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: Quite the number of reviewers, this chapter! Including one in Spanish which I might add I don’t understand a word of.

Froggy: It’s very important to Harley that you… well, you don’t have to like Mirage. Just so long as you don’t think she’s a damn Mary Sue. That’s the important part.

Harley: It’s great to see RAW19 back again, and I do believe Kitty wins the Most Intelligent Review award this week, mostly because her review is good and long. And I hope very much that we can get your enjoyment levels up some more, funkman.

Froggy: And if we don’t, you can’t say we didn’t try.

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Chapter Five: Phone Call

Shadow hung the phone up and stood there silently, Espio's words running through his mind. The chameleon had called him up and told him all he had learned in his conversation with Mirage... and the black and red hedgehog found the new knowledge disturbing. His sister, Mirage, had been created for the sole purpose of destroying him with the powers of the Master Emerald. A living failsafe device for if he went beyond the Professor's control. Suddenly, Mirage's attitude towards him on the ARK made a whole lot more sense. She knew what she may have to do to him. Shadow's thoughts drifted back to the ARK, to his part in attempting to destroy the world. He could see why someone like the professor would want a backup plan.

Amy looked up from the sofa at Shadow's concerned face as she fed Eclipse, "Something wrong?" she asked him, gently.

No point in hiding the truth from Amy. She could read him like an open book. He turned around and walked towards her, "Yes,” he said, "Espio has learned some things about Mirage... the purpose behind her creation is quite different from my own.”

"Oh?" Amy rocked the napping Eclipse gently, "Um... what is her purpose?"

"She was made as a weapon, Amy. A very special weapon,” Shadow explained, "Gerald created her specifically to kill one person." Shadow sat down beside Amy, smirked, and grimly chuckled, "Me."

Amy's eyes widened, "But... she wouldn't... would she?" she asked.

"As long as I don't cause trouble like attempting to shatter the Earth again or be influenced by some corrupt organization, she shouldn't feel the desire to kill me,” Shadow said, "She was to be used if I were to become a threat to humanity."

"Well, that's a relief," Amy wrapped her arm around Shadow's shoulder, "You're not going to try any mass genocide any time soon, are you?" she nuzzled his cheek.

Shadow chuckled softly and returned the nuzzle, "Of course not,” he said, "I've got you here to reel me in when I go crazy."

"I don't know what we're going to do about her though," Amy's face fell, "This apartment is hardly big enough for the three of us.” By three, she included Eclipse, “There's certainly not enough room for Mirage as well. She'll have to stay with Team Chaotix for a while, until something gets figured out."

"I agree,” Shadow said with a nod, "The Chaotix have agreed to that. But we have a greater problem to worry about right now: Ashura."

“Ashura?” Amy asked.

“Some sort of brother, I think. Completely hedgehog, and completely insane. I let him loose before I knew what he is. He hates me and Mirage, though I don’t know why.”

Amy frowned, "Well, he hasn't made any moves yet. Maybe he's not going to cause any trouble?" she suggested hopefully.

"We're not going to be that lucky,” Shadow sighed, "I'm sure Ashura will make his move soon, and I'm betting it will be against the Floating Island. If Mirage draws her power from the Master Emerald, he's going to want it to control her."

“You mean to use her? To hurt you?” Amy looked very worried, "What does he want? If we can work out what he wants we can get it first."

"I'm sure that he wants more power,” Shadow answered with a nod, "I just get that kind of feeling from him. Gut feelings and experience say that he will go after the Chaos Emeralds, too. Everybody who wants power wants the Chaos Emeralds."

"Well, if we get hold of the Chaos Emeralds, we can make him come to us," Amy replied, "And then you can go Super and you can whup his ass."

Shadow grinned. "I like that idea,” he said, but the grin disappeared soon after, "Problem is, I'm sure he's anticipated it. And again the solution to his problem lies with the Master Emerald. He who controls the Master can negate anything the Chaos Emeralds do, including super forms."

"Well, we should warn Knuckles, I guess," Amy said, after some thought, "If the Master Emerald is at risk, he'd want to know what to expect. Although Tails is the only one with the right technology to contact him."

"I could just Chaos Control there,” Shadow pointed out. He shook his head. "But maybe you're right. Tails can handle Knuckles better than I can. I've spent enough time away from you and Eclipse lately."

Amy's face broke into a smile, and she wrapped her arms around Shadow, with Eclipse between them, "Thanks, Shadow," she sighed. She kissed his cheek gratefully, and stood up, cradling the sleepy Eclipse in her arms, "I'll put Eclipse to bed," she said in response.

Shadow smiled and hugged Amy and Eclipse in return, "You're welcome,” he said quietly. He looked troubled suddenly, “Amy?” he said softly.

“Yes?”

“I… I had another nightmare last night,” his face twisted up in emotional agony, “About… them.”

Amy sighed. She already knew. She’d been woken up by his frightened cries several times. It happened more often than he told her. Sometimes he called out her name. She knew who ‘they’ were too, “Tell me about it,” she said softly.

“They… had me tied down…” Shadow gritted his teeth, “There were… those scientists…” He was shaking now, his hands balled into tight fists, “That horrible old one… and the Colonel…”

Amy put Eclipse in his cot so that she could hold Shadow, “It was a dream,” she said, “Those people are not going to hurt you again. Not ever. I will not let them.” She took Shadow in her arms.

“They were… pushing things into me…” Shadow shuddered, “It hurt… Lord it hurt…”

“Shhh…” Amy cuddled him, “It’s okay, baby…” She began to kiss his neck, stroking the inside of his ear gently, “I love you.”

“I know that,” Shadow moaned, “But the nightmare-“

“-Wasn’t real,” Amy interrupted, “It wasn’t real at all. You are home and safe.” With that, she kissed him, long and tenderly, her lips moving over his firmly and passionately. Her hands slid through his quills, scratching gently.

Shadow moaned into the kiss. It gently sandblasted his fears away, and finally he forgot the horrific nightmare and concentrated entirely on Amy. Just like Amy to do or say the perfect thing. Eventually though, they had to break the kiss.

“Feeling better?” Amy asked him.

Shadow nodded. After a few more moments in her arms, he felt ready to go about the business of the day again. With a sigh, he pulled away from her and sat up, "I'll call Tails up," he stated.

“Yeah, you do that,” Amy said, “I have to make lunch.”

Shadow watched her walk off and then stepped over to the phone, picking it up and dialling Tails' home.

In Mystic Ruins, the location of Tails' lab, Tails was poking about underneath his plane when he heard the phone ringing. He sat up and banged his head on a piece of metal, cursed a few times, and got out from underneath it, "I'm coming," he called, "I'm coming, I'm coming..." he snatched up the phone, "Tails here," he told the caller, "Who's calling?"

"It's me, Shadow,” the hedgehog replied, "I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time. I have a favour to ask of you, Tails. What have you heard about my recent trip to the ARK?"

"You went to the ARK again?" Tails asked, "Geez, nobody tells me anything around here."

Shadow couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face, "Long story short, I travelled to the ARK and discovered two 'relatives' of mine: Mirage, my sister who draws power from the Master Emerald and was designed to kill me if I became a threat to the world, and Ashura, my brother who seems to be thoroughly insane. I need you to go to Angel Island, warn Knuckles, and help him guard the emerald."

"I can do the warning part," Tails agreed, "But... I don't know if he'll want me to stay."

"I'm sure you'll find a way,” Shadow assured the young fox, "This is important. We can't allow Ashura to get a hold of that emerald."

"Right, so..." Tails hesitated, "What do Mirage and Ashura look like?"

"Mirage is mostly feline with hedgehog quills,” Shadow explained, "Has my black and red colour scheme. Ashura is all hedgehog. Green fur, blue eyes, really pale. Should give you the creeps."

"I gotcha!" Tails nodded, "I'll call him, warn him, then fly on up when he says he can handle anything the ARK throws at him."

Shadow smirked. Yes, that sounded like Knuckles, alright, "Thank you, Tails. I owe you for this,” he replied.

"Yeah, that's twice you owe me now," Tails replied, "I'll think of something."

"I'll see you later,” Shadow said before hanging up.

Tails rubbed his forehead and hung up. The main problem with contacting Knuckles was that the transmitter on the roof took about an hour to set up properly. And just seeing Knuckles made him feel… odd. Well, there was nothing that could be done about that.

~~~

About an hour later, Tails had indeed set everything up and was radioing Knuckles.

After about 15 minutes, Knuckles finally discovered that someone was radioing him and replied, "Hello? Who is this?” he demanded.

Typical Knuckles, Tails thought. He smiled dryly, "It's me, Knuckles. Tails. Just calling to... well... warn you."

"Warn me about what?" the echidna asked suspiciously.

"Well, Shadow just called me," Tails replied, "Apparently there's two new bad guys in town or something. He thinks they might come after the Master Emerald."

“Humph. That's nothing new,” Knuckles insisted, annoyed by what he saw as a useless warning, “There's always someone trying to steal the emerald, you know that.”

"Yeah, but these guys were woken up from ARK," Tails pointed out, "Don't you even want to know what they look like?"

"Heh! No, I don't need to know,” Knuckles insisted, "Everybody who comes up here is under my suspicion. You're worrying about nothing, Tails."

Tails groaned, "Look, Knuckles, I'm not doubting your abilities as a Guardian, but... sometimes you come across as kinda... arrogant."

"Arrogant?!" the echidna yelled, "I am NOT arrogant! I can defeat anybody who comes up here! That doesn't make me arrogant!"

"You think you can handle anything and everything," Tails answered, "You don't know anything about these guys. They could be fifty-foot fire-breathing lizards for all you know. And you're still saying you don't need any help?"

"No, I don't need any help!" Knuckles insisted.

In Tails' head, he could see the echidna with his arms crossed over his chest and face turned away from the radio, nose in the air, "Sure, fine, you don't need any help," Tails answered, and hung up.

He looked at the radio-phone, exasperated. That had been rather pointless. Well, he'd told Shadow he'd fly up to Angel Island. It wouldn't take half-an-hour to ready the Cyclone, and he could be there. Knuckles would put up a fuss of course, but it wasn't as if the echidna could just throw him off the edge of the island.

~~~

Mirage lay on her back, her legs up against the wall, thinking hard about her next step. It wasn't going to be easy getting out of the house on the sly with three other people living there. She hadn't exactly hidden her intention to run away, and they kept watching her. It made her fur itch worse than the time she’d had fleas.

She stood up and started to pace the room. When it came to strategy, she wasn't too hot, but she should be able to escape. She had to. She wanted to. She looked out the window. The cement was thirty feet down, an easy drop for her, but she'd finish right outside the living-room, and somebody would see her leaving.

I am making this more difficult than it needs to be, she thought, almost angrily, The longer I stay here, the harder it will be to leave and the closer Ashura will get. She opened the window and started to climb out of it.

Just then, Espio was walking by her room and noticed the breeze on his scaled skin. Frowning, the ninja turned and cautiously opened the door to her room.

Mirage didn't hear him, all her concentration on the neighbouring house. The important thing, the really important thing, was that she didn't get caught. She climbed out onto the windowsill, sighting on the roof opposite. It was twenty feet away, but who was she to complain?

Espio's amber eyes watched as Mirage slipped out the window. Narrowing those eyes, he stepped quietly into the room, his skin changing colours to blend in as he followed her out, sticking to the walls easily.

Mirage jumped. Her outstretched claws caught the guttering of the house, twenty feet away, and she twisted her spine in mid-air, somehow getting her entire body safely onto the roof, "Let us see a six-foot crocodile make that jump," she muttered, then ran over the flat roof.

Espio hummed quietly to himself as he watched Mirage do her remarkable leap to the next building. He had to admit that it looked difficult. Of course, he didn't have to do it her way. Leaping out into mid air, he drew a line of cable and hook and hurled it at the gutter, latching on and swinging to the other building, landing on his feet against the wall. Grimacing in pain, he grapnelled up the wall, climbed onto the roof, and continued to trail the feline.

When Mirage reached the edge of the roof, she considered another jump, sticking to the rooftops. Or she could always jump DOWN. Blend into the crowd. No. Right now, speed was of the essence, and she might not have as much of it as her brother, but the day had yet to come when he could beat her at agility. She jumped again. This jump was easier, ten feet, and she landed easily on the next rooftop.

Espio was determined to keep up with Mirage and jumped across the gap. It wasn't nearly as easy as she made it look, but he managed to pull it off. He only hoped she would stop before long... he couldn't keep up forever.

Mirage abruptly changed direction, heading west. A lot of the jumps were over small alleys, and the buildings were abandoned. She skidded to a halt at the edge of a busy road, and looked around, certain for a moment that she had heard something, or saw something. Espio froze, and for a moment, Mirage's gaze swept right over him. Then she jumped off the edge of the building, landing heavily on a large, moving lorry. It carried her away in seconds.

Espio sighed as climbed down the building to street level and took off running in pursuit. This was going to be a long day...

Mirage sat on the truck, as it took her further west. She wasn't sure where she was going, but she preferred inner city areas. People thought that deserted places were easier to hide in, but crowded places like cities were just as easy to take refuge in, and besides, such places with their concrete and metal reminded her a little of the ARK. Just a little.

~~~

It is difficult to describe a creature like Mirage. They are so free of moral obligation that it is truly impossible for them to do good or evil. A human knows what is right and what is wrong, and does what is right and rationalises what is wrong. Even an anti-hero like Shadow makes the choice sometimes, out of some obligation to their inner humanity. But a creature like Mirage sees no difference between good or evil, naming them merely as points of view.

Some humans say that, but deep in their soul they don’t really believe it. If they did, they wouldn’t be entirely human. Everybody wants to be a good person. Everybody wants to do what’s right, or be on the good guy’s team. Very rarely do you find people who believe right down to their core that when push comes to shove, it doesn’t really matter what is right or wrong.

If there is no good or evil, there cannot be such a thing as a hero or a villain. In the end all decisions boil down to the necessary and the unnecessary. The demon and the angel receive equal distain until respect is earned. Forgiveness is embraced, but only because holding a grudge is counter-productive. Phobias are mocked. Vengeance is despised. Murder is frowned upon, but only when it is pointless.

But that is not to say that they can do no wrong. The end justifies the means, there is no such thing as a bluff, and if the death of an individual is deemed necessary, so be it. There are no second thoughts or split-second decisions. There is no guilt. Nothing is an accident.

Of course, as an intelligent, living creature, Mirage was in full possession of free will. As a biological animal, she had desires. Though she and others might have liked to believe it, she was not a tool. She could choose in a fashion, if not between good or evil, then perhaps between the necessary and the unnecessary. She could make poor decisions.

Maybe she didn’t have a truly human soul, but you could have some trouble telling the difference between that and whatever it was that she did have. All the emotions needed to be human lay inside her, waiting. She had anger, peace, fear, courage, sorrow, faith, hope, joy, hate, love, and the millions of little emotions in-between. All that was different was the way she chose between them.

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Harley: Now Read and Review! Tell the truth! Or DIE!!!!

Froggy: Harley, when did you add that little piece about Mirage’s personality forward slash soul?

Harley: Uh… yesterday?