ARAAT3: The Forbidden Experiment

~~~

A Rose And A Thorn 3: The Forbidden Experiment

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

~~~

Harley: Some people (indicates CrazyIvan) are never happy. But hey, at least it’s honest criticism. Anyway, it’s true Antwerps, Amy and Shadow were once upon a time the focus of this series. And hey, one day they will be again. But too much time spent on them, and you lot will be saying “Is ShadAmy the only thing you guys know how to write?”

Froggy: Yeah, it’s like with Sega. They give people what they ask for and the next thing you know the fans are saying “Guns in a Sonic Team game? You’re destroying our innocence!!!”

Harley: Anyway, on the matter of Eclipse, there’s not a lot you can do with babies, but he’ll be talking eventually. Now, on with the sorrow and degradation. I just spent a bloody HOUR editing this fic so that Mirage's way of speaking is more consistent. And making a note of what the feline swearwords mean. And there's a high chance that nobody will ever notice.

~~~

Chapter Thirteen: Family Matters

Day had turned to night, as was its inevitable duty, and Mirage lay curled up peacefully in Espio's arms, dreaming kitty dreams, the pair of them pressed together so that they could both fit in the bed.

Until in her dreams, a low, unpleasant, rasping voice called her, Wake up, Mirage. That is an order.

Mirage woke and blinked slowly before she could even think about it. There was a light on in the kitchen, and she already knew who it was. Slowly and quietly, she separated from Espio, pulled on her vest, and went into the kitchen, trembling slightly.

Ashura was sitting at the table, his teeth bared and his eyes narrowed in a viscous glare. Mirage could already feel her legs shaking, "You will stand..." he hissed, sheer rage in his eyes that were blue from edge to edge, "Did you think you could run from me?" Ashura asked her, "Did you think you could hide? Did you think that a mortal could protect you? If so, you're even more stupid than you look."

Mirage didn't answer, her legs still shaking.

In the other room, Espio shifted on the bed, noticing Mirage's absence.

"I know what you've done," Ashura's voice was becoming a low snarl, "Whore! Harlot! Slut! I can see it in your eyes, I can smell the wretched stench of him on you from here! Throwing your body around like a prostitute, do you have no dignity?"

Mirage's ears flattened against her head in terror.

Espio's eyes slowly opened and then narrowed as he heard a voice coming from the other room. A male voice. An angry, male voice.

"You are a dreadful freak," Ashura told Mirage, "He is a... a reptile. There is no part of you that should be with him. Yet you do it anyway, like a common jezebel." Mirage cowered again, and Ashura continued in his rant, neither one of them noticing how loud his voice had become. It was as if he didn't care if they were overheard, "You flee from me, you avoid every duty you have ever been given to be with him!" He pointed a finger at her accusingly, "Whore! Have you no shame?" This time he grabbed her shoulders and slammed her against the wall, "Have you no shame?!" he almost screamed in her face. The half-feline nodded, then hesitated and shook her head. There was a long moment of confusion.

Espio's face contorted in anger, and the chameleon quietly slipped out of bed, his colours blending in with his surroundings as he snuck towards the door, drawing a shuriken as he did.

"And you thought you could run and hide," Ashura released her, "Well, I've found you. And I have new orders for you."

"What?" Mirage's voice was a terrified whisper.

"Kill the chameleon," the green hedgehog snarled.

"But he has got nothing to do with this!" Mirage wailed, her voice becoming clipped and precise once again.

Espio looked out the door at the green hedgehog and carefully took aim with the shuriken.

Mirage moved away from the wall. Without even knowing it, she had moved into Espio's line of fire, "You cannot just tell me to kill him!" she told Ashura.

Espio moved slowly away from Mirage, staying in the shadows, trying to get a better angle to attack Ashura from.

"Have you forgotten who is in charge here?!" Ashura snarled, and picked her up by her neck, "Who is currently in charge here? Who?! You know the answer, tell it, slut! And bigods you'd better get it right!"

"You..." Mirage choked, as Ashura pushed her down to her knees, "You are currently in charge..."

"This is ENTIRELY your fault," Ashura told the choking half-feline, "If you'd remained with me, or at the very least done as you were told for even one moment, it wouldn't be necessary to remind you of your place!"

Ashura released her and she gasped for breath, "I do not want to... I will not hurt him..." she whimpered as Ashura turned a viscous glare on her, "I will not-"

"You will do as you are told!" Ashura snarled, picking her up and shaking her roughly, "If you do not you will scream!"

Espio bit down on his tongue in frustration. She was in the way again...

"You are indeed necessary," Ashura told the terrified Mirage, "But I can find others to deal with the Master Emerald if I need to. You only need to be alive. There's no actual specification on how alive you need to be."

"I will not..." Mirage started.

"You will do as you are told. If the chameleon is not dead in 24 hours or you are not at the Metropolis for stage two of the plan, I will personally make you dream for the remainder of your life that your brains - what little of them you have - are falling out of your nose," Ashura hissed, "Kill him. He has to do with this because he has to do with you."

Espio had nowhere else to go without revealing himself to Ashura. Put her down, he thought, Show me your face, so I can put cold steel through it...

Mirage opened her mouth. Ashura drew himself up regally, "I have a universe - several universes - to take control of. If you can't follow orders, if you won't kill him, you will live wishing to die, and he will die anyway. Slowly and painfully. You'll watch. I shouldn't have to persuade you, you little slut. I now have all the Chaos Emeralds, this could be over as soon as Shadow is dead. But oh, no, you continue to prolong it."

"B-but... how..." Mirage whimpered, "He is better than I am-"

Ashura slapped Mirage's face so hard that his hand split her lip, "NEVER," he raged, "NEVER SAY THOSE WORDS IN MY PRESENCE! EVER AGAIN! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!" Mirage nodded, blood trickling from her face, "I DON'T CARE HOW YOU DO IT, I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU DO TO THIS WRETCHED LITTLE PISSHOLE OF A PLANET!" Ashura screamed at her, "YOU WILL CARRY OUT YOUR ORDERS!!!"

There was a flare of blue chaos light, and he was gone. Mirage slumped down the wall slowly, and covered her face with her hands.

"No!" shouted Espio as he leapt out from the shadows and hurled the shuriken into the flash of blue light, through the space Ashura's head had been a second before. But it was too late. The chameleon swore loudly and then paused to take a deep breath. He walked over to Mirage and kneeled down next to her.

Mirage looked up at Espio, her face very pale, "How much did you hear?" she whispered.

"All of it,” he responded quietly. He reached over and caressed the side of her face that hadn’t been struck.

"Kill me," Mirage muttered. She produced one of her knives, "Kill me and stop all this madness."

Espio took the knife from her hand and tossed it aside. "No,” he said, shaking his head, "That's the coward's way out. You don't want that, Mirage. We can find another way, I know it. I almost had him right now."

Mirage started to wail, "Did not you hear me? Do not you understand?! I want you to kill me! I... I am not programmed to be able to commit suicide…"

"Damn it, Mirage! I'm not going to kill you!" the chameleon shouted back, placing his hands on her shoulders. His voice quieted, "I'm not. I can't."

"But I do not want to hurt you!" Mirage wailed, and her voice rose to a wild, senseless shriek, "People are going to DIE!"

Espio gave her shoulders a firm shake, and he forced her to look into his amber eyes, "Do you trust me, Mirage?" he asked.

After a few seconds, Mirage nodded, "Yes... yes, I trust you."

"Then listen to me,” he said quietly, "We are not going to die, and we certainly are not going to give up. This isn't over yet."

"I knew you would not understand! This is ALL MY FAULT!" Mirage pushed him away and picked up her knife, putting it into its holster, "You do not... cannot... will not... I thought you would..."

"You must calm down,” Espio said as he climbed to his feet, "Panic only makes things worse. You must keep going. As long as there is breath in your lungs, there is a chance."

"Shut up! You have no idea what Ashura is capable of!" Mirage told him. She reached into a cupboard and brought out a bottle of clear liquid and a huge chocolate bar, which she started to eat.

"I don't need to know,” he said, shaking his head as she ate her chocolate bar, "I know that if I'm alive, there is a chance, however slim, that I can achieve victory. If I am dead, there is no chance."

"I wish I could DIE!" Mirage wailed, not appearing to hear him.

The chameleon shook his head in frustration, sighing, "Could you be any more selfish, Mirage?"

Mirage blinked, "What do you mean, selfish?" she asked.

Espio turned back towards her, his yellow eyes staring into hers, "Did you bother to stop and think how I would feel if you were dead?"

"I considered that you would be alive and the world would probably not be enslaved by that green psychopathic megalomaniac asshole," Mirage replied.

"Mirage, you're probably the only person I've ever really loved,” he said, "Were you to die, I wouldn't much care to live. You wanting to die is no noble sacrifice, it’s you running from responsibility out of fear. Ashura is not the one who has enslaved you; your fear has. You need to let it go."

Mirage munched on the chocolate, deep in thought, "You will be glad to know that I am immortal like Shadow then," she told him, "Unless I get killed, I will never die."

"Immortality. What mankind has searched for since the beginning,” said the chameleon thoughtfully, "A great gift or a terrible curse, depending on how you look at it."

"A curse, most of the time," Mirage inspected her claws, "You think I want to watch as everyone around me withers and dies while I maintain eternal youth? Gift my fat ashh..."

The chameleon shrugged and leaned back against the nearby wall, "That's one way of looking at it."

"Oh, and I suppose you have a better way, Mr Espio ‘Let us look on the bright side of the Apocalypse’ Chameleon?" Mirage asked.

"You will never run out of time,” Espio said quietly, "Many wish they could see the wonders of the future, but they know they will not live to see it. Not so for you. And you will not have to go through the agony of aging, unlike the rest of us. And because of your ageless state... it will never be too late to turn it all around."

"Yes, and when you hit seventy, I will still be..." Mirage checked her biological clock, "Eighteen. Oh, yes. Some fun, huh? Then you die and I live an eternity without you."

The chameleon smirked, "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll slip up and get killed eventually. An eternity is a long time to go without making a fatal mistake. It doesn't even have to be your mistake."

"I do not think you understand," Mirage sighed, "You are... what... mid-twenties? You will age. I will be eighteen for the rest of my life. Does not anything about that strike you as being fundamentally wrong?"

The chameleon scratched the top of his head. "Well... yes, it does seem a little creepy, but what are we supposed to do about it?"

"It has been tried," Mirage said, in a hopeless sort of voice, "And relationships do not work for immortals. They only end in good people getting hurt."

"So... what? Should we just give up on it now and save ourselves the trouble?" Espio snapped back, crossing his arms over his scaled chest, an expression of slight annoyance on his face.

"I did not say that..." Mirage replied, "I am just saying that it would be less painful to have not started..." She looked up, "I love you, Espio. But I should not be able to."

Espio gave the feline a small smile, "Maybe. Maybe not. Whatever the case may be, you cannot change the past, and dwelling too much on the future makes you miss the present. There's no sense in worrying about it. We both love each other, and that's enough for me."

"For now, perhaps..." Mirage rubbed her forehead, and stood slowly, picking up the bottle.

"For now,” Espio said, pushing off the wall and walking towards her, "Let's just worry about finding somewhere else to go. I don't know how Ashura found us..."

"I told you he would find me," Mirage retorted.

"Probably all that attention we drew in our scuffle,” Espio said, turning away from her and looking out the window. At least, that was what he hoped was the explanation. If he could track Mirage using some sort of sixth sense, there was little hope that either of them could hide from him.

"Hmmm..." Mirage played with one of her quills, winding it around her finger, "Well, it does not matter now," her grip shifted slightly, "This may hurt a little," she told Espio. Then she smashed the bottle of chloroform over his head.

Espio's eyes bugged out in shock and then rolled back into his head as the impact and chloroform rendered the ambushed ninja unconcious. The chameleon toppled forward.

"Sorry," Mirage said. She picked up the unconcious chameleon in her arms and took him into the bedroom, where she lay him on the bed, then tore up a sheet as ropes to bind him with.

~~~

It had been nearly a week since Espio had informed him about his success in finding Mirage, and Shadow had heard nothing from the Chaotix concerning his sister since then. He was tired of waiting. The black and red hedgehog glided through the city on his jet shoes, quickly making his way to their HQ. Marching up to the door, he knocked loudly on it twice.

It was Charmee who answered, "Hurray! Vector, Shadow's here!" he yelled into the HQ.

Shadow walked past the bee without saying hello. Stepping into the building, he quickly searched for the crocodile, a focused expression on his face.

"Hey, Shades," Vector grinned, "Let me guess, this is about your little sis, huh?"

"Where is Mirage?" the hedgehog asked bluntly, his blood-red eyes staring into Vector's.

"She's safe with Espio," Vector answered, seriously hoping that would be enough.

Shadow continued to stare at the crocodile intently, his emotions unreadable. After a seemingly long moment, he said, "Oh? And where is Espio?"

"We're... not entirely sure," Vector admitted reluctantly, "The last message we got from him was three days ago when he arrived in Westopolis. But I can assure you, Shadow, if he hasn't made contact with us, it's for a damn good reason."

Now Shadow's expression was easily read as anger. "What the hell is he doing in Westopolis? Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

"We didn't figure you'd be any better at finding her than Espio," Vector replied, "She doesn't seem the type to respond positively to a mass hunt."

"That doesn't excuse you withholding information from me!" Shadow snapped at the crocodile. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming himself down.

"She ran away, Shadow," Vector told him, trying to remain calm, "If anybody can find her, it's Espio. Not just his skills. She... seems to trust him."

"Well at least she trusts someone,” Shadow muttered under his breath. Shaking his head, he continued, "I have to go find her. That green psycho is still out there hunting her."

"He got Rouge's Chaos Emerald," Vector held up a paper, "And Rouge. We checked out her place, but really... there wasn't much we could do."

"He took Rouge?" Shadow turned away. Not that he cared for Rouge, but... "Ashura has a hostage, two emeralds, and is aiming for Mirage. We don't know where he is, what he is planning, or even what he really is capable of."

"You haven't been keeping track of the news, have you Shadow?" Vector asked, "This Ashura dude hasn't got two Emeralds. He's got six."

"Seven if you count the one he took from Eggman!" shouted Charmee.

Shadow's blood ran cold as he turned back towards the crocodile and bee, "All seven emeralds?" he breathed. This was bad. This was really bad.

"We thought you knew," Vector replied, "The only explanation for how he's got all seven emeralds so fast is that he knows where they all are. Even you don't know where all the emeralds are all the time."

"I can sense if one is close,” Shadow said, a dazed look in his eyes, "I can't detect them all when they are this far from me..." Which could very well mean that Ashura's power exceeded Shadow's. It wasn't something that the Ultimate Lifeform could easily accept.

"The point is that Mirage is safe with Espio," Vector repeated as patiently as he could, "She wouldn't be any safer if she was here.”

"I wish I could believe that,” Shadow replied, shaking his head, "I should have come here the moment you found her." The black and red hedgehog paced the room, deep in thought. He had great faith in Espio's abilities, but if Ashura already had all seven chaos emeralds... The chameleon and feline together wouldn't stand a chance against him. Shadow even doubted his own abilities to take on someone with all seven emeralds, and self-doubt was an exceptionally rare thing to find in himself.

"We're not even sure about what Mirage can do," Vector tried, "All we know is that she's fuck-scared of Ashura and if we can just beat that..."

"We cannot underestimate him,” Shadow warned the crocodile, "He is one of the Ultimates, and now he has the ultimate power at his fingertips."

"I know that," Vector scowled, "But doesn't it strike you as odd that he hasn't made his move yet?"

"Maybe he has." Shadow shook his head in irritation, and he turned towards the door.

"Look, I think he's in one of Eggman's old bases," Vector told the irritated hedgehog, "I'm just not sure which one. It might even be one from before you came along."

"Sonic will be of use there,” Shadow noted as he walked towards the door, "But that will come later. I'm going to find my sister first."

Right before his hand touched the doorknob, the door swung open, revealing a purple chameleon with amber eyes and a bandaged head, looking miserable, unlike his usually calm, controlled self, "Don't bother,” Espio said quietly.

"Espio?" Vector stared, "Man, what happened to you? You look like you got jumped or something!"

Before the chameleon could answer, Shadow stepped towards him, looking into his amber eyes, "Where is my sister?" he demanded, "What happened to Mirage?"

The chameleon looked into those crimson eyes sadly, but without flinching answered, "I don't know. She left me..."

Vector narrowed his eyes, "She left you? What do you mean by THAT? You were supposed to be tracking her!"

Espio walked past Shadow, his eyes unfocused, searching inward, "I trusted her. I actually trusted her... I let my guard down, and when I did, she betrayed me and did this,” he said, pointing at his bandaged head. The chameleon turned towards Shadow, "I have failed you, Shadow, and I have lost my honour."

"You trusted what is essentially Shadow with breasts?!" Vector ignored the expression on Shadow's face and grabbed Espio by the shoulders, "What were you thinking?!"

"I wasn't,” he answered bluntly and honestly, "I was feeling. I'm a fool... a damned fool and a failure. I should die for this failure..."

Shadow spun towards the chameleon, ignoring Vector's words for the moment, "This is no time for that honour-bound samurai seppukku* bullshit. We need you to hold together, Espio."

"Hey Espio! What were you feeling?!" Charmee squealed.

Espio gave the bee a slight, miserable smile and muttered something which Shadow was sure he had to be hearing wrong. "Repeat that for me,” Shadow asked of his reptilian friend.

Espio repeated, "I was feeling love."

Shadow glared at the chameleon for a long moment, his expression darkening, "Alright. Now you can go kill yourself."

"Wait, wait..." Vector held up a hand, swatting away Charmee, "You actually... How?!" Vector caught Shadow's expression of fury, "We can debate the moral issues of reptile/biological experiment relationships later, Shadow. The point here is that Espio, you shouldn't have done that. She's a client. By gettin' into an actual relationship with her, you're makin' everything harder."

Espio just continued to give that smile which somehow appeared to be the most miserable expression he had ever shown, "It's one of those unexplained mysteries of life, Vector. You just have to live with it."

Shadow looked away, closing his eyes and rubbing his head. This was one headache he was in no mood to deal with, “Whatever. We'll discuss this later, Espio, but for now, we need you to snap out of it and help us. If you really care about her, prove it to me."

"Now she's a bad guy!" Charmee shouted, "Espio loves a bad guy! Espio has cooties!"

"I don't think she sees things in terms of good or bad,” Shadow muttered as he turned back towards the Chaotix, "What are we going to do now?"

"Thanks to Mr Love here, things have become even more complicated than they already were," Vector glared at Espio, but decided that he didn't need to make the chameleon feel any worse than he already did, "Did she take anything when she left, Esp? Leave any clues as to where she was going or what Ashura wants her for?"

"I know that Mirage is essential to Ashura's plot, whatever it may be,” Espio said, "He needs her alive." The ninja shook his head, trying to recall what he saw after he woke up, "Wait... she left open a paper referencing the Floating Island. She might be going there next."

"Whatever she is, she's not stupid," Vector said, with some satisfaction, "She either wants us to follow her into a trap, or she doesn't want Ashura to win."

"I'm certain she doesn't want Ashura to win, but she doubts that it is possible to beat him. She may simply be trying to throw us off course,” the chameleon explained.

Shadow added, "Or she really is leaving us a trail to follow. There's only one reason Ashura would go to Angel Island... it’s the same reason EVERYBODY goes to Angel Island."

“Ashura wants to trick Knuckles!” Charmee shouted.

Vector nodded, "But why would he want the Master Emerald," he asked, "He's already got the Chaos Emeralds. They cancel each other out."

"Maybe that's the point,” Shadow said with a shrug, "He wants to get rid of any potential weaknesses we could exploit."

"I'd like to see him try," Vector replied, "The Chaos Emeralds are indestructable."

"Of course they are,” Shadow replied in agreement, "But he can prevent us from getting our hands on those emeralds."

"He's doing that just by having them," Vector shook his head, "If Mirage is going to Angel Island, she'll have Knuckles to deal with. We have to know what Ashura's plans are. Espio?" he turned to the chameleon.

"I don't know,” Espio answered, closing his eyes and shaking his head, “She never told me. Universal domination, as far as I can see.”

Shadow crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at the chameleon. "We'll figure it out as we go. The more we wait here, the more time we give Ashura to complete his plan."

"Espio," Vector turned to the chameleon, "We all know you're pretty bummed out now, but you're going to find out where Ashura's base is. As far as I've been able to work out, it's one of Eggman's old bases. If we know which one, we don't have to do any chasing."

Espio swallowed and nodded his head, "Alright... alright, I'll get right on it." The chameleon got to his feet and walked away from the others, going to his room.

Vector watched Espio leave, then muttered softly, "What did she DO to him?"

"I have some idea,” Shadow muttered. He didn't share what that idea was. But he meant to talk to Espio about that right now.

Shadow quietly walked up the stairs to Espio's room, and without warning stepped inside. As he expected, the chameleon was at his workstation, hard at work, his eyes glued to the computer monitors, welcoming the distraction that the search brought.

Shadow waited for Espio to notice him, but once he realized that the chameleon just was too absorbed in his work, he quietly said, "Espio."

"Hmmm?" Espio turned, "Oh, Shadow... didn't hear you come in," he muttered, flicking off the screen so that it wasn't a distraction, "You want to talk to me?"

"Yes, I do,” Shadow said, crossing his arms over his chest, "I want you to tell me exactly what happened between you and Mirage."

"Do we have to talk about that?" Espio sighed, "Okay. I was taking care of her. Got a bit too protective of her for my own good. You can fill in the gaps, right?"

"I'd rather you fill them in for me,” Shadow said, his crimson eyes burning into the reptile, motionless.

Espio shrugged, "I tracked her down to Westopolis. It wasn't easy, she didn't trust anybody. We wound up sharing an apartment. I don't know where she got the money from and I didn't ask. She had nightmares, bad ones, and I was able to make her feel better."

Shadow's crimson eyes narrowed, staring laser beams at the chameleon, "Let me guess: you slept with her."

"That is true," Espio admitted, "And even if I do regret it now, it's something we both wanted at the time."

Shadow watched the chameleon quietly, his face not betraying whatever emotions he was feeling, "...The most important question I have for you is this: Do you truly love Mirage? Answer truthfully; I can sense when you are lying."

Do I truly love Mirage? Espio thought hard. It was an important question, and he wanted to be sure about the answer, "Either I love Mirage, or I'm crazy. And people say that the difference between love and insanity is so thin you can see through it anyway."

"Love is crazy,” Shadow said with a slight nod of his head. Sighing and uncrossing his arms, he continued, "You're my friend, Espio, and I know you to be an honourable man. If there was anyone I would trust with the heart of my sister, it would be you. However..." Shadow leaned in closer to the ninja, his eyes burning with a burning anger waiting to be unleashed upon the world once again, "...if you break that heart, remember this: Regardless of our friendship, I will utterly destroy you."

"I respect that," Espio replied with a nod, "And I want you to understand something; that I could never in all my life, deliberately hurt her."

The tiny hint of a smirk appeared on the hedgehog's face. "That's all I wanted to hear." Shadow stepped back, turned around, and walked towards the door, "We will get her back, Espio. I promise,” he spoke over his shoulder.

Espio didn't answer. He just sagged and nodded. He wanted her back more than he had ever wanted anything in his life.

Shadow stepped out of the room, leaving Espio alone again with his search.

~~~

Harley: I TOLD you the happiness was over. Now, while you’re enjoying the pain and misery, why not read Bloody Domination? It’s updated on Mondays and will soon be horrifically violent and violently horrific. And review.

Froggy: I didn’t help write it.

Harley: *seppukku: A method of honourable death, committed by samurai out of shame. Say if they have done something dishonourable. Or rather than be captured.