Gotta finish this story! Help keep me motivated with reviews everyone! We are drawing closer to the climax so let's keep movin'!

Chapter 10: So Much Pain Part 1

As Knuckles climbed the ladder, he slowly emerged into a brand new room. As he planted his feet upon the floor he brought the room into his full view. It was dark, various lights flickered on and off and random beeps could be heard. Machines lined the room just behind the darkness. Looking deeper into them, the blackness felt familiar.

"Buckles" an echo "Are you here?"

The words bounced across the empty halls and the room reflected them back. This part of the base seemed to be hollow. A single dim lamp hung in the center of the room giving barely any light. It seemed to welcome a confrontation.

A figure stepped into the light. It was covered well as Knuckles could hardly make out an outline, no distinct features could be seen.

"Hey you!" shouted Knuckles.

The figure turned about and ran away into an open door. Knuckles followed him as fast as he could. The hallways continued to echo with footsteps as the pursuit moved through them. Twisting and turning Knuckles followed the figure around many turns until he finally became lost. His head began to spin so he stopped and took a moment to look around.

"A labyrinth, I'm being lured into a trap."

The walls were made of a deep gray but Knuckles could see a top edge to them. An odd sensation filled Knuckles as he looked up and saw there was no ceiling. Despite a top to the maze, the room itself continued to stretch into an empty blue hue. By now Knuckles felt it was obvious someone was just playing with him further. Proceeding forward he continued to look for a way out.

The maze was long and many dead ends met Knuckles with displeasure. It was difficult for him to remember his footing for there were no differences in the walls about him. As he continued to pace around he eventually saw a straight path. This was new to him and he ran down it. Reaching the end a black streak passed by him at top speed, one that resembled that of Buckles. Becoming alert, Knuckles chased after it.

Stretching down many paths and winding around different walkways Knuckles could feel the confusion in his head. It was easy to become dizzy and he was struggling to keep up with the wave. Despite its appearance, it moved rather fast and forced Knuckles to keep on pounding after. Just as he believed he would have to surrender the chase once more, they emerged into a circular area of the maze and the streak halted directly across from Knuckles.

His feet quaked a bit from all the running and his heart was pumping from effort and anxiety. The streak began to resonate and swirl about in place. The blackness slowly rose upward and formed the shape of an echidna and the features were soon to follow.

"Buckles, is that you?

Sure enough, Buckles evolved from the black streak and stood solemnly before Knuckles. The only thing different was the fact that he was missing his sunglasses. Knuckles was finally able to look into his eyes. They were dark and cold, like a winter night that knows no end. Shivers rose up and down his body.

"Help me…"

Buckles body hovered just off the ground and then raced towards Knuckles. A punch was forced across Knuckles' cheek and left him bewildered.

"What are you doing?!"

Buckles continued to throw punches and kicks, forcing Knuckles to leap back and dodge them. He did not wish to counter until he knew the facts but as he tried to understand, a few attacks would slip by and wound Knuckles.

"Gah, stop Buckles!"

The onslaught pursued and Buckles formed two balls of black energy in his hands then tossed them at Knuckles. He dodged them and they crashed against the wall, making a sizzling noise. They burned a ring in the wall but not enough to actually eat through it.

As Knuckles' mind struggled to grasp an idea, he noticed something emerging from Buckles' back. Three long, black tentacles were stitched into his spine and were pulsating like a heart. As they would beat, Buckles seemed to decide on his next move.

"He's being controlled! Something has a powerful manipulation over him but from the looks of those appendages, it may just kill him to remove those by force."

Buckles arm began to fester and the shape of it reformed into that of a long blade.

"Knuckles…run away…"

He charged Knuckles and swung the mighty blade. Knuckles jumped upwards over the sword and then landed a kick upon one of the tentacles. A horrible scream bellowed from Buckles' who began to writhe in pain. The sight was horrific to Knuckles. His new friend was struggling under another's will and freedom seemed to elude him.

"Buckles, are you okay?!" he cried.

"Rahh!"

The long sword was brought upward and across Knuckles' chest. Blood splashed from his muscles and painted the floor in many splotches. The two of them locked eyes, trying to make some sort of connection.

"To save me, you must kill me…the leader…he is up there…"

He made a light motion to the other side of the room. Knuckles looked up and saw the figure he had just been chasing standing atop one of the labyrinth walls. His mind became filled with thoughts. The cloaked figure, from when he was knocked out, was standing there menacingly, looking down upon the two of them.

Still no features could be seen except a red light near its head. A long black shadow stretched across the room, down the corridor walls and up into Buckles' back! The leader was controlling Buckles with some kind of evil power!

Writhing in pain, Buckles looked on sadly.

"I'm sorry, friend."

The tentacles shifted once more and the blade was forced deeper into Knuckles' torso! As more blood splashed upon the ground, Knuckles could feel himself growing faint. The top of his vision was becoming white, the back of his head spinning; he could feel himself slipping away.

To Be Continued