For Now, Forever

by Anna-mathe

Knuckles is on a Quest. But is it all worth it?

3. Duties

)---------- Duties
part three of "For Now, Forever"

written by Anna-mathe
inspired by one of NetRaptor's lead-ins
Lyrics by Savatage

In Robotropolis, Mecha was coming to terms with Espio's abandonment.
Impassive and uncaring as he was supposed to be, the mecha had taken a fond
liking to the mecha-robian in the short time he'd been with them, and now
Mecha Sonic rather resented his betrayal.
*Why I am letting this get me down, I'm not sure. I've never needed
a companion before.*
Tweaking a few switched on an internal control panel, he began the
shutdown process to replenish his energy supplies. The last few battles had
left him feeling drained.
His thoughts continued as his systems deactivated, sending him to a
robotic slumber.
*I am Mecha Sonic. Programmed to lead Doctor Robotnik's armies to
victory over all Mobius. No one is equal to me. I need no one. No family,
no friends. They are merely a convenience.*
The red glow dimmed from his blazing eyes as the final systems
closed.
*I don't mind being alone.*

1)---------- Preparations

"Okay," Knuckles said to the Chaotix in a forcedly calm tone. "We
have to come up with something, and we have to do it now."
"What are we supposed to do, Knux?" Mighty sighed. "I still don't
get how we stand a chance against a thousand mechas coming at us head-on."
"Me either," Vector put in, "but whatever the plan turns out to be,
I love it already."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," the Guardian muttered under his
breath. Aloud, he asked, "Espio, when is the attack supposed to commence?"
His metallic body shining deep purple, the mecha-robian answered,
"The plan was for them to come nine days from now. Still, now that I'm back
here, Mecha's bound to realize that I'd have told you guys the plan. He
could pull anything."
"'Only with the NeverZone's exposure can the Chaos Warrior overcome
his enemy,'" Vector recited, leaning against a tree and closing his eyes.
Suspicious, Knuckles asked him, "And, euh, what exactly do you mean
by that?"
Opening one eye with a coy expression, Vector replied, "I suggest we
call desperately for help."
It was midday on the Floating Island, the day after Espio's
emancipation from Robotnik's programming. The five of them, Knuckles and
the Chaotix, were sitting in a tense circle near the Chaos Chamber, debating
over what they could do in response to the news the former chameleon had
delivered. Not much was being decided.
Lyrena, the mistling who had recently joined their forces, was
currently unaccounted for. While Knuckles understood that she still had
many things to think about herself, he was a bit antagonized that she hadn't
shown up for this crucial meeting. She was the one with the powers around
here; whatever plans made would almost certainly involve her as an integral
component.
With or without her, however, something had to be decided, and fast.
In any case, it made the echidna a little nervous when she started talking
about her powers, and even more nervous when she talked about *his*.
"Who could we call for help?" Charmy bluntly demanded. "Who in
their right mind would even try to help us stand against an army of mechas?"
The croc didn't answer, except to turn up the volume on his walkman.
"Espio," Knuckles interjected, determined not to let his friends go
of on a tangent and forget their purpose here, "you've been on the other
side. What do you think Mecha will do?"
"Hmm," Espio sighed, focussing and unfocusing his deep blue eyes.
"It's really hard to say anything about Mecha. He's . . . unpredictable, to
say the least. I couldn't fathom him even a bit the whole time I was there,
except that . . . "
"Except that - ?" Knuckles prompted when the metallic chameleon
didn't complete the statement.
Espio scratched his head in bewilderment.
"Knux, I got the distinct impression that he was, well, lonesome."
The chortle came. Much as the Guardian tried to stifle it, it came
just the same.
"Mecha?" he repeated. "Like, are we talking about the same Mecha
here, Espio? Mecha Sonic? Lonesome?"
Swiveling his face haughtily away from the echidna, Espio replied,
"Yes, we are talking about the same Mecha Sonic. He . . . well, he's very
different when you're on his side."
"But you're not on his side," Mighty flatly stated. "None of us are
on his side, and we don't intend to be, either. That's the whole point of
this meeting. I don't care how lonely Mecha happens to be; if we don't come
up with a way to trash him and his kind, everyone on Mobius *is* gonna be on
his side."
"Exactly!" Vector exclaimed, suddenly returning to the real world.
"And that's why we need to call for help. Everyone's life's at stake here,
so everyone on Mobius should be willing to stand against the mechas here on
the Floating Island with us! Or at least the Freedom Fighters."
Knuckles blinked.
"I don't believe it. Vector, you've just said the most constructive
thing yet said here today. Let's get in touch with Knothole Village."

"One THOUSAND?!?!"
That was Sonic and Sally's joint response to the report from the
Floating Island.
"Unfortunately, yes," Knuckles confirmed over his wristband
communicator. "And I don't think I need to say how desperately we could use
a hand up here - "
"Say no more, chum!" Sonic interrupted. "Just hold the line for a
sec."
There transpired a few moments of silence which, Knuckles was sure,
were spent by the two Freedom Fighters discussing the situation and deciding
where they stood. Finally, they came back into the conversation.
"We can't say exactly how many Freedom Fighters will want to join
you," Sally practically stated, "but you can definitely count on the two of
us. Most likely, somewhere around a hundred of us."
"When do you want us to arrive, Knux?" Sonic inquired.
"I don't know," the echidna was forced to respond. "No one knows
for sure when they'll come."
"In that case, we'd better get there as soon as possible then," was
the light reply from the hedgehog. "Can't be too careful, after all. This
battle's probably gonna determine the fate of every free-willed person on
Mobius."
"Unfortunately, yes," Knuckles confirmed over his wristband
communicator.

The Knothole Freedom Fighters were likely to arrive late the next
day. That would give them enough of a chance to transport not only people,
but the supplies they would need.
*After all,* Knuckles reasoned with himself, sitting on the western
edge of the Island, his feet dangling out over nothing, watching the sun set
with glowing shades of pink and purple and blue . . . the same colors as the
interior of the Chaos Chamber, *just because I'm the Guardian doesn't mean
I'm prepared to throw a party for a hundred. Now I've just gotta figure out
how to throw one for a thousand.*
He sighed, not willing to give into fear of failure.
*Hey, Dad, I know you're out there. Maybe you can read my thoughts,
maybe not. I don't know, I don't really care. But I could really use some
help, right about now, you know, Dad . . . *
"Hey there, Guardian," greeted a bright, yet subdued voice from
behind him. Without looking, he knew who it was.
"Where were you today?" he demanded of the mistling. "We were all
supposed to meet and discuss the situation. Where were you?"
"I," Lyrena replied, sitting next to him, "was floating in a nearby
bush, listening in on everything. You see, I was there."
All the fears and frustrations came to a boil in the young Guardian,
as he stood and snapped at her with almost enough force to shock her off the
Island.
"Just who do you think you are?! A week ago, you were just a
figment of someone's imagination, and a lyric in one of Vector's songs. Now
you go around acting like you're all high and mighty just because you've got
all these mystical powers that we don't, as if that excludes you from the
things the rest of us have to deal with - and frankly, Lyrena, you're just
as stuck in this as we are, and the sooner you come down to our level, the
better for everyone!"
The expression on the mistling's face proved that part of her wanted
to cry, and the other wanted to flatten the scarlet Guardian into a scarlet
pancake. She refrained from doing either, though, and stood up slowly to
look the echidna in the eye.
"What did I do to deserve that, Guardian? Miss a meeting? As if I
could have been of any help at all, had I spoken up? You know very well
that my knowledge of mechas and Robotnik and the Mobian surface in general
is based solely on the rough account of events you gave me when I first came
here. Even the Floating Island is a strange place to me. It's not the same
place I left two-thousand years ago. My job here is to instruct you in your
powers, and that's the only thing I can do. Any plan you come up with will
go straight over my head. I don't even know what you mean by 'Knothole
Freedom Fighter.' I assume they're friends of yours, but . . . do you get
my point, Knuckles? I'm no help in such matters."
"And how do you expect to get the picture if you don't level with us
seriously, and soon? Since you arrived, you've been great about telling us
all about the past, and yes, you did save Espio, and for that I thank you
again, but have you tried to learn our ways yet? Not really!"
Her eyes flashing, Lyrena drew out her gleaming sword in one swift
gesture, and jammed it into the ground between them.
"This is my way, Guardian, and it's the only way I will ever follow.
I've learned about Chaos Energy and telepathy and transformations, but my
way is that of a warrior, as it is with any other mistling. My duty to
train you in your powers is a result of a request of a dear friend, not of
my own desire. Don't try to teach me new ways. I'm over two-thousand years
old. Too old to change."
Returning her sharp gaze, Knuckles reached forward and tore the
sword out of the earth.
"That's a way I understand," he dryly commented, handing the weapon
back to its owner. "Now that we've established some common ground, let's
think."
"I don't suppose," Lyrena began in a sarcastic voice, "that there's
anyone else around here who can achieve an Ultimate Form?"
"Actually," Knuckles replied with a grin, "there is. Sonic the
Hedgehog. A friend of mine from the surface. In fact, a Knothole Freedom
Fighter."
Blinking in astonishment, the mistling stuttered, "Y-you mean . . .
there actually *is* another?"
Knuckles nodded.
"His powers are a match for mine any day. At least, I think so. I
really hate to think of the mess if we ever faced off against each other - "
"Wait, I think I remember . . . yes! Was he the one who released me
from the other Chaos Emerald?"
"Oh . . . yeah, he was."
"Goodness. I hadn't been sure if I'd dreamt that or not. My mind
wasn't completely with me for a while after I'd come out. How developed are
his powers?"
"No more than mine."
"Oh." She sighed and sat back down. "This does make things
difficult. Knuckles, you have so much potential - if only I had more time
to teach you how to use it . . . "
"Stop right there. We don't have time. Maybe if you'd shown up a
couple of years ago and said, 'Knux, I'm here to teach you the finer points
of being a Chaos Warrior,' I'd have said 'Cool, bring it on.' The fact is,
though, that I can't use my powers to win this fight."
Now the mistling rounded sharply on him.
"How else do you expect to win?" she implored in a stern voice.
"I don't know, but to try and wipe them out the way Michael blew
away the Firelance Army of Force would be suicide. It would be treading on
thin ice, ice way to thin for my liking. When I fight, I can only fight
like I know how to do. None of this mystical mumbo-jumbo."
"This 'mystical mumbo-jumbo' may be your only chance, Guardian."
"Me winning this fight using Chaos Energies is like you successfully
planning a strike on Robotropolis. It's out of my league. I know nothing
about it, and refuse to go trying things out during the final battle for
freedom and peace. Not to mention the planet. I'll leave the mystical
stuff to you."
"To me? There's nothing mystical about me. Mystical. Mistical."
Knuckles arched an eyebrow.
"Nothing mystical? Then what do you call the knack for turning into
a small cloud whenever your little heart desires?"
Lyrena winked at him.
"Not mystical. Some girls got it, some girls don't, and it's as
simple as that."
Knuckles blinked blankly.
"Euh . . . okay."

"And so we meet again," Sonic greeted, jumping down from his plane
beside the echidna. "Tell me, Knux, why is it that the only time your
people and my people get together is in a state of emergency?"
"Just lucky, I suppose," Knuckles dryly commented. "In any case,
thanks for coming. There's no way we could've handled this one on our own."
Sally had underestimated the Knothole Freedom Fighters. Rather than
about a hundred of them showing up, the entire population had agreed to come
to the Floating Island that day, either to save everyone, or to make a last
stand. In any case, there were almost three hundred Mobians now on the
Island, at the moment helping to unload supplies and set up camps. Sally
was trying to keep this process running in an orderly fashion while Sonic
checked in with Knuckles.
"So, do we have a plan?" the hedgehog inquired in a tone so light
that it could only be a front to hide his extreme qualms over the upcoming
battle.
"Sonic," Knuckles sighed, "we don't really even know where to start.
I think Mighty's pretty much certain that we can't win this, Vector's taking
it as a given that we will, and Charmy's just gonna pretty much go along
with whatever gets decided."
"What about your mistling pal?"
"She's torked at me because I won't take her crash course in Chaos
Energies. I just don't think it's a good idea."
"I agree. It's like cramming for exams. Realize the night before
that you forgot to study a chapter, but if you try to cram it in at the last
minute, it'll either work like a charm, or leave you uncertain on the stuff
you already knew for sure."
"Exactly. And that's where we stand here. Not much to build on."
"No, not really. What about Espio? What's he think of all this?"
"I'm not sure. He's kinda funny about the whole thing. My guess is
that he's still in a bit of a shock over everything that happened to him."
"Well, he'd better get over it before the mechas arrive."
"I know."
There was a shimmer beside them.
Knuckles wanted to stuff his foot in his own mouth when Espio
appeared, having overheard the entire conversation.
"Don't worry about me," he said quietly in his metallic voice. "I
know where I stand. In all honesty though, Knux, I have to agree with
Lyrena."
Unable to comprehend what had just been said, the echidna gaped for
a moment, then suggested, "Come again?"
Shrugging self-consciously, the mecha-robian explained, "When I was
in Robotropolis, I told Mecha point blank that I saw no way for the Floating
Island to survive this attack. That was an unbiased opinion, taken solely
on reflection of the facts. And if we keep on our course, we *can't* win
this battle. The only thing to our advantage now is Lyrena's knowledge of
the emerald and its powers. You learning how to use those powers is the
only way we could get even a chance at this."
Sonic and Knuckles exchanged an uneasy glance.
Too many things to think about.
Not enough time to think about them.

"Okay, here I am. What did you need?"
About an hour later, Knuckles, Sonic, and Lyrena met down in the
Chaos Chamber.
"We needed to seriously talk to you, Lyrena," Knuckles sullenly
replied.
Looking back and forth between them, the mistling made no verbal
response, but waited for them to continue.
"You and Espio both seem to be under the impression that unless we
rely solely on our powers, we won't be able to pull this off," Sonic stated
when Knuckles didn't instantly explain.
"Yes," the mistling replied, her manner strangely distant. It was
a big contrast to the friendly manner she usually displayed.
"Use our powers to do *what*?" Knuckles demanded. "I mean, what
could we do with them that we couldn't do either without them, or with what
power we already have developed?"
Lyrena looked at them hard for a long moment, then turned away to
face the emerald.
"Despite its name, the Chaos Emerald is actually a champion of order
here on the Floating Island. It's pure energy. Nothing uncertain or
chaotic about it, if you know what you're doing. It's when people don't
have a clue what they're doing and do it anyway that its nature is so
unpredictable. It's not an evil force, nor can it create perfection in a
living being. It's more like . . . vitamins. What my people and many
others would do was to grasp some form of its power and use it to enhance a
specific ability, not give us something we, by nature's command, should not
have. My own race, the mistlings, were looked upon as strange by all others
because we had a natural knack for a partial mistification even without
using the emerald. Once we mastered our small portion of the energy, we
could vaporize completely and easily, rather than continue with the
difficult and unreliable transformation abilities we were born with.
Others, like the Queens, used its energy to enhance healing powers, while
the knights would use it to improve their combat skills. Unicorns used it
to intensify their purification abilities, and griffins used it to learn to
fly. We weren't really mystical beings then, and we aren't now. We're just
enhanced in our own chosen ways. You, however, are a different story."
"In what way?" Sonic inquired.
"In the way that, having achieved an ultimate form, you have all
aspects improved, not just one. We're talking, gentlemen, about total and
complete invincibility. Able to heal wounds with a thought, able to be a
fighting match for anyone, to fly, to vaporize, to decontaminate - this is
the power at your disposal. It you two knew how to manipulate those powers,
no army, mechas, Firelances, or anything, would be able to stand in your way
against your will. When you transform, don't you feel the amazing rush of
energy?"
"Yeah, of course," Knuckles confirmed.
"That's what's at your disposal. Not limitless, but more than you
could ever control at once with organic limitations. All you have to do is
to learn how to master the different aspects. The battle's already half won
for you, what with the discovery of Power Rings on your side."
One of Sonic's ears twitched.
"What about the discovery of Power Rings?" he asked, confused. "How
can anyone go Ultimate without them?"
"The Rings are a convenience only. When used, they open small
channels of energy within you. Then, when the emerald is brought into play,
your body is already prepared for transformation."
"So you don't actually need them to change?" Knuckles asked, trying
to keep all this straight.
"No, of course not, silly! As your mastery over your abilities
continues to grow, your dependence on them will diminish, and eventually
you'll be able to make the transformation with just a thought."
For a moment, the two Chaos Warriors were silent. Then Knuckles
spoke up.
"And, uh, how long does it take to master our so called abilities?"
Lyrena shifted her weight to one foot.
"Taught properly, I'd say somewhere around seven years. In this
case, however, I think we can do away with protocol and get done
considerably quicker."
*Seven years?* Knuckles though to himself. *Man.*
"How much quicker?" he asked aloud.
The mistling did some quick counting on her fingers.
"I'd say we could get through it in about three hours. Eat first,
though, because I warn you, it'll be a drainer."

Realizing that they really had no other choice but to go along with
Lyrena's Crash Course in Chaos, Knuckles and Sonic did as they were told and
got something to eat. They also took advantage of the situation to inform a
select few of their plans: Sally and Espio.
"Are you absolutely sure that this is a good idea?" Sally asked one
last time. "What if something happens and you're not ready?"
"All the more reason to get going on this as soon as possible," was
Sonic's bright reply.
"I'm personally glad you're going through with it," Espio said in an
undertone to Knuckles. "Every chance we can get, we have to take."
"You know that if I didn't agree with that, I'd never be doing this,
pal," the Guardian grimly answered. "The emerald isn't simple anymore.
It's something totally different from the Chaos Emerald I was raised to
protect. I'm really not so sure I want any part of it at all anymore."
Espio blinked uncertainly.
"You want to drop it all? But you're the Guardian."
"Yeah. I am, ain't I?"

"Mind you," Lyrena warned them when they rejoined her in the
Chamber, "this will be far from granting you complete mastery. All I can do
in such a short amount of time is give you a feel for each aspect of the
powers granted you. Enough so that you should be able to use that feeling
to pull you through more complicated maneuvers instinctively."
"How?" Sonic asked, confused.
For a moment, the mistling fumbled with a few words, but ended up
just saying, "I can't explain it. You'll see what I mean."
And so began a three-hour process beyond any explanation.

"What do you think?" Sally inquired of Espio in regards to the
current situation.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean . . . even if Sonic and Knuckles manage to learn whatever it
is that Lyrena's trying to teach them, could we win?"
The mecha-robian shrugged.
"All I can say is that we'd have a better chance than otherwise."
Sally sat on a fallen tree trunk and watched the Freedom Fighters
carry on with their usual tasks, despite the fact that they'd been uprooted
so abruptly.
"If only . . . "
When she didn't continue, Espio cocked his head to one side and
asked, "If only what?"
Exasperated, she flailed her hands around in the air for a moment,
then said, "If only we had a better idea of what they were doing in
Robotropolis."
For a long moment, Espio said nothing. Finally, after much
consideration, he spoke up.
"I suppose . . . we could go check it out."
Her head came around so fast that her hair tumbled into her face and
seemed intent to stay there. After a few vain attempts to brush it away,
she shrugged off the concern and demanded, "How?"
Espio raised his hands in a calming gesture.
"Nothing. I was just thinking . . . that maybe the two of us could
scoot down to Robotropolis and get a first-hand view on the new plans. You
have Nicole and I could get us there and back - "
"We could," Sally mused. "With Sonic and Knuckles both occupied for
a few hours . . . it would give us an edge to have some more information.
And we're the only ones who could do it."
"No one else would go for it," Espio warned.
Sally grinned with the mischievous coyness that had often, in the
past, driven Sonic up the wall.
"They'll just have to not find out about it until we've been and
back."
Espio blinked, nervous.
"Euh . . . are you sure you want to do this?"
She stood up.
"Of course. This is for Mobius. C'mon! The sooner we go, the
sooner we'll be back."
Also standing up, Espio suggested, "We'd better get out of sight
first, so no one sees us leave."

About five minutes later, they took off from the southern shore of
the Island. It was the farthest part of the place from the FF camp, so they
figured it would be the best place to leave from.
As Sally, in Espio's metallic grasp, adjusted to the extreme wind
pressure from flying with a mecha, she found herself marveling at the power
and energy at his disposal: far more than any natural-born Mobian could ever
have.
*Sometimes it almost makes you wonder . . . *could* we be happy as
Robians?*
Then she mentally smacked herself for thinking in that manner.
Although the powers of a Robian, and even more so of a mecha-robian, were
compelling, they weren't worth losing not only natural bodies, but freewill,
both of which were almost always lost in the process of roboticization.
Espio alone was free after going through that, and only because of the help
of an ancient being . . .
*And unless that same ancient being can really show Sonic and
Knuckles how to shoot off some major fireworks, roboticization is the fate
in store for us all. Dang. I don't like these odds.*
"We're almost there," Espio informed her.
"Already? But we've only been in the air for a few minutes - "
"Your point being? We're almost there."
Sally shook her head. It was almost too weird working with a mecha.
"Isn't this at all strange for you?" she asked.
Espio landed lightly and set her on the ground.
"You'll never know just how strange it is. But as long as this
power is mine, I'm gonna use every bit of it. We have to go on foot, now,
or else they'll pick us up on radar."
"Fine."

The two of them sneaked into the city, staying out of sight.
Espio was astounded by the passages and secret corridors that Sally knew
about from earlier experiences in Robotropolis that even Robotnik didn't
know about.
*At least,* he thought, *none of these are in my databanks.*
Silently maneuvering through these secret passages and air ducts,
the two invaders made their way to the central computer system: in the
throne room of Robotnik's palace. Espio shuddered looking through the vent
beneath them, thinking about how, only two days ago, he'd stood in that room
alongside Mecha Sonic, receiving a commendation of loyalty from Doctor
Robotnik himself.
Now he was here to figure out exactly what it would take to put both
of them out of commission for good - or at least, how to stop their next,
and perhaps, their last attack on the Floating Island: the attack that would
determine the fate of Mobius itself and all its people.
He looked across the vent to Sally, who was kneeling next to it just
opposite of him. She looked up at him for a moment and pressed a finger to
her lips - they didn't want to be discovered, at least, not until they had
what they'd come for. Nodding acknowledgement to that, he returned his
attention to the scene below.
It would be some time before they'd have an opportunity to hack into
the computers. The throne room was occupied.
SWATbots lined all of the walls of the immense chamber below, all of
them standing at attention and battle-ready: awaiting orders.
Likewise was Mecha, who stood in front of the throne in conversation
with the good doctor.
"We've tracked major disturbances in the Great Forest," Robotnik was
saying.
"Do you want me to check it out?" Mecha inquired in his eternally
calm voice.
Robotnik waved a hand at him.
"No, no, it's not necessary. I don't think you'd find anything
worthwhile. It is my opinion that the Chaotix, having been informed by our
mutual acquaintance, have sent for help from the Freedom Fighters. Everyone
understands what's at stake here."
Mecha inclined his head in a slight nod: he understood as well.
"What are your orders?" he asked.
"Our attack must commence earlier than had been planned. They'll be
regrouping on the Floating Island, probably as we speak. We must strike
before they get organized."
"According to Espio, even with the full forces of the Chaotix and
the Freedom Fighters, the Guardian will not be able to fend off our attack."
"And where is Espio now?" Robotnik retorted. "Although I do agree
with that. Still, I want everything to proceed according to plan. How soon
can the army be fully mobilized?"
Mecha's eyes dimmed for a moment as he calculated quickly in his
robotic mind.
"They can be activated and prepped for battle by tomorrow night, at
1700 hours, Central Standard Time."
Robotnik rubbed his hands together with glee.
"Good, good. See that they are, Mecha, and be ready for the battle,
the TRIUMPH, of your life!" The doctor then turned away from the mecha to
regard the room of SWATbots. "All of you, stand guard. Robotropolis will
be in your hands while we are gone."
A SWATbot stepped forward.
"Will none of us be accompanying you, sir?"
"Heck no!" Robotnik sniffed, as if sickened by the concept. "Past
experience has proven that you would only be a liability. None of you stand
a chance against anyone, you moron."
Mecha grinned ever so slightly, enjoying the bantering of the
inferior 'bot.
"What of the mistling?" he inquired of his master. "You said you
wanted her eliminated."
"Hmmm, yes. Under other circumstances, I would take that up.
However, in this situation, we have no time for such matters. She'll be
taken out with the others when we attack the Floating Island."
"As you wish, master."
"Dismissed!" Robotnik called, climbing to his feet and leaving the
room, followed by his convoy of SWATbots.
Mecha followed at a distance.

"Now's our chance," Sally whispered.
Espio nodded and pulled up the vent, allowing them both to jump down
to the floor below, and replaced it after them.
Sally was already plugging Nicole into the mainframe.
"We already have enough information to give me chills," she told the
mecha-robian as he came up beside her, "but it can't hurt to have all the
details."
"I agree."
"So," Sally said in a conversational manner as Nicole downloaded the
specified data, "now you're an 'acquaintance'?"
Espio shrugged.
"Doctor Robotnik isn't exactly a fluffy type of person. I can take
it to mean he wants my head torn off and placed on a pike."
"Well well. We don't want that, now do we?" she observed with a
grin. "If that was the case, I'd need to find a new ride back to the
Floating Island, and I don't know how I'd ever explain it to Knux!"
A chortle escaped from the mecha-robian at that, but he made no
comment. He was watching the door with intense concentration.
Sally noted this with concern.
"Is someone coming?" she quietly inquired.
He shook his head.
"I don't think so. I'm just getting the strangest feeling that
we're being watched."
She opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Nicole.
"Download complete, Sally."
"Right."
Sally bit her lip and disengaged Nicole from the console. She
suddenly felt nervous. Very nervous.
"Let's get out of here," she dryly suggested to Espio, who fully
agreed with that concept.

They retraced their steps from the journey in and made it out of the
palace, and then the city, without incident. It was when they were just
beyond city limits and preparing to take off for the Island that trouble
showed up.
"Hopefully we'll get back before anyone figures out where we've
gone," Sally was just pointing out, when a shadow fell across them.
Startled, they both looked up into the darkening sky, to see Mecha
hovering a few feet above them, staring impassively down at the pair, his
arms crossed.
"Going so soon?" he inquired.
Espio swallowed - a habit left over from the days when he'd still
had saliva glands.
"That's the plan," he replied in as casual a manner as he could
muster. If it came to a battle with Mecha, here, now . . .
Mecha grinned that little grin of his and landed gently on the
ground in front of him.
Sally was slowly backing away, getting the feeling that whatever was
about to happen, she didn't want to be stuck in the middle of it.
"You realize, of course, that I'm supposed to shoot you on sight?"
Mecha lightly declared.
Espio shrugged, the setting sun making his deep purple plating look
even deeper than usual.
"You haven't shot me yet," he pointed out.
"No," Mecha admitted, "I haven't." He suddenly looked past Espio at
Sally. "Don't move," he ordered. "zzzzt! If either of you try
anything, I will not hesitate to atomize you in a second."
Sally, being the clever princess that she was, knew he wasn't joking
in his threat, and froze in her tracks.
Espio made no move to look at her. He kept is gaze concentrated on
his nemesis.
"Since you haven't shot us yet," he pointed out, "I can only assume
that you bzeep want us for something?"
Mecha shook his head and made a clucking noise.
"No, I wouldn't stoop to that sort of a level with you. We've
fought alongside each other, and because you've proven to be a capable
fighter, an excellent one, in fact, I don't intend to harm you now, unless
provoked. That honor will wait until tomorrow night. Now that you've heard
our plans . . . "
"How did you know we were there?!" Espio demanded.
The mecha emitted a series of short beeps that could almost be taken
for laughter.
"Your transmitter is still functional," he informed the startled
mecha-robian. "We're on the same frequency. I could pick you up anywhere
on the planet."
Again, Espio swallowed.
"You knew we were here - why did you let us get this far before
stopping us?"
"It's simple. I wanted to know your exact reasons for being here.
So I waited to see what you would do. Now, before letting you continue on
your way, I must, of course, erase the information you stole from your
computer. If you please, Princess."
Sally, trembling at the close proximity to the mecha, reluctantly
held Nicole out to him.
Mecha held out his hand, and one of his fingers folded in on itself
and came out again as a computer linkup, which he injected into Nicole for a
brief moment, then pulled out.
"All information regarding the attack has been erased."
"Hold it, Mecha!" Espio snapped. "What's going on? Why are you
letting us go?!"
"Because, my acquaintance, of our short-lived friendship. I'll allow
a loyalty to overshadow a priority in this case."
Startled and shaken all the way through by this reply, Espio gaped
at the mecha, meeting the steady, red gaze with his own for a long moment,
before slowly rearranging his expression to a frown.
"And I have duties of my own. Don't expect me to repay this favor,
Mecha."
"Don't expect me to repeat it. I will see you both tomorrow."
With that abrupt reply, Mecha shot up into the air and disappeared
among the smog of Robotropolis.
Not hesitating for even a moment, Sally jumped into Espio's arms and
he immediately took off for the Floating Island as fast as his rockets could
take them.

Mecha Sonic stormed through the activation chambers in a wild
temper, kicking at walls and smashing any 'bot who was unfortunate enough to
cross his path.
He'd set off here following his encounter with Espio and the
princess to begin the activation process on the mecha army. If he delayed
any longer, they wouldn't be ready in time, and he might be forced to
explain his actions to Doctor Robotnik.
*What is WRONG with me?!?!?* he inwardly seethed. *I should've
dealt with them the moment they entered the city, or even when they were
waiting above the throne room. Why did I let them go?! Whatever POSSESSED
me to . . . *
Even during his conversation with Espio, his mind had been engaged
in an intense argument over whether or not to destroy the two right where
they stood, but for some reason he didn't know, he couldn't do it. And now,
looking back on the incident, he felt furious with himself, with Espio, and
strangely enough, with Robotnik.
In his anger, he smashed in one last control panel.
*Perhaps I am malfunctioning. Perhaps that would explain . . . *
Finally, the answer dawned upon him. The reason he hadn't killed
was the exact reason he'd given the mecha-robian.
*Oh no. Oh no. I'm still thinking of him as a friend - *
If Robotnik found out he hadn't destroyed them when he'd had them
caught -
*Tomorrow. Tomorrow, I will not make the same mistake. Tomorrow, I
will destroy him. As I said, I will not repeat the favor. Our relationship
is now that of mortal enemies.*
And he tried and he tried to fight the wave of loneliness that swept
through his systems.

Espio and Sally sped along, wanting to return to the Island as fast
as they could and collapse, worn out by the strange encounter with the
mecha. However, as they neared the Island and slowed their pace, Sally had
to ask a very important question.
"Espio, Mecha said you'd fought alongside him."
Their movement through the air abruptly halted.
"What did he mean by that?"
Espio refused to let his eyes meet hers.
"What's it sound like he meant?"
"When? You weren't with them for long. When did you fight
together?"
Making no reply, but grinding his metal teeth, Espio continued to
hover steadily in the air with her.
"Espio, what did the two of you do? What sort of battle were you in
with him?"
A loud sigh escaped from the mecha-robian.
"Sally . . . don't tell Knux? Or the others?"
"W-well, that depends on - "
"It can't be changed now. It's been and done. But I could never
face them again if they knew . . . "
Sally bit her lip.
"Okay. I won't tell anyone. I promise."
For a long moment, Espio still wouldn't say anything, before
demanding, "Do I have your word of honor on that?"
Now the princess was taken quite a bit aback.
"Y-yes, of course."
"Fine. I warn you, this isn't pretty. You see, right after I'd
been roboticized, when my systems had calmed down from the mecha-programming
and I was considered stable from the transformation, Robotnik wanted to make
sure my programming was working correctly, because they'd never created a
mecha-robian before, and weren't sure if I was a success or a failure. So,
after I returned to Robotropolis after battling Knuckles here, Mecha Sonic
and I were sent to . . . deal with . . . another Freedom Fighter village
they'd discovered. My programming was fresh and fully intact, so I had no
qualms about it, so when Mecha said to . . . I went ahead and . . . "
Sally closed her eyes and exhaled.
"Were there any survivors?"
"None."
A deep sigh escaped from the princess as she let it sink in that
Espio, the gentle chameleon who'd been on Knuckles' side for so long,
protecting the lives of those on the Floating Island, had wiped out an
entire community under the orders of Robotnik. Still . . .
"You're right. It can't be changed now. It's been and done. What
matters now is saving the lives of everyone left on Mobius . . . and the
Floating Island."
"Yeah. The Floating Island. Let's go."
And he continued on their way.

Their journey had taken longer than they'd planned on. Although the
trip was, with Espio's flying, only about fifteen to twenty minutes, the
careful routes taken in the city, the wait above the throne room, the down-
loading, and the careful route back, these careful routes more than anything
else taking up the time, and their discussion also took a bit, so by the
time they arrived back at the FF camp, the had a collision with Sonic and
Knuckles, who were trying to find them.
"Where've you two been?!" Sonic snapped. "Don't go off like that!"
"Sorry," Espio amiably replied.
Knuckles fixed him with a sharp glare.
"So where were you?"
Espio and Sally exchanged a glance.
"We, uh, took a quick trip down to Robotropolis," Sally casually
answered.
"WHAT?!?!?!" exclaimed both of the Chaos Warriors.
"Who's idea was this?!" Knuckles almost yelled, wanting to know who
to shout at first.
"Mine!" both Sally and Espio replied simultaneously.
"But before you go off on us for being irresponsible and mindless,"
Sally said, giving Sonic a sharp look - it was a reprimand she'd given him
on many occasions - "maybe you should hear what we found out."
"Fine, fine, what did you find out?" Sonic seethed.
"The attack's gonna commence tomorrow night," Espio flatly stated.
"Tomorrow night - ?!"
"Yep."
The two pairs stared at each other for a long time, unable to think
of anything to say. Then Knuckles turned to Sonic.
"We have one day to prepare," he said in a solemn tone. "What do
you think we should do?"
Sonic opened his mouth to reply, but a small cloud of mist floated
up to them and materialized into Lyrena.
"Sleep," she ordered. "Now, while you still can."

Knuckles' dreams that night were among the strangest he'd ever had.
At least, that he could remember.
Never would he be able to put into words exactly what had transpired
in the Chaos Chamber between him, Sonic, and Lyrena. All he could do was to
just repeat to himself over and over the fifteen areas of mastery they'd
been exposed to: fifteen areas that he and Sonic had no more than the
vaguest notions of how to use. As he slept, though, the words continued to
thunder through his mind, along with images, strange images, words, people
he was sure he knew from somewhere, places he was sure he'd seen before, and
all those other dream things that were always there, but could never be
placed when awake.
More than once, he awoke in a cold sweat, not shouting, but almost.
Everytime, he couldn't remember anything from his dreams, only that they'd
seemed important somehow. It was almost like his subconscious was adjusting
to the new powers he'd been exposed to without the rest of him.
In any event, his sleep was far from restful. The next morning,
though, he did feel oddly refreshed, as well as being filled with the grim
determination of a warrior going into his final battle.
He could only hope that the final battle it wouldn't be.

"What do you think, Knux?" Mighty asked as the echidna joined the
group for breakfast.
Knuckles shrugged and mumbled something about needing some tea
before he attempted thinking about anything this important.
Mighty took this as a good sign. It showed that his friend wasn't
being consumed with false hopes, but was seriously ready to confront
whatever should happen that day. The armadillo was still not very hopeful
about the outcome of this battle, but he knew that whether or not he thought
they could win, nothing in the world would be able to stop any of them from
fighting this fight. It was good, though, to have a leader who wasn't
deluding himself with optimistic jibberjabber.
So he grabbed some tea for the echidna and pulled up a chair beside
him along with the rest of the Chaotix.
After they'd all woken up a bit more, Mighty pressed his point.
"Do we have a plan?" he inquired.
Knuckles smirked.
"We have the only plan we can have. And that is to fight. Just to
fight. Do what we know how to do."
"What about you and Sonic?"
Raising his eyebrows with an almost impatient expression, he
replied, "We also do what we know how to do. That's all I can say."
"Frankly, I'm glad," Vector snorted. "Now is not the time to crank
out the serious strategy. We know how to fight. These baby mechas won't
know what hit 'em!"
"Vector," Espio said in a calm voice, "you're making me zzt
sick! How can you be so naive?!"
"Elementary, my dear Espio! What I don't know won't hurt me. Are
there any muffins left? Jeez, the stress of it all's really givin' me an
appetite."
Espio only sighed in resignation as the croc headed off in search of
breakfast pastries.
Knuckles, on the other hand, took a bit of comfort in Vector's blind
confidence. And maybe he did have a point. The mechas coming were little
more than . . . babies. They'd never fought before: they'd only've been
fully active for maybe an hour or two. What he and the Chaotix and the
Freedom Fighters lacked in strength and stamina compared to the mechas, they
made up for in experience.
He hoped.
"Watching the download while Nicole was hooked up to the system did
give me a chance to make out a few other things," Espio said, breaking the
silence that followed Vector's departure. "They're going to attack the east
side of the Island first."
"The east side?" Knuckles repeated. "Fine, that's where we'll be."
"Shouldn't there be guards around the Chaos Chamber?" Charmy pointed
out. "I mean, their main goal is to get the emerald, right? They need its
power to conquer Mobius, so isn't that what they'll be trying to get at?"
"Exactly," Knuckles agreed. "There're way more of the Freedom
Fighters than of us, so we should probably get some of them to guard it - I
think maybe one of us should also stay there on guard."
"I'm there!" Charmy called. It seemed that's what he'd been hinting
at all along. After all, the bee had never been the front line type of
person. He'd often stay in the background while the battle warmed up, and
cut in somewhere in the middle, just as the others' strength would begin to
waver.
"Fine," the Guardian conceded.
"Also," Espio continued, "they won't all come at once. There's
scheduled to be four waves of attack, 250 in each, coming at hour intervals.
If we have guards at the Chamber, we'll be pretty much equal in numbers."
"I know what you're thinking," Knuckles theorized. "All of us were
unable to take down Mecha when he first landed. Point taken. Espy, we need
to know some weaknesses."
The mecha-robian stood and turned his back to the Chaotix.
"Here," he instructed, putting a hand to the back of his neck and
tracing down to the left shoulder, "is a main power circuit just beneath a
mecha's outer casing. There're more of them, most more fatal than this one
if ruptured, but this is the only circuit that you'd be able to cut without
having a mecha dissected in front of you. The others are deep inside. If
you can manage to get to this circuit and rupture it, the mecha's as good as
dead, but will be able to keep going for about a minute before dying."
"How hard would it be to break through the outer casing?" Mighty
asked.
Espio turned to face them again and grimaced.
"It won't be easy. With a knife or sword you'd pretty much need to
drive the blade in as hard as you could in just the right spot, because to
slice through once you have an initial puncture would be just about
impossible, and believe me, our local mecha population won't just stand
still and let you punch holes in them."
A quick whining sound grabbed their attention then, and they all
turned to the source of the noise. It sounded almost like an energy weapon
powering up . . .
"Would one of these do the trick?" Vector lightly inquired,
nonchalantly swinging around a lasergun.
"Jeez, Vector! Where'd you dig up that thing?!" Mighty exclaimed,
jumping up and running over to examine the weapon.
The others just gaped.
"Kudos from Rotor," Vector explained. "He says that they've been
secretly swiping the weaponry from SWATbots whenever they could for the
last, oh say, seven years. Plenty for all."
Slowly, a smile spread across Espio's face.
"Knux," he admitted in a low voice, "we just may pull this off."
Charmy clamped his hands to his head as if in pain.
"Guys, guys, hold it, hold it! I feel a plan coming on!!"

2)---------- Implementations

Sonic, Sally, and Lyrena listened with intense concentration to what
the Chaotix had to say.
"That's our plan," Knuckles summed up. "What do you think?"
"I think it could work," Sally said, nodding. "I mean, it has as
good enough chance as anything else."
"Better," was Sonic's comment. "Because we don't have anything else
planned. This is as good as it gets, and I think it's pretty danged good."
Lyrena considered for a long moment before laying the verdict.
"Yeah, it could work. It's simple, but it's fast. If you can take
them by surprise, it could win you this battle with minimal losses on our
side. I say go for it."
"All right then!" Knuckles finalized. Lyrena hadn't mentioned any-
thing about what had happened the day before, and although he wondered why
she'd refrain from mentioning the Chaos Powers now, when she wouldn't shut
up about them before, he was glad. "Let's make sure everyone knows what
they're doing."

It was about one hour before the mechas designated attack time. The
Freedom Fighters were in position on the Island, and the Chaotix were making
a few last minute plans.
"Just be ready for anything," Knuckles told them by way of parting.
"I, of all people, have no idea how this is going to go."
"Oh, lighten up, Knux!" Vector snapped. "We're undefeated, in case
you've forgotten."
"Vector, if you don't cut out your blind optimism, I'm gonna shoot
you before the mechas even get here!!" Espio almost shouted. "ZZZT!"
"Don't kill each other," Knuckles ordered. "We're gonna have a hard
enough time as it is . . . I don't think I need to tell you all what the
chances are of us all coming out of this alive."
"No," Mighty sighed. "We know."
"One in a thousand," Charmy agreed.
"Right." Knuckles' expression was somber, and for a moment, even
Vector looked glum. "Well then, guys . . . till we meet again."
"Till we meet again," they chimed, then broke away to their
individual posts.
Knuckles watched them all go their separate ways and felt a sudden
wave of sadness. Would the Chaotix ever be complete again? Would they even
serve a purpose after this battle? Or would the Floating Island be
destroyed, along with the rest of the planet?
He shook off the mood and forced himself to focus on what was about
to happen.
*Evaporation - purity - healing - flight - life - telepathy -
energy emission - vision - morphing - teleportation - empathy - temperature
- motion - openness - physical strength - *
Those were the fifteen areas he'd been drilled in the day before.
Fifteen different aspects of his powers that he'd never even realized he'd
had before: aspects that he might be forced to put to use at any moment.
Hopefully, he could.
Sighing with uncertainty, he also headed for his post.

He'd been in position for about ten minutes when Lyrena showed up
beside him, and he suddenly realized that she played no part in the plan.
"Hey," he greeted. "Nervous?"
"If only you knew!" she said in a sarcastic, yet oddly elated voice.
"Scared out of my skull . . . and loving every moment of it. You?"
"Same . . . except for the loving part. What could you possibly
love about all this?"
She drew her sword carefully from its sheath and held it up between
them.
"My people are a warrior race, my friend. Chaos is something I was
taught. The sword is something I was born feeling. This sort of thing is
what I live for. In a nutshell, I'm looking forward to kicking some mega-
mecha royal rear!"
"Lyrena, you know none of our powers fit into this plan?"
"Oh, of course not, Knuckles," she replied, replacing her weapon of
choice to its lodgings. "It's a plan involving many people, out of which,
only three, you, Sonic, and myself possess any real Chaos Powers. This must
be a plan for everyone, something everyone can handle, otherwise it'll never
work. What you two Chaos Warriors get to do, is be ready in case things get
out of hand, and then get out there and kick some mega-mecha royal rear the
way they were meant to be kicked!"
"That's probably the most understandable thing I've ever heard you
say, Lyrena."
"Thank you. Now excuse me. I've gotta get out there and fight like
the citizen I am. Just wanted to wish you luck, Guardian."
He smiled, willing to take every bit of luck he could get.
"Thanks. You too."
She nodded.
"Does anyone else get the feeling that after this battle, everything
and anything is gonna make a drastic change?"
"Mmm, I'd like to see you find someone who doesn't."
"Well then, Guardian," she smiled, holding out her hand, "for now,
forever."
Taking her hand in his and shaking for luck, he replied with the
same degree of solemnity and adrenalized joy, "For now, forever."
Then, winking, she turned and left.
Knuckles looked over the horizon.
*Any time now . . . *

In Robotropolis, preparations were completed for the attack.
Robotnik stood outside of his palace, looking over the proportionately small
army before him. After all, an army, much less an invasion force, was
normally huge in such an empire as his. Tens of thousands, hundreds of
thousands. Here, however, were a mere one thousand.
One thousand and one.
Mecha stood at attention beside his master, awaiting his orders
silently.
"Are they ready?" the Doctor curtly inquired.
"Ready. All bzzt systems functional, on standby mode for
attack. We can commence the moment you give the word."
Robotnik turned a mildly amused eye on his servant.
"You realize, of course, Mecha, that every one of those mechas in
this army is equal to you in every way?"
Mecha's eyes glowered for a moment, increasing Robotnik's amusement
with his agitation.
"Perhaps, ZzzzzzzzTT but they lack experience."
Mecha refrained from wincing as the Doctor bellowed out a torrent of
laughter.
"Don't overestimate your own artificial intelligence, my friend.
Experience won't be much of a factor after today. Now, give them the order.
Commence first attack wave in five minutes. Then I want you to prep my air-
ship for launch. I will arrive with the third wave."
Growing increasingly agitated, Mecha's voice crackled a bit with
irritation as he asked, "And when do I join the battle?"
Robotnik waved a dismissive hand.
"Whenever you want. You're still top dog among the ranks . . . for
now."
*For now,* Mecha thought, *forever. Forever.*
"I will then be moving with the first wave of attack," he declared.
"To see first-hand the expressions on the Mobian's faces when they realize
that they cannot win."
A cruel smile spread over Robotnik's face.
"I like the way you think. Dismissed."
As the Doctor turned to leave for his air-ship, Mecha silently
transmitted the order to commence the attack to the mecha-army.
*I don't care much for the way YOU think, my "friend" . . . there's
not a mecha down there who could take me out.*

The east side of the Floating Island appeared deserted at first, and
in the fading light of the setting sun, it seemed quiet and peaceful. On
the Island, however, hiding in the shadows, were 50 Freedom Fighters, one
member of the Chaotix, Knuckles, and Sonic.
Knuckles scanned over the familiar outline of the Island's edge,
waiting for something to appear. The thought had crossed his mind that if
Mecha knew that they knew that the attack was hitting the east first, there
was a chance that the plan would be changed at the last minute to catch them
by surprise, but they had to take Espio's word that it wouldn't happen. The
"chameleon" had considered the concept for a few moments, then shrugged and
said that it was unlikely. That was it. Unlikely.
Now he wasn't sure which would be worse: seeing the army approach,
or not seeing them until it was too late.
Therefore, he wasn't sure whether he was relieved or not when he saw
the dark shapes against the pink and orange sky. Deciding not to dwell on
the rather trivial thought, he felt every muscle tense, and a strange,
almost sick and yet enthusiastic feeling settled in his stomach.
*Here goes,* he thought. *This one's for the planet.*
There was no way to make contact with the others in position. He
could only hope that everyone could pull of their instructions.
As the mecha army had been divided into four groups, so had the army
of Freedom Fighters and others on the Floating Island split their forces.
Waiting now to face off against the first wave was their own first wave.
Charmy was at the Chaos Chamber with 50 more Freedom Fighters, and Mighty
was hidden on the ground below. Knuckles himself was positioned in a cave
on a high mountain near the shore of the Island, so he was now getting the
prime view of the mechas' approach. Nothing would happen - no one would
make a move until Espio gave the word.
*This may be it,* he admitted to himself. *I wonder . . . is there
really a heaven?*
The darkness against the horizon continued to grow closer and closer
until Knuckles could finally distinguish the mecha fleet. All of them, none
identical to mecha, but obviously just as dangerous. It seemed that only
one had been granted the honor of Sonic's shape as a base, for the others
had forms of other various creatures, most of which he didn't recognize. He
supposed that Robotnik had tried to create the ultimate mecha by mixing up
various combinations of animals to make a good combination, but had never
been able to top Mecha Sonic in design.
Now the scarlet Guardian was really on edge, watching them come so
close - waiting for the signal before reacting to their alert and the cry
from the Chaos Emerald, telling him that they were threatening the Island,
that he had to stop them, that he had to -
*Shut up! Let me think!!* he snapped at himself.
Forcing the Emerald cries out of his focus, he concentrated on the
plan. It was simple, very simple. As Lyrena had said, it was fast. That
was about all it was . . . like, was this actually going to work?!
Grating his teeth against his anxiety, he continued to wait for
Espio's signal.
*After all, we couldn't engage them until they land. Or at least,
till they're close enough to be hit and grounded. Gotta wait till they're
close enough . . . *
They were almost in position. The mechas, the Freedom Fighters, in
another moment, everything would be put into play. Robotnik's plan, their
plan, Lyrena's twisted view of fate, a few random chaotic elements who were
bound to make an appearance -
The next moment was an eternity. The first line of mechas settled
on the ground, and the next line flew low overhead, as the others all began
to regroup on the Island. Knuckles crouched low, ready to pounce. His
Guardian instinct was beginning to kick in.
Glancing around as if in confusion, the mechas hesitated for a
moment, then began to press forward.
Then came cutting through the growing darkness a signal flare from
below, one which exploded at about fifty feet and lit up half the Floating
Island for a split second. And as that split second came to a close, it was
with a torrent of angry Freedom Fighters lunging at the mecha army.

Mecha watched from a small distance, reporting to Robotnik.
"Yes, zzt about fifty Freedom Fighters have engaged our forces.
They are being quickly overpowered."
"Is the army having trouble with them?"
Scanning the area with his digital eyes, Mecha replied, "None."
"Fine then. Leave them, and go to the Chaos Chamber. Report on the
situation there, and if possible, secure the Emerald. That being our prime
objective, make sure we won't have any trouble in obtaining it."
"Understood."
Without another word, Mecha closed his communication line and shot
through the sky to the Chaos Chamber.

"Ready!!!!" Knuckles yelled at the top of his lungs, swinging his
fist against the head of a startled mecha, who reeled back for a moment, but
quickly recovered. It and three others converged on the Guardian, each
calmly pointing the laserguns on their arms at the echidna, who waited for
the longest moment possible before ducking out of their way, making two of
them end up shooting each other and the other staring at them in shock.
Rolling away from them and jumping back to his feet as the three mechas
again converged on him, he bellowed, "ESPIO!!!! NOW, DANG IT!!!!"
"Right!!" he faintly heard. The mecha-robian must have been some
distance away, and hadn't heard the first call. Knuckles jumped back away
from the three mechas, noting the other fighters having similar ways of
dealing with the attacks. Except that it looked like a few were already
badly hurt and/or lying dead on the shores.
A second signal flare shot through the sky, and in the blink of an
eye, they appeared. The other two hundred-odd Freedom Fighters, along with
an ecstatic Vector, swung down, jumped down, popped up, jumped out into, and
just arrived on the scene, taking instant aim and firing their energy
weapons at the upper-left backs of the mechas, almost all of them hitting
their targets and decking a good many mechas.
Vector jumped out of a tree and landed near Knuckles, taking out two
of the three mechas with two quick shots and a lot of manic laughter. The
other mecha turned to regard the new arrival fast enough to avoid the fatal
blow, but as it turned its back on Knuckles, the echidna jammed his bladed
fist into the mecha's back, also rupturing the necessary circuitry.
As Espio had forewarned, it took a moment for each mecha to die, and
it was in this moment that most casualties occurred. In most cases, however,
the Mobian at hand would manage to duck fast enough, wound up with fear and
adrenaline, and there were less than twenty dead when all of the mechas were
lying in crackling heaps on the ground.
"WOO-HOO!!" Vector whooped. "Put 'er there, Knux, M'man!" He
slapped a high five with the echidna before turning to hurry back into
position for the next wave.
Sonic appeared in a flash next to the echidna.
"Okay, Knux, one down!" he said with a quick grin.
"How we doin'?"
"Seventeen out. Lot's down, but still goin', and not ready to back
out. We're moving out our bodies to a kinder place as fast as we can, but
we're wondering if we should just pile up the mechas somewhere - "
"Forget it. Just let 'em sit there. It oughtta rile up the next
bunch. Shake 'em up a bit. Like Vector said, they'll never know what hit
'em."

"MECHA SONIC!!!"
The voice thundered through is paging system so sharply that the
mecha almost lost his balance in the air. Quickly landing in the seclusion
of a tropical forest, he answered his call.
"Yes, master?" he replied through his wrist communicator.
"I've lost all contact with the first attack wave! What's going on
up there?!?!"
Mecha exhaled sharply.
"Lost all contact?! I don't know what happened; I'll check it out
at once."
"Yes! Tell me what's happening!!"

When Mecha arrived at the battle scene, he inhaled as sharply as
he'd exhaled at the report from Robotnik. The shore was completely still.
There were no Freedom Fighters, or even Mobian bodies. The only indication
that anything at all had happened were the 250 mecha bodies strewn about the
ground.
Unsure of what to do now, the mecha settled down in the undergrowth,
hidden from sight, waiting for the second attack wave to see what would
happen.

Espio, again hidden along with all the others, knew that there was
no way that they could've taken out Mecha Sonic with their ploy. The
others, yes, but not him. He was too smart for such a tactic to work. Yet
it seemed unlikely that he would not have been among the first attack wave.
Mecha's style would be to . . . to be there to see the expressions on their
faces when they realized they couldn't win.
Knuckles would know if the Chaos Chamber was reached, so he wasn't
concerned that Mecha had made his way there, but that could only mean that
he was somewhere near.
A memory stuck him. Mecha had said that they were still on the same
frequency: that he could find him anywhere on Mobius. Why he hadn't been
sought out yet made him wonder, but Espio realized that if he could figure
out how to use that link himself, he would be able to find the mecha and
figure out what his game was before it was too late.
He opened his communications line, which he had kept firmly sealed
since his awakening, but made no form of communication. Just listened. For
something that might help. Somehow.

The second attack wave arrived, approaching the Island far more
cautiously than the first had, unsure of what they were to expect. When
they hit the shore, the last place the first wave had reported from before
vanishing, they hesitated before landing, or even coming close to the ground
below.
"Mecha unit," came the voice over their communicators, "this is
Mecha Sonic. You are hereby ordered to land and engage the enemy."
"What enemy?" retorted one of them with a huff.
"That's what you're to find out!" Mecha snapped, taking no lip from
his subordinates. "Now get down there before I flog you personally!"
"bbbzzzt! Flog, sir?"
"Just do it!!"
The mechas glanced at each other and shrugged, figuring it wouldn't
be worth their while to argue. Again, as soon as they hit the ground, a
flare shot up into the dark sky, and an instant later, they were pounced
upon by a crew of angry Freedom Fighters.

Mecha watched the scene from a safe distance.
*All right, I've already seen this part,* he thought. *What happens
next?*
*Mecha?*
The voice in his head made him jump. He knew who it was.
*Espio.*
*You can't beat us, Mecha. Stand down while you still can.*
The mecha allowed himself a low chuckle.
*Your initial victory has made you rather cocky. Don't let it go to
your head.*
*Oh, I'm not.*
A sigh escaped the mecha.
*Fine then, let's get this over with.*
He turned around to face Espio, who was standing behind him. The
mecha-robian fired off his signal flare, then gave his full attention to his
unblinking adversary.

As the flare erupted in the sky and the rest of the Mobians charged
out to aid their friends, Robotnik watched the scene through the eye of a
sentry-bot he'd dispatched to the Floating Island.
"So that's their game," he mused quietly. "Catch them off guard and
knock them out of commission before they even realize it. Well, two can
play at that."
He picked up a small microphone from the control panel before him.
"Attention third wave," he said in an amiable tone. "Commence full
attack . . . now."

Knuckles was concerned. After the first attack had ended, the
Emerald had calmed down until the arrival of the second. Now, though, it
was remaining as thoroughly agitated as it had during the attack itself. He
again shoved its warnings out of his mind, figuring that it was just riled
up with all the action, and concentrated on helping the others with the
wounded. They'd only lost fifteen that time. Things were looking good.
Really good.
"Man, I'm tellin' ya, Knux," Mighty sighed in an ecstatic tone when
the forces took a quick break for a snack, "I didn't think we could pull
this off. But we're wiping some serious mecha royal rear!"
"Has anyone seen Espio?" Lyrena put in suddenly.
Everyone looked around in surprise. No one had seen the mecha-
robian in quite some time.
"I wonder . . . " Knuckles murmured under his breath, closing his
mind to the outside world and finally listening to what the Emerald was
trying to tell him.
"Mecha's gotta be around here somewhere," Sonic concluded. "Maybe
the two of them are facing off."
"Probably," Mighty agreed. "Who do you think would win that one?"
Sonic was forced to shrug his uncertainty.
Knuckles suddenly jumped to his feet.
"The third attack wave's been hiding under the Island all this time!
They're commencing attack!!!" he yelled.
For one shocked moment, everyone froze and just stared at him. Then
all heck broke loose, because at that exact moment, 250 more mechas crashed
their little party, pelting the ground with laserbeams and explosions.
Reacting with no thought and just pure instinct, they hit the deck
and clamored for their weapons.
About half of the mechas stayed to engage them. The others charged
for the Chaos Chamber.
"NOO!" Knuckles shouted. "Stop them!!" he shouted at the others, he
himself taking off at a blinding pace after the army.
"Aw, heck," Vector grumbled, taking off after the Guardian. "And
this was all going to well."
"Vector, SHUT UP!!!" Mighty yelled at him.
The two Chaotix ran after Knuckles to the Chaos Chamber, leaving the
Freedom Fighters to fend off the mecha attack. Hopefully, they'd be able to
overpower them, and if not, well.
The sight of laserfire in the distance forewarned them that the
mechas had reached the Chaos Chamber, and that the small guard posted there
was fighting back in full force.

Knuckles hit the scene, promptly slamming into an airborne mecha,
jolting it off balance. As it turned to face him, a leveled energy blast
from the ground ended its commission.
"Charmy!" the echidna called.
"Don't just stand there, help!!" the bee yelled back, firing as much
laserfire as he could at the mechas, who were circling around the Chamber in
an almost entertained manner. They were enjoying the sight of the
scrambling Mobians, and they were utterly convinced that they would pose no
threat to their superior design.
Again, Knuckles wasn't aware of making the transformation. He just
knew that suddenly, he was shooting through the air in his Hyper Knuckles
form, smashing at any opposing robot who dared cross him. Oddly, there was
a sense of possession in the power he wielded, only rather than him
possessing it, it was possessing him.
*Who cares, as long as we win?*
He felt a heavy, sharp blow at the base of his skull, one which
would have normally knocked him out, or perhaps killing him with its power.
As it was, he fell halfway to the ground from his place in the air before
righting himself and, shaking his head to regain his senses, looked up to
regard the defiant mecha hovering above him. It had the form of . . . a
possum? He'd gotten taken down by a mecha possum?
Physical strength - energy emission -
He wasn't sure if he'd said the words or not, but as they thundered
through his head of their own will, his body seemed to take leave of his
control altogether as he shot back up through the sky, and a feeling like
nothing he'd ever felt before seeped through his body, even as a strange
light exuded from his pores, gathering into a glowing "fireball" in front of
him and shooting on ahead, gathering up the mecha in its power and reducing
it to ashes in a few seconds.
Taking in the scene with shock, another mecha - a wolverine (easier
to fight, not so cute) - thought to catch the Guardian off his guard and
charged from behind. Knuckles, sensing the approach, swung his fist back
and connected with the mecha's face, snapping its head off.
Now Knuckles regarded himself with shock.
*What the heck!! How did I . . . *
He looked to the ground. They were doing it. They were driving the
invasion away from the Chaos Chamber, farther into the forests, to a safer
distance. That's what mattered. He could put off the revelation that maybe
he didn't *like* his powers till later.
The Emerald sent him a warning: although the mechas were being
slowly herded away, it appeared that one of them was returning to attempt a
breach.
Turning back in alarm, he was one of the strange creature-mechas
he'd noted when the first wave of attack approached about to enter the
Chamber.
*If that creep gets its mitts on the Chaos Emerald - !?!?!?*
The thought held him riveted for a moment, a crucial moment, when he
realized that he couldn't stop the robot in time.
Nonetheless, the Guardian bolted back, determined not to let the
Island's powers fall into Robotnik's hands. Just as the mecha entered the
Chamber, though, a blast of laserfire caught it in the back, rupturing the
vital circuit that the Freedom Fighters had been rupturing all night.
With a startled glance below him, Knuckles saw Vector duck for cover
from the mecha's dying energy blast, as the robot, feeling its systems
failing, shot one last bolt of laserfire at the croc -
The Emerald cried out to him as the dead mecha fell into the Chaos
Chamber, but he payed no attention to it. Rather, before he even knew it,
he was on the ground, kneeling down beside where the croc had fallen.
"Vector, don't you dare be dead . . . " he mumbled half to him, and
half to himself as he rolled him over to see the wound. The sight made him
wince. The mecha's blast had connected with the croc with devastating
accuracy, burning through his chest, smashing his ribcage and incinerating
his organs.
A quick glance told the echidna that he was dead.
Vector was dead.
That was it - ? No last words or anything like that? Just POOF,
and he was gone?
" . . . no . . . this can't be right . . . "
Knuckles wasn't sure what was coming over him. He felt neither
anger nor grief as he would have expected, just a grim and set determination
that he had to somehow set this right . . .
*Life - healing - purity - life - healing - purity - *
It became a chant in his mind as he realized what he was trying to
do. Without letting the thought sink in that he was playing God, he closed
his mind to all thought and let instinct take over - let the powers seep
through him and do their job.
The glow that exuded from his hands engulfed Vector in its light for
a long moment. When it faded, all signs of the wound were gone. Knuckles
sighed, feeling drained, and wondered if it had worked. And what if it
hadn't? Then what?
Vector opened his eyes and made an ugly face.
"Ow . . . " he groaned. "Knux? What's goin' on? I thought I was
dead."
"You were," Knuckles replied, feeling oddly removed from the scene.
It was as if he was an observer, nothing more.
"Danged mechas," Vector grumbled, rubbing his head. With an obvious
effort, he pulled himself into a sitting position. He was healed and
restored, but being dead apparently left a person feeling quite drained.
"Are you all right?" Knuckles asked him, feeling as if this was all
routine: that there was nothing unusual about having just brought his friend
back from the dead.
Vector looked at him with an expression of confusion.
"You tell me," was his reply. "I mean . . . I dunno. Are we
winning?"
"Not hardly. The Chamber's safe for now, but there're still the
mechas fighting the Freedom Fighters - I don't know how that's going - and
the fourth wave is on its way by now."
"Dang." Fighting off a pang of weakness, Vector removed his
headphones from his own head and placed them on Knuckles'. "For luck. Do
me a favor and go blow them chumps off our island."
The echidna grimaced.
"I'm workin' on it."
Vector waggled a finger at him.
"Not good enough, man."
Now Knuckles looked at him with almost a glare.
"All right, all right. We'll beat 'em."
Nodding, Vector replied, "Much better."

Nothing happened.
For all the time that had passed, for all the promises they'd made
themselves, still neither had raised a finger against the other.
"We could stay at this all day," Mecha remarked, "but then I might
miss the moment of conquest."
"Conquest?" Espio repeated. "Don't you get it, Mecha? There's not
going to be any conquest. Two waves of your attack have already been
utterly destroyed."
"And what of the third? They have yet to be overpowered."
"Yeah, the third. Robotnik went over your head. You didn't know
they were hiding under the Island. Who knows what else he may have kept
from you?"
"The Doctor is not obligated to keep me informed of his intentions.
And he has reason to be cautious, especially with your mistling friend in
the picture."
"At least I have friends, Mecha."
For reasons unknown to him, Mecha's top boiled at that, and he
snapped his wrist up to level the mecha-robian with his laserbeam.
Espio hit the ground, startled by the blow, but not badly damaged.
Still, he knew better than to lie still after Mecha had fired. Igniting his
rockets and shooting about ten feet into the air, he kept his eyes locked on
Mecha's and waited.
Mecha hesitated for only a brief moment before launching up after
him, colliding with the mecha-robian and sending them both whirling through
the air.
"I will kill you," he stated in a voice somewhat forced due to the
powerful impact.
"I don't much doubt it, Mecha, but if I'm going down, I'm taking you
with me!!" Espio shouted, firing his rocket boosters and slamming them both
roughly into the ground.
Mecha's retort was quick and simple. He threw Espio off of him and
smashed his fist into his face before the mecha-robian even hit the ground.
While he was still reeling from the blow, Mecha brought both fists down over
his head and kicked him in the stomach.
Espio refused to be taken down so quickly, however. Even as he fell
to the ground below, stunned from the blows he's just taken, he braced
himself, and as Mecha again drew near, he ignited his rocket boosters again,
this time directing the flow of their output at the mecha. The force of
their fire knocked Mecha off his balance and flying back a few yards.
Before he regained that balance, Espio rammed him head-first, again driving
them both into the ground. This time, the metallic chameleon jumped back
before Mecha could retaliate and shot at him the moment he moved to get up.
Mecha lay pinned to the ground by Espio's laserfire for a moment,
debating over a course of action.
"It's not too late, you know," he heard himself saying. "You can
rejoin us. Before it's too late."
Espio laughed grimly.
"Not on your life, Mecha. I betrayed my friends once because of you
and Robotnik's programming. Never again!"
"Merely a convenience?" Mecha Sonic reminded him with his old grin.
Espio settled to the ground and allowed him to rise.
"I lied," he replied.
"No you didn't."
"Sure I did. I just didn't realize it at the time."
Without realizing it, the two combatants had drawn closer together,
and were now only inches apart from one another.
Mecha's eyes glowed deep red with an emotion Espio couldn't place.
Before he could consider it very much, though, Mecha made use of the moment
and blasted him into unconsciousness.

Knuckles flew up into the sky and looked over the eastern horizon.
With relief, he noted that the next attack wave had not yet come into view.
Perhaps they'd still have enough time to clear out the third -
No, the Emerald warned him, they were almost there.
Startled, the Guardian tossed a look over his shoulder to the west,
and sure enough, there they were, closing in. And still he could see the
illuminating laserfire showing that the mechas and the Freedom Fighters were
still engaged in their battle.
The guards at the Chamber had gone to their aid, leaving the Chamber
in his hands. He could protect it on his own - their help was needed - how
could they fight off the remaining mechas and the fourth attack wave at once
in their current status -
Panic filled him. Panic, fear, terror, everything of that genre was
suddenly within him as he realized that they couldn't fight them off. They
just couldn't. He had to do something - but what? They were so overwhelmed
already . . .
It was then that the awful conclusion struck him. The one chance he
had to save the planet. A solution he fervently wished he'd never thought
of.
*"And what if one had to be sacrificed for the other? The Island or
the Surface?"*
The option was there. Robotnik wanted the Emerald. If he obtained
it, he would have the means by which to conquer Mobius and enslave its
population to his own demands. All he really had to do to see that he
didn't get it was . . .
Did he have the right to make such a choice?
*"I've worked closely with two Guardians in my time. Each
of them would've given you a different answer to that question. The jist of
it is: you're the Guardian."*
*I'm the Guardian . . . so now I destroy that which I've been
entrusted to guard . . . *
They couldn't win the battle. That was evident to him now.
Everyone on the Island was as good as dead. So did it really matter that
what he was about to do would kill everyone here . . .
*But it'll ensure that neither Robotnik nor anyone else will ever
obtain the Chaos Emerald for their own purposes . . . I have no other choice
of actions. I have to do it.*
The Emerald, realizing his intentions, cried out.

The battle wasn't going as neatly or quickly as the first two had,
but the Freedom Fighters were slowly gaining the upper hand against the
legion of mechas.
Lyrena was, in essence, having the time of her life. People were
dying all around her, but she knew that if she allowed herself to consider
that for even a moment, she'd be overwhelmed and cut down. So she ignored
all the painridden cries and continued slashing at the mechas with the
accuracy and expertise she'd been trained in since her birth, and took great
joy in kicking herself some "mega-mecha royal rear".
Suddenly, a sensation passed over her that instantly drove her to
her knees, so great was its power. Panic filled her as it had filled
Knuckles a moment ago.
*The Emerald's calling me . . . why would it be calling me . . . it
shouldn't call me . . . where's Knuckles, what's he doing - *
Without an attempt to explain herself to anyone, she fled the battle
scene, headed for the Chaos Chamber.

Knuckles approached the Emerald for what was to be the last time,
for he intended to destroy it. If he destroyed the Emerald, the Island
would crash and die, true enough, but it would also never fall into the
wrong hands.
*Only with the NeverZone's exposure . . . *
The Emerald shone a shade of white so pale that it was almost trans-
parent. It was afraid of him.
)-He was standing all alone
trying to find the words to say when every prayer he ever prayed
was gone -
And the dreams he's never known
are still safely tucked away
until tomorrow he just carries on . . . -(
He wasn't sure how or when Vector's walkman had come on, or indeed
how long the music may have been playing until the words caught his
attention.
Raising his hands to deliver the shattering blow to the gem before
him, he couldn't fight the stream of memories that came over him. Of all
those mornings spent here, watching, remembering. Of his childhood, spent
under the instruction of his father, in which he'd learned to respect and
treasure this stone above all else.
Of the beings trapped in the NeverZone who would never be free, once
he destroyed the portal.
But he had no choice . . .
)-See the devil - he is so intense
see the devil go and change his name
What's the going price of innocence?
It can't be the same
Is it dark when the moon is down
is it dark with a single flame
If there's glass lying all around
I am not to blame-(
*How did it all come to this? How did it all come to surrender?*
)-And this he knows, if nothing more
That waiting in the dark like destiny
Are those who kissed the dogs of war and there is
No tomorrow
No tomorrow
Take a chance . . .-(
Knuckles closed his eyes against the shimmering and trembling of the
Emerald and brought down his fists.
)-Burn the night away . . .-(
His blow had been blocked. He was grabbed and shoved away. Someone
was talking to him - yelling, more likely.
He opened his eyes.
"YOU CAN'T DO THIS!!!!" Lyrena shouted.
"I have to!!" he shouted back. "It's the only way we can save the
planet!!"
Lyrena had drawn her sword to him before, but never with intent to
use it against him. She did now.
"I won't let you!" she forcefully insisted.
"Yes you will!" he insisted back, rushing back at the Emerald,
willing to go through her if he had to.
)-Pictures at an exhibition played as he stood in his trance
Staring at his inhibitions - all the time believing that it now
came down to nothing but this chance . . .-(
Lyrena couldn't believe she was about to do what she was about to
do. Her relationships with the Guardians had always been close and
trusting. Never had she anticipated fighting against one of them. Still,
she raised her sword as the Guardian again attacked the Emerald, blocking
his way long enough for her to again grab him by the shoulders and throw him
back against the wall of the Chamber.
"Get a hold of yourself!!!" she ordered. "You can't destroy the
Chaos Emerald!!!"
"Yes I can!" he insisted. "It's the only way!"
)-I fear you
your silence
your blindness
See what you want to see -
in darkness
one kindness
one moment
Tell me what you believe - -(
Knuckles charged at her, and when she made a move against him, he
swiftly dodged her blow and grabbed her around the throat. He knew he
couldn't kill her, not like this, he had grown to care about this mistling,
but he knew he had to go through with his intent, although the outcome would
not only destroy her, but everyone on the Island . . .
She fought against him, but his strength was easily superior to
hers. Within moments, he could feel her failing, and threw her against the
wall she'd thrown him to twice, where she hit and slid to the ground, almost
senseless.
)-I believe in nothing
never really had to
In regard to your life
rumors that are not true
Who's defending evil
surely never I
Who would be the witness
if you chance to die . . .-(
"Knuckles," she weakly called as he again raised his fists to
shatter the Emerald, "there is another way."
He again squeezed his eyes closed and tried not to listen to her.
"Knuckles," she insisted in a faltering voice, "open the portal to
the Land of No Eternity."
"I can't," he whispered.
"Yes." Her voice was little more than a breath now. "You can."
*Only with the NeverZone's exposure . . . *
)-Father can you hear me
this is not how it was meant to be
I am safe and so are you
as for the others' destiny . . .-(
"Guardian, you must expose the NeverZone Portal."
)-I believe that situations all depend on circumstance-(
"It's written. It's part of the legend. You must fulfill it."
)-Look away - look away-(
*I promised Vector we'd win this battle . . . the Freedom Fighters
all risked their lives to help us here . . . *
)-Pictures at an exhibition
played as he stood in his trance
Staring at his inhibitions
All the time believing that it now came down to nothing but this
CHANCE . . . -(
Quickly, before his resolution could be compromised, the Guardian
known as Knuckles brought his hands down to shatter the Chaos Emerald.

Espio regained his senses in a blaze of fury. Not only had Mecha
defeated him, he'd gone off somewhere to wreak all sorts of havoc while he
was down. The least he could have done was to either finish him off, or
wait for him to wake up so they could finish the battle.
Well, at least he could go aid the Freedom Fighters.
Or so he thought. After an initial attempt to get to his feet, he
realized that he was completely paralyzed from the neck down. When Mecha
had left him, it was with the intent that he not follow.
*Mecha,* he thought with his weary mind. *I'll never understand
you! What are you trying to do? Where are you?*

Mecha was off on a tangent all his own. Why, he didn't exactly
know. He wasn't sure exactly what had changed his mind. Why he didn't kill
Mecha Espio as he'd sworn. Or indeed, why he was about to do what he was
about to do.
Robotnik's airship was approaching the Island with the fourth wave
of attack. By boosting his rockets to their maximum, he reached it quickly
and went aboard, searching for his master.
The Doctor was sitting in the pilot's seat, and seemed surprised at
his entrance.
"Mecha, what are you . . . " he began, half standing up. Then he
reconsidered and relaxed back into his chair. "What do you have to report?"
Mecha crossed the floor until he stood directly in front of him.
"The third attack wave is being slowly overpowered by the Freedom
Fighters," he reported. "All attempts to gain access to the Chaos Chamber
have failed."
"And why you had to fly out here to tell me this . . . but never
mind. We will reach the Island in less than five minutes. They will not be
able to defeat us. Their losses are too great already."
Mecha tilted his head, his aura of impassiveness ever-present.
Indeed, he seemed even calmer than usual.
"Perhaps they will be defeated, sir. I cannot say for sure.
However, I can safely say that you will not see that victory."
The moment these words escaped Mecha's metal lips, the computer
signaled that the airship was set for self-destruct in one minute.
Robotnik jumped to his feet.
"Have you gone mad?!" he demanded of the mecha. "You activated the
self-destruct sequence!!"
"Yes," Mecha replied with a nod. "I have activated it, so as to
assure that you will not, as I said, see the outcome of this battle."
From the tint of the Doctor's face and the look in his eyes, Mecha
knew that he realized there was no way out of the situation. He couldn't
get out of the airship, because the moment he tried, Mecha would cut him
down like butter.
"How dare you?" he seethed. "After all I've done for you - "
"What have you done for me?!" Mecha shouted, shedding his pretense
of indifference. "I'll tell you what you've done for me!!!!"
Robotnik cowered under the anger of his creation.
"You gave me life, an almost perfect design, power. You gave me an
existence of MEANINGLESSNESS!!! I have no family, no friends, no purpose
other than to serve you obediently until you come up with a more perfect
design than my own, in which case I will be tossed to the scrap heap!"
"Mecha," Robotnik said in a forcedly cool voice, trying to weasel a
bit of compassion from the mecha. "I assure you that if you stop the self-
destruct sequence, I will grant you not only full superiority over all my
armies, but will guarantee that you position is never compromised - "
"Oh, please!" Mecha snorted, releasing a blast of laserfire only
inches away from the doctor's bald head. "I refuse to continue in a life
devoid of emotion and friendship such as mine! And you will die with me, as
thanks for making it all possible!"
The countdown was at five seconds.
*Mecha,* came a soft whisper in his brain. *I am your friend.*
Mecha Sonic closed his glowing, red eyes for the last time.
*I know.*

When the airship exploded, it vaporized a good many of the mechas
who had been flying too close. The others continued on their flight path,
not sure of what had just happened, but knowing they must complete their
orders.

Espio closed his eyes and waited.

*For a moment, he thought he was dead.
That moment was spent spinning through oblivion, unseeing,
unfeeling, completely numb all around.*
But this time he knew he wasn't dead. He didn't know how, but he
was in a teleport. And he didn't know where he was going.
The moment when he made contact with the Emerald, the moment it
should have shattered into a thousand pieces and sent the Island plunging
towards its destruction, a swirl of nothingness had opened up and gathered
him within itself, closing up behind him.
Then Lyrena's words came back to him, and he knew where he was
going. He had opened the NeverZone Portal. He was going to enter the Land
of No Eternity.

The final wave of mechas hit upon the Island, and within minutes,
the exhausted Freedom Fighters and remaining Chaotix were engulfed in a fiery
explosion.

Again, the sudden burst of sensation left his mind reeling while he
readjusted to his senses. And when he rubbed his eyes and his eyes adjusted
to the light, he was greeted by the person he wanted to see least of all.
Taking an involuntary step back, he raised his fists to a defensive
position, making it known to his opponent that he was willing to fight if
necessary.
"Easy, there, lad. I mean you no harm."
"No harm? Real sweet, considering that the last time we met, you
tried not only to kill me, but everyone on the Floating Island!" Knuckles
spat at the Firelance.
The Firelance, indeed the very same Firelance who had forced the
Guardian to locate the portal to the NeverZone not so very long ago, sighed
deeply.
"I told you this was a bad idea," he said to someone Knuckles
couldn't see.
There was a quick flash of something like fire, and yet like water,
and a being appeared.
An echidna.
"It was necessary," said the newcomer. Then he turned to Knuckles.
"Hello, Knuckles," he said to the befuddled young Guardian. "My
name is Steven."
"Steven?!" Knuckles choked. "Y-you-you're-"
"The second Guardian," Steven confirmed. "Welcome to the Land of No
Eternity."
"But . . . shouldn't you be dead?" Knuckles bluntly asked.
Steven raised an amused eyebrow.
"Why should I be?"
"Because you're over two thousand years old!!"
Laughing lightly, the ancient, yet apparently young echidna replied,
"This is the NeverZone, young one. Time doesn't pass here. No one can age.
For that matter, all such functions halt. No one gives birth, develops
disease, grows . . . everything stops. That is why I'm still alive."
Knuckles blinked.
"Euh, okay. But what's up with *him*?" he demanded, jabbing his
thumb towards the offending Firelance.
"This," Steven introduced, "is Milestone."
Now the youngest Guardian whirled to regard the Firelance with shock
and some degree of horror.
"But-but . . . but I thought you were one of the GOOD guys!"
Milestone grinned.
"I am."
Knuckles crossed his arms.
"Then why, may I ask, did you - "
"Knuckles, I think you should perhaps delay that question a bit,"
Steven advised, placing a hand on the echidna's shoulder.
He promptly shrugged it off.
"Sorry, no can do," he sourly retorted. "Look, I don't know what's
going on here. I don't even know how I got here. All I know is that the
Floating Island's under attack, and unless you help us, the world is going
to fall to Doctor Robotnik, once he gets hold of the Chaos Emerald!"
The two ancient beings exchanged a worried glance, as if the news
brought them a considerable degree of alarm. Then Steven nodded and
Milestone vanished in his customary burst of flame.
"He'll return in a moment with help," Steven explained. "It seems
you'll have to wait for an explanation. For now, though, just trust me when
I say that we're on your side."
"And just what side is that?" Knuckles asked in a sarcastic tone.
Steven raised his eyebrows.
"Man," Knuckles continued. "This is what I get for letting Chaos
attend to itself. But you know what? I don't really care whose side you're
on, if you help us. That can be dealt with later. Right now, all that
matters to me is saving the people of Mobius!!"
Steven shook his head.
"Knuckles, you won't believe this . . . but you remind me a lot of
my father."
Before Knuckles could even try to reply to that, Milestone returned,
and along with him an army the likes of which the Guardian had never before
even imagined.
*It's a good thing I heard the Song of Legends from Vector,* he
wryly mused, *or I'd be even more confused than I am now.*
And so Knuckles returned to the Floating Island, along with all the
beings banished to the NeverZone two thousand years ago.

The portal Steven opened deposited them just outside the Lava Reef
Zone, all the unicorns and griffins and elementals and queens and knights
and mistlings and Firelances.
Knuckles left them to their own devices and shot up into the air,
wanting to see the scope of the damages. He'd spent too much time in the
NeverZone, and in transport. There was no way that they could've beat the
last attack wave to the Island.
The sight that reached his eyes brought a pang of hopelessness.
Everything was in ruins. Destroyed and burning. The whole Floating Island
was a huge disaster area.
Steven flew up to join him, but before he could say anything, a cry
from the Emerald reached all present. It was not directly compromised, but
the mechas had defeated the Chaotix and the Freedom Fighters and was closing
in on it.
*They've been defeated - *
The thought hit Knuckles like a sword through his own heart. That
must mean, then, that everyone was dead. Everyone . . .
)-And does the pendulum toll
against the side of the soul
when he feels the final moment is near
Do you rage against the dark
try to rewrite the part
turn around and face what you fear
what you fear-(
He still had Vector's walkman, although he just now remembered.
*Where's Vector now? And I thought for a moment that maybe their
lives wouldn't have to be sacrificed after all . . . if only we'd gotten
here a few moments earlier . . . *
A numbness swept over him as he tried to comprehend the loss and
couldn't.
"Stop the mechas," he told Steven in a strange voice, not noting the
strangeness in his ordering a Guardian two thousand years older than he. "I
have to go to the Chaos Chamber."
For if the Chamber hadn't yet been infiltrated, then there was one
person who might have survived the attack.
Steven nodded and gave a silent command to the army, who instantly
jumped to obey his command, and every face radiant at being once again on
the Island, from which they'd been kept from for two millennia.
Too long.

Knuckles flew faster than he'd ever flown before, creating distance
between himself and the army as they flew in the same direction. He saw the
mechas beneath them, dodged the laserfire they shot at him, and continued on
his way, barely noting when the army engaged the astonished mechas.
He arrived at the Chamber and entered, misjudging his landing and
hitting the crystalline floor with a thud. Quickly shaking his head to
remove the stars from his vision, he found Lyrena exactly where he'd left
her, unconscious against the wall, but apparently unharmed.
Except, of course, for the damages he himself had inflicted upon
her. Crawling over to her because he was unwilling to waste the time needed
to return to his feet, he gathered her up in his lap.
"Lyrena, you've got to be okay," he sobbed quietly. "You're the
only person left in all the world that I care about . . . "
And what if it came to pass that even all those legendary beings out
there couldn't defeat the mechas either? Then what? Would he have to
destroy the Emerald after all?
Despair and confusion added to his grief.
And now? The Firelance who had almost destroyed the Island now said
he was on their side? Steven was still alive? All these crazy mystical
beings he hadn't even heard of until a few days ago were now swarming over
his Island? What if they did win? Then what? Would they want to rebuild
their cities and civilizations? What would they want to do to the life on
the Island now?
*Never mind,* he reminded himself. *There is no longer any life on
the Floating Island. Except for them and the two of us. My gosh, Mighty,
Espio, Vector, Charmy . . . Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Bunnie . . . couldn't there
have been another way?*
Lyrena finally reacted to his presence, beginning to cough, then
stifling it with a painful-sounding noise he couldn't identify, but blamed
on his attempt at strangling her.
"I'm sorry," he told her as she opened her eyes. "I'm sorry I
choked you."
"The Island?" she rasped in a weak and contorted voice.
He sighed and looked away from her clouded blue eyes.
"I opened the portal," he said softly, and could feel the jolt run
through her body. "They came back. Everyone came back with me. They're
dealing with the mechas now. The Island's safe. But we were too late."
"What do you mean?" she inquired, struggling to her feet.
He helped her gain her balance.
"Everything's destroyed. Everyone's dead. We were in time to save
the Island, but not the people."
For a moment, shock and horror registered on her face. Then a
fleeting hope.
"Everyone came with you?" she repeated, still rasping weakly.
"Yeah, I guess so."
She smiled and put her hands on his arms.
"Don't worry, Knuckles. Everything's going to be all right."

They waited until the Emerald signaled that the mechas were gone.
Knuckles didn't really care how the battle went. He somehow took it as a
given that the mystical creatures would prevail. Despite the mistling's
assurances, he didn't feel quite sure he could face the scene outside.
Still, he knew he had to.
As they reentered the Island, however, they were greeted by -
"Hey, Knux. Miss us?"
It was Mighty, Charmy and Vector, standing right there, unharmed,
and wearing the stupidest grins he'd ever seen in his life.
Knuckles took a shocked step backwards. He looked around. Everyone
was milling about, Freedom Fighters, all of them it seemed, in perfect
condition, even a few he knew for a fact to be dead.
)-And if this is all illusion
nothing more than pure delusion
clinging to a fading fantasy
Like Icarus who heeds the calling
of a sun but now is falling
as the feathers of his life fall free
can you see
see-(
"You're dead!" he exclaimed, saying the first logical thing that
popped into his mind.
That seemed to strike the Chaotix as hilarious, seeing as how they
burst into wild laughter.
"We were!" Vector told him, administering a joyful clout on his back
that winded him.
"We got better!" Charmy added.
Mighty just laughed.
Steven walked up to him then.
"Don't you know anything, young one?" he chided. "The Queens, they
possess Life, and the Ladies have Healing. Various aspects of Chaos Powers
that have kept us alive for the past two thousand years."
"But - I thought you were alive 'cause time doesn't pass in the
NeverZone."
Steven nodded.
"That too. There is much we must explain."
"I'll say."
Then Steven turned his attention to Lyrena, whose throat had just
been seen to by one of the passing Ladies.
"Hello, Mother," he said.
"Steven, you're crazy, you know that?"
And the pair flung their arms around each other.
"I told you to let Chaos attend to itself," said a low voice in
Knuckles' ear.
Knuckles didn't have to turn to see who it was.
"Hey, Dad," he greeted. "Long time no see, huh? Would someone care
to explain all this to me now?"

3)---------- Explanations

"It's somewhat of a miracle that you came when you did, young one,"
Steven was saying as he, Knuckles, Sonic, Sally, Lyrena, Milestone, and the
Chaotix sat on the edge of the Island, looking over the ocean below and the remains of the first and second mecha attack waves.
"This was the first time in two thousand years that we had an open window
to leave. Any other time, we would have had to leave people behind."
"The war has gone on continually all this time," Milestone said.
"No one really could die on either side, because of the life powers on both
sides. Sad as it may seem, there were a few of each of our kind who served
them, giving them the same abilities as us."
"We'd fight, die, heal, fight some more," Steven sighed. "There
wasn't a soul in the NeverZone who hadn't wished at least once to die and
stay dead. But it couldn't be permitted. Everyone was needed. It was just
a matter of how many each side could capture in each battle."
"About a thousand years ago, your time, the Guardian known as
Franklin transferred what was left of Echidna Civilization to the NeverZone
in another great war, similar to the one you faced here. The Island fell
under attack, and he feared he wouldn't be able to defend them. That's why
it seemed to you like you were the last echidna," Milestone explained.
"They way it worked was like this," Steven told their audience. "A
Guardian is born on the Floating Island. As soon as she is no longer needed
for his survival, the mother was sent back to the NeverZone to assist in the
war. As soon as he was no longer needed for his survival, the father also
left. Later, as the young Guardian matured and learned of his powers, he
would eventually also enter the NeverZone and stay there for a short while,
during which his father would return to the Island, until he married. Then
he and his wife would return to the Island and bear a son. And the cycle
continued."
"It seems pretty cruel," Knuckles observed. "I mean, if you could
grant freedom of passage to a Guardian like that, why couldn't you let the
others return?"
"Everyone possible was necessary to win this war, Knuckles,"
Milestone said in a low tone. "We all knew that no one could leave for good
until everyone could leave for good. But the Island needed a Guardian to
ensure a home for us when we returned."
"Okay, I'm with you so far," Knuckles said. "I may not agree, but
I'm with you. What I still don't understand is exactly how *you*," and he
again jabbed a finger at Milestone, "fit into all this!"
Milestone sighed and Steven intervened.
"He was acting on our orders, Knuckles."
"Who's orders?"
"All of us Guardians. There are a lot of us, but majority ruled
that this was the best plan. You see, we knew we were on the verge of
reclaiming our people, but were also aware that we couldn't hold everyone for
long. However, before everyone could be transported back, we needed the
portal opened by a Guardian on this side."
"So how did he get here in the first place?"
"When Franklin transported the echidnas to the NeverZone, he had to
lift the barrier placed on the Chaos Chamber by Steven here," Milestone
explained. "It was the only way to get them from here to there. But what
he did was, rather than lifting it altogether, make it so that anyone could
enter the Chamber, but a person could only leave it into the Zone they'd
entered from. It you entered from the Floating Island, you had to leave to
the Floating Island. If you entered through the portal, you could only
leave through the portal. Unless the portal was opened by the outside, and
by a Guardian."
"So why didn't one of you just come through and open it for the
others?" Knuckles inquired.
"Because it had to be OPENED from the outside and by a Guardian. We
could get to the Chaos Chamber, yes, but wouldn't be able to leave unless
you had opened the portal."
Knuckles' brain was beginning to hurt.
"Then how did we get back?!"
"You didn't close the portal properly behind you," Steven told him.
"We're very fortunate that the Force Army didn't notice and invade before we
returned."
"So, okay. I still don't get the deal with that fiasco with you,"
Knuckles said, finally talking directly to Milestone.
"Really, Guardian, you should have guessed that I was being helped
by outside forces. A Firelance can manipulate weather and motion, but can't
cause a person to disintegrate the way you did," he replied to Knuckles and
the Chaotix.
"If you didn't do that, then who did?!" Knuckles exclaimed.
"I did," Steven replied. "The operation was performed mainly by
Milestone and myself. We were a bit upset when you father intervened the
way he did, but it all ended up well."
"And just what did you intend to accomplish by all this?!?!"
Knuckles demanded.
"We needed you to discover the portal, and as your development went,
it was unlikely you would do so in time without prompting. It was also very
fortunate you made it possible for Lyrena's release - "
"Why couldn't you just come into the Chamber and explain all this to
me??? Didn't that ever occur to you?!" Knuckles yelled. "Sonic almost died
because of your little game! And what about us on the Island? What if I
hadn't figured it out? Would you have gone and killed us?!"
"Of course not!" Steven and Milestone both exclaimed, shocked.
"And if Sonic hadn't put his life on the line for mine, I'd probably
have been dead outside Robotropolis! Didn't any of this ever occur to you?!
You put our lives on the line, when all you had to do was tell me then what
you've just told me now!"
Sonic reached out and gripped Knuckles' arm, signaling him not to
lose his temper. Knuckles took a deep breath and tried to cool his jets.
Steven grinned sheepishly.
"We couldn't tell you, young one. It would've been cheating."
And whatever coolness Knuckles had achieved flew through the window.
He jumped to his feet and leapt to attack his ancestor, and would've if not
for the restraining grips of the Chaotix.
"We've been had, Knux," Mighty urgently whispered to him. "We've
all been had, but getting them riled at us won't help matters any!"
"Oh, rile THIS - " Knuckles was snapping back, when a Freedom
Fighter possum ran up to the small gathering.
"Guardian, they've found him!"
Knuckles gave one last, hard glare to the two ancient beings, then
turned and left in a huff to where the possum directed, tailed closely by
the Chaotix, Sonic, and Sally. Lyrena stayed behind, and Knuckles could
tell by her expression that she had a few choice words for her old friends
herself.
The possum directed them to a nearby clearing where Espio had been
set on the ground while the new healer population tried to figure out what
to make of him. He was still paralyzed, and suffered from various other
injuries inflicted upon him by Mecha Sonic, but didn't appear to by hurt
badly.
"Hey," he greeted them as they approached.
"How you doin'?" Knuckles asked him.
Espio glared at him.
"How do I look?"
"Right. Never mind. They'll get you back to normal somehow."
"Normal?" Espio inquired, lightly implying his roboticized form.
Powerful as he was, he wanted to be himself again. Not a vessel in him had
any wish to remain a mecha-robian for the rest of his life, although he knew
that it was quite likely that this would be the case.
Knuckles shrugged.
"Well, we'll see. So what happened?"
Espio grimaced.
"Me and Mecha had a tangle. It ended . . . well, it didn't end very
well."
"Who won?" Vector naturally wanted to know.
Grinning slightly, Espio replied, "I don't think anyone *could* have
won this, Vector."
While the Queens and Ladies argued about how to deal with the mecha-
robian (it was a little out of their league), Espio filled the others in on
what had transpired between he and Mecha, and between Mecha and Robotnik.
"For all the terrible things he did, well, I can't help but forgive
him," he said by way of conclusion. "It was all he'd ever known. He didn't
know better, for all his advanced programming and A.I. And when it counted,
he came through on the right side."
Sonic shuddered.
"Okay, this one's going a little over my head. Having everyone
raised from the dead and discovering that we've all been used by two
thousand year old maniacs is one thing. I can buy that. But Mecha turning
out to be a good guy? That's gonna take some getting used to!"
"Raised from the dead?" Espio repeated, not having been around for
this tidbit.
"Everyone except for Sonic and Knuckles," Mighty informed. "Knux
was off in the NeverZone, and so he didn't get killed, and Sonic, well,
that's quite a story."
"He also discovered Life powers, and when it became apparent that we
were losing, he exhausted himself into a collapse trying to resurrect every
body on his own," Sally explained with a laugh. "Someone should tell this
guy that he can't save the world single-handedly."
Sonic and Knuckles exchanged a glance.
"Why not?" Sonic asked. "It only takes one."
"All right, move along!" a Queen crisply ordered, waving her slender
hands at them. "Let us do our job before we change our minds again!"
A groan from the others standing behind her brought a frown to her
face, but when she turned to reprimand them, they all were busy in involved
conversation with one another.

Later that afternoon, Knuckles sat alone in the Chaos Chamber. By
this time, most of the newcomers had gone to seek the sites of their long-
gone homes, so he had some unchallenged privacy for the first time in a long
time. He sighed and touched the Emerald gently, assuring it that he no
longer meant any harm, that he'd only tried to do what he thought was
necessary. The Emerald seemed willing to accept his apology.
A frustrated cloud of mist floated down beside him and solidified.
"Knuckles, I think we've created a monster," Lyrena sighed, flopping
down on the floor beside him.
"Everyone settling in?" he inquired.
"Not hardly! Everyone has a different idea on what should be what,
who should be where, and who should be in charge of the place."
"Hmm."
"Mainly the consensus seems to be to keep the Guardians in power.
The question is: WHICH Guardians?"
Knuckles shook his head.
"Not me."
Lyrena blinked and sat up.
"What do you mean? As the most recent, you have the best claim and
most right."
"But this whole thing is so twisted." He shook his head again. "No
one's what I thought they'd be. Everyone's just so . . . I dunno. Bent on
their own ways. They don't understand how different things are here from in
the NeverZone."
"That's why they need a modern Guardian. One who's fought his
battles here instead of there, and not spent so much time learning their
ways and forgetting the ways of now, here."
"I just don't know. I don't like my powers. I don't like a lot of
what I can do with them. I don't like the way the Guardians work. Heck,
I'm not even sure I like leaving the Firelance Army of Force trapped in the
NeverZone. No one should have to endure immortality, even if they're evil."
The mistling giggled.
"Sounds to me like you're having a post-war crisis, Guardian. Not
only have the people of my time won their great war, but you've won yours.
Robotnik is dead, and Fate is trapped forever in the Land of No Eternity.
What happens now?"
Knuckles pulled himself to his feet.
"I dunno, but rebuilding societies isn't my thing."
"But that's what's happening all over the planet, Knuckles! Every-
one's rebuilding their lives! I know it's not what you're used to, but it's
part of growing stronger: learning to master all different situations, not
only how to fight. You're the first Guardian to not have to fight the
Firelances. The beginning of a whole new age. I know you're upset about a
lot of things, but this is your place. You think I like this? Heck, who do
you think's expected to keep you in line?! They pin *everything* on the
mistling!"
He glanced at her with an amused expression.
"Aren't you going to go back to your own people?"
She snorted.
"Let's just say, my friend, that I'm not on the best terms with my
own people right now. They think my priorities are screwed up."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, because I showed a higher loyalty to Michael and Steven than
to my own kind, and hence ended up involved in all this."
"You did your duty! We all did!"
"Do, Guardian, present tense. And now, what you have to do, is to
get out there and show your narrow-minded ancestors how to work a priority
to life in general. Prove to them that you actually can get away with it."
"Narrow-minded ancestors?"
"Argh! Y'know, Knuckles, I love Steven like my own son, but I'll be
the first to admit that he's not only narrow-minded, but reeeeeally needs to
have his head examined after the stunt he and Milestone pulled on you guys.
That was compLETEly uncalled for."
"You're tellin' me. But everything worked out all right, I guess."
"Yeah. I guess."

"So what's the plan, Knux?" Mighty asked him later.
The echidna snorted.
"Heck if I know, Mighty."
For some reason, Espio doubled over with laughter.
Knuckles and the other Chaotix looked at him strangely.
"Euh, what's so funny?" Knuckles asked him.
"Hasn't the humor of this situation struck anyone else?" he asked,
surprised, finally restored to his natural chameleonic form due to a good
bit of tweaking from the mystical beings.
"Um . . . no."
He burst out laughing even harder.
"Stress," Vector whispered to the others. "He'll get over it.
Maybe."

And the sun set again over the Floating Island. It was the
beginning of a new era for everyone on Mobius, and as of yet, many things
were uncertain. But one thing everyone agreed on, and that was that no
matter what happened, they would never surrender to evil, even if it meant
fighting for two thousand years . . . or two months . . . for now, forever.


)---------- Disclaimer

That's right, everybody! It's disclaimer time! In case you haven't
noticed, there really hasn't been one for the entire series, so I'm gonna
sum it all up here for For Now, Forever.
First of all, you know the drill, Sonic, Sally, Rotor, Bunnie, Dr.
Quack, Knuckles, Mighty, Charmy, Vector, Espio, Robotnik, and Mecha Sonic
belong to Sega and Archie Comics. All other characters belong to me, I
believe, unless I've missed one, in which case, sorry.
Some concepts, for example, the Day of Fury, Chaos Energies, and the
like also belong to Sega and Archie, but I like to think that at least some
of this story was original.
Somewhat. These are all based off of one of NetRaptor's lead-ins.
What does that mean? I entered a fan fiction contest and got carried away.
Thanks to her for a great idea, though! The beginning of Priorities was
written by her as a teaser, and I took it from there.
I play too much Final Fantasy.
The lyrics on Vector's walkman are all taken from three songs:
Chance, Castles Burning, and Alone You Breathe, all of which are featured on
Savatage's album "Handful of Rain." If you ever get a chance, check these
songs out, they rock!
Did the explanations in chapter 3 make sense? I tried, I really did
try, but it's always harder to write out something than it is to figure it
out in your head. If you have questions, email me and I'll try to
straighten everything out. My address is echidna@neobright.net
I play waaaaaaay to much Final Fantasy, in case you can't tell from
my crew of mystical beings. The urge was there to give the Queens not only
Life2, but White and Wall, but I managed to restrain myself.
Now I must apologize, not only for a disclaimer that is far too
long, but for the delays in releasing this story. See, it got off to a good
start right after I finished Loyalties, but then it just sort of slumped. I
tried, really, but it was really hard to get in the right frame of mind, or
at least that's the excuse I'm handing out. I don't know, this part of the
story just got really hard to write, so for a long time I averaged about a
paragraph a month, until one Monday when I was home, very sick, and should
have been writing an obituary for an animal of my choosing for Biology (Oh
please, don't ask) I figured I'd put this off for long enough, and just
wrote the thing.
(Clovis says I play too much Final Fantasy. Hi, T.K.!)
I would like to thank everyone who stayed on my case about this
story. No, I wasn't avoiding you, and I really did read your messages, and
if not for you guys, this bugger may have been about a year before coming
out. Argh. Thanks, everybody!
ARE THERE ANY CANADIANS IN THE CROWD TONIGHT?!?!?!
Okay, are there any Canadians who watch Canadian TV? Are there any non-
Canadians who watch Canadian TV? Basically, is there anyone else who has
noticed the Canadian Ford Slogan? Picture this, I'm watching a hockey game, and
on comes this commercial: Ford. For Now, Forever. Let me tell you, when I
first saw that, I jumped up and screamed. Literally.
And so ends my second Sonic Fanfic series. Hope you all enjoyed it!
Just remember: Sonic Fanfic is NOT dead! As long as there're people like us
out there it will live and thrive, for now, forever!

P.S. Did you know that in the Microsoft Word Spellchecker, it suggests that instead
of using lasergun, you should use the proper spelling of lasagna? That puts a whole
new light on things!