Chapter Five
The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and Knuckles the Echidna had shade and a bunch of grapes in one hand. It really didn't get much better than this.
Espio the Chameleon and Mighty the Armadillo were situated under neighboring trees, sharing a joke that Knuckles couldn't quite hear. Ray, a flying squirrel, was somewhere else on the island, and Charmy Bee flew overhead, squinting at something far in the distance. Knuckles reasoned it was a bird.
On the Floating Island nowadays, life was pretty carefree. There was a food surplus, plenty of water supplies, and no pesky jerks trying to get their hands on the Master Emerald. This had been the case for ten years now, ever since the Dark Legion was finally defeated, and Knuckles hoped it stayed that way.
He had once been the prime guardian of the Chaos Emeralds, but they got joggled around from person to person, hero to evil dictator, and sometimes back to Knuckles himself so much that nobody really had any clue where they were now. Messengers brought news from the mainland, however, so the Chaotix would soon discover any misuse of the sacred objects.
Now all that Knuckles, Espio, Mighty, Charmy, and Ray had to worry about was keeping the Master Emerald safe, and at the moment, it was perfectly so, hidden in a deep underground chamber known only to the five of them.
Of all the Chaotix, only Mighty had had any luck with the female gender, though he and Jackie, a jaguar from the other side of the Island, had no children yet. Charmy's only relationship had ended in a bad split-up. Ray and Espio never even got off the ground, and Knuckles lost any interest in love when Julie-Su, an echidna he had very strong feelings for, disappeared without a trace during a battle.
Julie-Su was only presumed dead; Vector was confirmed so. Knuckles didn't like to think about what had happened to his old friend; it was too painful. Vector had sacrificed himself to save the rest of the Chaotix in the heat of the final, decisive battle against the Dark Legion. They found his body seven days later, and a minute of silence was observed all over the island for the crocodile hero.
Charmy broke Knuckles's thoughts. "Hey, Knux, come look at this."
Tossing the grape stems aside, Knuckles climbed the tree he was sitting under, and emerged to find Charmy pointing out over the edge of the Island, which they were only a hundred yards from. "What do those look like to you?"
Knuckles squinted into the distance. All he could see were some specks that didn't look like much at all. "You're the eyesight in this group, Charmy."
"Eyesight? You mean eyesore?" asked Espio from below, earning a laugh from Mighty.
Charmy peered at the dots, which were now visibly coming closer. "They would almost appear to be – but no, that's impossible."
"Spit it out, buzzbrain." Even after fifteen years, Espio still didn't get along with Charmy.
"Well… I was going to say… they almost look like Badniks. But that's totally impossible."
Mighty laughed again. "That's for sure. Badniks haven't been seen here, or on the mainland, for a decade and a half."
"Not true," said Ray, gliding in. "I've just been to see the mainland monthly messenger albatross. She said that there was a small attack on Knothole by a group of Badniks, but none escaped to tell its location. No other Badniks have been spotted, however."
"Oh yes they have," said Charmy, flying down. "Guys, I seriously hope that you've been staying in shape."
Now Knuckles could see them. Twenty BuzzBombers, in attack formation. He jumped down from the tree and exclaimed "Twenty? It's an insult? I could have taken twenty of those things by myself when I was fifteen! Are they crazy?"
"To attack us? They gotta be." Espio was getting geared up. Knuckles, too. It had been a long time since he had had an opportunity to put his fists to a robot or twenty.
The first BuzzBomber dove at Knuckles, shooting blasts of energy. He rolled out, and then leapt at the BuzzBomber, missing by ten feet. At the same time, an energy blast from another Badnik caught him flush in the stomach, knocking him backwards into the dust.
Huh, Knuckles thought, maybe I am out of shape. Another BuzzBomber was diving for him. This time his spinning jump hit home, busting the metal shell. A small blue bird flew away. This always made Knuckles feel good.
Two other metal shells lay on the ground, courtesy of Espio and Ray. Suddenly, the BuzzBombers turned and fled to the inner regions of the island. This strange action made all the Chaotix stop still for a second.
Then Mighty suddenly gasped, and raced after the BuzzBombers, leaving Knuckles, Charmy, Espio, and Ray even more confused. Espio, with his usual grace, cried "Hey! Mighty! What the hell are you doing?"
Mighty turned around, and his normal friendliness had vanished. "Don't you see? Don't you get it? After guarding it for almost two decades?"
It hit the remaining Chaotix hard. This wasn't an attack team; it was search team. And the object in question was undoubtedly the Master Emerald.
For the next two hours, Knuckles, Mighty, Charmy, Espio, and Ray raced all over the island, searching for the BuzzBombers. Innocent civilians were terrified; most had never seen a Badnik before. How Knuckles wished it could have stayed that way!
Finally, they held a rendezvous at their original spot. Mighty claimed to have taken out four Badniks total, and Espio, to his great annoyance, confessed that he had only destroyed three. ("Two got away because I had to help the residents.") Charmy and Ray scored a pair apiece, and Knuckles had won their unproclaimed contest with a grand total of eight.
It didn't take a genius, which Espio most certainly was not, to notice that the math didn't quite work out. Espio was, however, the one who voiced it. "Hey, there's still one left!"
They were about to set off again, when Charmy cried out. A BuzzBomber was making top speed for the edge of the island, which could only mean one thing. It had discovered the location of the Emerald, and was about to deliver the message!
Charmy went speeding after it. Five minutes later he returned, looking grim. "I got it," he proclaimed, "in midair, but… but this one didn't have a bird. It had a rabbit… and I couldn't get there in time…"
Even Espio was silent.
The Chaotix held a meeting, and it was determined that Knuckles would go down to the mainland and find Knothole. It was clear that if Badniks were returning, something needed to be done. Luckily, the Floating Island would pass over Knothole in two weeks, and Knuckles could glide down.
Knuckles wasn't too happy. He would enjoy seeing the Knothole Freedom Fighters again, and he was quite up to the long glide. The problem wasn't even that he was leaving his home island, that he was facing up to another tough adventure, or that he was out of shape.
It was just so damn annoying to have to get back up.
Chapter Six
Whoever designed the Tornado must not have been thinking plural.
This was Antoine's thought as he gripped the red wing of the biplane. The plane had once had a passenger seat, but Miles had taken it off. He complained that it reduced his air speed or put too much weight on the back of the plane, or some other aeronautic bull like that.
It was for this reason that Antoine would spend the duration of this trip perched perilously atop the plane wing, constantly running forward to keep his balance. Miles would have to fly super-slow, as Antoine was nowhere near as fast as Sonic, who was the expert at wing-walking.
During takeoff, however, Miles would need to get speed. So one certain coyote with a slight French accent was going to have to hold on for dear live as the wind rushed in his face at eighty miles an hour during takeoff. Antoine had suggested strapping himself in, but then he would not have been able to get up after takeoff.
Why the hell was he doing this?
He knew the answer, of course. It had been a fortnight since Miles had returned with his shocking news about Snively's hideout. However, he was the only one who knew where it was, and he had not been in a good shape to go looking. After he had recovered, and somehow turned the pieces of scrap metal that some townsfolk retrieved for him back into his beloved Tornado, Sonic suggested that a member of the Royal Guard accompany him on his mission to scope out the base. Antoine, in a fit of foolish bravery, volunteered immediately.
He looked around, and for a second thought he saw Princess Sabrina in the bushes. What was she doing out here at this time? She should be in lessons! Antoine thought about saying something, but at that moment Miles came flying down.
Settling into his cockpit, Miles asked, "Ready, 'Twan?"
Antoine gave a grim nod.
The rush! The total rush of air in his face! And the strain on his fingertips! Antoine just barely managed to keep his hold to the wing. He shut his eyes; debris was blowing into his face, stinging spots unprotected by fur. It was wise of him; a second later a twig hit him in his closed eye. Had it been open…
Antoine felt the plane lifting off of the ground. This, however, did nothing for his situation. He didn't know how much longer he could hold on, but he knew Miles couldn't hear him until they were flying normally.
His sword was still secure at his side; only a specially applied force could unsheathe it. At the moment, he would have traded anything, even his sword, for an end to this torment.
Then, suddenly, Antoine felt the pressure ease. He stood up on the wing, and began to run forward, pacing himself.
"Was it rough?" Miles asked.
"I think I'll survive." Antoine said, trying his hardest not to revert to his old accent, which most of the other Freedom Fighters found hilarious. It also took a good deal of his effort not to be angry at Miles, who at most had gone through the tortuous experience of having his ears pop. "But only barely."
Miles laughed. "Well, at this speed, we're in for a nice long ride. So kick back, relax, and keep on running."
Easy for him to say! Antoine tried his hardest not to lose his breath too soon. He knew that if he had to take a break, he could lie down on the wing and hold on, but Miles wasn't going to lose any time. If Antoine was going to lie down, Miles was going to speed up, and Antoine really didn't care to go through that wind-in-the-face thing again.
So, he kept moving, and chatted with Miles about various things, some jocular, some more serious. An hour and a half into the flight, they were almost halfway to Robotopolis, and Antoine really was tired. He convinced Miles to let him lie down on the wing for five minutes at the same speed.
As soon as he was back on his feet, he was struck by sudden inspiration. Dolt! Why did he ever need to get up? He certainly couldn't hold on for the whole ride, but if he had strapped himself in at the beginning, then he could have just stayed that way for the entire trip. How he wished he could have thought of that back at Knothole!
Then Antoine began to think of the negative aspects of his belated brilliance. Suppose he got an itch…
Miles shouted, too late. Antoine felt the collision, and then himself falling. Something had knocked him off of the wing! The ground was a good five hundred feet away… he was going to die… a little splatter of blood on the ground far below. He screamed as the earth rushed up at him.
Antoine had the wind knocked out of him as he landed stomach-first on the plane wing. Miles had managed to execute a perfect loop and catch him in midair. Antoine mentally thanked him; at the moment he couldn't breathe. How did Sonic always land feet-first?
To an outside observer, the situation must have looked very comical. Miles was fighting to control the careening plane, which had far more weight on one side than another. Antoine was gasping and babbling in French as he held his sword at the throat of the echidna who had knocked him off the wing. The echidna himself was desperately trying to make his identity known.
"Hello? Antoine? Knuckles here. K–N–U–C–K–L–E–S. You know, red spiky guy wicked cool… hello? I would really appreciate it if you would take your sword away from my neck. That sort of thing can get to be disturbing after a while."
"Toi? Oh – je suisdesole."
"Yeah, whatever. Just put that thing away."
Antoine slowly sheathed his sword, his eyes never leaving Knuckles.
Miles had to break the tension. "Um – hey Knux. We haven't seen you in almost thirteen years – since you came down for Sonic and Sally's wedding. We heard about the Dark Legion's defeat, though, and guessed you probably played a big part. What are you doing off of the Floating Island?
This monologue seemed to snap the other two animals out of their stressful encounter. Knuckles needed the question repeated, and then he told the entire story of what had happened on his home island.
A long silence followed his tale. Antoine realized that that was because Sonic wasn't around to say make some angry comment, and Miles had long grown out of his childish fashion of stating the obvious. So Antoine decided to be the one to say the first thing. "The Badniks – zey're no renegade band. Snively has returned – he's got twenty-five score of them hidden in ze mountains. Miles found an entrance – that's why we're here, we're on a search mission."
Knuckles paused, presumably to multiply twenty by twenty-five in his head. When he finished, he gave a low whistle. "Five hundred of those things. Five hundred. That is not good. What the hell are –"
Miles interrupted him. "I should have known. How stupid!"
The other two looked at him quizzically. He had his binoculars out, and was looking at a mountain off to the left.
"The entrance I found – it's blocked. We haven't exactly been stationary, you know. We're pretty close to Robotropolis. I can see ahead where I found the opening, but there's boulders in front now, and probably three or four cement or steel plugs behind that. Even if we cleared those boulders, we couldn't get in."
Knuckles asked if Miles could gain altitude. When questioned, "I'm gonna glide down and look for any alternate access from above. Miles might do the same from longer range – you have those binoculars, right? – and Antoine –"
However Knuckles was not to finish his plan. They had been cruising right over where Miles said the hideout was, and a large missile somewhat disrupted their conversation, shooting abruptly out of the mountain straight at the plane. Miles jerked the plane left, and avoided it with ease, however Antoine, not ready, tumbled off the wing.
It was only a twenty foot drop until he hit the steep mountainside, and for the second time in less than a half hour had the wind knocked out of him. He rolled down the steep slope, finally crashing on top of a boulder. He didn't know what was worse, the excruciating pain or the fact that he couldn't breathe.
A minute later, he looked up. The plane was nowhere in sight, but he could hear the echo on the other side of the mountain. They were going to leave him there? Furious, Antoine smashed his fist against the rock – and surprisingly, heard a hollow echo. He lightly pushed on the large stone – and felt it give way.
Knuckles unexpectedly appeared beside him. "I took out the automated defense system," he said matter-of-factly, "or at least the one that shot at us. Are you okay?"
"Somewhat less zan "okay", Antoine grunted, standing up, "but I think – I think I may have found another entrance."
Miles zoomed beneath them. Knuckles grabbed Antoine and glided over the Tornado, then dropped him. And for the third time in an hour, Antoine found himself gasping for breath.
Two hours later, all three animals were back in Knothole. Sonic wanted to hear a full report from Knuckles, but Antoine and Miles were getting restless. Neither had seen their mates all day. Thankfully, Sally caught on and dismissed them before they would have to listen to Knuckles's story a second time.
While Miles flew off towards his house, Antoine only had a hundred yard walk to their family's cottage, right outside the castle. He opened the door, but before he could say a thing, he was hit in the chest hard by a brown furball. Antoine crashed backwards and fell in the doorway. Not a good day for the old diaphragm, he thought.
Sharply, Bunnie said "Adeline!"
The little coyote pup looked at her mother sheepishly. Nobody could ever have guessed that these two were mother and daughter; a more common guess would have been young predator and adult prey. Adeline whipped off a quick apology and darted away. She had the energy level of one of Rotor's machines, and she never seemed to tire.
Bunnie reached down with her robotic arm to help Antoine up. The rest of her lower body had been fully derobotized, but she kept the arm, as it was useful and in no way inhibiting to their marriage. He grasped the cold metal and was instantly on his feet. Bunnie had extreme strength in that arm.
Of course, Bunnie insisted that he tell her the entire story, and he was more than happy to oblige – as long as he could ice every joint in his body while he was telling it. It had been a rather painful experience; unfortunately, it looked like this was only the beginning.