Dulcy glided in over the Island and all three of her passengers tensed apprehensively.
Sally broached the subject first.
"Um. Where are you planning to land, Dulcy?"
Dulcy shrugged -- quite a feat while flying and before she could answer Sonic interrupted.
"Well we know where Robuttnik landed..." He pointed. Ahead and below, a large forest was in flames. Hoverbots patrolled the outer edges and swatbots marched up and down. Sally and Bunnie joined Sonic in leaning forwards to look.
"Now what do y'all suppose those there bots are a-waiting for?"
"I don't know," Sally answered, "But I doubt it's anything good." The burning forest unsettled her. Robotnik had not gone to that extreme back home. Not yet at any rate.
Sonic fidgeted, "Well let's find out already! Dulce, land there... We can take those hover-heads!"
"Sally?" Dulcy asked, uncertainly.
Sally hesitated but then nodded firmly. "Yes. Whatever Robotnik's doing, we need to stop it. There might be people down there." She carefully didn't say, "in there," the thought was too horrible, and there was likely to be too little they could do about it.
"You got it," Dulcy said cheerfully. She drew in her wings and dropped, levelling out just above the ground and careening into a whole row of the nearest bots.
"Best use of one of your landings yet," Sonic grinned. "But you haven't left any for us..."
"I don't expect they'll be long in coming," Sally said, not sharing his enthusiasm. She took a few steps towards the forest, but the heat was intense and she stepped back.
"Why would he do this? How could it help?"
Bunnie shrugged, "I guess if he's lookin' for something, it's just a sight quicker to search through dead trees than go rummaging in the undergrowth."
"Well there's nothing else to do here," Sonic said, "Let's move, already."
"Hang on a sec," Bunnie twitched a long ear. "Someone's coming."
Sally cast about for cover. "Bots?"
"I can't tell. But..." Bunnie pointed. "They're coming from in there."
"Bots then," Sally said, "No one could be alive in there." Her voice was doubtful and the others looked at her expectantly. Sonic shifted his backpack and twisted his head round to glance at the glow just visible from the Power Ring inside. He turned back to watch Sally. He might be impatient but even he waited for her to give the word -- run or fight.
"Get ready," she said. "But we wait and see."
Knuckles took only moments for appraisal as he reached the edge of the forest. There were figures there, dim shapes through the smoke. Metal gleamed on the ground behind them -- their flying craft he presumed, red on black in the firelight. Knuckles spared each a glance. The hedgehog and the squirrel he dismissed as threats immediately. Neither appeared armed and although the hedgehog carried a pack it would be hard to draw a weapon from it quickly.
The rabbit, strangely equipped and clad in metal, would need due consideration. And then there was the dragon. He'd have to attack there first, or taking out the others would be meaningless.
He left the treeline at a run, heading for the dragon. He leapt into the air, and the hot wind feeding the flames swept him up. His glide for a moment became true soaring as he swiped at the dragon's head. Someone shouted, and the beast roared and reared back. Knuckles twisted to avoid the flailing head as the creature lost its balance and crashed down on its side, one wing awkwardly curled underneath.
Not stopping to thank his luck, Knuckles turned to tackle the rabbit, and found himself tumbling tail over tip, bowled down by something, in a whirl of blue. The hedgehog! A threat after all. How had he moved so fast?
Knuckles regathered his wits in time to narrowly dodge a kick and then was trading blows with the hedgehog. Close to, he was lightning fast and Knuckles was hard pressed to hold his own. He was landing blows, but not enough of them to count. He wasn't tiring -- the Chaos energy still flowed through him, but it wouldn't last, and he had to bring this to an end before it faded.
Finally, he got a clear, clean blow that floored the hedgehog. He stepped forward to ensure he stayed down and found himself grabbed from behind. He twisted far enough to get a glimpse of the rabbit, and cursed himself. He'd known, he'd known, she was an unpredictable factor, yet he'd still let himself be distracted and lose sight of her.
He yanked and heaved against her grip but her strength was as inexplicable and unnatural as the hedgehog's speed. Unnatural, he thought suddenly, that metallic arm. With sudden inspiration, Knuckles made a grab for the one, unarmoured limb, and twisted. The rabbit yelped and released him. Knuckles turned and drew back his fist... and pain flared briefly from the back of his head before fading to black.
The four freedom fighters stood staring at the sprawled figure on the grass, Sally still holding the large stone she'd coshed him with.
Bunnie rubbed her wrist. "Thanks, Sally girl. What the heck was that all about?"
Sonic brushed dirt from his tail, looking indignant. "Some welcome."
"Not friendly at all!" Dulcy agreed, with feeling.
"He must have thought we were with the bots," Sally said, unhappily. They hadn't come here to fight other beasts. "Dulcy's hurt, I don't think she can fly."
"Sure I can," Dulcy said, and started to spread her wings. She didn't finish. Wincing she folded them again. "Uh, maybe not."
"Oh great. So what do we do now?" Sonic demanded.
Sally squared her shoulders. "What we came here to do. We find those Chaos Emeralds. Before Robotnik does."
Sonic grinned. "Now, that I can go for!" He jerked his thumb at the creature on the ground. "What about him?"
Sally looked down. "There'll be more bots. We can't just leave him here."
Sonic made a "knock knock" sign in thin air. "Uh, Sally? Hello? He attacked us, remember?"
"But we don't know why! If he thought we were with Robotnik..."
"What, the lack of metal and laserguns wasn't a clue?" Sonic snorted.
"Sally's right, sugar," Bunnie put in. "Even if he's an enemy he's still another beast, and you know what Robotnik would do to him."
Sally stared at the limp form, remembered the way he'd moved and fought. Something more than natural about it, something extraordinary, something powerful. After a moment she spoke, slowly.
"I wonder if he's the reason Robotnik torched the forest."
Sonic looked back at the blazing trees. "You don't think that's overkill to catch one..." he frowned. "One..." He stopped again. "What is this guy anyway?"
That thought hadn't occurred to Sally and she looked again. "I'm not sure." She reached into her pack. "Nicole, identify species."
"Working," came Nicole's calm tones, as Sally pulled out the pocket computer. "Closest match is Echidna. Status, extremely rare, considered possibly extinct. All documented records end circa 4000 years ago."
Silence followed this astonishing proclamation. It was broken by Sonic. "Well I think you can swap the 'possibly' for 'definitely not' there, Nicole, if my poor bent tail is anything to go by."
"Well that's very interesting an' all," put in Bunnie, "But how come it's reason for Robotnik's interest?"
"Actually it wasn't his species I was thinking of," said Sally. "It was the way he moved when he fought." She looked at Sonic. "He moved like you do when you've got a Power Ring."
Bunnie looked thoughtful. "He sure was hard to put down..."
Sonic made a disbelieving noise. "Nyaah, I'm the only one who can use the Power Rings."
"The rings yes. But these Chaos Emeralds we've supposedly trooped up here to find?"
Bunnie looked down again at the echidna who was starting to stir. He wore no pack or belt to carry anything. "Well if he did have them he hasn't now, and if he stashed them back in there--" She waved in the direction of the still burning forest. "We're kinda out of luck."
"Yeah yeah yeah," Sonic tapped his foot. "Like Bunnie said, very interesting but so what? And can I point out our pal here is waking up. Any bets on whether he's gonna want payback for that lump Sal put on his head?"
"You're right," Sally said, and didn't rise to the smug expression which spread across Sonic's face. "We need to talk to him, but we can't have him hurting anyone else." She looked around. "If he really can use of the energy of the Chaos Emeralds, Robotnik would want to capture him alive to find out how. That's why those swatbots were here. Check them, see if there's anything we can use."
After a minute, Bunnie returned. She was holding, in some distaste, a pair of metal handcuffs. "You were right. They wanted a prisoner."
She looked from the cuffs to the echidna. "You sure about this?"
Sally sighed. "I know it goes against the grain, but Dulcy's injured and we don't know how long we'll be stuck here. We can't risk being attacked from two sides at once, and we can't risk Robotnik capturing someone who may have the key to these Emeralds. We don't have many choices here."
"You're the boss," Bunnie said, acquiescing with good grace. She rolled the echidna over, more or less gently, and drew his arms behind his back, where she secured them with the cuffs. He murmured and tried to pull away, but his movements were sluggish and uncoordinated and he soon stilled again.
Bunnie stood up, looked troubled. Sally sympathised, but Sonic was scowling at the delay.
"Can we move now?" he asked pointedly.
"Yes," Sally said. "I think we'd better." She turned to the dragon, who'd been silent through most of the discussion. "I know it's a bit rude to ask, after you're the one he hurt, but we'll get on faster than if one of us was carrying him."
Dulcy shrugged.
"Doesn't bother me, Sally. Just wish I'd moved a bit quicker!" She scooped up the limp echidna and the four of them moved off.
Knuckles woke to hands on his shoulders, darkness and a babble of voices.
"...clobbered him pretty good..."
Voices... There were voices and there was no good reason for anyone to be here but him.
"...better idea..."
Knuckles blinked and tried to focus on the speaker. When had it gotten dark?
He struggled to gather his thoughts. Fire. A fight. It hadn't been dark though...
"...sleep too long, in case he..."
The Chaos Energy had long since dissipated and he was stiff and cold and sore. The burns stung and his knee throbbed and his pounding head trumped them all. The voices still seemed like they were coming from a long way off, but someone was pulling him to a sitting position.
"Wakey wakey, sugar."
Knuckles jerked away, lost his balance and tried to put out a hand to stop himself falling. He failed, and flopped sideways on the grass. Realising then that his hands were pinned behind him, he started to struggle in earnest.
"Now take it easy, and we'll talk about it." The same voice and someone was holding him again, pulling him upright. The rabbit. He remembered that strange strength.
"There's nothing to talk about," he spat back, over the sound of another voice calling for more light. "I will not help you, I will not guide you, I will tell you nothing."
A flickering light approached. The hedgehog stepped forward carrying a burning torch. Instinct and recent memory of the flames in the forest made Knuckles drive himself backwards away from it, without thinking. He regretted it at once. Fear was too powerful a weapon to hand to an enemy.
In the light from the torch Knuckles saw the squirrel for the first time since waking up. She'd held up a hand to stop the hedgehog's approach.
"We didn't come here for a fight," she said. "I realise you have no idea who we are or what we want and you must think--"
"I'll tell you what I think!" Knuckles broke in. "I think you're invaders, and thieves, and--" he groped for a word adequate to describe the destruction of the forest, but could only find, "Vandals! I think you came here knowing exactly what you wanted and I think you're under the impression that you can force me to reveal it to you." The rabbit was still propping him up and he shrugged her hands from him. "You would not be the first to try, but like them, you're mistaken."
The hedgehog rolled his eyes. "Well, someone sure is!"
"Sonic..." said the squirrel, "Just...
"Just what, Sal? Can we remember who attacked who here anyway!"
"You burned the forest!" Knuckles bellowed.
"Bzzzzzzz! Wrong!" snapped back the hedgehog.
"I saw the machines, the craft, behind you."
"Because we'd just smashed it out of the sky!"
Knuckles opened his mouth -- and stopped. He cast his mind back, struggling to remember if the devices had looked damaged, but all he could recall was the smoke and the flames and the fizz of the Chaos Energy in his blood.
The hedgehog tapped his foot.
"Well?" he asked.
Knuckles frowned. "I don't believe you."
The squirrel raised both hands to her head.
"This is getting us nowhere."
"You got that right," muttered the hedgehog.
The squirrel gave him a reproof-filled glance. "Look, maybe we can make a deal. We un-cuff you." She ignored the hedgehog's protest and the startled looks from the other two. "And you agree not to jump to any conclusions -- or attacks -- before you've heard our side of the story."
"Oh Sally girl..." the rabbit started, "I'm not so sure..."
"No," said Knuckles flatly.
"What?" both creatures said.
"No," repeated Knuckles. "I do not make 'deals'. If you release me I will do everything in my power to stop you and to remove you from this island. If you want to prevent me from attacking, you may leave without resistance. If you resist you will have to kill me to stop me."
"You know," the hedgehog said, "There is such as thing as being too honest."
Knuckles regarded him. "Would you prefer I lied and smashed your skulls while you slept?"
The hedgehog scowled and brandished the torch. "Would you prefer I shoved this thing--"
"Sonic!"
Again the hedgehog was interrupted, but even in his current vulnerable position Knuckles could tell there was no real threat there. He considered the situation. After all apart from his dignity and the fact he was already injured, he hadn't really been hurt yet. Which meant there were two possibilities.
At best, this lot were the well-meaning but misguided types who didn't realise the danger of the Emeralds and thought to use them for some positive outcome. At worst, it was a front and the real threats and coercion would start later. Either way he had time in hand for now.
He reached out mentally for the Master Emerald. The energy level was building again slowly after his use of it. For now it was ample to maintain the traps and wards that encircled the shrine, but not enough for his own use as well.
Never mind. He would rest, sleep as best he could, and see what morning brought. Deliberately, if awkwardly, he turned his back on his captors, lay back down and closed his eyes.
"He's going to be trouble," Sonic said firmly, watching the sleeping echidna as Sally packed away their first aid kit. She'd treated the burns on their prisoner's leg as best she could, though there was nothing she could do for the sprained and swollen knee.
"I don't get it," Sonic went on. "I mean, look at that leg. We didn't do that. So how could he have been fighting?"
Sally shrugged at Sonic's words, not really listening. This was a new situation for them. They didn't have much contact with creatures from outside of Knothole, and when they did they were usually the ones being approached. Sally was used to being the one making the decisions about who was and wasn't trustworthy, and it was a strange and rather unpleasant experience being on the receiving end of suspicion. Especially when the one thing that would have proved her good intentions was the one thing she couldn't do. Not at least without some kind of assurance.
"What I don't get," she said after a pause. "Is why he wouldn't jump at a deal to get out of those cuffs?"
"Would you really have believed him?" Sonic asked.
Sally shrugged, "Perhaps. But four of us beat him once, and I'm sure he had help, maybe not a Ring, but something like it. I think that's why he could still fight while he was injured."
"A Ring..." Sonic drummed his fingers quickly. "There was something odd... just before the fight. I checked on the Ring. In case we needed a bit of extra juice, y'know." He swung the backpack off and opened it in one movement.
In the darkness it was even more noticeable. They all stared.
"It's glowing!" Sally reached out but stopped short of touching the Ring.
"Don't they always glow?" Dulcy said, eyeing the Ring with a slight frown.
"Not like this." Sally closed the flap of backpack back over the Ring. "I don't think we should advertise this. Whatever it means."
Sonic nodded vigorously. "I'm with you on that, Sal!"
Sally looked across at the echidna. "Whatever it was, he'd have used it again before now if he could."
"So why not bargain?" Dulcy asked. "He didn't even try to lie..."
"Or he had some reason not to," Sonic pointed out.
Sally frowned. "He had every reason to," she pointed out. "He was angry and captured and scared."
Sonic snorted. "If that was his attitude when he was was scared I'd hate to meet him on a good day. Besides, maybe he just didn't think his chances of a getaway were worth it -- like you said, we kicked his butt in that fight."
Bunnie looked over again at their prisoner. "I think he was scared we were gonna carry on with the butt kicking after that fight was done."
Sonic blinked, and stared from her to Sally, who was nodding. He opened his mouth, closed it again, then eventually said. "That's sick." There was a pause. "That stuff he said about people trying before to get him to tell them stuff..."
"I don't know." Sally frowned. "But I know Robotnik wouldn't have any qualms about being the next."
"So where does that leave us?" Bunnie asked.
Sally considered it. "It doesn't change anything. We still can't let him go if he's going to attack us, and we still can't just leave him somewhere for Robotnik to find." She stood up. "We go on. We'll just have to try and convince him on the way."
"That should add a bit of fun to the trip." Sonic rolled his eyes. "And can I ask, 'on the way' to where exactly? That guy's not going to help us, and 'Buttnik's bots are here but there's no sign of his lardyness, so which way do we go?"
Sally pointed. "That way." Smoke rose from a mountain outlined again the skyline even in the dark. "The records talk of underground passages filled with fire. That's a volcano. We go that way."
"Great!" Sonic said. "Why didn't I realise that. Of course we head straight for the lakes of boiling lava. Where else?"
"Sonic?"
"Yeah, Sal?"
"Shut up."
