ARAAT3: The Forbidden Experiment

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A Rose And A Thorn 3: The Forbidden Experiment

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Harley: Regarding the kissing problem - haven’t you seen when they kiss and they turn their heads a bit and look like they’re going to eat each other’s faces or something?

Froggy: The winner of Most Intelligent Review (if you ignore the spelling mistakes) is Rand. Yes, we do try to make it feel real. But bonus points are awarded to everybody who asked about Midnight.

Harley: In this chapter, more questions are answered and many are asked. Froggy, I’ve warned you about reviewing our own story. But this is our story, and the plot is going to go the way we see fit. Continue with the wretchedness!

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Chapter Ten: Living Nightmare

Two amber eyes opened into the midday sun. Espio blinked and turned his head from the light... landing it right in Mirage's fur. He hummed quietly, remembering the events of the morning; their mingled scent was still strong. Carefully nuzzling her sleeping form, the chameleon slipped away from her and got out of bed, stretching and walking towards the bathroom.

Mirage shifted, sensing the lack of another body beside her. She sighed, and rolled into the hollow left by Espio's form.

Espio stepped into the shower, turned it on, and sighed quietly as he felt the warm water wash over his scales. Scrubbing his body clean, he closed his eyes and deeply breathed in the moistened air, relaxing and clearing his mind. It was obvious that this mission had gone from a favour to a friend to something much more personal. What had happened between him and Mirage changed everything.

Mirage woke slowly, blinking at the light. She could only feel her hips because they hurt worse than the rest of her body. She looked down at herself and saw the blood and semen, and took a deep breath and screamed and screamed and screamed. She felt a little better after that. She clutched her head and tried to remember what the hell was going on.

A loud, startled curse, followed by a heavy bang sounded from the bathroom as Espio slipped out of the shower and fell on the floor. Scrambling to his feet, the chameleon rushed into the bedroom, dripping wet, eyes wide, and with one hand clutching his aching head.

Mirage's eyes were squeezed shut and she didn't even notice Espio come in. Was this a nightmare? She didn't... understand... and Espio wouldn't either... The fear stopped after that thought. Yes, it was perfectly alright, her brain reassured her. She was fine and it wasn't a nightmare or something related to a nightmare either. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, "Sorry," she muttered, "I... um..."

"Good Lord!" Espio said as he rubbed his head, "I thought you were under attack! Don't... do that!" He rubbed his head some more, embarrassed by his sudden lack of grace.

"No, no, I just thought I was... having a nightmare... or having a nightmare come to life... or waking up from a nightmare that had come to life..." she swallowed, uncertain of whether she'd said too much.

"I didn't think I messed you up that much,” Espio grumbled as he turned and walked back into the bathroom. Once inside, he almost slipped on a puddle of water he had left. Yelping out a surprised curse, he managed to steady himself and grab a towel to dry off with.

"It was not you, when you get Ashura messing around in your head you will confuse reality and dreams too!" Mirage snapped, and then a chill went up her spine as she realised she'd definitely said too much that time.

Espio paused and turned to walk back into the bedroom, the towel wrapped around him, "What did Ashura do to you?" he asked quietly, a look of concern on his face. He shouldn't have brushed her off that casually, and he knew it.

Mirage hung her head, "Nightmares..." she muttered, "I do not fully understand, but… Ashura put them there, I am sure of it. If I did not do as he wanted, he would give me the nightmares. Most nights it is the same one and it did not happen but it FEELS like it happened..."

Espio sat down on the bed beside her. "What happens in this nightmare he gives you?" he asked quietly, not entirely sure he wanted to know.

"It... I... There is a man... I never remember his face... and he... I dream... I think... I imagine..." she seemed to be having trouble with the word here, and her muzzle was no longer just pale; it had turned grey, "First I am being raped..." she shuddered, “And then he dies…”

Espio sighed, feeling a shiver run up his back. A nightmare of being raped nearly every single night... How would that make her feel about what they did that morning? Espio closed his eyes, remembering the nightmare he had saved her from. Who was Midnight? What was Midnight? From the sound of it, Mirage didn’t know either, "I'm sorry, Mirage. I didn't know..."

"Of course you did not know, I did not tell you," Mirage replied, "It is more like a memory than a dream. But it did not happen, I am almost certain of that."

Espio gave a shuddering sigh, looking down towards the floor, "...Do you hate me now?" the chameleon asked, his voice strained with emotion.

"No!" Mirage insisted, "No. It is just that… intimacy… my nightmare has made me so scared of intimacy… the people I care about always get hurt… I thought it was all..." she stopped, unsure of how to continue.

"A miserable and forced form of torture,” he said, completing the thought. Raising his head and opening his eyes, he continued, "No, that's not what intimacy is. That's not how it’s supposed to be at all." He took a deep breath, relieved in part by her words.

Mirage looked at herself, "I... I sometimes think, you know, that maybe it really did happen, and I am just crazy and trying to convince myself it did not..." she muttered.

Espio wrapped his arms around her, doing his best to comfort her, "It didn't happen. It was just Ashura trying to assert his power over you. When you fear him, you give him strength."

Mirage nodded, "I think I will go and have that shower now," she said, "You are finished in there, right?"

"Yeah, I'm done. You're free to use it,” he replied, giving her shoulder a squeeze before standing up.

Mirage nodded and hurried into the horrible little bathroom. It was, against all logic, just as unpleasant and dirty as the rest of the apartment. She turned the water on, and turned the temperature up until it was scalding hot. She wiped off the mess, cleaning inside as well as outside, and sighed in general frustration, wondering how many Chaos Emeralds Ashura had by now. When he had them all, he'd come for her. Despite the heat of the water, a chill ran down her spine at the thought.

Getting dressed, Espio walked into the tiny kitchen area and began to fix them both breakfast, waiting for Mirage to join him. Anger was not usually an emotion that the chameleon chose to indulge in, but thinking about the misery that the green hedgehog Ashura must have inflicted on the feline was enough to make his blood boil. Taking a calming breath, he forced such thoughts out of his mind for the moment.

Mirage finished up in the shower, feeling rather better, and a little scalded. She squeezed out her fur and wrapped a towel firmly around her body, which to her own mild horror, left a rakish slit down one side. She tried to hold it closed and left the bathroom, going into the kitchen and watching Espio cooking.

"What would you want in your omelette?" Espio asked over his shoulder as he cracked an egg open and deposited its contents onto the hot frying pan.

"You can cook?" Mirage's voice had an element of wonder in it, as if it was some magical skill far beyond her, "Um... not bothered... something quick and meaty."

The chameleon shrugged and picked some ingredients he figured she'd like, "Yes, I can cook a little. Nothing complicated, mind you,” he said, "Vector taught me the necessity of it." As he was whipping up the omelettes, he saw something being slid under the door from out of the corner of his eyes, "Could you get that newspaper for me, please?"

Mirage nodded, and picked up the paper. Which meant she had to bend over. Wearing a towel several inches too small for her. After trying to keep the towel wrapped around herself for several seconds, she finally managed to pick up the paper with her teeth. It did her no good; the moment she saw the headline she swore in feline - a word that basically meant that the thing it was being directed at had been born out of a male camel's ass - and dropped the towel.

The chameleon wasn't fluent in feline, but he got the emotion being conveyed by the word. Turning and giving her an amused look, noticing her awkward position, he asked, "What is it?"

Mirage was too busy with the headline to notice that she was not only naked but soaking wet. She turned it around, "Fifth Chaos Emerald stolen in five days," she said, hiding the sub-article that said ‘Bank Robbed by Giant Cat’.

Suddenly, their breakfast was forgotten as Espio strode quickly across the room and kneeled down next to Mirage, seemingly oblivious to her lack of clothing as he grasped the newspaper and read the article, "Ashura..." he said.

Mirage covered her face, "Oh, gods... only two more and he will be coming after me..."

"He won't find you,” Espio said, his voice calm and even. But the way he was gripping the newspaper betrayed his true feelings on the matter.

"You are lying, and if you are not lying, you are very, very blissfully ignorant." Mirage picked up the towel again and wrapped it around herself, "Right, that is it. You cannot follow me around any more. You must not! I do not want you to get hurt!" Her voice was close to a screech as she dropped to her knees.

Espio frowned, crouched down and looking at the feline, "I don't want you to get hurt either, Mirage. Both of our chances are better if we stick together."

"Are you thick in the head?!" Mirage stood up, "Do you think he wants you? No! He wants me. Only me. But as long as you are with me, you are in danger."

Espio stood up and faced Mirage, his amber eyes looking into hers intensely. "I will not be pushed aside,” he said, a storm of feeling hinted at in the strong calm of his voice, "I won't leave you to face him alone. We share the danger together."

"Be honest, Espio," Mirage sneered magnificently, "What makes you think you can stop me? I will beat the fu'sht out of you if I have to, and I mean that in a very caring way."

"If you feel that you must,” Espio said with a nod, crossing his arms over his chest, "Be warned; I will defend myself. I ask that you don't let it come to that. I don't want to fight you."

"You do not really believe that I would do it, do you?" Mirage asked him. She looked around, "No, this space is too confined. We will have to do it in some other place."

"I'd like to believe that you wouldn't,” he replied, "I'd like to think that you value my beliefs and decisions." The chameleon turned, his eyes looking towards the ground, and his voice softening, "But I could be wrong..."

He returned to the small kitchen and slid their respective omelettes onto their plates and sat down at the table with them.

Mirage shrugged. Then she slammed the back of her foot straight into Espio's jaw, and ran out the door. Or more accurately, ran into the door and fell back on her rear.

Espio rubbed his sore jaw as he slowly got to his feet. "You must be mindful of your environment,” he commented, "It can be more dangerous and more decisive in a battle than your enemy himself."

Mirage just pulled on her trainers and vest, "I bet you these omelettes I can save you from your own nobility," she replied, opening the door. Then she ran for it.

His posture straightening and expression focused, he said, "So be it." And then the ninja leapt through the door and chased after Mirage. If it was a fight she wanted, it was a fight she would get. He didn't want to hurt her. In fact, the thought of bringing harm to her tore at his heart, but he could not allow her to do this. Had she no respect for him at all? Did he mean nothing to her? Just a good fuck one night? The thought brought that anger back to the surface, giving his feet wings.

Mirage didn't stop to fight. She ran. And she was fast, Espio soon realised. Not nearly as fast as Shadow or Sonic - who was? - but fast enough to give almost everybody else on the planet one hell of a run for their money.

Espio was not just anybody, though. He was naturally pretty fast, as well, and his training only enhanced his ability. A third factor which drove him to chase after Mirage was desperation. He was afraid that if she got away, he would never see her again. Yes, he did feel fear, even if he often buried it inside himself.

Mirage was pretty desperate too. And inventive. She dodged into a crowd, where people were packed shoulder to shoulder. Humans were two feet taller than Anthromorphs, but she didn't shove her way through - she climbed onto somebody and jumped from head to shoulder to head. And it worked, it really worked, if you were light and fast and didn't stop or think too hard about what you were doing. Espio's tactic was more ruthless than her own; he simply fought his way through the crowd, knocking people to the side, and it slowed him down somewhat.

When Mirage had crossed the crowd, she ran across a busy street - nearly getting knocked down twice – and jumped into an alleyway. She jumped onto a wall, and then the other, gaining height and distance with each jump, holding on with her claws. Rafters and pipes crossed the alleys, and she used them to propel herself higher.

Espio had the advantage here, not having to worry about grabbing hold of anything. He could stick to a flat wall easily, and used this ability to take a far more direct route towards her, gaining ground.

Mirage reached the edge of a rooftop, and paused. Espio climbed over the roof's edge, and saw her step off the edge. It must have been a good 50 feet down, but she landed neatly and ran again. If he tried that, he'd break every bone in his body. He'd have to climb down, and that would slow him down. He scurried down the wall head-first using his sticky pads and hit the street running, still going strong. "You won't lose me that easily,” he growled

Mirage wasn't even thinking by now, letting instinct do all the work. Everything was working through nothing more than the feel of it. But once again Espio was catching up, she could feel that too. She jumped at a building. She should have slammed into it head-first. She should have died. But suddenly the wall wasn't there, and she leapt through a gaping hole into an office.

Espio leapt through the hole after her, just before it strangely sealed behind him, landing in a roll that brought him back to his feet.

Mirage ran through three more walls. It meant that she was moving in a straight line now, at top speed. And then she didn't run through a wall. She jumped at it, and practically bounced off it, slamming into Espio. This resulted in him being knocked to the floor with her on top of him, which wouldn't have been a problem, had it not been that the floor beneath him vanished, they both fell through, and Espio landed on his back, with Mirage on top of him. It hurt, to say the least, and he was lucky his spine hadn't snapped.

Espio saw his vision fill with stars, the wind knocked out of his lungs. He quickly sucked in a breath as he pushed his arms up under hers and struggled to pull them behind her back. He kicked off with one leg to roll her face-down on the ground with him on top of her.

Mirage struggled underneath him, managing to face him, and gave him an accurate and painful kick in the balls. As he froze up, she pushed him off and got to her feet, backing away. There was sweat running down her face. However she had gotten through those walls, it hadn't been exactly effortless. For once, she looked almost ready to give in.

Slowly standing up, resolving not to vomit, Espio looked her in the eyes again defiantly, almost daring her to continue the chase. He wasn't an Ultimate, but what he lacked in genetic perfection, he made up for in heart and sheer will. Neither of which Mirage lacked either. She produced her fighting daggers, "Don't make me do this, Espio," she said, her voice strained, "There is a door right behind you, you can leave through it right now. Please."

Espio slowly shifted into a fighting pose, his face sagging, "I can't. Not now. This is not just about a promise I made. I care too much. I'm sorry..." he said, his voice sad.

Mirage looked rather hurt, but nodded, "I understand," she said, quietly, "You had better be good though." With that, she threw both of her fighting daggers at him.

Espio immediately dropped to one knee, the two knives barely missing his head. Pushing off from the ground, he leapt into the air and launched a kick aimed at her chest.

Espio wasn't the one who had just tired himself out by running through walls that suddenly weren't there. However, Mirage hadn't just fallen ten feet, landing on her back with 77lbs of hybrid mutant on her chest. She stepped to one side, grabbed his foot and hurled him at a wall. He'd forgotten how good her reflexes were.

Espio groaned as he slipped back to the floor, but regained control of himself quickly, curling up and grabbing her wrist, pulling her closer to him. Placing one foot against her stomach, he kicked, shoving her back and off balance. Rolling forward, the chameleon followed up with a sweeping kick aimed at her ankles.

Mirage jumped over his kick, flipping her body forwards and behind him. She wrenched the daggers out of the wall easily and ran through it, into another office. This one was occupied. She glared at the man who was staring at her, “What are you waiting for?” she snarled, “Get the hell out!” The man ran out of the office as Espio jumped in.

"Is this supposed to be some kind of test?" the chameleon said, rushing into the office, his eyes scanning it swiftly for any objects that could be of use to him.

"Are you insulting my abilities?" Mirage's face creased up in anger.

"Not at all,” Espio replied calmly as he noted the difficulty that the cramped space presented, "I'm just wondering if you felt the need to have a demonstration of mine."

Mirage wasn't really listening. She narrowed her eyes, "You are, are not you? You are saying I am not good enough." Her expression changed again. The exhaustion wasn't there any more, "And if you insult my abilities, you insult Gerald. How dare you insult Gerald’s work?!" Her knives shifted into a far more aggressive position, and she slammed her foot into his jaw.

"Oof!" Espio gave a muffled grunt, stepping backwards, stars zipping around in his field of vision. Grapping the nearest object he could find, he picked up a chair and swung it at her knife-holding hand. "Have you lost your mind?!" he snapped.

Mirage didn't reply, which was probably a reasonable indication of an answer, bringing her daggers into a defensive position. Her exhaustion had been wiped away, and she'd pay for it later, but for now she was fighting more like a machine than a living creature. A very, very aggressive machine.

Looking into her focused, enraged eyes, Espio privately wondered if she even recognized who she was fighting at that moment. The ninja didn't want her to get close enough to use those daggers, so he kept the chair in front of him, shoving it towards her to drive her back towards the wall, "You need to calm down, Mirage,” he stated, "Calm down and think about what you are doing."

Mirage found herself pinned to the wall. She slipped down to the floor, bringing up all the reserves of energy that would otherwise be used for less important things, like the digestive system. That could wait. It was obvious that she wasn't even wasting it on emotions any more. She stabbed the knife she held directly at his stomach.

Had Espio not been so focused on the battle at hand, he would have been shocked by her sudden act of brutal violence, but as it was, he was prepared. Barely. He swung the chair down, knocking her arm away, the knife slightly grazing his scales as it was deflected. Taking one hand away from the chair, he stabbed his hand towards her throat, not hard enough to kill, but certainly hard enough to make breathing painful for a while.

Mirage didn't notice it. But her body did. Which meant that now she was trying to do what her body couldn't. If she'd stopped to think, she could have just used Chaos Tempest on the wall behind her. But she was beyond actually thinking. She brought both her feet up, and kicked Espio in the stomach good and hard, knocking him back. She jumped to her feet again, and lunged with both knives.

Espio took the blow and went with it, letting it throw him to the floor as Mirage dived after him. With only a split-second to get it right, he grabbed her wrists, the points of the daggers mere inches from his eyes. Curling up, he kicked her in stomach, tossing her over his head, her momentum carrying her away. Rolling onto his belly and knees, he snatched up a pencil from a nearby desk and stabbed it towards her hand.

Mirage saw her chance and took it. As Espio stretched forward to stab her hand, she lunged again at his chest. And she would have made it too, if a megaphone hadn't called from outside, "SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG, COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR AND THE EMERALD IN PLAIN SIGHT!" The words broke whatever spell she had been under, and she froze in mid-stab.

Espio instantly slapped her hand away and rolled to his feet in a crouch, "Seems we've drawn some unwanted attention,” he muttered.

Mirage blinked, "This is all your fault," she said, in a way that suggested she knew it was all her fault but didn't have the time for self-pity, "Okay, let us see..." She walked over to the window and looked out. A smile crossed her face. It didn't look unlike the expression she'd worn just before she'd killed those three men. Then, with a quick, decisive push, she shoved the desk in the office through the window. It was a lot harder than it looks in the movies, especially when the glass is reinforced.

"Don't run,” he said warningly in her direction, "We can clear this up without fleeing or more violence. I'm a detective, remember?"

Mirage's eyes focussed on him, "I advise you to leave before I start killing people," she told him, then returned to the window, "Hello! Hello!" she shouted cheerfully, her voice carrying to the soldiers below, "You may be interested to know that I am not Shadow the Hedgehog! But if you leave now, I promise not to kill you all!"

Espio groaned and shook his head as he stood up. Returning his focused gaze to her, he said, "I like you, Mirage, I really do. But I will not allow you to kill innocents."

"Oh come on, Espio, they are soldiers," Mirage replied, and Espio realised that she had a similar attitude to GUN as Shadow's, "They knew the risks when they took the job." The soldiers were looking at each other, confused, but they weren't leaving. Mirage's grin became wider, "I think a small demonstration is required!" she shouted down to them, and gestured violently at a large tank. As the men and Espio watched, it fell apart gracefully. Several seconds later, about two thousand nuts and bolts reappeared and fell down, "You want me to do that to any of you?!" she shouted at the men, "Or do I have to start taking hostages?!"

At the mention of the word ‘hostages’, a switch was flipped in Espio's head, and he knew he had to bring Mirage down before someone was killed. "You're out of control,” he said calmly before launching a kick at the back of her head, "I'm sorry."

Mirage ducked the kick, "I think you are confusing me with somebody who utilises the power of the Chaos Emeralds," she said happily.

"FIRE!" somebody important bellowed.

Espio hadn't thought her grin could get any wider, but it did. Both of them were abruptly surrounded by a green-tinted shield. And the bullets that hit the shield vanished. The wall behind was being peppered, everything was exploding, but they weren't dead, "Do... not... move," she told Espio.

Espio did as she suggested, "That's a useful skill,” he remarked.

Mirage bit her lip, and some dark red, almost black blood trickled down. As the moments passed, bullets reappeared, but they'd lost their momentum and dropped to the floor, and out of the window. The bullets that missed the shield were destroying the room.

Shielding as well as distortions in the fabric of time and space. Mirage certainly had an interesting set of skills. He'd have to ask her more about them some other time. Preferably when they weren’t trying to save or kill each other. "You can't keep that up forever,” he noted, "We need to get out of here fast."

"Espio... start to move towards the door with me..." she managed.

Espio nodded quietly, grabbed onto her arm, and made his way towards the door, hoping that Mirage could maintain that shield of hers. If it dropped, they'd be torn to pieces.

They made it through the door, and Mirage sagged as the shield vanished. "STOP RIGHT THERE!" a voice commanded behind them, "One move, and we shoot!" They both turned to face two soldiers, both holding guns.

Espio didn't think; he just reacted. Reaching into his gloves, he pulled out a pair of shurikens and tossed them at the soldiers, stabbing them into their weapon arms. Diving towards them, the ninja beat them into submission in an impressive display of his martial skills.

"You chutia!" Mirage hissed, "You left them alive! It is bad enough that my life is screwed up... if you became a fugitive too, I do not know what I would do…”

She wanted to protect him from her mistakes? That told him a lot more about her... but he couldn't afford to dwell on it then. They had to escape first. "Come on,” he said, ignoring her griping, "We may still have a chance to escape out the back."

"I have to finish this," Mirage picked up the two soldiers by their necks. There was a moment of uncertainty, and they both stopped breathing. She dropped them, and two lumps of flesh fell out of thin air. They were human hearts. She walked past the corpses, and broke into a run, which was at the moment about the speed of jogging, "Now they will not talk," she managed.

Espio could see her obvious exhaustion. But what cut deeper was a restrained anger brought about by her actions. "You didn't have to kill them, Mirage!" he snarled as he ran alongside her, easily the greatest outburst of anger he had shown. But it was too late for him to change anything, "Those men were defeated and helpless! That wasn't killing in battle; it was murder!"

"Shut the hell up, Espio!" sweat was running down Mirage's face - although for a moment he was certain it was tears, "You know nothing about murder!"

They would have to discuss it later. Now was the time for action, not words. Finally, Mirage couldn't run any longer. She stumbled, and fell. And got to her feet. And fell again, "Just get out..." she whispered as Espio skidded to a stop beside her, "You can get out... just get out... vanish…"

Espio reached down, picked her up, and leaned her against him, supporting her weight. "I'm not having your death on my conscience,” he said, his voice strained. Dragging her with him, he reached the far window and knocked it out with a kick. Still holding her, he led them both through the window, being mindful of the broken glass, and out onto the fire escape.

"Leave me, chutia..." Mirage whispered, "I can... do this without you..." She should be unconcious by now, Espio realised. She really should. But Mirage seemed to have something wrong in her brain where the little switch was, the switch that told her that it would be easier to give up. It didn't seem to exist.

"You're too stubborn for your own good,” he noted as he led her down the stairs as quickly as he dared, hoping to escape into the city before the GUN troops realized their quarry had slipped their trap.

"Urgh..." was the only sound Mirage could make now. She stumbled and fell, and if Espio hadn't been all but carrying her she would have fallen down the stairs.

The chameleon struggled to keep her up, but soon realized that she wasn't going to be able to stand much longer. Reaching down, he picked her up on his shoulders and continued on his way, straining from the added weight. Reaching ground level, he took off into a nearby alleyway, and from there, into the labyrinth that was the massive city.

"I am... sorry..." Mirage mumbled, "Did not... want to... hurt you..."

"I forgive you,” he replied quietly as they disappeared into the vast metropolis, leaving the confused GUN troops far behind them. He felt Mirage finally go limp, and her breathing turn from a strained rasp to a slow, regular pace. She had finally passed out, and it was probably a good thing too.

~~~

Harley: Now go to Chapter Eleven - as soon as it’s up. And an important question we ask you now…

Froggy: Would you have thrown a tantrum if Mirage had paired up with Knuckles as Harley originally planned? Be honest.