This is what happens when you're cute, fuzzy and insist on keeping an erratic cyborg company...
Just got this written for H, sorry if there are any errors. I spellchecked it as well as I could.
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He wasn’t exactly hiding.
Anyone else who might have happened to wander into the junkyard at that moment would probably have gotten the scare of their lives. For once, Random wasn’t going to bother scaring people away.
‘Random?’
The cyborg didn’t look at him; his eyes were fixed on something on the ground. Mark remembered the last message he’d sent him. “Stay put. Don't touch him.” Obviously Random had done just that. Mark wondered if he’d moved at all.
It was only when he got closer that he actually saw the cat. He walked forwards and knelt down next to the creature. He’d had horrible images in his mind that involved a lot of… blood and mess, but it was nothing like that. The cat just lay there sprawled on the ground, too unnaturally to be asleep. Random still didn’t say or do anything.
Mark had seen things die before. Sort of. He’d been right there with Lady Illusion when she faced wipe out (that said, he did think she was Ace, at the time.) And he’d sat with Ashley while she sobbed her eyes out for an hour after finding out about Chika, but this was different. The sight of that animal, lying on the dirt sent a chill down his spine.
Or maybe it was just the reason it had died which bothered him so much.
Damn. How do you check whether a cat is still alive or not?
Mark reached out to touch the grey tabby’s fur. He’d hardly even seen “Sprocket” as Random had dubbed the cat, and had been pretty surprised when Ace told them Random had a live animal following him about to start with. Especially one that seemed to have no qualms about clambering all over a hulking claw, attached to a cyborg with a liability to turn evil at any given minutes. But you could tell it wasn’t full-grown. Halfway between kitten and cat, and still playful enough to risk toying with a huge metal claw and not realise what danger it was it. It seemed Sprocket had finally paid the price. Mark sighed, looking up at the cyborg.
‘Random, I’m sorry.’
‘Why? You didn’t do it.’ Mark saw the claw clenching, as if into a fist. ‘Pathetic creature… why didn’t it RUN? It never ran!’
Mark cringed, half expecting another blow to come his way. It didn’t.
‘I… I tried to make it run away, every single time,’ Random said, softer this time. ‘But it always came back. Ridiculous little ball of hair didn’t know what was good for it… just a worthless bag of bones. What the hell did it do to deserve that kind of anger?’
He grit his teeth. His evil had killed Sprocket. Had enjoyed murdering it, and all it had wanted to do was play with him.
‘You didn’t mean it.’ Mark’s voice snapped him back to reality. Whatever the hell that was.
‘Yes I did!’ Mark swallowed as he looked at him, realising that that was exactly what Random was so mad about. The fact was, when his evil was in control, he believed that the cat needed killing. And he’d enjoy doing it. If he turned evil now, he’d enjoy doing the same thin to Mark. His mind was trapped between remorse and enjoyment of death. ‘You think we’re two… separate people Mark but we’re not. There’s a part of us in each of us. And I know that enjoyed murdering that…’ he paused, swallowing. ‘…That stupid little fuzzball.’
Mark hesitated, clearly not knowing what to say. ‘No… you didn’t. You can’t have. Come on, Random, it’s not—’
‘Get real kid,’ Random almost laughed at the irony of that statement. ‘The thing was bound to die here sooner or later. It was a question of when, not if. I should never have let it STAY here in the first place.’
Mark caught a flicker of red in the Cyborg’s right eye and gulped. ‘But… you weren’t in control. You can’t have been. It’s been gone for days, no wonder you let your guard down.’
‘Oh I was in control,’ Random’s voice was soft. In this particular case, the softer his voice became, the more danger you were in. But Mark wasn’t to know this. ‘I was more than in control, puny Lightning Knight. Perhaps we should make the count two. Two less weaklings for this pathetic world to provide for.’ The claw raised and Mark flinched, waiting for it to fall and strike him, knowing he had no time to even think about running. It never did. The claw suddenly snatched out away from him and hit the bonnet of a car, snapping the roof in on itself and smashing an already broken window. The sound of the glass shattering rang in Mark’s ears. He realised he was trembling, even in the sort overcast warmth of the late evening.
‘Sorry,’ Random whispered.
Mark swallowed. ‘No… no problem. It’s all right.’
Random gave him a look that screamed how can it be all right? but nothing was spoken. Then he turned away as if to leave. As if to go anywhere where he wouldn’t be at risk of killing something else today. Mark was actually quite happy to let him go. He didn’t want to spend any more time around Random than he had to. Especially after his evil side has clearly just had such a free-for-all.
Mark relaxed a little again and stroked Sprocket’s fur absently, and only now did he notice something. He froze for a second; trying to work out if that soft vibrating movement was just his imagination.
No. No, it wasn’t.
He looked up sharply. ‘Random, it’s not dead!’
Random looked up. His eye flickered between red and green and settled on green. ‘I… No. Don’t be an idiot. I… I bashed it over the head, Mark! That kind of beating would probably have floored Ace!’
Yeah, well, it hasn’t. It’s… it’s purring.’
‘Purring?’ Random raised an eyebrow. ‘After being bashed on the head?’
‘I know, I know, but it is. Maybe you didn’t hit it as hard as you think you did?’
‘I don’t know!’ Random snapped. But there was a trace of hope in his voice now. ‘It’s not like I knew what I was doing!’
Mark had never picked up an animal, heck, every time he tried to hold Chika the thing had bitten him, but all the same he wrapped his arms around the cat and lifted it up, holding it’s warm fur against him.
‘Look, check for yourself Random, it’s not dead.’
Random hesitated. He reached out his left hand towards the creature in Mark’s arms. Then he drew his hand sharply away without touching it, as if it might burn him. Mark shuddered a little, seeing something in Random’s eyes that he’d never really been close enough to see before. ‘Just… just get it away from me.’
Mark paused for a moment, thinking, ‘ I… I think we have to take it to a vet.’
‘A vet?’
‘Yeah you know… like a doctor, only for animals.’
‘I know what a vet is! And you’re not taking it to some… some insane doctor!’
‘Well we can’t just leave it here.’
‘Kid, trust me. You go into a doctors, and you end up coming out like…’ Random hesitated, his voice trailing away. Mark didn’t know exactly what Random had against doctors, but he certainly didn’t want to find out.
‘Random, it’s not going to be anything like… like… well whatever you’re thinking it won’t be like that. We don’t have any choice.’
‘No.’
‘You let me get this far, Random.’ Mark swallowed. Knowing how unstable Random was right now; he was probably pushing his luck. ‘You wouldn’t have let me come here if you didn’t care enough to help it. Just let me take it with me. I promise, he won’t get hurt.’
‘Get out of here.’
Mark paused. ‘Um… Do you want to—’
‘I said get out of here, you pathetic mortal! What more harm can come to it than I’ve already done?! Get it out of here, take it to your stupid vet, but don’t bring it back here!’
Mark didn’t say anything. He just held the cat in his arms, and turned to walk as fast as he could towards the junkyard gates.
He had his back to him as he walked away, and Random grimaced as felt the prickling between the two sides of his mind start to fire up again. It took every last inch of nerve he had to hold it back this time, for even the few seconds it took mark to get to the gate. The several days’ worth of peace had resulted in his evil side retaliating with greater violence than ever. That was the last time he tried to sort out other people’s lives. His own was just too messed up to think about that.
‘Stupid mortal brat and a wretched animal. You should’ve killed them. You can’t even do that properly, can you?’
The next wave of fury hit him with almost the same force as the one that had killed –or almost killed– that wretched cat. And this time, knowing that there was no longer anything left to protect, Random didn’t hold it back. He let it wash over him. Felt his evil seeping through the fractured cracks in his brain, and take total, utter control. Like a violent tide turning when you least expected it. Taking over like a raging storm.
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*Sniff* Oh the injustice! Hope you like it.
Just a note: cats actually purr when they’re in pain, so that’s not just me being random (pardon the pun) and having the cat make the only sound it can. ;)
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He wasn’t exactly hiding.
Anyone else who might have happened to wander into the junkyard at that moment would probably have gotten the scare of their lives. For once, Random wasn’t going to bother scaring people away.
‘Random?’
The cyborg didn’t look at him; his eyes were fixed on something on the ground. Mark remembered the last message he’d sent him. “Stay put. Don't touch him.” Obviously Random had done just that. Mark wondered if he’d moved at all.
It was only when he got closer that he actually saw the cat. He walked forwards and knelt down next to the creature. He’d had horrible images in his mind that involved a lot of… blood and mess, but it was nothing like that. The cat just lay there sprawled on the ground, too unnaturally to be asleep. Random still didn’t say or do anything.
Mark had seen things die before. Sort of. He’d been right there with Lady Illusion when she faced wipe out (that said, he did think she was Ace, at the time.) And he’d sat with Ashley while she sobbed her eyes out for an hour after finding out about Chika, but this was different. The sight of that animal, lying on the dirt sent a chill down his spine.
Or maybe it was just the reason it had died which bothered him so much.
Damn. How do you check whether a cat is still alive or not?
Mark reached out to touch the grey tabby’s fur. He’d hardly even seen “Sprocket” as Random had dubbed the cat, and had been pretty surprised when Ace told them Random had a live animal following him about to start with. Especially one that seemed to have no qualms about clambering all over a hulking claw, attached to a cyborg with a liability to turn evil at any given minutes. But you could tell it wasn’t full-grown. Halfway between kitten and cat, and still playful enough to risk toying with a huge metal claw and not realise what danger it was it. It seemed Sprocket had finally paid the price. Mark sighed, looking up at the cyborg.
‘Random, I’m sorry.’
‘Why? You didn’t do it.’ Mark saw the claw clenching, as if into a fist. ‘Pathetic creature… why didn’t it RUN? It never ran!’
Mark cringed, half expecting another blow to come his way. It didn’t.
‘I… I tried to make it run away, every single time,’ Random said, softer this time. ‘But it always came back. Ridiculous little ball of hair didn’t know what was good for it… just a worthless bag of bones. What the hell did it do to deserve that kind of anger?’
He grit his teeth. His evil had killed Sprocket. Had enjoyed murdering it, and all it had wanted to do was play with him.
‘You didn’t mean it.’ Mark’s voice snapped him back to reality. Whatever the hell that was.
‘Yes I did!’ Mark swallowed as he looked at him, realising that that was exactly what Random was so mad about. The fact was, when his evil was in control, he believed that the cat needed killing. And he’d enjoy doing it. If he turned evil now, he’d enjoy doing the same thin to Mark. His mind was trapped between remorse and enjoyment of death. ‘You think we’re two… separate people Mark but we’re not. There’s a part of us in each of us. And I know that enjoyed murdering that…’ he paused, swallowing. ‘…That stupid little fuzzball.’
Mark hesitated, clearly not knowing what to say. ‘No… you didn’t. You can’t have. Come on, Random, it’s not—’
‘Get real kid,’ Random almost laughed at the irony of that statement. ‘The thing was bound to die here sooner or later. It was a question of when, not if. I should never have let it STAY here in the first place.’
Mark caught a flicker of red in the Cyborg’s right eye and gulped. ‘But… you weren’t in control. You can’t have been. It’s been gone for days, no wonder you let your guard down.’
‘Oh I was in control,’ Random’s voice was soft. In this particular case, the softer his voice became, the more danger you were in. But Mark wasn’t to know this. ‘I was more than in control, puny Lightning Knight. Perhaps we should make the count two. Two less weaklings for this pathetic world to provide for.’ The claw raised and Mark flinched, waiting for it to fall and strike him, knowing he had no time to even think about running. It never did. The claw suddenly snatched out away from him and hit the bonnet of a car, snapping the roof in on itself and smashing an already broken window. The sound of the glass shattering rang in Mark’s ears. He realised he was trembling, even in the sort overcast warmth of the late evening.
‘Sorry,’ Random whispered.
Mark swallowed. ‘No… no problem. It’s all right.’
Random gave him a look that screamed how can it be all right? but nothing was spoken. Then he turned away as if to leave. As if to go anywhere where he wouldn’t be at risk of killing something else today. Mark was actually quite happy to let him go. He didn’t want to spend any more time around Random than he had to. Especially after his evil side has clearly just had such a free-for-all.
Mark relaxed a little again and stroked Sprocket’s fur absently, and only now did he notice something. He froze for a second; trying to work out if that soft vibrating movement was just his imagination.
No. No, it wasn’t.
He looked up sharply. ‘Random, it’s not dead!’
Random looked up. His eye flickered between red and green and settled on green. ‘I… No. Don’t be an idiot. I… I bashed it over the head, Mark! That kind of beating would probably have floored Ace!’
Yeah, well, it hasn’t. It’s… it’s purring.’
‘Purring?’ Random raised an eyebrow. ‘After being bashed on the head?’
‘I know, I know, but it is. Maybe you didn’t hit it as hard as you think you did?’
‘I don’t know!’ Random snapped. But there was a trace of hope in his voice now. ‘It’s not like I knew what I was doing!’
Mark had never picked up an animal, heck, every time he tried to hold Chika the thing had bitten him, but all the same he wrapped his arms around the cat and lifted it up, holding it’s warm fur against him.
‘Look, check for yourself Random, it’s not dead.’
Random hesitated. He reached out his left hand towards the creature in Mark’s arms. Then he drew his hand sharply away without touching it, as if it might burn him. Mark shuddered a little, seeing something in Random’s eyes that he’d never really been close enough to see before. ‘Just… just get it away from me.’
Mark paused for a moment, thinking, ‘ I… I think we have to take it to a vet.’
‘A vet?’
‘Yeah you know… like a doctor, only for animals.’
‘I know what a vet is! And you’re not taking it to some… some insane doctor!’
‘Well we can’t just leave it here.’
‘Kid, trust me. You go into a doctors, and you end up coming out like…’ Random hesitated, his voice trailing away. Mark didn’t know exactly what Random had against doctors, but he certainly didn’t want to find out.
‘Random, it’s not going to be anything like… like… well whatever you’re thinking it won’t be like that. We don’t have any choice.’
‘No.’
‘You let me get this far, Random.’ Mark swallowed. Knowing how unstable Random was right now; he was probably pushing his luck. ‘You wouldn’t have let me come here if you didn’t care enough to help it. Just let me take it with me. I promise, he won’t get hurt.’
‘Get out of here.’
Mark paused. ‘Um… Do you want to—’
‘I said get out of here, you pathetic mortal! What more harm can come to it than I’ve already done?! Get it out of here, take it to your stupid vet, but don’t bring it back here!’
Mark didn’t say anything. He just held the cat in his arms, and turned to walk as fast as he could towards the junkyard gates.
He had his back to him as he walked away, and Random grimaced as felt the prickling between the two sides of his mind start to fire up again. It took every last inch of nerve he had to hold it back this time, for even the few seconds it took mark to get to the gate. The several days’ worth of peace had resulted in his evil side retaliating with greater violence than ever. That was the last time he tried to sort out other people’s lives. His own was just too messed up to think about that.
‘Stupid mortal brat and a wretched animal. You should’ve killed them. You can’t even do that properly, can you?’
The next wave of fury hit him with almost the same force as the one that had killed –or almost killed– that wretched cat. And this time, knowing that there was no longer anything left to protect, Random didn’t hold it back. He let it wash over him. Felt his evil seeping through the fractured cracks in his brain, and take total, utter control. Like a violent tide turning when you least expected it. Taking over like a raging storm.
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*Sniff* Oh the injustice! Hope you like it.
Just a note: cats actually purr when they’re in pain, so that’s not just me being random (pardon the pun) and having the cat make the only sound it can. ;)