Friend or Foe? Part 5!
or "Triple Trouble"

By: Erin Lindsey

rated PG(13?) this time for profanity, and
there's also a bit of violence in this part, too.
Somebody gets literally stabbed in the back! Owchies!
------------------------------

Authors Note: Skip this if you want, but I might just have to kill you ;)

ACCCCCAKKKAKKAKAKK!!!
Okay, sorry about that... Hee hee... I'm just excited 'cause this is the
final installment in my first Sonic Fan-Fic series! Don't worry though, there
will be more! I've already started writing two whole new stories!
Okay enough with the 'coming soons...'

On another note, I've been receiving e-mails from lots of readers, and
first of all I would like to thank them. I love getting mail! Especially
from my fans! Secondly, I have also gotten many offers to get my story
put up on other people's site and I thank them too, but please contact me
by e-mail if you want my stories on your site. When you do contact me,
please give me your e-mail address and the address of the site you are
going to put my stories up on. Thanks again!


Lastish -
1.)We learned that before Clawz met Knux again and fell off the island,
Clawz and Nack were workin for Robotnik when Nack got captured by the
Freedom Fighters, and Clawz went to hide out on the Floating Island.
2.)Archimedes and Locke (Knux's dad) investigate why the Chaos Emerald is
getting dimmer, and find some strange verses about "The Others...."
3.)Clawz recovered from his fall and found out Nack was in the FF.'s jail.
He helped break him out and Nack starts asking questions about the Chaos
Emerald.
4.)Everyone in Knothole finds stuff missing...
5.)Knuckles gets attacked and when he wakes up the Chaos Emerald is gone!
6.)The Floating Island Falls (D'oh!)

All right enough of that! If you want to know more about the story,
just read all the preceding parts! Duh!

Now onto the real story. Took me long enough didn't it? ;P




* * * * *




Chapter 9: "That Sinking Feeling"




::KER-SPLASH!!::

Knuckles felt his stomach heave as the island bobbed suddenly and
stopped slowly, giving him an incredible sickly feeling. He looked up
cautiously. He stared at the clouds blankly for a moment. He raised his
hand to his face and touched his nose gingerly.

"I'm still alive!" He said relieved. He tried to stand up but found
Mighty locked around his legs. "ACKK!" He yelled pushing him off, "Get offa
me you sicko!"

Mighty held on tight for a moment and Knuckles had to pry him off. He
fell on the ground, petrified, then stood up slowly, looking completely pale.
"Wh-what... h-happened??" He asked shakily.

"I don't know... The emerald is gone, but we didn't crash..." He said
more confused than he was, but much more pulled-together.

"What was that noise then?..." Mighty said trying to act as brave as
Knuckles was.

Knuckles turned to look at him. "What noise?" He asked.

"You know... That 'ker-splash'!" He said.

"Ker-splash?" Knuckles repeated.

Mighty nodded. Then, without another word, Knuckles rushed out of the clearing.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Mighty called, and ran after him. When he finally
caught up with the echidna, he slumped over panting. "Wha-What's the matter
Kn-knux?" He said still out of breath.

Knuckles didn't answer just continued looking across the edge of the
island. Mighty glanced up at the horizon and the ocean... Except this time,
the water wasn't miles below them. The water was only inches below them. Tiny
bubbles floated up ward from the depths as the salty waves splashed up onto
their feet.



* * * *



Tails turned suddenly. "Hey, guys... Did you hear that?" He asked.

Sonic looked up, "Hear what?" He said absentmindedly.

"I dunno... It sounded kinda like a splash or something.." He said.

"Look, you guys, we don't have time for imaginary noises! We've got
a serious problem on our hands!" Sally interrupted, "Knothole has been
robbed! Not to mention we have a bounty hunter with a vengeance on the loose!"

Tails frowned and sat down on the floor. "Nobody ever listens to me..."
He grumbled to himself.

"Now..." Sally said slowly running over the list of missing items,
"Lets see... Several chemicals and robotic parts from Rotor's lab... A
hover craft... A knife from the kitchen..."

"The only way it makes sense is that he's going to Robotnik!" Sonic
said. "He would give him the robot parts, use the hover craft to get there,
and the knife... for... uh... protection."

"Well I suppose." She said, "But it still doesn't explain how he got
out of the jail. And why didn't he come and try to kill you again? That was
his first mission, remember?"

"Well.. uh... Maybe he didn't have time..." Sonic said.

"What about the chemicals? What did he want with them?" Sally said,
"What kind of chemicals were they anyway, Rotor?" She asked turning to him.

"Ah... I'm not exactly sure... Ammonia and something else... Mmm..
Chloroform... Very volatile. It could make you pass out if you breath the
fumes." He said.

"I wonder what he wanted them for...." She said. "I guess Robotnik
could need them for something... It just doesn't make much sense!"

"Wait uh minute! I think ah figured it out!" Bunnie said, standing up
for a moment then her knee short circuited again and she almost fell. Antonie
caught her and held her up. "He had to have sum help ta git that lock open,
am ah right?" She asked, regaining her dignity.

"Yeah. I re-designed that lock after he got out the first time.
There's no way he could have opened it from inside his cell." Rotor said.

"Then he's got uh accompliss." She said confidently.

"An accomplice?" Sally said, "Are you inferring that one of us helped
him escape?"

"No, no, no. That's not what ah mean. At least not one off us whose
here now..." Bunnie said.

"What are you meaning, cherie?" Antonie asked, "Everyone ess here."

She shook her head, "No... Not all uh us..." She said solemnly.

Everyone stared at her for a moment, then glanced at each other.

"Clawz." She said.

Everyone was silent.

"No! Clawz wouldn't do that!" Tails said standing up.

Sally tried to calm him, "Now, Tails... He is missing...." She said.

"So??" He said loudly, "That doesn't mean he did it!"

"Look, it all makes perfect sense!" Bunnie said, "Nack and him must
be workin' fo Robo together! Before Nack got caught by us, he musta told
Clawz if he weren't around fer a little while ta come lookin' for him. When
we captured Nack, Clawz just suddenly showed up from nowhere! It was a a plan
to get his partner out!" She said, slamming her metal fist on the table,
making a large dent. "Oops... Sorry." She said sheepishly, drawing her hand
back.

"He was hurt though! We found him all beat up in that tree, remember?"
Tails defended.

"Maybe he faked it." She said stubbornly.

"But his arm and leg were broken!" Tails said, "I don't think he
could fake that!"

"Well... Maybe he got hurt by accident!" She says, "It still doesn't
matter! All the other evidence points to him!"

"It would explain why he kept insisting 'I didn't do it' or whatever,
when he woke up the first time. He must be the accomplice!" Sonic said.

"CALM DOWN EVERYONE!" Sally ordered.

Everyone obeyed silently, sitting down again, a bit surprised at her
sudden outburst.

"Look, it doesn't matter now! What matters is that we have to find
him! Nack could tell Robotnik the location of Knothole!" She said firmly. "We
can't worry about who, or how, why right now! We have to find him before he
gets to Robotopolis!"

"She's right! We shouldn't be arguing at a time like this!" Sonic
said, for once setting a good example.

"Maybe I can use the tracer to find the hover craft's location!"
Rotor said, "But I don't know if it's functioning or not..."

"What have we got to lose?" Sally said, handing him her little
computer, "You can use Nicole's radar."

"Thanks Sally." He said, "We'll have to go outside to pick up the
best readings."

"What are we waiting for, then?" Sonic said, "C'mon lets go!"

The all rushed out on his command and stood in the middle of the
court yard. Rotor quickly booted up Nicole, and everyone gathered around to
watch her screen.

"Hello, Sal-- I mean er.. Rotor... Everyone...." Nicole droned in a
rather confused voice as her main screen came up.

"Sorry, Nicole. We got an emergency on our hands. Activate radar
tracking device. Organic and robotic screenings." Rotor said.

"Activating, big boy." She said, humming softly.

Rotor blushed slightly. The large radar screen appeared in hologram
form, spitting out of Nicole's holo-port in her back. Everyone backed away
from the screen to examine the map. Several large blobs of red and green
appeared.

"Uh... Okay... What are those splotch thingies supposed to be?" Sonic
said blankly.

"Auto-labeling of known forms, Nicole." Sally said.

Several words began popping up on the radar hologram, labeling some
of the blobs with specific names.

Sally pointed at them and read them aloud, "Here's Robotropolis...
Here's the Great Forest... Here's Knothole.... And here's...." She gasped
suddenly.

"What? What's tha mattah Sally-girl?" Bunnie asked.

"There's three unknown forms... Two are moving... The other is this
big green form here..." She said pointing.

"What is that?" Tails asked.

"I don't know... It could be an island or something, but one of the
moving forms.. Could be Nack!" She said hopefully.

"Yeah... But which one?..." Sonic said.

"Uhh..." Sally mumbled, "Well... That one is going towards
Robotropolis... But it doesn't seem to be coming from here. And this one...
Seems to be... Coming towards here!" She said, suddenly shocked.

"What?!" Sonic said alarmed, "Coming here?"

"Oh no! Nack's already told Robo are locatun! That mus be him comin
ta git us!" Bunnie said hysterically.

Antonie panicked, "Sacre Bleu! Heel 'botizise us all and we shall be
working as slaves fornever!" He shouted.

"That's 'forever', Ant. " Sonic corrected.

"That's what I is saying, fornever!"

Sonic sighed, then looked up. "Hey! Look!" He said pointing at the
sky, where a red figure was approaching. Suddenly just as Sonic said that,
the figure began to waver, then finally fell to the ground in a meadow on
the outside of the forest.

"What was that?!" Tails said.

"I dunno but I'm gonna go find out." Sonic said, and zoomed off in a
cloud of dust.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Sally said. They all followed, although coughing
through all Sonic's wake.



* * * * *



"Heh heh... Almost there!" Nack said relaxing back in the seat of his
hover-craft.

Actually, it wasn't his at all, considering that he stole it
from the freedom fighters. He could already see the billowing clouds from
Robotropolis' smokestacks on the distant horizon.

"I bet Robotnik'll pay a handsome price fer this beauty." He said,
patting the beautiful green gem in the seat beside him.

He stared at it for a moment, "Hey... I coulda sworn this thing was
bigger uh second ago..." He said examining it closely. "It almost looks
darker too." He said touching the now cool, but smooth surface.

He shrugged his shoulders, "I guess I'm just seein' things."

He dismissed the idea and relaxed again. "Those Freedom Fighters are
really gonna get it when I tell Robo 'bout there 'lil secret base." He said
happily to himself. "They're gonna pay fer lockin' me up..." He said but it
was no longer as happy as before.

He sighed almost sadly. "Too bad Clawz didn't want in on tha job. If
I let him go... He woulda told 'em... I couldn't ta let that happen. He was a
traitor... Not me." He said trying to reassure himself that he had done the
right thing. But he still felt a cold feeling, another emptiness, maybe it
was guilt. Guilt that he had killed his own brother.



* * * *


Sonic was cautiously approaching the field where the unknown figure
had landed. He scanned the grass carefully, but couldn't see anything. Sally
and the others finally caught up with him.

"Do you see anything, Sonic?" Tails said landing.

"Not yet.. Stay back... It could be hidden." He said, holding them
back with one hand.

"Nicole, re-activate hologram radar." Sally said.

"Yes, Sally. Re-activating." The computer droned. The hologram
appeared once again, showing the mystery form.

"What are this form's direction coordinates, Nicole?" Sally asked,
highlighting the small red blob in the meadow with the keyboard.

"35 degrees north, northeast." Nicole answered.

"It's over there then." Sally said, pointing the direction out to
the others.

"Okay. I'll go check it out." Sonic said, and began creeping towards
the center of the field.

Sally stopped him, "I'm coming, too." She insisted.

"No, Sal... I don't want ya to get hurt if--" He started.

"I'll be fine." She said, pushing by him, "I'm not helpless you know."

He sighed, "All right... But stay behind me." He said, stepping in
front of her.

She looked rather angry, but didn't object. She followed him closer
to the center, brushing aside the long grasses as they went.

"Where is it?" Sonic asked confused.

"We should be right on top of it now." Sally said.

Suddenly Sonic tripped over something. "What the heck?!" He yelled,
falling to the ground.

"Hey! Why don't ya watch were your going?!" Knuckles said, angrily
although weakly, as he stood up.

"Knuckles?" Sally asked surprised.

"Sally!" He said, "Oh am I glad to see you!" He stepped toward her
but practically fell as he did.

She caught him, "Knux are you all right?" She asked.

"No... Everything's wrong..." He said, "You have to help me..."

Sonic stood back up and turned to them, "What are YOU doing here?!"
He snarled defensively, seeing Sally holding him.

"Leave him alone, Sonic... He's in trouble." She said.

"Hmmph!" He said, "Why should we help him?"

Knuckles turned to him, "Please... You've got to.. They'll all die if
you don't! Please..." He pleaded, falling to his knees.

Sonic was obviously very surprised. He stood there stiffly for a
moment. Knuckles looked up at him, eyes full of fear. It was something Sonic
had never thought or expected from the big echidna. He had come to him for
help.

Sally bent down to Knuckles' side, "We'll help you." She said softly,
"Get up, we have to get you back to Knothole. You don't look so good..."

"No!" He said, standing up again suddenly, "There's no time! We have
to do something, and fast, before everyone on the Floating Island drowns!"

"Drowns?" She asked, confused.

"Yes!" He said sharply, "The Chaos Emerald was stolen, the island
fell into the ocean.... It's sinking..." He said.

Bunnie, Rotor and the others were approaching them now, seeing there
was no danger.

"Oh my god!" Sally said. "The ocean must be miles from here! You flew
all that way?" She asked.

"I had to... I had to find help!" Knuckles said. "And believe me...
It wasn't easy!" He said, again feeling faint.

Sonic steadied him this time. "What can we do to help?" He asked.

Knuckles looked at him, "I... I don't know..." He mumbled, "Maybe
I should have stayed... Stayed and died with them..."

"No, Knuckles." She said, "You came looking for help, and were going
to give it to you. Maybe we could go to the island and take the people back
to the main land..."

"No... There's no time... There's too many people... The only way to
save them would be to get the Chaos Emerald back, and I don't even know who
stole it!" He said, defeated.

"Maybe it was Nack!" Rotor said suddenly. "He would do something like
that!" He said.

"Nack? Who are you talking about? Who's Nack?" Knuckles asked.

"He was a bounty hunter who tried to kill Sonic for Robotnik a while
back. We had caught him and put him in jail, but he escaped last night."
Sally explained. "We think he had an accomplice named Clawz Wildcat."

Knuckles stared at her wide-eyed for a moment, "Clawz? B-but... He's
dead..." He stammered.

"Dead?!" Tails yelled.

"Do you know him Knuckles?" Sally asked.

"Well I did... He died... About a month ago." He said solemnly.

Sally and Sonic glanced at each other.

"What are you talking about? He was here just a day ago." He said.

Knuckles looked very confused, "Huh? But... He died! He fell of the
Floating Island!" He said.

"Fell off the island?" Sally said, "That would explain why we found
him in the tree... Because he fell from above..."

"You mean he didn't die?" Knuckles asked.

"No. He fell into the Great Forest. Sonic and Tails found him
practically mangled in a tree." She said.

Knuckles was aghast for a moment. "That would explain it... He knew
where the Chaos Emerald was... He and Nack must have stolen it... He did it
again..." He said softly. "How could he have done something like that? I
should have never trusted him. Now my father's legacy is going to be 2,000
leagues under the sea!"

Sally put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Knuckles. I think I
know what to do now." She said. "We know where they are."

Knuckles stood up straight, "Y-you do?" He said hopefully.

"Yes. See." She said showing him the other moving form on the radar.

"He's going to Robotropolis!" Knuckles exclaimed, "We gotta stop them!"

"I bet I can catch up with them." Sonic said confidently.

"I'm coming with you!" Knuckles said.

"You're still weak though..." Sally said.

"I'm fine. It's my responsibility, not yours anyway." He insisted.

"You guys could use the bi-plane!" Tails said, "I could fly it!"

"Hmm... I don't think so, Tails. This might get dangerous." Sonic said.

"I don't care! I can do it!" He said firmly, "I want to prove to you
guys that I'm not just a little kid anymore!"

"Let him come. We might need some backup." Knuckles said.

"I don't know..." Sally said.

"Please Aunt Sally!" Tails pleaded, "I could help! We could get there
faster using the plane, and I'm the best at flying it!"

"All right... Just be careful" She said, but the three had already
ran off to get the plane. She sighed. "Good luck you guys." She said to the
wind.




* * * * *



Archimedes sat up slowly. He looked around the library wearily. All
the books had fallen off their shelves and onto the ground in huge piles. All
he could remember is that Knuckles' father and him had been searching for
the Lost Scrolls when suddenly a huge earthquake hit the island. He panicked
suddenly.

"Locke? Locke?!" He called hysterically, "Where are you!?"

"MMpha! Hummff! Haarrgh!" Came a muffled reply from underneath one
of the piles of books. Archimedes began digging frantically until he
unearthed his echidna master.

"ACK!" Locke coughed, gasping for air, "I thought I was going to
suffocate!" He said, pushing books off of his body. "Not to mention I got a
weird case of déjà vu."

"What happened?" Archimedes asked.

"An earthquake." He said.

"Well, I know that." He said stiffly, "But why?"

"Something must have happened to the Chaos Emerald." He said, alarmed.

"We better go check it out!" Archimedes said, and he climbed on top
of his head, and before Locke could object, they both disappeared in a puff
of smoke and then reappeared in the Chaos Chamber.

"Archimdedes! I'm not supposed to be here! What if Knuckles saw me,
he is not ready yet... To know the truth about me..." Locke protested.

The ant wasn't really listening to him though, "It's disintegrated!"
He yelled, pointing at the emerald's pedestal, which was now empty.

Locke stared at it for a moment. "What? This can not be... Where is
it?" He asked softly, still in disbelief.

"I've told you, it's disintegrated and we're all going to die!" He
yelled frantically.

"Archimedes, if we were going to die don't you think we already would
have?" Locke asked. "I mean, if the emerald is gone, we should have fallen,
and crashed or exploded or something."

"Maybe we already fell and we're really dead right now!" Archimedes
said, "I bet we could go back to Haven and find our dead bodies!" He yelped.

"Pull yourself together, man!" Locke said grabbing and shaking him.
"We're not dead! That's completely illogical."

"It's just what the scrolls said, the emerald will decide our fate!"
He said, still not listening.

"Don't be stupid. We must continue to look for the lost scrolls to
see what they say about what to do! If we find them they could help us!"
Locke insisted.

Archimedes calmed down slightly. "Y-you're right... We must stay calm
and keep our wits about us..." He said.

"Lets go back to the study and continue our search."

Archimedes obeyed and they were transported in a puff of smoke back
to the room full of books.

"What in the--" Locke started as he realized in their absence the
small room had begun to fill with water.

"Oh my!" Archimedes said, "A pipe must have broken during the earth
-quake."

"But... We don't have any pipes. All our water comes from the stream."
Locke said slowly, picking up one of his feet from the almost knee-high water.

Archimedes stared at him blankly for a moment. "Then how... did all
this water.... get in here?" He asked.

"How should I know?" Was all Locke could answer.




* * * * *


Chapter 10: "Blame Chaos"




The bi-plane took off with a loud rushing of the engines. Knuckles
was almost thrown off the top set of wings and had to bend down to hold on.

"Geez, careful, kid! How about trying a smooth take-off next time!"
He said, having to raise his voice over the sound of the engines.

"Sorry!" Tails said. "I was trying to make it quick. We have to catch
up with Sonic, then with Nack and Clawz."

"Well, lets go. You're right, we have to hurry." Knuckles yelled, as
they began to gain altitude. He looked down into the desert between the Great
Forest and Robotropolis. He put a hand over his eyes to shield them from the
sun. He saw a small blue blur racing along underneath them a little ways
ahead. "There's Sonic!" He announced, pointing to him.

"Yeah! See I told you using the bi-plane would be faster!" Tails said
happily. "We'll catch up with that hover craft in no time flat!"

"I hope so! Hundreds of lives on the Floating Island are counting on
us, not to mention all of the animals in Knothole if Nack tells Robo the
location!" Knuckles said.

"And if Robotnik found a way to use the Chaos Emerald's energy..."
Tails began.

"I don't even want to think about that. We've got enough riding on
our shoulders as it is." He said, shaking his head.

"Okay, were going down closer to the ground now, the air's getting
too thin up here. Hold on." Tails warned.

"All right. Y'know, your not so bad a guy for only being a kid." He
said, bending down on one knee to hold the wing.

"Thanks, Knuckles. I not that young y'know." He said, beginning the
decent down closer to where Sonic was running.

"Yeah, I know. You don't want to be treated like a kid anymore."
Knuckles said. "You must be, what... 10 years old?"

"Yeah... Well I will be in a couple of months..." Tails said.

"Oh, yes of course." Knuckles said smiling.

The plane pulled down beside Sonic, although still flying about a
meter off the ground. "How's it going guys?" Sonic yelled to them, "We should
be getting close to Robotropolis now!"

Knuckles looked up, "Hey! I think I see Nack's hover-craft! This is
gonna be easier than I thought!" He said.

"Tails, keep the plane flying, we might have to make a quick exit.
Knuckles, do you think you can jump down from up there and make a surprise
attack?" Sonic asked.

"Sure thing, Sonic." He said giving him a salute. "I'll stop 'em in
his tracks, then you can back me up, right?"

"That's the plan! C'mon, were gaining now..." He said and sped even
faster up behind the small vehicle, hovering inches of the ground. Tails took
the plane higher, then directly above it.

Nack sat up straight in his seat. "What's that noise?" He asked
himself. He looked out the window in back, but all he could see was a cloud
of dust. Suddenly the monitor on the control panel sprung to life.

"Identify yourself, being." Droned a SWATbot. "You are in Master
Robotnik's territory now. Identify yourself or be terminated."

"Whoa, whoa! Cool yer jets, helmet head! I'm Nack Weasel, tha bounty
hunter. I come ta negotiate wit yer 'Master Robotnik'". He said grimacing.

"What have you come to negotiate about Nack Weasel? Master Robotnik
is very busy and has no time for unimportant--"

"I got sumtin' very important. I'll tell him the location uh Knothole,
and if tha price is right, I might just hand over dis here purty jewel." He
said holding up the Chaos Emerald.

The robot was silent for a moment "Yes, Nack Weasel, Master wishes to
see you. We shall be sending out and escort. He is very interested in the
item and information you possess." It droned after getting a report.

"Good! Don't spare any expense." He said reclining in his seat again.

"Yes sir." The robot said, then disappeared from the screen.

Nack smiled, but it was short lived, considering a sudden loud noise
on the roof of his craft. He sat up again. He glanced out all the windows
cautiously. "Now I know I heard sometin' that time!" He tried to look through
the front windshield up at the roof, and was greeted by a sudden swing of a
large fist, cracking the glass.

"Surprise!" Knuckles growled.

"What the hell?!" Nack yelled backing away.

Knuckles began pounding on the window, making larger and larger
cracks in the pane as he did. Nack yelped and jumped in the back seat and
tried to hide. A suddenly sound of a buzz saw made him jump back into the
front. A plane had pulled up in front of him, and he couldn't see where he
was going, not to mention that Knuckles was about to shatter his windshield
to bits. He looked into the back again, where now he could see the blue saw
searing though the metal. He grabbed the Chaos Emerald frantically and threw
it into a sack, then quickly opened a side window and jumped out, holding the
bag for dear life. He rolled a couple times then, bruised and beaten, began
running towards the city in the distance.

He was no race for Sonic though, who caught up with him in a split
second. "Now where do you think you're going?" He said, stopping directly in
front of him.

Nack screeched to a stop and turned to run the other way, but was
stopped by the approaching echidna, "I don't think so." Knuckles said smiling.

Nack was trapped. He looked back and forth from both of them,
clutching the bag tightly. He couldn't let them have it back! It was his
fortune, his nest egg, his jack-pot...

"Hand it over, bounty hunter, and maybe we won't kill you... At least
not for a little while." Knuckles said, pounding one of his fists into his
other palm.

"Yeah... You really didn't think you could get away with it without
us dogging ya, did you?" Sonic said, cracking his knuckles.

"Well.. I.. er.." Nack stammered, clearly shaking in his boots.

"That's what I thought." Knuckles growled, then lunged at him fiercely.

Nack tied to dodge but, Knuckles caught him by the arm and punched
him squarely in the jaw. The weasel reeled back by the force of the blow.
Sonic tripped him and he fell to the ground spilling the contents of the bag
onto the ground. The Chaos Emerald lay in the middle of the pile of robotic
parts Mobian gold and silver royals, small quartz crystals, and other
miscellaneous stolen items. The emerald seemed to have regained it's normal
glow, and glittered brightly in the sunlight. Knuckles smiled and reached
for it anxiously, but stopped suddenly. He stared at it with a confused gaze
on his face.

"What's the matter with you?" Sonic snapped at the echidna, grabbing
Nack and holding him down on the ground. "Grab the emerald you idiot!"

Knuckles felt an odd force compelling him, he could barely hear
Sonic's words, but he did not listen. He felt the warm glow, soft pulsing
energy, so similar to what the Chaos Emerald felt like, yet so incredibly
different. He felt it was so weak, but even in it's weakness, it far
surpassed the power of the emerald. It was calling him...

"Knuckles! Knuckles?! Do you hear me you stupid echidna?!" Sonic
yelled desperately, as Nack began to struggle, "Grab the emerald and let's
get outta--"

Sonic was thrown back as a powerful laser shot the ground right in
front of them. Knuckles snapped out of his trance as he hit the ground.

"What in the --??!"

"Surrender organic beings or prepare to be terminated." A black
plane droned over a loud-speaker.

Sonic sat up glaring at the robotic air-craft. It was definitely one
of Robotnik's. "No way ya scrap metal! We ain't surrendering nothing!" He
yelled back confidently.

"Priority one, destroy!" The bot droned, and a large missile launched
out of it's bay and zoomed at the bi-plane.

Tails yelped frantically then abandoned ship a split second before
the missile collided with the left wing, splintering it like a twig. Tails
barely was out in the open when some of the falling debris hit him and sent
him barreling towards the ground. Sonic didn't waste any time but sped to the
crash site and caught him inches off the ground. Knuckles stood there trying
to decide to grab the emerald, go help Sonic, or find the strange force that
had held him earlier. Nack stood up suddenly and quickly snatched the emerald.
Knuckles tried to run after him, but he was bombarded by a rain of laser
beams from the ship and had to dodge them. Nack reached the ship and climbed
up a small ladder that had unrolled from it's cockpit.

"Ha ha ha! See ya suckers!" He laughed as the air-craft turned and
jetted away to Robotropolis.

Knuckles stood there, watching helplessly as it disappeared over the
horizon. He slumped down on the ground. Sonic approached him with Tails in
his arms from the back.

"Now look what you've done!" The hedgehog growled. "You let him get
away! What's the matter with you?!"

Knuckles mumbled something under his breath.

Sonic put Tails, who was unconscious but not hurt terribly, on the
ground. "What was that? I couldn't quite hear you." He retorted angrily.

"I said leave me alone, you bastard." He grumbled turning back to
face him, shaking a fist.

"Oh, is that how it is now?!" Sonic yelled back. "I don't see why I
even ever wanted to help you anyway! Your stupid island can sink to the
bottom of the ocean for all I care!"

Knuckles couldn't take it anymore. He leapt at the hedgehog, missing
him by a hair as Sonic darted away quickly. Knuckles snarled and leapt at him
again, this time taking him by surprise. Sonic fell forward onto his stomach.
He rolled over, but only to be pinned by the angry echidna. Sonic struggled
to get free, but the more he twisted the harder Knuckles jabbed his knee into
his stomach. The echidna was much stronger than he anticipated. Sonic
glared at him, and he stared back with glazed over eyes filled with rage. He
The echidna put a fist up to the hedgehog's throat. Sonic could feel the
sharp barbs against his neck. He felt a pang of real fear.

Suddenly, Knuckles' gaze broke his. He looked up and then let go of
Sonic, falling to the ground with his hands over his head. He whimpered softly.

Sonic sat up staring at the echidna on the ground.

"I can't do it." Knuckles said softly, still shaky.

"What?" Sonic asked, "What's the matter? Are you afraid?" He said, his
bravado and confidence returning.

"No." The echidna replied. "I cannot because _It_ tells me not to."

Sonic was very confused at this point. "What ARE you rambling about?"
He demanded.

"I don't know." Knuckles said, still with his hands over his head,
"The force won't let me kill you. I... I've always hated you, b-but.. You
do not deserve to die.. No one does."

"WHAT force?" Sonic yelled, "Who are you, Luke Skywalker?!"

Knuckles stood up and grabbed him around the throat. "I DON'T KNOW!" He
snarled with frustration.

"Ack.. Okay, geez... Calm down..." Sonic said, "Just put me down all
right??"

Knuckles hesitated then set him down. "The only reason I came here
for help was because of Sally you know." He said, turning away.

"The only reason I agreed to help you is because your her friend."
Sonic said.

"I suppose we have something in common..." Knuckles mumbled.

"Ohhh... Wha-what h-happened?" Tails asked wearily, sitting up and
rubbing his head.

Sonic rushed past Knuckles to his friend's side. "Tails, aw am I glad
you're all right!" He said.

Tails looked around them. "What happened to Nack... And the plane...
And the emerald?" He asked confused.

"They got away." Sonic said, not going into detail about how Knuckles
had messed everything up. He didn't want to get on that guy's bad side again.

"They're heading towards Robotropolis now." Knuckles said gravely.
"I'll never catch them."

"Hey! The Freedom Fighters never say never!" Sonic yelled. "We'll
catch them, no matter what it takes."

Knuckles turned to him. There was a slight hint of a smile on his face.
"Yes... Yes WE will." He said.



* * * * * *



"Ugggh... Sir, I don't think we can save any more of the books..."
Archimedes groaned unhappily as he and Locke hauled them to higher ground.

"I don't know how this could have happened..." Locke said, practically
to himself, as he looked out over the partially submerged island. The west end
was almost completely covered by the ocean, but the east side was tilted upward
slightly as the island continued to sink. It would not be long before the
land shifted totally vertical, and the underground caves filled. Locke sighed
sadly.

"Sir... Don't be down... We'll get through it..." Archimedes timidly
tried to reassure.

"I don't think so Archimedes. Not this time." He said soberly, "...I
should have foreseen this..."

"Don't blame yourself, Locke. It's not your fa--"

"Maybe it is... My fault." He interrupted. "Maybe I... I didn't train
Knuckles well enough. Maybe I have failed my father... And all the guardians
before him... Now we shall fall to the verdict of Chaos. Like the scrolls say."

"B-but Locke, we've done all we can... You have taught Knuckles well.
He is a good guardian. I know. Maybe this is the end, but do not blame
yourself. If anyone is to blame... Blame Chaos."

Locke was silent. He continued to look over the sinking island. Suddenly
he twisted around to glare at Archimedes. "What did you say?" He demanded.

Archimedes was rather shaken, "Wh-what?"

"What did you say? The last thing you said..." He said.

"Oh.. I er.. I said um..." He stuttered, "I said if any one's to blame,
blame Chaos."

"...Blame Chaos..." Locke repeated. He got a rather mystified expression
of realization on his face.

"What? What's the matter?" The ant asked.

"Don't you remember?.. No, you wouldn't... But I remember, a children's
story... About a evil force that took over a village... The spirit was named
Kayoss... Or was it Chaos? The village leader had to find... The other spirits
to defeat the evil one... But some of the spirits she found were evil and they
only contributed to the chaos... But it was the only way to attain balance..
To find the good and the bad..."

"Locke, no offense or anything, but what in the God's name are you
rambling on about??" Archimedes insisted.

"...The story... It was called 'Blame Chaos'... My father began to
read it to me when I was just a boy... But when he died... And I had to take
over... I never finished it..."

"And... What does this have to do with the present situation?"
Archimedes asked blankly.

Locke wasn't listening to him. He was digging through the pile of
books they had saved from the flood. "I have to find that book!"



* * * * *


Chapter 11: "There Goes the Neighborhood"




A dark blood-stained hand crept over the seat, dragging the heavy
figure out from underneath it. Slowly, he made his way to the cockpit,
stiffly sitting up in the seat trying not to drive the knife farther into
his back. He leaned forward, collapsing over the steering wheel. He shivered
with pain. The memories flooded back to him....

"Nack... What are we doing on the Floating Island?" He had asked.

"Getting the Chaos Emerald, what did ya think?" The weasel said simply.

"WHAT?!" He yelled, "Y-you can't do that! It... It'll fall!"

"Your so stupid!" He said tuning back to roll his eyes at him. "They
just say that so people like us won't steal it!"

"No! It's true..." He demanded, "I... We can't! I... I won't..."

"Whattya mean ya won't?!" He growled.

"I mean... I won't. I can't... You can't. I won't let you!" He said.

"Don't be a fool!" He said, "We could be rich! Think uh it, a big jewel
like that! We could sell it for a million royals! We'd be kings!"

"No, not this time. It's wrong... And I won't let you do it! I'll tell
everyone... Please, Nack... Brother..." He had pleaded.

"They've brain washed you, them Freedom Fighters!" He said, "You
ain't no brother uh mine! I'm gonna do it no matter what you say..."

"No!" He yelled, catching him by the arm.

"Fine!" He snarled menacingly, "If you're not wit me... You're not
anything. You'll regret betraying me..." He pulled the knife out of his belt.

"... Nack... No..." He said backing away.

He turned to run away, but it had caught him in the back. He could
feel the blade biting through his flesh and fur, digging into the muscle
fiercely. He fell to the ground, unable to move, seeing his own blood form
a puddle beside him. He groaned lifelessly, then closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry brother." Said a voice softly, and he could hear the
footsteps slowly fading away...


* * * * *



"Sir... The bounty hunter has arrived." Snivley announced.

"Good! It took him long enough!" Robotnik snorted, spinning around in
his large metallic chair. "Bring him in!" He ordered.

"Yes sir." Snively said, bowing out of the room.

Seconds later he re-entered with several swat-bots, one of which was
carrying Nack. They stopped at Robotnik's command and tossed the weasel out
onto the floor.

"Ow! I love the service in dis joint!" He said sarcastically, standing
up and rubbing his backside.

"Yes, yes. Now where is it?" Robotnik demanded.

"What?" Nack said looking confused.

"What do you mean what?!" Robotnik yelled, "The emerald you fool!"

"Oh!" Nack said smiling as he drew the green crystal from behind his
back. "You mean this?" He asked.

Robotnik's eyes grew wide. "YES! Give it to me! I must have it!" He
said leaning forward.

Nack pulled it back, "Un uh!" He said shaking his index finger at him,
"Not until you pay tha price, Fat Boy! Now where's da cash?"

"First give me the emerald..." Robotnik began. "And you'll get what's
coming to you. I assure you."

He hesitated, then handed it over slowly.

Robotnik snatched greedily. He smiled, watching the green jewel glow
strongly, pulsating rapidly as it gained strength. "Finally! The ultimate
power source... It's incredible..."

"Yeah, yeah... " Nack growled, his hand still outstretched. "Now
where's my money?"

Robotnik smiled an evil smile. "Take him away." He hissed happily to the
SWATbot guards.

"Wh-what??" Nack yelped as the robots took him by the arms.

"Stupid weasel! No one should ever trust me!" Robotnik laughed
happily, gently stroking the now brightly glowing emerald. "Take him to the
Roboticizer. I have no use for him any longer!"

"Wait! Wait!" Nack pleaded helplessly, "What 'bout tha location uh
tha Freedom Fighter's base?!"

"No need! Now that I have the emerald I can just destroy the entire
Great Forest!" He chuckled.

"Not if we can help it!" Said a voice, echoing through the large
metallic room.

"Wha...? Who said that!?" Robotnik said jerking his gaze around.

"I did." Sonic said, stepping out from behind a SWATbot. He
yawned then leaned against the bot casually.

"The hedgehog?!" Robotnik snarled, "Don't just stand there! Get him
you idiots!"

The robots obeyed their master and began a cannonade of laser beams
in Sonic's direction. Easily dodging, Sonic jumped into the air and the
lasers hit the SWATbot he had been leaning on. Knuckles and Tails sprang out
from behind two other bots.

"Hiya Robotnik, long time no smell." Knuckles taunted.

"Oh no! Not you too!" Robotnik yelped.

"Yeah! Your going down this time Robo-Butt!" Tails backed.

"Attack, attack!" Robotnik ordered frantically. "Reinforcements!"

Sonic went into a buzz saw spin and sliced through the robots as they
began to pour in the doors. Knuckles plowed down a couple and Tails began
chunking parts from the already destroyed bots about the room. Robotnik
tried to run for it, but before he could Sonic came at him with full force.
Robotnik shielded himself from the razor-like quills with his arms. That
didn't stop Sonic though. He sawed right through.

"AHHHCCKK!" Robotnik screamed as his robotic hand fell to the floor.
Blood and oil leaked from the remaining wires sticking out of his wrist.

"Ewww! Gross!" Tails gagged putting a hand over his mouth.

Even Sonic and Knuckles stepped back and stared at the monstrosity of
the half robot half human hand still twitching on the ground.

The chaos emerald lay unnoticed on the floor, except by Nack who
had escaped from the SWATBot's clutches. He took this chance to slide out
onto the floor and snatch it.

"Hey! He's got the emerald again!" Tails yelled pointing to the
retreating weasel.

Knuckles tackled him easily and the emerald flew out of Nack's hands
and across the room. Snivley bent down as it slid to his feet. He picked it
up at stood smiling coldly at them all.

"Oh, Snivley! Thank goodness! Now hurry and set off the traps!"
Robotnik said relieved.

Before the three heroes could move, Snivley pushed a metal button on
the side of the door way and large glass like tubes fell over them all,
including Nack and Robotnik.

"Hey! What gives?!" Robotnik yelled, "Snivley you idiot, release me!"

He walked slowly among them, observing them like animals in a zoo.
He was still smiling coldly, tossing the chaos emerald into the air and then
catching again. He stopped and eyed Robotnik viciously. "I don't think so,
Master." He sneered happily. "Now that I have the emerald, I'll be ruler of
the entire planet!"

"Traitor!" Robotnik sneered, "When I get my hands on you--"

"Let us out you banana-nosed freak, or I'll.. I'll..." Sonic growled.

"You'll what?" Snivley asked snidely. "Sick your little dog on me?!"

Sonic went bezerk. He tried to saw through the glass but all it did
was made him bounce off and onto the opposite wall then back and forth in a
insane frenzy until me collapsed panting on the ground.

Snivley laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world. "Stupid
hedgehog! You cannot buzz your way though this! It's the strongest material
in the world!" He yelled, tapping on the glass.

Knuckles took a punch at the wall. "Owww!" He winced, cradling his
fist after it ricocheted off harmlessly.

"Curly here's right!" Nack said examining the glass, "It's
diamanzium, twenty times stronger than titanium!"

"Oh no!" Tails sobbed, "We'll never get outta here!"

Sonic leaned against the wall helplessly. Knuckles did the same and
slid down to the floor. He hated feeling weak.

Snivley continued laughing evilly. "Oh, and that's not all!" He
cackled, "I personally installed miniature roboticizers in all of these!"

"What?!" Nack choked.

"Come now nephew," Robotnik tried to persuade, "You wouldn't turn
your own uncle into a robot, would you??"

Snivley just smiled as he walked back to the control panel. He flipped
open a case protecting a large red button. "See you later Uncle Ivo." He
said softly as his finger pressed down the button. Tails covered his eyes,
but instead of the roboticizers going off, the lights went off.

"Hey, who turned out the lights?!" Sonic yelled into the darkness.

"Oh no! Someone's cut off the electricity!" Snivley said, frantically
searching the control panel for the back-up generator switch.

"Snivley, you dolt! You must have wired the buttons wrong!" Robotnik
yelled at him.

"No, no! I'm sure I wired it right! ...At least I'm pretty sure I wired
it right..." Snivley mumbled.

"Ha! Whatta stupid idiot! Can't even kill us when he's got trapped!"
Nack laughed despite their predicament.

"Yeah, you should know... Brother."

There was a silence and no one moved. In the darkness, you see two
menacing green eyes, they flashed brilliantly, almost like the Chaos
Emerald, which was still in Snivley's hands.

"C-c-Clawz??" Nack stammered.

"Clawz!" Tails exclaimed happily.

"Clawz?" Knuckles said confused.

"Who?" Snivley asked.

"Shut-up Snivley!" Robotnik snapped.

"B-but I... I thought you were... were d-de-de--" Nack began.

"Dead?" Clawz finished for him.

"This seems to be a common problem around here." Knuckles commented.

"B-but how...?" Nack asked, backing up in his tube as far away as he
could get.

"I'm a feline remember? I have nine lives. Down t' three now." Clawz
said in the same dark, unchanging growl.

"Clawz, you gotta help us or we'll all be Robotocized!" Tails yelped.

"Don't worry Duce, I cut da wires t' the main generator t' this room.
There won't be any roboticizing..." He reassured, then turned to Snivley,
"But there might be some butt-kicking."

"Eeep!" Snivley winced backing away, then tripped over something and
fell into a bunch of boxes.

Clawz slowly bent down and picked up the Chaos Emerald off the ground.
Then he went to the control panel and pushed a few buttons. The main light
came on and the three tubes containing Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails slid back
up into the ceiling, freeing them. Then, unexpectedly Clawz pushed one more
and the diamanzium chamber lifted off of Nack. He stumbled backwards in
surprise. Clawz approaching him slowly. Now, in the dim light you could
see Clawz was injured, with blood running down his shoulder. He was slumped
over slightly, so you could barely see the hilt of a knife sticking out below
his shoulder blade. He stopped short and shivered as if a tremor had just
hit and then with a soft moan of pain sunk to the floor.

"Oh my God!" Knuckles yelled running up to him.

Sonic and Tails helped pick the big wildcat up. Knuckles grabbed the
knife handle and with a hard tug, pulled it out. Clawz whimpered loudly and
almost fell again. Tails thought he was going to fall over himself.

"Where do you two are think your going?" Sonic said as Nack and Snivley
tried to escape. In a blink on an eye, Sonic had grabbed Snivley and stuffed
him into the tube with Robotnik. He was about to do the same to Nack, when
Clawz stopped him.

"No, let him go." He managed to say.

"WHAT?!" Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Nack said in unison.

"He deserves another chance." He said softly, yet firmly.

"B-but Clawz... I tried to kill you..." Nack stuttered in surprise.

"I wouldn't stab my own brother in the back." Clawz said, a hint of
his sarcastic, ever-present smile back on his lips.

Nack stood up silently, staring at him. He started to walk away. Then
turned around as he came to the window. "I... I'm... I'm sor--"

"I know. You don't have to say it." Clawz interrupted.

Nack smiled soberly. "Thank you... Brother." He said, then disappeared
out the window.

The moment he left Clawz slumped back to the ground. He couldn't even
move any longer. He had used all his energy just standing and talking.

"He's hurt badly..." Knuckles said. "If he loses any more blood..."

"Then we have to get him back to Knothole, pronto!" Sonic said.

"But what are we gonna do about them?" Tails said, pointing to Robotnik
and Snivley both crammed together in the small chamber.

"Don't we deserve another chance, too?" Snivley asked sweetly.

"I don't think so." Sonic said and pushed the big red button.

"EEeeeeekkkKKK!" Snivley screamed like a little girl.

"Shut-up you fool! Nothing happened!" Robotnik yelled, slapping him,
"That light is working on the extra-generator, but it's not hooked to the
roboticizers!"

"I knew that." Snivley said.

"C'mon guys. Let's get outta this dump." Sonic said helping Tails pick
up the wounded wildcat. Knuckles was carrying Nack's bag with the Chaos
Emerald in it.

"Wait! What about us?!" Robotnik yelled.

"Sorry, I got an island to save!" Knuckles said and slammed the door
behind them as they went out.

"This is all your fault, do you know that?" Robotnik growled.

"My fault?!" Snivley retorted, "Your the one who came up with these
stupid diamanzium tube traps anyway!"

"Shut-up you moron!"



* * * * *



Chapter 12: "The End is Near"



"Ack! The water's getting higher!" Charmy yelped.

"We're all gonna die!!" Mighty winced.

"I love you, man!" Vector said to Espio. "But not like, gay or anything."

"Yeah, I know!" Espio said.

"This is it!" Mighty said as the land began to tip vertical, "My life's
flashing before my eyes!"

"So is mine!" Vector yelled, "Wow, I didn't do much, did I?"

"Good-bye cruel world!" Espio sobbed.

They all waited for the land to go totally vertical, but suddenly
everything stopped at the diagonal. There was a long silence.

"Are we dead yet?" Charmy asked opening one eye.

"We stopped. We're not sinking anymore!" Espio cried.

Another earthquake shivered the island, and then slowly, the land
began to go back to horizontal. The water level began to fall and drain
off the sides of the island.

"We're not gonna die! Hooray!" Mighty yelled.

"The Floating Island rises again!" Vector whooped.

"But how?" Espio asked.

"Magic." Knuckles said, coming up behind them.

"Knux!" Mighty yelled happily, tackling him, "We thought you had
forgotten us!"

"Aw c'mon. I couldn't forget you guys even if I wanted to." He said.

"You got the emerald back?" Charmy asked intently.

"Yes. And that's not all." Knuckles said, and opened his palm to reveal
a small white crystal, shining in the soft, warm light.

"What is it? A diamond?" Vector asked leaning down over them.

"I don't know yet, but I think it's something very important." He said.

"How do you know?" Espio questioned.

"I don't really know... But I can just feel it." Knuckles answered.




* * * * *



"So how did you get to Robotropolis if you were hurt?" Tails asked.

"Well y'see, I had hid in tha hover-craft me 'n Nack took t' tha
Floatin' Island, and when he abandoned ship out in the desert 'round Robo-
town, I took over as pilot and went t' help you guys." Clawz explained as
he was sitting up in the infirmary bed once again.

"Didn't your back hurt?" The little fox asked.

"Hurt like hell!" Clawz said grinning.

"Clawz don't curse like that around Tails! He's only nine!" Sally
scolded him.

"I'm not nine! I'm nine and three-quarters, which is closer to ten
then nine, so I'm really ten!" Tails insisted.

"Your still little, even if you did go on a mission, that doesn't make
you older than you are." Sally said, "Now come here and let me see that big
bump on your head!"

"Aww, leave him alone Sal." Sonic said, "It's a battle scar. You
should've seen this kid fight!"

"Was I cool?" Tails asked.

"Way past cool." Sonic said patting the kit on the back.

"Where's that sexy nurse?" Clawz asked, "I think I'm about ready for
my sponge bath."

"I don't think so." Bunnie said rolling her eyes and setting a tray
of food on his bedside table.

"Y'know I was just kidding, Legs." He said smiling at her.

"I think you're getting better all ready." She said laughing.

"Hmmm... I dunno. This hospital food might just kill me." He said
eyeing it with a look of disgust.

"What are you to be talkings about? That's high-clazz French cuizine."
Antonie said, "I had been making it myselves."

"Now I really don't wanna eat it." He said pushing it away.

Sally sighed, "Men..." She stood up to leave. "Well, I'm gonna go
check the radar one more time." She said.

"I tell ya Princess, Nack didn't tell Robo the location of Knothole.
I know him... And he wouldn't. Not anymore." Clawz reassured.

"I want to make sure there are no more foreign objects headed here.
Just call me paranoid." She said shrugging.

"All right, see ya later Paranoid." He said.

She shook her head and went out the door. Sonic stood up to follow her.

"Yo, Spikes!" Clawz called him back.

"Yeah?" Sonic said turning around.

"Good luck." He said and winked at him.

Sonic smiled and walked out the door. He caught up with Sally outside
the infirmary doors. "Hey, Sal! Wait up!" He called.

"Oh, hi Sonic." She said stopping, "What's up?"

"Uh.. I dunno. I kinda wanted to apologize..." He mumbled.

"Apologize?" She said a bit surprised, "What for?"

"Well I dunno... A lot of stuff. I guess I haven't been in that great
of a mood today." He admitted.

She smiled. "That's all right, it happens to all of us."

"I mean, today in the field... I didn't mean to order you around. It's
just that, if anything ever happened to you... I don't know what I'd do..."
He said softly.

She smiled. "I guess I know what you mean... I was pretty worried
about you today..."

"Really?" He asked.

"Yeah." She said, "And I guess you were pretty jealous when Knuckles
showed up..."

"I was not." Sonic insisted.

"Aww, c'mon now, me and Knuckles have known each other since my father
and I used to vacation on the Floating Island." She said.

"And that's another thing, what is it with you and him anyway?" He
asked frowning. "Were you guys ever... Y'know.. 'Romantic'?"

Sally laughed, "Sonic, we were five! The closest me and Knuckles ever
got to romance was a hug!"

"You hugged him?!" Sonic said angrily.

"See, you are jealous!" She said laughing.

"So what if I am?" He said smugly, turning away from her.

She smiled again, "Me and Knuckles are just friends..." She said
softly, "Besides, I all ready have someone that I care about..."

"Yeah?" He asked, looking at her over his shoulder.

"Yeah." She purred, leaning against him.

"Like who?" He asked stubbornly.

"Like a fast blue hedgehog with an ego the size of Mobius." She said.

"Hmmm. Never met the guy." He said.

She laughed, "Your such a jerk."

"You know you love it." He said, sighing and turning back to face her.

"Such a jerk..." Sally said, but kissed him anyway.



* * * * *


"Hey! Where'd you come from?" Clawz asked happily as Knuckles entered
the infirmary room.

"I had to sneak by the doorway..." He said sitting down, "Sonic and
Sally seem to be in their own little world."

"Are they makin' up?" Bunnie asked.

"More like making out." Knuckles said, holding abck a laugh.

"Woo hoo!" Clawz whooped, "I knew ole' Spikes had it in 'em."

Tails made a face, "Kissing is gross!" He said.

"I'm sure you'll change your mind some day..." Clawz assured.

"No way! I'm never gonna have a girlfriend!" He announced.

"That's what they all say..." Clawz said.

"You feeling better now, Clawz?" Knuckles asked him.

"Yeah. Good thing we got back 'ere as quick as we did, or I'd a been
a goner!" He said.

"When do you think you'll be up to walking around again?" Knuckles asked.

"I don't really know. I'm still awfully sore... Why?" Clawz answered.

"Well, I thought you could come back to the Floating Island with me.
We could really use a guy like you up there." He said.

"Uh... I dunno man..." Clawz said, "I'm not much into falling off again.
Besides, the Freedom Fighter's have asked me to stay here with them. I think
I'm gonna take them up on their offer."

"I understand." Knuckles said standing up, "I hope you get better soon."

"Thanks Knux." Clawz said.

Just as Knuckles was about to leave, he turned around in the doorway
one more time, "Clawz... There's just one thing I gotta know before I go."
He said.

"What?" He asked.

"Back when we were kids... Did you really keep your promise?"

Clawz was silent for a moment, then he spoke softly and truthfully,
"Back then... I told you that you were my best friend. I meant it. And you
still are." He said then smiled, "That oughta tell you sometin'."

Knuckles smiled too. "Thanks Clawz. That's all I needed to hear." He
said, and with that he walked out of the room. He walked through the hall
silently and went out the side doors. There he was stopped by Rotor.

"I finished those tests you wanted me to run, Mr. Echidna." He said.

"And what were the results?" Knuckles asked eagerly.

"You were right. It is a diamond." Rotor said, "The purest form of one
I've ever seen. And the biggest."

"Biggest?" Knuckles said confused, "The one I gave you was actually
quite small."

"Not anymore." Rotor said and held it out for Knuckles to see. The
diamond he had shown the Chaotix earlier had now tripled in size.

"Woah!" Knuckles exclaimed taking it from him and examining it, "It
grew!"

"Yeah, and that's not all!" Rotor said.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"It's giving off energy waves of great intensity. The measurements I
recorded are way off the charts!" He said.

"I knew there was something special about this crystal when I found it!"
Knuckles said.

"May I ask where you found it?" Rotor asked, interested.

"Yeah, I found it in Nack the Weasel's bag we got in the desert. I
suppose he just thought it was some little jewel. He didn't even suspect
he was carrying around the equivalent of a Chaos Emerald." Knuckles
explained.

"You mean you think this thing is a Chaos Emerald... er Diamond?"

"Hmm..." Knuckles said thoughtfully, "Not exactly. But firmly the
opposite. More like a... A Peace Diamond."

"Wow. That's incredible!" Rotor said, "What are you going to do with it?"

"I suppose I'll just bring it back to the Floating Island and guard
it like I do the emerald. That's the only thing I know to do." He said.

"That's a good idea." Rotor said.

"Yeah. Thanks for your help. Tell the others thank you, too. If it wasn't
for them, I wouldn't have an island to guard." He said begging to leave. He
walked to the edge of a cliff over-hanging the river. He looked down into
the small valley, checking it's depth.

"I will Mr. Echidna, but I'm sure they all ready know." Rotor said
waving good-bye.

Knuckles waved back, then without another word he practically dived off
the cliff. Seconds later Rotor could see him gliding easily on the up-drafts
out of the valley and back towards the Floating Island which loomed on the
distant horizon.


* * * * *



Epilogue: "Just the Beginning"

"Well, well. Look who's finally showed up!" She hissed angrily, crossing
her slender arms.

"I've missed you, too." He said in a calm, gentle tone. He put a hand
to her face and brushed her green hair out of her eyes.

"Me? Miss you? Never." She insisted, pulling away and facing the other
direction.

"Now come now, darling. It's been almost a thousand years." He purred.

"Yeah! That is until you show up again and ruin all my fun!" She whined.

"It was already written. You knew this day was to come. That's why
you started causing all this trouble before I got here." He explained.

"Hmmph. You think your so smart." She mumbled.

He sighed, "I suppose it won't be long until the others show up."

She turned back to him, "How long do you think it'll take to find
them all again?" She asked.

"Why?" He asked putting his face close to hers, "Have you missed them
as much as you missed me?"

She snorted. "I was just asking so I would know how much time I had
left to have some more fun with this puny island." She growled at him, all
though not turning away.

"Hmm. I don't think you'll be doing any such thing." He said. "I'm
growing stronger now, maybe even stronger than you again."

She stuck out her tongue at him. "Your always ruining all my plans!
I don't see how I even stand you!" She picked up the tail of her dark
green dress and crumpled it in her hands with frustration.

He smiled and stared at her with his silvery eyes. She softened slightly.
He put an arm around her and pulled her close. She slowly accepted the
gesture then leaned her head against his chest.

"Has it really been a thousand years?" She asked softly.

"It seemed so much longer...Without you, Kayoss." He replied.

She looked back up at him. He was still smiling as usual, with his
white-blonde hair pulled back into a pony-tail giving him a slight feminine
touch, although still retaining his masculinity. He looked so handsome in
his clean, white jacket and with his always peaceful silver eyes.

"I... I missed you too, Ace." She admitted soberly.

"I know." He said and hugged her again.


* * * * *


Knuckles sat watching the two gems with curiosity. He had wondered
how the diamond and emerald would react to each other. Surprisingly at
first, there seemed to be no immediate reaction, but after a couple of
minutes, both began to glow with blazing intensity. The diamond had been
smaller than the emerald when he had first brought it into the Chaos Chamber,
but now, after the glow had subsided enough to see, Knuckles realized that
the gems were now the exact same size. The diamond had grew a little, and
the emerald had shrunk a little. It was almost as if the two balanced each
other out. After that observation, the activity died, and the two gems were
quiet. Knuckles then got bored of such inactive entertainment and walked
down the long hall and out the secret entrance. Just as he was about to
go through the door he tripped and fell over something.

"What the... A book?" He said standing up again and picking up the
large blue-covered book he had tripped over. He examined it for a moment,
then finding there was no title on the cover, he turned to the title page.

"Blame Chaos," He read aloud off the dampened page. "Sounds
interesting..." And he began to read it.










The End
--------------


...Or is it? If you haven't all ready guessed, yes, I will be starting
another mini-series. Please write to me and tell me what you think!

Please send all comments and questions to:
Erin Lindsey
diamondneko@mail.com

Legal information:
Okay. ready, set go!!!
Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, the Freedom
Fighters, the Chaotix, Dr. Robotnik, Nack the Weasel, and any related
characters are licensed characters of SEGA and Co.
and/or DiC and Archie Adventure series Comics. Clawz the
Wildcat, Kayoss and Ace was created by Erin Lindsey.
If you want this story on your site, want to use any of my
characters, or have any complications send them to:

diamondneko@mail.com
http://sheliacw.tripod.com