Disclaimer: I've said this lots of times, but i'll say it again, anyway.  Sonic the hedgehog, and the other characters and the places and the stuff all belong to Sega, Dic and whoever else owns them.  i'm not making any money from this.

Acknowledgements: Jesus Christ, padawan nik-ka, Redtailhawk, Luna, Ginger Ninja, Chewbacca, Heartfire, Moonwing lobo & metabee, Orin and panther.

archiving: email me at wild_horse1987@yahoo.com.sg

a/n: this IS the last chapter, so have fun.  :)  thanks for all the wonderful reviews.

Chapter 5:

Sonic stared straight at Knuckles.  Their eyes locked, and Sonic met the creature's unflinching gaze.  Knuckles was a robot.  He couldn't feel, couldn't be scared.

"I hope you are ready to die," Knuckles' mouth twisted into a grim ghost of a smile.

"I'm ready, but I won't die today," Sonic answered evenly.  "Neither will you.  None of us has to die."

"No, you're wrong," Knuckles sank into a fighting crouch, his eyes still meeting with Sonic's.

Sonic steeled himself for the fight.  It was inevitable.  There was no way he could avoid it.  If you don't kill Knuckles, then he'll kill you.  Sally's words.  It was true, some of it.  But Sonic knew he could bring Knuckles back.  He had to believe in it, or else, he would definitely die.

Knuckles leapt, like a spring uncoiling.  Catlike, graceful, sleek, deadly, silent. 

Metal claws sliced through the air like a deadly scythe.  Sonic ducked as the sharp iron slashed at the place where his head had been.  Knuckles was skilled in hand-to-hand combat, perhaps even more so than Sonic.  The hedgehog knew it himself.  But he had to try.

Sonic jumped into the air, curling up into a spinning blue blur.  He slammed into Knuckles' unprotected back, flinging the red creature forward and onto the ground.  Snarling, Knuckles jumped to his feet and lashed out reflexively.  He smacked Sonic straight in the chest as the hedgehog tried to escape the blow.

Sonic flew backwards, landing hard on the ground with all his breath knocked out of him.  Knuckles pressed his advantage as he took a few steps towards his antagonist.  Sonic scrambled hastily to his feet.  They were even, so far, one all.  It would change soon, the hedgehog knew.

Knuckles slashed at Sonic's face with a claw.  Sonic dodged the blow by dropping into a crouch, but he didn't anticipate the other blow.  Knuckles brought his free hand up from below to rip at Sonic's throat.  The hedgehog saw the blade at the last moment, jumping back.  Momentum from his earlier dodging threw him off, but he managed to escape serious injury, with four thin lines of red blood - dull in the dim light - drawn across his throat.

He saw the smile of triumph on Knuckles' metal-encased face.  The red creature twisted away from a punch that Sonic threw, then whipped around to face the blue hedgehog again.  Sonic feinted a lunge to the left, then leapt right, curling into a spinning ball.

Knuckles snarled in rage as he ducked Sonic's attack.  The hedgehog landed and, before he could regain his full balance, swung around and lashed out at Knuckles with a kick.  It hit the creature.

"Die," Knuckles was seething with fury.  He would not fail.  Sonic would die.

Why?  Knuckles caught the thought, Why does Sonic deserve to die? 

"Knuckles..." Sonic avoided another one of the creature's attacks.  "I'm here to help you."

"I don't need your help, I need to kill you!"

Knuckles gathered his strength and attacked again, forcing Sonic to dodge and defend himself.  The fight raged on furiously, Sonic desperately trying to figure a way to help his friend.

Tails ran towards the robots who were loading the Emeralds for transport.  They were oblivious to the clash between Sonic and Knuckles. 

Tails knew the robots couldn't be allowed to finish loading the aircraft.  Tails launched himself in a blur of orange fur.  He landed squarely on the first robot, smashing it to smithereens, then used momentum to carry him to the second one. 

Sonic whipped the Power Ring out of his backpack, holding it in his hand.  Sweat blurred his vision.  He'd been fighting Knuckles for ten minutes already, and Knuckles had almost killed him thrice.  Sonic knew he didn't have much chance of winning.

"Knuckles, listen to me!" the hedgehog shouted desperately.

Knuckles stopped, seeing that Sonic wasn't attacking either.  He was breathing hard, and welcomed the rest.  "What?" he asked brusquely.

"You know me."

"I know you ... I must kill you!" Even though he was exhausted, his voice still contained a dangerous threat.

"No!  You know me, as a friend."

"Friend!" the creature spat.  "I have no friends!"

"Then who are you?"

"Knuckles," he snarled.  But a voice at the back of his mind whispered, How do you know?  Robotnik said so.  Can you trust him?  He doesn't feel right.  You have, no feelings. 

"You're not a robot," Sonic was desperate now.

"No... Robotnik is my master!" he snapped angrily.

"He doesn't care about you!" Sonic practically yelled.  Knuckles glided towards Sonic, aiming for the hedgehog's face, his sharp claws extended forward.

Sonic turned and twisted away, then shoved the Power Ring into Knuckles' outstretched hands.

He instinctively grabbed the Ring - it was a reflex action.  The energy coursed through his whole body in a sudden jolt.  He collapsed, gasping for air.

"Knuckles!" Sonic ran to his friend.

The Echidna looked up, blinking, the metal mask gone.  "Sonic?  What happened?"

"You're a bot, Knux.  Robotnik grabbed you.  I'm so sorry."

Knuckles the Echidna got to his feet slowly, his harsh breathing still audible.  "He wants the Chaos Emeralds again."  It wasn't a question.

"Yes," Sonic turned towards the transport.  Tails had managed to destroy the robot workers.  "We should replace the Emeralds in their places now."

The Guardian nodded, his stance registering exhaustion.  He followed Sonic.

"Knuckles!" Tails turned to the Echidna.  Knuckles nodded to the fox in reply - he was too tired to speak.  Together, the freedom fighters put the Emeralds back safely.

"Tails," Sonic turned to his sidekick, "Take the transport.  Get off.  Go back to the Great Forest, we could use the transport; just remember to get rid of the radio.  Knux and I will wait for Robotnik and trash that guy."  Sonic could see that Tails wanted to protest, but the urgency in the hedgehog's voice told the fox not to argue.  Tails turned and boarded the transport.

"We're counting on you, Tails," Knuckles said in a low voice, encouraging the younger fox.  Tails nodded, then he turned and boarded the transport.

Together, Sonic and Knuckles walked out of the chamber, waiting for Robotnik.  Sonic knew Robotnik would want to make sure everything went well.  He would come, and it would be their only chance to stop him.

"Knuckles..."

The Echidna shook his head, "It's not your fault, Sonic.  I remember what happened, and a little of being a robot."

"You'll change back, soon."

"I know.  That's why I'm asking you this - kill me.  Kill me now." Knuckles' eyes blazed with resolution.

"No."

"As a robot, I will kill you, Sonic.  You know that." Knuckles said softly, exhaustion creeping into his voice.

"I can't kill you.  You're my friend," Sonic was trying very hard not to cry.

"Do it!" Knuckles snapped forcefully.  "I'd do it for you too, if you asked," his tone softened.

The sound of a machine made the two friends turn.  "Sonic and Knuckles together.  How...touching." Robotnik's voice boomed from a loudspeaker on his Egg-o-matic.  "A pity, you won't be together any longer.  You'll be dead!"

A hatch opened in the underside of the flying craft, and a laser gun emerged. 

Sonic reacted in a split second, jumping for the Egg-o-matic with all his strength.  He tried to grab on to the side of the flying ship, but his fingertips just brushed the edge of the silvery metal – the flying craft was too high.

Doctor Robotnik cackled with glee, then stopped in surprise as his flying craft was suddenly jolted.  Knuckles hung on grimly to the slick metal, gritting his teeth against his tiredness.  He had climbed a wall, then glided across, ramming into Robotnik's Egg-o-matic.

Knuckles tried to pull himself up, but the metal was slippery.  He slid, and he lost one handhold.  The Echidna closed his eyes against the pain from the effort, then tightened his grip, swinging a gloved fist at the glass canopy.  It shattered, glass fragments drawing blood from a dozen different places on his body.  Knuckles didn't care.  He ignored the pain, dragging himself up into the cockpit.

Robotnik snarled in anger, then grabbed the controls.  He jammed the control stick right, then left, trying desperately to shake Knuckles off.

Knuckles reached for the controls, his eyes blazing with determination.  It happened in a split-second - suddenly, he was imprisoned by the metal again, his mind clouded.  Knuckles let go and fell to the ground, his sharp claws gleaming dangerously.  Then, he leapt for Sonic.

No!  Knuckles knew Sonic was his friend.  He couldn't kill the hedgehog. 

Yes, kill him.  Orders.  Robotnik's orders.

No!  He doesn't deserve to die.

Yes, the voice was cold.  Knuckles fought against it.

"Knuckles!" Sonic yelled.

Robotnik brought his Egg-o-matic lower.  He was enjoying the conflict immensely. 

"Kill," the Echidna snarled.  He grabbed the hedgehog in one swift moment.  "Now, you die." 

Kill him.

"Knuckles, I'm your friend!" Sonic was gasping for air.

Sonic's my friend

Kill him.

No.

Yes.  Knuckles moved his right hand to deliver the killing blow.

"Fight it!  Fight the programming!" Sonic's shout was desperate.

No!  Shut up!  Listen to Sonic.

And suddenly, Knuckles felt his mind clear.  In an instance, he knew what he had to do.

The Echidna released Sonic, then turned and leapt at the Egg-o-matic, curling into a lethal ball of furious energy.  Through his blur of speed, he saw where he had to hit, and steeled himself for the impact.  Knuckles knew he had only one shot at it.  If he missed, he, together with Sonic, would die. 

He slammed into the engines with tremendous impact, bouncing off and landing on the ground in a dazed heap.  Black spots danced before his eyes.

Robotnik's Egg-o-matic began to belch dark, black smoke, then it exploded.

Sonic shielded his eyes against the harsh brightness of the explosion.  Knuckles!  Knuckles was in the blast radius.  Sonic ran towards Knuckles and grabbed the Echidna, pulling him away from the explosion.  The hedgehog dragged his friend further away, then he helped Knuckles sit against a tree trunk.

Knuckles was bleeding profusely.  It's happening all over again, Sonic felt a lump in his throat.  Just like before.

"Sonic?  Are you there?" Knuckles' voice was barely a whisper.  The Echidna's eyes were closed against the pain.

"Yeah, Knux, I'm here," Sonic sat down beside his friend.

"It's not your fault.  Don't blame yourself."

"What can I do?" Sonic choked back tears.  "I can't do anything."

"You can do something for me… There must be...another Guardian," Knuckles paused then carried on, "but not you.  Tails."

"Why?" Sonic asked, although he thought he knew the answer.

"Would you be as happy, or as good?  Which are you better at?" Knuckles smiled a little despite the pain that threatened to rip him apart.

"Yeah," Sonic grinned at the Echidna as Knuckles opened his eyes.  Knuckles knew him, inside and out.  Sonic loved adventure, not being stuck on the Floating Island for the rest of his life.

Knuckles looked at his friend, and saw tears in the hedgehog's eyes.  "Don't cry, Sonic..."

The hedgehog nodded, "I'm trying, but I can't."

Knuckles grinned wryly, "We beat Robotnik..."

"For good.  He'll never be back," Sonic pressed the Power Ring into the Echidna's hand.  The metal disappeared from Knuckles' battered features for the last time. "Knuckles..."

"Don't say it.  I know," Knuckles knew the depth of their friendship, and he knew Sonic's grief.  "I'll be with you, Sonic, in your memories, always..." The Echidna closed his eyes and gripped Sonic's hand with his remaining strength.

Sonic watched as the last shreds of energy in the Power Ring wore off, and the metal covered Knuckles' noble features forever.  "I'll miss you, Knuckles…" the hot tears stung Sonic's face.  It wasn't fair, Sonic knew.  It wasn't fair that Knuckles would never live to know the freedom and peace he had fought so hard to achieve. 

Yes!  *jumps around in glee* I'm finally done.  I actually thought I'd end up dumping it halfway thru, but thanks to all the wonderful reviews you guys gave, I didn't.  Esp. since I took such a long time to update. =)  this is the first sth fic (actually, the first long fic of any kind) I've finished so far, but I'll definitely be back, maybe a sequel?  I dunno.  Now that Knuckles is dead, what's there to write about?  Any ideas?

                                    -wild horse (extremely relieved and happy)