[IO] Much Too Long

A sick smile.  "That almost would have been better.  The test was devised to isolate from the group the perfect soldier, yes, one who had potential to possibly rise, yet also one who would not think for themselves and so would never hit the top."  She looked groundward.  "I asked for the stats on my classmates.  They flipped on the lights and told me to look back.  Walking back, I saw that every target I had neutralized with lethal force was headed on another path through the city, and more importantly, they were not target dummies but bodies that I recognized..."  Jayne's voice grew unstable as she went on.  "It was to see if...if their perfect soldier, the one who emerged...could commit genocide on their classmates...and not look back because of the pressure training..."  The kitsune took another long breath, her tails still.  "...I...I went nuts...the next several hours were a blur...but know this: when kitsune are sufficiently emotional, they tap into unique abilities...rage generally permits us to obliterate the object of our anger with huge power...my next memory was floating away through space, since we were on a deep-space station...I don't think my burning and light spared anything from the station...everything went black, and when I woke up..."  She gestured to the grassy patch in the center of their little dirt oval, and didn't speak again.

Clash had no way of replying to that. The whole concept of what she had been forced into disgusted him beyond all belief. Clash stepped off his board and walked over to her, a brief pause before he gently took her hand into his. "That's not who you are. I know it's not. The Jayne I know would never do that. That was Nexus, and nothing but their doing. Jayne, no matter how dark, twisted, or morbid our histories can get, I will never leave you." Clash said, meeting Jayne's eyes. "That's a promise."

Jayne just nodded, squeezing her friend's hand and sitting up, though still on the board.  Her icy eyes, in a sense, were melting and shimmering, tears trickling down her cheeks.  Despite taking several more deep breaths, the vixen still trembled...then wrapped her arms around her friend, pulling him close into a hug.

The hedgehog felt his friend come close and hug him. He felt hot breaths on his shoulder, and the way convulsed with each gentle breath let him know she was in tears. Clash closed his eyes and hugged her closer, rubbing her back gently before he finally spoke a few words. "...Jayne... I love you..." He said softly, letting her know that he didn't care about what she did. He knew she was good, and he meant the words he spoke.

Her breathing remained rather ragged for several moments, though she started coughing after he spoke. "...I...I love you too...like a sister who doesn't understand her little brother but cares about him anyway...thanks for listening, little bro." The coughing ceasing, her breathing patterns restoring, she slowly let go, starting to recover her composure.

Clash nodded and smiled, walking back over to his board and climbing onto it. "So, you ready to shred some air? He said, standing on his board but wobbling slightly, falling off again. "...Or keep taking baby steps. Either of those would work well." He said, standing up and brushing dirt off his jacket.

The vixen watched, then giggled just a little bit at Clash...not least since, with this sharing of trust, she was starting to see him as another sort-of sibling of hers. "I think practice might be better...and this time, while we're riding, you can tell your story." She resumed her standing position, drifting forward towards his position to help him up onto his board stably.

Clash rode on his board casually, looking to Jayne as she asked about him. "Aw geez... Now that takes me back." He said, recalling distant memories. "I don't have a lot of recollection about my family. It was so long ago, it's tough to remember." He said, remembering his family. "I do remember my dad, though. I remember him pretty well actually. Everyday, before he left home, he told me a joke. And when he came back, he delivered the answer." Clash said, smiling at the memories. "And one day, he just didn't come back. If I could see him now, there's one thing I would really like to ask him." Clash said, doing a small turn on his board.

The vixen listened intently, ears up, tails flicking. "He sounds nice...what was the one thing? The answer?" She floated softly, watching the hedgehog closely. With a brief motion Jayne turned as well, remaining in tandem with Clash.

Clash nodded slowly. "I always wanted to know what that punch-line was." He said, now riding his board more casually than before. "Of course, when my dad didn't come home, I went out and just looked. I snuck out. I searched for hours until it got dark. And when I came home, my mom and sister were gone too." He said, doing another turn. "I was on my own from then on. I was still a kid, so I couldn't just get a job. So I robbed homes, picked pockets, and scammed adults. I'm not proud of that, but it was how I got by as a kid. Until I got caught, that is." Clash said, sighing. "The legal system didn't know what to do with me, so in the end, they just sent me to a boot camp. After a while of basic training, I must have caught some attention. Because before I knew it, I was taken out of boot camp and brought to some sort of G.U.N faculty. I can only guess it's because I was the only Mobian there." Clash said, taking a pause. "I thought I was getting some kind of promotion, but oh boy was I ever wrong."

Jayne glanced down as the story continued, sighing softly. "At least you were able to keep going...I hope everyone else did too." She looked back up. "How old did you say you were?" In this time, as well, she was slowly drifting closer to him, her tails waving slowly and her board carrying steadily.

"I was only five. I wasn't smart by a logical sense, but I had street smarts to get by." He said, looking up as he put his hands in his pockets. "After I was taken in by G.U.N, things just went down hill. I was trained as a highly advanced Spec-Ops agent. I was trained for just about every type of military role conceivable. They trained me as a sniper, grenadier, commando, juggernaut, and every other kind of class. All I needed was a weapon and I was a destructive force. Even more so when given a direction. And then, there was the Chaos phase." Clash said, his voice growing deeper, and more resentful. "They made their own Chaos Emerald. It was artificial, unnatural, nothing like the real ones. They gave it to me and told me to transform. It just didn't work. No matter how hard I tried, I kept telling them I couldn't. They wouldn't have any of that. And so they beat me, again and again, telling me to stop slacking and do it." Clash said, raising his voice slightly as he clenched his teeth and balled his fist.

Again Jayne listened quietly, drifting still closer. "So we're both supersoldiers, for good or for ill..." She tensed as his voice shifted in tone, placing a hand on his shoulder. "It wasn't a real Emerald, it wasn't a real obligation, it's past now. How did you get away?"

"It was after one of the beatings. They claimed I was a heretic. Getting training, and then going to turn on them on a whim. So I was scheduled to be put down, or handed over to one of their scientists." Clash said, his voice cracking slightly. "They made me watch what their scientists did. They did it to break my will. What they do to our kind... Dissection, mutation, and all of the kind that had disadvantages, or were too young to be part of their experiments? Target practice." Clash said, his teeth gritting harder as he thought more. "And the night before I was to be discontinued, I broke a screw off of my bed, and cut my arms all up with it. They took me to the infirmary, and I strangled the doctor who was there. I took a scalpel, and used the shadows to kill every guard I saw. I made my way to their archives and deleted my files. After that, I set off the fire alarm, a classic trick I learned from my thieving days, and I just took the back door out." Clash said, his voice finally getting back to normal. "Twelve years I was kept there until that day. And in my rush, I never checked those computers for any other signs of my family, or where those higher-ups who wronged me may have gone. But, one day, I will get both those things."

Jayne just listened, her paw still on his shoulder, squeezing a little as he got closer to the end of the story. "You're better than that now...I'm sure of it. I promise you that I will help you get there...I have my own issues with GUN, and will gladly support you when that time comes." Drifting close on her board, using tails for balance, she gave her little brother another hug, gently patting his back and stroking his spines.

Clash just nodded and hugged her back. "I just... I just want to be more than a killer sometimes... I feel like I was meant for more than this..." Clash said, ashamed of his career choice. "It's just... Always something I was good at... It was all I ever knew... I want to be good again, but I don't know how. There has to be some sort of group that would take me." He said, set on turning himself around.

Jayne smiled softly as she held him close, still rubbing his back.  "I think you are...and I'd like to help you get there...and, you know, being a mercenary doesn't always mean you have to be a killer..."  She thought for a moment, her tails flicking a bit.  "There happens to be a group that fights subversive evil, of which I'm a member, although I'm not necessarily certain you'd be interested since it involves the use of a mutagenic virus to various effects, uncertain until used..."

Clash's head boggled as she went on. "...Wha..? Maybe I might just try a whole vigilante scenario, see how that works out for me." Clash said, getting everything planned out. "I guess I could find a job somewhere, though I have no education or job experience..." He said, rubbing his head as he tried to figure how he would pay bills.

The vixen shrugged, especially since she wasn't quite certain about giving him further information about the Guardians. "If you think so. And if you want, I could probably find some stuff for you to do, since I still do black-ops sometimes but just don't work for the Nexus." She smiled a bit. "In fact, I'm kinda the reason they don't have operations on Mobius. I know from a cousin (we're not on very good terms) that they maintain a recon presence here but don't dare do more, ever since my supernova outburst all those years ago...but anyway. I could probably find work for you."

Clash nodded with thanks and then looked down, realizing he had been drifting along on his board easily this whole time. "Hey! Check it out! I've finally done it!" The hedgehog said happily, doing small swerves on his board and looking to Jayne with a smile. "This whole time I was doing it without even noticing! This is awesome!"

Jayne nodded back, giggling and grinning. "See! It helped to focus! Good for you!" She crossed her arms, following him via board. "Now...work on doing laps and turns." The kitsune started drifting faster, making the next turn at the end of the oval easily.

Clash nodded and drifted forward, easing his momentum into a turn. The hoverboard released air gave him a tight turn around the curve, then gently returning him to the straight pathway on the the course. Clash continued forward and repeated this action, using the board's focused momentum to get the turning down. "It's only getting easier!"

Jayne giggled, speeding up consistently as she also followed the track. "Good! Keep practicing the turns as you go." She continued on her way a bit outside the track, moving faster than Clash but not so fast as to stir up wind. While moving, she started reviewing her basic tricks, including switching stances and spinning in different numbers of rotations while still moving forward.

As Clash heeded her instructions, he did gentle turns and proceeded around the track, keeping it sweet and simple with each turn. "This really is getting easier." He said with a smile, turning again. "I hear that these things gain more power with rings, right? That's how Sonic was able to win in races during that tournament?" Clash asked, recalling the live broadcast of said race.

Jayne continued on her path, though she closed down as Clash spoke.  "Hmm?  Oh...well...technically, yes, when Rings can be found and used.  It's also possible to gain via tricks, as well as additional air, which is what I generally go with."  She shrugged, with just a brief glance to the sun.