In the distance, in the desert, Knuckles collapsed from the immense amount of heat there. Some non-mobian vultures circled around her.

Knuckles didn't even try to get up. The excessive amount of guilt he felt for his father's death, what his mother, his aunts, his uncle and his cousins Jon and Kneecaps might think, and his friends… Julie-Su… Ralph… Shade… Remington… Gabor… Tik - no. Especially not her. Every time he remembered her, he started crying uncontrollably.

There was no point in thinking about it now.

He was finally unconscious.

But while he was unconscious, two mobians appeared and violently attacked the vultures, sending them flying.

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaahh!" exclaimed the older of the two, a hedgehog. "Oh away! Go away! Out of here! Whoo!"

"I love bowling with the vultures!" the fox laughed.

"It never fails us." the hedgehog dusted himself off and realized that Knuckles was unconscious. "UH oh. Hey Tails you better come here. I think he is still alive."

"Oh…" Tails moved closer and clearly saw the echidna.

"We can't leave him here." the hedgehog said in a low voice. "How did he get here?"

"I… I don't know, Sonic." Tails scratched his head. "This desert is not exactly in the best conditions to live in."

"It is not a joke." Sonic fanned. "It's about 60 degrees here."

"Come on, Sonic." Tails and Sonic lifted Knuckles between them. "Let's get out of here and find some shade."

The duo quickly found an oasis in the desert, where they placed Knuckles near the water. Sonic doesn't usually associate himself with water, but he made an exception. The hedgehog splashed Knuckles' face gently with a little cold water. On the other hand, Tails fanned him with a large leaf that he took from a palm tree. The echidna gradually regained consciousness.

"Are you OK, friend?" Sonic asked him.

Knuckles was surprised to see the duo since he had never seen them before.

"I… guess so."

"You almost died." Tails said. "We saw you in the desert and brought you here."

"Well, thanks for the help." Knuckles said quietly before starting to walk.

"Hey, where are you going?" Sonic asked him.

"To nowhere." Knuckles stops in front of the hedgehog.

"Wow," Tails said. "He look blue."

"No, I'm blue, he is red." Sonic pointed out.

"No, no, no, no. I mean, he's depressed."

"Oh! Hey wait!"

Sonic approached Knuckles, more concerned than before.

"Hey buddy, have you eaten anything?"

"No. Nothing at all."

Knowing that this was going nowhere, Tails changed the subject.

"So where are you from…?" Tails asked him.

"Who cares," Knuckles sighed. "I'm not going back."

"So, are you an outcast?"

"Yes." Knuckles sighed. "I did something terrible. My father died because of me and now I don't have to go."

"Oh, I'm sure it was just an accident." Sonic assured. "At times like this we two always say. You have to leave your past behind."

"No, no, no. Amateur." Tails said. "Lie down before you hurt yourself." Then he looked at Knuckles. "It is necessary to leave the past behind. You know, take life one day at a time, with no past, no future. It is easy. He knows about it."

"What?" Sonic asked

"It only takes a break." Tails explained. "Uh, little bit of… vacation."

"I'm not sure about that…"

"Then maybe you need a new lesson. Repeat after me." Tails cleared his throat. "Hakuna Matata."

Knuckles had never heard that phrase before and scratched his head. "Eh?"