BYESKONECHOST
(Infinity)




"This way!!!"

Pluto turned a corner, and with heavy thoughts on his mind, Knuckles followed. It seemed so incredible; everything was happening so fast. First his father, then suddenly...

"We're going to Tokyo Bay."
"Tokyo Bay!"
"We might have a chance of cutting him off before he gets there!!"
"But how do you kno-"

Suddenly, Knuckles could feel time ripple around him. The scene shifted until he found himself standing not in the glistening streets of Tokyo.....but a large mound of ruins.

"What the...?"
"If my thought is right, he will come here." Pluto looked around. "He must. There is no choice."

The Spectre,
a formally fine young man,
in his last few moments,
gasping for air,
clinging to life.

He knows not,
the catalyst,
which brought black blotches,
of his doom,
upon his neck.....

.....Get out of my head.....they way you say it......they way you do it.......it sounds like.....


"Knuckles."
"Huh?"
"This is....the Infinity Delta."

The wasteland all around him seemed to choke life from Pluto even as she spoke. Either that, or she spat.

Not that it mattered. The place was dead. It was the first portion of Tokyo he had ever seen with its remnants unbuilt.

"How is this the place he'll go?"
"This is where the Triangle leads."
"The Triangle?"
"The spot of damnation. Shaped as a triangle." Pluto could tell by his face that Knuckles didn't understand. "It is.......a place where this murderer may go....."
"Such as there?"

Knuckles pointed to one of the remains. It was more unscathed than the others, though it was still fallen.

"That...." Pluto's eyes furrowed more, "Was the center of it all."

Knuckles looked towards there, the chill, the sudden coldness of the place, beckoning him to approach. The voice appeared again as he stared, speaking softly to him, almost creating an intense desire to go deeper.


Within this sacred land
was where it all began
and in truth
is where it ends



"It is a place of battle. A battle for Earth." Pluto klooked into her Garnet Orb. "It was so long ago.....yet it feels like it only just happened...."


Let me now show you
that which you known
all this time
deep within your heart



"But how could this creature have known?" Pluto mused to herself; she did not notice Knuckles start to walk. "Only those on Earth could have possibly known....and the warp to Tau was erased..."


Let us both erase
the sins of our fathers
in this place
let me guide you to them



Knuckles' feet shuffled in a trance; the familiar voice was too tempting to resist.

".....Knuckles?!" Pluto's head jerked up to see him walking.


Through The Spectre
and the Hands of Death
in another world
are the Miracle Men...



With his mind stirred by the voice, Knuckles walked towards the ruins of the building. It was not unusual for a site in Tokyo to be deemed too hazardous to build upon in the area, he somehow reasoned. However, he was not so sure of Pluto's strange feelings towards the mile wide penninsula; it seemed unwarranted to him.

As soon as he had gone ten paces, however, he suddenly felt the ground shift under him.

"KNUCKLES!!"

It was too late, the echidna's body began to warp, and like dust he disappeared before he could react.

-------------------------

The first day on the job, and Kiyone was already swamped.

"Hmmmm..."

She stared at the images before her as they flashed on the computer screen. The death of a fallen friend to the Queen. Though the images were incredubly grotesque, hellish to the beholders, it was nothing that Kiyone couldn't handle; she had seen more scandalous, more horrifying pictures.

Perhaps....this scene....so horrible.....yet.......so intricately planned.....like an assa-

"Kiyone?"
"....Come in."

The pink-haired woman Washu, newly appointed as the queen's temporary forensics expert, quickly walked into the room, her face solemn.

"Kiyone."
"Washu, I..." Kiyone quickly stood up. "I wasn't expecting you to be here."

Washu nodded, motioning towards the table Kiyone sat at.

"Nice pictures."
"Hmph."
"No, really." Washu quietly picked one of them up. "This one....was this from Hartford, Connecticut?"
"Yes. The Crystal Tokyo government is in a tizzy over it."
"I wouldn't be surprised." Washu went into her pocket with the picture. "Think there's a chance that....these are all....connected?"
"Isn't that your job to find out?"
"Of course it is." Washu gave a slightly crooked smile. "But I need you to look at something for me. Just a second, thats all."

Kiyone turned and saw that Washu was holding several pieces of paper. She gave a frown.

"Washu....you're not going to go and hack into someone's computer, are you?"
"If the situation calls for it."
"Washu, you said your days as a renegade were behind you!" Kiyone clenched her fists. "You're as hopeless as Mihoshi."
"Now, now..." Washu asked. "I am not hopeless."

Behind them came several clicks, followed by a beeping sound.

"Well, if thats all you're going to say and do, I guess I can't stop you..." Kiyone gave a sigh. "Nothing stopped you before. But if you get in trouble I'm not bailing you out."
"Me, trouble?" Washu chortled. "That's a laugh."

Another beep came from the computer. With a huff, Kiyone gave a motioning hand sweep.

"I need to get back to work."
"Fine! Be that way."

With a huff, Washu left. The door was slammed behind her.

"Washu.....idiot...."

Kiyone mused angrily to herself as she prepared herself for the remainder of the photos. Washu had always been more than just a simple prankster who hacked into computers; she was a talented scientist who could get anything she wanted. It was that, and the fact that Washu knew that she could get whatever she needed for an investigation, that ticked Kiyone, a law-abiding officer, to no end.

"Now..." Kiyone's voice trailed off as she looked at the next photo. "What the.....?"

In front of her was no photo; it was a newspaper article.

"Dammit, Washu.....that's why you came in here, trip me up....Dien Tsun Nyung? I didn't...." Kiyone's voice trailed off. "Hold it a minute....."

After reading through the article several more times, Kiyone jumped out of her seat and ran out the door.

------------------------

The rod dropped in shock.

"KNUCKLES!!!" Pluto was horrified. "Impossible.....Is this.......can it be....another distortion here?! But we closed it!!"

-------------------------

He had just been in broad daylight.

Knuckles felt the scenery shift violently, felt naucious. It darkened, became fuzzy.

"YAAAAAAH!!!"

He heard a sound, the sound of footsteps. Then, a voice.

"Who's there?"

It was right behind him; he was on a path. With a quick motion, Knuckles turned around and swung. He missed, but his attacker's cloak fell off, allowing him to behold….

Huh?!……….

The uncloaked figure's robotic eye stared right at Knuckles. Surprise as within. It had to be impossible. Here, now, to see the sight they each beheld upon each other. Yet it was true.

"How is it possible...?!"

Knuckles was looking at a face from the past.

But only for the instant.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!"

The Guardian felt the ground shift again; this time, however, he lost his footing, and he fell. For hours, it seemed, falling. Then cam a crack which split him at his head. and he knew no more.

-----------------------

"KNUCKLES!!!"

Pluto grasped her rod, running towards where he disappeared. She stumbled, but kept her balance.

"Dammit!" she swore. "Its not possible….It can't be….it was closed!"

Then she saw the figure. And quick as lightning, she threw up her rod.

"HOLD IT!!"

The figure stopped, turned. Its good eyes squinted.

"What do you want?"
"Don't move."
"I have do-"
"DON'T MOVE!!"

Pluto inched closer to the figure as it slowly raised its hands. As soon as she could reach him, she grabbed him and pinned him down.

"What are you doing?" The voice, its accent a faint Mobian one, hissed defiantly. "How dare you arrest me."
"Sorry, buddy." Looking around, Pluto could sense the assassin, but felt angered that he was nowhere in sight. "I think you can get me some answers."

The figure's cloak fell off again, and the creature under it looked at Pluto. At the sight if his face, the soldier was moved to shock, if only for a moment.

"I am the Grandmaster." The figure looked up and smiled. "I give no answers to you."

The shock left after that, and with a rough, angry pull, as to hide her surprise, Pluto dragged the strange creature from off of the ground.

Knuckles….when I am finished with this one, I will summon you back…

The sky was blacker than ever on that night, as Pluto rounded her suspect up, and brought him back to the palace.

-----------------------------

He found him on the side of the road.

The assassin smirked. He couldn't see The Spectre looking at the body of the guardian, knowing its danger. The Spectre wished to do something, but knew he couldn't then.

The Voice came as the assassin let out a shrill call.

Don't be afraid, sir;
I will take care of him.

The Spectre nodded slowly as several figures appeared; they took the guardian up and carried him off.

Carrying off to his death. But the Spectre could only pray for now. Watch and pray he would do the right thing.