ARAAT5: Resurrection

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A Rose And A Thorn 5: Resurrection

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic

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Harley: Well, somebody’s vandalised my review pages once again. So I’m reduced, once again, to spending almost an hour removing them, and blocking all anonymous reviews. And reporting a Troll. And I’ll keep it up until I’m sure that this stupid troll has – well, they don’t learn their lessons, but maybe she or he’ll wander off and bug somebody else.

Froggy: These people really do lack any semblance of dignity or a life... Christ, what a waste of life, especially after you’ve deleted it all.

~~~

Chapter Eleven: Explosions of the Mind

"Number nine screwdriver," Tails held out his hand, and Knuckles handed him it. They were sitting in Tails' workshop, and the kitsune was working on Midnight's metal parts. He was currently reattaching one of the echidna's metal quills, "Okay. That's another tracker dealt with. I couldn't remove it, so instead I fitted a very small displacer. It'll cancel out the tracker's effects."

"Good. One less problem for me to deal with,” the blue echidna said, keeping his head still as the young fox tightened the dread on. It felt very strange to have parts of his body removed and worked on, for indeed, that's what they had become. At first, they were just crutches in his mind, devices to help him with his disability. Now, they were just as much a part of him as his original limbs. Knuckles glanced up at his father briefly, and when he noticed the cyborg glancing back, he looked away silently. That was how the young guardian had been acting around him, completely refusing to have a conversation. Midnight supposed that Knuckles would get around to it in time.

"Now, the blaster..." Tails opened up a panel in Midnight's arm, "Your blaster... I'm not too happy about freeing it up, Midnight, but it's even worse that Eggman can turn it on whenever he likes. I can free it up now, but I can't take away his control over it without doing some serious rewiring, and that could take a couple of days."

Midnight nodded in understanding, watching as the fox grabbed the appropriate tool and began searching around inside the access panel. "What about my other parts? Could Eggman remotely shut them all down? Wouldn't be very convenient for me."

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if he could, but that does beg the question, why didn't he do it earlier?" Tails told him, "He's probably saving it up for something. So it's not a good idea for you to leave this place until I've done some serious reconstruction. Could take... a week? Two?"

The echidna's jaw tightened. One or two weeks? After being confined in an artificial structure for most of his life, Midnight craved to get around and explore the planet that he could only look down upon before. Besides that, he didn't want to make himself a stationary target, "Alright,” he replied, "But I'd appreciate it if you could get it done as soon as possible. I'm putting you all in danger as it is."

"Hey, that's what friends are for!" Tails told him cheerfully, "I put my life in danger for you, and you put your life in danger for me!"

Midnight couldn't help but smirk. The boy's positive energy was contagious, "Don't go throwing it away too soon,” he warned Tails, "You still have a lot to do in it." As the fox continued his work on the mechanical appendage, a question formed in Midnight's mind, a subject he hadn't bothered to apply much thought to lately. He soon voiced the question, "Tails, do you know where the ruins of the echidna civilization are located?"

"Some of them are up on Angel Island," Tails told him, "And there's a whole load of them in the Mystic Ruins. Ask Knuckles to give you a tour sometime," he said with a very small grin.

Knuckles just crossed his arms over his chest, stubborn as usual, and uttered, "Humph."

Midnight shook his head. "Doesn't look like he's interested,” he told the fox, "I'll just have to explore them myself sometime."

"Why?" Tails asked, "We don't know a lot about you, ya know. I mean, Mirage would probably tell us, except she's in hospital on enough painkillers to dope a horse... and she doesn't seem to remember right now... can you explain any of that?"
Midnight's gaze left the young fox's eyes and stared down at the floor. "She doesn't remember,” he said, "It seems that GUN erased her memory. They were afraid of... what she could become."

"Maybe GUN did erase her memory," Tails pointed out, "But she was living down here for a whole month before you showed up. She never mentioned you once. If you two knew each other so well... what's with that?"

"I'm not sure. I was confused by that as well,” Midnight admitted, "Aboard the ARK, she and I were very close. Friends, partners, and eventually lovers. I think that when I ‘died’, the pain was so great that she repressed all memories of me to protect herself from it."

"Hmmm...” Tails continued to prod inside of his arm, "What about Knuckles? Is she really his mom?" he asked ignoring the grimace on the red echidna's face.

"Amazing as it sounds, yes she is. We didn't think that it was even possible, and the humans were just as surprised. So much so that GUN was going to take her and experiment to see what else could impregnate her and the resulting children. After taking Knuckles away." The blue echidna shuddered in disgust and anger at the memory.

"What?" Tails and Knuckles both asked, far too interested to be put off by what they knew would be highly undesirable information.

Midnight chuckled bitterly. "GUN was going to make Mirage into a baby-making machine, and gods only know what they planned to do with Knuckles. When the attack on the ARK began, we took the chance to send him to Earth. It was the best option we had."

Knuckles leaned back against the wall, still silent, although that angry expression that had been carved into his face finally crumbled.

"But Mirage was captured!" Tails pointed out, "Why didn't they use her for... making babies?"

Midnight glanced up into the fox's eyes with a piercing, intense gaze. "You don't want to know,” he said, the tone and weight of the words clearly telling the boy that the full truth was not a burden he wanted, "Let's just say that she can't bear children anymore and leave it at that."

"She's my mother," Knuckles spoke up, growling softly, "I have a right to know."

Midnight glanced towards his son, and his eyes shifted towards his left hand, indicating that he wanted the red echidna to look at it. Once the echidna's eyes were where he wanted them, Midnight mimed shooting his lower torso. Knuckles' narrowed his eyes in concentration and then confusion. Then his eyes widened as he understood, his face turning a shade paler. Midnight nodded, and Tails was none the wiser.

"What? Why didn't they use her?" Tails asked again.

"Uhonsecondthought, we don't want to know,” Knuckles nervously told the fox, stressing his words so that his point was clearly understood.

Tails looked a little sulky, but returned his attention to Midnight's arm, "Right... I reset your blaster, so it should work now," he said, "But there's a lot to do before we can be sure that Robotnik can't control you."

"The sooner it gets done, the better,” said Midnight, releasing and retracting the arm blaster just to make sure it was working properly, "I'm done being his servant."

"It may involve some serious... um... surgery," Tails pointed out.

Midnight blinked, "Surgery? What kind of surgery?"

"Well, Eggman's hooked up your robotic parts to your nervous system. Brain surgery, possibly." Tails swallowed.

The echidna's eye widened as the gravity of that sunk in. "No offence,” he spoke, facing Tails again, "But are you qualified to go messing around inside my skull like that?"

"Of course not. I'm 15 years old!" Tails grinned, "But I built that plane out there," he pointed outside, "The one that transforms into a mecha."

Midnight looked nervous as he looked towards the airplane. "Impressive, I admit,” he said, "But remember that I'm not an airplane. You break something in here..." He tapped his head. "You're not going to be able to find a replacement part."

"I won't be messing with the irreplaceable parts," Tails assured him, "If Robotnik is able to control you, he will be using something that’s not biological."

"It still could be connected to the biological. This stuff is directly wired to my brain, after all,” he pointed out, but then surprisingly shrugged, "However, all of your friends trust you a great deal, Tails. I will do the same." Knuckles, who had been staring into space, looked over at Tails, and then Midnight, and then back at Tails for a long moment before staring off again.

~~~

Meanwhile, at the hospital - coincidentally, or not, it was the same one that Shadow had been sent to after his escape from Prison Island - in a dull, white room, Mirage was lying asleep, flat on a bed, one leg in a cast.

Nearby, Sonic was sitting in a chair, patiently waiting for his friend to wake up. Or rather, impatiently. He hated to wait for anything, but at least this time he didn't let it show. He had been worried about Mirage as she laid there injured, and it occurred to him that she had gained a great deal of importance in his life. They hadn't known each other long, but hey, they lived together, and as far as he was concerned, she was now one of the gang.

Mirage groaned, very quietly, and opened her eyes, "Argh," she said, remembering the last thing she'd done, and then noticing her surroundings, tried again, "Where the hell am I?" she asked, and tried to sit up. Her leg protested violently, and she lay down again.

Sonic sighed and smiled in relief, glad that the hedgecat had finally woken up, "You're in the hospital, Mirage,” he explained, "You broke your leg in that fall. How are you feeling?"

"Well, actually I jumped," Mirage said, "And I feel awful. Like my spine is... all crunched up like a concertina. What happened after I jumped?"

"Midnight pulled you out of the water, Tails flew you out of the sewer, and Robotnik flew off,” the hedgehog told her cheerfully.

"Midnight..." Mirage scratched at her fur, "Damn. I am starting to remember again... Sonic, would you do me a favour and... oh, I do not know... snap my neck? It would probably be less painful..."

"Nah, but I could tell a nurse to up your painkiller dose or whatever it is,” the hedgehog replied helpfully.

Mirage clutched her head, "Gods dammit... it is not physical..." she was trying not to cry, "I remember Midnight... I remember watching him die..."

"Oh..." The hedgehog understood the real problem now. "But... hey. He's not dead,” he told his friend, "You saw him. Midnight's fine! Sure, he may need some oil changes and some bolt tightening sometimes, but he'll be ok. Ok?"

"I remember... fighting the Gizoid... with him by my side..." Gods, that hurt even worse than remembering his death. How could remembering the nice parts be worse than remembering the unpleasant parts? Mirage continued, "And when we trained... gods, that was even better than the sex..."

Sonic closed his mouth and stared quietly at the feline for a long moment as the memories returned to her. He spoke up again finally, softly saying, "You love him, don't you?"

Mirage nodded, "And it hurt too much to remember what I had lost... it got in the way… it was inconvenient… so I forgot it... everything, every time we met. It left big holes, but that was better than remembering... it hurt, real bad... it still does..."

Sonic stood up and walked over to Mirage, kneeling down and taking one of her hands in his own, "It's alright,” he assured her, "Midnight's still here, and you've got us now, me and the gang." Sonic smiled, "I'm sure he still feels the same way about you."

"I forgot him... he thought I was dead and I made it worse by forgetting him..." Mirage whispered, "Gods, that was so... unnecessary."

Sonic chuckled. "That's one way of putting it,” he said. Smiling again, he asked, "So now that he's back... what are you going to do?"

"Well..." Mirage sniffled, "First of all I am going to get my Emerald Shard back, just as soon as I can walk. After that... it gets a little X-rated."

Sonic laughed and lightly slapped her on the shoulder as he got up, "That's more like it!" he said enthusiastically.

"I just..." Mirage looked up, "He remembers everything... so what did he tell you about us?" she asked, "I need to know, so I do not go mouthing off my own secrets."

"Nothing really,” the hedgehog admitted, "All I know is that you and him were on the ARK and were really close."

"And he said he is Knuckles' father..." Mirage said softly, "He probably told you, did not he? About the mother."

"Yeah. It’s you, right?" asked Sonic, wanting to hear it from her. There was still that small, lingering doubt.

"I never wanted Knuckles to know where he came from," Mirage said, in a very small voice, "I guess I should explain things to him... that I did not forget, and why I did not tell him..."

"Yeah. He needs to hear that,” Sonic said with a nod, "Knuckles won't even speak to Midnight."

"They are very alike," Mirage said in that same small voice, and smiled a little, "They are both arrogant bastards for a start."

Sonic snickered, wholeheartedly agreeing with that.

"Gullible too," Mirage muttered, "And tough. Knuckles does not get a lot from me. Then again, that is probably a good thing."

Smirking, Sonic told her, "I'm sure a little more of you would be good for him. Would make him easier to get along with, at least."

"You do not honestly want another morally deficient hybrid around, do you Sonic?" Mirage asked the blue hedgehog with a laugh.

"It would be a lot to deal with,” Sonic admitted with a chuckle, "Still, I don't think you're morally deficient. You're just good at thinking before acting."

"A little too good..." Mirage muttered, "Logic must seem very cold to the people who do not understand it. Like I do not care or something."

Sonic smirked and crossed his arms as he leaned back. "People have said that I leap into things too fast, like I can't think or something."

Mirage smiled a little, "Are you so sure they are wrong?" she asked him.

Sonic smiled back, the expression taking a more mischevious appearance as he retorted with, "Are you?"

Mirage's smile fell, "I am not sure," she said, "I know I must care in a way, but it is not the same way you or Amy or Knuckles care. Or even like Rouge cares."

Sonic just shrugged. "You still care,” he stated casually, "That's all that matters."

"Thank you for believing in me, Sonic," Mirage smiled, "Damn, but I need that Shard of mine back..." She clutched her head, "I think too straight without it."

"We'll get it back,” Sonic said cheerfully, standing up, "Eventually. Maybe when Knuckles stops being so pissy towards his dad, he'll lead us to it."

"GUN has it," Mirage said, "That is the most likely explanation. If I could walk I would be heading for that jerkass Commander and telling him what is what..."

"Not a good idea right now,” he warned her, "GUN is going nuts over the damage Midnight caused. They'd probably just shoot you before you could get a word out."

"I am too damn expensive for them to just shoot!" Mirage moaned. She looked at her leg, "Geez, I feel so useless!"

Sonic winced in sympathy. To have the ability to run or even walk taken away from him, even if it was only temporary, was agony to him, "You'll get better soon,” he assured the hedgecat, "The doctors here are really good."

"They had better be..." Mirage sighed, "I wish I could see Midnight and Knuckles again..."

"Dunno about Knux, but when Tails is done with him, I'll ask Midnight to come visit,” said Sonic.

"Thank you..." Mirage sighed, and lay back, still holding her head - her headache was slowly increasing - and sighed.

Sonic nodded his head and moved towards the door. "Hey, I'll see you later, ok? Midnight should be here soon,” he told Mirage.

~~~

Harley: A little unexciting maybe, but it contains some necessary events. Read and review. Of course you’ll have to sign in to review, but I’m not putting up with more trolls being dumb like that again.