Chapter 4:

The Suffering of the Mutation

The aircraft landed on a lighten circle, and everyone hopped out, Vector brushing himself off, and Charmy spinning around in circles. Tails looked around for the white dog, and finally found it, but not alone.

What stood by it was a older two tailed fox, with a little larger ears, black glasses that strapped around his head, three to nearly four bangs above his face, a white shirt with a ammunition belt strapped around his left shoulder and around his waist, a remote like communicator on his left side on the belt, a strange designed bracelet on his right wrist, dark gray jeans, and nicely designed shoes that almost looked like Shadow's shoes just by the fact he sees boosters on the bottom. Tails also noticed he also has blue eyes the almost exact same color as his own. Tails slowly approached him, taking caution, even though the dog beside him healed him before.

"Welcome, I've been expecting you Miles." He said sounding like an ordinary sixteen year old.

"Miles!" Tails said in shock, "How do you know my real name?"

"I'm telepathic." He said with a small smile, "Sorry to anger you so much."

"Really, how old am I?"

"Ten years."

"What's my last name?"

"Prower."

"Um, my most used aircraft for battle?"

"The X-Tornado."

Tails stood in shock; he only stared at the older fox, and wondered. He then finally gave out his name.

"Name's Conore Wakison." He smiled.

"Miles Tails Prower." Tails said as he shook hands with Conore.

"And we are Vector and Charmy." Vector introduced.

"And this is Misty." Conore said pointing at the white dog.

"Pretty." Charmy said looking at the dog.

"Where's your chameleon Espio?" Conore asked.

Vector and Charmy stared at one another for a moment, then looked back at Conore, "We don't know."

Conore shook his head, "Should've asked where they were headed."

"Or what if someone were to kill them." A female voice spoke.

They all looked around, but no one was around.

"Who's here?" Tails shouted.

"Gesh, no need to shout, I'm actually closer than you think I am."

Tails looked around more, while Misty yawned loudly enough, it matched the liking of the female's voice, Tails then looked at Misty, figuring out it was Misty, who was actually the one talking to them.

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Knuckles sat in despair, and depressed that what was a plan was actually functioning right, this was not good, if only he could escape to warn the others and Sonic. He sat still, his head low, his hands still gripping the bars, and kneeling in misery. Quazaireon sat by the doorway, watching him, seeing what his reactions would be, and then soon after, Dr. Eggman came through. Knuckles head didn't even move, he instead only sighed.

"Knuckles, I'd suggest you save your tears for what you're about to see." Eggman said as shackles were placed on Knuckles wrists, "Besides, you may never remember him again."

"Come on now, you guys have about ten minutes to talk without pain." Quazaireon said.

Eggman opened the cellar with a remote, and Knuckles slowly stepped out, his head rose only a bit just to see his footing and where he was going, but not to look at either Eggman or Quazaireon. The creature that scared him earlier stayed where it was at as Knuckles walked out, and didn't even make a sound to let him know that it was still there. Then they moved out of the room, and down the hallway. Knuckles' head rolled with questions and miserable thoughts, nonstop, thinking that Eggman has finally done something that works instead of guessing his way out. Knuckles though tough, was about to see one of his best friends disappear right before his eyes, not just physically, but also mentally, he won't be able to speak to him ever again with memory. Mutation then entered his mind; his first thought was like shape shifting, which is probably what was about to happen, but how? He didn't even bother thinking about it, and moved on with the thought of maybe never seeing his friends and rivals again. Sonic was basically right now the only hope to find this Misty and Conore, before everyone is captured, and will hopefully find out about what Eggman explained to him. Would Sonic though be able to do this all in less then the time it'll take for success? Would Misty and Conore find out before even he himself is next? Questions, questions, questions. Too many of them rolled into mind, so then he fell blank in thoughts, and continued to walk in silence, until they came to a large door.

Eggman punched in a password, which was accepted, and led in both Quazaireon and Knuckles in, Knuckles looked around for a moment, and before he put his head back down, at the corner of his eye, he spotted Espio, who looked like he was killed, and hung by the wrist on the wall, this must have been after he was attacked, he thought, he looks terrible, this is terrible.

Eggman put Knuckles in a cell that was connected to Espio's, and unshackled him, then shut the door to the cell.

"You and Espio have ten minutes." Eggman told them as he released Espio that was hanging in chains. Espio dropped to his knees, and held his chest, pain striking him furiously, like daggers trying to kill him. Eggman and Quazaireon then quickly left and shut the door, Espio and Knuckles were alone.

Knuckles scrambled over to the right side where Espio's cell was at and held a bar with one hand, and used the other one to support his other side. Espio looked over at Knuckles and crawled over helplessly, blood left behind as he dragged himself, the blood was coming from his side, which was damaged bad enough from the rapid attacks. He then pulled himself up using the bar Knuckles held, he then gave the impression of being nearly dead to Knuckles, his hand above his.

"Knuckles, no matter what happens to me, you know how long we've been friends." Espio said weakly, "Don't let Eggman get to you, what he's doing will only be once, he'll never do it again, he a bastard, a no good crook. Just let him take my life."

"Espio no!" Knuckles entitled, "You will not let him take your life, you're already in his hands, and you need to fight back, you hate him! I won't let you just step down and let him turn you into something that'll go against us, I won't!"

"Knux," Espio said harshly, "Just let him, it's you that must get out of here, you need to find help, and it's you that must save yourself and others, but it's not you that must get me out of this, this is my own thing to handle."

"No it isn't!" Knuckles argued, "Right now you maybe weak, but you need to fight back, please Espio, don't let yourself go like this."

"I can't, this time, he won over me, and I must accept the fact."

"Don't even Espio! You're one of my friends and I won't let you!"

"Let it be Knux, let him take me." Espio pleaded as his eyes slowly closed. Before he dropped to the floor, Knuckles clinched his arms and held him up on his knees, then shook him to wake him up.

"Espio! Don't you dare leave me you understand, remember, you hate Eggman more than anything! Don't let him win, if you even gave yourself a chance, just one bitching chance…"

"Times up my friends." Eggman said while opening the main door. Even though it felt like a shirt ten, it was actually only five minutes.

"Espio, fight! Don't even think about giving in!" Knuckles shouted.

"Just do what I told you Knux, just do it, please, for me, for your friends that care, leave me be." Espio said as he gripped Knuckles wrist weakly.

Eggman then pulled back Espio from Knuckles, held him to the wall by the neck, and stabbed Espio in the heart with a large injection, the only thing that came from Espio's mouth was nearly a high pitched howl of pain, that then turned into a choke, then nothing. His eyes shown no life, and Knuckles felt destroyed.

"No! Espio!" Knuckles shrieked.

Espio's eyes closed, and Eggman set him in the middle of the cell, and then turned and walked out the door, slamming it. Knuckles nearly collapsed at the sight of Espio.

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Inside the large aircraft the five sat, Tails became so confused on how Misty could talk, then after a moment, she then spoke again.

"I'm not really a dog at all, although that is what I am currently right now." She said sitting by Conore, "In fact, I'm called a Traveling Earthesen, I'm one who can shape shift, heal, like I preformed earlier, I'm telepathic, which also gives me the ability to talk while in different forms, and I can power-up, like forming new wings for flight."

"Weird, so what is you form right now?" Charmy asked.

"A White-Blue FireFox." She answered.

"Huh?" Vector questioned.

"White, as in fur color, Blue, as in marking color, and FireFox, as in a type of rare dog." She restated.

"Oh! Now I get it." Tails understood.

"Sometimes though, the fur color and marking color change places just because it sounds better, like Black Ash-Red FireFox, which is actually a friend of mine's."

"So what are you in your true form?" Vector asked.

"A Blood Moon Hedgehog." She answered.

"What now?" Tails pondered.

"Blood, as in marking color, and Moon, as in black fur, and of course, a hedgehog."

"So you're black and red like Shadow the Hedgehog!" Charmy shouted.

"And actually, to be honest, I almost look exactly like him." Misty smiled.

"But females don't have quills." Tails told her.

"Actually that not true, it's a proven fact that thirty percent of the female hedgehogs have quills like either like Shadow's or Sonic's." Conore explained.

"Okay then, what are you?' Charmy asked Conore.

"Are you sure you want to ask that?" Conore asked back.

"Just tell us." Charmy said.

"A Shadow-back Werefox." Conore said while closing his eyes.

"Werefox? What is that?" Vector asked him in concern.

Conore laughed a little and shook his head, he then looked at Vector with a whole different expression one that told him it was something secret, "You never heard of that?"

"No I haven't, after about twenty three years, I still don't know." Vector said scratching his head.

"It's a wolf and a fox combined, like a werewolf." Conore said grinning.

"That I heard of though." Vector said, freezing, "How related is this werefox form of yours to a werewolf?"

"Instead of human, it's a fox like myself, and a wolf combined." Conore then pulled up his short sleeve on his right side and showed them a scar the size of Charmy's height. They stared at it for a long while, and then he then pulled it down and continued on: "If one is scared by a were, they guaranteed to become one themselves, but only at a certain age. I was actually born only partly, but that was only because I was suppose to be part Kiroshioneze, and I'll explain that later, anyways, I got scared by my own father and soon later at the age of ten did I start shifting. It's after a few years that you then get the power of shifting whenever, I finally got that ability at thirteen, from then on, I discovered my strengths and weakest points, by little bro was also scared before we had to abandon him after he was born, and after that, our mother was kill by my father, and I had to put up with him until at nine. And I hope that my bro will soon discover his form in peace, unlike me."

Tails then finally looked at his scar in almost the exact same spot as his, "Did he cut your bro's arm at the same spot?"

"I believe so." He replied, "That's also sometimes never a good sign. But that's life for you."

"I've also heard of weremeleons." Misty mentioned, "Conore, remember Topaz?"

"Oh yeah," Conore remembered, "One of our friends, Topaz Leonstone, is what she said was a weremeleon, a wolf and chameleon combined, these are the more stronger ones, but not as strong as the Shadow-back."

"Could Espio be one?" Charmy asked while chewing on gum he got from Vector.

"If he has a deep scar anywhere." Conore said, "Maybe even, without even being noticed, he could be one genetically, meaning, he was born to be one."

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Knuckles sat by Espio's cell, staring at his body with sorrow eyes, finding it unreal for him to just give up after one harsh attack, although, he wouldn't blame him for it. He sat patiently, waiting for him to come alive again, after seeing choke like that, he figured he died from the injection, but what was the injection? For poisoning, no, paralysis, nope, he'd be able to speak, to tranquilize? Maybe, but it depends. He had more thoughts run to his mind, he avoided the mutating thought, since that's what it probably was for, was to mutate him. He then finally let his head hang low, but only for a moment, during that moment, his eye caught a twitch in Espio's finger, was he waking up?

"Espio?" Knuckles said while pulling his head up again and looking at him, he then spotted another twitch in his foot, then Espio's body finally came back to life, and by the looks of it, he was barely alright. He moaned slightly, and gripped his chest tightly, where the injection was placed, and was bleeding. Knuckles sat worriedly, wondering if after the injection was put in him. Espio slowly got on his knees and sat, not knowing Knuckles was beside him, that's when Knuckles tried again.

"Espio, are you alright?" Knuckles asked him.

Espio sat for a little while longer, then gazed over at Knuckles, his eyes no longer gold, more like a dull yellow with no sign of life, blood started to drip from his mouth, and his injection wound soon swollen, his whole chest nearly swollen after moments. Knuckles stared at him even longer, knowing there's no way of helping him.

"Knux, just stay away." Espio finally spoke turning his head back to the ground.

"Espio, please, are you alright?" Knuckles asked again.

"Just stay…away" Espio lastly said, then, a throbbing feeling started to rise in Espio, his heartbeat increased speed, and pressure erected up in his muscles, causing him to go into great pain. His breathing increased speed, this pain though instead of rising slowly, just came in a second, this pain to Espio, was going to kill him, and he fell on his side near Knuckles. Knuckles grabbed Espio's right hand, nearly trying to push through between the bars while trying to reach. Espio's reaction was to grip tight to Knuckles' hand, while holding his chest, and he then looked back up at Knuckles.

"Espio! Fight! Fight the mutation! Fight the damn mutation!" Knuckles hollered.

"I…can't!" Espio cried out, "I can't fight it, it's… it's…"

Espio's speech then became a roar and a screech combined, Knuckles held on more, until Espio's hands forms at the nails claws, which pierced through Knuckles' gloves, and caused Knuckles to stagger backwards. Gripping his hand tightly, blood rushed out, he then looked at Espio, who was then mutating.

Espio lied on the floor in almost a ball, the mutation reaction caused Espio to screech more than roar, his wounds faded, and some veins showed in the light, showing stress and force. His back became more bony, and the first thing that formed were four large demon wings, two of them formed at Espio's shoulder, while the other two formed just above his hip bones, his tail straightened, and formed a featuring end, while from Espio's bony back formed more thorns from neck to the end of the tail. The feathers disappeared, and revealed a sharp blade at the end. Bones popped and cracked, which were actually repositioning themselves, in more of an Amazon style. His shoes were torn and shredded by his new claws that unsheathed, plus his gloves ripped from enlargement of the hands, and two more horns grew right above the first horn. Markings started to reveal, and his mouth was filled with fangs, all of this was seen only by Knuckles himself.

He was done mutating, and lied on the ground, breathing heavily and deeply, nearly like a growl, Knuckles pinched himself with his own hands on accident on the wounds, and shrieked a little. Espio's eyes flashed open and gazed over at Knuckles, these eyes went from gold, to almost actual snake eyes. What Knuckles didn't notice was Espio's camouflaged third eye, which sat right above the first horn, when that eye opened though, Knuckles nearly jumped. A screech came from Espio, loud enough that Knuckles nearly went def for that moment, quickly he regained his balance, and was able to spot two strange snake like creatures coming at him, jaws open and coming at him fast. Knuckles quickly rolled out of the way, and the creatures ended up biting the bars. Then they disappear, back to Espio's body.

"Now that's a show!" a laugh cried out.

Knuckles looked up and seen Eggman and Quazaireon standing, laughing.

"You see Knuckles, you're meat to him." Eggman laughed again, "You won't ever see the original Espio ever again. Ever!"

"You son of a bitch!" Knuckles hollered.

"Guess you're on your own for this one." Quazaireon said as his eyes flashed a dark purple, this made the bars rise up, and this was no good sign at all.

Espio made a loud screech again, this time Knuckles ignored it and found that Espio's cell was open all along. He took a chance and ran after it. Espio quickly jumped in front of Knuckle, but strangely, in normal shape again. Knuckles jumped back, Espio followed him and pinned him down, then hissed at him. Claws were formed to grip Knuckles tightly, which hurt Knuckles hard enough, and Espio's feet had actually raptor like claws on his feet, and pinned his stomach, this started to annoy him because of the wounds.

"That's right, make him yours to feast on, or at least to make a member of ours." Eggman laughed continuously.

"Try this then." Knuckles reared up and kicked Espio to the other side where Knuckles cell was, hitting the bars hard on the back. He quickly jumped up and out the cell, and slammed the cell shut, right before Espio snapped and nearly clawed his face. Quazaireon was about to jump onto Knuckles until Knuckles backed up and punch him back nearly to the other side of the room, but into a pile of metal boxes that jumped and landed on top of him. Using a chair, he then knocked Eggman out by the head, Eggman dropped on his back, and a loud thump was made. Quickly he took one last look at Espio, Espio's eyes weren't normal, but demented, like the attacker of his, and he screeched at Knuckles, showing rows of fangs. Knuckles let down a tear in his eye, and ran out, locking the door behind him.

I ignored the questioning from the four, and listened to Knuckles crying heart, hearing Espio's soul fade to near death, and seeing the darkness rise in him, this tempered me greatly…

I may not be normal now, but like I said earlier, this is only the beginning…