4:Sometimes Never

by Pip the Bat

Sonic is dumped in the cold dark Northlands with the odds stacked against him; how will he survive? Like 009, Pip always seems to bounce back ... but she isn't the only killer robot on the loose in this fic. :-)

Sometimes Never

By Pip the Bat

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Copyright.

Sonic, Tails and related characters are copyright to Sega. Slasher Talon and Zephyer are copyright to NetRaptor. Used with permission. Sable, Pip, Latran and all other fan made characters are copyright to me, Pip the Bat.

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On the far side of Mobius, a team of scientists were finishing off their experiment. The head of Research and Development in Electronic Physics and Metals Development, an Irish Sheepdog named Jessie, stood back and proudly surveyed her work.

Of course, she had had the rest of the team to aid her, although if she was honest with herself, she had done most of the real work. They had just been there to stand around, pass comments about the project (some of which she pretended she hadn't heard) and to pass her the spanner please.

Ever since Jessie had been little she had always been interested in robotics, playing for hours with her clockwork toys and mechanisms. That had been her main interest at school and college, along with history.

She had been especially interested in the history of the echidnas. Perhaps it was because they seemed such distant and heroic figures to her, never deigning to come down to Mobius from the Floating Island. Then, for some unknown reason, they had been wiped from the face of the Island. She had heard that there was still an echidna on the island but she couldn't help feeling that a whole branch of people had been lost to her. So she had studied old descriptions and sketches of them, eventually drawing a picture inside her head of the species and their way of life.

At 18 Jessie had graduated to become an expert in her areas of interest, and at around 20 she had met her partner to be, John, at a conference. They had had a child, whom they had named Sable for a middle name and for a Christian name, because she could not resist and had a Latin dictionary at hand, Chalybs. For no reason she could tell, he had been nicknamed Captain at school where he was, ironically, bullied. He preferred to be called by his middle name, which he liked best. Or at least, he had been bullied at school until she had removed him for supposed home tutoring. With nothing completely settled after the reclaiming of most of Mobius, she could still do that and not be noticed or reprimanded.

When Sable was 10, his father and Jessie's husband had died of a heart attack. He had never had one before in his life, and it had come as a complete shock to the pair of them. Sable was now 13 while she was 32.

She glanced up to see him watching from a balcony high above. He was a black and white Irish Sheepdog, patchworked all over, with black and white togged shoes to match. His hair hung down his back, shaggy like a mane. The only colour about him was his lucky charm pendent, a symbol of a fiery sun, which faded red to yellow. Jessie and John had given it to him for his tenth birthday, just before John had died. Jessie alone knew that it was slightly more important than Sable thought it was, at least in one context.

He was also very nervous, sensitive and what those who did not know him or any suitable adjectives might describe as a little odd. This was because every so often he had what they had dubbed as fits, although it wasn't quite the right way to describe them. The people at school had called him a freak, although she was certain he wasn't. Unfortunately, that was the general reaction people seemed to have to anything different from themselves.

Right from the start he had had strong feelings against the project, although with his personality type he did not make them known. Being his mother though, she had noticed at once. He would not come anywhere near the project, preferring instead to watch from the balcony, or go to his room and read a book. Smiling slightly, she waved at him, and he waved shyly back. Shyly! she thought. I'm his own mom. The faint smile still hovered about her lips however. Cutie. The little fellow was worried about most things though and anyway, she had this totally under control.

Turning back, Jessie viewed her project. She had always dreamt of creating a robot, and her obsession with the echidnas had made her think immediately of that when thinking of a suitable creature. She had heard from one or two news reports that there was already a robot echidna, created by the former dictator of Mobius. After digging deep into various files, she had managed to obtain a photo of the robot and studied it closely. It was certainly well crafted. Her son had thought it was scary. Using that and her pictures of the echidnas, she had drawn up the first diagrams for Project Kayrie.

The face of the other robot having been darkened in the photo, she had come to the conclusion of giving her a head that looked like a normal echidna's. At this point, she had been faced with the option of making her robot male or female. Even now, she wasn't quite sure why she had not gone for male and made it look like a complete hunk. Probably out of respect for her late husband she reprimanded herself. Unfortunately, most of her work colleagues were male and, in her deep down opinion, not very sophisticated. She ignored her colleagues, feeling closer to the actual robot than any of them.

She had laughingly decided upon Lady Metal Hyper Semolina Knuckles for the robot's name after listening to the suggestions of her workmates. Jessie was not good at names, although she wondered about their choices. She herself had added Knuckles, feeling that something was needed to round the name off, and that was the rounding off part of the other robot's name. In a moment of pity though, she had nicknamed her Kayrie, which she preferred.

The rest of the body she was probably most proud of. A recently discovered metal, unusual in the fact that it was pure white in colour and almost as hard as diamond, had been eagerly selected. It was in short supply, and they had used up the only known resource in creating Kayrie. The officials funding the project had grumblingly said something about hoping that it was going to be worth it. there was one slight mistake in the design, and that was that Kayrie had long knife like claws on her knuckles that only the males of the species were supposed to have. Still, they had always fascinated her so much that she had had to include them.

As far as the mind went, the robot had been programmed with all the information that she could get hold of, including her own memory. Several people had warned her off that idea, saying that giving a robot access to such confidential information was like signing your own death warrant. She hadn't even been going to tell Sable, but she had known that he'd hear of it sooner or later, and it was better coming from her. He was, needless to say, even less in favour of the robot than before.

Now Lady Metal Hyper Semolina Knuckles, Kayrie for short, had been completed and all that remained was for her to be activated. The soft green light coming from the lab-bench ambaric lighting reflected off the robot's white metal body, giving it a verdant tinge. John would be proud of her efforts, she was sure. She gave Sable another little wave to reassure him, then, gripping the lever in both hands, yanked it through its cycle.

The power hummed through the robot's core and everybody in the room tensed, waiting to see what would happen; if their creation would actually work or not.

After a few moments, Kayrie's eyelids fluttered to reveal her shimmering light grey eyes, and she lifted her head, looking straight at Jessie. Her fringe hung down over one eye and she lifted a hand to brush it away, but she kept her gaze fixed on the dog, as if expecting her to say something.

"W-what's your name?" It seemed at relatively stupid thing to ask, but she really had not given this part any thought. Her brain had gone over the creation, right up to completion. It had then skipped to showing her proudly to the people who had funded the robot and having her craftwork admired.

The robot's gaze did not waver. "You know what my name is," she replied, insolently. Then, as if something had clicked in her mechanical brain, she added, batting her eyelids shyly at the assembled crowd: "But I'd be happy to tell you if you want me to, marm."

"No, no, it's okay. So ... how are you feeling then Kayrie?"

"Everything appears to be in order, marm. What happens now?"

Poor thing, she must be nervous, Jessie thought. Unintentionally, she spoke in a voice and style that she would normally use only for young children. "Well, we're going to take you to the council room and show you to a lot of people who want to see you. After that ... well, I'm not quite sure."

Kayrie did not respond, but instead strode over to one of the workbenches and began rummaging around on it as if looking for something. Jessie called her name but the robot either ignored her or simply was concentrating too hard to hear her.

Her workmates looked at one another with raised eyebrows, so Jessie hurried over to the robot and tapped her lightly on the shoulder. Kayrie spun round, eyes blazing like fire. "Where is it?" she snarled, all pretence of shyness and friendliness gone.

From up in the balcony, Sable watched wide-eyed and trembling. What could have gone wrong? Oh how he wished that he'd been mistaken about the robot! Despite all his worries, his mother was always able to reassure him, and he had been right after all!

"Kayrie?" Jessie asked, questioningly.

"That's Lady Hyper Metal Semolina Knuckles to you, honey," spat Kayrie. "The gemstone. Where is it?"

Even from where he was Sable could see Jessie's look of surprise. "How do you?... Ah. Yes. It's not here, anyway. I don't know what's gone wrong with you Kayrie, but I'm sure we can fix you up like new if you just sit down nicely like a good robot for a moment-no!" Her last word was a yelp, as Kayrie picked her off the ground by her neck and held her there, watching unconcernedly as she struggled helpless in the robot's grasp.

"Don't patronise me," she hissed, and flung Jessie at several of the other workers, who had been slowly edging forward. They let out cries of surprise, as they were knocked to the ground. Without pausing, she leapt at them, clawed fists swinging.

Sable moaned in fear and covered his eyes with his hands. He felt sick. When he next dared to open his eyes, he saw the robot kicking the last of the workers savagely in the head. The hare groaned and lay still. His eyes searched desperately for his mother. She was lying on the floor, bleeding badly from several deep wounds, but her eyes were fixed on him. "Run," she mouthed silently.

Kayrie had gone over to the main generator and was doing something there. The dog managed to stumble to his feet, using the balcony railing for support and edged along it. Unfortunately, he had forgotten about the book that he had brought down to read, and as he did so, he accidentally caught it with one foot. As if in slow motion, he saw it fall and hit the ground below with a thump that seemed to him to reverberate around the whole room.

The robot had just been straightening up, and she heard the book hit the ground. Spinning round, she looked first at the book, then her eyes quickly traced its path of descent up to Sable.

"Of course!" she exclaimed. "He has it!"

She started towards him, but Jessie managed to grab her foot as she passed her. Kayrie stumbled then turned with a snarl. Sable was not sure where the blaster came from, perhaps it was inbuilt, but the robot turned and shot his mother.

He screamed in horror, then his power of movement seemed to return and he ran out of the double-doors, almost knocking them off their hinges in his hurry. The last he saw of Kayrie, she was hovering up into the air and after him.

The puppy had not known that he could run so fast, he had always been last to be picked for teams in games, but somehow he managed to get half a dozen blocks away before he halted, breathless. Behind him, the building burst into flames.

It was all gone; his mother, his home and his life. Sobbing brokenly, and not caring if people were looking at him (Although they were all more interested in the demise of the building), he turned and began to walk away. If the robot was not dead, then she would surely be after him. He had to get away. In minutes he was out of the city and starting his long trek. He had nothing but the shoes he stood up in, his pendent, and his life. It was all he had left to survive on until he reached the people who could help him.

***

The sun was at its peak in the sky, and the birds were happily singing their noontide songs. Bees hummed lazily from flower to flower, hungry for nectar to make their sweet honey.

An orange fox lay in the grass of a tussock, savouring the delicious late spring aromas, the dry turf crackling under his fur as he shifted position. His two tails were curled up around his body although there was really no need; the weather was unnaturally hot that year.

He yawned and rolled over onto his back, closing his eyes, not expecting in the least the attack that was to follow.

Through the tall grass, a dark shape had gradually been creeping up on him. Smirking to itself, it chose that strategic moment to pounce. Ice blue eyes glinting malevolently in the sun, it leapt gracefully through the air and landed as hard as it could on the fox's chest.

Tails gasped out loud, having had all his breath knocked out of him. A soft voice spoke next to his ear, causing him to shudder. "Don't move. I wouldn't want to hurt you, Tails." It was not a voice that the fox recognised as belonging to any of his friends or enemies. Yet they knew his name.

"Who ... who are you?" he whispered, far too frightened to open his eyes for fear of what he might see.

The creature ignored the question however and instead said: "Fetch Sonic, little fox. Tell him to meet me by the evergreen clump to the west of the village tomorrow. Alone." It put extra emphasis on the 'alone' part. "Don't even think of disobeying me, either of you. You wouldn't like the consequences."

Tails was released, and he thought he heard the sound of paws or feet padding away, although he could have imagined that part. Slowly, he opened his eyes and glanced from left to right. Nobody was in sight; the mysterious attacker had gone.

***

Tails rushed into the village of Knothole, his two tails whirling to give extra momentum to the speed of his pounding feet. His eyes as wide as dinner plates, while his breathing was short and shallow.

A light brown rabbit with robotic legs and left arm, courtesy of a long ago encounter with the once dreaded robocizer, glanced up as he jogged past. She did a double take when she saw his expression. "What's up, sugar? You look really upset."

The fox stopped jogging, turned, saw Bunnie, and hurried over to her, looking relieved at finding a friendly face so quickly. "Now you try and get calmed down so you can tell me everything, sugar," the rabbit said, firmly. "And then I'll see if I can help you, okay? It can't have been good, judging by your face."

Tails nodded and took several deep breaths until his breathing was regular once more. Bunnie put a comforting hand on his arm as he quickly burbled out his story to her, which she listened to intently. When he had finished, she shook her head and put her arm around his shoulder to comfort him. "Aw, you poor thing. And you didn't recognise who it was?"

Feeling at ease with Bunnie, Tails replied more coherently. "No, but they knew me by name, Sonic too. I suppose they could have been putting on a fake voice," he added, as the thought occurred to him.

The rabbit sighed. "It's a pity you didn't get a glimpse of the guy, but I'm sure we'll see them soon enough, worse luck. Now what am I thinking of? You're all shook up and here's me plaguing you with questions. Why don't we give you a sit down while I get Slasher and Sally girl."

"What about Sonic?" the fox asked as Bunnie led him along past several people's huts until she reached her own. The door wasn't locked, none of the huts were, and she merely kicked it open with a light tap of one robotic foot. She let him enter first and offered for him to sit down on the bed. Only then did she reply.

"I'll fetch him too, sugar, but after Sally and Slasher. Come to think of it, we'd better make sure no-one leaves the village ... If you were attacked, then there's a good chance that someone else might be too. Just wait in here for me to come back. Don't open the door to any strange animals or anything." She hurried off, leaving Tails alone in the hut.

By himself once more, the fox felt his courage desert him again like rats from a sinking ship, while his imagination began to roam freely. What if the creature had just been bluffing and not really known where Knothole was? It could have followed him back and was even now preparing to attack the village. It had certainly been very strong, that he knew from his brief encounter with it ...

The door of the hut was suddenly flung open and he screamed out loud, backing away. A dark shape stood in the glare of the frame. He screamed again, trying to get the bed between the figure and himself.

"Hey Tails, it's me." The fox took a moment to recognise the voice, and as he did so, the figure stepped away from the glaring light of the door and into the into the more melancholy light of the hut. It was a red echidna with long dreadlocks, spiked knuckles, and a white crescent upon his chest: Knuckles.

"Boy, you are in a bad way." The guardian of the Floating Island had dropped in for a visit the previous day and was supposed to be leaving later that day. Tails had almost forgotten that he was staying and had the distinct impression that it was neither him nor Sonic whom Knuckles had come to see. "I had no idea that I was that scary. Where's Bunnie anyway? I needed to ask her something."

Tails breathed a sigh of relief. "Sorry Knux. I thought you were the thing that attacked me coming back to kill me."

"You were attacked?" Knuckles's expression grew serious.

"Yeah, in the big meadow to the East. Bunnie's just gone to get Slash and Sal. She'll be back in a minute."

The echidna was still frowning. "Look, while we're waiting for her to come back, why don't you tell me what happened?"

Tails nodded, but slowly. "Okay, but on one condition."

Knuckles looked puzzled. "What's that then?"

"That you don't tell the others how scared I was." He gave the echidna a hopeful look.

"Of course I won't tell them." He was grinning.

Tails grinned happily, then, for the second time, he launched into his story. After he had gone over it twice Knuckles quizzed him for a few minutes, then Bunnie reappeared with Slasher the velociraptor and Sally the squirrel, leader of the village Freedom Fighters.

They nodded in greeting to the echidna, they appeared to have forgotten that he was in the village too, then quickly then turned to Tails.

"Bunnie's briefed us. Did the creature hurt you at all?" Slasher asked at once, prioritising.

The fox shook his head. "No, it just landed on my tummy." He rubbed it ruefully. It felt very much like there would be a big bruise there later.

"Tell us exactly what happened, Tails." Then, feeling something more sympathetic was needed, Sally added "If you feel up to it."

"I'll be okay." Tails wanted them to think that he was brave and couldn't be shaken by such a small thing as an attack. He then repeated his story in full for the third and final time that day. He finished the explanation, then cut in before any more questions could be asked with one of his own. "Where's Sonic? The creature asked after him, so he might be in danger too."

Sally looked as though someone had shot several volts of electricity through her tail. "Sonic left about four hours ago, to go berry picking. I made him go, he was getting under my feet the whole time because he was bored."

Slasher turned her head sharply, unable to keep the worry from her face. "Was anybody with him?"

"Let's see ..." She screwed up her face in an effort of remembrance. "No." The word echoed around the still hut. All four looked at her worriedly, not wanting to be the one to ask the question that was going through all of their heads. It was of course Slasher who did ask.

"And ... how long ago was he supposed to be back?"

"Over an hour," Sally confirmed, miserably.

"We've got to find him then." No one would have even thought of disobeying or questioning the authoritative velociraptor's commands. Knuckles, you come with me. The rest of you, make sure that no one else leaves the village."

Knuckles flashed one quick grim grin to reassure Tails that everything would be alright before following Slasher out of the hut. Bunnie put a hand once more on the fox's shoulder. "Dontcha worry about him, sugar. Slasher and Knux will be able to find him."

She was wrong.

***

Unaware of just how much pandemonium it had caused in Knothole, a figure crouched in the lower branches of a tall oak tree that overlooked the trail below. It was the same creature that had attacked Tails. "No need to wait for tomorrow then," it hissed, as the blue hedgehog that it had been watching and following for the past hour passed beneath the tree. It seemed like the tenth time that he had done so at least. The creature smiled to itself. It was enjoying the hedgehog's discomfort.

Sonic was hopelessly lost. He couldn't remember the last time that he had actually been lost in the forest, but it was a large place and he had strayed into a part he didn't know, following a trail of ripe bushes. Of course, now that he had picked all the berries and eaten one or two or maybe fifty, he couldn't tell where he was at all. To add to his worries, he kept having the nagging feeling that he was being watched. He was sure that he had been past this section of trees before.

His frustration welled up and totally fed up and annoyed with himself, he sat down moodily on the ground. Dropping his blue denim rucksack that had been a present from Serena the previous year at his side, he began rummaging through it, although he already knew that he was without any means of contacting the village.

"Hello Sonic," said a pleasant voice. "Fancy meeting you here."

He looked up into the face of a robot, or rather a robot bat. "Pip," he snarled. One of his enemies turning up was the last thing he needed.

Pip stood up, smirking, barely able to conceal her delight at having the hedgehog cornered. He saw that at her side was a chao, he assumed that it was still Heat, although it had changed its appearance an awful lot, as chao often do. It now looked a little like a cat, but a shiny metallic gold. There were little waterdrop marks on either side of its body and a triangular shape on its forehead; all a deep red. The chao also had large fiery wings and a long curling tail.

"I thought you were dead," Sonic snapped, remembering what Lena, the evil android, had said before she had died.

"Like 009, I die many times, but I always come back." She beamed. "If you want an explanation though, I was found and helped. By someone who actually cared what happened to me." Sonic didn't bother pointing out that Pip had been trying to kill Citras and himself at the time, which made it very hard for them to care what happened to her as long as it stopped her pestering them.

"By who?" Out of the corner of his eye, Sonic noticed that Heat was washing his face, just like a cat.

"Some worker 'droids of Mr. Robotnik, actually."

"Robotnik? But you said you'd kill ... I thought you hated his guts. Something he did to a load of bats, I think." Sonic did still remember just what he had done to the bats, but didn't like to think about it. It still made him feel sick.

"It was just a misunderstanding," Pip assured him. "He explained that he had absolutely nothing to do with it." The words 'gullible prat' drifted through Sonic's mind. Someone just had to say something and the bat would think they couldn't possibly be lying about it. "Besides, I don't hate anyone," she added virtuously. "Even you."

"So he got you fixed. And I take it that you're on his side now. One of his robots." He meant it to sound cutting, but sarcasm and irony literally never worked on Pip.

"For now, yep, I guess so."

Heat stopped washing his face and glanced up at Sonic. "We're still up for hiring though. Partly freelance, partly not." Brushing back his whiskers, he switched to washing his chao paws.

Sonic was beginning to wonder how long he could keep the robot talking for, and how long it would take a Knothole search party to find him. If they were out looking for him of course. They might not even have noticed his disappearance.

"I jumped Tails today," Pip remarked, idly. "I didn't hurt him though. Not much, anyway."

Sonic froze. "He's your own brother! How could you attack him?" He shook his head in disgust, trying his best not to worry, and hoping that the 'much' was genuine. "You're crazy."

"I know! It's one of my many hidden talents." She was obviously going more than a little insane. The hedgehog guessed it was probably the prospect of revenge that was doing it, which didn't bode well for him. "Enough talking," she added and, without warning, backhanded him hard across his face.

He fell back, and the bat grabbed him by the throat. The hedgehog struggled, but it was no use against the superior strength of a robot. "Don't worry Sonic, I'm not going to kill you. I think I'll just leave you somewhere, like you did for me. Wait here Heat, I won't be long."

A blue glow surrounded the hedgehog and bat for a moment then the two of them vanished. Sonic guessed that it was the gemstone at work. They reappeared again almost at once on a barren frozen landscape, the wind blowing fiercely around them. It brought snow to add to the deep drifts already there. The sudden cold hit him and he shuddered convulsively. Pip appeared not to notice.

"This should be interesting, don't you think? One small hedgehog against all that the Northlands can throw at him. Well, I wish you luck." She released her grip on his throat, and he fell to the ground. "I really ought to have left you your rucksack. But I'm not that nice. Goodbye Sonic. I doubt that I'll see you again, unless it's on an exploration program all about the interesting ice hedgehog that they found." She laughed nastily, and vanished.

Sonic lay in the snow, not having the strength to move. The snowstorm whirled on and around him, and in the dark, hungry green eyes were watching him ...

***

Slasher and Knuckles had scoured the nearby woodland, and tracked Sonic's scent, right up to where it vanished entirely. The echidna looked curiously at the ground that was still a little flattened where the hedgehog had sat on it.

"There isn't any obvious sign of a struggle," he observed. "And his pack's still here. It's like he just vanished into thin air, but he can't have."

"Wait," Slasher told him, sniffing the air. "There were two other creatures here, but they went again. They were here at about the same time as Sonic though." Her eyes narrowed. "And one of them was a robot."

Knuckles groaned. "Locked door mysteries are even worse when there isn't a door. It still doesn't explain how he just vanished. Maybe the other two were here just before or just after he disappeared."

Slasher shook her head. She was as confused as Knuckles was. "There's too many coincidences. We're just not thinking about it the right way. Come on, we'd better be getting back."

She bent down so that the echidna could climb onto her back, then set off in the direction of Knothole.

***

Out in the cold dark Northlands, the owner of the green eyes paced forwards towards the hedgehog lying in the snow. His body was already freezing over.

***

As Slasher and Knuckles approached the village, Sally came running full tilt towards them, her laptop Nicole clasped under one arm. Their first thought was that Knothole was being attacked, but there was no sign of that happening so they waited to hear what the squirrel leader had to say.

Panting for breath after her run, Sally shoved Nicole into Slasher's hands and sagged, trying to regain her regular breathing.

Oh the screen was a website; the official Mobian one, founded in Riverbase. Where the updates were normally written, a new message was typed, in red with a black background. Surprised, Slasher read it, wondering after the first few lines why Sally wanted to show her a hacker's work. As she read on, a glare grew on her face and gradually deepened. Finally, she thrust Nicole at Knuckles who read the message too, wondering what could possibly be on it that had angered the other two.

It read as follows:

"What lax security! This thing was so easy to hack into. Still, that's not particularly important now, although I'd fix it up if I was the owner. What is important is that if you are someone who hates a certain Sonic Hedgehog's guts, then you have the chance to wipe him off the slate forever.

"I, personally, have deposited him somewhere in the Northlands. A good scanner should pick him up. He has no weapons or help of any sort. Anyone who has a grudge against him has the chance of a lifetime to kill him now. It's a free-for-all - may the best hedgehog hater win!

"Oh, and if you happen to be Sonic's friend, it might be a good idea to wish for a new hero next Christmas.

"Signed, The Master of Stealth"

His gaze met with the other's. "The Master of Stealth? Isn't that ..."

Slasher nodded slowly. "Pip. Yes."

"Isn't she dead?"

"She's supposed to be."

There was a very long pause. "The creep! I hope for her sake that I don't meet her again, ever. I'd ... I'd ... I don't know what I'd do, but I know she wouldn't like it."

The velociraptor growled, softly. "She wouldn't like to meet me, either. Right now though, I think the issue is getting Sonic back safely. I'll set off right away. Hopefully I can get to him before anyone else does."

Sally shuddered despite the warmth. "I just hope that he can stay alive that long."

***

Tarn blinked in surprise, something she did not normally show. She was a red coloured lynx, with a tint of yellow about her. Her hair hung long and she had dark blue eyes. One hand, her right, was slightly off colour compared with the rest of her body. She wore a golden belt embedded with precious stones and a purpley-blue cloak. On her feet were blue and yellow shoes.

The lynx was reading the hacked report on Mobian Online Central, or rather re-reading it. Being what she was, her mind quickly skipped through the possible reasons for the report.

The possibility of a trap was quickly over-ruled. There would be no point in that; no gain for the 'Master of Stealth', whoever that might be, or for anybody else. A pointless hoax by a hacker who thought they'd cracked it all? As unlikely as a trap. Why mention Sonic in that case? Other possibilities were gone over, all at a lightning fast speed. It could only be taken at its face value: an opportunity given by someone who hated Sonic as much as herself.

No, that was not quite her way, she corrected herself. He was to be thought of as an obstacle, at least at one time. She stroked her right hand absentmindedly. How she had wished to make him pay for what he had done to her, and now here she was, being presented with a golden opportunity to annihilate the cursed hedgehog. She reached a decision. She would go and track Sonic down, and when she found him ... he would more than pay.

***

Sonic shuddered and his eyelids fluttered open. He wasn't as cold as he had been when he had first been left here. Maybe he had got used to it, or maybe he was dying. Either way, he had a strange sensation, of fur tickling his chest.

He blinked and looked again. No, he hadn't been mistaken first time. Lying next to him was what looked like a greyish dog, huddling up so that he would be warm. After his surprise, he was touched. A non-Mobian dog, which he didn't know, was trying to save his life. Looking more closely, he saw that it was not in fact a dog, but a coyote. What could it be doing all the way out in the Northlands? It was a pity that it wasn't a Mobian, since then he would be able to ask it. He could do that still of course, but he wouldn't get a reply.

That question would have to be answered later. For now, he would have to see if he could possibly get to any form of shelter. He patted the coyote gingerly, and it lifted its head at once to look at him. Those green eyes were certainly intelligent, far too intelligent for a dumb animal.

"C'mon boy," he murmured, and his voice came out all cracked and rasping. He was probably coming down with something, no wonder with his lack of protection in the chilling weather.

The first time Sonic tried to get to his feet, he fell back again. His muscles were already stiff with the cold. The coyote pushed him up someway with his muzzle and, holding onto it for support, he finally managed to stand.

He envisioned himself walking only a few paces before collapsing once more, that was how it would happen if he was in a novel, he was sure. Somehow though, he managed to keep his balance, one hand on the coyote's back just in case.

Twisting around as they walked to see the tracks that they had left in the snow, Sonic saw that they were already disappearing under fresh layers of frost. Did it ever stop snowing out here? Surely it must do sometime.

The biting cold swept around him constantly as they tramped along and he almost wept with the frigidness. A horrible exhaustion was also sweeping over him. He had been walking a mere few minutes and it seemed like hours. The most depressing thing was that everywhere in the barren landscape looked the same, so they didn't appear to be getting anywhere.

All at once his legs gave way beneath him and the collapse that he had feared happened. The coyote was there at once, trying to push him up once again, but Sonic shook his head. "Thanks friend. But it's no good, I'm too cold to go on."

The coyote whined in the back of its throat, then turned and hurriedly loped away. Sonic didn't feel badly towards him; after all, he'd always read that animals could tell when a creature was dying. In the coyote way, maybe leaving creatures on their deathbed was the respectful move to make.

***

Back in the forest, the good weather prevailed, making good flying time for those who were able. Still, Slasher would have flown in whatever weather was thrown at her if she thought it could save Sonic.

The brown velociraptor flew swiftly, skimming the tops of the trees. Knuckles had wanted to come with her too, but he would just weigh her down on such an important mission as this one.

With the wind whistling in her ears, it took her a moment to notice the voice behind her, calling her name. She executed a 90 degrees turn in mid-air to see who was calling her name, and almost stopped flying in her fury.

Pip was hovering a few feet away, both insolently and innocently. "Hey Slash! How are you doing? Seen Sonic about lately? I hear he's taken up hiking. Not good weather for it down in the Northlands, huh?"

Snarling with rage, Slasher hurled herself blindly at Pip who dived out of the way just in time. Turning more quickly than her opponent expected, Slasher closed her jaw hard around the robot's arm.

She would have ripped it right out, but at that moment something small and hard hit her on the back of the head. She let go, whirling round to face off the other attacker and came face to face with, to her utmost astonishment, a golden chao. Taking advantage, the cat-like chao hit her in the face with its tail then flew out of range.

The chao was not important so the velociraptor ignored it and turned back to the robot. Unfortunately, Pip had had time to regroup and take up a new strategy; strength and power. She had activated her gemstone and was glowing a royal blue, sparks of the same colour shooting off her.

"Do you want to know what my gemstone's other power is?" she called across mockingly to Slasher. "It's minor invincibility. Chow for now, winger."

She shot at Slasher, who fended her off by lashing out with her claws and striking repeatedly with her strong tail. Pip merely laughed, dodging her attacks at the last second until she saw an opening in the blows. She darted round her and grasped the velociraptor's wing in her hands then tugged as hard as she could in either direction. Slasher knew what was going to happen, even before she heard the horrible tearing sound, as the wing ripped.

The air now went through her wing instead of under and over it, and she was unable to keep her balance in the air with only one wing functioning properly. She fell like a stone towards the trees below, still managing to give Pip a resounding blow to the head as she got too close with her hurtful jibes. The robot dropped dizzily back, stopping her taunts.

Luckily, the foliage partly broke Slasher's fall, and she didn't have as hard a landing as she could have. Without the trees, she would certainly have died.

Later on, when she had crawled near enough to Knothole to be found by the other Freedom Fighters, the worst part of her situation struck home. She would not be able to rescue Sonic now.

***

Sonic heard a faint noise by his side and he sat up in surprise, rubbing at his eyes. The coyote was back again, it had been his soft whining that had alerted the hedgehog, and in his mouth was what looked like a simple old fleece. Obviously some traveller had discarded it long ago, and the coyote had known that it was something that kept other creatures warm.

He felt useless, but the coyote had to help him to put the fleece on, dragging it with his teeth. Hs fingers seemed too numb to function, even with his gloves on.

"Thanks," he murmured, realising as he said it that he had nothing to call the coyote. "I guess I'll have to think up a name for you." He thought for a moment, rocking back and forth so as to keep him at least vaguely warmed up. "Fang?" he suggested eventually.

The coyote inclined its head ever so slightly, almost as if it was nodding. Taking this as its constant, Sonic grinned. "Fang you are then. Let's see how much distance we can cover today, Fang." It felt much better to have a proper name to call him, instead of just 'boy'.

As they walked through the snow, one trudging heavily, the other treading lightly, Fang kept casting furtive glances around them. Sonic did not notice the coyote's unease though, and chatted amiably to his silent companion. He wanted to go and face off the danger he knew to be there, but he knew that if he left Sonic, the hedgehog would surely perish. Eventually, Fang resigned himself to guarding the hedgehog, growling furiously under his breath.

***

Tarn lowered her bifocal binoculars. So, Sonic was here after all. He had some kind of dog with him, but it should be easily taken care of. Tucking the binoculars into her large fleece lined duffel coat, she shuddered from the cold. She was about to mount her speed bike when a snarl from behind her caused her to spin around, a blaster appearing almost magically in one hand.

A gang of wolves, all lean, rough looking customers, were watching her every move. One edged forward, more confidant than the others. In less than a second, he was also more dead than the others, his body scorched by the blast. Tarn narrowed her eyes at the rest of the pack, who now looked a little uncertain.

"Go. Away." It was a statement rather than a request. The wolves all glanced, as one, to a wolf at the front of the pack, obviously the leader. He turned away, still snarling his defiance, and the rest of the wolves followed suit. Not trusting them an inch, the lynx watched them unblinkingly until they were merely dark splodges on the horizon.

Remembering her reason for being in that remote place, she turned back, her eyes searching the snow. Tarn's fists clenched. The hedgehog and dog had disappeared while she had been distracted by the wolf pack. Now she would have to go through the lengthy procedure of finding them again, since they would have probably gone a fair distance in the wasted time.

***

"I'll take the island," Knuckles said. A small group were gathered inside the main hut, discussing how best to fetch Sonic.
Noticeably missing was Slasher, who was staying in her own hut and not letting anybody in which was her usual response when injured. She had taken all the medical equipment that she needed to heal herself. Her injuries were not as bad as they had first thought, but it would take quite a while for her wings to heal and they would have to find some other way to rescue the hedgehog.

"I should easily be able to guide it over the Northlands to look for him."

Sally gnawed worriedly at her bottom lip. "I suppose it's our best option, but shouldn't we have some back up method?"

"It was our back up method until Slasher was injured, Sally girl," Bunnie interjected miserably. They all thought in silence for a minute.

"I'll get going," said Knuckles eventually. "If you come up with anything, radio me on the island. Wish me luck." The remaining Freedom Fighters waved half-heartedly to him as he left, before returning to the issue at hand.

"The bi-plane?" suggested Tails.

"Too long a distance, and the amount of fuel you would have to carry would weigh you down too much," answered Sally, flatly. "We've got to be realistic." Tails looked a little hurt, and the squirrel sighed. "I'm sorry Tails, I didn't mean to snap. I'm just so worried about Sonic."

Bunnie patted her gently. "We all are Sally girl, we all are."

***

"You're back early," remarked Espio, dropping into step with Knuckles. He had been sunbathing near the teleporter when the echidna had arrived and was curious to know why he had come back so soon. "Did they kick you out or something?" he added, grinning good-naturedly.

"Sure," Knuckles answered, not paying the chameleon much attention. Espio had to jog to keep up with his hurried strides.

"They didn't really kick you out did they?"

"What? Oh no. I wasn't kicked out. Look Espio, Sonic's in danger. He's stuck in the Northlands with no protection as far as we know and the whole world knows he's there. We've got to get to him pronto." Espio was about to point out that he hadn't known, but he didn't think it was the time. "I'll give you the details later."

"Okay," Espio called after him as he broke into a run and disappeared out of sight. The chameleon slowed to a walk before halting completely, wondering what he could do to help. He decided to head to the Chaotix Crew's main base. At least there would be something to do there, if only alerting the other members of the team known as Chaotix.

***

Sonic groaned, deciding against flopping down once more. His strength was slowly sapping, but he had no wish to make a melodramatic fool of himself once again. Fang seemed to have grown a personality of his own in front of him, and admitting defeat to the coyote would be like admitting defeat to Slasher or Knuckles. It wasn't his fatigue which was pressing him, although he knew they mist have been walking on and off for several days.

Still, Fang noticed his dragging footsteps and looked at him quizzically. "I'll be able to keep going for a while, don't worry. It's food this time," he told his four-legged friend. "And I doubt you can make a buffet table drop down in front of me, wonderful as you are." The coyote's eyes twinkled as if in mirth, but he sloped off once more.

Sonic trod onwards through the snow, knowing that Fang would be able to find him again easily. He had never met such an intelligent dumb animal before, and that was a fact. Thinking of the coyote, he failed to hear the telltale swoosh of a speed bike until it was almost too late.

Hearing the sound, he instinctively threw himself to the ground, skipping right over the urge to turn around. He saw the speed bike shoot through the space that he had just been occupying, and the creature riding it jump off and vault, snarling like a wild animal, to face him.

"Who the?..." he gasped, staring at the furious lynx before him.

"Don't pretend you don't know who I am!" Sonic moaned in recognition. He was not going to be as corny as to think that things could not have got any worse. Rather the opposite; he had thought things were getting better. "That's right! The person you nearly murdered, Sonic. The person who you nearly killed in cold blood."

The hedgehog's mind raced, remembering what he could of the mercenary bounty hunter. She had been on the opposing side in a clan battle on the distant isle of Marquinge. She had turned up and fought her way into the position of second in command, killing the predecessor, a dangerous Coelophysis. This was the normal method of succession in the destroyed town.

She had indirectly caused one of Sonic's newly aquatinted friends to die. In his rage, the hedgehog had winded up with making the self-appointed king think that Tarn had betrayed him. In punishment, he had lashed out with his venom dipped spiked tail, catching the lynx on her right hand. That was all Sonic had seen; for all he had known she was dead.

What Sonic didn't know was that after the fight had been continued elsewhere, Tarn had cut her own right hand off so that the poison would not carry to the rest of her body. She had staunched the blood flow with her cloak to prevent herself from bleeding to death. Later, she had managed to have it replaced with a cybernetic hand, cheating fate all the more.

The mention of cold-blooded murder stirred him, for she was right, it had been a calculating act of vengeance. He truly hated what he had done. It was too late to undo that though, and Tarn looked alright to him. Still, if it had been the reverse, he would have hated her just as much as she hated him.

"I-I'm sorry," he managed, feebly.

"Sorry?" she spat, venomously. "Is that all you can say? Well, I'm not surprised you're sorry now that I've got you cornered." He could see that there was no use in talking to her, and instead sprang to his feet and paced away, warily.

She darted forward, slashing at him with her claws. For some reason Sonic missed at first, she never reached him. Fang had appeared from seemingly nowhere, and had fastened his sharp teeth in one of her feet. Tarn shrieked in surprise, twisting over to see what had seized her.

"Get off you stupid dog!" she snapped, reaching for her blaster which was holstered at her hip.

"One, I'm not stupid, and two, I'm not a dog. I'm a coyote, and I object most strongly to being called a dog. Three, I'm not going to get off." Tarn and Sonic stared, especially the hedgehog, both having mistaken the coyote for a dumb beast. Taking advantage of the lynx's brief respite, Fang extended steely looking claws as flipping up a utility on a penknife. He took a swipe at the lynx, leaving three deep scratches across her face.

Tarn shrieked again, managing to shove the coyote off her, although Sonic doubted she would have been able to if he hadn't wanted to budge. She mounted her speed bike once more and shot off. Fang trotted after her for a few paces, snarling ferociously.

"She won't be coming back, don't worry." Sonic didn't bother asking how he knew; the coyote seemed to have a sense for things.

"I ... I didn't know you could talk."

The coyote grinned at him. "Unlike Mobians, I don't feel a permanent need to chatter away the whole time." Sonic looked a little bashful, but the grin cheered him up. "I don't always feel inclined to. I will if you want me to though. I thought we were getting along quite well with one-way conversations personally. Besides, I never said I couldn't talk."

Sonic laughed. "You didn't say anything at all! So, do you have a proper name after all?"

Fang nodded. "My actual name is Latran, although it was quite fun being called Fang. You made me sound like some vicious killer. Come on, let's keep walking. Oh, hang on a moment. I just remembered something." He trotted some way into the snow and returned carrying an item in his mouth. As he drew closer, Sonic saw that it was a hare. "You were hungry?" he added, his voice slightly muffled by its load.

Sonic shook his head in admiration.

***

As the Floating Island moved closer to the Northlands, Knothole was having more troubles of its own. Two villagers returned, wide-eyed and panting, saying that a robot bat had attacked them. They did not appear to actually know the reason for the assault. Thoroughly fed up, Bunnie left the village to confront Pip on her own, despite Sally trying desperately to stop her.

When she had gone deep enough into the woodland, she stood, hands on hips, glowering at the surrounding trees and shrubs. Part of her resolve seemed to have deserted her, but she still shouted out a challenge.

"I know you're out there! Come out where I can see you."

Almost immediately, a dark shape flitted down from the branches above, alighting in front of her. Pip gave a theatrical bow. "The Master of Stealth at your service." She glanced up at Bunnie. "Or on second thoughts, maybe not. You wanted me?"

The rabbit took a deep breath. "I want you to leave the area."

"Is that all? Get out of town because we don't like your face? Well, I suppose it's lucky you came out here, since I wanted to see you too."

Bunnie felt her heart ricocheting about her ribcage. "Why?" Why had she come out here? It was stupid.

"Oh, no reason." Pip turned away. Bunnie blinked in confusion. Suddenly, the robot spun back round, backhanding her hard across the face. She gasped and stumbled backwards with the force of the blow. "You liked that, hm? I can do harder hits than that you know, much much harder." A volley of lightning fast punches, and Bunnie found herself slumped against a tree.

Fight back! she told herself. She couldn't though, not after that, anyway.

"Well, in response to your lovely little message, I will go. But only if you meet me to discuss the terms three nights from now at the Rift Caves." Bunnie knew the place; it was close by, and had once been mined for its valuable resources of copper. "Well, I say you, but I think it might have to be someone else. You won't really be able to go anywhere for quite a while by the time I've finished with you."

Bunnie moaned in self-pity as the robot stepped closer.

***

The early dawn light of the next morning saw a new occupant in the medical hut. "I told you not to go," reprimanded Sally, without any heart to her statement, watching Jeanne checking her patient's temperature.

Jeanne was one of the older creatures in the village, in her twenties at least. She was a squirrel, like Sally, but older, with her hair longer and smoother. Apart from that, she and Sally could have been related.

The other two people in the hut were Tails and Slasher. She was well enough to walk, although with a broken wing she wouldn't be able to fly until it was completely healed, which wouldn't be for a while.

"She said she would go if some people went to the Rift Caves three nights ... well, I guess it's really two ... from now."

"She won't," Sally said, instantly.

"She might," Tails put in hopefully.

"It's a chance we'll have to take." Slasher sighed heavily. "I'll go. She may have broken my wing-" Here she growled softly. "-but I'll still be able to beat her in a fight."

"I'll go too." Slasher gave Sally a long hard look before eventually nodding.

"I'm coming." Sally looked as if she was about to say something, but Tails cut across her. "It's not as if I'm too young. Besides, she's my sister." A pleading expression was fixed upon his face. Slasher merely nodded again, letting out a little sigh this time.

"I guess I'll just stay here counting the knots in the wood and the cracks in the ceiling," Bunnie said, smiling ruefully. "If it comes down to a fight, give her a kick from me will you?"

"I don't want any more casualties," Jeanne warned. She suddenly treated them all a warm, if slightly wan, smile. "If you die, I'll kill you."

***

"Water?" Latran had led the hedgehog to a frozen over lake and was waiting patiently at its side. Sonic sat gratefully, making sure that his coat was between him and the snow.

"If I wasn't so stiff I'd ice-skate for my drink. As it is, I think I'd go down like a plank." He tried to rub life into his aching muscles.

"You wouldn't crack the ice though. This stuff is deep."

"But you can?"

"Just watch me." The coyote flipped out one claw and inserted it into the ice. Then, with a sound like nails being scraped down a blackboard, he proceeded to cut a perfect circular hole in the ice. Sonic winced. "Water." Latran pointed helpfully with his muzzle.

Sonic bent down gratefully, slurping noisily as the liquid passed though his cracked lips. The water was not as cold as he had expected. Maybe it was from a hot spring deep under the earth. Whatever the reason, he was relieved; cold water would have half killed him. When he had drunk his fill, Latran had his turn, lapping away gently at the still surface in contrast to the hedgehog's noisy drinking frenzy.

"Do you have any friends who will help you?" Latran asked, after he had finished. "Or do they know where you are?"

"I don't know ..." Sonic stopped. Something that had been puzzling him for some time chose that moment to re-surface. How had Tarn known where he was? If she did, would others? It was probably too much to hope that the Freedom Fighters would know his location.

"So, now that we're resting, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?" Latran suggested kindly, knowing that the hedgehog would not want to move for a short while.

Sonic thought for a moment. "Well, my name's Sonic, and I come from a village called Knothole. There's a bunch of Freedom Fighters there, you see, and I'm one of them. Some of my friends there are Tails, Slasher, Sally, and Knux of course, except he doesn't live there, he only visits sometimes. He lives on a place called the Floating Island.

"We were originally formed to oppose Robotnik-" He stopped his rhythmical recital as Latran growled out loud, his eyes narrowing. "Do you know him?" he asked, although nothing about Latran would surprise Sonic by now. The coyote nodded, still growling. "How come?" Sonic was intrigued to know how Latran knew so much about everything.

His friend sighed. "It's a long story. Just let me think of how to start for a moment." He paused, and Sonic waited impatiently for him to begin his tale. "When I was just a cub, some robots captured me and brought me to Robotnik. Of course, I didn't know who he was then, although I soon did. He conducted several ... experiments on me." He shuddered from the tops of his pointy ears to the tip of his tail at the recollection. "He was trying to see if it was possible to combine a living creature with metal implants." Smiling ruefully, he added: "He's got to be one of the only people who didn't mistake me for a dog. He thought I was a guinea-pig instead."

"So ... did it work?" Sonic was sure that something must have gone wrong somewhere, since Robotnik's successes were generally few and far between. Whenever the former dictator actually had one, he always seemed to mass-produce it to create the effect that he had a lot more. He had never seen any creatures with robotic implants before, as far as he knew.

"Yes. I'm really not a normal coyote. If we weren't such solitary creatures naturally, I would have been abandoned to live my own life. Look at my paw." Sonic obeyed, and watched once more as the claws were extended. Latran offered him his paw for inspection, and the hedgehog held it gingerly, taking a closer look at the sharp greyish claws.

After a minute, he saw what the coyote had wanted him to. "They're ... metal."

Latran nodded, placing his paw back on the ground and balancing with more ease. "A steel alloy, and that's the just the minor effects. I've had much, much worse done to me." The blue hedgehog opened his mouth, but Latran shook his head gently. "You want to see some of the others, I know, but I can't ... I won't show you them. I've never shown anyone else even the claws before."

To Sonic's surprise, he realised that Latran was ashamed of the implants. Wishing he was better suited to those kinds of situations, he decided to say what he would normally, if the coyote was Tails, Knuckles, or any of his other friends. "They must come in handy sometimes then, huh?"

The coyote turned his head away and for a moment Sonic thought that he must have insulted him. Only when Latran turned back did he realise that tears were trickling down his face; he had turned his head away to hide the fact that he was crying. "Sorry," offered Sonic, humbly. "I didn't mean to offend you or anything."

He shook off his apology. "No ... you didn't offend me. It's just that ... you'll think I'm just being stupid or something ... but no one's ever actually said anything ... nice to me before. They all seem to know that there's something strange about me, something not quite right. Animals are better at spotting those things than Mobians, you see. And any other Mobian I've met was after the wolves had finished with them. To all other coyotes, wolves, and the bears you get out here occasionally, I'm just a freak. Sorry, I shouldn't have told you all that, I guess."

Remembering something Slasher had once said to him, he used it to comfort the coyote. "Don't worry, it's fine to show your feelings." He stroked the creature gently behind its ears. "I don't think you're a wimp or anything, everybody cries sometimes. And anyway, there's no way you could be a wimp after doing everything that you have for me." He kept on comforting the coyote until he closed his eyes and laid his muzzle on Sonic's lap.

The hedgehog thought that he was asleep, but after a moment had gone by, he said, without opening his eyes: "I suppose you'll want to know how I escaped, right?"

"If you feel up to it."

Latran lifted his head up in the blink of an eye and glowered at him. "Of course I feel up to it, I'm not some mortally wounded invalid you know." Sonic grinned a little, knowing that the coyote did not mean it.

"There's not much left to tell, actually. All that happened was that one day, I was set as usual to go on the courses he set for me, to test my strength and stamina. My IQ too, I suppose. Anyway, just before I went on, I nipped along to a side control room while he was otherwise occupied, and messed up the alarm system a little. I managed to set them on a timer, so that they'd go off while I was doing my course. He'd be forced to shut them down to find out what the problem was and I'd nip out over the wall without tripping the alarms.

"It all went according to plan until I was scrabbling over the wall. Some robot noticed me trying to get out and, having very little brain, thought that I was a Freedom Fighter or saboteur trying to get in. So they shot me. I wasn't dead, just hurt, although I looked it. Another robot came along, a blue one, called Metal Sonic." The actual Sonic let out an audible gasp of surprise, and Latran smiled. "Yes, I thought you might know him somehow, ever since I knew your name."

"Go on," urged the hedgehog. "What happened then?"

"Well, he came along in time to see the robot shoot me, and saw that I didn't move again afterwards. He was furious, mostly because he knew that Robotnik would be. Let's put it this way: the little jerk that had got me probably needed some drastic repairs afterwards."

"What about you?"

"Well, I was dead, wasn't I? No question about it, not one animal in a dozen could survive a blast like that. So, without bothering to check, I was thrown outside the metal place. I was practically healed by then. After a long enough period of time had elapsed, I got to my feet and casually trotted away." Sonic cheered, spraying the powdery surface snow into the air. Latran looked pleased at his enthusiasm. "Not bad for a dead coyote, eh?"

"Not bad at all! It's not like Mecha to be that careless though," he added, thoughtfully.

"Exactly what I thought. Not that I was going to go back and complain, of course." In the brief pause of considering what to say next, Latran sighed and nodded his head. "You're not going to want to hear this, but we'd better keep moving." Sonic groaned loudly. "You'll freeze to death. You don't have a thick coat like I do. And you can still talk if you want to."

He sprang to his feet, with more vigour than he thought he had left in his body. "Okay, okay, I'm up already. Will we reach somewhere soon? Like a settlement or something?"

"Maybe," the coyote hedged. He knew that there was no settlement within several dozen miles, but he did not want to dishearten his Mobian friend by telling him that. They would just have to keep going and hope that someone or something would turn up to help them. There were still Sonic's friends, and maybe they would even now be coming for a rescue attempt.

***

Indeed, the rescuers and friends were almost in the Northlands. The Floating Island had made good time at the hands of its Guardian, and he was even then preparing to enter the treacherous and unpredictable area.

He had instructed the Chaotix Crew to go back to their normal duties and tasks so that he could concentrate on steering the island. At that moment however, the sound of running footsteps announced someone's approach. Glancing up to see the newcomer, he saw that it was not a member of the Chaotix Crew, but Talon, the young anteater who also lived on the Island.

"Sir, there's something on fire down there!" he informed him, breathlessly. Knuckles's first thought was for the island, but he then realised that Talon meant the area on Mobius that they were passing over.

He let the anteater lead him to the place that he had spotted the fire from. It was a strong blaze, sweeping indiscriminately over a small village. They could distinguish small shapes that were people scuttling away from the fire like ants from an overturned nest.

"Are we going to help sir?"

Knuckles hesitated before nodding. He could not leave creatures at risk to save his own friend; that would be selfish. Quickly, he and Talon left the island, heading out to the village, both wondering what had caused the fire; a careless mistake or a deliberate arson attack.

The echidna apprehended one of the fleeing villagers by grabbing his shoulder. The stout beaver turned to see who had caught hold of him. "What happened?" Knuckles began, but the beaver shook his head desperately, broke away and was out of sight in moments. The echidna raised a laconic eyebrow at his companion. "Something's frightened him. Come on, let's see if there's anyone left in there who needs our help."

Talon followed him as he raced past what was once the gatepost of the surrounding fence and was now just burning cimbers. Most of the houses were destroyed, but he thought he saw a glimmer of movement in one, and hastened to point this out to Knuckles.

Trapped in the inferno was a black puppy, cowering away from something they couldn't quite see. As they moved closer, the other figure glanced up, saw them, snarled, and ran past them, shoving Talon viciously to the ground as she passed. They had no time to remark on the character though; they had to get the dog out of the fire.

Knuckles started to pull boards away in the hope of reaching the dog before he became completely trapped. Unfortunately, he had to work carefully so as not to burn himself too badly, and the anteater could see that he was not going to reach him in time.

Glowering determinedly, he activated his shoes, which gave him the power to hover. Shooting past the sparks that were emitted, he drew closer to the dog, appearing to be dancing a complicated pattern. When he was close enough he grabbed the puppy by his arm. The frightened creature held on for dear life as Talon lifted them out of range of the roaring flames.

The Guardian had stopped pulling at the boards to watch when he had first seen the anteater going to rescue the dog, and he was waiting to help them when they reached the ground on the other side of the enclosure. Deciding that the applause could wait until later, although he felt very proud of Talon, he half dragged them out of the danger-filled village.

As they reached the outskirts, a large section of the village chose that moment to collapse, sending sparks and drifting embers far and wide.

***

"Two days can go by really fast when you don't want them to," remarked Tails, miserably. He and Sally were sitting on Slasher's back. She couldn't fly of course, but she was still a faster runner than either of them.

"You don't have to come, you know," Sally responded quickly. "You can still go back if you want to." Neither of the other two responded, and she sighed. It had been a stupid statement. She just didn't like the thought of Tails seeing his own sister in her current crazed state.

Slasher ran on in silence for another few minutes, leaving a trail of kicked up dust behind her. They could hear the waterfall now, thundering away loudly as the water poured over the wide ledge, pounding on the rocks below.

"We're almost there," Slasher said, unessecerially. "Not far to go now."

Sally shuddered and wished that she was somewhere else, rather than travelling to meet a compulsive psychotic maniac.

***

Not so far away, the compulsive psychotic maniac was also arriving. She had been doing so for the past half-hour.

"Now, do you think the whirly bit with the cloak, or the waiting in the shadows and slowly tilting my kinda neat cowboy hat up?" She was clutching her denim star embroidered cowboy hat in both hands, while looking quizzically at her chao, Heat. "Or, on second thoughts, I could just wait in the shadows and kick the living daylights out of them when they arrive. What do you think, hmm?"

"You're worried, aren't you?" Heat sat on a rock, watching his mistress miserably, his curly tail flicking from side to side, displaying his agitation.

"Me worried? Ha. It's just your imagination. I'll be fine, just you see. Come to think of it, I might just hide ... say here ... then I'll be in a very good strategic position."

"Strategic?"

"Yep. From here I'll be able to push them off the top of the waterfall."

The cat-like chao sighed. "You're not going, are you?"

"Whatever gave you that impression?"

"You promised."

"Oh yeah, good point. Dontcha worry, I'll find a loophole in it somewhere. Now, wearing the hat or not?..."

Heat sighed again, slipped off the rock, and padded out of the cave, carefully avoiding the puddles that had accumulated on the damp floor in previous storms. He loved his mistress dearly, no question about that ... but he couldn't help feeling that she'd truly flipped this time.

As he walked, tears filled his eyes and he stopped being careful where he stepped, stamping angrily through the puddles and soaking both himself and the surrounding rocks. He came to a halt, looking up at the dreary sky through a blurred vision.

"Please," he whispered, wishing there was someone there that could hear him. "Please make it all better." He then tiptoed under a bush and curled up in a little ball of metallic fluff. He felt better for saying it, although he wasn't quite sure how it would help.

***

The Island was off once more, along with its new passenger. Knuckles hadn't really wanted to take the puppy with him, but he hadn't really seen what else they could do with him. He contented himself with the thought that they could probably dump him at Knothole when they got back to the village.

On closer inspection, they had discovered that the dog was not black as they had at first assumed, but black and white, having been coated by the ashes before. He was an Irish Sheepdog, and he said that his name was Sable.

What had interested him most though was the other figure, the one who had scarpered at their approach. It had reminded him strongly of Zephyer, the echidna at Knothole who was robocized from the neck downwards. Except the metal on this echidna had been a different colour; white, and she had had a longer fringe. Also, he had been pretty sure that he had caught a glimpse of claws on her knuckles, something only male echidnas were supposed to have.

Sable wouldn't say much, but they guessed that she was after him for some reason or another. Talon was looking after the dog and getting him cleaned up while Knuckles returned to controlling the Island's flight path.

"Not long now," he murmured between his teeth. They had now entered the Northlands. He would keep going for a few more minutes before going down to hunt for Sonic.

The minutes crawled past before he judged it was time to halt. He then went to the main hut to get warm coats and a few other pieces of equipment. Talon and Sable joined him on the way there. Knuckles didn't know why, but the dog irked him. The sooner they found Sonic and dumped the kid at Knothole the better.

He selected two warm coats, but Sable's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates in his panic. "Please let me come with you, don't leave me here on my own."

Talon looked sympathetic, which was far from what the Guardian felt. "You won't be all alone. There's the Chaotix Crew, they live here too."

"No, you don't understand ... please?" Deciding that he'd hate himself in the morning, Knuckles consented. After all, maybe if he got to know the kid a little better he'd actually like him. He was just insecure where visitors to his island were concerned, preferring the only inhabitants to be himself, Talon and the Chaotix Crew. That was how it should be, in his opinion.

***

Slasher lowered her head as she walked under an overhanging outcrop of rock, her every sense fully on the alert. "She's here," she hissed between her teeth. Tails didn't think that he'd seen the velociraptor that tense for ages.

She bent down so that the other two could dismount, her eyes flicking rapidly from side to side. Nothing moved. Sally could feel the sweat trickling down her face; the tension was practically killing her. Glancing across at Tails, she saw that he didn't look much better, although he was doing his best to disguise it. She placed a free hand on his arm, and he flashed her a grateful look. Why didn't the dang robot show herself? She was obviously there, Slasher had said so.

Just as the velociraptor was straightening up, a blurred shape of fury flew out of nowhere and struck her hard in the side. Slasher had not been as unprepared as the others had thought though, and she struck back almost at once, her sharp claws slashing straight at the bat's wings. Sally wondered suspiciously if she had had that part of it planned all along. Knowing that the robot also had hover pads in her feet, they were Slasher's next target. Pip howled in rage as they were swiftly put out of use. She wouldn't be able to fly out of the battle now.

Unfortunately, Pip had not been dormant while the velociraptor tore at her. She had extended her claws so that they were at their fighting mode of several inches, and managed to get in several bad gashes to Slasher's face and eyes. Her actual eyes weren't damaged, but the blood gushing into them blinded her vision for a few vital seconds.

The bat broke away, kicked Sally viciously between the eyes as if to relive her feelings, and fled. Tails, realising he was the only one who hadn't been injured, narrowed his eyes and gave chase. They had reached the ledge above the waterfall now, and Pip turned back, her blue eyes smouldering dangerously. The two tailed fox also tried to halt, but skidded in a puddle and almost freefell the massive drop. He only managed to save himself by grabbing hold of the ledge with his fingertips, but he could feel those slipping and beginning to loosen too.

Pip laughed triumphantly and came at him. Tails doubted that any brotherly love connections were going to save him now. Just as she was almost at him, she missed her footing and instead fell past him, knocking him off too in passing. He landed on the waterfall's edge while Pip, in a twist of fates, was now the one facing the gaping plunge below.

She scrabbled at the rock, trying to gain a purchase with her extended claws. Tails stayed where he was, panting.

The robot looked panicked. "Please, brother, help me!" Her claws scraped off the rock as she looked at him, scared.

Bunnie's words echoed in his head. "Give her a kick from me." What about Slasher and Sally and all his other friends? They were all badly injured because of the creature in front of him. Then there was Sonic, his very best friend, abandoned in the Northlands to die. Still, she was his sister.

Tails hesitated, then reached out a hand. Pip looked pleased as his hand reached out towards her. But what about Sonic? ... He finally made up his mind. She was his sister ... He reached out ... and hit her as hard as he could across her face.

Pip's looked of complete and utter surprise as she dropped away out of sight would have been amusing in any other circumstance. "Tails!" she shrieked. "Brother!"

Tails averted his gaze and dropped backwards onto a rock, feeling sick. After a moment or two Slasher and Sally appeared on the ledge above. The velociraptor signalled for Sally to stay where she was, as she went down and held Tails protectively in her wings.

***

"There he is!" Talon called out. He had been keeping a watch from the air while the other two walked along on the ground. Knuckles felt like uttering a whoop of joy. They had found him in under two hours, and he was alive! "There's a dog with him sir," the anteater added, before dropping to the ground to run with the other two towards the blue hedgehog.

Sonic had heard the cry, and looked up. When he saw the three running towards him he gasped in astonishment. "Are they friends?" growled Latran. "If not I can take care of them easily."

"Friends," the hedgehog hastily reassured him. "I can't believe they actually found me."

The coyote blinked slowly. "Are all four your friends?"

"I don't know the dog, but he's with them so he should be okay ..." Latran's statement suddenly clicked with him. "All four?" Then he saw it too, a fourth figure, racing after Knuckles, Talon and the dog he didn't know. He had almost missed it at first because it was almost totally white. "It doesn't look good."

They ran to join the three, Sonic waving aside their questions. "No time," he told them breathlessly. "You're being followed."

Knuckles swung around and gasped when he saw who it was. Sable whined. "Flipping heck. How did she...? She must have run all the way, and as fast as the island too." He shook his head in disbelief. "Let's see what she wants then." He stood in front of the others to protect them a little if it came down to fighting. To his surprise, the dog that had been with Sonic joined him, snarling.

As she approached, Knuckles saw that she was indeed as he had thought the other night; a female echidna who was metal from the throat downwards. She stopped in front of him and gave him what appeared to be a shy smile, although considering the circumstances it seemed less than inappropriate.

"Excuse me sir," she said, brushing her hair back. "Who might you be?"

The Guardian gazed at her suspiciously. "Knuckles."

Lady Hyper Metal Semolina Knuckles gave a start of surprise, looking at him more closely. "You ... are?" She shook her head, as if to clear the confusion and added: "Well honey, I think you'd better get out of my way right now." Her fist spikes seemed magically to appear in his chest and he gasped in pain. "Exactly. Have a nice day." She withdrew her fist and smashed Sonic and Talon in the face by swinging her hands out to either side, as if opening the swing-doors in some saloon.

She stopped in front of Sable who backed away nervously. "Now quit hiding behind people honey and give me your dang pendent." She held out a hand expectantly, but the Irish Sheep dog was staring at her in complete disbelief.

"So that's it!" he spluttered at last.

"Yes. So?"

He took a deep breath. "You killed my mum just so that you could get your filthy little hands on this?"

"They're not filthy. They're spotless." Kayrie was having difficulty with non-literal concepts, having been created only a few weeks ago. Despite this, she was probably one of the fastest creatures alive to master sarcasm without instruction.

"All those people who you killed; my mum, those workers, villagers ... you did it all to get this?" Sable repeated, as if in shock. He held the pendent loosely in his hands, deep in thought. "I hate it!" he snapped and with one movement, he took it off and hurled it as far away as he could. It landed in the snow, shimmering in the warm reflection of the sun's rays. Its normally gradient pattern seemed to be completely red, like blood.

It was Kayrie's turn to look astounded. "You ... you don't actually want it?"

Sable shuddered. "I never want to see it again."

Kayrie dived for it, but someone else got there first. Latran snapped it up between his teeth, growling savagely. The robot took a moment to pick herself out of the snow, and in that time the coyote raced back to Sable, his paws churning up the snow.

"I told you, I don't want it!"

"Take it you stupid mongrel! I haven't gone to all this trouble for you to just shrug it off." The coyote's eyes displayed a sense of desperate urgency.

"But-" Talon, seeing Kayrie charging for the sun pendent once more, grabbed it himself and, tugging at Sable's paw, lifted him up into the air. To the anteater's complete horror, Lady Kayrie hovered into the crisp air after them. Latran below bunched his muscles then performed an impressive leap, grabbing the robot's foot in his mouth and pulling her back to earth.

"Run!" barked Latran. The others needed no second telling, although both Sonic and, strangely enough, Sable felt like they ought to be doing otherwise. The robot echidna tried to follow, but the coyote matched her every move, staving her off. He only stopped his worrying when he was sure the others were well away to whatever transport Sonic's friends had brought.

Lady Kayrie was seething; apparently she too had realised that they were out of her reach now. "You'll regret this, coyote."

Latran watched her calmly, sitting down on his hindquarters in the snow. "You got it right."

"I always get it right." Without a backward glance, she spun on her heel and stalked off into the snow. The coyote, who had been expecting a fight, didn't make a move. His eyes followed her retreating figure until it had vanished over the horizon.

What should he do now? he wondered. He could of course try and re-join the others, but if they had any sense they would have left. The only option left would to be continue his life in the snow-stretch region, out of reach of the suspicion of the other coyotes. But you don't want to do that, do you? a part of his brain said. Latran sighed. He had adopted the hedgehog, and he would miss him like a father misses a son.

What was the name of that village Sonic had mentioned? Oh yes, Knothole. Well, he would just have to find it then. He began to pad off into the snow, leaving a trail of soft prints that would be filled in in the next of the snowstorms that frequented the area. He would always find a way.

***

The small troop had returned to the Island. Sonic had wanted to stay behind and wait for Latran, but Knuckles had warned him off it. "She'll just catch us up again," he had told him. "Anyway, it's his natural habitat. He might not want to leave." The hedgehog hadn't bothered to argue about the 'natural habitat' part. It wasn't a coyote's natural habitat, but it was Latran's.

Sable had finally told them all he knew about Lady Hyper Metal Semolina Knuckles, while they in turn had explained what a gemstone was. Knowing that Pip had the gemstone of hope ("Don't talk to me about that little creep," growled Sonic.) and the gemstone of oblivion had been lost a while back, they deduced that it must be the gemstone of control. Sonic and Knuckles had also exchanged stories, Sonic telling the echidna what had happened to him since he had gone off berry picking while Knuckles told him what had happened back at Knothole up until his departure.

When they reached Knothole, they learned about the demise of Pip and also what had gone on in their absence. Apparently, they hadn't been able to find the robot's body, so she had either been washed up somewhere where they could not find her or she had somehow managed to survive the fall. Most of the Freedom Fighters thought the former the more likely explanation.

They told them all about their adventures in the Northlands over a campfire in the much warmer climate. The way things fell out was slightly ironic. Sonic had to have minimal treatment, mostly in the form of eating and drinking a lot, while Knuckles had caught a bad cold and had to be confined to bed for several days. Both he and Bunnie recovered swiftly however.

In a few weeks at Knothole, Sable seemed to undergo a complete transformation of character. No longer was he shy and quiet, instead he was more of what Jeanne described as a cheeky young scamp. He was only a couple of months younger than Tails and they were soon firm friends, playing mischievous tricks and practical jokes on their elders.

When Talon had given him the gemstone back, he had protested, saying he didn't want it. The anteater had told him that he didn't want it either, and it would be for the best if he kept it. When they weren't playing, he and Tails would try and work out how to use it properly. To his surprise, Sable found that he could master its powers quite easily.

Soon everybody had settled back to a relatively normal life. In a couple of months however, they would learn that sleeping bats do not always lie ...

The End. (Until the next time)