Chapter 5 – Changing With the Times.
A/N: I can only say sorry for the lateness; lots of things happening in life and not a lot of time to do fics in, but I'm still trying. Reviewers as always come first,
HHH – Hamster chao? Okay, I bet she's really cute; hope you have fun raising her!
? – Was leaving no name deliberate; it certainly added to your mystique! Anyway, yes, at noon, Spectre! Read on, I hope it's something like you expected.
TH – (Author has fingers in ears as an ear-splitting scream echoes though the fic for minutes; when it ends, author takes fingers out of ears, looks at TH and smiles shakily). TH, did it not occur to you that, when you put Amy's clothes on Spectre, you forgot to put any clothes back on Amy? Half of my cast are now deaf due to that scream and the rest of them are dying of nosebleeds, and we're barely a third of the way through this fic as it is! Help me someone.
Compared to the jubilant revellers that had rolled up the previous evening, it was a meek band of penitents that filed out of Lara's house a while later, led by a steely-eyed Lara and with Tails haranguing them mercilessly; he was safe as their still slowed reactions meant he could easily spring away from any retaliatory strikes.
"Tails", the fox looked up to see Lara waving a finger at him, "stop giving them a hard time now". His face fell and he could almost feel the relief; but this is my big chance – they'll murder me when they're better anyway, so I might as well go the whole hog.
"But…" She saw her smile,
"If I remember rightly, you've got the car – you can torment them then". There were immediate cries of protest as he gave a sudden victory pose and twirled the Tornado's keys around his finger,
"Oh yes, and I've needed to give it a tumble test for a while now".
"No", Shadow moaned loudest of all, stomach still feeling like its contents were performing mushy back-flips and other gymnastics, "please, kill me now". Tails checked his watch and gave a false start of surprise,
"Oh would you look at that; it's twenty to twelve and we've got a twenty-five minute drive at least; I'll have to up the speed, or we could fly". Knuckles looked on the verge of tears as he hugged his gut; Tails felt his heart strings tug and had to relent, just a little bit, as the Tornado hove into view, "unless you fancy extending the time limit?"
"Looks like I'll have to; I'm not good with cars anyway"; there was a collective exhalation as Tails unlocked the car and everyone made to crawl inside; Lara reacted right away, "oi, I'm in the front, you lot can sit on each other in the back – I don't care how, just do it". Arguments were flattened with a quick flash of The Look and pretty soon everyone was belted up and ready to go. Tails clipped his belt in and as he did caught a look in the rear view mirror where the two hedgehogs were now sat on top of the heavier echidnas; he saw Shadow's face and was reminded of something,
"Anyone spews up back there and all of you will be licking it off with your tongues, got it?"
"Yeah"; Knuckles wound down his window and directed Shadow's head at it, just in case, as Tails gunned the engine and took off for Haven.
XXX
She twitched her ears again, standing like a sentinel atop the hill at the entrance to Haven, Locke by her side as she waited for her fiancé to return. Spectre had pointed out what had happened the previous evening and she'd watched on with interest as all the other guardians quickly hid smirks and collectively winced; memories, Locke had explained on the way up to the surface, of their own wild nights with their older relative when they'd been lucky enough to find their perfect partners. A smile broke across the bat's face as this sank in; she really couldn't imagine the stern, unyielding guardian she was so familiar with ever conceiving of going out and getting absolutely blasted; which'll make it so much funnier if he actually has. She ran her tongue along her teeth again, remembering just how much havoc ultrasound could play on a migraine and looking forwards to testing it on her possibly inebriated partner as, with a thrill of apprehension, she heard the distinctive thrum of an engine approaching.
"Over there", Locke pointed with his white glove, his lab coat flickering with the breeze as Rouge saw the faint sunlight dance and shimmer across the bodywork of the Tornado; at this distance it was impossible to tell but Spectre had said that Lara-Le would be coming to Haven with the returning revellers – this was one of those moments she was looking forwards to and dreading in equal measure. How can she react to this news – I'm going to take her little boy away from her, and she barely knows who I am; the bat felt nervous, and she had every right to be as several unpleasant scenarios, however unlikely, sniped at her mind to unsettle her. As the Tornado closed in, these fears came forwards more and more; all her cool was focussed on not panicking and facing up to see this final obstacle for claiming Knuckles as her bridegroom.
XXX
The car came to a gentle halt; before the motion was killed completely Lara had thrown off her seatbelt and opened her door; she'd seen the bat standing with her former husband at the crest of the hill and needed to get there now. Her feet touched the floor and she was gone, racing upwards towards them, keeping her eyes fixed firmly on Rouge's face as she knew that this time she wouldn't stumble and fatigue would not trouble her. The bat looked a little unsettled, rather like she had at the time of their first meeting only this time Knuckles wasn't there to support her. This is just you and me Rouge; the echidna scrambled up the last few feet and stood tall, flipping her hair out of her eyes as the wind tried to raise it and obscure her vision.
For a second, bat and echidna locked eyes and then, in silence, Lara moved forwards; it took every scrap of courage she had, but Rouge did not flinch or look away, not breaking her gaze as the echidna woman came to a halt bare inches from her. For a second, there was only silence and stillness, then with a sudden smile, Lara threw herself forwards, fastening her arms right around Rouge's chest; caught by surprise, she could only stand still as the echidna took the lead,
"I knew you were the one", the voice was muffled, though it became clearer as she rolled her face upwards, tears sheening her eyes as she tightened her hold, "first time I saw you two together, I knew".
In that single instant, Rouge felt all the tension and doubt lifted from her mind, taken off her by this isolated blessing. With a sigh, she collapsed forwards, clenching her arms around the slightly shorter echidna lady's shoulder as she whispered back,
"Thank you Lara; I swear he's the only one for me".
"Good" was the first word she received back, followed by surely the crowning glory, the last piece she needed to complete this perfect puzzle, "I'm going to love you as a daughter-in-law". That's it then; a massive grin split her face as the realisation sank in, suffusing her soul with a golden, glorious glow; I'm really part of a family now, and a larger one than I could ever have dreamed of. Her eyes opened once more and, with a smile, she began to straighten up, sliding Lara from her arms as she saw her next target; the one who had introduced her to this uniquely manic family was approaching, and just from the look of him she could tell Spectre must have been at least half-right.
"Hey Knuxie", the guardian flinched, his residual headache still not fully gone as he raised his eyes in time to see Rouge sprinting towards him, grin in full flow and, he internally braced himself, completely evil to boot, "have a good night?" She skidded to a stop in front of him and took a single look; from there on in she was a lost cause.
"Hahaha; you got wasted", she giggled and pointed at him with the finger of mockery; all Knuckles could do in return was hold his still pounding head in his hands and stand up to her barrage of flak, "so much for the I-never-let-anything-get-in-the-way-of-my-sacred-duty-routine; Knuckles beaten by drinking something harder than he is". He smiled, about the only expression his aching face could force itself to adopt, and swept his arm backwards to where Thunderhawk was leading Sonic and Shadow towards them. Just by the fact the two hedgehogs hadn't raced ahead of the others she could tell something was amiss,
"Oh you've got to be kidding", she looked at Knuckles with a laugh on the brink of her lips, "them too?"
XXX
Sonic had to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other in a walk; due to his naturally lighter build and smaller ratio of muscle to bodyweight than either of the two echidnas, he was suffering even worse effects as a result of an alcoholic overdose. Shadow was in the same dire straights and together the two made a miserable pair as they trudged towards the relative safety of Haven. They didn't talk and in return were extremely grateful when no-one else bothered to talk to them, until of course,
"Sonic!" Oh please for the love of the lord no; dimly recollecting the events of a few weeks previously, the hedgehog knew right now he was in serious trouble. He was forced to make the best of a really bad situation,
"Hey Rouge" he managed to slur, ears throbbing under the effect of the sound as he lurched upright, seeing the bat land in front of him, smiling in a way he had come to recognise as dangerous.
"My, my, my, you look a little worse for wear", she casually looked him up and down, shaking her head as she walked forwards slightly, "and that's saying something as you don't wear much anyway".
"Ha ha, you're cracking me up", he said bleakly as Shadow stopped in his tracks and massaged his forehead; Sonic seized on this and pointed, appealing to sympathy, "come on, we're both suffering here; cut us some slack". Rouge laughed,
"Cut some slack to the ultimate slackers, can't be done, but tell you what; I'll go easy for the rest of the day if you admit you cheated in that snowball contest"; Sonic was about to fire up to that but something grabbed his arm; looking around he saw Shadow glaring all kinds of promises of pain at him should he give Rouge any kind of ammunition. She got me this time; the blue hedgehog girded his loins and stood tall, looking at the bat directly as she stood tapping her fingers on the side of her arm,
"Okay", he gritted his teeth, "I cheated when I beat you in our duel".
"Say you're sorry".
"I'm sorry"; but not as sorry as I'm going to make you batgirl.
"Say you'll never do it again".
"I'll never do it again", he was so sorely tempted to add 'not' under his breath but remembered the bat's legendary hearing in the nick of time. Rouge smiled and posed victoriously, leering down to his level as he glowered back at her,
"Oh well, don't feel too bad hedge-head; some inferior types always have to resort to underhand methods to beat the best…"
"And some of them don't", all heads turned as the embattled blue blur had support from an unexpected quarter; Thunderhawk strode up to the group and shooed the bat away, "leave them alone for now, they kept up with me all night and I imagine that was the first proper drink either of them have ever had. Go annoy Knuckles or something; leave these two alone". There was a rush of gratitude towards the sixth-father as the bat inexplicably smiled at him,
"Good to see you up and about Hawk; you recovered well I see".
"Hollow legs", the lavender echidna assured her proudly, "never been bested by a grandson yet; their mothers on the other hand", he looked up guiltily to where Lara was stood waiting for them with Knuckles and Tails, who was handing the keys to the Tornado to Locke, "well there's a different kettle of fish".
"Oh, one of those moments"; Rouge saw his nod and turned away, spreading her wings in time to both catch the wind to the cave mouth and hide her smile; one behind you, another to look forwards to unless I miss my guess!
XXX
They all hustled into the hidden entrance to the guardian's base of operations, Thunderhawk depressing the switch to send the lift rattling down into the darkness; Sonic and Shadow were covering their ears again by this point. As the ride down wore on, Rouge bent to whisper unseen in Lara's ear; the echidna lady's face screwed up and she whispered back, chuckling quietly as Rouge nodded and indicated the silent sixth-father. Holding up a forestalling hand, Lara straightened and moved slightly closer to Thunderhawk,
"I must say, despite myself I'm impressed".
"Huh? What about?"
"Well", Lara put her chin on her fist to stop her smile escaping and ruining the act as she built up to it, "the fact you're not suffering now makes me think you're a bit tougher than your drinking partners".
"Experience", he said non-commitally, though he couldn't resist adding at the end, "though I suppose I'm a bit tougher than they are naturally".
"I suppose you must be", Lara answered, sighing as she helped him dig his own hole, "the way you stood up to me this morning; I was half-expecting you to break down and cry". As she'd hoped, his pride took over from there,
"Me", he puffed out his chest impressively, not realising the fact that the lift had stopped or that his voice had risen in the silence, "not meaning to sound disrespectful, but had I not been under the influence of alcohol, you'd not have even given me a mild case of the jitters; I don't feel fear; there's not been a single opponent I haven't been able to face down".
"Is that so?" Lara had the great pleasure and satisfaction of seeing the boastful echidna's face drop right through the floor as that voice purred from the entrance; swallowing audibly and turning a delicate shade of lime green, Thunderhawk broke out in a cold sweat as he turned to face the one echidna who made his last boast completely void.
"Ah, hi dad".
XXX
Black wisps of smoke curled upwards from the hem of Spectre's robes as his crimson eyes blazed in the dimly lit corridor, the rest of the Brotherhood save Locke peeking around the corner to see what would happen next. Uncomfortably aware of the fact he had nowhere to run now, bottlenecked as he was in the lift, the lavender echidna could only watch, helpless and with freezing sweat rolling down the length of his snout as this demon incarnate pounded measuredly down the hallway towards him, bale fire reflecting from the steel helmet that protected his head. Everyone else present flattened themselves against the lift wall as he singled out his target, steam almost visible as he breathed and the ground trembling beneath his paws,
"Ah, father I, er, I know I made a mistake, I can make it up, I'll do anything", Thunderhawk babbled, desperate as he knew better than anyone what Spectre in a really, really bad mood could mean for him. He sensed Lara's eyes on his back as the ebony echidna ducked his head into the lift, his maleficent presence seeming to swell and engulf to whole of the interior. Thunderhawk went white, silently prayer to the Master to preserve him as those hideous red eyes locked onto him and a growl, bone-chillingly terrifying, rent the air,
"Son", there was a sudden sigh, a sigh that seemed to contain wistful annoyance of all things; as the seconds ticked by he couldn't help it – Thunderhawk peeked open one eye, to see Spectre, not some devil in mortal flesh, stood in front of him, an air of mild annoyance rather than raging bloodlust surrounding him as he sighed and spoke, "why did you do that?"
"Do", he was stunned almost into speechlessness; he'd been forgiven after hoodwinking his father like that? "Do what?" To increase the ludicrousness further still, Spectre chuckled and pointed,
"Drag my seventh-son and his close friends, one of them being under-age of course, through probably the vast majority of taverns in Echidnopolis…"
"Well, I…"
"…fully aware that Lara-Le had still to be informed of her son's engagement to the charming Rouge…" the bat herself smiled at this high praise as Thunderhawk floundered for words; in the face of this calm explanation, he was having trouble remembering the reason behind his decision for the evening's entertainment as Spectre carried on,
"…with the full knowledge that most if not all of the proprietors of said establishments, to say nothing of their normal patrons, would doubtless question just what these unusual creatures you were bringing with you were…"
"Oh, I never, er…"
"…or that, in being together with Knuckles and both thoroughly sozzled, you could have easily let slip the very existence of the Brotherhood itself".
"Ah, now that was, er", the truth caught up with the lavender echidna at last and he hung his head in shame; what the hell was I thinking? He brought his now-red face up to meet his father's eyes and muttered the truth,
"I've been a bit of a prat haven't I?"
The black echidna nodded and reached over gently to pat his son on the shoulder, still speaking calmly, though the more observant and less hung-over of the lift party might have noticed his smile become a little more wooden at this point,
"Oh yes, you have been a prat of the highest degree, but the important thing is that you accept your mistakes and above all, you learn from them. I take it you will learn from this, won't you Thunderhawk?"
"Yes father I will", the lavender son managed a smile as he looked up once more, "thank you father, I really have learned something now; thank you for not being angry with me".
"Angry", Spectre laughed again, still patting the soft fur on his son's shoulder, "Thunderhawk, I thought you'd know me better than that by now; I'm not angry". With that he sprang the trap he'd spent all morning working on; Locke winced as he grabbed and yanked the shoulder, his gifts called on to their fullest extent. Caught completely off-guard, Thunderhawk was dragged forwards right into the trap as the eldest guardian steamed up again and bellowed,
"I'm bloody furious!"
Even Sonic and Shadow, once they'd stopped wincing from the magnified shout, had to pity Thunderhawk's predicament; Spectre had dragged him down in the manner of a wolf attacking a deer and now had him in a crushing headlock. As the younger echidna bucked and tried to free himself, his father raised his voice again, seemingly quoting an ancient passage,
"After acceptance of guilt comes punishment; someone find me a decent paddle", he tightened his grip further still at a muffled cry of alarm from his captive, "or failing that a decent slipper!" Everyone watching either cringed or wailed with laughter as, after a few seconds, Athair drifted forwards, seemingly in his own little world as he offered a sandal with his own now-bare foot wriggling its toes in the breeze,
"Here you are ancient one", the flying echidna said dreamily as he approached, Spectre looking up wolfishly, "why do you need it though; from here it looks like you have two of your own; is one of them broken? Oh, oh, can I repair it for you?"
"Hell no way"; realising he wasn't going to break the stranglehold and increasingly desperate as the object of his extreme agony approached, Thunderhawk tried a different tactic. Reaching down, he grabbed both his father's legs behind the knees and heaved upwards, tearing Spectre off the floor entirely and supporting his bodyweight in his arms and from his neck. With that in mind, he broke into a lumbering run, seeking to dislodge his parasite with the jarring motions – it was perhaps unfortunately that he had only one way to run and that involved going under Athair. Snarling in triumph, Spectre reached up and snagged the offered sandal from the suddenly bewildered third-father, waving it like a sword as the Brotherhood scattered out the way of the oncoming pair.
"You can't run forever boy!"
"I'm going to bleeding well try", came the panicked response, swiftly followed by the announcement of, "where am I going; you're robes are over my eyes, I can't see".
"Hard left", the voices of the squabbling echidnas became more distant as Thunderhawk's frantic pace put some distance between the lift and themselves, "you're only making this worse for yourself".
"It can't get any worse"; the words died to nothing and the resulting silence was broken only by Sojourner, now in charge as the eldest, slapping a hand over his face as he realised what a spectacle that one had been; and this time we can't even blame it on Athair.
"Welcome all", he said, trying to brazen it out, "follow us, you're just in time for lunch; Sonic, Amy would like to see you as she's walking fairly comfortably now, Tails Cream needs to get going fairly soon and Lara", the female echidna looked up at the mention of her name; Sojourner nodded to her in deference, "welcome back to Haven; may your stay be fruitful". She smiled and nodded back,
"My son is going to be married and the idiot who tried to stop him telling me this earlier is probably wishing he hadn't woken up this morning; it can only get better from here".
XXX
"You had a party, and I wasn't invited", Vector turned his shoulder as Knuckles slumped into a seat beside him, his voice one of disgust, "I'm mortally offended red".
"Don't be; I probably just saved half your liver", the echidna answered back sullenly as he reached for whatever was nearest him and a glass of cold water, "and most of your brain".
"Nothing in there worth saving", Charmy commented from the other side of the crocodile, whipping his head down in time to avoid anything more than ruffled antennae as Vector aimed a swat at him and Knuckles decided to change track,
"Anything happen here last night?"
"Not too much compared to what you must have gone through", the crocodile joked as the echidna levelled a baleful, mourning gaze at him, "but there were a few plans thrown around; the girls were mostly in the hospital wing with Amy talkin' about girly stuff, dresses and the like and I didn't see much of the Brotherhood, bar Athair".
"What was…?"
"You don't want to know", Vector cut him off instantly before pivoting and clapping his hand over Charmy's mouth, "don't tell him buzz-boy, it's better he doesn't know got it?" There was a heavily muffled noise, followed by a thumbs-up and the head of the Chaotix released his hold, allowing Charmy to take a deep, theatrical breath and gasp deeply. As he did, Knuckles cast a glance around the rest of the table; Spectre and Thunderhawk were still absent; Spectre wouldn't really…nah, no way; Sonic and Shadow had their own little huddle well over in one corner, away from the noise as they sipped water, though Sonic was getting the occasional prod from Amy, drawing him into the rest of the conversation she was having with Cream and Rouge, though it looked as though his mother had just joined in as well.
As the guardian watched on, this conversation seemed to get more frenetic and a spread slowly over the table, like water landing on stone. First it flowed over to embrace the two hung-over hedgehogs, though admittedly they had little part in it, then it seemed to touch the closest member of the Brotherhood, who happened to be Sabre. When this contact was made, it was as though the surgeon were a smouldering coal, and the words in the air were a stream of lighter fluid,
"WHAT!" Knuckles gritted his teeth and screwed up his face against the pain; when he looked again it was as though verbal warfare had broken out, mostly girls against boys with hedgehogs and Tails making a mostly neutral third party. Before his befuddled eyes, the tempo increased still further; he caught snatches of conversation but no more; he was still in too much of a state to sort out the general gist of the argument. The voices involved in this no-holds-barred war were rising and it was only a matter of time before even he'd be able to make something of this hubbub, until it was stilled, a temporary ceasefire called, as a single whistled note pierced the whispers, loud and strident. All heads turned as Spectre, looking extremely pleased with himself and whistling cheerfully, emerged from the nearest tunnel and headed for lunch.
If he was even aware of the funny looks that were being sent his way, or the new outbreak of whispering that preceded him now, he took no notice; still with a self-satisfied grin on his face, Spectre used his power casually to pull out a chair, heading for it with more of a spring in his step than any at the table could remember being there before. He twirled something around his right hand before breaking off the tune he was whistling to shout,
"Catch" and throw something at the table. Athair jetted up from his seat in time to gather the object thrown; all eyes turned to him as he examined his returned sandal incredulously; half the sole appeared to be missing.
"What did you do to this poor, innocent sandal ancient one? What did it ever do to you?"
"You'll see what I did with it later Athair", the black echidna chortled as he took his seat, tucking himself in tight to the polished rim of the Brotherhood's main table before looking owlishly at the group that had been having most of the conversation up to this point,
"And what were you all discussing so heatedly before I came in; I heard you half of Haven away". Several glances were shifted and murmurs raced around the table; Knuckles half-expected this to get on his seventh-father's nerves, but no, he seemed happy to sit patiently and listen. Eventually, with exceeding ill-grace and a look of acute embarrassment on his face, his own father was nominated as spokesMobian,
"Ah, sixth-father", Locke started, insides squirming as he tried to imagine the black guardian's reaction to this, "Rouge was, er, merely explaining to us a, ah, a custom from the lands below. Apparently, she wishes to take Knuckles with her on something called a honeymoon following their wedding".
"I see", Spectre spoke with interest, "and what is a honeymoon?" Locke gulped before steeling himself up to answer,
"Well, it involves, that is to say, it's something of a holiday newly-weds are entitled to following the wedding ceremony". Spectre sat back, tapping his fingertips together as he shook his head, his uniquely logical mind letting him see the problems before anyone else could point them out,
"Right, I can see the logic of the problem here; Rouge, you want to take my seventh-son on a holiday following you wedding", the bat nodded, challenge in her eye as the eldest echidna rolled his eyes over to his sons, "but, as a consequence, this means the guardian will be absent from Angel Island and the Master unguarded".
"One of you lot could do it", Lara cut in, pointing at Locke especially as her ex-husband looked away, slightly embarrassed, "Locke told me one of you baby-sat the rock while he found himself a partner in Echidnopolis".
"That relinquishment of guardianship is required to continue the guardian bloodline", Sabre countered, more confusion and worry in his tone than outright denial; he was merely stating a fact as he answered the female echidna, "however, there's nothing in the code to cover any kind of relinquishment following the marriage, only those before it". A low chuckle broke the stare-down that followed, Spectre seeming to find something amusing,
"It appears to me you've done everything backwards seventh-son", it took Knuckles a few seconds to realise Spectre meant him; "you found your bride before your father should have taken the guardianship in your stead and now want to take a holiday after your marriage". I suppose he's right; the younger echidna smiled and nodded, before realising this still left him with a nasty little poser of a problem,
"So, what happens now?"
"You could let us do it".
There was an abrupt silence, broken only by the sound of several bottoms swivelling around in chairs; Charmy smiled sheepishly as he tried desperately to think of something really, really clever to say in the face of so much expectation.
XXX
"Well, what I meant to say was", he began almost skittishly, words sticking in his throat as he tried to remember the reason he had behind making that announcement, "we could do it; we could look after the emerald while your gone", he indicated Vector and Espio before his eyes settled on Spectre and a sudden idea seized him and saved his bacon, "I mean, you've looked at all of us and we're all safe with the jewel, so you know we're not going to try and steal it. Besides, isn't there some kind of protection around the M.E. now? What happens if, at some point in the future, Knuckles needs help at the shrine – he can't call that Echidna Secure Division, they'd never find the place". Suddenly sensing an opportunity he'd not felt in months, Vector reacted quickly; clearing his throat and half-standing, the crocodile put his hand on the bee's shoulder and added his two cent's worth,
"He's right as well, and, not dissin' you or anythin' red, but you might need help with the Dark Legion back", he paused for a few seconds, letting that sink in; with a glimmer of hope he saw Lara whispering frantically to Sabre, the elder echidna trying to still her questions for now, "besides that, we're three of the only eight people who know it exists at all, so it'd pay you to keep us close, make sure we can't go shootin' our mouths off".
"Is that blackmail?" Sojourner piped up, eyes slitted, the crocodile shook his head and smiled to show he wasn't dangerous,
"Nah, not at all, but as we've all just seen, some people can do silly things if they drink a bit too much" he gestured to his left and Knuckles sank lower in his seat as all gazes shifted to him. Standing tall, Vector addressed Spectre directly, meeting his crimson eyes dead on,
"So, what do you think?"
Come on, this is the best chance we've had in years; we need something to get us off the ground; Vector was straining every sinew to keep his face straight as hope and fear of disappointment warred within him. A lot was hinging on the black echidna's next words and the crocodile felt his nerves tauten even further as Spectre pursed his lips,
"An interesting idea", there were universal gasps of astonishment from the Brotherhood as Spectre turned the idea over and over in his mind, "however, the code of the guardians…" He was cut off by the voice from nowhere,
"Says nothing about us", Espio materialised from nothingness, provoking a gasp of shock from Lara as the chameleon leaned forwards, his voice sombre, "we don't want to replace the guardian, merely assist him. When Knuckles comes back from his honeymoon, we will still be here assisting him. Therefore, we are not guardians proper and, by that logic, the code doesn't cover us; exceptions can be made".
"Assistant guardians", Athair was backstroking lazily around the ceiling, flipping over he looked down at the Chaotix and smiled, "that's a good idea; third-son should have help now he's got more work than we had. We can get uniforms as well; I think they should be red and have a little badge with…"
"Thank you Athair", Spectre stopped the madness quickly as he knew how quickly it could take root; as the hyper guardian fell silent, he eyed the Chaotix again, seeing the surprisingly alert crocodile, the sombre and silent form of the chameleon and the warm-hearted bee. He stroked his chin a little before giving a little 'hmm' and standing up, spreading his arms wide as if embracing the room and addressing them all, though his sons took particular note as he spoke,
"Since the time of Edmund, our code has endured and successfully protected the Master emerald; the guardians have stood firm while our people were lost. However, we are alone no more and the times we have emerged in are interesting times, turbulent times. The advances of the world below, as well as the resurgence of our old Dark Legion foes, have created many new threats for the Master, for ourselves and for Angel Island as a whole; therefore, I do not honestly think that our code can ensure the Master is sufficiently guarded as it stands now".
There was another gasp of shock from the rest of the Brotherhood; and I can understand why; Vector thought with a sigh. Spectre was basically admitting that their entire system of belief, which had been indoctrinated into them since they were under five years old, had suddenly been found lacking by circumstances beyond their control and that because of this it had to change. It was a radical and brave thing to say, and keep saying as he continued,
"So I offer this compromise", the black echidna smiled chillingly at his seventh-son and Rouge, "it will take a little time for the ceremony to be prepared, so I suggest you, and you as well if you consent to Rouge, begin training these Chaotix in your duties; show them what must be done. It will be hard and tough on all of you, but brave it out; how long should this honeymoon last Rouge?" Well, a little white lie never hurt anyone…
"Say", the bat made a bit of a show of trying to tot something up in her head, "about two months, maybe three". If Spectre saw the quickly averted incredulous looks he gave no sign, merely pointing at the three Mobians of the Chaotix,
"That will be your test; you will guard the Master in the time my seventh-son and his bride are gone. If no calamities happen, we will know this experiment has been a success", he glanced around to where some of the Brotherhood, Sojourner in particular, were looking mutinous, "we must bend with the times, or be broken by them; it's the simple truth". With that, Spectre clapped his hands and gestured to where the food was starting to go cold,
"Come now, let's eat before we plan too far ahead; plans for the wedding, matters of living quarters and transport an wait, as can pay scales", the black guardian hid a smile as Vector looked amazed; as he looked up, however, that smile grew to unhideable dimensions as he spied something approaching, "ah, son; come and join us".
"No thanks"; for a second no-one could believe it was actually Thunderhawk speaking; the voice was so high-pitched and high with pain, but there was no doubt. The lavender echidna was tottering on tip-toe, apparently trying to walk from the knees down as he shuffled to face the throng, grinning painfully. Spectre looked concerned, hiding his true motive and, incidentally, the last part of his son's punishment, until he was ready; I know you Thunderhawk, pain you'll heal from, but it's your ego you can't take being bruised.
"But you must eat Hawk; you need your strength".
"No, really father, I'm fine" the sixth-father managed to speak shrilly, not liking where this was going; all he wanted to do now was slink off to his room and hide until the pain went away.
"But I insist", Spectre gave a mental tug as his malevolent grin widened still further, "have a seat!" Thunderhawk had just long enough to glance behind him before the chair Spectre had cunningly manoeuvred into position caught him behind the knees and knocked him backwards, his already battered rump slamming down on the hard wood.
The only things that lasted longer than the echoing scream of agony were the helpless giggles that followed it as everyone fell into tatters of laughter at the sixth-father's plight, tears streaming from his eyes as he was brought forwards to the table under the juddering ministrations of his hysterical father's mental powers.
XXX
She knew it was coming and tried to stop it; a hopeless battle,
"Hehehe", Cream snickered from her co-pilot seat in the Tornado, giggling again as Tails turned to look at her with a long suffering expression,
"Come on, it wasn't that funny", his own smile germinated and grew as the rabbit nodded that it was; the bout of giggles overcame his resistance as the vision of Thunderhawk squealing like a stuck pig stood out in Technicolor once more and he cracked up as well, "well, okay, it was; hahaha".
"Mean Mr Spectre", Cream managed to gasp, wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her glove as she relived the moment over and over again, "that was cruel".
"You, you hahahave to be crhohohuel to be kind", Tails spluttered before trying to sober himself up a little, "and he did have a point; you didn't see Sonic and the others when they rolled in last night".
"Just as well, what I heard was bad enough", the rabbit said before pointing out the front of the cockpit excitedly, "oh look, Mystic Ruins, nearly home". Checking the time and fuel gauge, Tails nodded and licked his lips,
"Right you are, that's home; listen Cream, buckle in tight, I've got an idea". A little perturbed by this, knowing full well what a Tails idea might lead to, the rabbit tightened her seatbelt and held onto the chair as Tails made his approach, slowing his vehicle down as the airstrip hove in to view. Concentrating hard, picturing the precise second he needed to do this, the fox whispered words under his breath not even Cream's sensitive hearing could make out. As the front wheel hit the tarmac of the runway, Tails shouted,
"Roll out!" and hit a button on the control panel; a button with the silhouette of a jeep-like vehicle on the top of it. The rabbit shut her eyes and trembled a little as grinding noises filled the cockpit; he's going straight to jeep mode from flight! She screwed her face up, fully expecting to crash and burn at any minute as the sounds quietened; any second now, this is it…
"Hey Cream", a hand shook her arm, "you can look now; it's all cool". Peeking open a single eye, the rabbit took in the scene; praise the Lord, I'm safe. As she sighed with relief, she suddenly slapped the fox on the shoulder,
"Ow, what was…?"
"You Muppet", the rabbit exclaimed crossly, anger spiking from her at the thought of him scaring her like that, "what would have happened if your idea had been wrong, we'd have been jam on the road. Honestly".
"Hey come on", Tails rubbed his sore spot, though the fact she had hit him hurt more than the actual hit, "I was just trying something out; it worked didn't it?"
"I guess" was all the reply he relieved, though he distinctly though he heard his passenger mutter 'boys' under her breath before looking at him once more, "now, if you're quite through scaring me half to death, perhaps we can go and see Big now?"
"Ok, ok geez", the fox shifted into third, shaking his head as the duo took a detour from Vanilla's home; at Amy's request, they were going to see the large cat and tell him the news.
"Big", Cream shouted from the air, hovering as she tried to see where he was from her elevated point; so far she wasn't having much luck, neither by the looks of things was Tails. The fox was on the floor, the pair alternating between aerial duties to avoid early exhaustion as they scouted the swamps for their larger friend. Putting her fingers in her mouth the way her mother had taught her, the rabbit whistled a high, piercing note, listening for any response; for a second disappointment hovered, then with a dull shout, an answer arrived,
"Hullo?"
Strange; Cream thought as she dashed through the undergrowth to find the source of the call; he doesn't sound very happy. The rabbit homed in on the noise like a missile; she hadn't seen the cat for ages now and she had so much to tell him, she was simply bursting to let him know the good news. As she skirted past a spiked thorn bush, she saw something move out the corner of her eye; before she could react to it, however, something had caught her in a grip like a vice and hoisted her off the floor,
"Cream", deafness threatened in one ear as the boom concussed her eardrum; the rabbit shook her head dazed as the whatever-it-was that had her swung her around gently, "you, you're all right; I, I'm so glad". Finally overcoming her shock and surprise, Cream managed to get a good look at the Mobian who held her; it was then that she let out her own gasp of panic.
Big didn't just sound unhappy, he looked it as well – everything about his suggested dejection and despair. His normally sleek coat was matted with mud and burrs, his eyes were bloodshot and it looked as though he'd been crying recently, dried tears still in his facial fur.
"Big, what's wrong?" Cream was desperate to unravel the mystery of her large friend's unhappiness; this isn't right, he's supposed to be happy and glad to see us, not torn up like this. As an answer, she suddenly found herself thrust out to arms-length, Big's hazel eyes boring into hers as he growled,
"What happened, Amy, where is she?"
"She's fine", Tails' voice cut in from behind the cat; from over Big's shoulder, Cream could see the fox looking almost as worried as she felt, but then, with those words, the situation had changed. Big slumped down, releasing his hold on his smaller friend and letting her go softly onto the floor; she scrambled over to Tails, unsure of herself in these strange circumstances as the cat spoke again, voice much softer now,
"She's, she's not hurt?"
"No, she's going to be completely fine" Tails assured him, ears suddenly erect as he realised what must have been eating the cat so badly. Of course; he suddenly cursed himself for having fun and enjoying the party while all the time Big had stewed down here in worry and self-doubt, not sure what he'd done; where else could she have got the yellow emerald from in the first place? He had to rectify his mistake, had to put as good a spin on this as he could to try and ease the cat's worries,
"She's going to be fine, everyone is; thanks to you and your emerald, she beat Dimitri and saved all of Angel Island. That's so different now, you'll have to go there Big, it's great, and you're going there whether you like it or not", the fox drew himself up to his full height as he made the announcement Rouge had tacked on the end of Amy's request to tell the cat she was fine now, "Knuckles and Rouge, well, you'll never guess what, but they're going to be married soon, and they want you to attend the wedding; well I say want – Amy said if you say no, she'd make what Vanilla did to your whiskers look like a grooming exercise".
For a second he was unsure if he'd succeeded as the cat still looked on the verge of tears, his lips moving to form words,
"A wedding? And, Amy's is all right?"
"That's right Big", Cream chipped in, smiling now as the news began to sink in, "and you're going to have to come, Mr Knuckles said so".
"Him and the rest" Tails added as the cat raised himself to his full height, standing as though the weight of the whole world had been lifted from his shoulders. His entire posture changed in an instant; he was full of life and vitality as he extended his hands to the two smaller Mobians, his voice once more deep and caring as he offered,
"You'll have to tell me all about it", Tails and Cream both hovered onto one brawny arm each; ensuring they were secure, the cat headed for home, chuckling, "my place is in a bit of a state at the minute, but I'll clean it in a tick. So, what happened up there then?"
"You're emerald saved us all Big", Tails began, hearing the cat chuckle; with a glance at Cream, he began the tale of Dimitri's downfall at the hands of Amy.
XXX
One week later, the technology that Tails and Locke had jointly worked on was put to it's first use; twiddling one of the knobs on the bottom of what looked like a massive widescreen television, Tails was confronted with the echidna scientist's face as the transmitter from Haven beamed the image directly to Mystic Ruins,
"Success", flushed with triumph, Tails gave a victory pose as he exclaimed, "it works, works like a charm".
"So I hear", Locke smiled as the sound was audible at his end of the two-way connection, "but listen, here's the information for you…"
A few minutes later, when the connection had been broken, the fox was on his phone to everyone he knew and everyone who connected with the business; overjoyed, Tails confirmed to his disbelieving friends the exact date, location and time of the big day. It was near enough three months away in the spring.
XXX
Three months sounds like a long time, but for most people who knew what was coming at the end of this time, it flew by; everything they did was speeded up and held a reason to be cheerful. Event he most dire, deadly form of French homework filled Cream with happiness; there were so many different words for love and marriage in so many languages.
As Amy filled out forms to try and enrol at the Station Square college, where she wanted to study for qualifications in counselling ("after all", she had explained to Sonic as he helped her wade through the myriad paperwork the institute had sent her, "I was lucky enough to have Sabre and Spectre to help me; not everyone can have that"), she felt her pen move almost of its own volition, filling in the blank spaces with no errors or specks of ink.
Who cares if I can't remember what happened to me?; Shadow knew it didn't matter too much as he leafed through his book of memories, smiling now as he though about what would happen shortly; it's what's going to happen in the future that counts!
Knuckles bounded though the bushes surround the shrine with wings on his heels, training the Chaotix hard but finding no fault with them; even when they'd had Locke in the house Spectre had somehow managed to secure for them, noisily installing a device that allowed them to travel from the house directly to the shrine in seconds, they'd not raised a peep of protest, simply dealt with the process and worked even harder, determined to prove themselves and, as Vector joked, secure that permanent pay-check.
Yes, three months seemed like nothing for these lucky Mobians, yet they were happy, so time flew. Others, it seemed, were not so fortunate; for them, time dragged, with precious little good news to speed the monotonous trudge of the time stream. In fact, it was only one stroke of lucky fortune that enabled the Dark Legion to continue towards their goal once more.
XXX
The room was silent, dark, quiet as the grave and cool; computers operated best at lower temperatures, thought that was immaterial as they were all currently off-line. All, that was, bar one; in an isolated corner of this silent tomb of the microchips, there was a furious war being waged. Technology fought technology, computer refinement pitted against innovation and hacking skill as a frustrated voice growled,
"Come on you little bugger, down damn it", fingers blurred over the keyboard, metallic spines clicking repeatedly against the metal of the desk as the threats continued, "don't you dare lock me out now, come on, I'm in, I know I…" Abruptly the screen flashed and darkened, bitter ashes filled her mouth as the shut-down clause kicked in, but no, it lit once more, the screen changing as her adversary finally yielded. I did it; a slow smile spread over her face as she realised she'd broken the wall at last; I'm in, all your secrets now belong to me! With a triumphant hiss, Kommissar punched the air overhead, lowering her face to leer at the screen in front of her,
"Beat you, knew you'd go down eventually; go on", she span her seat round and jabbed a finger down towards her tail, "kiss it, kiss right there; I am your master and you bow to me now. Oh I doth rock…" it was at that moment, in her second of triumph, that a mechanical growl sounded out from what was now right in front of her; she froze in dread as she recognised the noise instantly – she was intimately familiar with it now. Two lights winked on in the darkness as she inclined her head, swallowed softly and greeted,
"Good evening grandf…er, grandmaster Enerjak".
The cyborg that had once been her grandfather Dimitri hovered forwards, making no noise as the hover jets on the soles of the grandmaster's new feet kept them from touching the floor; that was how he'd snuck up on her. He made the growling noise again, a sure sign he was annoyed now as the metallic shell of the Central Dogma lacked the capacity to express facial emotions. As it came, Kommissar felt nervous sweat prickling the inside of her leather clothes and her mouth went dry; this time she really was for the high-jump. Don't look at the screen, please don't look at the screen…
"Good evening Lien", the robotic echidna grated, voice artificially synthesised through the larynx of the Central Dogma of the Dark Legion; the final escape from death that her grandfather had taken on and become Enerjak through. She dared raise her eyes and felt her heart plummet; the red-light of Enerjak's eyes were fixed firmly over her shoulder,
"Tell me", he grated, his manhole sized hands bunching into fists as his voice rose in volume, "what are you doing to advance the cause of the Dark Legion?"
"A moment Lord and I…" No chance; she knew the storm would break and prepared for it, wondering how he'd found out.
"Hacking into the central files of the world below", the android screeched, pointing at the screen once more as he started at her; she flinched under the glow of those deadly red eyes, "that will only garner suspicion; we are still weak Lien. If we were to be discovered, it could spell the end for us; we can't fight now, there had been to little progress. Most of the Legionnaires have been in suspended animation too long, combat skills have dulled and our drone production facilities are still inoperative. Your brother works night and day to restore us, yet you persist in these petty matters, ones that could spell doom for the Legion; honestly Lien-Da, you disappoint me. You are a gifted researcher and skilled with the emotional programmes we must perfect, yet you waste your talent on this pitiful", he paused, looking at the screen once more; Lien didn't dare follow his gaze in case it drew his attention back to her. With a hum and several ringing footsteps, Enerjak descended to the floor and, pushing Lien and her chair to one side, moved closer to the computer, a wire extending from his hand to interface with the machine directly. I have got to get me one of those; Kommissar thought enviously as images raced along the screen; she knew he was capable of processing the information several thousand times faster than she was. Eventually, the procession of flickers came to a halt and he gestured for her with one mighty paw,
"Look here Lien", she trotted forward nervously and glanced at the screen, trying to speed read the words to keep the delay as short as possible; what she read though, she had to re-read to make it sink in, "interesting isn't it?"
"This, this is incredible", the echidna woman gasped, taking in the stark message in the computerised words, "that someone could have solved our greatest problem for us; it says…"
"I know; vague emotion combined with sentience", Enerjak finished for her, seemingly hungry as he took in the image again, "we must have this information; the location is filed within me so", the screen went blank as he cut the connection and turned to face her again, fully twice as tall and three times as broad as she was; she suddenly felt totally insignificant as she awaited his judgement, impossible as it was to read him now, "you have done well Lien; this information may be vital to our cause".
She let out a breath slowly as the metallic behemoth that had once been her great grandfather turned to leave; for a second I thought I was toast.
"Oh Lien", she looked up to see him pause at the door, activating his hovering ability once more, "come the morning, your physical exercise will be increased by two hundred percent; that should be enough to stop these night-time excursions and subsequent lawlessness. Good evening". She looked disappointed until he left, then sighed again; thank heaven he doesn't know about my other form of 'night-time excursion' – that really would have me in the deep stuff!
A/N: Well, next chapter's the big one; Knucks and Rouge finally tie the knot!