24. The Thief Punished
To give him credit, the weasel didn't gape long. He grabbed for the guns at his sides, but Knuckles had already closed with him, dragging him up the hall and further from possible help. Given the noise below, it was unlikely that anyone would hear a shout but a gunshot might well encourage interest. The weasel didn't resist, his dark eyes narrowing but his prominent, namesake fang bared in anticipation.
"So," he said softly, "you did scrape up enough courage to come after me. I'm surprised." He flicked a glance at the door to his room, which had swung nearly closed but was unmistakably damaged. "And you found your precious rock, but haven't had time to escape with it. Checking to see the coast was clear before you ran, or looking for your girlfriend? You won't find her up here, you know; I asked Vela to - shall we say - look after her."
The leer that accompanied that last sentence was too much for Knuckles, and he punched the thief hard across the jaw. He'd forgotten about his broken claw, but it reminded him sharp and clear, painfully enough that he barely muffled a yelp of pain into a hiss that he hoped the weasel would take for anger.
Fang rocked back with the blow, trying to use the momentum to twist free, but failing. Instead he tried to reach his guns again, and the instant the echidna instinctively glanced down, Fang snapped at him, bringing that oversized canine into play.
Knuckles got a much closer view of that tooth than he liked, but he managed to lean away from the bite. Unfortunately he also lost his grip on his opponent and the two separated and began to circle each other. Violet eyes glared into near-black ones as Knuckles reminded himself to fight intelligently. He's got guns, and I don't. He's also got a heck of a lot more allies than I do, and they're all within easy call. But I outweigh him, and I know I know how to fight better than he does. I bet he knows how to fight dirty, but so do I. All that training's no good if I don't use it. He feinted a punch and pulled back, gauging the other's reaction. He was a bit shocked to notice the blood staining his glove around his spike.
Fang seemed equally startled by the scarlet smear, one hand rising unconsciously to his jaw, seeking damage. Knuckles took advantage of the momentary diversion and slammed his good fist into the other's shoulder. This time the weasel-wolf did bleed, as the spikes struck home and Fang instinctively tried to dodge sideways.
First blood, albeit minor, noted Knuckles, eyeing the short, parallel gashes. They weren't deep enough to really cause any problems, but morale-wise they might be useful. For whatever reason Fang chose to forego his guns and surged forward to strike some punches of his own.
Knuckles blocked one, two, then absorbed a third as he blocked a knee from an area he really didn't want hit. Then suddenly his opponent's thick tail was between his legs and he stumbled, tripping over the purple obstacle. He tried to catch his balance while blocking another punch, failed at both, but managed to stomp hard on the tail as he fell down with his own chest smarting from a blow. He jumped to his feet before Fang could follow up his advantage, and they circled again, the weasel flicking his abused tail in indignation.
Suddenly the noise from below changed, from overly loud conversation and mild bickering to yells of outrage and threat. A few odd zaps and hisses told Knuckles that Chaos energy was being used. Shadow's making his move. Good, that'll keep them busy down there. He surged forward again, slamming Fang bodily back into the wall. And I'll keep the boss busy up here. He pummeled the weasel's pale-furred chest, ignoring the pain in his injured spike.
The weasel tried to bite him again, this time managing to catch one of the long flattened spines the echidnas termed 'dreadlocks'. It snapped with a loud crunch, painlessly but close enough to his ear that the echidna flinched, and as the weasel jerked his head he pulled the spine out by its root, which did hurt. Knuckles lost his focus enough for Fang to shove him away and eel away from the wall, and this time the thief did go for his guns.
Knuckles eyed the guns, and snorted in spite of himself. The muzzles were plugged with what looked like a pair of large corks. Popguns? He's going to shoot me with popguns?
Apparently so, because the weasel pulled the triggers and the two large corks shot straight for the bemused echidna. Involuntary amusement turned to shock as the first struck - and the initial soft impact was joined by a stabbing pain. The second hit the floor at Knuckles' feet and puffed out a cloud of purple haze. Knuckles jumped back, both from the pain and the unknown vapor, and the weasel turned and fled up the hall. The echidna pulled the one cork free of his chest - noting vaguely the needle it had extended on impact - and jumped for the wall, climbing high enough to launch himself over the mist and glide after his fleeing enemy. Fang reached the landing, looked down the stairs, and doubled back into the treasure room, which gave Knuckles a chance to cut down his lead. Tikal popped out from behind the supply crates as the red Guardian burst through the door. "He went out the back!" she cried. Knuckles nodded and ran on.
Weasels were incredibly fast, and Fang was no exception; he was already down the stairs and crossing the courtyard. Echidnas had more strength than speed, but Knuckles also had the benefit of his gliding skills, and he took to the air to follow his opponent's trail. He didn't catch up, but he lost no more ground before he landed on the flagstones as Fang struggled with the inset door. Knuckles managed to catch up with the other just as the door opened, and Fang went through it to land on his chest, propelled by a blow from behind. Twisting like a snake, he rolled over and up - right into another spiked punch that made his nose bleed. He ducked his head and butted the echidna, then eeled to the side as the other surged forward to regain lost ground, landing a blow to Knuckles' own back he passed by. Knuckles staggered, turned around and discovered that his opponent had the drop on him again; Fang had a gun in each leather-gloved hand. In the best tradition of adventure movies, he hadn't even lost his hat.
"I'd stand still, if I were you," the weasel said coldly. "That purple gas was just knockout gas, but this one," one of the guns twitched slightly, while remaining targeted on Knuckles, "is quite lethal. There's no profit in killing you, but since you were clever enough to follow me here, there's little risk, while there's very great risk in letting you detain me. I know who Shadow the Hedgehog is working for, and he's not an enemy I'm willing to tangle with; still less do I care to risk apprehension by GUN, which is all that awaits those fools in there. I hadn't really expected you to hand over the Chaos Emeralds, but I'd hoped you might part with some of those opal shards." Without taking his eyes - or his guns - from the echidna, the weasel-wolf edged towards his motorcycle, waiting by the shed that served as a make-shift hangar. Knuckles tensed, but the distance was too far to cover before the weasel got a shot off, and he dared not risk that Fang was lying about the poisonous cork bullet. He was reduced to growling with frustration as the weasel reached his bike. Keeping the allegedly lethal popgun aimed at Knuckles, he hooked the other arm over the seat of his bike and vaulted aboard without a glance. With a smirk that Knuckles truly wanted to wipe off his face, Fang said, "A pity I've gone to all this trouble for nothing, but it's not the first time my plans have fallen through, nor will it be the last. I do believe you've met my Marvelous Queen before, but I doubt you're aware of all her talents." The bike shifted suddenly from wheels to hover mode and rose gracefully to a height of three feet. Looking down at the echidna, the weasel-wolf added, "And that's not all." He flipped a switch between the handle bars and a darkly glowing maelstrom opened in front of him. "Farewell guardian!" he cried mockingly as the bike jetted into the dimensional portal, which closed promptly behind him.
Knuckles, having lost his target, turned on the hangar shed and knocked it down on top of the small plane. That will make sure the Clan can't escaped before GUN gets here, he rationalized. He was still scowling at it when Tikal poked her head out the gate. "Is it safe?"
"He got away," growled the irritated Guardian. "I failed again."
"Nonsense," said Tikal firmly. "You came to get the Master Emerald back, and you have. Once you'd achieved that goal, there was no need to fight the thief anymore. Fighting never solves anything anyway; it only causes more trouble, sooner or later."
Knuckles looked at the peach echidna. She had her chin up, and her blue eyes met his with unwonted belligerence. A small smile crept across his face in spite of himself, and he dropped his gaze, raising one hand to tentatively poke at the spot where Fang had pulled off his dreadlock.
Tikal gave a soft cry and came forward, pulling his head down so she could look. He was a bit disappointed by her sensible, "It'll grow back," but submitted in silence to her examination of his other injuries. She was far more concerned by the needle stab from Fang's gun than he was. It was fairly low on his chest, between two of his ribs but not that deep, and it took him a bit to figure out why she was so concerned about it. Puncture wounds had been far more serious in her day than they were now; many of the ancient Knuckles warriors had covered their namesake spikes with longer sheaths in battle, because an injured enemy that managed to flee would frequently be stricken by a high fever that bound his jaws invisibly together, and sent his whole body into spasms. Lockjaw, thought Knuckles.At one point he'd gotten a lecture from Tails about it, which had resulted in the echidna giving in and getting a shot to prevent it. Yeah, let's go get a puncture wound on purpose in case I get one by accident, he'd thought at the time. But it was a disease that he'd been warned about by his tutors, and living alone as he did it had seemed a good idea. He wasn't particularly afraid of dying but preferred something a bit less stupid than stepping a splinter or a shard from a defunct robot. He was more concerned that the needle might have been drugged or poisoned, than with the injury it had caused.
Shadow stepped away from the gate and offered Tikal an open first-aid kit. She recognized its purpose at once, and started pulling out gauze rolls and bandages. Catching Knuckles looking at the GUN logo, the dark hedgehog shrugged. "They'd already smashed this case open. I figured we may as well use it." He handed the red echidna a damp towel.
"We?" Knuckles didn't see any indication of injuries on the other. Being the Ultimate Life-form had its advantages. "What did you do with them?" he asked.
"They're still there," answered Shadow casually. "A bit tied up at the moment, if you'll pardon the pun, but GUN forces are on their way to pick them up and recover the supplies. I'm not sure what they'll do about the other stuff up there. Anyway, I didn't think we needed to hang around until they got here, but I thought you might want to clean up a bit before appearing in front of the Lady Guardian."
Knuckles had a sudden vision of himself, bloody and bruised, standing before Lady Marahuté. It wasn't so much that she'd mind, he thought, as that he'd mortally offend the other griffs and probably the Babylonians by appearing before her in such a state. "Yes," he agreed, starting to wipe at some of his grimier spots with the towel. Slogging through jungle did not do much for one's appearance, but he hadn't realized until he started wiping just how dirty he'd gotten. "I do." Then he frowned. "But she's not even on this continent; it's not like I can just appear . . . oh." He flushed as Shadow quirked an eyebrow at him. "You don't have to teleport me all over the planet," he protested, "I only asked for help to get the Master Emerald back. And I do appreciate your help," he finished a bit lamely.
The crimson eyes studied him thoughtfully. "I don't mind," said the hedgehog at last. "And I admit that I'm curious about these other stones. The question is, are you declining my help because you don't want to put me out, or because you really don't want me to come along? Because I can at least drop you closer to your goal, even if not right on it." He tilted his head and smiled faintly. "And if you don't want me to come, I promise I won't be offended if you tell me so; I've certainly been in the position of keeping awkward secrets or being burdened with unwanted company."
Knuckles looked away, to the annoyance of Tikal, who was trying to clean the spot where his dreadlock-quill had been pulled out. He winced as she pointedly poked it harder with the disinfectant pad; she'd already bandaged the needle-jab and his shattered knuckle spike. "Do I get to come too, then? Or are you going to drop Master Emerald and me off at Angel Island on the way?" she asked in a carefully neutral tone.
"Oh." Knuckles hadn't thought about that. He took the pad away, and dabbed at the bald spot himself. She took it back with a tsk of irritation and rubbed a spot right below that he'd presumably missed. Shadow was looking very amused and Knuckles glared daggers at him. "I can do either, as you wish," said the black hedgehog without a trace of humor in his voice, thought it still glinted in his eyes. "But I do recommend we go before the GUN patrol gets here."
Tikal was looking at Knuckles hopefully. The red echidna sighed. "I'm not sure I can take you right in to the caves," he temporized. "There's a guard at the entrance and they only let me in last time because I was with Wave. But," he looked at Shadow, "if you can drop us at the entrance to the tunnel, then we can try. At least I can have someone get in touch with Kestrel, and he can take a message to the Lady for me." He grinned as Tikal clasped her hands together, not quite jumping with delight. "After all, as long as you're off the Island, you may as well get to see a few things; and as a Guardian yourself all these years, I'd think you're entitled to meet Lady Marahuté and the Angel. If Shadow's sure he doesn't mind."
"Quite sure," said Shadow, also amused by the peach echidna's excitement. Resuming his courtly act, he bowed to Tikal. "If it pleases you, my lady, then it is doubly pleasing to me."
"I think I'm outnumbered," said Knuckles. "But how do you know where we're going? I mean, you can't just jump to 'the spot outside the griffs' cave' can you? Without having been there?"
"I can't go somewhere I've only heard of, no," answered Shadow, "But I can go to any place I have seen. And I believe you told me that the Master Emerald can show scenes in its facets, so I thought we'd ask it to show me where to go."
"But its never been there–"
"But you have, Knuckles!" interrupted Tikal. "Just tell it where and it will know where you mean because you do."
The red echidna opened his mouth, and then closed it, deciding to quit before he looked any more foolish. If it didn't work, then he'd be vindicated, and if it did, well . . . . It won't be the first time I've been wrong. He pulled out the dwindled King stone, realizing for the first time that it didn't actually look small, somehow - like the Fire Opal's shards, it simply took up less space without itself changing at all. It was vaguely unnerving, as if he and Shadow and Tikal and everything around had grown larger, rather than the Master Emerald shrinking. He shivered and spoke to the gem softly, self-conscious in front of his audience. "We need to go to the griffs' cave to reform the Chronos Rock. Can you show Shadow where I want to go?"
A sourceless light reflected off the upper facets of the green stone, and suddenly the largest, central facet reflected from nowhere the guard post outside the cave, with a golden-hued griff on guard. Shadow extended a hand to each of the echidnas, and the whole world went green.