Chapter 4: I am what I am. I'll go to any length...
"Grandpa, I don't wanna see them like this... I love them both" Maria cries
to her grandfather, while tugging on his lab coat, the bloodstains of many
experiments trailing from his arms giving him all the more an eerie
presence.
"Pleaaassee..."
Gerald completely ignores his own granddaughter, simply grunting in the
acknowledgement of her presence, dusting her off like the dirt on his coat
as he continues to scuttle away down the whispering corridors of Ark. The
young girl cries in the palm of each hand and runs for her room in
devastation, heartbroken towards her only family and friends.
"I hate it... *sniff* when you never listen... *sniff*..."
As he trails away walking from his own kind, his heart begins to speak up
with words of pity, he takes a simple glance over his right shoulder and
sighs.
"I can't let you get close... its to dangerous..."
"And WHY is that?" A loud voice booms in the professor's face. As he slowly
picks up he fixes eye to eye with this man in uniform, his medals gleam
with honour while the laser rifle is tucked away neatly under one arm.
"What's so dangerous?"
"Nothing that concerns the likes of GUN, now get out of my way."
"Just you remember who's funding this program, now I want to see some
RESULTS."
"Yes... Fine." He grunts.
As Gerald pulls away, the Commander quickly grabs his arm and pulls him
back, twisting his wrist and moving into ear's length. Draconis whispers
down into one ear with a sick tone.
"If I see or hear you're up to anything stupid, I'll be back... and the first
thing I'll do is pin a laser blast right between your eyes. Now I want an
update tomorrow morning, got it?"
"Yes Commander."
"That's better, now get the hell out of my sight."
Shoving away the withered old man, he briskly heads towards his quarters
with a fiendish grin on his face. The loud stomps of his polished shoes
echo from the other side of this Colony. Gerald cowers up against a wall,
his hands shake uncontrollably at the mere thought of loosing his work... his
family everything that has been worked for. The beads of sweat roll from
the end of his nose in fear.
"Dammit... I'm not pulling the plug for you."
****************************************************************************
************
-- --
He stands at the face of a small arena; each wall blocking them in is lined
with a thick concrete stone the floor padded with nothing but the cold
steel the station floats with. A small observation window sits high upon a
wall, the shatterproof glass preventing injury from spectators who watch
above. The bright lights shine the room with a luminous presence. Standing
below wandering the arena an impatient Hedgehog scowls at the entrance
waiting for something, or someone to enter. His fists tightly curled into a
ball as he bites his lower lip in agitation.
Peering from the doorway, he stands with his tail waving wilding behind
him. Each staggered breath taken with the fear of knowing he may not live
to see the next day of his life, his sad existence stands on the edge.
(I'll prove I'm not...) "Pitiful..." Zanth whispers to himself. His fear
holding back what speech he may have, yet a cold hand takes his shoulder
and a small smile settles on his creators withered face.
"This will be an excellent test, but if your scared you can back out?"
"N... N... No!"
"Good... I'll be watching from up there. Show him what you're made of."
Slowly step-by-step he creeps in, inching closer to Shadow who stands
calmly with a slight grin on his face. Zanth's tail wraps around his feet
as his fists draw in front of his nose, trembling in the presence of
Shadow's life.
"What a laugh this is..." Shadow Sighs. "Why don't you just leave?"
"B... B... bec... a... a..."
"Shut up." With those very words Shadow learns into a sharp swing, cracking
Zanth across his lower jaw and sending the feline hurling backwards to the
floor, his skull bounces from the steel as he cries in pain. Cradling his
head he rolls to his stomach with his legs kicking the floor.
Glaring down from the observatory he stands with pad and pen scribbling
once again, a gleam of delight in his eyes at the events being witnessed
brings ever more excitement to his studies. The simple tingling feeling
moving down his spine brings a chill, a rush of power for his creations.
Shadow flips Zanth to his back, and drags the excuse up to his feet by the
neck, choking the life from his body. Reeling back his fist he deliver
another blow into his stomach, the twisting punch rams as far as the flesh
will allow. Another sharp blow to the feline's stomach causes him to cry
out in pain once more the screams of pain pass through the walls bringing
pleasure to the professor's ears. Dropping Zanth back to his feet he
instantly collapses to his knee's cowering over with his hands pressed into
his stomach. Shadow eases his hand under the felines chin, lifting his head
to stare into his bright green eyes as he trembles under the hedgehogs grip
he brings down his fist between Zanth's eyes knocking him cold to the
floor, flooring him with a powerful impact. Toppled on the floor his face
lays against the harsh steel of reality, the feline cries under his breath
as Shadow brings his foot into the side of his hip, each kick inching him
across the arena floor, each cry for help unnoticed and brushed aside.
Zanth claws his way back to his feet, sliding up against this hateful wall
its rough surface scratching the skin beneath his fine fur, one eye closed
over the light bruise between his eyes he hurls his fist at Shadow with
rage, anger and pain. The darkened hedgehog simply catches the attempt to
fight back with one hand, twisting Zanth's wrist into submission while
grinning.
"Come on Zanth, you hit me harder before. The professor is disappointed
with you performance... I can see him grinning when I hit you..."
"I... I..." He splutters.
"Shut up. Don't you dare say a word to me until you learn speak."
(You shut up).
"What did you say?"
(How did you hear that?).
"What?"
(Ha... I told you to shut the hell up).
"You have some guts talking to me like that, guess I'll have to knock more
sense into you than I thought..." He says, with a simple grin.
Shadow reels his fist back for one more swing putting all his force and
leaning back into his punch, closing his eyes to hold the recoil the
thought of smashing his foe's skull into the wall pleases him. Slowly his
entire arm freezes up in its socket, his legs almost sink in the steel his
weight seems to become ten times its weight. Shadow's movements slow to
nothing as he peers from one open eye; Zanth's focus upon him is fixed. His
eyes appear to swirl with a power as his stance is froze to position.
"What is this?" Shadow demands.
(A bad move..)
The hedgehog is flung across the arena, shattering through the concrete
wall with a loud slam, the pit created merely implodes on itself as the
rubble buries him under the pressure. Gerald's grin turns to a low frown at
the disappointment of Shadow's progress as the Hedgehog stumbles from the
large implosion created. One hand rests on his bruised head as he smears
the blood trickling from his bottom lip, within a second he takes one glare
from his bloodied glove to feel the force of another telekinetic blast,
sliding him on his feet back into the pit. Zanth focuses on the surrounding
rubble lifting it as it levitates to his face he pummels the large jagged
pieces towards the darkened pit, each shattering sound causes the feline to
flinch knowing he may very well end a life here today. A red and black blur
move like the light itself from the entrance, speeding around Zanth he
spins on his heels trying to focus on him. Sensing his thoughts Zanth
sweeps his tail in a circular fashion hoping to trip the Hedgehog as he
toys with his mind. No contact taken a swift blow echoes across his right
cheek and the feline reels back into a corner. Feeling a surge of power
rush through his mind, down through his arm into the very tips of each of
his three fingers. Watching the surge of power form into a bright orb of
telekinetic energy, controlling the very elements themselves into one
focused weapon. For the first time since birth, Zanth smiles.
Blinking twice he stares with confusion, allowing his arms to drop the pen
rolls to the floor. His jaw almost dropping, removing the specs from his
face to focus closer on the actions taken he shakes his head with
astonishment.
"I've never seen anything like it so far..." The professor whispers to
himself.
"Grandpa?"
"Maria?"
"Whats going on? Are they ok?" As she pleads, slowly advancing to the
window her grandfather quickly covers her eyes and forces her out of the
room. A loud scream of help blasts from the arena, the distraction enough
to stun them both the young girl pushes past and runs to the window,
pressing her face up against the glass she peers down on the two at each
others throats.
"Maria..." Zanth whispers, seeing her up there above the chaos out of harms
reach. The orb of light begins to burn away at the felines hand as his
focus begins to fall; the blur that Shadow has become continues to move
from wall to wall, closing in with each passing second. A sudden sharp
impact bounces from his chest; another cracks his skull into the wall as he
slides to his tail. The powerful orb fades into the nothingness that it
came from, the powerful hedgehog slows, standing over his fallen foe then
collapsing to his knee's he falls face first onto Zanth's shoulder the
massive gash across the back of his head bleeds continuously as they lay in
the cold unconscious reality. The door quickly slides open and a young girl
runs through, her light blonde hair waving behind she runs to the two
breathing lightly with their eyes closed over. Kneeling before them she
takes each of her brothers hands, placing them over one another Maria
managed to break a small smile.
"I hope you two will stop it now."
"Very interesting..." Gerald grins up in his dark observatory. "The Shadow
DNA stood up against the A1 DNA. I wonder... I hope this will make those
fools happy now."
Yet lurking within the hate, darkness and sorrow sits that figure still, he
lays back into his chair, his head slumped onto one shoulder while the
robes cover his body still. He continues to click away at a small laptop
fixed to the desk, playing through the logs of Gerald and his
Granddaughter. Pausing at a communication log from GUN he let's loose a
small sigh.
"Emit fo tuo gninnur erew..."
"Grandpa, I don't wanna see them like this... I love them both" Maria cries
to her grandfather, while tugging on his lab coat, the bloodstains of many
experiments trailing from his arms giving him all the more an eerie
presence.
"Pleaaassee..."
Gerald completely ignores his own granddaughter, simply grunting in the
acknowledgement of her presence, dusting her off like the dirt on his coat
as he continues to scuttle away down the whispering corridors of Ark. The
young girl cries in the palm of each hand and runs for her room in
devastation, heartbroken towards her only family and friends.
"I hate it... *sniff* when you never listen... *sniff*..."
As he trails away walking from his own kind, his heart begins to speak up
with words of pity, he takes a simple glance over his right shoulder and
sighs.
"I can't let you get close... its to dangerous..."
"And WHY is that?" A loud voice booms in the professor's face. As he slowly
picks up he fixes eye to eye with this man in uniform, his medals gleam
with honour while the laser rifle is tucked away neatly under one arm.
"What's so dangerous?"
"Nothing that concerns the likes of GUN, now get out of my way."
"Just you remember who's funding this program, now I want to see some
RESULTS."
"Yes... Fine." He grunts.
As Gerald pulls away, the Commander quickly grabs his arm and pulls him
back, twisting his wrist and moving into ear's length. Draconis whispers
down into one ear with a sick tone.
"If I see or hear you're up to anything stupid, I'll be back... and the first
thing I'll do is pin a laser blast right between your eyes. Now I want an
update tomorrow morning, got it?"
"Yes Commander."
"That's better, now get the hell out of my sight."
Shoving away the withered old man, he briskly heads towards his quarters
with a fiendish grin on his face. The loud stomps of his polished shoes
echo from the other side of this Colony. Gerald cowers up against a wall,
his hands shake uncontrollably at the mere thought of loosing his work... his
family everything that has been worked for. The beads of sweat roll from
the end of his nose in fear.
"Dammit... I'm not pulling the plug for you."
****************************************************************************
************
-- --
He stands at the face of a small arena; each wall blocking them in is lined
with a thick concrete stone the floor padded with nothing but the cold
steel the station floats with. A small observation window sits high upon a
wall, the shatterproof glass preventing injury from spectators who watch
above. The bright lights shine the room with a luminous presence. Standing
below wandering the arena an impatient Hedgehog scowls at the entrance
waiting for something, or someone to enter. His fists tightly curled into a
ball as he bites his lower lip in agitation.
Peering from the doorway, he stands with his tail waving wilding behind
him. Each staggered breath taken with the fear of knowing he may not live
to see the next day of his life, his sad existence stands on the edge.
(I'll prove I'm not...) "Pitiful..." Zanth whispers to himself. His fear
holding back what speech he may have, yet a cold hand takes his shoulder
and a small smile settles on his creators withered face.
"This will be an excellent test, but if your scared you can back out?"
"N... N... No!"
"Good... I'll be watching from up there. Show him what you're made of."
Slowly step-by-step he creeps in, inching closer to Shadow who stands
calmly with a slight grin on his face. Zanth's tail wraps around his feet
as his fists draw in front of his nose, trembling in the presence of
Shadow's life.
"What a laugh this is..." Shadow Sighs. "Why don't you just leave?"
"B... B... bec... a... a..."
"Shut up." With those very words Shadow learns into a sharp swing, cracking
Zanth across his lower jaw and sending the feline hurling backwards to the
floor, his skull bounces from the steel as he cries in pain. Cradling his
head he rolls to his stomach with his legs kicking the floor.
Glaring down from the observatory he stands with pad and pen scribbling
once again, a gleam of delight in his eyes at the events being witnessed
brings ever more excitement to his studies. The simple tingling feeling
moving down his spine brings a chill, a rush of power for his creations.
Shadow flips Zanth to his back, and drags the excuse up to his feet by the
neck, choking the life from his body. Reeling back his fist he deliver
another blow into his stomach, the twisting punch rams as far as the flesh
will allow. Another sharp blow to the feline's stomach causes him to cry
out in pain once more the screams of pain pass through the walls bringing
pleasure to the professor's ears. Dropping Zanth back to his feet he
instantly collapses to his knee's cowering over with his hands pressed into
his stomach. Shadow eases his hand under the felines chin, lifting his head
to stare into his bright green eyes as he trembles under the hedgehogs grip
he brings down his fist between Zanth's eyes knocking him cold to the
floor, flooring him with a powerful impact. Toppled on the floor his face
lays against the harsh steel of reality, the feline cries under his breath
as Shadow brings his foot into the side of his hip, each kick inching him
across the arena floor, each cry for help unnoticed and brushed aside.
Zanth claws his way back to his feet, sliding up against this hateful wall
its rough surface scratching the skin beneath his fine fur, one eye closed
over the light bruise between his eyes he hurls his fist at Shadow with
rage, anger and pain. The darkened hedgehog simply catches the attempt to
fight back with one hand, twisting Zanth's wrist into submission while
grinning.
"Come on Zanth, you hit me harder before. The professor is disappointed
with you performance... I can see him grinning when I hit you..."
"I... I..." He splutters.
"Shut up. Don't you dare say a word to me until you learn speak."
(You shut up).
"What did you say?"
(How did you hear that?).
"What?"
(Ha... I told you to shut the hell up).
"You have some guts talking to me like that, guess I'll have to knock more
sense into you than I thought..." He says, with a simple grin.
Shadow reels his fist back for one more swing putting all his force and
leaning back into his punch, closing his eyes to hold the recoil the
thought of smashing his foe's skull into the wall pleases him. Slowly his
entire arm freezes up in its socket, his legs almost sink in the steel his
weight seems to become ten times its weight. Shadow's movements slow to
nothing as he peers from one open eye; Zanth's focus upon him is fixed. His
eyes appear to swirl with a power as his stance is froze to position.
"What is this?" Shadow demands.
(A bad move..)
The hedgehog is flung across the arena, shattering through the concrete
wall with a loud slam, the pit created merely implodes on itself as the
rubble buries him under the pressure. Gerald's grin turns to a low frown at
the disappointment of Shadow's progress as the Hedgehog stumbles from the
large implosion created. One hand rests on his bruised head as he smears
the blood trickling from his bottom lip, within a second he takes one glare
from his bloodied glove to feel the force of another telekinetic blast,
sliding him on his feet back into the pit. Zanth focuses on the surrounding
rubble lifting it as it levitates to his face he pummels the large jagged
pieces towards the darkened pit, each shattering sound causes the feline to
flinch knowing he may very well end a life here today. A red and black blur
move like the light itself from the entrance, speeding around Zanth he
spins on his heels trying to focus on him. Sensing his thoughts Zanth
sweeps his tail in a circular fashion hoping to trip the Hedgehog as he
toys with his mind. No contact taken a swift blow echoes across his right
cheek and the feline reels back into a corner. Feeling a surge of power
rush through his mind, down through his arm into the very tips of each of
his three fingers. Watching the surge of power form into a bright orb of
telekinetic energy, controlling the very elements themselves into one
focused weapon. For the first time since birth, Zanth smiles.
Blinking twice he stares with confusion, allowing his arms to drop the pen
rolls to the floor. His jaw almost dropping, removing the specs from his
face to focus closer on the actions taken he shakes his head with
astonishment.
"I've never seen anything like it so far..." The professor whispers to
himself.
"Grandpa?"
"Maria?"
"Whats going on? Are they ok?" As she pleads, slowly advancing to the
window her grandfather quickly covers her eyes and forces her out of the
room. A loud scream of help blasts from the arena, the distraction enough
to stun them both the young girl pushes past and runs to the window,
pressing her face up against the glass she peers down on the two at each
others throats.
"Maria..." Zanth whispers, seeing her up there above the chaos out of harms
reach. The orb of light begins to burn away at the felines hand as his
focus begins to fall; the blur that Shadow has become continues to move
from wall to wall, closing in with each passing second. A sudden sharp
impact bounces from his chest; another cracks his skull into the wall as he
slides to his tail. The powerful orb fades into the nothingness that it
came from, the powerful hedgehog slows, standing over his fallen foe then
collapsing to his knee's he falls face first onto Zanth's shoulder the
massive gash across the back of his head bleeds continuously as they lay in
the cold unconscious reality. The door quickly slides open and a young girl
runs through, her light blonde hair waving behind she runs to the two
breathing lightly with their eyes closed over. Kneeling before them she
takes each of her brothers hands, placing them over one another Maria
managed to break a small smile.
"I hope you two will stop it now."
"Very interesting..." Gerald grins up in his dark observatory. "The Shadow
DNA stood up against the A1 DNA. I wonder... I hope this will make those
fools happy now."
Yet lurking within the hate, darkness and sorrow sits that figure still, he
lays back into his chair, his head slumped onto one shoulder while the
robes cover his body still. He continues to click away at a small laptop
fixed to the desk, playing through the logs of Gerald and his
Granddaughter. Pausing at a communication log from GUN he let's loose a
small sigh.
"Emit fo tuo gninnur erew..."