Author's Note: Hey there! I'm still alive! Held back because of Regents and AP exams, but now I'm a little more open. Hope you all enjoy!

NEVER A QUITTER

"It would've been nice if he'd at least left us the jet!" Sonic mumbled. Sally glared back at him, so he jumped to defend himself. "Hey! Not that I don't wanna help him out, but even our jet is better than this piece of junk!" Sally let him off. There was too much to worry about. The jet they were using was an old model, and wasn't very, well…good. It was a bigger piece of junk than their other jet. "We're coming up on New Necropolis!" Tails said as the city came into view. The dark, jagged pillars made the city look like a set of crooked teeth. They landed and quickly ran out into the city. The strange thing was…it was empty. No Legionnaires. "Are they even here?" Rotor asked. "I'm getting a large signal!" Nicole beeped.

They hurried in that direction, but something caused Julie-Su to stop. Some strange instinct told her to turn to her left and enter the building next to her. After much hesitation, she hurried inside. The instinct led her up the stairs several flights, until it stopped in front of a large iron door. Something told her to open it. She hacked into the computerized lock and opened the door, and gasped when she saw a crib. She slowly walked over to it and glanced inside. There was a small, red echidna baby, less than a year old, laying in a quiet slumber. Looking around and seeing that no one was there, she gently took him up into her arms. It let out a thunderous yawn and looked up at her with a pair of big, green eyes. "Mace?" she asked him. The baby smiled and giggled, and she couldn't help but do the same. She had found Knuckles' baby brother. Knuckles! Now she had to find him.

For the first time in a long time Sonic was scared. In fact, he had never been so scared in his whole life. Before him and the rest of the Freedom Fighters hovered an echidna in gold and blue armor. All around him he could feel this being's energy. For some reason, however, it wasn't looking at them. It was looking at a smoking hole in the side of a building. "Aren't you going to say hello to your friends, nephew?" it shouted mockingly. They turned to the hole and saw Knuckles emerge from the smoke. He was bleeding all over, covered in cuts and bruises, his hat had dirt and dust on it, and his left eye was shut. "Knuckles!" Sally shouted as she went to run towards him. "Stay away from me!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. All were startled. "You shouldn't have come here! Leave now! I won't lose anyone else to you, Dimitri, or Enerjak, or whatever you're called!" Enerjak chuckled. "And just how do you intend to beat me? Your arm is broken." Indeed, Knuckles was clutching his right arm tightly. "I…will fight you…as long as I…can breathe…as long as my heart pumps blood…" Knuckles responded.

Enerjak chuckled. "How noble of you. Hmmmm….I wonder." Suddenly, Knuckles started gasping. He had a strange look in his eyes. Then it hit them. He couldn't breathe! Enerjak laughed as Knuckles fell to the ground, gasping for air. "This is most enjoyable." Finally, Knuckles was breathing again. "And what was that you were saying about blood? As long as your heart pumped it?" Suddenly, Knuckles was screaming in agony. "Yes, I suppose that would be rather painful. I'll let you off now." Knuckles started gasping again as the numb feeling in his body washed over. "As you can see, my power goes far beyond what you can ever comprehend," Enerjak said as he hovered higher into the air. Suddenly, the city began to shake. They watched as screws unscrewed and metal pieces hovered in the air. They looked around them and saw each individual piece of each individual building floating in the air. After a few moments, he reassembled them. "So what? You're the…world's greatest…handyman! Big deal!" Knuckles shouted. Enerjak chuckled and said, "Always the defiant one, aren't we? It won't be long now. I can feel your energy slipping away. It's only a matter of time." Knuckles clenched his fist and shouted, "This ends now!" He made one final charge at Enerjak, putting every ounce of energy he had into it. Enerjak simply held out his hand and clasped it. Knuckles froze in mid-air, as if being held by a huge invisible fist. Enerjak tightened his grip, and Knuckles' eyes widened in pain. They heard bones cracking as he let out a silent scream. Enerjak released him, and his limp body fell to the floor. "Yes. It is done," Enerjak said as he hovered higher while the others rushed to Knuckles, "The final son of Edmund has been defeated! The weak side of our family has been extinguished. Time to finish this!" Suddenly, there was a quick flash between them and Enerjak. Standing there now was a black hedgehog with red streaks in his quills. "I'm sorry I took so long, Knuckles. Dimitri! You will pay for what you've done to my friend!" Enerjak simply laughed. "Shadow. How nice to see you rushing to your friend's side. It makes sense that you should die with him for all the trouble you two have collectively caused me." They looked up to see him charging a large ball of energy. "And now he will die, along with the rest of you. The Freedom Force will perish!" They prepared for the end, but then Enerjak suddenly disappeared. Vanished. Gone!

They looked around for a few seconds, but didn't see him. They then turned their attention to Knuckles. He was just staring into space. "Knuckles? Can you hear me?" Sally asked. "I…I failed…" They looked at each other, then back at him. "Mom…Dad…Mace…I failed them all…" Suddenly, they heard Julie-Su yelling out his name as she ran over to them. She gasped when she saw the condition he was in, then hurried to show him who she had brought. "Knuckles…look," she said as she revealed the baby she had found. None of them had ever seen his eyes light up the way they did just then. "M-Mace…" "Yes, Knuckles. You found him!" Julie-Su said. "I w-wish I could…hold him…but…but…my arms are b-broken…" Julie-Su brought the baby closer to his head. He kissed its head as tears flowed from his eyes. "I love you…little brother," he whispered. He looked up at Julie-Su and said, "T-take care of…him for…m-me…", before his head slumped back. Julie-Su gasped, and the baby began to cry.

"Anything?" Swiper asked F.C., who was mentally trying to locate the others. "Nope," he replied as he continued his mental search. "How 'bout now?" Morph asked a few seconds later. The young mage growled and said, "You've been doing this for five minutes now! Quit it!" Swiper and Morph jumped up. "Sorry, man!" Morph said as Grim let out a long sigh. "I know. I can't take sitting around either," Cap said to him. Suddenly, F.C. gasped in horror, sweat forming on his brow. Everyone jumped to attention. DJ looked out in the same direction and could only let out, "W…WOAH…" "You picking up what I am, DJ?" F.C. asked. "Yeah. 'Gulp' What could possibly be giving off power like that?" "I dunno. But it isn't…wait. I'm sensing Knuckles…he's right there with it!" Vipes put his hand on his friend's shoulder and said, "What's happening?" "They're fighting!"

F.C. brought them through the fight verbally as he picked up on it. He told how the others arrived, how another energy came to help, and how the strange energy grew. "It…it's gone." "What?" Freezie asked. "It's gone! Vanished…without a trace." DJ looked around, "Yup, I'm not picking up anything close to it in any direction." "Oh no…" F.C. whispered. "What is it?" Cap asked. "…Knuckles…" Vipes clutched his friend's shoulder tighter, "What happened? What about Knuckles?" They were startled when the mage jumped up and flew out the door. They watched as a ball of energy formed around him as he flew, and caused him to vanish! "He teleported," Vipes explained. "Something's wrong."

The Ravagers waited where they stood for several minutes in silence. Several other residents greeted them, but they didn't respond. Finally, there was a flash, and the other's were in front of them, along with F.C. Cap smiled when he saw them, but his mouth quickly fell open when he saw F.C. using his magic to levitate Knuckles' battered body.

They all waited as the doctor did what he could with the limited supplies they had. Julie-Su did her best to calm the whimpering baby, but it was no use. Finally, Doctor Quack stepped out. "This is probably the worse case I've ever seen. Both arms and legs broken, broken wrist, broken ribs, concussion, massive internal bleeding…it's no use." "What's no use?" Tails asked. The doctor sighed and said, "I…I don't have any way to save him. We only have so many sedatives to use. I've had to ration them to three per patient! They don't even last more than a few hours. It would be best to…put him out of his misery." An eerie silence fell upon them. How could they do that? How? "There has to be anotha way!" Bunnie pleaded, but the doctor shook his head. "Once I use all his sedatives, he'll be in a lot of pain. He longer you wait, the longer he's in pain." Julie-Su looked down at the sleeping Mace and sighed. Her head shot up as something hit her. "Wait! We don't have to!" They looked at her in confusion, as she got ready to explain. She told them about how she had gone back to the Legion, and how he had gotten shot getting her back out. She then explained how in almost no time, his injury had healed itself. "That seems interesting, but that was one injury. This! This is far worse than a laser wound to the shoulder." "It'll work! We just have to give him rest and time," Julie-Su pleaded. The doctor looked at their hopeful faces and sighed. "Fine. We wait."

Julie-Su carried Mace into the room and looked at Knuckles with tearful eyes. His ribs were bandaged, his legs, arms and wrist in casts, and there were blood-stained bandages on his head. Mace woke up, looked over at him, and began to whimper. Julie-Su quietly shushed him as she hugged him. "He's gonna be alright, Mace. He's gonna be alright. I promise." The baby began to calm down and smiled up at her. She giggled and said happily, "And you know what? You and me…we're gonna wait for him. Just you wait! He'll wake up in a few days and he'll be okay." The baby yawned again and slowly began to drift off to sleep. She laid him down beside his big brother on the pillow and pulled some covers over them both. She leaned over and kissed both of their heads and got onto the empty hospital bed beside them. "Goodnight boys," she whispered as a tear fell down her cheek.

Everyone came to visit the next day. Whenever someone tried to take Mace outside to play, he began to cry uncontrollably. As soon as he could see Knuckles, however, he was fine. Julie-Su, like Mace, wasn't willing to leave the room either. Bunnie simply brought food during the day and they used the hospital bathroom and shower. Some talked with Knuckles, thinking he might be able to hear them. Others played with Mace. Mace liked everybody. Sally was a little disturbed when she noticed how much he liked the Ravagers. Not that they weren't a good group of guys…but they were idiots. Only one person couldn't find the heart to enter that hospital room…Sonic.

Sonic came back from an unusually long walk. Yes, a walk. He couldn't even find any enjoyment in running. He just couldn't get over himself. He had thought of himself as the greatest hero Mobius had to offer. Then why didn't he put his life on the line to try and stop Enerjak? Why hadn't he been selfless and told his friends to escape? Why didn't he think of others before himself? He had gone out into the woods to take a long hard look at himself. He did…and he wasn't impressed. It was time to change. Knuckles had changed. He had started as a cold guy, but showed that he wasn't like that at all. Sonic could do the same.

Sally walked out of the hospital with a smile on her face, but as soon as she was out of sight, she burst into tears. She couldn't stand seeing him like that. He had been so strong, even through the hardest of times. Even when she thought they were gonna drown in that boat, he didn't give up and got them through. Now he was broken. Broken? No, he was shattered. She watched him get shattered like glass with a simple hand gesture. She looked up and saw Sonic coming out of the woods. Great. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. Sonic walked over to her and stood in silence for a moment. "Hey," he finally said. "Hey," was her only reply. "How is he?" "You should go find out yourself. Or are you afraid to? Are you afraid to look at someone who puts his whole heart and soul into something and never gives up! Is that it!" Sonic was baffled. He had never seen her like this. "Sal…" "Don't 'Sal' me. Just go away." He paused, but regained his composure. "I know I've haven't been the greatest guy lately. I've been stupid, selfish and self-centered. I thought that I was better than Knuckles…but he was the better guy. He IS the better guy." She looked at him curiously, surprised he had the guts to say all of this. "I want to change Sal. I want to prove to you that I'm a better guy than you think I am. I thought that Knuckles was here just to make me look bad…but in reality…he was here to make me look at myself, and see how bad I was. But no more. I'm starting over. Will you give me the chance?" Sally stared for a moment, and then threw her arms around him, crying. "He's gonna be okay," he whispered. After a moment or two, they broke their embrace, and he smiled as he walked over to the hospital.

Sonic walked in and saw Julie-Su holding the battered echidna's hand as Cap told Mace a story. Sonic cringed at the sight of him. His legs and arms were in casts, his legs suspended by wires. His wrist was also in a cast, hanging in a sling. His ribs were bandaged up, as was the side of his head. He looked like a building had fallen on him. "So then your brother…oh. Hey, Sonic," Cap said with a smile. He didn't exactly approve of Sonic's attitude, but he wasn't the type that disregarded people because of personality defects. He tried his best to get along with everyone. He thought that Sonic wasn't such a bad guy deep down, and he really wasn't. He just had to get over himself. Julie-Su, however, didn't like Sonic at all, and ignored him as he entered and sat across from her on the other side of Knuckles. He smiled, but she didn't even glance over at him. He could see how worried she was. "H-How is he?" "Fine." Sonic looked down at his feet and thought for a second. "Hey…Julie-Su?" "What?" she said with an aggravated sigh. "I just wanted to…to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I've said about you and Knuckles…I'm sorry for being such a jerk." "And a loser." "And a loser." "And a dork." "And a dork." "And a-" "You can stop anytime now," Sonic said with a chuckle. She chuckles too and smiled. Sonic looked over at Knuckles and smiled. "Hey. How are ya, Knux?" he asked the unconscious echidna. "Everything's fine here. Things aren't too bad at all. We're…just worried about you, man. I am. I…never gave you a chance before…but…I'm willing to now. So…heh. Wake up soon so we can become friends, okay?" Cap got up and placed Mace next to Knuckles. "I gotta go. I left Grim with DJ for too long. Gotta save Grim from DJ's stupidity and DJ from Grim's rage. See ya, guys. Later Knuckles. Get better soon, man." They said farewell to their friend and turned their attention to Mace. Sonic carefully lifted him up and said, "So you're Mace, huh? I'm Sonic. I'm not a friend, but I'd like to be. You have no idea how lucky you are to have a big brother like Knux. When he wakes up, he'll be so happy to see you. We'll all have fun, and there will be no problems at all. Everything will be fine."

In the bowels of Robotipolis, Robotnik continued to slave away at his newest creation. "Connect this here…this here…and it's done! Just one more thing to add to the core!" A swat bot holding a black box stepped up. It opened the box, revealing a chaos emerald! "Yes…" the evil one said as he placed it into his creation. Circuits crackled and sparks flew as the mechanized devil awoke. It was a blue and silver robot with glowing red eyes…that resembled Sonic! Although it was made of metal and had a jet engine as a stomach, it resembled Sonic's basic form. "Yes…now, my creation…you are ready. Go now and find the Freedom Force! Destroy them all! With the power of a chaos emerald, it should be no problem for you." "Yes master," it said in a high pitched, metallic voice as its jagged teeth flashed a grin. Its jets whirled as it took off at blinding speed. "Yes. It will be over soon. Before this 'Freedom Force' came about, all I had to worry about was the hedgehog and his friends. So, I built Metal Sonic to handle him. Now I have all of them to handle. So…just add a chaos emerald…and BAM! Now he can handle all of them! I will crush the Freedom Force! HA, HA, HA, HA, HA!"