Chapter 6
"Where are we going?" My small voice asked as I was roughly dragged down a long, lit white corridor, "The testing room was back there." The black, child robots on either side of me said nothing, but just kept walking. They looked like two female twin bunnies this time, instead of the male bunny and wolf pup that I was used to. Their grip was iron and their eyes glowed a dark, restless ruby.
I couldn't help but become more fearful of what he was going to do than what was normal.
I closed my eyes, stealing myself for the torment I knew was going to happen, "At least he's free..." I whispered to myself as I smiled softly. He was the only thing that kept me from breaking and going insane...my last memory of him was my only anchor to the mortal realm.
I opened my emerald eyes to stare at the colorless floor, my blue fur moving with the artificial breeze that the machines created. He hasn't taken my color away from me yet, and I hoped he never would.
Finally the robots reached a big blank door at the end of the hall.
This was it.
They pushed through it into the room. The room was huge, but had a drop-off near the door. The platform we were standing on seemed to be only a small percentage of the entire room, the rest of it was different wires and seven glass cases that lined the center walls and ceiling of the black drop-off. Cables that connected to these cases dropped from them to meet in the middle and hung there in the shape of a child.
The robots pushed me closer to the drop-off point and I realized that the cases held different colored gems that glowed slightly in the darkness.
Fear overtook me and I tried to push past the robots, their metal bodies frozen in time as they only pushed me closer.
"No, don't!" I was crying, "Please, take me back to the other testing room! I want to go there..." They couldn't hear me, "Please!" I held onto them desperately, closing my eyes in terror. I felt the cables latch onto my arms, legs, and neck and try to pull me into the center ring.
I only held onto the robots tighter, "Kuro," The deep, static voice of The Good Doctor filled my ears, "Let go of the robot." He didn't even seem to care that these cables were designed to send powerful waves of energy into the subject they were attached to. Those radioactive crystals in the glass only petrified me more as to the nature of this experiment.
"No!" I screamed, my voice breaking with my fear, "You're gonna hurt me! You're gonna hurt me more than you have already!" His voice came back, calm as ever.
"If you don't let go, there will be another Water Punishment after this." His voice came through the loud speaker dangerously, "And we don't want that now do we?" My eyes opened and stared at the soulless eyes of the robot. I didn't want this, but I would do almost anything to get away from the Water Punishment.
I screwed my eyes shut again and let go, the tears falling faster and faster as I was jerked into the middle. The wires stretched me out till it hurt, and I couldn't help but whimper in my broken pain.
I opened my eyes to stare at the malignant crystals around me, "Please..." I whimpered helplessly.
"Now Now, don't be like that." His voice bit into my ears, "It'll be over before you know it." I heard him flick something on the speaker, and I screamed.
The pain flickered through me, searing my veins, my heart, and my mind. It was sharp, yet dull, and arched through me till my muscles wanted to burst. My screams went unheard, my pleas forgotten in the endless suffering these cables gave. I screamed so loud that I couldn't hear anything anymore, and it felt like darkness itself was running down the sides of my head. I couldn't think, couldn't breath. My heart felt like it was stopping and starting over and over again.
Help...please…Voices filled my head, the pain becoming dull as they spoke.
"Child, what are you doing here?" A woman asked, her voice soft and comforting to hear. She seemed concerned and sad with my condition.
"Destroy him..Destroy all of them!" A man yelled at me, his voice was fiery and fierce, "You don't deserve this!"
It was mostly them that I heard, but then everything faded into a white light. I stood facing myself, my blue fur, gravity defying quills, and green eyes my most distinguishing features.
I stared at me sadly, my eyes looking glazed and broken.
"Do you want our power?" I asked me, and with a shock, I realized that this me was speaking with the voices of at least seven different people. They all sounded concerned and angry, "We've seen how you've been treated, and we want to help."
I collapsed to my knees, the weight of this trauma crushing me into dust, "It...hurts..." I was crying still, "Please...make it stop." I stared down at me still.
"Do you accept?" I closed my eyes, and nodded. When I opened them again, I was back in the chamber. All the pain was gone and I was on the platform with the robots. They stared at me without pity, took my arms and dragged my exhausted body back down the hallway from whence we came.
I chanced a glance at myself expecting burned, blue fur, but I was sadly mistaken. Tears were falling from my eyes once again, but I didn't have enough energy to truly cry anymore…
He had taken away my color.
My eyes opened to Knuckles carrying me on his back...I guess I had fallen asleep on the journey to Sonic's place, as Knuckles had called it. I looked around.
We were in the middle of nowhere. Trees were scattered in the distance and tall grasses shrouded our destination in front of us.
"Does Sonic live all the way out here?" I asked, my naive voice alarming the red echidna.
"Oh, you're awake!" He sounded happy, almost joyful as though he were in his own element, "And yes, or at least, his good buddy Tails does."
"Who's Tails?" I was curious now, "Why are you taking me there instead of Sonic's house?"
The wind rustled my black fur, and whistled through the grass as he continued, "You see, Sonic doesn't live in his own place, but instead loves to roam the world and meet new people. However, when he does want to sleep in a room, he always comes to this remote place where Tails built both him and himself a place to hide, sleep, and at least for Tails, work." He turned his smiling face to me. It was as though he were very excited to see this place again, "Tails is a young orphaned fox that Sonic found one day in the forest. They became instant friends, and they now refer to each other as brothers."
"What does Tails look like?" I asked, the story interesting to me, "Why is his name Tails?"
"Oh that's simple, "Knuckles chuckled, turning back to the least traveled road, "He's a yellow fox kit with two tails, hence his namesake." I giggled.
"You said Sonic was blue and fast like me, correct?" He nodded and I looked at my mismatched body, "I think I'll fit in just fine." We both laughed, the fact that the ones who seemed to gather around Sonic were all strange in some way heartening to learn.
Ever since I woke up without any sort of memory, I've been going village to village searching for...acceptance. This was something that was never granted, and so I learned to just grab food and get out. The idea that there were others like me was something I never used to imagine. Now, acceptance seemed to hang right in front of me. It felt nice, and exciting.
"Oh, I did want to ask.." His voice seemed uncertain, "Why do you have power rings around your wrists, and ankles, and a collar with very similar properties?" He realized I probably wouldn't understand what these properties were, and so he elaborated, "I've only seen that setup once and it was to keep a friend's power from getting out of control. If he ever took them off, his power would be unimaginable...but it would also drain him of his energy as soon as he tapped into that power." He looked back up at me, but returned to looking ahead of us within a second, "I can understand if you want to keep it to yourself, or if you don't know." He decided.
"In truth..." I tried to remember, but nothing came up, "I don't know..." I looked down at the glinting rings. I didn't even know that they had a name...I thought they were just decoration or something. The collar I knew had some sort of reason as I could feel it, but even then I couldn't understand it's true purpose.
We walked in silence, the birds singing sweetly and the wind toying with the petals and leaves that floated on the breeze. I stared up at the puffy clouds in the endless stream we called the sky, this was calming to me, and I started to doze.
"We're here." I heard Knuckles break through my stupor, and with a start, I came out of my slumber. I hadn't even realized I had fallen asleep again, but sure enough, the blue sky was gone, crimson gold replacing it. The birds' song had slowed down, and become a soft lullaby.
I rubbed my eyes, yawned, and turned to where Knuckles was pointing. Nestled within two trees was a big, wooden building that almost looked like a barn. It was strange, but exciting!
We got closer and I noticed a small fox about my height(if not a couple inches taller) working on a metal object on a worktable in the open, welcoming door. The yellow and white fox with pretty, sea blue eyes was so wrapped up in his work that he didn't notice Knuckles and me in the doorway.
I stared at him and his workshop. He truly had two tails, and they went up and down separately in anticipation of the project in his hands. I smiled, and looked up at all the strange machines and projects like the one on the table that littered the walls and shelves of the huge interior of the barn-looking home. A set of spiral stairs behind him led to a second story, and I figured that was where they kept their rooms. Behind that was a huge blue machine with big wing-like things on it's sides and backside and what looked like a three-bladed spinney thingy on it's nose. I had no idea what it was, but I really loved it. I thought it was the best thing in there despite all the amazing creations on the walls around it.
Finally, the little fox noticed us, and jumped back in shock. The partially disassembled contraption forgotten as he said in a cute, boyish voice, "Knuckles! How long have you been standing there!" It sounded like he hadn't fully hit puberty yet, but he was definitely older than me.
"Hey Tails! How's it going?" He completely ignored his question, but Tails didn't seem to mind that much.
He smiled, "Oh, you know. It's going great. I was just working on a device to enhance the X-Tornado's engines. He gestured to the huge machine I had stood in awe of just moments before, "So, what are you-" He looked up at me and froze, "Who's that?"
Knuckles carefully set me down on the withered pavement so He could see me clearly, "This is Ko, and I was wondering if you guys could take care of her for a bit." Tails looked dumbstruck.
"Doesn't she have parents, Knuckles?" He didn't seem upset, just frantic, but Knuckles was perfectly calm and smiling as though this was normal.
"Nope, and she has amnesia." Tails thought for a moment.
"I mean, she can stay with me, at least till Sonic gets back.." He decided, still staring at me in confusion, "But after that, it's up to Sonic weather she stays." He was smiling now.
"I highly doubt he'll say no." Knuckles petted my head, "He hasn't turned strange orphans away before, so why start now?" Tails laughed at this, and came closer.
"You can take his room if you'd like." He said, kneeling down slightly so that we were chaotic mismatched eye to beautiful blue eye, "Don't worry, he hardly uses it." He then stood back up to talk to Knuckles. All panic was gone now, peace replacing it.
"Hey, Tails?" Knuckles asked quickly, "Can I talk to you outside?" The two-tailed fox shrugged and followed him out.
I was left alone to wonder in this quiet place. The wind cloyed with the metal parts of the colorful projects, and the pavement clacked beneath the metal soles of my red boots. This place seemed familiar to me, and it calmed me deep inside to know that.
I walked slowly to the workbench and peer on what Tails had been working on. It was small, and seemed like it could fit in the palm of my hand. I didn't dare touch it though for fear of breaking it. I didn't understand how such a small thing could make that huge X-Tornado thing work better, but I was open to it.
I continued searching around the bench, and through all the mechanical parts, I noticed that a white ceramic pot, the likes of which I could find in one of the villages I've past, was carefully positioned on the edge of the workbench in a place where it couldn't be knocked off. A small, green sprout was poking out into the world, the lovely life vibrant and bright.
I rested on the table here, watching it, wondering what it would turn into.
"Child.." Mura's voice filled my mind, "Something's wrong..." Her voice was urgent.
"What do you mean?" Panic raised in my mind with this warning, shattering the tranquility of my heart into the fear I was used to.
"Knuckles..." She seemed to be listening, "Ko, run!" She yelled, and I listened, turning to the door to make a run for it, but there were large black robots resembling crabs and bees in the doorway. I stopped, stunned with terror. Their red, soulless eyes reminded me of something.
I shook my head, and dashed toward them. The crabs opened their claws in acknowledgment while the bees primed their gun-looking stingers.
I closed my eyes and lept through the gap they left in between. I heard the guns fire, and knew the claws snapped shut, but I landed safely in the grass behind them. I turned to see what had happened, and watched as the lab caught fire.
The destructive flames danced in my eyes as paralyzing terror filled my heart. I heard Knuckle's and Tail's voices in the distance, and saw them running toward me. More robots were chasing them.
"Ko, run!" Knuckles yelled. He was holding a passed out Tail's hand, and with a withered shock I discerned Tail's bleeding head.
"What happened.." I whispered, my paralysis keeping me still.
Knuckles stopped and started hitting the robots, his spiked knuckles breaking through their armor after a few hits. But it was not enough as the sea of robots swarmed him, "Ko, run and don't look back!" He screamed as he was overtaken, "Don't worry about us." He was bleeding now as the countless machines tried to hold him down.
I clenched my teeth. I couldn't just leave them.
My paralysis broke and I started running toward them, "No!" Knuckles screamed, "Get away!" Something broke over his head, and to my horror, he crumpled down. The Robots swarmed him and before long, I couldn't see either of my friends.
I stopped running and fell to my knees. Tears were streaking down my left cheek, but it wasn't fear anymore. It was anger.
The crackling fire beside me fueled my fury as I stood back up. The robots all turned to me ready to fight, and I was happy to oblige.
My vision was red, and without much thought, I laid into them. I tore them to pieces and scattered the scraps in the grass. After destroying a few of them, the others seemed more reluctant to fight, but I didn't care and continued to destroy them. I was having too much fun...
Within a few moments, I was alone again. Knuckles and Tails were gone, and the fire was still burning. Slowly, my rage faded away, and I looked at my hands. My arms were completely black along with the rest of me, but with my rage, so too did the black fade. My coloring was soon the normal black and white it had been, but my mind felt empty and dark.
I hugged myself and cried, "Why?" I whispered to the wind. But not even Mura had a response.
I don't know how long I cried there, watching the embers consume the bright future I had hoped would be mine, but sooner or later I stopped and just watched them dance.
Night had fallen on me, but the moon and stars made no appearance for fear of being burned by the fire. I felt hollow, broken.
Suddenly a strange sound met my ears. It sounded like maybe the robots had returned, but when I turned to look, I couldn't see anything. Thinking it was just my imagination, I turned back around, but hit my head upon doing so.
I cried out in shock and fell backward, my hand going to the slightly burning area. I then stared at what I had hit. My eyes widened in fear.
It looked like a blue hedgehog-shaped robot with black eyes, and red irises. The colorful choice of the blue body and yellow designs separated it from the black robots I had fought earlier, but I wasn't taking any chances.
I got up and slowly backed away from it's soul-ripping gaze, almost hoping it couldn't see me. It stood there motionless for a few seconds before a deep, dark voice said hollowly, "Sonic's DNA detected." It stared at me again, but now it followed my every move, "Taking him back for Eggman's inspection." My eyes were now so wide that they looked like saucers, and I turned and tried to make a run for it.
Before I could make a move however, the robot was in front of me. I cried out as he grabbed my arms and fought desperately to escape, but he held on tight. He lifted me into the air, a blast signaling to me that I had indeed left the ground.
Now, I was holding onto it, hoping that it wouldn't drop me as it took me into the night. Below me were dark, smoky clouds, the green mottled ground just barely visible through the plumes. The wind was in my ears and played with my eyes as I tried to keep them shut to the new adventure I knew was approaching me at full speed.