Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. Again. College, you know? This one's shorter than usual, but hopefully it works.

Chapter 6

Knuckles was sitting at the spot he most commonly sat at, next to the Master Emerald on top of the altar on Angel Island. He'd just eaten dinner and checked that the floating island was safe and free of intruders, and could afford to rest for a while.

Now idle, his thoughts drifted to that of Sonic and Tails as he watched the now risen moon. He hadn't heard from them for a while. The island had no communications systems with the rest of the world that would let them communicate with Knuckles or vice versa, nor did he feel it was necessary. If there was a problem, the hedgehog or fox, or both, would simply pay him a visit in the Tornado, which usually took no more than a few minutes. Other than that, he preferred to stay in his uninterrupted solitude, venturing down to the world below only if it were more beneficial than staying up here.

The disadvantages of such an arrangement, which he hadn't really thought of before, was something he would learn incredibly soon, as he spotted something in the sky flying towards him, away from the sun. Its movements were erratic, swerving in many directions, but the shape seemed familiar somehow. He could have sworn he'd seen it before, but the night was darker than usual, making it harder to tell from a difference.

The shape eventually reached Angel Island's airspace before it abruptly dropped out of the air and into the woods, before Knuckles could see what it was. Curious, and also worried that it could be an invader, the echidna jumped down and headed towards the landing spot, pushing past the grass and bushes, fists raised just in case it was trouble. If it was, well, it would make for decent use of his training.

But when he finally laid eyes on that which had landed, all thoughts of fighting ceased. Knuckles gasped as he saw the small frame of Miles 'Tails' Prower crumpled up on the grass, and how he appeared to be rather physically battered, with blood and bandages all over his body, while emitting soft moans of pain. "Tails?" the echidna cried in horror and concern.

The fox did not reply, simply rolling over slowly to face Knuckles, revealing his cringing face, and by extension, problems bigger than his injuries. "Kn-knuckles…" he tried to call out weakly. In the brief moment they made eye contact, Knuckles could see the normally bright cerulean eyes that were almost completely spent of their usual warmth and cheeriness, replaced with a bizarre thousand yard stare. Like he wasn't actually looking at him.

Without another word, Knuckles the Echidna carefully lifted Tails and speedily brought him over to the altar, more specifically, a room inside its stone structure. It was clear the kid needed help, not just for his wounds, but with what caused them as well.

A few minutes later, Knuckles had finished doing what he could to help Tails using his knowledge of medicine and the supplies he had. He'd rebandaged the spots that needed it, including both tails, and let the fox rest on a small stone bed in the room. Then, taking a stool, Knuckles sat down nearby, deep in thought.

Tails may have been patched up, but Knuckles knew his work was far from over. He needed to know what had led to this in the first place, and started considering what questions to ask. One that jumped out at him, he realized, was, where's Sonic? It was unlikely the hedgehog would let his best friend get hurt like this, unless something dreadfully serious had happened…

Regardless of his increasing curiosity and anxiety, it did not change the fact that the poor kid was out cold. It was best to let him be for now. Until Tails woke up, Knuckles grimly decided he'd have to mentally prepare for the worst. This was definitely going to keep him awake. For the first time, he found himself wishing he at least had a television set with a satellite dish on this island…

It was unclear how much time had passed, since the stony room underneath the altar had neither a clock nor windows, but Knuckles, on the verge of passing out himself, finally heard Tails stirring, causing him to put all thoughts of sleep aside. "Tails?" he called out gently while facing the waking fox.

"Ngh…" After struggling a bit, due to his injuries, Tails was also facing Knuckles. Mercifully, he no longer seemed to have that shell shocked gaze, but did that mean he could actually speak to him now?

It was worth a try, and not to mention, Knuckles was done waiting. "Tails, are you okay?"

Tails simply stared back motionlessly, apparently trying to process the question. He displayed no other visible reaction for several seconds, and just as the echidna wanted to repeat himself, the fox inhaled sharply while his eyes grew wide.

He remembered.

He resumed breathing, doing so as sharply and loudly as the first time, chest rising up and down rapidly as his face was crumpling up yet again. Then finally, the waterworks came, and without warning he came up to Knuckles and stuffed his face there onto his lap.

Knuckles wasn't one to show much emotion, but it was getting rather hard being stoic while seeing and hearing one of the few friends he had sob like that. He quickly wrapped his arms around the fox, hoping he was doing the affectionate gesture right, and closed his eyes. "Hey," he whispered, patiently letting Tails cry wordlessly for a full minute. Only after did the kid sob less intensely did he get on with the question that had kept him awake the whole night. "What happened?"

Tails sniffed, not looking upward. "It's…it's all my…my fault," he said, his voice broken, his spirit more so. "Sonic and…all those people…"

"What happened to Sonic?" Knuckles tried his best to remain calm, hiding all the turmoil and worries inside.

"In…a coma…h-hospital…"

It worked for about two seconds. "Wait, what?" he cried out, raising his voice. It was hard to imagine the hyperactive, ever-grinning hedgehog lifelessly lying on a hospital bed. "…how?"

"Eggman had…attacked Central City," Tails continued between sobs, "I tried…fighting the robots with Sonic, and…and…" He gulped as he found himself unable to continue. Unable to get to the answer, the most shameful part.

Knuckles considered what little information there was from Tails' reply, and remembered what the fox's injuries looked like as he'd patched him up. Having been in combat with Eggman's mechanized forces, the echidna knew what burn marks were like, especially the kind caused by lasers.

While the Guardian of Angel Island didn't know much about technology, that didn't mean he wasn't smart enough to deduce certain things. "You got wounded, and Sonic risked his life to protect you?" he asked. There was the chance of it causing Tails more distress, but he felt the question was necessary.

After ten seconds of silence, Tails slowly rose to face Knuckles, revealing his huge reddened eyes, the vibrant blue almost completely washed out. Then, with the stiffness of a statue, he nodded. "Y…yeah," he said, like he had just heard a criminal charge read out to him. As far as he was concerned, it was one. "And then…Eggman…abducted…hundreds of people, in transports…I could do nothing but…watch. Real…heroic of me, huh?" he added, displaying an unusual bitterness towards the end.

Knuckles could only find himself blinking. Damn. Realizing just how humiliated Tails must feel, he gently pulled the fox, now tearing up again, onto his chest and started patting him on the back. "Sounds like a lot happened down there…but don't blame yourself. It's not your fault."

Slowly, Tails got back up to make eye contact again, trying but failing to control the sobs. "But…that's the problem, Knuckles. It…it is."

"How could it be?" The echidna tried to coax, but he started to get the feeling that Tails had come up here not just to inform him of the disaster.

"Knuckles…when was the last time…you saw me fly? With my tails?"

The question seemed odd, but Knuckles considered it anyway. A few weeks…no, months…he frowned. "About a year, I think."

"Exactly," Tails said, his ears drooping along with the rest of his expression, "I…I haven't been training physically in…a long time, Knuckles. I got so reliant on the…the Tornado, and other tech, that…it never occurred to me what could happen if…if Eggman just shut them all down…before attacking."

Knuckles listened intently as he saw how Tails' self-indictment answered some questions, like why the fox didn't come here in the plane, and why he hadn't recognized him while he'd been flying here under his own power, in the night sky earlier. Because it really had been too long since he last saw Tails doing that.

Yet, Knuckles found it hard to blame Tails, considering how hard the kid was taking it onto himself. "So you think if you had trained more, things might not have turned out this badly," he said calmly.

Another reluctant nod. "I've…I've been too obsessed with technology, Knuckles. And against…Eggman's new trick, none of it helped…at all. So…" He wiped off the tears under both eyes with his forearm, and admitted, "I've destroyed everything."

At this, Knuckles was simply confused. "What do you mean?"

"I've…blown up my house, the one Sonic and I…lived in. And everything I made inside. It's all gone now," he stated almost in monotone.

The echidna actually recoiled backwards slightly in surprise. This was something he was even less able to imagine. Tails, the whiz kid, destroying his own inventions and house? "Really? But…"

"Really." Tails now finally sat up straight, shaking his head violently and swallowing hard before facing Knuckles again, with a focused but pleading stare. "Knuckles…you're the best fighter I know. could I…could I ask you to…train me…please? 'cause…" He pushed himself as close as possible up to the echidna before continuing, "I really, really need to make up for my mistakes. I need to learn how to fly and fight again without being distracted by machines. I need to go to the North Pole and rescue all those people and kick Eggman's butt. I need to do this for all the people I've let down. I need to do this…for Sonic." Then, even though he knew it would hurt, he grabbed Knuckles huge hands with his smaller, bandaged ones and squeezed them tightly. "Please."

Hearing Tails' plea sent the echidna into silent thought again. Whether or not Tails really deserved blame, the severity of the situation made that irrelevant. Eggman had just sent the planet's most well-known hero into a coma, and who knew how much progress he had already made on whatever plan he was up to? The two of them on Angel Island were the only ones who could stop the doctor now, even if one of them wasn't in the best shape at the moment, but that could be changed. There was no good reason to decline, Knuckles saw, and even if he had the heart to, where could, and would, Tails go? What would he do?

Realizing the highly unpleasant answer to that last one, Knuckles let out a sigh. "Well, there isn't much choice, is there?" he replied, shaking his head. "Okay. I'll train you. You'll stay here with me for now."

The transformation on Tails' face was immediate, and there was already a day and night difference. While still not smiling, the fox, for the first time, actually looked relieved, perhaps even hopeful, for which Knuckles was grateful. The echidna was pulled in for a tight hug. "T-thanks, Knuckles. Thank you for giving me this chance. It means everything to me."

"It's nothing," Knuckles said in return, almost smiling when they pulled back to look at each other again. "We'll have to deal with your wounds first, though it shouldn't take long. But I swear, Tails…we'll make Eggman pay."