Sonic: The Madness

10 Years Later


She stretched, sleep leaving her body. Arms, legs, fingers, toes, and wings all
extended as muscles stretched.

Reaching out, Rouge grabbed a pair of panties off the nightstand and slipped them
on, picking the robe up off the floor by the bed and slipping it on, the slit in
the back sliding under her wings. Sliding across the bed, she kissed her husband.
Thomas Adriani awoke. "Morning..."

"Mmmm... now? What time is it?" he asked.

She answered, "time to get up... come on, Tom, you can't pay attention to me if
you're asleep!"

He gave her an odd stare. "I was joking, Tom! But seriously, Teal will be up any
minute, and you know how she has to hug us in the mornings. Get some pants on,
okay? Besides, tonight's charity night at the casino, we can't stay in bed all
day!"

Tom dressed, the two heading towards the manor kitchen. The little bat girl was
already awake, waiting for the microwave to finish. "Mommy! I'm having sausage!"
Teal took after Rouge mainly, with almost no indication her father was human.
However, she had inherited Tom's digestive system, and unlike her mother, could
eat meat.

"Working the microwave already, I'm proud of you, Teal," Rouge commented, her
daughter smiling at the praise.

"DADDY!" The girl flew through the air, hugging her father tightly. Teal
unlatched as the microwave bell sounded, removing her plate and collecting a
fork from the counter. The three entered the living room, Tom turning the
television on to a kid's program for his daughter.

"And you wanted to send her to school," Rouge teased. "She probably learns more
from these puppet shows than she would in a school anyway!"

His hands under her armpits, Tom hoisted Rouge in the air to eye level and sat
them both on the couch. "Have I told you how much I love you lately?"

She answered, "only more times than I can keep track of... doesn't mean you
shouldn't tell me anyway, though!"

Rouge kissed him, a comment of "EWW!" from their daughter.

"She'll understand when she's older," Rouge said.

"Older, huh? She's not dating until she turns 18!" An evil stare from Rouge put
an end to Tom's joke. "Er, okay, 15 then."


-------------------------------------------------

Victoria inspected the kitchen. Her son, Theodore, scrubbed the grill. "Hey, take
your time, we don't need that cleaned now, we have time, son!" Even now she ran
Club Rouge as a tight ship, but knew not to push any of the employees. Rouge
wouldn't like that. Keeping the employees happy was the goal. And tonight was
charity night, the casino's big yearly event.

So far, the morning crowd had been light. It was the main reason the stranger
seemed to stand out, a tall human in a long brown coat and stocking cap wandering
through the doors with a slightly confused look on his face. Approaching the
stranger, she asked, "can I help you sir? You look lost!"

Replying, "yes, actually, I- YAH!" the stranger seemed to jump back as he saw
her. Victoria has encountered this before, humans who expect the voice to be some
tall human woman, only to find her when they turned. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to
frighten you, sir!" she apologized.

The stranger muttered, "Uh, no, just a bit startled, actually... can you point me
to a phone, please?" he asked, trying to hide his unease at seeing her.

With a wave of her hand, the gentleman followed her to the wall phones. "will you
need anything else?"

Asking, "Actually, yes, do you have the time?"

She checked her watch. "8:19 A.M."

She heard him utter a "thank you" as she walked away.

She'd seen this before, people coming off hangovers and confused by the city's
eternal night, usually tourists who stumbled out of their hotel rooms and didn't
know what was going on.

A typical day on the job.


-------------------------------------------------

Clara ran through old newspaper clippings and photos of Herbert Westwood's career.
Despite any belief that he'd thrown his life away, he had saved their world
through his own persistence at digging for hidden truths in the darkness.

She missed him.

A knock on the door pulled her from the memories. Arising, she answered the door
to find a large human man, dressed in a long brown coat and cheap stocking cap.
She greeted, "yes?"

"Eh... hi. I'm looking for a Herbert Westwood, I was told this was his last known
address..." the stranger explained, an odd look on his face.

"May I ask who you are?" she asked, puzzled that anyone would be looking for
Herbert. His death wasn't a secret, and no one had asked about him since.

The stranger said, "Bill. Bill... Kesh. Do I have the right house?"

The name 'Bill' was one that Herb had mentioned a few times before.

"Come in," she said, leading him inside. "I haven't had many visitors lately,
I'm afraid, so I apologize for the mess," she explained, pointing out the dust.

He responded, "that's okay, I knew I'd be stopping by unannounced. So, is he
home? I haven't seen him in 15 years-"

"He died four years ago." Clara wasn't sure how the stranger would take the news,
but she had said it.

"I didn't know... I'm sorry I- did you know him?" His voice showed some sadness.

"I was his wife for the last few years of his life, actually." she replied. "An
old colleague. After what happened, he retired and we gave up our professional
interests..."

He was looking over the artifacts on the shelves. "You were into old things, like
he was, I take it... relics, leftovers of the past- GAH!" Bill jumped back in
horror, the small state of Cthulhu disturbing him.

"Most people comment that they find that particular piece either ugly or weird...
I've never seen anyone frightened by it," she remarked. "Herbert had mentioned
a man named Bill to me, the only Bill he knew."

"Cthulhu," Bill explained. "The very thing I fear, the very thing I witnessed...
the very thing he came to me to learn about if he ever needed to stop it," he
explained, still a hint of fear in his voice. "It was 15 years ago, I met him
in a library... he was scaring the librarians with his research, and I was called
in to deal with him. He showed me a photo and I knew I had to help him."

"I'm glad you did," she said, "our world owes you. My name is Clara. I take it you
are from another dimension..."

"That's right," he answered. "I'm sorry I acted odd around you, in my world, we
don't-"

"You don't have animals like me," she finished. "Herbert told me. It must have been
odd to see me at first. Or any animal when you came here."

"How bad was it?" She raised an eyebrow. "Cthulhu, I mean," Bill clarified.

"Oh. Not too bad. Herbert and his friends stopped the cult before they could
summon the god. They were lucky."

"We were even luckier. Cthulhu rose from the sea. We were fortunate to have had a
weapon to stop him. We came real close on that one..."

"I'm honestly surprised you even came. That you had the technology, that you knew
how to get to his specific dimension..." she commented, wiping her glasses.

"We were working on our own dimensional technology at the time. I even recorded
the event when he left so I could follow. But you know how it goes, you get busy
with your own affairs, things come up... and stuff is missed. Now I wish I'd
showed up a lot sooner..." he apologized.

"The Shadow Over Innsmouth." He looked at her. "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," she
said again. "It must have been what you thought when you saw me. I'm familiar
with the story. Herbert had a small back book of stories. One you gave him, I
believe."

"No, not really... although the city you call Night Babylon sits where Innsmouth
once stood in my world," he explained. "It was rebuilt after the bombings. Nice
place now, especially after the reconstruction. Cthulhu made a mess when he
walked all over the place. Even our best warriors couldn't keep him-"

"Your best warriors? I wouldn't think any human would challenge Cthulhu directly,"
Clara remarked.

Explaining, "Okay... I'm probably gonna catch it anyway when I get back,
unauthorized travel with these devices isn't exactly allowed... but I think you
deserve to know the truth..."


-------------------------------------------------

Flipping through the scrapbook, Clara displayed a photograph. "This was taken
shortly after the incident. Herbert with the President... and there's Sonic,
Tails, Amy, and Shadow. Heroes who helped him realize his dream."

Bill took the photo. "Tails, huh? Guess I can see why... the black one Shadow?
He looks depressed, angry..."

"Shadow's always like that. He was created, an artificial life form... a lot of
tragedy involved." Taking the photo back, she slid it under the plastic cover.

A cat rubbed against her legs. "Oh, Zadok, I forgot to feed you... this is our
child, the last I have of Herbert." Bill gave her an odd look. She clarified,
"not literally, of course! Herbert couldn't- his spine was severely injured, he
couldn't even... you get the idea."

"I'm familiar with the effects of such tissue damage to the nervous system, yes,"
Bill replied.

Pulling a scrap of paper and a pencil, she began to write. "You should visit
him..."


-------------------------------------------------

Shadow approached the grave. "You were right, Westwood... I remember you as I did
Maria. Neither of you will ever go away so long as I live."

"You must be Shadow..." Hearing a voice, he looked back. A human was behind him,
a man in a long brown coat.

"Yes. How did you know?"

"I met with Westwood's wife earlier, looking for him. I just found out... she told
me about his last days, about his friends. You were mentioned. Bill Kesh. I met
him 15 years ago. He came to me to learn about things, dark things..." the stranger
explained.

"Hmph... 15 years ago. He told me he went to another dimension to study things,"
Shadow commented. "That's right," Bill replied. "I wish I'd had the chance to
come here before he died, but what he did saved your world. As obsessed as he was,
he knew what he had to do. I'm just glad he didn't kill himself in the process."

Shadow remarked, "we all have our assigned task in life. His was researching the
unknown. Mine is as the ultimate life form and a weapon."

"No," Bill said. "No one assigns our tasks but us. No one can make you do
something, you always have a choice to follow an order. I learned that a long time
ago, that I didn't have to do as I was expected. Don't let your past dictate your
future. The choice is always yours. I make my choices as I see fit."

"I see." Shadow kept this eyes fixed on the grave. "Will you be returning to your
dimension now?"

"Not yet," he answered. "I think I'll take time and explore your Earth some
before I leave. I'm in no hurry."

Shadow remained in place as Bill Kesh walked away. 'Poor mortals... they live such
short lives. But who was that, anyway? I don't think he was human. He did have a
point, however...'


-------------------------------------------------

Sonic met Eggman at the cemetery. The grave called to them like a morbid reminder
of the past. HERBERT KOLCHAK WESTWOOD. "It's been... four years now." Ivo sighed,
his friend gone.

"Yeah, who knew... the pain pills damaged his liver. How's Clara holding up these
days?"

"I check in on her on occasion. She seems to be happy with the cat those two had."

Eggman paced on the cane- Herbert's old cane. He didn't need it, but it was a
reminder of an old friend. "He was right about me, you know," Sonic spoke.
"When Amy and I had our son... and the world was threatened last year, I pushed
myself harder than ever to save everyone. Marrying Amy didn't slow me down at
all. It made me faster than I would have thought."

Eggman looked down at the hedgehog. "Sonic... speaking of threats... I am getting
old. I know the last ten years I have spent making amends for my ways, but... what
do you say? Wanna give it a go?" Sonic gave him an odd stare. "I mean it! I'll find
an empty island somewhere, and really give it my all to take it over! And you will
stop me!"

"You WANT me to WIN?" Sonic asked, now more puzzled than before. Ivo replied,
"it is fate, yes... but I miss our battles."

"Fine," Sonic agreed, "set it up and I'll be there!"


-------------------------------------------------

Knuckles lined his two sons up outside. "What's wrong with you two? I'd expect you
to not know any better, Slate, but Striker? You're seven! You should know better!
You NEVER hit a girl, ever!"

"But she took our ball!" Striker blurted out.

Knuckles shook his head, "that little girl is only three years old! She doesn't
know any better! If your mother finds out... you have a lot to learn..."


-------------------------------------------------

Rouge adjusted her evening gown. "You look fine!" Tom said.

The 28 year old bat admired herself in the mirror. "Yeah, I still got it!"

Tom agreed, "you're still as hot as the day I met you!"

"You aren't so bad either, my stud! That's what happens when you take care of
your body!" Grabbing her purse, she led him to the front door.

"Shadow, thanks for watching her," Rouge said as they left. Shadow looked down at
the young bat.

"Uncle Shadow, wanna watch cartoons with me?"

He patted her on the head. "Yes, I think I will..."

He sat the child in front of the television. "Now... what cartoons do you want to
watch?"

"You pick uncle Shadow!" she shouted.

Digging through the stack of discs, he found one labeled ROAD RUNNER. 'Is
this...' Shadow thought, popping the disc into the player. A melody trumpeted
from the television as a blue road runner and brown coyote appeared on the
screen. 'I heard about these. Westwood brought them from the other Earth...'

Rouge's daughter was laughing at the antics on screen. 'I'm not sure of those two
will like her watching this cartoon,' he pondered, watching it himself. 'It seems
rather violent... the coyote falls off the cliff, is hit by a rock, run over by a
bus...'

Shadow began laughing, as if he had no control. 'Repeatedly. The coyote can't win!
And the Road Runner... he actually goes out of his way to irritate the coyote! The
bird seems to enjoy being sadistic!'

Shadow was laughing at the violence. The child was entertained by the bright colors
of the cartoon world. Shadow found entertainment in the repeated beatings the coyote
received at the hands of fate.

Outside, Tom started the car. "Charity night... busy as hell, loud, lots of
people..."

"So, how's that different from any night at the casino?" Rouge taunted.


-------------------------------------------------

Rouge looked over the crowd. "A better turnout than I'd hoped. The poor kids
should be happy, as long as we don't have too many winners who keep their cash."

"I wouldn't worry about that, honey," Tom said, "no one's gonna let themselves be
known that way, not tonight."

"Boss?" It was Victoria. "That man... the big winner."

"Really?" Rouge looked his way. The tall human in the brown coat was raking in
the cash at the craps table.

"He was in this morning, asked for the phone... I had security keep an eye on him,
no cheating. Guy's good... 20 million," the fox explained.

"Maybe we should check this guy out, see what he's about," Tom suggested. Rouge
nodded, leading the way as the crowd parted. Everyone knew the owners of Club
Rouge. Rouge had made it her business to tell people, after all.

"Mister Lucky, I see... I own this casino, and I have never seen anyone win over
20 million this fast as long as I've owned Club Rouge." she greeted.

"I would assume you've been watching carefully to make sure I wasn't cheating,
right?" he asked, barely looking her way.

"Yes, very. I'm Rouge Adriani. Can I get you something to drink? Eat? On the
house..."

"Sorry, shouldn't. Gotta watch my diet..." the stranger replied, brushing off
the offer.

She watched his next throw end in a bust, the stranger commenting, "oh, well...
looks like the kids get a lot of money."

She was honestly disappointed that someone with such a winning streak could lose
it all so fast. "Try your luck again, on the house... your luck can't have run
out so soon," Rouge said, handing him another chip.

"Look, lady, I appreciate the gesture, but you're not my kind, honestly!" he
responded, seemingly horrified.

She laughed. "I'm not hitting on you, dummy! My husband is right here!"

Tom waved at him. "Thomas Adriani. Go on, my wife gave you the chip, I'd use it.
Don't wanna make her mad..."

Placing the chip, the stranger gave a toss, another perfect seven. "See? Mr. Lucky
still has it!" she complimented.

"Actually, I don't," he replied. "You do. Take this as my kind donation to
charity. I'd have donated the rest anyway, but you already have that. I really
must be going..."

Cameras took his picture. "Twenty million and two hundred... who do we owe this
kind sum to, anyway?" she inquired.

"Bill Kesh. That's K-E-S-H! Enjoy the rest of your event. See ya!" he shouted,
bolting for the door, pushing through the crowd cheering his name.

Rouge looked up at her husband. "He was an odd one..."

"Yes, real odd," Tom agreed.


-------------------------------------------------

They looked in on their daughter. "Asleep," Rouge said, checking the covers.

"Shadow just left," Tom explained. "I paid him for watching her."

"You didn't have to do that," Rouge scolded.

He replied, "I know... I told him he should take it. I know he's spending good
time doing this for us."

"Shadow's been a good friend to both of us," Rouge sighed. "Even helping us with
Teal. He's never given us argument, either..."

"I think Shadow's different from most people," Tom commented. "He doesn't wish
either of us ill for being together. But he still watches over us. I think he
does better when he has focus in life."

"He lost Maria a long time ago... helping us gives him something to hold onto.
It calms him down," Rouge said. "Lets go before we wake her up."

Slumping on the bed, Tom stretched. "We haven't been out on a date in a long
time!"

"Raising a child does take time," Rouge commented, "not that I would give her up
to free our time. We made her, our love. I'd never let her go."

He asked, "you ever think about another kid?"

"Sometimes... I could stop taking birth control pills, if you want..." she
answered.

"I don't know... I wouldn't object, but... even so, it took a LONG time for you
to get pregnant, IF it'll happen again."

"I know," she mused, "the species difference... we were VERY lucky."

Rifling through her drawers looking for a gown, she found something that brought a
wicked smile to her lips. Carrying the goods into the bathroom, she changed.
"Tom..."

He asked, "Yes? what is- oh boy!"

She stood before him in her vinyl dominatrix suit. "I haven't worn this in a long
time... and you're right, I am still as hot as I was. Fits perfectly!" Holding
the handcuffs up by her middle finger, she explained, "you remember how this goes!
Scared? No, don't answer... I can hear your heart rate going up already! Sensitive ears, after all..."

"Uh... where's the whip?" he asked nervously.

She replied, I don't want to make a lot of noise. Teal might get freaked out if
she hears us. So... I guess we'll have to be quiet."

"If that's even possible," he remarked.


-------------------------------------------------

Morning, if it could be called that in Night Babylon. Shadow was assisting the
local police. Five known criminals, tied up in the warehouse behind Club Rouge.
A robbery attempt that had been ruined by an unknown hero.

The five were ranting about a tall human in a brown coat and stocking cap. Shadow
kept this mouth shut about Bill Kesh. He knew it had to be him, but didn't want to
explain how he knew.

Walking through the warehouse, he found a torn piece of rubber. Picking it up,
Shadow recognized the eye. Looking the fragment over carefully, he saw it
was a translucent eye facade, made to move in its socket in the rubber shard.

Shadow had his proof that Bill Kesh had not been human. But the mystery of what
exactly Bill Kesh was.. would likely never be solved.