WARM DARKNESS, COLD LIGHT Chapter One
Me: Hey guys! Here I am with the first chapter, and I'm happy with the positive response to my return!
BADDA555SW0RD: Then you've watched the Matrix and seen Age of Ultron haven't you?
Speedthehedgehog: Thanks man!
Christianape: FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!
Skyler Hope Universe: OK, I checked it. Cool OC. Bit of a weird weakness, and here's a thought: This guy has two plates covered in feathers.
Quintus: *looks at wings* that makes me sound less majestic. ON WE GO!
Quintus blinked.
"No, that can't be right. Jessica- you- but, you… died." He said. Jessica's eyes turned completely orange for a second, then went back to normal. It took a moment for Quintus to realize she had given the equivalent of blinking as well.
"What? That can't be right. Just yesterday I talked to you about Fain!" She said. Quintus remembered that. It had been just the week before… oh.
"Jessica, how old am I?" The Godhog asked. Jessica laughed as though the question were silly.
"You're only a year, but counting the time you spent in creation, you're six. Why?" She asked. Quintus stared at her.
"Jessica, I'm five hundred and thirteen- technically eighteen- years old. The lesson you gave me about Fain was a week before the lab was infiltrated and Pento… Pento killed you." It always teared him up to talk about the event, but having this… this… this whatever it was in front of him was too much. He began to take a few steps towards the exit, but she reached out and grabbed his wrist- only gently, but he stopped his retreat and looked at her just the same.
"Please, tell me what happened. I don't know why I don't remember, I don't know what happened, and my best friend seems afraid of me. What happened?" She asked. So Quintus sat down and told her how it had happened- his weakness, her dying words, Pento's threat.
"You did fight him, right? I'm not going to see our planet in flaming ruins?" she asked. Quintus sighed.
"Not at first. I was afraid, sad, lost in myself. But I remembered your request, and I wanted him to stop existing for what he had done. I managed to beat him. Just barely, with help, but I couldn't kill him. So he escaped, hiding in the dark corners of who knows where. He's only showed up twice since, both times smiling, like he knew something I didn't. He didn't attack me, didn't make threats. Just went on smiling, and said, 'soon.' The next month I would spend preparing myself, making sure I'd be ready. But he didn't appear. The last time was fifteen decades ago, and I'm wondering if I'm just imagining his appearances, because I'm the only one around when he does. But then I remember his smile, the waves of darkness he gives off- and I know he truly speaks to me." He said, looking down. His eyes widened as Jessica hugged him.
"I'm so sorry I caused it all…" She murmured. Quintus looked at her. She wasn't crying, probably couldn't, but she was sobbing.
"How is it your fault?" He asked.
"If I just hadn't been your friend, Pento wouldn't have had anything to brake you with!" She exclaimed. Quintus hugged her back.
"I would have been worse off if you hadn't." He said.
"…Quintus?" Jessica asked after a moment.
"Yeah?" He asked.
"What… what do I look like?" She asked. Quintus looked at his friend. She was hedgehog, sunset orange in color, and she had two quills going out and backwards (Like Silver), but she also had bangs, spiking forwards, some strands longer than others in a seemingly random fashion (like Amy and Sonia). Her eyes were the one part two pupils thing like most characters, and they were a mellow pink. But the two back quills each had a white stripe going along the length of them. It looked like she was wearing a red skintight T-shirt and shorts, but Quintus couldn't tell if they were actual clothes. He looked into her eyes.
"Come on, I'll show you." He said. He held her hand, guiding her. She unsteadily followed him down the hall over to the hole Quintus had created.
"Good, it's still daytime." The Godhog said. He opened his wings, and the feathers began to shine, disappearing into a single smooth surface. Jessica looked into it, and her 'eyes' widened.
"Oh, oh my… Quintus, I'm in a mobian form just like you!" She exclaimed. Quintus nodded. Suddenly he had an idea.
"Maybe the computer that had your AI chip can tell what and why you are." He said. Jessica nodded. They walked back into the darkness over to the computer.
"Voice recognition: Quintus. Computer, explain Jessica." He said. The screen flickered to life.
"SUBJECT: JESSICA. JESSICA WAS A YOUNG GIRL WHO WAS ASSIGNED TO TRAIN THE WEAPON AGAINST PENTO, KNOWN AS QUINTUS. SADLY, JESSICA DIED WHEN PENTO INFILTRATED THE LABS AND TOLD QUINTUS NOT TO INTERFERE. WOULD YOU LIKE MORE INFORMATION?" The computer said.
"No, I want info on the Jessica standing next to me." Quintus said.
"COMMENCING SCAN." A red laser light passed over Jessica, and her picture appeared on the screen.
"Subject: Plan Beta, known as the Jessica compromise. Created so that in the event the event that Quintus ever failed, his energy sources would be moved into her robotic form as a last ditch effort to fight off Pento. She was an android, and was given all the information as her human namesake so she would have all the knowledge necessary to use the energies given to her. Luckily Quintus moved on to defeat Pento, thusly Jessica was never activated and remains in a dormant state, to be activated when necessary." The computer said.
Quintus looked over to Jessica.
"But… I was told I was the only hope. If I'd known you were still here, or if I could have retired…" He said.
"But you won't, will you? You'll stay and protect the worlds if you need to, right?" Jessica asked.
Quintus felt unsure. It was his job, his reason for creation, but… He was a conscious, intelligent being, right? He could choose whether or not to continue, right?
"I… I'm not sure. If I continued, I would ask you to leave so you wouldn't be in danger, again…" He said.
"And I would stay anyway." Jessica said defiantly.
"But if I stopped, I would ask you to leave with me…" Quintus continued.
"And I would most definitely walk away from you." She said. Quintus sighed.
"I guess I get to keep my job for a while longer then." He said. Jessica smiled. She stepped over and looked into his eyes.
***"Good. So, do you have anything you want to convince me not to do?" She asked. Quintus smiled.
"It would be stupid to try. Ready to get out of here?" He asked. Jessica nodded.
Suddenly, just as Quintus was about to get them out of there, Jessica's eyes went blank and she fell over, Quintus catching her just in time.
"Error. Error. Possibly Fatal Virus detected. Standby mode activating in 3… 2… 1…"
Then the electronic hum Quintus hadn't noticed stopped.
"Jessica? Wake up?" He asked. Nothing happened.
"Shit." He said after a moment. He opened his wings and carried Jessica bridal style, going as fast as he could without worrying about hurting her in any way.
He stopped nearly three miles away in front of a cave with a 'hidden' elevator. Quintus looked around, but he didn't see any guards.
"…Oh, right. Darn you, taco Tuesday." He said. He wanted to teleport down, but he didn't know if that would affect Jessica. So he went down the elevator and quickly walked down the assorted hallways until he stopped in front of the only room he knew wouldn't have a party in it.
"Coin, you better not have gone to the cafeteria." Quintus said as he opened the door. A young fox, purple in color (And with one tail. We can't all be cool enough to go over one.) was sitting in front of a computer screen, playing Pac man. He looked behind himself at Quintus, and without a word turned off the screen.
"Interesting… 'Project.' I'll chew you out later, I need help." Quintus said. The fox noticed Jessica, unconscious, and nodded.
"You aren't really going to yell at me for this though, are you?" Asked Coin asked as he rummaged around in his wiring kit. He finally pulled out an AC adapter.
"No. Are you really going to just plug her in?" Quintus asked as he sat Jessica against a wall.
"If I can find a spot to do so. Would you prefer if I had to go through a robotic lobotomy?" Coin asked. He plugged one end into the computer, and then trailed the wire across the room over to Jessica. Seeing no spot to plug in the other end (I swear if there are any innuendos in the reviews…) he leaned in for a closer look. Just as he was about to poke her to see what would happen, a slot appeared right where he had been about to ouch. He moved the plug in away, and the slot shifted, following.
"Huh. Weird." Said the fox. Shrugging, he plugged it in. Instantly, his computer lit up with notices: 'Unknown Software detected' 'Vast storage device detected' 'virus detected.'
"Virus? What is this, Quintus?" Coin asked.
"Jessica. Or, a highly advanced android. She has almost all the memories of the one I knew, back then." Quintus said.
"Almost?" Coin asked. Quintus nodded.
"She doesn't remember… dying…" He said. Coin looked back to the computer, saying nothing. He knew that it wasn't best to have an emotional god near fragile equipment, so he shut his mouth and looked at the screen.
After a few seconds, Jessica's eyes lit up to their normal coloring and she looked around the room, but said nothing. Another notice appeared on the computer:
'Unknown software activating speaker system.'
And the headphones suddenly had noise coming out of them.
"Hello? Quintus? What's going on?" Asked Jessica's voice softly. The Godhog looked over at the headphones and then glanced at Jessica.
"Are you OK?" He asked. Jessica didn't answer for a second. Then, out of the headphones,
"I don't know. One second I was talking to you, then my vision went red and everything went blank. Now I wake up with a random fox working at a computer while a wire is stuck in my head. I can't talk normally, but I can hear you. I can feel a bunch of numbers rolling around just outside the wire attached to me. Where are we?" She asked. Coin unplugged the headphones and put in an actual pair of speakers, then answered:
"You're in the Light Defenders Headquarters, ma'am."
Jessica looked at Quintus.
"Light defenders?" Asked the speakers.
"About two hundred years ago I founded a group dedicated to helping the other worlds whenever necessary. I use my teleportation –which can be used inter dimensionally, by the way- to bring myself there, and we developed technology to bring a team to my energy reading." Quintus explained.
"Quintus, I believe I've found our error." Coin said. Both Quintus and Jessica looked up at the screen.
"And?" Quintus asked. Coin clicked an icon.
"UNKNOWN VIRUS DETECTED. TERMINATE?" Asked the screen.
"Whatever bug she has, it isn't any of the standard, 'reboot and you'll fix it.' This is one nasty little coded bug I've found. I think my computer should be able to handle it though. Even so, I'm disconnecting from the Net so it doesn't spread if I fail. Jessica, apologies if this hurts." Coin said before clicking yes.
Jessica's eyes lit up green, and a screech came out of the speakers.
"Jessica!? Are you ok?" Quintus asked, grabbing her arm. No reply came.
"Coin, if this kills her or if she comes out mentally damaged in ANY way…" He threatened the fox.
Suddenly the screeching stopped, and Jessica's eyes went blank for …about…three…seconds…
And then almost every surface of the computer caught fire. Coin jumped back as the screen (which was undamaged for the most part) turned black with a single fanged smile standing out in the center. Laughter came out of the speaker, but the laughter was not Jessica's, but the laughter of someone Quintus had hoped never to hear of again.
"Still hanging on there, old friend?" Asked Pento's voice. Coin fell backwards in shock as his screen moved in unison with the voice. It zoomed out so they could see the demon standing in an endless gray plain with a pine tree to rival any redwood in the background.
"Apparently I'm better off than you are. What are you doing in this computer, and furthermore as a virus in Jessica?" Quintus asked, a red aura forming around him. The image on the screen laughed in unison with the speakers.
"Why, I put myself here because of the little bitty bug I may have caused when I killed your little girly friend the first time! Oh, don't you worry," It said when it saw the look on Quintus's face,
"I'm not really me. Like your bolt bucket friend here, I'm just a bunch of memories, not quite the real thing. But that doesn't mean I can't have fun shattering. Her little. Mind. Want to listen?" Pento asked.
The speakers changed again, this time to Jessica's voice- screaming in pain.
"Stop it! Get out NOW!" Quintus shouted, punching the screen, which shattered. The cries of agony stopped and Pento's voice came out again:
"Now now, don't be such a crybaby. I'll stop for now, but I plan to break you, Quintus. You and every living soul in all the worlds, but I'll leave you barely alive long enough for you to see me end Jessica here, and her screams will be the last sounds you hea-"
The voice was cut off as Coin unplugged the speakers.
"Sweet mother of all Bazitral, what the hell?" Asked the fox. Quintus was shaking. His right hand curled into a fist, and dust poured out when he opened it again. It took Coin a second to realize he had grabbed the speaker beforehand.
"Quintus? Are you all-" Coin asked before the Godhog interrupted,
"I'm going to kill him. I'll delete this little f***er of a virus and then go and kill his real self. I didn't the first time because I was afraid. But once you push someone past the braking point, they will strike back. And that demonic jackass is going to get one hell of a beat down before hand." He said. His stripes turned black and he was gone, leaving Coin alone with a flaming computer and an unconscious robot.
"Well shit." The fox muttered as he set about putting out the flames, leaving Jessica alone for fear of Quintus's wrath.
Me: All right! First chapter done! And cliffhanger!
Quintus: Sorry that actual StH and MLP hasn't come into play yet, but it will.
Me: And we have decided to accept OCs!
Quintus: Buuuuuuuuuuuuuut not from Werewolf/Christian/ whatever the hell you're calling yourself. If you can't take a hint, give an answer.
Me: If I accept your OC, I'll PM ya. So, uh,
QuintustheHedgehog, CHAPTER COMPLETE!