Knuckles... Relax... My mind to your mind... My thoughts to your thoughts...
Knuckles felt Latifah's voice in his head, stabbing like a razor-thin knife. But he felt no pain. There was a jumble of images, of him being dragged behind Sonic... he just wasn't fast enough to keep up... Sonic standing over him, looking very worried... What was this? Sonic helping him up... Pain! Pain! Can't feel my legs...
Love... he felt it, thinking of Sonic. Sonic... Could you ever forgive me? Help!!! I'm alone...
You're not alone, Knuckles, I'm here...
It was Latifah. He could feel her presence, sweeping away all those lying voices. The mind link was pleasent, making Knuckles forget all pain for a few moments.
Then, slowly, the banshee eased out of the echidna's mind, leaving him refreshed, yet also guilt-ridden. He stirred restlessly, and winced in pain.
"Knuckles, you should rest now," Latifah said, after breaking the link.
"I'm not tired," he protested, "I'm hungry..."
"Don't worry, I'll get some food and med-supplies. Now stop moving around so much! You don't wanna tear your stitches, do you?"
The echidna shook his head, and let his rescuer carry him to a shelter that she had built.
"Now stay out of trouble," Latifah joked, as she left.
Knuckles quirked a smile as he drifted off to sleep.
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Latifah knew what she had to do. She was going to have to steal medical supplies from her own people, the ones who had rejected her.
She returned to her camp at night without her field-jacket, knowing that there would be questions. No problem; she had known how to hide her thoughts since she was a child. All she had to do was act natural, sneak into the supply depot, and get what she needed.
She made her way to the camp, which was empty except for a guard, Evan 15.
He walked up to her and asked, "Where were you? We were looking everywhere!"
"I was hiding from a native," Latifah answered, a half-truth.
Evan seemed to believe her, since he nodded and smiled.
"Well, did you see any swat-bots or anything else of interest?"
"No"
"Ok, then we'll conduct a pre-emptive strike tomorrow. Those SWATbots are a nuisence"
Latifah thought for a moment what to say next. Then she continued:
"I would like to go back to my post, but I'll need some more medical supplies"
"Ok, help yourself," Evan said, unaware of what the girl was about to do.
As he walked into the supply building, Latifah suddenly poked the back of his head with her finger, as if pretending it was a gun. She absorbed all the information she needed, and hid the unconscious soldiar.
After getting the supplies she needed, she decided to take some food as well. Cramming all the rations she could fit in her duffel bag, she ran, knowing that Evan would soon be awake.
There was enough food to last a few months, as well as medical supplies, and Latifah had enough medical knowledge to care for a paralyzed patient. She had it all worked out perfectly: tend to the echidna until he can be dropped off at wherever the Freedom Fighters' base was, and then retreat to the forest.
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Sonic and Sally decided to go searching for this mysterious human, who Sonic described as 'black as night'. They looked all over where she was supposed to have been, but there was no sign of her.
"Sonic, I'm sorry, but maybe she just doesn't want to be bothered"
"Look," Sonic replied, "She was here, and she heard me rambling about Knuckles!"
"Maybe she was more afraid of you then you were of her"
Sonic sighed.
"I guess you're right. It used to be, there were the good guys and then there were the bad guys; but now, it's so confusing. I'm not young anymore! And I wish I still was; then all I'd be worried about would be gettin' the toy I wanted for my birthday"
"I know that feeling. Many times I feel like I've grown up too soon, which is why I haven't made Tails a Freedom Fighter yet. I want him to keep his innocence while he still can, because once it's gone, it's gone for good"
Sonic nodded.
"And even if I could get it back, I wouldn't want to," Sonic added, "Because I know I would be blinding myself to the truth. I guess we just can't win, huh?"
Sally smiled and shook her head.
"Nope"
They glanced at each other and thought about the night they had together. How were they going to explain that to the others?
"Look, Sonic," Sally said, "If I'm not pregnant, then no one needs to know this happened"
"What happened?" Sonic joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"But I don't know what to do..."
"Well, if you are expecting, I'll marry you. I'm not gonna run out on you, Sal"
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Meanwhile, Snively was in one of the factories, with two big-breasted, short-haired women. He was supposed to be working in the control-room, but he didn't care; he had more important things on his mind. And those busty-yet-masculine women happened to take a higher priority then the reports.
Those two women, he knew, were also involved with each other, but he didn't really care, just as long as they gave him some.
Right now, they were all drinking some beer that the women had brewed in their ship. This liquer, which was brewed in the engine-room, was illegal in the Human Confederation, but the law was not very enforcable in the outer-regions. And Mobius, the site of a failed terraforming project, was virtually ignored. The planet's only purpose now was to house a bunch of non-people known as banshees, syrins, or lorleis(luhr-lys).
Earth, the original home of the humans, was a wasteland, it's plant and animal-life preserved, but all beauty ravaged. The desolate planet was now covered in domes, like most of the other planets populated by humans.
"So what's Julian up to now?" one of the women, Carley asked.
"I don't know. Something to do with taking over the planet, but those pesky Mobians won't let him"
"Well, I'd like to keep one of them as a pet," the other woman, Donna said.
Her girlfriend looked at her and smiled.
"Which one?"
"That half-robot rabbit, or that hedgehog. He is kinda cute"
Carley kissed her, and then Snively, not wanting to leave him deprived.
"Don't worry, love," she said, "When Snively takes over, you can have all the pets you want. We'll even de-roboticize some of them, if you like"
Donna carressed her lover on the back and the face, and kissed her on the mouth.
"Just don't kill too many of them. They're all so cute"
"Don't worry your pretty little head, Donna," she purred, "Now, let's not waste any more time. You know what we're here for, don't you?"
"Oh, yes," Donna said, kissing both Carley and Snively.
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"Latifah, what are you doing?" Knuckles asked, curious at the way the human-no-banshee was flexing his legs.
A tissue-regenerator had helped heal his wounds and knit his spine, so he could move without dislocating it.
"It's called physical therepy," Latifah said, "It's supposed to keep the muscles and tendons in your legs flexible"
"But what good is that if I'm not gonna be able to use them again?"
"You just might, given the technological advancements," Latifah answered, "And besides, if your legs don't move, the blood-flow will get sluggish and you'll be suceptable to infections"
Knuckles made a face.
"Sounds like fun"
There was a long silence. Then the echidna spoke again:
"So, you stole the med-kits?"
Latifah nodded, smiling. The little guy sure was growing on her, which was not good. She could not let herself get attached to her patient, or she would risk a run-in with the locals.
Then, there was a loud rumble that startled both banshee and echidna. Latifah walked out of the shelter and levitated, scanning to see what was going on. What she saw shook her to the very bone.
It was a strange looking aircraft with a gigantic laser-port. What was going on?
Latifah returned to the shelter with a worried look on her face. Knuckles sensed that something was up.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know, but a very large craft is flying above Robotropolis-"
At the word 'Robotropolis', Knuckles felt like he was punched in the back of the head. And it wasn't an after-effect of the pathogen. Robotnik was on his way to wipe out all the organics on Mobius!
"It's Robotnik!" Knuckles exclaimed, with both worry and guilt in his voice, "You gotta stop him!"
"But I can't!" Latifah protested, "Mobians generally don't like my kind!"
"You must try!" he pleaded, "The lense is the master emerald!"
The banshee's eyes widened. Master emerald?!? That would make a laser powerful enough to blow the whole planet to Kingdom Come!!!
"In that case, you're coming with me!"
Latifah strapped him to her back. Even though most banshees were telekinetics, they could not concentrate on very many objects at a time, and Latifah did not want to test the extent of her powers on her friend.
They flew towards the ship, their world suddenly growing dark. Latifah saw an opening in the craft, and levitated through it.
Dark, but no problem for Knuckles, who had night-vision. The banshee made a connection with him, and closed her eyes. It was amazing, this symbiosis. Knuckles was her eyes, and she was his legs. No banshee had ever tried that before.
Then, Latifah's telepathic powers sensed Sonic. He was very close, looking for the control-room and Robotnik. They decided to take a different route, to avoid any confrontations.
What to do next? Latifah thought.
Then, eyes still closed, she ran down a corridor, and climbed up a ladder. Knuckles saw something of interest up there, and had the banshee destroy some power-cables with her tek-charges.
"That oughtaa keep him busy," he said, verbally as well as telepathically.
They made their way through the ship, Latifah's tek-charges pushing aside the SWATbots, and Knuckles showing the way. They both knew where Robotnik was, and they would have to take care of him or thousands would suffer.
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"Sir, sensors have detected intruders near the power-relays" a SWATbot reported.
Robotnik just slammed on the console and cursed.
"Capture that hedgehog!" he ordered.
"It is not the hedgehog, sir, the intruders are a human and echidna"
"Human?"
"Affirmative"
"How the hell did she get in here??? Unless... No that's impossible! A banshee?"
It couldn't be! The banshees had never gotten this close before! Their lack of coordination rendered their tek-powers almost useless, strong as they were. But this one was probably mind-linked with the echidna...
"Oh, s***!" he cursed to himself. This was not good at all...
And his troubles were just going to get worse.
"Alright, Robuttnik! Payback-time!"
The mad scientist turned around. It was Sonic, messing things up as usual.
"After him!" Robotnik ordered, losing his cool because of the two other saboteurs.
The swat-bots started shooting at Sonic, but he was too fast for them. One by one, they were destroyed by the faster-then-lightning hedgehog. Robotnik obviously was not thinking straight, and Sonic decided to take advantage of that.
"Well, Robutt-head, what's wrong? Not feelin' well?"
He laughed as he dove for the fat ugly human.
Robotnik was barely able to get out of the way, and didn't know what to do because his mind was elseware. The banshee meant business; he was sure of that. How the hell was he going to stop it?
Just as he was recovering, he heard another familliar voice:
"Hey, fatso! Remember me?"
Robotnik looked up to see a young ebony-skinned girl with Knuckles strapped to her back. The girl's eyes were closed, but the echidna was staring right at him, his eyes full of fire. And his evil grin suggested that he was on to the mad scientist's trickery.
Oh, no, he thought, I'm finished!
****************************************************************************************************************************
Suddenly, Latifah froze.
She saw some weird flashes. A strange woman was fighting with Robotnik, only to be over-powered by a few simple words. She motioned for Latifah to leave the room, as Robotnik proceeded to smack her in the face with his fist...
Then she was in a strange compartment, with a bright light, just a bright white light that burned her chest. And there were voices...
Another flash: she was in her room, her mother was bruised, one of her eyes was shut and bleeding.
...Latifah, you gotta run away! Go! Now! Before your daddy finds out!
...But Mommy, I love you...
Back in the compartment:
...Hurts! Burning... Burning my chest... Where am I? What is this?
In the room with mother:
...Latifah, darling, I love you too, and that's why you need to go! Run! Hurry, before daddy gets back!
...I don't wanna go away! I'm scared...
...Scared... Hurts... Where Am I? Who am I???
...Mommy!!!
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When she regained her senses, Sonic and Robotnik were having at it. She got behind the scientist and positioned her fingers around his head, boaring deep into his mind for the codes to the self-destruct mechanism. When she was done, Robotnik slumped to the floor, while the banshee walked over to the control-pannel and set the craft for self-destruct.
The alarm sounded, and Sonic made a bee-line for an opening in the aircraft and parachuted out. Latifah decided that she didn't want to stay for the fireworks either.
She levitated out and watched the ship explode as she landed back in the tree.
Knuckles wanted to appologize to Sonic, but he knew that after his betrayal the hedgehog would not be so quick to forgive.
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Sonic saw what had happened, and he was curious as to who that human was. Whoever she was, she had just saved the Great Forest and Knothole. But why was Knuckles strapped to her back? What was going on?
to be continued...