The King's message in this chapter is from the New Living Translation; Isaiah 41:9-11.

Chapter 12—A Friend in Need

It is not an enemy who taunts me—I could bear that. It is not my foes who so arrogantly insult me—I could have hidden from them. Instead, it is you—my equal, my companion and close friend.—Psalms 55:12-13.

Even my best friend, the one I trusted completely, the one who shared my food, has turned against me.—Psalms 41:9

Lord I lift my friend to you

I've done all that I know to do

I lift my friend, to you.

Complicated circumstances

Have clouded his view

And Lord I lift my friend up, to you.

--A Prayer for a Friend, Casting Crowns

Although it was fairly obvious that Shadow was called to command, everyone—himself included—realized that he had a long way to go before he was prepared to answer that call. Commanding is a huge responsibility; after all, if the commander makes a mistake in his teaching, then all his students are almost certain to also make that mistake. As such, the King holds commanders to higher standards than he does others, so it was crucial that Shadow learned how to do the job properly before he jumped in.

As senior commander, it was Jack's job to take Shadow in hand and teach him everything he would need to know. As such, Shadow found that—in addition to the normal training—he spent the remaining hours of the day in a specialized training regimen designed specifically for helping him for the job of Commander. Commander Jack trained him personally, and his sheer tirelessness amazed and slightly bewildered Shadow. Didn't the Commander ever need sleep?

Obviously, this meant that Shadow had less time to spend hanging around with Sonic and Amy. The two missed their friend's presence immensely, but to Shadow's great relief they never resented him for his busy schedule. They were both well aware that the King and His business came first, as well it should.

That's not to say Shadow never got a break. He did, in fact, get time off, otherwise he'd collapse from exhaustion. He simply didn't have as much time off as he did before.

While her training was much less arduous, Amy was progressing exceptionally well. Her only major offshoot was that her negative self-image seemed to minimize her progress in her own mind, making her upset with a false belief that she wasn't growing at all. Commander Jack spent more than a few hours addressing this problem, however, and Amy was gradually becoming more aware of her own self-worth, thus causing her to start realizing how much she was progressing.

As for Sonic, he was finally getting used to the rigors of training (and yes, he finally managed to tame that stupid wall, although never with the same grace and speed of the other trainees). The hedgehog could scarcely believe that it had been a mere year since he'd first opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by Mephiles' goons. At times, it seemed as if he'd lived his whole life right here in this dimension, and at others, he missed his home dimension so terribly it felt as if his very soul was breaking apart with grief.

All in all, it was a very peaceful, productive time for all involved. Until, exactly one year to the date of Sonic's arrival, Lucifer's plans started to unveil…

Knuckles was uneasy with their plan. Mephiles could tell by the way his dark purple eyes kept wandering nervously, and how tense he seemed. And well he should be; Knuckles hadn't completely sold out to the dragon as of yet. which means that he wasn't totally depraved. And only the most depraved of individuals could be completely at ease at what they intended to do.

It was Mephiles' job to ensure that this unease was ignored so that Knuckles would go through with the plan. It was the first step to total enslavement of his mind and soul; the more Knuckles ignored the unease, the vaguer it would become, until one day he would, in fact, be so depraved as to think absolutely nothing of any atrocities, feeling no uncertainty, disgust, or remorse for the vilest of actions. And then they would have him completely.

It was the sort of depravity that Mephiles enjoyed, nay, embodied. The Dark casually strode to where Knuckles was currently, a small overhanging overlooking their objective: a small town filled with King's Citizens. Looking over it, Mephiles felt a chill as he remembered how a similar town had stolen away Shadow from him and landed him in this whole mess. He would have to be ruthlessly cunning in the future so it would not happen again.

"Something bothering you, Knuckles?" Mephiles asked, concern he didn't feel filling his voice.

"I…are you…sure…this is the only way to draw the thief out?" Knuckles asked, his uneasiness showing in his voice.

"Unfortunately, yes. Sonic is so wicked that nothing sort of human suffering on a grand scale will draw him to us. He enjoys it, you know." The lies flowed from Mephiles smoothly. "But we're doing everything we can to minimize the damage; as King's Citizens, every living being down there is just as wicked as the thief is."

Knuckles bit his lip, still uncertain. "I don't know," he muttered.

"Think of all the destruction such wicked beings could wreak with the Master Emerald's power," Mephiles replied evenly. "Surely this is the lesser of two evils?"

Knuckles closed his eyes and slowly nodded, making his decision. "Yes. You're…you're probably right."

With that the echidna turned and walked back to the troops, his resolve strengthening. Mephiles watched him go with a triumphant expression. Knuckles allowed himself one step closer to depravity.

Just the way Mephiles liked it.

Knuckles the Echidna soothed his aching conscious with logic; but he could not silence it. He felt incredibly uneasy as Lucifer's armies marched into the village. He was amongst the ranks; but as the attacked became more brutal and the carnage grew more fierce, he finally ignored it no longer.

Knuckles grew violently ill to his stomach and half ran, half stumbled away from the village to a nearby wood, where he collapsed to his knees and vomited repeatedly as tears streamed down his muzzle. The images of what he'd allowed himself to witness—and even participate in—would haunt him till the end of his days. He strongly suspected they would torment him even beyond the grave, if that were possible.

Knuckles closed his eyes and pressed his hands against his head as a sob arose in his throat. What kind of person must this Sonic be, to actually thrive on such things?! And what kind of person was Mephiles, condoning such actions as proper and necessary in order to draw out an enemy?

He wished he'd never had to leave his Island and get caught up in all this horrible mess. When that thief, Sonic, showed up, Knuckles would kill him, take back his emerald, and get as far away from these people as possible.

It wasn't long before word of the attack came to Sonic, in the unlikeliest way possible. He hadn't been at the training ground; instead he, Amy, and Shadow had been at a nearby town with a special market going on this week looking around during one of the rare times when all three of them had time off together. A traveling merchant informed them that the Dark had destroyed the village and had quite literally set up camp next to it.

Of course, the news distressed the three greatly, though Shadow was quite vexed for a much less obvious reason.

"Mephiles would often attack the outer settlements," Shadow said. "But he never hung around long enough to let anyone learn of it. He always left as soon as it was destroyed. The only reason he's remaining there is because he's trying to draw someone out."

"So it's a trap," Sonic said. "But the town Mephiles ransacked is less than a day's journey to tons of other towns. If we don't take him down he'll keep killing people."

"Should we go inform the Commander?" Amy asked.

"By the time we do that, it will be too late," Shadow replied.

"So what do we do?" Sonic asked. "Go after Mephiles and his goons by ourselves?"

"That's practically a suicide mission!" Amy protested.

Shadow closed his eyes. "We need to ask for guidance," he told the two, jogging off to find a secluded place to perform this deed, Sonic and Amy on his heels.

Having located a spot that fit his purposes, the three knelt and Shadow spoke aloud. "My King, tell us what we are to do. Should we go after these enemies who would destroy everyone?"

After a silence, the living scrolls they carried all began to glow brightly. Taking them out, the three read in unison:

I have called you back from the ends of the earth, saying, 'You are my servant.'

For I have chosen you and will not throw you away.

Don't be afraid, for I am with you.

Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you.

I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

See, all your angry enemies lie there, confused and humiliated.

Anyone who opposes you will die and come to nothing.

Sonic read the message again and let out a triumphant whoop. "Now that's what I call an answer!" he laughed. "Let's go get 'em!"

With that, he was gone, leaving his friends to follow him as best they could. Shadow and Amy looked at each other and grinned, being well used to Sonic's impatience by now.

"Always on the move," Amy said, her voice full of amusement. Shadow chuckled and the two took off after their hyperactive friend.

Sonic arrived at his destination a fraction of a second later and looked around. He could see the tell-tale whispers of smoke from the recently destroyed village off in the distance; as well as several tents that boasted that the destroyers were indeed still here.

Sonic's lip curled with distaste at the sight. Mephiles truly had no shame whatsoever. The Dark one would certainly have to pay for the crimes that he so enjoyed committing. Sonic's only uncertainty was whether to go after him now or wait until Shadow and Amy caught up with him.

He was still wondering when a cry of pure rage and fury rang out from behind him, and something hard hit him in the back and knocked him down. Sonic gasped quietly as whoever attacked him grabbed his shoulders roughly and yanked him around to face his attacker.

Sonic was already reaching for his weapons as this was happening, but when he gazed into the cold, furious violet eyes of his attacker his mind—as well as his body—went completely numb from shock.

Knuckles. Knuckles was working for Mephiles.

"No…" Sonic whispered in horror. Not this. Anything but this!

Knuckles felt a grim satisfaction as he faced his Emerald thief at last. He'd fully convinced himself that everything he'd witnessed that day was entirely Sonic's fault, and he needed to pay for that. He fully enjoyed the look of shock and terror on the thief's face as well. Good. He knew he was in trouble, then.

Sonic stared at him, wide-eyed, for several seconds, then before Knuckles could react the hedgehog kicked him in the stomach. Knuckles gasped as the air left his lungs and he loosened his hold on Sonic. The hedgehog rolled to his feet, his swords in his hands before he completed his role.

Knuckles regained his breath and stood, glaring at Sonic with pure hatred. Sonic's eyes were full of unshed tears, as if his very soul was being torn from his body.

"Knuckles, how could you join Mephiles? He's pure evil!"

"Perhaps you should have thought of that before you stole my emerald, thief!" Knuckles snarled, charging Sonic and throwing a punch at his head that would have killed him if it landed. Sonic dodged out of the way and elbowed Knuckles' in the jaw, causing the echidna to back off again.

"What are you talking about?!" Sonic snapped, his confusion evident in his voice.

"You know full well!" Knuckles snarled, jumping again. This time Sonic wasn't able to dodge fast enough; although he avoided most of the punch Knuckles managed to give him a glancing blow across the side of his temple; the force sent Sonic reeling as stars exploded in front of his vision.

Knuckles came after him again, but was knocked aside by a Shield which strangely resembled a Piko Piko Hammer.

The echidna regained his balance and looked to the two new interlopers, Shadow and Amy, with barely controlled fury. Sonic took the time to recover himself and he stood up.

"Stand down," Shadow warned, unsheathing his sword. "We outnumber you three to one."

Knuckles smirked. "Do you now?"

A dark puddle appeared from the ground next to Knuckles, growing and forming until it revealed Mephiles the Dark.

"Mephiles," Sonic spat the name like it was poison.

Knuckles was ready to attack again, when a bright light appeared between them, causing all involved to look away.

Mephiles shielded his eyes from the light, recognizing it even as he silently pleaded for it to be something else.

No such luck. The light faded to reveal Scourge the Hedgehog, curse that incompetent buffoon! He was poised to ruin everything!

Scourge had his back turned to Mephiles and Knuckles; idiot probably didn't even realize they were there. His full attention was on Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Hello Sonic. Remember me?" Scourge asked malevolently.

Mephiles hissed quietly and started to draw on the dark powers he gained by serving Lucifer. It would take him a long time to charge enough power to destroy someone radiating as much Chaos energy as Scourge was; but he could do it.

Scourge had outlived his usefulness. It was time to toss him aside like the pawn he was.

Sonic gawked at the green hedgehog who smirked at him with his arms crossed. Sonic could feel Chaos energy radiating from him; more than Sonic had ever felt without the presence of the seven emeralds.

"Who are you?" Sonic demanded to know, hoping for time. Could King's Armor stand up to Chaos energy?

"Don't you recognize me?" The hedgehog sneered. "You creamed me in that race, remember?"

Sonic's eyes widened with shock. "Sonic?" he asked incredulously.

"Oh, please, call me Scourge." Scourge grinned at him, although it was not at all a pleasant one. "Sonic's so…lame."

"Where'd you get that much Chaos energy, Scourge?" Sonic asked, already starting to suspect he knew how. No wonder Knuckles was so teed at him! He had to keep this joker talking until he confessed…

Scourge, luckily, was more than willing to fess up. "Great, isn't it? More than enough to take over this whole world. Better yet, it's enough to get rid of you! I got it when I swiped a giant emerald on a floating island."

Out of the corner of his eye Sonic saw Knuckles stiffen and his eyes widening in shock. Good, now it was time to get Scourge to reveal Mephiles' involvement—and Sonic would bet his sneakers that the Dark was involved. The cobalt blue hedgehog huffed. "Floating island? Aw, come on! There's no such thing. Even if there was, how'd you find it?"

"Ooh, Mr. I'm-so-smart. Well it does exist. Mephiles sent me there to swipe it for him, but I double-crossed him."

Knuckles looked horrified. He looked over to Mephiles. "You lied to me!" he gasped.

Scourge's ears perked up at the sound, and he twirled around to where Knuckles and Mephiles were. "Well! Isn't this a surprise! Tell me, Mephy, what do you think of me now?"

"I think you talk too much," Mephiles replied as his attack finished forming, and he threw an orb of black, cackling electricity at Scourge's chest.

Scourge gasped as the orb hit him; his body contracted as the orb entered his body; causing no outward damage but literally tearing his insides apart. The hedgehog looked up at Mephiles in shock as he collapsed to his knees.

"You fool. You actually thought Chaos power would defeat Lucifer? Please, you're not even strong enough to beat me!" Mephiles taunted him as Scourge fell to the ground, dead. His body seemed to phase in and out; eventually a bright light enveloped him and when it dissipated his body was gone and the Master Emerald was in its place.

Knuckles was glaring at Mephiles with a look of pure hatred. "You lied to me. Used me to…to…" The echidna trailed off as a haunted look came to his eyes, but that vanished quickly to be replaced with fury. "I'll kill you for this!"

"Oh, grow up," Mephiles told him, raising his arm and narrowing his eyes. Long trails of darkness emerged from his fingertips and wrapped around the echidna, trapping him. Knuckles struggled against the bonds but he wasn't strong enough to break free.

"I'll break you later," Mephiles warned him. "You'll make an excellent soldier when you realize how futile it is to resist me. But right now…" Mephiles closed his eyes as his body began to morph, crystal tips appearing on his quills and his fingers growing more clawlike as he changed to a form that allowed him to access his powers more readily. This done his eyes snapped open and he glared at three valiant hedgehogs in King's armor, armed and ready to oppose him. Mephiles cocked his head at them with amusement. "First, I have a pest control problem to fix."