and I might've won the fight of that hedgehog hadn't done that freaky attack on me."
"Freaky... attack?" Knuckles thought back to what he saw from the dock. "Was it green?"
"Uh huh."
"And it was done by a black hedgehog that looked like Shadow?"
"Yeah... how did you know?"
"I saw the whole thing. I wanted to follow the hedgehog, but I saw that he was getting on the train for White Island, something I could always look into later. My first thought was 'What was in the alley?". So I looked, and it happened to be not a what, but a who."
Rouge gave a small smile, but she avoided Knuckles' gaze. "Listen, Knux... can I call you Knux?"
"Sure."
"Okay, Knux... uh..." she bit her knuckle in nervousness, "Thanks for coming after me. I... hope I haven't been too much trouble..."
"None at all."
"Well, whatever. Thanks a bunch." She slid out of bed and put her boots on. "I probably should be going."
"You sure you'll be okay for the trip?"
"I'm pretty tough, you know." She smiled slyly as she headed for the door.
"Oh yeah, I know!" Knuckles grinned. "Sure you don't want to stay for breakfast? I was going to make blueberry pancakes in the shape of Eggman's head."
Rouge skidded to a halt in the doorway. "And why the hell would I want to eat blueberry pancakes in the shape of Eggman's head?"
"So you can stab his little blueberry eyes out with a knife and make him bleed butter."
She giggled. "Makes sense, since that bumbling idiot is stuffed full of lard anyway..."
"So?"
"...Oh, alright. I'll stay for breakfast. But not too long. I'm just as curious about that Shadow twin as you are."
Knuckles took her hand and walked with her to the kitchen. "Deal."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"OhhhOOOHHHoohhh... Sonic, ah luv yuuu..."
Amy Rose murmured softly in her sleep confessions of affection for her hedgehog hero. Groggily she opened her eyes and focused on the doll in her arms. "Aww, hewwo Sonikku..." she drawled, hugging the toy to her cheek. "Sonikku, you're wet... I think I was drooling again."
Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, Amy rose from her spot on the bed to wash and dress. Within minutes, she was looking as cute and cheerful as the day before. Yet she still wasn't happy.
"Another morning, another day of trying to win Sonic over." She sighed. "When will he see that I'm not trying to tie him down, I'm not trying to hold him back, and I'm DEFINATLY not trying to keep him from doing what he loves." She reached for the doll on her pillow. "I just want to care about him! I just want to take care of him!" She started thrashing the doll around, beating it in rhythm to her words. "I JUST want to BE there when he ... NEEDS ME!!!" She panted heavily and looked at her doll, which in its current state, had seen better days.
She tossed it back onto the bed and decided to fix it later. "It just gets so BORING after a while." She closed her eyes in thought. "If it weren't for my books, I don't know what I'd do!"
She gasped. "My books!" Diving across the bed towards the end-table, she snatched up her books. "That's right, I said I wanted to go through these." She walked into the kitchen, started heating up some water for cocoa, and sat at the table.
" 'Winds of Time'..." She breathed in awe. "I wonder if I'd be able to write something with a such a beautiful name..." She flipped through a few pages, looking for something really interesting. " 'Never Imagining Greater Hurt Than Marring A Realm Eternal'... I wonder what it means."
The water started to boil.
She picked up the other book. "This one is called 'Waters of Light'." She flipped through a few pages, looking for something really interesting. "Hey... what's this?
The kettle whistled.
"It's another acronym poem. 'Cursing Harm At Other Spirits'..."
Louder.
"...That's it? what... what happens?" Amy shut her book. " 'Winds of Time'... 'Waters of Light'..."
Louder.
"Is there a connection?"
PTHWEEEEEEEEEET!!
"ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT, I'M COMING!" Amy glared at what caused her to lose her train of thought. "Oh well. Maybe a good cup of cocoa will help get me the right start." Preparing a cup, she thought aloud about the books.
"Wind and water are elements... but how might light and time be connected? And what about the elemants of earth and fire?" She took a sip. "Maybe I should go back to the library and see if I can find some other books?" She started to pack a lunch. "There has GOT to be more to this story!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sonic hummed a small tune to himself as he walked down the streets of Station Square. "Well, I don't show off; don't criticise..." he sang lightly.
Tails rounded a corner across the street and watched Sonic make his way down the sidewalk. (Is he... skipping?!) "Hey Sonic..." he approached the blue being with caution.
"Good morning, Tails!" He wished cheerfully.
Tails dropped a jaw in shock. This was a drastic change over yesterday evening. "Sonic, are you okay?"
"Never been better. Why do you ask?"
"Well... it's just that yesterday---"
Sonic slapped Tails on the back affectionately. "Tails my boy, forget yesterday. We can't live in the past. Right now, I'm looking forward to the discovery that today might bring to my life."
"Riiiiight... well, I was heading for the library. D'you want to come, or are you looking somewhere else for today's 'discovery'?"
Sonic tapped a finger on his chin. "Actually, the library would be a great place to start. Tons of books filled with all kinds of information... yeah, I think I'll go with you, if you don't mind."
Tails smiled genuinly for the first time in days, happy to have some quality time with his best bud. "I don't mind at all."
"Then it's settled. Let's go!" Sonic started matching forward.
"Uh Sonic?"
"What?"
"The library is this way."
"..................oh."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nightmare sat by the window, contemplating over a muffin as he stared at the trees. Who in the world was Shadow, and why did that bat lady call him that? "I'll make them remember me... somehow..."
"Is everything alright, Nightmare?"
"Wah!" Nightmare whirled around in his seat. "Oh Doctor, you startled me."
"Oh, sorry. But I was worried about you. Is something wrong?"
Nightmare crossed his arms and kicked the air. "People are idiots."
"Tell me about it..." Ivo mumbled to himself. "Really, what is it? Did something happen yesterday?"
Nightmare sighed and looked at the ceiling in thought, as he tried to recall yesterday's events. "Well, it was actually kinda boring until this weird bat started following me."
Bat? This caught Ivo's attention. "What did she look like?"
Nightmare blinked at his creator with surprise. "How did you know it was a girl?"
"Uh... lucky guess!"
The black one shook his head. "Anyway, she was white, with this teensy little black and pink bodysuit. With matching gloves and boots." He shook his head again. "I know it was my first day out into the world, but even I was able to tell she was a fashion mess."
Eggman tried to hide his worry from Nightmare. (Rouge... of all people!) "Did... did she say anything?"
"Yeah." Nightmare's expression grew spiteful again. "She called me Shadow."
(This is bad.)
"But then I kicked her ass, so it wasn't ALL bad."
"You... kicked her ass?"
Nightmare grinned again and jumped on the chair. "Yeah! I totally pulverized her! She hardly put up a fight, though it might've taken longer if it weren't for that green glow."
"What glow?"
He shrugged and hopped down. "It appeared when she got me REALLY ticked off."
Eggman nodded, thinking quickly to himself. He might be able to use this situation to his advantage. "Nightmare... what would you say..."
"Yeah?"
"What was it that the bat girl said that made you most angry?"
Nightmare scarfed up the rest of his breakfast. "She kept calling me Shadow! And I kept telling her I wasn't Shadow." Back on the chair. "So I made sure to let her know that my name was Nightmare, and that I would become her worst!"
The vengence, the power.... Eggman watched his creation in silence, congratulating himself in the back of his mind.
"Plus, some other people kept staring at me oddly, like they thought of me the same way!"
"Eh?" (Time to focus back on your "son".) "What did these other people look like?"
Nightmare shook his head. "That's wasn't important. What IS important, at least to me, is that I let those idiots know who they're dealing with!" He jumped back to the floor. "Maybe I look kinda like this 'Shadow' figure-person-thing, but that's not who I am! And I want them to remember that forever!!" He clutched onto Ivo's coat and looked up with shiny red eyes. "You know what I mean?"
For a moment, time stopped. Ivo glanced down at Nightmare, clinging to him and waiting for his words, like his reply could make eveything better. (He needs me,) he thought. (He's put his reliance on me. I have to help him out.)
Slowly Ivo reached over and stroked Nightmare's quills. Nightmare's head started to rock back and forth and he closed his eyes in contentment. "Yes..." Ivo finally spoke as time started up again, "I know just how you feel. And I think I can help." He stopped the stroking and walked towards the elevator.
"You... you can? Really?"
"Come with me."
He obeyed. Down the elevator and into a room that Nightmare had rarely seen. In fact, the first and only time he had seen it was when he was going upstairs after first awakening. It was a room full of various gadgets, vials, notes, books, notebooks, and a drawing board. Eggman marched right past this, however, and made his way to a small well-lit table in the back corner.
He held up a small rectangular black disk with a silver border and gave it to Nightmare. "You know what this is, right?"
He studied the settings. "Yes."
"Good. Do you know how to use it?"
"Yes!"
"Okay! Lastly, do you want to permantly embedd yourself into the moronic minds of all those bumbling idiots out there?"
"YES!!"
"Excellent! Now, here's what you do..."
Chapter Three: The Morning After
A light moan emitted from the bedroom. "Where... am I?"
He looked up the the sound. Quietly he crept down to where she lay, waiting in the doorway.
Rouge sat up and held her head, feeling dizzy. "I feel like I went through the spin cycle..." Regaining her focus, she made the figure in the doorway out to be Knuckles. "Wha... YOU! What did you do to me?!"
Knuckled changed position, leaning on the opposite beam. "Hey, don't get hasty. I only found you unconsious in an alleyway, brought you here to my house during a thunderstorm, dried you off, and stayed up all night to make sure you'd still be alive in the morning. Is that a valid answer?"
"Oh." Rouge instantly felt stupid. He was just trying to help her and all she could do was accuse him. "...Th...thank you, Knuckles."
He looked at her in surprise. THAT certainly wasn't expected. "...You're welcome." he spoke softly with sincerity.
"Agh!" Rouge keeled over, her head throbbing in pain. She gripped her forehead with both hands. "Ah ah ah... owww..."
In an instant he was at her side, gloved hand placed gently on her upper back. "Rouge, are you alright?"
"Gnnngh..." was all he got as a reply.
"Are you alright?" he repeated.
"I will be... if I can get... some asprin..."
"OH! Right, stupid me."
"I-it's all... alright..." she said feebly as he ran out of the room. Oh, the pain!! She bit her lip in an attempt not to scream.
"Here HERE!" Knuckles rushed back into the room and handed her two white pills and a glass of water.
Gasping frantically, Rouge gulped down the medicine and then flopped back on the pillows. She began to pant heavily. "Th-thanks..." she breathed out. "My head feels like it's in a clamp."
"Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. At least I still remember my name..."
"...And you remembered me."
Rouge looked away and smiled. "Heh. I'd never be able to forget you..."
Knuckles grinned shyly. Then his expression fell serious. "Do you remember what happened?"
Rouge rubber her temple in thought and frowned. "There was... someone. I was trying to follow him."
"Why?"
"He looked familiar to me."
"From where?"
"What is this, 20 Questions?!"
"Sorry." Knuckles held out his hands in defense. "I just want to know how you managed to get beaten to a bloody pulp."
Rouge glared. "I was NOT beaten to a bloody pulp! Jeeze, I'm not that weak.. and I might've won the fight of that hedgehog hadn't done that freaky attack on me."
"Freaky... attack?" Knuckles thought back to what he saw from the dock. "Was it green?"
"Uh huh."
"And it was done by a black hedgehog that looked like Shadow?"
"Yeah... how did you know?"
"I saw the whole thing. I wanted to follow the hedgehog, but I saw that he was getting on the train for White Island, something I could always look into later. My first thought was 'What was in the alley?". So I looked, and it happened to be not a what, but a who."
Rouge gave a small smile, but she avoided Knuckles' gaze. "Listen, Knux... can I call you Knux?"
"Sure."
"Okay, Knux... uh..." she bit her knuckle in nervousness, "Thanks for coming after me. I... hope I haven't been too much trouble..."
"None at all."
"Well, whatever. Thanks a bunch." She slid out of bed and put her boots on. "I probably should be going."
"You sure you'll be okay for the trip?"
"I'm pretty tough, you know." She smiled slyly as she headed for the door.
"Oh yeah, I know!" Knuckles grinned. "Sure you don't want to stay for breakfast? I was going to make blueberry pancakes in the shape of Eggman's head."
Rouge skidded to a halt in the doorway. "And why the hell would I want to eat blueberry pancakes in the shape of Eggman's head?"
"So you can stab his little blueberry eyes out with a knife and make him bleed butter."
She giggled. "Makes sense, since that bumbling idiot is stuffed full of lard anyway..."
"So?"
"...Oh, alright. I'll stay for breakfast. But not too long. I'm just as curious about that Shadow twin as you are."
Knuckles took her hand and walked with her to the kitchen. "Deal."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"OhhhOOOHHHoohhh... Sonic, ah luv yuuu..."
Amy Rose murmured softly in her sleep confessions of affection for her hedgehog hero. Groggily she opened her eyes and focused on the doll in her arms. "Aww, hewwo Sonikku..." she drawled, hugging the toy to her cheek. "Sonikku, you're wet... I think I was drooling again."
Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, Amy rose from her spot on the bed to wash and dress. Within minutes, she was looking as cute and cheerful as the day before. Yet she still wasn't happy.
"Another morning, another day of trying to win Sonic over." She sighed. "When will he see that I'm not trying to tie him down, I'm not trying to hold him back, and I'm DEFINATLY not trying to keep him from doing what he loves." She reached for the doll on her pillow. "I just want to care about him! I just want to take care of him!" She started thrashing the doll around, beating it in rhythm to her words. "I JUST want to BE there when he ... NEEDS ME!!!" She panted heavily and looked at her doll, which in its current state, had seen better days.
She tossed it back onto the bed and decided to fix it later. "It just gets so BORING after a while." She closed her eyes in thought. "If it weren't for my books, I don't know what I'd do!"
She gasped. "My books!" Diving across the bed towards the end-table, she snatched up her books. "That's right, I said I wanted to go through these." She walked into the kitchen, started heating up some water for cocoa, and sat at the table.
" 'Winds of Time'..." She breathed in awe. "I wonder if I'd be able to write something with a such a beautiful name..." She flipped through a few pages, looking for something really interesting. " 'Never Imagining Greater Hurt Than Marring A Realm Eternal'... I wonder what it means."
The water started to boil.
She picked up the other book. "This one is called 'Waters of Light'." She flipped through a few pages, looking for something really interesting. "Hey... what's this?
The kettle whistled.
"It's another acronym poem. 'Cursing Harm At Other Spirits'..."
Louder.
"...That's it? what... what happens?" Amy shut her book. " 'Winds of Time'... 'Waters of Light'..."
Louder.
"Is there a connection?"
PTHWEEEEEEEEEET!!
"ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT, I'M COMING!" Amy glared at what caused her to lose her train of thought. "Oh well. Maybe a good cup of cocoa will help get me the right start." Preparing a cup, she thought aloud about the books.
"Wind and water are elements... but how might light and time be connected? And what about the elemants of earth and fire?" She took a sip. "Maybe I should go back to the library and see if I can find some other books?" She started to pack a lunch. "There has GOT to be more to this story!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sonic hummed a small tune to himself as he walked down the streets of Station Square. "Well, I don't show off; don't criticise..." he sang lightly.
Tails rounded a corner across the street and watched Sonic make his way down the sidewalk. (Is he... skipping?!) "Hey Sonic..." he approached the blue being with caution.
"Good morning, Tails!" He wished cheerfully.
Tails dropped a jaw in shock. This was a drastic change over yesterday evening. "Sonic, are you okay?"
"Never been better. Why do you ask?"
"Well... it's just that yesterday---"
Sonic slapped Tails on the back affectionately. "Tails my boy, forget yesterday. We can't live in the past. Right now, I'm looking forward to the discovery that today might bring to my life."
"Riiiiight... well, I was heading for the library. D'you want to come, or are you looking somewhere else for today's 'discovery'?"
Sonic tapped a finger on his chin. "Actually, the library would be a great place to start. Tons of books filled with all kinds of information... yeah, I think I'll go with you, if you don't mind."
Tails smiled genuinly for the first time in days, happy to have some quality time with his best bud. "I don't mind at all."
"Then it's settled. Let's go!" Sonic started matching forward.
"Uh Sonic?"
"What?"
"The library is this way."
"..................oh."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nightmare sat by the window, contemplating over a muffin as he stared at the trees. Who in the world was Shadow, and why did that bat lady call him that? "I'll make them remember me... somehow..."
"Is everything alright, Nightmare?"
"Wah!" Nightmare whirled around in his seat. "Oh Doctor, you startled me."
"Oh, sorry. But I was worried about you. Is something wrong?"
Nightmare crossed his arms and kicked the air. "People are idiots."
"Tell me about it..." Ivo mumbled to himself. "Really, what is it? Did something happen yesterday?"
Nightmare sighed and looked at the ceiling in thought, as he tried to recall yesterday's events. "Well, it was actually kinda boring until this weird bat started following me."
Bat? This caught Ivo's attention. "What did she look like?"
Nightmare blinked at his creator with surprise. "How did you know it was a girl?"
"Uh... lucky guess!"
The black one shook his head. "Anyway, she was white, with this teensy little black and pink bodysuit. With matching gloves and boots." He shook his head again. "I know it was my first day out into the world, but even I was able to tell she was a fashion mess."
Eggman tried to hide his worry from Nightmare. (Rouge... of all people!) "Did... did she say anything?"
"Yeah." Nightmare's expression grew spiteful again. "She called me Shadow."
(This is bad.)
"But then I kicked her ass, so it wasn't ALL bad."
"You... kicked her ass?"
Nightmare grinned again and jumped on the chair. "Yeah! I totally pulverized her! She hardly put up a fight, though it might've taken longer if it weren't for that green glow."
"What glow?"
He shrugged and hopped down. "It appeared when she got me REALLY ticked off."
Eggman nodded, thinking quickly to himself. He might be able to use this situation to his advantage. "Nightmare... what would you say..."
"Yeah?"
"What was it that the bat girl said that made you most angry?"
Nightmare scarfed up the rest of his breakfast. "She kept calling me Shadow! And I kept telling her I wasn't Shadow." Back on the chair. "So I made sure to let her know that my name was Nightmare, and that I would become her worst!"
The vengence, the power.... Eggman watched his creation in silence, congratulating himself in the back of his mind.
"Plus, some other people kept staring at me oddly, like they thought of me the same way!"
"Eh?" (Time to focus back on your "son".) "What did these other people look like?"
Nightmare shook his head. "That's wasn't important. What IS important, at least to me, is that I let those idiots know who they're dealing with!" He jumped back to the floor. "Maybe I look kinda like this 'Shadow' figure-person-thing, but that's not who I am! And I want them to remember that forever!!" He clutched onto Ivo's coat and looked up with shiny red eyes. "You know what I mean?"
For a moment, time stopped. Ivo glanced down at Nightmare, clinging to him and waiting for his words, like his reply could make eveything better. (He needs me,) he thought. (He's put his reliance on me. I have to help him out.)
Slowly Ivo reached over and stroked Nightmare's quills. Nightmare's head started to rock back and forth and he closed his eyes in contentment. "Yes..." Ivo finally spoke as time started up again, "I know just how you feel. And I think I can help." He stopped the stroking and walked towards the elevator.
"You... you can? Really?"
"Come with me."
He obeyed. Down the elevator and into a room that Nightmare had rarely seen. In fact, the first and only time he had seen it was when he was going upstairs after first awakening. It was a room full of various gadgets, vials, notes, books, notebooks, and a drawing board. Eggman marched right past this, however, and made his way to a small well-lit table in the back corner.
He held up a small rectangular black disk with a silver border and gave it to Nightmare. "You know what this is, right?"
He studied the settings. "Yes."
"Good. Do you know how to use it?"
"Yes!"
"Okay! Lastly, do you want to permantly embedd yourself into the moronic minds of all those bumbling idiots out there?"
"YES!!"
"Excellent! Now, here's what you do..."