CHAPTER 02
There was a muffled 'come in' from somewhere in the recesses of Rouges room as Tails knocked.
He opened the door and peeked round - the room was a mess, it actually looked rather a lot like Porker's old room. There were bits of computers, what looked like junk metal - but probably wasn't - piles of wire, old keyboards - in fact, pretty much anything to do with computering or general intelligence, was littering the room.
He took a step in and heard a soft clicking - then Rouges voice rang out from behind a large stack of boxes and monitors, "Oh, hey Tails!"
He always found it slightly unnerving the way she could do that, but then, she was a bat, and he supposed they could all do it.
"Hey Rouge - you got a moment?"
Her head popped up over the top of the pile - she grinned, "Sure kid, whatcha want?"
He closed the door behind him and moved further into the room - looking cautiously around so as not to stand on anything. He came to the conclusion that her room was iworse/i than Porker's had ever been.
She'd disappeared again, he moved over and looked round the pile. She appeared to be looking for something. After a moment she found it and with a flourish stood up with a large happy smile on her face.
"What are you doing?"
She flounced past him and sat down at a large console - connecting the tiny object she'd found into the back of the monitor somewhere. "I'm helping Porker and Tekno - we're working on breaking through that bloody mist and seeing what Bowen's up to."
Tails moved to stand behind her and watched as she fiddled around behind the monitor, "Yeah, kinda why I'm here. I just need to talk to someone. Sonic wont listen, Amy gets too worked up, and Tekno and Porker aren't around."
He touched a gloved hand to the scar on his chest - now covered in a light downy fur - where the emerald shard had been embedded only months before, absently running a couple of fingers over the almost hidden reminder of the terrible few months he spent trapped in a body that never once felt like his due to Bowens sick experiments.
Rouge looked up at him distractedly, noting his discomfiture, then finished fiddling around behind the monitor and sat back, turning it on.
"Ha! Finally got the thing sorted." She glanced at Tails, "So. what was it you wanted to talk about?"
She wasn't very good at chummy talking, especially with someone so much younger than herself - even if Tails iwas/i on the same intellectual level.
She was just a little uncomfortable, and the thought of being the only one he could talk to at the moment didn't exactly help - What must he think of her if he only talked to her because the others were either in denial or too pent up?
He nibbled his bottom lip for a moment, "Well - I'm just a little worried about everything , mostly where it concerns Bowen."
Rouge nodded , "That's understandable, after what he did to you." she started typing, a frown crossing her face as she read the input from cameras around the zone Bowen had taken over.
"Yeah.Rouge?"
She looked up again.
"Maybe I should come back later?"
She looked back at the screen - the frown deepening. ".You sure?"
Tails nodded and carefully made his way back to her door, closing it quietly behind him.
He leant his forehead against the wood for a moment, squeezing his eyes shut, before standing straight and walking away, fists clenched by his sides.
* * * *
The large cloaked figure screamed in pain and slumped limply to the ground, gripping the cloth of his hood tightly in trembling hands, his eyes screwed shut.
Within the swathes of old and tattered cloth, he curled into a foetal position, trying to will the invader out of his mind, trying to stop the pain wracking his body.
"Oh, do stop trying so hard Old man, nothing works, and the more you try, the more pain I have to inflict."
Bowen's voice sounded bored, as if there were better things he could be doing, but just for now, he ihad/i to do this.
"Big, vicious circle really."
He managed to croak out what sounded like a defiant 'never' before Bowen forced his way further into his mind.
He screwed his eyes shut in pain.
Bowen had been trying to find a way into his mind for over an hour, but many years before, he had spent some time on creating barriers to stop such invasions.
They were strong, and had never before needed any conscious effort to keep firm, but against this constant barrage of pain and mental battering, they were slowly beginning to crumble, very soon, his mind would lie open for his tormentor to read at will.
But he refused to give in and let it happen without a fight.
He was not the type to just lie there and take it, he would do everything he could to stop this. maniac, from getting what he wanted, even if it meant dieing in the process.
He found himself wondering ruefully why his instincts had led him to this place, this creature. He had thought that by coming here, maybe he would once again reclaim his throne, but now, he bitterly regretted the idea.
Crying out in abject terror, he felt the walls collapse within his mind and Bowens' mind roamed within his own.
* * * *
He was standing in. nothingness, there wasn't even really a floor, he was just standing.
Something moved to his left, and he turned. Bowen was walking towards him, a large smile on his face.
"Well, that was remarkably easier than I thought it would be."
Bowen stopped a few feet from him and cocked his head to one side, "Now, would you like to give me the grand tour, or shall I just wander aimlessly around wherever I will?"
Some of his arrogance and superiority returned, they were in his mind, on his terms now, and Bowen was the invader.
"Oh come now, do you really think that just because iI am in iyour/i mind, that you will be able to do anything about it?" Bowen laughed heartily, and suddenly they were both standing in his old throne room.
"Ooh goody, memories, I just love sifting through those."
And they were moving through them, fast, he only managed to catch a few, his assistant quitting, his months of depression, Chaos, Brutus, the Death Egg, Metalix, his first Badnik creations, waking in that laboratory, not knowing who or where he was for one, short, agonising moment.
The Hedgehog.
And further.
Into memories he hadn't even known he possessed.
Bowen stopped.
They were standing in the same laboratory where he had first awoken, but things were different.
For one, it was neat and tidy. It was before the explosion he dimly remembered.
There were two other figures in the room, a gangly man in a white lab coat, and a brown hedgehog in some kind of wheel. They both looked happy, content and relaxed.
There was something familiar about the rodent.
"Now, isn't bthis/b something to tell the grandkids? If you had any of course."
Bowen grinned to himself, he obviously thought himself rather funny.
"Is it me, or this our arch nemesis? Looking rather young and ibrown/i isn't he? Certainly a turn up for the books!"
He just stood there, looking at the two figures as Bowen walked around, looking at the laboratory with great interest.
How did he have the memories of another man? It wasn't possible.
So how come he was standing here? If it was another mans memory, then he surely wouldn't be.
Bowen leaned against one of the consoles, looking closely at the expression on the gangly mans still, frozen, face.
"There certainly is a pronounced resemblance between the old you, and the new." Bowen looked him up and down, "Though, of course, you put on an awful lot of weight."
Bowen laughed again and stood, "Shall we take a closer look at what you remember to be in these things?" He prodded a button on the console and the screen flashed to life, though the rest of the memory stayed as it was, still and silent.
Bowen stood for a while, typing, searching, and playing with the screen.
He stood, unable to move, as Bowen sifted not through the console, but through his actual memories of what was on it, until Bowen laughed aloud once more, though this time exultingly.
"Goodness Old Man! You have no idea do you? There is so much locked away in this stuffy old brain of yours that you do not understand!"
Bowen laughed again, and the memory vanished to be replaced with a bright, green landscape.
"Ahhh, there we are, the location of the. experiment."
* * * *
He took another step and lost his footing.
With an undignified yelp he slithered down the muddy slope, landing in a heap of muddy robes and scarlet rage near the base, catching against a tree.
For a moment he lay there, pissed off with himself and the very ground he lay upon, then he crawled to his knees, wiping mud out of his eyes, brushing dirt and stray strands of grass from his clothing.
"Hello, Old Man."
Bowen and a young female squirrel were sitting a few feet away, watching him.
He looked at the two of them, recognising Bowen. He glared at them in undisguised anger as they contemplated him.
Bowen stood, "I have decided."
He looked down at the creature whose neck, only two and a half years ago, he would have snapped without a thought. Now however.
Bowen smiled, "I propose an alliance. You wish Sonic dead, and your throne returned to you, I wish Sonic dead and to rule this godforsaken planet."
He held out a hand, "We can both get what we want, if we work together, you, and the two of us. Robotnik."
Robotnik thought for a moment, then gripped the offered hand.
* * * * * * * *
Um. heh ^^;
I do hope this is all sounding ok. I'm kinda working the story along slower than I did with the first Fic ^^;
Hope nobody minds ^^
Anyway - iTo Be Continued./i
Like.. duh o0
*munches rice cakes and disappears*
There was a muffled 'come in' from somewhere in the recesses of Rouges room as Tails knocked.
He opened the door and peeked round - the room was a mess, it actually looked rather a lot like Porker's old room. There were bits of computers, what looked like junk metal - but probably wasn't - piles of wire, old keyboards - in fact, pretty much anything to do with computering or general intelligence, was littering the room.
He took a step in and heard a soft clicking - then Rouges voice rang out from behind a large stack of boxes and monitors, "Oh, hey Tails!"
He always found it slightly unnerving the way she could do that, but then, she was a bat, and he supposed they could all do it.
"Hey Rouge - you got a moment?"
Her head popped up over the top of the pile - she grinned, "Sure kid, whatcha want?"
He closed the door behind him and moved further into the room - looking cautiously around so as not to stand on anything. He came to the conclusion that her room was iworse/i than Porker's had ever been.
She'd disappeared again, he moved over and looked round the pile. She appeared to be looking for something. After a moment she found it and with a flourish stood up with a large happy smile on her face.
"What are you doing?"
She flounced past him and sat down at a large console - connecting the tiny object she'd found into the back of the monitor somewhere. "I'm helping Porker and Tekno - we're working on breaking through that bloody mist and seeing what Bowen's up to."
Tails moved to stand behind her and watched as she fiddled around behind the monitor, "Yeah, kinda why I'm here. I just need to talk to someone. Sonic wont listen, Amy gets too worked up, and Tekno and Porker aren't around."
He touched a gloved hand to the scar on his chest - now covered in a light downy fur - where the emerald shard had been embedded only months before, absently running a couple of fingers over the almost hidden reminder of the terrible few months he spent trapped in a body that never once felt like his due to Bowens sick experiments.
Rouge looked up at him distractedly, noting his discomfiture, then finished fiddling around behind the monitor and sat back, turning it on.
"Ha! Finally got the thing sorted." She glanced at Tails, "So. what was it you wanted to talk about?"
She wasn't very good at chummy talking, especially with someone so much younger than herself - even if Tails iwas/i on the same intellectual level.
She was just a little uncomfortable, and the thought of being the only one he could talk to at the moment didn't exactly help - What must he think of her if he only talked to her because the others were either in denial or too pent up?
He nibbled his bottom lip for a moment, "Well - I'm just a little worried about everything , mostly where it concerns Bowen."
Rouge nodded , "That's understandable, after what he did to you." she started typing, a frown crossing her face as she read the input from cameras around the zone Bowen had taken over.
"Yeah.Rouge?"
She looked up again.
"Maybe I should come back later?"
She looked back at the screen - the frown deepening. ".You sure?"
Tails nodded and carefully made his way back to her door, closing it quietly behind him.
He leant his forehead against the wood for a moment, squeezing his eyes shut, before standing straight and walking away, fists clenched by his sides.
* * * *
The large cloaked figure screamed in pain and slumped limply to the ground, gripping the cloth of his hood tightly in trembling hands, his eyes screwed shut.
Within the swathes of old and tattered cloth, he curled into a foetal position, trying to will the invader out of his mind, trying to stop the pain wracking his body.
"Oh, do stop trying so hard Old man, nothing works, and the more you try, the more pain I have to inflict."
Bowen's voice sounded bored, as if there were better things he could be doing, but just for now, he ihad/i to do this.
"Big, vicious circle really."
He managed to croak out what sounded like a defiant 'never' before Bowen forced his way further into his mind.
He screwed his eyes shut in pain.
Bowen had been trying to find a way into his mind for over an hour, but many years before, he had spent some time on creating barriers to stop such invasions.
They were strong, and had never before needed any conscious effort to keep firm, but against this constant barrage of pain and mental battering, they were slowly beginning to crumble, very soon, his mind would lie open for his tormentor to read at will.
But he refused to give in and let it happen without a fight.
He was not the type to just lie there and take it, he would do everything he could to stop this. maniac, from getting what he wanted, even if it meant dieing in the process.
He found himself wondering ruefully why his instincts had led him to this place, this creature. He had thought that by coming here, maybe he would once again reclaim his throne, but now, he bitterly regretted the idea.
Crying out in abject terror, he felt the walls collapse within his mind and Bowens' mind roamed within his own.
* * * *
He was standing in. nothingness, there wasn't even really a floor, he was just standing.
Something moved to his left, and he turned. Bowen was walking towards him, a large smile on his face.
"Well, that was remarkably easier than I thought it would be."
Bowen stopped a few feet from him and cocked his head to one side, "Now, would you like to give me the grand tour, or shall I just wander aimlessly around wherever I will?"
Some of his arrogance and superiority returned, they were in his mind, on his terms now, and Bowen was the invader.
"Oh come now, do you really think that just because iI am in iyour/i mind, that you will be able to do anything about it?" Bowen laughed heartily, and suddenly they were both standing in his old throne room.
"Ooh goody, memories, I just love sifting through those."
And they were moving through them, fast, he only managed to catch a few, his assistant quitting, his months of depression, Chaos, Brutus, the Death Egg, Metalix, his first Badnik creations, waking in that laboratory, not knowing who or where he was for one, short, agonising moment.
The Hedgehog.
And further.
Into memories he hadn't even known he possessed.
Bowen stopped.
They were standing in the same laboratory where he had first awoken, but things were different.
For one, it was neat and tidy. It was before the explosion he dimly remembered.
There were two other figures in the room, a gangly man in a white lab coat, and a brown hedgehog in some kind of wheel. They both looked happy, content and relaxed.
There was something familiar about the rodent.
"Now, isn't bthis/b something to tell the grandkids? If you had any of course."
Bowen grinned to himself, he obviously thought himself rather funny.
"Is it me, or this our arch nemesis? Looking rather young and ibrown/i isn't he? Certainly a turn up for the books!"
He just stood there, looking at the two figures as Bowen walked around, looking at the laboratory with great interest.
How did he have the memories of another man? It wasn't possible.
So how come he was standing here? If it was another mans memory, then he surely wouldn't be.
Bowen leaned against one of the consoles, looking closely at the expression on the gangly mans still, frozen, face.
"There certainly is a pronounced resemblance between the old you, and the new." Bowen looked him up and down, "Though, of course, you put on an awful lot of weight."
Bowen laughed again and stood, "Shall we take a closer look at what you remember to be in these things?" He prodded a button on the console and the screen flashed to life, though the rest of the memory stayed as it was, still and silent.
Bowen stood for a while, typing, searching, and playing with the screen.
He stood, unable to move, as Bowen sifted not through the console, but through his actual memories of what was on it, until Bowen laughed aloud once more, though this time exultingly.
"Goodness Old Man! You have no idea do you? There is so much locked away in this stuffy old brain of yours that you do not understand!"
Bowen laughed again, and the memory vanished to be replaced with a bright, green landscape.
"Ahhh, there we are, the location of the. experiment."
* * * *
He took another step and lost his footing.
With an undignified yelp he slithered down the muddy slope, landing in a heap of muddy robes and scarlet rage near the base, catching against a tree.
For a moment he lay there, pissed off with himself and the very ground he lay upon, then he crawled to his knees, wiping mud out of his eyes, brushing dirt and stray strands of grass from his clothing.
"Hello, Old Man."
Bowen and a young female squirrel were sitting a few feet away, watching him.
He looked at the two of them, recognising Bowen. He glared at them in undisguised anger as they contemplated him.
Bowen stood, "I have decided."
He looked down at the creature whose neck, only two and a half years ago, he would have snapped without a thought. Now however.
Bowen smiled, "I propose an alliance. You wish Sonic dead, and your throne returned to you, I wish Sonic dead and to rule this godforsaken planet."
He held out a hand, "We can both get what we want, if we work together, you, and the two of us. Robotnik."
Robotnik thought for a moment, then gripped the offered hand.
* * * * * * * *
Um. heh ^^;
I do hope this is all sounding ok. I'm kinda working the story along slower than I did with the first Fic ^^;
Hope nobody minds ^^
Anyway - iTo Be Continued./i
Like.. duh o0
*munches rice cakes and disappears*
