PyroHedgehog4Ever: Ah yes...suspense indeed :P Hopefully it'll be lessened in this chapter ;)

Matri90: Thanks :)

SaffraEchidna: Heh; yeah, I kinda see what you mean ;)

CHT.BI: I am full of twists ;) And thanks, I'm glad you liked the talk :P

XTailsX: You'll find out ;)

Kj: Yep, he's there :P As for Sonic and Tails...maybe it'll happen...in fact, I'm pretty sure it will sometime ;)

Riven K. Daniel: Thanks for reviewing :D Espio evasive...whatever gave you that idea? ;)

Ri2: Ah, the void ;) It'll be mentioned in due time, never fear ;)

Awdures: (grins) Thanks...I kinda liked the Mobian Cluedo bit as well :D

Nxy: (blushes) Wow, thanks. As far as updates go...well, I've taken a break from my serious writing over Christmas, so fingers crossed they'll be pretty regular :D

Matt Lans: Heh, thanks. And don't let Metal Sonic cattle prod you out of reviewing :P

Toboe16: (blushes) Thanks...I'll try not to ;)

FriedBrickWall: (Tails: POUNCE ATTACK!) In the immortal words of Knightmare's Tregard: ooh, nasty. Still, you did ask for it :P I'm working on converting Sonic 2 to story form (called Rising Star) so there'll be plenty of pounce attacks in that one ;) I'll probably upload the first chapter in a few days if anyone's interested (gotta get through Christmas first ;))

Asher Tye: True ;) No, I don't think Tails has registered Bait's presence yet, but it's only a matter of time ;)

Guardian's Log no. 11482

Fix one thing, break three more. At least, that's what it feels like right now. First I had to deal with Sonic's mood (and that was weird in itself) and now Scarface is in the outer office and Espio's throwing a hissy fit! Pretty weird for that guy; he wouldn't raise his voice at a rock concert.

I managed to get the worst of Tails' injuries treated. I still have to do something about that broken tail, maybe I can sort that today.

--Knuckles the Echidna

My Memoirs by Me

Okay. So maybe I overreacted a little. But like I said to Knux, even if I screwed up with Tails in the fortress, don't I at least get a second chance? Look at how many I've given Tails over the years.

Well...

No, that's not entirely fair. But still, it bites to see the kid so cosy with Knuckles. I wouldn't mind so much if he was a little more demonstrative...as things are I think he's treating Tails a little like a walking, talking Chaos Emerald.

Alright, so that's not fair either. Stuff it. I'm not in the mood to be fair. And I heard that one of the overseers from that place is in the outer office. I think I just found a good outlet for my frustration.

--Sonic the Hedgehog

Dear Diary

Mighty let me have a spare notebook. Boy, writing this sure is hard with my left hand. Why couldn't they have broken my left wrist? Then I could've used my right hand to write! Well...alright, so I know the answer to that; after I whacked him with the rock One-Eye said if that was what I was using my hands for I didn't deserve to have them.

Knuckles insisted on sorting me out, as he put it; in other words cleaning me up. The whip marks on my back were bad enough, but what he did afterwards – chewing that stuff and then spitting it on my ear – was gross...although he was right when he said it wouldn't hurt. My ear feels all fizzy though, like a soda. I dunno why Knux couldn't put water on it or I've heard pella juice can be good for injuries...oh great, now I'm all thirsty.

--Tails

Bait's Jurnal

Im starting to think Raker reely is rite. Not about me being a jinx but about Sonic leeving me now he dusnt need my help. The morning after Tails got back Sonic started ackting reely weerd, like he dusnt want to no me.

--Bait the Jakkel

Tails and Knuckles both stared at Espio.

"He's what?" Knuckles said in deadly tones.

"You heard!" Espio shot back. "He's also been asking for me, and all I want to know is which one of you told him I was here?"

Tails glanced at Knuckles. "Knux...didn't you say something about Espio and the CDA?"

"Back in the tunnels." The echidna frowned slightly. "Yeah...when I told you about that iguana...but I didn't see Scarface anywhere nearby."

"Hello?" Espio all but shrieked at them. "Chameleon?" To illustrate the point, he vanished, blending seamlessly into the background, then reappeared again just in time to get a glass of water in the face. Dripping, sputtering and glaring, he opened his mouth but Knuckles cut in.

"If you can't speak without screaming, Espio, then zip it. Or talk calmly and tell me what the hell's got into you."

Espio took a long, deep breath, then another, then abruptly said, "I've got to stop them," turned and raced out.

"Huh?" Tails looked at Knuckles, bemused. "Stop who?"

"At a guess I'd say, stop the rest of the CDA talking to this guy." The echidna frowned. "Tails, do you have any idea what's going on?"

Tails shook his head. "Uh uh. I...I think he wants me, though."

"I wants don't get," Knuckles said flatly. "Especially not when it's him doing the wanting. I'm going to see what the hell's happening, Tails. You stay here."

"Nuh uh!" Tails got to his feet, stumbled and would have fallen if Knuckles hadn't caught him. "I'm not staying here, Knux, no way. Not when all ol' Scarface has to do to get me is walk in. I'm gonna stick with you."

Knuckles opened his mouth to argue, saw the stubbornness in Tails' expression and gave in.

"Fine. Okay. C'mon."

The two of them made their way to the outer office, where Sonic and Bait were already hovering. The door was ajar, and Espio had obviously snuck through it not so long ago.

"Knux?" Tails whispered.

"Hm?"

"Can chameleons see other chameleons? If they're invisible, I mean?"

"I..." Knuckles paused. That was an interesting point. "I've no idea," he said candidly. "Ask Espio, if he ever calms down enough."

Inside the office, an invisible hand touched Mighty's shoulder and Espio murmured very softly, "Leave. I'll deal with him alone. And take the bee-brain with you."

Mighty started to refuse, then thought better of it and instead said, "Alright." Looking straight at Scarface, he added, "You want Espio? Wait and we'll get him for you. Charmy, come on."

"Huh? Mighty, we can't leave a client alone, you know what Vector said—"

"He's not here, is he? And I won't tell him if you don't." Mighty grabbed Charmy by the ankle and hauled him out of there, shutting the door behind them. Pushing noiselessly past, Knuckles knelt down and put an ear to the door.

"Mister?" Bait hesitated, then plunged on. "Mister...should you be doin' that? On'y I heard that listenin' in ain't a good thing."

"You're one hundred percent right, Bait," Sonic said fervently. "Eavesdropping is a dishonourable, cowardly act and never approved of in polite society under any circumstances. Hey, budge butt, Knucklehead, some of us wanna hear too, you know."

Knuckles raised a supercilious eye ridge, but moved over obligingly and Sonic pressed his own ear to the door.

"Espio!" That was Scarface; Espio must have reappeared. "Long time no see."

"Lugnor." Contrary to the other chameleon's tones, Espio's could have been used to freeze oxygen.

"Lugnor?" Tails whispered.

"Well, you didn't think he was really called Scarface, did you?" Sonic asked rhetorically.

The door crashed open and Espio stared hard at the group.

"If you want to spy on me, at least do a good job of it. Get out of here, all of you."

Without waiting for a reply, he slammed the door again, leaving the others looking at each other with slightly red faces.

"I think there's a passage or somethin' runs above that room," Bait volunteered. "We could go listen from there."

"You shouldn't," Tails said, staring at Bait with something remarkably like hatred. "Espio said we weren't to do it."

Bait shook his head. "Uh uh. He on'y said if we wanted to spy on him, we was to do a good job of it."

There was a pause, then Sonic laughed. "He's right. C'mon guys." Leading the way over to a square grille on the wall, he levered it out silently, revealing a dark passageway.

"The air ducts?" Knuckles said flatly. "Could this get any more cliché?"

"You don't have to come, Knucklehead." Sonic pushed himself up and into the narrow space, closely followed by Bait.

"Oh, I wouldn't miss this for the world," Knuckles murmured, not quite under his breath, then looked back at Tails. "You coming?"

Tails hesitated – the darkness of the air duct reminded him strongly of the tunnels, especially the prison – then nodded once.

The two of them caught up with Sonic and Bait just as Scarface was saying, "...sorry for what he's done to me." He fingered the horrific bite marks.

"Sorry?" Espio echoed. "I'm only sorry he didn't kill you."

"I imagine you'd have liked that, wouldn't you?" Scarface shook his head. "You always were jealous of me, Espio, even when we were kids. I guess that's why you never call or write anymore, not even a card. My birthday was last April, you know."

"Yeah, I know. We hatched on the same day, or had you forgotten that little fact? There was only about two seconds in it, or so your parents said." Espio pulled out a shuriken and started toying with it. "And I see no reason in celebrating the other little fact that you've lived so damn long!"

Scarface smiled coldly. "My parents? Let me explain something to you, little brother—"

"You're no brother of mine," Espio said equally coldly.

The smile dropped off Scarface's features. "Fine. Shall we cut the crap? Hand over the iguana and the fox and you'll never hear from me again."

"If I take off your head or slice open your belly I'll never hear from you again," Espio answered, "and that way at least I won't have any more innocent blood on my hands."

"No? What about killing me?"

"I said innocent blood, Lugnor."

"You're not still on about Verza, are you?" Scarface snorted. "Let it—"

"If you dare tell me to let it go, I will beat you to death." The way Espio spoke sent a chill down the eavesdroppers' collective spines; it wasn't said angrily or warningly, but as a simple statement of fact, each word separately cleanly and distinctly from the others.

It didn't seem to impress Scarface, who simply laughed.

"Yeah? What'd you call that, Espio? Poetic justice? Isn't that how your precious Verza died; through being flogged to death?"

"You should know," Espio said quietly. "You were the one who murdered her."

"Fraternisation among slaves is strictly forbidden, Espie. You know that as well as I do. You confided in me and I simply did my duty. Think yourself lucky they didn't make you carry out the sentence; they thought about it. If it hadn't been for me, you'd have been the one up there. And how do you repay me? You go psycho and wipe out most of our colleagues, then vanish and nobody ever hears from you again."

"They were your colleagues, Lugnor," Espio said, now so softly that the four eavesdroppers above could barely hear him. "Never mine."

"No? I seem to remember you were usually the first one down the bar with them at the end of a shift." Scarface snickered quietly. "And now look at you, Espio. How the mighty have fallen."

"Funnily enough, I was about to say the same thing. I'm ashamed to think of my part in all that, but at least I take the responsibility for my actions."

"Oh, very big," Scarface sneered. "If that's the case, why haven't you told your so-called friends about yourself? You almost died of shock when you saw me again."

"Oh please."

Scarface smiled slightly. "Yeah. Now where have I heard that before? Don't answer, Espio; I know damn well where you've heard it before, albeit with a slightly different emphasis. I'll do you a deal. A hundred Mobiums and I'll, er, lose the lizard; he can die trying to escape or something similar and I'll leave him alone. But the fox is mine. I owe him for my face."

"Really?" Espio said coolly. "Hadn't noticed much of a difference myself."

"Knux?" Tails whispered. "Knux, I wanna go."

"In a minute," Knuckles whispered back. This was too fascinating to leave now.

"I know you're hiding him, Espie. You've changed your attitude towards slaves a bit, but I don't care about that. Hand over the two-tailed freak and the money for the iguana and there's nothing more to be said."

"I don't control the treasury and even if I did, I wouldn't pay you blood money."

"Knux." Tails seized the echidna's arm, fingers digging in hard enough to leave bruises. "Knux, please."

Knuckles glanced at the fox, saw the genuine panic on his face and nodded.

"Alright kid. Okay. C'mon. We'll go to the TV room, shut the door. Even chameleons can't walk through solid objects. If that Scarface turns invisible and comes looking for you, we'll be ready."

Carefully, he extricated himself from the four person pile-up and started to crawl backwards, Tails following. Wary of being discovered, neither of them said a word until they were in the TV room and Tails was lying face down on one of the giant beanbags and trying not to yawn.

"Get some sleep, kid," Knuckles told him. "I'll keep watch."

"Why's everyone always telling me to get...some..." Tails' voice trailed off in a huge yawn.

"That's why," Knuckles told him. "You need rest to heal. Speaking of healing..." He hesitated, then took a deep breath. "Tails...I'll have to splint your tail if you ever want to fly with it again."

Tails looked at him apprehensively.

"Does splinting hurt?"

The echidna hesitated before saying quietly, "Yeah. A lot. But if it's not done, you're never gonna be able to use that tail again. If you want, I could get Sonic, ask him to do it."

Tails shook his head. "Uh uh. You do it, Knux. I trust you."

"And you don't trust Sonic?" Knuckles said, only half joking.

Tails hunched over, wincing as the motion tore at his raw back, then glanced up at him.

"I kinda do. Like I trust him not to hurt me or sell me out or something like that. But...Knux, I keep...whenever I think of Sonic I always see him back in Robotnik's fortress, telling me I'm just a little kid and to get outta his sight." He hugged his knees with one arm, the other one dangling loosely by his side. "Knux? Knux, is...is what happened between me'n'Sonic back there gonna change things forever?"

How? Knuckles thought wretchedly. Kid's hurting bad enough already; how can I answer him honestly on top of all that? How can I do it?

Like the kid said, how can I not?

"Yeah," he said aloud. "You might get back on your old footing with Sonic eventually, but that'll take time and I doubt you'll ever forget what happened between the two of you." Knuckles filled a bowl with warm water and carried it over, along with some wooden rods (some kind of ninja stuff of Espio's, no doubt) which would probably do for splints. "This'll hurt, kid, but it's got to be done. Okay?"

Tails hesitated. "I guess. No, wait!"

Knuckles, who had reached out, paused. "What?"

"Knux?" Tails eyed him a little nervously. "You're not gonna chew it off, are you?"

Knuckles' jaw dropped with an almost audible clang. "What the hell put that screwed up idea into your head?"

"I saw lotsa people do it, Knux. You got an infection, they'd do it. They'da done it to me if you hadn't come, once they were sure. Y'know, once it started to smell. Sometimes they'd saw it off or make you or someone else chew it off but it was always the same." Tails looked up at the echidna. "But you're not gonna chew it off, right Knux? Right?"

"For the love of...no, Tails! I am not going to chew it off! For one thing, I'm not that barbaric and for another, if I did I'd be spitting fur for a week. And this time when I grab you, try not to rip my throat out, okay?" he added with biting sarcasm. The echidna took hold of Tails' broken tail and the fox bit back a yelp. Seeing a thin dribble of red where Tails had bitten through his lip, Knuckles reached out, lifted a dining chair and broke off one of the legs. "Here."

Tails eyed it suspiciously. "What's that for?"

"Biting. You can sink your teeth into that if you have to sink them into anything. It probably tastes better than echidna," Knuckles added, not quite under his breath, then regretted it as Tails' ears flattened in shame. "Oh, hey kid, I'm sorry. I didn't really mean that."

"'Sokay," Tails mumbled. "You gonna splint me now, Knux?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I am."

The next ten minutes was a time that Tails never forgot, one in which most of the beatings he'd had to endure over the past couple of months paled in comparison. Although Knuckles wasn't actually rough, he wasn't swayed by Tails' occasional whimpering either, and the fox couldn't help comparing the echidna's way of dealing with things to Sonic's. When Sonic had treated him before, he'd done so very gingerly and in several sessions in an attempt to minimise the pain. If he'd seen Tails was suffering enough to bite through his lip, he'd have stopped immediately, whereas Knuckles just tossed him a chair leg and told him to get on and bite if he wanted to. The fox wasn't sure which method of caring he preferred.

"Knux..." Tails hated saying anything, but the pain was too much to bear. "Knux...please stop."

"Not yet," Knuckles said relentlessly. "If I don't get this done now I doubt I ever will."

"You c'n finish it later, Knux, jus'...please."

The echidna sat back, looked at him and took a deep breath. "Tails, I am sorry that this is hurting you so much, believe me, but it's gotta be done and putting it off is only gonna make it hurt more."

"Hurts more'n wrist."

"I'm not surprised. You were right; they broke your tail in at least three places. I have to get it all straightened out before I can splint it. That's what's causing the pain." Knuckles looked at the fox's agonised expression and relented. "Look. It's five to six. If I haven't finished it by six o'clock, I'll stop and let you have a break. Okay?"

"How long a break?"

Knuckles scrutinised him thoughtfully. "Five minutes. Don't look at me like that; your tail is going to be splinted today whether you like it or not."

"C'n I get some painkillers?"

"Once you're taking that break or I've finished, then sure. Now bite your chair leg and be quiet; the six o'clock cutoff doesn't count if you keep me talking until then."

"Knux, can I have another chair leg? One to squeeze as well as bite?"

Without looking up or stopping, the echidna grabbed another chair in one hand, smashed it down on the floor and handed Tails the leg, then returned to splinting.

Tails, who had been watching the second hand tick round through a faintly red haze of agony, was barely conscious when six o'clock finally came.

"Knux?"

The echidna glanced at the clock and swore under his breath.

"Okay. You wanna stop?"

Tails nodded vigorously. "Knux, how much more've you gotta do?"

"I need to bandage it, that's all. I've got it aligned. We can stop if you really want to, but if you move I might have to realign it."

"I won't move, Knux, honest, but stop. Please."

Irritated – another half a minute and it would have been done – Knuckles sat back. A deal was a deal, after all, and the kid had been remarkably patient under the circumstances.

"Why'd they hurt you so badly, anyway?" he asked.

"I tried to escape, Knux. They threw me in the prison but I tunnelled all the way into the echidna library."

"Yeah, I want to talk to you about that. What echidna library?"

Tails looked at him solemnly. "It's got all the logs, Knux. All the echidna history, right from the very first one to when your people left for Angel Island. Log number five one four oh two seven. Written by Bolwan. I translated it an' they wanted me to translate the rest of 'em for them, but I refused."

"Back up. You tried to escape – well, I'd have been seriously worried if you hadn't – and found some kinda library. Then what? They caught you?"

Tails looked away. "Uh huh. They caught me, Knux. I tried to get away but I couldn't. They caught me an' then they beat me until I thought I was gonna die. They wanted me to translate the log for them, but I wouldn't do it." He hesitated, then looked back up at the echidna. Knuckles wouldn't lie, he knew, he could ask Knuckles. "Knux? C'n I ask you something?"

"If it's got anything to do with where babies come from, then the answer is no! One explanation was harrowing enough!"

"No, 's not that. It's...Knux, you remember when I tried to kill you an' then couldn't remember doing it?"

"Yeah, kid, I remember. Usually about three o'clock every damn morning. Why?"

Tails cringed but continued bravely. "I...once, back in that place, I stopped for a few seconds. Jus' a few, but one of the overseers saw and whipped me. The next thing I remember I was lying on the ground, I'd been beaten all over and one of the overseers – dunno if it was the same one – was all chewed and bloody. They didn't beat you that badly for resting, but I been wondering...Knux, was it me who hurt that guy? Did I chew him up and forget about it like I did you?"

"If you did, I'd say he deserved it," Knuckles retorted flippantly, then caught sight of Tails' miserable face and shook his head. "I don't know, kid, and that's the truth. It's...well, yeah, it's possible. Why worry about some piece of filth like him though?"

"I'm not. I'm worrying 'bout me. I attacked him an' I attacked you an' I don't remember doin' it an'...an'..." Tails winced in pain and bit down on the chair leg as Knuckles reached behind and started strapping the injured limb. "I dunno who I might attack next," he went on, somewhat indistinctly. "When they were trying to make me tell 'em 'bout the caves, they said they'd decided against punishing me too badly for attacking an overseer. I thought ol' Scarface was just framing me 'cause he didn't like me, but what if he was telling the truth? What if it really was me? What if I'm—owp!"

"Sorry. Won't be long now." Knuckles tightened the binding, strapping the tail firmly to the splint. "That's—" He started to say got it, but at that point the chair leg dropped onto his foot in two neat halves.

"Sorry," Tails said in a small voice, and spat the rest of it out. Knuckles raised his eye ridges.

"I'm impressed. I didn't think your jaws were that strong."

"Even after I chewed on you?" Tails dared to ask.

"Yeah, even then." Knuckles hoped there was nothing in his voice to show just how scared he'd been when Tails had done that. Pounding in a fit of temper was one thing – and Knuckles had ample experience of that, at least as far as Tails was concerned – but back in the tunnels, the fox had really acted...crazy. If he'd done to Scarface what he'd done to Knuckles, it was entirely possible the chameleon had beaten him into unconsciousness not through sadism so much as self-defence.

"Wish I coulda munched Sonic some," Tails muttered.

"Oh, you do, huh?" Knuckles shook his head. "He was the one who insisted on finding you, who wouldn't quit no matter how bad it got."

"Bet you wouldn't quit either."

"Alright, maybe I wouldn't," the echidna admitted. "But it was Sonic who managed to keep a reasonably cool head, cool enough to think things through."

"Yeah, but it was you who found me and then Sonic showed up with that Bait kid—" Tails abruptly shut his mouth with a snap.

Knuckles rolled his eyes, enlightened but unimpressed. "Oh, so that's what all this is about. You're jealous of Bait."

"I am not!" Tails denied untruthfully.

"Wise up, kid; this is me you're talking to." The echidna sighed. How in the name of the Master Emerald was he going to straighten this one out? "There's no law saying you only have to have one sidekick or adopted little brother, Tails."

"Well, there should be!"

"If you're working up to throwing a tantrum, kid, it can wait until I'm out the room. I've no time for childish hysteria." Knuckles considered. "I'll tell you something about Bait, kid. I don't think he'll mind. His big brother – his real big brother, I mean – used to beat and burn him every time he put a paw wrong, or if there was nothing more interesting to do. Sonic rescued him. After all you've been through, Tails, I wouldn't have thought you'd want to inflict something like that on anyone."

Tails winced. "No. But Knux, it was Bait who led me to those guys. An' then when I saw him with Sonic..."

Knuckles closed his eyes resignedly, understanding. Damn! They really should have foreseen this. He couldn't blame the kid; Knuckles himself would have been less than happy in that situation.

"Look, whatever you think of Sonic now, however you see him, he would never, ever team up with anyone who hurt you without a very, very good reason. We couldn't have found you without Bait."

"Knux, is he coming to Angel Island with us?"

The echidna snorted. "You're kidding, right? No, he damn well isn't! I put up with that kid purely because even I can admit there's no way Sonic and I would have found you without him, but he sold you and the Emeralds know how many other people out and that's something I'm not going to forgive in a hurry." He paused. "Anyway, I didn't think you were too fond of Sonic anymore, so why should you care who he hangs out with?"

"I care if he hangs out with the jerkal who sent me down there," Tails said almost inaudibly. "I know he's not my best buddy anymore..." His voice trailed off and he picked at the blankets with his good hand.

"But you wish he still was, right?"

Tails looked up at him with an agonised expression. "I don't know anymore, Knux. I...kinda. Part of me says if we were still best buddies an' if he'd never fallen off the rail that time I'd never have ended up in that place, but then I'd never have found out that you're actually a real nice and caring guy under your crusty outside."

"Easy with the butter, kid," Knuckles said shortly.

"'S true though. I wish Sonic an' me were still friends though. 'Cause, you know, we go back a long way."

"Nothing stopping you."

Tails looked away again. "I dunno. Maybe we could talk...if he suggested it."

Knuckles rolled his eyes. He knew full well what that was about; Tails didn't want to appear weak, didn't want to lose face.

Yeah, and I can't help but wonder if I'm setting the kid a good example.

"Tails, Sonic wants to make friends with you as much as you do him, if not more. You did some incredible stuff down in those tunnels, kid. Don't screw it up now by acting like a spoilt little brat."

"I'm not acting like a spoilt little brat!"

"You are when you're like this. You want things to get back to normal after a fight, don't sit on your hands waiting for Sonic to make the first move, and don't scowl at me like that either, Tails, or your face'll freeze that way."

"Really?" The scowl dropped off Tails' face to be replaced with an eager expression. "Cool!"

"No, it isn't cool! Whoever heard of a hero who looked like a gargoyle? Think of the looks you'd be passing onto your children if you ever decided to have any."

Tails subsided into a grumpy silence. "Not much chance of that, Knux, since you still haven't told me where to find one of those pumps."

The echidna groaned. He should have seen that one coming. He'd made a serious mess out of teaching Tails the facts of life and was currently hovering between two suspicions, the first being that Tails now thought that sex was something akin to pumping up a bicycle tire and the second that he'd been well and truly wound up. Neither prospect pleased.

"Anyway," Tails added, "how'm I supposed to know what to say to make things better again?"

"You could always ask another star for help," Knuckles said, smirking slightly. Tails shot him a pained look.

"Sonic told you about that, huh? Yeah, well, that stuff's for dumb little kids who don't know any better. Making those wishes wasn't what brought Sonic to me."

Knuckles raised both eye ridges. "How do you know?"

"Stars are just balls of gas, Knux. They don't care what you wish."

A slightly mischievous gleam came into Knuckles' eyes. "You think? How many balls of gas do you know?"

Tails favoured him with an old-fashioned look. "Balls of gas don't have ears. How can they hear over billions and billions of miles?"

"I don't know. I'm not a ball of gas."

"An' why should something that's only made outta gas care anyway?"

"I don't know," Knuckles said again. "Then again, you're only made out of flesh, blood, bones, fur and organs, but you care about things."

Tails glanced up at him. "Yeah, but still...I'm a tough guy, Knux, and tough guys don't need help from anyone!"

Knuckles snorted. "Right. So if I'd left you in the mine, you could have broken those chains all by yourself, huh? Well, I wish you'd mentioned that in the visions and saved me the trek."

Tails winced. "Don't talk about that place, Knux. Please."

The echidna rolled his eyes. "Alright, if it makes you feel any happier, I won't talk about what happened to you down in those tunnels. But you should."

"There's no point, Knux. It's over."

Knuckles snorted. "What I'm trying to say is that standing on your pride doesn't always work, kid. Look at Selphur; he learned that lesson the hard way."

"Huh?" Distracted just as Knuckles had hoped, Tails fixed him with an inquisitive look. "Who's Selphur? What lesson? What're you talking about?"

Knuckles folded his arms and stared hard at Tails. "If I tell you this story, are you gonna go to sleep after it?"

Tails hesitated, then nodded. Knuckles' actually volunteering to tell him an echidna story was rare enough for him to want to take advantage of it. Usually he had to trade a full day's worth of mechanical tinkering and repairs; not that he minded that either, but still...

"Well...okay. You're not going anywhere, right Knux?"

"After all the crap I had to go through to get back here with you? You're kidding, right?"

Satisfied, Tails lay down again, snuggling into the giant beanbag as best as his newly-splinted tail would allow.

"Okay. So c'mon Knux, what's the story?"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Alright. Once, long ago in the Beginning Times, there lived a mighty echidna warrior called Selphur. He'd overcome all the traditional challenges when he was barely an adolescent, and this brought a load of honour to his family. Unfortunately, it also turned Selphur himself into a stuck up, arrogant little snot who boasted he never needed help from anybody, no matter how big or small a problem was. One day, there was a huge storm, thunder, lightning, wind, rain, all the works. While he was sheltering in his family's cave, Selphur said, 'I'm tired of hiding like this from the weather. Someone has to do something to put an end to all the storms for good and that someone's me.'. Neither of his parents could work out how he planned to accomplish this miracle, but then Selphur said, 'Storms come from the clouds, right? So if we knew what the clouds were made from, maybe we could build something to chase them away.'. Once he'd come up with this idea, nothing would deter him from it, and as soon as the storm was over, he immediately went to the priestess and asked her for a special jar that could trap a bit of the cloud. The priestess gave it to him instantly, since she had the hots for Selphur and hoped he'd remember her if he succeeded. So that only left Selphur with the problem of how to reach the clouds. He thought and he thought and in the end he decided to build a thousand crates, stack them one on top of the other and climb to the top. His family and the rest of the clan offered to help him, but he was so proud and so determined to do it all for himself that he told them all, even the clan elders, to stick it. Selphur hammered and built for six full moons, until finally the thousandth crate was placed on top of his tower. He—what was that?" Knuckles interrupted himself, turning sharply to the window.

Tails looked edgy. "I dunno. You said there was no one else here other than us an' Sonic an' Bait an' the Chaotix. Least, no one who could get into this room."

"There isn't." The echidna crossed over to the window and looked out into the growing darkness for long minutes before reluctantly dismissing it. "Must've been my imagination."

"So what happened? Hey Knux, c'mon! What happened?" Tails demanded, sitting up again. Knuckles glanced at him.

"If you don't lie down right this second, Tails, you'll never know."

Tails complied, lying back as slowly as he could. Knuckles didn't call him to task over it; the Emeralds knew that lying in any position had to be extremely painful for the kid.

"Better," was all he said, once Tails was fully recumbent, eager eyes fastened on the echidna. "As I was saying, Selphur put the thousandth crate on the top of his tower and then started to climb it. He climbed for a day and a night and finally reached the top, only to find that he couldn't quite reach the clouds, no matter how much he jumped. He shouted down to the other echidnas, who had all gathered to watch, that he needed one more crate. The head of the clan shouted up that they would get to work building one right away, but Selphur yelled back that he didn't need help from anyone, that he'd only ever climb crates he'd built with his own two hands, that he wouldn't accept another crate from any echidna. But he didn't want to climb all that way down and all that way back up again, so he thought and thought before shouting down, 'Take out the bottom crate and pass it up to me'."

Tails' face split into a slow, disbelieving grin.

"He didn't!"

"Oh, he did."

"Cool! So what happened?"

Knuckles glanced at him. "You really need me to tell you?"

"Uh huh. C'mon Knux, don't stop there. Tell me the rest."

The echidna shrugged. "There isn't much more to tell. The tower came crashing down and Selphur came down with it. Luckily he was able to glide, so he wasn't seriously hurt, but he had lost the respect of the clan forever, all because he was so determined to stand on his pride."

"Wow." Tails snuggled down into his beanbag. "How come I never heard that story before, Knux?"

"Probably because it's Sagayan and you're not," Knuckles retorted succinctly. "And don't breathe a word of it to anyone else either."

"Why? 'Cause it's some kind of mystical echidna secret?"

"No, because if Sonic ever found out I'd told it to you, he'd rib me about it until the day I died!"

Tails blinked up at him sleepily. "Not to tell Sonic'll cost another story, Knux."

Knuckles glared at the fox, torn between irritation and amusement.

"Alright. But not now and don't get any cute ideas about spinning that out indefinitely. One story buys your silence on the subject for good, okay?"

"Mm?" Already drifting to sleep, Tails barely heard the echidna's words. Well, that was fine as far as Knuckles was concerned; he'd be more than happy to refresh the kid's memory.

The echidna checked to make sure Tails really was asleep, then opened the door and came face to face with a grinning Sonic.

"Take out the bottom crate, huh?" the hedgehog said.

"You were listening," Knuckles accused, shutting the door behind him.

"And a very nice story it was, too," Sonic said lightly. "I didn't know echidnas bothered with such trivialities."

"We don't usually." A mixture of embarrassment and anger surged up in him and Knuckles said, "What happened to the spy deal?"

"Ah, Espio called Mighty and Mighty chucked Scarface out by his snout horn. Just as well, really; Bait sneezed around that time and almost gave the game away so we decided to get out while the going was good. How's Tails?"

"Sleeping. You know where I can get a spare blanket?"

Sonic shrugged. "Sure. Take a couple of mine." He made a sweeping gesture towards the room he was using and Knuckles shot him a look before stepping in and pulling two blankets off the bed.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." The hedgehog waited until Knuckles was almost in the door before saying, "Knux?"

"What?" The echidna glared over his shoulder.

Sonic pouted. "Don't I get a bedtime story too?"

He barely had enough time to duck before a jug came hurtling through the air at his head to shatter on the wall behind.

"Nice!" he said in an injured tone. "A simple no would've done just fine."

"Where's Bait?"

"Having a bath," Sonic said. "Under extreme protest, I might add; apparently he wants to sample the local nightlife. I told him he's underage for most of it, but he wouldn't listen." He shook his head. "He never complained about bathing in ponds or rivers, so I dunno what his problem is."

"Are you going to take him with you?" Knuckles asked.

"Might as well," Sonic said resignedly, "I'd've taken Tails, but since he doesn't want to come..." He let the sentence trail off.

"Don't fish for sympathy in a puddle, Sonic," Knuckles told him brusquely. "No, he doesn't, and I don't blame him. Now let's drop it. You can come visit the kid on Angel Island whenever you want, so long as you leave Bait behind."

"Nice," Sonic said again, grinning. "So you get Tails and I get lumbered with Bait." He shook his head. "Man, can't we at least get a recount on that?"

"C'mon Sonic, you know you like being idolised and Bait's damn good at that, even if he's not so good at other things."

"Okay!" Sonic flung his hands up in mock surrender, still grinning. "You take the quiet little patient and I'll take our resident kleptomaniac."

"Sonic!"

"What?" Sonic said innocently.

"That's—" Knuckles broke off abruptly. "What was that?"

"What?" Sonic said again, in a completely different tone of voice.

"I thought I heard footsteps, that's all." Knuckles frowned slightly. "That's the second time this evening."

"Maybe you're cracking up," Sonic suggested.

"Maybe." Knuckles hadn't really heard him. Opening the door, he found the hallway outside deserted. Probably just Espio doing his nightly patrol. Closing the door and turning, he saw Sonic was busy dealing out two hands of cards.

"Sonic—"

"C'mon Knux, just one round. I can't sleep tonight, so the least I can do is make sure you can't either."

Knuckles opened his mouth to argue, foresaw the likely outcome of such an argument and shut it again wearily.

"One round, Sonic, that's all, then I have to get these back to Tails."

"Whatever you say, sidekick of mine," Sonic said lightly. "Knockout whist, cut for trumps?"

"Suits me."

Neither of them gave the footsteps a second thought.

Okay, it's done :P Happy Christmas everyone and if you read this, please review :)