Chapter 3: Blackguard Island
______________________________________________________________________
"You want to adopt me?" Talon sat up straight.
It was two days later. Knuckles and Zephyer had arrived home, and in the flurry of unpacking and
settling in, it was their first chance to talk to the anteater alone.
"Like, you want me to be your kid?" Talon's eyes were wide with wild hope, his usual reserve
abandoned.
"That's what we're saying," said Knuckles. "I know living on a floating island is kind of lonesome,
but we'll make sure to feed you every few days."
Talon burst out laughing, jumped up and hugged them both. "I'd love to be adopted! I thought
maybe you wouldn't want me here now and you'd send me to Knothole and--" His voice broke on a
sob. He sat between the echidnas on the couch, eyes closed, trying to hold back the flood of emotions
that had caught him off guard.
Zephyer hugged him. "We really want you, Tal." She glanced at Knuckles, who met her gaze and a
flicker of electricity raced between them.
Ignoring it, Knuckles put an arm around Talon. "We need to ask you some questions, so we can
figure out this adoption stuff."
Talon sniffed. "Okay. What?"
Zephyer picked up a notebook and pencil she had brought with her. "Where are you from?"
"Three-twenty-nine East Boulder Lane," said Talon at once. "Marshill, Blackguard, north island."
"Whoa, whoa, slow down," said Zephyer, scribbling furiously. "East what?"
Talon repeated the address. "That's where I lived with my uncle."
Zephyer copied it down. "What's your uncle's name?"
"Pendel Mori." Talon laced his fingers together and studied them. "He's my Dad's brother. Do you
think he'll sign the papers or whatever?"
"If he won't, I'll make him," said Knuckles. "Can you show us Blackguard Island on a map?" He
pulled a map out from under the couch and spread it on the coffee table.
Talon studied it for a moment. "Here." He tapped a collection of islands in the southern corner of the
map. The north-most island was the largest.
"Oh," said Knuckles. "So that's Blackguard." He had such an odd tone in his voice that Zephyer and
Talon looked at him.
"Have you been there?" asked Talon.
"Heard the stories," said Knuckles. He traced a four-sided shape among the islands. "That's the
Blackguard Quadrangle. Ships and aircraft traveling through there have weird blackouts. Some
vanish completely."
"Really?" said Zephyer, wide-eyed. "Is that true?"
Talon was nodding. "I've heard of that, too, sir. Dad said it's the place where a chaos emerald
touched Mobius, and the chaos fields are all messed up."
"I think we'll approach it from the north," said Knuckles. "I'm not taking the island in there."
"How long will it take to get there?" asked Talon.
Knuckles walked his fingers across the map, measuring. "About two weeks. We'll have time to do
some research on adoption."
"Can I do it?" asked Talon, standing up, eyes bright with enthusiasm. "If I could borrow your
computer, sir ..."
"Ah, a ploy to grab my palmtop," said Knuckles, smiling. "Fine, go ahead."
Talon dashed from the room.
Zephyer looked at the map again. "Is this quadrangle stuff for real?"
"Let me put it this way," said Knuckles. "Even humans are afraid to go through there. They route all
their shipping lanes around it."
"But humans are immune to chaos," said Zephyer as Talon came back in with Knuckles's computer.
The anteater curled up in an armchair opposite the couch and sat there, eyes fixed on the screen.
"I know they are," said Knuckles. "But their instruments aren't. If you're in an airplane and your
instruments break, you're toast."
"Not the ideal vacation spot," said Zephyer. "Do you think Slasher would mind going with us?"
Talon's head jerked up.
"Why Slasher?" said Knuckles. "I thought she scared you."
"She does," said Zephyer, "but she's done a lot of political work, and face it, she's scary-looking."
"True." Knuckles looked at Talon. "Find anything?"
"Not yet, sir." Talon's voice dropped. "I'm afraid of Slasher, too."
"You guys and your predator-phobia," said Knuckles, shaking his head. "She's harmless. Really."
"Famous last words," said Zephyer.
Knuckles stood up. "I'm going to talk to her. You guys see what you can dig up on adoption." He
strode for the door, muttering about species supremacists.
He found Slasher outside, sunning herself on the grass with both wings open. He was startled to see
that patches of feathers were missing from her wings. "Slash, are you sick?"
"Hmm?" She lifted her head and blinked at him. "Oh no, just molting. You want something?"
"We're going to adopt Talon," said Knuckles. "I wondered if you'd come along and help out."
"I'll call Knothole and see if they mind," said the raptor, eyes half-closed. "It shouldn't be a problem.
Oh ... could you talk to Talon for me? He thinks I'm planning to eat him."
"I've tried," said Knuckles with a sigh. "He doesn't believe me."
Slasher shook her head. "Looks like I'll have another chance to make friends if I stay. I'll see if Sally
has time to collect some adoption info." She extended a forearm, which had a communicator
strapped to it. Slasher turned it on and waited for a pickup click. After a moment it did, and Sonic's
voice said, "Yeah, what?"
"I need to talk to Sally," said Slasher. "What's with you?"
"I'm helping Sal with this paperwork junk," came Sonic's voice, "and I'm about to go nuts! Sal's
getting lunch. I can take a message."
"Tell Sally to scrape up some information about adoption procedures," said Slasher. She covered the
microphone and whispered to Knuckles, "Where are we going?"
"Blackguard Islands," said the echidna.
Slasher uncovered the mic. "Particularly relating to the Blackguard Islands."
"You guys are going to the Blackguard Quadrangle?" Sonic yelped. "Man, lucky!"
"We're not going to explore," said Slasher. "Just a boring piece of red tape to work out. I'll send you
a postcard."
"I'm gonna get you, Slasher."
"Neener neener. I'll leave my com on. Bye." The raptor closed the connection and yawned. "Nope,
not a problem. It's nice and tropical down there, right?"
"Blackguard is right on the equator," said Knuckles. "You don't mind hot weather, do you?"
"It's better than snow," said Slasher. "I'll tell you when Sally calls me back."
"Okay." Knuckles stepped up on the porch and stuck his head in the door. "I'm going to run to
Hidden Palace and get my Master Emerald miniature."
"I want to come!" said Zephyer, jumping up. "Be back in a few minutes, Talon." She darted to
Knuckles and the pair made for the teleporter.
Talon stayed in his chair, clicking through online searches and documents. Adoption was an easy
topic to find out about. There were several agencies for adopting babies, and he glanced over the
procedures. The family had to be approved, fill out piles of paperwork, have someone do a home
study, and finally wait for the adoption agency to negotiate with a neighboring country for a
youngster of the right species.
Right species? He dug deeper. A note on one document informed him that this agency did not
support inter-species adoption because the parents would not treat the child as their own, or the child
would grow up with an identity complex. Talon looked for other agencies with a growing knot in his
stomach. Each one had a similar disclaimer. One, however, admitted that adoption within the same
genus sometimes worked.
Talon clung to this thread of hope. Anteaters and echidnas were sort of similar ... he wasn't sure if
they were in the same genus or not. He had no doubt that Zephyer and Knuckles would take care of
him, but convincing people in authority would be different.
As he sat there, chewing a claw, the door opened and Slasher entered. "Oh, hi Talon," she said. "Is
Zephyer here?"
"She went with Knuckles," said Talon, watching her warily.
Slasher gestured to her communicator. "Sally called me back. She had Nicole compile a
spider-search and she's sending it to Knuckles's email."
Talon looked at the palmtop and opened the message program. A message from Sally appeared.
"Got it." Now go away, he thought.
Slasher walked up and leaned her forearms on the back of the couch. "Are you okay with all this?"
He nodded.
"Do they let people adopt outside their species?"
Talon stared at the floor. "They say it doesn't work, and they discourage it. But one place says that
sometimes adoptions within genus are allowed."
Slasher nodded. "We might be able to swing that. I don't know what genus echidnas are in, but
you've always got along with them, right?"
Talon nodded. He opened Sally's letter and scrolled through pages and pages of information. Most of
it related to Blackguard's laws and regulations pertaining to emigration, passports and visas. He
ignored Slasher, willing her to leave. After a moment she sighed, and he heard her pad to the door
and go outside.
Talon was still in the chair when Knuckles and Zephyer returned, passing the Master Emerald
miniature back and forth and chattering. "Any word?" said Knuckles to Talon, tossing the gem up
and down.
"Sally emailed you," said Talon, handing him the palmtop.
Knuckles looked at the text and whistled. "She's thorough, isn't she? Zeff, look at all this."
"Good grief," said Zephyer. "I can guide the island while you read it, if you want."
"You're just after my emerald," said Knuckles with a mock glare.
"Our emerald," Zephyer shot back. "Hand it over."
Knuckles made a big show of giving it to her, bowing and kissing her hand before placing the
emerald in it.
Zephyer laughed and held the emerald southward. Talon felt nothing, but Knuckles had to grab the
couch for support. "Crazy female driver."
"Going to harp on my driving skills, now?" said Zephyer.
"Heaven forbid," said Knuckles, flopping on the couch and holding up the computer.
Talon watched them with a warm feeling. He had never seen either of them so relaxed, and he liked
it.
* * *
The weather warmed up as they traveled south. Knuckles guided the island into the north-south jet
stream, and for four days the island was buffeted by roaring winds that drove it south at a constant
speed of twenty knots.
They dropped out of the jet stream at the equator and moved southeast. Knuckles took to navigating
from the top of the island's highest peak, where he could see the horizon in all directions. He taught
Zephyer to use a sextant, and every night she took measurements from the stars, and marked their
location on a map. Traveling with the Floating Island was like sailing a giant ship--the winds
affected their progress, and the stars were their compass.
Talon was pensive and quiet. As every day carried them closer to Blackguard, his fears began to
grow. What if he had to go back? What if the government wouldn't let the echidnas adopt him?
What if Kit was there? Talon had lived in terror of his older cousins, who had set the fire that killed
his parents. Kardot had perished a few years earlier, but Kit was still out there and probably crazier
than ever. Talon was ashamed to admit these fears to anyone, and so spoke less and less as the
weather grew hot and the constellations changed.
One day about noon Knuckles returned to the house. "Land ho," he said as he walked in.
Zephyer was sitting at the kitchen table with a pile of books and papers, teaching Talon the basics of
Old Mobian. "We're there?" said Zephyer. "Great. Now what?"
"We'll need to get some passports made up," said Knuckles. "I don't know about you, Talon. You're
a citizen with no papers."
Talon said nothing, but his ears flattened.
Vector the Crocodile poked his head in from the living room. "Hey boss, I could do all that for you."
Knuckles turned in surprise. "You could?"
"Sure!" said Vector. "It's not big deal with these island places, anyway. Lots of people come and go.
Can I borrow one of the portable teleporters?"
Knuckles dug one out of a cabinet. Portable teleporters were the size of a dinner plate with four
spider-like arms that planted into the ground for support. They had two lenses--one inside, and one
outside. Once a person teleported, the unit beamed after them ten seconds later. They were a quick,
convenient way to travel from the island and back.
Vector called Espio, Charmy and Mighty to the house. "I'm going ashore to get passports and stuff.
Want to go?"
"I do!" Charmy said. "I already have a passport."
"Me too," said Espio, holding up a grimy paper with twelve stamps in it.
"I didn't know you traveled, Espio," said Zephyer.
The chameleon's eyes half-closed. "Knuckles made us all register to get them when we came to live
here. So we can go ashore anywhere without trouble." He gave Knuckles a sidelong glance, and
Zephyer wondered if the Chaotix had helped Knuckles collect those weapons in Hidden Palace.
"Well, what're we waiting for?" said Charmy. "Let's go!" The bee raced out of the house, and the
Chaotix trooped after him, Vector carrying the teleporter under one arm. Knuckles watched them go,
hands on his hips. "They need a little shore-leave. Have either of you guys seen Slasher today?"
"Not since this morning," said Zephyer. "She told me that this hot weather has made her nocturnal.
She sleeps all day."
Talon felt the fur on his back stand up.
Knuckles shrugged. "Good idea. It's cooler at night. I'm going to fine-tune the island's position." He
strode out into the sunlight.
* * *
"This makes my thirteenth stamp," said Espio, examining his passport.
Mighty, Charmy and Espio were sitting on a bench in a walled courtyard in the dappled shade of a
magnolia. Vector was inside the building to their backs, collecting paperwork to take back to the
Floating Island.
"My thirteenth, too," said Mighty.
Charmy glanced at his passport. "This is only my ninth. How come you guys have so many?"
"The point is, we're going to have bad luck," said Espio, his skin shading a dark purple. "I mean,
we're just north of the Blackguard Quadrangle, and do you know what Blackguard means?"
"It was named Blacksand until the Siguards came," said Mighty, looking bored.
"It's another word for villain!" exclaimed Espio.
"Really?" said Charmy, swinging his feet. "Do villains come here on vacation?"
"Probably." Espio looked suspiciously at the people walking past the courtyard gate. There were
many reptiles, birds and marsupials, and although they were exotic-looking, they looked no more
shady than the Chaotix did.
Vector emerged from the adobe building with two manila envelopes. "Got 'em," he said. "Let's cruise
around before we go back."
The four trotted out of the courtyard and into the hot street. It was paved with gravel, and low adobe
houses lined the sidewalks. Jungle growth was everywhere--palm trees, vines, creepers, flowers, all
growing wherever the inhabitants would allow them to take root.
The Chaotix walked until the sun's heat began to overwhelm them, then they stopped in the shade of
an awning. "Hey," said Vector, "do you guys want to try to find Talon's uncle's house?"
"Sure," said Mighty. "Do we know the address?"
As one, they looked at Espio. The chameleon looked shifty. "What makes you think I know it?"
"You know everything you're not supposed to," said Vector. "Come on, Espie. I know you know it."
"Three twenty-nine East Boulder Lane, Marshill, Blackguard," recited Espio. "We're in Marshill,
aren't we?"
"Yup!" chorused the others.
"Charmy," said Vector, "mind finding a map for us?"
"Aye aye sir," said the bee, and buzzed away into the street. He returned five minutes later, looking
triumphant. "Just act like a tourist and everybody helps you!" He opened the map, and everyone
gathered around.
"There," said Mighty after a second. "East Boulder Lane. It's all the way across town, though!"
"Big deal," said Espio. "We'll get a good look at Marshill on the way. Let's go before it gets any
hotter."
The Chaotix set out across the town, growing thirsty and uncomfortable as the sun beat down on
them. They saw fewer and fewer people, as the inhabitants retired indoors to sleep through the
hottest hours of the day. "That sounds like a good idea," said Mighty, wiping perspiration from his
face.
"You wimpy mammal," said Espio. "We reptiles don't mind the heat, do we, Vector?"
"It's not too bad," said the crocodile. "I'm just worried it's making you hyper."
"Hyper? Me?" said the chameleon. "Perish the thought! Can we walk faster? I'm bored."
"How can you be bored when there's so many flowers around?" said Charmy. "It's like walking
through a fancy restaurant!" His antennae waved as they passed a riot of yellow and red flowers.
East Boulder Lane was on the island's east side, running along the top of a bluff overlooking the
ocean. "Behold the Blackguard Quadrangle!" said Vector, gesturing to it. "Imagine ... that's the
direction Talon went when he ran away."
"The kid must have been desperate," said Espio, gazing out at the tranquil blue sea. It looked no
different from any other stretch of water they had seen, and they walked on, keeping to the sides of
the road where overhanging trees cast shade.
"Three twenty-nine," said Charmy, pointing. "There it is."
A steep driveway ran up the hill above them, and set back into the hillside was a sprawling white
house with a red tile roof. Trees shaded most of the house, and the lawn was smooth and green.
"Doesn't look like such a bad place," said Mighty.
"Yes, but who knows what lurks in there?" said Espio, eyes narrowed. "I'm going to sneak up there
and look around."
"Isn't that trespassing?" said Mighty.
"Only if you get caught," said Espio, his skin changing to blend with the gravel driveway. He darted
up the driveway, keeping to patches of shade where his shadow wouldn't give him away. The others
watched him, uncomfortable and nervous.
They lost sight of Espio as he reached the trees near the house, and for a while there was no sign of
him. Then they heard his footsteps on the gravel, and the chameleon shaded into view again,
panting. "This place is huge," he said. "It's built into the hill and there's at least one story
underground. The rear of the property goes way up the hill into the jungle, and there's some sheds
and stuff back there. I want to see inside the house. Any ideas?"
The Chaotix looked at each other. They all wanted to see the mysterious place that Talon had fled
from and still wouldn't talk about.
"Well," said Vector, opening one of his manila envelopes, "we need Mr. Mori's signature that he's
Talon's legal guardian so Talon can re-enter the country as a citizen."
"Perfect!" said Espio, grabbing the envelope. He would have darted off, but Mighty grabbed his tail.
"Hold it, buster. Better let me do it. I'm a mammal, and I look more respectable than a chameleon."
Espio grudgingly turned over the envelope, and Mighty led the way up the driveway to the house.
They reached the porch, and Mighty rang the doorbell. They heard a chime far back in the house. It
was echoed by a deep rumbling like the growl of an enormous lion, and the porch vibrated
underfoot. There was a distant slam of a door and the sound stopped. The Chaotix exchanged a look,
wide-eyed.
After a few minutes the front door was opened by an anteater wearing glasses and a grimy labcoat.
"What can I do for you?" he said, blinking in the sunlight.
Mighty had to swallow before he could speak. "Uh. Yes. We're here on behalf of your nephew,
Tal--uh, Konya Mori. The government needs your signature on these documents before they'll let
him back into the country."
The anteater took the papers and thumbed through them. "I thought Konya was living with
echidnas."
"Well, he is," said Mighty. "They sent us here to collect the papers so they could bring Tal--uh,
Konya themselves."
Mr. Mori read the papers, ignoring the growing restlessness of the Chaotix. He kept the door open,
and Espio peered inside. The room behind Mori looked disappointingly ordinary; an armchair, some
pictures on the walls, gold-flowered wallpaper. There was no sign of anything that made loud, angry
growling noises.
"Just a moment," said Mori, retreating into the house.
"What was that sound?" whispered Charmy as soon as they were alone.
"There's more to this place than meets the eye," said Vector. "Shh!"
The anteater returned with a pen. "There, I've signed them. Tell little Konya that he is welcome
home whenever he chooses to return." Mori's smile was more like a grimace.
"Um, actually," said Mighty, "the echidnas want to adopt Talon."
"Oh?" said Mori, tilting his head to one side. "How interesting. Perhaps you should have the
echidnas talk to me themselves."
Mighty flushed. "Yes sir."
"Thank you for coming," said Mori, closing the door.
"Well, that was exciting," said Espio as they walked back to the road. "Do we really want to hand
Talon over to that weirdo?"
"No," chorused the others.
"And what made that noise?" said Vector. "Is the dude breeding monsters in the basement?"
"I'd love to get inside," said Espio, a glint of mischief in his eyes.
"Espio, look at me," said Vector. "Read my lips. N. O. No!"
The group found a wide spot beside the road and set up the portable teleporter. Vector set it to fire
four times, and one by one they jumped back to the Floating Island.
Zephyer was waiting for them at the receiver dish. "Well?" she said as they arrived. "Why were you
guys gone so long?"
"We hunted down Talon's uncle," said Espio. "Talk about weird! We can't give Talon back to him."
"He signed the guardianship papers," said Vector, showing them to Zephyer. "Talon can get into the
country now. But, uh, if you try to bring him back here afterwards, it'll be considered kidnaping."
Zephyer looked at the papers and bit her lip. "We'll have to contact an adoption agency right away."
A shadow fell over them, and they looked up. Knuckles was gliding in a circle overhead. He
dropped, landed with a thud and walked up. "Well?" he said, looking at the papers in Zephyer's
hands.
Mighty recapped their adventure, including the mysterious growl. He concluded, "The guy doesn't
care about kids. He was only being polite. If I was Talon, I'd escape into the Blackguard
Quadrangle, too."
Zephyer looked at Knuckles, who drew a deep breath. "Tough or not, we need to do this. There's
some ghosts that will haunt a kid his whole life, and I don't want the problem of family hanging over
Talon. Did you get the phonebook I asked for?"
Vector hefted the remaining manila envelope, which was two inches thick. "Yep."
"Great. Let's go up to the house, I need to make some calls."
* * *
Over the next two days, the situation went downhill so fast that Zephyer felt like she was riding a
roller coaster down its first drop.
The adoption agency Knuckles called informed him that because the Floating Island was technically
a foreign country, and because Talon was living there as a minor without papers of any kind, he was
considered a hostage. Please return him to his rightful guardian or we will be forced to take drastic
measures against you.
"Talon," said Knuckles, gazing at the phone in his hand, "we have to send you back or they're going
to arrest me."
"The adoption agency said that, sir?" said Talon, turning white under his fur.
Zephyer hugged him protectively. "Once you're on Blackguard, they'll work with us. You'll just
have to stay with your uncle until we can get this worked out."
"Yeah," said Talon hollowly. "I guess ... I guess I'll go pack." He pulled away from her and went to
his room.
Zephyer's mouth worked, and tears stung her eyes. She turned to Knuckles, who looked as if he had
been sucker punched in a fight. "Knux, we're going to fight for him, aren't we?"
He looked up at her, and his face hardened. "Darn right we will."
* * *
That afternoon Knuckles, Zephyer and the Chaotix escorted Talon through customs and back to his
old home. Zephyer held his hand as they walked up the driveway, and his hand was icy cold. She
whispered, "It'll be all right, Talon."
Talon's eyes were dark with pain and fear as he looked up at her. "I'm losing my family again," he
whispered. "Each time I wind up with my uncle. It's horrible."
"I put something in your bag," murmured Zephyer. "So did Knuckles."
Talon looked up at Knuckles, who had not spoken a word for the last hour. As they stepped onto the
front porch and rang the doorbell, Talon felt Knuckles's heavy hand on his shoulder.
The door opened, and Talon's uncle stood looking at them. "Hello," said Mori, blinking at the crowd
as if the light hurt his eyes. "You must be the echidnas who abducted Talon."
A muscle jumped in Knuckles's jaw. He said through his teeth, "We cared for him, not abducted
him. We would like to adopt him."
Mori stood aside for Talon to enter. Talon released Zephyer's hand, but Knuckles gave his shoulder
a hard squeeze before letting go. Talon stepped across the threshold into the darkened entry room
that he remembered so well, and turned and looked back at the islanders. The same look of anger
and grief was reflected in every eye. Knuckles's fists were clenched, and Zephyer's eyes were full of
tears. If Talon looked at them one more second he would cry, too, so he turned and carried his
suitcase down the hall toward his old room.
As soon as he was gone, Mori's manner changed. "You, Knuckles Echidna, are the vilest of slime for
harboring that child for so long without contacting the proper authorities. I will never approve of any
adoption, and I have the law on my side. Go back to your floating rock and take your motley horde
with you." He slammed the door.
Knuckles looked at Zephyer and the Chaotix, the fury radiating off him like radioactivity. If he had
chosen to tear down the door and pummel Mori, none of them would have stopped him.
"What do we do, boss?" growled Vector.
Knuckles's hands opened and closed a few times, as if imagining Mori's neck between them. "I'm
going to find the meanest lawyer in town."
