Part 3:
Out of the frying pan...
"Never underestimate the power of the popular press"

His heart was beating fast in his chest. He could smell the faint scent of drying sweat, his and Shadow's, but there was no friendly, warm touch of his body close beside him. He was on the ground, not in itself unusual, but that ground was flat and cold and made of metal. He could smell human, and engine oil. He ached all over, his head pounded as though his skull had been crushed in some mighty fist. The smell of metal wasn't just the floor, but his own blood, where its cool sticky dampness matted his dreadlocks at the back of his head. His stomach twisted and churned, he felt sick, bile stung at the back of his throat. Unwillingly he forced his eyes to open. The sight he witnessed was too blurred to discern anything of any meaning. Now his senses picked up a low rumbling and the feeling of motion. Past the aching hazy pain in his head he guessed he was in some sort of vehicle, being transported to heavens knew where. He tried to sit up, but found his arms were shackled behind his back, his legs also bound at the ankles and the knees. He had been rendered effectively immobile. When he pulled at his bonds even his strong muscles couldn't break the strange metal ties, there was no give, if anything they grew tighter the more he struggled. He looked around, and with a sinking sensation he realised Shadow was not with him. The urge to vomit overwhelmed him.

Knuckles' chest ached, his head pounded, his whole body felt hot and drained. Above him a small window grated open.
"Remember me Echidna?" A familiar voice sneered. Through his blurred vision he discerned a young male human with a blonde head and blue eyes. Knuckles squeezed his eyes closed and retched again.
He must have blacked out. He was now aware he was being carried, roughly, seemingly over the shoulder of something much larger than himself. His head was hanging down, and banging against someone, his body bent in the middle. A small guttural groan escaped from somewhere in the depths of his chest. Something like the ancient Echidna cry for help, but lacking any intensity as it gurgled up his throat past the taste of blood and stale vomit.
"It's waking up" A distinctly human voice said.
"Don't worry, we're nearly there" A casual male voice said, probably the one carrying him. But where was there? Where were they taking him? Knuckles tried to lift his head to look up, but his usually strong muscles wouldn't respond, they moaned wearily to him before failing with a kind of hot exhaustion. He gave up struggling, and relied on his other senses to inform him of the latest mess he'd gotten himself into. He could smell human, lots of humans, the chemicals they used for cleaning, and a faintly minty smell. His ears registered only the sounds of feet against hard, flat, unnatural ground and the human carrying him incessantly chewing something. He could hardly sense Shadow. He was nearby somewhere, alive, but he felt no emotion from him, no struggle for awareness. He was obviously unconscious, or deeply sedated. Knuckles couldn't help but wonder if Shadow had burnt himself out in a struggle after he'd lost consciousness. He hoped not. Again another of those low cries escaped unbidden from his chest, this time the homing cry ancient Echidnas had used to find each other. Upon hearing it he couldn't stop a strangled whimper, and accompanying stab of despair. He would have to get control of his own feelings before Shadow woke up, control his fear, before he would face the onslaught of Shadow's raw unrestrained emotion.
"We're here" The man carrying him said.
The other human moved to open a door. It was only then Knuckles realised he was surrounded by many humans, many guards. He groaned again as what tasted like blood trickled the wrong way up his throat.
"Put it inside"
Knuckles saw the light fade as he was placed on the ground. Before he could do anything the door closed behind the human.

He lay on the floor, trying not to move. He felt as though he was on a ship, the world seemed to be tilting from side to side. He knew it wasn't, head injuries could do that to you. He tried to lie still, let his mind un-fuzz, as though in a bed waiting for the clinging claws of sleep to leave him, but he knew the place where he was now was anything but warm and safe.

He believed he was back locked in his Torture Room. His first instinct was to cry out, let the scientists know he was conscious again, appeal to their better sides for mercy. The strangled cry he managed to produce was little more than a whimper. His mouth was dry, for some reason his lips were sore. He rolled onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. This was not his Torture Room, and this was not the ARK. For a moment he lay dazed, confused, trying to remember where he was and why he was there. The realisation did not come as a pleasant surprise. Terror washed over him, he was confined in a small dark place, it was only a matter of time before the monsters would come for him. He had to burn, keep them away! Knuckles blocks were down… he had access to his flames… why was nothing happening? He must be injured… but how was he going to keep them back? Maybe if he stayed quiet they wouldn't notice him… but surely the sound of his heartbeat must give him away. He thought he heard footsteps. He wrenched his body upright. He could see something moving in the dark. They were coming! Shadow bolted, meeting only cold, thick metal walls. Walls of a familiar variety. They were coming. He was now heedless of the desperate emotions flooding through the Bond, trying to comfort and assure him. They drew closer, barring down on him, Shadow couldn't fight them, he curled up, pressed himself into the corner of the room, and screamed.

Shadow's emotion hit him like a brick. His terror came as a stab of shock. Knuckles mind was slow to respond, he missed the opportunity to calm him, before Knuckles could begin sending comfort up the bond Shadow's claustrophobic terror had reached the pitch at with nothing could get through. The only way it could be eased now was if he was removed from the area terrifying him, or loss of consciousness. Knuckles considered trying to knock him out, but decided against it. Instead he struggled against his bonds, against the tightening metal, slowly cutting into his skin. He would go to Shadow and comfort and free him himself.

Shadow's terror didn't abate into unconsciousness or resignation after a few moments as Knuckles had hoped. The longer it lasted the more distressed Knuckles became, he was sure that his agitation was making Shadow worse. It ran in a spiralling cycle, destined to end only when they exhausted themselves. He tried to render Shadow unconscious many times, but found he could not. He'd missed his opportunity; Shadow was now beyond any help he could give across the Bond. He considered cutting Shadow off as far as possible, so that his despair wouldn't make him worse, but judged Shadow would not be helped by thinking he'd abandoned him to the mercy of his mental spectres too. Desperately Knuckles fought harder against his bonds. He had to get free!

Knuckles hardly noticed his cell door open. It had been hours, Shadow's terror had not abated.
"Stop struggling Guardian or those ropes will saw through your bones"
Knuckles paused only for a moment before returning to his desperate wriggling. The woman came and crouched beside him.
"You won't be able to hold him if you don't have any hands" She said softly
Knuckles lay still for a moment; he looked up at her face, searching for any hints of compassion, perhaps vainly he thought he saw some.
"Please, he's claustrophobic; you have to let me go to him!"
The woman said nothing, simply shifted her weight to a more comfortable position.
"What do you want with us!" Knuckles heard himself shout, he was desperate, he imagined himself breaking he woman's neck.
"We haven't decided what to do with you yet" She said in an annoyingly calm voice.
"Well… hurry up!"
She chuckled softly "Oh Guardian… we have all the time in the world…" She stroked his cheek, smiling and took herself out of the room. Knuckles was again violently sick.

Coral was laughing at him. She did that a lot, but Knuckles had never minded, she had such a pretty, almost tingly laugh, like little slay bells, or metal chimes in the wind. She was so different from her best friend, Moonstone, with her raucous laugh, so much more refined, so much prettier. Knuckles thought she was beautiful, in her own way. They lay on their backs, looking up at the azure blue sky above Angel Island, their forms half hidden by the early spring grass. Around him lay all his closest friends, all looking up towards the heavens, making shapes of the clouds. He was content.
"Hey can you hear that?" Beside him Kathy sat up, some of the others followed suit
"Hear what?" Knuckles asked lazily
No-one answered him, because at that moment they all heard it. The noise of an engine. Then suddenly a helicopter flew over them, so close they felt the gusts of wind from its blades. This helicopter was not alone; it was followed by others, all flying towards the Guardian School. Knuckles sat up. Many of the girls had their hands pressed over their ears, Ebony was screaming. Knuckles watched the helicopters grow smaller, a feeling of foreboding strangling his gut. It was then that he heard it - an Echidna's cry for help.

Knuckles snapped awake expecting to see Angel Island overrun by humans. Instead all he saw were walls, and darkness. He groaned, pushing against the pounding in his head and now a desperate thirst. He licked his lips to try and put some of the moisture back, but found it to be a fairly pointless exercise as his tongue was almost as dry. Shadow's cries were still persistent; evidently he hadn't been afforded the sweet release of sleep. The tone had changed, the cries were weaker now, less urgent, almost as though resigned to their going unanswered. Knuckles did what he could, tried to comfort Shadow, remind him that he was still there, still with him through thick and thin, even if he couldn't be there in body, but Shadow was past helping, delirious with his own fear.