Disclaimer: I wish I owned Knuckles. But then, wishes aren't reality. Ok, Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and anyone else
belong to Sega and whoever else they belong to.
Don't sue me.
Chapter 1
No…he can't be
dead. Sonic refused to accept the
fact. How could Knuckles, his faithful
friend through thick and thin, be dead?
How? It didn't seem possible, and
yet the truth was staring Sonic straight in the face. He had caused Knuckles' death. And Knuckles was dead. And nothing would ever bring him back.
Sonic
couldn't even begin to believe that Knuckles was gone forever. It had been only yesterday that he had seen
the echidna, and it felt like an eternity away.
Sonic felt like just curling up into a ball and leaving the world to
itself. He wanted to be alone, and not
have to face the harsh reality. Knuckles is dead, and I can't do anything about it. He wanted to cry, but he couldn't. Because heroes didn't cry.
"Sonic?"
Tails' voice interrupted the hedgehog's grief.
"Sonic, are you there?"
As
the furry orange fox dashed over to the hedgehog's side, Sonic couldn't
suppress a grin as his foxy companion tripped over a stone and flew into a
bush. But he soon became serious and
grave again.
"I
killed him," Sonic told the bush soberly.
"You
can't say that," the bush replied, as Tails tried to crawl out. "Ow! There's thorns in
here!"
"Why not? It was all so clear, but I messed it up so
nicely. He was counting on me, but I
failed him," Sonic buried his head in his hands. "I can see it. I made the mistake."
"No."
Tails was finally out of the bush.
"Everyone makes mistakes, Sonic."
"But
no one gets hurt when you fly into a bush.
This time it's different. Someone
died because I didn't do my job. What if
it happens again?"
"It
won't," Tails flicked his twin tails earnestly, "it won't. You'll learn from this time."
"It
might happen again. I don't want to risk
it."
"So
you're gonna give up?" Tails demanded.
"Not
give up, just leave," Sonic replied sharply.
"I don't give up."
"You
just did," the fox raised his voice slightly, then his
tone softened. "Sonic, nothing you do
now will bring Knuckles back from the dead.
Stop blaming yourself."
Sonic
blamed himself still. Scenes flashed through
his memory. "Sonic, go! Now! Save yourself…" Knuckles, gasping for breath,
blood running from many wounds, barely able to talk anymore. He held Knuckles' gloved hand, felt the
heartbeat leave his echidna friend. Tails tugging at him.
Sally yelling through the radio for him to leave
Knuckles and go. Tails dragging
him away as Robotnik appeared ... leaving Knuckles behind. Dead.
He
didn't remember anything else about the mission. Sally had said he had been hit on the
head. Concussion. And Sonic wished he hadn't remembered
Knuckles' death. And how he had let the echidna down.
"Why?"
Sonic said softly. "Why
Knuckles? Why couldn't it have
been me?"
"That's
not for you to ask. Knuckles wouldn't
have blamed you."
"Everyone
says that." Sonic struggled with his
grief in silence. Tails sat down beside
him also silent. He missed Knuckles too,
but he knew the Freedom Fighters couldn't lose both Sonic and Knuckles. Especially since Sonic was the leader. Knuckles' death hurt everyone deeply, and
Sonic most of all. Tails hoped that, by
some miracle, that Knuckles were still alive.
"I
would give anything to see Knuckles again," Sonic echoed Tails' thoughts. Little did he know how much he would live to
regret that statement.
White-hot
light pierced the metal chamber. A
sharp, loud whine split the air, growing in intensity. Green light now. Bright. Painful. Bathing the creature in the
chamber. An
eerie glow. Crackling
electricity shooting in blue arcs through the chamber.
The sharp clank of metal against metal. The fusing of
metal and flesh into one. Steel encasing
the body like a half-shell. Plated over
arm, eye, legs.
Programming invading the mind. Taking over courage,
loyalty, goodness. Replacing with
anger, hatred, cunning.
Evil
laughter in the background as the red creature inside the chamber writhed and
twisted in the grip of the nightmare that was totally real.
Ok, thanks for reading. Please review, 'cos
if nobody thinks its good and worth continuing, then I'll just dump it.
