ARAAT3: The Forbidden Experiment

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A Rose And A Thorn: The Forbidden Experiment

Co-Written by Harley Quinn hyenaholic and Froggy22651

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Froggy: New chapter, folks! Since Harley is gone for the week, I’m putting it up all by my lonesome. Yes, that’s right. For a whole week, I have the power! The power, I tell you! Muhwahahahaha! Haha! Heh. Oh…*ahem* Anyway, you know the drill. Read it, love it, and review it, preferably something long and intelligent.

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Chapter Six: Strength Through Trial

Mirage pulled the stolen jacket around her slim body tighter, and looked around cautiously, as she had been doing for the last three days. Very quietly, she left the condemned building that she had been sleeping in, and walked along the dark streets, keeping her head down. Whatever happened, she had to keep on the move. She couldn't stay in one place; it was dangerous...

Espio was in good physical shape, no doubt about it, but this pursuit had really worn the chameleon ninja down. For three days he had pursued Mirage, not daring to even sleep for fear of her moving on without him, but this was what he had trained for. He had followed her all the way to Westopolis, where she had taken residence, and kept watch over her, as Shadow had asked. Whenever she walked out onto the streets, he was there behind her, a loyal shadow.

Mirage continued to walk. She wasn’t sure where she was going exactly. But she kept getting the feeling she was being followed, and it made her squirm. She walked faster.

"Hey there, darlin'," a low voice drawled behind Mirage, "Want some fun?" Mirage didn't even turn around, ignoring the voice, "I said-"

Mirage still didn't turn, "Go. Away," she said firmly.

"No, I think you want some fun," the man said again. He was nearly three feet taller than her, and built like a house.

Mirage turned, "I do not have time for this," she said, her hood still covering her face, "Go away now, or I will kill you."

"Stupid little freak," the man scowled. Three accomplices stepped out of the shadows. They were similarly built, with similar unpleasant expressions, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. There’s four of us and one of you.”

“Yes,” Mirage replied, “That means I am four times more likely to hit one of you, and who knows which one it will be first?”

“Cocky,” the ringleader said, dismissively.

The men first realised their mistake when Mirage pushed back the hood, showing burning crimson eyes and red highlights, but by then it was too late. She produced the two fighting daggers, each with a wide, six-inch long blade, "Right," her eyes locked on the first man, and she spun on one heel, and kicked him so hard that he slammed into the wall, cracking the cement.

She performed a neat backflip, ending up in a handstand, wrapping her legs around the neck of the man who had been creeping up behind her, and squeezing with her thighs until there was a loud 'crack'. She finished the job by pushing one knife into his belly, up to the hilt.

The remaining two men stared at her as she turned the right way around, then started to advance from either side. Mirage's eyes darted, and she spun to her left, stabbing with the knife in her left hand into the man's chest, and threw the other knife to the right. It went straight into the other man’s neck, and he died very quietly. Espio felt like applauding, except for that he was slightly disturbed with the ease with which Mirage had pulled off the three deaths.

Mirage pulled the knife out of the last man’s neck and looked at the three bodies. Then she turned to the fourth man, the ringleader, who was still lying on the ground, his jaw dropping. She stepped up to him and gave him a kick in the general region of his kidneys, "Get up," she ordered him, "Get up or give up."

The man cowered, "I give up," he said quietly.

Mirage's eyes narrowed, "You are pathetic," she snarled, "Well... you will not be attacking lonely young women for a while now, will you?"

"No..." the man whispered.

Lonely? Espio thought.

Mirage cleaned her knives and claws on the man’s jacket and turned away from him, replacing her knives into her vest. He staggered to his feet, producing a knife of his own. She half-turned, reaching for her own, and if she hadn't, the knife would have gone into the back of her neck. Because she turned, it only went into her shoulder.

The man pulled it out, leaving the half-feline gasping, ready to stab her again.

A shuriken flew out and struck the man's hand, slicing off his fingers in an instant. As the man looked down in shock at the stubs and the blood spilling onto the ground, Espio stepped up behind him, grabbed his head, and twisted hard, breaking his neck with an ugly crunching sound. He dropped the lifeless body and was at Mirage's side in an instant, checking the stab wound.

"Espio?" Mirage gasped. She seemed more shocked than in pain, "How in the hell did you find me?"

"I’ve been following you ever since you left the HQ to here,” he explained as he examined the wound, "Not an easy task, I must say. Hmm... the wound is pretty deep. It's going to need stitches."

"I am fine," Mirage insisted. Her voice and posture was steady thanks to the sheer determination that flowed through her veins, but her face looked horribly pale in the moonlight, "Now leave me alone, or I will have you arrested for stalking."

"And the cops will be all for Shadow’s sister,” Espio said simply, "Now let's go get you patched up. You're bleeding all over the place."

"That is unnecessary," Mirage agreed, clamping one hand over the stab wound, "And in case you have not noticed in your three days of stalking, I do not have any money. I cannot afford to go to a hospital," she finished.

"Well, I can afford to take you,” Espio answered, "And if you're serious about the stalker charges, you're technically an illegal immigrant. Now stop being so stubborn. It's going to do you no good to pass out on your way 'home'."

"I do not trust you," Mirage started to walk away from him, "I do not trust anybody anyway, but I especially do not trust anybody who follows me around in secret for three days and only shows themselves when I get stabbed."

"We don't have to go to a hospital, if that's what is bothering you,” he said, tilting his head, "I can stitch the wound up myself, if you are more comfortable with that."

"Whatever medical experience you have," Mirage resisted the urge to lean against a wall, "I doubt you have any with Hedgecats."

"I know that blood’s supposed to stay on the inside,” Espio told her, “And I'm sorry I've hidden myself from you, but there was no other way I could watch over you."

"I already told you," Mirage stifled a wince of pain, "I do not need your help. I could have killed that thug, stab wound or no stab wound. And I..." she stopped and leant on a wall, “I am fine…”

"Are you going to accept my help?" the chameleon asked, "Or are you going to let yourself pass out alone in this alley surrounded by a bunch of dead men?"

"I do not need your help," Mirage lied. It was clear to Espio that she was trying to convince herself much more than convince him.

"Of course not,” Espio said, "You don't need my help. You'll be fine on your own. But I wasn't asking if you needed my help. I was asking if you would accept it." It was his way of appeasing her ego and giving her an opening at the same time.

There was a long, uncomfortable pause, "Okay..." Mirage relented quietly.

Espio nodded and walked over to her, taking her uninjured arm and leading her out of the alley and back towards her makeshift home, "Thank you,” he said quietly.

"Whatever..." Mirage was leaning heavily on him for support, one hand pressed to the wound. The blood was seeping between her fingers, and it showed up all too well against her white vest.

Espio led her back to her place and sat her down on a chair, removing her bloodstained vest and placing it to the side. The chameleon sat down beside her and took out his compact first aid kit, getting to work cleaning, sterilizing, and stitching the wound. "This is going to hurt a little,” he warned her.

Mirage didn't protest, or show any sign of being in actual pain, although it was clear that the blood loss had weakened her, "And I was going to move on tomorrow," she muttered. Espio glanced around the room. Apart from the chair she was sitting on, a mattress and a sheet, it was empty. Mirage hadn't been lying when she'd said that she'd been wearing all her worldly possessions.

Espio returned his focus to the wound, threading the needle back and forth through it, closing the tear in her skin. With that done, he bandaged it up and gave it a tap, "There. It should heal up soon if you don't open it again. Be careful with that arm."

"Thank you," Mirage said quietly. She looked at her feet, not meeting his eyes, "Thank you for... for helping me." Espio could see it was horribly difficult for the hedgecat to say that. She stood up carefully, "You can go now... if you want," she said uncertainly.

Espio nodded and took a steady breath, looking up at her, "Yes. And just the same, if you want it, I can stay."

Mirage walked over to the mattress and lay down on it, finding, after a few seconds, a position that didn't hurt her left shoulder, "Either way," she muttered, not looking at him, "It is not like you will have anything to sleep on."

"That won't bother me,” Espio told her, sitting back against the wall.

"Then stay," Mirage wrapped her tail around her waist, and curled up, trying not to move her arm. Thanks to the blood loss, she fell asleep almost as soon as she closed her eyes.

"I will,” the chameleon said quietly. He wondered how hard it was for her to ask him to stay or to just help her. He knew people well enough to know that her tough attitude was just a shield for a much more vulnerable persona hiding inside. She was alone in a strange world, the product of an experiment, intended to be nothing but a weapon. She was afraid, and Espio couldn't honestly blame her. She needed to break free of that fear, though, for truly it was the one thing which made her a slave, although she wasn't aware of it. It wasn't the ninja's job to help her with her problems, merely to keep her safe. No, not the job... but it was what he wanted to do.

~~~

Tails circled Angel Island in the Cyclone once before he landed, to make sure Knuckles was aware he was flying in. Then he brought the plane in to land.

Almost immediately, the red echidna was on the scene, an annoyed expression, stomping towards Tails' plane. From a distance, Tails could hear Knuckles muttering something, although he couldn't make out the words.

Tails climbed out of the plane and jumped own onto the soil, "Knuckles, hey," he smiled nervously.

"Hey Tails,” Knuckles said, not sounding nearly as cheery as the fox did, "What is your business here? I told you that I don't need your help."

"Knuckles, you don't know what these things are or what they can do," Tails replied, "I know I can't be much help at throwing them off, but I figured you might want some company for when they show up and try to trick you or something."

"Trick me?!" Knuckles said angrily, "I am not going to be tricked!" Considering the number of times Eggman had fooled him, it was a delicate and touchy subject for him.

"Of course you're not going to be tricked," Tails agreed, ingratiatingly, "I just figured you might need somebody to point out the bad guys."

"Hmph!" Knuckles crossed his arms over his chest and turned away from the young fox, "Fine. You can help if you want, but I still don't need it."

Tails put the steering lock on the Cyclone, "It's not that big a deal to accept help once in a while," he told the echidna, "It's not like it makes you weak or anything."

"That's right,” Knuckles replied sharply, turning around and walking back the way he came, "Just don't let me catch you touching the Master Emerald."

"Knuckles!" Tails shouted reproachfully, "I'm your friend! I'm not going to try to steal it!"

"It had to be said anyway,” Knuckles said with a shrug, still walking towards the altar.

Tails shook his head, followed him and looked up at the Master Emerald for several seconds, "Don't you ever get bored, doing the same thing every day?" he asked, "I'd go crazy."

Knuckles stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked back at Tails. "Who ever said that I'm not?" the echidna asked, a strange gleam in his eye.

"Well, uh..." Tails shrugged, "You've never complained about it before," he replied.

Knuckles opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. Finding a reply, he said simply, "Yeah, it does get boring,” the echidna turned away again and walked up the stairs of the altar, "It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it." He took a seat on the final step, looking out over the island.

Tails walked up behind Knuckles, "I gotta admit, you've got a nice place to be bored on," he told the echidna.

"It has its perks,” Knuckles admitted, "I've got the best view in the world and all the peace and quiet I would ever want."

"More than you want sometimes, I expect," Tails was trying to sound cheerful.

Although he didn't admit it, Knuckles privately appreciated the kit's efforts to be friendly, "Yes,” he said with a nod, "But I've gotten used to it. I wouldn't fit in a city or some noisy place like that."

"Hey, at least you're reliable," Tails answered, "I can never know where Sonic's gonna be. Shadow's pretty erratic too."

The echidna smirked at the compliment. "Thanks,” he said gratefully, "I can't imagine what it’s like trying to keep up with Sonic. I just wish I had the freedom to try." He closed his mouth tightly, feeling like he said too much.

Tails blinked, hearing the comment, "You'd like to get down from here more often, wouldn't you," he suggested.

"Well..." the echidna began, suddenly looking uncomfortable, "Yeah, I kinda would."

"I'd offer to help, but... I'd make a lousy guardian. Even for a little while," Tails admitted.

Passing on his duties was something that had never occurred to the guardian, and truthfully he was too paranoid to consider it. But... "Thanks for the offer, but I couldn't do that,” he said, shaking his head, "Protecting the Master Emerald is my sworn duty, and I can't pass it along to someone else."

"I understand," Tails rested his chin in one hand, as if his mind was elsewhere, "You don't have to be on your own to feel lonely, anyway."

Knuckles blinked and turned his head towards Tails curiously. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well..." Tails thought fast, "Everybody feels like they're all on their own sometimes. They don't have to live on an island in a sky to feel it."

Knuckles nodded slowly. "That makes sense, I guess, but it still would be nice to have more people around to talk to,” he admitted, "I doubt that's a problem for you. You've got plenty of friends."

"Huh... they wouldn't understand..." Tails muttered. He winced, realising what he'd just said.

Knuckles just tilted his head to the side, his violet eyes examining the fox curiously, wondering what that was supposed to mean. When Tails didn't elaborate on the statement, the echidna mentally shrugged and turned back towards the excellent view of his island.

Tails just hugged his knees, immensely relieved that Knuckles hadn't pushed him for an explanation on something he wasn't certain about himself, "You know how you can do something and it seems like a small thing at the time, and then later on you find out it changed your whole life?" he asked.

"No, I don't,” Knuckles answered truthfully, "I've never had anything like that happen to me. Never had the chance. Things are simple here."

Tails shrugged, "Well, it happened to me a couple of years ago. Sometimes I wonder if I'd be a different person if I'd... well... acted differently then. Or if I'd be exactly the same."

Knuckles' curiosity drove him to ask, "What happened?" He was interested in helping his friend, of course, but he also just enjoyed the conversation. He didn't get many of those.

"Well, like I said, it wasn't anything big," Tails looked embarrassed, "Not then, anyway. It was all a joke, really..."

Knuckles nodded, his eyes still fixed on the fox, silently asking him to explain himself.

"Well, me and Sonic and Vector, we were just hanging around, and we went into this newspaper shop," Tails squirmed, "And there were all those magazines on the top shelf, and I asked Sonic what they were for, and Vector got one down and showed me a few pictures and said they were for people with nothing else to do... And then there were the other top shelf magazines, ones with... men in them," Tails squirmed, "And Sonic said they were for men who liked men. And we were all, ew, yuck... and then Vector dared Sonic to buy a magazine, and Sonic dared Vector to buy a guy magazine, and he did. And when we got out, he gave it to me. And... well, I kept it."

Knuckles leaned back, propping himself up on his elbows, and regarded the fox with a curious expression, "Why would you keep it? I mean, I didn't think you were into... that,” he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"I... think I might be," Tails admitted, "I'm not sure though."

Knuckles was quiet for a moment as he considered this; his limited experience in such matters didn't allow for much advice from him. Sitting back up, he told Tails, "Don't worry about it. You'll be whatever you're meant to be, and that should be good enough for everyone else. You'll figure it out."

"But I don't understand how I feel and I can't ask anybody else, I CAN'T," Tails insisted, "It would be... stupid."

As far as people went, Knuckles wasn't very judgemental. Having lived on an island all his life, he never had societal norms drilled into his mind. He just did what came natural to him, and he would expect the same from anyone else, "I'm not sure how to help you there, Tails,” Knuckles admitted, "But I'll help out however I can."

A few seconds passed, and Tails shrugged, "Yeah, I guess... I guess that would help," he said quietly.

Knuckles scratched the side of his head. "I guess you could figure it out if you... tested yourself more,” the echidna suggested

"Tested... myself?" Tails' jaw hung open, "For... being a... a... you know... for liking guys?" He hung his head, "It's not that... Well... sometimes I thought about... telling Sonic, but... I figured... he'd be all weirded out or something."

"Sonic's your friend, right?" Knuckles said, "He should be fine with whatever you tell him."

"I guess..." Tails nodded, "But what if he's not? I can't just go up to him and say, ‘Hey Sonic, I'm not sure if I'm gay, would you help me find out?’ He's my best friend!"

The red echidna frowned and looked down at the stone steps, trying unsuccessfully to come up with a solution for the fox. Being unable to rely on a friend in personal matters was a new concept for him - he’d never relied on anybody, "I don't know what to say. I mean, if you really want to know how you feel, you should, you know, experiment a little. With boys and girls. See what you are into, you know?"

"I guess so," Tails looked a little happier, "I just don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, you know?"

"Yeah, I know,” Knuckles replied, giving the fox a little smile, his own feeble attempt at cheering him up.

"Well, it's something to think about," Tails looked up, "You wouldn't mind... not telling anybody, would you? I just don't feel like telling anybody yet."

"Your secret is safe with me,” the echidna said with a firm nod. He added jokingly, "It's not like there's anyone for me to tell up here."

Tails grinned, "I'm not even sure yet, anyway," he muttered, "But... thanks for listening."

"My pleasure. I don't get to listen enough, really." Knuckles turned back towards the view of the island.

Tails leant back and watched the stars rise. He wasn't sure why, entirely, but for whatever reason he felt a lot better about having that magazine now he'd told Knuckles about it. It had been nagging on his mind for a couple of years now.

~~~

Quite a long way away, Ashura stood outside a jewellery shop. He smirked at the blue jewel displayed in the window. Reinforced glass, obviously. Arrogant fools… acting as if a Chaos Emerald were a common trophy.

He tossed the green Chaos Emerald up and down thoughtfully, contemplating his runaway. Mirage had respected him. Or maybe she had feared him - it made little difference. And now she was playing truant. And Shadow hadn’t destroyed the world, despite Gerald’s programming. Well, that wasn’t such a bad thing, but still…

Freedom. A petty excuse to say what you thought and do what you liked. He’d see to stamping that out when he ruled the planet.

People had asked for his help before. And he had given it. But there was no such thing as ‘something for nothing’. And he was good at charging all you had and then some. He looked at the Green Emerald. Enough dawdling.

“CHAOS SPEAR!” he shouted, and the glass of the window exploded, leaving a large hole. People started screaming and running. Ashura laughed quietly and snatched up the blue Chaos Emerald. He could just Chaos Control away, but watching those idiot mortals panic was much more fun.

“It’s Shadow the Hedgehog!” somebody screamed.

Ashura fired a Chaos Spear at their legs, furious, “I am not Shadow the Hedgehog!” he shouted, “I am Ashura! And I’m going to take over this miserable little planet and make it my home base for Omniversal domination! And you can quote me on that!”

Laughing softly, he used Chaos Control to leave the area. That was three Chaos Emeralds he had now - the red one taken from the stupid, blubbery grandson of Gerald who had grovelled frantically even as he’d blown up quite a large part of the base. He’d left the man alive. For competition, later.

Three more Emeralds and he’d have to look for Mirage. He might come across her sooner of course.

Yes indeed. Life was good.

~~~

Froggy: Ashura wants *gasp* omniversal domination?! Who knew?