Ch.11: Alone, But Not Alone

Without wasting time Knuckles unconious form was loaded onto the X Tornado and was on his way to the hospital. Dr. Quack was astounded when Knuckles brought in, but quickly put his surprise to bed and went to work.

Sonic, Tails, and Julie-Su waited inside the waiting room, impatiently waiting for any news to come forth. Meanwhile, back on Angel Island the others were surveying the damage caused by both Knuckles and the Master Emerald.

Remington and Lara-Le were especially glad to find a few echidna survivors. They were severely wounded, but in time they would heal. Shadow, Rouge, Cream, and Cheese looked to the West, while Amy with the bandaged Chaotix tried the East. As they were walking Vector kept on looking back at the devesation the war had left behind.

"Destruction is so familiar" said Vector " but it hurts to watch just the same,"

"Yeah," said Charmy.

"Guys listen," said Espio, stopping in his tracks " I think I hear someone,"

All four stopped to listen, and as they did the voices came closer. Before anyone knew it three figures appeared out of the shadows. The Chaotix's senses immediately went on high alert, and Amy got out her hammer when they got a good look at the three.

They were echidnas, but parts of thier flesh had been taken away and had been replaced with gleering metal. They were Dark Legionarres. Xenin, Kasmir, and Lien-Da were relieved to find someone else, but thier faces fell when they saw Amy and the Chaotix.

"You guys have a lot to answer for" said Vector, grabbing Kasmir while Espio and others grabbed Xenin and Lien-Da "You're just lucky that I'm in a good mood right now,"

"Really?" said Kasmir " I couldn't guess,"

That smart remark made Vector pull on her extra hard. Soon all three Dark Legionarres were looking into the angry face of Remington, who wasn't at all pleased to see them.

"Good work" said Remington to the Chaotix and Amy, then turned his attention on the Dark Legionarres " these three will stand trial for everything thier boss has done. Vector, Espio, lets show our 'guests' where they may stay,"

Back down on the surface Julie-Su and Tails watched as Sonic paced around in the waiting room impatiently. Watching the blue hedgehog go back and forth, back and forth, was starting to make Tails dizzy.

"Please Sonic" said Tails " anymore walking and there will be a groove in the floor,"

"There should have been some news by now" said Sonic, ignoring Tails last comment " Knuckles is a fighter, he wouldn't let a little chaos drain bring him down like this,"

"We don't know how much of his energy has been drained" said Tails " you heard Locke explian, when Knuckles was born he was exposed to radiation of the Chaos and Master Emeralds. His lifeforce could very well be connected to thier energy. But given the Emeralds current state, its a toss up if he'll survive,"

Julie-Su had just about heard enough, and was about to get up and leave when Dr. Quack suddenly entered the room.

" He's awake and his condition is stabalizing" said Dr. Quack " he's requested to the young lady here, miss Julie-Su,"

Shocked, Julie-Su entered the emergency room to see Knuckles laying down on the medical bed, his violet eyes shining, and big grin on his face when she walked in. When Julie-Su took a chiar beside him, Knuckles gripped one of her hands in his.

"I'm sorry," said Julie-Su, after a minute of silence.

"Its okay" said Knuckles " none of this your fault, if anyone's blame I guess it would be me. If it wasn't for my wish, none of this would have ever happened,"

"Hey" said Julie-Su " you can't blame yourself for all the bad things that have happened,"

"No, I can't" said Knuckles " its just always seemed that way since I started hanging out with Sonic. But I can't pin the blame on him either, no matter how much I want to,"

Julie-Su laughed.

"At least some good things have come out of all this disaster" Knuckles continued " my wish was to know about my kind, and the wishing crystal made it possible for me to see my family again, plus other echidnas, including you,"

"Get well soon Knuckles" said Julie-Su, after planting a kiss on Knuckles cheek " we'll be waiting,"

As she left though Knuckles inner thoughts were slowly turning sour, as he relived the moment where his father and the rest of Brotherhood had been destroyed by the very gem they were sworn to protect. As the dark image played on Knuckles realized that this wouldn't have happened if he hadn't so easily given up the Master Emerald.

"But I had to save Julie-Su's life" thought Knuckles " I couldn't let her die,"

Yet, part of his mind still wandered, even if she did die, would it have prevented the destruction caused by the Dark Legion? Or would it just mutliply the body count?

After about two more days of rest, and many more visits from his friends Knuckles was finally able to walk out of the hospital. Just as soon as he walked out a welcoming committee was there to greet him.

"Glad to see you among the living," said Sonic.

"You gave everyone quite a scare," said Shadow.

"Including you?" asked Knuckles.

"Not on your life," said Shadow.

"I hate to brake up the reunion" said Remington to Knuckles " but I have some very important news that I think Knuckles should hear,"

"Bad news or good news?" said Rouge.

"Both," said Remington.

"Okay" said Knuckles " give me the good news first,"

"Good news is not everyone was destroyed during the Master Emeralds rampage" said Remington " I have both Shadow and Rouge to thank for finding the survivors and bringing them in for treatment just in time,"

"And the bad news?" asked Knuckles.

"Unfortunately" said Remington " three Dark Legionarres also seem to have survived. Xenin, Kasmir, and another named Lien-Da. We've been waiting for you to recover before we put the three on trial. Thier fate relies solely on your decision,"

At that news, Julie-Su, Sonic, and the others senses went on high alert. After all that's happened to him these few weeks, Knuckles had an idea on what he should do, but the question remianed, would he?

Two hours later Xenin, Kasmir, and Lien-Da were herded into what was left of the Echidnapolis City Hall. When all three saw Knuckles sitting in the judge's chair they could tell that they were doomed.

"He's probably going to give us all the death penatly," said Xenin.

"After all that we've done to him" said Kasmir " I wouldn't be surprised,"

"He wouldn't kill" said Lien-Da " just lock us up for life,"

"And that's so much better?" said Kasmir.

"Order" said Remington, acting as the baliff " the honored Guardian of Angel Island, Knuckles presiding. Knuckles, the charges againist the defendants are quite clear. Illegal mechanizing of innocent echidnas, cult-like activity, attempting to overthrow Angel Island, and mass murder. What knowledge can you give us so that we can deal with these three?"

Silence gripped the entire room before Knuckles began to speak.

"I know of thier crimes" said Knuckles " but when I learned that I would have responsibilty of judging them for those crimes, the decision was not easy. If I should go with death thier lives would only join those who had already suffered. I cannot let more lives be lost, even if they 'were' Dark Legionarres. Therefore, I have decided to sentence them all to...five years of community service,"

"What?" shouted Sonic, as the Dark Legionarres jumped in surprise at Knuckles decision.

"Hold on" said Xenin to Knuckles " why are letting us go with such a light punishment?"

"The war is over" said Knuckles " its time for the Dark Legion and Echidnapolis to aside thier differences and learn to become one. Although the causualties are hard to over come, all past afflictions must be forgotten for us to move on and create a new era of peace. That is why Kasmir, Xenin, and Lien-Da your first act of community service is building a memorial to honor 'all' who have lost thier lives during this war. Be happy that I did not go the other way around,"