Chapter sixteen: "Guardians and Angels"
Knuckles stared at the four gems in front of him sadly. He shifted, then laid down on
the cool crystal floor and closed his eyes. Sleep hadn't come well last night. There were too
many things to think about. Too many... Complications. Whatever happened to being all alone,
guarding the sole emerald, without any Freedom Fighters, fire ants, robots, or females to
worry about. It was lost now. Lost among many other things.
He looked up at the emerald and frowned. And that cursed thing. Why hadn't it just
stayed the simple good thing he thought it was? He sighed. Now nothing was simple.
He sat up, as if a resolution came to him. He stared at the gems each in turn for a
while, inspecting them again. He could feel something different about each of them. Once, his
father said that Guardians could communicate with the Master Emerald. He thought about that.
Communicate with it? He stared at it's verdant, glowing angles. How can a stone communicate?
That wasn't logical... but then again, a lot of things weren't...
He had always sensed things about the island. Sometimes he could feel someone stepping
onto the surface... Sometimes he could feel the danger. Sometimes he could feel the pain of a
fire in the woods, or the refreshing taste of the rain... But he had always thought it was
just because he was linked to the island somehow. But now, as he thought about it... Maybe he
simply had a link with the emerald...
He shuddered, remembering what Shelia had said about it being evil. He stood and walked
over to it, and caressed it's gleaming surface. How could something so beautiful be evil...?
Julie-Su's image popped into his head, but he quickly shook that away.
To communicate with an emerald...
Once, long ago, he had been able to use telepathy. His father had taught him a little.
It was an acquired trait among guardians... But after his father had left him those long,
lonely years ago, he had lost that talent with his memories. He could no longer open the
secret door to the Chaos Chamber with simply his mind as he had as a child. That too had been
lost...
Or had it?
He quickly took his hands from the emerald as a sudden image flooded his mind. He
stepped back and stared at the gem, with wonder. A woman... With green hair and an evil
smile... Playing a game...
He shook his head and sat down, trying to convince himself that he was simply seeing
things, but an itching in the back of his mind told him he was not. He quickly silenced it,
and cleared his mind. He had too much to think about all ready than some weird
vision.
He glanced at the ruby, and felt a wave of guilt wash over him... Shelia... But that too
he pushed to the back of his brain, along with the image of Julie-Su, and the itching. Too
complicated.
That's why he had left his home, and Julie and Archimedes. He just had to leave, get
away from the complications. He needed to clear his mind and relax...
He laid down again. Slowly, he let his eyes close.
* * * * * *
Clawz was barely aware of the celebrating in the arena behind him. His mind was elsewhere
at the moment. He sat with his back to the platform, and his big feline ears drooping behind
his head. His sunglasses were in his hands, and he looked down at them as if examining them.
But he didn't even realize he was doing it. He looked a bit odd there, a huge brown wildcat
sitting in the dirt sulking.
Nack, who was sitting beside him, watched him with a concerned frown. He poked his
brother in the shoulder. "You all right?" He asked.
"No." Clawz grumbled, not looking up.
Nack sighed. "What are you gonna do, jus' sit around an mope all over again over dat
wolf girl?"
Clawz's frown just deepened.
"Look, ya jus' gotta put it all behind ya." Nack said, "I mean... You two... Weren't
that serious were you? I mean... You never told me just what happened b'tween--"
Clawz interrupted him with a cutting glare. "I don't want to talk about it, okay?" He
growled.
Nack held up his hands in front of him and backed off. "Okay, okay!" He said, "I was
'jus tryin' t'help..."
"Well quit just trying to help." Clawz grumbled, turning back to look at the ground in
front of him, "You just mess everything up."
Nack frowned. "Owch. I think dat was rather unnecessary. It ain't like I'm respons'ble
fer yer women problems." He retorted.
Clawz turned back to him with a even fiercer glare than the last. The weasel wisely
retreated, and the wildcat was left alone again to his thoughts of the past... He thought
he had put everything behind him, started a whole new life. But things kept coming back...
First Nack again, and now Lupe...
He jumped as Sonic suddenly was in front of him.
Clawz frowned at him, the same as he had his brother.
"What's eating at you, Clawz?" The hedgehog asked, undeterred by the wildcat's
threatening gaze.
"I don't want to talk about it." Clawz repeated.
Sonic still seemed unswayed in his attempt to get something out of the big cat. "So...
You and Lupe... Had a 'thing', eh?" He said, smiling slightly.
Clawz continued to frown. "I said, I don't want to talk about it." He growled.
"Fine, fine." Sonic said, "But at least come with me, will ya? It'll get things off
your mind."
"Come with you where?" Clawz sighed.
"To go look for Shelia again." He answered, "Let's go. We don't have much time before
the next event."
Still grumbling, Clawz rose to his feet slowly, and followed his fast friend into the
forest. "Well, where should we look first, Spikes?" Clawz asked, actually kind of happy to get
away from his thoughts of the past.
Sonic tapped his foot, thinking. "We all ready searched everywhere... But Sal said to
double-check, so... I we'll just check the same areas again."
"Exciting." Clawz muttered.
Sonic nodded, agreeing. "It's better than sitting around doing nothing. Come on, this
way." He pointed down a thin, dirt path leading away from the stone platform arena. They walked
along the trail for a few minutes, until they came to a small clearing. Sonic gasped in
surprise.
There, laying in the grass with her eyes closed, was Shelia.
"She wasn't there before!" Sonic said, rushing to her side. "I looked over this area
a thousand times, and she wasn't here!"
Clawz bent down beside him and they looked at her. "Is she just asleep, or did she faint
again?" He asked.
Sonic shrugged and gently tapped her on the head. She stirred, then fluttering her
eyelashes, opened her eyes. She stared at them a moment, obviously confused, then sat up
quickly and looked around.
"Shelia, you all right?" Sonic asked.
She blinked at him, then put a hand to her head, still looking quite confused. "What..?
What happened...?" She mumbled.
"That's what we'd like to know." Sonic said, putting a easing hand on her shoulder.
She frowned, perplexed. "I saw... I saw an angel..." She mumbled.
They stared at her.
Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Uh... Maybe you got hit on the head again..." He said.
She sniffled. "I... I don't think so..."
"Well, come on, we better get you back to the arena. Sal will be glad to see you.
We've been looking all over the place for you." Sonic said, helping her to her feet.
She stumbled, and almost fell. Clawz caught her.
"I feel so funny..." She mumbled, hand still to her head.
Clawz picked her up gently. "We better get her to a doc first..."
* * * * * *
"Well, she seems to be all right." The middle-aged raccoon female said, as she inspected
Shelia inside the small grass hut. She was the resident Amazon medicine woman. She spoke English
well enough, but by the sound of her accent, it was not her first language. "Maybe a cold, but
that is the only phsyical aliment I can find."
"No injuries at all?" Sally asked, doubtful.
"None." The doctor said, "But because of her past head injuries... And these visions
she claimed to have had, plus the cold, I recommend for her to stay in bed. At least for the
rest of the day."
Sally's hopes sunk. "I thought you might say as much... But I don't understand, if
she has no injuries, how come the regression of her formal... Uh... Mental injury?"
"I am not sure..." The doctor said, uncertainly. "I have not dealt with many head cases
like this. Not since Serafelle had a similar aliment."
"But it wasn't in my head!" Shelia insisted, "I saw her, I know I did!"
"You said another girl had a problem like Shelia's?" Sally asked, ignoring the red
vixen's comment.
"Oh, yes. In the history of our tribe, many have seen visions of that same woman." The
doctor said, nodding.
"Really?" Shelia and Sally said, almost in unison.
"Yes. Some say she is the spirit of the first queen of our tribe, Theresa of the Woods.
An incredible leader was she, and quite the devoted servant of the Creator."
"That was her! That's the girl I saw! She even said her name was Theresa!" Shelia
said, practically raving.
"Settle down now, Miss!" The doctor advised, holding Shelia's shoulders. "You need to
get some rest."
"No, no I'm fine! I'm really..." She began, but started to trail off as soon as she
did, her vision blurring. "Really... I'm really okay."
"Please, doctor, we can learn more about what she saw later, but right now we need
her to compete for us in the tournament." Sally said.
"I don't recommend that course of action, Princess..." The doctor said, frowning. "It
seems to me that she is in no condition to be shooting a gun."
Shelia frowned, her vision returning momentarily. "I... I can do it, Sally!" She
said, stubbornly.
"There, you see!" Sally said, and taking Shelia by the hand and practically dragging
her out back into the arena. "It's time to show that Queen what us Freedom Fighters are made
of!"
* * * * * *
"Well, darling, it seems you get to roll again." Ace said, keeping the growing want
to frown at bay with a weary smile. Kayoss was good at this game. Too good.
"Oh, thank you!" She said sweetly, her emerald eyes flashing with a greedy delight. She
scooped up the pink six-sided dice, and tossed them again onto the floor.
Venus leaned over the two round boards and watched the dice as they fell, inspecting the
results. "Ohh..." She mumbled, for once the perkiness worn from her voice. "Thirteen..."
Kayoss' evil grin widened. "...I've got you now, Guardian..." She purred dangerously,
as she took a large green emerald gamepiece, and jabbed it's point into the center of the
smaller gameboard.
The pink and white checkered board cracked, then, the emerald melted into the crevice,
and formed a tiny structure in the center, where it had been driven. The angles of the
jewel slanted upward and grew, transforming into tiny towers....
* * * * * * *
Feeling only slightly better, Knuckles walked out of the Chaos Chamber to check and make
sure Julie-Su and Archimedes hadn't started any more fires. That strange vision had unnerved
him, but at least he had gottten a little rest. He would have to talk with Archimedes about the
woman he saw inside the emerald...
Suddenly, just as he opened the door to his house, he felt a shock go through him. He
staggered, and almost fell backwards to the ground.
"What the...?" He mumbled.
He barely had time to recover before, like some sort of an aftershock, an earthquake
pulsed though the entire island, shaking the treetops and rattling the rafters.
Julie-Su and Archimedes tumbled out of the house seconds later. Knuckles made his
way towards them, the ground still rumbling with tremors.
"Are you all right?" He asked Julie, offering his hand to help her up.
She frowned at his hand, and stood up by herself. "I don't need any help." She answered,
stiffly.
Another earthquake boomed in the distance, and she fell forward, but Knuckles caught her.
They stared at each other for a moment, then Julie-Su shoved him away.
"What the hell is going on?!" She yelled, looking away from him, trying to hide
her blush.
"I don't know!" Knuckles returned, "It seems to be an earthquake, but... The emerald was
fine when I left it. Acting a bit odd, maybe but..."
Some sort of explosion was heard in the distance, and a bright light flashed, and flooded
over the entire island like a wave, then disappeared.
"It's no doubt our female friend here's comrades come back again!" Archimedes concluded.
"You mean the Dark Legion?" Knuckles asked, staring at Julie.
"What? I don't know anything about this!" She defended.
"Whatever, now come on. Let's go investigate that explosion..."
* * * * * *
Shelia steadied herself, and concentrated on the target, nearly fifty paces away. Even
though it was only warm, sweat beaded her brow. She forced her eyes to focus.
In the small, red-painted canvas target, there were all ready five shots. Three were
sliver bolts from her opponent's crossbow, and the other two were burnt holes from her laser
pistol. They were pretty much even, but if Shelia could make another bullseye, it would
throw her over the top.
She felt dizzy again, but blinked it back. She pulled her gun up to eye level shakily.
It had been hard the first two times, but never like this. She shook her head, but it only
made the dizziness worse. Plus the dull aching in her heart didn't make things easier, either.
Forcing herself steady again, she stared in vain at the target. It was just a red and
white blur in the distance. 'Focus, focus, focus!' She thought to herself, clenching her
teeth, 'Thinking about him again isn't going to help anything!'
She tightened her grip on the handle, and pulled the trigger back...
Her vision blurred, a shock rolling through her.
The shot sang, and flew through the air...
And completely missed the target.
* * * * * *
Knuckles with Archimedes on his shoulder, and Julie-Su running beside him, dashed out
of the thick jungle into an area he knew well, the Mystic Ruins. At least, he thought he knew
it well.
The Mystic Ruins were supposed to be what was left of the echidna society, Echidnaopolis,
which had once been one of the greatest cities in the entire world... But then the Overlanders
had come to the Floating Island, and the city had mysteriously disappeared, and so had the
echidnas. The city had been gone for decades, even before Robotnik's take over. Knuckles had
never seen another of his own kind, besides his father, and of course the Dark Legionnaires.
He thought Echidnaopolis had been destroyed, with it most of the echidna race.
He stopped short, gaping at what he saw now, in the place where ancient broken columns
and ruins had once laid, but had been now replaced with a huge city, towering buildings rising
into the sky father than he could see, white and green spires reaching the tops of the clouds,
vehicles everywhere, and what surprised him the most: Echidnas everywhere, running in the
streets. Echidnas, just like him.
* * * * * *