#dr. cain kintobor

[thetravelersjournal]

Gear Foxx- Chapter 1

Long Prologues!

Ringing filled my ears as I looked at what remained of my prison. The lab was completely destroyed. Glass littered the floor, and emergency lights blinked on and off in the dark, giving just enough light to see. Armed guards and lab assistants were knocked out on the floor, unaware of the chaotic environment around them. I stood up and brushed off some dust resting on my shoulders, only feeling some slight pain in my chest and left arm. I looked around before spotting a slightly confused Kintobor. I strolled over to the doctor, staring down at him. The doctor slowly gazed up, giving me a once-over. A smile steadily formed on his face before he finally let out a cry of victory.

“Finally! It worked!” the doctor laughed with joy, “Quick, help me up.”

I peered down at him for a moment longer before helping the doctor to his feet. He took in the destroyed lab with his eyes, rolling them across the floor and walls.

“Sigh… shame about the lab. But it was definitely worth it,” the doctor said, looking down at me, “It was a good thing that my assistant turned on the mind recalibrator, or else who knows what mischief you would be up t-eguuhhahh!”

I swiftly turned behind him, the bald maniac yelping in pain as my hands grabbed ahold of cotton. I yanked hard towards the heavens, giving him an atomic wedgie. Kintobor stumbled a bit before tripping on a bundle of wires and crashing to the floor. I gave a grunt of disgust.

“Happy birthday to me,” I said gruffly, before running out the door, down the hallway and out of sight.

The doctor yelled in fury while trying to take his underpants from off his head. “Apparently my assistant did not turn it on! So much for brainwashing the thing easily.” Kintobor scrambled to a nearby unconscious armed guard and grabbed his walkie talkie. “All personnel report to sector STH-75 immediately! If you see what looks like a humanoid fox, stop it! But do not kill it!” he screamed into the receiver.  He sat down slowly, stuffing his now very elastic underwear back into his pants. “This will work,” he assured himself, an idea forming at the edges of his mind, “This will work.”

The pain started to return to my legs as I ran down the many twisting hallways of the building. Cramps were the least of my worries, however. My only goal was to get out of this prison as soon as possible. I turned a corner, only to narrowly dodge a missile sent from an armed guard. I kicked the guard in the head before he could call for backup. I didn’t hang around to see if he was knocked out or not.

I continued my blind run through the building. Hallway after hallway, guard after guard, I kept running and fighting, my eyes frantically searching for some ray of hope, some sort of escape from this nightmare. No windows or exit signs lit the way for me- I was on my own. After beating the 31st guard I ran into into submission, I rounded one last turn, coming to a dead end.

A lone door with the word STORAGE written on it was the only spectacular sight to see in this said hallway. No windows to break, no other doors, not even plants to hide behind. I started to turn back when I heard the sound of heavy feet swiftly pounding the floor from around the corner. Having no other choice, I ran to the door, opened it, and locked myself inside.

Inside the storage room was a random assortment of boxes, metal mechanisms, boxes, dirty and cracked test tubes, boxes, and a giant metal device shoved into the back of the room, with a large paper note that read, “DO NOT TURN ON” attached to the top. I ignored the machine and started moving boxes and anything else heavy in front of the door at lightning speed. Before I could finish, the door started shaking as guards outside tried bashing it open. I backed up slowly. Once the guards got in, it was all over. I had to think of an escape plan, something that could get me out of this conundrum. I kept backing up, all the way to the back of the room, where I accidentally pressed a red button on the giant metal device with my elbow.

The machine turned on, and a giant purple portal opened up in the middle of the room. A strong wind entered the closet. Everything not held down started getting sucked into the portal; that is to say, pretty much everything in the room. I  grabbed hold of a large metal railing that was bolted to the floor and held on tight, closing my eyes. I squinted them towards the door, only to see one of the boxes that I had used to hold it shut flying straight towards me. It hit me square in the face, making me loosen my grip on the railing. Gravity proved too strong for me as my hands lost the banister and I fell into the portal. At this point the guards kicked down the door, only to see the gateway collapse in on itself.

I fell for what seemed like forever. The entire cosmos opened up before me, swirling around at an ever-quickening pace. Lights dazzled in front of my eyes, speeding up faster and faster. I started to choke as all the air rushed out of my lungs. My body stretched thin, as if it had been put in a taffy puller. The sight of it all was nauseating, making my stomach churn. It was beautiful.

Before I could take it all in, I landed hard on the floor, my body intact. I groaned, wheezing, before gradually looking up. I was in a new room, completely unlike the storage closet I took shelter in. The walls were horrendously torn apart, ripped completely open by an unknown force. Slowly, I regained my breath.

“Where am I?” I said.  

I looked out of the giant hole of a wall to see a vast city outside. Something about the city disturbed me. It was as if it had once held an amazing amount of beauty, only to be replaced by large ugly towers, looming down on the sidewalk below. The skyscrapers were littered everywhere around me. I could hear what sounded like faint screaming.

“Where am I?” I asked again stupidly.

An explosion at the base of the building returned me to my senses. I noticed that most of the buildings around me were on fire, burning the air, making it taste of sulfur. The wind helped me breathe easily though, brushing past my fur as I noticed-

“I’m not wearing any pants,” I said, interrupting my thoughts.

I retracted my gaze from the view and looked around what seemed to be a ruined apartment. Crumbled drywall littered the floor, along with the boxes and papers that had traveled with me from the storage room. I noticed a closet on the far side of the room. I walked over and opened it, revealing some decent (if not a little baggy) articles of clothing. I selected some faded brown pants from the lot, as well as matching leather boots. I chose a plain black shirt to hide my brand. I wanted to forget about it for now.

But as I pulled the shirt over my head, I realized I couldn’t. I had no idea where I was, who I was, or even what I was. My head started to spin, taking the walls and floor for a ride with it. The doctor had implanted a tracker in me… It probably still worked. There was no doubt that he would find me soon, and it wasn’t like I could really blend in anywhere. The more I thought about it, the more pain grew in my forehead. I felt like I was going to throw up.

“I feel like I’m going to throw up,” I said.

“SURRENDER-AND-PREPARE-FOR-COMPLETE-ROBOTIZATION!” said a robotic voice behind me, just before a giant fist broke the floor to the right of me.

I swiveled on the spot. A giant bluish-black robot stood behind me, its sole red eye focused on me. Its armor bounced off the sun’s light, distracting its shadow on the floor. It raised a hand, repeating itself, and walked closer to me. I immediately went into action, ducking and rolling under the automation’s legs. I jumped and kicked off the wall behind it, twisting around in the air before landing on its back. I tore off a small panel on its rear and began breaking and tying together different colored wires. The robot tried grabbing me off, but its arms couldn’t reach. I tore out some more mechanisms before finally conjoining two last cords.

“CEASE-AND-RESSSsiisst-,” it moaned. A low humming filled the room, before the robot promptly rebooted.

“HAPPY-AND-WILLING-TO-SERVE,” the android recited.

I sat on its back without saying anything. I had gone in head first without thinking about it-without even breaking a sweat, either. I didn’t know I could do that. I studied one of the small cogs still grasped in my hand. It showed a slightly scared fox-ish face with brown eyes, which peered back at their owner in the polished metal. I held it tight before tucking it in my pocket. I realized I had no time to think about who, what, where, when,  why, how… right now, all I could think about was what I did know.

I knew I was in a building high above a burning, screaming city. I knew that the doctor and his hired help were nowhere to be seen. I knew that I had reprogrammed this robot within 10 seconds flat. And as another explosion rocked the building, I realized I knew one last thing.

There was only one way down.

“Alright, metal man… let's make a timely exit!” I shouted as the floor started to give way.

“HAPPY-AND-WILLING-TO-SERVE,” the robot repeated, running toward and jumping through the non-existent wall. I held on tight, the wind blowing my tail upward as the ground slowly skyrocketed towards us. The droid hit the ground hard, leaving a crater where its feet hit. The skyscraper we were in collapsed, raining down dust. It took a few minutes before I could see what was going on.

Chaos reigned. Hundreds of citizens of the city ran in all directions, trying to distance themselves from more robots of the same make and model as my ride. The automations shot what appeared to be plasma bursts out of their hands, blowing up strange-looking cars and the pavement in front of them.

“No way…,” I said breathlessly. All the people running around looked like anthropomorphic animals- just like me. Ducks quacked as laser fire roasted their rear ends, monkeys screeched as a car exploded near them, and two large Deer shouted as a pair of robots grabbed them from behind.

“Get off us, you tin-plated jerks!!” shouted the male deer.

I was about to shout and charge in their direction when a giant beam of light scorched the droids to a crisp. The source of the light revealed himself to be a small human man, who stood out from the rest of the inhabitants. I watched him and a young pink hedgehog converse with the deer, before noticing dark movement behind them.

Another robot lifted his hand to vaporize the group, but didn’t have enough time to do so. My own robot came up from behind and crushed in its head, immobilizing it. The small gang stared in amazement at the hulking beast that had destroyed one of its own allies. I climbed a little higher on the bot so they could see me.

“Don’t just stand there-Get out of here!” I yelled. The group got up and ran toward the heart of the city, in the direction of a spacious building reminiscent of a castle.

“You’re amazing, mister!” The pink hedgehog waved before following her friends.

“Wait, not that way! Get out of the city!” I cried back.

But at this point they were too far away to hear me. More robots broke away from the main group huddled in the middle of the street to go after them.

“Oh, for the love of- After them, Iron Giant!” I shouted, pointing my robot friend in the direction of the group. It started stomping after them, breaking the gravel as it went. More androids were annihilated as my companion charged towards the castle, inadvertently helping more citizens along the way. By the time I got there, the people I had rescued were nowhere to be seen, and a small herd of droids was gathered near the side of the building.

“Blend in,” I muttered to my friend, sinking lower behind its back. The iron golem walked slowly forward, joining his look-a-likes as they pressed against the castle.

They stood silently, as if waiting for a cue. I took this opportunity to quietly take a broken robot’s arm off the ground. I started fidgeting with the systems, turning the arm into a handheld blaster. It was still a mystery to me how I knew so much about mechanical engineering, but I didn’t have much time to think about that now.

Suddenly, the androids broke through the wall with quick force. Several people were scattered around a makeshift hospital room. The group I had rescued before, as well as two other animals, one of whom wore a large crown on his head, backed away from the evil automations.

“Alright… now!” I whispered.

My robotic ride grabbed hold of two heads in front of it and smashed them together. Before the other robot could figure out what had happened, I jumped up and blasted it with my homemade gun. The mammals stood in shock.

“Well? Get the heck out of here! Don’t make me tell you a third time!” I exclaimed.

Everyone exited the building and began to run for the edge of town. I started to follow them, but stopped. More wails shook the city, creeping into my ears. I didn’t know what was going on, that was for sure. But I couldn't just leave the city- not while I had the power to help others escape as well.

“What say you and I go and smash some more robotic heads?” I asked my buddy.

“HAPPY-AND-WILLING-TO-SERVE,” it said robotically, before sprinting towards the sound of screaming voices.

“You need a name…,” I continued, thinking hard,  “Something casual, and not scary. Hang on, let me think…”

It had been hours since I had first entered the city. My still nameless robot ally was almost falling apart at this point, having suffered extreme scars from various battles the two of us had gone head-first into, trying to rescue more citizens. I was no worse for wear. Blood ran down my face into my mouth, giving my tongue a bitter taste to suck on. I had gone through four robot hands already, and was searching for a fifth. I saw one on the ground and started modifying it. Each arm I modified became better than the previous one, faster and more powerful. I finished my project and put it on, a sleek black cannon now encompassing my arm.

I heard a scream and noticed more survivors down an alley to the right of me. They were surrounded by the black robots in front of a large and strange shaped building, if you could call it that. I realized that it was the castle I had broken into earlier, unrecognizable from this side of the compound. I rode my buddy down the alley, screaming at the top of my lungs.

“You want to pick on them? Well, you got to get through me and my friend, uh... George... here first!”

Bots swiftly struck from the shadows, hitting my newly(and poorly)-named robot-friend in the chest, destroying it. I flew through the air, landing hard on my leg in the middle of the group. An audible crack rang in the air as I cried out in shock. I tried to get up, but the pain in my leg was intense. A couple of gasps and ‘are you alright?’s echoed through the group, but I wasn’t paying attention to them. I sat up and raised my gun, my eyes focused on the incoming soldiers.

“Here goes nothing…,” I muttered, knowing the end was near. More and more androids poured in, filling the square. There were more robots than I could count, and they just kept coming. A bead of sweat ran down my brow. I squinted my eyes, preparing myself.

A flash of blue swept through the plaza, tearing the robots apart.

It struck again and again, zooming under, over, and through more and more robots. Nuts and bolts flew through the air as the blue blur finally stopped moving to take the form of a hedgehog wearing a pair of sneakers.

“That can’t be…?” My eyes bulged with disbelief.

“And that, ladies and gentlemen… is how you take apart fifty shadow-bots in less than ten seconds!” Sonic the Hedgehog said triumphantly, “I caution you not to try this stunt at home.”

Prologue

Next Chapter

Gear and Dr. Cain belong to me.

Sonic, Amy, Nate Morgan, and others belong to SEGA, Archie(?) or Ken Penders.

[thetravelersjournal]

Gear Foxx- Prologue

That part before the beginning of a book

The forest, the year 2014 A.D., five minutes to midnight.

A soft whisper of wind raced through the surrounding trees. The orchestra of the night was beginning. Beavers gently splashed into the water on their way home, while woodpeckers inconsistently pecked at fallen logs for a good meal. Mice softly scurried to their hiding places, trying to avoid the sinister and sly snakes. A family of deer laid down, resting beneath the starry sky.

A red Fox leaped silently over fallen trees, trying to catch up with its prey. The bunny it was chasing had much experience in avoiding its predators, and dived in and out of the bushes and shrubs, moving swiftly. The younger and slightly more inexperienced Fox foolishly pushed on, chasing the small mammal onto a small dirt road just past the tree line. It didn’t notice the truck until the last second.

The truck halted in its tracks. It was a strange vehicle, with pictures of wildlife and the rainforest on each of its sides. One might think it would have belonged to a forest observation team had it not been for the cages full of loud animals in the back, desperately trying to escape their confinements. The driver quickly got out to see what he had hit. Scars lined his face in an almost hypnotizingly bizarre pattern, making it seem like he had been the subject of one too many bar fights. He wore a shabby coat and pants that hadn’t been washed for decades, and smoked a cigar that appeared old enough to have been from the civil war. His large mustache twitched as he peered down at the unconscious and slightly bruised Fox. He stared at the small clipboard he had in his hand.

“Bonus,” he said, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small needle with an even smaller tracking device held inside. He carefully stuck it into the Fox, injected the tracker, and pulled it out.

“Alright boys, haul ‘em up!” he grunted, putting the needle back in his pocket and pulling out a lighter, “The doctor never said how he wanted them brought back in.”  His two helpers got out of the van and glanced silently at the Fox before lifting it up and placing it into a cage. The animals became even louder, apparently shocked at the state the newcomer was in, and tried even harder to escape their cramped prison. Mac banged his hand on the side of the van before shouting, “QUIET DOWN!” He lit his cigar and climbed back into the truck, slamming the door.

The van made a gurgling noise before starting up, as if it too were in protest. As it drove back down the road, the cries of animals turned into cracks of thunder, disappearing off into the night.

The Human looked out the window of the car, listening to his friend drumming the wheel. Otherwise, all was silent, except for the constant hum of the engine. Neither one spoke a word. They were both tired – their boss had them work overtime today – and wanted to get home as soon as possible. The two hadn’t even bothered to change into their street clothes after work, not even the Human, and his work clothes were rather small due to his tall and skinny stature. He fully planned to collapse into bed as soon as he got home, and didn't care if his pajamas were on or not when he did. The Human looked at the clock, which read 12:09 A.M.

“The one downside of working at a movie theater,” said his friend suddenly.

“The one downside?” the Human replied.

“Okay, so maybe one of.”

“One of many.”

“But,” said his friend, turning to him, “We get free movies.”

“Eyes on the road, dude,” said the Human.

“Oh, lighten up. There’s no one on the road anyway.”

“Besides, nothing has been out for like, six months now. That, and we get guilt-tripped into working every time we try to watch one.”

“Yeeeah… but what about the snacks? Or all the nice people you get to meet?”

“Snacks? You mean all the popcorn those ‘nice people’ drop on purpose or throw at the screen so we have more of a mess to clean up?”

“Alright, so you hate your job. Don’t ruin it for the rest of us,” said his friend irritably.

“I just hate doing the same thing day in and day out. At least the people in movies live more interesting lives than we do… I want to do something new for once, go somewhere, see places, meet people…”

“And since when have you been a ‘people’ person?”

“You know what I mean,” the Human sighed, turning back to the window.

“Be careful what you wish for,” said his friend.

“Why, is my life suddenly going to change in the next ten sec- LOOK OUT!”

The Human’s friend slammed on the brakes as a forest observation truck ignored its stop sign and flew straight in front of them. Whether the speeding van even noticed them was unknown, as it continued driving on down the road. The Human’s friend gently let their foot off the brake and slowly continued on their course back to the Human’s house. The Human sighed out all the air that had filled his lungs as he had braced for impact. The shock made his chest feel like it was on fire, and his ears were filled with a high pitched whistle. He shook it off, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, which had slid down in the sudden stop. Barely avoiding death was not how he liked to spend his night. Rain now began to fall outside the closed window, drenching him with shivers.

They sat in silence a few moments longer, before the Human’s friend spoke up.

“Well,” his friend said, “your life kind of changed in the last 10 seconds.”

“Shut up.”

“Anyways, we made it,” his friend laughed as they pulled into the Human’s driveway, before glancing sideways at him and sighing. “Sorry I can’t celebrate with you at your birthday party.”

“Naw, it’s cool. Have fun at your little sister’s dance recital,” the Human snickered.

“I wish. Later.”

The Human thanked his friend for the ride and watched the car drive off before walking into the house. He quietly went up the stairs, being careful that he didn’t wake up his parents. He walked into his room, set his glasses on his desk, leaped silently over a few old Sonic the Hedgehog comic books, and fell flat on the bed. Before he could even think about how much fun he was going to have the next day, he was fast asleep.

Dr. Cain Kintobor was getting desperate. His experiments so far had brought up more problems than solutions for his military weapon research. Thus far, his test subjects had died, grown opposable thumbs, or lost all their hair. He knew he was getting close, however. His last few experimental specimens seemed to be smarter than before, and walked on their hind legs compared to all fours. But he still had not yet achieved success, and that was why he was out at one in the morning, in the cold and rain, waiting for his new test subjects to arrive.

Test subjects. He was forced to rely on animals rather than humans, all because of ethics. The government had issued his grant money on the condition that he use it to create the ultimate weapon, but they refused to let him use criminals in his tests. No one wanted to test the waters of experimental ideas! Dr. Cain was baffled at the very notion. Why not use convicts? The world wouldn’t miss them anyway. A low rumbling awoke him from his thoughts.

The truck slowly crept up the road and came to a stop before the doctor. The truck driver stepped out and walked toward Kintobor.

“Fifty different kinds of animals, just like you requested, sir,” He said, looking down at his checklist, before stating, “Noah’s Ark is here.”

“Yes, yes, fine, fine. Anything special Mac?” Kintobor grunted, too exhausted to pretend to be kind to the driver.

“Think I got a cow with a lazy eye in the back,” Mac said, jerking his thumb over to the truck.

“Hmm. Interesting,” said the doctor, not bothering to stifle a yawn, “Well, bring them inside.”

Mac and his two helpers grunted as they started unloading crate after crate full of animals. Kintobor watched their progress for a while, his lab coat whipping in the wind, before heading back inside. He still had lots of work to do, and wanted to finish preparing this batch of animals before Thursday, as his wife and son, Ivan, were planning a picnic by the meadow with some of his close colleagues and friends. Even the Clarkes would be there, and usually Dr. Clarke and his family were too busy to come to these fun outings. Dr. Cain always liked to show off his son, and how he, like his father, wanted to become a great scientist.

Kintobor started his routine of analyzing each animal. As he walked down the row of crates, each animal cowered near the corner of their cages, desperately trying to put distance between them and the doctor. Kintobor stopped at the edge of the Fox’s cage. He peered down at the nimble creature. It was still unconscious, not aware it was imprisoned.

“This will do just fine,” he said.

He ordered his assistants to bring the sleeping animal to his lab. He adjusted his glasses and got to work, walking into a room that could indeed be labeled as a mad scientist’s laboratory. Test tubes were everywhere, most containing strange liquids or clumps of fur. Scientists and lab assistants scurried about while armed guards stood at the entrances and exits to keep out unwanted visitors- and keep the doctor’s experiments in. The atmosphere smelled of sweat, making the entire workplace hot and stuffy. The air itself was full of static electricity, so that if a person were to walk in without a hat, every hair on their head would stand straight up. Dr. Cain had no problem with this, however, as he had very little hair to begin with, the result of a genetic disorder. If anyone was brave enough to ask the doctor what disorder, he would simply say, “It only affects the family intellectuals.” Apparently this disorder did not affect the upper lip, as his mustache was so big it rivaled Mac’s.

The Fox was placed in a solid Plexiglas-like tube. Giant pipes ran to and from the tube, providing energy. The doctor turned to his colleagues.

“Are we up and running, and did you add the different DNA compounds like I asked?”

“Almost, and yes. We just need to run a system analysis on-”

“No,” said the doctor, “perform the experiment now.”

“Are you sure? If we fail too many more tests we’ll lose our funding.”

“I am sure. Now perform the test!”

Another of his colleagues spoke up. “Doctor, I do not think it is wise to-”

“I do not pay you to think! Perform. The. Test.  NOW.”

Kintobor’s partner glanced at the other scientists before begrudgingly pulling a lever. Sparks shot out of the top of the tube and slammed into the Fox. Now awakened from its peaceful sleep, it howled in agony as the electricity intensified. A strange liquid started to fill the chamber. Instead of collecting around the Fox, however, the Fox seemed to be absorbing it into its body.

“Turn on the DNA modulator!” the doctor shouted over the Fox’s yelps of pain. The Fox’s eyes shut tight as a white powder covered the entire tube. The electricity continued, not fazed by the new substance entering the small space. The doctor smiled. He could feel it this time. Any second now he would have the ultimate soldier.

That’s when a green asteroid rocketed straight through the building, broke through the glass of the testing tube, and landed right beside the Fox.

If the Fox’s screams of torture had been loud before, it was nothing compared to how loud it was now. The scientists and guards covered their ears as the Fox began to effortlessly float in the air. Its eyes opened only to show they had been rolled into the back of its head. Visible energy seemed to collect around the Fox as it floated higher into the air. Test tubes exploded, light bulbs shattered. The entire compound appeared to rattle and shake, swaying against the raging storm outside. Then, as soon as it had started, it stopped. The Fox fell back to the floor, unconscious yet again. Surprisingly, while several sparks flew from various broken wires and outlets, the damage to the lab was minimal, despite the monstrous ‘quake’.

Kintobor slowly got up from his hiding place. He looked around the smoke filled lab. His heart sank. He was so close to victory! He sighed, and looked to see if there was anything left of the Fox. What he saw surprised him.

The Fox was mostly ‘unharmed’ (“I’m surprised it kept all its limbs,” the doctor mumbled), although it was slightly glowing- a fact that unnerved Dr. Cain, but he didn’t pay too much heed to it, especially after it grew pale a few seconds later. The Fox was twitching uncontrollably, and was slowly beginning to wake up. Kintobor looked next to the Fox to see the green asteroid… but then again, it didn't look like an asteroid at all, but rather a giant emerald.

“Hmm… so you're what caused all the chaos,” he said.  He tried picking it up, but because it was bigger than his own body, he ultimately failed. It was so bright that it was practically creating its own glow. In fact, it was; the Fox’s strange hue a minute prior must have been from the glow of the emerald reflecting off of it. After examining it for another minute or so, Dr. Cain pointed to one of his partners and said, “We need to run some tests on this after we have this animal caged.”

The Fox, however, had woken up, and did not seem too happy about being caged again.  Its pupils grew until all that could be seen was yellow. Before the doctors, their assistants, the guards, or even the Fox knew what was happening, it had vanished without a sound.

The scientists stood dumbstruck at the spot where the Fox had been. Kintobor’s face slowly turned a very dark shade of red. His colleagues stepped back and plugged their ears, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.

“FIND ME THAT FOX! NOW!” he shouted.

The armed guards ran from the room quickly and grabbed their guns, tasers, and tear gas canisters. Using the tracker Mac had implanted into the Fox, they found that it had teleported to a small town about three hundred miles away- almost a 6-hour drive. Based on the time it was now, they would get there around 10 A.M., at the earliest. They moved out of the building, got into their armored cars, and drove off into the now foggy night.

Dr. Cain seethed with rage. He was going to make the ultimate soldier. Nothing would stop him from creating unmatchable military might. Nothing…

The Human was awakened by a soft thud; so soft that the sound only nibbled at the edges of his consciousness. He groggily lifted his head to look at the clock, which now read 3:27. He groaned. His first thought was that he wanted to get some sleep before his party later that evening, but then he realized that it didn’t matter how tired he was in the morning; his parents probably wouldn’t care if he slept till noon. Therefore, he decided to see what made the sound, and turned on the lamp that was next to him. His eyes would’ve bulged if they hadn’t been practically closed shut.

In the middle of his bedroom was a red Fox, lying unconscious on the carpeted floor. ‘Red’ however, was an understatement. The Fox was soaked in its own blood, shining from the light his table lamp was giving. The Human blinked a few times to make sure what he was seeing was true, slowly gaining awareness of the situation. Then he pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, glancing quickly over at the animal after doing so. The Fox sat still in the center of his room.

The Human got up cautiously. He would have been cautious, at least, if his lamplight hadn’t decided at that moment to burn out. He tripped over his own feet, saved himself, then waited until his eyes adjusted to the darkness. How a Fox had gotten into his room was beyond him; his window and door were both closed. Where had it come from, and why was it so injured?

He was so immersed in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice the Fox was twitching wildly around on the floor. It began to emit its own light again, a sort of dull green, illuminating the room and making the Human’s hair stand on end.

Still, the Human approached the Fox slowly, with great heed. It was a peculiar thing, and besides the fact that it was bleeding from head to toe, it looked rather sick, like it had been unnourished for some time. He was a foot from the Fox; half a foot; an inch. He could hear its shallow and un-rhythmical breathing as it was trying to force more air into its lungs than it could hold.

And then the Human did something really stupid. Taking a deep breath, he leaned over and poked the Fox in the stomach.

Pain flared up inside him as the Human silently began screaming. The Fox started to meld with his skin; the pain flew through him with burning intensity, until he could no longer feel his face. Peach blended with red until the brighter color took over. Hair became fur, hands became paws, and eyes grew to resemble brown flying saucers. The Human tried to scream but nothing would come out, the screams instead ricocheting inside his own head. The world was spinning, shadows laughing, the pain became audible, it hurt so much, it was too much, it was too-!

And everything went quiet. Dead silent.

The Human could no longer hear the house creak, could no longer hear the AC humming, could no longer hear his dad snoring in the room across the hall. He could not smell the scent of burnt fur, or feel the carpet underneath him, or taste the blood on his tongue, the blood that was oozing down his face like gentle rivers of water. The final terror that struck him was that he could no longer see his own bedroom. Everything was black, pitch dark.

And the Human passed out.

The Human awoke with a start. Sunlight pierced his eyes, and he had to blink a few times to get used to this sudden brightness. He was on the ground, and the blankets from his bed had fallen down with him.

“Was that a dream?” he said out loud. He looked over at the clock on his bed, and was surprised it read 9:58. He got up slowly. Sleeping had not seemed to have helped him, as he was extremely exhausted. His back ached, his hair was pointing up in all sorts of directions, and his tail drooped to the floor, so he had to drag it when he walked. The Human was so tired, that he was oblivious to the fact that he had a tail, as well as the fact that he was shorter than before. His thoughts were on breakfast.

He went downstairs, yawning with each step he took. He looked up at the kitchen table and saw a note written by his parents. It read, “Son, we went to the store. Your brother is at swim practice. I know you won’t want to, but you need to wash the dishes, take out the garbage, and vacuum all the carpets. We should be home around two. Happy 16th!  –Mom”.

The Human sighed. “I should probably change into some decent clothes before I start,” he groaned, stretching.

“You humans have some pretty messed up priorities,” said a mysterious voice.

The Human looked around frantically, trying to discern the source of the voice. “Who’s there?” he proclaimed.

“Just me, the voice inside your head that you’ve been ignoring for the last five minutes,” it replied.

At this point, the Human was fully awake, and finally began to notice some things. He had not put on his glasses, and yet he could see perfectly. He could hear his neighbors arguing next door, even though they weren’t yelling. He could smell the remains of his mom’s breakfast on the kitchen counter, but the eggs had long since been eaten, and the dishes cleared and cleaned. The entire room seemed taller, and his usually tight uniform was now too baggy; the Human doubted that even his belt would hold up his pants. He looked around, only to spot his dark red tail behind him. Whenever he moved, it moved. The Human stood in shock for a few seconds, watching his tail mimic his movements, but snapped out of it long enough to ask, “Wha- what? - why?”

“Glad you finally decided to wake up. I’m no happier about this than you are,” said the voice, sounding very annoyed.

“Who are you?” the Human finally spilled out.

“I’m the Fox that was in your bedroom last night.”

“Okay, so, how are you inside my head exactly?”

“Do you remember nothing of last night?”

The Human, of course, could remember everything from last night. He ran into the bathroom to look in the mirror. And for a moment he saw his reflection.

He found himself hard to describe with words. He appeared to be a humanoid fox with wide brown eyes. His fur was reddish, except for the white patches covering his chest and the end of his tail. What once was his hair now seemed to be fur pretending. It flowed like grass clippings from the top of his head, too short to need to be combed. Above his hair were long ears, standing straight up from his own surprise. His canines were much longer now, sticking out from his other teeth. His nose and mouth now seemed connected to a long white snout. His arms and legs were like skinny noodles, and the Human wondered how he was able to stand up.

He only had a second to ponder his appearance, however, because at that moment the front door exploded.

The Human coughed up dust, and tried to peer through the rubble that had filled up most of the hallway. This was impossible, as the smoke cloud was too thick to see anything. In fact, the cloud of dirt seemed to be growing, which only made it harder for him to breathe. And unless it was his imagination, the smoke was slightly turning green, almost as if it was-

The Human passed out on the floor. He didn’t see the armored troops come in, nor did he hear them tossing him into their truck, or hear his neighbor's’ screams, or smell the scent of gunpowder that formulated into the air, or feel the cold hard metal floor shifting as the armed truck drove down the road. He could only taste the warm, stale air being pressed onto his tongue as he breathed in the peculiar sensation of unconsciousness.

A long time later (or perhaps no time at all), the Human finally woke up. He was still in the metal crate on wheels surrounded by guards; how he got there and where he was going was still a mystery to him. He could feel his arms bound in rope behind his back, cutting into his wrists like knives. He felt cold; shifting around on the floor told him he wasn’t wearing any clothes.

“Hgrrgh?” he moaned without opening his eyes.

“Is the beast awake?” said a voice. The Human could hear the hint of fear in the voice.

“Naw. Just having nightmares about us!” said a second voice, laughing.

“Should I taze it?” said yet another voice. The Human could smell the sweat coming from the third man, dripping off his face down onto the floor. He kept his eyes closed.

“What’s the point? There’s still a pretty long trip left to go. Might as well inflict some torture on it to keep it in line,” replied the second voice again.

The Human felt someone pinch his cheek. “Come on beastie, wake up!” said voice #2. The man was so close that the Human could taste the liverwurst smell emanating from his breath. He waited, trying not to cough. He could somehow sense that the man’s finger was close to his face.

“Closer… closer…,” he thought desperately. Finally, the man’s finger was an inch in front of his nose as the man tried to poke him again to wake him up.

The Human opened his eyes and bit the man’s finger in his desperate attempt to escape. He realized his mistake a second later, as the car was full of guards carrying guns that looked like they could shoot off his head with one round. The man howled and retracted his finger from the Humans open jaw, before kicking him in the face. He spat blood on the floor and looked up at the man, growling.

“It bit me! That little stinking demon bit me!” the man shouted.

“Calm down, Joe. This wouldn’t have happened if we had tazed it in the first place,” said the third man.

“Yah? Well, I think it’s time the little vermin was shown his place.” Joe punched the Human again in the face, who pretended to pass out again. He needed a better time to escape.

“I thought you said you wanted it conscious?” said the frightened first man.

Joe gave him a look that told him quite plainly to shut up. The first man sighed, muttering, “My mother wanted me to be a lawyer, but no, I had to work as a security officer in a facility that runs experiments on animals…”

They continued down the road, arriving closer and closer to their destination, although the Human did not know it. To him, it seemed like days had passed in that space, and it only seemed to be getting longer. Every time they hit a pothole, his head would bang against the wall of the truck. Occasionally he would open an eye to view his surroundings. Usually the guards were playing cards on the floor, other times they would be sleeping or picking their noses. Once when he was brave enough to open his eyes again, he noticed the frightened guard looking at him, and quickly closed his eyes. The last thing he needed was another punch to the face.

Surprisingly, having the Fox in his head wasn’t as bad as he thought. He could communicate silently with him, which really helped pass the time, and eventually they knew a lot about each other, the knowledge of why the Human had been captured in the first place being of particular interest.

“So they think I’m you?”

“No, they think you’re me,” said the Fox.

“Well that’s reassuring,” the Human sighed mentally.

“All we can do now is wait.”

Thankfully, they did not have to wait much longer. The truck finally arrived at the doctor’s doorstep. Joe shoved the hybrid in a crate. “You’d better remain unconscious if you know what’s good for you,” he smiled menacingly. The Human growled back, although he didn’t realize he had done it until after the fact.

“Did I just growl?” he asked silently.

“Technically that was me. Since we’re in the same body I think our subconscious’ are fighting for control,” the Fox replied.

“Lovely,” replied the Human sarcastically.

Joe took the two inside the facility. The Human looked around. He was in the strangest laboratory he had ever seen, most of which had been destroyed by the meteor. The meteor itself was being closely examined by a man in a white lab coat with a large mustache, who was taking notes so fast his hand blurred across the page.

“Doc, I got that animal you needed,” Joe shouted, apparently thinking the doctor was off in his own little world. The doctor, however, turned around at once and walked over to Joe. His face was happy at first, but turned to surprise when he saw the creature. “This isn’t the Fox I had, is it?” he questioned. The Human took the moment to observe the doctor, peering at the name on the front of his lab coat, which read Dr. Cain Kintobor, Lead Researcher.

“Sure is. The tracking implant homed right in on him.” Joe showed a strange device to the doctor that the Human assumed they used to track the Fox.

“Hmmm… yes… it certainly seems so… but this creature hardly looks like a fox. He almost looks human,” observed Kintobor, still uncertain.

Finally, the Human could stand it no more, and made his third stupid decision of the night. “Not like I wanted to look like this in the first place!” he mumbled. He might as well have shouted, as everyone in earshot turned their heads slowly toward him, not daring to believe who had said it. Kintobor stared at him with wide eyes. The Human realized he had done something stupid, and instantly shut his mouth. But the damage had been done. Dr. Cain was looking at him with great interest now.

“Fascinating. How did it learn to do that?” he said quietly.

But the Human kept his mouth shut. He held his gaze away from the doctor, staring at the floor of his cage instead.

“Hmmm. Yes. Go and bring it over to the table for examination. And give the thing something to knock it out, I’d rather not have it screaming the entire time,” Kintobor said.

“With pleasure,” said Joe. He brought the Human and Fox into a room full of medical equipment- if you could call saws, hedge clippers, and knives of all kinds medical equipment. A table stood out in the middle of the room, blood splattered across it. The Human was so preoccupied with staring at this gruesome display that he didn’t notice Joe sticking a needle into his butt until it was too late. Whatever was in it immediately started to take effect. The edges of his vision faded as the room swam in front of him. It took all his self-control for him not to throw up.

“Ugh… urp,” he burped.

“It isn’t knocked out yet? What is this thing made of?” said Joe.

The Human felt slightly dazed. He tried closing his eyes to make the room stop spinning, but that just made it worse, making it almost impossible to reopen them. That’s when he felt the second stab to his butt.

“Owwwww…,” he managed to spit out before collapsing on the floor of his cage.

When he opened his eyes again, he was on the table in the middle of the room. Trying to move his arms or legs brought no success. He looked down to see his wrists and ankles shackled by metal bands. Any chance of escape quickly deflated from the Human’s mind. The only thing he could move was his head, and anyway he turned caused pain to shoot through his spine. At this point, he didn't care who heard him or not, and somewhat slurred out, “Where am I?”

“It spoke again. I thought you gave it the special sedative that I made,” he heard Dr. Cain say.

“Maybe it was defective?” said Joe uncertainly.

“Perhaps. That thing is supposed to be able to knock out an elephant with half a shot.”

The Human keep trying to turn his head to see where the two men were standing, but could barely make them out through the corner of his eyes. The doctor turned away and started to speak to his co-workers, so the Human quickly looked for any means of escape. He spotted a paper clip on the desk next to him, just out of reach.

“I feel like I’m in a movie,” he thought.

“Grab it with your tail,” his Fox friend chimed in.

“What? My tail? It’s not like I have a hand on my tail.”

“No, just grab it with your tail!” the Fox exclaimed.

“Easy for you to say,” the Human thought, “You’ve had a tail all your life.”

“Fine. Want me to do it then?”

“How? You’re trapped in my subconscious, remember?”

“Not if you’re willing to let me take control for a minute or two,” said the Fox.

“Okay, well, what are you waiting for?” the Human thought back.

Instantly, the Human could no longer feel his body. He felt like he had detached from it, but he could still feel, see, hear, and smell everything around him. His head turned to the left even though he had not asked his body to. His eyes stared at the paperclip on the table, then towards the outline of the doctor and his co-workers, then back to the paperclip. He could see his tail moving and trying to clasp it in vain for a few seconds before finally succeeding. His tail moved back in a flash, and no one had seen what had happened.

“Wow,” was his only thought.

“See? Simple. As soon as I’ve unlocked the bands I’m letting you take control again,” thought the Fox.

Again, the Human (or rather, the Fox) looked over to the doctors, who were still preoccupied. He then set to work on the cuff of his right arm. In a few seconds, it was free, and he set to work on his left. Unfortunately, the doctors had finally decided to turn back around.

Dr. Cain shouted, “Restrain him!” Joe pinned the Fox’s arm on the table and took away the paper clip. He then put his right cuff back on as well as securing the one he had been working on. The Fox hissed at the guard, but he paid no heed. Dr. Cain walked beside him and stared into his eyes. The Fox glared back, but found the doctors stare to be quite unnerving, and quickly turned away. He then let the Human take back control, who peered again at the doctor, disgusted.

“Based on the scans we did to its brain, and what I’ve just seen now, I think our little experiment has two different souls inside it,” said the doctor.

“Wait, what? How can you tell?” asked Joe.

“Well, the fact that its irises are changing color is one big hint,” said Dr. Cain.

“Oh,” said the guard, still not understanding.

The doctor sighed. “Why am I trying to explain this to you?” he said. He then turned to his colleagues. “Are we quite ready?”

“This time? Yes,” one of them replied.

“Excellent.”

The doctor took out a small iron rod from a furnace. This intrigued the Human/Fox, as they had not seen it until moments ago, and it was not the kind of thing you usually spot in a mad doctor’s lab. They then noticed the other doctors file out, as well as the guard, so that the only people in the room was them and Kintobor.

“You can talk now if you want. I know there’s a lot more to you than looks,” the doctor said casually.

The Human remained silent for a moment before saying, “Who are you?”

The doctor was surprised. “Oh, how rude of me. I haven’t even properly introduced myself. My name is Dr. Cain A. Kintobor.”

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on. A Fox comes into my room as if by magic, I touch him and then all of a sudden we’re sharing bodies,” The Human said.

“What? You must be a very stupid boy,” said the doctor.

Dr. Cain continued. “The Fox you touched was one of my experiments. I am trying to create a weapon for the United States military; in particular, a ‘super soldier’.”

“Well, I certainly don’t look like Captain America,” the Human retorted.

“Ha! No, humans were not... ‘suitable’ enough to become weapons. The head corporal has condemned it. No, I needed to experiment on animals. It was legal (mostly), and they could at least be brought under your control easily. All I needed to do was combine the different genomes of different animals to create it. And I almost succeeded.

“This Fox was the last of my experiments. Something about it… interested me. Whatever the reason, I decided it would be my next subject, and soon the operation was underway. I added different strands of DNA from cats, rhinos, ants, camels, rats, and other foxes. I even added a few strands of Napoleon’s DNA! This time, I knew, would be like my many other experiments. Failure. It has happened before, time after time, and I expected it to happen again.

“But then the unexpected happened. The unpredictable. The one-hundred thousandth percentage of chance in any experiment for the inconceivable.” The doctor turned and looked at a giant green emerald that neither the Human nor the Fox had noticed was in the room. How they didn’t notice it before was astounding, as the great rock seemed to be giving off a light of its own, magnificently shining in the dark room. The Human could feel its power emanating throughout the room, bouncing off the walls and filling him with hope… as if everything was going to be okay…

“This… chaotic emerald,” the doctor continued, “fell from space and landed in the experiment chamber. While you were missing, I had the chance to study it. I’m hardly even close to beginning my research! This meteorite seems to be composed of raw energy- besides that, I’m at a loss to describe what it is and where it came from! I do, however, know that it is the reason why you have been a success compared with my other test subjects.” The doctor turned back toward them and started to walk around the table they were strapped to. “I have given my part of the story. It is now your turn.”

“Yea, let me just think for a second,” the Human said sarcastically, “Oh yeah. Now I remember. A fox appeared out of thin air in my room, melded with my body, and now we’ve both been taken hostage by a bald maniac with the biggest mustache I’ve ever seen.”

Kintobor looked at them with more interest. “It seems you have somehow gained the ability to teleport, although I doubt you have mastered it, considering there is now one of you rather than two. Your souls, on the contrary, seem to not be accepting each other, so the two of you will split apart given time.”

The Human and Fox both gave a mental sigh of relief. Maybe their lives could go back to normal. Or at least as normal as you can get after being held in a mad doctor's lab.

Kintobor walked over to the iron rod that the Human had seen earlier and picked it up. The Human could now see that it was an electric branding iron, a giant X at the bottom. He looked at it confusedly. The doctor noticed his expression and smiled. “Don’t worry, however. I am here to fix that,” he said.

Suddenly the Human and the Fox knew what the iron was for. The Fox took control again and began to tug at his cuffs, desperately trying to escape.

“It is time for another experiment, as well as making sure that you are mine and mine alone. No one is going to be stealing my experiments from me. Including my own test subject.”

The Fox tugged harder at the metal straps on his arms and legs. He started to sweat as the doctor came closer with the branding iron. The Human started to panic, taking back control as he let out an incomprehensible string of words before asking for his lawyer. But it was no use. They couldn’t escape.

“Don’t worry. This won’t hurt a-,” Dr. Cain stopped for a second before saying, “No, never mind. This will hurt a lot.”

As the doctor began to press the hot iron onto the Human's chest, he began to scream, his voice escalating with every passing second. The Fox’s screams joined with his, their voice becoming one howl of intense pain and agony. The heat burned through their fur and soon onto their skin, damaging the skin cells and nerves. As the feeling of pain began to lessen, the Human and the Fox stopped screaming, the room growing large spots, vibrantly flashing brighter than the emerald had. Dr. Cain started to laugh as the world spun and, ultimately, turned black.

The Human opened his eyes slowly, squinting at the bright light that filled the room. Once his eyes had adjusted, he looked around to find he was in a solid glass tube in the center of Kintobor’s main laboratory. Scientists were moving around excitedly, letting papers fly and testing different chemicals with enthusiasm. Guards were stationed close with their backs turned, to make sure that the Human and Fox did not escape. In the center of the hustle and bustle was Dr. Cain, giving orders to his fellow scientists and filling out paperwork. The Human weakly pounded his fist on the glass, escape still being the number one priority on his mind. He could feel his ‘roommate’ stirring slowly inside of them, only half awake. He tried to stand up, only to immediately sit back down because of the burning pain in his chest. The Human looked down to see a giant letter “X” branded on his skin. He touched the pink, raw flesh of his belly only to grimace at the discomfort. He tapped the glass as hard as he could.

“Help…” he softly cried.

One of the scientists took note that he was awake. He turned to Kintobor. “Project X is awake now,” he said.

“Good,” said the doctor, “I want it to be awake for this.”

Joe walked over to the doctor, slightly alarmed. “Doc, I think we may have a problem.”

“And I have the utmost confidence that you can take care of that problem. Right now I am busy getting the fusion matrix up and running so that we can combine the metaphysical cerebral boundaries of the two beings into a solitary intellect.” Kintobor turned to see a blank expression on Joe’s face. He sighed. “I’m combining its two minds and souls together.”

Joe shook his head. “That’s great and all, Doc, but General Morgan is calling to see the progress on his military ‘weapons’.”

“Stall him. Even if he comes by, we won’t need him for too much longer anyway.”

“You got it.”

The doctor turned back toward the Human as Joe walked out. “Fire up the Photon Rays,” he said to an assistant.

One of the doctors came up to Kintobor. “Are you sure we should use the meteorite? We hardly even understand the capabilities of its power…” he reasoned.

“-Which is exactly why we are using it. We need to test its…potential,” Kintobor said.

“But this device is alien. We don’t even know where it comes from. This is hardly ideal,” his colleague protested.

“I will make it ideal.” Kintobor turned to his assistant, “It is time we used this blessing. Is the fusion matrix running now?”

“Ready to go,” said the assistant rather nervously.

“Fire when ready then.”

The Human looked up to see a large metal ball slowly retract from the ceiling of his confinement. Sparks of green electricity could be seen coursing throughout the rod as it stopped about three feet above his head. The Fox whimpered before the Human shakingly stood up and mumbled, “Oh, give me a break.”

Electricity shot out of the rod and down onto the Human/Fox, filling the tube with a green glow. Both creatures inside of it could feel the energy flowing through them. It crossed through their eyes, filled their ears with a loud static sound and made their fur smoke. They dropped to their knees as pain washed over them. They opened their mouth, but no sound came out. They both tried desperately to hang on to themselves, to try to fight the pull each was feeling in its core. The pain intensified, growing to sheer levels of madness. They were being hit by hundreds of thousands of lightning bolts, each more torturous than the last.

“Holy cow,” one of the doctors cried, “The amount of energy… it’s going to explode!”

Many of the scientists ducked behind lab tables and desks as the tube was filled with green light. The armed guards ran to safety, keeping an eye on the experiment. The hybrid finally let out a paroxysm of pain as the green light coursed through him into the tube, making it vibrate rapidly. All they knew was pain as they started to lose consciousness. Everything turned cloudy green, the room started to disappear, the pain only kept growing when suddenly-

Bliss. Eternal bliss.

The creature could feel its arm bleeding. Could smell the burning metal in the air. Could taste the sweat rolling down its face. It could not, however, feel the fiery wounds it knew were on its fur.

The creature knew that when it opened its eyes it would return to the world of pain. That its miserable existence would begin, that it would have to fight to live.

I held my eyes shut a little longer before finally opening them.

Chapter 1

Read the prologue in parts!- Part 1 and Part 2

Gear and Dr. Cain belong to me.

[thetravelersjournal]

GF Prologue Part 1

I decided that the prologue I posted before was a little long, so I decided to upload it in two parts! I’ll make sure to tag the original as well as the second part below. Enjoy!

The forest, the year 2014 A.D., five minutes to midnight.

A soft whisper of wind raced through the surrounding trees. The orchestra of the night was beginning. Beavers gently splashed into the water on their way home, while woodpeckers inconsistently pecked at fallen logs for a good meal. Mice softly scurried to their hiding places, trying to avoid the sinister and sly snakes. A family of deer laid down, resting beneath the starry sky.

A red Fox leaped silently over fallen trees, trying to catch up with its prey. The bunny it was chasing had much experience in avoiding its predators, and dived in and out of the bushes and shrubs, moving swiftly. The younger and slightly more inexperienced Fox foolishly pushed on, chasing the small mammal onto a small dirt road just past the tree line. It didn’t notice the truck until the last second.

The truck halted in its tracks. It was a strange vehicle, with pictures of wildlife and the rainforest on each of its sides. One might think it would have belonged to a forest observation team had it not been for the cages full of loud animals in the back, desperately trying to escape their confinements. The driver quickly got out to see what he had hit. Scars lined his face in an almost hypnotizingly bizarre pattern, making it seem like he had been the subject of one too many bar fights. He wore a shabby coat and pants that hadn’t been washed for decades, and smoked a cigar that appeared old enough to have been from the civil war. His large mustache twitched as he peered down at the unconscious and slightly bruised Fox. He stared at the small clipboard he had in his hand.

“Bonus,” he said, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small needle with an even smaller tracking device held inside. He carefully stuck it into the Fox, injected the tracker, and pulled it out.

“Alright boys, haul ‘em up!” he grunted, putting the needle back in his pocket and pulling out a lighter, “The doctor never said how he wanted them brought back in.”  His two helpers got out of the van and glanced silently at the Fox before lifting it up and placing it into a cage. The animals became even louder, apparently shocked at the state the newcomer was in, and tried even harder to escape their cramped prison. Mac banged his hand on the side of the van before shouting, “QUIET DOWN!” He lit his cigar and climbed back into the truck, slamming the door.

The van made a gurgling noise before starting up, as if it too were in protest. As it drove back down the road, the cries of animals turned into cracks of thunder, disappearing off into the night.

The Human looked out the window of the car, listening to his friend drumming the wheel. Otherwise, all was silent, except for the constant hum of the engine. Neither one spoke a word. They were both tired – their boss had them work overtime today – and wanted to get home as soon as possible. The two hadn’t even bothered to change into their street clothes after work, not even the Human, and his work clothes were rather small due to his tall and skinny stature. He fully planned to collapse into bed as soon as he got home, and didn't care if his pajamas were on or not when he did. The Human looked at the clock, which read 12:09 A.M.

“The one downside of working at a movie theater,” said his friend suddenly.

“The one downside?” the Human replied.

“Okay, so maybe one of.”

“One of many.”

“But,” said his friend, turning to him, “We get free movies.”

“Eyes on the road, dude,” said the Human.

“Oh, lighten up. There’s no one on the road anyway.”

“Besides, nothing has been out for like, six months now. That, and we get guilt-tripped into working every time we try to watch one.”

“Yeeeah… but what about the snacks? Or all the nice people you get to meet?”

“Snacks? You mean all the popcorn those ‘nice people’ drop on purpose or throw at the screen so we have more of a mess to clean up?”

“Alright, so you hate your job. Don’t ruin it for the rest of us,” said his friend irritably.

“I just hate doing the same thing day in and day out. At least the people in movies live more interesting lives than we do… I want to do something new for once, go somewhere, see places, meet people…”

“And since when have you been a ‘people’ person?”

“You know what I mean,” the Human sighed, turning back to the window.

“Be careful what you wish for,” said his friend.

“Why, is my life suddenly going to change in the next ten sec- LOOK OUT!”

The Human’s friend slammed on the brakes as a forest observation truck ignored its stop sign and flew straight in front of them. Whether the speeding van even noticed them was unknown, as it continued driving on down the road. The Human’s friend gently let their foot off the brake and slowly continued on their course back to the Human’s house. The Human sighed out all the air that had filled his lungs as he had braced for impact. The shock made his chest feel like it was on fire, and his ears were filled with a high pitched whistle. He shook it off, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, which had slid down in the sudden stop. Barely avoiding death was not how he liked to spend his night. Rain now began to fall outside the closed window, drenching him with shivers.

They sat in silence a few moments longer, before the Human’s friend spoke up.

“Well,” his friend said, “your life kind of changed in the last 10 seconds.”

“Shut up.”

“Anyways, we made it,” his friend laughed as they pulled into the Human’s driveway, before glancing sideways at him and sighing. “Sorry I can’t celebrate with you at your birthday party.”

“Naw, it’s cool. Have fun at your little sister’s dance recital,” the Human snickered.

“I wish. Later.”

The Human thanked his friend for the ride and watched the car drive off before walking into the house. He quietly went up the stairs, being careful that he didn’t wake up his parents. He walked into his room, set his glasses on his desk, leaped silently over a few old Sonic the Hedgehog comic books, and fell flat on the bed. Before he could even think about how much fun he was going to have the next day, he was fast asleep.

Dr. Cain Kintobor was getting desperate. His experiments so far had brought up more problems than solutions for his military weapon research. Thus far, his test subjects had died, grown opposable thumbs, or lost all their hair. He knew he was getting close, however. His last few experimental specimens seemed to be smarter than before, and walked on their hind legs compared to all fours. But he still had not yet achieved success, and that was why he was out at one in the morning, in the cold and rain, waiting for his new test subjects to arrive.

Test subjects. He was forced to rely on animals rather than humans, all because of ethics. The government had issued his grant money on the condition that he use it to create the ultimate weapon, but they refused to let him use criminals in his tests. No one wanted to test the waters of experimental ideas! Dr. Cain was baffled at the very notion. Why not use convicts? The world wouldn’t miss them anyway. A low rumbling awoke him from his thoughts.

The truck slowly crept up the road and came to a stop before the doctor. The truck driver stepped out and walked toward Kintobor.

“Fifty different kinds of animals, just like you requested, sir,” He said, looking down at his checklist, before stating, “Noah’s Ark is here.”

“Yes, yes, fine, fine. Anything special Mac?” Kintobor grunted, too exhausted to pretend to be kind to the driver.

“Think I got a cow with a lazy eye in the back,” Mac said, jerking his thumb over to the truck.

“Hmm. Interesting,” said the doctor, not bothering to stifle a yawn, “Well, bring them inside.”

Mac and his two helpers grunted as they started unloading crate after crate full of animals. Kintobor watched their progress for a while, his lab coat whipping in the wind, before heading back inside. He still had lots of work to do, and wanted to finish preparing this batch of animals before Thursday, as his wife and son, Ivan, were planning a picnic by the meadow with some of his close colleagues and friends. Even the Clarkes would be there, and usually Dr. Clarke and his family were too busy to come to these fun outings. Dr. Cain always liked to show off his son, and how he, like his father, wanted to become a great scientist.

Kintobor started his routine of analyzing each animal. As he walked down the row of crates, each animal cowered near the corner of their cages, desperately trying to put distance between them and the doctor. Kintobor stopped at the edge of the Fox’s cage. He peered down at the nimble creature. It was still unconscious, not aware it was imprisoned.

“This will do just fine,” he said.

He ordered his assistants to bring the sleeping animal to his lab. He adjusted his glasses and got to work, walking into a room that could indeed be labeled as a mad scientist’s laboratory. Test tubes were everywhere, most containing strange liquids or clumps of fur. Scientists and lab assistants scurried about while armed guards stood at the entrances and exits to keep out unwanted visitors- and keep the doctor’s experiments in. The atmosphere smelled of sweat, making the entire workplace hot and stuffy. The air itself was full of static electricity, so that if a person were to walk in without a hat, every hair on their head would stand straight up. Dr. Cain had no problem with this, however, as he had very little hair to begin with, the result of a genetic disorder. If anyone was brave enough to ask the doctor what disorder, he would simply say, “It only affects the family intellectuals.” Apparently this disorder did not affect the upper lip, as his mustache was so big it rivaled Mac’s.

The Fox was placed in a solid Plexiglas-like tube. Giant pipes ran to and from the tube, providing energy. The doctor turned to his colleagues.

“Are we up and running, and did you add the different DNA compounds like I asked?”

“Almost, and yes. We just need to run a system analysis on-”

“No,” said the doctor, “perform the experiment now.”

“Are you sure? If we fail too many more tests we’ll lose our funding.”

“I am sure. Now perform the test!”

Another of his colleagues spoke up. “Doctor, I do not think it is wise to-”

“I do not pay you to think! Perform. The. Test.  NOW.”

Kintobor’s partner glanced at the other scientists before begrudgingly pulling a lever. Sparks shot out of the top of the tube and slammed into the Fox. Now awakened from its peaceful sleep, it howled in agony as the electricity intensified. A strange liquid started to fill the chamber. Instead of collecting around the Fox, however, the Fox seemed to be absorbing it into its body.

“Turn on the DNA modulator!” the doctor shouted over the Fox’s yelps of pain. The Fox’s eyes shut tight as a white powder covered the entire tube. The electricity continued, not fazed by the new substance entering the small space. The doctor smiled. He could feel it this time. Any second now he would have the ultimate soldier.

That’s when a green asteroid rocketed straight through the building, broke through the glass of the testing tube, and landed right beside the Fox.

If the Fox’s screams of torture had been loud before, it was nothing compared to how loud it was now. The scientists and guards covered their ears as the Fox began to effortlessly float in the air. Its eyes opened only to show they had been rolled into the back of its head. Visible energy seemed to collect around the Fox as it floated higher into the air. Test tubes exploded, light bulbs shattered. The entire compound appeared to rattle and shake, swaying against the raging storm outside. Then, as soon as it had started, it stopped. The Fox fell back to the floor, unconscious yet again. Surprisingly, while several sparks flew from various broken wires and outlets, the damage to the lab was minimal, despite the monstrous ‘quake’.

Kintobor slowly got up from his hiding place. He looked around the smoke filled lab. His heart sank. He was so close to victory! He sighed, and looked to see if there was anything left of the Fox. What he saw surprised him.

The Fox was mostly ‘unharmed’ (“I’m surprised it kept all its limbs,” the doctor mumbled), although it was slightly glowing- a fact that unnerved Dr. Cain, but he didn’t pay too much heed to it, especially after it grew pale a few seconds later. The Fox was twitching uncontrollably, and was slowly beginning to wake up. Kintobor looked next to the Fox to see the green asteroid… but then again, it didn't look like an asteroid at all, but rather a giant emerald.

“Hmm… so you're what caused all the chaos,” he said.  He tried picking it up, but because it was bigger than his own body, he ultimately failed. It was so bright that it was practically creating its own glow. In fact, it was; the Fox’s strange hue a minute prior must have been from the glow of the emerald reflecting off of it. After examining it for another minute or so, Dr. Cain pointed to one of his partners and said, “We need to run some tests on this after we have this animal caged.”

The Fox, however, had woken up, and did not seem too happy about being caged again.  Its pupils grew until all that could be seen was yellow. Before the doctors, their assistants, the guards, or even the Fox knew what was happening, it had vanished without a sound.

The scientists stood dumbstruck at the spot where the Fox had been. Kintobor’s face slowly turned a very dark shade of red. His colleagues stepped back and plugged their ears, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.

“FIND ME THAT FOX! NOW!” he shouted.

The armed guards ran from the room quickly and grabbed their guns, tasers, and tear gas canisters. Using the tracker Mac had implanted into the Fox, they found that it had teleported to a small town about three hundred miles away- almost a 6-hour drive. Based on the time it was now, they would get there around 10 A.M., at the earliest. They moved out of the building, got into their armored cars, and drove off into the now foggy night.

Dr. Cain seethed with rage. He was going to make the ultimate soldier. Nothing would stop him from creating unmatchable military might. Nothing…

The Human was awakened by a soft thud; so soft that the sound only nibbled at the edges of his consciousness. He groggily lifted his head to look at the clock, which now read 3:27. He groaned. His first thought was that he wanted to get some sleep before his party later that evening, but then he realized that it didn’t matter how tired he was in the morning; his parents probably wouldn’t care if he slept till noon. Therefore, he decided to see what made the sound, and turned on the lamp that was next to him. His eyes would’ve bulged if they hadn’t been practically closed shut.

In the middle of his bedroom was a red Fox, lying unconscious on the carpeted floor. ‘Red’ however, was an understatement. The Fox was soaked in its own blood, shining from the light his table lamp was giving. The Human blinked a few times to make sure what he was seeing was true, slowly gaining awareness of the situation. Then he pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, glancing quickly over at the animal after doing so. The Fox sat still in the center of his room.

The Human got up cautiously. He would have been cautious, at least, if his lamplight hadn’t decided at that moment to burn out. He tripped over his own feet, saved himself, then waited until his eyes adjusted to the darkness. How a Fox had gotten into his room was beyond him; his window and door were both closed. Where had it come from, and why was it so injured?

He was so immersed in his own thoughts that he didn’t notice the Fox was twitching wildly around on the floor. It began to emit its own light again, a sort of dull green, illuminating the room and making the Human’s hair stand on end.

Still, the Human approached the Fox slowly, with great heed. It was a peculiar thing, and besides the fact that it was bleeding from head to toe, it looked rather sick, like it had been unnourished for some time. He was a foot from the Fox; half a foot; an inch. He could hear its shallow and un-rhythmical breathing as it was trying to force more air into its lungs than it could hold.

And then the Human did something really stupid. Taking a deep breath, he leaned over and poked the Fox in the stomach.

Pain flared up inside him as the Human silently began screaming. The Fox started to meld with his skin; the pain flew through him with burning intensity, until he could no longer feel his face. Peach blended with red until the brighter color took over. Hair became fur, hands became paws, and eyes grew to resemble brown flying saucers. The Human tried to scream but nothing would come out, the screams instead ricocheting inside his own head. The world was spinning, shadows laughing, the pain became audible, it hurt so much, it was too much, it was too-!

And everything went quiet. Dead silent.

The Human could no longer hear the house creak, could no longer hear the AC humming, could no longer hear his dad snoring in the room across the hall. He could not smell the scent of burnt fur, or feel the carpet underneath him, or taste the blood on his tongue, the blood that was oozing down his face like gentle rivers of water. The final terror that struck him was that he could no longer see his own bedroom. Everything was black, pitch dark.

And the Human passed out.

The Human awoke with a start. Sunlight pierced his eyes, and he had to blink a few times to get used to this sudden brightness. He was on the ground, and the blankets from his bed had fallen down with him.

“Was that a dream?” he said out loud. He looked over at the clock on his bed, and was surprised it read 9:58. He got up slowly. Sleeping had not seemed to have helped him, as he was extremely exhausted. His back ached, his hair was pointing up in all sorts of directions, and his tail drooped to the floor, so he had to drag it when he walked. The Human was so tired, that he was oblivious to the fact that he had a tail, as well as the fact that he was shorter than before. His thoughts were on breakfast.

He went downstairs, yawning with each step he took. He looked up at the kitchen table and saw a note written by his parents. It read, “Son, we went to the store. Your brother is at swim practice. I know you won’t want to, but you need to wash the dishes, take out the garbage, and vacuum all the carpets. We should be home around two. Happy 16th!  –Mom”.

The Human sighed. “I should probably change into some decent clothes before I start,” he groaned, stretching.

“You humans have some pretty messed up priorities,” said a mysterious voice.

The Human looked around frantically, trying to discern the source of the voice. “Who’s there?” he proclaimed.

“Just me, the voice inside your head that you’ve been ignoring for the last five minutes,” it replied.

At this point, the Human was fully awake, and finally began to notice some things. He had not put on his glasses, and yet he could see perfectly. He could hear his neighbors arguing next door, even though they weren’t yelling. He could smell the remains of his mom’s breakfast on the kitchen counter, but the eggs had long since been eaten, and the dishes cleared and cleaned. The entire room seemed taller, and his usually tight uniform was now too baggy; the Human doubted that even his belt would hold up his pants. He looked around, only to spot his dark red tail behind him. Whenever he moved, it moved. The Human stood in shock for a few seconds, watching his tail mimic his movements, but snapped out of it long enough to ask, “Wha- what? - why?”

“Glad you finally decided to wake up. I’m no happier about this than you are,” said the voice, sounding very annoyed.

“Who are you?” the Human finally spilled out.

“I’m the Fox that was in your bedroom last night.”

“Okay, so, how are you inside my head exactly?”

“Do you remember nothing of last night?”

The Human, of course, could remember everything from last night. He ran into the bathroom to look in the mirror. And for a moment he saw his reflection.

He found himself hard to describe with words. He appeared to be a humanoid fox with wide brown eyes. His fur was reddish, except for the white patches covering his chest and the end of his tail. What once was his hair now seemed to be fur pretending. It flowed like grass clippings from the top of his head, too short to need to be combed. Above his hair were long ears, standing straight up from his own surprise. His canines were much longer now, sticking out from his other teeth. His nose and mouth now seemed connected to a long white snout. His arms and legs were like skinny noodles, and the Human wondered how he was able to stand up.

He only had a second to ponder his appearance, however, because at that moment the front door exploded.

The Human coughed up dust, and tried to peer through the rubble that had filled up most of the hallway. This was impossible, as the smoke cloud was too thick to see anything. In fact, the cloud of dirt seemed to be growing, which only made it harder for him to breathe. And unless it was his imagination, the smoke was slightly turning green, almost as if it was-

The Human passed out on the floor. He didn’t see the armored troops come in, nor did he hear them tossing him into their truck, or hear his neighbor's’ screams, or smell the scent of gunpowder that formulated into the air, or feel the cold hard metal floor shifting as the armed truck drove down the road. He could only taste the warm, stale air being pressed onto his tongue as he breathed in the peculiar sensation of unconsciousness.

Part two of Prologue- Part 2

Read the full version!- Full Prologue

Gear and Dr. Cain belong to me.

[thetravelersjournal]

GF Prologue Part 2

I decided that the prologue I posted before was a little long, so I decided to upload it in two parts! I’ll make sure to tag the original as well as the first part below. Enjoy!

A long time later (or perhaps no time at all), the Human finally woke up. He was still in the metal crate on wheels surrounded by guards; how he got there and where he was going was still a mystery to him. He could feel his arms bound in rope behind his back, cutting into his wrists like knives. He felt cold; shifting around on the floor told him he wasn’t wearing any clothes.

“Hgrrgh?” he moaned without opening his eyes.

“Is the beast awake?” said a voice. The Human could hear the hint of fear in the voice.

“Naw. Just having nightmares about us!” said a second voice, laughing.

“Should I taze it?” said yet another voice. The Human could smell the sweat coming from the third man, dripping off his face down onto the floor. He kept his eyes closed.

“What’s the point? There’s still a pretty long trip left to go. Might as well inflict some torture on it to keep it in line,” replied the second voice again.

The Human felt someone pinch his cheek. “Come on beastie, wake up!” said voice #2. The man was so close that the Human could taste the liverwurst smell emanating from his breath. He waited, trying not to cough. He could somehow sense that the man’s finger was close to his face.

“Closer… closer…,” he thought desperately. Finally, the man’s finger was an inch in front of his nose as the man tried to poke him again to wake him up.

The Human opened his eyes and bit the man’s finger in his desperate attempt to escape. He realized his mistake a second later, as the car was full of guards carrying guns that looked like they could shoot off his head with one round. The man howled and retracted his finger from the Humans open jaw, before kicking him in the face. He spat blood on the floor and looked up at the man, growling.

“It bit me! That little stinking demon bit me!” the man shouted.

“Calm down, Joe. This wouldn’t have happened if we had tazed it in the first place,” said the third man.

“Yah? Well, I think it’s time the little vermin was shown his place.” Joe punched the Human again in the face, who pretended to pass out again. He needed a better time to escape.

“I thought you said you wanted it conscious?” said the frightened first man.

Joe gave him a look that told him quite plainly to shut up. The first man sighed, muttering, “My mother wanted me to be a lawyer, but no, I had to work as a security officer in a facility that runs experiments on animals…”

They continued down the road, arriving closer and closer to their destination, although the Human did not know it. To him, it seemed like days had passed in that space, and it only seemed to be getting longer. Every time they hit a pothole, his head would bang against the wall of the truck. Occasionally he would open an eye to view his surroundings. Usually the guards were playing cards on the floor, other times they would be sleeping or picking their noses. Once when he was brave enough to open his eyes again, he noticed the frightened guard looking at him, and quickly closed his eyes. The last thing he needed was another punch to the face.

Surprisingly, having the Fox in his head wasn’t as bad as he thought. He could communicate silently with him, which really helped pass the time, and eventually they knew a lot about each other, the knowledge of why the Human had been captured in the first place being of particular interest.

“So they think I’m you?”

“No, they think you’re me,” said the Fox.

“Well that’s reassuring,” the Human sighed mentally.

“All we can do now is wait.”

Thankfully, they did not have to wait much longer. The truck finally arrived at the doctor’s doorstep. Joe shoved the hybrid in a crate. “You’d better remain unconscious if you know what’s good for you,” he smiled menacingly. The Human growled back, although he didn’t realize he had done it until after the fact.

“Did I just growl?” he asked silently.

“Technically that was me. Since we’re in the same body I think our subconscious’ are fighting for control,” the Fox replied.

“Lovely,” replied the Human sarcastically.

Joe took the two inside the facility. The Human looked around. He was in the strangest laboratory he had ever seen, most of which had been destroyed by the meteor. The meteor itself was being closely examined by a man in a white lab coat with a large mustache, who was taking notes so fast his hand blurred across the page.

“Doc, I got that animal you needed,” Joe shouted, apparently thinking the doctor was off in his own little world. The doctor, however, turned around at once and walked over to Joe. His face was happy at first, but turned to surprise when he saw the creature. “This isn’t the Fox I had, is it?” he questioned. The Human took the moment to observe the doctor, peering at the name on the front of his lab coat, which read Dr. Cain Kintobor, Lead Researcher.

“Sure is. The tracking implant homed right in on him.” Joe showed a strange device to the doctor that the Human assumed they used to track the Fox.

“Hmmm… yes… it certainly seems so… but this creature hardly looks like a fox. He almost looks human,” observed Kintobor, still uncertain.

Finally, the Human could stand it no more, and made his third stupid decision of the night. “Not like I wanted to look like this in the first place!” he mumbled. He might as well have shouted, as everyone in earshot turned their heads slowly toward him, not daring to believe who had said it. Kintobor stared at him with wide eyes. The Human realized he had done something stupid, and instantly shut his mouth. But the damage had been done. Dr. Cain was looking at him with great interest now.

“Fascinating. How did it learn to do that?” he said quietly.

But the Human kept his mouth shut. He held his gaze away from the doctor, staring at the floor of his cage instead.

“Hmmm. Yes. Go and bring it over to the table for examination. And give the thing something to knock it out, I’d rather not have it screaming the entire time,” Kintobor said.

“With pleasure,” said Joe. He brought the Human and Fox into a room full of medical equipment- if you could call saws, hedge clippers, and knives of all kinds medical equipment. A table stood out in the middle of the room, blood splattered across it. The Human was so preoccupied with staring at this gruesome display that he didn’t notice Joe sticking a needle into his butt until it was too late. Whatever was in it immediately started to take effect. The edges of his vision faded as the room swam in front of him. It took all his self-control for him not to throw up.

“Ugh… urp,” he burped.

“It isn’t knocked out yet? What is this thing made of?” said Joe.

The Human felt slightly dazed. He tried closing his eyes to make the room stop spinning, but that just made it worse, making it almost impossible to reopen them. That’s when he felt the second stab to his butt.

“Owwwww…,” he managed to spit out before collapsing on the floor of his cage.

When he opened his eyes again, he was on the table in the middle of the room. Trying to move his arms or legs brought no success. He looked down to see his wrists and ankles shackled by metal bands. Any chance of escape quickly deflated from the Human’s mind. The only thing he could move was his head, and anyway he turned caused pain to shoot through his spine. At this point, he didn't care who heard him or not, and somewhat slurred out, “Where am I?”

“It spoke again. I thought you gave it the special sedative that I made,” he heard Dr. Cain say.

“Maybe it was defective?” said Joe uncertainly.

“Perhaps. That thing is supposed to be able to knock out an elephant with half a shot.”

The Human keep trying to turn his head to see where the two men were standing, but could barely make them out through the corner of his eyes. The doctor turned away and started to speak to his co-workers, so the Human quickly looked for any means of escape. He spotted a paper clip on the desk next to him, just out of reach.

“I feel like I’m in a movie,” he thought.

“Grab it with your tail,” his Fox friend chimed in.

“What? My tail? It’s not like I have a hand on my tail.”

“No, just grab it with your tail!” the Fox exclaimed.

“Easy for you to say,” the Human thought, “You’ve had a tail all your life.”

“Fine. Want me to do it then?”

“How? You’re trapped in my subconscious, remember?”

“Not if you’re willing to let me take control for a minute or two,” said the Fox.

“Okay, well, what are you waiting for?” the Human thought back.

Instantly, the Human could no longer feel his body. He felt like he had detached from it, but he could still feel, see, hear, and smell everything around him. His head turned to the left even though he had not asked his body to. His eyes stared at the paperclip on the table, then towards the outline of the doctor and his co-workers, then back to the paperclip. He could see his tail moving and trying to clasp it in vain for a few seconds before finally succeeding. His tail moved back in a flash, and no one had seen what had happened.

“Wow,” was his only thought.

“See? Simple. As soon as I’ve unlocked the bands I’m letting you take control again,” thought the Fox.

Again, the Human (or rather, the Fox) looked over to the doctors, who were still preoccupied. He then set to work on the cuff of his right arm. In a few seconds, it was free, and he set to work on his left. Unfortunately, the doctors had finally decided to turn back around.

Dr. Cain shouted, “Restrain him!” Joe pinned the Fox’s arm on the table and took away the paper clip. He then put his right cuff back on as well as securing the one he had been working on. The Fox hissed at the guard, but he paid no heed. Dr. Cain walked beside him and stared into his eyes. The Fox glared back, but found the doctors stare to be quite unnerving, and quickly turned away. He then let the Human take back control, who peered again at the doctor, disgusted.

“Based on the scans we did to its brain, and what I’ve just seen now, I think our little experiment has two different souls inside it,” said the doctor.

“Wait, what? How can you tell?” asked Joe.

“Well, the fact that its irises are changing color is one big hint,” said Dr. Cain.

“Oh,” said the guard, still not understanding.

The doctor sighed. “Why am I trying to explain this to you?” he said. He then turned to his colleagues. “Are we quite ready?”

“This time? Yes,” one of them replied.

“Excellent.”

The doctor took out a small iron rod from a furnace. This intrigued the Human/Fox, as they had not seen it until moments ago, and it was not the kind of thing you usually spot in a mad doctor’s lab. They then noticed the other doctors file out, as well as the guard, so that the only people in the room was them and Kintobor.

“You can talk now if you want. I know there’s a lot more to you than looks,” the doctor said casually.

The Human remained silent for a moment before saying, “Who are you?”

The doctor was surprised. “Oh, how rude of me. I haven’t even properly introduced myself. My name is Dr. Cain A. Kintobor.”

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on. A Fox comes into my room as if by magic, I touch him and then all of a sudden we’re sharing bodies,” The Human said.

“What? You must be a very stupid boy,” said the doctor.

Dr. Cain continued. “The Fox you touched was one of my experiments. I am trying to create a weapon for the United States military; in particular, a ‘super soldier’.”

“Well, I certainly don’t look like Captain America,” the Human retorted.

“Ha! No, humans were not... ‘suitable’ enough to become weapons. The head corporal has condemned it. No, I needed to experiment on animals. It was legal (mostly), and they could at least be brought under your control easily. All I needed to do was combine the different genomes of different animals to create it. And I almost succeeded.

“This Fox was the last of my experiments. Something about it… interested me. Whatever the reason, I decided it would be my next subject, and soon the operation was underway. I added different strands of DNA from cats, rhinos, ants, camels, rats, and other foxes. I even added a few strands of Napoleon’s DNA! This time, I knew, would be like my many other experiments. Failure. It has happened before, time after time, and I expected it to happen again.

“But then the unexpected happened. The unpredictable. The one-hundred thousandth percentage of chance in any experiment for the inconceivable.” The doctor turned and looked at a giant green emerald that neither the Human nor the Fox had noticed was in the room. How they didn’t notice it before was astounding, as the great rock seemed to be giving off a light of its own, magnificently shining in the dark room. The Human could feel its power emanating throughout the room, bouncing off the walls and filling him with hope… as if everything was going to be okay…

“This… chaotic emerald,” the doctor continued, “fell from space and landed in the experiment chamber. While you were missing, I had the chance to study it. I’m hardly even close to beginning my research! This meteorite seems to be composed of raw energy- besides that, I’m at a loss to describe what it is and where it came from! I do, however, know that it is the reason why you have been a success compared with my other test subjects.” The doctor turned back toward them and started to walk around the table they were strapped to. “I have given my part of the story. It is now your turn.”

“Yea, let me just think for a second,” the Human said sarcastically, “Oh yeah. Now I remember. A fox appeared out of thin air in my room, melded with my body, and now we’ve both been taken hostage by a bald maniac with the biggest mustache I’ve ever seen.”

Kintobor looked at them with more interest. “It seems you have somehow gained the ability to teleport, although I doubt you have mastered it, considering there is now one of you rather than two. Your souls, on the contrary, seem to not be accepting each other, so the two of you will split apart given time.”

The Human and Fox both gave a mental sigh of relief. Maybe their lives could go back to normal. Or at least as normal as you can get after being held in a mad doctor's lab.

Kintobor walked over to the iron rod that the Human had seen earlier and picked it up. The Human could now see that it was an electric branding iron, a giant X at the bottom. He looked at it confusedly. The doctor noticed his expression and smiled. “Don’t worry, however. I am here to fix that,” he said.

Suddenly the Human and the Fox knew what the iron was for. The Fox took control again and began to tug at his cuffs, desperately trying to escape.

“It is time for another experiment, as well as making sure that you are mine and mine alone. No one is going to be stealing my experiments from me. Including my own test subject.”

The Fox tugged harder at the metal straps on his arms and legs. He started to sweat as the doctor came closer with the branding iron. The Human started to panic, taking back control as he let out an incomprehensible string of words before asking for his lawyer. But it was no use. They couldn’t escape.

“Don’t worry. This won’t hurt a-,” Dr. Cain stopped for a second before saying, “No, never mind. This will hurt a lot.”

As the doctor began to press the hot iron onto the Human's chest, he began to scream, his voice escalating with every passing second. The Fox’s screams joined with his, their voice becoming one howl of intense pain and agony. The heat burned through their fur and soon onto their skin, damaging the skin cells and nerves. As the feeling of pain began to lessen, the Human and the Fox stopped screaming, the room growing large spots, vibrantly flashing brighter than the emerald had. Dr. Cain started to laugh as the world spun and, ultimately, turned black. 

The Human opened his eyes slowly, squinting at the bright light that filled the room. Once his eyes had adjusted, he looked around to find he was in a solid glass tube in the center of Kintobor’s main laboratory. Scientists were moving around excitedly, letting papers fly and testing different chemicals with enthusiasm. Guards were stationed close with their backs turned, to make sure that the Human and Fox did not escape. In the center of the hustle and bustle was Dr. Cain, giving orders to his fellow scientists and filling out paperwork. The Human weakly pounded his fist on the glass, escape still being the number one priority on his mind. He could feel his ‘roommate’ stirring slowly inside of them, only half awake. He tried to stand up, only to immediately sit back down because of the burning pain in his chest. The Human looked down to see a giant letter “X” branded on his skin. He touched the pink, raw flesh of his belly only to grimace at the discomfort. He tapped the glass as hard as he could.

“Help…” he softly cried.

One of the scientists took note that he was awake. He turned to Kintobor. “Project X is awake now,” he said.

“Good,” said the doctor, “I want it to be awake for this.”

Joe walked over to the doctor, slightly alarmed. “Doc, I think we may have a problem.”

“And I have the utmost confidence that you can take care of that problem. Right now I am busy getting the fusion matrix up and running so that we can combine the metaphysical cerebral boundaries of the two beings into a solitary intellect.” Kintobor turned to see a blank expression on Joe’s face. He sighed. “I’m combining its two minds and souls together.”

Joe shook his head. “That’s great and all, Doc, but General Morgan is calling to see the progress on his military ‘weapons’.”

“Stall him. Even if he comes by, we won’t need him for too much longer anyway.”

“You got it.”

The doctor turned back toward the Human as Joe walked out. “Fire up the Photon Rays,” he said to an assistant.

One of the doctors came up to Kintobor. “Are you sure we should use the meteorite? We hardly even understand the capabilities of its power…” he reasoned.

“-Which is exactly why we are using it. We need to test its…potential,” Kintobor said.

“But this device is alien. We don’t even know where it comes from. This is hardly ideal,” his colleague protested.

“I will make it ideal.” Kintobor turned to his assistant, “It is time we used this blessing. Is the fusion matrix running now?”

“Ready to go,” said the assistant rather nervously.

“Fire when ready then.”

The Human looked up to see a large metal ball slowly retract from the ceiling of his confinement. Sparks of green electricity could be seen coursing throughout the rod as it stopped about three feet above his head. The Fox whimpered before the Human shakingly stood up and mumbled, “Oh, give me a break.”

Electricity shot out of the rod and down onto the Human/Fox, filling the tube with a green glow. Both creatures inside of it could feel the energy flowing through them. It crossed through their eyes, filled their ears with a loud static sound and made their fur smoke. They dropped to their knees as pain washed over them. They opened their mouth, but no sound came out. They both tried desperately to hang on to themselves, to try to fight the pull each was feeling in its core. The pain intensified, growing to sheer levels of madness. They were being hit by hundreds of thousands of lightning bolts, each more torturous than the last.

“Holy cow,” one of the doctors cried, “The amount of energy… it’s going to explode!”

Many of the scientists ducked behind lab tables and desks as the tube was filled with green light. The armed guards ran to safety, keeping an eye on the experiment. The hybrid finally let out a paroxysm of pain as the green light coursed through him into the tube, making it vibrate rapidly. All they knew was pain as they started to lose consciousness. Everything turned cloudy green, the room started to disappear, the pain only kept growing when suddenly-

Bliss. Eternal bliss.

The creature could feel its arm bleeding. Could smell the burning metal in the air. Could taste the sweat rolling down its face. It could not, however, feel the fiery wounds it knew were on its fur.

The creature knew that when it opened its eyes it would return to the world of pain. That its miserable existence would begin, that it would have to fight to live.

I held my eyes shut a little longer before finally opening them.

Part one of Prologue- Part 1

Chapter 1

Read the full version!- Full Prologue

Gear and Dr. Cain belong to me.

[thetravelersjournal]

Gear Foxx- Chapter 3

Don’t Repeal Net Neutrality!

“Were you trying to kill yourself, kid?”

“Er… is this a rhetorical question?” I asked.

Dr. Quack, Knothole’s lead physician, muttered angrily under his breath. He finished wrapping the cast around my leg before stating, “You got off pretty easy. But if you had kept running on that broken leg of yours, the last thing on your mind would be how painful it is.” He left the room for a moment, before bringing back a pair of crutches.

“Guh!” I breathed, getting to my feet with the crutches. Mina tried to help me, but I brushed her hand from my arm. “I’m fine,” I said, before asking, “So how long until this heals?”

“A few weeks, but if you want it to heal faster, I suggest not trying to walk for a while. The only reason I gave you those crutches is because we’re fresh out of wheelchairs,” the doctor pointed to the window, where I could see a few Mobians stuck in portable chairs.

“Good to know. Thanks doc,” I said, moving towards the door.

“Hey, kid!” Quack called after me, “Leave the heroics to Sonic! Otherwise you’ll just make my life harder!”

“Glad to know he cares about my well-being so much,” I muttered to Mina as we left.

Mina shrugged, “Well, you were the one to run around on a broken leg. I’m surprised you’re even still able to walk on it.”

“It was because of the brace I made,” I explained, “It held my bones in place long enough for me to get them fixed, but running on them didn’t really help.”

Mina silently stared at me, perhaps disturbed at how calmly I was taking the situation. She finally sighed, “Well, Doctor Quack is right. You should really leave the freedom fighting to Sonic.”

“And you should really not run to your death,” I interjected, thinking about Mina’s mad dash to rescue her mother. Her face flushed with anger.

“You’re the one who thought it was a good idea to go rescue her!”

“Yeah, but since Sonic’s right about everything, there’s no problem, right? Why don’t you go tell him how right he is?” I practically snarled.

“Fine! I will! And honestly, I don’t think I even care anymore if you try to get yourself killed whenever Robotnik attacks. Do what you want,” she stomped away, annoyed.

I watched her disappear into the large crowd of people flooding the small village. “Looks like I’m on my own again…,” I mumbled sadly.

I limped through the mass of Mobians, trying to find a good spot to rest. People were setting up tents, hundreds of them, to accommodate for the massive population- there just weren’t enough homes to go around.

I found a quiet corner, just a little ways away from Knothole, and rested my back up against a tree. I sighed, my mind still focused on my row with Mina. I didn’t want to get mad at her, but I needed some time to think, to process things. I needed to be alone, and getting Mina to avoid me was the best- the only- solution I could come up with.

“Sorry, Mina,” I grumbled to myself, before absorbing myself into my own thoughts.

A Human. A Fox. A Doctor. Another Doctor. A Hedgehog. A Foxx. A Mongoose. Mobians. A lab. Snapping electricity. A robot named George. A small village. A Chipmunk. A giant emerald. Project X. Armored guards. A burning city. A burning scar.

I lifted the hem of my shirt, revealing my brand once again. I ran my finger across it, wincing from the sharp sting that followed. The raw flesh was still tender.

I had been created, not born. I wasn’t ‘real’, per se. Then again, I did have the souls of two different individuals inside me. Were the souls now my own, or theirs?

Another question remained- Why was I created? The doctor said I was supposed to be “the ultimate soldier”, but was that the only reason? It’s not like I wanted to fight all those robots, I just…

I just wanted to help people.

Was that just another part of a programmed personality? Or was it my own? My head was swimming from the questions.

And of course, I couldn’t forget about where I was. I was in a world where Sonic the Hedgehog existed. And Dr. Eggman… they had called him Dr. Robotnik, hadn’t they? Kintobor backward is…

“If Dr. Robotnik is fighting Sonic, then does that mean Dr. Kintobor will be coming after me soon?” I thought.

No. He implanted a tracker in me, hadn’t he? If he wanted me, and if he was here, he would have done so already. I was safe- for now.

Back to the present situation. Some of what happened seemed familiar. I’m sure that the Human had read something like this in his comics before. If I can just remember… what did the Human read about?

Suddenly, the answer hit me. A flash of colors shot through my mind, as a smoking village captured my attention. The scene shifted to reveal a rogue AI, who was tormenting Mobians. The setting changed again, this time to missiles hitting a domed city. Again and again images flew in my head, only lasting a second or two as I recalled key events. A golden echidna. A hidden city. A roboticized scientist. A freed mad scientist. An empty suit of chainmail. A large egg-shaped aircraft. Invading aliens. A giant panda bear.  A blue emerald. Strange robots from another world. A destroyed universe.

I strained my mind for anything else, but failed. My vision was ragged, and I fought to control my breathing. I had to calm down. I bumped my head against the tree, staring up at its branches. Sunlight danced through the leaves, flooding the forest floor with a late afternoon gleam.

I knew some of what was going to happen, but beyond that, I couldn’t seem to remember much of anything else. Both the Human’s and the Fox’s memories were locked away from me, only snippets of information leaking out of the sealed chest of reminiscence. Why couldn’t I remember? And why was I even here? How did this world exist?

A low rumble made its way to my ears, piercing the silence like an arrow. I clicked my tongue with impatience.

“Ugh… I’m hungry,” I sighed.

Unfortunately, I was tired more than anything. Battling throughout the entire day, then thinking too hard about the situation I was in, was just too much for my body and mind. My eyelids slowly slid shut.

“At least, for now, I’m safe,” I thought, before falling asleep.

Now that I escaped Dr. Cain, what should I do?

It was this question that made me wake with a start, a cold sweat pouring down my back. The sun had retraced its steps in the sky, and my back was sore from being in the same position for so long. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, stretching.

What should I do? My mind drew a blank from this obvious question. What is my purpose? Do I even need one?

My stomach grumbled loudly. “Well, I know what I should do for the moment. But even before that…” I turned my attention back to Knothole. Hundreds of Mobians were walking here and there, grabbing lunch with friends or setting up more tents- apparently, it had continued through the night. I saw a familiar face speaking with an elderly woman. I got up slowly, placed my armpits on my crutches, and made my way to them.

The older woman had left by the time I got there, leaving Mina with three small children I hadn’t noticed before. She seemed to be telling them a story.

“...When suddenly, a giant robot appeared! Dr. Ro-butt-nik’s forces were attacking the city! The robot started firing at me, but I was able to sneak past it into a small alley. There I met- Wait, did I even meet anyone in the alleyway?” She seemed momentarily confused, but continued on, “Anyways, I was able to escape, and after making it through the alley I found a bunch of other people. We were about to escape the city when,” she paused dramatically, “More Shadow-bots attacked!”

The children gasped, completely enthralled with Mina’s story. I chuckled, stopping behind her. Neither she nor the kids saw me.

“We were completely surrounded! I thought that it was the end. What I didn’t expect was for Sonic the Hedgehog to come swiftly to our rescue! He tore all the robots apart before I even had time to blink!”

“You forgot to mention the part where I heroically tried to save you guys, but landed flat on my butt and looked like an idiot instead,” I said.

Mina turned her head so quickly I heard an audible crack. She rubbed her neck, moaning before asking, “What are you doing here?”

“Apologizing. Unless you’d like me to leave…?”

“Preferably the latter. But go on.”

“I didn’t mean to bring up what happened in the city, or get mad at you for no reason. I’m sorry for starting an argument,” I said truthfully.

Mina looked at me with a strange expression on her face. For a second I thought she hadn’t accepted my apology, but then she said, “You’re so weird, Gear.”

“Er… Okay?” I wasn’t really sure how to respond to this statement.

“Most people don’t like apologizing or admitting they’re wrong about anything, but you come right out and do it like it’s nothing.”

I stared at her, blinking rapidly, still not sure how to reply.

“I guess if I’m being perfectly honest, I was glad that we got into a fight. I wanted some time to think by myself. With everything that went on yesterday… It was all rather chaotic, wasn’t it?” She smiled before saying, “So I guess you didn’t really need to apologize… Though it was still nice to hear.”

“Heh… It’s funny, I started arguing for that exact same reason. I thought that you might stick close to me because of my leg,” I tapped my leg with one of my crutches, “I guess we’re both just a couple of hot-heads, huh?”

Mina laughed, shoving me to the side, “What are you talking about? You’re the one who started the argument!”

“What about the rest of the story, Ms. Mina?” one of the kids finally spoke up.

“Oh! Right, sorry,” she apologized, turning her attention back to the story, “Umm, let’s see… actually, Gear, do you want to tell your side of the story?”

“My side?” I asked.

“Yeah! Tell what you were doing when the robots started attacking, then tell how we met!”

“Um… sure, I guess. Ok,” I sat down on the ground in front of the children. They eyed me suspiciously, as if they didn’t think my story would be as good as Mina’s. “Alright, so, uh, I was in a really tall building when the Shadow-bots attacked. About as tall as that tree over there,” I said, pointing to a rather tall tree closer to the center of the village, “It was there that a large ‘bot fired at me! I dodged out of the way and...”

The sun lowered as I told my side of the story, up till the part where I met Mina, where she resumed her own story, while I added details and comments every now and then. Finally, the elderly woman came back.

“Thank you for watching the young ones for me, Mina. And who is your friend?” the woman smiled at me.

“This is Gear, Ms. Rosie,” Mina said. I waved, nodding. Rosie returned the gesture, before taking the kids back (who were rather sad to leave) and heading on her way.

“Well that was fun,” I said, lying on the grass, “You wouldn’t happen to have anything to eat, would you? I haven’t eaten in a day or two.” My stomach rumbled to confirm my statement.

Mina sighed, “Here, have a granola bar. It’s not much, but if you’re starving…”

“Thanks,” I mumbled as I shoved the bar into my mouth. My belly quieted a bit.

“Did you see Sonic’s ceremony?”

“No. Did he have one? I was sleeping till just before I found you.”

“Yeah, they knighted him and everything. I guess we can call him ‘Sir’ Sonic now.”

Mina and I talked for a while longer, the sun finally disappearing from the sky as the moon drifted between the stars. It felt good to talk to Mina, even if she was the one doing most of the talking. It was close to midnight when she finally let out a yawn.

“Wow, it’s so late… have we really been talking that long?” she asked, surprised.

“I guess so… It didn’t seem that long, anyway,” I offered. I stared up into the heavens, a gentle breeze floating through the night air. Mina got up.

“Well, I’m going to head off. It was nice talking with you again.”

I nodded, “Yeah, same.”

She looked at me uncomfortably for a few seconds, before saying, “Um… I was wondering if you wanted to do this again sometime. Talk, I mean. I don’t really have many friends to talk to…,” she trailed off.

I pondered her question. “On one condition,” I said.

“Huh? What is it?”

“That you count me as a friend,” I chuckled. I couldn’t dwell on my past all the time. I needed something to distract me. Besides, I had had fun talking to her. It was a very different change of pace from what's happened over the last couple of days.

Mina studied me closely, before her face lit up like a fireworks stand. “Of course!” she said, beaming.

I watched her walk away to a larger outcropping of tents. She disappeared between them as I slowly got up myself, making my way to the same tree I had rested up against before. I had barely taken a step, however, when a blue streak flashed past me, followed closely behind by a short, dark, spectacled human.

“Was that Sonic?” I said out loud to no one in particular. I watched him and the human continue zooming through the city, up into one of the tree canopy walkways, before finally stopping in front of a squirrel wearing a large crown- the same Mobian I had rescued back in the city. Based on what Mina had talked to me about, he was apparently the king over all the people of Knothole- King Acorn, they called him. They were barely visible from where I stood, a good few houses away. I started to walk closer in order to hear their conversation, but I didn’t really need to. I could somehow hear them from all the way over here without any trouble at all.

“...But I believe that Dr. Robotnik and his Shadow-bots have discovered the Hidden City of the Ancients!” the human was saying.

“The Hidden City of the Ancients? I thought that was a part of Mobian mythology, Uncle Nate,” said the King.

“Wait… hidden city? Didn’t that have something to do with…,” I whispered to myself.

“An unpolluted ecosystem like that needs protection from the world in general, but where Robotnik is concerned, it requires much more!” Nate continued.

“I’m in total agreement, old friend- there's no telling what Robotnik could be cooking up this time! ...And the Hidden City needs to be forewarned. I want both of you to depart first thing in the morning,” King Acorn ordered.

I continued watching Sonic as he and Nate said goodnight to the King. A hidden city- The Hidden City. Perhaps something I should check out for myself… It just might have some of the answers I’m seeking...

Read the Beginning!- Prologue

Previous Chapter

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Gear and Dr. Cain belong to me.

Mina, Rosie, Nate Morgan, Sonic, and others belong to SEGA, Archie(?) or Ken Penders

[thetravelersjournal]

Gear Foxx- Chapter 4

Bogus (Sonic) Colors!

I tugged at the thumbless brown gloves I had borrowed from the Freedom Fighter’s luggage. Sneaking onto their plane had been hard enough, what with them packing their bags into the aircraft, other random Mobians watching their progress, and Mina, who kept trying to persuade me to stay in Knothole. I hadn’t even had to explain to her what my plans were- it was like she knew what I was going to do as soon as it was announced that Sonic and the others were going to The Hidden City. Thankfully, everyone’s attention was torn away from the plane when dazzling bright lights started coruscating through the royal reliquary windows.

“Whatever that was, it helped me sneak in here unnoticed,” I thought as I tried shifting my good leg between a few trunks. The plane flew rather smoothly, and I barely felt any turbulence. I could probably fall asleep, if it weren’t for the baggage crushing my tail.

I slid my tail forward, freeing it from its confines. I stared at the roof of the jet, collecting my thoughts. I remembered seeing the city in what little leftover memories I had of this world from The Human, and if I was correct, they may have information about Dr. Cain there. After all, Robotnik had to have come from somewhere, and I doubt him and Dr. Cain shared names by simple coincidence. It was a shot worth taking, at any rate.

The plane ride took hours, and eventually, having little to entertain myself with, I fell asleep. By the time I had woken up, the roar of the engines was gone, and I was covered in a layer of sweat.

“I have a bad dream or something?” I wondered out loud, sitting up and moaning from the stiffness in my back. Before I could even begin to recollect my dream, however, a scream rang directly into my ears as a flash of pink darted out of my vision.

“Amy? What’s wrong?” I heard Sal (or rather, Sally, according to Mina) say.

“You mind not yelling in my ear?” I groaned, my cover already blown.

“Who eez zis?” a brown, French-sounding coyote in soldiers uniform asked.

“The name’s Gear. Yours?”

“My name eez Antoine, but zat eez not what I was ask-” he began, but Sally cut him off.

“I remember you… you helped us fight those Swatbots as we were running toward Knothole.”

A voice matching the high-pitched scream I heard resonated from the floor. I peeked over some luggage to see a familiar looking pink hedgehog say, “I remember you too! You saved me and Nate from those Swatbots back in the city!”

I looked at her curiously. “Um… do I know you? Because I recall saving someone who looked a lot younger than you…,” I inquired.

“Oh! T-that is, uh…” she stammered.

“How did’yah get on board, sugah?” a southern-accented female rabbit said from behind Sally. I noticed her legs and left arm were encased in metal machinery.

“Well, uh… I heard you guys were going to some hidden city, so I thought I’d hitch a ride…,” I trailed off.

“What, did you think we were going on a picnic?” Sally piped in, anger seeping into her voice, “None of us know what kind of danger lurks in the city. You-”

I spoke over her. “I can take care of myself. I didn’t hop on board not thinking there was danger.”

Nate suddenly came from behind Sally. “We’ll just have to bring him along for now. Come, or Sonic and Tails will get impatient.”

Sally looked at me a bit longer before sighing and following behind Nate. I removed my appendages from the pile of luggage while stretching my legs- it had been a long flight. I grabbed the crutches I had brought along with me and followed the rest of the group.

We boarded a minecart, with tracks extending far off into a long dark cavern. A biplane soared over our heads, gliding down the length of the tunnel. Looking back, I could see the faint haze of twilight at the cave’s entrance. I glanced at the others as the cart flew down the railway.

“So… I never did catch the rest of your names,” I said, hoping to get on good terms with the others.

The pink hedgehog did a sort of curtsy (which was an amazing feat, considering the small amount of space the cart offered) and replied, “I’m Amy Rose, Sonic’s sweetheart!”

“...Right,” I responded.

“And mah name is Bunnie Rabbot!” the cyborg rabbit said.

“Oui, and my name eez Antoine D'Coolette, pleased to be meeting your acquaintances,” Antoine chimed in.

Bunnie glanced over at him. “Yah already gave him your name, sugah-t’wan.”

“I’m Princess Sally Acorn, but I’d prefer if you just called me Sally,” Sally said, confirming what Mina had told me.

“And last but not least, I am Nate Morgan. A pleasure to meet you- Gear, you said?” Nate asked.

“Yep, that’s my name. Gear Foxx.”

Suddenly, the cart stopped, pushing everyone towards the front. “It appears we are here,” Nate said, hopping out. The biplane landed a short distance away as Sonic and a young yellow-orange fox, which I could only assume was the Tails that Nate had mentioned earlier, jumped out to join our group.

“Welcome, Freedom Fighters,” Nate continued as the rest of us made our way out of the cart and to a small opening that he was standing near, “To The Hidden City of the Ancients!”

The tunnel opened up into a large cavern that held an enormous city in its bowels. Lights shone across the many skyscrapers that traveled to each end of the cave. I gasped in disbelief, the rest of the Freedom Fighters following suit. The sight was amazing. What weirded me out was that, even though I was pretty sure we were in a cave, the moon could still be seen illuminating the city.

Nate led us down from the entrance to the city streets below. Humans stared at us as we walked past, unable to believe what they were seeing. A slight uneasiness washed over me. Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to come here after all.

As if to affirm my suspicions, a squadron of police cars and a few helicopters converged on our location. Their blaring lights blinded me, the bright noise of the sirens filling my ears. My muscles tensed up as I gripped my crutches tightly, ready for action.

A voice from within the police copter rang out through a megaphone attached to its side. “Place your hands above your heads and don’t make any sudden moves!” it shouted.

Nate quickly ran up to who appeared to be the chief officer, who seemed to recognize him immediately.

“It’s my old pal Nate Morgan! At ease officers- I recognize this guy!” The other soldiers reluctantly lowered their weapons. I held in my sigh of relief, just in case.

“What brings you back to town after all these years, old-timer?” the chief continued, “And what's with the pets?”

I looked angrily up at the officer. “Pet? You want to say that again to my face?” I growled.

Every cop within earshot looked at me with amazement. “You can speak?” the chief sputtered.

“Yeah, and so can you. You trying to call me stupid?” I asked loudly, taking a step forward.

A hand held me back. I turned to see Nate holding onto my shoulder. “I’d appreciate it if you let me handle things from here, my friend,” he said calmly.

I huffed angrily before taking a gulp of air and apologizing, “My bad. I just hate that word, s’all.” I stepped behind Nate and let him continue his conversation with the officer, Sally joining in. I glared at the other humans that were passing by, all of whom were astonished at my fluency in English. I sighed. And just to think, a few days prior I was a human, at least, partly.

Nate and Sally finished their conversation with the lieutenant, and a few of the police officers quickly led us to a hotel near the heart of the city. Sonic raced back to the plane to gather everyone’s luggage, and was waiting for us by the time we got there. After we finally got to the hotel room, most of the freedom fighters hit the hay. Having already taken a nap before getting here, I wasn’t tired in the slightest.

I peered out the window of the suite me, Nate, and Antoine shared at the city below. It was beautiful in its own way, distinctively different from Knothole’s own stunning beauty. Stars twinkled down on the citizens in the streets below, shifting their walks into midnight dances. I heard the soft tap of a cane behind me.

“What was with that outburst earlier, Gear?” Nate asked me.

“Well…,” I sighed, not tearing my gaze from the window, “I don’t know, honestly. Just, when he called us pets… it was like taking a shot to the stomach.”

My eyes crossed so I could see Nate standing behind me in the window. His features looked even more tired and grey in the glass. He observed me thoughtfully, his face growing sad.

“Perhaps that is my fault… I should have warned you that the humans here are not familiar with Mobians,” he said.

“No, it’s not your fault… I shouldn’t have gotten mad like that. Guess I just have a quick temper,” I put a hand to my face, stroking the muscles on my forehead, “Besides, you guys are here on freedom fighter business, aren’t you? I was making a fool of myself and you guys by getting in the way.”

Silence filled the room for a few moments, only interrupted by Sonic’s snores next door. “Actually, I have yet to ask why you are here, my friend. You must have had some reason for stowing away on the plane,” Nate questioned me.

I didn’t reply. I wasn’t really sure what I should say. Would he view me any differently if I told him what I was? And even if he didn’t, I felt like this was my own problem, not his.

Nate must have taken my silence as an answer, because he started to turn to walk away. I swiftly twisted my head to look at him. “Hey,” I said, catching his attention, “Have you ever heard of the name Dr. Cain Kintobor?”

Nate turned and looked back to me. “No, can’t say I have. Is he related to Robotnik by any chance?”

I figured this would be his response, but I still sighed as I shifted my gaze back to the window. “That remains to be seen.” I got up from the windowsill, grabbed a crutch and limped to the door. I picked up a map lying on a desk next to it. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be…,” I inspected the map closely, “...At the Station Square Library.”

“Is it really a good idea to be wandering out all by yourself in your condition?” Nate called out quietly behind me, so as not to wake Antoine.

“Please- Sally and Sonic both know I’m perfectly capable of handling things by my lonesome. I’ll be fine,” I whispered loudly back before closing the door.

“It's got to be here somewhere…,” I sighed, lifting another book off the shelf and bringing it back to the table I was occupying. A few humans looked at me strangely as I staggered past, but I ignored them. It had been a full day and a half since I had first hobbled into the library, and I was no closer on finding any information pertaining to Dr. Cain. I lazily poured through a book titled History of Station Square, looking for at least some mention of the doctor. About five minutes passed before I realized I had been rereading the same paragraph over and over again.

“Gosh, I need a nap,” I complained loudly, earning a “Shh!” from the librarian. It was my own fault, of course, since I hadn’t gone back to the hotel once since I got here. The only time I left the library at all was just to grab a quick bite to eat, using some of the money that Nate had given me when we had first entered our hotel room. I looked up at the ceiling, wondering if I should head back.

“Gear?” I heard a voice behind me say.

I turned to find Nate and Sally standing over me, Nate holding a gigantic book in his hands.

“What’s-,” I paused to yawn, “-up?”

Sally looked at me with annoyance. “We’ve been looking all over for you! Where have you been?” she asked.

“Uh… here. I told Nate I would be here if anyone needed me.” I turned to Nate wearily.

“Yes, but I had assumed that you would have returned to the hotel at some point… I didn’t think that you would be staying here through the night,” he explained.

“What can I say? I’m dedicated,” I stretched, yawning again, “Though I suppose I could do with a nap.”

“Did Amy come through here?” Sally asked, concerned.

I noticed the seriousness in her voice. “No, why? You can’t find her either?”

Sally shook her head. “I’ve sent Antoine and Bunnie out looking for her, but I had been hoping the two of you were together.”

“No, I’ve been in here the whole time, and I haven’t seen her once.”

Sally looked at the book I was reading. “Doing homework?” she asked.

I grinned, the exhaustion in my face showing, “You could say that. Guess I just wasn’t paying attention to the time.”

“Did you happen to come across anything relating to a being called Chaos?” Nate inquired.

“Not that I can remember specifically, sorry,” I said thoughtfully.

Sally looked back at Nate. “Then I guess we have some homework of our own to do.” She turned back to me, “Why don’t you go back to the hotel Gear? You look like you’re ready to pass out.”

“Waaaaay ahead of you,” I said, giddiness starting to creep into my system, “But after I help you guys find whats-its. Three heads are better than one, right?”

“We may have already found something,” said Nate, heaving the book onto the table. The book was worn, probably due to its extreme age, but was surprisingly well kept and untouched. Nate opened the book and flipped through its contents.

“This book appears to be older than The Hidden City itself,” Nate continued, “and contains information written in an ancient language.”

“Yeah, if you call English an ancient language,” I argued, “Hmm… Perfect Chaos?”

“Wait, Gear, can you read this?” Sally asked me unexpectedly.

“Huh? Yeah, I can read it, can’t you?” I lowered my voice uncertainly. I looked back at the book. I understood every word on the page perfectly, but the closer I looked, the more I realized that what I was reading wasn’t English. How could I read something without knowing the language I was reading in?

Before anyone could say anything else, a robotic voice rang out softly near Sally. I looked down to see a small handheld computer in her hand. “It would appear that Gear can read ‘Old Echidnaese’, Princess Sally. This language has been extinct for approximately 900 years,” it electronically chimed.

Sally and Nate looked at me perplexed, but all I could do was shrug my shoulders in response. “Do you think you could translate for us Gear?” Sally asked.

“Uh… sure, why not?” I leaned over towards the book, “Let’s see… a tribe of echidnas settled in a nearby valley… something about fights between them and another clan, that may not be important… oh, here, the native inhabitants of the land, called- Chao?- worshipped an entity entirely made of water called Perfect Chaos… Chaos attacked the tribe, but the Chao absorbed Chaos and turned into seven Super Emeralds… each of which spread in different directions across the globe.”

Nate turned to Sally in shock. “I found one of the Emeralds years ago and used it to forge the Ring of Acorns, whose energies now infuse Amy Rose!” he exclaimed.

“Wait, what? Am I missing something here?” I gave the two a perplexed look.

Sally ignored me, continuing Nate’s line of thought, “If Robotnik is reviving Chaos, he probably plans to use Amy’s energy to help him!”

“Yep, definitely missing something,” I sighed.

Sally got up, pushing past me. “Gear! You head back to the hotel. Me and Uncle Nate need to find Antoine and Bunnie and tell them about what Robotnik could be planning!” She darted out of the library, followed closely behind by Nate.

“Er… you’re welcome,” I paused before saying, “Wait, Uncle? But he’s a- ah, forget it.” I yawned and grabbed my crutch. Might as well get a good night’s sleep before trying again in the morning.

The very next day, I was at the library again, doubling my efforts to find any useful information.

“Back again, are we?” asked the librarian as I walked in, too used to my presence to involuntarily gasp at the sight of me.

“Yep. Hopefully a good night’s rest can help my search go by quicker,” I said.

“You know, I noticed all the books you were looking at. Are you looking for a specific event from the past?”

I was surprised by her powers of intuition. “Yeah, you could say that. You read anything about a man named Kintobor?”

The librarian shook her head, “No, can’t say I have. But If you’re looking to delve into the ancient past, perhaps even before the creation of this city,” she pointed to a section of shelves at the far back right of the library, “Over there would probably be your best bet at finding him.”

“It’s a start. Thanks!” I hurried over to end of the library, excited about this new lead.

A full four hours later and I was no further than I had started. I moaned, pulling another book off the shelf called, Days of Fury. I leafed through it, not expecting to find anything relevant. My eyes paused on the sentence, “A research team, headed by Dr. Ivan Kintobor, captured the leader of the alien race, in hopes to understand the biology of the creature”.

I jumped out of my chair, ignoring the pain in my leg. I read a little deeper into the page, eating its contents.

While the passage didn’t name Dr. Cain specifically, it talked about Ivan quite a bit, saying that his actions unwittingly caused an alien race called the Xorda to come down and wipe out life on the planet sometime in the year 204X. Before this, humans made shelters deep within the earth, like the city I was in now, to protect themselves.

“204X… but it was 2014 when I escaped the lab! Did I end up in the far future or something? And if so, how far?” I thought to myself. I leaned back in my chair, more questions rising in my mind.

“Dr. Ivan Kintobor… just what relation are you to Cain?”

The questions roared in my mind like a tidal wave of water, and I sat forward in my chair, absentmindedly peering out the giant window in front of me. As people walked down the street, I tried clearing my mind of- No, wait- the people running down the street.

“What the…?” I said, before spotting the giant wall of water that was ripping through the streets, lifting people up off their feet and-

-Heading straight for the library.

“Oh crap,” I muttered weakly as screams began to resonate from between the bookshelves.

Read the Beginning!- Prologue

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

Gear and Dr. Cain belong to me.

Nate Morgan, Sally, Sonic, Mina, and others belong to SEGA, Archie(?) or Ken Penders.

[thetravelersjournal]

Gear Foxx- Chapter 8

Weird And Wacky (But Hopefully Not Tacky)!

It wasn’t until later that I found out exactly what had happened with the moon. It was one of the few days I had off from both school and work, and I chose to make the most of it by walking around parts of town I hadn’t visited yet. I was strolling out on a broken path in the Great Forest near the castle when I saw a familiar face.

“Oh hey, there’s Mina. I thought she said she was going to be busy doing something today?” I said to myself, drawing closer. It was only then that I realized Sonic was with her. I watched as she suddenly pulled him close, kissing him.

I stood still, not really sure if I should have seen that or not. I shook my head and rolled my eyes, “Well, the warning signs were a bit obvious. Why didn’t she tell me though?”

I waited a few seconds before continuing to walk closer, announcing my presence, “Yo, Mina, Sonic!”

Mina looked slightly startled, obviously wondering if I had seen them kiss. I ignored her, however, and asked Sonic a question that had been bugging me for a while now.

“Do you know what happened to the moon?” I pointed to the diminished crescent in the sky.

“Oh, yeah… about that…,” Sonic scratched the back of his head before launching into his tale. At some point during the conversation we started walking in the direction of Castle Acorn, but I was too caught up in Sonic’s story to notice.

“So you don’t know whether Shadow survived or not?” Mina asked near the end.

“No… he’s alive. I know he is,” Sonic said.

“I’m more interested in this Gerald Robotnik guy… what kind of help did he have on Project Shadow? Did he design the blueprints himself?” I contemplated, wondering if I had any connection to this ‘Shadow’ character.

“No clue. It doesn't really matter at this point, anyway. The eclipse cannon was destroyed, the world is safe, and-”

“Kodos has escaped!” Nate Morgan cried, running up to meet us.

“What!?” Sonic and Mina yelled in unison, leaving me confused.

“Escaped? I thought that skunk in the Secret Service said he was a general?” I questioned.

“Geoffrey St. Jerk forgot to mention that he’s an ex-general,” Sonic supplied.

“Sally, Tails, and Rotor have all gone after him,” Nate continued.

“Roger,” Sonic said before speeding off into the forest.

We all stood in silence for a moment, before Mina nervously turned toward me. “So, uh, Gear... you didn’t happen to see…” she started, but I had turned my attention toward Nate, who had started walking deeper into the Great Forest.

“Nate, where are you going? Town’s that way,” I jerked a thumb behind me.

“I need to depart to Robotropolis, Gear. Someone needs to warn the Overlanders there about the deadly toxins they are being exposed to!” Nate explained, not stopping. I grabbed his arm, bringing him to a halt.

“No way, you can’t go alone. It’s suicide!”

“Then who else will tell them? If no one does, they will die.”

I held my breath, giving Nate a piercing glare. I had few options, and I had to choose one fast.

“Then I’m going with you,” I finally said, not completely sure if this was a good idea, but keeping my face unwavering, “It’s better if at least someone has your back than no one at all.”

“Then I’m going too!” Mina declared, probably more firmly than I felt.

“You can’t Mina.”

“And why not? I’m not a helpless girl you-”

“First off, this is probably the oldest cliche there is, so deal with it. Second, someone has to tell Sonic where we’re going, which is, by coincidence, the second biggest cliche ever known.”

Mina crossed her arms, sighing. “It’s pointless to argue with you, isn’t it?”

“Glad you finally figured that out. Let’s go,” I turned to Nate, who nodded, apparently having no quarrels with this outcome. We made our way into the forest.

“I’m unfamiliar with this term, ‘Overlander’. Is that the same thing as a human?”

The Great Forest ended a few miles out from Robotropolis, stretching instead into miles of endless sand. It sneaked into my boots, making my feet uncomfortable.

Nate looked at me skeptically, “You are familiar with the term human, but not Overlander?”

“I had a different… childhood… then most people. So is that a yes or no?” I asked impatiently.

Nate chuckled, “Mostly, though Overlanders are characterized by their four fingers instead of five.” He held up his hand to demonstrate, showing off his four digits.

“I see…,” I thought aloud. I was still getting familiar with the lingo around here, and every now and then a new word would pop up that everyone knew except me. This was always a bit awkward when it came up in conversation, but I usually managed to dodge any awkward questions.

As if he had read my mind, Nate proceeded to ask me a difficult question. “You are quite the enigma, aren’t you, Gear?”

“What do you mean?” I inquired, not liking where this was going.

“A young man of your talent seemingly pops out of nowhere, asking strange questions and looking for unknown answers.  Always eager to learn something new, but never willing to share his past. What were you looking for in the Station Square Library, hmm? Just who are you, Mr. Gear Foxx?”

I almost stopped walking, not really sure how to respond. I didn’t want to lie to Nate, but I didn’t feel like I could tell him either. The secret of who I was was crushing me, but I couldn’t share it with anyone. I just couldn’t... Could I?

“I-I mean- I just-” I stammered.

Nate held up his hand, “You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to, at least not to me. However, I have a feeling some of your closer friends may have a right to know who you really are.”

It was as if he could see right through me. I was again at a loss for words, and we continued onward through the desert plain in silence. Just as we reached the edge of the city, a squad of Shadow-bots in hovercraft surrounded us.

“Was this part of the plan?” I asked, looking for an escape route.

“Unfortunately, no,” Nate declared, holding up his hands in surrender. After a little hesitation, I followed suit. As we walked into the city, I noticed that the city looked vastly different than what I had seen before. Nothing was on fire, it looked even filthier than it had been, and something about it gave off an ominous feeling. The robotic guards led us into a factory, where Dr. Robotnik waited.

“I’m glad you could make it Nate! Perhaps you could help me with a small problem I’ve been trying to figure out,” the fat overlord turned to the side, giving us a glimpse of a robotic looking Overlander, Mobian, and a normal looking dog, “Why is it that roboticized Overlanders are inanimate while the fleabags retain their mobility?”

It was the first time I had seen anyone roboticized since my arrival. Living creatures turned into machines to serve the doctor’s will… Shivers shot down my spine, and I realized only then just how similar he and Dr. Cain were. I clenched my fists in anger. Suddenly, the dog growled and pounced on Robotnik without warning.

“Come on!” the robotic hedgehog said, leading us away from the doctor, who was already ordering his Shadow-bots to start firing at us. The robot dog quickly caught up with the rest of us, running beside me as we made our way down the hall.

“You know, I don’t believe we’ve met!” I yelled over the sounds of laser beams, “My name’s Gear, what’s yours?”

“Is now really the time?” the hedgehog replied, ducking as a laser flew over his head.

A swift blue wind suddenly picked up within the corridor, twisting around the Shadow-bots over and over again, reducing them to nothing more than scrap metal. Sonic became visible once more, shouting in surprise.

“Uncle Chuck!” he cried, giving the robotic Mobian a hug.

“Glad to see you again, sonny-boy!” Chuck exclaimed.

“Thanks, that was a close one. Now let’s make a timely exit, this place is giving me the creeps,” I said.

Sonic spoke to the whole group, giving my statement a nod, “Let’s rejoin Sally and the others,” he turned back to Chuck, “She figured out how to use the Sword of Acorns to give the Robians back their free will after you sent that message to me at school. Geoffrey was pretty mad though.”

Chuck shrugged his shoulders, “It was the only way I could send a message on such short notice.”

“Come on, the others are this way!” Sonic said, dashing off at a pace we could easily catch up with. I stopped in my tracks when I saw that Nate wasn’t following us.

“Nate! Come on, let’s vamoose!” I yelled, pointing to the exit.

“I can’t. No one can, not while Dr. Robotnik still has his energy-dome up and running. He’ll trap us all within the city.”

I hesitated before asking, “Well, what are you suggesting then?”

“One of us needs to shut down the shield. Catch up with the others; I’ll be right behind you,” Nate said solemnly, but I saw the lie on his tongue before he said it. I stood my ground, refusing to leave.

“You think I’m just going to let you sacrifice yourself? You go back to the others, I’ll deactivate the force-field.”

“You would just be in the same predicament as me, my friend.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I can get in and out of here in a jiffy, but you need to tell me what direction that shield's power supply is.”

Nate looked at the seriousness on my face, before relenting, “I suppose there’s no stopping you.” He pointed to my right, down a long dark corridor.

“Alright,” I said enthusiastically, patting him on the shoulder, “I’ll be back before you can say ‘Holy Chaos Emeralds’!”

I sped off down the hallway, my feet making clapping noises as I hit the metal floor. The smog in the air was practically killing me, but I held my breath and continued onwards. I turned a corner before running face-first into Snively.

“What the-? How did you get-,” he started to ask, but my elbow cut him off, smashing into his face and knocking him out cold.

“A little too close for comfort,” I looked around, noticing a command console behind where Snively had been standing, “But I found what I was looking for.” I pried a loose pipe from the wall, causing a black substance to come gushing out and splatter on the floor. I looked back at the console.

“It’s a good thing I’m an expert hacker,” I said, before bringing the rod down on the system, destroying most of its buttons. I heard a small beeping noise, and I knew with certainty that the shield had been lowered.

“Now time to get out of here,” I turned back in the direction I came, only to come face to face with the second ugliest thing I had ever seen.

“Not so fast, rodent,” Dr. Robotnik huffed, reaching out toward me. I jumped back, wagging my finger.

“You have to study a little harder- I’m a Fox, not a Rat!”

“Why you little-,” Robotnik grew red in the face and charged like a bull toward me. But before he could come too close, I concentrated on my destination and teleported away. I suddenly appeared outside the city- right in front of a blue hedgehog speeding towards me.

“Look out!” I yelled, a little too late. Sonic crashed into me, and the two of us tumbled into the sand.

“Are you guys okay?” Tails asked, running over.

I was about to respond, but something shifted around me, distorting my vision. My head started to pound from the impact, continuing to pulsate louder and louder until-

“Are you okay, Gear?”

I grunted out a sigh mixed with frustration, “I said I’m fine Nack, get off my case.”

“If you say so, just don’t screw this up. We’ve only got one shot at this.”

“One shot is all we need,” I said, reaching into my bag and pulling out a sniper rifle, “Or should I say one shot is all I need?”

“Yeah right,” Nack replied, loading his own sniper rifle, “Just watch and be amazed as I shoot the quills off that stupid hedgehog.”

I looked into my tri-noculars, trying to see if Bean and Bark were ready yet. I grimaced in pain suddenly, my head pounding. I had been having a major headache all day, but I couldn’t figure out the reason as to why. Thankfully, Nack had turned his back to me, so I didn’t have to hear his griping. I looked back through my looking glass, only to almost shout in surprise.

“Bean, you idiot!” I exclaimed, tossing the tri-noculars behind me. Below us, in the center of the town’s square was Bean, tossing out bombs to Mobians like it was no one’s business. Bark stood near him, having failed to keep him out of the open. I watched as Sonic started running around the two, tossing back bombs and trading punches.

“What, what’s going on?” Nack asked, picking up the lens. I watched as his ears drooped, “That moron. When I said cause a distraction, I didn’t mean this!”

“Neither of us are going to get a shot at him like this,” I irritably said, looking through the scope of my rifle. However, something was blocking my vision of the square. Something pink.

My head throbbed harder as my entire body was sent flying by a giant hammer, hurtling me into a tree. I heard Nack lose his cool along with multiple gunshots.

My head felt ready to explode. Something was wrong.

I grunted in pain, “That stupid-”

“-Hammer-wielding jacka-,” Ash started complaining, before I cut him off.

“Val’s not going to cause problems, dude. You worry too much,” I took the telescope from him and peered down at the city of Mobotropolis. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, and hopefully it would stay that way.

“Why was she allowed to go while we weren't?” Ash grumbled.

“Because one, the King doesn't trust you in the slightest. Two, I know nothing about diplomacy, while Val does. Apparently,” I replied, before continuing, “And three, she can steer the entire discussion in our favor with her probability sense.”

“Yeah, but you know she has a temper.”

“What, and you don’t?”

“Shut up,” Ash growled. He leaned back on the soft grass, “I’m just saying that she can get out of control sometimes. Have you seen her in action?”

“Yeah, every time you barge into her room unannounced,” I said, relentlessly watching the city.

“How was I supposed to know she was changing?” Ash exclaimed.

“You ever hear of knocking?”

“Hardy har har,” Ash mocked, grabbing the makeshift spyglass from my hands, glaring at the city himself, “Look, you know what I’m saying. She’s got as much bedside manner as a lamp.”

I stifled a snort, clutching my head, which was starting to burn, “So… excellent bedside manner then?”

“I swear, one more wisecrack and I’ll-”

“Hey… Who is that?” I interjected, taking the telescope out of his hands. I watched as a familiar looking silhouette came running out of the city. Ash tried snatching the scope back, and for a few moments we wrestled with it, trying to seize control of it. Ash ultimately claimed victory, and looked through his prize at the figure below.

“It’s Elise,” he said. Sure enough, as the figure continued running toward us, I could make out Elise’s distinctive short horns jutting out of her head. Her long brown hair fell back against the wind, and her hooves hit the dirt so hard that it was a wonder she didn’t break the grass apart. The way she was galloping toward us, she had something more important to tell us than usual. She finally made her way to us, shouting once she thought we could hear her - peculiar for her.

“Ash! G-Gear!” she stammered, stopping a few feet away from us, “T-the Castle… N-no, I m-mean the King… I-I mean…”

“Geez, Elise, spit it out alre-” Ash sighed in annoyance, only to yelp in pain as I stepped on his foot.

“Breathe, Elise. What happened?” I asked. She was already blue in the face from the run, and she was slowly turning purple from the lack of oxygen. I watched as she breathed in and out a few times, trying to calm herself.

“It-It’s Cam!” she finally exclaimed, “He j-just shot the King and declared Ro-b-botnik as the new king of Mobotropolis!”

“What?!” me and Ash both exclaimed in unison.

Before we could take another breath, the ground shook as an explosion rocked Castle Acorn. Flames shot out, enveloping a quarter of the castle.

Ash cursed, digging his feet into the ground as he started running toward the city. “The girls are in there!” he yelled, and I watched as the hedgehog disappeared into a flash of green.

“C'mon, follow me,” I said to Elise, already making my way down the hill.

“Wh-What for?” she asked nervously.

“I’ll need your help getting some of the civilians out,” I replied. I pulled out a small communicator that could connect me to Wechnia and give me some insight as to what was happening. “Hey, can you hear me?” I demanded. My head was starting to burn again. Something wasn’t right. Why did this all look so unfamiliar? I listened intently for her response.

“Hey Nicole!”

I listened intently to Nicole’s response, but kept my eyes fixed on the stars. I had tried going back to sleep, but a minor headache was keeping me awake, and I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation she and Shard were having.

“Oh! Shard, what are you doing in the city? What if someone sees you?”

“Don’t worry, I looked around. No one else is here!” Shard said. Unfortunately, Shard didn’t realize that I had spoken with her before our small discussion, so I was unsurprised when I heard Nicole huff in annoyance.

“Still, it’s too dangerous. What are you doing out here?”

“Oh, uh… well, I’ve been wanting to ask you something for a while now, but uh…,” he trailed off, obviously losing his courage.

“Oh! I needed to ask you something as well,” Nicole nervously blurted out, cutting through the silence.

“Alright…”

“S-sorry! You ask what you wanted first,” Nicole apologized.

“No, it’s fine, you can ask first,” Shard replied anxiously.

“But you have been wanting to ask me for a while now, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, but your question sounded more important, so…”

“Oh, for the love of Chaos, just get on with it!” I muttered to myself, quietly enough so the two couldn’t hear me. I turned my head to look at the two, only to see the two sneak glances in my direction when they thought the other wasn’t looking. I gave a half-hearted thumbs-up and a nervous smile, forbidding myself to put my head into my hands.

“We could ask both our questions at the same time?” Nicole suddenly asked. The two stared at each other for a moment before she spoke up again, “Sorry, that wasn’t very logical of me, was it?”

“Actually, I thought it was a pretty good solution,” Shard reassured her, “Um… On three?”

The two silently counted three seconds before they said in unison… something. I never heard the question, because at that moment I noticed rustling in the bushes. My head pounded harder as I saw the unmistakable figure of Mina Mongoose walk up. The good news is that she didn’t seem distressed, so she must not have noticed Shard yet. The bad news was she was walking right towards us.

“Hey, Mina!” I said loudly, enough so both Nicole and Shard could hear me.

“Wow! Hey Gear, excited today, aren’t we?” Mina exclaimed, surprised at my boisterousness.

“What can I say, I actually had a pleasant sleep for once,” I started walking in the direction opposite the two, and Mina followed, “Weird dreams, though. Not bad, just unusual.” I looked back in the direction of the two AI’s only to see they had both vanished.

“You’ve been having strange dreams too?”

I looked at her incredulously, stopping dead in my stride, “Have you?”

“Not me specifically, but I was talking to Cream, and she said that she had a dream where she was in an exploding Castle Acorn, she had changed her name to Val, and she was fighting off an octopus with a sledgehammer.”

“That, uh… sounds weird-” I began.

“I know. Can you picture her with a sledgehammer?” Mina cut me off.

“You didn’t let me finish. I was going to say that that sounds familiar, I think I had a similar dream,” I said, pondering the similarities.

“You did?” Mina inquired.

“Yeah, I was looking at the castle from a hill when it exploded. And I definitely remember someone named Val being the topic of discussion…”

“Both of you having almost the same dream… does it mean anything?”

“I don’t know… but something is going on, we need-”

I was cut off by a gasp from Mina, who was staring behind me. Before I could turn around, pain flashed in my abdomen as a sharp metal rod cut through it, piercing my chest. I continued staring at Mina in shock, my body refusing to move on its own. Blood slowly collected in my mouth, leaking out my lips and dripping down onto my boots. I slowly looked down at the sword stuck in my belly, before hearing someone speak behind me- someone who sounded extremely familiar.

“Well, that’s one more down. Honestly, I expected you to put up more of a fight,” the voice said, before leaning down to whisper in my ear, “Now don’t you think it’s about time that you woke up?”

My head thundered, bouncing to the beat of thousands of invisible drums. Mina screamed, but I couldn’t make out anything she was saying. This wasn’t real, something had changed. I slowly turned around to see-

-the burning fire that had plagued the city during my ‘mission’. The humans hadn’t stood a chance against me, and the few who had survived would quickly die to the flames.

I heard a small roar behind me, and I looked to see a tank slowly make its way toward me. My head burned. The tank finally crawled next to me, and Dr. Cain got out and stood before me.

“Excellent work, Project X,” the doctor said, before saying wistfully, “I have got to come up with a better name for you.”

“Thank you, sir,” I replied monotonously.

“This should get the world's attention. No longer will I have to stand in the shadow of someone else! This world will become mine, and mine alone, and-!” the doctor stopped for a moment, looking down at me, “...and I’m talking to an empty canvas.”

I continued staring at my master. It struck me that I never considered his actions before, though I suppose it didn’t really matter. I was to follow orders, not to question them. My head hurt trying to think about it, so I stopped, and proceeded instead to ask the doctor about my next task.

“Nothing for right now. Let’s return to the base,” he said, turning back to the tank. We both got in, and I stood in a corner while Dr. Cain issued orders to the driver.

My mind wandered back to Dr. Cain’s orders. He wanted to rule the world, and I was to help him- his own personal ultimate soldier. For some reason, this thought tasted sour, only making my head pound harder. Why did I feel like this? The doctor said he removed my baseline emotions for ‘better efficiency’, so why was I feeling this way now? Something had changed.

Then, memories. They dripped slowly down into my skull at first, but soon churned into a hurricane as memory upon memory flooded into my mind. My head relieved itself of the stress it was trying to endure, and my body felt lighter.

“No… This, this is wrong...,” I murmured quietly in the corner.

“Eh? What was that?” the doctor asked.

“All this, it’s all wrong. I’m not supposed to be here, not here! I was finally free of you, thIS ISN’T RIGHT!” my voice quickly raised from a whisper to a shout.

And suddenly, everything shifted. Dr. Kintobor stood in front of me one moment, and the next, I was lying on the ground next to Sonic, right outside Robotropolis. I looked around, noticing the peculiar looks on people’s faces. A small buzzing sound triggered behind me, and I watched as the energy shield surrounding the city went back online.

Mina came running up toward me, followed closely by Nate Morgan. “Gear, are you alright?” she cried. I could see a dried up tear trail on her cheek, and I knew that whatever crazy dream I had had, she had been a part of it as well.

I groaned, flopping back onto the desert floor. I stared at the clouds for a while before finally moaning, just loud enough for Mina to hear, “So, you have a crush on Sonic?”

(Small side note I forgot to mention earlier, the stuff Mina talks to Gear about in Chapter 6 relates to events happening in the comics(ASTH #90-93), and Sonic’s story at the beginning of this chapter related to Sonic Adventure 2. Didn’t know if that was obvious or not, but I thought I’d mention it nonetheless.)

Read the Beginning!- Prologue

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Gear, Dr. Cain, Elise, and Cam belong to me.

Elise created by https://iityrano-chan.deviantart.com/ 

Mina, Sonic, Nate Morgan and others belong to SEGA, Archie(?) or Ken Penders.