Much later, Final crawled along the cold ground, trying to remember everything he knew about medicine, which was basically the contents of Metal Gear Solid 3's cure menu. And he didn't even have the equipment from that. The Mechas had done a number on him, no doubt about it. His skull was cracked, and his chest was bruised. He needed help.

And so, his thoughts turned to Knuckles. The echidna had duped him. Humiliated him. Nearly killed him. Not directly, of course, but through his deception, this had happened. Final blamed the echidna as much as he blamed the Mechas. But after beating him, they had moved on, and Final had no idea where to find them. Knuckles would be easier to find. After all, he normally stayed on the island. So long as Eggman didn't start one of his schemes in the next day or so, that assumption would be quite correct, he reasoned. But there was no way he could fight the echidna in this condition. Not on his own, at least. He needed help.

But this time, he knew exactly where to get it.

...

Past the edges of the Spring Yard Zone, through a pass in the mountains that outlined the zone, across a hilly landscape of purple rocks, lay Final's destination. The Marble Zone was a treacherous place for one in Final's condition. But still, he was able to throw himself past the simmering and expanding pools of lava, find the short cuts that took him away from the dangerous and labyrinth-like caverns of the zone, and destruct the numerous broken 'Badniks' that Eggman had spread throughout the island in years long since passed.

A few long hours later, Final reached his ultimate goal. A blank patch of grass at the bottom of a hill. Or so it would seem. Final tapped three times on the piece of ground on which he stood, and the patch he was on began to lower, as many areas did where the lava of the zone was more unstable. But this was not due to lava. As the platform fell, Final looked into the small cavern that lay below the hill.

Inside the area surrounded deep purple bricks lay a few basic amenities. A table made of the green marble remnants of a past civilisation that were throughout the zone, with a small, decidedly out of place television set placed atop it. A small section of the wall was hollowed out, with a rough mattress inside. Then there was a desk, with many drawers, painted to fit in with the colours of the zone. A small computer sat on this desk. Standing beside the desk in the middle of the room was a young man. He was dressed in a white tank top, blue denim jacket, and black denim jeans. He looked at Final with a grin.

"Alright, Final? What can I do for you?"

"Oh, many things, Geo. Let me tell you all about it."

...

Edward Gemoni, known as "Geomonic" or "Geo" to his friends, was one of Final's oldest acquaintances. Indeed, he was the friend from his past that had followed him into the future. Much like his friend Final, he had thrown himself into the adventures of the new world they had arrived on, albeit in a different way. Upon their arrival, he had explored the various islands of the world.

After a while, he found the Casino Night Zone on Westside Island, and stayed there for a month, singing along with the catchy jingle that played almost constantly in the zone. After that month, security had him thrown out, for 'annoying the guests with upbeat singing'. Indeed, there was a constant security check in the zone, making sure he was not returning. At this point, he had moved to the Marble Zone, and begun constructing his house. Over the internet, he had advertised a detective service, promising to do 'The most dangerous jobs for the most inadequate pay". However, due to the concealed location of his base, he had never gained any customers, much to his disappointment.

...

"And that's the story", said Final, having just recounted the first two chapters of this book to the amused Geo, who had bandaged part of his head, and given some decidedly Big Boss-esque remedies for Final's other injuries. "What do you think we should do about it?"

Geo paused for a second, deep in concentration. Then, with a gasp of realisation, he looked up with an excited expression.

"I've got it!" Final sat up in his seat, eager to hear his friend's plan. Geo spoke with a calm but proud voice, outlining his intentions.

"I think we should blow him up. With missiles."

Final made no response to his seemingly simplistic plan, and simply stared at Geomonic in disbelief.

"That's your plan? For one thing, how do we find him? For another thing, where the HECK are we going to get any missiles?" Final was practically yelling. Geo just smirked.

"Aha, well, there's something you don't know." Geo picked up a large single barrelled shotgun from a nearby table. "This gun has a built in Echidna seeking missile built in. Don't ask why, it's a useful plot device."

"You really do think of everything." Commented Final, with a smirk. "In the morning, we'll get to the transporter in the Spring Yard. Your weapon'll probably have better range if we're on Angel Island."

"True, true. Won't Knuckles be there, though?"

"We won't be going to where he is. I have a house on the island, We can go there."

And so, the next day, Final and Geo stood outside Final's house, a massive construction made from the green metals of the zone, with stone clad window frames and stairs.

"Nice house." Commented Geo.

"Thanks." Replied Final. "I put blood, sweat, tears, and a heck of a lot of jagged metal into it."

Geo smirked, and cocked the large shotgun that he held in his arms. He pulled the trigger, and a second later, two large bursts of fire shot from the barrel, small missiles following in the wake of the fire a moment afterwards.

"Why did it fire twice?" Asked Final, his eyebrow raising.

"Beats me." Shrugged Geo.

...

A peach-coloured Echidna leant against a tree in the Marble Garden Zone. The echidna, known as Tikal, had been freed from the Master Emerald as a side effect of Eggman's card machine, which considered her to be a separate entity from the Emerald. She had spent the last month wandering the island, which had changed so much from her time. It was such a relief to her to be free of the confines of the emerald. Chaos wasn't the most sociable creature at the best of times.

She heard a whistling noise, and looked up with a concerned expression, noticing the missile screaming towards her. Her eyes narrowed, and she let out a resigned sigh. Typical.

"Ah well. It's probably not important." Said Final. "Any idea where the missiles went?"

"That area with all the temples, and the Carnival Night Zone."

"Oh yeah. Knuckles might be round there. He's planning to demolish that soon. Apparently the ones who rebuilt it for the public after Angel Island was discovered were working for Eggman."

"Well, so was he, wasn't he?"

"That's not the point. Anyway, he even once tried to punch it off the island, but he's not quite that good."

"Shame."

"So, shall we go and see if it got him?"

"Might as well."

It wasn't hard for the pair to find the area once they reached the Carnival Night Zone. This was mainly because the area was still on fire. On a platform in the centre of the sizzling environment lay the still body of Knuckles.

"Knuckles? Are you dead?" Asked Final, who wondered if it was a pointless question.

To Final's surprise, Knuckles did not give no reply, as he had expected in a rather double-negativish, paradoxical way, and jumped to his feet with a frown on his face.

"No." Replied Knuckles angrily. "But you soon will be."