Princia Brio stirred in her fitful slumber, arms flailing with choppy motions, wavering in on the blue scenery, a tint of fantasy creasing her brow as her chocolate brown eyes slid open under the luminosity cutting through her lifeless body. She was aware of certain feelings, numbness covered most of her, blocking out detail, blurring reality in with fiction. "D-d-daddy!" She could hear her own voice, but wasn't quite sure if she had actually spoken. Struggling against some unseen force, she pleaded, "Help m-m-me, D-d-dad-d-dy!" A hand formed over her vision, her face obscured by the flesh, nostrils flaring in fear as the scent of death slaughtered her sensibility and she thrashed wildly in the air.
"Hush, child!" A saintly voice scolded as the hand continued to smother little Brio's thin face. Heaven's head appeared in the midst of the girl's mind and Princia screamed in the realization, her limbs stiffening painfully against her sides.
"Y-y-you!" Came the startled wail, fingers straightening out against the cool of her bare skin, the warm hand burning into her expressionless face. "No! n-n-n-no no no no noooooooo!" Her high-pitched screech compelled Heaven to pull her hand from the girl in attempt to block out the loud screaming.
"SHUT UP!" Brown locks swinging furiously, Heaven shook her own head, willing the image out of her mind, her fingers jammed into her ear canals, the sound of rushing water filling them as the child's body transformed into a bloated corpse, green slime oozing from the decaying wounds on the stomach. "Go away! Go away! PLEASE!" The empty eye socket held the mysterious presence at bay, a bit of brain seeping out of the deep and onto the cheek, a slick strand of the pink cord trailed up the child's nose. Then Princia lifted her singular eye heavenward in prayer for sweet relief. Heaven would not accept the tainted gift, her own eyes alien to that dark world, only capable of understanding more indefinite things, such as memory or love. One of her pale hands fed into the girl's empty womb, grinding in the gut until its body reanimated and the limbs flapped again. "Don't be afraid, little one." The older woman said beyond the opening gate. The hand extracted itself from young Brio, holding within it a promise, a reward of life. "You shall not speak now. Remain silent and don't let your lips part for fear of drowning in the murky rivers." To Heaven's surprise the girl nodded in understanding, and her flesh immediately flushed with colour, roving the cheeks and lips, painting the torso. The young woman smiled, crystal blue orbs cradling the small kid in icy baths. "When you come out of the rivers, you must make it to the sunlight. You must grasp the sun and never let go. Do you understand?"
Though the fear swam in the silky stare, Princia nodded, her mouth fixated in an awed "o", her hands tugging at curly locks. The sense of recognition remained, touching her chest with uneasiness, and she secretly wished that her daddy were here to save her from the menace. It was only after Heaven gripped her legs that she began to protest again, lips slack in an unending siren. The master of time travel was seated comfortably in the hospital's main office; it was a tiny waiting room, with only a few rows of seating space, and entirely overcrowded. The hustle bustle of the office was completely blocked out by Tropy's solemn thoughts, his hands working carefully to unwrap a chocolate almond bar. The wrapper crinkled, its noise insignificant in the whole of it all, and he dispensed it into the waste bin after reluctantly leaving his chair. Sighing with relief as he noticed that his spot had not been taken, N.Tropy sat down again, mouth closing over the sweet morsel, the rich chocolate melting on his tongue. A smile flickered on his lips momentarily, and then dissipated altogether as the dark reflections played in his brain. Brio was still in critical condition, his situation worsening after the revealing of Princia's death, and he was wheeled away and put under twenty-four hour protection, away from visitors unfortunately. The lofty time wizard had every intention of staying at the hospital until his comrade's release, but his physical body gradually plunged into exhaustion, the weariness heightened by his constant flow of negative thoughts. He was mentally drained as well, the beginnings of a migraine bubbling up to the surface. A constant hum filled the chamber. People were wailing, some complaining, some lamenting over lost loved ones, still others singing happy tunes in the face of death and sickness. Tropy envied the high-spirited latter group of individuals. He found no shelter in pretending that everything was okay, whistling away his problems while hopping on one foot. No one had ever shared with him the secret to coping, but as he looked around at the unfamiliar faces, he was sure that the answer was not to smile throughout your entire existence. In life there was a thing called balance. A time to laugh and a time to cry…
"Oh, GOD help me! My baby! Please, you've gotta help my baby!" An extremely distressed woman lurched through the double doors of the entrance, a lifeless lump of a child spilling over in her arms, its body torn open savagely, ripped from the neck area and half of the way down its pallid stomach. The boiling guts shook like jelly as the woman hopped about, blood soaking the front of her satin smock and spurting from some open artery onto the hospital floor. The crowd hushed as the she fell to her knees on the linoleum, weeping in sheer agony and torment. A small crew of hospital personnel rushed silently into the area, cleaning supplies stacked in their overloaded arms. The ground was a mosaic mess, and the woman screamed louder than before as one of the doctors collected what was left of the child, a sore clot of crimson and mush, and prepared for a thorough examination. "Oh, GOD! No…NO!" Her hands wrung in disbelief, washing themselves in the child's insides that rolled down her garments. Her swollen eyes swung in Tropy's direction, and all time ceased. The crowd stood as still as bronze statues overlooking a million dollar garden, their voices only sounding as hushed whispers, faces ashen with dismay and horror. Those eyes were so human…pleading. With a scream that startled even the one's that had so happily sang before without a care, the woman flung her weight on N.Tropy, grabbing his clothing with amazing strength, her beautiful hazel eyes now stung with madness. "Please help me! HELP ME!" The crimson transferred to his suit, clumps of unknown origins stuck within the colour, and Tropy immediately sprang up in repulsion, knocking the distressed mother a few feet away. Before the woman could protest he discarded the candy bar onto the floor, exited the facility, and vomited the portion of chocolate he had eaten earlier onto the cold, hard pavement.
Flinching from a pain of unknown source, the human female awoke with a start, mouth propping open at the sight of the petite bandicoot standing over her. Heaven sighed, pushing herself up to a sitting position, shaking away the dramatic effects of sleep. With a yawn, she addressed Coco, who was staring at her worriedly, intently, as if trying to read her. "What's wrong?" The question flew in as the bandicoot's emerald globes pierced her, undid her. She self-consciously rubbed at a chosen spot on her face, just in case there was something odd about it.
"You were talking in your sleep." Coco stated, still keeping an eye cocked toward the human, her bottom resting on the sandy floor. The wetness had almost completely dried up from the tiny grains that littered the place, and she was glad, because she never fancied the feeling of grit. Her arms brushed some of the hard pebbled from her sides, elbows knocking against her T-shirt. Inside the hut, the air was more than just chilly. The wind that drifted through the cracks felt like the hands of death grabbing the occupants' bodies, stealing all of the warmth from them, and spitting them back into the humble abode in the heart of the forest. Despite the biting chill, Coco focused more on the girl lying beside her. "You said some pretty far out stuff, so I decided to wake you up." She gave a slight nod, then turned her face away to witness the incoming night. Stars had already spread themselves over the purple canopy, the moon only partially hidden behind the smoky clouds. It would be dark soon, the air full of night sounds and smells. For a moment, Coco thought about walking out and inhaling the freshness, but ultimately decided against it and stood up, stretching, a yawn escaping. "I think I'm going to bed. You can use the couch over there if you wanna, or you can just take the floor. Whatever suits you." She waved a polite goodnight and clicked the door closed behind her as she entered her space.
Heaven trembled, half from the cold and half from something she did not know, the faint images of her nightmare slowly turning over in her mind. There was the girl, the dead one with the one eye, and a place crowned in blue and water, with rivers running deep and wide, stretching for eternity. "You must reach the sun." She said coldly, her voice flat and void of meaning. She was mimicking the phrase she heard before, trying to understand what it all meant. "The sun." She repeated, hands clutching up piles of yellow sand. "You must grasp it. Never let go. Never let …go…." He entered her subconscious again, and the camera rolled along with increasing momentum as she was thrown into various events of the past. He was there in every one, she was sure, the resonance of his speech like the shining sun. FLASH! She was propelled forward at a very intense speed, dusty wind brushing her cheekbones, his hair tickling her nose. Her laughter was unmistakable, gentle and meek. His rose over her own as they bobbed, up and down, up and down, a carousel of jitters spinning out of control. In this she could feel, and the feel of him excited her, made her need him even more so as the frosty tears dug into her jawbone, dripping from her chin. She couldn't stop the laughing and she was touching him again, the fingers lovingly stroking a fleshy cheek, a knobby shoulder. FLASH! This time he spoke in words instead of emotions, his voice still the same, whizzing with some unnatural buzz. "Please…need to….with you….Mi….zz…shz…..please…..help to…..a….an…..please…." She watched him through the foggy glass on the opposite side of the non-reflecting mirror, hands pressed against the pane, knuckles white, hair standing on end as it was evident that he was pleading. Praying. That same word, "please…" remained the factor that separated his world from hers. Please what? Heaven opened her eyes as his picture weakened and then died away completely. Please….what? What did he want her to do? With a weary groan she slammed her head backwards, causing the sand to whoosh up in great amounts around her thin figure. Before she completely fell asleep, Heaven whispered that word again, "Please…"
Nina waited with bated breath for her uncle to arrive in his immaculate airship. The clouds moved in, homing in on her as she stood, one foot resting on the wall behind her, her backpack under the other, her hands crossed with anxiety. She hadn't seen his face in over a year or more and she was secretly excited on being able to skip the remainder of the school year. A cry rose in her throat as she witnessed the huge blimp rising over the city buildings, shadow looming over the grounds, parting the vast amount of clouds that swung swiftly that way. Even the bloated puffs bowed to the superior reign of her uncle's ship, and her mouth opened in silent wonder. She scooped her backpack up onto one arm and bounced off, skipping to the landing pad her uncle had marked for their meeting. All at once her communicator bleeped and, annoyed by this interruption, she whipped it from her pocket and sighed, the number 3650503 shone brightly, blinking in triplets. In a hurry she opened the lid, pulled out the antenna, and signaled that she was listening for the message: H I N I N A W H A T S U P T O D A Y : Her fingers flashing over the red button, she signaled back in a series of feverish clicks : M Y U N C L E I S P I C K I N G M E U P R I G H T N O W I G O T T A G O : She clicked the communicator shut as the wind picked up around her, the blimp blowing hot air on her face, singing through her short, dark hair. With her device pocketed, she raised her hands up to shield herself from the searing blasts, eyes shut tight until her uncle emerged from the whining vehicle and motioned for her to hop on. With a smile she swung her backpack, feet flying over the grassy field in pursuit of her beloved uncle. He was standing there, a huge grin plastered on face, arms outstretched in a welcoming hug.
"Ah, little Nina!" He called as she was in his arms, staring up at him through her windblown hair. "How so wonderful to see you! Did the teacher's treat you okay when they heard the news?" He ruffled her hair, one of his fingers dipping under to tilt her chin up farther. She nodded, steel hands tightening around his slender waist. With a startled cry he gently forced her to let go of him as the pressure drove into him, unbearable. Then he smiled again, patting her shoulder as not to beckon her to squeeze him again. "I'm glad. I'm afraid that if they had gotten angry, uncle Cortex would have had to come and change their minds!" He laughed and Nina did as well. After a few quiet moments of reunion, Cortex boarded the airship, his niece following close behind, skipping all the way up the metal platform that served as a ramp leading to the interior parts. The bionic gothic teen gazed around the large space in amazement, as her uncle had remodeled since her last visit. The once drab décor was now livelier, flashing with fluorescent green and intriguing blues, control panel completely converted into a metal-based masterpiece with the buttons encased in shiny plastic coverings. A row of seats was skillfully inserted into the middle, egg chairs sprinkled with a space-like sparkle. Nina gratefully plopped into one of these cushiony places, arms dangling over the armrests, backpack sitting in another of like manner in the seat directly beside her. Neo nodded in approval of his niece's fascination with the new surroundings, crossing over to the front of the ship and pressing a few buttons on the operating panel. With their course set for his laboratories in the icy artic, he addressed his niece with the news of business, carefully reading her expressions as he explained in full. "The reason I have decided to pluck you from your educational exercises early is because I have a dire situation in my hands, and I fear that I need your help." Nina scooted to the edge of her seat, eyes wide, and mouth twisting up in an indulgent smile. Neo continued, "You know of Brio's daughter, Princia. Well, she had a quite unfortunate… accident." He spoke the last word with a grim tone, his teeth bared, almost as if he were to bite something ferocious in front of him. "In spite of the tragedy and of the doctor's lack of inspiration or hope, I have decided to take it upon myself to reanimate the girl, with of course, making a few modifications here and there to enhance her chances of future survival." A laugh escaped him, and Nina cocked an eyebrow before chuckling along with him, hands clasped together and feet swinging enthusiastically. With a cough, Neo went on again, "But with a dream comes a set of work, a few jobs, and the tasks of gathering the components I need to complete the surgery, and that is where you come in…" He pointed a finger toward his niece as she leaned forward even more, bottom promising to spill out into the floor. One of her feet flattened itself on the hard ground, her hands now gripping the armrests, metal almost splintering through the plastic setup. "You'll be the key to finding the parts I need, starting with a deserved trip to the scenic islands of N.Sanity." He sighed in triumph as Nina conceded. He hadn't even told her of her reward yet, and she was already jumping at the thought of helping her evil uncle. Cortex couldn't help but break out into a smile. He winked at her, "Of course, you'll be compensated for your time and missed assignments."
With a grin, the gothic Nina nodded. She'd not expected to be paid by her uncle, perfectly content in doing his will without gifts. She stood, hands on her hips, head bobbing as her uncle said at last. "You'll not be disappointed, my dear, for where the work is great, the riches are plentiful."
Night had swallowed labs in his absence, and the remainder of the crew grew restless. Dingodile was propped in a reading chair at the far corner of the little study, a book of Shakespearean poetry covering up his entire face. The iambic lines came jumping out at him from the page, storied of pride and murder breathed to life as he read on, eyes crossing every row in bemusement and anxious fun. So engrossed was he in the tale, that he didn't notice Ripper Roo wander in, still filled with psychotic energy, hopping like a one eyes lunatic around the place, screaming a warning in vehement giggles. The crock's eyes twitched at the noise, but still focused solely on his verses. One hand nervously tapped the hard binding, little clicking sounds accompanying Roo's racket. However, after a couple of minutes, Dingo's story lagged a bit, and he finally caught wind of what the kangaroo was saying. Eyes flew open, the book tossed about, pages flapping as it tried to fly, and the pyromaniac leapt to his feet. "What is it you say?" Roo cackled again and Dingodile scratched his head, all the while whipping out his flamethrower, cocking it into firing position. "Can't be. That thing fried a long time ago! You must be mad!" He lowered his voice until it was almost but a whisper, "But I believe ya. Nuts, ain't it." He stumbled from the room, swinging his weapon from side to side as he wound down the circling hallway and into the mini-lab where N.Gin executed the research and concocted his plans of mechanical genius.
The short physicist was already backed up against one of the lab walls, hands thrown up in protest as he pleaded for his life. The robotic device didn't seem to have the ears to hear, or the mercy to extend to the now cowering mechanic that had created it not so long ago, its razor arms cutting close to N.Gin's throat. When Dingodile entered it swung its metal head in his direction, distracted briefly, but enough for the petite doctor to scramble away to safety. The croc aimed his flamethrower at the fiend's head and fired, fire spewing in all directions as a heat flooded the tiny room. The robot bleeped in response, arms clicking into several positions, reeling backwards, feet loosing its ground as it began to topple. Despite what it had attempted to do to him before, N.Gin cried out for Dingo to stop, rushing to catch his creation before it hit the floor.
Before the physicist could reach out, the machine clunked to the ground, some of its external parts busting loose and spouting in the air, hitting the wall behind where the weapon wielder stood, posed for battle. The robot's head was charred, blackened from the onslaught of heat it endured. Before it completely shut down, it gave a final, pathetic beep. N.Gin dropped on his knees, hands splaying out on the hard ground, face bent downward in dismay and melancholy. "Why did you do that…" Fingers curled up, tensed in every joint. The movement looked painful to perform, and Dingodile winced, letting his flamethrower drop to his side, both hands still clutching the handle. With a swish of his tail he signaled confusion, and, through his mop of red, spoke again, "It was nearly complete. Almost. Why…?" His voice broke, screeching the word to a halt.
"It was gonna KILL you, mate!" The croc protested, his dogface drooping at the forlorn look on N.Gin's own, his stance slacking. "Can't you see that?" There was just a slight hint of frustration. One clawed foot thumped the floor in evenly spaced beats.
The other paid no heed to the excuse, a salty tear worming the crease of his nose and seeping into his open mouth. His breathing was sporadic, patchy. "I…worked so….hard…." His left eye screwed shut, "NO!" A gloved fist pounded the ground, making the foot-thumping stop abruptly. Feeling that he had every right to be angry at his comrade's foolish attempt to save his life, N.Gin ordered in an unnaturally harsh tone of voice, "Get out of here. LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Gulping at N.Gin's temper, Dingodile shrugged, tucked tail, and exited the laboratory. He would certainly relay the tale to Roo, who waited patiently in the study. Rocket sounding off in short bursts of black smoke, the physicist could feel his rage escalating with each pump and shakily stood to his feet, grabbing the ends of the metal table as a brace. His robot was lying before him in a burnt clump, useless…lifeless…. Gritting his teeth as he waited for the explosion, N.Gin remembered the last time that this particular android had gone off and had been put down just the same way. He had blown his top then as well, taking with him more than a few random objects that had unfortunately been in the way. His lips rumbled in a frustrated growl. He would have to start all over again, the resurrection of an old life; perhaps he could revitalize himself as well. His eyes shot wide open as the nuclear missile unleashed a shock that swept his entire body and sucked his energy upward in a violent detonation. N.Gin's grip on the table loosened and his body was jerked skyward, limbs now flailing as he waited for the impact of landing. He did so with a rough thump, his figure sliding to the right, crashing into the control panel with the bright green screen flashing above it. "Ow!" He slammed into the gray metal and his body jolted to a stop. For a few minutes he lay, as still as a lifeless rock, breathing shallow and forced. A pain throbbed in his temple. In a moment he would rub it, tenderly. It was in that second that he wished she were with him again, as they were before he had abandoned her, lost her. She would be comforting him right now, soft pallid arms around him, fingers brushing the wetness from his cheek, drying his tears. "Please, I must be with you. I miss you terribly, so please, you have to understand. You must help me. Help to resurrect me. A…an answer…I need you…please…. Please." He cried helplessly into the empty space, mechanical twinge in his voice buzzing. More tears trickled down his fleshy cheeks, striving to beat one another to his chin, down his neck in hot pursuit of a place to fizzle out and disappear. The dark clouds outside split a bit and a nice drizzle of rain clattered to the earth, announcing its arrival on the metal rooftop of Cortex's abode. The rain couldn't quiet the silence that infected the lab like a perilous disease. N.Gin quivered on the floor in despair. He was in desperate need of life, something that would save him from the dead, mundane world that was his existence.