Burn It: (grins) Thanks; glad you liked that part :P
Matri90: Thanks :)
Kj: Heh, me too (Knuckles: I did not lose control. Every action was planned and thought out on my part.) Yeah, Knux, you just keep telling yourself that. As far as Tails goes...maybe he'll die and maybe he won't (singsongs: I'll never tell...I'll never te-ell...any of you) ;) Well. Okay, so maybe I will...read on ;)
Ri2: Who indeed:P And yep...there's gonna be trouble with Sekko and Tails...
FriedBrickWall: Thirty two punches...hmm...any reason for that number:P Not that I'm complaining, mind ;) (Sonic: See? I told people it wasn't just me who lost it trying to defend my friends!) Yeah...glad to hear you gave those jerks what they deserve ;)
Asher Tye: Yeah, why is Sekko making drugged makeup:P You're right in one respect; it has nothing to do with the slaves.
SaffraEchidna: Thanks; I'm happy you liked the ending :D
XTailsX: (Knuckles: At last, someone else who doesn't want me to die! Sonic: Oh sure, don't bother threatening her with death if she kills ME off!) Yes, guys, whatever you say ;) As for who'll live and who'll die...will they reach Tails in time to save him (or indeed, will he save himself?) Find out now :P And please don't hurt me. At least, don't hurt me so bad I can't write ;)
Toboe16: (blushes) Wow, thanks :D And that's okay, you're not supposed to like Raker ;)
Guardian's Log no. 11480
Alright. So now we're landed with Raker as well as Bait; and I'll admit one thing; it's lucky we had Bait with us. I wouldn't know where to begin in disarming a bomb...although if I'm going to be honest, Bait doesn't either.
Well...
No, that's not fair. Kid did his best, after all; he managed to pull out one right cable, which is more than I could have done. But if Raker hadn't caused that little incident...bottom line, we'd all be dead. Bait doesn't know about this, though, and I'm sure as hell not gonna be the one to tell him. Right now the kid's as happy as a warrior with six targets. He's starting to get annoying, but if anyone has the right to be proud of himself, I guess it's Bait. He's firmly convinced he saved all our lives. In a roundabout way, I suppose he did; if he hadn't been there, Raker wouldn't have been and wouldn't have smashed the kid up. Bait would've yanked the red cable and...well, that'd be all. I don't like that look in Raker's eyes though; I'd bet everything I own, including the Master Emerald, that he's planning on making trouble. Maybe not to stop us reaching Tails, but I don't think he's given up on getting his biological punchbag (aka Bait) back yet.
Bait also managed to open the vault door. It's a good thing his lockpicking skills are better than his bomb disarming. I have to admit, he really has come in handy on this trip. There was no treasure, nothing except an elevator shaft. I glided both Sonic and Bait down it – Raker can jump and break his damn legs as far as I'm concerned – and now we're in some hell of a rock maze.
Tails is here. I can feel it.
--Knuckles the Echidna
My Memoirs by Me
So who really saved us? Bait knew about the explosives, but if Raker hadn't done what he did the kid would've yanked the wrong cable and I wouldn't be here to write this...and whatever else happens, Bait can't ever find that out. It's the first time I've seen that kid happy – really happy – and I'm not going to spoil it for him.
This place is hell on Mobius. It reminds me of Robotnik's dungeon. You can't see anyone (though that's probably going to change as we get further in) but you can still hear the screams and the sobbing. I'm not sure I can do this.
Then again, I think Tails is down here. This place has a vaguely familiar feel to it. I can't freeze now. Not now.
Damn, Knux, how about another bout of carrying me kicking and screaming like you did with Amy? I could really use the help in this place.
--Sonic the Hedgehog
Bait's Jurnal
I did it! I saved Sonic and Nux! Their was a bom and I dissarmed it! AND I piked the lok on the volt dor! And Raker sed Id never be good for nuthing!
Maybe Sonic'll let me hang owt with him sum mor after this. Maybe he'll let me stay even wen he finds Tails agen and dusnt need me. I hope, I hope, I hope.
--Bait the Jakkel
Sonic had frozen.
It wasn't noticeable unless you were looking hard – after Bait had opened the vault door and the group had descended into the tunnels, the path had branched four different ways and none of the others were moving either – but it had happened.
"There's four of us," Bait suggested. "We could split up."
Knuckles turned a killing stare on the jackal. "There's three of us, kid; if I don't trust you not to betray Tails again, I sure as hell don't trust your jerk brother since all this crap seems to be his fault."
Raker spread his hands. "Not my fault. Not even my idea, like I said. Come on, Knuckles, there's no real reason for you not to trust me."
This statement was so outlandish that for a moment Knuckles could only stare at the jackal.
"Sonic, are you hearing this?" he said eventually and then, when there was no reply, "Sonic?"
Sonic didn't answer.
"Oh man, Sonic, we don't have time for you to do your catatonic routine now! Snap out of it!"
"Mister?" Bait looked up into Sonic's face. "'Sokay, mister, honest. I stopped the bomb. You ain't gotta be scared no more."
I'm not scared, Sonic said, or tried to say; his tongue seemed to have glued itself to the roof of his mouth. He was scared, a fear that had nothing to do with the bomb (although the pure chance of that escape made his skin crawl whenever he really thought about it) and everything to do with what had happened in Robotnik's fortress. The darkness...the occasional scream or sobbing from unseen throats...above all the atmosphere comprised of misery, fear and a dull kind of hate. This prison was made from rock, not metal, but that made no difference. Every instinct was screaming at him to get out while he still could, to turn and bolt for the safety of the outside. He didn't, but he couldn't make himself go forward either.
"Mister, c'mon, you gotta find your buddy." Bait tugged at Sonic's arm. "An' don't worry 'bout no bombs, mister; I c'n disarm 'em. I disarmed the last one."
"Sure you did," Raker drawled. Bait glared at him.
"You're jus' jealous 'cause I did it an' you dint!"
Raker folded his arms across his chest. "Oh please. I pay attention to things even if you don't." He smirked. "And guess what, Bait? You pulled the wrong cable."
"Shut up, Raker," Knuckles said in a low voice.
"No, I won't shut up." Now Raker was wearing a sanctimonious little smile that was worse than the smirk. "I think the kid deserves the truth, don't you? I never thought an echidna would lie. Didn't know if you could lie, to be honest."
"You're the liar!" Bait said heatedly. "If I'd pulled the trip we'd all be dead now an' you know it!"
"Ohh, I never said you pulled the trip," Raker answered. "But you had two cables to choose from and since you provoked me into attacking you like that, you had no idea which one was which. You tried to grab the red cable – the real red cable – and you pulled the right cable out."
"Yeah, see?"
"The right cable was the yellow one. I saw it, and these guys did too." Raker shook his head, clicking his tongue pityingly. "Dear, dear. It's a good thing someone tells you the truth, Bait, or where would you be now?"
Watching the younger jackal's face, Knuckles could actually pinpoint the moment when Bait's euphoria dissolved; the kid's face dropped and the happy light in his eyes snuffed out to be replaced by something darker, a painful expression. Bait turned to Knuckles.
"Mister..." he said pleadingly. "Mister, it's not true, is it? It wunt the yellow cable I pulled to save ev'ryone. It's not true, right? Right?"
Knuckles met the jackal's huge, appealing eyes and took a deep breath.
"It's true," he said very quietly.
"What?" Sonic came back to himself just in time to hear the echidna's words. "What's true?"
"Mister?" Bait seized Sonic's arm and in his semi-panic, the hedgehog came within a heartbeat of spin dashing the jackal to pieces before regaining control of himself. "Mister, I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."
Sonic eyed him warily, but with a glint of humour in his eyes, glad of the diversion. "Why? What've you done this time?"
"I...I screwed up back there. On the bomb. I pulled the wrong cable."
"If that was true, we'd be dead," Sonic said. Bait shook his head.
"Uh uh. I know what happened now, mister. It wunt the red cable that was safe, it was the yellow one. If I'da pulled the red one, we'd be dead. I'm sorry, honest; I thought the yellow was the trip."
Sonic looked down at the jackal's stricken face and couldn't think of anything to say, although all the time he could keep thinking about that, he could pretend not to hear the occasional scream from up ahead. This one couldn't be blamed on Raker, either; it was Bait's mistake, pure and simple. Sonic frowned slightly; he knew Bait hadn't seen the cable and Sonic himself hadn't wanted to burst the kid's bubble, so...
"Damn you, Knuckles." Sonic spoke the words softly, but there was no mistaking the venom there. "Damn you all the way to hell, you and your precious honour. You couldn't have lied to him just this once?"
"Knuckles dint tell me, mister," Bait protested. "Raker did an' when I asked your buddy he jus' said it was true." He dropped his gaze. "I'da looked anyway after what Raker said."
"Is my word not good enough for you?" Raker drawled. He shook his head. "Forget Bait; after the hell these two have been through since you joined them, I should've called you Jinx. Everything you touch or have anything to do with turns to crap, doesn't it? Freak."
Sonic stared. Raker's words sparked off a very old memory, one he'd all but forgotten.
"You! You were the one who tried to kick sand in his eyes when he hit me!"
Raker stared back at Sonic with understandable perplexity.
"What?"
"Raker's kicked sand in lotsa eyes, mister," Bait volunteered. "'S prob'ly hard for him to remember a pacific kick."
"Specific," Sonic corrected automatically, then returned his stare to Raker. "I'm talking about Tails. I'm talking about when I first met him, back in Emerald Hill Zone." In fact, 'met' was too kind a word; Tails had attempted to pounce on a dozing and unsuspecting Sonic, who had inadvertently sat up at the crucial moment and got a two-tailed fox cub to the head, which had sent them both rolling down the beach. Actually, now that Sonic thought about it, introductory meetings with all his current friends seemed to be physically painful. You couldn't count the two encounters he'd had with Tails prior to being flattened; the four-year-old fox had been too shy to do anything other than just stare at him bashfully. Sonic had started to develop something of a complex about that.
"Tails knocked me down, fell to one side and you were there," Sonic said to Raker. "I knew I recognised your face from somewhere; you tried to kick sand in his eyes. What happened to that civet who was leader at the time?"
"Caud?" Raker shrugged. "He fell in love with a female who wanted him to give up the gang, so he did. They emigrated to Sleeping Egg Zone on South Island and set up a bakery together, proving that Caud always was the pathetic fool I took him to be."
"Only you would think that," Sonic said tonelessly. "Knuckles, we'll cover this place faster if we split up. I'll take Bait with me; you'll be okay to search on your own, right?"
"I'll pretend you never asked me that, Sonic."
"Good."
"Mister?" Bait looked at Sonic, who sighed. He'd dared to hope that the kid had got over the mister thing back in the CDA.
"Yeah?"
"Why don't we split up three ways? We'd search a lot faster then."
Sonic glanced at him. "Yeah, we would, but if someone found you and tried to take you prisoner, we'd never stand a chance in hell of finding you again."
Bait shifted embarrassedly. "Dint know you cared, mister."
Sonic rolled his eyes. "Of course I care, you little idiot! And besides, if you were on your own...I don't trust Raker."
Raker spread his hands out to the side. "What's not to trust, Sonic? And what am I to do while you three are gallivanting around the tunnels?"
"I have a few suggestions," Knuckles said acerbically.
"I wasn't talking to you," Raker shot back, then winced as the echidna seized him by the scruff of the neck and half shoved, half threw him into one of the tunnels.
"Go on. Get the hell out of my sight or I'll kick your tail up so far you'll be using it to wipe your nose. Go find some of your pathetic lackeys to boss around."
"I already have." Raker fixed Bait with a pointed look, one which the younger jackal returned boldly.
"You go piss in a hornet's nest, Raker. I told you; I'm not playin' no more. C'mon Sonic, let's go find your buddy."
As Sonic went past, Bait following, Raker shot out a hand and seized his brother's arm in a painful lock.
"Brave words, kid," he said, too softly for either Sonic or Knuckles to hear. "Tell me something; are you going to be this brave when your new handler isn't around to protect you?"
"Sonic's always gonna be around," Bait answered defiantly. He knew better than to struggle; last time he'd fought this particular hold, Raker had snapped his arm in two like a dry stick.
"Yes, but he won't always be with you, will he? Or..." Raker smiled coldly. "Oh, how sweet. You honestly thought he was going to keep you with him? He could have any sidekick he wanted. Why would he let you stick around after Tails comes back?"
"Ha!" Bait planted both feet firmly on the ground – he didn't think Raker was above a little kidnapping – and put his free hand on his hip. "'Sall you know. Knux is gonna take Tails with him up to some island or other for recov'ry, so I'll still be stayin' with Sonic."
"Of course you will," Raker answered. "At least, until Tails', ah, recov'ry is complete." He snickered quietly, clicking his tongue. "Poor little Bait. You really are incredibly stupid, aren't you? Let me tell you something; I know for a fact that Tails has saved Sonic's life several times. He builds and fixes that beloved plane of Sonic's and can rewire just about anything you care to name. How are you planning to compete with that, lil bro?" There was none of the affection that Sonic used in Raker's delivery of that nickname; instead he sneered the words, making them an insult. "You've almost killed them three times through your own stupidity; first that fiasco with the bridge, then Oil Ocean and most recently that bomb." He shook his head. "I don't think Sonic's going to want you anywhere near him after this is done, for his own personal safety."
"Oil Ocean wunt my fault. You was the one who chucked the match!"
"Only because you screwed up. If you hadn't left, I wouldn't have had to follow you and I wouldn't have had to do what I did." Raker shook his head. "If I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times; you don't have the brains to think for yourself. Look what happened; Sonic and Knuckles almost drowned, almost blew up and – as I understand it – some fifteen thousand individuals are dead."
"Sonic said that wunt my fault," Bait repeated stubbornly, but he couldn't hide the flicker of uncertainty that Raker's words had conjured inside him. The older jackal smirked slightly, well aware of what was going through the kid's mind.
"Of course he did. He'd say whatever it took to stop you walking. You don't imagine for one minute he believes it, do you? He'd have said he did it himself if it made you cooperate." Raker's smirk widened. "Don't you get it? He's using you. Once he has Tails back – and it might take a while if the brat's recovering, I'll give you that – he's not going to need you anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if he brought you back himself."
"You're a liar!" Bait tried to wrench his arm out of Raker's hold, but the older jackal twisted until Bait's arm was a bare half inch away from breaking. For a moment he just held it there, maintaining the cruel pressure before speaking.
"I'm a what?" Dangerously soft.
"Jerk," Sonic said clearly from where he was standing in the tunnel, staring hard at Raker, having finally noticed Bait's absence. "Also a coward and a bully. Get your hands off him now, or I swear I'll break every bone in your body...and don't think I can't do it just because I'm not as strong as Knuckles."
Raker heaved a long-suffering sigh. "Again with the interference. Listen, Sonic, this is family business, alright? I don't expect you to understand, but after our parents died I was left in charge. Incidentally, did the bait tell you what happened to our mother? How she killed herself rather than live with this piece of crud?" He nodded towards Bait in a friendly fashion.
"He mentioned it," Sonic said. The hedgehog didn't think he could ever remember being this angry; every muscle in his body was so tight he was quivering slightly. "I didn't believe it then," he added, "and I don't now."
Raker shrugged. "That's neither here nor there. But surely you'll agree that being responsible for this kid gives me the right to discipline him."
"It doesn't give you the right to hurt him," Sonic said. His temper – something he usually had well under control – was thrashing around just underneath the surface, begging to be unleashed. "I'm telling you one last time," he said in tones of iron control, "let him go."
"Or what?" Raker yanked Bait in front of him to act as a shield. "You better be at least as fast as they say you are, Sonic, or whatever you do to me you'll end up doing to the kid as well."
Bait barely saw Sonic move, and Raker definitely had no time to dodge before something rammed him hard in the hip, sending him flying to crack his head on the rock wall.
Bait stared up at Sonic, awed. "Mister, how'd you...what..." He swallowed. "I dint even see you move!"
"Most people don't," Sonic said.
"What'd you do? Spin him? I heard all 'bout your sonic spin dash, mister, is that what it was?"
Sonic shook his head. "Nothing as dangerous as that. I just kicked him. Admittedly I kicked him at thirty miles an hour, but he'll survive it. C'mon. Let's get moving."
Some distance down another tunnel (and completely oblivious to the drama which had just unfolded behind him) Knuckles pulled out the Chaos Emerald. Like called to like, as the saying went, and in this case it was literally true; a steady ball of yellow light inside the gem was pointing him northeast. He knew the people down here wouldn't have found it; the yellow Chaos Emerald was the one which empowered its wielder with invisibility, and although Tails had no idea how to use it, the Emerald was the only one which could turn itself invisible if the holder desired it...and Knuckles had no doubt that Tails would have desired that very much.
The echidna heard a whimpering sound from down one of the tunnels. It wasn't Tails – according to the Emerald, he was much further away – but maybe whoever was down there could point him in the right direction. The Emerald was invaluable as a general guide, but a general guide was all it was.
He ducked into the narrow passageway, squeezing between rough stone, crabbing sideways in places before emerging in a wider cavern.
He wasn't prepared for the sight of his first slave. Granted Tails was a kid, and therefore logically there would be other kids down here, but Knuckles hadn't been prepared to come face to face with one.
He also wasn't prepared for the kid's pickaxe to come whizzing through the air towards him, but his body was slightly more up on current events and threw him against the far wall.
"Hey, hey!" Knuckles held up both hands and backed away. "I'm on your side, kid! I'm looking for a friend of mine—"
"They put him to digging the deeper tunnels." The iguana spoke rapidly, as though talking was forbidden...which, Knuckles conceded, it might well have been. A slightly grim smile appeared on his face.
"Pretty astute of you, kid, since I've not told you what he looks like. Or have you been expecting me?"
"There's only one person an echidna would come down here to find."
"That's not answering my question." Seeing how focused the kid was on his excavation, Knuckles reached out and twisted the pickaxe out of the lizard's grasp. The iguana's head snapped around to stare at it with a strange mixture of fear and envy, and Knuckles was prepared to bet everything he owned (except perhaps the Master Emerald) that the kid wished he could handle the tool with such ease.
"Give it back!" He started towards the echidna, but stumbled and Knuckles saw that the chains around the iguana's wrists and ankles had chafed right through the skin, causing the blood to trickle down in rivulets. Judging from the dried streaks, it had been like that for some time, and the best the kid could manage was a painfully slow shuffle.
"Do you know a two-tailed fox?" he asked.
The iguana nodded, staring hard at the pickaxe as though trying to will it back into his hand.
"Yeah. They put him to work in one of the minor tunnels as well. Now lemme get back to work, please. If they come and find me slacking off, I'll get whipped, and so will you if they catch you."
Knuckles' temper flared.
"Let them try." He shook his head. "How is Tails?"
"Pretty dumb. They offered to let him go, can you believe that? All he had to do was read something to them and he could go free. He refused. He's still alive, but I dunno how long for." The iguana looked over his shoulder, then back at Knuckles. "What kinda idiot turns down a chance like that, huh?"
A brave one, Knuckles thought, but didn't say. Instead he asked, "You'd like to get out of here?"
A shrug. "Dunno. I'd like to be able to eat and sleep when I want, but I dunno how I'd survive out there." He considered. "Though I guess I'd like to try. I wasn't much more'n a hatchling when they brought me down here. Now gimme the pickaxe. I gotta keep on schedule."
Knuckles held it just out of reach. "I'll give you something better. Tell me which way to go from here and I'll take the chains off and tell you how to get out."
The lizard looked at him askance. "Can I ask you something? Are you an overseer or just plain nuts? Nobody gets out and you won't get these chains off without the key."
Knuckles rolled his eyes and laid the pickaxe against the wall. "Hold out your arm, kid." When the lizard obeyed, he took hold of the cuff on that wrist in both hands, paused to gather his strength, then literally ripped it apart. Folding his arms, he stared hard at the iguana. "Satisfied? I'll do the other three if you want."
He could see the kid was tempted, although he did a good job of hiding it.
"So I get out. If Sekko doesn't—"
"Sekko won't be doing anything, I don't think, until he has his two front teeth replaced and his office repaired. You don't need to worry about him." On impulse, the echidna held out his hand. "Do we have a deal?" He paused for effect. "Or do you just want to stay down here digging out rocks and getting whipped for the rest of your life?"
"I get out, and then what? I've got no money, no food, nowhere to go, nothing."
Knuckles could have screamed in exasperation, even as he admired the lizard's cool head. Didn't this reptile know that every second wasted was a second Tails might be getting hurt even more?
"You'll go up a flight of steps into the basement, then up again into the main office. Go out through the main doors and you'll be in the Scrap Brain Zone. Ask someone to point you in the direction of the CDA and when you get there..." The echidna hesitated, then told himself what the hell. "When you get there, ask for Espio. Tell him Knuckles sent you there for a place to stay, and when he asks the usual questions like where did you come from, tell him the complete truth. I think you'll find him a lot more sympathetic if you do. If he asks about expenses, tell him I'll pay when I get back." Given what he knew about Espio's personality, Knuckles rather thought that the expenses in this case would be nonexistent, but he didn't want to risk it. Fixing the iguana with a stern look, he added, "Now, do we have a deal or not? Tell me which way to go from here and I'll take the rest of those chains off."
The iguana hesitated, then nodded abruptly. "Sure. Okay. I dunno exactly which one they put him in, but to get to the minor tunnel network, you go down this passage—" he pointed— "and then keep to the right. Someone else can probably point you in the right direction and that's all I can tell you. Now please..." He held out his other hand hopefully and Knuckles nodded and tore off the chains, then reached down to free the lizard's feet and pointed back the way he'd come.
"Go down there, turn left at the end and keep straight until you come to the stairs. You know where to go from there. And...thanks. Espio, right?"
"Yeah." Knuckles pulled out the Emerald again and broke into a run, picking up speed until he was going full pelt. He didn't know why, but he had a nasty feeling that he was running out of time.
Two miles away, down a minor tunnel that most of the other slaves didn't even know existed, Tails tried vainly to catch his breath, an act made impossible both by the iron collar fastened tightly around his neck and attached to a short chain which ran along the wall, and by the fact that – unlike before – Scarface or one of his friends was watching him constantly. The slightest sign of hesitation and it was the whip, still only one blow, but a far harder one than before.
As always, the same overseer returned to make the same offer. This time Tails told him to 'shove it up your ass sideways and sit on it', a favourite expression of Knuckles, and threw a rock at One-Eye, scoring a direct hit on his cheekbone. When they sent the fox out of the room that time, his right hand was dangling loosely from a broken wrist, which meant he now had to chip rock with one hand, using a tool he'd struggled to lift with two. He was drained, all but asleep and still working. That was the worst part of it; they wouldn't let him sleep. Sometimes, in spite of himself, he thought he'd translate every book in that stupid library if they'd only let him rest first. As far as the lash went, he was used to it by now and more often than not too tired to really register it.
He heard footsteps and sensed more than saw the group surrounding him, the same group which had been picking on him ever since he'd first arrived in this hell. That was one of the things he hated most about these tunnels; there was no room to fly. Not that he could anyway with a broken tail, but still...
Tails didn't turn to acknowledge them. Possibly a big mistake, but he was determined not to earn another cut with a whip. And Scarface seemed to have a personal grudge against Tails; he beat the fox far more often than he did the other slaves, and on the slightest pretext. The target had changed a little as well; now Scarface no longer struck him on the back but on the backs of the legs, often – intentionally or otherwise – slashing at the fox's broken tail as well.
"Hey you." The sneer in the gang leader's voice was unmissable, but Tails still didn't respond.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you." Someone seized him and spun him around roughly; the leader again. "We got orders from the head boss himself, and his patience has run out."
Tails summoned up as much energy as he could to answer, "Yeah? What's he gonna do, take away my TV privileges?" The words were badly slurred through exhaustion, but understandable.
"Close, but not quite. More like he's gonna take away your breathing privileges."
Tails forced a laugh. "Ooh, smart. Did you come up with that by yourself or didja have help?"
A fist closed on his bitten ear and he yelped before he could stop himself; the pain was excruciating.
"You wanna watch what you're saying, freak. Your bigshot friend Sonic ain't around to save you now." The leader smiled broadly, then his jaw abruptly dropped. "What the—"
A fist capable of punching through rock rammed into his head, pitching him twenty feet.
"He has other bigshot friends," Knuckles said coolly.
The pickaxe slid from Tails' suddenly numb fingers to clatter on the rock and he stared wordlessly at the echidna. Oh boy. This was it; he'd finally cracked. Pain, thirst, starvation and most importantly, the lack of sleep, had driven him to hallucinate. Slowly, he shook his head.
"No. You're not...you can't be..."
"Why not?" Knuckles asked calmly. "C'mon kid; I wrecked an executive office for you. You could at least pretend you're happy to see me."
"You're not real." Tails forced the words out through stiff lips; he wanted so much for it to be real, wanted so much to believe...
"If I wasn't real, could I do this?" The hallucination reached out with a closed fist and nudged Tails' shoulder, one of the very few gestures that echidnas used to demonstrate affection or comfort.
Tails seized the fist tightly in his good hand and squeezed, still unable to fully believe. What would Knuckles be doing all the way down here? That was just too much of a coincidence.
A slight smirk appeared on the echidna's face. "Here, let me get those for you." Reaching across, he caught hold of the chain running between the two cuffs and snapped it in two like a thread.
Tails lifted his left hand – the right was still too sore to move easily – and stared at the length of chain now dangling, then tried to swing his hand behind him. He failed, but only because his raw back was too painful; there was no chain binding his movements now.
"Knuckles?" For the first time since being discovered in the echidna library, Tails felt hope welling up inside him. "Knux, is it...are you..." He reached out with a tentative hand and poked Knuckles' chest. It was solid. Solid and warm.
"Convinced?" Knuckles asked wryly. "Or do you want to prod me some more?"
For a few minutes Tails simply stared at him, then something in him seemed to crack and he buried the echidna in a hug so tight Knuckles felt his ribs creak.
"Knux, how'd you get here? How'd you find me?" A terrifying thought occurred and the fox looked up, fear in his eyes. "You're not...you're not a..." He swallowed. "They didn't get you too, did they?"
"Hell no!" Knuckles started to return the hug but Tails yelped, a high sound of white-hot agony that the echidna had never heard before. Contrite, he snatched his hands away. "Jeez, I'm sorry, kid; I didn't think. Where're you hurt?" Looking at Tails, he added, "Where're you hurt the most, I mean?"
"My hand. An' my tail. An' my back an' my legs." Tails seized one of Knuckles' arms and dragged it over his shoulders again. It hurt, hurt worse than the beatings, but he wasn't about to let the echidna go. "An' my gut hurts too, Knux, but that's only 'cause I haven't eaten for ages."
"Which one did this to you?" Knuckles asked, his tone deadly soft. Tails shivered.
"All of 'em. Scarface's the worst; he hates me 'cause I wouldn't give in and act like a good little slave. He..." Tails broke off. "He should be around here. He's watching me, Knux, always watching, never get a moment's peace or..." The rest of Tails' words were lost in a yawn so wide Knuckles could see down the back of his throat. "Tired, Knux. Real tired."
"Yeah. Yeah, I know. Can you walk?"
"Sure, I'll walk," Tails said determinedly. "If it means getting outta here, I'll walk. We are getting outta here, right Knux?"
"You bet your two-tailed ass we are." Knuckles considered. "Can you grip? With your arms and legs, I mean?"
Tails nodded. "Uh huh. Well, I can grip with one arm, my other's kinda...well..." He gave up trying to explain and held up his broken wrist.
"They did that to you down here?" Knuckles said very quietly.
"Yeah, cause I wouldn't tell 'em what they wanted to know." Tails looked around. "Knux...can we talk about it later? Please? They'll find you any minute now an' I don't want you to get stuck down here too."
"Yeah. Yeah, you're right." The echidna turned away and crouched down. "Okay, hop on."
"Huh?"
"Climb on my back. I'll take you out of here."
Something in that touched a nerve in Tails; he backed off, shaking his head. "Uh uh, no thanks Knuckles, it's okay, I can walk just fine—"
"The hell you can." Knuckles straightened up and turned to stare at Tails, who was now backed into a corner and trying not to jar his broken tail. The echidna's face creased into a slight frown. "Kid, it's okay, I'm not gonna hurtcha." He leaned against the rock wall, arms crossed. "What'd they do to your tail, anyway?"
Tails shrugged, and Knuckles was pleased to note that he seemed to be relaxing a little.
"They said they didn't want me flying away. They chained me up and then one of 'em pulled my tail out straight on a rock an' another one took a sledgehammer an'...an'..." His voice trailed off and Knuckles tightened his lips.
"I see."
"I think it's broken in more'n one place, Knux. They pounded it three times an' never in the same place." Tails emerged from his corner and came to stand in front of Knuckles, looking up at him pleadingly. "Can we go now before they come?"
Knuckles took a deep breath. "Yeah, kid, we can go, but I'm still going to have to carry you. We're going to need to move fast, and looking like you do now I'm not sure you can keep up. C'mon; I carried you on my back up the side of a power plant, didn't I? How's this any different?"
Tails shivered. "It jus'...Knux, can't I cling onto your front instead?"
Knuckles couldn't for the life of him see why his front was any different to his back – unlike Sonic, he didn't even have quills there, and it wasn't as if Tails had never done it before – but he shrugged. If that's how the kid wanted it, fine. It probably wasn't such a bad idea anyway; at least this way he could catch Tails if the fox fell.
"Sure. But you'll have to hang on; I think I'm gonna need my arms to get us out of here."
Tails reached up and wrapped both arms around Knuckles' neck, clinging on with one and letting the other – the one with the broken wrist – just dangle over the echidna's shoulder. Knuckles choked and Tails eased his hold the tiniest bit, just enough to let him draw breath, winding both legs and his one good tail around Knuckles' waist.
"Knux...the other slaves..."
"One told me how to get here, kid. I got him out, sent him to the CDA. Espio and the others'll take care of him. We can't help the other slaves, not now. Not yet. Right now all I want to do is get you and me outta here. You ready?"
Tails swallowed once, then nodded.
"Okay kid. Let's go." Knuckles turned and set off back the way he'd come as fast as he could without jerking the fox too badly.
"Are you alone, Knux?"
"Sonic's with me. Well, sorta; we split up to look for you." That was a point, Knuckles realised for the first time, how was he supposed to contact Sonic to let him know he had Tails safe? Well...he could deal with that later. Right now, all that mattered was getting Tails out and to the CDA's premises; the hedgehog could take care of himsef.
"Sonic came?" Tails looked up at Knuckles, eyes huge. "Is that why you took so long, Knux?"
"Don't start," Knuckles told him sharply. "Sonic's fine."
"Yeah, 'part from being a stupid cripple who hates everyone."
"Tails..."
"Well, he is."
"He's not anymore, and if you're gonna go into anti-Sonic mode it can wait until we're back and I'm out the room. I didn't come all this way to listen to petty complaints and for your information, if it hadn't been for Sonic I'm not sure I'd have found you at all. You got that?"
Tails didn't answer, largely because he was half asleep. As Knuckles watched, the fox started to fall, and it was only the echidna's quick reflexes that saved him from crashing onto the ground. Yelping in pain, Tails jerked awake.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I...I..." He caught sight of Knuckles' expression and cringed, more in shame than fear, turning his head away. Great. So much for impressing Knuckles. He'd be lucky now if the echidna didn't just dump him on his behind in disgust and walk out.
"It's okay, kid," Knuckles told him quietly. "Go on back to sleep."
Tails obeyed, closing his eyes and snuggling into the echidna's chest, asleep within seconds. Looking at him, Knuckles tightened his jaw.
Poor kid. They must've worked him to exhaustion down here. Bastards.
As he rounded the final corner, he caught sight of the people waiting there and froze. Even through the haze of sleep, some of the echidna's tension communicated itself to Tails; the fox stirred and opened groggy eyes.
"Huh? Why've we..." He broke off. Knuckles felt a slight tension in the fox's body, but otherwise, Tails seemed calm enough.
"I see you found your friend." Limping heavily for some reason, Raker threaded his way through the crowd – both slaves and overseers – and came to stand in front of them. "I took your advice, Knuckles. I went and found some...what did you call them? Pathetic lackeys? They were very interested to hear about your arrival. We already dealt with your friends." He shrugged. "Sonic put up a damn good fight, and you made a good attempt to escape, but it's over now. I hope nobody outside is going to miss you." Raker smiled. "What am I saying? Of course they won't. Nobody even knows you're here."
"You killed Sonic?" Tails said hoarsely.
"No he didn't." Knuckles stared hard at Raker, although he couldn't help comparing the genuine fear in the kid's tones to his comments earlier. "He's just having a sick joke with you."
"Why would I joke about something as serious as that?" Raker shook his head. "He's dead. Gave me a nasty kick on the hip – completely unprovoked, I might add – but since he's too much of a coward to actually kill anyone, he was easy to deal with. I'd let you see the body, but..." He shook his head again sadly, implying that there wasn't much of a body left to see.
"Don't listen," Knuckles told Tails, but it was too late.
"I gotta see this, Knux."
"No you don't. It's a lie."
"And how would you know?" Raker asked pleasantly. "You weren't even here when it happened. Too busy hunting for your friend, weren't you?"
"Knux, let go!" Now Tails was struggling with surprising strength for someone who'd been out like a light not five minutes before. A thrashing foot caught Knuckles painfully in the groin – whether by accident or design he didn't know – and he dropped Tails, bending over. Freed, the fox limped as fast as he could towards the crowd, scanning it desperately for some sign of Sonic.
"Tails! Tails, get your ass back over here this minute!" Fear, not anger, made the echidna's voice sharp. If Tails got swallowed up, he could lose him again to this twisted place and this time he might not be able to find him. "Dammit all to hell, Tails, I'm not kidding! Get back here now!"
Tails ignored him, still continuing on his feverish way. Knuckles swore loudly and with considerable imagination for a full five seconds, then dug his claws into the rock and hauled himself up it. It wasn't easy to spot the kid from this height, but eventually he caught sight of him and launched off from the wall, flaring his spines to control his descent and finally landing – gently – on top of Tails.
The fox's reaction took him completely by surprise. Knuckles had expected yelps, accusations, even a recurrence of the pounding Tails had tried to give him not five minutes ago. He wasn't prepared for Tails to suddenly twist around in his hold, seemingly oblivious to the pain in his broken tail and wrist and lunge for his throat with open jaws. Reflexes saved him and he jerked back, so the bite aimed for his jugular sliced into his chest instead. Seemingly not content with this, Tails continued thrashing around, hitting, kicking and biting everything within reach. It was only with considerable effort that the echidna managed to shove him away long enough to bring one hand around and deliver a roundhouse blow to the fox's jaw.
It should perhaps be noted that Knuckles genuinely had no intention of hurting Tails, that he'd acted partly out of self-defence and partly out of necessity, believing the kid to be hysterical. But that didn't change the fact that in the heat of the moment, Knuckles used considerably more force than he'd meant to. The blow not only landed firmly on its intended target, it knocked Tails off his feet and three yards down the passageway where he cracked his head on a rock and lay still.
Someone seized Knuckles' arm in a death grip. It came as no great surprise to the echidna that it was Sonic. The hedgehog's eyes were narrowed into jade slits, although the fury in them wasn't meant for the echidna.
"Take Tails, Knuckles! Get him out of this now! I don't care if he bites through your groin, I don't care if he claws out your eyes or shatters both your knees, get him out of here and don't let him go until you're both clear! I'll hold them off down here! And I don't care whether you like him or not; get Bait out as well."
"Mister, I wanna stay an'—"
"No, Bait. Go with Knuckles. That's an order. I'll be fine, but this'll be a hell of a lot easier if I don't have to worry about you as well as the others!"
Someone reached out for Tails' unconscious form and that spurred Knuckles into action; he seized Bait in one hand, raced over, dealt the unfortunate perpetrator a blow that knocked him over in a full somersault and then grabbed Tails and ran for the exit, slinging the fox over one shoulder and clambering up the wall, carrying both Bait and Tails with him. He could hear a clamour from beneath him but paid no attention; the important thing was to get out.
They reached the top of the tunnel and Knuckles shook Bait off his shoulder like a fly. To his surprise, the jackal stayed where he was.
"Are you coming?" Knuckles demanded.
"No," Bait said bluntly. "I'm stayin' to wait for Sonic. You go, mister; I ain't leavin' 'til your buddy comes up. He might need help."
Knuckles opened his mouth to argue, closed it, opened it again just long enough to say, "Whatever," and ran for the exit.
He made it outside without being challenged, and headed for the nearest park. After even a short time in those tunnels, he felt he needed nature, needed the smell of plants to flush the stench of the mines out of his nostrils.
Knuckles sat down on a bench, shifting his hold on Tails and moving him from over his shoulder onto the bench. The motion seemed to stir Tails into consciousness again; he opened his eyes and stared at Knuckles.
"Wow. What happened to you?"
"That's a bit rich coming from you, isn't it?"
Tails frowned. "Yeah, but you weren't all torn and bloody when you arrived. How'd you get like that, Knux?"
Does he really not remember? Knuckles frowned quizzically and then said, "You did it."
"Me?" Tails' jaw dropped. "Knux, I wouldn't, not ever!"
"Yeah, well, you did." Pain was making Knuckles short-tempered. "If you didn't want to be rescued, you didn't have to try and eat me. You could've just said no."
"Even if...Knux, I'd never deliberately do something like that."
"I know full well you didn't bite me here deliberately, kid; you were aiming for my damn throat. As it is, I think you got everything but. You might wanna work on your speed and your aim." Knuckles considered this. "On second thoughts, please don't; it was a close enough call as it was."
Tails shook his head, staring. "Knux, I don't know what you're talking about, honest. I'd never bite you, not seriously. I mean, I know I, uh, I hit you down there, but I never mean it when I attack you, you know I don't."
Knuckles extended an arm for inspection, turning it slightly so the fox could see the hideous bite on the underside.
"You call this not meaning it? Like I said, if I hadn't ducked at the last second, you'd have torn out my throat." He snorted. "Nice way to greet a friend." He looked at his arm and started sucking the bite moodily. "If you got rabies down there and you've passed it onto me," he added somewhat indistinctly, "you're the first person I'm gonna pound when I go nuts!"
"Knuckles, please." Tails' voice broke slightly on the last word. "I'm sorry, honest I am, but I swear I really don't remember doing it. What happened before? Can you remember?"
The echidna stopped sucking his bleeding arm and glanced up, frowning slightly. "Yeah, I remember. I'd lost you in the crowd, and I was terrified they were going to drag you away with Sonic, so I climbed a wall and glided down to land on top of you."
Tails, who had opened his mouth, shut it again with a snap, then opened it again and said, "...Oh," in a very small voice.
"Something you wanna tell me?"
Tails shook his head violently. "No! I mean, uh, no. Just...please don't do that again, okay?"
Knuckles snorted. "No fear. I'm many things, but suicidal is not one of them."
Tails looked away, shivering slightly. "I'm sorry, Knux. I'm real sorry. It just...I only..."
"Flipped," the echidna said coolly, then seeing the stricken expression on the fox's face, shook his head. "Forget about it, kid. It doesn't matter."
Tails reached up to rub the side of his face, wincing. "My head hurts."
"Uh. Yeah." It was Knuckles' turn to look embarrassed. "That's probably my fault. You were doing your best to rip out my throat, I thought you were hysterical so I slapped you. I think maybe I gave it a little too much."
Tails shook his head, eyes wide. "Knux, I never meant to. I don't remember any of it. All I remember is going into the crowd to look for Sonic and then I woke up here. Where's here?"
"Scrap Brain Zone. You feel up to taking a little walk, Tails?"
Tails hesitated. "Where we going?"
"The CDA. They got offices and an apartment here that they're letting us use—now what?" Knuckles said, seeing Tails shake his head.
"I can't stay with them, Knux. Suppose one of them pats me on the back and I flip again? I swear I didn't mean to attack you."
"I know you didn't," Knuckles said, somewhat irritably; he could foresee Tails swearing the same thing almost every minute of the half hour journey back to the apartment. "You didn't freak when I hugged you." Although I damn near did, he added in the privacy of his own mind.
"That's different. I knew what you were gonna do."
Knuckles took a deep breath.
"Kid, talk to me. Tell me what made you flip."
Tails was already shaking his head. "I dunno."
"Yes you do. When I said how I'd landed almost on your back, you—"
"Stop it, Knuckles!" Tails shot to his feet, stumbled and fell almost on top of the echidna, who caught hold of him, ignoring the almost frenzied struggle.
"Okay. Okay." Knuckles shifted his grip – at this rate the kid was going to whack him in the groin again – and continued talking calmly, or at least, as calmly as he could when he was trying to hang onto Tails and block the fox's determined kicks and punches at the same time. "Kid, will you relax?" Hanging on as firmly as he could without actually hurting Tails, Knuckles settled back and waited for the kid to run out of energy.
It didn't take long. Exhausted by lack of food and overwork, plus the unusual exertions he'd made that day, after a few minutes Tails went completely rigid in Knuckles' hold and then collapsed against him.
"That's it, easy." Knuckles shifted his weight – Tails had, more by luck than judgment, managed to kick him three times in the same shin – and his grasp, made it less restraining and more reassuring. Tails twisted around and burrowed into the echidna's chest, trying to escape from a nightmare that only he could see. Knuckles let him, swallowing the pain as Tails inadvertently shoved against one of the deeper bites. Something had happened, something seriously twisted, and if this made the kid feel better then fine. Knuckles had never seen him like this before though, not even after Sonic's supposed death.
Still, they had all the time in the world to get to the bottom of it.
Gradually, Tails' breathing became slower and more regular and he relaxed into Knuckles' hold, eyes open but slightly glazed. Knuckles glanced down at him and a slight smirk appeared on his face.
Well, I carried the kid fifteen miles through a mountain range not six months ago. What's a few blocks on top of that?
A blur announced Sonic's arrival, Bait close behind. Blood was trickling from a cut on one cheek, but otherwise he seemed fine.
"You got him out!" The hedgehog skidded to a stop and stared, suddenly pale. "Damn. What did they do to him down there?"
"What didn't they do?" Knuckles muttered. Next to Sonic, Bait hung back, feeling nervous and not wanting to be blamed for Tails' condition.
"They wanted me to tell 'em stuff," Tails mumbled. None of them were sure whether he was joining in the conversation or just muttering to himself.
Sonic stared at him, astounded. "Tails, you didn't...tell me you didn't..."
"I didn't give in to them, Knux." Nobody listening could have mistaken the pride in Tails' voice...or the fact that he addressed his answer to Knuckles rather than Sonic.
"How could you do it?" Sonic said softly. There was no disbelief or derision in his voice, only stunned wonder. "How could you stand up against all that they did to you? How could you refuse to give in to their demands like that? How could you keep fighting them?"
Tails turned his head to look at him with eyes that were big from tiredness, blinked once at him owlishly.
"How could I not?" he said simply. A low, appreciative chuckle, more felt than heard, rumbled through Knuckles' chest and Tails smiled sleepily and closed his eyes. At least Knuckles was pleased with him.
When the fox came to again, he was lying on a bed, deliciously warm and comfortable. Tails inhaled, long and deep, trying to identify the smells around him, then forced open bleary eyes.
"Wha..."
"Hey there, little bro." The voice was familiar, and Tails turned his head to see Sonic standing there, grinning. And it was Sonic. Not the beaten cynic he'd left behind, not the bitter cripple who'd been too consumed by self-hatred to say a good word about anyone, himself included; this was Sonic as he'd been before the accident.
"Sonic?" Tails stared at him, too tired to really see him. "Am I dead?"
"No," Knuckles said tersely from the door, "but it was damned close!"
"But...but Sonic's...he's got feet again."
"Knux did it," Sonic said, shrugging. "He used the Master Emerald to heal me." He shivered. "And boy oh boy, I hope I never have to go through that again! You ever been squeezed through a wringer that was two sizes too small?"
Tails shook his head, dazed.
"Me neither," Sonic admitted. "But that's what it'd feel like. Still, well worth the tradeoff. How're you feeling?"
"Hurts. Lots."
"I know," Knuckles said. "Think you can sit up? I want to work on some of those injuries now you're awake."
Sonic glanced at him, irritated. "Can't you wait half an hour? The kid's barely opened his eyes!"
"Tell that to the infections," Knuckles retorted, dumping the medical supplies he was carrying on a side table. "C'mon, kid. Sooner we get this done, the sooner it'll be finished. Sonic, do me a favour and go see what's taking Charmy so long with the chilli dogs."
Tails pricked up his ears hopefully. "Chilli dogs?"
"I'll bring you a plateful once they're done. Knux, are you sure you can—"
"For the love of the Emeralds, Sonic, Tails isn't going to die in the next ten minutes and you know nothing about this kind of thing!" Knuckles physically turned Sonic around and pushed him towards the door. "Now go on, go see what's taking the food so long. And go check on Bait; I think the kid misses you."
Sonic glanced from Knuckles to Tails and back to Knuckles again, then sped away.
"You really did fix him, huh Knux?" Tails said.
"Yeah, and if you ever sit up, I'm going to do the same for you."
Tails obliged, somewhat stiffly.
"Why can't we just go back to Angel Island and you use the Master Emerald again?"
"Because it took a hell of a lot of power to heal the kind of injuries Sonic had and it'll take a long time for the Master Emerald to replenish." Thinking about Sonic and the Master Emerald reminded Knuckles of that day and of something he'd seen. "Was it you made those walking crutches for Sonic?"
Tails looked away, a little sullenly. "Yeah. Like he cared. He said I was jus' pitying him. What's that stuff?" he added as Knuckles tipped a jug towards him.
"Antiseptic. Espio got the ingredients for me and I mixed it while you were asleep. It's not quite ready; it needs one more ingredient. Hold out your arm."
Tails eyed him suspiciously. "I think I wanna know what that one ingredient is before I do that, Knux."
Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Powdered iyodi seeds, added as soon as the mixture congeals. While we're waiting for that, I want to at least wash the injuries on that arm. You can't do it yourself with only one hand."
Satisfied (if still somewhat apprehensive) Tails held out his arm obediently and Knuckles soaked a cloth in the basin of warm salt water and started sponging one of the cuts there. The fox winced away, although Knuckles was being as gentle as he could.
"What happened in there?" The echidna's voice was quiet, almost as gentle as his hands, but Tails didn't miss the steel in those soft tones. "Was it one of the overseers did this to you?"
"Uh uh. Nobody did it to me, Knux."
"Try again." Knuckles turned Tails' arm over and started sponging the inside, eyes narrowed as the crusted blood came away to reveal the shape of a horrific bite underneath.
"I fell."
Knuckles sat back on his haunches and fixed Tails with a hard stare. "Three strikes and you're out, kid."
Tails hunched over. "Okay, fine. I had a little disagreement with a few guys, alright?"
"That I can just about believe, at a push. Which guys?"
The fox squirmed. "No one important, Knux. Just some jerks down there is all."
"Did you tell anyone about this?"
Tails shook his head, yelping as Knuckles accidentally jarred sore ribs. "No, I – ouch – no, I didn't. I was gonna try, in the beginning, I was gonna try but—OWP!" Tails broke off as Knuckles added some powder to the liquid in the jug and poured the mixture over the worst of the bites. "Watch it with that stuff, Knucklehead! That hurts!"
"It'll hurt a lot more if it gets infected and your arm rots off," Knuckles said sharply. "And—Tails, come out from there, I'm not gonna talk to you through a bed!"
Tails emerged, glowering at Knuckles. "You said it wasn't gonna hurt!"
"I said no such thing. This stuff stings a little, sure, but gangrene stings more." Knuckles waited until Tails had clambered back onto the bed again before saying, "And it's going on whether you like it or not. After everything you've been through, I'd have said this was nothing in comparison. Look, I'll count to three and then I'll tip the jug, okay?"
Tails hesitated. "Well...okay, but I get to do the counting."
"Fine, but if you take longer than a minute, I'll tip it anyway."
"No, I won't, promise." Tails closed his eyes. "One."
Knuckles tipped the jug and Tails snapped his eyes open again with a yelp that verged on a shriek.
"AAH! Ow ow ow! Ow. Oh, oh man, that hurt! What happened to two and three, Knucklehead?"
"You might've backed off on three. This stuff takes a while to prepare, and I didn't want to risk losing it. And if you try licking it, Tails," Knuckles added severely, seeing the fox bending over the wound, "I'll tie your tongue around your snout."
"You could've warned me!"
"How can I warn you and take you by surprise at the same time?"
Tails scowled at him. "That was a dirty trick, Knucklehead."
"Yeah, but it worked." Knuckles raised an eye ridge as Tails swatted him hard on the arm. "Now that's more like it. I know you're feeling better when you start hitting me."
"How'd you know I was 'bout to wake up, anyway?" Tails said suddenly. "Why'd you come in then? Or did you just hang out and wait?"
"Funnily enough, Tails, much as I like you, the thought of standing staring down at your sleeping form isn't my idea of a good time. Sonic's been watching over you twenty four seven though." Knuckles shook his head. "If you really want to know why I picked that moment to come in, it's because you were talking in your sleep."
"Huh?" Tails twisted to face the echidna, wincing as the motion sparked pain in his raw back. "What was I saying?"
Knuckles shook his head again. "I didn't catch all of it. Something about caves."
"Oh...right." Tails lay back down again, then memory kicked down the door and he leapt up, seizing one of Knuckles' shoulders. "Knuckles! Knuckles, the caves! We can't let them get to the caves!"
"Yeah, that was pretty much it, though you didn't grab me like that the first time."
"Knux, c'mon!" The differences in size and health made it near impossible for Tails to actually shake the echidna, but he still made a valiant effort. "We gotta go!"
"We," Knuckles released Tails' grip and pushed him back onto the bed, not ungently, "are not going anywhere, kid, not until you're fully recovered."
"Knux, the caves, they're gonna get to the caves and then they're gonna take what's there and then it's gonna be real bad and—"
"Yeah, alright, alright. Just relax."
Tails shook his head frantically. "I can't, Knux, honest I can't. If they find the caves...I read about 'em in the old echidna books, it'll be a massacre!"
That got Knuckles' attention. "What do you mean? What old echidna books?"
"I found 'em back there, Knux. They threw me into prison but I tunnelled out and found this room with loads of books in and the overseers wanted me to translate 'em but I refused." A look of understandable pride came into the fox's gaze. "I didn't give in to 'em, Knux, even when they broke my wrist. See?" He held up the now well-splinted and tightly bandaged hand for inspection like a medal.
"Yeah, I see it," Knuckles muttered. "I wish to the Emeralds I didn't."
Tails withdrew his hand, the proud look in his eyes being replaced by one of hurt instead. "Aren't you proud of me, Knux?"
The echidna glanced at him, saw the genuine pain in the fox's gaze and forced himself to smile. "Yeah, of course I am." He considered and, because he was compulsively honest, added, "At least, I will be once the shock's worn off."
Tails looked pleased. "I really impressed you, huh Knux?"
"Oh, you did that alright," Knuckles told him.
Contented, Tails reached across to tug a blanket over him – Knuckles had, at the fox's request, brought in a grand total of seven before Tails had stopped claiming to be cold – and snuggled down into his makeshift nest.
"Knux, can I tell you something?"
"Yeah..." Knuckles said, a little warily. The last time Tails had said something like that to him, he'd been suckered into trying to give the fox a lesson on the birds and the bees.
Tails shivered. "I couldn't've held out much longer, Knux. I knew I had to but...I knew I couldn't. They were gonna send me to the...well, some of the stuff they made the biggest and strongest guys down there do, they were gonna make me do it too. They also promised me they'd let me go if I told them what they wanted to know. An'...an' I almost did."
"Yeah, but you didn't. You turned down your own freedom to try and stop them. That took a lot of guts, Tails." Knuckles shook his head, the slight smile no longer as forced as before. "You're one amazing kid, you know that?"
"Knux?" Tails looked up at the echidna. "We're gonna get them outta there, right? All those other slaves, we're gonna get them outta there an' stop those guys from finding the caves, right? Right?"
Knuckles stared back at Tails, his expression now cold and unmoving.
"Damn straight we are."
For a moment Tails continued to look at him, eyes big and suspiciously bright, then abruptly he sat up, shedding blankets all over the mattress and wrapped the startled echidna in a tight hug.
"Hey." Awkwardly, Knuckles patted Tails' shoulder (he couldn't for the life of him remember when his own arms had gone around the fox, seemingly of their own accord). "Hey, c'mon, take it easy." Tails didn't answer, just increased the hold until Knuckles was struggling to breathe. "Alright, kid, alright, you wanna stay there, you stay there. And quit trying to strangle me; I'm not going anywhere."
Tails buried his face in Knuckles' neck, shaking all over. Knuckles felt hot tears soaking his hide and hugged the fox as best he could, ever mindful of Tails' injuries, waiting patiently.
Let the kid have his cry out. It'll probably do him some good; at the very least, he'll feel better for it.
It took a full twenty minutes before Tails was cried out, and even then he refused to loosen his choke hold.
"Knux? Knux, I'm sorry."
The echidna shook his head. "Don't be. I think that's been building up for a very long time."
"On'y little kids cry, Knux."
"That's crap, Tails, and even if it wasn't, you are a kid."
"I am not!"
Knuckles shook his head. "You're eight years old. People tend to forget that, because you don't act like a kid. Most people ten times your age haven't had to deal with half the crap you've been through." He paused. "Look, if you want me to leave you alone to cry some more in private—"
"I'm not crying, Knuckles!"
Knuckles eyed him sceptically. "Right. So what's this damp patch on my neck and shoulder? If you weren't crying, you got a serious drooling problem, kid."
"It's on'y crying when you bawl an' get a runny nose and stuff, Knux. Otherwise it's jus'...jus' sniffling."
The echidna rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine. You want me to leave you alone to sniffle some more in private?"
Tails shook his head. "Uh uh. I'm done."
"Good. Then go back to sleep; you need rest."
"I'm okay," Tails said around a yawn.
"The hell you are." Knuckles disentangled the fox's grip, not roughly but insistently, and pushed Tails back onto the bed. "Get some sleep."
Tails winced as the mattress rubbed against the lacerations on his back, then rolled onto his side to try and spare his broken tail. Arguing with Knuckles – especially when the echidna used that tone of voice – was like arguing with a mountain. And he was kinda tired...
"Knux? Thanks for getting me out." Already half asleep, Tails looked up at the echidna groggily.
"You didn't expect me to leave you there, did you?"
"I didn't know you knew what had happened." Tails pulled some of the blankets over himself and Knuckles retrieved the two that had landed on the floor and handed them to the fox.
"Thanks," Tails mumbled again, eyes closed.
"You're welcome. Now quit stalling and go to sleep. I'll be back soon."
Tails snapped his eyes open again. "You're leaving?"
"Yeah. Only to the next room. Why?"
"Oh...I, uh, I was kinda worried 'bout you. Y'know, it's...it's a strange place an' you don't...you've never really been in a city before. An'...well, if you get scared, you c'n always stay in here with me."
Great, Knuckles thought grimly. How the hell was he supposed to answer this one without either hurting Tails or losing face? Ah, of course...
"Thanks, kid, but I'll be back in here anyway; there aren't enough spare rooms to go around and so you and me have to share."
Satisfied, Tails half closed his eyes again.
"Knux?" he said sleepily. The echidna paused in the door.
"Yeah?"
"You're...you know I...I think you're okay. You know?"
Knuckles rolled his eyes, half exasperated, half absurdly pleased. "Yeah, kid, I know. And I think you're okay too." Or you will be once you're patched up, he added grimly in the privacy of his own mind.
"Are we gonna go back to Angel Island?"
"When you're well enough to travel, and that means well rested. You might as well give in and close your eyes, kid; I'm not coming back in until you're asleep." Without waiting for an answer, he walked out and into the other spare room where Sonic and Bait – who was blinking with tiredness but kept insisting he was alright, that he could go a lot longer without sleep – were seated around a gaming board.
"Okay..." Sonic was saying just as Knuckles opened the door. "I accuse Professor Pella in the Green Hill Zone with the subverted E90-series robot."
Knuckles stalked into the room, hand snapping in and out of fists at his side. Without looking up from the game, Sonic lifted a plate up to head height and the echidna smashed it to pieces without breaking stride, then followed this up with another plate, two bowls and five mugs.
"Feel better?" Sonic said eventually, when it became obvious the echidna wasn't going to say anything else. "'Cause I'm outta crockery."
"Give me five minutes alone with the people in charge of this place! That's all I ask!"
"How's Tails?"
"Out like a light. They broke his wrist, his tail and the Emeralds alone know how many ribs. That's to say nothing of the other injuries."
"What other injuries?"
"It looks like he's been in a fight or three. Bite marks all over him, some infected, and thanks to those overseers his back looks like raw meat. They also beat hell out of the backs of his legs, probably to stop him running."
"They dint," Bait volunteered.
The look Knuckles turned on him was so furious that the jackal quailed. "Who the hell's been treating the kid here, you or me?"
Bait shook his head vigorously. "Mister, that ain't what I meant, honest! I meant they dint beat the backs of his legs to stop him moving 'cause what's the use of that? Nobody wants a crippled slave, right?" He considered. "Anyway, if they was trying to cripple him, they dint do a very good job."
"And you'd know all about that, would you?" Knuckles said, his tone now dangerously quiet.
"Not me, mister, but Raker used to do it to people who owed him stuff or who pissed him off an' then tried to run away from him. You gotta slice the hamstrings." Bait considered. "Or slice off a foot, I guess, but they'd die a shock an' blood loss."
"Fine!" Knuckles rapped out, causing Sonic to look up.
"Knuckles..."
"No, Sonic, let him talk. I want to hear this." The echidna stared hard at Bait. "So why, in your expert opinion, did they beat Tails across the legs as well?"
The jackal squirmed, glancing at Sonic.
"Don't look at him; look at me," Knuckles ordered. "What's your verdict, kid?"
Bait cringed. "I ain't seen your buddy's inj'ries, mister."
"I didn't ask you if you'd seen them. You were pretty damn free with your information when it came to crippling someone, so why'd they do what they did to him?"
"Well..." Bait edged away, eyeing Knuckles warily. "Mebbe...mebbe they jus' ran out of room on his back. Y'know, they wanted to keep the punishment but not damage anythin' vital 'cause that'd mess things up too..." His voice tailed off.
"He's right." Espio shaded into view. "Those overseers have to walk a fine line; keep the slaves beaten and cowed enough to prevent any thoughts of rebellion and yet keep them healthy and on the ball enough for them to do their job. A crippled slave can't work any more than a slave can who's been pushed over the edge." He shrugged. "Overseers have to keep secrets, keep slaves in line and keep out the way of any possible revenge. Juggling and multi-tasking doesn't begin to describe it."
Sonic stared at Espio with an expression comprised of both incredulity and loathing.
"You admire them," he said hoarsely.
"Admire?" One corner of the chameleon's mouth quirked in a strange, twisted smile. "No, I wouldn't say I admire them, Sonic, I really wouldn't. I only said it to illustrate a point; an efficient overseer would whip for pleasure or for punishment, but bottom line, you want slaves to work. Granted most of them don't want to – witness the main reason for whips and chains in the first place – but you should at least give them half a chance and leave them mostly alive. Even the most sadistic overseer would agree with that."
Sonic's eyes narrowed. "You seem to know a hell of a lot about this, Espio."
A quiet smile. "Detective, remember? Like I said, the kid's right, Knux. You really ought to place more trust in your friends."
He's not my friend, Knuckles started to retort, then bit down on the words. He couldn't say them, not when Bait was within earshot. It didn't seem to matter anyway; Espio vanished again and something in the air told the others that the chameleon had left.
"'S jus' like he said, mister," mumbled Bait, who was now heartily wishing that he'd never spoken at all. "They jus' run outta room on his back."
Sonic turned a hard look on Knuckles, one which didn't faze the echidna in the slightest.
"Happy, Knuckles? Because I didn't bring him all this way for you to terrorise him."
"Yeah," the echidna muttered, not really hearing, then glanced at Bait again. "You know, I wouldn't be surprised if he was right. If I ever get my hands on them..." He let the sentence trail off, fury choking his words.
"Great," Sonic said. "In the meantime, what're we gonna do about sleeping arrangements? Because that other kid you saved – which was a pretty cool and somewhat un-Knuxlike thing to do – has been moved into my room and Tails is currently in yours."
"I don't see the problem," Knuckles said coolly. "I'll go in with Tails and I'm sure Bait won't mind sharing his room with you."
Bait's face lit up. "Nah, 'course not, mister! I dunt snore neither."
Sonic grinned. "I know you don't. You've been camping out with us for...how long?" He shook his head wryly; the jackal looked so thrilled at the prospect of sleeping in the same room as Sonic that the hedgehog couldn't find it in himself to refuse.
"Good. Glad that's sorted," Knuckles said curtly, turned and walked back into the bedroom.
Tails was sleeping soundly, albeit with the occasional whimper in his sleep. He was also sprawled out on his front across most of the bed; there was no room for Knuckles to get in beside him even if the echidna had been so inclined.
Seeing a likely spot by the window, Knuckles crossed over to lie down on the carpet. It was actually pretty comfortable and he was asleep in minutes.
After half an hour or so had passed, Tails jerked awake, shaking all over. Staring around, more reflexively than anything, he caught sight of Knuckles' sleeping form on the floor, one arm up by his face, the other cushioning his head. Moving jerkily, now more asleep than awake, Tails stumbled to his feet and crossed over to him, dragging five of his seven blankets behind and dropping them next to Knuckles before lying down and crawling under the blankets. Knuckles hadn't moved, and Tails attempted to wriggle in under the echidna's arm. He succeeded, and the little fact that the action also resulted in his headbutting the echidna hard in the chest to get under his arm and accidentally kicking him in the leg in no way marred the sweetness of that success.
Knuckles, who had slept through all of this until the headbutt, grunted irritably, then propped himself up on one elbow enough to cocoon Tails securely in blankets before lying down again, one arm still around the fox, who was already asleep. Within minutes, Knuckles had joined him and neither of them so much as stirred when the door opened softly about an hour later.
Sonic stared at the pair for long minutes, his expression strange and unreadable, then turned and left without a word.
Okay, long as it might be (and boy, these chapters seem to get longer and longer :S) I wanted to get this chapter finished tonight 'cause I'm driving down to my mother's for Christmas and wanna be out the flat by 6.30am, mainly to dodge my cousin who is coming up to spring clean and decorate...I don't want her to arrive until I'm gone and it's too late for her to turn back (kicks mess under sofa with innocent whistle) Anyways,so Tails is finally reunited with Sonic and Knux :P Hope you enjoyed this chapter and once again, if you read, please review!