Mobius Strip

AU Warning: This is an AU. Oh my sweet God this is an AU. Most things mentioned about Mobius are cannon according to an odd combination of what I know from Archie Comics, Sonic X, Sonic Underground, and other random but semi-cannon sources. Kain’s past, present, and future have been altered to my concept of him and Nosgoth. The info on Kain will be mostly cannon as far as Blood Omen 2 and Defiance are concerned.

Slash Warning: This is going to be chock full of slash in later chapters. It will not all be slash, but there will be much of it. Mostly because I think Kain is bi leaning towards gay, and there aren’t enough cool females on Mobius. No offense to you Kain fangirls out there, or you Rouge and Amy fans.

That being said, please rate and comment, I need motivation if I'm to finish anything. It's just how I am.


~ Please suspend fanboy detail obsession for the sake of enjoyment. ~


Mobius Strip

~Chapter One~
Finding Moebius

Kain strode resolutely through the derelict halls of Vorador’s keep, the place that had once been the resting place of the eldest vampire on Nosgoth. It had been almost three centuries since he had last entered this place, and it was with great ambition and purpose that he crossed this threshold now.

Three hundred years he had spent alone now; three hundred years with no company but that of the Reaver, the sword that now held the soul of the first born of his lieutenants, his only true equal, his lover, Raziel. Over two thirds of that time he had spent researching ancient enchantments; Searching for some way to free his imprisoned love. Finally, he had found the means.

The spell he was going to attempt was difficult to complete, even for a skilled mage, but if he could manage it, if he could speak to Moebius one more time, he knew he could change things. He knew he could put things right again.

He had already been to the citadel of the ancients, the place Janos had fallen, but to no avail. The crypt in Vorador’s mansion was his last option. If he couldn’t find something here he would have to forsake his mission to save his bonded; without the component he sought, all hope was lost.

Abandoned for several centuries though the catacombs were, they were still suitably lit. The ever-burning candelabras illuminated the many layers of dust and grime. Most would find the crumbling stone walls and moss covered floors confusing, but Kain had no such difficulty; His most recent evolution allowed him the ability to easily recall anything he had seen in his life, down to the finest detail. The manor was very efficiently mapped out in his mind.

What the spell called for was the fang of a vampire twice the age of the caster, unfortunately, there was only one such vampire who could possibly fulfill those criteria where Kain was concerned. That, of course, was Janos.

As Kain entered the room, the room in which Janos had once lain in stasis as his heart beat in the breast of another, he was acutely aware of the last men who had entered here before him. Their energy still permeated the quiet calm of the room; even hundreds of years and the magical emittions of hundreds of undying candles could not scourge their psionic resonance from the vicinity.

Kain’s eyes shifted to the corners of the chamber, almost expecting to see Janos himself, or perhaps Vorador, despite knowing the two men had died long ago. Even the sword was reacting to the energy in the room, growing warm and nearly humming. Kain tried to mentally pacify the sword, focusing upon his own optimistic emotions in hopes that the soul within the blade would sense them.

The sword did indeed calm down somewhat, and Kain proceeded to search the room. He had, of course, realized he would not be finding a fang in this place. He could only hope that some other object from the man would be adequate. Anything he could find would have to do; there would be no alternative.

The altar on which his elder had rested was bare; Kain was starting to believe there was no indication the great vampire lord had ever existed. The many candles upon the outcroppings of the walls cast mercilessly intense light throughout the room and Kain’s eyes, whose night vision had recently intensified significantly, were suffering greatly. He was almost ready to give up and return to the citadel when he saw it; A small ebony feather.

It was not what he had come for, but it was more than he had expected to recover. He lowered himself to one knee and grasped the feather between two claws, careful not to damage it. It was in amazingly good condition after so many years, all the better for his purposes.

Kain possessed everything the spell required now. He was done dogging the steps of his own miserable past, he was done tracking down stones and feathers, and he was done waiting.

The Gods knew he and Raziel had done enough waiting for several life times.

Kain removed from a small pouch at his side a handful of objects, which he placed on the altar in front of him. The first object he placed was a bit of amber, within which was a drop of his own blood, a piece of himself frozen in time, he placed upon this the feather. Next, a pure and flawless diamond, a blank canvas of sorts through which he could channel and focus his thoughts and there-by designate a target for the spell.

If all went right, Kain would soon find himself standing in front of Moebius, in a time before the chronomancer’s soul had been returned to his master’s wheel. There was information that only he had, and it was information Kain desperately needed. He would have it, and he would have Raziel back. Perhaps he could even save Turel… But no, that was too much to pray for.

The last component he held in his hand, a black pearl, the pearl from the signet ring he had given Turel. Turel had thrown the ring at him when he had deserted his post and Kain had kept it. It was an emotionally charged item, and Kain assumed that fact would make this pearl in particular all the better for the task at hand.

Kain took a deep and unnecessary breath and repeated flawlessly the incantation he had read so long ago. As he spoke the words of the arcane he concentrated on what he wanted. ‘I want to be taken to Moebius… I must reach Moebius…’ He kept repeating this idea in his mind as he crushed the pearl over the other items he had placed on the altar.

The feeling of arcane magic was nothing like that of using TK. The difference was like that between leather and vinyl. Where one feels gritty and significant, natural; the other feels slick and simulated, utterly false.

It wasn’t pleasant, but the thought of seeing Raziel again was ample incentive.

As he completed the incantation Kain felt a peculiar sensation, even more undesirable than that he had felt previously. It felt as though he were plummeting with his feet still on the dusty floor; like the world itself were falling with him, away from him.

Kain had traveled through time before, and he knew what to expect; this wasn’t it. Time travel had always been accompanied by a feeling of distance between body and mind, a kind of separation between existence and reality. What Kain felt now as he submitted to the control of the arcane energy overwhelming him was not a sense of detachment, but distinctly that of relocation. It was the feeling of moving through space rather than history.

Despite the slight alarm Kain felt at the unfamiliar feeling he did not sense anything was amiss. Of course it felt different, he had never done the magic on his own before. This was simply the result of his own mind channeling the magic. He was a more corporeal creature than Moebius, so it was logical that his own spell effects would feel more physical as well.

When the room around him began to blur Kain closed his eyes. He felt the bitter cold of nilspace, the nondimensional plane through which time travel and teleportation were possible. He dared not open his eyes now; he knew all he would see was a pitch-black expanse. Nilspace was unsettling at best.

Just as he was beginning to feel a bit apprehensive, Kain’s feet hit solid ground. He had never before spent so long in transition between one time and another, and he was grateful more than ever for the loss of his humanity; no human would have been able to survive so long without oxygen.

The warm air was a blessing, and though it smelled somewhat foul Kain was thankful to feel it on his armored hide. Even the tainted air was a sign he had succeeded in casting the spell. He knew he was no longer in the dismal chamber he had started in. His head spinning and his fists clenched tightly shut he stood for a moment, trying to process the smells and sounds of this place as well as regain his mental balance.

There was a loud sound, the likes of which Kain had never heard before and he spun around, opening his eyes and drawing the blade at his back. The thing he saw was large red and gleaming. It looked like a misshapen metal crate on wheels, but there were large glass panels on every side. On the front was what appeared to be some kind of magical light source, which was glaring into his already oversensitive eyes and illuminating the night around him.

“What, is this Halloween? Get outta the road, freak!” At first Kain thought the sound had issued from the large metal object in front of him, but then, as he focused his squinting eyes, he realized there was a human inside of the thing, whatever the thing was.

“Halloween…?” Kain mumbled under his breath. “Where am I? What is this place?” He asked the man in the large metal contraption, his sword still drawn and at the ready.

“That costume frying your brain, man? Everyone knows this is Station Square. Where have you been?” the young man in the car replied impatiently.

“Meridian.” Kain replied distractedly as he searched his mind for the name ‘Station Square’. He couldn’t find it, or ‘Halloween’, and had the boy mentioned something about a costume…? The language in this part of Nosgoth must have evolved differently than what he was used to. No matter, he could understand it well enough.

“Never heard of it… Now get outta the road!” The young man insisted, even going as far as revving the engine. Kain, not knowing what the sound meant, paid it no heed.

“Where is Moebius?” Kain asked.

“You’re on Mobius, man. Now get outta here! I’m in a hurry.”

Kain glanced down at his feet then took a few steps to the side. The large metal thing sped away, leaving a trail of fumes behind it. Kain made an honest attempt not to accidentally breath as he watched the thing travel underground through an odd tunnel under what he assumed must have been a building, though it was far too thin to be as tall as it was without being very unstable, and it had far too many windows.

This part of Nosgoth was very odd, that being said, it was exactly the part of the world in which he would think to find Moebius. What could that boy have meant though? He was not ‘on Moebius’, that was clear.

What he was on was some kind of black stone road that was flanked on either side by two thinner gray stone roads. Did he mean Moebius was under the road? Underground perhaps…? It was worth a try, and what other hope did he have? The only problem he could see, was how to do it…

The first thing that occurred to him was simply digging through the strange black stone road, but he thought better of it. The people here might not take kindly to such a destructive method, and it would be sensible not to make enemies until he knew what he was contending with.

He scanned the neon lit street. He couldn’t be as far from home as he’d thought if they used glyph energy here. Kain was surprised to find that he couldn’t read the signs. As far as he had known, there was only one language spoken in all of Nosgoth, and though he could understand the speech here, he had never seen the written language before.

Not knowing what else to do Kain decided to ask for the information he required. There was no one on the streets, so he entered the building nearest to him. The door stumped the vampire for a moment; there were several panes of glass attached to a central rod. He touched one pane lightly and the whole formation spun on the inner pole and he understood what to do.

The room beyond was crowded and cluttered. Everywhere he looked there were shelves full of small glass frames with pictures of people or places. It seemed it might have been some kind of market, because people were picking the things up and taking them to a counter at the left of the entrance, but the reason anyone would want these things eluded him.

It was no concern of his what the people here were doing, all he needed was information. He walked up to the counter, ignoring the line leading to it and pushing several people out of his way. He squinted a bit in the bright light and looked at the young woman opposite him.

“I… I’m sorry, sir, can I help you with something?” Asked the woman at the counter, taken aback slightly by what she assumed was a man in costume in the middle of July.

“Perhaps… I need to get underground…” Kain replied.

“Oh, yes!” She said, smiling, seeming more in her element as she answered his inquiry “Just down there.” She pointed down one of the rows of shelves and Kain continued on in that direction.

He looked where she had pointed, but didn’t find an obvious entrance. Perhaps it was under the carpet…? He knelt down on one knee, but just as he was going to reach for the edge of the red carpet in front of him when another human interrupted him.

“Nice costume. Kain the Vampire, right? I love that game. Something you’re looking for, Kain?” The man asked. He was wearing almost exactly the same thing as the woman had been and it was easy to work out the fact that must have owned the peculiar shop together. He was also wearing some kind of leather armor, though it was just a coat really…

“What game? What do you mean?” Kain asked, rising to his feet and pointing to the man. This place was getting more and more confusing all the time… “I need to get underground, you are going to help me.”

“Oh! No prob, I never thought Kain was a Sonic Underground fan.” The man said, he laughed as though he had said something immensely funny and handed Kain one of the little glass things on the shelf.

Kain held the little square in his hand. This particular frame held a picture of three creatures. All three of them were playing what looked to be instruments. Kain had no idea why the instruments had some kind of rope coming from their bottoms. Perhaps they too were powered in some way by glyph energy? If so, it was cord rather than rope.

The creatures themselves were interesting as well. They looked more or less humanoid, but they had the ears and half muzzles of animals. They had fur as well, but not the fur you’d see on an average animal. It was spiked in the back, almost spine-like, and all three were very odd colors; One blue, one green, and one pink.

The three of them were playing on a beach. The cover had words on it as well ‘UNDERGROUND: Sonic Underground’s Greatest Hits.’ Kain couldn’t read it, but he had the suspicion it was not directions to the lower levels of this ‘Station Square’.

When Kain looked back up the man was retreating to the back of the shop. In a heartbeat he was standing behind the man, his sword at the man’s throat. The man gasped and struggled lightly, trying to break free of his captor, but Kain simply tightened his claws around the man’s upper arm and applied more pressure to the blade at his neck, just enough to draw blood.

He could feel the spirit of the sword attempting to draw the man’s soul from his body, even as his heart still beat. Raziel was hungry, it seemed. If this man didn’t provide Kain with the information he sought, and quickly, then the blade would soon enough be fed.

Several people in the store were talking in loud whispers about something called the ‘police’, and a few of them seemed to be talking into little metal boxes. Kain ignored them; they were only an annoyance.

“You will direct me to Moebius, then you will tell me how to get there. Is this understood?” Kain growled evenly into the man’s ear.

“Why you doing this?” The man whimpered, his voice was cracking a bit. He was starting to tear, and Kain couldn’t suppress a sadistic chuckle.

“I require information.” Kain reminded coolly, pressing his sword a bit harder. There was a sound coming from outside now, like an odd wailing of some kind, and strange flashing lights. Both were aggravating, and an aggravated Kain is never a pleasant thing.

“I… I don’t know what you mean… Just let me go!” The man actually sobbed now, it was clear he was both confused and terrified. Terrified was understandable, he would be dead soon, but confused was less clear. Shouldn’t Moebius be well known in these parts?

“Police!” Someone had just come in and was yelling, and Kain took a cursory glance in their direction. It seemed these ‘police’ were the guards around here. They weren’t very well armed; Kain couldn’t see so much as a dagger on any one of the four or so ‘police’ who were now in the building. And what good was a glass shield? Surely this was a joke?

“Drop the weapon and put your hands in the air!” Called the ‘police’. Fat chance.

The smell of blood coming from the man’s neck was intoxicating. Kain lowered his head and lapped gently at the wound, exhaling as a slow quiet purr. The man whimpered softly, and whined at a nearly inaudible pitch, clearly terrified.

Kain licked his lips then sunk his teeth into the man’s neck. He hadn’t fed in almost two days and he hadn’t realized just how much he needed it. The blood was thinner that he was used to, and it tasted almost polluted. Nothing like what he was used to at home, perhaps the man had been eating badly, he was a bit thick after all…

Only seconds after he had bitten there was a loud noise from the other side of the room, Kain threw the man into one of the shelves and spun around just in time to be hit where his heart should have been by what felt like a blunt arrow shot at point blank. He snarled at the ‘police’ and reached for the shaft of the projectile.

There was nothing there.

Kain could feel the arrowhead lodged into his chest, he felt the itching as his hide healed around the object. He wiped the blood from his chest and licked his claw idly. He looked back at the ‘police’ and grinned maliciously.

“What?!” The police at the front seemed dumbfounded while the other three were looking at each other, utterly bewildered. People in the shop had already mostly cleared out, but the few that were left were screaming as if it had been them the police had shot.

Kain charged at the police closest to him and swung the Reaver in a wide arc, a shield-breaking blow. Impressively, the shield did not break, but to judge by the sickening crack the police’s hand did.

The man’s scream was drowned out by the same loud exploding noise Kain had heard before and he felt himself be pierced by several more of the shaftless arrows. Now he understood where they were coming from. The very force of the blow knocked the vampire back and he stumbled into a large cardboard cutout of a person in leather pants.

Kain sneered and lifted his hand to the level of his chest; with a flick of his wrist all four of the police were unarmed, their strange weapons thrown across the room by utilization of his TK powers. The police each pulled a small box off of his belt and started chattering hysterically into it.

The last three wounds had taken a bit longer to heal, almost thirty seconds in all. Getting them out was going to hurt even more. That would require digging in with a dagger, something that was never fun and always bloody. These police would pay.

Kain regained his footing quickly and lunged at the other three police, who were huddled rather closely together. He swung high and the three of them raised their glass shields all at once and the Reaver’s blow was diverted.

Kain raised his hand again and the shields were suspended in the air, one of which still had it’s police attached. Kain swung at this police and cleaved him neatly in two. The other two police were still talking franticly into their little boxes and Kain heard more of those irritating sirens. A lot of them. It was time to leave.

He shoved the last two police out of his way and ducked outside and into an ally where, by virtue of the Gods, he was able to blend in with a bit of mist coming from some kind of vent on the wall.

The police didn’t seem to be leaving so he had take more drastic action, there was a ladder nearby leading up to a fire escape. Kain took this as his escape rout. Once on the landing above he jumped from there to the roof of a smallish building then one a bit higher and before he knew it he was well away from the guards and their strange weapons. Good riddance, he still had work to do.

~ Meanwhile ~

“Man, I never wanna see another chili dog as long as I live…” Groaned Manic, the green furred hedgehog in the red leather vest as the group walked along the beach, back towards home.

“I didn’t want to see them in the first place.” Complained Sonia, the pink hedgehog who was walking beside him.

“Sonic insisted, as always…” Said yet another hedgehog, this one with jet black and crimson fur and a toothpick in his mouth, as he looked at Manic with obvious concern.

“Where is he anyway? I have a thing or two to tell him. Chilidogs are far too messy for a lady!” Continued Sonia.

“Tails and him went off to the arcade.” Said the muscular red echidna, cracking his knuckles loudly as they walked.

“Aww… Man! No fair!” Manic moaned.

“You don’t feel well, you don’t need to be playing with Sonic and Tails all night. Besides, Amy went with them.” Shadow said, holding back a grin at the expression on Manic’s face. He never wanted to hang out with his brother when Amy was around, they both ignored everyone else.

The group continued along for some time, talking about everything and nothing, each just enjoying the company of the others. Shadow had put his arm around Manic and Sonia was resolutely keeping her eyes off of them. Knuckles kept bringing up some rapper no one cared about, and Manic was alternating between groaning about his stomach, snuggling into Shadow’s shoulder, and complaining about missing the video games.

All in all it was a usual night for the Freedom Fighters. Not one of them suspected anything out of the ordinary as they left the Station Square city limits and headed through the forest towards Emerald Town.


Kain continued along the tops of the buildings, jumping from roof top to roof top, until the buildings became too sparse to traverse. Where the buildings thinned was a large expanse of forest. It would be safer out there than in town, at least until he could feed. Kain could sense that more police were after him.

Kain moved quickly and quietly from the inhabited area and listened for any signs of life. He was not below feeding on animals when it was necessary, and judging by the pounding of his head he was even weaker then he presently felt. As long as he could find a mammal the blood would not have any lasting ill effects on his body.

It seemed his luck was still holding out, because he did indeed hear something, and it sounded like a rather large something. Infact, it sounded like several of whatever it was. The smell was distinctly warm blooded as well, though it was neither human nor animal as Kain knew them. Whatever it was would do just fine.

Kain stalked silent as a wraith in the direction the creatures were moving. From the smell he expected a few domestic deer. It would have explained both the fur and human smells, as well as the voices he’d heard, but it was most assuredly not deer Kain had stumbled upon.

Before him walking through the forest were not only two of the strange creatures on the picture he had seen, but two others as well, one of which looked even stranger than the others. As he’d thought, they would do fine. Kain was almost sure they were unarmed, but it would have been very unwise to make that assumption again. He would sneak up on the straggler, the green male. It would be an easy meal, and then he could continue his search.

Kain snuck quietly along behind the group, dodging behind trees, waiting for an opportunity to strike. The creature bent down to tie his shoe and the group, all of whom were engaged in a rapid conversation about something called a ‘teevee’, continued on. This was just the opportunity he had been looking for.

Kain waited for the thing to finish it’s task then emerged from the shadows and grabbed the creature from behind, sinking his claws into it’s shoulder and exposing it’s neck. The creature had virtually no chance of fending off the hungry vampire, and he and Kain were both acutely aware of it.

Kain still prayed his kill would go smoothly.

“Shadow!” The creature called out and Kain, lowering his head preparing to sink his fangs into it’s fur covered throat. Clasped a hand over it’s mouth to keep it from making any more noise. It tried to struggle, but Kain, at 6’3”, was more than big enough to control the creature that was at least a hand shorter than him and much thinner.

“Chaos… CONTROL!” Kain realized only then that he’d made yet another mistake that night. Before he could react or even draw blood, Kain heard ragged breathing from behind his back as he was dealt a blow to the back of the head that would have been crippling to any mortal man.

Kain stumbled forward and lost his grip on the trembling hedgehog in his claws. He drew the Reaver and turned just in time to dodge a white-gloved fist coming straight at his face. Kain swung his blade low and Shadow dodged it easily, jumping up and landing a light kick to the side of Kain’s head as Manic scrambled back behind them.

Pure force was obviously not going to work with this enemy, Kain could see that already. His best bet was to try to match his speed. Kain and the Shadow both locked eyes for a moment, each waiting for the other to make a move. Kain turned his head, still keeping his eyes on his foe and spit out a fang that had been knocked loose along with a mouthful of dark blackish blood.

Kain lashed out suddenly with his claws and Shadow ducked, coming back up with an uppercut. Kain had not expected this and was hit cleanly on the jaw. He came back with a low kick and the hedgehog dodged to the left, just as Kain had anticipated. He reached out and managed to grab the hedgehog by the throat, his claws digging into the side of his neck.

“Ugh… What is this thing!? It’s almost as fast as I am!” Shadow yelled, his hands on Kain’s arm, trying franticly to free himself and succeeding only in lessening the vampires grip slightly.

“I am death personified, beast. I am the executor of your fate.” Kain grinned at him, one fang missing, and slowly brought the creature forward. He needed blood and he needed it now. This one would do just as well as the green one. As it was Kain was having extreme difficulty keeping his hands from trembling. If he couldn’t get what he needed soon his quest would come to a very anticlimactic end.

“I will enjoy this…” Kain purred, resisting the shaking he could feel in his claws and lapping softly at the claw wounds on the hedgehog’s neck. He could feel his strength returning to him and he grinned again as he felt the fang had had lost regrowing rapidly. It would be good as new within an hour.

The creature was thrashing about wildly and hitting any part of his captor he could reach, but it’s efforts were futile. Kain felt incredible considering how he’d been. The blood of this creature was amazing. He had only gotten about a mouth full, but it felt as if he had fed nearly enough. What was so special about this animal?

Kain adjusted his grip, moving his thumb claw upwards for better access to the wound, and, finally, bit down. At first he assumed the sound he heard was the beating of the creatures heart. It was only as he was knocked to the ground by a violent quaking of the earth below his feet that he understood he was wrong. Again.

Worse, he had lost his grip on the Reaver.

The green thing was now, rather amazingly, seated behind what seemed to be quite a few drums that hadn’t been there even a few moments before. Kain kneeled to get to his feet and looked up just in time for another blow to the face from two very sharp knuckles. He reeled back but before he could make a move toward his sword he found his arms were being held behind his back.

It was perhaps one of the shortest battles Kain had ever had. Until now he had thought there was no person, no army that could overcome him, yet these three /animals/ had done it so easily…

“What the hell happened, Shadow?!” The red thing huffed, keeping his eyes on the foe his companion held captive.

“Shadow… You’re bleeding.” Another voice from behind Kain, the green one, Manic.

“He… This /thing/ attacked Manic.” Shadow’s barely controlled rage was evident in his voice, not only to those who knew him, but also to Kain who recognized the tone as one he himself had used many times before.

“So let’s beat the snot out of it.” The red one again.

Kain was getting bored. Furthermore this little setback had managed to thoroughly discourage him. Enough was enough.

“Kill me then and spare me the rhetoric.” Kain spat, head held high. They could try, let them. They would fail. It was as simple as that. And if they succeeded… So be it.

“Who are you? Tell me why you attacked Manic.” Shadow commanded, totally disregarding Kain’s comment.

“I am a God. I do as I please.”

“You’re no God, you’re just a monster!” The red thing snarled, pulling back for another punch.

“Wait…!” Kain had already braced himself and was stunned when Manic spoke up in his defense.

“Manic, he would have killed you!” and “Let us handle it Manic!” The two growled together.

“I don’t get what’s going on here, but this is all reminding me of a game I played once…” Manic said.

“So what?!” Both at once again.

“So look at him, look at that sword, look at those feet! Only one dude’s got such freaky feet! It’s Kain the Vampire!” Kain craned his neck to try and catch a glimpse of the hyped up hedgehog and Manic took this as confirmation.

“Oh man, I /told/ you guys he was real! I knew it! Duuuuuuuuude!” Manic was living up to his name and Shadow, Knuckles, and even Kain were staring at him awkwardly, as if he had lost his mind.

The silence was finally broken after what seemed like an eternity by Manic’s sister, Sonia, who had just made it back to the rest of the group. “Manic, this isn’t a game.” She said, speaking as though speaking to a young child, and not a bright one at that. This is real life, and /that/ is just some weirdo.”

“But look at him sis, it’s /him/!” Manic said, unphased by everyone else’s skepticism “Aren’t you him? You just gotta be him!” He continued, turning to Kain and resting his hand on the side of his own recently endangered neck.

“If by ‘him’ you are referring to me, then of course I will admit to being myself…” Kain said.

Manic took a second to figure out just what Kain had said then grinned widely. “I /told/ you guys! I told you! Oh man… He didn’t wanna kill anybody, he’s just hungry!” Manic walked around infront of Kain and reached out his arm, offering his wrist up to the captive vampire.

“Manic…? What are you doing!?” Shadow shouted.

Kain lowered his head and sniffed at the offered wrist. Shadow, assuming Kain was accepting the offer shoved Manic roughly away and backhanded Kain in the same motion. Kain growled viciously as he spit out the fang that hadn’t even had the chance to regrow entirely.

“Don’t touch him you sick f-- ” Shadow was interrupted mid insult as Kain took advantage of having his arm released. He quickly spun around and closed his claws around Shadow’s neck.

“What say do you have in this?” Kain asked him. “It seems that creature… No, Manic, knows what he is offering me. Who are you to stop him?” He looked down at the thing that had just offered him his wrist. It had been many years since someone other than his own had offered him any such thing. If he hadn’t felt so threatened he might almost have been touched.

“Put him down, Kain! He doesn’t get it…” Manic said, a single tear darkening the fur of his cheek. Kain somehow felt he owed Manic something and as insane as the idea sounded he found himself doing what Manic asked of him, though rather roughly, unceremoniously dropping Shadow to the ground.

“He’s mine, and I won’t have you turning him into some kind of – of… walking dead… thing!” Shadow said, hastily pulling himself to his feet.

“You don’t believe him Shadow!?” Knuckles asked, his jaw dropping.

“Of course not, but why else would he be so powerful? Look at him.” Shadow gestured to the still snarling vampire “He’s grown that one tooth back twice now!”

“Well, he may be dirty and a weird looking, but he’s not trying to hurt anyone now.” Sonia pointed out, walking over to the rest of the group. “Maybe we should ask /him/ what he was trying to do.”

“But he tried –“ Shadow started.

“Shadow, let him talk!” Manic insisted finally getting off the ground and turning to Kain. “Why /are/ you here, Kain? Don’t you belong on Nosgoth killing Hylden and stuff?”

“I – I thought I was… “ Then it all hit him at once. The man telling him he was on Moebius… What a fool he had been. This wasn’t some foreign part of Nosgoth. This was another world entirely… So that meant…

“What is the name of this world?” He demanded, looking around at those assembled around him.

“This is Mobius, dude! Just like that dude you killed in Defiance. Man, I hated that dude, he was all old and gnarly and creepy! It was so great when you ran your sword through him and then so did Raz!” Kain stared on, stunned and speechless as Manic continued, oblivious to his blank stare.

“You shoulda broke his stick too, he shoulda never tried to control you with that stupid thing anyway. You’re Kain! You told him though!” Manic lowered his voice and put on his best Kain accent “I always was considered heartless! STAB!!!” He made a stabbing motion with one hand then finally seemed to realize everyone was staring at him like he had suddenly grown another head.

“/What/?” Kain asked.

“What the Hell?” Shadow exclaimed.

“Huh…?” Knuckles hadn’t even seemed to wrap his brain around the words, let alone understand them.

Sonia just rolled her eyes.

“WHAT…?” Manic asked innocently.

“That explains much, but… If this is indeed another world as it seems it must be, then why are you so familiar with Moebius and myself?” Kain asked.

He wasn’t sure quite what he should believe after what had happened since he cast that damnable spell. Was this truly another world? Scholars and philosophers were still debating the existence of such a thing. It is a very difficult task to accept the existence of something you have not experienced in over three thousand years of life.

“You’re famous here, dude. There are games about you, and comics on the Internet, and stories about you. Well, most of the stories are about you and Raz but don’t worry, I don’t read those. Well, some of ‘em are awesome, but some are pretty messed up, like, whips and stuff, but I never – “

“Games about me? Stories…?” Kain interrupted “Am I nothing more than an amusement to you here?”

“Well, yeah. But you’re a pretty rad amusement! I mean Defiance is, like, my favorite game ever!” Not very consoling, but Manic always tried his best.

“Defiance… I see… It must be about the last of my lieutenants…” He said bitterly. He didn’t see a damn thing of course, but he had never been the type to admit such, and certainly not to someone he had considered prey a few moments before.

“Oh, man! You don’t know about video games! Duuuuuude! You gotta come back to the base, I gotta show you! You’ll freak!”

“Your language is very strange…” Kain observed.

“Manic, stop and think! We can’t just take him home! He tried to –“ Shadow began again and was quickly cut off by Manic.

“He was HUNGRY, man! Chill out. He’s never seen a video game in his /life/ Shadow. In his whole /life/!” Manic gave Shadow a pleading look.

“How do we know he isn’t going to wait for us to go to sleep and –“ Shadow should have known better than to try to tell Manic no…

“And turn us all into vampires like him? That’d be killer! I wonder if hedgehogs can be vampires…?” Manic asked Shadow teasingly.

“I am not turning anyone.” Kain insisted.

“I don’t want to have to start sleeping with garlic, Manic.” Sonia interjected “Are you sure about this? You know what they say about inviting one of them into your house.”

Kain had no idea why someone would want to sleep with garlic, the stuff smelled foul and it didn’t have any healing properties he knew of. As far as them being worried about inviting him in, he had never encountered a door that could keep him out yet. Humans put far too much faith in wood and steel. He assumed it was just some kind of superstition, it was simply human nature to make up ways to protect themselves from unstoppable forces and humans were humans whether on Nosgoth or Mobius.

Kain was the first to notice a faint sound growing nearer, something like the sound of a blade cleaving the air. It seemed to becoming from the direction they had come and when he turned to look he could see a light shining from the sky into the trees.

“Do you guys hear that?” Knuckles asked, turning his head and staring into the forest “A helicopter, here? They’re either after him or us.”

“Well, I don’t wanna find out which. We gotta get goin’, fast.” Manic said, his gaze alternating between Shadow and Kain.

“Manic’s right, it sounds like a GUN chopper so they must be doing something big.” Shadow pointed out. If anyone would recognize a gun vehicle it would be him.

“But what are we going to do with him?” Sonia asked, indicating Kain.

Manic gave Shadow a look that clearly told him he’d never be forgiven if he let this opportunity slip by and Shadow shook his head and sighed in defeat.

“Fine, he can come with us.” Shadow said “but if there are any problems remember it was your idea.”

“So you have decided my fate, like some stray dog who’s followed you home? Why would I want to follow you? I have what I wanted…”

“Because we can tell you stuff, dude, and I know you haven’t got your own place. Besides man, the cops don’t play around. You don’t want to mess with the police.” Manic said, obviously speaking from experience.

“In that case I will join you for now. It seems it would be in my best interests. I’ve already had dealings with these ‘police’…” Kain said, scratching his chest and still staring in the direction of the helicopter.

“Come on.” Knuckles beckoned and the group set off together towards the freedom fighters base.

“Man, Son is gonna die when he gets home.” Manic grinned.

~A few Minutes Before~

“And that is where you come in, Rouge. Your objective is to track down this creature and return to GUN headquarters with an intelligence report. We need to know where he came from and how to defeat him.” The speaker was an older man seated at a fine mahogany desk in an office bordered by large windows looking out on the lights of the city.

“Yes sir, it should be simple.” Rouge replied confidently.

“Remember, this creature is to be considered armed and dangerous. He killed a fine officer and injured two others. He has abilities we have never encountered before and he seems able to heal almost instantly. Be careful Rouge, he may not have a weakness.” The man continued bluntly.

“Oh, but he does have a weakness, Mr. President; He’s a man.” With that she smiled sweetly and turned to leave.

“Rouge, we have prepared you transport to the forest outside of Station Square. Meet the chopper on the landing pad when you are prepared. Good luck.”

~~End Chapter One ~~