Chapter 6 – Machinations
Rockman had been running through the Internet for ages, and this time, he seemed absolutely sure of where he was going. Roll wondered if whatever had done this was drawing him to them.
This time, when Rockman stopped, it was in the shadow of a tower. Roll knew they had to get him back to himself soon, they had been lucky so far in that they hadn't encountered any ordinary navis – but how long could luck last? She was wondering when Rockman was going to put her down when a sound a soft voice caught her attention.
"Very good," the voice said.
Roll started, and Rockman whipped them both around to stare at the newcomer.
"Who are you?" Roll snapped as Rockman set her gently on her feet.
The new navi was blood red, his eyes a malevolent yellow. Something about that colour scheme rang bells in Roll's memory. She furrowed her brow, and then it hit her.
"That bird, the one that attacked us!" she exclaimed out loud.
The giant hawk had the exact same colouring as the navi. Roll knew it wasn't coincidence, and that it couldn't mean anything good.
The navi's only reaction was a smile. "I see both of you made it here. Good."
"What?" Roll seethed, "Are you the one responsible for this?"
"Who else?"
"Who are you?" Roll repeated, tone wary.
"My name is Hawk," the navi stated simply, as though that would answer every question Roll could have asked.
Having gotten at least one answer, Roll calmed slightly. "That's your name, but it still doesn't answer my question."
Hawk gave her a smug smile, too smug for Roll's liking. She started forward, intent on punching it off his face, when Rockman grabbed her arm. She tensed – expecting to be yanked behind him again – but he simply stood where he was, staring at Hawk and holding her back.
"What did you do to him?" Roll asked, her tone dangerously calm.
Another smile. "I'm afraid to go into explanations, we need a key member of our audience back."
He extended his right hand and opened it. Resting on his palm was a small sphere of blue data, glowing and pulsing. He tensed, digging his fingers into it, making the small ball jolt and twitch.
At the exact same moment, Rockman jerked violently, while his grip on Roll's arm tightened almost beyond endurance. The pink navi cried out at the pain, extending her other arm to try and support him as he sank to his knees.
"What are you doing to him?" Roll demanded as Rockman's face twisted in agony. "Leave him alone!"
Hawk appeared to be concentrating deeply, and suddenly his expression relaxed – as did his grip on the data in his hand.
Instantly Rockman sagged, his grip on Roll's wrist loosening and slipping off. He took a deep, shuddering breath.
"Are you okay?" Roll asked, brushing his cheek as she tried to get him to look at her.
"R-Roll?" he stammered weakly.
"I'm here," she whispered, one eye on Rockman, the other on Hawk.
"What happened?" Rockman groaned, rising to his feet. "We were talking…" He trailed off; he had just then raised his head and caught sight of Hawk. "What's going on?"
"That's what I'd like to know." Roll nodded, eyes still flickering between her friend and their enemy. "And that guy? He says his name's Hawk, and I don't think he comes in peace."
"You don't remember anything do you?" Hawk enquired, though Roll had no doubt he already knew the answer. "Think for a moment, it'll come back."
Rockman was extremely wary of the navi standing in front of them, but he had a prickling feeling it was more important to figure out how he had gotten here. He took a deep breath and – trusting Roll to alert him if Hawk made a move – closed his eyes, trying to concentrate.
He remembered vague flashes, growing steadily clearer the more he thought on them. An image of Glyde and Iceman gaping at him, a foggy vision of Glyde sprawled on the floor, a gigantic red bird that hovered above him. And there were other memories too, memories of Roll.
Roll gasping in pain as he crushed her slender form against his. Roll shrieking at him to move; him knowing he couldn't move, because that would leave her to take the hit. Roll resting against him, eyes closed, deep in slumber. And finally…Roll pinned beneath him, writhing helplessly as he forced his mouth on hers.
"Oh, god," he groaned, clenching his jaw and cursing himself in his mind.
"Rockman?" he heard Roll ask softly.
Slowly, he opened his eyes – thought it was several moments before he could meet her gaze. Soft, jade-green eyes stared back at him, obviously worried. He felt another surge of guilt – why should she be worrying about him?
After all, he was the one who had brought her here in the first place. He had kidnapped her, hurt her, dragged her into a fight, he had… Rockman swallowed harshly, remembering that brief flash of kissing her. He had taken what he wanted without allowing her to express what she wanted. He hadn't asked, hadn't received her permission – he had simply stolen what she wouldn't give him.
"Roll, I'm so sorry," he breathed, dropping his gaze to the floor.
"What would have to be sorry about?" Roll was bewildered. Hawk was the one that had made him do those things, why would he be sorry? Unless…the kiss…
"Oh," was all she said.
Understanding struck like a bolt of lightning, and she suddenly found the floor fascinating. "Well, um…that wasn't exactly your fault…you weren't…I mean…"
She didn't know what she meant. What was she supposed to say? And what was he sorry about? The fact that he had forced her into it or the fact that it had happened at all?
"It's starting to come back, isn't it?" Hawk's voice cut into their separate reveries. "Remembering some things you'd prefer not to?"
"Shut up!" Rockman snarled.
"Touchy," Hawk mocked.
"Why did you do this?" Roll hissed again.
"I told you I would explain, there's no need to get snippy. A short memory, pretty one? Or are you just that thick?" the red navi chuckled. "Well, they say beauty and brains never come in the same package."
"Hey!" Rockman snapped, just as Roll yelled, "What do you mean by that!"
Hawk simply laughed. "I believe you wished for an explanation. A motive? Would vengeance serve?"
"Vengeance? For what?" Rockman asked, genuinely bewildered.
"For Seraphina," Hawk answered. He spoke softly, and a faraway look seemed to come into his eyes.
"Seraphina?" Roll repeated blankly. "Who are they?"
Hawk seemed to snap back to the present. "Seraphina was…she was beautiful. Perfect in every way. She was kind, and sweet, and generous and loving. But most of all she was brave. Brave and loyal. She would do anything for the people she cared about."
The red navi's eyes snapped to Rockman, hatred glaring from their depths. "She was everything I ever wanted. And she is gone because of you, Rockman!"
Before either Rockman or Roll could register their surprise at that comment, Hawk had lunged forward.
"Bird Cage!" he yelled.
A network of bright red beams sprang up from the floor, growing and rising to arc above Rockman and Roll. Not knowing what would come next, and not wanting Roll to be trapped with him, Rockman grabbed the pink navi by the waist and threw her over the beams just before they closed.
Roll cried out as she hit the ground awkwardly, before scrambling up to try and help Rockman.
The red beams had encased the blue navi in a small dome, the beams woven together like the bars of a cage.
"Rockman, are you alright?" she yelled, running to the cage.
"I'm fine, Roll," he said, approaching where she stood on the other side of the bars.
"You're quicker than I thought," Hawk commented. "I didn't think either of you would escape, the idea was for both of you to be in the cage."
Hawk shrugged. "No matter, it is easily remedied."
He started towards Roll.
"Leave her alone!" Rockman yelled. "It's me you're after!"
He formed his Rockbuster and began to aim it.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Hawk sneered at him. "Even if you aim through the bars, the shot will simply be absorbed."
Ignoring him, Rockman fired on the navi approaching Roll. Just as it was passing between the bars, the shot vanished, leaving only a ripple in the air.
Hawk snatched at the pink navi, only to have her dart away from him, managing to kick him in the shins before she pulled back. With a curse at the sudden pain in his leg, he raised his arms and shrieked.
"Predator's Claws!"
Instantly, two towering blades shot at Roll, their edges gleaming wickedly sharp.
"Roll Blast!"
The two attacks impacted each other, and both were neutralised in a billowing cloud of smoke.
Roll blinked as the substance enveloped the battlefield. She hadn't expected it to create that much smoke! She fired blind into its depths, hearing a cry as at least part of her attack struck home. She fired again and again, until the cries stopped. Either she had managed to knock him unconscious, or he was taking advantage of the momentary cover.
Unwilling to stay in her original position – she would be too easy a target – Roll relied on the memory of the cage's location to guide her. Stumbling through the gloom for a few minutes, she soon saw the reddish glow of the bars. As she watched, Rockman tried to grab the bars and wrench them apart, receiving a painful shock for his trouble.
Roll hurried to him. "Are you alright?"
He nodded.
"See anything that might open this?" Roll asked, voice low and intent.
"With the smoke, I don't see much of anything at the moment," Rockman whispered, careful to keep his voice quiet so he wouldn't reveal Roll's location to Hawk.
"Is there any kind of catch? A lever or something?"
"Nothing I can see."
"Maybe I can pull the bars apart." Roll reached for the red beams.
"No!" Rockman hissed. "I tried that, I got shocked."
"But you tried from the inside, maybe it'll be different because I'm outside the cage."
But Roll's fingers never contacted the cage. When her fingers where only inches from the bars, she was stopped by Rockman's yell.
"ROLL, LOOK OUT!"
She turned in the rapidly dissipating smoke to find Hawk directly in front of her. Before she could attack, he seized hold of her by the shoulders and hurled her several feet away.
She struck the ground and rolled to her feet, sending another Roll Blast in his direction. Hawk leapt aside and charged at her, covering the distance between them in a matter of seconds.
When he was close enough, Roll hit him with her antennae and again danced out of his range. With the cage now behind her, Roll could her the sounds of the Rockbuster as Rockman fought to come to her aid.
"Hawk Pack!" came the bellow from the navi in front of her.
Half-a-dozen small hawks materialised in front of him and swooped at Roll. For an instant, all she could see were gleaming beaks and wickedly curved claws as she struck at them, trying to force them away from her so she could see. Claws raked at her face, but Roll was more concerned about her lack of vision. If she couldn't see Hawk, she couldn't know what he was doing. Hearing footsteps approach – knowing whatever Hawk had in store for her couldn't be good – she hurled herself backwards, freeing herself from their blinding mass.
But too late. Blinded by the birds, Roll failed to realise that Hawk was right behind her. When she leapt back, she had thrown herself into his clutches.
Roll became aware of her predicament when hands closed on her arms, holding her in place with frightening strength. With a squeal of alarm, she struggled against Hawk's grip, vaguely aware of Rockman's cries from his prison and of the hawks dissipating in mid-air. Punching and kicking and writhing, she fought for her freedom.
Cursing as Roll's fist collided with his side, Hawk tightened his hold, and then shook her hard.
Roll's head snapped back and forth like a yo-yo as Hawk jerked her body violently in his grasp. Her whole body rattled until she felt as though her arms would be jerked from their sockets. The world spun crazily as the brutal convulsions threatened to jar loose her tenuous grip on consciousness. When at last he stopped, Roll was limp, stunned, feeling as though every limb had been shaken like a maraca and her brains had been churned until they were mush.
He let her go and she dropped heavily to the floor, still dazed. But she awoke to herself when Hawk bent over her and grasped her wrists. She fought then, fought like a navi possessed, but had only managed to struggle to her knees before Hawk spat the words of his next attack.
"Freedom's Tether!"
Red, glowing ropes flowed from his hand to wrap around her wrists before anchoring to the floor – one on each side of her body. Roll tried to stand but the ropes were so short they only allowed her to kneel.
Hawk towered over her, his face dark.
"You could have ruined everything!" he snarled at her, punctuating his words with a savage slap across her right cheek.
Rolls head was flung to the side with the force of the blow, and she would have fallen if the rope on her left wrist hadn't pulled tight, allowing her to catch herself on hands and knees.
"Leave her alone!" Rockman yelled.
He smashed his hands against the bars, heedless of the bolt of pain that shot through his body. All he was aware of was Roll, shackled at the feet of a revenge-crazed maniac, defenceless and at his mercy.
"It's okay, Rockman," Roll gasped out. "I'm okay."
"Give it time," Hawk hissed, "In a few minutes you'll be far from okay."
"You're crazy!" Roll spat back at him, "Why are you doing this?"
"I thought we already covered that."
"You said Seraphina was gone because of me, but that was all you said!" Rockman shouted, trying to get Hawk's attention away from Roll.
"That's why I say you're crazy, Rockman wouldn't hurt anyone!" Roll yelled at the red navi.
"Maybe not deliberately," Hawk said, his voice dripping with malice. "But sometimes, isn't carelessness enough?"
Roll stared blankly.
"What do you mean?" Rockman asked, though he had a sinking feeling he didn't want to know.
"You allowed an enemy to sneak up on you, and because of your lapse in judgement my Seraphina died."
"What?" Rockman exclaimed. "I don't know what you're talking about…"
His voice trailed off. He understood. The day the rogue navi attacked the school.
"What?" Roll cried. "What's he talking about?"
"The school," Rockman breathed, watching Roll's eyes widen in sudden understanding.
"Precisely," Hawk nodded, "The school."
"You can't hold him responsible for that!" Roll snapped.
"Can't I?"
The pink navi rolled her eyes, sighing in exasperation.
'Villains!' she thought, 'They're all the same – dishing out their riddles and expecting you to understand them.'
Roll tried to catch Rockman's gaze, but Hawk grabbed hold of her chin and yanked her back around, forcing her to look him in the eye.
"I blame him because it was his fault!" he roared into her face, making her wince at his volume. "He could have stopped that navi easily, but he was careless and was the first to go down."
His face only inches from hers, Roll could see the maniacal look in his eyes. Fear slithered up her spine – Hawk was beyond any logic or reasoning. He was truly insane, but he wasn't crazed. His madness was cold, calculating, and all the more terrifying for it.
"Once he was down, the rest of us didn't have a hope. But we tried anyway. I took a particularly nasty blow and went down. I thought I was going to be deleted. But Seraphina saved me. She faced down the rogue alone, but he was too powerful for her."
Hawk's eyes went to Rockman's, but his hand didn't leave Roll's face.
"She was deleted," Hawk pronounced grimly. "I saw it happen. I watched her deletion and I was helpless to save her."
At those words, the hand holding Roll's chin tightened painfully. She sucked in a harsh breath.
"Her screams didn't wake you, Rockman. The screams of your NetOp, and of all the other navis in the system didn't wake you. But…"
He jerked Roll's head around so she was facing Rockman. To the pink navi, the gesture seemed to have been made to ensure Rockman could see her face.
"But one scream from her had you on your feet. Why?"
"I-I don't know," Rockman stammered.
He seemed to be mentally fumbling for a way to get Hawk's full attention on him, some comment that would make him leave Roll alone.
"Oh, I think you do know the answer," Hawk chuckled cruelly. "Perhaps this will refresh your memory."
Releasing Roll, he grasped one of the cords that bound her wrists. He twisted it in a strange pattern, sending a brief – but powerful – surge of electricity along it. Roll couldn't hold in a short scream at the unexpected agony, her body jerking like a puppet on strings. It was over as suddenly as it began, and she slumped, saved from falling when Hawk caught hold of her by her shoulder.
"NO!" Rockman bellowed, "Don't hurt her, leave her alone!"
"It was a scream like that which brought you out of unconsciousness," Hawk continued as though the conversation had never been interrupted. "I ask again, why? And think hard this time. Another 'I don't know' answer and I'll shock her again."
Rockman's eyes spat hatred and anger, but Hawk wasn't fooled. There was fear too. The threat against Roll had frightened him.
"I-I…" he started, looking as though it were a great effort to force the words out. "I don't want to see her hurt."
"Good answer," Hawk praised.
"Why is that?" he pushed, again turning Roll so Rockman could see her face.
"What kind of sick game are you playing?" Roll yelled, trying to twist out of his grasp and face him again. "You think you can-"
Her words were cut off when Hawk placed his other hand across her mouth. "Quiet, pretty one. This is between me and Rockman."
Hawk continued his questioning. "Why don't you want to see her hurt?"
Hawk loved the desperation on Rockman's face, could almost see the wheels of his mind spinning as they struggled to come up with the answer that would satisfy him.
"I…she…she's Roll. She's my friend."
Hawk jerked Roll's restraints again, sending another agonising jolt through her body. Her scream was muffled by his hand, and drowned out as Rockman screamed with her.
"Stop it, stop it! I gave you an answer, what do you want?"
"Do not insult my intelligence." Hawk shook the now-panting Roll for emphasis. "We both know there's more than that."
"I don't know what you…"
But suddenly Rockman did know – he knew what Hawk wanted him to say. But, god, he didn't want to do it. Not like this. He stared at Roll, her slender throat swallowing nervously, her eyes wide and frightened. But not for herself. She was frightened for him.
Rockman swallowed hard. "I…I care for her…she's important…to me…"
"Try again!" Hawk roared.
This time, the electrocution went on and on. And Rockman – hearing Roll's cries, watching her writhe in torment – felt something inside him snap.
"STOP, DON'T HURT HER ANYMORE! I LOVE HER! THAT'S THE ANSWER YOU WANTED, ISN'T IT? I LOVE HER, I LOVE HER, I LOVE HER!"
He closed his eyes against the tears forming, managing to sob out one more time, "I love her."
"That's better," Hawk said, voice full of the pleasure that comes with knowing everything was going exactly as he wanted it to. "Now look at us again."
Rockman was afraid to open his eyes, but more afraid of what Hawk would do to Roll if he refused. Slowly, he parted his lids.
His gaze was drawn instinctively to Roll, the pink navi still shaking from the aftermath of the vicious shocks, expecting to see the shock and rejection on her face.
But he didn't. Roll's eyes told him everything. They were filled with warmth, reassurance, compassion…and was that hope? For the first time, he began to think that maybe she felt the same way.
Roll, for her part, was reeling. She knew she loved Rockman, but had never suspected he might love her back. Though she was in the hands of a maniac, she suddenly felt deliriously happy. But Rockman looked scared, almost ashamed. He was probably wondering if she would reject him.
Hawk's hand across her mouth stopped her from expressing her own feelings, so she tried to send a silent message with her eyes.
'I love you too, Rockman. I love you too.'
Roll's skin crawled as she heard Hawk's laugh.
"There now, that wasn't so hard was it?"
Rockman was silent, but the glare he turned on their captor would have burnt a hole through concrete.
"Now, pretty one," Hawk continued, his hand slipping from her lips, "I'm sure you can figure out the next step."
Roll, however, ignored him. She turned to Rockman instead; ready to confess her love for him.
"Rockman, I-"
Roll was cut off as Hawk backhanded her savagely, knocking her to the ground.
"Don't speak to him. I am the one talking to you."
"You're not talking to me, you're talking at me. Besides you're just-" Roll began, but was interrupted again, this time by Rockman.
"Roll, please…"
Roll looked at him. And she saw his anguish, saw how mush it was hurting him to watch her suffer. As much as she would have been hurting, had their positions been reversed.
Very well, she would try not to provoke Hawk – for Rockman's sake.
"As I said," Hawk began again, "I'm sure you can figure out the next step."
Roll silently shook her head.
"Think about it for a few moments," he chided. "Because of Rockman I am forced to watch the navi I love deleted. I bring him here, I make him bring you along, I make him confess his love for you…"
Roll's eyes widened. She saw where this was going.
"You're going to delete me, and you're going to make him watch," she choked out, terror and dread making her voice thick.
"NO!" Rockman shrieked, looking sick with fear. "No! She hasn't done anything to you! It's me you want to hurt, leave her out of this!"
"It's you I want revenge on, true," Hawk conceded. "But don't you see? This will be a far more satisfying revenge than simple, unimaginative torture. Physical pain fades, injuries heal, and the mind forgets. But if she is deleted…you will remember it – remember her – to the end of your days. Like me."
Hawk's eyes burned. "Like me, you will find no respite from the agony of grief. Like me, you will dream of her at night. Nightmares of her deletion, and dreams of what she was, what could have been. All the more horrible; for when you wake, you will remember that she is gone, and feel her loss anew. You will suffer for the rest of your life."
Rockman swallowed, feeling his chest constrict painfully. He couldn't believe this was happening – it couldn't be happening, not this! Hawk could torture him if he wanted – he could delete him, he could do anything…anything but this. He couldn't touch Roll, he couldn't hurt her, he couldn't…gods, no, he couldn't delete her. No…no…he had to stop him!
"Please…" he whispered.
Never before had Rockman begged an enemy for anything, but he was begging now. And he didn't care. If it would save Roll's life; he'd beg, he'd plead. He'd gladly drop to his knees and grovel if it meant Hawk would leave her alone.
"Please, what?" the red navi taunted.
"Please…don't hurt her…please!"
"Where did you get the idea I was going to hurt her?" Hawk laughed.
Both Rockman and Roll blinked, gaping at him. Hadn't he said, merely a few moments ago, that he was going to delete Roll?
"I won't lie to you, when I first though of revenge, I did think of deleting her before your eyes." Hawk told Rockman. "But the pretty one guessed incorrectly. I'm not going to delete her."
He smiled sadistically. "You are."
Roll looked shocked. "What? You're off your rocker, he'd never hurt me!"
Rockman seemed appalled at the very suggestion…and angry. "I'll delete myself first," he hissed.
"I don't believe you will," Hawk said, before producing the blue sphere Roll had seen him holding earlier.
"Hey!" she yelled, trying to surge towards him, but the cords held her too tightly. "That's the thing you were using to hurt him!"
"What?" Rockman exclaimed, clearly very puzzled.
"This is a small sphere of your data," Hawk explained. "It allows me to manipulate you as I manipulate it."
"So, when he seemed to go crazy…" Roll murmured.
"Correct, pretty one, that was due to me. I reduced him to a mindless beast, had him kidnap you, and of course, come to me."
"But wait a minute, Rockman took me to a shop first! He didn't show any real sign of going to you until a few hours ago," Roll retorted. "What happened? Lose control?"
At Hawk's dark scowl Roll knew she had been right. Rockman had somehow slipped out from under Hawk's thumb in those first few hours. She remembered Rockman's nightmare in the warehouse – had that been Hawk reasserting control?
"And another thing, why did you attack us? If Rockman was under your control, surely you didn't have anything to fear from him."
At that statement, Hawk smiled again. "That was a test. The whole point of that exercise was to see exactly how you stood with each other. Would he protect you? Would you protect him?"
"But this brings us back to square one," Rockman spat, "What makes you think I would ever hurt Roll?"
Another smile from Hawk. "I will use the data contained in this sphere to do what I did before, only more so. I will instil anger and hatred and a thirst for violence in you. You will lose your memory of her, to the point where you recognise her only as an enemy. When I am sure your mind has degenerated to the point where you will delete her without a second thought, then I turn you loose from the cage and free her from her shackles."
The red navi looked at Roll as though appraising her abilities. "She may run from you, but she will not get far. She may fight you, but she will not last long. When you have deleted her, I will restore you to normal. That is my true revenge, Rockman. Bad enough to watch her deleted, but to awake to the memory of having struck her down with your own hands…"
He laughed, long and loud, at the stricken expression on Rockman's face.
"No…" the blue navi whispered, eyes horrified. "No, no, no…"
Rockman was unaware his body was trembling. He closed his eyes and shook his head violently, as if he could force the idea from his mind.
"No," he repeated, thinking that if he denied it long enough, fervently enough, he could somehow prevent it from happening. "No, no, no, no, NO!"
"Wait!" Roll shouted, franticly trying to think up a way out. "You said you only want revenge on Rockman, but if you…do that…to him again, he won't stop at me – he'll probably demolish half of Internet City."
"That's why I took the trouble of evacuating it before you and your friends entered."
Damn, there went the trump card! Still that did explain why it had been so deserted, why they hadn't ever met up with another navi, why the chip shop was closed. Rockman had been right, there hadn't been anything benign about the quiet.
Still she stammered, desperate to stop Hawk. If Rockman deleted her…she didn't even want to contemplate what it would do to him.
Hawk felt a flash of triumph, looking at the frightened Roll and the appalled Rockman. This was far better than simply battling Rockman. In a battle, the best you could hope for was a painful deletion, but this…this would destroy him.
"Wing Rider!" Hawk shouted, gesturing with his hands.
An enormous bird appeared in the air. It had dark, blood red feathers and glowing yellow eyes.
"I think you two are familiar with my friend here," Hawk said, climbing onto the bird's back and settling himself.
Roll scowled, trying to ignore the sick feeling that Hawk was only leaving because he was about to put his plan in motion.
"Well, I'll be leaving now," he continued, "Wouldn't want to be in the line of fire – but wait, one last thing to do."
He dug his fingers into the sphere of data in his hand, concentrating hard as he bent it to his will.
Rockman screamed, partly in pain, partly in terror of what he knew would happen next.
"Rockman!" Roll called, leaning towards his cage as much as her chains would allow.
As his wild eyes locked onto Roll, manacled to the floor and unable to help him, the thought came unbidden that this may be the last time he saw her. He hurled himself to the opposite side of the cage, as far away from Roll as he could get, before another wave of agony swamped his senses.
Hawk watched them both. Rockman writhing in agony, trying to keep some sort of tenuous grip on himself. Roll straining at her bonds, crying out his name, trying to help him somehow. The ache inside his chest, present ever since he watched Seraphina face down the rogue navi, abated somewhat now that he was so close to his revenge.
He wondered what would be the most torturous for Rockman. For Roll to resist, or for her to accept? Would it be worse for her to fight him, flee him, so he would remember beating her and chasing her down? Or would he suffer more remembering that she did neither, but simply stood passively as he cut her down, accepting he had no choice in the matter?
Hawk couldn't decide, but he supposed it didn't really matter. It was enough that Rockman would remember her deletion at his hands. No greater vengeance, no greater pain than that could ever be inflicted upon him.
As he watched, the convulsions of Rockman's body stilled, and he slowly stood from where he had knelt on the floor of the cage. He lifted his gaze, and Hawk saw no compassion, no love, no gentleness in his eyes. Instead they were savage, filled with the urge to destroy. Perfect. He tucked the sphere away, grinning at the despair on Roll's face.
"Rise," he commanded his mount. He didn't want to be anywhere near Rockman when he let him loose.
The bird began to beat the air with it's vast wings, rising them both into the air. When they had risen above the buildings, he commanded it to hover, but to prepare to speed away. In this state, Rockman would attack anything in the vicinity – so Hawk planned to release him and then bolt from the area.
He raised his hands, and made a few gestures in the air.
Roll's tethers vanished. Rockman's cage vanished. And Hawk didn't even wait to see what they would do before urging his mount and speeding away.
