Knuckles, Manic and Silver quietly ran to the door of an old abandoned tower block.
"Shadow, you're our eyes. Let us know if you see anything." Knuckles whispered into the earpiece.
"Got that." Shadow stated. He was laying on his stomach on the top of a tower block opposite the one Knuckles was going into, a sniper in his hands. Knuckles quietly opened the door and went inside. Manic and Silver followed not too long afterwards, checking the dark corners.
"Silver, you're with me. Manic you go up those stairs so Shadow can watch you." Knuckles ordered quietly. Manic nodded and walked up the stairs Knuckles had pointed to while Knuckles and Silver walked down a corridor. None of them knew what they'd be confronted with, or whether they'd like it. Rumours were that Yuri had kidnapped the president and his daughter.
Julie-Su grunted as she tried moving her chair. If she could turn it around, she could push it back against the door and try and force it open. Suddenly, she heard some footsteps coming towards her. The door opened to reveal Yuri. The black panther stared at her with his cold yellow eyes.
"Time to go sweetie. You've done your job." Yuri hissed. Julie-Su sighed sadly, knowing what he meant. Knuckles was there, most likely coming to save her. She looked at the floor, ashamed.
"Hey, don't look like that. At least you'll be the last person he sees before he dies." Yuri smirked.
Manic quietly opened a door and looked in. He saw Mina Mongoose, the president's daughter, tied to a chair. He quickly went in and started untying the ropes that kept her hostage.
"Shadow, I've got the president's daughter. Find me a safe route out of here." Manic ordered into the earpiece, making sure he kept his voice down. There was a short pause.
"When you leave the room, there's an elevator to your left. It'll take you down to the ground floor and the exit to the building is literally right next to it as you get out." Shadow stated.
"Thanks." Manic smiled as he removed the duct tape from Mina's face.
"Thank you." She whispered, knowing she had to keep quiet.
"Come on, let's get you out of here." Manic said quietly and led her out of the room.
"What about my father?" Mina asked.
"Don't worry, there's some guys in here that will find him." Manic stated.
Silver opened a door quietly to see the president tied to a chair. He went inside.
"You get him out, I'm going to get Yuri." Knuckles stated.
"Are you crazy?! Yuri will kill you!" Silver hissed.
"Then if he does, tell Sonic to remember his promise." Knuckles sighed and walked away.
Yuri scanned the screens that were in front of him, his eyes searching for the Guardian. He knew that Knuckles was in the building, he knew he'd come to save the young female Echidna. Why he'd do this Yuri didn't know. At one point, the Guardian and the Legionnaire had been enemies, they'd hated each other. They fought against one another. For one to save the other was odd, unusual. Then it hit Yuri, it must have been love. Whatever else could it have been? He turned to look at the now unconscious Julie-Su. She'd struggled so much against the guards they ended up having to knock her out. Her body laid on the floor in a position that was one that was like the way a person sleeps.
"Leave her here. When the Guardian finds her, we'll be waiting." Yuri ordered to the Guards as they left the room, having spotted Knuckles heading towards them on one of the screens.
Manic and Mina left the building and quickly ran across the street to the shelter of the safe house.
"Shadow? Have you got sights on Knuckles and Silver?" Manic asked into the earpiece.
"Silver yes, Knuckles no. Silver's got the president." Shadow replied.
"Where on Mobius is Knuckles?" Manic asked to no one in particular. He sighed, knowing Knuckles had probably gone after Yuri. The history between them was so deep, so horrifying, it made Manic shudder just by thinking about it. He opened the door for Silver and the president as they reached the safe house. Mina hugged her father tightly as soon as he walked in.
Knuckles breathed in deeply before opening the door. He wasn't sure who or what was behind it, but, he had to be prepared for anything. When he opened the door, at first he saw nothing. He scanned the room but there wasn't a guard in sight. However, the second time he checked, he saw Julie-Su laying on the floor, a large cut on her head. He quickly rushed over and checked for a pulse. She had one, a strong one at that. She was only unconscious.
"Shadow. I've found Julie-Su. I need you to send someone up to the top floor and get her." Knuckles stated into the earpiece, but, before Shadow could reply something pulled the earpiece from Knuckles' ear and dropped it on the ground, then stood on it. Knuckles looked up to be met with the face of an angry looking guard, who looked like he was on steroids to be honest.
"Pills are bad for you, you know that right?" Knuckles smirked. The guard swung for him, but narrowly missed. Knuckles quickly pulled out his gun from his pocket and shot the guard in the chest while the guard was trying to regain his balance. The guard then fell to the ground.
"Knuckles?! Knux answer me!" A voice snapped. Knuckles recognised the voice, it was Sonic's.
Sonic slammed the door open and stormed over to the shocked looking Echidna before him.
"I thought you just died! What the HELL were you thinking?! Going off alone!" Sonic snapped. Knuckles shrugged and walked over to Julie-Su. He gently picked her up and then gently passed her to Sonic. He looked at Knuckles with a confused expression.
"She needs to go to the medic wing. No one's faster than you." Knuckles stated.
"You stay put until I get back." Sonic ordered. Knuckles held his hands up in surrender. However, as soon as Sonic was out of the door, Knuckles quickly ran off to the flight of stairs at the end of the room. Soon, he was on the roof and saw Yuri heading towards a helicopter.
"Yuri!" Knuckles snapped. Yuri spun around, a huge smirk on his face.
"Nice to see you again friend." Yuri chuckled.
"I am NOT your friend you piece of shit!" Knuckles snarled.
"I know I betrayed you, but, seriously, it was two years ago. Let it go." Yuri smirked.
"Go to hell." Knuckles spat and took a shot at Yuri. The panther simply dodged and pulled out his gun. He fired two shots at Knuckles, but, the Echidna managed to dodge both.
"Knuckles!" A voice yelled. Knuckles spun around to see Sonic. Yuri must have also seen the hedgehog as two shots were fired at Sonic, who just managed to speed out of the way.
"Knuckles! I told you to stay put!" Sonic snapped.
"Do I look like a dog to you?!" Knuckles yelled and quickly popped out of his hiding place, fired a shot at Yuri and hid behind the object between them again. He heard a grunt of pain, but, he knew it didn't belong to Yuri. It most likely belonged to one of the guards in the helicopter.
"You could have at least told me you were going after the freak!" Sonic called.
"What I do is none of your business!" Knuckles stated and popped out again. This time, he was met with a bullet hitting him in the shoulder. He fell backwards onto his back and clutched his shoulder in pain. Sonic's eyes went wide when he saw his friend receive a bullet.
"Knuckles!" Sonic gasped and rushed over to his friend.
"Friendship. It's a powerful thing. Almost as powerful as love, isn't it Guardian?" Yuri chuckled as he walked over to them, Sonic pulled out his gun and aimed it for the panther.
"Take one more step and I'll blow your brains out of your skull." Sonic snapped.
"It would help if your gun had any bullets in it." Yuri chuckled. Sonic looked down at his gun and became more nervous when he realised he was out of ammo.
"You two ready to join the rest of your scum in hell?" Yuri smirked. He raised his gun and aimed it for Sonic. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a chain wrapped itself around Yuri's neck. He yelped in shock and tried grabbing whoever it was behind him. He stumbled backwards towards the part of the roof that was glass. Yuri fell backwards, onto whoever it was that was choking him and onto the glass. The sound of cracking echoed in the air. Sonic saw something hook the chain onto a part of the roof just as the glass collapsed. He then saw Julie-Su and Yuri fall through the roof. A choking gag then filled the air. Sonic quickly got up and saw Yuri dangling from the chain and Julie-Su lying on the floor beneath him. Neither of them were moving.