Warning! Some kawaii parts in this chapter!

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Knuckles sighed. Because of his severed spinal-cord, spinal fluid was building up in his brain, and would have to periodically be drained to relieve pressure[got that from 'The Bone-Collector', as well as that part in chapter 5 where knuckles has a seizure. I don't know if that would really happen, but i'm just guessing]. If nothing was done, he would eventually become a vegetable, so he allowed them to perform that painful proceidure. Also, he had epilepsy, and would have to take medication for the rest of his life.

Great, now they're gonna treat me even more like an invalid. Just great! It's bad enough I'm a paraplegic!

Tentatively, he moved his head, steeling himself for another seizure. Nothing.

Knuckles sighed again.

Get a hold of yourself, Red. That's what Sonic would say. Latifah will take care of everything. She is a guardian, after all.

He looked at his wheelchair that was parked by his bed.

But what am I now?

The echidna threw the covers back and looked at his legs. Useless, just like me, he thought.

In another one of his fits of anger, Knuckles grabbed his pillow and tossed it accross the room.

"Good aim"

He turned to see a grinning Sonic.

"Thanks," he said, embarrased at his display.

Sonic chuckled.

"I'd hate to see what would happen if that pillow was meant for me"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. He knew what the hedgehog was hinting at. The scar from their last confrontation was healing, but would remain for the rest of his life, unless someone found a way to erase it.

The echidna half-smiled at Sonic's remark. He pushed himself up to a sitting-position and watched as the hedgehog retrieved the pillow and handed it to him.

"Here you go, Red"

"Thanks, Sonic. And by the way,"

"Yeah?"

"The name is Knuckles"

Chuckling again, Sonic sat down on Knuckles' bed and gave the echidna a playful shove.

"Just checkin' to see if your sense of humor's still intact," the hedgehog said, "Gave us quite a scare last night"

Knuckles laughed.

"Yeah, judging from Latifah's language, I'd say you two were pretty worried"

He thought for a moment and looked around.

"So, how's it with you and Sally?"

Sonic blushed and had a guilty look on his face.

Knuckles raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, I see..."

He chuckled at the thought.

"So, when is she due?"

"I don't know. But we're gonna get married. I love her, Red"

The echidna nodded, then lay back down and closed his eyes. He still wasn't feeling a hundred percent.

"Get well, Red," Sonic whispered, covering his friend back up.

Knuckles stirred a bit and made a faint noise, then went back to sleep.

Chuckling, Sonic left the hut and let his friend rest.

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Jarad watched the community from the tree he was hiding in. No one knew he was there, except for that blasted Latifah.

That girl had been a nuisence ever since she arrived, and now she had turned into a criminal. He had to admit that her mother's methods of abuse were extreme, but her real mother was a whore, who would sell herself to Robotnik just to buy the natives a little time.

She had told him that, just before she left. Back when they were lovers, without a care in the world. She had sensed the evil scientist's presence, and could tell what would distract him.

"No! Don't go! Don't do this to yourself! And what about that baby you found?"

"I must!"

"At least let me care for her!"

"No! No one must know!"

"Know what? That you have a child without a father? So what? Most of the children today don't have fathers! I myself don't have a father, unless you count a test-tube!"

The beautiful dark woman gazed into his eyes, the gold fleck in her right eye sparkling in the fresh tears. She was trying to keep from crying; Jarad didn't need his powers to know that.

"Please, Jarad, trust me. You don't want to know! You just don't!"

"NO!!! COME BACK!!! COME BACK!!!"

But the young woman left, and with the baby that she had 'found' on a 'remote island'.

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Back at Robotropolis, Snively abandoned his station to visit Donna. It was odd, though, that they were late for their watch. Someone had to make sure Julian didn't try anything.

When he got in Carley and Donna's room, Snively was alarmed to see Donna laying on her bed, half-asleep and pale, and even more so at seeing Carley in the animals' cage...

"What-???"

Then he felt two people grab him.

"Surprahsed t' see us?" Bunnie drawled, before knocking him out with her robotic arm.

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The two mobians tied the midgit up and slipped him under Carley and Donna's bed.

"Now we gotta skee-dadd!" Charles said, grabbing Donna's hand.

Donna got up, but just stood there, her legs shaking, before they gave out again.

"What's wrawng with your legs, sugah?" Bunnie asked.

"I don't know," the woman answered, "But I can't walk! It hurts when I stand, and... and they-they just give out! I-I'm a cripple!"

Chuck swore under his breath.

"Well," he said, "We're just gonna hafta improvise, aren't we?"

"C'mon, sugah, just let me haindle it!"

With that, Bunnie broke off a piece of the bed and bent it to form a make-shift crutch. She gave it to Donna, who then quickly got dressed.

"Now let's get outaa here!" Chuck yelled.

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Latifah trudged back to Knuckles' hut, which had also become her hut so she could care for him until he could build up his upper-body strenght and live independantly again.

She took off her field-jacket and fatigue, and washed her face. She stared at that ever-present white-mark which had graced her chest for as long as she could remember, and shook her head.

Latifah always knew she was different, but had only recently found out just how different she was.

She un-did her corn-rows, which were starting to grow out. Her hair was tangled as usual, so she combed it out, very gradually. She was a commando, which meant she had little time for fancy hair-styles.

The banshee did it back up into fresh rows, then put her top and jacket back on.

She walked into Knuckles' room to see how he was doing. Still sleeping... She tip-toed up to him and gently kissed his muzzle, waking him.

{Feeling better?}

The echidna nodded, and yawned.

Latifah removed his braces and started working his legs. Then she helped him exercise his abdominal muscles, so he could sit up without support

"Come on, you can do it!" she said.

"Ughhh... I... can't-!"

The echidna gave out, the searing pain where he could still feel was too much.

{That's ok,} Latifah thought, {you did fiine. Now just take a little rest}

She put his shoes back on and laid him back down in a comfortable position.

{No, I can't,} Knuckles thought to her.

The banshee could tell he still had the Master-Emerald on his mind. Evidentely, she was not the only one who knew.

{Don't worry, child}, a familliar presence assured her, {All is being taken care of}.

Somehow, Latifah still felt the need to act. Was it her connection with Knuckles? Whatever it was, she had to act, and she knew it would work if she brought Knuckles along...

{Don't, child, please! I don't want you near that awful place!}

"I'm sorry, but I have to," Latifah said, before strapping Knuckles to her front, to protect him from being shot from behind again. This time, they didn't have the luxery of tek-powers.

But powers or no, they were going to find the Master-Emerald, even if it meant defying Sally.

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"You're gonna have a baby?" Tails asked Sally.

She nodded.

"Wow! I'm gonna get a cousin! Can I feel it kick?"

Sally shook her head.

"No, not yet. Babies don't kick until they grow alot bigger"

"Oh. Does that mean you and Sonic are married?"

"Not yet," Sally said, "But we're going to get married. Then you can be the ring-bearer"

Tails giggled, "But I'm a fox, not a bear!"[author's note: got that from 'Mister Rogers']

Now it was Sally's turn to laugh.

"No, silly, you aren't gonna be a bear! You're gonna be a ring-bear-er. That just means you're going to carry the rings to me and Sonic"

Tails thought for a moment.

"Oh, ok" then he went back to playing with the other children.

But he forgot something, and ran back to Sally.

"Um, Aunt Sally, how's Knuckles doing? I hope he get's better, so he can walk again"

Sally hung her head, took Tails' hand and walked him over to her hut.

"Tails," she began, "He's not going to walk again"

"Well, what did Robotnik do? Can't the doctor fix it?"

Sally shook her head.

"No, sweetie, the doctor can't fix it"

"Then what's wrong? What happened? How did Robotnik hurt him?"

The princess sighed. How was she going to explain?

"Look," the young kitsune continued, "I know I'm just a kid, and I'm too little to go on those big missions, but I wanna know what's wrong with Knuckles! I'm a big boy!"

Sally looked at the ground for a moment, and sighed again.

"Ok. I'll tell you," she said, "But I hope you can handle it. I seriously do. Are you sure you want to know?"

Tails nodded.

Sally closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Oh, please, please help me do this right...

"Ok," she said, "This is what happened"

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Chuck, Bunnie and Donna made their way through the city, Donna lagging behind because of her weak legs.

"INTRUDER!"

"What? No! We work here!"

"SUBJECT: UNKNOWN HUMANOID. ORDERS ARE TO DESTROY INTRUDERS."

"Uh, oh. Ah think we wore out our welcome," Bunnie said.

"But I can't run!" Donna cried, now very frigntened.

She hobbled in a frantic effort to keep up with the two mobians. They found a chair by one of the pannels, and Chuck had an idea.

"Here, you sit down, and Bunnie and I will push you! We can move alot faster that way!"

Donna sat down in the chair, and the two mobians pushed her, running as fast as they were able. Donna just sat there, scared out of her mind, gripping the sides of the chair, and her make-shift crutch.

Still, the SWATbots were gaining on them.

"Gotta make it to that door," Chuck mumbled through gritted teeth.

Then, a dark shape leaped out of nowhere, along with another, larger one.

"Robotnik?" Bunnie cried.

"Get them to safety!" the mysterious mobian ordered.

'Robotnik' nodded. They made for the exit, while the other mobian held the SWATbots at bay.

"Wait!" Bunnie yelled, "She cain't fight 'em all alone!"

"She can," Robotnik answered, "She has this glowing rock-"

Chuck's eyes widened.

"A chaos emerald?"

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"So that's why Knuckles can't walk"

"Oh my gosh! That's terrible, Aunt Sally!"

Then, their conversation was cut short by Sonic.

"Sally! Come quickly! It's Bunnie and Uncle Chuck! They're back! And with friends!"

The squirrel got up and ran to see what 'friends' Sonic was talking about.

Tails decided to follow too, winding his tails up and unwinding them over and over again, allowing him to fly.

There, by the entrance to Knothole, and running frantically, were Bunnie and Chuck, and Robotnik??? There was also a frail young human woman who was being pushed in an office-chair.

"Ok, Butt-nik, what the hell are you doing in Knothole?" Sonic demanded, shocking Tails a little with his use of that bad word.

"Butt-nik?" the man asked, "Who's Butt-nik?"

"He's got amnesia, like I told you, Sonic!" Chuck scolded.

The young hedgehog nodded.

"Sorry, old habits die hard. Besides, he could get his memory back and then-" he snapped his fingers, "We're screwed!"

"Shadow, where am I?" the frail woman asked.

"Who's Shadow?" Sonic asked, "And who are you?"

"Sonic, meet Donna," Chuck said.

"I'm not Donna," the woman mumbled, "I'm Maria Kintobor... I wanna go home..."

"What???" All the Freedom Fighters, including Tails, chorused.

Sonic and Sally looked up and gave the fox a disapproving glance, then returned to the human woman.

"Kintobar?" Sally said, "You mean you're related to Robotnik?"

'Maria' nodded.

"And Latifah?" Sonic added.

"Who's Latifah?" Maria asked.

"Your sister," Sally said, "Don't you know your own sister?"

"You're Highness! Ze human Latifah 27 is missing!"

They turned to see Antoine, running toward them.

"What?" Sally cried.

"I said, 'Ze human is missing! And ze guardian Knuckles!"

The squirrel cursed.

"Ok, find a hut for the humans, and keep Robotnik-"

"Julian," the man they all knew as Robotnik, interrupted.

"Ok, ok, 'Julian', then. Keep him under close watch. If he tries anything funny, shoot him"

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