Chapter 28
Echidna's Domain
Well, here it was. The first cavern. Did he dare go in? He could just go up and go over that way, but it would take longer. If he cut through the cavern, though, he would get to the other side of this mountain a lot quicker. But he had come too close to death the last time he went through a cave like this. Did he dare go in? This wasn't a time to take risks.
Which, Sonic figured, was probably the best reason to do it.
He ducked into the cave and looked. Almost to his dismay, he witnessed a cold, dark blue and black cavern, stalactites and stalagmites abundant on the floors, ceilings, and walls, daggers cemented to the tunnel. This wasn't as dangerous as the cave before, but more eerie. This seemed like something Knuckles would be good at.
Oh, crap.
If Knuckles saw him, he'd come in and gain some serious ground. Time to pick up the pace.
The moment he started running, though, he had to come to a grinding halt. A spike pit beneath him. He sighed and ran down the wall of the pit, dodged the spikes, and sped up the other side. Just seconds later, he barely stopped as a particularly large stalactite came crashing to the floor an inch before him. So this is what Knuckles did for a living. Sonic was amazed he hadn't died sixty times before this.
Sonic continued on. Oddly enough, a torch lit the next stretch of the tunnel. Weird, how'd a torch stay lit this whole time, Sonic thought. He ran on, then screamed in fear as he saw a large boulder fall from above. No time to run. Sonic jumped towards it instead and began spinning as fast as he could. He made contact and began pushing. Almost done, can't last much longer…A rush of air. Yes! He blasted up and planted his feet on the only flat part of the ceiling, watching the boulder, now with a perfect hole drilled through it, crash to the floor. Once he knew it was safe, Sonic shot towards the ground and landed again.
A few minutes and heaven only knew how many near deaths later, Sonic thought he saw the exit. He couldn't tell now because it was night, at least not from this far away. As he ran closer, his initial hunch was confirmed, as he saw moonlight slowly find its way into the dark cave.
Something hit Sonic hard in his back, sending him to the ground. Pain searing through his body, he rolled over to see the ceiling. Quickly, he rolled again to avoid a falling stalactite and stood up to face Knuckles.
"So careless," the echidna told him, smirking. "You think just because you had a head start on me means you would escape?" He stopped, his smile slowly disintegrating. "So careless," he repeated.
Sonic didn't have time for this. He spun around and ran for the exit, but Knuckles swooped down in front of him. "Running away again? So careless," he said again. "Quit being all mysterious-like," Sonic said. "I know you're not some weird spirit from the dead. Eggman just did a crappy job of trying to kill you."
"Eggman," Knuckles muttered, smile returning, "has nothing to do with this. Right now, it's just me and you. And this time," he commented, looking around at the cave, "the advantage is mine. We are in my domain, Sonic. And you're not welcome."
"Gak! Argh!"
"Squirm, you little backstabber!" Amy yelled as she choked Tails with a vine that had been hanging from one of the trees. "This is much less than you deserve, but it's the best I can do for now!"
"A-m-EARH!"
"Shut up and die!" she screamed.
A second later, Amy was silent like the grave. A long, sharp sword had slid beneath her throat.
"I believe you've stolen my line," Blade muttered. "Let him go. On your feet."
Amy slowly rose to her feet, the sword following her. Tails gasped for breath on the ground below them.
"Figures," he turned to Tails for a second. "I leave you alone for five minutes and you're a few seconds from death. No wonder your friend couldn't ever get a break-he probably had to save your hide too many times." He then returned his attention to Amy. "I think you're going to come with me," the swordsman continued, "and listen to a friend of mine. You'll be very interested in what he has to say."
"I hope you know," Tails panted, "no one appreciates it when you just insult them every time they make a mistake."
"You know what?" Blade said, faking realization. "You're right. But no one likes taxes, death, pain, losing, and mother-in-laws, but they have to deal with them too. So get used to it." Tails sighed and followed Blade and Amy as they walked back to the War Machine. On the way, Blade pulled out a small communication radio.
"Rouge, this is Kasille. Come to the base of Red Mountain, the leeward side. We're going to try one last plan."
"God," Espio panted. "When he wants to, he can run pretty damn fast." "You bet," Vector responded as the group continued to run through the forest. "You're probably the fastest one here, and he's still a good mile ahead." "Es," Mighty gasped, "go ahead. Don't let us hold you back…Just catch up to him and radio us with your…" But the armadillo was barely breathing anymore, let alone talking.
Espio nodded and sped ahead in a shimmering streak of purple.
"Never knew HE was that fast," panted Mighty.
"Yeah," Vector agreed. "It's that whole ninja thing he's been getting into. He's all mysterious-like now, too." Mighty wasn't convinced. "But not mysterious enough to keep his big trap shut when he needs to." The group continued to lag behind until Espio was completely out of sight. Soon, a large, black…something…whizzed past. The remainder of the Chaotix group halted to see what it was, but no one could make it out. They were about to get running again when "it" returned. This time, it stopped right next to them. A long, sleek black…
The image sparked a horrifying memory inside Mighty's head. His mind immediately went blank except for one command.
"AAAAHHHHHH!" Mighty pointed at the object and ran off into the woods. The hover car took off after him. Vector and Charmy watched the two go off.
"Was that…?" Vector asked, pointing to the departing machine. Charmy nodded.
"Should we go after it, then?"
Charmy looked down the path the machine had made. Then he looked back at Vector, who was also looking at him. They smiled at each other, then simultaneously shook their heads and ran off in the direction Knuckles was headed.
But after a few minutes of mindless running, they realized that, in all the commotion, they had forgotten exactly which direction Knuckles, Sonic, and Espio had gone. They could no longer hear Mighty's screams, so they guessed that bounty hunter had caught him, or they were fighting. But that also meant they had no clue where they were. Which meant they had no clue where they were, either.
"Now what?" Charmy asked. But Vector's mind was quicker than usual. He flicked on the two-way radio and spoke. "Mighty. Espio. Knuckles? Where are you? This is Vector, Charmy is with me." Nothing. Just a lot of static and the occasional crackle, followed by more static.
"Great," grumbled the crocodile.
"The trees are probably getting in the way," Charmy offered. "Let me try." He plucked the radio from Vector's hand and flew high above the forest, out of sight. Vector couldn't hear what he was saying, but he assumed it was something similar to what he had said. In a minute, the bee had flown back down with the radio. "I talked to Espio. He hasn't found Knuckles yet, but he thinks he saw him go into one of the Silver Mountains. Mighty didn't respond. So we should just keep going this way," he explained, pointing in the same direction as they had been going before.
Vector rolled his eyes. "What a waste of time," he murmured. "Whatever, let's go."
Echidna's Domain
Well, here it was. The first cavern. Did he dare go in? He could just go up and go over that way, but it would take longer. If he cut through the cavern, though, he would get to the other side of this mountain a lot quicker. But he had come too close to death the last time he went through a cave like this. Did he dare go in? This wasn't a time to take risks.
Which, Sonic figured, was probably the best reason to do it.
He ducked into the cave and looked. Almost to his dismay, he witnessed a cold, dark blue and black cavern, stalactites and stalagmites abundant on the floors, ceilings, and walls, daggers cemented to the tunnel. This wasn't as dangerous as the cave before, but more eerie. This seemed like something Knuckles would be good at.
Oh, crap.
If Knuckles saw him, he'd come in and gain some serious ground. Time to pick up the pace.
The moment he started running, though, he had to come to a grinding halt. A spike pit beneath him. He sighed and ran down the wall of the pit, dodged the spikes, and sped up the other side. Just seconds later, he barely stopped as a particularly large stalactite came crashing to the floor an inch before him. So this is what Knuckles did for a living. Sonic was amazed he hadn't died sixty times before this.
Sonic continued on. Oddly enough, a torch lit the next stretch of the tunnel. Weird, how'd a torch stay lit this whole time, Sonic thought. He ran on, then screamed in fear as he saw a large boulder fall from above. No time to run. Sonic jumped towards it instead and began spinning as fast as he could. He made contact and began pushing. Almost done, can't last much longer…A rush of air. Yes! He blasted up and planted his feet on the only flat part of the ceiling, watching the boulder, now with a perfect hole drilled through it, crash to the floor. Once he knew it was safe, Sonic shot towards the ground and landed again.
A few minutes and heaven only knew how many near deaths later, Sonic thought he saw the exit. He couldn't tell now because it was night, at least not from this far away. As he ran closer, his initial hunch was confirmed, as he saw moonlight slowly find its way into the dark cave.
Something hit Sonic hard in his back, sending him to the ground. Pain searing through his body, he rolled over to see the ceiling. Quickly, he rolled again to avoid a falling stalactite and stood up to face Knuckles.
"So careless," the echidna told him, smirking. "You think just because you had a head start on me means you would escape?" He stopped, his smile slowly disintegrating. "So careless," he repeated.
Sonic didn't have time for this. He spun around and ran for the exit, but Knuckles swooped down in front of him. "Running away again? So careless," he said again. "Quit being all mysterious-like," Sonic said. "I know you're not some weird spirit from the dead. Eggman just did a crappy job of trying to kill you."
"Eggman," Knuckles muttered, smile returning, "has nothing to do with this. Right now, it's just me and you. And this time," he commented, looking around at the cave, "the advantage is mine. We are in my domain, Sonic. And you're not welcome."
"Gak! Argh!"
"Squirm, you little backstabber!" Amy yelled as she choked Tails with a vine that had been hanging from one of the trees. "This is much less than you deserve, but it's the best I can do for now!"
"A-m-EARH!"
"Shut up and die!" she screamed.
A second later, Amy was silent like the grave. A long, sharp sword had slid beneath her throat.
"I believe you've stolen my line," Blade muttered. "Let him go. On your feet."
Amy slowly rose to her feet, the sword following her. Tails gasped for breath on the ground below them.
"Figures," he turned to Tails for a second. "I leave you alone for five minutes and you're a few seconds from death. No wonder your friend couldn't ever get a break-he probably had to save your hide too many times." He then returned his attention to Amy. "I think you're going to come with me," the swordsman continued, "and listen to a friend of mine. You'll be very interested in what he has to say."
"I hope you know," Tails panted, "no one appreciates it when you just insult them every time they make a mistake."
"You know what?" Blade said, faking realization. "You're right. But no one likes taxes, death, pain, losing, and mother-in-laws, but they have to deal with them too. So get used to it." Tails sighed and followed Blade and Amy as they walked back to the War Machine. On the way, Blade pulled out a small communication radio.
"Rouge, this is Kasille. Come to the base of Red Mountain, the leeward side. We're going to try one last plan."
"God," Espio panted. "When he wants to, he can run pretty damn fast." "You bet," Vector responded as the group continued to run through the forest. "You're probably the fastest one here, and he's still a good mile ahead." "Es," Mighty gasped, "go ahead. Don't let us hold you back…Just catch up to him and radio us with your…" But the armadillo was barely breathing anymore, let alone talking.
Espio nodded and sped ahead in a shimmering streak of purple.
"Never knew HE was that fast," panted Mighty.
"Yeah," Vector agreed. "It's that whole ninja thing he's been getting into. He's all mysterious-like now, too." Mighty wasn't convinced. "But not mysterious enough to keep his big trap shut when he needs to." The group continued to lag behind until Espio was completely out of sight. Soon, a large, black…something…whizzed past. The remainder of the Chaotix group halted to see what it was, but no one could make it out. They were about to get running again when "it" returned. This time, it stopped right next to them. A long, sleek black…
The image sparked a horrifying memory inside Mighty's head. His mind immediately went blank except for one command.
"AAAAHHHHHH!" Mighty pointed at the object and ran off into the woods. The hover car took off after him. Vector and Charmy watched the two go off.
"Was that…?" Vector asked, pointing to the departing machine. Charmy nodded.
"Should we go after it, then?"
Charmy looked down the path the machine had made. Then he looked back at Vector, who was also looking at him. They smiled at each other, then simultaneously shook their heads and ran off in the direction Knuckles was headed.
But after a few minutes of mindless running, they realized that, in all the commotion, they had forgotten exactly which direction Knuckles, Sonic, and Espio had gone. They could no longer hear Mighty's screams, so they guessed that bounty hunter had caught him, or they were fighting. But that also meant they had no clue where they were. Which meant they had no clue where they were, either.
"Now what?" Charmy asked. But Vector's mind was quicker than usual. He flicked on the two-way radio and spoke. "Mighty. Espio. Knuckles? Where are you? This is Vector, Charmy is with me." Nothing. Just a lot of static and the occasional crackle, followed by more static.
"Great," grumbled the crocodile.
"The trees are probably getting in the way," Charmy offered. "Let me try." He plucked the radio from Vector's hand and flew high above the forest, out of sight. Vector couldn't hear what he was saying, but he assumed it was something similar to what he had said. In a minute, the bee had flown back down with the radio. "I talked to Espio. He hasn't found Knuckles yet, but he thinks he saw him go into one of the Silver Mountains. Mighty didn't respond. So we should just keep going this way," he explained, pointing in the same direction as they had been going before.
Vector rolled his eyes. "What a waste of time," he murmured. "Whatever, let's go."