Warning! Banshee/echidna romance in this chapter!
Also, a Fleetway character will make a special-appearance. This character is different from the Fleetway counterpart, and may be o.o.c.
And there will be cameos from other characters from the Archie-SatAM universe...
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Ok, Cat, your team will go here," Sally said, pointing to a location on her map.
She pointed to another place, "And St. John, your team will go here"
"I can easily find the emerald," Knuckles interrupted.
"Knuckles-"
"Look, I can still sense the emerald. I'll just need someone to carry me to it"
"I know, but-"
"Latifah can carry me. She can't levitate, but she can still connect with me. My island can't stay up much longer! I need to find the master emerald, or it might fall where people are living! I can't let innocent people die because of my stupidity!"
He wheeled himself out of the conference hut in a huff and activated the lift. Latifah followed, kneeling so she wouldn't tower over him.
{Look, I know you're angry, but-}
"Of course I'm angry!" he answered, getting some funny stares from the other mobians, "It's my fault that we're in this mess! The least I can do is help fix it!"
"Knuckles, it's not your fault! And right now you need to get used to the fact that we're both crippled! We can't do what we did back in that machine because my powers don't work. I don't know when they'll come back, if they ever will!"
The echidna stopped and sighed, shaking his head. Latifah put her hand on his shoulder and could feel the tingle going down both of their spines. That phenomenon was common in banshee couplings, but a banshee-mundane?
"We'll find the emerald," she said, "I promise. Now, time for your physical therepy"
They headed for Knuckles' hut.
Once inside, she lifted the echidna out of the wheelchair and onto his bed. The hut had all the basic amenities, furniture, a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen. There wasn't much in the way of entertainment, like the virtual reality Latifah frequently immersed herself in.
But she didn't really need it now. Caring for Knuckles was more then enough to help her ignore the pain that she had felt for all those years. Latifah was used to isolation, since few people were friendly to her. Now she had turned her back on the people who turned their backs on her. And she didn't regret it at all.
Latifah had been blessed, finally had friends, including the one she was doctoring at the moment.
She removed the braces from Knuckles's legs. They were there to keep the tendons in his ankles from shrinking and deforming his feet. The braces basically kept the feet flat, because he couldn't move them and they could easily curl up.
Absentmindedly, Latifah began to gently stroke the echidna's legs. They were already beginning to atrophy.
{Latifah, what are you doing?}
"Wha-?" She started.
"Omigosh! I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have-"
"No, it's ok"
"I-i mean... I crossed a line... I-"
"It's ok. You can touch me if you want," Knuckles reassured her, "But I would prefer if you did that where I can still feel"
Latifah laughed nervously. She was experiencing strange feelings, like what she felt when she was near a boy. Could it be...
And She could sense that Knuckles was feeling the same thing, which she thought was impossible even for a human in his condition...
"But-well... it's kinda awkward-I mean... the way I'm feeling-I-"
Knuckles took off his gloves and carressed her ebony face.
"It's ok. Don't worry"
Latifah gazed into the echidna's eyes, and felt tears forming in hers. Knuckles wiped them away and held her close, kissing her all over.
It felt strange being kissed by an echidna, his muzzle being a bit on the hairy side, but then again hairy was probably the norm for humans too. Latifah didn't know, since she had never been kissed by a man before, banshee or otherwise.
She grunted and sighed in pleasure as Knuckles kissed her, finally reaching her mouth. It was the bridge, something that happened only with true love, bridging the gap and temporarily making the paralyzed lover whole. But Latifah wasn't ready to go that far...
The banshee shrieked, abruptly snapping both herself and Knuckles out of their shared trance. Her shriek was typical of a banshee; high-pitched and ear-splittingly loud. It had something to do with the different vocal-cord configuration in her kind.
"Is something wrong?" came a voice from outside.
They turned to see a mobian with a weird hairdo. She was dressed in a blue, loose-fitting outfit and flip-flops, and was wearing a pearl necklace.
"No, nothing," they answered.
"Well, why don't you tell him?" she laughed.
"Tell him what?" Latifah demanded.
The mobian rolled her eyes, or at least gave the impression she was rolling them; her perm hid them from view.
"Like, for instance, you have the mark of the guardian," she said before leaving.
Knuckles was confused. He was the guardian, wasn't he?
"What is she, psychic???"
Knuckles looked at her funny.
"It's true," Latifah said, taking her fatigue off.
Even though she had breasts, they didn't arouse any feelings in Knuckles, since echidnas, though mammals, didn't have breasts[author's note: while the female echidnas do have breasts in the archie comics, I'm making the ones in my fics more like earth echidnas, anatomy-wise. also, the females don't have that patch of unruly hair growing out of their heads and looking like weeds, since it does nothing for them(come on, why can't the females let all their hair dred-up?]. Right on her chest, like a fancy neck of a low-cut dress, was the mark of the guardian.
"What does this mean?"
"I don't know," Latifah said, "Please don't be mad at me-"
"I'm not; it's just rather weird that a banshee would have the mark of the guardian, when my people have never heard of your kind before"
"Wait a minute. I just realized something. Remember how I told you I don't have a belly-button?"
Knuckles nodded.
"Well, things just get weirder and weirder..."
****************************************************************************************************************************
Meanwhile, back in Robotropolis, Sir Charles watched Robotnik assembling something, but he didn't know what. And when the human saw the roboticized hedgehog, he cowered against some equipment.
"Please don't hurt me, Mr. Hedgehog..."
Chuck stroked his moustash, which was un-touched by the roboticization. Maybe I could take advantage of this, he thought.
Now, the old scientist/knight was usually not one to take advantage of anyone, but this was different. He didn't want Robotnik to get back his memory too quickly.
"Don't worry, I ain't gonna hurt ya'. Just don't do anything funny, got that?"
Chuck sounded a little stern, but couldn't help it; he was still very angry and wanted to kill the doctor. In fact, he was thinking of doing just that as soon as he had no need for the amnesiac tyrant.
But there was something inside telling him not to...
****************************************************************************************************************************
Donna was looking at some files concerning the takeover of Mobotropolis. From what she read, most of the Mobians were robiticized, with a handfull escaping. And the King was bannished to the Void...
What was this? These animals had a society of their own?
Then, she noticed Robotnik-no-Julian, following a roboticized hedgehog, and an old one at that...
Must be related to Sonic, she thought. He would make a nice pet...
Donna activated the comm. unit:
"Snively! Carley!"
"Yes?" came the answer.
"Robotnik is disobeying orders. And he's with a robot-hedgehog. Please bring them to me, and de-roboticize the hedgehog"
"I don't know about that, Ronna.," Snively said, "He's been causing alot of trouble. I strongly suggest getting other, younger animals for-"
"Please???" Donna pleaded, fake-crying, "I want a pet!"
"Ok, but he's old, and he's trouble," Carley warned, before de-activating her comm.
Donna sat and pondered what she had just done. Why was she suddenly wanting to free those animals? Well, too late to turn back now...
****************************************************************************************************************************
"Latifah is still missing," Jarad 84 said.
"Find her," a female voice replied.
"But she's of no concern to us-"
"She did this," the woman said, "She stole our powers!"
"But she's a weakling. How could she possibly steal our powers when she can't even move a pebble?"
"She's not as weak as you were lead to believe," the woman said, "After all, she did mind-rape Evan, did she not? And then she stole our powers!"
"But Madame, why not just search for her yourself?"
"Don't 'Madame' me!" she snapped, "I cannot be bothered with that miserable child anymore! Damping her powers has taken it's toll on me, and I need my rest"
The woman sighed wearily.
"Take this," she continued, holding out a piece of green crystal, which looked like the insignia of the banshee millitia.
"What is it... no-it can't be..."
"Yes, a chaos emerald," the woman laughed, "And if we find enough of them, we will reclaim what is ours. Now go!"
"As you wish," Jarad said as he took the gem, still unsure of what to think.
****************************************************************************************************************************
Charles ran, not looking back. Someone had found him out, and was chasing him.
The hedgehog fired at the SWATbots, but there were too many of them. Then, a net engulfed him. He looked up to see a strange-looking human, a female, with short brown hair.
His captor threw him into the roboticizer.
The roboticizer??? But he was already a robot!!!!! What was that woman doing?????
A familliar glow filled the machine, and when it died down, Chuck looked at his hands to see that they were organic! They had de-roboticized him, for what reason he did not know.
Then, the woman grabbed the surprised hedgehog and put a leash on him.
"Hey, missy, didn't anybody tell ya to respect yer elders?" the aged hedgehog scolded.
"Shut-up!" came the answer.
"Well, ya can't blame a guy fer askin'-"
"Look, I don't know why she wants you, of all the mangy fur-balls on this dirt-clod, but who am I to question her taste in pets?"
Pets???? He was going to be some human's pet?????
****************************************************************************************************************************
"What???"
Sally was shocked as she saw Latifah's mark.
"It's true," the banshee said, "I don't understand it, but somehow, I'm an echidna. That's the only explaination I have, since the echidnas have never encountered my kind before Robotnik"
"Interesting," Rotor said as he examined the mark, "It looks like it was burned there with a laser, Just like the one on Knuckles"
"Well, can I put my shirt back on now?" Latifah asked.
"Of course"
"Thank you"
{I think he was enjoying it a little too much,} She thought to Knuckles, who repressed a guffaw.
"By the way," Latifah said, "We had an interesting conversation with a woman in a blue getup"
"What?" Sally asked.
"You know, has that weird hair-do that covers her eyes?"
Sally chuckled.
"Oh, yeah. Don't mind her"
"But if Latifah's an echidna," Knuckles began, "Why does she have five fingers? My people only have three fingers!"
"Beats the hell out of me," Rotor answered.
"Well," Sally said, "We need to get ready for the mission. Latifah, you come with us. Knuckles, you know first-aid?"
The echidna nodded.
"Ok, you'll help with the incoming wounded. Come on, let's move!"
****************************************************************************************************************************
"What in tarnation is goin' on?" an indignant hedgehog demanded, as he was thrown at the feet of a blond woman in a dusty uniform.
The woman smiled sweetly and grabbed him, kissing him all over.
"Aw, heh heh, that tickles... stop..."
Then, when the doors closed, his 'owner' whispered something in his ear.
"Eh, what was that?"
"Just play along. I'm tryin' to help you," she repeated, before smooching him again.
"Ok," Charles whispered, "but just one thing"
"What?"
"Mouthwash"
****************************************************************************************************************************
"Ok, Freedom Fighters, you know what to do," Sally said over the comm.
.They were about a mile away from Robotropolis, and would attack when Tails gave the signal.
Latifah nervously stared at her gun. This was real, she knew, and it wouldn't be so easy.
Sonic was also getting rather antsy. He hadn't gotten word from Uncle Chuck, and was worried that something had happened to him.
But they both had to put things like that aside, as there were more pressing matters at the moment.
A flare lit up the sky. Tails had given the signal.
Latifah and her troop ran toward Robotropolis, screaming at the top of their lungs.
Latifah wasn't feeling very sure of herself now. She didn't know if she could do this...
****************************************************************************************************************************
The mobian hid in some shrubbery, nervously scanning the area. Someone was following her, and had a chaos emerald like the one she had. Only this one was stronger.
She sat still, but it was no use. Whoever was looking for her could sense her psy-waves. She had to run.
"Ha! What do we have here?" came a voice from behind, causing the anthropomorph to lose control of her bladder for a moment.
"Who sent you, Jarad?" she asked, regaining her composure.
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know?"
The mobian turned to face him and gripped her chaos emerald, her eyes glowing.
"Stay away from me!"
Then she sent Jarad flying. He landed several miles away, using his psy-powers to soften his landing. That Latifah was strong, and had excellent reaction-time. But why the mobian disguise?
to be continued...