A MIRACLE? OR A SECRET?

fourth chapter! Sorry its taken me a while to update but I've been on work experience. Its soooo boring! This chapter may be a bit boring but after this one things will start to happen , I promise! As you probably can guess , sonic is not dead, otherwise the story would probably end. How did he survive five bullets to the skull you ask? You'll just have to read and find out...

DISCLAIMER unfortunately I don't own knuckles, sonic or vector. I do own zero , shimmer and jarula.

For so long, there was nothing. No thought, no feeling , no memory. Nothing. I didn't know who I was, what I was, I knew only emptiness. Yet , I heard something. A constant buzz of an emotionless voice , over and over I heard I repeat ' system... Shut down'... ' system ...shut down'... 'system...shut down'. The continuos beeping of the words that I did not understand kept my mind alive. The repetitive nature of the its rhythm kept my mind going in a circle, avoiding the end of its life.

Then , my thoughts all came back. My conscience, my memories, my sense of who I was. But unlike last time I didn't slowly wake up, my eyes didn't adjust themselves gradually to their surroundings. My body didn't slowly begin to become active again.

No , it came suddenly. Rushing in like an avalanche of knowledge. I instantly remembered the robot hat caught up with me, the factory ... the bullets. I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was red. I blinked. I couldn't see what was in front of me. But it wasn't that my vision was clouded. In fact , it was working perfectly, incredibly strange for someone who was shot in the head not long ago. No , this red thing was very close to my eyes and that was why it was blurry. It took me a few seconds to figure out that the red thing was actually Knuckles, bending over me with a weird device that he held over my head. I didn't think he realized I was awake, so I didn't surprise me that he jumped in shock when I said

"What are you doing?". He looked , he saw me, my eyes open, fully awake and watching him, holding some strange device over me.

" ARRGHH!" He said jumping out of surprise just like a thought he would. He hurriedly tried to hide whatever he was holding over me and tried to get out of the room.

Not quick enough! I zipped in front of him, cutting off his access to the door. I had just been shot in the head and I was alive , no-one was that lucky. I wanted answer and right now Knuckles was the only person who could give them to me.

" How did I survive?" I asked predictably, staring at Knuckles intently as I did so. He seemed to want to avoid eye contact though and kept looking around me or up to the ceiling.

" I er , I guess you were lucky" he said blankly. No way was I excepting that excuse. I narrowed my eyes , getting slightly angry as I saw Knuckles trying to avoid the question.

" No I wasn't , what was that piece of machinery I saw you holding above my head?" I asked. Knuckles , still looking incredibly uncomfortable in my presence , sighed and said vaguely

" Well , technology has advanced a lot since you were last around Sonic , medicine is better" . I still didn't move. Knuckles was lying. I could tell. I kept staring at him, hoping my glare would force it out of him

" I don't believe you" I said flatly. Knuckles looked around as if the blank walls of our hideout would provide a believable lie to tell to me. Unfortunately for him , they just stood there as they usually did , providing no help at all. Still staring at the messy echidna, I noticed that he seemed to look at me as if I was different. He wouldn't meet my eyes as if held a secret inside, a secret I was determined to get out. I softened my expression so he perhaps wouldn't feel so intimidated and asked softly

" Knuckles , why won't you look me in the eye anymore?". He gazed at the floor, not meeting my less piercing gaze " What's wrong?". He looked up and our eyes met properly for the first time since I had woken up. He looked sad for some reason. But why would he be? I was alive right? That was what he wanted , wasn't it? He gaped at me for a few seconds, before sighing hopelessly and giving up.

" OK fine, you win Sonic" he said , gritting his teeth a little before continuing. " I used a fragment of the master emerald to work some machinery that kept you alive" he said , shifting his balance between his two feet . It seemed a reasonable answer , but I still didn't believe him. Why didn't he tell me this straight away? Instead of pointlessly avoiding the question . I asked the question out loud and got a believable answer instead of a weak lie. " The others don't know I have it , if they did they would probably use it in a super bomb, but it means too much to me to lose it like that" he said, looking at the floor again as memories of his older, better life came rushing back. He must have missed it so much, just like I did . It made sense that he would to cling on to things from his past just as I would in his position.

" Where's the emerald shard now?" I asked , my tone a little softer as I realized he was finally telling the truth. He realized this to and visibly relaxed , his face became less tense in the areas that it was still flesh.

" Keeping you alive drained all of its power" he stated , as if it meant nothing to him " Its gone". He looked up and our eyes , artificial and real , met once again. My expression remained plain and Knuckles waited to her my reply, his own face blank. Knuckles sacrificed the only thing he had left from his past to guaranty my future. He saved my life , with a cost of his own.

My expression softened and a smile crept onto my face. I reached forward and took Knuckles into a thankful hug.

" Thank you Knuckles! I know that emerald meant the world to yoooaarggggh!" I began, but was cut off when I felt Knuckles shove me off and across the room with such force that I thought I would have been knocked out again. I eventually came to a stop when I crashed into the opposite wall , coughing as the wind was knocked out of me. I weakly looked over to see Knuckles, who was fuming was rage and maybe even a little fear . Both of his eyes seemed to emit a red , evil glow as he stood there , breathing heavily through his teeth.

" DON'T EVER! TOUCH ME! AGAIN! YOU , YOU..." He bellowed, waving his hands as he did so as to emphasize how much he did not want to hugged. He looked a if he really wanted to say something at the end of that sentence. Or call me something. Probably the entire collection of swear words he knew. But he didn't. Instead he ended his sentence with a huge burst of yelling and ran out of the room. When I left I didn't hear his footsteps slow down, obviously he didn't want to be followed at this point.

Shacking my head, I carefully pushed myself out of the small , hedgehog shaped crater that Knuckles had smashed me into. I can understand him not really wanting to be hugged, as he was never really that kind of person anyway , even in the old days. Never the less wasn't that taking it a bit to far? I sighed and walked into the main meeting room , where I found Jarula , Shimmer and Zero amongst the others. I walked over to them , expecting to be greeted normally or perhaps even warmly after I destroyed that factory.

But instead tried to avoid my eye , as Knuckles had before. All exept Jarula, who gave me a filthy look , as if I had done something wrong. His leg was lightly bandaged , covering the hole that the bullet had left. Seeing that made my insides twinge with guilt , as I was partly responsible for that injury and probably the scar it would leave behind. I felt up to where the bullets had pierced my own skin , expecting to find deep gashes or bumpy, ugly scars. But there was... Nothing? No that couldn't be right? Could it? I checked again , carefully running my hand over every part of my forehead , but still found no evidence of a fatal injury. Something was not right here...

It was then that I realized that the whole room had stooped whatever they were doing and were now facing me. I had expected this . Before I was captured , everyone used to stare at me , especially after I had won one of my many battles. After all , I was there hero. However , before they wore expressions of awe and excitement , I guess because they had gotten to see there hero up close and for real. But here , the expressions were very different. Most looked afraid , as if I would suddenly jump up and murder them all. Others , such as Jarula and Vector , looked incredibly angry. I gulped and rushed out of the room , before they all decided to take out there anger on the newest member of there team.

Over the next few days , I began to notice more odd things. When ever I went to find Knuckles , he would be in a small huddle with a group in deep conversation. When I would approach , one of them would spot me and tell the rest and they would scatter , leaving me wondering what I had done. Whenever Knuckles was on his own he would be equally uncooperative. I would approach and he would ever pretend to be busy or ignore me completely. I had also began to notice flaws in his explanation as to why I had survived. He told me that the emerald shard had used up all of its power keeping me alive and that was why he hadn't shown it to me. But didn't the emeralds just fade in colour when there power was used up? If he was telling the truth then why didn't he just show me the fragment? There were many things that were beginning to not add up and after three days of constantly being thrown evil stares and being ignored , I was beginning to get really pissed off. I decided I would force the truth out of Knuckles , no matter what it took. I would threatening him , insult him , blackmail him , anything that would make him talk. I made my way to his room and was about to walk straight in when I saw sitting on the edge of his bed , reading something and muttering to himself. I hide behind the door way and strained my ears. But his mutterings were too quiet and I barely heard a few words. I leaned closer and moved my face found the doorway. It was hard to tell in the dim light but Knuckles looked as if he was in pain , emotional pain . I squinted. Wait , no , it can't be. I hide from view again , rubbed my eyes to try and improve my vision in the hazy dark and tried again. I got the same result. I saw them reflecting the narrow beam of light from the doorway. Slowly sliding down his cheek. Tears. Knuckles was crying , but why? Did this have anything to do with how I survived those bullets or why everyone was acting so strangely? I would have to find out.

" What do I do?" I heard Knuckles say aloud to himself. He sounded very troubled about something , although yet again I was unsure what. I then heard him heave himself of the bed and started shuffeling , miserably towards the door , his mechanical arm let off a random burst of steam. Not wanting to know what he would do if he found out I was spying on him , I quickly ran down the hallway , out of sight from Knuckles.

The next night , saw him walking into a dingy room which I hadn't seen before. Within a few paces the darkness engulfed him and I didn't know what he was doing. I heard the scrap of a chair as he sat down. I heard several others breathing inside. This was obviously some kind of secret meeting and I was guessing that since it was in the middle of the night and that I was not included that the topic would be me.

" What do you all want?" I heard Knuckles impatient voice ask an unknown collection of creatures. I immediately knew that Shimmer was one of them since he was the first to answer.

" This has gone on long enough Knuckles , you have to get rid of him , he is a danger to us all" he said , in his usual emotionless tone. I heard uncomfortable shifting before Knuckles spoke again.

" Why? He has done nothing wrong! He could help us win the war!" He said , trying to defend me. What he said was right! I had done nothing wrong! Yet I was treated like a criminal. I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard a new voice , this time Zero's.

" And what if he finds out? Do you think he would still be loyal then? Think about it Knuckles! If sonic finds him , it will be the end of us all!". Woah! If I find who? I wondered who else they were talking about and why it would be so dangerous if I found him? For a few minuets I heard a few shuffles and uncomfortable coughs . I waited until Knuckles spoke up again , his voice was plain although occasionally it wavered , indicating that he was covering something up.

" All right , I'll get rid of him". I heard his feet hit the ground as he stood up and began lazily shuffling out of the room. I was just about to dart of when I heard Vector saw in his gruff voice

" You made the right choice Knux , I knew that guy was trouble" . I couldn't see Knuckles expression but judging from the rough grunt that Vector got as I reply I was guessing that Knuckles couldn't care less what the crocodile thought. I reminded myself to try and get the truth of Knuckles tonight and ran off , avoiding being spotted by the group that I was spying on.

So I had just found out there was someone else in the picture to , and , by the sounds of it , I wouldn't like who this mysterious person was. I would just have to find out when I went to met Knuckles latter that evening.

At around 1 , I crept into his room , not really bothering to check if he was awake or not. No-one around here seemed to sleep at night , although I wasn't sure why. When I enter the doorway , sure enough , there was Knuckles , awake , sat at the end of his bed and smoking some kind of drug which I didn't want to know about. Through the poor light I couldn't see what a mess my old friend was in . But when he spotted me and turned on some kind of primitive light , it was pretty obvious that something was wrong.

His fur looked extremely matted and soaked with dried tears and his eye was red and bloodshot. Many bottles where laying around him , some of them smashed and others half empty. He sat hunched , uneasy , nervously chewing his glove as he sat , trying to figure out what he would do. When he looked up at me , he removed the glove from his mouth and sighed sadly , as if the fact that I came reminded him of something he wanted to forget. For a while he just sat there , looking at me but not saying anything , his eyes looking dead and unfocussed. He crushed the bottle he had in his mechanical claw. Then he then started to speak but slurred his words , obviously drunk as he didn't really make sense.

" Not really fair is it? Either way I have to sacrifice someone , its not like I want to make these decisions , but no-one else can either " Fresh tears slid down his face " Why is it always me?" He pulled out another bottle from under his bed and struggled with the lid . He grunted and dropped the bottle , wear it smashed on the floor and the liquid inside flooded out , soaking the miserable concret floor . He bellowed unnecessarily and buried his face into his pillow , making pathetic sounding noises that came out muffled through the pillow.

Raising an eyebrow I wondered over . It wasn't right to take advantage of a drunk man when he doesn't know what he's saying but I didn't really have a choice . I had the feeling Knuckles would never tell me in his normal state.

So I sat on the end of the bed and asked straight away , hoping to trick him into answering

" Knuckles what are you keeping from me?" I said . He looked up . Maybe asking Knuckles while he was drunk was a good idea after all , I thought , as it seemed he would tell me after all. However I soon changed my mind when Knuckles mumbled a response

" I can't tell you , its metal , no feelings ...Yet your the only thing left that survives , apart from him , but you could be worse , could destroy use all " he sighed , as I tried to make sense of his drunken words. Would did he mean , I could be worse? I became even more confused when Knuckles moved closer to me. He put his arm around me , so it gripped my right shoulder. I was getting freaked out now . I didn't want Knuckles trying anything while he was drunk and didn't know what he was doing. Party because I wasn't gay and nether was he and partly because he would probable rip my own arm of if he ever found out I had let him do anything. I started to get up and said

" Well I better be going , see ya Knux" I began , but for once I wasn't quick enough as Knuckles got up and grabbed my shoulders again , this time with both hands, I winced as the mechanical one dug into my bone.

" No you can't go ... I need you Sonic" said Knuckles in a pathetic and pleading way , his face slower inching closer to mine . I struggled , truly petrified now. But Knuckles held my shoulders tightly , preventing me from avoiding whatever he planned to do to me. As his face became only a tiny distance away , I closed my eyes , still squirming again his powerful grip. I turned my head , hoping to avoid contact. But instead of feeling something soft and moist against my lips , I felt something hard and sharp hit the top of my head . Pain erupted from that spot and I opened my eyes , realizing that Knuckles had just struck me with his cybernetic limb. Clouds appeared around my eyes and my head seemed to empty as I dropped to the floor , cold beer and glass scraping my face as once again my mind faded into the darkness.

AUTHOR NOTES

Woah! I don't have a clue where that bit at the end came from! I certainly didn't plan to have Knuckles turn gay on Sonic. Not that he has by the way , I just thought I'd put that in , I mean , people do weird stuff when there drunk. My friend fell asleep in a bin! Anyway sorry I haven't updated for AGES! I've been on work experience and I finish later than I would at school. I've really tried to spell things right but spelling is the thing I'm worst at so bare with me. I just realized that Sonic is knocked out a lot in this story , like three times! Well I don't think I'm going to do that anymore , coz if he keeps getting knocked out he'l go brain dead! And the story will become repetative . Anyway I'm gonna start answering reviews now.

tailfeather - no! don't die! coz you wont be able to read the rest of my fic! oh yeah and as for tails... you'll see...

shadows dark angel- thanks for reviewing again!

celistail the hedgird - oh my god! you actually said somthing nice! keep reading coz its going to get better and hopefully i will get the spellings right too!

sonanyfan 4eva- amy is dead!

Oh and one more thing . When you review , could you put who your favourite character is and second favourite if you want to. I just want to find out who the most popular one is and I don't mean from this story . Just in general . thanks.