That afternoon, Tikal and Gabor met up with Shade, Julie-Su, Ralph, Remington, Jon and Kneecaps, having no clue of what happened.
"I have an idea." said Tikal to them. "Why don't we all go swimming at the lake?"
"Ooh, sounds like fun!" Ralph grinned which was in the company of his 6 flickys.
"As long as it's safe, it's fine by me." Julie-Su agreed.
"Sure." Said Remington, "As long as there's no rogues this time."
"Let's see if Knuckles wants to come!" Shade put in.
"I hope he's returned." Jon commented.
"I saw him walk out early this morning," Kneecaps put in, "but I don't know where he went."
"He may have returned by now." Gabor pointed out. "Race ya to his house!"
The echidnas playfully raced along.
Ralph took the lead, and he went after Jon, Kneecaps and Gabor. The three wanted to go ahead and pretended to use the excuse that one of the flickes was hurt. When he stopped to tend to it, he saw that the the three young echidnas raced ahead.
"Hey, that's cheating" Cried Ralph.
"There are no rules in this race." giggled Gabor, Jon and Kneecaps.
"Is that so?"
Ralph then saw that Remington was close by. He jumped and landed on his shoulders. "I need a ride, so keep running." Explained the purple echidna to the brown one.
Remington wanted to say something, but decided to remain silent. He decided to let Ralph have his fun for now.
Julie-Su and Shade on the other hand, were trying to compete with each other on who was ahead of whom. The darker orange and pink echidnas had no idea that Tikal had run past them.
They all began to give their best effort to get there first. When they got close to Gabor, Jon and Kneecaps, Ralph jumped off Remington's shoulders and started running again. Julie-Su, Shade and Tikal also approached others, neck and neck.
Finally, the 8 echidnas were running on par with each other. They stopped short however when they saw something that made everyone fall to the ground (with the exception flickys who flew above the echidnas in shock.)
Espio was out cold on the ground.
"Espio!" Cried Julie-Su. She shook him a bit. "Espio, wakeup call!"
The chameleon stirred a bit and got up.
"Are you ok, Espio?" Asked Remington.
"Ugh… I…" He then gasped sharply. "Knuckles, Locke! Are they alright?!"
The echidna children looked at each other with confused and worried expressions.
"What do you mean, Espio?" Ventured Ralph, hesitantly.
"Wildebeests, in the gorge. Knuckles got caught in it, and Locke was trying to save him… and…"
"Did they make it out of there!?" Asked Gabor.
"I don't know… I was going to get help and I was knocked out."
The 8 little echidnas exchanged a serious look.
"It's not your fault, Espio." Comforted Shade.
"But what's important now is we get help." Tikal announced, taking charge. "Ralph and Julie-Su, carry Espio to the M.E. shrine. Remington and Shade, find Lara-Le, her sisters and her brother in law. They'll need to know about this. Gabor, Jon, Kneecaps and I will try and find Locke and Knuckles."
Everyone nodded and was off.
It didn't take the group long to gather who they were looking for. Lara-Le was in tears when she saw her husband. She was being accompanied by Mari-An, Wynmacher, Rita-Le and Komi-Ko.
"And… where's my son? Please tell me that at the very least, he's ok!"
"We… couldn't find him anywhere, Miss Lara-Le." Tikal apologised, as tears hit her eyes too.
Lara-Le, Mari-An, Wynmacher, Rita-Le, Komi-Ko and the kids gathered together as they got Locke's body ready to be buried, and gathered up the remaining tribe members.
"Locke's death was a terrible tragedy, but to lose Knuckles, who had barely begun to live." Finitevus explained.
The other echidnas were bowing their heads in sorrow. Lara-Le was still crying from that afternoon, and Espio was trying to comfort her. Tikal and Gabor were with their parents Pachacamac and Gala-Na. Both wept disconsolately in the arms of their parents. The pain of Tikal was comparable to that felt Lara-Le. Pachacamac was quite devastated by the death of his best friend. Mari-An, Wynmacher, Rita-Le and Komi-Ko tried to hold back their tears for Jon and Kneecaps' sake, but it was very difficult. Julie-Su and Ralph were together with their parents. Both hugged each other trying to console each other. The flickys were also very discouraged, tweeting a sad song. On the other hand, Remington let Shade cry on his shoulder. Both were accompanied by their parents. Seeing someone they looked up to so much… lying dead infront of their eyes. And to boot, their best friend… gone without a trace!
"For me, it is a deep personal loss." Finitevus sighed. "So it is with a heavy heart that I assume the title of guardian."
As Wave, Jet, Storm, and the other rogues emerged, much to the horror and dismay of Espio, Lara-Le, Tikal, Gabor, Gala-Na, Pachacamac, and the other echidnas, Finitevus carried on.
"Yet, out of the ashes of this tragedy, we shall rise to greet the dawning of a new era, in which citizens and rogues, come together, in a great and glorious future."
Vector was watching from a distance, and he shook his head. He soon returned to his hut, and shed a tear. He wiped the tear from his face, looked at the painting of Knuckles, and rubbed his hand across it, smearing it in the process.