Chapter 45 - Declaration
"..." Chiara narrowed her eyes. Staring at Speed, he looked indifferent back at her. Deciding to be blunter, she put her hands on hips and glanced at Sonic.
"I need to talk to him squirt...alone."
"..." the blue hedgehog blinked and veered back a little. About to open his mouth, the older male spoke.
"...Sonic...will not leave," Vermilion corrected. "...until I...say so."
"..." the female stoat looked back at him and frowned. "This...does not concern him. He doesn't need to know."
"...do you know...what he's dream...is Chiara?" Speed asked and gestured to the boy.
"To be as fast as you," she replied not removing her frown or taking her eyes off him.
"...not only that...but to become...a freedom fighter."
"..." the woman blinked then turned her head. Seeing Sonic stand there, he gave a firm nod with a neutral expression on his face. Thinking his expression was because she was here and had a scowl on her face, she stared at him for a moment or two. Looking back, the amputee was not there.
"...it means..." Vemilion began. Speaking from behind the child who flinched a little, he put his left hand on top of the kid's head.
"...he will...strive...to become...something bigger...than his own self."
"I KNOW what a freedom fighter is. Okay?" Chiara spoke irritably.
"...!?" Sonic became surprised. Staring at her with wonder, it waned a little given her unfriendly expression.
"So...they are real? Like, really real?" he asked feeling a hand lift off his head.
"..." she blinked then looked off to the side.
Staring to her left a little, she turned back and stared at the taller hedgehog. He stared back at her stoically with his head cocked to right a little. Looking down, the child still looked at her with interest of what she just said. Still feeling agitated from what she discovered in the apartment complex, she did not want to talk about the rebel movement. Trying to think of something to angle around it, her thoughts were interrupted.
"...if the young...don't know the...past..." Vermilion spoke and tilted his head back up straight. "...what prevents...them from...repeating it?"
"..." the female stoat sighed annoyed. "Look...this isn't the time or place to talk about the double F. Alright?"
"And you," she continued then pointed at Speed. "You seem to be the only guy that can clarify something that YOU caused...and it is affecting what I see."
"...?" Sonic blinked confused. Turning around and looking up, the amputee was still giving the same face. Giving a lethargic blink, his mouth suddenly changed to one of amusement.
"...what's wrong Chiara...seeing humans now?" he asked with a faint smile while staring her down.
"..." the woman stared and tried to process what he said. Her mind automatically flashbacked to the dark silhouette figure in the admin office of the apartment complex. Thinking that is what he meant, she veered back suddenly.
"W-Wait a minute! T-T-That thing was a human!?"
"Humans?" the boy repeated then turned around. Seeing her apprehensive face, it seemed to indicate the same foreboding aspects of humans in previous conversations.
"...I wouldn't know...I didn't see...what you saw," Speed added keeping the same face.
"W-well, describe one then if ya so smart!" she retorted instantly frowning at him.
"...two to three...times our height...body mass is thicker...similar to a...hairless ape...though legs are...longer...pale tan to brown skin...smaller extremities..."
"A hairless ape?" Sonic repeated turning back to the older hedgehog. "Are they closer to monkeys?"
"...you could...say so..." Vermilion began while he kept staring at the stoat. Her face showed shock from his description.
"T-That's what I saw...so...that's what they look like," Chiara said then looked down a little. Not thinking hard about it, she looked up and opened her mouth.
"Alright look...I need answers before I completely lose my shit...and I don't want ya doing your psychoanalyzing or cryptic answers."
"..." Speed responded with just blinking. The corners of his mouth went down a little to change back to a neutral one. At the same time, the child turned around to look at the woman. Sort of annoyed that the training got interrupted, the aspect of being a part of an adult conversation made his ears perk up.
"..." she grunted from his lack of response. Pinching the small bridge of her nose between her eyes, she silently talked to herself to say she has gone crazy. Just not completely.
"Alright," she began. Dropping her hand from her face, it dully hit her right thigh.
"Why the hell am I seeing ghosts? AND...why the freakin' hell can I touch them?"
"..." Sonic didn't move and just glanced at Speed. Seeing him not move or blink, the older man just stared back. An awkward silence passed before the female fumed a little.
"I asked you questions asshole!" she shouted and got stiff. Pointing one hand to her right eye, she glared at him.
"Ever since you FIXED this, I've seen shit that is not there. Hear things that I shouldn't be able to hear. If I'm gonna go crazy, I'll strangle till you croak first."
"..." Speed stared as his mind went static. As if time was slowing down, the white noise got deeper and deeper in pitch. Slowly, his mind's eye began to reveal something as if repressed memories were unlocked. At the same time, her statement reminded him of past conversations. As if two conversations were overlapping each other, a massive strain on his mind came.
'Everything you touch...you destroy,' a distant voice echoed through his mental scape of imagery. Black filled silhouettes and figures stood near him in an unknown location.
[...these implants...will do wonders...a covert in sheep's clothing...] another spoke from a different direction. The environment glitched to something cold and metal. The feeling of being parallel to the ground came. At the same time, a dull light shined down on him.
'Why would we accept anything from your kind?' a third spoke. Its tone was that of distain. The other dark outlined individuals murmured similar tones.
[...why fully mechanicalize this specimen...when we could do so much...more infiltrating with him...] a deep sounding person spoke. Filled with sounds of cruel entertainment, a whirling sound erupted above his head. The visual then glitched out before feeling something begin to pierce his skin.
'No doctor amongst our race has those things to replace damaged limbs...who sent you? Speak freak!'
[If this doesn't convince locals...then it will be amusing...for its struggle]
'W-Wait...you don't need to do this! We were- #$%' a frightened individual said. The crowd that was surrounding him became spread out. A sense of dread crept into the atmosphere as Speed felt his limbs move on their own.
[Instincts of a walking pest...with metal...ha ha ha ha...a fitting enlightment for these abominations] a female voiced in another direction. Strangely, his mental state became filled with a strong emotion. The vision strobed rapidly between static and various positions until confronting the voice.
[W-Wait a minute! How did yo-] the woman shouted before rapidly glitching came. It distorted what was being seen heavily as if both flashbacks meshed into one chaotic reel.
'p...l...e...a...s...e$%$h...a...v...e$#$m...e...r...c...y...' a choking individual pleaded with a constrained voice. The person shook hard and instantly morphed into another being. Sirens were going off in the background and blaring loudly.
[ALL SECURITY! HOSTILE IS IN THE FACILITY AND$%$#$%] a loudspeaker burst to life followed by sharp crackling and blips. It gave the impression it was damaged by something. Or, his mind was going haywire even more.
[EPINEPHRINE LEVELS RISING...AMYGDALA LEVELS RISING...PSYCHOLOGICAL INSTABILITY IMMANENT...COMMENCING INJECTION OF BIO-GENERATED HYBRID SEDATIVE] rapid words flooded over the cybernetic eye's vision.
"..." Vermilion felt his vision split and twist in an instant. The iris and pupil in his normal eye got smaller while a condense ball of emotion erupted in his mind.
Feeling his entire body flare with immense fury, the sight of the words in his implant eye didn't register in his brain. Blinking while feeling his teeth get clenched together tightly, his normal vision lost focus as everything in his peripheral was clouded and unclear. Like seeing through a telescope without being in control of his body. A painful pulse came in his left eye followed by a shape stabbing. Clenching his left hand into a murderous fist and lifting his head back, he began to shake.
'...let everyone feel...how weak...and hopeless our kind is...' a younger version of himself spoke out loud.
The vision was crystal clear. All sound seemed to have dulled to low volume. Focusing, he saw himself chocking someone. As if causing a reaction, the sensation of snapping a male fox breed's neck surged through his left hand. Staring down at the corpse while still holding onto the neck, it was as if he wanted to make the individual's head pop. An eruption of screaming came afterwards when the body slumped, and its limbs drooped.
'...creators of the robotized breed...are just as fragile...' another form of himself muttered.
As if in the same position as before, the scene changed. Instead of looking down at an humanoid animal breed, it was a female human. Without warning, his face lurched down. Feeling his mouth open and chomp down on her neck, he bit hard. Hearing it scream at him, the hedgehog reeled his head up viciously. Feeling skin rip away from the person's neck, his mouth had a chunk of meat in it.
As if time was slowing a little, his eyes darted to the human in a white lab coat. Horror splashed on her face while crimson began spreading everywhere. A slow gushing began to come out of the ripped open wound as her voice of suffering became silent. A rushing wave of bestiality enveloped him to the point of it being intoxicating. Hearing noises everywhere become hollow, his mouth opened. Without hesitation or control, he rushed down. Repeating the attack again, he continued to assault animalistically. Chewing through skin, muscle, and bone to decapitate her.
'...all of them...are just piles of sentient meat...' he voiced.
Seeing his vision glitch, another environment appeared. However, he had stabbed another animal breed. Strangely, he was using two hands to impale his victim. Pulling the weapon out, he continued with brutal and repeated thrusts. The sharp gasps of air and pain from who he was attacking showed a face of horror and pain. At the same time, Speed felt no emotion inside him. No expression came as crimson splashed onto his face and body.
'...taking...morphing...controlling...' his other self commented.
Noticing only one arm and a split field of sight, it glitched again. This time, he slammed a fire extinguisher onto a different human's head. The lab coat wearing individual flopped to the ground with a massive dent on the top of his head. Without waiting, the hedgehog lifted the object again and slammed it harshly into the person's head. One side of its head bulged a little.
'...destroying...' the amputee continued.
Spinning around with fire suppressant tool, he lifted it up. Turning back to the downed human, he growled loudly and swung the heavy object down. Making contact on the male's head again, the small ballooned portion of its head popped open. The skin split spread its insides partly onto the dark, cold floor. The sight of the different parts and colors caused a high pitched noise to pierce through his thoughts and hearing.
'...e...v...e...r...y...s...i...n...g...l...e...b...e...i...n...g...' multiple versions of his voice echoed in his mind.
The rapid transition of the environment put him somewhere else. Feeling constrained in a detainment cell in the Sisters of Sanctum, a blood stained and gritty sight was in front of his view. The place reminded him of despair, decay, insanity, torture, and death. Glaring at the cell doors, the sight of one of the sisters came into view. The sadistic smile on her face made his fingers curl into a claw.
'EVERYSING#$LEBEINGSHA#$#$LLBEREPUR#$#$POSED!' all of his versions screamed at him as the vision collapsed on itself.
"...strangle me...you say..." Speed spoke gravely. Moving his head back forward, his expression was cold. His right eye seemed dilated while his black-red one glowed a sharper hue.
"...!?" Sonic flinched from his tone. Feeling his fur instantly stick up, he leaped away from him. Able to feel a strong aura radiate from the amputee, he got into a defensive stance.
"...!?" Chiara blinked and felt her eyes growing wide. Seeing a visualization of his aura, it manifested into something close to the horror of the underground prison.
The bleak expression yet icy eyes gave her immediate fight or flight signals. Slowly, a conglomerate of black and dripping red silhouettes surfaced out of his skin and body. Their presence amplified the intense atmosphere even more as they began to reveal something. From breaking away from the gray ash hedgehog's body, an extremely emancipated form of the individual was seen. Her eyes were then drawn to his left eye which was no longer there. Just a gapping hole with a thin membrane separating the eye socket to the pulsating brain.
"W-WHAT THE SHIT!?" she whispered to herself in fear.
"S-Speed!" the child called out with a tremor in his voice. "Y-You're bleeding again!"
"..." Vermilion's head began moving about in place while boring at the stoat.
Feeling warm liquid tear out of his left eye, the decay feeling of an injection came. The delayed response caused his brain to hurt from feeling it occurring on the inside of the eye socket wall. Having felt it so many times before, it was a sensation that always seemed to bypass his tolerance of pain. The sharp, piercing emotional reaction suddenly began to become less acute. Knowing this occurs after each bleeding, it was a correctional mechanism to a psychological response. Able to lessen his tension, the shaking began to subside.
"...you want...to prove something...woman..." the amputee said still in a serious voice.
"..." she remained still.
As if time reversed itself, the different phantomic figures began to re-merge into the older hedgehog. Each one added different layers of vitality to make his body less of a brutalized corpse. When the last one sank, the intimidating aura was back to the normal stoic one. Witnessing the transition made her question who he really was again. Why so many dreadful things embody him to make him whole. Blinking, he was in front of her face and snatched her face with his left hand.
"...let's...go...find...your...origin..." Speed spoke tilting his head to the left.
"...!?" Chiara reacted with fright.
Latching her hands onto his arm, it felt like a deja vu event from before. However, his forearm felt very tight with muscles flexed. The hold on her face was hard enough to keep her mouth closed. Looking at his face, there was indifference. However, his mannerism, his aura, his projection of self was magnified. The odd sight of figures living within his skin increased her fear of him even more.
"...Sonic..."
"...!?" the blue hedgehog flinched and shook a little. "Y-Yes Speed?"
"...climb on...my back...now..." the older male ordered in a quiet tone. He hadn't turned away from the female nor stopped staring at her. Not hearing a question or seeing an indecision, the boy walked behind him. Jumping and grabbing onto the man's shoulders, the child bear hugged a little. Immediately feeling how tensed the amputee's body was, a small amount of trepidation crept into his mind.
"...hold...and feel..." Vermilion said then began to vibrate.
"...mmmnnnmm!?" Chiara groaned and struggled to break free. Her image was beginning to vibrate. In fact, everything began to shake faster and faster.
"...the convergence..."
Without warning, Speed burst forward with high speed. Unlike the light space bending effect, he was running as fast as an airplane at low speed. Covering much ground within a couple of seconds, they were heading to some unknown location far passed the four villages the child knew. However as they were travelling, two things were going through Sonic's mind. The trepidation was replaced with electrified wonder from seeing things zoom pass them and barely able to state in his mind what they were. The second was the tingling sensation that was coursing through the hedgehog's body.
It seemed to act like a current and was looping constantly throughout his body. Focusing on that while watching where they were going, the suspenseful encounter turned into a rollercoaster event with him in the passenger seat. Feeling air pressure beating on her back, Chiara held onto his outstretched arm for dear life. The sensation of traveling backwards without knowing what was coming at high speeds made her stressed. Seeing the forest and trees pass them by within a foot of space made cold sweat develop on her back.
Seeing nothing but a cold gaze staring through her, Speed kept both eyes forward. Glancing at Sonic, there was no fear in his expression. He looked focus and seemed to be concentrating while facing forward. Even if she wanted to break free, the back of her mind told her that the amputee could just kill her without much of a thought. Deciding to remain put and wait, the stoat tried to familiarize the areas they were rushing by.
Once they passed over the hill peaks that sort of closed off the villages and port from the rest of the land, Vermilion kept running. Sonic's eyes widen from seeing a new area that he hadn't explored. Surprisingly, the vegetation was not too different in terms of density. However, there were new plants and color shades that he had never seen. Rushing down the long slop of hills, they powered through the trees. Never slowing down, the child and stoat could detect they were slowly arcing to the left.
"..." Chiara commented glancing around with her eyes.
Seeing the change in plant types, the trees they were zipping by seemed oddly familiar. Only able to look behind the two, the pathway they were taking was on something close to a developed dirt road. Unable to determine the place they were going to, it began nagging her in the back of her mind. It was as if she should remember where this area was. Within a minute of Speed not stopping at his high velocity, the amount of ground covered was vast.
Suddenly, the gray ash hedgehog began to slow down. Still gripping her face and feeling both individuals still cling to him, the location he was traveling to began to appear. Instead of sliding to a halt, he began to slowly drop the pace he was going at. After 20 seconds, he reduced his acceleration down to just a mad run. Continuing down to a walking pace, he stopped and released her face at the same time.
"..." Vermilion breathed a little heavy.
"...!?" the female reacted. Surprised from getting her face released and being launched backwards, she stumbled a bit before getting solid footing.
Feeling relief in his hand and arm, his body suddenly became exhausted. Remembering that there was a weight on his back, it removed itself. Blinking and glancing slightly behind him, the child landed on the floor with two feet. Another wave of relief came but didn't help him to keep standing. Dropping to one knee and fisting the ground to hold himself up, he took in long deep breaths.
"..." the amputee moved his eyes up to the woman. Giving a small scowl, he continued to get his breath.
"W-Where are we Speed?" Sonic asked looking around with curious wonder.
"...ask...her..." the older man answered never breaking eye contact with her.
"..." Chiara stared back with mixed feelings.
Breaking his eye contact, she glanced around. The vegetation around them didn't seem too different from where they were before. However, the back of her mind had something that kept poking her. As if this particular location had significance of some sorts. Upon turning around and looking behind her, there was a small cliff followed by a down slope hill.
"...wait a minute..." she muttered to herself.
"Do you know where we are...Chiara?" the blue hedgehog spoke then trailed off.
Not responding to his question, she walked to the edge of the cliff. Stopping and looking down, there was a settlement at the base of the hill. Instant memories came to her on fast forward in her mind. Making the connection of what this place was, goosebumps flared all over her body. Immediately turning around to stare someone down, he had moved. His blank face with icy eyes were the same while standing up instead of being down on one knee. He was still breathing heavily.
"How do you know this place?" the stoat demanded with a serious face.
"...you...told...me...when I...couldn't speak..."
"...no...I couldn't have...I didn't remember where this place was exactly even if I did told you," she retorted feeling her muscles slowly getting stiff. The aspect that he knew where this place was from her times of ranting and complaining gave a different connotation. Knowing what she knows about him now, it was a mistake to tell him even a little bit.
"...you forget...how...annoying..." Vermilion remarked with a larger frown. Still breathing like he ran a marathon, he began to walk towards her.
"...who else...would have mentioned...this place..."
"...this haven...that you beseeched...of waste...and rot..." he continued getting to half the distance between them.
"...no...this is...this place is..." she began then looked down.
"..." Sonic blinked and kept looking back and forth between them. Wondering if it was her village, another thought came. If it involved Speed, then it was possible that the villagers outcasted both of them like what happened to him in his village.
"...this past realm...of your condemnation..."
A strong confliction was swelling inside of her. Memories of the past slammed in her brain that resurfaced emotions and sensations. Her face began to twitch as some of the recalled feelings were gripping. At the same time, this was a place she would have turned back to if she couldn't survive in the city or anywhere else. Moving her head back up to speak, she flinched. Speed was standing in front of her.
"...sympathizer...to those...who corrupt...and vilify..." he stated boring at her like a primal staring at prey.
"H-Hey...listen. All that shit I said way back when...I was just getting stuff off my chest," she began. Feeling that was a sound and reasonable statement, his expression never changed. Feeling like she was being judged, she glanced at the boy. Despite looking confused, he stared at her with a neutral expression. Feeling defensive, she forced herself to not raise her hands up or get emotionally charged.
"L-Listen...forget what I said...and forget about the ghost thing," Chiara said sounding tame and cautious. "I'll even forget about the debt you owe me for fixing my eye."
"...!?" the child reacted with surprised eyes and perked up ears. Detecting that something was wrong from how she was acting, he looked at Vermilion. Never moving, he continued to stare her down with a glare. Part of boy was wondering if the man was going to do the same treatment to her as he did to him.
"...is that...what you...really want?" the amputee asked. Above his left eye of where metal and skin fused, a vein surfaced. It was prominent given how its color contrasted with his skin and lack of fur around there.
"..." the female stared back.
A part of her told her not to falter while fear was trying to claw at her. She could feel and see his persona darken. A visualization of emotions of agitation, disdain, and contempt. The thought that he held her of value despite their differences and her behavior seemed to hurt more than she thought it would. However, the apprehension of what he could do at the village was much stronger.
"...silence...speaks...volumes...false...insurgent..." Speed voiced evenly and formed his left hand into a claw.
"Back off," Chiara spoke with equal demeanor. "This is none of your business. It's mine and mine alone."
"...s...o...b...e...i...t..." he growled softly and lowered his head a little more to show scorn.
"..." the female immediately got into a defensive position.
Adrenaline pumped through her from the amount of fright that took hold of her. Thinking he was going to attack her, her eyes looked down to the blue hedgehog that got beside them. Without fear, he jumped up and stomped on her and Speed's foot. She pulled her foot away quickly before the kid's shoe hit it. However, the older male did not move.
"..." Vermilion stood there not looking at who attacked him. Moving only his left eye down, it stared at the child while his normal eye continued to glare at her.
"...listening..."
"There is no reason to fight," Sonic stated looking up at him with a small frown. "She made her decision just like I did."
"...is that...so..."
"Yeah...it is," he pointed out. Holding his ground, he put his hands on his hips while continuing to look up at him.
"..." Speed moved his head up then turned his head. Looking at the boy and seeing his demeanor, it seemed to defuse the turmoil in his mind. Breathing out of his nose a little, his left hand relaxed.
"...I see...you...are right...we shall leave...then," he voiced with less aggression. Turning around, he began to walk away.
'That's...a first,' she thought in surprise. Seeing the older hedgehog walk away, she got out of being defensive. Looking at the boy and about to make a comment, she stopped. Sonic stared at her with a neutral expression. There was no hint of his action was to help her or hinder her. Staring at each other for a moment or two, he blinked.
"...bye..." he spoke quietly then jogged off to catch up with Speed.
By the time he reached him, the stoat believed that the amputee would do his vanishing trick and both would disappear. However, he didn't. Both continued walking away while the child seemed to move a bit more as if looking around with curiosity. Seeing their backs felt relieving and sorrowful at the same time. No tears would develop despite feeling a bit hollow inside. Knowing her actions and behaviors were the real cause, she frowned.
"..." Chiara shook her head.
Turning around, she looked down at the village. Staring at it for a minute or so, she made a decision. Hopping off the cliff and landing on the downward slope, she began her descent to the collective habitat. Thinking about who could still be there, the fur on the back of her neck began to stand. The small talons on her fingers extended as she felt herself tighten her muscles. Curling her fingers to form claws, cartilage cracked and popped.
'Knowing that he will not interfere...I will show them I'm not a girl anymore.'