Author's Note: Back again! Sorry it took so long to post tjis. I meant to do it Friday, but didn't get to it until Sunday! Anyway, now that the setting is...well...set, the plot will thicken. It will have you in a mixed state of laughter and suspense from the first paragraph to the end of the last posted chapter. In conclusion, let ye wait no longer!
FIRST DAY IN STATION SQUARE
"Luke, could you go get some more milk?" Ken asked as he dealt out cards to Todd, Sonic, Mighty, Vector, Tails, Rotor, Antoine, Espio and Steve. "Sure. But don't expect me to run. I'm still too tired," Luke said with a yawn. It was about eight thirty in the morning. The girls were still in bed, Li and Zack were meditating, Nick and Randy were still in bed, and Knuckles had gone outside to be alone. They were all a bit worried about him. When they left the party last night, he seemed really depressed and didn't say a word to anyone.
Luke walked down the hall in his boxers and socks, eyelids half open. His hair was a mess, and he let out another thunderous yawn. Down the other hall, the girls had just gotten dressed and were heading towards the kitchen for breakfast. "Do you think the guys are up?" Amy asked. "Ah'm sure of it," Bunnie replied. "Well, I'm hungry, so let's hope they are," Sally said. "Yeah. Me too," Julie-Su said, responding to Sally's statement. When they turned the corner, they all gasped. There was Luke, in a pair of socks and boxers, scratching his groin. "Ahhh!" they all screamed as they put their hands over their eyes. Luke just stood there, eyelids half-open in a dazed state, and muttered, "Ah.". After a second, he walked past them towards the kitchen. "I never...he didn't even care! Does he have any shame? Any decency?" Julie-Su asked. "We better not stay here too long, before our boys pick up these habits," Sally said, shuttering at the thought of the guys acting this way.
Luke opened the fridge and took out a gallon of milk. He closed the door and began to walk back when he heard something behind the wall. He pushed a secret button to reveal a small balcony, with a stairway leading down to a training room. Down there, he could see Nick training. Suddenly, Randy walked in from another room. From here, Luke could see the two smile as they set themselves in fighting positions. "Dude!" Luke yelled in excitement as he sped off back to the others. While this was happening, the others were still playing cards. "Three of a kind," Rotor said. "Full house," Sonic announced with a grin. They all turned to Todd. If he didn't win, then Sonic would. "I'm sorry...royal flush," Todd declared with a large grin on his face as he revealed his hand. The others grumbled as Todd grabbed his winnings, which were AppleJacks and Fruit Loops. "Heh, heh! What a bountable harvest! A banquet worthy of a king!" he said as he put his winnings in his cereal bowl. "Pass the Corn Flakes," Ken sighed as the others grumbled. Suddenly, Luke burst in, yelling, "GUYS! Nick and Randy are going at it in the training room!" "Sweet!" Li yelled as he and Zack rose. "Let's go, then!" Steve yelled as everyone stood up and ran out the door, Todd carrying his bowl.
"The kitchen is this way, right?" Rouge asked. "I think so. That's what the map said," Julie-Su replied. Suddenly, they started feeling a rumbling beneath their feet. "What is that?" Bunnie asked. "It sounds like a stampede!" Sally declared. All at once the Ravagers came tearing around the corner, dressed in only boxers and socks. The girls gasped as they all ran by, yelling "Yeah!" "Come on!" "Let's go!" "Don't wanna miss this!" Todd lagged behind, carrying a bowl of cereal. He stopped in front of the girls, held up his bowl and asked, "Wanf some Froot Roofs?" with his mouth full of cereal. The girls screamed and covered their eyes. Todd shrugged and ran after the others. Sonic and the other guys ran after them, but not before stopping to stare at the girls, who had buried their faces in their hands. "You gals okay?" Sonic asked. "Oh yes! Fine! We're used to guys running around in their underwear!" Sally declared. "Oh. I thought something was wrong. Well, we'll catch ya later! Wait up, guys!" Sonic yelled as they hurried after the Ravagers. "We're doomed," Amy moaned.
"I got my money on Nick!" "Mine's on Randy!" They all stood on the balcony watching Randy and Nick fighting below. Nick threw a swift kick that Randy just barely dodged. Randy flipped back and fired a fireball, which Nick easily evaded. Soon the two were in a grip lock, staring each other down as they tried to outmatch each other's strength. They clenched their teeth as they growled, sweat pouring from their foreheads.
Suddenly, the room began to shake, and everyone looked around in confusion. "What the...?" Tails yelled. Nick and Randy stood and looked up at the others. "What's going on?!?!" Nick yelled. "What did you idiots do?!?!" Randy yelled. "We didn't do anything...this time! Computer, locate the source of the disturbance and put it on screen," Todd said as a large section of wall slid back, revealing a large screen. When the screen activated, Hyper Knuckles was on it, concentrating his energy. "What's he-" "Wait! He's saying something!" Steve said to Vector. "Come on! You can...do it!" Knuckles growled. For a second, his body flashed green, then back to pink. "You can control it! You just need to-"Knuckles said before yelling in what seemed like pain, and fell to the floor in his normal red form. "I...I can't d-do it. Dimitri was...used to handling levels of p-power like that. With-thout him...I can't handle it," Knuckles growled as he panted heavily. "I have these gifts...b-but I can only de-destroy with them...What's the point, then?!?!" he yelled as he slammed the ground. He slowly stood up and stumbled away from the screen's view.
"He's got some problems, I see," Randy said as he looked over at the Chaotix. "Yeah. And he thinks he needs to handle them alone. He won't let anyone help him," Rouge sighed. "Kinda like you when we started off, right Randy?" Nick said with a smile. "Yeah," Randy muttered, putting his head down. "If you didn't eat, eat now. Some good ol' Legionnaire Hunting will cheer him up," Nick said.
Half an hour later, everyone was entering a large garage. "We're not taking the jet?" asked Tails. "No way! Too big for daytime! We're takin'...the van!" Morph announced. "What van can fit us all?" Sally asked. "Grim rides his motorcycle, F.C. flies with DJ, Freezie runs, and Morph turns into something small. Sonic can run, too, so we'll have the room," Vipes reassured. "We'll see," Rouge said, still uncertain. DJ flipped a light switch and revealed 'the van', which was built more like a tank. It was black and gray, heavily armored, with a gattling gun positioned on the roof. "You got a gattling gun!" Vector said, thinking it was the coolest thing ever. "It doesn't work. It's just for look and intimidation. I'd be intimidated if someone drove up with a gattling gun on the roof!" Freezie explained. "Not to be used without parental supervision," Swiper joked. "Speaking of such...where's yours?" Sally asked, looking at them with suspicious eyes. "Oh, yeah! We didn't introduce you to Crazy Uncle Kyle! We'll have to do that later, though. He talks to an imaginary Leprechaun when he eats his morning cereal," Freeze said. No one spoke, being that they were too wierded out. Was anything normal about these guys? Rouge opened the sliding side door and peered in. "I'm flying," she said as she took a step back and crossed her arms. "You're the one missing' out!" DJ said. Cap looked over at Knuckles. He was staring at the ground again. "Hey, Knux! I'm driving', so do you want shotgun?" Cap asked. "Whatever," Knuckles mumbled as he stepped into the passenger seat of the van. Cap's smile faded, along with everyone else's as they all got in.
"This thing got a radio?" Vector asked as they drove down freeway. "Give me a sec," Swiper said as he turned a knob. Suddenly, a funky beat started playing on the radio. "I love this song!" DJ said as he flew next to the driver's seat window. To everyone's surprise, Cap, Swiper, DJ, Vipes, F.C., and Morph began to sing along with the radio.
He's saying
I'm on a roll
With all the girls I know!
His baby's momma
She ain't so slow
He's saying
I'm on a roll
With all the girls I know!
I know you wanna hit that!
I know you wanna hit that, hit that!
All the world is gettin' with, I say!
Consequences are a lot, but hey!
That's the way it
That's the way things go-O!
OYE! OYE! OYE!
"You know...this song is kinda derogatory towards women," Sally mentioned. "No it's not you silly squirrel!" DJ joked in a squeaky voice. "Question, why don't the cops or someone pull us over? There's a gattling gun on the roof, and I thought you guys were wanted?" asked Tails. "Thank F.C. for that. He casts a spell that throws a cloak over us, making us look like regular pedestrians in a regular pedestrian van. They can't even see DJ, F.C. or Rouge," Vipes said. "It's nothing," F.C. said as he flew alongside the van, "We should probably pull over and park soon," he suggested. "Will do," Cap said as he pulled off the freeway, Grim following behind them on his black motorcycle.
"Okay, okay, I got one! Beat box for me, DJ!" Freezie said. DJ began beat boxing as Freezie began to rap.
Here we are up on da roof,
We'ze are gonna git da spoof,
On the Dark Leg-ion,
We'ze gonna seige 'om!
Cuz we'ze are da best, mon!
Ya know we got skillz 'n we got class,
Aw, Jeez we're gonna kick their-
"PAUSE! We got kids here! PG rating!" Cap scolded as he pointed to Amy and Tails. "Sorry," Freezie said. "Is this what you do all day?" Espio asked. "Yep. It's better to wait for trouble to find you," Swiper said as he stretched his arms out. "He can't just chill, can he?" Grim said as he glanced over at Knuckles. The echidna was peering down from the rooftop, like a hunter searching for its prey. "He's...never really been able to. He's always so serious about everything...especially after..." Sally said, not being able to talk about the events that took place not too long ago. All of a sudden, an alarm from a store across the street went off, gathering everyone's attention. A Legionnaire ran out, carrying a large bag over his shoulder. "Action time, baby!" DJ yelled. They all glanced up to see Knuckles rushing along the rooftops, following the Legionnaire down the street. "Wait up!" Sonic yelled as he ran after him. "You aren't getting away!" Knuckles growled out loud as he jumped across to the next rooftop. Suddenly, something caused him to stop dead in his tracks. He slowly pulled off his sunglasses as he stared.
"What's he doing?" Mighty yelled as they Knuckles stop up ahead of them. "I know. That's 63rd street...well, where it was," Morph said grimly. Knuckles was staring out at a huge crater. He knew this place. He did this. He fell to his knees as he continued to stared out at the crater. His friends finally caught up with him, looked out at the crater, then looked at Knuckles with sympathetic faces. "Ravagers, let's go! We've got a Legionnaire to catch!" Cap yelled as they jumped off the roof after the Legionnaire. "Knux?" Mighty said as he knelt down next to his friend. Knuckles didn't respond. He continued to stare into space. "Hey buddy, this...this wasn't your fault. It was Dimitri! We all think that, why can't you?" Sonic asked. "Because no one else does," Knuckles whispered as his head began to droop.
"We got a live one!" DJ said as he hovered over to them with the Legionnaire struggling to get free. He was dropped to the ground, only to find that he was surrounded. "He's mine," Knuckles growled. The Legionnaire laughed and said, "You don't scare me, Guardian! I won't talk!" The Legionnaire's laugh slowly faded away as a malicious smile curled on Knuckles' mouth. "Oh really? Well, what if I broke your arms? And if you still didn't, what if I broke your legs? And if you still resisted...what if I broke all your ribs...one, by one, by one," said Knuckles, his voice seeming a little deeper. Everyone stared in shock. "K-Knux?" Sonic said. Knuckles flinched and took three steps back from the frightened Legionnaire. "Did...did I just say that?" he said, looking down at his hands. "I...I'll be right back," Knuckles mumbled as he walked to the other end of the roof. As he walked away they couldn't help but wonder...What if Knuckles wasn't just overreacting about the whole 'Eclipse' thing? What if he was truly schizophrenic, and had some sinister split personality? What would that mean for him?
Cap turned his attention back to the Legionnaire and said, "Listen, scum! We won't go to that extent, but we will make you talk!" "Yeah, right!" the Legionnaire mocked. Cap smiled, turned to Grim and said, "Grim, give him the finger." Everyone raised a brow when he said this. "What?" Rouge said. "I wanna give 'im the finger!" complained DJ. "Not that finger, moron!" Grim growled. Grim walked over to the Legionnaire and snapped his fingers, setting the tip of his index finger aflame. "This technique is called the Finger of the Infernal Flame. When touched by it, you envision yourself in the pits of Hell. A split second can drive the strongest mortal mad. So...you either talk, or spend the rest of your days as a steamed vegetable. You have 'til my finger touches your forehead to decide," Grim said as he slowly moved his flaming finger forward. The Legionnaire sweated and panted, until he finally yelled, "OKAY! I'LL TALK!!!" "Good," Grim said as he blew his finger out.
Sonic walked over to Knuckles, who was staring off into the distance. Sonic had felt weird around Knuckles ever since the Eclipse incident. He just couldn't get over the fact that Knuckles actually envied him. 'I never thought...I guess I never realized how lucky I am. Jeez. He never really hated me...and I treated him like dirt," Sonic thought to himself. "Yo, Knux," said Sonic, gaining Knuckles' attention. "Listen...I...I never really knew how you truly felt. And...I'm kinda glad that I do...because, well, I think now we might be able to...I dunno...be better friends," the hedgehog said. After a long pause, Knuckles finally spoke. "Dimitri's gone, you know. He can't control me anymore." Sonic's face brightened with a large smile. "Well that's good news," he said. He stopped smiling when the echidna shook his head. "Dimitri was the one that released Eclipse, but he was also the one that kept him in check. After what happened back there...I think that Eclipse is fighting for control," Knuckles said. "Knux, you're gonna be fine! It's all in your head! Besides, it was Dimitri's-" "Dimitri isn't the one with the memories! Dimitri isn't the one with the screams echoing in his head! Dimitri isn't the one coping with the loss of the love of his life, and his sanity at the same time!" Knuckles yelled. Sonic just stared, not sure how to respond to that. "Now you get it," Knuckles mumbled.
Freezie zipped over and said, "Guys, we got him to talk. Apparently, there's a big hideout downtown. Really confidential. We've decided to go for a visit." Knuckles put his sunglasses back on and began to head back to the alley where the van was parked. Sonic stood for a moment, staring at his echidna friend. For the first time in...ever...he wanted to help him, only to find that he couldn't. Solemnly, he hurried to catch up to the others.