Sorry for the wait, the holidays had me busy. Let's watch the battle unfold.

Chapter 14: The Leader's Resolve Conclusion - Ghost

Trevor was pacing towards Knuckles who still rested on one knee. Knuckles knew he had to use this moment to launch his offensive. He charged Trevor and swung his right fist but the punch missed. Trevor seemed to slide across the ground as he moved, veering up right behind Knuckles and striking him with a mighty punch. Knuckles toppled a bit but caught himself quickly, he rushed Trevor once more.

Trevor ducked beneath the punch and jumped up over the following sweep kick. Knuckles tried another punch but it was caught mid motion and made him freeze. The leader yelled and a huge wave of energy forced Knuckles back and rolling across the ground. Knuckles stopped himself and took a moment to breathe.

"Even using only my aura I can outmatch you. Sad, you fought so devilishly, tearing through all my obstacles and here you are barely able to stand up in comparison to my spirit. Pathetic, I was hoping for such a good fight."

Knuckles was panting and slowly recovering from all the ugly words stuck in his mind. Deep down he could sense he was afraid he would be overcome but he was braver than that and stood back up.

"After all I've put you through it seems you haven't toughed up at all. Still upset Knuckles? Does it hurt to know how your friend is dead or how you got to see those mangled echidnas beneath that ice after you beat them?"

Knuckles growled.

"I'm taking it up a notch; you'd better do the same."

Trevor rushed Knuckles so quickly he couldn't react. A vicious uppercut pulled Knuckles from the ground as he floated upward. Trevor leaped up and punched him back down into the stone. Knuckles tumbled over himself and as he recovered he looked up to see the leader flip in midair and pivot his body like a missile. With a roar a large black wave overcome his face and he flew downward with such intensity that Knuckles barely tossed himself out of the way.

Trevor smashed into the ground with a large boom and several pieces of gravel flew from the area. A fair crater was formed and Knuckles stared on as he pulled himself out of the hole. He looked at Knuckles with a sadistic stare and then seemed to vanish in place.

"Wha?! Oooof!"

The leader reappeared before Knuckles and striked a hard fist into his sternum; knocking the wind from his body. He held Knuckles up by that same fist and pressed him against the wall.

"You think that cloak was for show my dear friend? It's actually a weighted training suit, equal if not greater to my own body weight. I make the most of my training even when I'm not swinging my fists, more than anyone could ever say about you."

Knuckles wanted to growl but he could barely breathe, the leader's fist was still rammed into his sternum.

"You are still too arrogant, perhaps when you see some blood you'll start to learn something."

He held out his opposite hand and forged a dagger made of pure energy. He looked Knuckles in the eye with such insanity Knuckles knew he was about to feel something similar to the leader's pain. He pulled the dagger slowly down across Knuckles' cheek and red blood slowly crawled out and slid down his face. Knuckles' eyes began to shrink, fear was beginning to surface as the leader moved the dagger toward Knuckles' chest and striked a huge gash. Knuckles cried out as he felt his wound scream. The leader only laughed at this.

"Ha ha ha, come now I'm nowhere near that little heart of yours. Although I do want to carve it out so I can see just what you were feeling when you watched me become buried beneath flames."

The leader pushed the dagger in a little deeper, playing with the wound. Knuckles winced and cried out manically. He was being hurt beyond belief; his mind was starting to lose its ability to deal with the stress. Then the leader ripped the dagger out swiftly, tearing the gash much larger and flinging blood everywhere. Knuckles was in so much pain he could only stare upwards and barely force a breathe. The leader licked his dagger clean and savored the taste.

"Mm, you express pain so well. Your blood is so delicious; I can taste your strength and your agony. Ooh, it's giving me shivers to think about it."

Knuckles shifted his down slowly and looked unto the insane one again.

"As wonderful as this all is I believe it's time to speed things up. I want to see how long I can keep you alive."

He began moving the dagger towards Knuckles' neck as time seemed to slow. Knuckles' could feel himself vanishing into his thoughts once again, too shocked from the fear to stay conscious.

Deep within his thoughts, Knuckles was standing in a black room all alone. Questions were being spoken out loud and echoing into the distance.

"Why is he doing this? Why did I kill Buckles? Why can't I fight back? Where is my courage? Why did I kill Buckles? Why can't I move my arms? Why did I kill Buckles? Where is my strength? Why did I kill Buckles? WHY DID I KILL HIM?!"

The last question screamed itself into his head and silenced all the others. Tears started to stream down Knuckles' face and drip down onto the floor, echoing into the emptiness.

"What have I done…I made the wrong choice. I'm no better than the leader."

From the distance a white fog began to drift forward, covering the area. It was like stepping into another realm, a deeper level of his conscious. From the distance a figure moved forward and revealed itself to be Buckles. He had on a serious face and Knuckles wasn't sure what this was going to mean. The two stared at each other as the fog drifted slowly past, briefly covering their faces.

"Knuckles when are you going to grow up? If the leader couldn't teach you, then I guess I have to teach you death's lesson to make you understand."

End of Chapter 14, Conclusion of The Leader's Resolve Episode