Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Inked in flame ❯ Silence, the heartslayer ( Chapter 9 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: TheVulpineHero1 
next thingy
Non Anime: Sonic Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 05.10.2007 | Pages: 2 | Words: 4.3K | Visits: 284 | Status: Work In Progress
next thingy
Non Anime: Sonic Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 05.10.2007 | Pages: 2 | Words: 4.3K | Visits: 284 | Status: Work In Progress
Hiya. Well, for all you people who would have no idea what I would be writing about if I started writing right now, I’m gonna recap the story so far. Or, so you would think. Sorry, but you’ll have to read back, and squint your eyes in order to see through the bold italics in the first couple of chapters. Ha. But, at any rate, another author (Cough, DIPLOMATIC_FOX) has informed me that one of my original characters, Ivory the cat, bears similarities to another author’s original characters, also named Ivory. (The character, not the author. The author, apparently, is WatchForStars.) To this claim, all I can really say is that the great and the slightly deranged DO think alike on occasion, and that all similarities are entirely co-incidental. Basically, I didn’t even know there was another Ivory. Sorry^.^! Oh, and now to update my disclaimer. It has occurred to me that I have not told you yet that Eggman, Metal Sonic and Chaos belong to SEGA. Meanwhile, all of my original characters belong to me, and you can only use them if I say so. And now, to our sponsors.
Guy: Good evening, guv’nor! How are you on this fine thingy day?
Gal: ?????
Eggman: Please describe, in 300 words or less, why the hell you are talking in the faux accent of a cabbie who resides in the city of London.
Guy: Trying out different accents, I am. Need tweezers, do I.
Gal: That is SUCH a turn off. How do you expect to get a date if you can’t talk normally?
Guy: I have no idea, Susan.
Gal: I thought my name was Hillary or something. I can’t quite remember.
Eggman: My real name is Percival. Or, at least it is now. It used to be Stephanie. I might even change it to Captain Powernuttycrunch IV.
Gal: Is that what we’re advertising? Or are we talking over why we hate our parents?
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Chapter the tenth: Silence, the heartslayer
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Once again, Eleanor found herself in hospital. Except this time, it wasn’t her fault. She took her gloves off, partly to wash her hands and be hygienic, and partly so she could chew her fingernails more easily. Like many other people in the A&E department of Station Square hospital, she was alternating between sitting on the chairs with a look of panic on her face, or pacing the length of the waiting room at around 300 miles an hour. Although she felt that it wasn’t the time to be worried about such things, she did notice a rather pungent smell of spilled bleach, and there were various stains on the walls. Finally, a doctor, clad in a uniform stained with blood, stepped from the operating room.
“Ms. Eleanor? I have the results as to why Mr. Sonic collapsed.” he said curtly. Many other people in the waiting room, who had looked up at any kind of news, went back to worrying about their own misfortunes.
“Apparently, he was suffering from internal bleeding. He had a delayed reaction, due to the shock of being hit so hard, and huge amounts of adrenaline rushing around in his system. You might say that he was too busy to notice he was dying.” the doctor said, almost laughing at his own joke.
“Yeah, but is he okay? When is he going to leave?” she asked anxiously.
“It’ll take a couple of days. Maybe weeks. Depends on him. If he really tries to make a quick recovery, it might even be hours. The bleeding isn’t too severe- it was just left too late to control easily.” the doctor explained, twiddling his pen. Eleanor looked at him, deciding that he had probably been in his profession for quite a while if he could break news that easily.
“Tch. Looks like I’ll have to wait a while before I give him his treat.” she said, sitting back down.
“Raze? Where are we going?” Ai asked, puffing and panting. Why was he walking so fast?
“Back.” he said simply, carrying on.
“Back? Back to where?” she asked.
“Here.”
He stopped. She, as she always did, almost smashed into him. Catching herself at the last moment, she saw that they were back on the mountain ledge where Raze and Jecht had fought.
“Hmm? What are we doing here?” she asked.
“This is where it happened.” he said. As he did so, he stooped down, picking up a flower. It was a single white rose. It looked melancholy and sorrowful. Putting it down, Raze walked to the edge, and jumped. He flew through the air, landing on another ledge nearby. This ledge was completely empty, barring a two trees at either end. Taking a deep breath and tensing herself, Ai jumped for the ledge, almost falling short. She landed badly, grazing her ankle. Raze just walked into the centre of the clearing, lost in thought. Getting up, Ai took the silver choker out of her pocket. It was still warm.
“That…was your mother’s. I was holding on to it for her…until you were ready.” Raze said, quietly.
“My…mother’s? Raze, what’s going on?” Ai asked, apprehensively.
“Tell me…Do you remember how we met? Or where?” Raze asked.
“N-no. All I know is that we’ve been together for quite a while. Ever since you were six.”
“I’d just finished my first job as a mercenary.”
“Raze?”
“I’d been injured- my arm was hanging open like a gutted trout. I went to the hospital for help, and all I got was a bandage. I passed the wards, looking to see if there was anyone that I knew. There were a few.”
“Who were they?”
“That isn’t important. As I was passing by, I saw a girl laying in one of the beds. I read her chart. She had an illness, which, if left uncured, would almost certainly be the end of her. Even if it had been cured, she’d still probably never walk again. She was about my age. But she had one thing I didn’t.”
“Which was?”
“Hope. It was like she didn’t have any idea how serious her illness was. But, she wasn’t giving up. She was fighting, and nearly winning. She noticed me looking, spoke to me. She told me her parents were had gone to buy a more powerful medicine for her, and might not be back for a while.”
At this point, Raze sat down with a heavy sigh. He didn’t speak for a while. Ai looked over what he had told her in her head. Why was he telling her this?
“I asked her if she was all alone. ‘Yes. I miss Mommy and Daddy.’ she said.
‘Would you like me to keep you company until they get back?’ I asked.
‘Yes please! Yay, I made a friend!’ she said.
I stayed with her, and talked to her for a while. About her illness, her friends, what she did when she was in hospital, and eventually about her parents. Whenever she mentioned them, my heart sank, because I knew something she didn’t.”
“What? What did you know that you weren’t telling her?”
“That her parents would never come back. That I had witnessed their death. But…I couldn’t tell her. Hope was all she had.” the fox said, his voice giving a slight tremble.
“Raze? Are you going to cry?” Ai asked, sensing his distress.
“No. I haven’t cried in a long time. Eventually, the girl got better. The doctors said it was a miracle. Even more miraculous was that she was completely fine- she could walk and talk, just as normal. The doctors told me it was because she had never given up hope. She told me that it was because I’d been there for her.”
“Raze? Was that…”
“As soon as she was better, I made up my mind. I got ready to leave. I had wanted to sneak away at midnight, so she wouldn’t know. At midnight, that night, I made my final preparations. I stepped through the door of the hospital, and, to my great surprise, the girl was waiting for me.
‘Aren’t you going to take me with you, Raze?’ she asked.
‘How did you know I was leaving?’ I said.
‘Because. I know you. I can tell when you’re sad, or hurting inside.’ she said.
‘Then you know me better than I do.’ I said.”
“…”
“We left together. Travelled. We saw many things, but all the time, I was lying to her. In her heart, she thought she was going to see her parents again. I couldn’t bear to shatter that hope. In time, she grew, as did I. I kept my lie, but it hurt to see her reaching for a goal that could never be achieved, motivated by the hope spawned by a lie. Tonight, I break that lie and in it, that hope. The girl was you.”
“Tails! Tails, let us in, you deranged lunatic!”
Tails groaned. After managing to convince Cream to come to his lab instead of pestering Raze and Ai more, she had become taken with the idea of cleaning his entire lab, and had just moved his favourite bookcase in front of the door. She had struggled, huffing and puffing all the way, before leaving the bookcase, and going off to make some lemonade. Now, he had to listen to Knuckles’ and Jecht’s ranting as he moved the bookcase. Hearing a sharp intake of breath, Tails hurriedly moved out of the way. Seconds later, a fist smashed through his door, doing a good deal of damage to his bookcase.
“Tails! What are you doing with this screwy bookcase in front of your door, right when we REALLY need your help?” Knuckles shouted.
“Cream did it. Now, could you SHUT UP and help me move the bloody case?”
After around five minutes of confused pushing and pulling, during which the bookcase got halfway up the stairs before everyone finally realised what was going on.
“Okay, now that we have that little unpleasantness out of the way, lead us to your spaceship. We know you have one around here somewhere.” Jecht said, sitting down on the (newly relocated) settee (Author’s note: Which, can I add, is a really weird name for a couch/sofa/butt-supporting mechanism).
“What? Why in the name of Riley would you possibly want a spaceship?” Tails asked.
“Because we have to go and rescue Rouge from the Martians. Can you give us the spaceship now?” Knuckles asked.
“Knuckles. Listen very closely. I’m only going to say this one time. ROUGE IS NOT ON MARS!” Tails yelled.
“Huh? Rouge is on Mars?” Cream asked, walking into the room with five glasses of lemonade.
“NO!”
“What do you mean, Rouge isn’t on Mars? Me and Jecht worked it all out! She disappeared suddenly, so she must have been abducted!”
“Look, the reason Rouge didn’t come home is…umm…I’ll whisper it. Cream’s in the room.”
“WHAT! ROUGE WAS WALKING HOME TOPLESS AND GOT ARRESTED?!?!?”
“SHUSH!”
“What? You knew my parents were dead all this time? But…how?” Ai asked, struggling to take in the information.
“…they were my first job. I’d just become a mercenary, and they’d hired me to protect them. They told you they were going to get medicine. What they didn’t tell you was that to get it, they had to cross one of the most bandit infested areas in the country. This mountain. I escorted them a while, but we were attacked.” the fox said morosely.
“And? You won, didn’t you? If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be here.”
“I beat them, but they won. They were Arridian Guild cronies. Tough. They never meant to hurt me. They couldn’t. They just wanted to separate me from my charges. They succeeded. I saw them die- in this very clearing. I vowed to give up the mercenary profession, but meeting you changed me. I decided that you needed help, and that the best way to help you wasn’t to mope around, but to do what I was good at.”
“What you were good at? What you were good at?!? The only thing you’re good at is hurting people!” the hare shouted.
“Ai. I don’t pretend to be perfect. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I’ve hurt a lot of people. But, I never wanted to hurt you.” the fox replied.
Feeling a wave of rage building within her, Ai’s vision turned red. Before she knew what she was doing, she had already swung her leg through the air and connected her foot with Raze’s head. Stunned, the fox stumbled backwards, knocked off balance by the sudden attack. He threw up his arms to shield his head as she swung her foot high and brought it crashing down. She gave a scream of anguish and rage as she did so, losing herself in a cloud of anger. She swung her foot again as fast as she could, hoping that by some fluke she might inflict fatal damage, and pay him back for robbing her of her parents. Although taken momentarily by surprise, Raze’s well-oiled fighting instincts sprung into action, and he caught her foot in mid-air. Using it s a lever, he swung her around, flinging her into the nearby tree. She gave a gasp of surprise and pain as she crashed into the tree. Dashing behind it, she gasped, regaining her senses.
“Geez. What am I doing? I can’t take on Raze!” she muttered to herself. As she did his, she realised the pure danger she was in. She moved away from the tree just in time to avoid Raze’s claws coming straight through the trunk. She heard a grunt of effort, and watched in awe as the fox pulled his claws sideways, cleaving the tree in half. The fox rounded on her, his normally tranquil eyes boiling with rage. She felt a cut bleed onto her fur, staining it red. At the sight of the blood, Raze stopped, his eyes widening in shock at what he had done. Then, silently, he turned and bound away up the mountain.
“Hey, snuggums. Feel any better?” Eleanor said in a slightly mocking tone of voice, sitting down on the end of Sonic’s bed.
“K-Kinda. Still a bit wobbly. I’m embarrassed though. Falling down in public!” Sonic muttered, cringing.
“You’d better be embarrassed! Leaving a serious medical problem like that for so long! What am I going to do with you?” she asked.
“Love me, feed me and never leave me?” Sonic asked hopefully.
“Yeah, right. What am I going to say when I take you to meet my family?”
“Your…family?”
“Yep. My big brother is going to be so pleased that I’ve finally got a partner!”
“But…I kinda thought that your family would be…well…”
“Gone? I know Ai’s parents aren’t alive, and if Raze’s parents are alive, I want to know what the hell they were doing. Goodness only knows what happened to Jecht’s parents. But mine are still alive and kicking!”
She leaned a little closer to him, and stroked his cheek.
“Hey. If we’re together, than I count as family, and I ain’t goin’ anywhere!” Sonic laughed.
“For goodness sake, shut up!” she said. Then, she kissed him. Sonic’s eyes widened for a second, then relaxed, as he got into the kiss. For a few seconds, they stayed there, enjoying the moment. Then, a stern looking nurse passed by, and shot them a dirty look, as if to say ‘Oi! Kissing spreads bacteria, and I ain’t havin’ it in my ward!’ so they stopped.
“Geez. Could you warn me before popping a tounguester? I like to be prepared when I’m being snogged by a beautiful woman.” Sonic laughed.
“Wow, you have such a way with words…”
“Okay. Let me get this totally, completely clear. Rouge the bat, one of our dear and esteemed friends, was walking down the road whilst drunk and topless, and no one took a picture. What are you people, nuts?” Knuckles exclaimed.
“Why would you possibly want a picture, Knuckles?” Tails asked, looking extremely sweet and innocent.
“Tails, we’re all men here, with the exception of Cream, who’s wearing earplugs, which are a very interesting shape. And, as men, it is a hardened instinct to look at a woman’s cough-coughs every single time she gets them out.” Jecht explained.
“Yeah, but I woulda thought that Knux would have looked at them enough on the night. I seem to remember that Knuckles was the one who took her bra off. That was before Vanilla blindfolded me. Oh, and they’re not cough-coughs. They’re breasts, and they deserve our respect.” Tails said in his scientist way.
“Breasts deserve our respect? Those sound like the words of a man with a lot of pornography on his computer!” Knuckles laughed.
“Hey! I haven’t got any porn on my computer!” Tails yelled indignantly.
“We’ll see about that!” Knuckles and Jecht exclaimed.
Ai walked along the cliffs morosely. Her thoughts weren’t just of her parents, but of Raze, and why he hadn’t told her sooner. She heard a sudden sob, and pricked her ears up. Following the sound, she came to find a cat sobbing on a rock. Recognizing her from description, she saw that it was none other than Ivory.
“Would you be…Ivory?” she asked, knowing the answer, but wanting to seem like she didn’t.
“Save it. I know damn well you’re that…that…GIRL Raze hangs around with.” the cat sobbed.
“I ain’t hanging around with him anymore. I found out that he’s done terrible things…”
“What? Are you crazy? You get close to that fox, and you’re gonna let him go?” the cat said, startled.
“He was responsible for the death of my parents!” Ai shouted. Was this cat trying to rub salt into the wounds?
“You idiot! The Guild was responsible for the death of your parents! Those bandits were told to die rather than let Raze win! You really think that that fox would ever lose to anyone who was even remotely afraid to die?” the cat said, her voice coming out as a definite shriek.
“What do you mean? How could anyone not be afraid of dying?” Ai asked, puzzled.
“Ask the best. All the best warriors through history have never been afraid to die- Raze included. The greatest power comes when we have nothing to live for. Once we achieve that state, we become unafraid of what is to come. It prepares our minds, our souls. We don’t care if we make it out of the next battle alive. We just want to take out some of the anger inside us.” the cat sobbed.
“But…Raze…Why would he…” Ai trailed off.
“The same reason I’m not afraid to die. The same reason that we’re both going to die. It’s the one thing that you put all your faith in turns out to be your worst enemy.”
“Tails. You’re sad, man.” Jecht sighed, looking at the computer screen.
“Yeah. Real sad.” Knuckles added.
As if to interrupt this slightly dubious conversation, the door swung open, and Raze walked in.
“Hey, R-man. How’d that little talk with Ai go?” Jecht asked.
“That doesn’t matter. In the slightest.” Raze said, unable to keep the growl out of his voice.
“Hey, you wanna know something? Tails has seven, count them, SEVEN files named DEFINITELYNOTPORN on his computer, and none of them are actually porn. What is wrong with this kid?” Jecht carried on.
“Yeah. So, now we’re just applying for credit cards with Eggman’s e-mail account. His password is ‘I’m so sexy’, which kind of makes you never want to use the word sexy again.” Knuckles added.
“Yeah. I also found something a bit more sinister. An e-mail to that Arid guy.” Tails said grimly.
“What? Show me it.” Raze said, his voice lower and more urgent.
“Okay, here. It says, ‘Thnx 4 loaning me t $$$ 2 make my fave weaps 10 yrs ago. Find piccys enclosed. Gud times, eh?’ I’m loading the pictures now.” Tails said. Knuckles was shooting elastic bands at Jecht, unaware of the developments.
As the pictures loaded, Raze’s eyes widened. There were pictures of missiles, robots, guns. The final picture was one of an experimental robot, set in the shape of a fox with two tails.
“Raze…What does this mean?” Tails asked, seeing what was clearly some form of robotic him that had been made before he was born.
“It means that Arid is a dead man.” Raze said, storming out.
“Why? Why didn’t he tell me sooner? Why did he wait so long?” Ai shouted, crying now.
“Why? You know Raze. The only thing he failed in was life. Failure is the one thing he can’t take. He’s hard on other people, sure, but much harder on himself. Every time he fails, it’s like driving a knife through him. That’s why he’s made a habit of getting things right.” Ivory said, trying to wipe her tears.
“I…I never even knew him. All my life, he was like a guardian angel to me. Now what? He’s an enemy!” Ai shouted.
“Why? Why are we enemies? Me, you, Raze…we all have things in common. One thing particularly, but other stuff as well.” Ivory said, regaining her composure.
“What? This’ll be good for a laugh.”
“Raze doesn’t know it yet, and I only found out yesterday. The Arridian Guild is responsible for all of our misery. They killed your parents. They killed my parents. And, although there are barely any who know it, they were responsible for the death of Raze’s parents as well.”
“What?”
“Not directly. But Arid was the one responsible for the weapons used, and he set the target. He almost orchestrated it. But, then again, Arid has been manipulating Raze and Raze’s family ever since the first time he saw Raze, on the day Raze was born.”
Ai sat down, stunned. Raze…Had he gone through life, being wielded like a puppet?
“So, so long, girl. Have a good one. I’m pretty sure I’m gonna be dead by the time we next meet. Don’t tell Raze, though. We had a bet on which one of us would die first. Well, see ya.” the cat said, springing away.
Raze looked around. He was stood in a clearing in the forest. Where it had all began for him. He reached into the pocket of his jeans, and drew forth a pair of old, well worn gauntlets. He put them on solemnly. Then, he walked over to a tree stump. It had the initials R.T.P on it. He drew out a pair of boots. They too were well worn, but undoubtedly sturdy. He put them on.
“So, as one to another, and as part of all, I continue on my way, knowing that all I shall do, all I shall see, and all I shall learn on my journey belongs not just to me, but to all whom I defend.” Raze said, chanting the familiar prayer. He drew his claws, but there were already holes in the gauntlets for them. Knowing his path, he began to walk slowly towards the inevitable end.
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Whoo! Raze’s past, revealed at last! Well, some of it. At any rate, this chapter took ages, and was small, but I’m sorry. A lot’s been going on. At the risk of giving away the story, the end is coming. Scary, ain’t it? Oh, and apparently I’ve been claimed. Those who know me will know what I’m talking about. So, see you all. Keep reading, and hopefully reviewing. I do value your input. Oh, and in response to j320’s review about Lock, it wasn’t meant to be Lock. I was, at the time, slightly delirious (surprise, surprise) and spelt it wrong. It was meant to be Locke, pronounced Lo-Key. Oh, and, for future reference, I swear by the games rather than the Archie comics. Thank you, and good night.
Guy: Good evening, guv’nor! How are you on this fine thingy day?
Gal: ?????
Eggman: Please describe, in 300 words or less, why the hell you are talking in the faux accent of a cabbie who resides in the city of London.
Guy: Trying out different accents, I am. Need tweezers, do I.
Gal: That is SUCH a turn off. How do you expect to get a date if you can’t talk normally?
Guy: I have no idea, Susan.
Gal: I thought my name was Hillary or something. I can’t quite remember.
Eggman: My real name is Percival. Or, at least it is now. It used to be Stephanie. I might even change it to Captain Powernuttycrunch IV.
Gal: Is that what we’re advertising? Or are we talking over why we hate our parents?
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Chapter the tenth: Silence, the heartslayer
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Once again, Eleanor found herself in hospital. Except this time, it wasn’t her fault. She took her gloves off, partly to wash her hands and be hygienic, and partly so she could chew her fingernails more easily. Like many other people in the A&E department of Station Square hospital, she was alternating between sitting on the chairs with a look of panic on her face, or pacing the length of the waiting room at around 300 miles an hour. Although she felt that it wasn’t the time to be worried about such things, she did notice a rather pungent smell of spilled bleach, and there were various stains on the walls. Finally, a doctor, clad in a uniform stained with blood, stepped from the operating room.
“Ms. Eleanor? I have the results as to why Mr. Sonic collapsed.” he said curtly. Many other people in the waiting room, who had looked up at any kind of news, went back to worrying about their own misfortunes.
“Apparently, he was suffering from internal bleeding. He had a delayed reaction, due to the shock of being hit so hard, and huge amounts of adrenaline rushing around in his system. You might say that he was too busy to notice he was dying.” the doctor said, almost laughing at his own joke.
“Yeah, but is he okay? When is he going to leave?” she asked anxiously.
“It’ll take a couple of days. Maybe weeks. Depends on him. If he really tries to make a quick recovery, it might even be hours. The bleeding isn’t too severe- it was just left too late to control easily.” the doctor explained, twiddling his pen. Eleanor looked at him, deciding that he had probably been in his profession for quite a while if he could break news that easily.
“Tch. Looks like I’ll have to wait a while before I give him his treat.” she said, sitting back down.
“Raze? Where are we going?” Ai asked, puffing and panting. Why was he walking so fast?
“Back.” he said simply, carrying on.
“Back? Back to where?” she asked.
“Here.”
He stopped. She, as she always did, almost smashed into him. Catching herself at the last moment, she saw that they were back on the mountain ledge where Raze and Jecht had fought.
“Hmm? What are we doing here?” she asked.
“This is where it happened.” he said. As he did so, he stooped down, picking up a flower. It was a single white rose. It looked melancholy and sorrowful. Putting it down, Raze walked to the edge, and jumped. He flew through the air, landing on another ledge nearby. This ledge was completely empty, barring a two trees at either end. Taking a deep breath and tensing herself, Ai jumped for the ledge, almost falling short. She landed badly, grazing her ankle. Raze just walked into the centre of the clearing, lost in thought. Getting up, Ai took the silver choker out of her pocket. It was still warm.
“That…was your mother’s. I was holding on to it for her…until you were ready.” Raze said, quietly.
“My…mother’s? Raze, what’s going on?” Ai asked, apprehensively.
“Tell me…Do you remember how we met? Or where?” Raze asked.
“N-no. All I know is that we’ve been together for quite a while. Ever since you were six.”
“I’d just finished my first job as a mercenary.”
“Raze?”
“I’d been injured- my arm was hanging open like a gutted trout. I went to the hospital for help, and all I got was a bandage. I passed the wards, looking to see if there was anyone that I knew. There were a few.”
“Who were they?”
“That isn’t important. As I was passing by, I saw a girl laying in one of the beds. I read her chart. She had an illness, which, if left uncured, would almost certainly be the end of her. Even if it had been cured, she’d still probably never walk again. She was about my age. But she had one thing I didn’t.”
“Which was?”
“Hope. It was like she didn’t have any idea how serious her illness was. But, she wasn’t giving up. She was fighting, and nearly winning. She noticed me looking, spoke to me. She told me her parents were had gone to buy a more powerful medicine for her, and might not be back for a while.”
At this point, Raze sat down with a heavy sigh. He didn’t speak for a while. Ai looked over what he had told her in her head. Why was he telling her this?
“I asked her if she was all alone. ‘Yes. I miss Mommy and Daddy.’ she said.
‘Would you like me to keep you company until they get back?’ I asked.
‘Yes please! Yay, I made a friend!’ she said.
I stayed with her, and talked to her for a while. About her illness, her friends, what she did when she was in hospital, and eventually about her parents. Whenever she mentioned them, my heart sank, because I knew something she didn’t.”
“What? What did you know that you weren’t telling her?”
“That her parents would never come back. That I had witnessed their death. But…I couldn’t tell her. Hope was all she had.” the fox said, his voice giving a slight tremble.
“Raze? Are you going to cry?” Ai asked, sensing his distress.
“No. I haven’t cried in a long time. Eventually, the girl got better. The doctors said it was a miracle. Even more miraculous was that she was completely fine- she could walk and talk, just as normal. The doctors told me it was because she had never given up hope. She told me that it was because I’d been there for her.”
“Raze? Was that…”
“As soon as she was better, I made up my mind. I got ready to leave. I had wanted to sneak away at midnight, so she wouldn’t know. At midnight, that night, I made my final preparations. I stepped through the door of the hospital, and, to my great surprise, the girl was waiting for me.
‘Aren’t you going to take me with you, Raze?’ she asked.
‘How did you know I was leaving?’ I said.
‘Because. I know you. I can tell when you’re sad, or hurting inside.’ she said.
‘Then you know me better than I do.’ I said.”
“…”
“We left together. Travelled. We saw many things, but all the time, I was lying to her. In her heart, she thought she was going to see her parents again. I couldn’t bear to shatter that hope. In time, she grew, as did I. I kept my lie, but it hurt to see her reaching for a goal that could never be achieved, motivated by the hope spawned by a lie. Tonight, I break that lie and in it, that hope. The girl was you.”
“Tails! Tails, let us in, you deranged lunatic!”
Tails groaned. After managing to convince Cream to come to his lab instead of pestering Raze and Ai more, she had become taken with the idea of cleaning his entire lab, and had just moved his favourite bookcase in front of the door. She had struggled, huffing and puffing all the way, before leaving the bookcase, and going off to make some lemonade. Now, he had to listen to Knuckles’ and Jecht’s ranting as he moved the bookcase. Hearing a sharp intake of breath, Tails hurriedly moved out of the way. Seconds later, a fist smashed through his door, doing a good deal of damage to his bookcase.
“Tails! What are you doing with this screwy bookcase in front of your door, right when we REALLY need your help?” Knuckles shouted.
“Cream did it. Now, could you SHUT UP and help me move the bloody case?”
After around five minutes of confused pushing and pulling, during which the bookcase got halfway up the stairs before everyone finally realised what was going on.
“Okay, now that we have that little unpleasantness out of the way, lead us to your spaceship. We know you have one around here somewhere.” Jecht said, sitting down on the (newly relocated) settee (Author’s note: Which, can I add, is a really weird name for a couch/sofa/butt-supporting mechanism).
“What? Why in the name of Riley would you possibly want a spaceship?” Tails asked.
“Because we have to go and rescue Rouge from the Martians. Can you give us the spaceship now?” Knuckles asked.
“Knuckles. Listen very closely. I’m only going to say this one time. ROUGE IS NOT ON MARS!” Tails yelled.
“Huh? Rouge is on Mars?” Cream asked, walking into the room with five glasses of lemonade.
“NO!”
“What do you mean, Rouge isn’t on Mars? Me and Jecht worked it all out! She disappeared suddenly, so she must have been abducted!”
“Look, the reason Rouge didn’t come home is…umm…I’ll whisper it. Cream’s in the room.”
“WHAT! ROUGE WAS WALKING HOME TOPLESS AND GOT ARRESTED?!?!?”
“SHUSH!”
“What? You knew my parents were dead all this time? But…how?” Ai asked, struggling to take in the information.
“…they were my first job. I’d just become a mercenary, and they’d hired me to protect them. They told you they were going to get medicine. What they didn’t tell you was that to get it, they had to cross one of the most bandit infested areas in the country. This mountain. I escorted them a while, but we were attacked.” the fox said morosely.
“And? You won, didn’t you? If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be here.”
“I beat them, but they won. They were Arridian Guild cronies. Tough. They never meant to hurt me. They couldn’t. They just wanted to separate me from my charges. They succeeded. I saw them die- in this very clearing. I vowed to give up the mercenary profession, but meeting you changed me. I decided that you needed help, and that the best way to help you wasn’t to mope around, but to do what I was good at.”
“What you were good at? What you were good at?!? The only thing you’re good at is hurting people!” the hare shouted.
“Ai. I don’t pretend to be perfect. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I’ve hurt a lot of people. But, I never wanted to hurt you.” the fox replied.
Feeling a wave of rage building within her, Ai’s vision turned red. Before she knew what she was doing, she had already swung her leg through the air and connected her foot with Raze’s head. Stunned, the fox stumbled backwards, knocked off balance by the sudden attack. He threw up his arms to shield his head as she swung her foot high and brought it crashing down. She gave a scream of anguish and rage as she did so, losing herself in a cloud of anger. She swung her foot again as fast as she could, hoping that by some fluke she might inflict fatal damage, and pay him back for robbing her of her parents. Although taken momentarily by surprise, Raze’s well-oiled fighting instincts sprung into action, and he caught her foot in mid-air. Using it s a lever, he swung her around, flinging her into the nearby tree. She gave a gasp of surprise and pain as she crashed into the tree. Dashing behind it, she gasped, regaining her senses.
“Geez. What am I doing? I can’t take on Raze!” she muttered to herself. As she did his, she realised the pure danger she was in. She moved away from the tree just in time to avoid Raze’s claws coming straight through the trunk. She heard a grunt of effort, and watched in awe as the fox pulled his claws sideways, cleaving the tree in half. The fox rounded on her, his normally tranquil eyes boiling with rage. She felt a cut bleed onto her fur, staining it red. At the sight of the blood, Raze stopped, his eyes widening in shock at what he had done. Then, silently, he turned and bound away up the mountain.
“Hey, snuggums. Feel any better?” Eleanor said in a slightly mocking tone of voice, sitting down on the end of Sonic’s bed.
“K-Kinda. Still a bit wobbly. I’m embarrassed though. Falling down in public!” Sonic muttered, cringing.
“You’d better be embarrassed! Leaving a serious medical problem like that for so long! What am I going to do with you?” she asked.
“Love me, feed me and never leave me?” Sonic asked hopefully.
“Yeah, right. What am I going to say when I take you to meet my family?”
“Your…family?”
“Yep. My big brother is going to be so pleased that I’ve finally got a partner!”
“But…I kinda thought that your family would be…well…”
“Gone? I know Ai’s parents aren’t alive, and if Raze’s parents are alive, I want to know what the hell they were doing. Goodness only knows what happened to Jecht’s parents. But mine are still alive and kicking!”
She leaned a little closer to him, and stroked his cheek.
“Hey. If we’re together, than I count as family, and I ain’t goin’ anywhere!” Sonic laughed.
“For goodness sake, shut up!” she said. Then, she kissed him. Sonic’s eyes widened for a second, then relaxed, as he got into the kiss. For a few seconds, they stayed there, enjoying the moment. Then, a stern looking nurse passed by, and shot them a dirty look, as if to say ‘Oi! Kissing spreads bacteria, and I ain’t havin’ it in my ward!’ so they stopped.
“Geez. Could you warn me before popping a tounguester? I like to be prepared when I’m being snogged by a beautiful woman.” Sonic laughed.
“Wow, you have such a way with words…”
“Okay. Let me get this totally, completely clear. Rouge the bat, one of our dear and esteemed friends, was walking down the road whilst drunk and topless, and no one took a picture. What are you people, nuts?” Knuckles exclaimed.
“Why would you possibly want a picture, Knuckles?” Tails asked, looking extremely sweet and innocent.
“Tails, we’re all men here, with the exception of Cream, who’s wearing earplugs, which are a very interesting shape. And, as men, it is a hardened instinct to look at a woman’s cough-coughs every single time she gets them out.” Jecht explained.
“Yeah, but I woulda thought that Knux would have looked at them enough on the night. I seem to remember that Knuckles was the one who took her bra off. That was before Vanilla blindfolded me. Oh, and they’re not cough-coughs. They’re breasts, and they deserve our respect.” Tails said in his scientist way.
“Breasts deserve our respect? Those sound like the words of a man with a lot of pornography on his computer!” Knuckles laughed.
“Hey! I haven’t got any porn on my computer!” Tails yelled indignantly.
“We’ll see about that!” Knuckles and Jecht exclaimed.
Ai walked along the cliffs morosely. Her thoughts weren’t just of her parents, but of Raze, and why he hadn’t told her sooner. She heard a sudden sob, and pricked her ears up. Following the sound, she came to find a cat sobbing on a rock. Recognizing her from description, she saw that it was none other than Ivory.
“Would you be…Ivory?” she asked, knowing the answer, but wanting to seem like she didn’t.
“Save it. I know damn well you’re that…that…GIRL Raze hangs around with.” the cat sobbed.
“I ain’t hanging around with him anymore. I found out that he’s done terrible things…”
“What? Are you crazy? You get close to that fox, and you’re gonna let him go?” the cat said, startled.
“He was responsible for the death of my parents!” Ai shouted. Was this cat trying to rub salt into the wounds?
“You idiot! The Guild was responsible for the death of your parents! Those bandits were told to die rather than let Raze win! You really think that that fox would ever lose to anyone who was even remotely afraid to die?” the cat said, her voice coming out as a definite shriek.
“What do you mean? How could anyone not be afraid of dying?” Ai asked, puzzled.
“Ask the best. All the best warriors through history have never been afraid to die- Raze included. The greatest power comes when we have nothing to live for. Once we achieve that state, we become unafraid of what is to come. It prepares our minds, our souls. We don’t care if we make it out of the next battle alive. We just want to take out some of the anger inside us.” the cat sobbed.
“But…Raze…Why would he…” Ai trailed off.
“The same reason I’m not afraid to die. The same reason that we’re both going to die. It’s the one thing that you put all your faith in turns out to be your worst enemy.”
“Tails. You’re sad, man.” Jecht sighed, looking at the computer screen.
“Yeah. Real sad.” Knuckles added.
As if to interrupt this slightly dubious conversation, the door swung open, and Raze walked in.
“Hey, R-man. How’d that little talk with Ai go?” Jecht asked.
“That doesn’t matter. In the slightest.” Raze said, unable to keep the growl out of his voice.
“Hey, you wanna know something? Tails has seven, count them, SEVEN files named DEFINITELYNOTPORN on his computer, and none of them are actually porn. What is wrong with this kid?” Jecht carried on.
“Yeah. So, now we’re just applying for credit cards with Eggman’s e-mail account. His password is ‘I’m so sexy’, which kind of makes you never want to use the word sexy again.” Knuckles added.
“Yeah. I also found something a bit more sinister. An e-mail to that Arid guy.” Tails said grimly.
“What? Show me it.” Raze said, his voice lower and more urgent.
“Okay, here. It says, ‘Thnx 4 loaning me t $$$ 2 make my fave weaps 10 yrs ago. Find piccys enclosed. Gud times, eh?’ I’m loading the pictures now.” Tails said. Knuckles was shooting elastic bands at Jecht, unaware of the developments.
As the pictures loaded, Raze’s eyes widened. There were pictures of missiles, robots, guns. The final picture was one of an experimental robot, set in the shape of a fox with two tails.
“Raze…What does this mean?” Tails asked, seeing what was clearly some form of robotic him that had been made before he was born.
“It means that Arid is a dead man.” Raze said, storming out.
“Why? Why didn’t he tell me sooner? Why did he wait so long?” Ai shouted, crying now.
“Why? You know Raze. The only thing he failed in was life. Failure is the one thing he can’t take. He’s hard on other people, sure, but much harder on himself. Every time he fails, it’s like driving a knife through him. That’s why he’s made a habit of getting things right.” Ivory said, trying to wipe her tears.
“I…I never even knew him. All my life, he was like a guardian angel to me. Now what? He’s an enemy!” Ai shouted.
“Why? Why are we enemies? Me, you, Raze…we all have things in common. One thing particularly, but other stuff as well.” Ivory said, regaining her composure.
“What? This’ll be good for a laugh.”
“Raze doesn’t know it yet, and I only found out yesterday. The Arridian Guild is responsible for all of our misery. They killed your parents. They killed my parents. And, although there are barely any who know it, they were responsible for the death of Raze’s parents as well.”
“What?”
“Not directly. But Arid was the one responsible for the weapons used, and he set the target. He almost orchestrated it. But, then again, Arid has been manipulating Raze and Raze’s family ever since the first time he saw Raze, on the day Raze was born.”
Ai sat down, stunned. Raze…Had he gone through life, being wielded like a puppet?
“So, so long, girl. Have a good one. I’m pretty sure I’m gonna be dead by the time we next meet. Don’t tell Raze, though. We had a bet on which one of us would die first. Well, see ya.” the cat said, springing away.
Raze looked around. He was stood in a clearing in the forest. Where it had all began for him. He reached into the pocket of his jeans, and drew forth a pair of old, well worn gauntlets. He put them on solemnly. Then, he walked over to a tree stump. It had the initials R.T.P on it. He drew out a pair of boots. They too were well worn, but undoubtedly sturdy. He put them on.
“So, as one to another, and as part of all, I continue on my way, knowing that all I shall do, all I shall see, and all I shall learn on my journey belongs not just to me, but to all whom I defend.” Raze said, chanting the familiar prayer. He drew his claws, but there were already holes in the gauntlets for them. Knowing his path, he began to walk slowly towards the inevitable end.
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Whoo! Raze’s past, revealed at last! Well, some of it. At any rate, this chapter took ages, and was small, but I’m sorry. A lot’s been going on. At the risk of giving away the story, the end is coming. Scary, ain’t it? Oh, and apparently I’ve been claimed. Those who know me will know what I’m talking about. So, see you all. Keep reading, and hopefully reviewing. I do value your input. Oh, and in response to j320’s review about Lock, it wasn’t meant to be Lock. I was, at the time, slightly delirious (surprise, surprise) and spelt it wrong. It was meant to be Locke, pronounced Lo-Key. Oh, and, for future reference, I swear by the games rather than the Archie comics. Thank you, and good night.