Chapter 12
Miky was sleeping peacefully on top of the Master Emerald alter in a tent Knuckles had set up for her. She was sprawled out on a mess of blankets and a couple of pillows snoring softly. Knuckles stood beside the tent and listened to her quiet snores.
He chuckled and said, "Wow, she must be really tired. Then again, she had a hard day yesterday. But still, that's no excuse for WAKING UP LATE!" Knuckles kicked one of the pegs of the tent out of the ground so the tent collapsed on Miky.
Miky kicked and struggled under the tent, "AH! WHAT THE HECK! KNUCKLES!" She popped up out of the tent, furious "Knuckles what's the big idea?! I was trying to sleep!"
"Oh my bad, but you wanna know something? When you're on the battle field, the enemy won't wait for you to catch your breath or get in a little catnap! Now get up and pull yourself together! We have work to do!"
Knuckles walked away leaving to Miky struggle out the tent with grumbles of, "I REALLY hate that guy! The sun isn't even fully up yet!"
As Miky got up she couldn't help but think about what a terrible month she was having. Sonic had been kind and supportive teacher but Miky found out on day one that Knuckles was the exact opposite. The way Knuckles saw things, you not only had to dish it out, but you had to be able to take it as well. This meant being tough, really tough. As a result, Miky's days on Angel Island went something like this: Every morning, Knuckles would wake her and they would do some warm up exercises. The red echidna's personal favorite was doing pull-ups on the edges of Angel Island with only the thin, stiff vines hanging off the sides to catch you if you fell. Next would be the combat lesson of the day and afterwards practice fights. Depending on how long that took, Knuckles would help Miky combine her telekinesis with the moves she was learning. Lastly, there was the 'demolitions'. These were a series of trials where Miky had to demolish several materials with just one blow. First was a wood plank which Miky turned it splinters with a kick on her first day. After came a stone block, than a very tall, thick hardwood tree. The tree had Miky frustrated for two weeks before she finally felled it with one punch. But that was yesterday; today after everything else was done, Knuckles took her across the bridge to a spot on Angel Mountain where rock slides happen often.
"Alright Miky. Today, you're going to demolish that boulder over there in one hit." said Knuckles as he pointed. Miky went over to the boulder, which was four times her size and probably weighed a least over half a ton.
She turned back to Knuckles and glared, "How do you expect me to break this thing in one hit!? It would take me at least ten!"
"That's what you said about the tree. And frankly I'm tired of your whining. It's not like I'm asking you to lift it." Here Knuckles got in Miky's face and spoke in a mocking condescending voice, "Excuse me if I'm just trying to turn a whiny excuse of girl into someone who can hold her own. Or would you like to stay weak and helpless? After all, I never disagree with a girl."
Miky stared him back, anger boiling, "I am not weak and I am not helpless! You want that stupid boulder turned to rubble? FINE! Just watch me!" Miky turned to boulder and looked it up and down, scanning for a good spot to land a blow. She took a step back and exhaled. She pulled her fist back and punched the boulder with all of her might. A loud crack was heard and small chunks went flying from the boulder. "AAAHHH! MY HAND!" screamed Miky as she knelt and clutching her right hand, "Knuckles I think I hurt my hand!" Blood came from Miky's injured hand and was smeared on the boulder.
Knuckles knelt next to her, "Here, let me see." Miky's hand was bleeding and the skin was scrapped away on her knuckles and her fingers were crooked and stiff. "It might be broken. This might hurt a little." Knuckles pressed softly on various spots on Miky's hand each one causing her to scream. "Well it's broken alright. Tails will be able to fix that up, come on."
The two reached Tails' house and upon hearing what had happened immediately hurried them into the house. Sonic happened to be there and followed as Tails led them to the lab and placed Miky's hand through an x-ray, "Oh man, Miky your hand is an absolute wreck! Your bones are all shoved out of place! We're going to have to set them back in place. This going to hurt so bear with me." Tails took Miky's hand in his and began to violently twist it in several directions making Miky cry out and tears spring to her eyes. When Tails was done, he bandaged up Miky's hand and put a small, light brace on it, "Sorry about that but just keep the brace on and your hand will better in a couple of weeks. But, I wouldn't be slugging anybody with that hand until then."
Sniffing from her tears, Miky said, "Thanks. How did you know what to do?"
"Well I'm no doctor but I know a bit more than basic first aid. When you fight robots all the time, its good stuff to know."
While all this had been going on, Sonic had pulled Knuckled out of the room and asked, "What the heck Knuckles?!"
Knuckles crossed his arms, "What are you talking about?"
"The boulder test was way out of line; she wasn't ready."
"She punched the hardwood tree clean in half. I've given her the training that would allow her to do it and she failed, plain and simple."
"Her hand is broken Knuckles! I know you're trying to teach her everything she needs to know but you push Miky too hard!"
"Too hard? If you ask me, you were too soft with her! She's in there hollering and whining about a little broken hand like she's gonna die. I'm tough on her because she needs to be able to handle anything. Because I don't know if you noticed but Eggman has been stepping up his game lately."
"I know. But would it kill you to ease up a little? I've seen how you 'teach'. All that shouting, belittling, military style is just ridiculous."
"I do it for a reason. It gets results. When I get in her face and call her weak and useless, she tries twice as hard to prove me wrong. It makes her stronger, tougher, and more capable. Everything's changing Sonic. Eggman isn't something we can laugh at anymore. He's a threat now and we need to act like he can come at us at any time ready to kill."
Sonic was silent a moment before answering, "I see your point. Eggman has been getting serious. I'm sorry Knuckles; I guess I'm set in my ways but your right. Eggman isn't holding anything back and we shouldn't either. Let's go see how Mikys doing."
They reentered the lab as Tails was telling Miky to keep the brace on. Miky nodded, her eyes red from crying and nose slightly running. She turned to Knuckles, "Tails said I shouldn't use this hand for a couple of weeks. What are we going to do for my training?"
Knuckles replied, "Well… I suppose we could use this opportunity to strengthen your kicking skills but we can start that tomorrow. No sense in banging you up further."
The four spent the rest of the day hanging out at Tails' house talking and discussing various things. When the sun was going down Miky bid everyone good bye saying that she would meet Knuckles back at Angel Island. She walked alone to the Seaside Cliff and found the place empty. The sun was getting close to settling into the water and Miky paced about the cliff, waiting. At last, Shadow appeared in a flash of light.
He hugged Miky and said, "Sorry, things ran late at work. Hey what happened to your hand?"
"Oh this? I broke my hand punching a boulder."
Shadow's ears went up in surprise, "What?! Why on Mobius did you punch a boulder?!"
"Well its part of my training with Knuckles. It's a test and exercise to measure my strength. Before that it was a hardwood tree. And I thought that was hard!"
"What kind of training is that? I should give Knuckles a piece of my mind. Obviously he knows nothing about preparing someone for combat situations." said Shadow as his features creased in concern and slight anger.
Miky frowned too, "Hey, while Knuckles has this whole boot camp style that pisses me off and makes me want to punch him in face, he's a great teacher. I am learning so much and I'm getting stronger. So yeah, his methods are rough, but it works." Shadow looked at her closely; he saw the sincerity in her face and the warning in her eyes.
He put up his hands in surrender, "All right, if you say so. But if I keep seeing you with bandages, I'm going to have to pay Knuckles a little visit. So did you at least break the boulder?"
"No… but I'll tell you this, when my hand is better, it's going to be a pile of pebbles!"
"I have no doubt."
Arthur's Note: Yay another chapter done! I am sooo not looking forward to school tomorrow. As a result, I'll be posting less than usual but I'll do my best to stay on top of everyone's' stories and put out a chapter or two. Happy back to school everybody! Please read, review, and most of all enjoy!
