Chapter 19 – Six Hours in Haven.
A/N: Sorry for the delay, huge chappie. There's lots of XXX in this chapter, but hopefully its not too confusing (let me know if it is though please; I'll tone it down in future fics). Once more thanks to the reviewers; I reckon even you, R. Wolfsbane, will be impressed at the amount of insanity packed into this chapter.
Rouge, still stinging from the laughter of not so long ago, rested her back against the wall next to the room Shadow had chosen for his own. She was still running Athair's words over and over in her head, hoping to lessen the embarrassment factor by repeated exposure; so far it wasn't working. She couldn't help but grin even as her cheeks went pink again – trust Athair to come out with something like that; I still think that was Spectre getting revenge. The bat had great respect for the black echidna and getting his own back on Knuckles breaking down on him like that by sending Athair to drop that kind of line would probably be just his style; so simple and difficult to spot it would have to be dismissed as coincidence. A click to her right brought her back to the present; Shadow's door opened and a second later the hedgehog himself appeared in the door, closing it quietly behind him as the bat looked slightly askew,
"That was pretty quick".
"What are you implying?" Shadow smirked as the bat grimaced; he couldn't resist piling it on, "I hope you don't tell Knuckles that sort of…yipe!" He ducked under a furious swipe as Rouge snarled at her one-time team mate,
"Keep up those quips and Spectre won't be able to read your mind through the coma you'll be in".
"Okay, okay", Shadow decided grovelling was infinitely preferable to a ticked off Rouge and threw his hands up, "I'm sorry, that was a bit below the belt; I shouldn't have said it". Slightly mollified even if her cheeks were still on fire, Rouge sighed and lowered her arm, shaking her head as she put her hands on her hips,
"Dead right you shouldn't have Blackie, but I digress", she smiled sweetly as Shadow call it even by letting the hated B-word slide, "if I should be after anyone it's Athair and that bloody bee; I can't believe he said that". Shadow smiled, chuckled and then offered his hand,
"Believe it sister, you got well and truly had. Anyway", he looked down the corridor that led away from the guest rooms; Rouge noticed the way his face fell into quiet seriousness and lightly took his hand in hers.
"Sure you're ready for this?"
"Yeah", he nodded and took a fortifying breath, holding his trusty diary in one hand, the attached pen swinging pendulously and catching the light from the corridor walls, "thanks, by the way…"
"No need to say it; you've helped me before in the past, even if you can't remember it. Now, let's go; this is a big place and I want to do some exploring as well".
"Still a treasure hunter at heart?"
"As always". Smiling at his friend's pride in her work, Shadow looked at the path he wanted to tread, so similar to one he could almost remember; I walk the way I know, the one I need to remember – what was there that is here as well?
XXX
Charmy stepped out of his room; he was ready to do a little walking and, he smiled a little as his stomach gurgled demandingly, try and find out if this place had much of a kitchen – due to the tumultuous start of the day, breakfast had been a little rushed. He thought about knocking to see if either of the other two were up for some munchies, but rapidly thought not; they probably had a lot more to unpack than he did and he didn't reckon they'd warrant the interference. Still, it wasn't all that long past noon, they had plenty of time to grab a bite to eat the bee mused as he opened the door… and came face to face with the mad echidna who'd just taken him for a whirl on the roof of this place.
"Athair!" The bee yelped as he fell backwards, heart pummelling his ribs as the echidna looked down in concern.
"Yes; are you feeling all right Charming?" Looking up from his now prone position, the bee grasped back enough breath to give a breathless reply,
"Fine, you know, just a little heart attack, nothing to worry about", he stood up, trying to muster up a shred of dignity as he did so, "and the name's Charmy, not Charming".
"Aww, but Charming suits you so much better", the echidna pouted; before the bee could think of a response he had gone off at a radically different tangent, "are Tails and the little rabbit girl here?"
"Umm, no; three and six doors down respectively; and she's called Cream; hey wait", Athair paused in his exit as the bee gave a slightly embarrassed grin and held his empty stomach, "is there anything to eat round here?" The echidna smiled and beckoned; warily, Charmy approached and stood in his shadow.
"Right, go down here and take the third right tunnel, then take the fifth left and there's one along there somewhere, if my memory serves me right; got all that?" Charmy nodded and Athair beamed at him before floating off and preparing to knock,
"Wait, I said three and six, not two". Somehow, the sight of Athair furrowing his brow, counting the doors and ticking his fingers didn't reassure Charmy, or his stomach's prospects of dinner, all that much.
XXX
"Hey rad", Knuckles looked over his shoulder at that call, not at all surprised to see Sonic tailing him, "wait up a second". The guardian felt his jaw drop loose as he digested what the blue hedgehog had said; as soon as Sonic pulled up the echidna had him by the shoulders,
"Who are you and what happened to Sonic?" The blue hedgehog cocked his head to one side, before lancing out his hands and tickling the guardian's ribs; Knuckles dropped him with a yell and sprang back as Sonic chortled,
"Good old electric shock; have to use that some more. Anyway, what are you on about?"
"The Sonic I know would never have to say 'wait up' to anyone", Knuckles said as he recovered, looking at the hedgehog in front of him calculatingly, wondering what his modus operandi was this time, "what's with the self-enforced speed limit?" Sonic laughed and slapped him on the shoulder, falling into step with him as the echidna met his eyes,
"And you're supposed to be the species that lives underground; there's at least three reasons I can think of", the hedgehog held up three fingers as Knuckles raised an eyebrow, "first, I have no idea of the layout of this place, so running fast is a bad idea; the Death Egg taught me that", he subconsciously rubbed his nose as one particular memory resurfaced at that example, "second, Haven's full of turns, so even if I did run I couldn't go full speed, but most important is there are too many other people here. What would happen if I went round a blind twist and smacked into someone; trust me at around five hundred or so miles an hour the results ain't pretty; just ask Metal Sonic". Despite himself Knuckles snorted at this – for once, everything Sonic had said made perfect sense and wasn't punctuated by a joke or anything of that sort.
"Fair enough, can't argue with that; if it gets too much, talk to Spectre – he'll probably let you out for a jog if you need one".
"I'll bear it in mind, thanks". The pair walked in silence for a few more minutes before Knuckles finally caved in and asked the question that was hanging in the air; this was so unlike Sonic there had to be a good reason,
"So why are you here?"
"To talk to you"; Knuckles looked over, mindful of the change in Sonic's tone as the answer came; the blue hedgehog's face was simultaneously piercing and compassionate as his next words were softly spoken, "is there anything you'd like to get off your chest?"
For a second the echidna simply couldn't reply; it felt like he'd caught a Thunderhawk grand-slam right in the gut as the words bounced around in his skull like a distorted echo.
"Wha…?"
"I saw your face earlier", the hedgehog came to a stop next to him and smiled warmly, "you looked like someone who's entire world had just come crashing down around them and is just starting to recover; you reminded me of when Nack saw Seraph's mark on Amy's hammer, just for a second". Knuckles blinked as he tried to draw the dots, mouth stuttering for words, mind frozen up on him in the light of this rare flash of hedgehog insight.
"Was, was it that, bad?"
"I don't blame you", Sonic carried on casually, keeping one eye on the route and the other on Knuckles, "I mean, there's not really much that can prepare you for something like that, not even after all we've collectively been through. I know you can survive pretty much anything nature throws your way, but, well, a helping hand can't hurt, can it?"
I don't believe this; Knuckles felt a few giggles resonate throughout his body; I know a guy for what, over three years and he can still surprise me. The echidna gave a strange, slightly twisted smile as he gave a reply,
"You know you sound a bit like Rouge; I've talked to her about what's going on and she said things similar to that".
"Good, it's the honest truth", Sonic looked up, pressing his advantage as he sought to prevent Knuckle bottling up his feelings; strong, painful memories of what had happened last time Knuckles had exploded and broken down helplessly, and how wretched he had felt for not seeing it earlier, were etched indelibly on Sonic's mind; I made a promise then that I'd never let that happen again – no matter how much it hurt or how long it took, I'd talk to him about major upheavals in his life and by thunder I've not broken a promise yet.
"But there's things you can say to your girlfriend, and things you can say to a male bud". Despite the gravity of the situation, Knuckles let out a laugh,
"How would you know that; you finally admitting it to Amy?" Not yet but I'm working on it – give me strength, you never quit – and one day you will see the truth and that is a promise; Sonic gave a slight cough before grinning and stretching his arms behind his head,
"Hey, I'm not a completely insensitive macho jerk you know".
"Could've fooled me".
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that". Knuckles bunched his fists on his hips and smiled,
"I said; could've fooled me!" Sonic huffed, trying to act petulant but foiled by his own grin,
"Okay, I'll let that one slide, but only because this is massive and I'm feeling generous today".
"Right; not admitting my superior wit and charm then?"
"I'm not feeling generous enough to blatantly lie on your behalf", Sonic smiled for a second before cuffing the sniggering echidna gently and demanding, "right, I've made my concession, and I'm deadly serious now Knucks". He is as well, and more to the point he's right as well; Knuckles sighed as he realised there were a few things he'd omitted from his conversations with Rouge, either because he hadn't thought of them at the time or because he wasn't sure about discussing them with her, especially the ones that focussed on the batgirl herself.
XXX
"There were computers, lots of them"; the progress was slow and steady, much like their journey as Shadow spoke seemingly randomly; images he could only see blurrily or through a thick mist super-imposed on the clear backdrop of Haven. Small things were returning oh so slowly; when Rouge had opened a store cupboard, showing tins of various species, the hedgehog had laughed for a good five minutes; he definitely remembered that the food he had eaten had come from tiny parcels and needed water to swell up into more than a mouthful. Such a trivial detail, but it felt so good, so important that the hedgehog had been splintered into hysterics, eventually breaking Rouge down as well. Their impromptu bout of giggling had lasted until Locke, thinking they had gotten themselves lost, had happened by and managed to talk some sense into the pair of them. As they took another few corridors, the emerged into a descending corridor that contained two doors they could see; one was registered off-limits by the big red cross on it, while the other seemed okay.
"Tell me more about these computers; were they big; did you use them?" Rouge was almost certain the hedgehog was talking about the ARK and his early memories there, but she had to let him see that for himself, it was the only way to properly break his amnesia for good. Shadow paused again; a vague something tingled at him – him, there was a screen in front of him, something on it, something simple compared with now, but he had loved it then.
"I, er, I used one", Shadow closed his eyes, trying to picture the screen clear in his mind and speak; Rouge would listen to his words and tell him later, all he needed to do was remember. Face clenched, the black hedgehog spoke,
"It, was a small screen, no colour; there was something on it. Three shelters, they helped me; a row of little creatures, slowly going down, I had to stop them with a little bar at the screen bottom".
"Space Invaders!"
Rouge's voice exploded into his mind and he opened his eyes again, looking around at his companion as the bat smiled hugely,
"That game, the one you're describing, it's called Space Invaders. You must have played Space Invaders on a small computer. It's a very old game, so that would explain why you were playing it at the time".
"I'll note that down if it's an old game", Shadow reached for his notebook, excitement tugging at him as, small though it might be, that memory might link him to other, more important ones, "might be important later; did you ever play it?"
"Once or twice", Rouge answered after a second's thought, "I preferred Pong and Pacman though" she admitted as Shadow shrugged and leafed through what he'd got so far,
"So, we've got Space Invaders, lots of doors leading to small rooms and food in tiny packets so far; not bad considering the last couple of months have been barren". Snapping his book shut for a bit, the midnight hedgehog moved towards the door that was uncrossed and put his hand on the handle.
"Well, let's see what's behind door number eight". He pulled it open and held it to let Rouge step through into the darkness; he heard a single clap, followed by a single gasp as light shone through the opened doorway.
"I tell you what Shads"; he poked his head round the door and immediately felt his mind boggle; he glanced up as Rouge turned to face him, confusion and humour warring on her face as she gave a slight snigger, "whatever it is you're remembering, I'll bet it never had a room like this".
"I'll say"; what the hell is this, and why the heck would anyone build – hey, wait a sec; "where are you going?" Rouge took a couple more paces into the mysterious place and the black hedgehog watched on amazed as the floor contracted under her feet. Turning around, the bat smiled and beckoned with one hand.
"Well, it's not off-limits; come on, it looks like a laugh". Shadow was sorely tempted, but no, he had a chance to discover more of his past and that had to…he looked back and saw what Rouge was up to; well, I guess it could wait for five or so minutes…
XXX
Somehow, in the near-darkness of his echoing library, Spectre was a dark, brooding magnificence, far more dangerous and powerful than he had appeared outside; at least, that was the impression Tails and Cream were receiving, huddled together as they were in the doorway, almost afraid to enter the unknown for fear of what lay beyond.
"Go on"; the duo looked up as Athair descended to ear level with the pair of them, smiling as he nodded forwards with his head, "grandfather Spectre's waiting for you; don't worry, he's not all that scary". Really fourth-son; the black-furred echidna smiled in the dim interior; will you be thinking that in a couple of hour's time I wonder? Setting aside thoughts of revenge for the moment as he realised he was dealing with children, and children he barely knew at that, he decided to lessen the impact of his supposed cloak of midnight.
Tails had taken the first tentative steps into the darkened room when a sudden clap sundered the silence and he leapt up startled, just about recalling the words Spectre himself had imparted to them in time to prevent total hysterical flight from this place. The lights overhead flickered into life, the kit heaving a sigh of relief, stilling the frenzied hammering of his heart as he felt someone move up next to him.
"Are you all right Tails?"
"Yeah, thanks Cream", the fox managed to gasp, an effort of will preventing his knees knocking together as his fears fled like the banished darkness, "just, the clap caught me off-guard".
"My apologies for that"; the voice came from behind them, but was so mild and seemingly apologetic that it failed to frighten either of the two younger Mobians; both turned to see Spectre approaching them. In the light, the black guardian's aura of fear seemed diminished; he had a slightly bent back as he struggled with a large book in his paws, moving up to them slowly. As she'd been taught, Cream moved forwards and offered her arms, speaking brightly as the elder echidna looked down,
"Please Mr. Spectre, let me take that". There was a low, mirthful chuckle as he regarded the diminutive rabbit in front of him; proper manners, a helpful nature - this one's a jewel to rival the Master.
"My thanks Cream". The echidna let the book slid into her outstretched arms,
"Wow, it's heavier than it looks".
"Weighed down with knowledge", Spectre assured her, a mischievous, almost youthful twinkle in his red eyes as he parroted one of his own father's sayings, "it goes up on that shelf there; I was going to use a little emerald magic to move it; want to see?"
"Sure"; with an instinctual understanding, Spectre focussed on the book and felt his power wrap around it gently; Cream and Tails both gasped as the tome lifted itself up from Cream's arms and swiftly slid back into its proper place on the shelf.
"Spectre, how does that work?" Tails was unable to contain his curiosity; he had enough experience with the Chaos emeralds to know they were inherently random and defied all the normal rules of nature's law, but this was the first time he'd ever come across these sorts of powers in anyone not powered by Chaos energy.
"An interesting question, and not one I'm sure has a definite answer", Spectre regarded the young scientist in front of him with mixed emotions; he could tell the fox was both inquisitive and in possession of a very keen mind – however, there was no way of knowing if that curiosity could spill into outright nosiness, and Spectre of all his family knew how much the guardians collectively had to hide, "I suppose the closest I can come to an explanation is that our powers are a result of our blood, years of training and an innate and continual connection to the Master Emerald itself. Locke would be the one to talk to; he's the mechanically minded among us".
"Really? I'll make a note of that" Tails looked forwards to the chance to talk to someone who shared his interests as the black echidna sought to keep this sojourn brief.
"Well, I'm almost certain you've got better things to do than sit in a musty place like this with a terrible old man like me". Cream gave a slight giggle at the joke and cocked her head coquettishly,
"You're not terrible Mr. Spectre". Try as he might, the eldest guardian had to laugh,
"I think my sons would disagree with you on that one Cream; now then, to business", Spectre brought forwards a single hand and slowly peeled off the glove surrounding it, talking all the time to ease the tension gently from the room, "as I believe my seventh-son, Knuckles, told you, I have a gift to do with the mind. All it requires is skin to skin contact and a little concentration on both parties; there's no pain or even any slight discomfort. All I need you to do is concentrate on the Master Emerald; think of it and it alone, if any other thoughts appear in your mind, let them drift away, focus on the Master and I'll do the rest. Now", he smiled and held his hand up for them all to see; both children were a little apprehensive but mostly determined as he asked sincerely, "which of you wants to go first?"
XXX
Vector was trying to stand still; he was mainly motionless, but there was no disguising the fact he was hopping uncomfortably from foot to foot and had a pained, slightly embarrassed grimace on his face. They said not long, I hope they're right for their sake as much as mine; he gave an shrill breath as he exerted both muscular and mental control to prevent the brewing accident that was just waiting to happen. This was just so typical of his luck; trust him to get caught short when he had absolutely no idea where the nearest lav was.
"Feeling alright there?" Saved; the crocodile shuffled to face the voice, seeing the lavender echidna from earlier regarding him with a pitying look tinged with respect.
"Not too bad; just need to know…"
"Follow me", shaking his head, Thunderhawk turned on his heel and moved away Vector dogging his footsteps at a suitably restrained pace, "reminds me of when I first came here; things were a bit different back then, so I didn't actually know what one was. Brought a whole new meaning to the phrase peeing something up against the wall I can tell you".
"Don't make me laugh or we might both drown", Vector managed to choke, hunching over as he cracked a smile; just as he felt the crisis pass something about that last sentence twigged in his mind and he looked up again, "so, just out of interest, how long have you been here?" Pausing for a second, Thunderhawk tried to recall just how long he had been down here but, failing to establish an exact time, had to settle for his best guess,
"Say about a hundred and fifteen years all square; I've spent about forty in the field more or less, so that's about right". He heard the croc behind him whistle in admiration,
"That's good going; I can't imagine being forced to live with the same people for that long; crikey, with Charmy I'd be lucky to last a hundred and fifteen minutes".
"Oh we do get out a bit; we just have to wear something to cover our crests – there's only supposed to be one guardian per generation of echidnas, or so the old legends say, so we try to perpetuate the myths the keep the population of Echidnopolis off our backs. Not to say it always works, but we do try".
"A couple of slip-ups eh", Vector glanced up, noting Thunderhawk was counting the doors and praying he was near where he needed to be – the dam was creaking; to try and take his mind off things, the crocodile grinned painfully and spoke again, "let me guess; these slip-ups had something to do with that flying guy, whatever he is to you".
"He's called Athair, he's my third-son and he's a pain in the ass, but that's enough about him"; thanks to him, we've all got Spectre breathing down our necks like a dragon with toothache; Thunderhawk changed tack both to let Vector out of his misery and take his mind off the eventual doom that was hanging over him, "ah, this is it; it's not a bathroom, but there's a loo in here".
"That's all I need thanks"; with a last desperate effort the larger Mobian barrelled past the echidna and threw the door open, slamming it behind him as Thunderhawk laughed a little from the expression of mingled pain and relief on his scaled face.
XXX
Tails watched on amazed as, after a couple of minutes of gentle talking and cajoling, Spectre simply removed his bare hand from Cream's forehead and stepped back a pace.
"Thank you Miss Rabbit", Cream smiled as she looked up at the black echidna; it was as he was reaching for his glove that Tail's voice cut through to him,
"Spectre, you know you said your gift requires contact, is that why you wear those robes?" Bright kid; Spectre raised an eyebrow at this deduction from the fox, nodding to confirm his guess as he explained,
"Quite right; my gift allows me to draw information from any source I touch, and everything contains a little knowledge", he chuckled as he remembered back to his youth, when the magnitude of his gift had first become apparent, "I'm possibly the only Mobian, you did say that was the correct term yes?"
"Yep, means Mobile Mammalian" Cream chipped in.
"Well, I'm the only Mobian who can quite literally talk to a brick wall". Both children smiled, Tails remarking,
"Bet it's a bit of a one-way conversation though".
"Beats talking to my sons sometimes, and speaking of which, if I got this right, one of them should have a little surprise rigged up for you. Athair". The door to the library opened and the echidna himself glided in, looking for all the world like a five year old with a free ticket to a sweet shop.
"You're done fourth-father?" You will be soon as well o cherished child of mine; Spectre cut off his visions of revenge in time to prevent himself looking like he'd drifted off in thought.
"Yes, now show these two you-know-what; I give you my word it's a surprise you'll enjoy" he said to reassure Tails especially, who was looking at Athair as though preparing to dive out the way at a second's notice. Both of his guests said their thanks and farewells as Spectre nodded and, waiting until the door had swung shut once more, headed for the centre of his library. Nice pair of children there, though I'm interested to know why the fox goes by a false name; the eldest guardian gave a shrug as he reached his favourite space for meditation; ah well, I've got what I need and have time enough to work on it – with a little bit of luck they'll both get to enjoy themselves and keep Athair amused at the same time. Though there was a hint of shame in his emotions, Spectre couldn't help but feel proud of his neat little plan.
XXX
Unusually for Vector, the crocodile hadn't really taken in his surroundings as he had raced into the room Thunderhawk had led him to, though bearing in mind the circumstances that was perhaps understandable. However, aching bladder now fully relieved, the large green Mobian took a decent look around the room he entered from the cubicle – he then blinked, rubbed his eyes and looked again. Assuring himself it was actually real, he fell to his knees, offered a heartfelt prayer of thanks to whoever had treated him to this bounty and rapidly formulated a plan to let both himself and Espio benefit from this Heaven on Earth.
There was a click by the side of him; Thunderhawk glanced over as his passenger, Vector if his memory served him well, ran out the room, the strange device he wore over his head now held in a single hand as he fiddled with some kind of dial on the front of it.
"Stand back a bit mate, this is going to be a blast and a half". Vector didn't lie; a veritable wall of sound bellowed out the seemingly innocuous walkman and the croc nodded, turning to face Thunderhawk as he stood up,
"Right", he beckoned the echidna down the next corridor, upon which, slightly shielded from the hellish cacophony, Thunderhawk removed his hands from his ears and listened, "don't worry, I'm not leaving it that way for long; I just gotta find someone and come back; I'll just follow my ears".
"How can you still hear anything after you've had that beaten into your poor ears?"
"I don't usually have it that loud, but anyway, thanks for the help and I'll see you around". Thunderhawk nodded and shook the crocodiles' extended glove, watching on as Vector high-tailed it around the next corner and was lost from sight. A little unorthodox I have to admit, but still not unpleasant; Thunderhawk shrugged as he ran the last couple of minutes over in his head; he then smiled as his emerald powers swept through Haven looking for strangers and he realised one of them had entered somewhere unusual. This could be interesting; in his mind he was hoping it was either the black hedgehog or that strange looking lizard; Knuckles had said both were great fighters and it'd be a challenge to test his mettle against someone new.
XXX
"Nearly there, nearly there" Athair sang as he flipped over and back-stroked leisurely down the corridor, either not noticing or not caring as his two followers shared a whispered conversation. At a nod from Tails, Cream did her best to look perfectly innocent as she asked innocuously,
"Just where are we going, Mr Athair?"
"Oh you'll love it", the brown echidna turned onto his stomach as he answered, all the time drifting towards his destination, "it's going to be a big surprise".
"I love surprises", Cream said brightly, crossing her fingers as she hoped the flying echidna wouldn't be able to see through her ploy, "come on, can I have a clue, just a little one? Please?" She went for it fully; the wide puppy eyes, the pleading expression, even the quaint twisting of her ears around her hands; however, this time she was to be thwarted as Athair shook a warning finger as he flew down the last corridor,
"Nice try; no clues for you though. Anyway", someone must have got a little misguided; the flying echidna wondered why his private room was marked with a large red X before deciding he'd deal with it later – right now he needed to get his new friends to his training room like grandfather Spectre had instructed, "we're here". He pointed to the door that was unmarked with a flourish,
"What's inside?"
"A surprise" was all Athair would say; swapping a glance with his rabbit friend, Tails eventually mustered the courage to approach the door and, aware of what had happened earlier in the day and fully prepared to spring backwards at the drop of a hat, twisted the handle, throwing the door open fully. He looked for a second, heard the laughter and playful challenges from inside and his jaw fell open; Athair was right – this is a surprise and a half.
XXX
"Amateur" Rouge shouted, Shadow recovering his feet after a slightly off-kilter dive glancing over to glare as she mustered the momentum she needed to launch another spectacular effort, "watch this!" When she had enough, the bat unleashed all the power of her legs, the spring of the rubber beneath her feet and a fearsome war shout to launch herself at the wall closest to her. Petty questions like what this room actually was and why the entire floor was a gigantic trampoline and the walls and ceiling were padded to allow you to ricochet like a bouncy ball had long been forgotten; since she and Shadow had found the place, they'd just been bounding around like mad things, challenging each other to see who could do the best tricks and longest dives. So far Shadow had the lead after bouncing off all four walls and the ceiling without touching the floor once, but the bat had something to beat even that; all she needed was a little luck and she'd take back her rightful crown of…
"Oh goody"; ah, what…?; the voice cut through to her, breaking her concentration as she leapt at the wall; before she could do too much about it she'd slammed into it, killing her momentum completely. For a second she hung their like a squashed spider before gravity gripped hold of her and she began to peel off of it. Cling as she might, there was no hope and she plummeted down to the floor again, twisting her head to try and see who'd put her off. What she saw made her heart stop beating in both embarrassment and panic; in the door way of this room where three figures, one of which was hovering several feet off the floor while the other two were beginning to break down into helpless giggles.
"You…" it was at that precise second that she impacted on the floor, bouncing upwards, limbs akimbo as the laughter started in earnest.
XXX
Tails collapsed against the door frame; he had thought nothing could top Sonic trying to shout at the telly while eating a chilli-dog, but the sight of Rouge trying to scold both him and Cream while bouncing helplessly on what looked like a giant bouncy castle took the biscuit for hilariously ludicrous sights. As he howled, he looked over in time to see Cream, eyes streaming with tears of laughter, raise a shaking arm and point; following her finger, Tails was driven to his knees at the sight of Shadow in a similar plight, trying desperately to kill the bouncing in a futile effort to look less foolish. He felt his own eyes begin to water as Athair passed overhead, waving at the two older Mobians as they finally began to regain their balance.
"Hello pretty Rouge, who's your friend? Do you like my little training room; helps people to learn how to fly, though it doesn't seem to work a lot of the time. I've tried for years to get my family in here to practise, but they never will". The bat nodded as the airborne echidna spoke though her attention was most definitely elsewhere; it was fixed resolutely on the folded up forms of Tails and Cream. Rouge was under no illusion that they wouldn't hesitate to let everyone know about this and she was trying desperately to think of something to stop them when Shadow made his presence known.
"Hey there, name's Shadow", the hedgehog couldn't keep the shame out of his voice as he shook with Athair, though as he did Rouge's keen eyes saw his hands move out of sight of the two Mobians at the door; the bat smiled slightly as she saw what he was trying to say. Taking very gradual steps towards the door, the bat had no problems acting ashamed as she put her hands up,
"All right, you got us both", another few steps were taken, she gauged the distances involved and realised she needed to keep them talking for a while, "now what's it going to take to keep your mouths shut?"
"There, there's not enough monehehehey in, in the wohohorld" Cream choked, looking up at the older Mobian and collapsing again; taking advantage of the distraction, Rouge moved up closer still and realised this was it; time for a little payback kids.
"Really, sure I can't convince you?" She put on a forlorn face as Tails nodded mutely, trying to control himself despite the images of both Rouge and Shadow bouncing around like a pair of out of control ping-pong balls racing in his mind; fine, you had a chance.
"Well then, in that case we've got a problem, because there's something you've both forgotten", it was as they were looking at each in confusion and concern that she sprang; suddenly the fox and rabbit found themselves both caught by an arm each as the bat sprinted forwards and immobilised them.
"In Haven, Vanilla can't hear you scream!" She turned and threw both of the smaller Mobians into the centre of the room; there were a pair of yells as Shadow pounced, Rouge pulled the door shut and Athair asked if he could join in.
XXX
From destiny ascending; Sabre read the words again and again as he sought to understand what the echidnas from ancient times had been meaning to say – the location of the gem of blood. Destiny rising; he flicked through a couple of papers off to his right, a thought occurring to him; even though he knew it was most likely a futile gesture, he had to try. As he had expected, nothing doing; there were no cloud formations recorded that were labelled as destiny or anything similar. The doctor folded his hands in his lap, twiddling with his monocle as he always did when a problem was niggling at him; he really couldn't see what he could do. He was not his fifth-father; he couldn't delve within the text and unlock the secret that way, though as Spectre had thus far had little luck he assumed there must be almost fathomless amounts of information contained within the ancient, faded text that his fifth-father was having a real problem trying to digest. Just as he was about to consider his next approach to the problem though, there was a knock on his door; swiftly hiding the book under a mound of paper on his desk, Sabre turned, replaced his monocle and called,
"Yes; come in". The door opened slowly and Sabre thanked his natural caution as he recognised the pink hedgehog girl from earlier; it wouldn't have done to let a guest snatch a glimpse of the text he'd been reading.
"Oh, sorry; I didn't realise this a", Amy glanced around for a second, trying to recognise just what the room she was now looking into actually was; when it finally clicked, she let out a little gasp of surprise, "a surgery?" Sabre smiled at her expression and nodded,
"Yes, welcome to Angel Island's smallest and most exclusive practise; I am Sabre, chief practitioner and general medical buff of the Brotherhood. Anything you need?"
"Erm, no, no I don't think so"; Amy tried desperately to remember which one Sabre was in relation to Knuckles, "are you Knuckles' father?"
"Grandfather; Locke is my son and Knuckles father, obviously", the echidna smiled warmly as Amy made to apologise for the mistake, "don't say sorry; I doubt Knuckles himself could do better yet; just one of those things we all have to learn when we arrive here".
"I see" Amy smiled and nodded; it was when she heard a gasp of astonishment that she jerked her head up again, disconcerted at seeing Sabre staring hard at her, "some, er, something wrong?" The echidna pointed at her; in all his years of medicine he'd never come across anything like that before,
"What's that on your ear? Are you hurt or something?"
"What", Amy's hand shot up to the indicted organ, but the only thing he fingers could detect was… "you mean this?" Working quickly, she took out the piercing Sonic had given to her and held it out for Sabre to see.
"What is it, and why's it in your ear like that? Is it some kind of medical thing?"
"No, no, it's nothing like that; it's called a piercing and, well I suppose it's done for fashion". Sabre looked at the tiny jewelled rose in his hand and glanced at Amy disbelievingly; why would people do that to themselves, just for fashion. It makes no sense at all; he cut off his line of thought was Amy spoke again,
"You don't have things like that in Echidnopolis?" Sabre scratched the side of his face as he tried to come up with an answer,
"They didn't last time I was there, but I haven't been out for a while so things may have changed a little since then. What else is there?" He motioned to a chair; keeping an eye on her host, Amy tried to understand what he was asking – Sabre luckily noticed the change in her expression and smiled a little as he elaborated,
"Sorry what I mean is how does the world work now? Let me explain; I, most of my family and the entire population of Echidnopolis are now in a world we know nothing about for a reason we don't yet understand", the irony of that statement wasn't lost on the echidna and he smiled grimly as he continued, "and as the guardians it's our duty to find out as much about this new land as we can before telling the council of the city – if we don't we could have a mass-panic on our hands. Rouge already said about the advent of aircraft, and I can almost guarantee Locke will at this moment be in his lab trying to build one, but there wasn't a lot of time to talk to her last night". Amy nodded as the reasoning sank in and she began to see where he was coming from.
"I think I understand; so", she smoothed off her dress and smiled her friendliest smile, "how can I help you; what do you need to know?"
"Well, for a start…", Sabre gave a slight squirm on his seat, smiling awkwardly, "…what species are you and all your friends?"
XXX
Charmy stood now in a room that made him feel smaller than he already was; every machine in her was calibrated to hold a weight far heavier than he could comfortably lift. The bee meandered around the weight's room, wondering what the purpose of the mat at the back of the room was, randomly testing how some of the more outlandish and strange looking exercise machines functioned and then standing in front of the large mirror in the casual weights section of the large hall.
Charmy would be the first to admit he wasn't exactly bulging with muscles; in Espio's colourful jargon, he'd seen bigger knots in a thread. However, on the opposite end of the scale he was in no way fat despite the seemingly huge amounts of sugar he ate every day; gotta love that insect metabolism. The youngest member of the Chaotix chuckled to himself as he picked up one of the sets of dumb-bells this part of the training room was adorned with and tried to lift them properly, like the pictures on the walls said they should be lifted. His shoulders began to burn with fatigue as he finished the second set of exercises and by the end of the third they'd packed up completely. Shaking his head, the bee moved to replace the weights he'd been using; it was as they clanked down amongst their fellows that a voice sent him jumping,
"Nice try kid", whipping around, the bee raised his guard to the sound of laughter, though he couldn't see where it was coming from.
"Who's there and where are you?"
"Up here"; Charmy glanced upwards and, to his quite understandable surprise, saw the purple echidna from earlier on one of the exercise beams; unlike normal, however, the echidna was holding his body rigid as an arrow, arms locked upright on the top of the beam, eyes fixed on the goggling bee. Charmy reached down for his notepad as Thunderhawk swung downwards, flipping in a full somersault to land comfortably on his feet. Got it; Charmy quickly flicked through the pages until he came to the bit he needed; reading quickly, the bee looked back up at the echidna and spoke timidly,
"Umm, you're, are you Thunderhawk, per chance?" The echidna raised an eyebrow and smiled as he tried to recall who this one was from memory alone; so far it was proving a hard struggle,
"Yeah, that's me and this is my place"; I give up; "and who are you?"
"Charmy", the bee offered a hand, but strangely Thunderhawk didn't shake; he put his hands on his hips and bored into the younger bee with a glare that could have put a dent in a bank vault,
"Well Charmy, I see you enjoyed some of the equipment here", he pointed at the rack of dumb-bells behind the bee; as Charmy glanced, the echidna continued, "I don't know if you know, but there's a price for using this particular gym". The bee snapped around, not liking the idea of a price any more than he liked the glint of dark humour in Thunderhawks' eyes. The bee flicked his eyes to the exit and, reasoning he could make a run or fly for it if things turned really nasty, he met the echidna's gaze,
"Now what would the price be; I'm a bit strapped at the minute".
"Just as well, I don't take cash", Thunderhawk waved him over and started walking towards the strange looking mats at the back of the room, casually kicking off his shoes as he did so, Charmy trailing in his wake, wondering precisely what he was up to. Thunderhawk stepped up to his mat and, apparently just for the sheer fun of it, executed a forwards roll, coming to his feet facing his as yet unknowing opponent.
"Well, come on up; first to three falls or two tap-outs is how I usually play, but if you've a different preference I'm open to suggestions". The words finally clicked for the bee and held his hands up, shuffling backwards as he gabbled an explanation,
"Hey, hey, I'm not looking for a fight…."
"Just as well because I'm not either", the lavender echidna explained as Charmy cocked his head, "all we're doing is sparring; we have to go easy on each other. Don't worry, I've been doing this for probably longer than your grandfather's been alive". Having never actually had a grandfather he could remember Charmy couldn't quibble over this and, after all, he had used the weights and he was a guest here. Reaching down to unlace his shoes, the bee glanced up as Thunderhawk waited patiently, looking forwards to a new challenge for a change,
"You know, I'm not exactly a real fighter; if you want to try a real fight, go talk to Espio at some stage; he's the small lizard guy, usually purple but he's a chameleon, so his skin changes colour every so often".
"I'll make a note of that", Thunderhawk assured him, noting that as a potential future fight as Charmy stood up, shoes placed neatly to the side as he stepped up to the mat, "ready to go?"
"As I'll ever be" the insect said uncertainly, raising his hands in a sloppy guard as Thunderhawk bit back a sigh; the kid wasn't lying, he really wasn't much of fighter. His stance was poor and he was a head shorter than the older echidna at the least. Still, maybe I can offer a few pointers; the purple echidna mused as he instinctively raised his own arms; been a long time since I had a student.
"Right, first to three falls loses; on my shout; go!"
Charmy swiftly realised he was completely outclassed; Thunderhawk was stronger, faster and had a much better idea of what he was doing than the bee did. Still, now he was here, he wasn't about to go down without a fight; ducking and weaving as best he could, the bee dodged in close and threw a right hook, only to see his opponent block it and, swiftly capitalising on Charmy's flat-footedness, throw a quick counter punch that sent the bee reeling away, half-spinning him. Out of respect for his opponent's heart Thunderhawk deigned to follow up his blow; he hadn't expected Charmy to close with him and, had the bee been a little faster with his hand speed, he could have been in a fair spot of bother. It was a brave move from the little guy and Thunderhawk couldn't help but respect that,
"Keep moving", Charmy span back around, fists held high as Thunderhawk consolidated his position, offering a little advice, "don't stop in a fight; keep on your toes and it's harder for folks to hit you, especially if you're a smaller target". Charmy's lips drew back in a snarl as he was reminded of something Espio used to say,
"You calling me a shrimp?"
"Don't knock it; wish I was smaller sometimes. Now, again". This time the bee hung back, looking for his shot and, quite surprisingly for the veteran martial artist, seeing through some well concealed feints as well. Oh well, if brains don't solve it; Thunderhawk readied himself, preparing to take one to get one in; brawn'll have to do instead.
The echidna suddenly exploded forwards, fist cocked as his other arms sought to act as a guard against an opportunistic punch. Charmy tried to jump back but wasn't quite fast enough; though he managed to connect with a quick jab, it wasn't enough to slow Thunderhawk down and the echidna crashed into him, knocking him off his feet and sending his feet shooting out from under him, leaving him flat on his back. As the bee ended his fall, Thunderhawk felt a sudden pain in his ankle and hopped away, seeing a trickle of blood as he bent down to examine it, though it wasn't anything like a serious injury. Charmy heard him as he rolled up to his hands and knees,
"Damn kid, that's some blade you've got and no mistake".
"What?" No way, I didn't, I couldn't have…
"No panic, it's…" Charmy came to his feet and looked at his foe; …I did. And didn't he just know what the consequences of that were going to be.
A few minutes later, Charmy left the gym with a promise that he'd find help for his sparring partner. He forced himself to go slowly and draw out the route on a piece of paper, looking as thoroughly as he could for help, any kind of assistance but so far finding nothing. Typical; despite the seriousness of the situation, the bee couldn't help but give a small, nervous smile; where are Vec and Esp when I actually need them?
XXX
"Paradise on Earth and goodwill to all men and Mobians", looking over from his reclined position on the hard bench, Espio beheld the sight of Vector relaxing in the moist, steamy interior of the room he had half-dragged, half-carried the chameleon to, "you know, I'm almost ready to forgive you for disrupting my mediation". There was a chuckle from his fellow reptile as Vector grinned toothily,
"Lucky me; if I recall rightly, weren't you ready to slay me mercilessly the second I put you down?"
"Well come on; I was relaxed and focussed, and the next thing I know this great green lummox bursts into my room, grabs me before I have a chance to defend myself, swings me over his shoulder and starts running. I try and ask what's going on and all I get back is 'running now, explaining later'; what was I supposed to think?"
"Aww Esp", Vector tried to look wounded but couldn't stop his smile, "don't you trust me after all we've been through?" The chameleon shrugged, stretched and then rolled his eyes backwards, struck by a sudden thought,
"You do of course realise this means we're going to have to treat Charmy; he got us here after all?"
"Good point", for a second Vector almost felt sorry for nearly strangling the bee as he'd tried to wake them up earlier in the day; this was enough to make anyone warrant a special kind of present, "wonder where he is now?"
"Probably up to no good", Espio shook his head, thinking of how to say thanks to his bee team mate before nodding at the water cup nearby, "throw some more on; I'm starting to dry out here".
"As you command your royal slipperiness"; Vector threw a cupful onto the coals and relaxed as a cloud of warm steam rose and filled the air; he didn't ask for much in life, so a free holiday to a place with central heating was a bonus. A free place with central heating and an equally free sauna was, as Espio said, sheer paradise.
XXX
"So that's all then" Sonic spoke after listening for ages and interjecting a few comments to clear matters up in his own mind, "well Knucks, all I can say is I'm mostly impressed".
"I'm flattered", the echidna replied, though there was none of the usual sarcasm in his tone, just as the hedgehog's voice was free of its usual jokiness, "but yeah, that's everything that happened".
"Cool; when all this is over, I want to see this city, Echidnopolis, right?"
"Sure thing; I can almost guarantee Rouge will want to take Amy and Cream shopping in the sales", the echidna gave an exaggerated sigh, "just my luck; there I am minding my own business when mum gets me by saying I need to buy a jacket, and as I'm doing so Rouge manages to wangle herself a new dress out of me. My poor wallet's going to need counselling if this goes on much longer".
"Look on the bright side mate; at least your mum seems to give a damn about you. If you don't mind I…" Knuckles guessed what he was asking and held up a hand to forestall him, smiling,
"Don't sweat it; as soon as all this is over and Spectre figures out you're all okay, I'm taking you all to meet her. I told her all about you, so don't worry about making a good impression; after what Rouge said about you I don't think it'll be possible", the hedgehog stopped suddenly, looking at the echidna gob-smacked as Knuckles looked commiserating, "sorry, she got there before I did".
"Well, don't worry", Sonic couldn't be held down for long and he stretched triumphantly, "I've got a new weapon in my arsenal thanks to you", as Knuckles raised an eyebrow, Sonic grinned and elaborated, "you said it yourself; touch her ears and Rouge is putty in your hands, and speaking of the bat herself, I've just got to ask"; here we go; Knuckles braced himself as Sonic's trademark grin reappeared on his face, "was that true what you said earlier, and be honest or I'll irritate the truth out of you".
"Not if I pummel you six feet under first you won't" the echidna threatened before sighing, "and yeah, it was; we sleep in the same bed I've got too much respect for her to ask for something she might give me just because I asked for it. Fuzzy logic I grant you, but so far it works". That stopped Sonic dead; from the was Knuckles was talking and the inflections he was making, certain suspicions were flagging up in the hedgehog's mind,
"Knucks man, you really think, I mean, she's like, the one?" The echidna laughed, properly laughed at the question; he clapped Sonic on the shoulder as he fought to keep his face straight and answer,
"Sonic, sometimes I can understand where Amy's coming from; when you're confused you say the funniest things. Of course she's the one for me you dummy; I've known that since she picked me up off my bedroom floor four months ago if not before. The only thing I'm not sure of is if she feels the same way; I know she cares for me, but is it love like a family or love like a romance? I can't tell, but I reckon I can find out soon". Fantastic; for a split-second Sonic was just consumed with happiness for his serious friend and his partner; Knucks, you're a damn lucky guy – so are you, you just don't admit it – shut up, I'm being happy for him here – do so, but don't forget you wilfully ignore your own chance at happiness even when it's staring at you; don't leave it too long. Sonic shook himself as a low buzzing filled the air; it took him a second to place, but when he did, Knuckles felt a tap on his arm and saw Sonic give him a ghoulish grin,
"Well, speak of the devil; what say you get a bit of your own back".
XXX
Charmy hadn't stood a chance; one minute he'd been hovering gently along the corridor on a quest for help, the next there had been a shuffling sound from behind him and something that felt very much like a python had wrapped itself around his body and dragged him down. As it was behind him and constricting his wings, there wasn't a vast amount he could do before it wrapped around his throat. It wasn't tight enough to be more than mildly uncomfortable but, as the voice dripped mockingly into his ear from his shoulder, he realised with dread it could quickly get tighter,
"Well well, if it isn't my little embarrassing bee friend", Charmy tried to speak but Knuckles cut him off, "now what do you think I should do with you?"
"You", Charmy pulled at the arm around his neck, trying to loosen it up enough to speak clearly, "you should follow me".
"Now why should I do that; you're trying to weasel out of this aren't you?" The bee felt himself swung around and saw Sonic leant casually against the wall nearby, smiling as Knuckles gave his prisoner a little shake, "nice try fly guy; I reckon I aught to find Rouge and hand you over to her".
"You evil echidna", Sonic grinned as Charmy gathered his breath for one last try, "she'll marmalise the little guy, but on the other hand that was a bit of a nasty trick so…" Charmy made his last desperate gamble; throwing his weight forwards, the bee shouted as loudly as he could manage,
"Knuckles, your fifth-father needs help!" As he felt himself dropped, he heard the echidna's voice drop to a concerned hiss,
"Really, where is he and what happened?" Charmy accepted Sonic's hand to pull him to his feet; as he recovered the scrap of paper with the route drawn on it, he gave a slightly embarrassed smile,
"Well, there was a bit of an accident, but it wasn't my fault, I swear it". Knuckles and Sonic swapped a glance before heaving a simultaneous sigh; well, something was bound to go wrong at some stage.
Five minutes later…
"Oh Charmy", Sonic beheld the prone figure in front of him and covered his eyes with one hand, expression pained as he dragged the hand down his face and asked resignedly, "why'd you do it?"
"I didn't mean to", the bee defended himself, pointing at the slight scratch on Thunderhawk's ankle as proof of his point, "we were sparring and he knocked me over; I went down on my back and stung him by accident, and it was an accident". Knuckles had his back to the sight; both companions had assumed he was in shock at the sight of Thunderhawk lying completely prone and paralysed on the sparring mat, arms still raised in a guard as Charmy's venom had seeped in and done its work. However, the real reason was that he was biting his tongue not to laugh; the mighty Thunderhawk, humbled by Charmy – I'm remembering this for all time and he's not going to forget about it. Taking a deep breath and ensuring he wasn't about to earn a pounding when his sixth-father recovered by giggling at his plight, the guardian turned around and looked at the culprit sternly,
"Right, how long does it take for that stuff to wear off?"
"Normally about three or four hours", Charmy thought for a few minutes before looking up hopefully, "but he didn't get a big dose, so maybe it'll be shorter than that, say about two?" Knuckles nodded and then looked hard at both other mobile Mobians,
"Right, well I'm fairly sure my sixth-father's got better things to do than lie here for a couple of hours, so as far as I can see there's only one thing to do". Beckoning them closer, the echidna outlined his plan. After a few minutes, all three looked down at Thunderhawk's motionless form; from the looks in their eyes, the lavender echidna felt whatever they had planned was going to be less than pleasant for him.
XXX
Athair had left the four in his room; he enjoyed the game they'd been playing and he prided himself that, however much Tails and the cute rabbit had said otherwise, he had managed to see that Shadow and pretty Rouge had only been playing; the shouts of pain and mercy were all faked. Kids these days; Athair smiled as he remembered the fun he'd had as a child on Angel Island, the single gripe he had against the existence of a guardian was that it got so boring being on your own all the time. He used his emerald powers to see what was going on and if anyone needed his help in getting unlost; however, as he paused in mid-air and focussed, he became aware of a couple of voices in the distance. Shutting off his scanning for the moment, curiosity piqued, he floated towards the source of the noise.
"…all your fault you overgrown mosquito".
"It was an accident; geez, a guy makes one mistake".
"Mistakes I can deal with, but this guy weighs a tonne", Athair realised the voices were approaching him and drifted closer, recognising two of the voices as being his third-son and Charming; the third wasn't so easy to place, "my arms are about to drop off".
"Drop him and when he wakes up he'll drop you flat on your butt; take it from one who knows".
"In case you've forgotten, it was him doing just that that got us into this mess; now where are we going again?"
"To try and find Sabre, he's the medic as far as I can tell". Sabre; Athair wondered why anyone would be looking for his son when suddenly the speakers rounded the corner; the flying echidna took a single look at the odd procession they formed and gaped.
"What happened to my third-father?"
XXX
Oh great; Knuckles looked up at Athair and, despite himself, let out a sigh; just when things couldn't get any worst, he has to show up. It was at that point that Knuckles looked behind him and realised just how stupid they must all looked to observers. Thunderhawk was still rigid as a plank but the trio had decided they couldn't just leave him to clear the poison on his own; therefore, the only thing they could do was to carry him to the surgery of Haven and look for Sabre. Unfortunately, the lavender echidna was built like a brick outhouse and seemed to weigh a similar amount as well; in the end the three had been forced to come up with a rough system for carrying the rigid echidna. Knuckles held his sixth-father's head and shoulders up while Sonic was in a similar position with his feet; this had left just enough room for Charmy to squeeze underneath and support some of the weight with his shoulder. Thunderhawk was then lifted up, arms still raised in a guard position, and the three had set off, though progress was slow due to both the weight and the fact they had to navigate so many corners. Now this was the latest in a long line of catastrophes; Knuckles tried to reassert control of the situation before the tears in Athair's eyes could spill out into unstoppable grief,
"Athair, listen; he's not hurt, he's just, well, we need to get Sabre and…" he never finished; the flying echidna took off, screaming for his son at the top of his lungs as he raced forwards in a blind panic. Knuckles watched him go with a feeling of impending doom; he somehow doubted his sixth-father would approve of a big crowd to witness him in his current state, but there was nothing he could do about it now.
"Excitable guy isn't he?"
"Not quite the word I'd use", Knuckles mentioned as he began to place his part of the burden of the ground, motioning for the others to do the same, "but we better wait here to see what he does next; if he bring Sabre all well and good, if not, we'll carry on".
XXX
He'd just finished taking notes on the use of a watch and was wondering if Locke could possibly design on for him when it happened; the door to the surgery blasted open, sending Amy diving to the floor as Athair screeched to a halt and bellowed,
"Songetgoingit'sgrandfatherThunderhawk. Comeonewe'vegottosavehim". There's not a lot you can say to that; Sabre felt a couple of hands grip him the shoulders and heave him aloft; he had just enough time to grab his medicine bag and shout he'd be back soon to his guest before his father propelled them both out the door. Idly as the tunnels and wall lights raced past, Sabre wondered what had gotten his father so wound up.
Yep, that'd do it; Sabre tried to maintain and air of medicinal impartiality as he saw the rigid form of Thunderhawk on the floor but couldn't stop a small smirk appearing on his features. He noticed the guilty looks on the faces nearby and, polishing his monocle before replacing over his left eye, he sighed and began his diagnosis,
"Right, what happened?" Both his grandson and the blue hedgehog he recognised as Sonic pointed to the other Mobian; Sabre reached a conclusion even before he started,
"Well, we were sparring in the gym and, well, I slipped and he got, I'm really sorry, it was an accident, but…"
"Bee sting; and there was me thinking it was just an early onset of rigor mortis"; Sabre considered it a good thing his fourth-father couldn't respond to that for the minute; Thunderhawk tended to be a little touchy about his age, "don't worry, I have some anti-venom at the practise; bring him with you and we'll sort him out".
XXX
Amy watched on as, about ten minutes after Athair had left with Sabre in tow, he returned and held the door open from the air. Sabre followed and, next minute Amy had to hold her breath as a strange procession trooped in behind him; it looked like Sonic, Charmy and Knuckles were carrying someone else over their shoulders; someone purple and unmoving.
"Amy", her attention was caught by Sabre's voice, "could you do me a favour?"
"Umm, sure". The echidna smiled warmly and pointed,
"Through that door's where I keep all my medicines; go in and look for a bottle labelled Bee AV; I'll deal with this lot". The pink hedgehog nodded and pushed open the indicated door; it was dark inside, but luckily the bottle she'd been after was clearly visible from the light pouring in from the room she'd just exited. She picked up the straw yellow bottle and headed back, handing to Sabre as he smiled warmly,
"Excellent, that's the stuff; now for a needle and", he took a sample of the anti-venom in a syringe and, after checking the dosage and Charmy assuring him it was a small sting, he turned to the rest of them, facing away from Thunderhawk so the lavender echidna wouldn't see him grin, "the rest of you should get out of here before this takes effect; my fourth-father is likely to be in a foul mood when he regains the use of his limbs".
Charmy eeped and headed for the door slowly, followed by Knuckles and Amy, who assured Sabre she'd see him again in a little while; Sonic, however, looked up at Athair questioningly, a idea for a bit of fun beginning to form in his mind. As the flying echidna headed out, Sonic stopped him with a hand on his arm.
"Did you want something Sonic?"
"Yeah as a matter of fact", the hedgehog smiled a mischievous, plotting smile that Athair quickly mimicked, "can you take me to the longest, straightest bit of Haven; don't worry, I'll explain on the way".
XXX
Finally, I am satisfied; Spectre stood up once more, having completed a most through examination of the information he had taken from the minds of the two younger children. As he had suspected, neither of them held any threat to the Master, though the reasons why were subtly different. Also; Spectre smiled in his isolation as he decided there was just time to go for one more of the guests today; I can understand why the fox goes by a false name. Miles Prower – and the guardians complain they have harsh parents!
XXX
"Ready Athair"; the brown echidna looked up from his position on the hedgehog's shoulder and beamed,
"Ready as ever; at your shout right?"
"Yep, not before", Sonic reminded him as he squared up and prepared for this run, "and away we go!" Winding up, Sonic took off down the corridor Athair had assured him was a straight as Haven could get, picking up speed every step of the way. The edge was looming as Sonic felt he had enough and bellowed,
"Now!" A few seconds later, two sets of victorious yells echoed throughout Haven.
XXX
To Cream, the Master is just a bauble; Spectre mulled over the conclusions he'd made, trying to spot any points he'd missed as he headed for the exit; she realises it's powerful, but she respects that, in her mind, it belongs to Knuckles and the very thought of stealing is abhorrent to here. Even if that were not so, she barely registers it's existence – the rest of the island is much more fun and she'd much rather be out there that at the shrine. The black echidna shrugged as he nearly made it to the door.
XXX
The thrill was pulse-pounding; Athair had run before, but this was like nothing he'd ever done in his long life. The brown echidna squeezed his eyes open a crack, watching the walls blur past and the floor whizz by. Raising his voice against the wind Sonic was creating, the brown echidna yelled,
"Wahoo, this is so much fun".
"Tell me about it", Sonic bellowed back, keeping his eyes on the route and occasionally flicking them down at the floor; with a combination of Athair's levitation and his speed, the pair of Mobians were giving a whole new meaning to the words roof-running.
XXX
Miles, or Tails as he prefers to be called, is different; Spectre recalled he logical, well-ordered mind he'd stepped into when merging with the fox; the reason it hadn't taken him long to determine the kit's trustworthiness was that his mind had been clear and concise in its thoughts. He recognises the Master is powerful, but as such he understands the reason it needs to be kept away from those who would do it evil. He knows what can happen when power is misused, and is wary of it. He has even helped my seventh-son in the past before now. It had been that fact that had swung the balance for Spectre; Tails had helped Knuckles in his duty before and he guessed he'd do it again if the need arose. So, two down and six to go – time for the next guest. Spectre opened his library door, opened his mind to detect things nearby and promptly headed for the nearest corner; if he was right, the next one was rapidly approaching him right now.
XXX
Sonic blazed around the corner and heard Athair try to shout something; he bled off a little speed and listened again,
"…A second; I'm just stretching my arms". Sonic felt a weight drop from his shoulder and nearly stopped dead; it was only the swift realisation that if he did he'd fall to the floor head-first that stopped him. He had to carry on, hearing Athair's last despairing shout of,
"Hey, I said wait" as he shot around the next bend.
Great, I can't slow down or I'll fall and if I try to run down the wall I might hit someone – come on think, there's got to be a way out of this. As if on cue, his mind suggested the most logical course of action and without a thought, Sonic obeyed,
"Help; get me down! I can't stop!" He shot onwards, calling at the top of his lungs until he began to get a strange sensation around his middle; it felt like someone had snagged him with a bungee cord and he was reaching the last of the limits. He felt his speed dropping and suddenly, he fell, having just enough time to curl into a ball before he impacted on the floor. Well that wasn't so…; it was at that momentum that the bungee rope twanged; without being able to stop himself, Sonic rolled back the way he had come, bouncing a little as the momentum from his run and the resultant fall bore him aloft once more.
"Oof, dammit, son of a, I'm gonna kill that nutter; umph!" With a sudden lurch, the ride stopped and Sonic straightened himself out flat on his back; it was only after a couple of seconds recollecting his bearing that he discovered he was looking up at someone, someone who had probably saved him from that run.
"Thanks for that, I think".
XXX
"You're welcome", Spectre waited for the groggy hedgehog to get to his feet before asking the obvious question, "and, er, just why and how were you running on the roof of Haven?"
"Well I can go fast enough to stay on the ceiling, so me and Athair were…"
"Stop"; had enough of him for one day; Spectre held up a hand to forestall the hedgehog he recognised as Sonic, "that's explanation enough; but since you're here…"
"Oh I get ya", Sonic cottoned on and nodded, "you're the one with the mind reading powers; Spectre right?" The black echidna nodded sagely and Sonic smiled,
"Right then, let's do this; lead the way Speccy". A split-second later, Sonic found himself suspended upside-down and level with the black echidna's burning eyes; he managed a cheesy smile as Spectre growled,
"Call me that again, and", his lips parted in a definitely unfriendly grin; for some reason I'm now glad I did the other two first; "I'll tell my family what the M means". Sonic felt it coming and then, realising his horrid middle name was becoming ever more common knowledge, let all his frustration out in the only way he knew,
"AAAAARRRGHHHH!"
XXX
A crushing grip on the back of his neck confirmed what he'd suspected; Sabre rolled his eyes backwards and said in a raspy voice,
"Ah, grandfather, good to see you up and about".
"Three seconds to tell me why I shouldn't contract a sudden bout of rigor bloody mortis in my hand and crack the back of your neck Sabre". Though he couldn't turn around, the captive echidna caught a reflection and saw, to his evident relief, that though Thunderhawk was angry, he wasn't outright blazing and could still be reasoned with.
"Because I let you get away with it". The grip tightened a little, sending electric tingles up the red echidna's neck as his purple relation grated,
"Get away with what exactly quack-boy?"
"You know what", Sabre paused to take in a breath before explaining, "I know you could have used a gift to drag yourself here, but instead you let those three carry your lazy self to me. Now let go or I'll let them know about it, and just for the record I don't have much bee anti-venom left". To his relief, the grip released and he swung around in his chair to see Thunderhawk smile crookedly,
"I was wondering if you'd figure it out; yeah, I just fancied putting my feet up and letting someone else do the work for me for a change". Sabre rolled his eyes and smiled before standing up,
"Well grandfather, I suggest that, now you have use of your lazy legs, you might want to use them to find something to eat; it's past six o'clock, the anti-venom took longer to work than I thought it would".
"Really, better get myself fed then. Coming?"
"Give me a second", Sabre reached for the book Spectre had tasked him with reading; Thunderhawk saw it and nodded,
"Any luck?"
"No, and I'm, er, I'm starting to worry grandfather", Sabre looked up at his older relative concerned, some of his fears beginning to show on his face as he spoke, "it's been several days since the process began; it could call the child again at any time now, we don't know how strong he has become. What happens if we're too late?" Face softening, the lavender echidna looked his favourite relative squarely in the eye and put a soft hand on his shoulder,
"Sabre, don't worry, for the simple reason there's no point", he elaborated as the red echidna glanced up sharply, "your hands can't hit what your eyes can see; we're fighting an invisible enemy now and until either we get lucky or he makes a move we can't do anything about it. Spectre's working like there's no tomorrow to see the way and so are you; just put your faith in the Master – if nothing else that's protected from him; he can't see past the runes".
"You're right Hawk, thanks", Sabre looked up, a little refreshed as the wisdom of the words sank in. He gathered up his things and looked towards the door,
"Now, let's see what our guests have left us in our kitchens".
XXX
The hours rolled by for everyone present; the activities of a long day and several trips of transport had tired most of those present, so the evening was a rather subdued affair. Sonic, Shadow, Amy and Cream had, at Locke's suggestion, been taken to one of the recreation rooms of Haven and were channel surfing, noting with interest that there was a surprising amount of variety for three channels. Tails, having been informed that Locke was a mechanic as well, had disappeared with him, quoting random scientific theories that no-one else could make head nor tail of. Knuckles and Rouge were sparring under the watchful eye of Thunderhawk in the gym and, quite surprisingly, Charmy as well; the bee trying to learn a couple of tricks at the same time as avoid Thunderhawk's steely eye. No-one had seen Vector or Espio but, as there had been no accidents, calamities, blaring music or stray ninjitsu stars flying around, it was assumed they were out of trouble. In fact, it was in the quietest room in Haven that the loudest discovery was being made.
They were all running; Spectre saw in his mind the results of several hours of meditation and focussed thought – the hedgehog's memories and feelings had been quick and sharp and frustrated his efforts to catalogue them, like quick minnows evading a child's net. However, he had finally a coherent picture that was proving most interesting indeed; everyone is there. They are all playing, laughing having fun, but; there was an outside figure in this pattern, a red echidna watching on with his arms folded as though such frivolity was beneath him. Knuckles; Spectre recognised his seventh-son; as the others beckon and ask him to join, he shakes his head – they ask why and…; for a seconds, the dream wavered as Spectre almost lost control – the memory Knuckles had bowed his head and pointed down; for the first time Spectre realised there was something different about him, compared to all the others in the hedgehog's memories.
In Sonic's view, Knuckles had one of his legs encased in an immovable object; as he tried to run and move, the Master Emerald dragged him, slowed him, made it so he could never be with those who respected him, liked him and called him friend.
He sees it as a millstone!; for a second, Spectre was stunned into speechlessness – Sonic was dismissing the most important thing on Angel Island as nothing more than a barrier between Knuckles and the others. But the vision wasn't yet done; from the throng of others, a white streak shot from forwards and suddenly the Master was broken apart, sundered into fragments; this actually happened! Spectre recognised a memory when he saw one; at some stage in the past, the white blur he recognised as Rouge had broken the Master.
Confusion warred with logic within Spectre's mind; why would my seventh-son have feelings for, maybe even love, someone who has wounded the Master so? Wait, what's this? The vision shifted; Knuckles had been collecting the shards and seemed to be rebuilding the weight around his own leg, sacrificing his chance to be with the others to protect and guard the Master. However, as he reached for another piece, the bat stepped forwards and gripped his hand, smiling slightly. The eldest guardian watched on amazed as she moved closer to his seventh-son and helped him; when the vision faded, both Knuckles and Rouge stood with the Master encasing one leg each, the others applauding the decision as they both put an arm around the other.
So, he sees the Master as a weight around Knuckles' neck, but also the means by which he and Rouge were united. He wishes the Master did not exist at all, so then Knuckles would be released of his burden and could be friends with the others, and maybe meet new people; Spectre broke away, the scene dissolving before him as he returned to his own body, a lingering thought suffusing his mind; Knuckles has a real friend in that blue hedgehog and vice versa, even if neither will admit it.
Spectre coughed once and stretched, standing up as he realised with a jolt of shock how late it was; he had been immersed in thought longer than he'd thought he'd been. Well, that's all for today, oh wait; a devilish grin appeared on his wrinkled face as he realised that wasn't quite true; one last little thing to do…
XXX
There was a knock on his door; as always, Athair glided over to open it and stick his head out to answer,
"Hellurk!" A white glove shot forwards and grabbed him by the neck,
"Hello fourth-son"; I've been looking forwards to this all day; Spectre smiled evilly as he continued, "come with me a minute, I've got a little job for you". With that, he turned without releasing his grip, using his emerald powers to prevent Athair making a break for it and he kicked and flailed in the air.
"No grandfather!" The flying echidna saw what was present and let out a moan of horror, "not that, pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease, noooooooo!"
"Yes", Spectre assured him, throwing him forwards into the library and shutting the door behind him, "I want three pages copied out…"
"Three, no, I can't…"
"…in full…"
"Ahhh!"
"…with joined up writing!" Athair buried his head in his arms; the sheer horror of the mind-numbing tedium he was going to have to go through burning into him as Spectre eased himself into a comfortable chair and smirked,
"You may begin, unless you want the jacket for the next six months". Weeping, slowly and with great reluctance, Athair picked up the pen and began the agonisingly long, slow torture of copying out pages of the Echidnopolis telephone directory onto a blank sheet of A4, Spectre in the background checking for mistakes.
This is the life; he wasn't maliciously cruel normally, but in his private moments Spectre had to admit that, every once in a while, it felt good to bring someone as cheerful and odiously pleasant as Athair back down to Earth with a bump, especially if he deserved it. Unfortunately, perhaps, he was so caught up in pouncing on every mistake the flying echidna made that he neglected to sweep Haven for visitors; had he done so, he may have realised sooner that, though eight bodies had arrived in the ancestral home of the guardians, that didn't mean there were eight minds to go with them.
A/N: Praise the Lord, I did it; thirty eight pages in under four days! Hope I packed enough insanity in here to please even the most random people for a while. Next chapter, the ninth mind is explored and things start getting darker…