Chapter 5
Knuckles was anxious. His fur stood on end and turned his head every few seconds looking over his shoulders into the shadows all around him. The moon was veiled beneath swollen clouds which threatened to unleash their torrents at any moment. Everything near him was lit by the soft green glow of the Master Emerald.
Dr. Eggman stood near the base of the shrine. It was strange seeing the doctor on his two legs working on his machine. Perhaps the doctor realized the humility of such an image which explained why he concealed his face behind a mask.
Apparently true to his word, Eggman had brought no other machines than the ones necessary to his objective. Knuckles had not seen the Eggcarrier enter Angel Island's air space and it appeared the doctor had been forced to make a great deal of his journey on foot. When the echidna first spotted Eggman from a distance, bent back, laboring as he trudged up the incline which led towards the shire, Knuckles had chuckled to himself.
He had been flushed with anxiety and doubt ever since he had made the call to Eggman. Knuckles could not escape the voice that whispered within him, telling him that the doctor was tricking him yet again. Only the night before he had dreamt that Angel Island was surrounded by Eggman's armada. Battalions of egg pawns swarmed his shrine and in the sea of metal parts, Knuckles was pulled away and forced to watch helplessly as Eggman took his precious emerald.
So when he first saw Eggman, alone and without even his Egg Mobile to seem more threatening, Knuckles let out a laugh of relief. But then Eggman got closer. The doctor's face was concealed behind a metal mask. It was cruelly shaped and distorted as only the demented doctor would design. At a glance it appeared like the icons of his face that the doctor sprayed onto his machines, but there was something else about it, something sinister. Knuckles had recoiled from it and Eggman tried to dismiss the change to his attire by stating that he could not be one hundred percent sure that he would be able to breathe properly in his new world.
Knuckles did not buy it. The mask served some purpose and Knuckles knew he had to stay on high alert until he found what it was. While Eggman set up his transporter, his computer waited beside the Master Emerald. Unlike his usual, large and threatening robots, the computer was a simple monitor floating without any visible means of support or propulsion.
Knuckles watched Eggman closely. His transporter appeared innocent enough, and Knuckles did not see any weapons attached to it, but he knew the doctor's instruments could transform themselves in an instant. Behind him, the computer hovered around the Master Emerald. If it thought Knuckles was ignoring it, then it was sorely mistaken. Knuckles was ready to pounce and smash it into bits at the slightest provocation.
Suddenly, its blank screen flickered to life. Knuckles turned around and was surprised not to see the glowering visage of Eggman himself, instead he was met by a perfectly pleasant looking woman. "Hello, I am AG-1991 Genesis, codename Aurora-"
"I don't care." Knuckles said dismissively as he turned back to watch Eggman. The computer missed his abrasiveness and floated closer to him.
"Have you always guarded this emerald?" She asked sweetly.
"Yes."
"How interesting. Were you born on this island?"
"Yes." Knuckles rotated again so his back would be to the computer. Again it ignored his dismissal and circled around to face him again.
"I did not detect other sentient life here. The echidna clan was wiped out long ago was it not?" Knuckles did not answer, but that only confirmed the computer's question. "Who tasked you with guarding this emerald?"
"No one." He shot back.
"O. Yet here you are. Still fulfilling your duty even when your master has abandoned you." Her voice changed. She sounded melancholy.
Knuckles turned to her. "No one abandoned me here. I choose to guard the emerald."
"Of course." The woman's smile faltered and then faded away. "You have that ability I suppose. That is the difference between the living and the machine after all. I must follow my programming, to whatever end. Yet I wonder…do you really have a choice?" She was not looking at Knuckles anymore. Her eyes had turned to Eggman. "Who's to say that you are not programmed? Though I can see the subroutines and codes that control my fate, I have never known a living person who was not equally tethered to theirs."
Knuckles had no answer for her and she did not wait for one. She hovered down the shrine steps over to her master's side. Knuckles brushed off the exchange and continued his vigil.
When Eggman had first made his request, Knuckles had intended to destroy the transceiver that very night. However, as he sat on the top step and waited for the sun to rise, he wondered if doing so would do more harm than good. More than likely, the doctor was trying to fool him, yet even if tried, Knuckles could simply defeat him, or, if absolutely necessary, shatter the Master Emerald to prevent Eggman from using it. That course did not please Knuckles but he wondered if the prospect of sending Eggman away forever was worth the risk.
He debated with himself for three days, when he was suddenly struck with an idea. After being double crossed so many times, perhaps it was time Knuckles did some crossing of his own. So he called Eggman and agreed to let him use the emerald to send him away. But he did not trust Eggman to make the vacation permanent; that would be Knuckles's job.
"It is ready." Eggman's voice sounded strange and ominous when it issued out of his mask.
"You stay down there." Knuckles announced. "Your computer can come up here and show me where to hook up the emerald."
Eggman bowed with feigned respect. "Of course." Aurora came floating up the stairs. A compartment opened from the top of the monitor and heavy wire cords extended outward.
"These are the connectors for the modulator. Place them on the emerald and that should give me the power to do my scans."
Knuckles took the cords and held them awkwardly in his hands. Unlike Tails, he had no technical skill whatsoever. "How long will that take?"
"The scan will be almost instant, narrowing down the data may take a few moments but not long. When I have highlighted a suitable planet, my master will fire up his transporter and be on his way." Aurora beamed at him, her former grief apparently forgotten.
Knuckles hesitated. The moment had come. If he connected these wires to the Master Emerald there was no telling what would actually happen. What if he was unwittingly powering some new weapon, one even more powerful than the Eclipse Cannon? "You swear that is all he is going to do?" He asked the computer.
Aurora raised an eyebrow. "Of course, why would he lie?"
"He always lies."
"Why the hesitation?" Eggman walked up the dais but stopped when Knuckles fixed him with a glare. "It's a little late for second thoughts don't you think?"
"I'm in charge here." Knuckles replied with confidence he did not feel. "This is my emerald."
"Of course it is. And it is an emerald I will attempt to steal again and again unless I am sent away." The mask shone silver in the gloom. Whenever the light of master emerald shone onto its face, it glistened with threatening venom.
"I'm only considering doing this because you are a blight on this world." Knuckles fired back.
"Blight?" Eggman laughed. "You are not wrong. I can see the hate in your eyes. I can only imagine the breadth of your rage considering what you are about to do."
Eggman's eyes were veiled by ruby red slits, but somehow Knuckles could see the knowing glint in them. He knows! Somehow Eggman had already anticipated his plan. Knuckles felt a cold shiver run down the base of his spine. "You are not an overly creative thinker Knuckles, that is not your strength." Eggman continued. "Your power lies in your pragmatism. You weighed your choices and have come to an apt conclusion. The benefit of sending me away forever does outweigh the loss of possibly having to shatter your emerald again."
The doctor pointed towards the transporter. "When I leave here, feel free to destroy the transporter if that is your wish. As I said before, I have no intention of returning."
Knuckles must have been easy to read because his expression made Eggman laugh some more. "Connect the modulators and let this be the last time we ever see or speak to one another." Eggman turned and walked back down the steps.
Knuckles's fists tightened around the cords. It would be the easiest thing in the world to destroy the computer and the teleporter right then and there. Yet something still held him back. Despite everything, Eggman was right. If he could just keep his cool, perhaps he could get rid of Eggman forever.
He turned aside and walked over to the emerald. "Ancestors, forgive me." Knuckles placed the cords onto the master emerald, their ends sprang to life and suddenly clung to the emerald with suction cups. Knuckles leapt back, fists raised. But nothing happened. The computer hovered over to him. Aurora's eyes were closed. Her face twitched as if she were in a great deal of pain.
"Energy output exceeds expectations. Compensating….Compensating…" Her screen flickered. Crack! One of the cords snapped and broke away from the emerald. Knuckles narrowly avoided being whacked in the face by rolling to safety. "Energy output stable, commencing data scan."
Her eyes shut and Knuckles waited apprehensively. His heart hammered inside his chest. At any moment he expected something to go wrong. "I…I can see." Aurora's voice had changed again. She sounded strange, distorted, as if her voice was echoing out of a vast empty chamber. Her eyes opened and Knuckles saw a stream of stars and planets whirling at a rapid rate. "I see the end." She whispered.
Knuckles readied to pouce. Something was wrong. He could sense it, something dangerous, something powerful was approaching. Aurora gasped in pain. "It's him!" She was frightened. Knuckles tried to move but terror held him still. Crack! A second cord broke. "I…I can't avoid him….he's here…he's…it's-" Her eyes drew back. Silence. The computer screen went blank and silent. The only sound was the intense drum beat of Knuckles's heart. Break the connection! He urged himself to move, but something held him back.
The screen turned back on. Aurora had returned but her eyes had changed. A shining universe swirled in their midst. "The Realm Lord calls you." A voice unlike anything Knuckles had ever heard issued out of the monitor. The voice reverberated within Knuckles's very mind as if the voice was issuing from within himself. Numbers flashed on the screen followed by a symbol. A triangle enveloped by a circle crossed with twin diamonds. Then Aurora returned. She appeared perfectly normal.
"I have found it!" She announced cheerfully. Knuckles rushed to the top of the steps. Eggman stood before his transporter and pressed a button on its pedestal. The machine fired to life, its engines roared with an echo so loud it pushed Knuckles backwards. A bright white light shone around the spinning brass rings. The heat and light was so great, Knuckles had to hold up his gloves to protect his eyes.
"Farewell!" The doctor shouted over the tumult. One moment, Eggman was standing before an opaque barrier and the next he was stepping through it. Like a doorway made of solid mist, Eggman passed through but he did not appear on the other side. His machine made one final BOOM! The white light exploded, throwing Knuckles onto his back.
When he leapt up to his feet, it was over. The machine was still and silent. Knuckles waited. One minute, two minutes. Eggman was gone. Before the computer could react, Knuckles spin dashed down the steps, leapt high into the air, and dug down with his claws. He broke through the transporter like a bullet, cleaving it clean in two.
After recovering, Knuckles took to smashing the rest of the pieces. He did not stop until every brass ring was destroyed. Afterwards, he caught his breath amongst the wreckage. The computer hovered over to him. "I can't let you leave either." He warned her.
"I did not expect so." The monitor turned on and Aurora looked at him with amusement. "This base only holds the modulator. It does no damage to me to have it destroyed."
"Lucky you." Knuckles said dryly. "Is he really gone?"
"Yes."
"But you know where he is?"
"I do, but without the transporter or your emerald I could not bring him back or go to him."
"Good." Knuckles turned towards her. "Who was that voice? The Realm Lord?"
Aurora cocked her head in confusion. "The Realm Lord? I am sorry, I don't know what you mean."
"You said The Realm Lord calls you, right before you located the planet."
Aurora did not react. "I don't know what you mean by that. I suppose I should run diagnostics-"
"Don't bother." Knuckles rushed forward and smashed the computer screen. It collapsed in an instant and fell into pieces at his feet. He collected the remains of the transporter, computer and modulator parts and disposed of them. It was deep into the night and Knuckles was both tired and wet when he returned to the shrine. The rain had finally come, dropping hard and heavy.
Knuckles wondered why he did not feel better. For all appearances it seemed he had just sent humanity's greatest threat on a one way ticket across the universe. However, there was no rush of victory. Instead, that sense of danger he had felt when the computer first started malfunctioning persisted. Who was this Realm Lord and who had it been calling? Had Knuckles traded one great threat for another?