ADAPTION chapter nine
Amy opened her mind to the whole world, searching for the man she loved and the bastard trying to take him from her, spreading her awareness out over every zone on the planet, feeling for them, wanting them. Within seconds she had located them on the fringes of her psychic awareness, thousands of miles away.
She vanished, taking Tails and Melissa with her.
The teleportation this time, fueled by her anger and urgency, was ferocious, the spark flashed reds, yellows and white, singeing and melting the ground where she and the others had been standing just seconds before.
The actual traveling felt like it was taking hours, their bodies were whipped by winds, induced by the mind trying to cope with this alien way of traveling.
Within maybe a second, they were standing in a desolate landscape, a place neither recognized. Then Amy realized, they'd followed Bowen into a new zone, one of the forbidden realms, a realm of pure thought and no reason. This landscape was a creation of Bowen's mind, and they were stuck on his terms.
"Shit..."
Tails and Melissa had come to the same conclusion, and were looking around a little panicky. They, all three of them, were his physical match, if not his betters, but in this land controlled by him, they had no idea of the outcome of this battle.
Amy cast her mind out once more. She could feel Bowen in everything around them, the rocks, the half dead bushes and trees, but it was Sonic she was looking for.
Sonic awoke groggily, and tried to move. In a second he really wished he hadn't, his arm took him into a world of agony at the simplest movement. Clenching his teeth he tried to sit and get a look at where Bowen had taken him.
He was bound, but by what he couldn't tell, it appeared to be simply the floor itself, all he could manage to raise was his head. He looked around, assessing the situation. He was indeed held down by the ground, his hands, up to the wrist, and feet up to the ankle, were sunk tightly into the floor, keeping him immobile, tendrils of grass wrapped around his limbs as extra security.
He dropped his head back to the ground, trying to blank the pain coming from his broken and twisted arm, deciding he would give vibrating his way out of the bonds a try. A writhing sound to his right made him glance over before he could move anything.
The earth bulged and lifted as if something were trying to escape, and then it slowly formed into a vaguely humanoid shape. A hand pushed it aside near the face, and the spotlessly mad form of Bowen clambered out and crouched, the earth slowly rolling back into itself behind him.
"Hello Sonic."
Sonic nearly growled at him and attempted to escape. It was a futile effort, the pain in his arm made him cry out, nearly losing consciousness, with a wave of black washing over him, he quieted and settled for glaring at the man he loathed, he didn't even have the strength to throw abuse at the man.
"There then, isn't that much more comfortable?" he said in a patronizing voice, "Just lie back and enjoy the show, while you can."
Bowen giggled slightly and stood up, he threw off his lab coat a little melodramatically then stepping over his prone captive he stood awaiting Amy's arrival. Sonic gave him a loath fueled glare, not noticing the strands of grass slowly growing their way over him.
Knuckles watched anxiously as Tekno worked her 'magic' on the door to Porker's cell. "Is it working?" he asked quietly.
Tekno smiled, "Yeah, It'll be open in just a moment."
As she predicted, the lock of the door shot open with a surprisingly loud whooshing sound. Rouge clicked her tongue, checking no one had been alerted by the sound, then, as she shook her head no, Tekno removed her computer and Knuckles pulled the door slowly open.
They were shocked into speechlessness when they found Porker.
He had pressed himself as far as he could into the far corner of the room, clutching his jacket so tightly the buttons had torn the skin of his fingers. He was muttering to himself under his breath, his eyes clenched tightly shut.
"Oh Porker, what did he do to you?" Tekno crouched beside him, putting a gentle hand on his arm.
Porker squealed and jumped as she touched him, his eyes flashing open. For a moment he tried to back further away, his eyes roaming the room wildly, then he recognized everyone and calmed down a fraction.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do it! He. They made me do it!"
He stared straight at Tekno as he made this statement, as if she were accusing him, but she shook her head, and quite impulsively wrapped her arms around her friend, trying to calm him down.
As Knuckles and Rouge watched, worried looks on their faces, Porker quietly burst into tears as Tekno held him, slowly rocking to and fro. "I'm so sorry." He sobbed once more before lapsing into complete silence.
"I hope Sonic kills that bastard." Rouge muttered so quietly only Knuckles caught her words.
Despite himself, he nodded agreement.
"I've found him," Amy silently informed the others, passing on to them his exact location, "Bowen can't be to far from him, he's a glory seeker, and a crazy one at that, he'll be using Sonic as bait."
"He feels. in a bad way Amy." Tails gave her an imploring look.
She nodded, "Don't worry about him, just get him to safety, leave Bowen to me, in this place, I'm the only one who can beat him."
Tails and Melissa nodded, they knew what they would be facing in this land of Bowen's creation, and Amy's new found abilities would be the only weapon against him.
Vanishing as one, they all appeared together, no more than twenty or thirty feet from where Bowen was waiting for them.
"Ah, my guests! You have arrived! And just in time too, poor, dear, Sonic here isn't feeling too well" Bowen grinned one of his maniacal grins and indicated his captive.
Sonic was almost completely covered in tight strands of thick, strong, rope like grass, he struggled, but without conviction as his arm pained him and the bonds began to cut off his air supply. His gaze flickered towards his team mates, desperation showing plainly in his bright green eyes.
Amy held Tails back with a simple gesture, and they both stood there, fists clenched and teeth grinding, green and white energy flickering over their bodies.
"Bowen, I'm going to kill you."
Amy said it simply, but with all the conviction of a lover, Bowen raised his eye brows at her.
Before they knew what was happening, Bowen had disappeared and Amy with him. Melissa and Tails rushed forward with simultaneous cries of anguish and fought to release Sonic from his living bonds.
"Don't worry Sonic, we'll have you out in a moment!" Tails said urgently as he fought with the writhing rope like grass. Sonic stilled and looked over Tails shoulder for a second, then began to struggle once more, his eyes trying to tell Tails something. Glancing at Sonics eye's, Tails turned just in time to be met by Melissa's fist.
Amy grabbed at thin air, where a millisecond before Bowen had been, snarled and looked around, with her mind as well as her eyes.
It was useless, her eyes saw nothing, and her mind saw him everywhere, he was nowhere and everywhere at the same time, and it was getting on her nerves.
She was going to have to merge with the world as he had, and fight him from within, but this wasn't an optimistic prospect, she could get stuck in his mind, or worse, come back, but with a mind like his.
She screamed her wrath and sent her mind out, just as the landscape around her writhed and wound itself around her entire body. She found a way in, and took it.
"Melissa! What are you doing?!"
Tails jumped up from the ground where he had landed, a betrayed look on his face. "Nothing young one, I'm just doing as I've been told from the outset."
Melissa smirked and jumped at Tails, bringing them both crashing to the ground. Tails would not give in though, and he rolled from under her, clambering to his feet then shooting into the air. Melissa snarled and followed, making a grab for his ankle, but he danced out of the way.
They both began to glow green and white, then quite suddenly Melissa let fly at Tails, bolts of emerald energy screaming in his direction. Not quite believing what was happening, he simply sent up an impromptu shield, letting the bolts hit it, spreading waves of power outward.
"Why are you doing this?" he shouted at her, keeping the shield up as she sent another volley at him.
"Because I want to, you little idiot! Now get out from behind that shield and let me kill you!"
She charged at him again, trying to make him drop the shield and react to her attacks, but he was having none of it, he simply dodged her every physical attack and let the shield take care of the rest. Tails still couldn't believe what she was doing, he was still no more than a child, and this betrayal hurt.
"Oh for goodness sake!" she finally screamed while throwing volley after volley at his shield, "Can't you tell?! Bowen is my lover! It has been a ploy all along! We simply want the three of you dead!"
Tails was shocked, and just for a second he did nothing, then, "But, you're part of the freedom group..."
"Was part, WAS"
She charged him again, and this time Tails reacted. He was pissed off as only a twelve year old could be, and he was hurting. This woman had pretended to be their friend, when all she really wanted to do was catch and kill them all.
Tails whole body glowed green, and they clashed, fighting viciously in a midair battle neither would forget.
Far below them, Sonic watched in anguished suspense, he had no idea what was going on, why had Melissa attacked Tails? He had no time to worry about that now though, he could barely breathe.
He concentrated on trying to move his nose and mouth out of the grip of the grass strands, but it wasn't working too well.
If Amy or Tails didn't hurry up, there'd be no one to rescue.
Amy trod carefully in a mind that was not her own.
She was fully aware that in the real world her body, as well as Sonic's was being suffocated by the writhing earth controlled by Bowen, but she couldn't think about that, she had a bastard to kill from the inside.
Amy hadn't noticed, but her whole being now consisted of one single thought, 'Kill Bowen'. This thought was consuming her, and even if she survived, she would never be satisfied.
The deeper into this thought she delved, the less chance there was of her safe return. Amy marched up to and opened the mental equivalent of a door.
Amy opened her mind to the whole world, searching for the man she loved and the bastard trying to take him from her, spreading her awareness out over every zone on the planet, feeling for them, wanting them. Within seconds she had located them on the fringes of her psychic awareness, thousands of miles away.
She vanished, taking Tails and Melissa with her.
The teleportation this time, fueled by her anger and urgency, was ferocious, the spark flashed reds, yellows and white, singeing and melting the ground where she and the others had been standing just seconds before.
The actual traveling felt like it was taking hours, their bodies were whipped by winds, induced by the mind trying to cope with this alien way of traveling.
Within maybe a second, they were standing in a desolate landscape, a place neither recognized. Then Amy realized, they'd followed Bowen into a new zone, one of the forbidden realms, a realm of pure thought and no reason. This landscape was a creation of Bowen's mind, and they were stuck on his terms.
"Shit..."
Tails and Melissa had come to the same conclusion, and were looking around a little panicky. They, all three of them, were his physical match, if not his betters, but in this land controlled by him, they had no idea of the outcome of this battle.
Amy cast her mind out once more. She could feel Bowen in everything around them, the rocks, the half dead bushes and trees, but it was Sonic she was looking for.
Sonic awoke groggily, and tried to move. In a second he really wished he hadn't, his arm took him into a world of agony at the simplest movement. Clenching his teeth he tried to sit and get a look at where Bowen had taken him.
He was bound, but by what he couldn't tell, it appeared to be simply the floor itself, all he could manage to raise was his head. He looked around, assessing the situation. He was indeed held down by the ground, his hands, up to the wrist, and feet up to the ankle, were sunk tightly into the floor, keeping him immobile, tendrils of grass wrapped around his limbs as extra security.
He dropped his head back to the ground, trying to blank the pain coming from his broken and twisted arm, deciding he would give vibrating his way out of the bonds a try. A writhing sound to his right made him glance over before he could move anything.
The earth bulged and lifted as if something were trying to escape, and then it slowly formed into a vaguely humanoid shape. A hand pushed it aside near the face, and the spotlessly mad form of Bowen clambered out and crouched, the earth slowly rolling back into itself behind him.
"Hello Sonic."
Sonic nearly growled at him and attempted to escape. It was a futile effort, the pain in his arm made him cry out, nearly losing consciousness, with a wave of black washing over him, he quieted and settled for glaring at the man he loathed, he didn't even have the strength to throw abuse at the man.
"There then, isn't that much more comfortable?" he said in a patronizing voice, "Just lie back and enjoy the show, while you can."
Bowen giggled slightly and stood up, he threw off his lab coat a little melodramatically then stepping over his prone captive he stood awaiting Amy's arrival. Sonic gave him a loath fueled glare, not noticing the strands of grass slowly growing their way over him.
Knuckles watched anxiously as Tekno worked her 'magic' on the door to Porker's cell. "Is it working?" he asked quietly.
Tekno smiled, "Yeah, It'll be open in just a moment."
As she predicted, the lock of the door shot open with a surprisingly loud whooshing sound. Rouge clicked her tongue, checking no one had been alerted by the sound, then, as she shook her head no, Tekno removed her computer and Knuckles pulled the door slowly open.
They were shocked into speechlessness when they found Porker.
He had pressed himself as far as he could into the far corner of the room, clutching his jacket so tightly the buttons had torn the skin of his fingers. He was muttering to himself under his breath, his eyes clenched tightly shut.
"Oh Porker, what did he do to you?" Tekno crouched beside him, putting a gentle hand on his arm.
Porker squealed and jumped as she touched him, his eyes flashing open. For a moment he tried to back further away, his eyes roaming the room wildly, then he recognized everyone and calmed down a fraction.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do it! He. They made me do it!"
He stared straight at Tekno as he made this statement, as if she were accusing him, but she shook her head, and quite impulsively wrapped her arms around her friend, trying to calm him down.
As Knuckles and Rouge watched, worried looks on their faces, Porker quietly burst into tears as Tekno held him, slowly rocking to and fro. "I'm so sorry." He sobbed once more before lapsing into complete silence.
"I hope Sonic kills that bastard." Rouge muttered so quietly only Knuckles caught her words.
Despite himself, he nodded agreement.
"I've found him," Amy silently informed the others, passing on to them his exact location, "Bowen can't be to far from him, he's a glory seeker, and a crazy one at that, he'll be using Sonic as bait."
"He feels. in a bad way Amy." Tails gave her an imploring look.
She nodded, "Don't worry about him, just get him to safety, leave Bowen to me, in this place, I'm the only one who can beat him."
Tails and Melissa nodded, they knew what they would be facing in this land of Bowen's creation, and Amy's new found abilities would be the only weapon against him.
Vanishing as one, they all appeared together, no more than twenty or thirty feet from where Bowen was waiting for them.
"Ah, my guests! You have arrived! And just in time too, poor, dear, Sonic here isn't feeling too well" Bowen grinned one of his maniacal grins and indicated his captive.
Sonic was almost completely covered in tight strands of thick, strong, rope like grass, he struggled, but without conviction as his arm pained him and the bonds began to cut off his air supply. His gaze flickered towards his team mates, desperation showing plainly in his bright green eyes.
Amy held Tails back with a simple gesture, and they both stood there, fists clenched and teeth grinding, green and white energy flickering over their bodies.
"Bowen, I'm going to kill you."
Amy said it simply, but with all the conviction of a lover, Bowen raised his eye brows at her.
Before they knew what was happening, Bowen had disappeared and Amy with him. Melissa and Tails rushed forward with simultaneous cries of anguish and fought to release Sonic from his living bonds.
"Don't worry Sonic, we'll have you out in a moment!" Tails said urgently as he fought with the writhing rope like grass. Sonic stilled and looked over Tails shoulder for a second, then began to struggle once more, his eyes trying to tell Tails something. Glancing at Sonics eye's, Tails turned just in time to be met by Melissa's fist.
Amy grabbed at thin air, where a millisecond before Bowen had been, snarled and looked around, with her mind as well as her eyes.
It was useless, her eyes saw nothing, and her mind saw him everywhere, he was nowhere and everywhere at the same time, and it was getting on her nerves.
She was going to have to merge with the world as he had, and fight him from within, but this wasn't an optimistic prospect, she could get stuck in his mind, or worse, come back, but with a mind like his.
She screamed her wrath and sent her mind out, just as the landscape around her writhed and wound itself around her entire body. She found a way in, and took it.
"Melissa! What are you doing?!"
Tails jumped up from the ground where he had landed, a betrayed look on his face. "Nothing young one, I'm just doing as I've been told from the outset."
Melissa smirked and jumped at Tails, bringing them both crashing to the ground. Tails would not give in though, and he rolled from under her, clambering to his feet then shooting into the air. Melissa snarled and followed, making a grab for his ankle, but he danced out of the way.
They both began to glow green and white, then quite suddenly Melissa let fly at Tails, bolts of emerald energy screaming in his direction. Not quite believing what was happening, he simply sent up an impromptu shield, letting the bolts hit it, spreading waves of power outward.
"Why are you doing this?" he shouted at her, keeping the shield up as she sent another volley at him.
"Because I want to, you little idiot! Now get out from behind that shield and let me kill you!"
She charged at him again, trying to make him drop the shield and react to her attacks, but he was having none of it, he simply dodged her every physical attack and let the shield take care of the rest. Tails still couldn't believe what she was doing, he was still no more than a child, and this betrayal hurt.
"Oh for goodness sake!" she finally screamed while throwing volley after volley at his shield, "Can't you tell?! Bowen is my lover! It has been a ploy all along! We simply want the three of you dead!"
Tails was shocked, and just for a second he did nothing, then, "But, you're part of the freedom group..."
"Was part, WAS"
She charged him again, and this time Tails reacted. He was pissed off as only a twelve year old could be, and he was hurting. This woman had pretended to be their friend, when all she really wanted to do was catch and kill them all.
Tails whole body glowed green, and they clashed, fighting viciously in a midair battle neither would forget.
Far below them, Sonic watched in anguished suspense, he had no idea what was going on, why had Melissa attacked Tails? He had no time to worry about that now though, he could barely breathe.
He concentrated on trying to move his nose and mouth out of the grip of the grass strands, but it wasn't working too well.
If Amy or Tails didn't hurry up, there'd be no one to rescue.
Amy trod carefully in a mind that was not her own.
She was fully aware that in the real world her body, as well as Sonic's was being suffocated by the writhing earth controlled by Bowen, but she couldn't think about that, she had a bastard to kill from the inside.
Amy hadn't noticed, but her whole being now consisted of one single thought, 'Kill Bowen'. This thought was consuming her, and even if she survived, she would never be satisfied.
The deeper into this thought she delved, the less chance there was of her safe return. Amy marched up to and opened the mental equivalent of a door.
