Chapter 9
An electric shock swept through my body like a current, the pain making me scream in bitter agony. I was a child once again filled with fear, drowning in my own tears as The Good Doctor filled my lungs with acid, and my breaking heart with a black poison.
"Please!" I screamed, the cry bloodcurdling, and hoarse. I couldn't breath...I couldn't think. I was a caged animal, bound within the deepest dungeon that cruelty had to offer.
His voice came back, the numbness chilling, "Vitals stable, bring it to 100%."
Suddenly, everything was gone. The jolts and jabs slowly faded into a frozen white void...and I was alone.
I looked around, walking slowly on the blank floor. My footsteps echoed, yet my voice went unheard, "Kuro?" I tried...but there was no answer.
I fell to the floor, eternity sinking it's claws into my shattered heart. My tears were silent as they fell, tear by tear creating a lake beneath me. I couldn't think..I still couldn't breath. I wheezed and coughed as I cried, the act of doing so too taxing for my burnt lungs.
A soft hand fell on my shoulder, but I didn't care anymore, "Leave me alone..." I whispered, my voice too broken to fully speak, "I just want to cry…." My hands balled into fists, anger drenching what was left of my heart, "Is that too much to ask…?"
A woman's voice answered, "Maurice..." Her voice reminded me of a lady lost to time...a mother who had done all she could to save the brats she loved from their own father's influence, "It's okay to cry, darling." She pulled me into a hug, her golden aura filling my violent, faded mind with a quiet peace. My tiny arms wrapped around her, and I cried silently into her silken, white dress while she petted behind my ears softly.
"Who?" My tears were falling faster, confusion filling them as I tried to understand the peace I was feeling. Was this okay? Was I allowed to feel happiness….or was it just for everyone else?
"My name, dear child, is Chumon." Her voice felt like a lullaby, the rhythm and melody filling my head with the much desired sleep I had always wished for. My tears began to slow, and before long, she was carrying me in her arms, rocking me to sleep as she walked along the plains of my existence.
"Chu...mon?" I repeated, yawning quietly within her warm arms. She smiled.
"Yes, my darling son." I looked up into her warm, crimson eyes, her glittering, golden fur comforting to me. There was no more pain...no more suffering. I finally got to feel true happiness, and I never wanted this feeling to end.
Out of the corner of my vision, I noticed that my fur too seemed to have turned a beautiful gilded hue.
My saddened heart mended itself, and my face broke into a happy smile, a small giggle escaping my damaged vocal cords. She smiled back and kissed my forehead.
A silent prayer rest there now, her voice drifting me to sleep with her last wish, "May Chaos never find you dearest daisy, and true freedom grace your captured heart. I wish for you the happiest of days, and the fondest of friends. May the flowers welcome you, and the trees protect you." In that one motherly act, she gave me more than I ever deserved, "May we meet again, Maurice. But I will watch, and love you till then..." A single tear fell from her pure eyes, and onto my chest. It was a tear I would never wish to forget, and even as everything faded to black, her peaceful lullaby filled my heart with a trait I had never truly understood till now...love and forgiveness.
My sore eyes opened to an Eggman mask staring down at me with worried bifocals. Needless to say, I screamed, jumped, then fell off the bed with a heroic yelp of pain and shock. I then proceeded to gag and choke on my own spit...or was that water? I couldn't tell. I was choking on it...end of story.
Eggman also cried out in shock, and stood up quickly. This in turn knocked over the chair he was sitting in and alerted everyone in the room to the hedgehog quickly turning purple on the floor. I couldn't get any bluer.
I remembered this room. The blue walls with red circles and squares were all too familiar to me as the blue carpet cushioned my unscheduled landing. I was lying between two blue beds of similar stature and shape with a rather large, black, bedside table standing in the middle with me.
Through my coughing fit, I also noticed that the once tiny room had been expanded to house five new bunk beds with matching blue covers and black, metal bars. That was when I also realized that another blue bed like mine and the one to the left of it stood to the right of mine...Yeah, my bed was now in the middle of the room with two matching beds on either side of it, and two rows of bunk beds resting against the expanded walls all the way to the heavy metal door.
Stuffed toys littered the floor, a dejected bee and saddened two-tailed fox playing blankly with them. At least, they were until I woke up. Shadow and Knuckles had been talking to each other, it looked like, in the darkest corner of the room near the door, and my other friends, Amy, Rouge, Espio, and Vector seemed to have been either reading or staring at the bed's ceilings as they laid uncomfortably in them.
Finally, my coughing subsided a bit, and with a little effort, I also saw Metal Sonic and a huge black, gray, and red robot named Omega in the opposite corner of Shadow and Knuckles. They looked as though they had been fighting(with words, not weapons) as an angry finger was pointed at Omega, and gripped claws were raised towards Metal.
Everyone had gone completely silent, watching me, staring at me as I continued to turn purple, until Eggman came around and began to pat me on the back, "Sonic..you're awake!" He said in that stupid, false voice. I growled and tried to crawl beneath the bed, but another coughing fit interrupted my anger.
"Leave-*gasp*- me-*cough, gag*- alone..." I pounded the floor, frustration at my own weakness getting to me, "Eggman." I managed to crawl beneath my bed, the coughing subsiding once again as I growled angrily at him.
He backed away and sat against Kuro's bed. His masked eyes watched me with a sadness that I dared not even try to understand, "Sonic...you know you can't stay under there forever." He said gently, "I'm not going to hurt you anymore...promise."
Red filled my eyes, "LIAR!" I barked, my heart aching. He had been the last person I wanted to see...yet here he was, feigning innocence, "After all you've done, you think I'm just going to trust you?" My voice was menacing, "Leave me alone...you've done enough already." I curled up, seething in the darkness. He just continued to watch, a hurt look coming to the false face he wore. I didn't care. After all he's done, he deserved it.
"I'm not asking you to trust me." He told me softly, a hushed warmth filling his voice, "I'm just asking you to come out from under the bed." He reached a hand toward my back in an effort to try to drag me out by the scruff, but I growled and raised my quills in defiance, "Please, Sonic!" He tried again, but I continued to refuse.
"Get away!" I felt trapped and helpless, and my archnemisis trying to take me by the scruff of the neck did not help the matter.
"Stubborn..." He started grumbling in frustration, and then suddenly snapped, "What am I going to do to you?! I'm trapped here too, Sonic!" He cried out, "And not only that, but I'm surrounded by your close friends!" His hand ignored the spines and grabbed the scruff of my neck. His face winced in pain as he pulled me out and held me up to his face, "Why are you so stubborn? I'm only trying to help." He placed me on my bed and checked his hand.
My quills had gone straight through the gloves and poked holes in his fingers and hands...I had to look away as blood greeted my eyes. My quills fell and with them, my anger. My eyes blinked to look at the messy blankets that barely covered my feet.
"That's gonna leave a mark..." Eggman grumbled to himself as he took off his glove and examined his large, pin-cushioned hand. Now I just felt bad, but I was also too stubborn to say sorry, so I stayed silent. He picked up on this and smiled. I turned away, crossing my arms in defiance as I did.
My rivals, friends and robotic enemies had all gathered around my bed at this point, listening to my reaction to Eggman. Some were on the two beds closest, while others just stood there, and still others sat on the ground watching in a wary fascination. I looked at them, a plague of guilt raiding my heart as I did. I had gotten them into this...and I didn't know how to get them out…
"Sonic? Are you..." Amy sat on the bed, tears in her eyes as she watched me with those beautiful emeralds. I closed my eyes, waiting for her question, but it was Shadow who piped up this time.
"What the hell was that?" His shock was gone, anger and frustration replacing it. He walked towards me menacingly and I backed up against the wall, his burning eyes fiery and wild.
"What was what?" I put out a hand as I pressed myself against the red square on the wall. This didn't deter him though as he pinned me by the neck and got ready to punch. Eggman began trying to pry him off me, while the others were yelling for him to knock it off, but he didn't budge.
"You died, Faker." He stated bluntly, "Cousins my ass, you're not even Mobian." The frightened look in my eyes vanished, making him blink for a second. My friends all stopped their cries for my release..all besides Eggman, who kept trying to pry his hands away from my throat.
"Shadow! Leave him be!" He was saying, "He's not ready yet!" But Shadow continued to ignore him. He wanted answers, and in truth, so did I.
"I am very much Mobian." I stated calmly, "My mother could tell you that." He growled, his free hand beginning to glow a dark red aura.
My heart began to pound harder and harder with each passing second. I could feel his power as it grew, feeding off of his anger. I had no reason to defend myself, but I also knew that this punch was going to hurt really, really bad.
"Then how in Gaia's name are you still alive?" He was seething, his eyes frenzied, "You flat-lined! Even I would've died."
"I don't know." I told him, but he didn't believe me.
"Liar. You gave me that line before the Water Punishment, but you knew all about that!" My friends no longer knew who to root for, so they just watched in stunned silence.
"Then hit me." I growled, "I don't care anymore." I truly didn't care anymore. In some ways, I deserved this punch.
"...Why did you lie about the punishment?" His voice was a bit calmer, but his eyes were still wild.
I hesitated, "Just hit me already!" I Screwed my eyes shut, waiting, but the hand around my neck only grew tighter, and before long, I was just staring blankly at him. My mouth was open, trying to breathe, but I couldn't.
"Stop, Shadow!" Tails's voice filled my ears, and Shadow's hand released a bit. A small, choked breath filled my lungs, "Don't kill him!" His pained words stabbed my heart, and with another pang of guilt, I realized he was holding back tears. He stood, his hands balled into fists, staring directly into my eyes. The orbs of brilliant blue were angry, cold, and I couldn't help but want to crawl beneath the bed once again. I could handle Shadow...but Tails was a completely different tale.
He growled softly, then, in a fit of uncontrollable rage, jumped onto the bed, pushed Shadow out of the way, and slapped me across the face. I didn't blame him, nor was I angry. I took it in a shameful silence, and he began to cry. His eyes changed from the beautiful blue to a sea green, and with a frustrated outcry, proceeded to hug me as tightly as he could. He didn't dare let go, and at that point, I didn't want him to.
I was holding back the choking fit my lungs wanted, and slowly put my arms around him in a protective hug. He was my dearest friend...no, my dearest little brother, and the idea that he would have to go through this with me was earth shattering. He didn't deserve it, and neither did the rest of my friends.
He cried onto my bare stomach, and grasped my quills with both hands weakly. I petted his head quietly, hoping beyond hope that he would be set free, "I'm sorry, Tails...I-"
"Don't..." He cried, "It….it's not your fault!" My heart broke in half at those words. "It's not your fault"...but then, who's is it? I'm the one who escaped on that dark day. If I hadn't, then this would never have happened…
Eggman piped up beside us, "He's right you know." I bit my tongue, the retort unsuitable for Tails's ears.
Shadow watched us as he leaned against Kuro's bed, his arms folded, and his curiosity raised, "What exactly happened between you and Eggman, Sonic?" His voice was dark and angry, but his crimson eyes had returned to normal.
I took a shaky breath, "It's none of your business." I shot him an angry look, but he just continued to prod and poke.
"Well, considering that he just said something nice to you and you had an R rated comment ready, tells me that there's something more to you two than just hero and villain." I rolled my eyes at this deduction.
"Yeah, no kidding, Sherlock." I said sarcastically. Tails gripped my quills harder, and I couldn't help but wince a little and look down. His face was out to the side now, and his eyes seeming to be completely lost.
"I can tell you." Eggman said, the stupid, mocking voice grating to hear. I growled at him.
"Don't even think about it." He crossed his arms, then pointed to the eager ears around the room.
"They're going to find out eventually, and I'd rather it be now." He told me sternly, "So either you tell it, or I will."
"Why would you want to tell them?" I snarled, "Oh, wait," A cold chortle escaped my lips, "You're going to pin the blame on me." He stared at me in amazement.
"How on Mobius do you expect me to pin a betrayal on a nine year old hedgehog who wouldn't hurt a fly?" His voice fluctuated and fell into the voice I used to know. It was a little bit older than before, but it was definitely his real voice.
Tails let go and stared at him, "Your voice..." He said quietly, and Amy joined in.
"It..changed." She put her hand to her mouth in shock. I guess, having never heard his real voice, it was quite a shock to actually hear it. His real voice was quite handsome, and comforting, while the voice he had been using, though once made me laugh, now was obnoxious and loud.
He took off the mask and deflated his stomach, the scrawny man that I grew up with now staring me in the face with those dazzling, emerald eyes. His red hair was still thick and curly, but his acne had cleared up, and his face just looked older in general.
I looked away and crossed my arms, "You looked better with the mask, Robotnik." I growled, "It suited you better."
"Sonic-" He tried, but I wasn't listening.
"Tell your lies..." I got off the bed and began walking to the door, "I'll be over here." I sat there in front of the door, waiting.
He hesitated, but soon his voice echoed across the room, my friends listening intently to a tale I had hidden away from them. This was the rock in my way I wished to forget, and the one I would skip over in the story. I made the mistake of trusting him as a child. I took him for granted...then, when I was the most vulnerable, he broke me. I've been fighting him ever since.
He began his tale, the audience, both unwilling, and interested, listening with bated breath, "I guess I should start from the beginning..." He cleared his throat, "I first met Sonic when I was still living in my mother's basement...literally. I found him in the middle of the street beneath a flickering lamppost, bleeding, malnourished, and in all honesty, dying." I heard both Tails and Amy gasp, their tears beginning once again. I closed my eyes, my breath filled with a faded anger as I too remembered this tale. He continued, "He was so battered, that at the time, I couldn't tell that he was blue...I thought he was brown." I chuckled softly at this.
"Yeah...You seemed quite shocked when I told you my color..." I said quietly, "Bet you thought I was colorblind." He laughed at this.
"That would've been quite the colorblindness!" He chuckled, "But in all seriousness…When I examined him at home, I found that he had broken ribs, a broken arm, and so many cuts and bruises that I was really impressed that he was alive." I hung my head.
"You should've left me. I would've been fine." I said, my sorrow taking over.
"Hush you." He said in an even sillier voice than before. I heard the bed creak and suddenly, I was in the air.
"Hey!" I protested, but all my anger had flowed out of me, and I forgot to fight. Robotnik had picked me up, walked back to the middle bed, and placed me on his lap. I crossed my arms and closed my eyes stubbornly, but he only laughed.
"That's better!" His laugh was back to the way I remembered it, and my heart began to melt. But I was determined to remain his mortal enemy, "Now, where was I?" He asked, scratching behind my ears.
I was growling softly, but he didn't seem to notice, "You were at the part where you were supposed to leave me behind." He always knew where to pet and it wasn't fair. That place behind my ears was so comforting, and I couldn't help but like it. But I didn't want to. I wanted to jump off his lap and sit beside the door again! I didn't want to be cheered up! I wanted to be sad!
Now he was using both hands on both of my ears, and my growling stopped, "Ah yes, thank you, Sonic." I opened my eyes, and tried to shoo away his hands.
"Stop! I don't want to be cheered up!" I said in as angry of a voice as possible, but he just smiled.
"Yes, but I want to cheer you up. So there." He decided. I crossed my arms again and turned away. He continued his tale, everyone now quite awed by this display of affection, "He had called himself Maurice at the time, and he had been six years old, about to turn seven. I couldn't believe the abuse he had gone through. His injuries were horrid..but when I asked him about it while I was washing the blood away,-" I cut him off.
"That part wasn't a lie." I chimed in, "I was beaten severely by a gang in the town you were in. Before that, I had been running...running far away from this place." That last part was whispered, but everyone heard it.
"So those kids…." Now Robotnik was appalled, "If you had just said that, I could've done something about them!" I whirled around.
"And what would that be? They would've just beaten you up!" I decided.
"I am much bigger than you. If anything, I could have called the police on them!" He wasn't angry, but he wasn't happy either.
I shrugged, "For what? An experimental hedgehog that escaped from it's original owner?" We were staring into each others' eyes, seething quietly.
"You don't belong to him!" He growled, "If anything, I'm supposed to be your guardian." I laughed coldly.
"A great job you've done!" I said sarcastically. He closed his eyes, and I was sure he was going to put me back beside the door, but instead, he pulled me into a hug and continued to scratch behind my ears.
"You have no idea..." His voice sounded close to crying, "I've missed you so much, Sonic..." Stubbornness was the one thing that kept me from hugging back..as I have missed him too. He had been my true big brother, and his betrayal had truly shattered my heart to pieces.
"I...why?" I tried to push away, but he held firm, "Why did you betray me then?" I cried out, "I trusted you!" I was pounding on his chest like the kid that I was, anger filling the harsh notes in my throat. I was still that young child, unable to understand it. No matter how many reasons he or the good doctor gave, it never seemed like enough.
"You had just turned nine when I found out about your real past. Before this point, I had always thought that you had run away from an orphanage, leaving your twin sister behind." He held me out and put his hand over my mouth, knowing that I had a nasty retort in store at that last remark, "But the day we got the TV in the basement, I found hundreds of old tapes in my father's bedroom. Some of them were of me and mom, but most of them were of you two." My eyes widened, my mind returning to that night he said he had been watching horror movies.
He dropped his hand, my realization escaping my lips, "You were watching her drown." He nodded, my head sinking to rest in my own lap. I couldn't cry, but I couldn't smile either. So I just stared, unblinking into the void. My mind was overwhelmed with this new information, and I didn't know how to release it.
"That was when I knew I had to save you from him...At the time, I didn't know how to do that. I didn't want to lose you, or hurt you...but deep down, I knew what needed to be done." I didn't want to hear the rest, and tried to escape. But he held me on his lap, and began to pet this one spot on my neck that had always been comforting. I was shaking my head.
"You're just trying to trick me again!" My mind had been trained to think of him as an enemy for so long, that the opposite seemed impossible. The idea that he cared...that he could be good in any way had been beaten out of me so many times that I wasn't even sure if what was happening was true.
"Though I had been teaching him for years, I decided to send him to school in order to give myself some time to create a special robot..." I stopped fighting and looked at him. He closed his eyes.
"And here I thought you were just tired of me." The sarcasm was back, but he didn't even look at me.
"The day it was done, I took him downstairs to see it and promised him a glorious future. I told him that it would create an amazing hero that would even be able to save his sister..." He hung his head and held onto me tightly. I didn't resist, the memory of that day filling my head.
I remembered the excitement at the prospect of a hero like that. At the time, all I ever wanted was to see my sister again, and he knew that...I had been so happy. I watched as everyone's eyes grow wide with what he said next:
"But what I didn't tell him was that the hero would be him." He said sadly, "That night, I hid a list of things I "wanted" to do once the robot was operational on the work table." I was shaking my head, unable to believe it, "I knew he would go down there if he woke up for no reason...so I shook the innocent thing and pretended to sleep once he was awake. He did just as I knew he would...and he found the horrid thing." His eyes were screwed shut as though this were the most horrible thing he had ever did, "I couldn't describe his anger to you even if I tried...I threw him out shortly after receiving his answer to joining me on my make believe quest for world domination." I hung my head, my heart bleeding.
"No." I replied, my heart sinking, "But what if I had said...yes?" I asked, my eyes wide, and dark. My fight was gone, the answers to my past I had been seeking for so long painful to hear.
"If you had said, "Yes", then I would've had to make you hate me some other way." He chuckled softly, "In some ways, I was glad you said "no" the first time..." He didn't have to finish that sentence.
My stubborn mind wouldn't accept this. It wasn't true...he was lying! He was the enemy! He was just trying to gain my trust in order to hurt me again.
"You're a liar." I sounded out softly, "This is just another trick." I began to try and break free again, but Tails walked up to me and put his small, industrial hand on my head. I looked up at him, confused and hurt.
"I believe him." He said quietly, "Think about, Sonic." I screwed my eyes shut, unable to accept the truth, "If he wanted to, he could've really hurt you many times. Instead, he warned you of his attacks, and showed you multiple times how to disarm them." Tails's mouth spoke many truths, but I still didn't want to hear them. His blue eyes saw wisdom, but I wanted to remain blind.
Then, my eyes opened for a few seconds. Why was I fighting this so hard? Tails trusted him, and he doesn't trust anybody unless they're speaking truly…
"You know he's not lying, Faker." Shadow growled from Kuro's bed, "I can see it in your eyes." I shook my head, unable to say anything.
Knuckles walked up, "Look..Sonic. I know you don't really trust my truth radar, but I do believe that he's telling it." He crossed his arms, "If nothing else, look how patient he is with you right now. He pulled you away from the door and has been trying to calm you down ever since."
Amy chimed in from right next to me, "He's definitely not the Eggman I remember. His voice has changed, and so has his demeanor..." I chuckled lightly.
"Where did that voice come from, if I might ask..." Vector questioned from the front bunk on the left. Robotnik smiled.
"It was a voice I had used to cheer Sonic up when he was a little kid." He said happily, his memories flowing fast and free, "I called myself Dr. Eggman, and I tried to make him laugh with the goofy character." I remained silent, a redness coming to my face.
"Oh, that makes sense!" Charmy said with a big, happy smile. Charmy is a little six year old bee with a pink rimmed, black helmet and an orange life jacket. His eyes are a cute amber, and his voice is adorable. He normally hangs out with his pals Espio and Vector, which was probably the reason he was captured. Where Cream lived with her mother who never really goes on adventures with me, Charmy lived with a special detective agency that would tag along with me and Tails on many seperate occasions. Well...it wasn't moral, but it at least made sense.
"Alright, fine." I startled everyone, "I believe you...for now." I closed my eyes, "But I still don't trust you...you have to earn that back." My eyes opened and I stared into his. He nodded, our eyes locked, but then separated.
He gave me another hug, and this time, I hugged him back. I really did miss him...but I learned a long time ago not to let your feelings tell you who to trust. Everyone in the room cheered, besides Shadow and Knuckles, obviously, and I couldn't help but feel a little bit better. I was reunited with my long lost brother who I now knew had given up everything for me.
"Robotnik?" I asked quietly beneath the cheering, "When we get out of here...why don't you and I go for a walk in the park? It would be nice to catch up." His happy chuckle filled my ears, making me smile softly.
"You betcha kiddo." He responded, letting me go and staring into my eyes, "It's a promise." That light from long ago had returned to his eyes, the childlike innocence giving me a sense of comfort and peace. And for the first time in a long time, though we were all trapped here in the darkness, I saw the light.
For years, I had taught myself to take comfort in my running, as that was what I did to cheer myself up when I cried. I had taught myself to smile and smirk in the darkest of times, even when I didn't see the light. But the one thing that I taught myself to do the most was to close myself off to the people around me. As a child, I was too trusting...too soft. So in the midst of fighting my only friend for six years, I had tried to lose that part...but in doing so, I became the loneliest hedgehog on Mobius. It was only when I met Tails that I was able to somewhat trust again.
With Tails, he had been too young to understand betrayal, and I took him under my wing. I realized that kids younger than me were the least likely to betray me, and so I surrounded myself with them. First it was Tails, then it was Knuckles,(He's one year older than me, but he's proved himself.) Amy followed shortly after, and my arsenal of friends slowly grew. But Tails was special because he was the first, and the most loyal. He also was an orphan, like me, and had been bullied by kids his age because of his tails and superior brain. He was my little bro, and I was determined to never do to him what my big bro did to me. I guess you could call him my second chance at a happy life.
"Hey, Doc." Shadow asked suddenly, the cheering having gone down, "The Good Doctor said something about me and Sonic being cousins. What do you know about this?" I sat looking up at Robotnik as he responded:
"Well, the reason I unlocked you was because of that actually." He told him, and his eyes widened, "Sonic's mother had an older sister named, Martha, who donated..uh..-" He cleared his throat as there were children in the room who still didn't understand how babies were made, "-to the ARK. This is the reason you turned out to be a hedgehog similar in appearance to Sonic and his sister. In fact, judging by your quills and demeanor, you are an edgy middle." Shadows arms fell and his eyes were now so wide that they looked like crimson saucers, "Because of the way Sonic picked up friends, I hoped that you two would bond and become friends. But instead, you were angry and vengeful when you woke up and vowed to follow my orders." He shrugged, his large hands holding my chest, "I was somewhat successful. You two are now friendly rivals which is second best."
The laboratory, ARK, Robotnik is referring to is a lab in space that tried to come up with a cure for a terrible disease called NIDS. A young child named, Maria, who happened to be Robotnik's cousin, had this terrible disease. In an effort to save her life, Gerald Robotnik, Robotnik's grandfather, created Shadow. But the tests with him didn't get very far before the government shut down the program due to it being deemed 'too dangerous'. The GUN soldiers killed Maria while she was helping Shadow escape, and in the end, Shadow was sealed for fifty years with her death playing again and again in his head.
So yeah...fun memory to bring up. Shadow re-crossed his arms, grunted softly, then walked into the original corner I had found him in. My guess was that he was reminiscing on his life...I couldn't blame him..I was too.
Suddenly the door opened, and in came dear little Okami, his brother, and the two black bunnies from before. I looked up at Robotnik who sighed and put me down. We were herded out in single file.
To Be Continued...